Author's Note: Admittedly, I had too much fun with the end of this chapter but hey. I played a game of how many sci-fi shows can I allude to in one dialogue and I'm proud. Creepy dialogue, dark foreshadowing and Severus flirting, what else could you want on apocalypse? Semi-unedited. Read and Review.

Chapter Eighteen: Wormwood

            For a long time the only light visible was the small, prefect circle of Ezra's lit cigarette.  This deep into the Forest only spiders and demons lurked and that's exactly what was there tonight. He looked beside him to the image of Narcissa Malfoy. Tilting his head ever so slightly, he watched her as she fumbled with the buttons of her coat. Smiling, he put his cigarette between his lips and walked over, shooing her hands away and doing her buttons up.

            Narcissa inhaled sharply at Ezra's touch, tensing against him and watching him.

            "I won't be the monster I was with your husband with you, milady." Ezra mused.

            "But you acknowledge you were one."

            "Of course. Silas had that affect on people. He could turn even the calmest human into something base and demonic."

            "Are you saying he tricked you then?" She tilted her head. "That all your sins were his fault."

            "And why would I feel the need to do that?" Ezra asked, leaving the last button undone to expose Narcissa's pale chest. He smiled as he studied the curve of her breast for a long moment before looking back to her face. "I am what I am because I chose it. That is the one power we all have no matter what. The right to become anything we want to become. I am a monster because I want to be one. I can destroy as easily as I can create. I kill, hunt, maim and rape sometimes just for laughs I dare others to do something about it. Silas was the same way, except he failed to realize that monsters, even the most powerful and terrifying of us, could still die. If you believe in God, that's His reckoning, His way of making sure none of us became what He feared most."

            "What's that?"

            "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and live forever…'"

            Narcissa's eyes widen. "No, you can't mean..."

            "Scary thought, ain't it?" Ezra said, turning his attention to the Lord Voldemort turn and walk away from an elderly man leaning on a cane. "Seeing Gods created."

            Imre Macardit lifted his head and closed his eyes. If he tried, he could hear a voice on the air, murmuring so quietly but steadily that it could be mistaken as singing. He knew this song by heart now, having heard it many times before. It was an old, ancient song- one that had been around as long as the first imaginings of life had. It was wordless, tuneless but strong in its age. Within its being was the secrets of everyone who had lived and died and anyone would met that fate. It was Godhood, obtained and embodied and even though Imre could not yet understand fully the song. He knew it would come in time.

            For tonight, he would retrieve Samedi.

            Imre laughed at himself. Samedi. Azrael. Thanatos. Ah Puch. Erra. Tia. Imana. All these titles had been used to describe it over the centuries and he knew more names would be created to control after these had turned to dust and past beyond use or memory. None of these were its true name and Imre doubted if it ever had one at all. To name something was to control it, and Imre knew it was impossible to control this. He had spent what seemed like an eternity searching for a way to capture and contain this, and then, secure in his knowledge, he had gone looking for it.

And now he was so close to having it tangible and in his possession to do with whatever he liked, even unto obtaining godhood through it. Imre had seen much in his life- had seen the hearts of pure and evil men, seen kingdoms rise and fall, and languages and wisdoms discovered and lost but he had never, ever come as close as he was now to controlling it.

By dusk tomorrow it would be his. In his excitement, Imre began to tremble in doubt. He still wondered if he could control what no man was supposed to control. He wasn't sure he even understood it. And of course, for it was impossible for humans to understand it fully. He allowed himself a begrudged smile. As fate would have it, it wasn't a human that had found it.

It was the Creature, Saint Michael.

"Master?" Spoke a soft voice behind him. A voice that had touched it far more intimately then Imre ever had. "It's time I go, Master. Mordred has given the signal to move, and Voldemort will be sending the Dementors in soon. I should go."

"Go then, daemon." Imre whispered. "And in this do not fail me."

The dead thing bowed and turned away, Apparating as he left. Imre smiled tightly and turned back to where the rest of the dark army had congregating. The air began to turn icy and stale around him as slow, cloaked figure glided pass him.

Dementors.

The one nearest to Imre turned and tilted its cowl as if it recognized him. Bowing momentarily, the Dementor then continued on its way to Hogwarts, passing through air and tree as if it was not there at all.

And Imre smiled.

            Hawke gritted his teeth and crouched down as another volley of debris showered down on him. His eyes were burning and almost useless because of the smoke and particles that filled the air. Leave it to the night to add winds and theatrics to this night, Hawke thought grimly. Fates, gods or whatever ruled the fates men had a knack for putting on a show and staging everything perfectly. There was another loud explosion that shook the building this time.

"I really wished they'd stop doing that." He muttered. "That one was too close."

"Come now, if they do this story would be over by now."

Hawke spun around and glared. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Saving Angels." Snape answered simply. He looked around and shuttered. "Do I want to ask what I've missed here?"

"War." 

"Snape, this is Charlemagne. Charlemagne, Snape." Hawke looked at him, then across the table to the tall commanding figure of Master of Arms Sind Charlemagne. Olive skin tanned by the sun seemed in perfect union with the navy of her uniform. She was beautifully built that much was clear, even under her uniform she held both her grace and her strength on display. Sind's black hair was coming loose from a hastily made ponytail and fell over her dark brown eyes and grim expression. She looked up and sharply, straight into Snape's eyes. 

"With all the hoopla surrounding you, I thought you'd be taller." She said simply.

Snape cocked his head and smirked. "I'm sorry, and you are?"

Charlemagne smiled at him, eyes running over his body before settling again on his eyes. "I'm one of the Generals here."

"There's nothing like a woman you have to salute in the morning."

"Should I call the Black Prince and tell him to give you two some time to finish flirting?" Hawke asked pointedly.

Charlemagne looked caught and nodded. "Continue I'm sorry, Phoenix."

 "Nox and Hesper are reporting heavy casualties from immediately around Memory. The Death Eaters have snipers posted somewhere between the routes going towards them so I can't send in aide. They're knocking out anyone who tries to get to them."

"Can't we Apparate?"

"No, we think they've set up Charm around the perimeter to keep us in and help out."

"How'd you get here, Snape?"

"Through the floo."

"They must have someone watching them from the outside then." Hawke said. "We've been trying to get our injured out via the fireplaces for hours now."

Snape looked up. "You mean I was let in?"

"Probably. Looks like the Prince wanted you here for the fun."

"Gee, that fills me with warm fuzzies."

Another loud explosion threw Hawke and Charlemagne into the table, and left Snape scrabbling for air. Hawke was the first to recover. "Merlin! I wished they stop doing that!"

Sind looked around. "Phoenix, get everyone outside. If they keep blowing the buildings we're all going to die. You and Snape here get Cassidy and the auxiliaries working close to the Dormitories. We need to set up some kind of base of operations. I'll get to working on that and finding any other generals still alive."

"What about Memory?" Snape looked up. "I left Lexa over there, I have to find her!"

"Forget about it!" Sind said. "Memory is burning. Death Eaters are all over it! There's no one alive over there."

"I won't leave her!"

Sind gritted her teeth and looked at Hawke. "Control your Auror, Master."

"Alex, I'll take you to the Gray Library in and then you're on your own. Let's go." Hawke said, pulling up both his wands and moving towards the door.

Snape just smiled at Charlemagne's disbelieving face. "That none perish, milady!"

Hawke glanced at him from the corner of his eye as they walked outside. Admittedly Snape was not use to being on this side of the conflict, and was less accustomed to the idea that he was on the losing side and he had no personal ability to change that. After all, he had not had this sense of helplessness since he was an Auror.

Snape smiled again. He was an Auror again. "I don't suppose you have a clue about how we're suppose to get pass no man's land?"

Hawke looked over, and blinked. "What? We're the good guys and the main characters- of course we're going to go in and win. Evil can't win."

"Spock, I've found that evil usually triumphs, unless good is very, very careful."

Hawke glanced over and frowned. "…Spock?"

"Ari was a fan of Star Trek. I'm more of a Galaxy Quest fan myself."

"By Grabthar's Hammer, by the Suns of…"

 "Don't do that. I'm serious." Snape waved a stern finger, but quickly noticed it was not his finger that had silenced Hawke. Snape frowned at the look of disbelief on Hawke's face and followed it to the courtyard.

Amidst the chaos and smoke, one figure was walking calmly towards them as if none of the hell surrounding them all existed. The Death Eater was wearing his hood drawn around the face, with the cloak flicking in the wind like a dragon's tail. Snape could make out the man's slender wand in his right, and barely see the features peering through the rim of the hood. Snape's fingers found the necklace he wore again, and tickled the Angel as if to remind him about their deal.

"Go," Hawke whispered, pocketing one of his wands and readying himself for battle. "I'll handle this."

"I'll take the long way." Snape said, before moving away from his superior officer. "Don't lose, Hawke, it'll look bad on your family. That none perish, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you don't perish, ok?"

"You won't lose me, I swear."

"I hope so." Hawke mused. "I'll see you up top!"

The figure had arrived to within three feet of him and now, gingerly, reached up and pulled back his hood. The face that greeted Hawke was handsome and young, with a slender regal appearance set against violent wine color eyes that glimmered with mirth and power. The man when he spoke sounded incredibly young. "Do you know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"I am the Black Prince, and your untimely demise."

"You know, I'm not big for pomp and circumstance so why don't we just do this?"

"I agree." Mordred smiled and paused only for a second. "Crucio!"