(A/N: This is a lonnngggg chapter. Brace yourselves.)
Harry POV
"You have fought valiantly... but in vain," A voice boomed over Hogwarts. "I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste."
"I therefore command forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."
"Harry Potter, I speak now directly to you. On this night you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. And you have allowed your allies to kill my own. There is no greater dishonor."
"Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. Should you do so I give my word that no other life will be lost on this night. You have one hour. If, at the end of that time, you have not given yourself up, then I shall punish every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me."
Voldemort's voice stopped as we all stared at the sky. But Y/N and Ron were about to explode with rage.
"Never!" Ron yelled. "Do you hear me!? NEVER!" Lana laid her hand on the nape of his neck as she looked at me. Y/N gripped his wand, walked out of the boat house as we all followed him, but not before looking at Snape's body one more time. We all saw Y/N walk to the shore of the Black Lake as he roared in anger, pointed his wand in the sky and shouted to the top of his lungs,
"PHOENIX TEMPESTAS!"
A lightning bolt shot into the sky but then took the form of a giant Phoenix whose body was outlined with lightning. It was just as big as the Dark Mark, probably bigger than it. When I looked at it, I felt a surge of confidence flow through my veins. Y/N must have modeled this spell after Fawkes. As the Phoenix soared through the sky, It flew over Hogwarts and spread its wing over the school and roared at the Death Eaters as they retreated for one hour.
Y/N turned to me. "We need to go." He said to us. "We need to tend to the wounded and possibly dead. Harry, you go and find out what Snape gave you."
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We entered back in the Great Hall to find many wounded and hurt from the attacks around. All of the Houses that stayed back were being tended to by Madam Pomfrey and Draco. (I still couldn't believe he was on our side.) People were hesitant to be near Draco, but they were slowly easing up to him. Slughorn was tending to Filch's wounded arm, but I was surprised as to how Filch got hurt. He couldn't perform magic since he was a Squib. Flitwick's face was laced with gashes and Kayla was missing her arm and she was stabbed in the thigh. Axel, Nick and Ashley were tending to some friends that had joined later. One of them had brownish-black hair and was scarred a little, but still alive.
"You're gonna be alright, Auras," I heard Axel say to the guy as a girl was holding his arm to comfort him.
"Axel, use Sam, mate," The guy chuckled a little. "I'm not dying just yet."
"Right, sorry," Axel apologized with a small smile. "Just worried I'm gonna lose one of my best friends..."
"He's not going away!" The girl said before turning to Sam. "You better not be leaving me, Samuel Auras."
(Face claim: Jessica Hartel as Mia Blackwood and Timothee Chalamet as Samuel Auras.)
"Course not, Mia, dear." He said. "I'd like to see another day and make that bookstore idea of ours be a reality."Those were just the people who were hurt.
I stood there, taking it all in. All these people were hurt and killed... because of me. Y/N, Lana, Ron and Hermione were looking around for those they cared about, to make sure they were safe. Y/N and Hermione were looking for Anne, hoping she wasn't hurt. And thankfully, she ran to them, but hugged Y/N and sobbed in his chest.
"I'm so, so sorry..." She cried. "I'm so sorry, Dad."
"What do you mean, 'you're sorry'?" Y/N asked softly. "What happened? Is everything okay?" We were all worried, as Anne looked up and pointed to a corner. "It's Remus..." She croaked.
Mum was standing over Remus and Tonks' bodies. Newt and Tina were on the other side, both solemnly looked down at them and they were both mourning over the dead bodies.
Remus and Tonks were dead. They looked asleep, holding hands together. As Y/N and Lana looked at their bodies, they both began to cry as Mum and Hermione comforted them. Anne continued to hug Y/N, and he had accepted it from her. Teddy Lupin was going to grow up with his parents...
Just like I did.
From across the room, Ron spotted his family crowding around someone and we walked over to them, finding his family distraught and heartbroken. The Weasleys turned to Ron, but couldn't speak. Mr and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fred, George, and Ginny were all crying over someone laid down dead on the ground. Fred was the one sobbing the most.
Cause the dead Weasley was none other than Percy Weasley.
"He -- he took a Killing Curse meant for me..." Fred croaked. "I thought I was a goner... but the man took it for me." Ginny was being comforted by both Hermione and Lana while Y/N was comforting the male Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley was the most broken since Percy didn't talk to any of them, but had now begged for their forgiveness.
Now he had practically earned it.
(A/N: What kind of drug was J.K on when she killed Fred instead of Percy? Percy could have been redeemed like this. But no, Rowling had to be on some drug to kill FRED instead.)
There were more bodies on the ground, at least fifty on the ground. I couldn't take it, they were dead because of me. I backed out of the Great Hall as it grew smaller and smaller and made my way to the Headmaster's office, where Dumbledore's Pensieve was located.
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I entered the room and looked around for where Dumbledore kept his Pensieve. It had to be here somewhere. I flung open his cabinet, found the Pensieve and slammed it onto the desk. I extracted the vial and tipped it into the Pensieve and the memories swirled. As it was being prepared, I looked around, to find the portraits empty. I frowned and pushed my face into the Pensieve, ready to see what Snape wanted me to see.
I appeared in a field where I saw a young red-headed girl admiring the bushes as a voice called out to her. "Lily! Come out of there! Now!" This girl was my mother. She was looking at some flowers before who I assumed to be Aunt Petunia stared at her and knocked the flower she was holding away.
"We're going home." Petunia said as she took Lily's arm. They were about to leave, but a young boy was made clear to see Petunia as he made a leaf fly like a butterfly, making Lily smile and Petunia scared. Petunia kept looking at the boy and pulled Lily away. The boy kept watching as Lily glanced back at him.
The image I saw then changed as I saw as Lily and the boy were laying down next to each other, staring at the sky. This boy must have been Snape when he was younger.
"She's jealous." Snape said. "Because she's ordinary and you're special."
"That's mean." Lily said to him.
"It's true. You know so yourself."
The memories then shifted to multiple moments. Lily and Petunia arguing Snape and Lily boarding the Hogwarts Express, both of them meeting Addison, my godmother, Lily being sorted in Gryffindor, Snape being sorted in Slytherin, Lily meeting my father, the moment where they stopped being friends, but there was a moment between Addison and Snape as well.
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"Addison... please let me explain..." Snape said to her.
"No. I'm not listening, Severus." Addison said sternly. "I can't believe you, of all people, would say that to Lily!"
"But I didn't mean to!" Snape argued. "It just slipped out..."
"How does the phrase, 'I don't need help from a Mudblood like her', just slip out!?" Addison yelled at him. "She was your best friend and you called her that!?"
"But she is my best friend!" Snape argued.
"No. She was your best friend." Addison said. "You hurt her that much, that she doesn't consider you that anymore."
"It wasn't on purpose!" Snape kept arguing.
"Stop with the excuses." Addison said. "Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever excuse you for saying that word."
"Well, what about you!?" Snape yelled at her. "I'm one of the only people who know about your father, your true father, who wanted Mudbloods under his control. If everyone knew --"
He didn't finish his sentence as Addison had slapped him across the face. She was beyond angry and her eye glowed at him.
"Don't. You. Dare. Severus Snape." She gritted her teeth. "I know what my father did, but even he didn't call Muggles by that name. He called them, 'No-Majs, No-magic, non-wizards,' not what you decided to call her after you hung around people interested in Dark Magic."
"And hear this..." She grimaced at him. "You ever come near me, Lily, Langden, Remus, and you will regret it. And if you ever expose my secret, there is nowhere you can hide in the Wizarding World where I can't find you." Snape gulped and nodded his head.
"Good." Addison said. "Now follow that and stay away from my sister."
"You aren't her sister." Snape said. "Petunia is."
"Petunia hasn't talked at Lily in years." Addison retorted. "And Lily is as good as my own sister." And then she left him there.
The surroundings shifted again, but this time, Snape was an adult, walking through my childhood home. He walked past my father, not looking at him and then saw my mother, dead on the ground. I, as a baby, was in my cradle and crying loudly. Snape got down to his knees, cradled Lily in his hands and cried as he closed his eyes and held Lily. I nearly cried myself. My mother loved and cared for me and she died so I could live.
Words echoed over the scene as I heard them from both Snape and Dumbledore.
"No! Don't kill me!" Snape begged.
"That wasn't my intention. Stand up, Severus. I haven't much time. What message do you bring from Lord Voldemort this time?"
"None. I come on my own account. I come with a... request."
"Is this about the Prophecy?"
"Yes."
"How much did you relay?"
"Only what I heard. But now... he thinks it refers to her."
"The Prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July --"
"Yes! But he thinks it's her son! He intends to hunt them down now! To kill them!"
"If she means so much to you, surely Lord Voldemort would spare her in exchange for the boy."
"I have asked."
"You disgust me. You would sacrifice the life of an innocent child over a schoolboy crush? My son-in-law sacrificed himself for my daughter and my grandchildren and you nearly threatened to expose her for who her father really is?"
"But Lily is more than that! She's different! Beautiful. Kind. Hide them all. I beg you."
"And should I do so, what will you give me in return, Severus?"
"Anything."
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"You said you would keep her safe!" Snape said as I watched him slam his fist on the table.
"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person. Rather like you, Severus." Dumbledore beckoned him. "The boy survives."
Snape's eyes shifted. "He has her eyes." Dumbledore said.
"DON'T!" Snape yelled.
"If you loved Lily Evans, Severus. If you truly loved her. Then your way is clear."
"He doesn't need protection. The Dark Lord has gone --"
"The Dark Lord will return. And the boy will be in terrible danger when he does."
"No one can know. Your word." Snape said.
"My word that I shall never reveal the best of you, Severus? If you insist."
Changing again, I then found myself in the office with Snape and Dumbledore, but this was Dumbledore after he destroyed the Horcrux. Snape was making a potion to help heal him.
"Why did you put it on? Surely you realized it carried a curse." Snape said.
"I was... foolish... greedy..." Dumbledore said.
"Drink the rest." Snape advised. "It will contain the curse to the hand for the time being."
"For the time being?"
"It will spread."
"How long?"
"Maybe a year."
Dumbledore nodded and smiled. "Well, this makes matters much more straightforward."
Snape studied the old man as I watched the two. "Do not ignore me, Severus. Was it not you who told me of Lord Voldemort's plan to have the Malfoy boy murder me?"
"It is not expected that he will succeed." Snape said.
"But should he fail, one would presume the Dark Lord will turn to... you." Snape didn't respond, only watched him.
"You must agree. Yes. You must be the one to kill me, Severus. It is the only way. Only then will the Dark Lord trust you completely."
"You ask too much."
"Too much!" Dumbledore bellowed. "Nothing I could ask is too much. You know what is at stake! You more than anyone! There will come a time when Harry Potter must be told something. But you must wait until Voldemort is at his most vulnerable."
"Tell him what?"
"On the night Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry, and Lily Potter cast herself between them, the curse rebounded. When that happened, a part of Lord Voldemort's soul latched itself onto the only living thing it could find: Harry himself."
"There's a reason Harry can speak with snakes. There's a reason he can look into Lord Voldemort's mind. A part of Lord Voldemort lives inside him."
Snape looked at him. "So when the time comes, the boy must die. But has Addison said about this? The boy is her godson! Surely, you must have told her."
"If I wasn't there, Addison would be the head of the Order. Of course, she knows about this twist of fate." Dumbledore said. "She was angry at first. She told me she has come to care for Harry as her own son, like how she cares for Y/N and Lana. She loves him like her own son. Much like you at this moment, Severus. Don't tell me you've grown to care for the boy?"
Snape had eyed him as he drew his wand and muttered. "Expecto... Patronum!" And out his wand came a doe, prancing around the room as Dumbledore watched in bewilderment.
"Lily..." He muttered. "After all this time?"
Snape watched the doe with a mournful look.
"Always."
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I emerged from the Pensieve, now knowing what I have to do. I'm a living Horcrux. If I'm dead, Voldemort has only one left and he's done. It was something I feared, but something I had to do.
I left the room as Ron, Y/N, Lana and Hermione came and saw me. They were still mourning Remus, Tonks and Percy. As I walked down, they all laid their eyes on me and Hermione ran to me.
"Where've you been?" She asked.
"We thought you'd gone to the forest." Ron said. "We thought you might be --"
"I'm going there now." I said in a sober tone.
"Then we're going with you." Y/N said as Lana nodded.
"Are you mad?" Ron asked. "No!"
"It's... meant to be." I said.
"Rubbish!" Ron said. "You can't give yourself up to him --"
Lana stopped him, squeezed his arm and looked at me. "What is it, Harry?" She asked me. "What is it you know?"
Lana POV
Harry watched us for a moment until he decided to speak up, but with a stutter. "There's a reason..." He began but croaked as well. "I can... h-hear them. -- The Horcruxes."
We all stood still as he kept watching us. Could it be he could hear horcruxes... was because he was a Horcrux himself? Meaning he has to die to kill Voldemort...
Harry wasn't a Legilimens but the expression on his face told me that I was correct. Y/N looked at him in disbelief as Harry continued. "I think I've known for awhile. I think you've all known too."
Hermione was nearly sobbing as Y/N looked at him with a sad look. I was nearly crying as well. Harry had just become our brother and he has to die now?
"We'll go with you." Hermione faltered as Y/N wiped her tears away. "We'll..."
"Kill the snake." Harry said. "Kill the snake and then it's just him. Then it will be over."
"Not without you, Harry." Y/N said. "It's not over without you."
"It has to be." Harry retorted. "If he's gone, that's all good. I'm not having more people die. Die because of me living."
Hermione couldn't take it anymore and walked to Harry and tightly hugged him. She cried into his shoulder and as she separated from him, Y/N did the same and hugged Harry as well. He didn't say a word, he just looked at Harry and nodded. Harry took his silence, looked at me and Ron, nodded, and walked off to the Forbidden Forest.
Ron wiped my tears as Y/N and I looked at each other and then to our significant others. "We're going after him." I said.
"Have you both gone mad?" Ron said. "We can't lose you both too!"
"We'll trail him." Y/N said. "We're Animagi, so we could sneak around."
Hermione looked lost in thought and then nodded her head. "O-Okay." She said, walked to Y/N and held his cheeks in her hands. "Just... be careful for me. And come home to me."
She then kissed him on his lips while he did the same. As they separated, Y/N pulled his necklace that Hermione gave him. "I'll always find my home. That's with you." Hermione managed a small smile while I went to Ron and kissed him too.
"You be careful too." He told me.
"Don't worry about me, Ron." I said as I held his cheek. "I'll be back."
Y/N nodded again and got on his feet as he turned into a wolf and I turned into a eagle. We both ran/flew off after Harry and followed him. As we did, we saw Neville and Oliver Wood carry a body back to the castle. That being Collin Creevey.
"I'll take him from here." Wood said as he took Collin's body into the Great Hall, where the Phoenix that Y/N conjured was still over Hogwarts. We continued through, following Harry as he spotted Ginny with a younger Ravenclaw girl.
"It's all right." She said in a mournful tone, still mourning Percy. "We're going to get you inside."
"I kept calling." The girl said. "No one came."
"Don't worry." Ginny said. "I won't leave you. I promise."
Ginny took the girl back into the Great Hall, but before she did, she saw Y/N and I as I perched my claws on a tree branch and Y/N looked at her.
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We ventured into the Forbidden Forest after Harry until he stopped in place and held something. His Snitch. He held it to his mouth and said. "I have come to die." The Snitch made an opening sound and a stone popped out, revealing one of the last of the Deathly Hallows.
"The Resurrection Stone." Y/N said as we both turned back.
Before Harry did what the second brother did in the story, we revealed ourselves.
"Harry, wait!" I yelled, which got his attention and he turned to us.
"What are you both doing here?" He asked. "I told you, I have to die."
"We know." Y/N said. "But you're our brother. We're not letting you go alone."
"You really think it would be better in a world without Voldemort, but with you dead?" Y/N said his name, it didn't matter. Tom knows Harry would come anyway.
"No, Harry. Not at all. Tom's a pest, he does need to go, but not you. But you said it was necessary for you to do this but..." I stuttered as tears fell from my eyes. "You just became a part of our family. I don't want to lose my little brother."
I then walked over to him, quickly engulfed him in a hug and cried into his shoulder. "I know I told you if you were with us the whole time, you would have been our little brother from the beginning." I sobbed.
"But ever since you came to live with you, I've felt you became our brother right there and then." I lifted my head from Harry's shoulder and made eye contact with him.
"And I..." I wiped my tears as Y/N joined us. "I'm so glad, honored and proud to be your older sister. I love you, you know that?" I said with a small smile before looking at Y/N, who had a similar small smile as well. "We both do." I looked back at Harry and kissed his forehead.
"We're with you every step of the way, Harry." Y/N said to him as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder.
Harry nodded and hugged us again before releasing us and rolled the Stone in his hand. "Once... twice... thrice..." He murmured and we stood there waiting. Suddenly, figures started to appear before us, the first being a lookalike of Harry, but older. His father, James Potter.
James smiled at Harry as another person appeared after another. Soon enough ghosts of who we knew were looking at us. Five to be exact.
James Potter.
Sirius Black.
Remus Lupin.
Lily Potter.
And our dad... Langden Lovegood.
"You've been so brave, sweethearts." Lily said to all of us as she looked at me and Y/N and I as her own children. "Addison has been taking good care of you, hasn't she, Harry? I'm happy she took you in."
"Y/N... Lana..." Langden said as he looked at us with a loving father look. "Words cannot describe how very proud I am of you. Harry, it is so good to finally meet you, son."
"Why are you here?" Harry asked the spirits. "All of you?"
"We never left, dear." Lily said in a motherly tone.
"Does it hurt?" Harry asked them. "Dying?"
"Quicker than falling asleep." Sirius and Landgen answered.
"And he will want it to be quick." Remus answered.
"You're nearly there, son." James said to Harry.
"I'm sorry..." Harry said. "I didn't want any of you to die for me." He then turned to Remus, who looked at him. "And Remus, your son..."
"And Dora." Y/N asked, worried about our cousin. "How is she?"
"Others will tell him what his mother and father died for." Remus answered them. "Someday, he'll understand... but at least he will have his godfather, his uncles and his aunts. Dora is at peace now."
A chill breeze shook the trees as Harry looked ahead. "You'll stay with me? With us?"
"Until the end." James answered.
"He won't be able to see you?" Harry asked again
Sirius shook his head and gestured to Harry's heart.
"No. We're here, you see." Sirius said.
Harry had then turned to Lily as we did as well. Langden was now standing near her as well. "Stay close to me." He said.
"Always..." Lily said to her son.
Harry advanced forward but Langden and Lily had stopped us for a moment.
"Again, I am very proud of you both." Landgen said as a ghostly tear came out of his eye. "And Y/N... I cannot believe you're getting married and you're adopting that sweet girl... I saw them, you know. Hermione and Anne. "
"You have?" Y/N croaked as Dad smiled.
"Yes, I have. I would have loved to meet her too." Dad said before turning to me. "And Lana, that boy finally told you how he feels. I cannot wait to see you both at the wedding. I will be there, even if I am like this."
"I am very happy your mother took my son in." Lily said as she floated to us. "She has been better to him than my sister could ever be. Please tell your mother we miss her very much."
"We will, Auntie Lily." I said, as Lily smiled at the mention of that name.
We turned back into our Animagus form and hid behind the bushes and trees as we spotted Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Nathan Roiser.
And there he was himself. Lord Voldemort in the bony, pale flesh.
Yaxley arrived through the clearing and spoke to Voldemort. "No sign of him, my Lord."
Voldemort nodded. "I thought he would come. I was, it seems... mistaken."
"You weren't." Harry said as he made himself clear to Voldemort's wicked eyes. Everyone's eyes shifted to Harry, but didn't notice he dropped the Resurrection Stone, making the figures around us vanish. We would have to try to find it later.
"HARRY!" A familiar voice bellowed. "NO! WHAT'RE YEH DOIN' 'ERE?"
'Hagrid?' Y/N and thought to ourselves as we spotted the half-giant trussed to a tree, struggling to break free.
"Quiet!" Yaxley yelled. I hear Y/N's snarling as he exposed his fangs, ready to attack and I readied my talons, ready to pierce any of them. Especially Nathan.
Yaxley flicked his wand towards Hagrid as he went silent. Bellatrix cackled as Voldemort took a couple steps forward. A smile curled his lips as he watched Harry, like a lamb to the slaughter.
"Harry Potter." Voldemort beckoned him. "The Boy who lived... come to die."
Nagini hissed as the Death Eaters cackled. But Voldemort wasted no more time. Harry closed his eyes as we watched Voldemort yelled...
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
And Harry Potter fell dead to the ground.
Harry Potter is dead.
3rd POV
Harry Potter woke up moments later, but he wasn't in the Forbidden Forest. Hell, he was nowhere near Hogwarts. He was at King Cross, where he had boarded the train to Hogwarts multiple times. He reached up and touched his face, finding his glasses not on his face anymore.
A small thumping resonated through the Platform as Harry spotted a small mass in the distance. As he walked forward, he found something. A small, naked, ugly child with rough skin. Harry leaned in close before...
"You cannot help." A familiar voice said.
Harry turned around to find Albus Percival Wulfric -- god, how long is his damn name, forget it -- Dumbledore, standing there in fine white robes. His hand was no longer crispy and burned. The old man smiled as he spotted Harry and raised his hands.
"Harry. You wonderful boy." Dumbledore said. "You brave, brave man. Let us walk."
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"Sir, this, is this... I mean, forgive me, but you are dead, aren't you, sir?"
"Oh, yes."
"Then... I'm dead too?"
"Ah. That is the question, isn't it? On the whole... I think not."
Even when he was freaking dead, Albus Dumbledore was a cryptic old man. The man was a complete enigma at the age of 115. No one could understand the complex riddles the man could make. Harry was walking in the white blank space with him.
"Not?" Harry asked.
"Not." Dumbledore repeated.
"But I didn't defend myself." Harry said. "I let him kill me."
"And that will, I think, have made all the difference." Dumbledore said. "I suspect you now realize that you and Voldemort have been connected by something other than fate since that night in Godric's Hollow all those years ago, Harry. And I suspect... my grandchildren are raising hell on the Death Eaters as we speak."
Harry chuckled. His siblings would have done anything to avenge him. But his expression then changed. "It's true, isn't it, sir?" Harry questioned. "A bit of him lives in me, doesn't it?"
"Did." Dumbledore corrected. "It was just destroyed only moments ago by none other than Voldemort himself. You were the seventh Horcrux, Harry; the Horcrux he never meant to make."
"And you knew this?" Harry asked the old man. "That's why you were certain I wouldn't die?"
"Certain? No. Little is certain in this world, Harry. Call it an educated guess."
Dumbledore smiled as the thumping continued. "Professor, is that -- ?" Harry said as he turned to the mass in the distance.
"Something beyond either of our help." Dumbledore said as they eyed the mass.
"Exactly where are we, sir?" Harry asked again.
"I was going to ask you that." Dumbledore said. "Where would you say that we are?"
"It looks like King's Cross station -- only a lot cleaner. And without the trains."
"King's Cross! Is that right? Well, this is, as they say, your party."
"Sir, why didn't you just tell us about the Deathly Hallows?" Harry asked once more.
"You will have to forgive me, Harry. You see... I didn't trust you." Dumbledore confessed.
Harry stared at him. The wise old Headmaster of Hogwarts didn't trust him?
"I feared that you would make the same mistake I made, that you would be intoxicated by the power the Hallows promise their possessor. But I crave your pardon, Harry. It's clear to me now, as it should have been all along, that you are the better man."
"Sir --"
"You are the worthy possessor of the Hallows, Harry, not me. I was fit to own the Elder Wand, because I took it not for gain, but to save others from it. But I took the Stone because I longed to recall someone who has long been at peace and for that I paid with my life."
"You wanted to see Ariana again, didn't you, sir?" Harry asked.
"Yes." Dumbledore nodded.
"I used the Stone as well, sir, only a little while ago when I entered the Forest." Harry said. "I saw my mum and dad, and Sirius, and Lupin and Langden..."
"True. But ask yourself this: were you calling them? Or were they calling you?"
Harry studied Dumbledore. The man was confusing as hell.
"You are the true master of death, Harry, because the true master does not seek to run away from death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world."
They stood awhile in thought until Harry spoke up.
"I've got to go back, haven't I?" Harry said.
"That is up to you."
"I've got a choice?"
"Oh yes. We are in King's Cross, you say?" Dumbledore asked. "I think, should you so decide, you would be able to, let's say, board a train."
"And where would it take me?"
"On." was all Dumbledore said.
"Voldemort's got the Elder Wand."
"True."
"And the snake lives."
"Yes."
"And I've got nothing to kill it with."
"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." Dumbledore quotes himself from years prior. "I have always prized my ability to turn a phrase -- words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable both of inflicting injury and remedying it. But I would -- in this case -- amend my original statement to this:"
"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who most deserve it..." He leaned in to tell Harry. "Assuming circumstances in the main are favorable to such an outcome, of course."
Dumbledore babbled on until he went on to say. "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living and, above all, those who live without love."
"Sir, my mother's patronus." Harry said to him. "It was a doe, wasn't it? Just like Professor Snape's. Curious, don't you think?"
"Actually, if I think about it..." Dumbledore smiled. "It doesn't seem curious at all. I'll be going now, Harry. Tell my grandchildren I am proud."
"Professor." Harry said one final time. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"
Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry..."
"But why should that mean that is not real?"
Y/N POV
I couldn't believe it. Harry was dead. And Voldemort killed him. Hasn't he taken enough people from us?! Enough people have died because of him.
Because of him, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Dad, Dumbledore, my grandfather and many, many more were dead cause of Tom fucking Riddle. I couldn't take it, I wanted to rush out of the bushes and attack all the bastards including Tom Riddle, but Narcissa kneeled down near Harry's body as Bellatrix said to her sister.
"The boy. Is he dead?" Bellatrix said as Narcissa kneeled near him. After a while, Narcissa got up, faced Voldemort and said, "Dead."
The Death Eaters shouted with applause as I gritted my fangs. I didn't care what happened. I wanted to kill them. Like how I killed Dolohov and Greyback. I saw red. And sure Lana was thinking the same.
Not just sure. She was thinking the same thing. I got ready to pounce, and as Voldemort cackled, my moment had come. I jumped out of the bushes and pushed Yaxley to the ground who was about to cast a Killing Curse at me, but I snuck my fangs into his wand arm, enough to bite it off. Lana flew out of the trees and snuck her talons into Bellatrix's arm, making her yelp.
Yaxley dropped his wand as I got off him and turned back into a human. I looked back at him with a wicked glare in my eyes, snapped it in half in front of him. He was about to attack me, but I was faster with my wand, and I blasted him through the air.
Voldemort was awestruck, but was ready to kill us as well as he readied the Elder Wand at us. Lana was a human again and we both saw him pointing his wand at us.
"Avada Kedavra!" He yelled but we immediately counteracted it with the lightning bolt curse our of our hands with no wand. Two streams of lightning against the Killing Curse. And the oldie was using a wand.
"Using a wand against us, Tom!?" I yelled. "How weak for the Dark Lord! We're not even using wands, Snakeface!"
Voldemort pushed the wand, but we kept stepping forward as the Killing Curse's bolt shrunk and shrunk until we were in front of Voldemort.
And we weren't dead. I turned back into a wolf and pounced on him, ready to bite him. If he had a fucking nose, I'd bit the piece of shit off. So I scratched him with one of my fangs on his face and gave him claw marks across his pale cheek.
"Crucio!" Nathan bellowed as Lana seized in pain while I was pushed off Voldemort and turned back into a human due to the pain of a thousand white-hot knives striking my skin.
"Grandchildren of Grindelwald." He addressed us. "How extraordinary of you to deflect the one thing that killed your father. And yet how pitiful to see you writhing in pain."
"Fuck you..." We both said.
"It was fucking worth it." I croaked and spat blood out at Nathan's face. "You killed our brother."
"Quiet!" Nathan bellowed and restrained us. "Harry Potter is dead and soon, I will make you watch as I kill those you love. The mudbloods, the blood traitors, and everyone you hold dear."
The both of us tried resisting, but Nathan was clearly more powerful with using "Crucio" against us. I had enough of this bastard. I'm killing him. Voldemort gave him an order to stop and he obeyed, but not before restraining us. Our hands were shackled and were charmed that the spell I used at Malfoy Manor was useless. The other Death Eaters released Hagrid and forced him to carry Harry's dead body as we walked with him.
We marched towards Hogwarts, through the bridge as Hagrid couldn't bear to look down at Harry's body. We couldn't either. And Bellatrix wasn't making it better either. She was running around and cackling evilly, yelling, "HAHAHAH!" and "He's dead-ad!" in a sing-song voice.
"Do you ever shut up?" Lana snapped at her.
"And what are you going to do?" She cackled again. "Attack me! Oh wait, you're in chains! You can't do anything! HAHAHA!"
"Who's that?" Ginny said loudly as the Death Eaters came into view while she looked at Neville. "...Hagrid's carrying?"
Neville looked at us, but couldn't tell who it was. He was carrying something, but I couldn't tell what it was. Then I heard a voice.
"Don't despair, Longbottom." The voice said. "I put you in Gryffindor for good reason..."
Was that... the Sorting Hat?
"What's going on here, Neville?" Mum asked as she and Mr. Weasley came around. Soon enough, all the Death Eaters were in front of all of Hogwarts. The Carrows, who had escaped their bonds, kicked us in the backs of our knees as we kneeled on the ground. We were bleeding and Mum gasped as Hermione, Ron, Anne and the other Weasleys saw us. If they were worried about us, they would be devastated when they find out about Harry.
"Behold, Nagini." Voldemort said triumphantly. "Our work is done." and just then, Hagrid showed himself with Harry's dead body.
"No... NO!" Ginny yelled as Mr. Weasley held her back. Mum was in hysterics and covered her mouth with her hands and tears came down her eyes. She had already lost Dad to him, now she lost someone she saw as a younger son and our brother. Anne was crying in Hermione's chest as she held her, Ron, Fred, George, Bill and Fleur were all staring at Voldemort, who wickedly glanced at everyone. Everyone had lost their hope. Even Filch, who hated Harry and all the kids.
Mum was about to attack them, but Voldemort commanded them instead. "SILENCE!" he bellowed. I wanted to break out of my chains and kill him. I wanted to kill Nathan. I wanted to kill all the Death Eaters.
"Stupid girl." Voldemort beckoned Ginny. "You cry for that?"
"Tell me." He asked everyone. "These last few hours -- as you collected the dead and tended your wounded -- was he by your side?"
No-one spoke.
"While your hands ran dark with the blood of mothers and sons, fathers and daughters, brothers and sisters, his were clasped in prayer -- but it was a prayer for one and one only. While you battled courageously, until you could no longer will yourself to stand, he had long since fallen to his knees. While you cursed me until your voices grew ragged, he begged me for mercy in a voice as meek as a child's."
His eyes narrowed to us and Harry.
"So do not cry for that. He's not worthy of your tears. And do not despair of his betrayal. You were never in his heart. Not for one single solitary beat. As for these two, they dare attack me... for that, they will be punished."
"Congratulations." I gritted my teeth with sarcasm. "You're a fucking prophet. Harry didn't beg for mercy, Tom Riddle -- yes, I'm using your birth name, you dickhead -- just killed him like he was nothing."
"We nearly killed them there and then." Lana said, nearly out of breath. "The Death Eaters fear us. My brother killed Fenrir Greyback and Antonin Dolohov, and I nearly killed Bellatrix Lestrange. Don't fear them, they want to use it against you now and --"
Before she could finished, we both ached in pain as Voldemort flicked his wand at us. "DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" He bellowed. "Harry Potter is dead! From this day forward, you put your faith in me or suffer the consequences. HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!"
The Death Eaters cackled and Nagini hissed before Voldemort turned back to us. "Now is the time to declare yourself." He said to one person. Draco Malfoy.
Draco stood among the students as nervous murmurs came across the crowd. He wore an uneasy expression as his parents commanded him. "Draco..." Lucius said as he raised his arm to him. "Draco, don't be stupid." Draco still stood there.
'Come on, Draco.' I said in his head. 'He's right. It's time you declare yourself for what you want.'
He got my message, but walked a few steps down the stairs as everyone eyed him. Voldemort's smiled widened, but shrunk as what happened next shocked him and everyone else.
Draco stopped near Mum, looked at her and to the others and stood there, wand ready in his hand. He glared at Voldemort with a look of anger and his parents felt betrayed.
"I confess myself disappointed, Draco." Voldemort said. "Here I thought you could redeem your father as one of my own. As one of my Death Eaters."
"You forced me to do this..." Draco said. "You forced the Dark Mark on me. I didn't want any of it. I've had enough of it. I'm done with being like this."
"Very well." Voldemort responded. " Who will come? Hm? Come now, don't be shy."
Every face in the crowd didn't dare until of all people, Neville Longbottom walked up in front of Voldemort with the Sorting Hat in his hand.
"Well, I must say." Voldemort said as he eyed Neville. " I'd hoped for better. Is this truly the best Hogwarts has to offer?"
'He would have been the Chosen One, you dickhead.' Lana and I thought to ourselves.
"Who might you be, young man."
"Neville Longbottom."
"Well, welcome, Neville. I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks."
"Someone has to do the washing." Bellatrix laughed as the rest of the Death Eaters did.
"Now, now, Bellatrix. Let's not underestimate our young friend." Voldemort said to her. "By stepping forward, he lives to see another day..."
"I'd like to say something." Neville interrupted Voldemort as he looked back at him. But from the corner of our eyes, Lana and I could swear we saw Harry's eyelids move slightly, not noticeable to anyone.
Voldemort brushed his hand across his neck and stuttered a little. "Very well, Neville." He said to him. "I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say." Neville turned to the faces in the crowd as they looked at him with confusion.
"It doesn't matter that Harry is gone." Neville said. Murmurs travelled through the crowd as Seamus yelled. "STAND DOWN, NEVILLE!" He tried to push through but Ron had stopped him just in time for Neville to speak again.
"People die every day. Friends... Family... Yes, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us. Here." He said, tapping his heart. "And so is Percy... and Remus... and Tonks... and all of them. And they did everything they could!" Neville said to me and Lana. "Helped our wounded, mourned with us for our dead, and casting the giant phoenix above us."
"Everyone we lost... they didn't die in vain." Nevile continued as he turned to the Death Eaters, most specifically Bellatrix. "But you will."
"And you will." He said to the Death Eaters.
"And you... and you... and you will."
"And so will you." Neville said as he pointed to Voldemort. "Because you're wrong. Harry's heart did beat for us. All of us..." And he had done something we never did to mock Voldemort.
He spat in his face. He then reached in the Sorting Hat as I realized what the Sorting Hat meant. "THIS ISN'T OVER!" Neville yelled as he pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor and held it towards the Death Eaters and everyone backed up. And just as Neville bravely defended Hogwarts, a miracle happened.
Harry spilt out of Hagrid's arm as he watched. We looked in his direction as he made himself alive and known to us. Cheers erupted from the crowd as Draco ran to us and yelled, "HARRY!" and tossed him a wand while he blasted the Death Eaters around us and undid the chains.
"You chose the right side, Draco." I said as he released us. "Thank you, cousin."
"You're welcome." Draco managed a smirk. "I told you, I'm done with the Dark Magic and pureblood supremacy."
"Then fight with us." Lana said.
"I would like nothing more." Draco smirked.
Hermione POV
"Harry's alive!" Anne said happily as we all smiled. I couldn't believe it myself. Harry was alive, Neville was proving himself, and Draco was helping us officially. As he released Y/N and Lana, both of them ran to me and Ron and I embraced Y/N in the tightest hug I gave him and kissed him.
"I can't believe it -- Harry's alive?" I asked him.
"I didn't know either." He said to me. "But we have to finish it. Here and now."
"Ron and I will look out for the snake and try to draw it out so we can kill her." Lana said. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to kill Nathan Roiser." Y/N growled as he spotted him glaring in our direction. Before he went off, he looked at Anne and I. "Please be safe. Anne, stick with Hermione."
"Of course." She said as he teleported off to fight Nathan. Ron and Lana ran off to draw the snake away, and Harry was fighting Voldemort, so it was just us. "Come on." I said to her. "We can help whoever we can." Just as I said that, Addison was fighting against the Carrows and had knocked them both out again.
I am going to have one badass mother-in-law.
Anne and I were fighting other Death Eaters with Addison, knocking them out with all the jinxes, curses and spells we knew until Anne had surprised me with something I never thought it'd see.
She turned into a wolf, just like Y/N's, only smaller in size, a grayish white color and with the color of her eyes. and pounced on them.
"She's an Animagus?" I asked Addison. "But since when --?"
"When you five were hunting the Horcruxes." Addison said. "I taught her in case and in secret in the Room of Requirement. I was very surprised when she turned into a wolf. Guess she was thinking of you and Y/N."
As Anne dragged one of them away with her fangs, she ran back on all fours and turned back into a human. She looked at me as I smiled at her. "That was brilliant! I'm so, so proud of you!"
"Thanks, mum." Anne said with a tint of red before she realized it. "Oh, um... that slipped out, that's my..."
"No, no..." I assured her. "I am going to be your mother anyway. I'm fine with that."
Anne smiled and hugged me again. From across the distance, I saw Ginny and Luna battling Bellatrix, who was still cackling wildly. They were spraying the room with spells as Bellatrix pivoted and spot a bolt that missed Ginny. But that was enough to infuriate Mrs. Weasley. And Addison was too as she stared at her cousin and her eye glowed. Mrs. Weasley ushered Ginny to the other Weasleys and aimed her wand at Bellatrix.
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Mrs. Weasley roared at her.
"Come on, granny!" Bellatrix cackled. "Give us your best..."
"Who said it was just her?" A voice said behind Bellatrix as Addison appeared behind her. "Quite frankly, I believe Molly is right. My cousin is a bitch."
The male Weasleys were about to support Mrs. Weasley and Addison but Mrs. Weasley waved her hand at them.
"Back off, boys!" She roared.
"She's ours..."