I know I'm not very good at describing battles, but hey, at least it didn't take me two months again!

Oh yeah, I've been thinking of wirting two more stories from the same universe as this (or almost). One is a one-shot (probably) about how exactly Procyon and Orion got back to Hogwarts in chapter 18. The other is a sort of alternate ending to this story. Do you think I should actually try to write them?

Please, review. I like reviews :)

II(:

The Storm

'Calm down,' Regulus said, even though he didn't seem particularly calm himself 'Sirius, sit down. Procyon, take a deep breath and tell us what's going on.'

'There's no time for deep breaths,' the boy panted 'Death Eaters at Hogwarts!'

'What!'

'How did they get in here?'

'Dunno. Someone must have let them in,' Procyon said 'Come quickly,' he added 'We need help.'

'Where are they?' Sirius asked, as the two men stood up again and headed for the door 'How many? What's happening?'

'Just follow me,' Procyon said running out of the door 'And get your wands ready,' he added, taking out his own.

'Procyon,' Reg said 'You can't -'

'What? Go there and fight? The boy asked.

'You are fourteen years old,' Reg said 'It's a job for adults. It is not a game!'

'Harry is there,' Procyon pointed out 'And the Weasleys, and -'

'All right, all right,' Sirius agreed 'But do try not to get killed.' He hoped this might make the kid realize how dangerous the situation was, but it did not work.

They ran until they reached the hall that had become a battlefield. Most of the Hogwarts teachers and a few students were fighting against a large group of Death Eaters. Curses were flying in all directions, the place was a horrible mess and the Dark side seemed to be wining. Sirius didn't know what else he could do, so he joined in and fired a curse at the Death Eater who appeared to be trying to kill Harry. Regulus shouted something, but his brother couldn't hear it any more.

XXX

The situation was getting better now, since several members of the Order had arrived at the school and joined in the fight. Probably Reg had called them when Sirius was already dueling with a Death Eater. He had to admit that, despite having much less of the typically Gryffindor kind of courage, his brother was better at thinking logically in dangerous or stressful situations. Now they had a good chance of winning the battle.

XXX

As his opponent fell unconscious to the floor, Sirius looked around to see where his help was needed. What he saw was quite a nasty shock. Fenrir Greyback was approaching Procyon with a hungry look on his face. A moment later came another shock. Before Sirius had time to rise his wand and curse the werewolf, a man wearing Death Eater robes and mask ran over to the two of them.

'Get your filthy paws off the boy!' he said 'I'll deal with him.'

Why would it matter to a Death Eater? Sirius wondered.

'That's what you get for disobeying your father,' the man said to Procyon, pointing a wand at him. He was probably grinning under his white mask.

Sirius had no time to defend the child, though, as the werewolf decided to attack him instead. It happened so suddenly that Sirius didn't manage to keep him at a distance. Before he could do anything, they were wrestling. That was not good. The werewolf was bigger and much stronger than him and had much more practice in using his own teeth and nails as weapons. He never, however, seemed to use a wand. Sirius doubted he even had one. That was his only chance. If only he could get a few steps farther form him…

XXX

Sirius probably wouldn't have even noticed Snape running down the stairs from the tower and making his way through the crowd, dragging Draco Malfoy along, if the Potions Master hadn't ran straight into him.

'Watch it, Snivellus!' Sirius shouted, as his hex missed his opponent and accidentally burned a hole in McGonagall's hat. Then he glanced at Snape again. He and Malfoy seemed to be running away from something. A few moments later Sirius nearly collided with another person: Neville Longbottom.

'Where did he go?' Neville didn't even bother to apologize.

'Who?'

'Snape'

Sirius pointed in the direction where the Potions teacher had disappeared.

'What happened?' he asked.

Neville tried to explain something, but Sirius couldn't hear it through all the noise. He only understood the words 'Dumbledore', 'dead' and 'Snape'. What the boy had meant, he wasn't sure. When Neville started running again, apparently trying to catch up with the Potions Master and Malfoy, Sirius decided to run after him in case he was about to do something dangerous. Boy-Who-Lived or not, whatever he was up to, he'd better not do it alone. They left the fighting crowd behind, ran down a few flights of stairs. They reached the exit and ran outside into the night.

The night outside was dark and stormy, as though someone Up There wanted it to look even more dramatic. And done quite a good job. Flashes of lightning and curses seemed to be the main source of light. Near the forest Sirius could see an enormous figure fighting several smaller ones. So they had attacked Hagrid too. A few steps ahead Neville looked around in the darkness and saw Snape and Malfoy running across the grounds. He took a deep breath and continued running. Sirius followed him. He thought he could hear footsteps behind, as though someone was chasing him as well, but there was no time to look back. They had to catch up with Snape...

But Snape and Malfoy were too far away. And as soon as they reached the gate and got outside the Hogwarts grounds, the Potions Master grabbed Malfoy's arm and they Disapparated together. Neville stopped running and just stood there staring at the spot where they had been standing only a moment ago. Sirius ran to the spot and cast a tracking spell. Now that he knew where the two had gone, he could follow them. He concentrated on the place and was about to follow Snape when somebody jumped on him from behind. They disappeared together. Where, he did not know.

XXX

It could have been worse. Apparition accidents can be really dangerous, especially ones involving more than one person and a lack of proper concentration. He was quite sure he had not left any part of his body behind. They had only missed the spot. By a few miles or so. They were in the Department of Mysteries again. In the same room where all this madness had started! Sirius turned his head to see the masked Death Eater still holding on to him. It must have been the same one who had 'saved' Procyon from Greyback only to practice Unforgivables on the poor boy. Most of the others had not been wearing masks.

XXX

Sirius dodged another curse and made sure he was still facing the Veil. He wasn't about to make the same mistake again. He fired a curse at the masked Death Eater. He missed and it hit the arch. Another curse. And another. Whoever the man was, he was good at dueling. Finally Sirius managed to hit him with a hex. Right in the face. It would have injured the man quite badly if he wasn't wearing a mask. Sirius was just about to curse him again, when the mask fell off and revealed the Death Eater's face. Sirius stared.