Harry tumbled out of the floo at Grimmauld, saw Hermione. She grabbed him, helped him up and steadied him. "Stay close Potter, remember." He nodded and called in the Rapid Response team from Potter's Field.
The townhouse filled rapidly. The combat and medical teams from the Field were there almost immediately. Harry spoke rapidly to the combat teams sending them back for muggle heavy weapons. Hermione floo called the Headmaster. The Order began to arrive. Moody showed up and Harry turned command over to him, the MI guys, and Ron. The new heavy weapons squad, the Weasley twins and a kindred spirit from the Royal Marines were busy with their big guns. The Retreat was empty, everyone was at Grimmauld and primed to go.
Moody called go. All the teams grabbed hula hoops charmed as portkeys to the area of Riddle Manor. Moody, Harry, Hermione, and Albus made up the recon team. The approach to the Manor was slow and careful. The saw no traps, felt no wards from this distance. Moody called for the Heavy Weapons squads to set their equipment up in a triangle around the Manor. The teams apparated into position. Each team had an M60 machine gun and a heavy anti-tank rocket launcher.
Moody shot sparks into the sky as Albus slammed down an anti apparition ward and anti portkey ward. The rocket rounds impacted the Manor almost simultaneously. The reloading went as fast as possible while the M60's raked the structure. The next rockets tore into the building destabilizing portions and starting a collapse. The machine guns sent bursts into any opening. The massive wards around the building collapsed. They hadn't planned on muggle projectiles which passed the wards easily. Evidently the destruction of the building had led to the collapse of the wards. So far they were just destroying an old building. The last rounds of rocket fire were to start the place burning.
Albus shouted "We have attempted apparitions and a single unsuccessful portkey attempt.
A few spells came from the Manor, quickly silenced by the return massed fire of the wizards, the machine guns and rockets. A group of wizards erupted from the building with shields at maximum and broke for the forest close to that side. Order wizards used massed fire from cover, they were behind massive transfigured blocks of marble, volleys of blasting hexes curses tore the Death Eater shields down then the M60s shredded the Death Eaters. The Death Eaters fell in a line from the edge of the Manor headed to the forest and ward boundaries. They had been unable to launch a spell due to the amount of incoming fire. While the one group with shields was dying a single file of Death Eaters, disillusioned, crawled carefully towards the edge of the Orders wards.
Hermione called Potters Field using her cell phone for a close watch on the area to track apparitions from anywhere close to their current position. She was thinking escape tunnels at this point. Moody nodded at her.
A mixture of gun and spell fire erupted on the far side of the Manor. One of the disillusioned had gotten close to the edge of the wards but was seen. A Mad Muggle had opened up with a 12 gauge auto-loading shotgun at an odd looking ripple on the grass near him and done some serious damage to a leg and back. The Death Eater had cast a cutting curse and apparated away. A Mediwitch was with the Muggle almost immediately and had him stabilized and was refilling him with blood replenishers. He would make it. The rest of the crawlers got outside the wards and apparated away. At least five of Riddle's inner circle had escaped.
One arm around Hermione, Harry waited for what he knew had to happen. Riddle wouldn't let this pass unopposed. The Heavy teams went back to collapsing the building with fire and explosion.
Harry's scar exploded with pain as he cinched Hermione tight and called for Albus. "Headmaster, he is trying to get to my mind, I want to have your help please, guide Hermione and yourself into my mind NOW." Harry opened his mind on the nod of the Headmaster and it became very crowded in his skull. Riddle crashed in with a growl of triumph, Dumbledore and Hermione eased in and stood with Harry.
Riddle had possessed Barty Crouch and was about to try to switch to Harry. "Hello Tom, you came back faster than I had thought you would. How was limbo?" "I will possess you Potter and then I will possess the world." "Look around you Tom, your house is on fire and collapsing on you, you dare not come out of it. Albus has it warded, you can't get away. We have killed most of the Death Eaters that have tried to leave the building Tom. I do hope you have called for more of your Death Eaters, it would make the whole thing so much tidier." Harry knew Riddle had called. Albus pulled back a little. Harry hoped to call for an eye to their rear. Harry felt his full focus return. "How do you keep coming back Tom? What ties your twisted loathsome ass to this world?" "Potter you will die at my hands, and soon. After I break you with the torture of your Mudblood whore. Perhaps I shall force you to torture her. Allow Lucius and Bella to play with her for a while. So many ideas." Harry felt his anger shaking him. He burned to lash out at the filth he felt in his mind. "Remember Harry we are trying love this time not anger." Harry nodded at Hermione and regained control, he was still angry, but focused now. "Well Tom, lets get this over shall we? I am going to kick you out of my brain and follow you to the former Barty's brain and fry that. Ready?"
Harry leaned over to Hermione and kissed her, looking deep into her eyes, both in his mind and the physical world. On both planes he told her he loved her. He opened his heart and poured out to her his feelings for her, and for Albus. He pulled Riddle to him while doing so. Riddle screamed and his avatar began to smoke, he began to burn.
Tom wrenched himself free and fled, Harry in pursuit. "This is what it's like for humans Tom. You can have this, all you have to do is penance. Make some amends, try to atone for your crimes. Can you feel it Tom? It's love. Can you feel it? Harry crashed into Barty Crouch's mind. He was in the basement of the Manor, in an hardened room, on the floor screaming. A trapdoor gaped beside him. Harry felt Hermione in him. He kissed her again. He thought of his parents and Sirius and the Weasleys. He thought of Dobby and Winky. He formed those feelings within a magical binding and pushed it from his heart to young Crouch in the basement of the Manor. "I am sorry for your life Barty, your mother did love you and you knew that. So did your father in a way. This is what it all means Barty, this in your heart now." "HE IS DEAD POTTER THIS HUSK IS MINE" Harry sensed it was true. "Tom now it's time for you to leave your new home." Harry concentrated as he had never before, gathered as much magical force and as much love as he had, felt that power joined by Hermione's love and her magic and the enormous amount of magic and love Albus had in him. They bound the love with magic and sent it again to Crouch. He exploded. They all felt just a single pulse of joy, of release, as the body died. Barty had died knowing love, escaping a slavery so profound he would never have found himself again. He may have been headed for hell but now at least he knew why.
Over the burning Manor a spirit formed in the smoke and flame. Riddle was hunting for a body again. The soul had seconds before it was forced to the place of shadows. Albus sensed it and sent an ancient curse for the banishing of demons. The shade paused, frozen, then faded, banished to the shadow lands.
The teams began to put out the fires. Harry wanted to reach the room where Crouch lay. He was staggering and sweating now, almost completely exhausted by his efforts, his magic almost gone. "Headmaster can you apparate us to Crouch? His body? Harry and Hermione folded one another into a hug and the Headmaster wrapped them in his arms. They arrived in the basement room.
Crouch lay dead, looking as if he had taken a killing curse, unmarked. His expression was one of peace rather than the terror that contorted the features of those hit with an Aveda Kedavera. He was unwounded. Hermione stilled herself and tried to sense the magic in the room, looking for traps or wards. She sensed a malignancy close by, somewhere on Crouch was a concentrated evil. "Harry, Professor, whats wrong with Crouch's body? There is evil still in him." Like hunting dogs, they scented around the room. Albus with his vast experience narrowed in on the danger. "It's his ring."
Harry knelt and turned Barty's hand over to expose the face of the ring. It was a large gold man's ring with a square black stone, a crudely cut design on the face of the stone. A triangle enclosed in a circle with a vertical slash through the center.
Albus gasped and shuffled towards the body, reaching for the ring. His hand trembled and his eyes were glazed. Hermione pulled on him. "Professor, what are you doing sir?" The Headmaster wrenched his arm free of her grasp and leaned down to grab Crouch's arm. Hermione's stunner knocked him aside, tumbling Harry and Albus to the floor. "Mione! You stunned Dumbledore! What the bloody hell?"
"Harry something isn't right about this, I can feel it. The Headmaster was acting out of control, he didn't seem to hear. How did Riddle find Crouch? How did he take him over? I don't think we should touch that ring. Oh Harry I'm in so much trouble."
Harry studied her carefully. "Right then Mione, we don't touch it." Potter paled then steeled himself and used a severing charm to cut the finger free of the body. They both shuddered with revulsion. Harry looked to Hermione for forgiveness, finding it. "It's the safest way Harry, disgusting but safe." Harry transformed a splinter of wood to a box and edged the finger into the box. Hermione preformed the stasis and locking charms, Harry pocketed the box and enervated the Headmaster.
Dumbledore's first concern was the ring, he looked at Crouch's hand, saw the finger gone. A spasm of anger flashed on his face and a bit of disappointment. He took a deep breath and nodded. "You were very wise Miss Granger. That is a temptation I must not be exposed to, it is evidently beyond me to resist it. Shall we see whats to be done outside?" They formed again for apparition and were squeezed to the edge of the clearing.
Most of the fire was out, Moody was in command of the scene. "Albus there were many, about twenty, apparitions to the area. The ones who came in later were here no longer than a minute. I think they saw smoke and fire, sensed he was gone, and decided that today was not the day. Some earlier ones started to form up back in the trees, two of the muggle weapons teams had good lines of fire and let them have it. They are sorting the remains, a few apparated away. No deaths on our side. Medical is at their rally point now. Two survivors, McNair and Knott. Dead number five so far." Harry prayed that somewhere in the dead was the body of Lucius Malfoy.
The Headmaster nodded. "May I see the survivors?" Moody led them to the captives, bound to medical stretchers, being attended to by the med team. Albus pulled back the left sleeve of their robes. The Dark Mark was just visible, a faint shadow on their skin. The headmaster and his students moved away from the pointless cursing of McNair and Knott.
Ron came to them with Remus and Tonks. "Where any bodies found in the house?" "No Headmaster, we have yet to complete the search, but nothing yet." "You will find Barty Crouch Jr. in the basement in a hardened room. Be very careful in your efforts to open that room. I suggest Bill Weasley for the operation. Alastor, Ronald, your strategy was genius, we defeated Lord Voldemort again with no loss of life, drove off his inner circle, again with no loss of life, while killing or capturing several of them. Your plan and it's execution was inspired. Alastor I wish you to provide command training to young Mr. Weasley, should you fall or should we be fighting on two fronts, we will need his abilities." The Headmaster hugged Alastor. "It has been a long time since the Light has had such a victory, congratulations old friend. Secure the scene from both the Ministry and the muggles and sift the wreckage for clues. We have recovered an artifact that may tell us about Voldemort's ability to return over and over. We will keep you informed. Please tell everyone what a fine job they did. Put McNair and Knott someplace safe from everyone but the Order. Do not let them escape. Remove their marks. I will question them later." Moody grinned like a kid at Christmas when he was told to remove the marks.
His staff nodded and moved out. "Harry, Hermione please return to Grimmauld Place, I am sure Dobby and Winky would be happy to provide transport." The elves appeared next to them scaring the crap out of Harry and Hermione much to the Headmaster's amusement. Winky was quite prim "It is our task to protect you, we must stay near to do that." "Pop us to Headquarters guys." The four were gone. Albus turned back to the scene. So much had happened so near here, the killing of Riddles parent and grandparents, the cemetery fight at the beginning of summer, and now this incarnation at the manor.
Albus hoped their luck would last. He didn't expect it. They had arrived quickly with new tactics and weapons in the middle of the Death Eaters rallying. His teams had hit extremely hard and fast. The new weapons were almost totally responsible for the victory once the fighting started. Had it been wizard to wizard the result would have been much much different. He began to plan on improving response times and furthering the development of the advanced weapons teams research. He needed to talk to the MI spies.
To much to do, always to much to do. School began the next day, and a major investigation into Riddles ability to overcome the death of his body was overdue. The support and monitoring of Potters Field and the Mad Muggles was a full time job. There was the careful investigation of a major battle scene. To much to do.
Everyone was tasked with an after action report due the next day to Moody.
Molly had the kitchen at Grimmauld running at full throttle, putting hearty stews and soups on the table. Firewhiskey and a fine single malt passed around the group as many looked into the distance trying to come to terms with the humans they had blown apart, the bodies shredding under high explosives, and 30 caliber machine gun bullets. The Mad Muggles were toasted for their courage and calm under fire. Ted Johnson, the Muggle shotgunner who had been cut open, was resting in the small infirmary upstairs surrounded by his squad mates, muggle and magical. Slowly the teams returned to their bases, serviced their gear, cleaned up and headed to their homes.
Harry and Hermione were together in the library meditating. Hermione had not seen violence at that level before. The scale of the fighting was new to Harry. They fought to find a meditative center that wasn't blood spattered. Neither would succeed that day. Dobby and Winky appeared with trays of food for them. "Where is yours Sargent?" Dobby gave a tired smile and two more place settings appeared. Ron and Ginny wandered in with trays.
They settled into a comfortable silence. Ginny had seen the faces and her initial anger at not being able to fight was tempered by the looks in the fresh blooded warriors eyes. She was a young lady of unusual empathy, she would wait to feel what they were feeling. Slowly they started to discuss the next day and the train to Hogwarts. Harry and Hermione were of course packed. Hermione would be returning to her parents house this evening after dinner to be with them before the start of term. She would floo to Grimmauld for the journey to Kings Cross. The Weasley's would be as late as ever to the everlasting annoyance of their mother. They finished their food, and looked at one another, shuffling their feet and glancing around. Hermione finally said it. "I am so glad we all made it. It could have been horrible without the Mad Muggles." Heavy sighs agreed with her. She hugged them all and promised to see them in the morning. Green flame roared in the fire and she was gone, Winky popped after her. Harry nodded, shook everyone's hand and hugged Ginny. "See you in the morning guys. Be interesting to see what the ferret does tomorrow." Laughter was there but muted. The Weasleys flooed to the Burrow.
Harry headed to the kitchen to tell Remus and Sirius he was going to bed. He listened to the men chatting about Quidditch and football, their kids and what a long day it had been. He told them all what a wonderful job they had done, what a crushing defeat they had handed Lord Voldemort and how it had been the Mag Muggles that had made that possible. All the wizards there agreed. Had it not been for the Heavy Weapons Teams, the Order would have been caught between a fortified Manor and a large force to their rear. Not a good battle plan.
Harry climbed the stairs to face a new set of nightmares involving high velocity projectiles and human flesh. He was a long time falling asleep.