Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter either. It belongs to its creator J.K. Rowling and probably Warner Bros. too. I'm not too sure about that. This piece of literature is simply the work of a humble fan. I also credit Jim Butcher for various themes, subjects, or references that I may use.

Author Notes: This is a Harry Potter crossover with the Dresden Files the book series. All my knowledge of the Dresden Files comes from the books. I've never seen the TV series. For the timeline that will be stated later. Thanks to the folks at DLP for help with editing.

Awaken Sleeper.
Chapter Sixteen: This Day in Chicagoland
by: Water Mage

A beautiful storm was brewing.

Rain, burst of hail and booming thunderstorms trapped the city in an iron grip. It was beautiful and violent and undeniably unnatural, if you knew what was really happening behind the scenes. Summer and Winter were gearing up for war and the world was feeling it.

Dresden had been forced to pull the car over as it became impossible to see while driving. Along with half a dozen wet and unhappy people they made a sight as they camped out in a corner at a coffee shop. Conversations ran quickly, voices mixing together into an audible drone, as the rain loudly hammered against the store windows.

People looked up at the television screen mounted against the wall as a barista played with a remote control. The image flickered with interference but it was enough to show an alert but scruffy weatherman.

"… a truly unprecedented event, an enormous Arctic blast that came charging like a freight train through Canada and across Lake Michigan to Chicagoland. And if that wasn't enough, a tropical front, settled quietly in the Gulf of Mexico, has responded in kind, rushing up the Mississippi River in a sudden heat wave. They've met right over Lake Michigan, and we have received several reports of rain and bursts of hail. Thunderstorm warnings have been issued all through the Lake Michigan area, and a tornado watch is in progress for the next hour in Cook Country. National Weather Service has also issued a flash flood warning and a travel advisory for the eastern half of Illinois. This is some beautiful but very violent weather, ladies and gentlemen, and we urge you to remain in shelter until this storm has time to …"

Harry lowered his coffee mug and sent Dresden a somber stare. "It's starting."

Dresden nodded, knuckles turning white around the cup held in his hands. "D day's around the corner. Time's running up."

"I'd say we have about thirty hours maybe less before full on war," said Harry, running a hand over his face. What he wouldn't give for an endurance potion. This no sleep thing was starting suck. "I can't be sure."

The older wizard looked both ways before leaning forward, pitching his voice low. "We still have to finger the Summer Knight's killer and find the missing mantle." He groaned low in his throat. "Too much depends on this." He let out an irritated sigh. "Mab doesn't ask for small favors."

Harry cocked his, considering. "You owed Mab, huh? Is that why you're Winter's Emissary."

"I don't owe Mab anything," replied Dresden, face twisting into something angry and cold. "She gained three favors from me by way of another faerie." He exhaled loudly and frowned. "Only reason I agreed is because Mab offered the White Council safe passage through the parts of Winter in Faerie."

"Generous," said Harry, eyebrows rising in surprise. "The Council is full of hardasses and loose on the trigger Wardens. You don't seem the type to do them favors like this. Is it because of the war with the vampires? Is it true the war started because a Council representative killed a Red Court noble and burned her house to the ground?"

"They're lucky that's all I did," said Dresden darkly, voice intense.

Harry gaped at him, eyes wide and face frozen. "That was you!"

Dresden looked down at the ground turning away from Harry's incredulous expression. "It was a trap. They used my girlfriend as bait. The Red's have wanted this war for centuries. Everyone knows. Even the Senior Council, but the finger's still pointed at me. If I don't come through with Mab giving us passage through the Ways then the Council will ship me off to the vampires wrapped in a bow."

"Merlin. They'll try and sue for peace, then" Harry reasoned, feeling a measure of empathy as the man nodded.

He more than anybody knew what it was like to be blamed for something beyond this control. His youth was nothing but scandals, heresy and war. It was like his life but through a weird funhouse mirror. Though the universe was different the world didn't have its shortage of a wizard named Harry who needed kicking. If fate was a woman then she was truly a bitch.

Dresden's smirk was full of bitterness. "And they wondered why I stopped paying membership dues." His eyes slid over to the window. "We're close. I know it. The pieces are just out of order. We've got to talk to the Mothers. "

If the Queens were dangerous and unpredictable, the Mothers of Summer and Winter were that and much worse. They've held their powers for years, longer than the Queens and the Ladies. They were ancient in their power and supreme in their domain. They were more than a match for any Queen who ruled the Faerie Courts, Archangel or lesser god. To seek them was dangerous. One didn't just talk to a Mother. They lived deep in Nevernever and had few dealings with the mortal realm.

"You've got a set of stones, mate," said Harry with a wry grin. "Nobody just walks into Faerie and talks to the Mothers."

"I'm this close to being the Red Court's happy meal. Call it a Hail Mary," said Dresden, grimly. "You think you could be my guide to the Mothers?"

"Uh, no can do. I have no idea where the Mothers are holed up at."

"Really slipping on not reading the family newsletter, are we?"

"I'm still waiting on my super duper decoder ring," replied Harry dryly. "It's a thing."

Dresden hummed under his breath, expression thoughtful. "I hate to say it, but maybe Mab can help. She got me into this mess."

Harry blanched. "NO!"

A stark memory of cold and terrible eyes full of absolute rage flashed across his thoughts. The recollection of icy wind and the pressing chill of Winter was enough to make him pale.

"You need a bucket?" Dresden asked cautiously, leaning way back. "You look like you're about to lose your lunch."

"I'll be okay," answered Harry, scrubbing the back of his hand across his dry lips. "Mab and I didn't part on the best terms during our last face to face. Before you ask, yes, that's an understatement."

Dresden held up his hand, showing a startling red line of freshly healed skin between the meat of his thumb and forefinger. "I feel your pain. First meeting Mab puppet mastered me into stabbing myself. She did it to prove a point."

"Bitch crazy," Harry muttered, knowing for a fact that Mab would have done a lot worse to him. "We need to find another guide. Mab is definitely out. I don't care to have the water in my eyeballs frozen today."

The other man nodded and then stilled, face going pensive. "Listen. I'm going to make a phone call. After that we're getting out of here. I think I may know a guide."

A slow smile spread across Harry's face. "You must have quite the contact list, then. Can I go under B, for badass?"

"Sometimes I want to blink really hard and have you disappear like a food poisoning induced hallucination."

Harry laughed, laying his hand over his heart. "Aww, I'm touched. You fantasize about me."

Dresden narrowed his eyes. "You are the worst thing in my life right now."

He turned around before Harry could see the smile tugging at his lips. The green eyed man's laughter followed him as he parted the crowd to the service phones. Harry couldn't keep the small smile from forming on his face. Dare he say it. He and Dresden were actually warming up to each other. The world must be ending.

One look out the window confirmed, that yes, it was.

It was well into the night as they cleared the town, driving north out of the city and through some of the worst weather Harry had ever seen. It got noticeably better as they distanced themselves from Chicago proper but that wasn't saying much. It was cold and even through the heavy peacoat Harry still wore from his trek through Winter he was still feeling it strongly.

"You really can't turn on the heater?" Harry gripped, fiddling with the knobs on the dashboard.

Dresden took one hand off the steering wheel, wiggling all five fingers in his face. "Two wizards riding together in a car. That thing didn't stand a chance."

"Uh, right," Harry muttered, ignoring the funny look Dresden shot him at the slipup.

Modern technology never functioned well around wizards of this universe. The inherent magical energies of their kind interfered with the inner circuitry. The more complex the tech was the easier it was to jam up. Harry didn't run into the problem much except if he was casting heavy spellwork so it slipped his mind from time to time.

"So you never said who we're driving all this way to meet?"

Dresden glowered and didn't look at all pleased. "We're going to go pay my godmother a visit."

Harry squinted his eyes, staring quietly for a long moment and then his eyebrows shot up. Dresden grimaced as he caught the expression on the younger wizard's face that first went slack with realization immediately followed by glee.

"No bloody way," said Harry, sounding completely delighted. "You have a faerie godmother?"

"This coming from the man married to a faerie."

Harry sobered up pretty quick at that. "Good point. So what's the deal with that?"

"Long story. It's not important. But she's a Sidhe who's pretty high up in the Winter Court. On a good day she wants to turn me into a hellhound—"

"Great guidance and mentoring on the godparent front, that one."

A smirk settled on Dresden's face. "Got the better of her a while ago. She's bound to do me no harm for another seven weeks."

"I feel safer already," said Harry.

They drove through a little town that neighbored Lake Michigan. Dresden parked in a deserted lot, grabbed his long staff and they were off. Harry pretty much just followed the taller man, keeping pace with his much longer strides as they walked up the shore of the lake.

It was dark but the terrain was fair and they easily navigated through the light woods that surrounded this part of the lake. Dresden led them to a large piece of flat rock that easily the width of two men. It was rooted in the shore and jutted out into the water a good ways like a natural pier. They walked carefully along the stone till they got to its end and stopped, staring out at the ripping waves that churned as if visibly agitated.

The light rain and rolling thunder reminded Harry of another time and place. Of a basin in the middle of a lake, the rising dead and the pained, horrified delusions of a man he respected above all others. He came to as a energy, light and wild, danced across his skin.

"Godmother! Vente, Leanansidhe!"

She appeared as if she always been there, fading into sight in the blink of an eye. The name should have been a total tip off, but he hadn't made the connection. The Sidhe before them with her slim curves, hugged by a gown of emerald silk, and flame colored hair was familiar to Harry. A thin eyebrow rose as she regarded the wizard standing behind Dresden. The familiarity went both ways.

"The Lord of the Summer Court," said Lea in a velvety soft voice. "And my beloved godson. I find myself unsurprised." She looked at Dresden reprovingly. "You always did have terrible taste in friends, child."

"It's nice to see you again, too, Leanansidhe," said Harry snidely. "How's Mab?"

Lea's lips twitched, mirth visible upon her face. "Still frightfully displeased from your last encounter."

Dresden threw up his hands. "Whoa, whoa. Let's back it up. You two know each other?"

"We've meet," replied Harry shortly.

"Right," said Dresden, staring suspiciously between the two. "Godmother I need your help."

The lingering mirth faded from her faded. "That much is true. Great danger faces you from all fronts, child."

"Like you care," said Dresden, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "I can't help but recall you wanting to turn me into one of your hounds. Or the time you suckered me into giving you that honking big, glowy broadsword. You know, one of three mortal swords of Heaven."

Lea laughed and the sound was like the chime of twin perfect bells. "The sword had nothing to do with you, child. You were in the way of a business transaction. And I still say that as one of my hounds you shall never want. You would be looked after for eternity."

"Stop it," said Dresden. "You're making me blush."

She reached out to touch his face. He turned his head away from her reach, grimacing. "Don't be me mad at me, poppet. I did what I thought was best."

"You sold me to Mab," he retorted, sharply.

Her lips thinned and displeasure shone in her eyes. "Through no choice of my own. I'm growing in power and certain balances had to be checked, maintained. Your debt to me was the method that Mab chose to employ to restore the balance."

He looked interested at her claim, but the scowl was still apparent on his face. "Really? My debt to you was what she chose out of all things?"

Lea regarded him with a harsh look. "Don't underestimate your true value and potential."

"Uh," said Dresden, momentarily thrown off. "Thanks."

Harry cleared his throat. "Not that I don't enjoy a good row but can we speed this along. End of the world and all."

"Why is it that you called me here this evening?" asked Lea.

"I need to see the Mothers. Can you take me to them or to someone else who could help?"

Her expression went flat, blank of emotions. "Those are powerful forces you seek, much grander and terrifying than anything allied with your council of wizards."

Dresden jutted his chin out defiantly. "Can you help me or not? I need to find Reuel's killer or I'm as good as dead."

"Plus, the world is kind of on the line," interjected Harry, holding his hands up as they both looked at him. "Just putting that out there."

Lea nodded. "That it is. Come. Take my hand. Both of you."

He and Dresden shared a quick look. Harry didn't know her that well, but from what he had gathered so far she was as manipulative as she was gorgeous. And she was a very gorgeous high Sidhe. Dresden once again looked sideways at Harry, and then turned to his expectant godmother.

"You'll have to forgive my hesitation but what do you get out of this?" asked Dresden. "What's in it for you?"

Amusement danced about her face, and she crossed her arms around her rather ample chest. "I'm doing this to continue your life. What kind of godparent would I be if I let you die from this whole matter?"

"Right, because you've done a bang up job so far."

They both watched, Harry tensely, as the Sidhe closed her eyes. She opened her mouth and spoke. To both of their surprise her voice came out aged and cantankerous. "What's all that racket! I have already called the police, I have! You fruits get out of our hall or they'll lock you away!"

Dresden stared at her, dumbfounded. "That voice. Two days ago…That was you who distracted the troll in Reuel's apartment."

Harry rounded on him. "You were in Reuel's apartment? Did you use fire spells?"

Dresden blinked. "Yeah. A troll almost got the jump on me. How do you know that?"

"Elaine and I checked the place out. It must've been your residual magic she sensed."

Lea arched an eyebrow. "Don't you see that it was me protecting you, then? Now take my hands. Time is of the essence after all."

Thunder rumbled overhead and the light in the clouds flared brightly in response. Dresden stared for a long moment at the offered hand, took a breath and then took her hand. Harry looked at her skeptically, ignoring the hand stretched toward him.

"You have a bargain with him to do him no harm, but what's protecting me?" asked Harry. "What's to stop you from sticking it to Aurora and her court by taking me out?"

Irritation flickered in her eyes, quick and sharp. "You're wasting time with these questions, summerbound. Against his best judgment my godson and you are working together. He needs all the help he can gather to survive the coming affair. No harm will come to you by my hand."

He met her eyes without blinking, his stare turning undeniably cold. Those gold cat-slitted eyes were empty of any soul. Harry's glare conveyed exactly what he was thinking. You fuck me over, and I will fuck you up. Lea inclined her head at the silent communication, her rose red lips curling with humor.

He took her hand and Lea whispered to them to close their eyes. In Harry's case she said it twice. She spoke a lyrical, rolling language that felt familiar as a wind's caress and beautiful like the sunrise. A sensation washed over him like the ground was leaving him, almost like a freefall. If anything he would say he was flying. He hadn't been on a broom in years but the dizzying rush of movement was an old friend.

The movement stopped and the ground was firm and solid beneath their feet once again. Thunder rumbled louder than before, closer.

"Open your eyes," said Lea, her voice quiet and reverent. "We're here.'

The land was filled with a clinging fog that obscured the ground from view. As thunder rolled again the ground shook and light flared within the fog in a blue flash before slowly faded away. The landscape was filled with rising hills and slopping valleys. Stars glinted amidst the black sky, jewels of multiple colors instead of the normal pale silver.

"We're in the clouds," said Dresden in amazed disbelief. "What is this place?"

"It seems like clouds to you but it's so, so much more, poppet," she explained. "This place is beyond your mortal world."

He swallowed. "Are we in the Nevernever? The lands of Faerie."

She shook her head, looking at the landscape like it all was so very precious. "No. This more and less than the Nevernever. We're in between then and there. This is a sometimes place, the world between. Where Chicago and Faerie meet and overlap. A Chicago-over-Chicago. This is the place where the Queens call forth when the Sidhe desire to spill blood."

Dresden opened his mouth to ask her another question but stopped as he noticed his companion. Harry wasn't moving and hadn't since they had come to this place. To Dresden this place was a country within the clouds. For Harry it was something else entirely.

As soon as his foot settled silently upon the misty terrain his world exploded. His senses multiplied as his sight was filled with such wonder that it left him frozen in amazement. Beneath his feet he could feel more than the rumble of thunder. He could feel whole realms drifting, spinning through the infinite beyond. Cords of thin silver light, tinged with Killing Curse green, touched every part of his body and stretched off into countless directions.

Examining a particular cord sent his mind spiraling into strange places. His vision filled with images of himself, clothed in Auror blues, all bright eyed and smiling, with Ginny Weasley at his side and children about their feet. Other cords brought other sights, every one of them different and yet similar to the last. Each featured him in some way whether he was seated at the Hogwarts staff table eating dinner, dueling Death Eaters with a wand that hummed between his fingertips, unbeatable and old, or walking through the halls of a wondrous city that was ancient as it was majestic. Different times, different places, visions of him, every one of them.

"Hey," called Dresden, reaching out toward the other man. "Harry."

"Don't touch him," warned Lea, sharply.

It was too late. Dresden's hand touched Harry and he jumped, startled. The world tilted kind of crazily for a long moment then everything settled, returned to normal. The lines of probability stretching through the ether vanished, each thread slowly fading away. The ground became firm, solid, and the sensation of rotating alternate worlds beneath him disappeared leaving the soles of his feet tingly and itchy.

He came to awareness, gazing around with a sort of slow clarity. "What…"

"Are you okay?" asked Dresden studying his face carefully. "What happened?"

Harry shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck absently. "I don't… know."

Lea looked at him with an expression that was rapturous, curious and stunned. It was a rare expression for a high Sidhe to wear. She spoke slowly. "What are you?"

He dropped his hand tensing up. "What are you talking about?"

"This place triggered something within you," she said, tracing him with those gold, gleaming eyes. "Almost as if…"

He gritted his teeth. "Drop it."

After a long moment Dresden turned his weighing stare from the man to his godmother, his expression turning hard. "I agree. Let it go, godmother. We're here for a different purpose."

She inclined her head, giving them an opaque glance. "For now."

Dresden glanced at Harry, quietly asking, "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you going to have another episode?"

Harry shook his head, expression going distant, thoughtful. "No. Look, there's some things about me that aren't… normal, but I'm not a threat or a danger."

"I saw your soul," said Dresden. "I knew then that you weren't like everybody else."

Harry nodded his head feeling an unexpected surge of relief with the admittance. He turned away from the Sidhe's scrutinizing gaze. His eyes landed on a nearby table. It was enormous and made of grey stone, rising up from the white mist like something fit for a giant. The slab of stone rested on legs of rock that were as thick as the pillars of Stonehenge. In fact the entire structure brought vague inklings of being kin to the old monument. Lightning flashed from the ground and blue light washed over the table. Runes carved in the table came alive briefly glowing bright. He hadn't been a schoolboy in some time but he could recognize quite a bit of runes. He could see Sumerian and Norse, and Egyptian for sure.

He frowned mentally translating what he could of the writings. It told of sleeping gods and wars of aeons gone, and bargains of power and pacts sealed with blood.

"That's the Stone Table isn't it?" asked Dresden, studying the table. "I remember it from when I was a brown robe."

Lea gazed at the Stone Table like religious people looked at crucifixes, like it was something sacred. "Yes. Blood is power, and blood spilled upon that table forever joins with who holds it."

"Who holds it?" asked Dresden.

"It changes hands," she said, voice hushed. "Winter holds the table for half of the year. Then it lies within Summer for half."

Harry stretched his hand out, fingers almost touching the Table. "Summer holds it now…" he said, face pensive. "The Table feels…warm, the power is…It's like Summer fire, but more."

Lea nodded, gold eyes bright with interest. "The Summer Lord's right. Summer holds it for now. Midsummer it will belong once more to Winter."

Dresden studied the table earnestly. "So blood spilled on the table becomes part of whoever holds it. Summer for now. Tomorrow, Winter."

She tilted her head in approval, confirming his thoughts. Dresden held his hand near the table then carefully rested his palm against its surface. He jerked away with a hiss as wisps of smoke curled from his now blackened fingertips.

"It's like touching your tongue against a battery," he muttered, contemplative.

Lea walked around the table slowly like a lioness, inhuman eyes never leaving Dresden's. "You must understand this Table is of great importance. It doesn't just capture energy. The Table is directly linked to the Queen who rules."

Harry remembered a ritual in a graveyard from long ago. Blood of the enemy forcibly taken. "The power goes directly to the queen. If wizard blood is spilled on the surface then…"

"Mortal life. Mortal magic. In the hands of a faerie queen," said Dresden, taking a big step back. He eyed the table warily. "They'd be free of the normal laws of non-interference with mortals."

The wizards shared a serious look.

Lea completed her loop around the table. She pinned Dresden with a deep stare and quietly said, barely more than a whisper, "The battle before you is perilous and should you survive, child, do not let Mab bring you here. Never."

Dresden blinked taken aback by her warning. "Okay." He leaned heavily on his staff. "I thought you were going to help me. I don't understand why we're here."

"Look upon the truth before you. It is the only way."

She gestured at a pair of hills that stood side by side in a deep valley. Harry too focused on the hills but there was a shimmer and he found his sight suddenly blurred. He frowned. It was some type of Notice Me Not Charm or a glamour the faerie were so fond of.

"It's veiled," stated Dresden, studying the facing hills.

She nodded and said in a quiet voice, "Open your true sight."

Wizards in this world had an ability called the Third Eye, or the Sight. When using the Sight they were able to see things as they really were. The actual workings of magic were visible, bright and colorful, and veils were seen through, easily parted away like curtains. It was a two fold gift. While you could see things as they truly are, anything seen with the Sight stayed with you. Always. For good or bad.

Harry never bothered to look into seeing if he could learn the Sight. Dumbledore had ways of looking through invisibility cloaks or Disillusion Charms that Harry once attributed to a unique skill of the Headmaster. First year Auror training taught him different. The Eye of Ra was a charm that functioned much like the Sight, except whatever the caster saw wasn't forced to stay with them.

Dresden closed his eyes and unlocked his Sight.

Harry nonverbally cast the Eye of Ra.

When they looked upon the hilltops neither was sure who gasped. Energy danced within the valley, green and golden light, twirling and twisting, fighting for dominance within everything. The energy was in the mist at their feet. The air seethed with it and fell over the landscape in rays of dazzling bright light.

Phantom ice crystals spread across the ground as the cold cerulean light spread far. Wherever it went there followed a sea of gold light with blooming flowers in its wake. Cold overtook the flowers just to be melted away by the light, only to repeat the process over as the two sides battled. Neither force gave up as they warred through the valleys, alongside rivers and over hillsides and through fields.

The warring energies spilled from the hilltops, where at the tops shined two lights that shone like small stars. Within each light existed a shadow that was without a doubt a Queen of Faerie. The sight of them alone was enough to send an ache pounding between his brows. This was who they were really were. Creatures of power, primordial and eternal, and impossibly strong.

The shining beacon of white was cold as it was absolute and sent chills down his spine as he turned his sight upon it. Ice raced in his veins and he flinched as the energy was so awful, so much of everything that his senses couldn't keep up. The power of Winter unleashed burned bright against his corneas and its might ripped through his eardrums, scattering his thoughts and freezing his blood.

The other power filled his senses, then. It was hot, a thick suffocating heat, but he found that he didn't care. Where others would burn he found his shoulders straightening as the power of Summer recognized itself within him. He could hear it through his now soothed ears. It was a beckoning siren. A summon to stand by his Queen and be counted. He took a breath and dredged up every bit of willpower he could to focus. His Occlumency answered faithfully as his mind ordered, centered itself, and his thoughts flowed true and smooth.

Lea gripped them tight suddenly and the world whirled as sight and sound blurred. Then they were back. The waters of Lake Michigan stretched out before them and the rain fell lightly as the sky lit up with thunder and lightning. Harry glared at Lea as he helped Dresden to his feet. The man's eyes were bloodshot and he looked ragged, his face tight with pain and remembrance.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "He looked at them with his Sight. You should have just told him. It was too much."

"Summer protected you," she said sounding anything but apologetic. "And he had to see. To understand."

"A little warning in the future," Dresden muttered, wiping at his eyes with a heated glare. "Or is that an inconvenience to you?"

Lea didn't look the least put out by his pain or tone. "You had to be shown. It was the only way. No knowledge is gained freely. Have you pondered on what you learned?"

"The Queens they're fighting for the land, the area around the table," answered Dresden, voice tired but sure in his certainty. Summer holds it now but little by little Mab gains ground. It won't matter if Midsummer comes and its Winter's turn at the Table. Summer will keep Mab from it and prevent any spilled blood from increasing Winter's power."

Harry shook his head. "It's not about the blood. It's about summer power. The mantle of the Knight. Titania is holding the table to prevent Mab from using the table and adding the power of the Summer Knight to Winter."

Dresden nodded, concentration making his face go dark. "As of right now they're even. No one was getting the better of the other up there."

"As it should be," said Lea. "It has been that way since the dawn. Summer and Winter are matched evenly to keep the balance. Their power is more than enough to tear down Heaven's gates or eradicate those forgotten gods dreaming within the Stygian abyss. This vital balance is the reason above all that the battle is fought by those who serve."

"The Ladies," said Dresden. "The Knights."

Lea's eyes racked over Harry. "And the Lords. You heard the Call. Your queen calls you as mine calls to me. You will obey as will I."

Harry turned away from her stare and Dresden spluttered as she told him that the Emissaries were bound to the coming conflict as well.

Dresden scratched at his five o'clock shadow, thinking. "The way I saw it up there Summer was protecting the Table. That means that Titania thinks someone in Winter did it. Easy enough. Okay, this is where it gets tricky. Winter has the edge if they just wait till Midsummer. But Mab is responding and not waiting… So she's checking Titania's advance. That means she's as unsure as the rest of us in this twisted version of Clue… Reuel was killed in the study with the candlestick by…"

He stopped his epic ramble at the look Harry was giving him. "You were doing so well too."

"Everybody's a critic."

Harry rounded on the Sidhe suddenly. "Last time I checked I thought this whole rendezvous was about you helping us see the Mothers."

"That is not within my power. Mab and Titania could accomplish such an act but they're otherwise occupied wouldn't you say?"

Dresden clenched his fists and let out an angry sigh. "I have to see the Mothers. I need to."

"One doesn't just see the Mothers, child," she said frowning. "One can only answer an invitation. Now I must go. The lesser powers must take their places with the Queens, and I am needed shortly. Do see about getting a haircut, poppet. You look dreadful."

He rolled his eyes. "GQ told me the same thing."

"I must go. When the sun sets the Courts will do battle. You have till sundown, dear godson. Be careful." She looked Harry in the eyes. "I look forward to seeing you across the field of battle, Summer Lord."

"Look at me. I'm shaking with anticipation."

She did that not quite a smile again and took a step back. In mid air her form went liquid and she smoothly slid into the water with a splash that was drowned out by the lapping waves. Harry looked up at the sky, squinting through the rain, staring up at the thick black clouds. Light peeked out from the east. The sun was rising and in roughly fifteen hours war would be fought in the clouds in a place between the worlds.

"I need a drink," said Dresden with a groan. "Sun's coming up and the people we need to see are by appointment only."

With the light of dawn it became better to make out shapes now. They walked toward the parking lot where the Beetle was parked. Harry stuffed his hands in his pockets, kicking at rocks as they walked.

"I didn't want to have to see her again," began Harry. "But I could ask Aurora. She might already be with Titania gearing up. It's an option though."

Dresden shook his head. "Not like we got many of those." He lurched to a stop, grabbing Harry's arm to jerk him in place. "Stop." He tightened his grip on his staff and said barely audible. "We're being followed."

Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he reached for his wand. He turned but already knew it was too late.

The air rushed out of him as arms grabbed him and the forward momentum sent him and his attacker skidding along the wet grass. Sharp knife like nails dug into his arm, pinning his wand against his body. A snarling inhuman face with thin grey skin and razor sharp, broken teeth snapped at his struggling form.

"Forzare!"

A sheet of crackling scarlet energy slammed into the creature hurling it away. Shrieking, the thing jumped to its feet. Harry scrambled away, adrenaline overriding any pain he felt. The hunch backed fiend was some bastardized mix of human and animal and something wholly other. The arms were disproportionately long to the short and stunted legs. He vaguely realized that the thing was female and she was pissed.

She snarled low and leaped. Harry's wand arched through the air firing off a Blasting Curse at the peak of her jump. It hit true and her arm flew off in a welter of bone and blood. She kept coming.

"It had to be ghouls!" Dresden shouted into the morning light. "Fuego!"

Fire rushed out in a lance of heat and energy and force. The ghoul took the brunt of it before it did a roll out of attack range. She was burned and smoking, but the creature wasn't done. It went on all fours charging at Dresden with a speed that was supernatural. Dresden raised his arm and a blue half sphere shimmered into being before him. From his duster he pulled out a wooden rod in the same stroke.

The ghoul went low, under the edge of the shield, and came up one arm wide to grip his throat. She raised him up over a half a foot like a ragdoll. Dresden swung at her and there was a bang and a flash of light as raw magical energy caught her in the gut. She dropped him, doubling over.

Harry whipped his wand high and grabbed her with an Immobilizing Charm. The ghoul rose in the air, gripped by the invisible bonds of the spell. She hissed loudly, dripping blood from her thrashing body.

"Friend of yours?" Harry called out to Dresden.

Shapes jumped from the trees and air tackled the ghoul. Harry dropped the spell as a, honest to Merlin, pack of wolves descended upon the ghoul. She lashed out in defense with claws and teeth, swiping and biting at her attackers. When a wolf whined in pain it seemed to only send the pack into an angry frenzy, increasing their vigor.

"Now those are my friends."

Harry frowned at the too big wolves. Something about them…. "Werewolves?" He gaped at Dresden's smug expession, as the pieces started to come together. "That phone call in the coffee shop, you called them… You knew she was following us this whole time."

"She was disguised but I recognized her in the shop," stated Dresden. "I don't know who she works for but she attacked me before when this whole mess first started. My best guess is—"

"Red Court," interjected Harry, trading a nod with the taller man. "They do fancy you in a body bag, mate. Uh, should we help them?"

Dresden rubbed his hand against his throat that was already started to bruise. He shook his head and pointed. The ghoul kicked at a wolf sending it staggering back and her claws caught the muzzle of another, gashing open the side of its face. She struggled to her feet in a mad scramble to run away. She barely made it to her hands and knees when a honey colored wolf darted in, knocking her arms from under her and her entire body crashed forward. With her back exposed that was all it took to finish her off.

They descended on her like a true pack of wolves. Her agonized screams died and were drowned out by the sound of a dozen howls. Flesh ripped open as their jaws tore into the body. They grabbed at her limbs tearing them away as easily as Harry blasted away her right arm. What was left wasn't recognizable. It was a jumble of chunks of flesh drenched in the sickly sweet smell of blood, with bits of bone poking out glinting pearl white.

Harry turned away. He wanted to manage to keep down whatever he could throw together for breakfast later on. The wolves drew away and Dresden thanked them. Harry wanted to ask how they assumed their form without the power of the full moon but that could wait.

"I owe you guys," said Dresden. "Pizza is definitely on me later."

A wolf made a noise that sounded like a low growl and a whine and Dresden laughed.

"Fine. Coke, too."

They threw back their heads and howled.

The temperature dropped between one breath and the next. They tensed up as their breath appeared in puffs of air as goosebumps appeared on their flesh. Harry gripped his wand tight and stood shoulder to shoulder with Dresden as the wolves spread out in a loose formation around them.

"Trouble," said Dresden, face going dark. "Something's coming."

Shadows stretched out along the ground in unnatural patterns. Forms crawled out of the dark pitch of the shadows, goblins and ogres and many other faerie creatures of malice. Growls rumbled through the air as hulking beasts moved amidst the trees before them. They were enormous and as the light struck them they were revealed as trolls.

Rising from the waters at their backs were humanoid fish-frog creatures that had bulging eyes and green-grey slippery skin, and crude tridents in their webbed hands. Their numbers continue to swell. More and more of them kept coming till there were over fifty of them to their thirteen.

"Think you must have pissed off the wrong people," said Harry, staring down the faeries surrounding them.

Dresden didn't take his eyes off the menacing creatures. "How so? I'm prince charming."

"You have to admit," Harry said, as he counted their enemies. "It's the most rational explanation and fits your M.O."

"I don't have to admit anything."

They met eyes and nodded. Both noticed the mix of creatures. These weren't only unseelie and seelie fae, but also wyldfae, those faeries usually neutral and not aligned with any court. Whoever or whatever summoned them was crafty. By employing faeries from both Courts and also the neutral fae, they managed to cover their tracks.

The trolls brandished their clubs and let out a deafening battle roar. The wolves howled their defiance and the front line of creatures branded forward. The wolves met their advance in a flash of fur. Harry cracked his wand and a sonic wave of inaudible sound struck a pair of ogres. They cried out as their eardrums punctured and they stopped short, clapping meaty palms over their bleeding ears.

Fire whirled at his back as Dresden's rod sent a lance of flame and power into the path of the frog-things. He cried out a spell in Latin and wind whirled to life with the bang of his staff. The whirlwind fed the fire and the flames grew, searing through flesh and burning the creatures in their paths.

A white flash of pain erupted in his head and Harry turned to an ogre brandishing a small and wickedly curved sword. He clutched at his wound glaring at his attacker.

"Sectumsempra!"

The Cutting Curse sawed through tendon and muscle in a colorless beam. The head flew off in one direction and the body fell in another. He ducked as a troll's club sailed over the space his head once occupied. He flicked his wand and jabbed it into the troll's thick hide. It screamed as its blood boiled within its body.

A gunshot sounded suddenly loud followed by another shot then another, as Dresden aimed a revolver at foolish goblins that hadn't realized the danger till too late. Hot lead met faerie flesh and burned them up from the inside, bursting their lungs and sending poison through their veins.

The wolves darted through the melee moving too fast for any faerie to really do them harm. If they happened to linger it was always in pairs, werewolves working together to tear apart faeries limb from limb until what was left was unrecognizable remains.

"Terra Profundum!"

Harry stomped his foot and the ground in a three meter wide circle broke away like glass. The slow to move trolls were the only ones to fall into the chasm to nowhere. Their screams were short as they fell through the earth as the infinite abyss led carried them to God knows where. Hopefully to Hell. The spell collapsed as his attention wavered, filling with soil and grass as if it had never been.

He dragged his wand wide and a sheet of lightning slammed into a dozen fetches. Lightning jumped from body to body and their temporary forms shifted and wavered as volts of electricity coursed through their bodies. They fell to the ground in half melted puddles of flesh and ectoplasm as their deaths caused their bodies to lose form and shape.

Dresden bit back a scream as a trident pierced his side. He growled with anger and his staff slammed into the skull of the fish-frog creature that wielded the weapon. Its skull caved in. It sounded like somebody stomping on a bottle. Dresden spun around as the faeries smelled blood, swarming around him in numbers to go in for the kill.

"I'll be damned to be taken out by you bastards!" yelled Dresden his staff raised high as the air charged around him. "Fuego! Fuego! Pyrofuego!"

The air exploded in light and fire. A twisting tornado of flame swirled to being in a deadly attack. It was at least nine meters high and blazed with an intensity born of rage and anger and the will of Dresden. He raised his arms and the twister responded in kind. It was an impressive piece of magic that Harry was sure could rival any fiendfyre he had ever seen.

The cyclone circled around and around the wizard killing any faerie without a healthy sense of self preservation. The fire consumed any caught up faeries till there was nothing left. The inferno raged violently, taking out faeries with ease and completely cutting their numbers till there was less than a twenty to deal with.

Harry fought his way to the wizard's side, banishing and blasting and cutting without pause as he made a path through the horde. The inferno died leaving Dresden clutching at his side sucking in huge gulps of air. He conjured that blue shield again and mustered a lance of light to repeal the goblins that tried to jump him.

"Fancy meeting you here," said Harry from Dresden's side.

Dresden raised his gun and fired point blank at an ogre. The bullet exploded out of the back of its head, the lead doing intense damage to the susceptible faerie physiology.

For Harry the urge to use the Killing Curse was strong but using it repeatedly was a temptation that he couldn't fall into. Using that spell multiple times chipped away at your soul and eventually messed with your mind. Good thing he didn't mind getting his hands dirty.

Harry pushed Dresden out of the way and he rolled away as a heavy looking troll hammer rocketed toward them. A troll, bigger and meaner than all the others, lumbered forward. Attention diverted, he didn't notice the goblin sneaking up on him. Claws ripped into his shoulder and Harry kicked the goblin in its throat and its head jerked back, wheezing and gurgling up blood.

His wand came up pointed at the troll with the spell of death on his lips. The troll steps came to a halt and it suddenly froze as a visible glow built up within its exposed abdomen. The light grew brighter and without warning a sword pierced the torso, glowing blinding white. It twisted sharply and the troll fell to its knees, eyes going wide and glassy. It collapsed to the ground with a low boom.

A man stood behind the fallen troll. He was tall and built like a linebacker and wore a five o'clock shadow that looked perfect with his plaid shirt and worn jeans. Harry wondered if he was delusional. Was there really a lumberjack holding a glowing broadsword standing before them. He blinked. Still there.

"Who are you?" asked Harry, eying the man and the creatures that suddenly paused, unsure and cautious of the new player.

"I'm a Knight of the Cross. I've been sent by the Lord and by His will I was led here. I will smite all those that serve the blackest night."

Dresden stared at him incredulous. "Michael?"

Michael sent the wizard a smile then eyed the remaining faeries. "No time to talk. I'll explain once this conflict is ended."

With a war approaching in less than fifteen hours and going on no sleep, Harry wouldn't knock a gift or a miracle. If divine intervention was working in their favor then maybe they had a shot at coming out on top of this whole thing. Seeing at how things were going not great so far they needed all the help, lumberjack or not, they could get.

Plus, that sword—wicked.

Didn't realize that it's been six months since I updated. So I had to fix that. Things are starting to diverge from the book and things will get AU in the future so the ending that's in the book will not happen the same way. More to come on Michael the knight and the allusion of Harry's unknown powers that haven't been explained.