Chapter 30:

The Deatheathers marched out onto the field of battle, meeting their adversaries. The combined forces of the Order of the Phoenix and Ministry members never wavered. Not even when Fudge's Army came marching out of another part of the forest. Maybe they had been going to siege the forces of good, but they ended up failing miserably, as one side was still open if Dumbledore ever sounded retreat. Voldemort hoped so; Severus severely doubted it.

No one knew who threw the first spell. Some say Voldemort did, others say it was a jittery student's accident, some say an anxious member of Fudge's Army set it off, and still others hold both sides started at the same time. In other words, it was like trying to agree on who fired the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in America. But, the first shots were fired and the final battle for the wizarding world began.

Hogwarts was set against a dark sky lit by reds, purples, blues and the occasional greens. The green lights were the ones that worried the three women watching from the Shrieking Shack. Every time they saw a green streak, they would pray that their loved ones weren't on the receiving end. Kiki wasn't too close to the window since Sam had woken up and was refusing to go back to sleep. The little girl must've picked up on the atmosphere surrounding her. She clutched her lion close as Kiki rocked her in the tiny Slytherin blanket. The Lupin twins continued to sleep soundly, though Harmony knew one of them was going to eventually wake up and want to be fed. She wished it was soon, just in case the battle did spill into Hogsmeade. The women already had a plan in motion…

Remus and Riley were hunched over an injured Tonks, praying that she would be able to make it off the field. There were already a few Hogwarts students down injured and the fatalities were low so far. They had to keep low so to avoid the multicolored jets that were crossing above their heads. Eden was busy with Oliver Wood, who had caught a bad Crucius curse before felling the Deatheater who sent it. Unfortunately, the Order and the Ministry members had no clue who of Voldemort's followers they were hitting because of the masks. Only Severus removed his mask to prevent anyone from hitting him by mistake. Voldemort had launched a feral growl when he saw his spy on Dumbledore was really Dumbledore's spy on HIM. The Dark Lord launched a spell at the traitor, but Dumbledore had reflected. "Tom, you should've remembered the number one rule: make sure your person on the inside isn't your enemy's person on the inside!" the Headmaster grinned.

Severus was happy to finally get his true loyalties out in the open. He knew there were some Ministry members who must've looked at Dumbledore as if the man were insane when instructed not to harm Severus Snape in any way. The faces he received were priceless when he whipped off his mask, tossed it in the air and launched a disintergrating spell at it. He was finally free from his duties as a Deatheater, able to fight on the side he was meant to all along. He had better luck telling which deatheater was who. The first one to do something about the double-crosser was Avery, and Severus was ready. He shot a stunning spell right after a disarming spell. "THAT was for kissing my fiancée last year under imperio!" he said triumphantly before moving to protect Draco.

Severus helped Eden get across the field of battle relatively unscathed (they were singed a bit when a wayward charm came their way accidentally by Dean Thomas) and to Tonks' side. "I'm fine. Just cast the charms needed and let me out there to continue fighting dammit!" she yelled as Riley held her down. Eden ran the initial diagnostic tests on her friend and frowned. "Oh no, don't you frown! No, no, no, no!"

"I'm sorry, but these are past quickie fixes. You'll have to go to Poppy in the hospital," Eden said, patting her friend's hand. "You're going to need to take Skele-gro."

"What? For a sprained, maybe broken, ankle?"

"Tonks, your ankle bone isn't broken. It's completely gone!"

Tonks groaned. "This isn't going to be easy," she said, leaning against Riley's shoulder. Eden took this as a surrender on the Auror's part and called over Ace. Riley argued the decision that his sister's boyfriend should bring Tonks to the hospital.

"I'm her supervisor. It's my duty," Ace said.

"You're an Auror. They can't spare you," Riley fought back. "Let me take her. I'm just a ministry rat, I'll be fine. You have the experience in this type of fighting."

"But, protocol says…"

"SCREW PROTOCOL!" Tonks yelled, startling everyone. "Look, there's a battle going on and you're all arguing over PROTOCOL about my injured ankle!"

Riley sighed. "She has a point. Look, I think everyone will understand that we have to throw protocol out the window and use common sense now." Ace thought and then relented. Riley picked Tonks up and started for the castle. Tonks retained her wand and fired spell after spell at unsuspecting Fudge's Army members. She even got a few Deatheaters as well. "You are vicious, Dora," he told her.

She smiled and snuggled into his embrace. "I know," she replied. "I know."

Sirius watched as Dumbledore and Voldemort exchanged a battle of wits. He groaned as Eden cast a charm to reset his dislocated shoulder. "Now, now, Sirius, I know they don't like you, but try not to let the Deatheaters use you as target practice," Eden scolded playfully. "I don't think Bianca would like that very much."

Sirius grunted in gratitude for the Dumbledore daughter's attempts to cheer him up. They all needed humor in this battle. Merlin knows he was trying to help with that until Remus hit him with a body-bind and told him not to give his best friend a heart attack. Eventually, his girlfriend released him with a sigh and a "tsk." Now, Bianca slid next to her boyfriend to hold him up as his shoulder "popped" back into place. He groaned. "Hey, don't give up now. You're Sirius Black, you're supposed to be impossible," he heard her tease. He groaned again. "Come on, I'm trying to lighten the mood!"

"I was too!"

"Sirius Black, you were pretending to tap dance with a deatheater!"

"Those were Severus' disgarded robes and the mask I ripped off Avery after Sevvy stunned him!"

"Let me translate for you," Eden said. "That joke? Good, but inappropriate. Ours? Lame, but fitting. Understand?"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall."

Eden glared at him—she loved her parents, but what child likes to hear they sound EXACTLY like their parents? She followed Sirius' gaze over to where her father was still arguing with the Dark Lord. "I hope Papa knows what he's doing," she muttered, even if they were in a secluded place. "What do you think they're talking about?"

"I don't know, but if you ask me, there are a few less people on this field," Sirius asked, scanning the battle.

Bianca gasped as she saw Remus fall, but Ace helped the man up again. He had merely tripped. "Well, there are the injured," she offered. "They've already been brought to the hospital. Are the Aurors transporting the Deatheaters captured back yet?"

"That would be too confusing. They are probably snapping their wands and will formerly arrest them after the smoke clears," Sirius explained. "What do you think, Eden?"

The healer's brow was furrowed as she too examined the field. "I think Sirius is right. There's a good amount of people missing. Most of them are Fudge's Army. What do you think it means?" The couple next to her could only shrug.

The twins finally went back down after they were fed. Harmony breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully, the fighting wouldn't go on till the morning so she could feed the twins when they awoke. When the twins had awakened, Harmony convinced Molly to go down for the hour. Molly seemed skeptical but agreed when the new mother explained that Lily and Jamie were never hungry exactly at the same time. So now, Molly was asleep as was Kiki. Little Sam curled up next to her mother. The babies could definitely tell something was happening. For the first time, the twins didn't want to be separated. It had always struck Remus and Harmony how already independent the girls were, but now they knew they needed to be together. Sam wouldn't leave her mother's arms, unless she was going to Harmony or Molly when Kiki's arms needed a rest. The little Snape didn't want to be put down.

She didn't want to look out the window, even though it was tempting. It was like the destruction of Sodom, she was afraid that if she looked at Hogwarts she would end up as a pillar of salt like Lot's wife. The women had stopped looking because of the heart attacks they would receive every time they saw the spells fly. But an eruption of screams, cries and yells drew Harmony to the window. She gasped as she saw members of Fudge's Army storming through town. Hopefully, they wouldn't think of looking in the Shrieking Shack, what with its reputation and all.

The noise awoke Kiki and Molly, who now huddled together with Harmony. "No one would ever come here," Kiki reasoned. "Everyone believes it's haunted." However, the thought was banished as soon as the door was burst open. All the women grabbed the babies and put their plan into motion. They moved quickly as the feet became closer and as the door to the room they were in was thrown open.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I was looking over the final pages of this and decided this was a good place to put the break. Well, we're running down and it's been a good run? Just like how my semester's ending…anyway, as I previously stated, this is the last constant update I can promise. Good luck on finals, regents (NYers will know those!), AP tests and whatnot. And thanks:

Sarahamanda: After much consideration, Draco's decided to be a good wizard. Thanks for the reviews!

Brielle Lupin: Tough, you'll have to wait on the line like everybody else! And I hope your headache's gone. I swear by Excedrin, but hey! And thanks for the glowing review.

SarahtheBardess: Your "aww" mood put me in an "aww" mode. Or maybe it was just the Banquet (AKA Reasons why we don't put theatre people in a confined space together for two hours). I didn't mean to cry. I must've been in a funky mood the day I wrote that. Yes, Fudge is an idiot. Poppy and Kiki often clash and I liked how Sev hides his potions too! Draco will play a slightly bigger role in ELIII and you'll see why when I post it. And if you want, you can take the spot Brielle Lupin doesn't want to stand in.

yeah whatever: You pissed off the jocks? Reasons why Mac is glad she went to an all-girls high school: never had to worry about the jocks being able to beat you up.

Once again, for those getting out this month: Have a great summer! For those not: Sucks to be you. --Mac