~*~

"I can't wait," Harry said, but already calmer.

"Then I will make you wait," Alastor said, determined.

"That's not fair," Harry said desperately and sank down, his back against the door.

Alastor knelt as much as he was able to with his wooden leg and cupped Harry's tear-stained cheeks. "Harry, Severus has come back to us. That's something he wouldn't have done before you came into our family. Do you really want to pay him back like this? He made the greatest sacrifice for you, and you want to head recklessly into a battle with Voldemort without help?"

Hearing it like that made Harry feel bad. "I promised him," Harry whispered.

"Yes, I know. Let's go to your room, Harry." Gently, Alastor pulled Harry up and guided him to his room. After tucking Harry into bed, he sat down beside him. "Voldemort will attack tomorrow. He is still waiting for some of his allies to gather. Nagini is dead, so we can follow our current plan. Poppy is taking care of Severus, and we both know how good she is. Even if he won't ever be able to do magic or brew, we will still love him, and he will be an important part of out family, won't he?" Alastor asked.

"Of course," Harry sobbed.

"See, everything will turn out. Now you will rest so that you are ready for tomorrow." Alastor gently tucked the bed covers closer around Harry and kissed his forehead. "Sleep, Harry."

~*~

They did not have as much time as they had thought they would. Harry woke to a thundering sound against the walls. Alastor stormed into Harry's room. "They're here, Harry. Still in front of the main door, but it won't take them long to break it down. Albus and the others are already downstairs."

Harry swallowed. Fear was overtaking him. Was he really ready for all this? This time, Severus would not be at his side. He had to play his part in this war alone.

Seeing Harry's scared face, Alastor came over to him and cupped Harry's cheeks gently in his big hands. "Harry, listen. You can do this. You are much better than I would ever have hoped. Even Severus was full of praise for you."

Hearing Severus' name, Harry closed his eyes in pain.

"We don't know how this will end and who will survive. If something happens to me, take care of Poppy and be there for Severus. He came back because of you. You know that, don't you?"

It was hard to concentrate on Alastor's words while the walls around Harry were shaking violently with each of the Death Eaters' attacks. Nevertheless, Harry nodded. Tears were forming little rivers on Harry's cheeks.

Gently, Alastor brushed the tears away. "Whatever happens, Harry, you will see us again one day. I believe my father, and I hope you do as well. It's just a matter of time, but we will be reunited again. We are a family."

"Yes, I hope so," Harry croaked.

"It will be so, and maybe we will even be together after this battle. Nobody knows. I just want to say again that I'm so very proud of you and that I'm glad you accepted becoming a member of our family."

"Merlin, Alastor," Harry said desperately and threw himself at the man that had been more like a father to him than anyone else.

"Shh, Harry, now you have to be strong. No more thinking about death. We will meet again whenever it will be. Now you have to look forward and do as we taught you. You are amazing in the twilight and your spells and curses are extraordinary for a boy your age. You can do all this. Play your role, and remember to let us finish him off."

"Yes," Harry said, determined, and pulled himself together. "We should go."

"That's my son," Alastor said proudly.

Harry beamed from the inside out. Those few words meant the world to him, and he would do anything to give them the possibility of living a peaceful family life.

In the hall, Alastor said, "We should split now, Harry. Remember our plan!"

"I will," Harry said and turned into his Animagus form. He ran down the halls in long strides until he reached the broken-down entrance door. Unsure of how to go on, he looked around. He could hear screams to his right and ran into that direction. Mrs. Weasley was fighting against Bellatrix and another Death Eater tried to attack her from behind. Harry, still in his hellhound form, attacked the man at Mrs. Weasley's back. He tackled the surprised wizard down and bit his wand arm. The taste was awful. The blood tasted metallic, and Harry had to fight hard not to throw up. He let go of the man, who immediately drew his arm close to his chest. Harry did not want to bite the man again, but he had to stop him from attacking if he recovered. When he saw his wand, he bit down on it and it broke beyond repair. Satisfied, Harry left the Death Eater.

Looking around, he smelled Bellatrix's scent. His hate overtook him. She had killed Sirius, and now he would kill her. While Bellatrix aimed a curse at Mrs. Weasley, Harry attacked. He knew he would hate the taste of blood again, but it was not important at the moment; hurting and killing her was. He bit down on her arm so hard he broke the bone, and Bellatrix screamed in pain. Harry's blood lust was not sated. He threw his head from one side to the other, and bits of flesh flew through the air. He could hear Bellatrix's screams and they were like music to him. He was one with the hellhound, and the hellhound enjoyed the feeling of ripping flesh in its muzzle. Another woman's screams made their way into Harry's blood-fogged mind, but they seemed to be far away. And the blood of the woman he hated so much was too close. Harry saw the light tanned skin of her throat and something urged him to bite her there and finish her off. He was just about to close his jaw around Bellatrix's throat when somebody grabbed him by his neck. Strong hands pulled him back, and he could hear a growl above him.

Harry, still one with his hellhound, tried to wriggle free off the death grip and even tried to bite the person holding him. He turned around to snap at the person and saw two amber eyes staring at him. Another growl came from the person and the hellhound started to submit. The moment the hellhound got a grip on his emotions by submitting to a more dominant being, Harry gained his own mind back. The person who was holding him was Remus, and when he saw that Harry was in his human mind again, he spoke. "You don't want to do this. You won't get Sirius back. Remember what you promised Severus. Transform back. You have to follow the plan you made with Alastor and Albus," Remus ordered in a strict but kind tone.

Harry turned human. He never understood how it was possible for him to transform back and still be wearing his clothes and holding his wand like the moment he had changed into the hellhound. He looked around and saw that Bellatrix was bound securely and that she had passed out from pain or blood loss. Harry did not care. He looked around for any sign of Voldemort. Remus was already back in the battle, and Harry decided to explore a bit to find Voldemort. After dodging several curses and casting some on Death Eaters around him, Nearly Headless Nick came over to Harry and told him that Dumbledore and Alastor were fighting Voldemort and around ten Death Eaters on the stairs up to the infirmary. They are heading in Severus' direction. Surely to finish what they started before Severus escaped, Harry thought while already heading in said direction.

Seeing the backs of the Death Eaters in front of him, Harry stepped into the twilight. Immediately, he felt safe. The slightly stirring sound soothed him, and he sneaked his way through the Death Eaters. He could see Albus and Alastor now, fighting side by side with Kingsley, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley. A Death Eater right beside Harry broke down. Immediately, he was secured with Auror ropes that even Voldemort could not break free from and that made all kind of magical transportation impossible. Another Death Eater fell, and that was when Harry saw Voldemort. He leaned arrogantly against the banister of the stairs and let his Death Eaters do the work. A disgusted sneer was all he sent in the direction of the fallen Death Eaters.

Harry moved beside Albus and stepped out of the twilight. "I'm here," Harry said quickly. The moment Voldemort spotted him, he stepped back into the twilight.

"What a surprise, little Potter, but being able to move in the twilight won't help you or that traitorous Potions Master." Voldemort came closer to Harry with a feral grin on his lips. "I shouldn't underestimate you this time, wouldn't you agree?"

"I don't care what you think. All I care about is your death," Harry spat and stepped out of the twilight to hide immediately behind a suit of armor. The curse Voldemort aimed at him made the armor shake violently, and Harry saw small drops of melting metal drip down.

"Playing hide and seek, Potter? Is that what the great Dumbledore has taught you? How pathetic," Voldemort said and aimed another curse at Harry's hiding place.

"The only pathetic things here are you and your puppets over there." After the armor absorbed another curse for Harry, he jumped out of his hiding place and aimed a Cutting Spell at Voldemort. Without waiting for the result, Harry stepped into the twilight again.

Voldemort canceled the curse and also stepped into the twilight. "Playing dirty, little Potter?"

"You set the rules for this war, not me," Harry said while circling Voldemort. He could face him openly now because Voldemort unable to cast any curses at him in the twilight. What Harry had not assumed was that Voldemort would attack him physically. He was not cautious enough, and Voldemort was very quick. Inhumanly quick. Before Harry realized it, he was laying on his back with Voldemort hovering over him. Voldemort's hand was squeezing Harry throat, and he laughed evilly. "Ready to die, Potter? What a pity that nobody will see your death, but I won't take any chances this time."

Harry could not get any oxygen, and his throat hurt horribly. Dizziness overcame him, and the world started to become dark. It was a horrible death, and Harry fought like hell.

"No, open your eyes. I want to see the light leave your eyes, Potter," Voldemort commanded angrily.

Harry did not open his eyes. Soon, he would be with his parents, but then he remembered that there were so many people that he saw as his family now. He wanted to be there for Severus, now that he had come back for him. And he wanted to live the life of a normal boy with Alastor and Poppy. Harry opened his eyes. As he looked into Voldemort's red gaze, he did the only thing he could think of. He did not even know if it would work, but he tried to change into his hellhound. Voldemort was too surprised to react, and his head was the perfect target for the hellhound. Without thinking twice, he bit down as hard as he could.

Voldemort screamed in agony and tried to free himself from the hellhound's jaws, but Harry bit down on the evil wizard's ugly head. Blood was flowing down his throat, and Harry almost gagged at the taste of it. It did not taste like the Death Eater's or Bellatrix's; it tasted rotten and dead.

Harry realized that he could not let go of Voldemort, and so he risked trying to drag him out of the twilight with him. Albus had never trained him to do this, and so he was uncertain if he could manage it. It was hard, but Harry did it. He could not see much of his surroundings and risked being in a bad position outside the twilight.

The moment he appeared with Voldemort in his muzzle, he could hear screams around him. He was in the middle of the remaining Death Eaters who aimed there wands at him now. None of them dared to cast a Killing Curse in fear of hitting Voldemort, who still was wriggling like a worm to free himself. A very bloody worm. Harry feared he would die just from tasting his rotten blood. He was fighting hard against his gag reflex. Curse after cure hit him, and Harry repeated his mantra of 'Severus-Alastor-Poppy' in his head to keep himself conscious. He heard the sound of bodies hitting the ground while his friends took down one Death Eater after the other, who were all concentrating on Harry and Voldemort.

"Let go of him!" Harry heard Albus scream, and that was everything he needed to relax his unbearably hurting jaw as he fell into unconsciousness.

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