A/N:

My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Nachtrae for taking the time to read, edit and comment on this Chapter. She does amazing work and I'm lucky to have her as my beta. Also my thanks to my wife for taking the time to comment and poke holes as always.

Chapter 56

Warriors of the Light

Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right; eyes glinted through slits in hoods, a dozen lit wand tips were pointing directly at their hearts, "To me, Potter," repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held out his hand, palm up. They were trapped, and outnumbered two to one, "To me," said Malfoy yet again.

"Donʹt do anything," Harry muttered. "Not yet ‐"

A woman let out a raucous scream of laughter, "You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!"

"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," said Malfoy softly. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Now give me the prophecy, Potter."

"Give me Fleur," said Harry evenly, and I'll give you the Prophecy.

More of the Death Eaters laughed, though the woman laughed loudest of all, "It's time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter," said Malfoy, "Now give me the prophecy, or we start using wands."

"Go on, then," said Harry, raising his own wand. Luna, Colin, Neville, Ginny raised their own wands. They had spread out, forming a staggered "V." The knot in Harryʹs stomach tightened at the possibility that he had fallen for this, and had led them all here to die. But the Death Eaters did not strike.

"Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt," said Malfoy coolly.

Harry reached out, gently, carefully with his Legillimency to his friends, giving them instructions. They nodded ever so slightly, except Luna who smiled and Ginny who winked. Harry laughed, "Yeah, right! I give you this prophecy, and you'll just let us skip off home, will you?"

The words were hardly out of his mouth when the female Death Eater shrieked: ʹAccio proph—ʹ

Harry was just ready for her, blocking the charm silently with a wave of his wand. The glass sphere in his hand didn't even move. "Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," she said, her mad eyes staring through the slits in her hood. "Very well, then ‐"

"I told you no!" Lucius Malfoy roared Bellatrix Lestrage. "If you smash ‐"

ʹ"So," interrupted Harry, "What's this prophecy say anyway?" He could not think what to do but to keep talking and them distracted for a moment, letting his friends get to work.

"What kind of prophecy?" repeated the woman as she shed her mask, "You jest, Harry Potter," said Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Nope, not jesting," said Harry, his eyes flicking from Death Eater to Death "How come Voldemort wants it?"

Several of the Death Eaters let out low hisses.

"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix.

"Yeah," said Harry, as he slipped the orb in to a pouch of his armor, "Yeah, I've got no problem with saying Vol—"

"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half‐bloodʹs tongue, you dare ‐"

ʹDid you know heʹs a half‐blood too?ʹ said Harry recklessly. Fleur moaned and shifted slightly. She was awake at least, and hopefully aware of just what the hell was going on around her.

A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrangeʹs wand, but Malfoy had deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered.

Two figures, pearly‐white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrixʹs shouts.

"… at the solstice will come a new …" said the figure of an old, bearded man.

"Do not attack! We need the prophecy!"

"He dared ‐ he dares ‐" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently, "he stands there ‐ filthy half‐blood-"

"Wait until we have the prophecy!" bawled Malfoy.

"… and none will come after…" said the figure of a young woman.

"You haven't told me what's so special about this prophecy I'm supposed to be handing over." He said.

"Do not play games with us, Potter," said Malfoy.

"I'm not playing games," said Harry, as he felt the ring on his finger grow warm.

"Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?" Malfoy sneered.

"I ‐ what?" said Harry. And for a moment he quite forgot his plan. "What about my scar?"

"Can this be?" said Malfoy, sounding maliciously delighted; some of the Death Eaters were laughing again, "Dumbledore never told you?" Malfoy repeated. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording because the only people who are permitted to retrieve a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries, Potter, are those about whom it was made

"And why did he want to steal a prophecy about me?ʹ" he asked. The irony of the moment was not lost on him: he was getting more straight answers from a sworn enemy of blood and belief that he had ever gotten from Dumbledore.

"About both of you, Potter, about both of you… haven't you ever wondered why the Dark Lord tried to kill you as a baby?"

Harry stared into the eye slits through which Malfoy's grey eyes were gleaming. Was this prophecy the reason Harry's parents had died, the reason he carried his lightning‐bolt scar? Was the answer to all of this clutched in his hand?

"Someone made a prophecy about Voldemort and me?" he said quietly, gazing at Lucius Malfoy. The pieces fell in to place, "Others couldn't steal it," said Harry, "And why reveal himself when the entire ministry denies his return. So he got me to do it."

"Very good, Potter, very good…" said Malfoy slowly. "The Dark Lord knows you are not unintell—"

"Execute!" roared Harry.

Malfoy was no battle master or strategist, but he was confident that between himself, Bella and the fifty effingus Death Eaters that they would be able to handle one Harry Potter and a few teenager friends. He quickly realized that he more than a little out of his depth.

The ground shook, as an earthquake spell knocked them to their knees or off their feet. Harry and his cohort were already levitating a scant few inches off the ground. A pair of incredibly powerful summoning charms tore the shelves on either side apart. Hundreds of prophesies shattered and pearly white ghost like figured unfurled and floated, their voices echoing as more and more shelves toppled. There were cries of pain mingled in with those of surprise as several of the effingus were injured, or killed outright by the rain of broken glass and wood. Malfoy looked up in surprise as the ground continued to roll and shake beneath him. Fleur literally flew across the short divide, and in to Harry's arms.

He worked quickly, cutting through the manacles as Luna forced a suite of potions in to Fleur's hands: Ppepper up potion, headache remover, bruise reducer and a blood replenishing potion were quickly consumed. They had the advantage of cover, but there was no telling how long that would last. "We need to get out of here!" called Neville as he fired a blasting hex before dropping back in to cover.

"Flankers left!" shouted Ginny. She took a moment, drawing her magic before unleashed the geomancy spell that raised a barrier of stone some ten feet high and two feet thick, securing their flank for the moment.

"She's weak," said Luna quietly, "going to be a few minutes before we can move her."

"Luna, stay with Fleur, watch our left," ordered Harry, he could see the exit to the halls of prophecy in the distance. The trouble would be getting there without getting killed in the process.

Neville rose, let three bombardment hexes fly and dropped back in to cover, "No Unforgiveables!" he yelled, "they're sticking to stunners and incapacitating spells!"

"They want the prophecy," muttered Harry. With a thought, he summoned another prophecy, rolling across the floor to him. A plan started to come together in his head. "Neville! Reflection shield on me! Everyone else, fire and maneuver! Fall back to the exit! On my mark!"

It was suicide. At least it should have been. Fleur gave a cry of fear as he stepped out in to the open and over a dozen stunners streaked towards him. "Mark!" he roared.

They rebounded. Every single stunner rebounded, as Neville grunted. The reflection shield had done its job, and done it well. Harry had cast an illusion charm that saw a six, nine, and then eighteen Harry Potter running in every direction, all of them carrying a glowing glass sphere.

The Death Eaters had been maintaining a perimeter of sorts broke to chase the different Harrys running wild through the ministry. Spells sizzles through the air, shattering prophecies and shelves. Death Eaters fell, injured, maimed and any that wandered in to his sights was killed without hesitation. His friends followed his lead, supporting Fleur between them as they leapt forward, coalescing in to two groups, advancing using fire and maneuver tactics.

They were picking off the Death Eaters with precision spell fire. Nobody was stunning or disabling. The goblins had started their training so many months before. Harry had finished it, and trained them well. They were trained to incapacitate. But here, against sworn blood enemies, there was no incapacitation. It was war fighting, and they were handling it well.

Fleur had managed to acquire a wand from somewhere – and while too weak to join on offense, her shields, though basic were strong, deflecting incoming jinxes and hexes with ease. They continued to move forward, showing no mercy. A Death Eater lunged forwards towards Harry. Neville intercepted with short fast jab to the face that rocked his opponent back a step. The banishing charm knocked him back a further fifteen steps, and in to a wall with a bone shattering crunch.

Yelling cries of pain, the thunderous crashes of more shelves coming apart beneath spell fire, weirdly echoing fragments of the Seers spouting their prophecies as they reached the end of the row and sprinted for the door, "Break and disengage!" shouted Harry as swept his wand from left to right, completed a figure eight loop and a conjured a wall of flames. It would buy them time. "Go! Go! Go!" he shouted, urging them onwards.

Straight ahead, the door through which they had come was ajar; Harry could see the glittering light of the bell jar; he pelted through the doorway, the prophecy still clutched tight and safe in his hand, and waited for the others to hurtle over the threshold before slamming the door behind them.

"Colloportus!" gasped Luna and the door sealed itself with an odd squelching noise. They took a moment, resting, all of them reaching to their belts for potions that they downed. New strength and energy flooded through them.

"Listen!" whispered Neville.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door they had just sealed; Harry put his ear close to the door to listen and heard Lucius Malfoy roar, "Leave him you misanthropic effingus! Leave him!His injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that prophecy. You! Come back here, we need to organize! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary ‐Bella, lead them left! You lot! Right! The rest of you come with me!"

"What do we do?" Ginny asked Harry. She was trembling, but not from fear. They all had a minor case of the shakes. Where the hell was their back up?

"We don't stand here waiting for them to find us," said Harry. "Fall back." They ran as quietly as they could, past the shimmering bell jar j where the tiny egg was hatching and unhatching, towards the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Harry heard something large and heavy collide with the door Luna had charmed shut.

"Alahomora!" said a rough voice. ʹ

As the door flew open, the group took cover under the closest desks. They could see the bottom of the two Death Eatersʹ robes drawing nearer, their feet moving rapidly.

"They might've run straight through to the hall," said the rough voice.

"Check under the desks," said another.

Harry saw the knees of the Death Eaters bend; poking his wand out from under the desk. He waited until the masked face appeared and then cast, "Depulso!"A jet of red light hit him and he fell backwards into a grandfather clock and knocked it over; the second Death Eater, however, had leapt aside to avoid Harryʹs spell and was pointing his own wand at Luna, who was crawling out from under the desk to get a better aim.

"Avada ‐"

Harry launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees, causing him to topple and his aim to go awry. Neville overturned a desk in his anxiety to help; and pointing his wand wildly at the struggling pair, he cried, "Diffindo! Diffindo!"

Neville's aim had improved beyond measure as the curse tore through flesh and bone, severing the man's leg just above the knee. However, the second spell kept going and hit a glass‐fronted cabinet on the wall full of variously shaped hour‐glasses; the cabinet fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere, sprang back up on to the wall, fully mended, then fell down again, and shattered ‐

The Death Eater had snatched up his wand, which lay on the floor beside the glittering bell jar. Harry ducked down behind another desk as the man turned; his mask had slipped so that he couldn't see. He ripped it off with his free hand and shouted: ʹStup—ʹ

"ʹAlarte Ascendare!ʹ screamed Luna, who had just caught up with them. The jet of red light hit the Death Eater in the middle of his chest: he froze, his arm still raised, his wand fell to the floor with a clatter and he collapsed backwards towards the bell jar. Harry expected to hear a dunk, for the man to hit solid glass and slide off the jar on to the floor, but instead, his head sank through the surface of the bell jar as though it were nothing but a soap bubble and he came to rest, sprawled on his back on the table, with his head lying inside the jar full of glittering wind.

"Look out!" said Neville, horrified. He was staring at the Death Eater's head in the bell jar. All three of them raised their wands again, but none of them struck: they were all gazing, open‐mouthed, appalled at what was happening to the man's head. It was shrinking very fast, growing balder and balder, the black hair and stubble retracting into his skull; his cheeks becoming smooth, his skull round and covered with a peach like fuzz…

A baby's head now sat grotesquely on top of the thick, muscled neck of the Death Eater as he struggled to get up again; but even as they watched, their mouths open, the head began to swell to its previous proportions again; thick black hair was sprouting from the pate and chin…

ʹIts Time,ʹ said Ginny in an awestruck voice. "Time…ʺ

The Death Eater shook his ugly head again, trying to clear it, but before he could pull himself together it began to shrink back to babyhood once more… The Death Eater had pulled his head out of the bell jar. His appearance was utterly bizarre, his tiny babyʹs head bawling loudly while his thick arms flailed dangerously in all directions, narrowly missing Harry, who had ducked. Harry raised his wand but to his amazement Luna fired the first and only stunning spell fired by any member of the Legionnaire. "You can't hurt a baby!" she said.

There was no time to argue the point; Harry could hear more footsteps growing louder from the Hall of Prophecy and knew, too late, that he ought not to have shouted and given away their position.

ʹCome on!ʹ he said, and leaving the stunned ugly baby‐headed Death Eater lying on the floor as the group burst back in to the room filled with revolving doors. The door behind them burst open and spells began to chase them.

They turned to seal the door, "Collo-" began Luna. Another door slammed open – one of the other doors in the room – and a trio of Death Eaters spilled in to the room.

"Contact rear!" shouted Colin, even as he raised his wand, too little too late as the barrage of impediment curses swept through them, knocking them off their feet. "We have him!" yelled the Death Eater, "Room of Revolving –"

"Silencio! Diffindo!" cried Ginny, silencing its voice. He continued to yell, his mouth moving without sound for several more moments before he grasped his neck, blood leaking through his hands as his wand clattered to the floor, followed by the Death Eater moments later.

"We can't stay here!" said Harry, taking a moment to assess his friends. Most of them were wounded, but they were minor cuts, scratches and bruises for the most part. Less than ten minutes had elapsed since the first spell was cast. Fleur was more or less back on her feet, though bordering on exhaustion as they faced a new problem: "Which door?" said Fleur quietly.

"Crap," muttered Harry. Nobody had thought to mark which door they had originally come through. Another door slammed open, but the Death Eater collided with Ginny and went down in a heap. The flailed wildly for a second before Neville and Colin intervene, tearing him of her and the blasting him against a door on the other side of the chamber.

They looked at the open door. It led back in to the room with that strange archway at its center. Nobody said anything as they moved, Luna and Colin providing cover as they retreated in to the room: It had only one entrance, so they should be able to hold this position, especially since it had only one door.

Neville slapped Colin on the shoulder, and in turn, he slapped Luna's shoulder as they both turned and ran, just as the door that lead to the Room of Time was obliterated by a powerful blasting curse. The first Death Eater through the door, Bellatrix Lestrange caught sight of Luna, just a wisp of moving blonde hair and fired a full spread of curses in rapid succession.

A streak of what looked like purple flame smashed in to her, spine first, throwing her forwards as a second and third hex, of the same purple flame smashed her to the floor.

"Luna!" shouted Colin, anguish in his voice, turning to her aid.

"Man down!" shouted Neville. He twirled his wand overhead, brought it down, completing a circular motion before bisecting it with a horizontal slash. Fire burst from the tip of his wand, and Bellatrix had her shield up, protecting her from the wrath of the flames that consumed two of the Death Eaters with her. Her shield was no protection from the raw heat of the flames which forced her back across the room as Ginny and Colin dragged Luna to comparative safety.

"Armor saved her life," said Ginny. "She's out of it for the moment, but I think she's gonna be fine, enervate!"

She moaned as the spell brought her back to consciousness. A powerful wave of relief swept through Harry that for a moment he felt light‐headed, but it was short lived, "Anybody get the make and model of the broom that walloped me?" she tried to move, to stand, then sit up. "Can't move," she said quietly, "Can't… can't feel my legs…" she whispered, tears in her eyes, "It… hurts…"

"The stone benches," began Fleur, "solid, we can use them for cover." She was in poor shape, Harry saw. One of her eyes was black and blue in color, her left arm sported a series of deep slashes. Her robes were torn and singed. And she trembled, even as she struggled to steady her hand. He had seen, felt that trembling before, knew it first hand: Aftermath of the Cruciatus. He forced the questions in to a corner of his mind, even though he knew it would gnaw at him. But if the answers were what he feared they could be, he knew he would not function, that he'd just shutdown like a fused lightbulb. He couldn't, not now.

Harry nodded, "Get started, I'll see if there's another way out of here." The door shuddered in its frame. They had only minutes to prepare, if that. Liberal application of Severing, levitation and permanent stick charms and they had barricaded the door as heavily as they could, and had crafted a small, yet sturdy looking set of fortifications on the platform that held the strange archway.

The gathered teens looked at each other when a streak of silver mist descended from the roof and took the shape and form of a majestic coyote. "On our way, where are you?" the patronus vanished.

Ginny sent hers in reply, "Room with a large archway in the center on a raised platform. Stone benches all round, only one door in and out." Vague, but it was all that they knew. It would have to do.

They heard the heavy stone crack and then shatter as it was blown inwards. Shards of knife like stone lanced through the air, as Bellatrix lead the charge down the stairs towards them, jets of red light streaking towards them. The cloud of dust providing the death eaters perfect covert to advance.

None of them hesitated, popping up, firing in to the smoke and then ducking back down. Harry found it almost ironic, that the Death Eaters were fighting to stun, while his own were quite comfortable with killing them, using a variety of high powered curses. However it was not all one sided as a jet of light flew from the smoke and struck Neville square in the face. His eyes widened in shock as he was thrown back a step before he keeled over sideways. There was a snapping sound unconscious, blood streaming from a broken nose, his fathers' wand lying broken beneath him. The power behind the spell had knocked him beyond out cold as they failed to bring him round.

It left three against twenty, if the volume of incoming fire was to be believed. They had no tricks up their sleeves, and the dust finally settled. "Fourteen?" asked Colin quietly.

"I'd say eighteen," replied Ginny, "including sour puss Malfoy and mad bitch Lestrange."

The Death Eaters had spread out in small groups of three, and had them half surrounded, not that they had to complete surround them as there was only one door out of the room. And that was through the Death Eater line.

"Use the most powerful blasting and bombardment curses you got," ordered Harry, "Pick off the extreme right of their line, I'll cause a little mayhem -"

They had piled the stone benches three deep, creating an impressively thick wall of stone. But it took the Death Eater cadre a single volley of blasting hexes to punch through it, opening a clear path from their cover to the base of the dais and up its stairs.

The Death Eaters halted their attacks. "Potter, your race is run," drawled Lucius Malfoy, pulling off his mask, "Now hand me the prophecy like a good boy." A few of the Death Eaters laughed. As Harry stayed silent, weighing up the situation, stalling for time, "You are not in a position to bargain, Potter," his pale face flushed with pleasure. "You see, there might only be two, true Death Eaters here, but we still have sixteen wands arrayed against you … or has Dumbledore failed to teach you how to count?"

The only reply from the besieged group of teens was a barrage of spells that vaporized stone, and three Death Eaters on the right edge of the battle line. The Death Eaters held their fire. And Harry shrugged. If they weren't going to shoot back, Harry was more than happy to even the odds further.

A patronus glided down in to the middle of the position, not a coyote, but a hyena this time, "Captains usher a tempest in three."

Ginny blinked, "Cover!" she barked.

Above the, the door, the very walls themselves exploded inwards: The twins led the counter charge, howling like wolves on the hunt as Remus, Tonks and Blake completed the charging wedge. Mad eye, who knew he could not match their pace stayed several steps back as he literally rained down volley's of arrows in and amongst the Death Eaters. The odds had suddenly evened as Malfoy turned, and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. Harry did not wait to see whether it had made contact as the teens unleashed another volley. The Death Eaters were suddenly pinned down, under attack from two directions as Blake circled wide around the battle and threw himself from a stone bench on to the dais, before scrambling in to cover alongside his god son, "Are you OK?" he yelled, as another spell soared inches over their heads.

"Three wounded," he gestured towards Luna, Neville and Fleur…" The stone floor between them exploded as a spell hit it, leaving a crater right next to Harry;s hand. Harry rose and fired at point blank range, "Reducto!" there was suddenly a hole two inches in diameter running through the Death Eater's chest and he dropped without another sound.

"Pesky fuckers don't give up," said Blake as he added a spell of his own to the wild fray. The twins were literally tying a pair of Death Eaters in knots. Tonks was firing spells down at anyone wearing a silver mask. Moody was keeping Malfoy on the back foot and Moony seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much as he sandwiched a Death Eater between two stone benches.

A spell streaked in low, and Harry swore as he felt the heat coming off it, from behind. "Contact rear!" he shouted casting a half shield with his left hand while unleashing a spell chain of schoolyard hexes. Only minor inconveniences, the idea was to force the other side to keep their head down due to the high volume on incoming fire. It worked on most of them, except for one Death Eater.

ʹTarantallegra!ʹ he shouted, moments before three curses knocked him back a step. The spell struck and Fleur suddenly found her legs moving in a frenzied tap-dance, was sent sprawling. Sprouting antlers, boils and cornflakes for skin, the Death Eater raised his wand, "Accio prophe –"

Blake rammed Dolohov with his shoulder and sent him flying out of the way. Now Blake and the Death Eater went at it, wands flashing like swords as spells flew from both. They were moving too fast and erratically for anyone to get a good shot in. It drew back suddenly, raising its wand. The combatants were separated by a mere few feet

"Perspicuus Lancea!" the beam of bright light streaked from Ginny's wand, passed under Blake's raised arm and punched through the Death Eater chest, where his heart would have been. He keeled over backwards, landing with a crash

"Nice one!ʹ shouted Sirius as he rejoined them on the dais, "We need to get –" a jet of green light narrowly missed them both. They looked up in time to see Tonks go down, her limp form toppling down the stone seats as Bellatrix fired another killing curse in their direction and ran towards them.

Blake did not hesitate, stepping forward as a bench streaked in to the path of the curse. The bench vaporized, "Get everyone out!" he yelled.

Harry quickly took stock of the situation his team was in, and realized that there was no way to move them, not through the middle of a free for all. He heard footsteps as a man lunged at him. They went down in a tangle of limbs, "The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!ʹ snarled Malfoy in his ear, and Harry felt the tip of Malfoyʹs wand pressing hard against his ribs.

"Get – the fuck- off me!" he reached up and behind him with his left hand, pressing firmly on the silver Death Eater mask. His hand burst in to flames and Malfoy screamed in agony and let go, stumbling blindly as he struggled to tear the mask from his face. He succeeded, revealing a face burned, and blistered. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them. "Harry, round up the others and GO!"

Harry felt it, a moment before everyone else did. There was a flare of light, flames emerging from nothing. Harry recognized it almost at once: Phoenix fire. That meant Dumbledore. Realizing that they faced a superior foe, the Death Eaters, begin to regroup, opening a clear path through the fighting, leading up the stairs and out, "Legionnaires on me!" he shouted, putting his arm around Fleur, as the Twins levitated Luna and Neville. Blake reappeared at the edge of the dais, still locked in his duel with his cousin.

Dumbledore showed no hesitation, as he waded in to the Death Eaters, unleashing a jet of fire from his wand.

"So Bella, dear sweet demented cousin of mine, I must ask: Is this the best you got?" mocked Blake.

Bella shrieked in a rage and unleashed a trio of killing curses that Blake side stepped with ease, "You are no cousin of mine you American swine!"

Blake laughed and fired back several hexes along with a verbal jab, "Don't recognize your cousin Sirius?" he paused, "Bellie" he actually took the time to frame the hated nickname of her youth with air quotes.

Mad bitch Lestrange mental state took another half step along the road that lead to complete and utter homicidal sociopathic psychopathic insanity. She half screehed and shrieked something as she took aim at Sirius when movement caught her eye. She adjusted her aim a fraction of an inch and cast, screaming as she did so, "Save you godson blood traitor!"

He saw the spell leap from the tip of her wand, not aimed at him. Blake turned in horror: it streaked directly towards Harry. He had failed Lily and James so many times, he had not been there for his godson, not ever. Not this time. He swore as he broke in to a ran, taking three steps and the leaping, his wand outstretched before him.

Harry, perhaps felt the shift in the movement, the pace of the battle. Something warned him, as he turned and looked, and saw the bolt of green death. Turning to evade it would only put Fleur in its path. Not happening. Not while there was a breath left in his body. He drew stone shards and rubble towards him, instinctively channeling his magic. It would not stop the spell, but there was no moving out of its path, without making Fleur a target.

He suddenly understood, at least partially, why Cedric had done what he had done that night in the graveyard: Cedric faced a choice between saving the life of another, and saving his own. He had not hesitated to make the ultimate sacrifice to save another he cared about, even if she had been someone else's girlfriend. Cedric would have made the same choice again without hesitation. Harry Potter, could do no less.

Blake Wolf, Sirius Black in disguise however would not fail again. Not where the life of his godson was concerned. Not where Harry was concerned. Never again, "Harry!" he shouted, diving in front of them as the killing curse ripped through the summoned barrier of broken stone and slammed in to him.

The dark green energy spread out and through Blake, crackling like crumpled paper, tendrils of its energy leaping from him like miniature bolts of lightning. It took place in the fraction of a second, as the force of the spell knocked his lifeless body backwards, sending him crashing through the archway and through the veil.

But he did not go alone: Harry and Fleur fell with him.