Hi folks - thanks to the few of you that reviewed!!! Again, i have to apologise that this is a short chapter - so I've made the effort and I've posted two this evening for you. Hope you enjoy. xx

Chapter 38:

In his distraction, Harry momentarily forgot about Snape standing behind him, and in that brief moment he felt an arm go around his shoulders and an unnaturally sharp end of a wand poke into his neck just underneath his chin.

He froze, mentally slapping himself for his stupidity, but also aware that even though he was currently stuck between Snape and Voldemort, he still had his wand held firmly in his right hand.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist coming here, Potter." Voldemort said, striding slowly closer. "No matter what your minders do to try and stop you."

Harry was aware that the battle had slowed around them. The number of curse flares had decreased and it seemed that everyone was waiting for what would happen between the age-old enemies.

"What are you doing here, Riddle?" Harry asked through clenched teeth, unable to move his head at all in the grip that Snape had him in.

"Just reminding everyone that I'm still around." Voldemort said, coming within an arm's reach away from the captive boy-who-lived. "I haven't seen you for so long, and it's such a shame that people think they can celebrate Christmas when I have much larger plans that need addressing."

"Like what?" Harry said. "These people mean nothing to you. Why spoil their lives when it's me you want?"

Voldemort's eyes flashed with anger, before he sighed, visibly restraining his emotion to lean in closer to the young wizard.

"Normally I would punish you for presuming anything about me, Potter." he said in a low voice that only Harry and Snape could hear. "But unfortunately you are not that far from the truth." he stepped back and spoke louder. "And how else was I going to be able to get you to come to me willingly, other than to play on your self-destructive sense of heroism?" he leant in again, and sniffed deeply through the two slits that sat in the middle of his pale, snake-like face. "You reek of Gryffindor characteristics."

Harry struggled against Snape's grip, reaching up with his left hand to try and pull his arm away and lunge forward. He winced as the sharp end of the wand pressed further into his neck and a warm trail of blood started to trickle into his shirt neck, putting a quick end to his struggling.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Harry said in a hoarse whisper, Snape's grip preventing him from talking any louder.

Voldemort smiled evilly, and looked over Harry's shoulder to Snape. "Take him." he said shortly. "We'll talk further when we have less distractions."

"NO CHANCE!"

Harry was unable to turn his head to see which of Weasley twins had shouted, but he was able to catch a glimpse of several blue bouncing balls fly into the small space between him and the Dark Wizard.

Almost instantly, a bright flash erupted between them, causing Harry and Snape to fly backwards, landing hard on the paved road, debris and shrapnel embedding itself sharply into their skin.

The explosion produced a large cloud of thick blue smoke, making it impossible to see anything in the chaos that ensued.

Harry lay on his back, partially on top of Snape, coughing as he tried to inhale a breath. His face felt as if it had been hit by a splintered plank of wood, but suddenly realised in horror that the blast had caused Snape's wand to slice deeper into his neck, causing the thin stream of blood to turn into a thick rivulet that made him feel light headed and unable to move.

He felt movement underneath him, and was rolled to the side as Snape pulled himself out from under him. He felt something tug on the side of his cloak and then he was encompassed in the blue cloud, alone, trying to breathe deep enough to calm his shock and move himself to stem the flow of blood from his neck.

He could hear panic in the smoke cloud around him, but was unaware of anyone calling his name until he felt hands on his shoulder, pulling him over onto his back again.

"Merlin, Harry." he heard, and looked up to see Remus kneeling over him. He felt a firm pressure on his neck. "HE'S HERE!" he shouted over his shoulder. "GET MEDICS."

Harry became aware of more movement around him, and the world became less blue as the smoke cleared.

"Hang in there, Harry." He heard a female voice, possibly Tonks, say. "You're going to be fine."

Harry closed his eyes against the odd feeling that was overwhelming him due to the blood loss, but soon felt someone slapping his sore cheek.

"Stay awake, Harry" he heard.

"What ever possessed you to come?"

"And how the hell did you get out of that common room?"

Harry snorted and started to smile, the shock of his wound wearing away quickly as a medi-witch leant over him and with a few wand waves had sealed his wound. He still felt weak, but his light headedness disappeared almost instantly, and the support of a bandage helped relieve the tightness of the newly sealed wound.

"No sudden moves for a little while, Mr Potter." the middle-aged medi-witch said with a smile. "And when you get back to Hogwarts have Poppy look at those cuts on your face, she should be able to heal them without too much fuss. Your dizziness should pass within a few hours, if not a blood replenishing potion should fix you right up."

Harry nodded his gratitude, wincing slightly as his wound stretched.

"Here." A hand appeared above him and he reached out, accepting the offer to help him to his feet.

He staggered slightly, but immediately felt two people on either side of him support his weight by his elbows.

"What possesses you to do such stupid things, Harry?" Charlie asked, standing beside his elder brother and his new wife, all of them looking hot and dishevelled from the battle they had just been through.

"Hereditary?" Harry suggested looking to Remus who stood a little distance away. His voice came out as a tight croak, and he put his hand up to his bandaged throat in surprise.

"Oh, Harry!" Ginny said, stepping around Ron to give him a hug. "You are such an idiot."

"But you love me." Harry croaked. He looked to the twins who each had hold of his elbows, turning his head slowly in order not to reopen his wound. "Thanks for the distraction guys." he said.

"No problem honorary brother of ours." Fred said with a grin.

"But we'll expect another Christmas present!" George added.

"Where did they all go?" Harry asked, looking around at Diagon Alley, taking in the injured bodies and red-robed aurors who were going around assisting those who needed medical attention.

"They all disapparated when the Distraction Bombs hit." Ron said. "Even Snape. We were half worried he was going to take you with him after what You-Know-Who said."

Harry frowned, but didn't feel his voice was up to speaking his thoughts out loud.

"But why didn't he?" Bill asked, asking the same question Harry himself was mentally asking. "He must've had a portkey of some sort if You-Know-Who ordered him to take you."

"He's probably strong enough to apparate with another anyhow." Tonks said. "But it still doesn't answer the question of why he didn't."

"Unless the distraction bombs injured him." Fred suggested. "They did pack a punch."

"Yeah, sorry about that Harry." George added, indicating the small nicks and scratches on the boy's face. "We didn't get time to test them properly. We thought they would disintegrate when activated."

Harry shook his head, indicating that their apology wasn't needed. "I'm still here aren't I?" he asked with a whisper. "Besides, I think I sheltered Snape from most of the blast." he grimaced. "Unfortunately."

Remus looked around the devastation in the alley. "I guess we'd better stick around and help out for a bit." he said. "But I want you to go back to Hogwarts and get checked out by Madame Pomfrey." he said to Harry and the black-haired youth felt Fred attached a Safety Pin to his cloak.

"We'll go with him," Ron said, indicating himself and his sister. "We can let mum know that everyone is okay. And I think that maybe we should let Hermione know that everyone is safe before she starts to panic with the evening edition of the Prophet that they're bound to print."

"Wise idea." Remus said. "We'll all return to the school later this evening, and maybe after all this excitement tonight we might just be able to celebrate tomorrow without any disturbance."

Harry frowned at his father's friend.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

Fred laughed. "He thinks you just jinxed Christmas for the lot of us." he said.