The Devil in Me

Through the Eye of the Storm

The chapter title is from the song:

I'll Follow You by Shinedown.

Narcissa, Draco and Sadie had found their way up to the hospital wing by the time Harry got there.

Narcissa was working on Draco's eye, which looked like a real state. Andromeda's body lay atop a hospital bed, and Lily sat on the edge of a bed, looking pale and a little nauseous. She had a drip attached to her arm, which seemed to be transfusing blood into her.

Harry gave her a small smile but didn't stop to talk. He stopped by Andromeda's bed and used a low-level legilimency charm on her, then continued over to Narcissa. He waited until she had finished the intricate little spell that she was doing.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Narcissa looked around, her face still stained with tears.

"There was no damage to the optical nerve. It was all cosmetic. It will take a few days, but then his sight will return to normal," Narcissa answered.

"No scarring, still as handsome and pompous as ever," Sadie said, to raise Draco's spirits, but Draco didn't crack a smile.

"Good," Harry said, giving Draco's hand a slight squeeze for support, "Narcissa, we need your help with a patient with a broken back."

Narcissa turned around and followed their line of sight, "Andromeda," she breathed.

"I did a soft search of her memories just now. I thought she had turned, but I wasn't entirely sure what side she had ended up on in the end," Harry confessed, "But it was pretty clear from her last memory that she's always been on your side."

Narcissa swallowed tearfully, "What do you mean?"

"She had given up and lowered her wand. The moment she heard Amalthea crying and knew that you were in that nursery with her," Harry explained softly, "She fought Snape off while Lucius used his last few minutes to ward that room and save you both."

Narcissa's throat was tight and constricted with emotion, so much so that she couldn't speak to begin with. Harry understood that, so he left her and Lydia by Andromeda's side.

Harry walked over to Lily and sat down on the edge of her bed, "Hey, Lil."

Lily managed a weak smile, "Hey, Harry. Is Amalthea okay?"

"She's fine," Harry answered, "Daphne took her back to Peverell Court."

"And Tom?"

"Torturing someone," Harry replied, "But it is necessary, and Matthias Jones also deserves it, so…" he shrugged.

Lily frowned, "Explain."

Harry lowered his voice, "All Death Eaters have been called here for the second wave."

Lily's eyes widened, "The second wave?"

"Irish reinforcements," Harry whispered, "This is it, Lily. This is the final battle, we stomp them out tonight, and it's over."

"Or we lose," Lily said, her eyes wide with fear.

Harry grabbed her hand, "We will not lose," he promised, "But I need you to stay out of it until you feel capable of fighting because if Tom loses you… I think he will lose sight of himself."

Lily sighed but nodded, "I know."

Harry sighed and looked at her for a moment longer than he needed to.

"Seriously, what is it?" Lily asked.

Harry frowned, "You and Draco are my best friends, you know that, right?"

With a slight frown, Lily nodded.

"And I could have lost both of you tonight," Harry said quietly.

Lily smiled weakly and reached for his hand, "Yeah, I love you too, Harry."

Harry chuckled and pushed her hair out of her face so he could kiss her on the cheek.

"Harry," Lily cut in, "Don't let Tom go too far, in either direction," she said, her eyes meeting his.

Harry knew what she meant, so he nodded.

"Lily, I think he's capable of redemption. I think he would survive the ordeal because he lo-"

"Don't," Lily said, she shook her head, "Don't say it, Harry. If you say it, I might start to believe it, and I can't afford to think like that."

Harry didn't say anything more on that particular subject.

"Have his back," Lily ordered.

"I will," Harry promised.

The War Room was busy – with activity more than people.

Gus was pinning things up, and Pollux Pyrites was jotting something down when Harry stepped in. The moment he did so, they both stood up a little straighter.

Harry frowned, "At ease, guys."

"This is battle, Harry," Pollux pointed out, "And in our General's absence, we look to you."

"Yeah, well, he asked me to assess the damage," Harry said, looking around the room, "Which is what you are doing, it seems. Gus – I'm so sorry about Johanna."

Gus stiffened up, "Yeah, well, it is what it is," he said evasively.

"Where's Reyna?"

"Strengthening the wards with the others," Gus replied, "The Dark Lords message said to prepare for a second wave."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, a bunch of tired, worn down, injured Death Eaters against fresh Irish Aurors and wizards. Do you think we stand a chance?"

"With you and the Dark Lord leading us, of course, we stand a chance," Pollux said smoothly and with complete confidence.

Harry wished that he shared that level of confidence.

"Right, so what happened tonight?" Harry asked the two men, "How did we end up with such a poor defence at what is essentially our headquarters?"

"Most of us ended up at the Ministry after the call to arms was issued by Yaxley," Pyrites said, pointing to a list of names under the title "Ministry" and continuing, "We didn't all get your message."

"I did," Gus said, "But by that point, we were already under attack."

"Of course, you would have had to press your marks to hear the message," Harry said with a nod, "And if you were in the midst of a duel, you wouldn't feel it burning."

"Precisely," Pyrites said, "I did receive it, but I elected to stay at the Ministry to protect our lord."

Knowing what he did about their friendship now, that made sense to Harry.

"Tom was surprised to learn that you could do that, you know?" Pyrites added.

Harry smiled, "Well, he gave me private lessons for a time, and contrary to what he thinks, some of that knowledge did sink in."

Pyrites chuckled, "Indeed. Now, as you can see – most of us were tied up at the ministry, leaving the homes unprotected. Some Death Eaters missed the call entirely because of the Imbolc celebrations, but we have the full army gathered outside now, rest assured."

"Well, that's some comfort, I suppose," Harry said, "And leaving our homes unprotected was exactly what the Order and the Army wanted. We had a couple of informants give us a heads up and tell us that Snape was the spy – Lydia Greengrass and Remus Lupin."

"Noted," Pyrites said, jotting both names down on the "Malfoy Manor" list and putting the rune symbol for 'Protection' next to both names.

"All those from the light who attacked the Ministry are dead," Pyrites added, "But in the course of the battle, we lost the Carrow twins and Hyacinth Parkinson."

Oh, what a shame, Harry thought to himself. Externally, he nodded, "And we lost Johanna at Rookwood House."

Gus nodded, a conflicted look on his face.

"I know you never loved her, conventionally," Harry said, reading the look on his mentor's face, "But she was the mother of your children and probably, your best friend. You are allowed to grieve, Gus."

"I'll grieve later," Gus said, his eyes on the lists and maps pinned up around the room, "Right now, I want to find out how bad the damage is."

Harry nodded; he understood that, "Okay, so we lost the Carrows and Hyacinth Parkinson at the Ministry, and that cost the light… five people?"

Gus nodded, "A couple of them pretty significant – David Hopkins, a solid fighter. Along with Savage and Proudfoot, a couple of the Aurors aiding the light."

"Lily and Lydia blasted Wolfe and Dawlish to kingdom come here too, so that must have knocked a lot of their fighting force out," Harry said.

Pyrites wrote down the names and put small crosses next to them on the Malfoy Manor list.

"The light also lost Griffin and Teagan Jones at the Ministry," Pyrites added, pointing to the names on the list.

Harry nodded and looked at the Malfoy Manor one, "Overall, the fact we only lost Lucius here is a miracle."

"It's not a miracle. A large chunk of it was down to your fighting ability, kiddo," Gus said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Someone said you used a concentrated fire whip to take Ted Tonks's head off."

"Yeah, I did kind of do that," Harry admitted, his eyes on the list in front of them, "Julian got hurt pretty bad, and I didn't see him in the hospital wing. Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Gus replied, "Hermione got the call and arrived in time to sort him out. She was patching him up in the grounds when Reyna and I got here."

"You, Reyna and Daphne," Harry said, shaking his head irritably.

"I know you wanted her out of the danger zone, but she saved our lives tonight, Harry," Gus said, "She used elemental magic to blast a couple of the light guys who were attacking Reyna out of the house. She's powerful, and we needed her."

"I know she's powerful, but she's also the love of my life, and I don't want to lose her, so she's at Peverell Court with Amalthea right now, and she better stay there," Harry said irritably.

"She will," Gus assured him, "Because she loves you as much as you love her."

"Yes, it's terribly romantic," Pollux said offhandedly, "But we have no idea how long we have before the second wave hits, so let's hurry on, chaps."

Harry nodded and looked at Pollux, "Yeah, what next?"

"Who got away earlier?" Pollux asked.

"Maggie Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones," Harry answered, "I hurt Maggie pretty badly, but when I got back to where I'd left her, she was gone, so I obviously didn't hurt her enough. Hestia turned tail and ran after she saw what I did to Ted. Tom is grilling Matthias Jones in the dungeon right now for information on the 'Irish reinforcements'."

Pollux nodded, "We know."

"Snape is also in the dungeon, ready to be killed a traitors death when this is all over," Harry continued, "Andromeda turned, in the end, and the rest are dead."

Pollux raised an eyebrow, "And she expects the Dark Lord to let her live?"

"I don't think she expects anything since she's basically in a magical coma, but all the same, I do think Tom will let her live. Lucius gave his life to stop Snape from getting into Amalthea's nursery, and Andromeda almost gave hers too."

Pollux frowned, "Yes, about Lucius's death – what do you know of it? Because it appears that he committed suicide?"

Harry shook his head, "No, he didn't. Snape caught him with Sectumsempra, it hit him in the neck, and he knew he was going to bleed out, so he used his blood to protect Narcissa."

"A last stance," Gus said quietly.

"For love," Pollux agreed with a small smile, "How very Lucius."

Gus and Harry both nodded their agreement, the air melancholy amongst them. They had all lost a friend tonight, and Lucius, although he had been teased regularly for his love of mahogany and peacocks, had ultimately been a true fighter until the very end.

Harry looked away from that sheet to the one about Rookwood Hall, which had already been completed in Gus's handwriting. They had been attacked by Lee Jordan, Delia Davies, Roger Davies, Ophelia Wood and Eddie Lamb – only Delia and Ophelia had gotten away, and of course, Johanna had been the only victim on their side.

His eyes scanned the other two sheets – both of which only bore the names of the Manors above them, "Avery Manor" and "Warrington House."

"We don't know what happened at either place?" Harry asked, nudging his head in the direction of the sheets.

"We just got word from the Warrington's. I was writing that up when you came in," Pollux said, "Nobody got there in time to aid them, so they lost Miranda and Claudia."

Those names didn't mean much to Harry, so Gus said, "Claudia was Cassius's older sister."

Harry nodded. He knew Cassius Warrington because he was one of the first Death Eaters that Harry had befriended when he met Reyna

"And Miranda was his aunt," Gus added.

"Right, and the light?" Harry asked, "Did they lose anyone?"

"Just a girl," Pollux asked, "We think she was related to Selwyn's wife."

"Lavender Brown," Harry said, "Laurel's little sister."

Pollux added the name to the list, "There was another kid with them, Wayne Hopkins, who got away along with Gwenog Jones and Hubert Davies."

"Gwenog Jones? The Quidditch Player?"

"Yeah, Quidditch player turned revolutionary, apparently," Gus said sarcastically.

"Huh, figures," Harry said. He was about to ask Gus if they should head on over to Avery Manor to check things out, but before he could, the door was pushed open, and Fitz limped in with Beth.

"Jeez Fitz, what happened to you?"

"Hell of a night," Fitz said.

"Yeah, for all of us," Harry agreed, "Where were you?"

"Avery Manor," Beth replied, "Took us a while to calm Ivy and the girls down and get Albion's body into the family crypt."

"Shit," Gus said quietly, "They got Albion?"

Fitz nodded, "The Army got there before we did. Beth and I were spending Imbolc together. Tristan was tagging along since he's a loner. When we got the call, we were about to head to the ministry, then we got your message, Harry and I knew Avery Manor wasn't that defensive. It's a posh old house, not a defensive castle, you know?"

Harry nodded.

"So the three of us headed over there and got there a bit too late. Albion was a paranoid bastard, after the last war," Fitz said, "He shoved his wife and daughters into a magic-proof, impenetrable bunker then fought to the death. We found him slumped against the door into the bunker."

Harry sighed and nodded, "So Emelia and Tessa are okay then?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Beth replied, "We fought with Albion's son, Kane."

Harry didn't even know Albion had a son, but he supposed he worked abroad and therefore wasn't around all of the time.

"Put up one hell of a fight against the four of them," Fitz said, sitting down heavily in a chair by the war table, "Emmeline Wood and her son were brilliant fighters, really tough to nail down."

"But after I let Riona out for some fun and took out the two stupid schoolboys, the Woods saw sense and fled," Beth said dryly.

Harry frowned, "Schoolboys?"

"Dean and Seamus, I think they were called," Fitz piped up, "One of them was Irish, fought like an idiot, all offensive, not a single shield charm put up then screamed like a baby when confronted with a banshee. The other one tried to be noble and protect him, but when they started bombarding the door of the safe-room, we had to take them out."

Harry nodded, unsure how he felt about that, "So we lost Albion then."

"Yeah," Fitz said, rubbing his hands over his eyes, "How'd we get on elsewhere? Lose anyone else?"

Harry sighed and leant against the war table. He nodded and looked Fitz in the eye, "Yeah, Lucius didn't make it."

The shock and the pain in Fitz's eyes was real then. Harry knew that he joked around about his brief fling with Lucius, but despite that, the two of them were good friends and had been for years.

"How…." Fitz said as Beth gripped his shoulder and squeezed it.

"He was dying, bleeding out from Sectumsempra," Harry said, his eyes on the war table, "He used blood magic to save Narcissa."

"Course he did," Fitz said softly, "Fitting, isn't it? That a Death Eater as ruthless and powerful as Lucius died for love in the end."

"Well, what's worth dying for, if not love?" Harry countered.

"Love," A new voice sneered, "Love is nothing but weakness."

They all stood up straighter as Tom entered the room.

"My lord," They all echoed.

Tom bowed his head; his hands were stained with blood, and specks coated his clothes and face too.

"Love is the reason your heir survived last night, my lord," Harry reminded Tom.

"Love got your parents killed," Tom countered.

Harry didn't deny that. He just stepped away from the table so that Tom could lean against it and look down at the model representation of Malfoy Manor.

"The Irish reinforcements consist of a squad of around 10 Aurors and 5 Hit Wizards."

Tom looked up at Harry, "So I need to know – will they outnumber us?"

Harry did a bit of math in his head, "I don't think so. We did a damn good job tonight, my lord. I know we lost eight of our own, but the Army and the Order lost 16."

Gus nodded and looked at the sheets around the wall, "I count 38 of us still standing and only 28 of them – even with their Irish reinforcements."

Tom's eyes flashed scarlet, "Then, it is time."

"Meaning, my lord?" Pyrites asked.

"Meaning, we are going to kill every last one of them," Tom hissed, looking around the room at his most trusted followers and advisors.

Harry nodded in understanding, "This is the final battle. Tonight, we end this war."

The others stood up a little straighter with that resolve and began to formulate a plan of attack.

* TBC *