Holy cow I can't believe that this chapter is finally done. Okay before anyone kills me I know that I haven't updated this story in a very long while. I don't really have an excuse except that I seemed to loose my muse for it. I also have lost my sounding board for ideas since my friend Seren Harin (pen name) is Student teaching now and I don't see her as much as I used to. But I finally got it done.

Also I can not promise when there will be another update on this story since my muse for it is only somewhat back and still runs off every once in a while. Believe me that this story is far from over and I have no intentions on letting it die. Now if it ever comes time that I think that I completely think that I have lost my muse for this one I might put the story up for adoption but that would be a bit hard since I have so many original character in this one. But I hope that it doesn't come to that and I can finish it by myself. Thanks to all of you that have continued reading this story and have contacted me asking when I was going to continue.

Also I am posting this un beta read since I haven't heard from her in a while but she has said she was very busy and I'm not going to hold it against her. Believe me I understand the whole school thing.

Okay Disclaimer: I do not own Harry and his friends which I'm sure they are glad about since they would have been sitting in limbo for a year wondering if they were going to survive the battle.

Chapter 17

Battle Ready

A semblance of chaos reigned through the small area of Hogsmeade as the battle between the two groups carried on. Spells were being cast and deflected and amazingly enough the group of students was holding there own against the legion of fully trained Death Eaters.

Harry expertly dodged an Expelliarmus and turning quickly he stupefied them in turn. He proceeded to cast an Incarcerous binding them tightly. From behind him he heard someone cast a Crutiatus spell and quickly threw up a Protego. He turned around already planning the spell he would use on his most resent opponent but someone beat him to the punch.

"Expelliarmus!" He heard Ginny yell and saw the Death Eater's wand fly from his hand into hers then she added. "Petrificus Totalus!" The man stiffened and fell to the ground.

"Thanks Gin." He said smiling at her.

"No problem." She answered and returned to the battle.

In the shadows Arcanus was seething. "Did I not say that he was not to be hurt?"

"My Lord I'm sure that Nott didn't mean anything Potter would not have been permanently damaged." But as soon as the words were out of Lucius' mouth he knew it was wrong. His Lord did not take well to be second guessed.

"Lucius." Arcanus growled his amber eyes seemed to glow even brighter.

The noble blond man fell to his knees. "I'm sorry my Lord I meant nothing by it. I did not mean to go against your orders. I assure you that Nott will be duly punished when this is all over."

The evil man smiled sinisterly. "You're assuming that the man is going to live that long." His voice was smooth and cultured but one could hear the anger just below the surface.

The elder Malfoy sighed knowing that he had just barely saved himself from the wrath of his Lord. Of course he had to squash any minute piece of pride he had left. But after so many years of servitude under the tyrannical Arcanus that what ever pride he had left was so miniscule you would need what the muggles called a microscope to see it and even then it might not be noticeable. Actually any pride he had left had nothing to do with him or even his wife. The two of them had lost any credibility they had so long ago there was no way for them to scrape up enough to be part of civil society any more without tons of lies and dropping of Galleons. Sure he might say that being a Pure bread wizard made him better than any of those muggle borns like Potters friend Granger. And he still did believe that but it was his place as a squashed minion that made him self even lower than those horrible mudbloods at times. No he had no pride left when it came to his own person. All the pride he had was connected to his son and only heir. His pride in how Draco turned out could not be squashed no matter what the boy did. He had trained Draco to believe that the mudbloods where the bane of their existence and needed to be eradicated from the wizarding community. The boy had been brought up being told that he was above others and that even the other pure bloods were there to serve him. But he was also brought up being told that he would one day serve the Dark Lord their master. The boy had not been told which Dark Lord that was he just assumed that it was Voldemort. And at the time he had accepted that this was to be his lot in life. But even then the boy had rebelled against the mold that his father had tried to press him into. Against every order that he had given the boy Draco had really tried to make friends with Potter back in first year. Of course it fell through thanks to the Weasley boy and in the end Draco had let himself slide a little into the place that had been created for him since birth. He antagonized The-Boy-Who-Lived made the jet black haired boy's life hell. He seemed to take joy in torturing the other boy's friends and causing all the Gryffindors grief. But then the boy surprised him again with choosing Potter as his Charge. Sure it should have been expected since a Protego demons Charge is always a magically strong wizard that is weaker physically. It was quite obvious just by looking at them just how small and lithe that Potter was. He had muscle tone but it was not even close to Draco's tall muscular frame. Not to the point were Draco was overly so but it was definitely noticeable. No, what surprised him the most was how quickly his son had accepted his place as Potters protector. He had thought that the boy would fight it a bit more but it hadn't taken long at all. No the boy had broken out of any preconceived plan that anyone had ever had for him and not only accepted being Potters protector but had actually made friends with the other boy and had been accepted into their group. Lucius may have wanted his son to fallow in his foot steps like he had his father. But he was proud that the boy had the courage to make his own decisions and stand on his own. And he couldn't be more proud of his son than he was right now. Of course no father wished to see their only living heir in a battle for their life. But the way that Draco was handling himself held an air of maturity and sophistication that he had not expected from his son at this age.

Draco growled as he sent a binding spell at one of the Death Eaters. To say he was pissed was putting it lightly. In the complete chaos that had erupted just moments before he had some how lost sight of Harry amongst the many other clamoring bodies. He did not like the idea of not knowing where his Charge was especially in the middle of a battle. Anything could happen to Harry right now and he would not be able to do anything about it. His Protego Demon side didn't like it at all. Someone bumped into him and he let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Malfoy?" A somewhat airy voice asked.

He recognized Luna Lovegood right away. She smiled at him even as she deflected a spell that had been aimed at them.

"I don't suppose you've seen Harry and the others around here have you?"

His mouth fell open. How could the woman be so calm during a time like this? Raising his sword with one hand he slashed at one Death Eater effectively severing their arm and with his wand in his other he sent an Impedimenta at another toppling them in their tracks. "Lovegood if you haven't realized we're sort of in the middle of a battle here. This is not the time for casual conversation."

She smiled sweetly again. "Of course I realized we're in the middle of a battle. But one must keep themselves focused and calm to fight effectively. We must not let our emotions get the better of us or we will not be able to function in an organized and collective manner. We must keep our mind clear to think properly for on the battle field we must all become our own strategists. We must work as one being but yet not be completely dependant on anyone else incase we are separated. Keep your eyes open and aware of what is around you. Do not let the insanity that is war confuse you. Keep your mind focused on where you are going and where you are at all times. And most importantly remember who you are at all times. It is very easy to let oneself go during war to loose your own self identity and only see yourself as a warrior a tool for destruction. If we become too embroiled in the chaos that we loose track of what is around us and leave ourselves open for attack by the enemy."

He threw another spell. "Where did you get that dribble from?" He sneered slipping back into his old ways. "From you fathers magazine?"

But the girl just smiled even more. "No." She stated casting an expelliarmus at another Death Eater. "That was pure Harry Potter."

"Huh?" Another Death Eater charged at them and he ran the bastard threw with his sword.

"Last year during one of our many DA meetings he was teaching us how to work as a team. But he knew that we would need to know how to handle ourselves in a battle." She grinned and fingered her wand absently. "He can be a very motivational speaker when he wants to."

He again impaled an attacking Death Eater and as he watched the man fall the absurdity of the moment just finally dawned on him. He had just had an almost casual conversation in the middle of a battle with trained killers that most likely wished nothing more than to see them dead and displayed as a warning to all other Wizards and Witches that dared to go up against the Dark Lord. He would laugh at the insanity of the idea but actually really it had helped. He didn't feel nearly as stressed out as he had earlier. Sure he still wanted to find his Charge but he wasn't ready to rush of blindly into the fray most likely getting himself killed in the process. And then what kind of position would that leave Harry in? He had a feeling that had been Lovegood's plan all along. He turned to confront her on the subject but the Ravenclaw was no where to be seen. What in the world? That girl was freaky no doubt about it. She seemed to be a complete air head but he wouldn't be surprised if she was even smarter than Granger was under that façade. After all she had been placed in Ravenclaw for a reason. He groaned and decided that he better return to the fight at hand. After all he still had to find his Charge.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Hermione cried as she backed away from a group of Death Eaters as they advanced on her. One of them stopped dead in its tracks, whirled their arms trying to steady themselves, and then fell face first into the snow. One down four more to go but it didn't look like these four were going to let her get another spell in. They advanced on her wands pointed right at her face. "Damn." She growled.

"Need some help?"

She turned quickly to see both Ron and Roan standing behind her wands trained on the four Death Eaters in front of them.

"Oh heavens you don't know how happy I am to see the two of you?"

"We can take a wild guess." Roan said cheekily.

"Oh shut it Betula." Ron chastised the somewhat smaller boy.

"This is so sweet." One of the male Death Eaters sneered. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"No one asked you bastard." Roan snapped. He waved his hand and what looked like roots shot up from the ground completely wrapping themselves around the four remaining Death Eaters. "There we go." He said cockily and made a big show like he was brushing his hands off.

Hermione was shocked beyond comprehension. She had read up on dryads and no were had they ever said that they could control the plants like that.

Ron on the other hand was furious. "If you can do that why don't you just bind every single one of these damn Death Eaters and end this battle right now?" He growled grabbing the other Gryffindor by the front of his jacket.

"First thing Ron let me go right this instant this is not the time to let your attitude get the better of you."

"What the hell?" Ron spat.

"No he's right Ron." Hermione said grabbing his arm. "This is not the time for this we aren't going to do the rest of our friends any good if we're fighting amongst ourselves." She pulled his hands from Roans jacket releasing her other friend.

"Thanks Hermione. Now as I was about to say is that I can't do that to much it's a limited power we Dryads are given and if over used we will loose it completely. Not to mention it's quite magically draining and only works if it is our patron tree we are calling on."

"And what just might your patron tree be?" Ron asked with a sneer.

Hermione slapped him and the back of his head. "Oh come on Ron don't be an idiot."

"Thank you again Hermione." Roan said with a winning smile. "It's the Birch of course well actually the Silver Birch. Why else would I have taken that form that day at your home?"

"Well for all I knew back then you were there to kill…"

"Oh will you two stop fighting we have other issues right now!" Hermione yelled. "We do have other friends that need help." She pointed to the right where some Death Eaters were advancing on Kari.

"Oh shite." Ron cursed and then catching Roan's forest green eyes the three of them raced off to help the siren

A red light shot over Keril's shoulder causing him to through himself to the side as the stunning spell just barely missed his ear. He needed to be more careful he couldn't let anything happen to him he needed to protect his sister.

"You chose your friends poorly."

His head shot up to come eye to eye with another bloody white mask and said mask had a wand pointed right at his heart.

"You are a demon are you not?"

He growled. "How could you know that?"

"Your aura is quite distinct it shows so much an incubus most likely. Why do you choose to fight on the side of light why fight against your own kind?"

"And what kind just that might be." He seethed. He tried to stop himself but he could feel himself start to loose control of his demon side. It had been a very long time since he had let his demonic attributes show. But now he could feel his claws scraping along the stone of the street.

"You choose to fight on the side of light when it obviously goes against your nature."

"What do you know of my nature?" He seethed. "Just because I'm a demon doesn't mean that I'm evil by default. I have free will and am able to make my own choices just as you have. You chose to fallow an insane bastard who thinks that destroying everything is the way to purge the world of all that he sees as unfit."

"Don't talk about our Lord that way demon. You know nothing our Lord is a great man that wishes to bring order to the wizarding world."

"Order you call what he has done order. All that he has wrought upon the wizarding world is death and destruction. He is a mad man that deserves to be taken down and anyone that fallows him deserves the same fate."

"WHY YOU FILTHY LITTLE!" The Death Eater raised its wand ready to deal out an unforgivable.

"Uh Uh look behind you." Keril said with a sneer.

"What?"

But before the Death Eater could react two female voices cried out. "Stupefy." Both spells hit the figure right on dropping him where he stood.

"Thanks guys." He said looking up at his sister Ailise and Ginny Weasley.

"Any time brother." Ailise said with a tentative smile. "But you might want to put away the fangs."

"Oh yeah." He took a few deep breaths and reverted back into his more human form. When he focused one the two girls again her realized that only his sister was really paying attention to him. The red head was glancing around frantically at the rest of the battle ground.

"Have either of you seen Harry?" She asked.

"No we haven't." Keril answered and Ailise just shook her head.

She was starting to get worried now. "I lost track of him not long after the first couple of spells were cast." She sobbed. "Oh gods I have to find him. We all know that Voldemort wants him dead the main part of the attack will probably be focused on him. What if he's laying some where hurt…or worse?" Her hands flew to her mouth a sudden wave of nausea caused by the very thought of something bad happening to her Boyfriend. She jumped when someone touched her arm turning quickly she saw Ailise smiling at her.

"It's alright Ginny he's alright. I'm sure that Draco is probably with him the Protego demon would not feel right about leaving his charge alone at a moment like this. And even if he's not Harry is one of the most powerful wizards of all time and very well trained he can take care of himself I'm sure of it."

Ginny took in great gasps of air trying to calm down her racing heart. "Yeah you're probably right. Harry is one of the strongest people that I've ever seen he can take care of himself." But even though she said that she couldn't stop the great feeling of dread that filled her heart.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry yelled and the wands of five Death Eaters flew into his hand. But that only helped a little since that wasn't even half of the Death Eaters that he was facing off against at the moment. "Damn." He muttered he was completely outnumbered. He backed up again and the group advanced on him some more. He couldn't miss the fact that they seemed be herding him away from the others. He couldn't remember the last time that he had seen Ginny they had been separated not long into the battle. He really hoped that she was okay but right now he had to worry about himself. He wasn't going to do anyone any good if he went and got himself killed. But that was the strange thing except for that one Death Eater earlier none of the others had even tried to cast an unforgivable on him. Surely if Voldemort wanted him dead so much wouldn't it just be easier to get it over with and cast Avada Kedavra on him. Perhaps the reason they didn't was that they were waiting for their master. Sure, why not, it was to be expected the Voldemort would want to kill the one person he thought to be the greatest thorn in his side himself. So if that was the reason where was the snake faced bastard why hadn't he shown his deformed scaly head yet. Or was the coward waiting for the death eaters to deal with the rest of Harry's friends so that he would have fewer adversaries to worry about. Surely the man couldn't be that scared of a bunch of students especially since only two of them were considered legal full fledged wizards.

Off to the side Lord Arcanus watched the proceedings with abject fascination. It was quite amazing really these children had held their own against some of his most accomplished servants with only minor injuries. Where as by now a good percentage of his followers were either incapacitated, writhing on the ground in pain, or dead. The later mostly caused by the Valkyrie, who was at this moment running another Death Eater through with her sword, and the young Malfoy who was surprisingly adept at using a sword for only recently accepting his role as Harry Potter's protector. Ah yes Harry Potter the most spectacular display of all. He watched as the enticing boy displayed a level of power that he had never seen before and un-armed five death eaters with one spell. The boy was definitely facing the most uneven odds of all his friends and was still holding his own. But even Arcanus knew that the boy had only started to tap into the powers that he held within him. After all he was a part elf their magical power was many times higher than that of any normal human Witch and Wizard. Not only that but the boy was related to a High Elf and a Maiden of Avalon. Actually if he was right she was the head of the Council of Maidens and even held quite a high standing with the Knights that guarded the sacred Island. But the boy had yet learned to control these abilities a fact that would make him an even more interesting subject to watch as he matured in his powers.

"So are you enjoying the show my Lord?" Lucius asked.

"Oh yes Lucius it is most entertaining and," Arcanus coughed lightly, "stimulating."

Lucius didn't say anything any comment would not be appreciated by his master.

"Your son seems to be doing quite well Lucius." Arcanus said.

"Yes, yes he is my Lord." Lucius wasn't quite sure what to say. He didn't want to back Draco to much his Master could take offense to that. After all his son was standing in the way of one his Lord's ultimate goals.

"He seems very well trained much of those fighting abilities don't even seem to be wizarding." Arcanus said in a knowing voice and was rewarded with a slight jolt from the aristocratic blond. His amber eyes watched the younger Malfoy perform a flawless flip then turn and send a stunning spell at one death eater and at the same time he ran his sword through another's leg effectively incapacitating both. "Actually I would say that they seem very muggle."

This time Lucius actually chocked. "Uhm-My Lord-you see-that is-my wife." Lucius knew very well that Narcissa had signed Draco up for muggle defense classes when he was younger. He had acted like he was oblivious so that he wouldn't have to think about it and pretend that this wasn't happening. It wasn't like he would have been able to stop his wife if he had wanted to. And Draco did seem to enjoy the classes even if they were full of muggles. But now his Lord knew and the man was sure to not approve. He could feel a cold sweat break out on his brow and his breathing became hard.

"Do calm down Lucius I am not going to kill one of my most faithful servants because of a minor technicality like this. I might not like muggles to much but even I am not against taking advantage of the many useful services they have to offer. The magical community would profit greatly by working some of what your son has learned into their teachings. As is, not even many of the Aurors know how to fight properly. If they were to loose their wands in midst of a battle many of them would be helpless. I do not know why that school of yours doesn't teach the students how to perform wand less magic."

"Dumbledore believes that it is too unstable of a practice and could create a great deal of problems with so many untrained Wizards and Witches in one place. The weaker students like Longbottom would probably not cause too many problems except perhaps in his incompetence. But if the student was stronger and the spell was not channeled right the outcome could be disastrous." Lucius purposefully left out Potter's name even though that was who he had been thinking of.

"Ah yes Neville Longbottom the other boy that the Prophecy could have been talking about."

"Yes my Lord."

"There was no chance, that boy isn't even capable of carrying that amount of magic. I told Voldemort this but he insisted on…hey wait a minute what is that?" Just a little ways away a boy with short black hair and light amber eyes had just run out of a group of Death Eaters, turned, and cast a few spells and hexes at them. But it was what had happened next that had surprised the Dark Lord. Instead of casting a protection spell to guard against the returning volley of curses a pale blue flame like light sprung up around the boy deflecting all of them. "Lucius is that what I think it was?"

"Yes my Lord it looked like Fox Fire."

"A Kitsune how very interesting." He rubbed his chin a thoughtful look on his face. "It would seem the group of friends of Mr. Potter's keeps getting more and more interesting. The boy has become quite amazing."

"Yes my Lord he has."

"Yes quite amazing indeed." Arcanus muttered turning his attention back to Harry.

"Rictussempra!" Harry cried which caused four Death Eaters, much to their dismay, to fall to the ground laughing uncontrollably. "Patrificus Totalus." Five more went stiff as boards and fell to the ground. But it seemed that the more he took care of the more that showed up. He was now completely blocked off from the rest of the group. He had absolutely no way of telling what was going on with the rest of them. He was really worried he had no idea if everyone was even still alive or not. Surely the Death Eaters wouldn't leave them all alive this long. Or perhaps they were keeping them alive to use as hostages. But then why had they separated him from them? Did they think that they would be weaker apart or were they keeping him separate so that they could kill the others and keep him for Voldemort to kill? Either way he had to get past the Death Eaters surrounding him and get to the others. But how was he to do that there was so many of them? Either way he had to try he raised his wand again and readied another spell.

"Harry Potter." One of the Death Eaters called.

"What do you want?" Harry asked not lowering his wand.

"You do not have to do this."

"What do you mean of course I do?"

"Just lower your wand everything will be fine." The man behind the mask spoke again.

"Like hell it will. Do really expect me to believe that your Lord will let me live after he's tried to kill me all these times. I'd rather die now in battle then die of the Avada Kedavra at the end of his wand."

"You are misinformed child." The Death Eater said.

Harry was confused now. Surely this man could not think that he would believe that the man that had tried to kill him when he was only one year old would all of a sudden change his mind. "Are you telling me that fore some odd reason the great almighty Voldemort has had a change of heart?" Harry said with a disbelieving sneer.

"That is not what I'm trying to tell you boy…"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Harry yelled a strong burst of magic erupting from him knocking down about six of the Death Eaters. The only thing he could think of was that he had to get away from these people and find his friends. He needed to know if they were all okay he needed to know if Ginny was okay. The thought that any of them could be dead because of him made his stomach turn. Sure he had given them the chance to return to the school and they had chosen to stay with him and face off against this evil but he still would blame himself if any of them came to harm.

Draco snarled and sent a full body bind hex at another Death Eater that was in his way effectively incapacitating them. The Protego Demon was getting desperate. He had not seen Harry for quite some time and not knowing how his Charge was doing was really getting to him. Harry wasn't dead the link between them would allow him to know that. But there was still the ever present nagging feeling that the Gryffindor was in mortal danger, of course they were all in mortal danger. Still something was bothering him about this attack. This didn't seem like Voldemort's style at all. Here was a perfect chance to destroy Harry Potter the boy that had caused him so much trouble through the years. Surely he would wan to be here to see the end of The-Boy-Who-Lived. But the evil man was no where to be seen. Well he couldn't worry about that now he had to find his Charge.

"Get out of my way." He growled and set another stunning spell at an inconvenient Death Eater. That was when he heard and felt it.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Someone yelled and a strong burst of magic shook the ground. He knew right away that he had found Harry. He felt happy for a little bit but that happiness soon dissipated when he saw the large group of Death Eaters that surrounded the boy with jet black hair. A growl rumbled deep in his throat and his fingers began to twitch. He felt his claws grow out, his canines elongated, and his wings appeared on his back. But he still had some semblance of control but even that was soon lost.

"Oh let's just get this over with; this boy is a danger if he is left to live." One of the Death Eaters stepped forward. "Our master is blinded I will take care of this child for him."

"Goyle don't." One of the other Death Eaters called out to their comrade but it was too late.

"Avada Keda…"

"HOW DARE YOU HARM MY CHARGE!" Came a deafening roar from behind the group and before Goyle had a chance to turn around a sword was shoved into his back and through his heart. "You will never make that mistake again." Draco hissed and pulled the sword out letting the body fall to the ground his blood soaking into the snow.

Harry's eyes watched the man that had almost sent the Killing curse at him fall to the ground blood spilling from his body staining the white snow.

"Don't just stand there Potter." Draco growled he grabbed the smaller boy and pulled him behind him.

The part elf was finally brought out of his shock at the sight of two leathery wings flapping in agitation in front of him. "Draco?"

"Oh so you finally realize that I'm here." He hissed.

"Stand back young Malfoy this has nothing to do with you." The Death Eater that had been talking to Harry before spoke.

"That's where you're wrong bastard this has everything to do with me. Harry is my Charge and if you so much as look at him the wrong way I swear that I will have no qualms about tearing out your heart."

Lucius grimaced did his son have to be so morbid with his threats. Of course it was even worse since he knew that this was no idle threat Draco wouldn't think twice about fulfilling it if he had to.

"Your son sure has a way with words Lucius.

"Yes he does my Lord."

"But he is in my way again."

"I am truly sorry my Lord." Lucius apologized in a rasping voice. He truly feared for his son's life right now.

"It is alright Lucius this little show is nearing its end anyhow for Dumbledore approaches.

And sure enough the Headmaster and many of the teachers apparated into the throng of the battle.

"Luckily I have gathered all the information that I need. So let us watch and see what happens." Arcanus said with a devious smile.

"Damn it." The negotiating Death Eater cursed when he saw the Headmaster.

"We need to get this over with." A woman with a nasal sounding voice spoke. "I will remove the traitor you grab the Potter boy."

Harry's head shot up. 'Grab? They didn't want to kill him? He was sure that had been their plan all along.' Then he realized what else the woman said 'I will remove the traitor.' His emerald eyes widened in horror 'Oh no Draco.' And sure enough the woman pointed her wand at the blond Protego Demon and spoke the killing curse. After that everything seemed to go in slow motion.

Draco hadn't expected a wand to suddenly be turned on him but there it was pointing right at his chest. Part of him yelled to duck, swerve, something to get away from the green colored spell that was heading straight at him. But the demon in him won out telling him that if he did dodge then the spell would hit his Charge instead and he couldn't have that. He was about ready to turn and try and pull Harry out of the way with him even though he knew he would not be fast enough. But as he started to turn he saw a blur jump in front of him and heard a blocking spell yelled.

Harry knew he had to react fast. Draco's demon side was probably running on instinct by now and hadn't even thought about throwing up a shield spell. Of course even if the Slytherin had tried he probably wouldn't get it up fast enough. Harry knew that the only chance that they had was his elfin magic. So, not really knowing exactly what to do, he reached deep inside himself to the core of his being. There he found what felt like a warm burning fire. Pulling it up from the depths a strong wind began to blow and he felt power surround him even though it seemed a little unstable. He couldn't think of that right now though it was more important to protect Draco. So before he could think he jumped around the blond so that he was in front of the taller wizard.

"PROTEGO!" A strong light blue light shot from the tip of his wand. A little ways from the tip it spread out into a shimmering dome that covered the two of them. But even by looking at it Harry knew that it was faulty. Here and there sparks flitted across the surface showing weaknesses in his elfin magic. He just hoped that it would hold. He would find out soon enough for at that moment the spell almost the same color as his eyes hit the shield.

Arcanus watched as what could only be classified as an extreme look of determination took over Harry's face. Then a wind started to whip around the boy and what seemed to be silvery white streaks appeared in the boy's ebony hair. "Hmm interesting." He tapped his finger against pursed lips. "I wonder what causes that kind of reaction." He didn't have much time to think on it though for his attention was wrenched back to the two young men. For unexpectedly, or perhaps not, the boy was a Gryffindor after all, but quicker than anyone could see Harry jumped in front of young Malfoy and raised his wand.

"No." He whispered at the sight of the green spell heading straight at the part elf. But at the last minute the boy threw up a large Protego shield covering the both of them. He must have tapped into his elfin magic to get it up that fast but even he could tell that it wouldn't hold. Since he didn't have full control of those powers yet he had risked strength for speed. But the shield would not hold up against the powerful Avada Kedavra spell and sure enough he could see it start to falter.

Harry grunted trying to pour more strength into the shield but somehow he knew that it was a lost cause. He could tell that it was beginning to fail. Along the complete perimeter more sparks started to form and parts of it seemed to fade out completely. He really had no choice reaching even deeper still he pulled out every last ounce of power he had left and channeled it through his wand and into the shield spell.

Draco could feel the amount of energy his Charge was calling up. "Harry no you'll drain yourself." But it was already too late for there was a bright multi colored flash of light and a deafening explosion as both spells disintegrated simultaneously. The light was so bright that the Protego demon had to duck his head and cover his eyes.

Arcanus was speechless he had never seen such power. True the boy's control of his elfin abilities was shaky but as he progressed through his wizarding maturity and gained more control just imagine how strong the child would be. Oh yes Harry Potter would be a strong asset to whom ever controlled him a strong asset indeed.

The world was spinning faster and faster collapsing in waves around him. He wasn't sure but he had thought that he saw Draco there for a little bit but then the blonds face had faded into indescribable blobs of color. His head was pounding and he was now beginning to question if it was the world that was spinning or his head. His head was killing him and he had the urge to message his temples to try and soothe away some of the tension but he couldn't get his arms to move. Actually he couldn't get his entire body to move. He felt week, shaky, like he was ready to fall apart at any moment now. He could feel his legs start to give under him and the world started to slip from him. Perhaps he should be glad to be rid of the spinning but he wasn't sure if the blackness was a welcome change.

"Harry." Draco cried and dashed forward to catch his charge before he hit the snow. He got one more look at the boys emerald eyes before they slid shut and his Charge fell limp in his arms. Draco's breathing became labored and he pulled the smaller boy closer. He placed his ear against his Charge's chest and sighed in relief when he felt the gentle rise and fall Harry had just passed out from over exerting his magic. Now that he knew that his Charge was alright the demon inside him was able to concentrate on other things. His head shot up and he focused red glowing eyes on the Death Eater that had cast the spell.

Arcanus watched as the Malfoy heir focused on the unfortunate Death Eater.

"Oh this should get interesting." He chuckled.

Lucius couldn't help but feel uneasy. He knew that this wasn't going to be good. His fellow Death Eater hadn't meant to cast the spell on Potter but Draco's demon side wasn't going to see it that way. These men had already been a threat to his Charge he wasn't going to take into account that the spell had been meant for him it had hurt his Charge and that was all he would see.

"I thought that I would have to punish another Death Eater today but I have a feeling that your son is about to take care of that for me."

The blond man cringed. True his son wouldn't get in trouble no court would be able to touch him. Due to his species he had the right to defend his Charge anyway he saw possible even if it meant killing. And there would be no remorse felt by his son for the death. He watched Draco lay Potter down and the covered the other boy with his jacket. Then his son started to stalk towards the Death Eater

"You Bitch." Draco hissed. He turned his red eyes toward one of the other Death Eaters that had tried to intersect him. "I suggest if you don't feel like dying that you leave right now. This is between me and her." He pointed a clawed finger at the masked woman. "Anyone who interferes will suffer the same fate. You all threatened my Charge and I have no qualms about killing you as well."

"But you," he growled pointing to the Death Eater woman who had cast the killing curse, "you have forfeited your life." With an evil smile he launched himself at the woman tackling her to the ground. His claws wrapped themselves around her neck and he snarled revealing his deadly fangs. "Running you through or a spell might have been easier but not nearly as satisfying." He growled enjoying the look of fear one the woman's face. He thought he heard her start to beg for her life but he didn't care and didn't give her a change. Squeezing he felt his claws slice into her skin through the muscle and tendon until he had severed her esophagus. Pulling back he watched as she coughed and sputtered blood pouring from her mouth. He watched as she reached for him a pleading look on her face. But he showed no remorse as the light in her eyes faded and her hand fell limp to her side sinking into the now red snow. He started at her for a little bit longer and then whirled around quickly taking out another Death Eater who had dared to try to use this moment to make his way towards Harry.

In the alley way Arcanus smiled. "Your son is a very interesting creature Lucius. It's sad that he has decided turn against me he would have been a great asset."

"I am truly sorry my Lord." The tall blond said bowing his head.

"No it's perfectly alright Lucius." The dark man said flippantly. "Come we must go before we are noticed."

"But My Lord what about Potter?"

Arcans' Amber eyes focused again on the boy lying in the snow. "We will have another time for now we must retreat. I do not wish to be discovered quite yet it will not do for our cause. Come Lucius." There was a soft pop and Arcanus disappeared.

Lucius took one last look at his son who was grabbing Potter from the snow. The other Death Eaters must have run off to save their own hides. Oh well their Lord would deal with them later for failing so miserably. "Stay safe Draco." He said then he too was gone with a pop.

Draco pulled Harry close resting the boys head on his shoulder. "You stupid idiot why did you do that?" He questioned not really expecting an answer. "It's my job to protect you not the other way around you Overly-Brave-Gryffindor." He ran his fingers through Harry's now silvery streaked hair. "What am I ever going to do with you?" But all his musings were interrupted when he heard someone came running up behind him. Pulling his Charge even closer he arched his body around the smaller boy to protect him. A growl escaped his throat and his wings expanded and wrapped around his body to block his Charge from view. Turning around he trained his glowing red eyes on a slightly bushy haired girls honey colored ones.

"Draco?" Hermione's soft voice tried to break through his instincts.

But he was not to be calmed. So many people had tried to harm his Charge today he couldn't take any chances. He snarled at the girl hunching over Harry even more.

"Draco it's me, Hermione, I'm not going to harm Harry he's my friend."

He growled again and started backing away from the girl towards his sword which he had left laying in the snow. His instincts were in overdrive now. He had to protect Harry he had failed once already he wasn't going to allow that again.

"Oh no you don't." Another woman said grabbing his sword from the ground.

He turned to see Sandhyra holding his sword. How dare this woman she had just taken away one of his ways to protect his Charge. His claws were out of the question if he brought them out now he would just hurt the boy that he was holding.

"Come on Draco we are not going to hurt Harry." She tried to coax the demon to calm down. But he didn't seem to hear her.

"What seems to be going on here?"

Hermione turned to the Headmaster who had just arrived. "Oh Headmaster, Draco is completely unresponsive. He's completely under the control of his instincts and won't let us near Harry."

The old man sighed. "Now Mr. Malfoy I assure you that now one here is going to harm Mr. Potter. We would just like to look him over to make sure the boy is alright."

Draco growled and snapped at the headmaster backing away even more and pulling Harry closer to his body.

"Draco." Sandhyra warned but he just growled at her.

"Mr. Malfoy." Professor Snape warned. "Drop Mr. Potter now."

That obviously was the wrong thing to say or came from the wrong person because Draco lost it. His growling became deeper and his eyes glowed even brighter. Small Dark silver scales started to form underneath his eyes and up his temples then he shrieked as a tail erupted from the tail bone area. The tail had black scales on the top with dark silver scales on the underside and at the end of what looked like a very flexible tail was what looked like a poisonous barb.

"Holy shit." Ron cried as he came to stand next to Hermione.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked frantically. "Where's Harry?"

"Draco has him." Hermione explained.
Ginny's brown eyes became frantic. "Harry!" She cried.

She didn't know that Harry was unconscious and couldn't hear her. But even though she didn't get Harry's attention she definitely got Draco's attention. He snarled turning his red gaze on her but this distraction was enough that he didn't hear the two people come up behind him. He heard a wand drawn and wasn't even half way around before he was falling to the ground under a Stupefying charm. He snarled once more at the man who had cast the spell before he fell into darkness not noticing the small smile that Sirius Black wore on his face.

"Well I guess I don't have to worry about Harry too much." He said with a slight laugh. "Not with a body guard like that." He pointed to the unconscious blond who was slowly reverting back into his human form. "He is quite frightening is he not Remus?"

Remus just shook his head and tried to pick Harry up from Draco's arms. But even out like a light the Protego demon would not willingly relinquish his hold on his Charge and the Werewolf had to pry the Gryffindor from his arms.

Ginny was at his side immediately. "Is he alright?"

Sirius ran his fingers through Harry's silver streaked hair. "I think he just wore himself out I don't see any physical wounds."

Snape levitated Draco as he glared at Lupin and Black. "Always stating the obvious aren't you Black."

"Oh shut up Snivilus." The Werewolf growled.

Right then a large group of Aurors apparated onto the scene.

"Now boys." Dumbledore said in a cheery tone. "I think that we should worry about these petty arguments later and get these boys back to school so that the Aurors can deal with the mess around here."

"Yes sir." All three men said in unison and started walking back to the castle with Draco floating behind them and Ginny, Ron, and Hermione following close behind.

The Headmaster looked at all the other students around him and gave them a smile. "You children really should be joining them go on."

The others nodded and left to follow their friends.

When they were out of earshot Minerva McGonagall turned to the Headmaster with a severe look on her face. "What are we going to do Albus, an attack on Hogsmeade can not be ignored."

"I know Minerva, I know." Dumbledore said sounding very tired.

"But surly we can't allow the students to come here any more it just isn't safe." The Deputy Headmistress argued.

"I agree whole heartedly Minerva but I also know that keeping the students closed up in the school will only cause apprehension to grow even more and during these trying times that is something we need to try and keep down as much as possible. When we get back and things have calmed down a little I'll call a staff meeting to discuss how we should handle this situation. Also we need to figure out how we're going to handle the Auror questioning because I assure you they are going to want to talk to Harry and his friends about what happened here today."

"Do you think that wise with young Mr. Malfoy."

"It might be required to sedate the young man if the Auror gets a little to close what happened to Harry here today, or upsets him in any way, Draco's instincts might just take over again. And I don't think we can hope that Draco is going to leave Harry's side anytime soon so we won't have a chance to get him alone. I'll haft to have a talk with Miss Sandhyra about extra training for the young man. We can't have his instincts controlling him like they did today. If it hadn't been for Sirius we might have had a major problem on our hands. If it wasn't for the fact that he had been hiding Harry with his wings he might have taken off and then we would have had a major problem in locating him. No he really needs to learn to control his instincts if he is to protect Harry effectively. But even so if it hadn't been for him I would say that today could have gone a lot worse." He said as he pointed to the amount of foot prints that were in the snow around the area where Harry had been cornered. "We could have possibly lost Mr. Potter today. For it is quite obvious that he was the intended target of this attack."

"Do you think they were trying to kill the boy Albus?"

He scratched his chin in thought. "If you had asked me that earlier I would probably have said yes, but now I'm beginning to question that hypothesis. If you remember Sirius said that there was no physical damage. Why, if they were trying to kill him, would they refrain from harming him? Surly if they wanted him dead they wouldn't have minded making him suffer before they killed him. No something was very odd about this attack and very much out of the ordinary for Voldemort." He surveyed the scene again watching the Aurors mill around them pulling masks off incapacitated and dead Death Eaters so that they could be identified. "Well we really should be getting back to Hogwarts and let these fine men and women do their job and await their arrival." With that he led McGonagall and the other remaining teachers back to the school.

Well I hope that people enjoyed. I can't say I'm completely happy with how this chapter turned out but I like the reactions from Draco those were my favorites. Oh and the conversation between Luna and Draco that was fun.

Again I'm really sorry about the unexpected year hiatus and I promise to try and update more often. But it will not be regular updates by a long shot. I'm getting married in six months and planning a wedding is taking a lot of my free time. Plus add in hopefully graduating (if I can get my math class figured out by then) starting a new school and possibly moving out of state and six months isn't a whole heck of a lot of time. So unfortunately my writing time has suffered. Also I have really been neglecting my drawing and need to work on that as well. But I'll try to juggle it all and get some more chapters done. Okay sorry for whining hope you liked the chapter.