Disclaimer: I own no part of this story except for the plot and spell work. J. K. Rowling owns everything else, including dozens of hours of my life that I am dedicating to this story.

Chapter 9: Friendships Prevail

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The loud incantation echoed through the lobby as the forty-three Aurors shouted the spell out loud, each concentrating on their own happy thoughts.

The wave of Dementors surging into the Ministry was forced back by the sudden burst of white light. Harry found himself staring wistfully at the Patroni, remembering when he had saved Sirius and himself from the Dementors only five short years ago. He was jolted back to his senses as a flaming red curse flew over his shoulder.

Death Eaters were entering the Ministry now, replacing the Dementors that had fled. Harry knew that they would be back and it would be much harder to force them away after they were engaged in battle. Harry dodged left as a brilliant green curse flew towards him. He came up into a roll and brought his wand to bear at the attacking Death Eater.

"Disrumpo!"

The Death Eater flew across the room, struck by an invisible force that smashed half his chest in. Harry knew that he hadn't killed the Death Eater, but it would be a while before that one was getting up again. However, there was more than just one Death Eater in the hall containing the Fountain of Magical Brethren; there were many more.

Multicolored lights flashed over the crowded hall as deadly spells homed in on their targets. The lights were mesmerizing and Harry found himself wishing that he could stand there and watch them forever. However, this wish was shattered as Harry saw the effects of one curse as it hit the Auror next to him. Harry was reminded that this was real and people were really dying. The flashing lights now made Harry slightly sick at his stomach as he thought of the havoc they were causing.

"Crucio!"

Harry heard the words seemingly before they were spoken and erected a shield to block the curse. The shield shattered under the weight of the Unforgivable but Harry was ready for the next curse.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Speculo Incantantem!"

Before the Killing Curse had been finished Harry had finished his own spell. The Mirror Curse caused the Death Eater's Killing Curse to rebound against him.

"Those who use Unforgivables will pay the price of using them." Harry thought to himself, allowing a grim smile to form.

Harry looked around, seeing if anyone needed help. The Aurors were doing quite well considering the fact that they were slightly outnumbered. The loss of the Dementors had hurt the Death Eaters and they were still on the defensive as the Aurors continued to fight back. Harry wondered where Voldemort was and why he wasn't here now that the Aurors had the upper hand.

"He can turn this battle around in a heartbeat and yet he hasn't come yet. Why not? What is he waiting for?"

Harry was interrupted from his thoughts as he heard a cry. He saw Tonks, with her left arm held across her chest, fighting alongside Kingsley. They were outnumbered eight to two and the Death Eaters had formed a circle around the pair.

Harry sprung into action, freezing one Death Eater and disarming another. As the remaining Death Eaters turned to face this new threat Kingsley hit one with an incinerating curse and the Death Eater was caught in a raging inferno. As he turned his wand on himself to put out the fire, Tonks put a silencing spell on the frantic Death Eater.

Harry grimaced as he watched the Death Eater writhe with pain. His mouth was open and he had to be screaming, but no sound could escape his mouth. It was a harsh way to die, but Harry knew that the Death Eater would have no qualms doing the same thing to him.

Harry turned his wand on the next Death Eater and used a Reductor curse. The Death Eater exploded and Harry ducked as a retaliation curse by one of the other Death Eaters flew towards him.

"Four to three now – it's almost an even fight. Almost."

A loud yell erupted from Kingsley and he fell to the ground clutching his shattered kneecap.

"Four to two—and Tonks is already hurt. Things have certainly been looking up for me lately."

Harry turned towards the four remaining Death Eaters. There was a pause in the battle as Harry surveyed the Death Eaters standing before him.

"You're going to die today Potter."

"Let's just see you try."

Before the Death Eater could get out a reply, Harry sent a shocking spell at him. The Death Eater batted the curse away, but didn't see the Full Body Bind that Tonks threw at him. The curse connected and the Death Eater locked up and clattered to the ground. Harry banished the fallen Death Eater across the room to keep his allies from removing the curse.

Harry felt the heat radiating off a curse as it flew past him to explode against the wall behind. Harry cast a shield-shattering spell at one of the Death Eaters, followed by a crushing hex. The Death Eater erected his shield to block the first spell and blinked in disbelief as his shield shattered under the seemingly weak spell. He had no change to react as an invisible hand wrapped around him, squeezing tighter and tighter.

Harry turned away from the effects of the curse, knowing that the Death Eater would no longer be a problem. As he turned towards the two remaining Death Eaters a bright spell hit his left side. Blood began pouring from the wound and the Death Eater who had sent the spell at Harry began to laugh. The laughter stopped as Harry muttered a spell that stopped the bleeding immediately.

"Thanks Hermione," Harry thought. Hermione had taught Harry that spell their seventh year when Harry had learned every healing spell he possibly could. He knew that he would have to fight Voldemort sooner or later and that he would definitely get hurt in the process. Mastering the art of magically healing wounds was what Harry had spent most of his seventh year working on.

Harry prepared to fire a curse at the Death Eater staring at him in disbelief when he heard Tonks cry out. She was leaning against the wall unable to do anything with the other Death Eater standing in front of her laughing.

Harry was faced with a decision. To help Tonks he would have to turn his back to the other Death Eater who would make sure that he killed Harry this time. On the other hand, he couldn't simply let Tonks die.

Harry shook his head knowing that there never was really any decision to make. He only had one option and he knew what it would cost him. Nonetheless, Harry turned towards Tonks' attacker and cried, "Everbero!"

The Death Eater was caught unawares and thrown against the wall that Tonks was leaning on. Harry knew that he had done the right thing and braced himself for the inevitable pain that was sure to come. Harry prepared himself for nothingness.

He wasn't disappointed.

Nothing happened.

Harry spun around looking for the remaining Death Eater and saw Kingsley hobbling towards him.

"Need to watch your back Potter." Kingsley said with a slight smile.

"Why when I have you to do it for me?"

Kingsley smiled and called for Tonks. "Come on Tonks, let's go get some help."

"We–We're leaving?" Tonks asked.

"Part of being a good Auror is knowing when you are becoming more of a hindrance than a help."

Harry nodded at the senior Auror, knowing that his words were true.

Kingsley turned back to Harry, "Good luck Harry."

"Give 'em hell for me," Tonks pitched in.

Harry gave a grim smile and turned around to join the battle once again.

Harry entered the battle still looking for Voldemort. He didn't know what Voldemort's plan was but was sure that Voldemort simply hadn't come to the Ministry looking to kill because Voldemort himself would have surely taken part in the battle if that were the case. Harry briefly wondered why Voldemort was here but brought his mind back to the present as he heard Jones curse loudly.

Jones was managing to duel with three Death Eaters, keeping them at bay but unable to do much else. As Harry turned to help her, he saw a Death Eater that was sneaking up behind Jones. Jones got lucky as she fired off a Disintegration Curse and Harry watched as the Death Eater it hit seemed to just disappear. The other two Death Eaters were briefly stunned by the death of their comrade and Jones took advantage of their hesitation and began to take the fight to them. As she began to push them back, she presented a perfect target to the Death Eater at her back. The Death Eater was fast, but not fast enough.

"Osteorumpi!"

Harry's Bone Breaker Curse caught the Death Eater unawares and hit him in the back. Harry heard a loud snap and the Death Eater went down, unable to move because of a now severed spinal cord.

Harry then took aim at the two remaining Death Eaters facing Jones.

"Contraccio!"

"Iuguolo!"

One of the Death Eaters twisted away from Jones' Throat Cutting Curse, but the other caught the spell in the chest. He fell to the ground clutching his throat, unable to mutter any healing spell that might be able to save him. The other Death Eater prepared to attack a now unguarded Jones, but was hit in the back by the large desk Harry had sent flying at him. He collapsed under the weight of the desk and Harry stunned the pinned Death Eater.

Jones turned around and gave Harry a nod of thanks as the two once again jumped into the fray.

Hermione knew that she was going to die here. There were too many spells flying across the crowded room; too many people to keep track of. There were too many possibilities to guard against and even Hermione knew that she couldn't keep track of them all. However, she did know that she was going to die bravely, like Ron had, in hopes of keeping others alive.

"I do not fight for myself, but for all of those who will come after me."

Hermione knew these thoughts were brave and that she meant them, but that didn't squelch the fear that was running rampant through her mind.

"I've never been in a situation like this without Ron. He was always there for support, whether he knew it or not."

Hermione knew that she hadn't lost any of her skills since Ron had died, but it did seem that she had lost her touch. She had never felt so scared in her life and Hermione found that her actions seemed to be slightly delayed. It was almost as if she had lost confidence in herself.

Hermione was jolted from her thoughts as pain washed across her left shoulder. She spun up into the air and hit the ground hard a few meters away. She rolled left, ignoring the pain that flooded her senses as she rolled over her dislocated shoulder. She came up into a crouch and looked around for her attacker.

The situation was worse than Hermione thought it could be. There were four Death Eaters standing in front of her, each looking at her with contempt that only pureblood fanatics could manage. The lead Death Eater, the one who had attacked Hermione, spoke out loud.

"Are you ready to die yet Mudblood?"

Hermione never gave him a chance to answer and threw a choking spell at him in reply.

The Death Eater batted the curse away and raised his own wand. Hermione darted into action hoping that she would at least be able to take a few of them with her.

"At least there will be a few less for Harry when I am done."

She ducked beneath a bright, yellow curse and cried out loud, "Pulverulentus!"

A cloud of dust settled over the Death Eaters and Hermione took advantage of their sudden blindness. She ran to the left while throwing every curse she could think of.

"Flammafaceo! Glacialafaceo! Osteorumpi! Contero! Suffococus!"

The cloud of dust suddenly disappeared and Hermione saw two Death Eaters still standing. Both raised their wands and yelled the same curse.

"CRUCIO!"

It was pain worse than Hermione had ever experienced. She had read about the effects of the Cruciatus Curse and had even talked to Harry about it, but she had never had the curse used against her. Hermione wished that she could die—anything to stop the constant pain that was flooding through her body. She couldn't imagine anything being worse than this.

"Yes I can, a life without Ron in it; the life that I am living now."

These words echoed through Hermione's head and she saw the truth in them. She had lost her focus in life and was beginning to fall into a state of apathy. She didn't really care what happened anymore, now that she knew Harry would be okay. Harry was the only that had kept her going those days after Ron's death. Everyone thought that she was so strong because she had been there for Harry instead of grieving herself, but, by doing so, she had been merely delaying the moment that she had finally reached.

Hermione let the pain fill up inside of her, filling the empty void that Ron's death had caused. She let the pain stack up, trying to make it equal to the pain her heart felt, but her body couldn't take that much pain. Instead she let out a loud, pain wracked scream, one that reached the ears of an eighteen-year-old boy who quickly rushed to the aid of his friend.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green spell shot forward and connected with the lead Death Eater. A look of surprised crossed his features before he hit the ground. The second Death Eater died just as quickly as he was felled by the same curse.

Harry, though surprised by his use of the Killing Curse, found that he simply didn't care what happened to the Death Eaters who had tortured Hermione. They deserved to die for what they had done and Harry felt no remorse in killing them.

Harry fell to his knees and took Hermione's head in his lap, holding her tightly while searching for the tiniest flicker of life in her bruised and beaten body. Harry searched but found nothing.

Harry felt tears begin to form and, though he knew that now was not the time, he did nothing to stop them. He began to mourn the death of his last friend as the battle waged on around him. The brilliant colors flew across the room and Harry saw more people, both Aurors and Death Eaters, fall to the ground.

Harry took a deep breath and prepared to go back and fight as a wave of coldness swept over him.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off --"

"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please – I'll do anything --"

Harry saw Ron diving in front of him again; heard Hermione's pain wracked scream; remembered telling Ginny that he had to end their relationship.

Dementors swarmed into the Ministry from all angles. When the Death Eaters had needed help the most, they had gotten it.

Harry knew that he had to fight them, knew that it was up to him to drive the Dementors off. Many of the younger Aurors, those who had taken the fallen Aurors' places, fell to the floor screaming as they were left with only their most terrible memories. All of the remaining experienced Aurors were still fighting, trying to keep themselves and others alive. Harry knew he was the only one that could help; he was their last hope.

Harry struggled to find a happy memory, any happy memory, but his mind drew a blank. Harry had lost so many friends and family that he seemed to be left only with the pain of their loss, rather than the happy memories of years passed. Harry tried again to find something happy, anything that might repel the Dementors but knew that it was futile. His mind reminded him that there were many happy memories in his life, but his heart told him that none of them mattered now that all his friends were gone.

Harry struggled against the wave of cold threatening to consume him. The Dementors came nearer and Harry was about to give in when he heard a scream. At first he thought his mind was merely replaying Hermione's scream over and over again, but he looked down to see her eyes wide open with fear.

"She's alive! She's still alive! I haven't lost her like I have lost the rest."

The happiness that Harry needed, which had earlier been so difficult to find, he now found in abundance. Hermione was alive and he had to fight to keep her safe. He was able to think about all of the happy memories Ron, Hermione, and he had shared and, rather than focus on just one, allowed them all to fill his heart up.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

The silver stag shot out of Harry's wand and charged towards the oncoming Dementors. Silvery light now filled the room and the Dementors were fleeing the bright light. This was stronger than the Patronus he had conjured to save Sirius his third year. It was filled with the hope and love that only friends can provide and proved to be much stronger than the fear and despair that the Dementors caused. Harry watched the Dementors flying out of the building and heard a small voice call his name.

"Harry? Is that you?"

"The one and only," Harry said with a cocky grin.

Hermione tried to smile at Harry's attempts of alleviating the severity of the situation but grimaced at the pain the small action caused.

"Sit still and don't move," Harry said in a commanding voice.

Hermione opened her mouth in protest and tried to get up but Harry pushed her back down.

"Just wait, there's nothing more you can do."

Hermione nodded seeing the truth in his words and stopped struggling.

Harry gave her a smile and called for a mediwizard to help Hermione. After seeing her safely off, Harry steeled himself for battle once more, but found that there was no one left to fight. He, aside from other Aurors who were now checking for survivors in what used to be the entrance hall of the Ministry of Magic, was left alone.

Harry let out a long sigh and got to work, searching for survivors and helping identify the dead wizards and witches now littering the floor.

Voldemort watched the Dementors fleeing the Ministry and knew that this would be the first major defeat that he had ever suffered over the past two years of fighting. The Dementors had been essential in turning the tide of the battle, but it seems that he had underestimated the strength of the Aurors inside.

"My Lord," a small, timid voice interjected. Voldemort was tempted to punish the Death Eater for daring to speak while he was thinking but squelched the thought knowing that the pathetic man was merely looking for orders about what to do now that the Dementors were gone.

"Were the prisoners freed?" Voldemort asked the shaking Death Eater.

"Yes my Lord. Lucius and the rest of the captured Death Eaters are now free and are heading back to Azkaban now."

"Good. The rest of them mean nothing, but I need Lucius back. It's time to go home."

"Home my Lord?" the Death Eater asked, genuinely surprised by the Dark Lord's lack of temper.

"Exactly, we got what we came for and I will not risk fighting Potter right now; not until after Lucius is done with his experiments. Potter's presence here, though unexpected, may prove to be useful later on."

"Of course my Lord, I never doubted you for a…"

The Death Eater stopped mumbling as he realized his master was no longer there. Instead he felt a sharp pain on his upper arm and touched the Dark Mark that was now visible. He took a deep breath and prepared to apparate to his master's side in the cold, dark fortress of Azkaban.

Author's Note: Guys I am really sorry for the delay. Every senior thing possible popped up this week including prom, baccalaureate, and senior parties. Again sorry that this is so late and I promise to update in the next few days.