Chapter 15

Shifting of the Tide

Chaos was the only way to describe it. The moment the doors were destroyed, Waves One and Two hurried into the large circular room, surrounding the Death Eaters before the smoke even had a chance to clear. Frantic shouts rang through the room as the Death Eaters realized what was actually happening. As soon as the smoke had lightened enough, both Waves attacked everyone wearing a white mask.

Sirius Black was currently doing everything in his power to maintain control of the attack, fight his own battle and not worry on the lack of communication with his godson. The Aurors and Unspeakables had thankfully taken to shadowing a member of the D.A. even though the majority of them had no problem holding their own ground. Of course, that didn't stop Sirius from taking on multiple Death Eaters at a time to prevent the D.A. from having to do the same.

Remus Lupin found himself in a similar situation as Sirius, trying to attack as many as he could. He already had a cut across his forehead and his left arm was bleeding freely from being nicked by several stray curses. Sending a Reductor Curse at his current opponent, Remus took the opportunity to quickly glace around to take in the surroundings. It was difficult to discern who the Death Eaters were since their masks remained affixed to their faces but it was easy to pick out which ones were higher ranked.

They were the ones that pushed the others to fight against Aurors and Unspeakables.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was stretched between aiding his fellow Aurors, looking out for his students and supporting his friends. Although he would never admit it, Kingsley had never felt a part of something substantial until he became Harry Potter's bodyguard and that feeling had intensified when he had become a teacher. He had been part of a team, contributing to the decision making process.

Hermione Granger knew that she was in over her head. She had always been someone to think things through, analyze every detail until a logical conclusion was made. That line of thinking, however, didn't work when it was three on one. Hermione found herself on the defensive side of dueling significantly more often than the offensive side. All she could do now was throw everything she could at her opponents and hope that it would be enough.

Ronald Weasley could see that the Death Eaters around them were nudging towards Hermione and was doing everything in his power to get to her side. He didn't know why they were signaling out Hermione. It could be that she was a Muggle-born but Ron seriously doubted that. Everyone knew that Hermione was the brightest witch at Hogwarts. That should've been enough to scare the Death Eaters away.

After defeating another two Death Eaters, Sirius took on a bolder approach in an attempt to attract more attention from the Death Eaters. Remus and Kingsley were the first to pick up on Sirius' tactics and joined him. Together, the three of them fired curse after curse and the group they were slowly forcing into a corner. Kingsley went high, Sirius went low and Remus covered their backs. As soon as the Death Eaters fell, Remus took another look around to determine their next move. It was then that Remus realized something.

"Sirius, Bellatrix isn't here," Remus said in horror. "We would have heard her by now."

"Don't worry about her," Moody jumped in. "I'd bet my remaining leg that she was the presence Potter already encountered."

Sirius and Remus shared a look. "Keep an eye on him, Moody," Sirius said as he moved towards the closest Death Eater. "Let us know if he needs help."

"You'll probably know before we will."

Sirius and Remus shared another look. The only way they would hear something was if Harry was dead and that was something neither one of them wanted to consider.

Time seemed to stand still as both Harry and Voldemort waited for the other to move first. Surprisingly, it was a sudden quiver underneath their feet that caused both of them to move at the same time to maintain their balance that started the duel. Voldemort fired first forcing Harry to take the defensive. Turning away, Harry brought his wand around to return fire before hurrying behind the nearest armchair that could provide some sort of cover, even if it was only short term.

Voldemort let out a snarl. "I don't think so, Potter," he spat before he shot a curse at the armchair, blowing it to pieces. "It's time we ended this and prove just how pitiful the wizarding world is by placing their faith in a mere boy!"

Harry dived towards the nearest piece of furniture but wasn't fast enough the pieces of wood that sliced into his back. Wincing in pain, Harry quickly scrambled to his feet and started firing every spell he could think of at Voldemort who was thankfully caught slightly off guard. Falling into a rhythm, Harry did what he could to ignore the pain while he evaded all of the curses Voldemort cast. The frustration swirling around the room was slowly building, notifying Harry that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort gave into those emotions.

At the sight of green light, Harry ducked, spinning on his knees and casting a cutting hex at Voldemort's midsection. Voldemort blocked the hex with a flick of his wand and sent back a stream of purple light. With a flick of Harry's wrist, he twisted his sai, sending the spell back at Voldemort. The spell struck Voldemort's left side, causing him to stumble slightly. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Harry jumped to his feet and struck high, catching Voldemort across the shoulders.

Voldemort reflexively threw his arm across his shoulder area allowing Harry to crouch down and kick Voldemort's legs out from underneath him. Voldemort let out an irritated cry as he immediately pointed his wand at Harry and sent him flying backwards across the room. Without a second thought, Harry quickly twisted his body and shot a spell back at Voldemort as he managed to land in a crouched position just in time to block the blood red spell that came his way.

Harry quickly stood up and immediately took the offensive. For every spell he cast, Voldemort had one to counter. For every step closer Harry got, Voldemort found some way to push him back. Voldemort had clearly learned the hard way not to underestimate Harry by increasing the number and intensity of his spells. It was becoming more and more difficult for Harry to keep up, alerting him that he would need to do something soon.

"Do you honestly believe you can defeat me, Potter?" Voldemort hissed, flicking his wand and sending a stream of orange light at Harry.

Harry quickly spun out of the path of the spell, returning fire in mid-motion. "Wouldn't be here if I didn't," he shot back through clenched teeth. "After all, Tom, we've already destroyed six pieces of your soul. What's one more?"

Voldemort seethed in rage that swarmed around him so intensely that it was nearly visible. Harry bit back a wince as the pain from his scar intensified. It was becoming more and more difficult to ignore the pain but Harry knew he had no choice. If he didn't fight through it, there was no chance he would survive. Perhaps bringing up the Horcruxes hadn't been the smartest of ideas.

"What's the matter, Potter?" Voldemort hissed almost gleefully as he stepped forward. "Can't handle the pain, can you?" He smirked as Harry stumbled slightly from the additional pain pouring into the lightening bolt shaped scar. "Let the fun begin. Crucio!"

Without a second thought, Harry dropped to the floor and rolled as quickly as possible just as the floor began to shake again. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Voldemort stumble and quickly scrambled to his feet. Cracks crawled up the walls, spreading throughout the ceiling. From the patterns forming, Harry knew it was only a matter of time before the entire ceiling came crashing down on them.

Returning his attention to Voldemort, Harry instantly resumed firing spell after spell only to notice that Voldemort was edging towards the door. Voldemort was planning on running for it the moment Harry was distracted enough. Biting back his frustration, Harry intensified his attack. He was not going to allow Voldemort to escape. He was going to end this one way or another no matter how much pain he was in.

Voldemort quickly picked up on Harry's strategy, modifying his own attack to counter Harry's. Voldemort used furniture to block spells and even attack Harry or the already fragile walls. It wasn't long before the ceiling started to crumble, forcing Harry to block spells, furniture and falling debris. Harry tried to mirror Voldemort's strategy by sending as much debris as possible at Voldemort but Voldemort seemed to be one step ahead of him.

It wasn't long before all of the furniture was destroyed; pushing the focus of the duel on spells only. Harry used every non-magical trick he could think of to throw Voldemort off. He flipped, twisted, rolled, kicked, and even tried to jam his elbow into Voldemort's sternum once he was close enough but none of it was enough to get the upper hand. Voldemort seemed to be constantly adapting his own style to counter Harry's. The more physical Harry got, the more intense Voldemort's spells became, making it hard for Harry to do anything but defend himself.

Twisting to avoid another killing curse, Harry dropped to one knee as he sent a Bat-Bogey Hex while jumping up and performing a switch kick, hitting Voldemort right in the chin. As Voldemort stumbled back, Harry attacked. He kicked Voldemort in the gut followed by an elbow to the solar plexus and jamming his sai against Voldemort's face. Voldemort let out a startled cry that was quickly followed by a frustrated growl before charging. In the blink of an eye, Harry found himself on the defensive, blocking and dodging. When Voldemort went high, Harry tried to go low. When Voldemort moved to his left, Harry darted in the opposite direction before trying to charge forward only to be pushed back.

They were coming extremely close to a stalemate and neither was willing to admit defeat. To say Harry was becoming frustrated was definitely an understatement.

As Harry charged again, he suddenly felt an invisible force grab him by his ankles and hoist him into the air, upside down. There wasn't any time to react before he felt another invisible force slam into him and send him flying backwards into the wall. The entire room shook as pieces of wall fell with him to the ground. Dizziness and confusion crept in, forcing Harry to try and clear his aching head only to see Voldemort rush out of the room. Mentally cursing himself, Harry scrambled to his feet and followed.

Oh no you don't. There's no way I'm letting you get away now.

It was hard to determine who currently had the upper hand. Fallen Death Eaters everywhere gave the impression that the opposition was winning but that was only because their injured had been sent to the Ministry via port key. Justin Finch-Fletchley and Terry Boot had been among the first D.A. members to suffer severe injuries that needed immediate attention, Arthur Weasley had been the first Order member to be sent away when a Severing Spell had hit his left leg and everyone had lost track of how many nameless Aurors had fallen while trying to divert anything and everything away from the younger members of their team.

Regardless of the wounded, it was clear that the Death Eaters were beginning to realize that faith in numbers only got you so far. Several Death Eaters had attempted to flee the villa only to come face to face with more opponents. Some had gone down fighting while the more cowardly had simply surrendered and had been taken to the Ministry's holding cells.

Hermione, Ron and Neville stood firm with their shoulders touching each other's in a triangle formation. Hermione had a long, vertical cut down the right side of her face that was still bleeding along with several tears on her cloak that were soaked with blood. Ron didn't look any better. His nose was bleeding, his cloak was also ripped in several places and he was certain that his left ankle was at least severely sprained or even broken. Neville surprising had the fewest visible injuries but knew that something wasn't right with his ribs. It was beginning to hurt when he breathed deeply.

"Andrews is down. I repeat, Andrews is down. Sending him to the Ministry."

"Copy that," Sirius replied over the earpieces. "Wave 4, spread out and slowly approach."

"Scrimgeour just contacted McGonagall, Black. He's sending another team to relieve those who are injured. Apparently the word is out at the Ministry and everyone wants to help. "

"Fine. They can take Wave 4's positions. Wave 4, when you are relieved, engage but be cautious of runners."

Hermione and Ron shared a look as Neville pulled out an explosive ball and threw it at the two short Death Eaters he was currently dueling. Unfortunately, one of the Death Eaters had anticipated the move and cast a protective shield, causing the ball to ricochet off the shield and send it flying upwards towards the ceiling. Neville's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was about to happen.

"RUN!" Neville shouted as he turned and pushed Ron and Hermione into motion.

That was the only warning the occupants of the room had before the ball hit the ceiling causing a loud BOOM which shook the entire villa followed quickly by large pieces of the marble ceiling that came crashing down. Screams were heard. Many were silenced a moment later.

Harry had only managed to step into the room Voldemort had entered when the floor exploded, sending Harry and Voldemort in opposite directions. Harry flew out of the room and into the hallway, his back slamming into the closest wall. Pain flooded his entire body as he slowly sank to the floor. Slowly, Harry forced himself to focus on the situation and not the pain. He needed to find Voldemort and be ready to continue the fight, if necessary.

Biting back a hiss as pain flared, Harry slowly rose to his feet and cautiously entered the room with his wand and sai at the ready. There was so much dust in the air that it was difficult to see anything except for the large hole in the floor. Every step was tentatively taken after Harry was certain the floor could hold his weight. His wand and sai never remained in the same place for more than a second and his back remained facing the wall. He wasn't going to give Voldemort any sort of chance to catch him off guard.

Taking another step, Harry cautiously reached out with his senses to try and narrow down Voldemort's location. It was hard through the dust cloud but Harry knew that it was the only advantage he had. If he couldn't see Voldemort then Voldemort couldn't see him.

Unfortunately, Harry's chance quickly ended when he felt a force wrap around his neck and squeeze. Reflexes overrode any thought as Harry quickly dropped his wand and sai to try to claw away the invisible and ungraspable presence slowly choking him. He struggled to breathe as his lungs began to burn, screaming for breath. His head began to pound as his vision started to swim. Harry knew that he was in trouble.

Dropping to his knees, Harry desperately reached for his wand only to feel it fly in the opposite direction the moment it reached his fingers. Panic quickly set in as Harry watched the dust cloud vanish to reveal Voldemort standing across the room, bruised and bleeding with his yew wand pointing at Harry's neck. Time seemed to halt as Harry' wand soared through the air, landing on Voldemort's outstretched hand only for a moment before Voldemort hissed in pain and dropped the wand.

Voldemort glared hatefully at Harry as he slowly approached. "So this is how it shall end for you, Harry Potter," he snarled as he cautiously stepped around the hole in the floor. "You, on your knees, awaiting death. The wizarding world really should have known better than to place their faith in a child."

Voldemort's words muddled together as darkness threatened to consume Harry. He knew he was definitely in trouble. His chest was screaming in pain and his head was swimming in dizziness. Through it all, only one thing entered his mind: Please don't let it end like this.

A/N; Sorry for the wait. I'm hoping to have the next chapter up by the 1st.