Even the fact that it was now the middle of the night didn't account for how dark the familiar staircases and hallways had become. Black banners embossed with the sickly green Dark Mark hung from the landings above them, fluttering gently in a nonexistent wind and flanked by a pair of unfamiliar teachers in black robes. Death Eaters, he felt certain, from the way that they were sneering.

Despite being made clumsy on his wounded side Tom managed to poke him squarely in the wrist with his pinky. "Keep your head down and your eyes forwards." His voice was low enough that the regimented block of black and red that was Lion House on its way towards the Great Hall drowned it out from being overheard. "We can't have them seeing your pretty face and recognizing you prematurely."

Harry turned his head enough for the dark brunet to get a clear view of his smile and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. His palm was wet and sticky. He looked down; blood dripped from where their fingers had locked together. "Tom, your arm!"

"I'm fine!" He didn't look at him this time. "It's just a bit of blood; I'll have it seen to quickly in the Hospital Wing once we've secured the castle."

"That's a lot more than 'a bit of blood'" He protested. "Your entire arm is wide open. People kill themselves that way!"

"It's wrapped tight and I've taken a Blood Replenisher. I'll last." He said. "It isn't as if we can do much about matters right this moment anyway."

As much as it bothered him to know that the other wizard was actively bleeding onto the castle floor, so much so that the sleeve of the school robes he'd only just recently put on had begun to grow wet, he knew that Tom was right. Tenderly, cautious not to apply too much pressure, he ran the pads of his fingers along the coarse, damp fabric of the gauze wrapped around his wrist. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"A bit." Tom flinched as Harry's fingers ran over the covered gash. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry." He quickly dropped his hand back to where it had been before and he again entwined their fingers. It was strange to realize that he was entirely comfortable, or at least as close to entirely comfortable as one could be in such circumstance, covered it Tom's blood. Maybe that was part of being in love with someone. Maybe their relationship was a little bit twisted. "We're almost there."

"We are." He said.

"You're ready."

Tom looked down at him, then, his dark eyes betraying a tangle of emotions too complicated to make out. "I'm right behind you."

The doors of the Great Hall were just ahead now. The Death Eaters they'd seen back on the landing above them were walking down the stairs behind them, their forms low and slinking like monstrous hounds. Lion House was the last to arrive in the Great Hall; the other three Houses were already assembled into similar blocks of green and yellow and blue. In front of each House stood their Heads-McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick and Slughorn-and at the front of the room, now flanked on both sides by the two Death Eaters who'd since continued forward to the front of the room, was Snape.

The 'Head Master' was dressed entirely in black and Harry felt his hackles rise. Despite the pain it no doubt caused him Tom squeezed his hand. "Steady, love."

"I'm sure," Snape drawled, looking them all over, "that you're wondering why you've all been called here. In the middle of the night. The answer is…both simple and complicated."

Black eyes once more perused the room.

"Earlier tonight there was a…dragon-sized disturbance in Hogsmead Village. Whomever was behind it went on to break into the castle through one of the windows on the upper floor." He said. "There is only one person whom I can think of who could possibly be responsible for all of this."

Another, long, drawn out pause.

"If whomever is hiding Potter doesn't produce him immediately there will be severe consequences."

"No need for threats, 'Professor'." Harry put so much acid into his sneer that he almost burned his tongue off, stepping calmly into view. "I'm right here."

"And not alone." Tom strode out behind him, certain to keep his bone-white wand fully visible as Nagini revealed herself from where she'd been hidden wrapped about his chest. "But have I not always been the dark shadow to the Boy-Who-Lived, Severus?" The last word was spat in a cold susurrus which lanced through the room like a blade of keen ice and made all who heard it shudder. Tom had circled around Harry now and was slowly moving towards the front of the hall where Snape stood frozen. Menace poured off of him like smoke, so thick it almost distracted from the steady dripping of blood from his wounded arm. "You. Know. Who I am!" He hissed. "Your Lord, Severus. Your Lord at the very peak of his power!" Your Lord who is more protective of what he considers Precious than the dragon we rode in on. And you have made me very angry!"

Nagini hissed, rearing up from his shoulder and lashing out at the woman who'd attempted to draw her wand and curse him. She shrieked and fell. The man bellowed and flung himself at Tom only to be struck dead on by the Killing Curse; his body slid down the small flight of stairs.

Snape had begun to back away, black eyes focused on the rapidly approaching ruthlessly grinning predator, wand raised.

"What's wrong?" he purred, eyes glinting. "Rock and a hard place?"

The former Head of Slytherin House had not grown rusty over the course of his almost a year of being Head Master. His reaction time was as fast as Nagini's and Tom recoiled with a scream, more blood splattering the tile floor where the gash had been ripped wider. McGonagall was moving before Snape could cast again, driving the black clad Death Eater back from Tom until, at last, the man was forced to flee through the window in a column of the same black smoke he'd seen both the dark brunet and Voldemort fly on and a rain of broken glass.

"Tom!" Harry ran up to him, gently taking his shoulder and turning him around. His arm hung limp at the elbow, robe and shirt sleeve both torn, dripping copious amounts of blood onto the tile floor at his feet. "Merlin!"

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, but I need to get to my patient." Madam Pomfrey shuffled passed him. When she grabbed his arm Tom yelped. "Oh hush! You should have done more to properly treat your injury earlier; come here!"

"But we need to fortify-."

Tom was cut off by a razor sharp glare from the Healer as she began to drag him towards the corner of the Great Hall, the bag of medical supplies which floated behind he whacking him over the head for good measure. "The others can fortify just fine without you and your severed tendons. And I'll be finished in more than enough time for you to do a bit of help provided you back up and stop squirming."

Even worried as he was, Harry couldn't help but smile at the witch's manner and the helpless look Tom sent him despite the pain that he was in. That smile died quickly when Pansy Parkinson stepped forward and pointed at him.

"What are you all waiting for?" She shrieked. "Seize him! The Dark Lord will destroy the castle and kill us all if we don't!"

"That Dark Lord will probably do a lot worse if we even consider touching Potter." Someone shouted back from somewhere in the black and blue Ravenclaw block.

"Argus," McGonagall's lips were pursed pale as she glared at Snake House. The caretaker, whom Harry hadn't realized was standing in the room before, jumped in surprise. "I think that Horus' students ought to be shown to new quarters in the Dungeons. They ought to be safe there for the duration of this battle."

"Of course, uh," for a moment the man seemed to struggle regarding how to address her and then settle on "Head Mistress."

Half protesting loudly, half sending obviously fearful looks in Tom's direction, the occupants of Slytherin were herded out of the room, bound no doubt for the dungeons. Something told him it wouldn't be their common room that they'd be put up in.

It was a pity that Draco Malfoy was conspicuously absent. Knowing the arrogant ferret git was shivering in a cold dank cell would have been a good boost to his moral. Probably that of others, too.

Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione, still hidden in amongst the red and black of Lion House, and the two started towards him.

"Mr. Potter." He turned to face McGonagall as the other two reached where he stood. "Why have you come back here?"

"Because Voldemort hid the last thing we need to get rid of in order to be done with him for good here in the castle." He said. "We're going to destroy it, and him, once and for all."

His former Head of House and Transfiguration Professor nodded gravely. "There will have to be fortifications made. And, in the meantime, an evacuation. Anyone not at least in their fifth year should not remain behind. And I'd prefer it no one under age remains. You've some means through which to contact the Order?"

"We already have, Professor." Hermione said. "They should already have begun to arrive in the Room of Requirement."

"We can get people out the same way; the passageway in there leads straight to Hogsmead. And there's also the passageway into the Shrieking Shack." Harry said. "I'd suggest putting Tom in charge of division plans of battle. He tends to be good at coming up with that sort of thing and they tend to be just crazy enough to work."

"And what will you be doing, Mr. Potter?"

"Around the castle. There are a few more things we need to do before the battle starts in earnest if we're really going to kill Voldemort for good." Harry said. "We'll need to get into the Chamber in order to destroy the cup, and the diadem once we get it."

"I can get it open, Harry, if you want to stay and check on Tom." Ron said. Before Harry could point out the fact that his friend could not, in fact, speak Parseltongue the red head made a strangled choking sound and proceeded to explain "you talk in your sleep, mate. And not always in English."

He hadn't been aware that Parseltongue sounded like a choking goose to anything that wasn't a snake. "I'll be right behind you in case that doesn't work." He said. "Can I have the Map, Hermione. I think it's best that we leave it with Tom."

"I think you're right," Hermione dug around in her bag for a moment before producing the familiar parchment and handing it to him. "Here."

"Thanks."

"We'll see you in the Chamber, then?"

Harry nodded and the pair headed out of the Great Hall. With the map in hand the raven crossed the room to where the dark brunet was all but being force fed a Pain Potion, his mangled arm now properly closed bandaged and put into a sling.

"I'm fine!" He protested, almost sounding like a whine. "I can handle a bit of pain! I will not take anything which poses a risk of dulling my perceptions! It can't be afforded!"

"Well, if you're going to be so stubborn about it I suppose I'll let you suffer." The old healer huffed, ceasing her efforts at last. Tom looked quite relieved by the turn of events. Harry almost rolled his eyes, but was prevented from doing so when the witch turned to him and said "I would say I expect not to see you once this is all over, Mr. Potter, but experience says you'll be ending this year almost every other. In my Hospital Wing, if not in St. Mungo's" before shuffling away.

"Nice sling." He forced himself to grin.

Tom tried to smile back, but seemed to have about as much success. "It won't stop me from holding you," his good arm snaked out to wrap around the raven's waist and pull him close, "or from fighting."

"I wasn't going to ask you not to." He wanted to. Desperately. As he knew Tom wanted to do the same for him, even though it wasn't possible for him not to fight; Voldemort would see to that. Both of their answers would have been the same if either had asked, so both did each other the favor of avoiding the question. "Ron and Hermione are headed to the Chamber to destroy the cup and I was about to head out after them but figured I should give you the map first. It might help."

Tom took the offered parchment as best he could with his bound hand and nodded. "It will. Thank you." He said. "Take Nagini with you, when you go. Just in case. I know that you'll be with Ron and Hermione but in case something happens or you're separated…"

Harry nodded. "I will." He said. "We'll get the diadem and destroy it too once the Room is clear. The Professors have started fortifications and the students below fifth year, and those above who don't want to stay and fight are going to be evacuated soon. Planning is up to you, so just worry about that alright?"

"We each have our jobs to do." Tom said as Harry's fingers found his face, gently tracing the curve of his cheekbone. "And I will do mine, but my heart will be with you."

"And mine with you." He swallowed. "Tom-."

"Don't." The dark brunet pressed a gentle finger to his lips. Above them, the stars in the enchanted ceiling glittered. "Don't say goodbye." He pulled him closer and bent, resting his forehead against Harry's and closing his eyes. Tom's eyelids were pale, slightly bruised from the poor sleep schedule they'd all fallen into; Harry wanted to reach out and smooth them down. Feel them tremble beneath his fingertips. "This isn't goodbye, Precious. No matter what happens. Even if I die. I'll always be here for as long as you return to me, be it in body or in memory."

'The ones you love never truly leave you. You keep them alive through your memories. In here.' He'd heard that before, somewhere, but in the heat of the moment Harry couldn't remember who had said it.

"I'll always return to you." He could feel his lashes growing wet. "Always."

"And I to you." Tom released him, stepping back. "Always."

Recognizing the wordless cue to leave for what it was Harry pulled away from his partner, though it hurt to have to do it. With Nagini slithering after him and without turning away the raven retreated from the Great Hall. Not wanting to lose sight of the other wizard before he had to. Tom, too, seemed to feel the same and held his gaze until Harry rounded the corner and disappeared from sight.

"Riddle." He looked down. Ginny stood a few feet away, watching him with her arms crossed and her wand in hand. "Whatever orders you have start giving them. I can't speak to anyone outside of the DA, but we're all ready to follow them."

Evacuation. Fortification. Defense. Focus! Tom tapped the Map smartly with his wand and stated "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," before summoning a table and spreading it out on the top of it. "Send Creevey and some of the youngest members who are still able to remain to run in shifts to the Room of Requirement until everyone who's coming to reinforce us has arrived and everyone evacuating has gotten out."

"Alright." She said. "What else?"

"Have Neville and some of the seventh years running between the Professors; any help they need fortifying they lend."

"Is that all?"

"From you, for now. Dobby!" He didn't know if the elf would answer him, it would have been so much better to have Harry call him but he'd already left. Thankfully, with a loud crack, the bat-eared little creature appeared beside him.

"Harry Potter's boyfriend Tom Gaunt has called Dobby and Dobby was sure to come right away." The elf squeaked, ears flapping excitedly. "What is it that Tom Gaunt needs doing?"

"It's my understanding that you're the one responsible for taking all of Hermione's S.P.E.W clothing?"

Dobby nodded. "I am, Sir. None of the others wanted to clean Gryffindor common room after she started leaving them."

"She made both hats and socks?"

"Dobby isn't sure if they were meant to be socks, Sir, it's rather hard to tell but he isn't picky."

"I need those socks, Dobby. All that you have; at least enough to stick a number of them to every column of both the main bridge into Hogwarts and the secondary one." He said. "And I need tar, as well. And Taurisaz Runestones; you should be able to get them from the Ancient Runes Classroom."

"Dobby will get them sir. Right away." The elf popped away.

"Socks? Tar? Runestones?" Ginny asked, returning from delivering the dark brunet's orders. "What are you going to do? Ward off your older self with the power of smelly feet?"

"No. We're going to defeat my older self by using basic Muggle strategies of war." He said. "What is a castle, at its core? A fortress. Something built for the purpose of keeping armies, though perhaps not magical ones. That defense means nothing if we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed. So we're going to take out our front and bottleneck if it we fail. Drive the Dark Lord's army back across the chasm."

"That doesn't explain-."

"Sticky bombs. A relic of World War II but, then again, so am I to some degree." He said. "Muggles used them to blow the treads off of tanks and bring down bridges. And taking down bridges is precisely what we're doing." Another crack and the elf reappeared with the supplies. "Thank you, Dobby."

"Of course, Sir. Is there anything else that Dobby can do for Tome Gaunt sir?"

"Rally the elves. The other creatures in the forest that would stand with us as well. Hogwarts must be protected!"

With a deep bow Dobby disappeared once more.

"Help me, Ms. Weasley. We need these made as soon as possible." He grabbed a sock and a stone, dropped it inside, tied off the top and then dipped it into the pot of tar. "The Muggles would use fuses and C-4, but this will be much more forgiving for our efforts. The Runestones not only make it pack a considerably larger punch for its size, which should be enough to bring down the main bridge down the main bridge but make it simple to set it off at any time!"

"And when are you planning to set these off?"

"As soon as most of his forces are half way across the bridge." Tom said. "Send them all into the canyon."

"Things are going well with everything else." Ginny said, setting another band aside. "There's a massive shield spell up around the castle, all of the known secret passageways are being sealed off and McGonagall has used some sort of spell to set all of the statues and suits of armor in the castle marching."

"We'll all but certainly need them." Tom said. "Giants. Dementors. Werewolves. Inferi, possibly. Who bloody well knows what else. And all of that on top of the Death Eaters and Supporters. We're facing something almost insurmountable; with luck on our side, the confusion and shock of seeing Voldemort fall will turn that tide in our favor regardless."

"Harry tends to have luck on his side." Ginny said.

"Yes." Tom replied. "Let's hope that that holds out." Dropping the final bomb into the pile he stood up and shouted "everyone still here who's on a Quidditch team or even just has a broom I need your attention! Stick three of these to each column of the main bridge and one to each column of the secondary wooden one."

No one replied but a flurry of motion went up as those around them began to react to follow through on Tom's orders.

"Have we lost anyone in the DA to the evacuation?"

"No one important."

"Meaning Smith?"

She smirked. "What do you think?"

The dark brunet straightened up and went back to glance at the map but before he got a chance to he was jumped from behind by a familiar pair of red heads.

"Hey there, pointedly."

"We figured that we'd find you here."

"At the head of matters."

"The helm of things."

"You are just a wee tad bit controlling."

Rolling his eyes, Tom turned his head to look at the grinning twins. "I'm not going to justify my alpha personality to you."

Ginny snorted, but when she caught sight of who stood behind the pair and shifted her expression into a glare. "What's that bloody git doing here?"

Not having seen the red head with horn-rimmed glasses before, Tom tilted his head in confusion.

"Now now, little sister. Be nice."

"He's reconsidered his prattish ways."

"Has a brain after all."

"Oh," the dark brunet drawled, "you must be Percy."

"He is Percy." Fred confirmed. "Percy, Tom. Tom, Percy. Tom, this is our older brother. Percy, this is Harry's over protective boyfriend who reacts about as well to his 'Precious' being insulted or harmed as a rabid Blast-Ended Skrewt."

If Tom wasn't mistaken, that description had made the older Weasley very pale.

"He's also the Dark Lord before he went reptile, so that should let you know your prospects if you make him mad." Ginny looked far too pleased by the thought of her brother ending up on the wrong end of the snake, as it were. "Voldemort used to be a pretty boy."

"Yes, Ms. Weasley, thank you." Tom drawled. "Do you know who else is here or coming?"

"I know that, Mum and Dad are." George said. "Bill and Charlie too. Maybe Fleur as well."

"We saw Kingsley on the way in." Fred added. "And he said something about Tonks and Lupin coming."

"What?" Tom said. "Don't they have a child that's only a few months old? Perhaps younger, even?"

Both twins shrugged.

"Tom!" Cho was running towards them, hair flying behind her and broom in her hands. "Everythings in place with the bridges. The Death Eaters, they're all outside. Hundreds. We can see them on the other side of the barrier."

"Alright, thank you." He said. "Can everyone back in here; they're certain to start bombarding the barriers if they haven't already and something should be done to boost morale."

She nodded, taking off again. "I'll get them."

As Cho headed away Tom turned back to the twins. "I want the pair of you to listen to me because I'm only going to say this once, though I'd hope it's fairly obvious. Now is not the time for pulling pranks. It's a real battle. You shoot to kill. Or you don't shoot at all."

"We know that, mate."

"And keep your heads on straight. Keep a distance from windows."

The twins exchanged glances. "Why windows?"

"Because they're the weakest bloody part of a wall." Tom said, leering at Fred. "I don't want any one being crushed to death by debris."

"Well," Percy said somewhat stiffly, "I suppose we have that in common."

Tom grunted and turned away, back towards the Great Hall which had steadily filled with people. Adults and students alike. All looking up at him, watching his every move. There once would have been a time where such a thing would have struck him as the proper way of things, but now he felt as if he'd begun to understand Harry's aversion to being the center of attention. He must look less than inspiring, covering in his own blood with his clothing tattered and his arm in a sling before the fighting had even started.

Time to put his silver tongue to its proper use.

"Voldemort thinks we're weak. Broken and without real hope. Without a real leader now that Dumbledore has gone. He thinks that superior numbers and Dark Creatures will be enough to make us fall to our knees and surrender. That we'll roll over like a scared dog and allow him to go unchallenged in destroying everything we hold so dear about the world we love. How wrong they are!"

A brief pause to wet his lips. Find the right words. The hem of his Gryffindor robes fluttered sharp behind him with his sudden motion as he began to pace. The eyes of everyone in the room followed him.

"We will fight them on the grounds until the forest burns and the lake runs red! We will fight them in the courtyards and from the ramparts of the towers until the last spell is fired and when our magic runs dry we will crush their skulls with the stones that pave our castle's floor! We will fight them in the hallways and the classrooms until our knuckles are skinned and bloody and our wands lay on the ground shattered! And if we find ourselves surrounded and disarmed, wounded and without hope, drowning in puddles of our own blood, we will life our heads in defiance and spit in their faces! But we will never surrender, for there's no reasoning with a tiger when your head is in its mouth! There is no hope for us in this but victory or death!" In a sudden flurry of motion Tom thrust his wand upward with his good hand, the yew glittering in the low light like a white rapier. "For Magical Britain! For Hogwarts! For our freedom!"

The cry of "freedom!" was mimicked by the crowd, almost loud enough to drown out the sound of the barrier beginning to give way.

"Onwards!"

Like a tide in the ocean the small army that they'd managed to amass from Order Members, supporters, Professors and students surged out through the halls and into the courtyard. The protective shield formed a pearlescent shell above the castle but there were visible holes beginning to form in it. Singed around the edges, as if they'd been inflicted by giant cigarettes held in massive invisible hands. Growing larger every moment, which each spell that slammed into it from outside. The statues and armor suits stood around them, weapons held, waiting. At any moment the barrier would come down completely.

Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out the master Runestone, holding it clutched in his palm. Waiting.

Spells continued to pummel the barrier with a sound like thunder. The holes grew wider and wider. Anticipation was so thick in the air that he could have cut it with a knife. Where was Harry? Had they gotten into the Chamber and destroyed the cup yet? What about the diadem? Were they somewhere in the crowd behind him? He couldn't turn to look. The barrier would come down at any moment.

With a final clamorous bang and blinding flash of light the barrier gave its last best effort and collapsed and the dark mass began to run across the bridge.

One.

"Hold the statues back!" Tom shouted, holding up his good hand.

Two.

"Stay put! I don't want anyone getting caught up in this!"

Three!

Without another moment's hesitation Tom activated the Rune and the Mcguivered bombs under both bridges exploded. He knew the rickety wooden one was done for, no problem, but even with three on each pillar the dark brunet had had reservations about how truly affective they'd be on the main bridge. Rightfully.

They all went off, the fire and thunderous sound and bits of stone revealed as much, but didn't have quite the effect which he'd hope it would. Large chunks of the bridge did fall, crumbling and dropping away into the abyss and taking a number of the enemy with them, but the bridge remained passable. If only marginally.

At least it'd be easier to go about making that bottle neck.

"Statues, forward!" Stone and metal clattered and clanged as they rushed passed along with some of the more eager fighters. Tom, as much as he itched to dive head long into the fray and began lobbing Curses Hexes and Spells in all directions, didn't follow. A commander's place was somewhat more protected; behind the front lines, if only just.

He may have been the serpent's venom, but with the raven nowhere in sight he was also its head.

"Push them back!" He bolted across the courtyard and leapt upwards onto a fallen pile of stones. Providing himself with a better view of the battle. "Don't let them off the bridge! Push! Them! Back!"

Black. Black everywhere. Every figure, wizard or otherwise, was dressed in the color and formed a seemingly endless tide of pitch, like a dark fog rolling over the hill tops from the sea. A Death Eater narrowly avoided a Cutting Curse which slit open the sleeve of his cloak and revealed the Dark Mark branded on his skin. A man, hunched filthy and wild eyed, leapt onto the back of a witch he didn't recognize like a hunting animal and took her down, vanishing into the roiling crowd; a werewolf or simply a madman he wasn't sure. At the far end of the bridge a giant had begun a lumbering approach, more visible some hundred yards behind it. Acromantula were skittering about on thick ropes of silk.

The air was getting cold.

"Dementors! Six o'clock!" Someone shouted.

Tom spun on his heel, the proper Charm already on his lips. His fox sprung once more into being and raced skyward, joined by a horse and a rabbit and a wolf and a cat and others. All forming into a hail of silver animals. A glittering blizzard of crystalline light forcing back the Dementors and the dark night in away that the moon and stars could only envy.

A snarl from his left. Tom spun again in time to blast a leaping werewolf, half-transformed without the influence of the full moon, aside. The man-beast let out a pained howl as it crashed to the ground, twitched once, then lay unmoving. On the bridge the giant roared, a single swing of its massive axe sending statues and armor and Death Eaters alike all flying off of the bridge like toy soldiers.

Tom swore. "Fall back! Fall! Back!" He bellowed. "Everyone on the damn bloody bridge fall back to the God damned stairs!"

It took a Sonorous Charm and quite a lot of ferocious yelling but he finally managed to get his message across. Those few who had been brace enough to forge forwards onto the bridge with the statues and the armor suits began to retreat. He waited until almost everyone was passed before he pointed his wand at the bridge.

"Bombarda!" The spell created a small crater in the stone but did nothing else. He tried again, movements sharper and more forceful. "Bombarda!" Same result!

The bridge must be magically fortified somehow. There wasn't time for him to figure out how and attempt to undo it. He had to go for a more temporary solution.

Tom pointed his wand at the archway above him this time and cast the spell a third and final time. "Bombarda!"

He leapt from the pile of rock and ran clear of the collapse; a number of Death Eaters weren't so lucky and were crushed in the collapse.

It wouldn't hold for long. The minute the giant got there it would be flung aside. Hell, the pile could be scaled fairly easily but it would give them enough time to regroup.

"We've got ammunition to take some of them out with once they come through." Ginny informed him, hair tangled clothing rumpled and with a small cut dripping blood down her cheek. "Lavender, Pavati and that hack Trelawney are on the ramparts with a surplus of very heavy crystal balls."

"Marvelous." Though that still left them in dire straits but Tom couldn't help but smile at the image of their enemies having their skulls cracked open by a rain of stones. "Though we're still not in a very good way." He said. "We've lost the bridge. We'll be forced inside soon, and then we'll have nowhere left to run. We're going to need a miracle."

Darkest hour. He gripped his wand tightly. I'm out of tricks. Is this really it? All that shite we went through with the Horcruxes and we're going to get steamrolled without my Counterpart even making a damn bloody appearance?

The pile of rocks clattered. Then trembled. And then were tossed aside with another resonant roar. With Death Eaters swarming around it like ants the first giant stepped into the courtyard.

Hail Mary. If Tom hadn't been so certain of the fact that time had begun to tick down on the last minutes of his life he might have been annoyed that it was a Muggle prayer from the church visits his childhood had been forcibly filled with that flashed across his mind.

Fight until the end! Don't go down afraid! If you're going to die don't die a death you'll be ashamed of! Pushing aside his mounting fear as it made an attempt to overwhelm him Tom resumed firing off spells. Charging back down the stairs and into the courtyard with some of the bravest in the resistance following behind him.

Tom felled the nearest Death Eater with a Killing Curse. Another with a Blood Boiling Hex. Blasted a third ahead and flung a handful of spells at the giant which all bounced off its thick skin to little effect. The giant bellowed and stamped its feet. When it swung its axe Tom was forced to fling himself out of the way. He hit the ground on his hands and knees and, with only one good arm to break his fall, toppled to the stone ground.

A werewolf closed in with sharp nails and drooling teeth and the dark brunet braced for the sensation of fangs being driven into his flesh.

Something heavy landed between them with a yelp and a shriek, splattering him with werewolf blood slime and water from the Black Lake. Tom raised his head in time to see the Kelpie rip into the wolf with its clawed front feet and sent the slavering beast packing with a triumphant snort. Screeching and more deafening roars rang out above them, cutting through the pounding of hooves which filled the courtyard as the centaurs rode in from the forest behind them amidst a volley of arrows. The herd of thestrals responsible for pulling the carriages at the start of the year, led by none other than Buckbeak, were circling the giants heads. Dive bombing them like a flock of angry birds.

Before he could catch sight of much more a massive figure loomed out at him from the dark night, reaching down with one hand to pick him up and roughly-though he doubted it was intentional-dusting him off with the other.

"You're alright there, eh Gaunt?" Hagrid grunted as he set him down again. "Sorry it took us so long to get here. Grawpy and I started back the minute we heard but we were rather far out."

"You couldn't have arrived at a better time." Tom said, gently pushing the Kelpie away as it made an effort to eat his hair. "You saved me."

"Me? Nah. That was all Neptune; told you you made a good impression." He said. It was too dark to tell but there might have been a smile behind that wiry beard. "Looks like they're starting to retreat and he wants to chase them down."

"Then why doesn't he?"

The Kelpie snorted and dug its slick muzzle into the back of his neck.

"Thinks he wants you with him." Neptune repeated the motion and then trotted around in front of him. Butting against his chest and nearly pushing him over. "That looks to me like permission to ride."

Ride a Kelpie? Had anyone stupid enough to attempt such a thing actually survived? If so, their numbers were probably about as low as their IQ but the Death Eaters were retreating now and the predator inside him was pushing him to follow. To chase. But he'd be left behind by both his quarry and the Centaur driving them if he attempted to do so on foot. Not to mention it wouldn't look anywhere near as impressive to attempt to chase them on foot as it would to run them down from the back of a man-eating fish horse.

"I don't taste as good as carrots," he informed the Kelpie as he grabbed a firm hold of its mane and swung himself up onto its back. "Pickling my drowned corpse in stagnant water for a few weeks won't change that so don't get any ideas."

Neptune made a strange, whistling snort in reply and took off towards the bridge rapidly shifting from a trot to a canter. By the time they'd reached the bridge he was in a full gallop and soon pulled to the front of the charging hood. Despite the very present danger of the possibility of the Kelpie taking off towards the Black Lake or the pond in the forest to drown him he couldn't help but find the rush of it all enjoyable. All he needed was the Sword of Gryffindor back in hand and he'd feel like a proper knight.

A tug on the Kelpie's mane signaled Neptune to slow and he trotted to a stop at the mouth of the bridge. The Centaur continued after them, firing off more arrows as they thundered away towards the hills the Dark Lord's forces had come from. Tom watched them go from his perch atop the Kelpie's back and felt Neptune shudder beneath him.

"You're right. We should head back." The dark brunet said, still watching their retreat. Something about it didn't sit right with him, but it was better to concern himself with managing his side then what their enemies might be doing. Neptune turned his gnarled head to look at him with one milky blue eye and snorted. "Thank you."

The Kelpie snorted, turned, and started back along the bridge at a brisk trot.

Fallen rock. Shards of broken crystal balls, scattered sharp and ragged across the ground like broken glass. Blood. Tom dismounted from the Kelpie's back, summoned a carrot and opened his mouth to start basking more orders but before he could do much more than draw breath a shrieking pain erupted somewhere in the center of his mind, somehow having slipped behind his walls. He doubled over with a groan, clutching at his temples with his eyes watering, only barely aware of everyone around him doing the same. And then he heard it.

The high, arctic hissing voice which could only belong to his Counterpart. Speaking directly in his mind.

"Defenders of Hogwarts hear me now as I speak to you for I, your Lord, offer mercy." Mercy? Tom wanted to laugh out loud and may very well have dissolved into a manic fit of laughter then and there if it hadn't been for the pain. "It's not my wish to shed magical blood. Comply with my will and I'll allow almost all of you to live. Tom Marvolo Riddle, or Tom Gaunt as you may know him, will be the only exception: I'd thought I'd killed him years ago, but it seems to not be the case, and he must pay for his crimes." Not over what he'd done in Godric's Hollow, then? That made two of them. "Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you."

What? No! No, that wasn't something he could allow! But what could he do, aside from stand there with his hair on end? Nothing. He didn't even know where the reptile bastard was!

"Come to me, Harry Potter. Give yourself up and your friends will not have to die for you. Fail to appear and everyone who has taken up arms against me will die and it will be your fault. You have one hour."

Calm down. Calm down. Harry had better sense than that and even if he didn't Voldemort had ensured his raven wouldn't cooperate by making mention of his continued intent to kill him regardless. Everything would be fine at least on the front of needing to be concerned Harry might run off.

"You all heard him, didn't you?" He did a good job of keeping his voice from cracking. "We have an hour to prepare for a renewed attack so we'd better not waste it! Take the wounded up to the Hospital Wing, if that portion of the castle is still standing and safe, and as close to it as you can if it's not. And contact St. Mungo's: see if there's anyone that can be spared and is willing to come. I want anyone among you with any experience on training in healing to assist them. Once the battle's over entirely we'll move them to the Great Hall for proper treatment but for now we'll put them in one of the unused class rooms."

Movement had already begun around him as what remained of their forces unfroze, beginning to gather the dead and wounded.

"Everyone else, begin refortifications and repairs. Do the best you can."

Leaving Neptune standing in the midst of the courtyard to do as he wished, either remain and lick at the blood on the cobblestones or return to the forest, Tom bent down and hauled the nearest wounded man to his feet. Slinging his arm across his shoulders and beginning to haul them up the stairs towards the castle's open door.

The Hospital Wing had lost its windows and a number of the beds were covered in debris but the room was, over all, workable. Tom deposited his load on the nearest unoccupied bed and headed over to a familiar pair of figures one of which was considerably more cut up than the other.

"Didn't I warn you about staying away from the bloody windows?" he couldn't resist a slight smirk.

"I did stay away from the windows, Pointedly." Fred informed him; was that damned nickname ever going to die? "The glass didn't want to stay away from me. Seems I'm irresistible."

Tom rolled his eyes. George seemed to share his opinion because he said "that's almost as bad as your 'holey' joke."

The dark brunet's attention was pulled away from the conversation by the arrival of Hermione, Ron and Nagini. Ron was pale, Hermione's face was tear stained. Even Nagini looked shaken.

"Tom!" He whirled around, heart rate sky rocketing at the panic in her voice. "It's Harry! He's gone to the forest!"