A/N: Thank you, once again, for your reviews. I hope you like the next chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. =D

My heart was pounding with the force of a hammer as the first bell announced the countdown to midnight. In the very next moment, Edward stiffened and gave my hand a firm squeeze.

"Get ready," he murmured throatily. "They're coming."

I cast my eyes to the far end of the stone courtyard, and gripped my wand tightly as I considered a variety of possible spells in my head.

The second the last bell sounded, a streak of red light flashed from the covered bridge and through the stone courtyard, heading straight for Wood. It was well aimed and would have hit its target, but Emmett jumped to the side to shield him from attack, the light hitting him square in the chest and reflecting off his skin no differently than sunlight.

The brilliant glow of the orb, which was still floating above the courtyard, revealed twelve shadowy figures as they ran into view, each taking cover behind the stone pillars lining the area. I fired a stunning spell at one before he could make the dive. It caught him on the shoulder and propelled him through the air, his head cracking into stone, before he crumpled against the ground.

My attack immediately provoked a response from the surrounding Death Eaters, and at least six curses flew my way. Before they could hit me, something crashed into my side and forced me to the ground. I heard a sound like that of an explosion, which was surely a result of the curses smashing against the inner walls of the clock tower.

A weight above me pinned me to the floor, forcing my face to press against the wooden boards. Then the pressure lifted slightly, allowing me to rotate my body so that I could look up into the eyes of my protector. Edward was hovering over me, his hands on either side of my head, the rest of his length covering mine.

I didn't realise what he was doing at first, but then it hit me suddenly as I saw pieces of sandstone, some the size of small boulders, colliding with his rock-hard back and limbs. I knew it wasn't hurting him, but that didn't prevent his jaw from clenching in fury, or stop his beautiful golden eyes from turning livid. He truly did look like a blood-thirsty vampire now.

He pulled me up as the last block of rubble hit the floor, and immediately flew from my side in a movement too quick to see, scooping up the biggest piece of debris in one of his muscular, marble arms, before swinging his body forwards and catapulting the boulder at a figure in the far right corner of the courtyard. The Death Eater had just stepped out from behind his shielding pillar to throw another curse at Wood, and didn't have time to move out of the path of Edward's speeding missile. It smashed into his body with fatal force, thrusting him backwards and crushing him against a wall. I didn't need the light bathing the courtyard to know that his blood was now spilling freely against the cobbles below.

All of a sudden, a jet of green light was hurtling at me from my left. The simultaneous attacks of the six Death Eaters from only moments ago had been powerful enough to shatter a hole in the magical defences, leaving me exposed to further oncoming curses.

I reacted instantly and screamed, "Protego horribilis!"

The flare rebounded off the shield at a perpendicular angle, causing it to streak upwards into the starry sky.

Curses and jinxes were flying everywhere now, colliding against castle walls and stony pillars, giving the impression that an isolated storm had descended upon the courtyard, filling it with green and scarlet lightning, and resounding thunder.

Esme was following Edward's lead and hurling boulders at targets below. I didn't have time to check to make sure the others were okay, because the spells were still firing at me. The time for shields and disarming charms was definitely over now, and I knew that the only way to protect my breakable human friends would be to do as McGonagall had suggested: duel to kill.

A streak of green light flashed through the air yet again. It wasn't aimed at me this time but, instead, flew at those on the level above. I had no idea whether it had hit its target; I desperately prayed that it hadn't. The mere sight of it was enough, though. It filled me with anger and hate, and I aimed my wand at the pillar from behind which the curse had come.

"Confringo!"

The stone pillar exploded against the Death Eater, whose screams were cut off as he was blasted through the air and crushed beneath the rubble.

Esme shielded me as more curses were cast in my direction. The vampires and their impenetrable skin were definitely giving us an advantage, and I mentally thanked my lucky stars for sending me Edward and his family.

The following minutes created more casualties for our enemy, though our company remained unharmed. A shriek from below informed me that that was in danger of changing.

The sound was off, though I couldn't tell why at first. Then I realised that it had come from a male, but the pitch of it was higher than anything I had ever heard from the vampires, or even from Wood, for that matter.

"WHATTHEHELLBELLA!"

I cast my eyes over the ridge and realised that it was Emmett who had given the barely coherent scream. He was being attacked by an acromantula … as was Jasper. Wood had retreated to higher ground.

"YOU NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT GIANT SPIDERS!" he roared.

"You never asked!" I screamed back at him. "You're a vampire! I thought you were supposed to be fearless!"

"I am fearless! But a little heads-up would have been very, very nice!"

I shot fire at the monsters towards the back—I didn't want to risk hitting the Cullen brothers defending the foot of the clock tower, so I decided to try and hold off those that were further away. Though I hit one or two, and frightened a few others into retreating, several of the spiders dodged my spell and advanced on the castle.

"Can you hold your own for a minute or two while I go help Jasper and Emmett?" Edward asked, throwing another boulder into the courtyard, this time aiming for the eight-legged creatures, as opposed to the remaining Death Eaters.

"I have Esme to shield me if I need it!" I responded, blasting a spell at the stone structure at the centre of the yard. A block of broken stone flew diagonally through the air, bludgeoning the head of one of our fuzzy friends. "Go help your brothers!"

Edward jumped over the railings and dropped to the ground, immediately grabbing the legs of an acromantula and swinging it against the castle wall, the blow killing the creature instantly.

The boys were doing a great job on the ground, for which I was thankful. I certainly did not want to be eaten by an army of killer arachnids. One, however, must have managed to creep around whilst each of them were occupied, for just as I was about to fire a jinx at one of the three remaining Death Eaters, a great, hairy spider launched itself over the railings, and flew towards me, it's pincers clicking madly in anticipation.

Esme was faster though, and in the next second that I saw her, she resembled nothing of the kind and gentle mother figure I had come to know so well. Her teeth were bared in a feral snarl as she jumped between us. It was so quick that I barely caught it, but her hands flew up and she plunged them into the beast's mouth, before pulling her arms in either direction and ripping its head in two. Blood and brains spilled across the floor as she kicked the abdomen into the air like a football, sending it soaring upwards in a high arc. It disappeared from view as it travelled further into the distance.

The snarl disappeared from Esme's face as she turned to me. Her ensuing smile was one of both relief and sheepishness. My eyes were practically popping out of my skull as I looked at her.

"Sorry about that, darling," she said, lovingly stroking my cheek. "I hope I didn't scare you."

I shook my head and attempted to regain a less astounded-looking expression.

"Don't be sorry," I told her. "You just saved my life! That was incredible."

"I'm just glad you're ok, dear. It would be unbearable for our family if anything were to happen to you."

I smiled at her now in earnest, and embraced her in a hug. She returned it, wrapping her arms tightly around me.

"Oh, Bella, you're going to get spider brains all over your clothes."

I looked down at my shirt; sure enough, some of the mess had transferred from Esme's clothing to my own during our hug.

"It's no big deal," I laughed, waving my wand and enjoying Esme's smile as the gunk disappeared from both our outfits.

"Bella!" Edward shouted as he jumped through the opening and back onto our floor. "We have to get to Harry, now! He's about to be attacked! There are Slytherins searching the castle for him. They're heading in his direction!"

My heart sank. Slytherins trying to impress the Dark Lord would surely go to any length to do so. I ran to the foot of the stairs leading up to the next level, and screamed, "LEE!"

As he came running down to meet me, I wasted no time, ordering him to take my place alongside Esme, whilst I ran up to Edward and allowed him to pull me onto his back.

"Where are you going?" he cried.

"To help Harry!"

And then we were off, speeding away towards an unknown danger.

I didn't need to point out the directions; apparently, Harry was heading for the Room of Requirement, and due to his amazing vampiric memory, Edward could remember the route back.

He ran through the corridors at an insane velocity, for which I was grateful. Sometimes, we'd pass students firing spells at shadowy targets, most of whom were dodging behind walls or shielded themselves from attack. Whenever I caught sight of a Death Eater, however, I would throw stunners over my shoulder in the hope that they would hit their mark. Most did, and the ones that didn't often contributed to the defeat of various enemies. They were too overwhelmed at having to defend themselves against the multiple charms and jinxes rocketing their way—three, four, sometimes five at once—and couldn't hold out against the students.

We were just about to exit out onto the Grand Staircase, when a colossal fist smashed through the wall on the right hand side ahead of us.

"Giants!" I squeaked, terrified, though I was well aware that Edward could easily manoeuvre his way around it in the blink of an eye.

He didn't though.

Instead, he stopped abruptly in the middle of the corridor, the force of it thrusting me backwards and breaking my hold from around his neck. I landed flat on my back, staring up at the ceiling. As I sat up, I glanced around confusedly in an attempt to discover the reason behind Edward's sudden halt. My head turned to the right and my eyes caught sight of something as I looked through the arched window.

For what could have been only mere moments, I gazed out onto the giant's dirt-covered face. His mouth was pulled into a massive lop-sided grin—the smug smile of a bully as he is about to injure a small and helpless victim—revealing a row of crooked, yellow teeth. He raised his arm in the air and pulled back his meaty fist until it was level with his ear.

My breath caught and my stomach clenched. I reacted reflexively and launched my body upwards, jumping out of the giant's path, with not a moment to spare, as he flung his fist once again through the defenceless rock. I landed on my front and immediately rolled so that my back was against the floor, before aiming a jet of fire at the giant's hand. He roared in agony and stamped his enormous feet against the ground, sending tremors through the earth and causing the castle to tremble slightly.

At first, I thought my actions would provoke an enraged retaliation, but the sound of his wails faded into the distance as the mammoth-sized man retreated from view. I concluded that he was probably heading off in the direction of the lake, or somewhere similar, where he would be able to find something cool to sooth his burns.

I stood up and turned to face Edward. He hadn't moved a muscle, and if I hadn't known better, I would have guessed that the basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets, buried deeply beneath the Castle, had escaped and was petrifying, once again, the inhabitants of Hogwarts.

"Edward?" I asked fearfully.

In an extremely slow and careful movement, he spun his body until his eyes met mine. The expression he held was terrifying—even more frightening than the animalistic snarl he had worn back in the clock tower. His face was a mask of pure, absolute, despair. My first thought upon seeing it was that something terrible had happened to Harry, Ron and Hermione, after which my mind flew to the Cullens. Had something happened to one of them? And if so, what?

And then … the despair was rolling over me too like an unstoppable wave, pushing me under and stealing my air.

"Bella," Edward whispered, his eyes full of fear and sadness, "I feel cold."

I couldn't understand what he was saying. The words made no sense—he was a vampire; he never felt cold. His skin was so icy that the air circulating him always felt warm, no matter what the temperature.

I waited for him to speak again—for him to explain what he meant—but before he even had the chance, a dark hooded figure hurtled through the hole that had been left by the giant, and forced Edward's body back against the opposite wall.

Suddenly, it clicked. How could I have been so stupid?! All the clues had been there: the sudden despair, the decreasing temperature (though, perhaps, in Edward's case the wintery chill was actually an internal sensation).

I jumped to my feet as another Dementor flew into the corridor, closely tailed by a third, both of which flew straight at Edward.

He struggled against them as they closed in and began sucking away his hope and happiness. I should have realised that there were some dark creatures that even vampires couldn't always beat. Deflecting physical attacks for them was easy, as I had witnessed in the previous minutes when I had watched them battling the hungry arachnids; spiritual and emotional attacks were another matter entirely, especially when you could offer a feast amassed through a hundred years of pain, guilt, and loneliness.

I pointed my wand at the Dementors and yelled, "Expecto Pat—"

Something hard cracked into the side of my head before I could get the words out. I smacked against the wall, my wand dropping from my hand with the force of the collision. I turned around to face my attacker and felt a blow to my gut, causing me to double over in pain.

I was about to reach out for my only weapon when I was yanked upwards by my outstretching arm. In the ensuing seconds, I felt the tip of a wand press against the flesh of my throat and a large hand ensnare my wrists. I pulled and squirmed to no avail.

"I'm going to make you watch, and then I'm going to kill you," an unknown voice whispered smoothly in my ear.

Tears were spilling freely down my cheeks as I looked on helplessly.

The Dementors were still feeding, each of their faces getting closer to Edward's. He had stopped fighting completely now, undoubtedly having given in to the debilitating despair. I could understand it; I had given up too.

Then, as one of the creatures began pulling back its hood, I felt the last tiny ember of resistance flicker somewhere within me. I remembered what was at stake—I remembered what I would lose if I allowed this to continue. The world could implode and send us all into a pit of fire and brimstone, and everything would still be fine as long as Edward's soul was safe. Having his body harmed would be terrible enough, but his soul was the most precious thing in the existence, and it was about to be destroyed.

That was unacceptable.

I had no wand to help me break free, so I did the only thing that I could. I jerked forwards, brought my leg up, and thrust it back to hit the unknown man between the legs. He buckled instantly, releasing my wrists in the process. I dived for my wand, grasped it tightly, rolled my body over and screamed a spell that sent him soaring through the hole in the castle wall to plummet to his death.

Then, I flashed my eyes in the opposite direction towards Edward and remembered, against all odds, that the Lion fell in love with the Lamb. My Patronus burst from my wand in an explosion of radiant light and flew forwards, expelling the darkness and chasing away the Dementors.

I didn't understand what I was seeing at first as I looked at Edward's slumped figure. His head was tilted upwards at an odd angle and his eyes were glassy and vacant. Above his open mouth hung a tiny ball of white light, which shone fiercely as it hovered in the air. And then it hit me with the force of a tidal wave: I was staring at Edward's soul … and it was by far the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. It did exist—of course it did! He'd been wrong all along.

Without warning, the orb descended slowly into Edward's mouth. In the next second, he gasped loudly and inhaled a swift and sudden breath. He stiffened, before turning his head to look at me.

"Bella, you're bleeding!" He was at my side immediately, checking the wound at my head.

I knew he was in control of that side of himself now, but I didn't want to cause him more pain than necessary. I pointed my wand at the spot where I felt the trickle of warm fluid, and murmured, "Episkey."

"I feel … absolutely awful," he admitted, his voice trembling in a way I had never heard it do so before. For the first time since I had met him, he looked vulnerable. "What happened?"

"There's no time to explain," I announced, remembering that we were needed urgently in the Room of Requirement. "We have to get to Harry! He could be in danger."

That was all that it took to return Edward to his alert self. His body went rigid again, and his eyes flashed wide. Then his face was overcome by a surge of rage. He let out a single mighty roar, before pulling me onto his back again and shooting off towards the Grand Staircase.

As we broke through the door and began racing upwards, I feared for the person who had ignited Edward's fury.