They woke up early, around five in the morning, and immediately gathered in their common rooms. Nico, Will and Hazel were dressed in their usual fighting clothes, their weapons sheathed and a small medic pouch strapped to their legs. They were wearing simple running trainers rather than their uncomfortable school shoes. 

They weren't going to classes that day, they were going back to the woods to finish their mission.

Harry, Hermione and Ron were also out of their school uniform, wearing plain muggle clothes and had been given the daggers back to be strapped to their belts. The Half-Bloods had spent an hour training them to learn a few simple fighting moves, mostly defense, which they luckily picked up with ease.

Hazel had sent a message to Dumbledore, alerting him of their plan and the missing students, before summoning the trail to Ginny once more.

She lead the five through the grounds, into the forest and into a clearing. They seemed to be alone, then again they thought they had been alone the last time. They all waited for a moment and, sure enough, a shaggy black-haired dog slowly emerged from the trees, straight towards Nico.

Nico grinned at the sight of Sirius The Dog and silently asked Hazel to create a shield wall between the man and the golden trio. After that was done he nodded to the dog, signaling he was allowed to change back into his human form.

Just as he had expected, Ron and Hermione moved protectively in front of Harry, all three of them pointing their wands threateningly at Sirius. The spell Hermione threw his way was absorbed into the shield but that didn't stop Sirius from flinching.

"Put your wands away, he isn't here to hurt any of you," Nico rolled his eyes and went back to addressing Sirius "I'm guessing you've seen the hooded figure around here?"

Sirius nodded, his eyes darting back to the trio every so often but mostly at Harry "She's on the West side of the forest, far past the Centaurs, and he's got two students from the school with him."

"My sister!" Ron's expression softened and eyes filled to the prim with panicked concern over his missing sibling. Even though he was still wary of the supposed murderer, nothing could stop him from finding his family again "Is she okay, what did they do to her?"

"From the looks of you, your sister is the red-haired one. Both of the girls look fine but when I saw them they were unconscious and tied to two separate posts. The hooded figure, I saw her, it's-"

"Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw student from the castle who's currently possessed by a certain Greek God of war." Nico nodded, already aware of what he was going to say.

"Well I didn't know the last part, but yes it's a student. As far as I can tell they're trying to make the portal again, this time much bigger." Sirius waved his arms to show just what he meant, making a shape big enough for a very tall person to step through.

"You're going to want to stay out of the forest today, try and warn the Centaurs too or anyone else you can find. But be careful, you don't want to end up back in Azkaban for no reason." Nico chuckled under his breath and Sirius sent him a 'really?' look.

"For no reason?" Hermione piped up from the back of the crowd, still not lowering her wand "He killed Harry's parents and joined the Death Eaters!"

Nico was about to respond but Sirius raised his hand slightly, telling him he had this "Hermione, right? I never killed Harry's parents, I was their friend. Believe me when I say I miss Lily and James. I would never of killed them, I tried to protect them." The sadness took over his eyes and he had to lower his gaze. Harry just looked too much like his father and those eyes... He really did have Lily's eyes.

"You four have time to talk later, we have more pressing matters," Nico cut them off, they didn't have much time to save the girls and the rest of the school "Sirius, thank you for helping us."

"Good luck, all of you." Those were his parting words as soon after he morphed back into the dog and scampered away, having his own mission to complete.

Hazel lowered the shield to avoid someone walking into in and directed the group towards the West of the forest where they'd hopefully find the girls. Then again, luck was often never on their sides.

It was a long walk to their destination, Hermione was getting fed up of Ron's whining, and even Will was getting tired. They were all relieved in a twisted sort of way when they saw the top of two wooden posts poking above the trees only a few meters in front of them. They silently moved forward, well aware Ares would be nearby.

That was when they split up, Nico directed Will, Ron, and Hermione towards the right with the instructions to release the girls. Hazel and Nico placed enchantments around the clearing to stop any monsters from getting in or leaving, just in case they were too late and the portal was opened.

There they were, Ares/Luna sharpening a ritualistic knife on a rock that Hazel recognized from her late mother's collection. She had never used them but she had told a young Hazel that they held a lot of power, enough to harness the power of the gods into sacrifices. 

If Ares had one, then that did not bode well for anyone.

A/N

[PUBLISHED 25/10/2019]

I'll admit, the art at the top? Not my best, I went wrong somewhere with Harry, but I really wanted to get this out on time. I was late last week and I'm currently working on a rather long Halloween special for the Marvel One Shot book and I actually want it out for Halloween this year.

We're close to the end my friends, so comment below your predictions on what the final two chapters could possibly contain? Who will get hurt in the battle and/or crossfire?

Will our characters have a happy ending?

Only two more Fridays until the story is at an end, I'll see you then :)