Episode One Hundred and Four

            Gwen would have been content to remain there, not so deeply in the woods that they could get lost. She would have been almost happy to plop onto the dewy dirt path and pick blades of grass idly with Graves. She would have loved to spend just a little more quiet time here, but it was not to be so.

            A great crashing noise from the lawn of Hogwarts demanded their attention and they left the sweet idleness of the woods to discover its source.

            As it turned out the fighting had begun in earnest early in the morning. Those who had been straggling on the lawn didn't want to straggle anymore. They wanted this conflict finished this very afternoon. The dark wizards and witches remaining were attacking with a zeal Gwen easily recognized. She had felt the way when the death eaters attacked the school the second time and she sortied with the rest of the teachers to stop them. There was a reckless abandon in that venture and these warriors were now in that same mode.

            The same could not be said of the wizards and witches flying under the banner of the Order of the Phoenix. They looked weary, tired and unorganized. Dumbledore's disappearance and so far delayed return had been a real blow to their side. Gwen blinked in the gloom; the mist seemed to be growing and it was swallowing the last of the battlefield.

She had a thought and grabbed onto Graves hand. "Just let me borrow some of your energy." She said quickly.

He didn't ask nor protest this strange request. He had a memory from the dream world of something rather similar occurring once when they were doing spell work. He held onto her hand tightly and it was almost as if they'd become one. She spoke softly: "Witchgrass." She waited a long quiet moment in the deadly silent woods. Nothing happened. It wasn't working. "Um, Beauvois." Still, nothing. Finally she set her teeth and whispered. "Agropyron Repens." There was a rushing sound accompanied by the feeling of being watched. "You came." She said, not needing to turn around to see the Stag King standing behind her and Graves.

"You called." He intoned in perfect English.

Graves didn't speak, nor did he dare turn around. He knew something important was happening and he was not about to interrupt because of his burning curiosity.

"I didn't know what else to do. I think we're losing."

The Stag King nodded. "I think so too."

"Can you help?" She asked apprehensively.

He stepped around to face her and gazed at her levelly. "I have nothing to gain."

"And I have everything to lose. Everything and everyone I love is riding on this last battle. If we lose now, there's no hope for the future."

The Stag King smiled enigmatically. What he was thinking she could not tell, but she felt a warmth spreading through her limbs. She had felt this once before, while she was in his care. She didn't know it just then, but every member of the Order, any wizard or witch fighting for freedom was feeling the same warmth, the same resurgence of hope.

"If that doesn't do it, then nothing will." The king said and disappeared. The mist began to clear and Graves squeezed Gwen's hand.

"Whatever that was, I think it worked."

The battle was at a pitched level, but things had changed in the settling of the mist. The Order was forging ahead and the dark forces were beginning to retreat. They were going to get their quick finish, but it was not going to be in their favor. Those that ran were stunned and those that fought were dueled until they fell. The Chamber was filled that evening with the last of the dark wizards who had dared to fight and those who ran in fear and didn't make it to the false refuge of the Forbidden Forest.

There were only four noticeable absences from the castle that evening. Dumbledore had still not returned. Draco and Lucius Malfoy had not been caught, but Gwen knew that they had been in the vicinity of the battle. And of course, Lord Voldemort had not been seen or found at any point during the day.

The celebration that night was postponed because the work was still not finished. Not only did they need to find a way to refortify the Chamber and return much of the castle's enchantments to their prior state but many felt that until Voldemort was brought to justice there was no point in celebrating.