(A/N) My friends…brace yourselves.

Chapter 26

The match had been one for the history books. After a long fought battle that slogged on for nearly four hours, the American seeker ended the game on his own terms by catching the snitch. The final score was a dramatic 200-360 in favor of Britain, and the chaser trio from England looked unstoppable throughout the night. Oliver Wood had undoubtedly played the game of his allowing a measly five goals in the loop in four hours. In the aftermath the game was already being discussed as one of the greatest defensive shut downs in the history of the World Cup.

The cheers, applause, and mayhem following the celebration had lasted for hours. Harry had joked with Daphne that at this rate he would be coming back to the site after his vacation time was up to get rid of the celebrations that seemed to never want to end.

It took sometime, but the group had made their way back to the campsite, and the celebrations raged on around them. Harry of course was remaining responsible in the face of possibly having to help the Security team, and of course looking out for his Godson remained his top priority. He had told his friends there was no need for them to hold back whatsoever as they celebrated with the jubilant English fans who were likely to burn the sight down if they weren't more careful with their magic.

Daphne herself was watching her friends go shot for shot with people for hours, and even partook in some herself. At some point however she looked at her boyfriend who looked hyper aware of everything going on around them. He even jumped into a few minor skirmishes throughout the night as people began to become too intoxicated. It was around this time that Daphne could also tell Teddy was beginning to lose some serious steam. The young boy had stayed at his godfather's side all night smiling and jumping with the celebrations, but as midnight came and went the young boy's eyes began dropping occasionally, and Daphne knew it was coming to be time to let him sleep. When Harry told his friends this they agreed to at least return to an area closer to their campsite so Harry could still partake and keep an eye on the tent his Godson would be resting on.

To say Harry was beefing his wards up around the site and placing alert charms everywhere would be an understatement. Had Daphne been more sober she would've been very impressed and interested in the man's defensive schemes. It was clear the ward scheme alone no longer satisfied Harry, especially when his godson's safety was on the line.

Harry left the group for nearly an hour as he put his Godson to bed, and the party had lost no steam in his absence. Daphne clung to the man when he returned and kissed him soundly. He grinned at the girl, "You know you guys are going to have detox for a week with how much alcohol has been consumed in the last two days."

The girl shook her head feeling the dizziness begin to set in, "Hey I watched all day as the country paraded my boyfriend around like a show pony. I watched quite a few females take their shot at you, but I stayed quiet knowing you would be going to bed with me tonight. We are all just having a good time."

This made Harry laugh, throwing an arm around the girl and kissing her on the head, "You handled it a hell of a lot better than anyone else. Besides, we have to celebrate properly."

The young woman smiled, kissing his jaw as she surveyed their friends. It was a mixture of bodyshots, dancing, and cheering chants. It was such a happy moment that the country, and their friend group, sorely needed.

Suddenly, Harry tensed next to her. His eyes quickly moved all over the place, clearly trying to see something that had brought him out of his focus on his friends and Teddy's tent. His arm came off her shoulders first, and when he reached into his pocket for his wand she knew something was wrong.

No one else seemed to notice what was happening with Harry, but his eyes narrowed back towards the tent, and he turned to say something when an explosion rocked the camp grounds. Daphne wasn't sure if it was the drunken state of everyone, or just the shock of what had just happened, but no one moved for a moment. Hermione who was standing nearby had wide eyes, "Maybe it was an accident?"

Harry looked like he was going to snap at the girl, but two more balls of fire shot up as loud explosions shook the site from opposite sides of the area. This was enough to send everyone into a frenzy of panic, and the group began drawing their wands. Daphne heard the words, but as adrenaline spiked through her body she only comprehended some of the meaning when Harry said, "No...not again."

Harry pulled two vials from his pocket, and tossed one to a stumbling Susan, and another to Neville who was heading his way, "This is all I've got on hand. There is more in the tents. Neville get our friends out of here."

Neville downed the potion and followed after him as Harry was heading straight for their campsite, "Harry we can help."

Hannah was the next to protest, "Harry you have no idea what's out there. Let us take the potion and come with you."

Harry shook his head immediately, "We don't have time to discuss this. There are hundreds of Security hitwizards and aurors here. This isn't your responsibility anymore. My department will handle this with the international delegation. You need to run now."

Ron nearly fell into Harry as he stumbled forward running to catch up, "You are going to need us mate."

In an act of aggression Harry grabbed Ron by the shirt with both hands putting him nose to nose with the red head, "What I need is for you to get the potion out of our tent. Sober up. Get my Godson out of this shit, and protect our friends." Harry turned his anger towards Neville, "Both of you. Your only job is to protect our family. Can I count on you two to do that?"

The men both nodded gravely, and looked extremely pained to follow the head of Magical Law Enforcement's command. Teddy's head popped out of the tent clearly awoken by the commotion, "Uncle Harry, what's going on?"

Harry knelt before the boy putting both hands on your shoulder, "Teddy there are some bad guys trying to hurt innocent people. Your aunt Susan and I are going to put a stop to it. I need you to go with Neville and be safe, okay?"

The boy immediately began tearing up, "Will you and Auntie Susie be okay?"

Susan was at their side in a minute, "Everything is going to be okay Teddy. I will watch out for your uncle, I promise."

The boy nodded his head sharply at the woman, "Be safe Uncle Harry."

Harry embraced the boy and kissed him on the head, and shot to his feet pushing him gently towards Neville, "Protect him Neville."

Harry then turned to Daphne who said, "People could need help out there, should I stay back and help?"

Having already taken the potion the young healer was sobering up quickly, but Harry shook his head, "You and Hannah should both head to Saint Mungos when the rest of the party makes it back to Potter Manor. You know the night staff is nowhere near equipped to handle something like this."

Another explosion sounded off nearby, and Susan shouted to Harry as she began running against the crowd, "Harry come on we have to help!"

His eyes never left Daphne as he pulled her in by the waist and kissed her hard. When they separated he breathed, "Stay with Neville, Ron, and the others. Get your sister to safety, and be as careful as you can."

"You too Harry. Watch out for Susan."

Harry gave the girl a grin, "We are the best in the world for a reason. We will handle this."

With that the man took off after the red headed girl, and the group watched the duo disappear. Before any other exchanges could happen Neville's wand was in his hand, "Everyone follow me!"

Neville led the front of the group as Ron positioned himself in the back clearly ready to be attacked from any direction. It was a matter of moments before they crossed the ward line, and Neville shouted, "Everyone to Potter Manor. Apparate now!"

Without question Daphne grabbed onto her sister, but then she remembered the house was under the Fidelius. Before she could shout her realization the group was gone, and Astoria was staring at her wide eyed. Reaching out to her not wanting to strain the girl she said, "I will take you home first."

In the blink of an eye she took the girl's hand and the two whisked away as multiple explosions and multi-colored lights began flashing somewhere in the campground. It was in no time at all they were walking up to the gates of Malfoy Manor, and they hurried through the gates to get behind the protection of the wards. When they crossed Daphne roughly pulled the girl into a hug, "I need to check in with everyone at Potter Manor, and then get to Saint Mungos."

Astoria squeezed her sister hard in the hug, "Just be safe Daph. Call me before you go to bed. I will make sure the house elves let me know you are okay."

Nodding her assent she walked to the other side of the gate and disapparated. When she arrived at Potter Manor she was heaving for breath from the exertion of two cross country apparitions, and Hermione steadied her at once, "Easy Daphne. Where is Astoria?"

"She didn't know the secret. I took her to Malfoy Manor." Daphne explained trying to find her equilibrium again.

Hermione swore for the first time since Daphne had met the level headed young woman, "I can't believe we forgot that. I am so sorry Daphne."

Patting the girl gently on the back and giving her a weak smile in appreciation for steadying her she said, "Its' okay everyone's priority was Teddy. I understand. There was a lot of panic."

Hermione bit her lip, "Yes, and I don't think we are anywhere close to seeing the end of it. Hannah is waiting for you at the floo network. Saint Mungo's will need all the help they can get. I wish I was a certified healer right now, I could probably help."

Neville called out to her as they entered the silent room, "The helpless feeling is going around right now."

No one said anything for a moment until Ron sighed, "This is the first time in years I have regretted putting the badge down. We should be there."

Hermione put a hand on his shoulder, "Harry and Susan know what they are doing. They also couldn't rely on us forever. We all had to go on and live our lives at some point. None of us had the real ambition to be an auror."

"Neither did Harry." Daphne said sharply.

Everyone turned to look at her in surprise, and she shook her head, "He wears the badge well, and he knows it. That's why he won't give it up."

Ron shook his head, "He still wanted to be an auror even back at Hogwarts in fifth year before everything heated up."

"He would rather have played Quidditch had things been different." Daphne said quietly.

The thought stunned the group, but no one commented further. Hannah however sighed, "Regardless we are all being thrust into positions we normally wouldn't be, and for that reason we should really go see what we can do to help."

Daphne gave the blonde girl a nod of confirmation and followed her towards the fire. Neville kissed Hannah gently before she left, and made her promise to call if they needed anything.

Chaos was all they found at Saint Mungos. The wounded were pouring in from everywhere, and it looked like staff from all sections of the Wizarding Hospital had been called in. There were more healers in her wing at the hospital than she had ever seen before. When she saw Gretchen Bulstrode it was clear their previous argument was forgotten when she saw Daphne and looked relieved. Daphne went running over to the woman to help stabilize a man who needed to have his leg cauterized, "Daphne thank goodness you are here. There was an attack at the World Cup-"

"We know. I brought my friend Hannah. She is an apprentice at Hogwarts. We were there when the explosions started going off. Do we have any word on what happened?"

The man mumbled in pain, "Death Eaters."

Daphne's eyes widened, and even Bulstrode looked surprised, "Impossible."

Shaking her head she asked, "Are there any rooms left?"

"All full we are operating here in the lobby, and some patients are being redirected to other floors." The supervisor explained, and then turned to Hannah, "Thank you for coming my dear please go check in with Healer Smethywick. He is just around the corner. He will assign you to whatever you might be able to help with. I will need Healer Greengrass here to help me with this one."

Hannah nodded in understanding and took off clearly desperate to help. The wounded man before her had already lost his leg, but the blood was coming so fast he would be dead in moments if they couldn't slow down the bleeding. The two healers worked expertly to create and conjure items that would cauterize the wound, and when it was complete the man was thanking them with harbored breathing. Daphne took a deep breath in surprise that the healers had been able to save him, but offered a smile, "You are going to be okay. We are going to get you some blood replenishers, and you will get to go home to your family."

The man flinched at this, and his eyes filled with tears, "They killed my family."

Daphne stared at the man, eyes wide in horror, as his words set in, "I'm so sorry."

He grabbed her hand roughly, "They were wearing Death Eater robes, but the masks weren't quite the same. They had...red spirals on the masks. Red spirals…"

Daphne jerked away from the man in fear as a crazed look entered his face, and before she could stun the man or ask for help he fell back into the makeshift cot, eyes rolling backwards as he lost his fight with consciousness. The young healer stared at the man for several long moments even after he went down. Silent horror and comprehension was dawning on her. Harry was right. It wasn't worth it. He knew from the beginning that the enemies in the shadows were waiting for something like this. A moment where they could wreak mayhem, but how had it happened? Harry had so much Security stationed around the campsite this should've been just short of impossible.

Healer Bulstrode shot to her feet, and flagged down a witch that was helping from another floor, and gave her instructions on what potions the man needed now that he was stable. She then turned back to Daphne, "Roll your hair back girl. We have a long night ahead of us."

She was right, and they worked and worked for hours. It seemed never ending. It wasn't just that more and more people were flowing in, but there were still so many when she arrived that they couldn't ever catch up.

Dawn came and went, and Daphne was practically dead on her feet when they put the last person into a room on the bottom floor. International help arrived at some point in the night, but that was the only thing keeping them floating. Smethwyck had to come to her as she was taking a break behind the desk drinking a cup of coffee to find her energy, "Go home Healer Greengrass. You did very well tonight, and we will not forget that you came to help in our hour of need without even being called."

"Are you sure there isn't anything else I can do for you?" Daphne asked, yawning.

The man offered her a slight smile, but it was more like a grimace, "You and Poppy's apprentice saved a lot of people tonight. You should go home and get some rest. Enjoy what's left of your vacation."

Daphne offered the man a nod, and moved over to where Hannah had closed her eyes at a chair. Her face was leaning on her hand, and Daphne gently woke the girl up, "Come on Hannah. Our work here is done. Let's go get some rest."

The girl nodded quickly, and she threw her arm around Daphne with a slight smile, "We did a lot of good here tonight I think. Saved a lot more than we lost."

Daphne returned the small smile, "The life of a healer is never off duty right? Madame Pomfrey will be proud of what you did tonight. I am more than happy to write to the masters board about what you did here. Help you drop that apprentice title one of these days."

The girl inhaled deeply, and offered her thanks as they passed through the lobby of the Ministry, and headed to the floo point to return to Potter Manor.

Arriving in the fireplace to dead silence in Potter Manor was a far cry from the moans and groans of when they had arrived at Saint Mungos. The silence seemed loud though, and Daphne could immediately tell something wasn't right. Hannah seemed to be of the same mind, and both witches drew their wands.

They quietly walked through the first floor finding no one, and Hannah said, "Where is everyone?"

Blinky appeared at her question, and her eyes were bloodshot red, "Missy Hannah, Missy Daphne. Everyone is upstairs."

Hannah frowned at the appearance of the elf, "Blinky, is everything okay?"

The elf shook her head and blew her nose into shirt, and disapparated away. A sinking feeling in Daphne's stomach began to overtake her. She couldn't stop the run she broke into as the girls tore across the house desperate to get upstairs.

Her heart was in her stomach. Daphne could hardly remember the steps she took that led to the horrible destination. She could hardly remember the first thoughts that crossed her mind when she saw that Harry was okay. He was standing there above a bed that was in the middle of the room that certainly was never there before. She would never remember just how fast the realization of what had happened hit her. She would never process the looks of grief on every person in the room. The angry tears that had fallen from the faces of people who had become family to her. The first thing she would remember, and would likely never forget was the anguished scream of Hannah. She would never remember how she herself had ended up on the floor. Too shocked to stand or move. She would never forget the look of sheer devastation that was on Harry's face when he stepped aside for Hannah, fully showing the lifeless body of Susan Bones.

(A/N) I'm sorry guys. This was the plan from the beginning. When I first thought of this story the World Cup battle part two, and Susan's death were the scenes that had inspired this story. The next chapter we are going to get in depth view of the battle, and the final stand of Susan Bones.

This story is running towards the end from here, and you better believe Harry and company will be out for blood. Please leave your thoughts of this chapter in a review for me, and share what you felt there at the end.

My discord group is growing, and I would love to have more people join it. It sounds like we are working towards assigning roles on the server, and the more active you are the more likely you are to get advanced content! Follow the link below, and delete the spaces or Fanfiction will break it. Can't wait to hear from you all! dis / Qc7hV rBD