AN: *waves cheerfully* Hi everybody! *dodges hail of bullets and Avada kedaveras*. Yikes, I'd almost think you guys were angry at me for the last chapter *jumps to avoid a tomahawk to the testicles* Sorry! Sorry! Anyway, I'm back now and here's the new chapter. And I meant to post it sooner but, well, work and life happened.

Harry Potter and the Heart of Power

Chapter 16

-Harry-

As his cries rose in magnitude and volume so did a welling feel of power within his being, filling him till he felt like he would burst as the agony of the burning fount of energy warred against the piercing torture of the Shinigami's talons. Forcing his eyes open he stared at the demonic monstrosity that had sheathed its talons within him…saw its head turned with the single bulging eyes focused on one person…on Susan.

Seeing that, seeing this unholy abomination staring hungrily at the person who meant so much to him he felt rage…an intense burning rage as it welled up within him, melding with the joy he felt at the memories of Susan, of the amazing woman who had stolen his heart, the two powerful emotions gave birth to roaring urge to do one thing…protect Susan.

Pushing past his pain he began to growl furiously and squeezed down on the bone arm that he held on to, hearing the charred skeletal form groan before the arm shattered, the talons through him dissolving as the arm was shattered and part fell away from the beast. Before his feet could even hit the ground the Shinigami swung around and backhanded him with its other hand, slamming him into the stone wall as he gasped, the impact further worsening his wounds as he saw the demon's lost arm beginning to reform.

Seeing it turn, once again, towards Susan, he snarled and shoved his hand into his cloak, pulling out his pistol as he began to open fire at the beast's head, chunks flying off of the demon with each hit only to reform as the Shinigami roared in anger at him. Roaring back he reached again into his cloak and gripped the hilt of his sword, pulling it from the small sheath that fit the blade due to an undetectable extension charm. Taking in a deep breath he roared a challenge at the Shinigami, focusing on the welling feeling of power within him as he started to feel heat blossom as he noticed black flames beginning to dance across his skin, trailing down his sword and dripping off onto the stone floor below where they burned, reflecting the rage within his soul.

Grunting and growling from the pain of his stab wounds, the blood still coming out of his stomach, he forced himself to his feet as he felt the fires along his flesh converge on the puncture wounds, filling them as he felt his skin begin to stitch itself closed. "You made one big mistake you bastard," he growled as he slowly forced himself to move forward as the demon he faced eyed him with a disturbing level of intelligence gleaming from the singular bulging eye "you tried to hurt Susan.". As he spoke the name of the woman he loved he felt that love for her, the joy he had felt from being near her, well within him, feeding his rage at the thought of this demon trying to hurt her. Joy and rage, each feeding the other, going back and forth over and over again as the black flames began to change, becoming a glowing silver traced with the original pitch black.

Taking in a deep breath he focused his flames, making them grow higher and higher before, with a roar, he shot forward, his blade at his side and his eyes locked with the sickening red eye of the Shinigami. Ducking under a swipe from the claws from the Shinigami's reformed arm he slashed with his blade, gouging out a chunk of the demon's cheek as it screamed in agony but, to his shock, it didn't reform as the new burn gleamed a bright silver from the fires along his weapon. Reacting quickly he slashed again, taking off the beast's right arm just below the shoulder as the severed limb fell to the ground with a metallic clang but didn't disintegrate as the stump of the severed limb glowed a faint silver.

Once more the Shinigami screamed but this time it wasn't of hunger, or rage, or pain…but of fear, a fear of death the creature had never felt before. Screaming loudly the creature shot out of the hall causing him to roar and chase after it, not planning on allowing such an abomination to be loose in the world, especially not after it tried to kill Susan. His still pained body slowed him but the Shinigami was slowed as well by its missing limb that would not heal. Seeing it about to cross the bridge of the gorge he roared and leapt forward, spear tackling the monster around the waist, shoving his illuminated blade into its heart. He had thought the bridge would support him, that its beams would hold him and the monster's weight…he was wrong.

As he hit the monster and rammed his blade through it the beam that they struck shattered as they were flung down into the gorge and its enveloping mists. Screaming at him the Shinigami used its only remaining hand, raking the talons across his flesh, stabbing and slicing his back as it screamed in pain and fury at him.

Crying out he felt his fires, the well of his power, begin to wane as he glared down at the Shinigami and spat a mouthful of blood into its face, "I may die today demon," he growled "but if I do…I'm sending you to Hell first!". With a final yell he poured all of his fires into his blade as the Shinigami screamed in pain, his silver fire moving across more and more of the beast until it began to disintegrate beneath him, eventually turning to ash, except for the limb whose talons lay embedded in his back, the arm broken from the body by the flames.

As the Shinigami dissolved into dust so did his flames fade into the ether as he choked out in pain of the talons embedded within his flesh. Seeing the ground fast approaching he used what little strength he had left he swung his arm, stabbing his sword into the cliff face as his descent was halted for a moment before his arm gave out and his fingers lost their grip on the hilt as he fell back, plunging into the rushing river below.

(AN: I felt like ending it here but…to short…and too mean…so YAY! More story)

-Susan-

"Harry!" she cried as she ran, searching for the boy, no, the man who had stolen her heart…the man whom she had ignored for five days. She had wanted to go back to him, to rush him, leap into his arms, and never let him go after only one day of being apart…but she couldn't. She was afraid that he would be angry at her for abandoning him like she had. Now…now she would give anything just to see him alive, to know that he hadn't died to protect her.

Searching along with her were the staff, Neville, and every member of House Hufflepuff, even a couple of aurors had shown up alongside her Aunt and some of Harry's private security forces. "I've found him!" Cedric Diggory yelled as her head whipped in the direction the shout had come from as she took off running, her feet barely touching the ground as the ground shook beneath the feet of the hundreds of people running towards Harry. Reaching Cedric she slid to a stop and chocked back a sob at what she saw for there, splayed against the rocks of the river that ran into the black Lake, lay the unmoving form of Harry, the talons of the Shinigami still embedded in his back.

-Amelia-

"Dawlish, Shacklebolt!" she yelled when she saw Harry's unmoving body "Get your asses over here now!". At her words the two experienced aurors pushed through the crowd to get over to her, the two Howlett brothers coming with them, both of them in their guises of Phoenix and Manticore.

"Orders Ma'am?" Shacklebolt asked once they got through, the man shuddering at the sight of Harry's splayed out form as the school Matron, Madam Pomphrey, worked to keep the boy stable.

"Harry is being taken back to Diagon Alley," she ordered "he has several private medical professionals that can rival St. Mungos there and I want him in an area where he can be easily protected. You both are to assist Phoenix and Manticore in setting up Harry's guard shifts and keeping him safe while he heals.".

"Why not take him to St. Mungos then?" Dawlish demanded as Shacklebolt and the Howletts rushed down to Harry's body.

"Because a Shinigami doesn't just show up out of nowhere," she growled "before tonight there were ninety nine left as the only damn way that anyone found to kill one was trap it in an enclosed space and fill that space with a thousand powerful patronuses. The rest were sealed away. Since none were sealed anywhere near here that meant that not only did someone unseal it on purpose but they brought it here on purpose which means that they wanted it to kill someone.".

As she spoke she strode forward until she was nose to nose with her now sweating auror, glaring the man in the eye as she continued "Harry is one of the most high profile individuals in the entire Country! Let alone the school so he is the most likely target and, even if he wasn't the intended target, then by killing that thing he sure as hell made himself one! Harry has his own private security force along with his medical team so I want him under a constant guard by both them and a few aurors as every other damn auror I can spare is going to be investigating who the Hell let that demon out! Now get down there and obey my orders or so help me I'll make you Dolores Umbridge's personal assistant for the next year!".

The second the man ran off and the four men, plus Harry and Madame Pomphrey, vanished in the swirl of a portkey she dropped to her knees and embraced a sobbing Susan, feeling her Niece hold onto her as the girl poured her heart out, both of them feeling shattered at the possible death of the amazing young man who had entered their lives.

AN: As I said, there are going to be some changes. The first is that I'm cutting Anastasia, Natalie, and (I believe) Lilith from the pairing to make it just Harry/Susan and if I DO decide to again make it a multi pairing it would only add in Lilith and that would be a good along the way in the story.

AN2: The poll on my profile is only going to be up for a couple more days so if you haven't voted yet, do so now.