A/N: Guess who's back in action!! I finished the paper today! I'm having my mentor read it! Woot woot! Anyway, I have deemed myself the bringer of news of all things Harry Potter. As such I feel it necessary to disclose the most up-to-date information I can find. The latest scoop: All you people who thought Mark Evans was Harry's long lost brother, sorry. JK admitted that he was just a random person and that she didn't mean to lead us on like that (no matter how fun it was). So now, back to the fanfic…
Ron gasped. The last time he had seen Bellatrix Lestrange, she had been dueling with Harry's godfather, Sirius Black.
"Don't move Harry," Hermione ordered, sharply.
Ron looked over to see Harry's wand at the ready, aiming at Lestrange's heart.
"That's right, Harry," Lestrange said, in her awful baby voice. "Don't move. Let's play nice."
"You didn't want to play nice when you killed my godfather!" Harry roared. Ron grabbed his arm and held him back as he attempted to charge. The entire room was silent as everyone looked on, struck with fear.
"I know you wuved him, Potter baby," Lestrange continued, "but my dear cousin loved no one but himself."
"That's a lie!" Harry shouted.
"How are you touching the stone?" Hermione asked quietly.
Suddenly Ron noticed. Lestrange was touching it without her hands burning. How was that possible?
"Something you don't know, clever Mudblood?" Lestrange asked, almost teasingly. "Look at my hands."
Ron looked and saw her hands were coated with some sort of blood-red ink.
"Ink?" Ron said, confused.
"Not ink, you idiot," Lestrange said, scornfully, "Blood. The precious blood of my master, who has sent me upon this task."
"You mean he trusted you enough after you muffed your last job?" Hermione said, scathingly.
"Shut up, Mudblood!" Lestrange cried.
"We've got you outnumbered," Hermione continued. "There are about 15 of us, against one of you."
"Wrong again, Mudblood," Lestrange said, tauntingly. "I brought help."
At that about 50 dementors glided out from the shadows, circling the group, followed by several Death Eaters.
"You see, Potter baby," Lestrange said. "I knew I couldn't defeat you alone, not after what happened in the Ministry of Magic. So I decided to bring along a few friends!"
"I'll kill you this time," Harry said coldly, "I swear it."
He's really going to do it, Ron thought. Look at his eyes…
"Go ahead Potter baby," Lestrange laughed. "Kill me…you'll only be adding to the Master's ranks."
She's right. Ron thought. If we kill her and Voldemort gets the Necromancer, it's only one more soldier.
"You can't control the Necromancer," Hermione said. "Only Harry and Voldemort can. And by the looks of things, he isn't here."
"That's right, Mudblood," Lestrange said, "But by the time he gets here, all of you will be dead."
A pale-haired someone stepped out from the crowd, aimed, and cried, "Petrificus Totalus!" Harry dodged the spell just in time. The battle had begun.
Ron whipped out his wand. He felt a sudden coldness behind his back. He spun quickly on his heel to find a dementor gliding speedily towards him. He thought of the day he got his new broomstick and waved his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" he cried. An eagle soared towards the dementor, knocking it back. But then it came at him again.
Ron glanced to his right, noticing Fred having similar problems. He was attempting to take on three dementors at a time, but every time he sent them back, they kept coming.
"Can these things be killed?" Fred roared.
Ron beat back the dementors once more, desperately looking for Harry, who was doing his best to keep Lestrange from leaving.
"Impedimenta!" Harry cried, slowing Lestrange's pace. "Accio Necromancer!"
The Necromancer soared from Lestrange's hands and into Harry's own. Ron looked back to notice that the Dementor was almost upon him. "Expecto Patronum!" he cried once more, this time with a little more strength.
Ron looked to his left, seeing Hermione somehow lighting the dementors on fire.
"Hermione! Help!" Ron cried.
Hermione ran over quickly. "Cast your Patronus," Hermione shouted, breathlessly. The dementor was returning faster than ever. At exactly the same time that Ron cast his Patronus, Hermione used her fire spell. The two combined to form a fiery eagle, which caused the dementor to writhe and burn.
Ron looked over in horror as Fred fell to his knees, while the dementor swooped over him, preparing to perform the Kiss.
"No!" Ron cried, and shoved Fred out of the way. "Expecto Patronum!"
Hermione joined in with her fire charm. However, when she looked back at the two dementors she had previously burned, she screamed. They were back again, and angrier than ever.
"There's got to be a way!" Hermione cried.
"Let's try it together," Ron said.
"Expecto Patronum!" they cried together. A silvery eagle and otter bounded towards the dementor and went straight into its center. For a few seconds Ron could hear Hermione's heartbeat. Where had the Patronuses gone?
Suddenly the dementor exploded into a burst of light, pieces of darkness flying everywhere.
"Everyone!" Ron roared, "You have to work together to beat the dementors!"
The DA took this new information to heart and began helping one another out to battle the dementors.
"Well, Weasley, we meet again," a drawling voice sounded.
"Perhaps for the last time, Malfoy," Ron spat. "Expelliarmus!"
But Lucius Malfoy was quick. "Protego!" The spell bounced away.
"Think you can defeat me with a simple Disarming Spell, Weasley?" Malfoy said.
"It seemed to work the last time," Ron said angrily. "And if I recall, you ended up in Azkaban!"
"Incendio!" Ron cried, lighting Malfoy's robes on fire.
"Crucio!" Malfoy cried.
Ron was hit with full force. The pain was unimaginable. He jerked and twisted painfully screaming and crying out.
Hermione suddenly came running and hit Malfoy with some sort of spell that knocked him against a wall, rendering him unconscious.
"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked, concerned.
"Fine…" Ron said, drawing in ragged breaths. "Fine…must help Harry…"
"Ron, we can't help Harry right now. We've got to help the others. They're still fighting. Some are…are…dead…"Hermione said, quietly.
"Got to keep fighting," Ron said, struggling to stand up. He looked over at Harry again. The Necromancer kept soaring between him and Lestrange, each using Accio to call it to them. "Hermione, you know how to destroy it?"
"Yes, I figured it out, Harry has to-" Hermione began, but was suddenly stopped.
She had been hit with a Silencing Charm by an awakened Malfoy. He raised his wand again, but Ron quickly reacted with a Petrifying Spell.
"Stupid git," Ron muttered. He turned back to Hermione, panicking because he didn't know the counter-charm.
"Just, er-…stay right there," Ron said. "No, wait…I can't leave you here."
She's defenseless…she can't cast a spell without her voice, Ron thought.
But at that point all else mattered very little. Lord Voldemort had arrived.
Reviews
Possom2009: Well, he's going to try!
Avalon64: No, you didn't offend me at all! I was just saying I had to keep going, that's all!
HPfan-Excalibur: Haha! Another cliffie! I just love em!
Dragonnet: They don't have to destroy all of the Zodiac Stones, just the Necromancer. That's the one's the only real danger to the wizarding world. Yeah, I hope she gets hurt pretty soon too. Yeah, it should get an A or a B…but I'm crossing my fingers.
Tumblechick: Glad you like it so much! ;-) I don't have access to a computer on the weekends! That's why I don't write maybe two or three days at a time! But during the week, I rip em out!
Silverbelle: Loved your most recent updates. Anyway, sorry that you've been checking every five minutes. That must've driven you mad!
KawaiiFryingPanChick: Of course you weren't as busy as you thought! If I have time to write, you have time to read!
PinkPixieDust16: Isn't Bellatrix just horrible?! Anyway, another cliffhanger…this time with the big baddie.
Lutefa: Yes yes, everyone's a nut. Even me! I hate Lestrange too! She's a meanie! Well I'm sure she'll get her comeuppance sooner or later!
Geena-Waters: DA = Dumbledore's Army
Ashton Rushing: Come on! Update! You know you want to!! Heh heh! Did you pass out! Sorry about keeping you waiting over the weekend though!
Raven-Padfoot-Marauder: Oliver is a sexy beast (at least in the movie).
Loveablechick213: Thanks very much! Especially for putting my story on your fave list! Whoopee!
Tekvah Ariel: They always do, don't they? The DA is at war!!!