a/n: Thank you for the wonderful reviews and the delightful feedback in general! You definitely make it worth writing. This one is going to be painful and violent and well, its big. Enjoy!

Chapter 25

It had taken a few minutes for Voldemort's army to notice the wards were down and those few minutes were all Harry had needed to take them by surprise. It seems that it didn't matter that they were attacking a school; the Death Eaters hadn't actually been expecting anyone to put up much of a fight. It was all the sweeter knowing that some of the last moments those Death Eaters had were filled with fear of children.

A group of seventh years led by Emmy blew the front doors open – literally. The unexpected assault from the inside sent wood and stone hurtling into a crowd of surprised Death Eaters and before they had a proper chance to recover Emmy led the charge out of the castle and onto the grounds. Spells were flying, launching into the dust-covered group and knocking down witches and wizards before the smoke had cleared.

Emmy's group kept on moving, pushing the Death Eaters back until they had formed a semi-circle around the gaping hole where the front doors of the castle should have been. She would see to it that no one made it through her ranks, even if it meant dying. They had a castle to protect, a castle filled with mostly innocent children.

Something hard slammed into her right shoulder and she felt a strange numbness spread down her arm to the very tips of her fingers. She yelled in pain, fingers spasm and nearly causing her to drop her wand. She grabbed it from her suddenly slack fingers and started firing spells left-handed. Her accuracy might not have been spot on but she would not stop now.

Other people were screaming, some of them were her fellow students; most of them were Death Eaters. The Hufflepuff to her right fell suddenly, legs folding under him like jelly. Before she even had the chance to cry for aid a house elf was there, hand landing on the boys shoulder and disappearing with a sharp crack. A heartbeat later a fifth year Ravenclaw was taking his place.

Someone lunged at her out of the crowd of swarming Death Eaters, she only caught a glimpse of fiery red hair before she was tackled to the ground. Her right arm useless, she couldn't get the force needed to shove the thing off her. A blast of spell fire from her left sent her attacking flying and then a hand was reaching down to grip her shoulder and haul her to her feet.

Something warm was dribbling down her neck but she didn't want to risk raising her one good hand to her neck to check the damage. Another glimpse of her attacker told her all she needed to know about the wound on her neck and she set fire to the creature's robes.

'A vampire?' she demanded of no one in particular. 'A freaking vampire!'

She didn't think any of Lupin's classes on dark creatures had prepared her for actually getting attacked by a real live vampire. But she didn't have time to think about that. Ducking under another curse she started firing Snape's slashing curse over and over again into the crowd.

Screams and blood; that was the backdrop of battle, that was the scene that would play over and over in her nightmares for years to come.

When the Seventh year next to her fell, she knew there was no chance of him getting back up.

Molly Weasley was not a killer. She was a mother, though, and as a mother she would fight to the death to protect her own.

When the first Death Eater fell at her hands, the spell slamming into his back before he even knew she was there, she had felt remorse. The second one had her feeling guilt. The third Death Eater she killed she felt only fury. A blind rage took over and she slammed an Unforgivable into the laughing man with so much force that he was thrown backward even as his heart stopped.

She had no time for tears only anger and the need to protect those of her children who still lived.

She could not afford to look to the ground where Percy lay dead beside her, glasses askew, wand frozen in stiff fingers.

Stephanie had never been a fan of trolls. There was an incident in her first year summer holidays that no one ever talked about but it was safe to say that she would never again be able to think of trolls without shivering.

Of course, that was before she'd come face to face with one on the lawns at Hogwarts. This particular beast had lumbered around the green houses and simply walked through the ranks of Death Eaters trying their luck with the side of the castle. It didn't seem to care whether it was taking out Death Eaters or students with its club.

One of the fourth years she was directing took a solid hit to the chest that sent him careening back into the castle wall. Even over the sounds of battle and the screams of spells and the dying, Stephanie heard the sounds of bones breaking. He would never see another day at Hogwarts, never see another fight or a game of Quidditch, he'd never get to kiss a girl or experience love.

Rage churned inside her and she snagged another of her team to work with her to take on the troll. A third grabbed them both by the backs of their shirts and pulled them back, sending them tumbling to the ground, just as something huge fell from the sky.

When Stephanie got to her feet all that was left of the troll was a flat mess of blood and gore squashed into the grass beneath a huge chunk of the castle wall. Looking up she imagined she could see a big hairy face smiling down at her surrounded by first years.

Maybe thinking about trolls wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sirius and Ruby stood back to back, working together perfectly to keep the circle of Death Eaters at bay. There was no time for sarcastic comments or witty banter. There was no time for fear or bravery; there was only time to fight, to think about the next spell, the next move.

Sirius ducked under a spell, feeling Ruby crouching with him before she rolled across his back in a move that looked practiced but had occurred purely on the fly. Her leg kicked out and she knocked out a few of a Death Eater's teeth before slamming a spell into a different Death Eaters face. The sounds of his screams became the soundtrack to the fall of the next few Death Eaters.

Then Remus was there, fighting his way through the throng of Death Eaters with Tonks at his side. Sirius' oldest friend had a snarl on his face that was almost wolfish and he was putting down more Death Eaters with what seemed like decades worth of repressed anger and resentment than Sirius had ever seen from his fiend.

The two shared an animalistic smile, the last the pair would ever have the chance to.

When Remus fell, the sound that emerged from Sirius' lips was much more animal than human.

He deserved nothing less than an Order of Merlin First Class for this. Propped against the side of the broom shed in a puddle of his own blood, Jesse had his wand gripped tightly in one hand while the other clutched desperately around his thigh in a failing attempt to stem the flow of blood.

He'd known the instant the spell had hit him that he wouldn't be getting up any time soon. Whatever it was the bitch had hit him with had severed an artery; the blood spurt alone had almost made him heave. Instead he'd allowed the Creevey brothers to drag him to a point of relative safety where he'd pulled himself into a sitting position and begun to pick off passing Death Eaters one by one.

His vision was starting to blur around the edges and it was becoming harder and harder to lift his wand. His spells were hitting Death Eaters low, most of them being hit in the knees or thighs and with his good leg propped up and his free arm propped on top that was about the only place he could hit as they darted by.

Colin grunted beside him, cradling his younger brother to his chest as he fired spell after spell. Jesse didn't think he'd even realised his brother was dead. Not that he though it would change the desperate way he hung on.

Something hot and purple shot passed his nose and the place where Colin had been erupted into shards of glass. As consciousness escaped his grasp, Jesse could only wonder what the hell kind of spell turned someone to glass and shattered them into a million pieces.

At least the brothers had died together.

Ron and Daphne burst into the fight, desperately searching for any sign of whoever was in possession of the Gryffindor sword. They knew Harry didn't have it but neither of them had been around to find out whom Harry had ordered to retrieve it.

Scanning the grounds, Daphne pointed sharply toward Hagrid's hut. Squinting Ron could just about make out Neville swinging the sword with surprising precision as he protected a group of house elves tending to some wounded students. Each wraith the sword touch seemed to shrink in on itself before vanishing in a pinprick of light.

Muttering about the sword being so damn far away, the couple began to fight their way across the grounds to the only weapon they knew of that could destroy the diadem tucked safely away in Daphne's cloth pouch. Ron hadn't even had time to giggle over the image of Voldemort wearing a tiara.

The path to Neville was filled with the fallen bodies of Death Eaters and students. Spells were flying from every direction and there was a chance that they'd be hit by friendly fire and not just the wild spells cast by Death Eaters.

Daphne leapt over the fallen body of a troll – no time to go around – and whipped a spell at a ghoul that had made to leap out from under the fallen body. Ron finished it off as Daphne kept running, it was about the only time she'd ever let him act as bodyguard but she was carrying something far too important to worry about reminding him she was strong enough on her own.

Ron swatted away a curse using the spelled sleeve of his dragon hide jacket, sending the yellow spell into the back of an unsuspecting Death Eater who was bending over a fallen student about to render the final killing blow.

'Down!' Daphne shrieked and his body obeyed automatically. A good thing, too, as the boulder that flew over his head was unlikely to have been something so easily put off by a last minute spell.

'Fuck,' he swore, launching to his feet and slashing his wand sharply, directing a cutting curse across the throat of the troll who had just tried to squash them. Blood sprayed across the pair but they continued their sprint across the grounds toward Neville.

A sudden roar went up among the Death Eaters and for a moment Daphne and Ron stilled. The tumultuous roar of triumph was a cheer of support that could mean only one thing. Voldemort had arrived and that meant that Nagini wouldn't be far behind.

'One at a time!' Daphne hissed back at him, as though she could read the temptation on his features despite the fact that running ahead of him meant she couldn't actually see his face. It was scary how well she knew him sometimes.

Six dead Death Eaters, two dark creatures and a deep gash to Ron's cheek later they were leaping through the fading smoke of the last wraith to arrive at Neville's side.

'Here!' Daphne practically shouted, pulling out the pouch and shaking the contents onto the grass. 'Stab the tiara!'

Neville had come a long way from the forgetful round boy Ron had first encountered on the Hogwarts Express, he didn't even stop to question it, just lunged forward, driving the tip of the blade into the peak of Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem. The tiara broke apart releasing a moaning cloud that dissipated into the air.

'Two to go,' Ron murmured.

'Let's go get us a snake,' Daphne agreed.

Ron took the sword from Neville and turned to dart back into the fight. He had no idea how they were supposed to find one small snake in all of this but they had to try. Finding Voldemort was obviously their next step. It was easier if they didn't think about what that meant for Harry.

Harry was going toe to toe with what remained of Voldemort's inner circle. He thought. It was a little bit hard to tell what with the masks they insisted on wearing and the fact that Harry and his friends had already killed quite a few of them. Whoever was under the mask was putting up a hell of a fight that was for sure.

Harry was stronger, though, and faster. It was only a matter of time before one of his spells hit home and the Death Eater crumpled to the grass. He didn't stand around to enjoy his victory; he charged a pack of werewolves who seemed to be of the same ilk as Greyback had been. Their spells and actions were just as feral as could be expected. Despite the lack of the full moon to drive them to shift they were perfectly content to feast on the flesh of fallen students.

It was a sickening sight to see, an end that no one should have to face.

Harry took a great deal of pleasure from destroying those werewolves who gave people like Remus a bad name. He doubted any of the kids Tonks was housing at Grimmauld place would ever consider being like that, not if they were shown kindness and compassion that had previously been lacking from the magical world.

He caught a glimpse of red hair out of the corner of his eye and a second later he could see Ron, Sword of Gryffindor in hand, charging across the battlefield toward the area where the cheers and shouts had originated when Voldemort had arrived. Harry knew by the way his best friend was charging through the fighters that he would make it to Voldemort before Harry could dispatch with the werewolves.

He would just have to get there as soon as he could and occupy Voldemort while Ron and Daphne took care of Nagini.

Twin redheads and a blonde suddenly burst through the ranks of the pack and George nodded over toward his younger brother, 'Go!' he shouted.

Harry barely took the time to nod before he spun on his heel and tore after his best friend. He trusted the Weasley twins and Abby to handle the werewolves.

He could have flamed straight to Ron's side but running afforded him a better view of what he was charging into and gave him the chance to kill a few people on the way. He blew apart a brother and sister and launched over their fallen bodies. The sight that greeted him made his heart stop and for a moment time seemed to slow down.

There was Ron, sword swinging down to bring an end to Nagini as Daphne battled a vampire. There was the unmistakable flash of green careening toward Ron's unprotected back.

There really was no need for thought. After all, what better way to die than protecting your friend and saving the world?

He flamed, putting himself between Ron's back and the deadly spell in the space of a heartbeat.

His last thoughts were filled with hope for the future.