Chapter Thirty-Nine

The Key To Victory

Dumbledore looked up when he heard a yell from the Gryffindor table. Catching sight of the four standing, he rose to his feet and called for everyone's attention. When all eyes were on him he said, "Will all students please rise to their feet. You will follow your prefects in an orderly fashion. First years will go first, followed by each successive year."

The students looked at each other questioningly but followed the headmaster's orders. The students began to quickly exit the Great Hall. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny waited until the sixth years began to leave before going to the professors' table. Dawn continued to sit quietly at her seat.

Once at the head table, the four quickly shed their robes to reveal clothes they could easily move in. They had their daggers and wands pulled out, ready to use. The scoobies and A.I. were pulling out the weapons they had stored ahead of time. They quickly handed out stakes and other various weapons to the faculty and students.

Screams were suddenly heard from the other end of the hall. They looked up to see some of the sixth and seventh year students running toward them.

"Damn," Buffy muttered before she called out, "They're coming this way!"

"Everyone up here," Spike ordered. The students all ran to them and he quickly began handing out weapons to them.

Dawn finally rose from her seat and mutely took off her robe and retrieved some weapons. Draco sadly watched her as he readied himself secretly in a corner of the room.

Harry nearly jumped in surprise as he recognized two figures approaching him. "Remus! Sirius! What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think we'd miss the biggest fight of the year did you?" Sirius asked with a grin.

"Besides the chance to see not one, but two slayers in action was an opportunity I didn't want to miss," Remus said as he gave the young man a hug.

The boy who lived began feeling a little better about the battle that was about to start. Now if they could only get Dawn to focus. He didn't get to think about it for too long as hundreds of demons and vampires began pouring into the room.

Dawn braced herself for the coming onslaught. She was beginning to forget why she was fighting. She mechanically went through the motions to fight off her attackers. Living in this world was meaningless without Draco. The brunette ducked beneath a vampire's clumsy swing and absently staked it.

She turned and stabbed her dagger into a slimy demon before kicking it away from her. Her heart and soul became more detached as she mindlessly fought.

Ron was at least heartened by the fact that Dawn was defending herself. He traded blows with a dark haired vampire before finally staking it.

Hermione, who was fighting beside him, called out, "Duck Ron!" He complied and she hexed the demon that was about to strike him from behind.

"Thanks!" He said as he straightened and staked the vampire rushing him. He sneezed as the dust went up his nose. "Buffy forgot to warn about that," he muttered. He whirled around to check on Hermione but at that moment a group of demons ran between them, separating them.

"Ahh!" Harry cried as the polgara demon he was fighting made a cut on his arm with one of its skewers. Ginny turned at his cry and used her dagger to cut the skewer off. He nodded his head in thanks as he thrust his dagger into the demon's gut.

As he pulled the dagger out he heard Ginny say, "Oh crap."

"What?" He asked.

"I lost my wand," she said as she kicked a vampire in the face. She quickly staked him before turning to Harry. "How long before the death eaters show up, you think?"

"Dunno," Harry said as he ducked a punch. "But it won't be good when they do."

Neville had lost his stake so he used his wand to dust the petite vampire he was fighting. There were no more demons around him so he looked about to see Fred, the young Texan woman who had arrived with Angel, fighting a large scaly demon. He rushed over and stabbed it in the back causing it to drop lifelessly to the floor.

Fred flashed him a brief smile before pointing to a demon sneaking up behind him. He turned and kicked it in the stomach before dropping. Neville made a sweep with his right leg and knocked the demon off its feet. He took his dagger and stabbed it in the neck.

Buffy grunted as the chirago demon she was fighting landed a punch in her stomach. As she doubled over she placed her hands on the ground and pushed her legs up. She kicked the large demon in the head, sending it reeling over to Spike.

"I know you," Spike exclaimed as he punched it in the face. "Should have stuck with singing like Yma Sumac," he advised before beheading it. "Although, come to think of it, that wasn't a good choice either."

Gunn swung his axe to behead a chubby vampire that rushed him. He had never seen so many different demons and vampires fighting together, it was a bit disconcerting. Usually the different types of demons steered clear of each other or even fought against one another. The fact that Voldemort was able to get all of them working together did not bode well for the good guys.

Faith was having a blast, she had missed this. Nothing in the world could compare to the feeling of fighting vampires and demons. She spun in the air and kicked down a brownish red demon. As she stabbed it in the chest she kicked her leg out behind her, knocking back another sneaking up behind her. It turned to dust to reveal Wesley standing behind it.

She drew a small dagger from her boot and threw it. Her former watcher's eyes widened as the blade flew past his head and buried itself in the eye of the demon that was behind him. He smiled sheepishly and turned his attention to a vampire that was coming toward them.

Angel and Cordelia fought together with an ease that spoke of their years of working closely together. Both of them were sporting minor cuts and bruised. Angel heard clanging metal behind him as Cordelia fought a vampire that had been armed. He had just snapped the neck of a small demon when he heard Cordelia cry out in pain. He twisted around to see blood running down her shirt from a stab wound in her shoulder.

"You little creep! I loved this shirt!" Her anger gave her extra strength and she quickly disarmed him before neatly decapitating him. She sent Angel a stern look. "You realize this means shopping."

Angel just rolled his eyes.

Draco viciously cut down every demon that approached him as he worked his way to Dawn. He was determined to be by her side whether she wanted him there or not. Demon blood and gore was smeared all over him. He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to tire.

A terrible feeling settled in the pit of his stomach and he caught sight of the death eaters entering the hall. Things had suddenly gone from bad to worse.

Ron finally caught sight of Hermione fighting several meters away. He slammed his fist into the blond vampire that roared in his face. "Bad breath man."

He heard Hermione scream and looked up to see her fall beneath a bunch of demons. Fear welled up inside him. He had just found her; he couldn't lose her now.

Forgetting the wand in his back pocket he dove into his wiccan powers. He held up a hand and said, "Diduco!" The demons were thrust back and a left him a path to Hermione. He rushed up to her and knelt next to her. "Contego," he cried and a barrier shimmered around them.

Her eyes were shut but she was breathing. A deep bruise lined her jaw and a small cut on her forehead had some blood running from it.

"Wake up 'Mione!" He said desperately. "Don't you leave me. Mum would kill me if I let you die."

Hermione's eyes fluttered and a soft moan escaped her lips. Ron's heart resumed its beating as he gathered her up in his arms. "Thank Merlin! That's it 'Mione, wake up."
"Ron? My head hurts," she said softly.

"I know pumpkin," he said as he picked her up.

"Did you just call me pumpkin?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, I'll find a better name for you next time," he said as he carried her to a section of the hall that was protecting the wounded.

~Duck baby.~ Willow called to Tara. Once she had dropped to the floor, Willow threw two fireballs turning two vampires into dust.

Rising to her feet, Tara saw the green light of a killing curse hurtling toward Willow. She quickly called out, "Reddere!" It returned on its former path and killed the one who cast the spell instead.

Harry ducked to avoid a curse and it hit a stray demon behind him. The death eaters' arrival brought new perils to the battle. He had already uttered the counter-curse for the stupefy curse that had hit Ginny.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar figure skulking along the wall. He grabbed Ginny by the wrist and pulled her along with him. As the figure was looking in the opposite direction they stepped in front of him, causing him to stop short when he turned around.

"Pettigrew," Harry sneered.

The thin man looked at the wand pointed directly at him. "Harry!"

"You're not escaping this time," Harry said between clenched teeth.

"Now H-Harry. No hard feelings."
"No hard feelings! You cut me! You betrayed my parents! You're the reason my godfather is in hiding!"
Ginny saw Peter discreetly reach for his wand during Harry's tirade, but she was faster. She lashed out and her right fist connected solidly with his jaw, knocking him against the wall.

Harry called out, "Petrificus totalus!"

Peter Pettigrew's body froze up and he toppled to the floor. The two drug him over to the protected corner.

"Oh shit!" Sirius called out as he clobbered the green skinned demon in front of him.

"What?" Remus yelled after he set several vampires on fire.

"Voldemort is here and he seems to be chanting!"

"Oh shit is right," Remus muttered. He only hoped that the others had figured out how to stop the demon that was currently rising up from the floor in the middle of the hall.

"Great googly moogly!" Xander yelled as he caught sight of the demon rising. "We're in trouble G-man!"

"Xander!" Giles cried in exasperation as he took a kick in the gut. "How many times..." He swung his sword and decapitated the strange demon that had flippers instead of hands before he continued, "have I asked you not to call me that!"
"Demon's here!"
Giles looked up and replied, "Oh dear."

Anya screamed and hid behind the closest person she could find, who just happened to be Severus Snape.

"What are you doing you silly twit?" He demanded.

"It's hideous!"
"What is?"

She couldn't speak, only point to the thing. The surly professor looked to see a furry demon with large floppy ears. "What? It looks like a rabbit."
"With huge, pointy teeth!" She cried, burying her face into his back. "Kill it! Kill it!"

Snape rolled his eyes at the absurdity of the situation. He quickly cursed it and said, "It's gone, you can come out now."
She peered out tearfully around him. Seeing that the coast was clear she grinned and easily staked the vampire that went to attack her.

"Angel! Faith!" Buffy called out as Spike cleared them a path to the demon. "Seems Voldy has arrived."

The four fought their way to the massive demon in the center of the room. Its entire body was made of sand and was nearly eight feet tall.

"Sure this is more exciting that jail?" Buffy asked Faith as they stared up at the imposing figure towering above them.

"Definitely B."

Faith swung a sword she had picked up and embedded it into the thing's knee. When she pulled it out the wound just closed over. "That's bad," she muttered before it swung its arm knocking her across the room.

Spike pulled out his wand and began throwing every curse and hex he knew at the demon, but they were only absorbed by the demon. "Bugger," he grumbled. "We're in big trouble."

Draco had nearly reached Dawn. Also in his line of sight was a death eater pointing their wand at his angel. He knew she would never listen to a warning from him he took off running. He tackled her and twisted in the air. He cried out as the curse hit him on the back.

He felt as if his entire body erupted in white-hot pain as the cruciatus curse worked its way through him. All he could do was grit his teeth against the pain and hope that somebody would release the spell before he went insane.

Dawn opened her eyes and realized there was a body on top of her. All she knew was that she was fighting a demon of some sort then someone knocked her over. She shoved the body off of her and sat up.

A gasp escaped her lips as she recognized the pale, shaking figure lying next to her. "Draco?"

He struggled to focus on her. "Dawn....you....ok?"

"Yeah. What happened?"

"Cruciatus..."
"Huh?"

"You....curse...save...."

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed as she realized what he had done. She softly said, "Leryëa," and his body relaxed as the curse was lifted.

He pointed behind her and she turned to see a death eater approach them. "My father," he whispered.

Dawn's eyes narrowed and green fire flickered in them briefly. She flicked her hand and said, "Hortëa." He flew across the room and crashed into the wall. "Ondo," and the rock of the wall seemed to ooze out and bound him to the wall at his wrists and ankles.

She turned her attention back to Draco after erecting a shield around them. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I love you."
"But the mark..."
"It's fake."

She felt tears of joy well up as it sank in. He hadn't betrayed her and not only that, he loved her. A grin broke out on her face for the first time in a week and a half.

"I was so lonely without you," he whispered. "I spied for Dumbledore when the mark appeared in effort to help you. But I was worried I would fail. You're my anchor, my support. I just love you so much, I would have rather died than to see you hurt."

"I love you, too." She whispered and leaned over to kiss him firmly on the lips. As he deepened the kiss a feeling of completeness stole over her.

When they broke the kiss something clicked in her head. The familiar spark returned to her eyes and she said, "I know how to win." She stood and pulled him up.

"How?"

"No time to explain." She looked around and saw Buffy and Spike fighting the G'Noc'leth. ~Buffy, where are Willow and Tara?~

~Dawn?~ Buffy asked in surprise.

~Yes, it's me.~ She answered impatiently. ~Where are they?~

~To my right.~

Dawn looked and saw the two wiccas fighting. ~You and Spike meet Draco and I over there. We also...~

~Draco?~

~I'm here.~ Draco said.

~She knows?~

~Yes I know. As I was saying we also need to find Ron.~

~What are you up to?~

~I know how to win, now get moving.~

After finding Ron, Dawn and Draco pulled him to the others. Once the seven had gathered they all looked expectantly at Dawn.

"I'm going to open a portal."
"No," Buffy protested. "Willow and Tara said it was too dangerous."
"But when we tried it I didn't have you and Draco with me."
"What do you mean?"

"I'm suppose to let you two support me. To ground my consciousness. If I open the portal while linked, you guys will keep me grounded."

"It should work," Tara said excitedly.

"It's the same thing Tara and I do when we traverse the astral plane."
"I need Willow, Tara, and Ron to shield us while we do this."

"On it," Willow said. She joined hands with the other two and a shield went up.

Dawn reached out and joined hands with Draco and Buffy. She looked at Spike and said, "Hold Buffy's hand."

After he complied she opened a deep connection with Draco and Buffy, then connected with Spike through Buffy. Keeping a firm grip on their presences in her mind she delved into the key. Again she felt the peace of the key but Buffy reminded her of her job. She used Buffy's strength to keep hold of Draco's love, the thing that made her life worthwhile.

Picturing the dimension she wanted she pulled on her will. Sensing that that wasn't enough she pulled from the power of the key. She then pulled from the three she was connected to. Green fire erupted around the four of them and Dawn could feel the power coursing through her body.

~Anytime would be good.~ Draco said.

Dawn called out, her voice echoing through the Great Hall. "I mahtari, I istar, ar I fólë nar minë. Assa imbë ambari. Pantar!"

White crackly energy opened behind the massive demon. As the portal opened a gray whirlwind appeared on the other side.

"Kick it through Angel!" Buffy called.

Angel narrowly ducked a swing and landed a powerful kick into its chest, knocking it back a few steps. It lost its footing on one of the bodies lying on the floor and fell backwards through the portal.

Seeing the demon gone, Dawn called, "Pahtar!" When the swirling energy was gone her world turned black.