To Defeat the Dark

By: Sandreline

Hello again, everyone!

You all have no idea how grateful I am to you all for reading my story. I have gotten so many wonderful reviews from so many of you, thank you thank you thank you!

I swear, I have the best readers in the world. ^_^

So here it is for you, chapter 3! I hope you enjoy it. Thank you again, everyone!

Chapter 3: First Wave

The entire hall silenced upon seeing Serenity enter. Well, she was not the reason the school had gone silent. It was more her companion – Professor R.J. Lupin. A 'human' Professor Lupin. Students were looking out of the dinning hall's windows to clearly see a bright Full Moon, and then they would look back at their DADA teacher.

"Well, what are you all staring at? Surely you have a dinner to eat?" Sang the joyful voice of the teacher who was practically skipping down the aisle to his table. He took his usually seat, and then all eyes turned to the silver-haired girl.

"I'm hungry. What's for dinner?" She asked, sitting at the Gryffindor table with her friends and then piling food on her plate.

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The hall was booming with morning gossip as the students ate their breakfast and began to prepare for the day. This morning found the resident Moon Princess sitting in the middle of the Gryffindor table surrounded by Harry, Hermione, Ron, Jenny, and the twins and Luna – not the cat. However, the plate before her was empty of its usual first round and the Princess was leaning on her elbows that were on either side of her plate as she rested her head in her hands.

"Serenity?" She heard Harry ask softly.

"Hmm?" She responded without moving.

Her circle of friends all exchanged very worried glances. It was unusual to see the bubbly young woman sitting with them in front of so much food and her not even lifting her gaze to look at it let alone stuff it in her mouth. In fact, their Lunarian friend seemed paler than normal and was acting as if she was in pain. "Are you alright?" Hermione asked. The brilliant witch then nodded to Luna, who slipped away from the table to alert the Headmaster of the Princess' behavior.

"I feel like my brain is going to explode…" She all but whimpered. The noise of the dining hall was causing the throbbing of her headache to manifest larger. She felt lightheaded and ready to be sick.

"Maybe you should go back to bed, mate." Ron advised as he gulped.

"We can take you back to your rooms." The twins offered in unison.

"Ron's right, you should go rest." Jenny spoke up as she looked at her favorite heroine.

"I'll be fine." She told them. She was able to hide her wince that followed; even she didn't believe the sound of that!

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up from her hands into Harry's worried green eyes. "You should listen; after all we are only worried about you." He said in a soft voice, to which he was rewarded a small smile. From this she could feel the spike in Draco's aura from across the room that he was watching and not happy about their interaction. She could also sense Luna, and the feline Luna, approaching with lord Albus. So Serenity gave a small sigh and a quick nod of her head and stood to leave, not realizing that Harry was already standing and intending to escort her to her rooms.

She had just finished stepping over the bench when as the skirts from her gown straightened and she moved to take a step forward she felt a sudden wave of dizziness wash over her. The daughter of the Moon did not even realize that she had started to faint until she felt Harry's arms catch her. "Serenity!" Her friends shouted out in concern.

They now had the attention of the entire school. Some of the teachers were standing up at the table, and Lupin and Hagrid were already making their way over, both quickly followed by Madame Pomphrey.

Harry was completely supporting the bunny as she fought to keep her eyes open. Luna the cat weaved through the people surrounding her charge. "Everybody back up!" The royal advisor ordered as she looked in worry at Usagi. Madame Pomphrey followed her to stand at the Princess' side.

"What is going on?" Lupin asked.

As the school nurse felt Serenity's pulse the cat answered the werewolf. "She is being drained!" Luna said in surprise. "Where is Helios?"

"Helios?" Serenity whispered in confusion. Harry continued to hold her up with one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders.

There was silence for a few moments before a horse's whinny was heard from above. In a sparkle of red and gold, Pegasus appeared. He landed behind the group around Serenity and everyone heard his mental cry. (Voldemort is attacking the castle! He is approaching the front gate. Prepare for battle!)

He had an immediate response as everyone sprang into action. The teachers and prefects herded the nervously screaming students to their dormitories. The Headmaster began shouting orders to those present and he and a few teachers went to confront the threat.

Harry looked down at the weakened form in his arms as he felt her start to struggle to stand on her own. "Must go…" She said.

"But you can't even stand up!" Harry argued with amusement in his voice.

"I will be fine."

"Usagi, you can't possibly fight right now. Something has been draining your energy." Luna said.

(She will not be alone. I will always be by the Princess' side.) Pegasus spoke. He walked up to them and lowered his horn. (The combination of all of the negative energy from the Dark Lord and Chaos is trying to corrupt all of her purity. That is why she is weak; her body is trying to fight it off.) His horn touched the crescent moon on Serenity's forehead, and both gold emblems began to glow. The Moon Princess felt a small bit of energy relieve her. A moment later and the connection was broken and she was nuzzled by Pegasus' nose. She gave a small smile. "Thank you, my friend." Slowly she stood on shaky legs and stepped out of Harry's hold. "Cosmic Moon Power, Make-up!"

Madame Pomphrey, Harry, Luna, and Lupin and Dumbledore had to take a step back from the bright light. Hagrid merely squinted, but he did have to duck from a way-ward angel-wing. Sailor Cosmos stood before them a moment later looking stronger then she was a moment ago, though Harry noted the strong grip she held on her staff. "Let's go, Pegasus." She flapped her wings and as she prepared to leap into the air and out one of the windows.

"Not without me!" Harry shouted, before daringly jumping on Pegasus' back.

"Harry, you can't be goin' and fightin' You-know-who! It is not safe!" Hagrid warned.

"He is right Harry. You should get to your common room." Lupin added. Pomphrey had left at this point to prepare the medical wing, and Luna had gone to find Lord Albus.

"No." He turned towards Sailor Cosmos with determined eyes. "You said that you came here to be my partner. You said that the two of us working together can stop him for good. So are in it together or aren't we?" He asked.

Her silver eyes looked to his. Arguing would waste time and he did have a point. "Let's go Moon Dust them." With a leap into the air she was gone in a flash of light. Pegasus followed, leaving the others to catch up.

Sailor Cosmos appeared above the crowd outside of the front gate. The immortals of the Forbidden Forest were already engaged in battle as they made a stand between Dumbledore's army and the school until further help arrived. With a wave of her staff, Cosmos unleashed Saturn's Silence Wall. It pushed back the youma and Death Eaters, giving her creature friends a breather and time to re-group. All eyes turned to look up at her.

"Well, if it isn't the Moon Princess." A deep and mocking voice rang out. A black mist rose from the ground and flew up to materialize several meters away from her in the air. "How quaint to see you again."

"Voldemort. Or should I call you Chaos?" She sneered. "How dare you return to try to take over this planet! You should know better after all this time!"

"Ah, but this time I Shall not loose!" The mist pulled together and took the shape of Voldemort with all of his snake-like features. However, Sailor Cosmos knew who was really in there – the glowing ruby eyes were only Chaos. "Attack!" The Dark Lord cried.

Lucious Malfoy appeared on a broom next to his master, flanked by a frizzy-haired witch. "You will pay for turning my song against me, Highness." Lucious growled out while pointing his wand at her.

"You did that yourself, Malfoy." She replied, her staff held ready for battle. "What's your excuse, frizz-hair?" Sailor Cosmos asked.

"Bellatrix LeStrange, and I just want the pleasure of killing you to please my master." She giggled out.

Bellatrix and Lucious cast their Curses at her. "Cruciatus!"

Cosmos gave a great flap of her wings and shot up into the air, easily avoiding the curses. However, Bellatrix followed up behind her. "Avada Kedavra!"

Cosmos wrapped her wings around her body and spun out of the way. "Expeliamus!" Came a male voice. Cosmos looked to her left and saw Harry riding on Pegasus as they appeared beside her. Bellatrix was almost knocked off of her broom from the force of Harry's attack, but she did not drop her wand.

"Good try, little Harry Potter." Her sick voice laughed out. "What's the matter? Not good enough to take out little old Bellatrix?"

"You wish." Harry replied, his wand at the ready.

Cosmos had lost Lucious Malfoy, which was her first mistake. "Imperious!" Came the enraged voice from behind her.

"Gah!" She cried out as her body locked up. Her wings shook, several feathers fluttering to the ground from where the attack hit her shoulder blades from behind. Pain that she could not remember ever experiencing shot through her body. Her back arched from the strain, her head tilted back as she let out a scream.

"Serenity!" Harry cried out as Pegasus tried to make his way over to his friend.

"Oh no, you don't!" Bellatrix laughed, sending out the same curse. Harry was forced to block it in order to save himself and Pegasus from being hit, but Bellatrix did not let up. She continued to fire a variety of the Curses at him so that he was forced on the defensive.

Below them was a battlefield. Centaurs fired arrows, unicorns were using their horns to deflect magical attacks, giants were throwing boulders, and an unknown army of spiders appeared and were chasing off Death Eaters… and attempting to eat them it seemed. The teachers and Headmaster were each engaged in a similar battle like the two young adults above them. Remus was shifting back and forth between a wolf and a wizard while trying to avoid the acid-like goo of the youma.

A loud, painful scream filled the air, and Remus looked up to see Sailor Cosmos struck from behind by Lucious Malfoy with one of the Unforgivable Curses. Anger swelled within him and he shifted to a stage that was half wolf and half human and let out an angry howl. He raced forward as he tried to get closer to the Princess so that he would be able to help her.

Harry and Pegasus were beyond frustrated and growing angry. Cosmos was still being struck by the Imperious curse, and her body was starting to glow silver from the strain.

"Stupify!" Came a welcomed cry from below. Remus had managed to get close enough to Malfoy to blast him from below while the blonde male was too occupied laughing in a maniac-like pleasure from harming Cosmos.

Lupin's spell broke the curse on Cosmos as the older Malfoy was knocked off his broom. The evil wizard landed with a thump on the ground below before he whirled around to face Lupin. The werewolf was unable to see if Cosmos had recovered from the assault.

She hung limply in the air, her wings having blasted open to suspend her to stop her drop to the battle below her as well as the wave of arrows the centaur archers had shot off at the youma. Her body was screaming at her, and the only thing she could hear was the sound of her heavy breathing.

Slowly, the sounds of battle met her ears as well as the cries from her friends and fellow warriors. Suddenly, her silver eyes flashed with determination and her head shot up to glare at the Dark Lord, who had long ago turned his attention to the battle at hand.

"Basium of Lux Lucius!" She called out as her aura turned a glowing silver. After she spoke the incantation her aura exploded and rolled its way like a giant tsunami towards the Dark Lord. His minions retreated as the wave approached them, screaming in pain from the brightness of it alone. Those fighting on the side of good were healed of major injuries at its touch.

Voldemort and Chaos let out a growl. "This isn't over!"

Sailor Cosmos was still glowing silver as a black mist stretched out over all of the Death Eaters and youma in the battle. When the mist dispersed nothing was left except dead grass and trees.

All eyes fell on the glowing angel, before her glow dispersed and her eyes drooped closed. The angel wings on the guardian's back faded away and she slowly began to fall to the ground.

Pegasus swooped beneath her with Harry, who managed to catch the girl his age and hold her on the horse. When they landed they were approached by the centaur leader Bane, as well as Albus Dumbledore and Lupin. "Is she alright?" Luna asked, leaping onto Pegasus' back and looking down at her.

(She merely needs rest. She suffered greatly from that Curse.) The winged and horned horse turned to survey the grounds. This time, his mental speech went to all present. (You have all fought honorably and well. It is safe once more. Thank you all for your courage.) With that said, the immortals of the Forbidden Forest started to return to their homes. At this point everyone remaining was ushered into the castle. (I am not a pack horse…) The priest of Elysian muttered to himself as he found himself carrying Harry, the Maun cat, and the Princess to the medical wing.

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Serenity had awoken as Madame Pomphrey finished checking her over. The school nurse had declared her exhausted and in need of several days of bed rest. Of course, Serenity declined and said that she was perfectly fine, she just needed to relax a little bit and then she and Luna retired to her rooms. Despite how little energy she had, the bunny was only able to receive less than four hours of sleep.

The next morning Serenity had a pounding headache once more. Ever since the battle yesterday, her temples were pounding and she felt drained of all energy. She also had half a mind to blast Draco's father into the sun…

The Hogwarts Headmaster was keeping a watchful eye on her all throughout breakfast, and Remus said if she did not rest soon he was carting her off to Madame Pomphrey. The man was quickly becoming an overly protective brother to her, and she was not sure if it was out of gratitude or because he was doing so willingly. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were also watching her closely. She had hardly eaten any of her food and the Golden Trio did nothing to conceal the concerned gazes they send one another during the meal. Come to think of it, Fred and George were rather demure as well!

The Moon Princess gave a sigh and looked down, preferring to stare at the stone beneath the swirling skirts of her gown that the cold and empty hall. She was currently making her way to the dungeons in hopes that Professor Snape still had some Rejuevenalia potion to give her an energy boost for a couple hours. Mother Moon, her head was throbbing!

Serenity eyed a door to her right that was about ten feet in front of her. All of her Senshi instincts were telling her to give it a wide berth, but her head hurt too badly to really care. So she was not completely surprised with Draco pulled her into the empty storage room. She leaned back against the stone wall he had pressed her against to enjoy both the coolness of the stone and to place a bit of distance between her lips and Draco's. "Do you know all of the empty spaces around here, or am I just lucky enough to walk past you when you are occupying one?" She muttered sarcastically.

"I love a girl with bite in her." He said, before the smirk was wiped from his face. "You have not looked good since the battle yesterday." He spoke with just a pinch of worry in his voice.

"Is that concern I hear? Because it was your father that blasted me with that Curse!" She said.

Draco took into account the lack of sparkle that was normally in her eyes. "What are you, stupid? Of course I have worried about you."

"So you can continue your game of 'Kiss the Princess when I Please'? Or because you were worried about me failing to keep you safe from Voldemort?" Selene, her head felt like it was on fire…

Draco's eyes flashed dangerously as he leaned forward and pressed his body against hers while trapping her head with his hands that were now pressing against the wall. "If that's all you believe this to be, a game, then you are not the wonderful woman I thought you were." When the last words left his lips he gave Serenity a bruising kiss. It was not pleasurable, and she knew it was a punishment of sorts. It lasted only a couple of seconds before he pulled back. "I am not like that pathetic muggle Prince you use to date. I do not kiss every girl I see, just the one I feel some strange bond with." In a flurry of robes, the young Prince of Slytherin stormed out.

The Moon Warrior watched him leave before sliding down the length of the wall to the floor. Her head hurt so much… (I think I'm just going to close my eyes for a moment…)

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"Has anyone seen Serenity?" Luna the cat asked as she appeared on the table. Everyone had just finished filing into the great hall for dinner. The black cat was sitting at the Gryffindor table and talking to her charge's friends.

"Not since this morning." Ron answered as he reached for a glazed roll.

"She was not looking too well. Perhaps she went to see Madame Pomphrey?" Hermione asked as she looked towards the teacher's table only to spot the nurse was present.

"No, I already asked." The feline stated as her tail twitched in worry.

"You haven't heard from her since breakfast?" Harry asked in a worried tone. He had a bad feeling all day that something was wrong with his blonde friend. He felt panic begin to rise in his chest.

"What's going on?" The Weasley twins asked in unison as they came to sit on either side of Ronald as Fred- or was it George, Luna could not tell the difference – stole Ron's roll as it was about to enter his mouth.

"Hey!" Ron pouted.

"Oh, honestly…" Hermione grumbled.

Harry stood up from his place at the table and looked to his right. "Have any of you seen Serenity?" He called out to them. The front half of the table looked around and shook their heads. The Boy-who-Lived turned to his left. "Have any of you?" He asked.

Draco's ears landed his full attention to the chaos erupting at the Gryffindor table. What was going on? "Has anyone seen Princess Serenity?" Harry voiced out to the entire hall. Draco was not paying rapt attention as his eyes surveyed the hall for the silver-haired girl.

"Not since breakfast." A Huffelpuff called out in answer.

"She was making her way to the dungeons earlier for Potions last I saw her after 'is morning." Neville spoke up.

"What is this entire ruckus about?" Professor McGonagall asked while walking over to her house table.

Luna looked up at the feline animagus as her crescent moon flashed in the candlelight from above. "I think the Princess is in trouble. She has not been seen by anyone since this morning and has not had the opportunity to purify her body from the attack yesterday. With all the time that has passed, the negative energies could have knocked her unconscious as they suck away her energy!" The cat was now standing on all fours.

"You mean that because Serenity is so pure, the negative powers that hit her yesterday will try and taint her and because she is so pure it will really affect her?" Hermione said.

"Yes, she is very weak and vulnerable right now." Luna added.

"Oh dear, we must search for her Immedietly." Minerva said.

If possible at the moment a light bulb would have turned on over Harry's head. "Wait!"

"What is it, Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Professor Lupin could track her down by her scent!" He pointed out. Now that Remus could control his change, his heightened sense of smell could find her.

"Professor Lupin is in his office grading our tests from after lunch." Ron supplied, proud to remember that fact when he observed the DADA teacher missing. He stood up with Hermione mimicking him as well. Luna was already dashing out of the hall.

Draco Malfoy, along with the rest of a concerned Hogwarts, watched as Professor McGonagall left in a flurry of robes while quickly being followed by the Golden Trio to the DADA office. As the student population buzzed with whispers, Draco used the distraction to slip away as well and follow them.

He must have missed the explanation they gave the werewolf, because as he approached the hallway all he heard was a cry of, "What do you mean she is in trouble?" An instant later allowed a deep howl to vibrate off the walls. The Slytherin Prince managed to slip away as a large wolf came barreling passed him, followed by Luna and the humans. Draco was hot on their heels. He watched the werewolf sniff the air and then the walls and finally the floor, before lifting his nose back into the air. In any other situation he would be muttering about savage animals but he was too busy thinking about the Moon child.

It took Draco a moment to realize that they were heading for the Dungeons and coming closer to the room he earlier pulled the silver-haired warrior into and a sinking sensation filled his stomach. Remus was barking and growling, and even from this distance Draco could tell that his nose was flaring as he picked up the Lunarian's scent. Professor Lupin stopped before the door to the closet and began shifting back into his human form. McGonagall had already opened the door and stepped in, followed by that bloody Potter and Lupin. The mudblood and redheaded wizard trash were blocking the door, but he did not have to wait long to see what was going on inside.

Potter walked out first, holding the unconscious female in his arms. Draco let a small growl vibrate in his throat at the site of Potter holding his woman before he took into account the state she was in. Her skin was almost a shade of gray and her crescent moon was flashing like a weak heartbeat. She was also clearly having trouble breathing, as he could hear her weak rasps. Minerva dashed in front of Harry to fetch the nurse and Luna had curled up on Serenity's stomach as Harry carried them to the medical wing. Hermione was close to tears as she walked beside Harry.

"Will she be alright?" Ron asked as they passed Draco's hiding place. (Observing.) He corrected himself. Malfoy's do not need to hide from anything.

"We will make sure that she is." Lupin said even though Draco detected the uncertainty in his tone. The group turned a corner and was out of his sight before he decided to step out into the corridor. She was safe at least, for the moment. He would visit her later when the others had left.

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"Did anyone get the ID of that bullet train that hit me?" She rasped out slowly in a mumble.

"So you are awake." Whispered a voice to her left. The rabbit opened her eyes, discovering the room was only lit by two candles on either side of her bed. Letting her head roll towards the voice she spotted the Slytherin Prince sitting at her side.

"Draco?" She whispered in surprise.

"Who did you think it was, Snape?" He sneered.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, still whispered. She felt much better than she remembered feeling before, but her body was heavy from her energy depletion. She would still need to rest for a while.

"Do you always as such ridiculous questions after you spend three days sleeping?"

"Three days?" She asked. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning to look back up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. Well, she may as well get this over with now. "I'm sorry about what I said." Slowly latter her head roll to the side to face him once more she stared into his eyes that were dancing almost seductively in the flickering candlelight. "I was trying to fight the negative energy from before, because it was trying to control me. It made me snappy and frustrated – I never meant what I said…" She whispered.

"About bloody time you realized it. I was wondering if you were spending too much time with the Weasel boys." Draco said. He stood from the chair he had been sitting on and came to sit next to her on the bed.

"What time is it?" The Lunarian asked.

"Just after two in the morning." He answered her while looking down into her eyes.

"Draco, could you do me a favor?" She continued whispering. He nodded. "Could you open this shade? I want to see my home, and the moon beams will give me energy." Without giving a reply, the young Malfoy did the choir. Silver light fell upon her bed and Serenity let out a sigh of contentment. Her skin practically glowed as the lunar rays caressed her flesh and danced around her. He almost did not hear her mumbled thank you.

She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes until she felt Draco's weight shift closer to her. She opened them up to discover that he was just a few inches from her face. A blush covered her cheeks before he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. He led hers with sweet caresses and Serenity eagerly surrendered to his actions.

Neither knew now much time actually past as they continued their kiss, they only knew that it grew more passionate and felt like hours. After a while more Draco pulled away just out of reach of her lips. In a heated whisper he said, "The next time you do not take care of yourself, and for every time after, I will curse both Patter and Weasel."

At her confused gaze he gave his trademark smirk. "Well, I can't curse you and it gives me a reason to as well as insurance that you will take better care of yourself, since you would just hate to see those two idiots cursed." Serenity let out a warm laugh and even Draco cracked a smile. When her laughter started to die down he ran a hand through her hair and brushed the bangs from her eyes. She looked up at him with such a look of longing that he felt his lips pull him down to kiss her yet again.

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How was that, everyone? I know, it was a bit short and kind of rushed. I would also like to apologize for how weak I made her seem, but it was for the plot to bring Draco and Serenity closer together! Don't worry, she will be back on her feet in no time flat!

Thank you so much for reading everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter as well!

In case you had forgotten from last chapter:
Basium of Lux Lucius – Kiss of Light

Thanks again, and I will see you all soon!

~Sandreline