From atop an ancient tower, Harry could see the figure sprinting across the courtyard, his cloak flapping out behind him with every ground devouring step. The figure moved with supernatural speed and he crossed the courtyard in mere seconds. Harry knew what was the Sentinel's destination was, so he didn't move, knowing the Sentinel could get to him far faster than he could descend the stairs.



Harry glanced to the east and his eyes fixed on a pillar of smoke that was rising into the air. Hogsmeade was burning and had been burning for the better part of an hour. That thought alone forced Harry's hands into fists. Hogsmeade had always been a joyful place. It had been a get-away for students overwhelmed with studies or homesickness. Harry had loved every one off his trips to the small town. And now it was burning. Businesses that had taken lifetimes to established had been laid low in moments, overwhelmed in moments as Voldemort's scouts and fore-runners had come upon it.

Just one more thing for Voldemort to answer for, Harry thought grimly.

The trap-door that led to the top of the tower opened behind him and Harry turned to see a Sentinel climbing onto the roof. It was the same Sentinel he had seen running across the courtyard and Harry was once again amazed by the physical prowess of the Sentinels. The man had run through the entirety of the castle and up the long staircase in little more then two minutes.

Harry didn't know many of the Sentinels by sight and even less by name, but he recognized the grizzled man who came silently to his side. Harry fought down the wave of anger that ran through his blood at the sight of the man.

Joseph Dent had held Ron against his will, forcing the young man to experience unimaginable pain. Harry hated him for that. Since he had come to Hogwarts, Dent had been nothing but helpful, but Harry's feelings hadn't yet warmed to the man.

Dent dropped into a low bow and waited for Harry to give him permission to rise. Harry gave it quickly, still not used to the shows of respect.

Dent straightened quickly and looked directly into Harry's eyes. "You must send a unit to Hogsmeade."

Harry's eyebrows rose. "Why?" he asked incredulously. "We knew Voldemort would take Hogsmeade. We couldn't have held that place against him, even if we had tried. That's why we forced the evacuation."

A look of disdain passed over Dent's face, but Harry knew it wasn't directed at him. "A few of the town folk stayed behind, deciding they would rather die than lose their businesses. They've holed themselves in some of the more defendable positions. If we don't intervene now, they'll be slaughtered."

Harry slammed a fist against the waist-high railing that ran around the length of the tower. He took a long breath. He knew his next decision might damn him forever. "Let them."

Dent's eyes widened in surprise. "M'Lord?"

"We told them to leave. They didn't. Now they pay for their stupidity." Harry forced the emotionless expression to remain on his face. His insides churned and he felt bile rise in his throat. "We can't risk confrontation on open ground. Voldemort's force is larger than ours. If we ride out to meet him, we'll be killed, and you know it. If the townsfolk reach our doors before the enemy, we'll let them in, but I won't risk my men. Not yet. They'll be killing soon enough."

Dent's face became equally emotionless. He gave Harry a small nod. Harry knew that he had changed the man's opinion of him, but what the man now thought, he couldn't tell.

Dent left his side went back down through the trap-door. When Harry was sure the man was out of sight, Harry collapsed against the railing, tears springing into his eyes. He slid down the weathered stone until he sat down, thinking of what kind of monster he had become.

((()))



Less than an hour later, Harry's entire command team stood on top of the tower. Dumbledore looked the same as always, with his faded blue robes and crooked hat. He looked more tired than usual, but that was to be expected.

Draco looked better than he had earlier that day. He had managed a few hours of sleep and he looked refreshed. When he saw Harry looking at him, he gave him an excited wink.

Quentin was wearing an outfit made of all Muggle clothing. His plain white T-shirt and worn blue jeans were a strong contrast to the others in their robes. In his hands, he held a long pole that resembled a broomstick. It took Harry a moment to recognize the weapon that the Weasley twins had made for the boy for the raid in the Sentinel Compound.

Ron and Hermione hardly looked like themselves. They had equipped themselves with the things that the Sentinels had made for them. Instead of wearing their school robes, they had come prepared for war. Hermione wore light leather armor and brown furred cloak. Harry was sure that they were both enchanted in some way. Sitting on her hip, her wand was held by holster-like tube. Around her neck, she wore the delicate silver necklace that Mikel TreeHammer's ugly bond-mate had surprisingly crafted.

Ron looked even more foreboding. Ron wore a black, long sleeved shirt and black pants. On top of his shirt, around his chest and arms, he wore a beautiful chain mail shirt. Beginning at his wrists and running almost all the way up to his elbow, he wore metal bracers. The bracers were covered in some unintelligible runes. They were undoubtedly magical. His shins were armored in a similar fashion and his hands were covered by heavy leather gloves.

He also wore the long, blue cloak of the Sentinels. Strapped on his back was the massive sword that TreeHammer had forged for him.

On anyone other that these two, the effect may have been comical, but Ron and Hermione looked truly dangerous. Harry pitied the enemies that came across these two this night.

Neville stood at the railing, staring out at the smoke rising from what used to be Hogsmeade. He was wearing a plain robe with a large red cross stitched on the back. Everyone in Neville's unit had similar robes. Neville wore a heavy belt with several large pouches ringing his waist. Harry was sure the pouches were filled with Neville's healing equipment.

Neville had strongly disagreed with Harry decision to abandon the townsfolk of Hogsmeade. Harry had argued with him until he couldn't stand it any longer. Eventually, he had simply sent Neville away.

Harry hadn't wanted to hear that argument. Largely, because he couldn't with good conscience refute it. Harry agreed with Neville and if he hadn't been the one to make the decision, he would have been angry too. The choice still tore at his insides, but he knew that he had done the right thing. The existence of Hogwarts, and in a sense, the rest of the world hung on this battle. Harry had to look at the big picture.

Sitting on Harry's own hip was the sword of Gryffindor. He doubted it would even be used during this battle, but its weight reassured him. He looked at the people gathered around him and sighed.

"The battle will begin shortly. I know we've been over all of this before, but I want to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Ron, you and Hermione will go to the outer tower. From there, with support form Dumbledore', McGonagall's and Gabriel's towers, you'll be holding off the brunt of Voldemort's force. We want to keep them as far away from the main gate as possible. Neville, you and your-" Harry stopped when he saw that the boy hadn't turned. "Neville!"

Neville didn't turn. "They're still fighting in Hogsmeade. I can hear it."

Harry heard it also. Even though Hogmeade was several miles away, the sounds of battle cross the distance easily.

Neville finally did turn. "We could still help them, Harry. I know how much it hurts you to see others in pain. We HAVE to help them."

Harry sighed. "Damn it, Neville. You think I don't want to help them? It's killing me to know that people are dying while I stand up here safe. But we can risk open battle. Voldemort will overwhelm us. We have to stay here and fight him on ground that is favorable to us."

Neville turned back towards the smoke. "Yes, sir."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Neville, you and your unit will be just inside the gates, ready to run out and retrieve the wounded and dead."

Neville nodded.

Harry turned back towards the others. "Draco, Ginny and Quentin will stay up here with me as advisors and runners. I might need some messages relayed while the Fat Lady is busy."

The three of them nodded.

Harry looked out onto the dark courtyards and fields that surrounded Hogwarts castle. You could see the entire battle field from here, Harry thought.

"This is the last stand." He said gravely. "If we fail here, the rest of the world will fall over like dominoes. This is the night, the only night that we can stop Voldemort."

The others all nodded, knowing fully well how serious the situation was.

"All right, everyone to their positions."

They scattered in moments and soon only Draco, Ginny, Quentin, Ron and Hermione remained.

Saying nothing, Hermione pulled Harry into a fierce hug. She trembled slightly when he returned the embrace. "You're were the first real friend I ever had." She said quietly.

Harry laughed. "What about Ron? He was there too!"

Hermione smiled and shrugged. "He didn't start liking me until well after the incident with the mountain troll."

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed, a smile coming to his face. "That's not fair! You were a brat!"

Hermione laughed and pulled Harry's head down to hers. She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "You are the best friend anyone could ever ask for, Harry."

Harry nodded and felt his eyes burn. He swallowed the lump in his throat and returned Hermione's kiss. Hermione released him and Ron took her place in seconds.

Ron looked slightly uncomfortable. "You were the first real friend I ever had too, Harry." He shook his head slowly and looked away, not knowing what to say. "We weren't alive until we met you. You made us into what we are." He shrugged and smiled. "You have that effect on people."

Harry didn't even try to fight the tears.

Ron laughed and pulled Harry into a hug. "You'll make it out of this, Harry" Ron said and Harry had the impression he was trying to convince himself. "You have to. You're going to be my best man."

Harry laughed and clung to his best friend. When they released each other, Harry could see wet streaks running down Ron's cheeks.

Ron and Hermione reached the trap-door and Harry looked at them until they disappeared. He had a horrible feeling he would never see them again.

((()))

Realization came over Harry like a sickness. His head swam and he had to put his hand out on the railing to stay on his feet. I'm an idiot, he thought. I'm a fucking idiot.

Ginny, who was standing next to him, put a hand on his shoulder. "All right, Harry?"

"I've damned myself, Ginny." He said in a whisper. "Those people in Hogsmeade are dying."

Ginny's grip on his shoulder tightened. "Look, Harry, I don't like the idea that we can't help them anymore than you do, but you made the right decision."

Harry slapped himself in the head. "No, I didn't! We CAN help them. I've had so much on my mind that I forgot about the tunnel! It leads right into the Leaky Cauldron. I can send Sentinels through the tunnel and extract the townsfolk!"

Ginny's eyes widened. "I'll send the message!" she said excitedly.

Earlier that day, Harry had ordered that the portrait of the Fat Lady be brought to the top of the tower. Ginny ran to where the portrait laid against the railing.

"We need a message sent to Weasley's tower. Tell them to send a small unit of Sentinels here." Ginny said quickly.

The Fat Lady gave a classic British salute and was gone.

Minutes later, six Sentinels arrived. Their bond-mates were not with them. They had probably been left in the safety of Ron's tower. The leader of the group was none other than Joseph Dent.

Dent dropped a quick bow to Harry. Harry barely allowed him to straighten before saying, "We're sending you to Hogsmeade."

Dent's eyes squinted warily. "I thought that wasn't best for the mission."

"It wasn't. But now I have a way to get you in and out without having to risk open war with Voldemort's boys. There's a tunnel that leads from the castle to an alehouse in Hogsmeade. Take it and bring the surviving folk back with you."

"Where is the tunnel?" Dent asked.

"I'll go with them." Ginny said throwing on a black cloak.

"No." Harry said. "It's-"

"Too dangerous?" Ginny asked. "I know where the tunnel is. They don't. We need to move as soon as possible. It makes sense."

Harry didn't want her to go, but he knew her reasoning was sound. "All right. Be safe."

"I'll go too." Quentin said. "I'm no good up here, anyway." He glanced quickly at Ginny and back to Harry as if to say 'I'll watch out for her'.

Harry nodded. They turned and all the left through the trap-door. Even with Draco at his side, Harry felt very alone.

((()))

Ginny moved down the passage at almost a sprint. Her wand was extended out in front of her, its tip glowing and shooting light out onto the dark corridor. They had been running for a while and she was breathing heavily. She could here Quentin's ragged breathing behind her. Of the Sentinel's she couldn't here anything. She knew they were barely jogging and keeping up with her pace with no difficulty.

Soon, they came to the end of the passage. An old staircase led up and at the top there was a trapdoor. Ginny moved forward to ascend the stairs, but a strong hand grabbed her shoulder. She turned and saw Joseph Dent's face illuminated by Ginny's small light.

"We go first." He said, referring to the himself and the five other Sentinels. "We don't know what's up there."

Ginny nodded and moved back. Dent went up the stairs and cracked the trapdoor. He let it close and looked down at the others. "There's no light up there. I don't think there's anyone in this building."

Without waiting for a response, Dent threw the door all the way open and with supernatural speed, disappeared through the opening. The five other Sentinels were through moments later. Ginny and Quentin followed.

The Three Broomsticks was pitch black. The sounds of fighting were louder from here than they had been from the castle. Ginny moved next to Dent. "How are these people still fighting? They should have been over run hours ago."

A loud explosion erupted from outside. Screams of agony echoed through the Three Broomsticks. The voices behind the agony didn't sound human.

Dent's eyes narrowed. "Sounds like they're holding their own. I didn't think these folk were that good at magic."

Ginny shook her head. "They aren't. They shouldn't BE holding their own."

"Someone must be helping them out."

"Who?"

Dent sighed. "Does it matter? Let's get these people out of here."

Ginny nodded and led them to the door. Out the windows, Ginny could see the result of Voldemort's army. Several buildings were on fire and Ginny could see more than one dead body. But not all of the bodies were human. See could see large, shadowy mounds on the ground that could be nothing but troll bodies. The trolls' corpses were charred and still smoking.

Dent pushed thought the door and surveyed the scene quickly. He pointed to their left towards a cluster of buildings. "There. That's where the folk have chosen to be their dying ground."

"How do you know?" Quentin asked.

Dent shrugged. "When you've seen as many battles as I have it isn't hard to read them. Let's go say 'Hello'."

"Right." Ginny said.

Ginny stepped out into the yard and the smell of gasoline assaulted her nose. It was so strong it almost made her eyes water. "That's horrible!"

Quentin laughed. "Reminds me of home."

They were about halfway to the buildings when a group of huge, lumpy creatures came around a corner of a far building. They saw Ginny and the rest and screamed in fury. They charged without a second's thought.

"Trolls." a female Sentinel said. "And stupid trolls, to boot." From her hip she pulled a pair of wicked looking swords. "Shall we, Dent? Like in the old days?"

Dent nodded and pulled his own sword. His blade was slightly curved and Ginny recognized it as a Japanese katana. "Why not, Mia? It sure has been a long time."

All six Sentinels had soon drawn their weapons. Their arsenal ranged from spiked maces to long spears. One of them pulled on steel gauntlets with three inch spikes jutting out of each knuckle. The other female Sentinel of the group uncoiled a long, black whip. Ginny surmised that most of the weapons were magical as she hadn't seen the Sentinels carrying them before.

The charging trolls must have thought they had fallen upon easy victims. They couldn't have been more wrong.

While they were still a good distance away, Ginny decided to make her contribution. She raised her wand slowly and pointed it at the charging group. "Conflaro Infernicus!" she screamed.

A small ball of fire, no more than an inch around, erupted from her wand. It flew with amazing speed toward the charging creatures. The ball of fire hit the ground in the middle of the group. The trolls were all lifted off their feet by the unexpected explosion. The small ball of fire, upon coming in contact with the ground, had grown fifty times over, sending rolling fire and earth flying and deadly speeds.

While that spell, if used on a human would have been lethal, it merely dropped the trolls into a daze. The trolls rubbed their stinging eyes and pushed themselves up on shaky legs.

While only seconds passed where the trolls were incapacitated, it was all the time the Sentinels needed. With a scream of rage Dent lopped off the head of the lead troll. Long, sticky strands of putrid blood erupted from the stump where the trolls head had used to be. The blood covered Dent from head to foot. It only made the man more furious.

The woman who must have been Mia Larivey charged forward, her twin sword dancing. Ginny knew this woman to be the one who had captured Ron, all those months ago. Ginny had hated her for what she had done to her brother, but she found herself rooting for the woman as she came face to face with a brutish troll.

Mia dove through the troll's legs and came up standing on the other side. The stupid troll stared confusingly at where Mia had been moments before. With a contemptuous laugh, Mia drove her swords into the troll's back.

Troll hide was thick enough to divert most weapons, but these swords were being wielded by a Sentinel. The blades drove through the troll's hide like a pair of warm knives through butter.

The troll gave a pitiful groan and collapsed to his knees. Mia wrenched the swords out of the beast's back and moved onto to her next victim, not even waiting for the troll to die.

Quentin stood by Ginny's side. His face was full of awe as he watched the Sentinels fight.

Drawn by the sounds of fighting, a group of no less than twenty trolls came into view. Ginny's heart missed a beat when she saw the group. Even good as they were, Ginny doubted that the Sentinels could defeat that many trolls.

These trolls were different, too. Unlike the mountain trolls, who were fat and slow, these trolls moved with great speed. They all had long manes of red hair that fell down their backs. In each of their gnarled hands there were wicked axes.

"Ginny!" a voice screamed from behind her.

Ginny turned and saw a shadow standing in a doorway of a far away building. The figure was waving desperately. "Ginny, get over here! Quick!"

The voice sounded somehow familiar, but the sounds of battle were rattling her brain, so she couldn't place it.

Ginny turned back toward the Sentinels. "Dent, let's get out here!"

Dent turned in surprise. "Run away? What for?"

The shadow in the door answered. "Those are ice trolls. They regenerate! You can't kill 'em!"

Dent nodded and called the Sentinels to him. As a group, the ran back toward Ginny. Ginny turned and walked toward the shadowed figure. She intended to find out who it was.

When she got close enough to see who it was, she stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing here?"

A smile erupted from the handsome face in the doorway. That smile had charmed its share of women in and out of Hogwarts. A second figure came into view and stood behind the man already in the doorway. The second figure smiled as well. Both of them had the exact same smile. "What's with you, Gin? Not gonna say 'hi' to your brothers?"

Ginny smiled and ran forward. She threw her arms around Fred's shoulder and he lifted her off of the ground. "What are you two doing here?"

George smiled. "We were flying overhead when we saw that some of these idiots had decided to fight Voldemort on their own. We dropped down to get them out, but now we're surrounded. We can't get back to the bus."

Dent and his Sentinels arrived. "What are we going to do about them?" he asked throwing a thumb over his shoulder. The trolls were still charging.

"Relax, friend." George said. "We have them exactly where we want them."

"I thought you said they couldn't be killed."

Fred smiled. "I said YOU couldn't kill them. Me and my brother, on the other hand, are well prepared." He turned to George. "Do the honors, George."

George nodded and walk outside of the door, pulling something from his pocket as he walked. He cocked his hand back expansively and threw a tiny red ball across the opening. The ball didn't land amongst the charging trolls. They were still far away for that. Instead, the ball landed about twenty yards in front of them.

There was a tiny explosion and suddenly the courtyard was ablaze. The gasoline that Ginny had smelled earlier ignited and the fire began to veer towards the trolls, eating more and more gasoline as it charged.

The trolls came to a slow stop. They saw the coming fire and a look of absolute terror flashed over their faces. Their terror only multiplied when they noticed that their skin-boots were being soaked through by some foul smelling liquid.

They made a pitiful attempt at running, but the fire chased them all down. Their screams were horrible as their skin blistered and broke under the heat. They burned surprisingly quickly and it was over minutes.

"Too easy." Fred said.

"Ice trolls." George muttered. "Extremely weak against fire. They can't regenerate when their on fire."

Ginny looked into a side-room of the building. Huddled in groups, over twenty people were in the room. They looked banged up. Some of them were bleeding from open wounds. They all looked scared.

Ginny felt like yelling at them, but knew it wouldn't help the situation. She turned back to her brothers. "What are we going to do?"

George shrugged. "Not much we can do. Our bus is in a clearing about a half-mile to the east. But the last time we saw it, it was surrounded by trolls."

"Which is bad," Fred said slouching against a near wall. "Because that bus is the only way out of here. We can't run all the way back to the castle. The woods are thick with Voldemort's men."

George sighed loudly. "He brought everything you can think of, Gin. Everything you ever had a nightmare about is in his army. Giants, Dementors, you name it, he's got it. He might even have a few dragons from what we've heard. We're just lucky that he doesn't Hogsmeade as an important strike point. If he did I'm sure we'd all be dead by now."

"His complacency won't last long." Dent muttered. "We've killed a unit of his trolls. He won't be happy. We need to get out."

"We can't!" Fred yelled. "Didn't you hear anything he just said? The bus is surrounded.

Dent smiled wickedly. "We'll get you there."

Sorry this is taking so long. My training had really taken an upward step. I'll be pretty busy for the next week, so I'm sorry if I can't get a chapter up anytime soon. Oh yeah, and since I'm still technically a teenager I'm going to say something very stereotypical. Girls suck. If only there could be girls out there who match my idealistic, romantic expectations. I thought I had one, but I got fooled again. I try to be the best person I can be and I consider myself a pretty good guy. So what happens when a girl chooses a guy who cheated on her over me? What does that make me? It probably sounds like I'm whining, but I'm not. I'm just curious as to how the female brain works. And considering most of you out there a girls I thought I might be able to get a little constructive feedback.