Chapter XXXIII: Angel of the snow.

.

Fifteen-year-old Gabrielle Delacour assembled her army as they hid in the paddock. It was the only source of cover they have since they did not have a fort of their own.

She smirked as she looked at Alucard's fort. Even without enhanced vision, it was impressive. And no doubt impenetrable.

"Colonel Weasley," Gabby turned and found Bill talking to her 'troops'. "Status please."

"Sergeant's George and Fred are making the ammunitions," Bill reported. "Major Fleur is trying to assess the fort and Lt. Charlie is making heavy artillery."

"Very good," Gabby smiled. "Sergeants! We need more than mere snowballs. Any ideas?" the twins smiled in mischief and nodded.

"A few," said Fred. "We have a mite few surprises, don't we George?"

"Too true," his twin nodded making Gabby reluctant to know what they were thinking.

"What made you entice this reaction from him," 'Major' Fleur asked as she watched the fort.

"I charmed a tree to shake," Gabby blushed as she looked away.

"And?" Bill asked but when he saw that the trees were full of snow, he understood.

"And what did he do?" Charlie asked as he charmed some woods to be used as a catapult.

"He shoved snow down my back," Gabby said in a sigh. "He could be rather vindictive."

"And what did you do?" the twins asked in unison. Gabby turned away and walked deeper into the woods.

"I shoved snow down his trousers."

...

"She did what?" Hermione couldn't stop laughing causing Alucard to blush.

"Something like that is nothing to laugh about," Ron huffed as he shivered. "A man's privates are...well... private."

"What did you do?" Ginny was giggling as she smiled at him.

"Naturally, I froze," Ally said emitting a round of laughter from the girls.

Sighing, Harry smiled and looked at Ally. "How are we going to do this?" Ally visibly relaxed and fought the urge to smile. "Hermione will man the front guns and Ron the left flank."

"Guns?" Luna asked.

"Snow cannons actually. Charmed to fire a snowball as big as a cauldron at the target."

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Harry asked.

"This is war, Mr. Potter," Ally said in an authoritative voice. "Extreme is our fortitude. Now then. These are voice activated cannons that reloads every five seconds." "Only five?" Hermione asked.

"It would be unfair if I made a Vulcan cannon out of it," Ally said much to the confusion of Ron, Ginny and Luna. "I'll explain later. Now the range of the cannons is about one hundred meters at a 45-degree angle. Basic physics applies. So when you want it longer, just raise the barrel observe...

"Cannon Five! Elevation! Seven Degrees!" the cannon raised its barrel at the said measurement. "Now the shot could reach the edge of the paddock."

"What's the command to shoot?" Harry asked.

"Fire," Ally said and to his horror... the cannon obeyed him. Cringing, the vampire did not wish to know what would happen next.

...

"Incoming!" Charlie shouted as he took cover behind his catapult. The rest of Gabby's resistance fighters fled deeper into the paddock but Gabby, herself, stayed. Fleur was alarmed that her sister stayed.

The giant snowball missed Gabby by mere inches though it seemed it would hit her. IT was like it magically charmed to miss her.

Smiling serenely, Gabby saw Ally's face looked relieved when the ball missed her.

'You missed,' she mouthed. Ally smiled and waved his hands to form words in the language of the mute.

"I love you," Bill translated as he glanced at Gabby and found her blushing. "A war of love," Fleur smiled. "This should be interesting."

Suddenly, their catapult fired and a snowball larger that the one from the snow cannon flew towards the fort, right towards Ally. Cringing, she could do nothing but watch as the snowball crashed onto the vampire.

...

Anger rising within her, she glared at Fred and George who manned the catapult that hit Alucard.

"Direct hit!" Fred exchanged high fives with his twin.

"Your brothers do not know a thing about guerilla warfare," Lilith's voice came from Gabby's lips as she looked at Bill. By the tone of her voice, he knew she was angry.

"This will be a short campaign." Gabby/Lilith walked a few paced away from the twins and leaned behind the bark of a tree facing away from them. Bill and Fleur exchanged knowing glances and they followed suit, towing Charlie by the collar.

"Where they off to?" George asked. But his answer came in the form of twenty consecutive blasts from the fort. Cringing, the twins awaited their fate.

...

"Direct hit!" Hermione said as she saw the snowballs his the part of the apple groove where the enemy's snowball came from.

"Who did we hit?" Luna asked as she looked at the target with a set of muggle binoculars.

"The twins, I wager," Ginny sighed. "They were impatient as always with their pranks.

"Fortunate for us that they did," Ally said as Harry and Ron dug him out from beneath the snow. Earlier, the snowball crashed at him with such force that he slid towards the back of the fort. "This thing hurts," Ally said as he rubbed his chest.

"Aren't you impervious to pain?" Harry asked as Ally dusted off the remnants of snow.

"Yes but it still registers," Ally sighed. "What of our foes," he said nonchalantly.

"Fred and George are starting to dig themselves out of that snow pile we created," Ginny clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Be sure that they're already thinking a counterattack."

"Any sign of their leader," Ally asked in a worried voice. He peered into the groove and found her glaring at the twins.

"She's okay but kind of scary for the moment," Ginny reported.

"She lost the element of surprise," Ally said as he smirked. "Lilith's with them."

"Is that good or bad?" Ron asked almost in a whimper. He had heard of what Lilith was from Bill and it gave him the shivers.

In the middle of the field, four whirlwinds suddenly formed, gathering snow from the ground.

"I'd say it's bad," Hermione said as she saw the snow gather in the vortex of the whirlwind and take shape.

And when the whirlwind disappeared, four giant snow golems stood looming over the field.

"Very bad indeed," Luna concurred.

"What could be worse?" Harry asked awarding him with glares from his friends.

"Me," Ally said in a deep and icy voice that was colder than the artic air. "Prepare for battle."

"Cannons at the ready," Hermione said as she shook out of her trance. "Who conjured them up? It's a higher form of magic that we're used to."

"Lilith," Ally smiled. "She likes a good fight but I agree with you." "On what?" Luna asked.

"This is not fair," he smiled softly. "And you know what they say..."

...

"All's fair in love and war," Gabby and Lilith spoke in unison as the snow golems thundered towards the fort. "This will be good," Lilith smiled much to Gabby's irritation.

"I hope you didn't do anything too rash," she said. The spirit within her only smiled.