Hi, guys, sorry for the wait. I know it's been a long time again, and time just seems to fly. Unfortunately this is chapter is a little shorter than usual, and probably not what a lot of you were expecting, but it was just something I needed to wrap up, before moving onto the last story arc. This crept up on me quite quickly, largely due to the fact I have cut out a few of the stories I planned, so for those of you interested to know, there will be between, 3 and 10 chapters more to this story, before I get started on the sequel, which will be just over 3 years since I started this J

Anyway, here you go peeps

Leagues down under the ocean surface Harry and his team was swimming round, desperately racing as the squid darted and chased after them, great talons on the tip of each of its tentacles, hissing through the water in a blur of death and pain. Ron and Tonks had separated, and had headed to the surface for air.

"Well I guess they wouldn't have saved this for last for nothing." Harry said as he darted down a crevice in the ground with the other three still remaining.

"Any plans?" Blaise asked sceptically as it circled overhead, a dark unrelenting shadow.

"Well we need to get to the surface before we can think of anything else." Remus reminded them. "If we don't get some air soon then we won't be doing much of anything, let alone getting some ink." After a few moments of debating Harry and Remus darted out of their safe place, skimming along the sea bed. The giant squid, after only a small hesitation shot after them, leaving Hermione and Blaise free to make a run for the surface.

Up in front of them came the large rocky underwater mountain where they had first disturbed it. They swum as fast as they could, their echo vision beating out as fast as they could just to try and get a clear image of what was in front of them. It drew nearer, as did the squid.

At the last moment just as they were about to slam into the rocks they changed their direction, and started swimming straight up. The squid's talons shot past on either side of them, barely missing them.

"I think we should be able to out manoeuvre him Harry" Remus called as they rose to the peak of the rocky mound, and finally into the clear water. "We are smaller and can change direction faster"

The squid, which crashed into the rocky surface extended on of its tentacles, grabbed onto one of the rocky ledges and hurled itself up and after them, putting Remus' statement to the challenge.

"Well maybe not, but in open water we should at least be able to give it a run" he said as they pushed upwards. Harry couldn't look over his shoulder, and at such speeds his echo location wasn't showing anything behind him either, so he simply concentrated on swimming upwards, towards the surface, and away from the danger.

Eventually he broke the surface, rising some distance into the air with the sun blinding his eyes, before he crashed back into the sea again, he quickly looked below him for any sign of the squid, but it seemed it wouldn't dare venture so near to the surface. Remus was a few feet from him, whilst the others seemed to be waiting a short way off, along with Ron and Tonks.

"So I don't think this will be as easy as we thought." Tonks said as she swum over beside Remus who was catching his breath. The glass drum on his back, which would filter out any of the ink, was still completely empty.

"Well obviously we need to do it, so I guess it will just be a matter of swimming very quickly, and maybe a little bit of clever tactics to try and confuse it." Harry said.

"I think our best chance is in open water." Remus explained. "We are faster and we don't take as long to change direction. If it can get us pinned to the floor and use its tentacles then it has the advantage, but if we try and get it as near to the surface as possible then the advantage should be ours."

"Still, it's not like it's going to be a splash in the pond is it?" Ron asked sceptically, he had a very near miss before he made his run to the surface. "I mean with all the tactics and everything I'm still not looking forward to going back down there."

"I don't think any of us have looked forward to anything in regards to this whole quest, but its something we choose to do, because it will be of benefit to us, and often we need to look past the hear and now, and into the future, in order to make the best decisions." Remus said convincingly, before taking a deep breath, and diving back down, ready for a second attempt.

Harry dived down under the surface with the rest of them. The squid wasn't anywhere to be seen, which meant it must have returned to the ocean bed, something that would have been good, were it not for the fact that they still needed to go and get it. As he swam down, with Ron he realised why this was the most dangerous task yet. Without his wand he felt entirely useless. At least with his wand he had options open to him. Now what could he do other than splash a little?

Marcus who had been peacefully sitting on the beach front was now busy, in a panic as he rushed round trying to gather his thoughts in the best way to deal with the situation that had presented itself. Never before had he needed to remove a coombsy from someone. The whole point of them was that they shouldn't need to be removed. They should kill those who deserve to die, and yet it seems there was an exception…

Marcus summoned up more apparatus that he thought we would need.

"They should be finished by about now." Marcus thought to himself as he glanced out over the clear water front every few minutes, for any sign of movement. The potion would be wearing off soon, and he needed to get Harry stunned before the transformation started if there was to be any chance of the operation working.

He double checked he had everything, despite having just done so.

"Damn Oldman…" Marcus thought to himself, as he chose to blame the messenger. But what was Albus thinking? How much did he know about Harry, about his powers, his dreams and his hearts desires? Was that why Harry was invited to join the Order of the Phoenix? Was it not for the contributions he could make, but rather so Albus could administer that evil parasite, and protect everyone, should Harry take a turn for the worse?

There was a ripple in the far distance, as a dolphin surfaced, followed by another, then another.

"Which one is Harry?" He wondered as this new question faced him. Something was wrong though… Remus surfaced with the equipment mounted on his back, and from what Marcus could see from this distance they had succeeded, but they were moving slowly, and then as the last three surfaced there was no doubt. One of them was swimming slowly, with a companion on either side helping him along, whilst Remus was swimming slightly to one side, as though he was weighed down by something.

Marcus rolled up his sleeves and drew his wand ready. Having injuries to deal with in addition to the Coombsy was the last thing he needed. As they neared the coast it became clear that Remus had been injured on one side as their was a faint tint of blood in the water, whilst it seems the one at the back was either Ron or Harry, for it was slightly larger than the females.

Marcus glanced at his watch, which showed they should change back any moment, which was good timing, as he couldn't allow Remus to carry on bleeding like that, and also since he didn't much fancy his skills at being able to cure a dolphin.

The dolphin at the back which was being supported by two others swam forwards until it ground itself on the beach, and begun to change in shape. Marcus watched this, desperately hoping it wasn't Harry.

As the figure finished turning back into human form Marcus realised it was Ron, which meant that the remaining male who seemed unharmed for once was Harry. Remus gently rolled over and slipped off the glass apparatus strapped to his back which had a dark inky substance inside. As he did this he revealed the injury which was making his swim erratically. Just behind his left fin there was a deep spike embedded within his torso. By the looks of it the spike came from the squid.

Marcus waded into the water and pointed his wand at Harry, before firing a powerful stunning spell. Harry quickly rolled in the water and avoided the spell, before looking back in anger.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, though it just came out as unintelligible click to Marcus.

"STAY STILL!" Marcus shouted back at him. Harry simply heard this as a deep slow groan.

Remus now also began to change back, as did one of the girls. Marcus fired a few more times before he finally hit Harry, who slowed down, and then rolled over in the water.

"What are you doing?" Asking Ron in a wheezing voice as he rolled onto his back and tried to sit up.

"He is in danger." Marcus explained as he strolled into the water and took Harry behind each of his fins and dragging his up onto the sandy bank.

"What about Remus? He's got a freaking big spike in him." Ron snapped as he looked over to Remus who was now back in human form.

"Harry is about to die, he has a coombsy in him, and there is a very real chance that when he transforms back into his human form it will awaken from its state, and kill him. Ron fell silent at this, and simply watched with wide eyes. Harry began to transform back a few moments later, with no signs of anything going wrong.

"Tonks, help me lift him." Marcus said as he looked over to Tonks who was the first of the girls to transform back. Remus despite putting on a smile was still injured and unable to stand without a great deal of pain.

She walked over to where Harry was, only mildly aware of the fact that everyone except Marcus was naked, herself included.

"Wait." Marcus said as Harry went through the final stages of transformation. "Now!" he said as immediately after Harry fell still they picked him up and walked a short way to the metal bench Marcus had summoned.

They placed him down, where he lay completely still. Marcus was just starting to question whether maybe the Coombsy was still dormant, or even there at all. Oldman could very well be standing laughing, having made the entire affair up simply for kicks.

Suddenly Harry's body jerked, and though he remained unconscious his arm moved towards his stomach, towards where the coombsy had been living for the last several months.

"It's happening." Marcus said as he quickly paced around the table and strapped Harry's arms and legs down to the table

"What shall I do?" Tonks asked as Harry started writhing on the metal table.

"Help Remus. You will be of more use to him than you will to me." Marcus instructed. "It's a good job we caught it early." Marcus muttered as he stunned Harry again, just in case he woke up. "If I hadn't known what was wrong then he would most probably have die."

Tonks felt wrong leaving Harry, especially as Marcus drew out a knife which didn't look at all designed with surgical procedures in mind. However she turned her attention to Remus, who gave her a weak smile.

"Not much harm done." He said before breaking into a series of coughing. She knelt down on the wet sand besides him as she examined his wound.

"Well it looks deep enough." She said, as it appeared it may well have punctured a lung. "I'm afraid I don't have any numbing potion she said, as she wrapped her fingers around the embedded talon.

"That's ok, I'm a big boy." He said. "I'm sure you won't hurt me much." Tonks nodded in response to this, before bracing herself. With a firm tug she removed the talon, which was followed by a burst of bloody water.

Remus gritted his teeth, yet didn't make a sound. He wouldn't want her to know he was in pain, for it would only make her worry.

"Right we need to get this healed up sharpish." She said as she drew her wand and peered at the injury. It seemed he had made a lucky miss with the lung, and would hopefully have a full recovery. He was still bleeding at a steady pace, but that was nothing that couldn't he healed in a minute. As for the coughing that was due to ingestion of water.

"You know for a minute there I didn't think we would make it." He said as Tonks finished up repairing the wound. "It got a bit crazy down there…I'm glad none of us got to hurt."

"Well it couldn't have been much worse could it!" Tonks said angrily as Remus made light of the situation. A few inches one way and you would have been dead, and Ron looks like he has some broken ribs, as for Harry, well I don't know about him but its not hunky dory."

"Leave that." Remus said, as he took hold of Tonks' hand. I can do the dressing, you go have a look at Ron. He will only fuss otherwise." Tonks nodded, before going over and attending to Ron's injuries. Remus wrapped some bandages round his middle, which though not a work of art would do the job. After all there was only a small mark to show he had been injured, though the bruising would be bad later.

Remus pulled on his trousers, before having a look as to whether there was anything else he could help with. Ron was telling Tonks all about how amazing it all was, as though she hadn't been there. Hermione and Blaise had got dressed, and were now standing a distance from Marcus, who was still at work.

Remus strolled a little closer to where Marcus was standing, he had his sleeves rolled up, and blood covering his lower arms, though his use of the large knife didn't seem anything less than skilful. There was a large incision on Harry's front where there was a steady flow of blood which obscured much or what needed to be seen.

"Come on." Marcus said to himself as he worked with great concentration. In his other hand he held his wand, which was pointed straight at Harry, with a pale glow at one end. After a few moments the glow increased, and a wispy grey black tail appeared from the wound, thrashing and wriggling for safety as it was drawn from its host.

After a minute it had entirely emerged. No features to distinguish one end from the other, except for two tiny orange eyes. It must have been about twenty inches long, and yet only as fat as his thumb. Once it was safely suspended in the air, under the control of Marcus' wand he placed the knife down on the bench, before reaching out and grabbing hold of the parasite, which immediately turned into a smoky mist under his touch, dissolving, and disappearing once and for all.

"Is it done?" Remus asked, once he felt it was safe to speak.

"Nearly. I need to heal him, and he will need to take several potions just to make sure the whole thing is out of his system…"

Despite all the thrashing about his body had been doing during the operation Harry remained unconscious, not knowing of any of it. His wrists and ankles were bruised and raw where they had been rubbing on the leather straps when his muscles had been convulsing.

Ten minutes later Marcus had finished, Harry was all fixed up, as well as they could hope, and it seemed everyone was going to be ok. Marcus strode down to the sea front where the tide was still gently washing back and forth across the bleached white sand. He crouched down and splashed some water over his arms.

"Was it the Coombsy that made him behave like that?" Remus asked as he pulled on his t-shirt.

"You mean thrashing around like that?" Marcus responded as he looked up from the water. "No, he was doing it himself. His body was fighting…"

"What, you mean it wanted to be infested?"

"No, not at all. It wasn't fighting the Coombsy. It was his subconscious that was fighting. It was looking for something…"

Remus cast a thought back to the conversation they had been having this morning, before shuddering, and waking off to talk to the girls.

Harry awoke in darkness, rain pounding against the window. The sky outside was heavy with cloud, and even the moon was only just visible through the downpour. Harry looked around him, mildly confused as to how he had come to be here. He was in a large bed, with heavy crimson sheets, which he recognised to be the same room he had slept in last night.

Blaise wasn't in bed with him. She wasn't even on the floor. He threw the blanket off him, going to get up, but felt a sharp pain around his middle. He looked down to see that he was bandaged.

"What had happened?" he wondered. The last thing he remembered, was that Marcus had stunned him, but why? It was Marcus wasn't it?

He went to get out of bed, despite the fact it was quite painful to move.

"If you could refrain from excessive movement that would be splendid." Marcus said, as he sat in a chair in a dark corner of the room unnoticed.

"What happened?" Harry asked, slight unnerved that he wasn't as alone as he had thought.

"You had a narrow escape Harry." Marcus explained, as he remained sitting. "You see I discovered that you had a coombsy inside you."

"I did." Harry replied.

"Yes, you did."

"No, I mean that was months ago, it died."

"You may have taken it months ago Harry, but it didn't die. It had been living inside you."

"How is that possible?" Harry asked, as suddenly he had a dirty feeling about himself, as though it made him less of a person. "I was told it would either die, or kill me."

"That is usually the case." Marcus said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "However it seems that in you it found an inbetween. It found enough of what it needed to survive, and yet not enough to thrive and kill you."

"You mean evil."

"Yes, Harry, though I wouldn't feel to bad. Most people have a little evil in them, you just seemed to have the right balance for that Coombsy."

"Why did you stun me then?" Harry asked, mildly annoyed at Marcus, but more at himself.

"Well you see the physical transformation disturbed it, and there was a good chance that it would have killed you when you transformed back. As it stood it was growing, very slowly, and so sooner or later it would have to have been removed. I suppose we are just lucky that your journey is almost over. You may not be up to much physically over the next few days, but you should be in a fit state to complete the Rite."

"It's almost over then…" Harry thought to himself. It seemed like he had been in this world forever. The nearly constant danger had made the situation so tense. They hardly had a moment to relax and enjoy themselves. At least they had the remained of the Christmas holiday to look forward to, or so he thought.

"Tomorrow you will finish the task, and then you will return straight to earth afterwards. We considered it and we couldn't see any reason to wait any longer, as long as you're ok with it. As I say it shouldn't be too challenging."

"No, the hardest part comes later." Harry laughed, before stopping, as it was hurting him.

"Indeed." Marcus said, referring to something rather different than Harry.

"Anyway I just wanted to make sure you were going to be alright. It doesn't appear you have received any mental injuries, so I think I will leave now. After all I don't expect you much want me watching you sleep."

"It's not one of my life's fancies." Harry confessed.

"Well anyway you should probably get back to bed, we don't have an early start tomorrow, but you probably need your sleep after everything." He said as he left, closing the door behind him.

Harry lay awake for a little while longer, wondering what Voldemort was up to now. Whilst Harry and his friends were coming to the end of there mission, so was Voldemort. They both had everything they needed to complete their missions. And what about the Blights? What had happened to Alex, had he seen sense and returned to his family, or was he advancing along the path into darkness?

He fell asleep to these questions and didn't wake up until a little later. He pondered briefly what it was that had awoken him, because a glance out of the window revealed it was still dark. He looked at his watch, which revealed it was just shy of three o clock.

"You, awake Harry?" asked Blaise as she tiptoed across the carpet. "I wanted to see how you were…"

"I'm fine. Why are you up so late though?" He asked, concerned, though not displeased that she was creeping into his room late at night.

"I couldn't sleep very well in Hermione's room." Blaise said. "I swear she was watching me when I slept."

"Maybe she was worried you would attack her." Harry suggested with a smile. Blaise would have hit him, had she not partially agreed, and had he not been injured.

"I can't believe it's almost done." Blaise said as she climbed into the bed next to him and pulled her feet up towards her so she was sitting on the pillows. "This has been the longest week of my life I think."

"Well there were fun times weren't there?"

"Yes, but that just goes to show people lie. Time doesn't always fly when you're having fun. It will seem strange to go back to doing lessons…"

"I think I'm used to the contrast. Besides lessons offer a nice break between the peril, you learn to savor them, not to mention Snape's potion lessons seem quite pleasant by comparison."

"You are so unlucky Harry, how do you always manage to look on the bright side of things?" Blaise asked as she looked into his eyes, which hid many years of suffering.

"I'm not unlucky, I'm still alive, and I have friends, and I have you. I couldn't ask for much else." Blaise slapped him playfully.

"But what about all the death?" Blaise asked, bringing up a subject Harry never enjoyed.

"Well its unfortunate in the fact I am at the very least partially responsible for it, but that just makes me more convinced that I'm doing the right thing, and that by standing up to Voldemort, in what little way I can. That it will one day pay off."

"I don't think I will ever understand you." Blaise said as she lay down in the bed properly.

"You're a girl and I'm a boy. We aren't supposed to understand each other." He said with a smile. Blaise didn't respond to this but simply smiled, and drew a little closer to him. What she did next though surprised him, as she pulled off her pajama top and closed the remaining distance between them with a kiss.

"Blaise, I…"

"I know Harry. But I'm doing it because I want to, not because it's you want, that's just an added benefit. Besides… this will probably be the last night we get to spend together like this. I would like it to be a nice one."

The two of them lay like that, topless in each others arms, for the next half an hour, whispering to each other and kissing, until they eventually fell asleep, the remaining hours of the night, and a good amount of the morning passing as they slept peacefully, together, unaware of the world around them, and the troubles that lay ahead.