Well, this is it, kiddos. It's been a great ride, and I still want to see lots of reviews come rolling in, but other than this and a probable epilogue, it's time to say goodbye. Story time.
In a dream world, Harry Potter would have been a nice, normal, average boy whose only worry was that life was a bit too dull sometimes. In a dream world, Harry would fall in love, have no complications, and get married. In a dream world, Harry would have children, have a steady, normal job that he enjoyed, and he would live life, happily, in utter anonymity, blissfully unaware of the mortal peril in which the world was constantly being placed.
In the real world, Harry Potter was a teenaged vampire with a soul, waiting in a small bubble of air at the bottom of a lake for his mortal enemy, the man who could very possibly destroy the world if Harry failed to kill him first.
Harry shook his head and threw his fists around a bit, trying to get used to his new vampiric form. He'd trained as a regular teenage boy for too long to just pick up things as a vampire in a moment.
He tried morphing his face back to his normal human one. It wasn't easy at first, but after a moment he figured it out. He found that as it passed, so did a little bit of his strength. He wasn't quite as hungry like this too...
Hungry...
Harry shuddered as he realized that what he hungered for was human blood. He shuddered again when he realized that, despite his soul, there was a large part of him that didn't have a problem with that.
This was going to be even more trying then he had imagined.
Deciding that this wasn't the time to run his own psychological analysis, Harry returned to testing his new physical capabilities. There was a good chance that he would need them.
Harry waited.
Buffy stood with Faith surveying the dark line of the forest. "Where are they?" she asked.
Faith just shook her head. She didn't have an answer.
"According to Dumbledore's watch, they should have been here twenty minutes ago," Buffy said. "I'm getting worried."
"Maybe that's why they're doing it," Faith said. "Maybe Voldie had to go to the ladies room. Calm down, Buffy. They'll get here, and we'll fight."
"Right," Buffy said. Then she laughed. Faith looked over at her, surprised.
"What's funny?" she asked.
"This," Buffy said. "That year that we first met...after that, who'd have thought that you'd be here with me, calming me down and fighting with me?"
"I certainly wouldn't have," Faith said. "I hated you a lot back then."
"Likewise," Buffy said. "Good thing we've gotten this far."
"Yeah," Faith said, and returned her gaze to the forest. She was worried, too, but she wasn't being vocal about it.
Buffy looked up and down the line. The section that she had chosen to command personally was located near the center of the line. On her left was Giles' section and further on, Grimshar's forces. On her right were Wood and Willow's sections, and the rest of the army of Slayers further on. They were aligned using an ancient formation that Giles said came from Alexander the Great.
Buffy's gaze traveled quickly back to the forest when Faith nudged her in the ribs. "They're here," Faith said, simply. Vampires had started emerging from the forest.
Buffy glanced at the sky. It was nearing one in the morning, now; sunrise wasn't for another six and a half hours. This was going to be long and messy.
Buffy walked out in front of the troops, Faith by her side. She walked a full hundred feet out, so that she was halfway between both lines. Buffy turned to look at her own troops. They all watched her and waited for her signal.
She raised her hand. In it was the Slayer's Scythe. "Charge!" she yelled. The entire line of Slayers, wizards, and goblins yelled and rushed forward, toward the trees.
In the Great Hall, the shout could be heard as a thunderous cry. The students looked around expectantly. They were all frightened out of their wits.
Madame Pomfrey came rushing into the hall. She exchanged a quick word with Professor McGonagall, then strode over to where Ron and Hermione were standing.
"We need more help with the hospital," Pomfrey said, shortly. "When I asked, Professor McGonagall recommended the two of you."
Hermione started to smile, but stopped about halfway there. "We'll do it," she said, solemnly. She looked to Ron to see if he would disagree, but he was already nodding an affirmative to Madame Pomfrey.
Along with about fifteen other students and Madame Pomfrey, they left the Great Hall, only to stop in the Entrance Hall.
"This is the hospital?" Hermione asked, looking at the hastily set up beds and care kits scattered throughout.
"Our Hospital Wing is too far away and too small," Madame Pomfrey said. "We'll have to make due with what we have. Ah, here's the other help."
The house-elves had arrived from the kitchens. As they got to work setting things up, Dobby came up to Ron and Hermione, expectantly.
"Harry Potter has gone to fight the Dark Lord?" he asked.
"Yes, he has, Dobby," Hermione said.
"Dobby is wishing he is fighting with Harry Potter," Dobby said, bitterness creeping into his voice.
"We'll make sure to tell him that," Ron said. If he survives, he added silently.
Madame Pomfrey finished overseeing the set up of the beds and the erecting of the supplies cabinet, and turned to address her new nurses.
"The first casualties will be arriving shortly. Do what you can for them. If you can't do anything, bring them into the back. Just do what you can. When its over, we'll get some real doctors in to help."
The first wave of casualties came flooding in, and the Entrance Hall was filled with the yells of those dying and those who wished for death to end the pain.
Craig and Ginny stood waiting. There were several Slayers with them, but all kept their distance from the other two, and no one felt like talking.
As soon as the fighting had started, Dumbledore had left, in a hurry, leaving instructions for the Slayers and Craig.
He told them to protect the lake as long as possible and when it was no longer possible. To abandon it.
"Such a great plan," Craig said to himself.
Ginny didn't say anything.
The voices had decided to give him an earful since his little escapade in the forest. It was annoying the hell out him. It seemed like every despicable dead person in history had lined up to tell him that he was a terrible person.
There are only so many times Attila the Hun can insult you before you start to crack.
So far, they hadn't seen any action, and several of the Slayers had started chomping at the bit. They wanted to leave.
Ginny spoke up suddenly. "Do you want to leave, too?" she asked.
"No," Craig said. "I don't. Harry's the most important part of all this - we have to protect him for as long as possible."
Ginny nodded. She was satisfied with that - if it wasn't a personal thing for Craig, at least it was still important. Ginny would have been content, but her curiosity got the better of her.
"Why do you even fight?" she asked.
"What else is there for me?" Craig asked. "Fighting is what I am. It's what I had to be."
"Destiny..." Ginny said. It pained her that her destiny was sacred, holy, and good, whereas Craig's was to uphold a legacy of pain and violence. And he'd wanted to do good so badly...
He was. "You're one of the good guys, Craig," she said.
Craig gave her a funny look. "Was that to reassure me or you?"
Ginny tried a smile and failed. "You won't hurt me," she said.
Craig didn't smile. "I can't guarantee that," he said. "If I go crazy...I'm pretty strong. I'm...not really one of the good guys. I just fight for them."
Ginny was about to say something to Craig, something reassuring, when the vampires attacked.
At the very top of the North Tower, Dumbledore stood surveying the battle below. Demons and Death Eaters had collided with the line of Slayers, goblins, and wizards. It was getting increasingly harder to tell one side from the other.
"This isn't going to work if they don't fall back," said Ain, who stood at Dumbledore's left.
"I am well aware of that, Lieutenant," Dumbledore stated. He'd regained a measure of his usual composure.
"Should we send a message to General Grimshar to fall back and let the artillery do its job?" Ain asked, ever the eager young soldier.
"No, Lieutenant," Dumbledore said, a bit of annoyance creeping into his voice. "The grounds of Hogwarts are small. We can't give them ground."
Ain turned from the battle to look over the artillery. The Sunlifery XL13, the latest Ministry gadget to be sent to them, stood there. Several older Maei M232's also stood, lined up in a neat row.
"Are the shrapnel spells in place?" Dumbledore asked, never diverting his attention from the battle below. The slightest chance was all they needed, and was probably the best they could hope for.
"Yes, sir," Ain said. He looked at the goblins manning the guns. They all nodded. They were ready to go.
So was Ain.
Buffy swung the Slayer's Scythe in a circle over her head, clearing the vampires out of her area. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten so far behind the enemies line, but she knew that surviving was going to be difficult.
A vampire jumped back into the circle she'd just created. Buffy met it with a roundhouse kick that sent it flying back into the ranks. Two more came at her from opposite sides. Buffy ducked their punches. They hit each other.
"Come on, guys, that's the oldest trick in the book," she said.
She dusted the two dazed vampires in quick succession.
Chaos reigned. Buffy didn't have a clue whether or not her Slayer's were winning; she couldn't even tell if any of them were still alive.
As she sliced the head off of a large Fyarl demon, Buffy noticed a shift in the attention of the demons surrounding her. Several of them on her right side were turning - and getting cut down in the process.
Faith emerged, swinging a lance in large, devastating circles. The speared end wasn't destroying the vampires it hit, but it was removing body parts at a steady rate.
Buffy threw a last punch and spun away from her attackers. She and Faith hit each other back to back and continued fighting.
"Dumbledore needs us to push them back," Faith said. "Something about artillery."
"Ooh, big guns!" Buffy said.
"Not to time for little kid jokes, Buffy," Faith said. "We need to throw these assholes back, now."
"Who's left?" Buffy asked.
"Not sure," Faith replied, parrying the thrust of a rather scaly demon. "Giles is still up, but other than him, I don't have a clue. I think Robin is dead."
"Come on," Buffy said, forcing the Scythe through a vampire's throat, dusting it. "We need to get back there."
The began to walk, circling against each other's back, towards the Slayer's line.
When they reached it, the Slayer's parted momentarily to let them through. The change was immediate and shocking. Instead of the constant parrying and thrusting of battle, there was open air again.
Buffy hurried back. Kennedy was standing there, her arm in a makeshift sling. "Willow just went back to the hospital," she said. She looked like she'd been through severe mental trauma. "I pulled a vamp off her - I don't know how much of her the thing got."
"She'll be fine," Buffy said. "I need to know who's left."
"Jennifer took over Willow's command. Giles is still up and fighting. Robin's dead - I don't know who's commanding his unit."
Buffy shook her head. "We need to push them back! Damn it, what are we going to do?"
A voice from behind her startled her a bit. "Draw them in," Shannon said. "Make them think they've broken through the line and then, when they flood the gap, surround them, close the gap in the line, and kill them. They're demons - frenzied - we can do that as many times as we want. We thin them out a bit and then we can throw them back."
Buffy and Faith both stared at Shannon. "That was brilliant," Buffy said.
"Well, I try," Shannon said. And, of all places for it, she blushed.
Half an hour later, Ain was positively chomping at the bit. "Are those new tactics working?" he asked.
"Why don't you look for yourself, Lieutenant?" Dumbledore asked. He still hadn't moved.
Craig threw the last of the small squad of vampires to the ground and staked it. It exploded into dust. Craig looked up, hoping for more, but finding none.
"Anyone hurt?" Ginny asked.
The Slayers all responded; they were unhurt, mostly. Craig didn't respond. "Craig?" Ginny asked, looking straight at him. He didn't meet her eyes.
"Yes, I'm okay," he said.
"Look, Craig..." Ginny began, but she never really got to get started. A vampire leapt at her from behind.
"Later, kid!" Craig said, as he stepped in and threw the vampire away from Ginny. He took a second to survey this new force. It was huge - at least a hundred vampires and other demons.
Craig looked at the Slayers. "One of you go tell Dumbledore that we'll hold against these things as long as we can, but this push is the last one they're gonna need to make."
One of the Slayers bolted.
A minute later, she stood on North Tower. "Professor Dumbledore!" she said, breathlessly. "The lake is about to fall!"
Dumbledore snapped his head around and headed across the Tower, barely acknowledging the Slayer who had delivered the bad news. He looked down at the lake and saw the force of enemies there.
"Then it is time for the contingency plan," Dumbledore said. "Lieutenant Ain, you have a target. Take out as many of those demons as you can."
"Our people are down there too!" Ain said.
"They have orders to retreat," Dumbledore said. "If they follow them, they won't be there long. Commence firing."
Ain seemed to wrestle with his conscience for a moment, but the soldier in him won out. He gave the signal to one of the guns pointed towards the lake. It fired a bright red streak of light at the lake.
The shell hit the approaching force near the head of the column. The explosion was so forceful that the ground actually sank, restricting access to the lake.
Craig saw the chance he'd been waiting for. "That's it!" he yelled. "That's all we can do! Pull back!"
The Slayers broke and ran, heading for the main battle. Ginny lingered a moment.
"Come on, Craig, we still need your help.
Craig looked at her. She was terrified by the slightly insane look of remorse in his eyes. "Your mother wants me to tell you that she loves you," Craig said. "I'm going to cover your retreat. Good-bye, kid."
He leapt from the cliff.
"Craig!" Ginny yelled, rushing to the edge of the cliff in time to see Craig land amidst the demons. She considered joining him for a moment, then heard the yell of one of her fellow Slayers.
With a grimace that ran from her mouth to her stomach, Ginny turned. "Good-bye, Craig," she said.
Craig fought furiously, slicing and dicing with his medium broadsword. He barely heard the sounds of the vampires turning to dust.
Craig stood before the only open ramp way up through the newly formed cliff. The opening was perhaps eight feet wide, with twenty foot drops on either side. Craig fought at the top of it, to keep the demons from claiming the lake.
As a vampire lunged forward, trying to bare him down, Craig rammed his sword straight through the vampire's stomach. Before the vampire could even register that it had been impaled, Craig had withdrew the sword and struck three more times. The vampire never hit the ground.
Craig turned a spin, keeping the demons at bay. They were pressing closer on him. He fought with incredible speed. He could feel the individual molecules of the air parting for him to pass through. Quite a bit of the air was superheated by his passing, causing small explosions of combustion and magic.
Craig spun, chopping, hacking, slashing...the demons swarmed around him, gaining the lake's shore...and as he fought still faster, a small smile appeared on Craig's face.
Atop the North Tower, Dumbledore now divided himself between the main battle and the situation at the lake. The demons had finally gotten to it. Voldemort was probably on his way down at that very moment. It was up to Harry now.
As Dumbledore had hoped, the small army of demons that had taken the lake set up a defense perimeter rather than rushing on and attacking the castle.
"Discontinue shelling them, Lieutenant," Dumbledore said.
"Sir?" Ain asked, confused.
"We don't need to provoke them into attacking us from behind," Dumbledore explained. "Discontinue shelling."
"Discontinuing, sir," Ain said, gritting his teeth.
Dumbledore looked back at the main battle. As he did, the demons broke away from the Slayers and goblins near the center. A goblin unit used a hinge movement to obliterate the right flank of the demon army. More were coming, but the army was weakened and had had to regroup.
"Now!" Dumbledore said. "Shell them now, full shrapnel and stunner."
Ain gave the signal, and the guns all boomed.
Buffy watched as, twenty feet from her, demons started being torn apart by deep, red explosions. But even as the artillery mowed down their ranks, more came hurtling out of the trees.
More and more and more!
They were dying by the hundreds. The dust from the explosions and the dead vampires was obscuring everyone's vision. The dust mixed with flying blood and gore, turning the battlefield to a red smog.
The smog drifted in and around the Slayers. And even as the demons' ranks were ripped apart by artillery fire, they charged.
Ain had to shout to be heard over the noise of the artillery. "Sir, we're nearing the end of our ammunition. The canisters are nearly drained."
Dumbledore cursed silently. He strode from his vantage point over to the large canisters which contained the odd, mystical substance used to fuel the magical artillery. The canisters were nearly empty.
"Save what is left!" Dumbledore shouted. "We may need it more later!"
Ain nodded; at least understanding his commanding officers decision this once. Ain gave the order to stop firing.
The guns went silent.
Faith heard the guns stop firing. Several of the wizards near her cast spells that blew away the smog from the exploding shells.
The battlefield was covered with bodies. Demons had been ripped apart by the artillery, spreading out there body parts and inner intestines and mixing them with those of others. No part of the field wasn't soaked in blood. Amongst the demons were bodies of wizards, goblins, and Slayers who had died as well.
There was a momentarily calm. Faith began to hope, in that second of quiet, that they'd pushed back Voldemort's army. Then, the trees parted way for more demons to come flooding in. Just as many as the last time.
Faith steeled herself and ordered a charge. She knew that it was becoming more and more hopeless. They were going to lose at this rate.
Professor McGonagall's voice suddenly boomed out over the noise made by the crowd of students in the Great Hall. "There is a chance that the school will very shortly be invaded by vampires," she said. Before everyone could begin shrieking, she continued. "Some of them may appear to be people you knew. Do not hesitate to stake them on sight; they're no longer your friends."
Hermione looked at Ron. He'd gone pale, too.
Harry suddenly became aware of a slight buzzing that punctuated the near silence. His vampiric hearing was a lot better than his human hearing had been.
Out of thin air popped the form of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort didn't take any notice of Harry, instead heading directly for the pedestal.
Harry could have reacted faster, stopped him. But he remembered that the pedestal could only be sent away once the ritual was started. He had to wait.
Voldemort withdrew a bag of soil from his robes and poured it into the top of the pedestal. The pedestal began to glow, casting odd shadowy glimmers against the outer layer of the bubble. Then the pedestal began to spin.
Voldemort turned to face Harry. "When that pedestal is done revolving, the ritual will be complete and I will rule Hogwarts. Scared?"
Harry smiled, his vampiric face emerging. "Not in the slightest," he said, and lunged.
Voldemort turned away from Harry's lunge and pulled out his wand. "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort yelled.
The Killing Curse hit Harry full force, point blank. The curse threw Harry across the enclosure, landing him close to the bubble. He felt limp for a moment. Then, his strength returned to him.
"Hello, genius, I'm already dead!" Harry said. Harry began advancing back towards Voldemort.
Voldemort was enraged at the ineffectualness of Avada Kedavra. "Crucio!" he spat.
The curse hit Harry just as it always had. But this time, something was different. Two something's. The pain didn't seem to matter so much. And he could feel an almost tangible line between himself and Voldemort. The curse required large amounts of strength. Harry could feel Voldemort expending energy. And he could feel himself growing weaker, as well, because the curse, despite his resilience, was also draining him of energy.
He had to complete the ritual while he still could.
Harry forced himself to take a step forward. Slowly, inch by inch, he neared Voldemort, whose eyes grew wider with every step Harry took. When he deemed Harry too close, Voldemort attempted to break the curse and run.
It was too late by then. Harry lunged and caught Voldemort by the back. Harry violently pushed Voldemort's head to the side, exposing his neck, and drank.
When Voldemort was nearly drained, and getting towards the point where his anti-death magic would come into play, Harry stopped. He slit his own wrist with one of his fangs and pressed the freely bleeding cut to Voldemort's lips. Voldemort drank.
As he did, and began to die, Harry dragged him towards the pedestal. He leaned Voldemort's nearly vampiric body over the pedestal, propped against Harry's body so as not to actually touch the furiously spinning platform. Then, Harry withdrew his Hunga Munga from where he'd concealed it in the back of his robes.
He slit Voldemort's throat. Then he slit his own.
Their mixed blood, not quite human and not quite demon, not quite good and not quite evil, flowed down onto the platform. It stopped violently, and the world started to shake. Harry dropped Voldemort onto the pedestal, which now glowed an bright white, and black out himself.
On the surface, the earthquake came suddenly. Buffy lost her footing and went down, landing on top of several cut up body parts. The demon army faltered, not knowing what was going on for the first time in the whole battle.
At that moment, a convoy of flying carpets arrived. Off of them jumped men in combat gear, all carrying wands or staffs. Angel leapt off the lead one.
Buffy ran to him. "Angel!" she yelled.
Angel turned to her. He was smiling. "Sorry we couldn't get here earlier," he said. "Something was holding us back, like we couldn't get into the grounds."
"Whatever!" Buffy yelled. "You're here! That's what counts. Now lets rout these demonic sons of bitches!"
"I take that personally, you know," Angel said. He turned to his troops. "All right, men. This is it. Charge!"
As it turned out, the demon army had been tied almost directly to Voldemort. No one was entirely sure how Voldemort had managed to regulate so many minds at one, but then again, many of Voldemort's secrets were unfathomable.
Angel's reinforcements turned the tides on the demons. Without the leadership they were receiving from Voldemort's mind, they became confused, disorganized, and in many cases, reverted to their self-servicing natures. They ran, and the Slayer's and Angel's forces, along with those that remained of the wizards and goblins, gave chase. They didn't really have to - the demons were done with their attack.
In all, they'd managed to get within twenty feet of the outer walls of Hogwarts.
In the aftermath, the body of Harry Potter was found on the shore of the lake, washed up in the same location he'd entered the lake from.
When Harry awoke, he didn't know where he was. He was in the middle of a small, dark room, on a bed. There were no windows; the light was provided by a half dozen torches in raised braziers.
Harry got up out of bed, to find Ginny sitting a the foot of it. "Ginny...?" Harry asked. "What...where am I?"
"Hogwarts," Ginny said, looking relieved that he was finally awake. "We won, Harry."
He leapt out bed and grabbed her up in a big hug. "That's great news, Ginny!" he yelled.
Ginny, however, wasn't smiling. "What's wrong?" Harry asked. He let go of her, allowing her to back away.
Ginny had sworn to herself that she wasn't going to cry. But she had to. "Oh, Harry, you're dead now!" she wailed. "And the moment you died, the bond between us started to weaken. We're not going to be able to share a soul for much longer."
Harry took that in slowly. He couldn't imagine himself turning evil. Then again, he wasn't altogether sure who or what he was anymore. "So...can't Willow restore my soul?" he asked, fearing what the answer might be.
"She can," Ginny said. "She already has, in fact. But now you have the same restrictions as Angel. One moment of true happiness..."
Harry saw immediately where she was going. He reached out to her. She reached out to him, smiling through her tears, because she wanted to feel him again after what seemed to be so long. Their hands met, and their fingers entwined.
They drew closer, embracing tightly. They kissed passionately through it all. When the kiss was broken, Ginny said, "You're soul..."
"I know," Harry responded. "But I love you, Ginny."
Harry recoiled suddenly, shaking his head. Something about this was very familiar...
Harry whirled suddenly, catching Ron's thrust before the wooden stake could enter his back. Harry twisted, and the stake fell to the floor.
"Get back, Ginny!" Ron yelled.
"Ron, stop being a prat!" Ginny yelled, before Harry could say it. "Willow returned his soul!"
"Huh?" Ron said, and he stopped struggling against Harry's incredible grip for a moment. "Say what?"
"He's not evil," Ginny said. "Now could you give us some privacy? And when I tell you I'm going to see a boy, don't always follow me, okay?"
Ron disengaged himself from Harry, muttering, "I just wanted to see a friend..."
He left the room through the open doorway.
Harry turned back to Ginny. She was crying again. "Harry...you know what this means," she said.
"No, I don't," Harry said, stubbornly defiant. "I don't know what it means. We saved the world, we survived...and now we can be together. I understand that."
"But that's not how it is, Harry," Ginny said, crying more and more. "You know that we can't be together now."
Harry started crying too. "I..." he started, but couldn't go on.
"Voice of reason, remember?" Ginny asked, sobbing now.
"Good-bye, then," he said, and left the room before anything more could happen. He didn't think he could stand it if anything more did happen.
Harry ran into Dumbledore outside of the room. "Hello, Harry," Dumbledore said. He appeared to have aged by several hundred years since Harry had last seen him. "You really aught to be in bed."
"I'm fine," Harry said. "I was just leaving, actually."
"Leaving?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, leaving," Harry said. "Leaving Hogwarts."
Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, I had expected this," he said. "Harry, I want you to understand that there will always be a place for you at Hogwarts. No matter what you become."
Harry nodded. There were several hundred bitter things he had to say to Dumbledore, but he resisted, because there was one thing on his mind. "Professor," he said. "Before I go, I have a question."
"If it is within my power to answer, then I shall," said Dumbledore.
"I've been having dreams for months about Ron staking me as a vampire. It almost just happened, but I managed to stop it, because I realized that the dream was coming true. What was happening?" he asked.
Dumbledore considered, then smiled when he realized what it meant. "The Powers that Be sent you those dreams, Harry," Dumbledore said. "They read the signs, that you would be killed by Ron if you won the battle against Voldemort. So they sent you those messages, to warn you."
"But why?" Harry asked. "If I'd already won, why would they bother to keep me around?"
"Because you still have a role to play, Harry," Dumbledore said.
Harry didn't smile. He didn't nod. He simply left. His time would come...again...and how would fight...again.
With a heavy heart, Harry Potter left Hogwarts for the last time.
THE END
In a dream world, Harry Potter would have been a nice, normal, average boy whose only worry was that life was a bit too dull sometimes. In a dream world, Harry would fall in love, have no complications, and get married. In a dream world, Harry would have children, have a steady, normal job that he enjoyed, and he would live life, happily, in utter anonymity, blissfully unaware of the mortal peril in which the world was constantly being placed.
In the real world, Harry Potter was a teenaged vampire with a soul, waiting in a small bubble of air at the bottom of a lake for his mortal enemy, the man who could very possibly destroy the world if Harry failed to kill him first.
Harry shook his head and threw his fists around a bit, trying to get used to his new vampiric form. He'd trained as a regular teenage boy for too long to just pick up things as a vampire in a moment.
He tried morphing his face back to his normal human one. It wasn't easy at first, but after a moment he figured it out. He found that as it passed, so did a little bit of his strength. He wasn't quite as hungry like this too...
Hungry...
Harry shuddered as he realized that what he hungered for was human blood. He shuddered again when he realized that, despite his soul, there was a large part of him that didn't have a problem with that.
This was going to be even more trying then he had imagined.
Deciding that this wasn't the time to run his own psychological analysis, Harry returned to testing his new physical capabilities. There was a good chance that he would need them.
Harry waited.
Buffy stood with Faith surveying the dark line of the forest. "Where are they?" she asked.
Faith just shook her head. She didn't have an answer.
"According to Dumbledore's watch, they should have been here twenty minutes ago," Buffy said. "I'm getting worried."
"Maybe that's why they're doing it," Faith said. "Maybe Voldie had to go to the ladies room. Calm down, Buffy. They'll get here, and we'll fight."
"Right," Buffy said. Then she laughed. Faith looked over at her, surprised.
"What's funny?" she asked.
"This," Buffy said. "That year that we first met...after that, who'd have thought that you'd be here with me, calming me down and fighting with me?"
"I certainly wouldn't have," Faith said. "I hated you a lot back then."
"Likewise," Buffy said. "Good thing we've gotten this far."
"Yeah," Faith said, and returned her gaze to the forest. She was worried, too, but she wasn't being vocal about it.
Buffy looked up and down the line. The section that she had chosen to command personally was located near the center of the line. On her left was Giles' section and further on, Grimshar's forces. On her right were Wood and Willow's sections, and the rest of the army of Slayers further on. They were aligned using an ancient formation that Giles said came from Alexander the Great.
Buffy's gaze traveled quickly back to the forest when Faith nudged her in the ribs. "They're here," Faith said, simply. Vampires had started emerging from the forest.
Buffy glanced at the sky. It was nearing one in the morning, now; sunrise wasn't for another six and a half hours. This was going to be long and messy.
Buffy walked out in front of the troops, Faith by her side. She walked a full hundred feet out, so that she was halfway between both lines. Buffy turned to look at her own troops. They all watched her and waited for her signal.
She raised her hand. In it was the Slayer's Scythe. "Charge!" she yelled. The entire line of Slayers, wizards, and goblins yelled and rushed forward, toward the trees.
In the Great Hall, the shout could be heard as a thunderous cry. The students looked around expectantly. They were all frightened out of their wits.
Madame Pomfrey came rushing into the hall. She exchanged a quick word with Professor McGonagall, then strode over to where Ron and Hermione were standing.
"We need more help with the hospital," Pomfrey said, shortly. "When I asked, Professor McGonagall recommended the two of you."
Hermione started to smile, but stopped about halfway there. "We'll do it," she said, solemnly. She looked to Ron to see if he would disagree, but he was already nodding an affirmative to Madame Pomfrey.
Along with about fifteen other students and Madame Pomfrey, they left the Great Hall, only to stop in the Entrance Hall.
"This is the hospital?" Hermione asked, looking at the hastily set up beds and care kits scattered throughout.
"Our Hospital Wing is too far away and too small," Madame Pomfrey said. "We'll have to make due with what we have. Ah, here's the other help."
The house-elves had arrived from the kitchens. As they got to work setting things up, Dobby came up to Ron and Hermione, expectantly.
"Harry Potter has gone to fight the Dark Lord?" he asked.
"Yes, he has, Dobby," Hermione said.
"Dobby is wishing he is fighting with Harry Potter," Dobby said, bitterness creeping into his voice.
"We'll make sure to tell him that," Ron said. If he survives, he added silently.
Madame Pomfrey finished overseeing the set up of the beds and the erecting of the supplies cabinet, and turned to address her new nurses.
"The first casualties will be arriving shortly. Do what you can for them. If you can't do anything, bring them into the back. Just do what you can. When its over, we'll get some real doctors in to help."
The first wave of casualties came flooding in, and the Entrance Hall was filled with the yells of those dying and those who wished for death to end the pain.
Craig and Ginny stood waiting. There were several Slayers with them, but all kept their distance from the other two, and no one felt like talking.
As soon as the fighting had started, Dumbledore had left, in a hurry, leaving instructions for the Slayers and Craig.
He told them to protect the lake as long as possible and when it was no longer possible. To abandon it.
"Such a great plan," Craig said to himself.
Ginny didn't say anything.
The voices had decided to give him an earful since his little escapade in the forest. It was annoying the hell out him. It seemed like every despicable dead person in history had lined up to tell him that he was a terrible person.
There are only so many times Attila the Hun can insult you before you start to crack.
So far, they hadn't seen any action, and several of the Slayers had started chomping at the bit. They wanted to leave.
Ginny spoke up suddenly. "Do you want to leave, too?" she asked.
"No," Craig said. "I don't. Harry's the most important part of all this - we have to protect him for as long as possible."
Ginny nodded. She was satisfied with that - if it wasn't a personal thing for Craig, at least it was still important. Ginny would have been content, but her curiosity got the better of her.
"Why do you even fight?" she asked.
"What else is there for me?" Craig asked. "Fighting is what I am. It's what I had to be."
"Destiny..." Ginny said. It pained her that her destiny was sacred, holy, and good, whereas Craig's was to uphold a legacy of pain and violence. And he'd wanted to do good so badly...
He was. "You're one of the good guys, Craig," she said.
Craig gave her a funny look. "Was that to reassure me or you?"
Ginny tried a smile and failed. "You won't hurt me," she said.
Craig didn't smile. "I can't guarantee that," he said. "If I go crazy...I'm pretty strong. I'm...not really one of the good guys. I just fight for them."
Ginny was about to say something to Craig, something reassuring, when the vampires attacked.
At the very top of the North Tower, Dumbledore stood surveying the battle below. Demons and Death Eaters had collided with the line of Slayers, goblins, and wizards. It was getting increasingly harder to tell one side from the other.
"This isn't going to work if they don't fall back," said Ain, who stood at Dumbledore's left.
"I am well aware of that, Lieutenant," Dumbledore stated. He'd regained a measure of his usual composure.
"Should we send a message to General Grimshar to fall back and let the artillery do its job?" Ain asked, ever the eager young soldier.
"No, Lieutenant," Dumbledore said, a bit of annoyance creeping into his voice. "The grounds of Hogwarts are small. We can't give them ground."
Ain turned from the battle to look over the artillery. The Sunlifery XL13, the latest Ministry gadget to be sent to them, stood there. Several older Maei M232's also stood, lined up in a neat row.
"Are the shrapnel spells in place?" Dumbledore asked, never diverting his attention from the battle below. The slightest chance was all they needed, and was probably the best they could hope for.
"Yes, sir," Ain said. He looked at the goblins manning the guns. They all nodded. They were ready to go.
So was Ain.
Buffy swung the Slayer's Scythe in a circle over her head, clearing the vampires out of her area. She wasn't sure how she'd gotten so far behind the enemies line, but she knew that surviving was going to be difficult.
A vampire jumped back into the circle she'd just created. Buffy met it with a roundhouse kick that sent it flying back into the ranks. Two more came at her from opposite sides. Buffy ducked their punches. They hit each other.
"Come on, guys, that's the oldest trick in the book," she said.
She dusted the two dazed vampires in quick succession.
Chaos reigned. Buffy didn't have a clue whether or not her Slayer's were winning; she couldn't even tell if any of them were still alive.
As she sliced the head off of a large Fyarl demon, Buffy noticed a shift in the attention of the demons surrounding her. Several of them on her right side were turning - and getting cut down in the process.
Faith emerged, swinging a lance in large, devastating circles. The speared end wasn't destroying the vampires it hit, but it was removing body parts at a steady rate.
Buffy threw a last punch and spun away from her attackers. She and Faith hit each other back to back and continued fighting.
"Dumbledore needs us to push them back," Faith said. "Something about artillery."
"Ooh, big guns!" Buffy said.
"Not to time for little kid jokes, Buffy," Faith said. "We need to throw these assholes back, now."
"Who's left?" Buffy asked.
"Not sure," Faith replied, parrying the thrust of a rather scaly demon. "Giles is still up, but other than him, I don't have a clue. I think Robin is dead."
"Come on," Buffy said, forcing the Scythe through a vampire's throat, dusting it. "We need to get back there."
The began to walk, circling against each other's back, towards the Slayer's line.
When they reached it, the Slayer's parted momentarily to let them through. The change was immediate and shocking. Instead of the constant parrying and thrusting of battle, there was open air again.
Buffy hurried back. Kennedy was standing there, her arm in a makeshift sling. "Willow just went back to the hospital," she said. She looked like she'd been through severe mental trauma. "I pulled a vamp off her - I don't know how much of her the thing got."
"She'll be fine," Buffy said. "I need to know who's left."
"Jennifer took over Willow's command. Giles is still up and fighting. Robin's dead - I don't know who's commanding his unit."
Buffy shook her head. "We need to push them back! Damn it, what are we going to do?"
A voice from behind her startled her a bit. "Draw them in," Shannon said. "Make them think they've broken through the line and then, when they flood the gap, surround them, close the gap in the line, and kill them. They're demons - frenzied - we can do that as many times as we want. We thin them out a bit and then we can throw them back."
Buffy and Faith both stared at Shannon. "That was brilliant," Buffy said.
"Well, I try," Shannon said. And, of all places for it, she blushed.
Half an hour later, Ain was positively chomping at the bit. "Are those new tactics working?" he asked.
"Why don't you look for yourself, Lieutenant?" Dumbledore asked. He still hadn't moved.
Craig threw the last of the small squad of vampires to the ground and staked it. It exploded into dust. Craig looked up, hoping for more, but finding none.
"Anyone hurt?" Ginny asked.
The Slayers all responded; they were unhurt, mostly. Craig didn't respond. "Craig?" Ginny asked, looking straight at him. He didn't meet her eyes.
"Yes, I'm okay," he said.
"Look, Craig..." Ginny began, but she never really got to get started. A vampire leapt at her from behind.
"Later, kid!" Craig said, as he stepped in and threw the vampire away from Ginny. He took a second to survey this new force. It was huge - at least a hundred vampires and other demons.
Craig looked at the Slayers. "One of you go tell Dumbledore that we'll hold against these things as long as we can, but this push is the last one they're gonna need to make."
One of the Slayers bolted.
A minute later, she stood on North Tower. "Professor Dumbledore!" she said, breathlessly. "The lake is about to fall!"
Dumbledore snapped his head around and headed across the Tower, barely acknowledging the Slayer who had delivered the bad news. He looked down at the lake and saw the force of enemies there.
"Then it is time for the contingency plan," Dumbledore said. "Lieutenant Ain, you have a target. Take out as many of those demons as you can."
"Our people are down there too!" Ain said.
"They have orders to retreat," Dumbledore said. "If they follow them, they won't be there long. Commence firing."
Ain seemed to wrestle with his conscience for a moment, but the soldier in him won out. He gave the signal to one of the guns pointed towards the lake. It fired a bright red streak of light at the lake.
The shell hit the approaching force near the head of the column. The explosion was so forceful that the ground actually sank, restricting access to the lake.
Craig saw the chance he'd been waiting for. "That's it!" he yelled. "That's all we can do! Pull back!"
The Slayers broke and ran, heading for the main battle. Ginny lingered a moment.
"Come on, Craig, we still need your help.
Craig looked at her. She was terrified by the slightly insane look of remorse in his eyes. "Your mother wants me to tell you that she loves you," Craig said. "I'm going to cover your retreat. Good-bye, kid."
He leapt from the cliff.
"Craig!" Ginny yelled, rushing to the edge of the cliff in time to see Craig land amidst the demons. She considered joining him for a moment, then heard the yell of one of her fellow Slayers.
With a grimace that ran from her mouth to her stomach, Ginny turned. "Good-bye, Craig," she said.
Craig fought furiously, slicing and dicing with his medium broadsword. He barely heard the sounds of the vampires turning to dust.
Craig stood before the only open ramp way up through the newly formed cliff. The opening was perhaps eight feet wide, with twenty foot drops on either side. Craig fought at the top of it, to keep the demons from claiming the lake.
As a vampire lunged forward, trying to bare him down, Craig rammed his sword straight through the vampire's stomach. Before the vampire could even register that it had been impaled, Craig had withdrew the sword and struck three more times. The vampire never hit the ground.
Craig turned a spin, keeping the demons at bay. They were pressing closer on him. He fought with incredible speed. He could feel the individual molecules of the air parting for him to pass through. Quite a bit of the air was superheated by his passing, causing small explosions of combustion and magic.
Craig spun, chopping, hacking, slashing...the demons swarmed around him, gaining the lake's shore...and as he fought still faster, a small smile appeared on Craig's face.
Atop the North Tower, Dumbledore now divided himself between the main battle and the situation at the lake. The demons had finally gotten to it. Voldemort was probably on his way down at that very moment. It was up to Harry now.
As Dumbledore had hoped, the small army of demons that had taken the lake set up a defense perimeter rather than rushing on and attacking the castle.
"Discontinue shelling them, Lieutenant," Dumbledore said.
"Sir?" Ain asked, confused.
"We don't need to provoke them into attacking us from behind," Dumbledore explained. "Discontinue shelling."
"Discontinuing, sir," Ain said, gritting his teeth.
Dumbledore looked back at the main battle. As he did, the demons broke away from the Slayers and goblins near the center. A goblin unit used a hinge movement to obliterate the right flank of the demon army. More were coming, but the army was weakened and had had to regroup.
"Now!" Dumbledore said. "Shell them now, full shrapnel and stunner."
Ain gave the signal, and the guns all boomed.
Buffy watched as, twenty feet from her, demons started being torn apart by deep, red explosions. But even as the artillery mowed down their ranks, more came hurtling out of the trees.
More and more and more!
They were dying by the hundreds. The dust from the explosions and the dead vampires was obscuring everyone's vision. The dust mixed with flying blood and gore, turning the battlefield to a red smog.
The smog drifted in and around the Slayers. And even as the demons' ranks were ripped apart by artillery fire, they charged.
Ain had to shout to be heard over the noise of the artillery. "Sir, we're nearing the end of our ammunition. The canisters are nearly drained."
Dumbledore cursed silently. He strode from his vantage point over to the large canisters which contained the odd, mystical substance used to fuel the magical artillery. The canisters were nearly empty.
"Save what is left!" Dumbledore shouted. "We may need it more later!"
Ain nodded; at least understanding his commanding officers decision this once. Ain gave the order to stop firing.
The guns went silent.
Faith heard the guns stop firing. Several of the wizards near her cast spells that blew away the smog from the exploding shells.
The battlefield was covered with bodies. Demons had been ripped apart by the artillery, spreading out there body parts and inner intestines and mixing them with those of others. No part of the field wasn't soaked in blood. Amongst the demons were bodies of wizards, goblins, and Slayers who had died as well.
There was a momentarily calm. Faith began to hope, in that second of quiet, that they'd pushed back Voldemort's army. Then, the trees parted way for more demons to come flooding in. Just as many as the last time.
Faith steeled herself and ordered a charge. She knew that it was becoming more and more hopeless. They were going to lose at this rate.
Professor McGonagall's voice suddenly boomed out over the noise made by the crowd of students in the Great Hall. "There is a chance that the school will very shortly be invaded by vampires," she said. Before everyone could begin shrieking, she continued. "Some of them may appear to be people you knew. Do not hesitate to stake them on sight; they're no longer your friends."
Hermione looked at Ron. He'd gone pale, too.
Harry suddenly became aware of a slight buzzing that punctuated the near silence. His vampiric hearing was a lot better than his human hearing had been.
Out of thin air popped the form of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort didn't take any notice of Harry, instead heading directly for the pedestal.
Harry could have reacted faster, stopped him. But he remembered that the pedestal could only be sent away once the ritual was started. He had to wait.
Voldemort withdrew a bag of soil from his robes and poured it into the top of the pedestal. The pedestal began to glow, casting odd shadowy glimmers against the outer layer of the bubble. Then the pedestal began to spin.
Voldemort turned to face Harry. "When that pedestal is done revolving, the ritual will be complete and I will rule Hogwarts. Scared?"
Harry smiled, his vampiric face emerging. "Not in the slightest," he said, and lunged.
Voldemort turned away from Harry's lunge and pulled out his wand. "Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort yelled.
The Killing Curse hit Harry full force, point blank. The curse threw Harry across the enclosure, landing him close to the bubble. He felt limp for a moment. Then, his strength returned to him.
"Hello, genius, I'm already dead!" Harry said. Harry began advancing back towards Voldemort.
Voldemort was enraged at the ineffectualness of Avada Kedavra. "Crucio!" he spat.
The curse hit Harry just as it always had. But this time, something was different. Two something's. The pain didn't seem to matter so much. And he could feel an almost tangible line between himself and Voldemort. The curse required large amounts of strength. Harry could feel Voldemort expending energy. And he could feel himself growing weaker, as well, because the curse, despite his resilience, was also draining him of energy.
He had to complete the ritual while he still could.
Harry forced himself to take a step forward. Slowly, inch by inch, he neared Voldemort, whose eyes grew wider with every step Harry took. When he deemed Harry too close, Voldemort attempted to break the curse and run.
It was too late by then. Harry lunged and caught Voldemort by the back. Harry violently pushed Voldemort's head to the side, exposing his neck, and drank.
When Voldemort was nearly drained, and getting towards the point where his anti-death magic would come into play, Harry stopped. He slit his own wrist with one of his fangs and pressed the freely bleeding cut to Voldemort's lips. Voldemort drank.
As he did, and began to die, Harry dragged him towards the pedestal. He leaned Voldemort's nearly vampiric body over the pedestal, propped against Harry's body so as not to actually touch the furiously spinning platform. Then, Harry withdrew his Hunga Munga from where he'd concealed it in the back of his robes.
He slit Voldemort's throat. Then he slit his own.
Their mixed blood, not quite human and not quite demon, not quite good and not quite evil, flowed down onto the platform. It stopped violently, and the world started to shake. Harry dropped Voldemort onto the pedestal, which now glowed an bright white, and black out himself.
On the surface, the earthquake came suddenly. Buffy lost her footing and went down, landing on top of several cut up body parts. The demon army faltered, not knowing what was going on for the first time in the whole battle.
At that moment, a convoy of flying carpets arrived. Off of them jumped men in combat gear, all carrying wands or staffs. Angel leapt off the lead one.
Buffy ran to him. "Angel!" she yelled.
Angel turned to her. He was smiling. "Sorry we couldn't get here earlier," he said. "Something was holding us back, like we couldn't get into the grounds."
"Whatever!" Buffy yelled. "You're here! That's what counts. Now lets rout these demonic sons of bitches!"
"I take that personally, you know," Angel said. He turned to his troops. "All right, men. This is it. Charge!"
As it turned out, the demon army had been tied almost directly to Voldemort. No one was entirely sure how Voldemort had managed to regulate so many minds at one, but then again, many of Voldemort's secrets were unfathomable.
Angel's reinforcements turned the tides on the demons. Without the leadership they were receiving from Voldemort's mind, they became confused, disorganized, and in many cases, reverted to their self-servicing natures. They ran, and the Slayer's and Angel's forces, along with those that remained of the wizards and goblins, gave chase. They didn't really have to - the demons were done with their attack.
In all, they'd managed to get within twenty feet of the outer walls of Hogwarts.
In the aftermath, the body of Harry Potter was found on the shore of the lake, washed up in the same location he'd entered the lake from.
When Harry awoke, he didn't know where he was. He was in the middle of a small, dark room, on a bed. There were no windows; the light was provided by a half dozen torches in raised braziers.
Harry got up out of bed, to find Ginny sitting a the foot of it. "Ginny...?" Harry asked. "What...where am I?"
"Hogwarts," Ginny said, looking relieved that he was finally awake. "We won, Harry."
He leapt out bed and grabbed her up in a big hug. "That's great news, Ginny!" he yelled.
Ginny, however, wasn't smiling. "What's wrong?" Harry asked. He let go of her, allowing her to back away.
Ginny had sworn to herself that she wasn't going to cry. But she had to. "Oh, Harry, you're dead now!" she wailed. "And the moment you died, the bond between us started to weaken. We're not going to be able to share a soul for much longer."
Harry took that in slowly. He couldn't imagine himself turning evil. Then again, he wasn't altogether sure who or what he was anymore. "So...can't Willow restore my soul?" he asked, fearing what the answer might be.
"She can," Ginny said. "She already has, in fact. But now you have the same restrictions as Angel. One moment of true happiness..."
Harry saw immediately where she was going. He reached out to her. She reached out to him, smiling through her tears, because she wanted to feel him again after what seemed to be so long. Their hands met, and their fingers entwined.
They drew closer, embracing tightly. They kissed passionately through it all. When the kiss was broken, Ginny said, "You're soul..."
"I know," Harry responded. "But I love you, Ginny."
Harry recoiled suddenly, shaking his head. Something about this was very familiar...
Harry whirled suddenly, catching Ron's thrust before the wooden stake could enter his back. Harry twisted, and the stake fell to the floor.
"Get back, Ginny!" Ron yelled.
"Ron, stop being a prat!" Ginny yelled, before Harry could say it. "Willow returned his soul!"
"Huh?" Ron said, and he stopped struggling against Harry's incredible grip for a moment. "Say what?"
"He's not evil," Ginny said. "Now could you give us some privacy? And when I tell you I'm going to see a boy, don't always follow me, okay?"
Ron disengaged himself from Harry, muttering, "I just wanted to see a friend..."
He left the room through the open doorway.
Harry turned back to Ginny. She was crying again. "Harry...you know what this means," she said.
"No, I don't," Harry said, stubbornly defiant. "I don't know what it means. We saved the world, we survived...and now we can be together. I understand that."
"But that's not how it is, Harry," Ginny said, crying more and more. "You know that we can't be together now."
Harry started crying too. "I..." he started, but couldn't go on.
"Voice of reason, remember?" Ginny asked, sobbing now.
"Good-bye, then," he said, and left the room before anything more could happen. He didn't think he could stand it if anything more did happen.
Harry ran into Dumbledore outside of the room. "Hello, Harry," Dumbledore said. He appeared to have aged by several hundred years since Harry had last seen him. "You really aught to be in bed."
"I'm fine," Harry said. "I was just leaving, actually."
"Leaving?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes, leaving," Harry said. "Leaving Hogwarts."
Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, I had expected this," he said. "Harry, I want you to understand that there will always be a place for you at Hogwarts. No matter what you become."
Harry nodded. There were several hundred bitter things he had to say to Dumbledore, but he resisted, because there was one thing on his mind. "Professor," he said. "Before I go, I have a question."
"If it is within my power to answer, then I shall," said Dumbledore.
"I've been having dreams for months about Ron staking me as a vampire. It almost just happened, but I managed to stop it, because I realized that the dream was coming true. What was happening?" he asked.
Dumbledore considered, then smiled when he realized what it meant. "The Powers that Be sent you those dreams, Harry," Dumbledore said. "They read the signs, that you would be killed by Ron if you won the battle against Voldemort. So they sent you those messages, to warn you."
"But why?" Harry asked. "If I'd already won, why would they bother to keep me around?"
"Because you still have a role to play, Harry," Dumbledore said.
Harry didn't smile. He didn't nod. He simply left. His time would come...again...and how would fight...again.
With a heavy heart, Harry Potter left Hogwarts for the last time.
THE END