The Man of the Moment

Chapter Thirty-Five: A Prophecy Fulfilled- Part Two

Within minutes of leaving his classmates, Harry had got closer to the battleground. This became swiftly apparent once he had stepped over a few anonymous Death Eaters with missing or amalgamated limbs and horrific dents in various parts of their body. One unfortunate victim had a chicken for a head. All of a sudden, Harry put his robe sleeve to his mouth. The stench that hit him was repugnant. He noticed a nearby Death Eater had been hit with the same curse that destroyed Frederick Snape's body, and guessed- accurately- that they were the source of that awful, rotting smell.

Suddenly, the Death Eater rotting away on the Hogwarts gardens made a grab for Harry's ankle. Harry jumped quickly away, knowing full well that the Phagocytosis curse was easily transmissible via contact. The Death Eater dragged himself across the floor, attempting to reach Harry, whilst strips of skin and muscle tissues slid off their bones like a well-cooked chicken.

"Must... The Dark Lord says it..." The figure was unable to manage more lucid speech, and the low, breathless voice made it difficult to pin the Death Eater down a specific gender. Trembling, Harry held his wand aloft, wondering if he could put this creature out of its misery.

Almost as soon as Harry had considered the option, somebody beat him to it, and slammed a heavy sword into the Death Eater's shoulder blade. The high-pitched howl of pain that followed made Harry realise for certain that the Death Eater was female. She dragged herself further and went to grab hold of the person, who was dressed in the same robes as Persephone, but the dark-haired man jumped back and pulled out his wand. The Death Eater made one last grab for him, and managed to touch the armour of his left leg. As soon as she did, a white light started to pulsate around the cob webbing of his armour. The Brethrenite aimed his wand at her and commanded, "Stupefy!" She collapsed into a lifeless heap.

"Incendio!" he ordered, and the unconscious body was swiftly engulfed in flames.

"Too good for the likes of them," he spat, before fixing Harry with a stern gaze.

"What are you doing out here?" he demanded. Harry was transfixed by the pulsating glow that was dancing along the cob webbing of his armour, as well as the bright stripes of black and white make-up he wore across his face, which also seemed to pulse with light.

"What's that?" he asked. The Brethrenite stared hard at him momentarily.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" he enquired, quietly. Harry nodded. The Brethrenite stared at him even more harshly than before. His light-brown eyes seemed to spark with fury.

"Then, what in Merlin's name are you doing out here? We haven't been risking our lives just for you to get yourself killed wandering around a battlefield!"

"I came to find Persephone," he explained. "I was... well, worried, I guess."

The Brethrenite didn't look particularly impressed.

"Not half as much as she will be when she finds one of her pupils out here!"

"Your armour," Harry pointed out, as the white pulsing grew more intense. The Brethrenite looked at his arm guard with an expression of surprise.

"Oh, thanks," he said, before pointing his wand at his armour and saying, "Finite Incantatem." The pulsing light died away.

"Contrast armour," he explained. "The black absorbs most spells, and the white reflects it. The cob webbing design channels dangerous spells away from the body. Well, most dangerous spells- and only temporarily, mind..."

"Wow," Harry replied. It went some way to explaining why the Brethren all wore that same black and white armour, headband and make-up.

Suddenly, Harry saw a figure in black robes loom behind this square-jawed Brethrenite. The white mask disguised their expression, but the wand they wielded at the Brethrenite's neck said all Harry needed to know about his intentions.

"Impedimentia!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Death Eater, who froze stiffly when Harry's spell made contact just a second later. The Brethrenite looked shocked momentarily, but he soon took charge and dispatched of the stationary Death Eater with swift, sharp strokes of his wand that emitted a jumble of brightly coloured sparks.

"Th... thank you," he managed to stammer. Clearly, he had not anticipated that particular attack.

"It's okay," Harry replied. The Brethrenite looked at him, his light-brown eyes now more appraising and gentle.

"I still need to get you out of here," he stated, firmly, silencing Harry's objections. "Forget about Persephone- she can look after herself."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Harry replied. "I heard something- she's going to do something, if it all gets desperate. And I'm scared about what it'll do to her..."

"I'll get you to Hogsmeade," the Brethrenite stated, as though he hadn't heard a word of Harry's concerns. "Sampson and some Order fellows are escorting your classmates somewhere safe. They'll take care of you."

A rustle behind him distracted Harry from the Brethrenite's words. He whirled around, and saw two Death Eaters standing behind him, pointing their wands to his neck. Harry felt a strong arm wrap around his upper body and squeeze so hard, Harry felt his chest tighten.

"It's the Potter boy," one of them said, their deep voice laced with child-like glee. "We should take him to the Dark Lord. Drop your wand, boy- or I'll sever your head from your body."

With no great sense of loss, Harry did as he was told. The other Death Eater crushed it beneath his feet, but the Brethrenite had his wand pointed at the Death Eater currently gripping onto Harry's chest.

"That all depends on whether you want to die," he replied. The Death Eater laughed.

"Let me explain a few concepts of common sense to you, Brethrenite," he sneered. "If you kill me, my colleague remains to slit your throat with a Severing hex and capture Potter. If you capture my colleague, I remain to do the exact same thing."

The Brethrenite laughed heartily.

"Allow me to expand your points, Death Eaters," he replied. "If I hit the Reflectus tree behind you, it'll cause my spell to bounce off and diverge, hitting both of you before you had time to do anything to either myself, or Mr Potter here."

The two Death Eaters nervously glanced behind their shoulders. The Brethrenite swiftly waved his wand, and aimed two quick successions of red jets at each of them, jerking them both up four feet in the air and constricting their throats, given the way their faces turned such a vivid shade of red in such a short space of time. One of them managed to shoot something at the Brethrenite, but he ducked instinctively whilst conjuring their wands from them.

"Reflectus tree?" Harry asked, looking around at the vast expanse of lush green grass around him. "What are they?"

The Brethrenite wiped his brow.

"No idea," he explained. Harry couldn't help but smile at his bluff.

The Brethrenite looked down at Harry's feet.

"Sorry about your wand," he said. Harry shrugged.

"It's alright," he replied. "I don't really need it, anyway."

The Brethrenite nodded, but began to remove his armour as he did so.

"Here," he said, handing a chest plate to Harry, "put this on."

"It's yours," Harry argued, but the Brethrenite shook his head.

"You need it more," he said, simply. Harry began to protest, but the Brethrenite was already placing the armour on Harry and tightening up the buckles.

"I'm bigger than you, but no matter," he said. "The armour's organic- it'll shrink to fit you in around fifteen minutes."

Suddenly, the sky grew dark, disguising the wisps of cloud that danced around the bright yellow sun just moments earlier. Within seconds, Harry was plunged into pitch blackness. At least two parts of Alex's prophecy had now come true- the attack on the innocents, and now, the total eclipse.

"Sinistra; Lumos," Harry whispered, and a bluish light sparked into life from his fingertips, and settled around him. The Brethrenite's face- which, illuminated by such unnatural light, looked older that Harry had previously thought- registered surprise.

"I see what you mean about not needing your wand," he said, in impressed tones. Harry looked across the vista, and saw large numbers of little blue flames lick up in the night sky. Clearly everybody on the battlefield had realised the distinct disadvantage of sustaining a battle in the dark.

"What's that noise?" the Brethrenite asked, swiftly. Harry soon understood what he meant- he too could hear desperate, vicious panting. His blood froze momentarily.

"Werewolves," Harry replied, quickly, but quietly. The Brethrenite looked askance at him.

"Werewolves?" he replied, incredulous. "But there isn't a full moon!"

"Voldemort got around that," Harry countered. "We'd better get out of here. Those crosses will ward them off..." He looked at the Brethrenite's neck just as the dark-haired man reached for his own neck.

"Mine's gone," he stated. "I must have lost it in that last skirmish..." he looked Harry in the eyes.

"Run," he ordered, and Harry didn't need any further prompting. The two ran as fast as they could, but Harry could hear the werewolves were fast gaining ground, having the advantage of tetrapedal movement.

"Split up!" the Brethrenite ordered, using his own wand to illuminate his way.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Harry yelled back. "You've lost your cross!"

"If I die, it's a tragedy for my family," he shouted back. "If you die; it's a tragedy for the whole country. Now go!"

It was too late to argue; the pack of werewolves was upon them. Harry felt one nudge into his leg, and then whimper in fear. At least Harry knew those tribal crosses were working. The pack swiftly turned towards the Brethrenite...

"No!" Harry yelled, futilely. "Dextera; Impedimentia!"

It did precious little good- the werewolves slowed down, but were not stopped altogether. The Brethrenite pulled out his hefty sword and began to fight off the lone members of the pack Harry had managed to slow down. He didn't know whether werewolves could repel magic like vampires could, but he would have put money on Voldemort adding something to that dreadful potion that caused them to transform in the absence of light to decrease their vulnerability.

"Dextera; Exoculatus!" Harry commanded, and he caught a few of the pack unawares, and they howled with pain and lay down on the ground, trying to scratch at their eyes. Sadly, the rest had got to the Brethrenite, and he was unable to fight them all off. Harry couldn't watch as they tore him apart. It suddenly dawned on him that he didn't even know the man's name.

Once the werewolves had finished with their quarry, they turned their attention to Harry. He thought about all the spells he might be able to use to ward them off; then he decided it would be safer all round if he just ran. He saw in their yellowing eyes and the bared teeth that they had now got a taste for blood, and he wasn't sure how much faith he wanted to place in tribal magic.

"Dextera; Exoculatus!" he shouted again, using his right hand to aim hexes at the advancing werewolves, and his left hand- still glowing with blue magical light- to guide him. He glanced across the landscape, and saw dense patches of that same magical light he held in his left hand light up various points of the Hogwarts ground. He couldn't lead a pack of werewolves straight into a huge battle- even if they did savage the Death Eaters, what kind of death would that be? Plus, he didn't know how many other people had been relieved of their tribal wards courtesy of battle.

A thought grabbed him. The Forbidden Forest! If he got to the edges, he could climb up a tree, and incapacitate all of the werewolves. They couldn't climb up such steep objects, so Harry would gain the distinct advantage. He squinted and noticed a patch of the Forbidden Forest that snaked round towards the Quidditch pitch, which had no lights emanating from it. Not for the first time, Harry wished he could reach his Lytenbolt. A Summoning charm would be too conspicuous here- a lone broomstick whizzing past a battlefield would surely alert even more Death Eaters to Harry's presence.

Faster and faster he ran, although the werewolves easily kept up with him. Now and again, a werewolf would make to snap its heavy jaws around Harry's trailing ankle, only to flinch away in pain. A few seconds later, another would try the same tactic. Despite Harry's constant spell-casting, they were not giving up. Clearly he was the best option for prey in the vicinity, and no matter how far he ran, that simple fact didn't seem to change.

Breathlessly, and just when he thought he would be able to run no further, the Quidditch pitch entered Harry's field of vision. Relief washed over him as he spotted an untidy row of trees near to the staff and visitor seating. As quickly as he could, he clambered up the trees, and watched with an uneasy air as the pack of werewolves continued to scratch and snarl at his temporary sanctuary. Harry almost laughed when he thought it was probably thanks to Aunt Marge and her hideous dog Ripper that he was able to ascend foliage so speedily.

"Sinistra; Nox," he whispered, and the light in his left hand went out. He thought hard about what kind of spells he could use to frighten off the pack of werewolves still snarling up at the tree, but anything that entered his head he had either already tried, or he knew would require the werewolves to stand either more closely together, or just stay still altogether.

"It's a pity this pendant only repels them," he thought. "I could do with something that frightens them away..."

Suddenly, Harry heard the werewolves howl and run back the way they had come. With a sign of relief, he made his way to climb down the tree, and then stopped. What was so terrible it had made a pack of vicious, transformed werewolves run away in terror?

"Dextera; Opacus Lumen," Harry hissed, and a transparent globe formed in his right hand. Carefully, he picked it up with his left hand and peered through it. It was a spell he had picked up from Persephone- the globe let you view light waves from outside the visible spectrum, which essentially let you see in the dark without anybody noticing. Steve, the savage part of his brain, had occasionally tried to persuade Harry to test this particular spell outside the girls' Quidditch changing rooms after evening practise, but he had resolutely declined each time.

However, even if Harry hadn't had this useful spell to hand, the shuddering of the ground beneath him gave him a fairly accurate idea as to what was coming his way. Something rather big. The globe showed tall, broad creatures with backs hunched up from carrying their own immense weight. They were behaving in far too unfriendly a manner to be Trolls, which left Harry with only one option.

"Great, it gets better and better," he muttered to himself, as he watched the large, grunting giants stomp by, ripping up trees in their wake in the absence of anything animal-based to kill.

Harry stayed silent, and still. If the werewolves had been difficult enough to affect by magic, he stood no chance with these giants. It generally took more than one person to stun a giant. Plus, he remembered what Hagrid had told him, years ago, about Giants liking magic, except when it was used on them. Glancing through the globe at the group- all of whom were easily as tall as most of the trees, and had limbs about three times as thick, Harry thought it probably best not to upset them.

Suddenly, one member of the group stopped, and sniffed the air. Its eyes darted around, as though attempting to focus on the source of the smell. Harry had a nasty feeling he knew exactly what the source was- him. He ran through his mind all of the spells he knew- there must be one to disguise odour. He cursed all of his Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers in succession when he realised he hadn't been taught one in all his seven years at Hogwarts. He just started thinking what a terrible oversight that was, when another earth-shuddering quake spread through him from the ground below. Something was moving closer to him.

A hand the size of Harry ripped apart the leaves and branches that kept Harry hidden from view, and a big yellow eye stared at him hungrily.

"Kill," the owner of the eye grunted, as though it were an unconscious mantra. The grunts of "kill!" echoed throughout the other giants, just while the one that had exposed Harry's hiding place began to shake the tree, as though Harry were a particularly pesky coconut clinging to its shoot.

"No!" another grunting voice retaliated, which surprised Harry immensely. A hand shot out and grabbed him by the waist and chest with such force, that Harry thought his lungs might collapse from the pressure.

"Friend Hagger," the rebellious giant explained, and Harry thought he had never been- or would ever be- so happy to see Grawp.

The other giants looked about as sceptical as Giants can appear. They scratched their mammoth heard and stared at each other with narrowed eyes.

"Friend Hagger!" Grawp demanded, once again. The Giants seemed to think his claim was somewhat reasonable, for they collectively shrugged. Grawp smiled lopsidedly, and started to carry Harry over his shoulders.

They, or rather, Grawp, had been walking for a short while, when Harry heard what sounded like a rock scraping along the floor. Grawp apparently also heard it, for he turned around to face the direction of the noise. On this turn, Harry could see that one of the giants had clearly taken a dislike to Grawp's methods, for he swiftly smashed the rock against Grawp's head. The rock splintered into pieces, and Grawp merely looked curiously at the offending giant. With a sigh, he grabbed Harry with his left hand and placed him on a nearby ledge, before proceeding to punch the rebellious giant repeatedly in the stomach. The giant didn't react until around the third punch, at which he tried to wrestle Grawp to the ground. Meanwhile, the other giants had gathered in a circle, and were cheering on the competitors, jumping and grunting in a manner that caused Harry to fall off the ledge he had been so carefully placed upon. He felt his stomach lurch in that horrible way it does whenever you drop just a little too far, or wake up from a dream about falling.

Rubbing his head, Harry looked around at where he had landed- there was light enough to garner an idea as to what everything looked like. Scarlet drapes hung artfully around the thin, wooden outdoor corridor he was currently sitting on, giving the impression of some kind of fairground attraction. One of the drapes, the one nearest him, was hanging limply by just the one end- Harry assumed it had broken his fall. There were rows of wooden seats both sides of him. Harry stood up- he hadn't injured himself, at least- and looked over the row of seats on his right. Upon realising he was looking at the Quidditch Pitch, he swiftly realised where he was- the spectator stalls.

Suddenly, a row of seats nearby simultaneously shattered into pieces, and Harry heard a cold voice call, "Come out, Severus. I know you're here somewhere." It was Lucius Malfoy. His request heeded no response, save for a small jet of purple light that landed near his feet and caused the floorboards beneath him to explode. Malfoy pulled himself out of the hole and got to his feet with remarkable speed.

"Now, now, Severus. There's no need to be a coward. Face it like a man; just you and me," Malfoy taunted, as he quietly stepped along the walkway only yards away from where Harry was standing. He gestured silently with his wand, and half a dozen Death Eaters crept from behind various wooden seats and moved along with Malfoy.

Soon, another figure crept along a different row of seats. One of the Death Eaters stiffened, and then followed the figure from behind, his wand poised for action.

"Crucio!" he ordered, and a jet of light flew from his wand towards the figure in front of him. The figure turned around and announced, "Reducto!" Harry instantly recognised the voice as belonging to Lupin. The beam of light the Death Eater had fired bounced off into the night air, fizzling into nothing. The Death Eater broke into a run.

"Halt, creature of filth!" he bellowed.

"Accido box!" Lupin countered, pointing at something nestled against one of the posts holding up the spectator stands. A large wooden chest skidded towards him, which Harry had seen many times in practise. If his memory served him correctly...

Lupin opened the box, and a score of Golden Snitches flew out into the Death Eater's face, distracting him as he waved his arms to remove them from his presence. Lupin then swiftly delivered quite a sturdy kick to the face of the Death Eater, smashing his mask in half and causing not an inconsiderable amount of pain.

"Stupefy!" Lupin ordered, and the Death Eater collapsed in a heap on the floor. Lupin walked over to him and muttered, "Astringo," at which a series of thick, heavy magical cords wound themselves around the now inanimate object, and tied him tightly to the nearby post.

A rustling noise distracted Harry. He whirled around, and saw a Death Eater walking towards him, his wand raised threateningly.

"No wand? How droll," he hissed. Harry merely smiled back.

"Dextera; Impedimentia," he commanded, and the Death Eater froze in his tracks. Another noise, of somebody running towards him, caught Harry's attention, and he whirled around to face whoever it was.

"Harry, what in Merlin's name are you doing here?" Lupin hissed, his face taut with worry.

"Persephone- is she okay?" Harry asked. "I know she's planning something you think is stupid and dangerous- and if you think it's stupid and dangerous..."

"She's fine," Lupin insisted, putting a friendly hand on Harry's arm. "But you need to get away from here! I'll take you..."

Harry shrugged him off.

"I can't go. I can't leave her," he insisted. Lupin looked sternly at him, and made to argue, but something distracted them both. More Death Eaters were starting to circle them.

"Where are they all coming from?" Lupin mused. "Every time we stop one..."

Suddenly, the two nearest Harry dropped to the floor in agony before Harry had a chance to defend himself against anything. He looked up, and saw Persephone silently climbing from post to post as though she were a dextrous monkey.

"Dextera; Torporis," she hissed, sending another Death Eater to their knees. She swung to another post, and ordered, "Sinistra; Debilito," swiftly incapacitating another.

"Confundus," Lupin said, pointing his wand at the remaining Death Eater, who proceeded to wander around hopelessly, apparently wondering where the nearest Quidditch Supply Store was.

Persephone leapt gracefully down from the posts and ran over to Lupin and Harry.

"You alright?" she asked, at which Lupin nodded. She looked at Harry, then did a double take.

"What the hell are you doing down here!" she hissed. "You're supposed to be at a safe house with the rest of your schoolmates!"

"I got bored," Harry quipped, but Persephone did not look amused. She smacked him hard across his cheek.

"Don't be flippant!" she whispered, angrily, as Harry instinctively placed his palm against the sting of her slap. "You're supposed to be keeping safe. Didn't you listen to a word I said this morning? That's the whole point of this! If I knew you were just going to wander down here amongst the battlefield, I'd have suggested we took you to Voldemort ourselves! It would have saved a lot of hassle on all sides!"

"He was worried about you," Lupin replied, evenly. Persephone sighed.

"Harry, darling, I'm really not that important," she soothed. "You, on the other hand, are."

"I said I'd escort him," Lupin said. Persephone nodded.

"Thanks," she replied, before looking hastily around her, as though anticipating an attack at every moment.

"Whatever Remus is worried you're going to do," Harry said. "Please don't do it!"

Persephone looked at him with suspicion.

"What have you heard?" she asked, in a low voice.

"Just that," Harry replied. "I don't know what it means. But I know I don't want you to do anything silly."

Persephone smiled.

"Listen to that," she said, to nobody in particular. "He's my younger brother, but acting like my elder!" She jumped suddenly upon hearing something that neither Harry nor Lupin, by the looks of things, had heard.

"Business as usual, guys," she whispered, before using a series of complicated hand signals which Harry couldn't fathom, but Lupin seemed to understand perfectly.

Almost instinctively, Lupin shielded Harry against his body, fighting his way through a couple more Death Eaters that had closed in on them. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Snape jump up from behind one of the wooden seats in the spectator stalls and aim a curse at Malfoy, which grazed his arm. Malfoy followed the direction of the hex and began firing for all his worth- sparks of blue, purple and yellow flung themselves towards Snape, who conjured up some kind of viscous liquid mirror to reflect them all back towards Malfoy. Apparently, it was a feat Malfoy couldn't manage himself, for he had to drop and roll to avoid the sparks, which blasted away another row of chairs.

"You've had some practise, old boy," Malfoy jeered, but was met with another spiralling blue bolt of light that Snape had sent from his wand.

Persephone, meanwhile, was picking off a few Death Eaters of her own, using a combination of wandless magic and steel weaponry. In fact, one of the Death Eaters didn't so much as react to one of her spells, at which Persephone immediately pulled out the large, ornate sword Harry knew Snape had given her as a birthday present, and stabbed them with it. They screamed and crumpled to the floor, and although he was about two hundred yards away, the stench hit Harry almost instantly. Clearly, that Death Eater had been a vampire- or, at least, that vampire had taken to wearing Death Eater grab in order to hide their true nature.

Malfoy was twitching a little- Harry got the impression that he wasn't expecting half as much of a fight from Snape as the one he had got. His wand actions were getting increasingly faster, but with less precision, as though fear were clouding his actions. Harry couldn't help but smile- true, he hated Snape, but in the grand scheme of things, he hated Malfoy a lot more.

Persephone was dealing with a particularly brutal Death Eater who had managed to hit her armour with a devastating spell, judging by the speed at which it whirled around the cob webbing, almost like an emergency signal. She placed her left hand to her chest and muttered something, removing the pulsing light, whilst waving her right hand, causing a web of light to fire at the Death Eater, smothering them with a celestial net. The Death Eater continued to struggle viciously, which commanded Persephone's attention enough to ensure she conjured another spell with her left hand.

Suddenly, Harry heard Snape yell, "Persephone! Look out!" and he saw what had caused the consternation. Another Death Eater had seen Persephone's preoccupation with their colleague, and taken the opportunity to aim their wand between the armour plating she was wearing. She whirled around to deal with the issue, but not before Malfoy had taken his own opportunity.

"Avada kedavera!" he had boomed, just seconds after Snape's impassioned warning. However, Malfoy had not used it to attack Persephone. Snape, caught completely unawares, crumpled to the floor. Harry watched, unable to feel much of anything, as Snape's chest remained still. He was clearly dead.

"I hope the Dark Lord isn't too angry at not getting to opportunity to remove the traitor himself," Malfoy commented to one of the only remaining active Death Eaters in the stands.

Persephone, on the other hand, had gone paler that Harry had ever seen her, even after her run-in with Voldemort.

"Dad!" she screamed, "Dad!"

She ran over to him, and knelt beside him, thumping at his chest with her hands, before pinching his nose and breathing into his mouth.

"Persephone, it's no good!" Lupin yelled back. Persephone appeared to have either not heard, or was ignoring him completely. Malfoy simply watched, chuckling occasionally. The other Death Eater made a move towards Lupin and Harry.

"Dextera; Exoculatus!" Harry roared, and the Death Eater stumbled around in both pain and confusion. Lupin pointed his wand and swiftly bound him. He glanced towards Persephone with a look of desperate sympathy on his face. A look which swiftly changed to one of desperate horror.

"The right kind of sacrifice," Harry heard Persephone whisper to herself.

"Persephone, no!" Lupin yelled, in a way Harry had never seen him react before. Usually Lupin was so calm.

Harry glanced over to where Persephone was, and saw her with her left hand placed firmly onto Snape's chest. She was holding a dagger with her right hand, which hovered in the air. With a shape intake of breath she slammed the dagger straight through her left hand, and into his chest.

"Persephone! What are you doing?" Harry yelled, as he watched in horror. Persephone had bitten down on her bottom lip so hard, her mouth was bleeding. Trembling, she pulled out a piece of parchment from beneath her belt, and began to read it aloud, but it was in a language Harry couldn't understand.

Malfoy turned to face Lupin and Harry, apparently most amused by the proceedings.

"I've never seen a tribal ritual before," he said. "Most fascinating. They've got such curious ways of handling their dead..."

He incapacitated Lupin with a swish of his wand before either of them could anticipate it. Lupin was flung against a nearby post, and knocked out cold.

"Well, now it's just you, and me, Potter," Malfoy said, in cold, yet triumphant, tones.

"You'd better be ready," Harry mocked. "If you couldn't handle what Snape had to offer..."

"Excuse me?" Malfoy replied, in his usual supercilious manner. Harry grinned maliciously.

"You were slipping. I've never seen you so scared," he replied. "I'm guessing that's why you had to hex him in the back. Yet, you had the gall to call him a coward? That's ironic."

Malfoy placed his left hand to his chest in mock outrage.

"Oh, Potter. That hurt!" he said, sardonically. "Now then, let's see what I can do to return the favour. I must have a little fun before you are brought to the Dark Lord..."

He aimed a hex at Harry, who easily blocked it.

"Wandless magic? You really are getting far too big for your boots, Potter," Malfoy taunted, as he blocked one of Harry's offensive hexes. He fired again, and Harry jumped back, giving himself a little more thinking time.

"Dextera; Sectumsempra!" Harry yelled, savagely, and a strip of blood flew from Malfoy's arm and splattered against a nearby wooden beam. Malfoy looked stunned. Harry took the opportunity to curse him with the Jelly-Legs curse, which caused Malfoy to fall flat on his face as soon as he tried to leap at Harry in fury.

A scuffling noise pricked at Harry's ears. Lupin had woken up, and he was pulling himself to his feet just as soon as Malfoy had managed to use his own wand to break Harry's curse. Malfoy stood up, only to be knocked to the floor by Lupin, who had apparently disregarded his wand and was instead trying to pin Malfoy to the floor with brute force.

"You're going to pay, Malfoy," he snarled. "Pushing her to this..."

"Remus, what's going on?" Harry shouted; his voice a little uncertain. He had never, in his entire life, seen Lupin this angry. He was white with rage and Harry wouldn't have been surprised if he'd tried to strangle Malfoy.

Soon enough, Malfoy had thrown Lupin off him, and grabbed at Harry's ankles. Not expecting such a move, Harry was quickly flung to the floor, only to find Malfoy and the end of his wand staring up at him. He couldn't move his hands- clearly Malfoy had pinned them to the floor. He struggled to release himself from Malfoy's grip.

"This is it, Potter," he spat. "You and your pathetic mudblood and blood traitor friends will perish, and the Dark Lord will rule over this country, taking back what is rightfully ours from those idle, ignorant Muggles..."

"Leave him alone!" a female voice yelled, and one which Harry recognised all too well. He jerked his head to one side, and saw with a mixture of relief and horror that Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna were thundering towards them.

"You heard her," Ron added, pointing his wand at Malfoy. "Let him go, or we'll make you!"

"Yeah!" Neville added for effect, his wand outstretched and his face determined.

"Because you're really quite an unpleasant man," Luna commented, vaguely.

Malfoy looked up at them, and laughed.

"What is it about you stupid children?" he enquired. "You seem so desperate to come and get yourselves killed. Well, join the queue," he snapped, as he thrust his wand against Harry's neck.

"Avada kadavera," he hissed, as Hermione and Ron ran towards him, yelling, "Expelliarmus!"

However, nothing escaped from anybody's wand. Malfoy looked at his curiously, before almost dropping it.

"Ouch," he hissed. Hermione had done almost the same thing.

"What's happening?" she asked of nobody in particular.

"Point me," Ron said, presumably as a test, holding his wand flat in the palm of his hand. Nothing happened, except for a sudden twinge of Ron's hand.

"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed. "That hurt!"

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder distracted them all. A bright flash of white exploded from Snape's chest, and Persephone was flung several feet, along with the dagger still embedded in her hand. She crashed against a post and her lifeless body slithered to the floor. A nearby post creaked, before slowly falling as though it had been felled by a shifty lumberjack, and smashing Persephone straight in the chest.

"Persephone!" Lupin yelled, aiming his wand and shouting, "Mobiliarbus!" To his apparent surprise, nothing happened.

"They're not working!" Ginny shouted to him. Lupin laughed humourlessly.

"I worked that one out for..." He trailed off upon seeing the small group of students by Harry's side.

"What are you all doing here!" he demanded.

Malfoy dragged Harry to his knees, and swiftly kicked him in the shin. Harry winced, but continued to try and struggle out of Malfoy's strong grip. Malfoy looked around at Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna, and then at Lupin. He almost growled in frustration, and then yelled, "I don't care! If you ask that question one more time, I'll cut Potter's arms off- with my bare teeth, if I have to!" He stood up a little straighter. "What you're all doing here," he continued, in calmer tones, "Is the exact same thing! You're all going to..."

His little speech was cut rather short, as they were all distracted by the sound of groaning wood nearby. The heavy wooden post that had fallen upon Persephone, crushing her chest, flew off and crashed into the seating in the next aisle, and not without considerable force. Then, Persephone appeared to climb to her feet, but in a manner that can only be described as odd. It was as though somebody had tied strings to her limbs and pulled her up, like a marionette. She glided across the floor, although her limbs jerked unnaturally, and moved in the direction of Snape's lifeless body. It was then that Harry got a good look at her. She appeared very different to how she had just a few moments ago. Her black hair had turned bright white, making her pale face look ethereal. Her green eyes- eyes just like Harry's- had turned an empty, pitiless black. They rolled around her eye sockets, occasionally independently of each other, and surveyed the surroundings. Her left hand still had that dagger embedded in it- so much so, that a good three inches of the tip could be seen poking out of her palm. It didn't seem to bother her.

Once she reached Snape's body, she knelt down and placed her left hand on his chest, covering the gaping wound she had inflicted just moments earlier. She pulled the dagger out of her flesh with her right hand, and tossed it away as if it were no more than a small thorn. Then, a small shard of light escaped from her hand and buried its way into the wound in Snape's flesh. Slowly, it began to close up the wound, already stained with congealing blood that had yet to clot within his dead body.

Suddenly, the light grew stronger, and Harry thought he could hear a high pitched sigh- just a fraction lower than the top frequency of his natural hearing. The light enveloped Snape's body, and it jerked in reaction to it. Then, and Harry had to blink a few times to make sure he had really seen what happened, Snape sat up. His eyes blinked open, and he looked deeply shocked. He coughed heavily, as though he, as a life-long non-smoker, had just chain smoked fourteen cigars.

"Get up, Alessio," Persephone instructed, but the voice that escaped her lips was not her own. It was a curious, unearthly mixture of echoing sounds, both deep and high. It was as though many people were talking at once, except that was impossible.

Harry looked around, wondering if he had imagined it all, but from the looks of horror and amazement on every persons' face, they were clearly seeing the exact same thing. Even Malfoy appeared rooted to the spot.

"What... What happened?" Snape whispered, between chokes and dry retching. He had just about managed to get to his knees.

"You died, Alessio," Persephone and her odd voice replied, calmly. "But no matter. We have brought you back. Look upon us, Alessio."

Snape did as he was told, and looked at Persephone. His dazed expression snapped to one of utter fear and horror. He remained on his knees, and clasped his hands in prayer. He whispered something in that language Harry had often heard the Snape tribe use, but had never understood. Persephone smiled benignly at Snape, but the rest of her expression was stern.

"Do not call upon us again, Alessio- We owe you nothing. You have been repaid. We have unfinished business to attend to," she said, before jerking up into a standing position in that same marionette way she had earlier.

Ron's horrified expression had not abated.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" he demanded. Snape turned around sharply as Persephone moved towards them.

"Oh your knees!" he barked. "Get on your knees, and don't speak to her- don't even look at her!"

"What?" Harry asked. "Why?" It didn't make sense- this was his sister! Why couldn't he say anything to her?

"For Merlin's sake, Potter, for once in your life stop questioning everything and do- as- you're- told!" Snape yelled. There was something in his voice- blind panic, Harry assumed- that made Harry obey him. A quick glance around saw that everyone had heeded Snape's advice.

Except, of course, Malfoy. He had stood up to his full height, and was brandishing his wand. Persephone glided up to him, and put her hand around his neck, effortlessly pulling him up to her height.

"Tell me your name," she demanded. Malfoy looked her straight in the eye.

"You know my name," he spat. "Your childish games don't frighten me. The Dark Lord will..."

"Malfoy," she said, in that echoing voice. "You're a Malfoy."

With those words, she grabbed his face with her other hand, and twisted as though he were a pepper pot. A sickening snap followed. Harry chanced a look up, and saw Persephone pull sharply at Malfoy's lifeless head. He saw the head become detached from the body, and something brittle and white pull away with it, before he looked at the ground again. All he could think about was not vomiting.

"Merlin's beard!" Neville gasped, in a shocked voice. "It's his head. And his spine! Oh my... That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen!"

Harry looked up again, and saw Persephone drop the body- which crumpled to the floor like a rag doll, and the head- which was still attached to the spinal cord and stuck into the ground as though it were a head on a pike. She glided away, passing them all, and heading off into the distance.

Hermione was wide-eyed. All the blood had drained from her face.

"I think," she whispered, "I'm going to be sick."

"I think," Lupin added, "I'm going to join you."

Ron got up from his kneeling position, and promptly sat back down.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" he asked again, in more dazed tones.

"It's the Ultionis; the spirit of vengeance," Snape replied, as he struggled to stand up. Lupin rushed to his feet and helped him.

"You died," Lupin commented. "You were hit with the Killing curse."

"I know," Snape replied. "I don't understand it, either. I don't know much about that ritual..." He still sounded dazed and confused.

"Sit down," Lupin advised, and Snape heeded his words.

"I didn't know it could even work- I assumed it was a myth," he added, before beginning another coughing fit. Lupin gently patted his back.

"How do you feel, Severus?" he asked. Snape shrugged, and looked up at the dark sky.

"Numb," he settled on, finally.

"Why don't our wands work?" Ginny asked.

"What happened to Professor Beauchamp?" Neville enquired.

"Where is she going?" Luna asked thoughtfully.

"Hang on a moment," Lupin said soothingly. "Let Professor Snape get his breath back."

Snape massaged his temples with the tips of his fingers.

"The wands stopped working?" he asked, groggily. Lupin nodded.

"I'm guessing it's something to do with the magical power required to perform that ritual- it shorted all the magic around us. Presumably they'll be working now..."

Ron tested out that theory.

"Point me," he commanded, again, and his wand dutifully pointed towards north. Lupin nodded.

"Excellent. Now, from what I heard about that ritual, it was really dangerous..."

"Too right," Snape concurred. "It's a link to the dead. That's never safe. There's a sacrifice- a blood sacrifice; a death- that allows one to open up that gateway, and let the dead of your kith and kin into the living."

"Except that isn't the sacrifice," Lupin added sourly. Ginny looked puzzled.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Yeah," Ron added. "Surely if Snape died, and he was the dead portal thing, then he must have been the sacrifice, otherwise it wouldn't have worked. Persephone couldn't talk to the dead on her own; she needed a sacrifice to make contact, or whatever it is!"

Hermione was staring at the floor.

"But Professor Snape was repaid," she said, quietly. "A sacrifice is never repaid- that's the whole point of a sacrifice."

Snape looked up at her, his eyes hollow.

"Explain yourself, Miss Granger," he demanded, softly. Hermione, much to Harry's surprise, looked him in the eye, her expression sympathetic.

"Persephone had to have been the sacrifice," she explained. "That wasn't her. As angry as she had been with the Malfoys, she wouldn't have..." She paused momentarily. "Have done that," she finished, glancing at the mangled mass of Lucius Malfoy, before looking away with a shudder.

Snape jumped to his feet.

"I've got to get her back!" he resolved, as he attempted to run. Lupin shook his head, and tried to stop him.

"Severus, you can't," he said. "She's gone- she knew that. It was her last resort. If all else failed, she knew your tribe had a common enemy- Voldemort. She thought she could probably channel that into our fight..."

Snape slowly turned to look at Lupin, his eyes now blazing.

"You knew?" he asked. "You knew!" he demanded, in a much louder voice. Lupin nodded.

"You knew! Didn't you try to stop her!" Snape roared. Lupin glared at him.

"No," he shouted back, sarcastically. "I thought I'd just let her get on with destroying herself to bring forth the dead- what do you think I've spent every waking moment since I found out trying to do?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Snape demanded.

"Because she didn't want you to know!" Lupin yelled back. "I didn't know what to think. I tried to talk her out of it, countless times, but you know what that girl's like when she sets her mind to something!" He sank down to the floor. "She figured if she could access her dead tribe, she could harness their anger, their skills and their magical power. I can't even envisage how she can maintain that sort of energy. I asked her, and all she said is that sometimes, you've got no choice..."

Snape no longer looked angry. He merely looked numb with grief.

"There's nothing to get back, Severus," Lupin added softly. "She's gone. She swapped her existence for that of her tribe. Once they get their vengeance, I suppose that'll be it."

"I can't... I can't accept that this is the end," Snape said, his voice constricted a little with grief. "After everything that's happened; I outlived her once, I didn't think I'd do it again..."

To Harry's shock, Luna tugged gently at Snape's arm.

"What?" he snapped, but Luna was not fazed in the slightest. She pointed over to where Persephone's body had been gliding- now it was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she going?" she asked, once more. Snape looked irritable.

"I don't know..." He trailed off, suddenly.

"What is it, Severus?" Lupin enquired.

"She's gone for Voldemort," he replied. "That's who she's gone after... There must be something left of her!"

"There isn't," Lupin replied. "Voldemort is your tribe's enemy, too." Snape glared at him.

"How exactly would you know she isn't still in there?" he asked. "Have you spent years studying the ancient tribal blood-rituals?"

"No," Lupin freely admitted, "have you?"

"No," he replied. "But there must be some way to reverse it. Some way to get her back. It hasn't been too long; there should still be a chance to get her to fight against it..."

"Can't you use your blood to absorb the tribes people, or something, and cancel the spell?" Hermione suggested. "You're related to her, so you're of her blood..."

Far from chastising Hermione, as Harry would have expected, Snape merely shook his head.

"I'd be destroyed for going near the tribe," he explained. "My part is done- they warned me of that when they brought me back, 'Do not call upon us again'. I can't do it..." He trailed off, and eyed Harry. "But Potter could."

Everyone gasped.

"Are you mad?" Ron demanded. "You leave Harry out of this- it's not his fault you've cracked!"

Snape turned on him.

"Shut up, Weasley," he spat, before facing Harry. "Potter, you're of her blood, but you're not of the tribe. It's possible you could enter that gateway she's opened up inside herself, and talk her back into her body."

"Severus, don't be a fool," Lupin ordered. "You don't know what could happen- Harry could die, just like Persephone. Then where would we be?"

Snape looked at Lupin.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," he replied curtly.

"Oh, and what about Harry?" Neville enquired hotly. "Is it a risk he's willing to take?"

"Yes," Harry replied quietly, before looking up at Snape.

"I'll do it, if you can find her," Harry said.

"No," Lupin demanded. "This is insane! Persephone did everything to protect you, Harry- including this!" He looked across at Snape. "Severus, you use Harry to get her back, you'll be going against everything the Order has stood for. We have to protect Harry until he is strong enough to fight Voldemort, when he eventually seeks him out!"

"I'll deal with it, Lupin," Snape replied. Harry looked at him. He wasn't exactly relishing the prospect of spending any time with Snape, but if there was a chance he could get his sister back, he'd take it. He didn't want what happened to Sirius happening to her.

"Harry, don't do it!" Ron and Neville chorused, albeit slightly out of synch.

"Remember who he is," Ron added, knowingly, and Harry knew he was referring to Snape and his Death Eater status.

Then, suddenly, he remembered something, one of his many dreams, where Angela- small, haughty and very much alive, spoke to him: "Alessio... He's the only one who'll help you, because he's the only one that will want the same thing as you... When the time comes; trust Alessio,"

Persephone- or, what was left of her- had called him Alessio. This was it- did he trust in this dream? Did he trust the words of Sirius in the same recurring dream?

"Take me with you," Harry said calmly, ignoring the protestations of those around him. Snape nodded, and rolled up the sleeve of his arm. Harry could see the Dark Mark embedded on his left forearm, branded through to mark him out as a traitor.

"It's been burning like hell all day," Snape stated. "The Dark Lord wants me to go to him- to finish me off. If I go, the burning will stop. So far, I've resisted. If I Apparate to his side, I presume we will also find Persephone. The tribe want revenge for the Dark Lord's acts..."

Harry nodded, and allowed Snape to betray the Order, as he gripped Harry's hand before pointing his wand at the angry Dark Mark on his own skin.