Chapter 11

~On the grounds, after Harry's and Malfoy's duel~

Harry watched as the Professors walked among the bodies, prioritizing the worst cases and waking up the ones that had fainted or fallen unconscious. He would be helping, but there was an angry old woman in his way.

"I hope you have a very good explanation for what happened here, Mr. Potter! Or you will be expelled in thirty seconds!"

Now, Harry felt that the battle was his fault, but he wouldn't be able to apologize and help the students if he told Professor McGonnagal that. "Professor, I was dueling Malfoy when this happened. Professor Flitwick was overseeing it, but he was knocked unconscious in the battle. I finished the duel, knocking out Malfoy, and turned to help end the fight. I was the one that sent Padma to get the Professors."

"Be that as it may, Mr. Potter, I fail to see how this fight could have started without interference from you."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, watching a group of Hufflepuffs tramp off to the castle. He didn't see Susan among them. "I asked Ron and Neville to look through the crowd, to check for Slytherins that would shoot me in the back. When they found the two, they tried to help, but Ravenclaws and Slytherins both rushed to defend their own."

Ron, who had been sitting quietly behind Harry with the other two that had managed to stay standing, said, "It's true, Professor. Me and Neville found Goyle about to shoot Harry, and I tried to stop him. One thing led to another, and soon the whole school was sucked in."

Professor McGonnagal was looking increasingly confused, so she turned to the Ravenclaw prefect. "Mr. Davies, anything to insert?"

Roger looked up from the field and said, "Only that Harry couldn't have caused all this by himself if he tried. Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin all started fighting at the same time, and pulled the Hufflepuffs into it. If it was anyone's fault, I would say it was Malfoy's, if only because he was trying to defeat Harry, and Harry was just trying to keep the fight fair."

McGonnagal nodded. She didn't know what to believe anymore, so she said, "All four of you, go to the castle. We will decide what to do later."

"With all due respect, Professor," interrupted Harry, "I would like to help with the wounded."

The other three nodded in agreement.

McGonnagal sighed and waved them off. Harry immediately ran to the field to see what damage had been done. He found students he knew, students he didn't, students that were in his House, and Gryffindors and Slytherins. He felt no anger at Slytherin, they had not known the full story, and were just trying to protect Crabbe and Goyle.

As he was walking, he heard a gasp a few feet away from him. Turning, he saw Hermione.

He ran to her and pulled her close. "I'm so, so sorry, Hermione. You tried to warn me, and I didn't listen, I wanted to fight them, and it all went wrong-"

"Shhh…" she said, pressing a finger to his lips. "You couldn't have seen this coming, Harry. Nobody could've." She struggled up to sit beside him, still leaning on him for support. "Harry, how are our friends?"

"The only ones that were conscious when it ended were Ron, Cho and Roger."

Hermione nodded, as if she had been expecting the worst and was surprised with what she got. "Harry, I want you to promise me something."

Harry looked at her and nodded. "Anything, Hermione."

She reached and took his hand. Even when she had cuts and bruises all over her body, she was still thrilled to be holding his hand. His skin was cool to the touch, but she could feel that he was trembling with fear, guilt and anger. "I need you to not blame yourself."

Harry bowed his head. "Hermione, how can I not? I was the one who sent Ron and Neville at Crabbe and Goyle, all because I-"

Harry's voice hitched and he realised he couldn't tell her why it was his fault. He hadn't wanted to be exposed as a Prince of Hell, and had just told Ron and Neville, two boys who trusted him, obviously with their lives, to go and start a war.

And now he was lying to Hermione yet again. He looked at her tear-stained face, covered in dirt and blood, and realised that if he didn't tell her and she found out, their friendship would be gone forever. He couldn't bear the thought.

He grabbed both of her hands and held them close. Hermione looked a bit confused but didn't pull away, so Harry continued. "Hermione, I'm sorry. I lied to you. I need to talk to someone, let everyone know from me that I'm sorry to them as well."

Hermione was getting even more confused. As best as she could tell, Harry was leaving, and she couldn't let that happen. "Harry, where are you going?"

"Like I said, I need to talk to someone. If I can, I'll come back. If not, then please, don't follow me."

Hermione tried to hang on, but Harry pulled away and called Rush. The phoenix flew out of a window on the Ravenclaw tower, and Harry reached up. The moment Harry's skin made contact with Rush's talons, he vanished in a column of flames.

Hermione screamed and reached out, but the flames dwindled out before she could reach them. The fire had attracted the attention of the students and Professors alike, but Hermione didn't care. She curled up, and didn't notice when Roger and Ron walked over and tried to ask what had happened. She just watched the spot where she had last seen Harry, tears tracking down her face.

~In the MacLeod Mansion, a few minutes after Harry had disappeared~

Harry appeared in the front yard of his house, and collapsed. Rush was with him, but the bird perched on his arm and trilled tiredly.

Crowley heard the flames, and the bird, and went out to see what it was. The wards should've warned him when something came through. When he saw his son, with a black phoenix perched on his lifeless body, he called Alfie and Rowle, one of his guards. They helped carry Harry into the house, with the phoenix crouching low and cawing at them if it saw something it didn't like.

When Lily saw the condition of Harry, she didn't yell or get in the way. She had lived with Crowley, and she had seen far worse on him and Harry. She just cleared off the table, and the demons and the elf laid him down.

When Harry came to, he was surrounded by demons, some he knew, some he didn't, all speculating about what had happened. Rush was sitting on Harry's chest, hissing at them if they came too close.

After Harry had flame-traveled with Rush to Washington D. C. (Rush was much older and much more powerful, therefore he could travel farther), Harry had shadow traveled them to his house. Rush had looked amazing in Hell; his white markings had turned luminescent green, and the end result was a blackbird with green spirals on his wings.

Harry had noticed something about his own skin. There were black tattoos all over his arms, and one, on his right hand, showed him taking down hordes of humans with his knife. Harry was pretty sure Hell saw that as his first successful battle, and the thought put a sick feeling in his stomach.

One of the demons noticed he was awake, and shooed the rest away. Harry recognized him as Rowle, his father's most trusted, aside from Lily. "Hello, Harry," said Rowle. He had been polite to Harry, ever since he had met him.

"Hello, Rowle. Where are my mother and father?"

"They are in conference, trying to figure out what happened to you, and wondering why you are back from school so soon. Why are you, Harry?" Rowle leaned in a bit closer. "Something to do with you being a cambion?"

"Something like that," muttered Harry. He looked up into Rowle's black eyes and said, "Go get my father, please, Rowle."

Rowle bowed and left the room. Harry sat up, a bit tired but unharmed. Rush cooed softly, and Harry stroked him.

Lily and Crowley ran into the room, and Lily wrapped her arms around Harry. Harry leaned into her, and closed his eyes. It was nice to be near someone who knew what he was. Crowley hung back, and when Lily was done, he said, "Harry, what are you doing back from Hogwarts?"

Harry looked away. "I did something, Dad. Something I can't walk away from."

Crowley looked a bit taken aback. "Did you kill a student?"

Harry looked up, and Crowley could see the anguish in his green eyes. "Not that I know of. But there's still time."

That comment alone was what let Crowley know that something had happened to his son. His eyes turned red, and he turned to head outside, beckoning three other demons. He was going to go to Hogwarts and tear apart the teachers, students, and everyone else until he found out what had happened to Harry.

The only reason he wasn't already gone was because he heard Harry's voice calling him. "Dad. It wasn't their fault, it was mine."

Crowley turned back to the table and said, "Harry, what happened?"

"I started a civil war, Dad. I challenged a bully to a duel, ignoring my friend's warnings, and then added another kid into it. Then, just to add to the pot, I asked two of my friends to go into the crowd to watch for the cheating I knew would come. Then, when the battle started, I didn't stop it with demons or spirits. I called my friends, and we charged in, hurting more and letting more get hurt."

Harry's eyes filled with tears. "At the end, there were only four students left standing. Me, two of my friends, and a prefect that was only fighting in self-defense."

Lily reached out to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Harry, that wasn't your fault. That kid? That you knew was going to cheat? It's his fault. And you can't feel guilty for not revealing yourself. That was a good call, because then the students would have gotten scared and run, and the demons, or spirits, would have killed them all." She looked at him closely. "Did you kill anyone, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "I had to use my knife, but I aimed for arms and legs. I don't think I mortally wounded anyone, but it was an honest-to-Lucifer battle, Mom. There could have been a freaking angel in there, smiting them all, and I wouldn't have noticed."

Crowley put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, you are better at battle than my strongest legion. You could hold your own against most of the angels in Heaven. If you don't think you hurt anyone that bad, you didn't hurt anyone that bad."

Harry nodded, and continued petting Rush.

Crowley looked at the bird, and said, "You want to explain that?"

At his father's question, Harry smiled for the first time that night. "This is Rush. I saw him over the forest one night and went to see him, and we bonded. That's how I got here so fast. Rush flame-traveled me to Washington D. C., and I shadow-traveled us the rest of the way."

Crowley now understood why Harry had collapsed when he had gotten here. Crowley had helped Harry shadow-travel to Hogwarts, and even then Harry had been staggeringly tired.

Lily, however, just asked, "Wait, a phoenix can shadow-travel?"

Harry nodded, smiling a bit. "Yes, if it's side-along traveling. Rush looked pretty cool in Hell, actually; he had green markings all over his body and wings."

Harry was feeling a lot better, just being around his family had helped a lot. "Dad, Mum, I need to head back to Hogwarts. They don't know where I went."

Lily looked a bit alarmed, and she was about to tell him off when Crowley said, "Lily," and gave her a warning look. Lily sat back, a bit put out.

"We can get Harry there within the next half-hour, if you need us to," said Rowle, looking at Crowley.

Harry nodded, and sat up. "Let's do that. Sikes, message a demon in Portugal. They're going to escort me to Scotland." Sikes, a heavyset man with dark hair, nodded and walked out, presumably to kill a human for the message. Harry turned to Rowle. "You will escort me to D. C., so I need you to send a demon to prepare another to get me to Portugal."

Crowley watched as Rowle bowed, and he couldn't help but feel pride for his son. Harry had instilled a sense of command into the demons, and that was no small feat, considering the fact that demons would stab anyone in the back, if it would help themselves.

Harry slid his legs to the edge of the table. Testing his legs to see if they would support him, he slowly stood. His knees wobbled, but he managed to stay upright, so he walked up to his room.

When there, he went to his dresser. In the middle drawer, he grabbed an angel blade. He then searched through his nightstand, before finding a vial of dirt from Purgatory. It would be a good bargaining tool, if what he was planning worked.

Tramping down the stairs, he found Rowle waiting for him. He raised a finger to him, and went to his parents. Harry wrapped his arms around Lily, then Crowley. "Thank you, Mum, Dad. I needed to be around someone who knew what I was."

Lily's eyes crinkled up, and she smiled. "Harry, that's what we do. It's good to know that you appreciate us, though."

Harry smiled at her, then turned to his father. "Dad, I want to tell someone at school what I am. I hate to lie to her, and I've already lied to her before. Is that ok?"

Crowley smiled, and said, "Harry, I don't know her. Judge for yourself, and if you think she is trustworthy, then go ahead and tell her everything."

Harry nodded. Turning back to Rowle, he said, "Let's go."

Rowle nodded and grabbed Harry's arm. Harry looked back at his parents, and got a brief glimpse of them waving, before being whisked away to Hell.

~Back in Hogwarts, somewhere in the early morning~

Harry appeared on the grounds, landing in a patch of blood. Unaffected, he turned back to the exhausted demon, and said, "Go to the nearest town. Get yourself a room and food, then tell my dad your name. Unless he's in a particularly bad mood, he'll probably promote you."

He looked pleased at the prospect, and walked off. Harry turned back to the castle, and sprouted claws, along with a tail and snout. Snarling, he ran at the tower and sprang up. He then dug his claws into the crevices in the wall, and started pulling himself up.

When he reached his dorm window, he was well and thoroughly wiped out. He stood, and looked around to make sure nobody had seen him.

Noone had seen him, but that was only because they were all lying in their beds, covered in bandages. Michael had a bandage around his eye and hand, while Terry had a cast around his leg. Anthony seemed to have gotten hit the worst, with a bandage around most of his torso. He must have been trampled when he was Stunned.

Harry grimaced. He climbed into his bed and vowed to apologize to all the students, publicly, even Anthony and Malfoy.

Hey! So, I'm not dead. Something came up. I know this chapter is short, but there had to be a bit of fill-in.

Skyler Hollow: You are very welcome.

Ana Luisa: Vivo para complacerlos, chicos.

See you guys soon! Review! Gridline out.

Oh yeah, go check out Fallout101 by Iron Striker. I'm his beta, and fun fact, I've never even played Fallout. Just go look and tell him you came from me, please!