What a Witch Needs

Excellent! I’m able to add to this story again! It’s been so long that I hope I haven’t lost a lot of fans. Some of you were able to find my Live Journal and read the next two chapters on there. If you didn’t find it, that’s o.k. because now it seems I’ll be able to add the chapters on here. I truly hope you enjoy this chapter!

Beta’d by gardengirlgarden and Narcissa Black – thanks!



Stop Him If You Can


Vincent Crabbe ran, ducking branches, sweat dripping heavily down his face and his heart pounding in fear. He could hear the urging of the Ravenclaw behind him to go faster. A Death Eater was pursuing them as they wove in and out of the trees, ducking the blasts from the evil wand pointed at them. Crabbe’s lungs hurt so badly he thought they would burst at any moment. He didn’t know how much further he could run. If only they could stop and duck somewhere, be able to get a good shot at that Death Eater behind them. But Crabbe didn’t have eyes on the back of his head. He couldn’t tell if it was a good time to stop – the blasts kept coming from behind.

There had been nothing but waiting… waiting all evening. And now this! It all happened so fast. They were all hiding in readiness, waiting for the Death Eaters to arrive. The Death Eaters had seen the decoys standing on top of a hill at a distance. The airborne troops had made enough noise to attract their attention to the ruse.

It seemed almost too easy – the way the Death Eaters came swiftly into the clearing, heading for the hill. Crabbe remembered feeling like the battle would be over in no time if the Death Eaters were this stupid. Some ground troops quietly closed in from behind so that the Death Eaters would be ambushed from all sides with nowhere to run.

And then it all happened so fast it was surreal. The airborne troops flew out of the trees, hexing and flinging curses at the surprised Death Eaters. When the Death Eaters began aiming at the sky, trying to hit the fast moving targets, the ground troops took the opportunity to fire as well, stunning as many as possible. Those were the orders: disable them without killing unless there was no other choice. The surviving Death Eaters would stand trial later. That was what the Order of the Phoenix wanted. That group didn’t hold much authority with Crabbe. He knew that if Lord Potter told him to kill the Death Eaters, he would kill them, despite what the Light Wizards wanted. But Lord Potter had not given any such order, so Crabbe had to go along with the objectives of his Captain.

There was so much smoke and so many blinding flashes of light, it became hard to tell who you were aiming at and if there was anyone standing there at all. Crabbe remembered looking at Terry Boot next to him. Boot seemed just as confused, squinting into the smoke, wand ready. When he looked about for others, he could barely make out their figures moving through the smoke and light. It was crazy, chaotic and confusing. Then Boot yelled, “Run!”

One look told Crabbe why. A Death Eater was now standing not ten paces away, smoke swirling about him as his deadly arm rose to fire at them. Crabbe threw himself down, barely missing the blast of green shooting by him. Then he scrambled to his feet quickly, keeping his eyes on the back of Terry Boot, following Boot’s weaving motions as blast after blast tried to hit them. There was no time to look back at their pursuer. They had to keep going, keep going until the Death Eater stopped firing at them long enough for them to stop and get their bearings.

But it was not to be.

A bolt of green light shot past Crabbe, striking Boot in the center of his back, the words ‘Avada Kedavra’ hissing out behind them. The killing curse propelled Terry Boot forward and then flat onto his face, sending Crabbe stumbling over his body and onto the ground.

Crabbe clawed forward as he lay sprawled on the ground. Something inside of him told him that this was it. His time was up. How could be possibly outrun the Death Eater now that he had fallen? He looked back over his shoulder in fear, his whole body throbbing with its impending doom. A little noise came from his throat, incoherent and weak, and tears welled in his eyes. He was going to die.

The Death Eater approached, slowing its steps as it neared. Crabbe looked at it, waiting for his demise, but the Death Eater had lowered its wand arm and stood looking back at Crabbe.

“Vincent,” the Death Eater said.

Crabbe’s mouth fell open when he realized who his pursuer was. “Father?” he replied, shakily.

Vincent Crabbe, Sr. looked around the woods for any of his comrades, but he had left the scene of the battle during the pursuit. Then he looked at his shocked son and said, “Run, hide somewhere.” Then he turned and fled towards the lights of the blazing battle in the distance.

Crabbe did cry then. He bit his lower lip and fisted his fingers tightly around his wand. What the hell? What the hell were they doing? His wasn’t the only family that had Death Eaters in it. Were they supposed to kill their own families?

He looked at the dead Ravenclaw next to him. ‘My father did this,’ he thought. Crabbe cried, shaking his head. “I’m sorry,” he said to Boot’s body. “This is all so fucking wrong!”

Crabbe wept for a few more moments and then dried his eyes with his sleeve. He could hear the shouts and yells from the battle, some people crying in pain, calling for help.

This was no game – this was death, destruction and pain. This was war.

He stood up shakily and looked at Terry’s lifeless body, eyes open in death. Somehow, he didn’t feel right just leaving him here like this. Crabbe bent down and picked up Terry’s body, determined to return him to base camp and send him home to his family, realizing for the first time that life meant more to him than he had ever thought.

OOOOOOOO

“I can’t see!” yelled Dean Thomas, holding his hands over his eyes while blood oozed between his fingers. A curse had come out of nowhere, hitting him in the face and knocking him backwards. He could feel the warmth of his blood on his hands and the pain was nearly unbearable.

“Dean!” yelled Seamus as he ran to his friend’s side. He knelt next to him and tried to pry Dean’s hands off his face so he could see how bad it was. He ducked as a bolt of energy came at them from somewhere. Damn it! He had to get Dean off the middle of the battlefield.

“Seamus? Is that you? Help me!” Dean called out. “I can’t see! Oh Gods, I can’t see!”

“Come on,” Seamus screamed, through the noise of battle. He hoisted Dean up to his feet and held him against his side as he ducked through the firing wands, having to throw himself and Dean on the ground numerous times to escape getting hit.

They were almost at the tree line, where, perhaps, there would be less smoke and he could figure out which way led back to base camp. Dean needed help immediately.

“I’m going to be blind!” cried Dean as Seamus dragged him along.

“Be quiet,” Seamus hissed in his ear, looking frantically around for a Death Eater to step out of the smoke. The adrenaline of battle was coursing through his veins and he felt a bit crazed from all the confusion and fear. Their feet stumbled over dead bodies in their path and Seamus didn’t even want to look at their faces, didn’t want to know which friends he would never see again. This was all too much. Who the fuck was winning? Who could even tell with all this smoke and chaos?

When a Death Eater stepped into their path, they saw one another at the same time. Seamus reacted without thought.

“Avada Kedavra!” Seamus yelled, using the killing curse for the first time in his life. Even Dean stiffened next to him. So far they had only used stunning spells in this battle.

“You… you…” Dean stumbled, forgetting his own pain for a moment. “You said… it.”

“I know,” Seamus said, a bit shocked himself. “I’m tired of this, Dean. They are killing everyone. Why should we only stun them? Fuck the Death Eaters! Fuck them all!” He hoisted Dean up against him again and continued on into the woods.

OOOOOOOOO

“How’s your arm?” George asked, flying up next to Ron.

Ron had taken a hit on his arm and the blood made it look worse than it really was. It was still useable, so Ron intended to use it.

“I’m fine,” Ron yelled back.

The airborne troops had the best spot – above all the action. Though they had to duck a lot of curses shot up at them, the smoke had hidden their advances on many occasions, so very few of them had been unbroomed.

Ron had taken himself up higher in order to get a grasp on the location of all the troops. It was difficult to see through all the fire and smoke, but the glinting masks of the Death Eaters helped them spot the bad guys from the good.

“Why don’t you get that patched up, I’ll take over for now,” George said.

“No, I’m fine,” Ron replied, insistently. Bolts of lightning and loud explosions in the distance caught their attention and Ron said, “Looks like Harry and Voldemort are out of the village and into the woods.”

“Village? What village?” George said. The village was nothing but a humongous bonfire.

“I don’t like the fact that Harry’s got to face Voldemort alone,” Ron stated, staring off in the direction of the Dark Lords.

George looked at Ron sternly. “Ron, don’t get any ideas about going over there. I mean, look at that. That kind of magic is way beyond us. We’d be dead before we could lift our wands.” When Ron didn’t reply, George said, “Ron, did you hear me? Stay away from them.”

Ron gave George a strange look and nodded once before he swooped back down into the battle.

OOOOOOOOO

Water ran in rivulets down the block of ice as Snape held his wand near the top of it. Closer… he was getting closer to Merlin. He’d have to be careful not to burn the great wizard. He was contemplating how he could do so, when he heard the footsteps coming down the stairs.

Gods, he hoped it wasn’t that large woman! But it sounded like more than one person coming. He thought about what he could do to prevent anyone from stopping him. Taking his wand away from melting Merlin for a moment, he cast a spell to put a magical barrier up across the room. No one but the caster would be able to take the barrier down. He smiled at his genius and went back to melting the ice around Merlin.

Within minutes the four figures stumbled into the ice cavern and Snape smiled smugly when he heard Hermione call out, “Expelliarmus!” When nothing happened, he turned his head and watched as she ran into his magical barrier.

“I’m sorry, Miss Granger, but you and your magic will not get past my barrier,” Snape smirked, continuing to hold his wand up, shooting flames at the block of ice.

“Severus!” Dumbledore called out as he entered the cavern behind the others. “You must stop! There are things you don’t know about Merlin.”

“You are a bad man,” Bugger called out. “Bugger will kill you!”

Snape looked at Bugger with disgust. “Go ahead and try, you filthy beast,” Snape sneered.

Bugger puffed up in indignation and Hermione put her hand on his head. “Calm down, Bugger, we’ll handle this,” she said.

“Yes, Mistress,” Bugger replied, not really appeased.

But Hermione did not feel calm. She could see Merlin in the block of ice and Snape had almost melted it to the very top of his grey hair. This had to stop! Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt like a caged animal as she paced back and forth in front of the barrier. How could she get past this magic? Her brain began searching for any possibility while Dumbledore tried to get through to Severus Snape with his words.

Draco stood shocked, looking upon Merlin for the first time and clasping his wand tightly. What would happen if Merlin were freed?

“You used me!” Hermione yelled. “You drugged me and took my feelings for Harry and Draco!”

“So I did,” Snape said, calmly. “It’s all for the higher good, however. I don’t expect you in particular to agree with me, Miss Granger, but the world will be much better off without Potter and Voldemort in it. Power can be restored to those that deserve it.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Severus,” Dumbledore replied. “Merlin is not a benevolent being. He has no love for mankind. He destroys as much as he creates and he will surely destroy the world as we know it out of spite for what was done to him. You are releasing an evil greater than any Dark Lord.”

Snape looked at Dumbledore in interest. “You are quite the contradiction, Albus. First you try to destroy the Triad and now you want to support it? I think age has finally caught up to you, old man.”

Hermione and Draco looked at Dumbledore in surprise.

“Destroy the triad?” Hermione repeated. “What does he mean by that?”

Dumbledore sucked in a great breath in discomfort, which made Snape smile. “Oh, yes,” Snape said. “Did you really believe that Voldemort killed your parents, Miss Granger? Well, it wasn’t Voldemort. It was your dear Headmaster here.”

“That’s a lie!” Hermione exclaimed. She looked at Dumbledore, thinking that he would deny Snape’s accusation, but Dumbledore only looked down at the ground with great sadness. Confusion and disbelief filled her heart as she stared at the man she had thought so dear and righteous. “It’s a lie, isn’t it?” she asked, softly.

Dumbledore lifted his face and gazed at her with watery eyes. “I’m sorry, my dear. I’m so sorry,” he replied, sadly.

Draco came to Hermione’s side as they both stared at Dumbledore in disbelief. Hermione didn’t know what to say except, “Why?”

“I didn’t know about Merlin being here, under Marlston. I didn’t know that the Marlstons were protecting the world from disaster. I only knew that there was a Triad, and that the Triad was an extremely powerful force when they were together,” Dumbledore explained. “You see, I had Thomas Marlston’s book, but it was only about the history of Merlin, not that he was here, under the house and still living.”

“Go on,” Draco demanded.

“At that time,” Dumbledore continued, “I was grateful that Tom Riddle and your parents had a falling out and that he was not living with them anymore. It meant that Riddle’s power was not at full force and that if we had a chance to stop him, it would be at that time. I knew of the prophecy, you see, but so did Tom. He was searching for Harry, wanting to destroy him before he became any stronger.”

“Then I received the news. Morgana and Sebastian Marlston were on the move, seeking to reunite with Tom Riddle,” Dumbledore explained. “It was rumored that they were bringing something to him, something of great power. I… couldn’t let that happen. I thought that if the Triad were reunited, Harry would be destroyed for certain and the rest of us doomed. As long as they were apart, we had a chance.”

“So you killed them,” Hermione replied.

Dumbledore shook his head. “It wasn’t quite that way. You see, my intention was to arrest them, keep them away from Riddle, but apprehending them went… badly.” Dumbledore looked at Hermione with great sorrow. “I didn’t know that Morgana had recently borne a child. I didn’t know that the very thing they were bringing to show Tom Riddle was… you. We came upon them in surprise and they fought us fiercely, as a mother bear would fight for her cub. It came down to them or us, as Morgana and Sebastian would not relent. Afterwards, I went to see what they had been hiding behind them in a bundle of robes and that’s when… when I found you.” Tears fell down Dumbledore’s cheeks as he recalled that moment of finding the infant. “I knew I couldn’t let Riddle find you. He would use your precious blood for his own means. So I found you a new home, in the Muggle world, where you could be safe and loved until it was time to rejoin our world.”

Dumbledore shook his head and said, “It’s been a deed I deeply regret. I think I would have tried a different way to stop them if I had known about you. I’m sorry, my dear. I’m truly sorry. It’s been a thorn in my conscience for so long now.”

Hermione didn’t know what to say. This was all so shocking to her. But she could see how truly regretful Dumbledore looked and that, perhaps, was the only reason she wasn’t angry at him. She really wished that this confession had come much earlier, however.

“Mistress!” Bugger exclaimed, tugging on her hand and pointing at Snape, reminding her that there was much more urgent matters to attend to.

“You must stop!” Hermione yelled at Snape. “Didn’t you hear? Merlin will destroy everything?”

“And why should I fear Merlin?” Snape replied. “You, yourself, confessed to me how Merlin built kings. Well, who better to choose as the next sovereign than the very man who is responsible for releasing him? It’s a logical choice since I am also of royal blood.”

“What?” Hermione said, surprised.

“There is no royalty in the wizarding world, Severus,” Dumbledore said.

“There is now,” Snape replied. “You see, I am the son of the royal family.”

“You’re mad!” Draco exclaimed.

“No, it’s true,” Snape replied. “Of course I’m not speaking of any wizarding royals, I’m speaking of Muggle royalty. My mother, well, let’s just say she became… involved with a member of the Muggle royal family, during which time she became pregnant with me. Not being of suitable status to marry into the royal family, she was turned away and found solace with my ill conceived stepfather. Nonetheless, the fact remains, I am indeed the Half Blood Prince. It’s time the wizarding world had proper leadership, wouldn’t you say?”

A big gasp from Bugger drew their attention to Merlin, whose ice had now melted enough to expose his forehead and eyebrows. But the shocking thing was not that. The most horrifying thing of all was the movement of Merlin’s eyes under the remaining thin layer of ice.

OOOOOOOO

In the Hall of Portraits a chill wind blew down its length, causing the portraits to shudder with cold and wonder. The oldest portraits still slumbered on through the events of this terrible day, all of them – except one.

The foremost and oldest portrait on the wall, that of the first and most powerful Dark Lord, opened his eyes.

Mordred had awoken.

OOOOOOOO

“Please, Severus, don’t do this,” Dumbledore said. “Let me explain Merlin’s history to you. You must cease melting the ice!”

“The time for talk has ended,” Severus said. “Why don’t you sit back and enjoy the reawakening of the greatest wizard ever known?”

A howling scream startled them and their heads turned towards the stairwell entrance. Something was happening. Snape gritted his teeth and went about his melting with new fervor until the chill wind blew fiercely into the cavern, knocking Hermione, Draco, Bugger and Dumbledore down to the ground.

When the wind died down, a black cloud streamed into the cavern as they all stared in wonder. Suddenly the hovering cloud funneled down around Draco. He gasped and flopped around on the ground, holding his throat as the cloud entered into his open mouth and completely disappeared into his body.

“NO!” Hermione screamed, crawling over to Draco’s side. “Please! What’s happening?”

Even Snape looked perplexed at what had happened. Even more so when Draco’s body moved, rolling over to its side and pushing up to stand. Hermione scooted away in fear as she looked at her lover’s body and realized that it was no longer her Draco looking out of its eyes.

‘Draco’ took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and savoring the act. As he inhaled, his body began to pulsate with energy and power, so strong it was visible to the human eye.

Hermione had now stood and pressed herself back next to Dumbledore.

“Who are you?” Dumbledore asked, knowing what possession looked like.

‘Draco’ opened his eyes slowly and looked at Hermione and then at Dumbledore. “I am Mordred,” he said, his voice like a strong echo.

OOOOOOOOOO

Harry jumped over the burning log and saw Voldemort before him, trying to bring down a tree on Harry’s head. Harry held up his hands and began to send his power to the same tree, pushing it back towards Voldemort.

“Why don’t you just die, Potter,” Voldemort called out.

“Why don’t you?” Harry shouted back. The tree lifted into the air, its roots torn free of the ground and large clumps of soil falling in its wake. It shook fiercely as the two Dark Lords concentrated, trying to control its direction.

Suddenly Harry felt bereft as with a rush, energy was torn from his body. The tree fell sideways onto the ground with deafening cracks and groans. What the fuck? Harry focused on the tree again and it didn’t budge. Suddenly every ache and pain in his body began to throb and his muscles quivered. He looked across the clearing to where Voldemort stood, looking just as astonished. Voldemort held up his hands and looked like he was trying to push air. Nothing was happening.

They had lost their powers.

Suddenly, both Dark Wizards were completely without magic!

They stared wide-eyed at one another for a moment. Finally Voldemort’s face became one of rage.

“You fool!” Voldemort yelled. “You had them release Merlin!”

Harry shook his head. Had Snape succeeded? Gods! What was to happen? “No, they were trying to stop Snape from releasing him.”

“Snape!” Voldemort yelled. “That idiot! Now we are all doomed.”

They glared at one another, breathing hard with all their cuts and bruises. It was extremely awkward to say the least.

“Well,” Harry panted, “I suppose we’re no better than Muggles now.”

Voldemort sneered at Harry. “I will not accept this! I am the most powerful wizard in the world.”

Harry shook his head. “Not anymore. Now you’re a Muggle. I’m guessing you can die like a Muggle too.”

Harry began to move towards Voldemort, who opened his eyes wide and began walking backwards. Then he turned and started to run, but not fast enough. Harry leapt on him, knocking him to the ground.

Without magic, Harry was the younger and stronger of the two, and he began slugging Voldemort in the side, bruising his ribs, as the older man struggled to push Harry off. “Stop, Potter!” Voldemort cried. “Let’s… let’s make a deal.”

Harry turned him over and slugged him in the mouth, causing Voldemort’s teeth to bleed. “No deals, you evil fuck. You killed my parents!”

OOOOOOOO

The airborne troops circled above the battlefield and surrounding woods. The smoke was thinning and Death Eater sightings had grown fewer and fewer. A few shouts in the distance drew their attention as the remaining ground troops began trying to reform and find one another again. One would have thought the Death Eaters would be attracted to the noise, but maybe…

“Do you think we got them all?” George asked, flying next to his brother, Bill. “I can’t spot any more.”

“Don’t know,” Bill replied, scanning the ground carefully. “Get your troop together and we’ll go down and do a body count. I think I have a good idea how many there were to begin with. No one’s firing any more, it seems.”

“Neville’s troop is already binding the stunned Death Eaters and moving them to the spot near the burnt village,” George replied.

“Good, that will make it easier to count,” Bill replied. “We should all help with that, but more importantly, let’s get our own wounded back to base camp.”

“All right,” George replied, looking around at the hovering flyers.

Fred now flew up to his twin as Bill left. “Have you seen Ron?”

“No…” George said, dread dawning within him. “Damn!”

“What?” Fred asked.

“I think I know where he went,” George replied. “He’s been wanting to go help Harry all evening.”

“What!” Fred exclaimed. “What the hell’s wrong with him? Come on, we have to stop him before he gets himself killed.”

OOOOOOOO

Please leave me a review of your thoughts. It’s been so long! LOL Next chapter will be up soon. Also look for the new revisions on Chapters 1 through 4.