Sorry for the long wait everyone...it's the holidays~~

He felt it for weeks now. It was a pulling in the back of his mind – like someone was standing behind him but if he looked no one was there. It wasn't a bad feeling, either. It was like a presence of someone trustworthy; someone who brought hope.

He would take a moment now and then to focus on the feelings the pull brought to him when it was particularly strong. The sun had never warmed his skin as much as this; the smell of food never tingled his nerves as greatly. If he was alone when the pull began, he would stop whatever he was doing and close his eyes. Lord Voldemort had never wished for such feelings before, but these feelings – for whatever reason they were here – he wished would stay forever.

He wondered why he felt that pull now, when he was so busy doing other things.

Those weeks ago when a mysterious thief stole Gringotts' dragon, Voldemort hadn't thought much about it. But now that same white dragon had been spotted on the border of his horcrux hideout with a rider on its neck. His sources told him that the same white dragon was here at Hogwarts, so here he had come…come to do something about it.

They'd been waiting an hour for the snow squall surrounding Hogwarts to settle enough for them to enter. It obviously was still strong – wind, sleet, small tornados of snow lifting off the ground. From where Voldemort and his thirty Death Eaters stood outside Hogwart's main gates, Hogwarts' lights were just visible. Of course, this was not a real storm – Voldemort recognized that though this was a feat not any ordinary wizard could accomplish, Dumbledore could.

Voldemort had come with one intention, so he couldn't let the feelings of longing that grew in his chest, and into what was left of his heart, keep growing; he was busy…busy attempting to kill the dragon and dragon rider.

But that dragon rider wasn't alone in this; couldn't be. The fact Dumbledore was using him – whoever he was – made Voldemort's blood boil.

He stood now with his Death Eaters all around him – but with a good deal of space between them and him for his own comfort. Voldemort pointed his wand at his own throat and loudened his voice.

"I know you were behind this, Albus Dumbledore! And I want you to hand over the man with the dragon RIGHT NOW!"

A twinge of pleasure passed through him as he knew he must have caused chaos within the school. If he could have entered the premises he would have, but Hogwarts' wards were too strong for that.

The real situation had begun, now, and though he wanted to hold onto the wonderful twanging feeling, it was too distracting. He pushed that pull away from him, and focused on what Dumbledore would do now.

…

Harry was on the floor with Hagrid leaning over him when he was freed from the connection. It was just like how it happened those thousands of times before: Voldemort would have him sucked into his mind, and then he would burst to life from it like a flailing child. The world around him would be the cage, and Voldemort's mind would be the terrible freedom from it.

Hagrid was leaning over him protectively when Harry emerged. The sight of the great half-giant's face above him was shocking; this world wasn't the cage he knew.

"Yeh okay?" Hagrid asked urgently.

Harry nodded, but couldn't speak. He turned his head to the side where all the noise was coming from, and saw the children of Hogwarts being ushered out of the Great Hall by teachers and the older students. The Great Hall doors were wide open, and Harry saw that also the Entrance Hall doors were open, allowing snow and the chilly wind to flow in. Lined up by that doorway was Dumbledore and many of the other teachers. Harry saw a fleeting glance of Severus Snape – looking back at him – before he left the Great Hall.

The Gryffindors would be without its Prefects, though, because James and Lily were kneeling by his side.

Harry wanted to call her his mother, and he wanted to call James his father, but he just couldn't; it would break the charade.

"Lily…James…" He muttered instead.

"He's okay!" Lily gasped, clutching James's arm.

James asked, "What happened to you?"

Harry was going to respond with a lie, but Dumbledore interrupted him with his booming voice, responding to Lord Voldemort.

"Leave this school now, Voldemort! You cannot have the man!"

Harry's heart suddenly jumped in his chest.

"You're using him for disgraceful gains, Dumbledore! Could you not have done on your own what you ordered him to do?"

Harry swallowed hard. Of course Voldemort would think Harry was Dumbledore's all along. But where Dumbledore thought he was Voldemort's…that's where the trouble was. Harry had to find a way to stop this. Voldemort couldn't have the chance to say anymore!

Harry was up like a bolt of lightning. He left James, Lily, and Hagrid kneeling on the floor, stumbled at first, and then ran as fast as he could through the final throng of students – past Snape – and up to the open doors facing the snow storm.

Dumbledore looked behind him just as Harry was coming up, and caught him by the shoulders to stop his rush.

"Out of my way!" Harry shouted.

Dumbledore couldn't speak or Voldemort would hear. He pushed Harry back, though, and Harry stumbled several steps away.

"He has powers I don't, Tom…" said Dumbledore, looking at Harry stumble evilly. "He has powers you don't, either! Whoever taught him…taught him well."

Harry looked all around at the teachers blocking his way. They were powerful and they'd protect the school to the end. He had to get out, though. Voldemort was here and Harry had so many defenses on his side…and Nhesher up above. But he didn't have a wand.

"He needs to pay for what he did! Him and that dragon!" Voldemort said.

Harry turned on his feet and saw James and Lily by the doors, and he ran back to them. In the corner of the room he saw some students still – older students. Sirius; Remus, and more…and Snape.

Harry reached them and held out his hands to James. "Give me your wand!"

James was perplexed by him, but Lily wasn't. She handed her wand over.

"What are you going to do?" She asked him.

"Kill him," Harry whispered, and he reached out and brushed her bangs aside, and then he felt her warm cheek. He'd been wanting to touch her, and how was his chance. He had never seen eyes quite like hers – what he saw in the mirror weren't the same as everyone said.

Behind him, Dumbledore said to Voldemort, "Even if he came out, do you really think you could kill him?"

Harry didn't know if he could kill him – really kill him, and not just turn him into a shadow of his formal self – but luckily there was someone with that sort of knowledge here. Slughorn had given young Tom Riddle the idea to break his soul to gain immortality, and though Harry never held it against the man, now he needed to know more.

Harry turned around and sought out the teacher next to Dumbledore.

"Slughorn!" Harry shouted, jogging back to them. "Is it possible to destroy Voldemort if only two of his horcruxes still exist?"

"Horcruxes?!" The potion teacher breathed in alarm.

"Don't doubt my ability, Dumbledore! Send the dragon rider out, or face the consequences!" Voldemort shouted wickedly.

Dumbledore shook his head, looking grim-faced at Harry.

Harry came up and said wildly, "Merlin's body and soul died with one horcrux left – he might die with so many of his gone!"

The other teachers were in the dark as to what it all meant, but they followed the conversation with dire interest. They gripped their wands tightly – ready for anything.

Slughorn did as he had done when Harry needed medicine those weeks ago for Nhesher – he got right to the point. "How many are destroyed?

"Four already; is it possible he'll die with only two left?"

Slughorn was trembling minutely as he thought, but finally he could only shake his head with doubt.

Dumbledore gave up negotiations with Voldemort, considering now he needed to negotiate from within. He quieted his voice. "No, Harry!"

"Now's our chance to get him!" Harry declared, holding up Lily's wand in his fist.

Dumbledore grabbed Harry's arm with the wand and pulled it from him. Harry fought but couldn't get it back, and Dumbledore pushed him back into the room.

"You're not leaving, Harry!" And then he said the absolute worst thing he could to Harry. He said, "If you kill him now, you'll only fall into darker power! And if given the choice of having you or Lord Voldemort as the Dark Lord…I'd choose him!"

It was like someone poured ice cold water over his head. Harry very nearly lost all control.

He clawed at his face and screamed in fierce anger at Dumbledore – at the world.

"I'm not evil!" Harry screamed shrilly.

"Yes you are!" bellowed Dumbledore back. "The fact that you can't see it shows how darkly your spirit has become!"

Hot, dirty ash filled Harry's mouth, as it so often did when he lost control of his voice and started growling. He clutched at his stomach, because it was twisting in pain. His hands wanted to reach forward and shred whatever they came into contact with. He couldn't do anything, though. He couldn't run – Dumbledore would stop him; he couldn't beg – he'd be thought pitiful.

Harry did the only thing left to him to do, then. He looked up at the snow storm above everyone's heads, and he screamed with every ounce of himself into the night with a forty foot stream of red hot fire and ash emitting from his mouth. All the teachers in front of him took cover, and everyone behind him jumped in fright.

Harry's scream laced with dragon-speech reached the ears of his dragon watching the front gate from the tower.

"Nhesher! Burn the humans!"

Harry took a breath, ending the fire. He stood with his whole body sagging weakly, and there was a moment of silence.

And then the dragon's roar shook the very earth – wobbling window glass and reverberating through everyone's bodies. As it roared, a jet of fire spread across the sky at lightning speed, and in a second it was burning the front gate of Hogwarts.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters dispersed like ducks on a pond, but they weren't gone.

"You're going to pay for that, dragon!" Voldemort's voice was loaded with reproach.

Harry seethed and yelled back, "Bring it on!"

Dumbledore was in his way, but this time Harry wasn't going to be pushed back. With a running start, he brought his hand back and it collided into Dumbledore's jaw. As he kept running, he yelled, "That's for calling me evil!"

Dumbledore held his jaw, but like the rest of them, his eyes were dragged into the sky where Nhesher descended with its wings wide open.

Harry met the dragon by Hogwart's steps. Nhesher landed on four legs and with a smoking mouth. It looked into Hogwarts with glaring black eyes.

"Burn them all?" Nhesher asked Harry as Harry pulled himself up onto the dragon's neck.

"Burn all the evil ones!" Harry replied, and that was all Nhesher needed.

The great white dragon turned to face the burning gate, and it leapt into the air with a jet of flames already targeting a group of running Death Eaters…Death Eaters running onto Hogwart's grounds through the broken front gate.