Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

First Hogwarts, Second Hogsmeade

Somehow word of the impending attack filtered down through the ranks of aurors, hit-wizards, security-wizards, members of the Order of the Phoenix, members of the faculty and staff and the student body without causing a panic and without too many rumors being spread about the size and composition of the forces that would be arrayed against them. Harry suspected that this might have something to do with the fact that Tom hadn't shown the true size of his forces yet; but whatever the reason he was happy for it. He spent most of his time leading up to the Yule Ball physically in the Headmaster's Library but mentally extending himself into the ethos, making sure he had a firm grasp on his understanding of what they would be up against. He kept most of what he learned to himself but told Ron, Neville, Albus and Emric about his findings so they could adjust the battle plans accordingly.

When Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common Room at 4:00 PM on Christmas Eve Ron looked up from the game of wizards chess he was playing against Neville, who was actually very good and had come close to winning on several occasions, and motioned him over. "So what do we know?" he asked when Harry joined then and a privacy charm had been cast.

"We know what and how many," Harry sighed, slumping down into an overstuffed chair so he could watch the conclusion of the game. "But we still don't know when or from which directions."

Neville looked up from the board after putting Ron's king in check. "You look beat, Harry," he said. "You really should try and get some rest before the ball or you won't last the night."

Tearing his eyes away from the board Harry looked tiredly up at his friend and smiled. "Yeah, I think I will." After lifting the privacy charm he stood up and with one last glance at the board before heading up to their room said, "Nice move, Neville." Neville smiled at the compliment but Ron scowled at his competition.

Two hours later Harry was awakened by Seamus and Dean's voices as they congratulated Neville on a job well done. Putting his glasses back on he rolled out of bed and sat up yawning, looking curiously over at his roommates through sleep filled eyes. "What happened?" he asked.

"Neville finally beat Ron!" Seamus said happily. Harry looked over at Ron who was sitting dejectedly on the edge of his bed. "It wouldn't have been so bad," he grumbled, "if half the house hadn't been watching."

"Oh, cheer up, Ron," Harry said. "How many games have you lost this year?"

Ron glanced up. "One," he said.

"And how close was it?"

"It was almost too close to call. But he had a one move advantage on me and I couldn't stop him."

"Well," Harry said as he stood up and headed for the bathroom, "it sounds to me like you taught him well."

"Yeah," Ron groaned. "Too well."

Harry laughed at his friend's discomfiture and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him as he went.

By 6:45, as the dinner portion of the ball began at 7:00, Harry and Ron were waiting in the common room for Ginny and Hermione. Most of the others had already gone down and Neville had left to meet Luna outside the Ravenclaw common room. Harry was watching Ron who was nervously fidgeting and playing with the corsage he had conjured for his girlfriend. "What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Ron said, nervously glancing up the girl's stair. "It's kind of strange, that's all."

"What is?"

"Well," Ron said, glancing over at his friend, "When Hermione and I stopped fighting last year we found out that we really do like each other. It didn't come all at once but the more we talked and got to know each other the more we learned to care about each other. I'm not saying we don't still like to argue once in a while but at least now our arguments are about things that actually mean something."

"Yeah, I've noticed that."

"And then last summer, when you were attacked and fighting for your life, we realized how much we really do mean to each other." Ron's eyes were starting to brim with unshed tears as he turned to face his friend. "And that was when the whole family realized how much you mean to Ginny. She was devastated and wouldn't come out of her room. She cried more than I thought possible and she wouldn't talk to anyone but Mum, Hermione, Winky and Dobby. She loves you, Harry, and to be honest with you I couldn't be happier for her."

Harry smiled warmly up at his much taller friend and put his hand on Ron's shoulder. "Thanks, Ron," he said softly. "I'm sorry I put you guys through that but in a way I'm glad it happened."

Ron looked into Harry's eyes and, with a watery smile, said, "Thanks, mate," and, with a sniff, wiped his tears away.

Hermione and Ginny, who had snuck down the stairs during Ron's confession, stepped in to form a small, human box. "He's right, you know," Hermione said softly. "If it hadn't been for you we never would have stopped fighting and we probably never would have realized how much we really do love each other."

"And if it hadn't been for the attack I never would have realized how much I really do love you, Harry," Ginny said, squeezing his arm.

Harry looked down at the radiant red haired angel standing next to him and smiled. "I'm glad something good came of it." Then, stepping back to get a better look at his date, he was astonished at how beautiful she really was. She was wearing a white, loose-fitting satin dress that seemed to hang teasingly from her shoulders. The neckline was modestly cut but not so much so that he had to struggle to use his imagination. Its sleeves gracefully sheltered her arms, ending with a flare just above her wrists. Her hair cascaded gracefully down her back with a few errant strands curling lovingly around her neck. She needed no makeup but the little she did use highlighted her face perfectly. And her eyes - those deep, dark, deliciously chocolate colored eyes - seemed to invite him to fall even more deeply in love than he already was.

The sound of Ron clearing his throat brought him out of his trance and he blushed furiously when he realized that he had been unabashedly staring at Ginny. "What say we get going?" Ron said.

"Oh . . . uh . . . yeah," Harry stammered, tearing his eyes away from Ginny's smiling face and offering her his arm.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny all laughed at Harry's embarrassment as they left the common room and headed for the Great Hall. "Turnabout's fare play, mate," Ron chuckled as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung close behind them.

The Christmas decorations in the Great Hall were spectacular to say the least. A large, towering Christmas tree stood in each corner with an even more magnificent one standing in the center of the room. Each of the trees were tastefully laden with decorations and wonderfully strewn with live fairy lights. Each of the large, circular tables had seating for six couples and was tastefully decorated with ice sculptures created by the first and second year Charms students. As Harry and Ginny were shown to their table Harry looked around at his handiwork and realized that the Great Hall was now large enough to hold the thousands of people who would be attending the ball and still leave plenty of room for dancing. He had been so busy that he had almost forgotten that he had enlarged it shortly after breakfast that morning. When they reached their table Neville and Luna were already there as were Bill and Fleur and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And, even though they were not officially a couple by any means, Mr. Lovegood and Mrs. Longbottom were seated at their table. Ron held Hermione's chair for her as Harry did for Ginny.

"Oh!" Mrs. Weasley gasped when she saw Ginny approaching their table. "Ginny, you are so beautiful!"

Ginny bowed her head demurely and blushed a light shade of pink. "Thank you, Mum," she mumbled.

At the stroke of seven Professor Dumbledore stepped up onto a slightly raised platform at the head of the Great Hall and addressed his audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, students and honored guests," he began. "I am both honored and deeply humbled that you have chosen to attend this year's Yule Ball. While the circumstances behind the organization of this event are less than ideal my hope is that you will all have an enjoyable evening." With that he bowed humbly to the diners and left the stage.

After a sumptuous dinner of hams, yams, geese and pudding the band - a full wizarding orchestra with a wide range of musical accomplishments - started playing and Harry and Ginny stepped out onto the dance floor. As the evening wore on many people complimented them on how well they danced and how nicely they seemed to fit together. At ten minutes to midnight, however, in the midst of a slow, romantic dance, Harry stopped and scowled, "That . . ." he started, with a mixture of anger and disgust, then stopped himself before he could utter a particularly descriptive curse.

Ginny looked up at him, worry in her eyes, and said, "What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry looked into her eyes before grabbing her hand and leading her quickly off the dance floor. Ginny stumbled the first few steps but quickly regained her footing as they walked briskly through the startled couples many of whom turned and curiously watched as the golden couple passed by. Harry didn't stop, however, until they were standing in front of Professor Dumbledore who was visiting with a young muggle-born boy's parents near one of the enormous Christmas trees. At a natural pause in the conversation Dumbledore turned towards Harry and smiled. But upon seeing the look of grim determination on the young man's face grew suddenly serious and cast a privacy charm that included himself, Harry and Ginny. "What is it, Harry?" he asked, some of the twinkle suddenly disappearing from his eyes.

"Dementors, trolls, banshees and Death Eaters at dawn. He is going to try and close us in."

Ginny's knees buckled as she started to faint. Harry caught her in his arms and helped her to a chair. "Will you be alright?" he asked, kneeling down in front of her.

Ginny smiled weakly and nodded but all of the color had drained from her face and her eyes were wide with fear. "How do we fight banshees?"

Harry smiled reassuringly up at her and squeezed her hands. "Silencing charms," he said. "Then I don't know. I'm hoping this modified Patronus Charm will do the trick. Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes," she said weakly. "You go tell the others."

Harry raised her hands to his lips and kisses the backs of both of them. Then smiling confidently up at her he whispered, "I love you," before standing up and walking back out onto the dance floor, discretely drawing his wand.

The first people he sought out were Ron and Hermione who were dancing comfortably together near the center of the auditorium. Walking quickly over to them he tapped Ron on the shoulder who looked up and was about to let Harry cut in when he recognized the sudden twist of a wrist, signifying the activation of a privacy charm, and stepped back to look at his friend, an expression of concern rapidly replacing the look of contentment he had been wearing moments earlier. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Tom is sending the dementors, trolls and banshees as well as a sizable contingent of Death Eaters our way at dawn. We have less than six hours but I want to be in the air in five. Spread the word but do it quietly"

Hermione squeaked. "Banshees?" she asked.

Harry nodded then answered the unspoken question. "Silencing charms," lifted the charm and went in search of Neville and Luna.

After telling Neville and Luna, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley, Alastor, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur and a few others Harry headed over to the refreshment tables where Fred and George were busily adding something to the punch. Shaking his head he snuck up behind them and gruffly said, "I hope you boys aren't planning on spiking the punch," in an almost perfect imitation of Moody.

The twins both jumped, dropping the bottle of fire whiskey they had been adding to the mix into the bowl. When they spun around the expressions of fear on their faces were so priceless that Harry could not help but laugh. "Who, us?" they asked innocently.

"Yes you," Harry said, smiling at the twin's feigned innocence. "We need everyone sober tonight," he said seriously.

George pulled out his wand and vanished the contents of the punch bowl as Fred, also recognizing the seriousness of the situation, asked, "Why, Harry? What's up?"

Harry looked around and motioned several members of the Slytherin quidditch team who had volunteered as flyers and a few others who had volunteered in other capacities over so that he could talk to all of them together. As he was about to cast the privacy charm Ginny walked up behind him and touched his hand. Raising her wand she cast the spell and, taking his hand, smiled up at him. Harry smiled down at her and squeezed her hand. "Voldemort is going to be sending the dementors, trolls and banshees, as well as a large contingent of Death Eaters, against us at dawn." Several members of this small audience either gasped or shuddered at Harry's casual use of Tom's invented name and most glanced nervously around with the mention of banshees. ""Now before you ask," he added, "our first line of defense against the banshees is the silencing charm. After that I have no idea how we are going to beat them. I'm hoping the modified Patronus Charm will work against them as well but the first task, where they are concerned, is the widespread use of silencing charms. So unless you flyers have a wing man you know you can trust I am going to have to ask you to carry a passenger to help you with the charms." Looking directly at Orville Burns he said, "I know some of you seem to think that witches have no place on a broom. But this is no time to play politics. We need the best spell casters we can get teamed with our best flyers."

Pansy Parkinson stepped forward with a sandy haired young man Harry recognized as Blaise Zabini and said, "We're in crowd control, Harry. What do you want us to do?" Harry looked at Blaise. "You're a musician aren't you?"

Blaise nodded.

"Then go get your guitar and help the teachers take care the younger students." Turning to Pansy he said, "Pansy, uh, you could probably help Blaise but I want you to float. For right now I want you to help Mrs. Weasley with the muggles. When you have finished there I want you to report to Madam Pomfrey.

Pansy nodded. "How much time do we have?"

"Voldemort has scheduled his attack for dawn but I want to be in the air by five o'clock. I want all flyers to meet back here at four thirty so we can team up and get our assignments." Turning back to the twins he said, "Are the charms ready?" They nodded. "Alright. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick have been busy conjuring hip and chest belts. Are the fireworks ready?" Again they nodded. "Alright then. I suggest you get your teams together and start loading them. If you feel up to it I am going to want you two in the air."

Twin grins appeared on their faces. "Yes!" they hissed happily.

After Ginny lifted the privacy charm the group broke up and went their separate ways to get ready for what lay ahead. "Where's Charlie?" Harry asked.

Ginny stepped in front of him and took hold of his other hand so that both of his were in hers. "Harry," she said almost shyly.

"Yes?" Harry asked looking down at her angelic face.

Pushing down on his hands and rising up onto her toes she quickly but gently kissed him on the lips. "I love you," she said then lowered herself back down to the floor.

At first Harry was stunned. It wasn't so much the kiss - although that had certainly been enough - as it was the verbal declaration of her love for him. He stood there for several seconds in stunned silence then looked into her eyes and realized that his mother had been right about his soulmate. Wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into his first self-initiated hug. "I love you too, Ginny," he whispered into here ear. "I love you too."

At 4:30 Christmas morning 500 teams of flyers were assembled in the Great Hall. A few had wingmen but most had copilots. All of the school's quidditch teams were fully represented and some of the nation's top flyers were in attendance as well. Professor Dumbledore was standing on a raised platform at the front of the room with Harry, Fred and George sitting behind him. As soon as everyone had settled down Albus cast a Sonorous Charm on himself and cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said quieting the crowd, "I thank you all for coming. As you know our spies have informed us that we are under an imminent threat of attack. We cannot reveal our sources but let me assure you that they are accurate.

"We know that we will be facing at least dementors, trolls, banshees and Death Eaters. Fred and George Weasley, in cooperation with two muggle scientists and two Unspeakables from the Department of Mysteries, have developed an enhanced Dementor Delight to assist you in casting a Patronus Charm capable of destroying the dementors." A murmur of surprise and appreciation rippled through the auditorium. "I have been told that the chief difference you will notice upon casting this charm will be the color of your patronus. Rather than being silver it will be gold. Your first line of defense against the banshees will be a silencing charm. After that we are not sure. Since they are related to the dementors, however, we suspect that the modified Patronus Charm might work on them as well. Unfortunately, trolls are immune to most forms of magic so you will have to resort to physical violence where they are concerned. I don't know what to tell you about the Death Eaters. All I ask is that unless you are specifically licensed to do so, avoid casting any of the Unforgivales. Stun and bind and let the authorities deal with the captives afterwards.

"Each of your chest belts has been outfitted with a portkey. If you should become injured simply tap the Hogwarts crest twice in rapid succession and you will be brought back here. And now, if I am not mistaken, Harry Potter would like to say a few words."

Albus stepped back and Harry stood up and stepped forward. "First off," Harry said, nodding in acknowledgement of the smattering of applause that accompanied his introduction, "let me thank you all for coming. As you know, this is an all-volunteer mission and I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you are all here. I should tell you that we are not alone. The wood elves are our allies and will be patrolling the forests; and their leader has assured me that if we can take care of the dementors and banshees they will take care of the trolls and help us with the Death Eaters. And I must ask that if you come upon any goblins please refrain from harming them if at all possible. I have been assured that the vast majority of their nation has chosen to remain neutral until they see what we are able to do with the dementors and we don't need anything jeopardizing their possible cooperation. Stun and bind and we'll sort it out afterwards.

"With that I am going to turn you over to Fred and George Weasley who would like to say a few words about those egg shaped devices hanging from your chest belts."

Harry stepped back and the twins stepped forward. "The egg shaped devices, as Harry calls them," Fred began, "are, in reality, our latest line of fireworks. For those of you who were here last year, you know how effective they can be when trying to create a diversion. Their operation is similar to that of a muggle hand grenade. Simply pull the pin and throw. They have a five second delay charmed into them so you will have time to get out of the way before they go off. We recommend using them on the trolls and Death Eaters. The green ones are for diversion only. The red ones, however, are for attack and have been charmed for use against trolls and giants."

As Fred finished his little speech George stepped up. "As soon as we are able, Fred and I will be laying a line of portable swamps to slow their advance. We do not suggest getting trapped in one of these inventions because you will not be able to get out unless or until they are deactivated. We have added a special bog feature to this line of swamps that will suck you in and hold you in place until you are rescued."

Ten minutes later, after Dumbledore cast a communications charm over all of the flyers as well as a few monitors who would be remaining at Hogwarts during the battle, everyone was airborne and Professor McGonagall was shooting off warming sparks from the top of the Astronomy tower. Twenty minutes after that Harry's group, which consisted of himself, Ginny, Ron and Neville, crested the rise just beyond the auror's perimeter. It was still quite dark but in the distance they could just barely begin to make out the ranks of dementors that stretched to the horizons. "Bloody hell," Ron gasped. "There must be thousands of them." Harry scanned the scene before him and looked over at Ginny, smiling grimly. "Are we all seeing the same thing?" he asked through the communications charm.

"Dementors and banshees?" Seamus asked.

"As far as the eye can see," Charlie almost whispered in awe.

"Yeah," Orville Burns said. "We're all seeing the same thing, Harry."

"You doing okay, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"She's doing fine," Bill said.

"She's something of a white knuckled flyer," Charlie added, "but I won't let her fall."

"Take care of that broom, Fleur," Harry said. "It's kind of special if you know what I mean."

"Is this the one you used to get the egg?" Fleur asked.

"Yeah," Harry whispered as memories of his godfather threatened to derail his resolve.

"I will take care of it for you," Fleur said in a tone that let Harry know that she understood its significance.

Ginny glided over to Harry and reached out, resting her free hand on one of Harry's legs. Harry looked over at her and smiled and mouthed a heartfelt 'thank you' before sitting back on his broom and unzipping one of the pouches on his hip belt. Popping one of the new Dementor Delights into his mouth and closing the pouch he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's go hunting."

The next comment he, as well as everyone else involved in the communications charm, heard was a whispered, "Remember Cedric."

"Yes," Harry and Fleur said in unison, "remember Cedric."

"Thank you, Cho," Harry said softly. Then added, "Everyone, this battle is being dedicated to Cedric Diggory." War hoops and battle cries were heard from every group as the flyers bit into their Dementor Delights and bent over their brooms as the counter offensive was launched.

Several hours later most of the dementors and banshees had been destroyed and those that had escaped the initial onslaught were in the process of being hunted down. The modified patroni had no trouble destroying the legions of dementors that had been set against them and the banshees had fallen just as easily. The wood elves were dealing a major blow to the trolls and while the air filled with a particularly lethal blend of fireworks Fred, George, Bill, Charlie and Hermione were laying a wide swathe of portable swamps wherever the Death Eaters threatened. There had been several casualties on both sides and more fatalities than Harry even wanted to think about. True, most of them had been on Tom's side but Harry couldn't help but wonder what those lost lives would have been like without Slytherin's heir.

After the first few hours of non-stop flying and fighting the Hogwarts Defenders, as they had begun calling themselves, had started taking fifteen-minute breaks in their flight teams. Now it was their turn. Harry, Ron, Neville and Ginny were hovering high above the battlefield, so high up that they were little more than insignificant specks in the shy and far enough away from the action that most spells would run out of energy before reaching their position. Ginny Ron and Neville were chatting lightheartedly and laughing about the looks on the faces of some of the trolls when one of Fred and George's spinning galaxy clusters had exploded less than a meter in front of its face effectively blinding and disarming it, giving the wood elves time to fill its thick hide with poisoned darts. Harry was only half listening to the conversation while idly watching the progress of the battle.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a bolt of energy heading their way but didn't think much would come of it as it would probably die out before it reached them anyway. He looked out over the battlefield for a few seconds, scanning the horizon to see if he could see what lay ahead then surreptitiously glanced back to where that bolt of energy had come from. What he saw horrified him. The bolt that was still coming at them at top speed was the emerald green of the killing curse and it was headed straight for Ginny. "Ginny, look out!" he yelled.

A split second later the curse hit the handle of Ginny's broom. The Electra 5000 exploded, throwing Ginny up and away from her boyfriend, friend and brother. The three boys were stunned. They sat numbly watching as Ginny sailed through the air and began to fall. It barely registered that she was screaming because they initially thought the curse had hit her as well. When her screams broke through to Harry's consciousness, however, he put his broom into a steep dive and flew like he had never flown before.

The air was whipping his robes and he could hear the seams tearing as his robes became more tattered and torn that anything Remus had ever worn. His glasses were being pressed into his face so hard that they cut into the bridge of his nose and he had to blink droplets of blood away so that he could see where he was going. With fifteen meters to spare he caught up with her, scooped her onto his broom and began to pull out of the dive. The additional weight, however, was too much and the broom was nose heavy. He was able to pull most of the way out of the dive but the tip of the handle caught on a small boulder. The broom snapped and they both went spinning and tumbling over the course terrain.

When they finally stopped rolling, some 50 meters from the point of impact, Ginny lay unconscious at the base of a grassy knoll and Harry lay, severely injured, a few meters away. He had no idea where his glasses were - they had come off during their tumble - and so his entire world was a blur. Sensing rather than seeing his beloved angel Harry ignored his own considerable injuries and crawled to her side. Leaning over her limp body he felt for a pulse and found one then listened for her breath and found that she was still breathing as well. At least she's alive he thought.

Looking up he thought he saw a blurry white something kneeling over them. Then he heard his mother's gentle voice saying, "You must bond with her, Harry. Share all of your energy with her. It is the only way." Harry blinked, trying to focus on the image but it was gone.

Looking down again he scooped Ginny into his arms and began to cry. At that moment Ron and Neville landed on either side of him. "Is she . . ." Ron asked, worried more for his sister's life than his friend's obvious injuries.

Harry shook his head. "She's alive," he said.

"THEN GET HER OUT OF HERE!" Ron screamed.

Harry looked up into his friend's eyes and briefly noticed a faint white halo beginning to glow around Ginny and himself before passing out. The next sounds he heard were Mrs. Weasley's screams of horror in the Entrance Hall. "Where'd they come from?" she screamed. "Look at them! They're hurt! What's wrong with them? They're glowing!"

The next voice he heard was the gently reassuring voice of Albus Dumbledore. This time, however, it held a commanding sense of urgency. "Do not touch them!" he ordered. "We will take them to the hospital wing but they must remain together and we must not touch them until the process is complete."