A/N: Thank you all for your reviews. It's much appreciated!

"Could you two put that on hold for a while?" Alice said gently, though the words reflected her irritation. "We're in the middle of a war—remember?"

Edward and I reluctantly ended our kiss, untangling our limbs, all of which had somehow managed to snake around the body of the other to form a peculiar arrangement, pulling us so tightly together that we had probably resembled a singular faceless creature.

I looked down the corridor to where the Death Eater was still laid. Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Lavender Brown were all hovering over him. The severity of his condition had rendered him unconscious. His stump was bleeding profusely, and if he didn't receive some attention immediately, it wouldn't matter that I hadn't resorted to the worst Unforgivable Curse.

I was about to approach, only a distraction appeared in the form of McGonagall. She was wielding her wand and sending a herd of desks charging along ahead of her. She stopped upon seeing the bleeding man, and so too did her wooden troops.

"Which one of you did this?" she questioned, her eyes zeroing in on the Death Eater's severed hand.

"I did," I admitted, stepping around Edward to face my old Transfiguration instructor. "I'm sorry, Professor. I was just so angry after Fred—"

She held up a finger to stop me.

"Please, don't jump to the wrong conclusion, Miss Swan," she said hastily, her face softening slightly. "I was merely wondering who should claim his wand."

"I'm sorry?"

"His wand, Miss Swan. You have defeated its master in combat and, therefore, its allegiance will have changed. Wands respond to power, strength, and the victorious. If you choose to claim it—which would be advisable in light of our current situation—I have no doubt that it will fully obey your every command.

"Now," she said, turning her attention back to the Death Eater, whose skin was rapidly nearing a shade of white to rival the Cullens' "we must see to this one. We can hardly leave him here to stain the halls of Hogwarts."

She pointed to one of the desks and shouted, "You, there, take this man to Madam Pomfrey! She is currently in the Grand Hall attending the injured!"

The desk galloped towards the Death Eater, who—with a flick of McGonagall's wand—floated onto it, as did his detached hand. She bound his body in tight ropes, before sending the table back in the direction she had come from.

She flicked her wand again, and the mahogany stick on the floor flew into my open hand. I closed my fingers around the wood and immediately felt a surge of warm air circulate my body.

"Good luck, you four," she finished, indicating myself and the Cullens, before turning her attention back to her unit. "Company Two, resume charge!"

And off they went, flying down the corridor towards the main entrance, the other Gryffindors running closely behind them.

I decided to test my new wand, aiming it at the puddle of blood left over from the duel. It disappeared in an instant, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Jasper's stiff posture relax infinitesimally.

"Edward," I murmured, suddenly remembering Voldemort's last Horcrux and the task we needed to complete, "what about Harry? Where is he?"

"He's on his way down the secret passage leading to the Shrieking Shack. He has the Invisibility Cloak."

"Shouldn't we go help him? If we're going to get to Nagini—"

"I don't think there's much chance of that, at the moment," he answered. "Voldemort is keeping his pet close now that he knows what Harry is doing. Don't worry, Bella; Harry isn't intending on doing anything reckless. He has Ron and Hermione with him, and he's not going to risk them getting hurt—not after …"

My stomach clenched as he trailed off.

"We should get back to the others," Jasper cut in. "We can do more good at the moment if we work together to protect the students."

Before we set off again, Edward scooped me up and placed my legs around his waist, our chests pressed tightly together so that I was looking over his shoulder. He obviously wasn't going to allow me another opportunity to give a repeat performance of my light show with the Death Eater; but the fact that I now had two wands to wield meant that carrying me on his back would be impossible. I would have insisted on using only one until my feet were firmly back on solid ground, but I knew I'd be able to do more good with two; besides, having my legs wrapped around Edward this way was a far more interesting position.

"Definitely not the time, Bella!" Jasper shouted, recommencing the sprint.

Edward chuckled silently and my face flooded with heat. I vented my frustration on the numerous enemies we passed, accurately tossing Stunning Spells and Body-binding Curses this way and that.

At one point, we flew at a bunch of Death Eater's about to finish off two Ravenclaw students. Alice and Jasper smashed into them, and they fell like bowling pins, immediately rendered unconscious by the intensity of the collision. One had avoided the hit, however, and raised his wand in the air, about to bring it down upon the students.

I yelled my spell and pointed my wand at stained shards scattered beneath the now glassless windows, watching as they flew—a thousand deadly projectiles—towards the Death Eater. He heard me shout and turned to defend himself, transforming the glass into flying daisies. Though I failed to hit the man, the distraction was enough to help the pupils. They both simultaneously raised their wands as the Death Eater turned his back on them and cried out 'Stupefy', causing their enemy to crash against the nearest wall.

Then I felt my body spin and heard, "Duck!"

I pressed my head into Edward's chest and clutched my hands to his shirt. Through the slits of my eyes, I saw that the back of his head was enveloped in a halo of green light, and in the next second, two massive primitive roars echoed through the corridor. Then everything spun again in a dizzying flash of colour, and we were shooting back towards the clock tower, leaving behind three cloaked figures crumpled on the ground.

Finally, we reached the others. They were situated half way down the hall, and had been joined by Luna and Ernie Macmillan.

"You've been missing all the fun!" Emmett shouted, hearing our approach. He had his great, bulky arms wrapped around a hairy acromantula. Evidently the vampires had done a good job, for there were very few now heading towards us.

"I was sure you would have had these all taken care of by now!" Alice said, extremely peeved at her lack of vision.

"It's not my fault!" her brother responded. "Apparently, these things get their freak on every god-damn day!"

With the return of Edward, Jasper, and Alice, the Cullens had the rest of the arachnids out of the picture within less than a minute, leaving the corridor empty of foes. I was about to ask the others what they thought we should do next, but Edward released a snarl and moved into a hunting position.

"What's the matter?" asked Ernie.

"More are on their way!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I yelled, thoroughly pissed. "How many could there po—"

"Not spiders!" he shouted. "Wizards!"

And then lightning burst towards us, the vampires forming a tight shield in response.

"Aim for their legs!" a voice cried, and I immediately saw something low streaking towards us.

Rosalie jumped forwards, breaking rank, and swung her foot backwards as if preparing to kick a football. She brought it down and there was a mighty crack, before the light shot backwards in the opposite direction, crashing into the ceiling and causing part of it to collapse.

At least three of the Death Eaters were crushed beneath the rubble, not one of them emerging in the ensuing seconds. The explosion forced a rush of dusty air in our direction. As soon as it touched my face, I heard Edward and Jasper growl.

"Put up your shield, Bella! Do it now!" Edward called.

"Why? Wha—"

"They're werewolves!"

This didn't explain why I was suddenly being asked to cut myself off from the fight.

"Werewolves we're actually allowed to hurt!" Emmett explained.

Ah.

I projected a shield outwards, watching as it expanded to fill the corridor. Angelina and Wood did the same, so that there were now three standing between both us and the Cullens, giving us triple protection.

"Finally!" Emmett laughed, charging off towards the robed figures.

Katie shook her head. "I don't understand."

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and Alice were each wearing focused expressions; the three boys, on the other hand, looked like a bunch of kids that had just been given free rein in Honeydukes: Jasper and Edward were sneering in satisfaction, whilst Emmett cackled manically.

"They've … um … been waiting a while for this," I said. My comment didn't particularly enlighten any of my friends.

The entire fight lasted little more than three minutes; in that time, I witnessed a gruesome scene. The doomed men pointed their wands in panic over and over, achieving no results as the light bounced of the bodies of the vampires, all of whom moved fluidly as they crushed and battered our enemy, each being careful to spill as little blood as possible.

Finally, the last one fell, his face purple after having Jasper's cold strong hands wrapped around his throat. From where I stood, I could clearly see the finger-shaped bruises left behind. The Cullens headed back in our direction as we lowered our shields.

"I think I finally understand why the wrackspurts keep a safe distance," Luna smiled dreamily. "I may adopt a family of vampires too, Bella."

Emmett shook with laughter; he had evidently taken a great liking to Luna. Edward cocked his head and looked at her, an extremely confused expression plastered across his face. I suspected that he was trying to make sense of her thoughts, and obviously having no luck.

"Now what?" asked Katie, glancing up and down the corridor.

"Maybe we should go join the others," Ernie said, clearly a little uncomfortable with the idea of being in the vicinity of seven deadly vampires, especially after discovering their capabilities first-hand.

"That would leave this entrance completely exposed," Wood contradicted. "I think we should separate. It doesn't need all of us to defend the area."

"We should help Harry," I whispered at a level that neither I, nor the other humans, could hear. I knew the Cullens would detect the sound easily. "He may not be able to reach the Horcrux without assis—"

"You have fought," said a high, cold voice, the sound reverberating through the air, instilling instant fear and demanding my attention, "valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat, immediately.

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you." Everyone tensed, even more so. "You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

The speech ended, yet our group remained silent. Slowly but surely, the faces of the vampires became feral and terrifying, their lips, pulling back to reveal lethal, glistening teeth, making them appear all the more frightening.

Finally, Esme growled. "Pure evil! The devil incarnate!"

The rest of us nodded in response.

"We should go and find the others," said Wood. "They'll need help … with the bodies."

And then we left for the Great Hall, terrified of what we would see when we arrived there. The humans walked out in front, myself and the Cullens trailing closely behind.

"I want you to keep an eye on Harry," I said to Edward. "If I've learnt anything of his character in the last seven years, it's that he tends to play the hero. He's not always had a choice in the matter, but it's in his nature to act bravely, sometimes to the point of stupidity."

Edward raised an eyebrow at my words. I didn't know what to make of his expression. Whatever it meant, he didn't explain; instead, he responded to my request. "I've been keeping tabs on him ever since we separated—I can assure you of that."

"Are there any new developments?" Jasper enquired.

"Actually … there are."

He stopped in the middle of the corridor, waiting until those ahead of us had rounded the next corner and were out of earshot. Then, he turned the full force of his eyes on me.

"Snape is dead."

"What?!" I gasped.

"Voldemort killed him."

Now it was the others' turn to splutter disbelievingly.

"But that makes no sense!" Carlisle blurted. "Snape was his ally, wasn't he?"

Edward took a moment, seeming to think his answer through.

"This is all very difficult to explain," he continued, "because I don't truly understand it myself … Voldemort killed Snape for a wand."

"He already has a wand," I said, utterly baffled by this point.

"Yes, he does … but he wanted one that was more powerful, one that is—as legend says—unbeatable."

I felt my brow furrow with suspicion. "Are you talking about the Death Stick?"

"Death Stick?" echoed Rosalie.

"Professor Binns mentioned it in History of Magic a few times. He said that the wand left a bloody trail through history, and that people were often killed during their sleep when they were rumoured to possess it … but, I mean, it was just a myth! It's not real!"

"I think it is," Edward argued, the crease returning to the space between his eyes. "As I was watching the scene in the Shrieking Shack, Voldemort told Snape that after both his wand and his servant's failed to kill Harry, he sought a more powerful wand. He applied a few names whilst discussing it, one of which was the one you just mentioned, Bella."

"But it isn't real."

"It is!" Edward insisted. "It is real. After he discovered that he couldn't defeat Harry, no matter which wand he took, he started looking for the one that was said to be unbeatable! And he found it. He found it, Bella … because it was right here waiting for him."

"I don't understand," I admitted.

"Before he died, Dumbledore was the master of the unbeatable wand. It was lying in his grave with him the whole time! And Voldemort took it, expecting it to work for him."

Then he took my hand in which I clutched the mahogany wand, and held it up for everyone to see.

"Don't you understand, Bella? Don't you remember what your Professor tol—"

"Wands respond to strength … to the victorious," I whispered. All the little pieces were suddenly beginning to fit together.

Edward nodded. "Which means that the true master of the unbeatable wand was the same man who killed Dumbledore."

"Snape," murmured Jasper, his eyes glassy as he considered the implications of Edward's revelation.

Edward nodded again.

"What do we do?" Rosalie asked frantically. "If he now has an unbeatable wand, on top of the last Horcrux, how do we kill him? If what you're saying is true, he's as indestructible as we are now!"

"I don't think so," Edward announced, his head shaking quickly from side to side. "The only thing tying him to life now is the Horcrux. His wand may be the most powerful one in existence, but that applies specifically to wand to wand combat."

"What are you trying to get at, Edward?" Carlisle asked.

"What I'm trying to say," he emphasised, "is the fact that we are still vampires, and no matter how incredible the unbeatable wand performs against wizards, our skin will probably still reflect its attacks."

"What's the plan?" Alice demanded immediately, seeming to understand where Edward was going with this.

"I say we go back to the Great Hall and wait until the hour is up. He said he'd be entering the castle to fight. When that happens, he'll no longer be able to rely on protection from his Death Eaters—they'll have their own lives to worry about.

"When Voldemort enters the battle, I say the seven of us take the wand by force, and then go after the snake. If no other wand Voldemort uses has the power to defeat Harry's, then hopefully the loss of the Death Stick and the final Horcrux will give Harry the shot he needs."

Edward's plan was nothing short of insane. It horrified me that he was even considering it. My heart began pumping so quickly that I was surely in danger of cardiac arrest.

I expected the others to protest and tell Edward he was a lunatic … but they didn't, leaving me terrified as I saw agreement and determination flash through seven pairs of sparkling golden eyes.