It seemed like a great parade of cloaks and robes were crashing through the door. Perhaps the death eaters had been alerted to the presence of Harry Potter and had come to help their lord and protector, those that were left and not insane in any case.

Had Gwen looked she might have realized that none of these witches and wizards had hoods. None of them bore the dark mark, but two among them and both of them had long since given up any allegiance to the foul blemish. Had Gwen stopped for half a moment she would have recognized these people as the ones who had been living in and fighting for the castle that she called home.

But all of these things were blurry in her mind and she couldn't sense that they were coming to her aid. She began to speak quickly and quietly: g'nath heflubesqad bicow. Harry recognized these words, she was closing them in together, sealing them apart from all those robed figures storming in to join them. If he had never thought her crazy before he now wondered why.

Her misguided attempt to protect them had now put them in greater danger than before.

When the Dark Lord began to laugh his high, cold laugh she stopped immediately. She could see through the barrier she had created, she could now recognize Graves stunned face, Dumbeldore's piercing blue eyes, Minerva's surprise and even Snape as he stood looking fierce and deadly. She could see them now, trapped outside of her circle of protection.

She glared at him and apologized out of the side of her mouth to Harry.

"Can you reverse it?" Harry said.

"It's not that kind of spell Harry." She said, thinking angry thoughts about herself. Rushing ahead again, without thought on consequence.

"Well dear, it seems you really wanted me all to yourself." Voldemort said. He laughed again and stood from his throne-like chair. He stepped over to her and stroked her the side of her face with a long yellowing finger.

She flinched away and continued her glaring. "This doesn't change a thing. I'm still ending this today."

"I've no doubt you will Guenivere." He replied. "But I'd like to make this quick." He added. He pointed his wand casually at her and she found herself on her knees again, her scar burning and Harry was writhing on the ground next to her. She felt a rush of concerned voices from outside the bubble she had built and she regretted it more dearly than any rushed decision so far.

No, she thought, that wasn't true. She couldn't regret anything. There wasn't room for regret if she wanted to live. She gave an agonizing grunt as her stomach turned. "Stop." She said and concentrating very carefully she felt the pain fade into nothingness and looked up at Voldemort with clear eyes.

"You killed my father." She said, standing slowly, careful not show her amazement that she could do that much.

"I'm very impressed Guenivere, but not in the least pleased. Your father is still alive."

"No, my real father, the one who cared for me. The one who loved me. You killed him, even if it was indirectly; it was a result of your hatred for him."

"He was a fool who deserted me. Just like your beloved Corwin. He will share your father's fate. He will die and it will be at the hand of myself or one of my death eaters."

"Not if I have anything to do with it." She said. Harry was still in agony on the floor and she flickered for a moment to offer him sympathy. Voldemort used this moment to shoot another wave of pain at her and she brushed it off quickly.

"You may have caught me the first time." She said. "But you will not catch me again. I'm stronger than you and you know it."

There was a momentary flicker between them, an understanding that their bond of blood allowed. He raised what was left of his eyebrow and looked down from his nearly lidless eyes. "So what is it that you want?"

"I want to sort his whole sordid mess out before I kill you."

"Certainly." He said with a nod. He sat down upon his throne again and threw another wave of pain upon her.

"It's not weakening me any more." She said pointedly. "Don't waste your energy when you'll need it later."

The evil one wanted to laugh at the very nerve of his granddaughter, but he realized that at least a part of himself was present in her blood and perhaps this part was what was giving her the strength and the gall to say the things she did now.

"I realize now that you allowed your son to live perhaps because you hadn't realized he was your son until now. And then you didn't allow anyone to know it was so, you even managed to silence Leandre, his mother. Pretty crafty."

She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Why you let him procreate is beyond me, but here I am. Daughter of Beorc and Jeremiah, certainly not a product of my environment. Jeremiah tried to get Henry to kill me, for reasons he wouldn't expound upon. Perhaps he realized the power I had then, maybe not, but it backfired. I'm immune to the wizard's curse of death, that was a gift my grandmother Leandre. You wanted to confirm that it was true later in my life, when you sent your death eaters to find me. But they couldn't and that wasn't something you had counted on."

"How ever did you hide from me?" He interrupted.

"I wasn't aware of it at the time, but I'd been casting a very simple fey glamour on myself. Anytime a death eater looked at me I just looked like some other kid, plain and easily ignorable. I'd been doing it since before I could walk. Anyone bearing the dark mark wouldn't be able to find me unless I wanted them to."

She smiled with a tinge of pride. "And Harry here. You marked him for death when you learned of the prophecy."

Harry looked at her amazed. He hadn't spoken a word about it to anyone, nor he knew did Dumbledore. How did she know of it? She turned and smiled at him, as if she'd heard his thoughts. "I snuck back into the dream world not long ago. Mom's magic is still working and I found the rest of the JK Rowling series waiting for me in my old dorm room. I read book five and most of book six before I realized I should probably come back, I'd been there for days. I left them there and didn't finish the series. I thought we could do that Harry, finish the story together."

She looked at him calmly. "There is of course, one other person who should be here with us."

"Dumbledore." Harry said softly.

"Actually no." Gwen said. "Neville Longbottom." Harry looked at her as if she'd just uttered a highly laughable joke. She continued, non-plussed. "You see granddad, you missed a very important part of the prophecy. There were two babies born at the end of July whose parents had escaped you three times. You marked Harry as your equal and he should be the one to finish it, but I think Neville has just as much right to be here."

A slightly pudgy figure appeared on the periphery of the bubble she had created and when he pushed his hands against the bubble he found himself being sucked in. Gwen realized she could control the bubble if she needed and she allowed Neville to pass through. If she wanted she could let everyone in, but for now Neville would buy her some time.

He looked between the three figures inside in surprise. He didn't understand what was transpiring within and couldn't hear what had been said within the bubble. He looked to Harry for answers because Harry was the one he was most familiar with. Harry simply shrugged and nodded towards Gwen, who smiled vaguely.

"So you see, Neville should be here too. He was a part of the prophecy, one of the two children who could bring you down. And of course, then there's me�"

Neville sidled over to where Harry was standing and shifted back and forth on his feet uncomfortably. He felt terribly out of place, but he had the same savage bravery surging in his veins as he had during that night in the ministry when he braved death eaters and smashed up the prophecy he was a part of.

Gwen looked between the two boys. "Maybe I won't kill you." She said softly. "Maybe I'll just incapacitate you enough that these two can finish you off."

To be Continued in Episode One Hundred and Seventeen