A month later and it was time to return to Hogwarts for Harry’s fifth year. The Dementor attack on Diagon Alley had appeared in the Prophet, but Lucius had managed to stop any record of their underage magic from being filed. One such benefit of being close to a powerful man that had the moronic Minister for Magic and Ministry of Magic as a whole in the palm of his hand. The rest of the summer break had been uneventful, though, he’d once again been unable to see his friends or godfathers in the second month. Due to the restriction, Harry had convinced his father to let him take the Hogwarts Express rather than Apparating with Severus to the castle. Severus was clearly not thrilled with the plan, worried about what could happen on the train, but Harry had been adamant. It was a tradition and he refused to be the only student at Hogwarts early just because he was the only one with a parent on staff.

A knock on his door pulled Harry from the doze he had started to fall into. A downside to the deal was that Severus was bringing them to the platform fairly early in order to make sure all of Harry’s friends were there as well as the Order members that would be riding the train for protection. He wanted to go over the plans with them.

“Yeah?” Harry mumbled just loud enough for Severus to hear.

“If I open this door and you’re not packed, you are not taking the train,” Severus threatened and Harry flew up in bed, eyes darting to his half-packed trunk, the rest of his belongings strewn around it on the floor. He jumped out of bed and started tossing everything haphazardly into his trunk, managing to slam it shut just as Severus opened his door. He spun around to look at his father with what he knew was the guiltiest expression if Severus’ raised eyebrow and partial smirk were any indication. “Did I not tell you to pack yesterday?”

“Yes,” Harry said, “and I did…mostly.”

Severus just rolled his eyes. “One of these days, child, honestly.”

Harry gave a lopsided grin and shrugged.

“Do you intend to go to school in your pajamas?” Severus said, looking Harry up and down.

“Uh, maybe?” Harry said, flushing at his father’s chuckle.

“You, my son, are a brat,” Severus said and Harry just shrugged again, used to such a comment by now. “Come down for breakfast. We leave in an hour.”

Harry nodded as Severus left his room and hurried to get dressed. He headed downstairs, hopping to skip the last couple of steps, and swinging around the corner to the left to enter the huge open-concept kitchen and sitting room. His father was on the other side of the island at the stove, frying up eggs while a pot boiled on another element. Harry circled the island as well, heading directly for the refrigerator. He opened it, took a quick inventory of available drinks, and grabbed the carton of mango-pineapple juice. He unscrewed the cap and took a large swig directly from the carton.

“Harry,” Severus said warningly and Harry turned to look at his father, finding an arched eyebrow and a disapproving stare.

Harry flushed and stopped drinking. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. 

As he poured the juice into the glass, Severus left the stove briefly and stood behind him to open the small spice cupboard just to Harry’s left beside the refrigerator. Severus reached in with one hand to grab a couple of spices while his other ran through Harry’s messy hair affectionately. With a smile at his father, Harry put the carton back in the refrigerator, took his glass, and moved to the island. He took a quick drink of his juice before putting the glass down and beginning to mess around with the other items on the island to make his father’s morning tea as he usually did. It had been Severus’ compromise when, once Harry came to live with him, Harry felt the need to help with meals as he’d had to do all the cooking for his relatives. Severus hadn’t wanted Harry being responsible for such a thing as a child and so had come up with a compromise they could both agree to. At breakfast, Harry prepared Severus’ tea, he made his own lunch as Severus was often in the middle of brewing or something else at the time, and, at dinner, Harry helped with the prep work. 

He returned briefly to the same cupboard and grabbed a teacup, turning back to the island where he grabbed one of the two kettles that perpetually sat there, always filled with hot coffee and hot water. He grabbed a teabag—English Breakfast, his father’s favourite—and poured the hot water over it into the teacup. As he let the teabag steep, he brought silverware over to the little table in the breakfast nook that sat between the kitchen and the back door, and before the large bay window that provided a view of the backyard.

Back at the island, he scooped the well-steeped bag from the cup, placing it on the little saucer that sat near the kettles. He proceeded to add a small amount of both milk and sugar, stirring with a small spoon and placing the teacup on a matching saucer. With the small spoon beside the cup on the saucer, Harry picked up the tea and his juice and brought both to the nook, setting each at his and his father’s places in the half-circle cushy booth seat. 

Just as he sat, Severus joined him, setting a bowl of hot apple cinnamon oatmeal and a plate with scrambled eggs and buttered toast in front of him. He gave his thanks with a smile, immediately moving to spread peanut butter on his toast as Severus settled across from him with his own breakfast of over-easy eggs, kippers on buttered toast, and fried tomatoes. As Severus summoned the Daily Prophet from where it would be sitting on the entrance table in the foyer and began reading while he calmly ate, Harry took the time to relish this final summer morning. He loved going back to Hogwarts each year, he really did, but he also couldn’t help but miss the calm, quiet morning routine he and his father had during the summer holidays. Spending a night in his father’s rooms and having dinner there once a week at Hogwarts just wasn’t the same.

“We could easily have an early dinner together if you would Apparate with me,” Severus said, obviously catching onto Harry’s sentimental musings.

“Dad, I’m taking the train,” Harry said, grinning at his father’s almost pained sigh and look as he put the paper down.

“Must you?” Severus said.

“It’s tradition,” Harry said. “I’ve taken the train every year, my friends are taking the train. It’ll be okay. We’ll all be together and the Order members will be there. Who will it be again?”

“Kingsley, Mad-Eye, and Tonks,” Severus said.

“See? Nothing to worry about with them there,” Harry said. “Especially Kingsley. He won’t let anything happen out of fear you’ll kill him.”

“Very funny,” Severus said deadpanned and Harry grinned cheekily again, particularly at the fact that Severus didn’t deny the sentiment about Harry’s unofficial godfather. “I am concerned. There is always a strong possibility that the train will be targeted. Remember, they attacked London Bridge simply for the sake of causing fear and damage. Attacking the train would be a direct attack on you.”

“I know,” Harry said with a sigh, “but you know we can all defend ourselves. We know how to fight.”

“You shouldn’t have to.”

“But we do, Dad,” Harry said gently as he saw the pain in his father’s eyes. He knew how much it agonized Severus that he and his friends had been placed front and center in the war despite being children. “I refuse to hide because you made sure I can fight. I’m not going to stop living just because there are risks. I’d never be able to leave my room if I did.”

“Do not tempt me,” Severus said and Harry chuckled.

“I’ll be okay, Dad, even if something happens,” Harry said. “You know I’ll be okay.” He smiled at the look he received from Severus, resigned pride and love in the dark eyes.

“Very well,” Severus said. “I suppose I cannot keep you locked away forever.”

“Oh, I’m sure you could, but I appreciate that you won’t,” Harry said, laughing as he brought his cleared dishes to the sink.

“Doing so would invite far more trouble than you already bring,” Severus said, coming up behind Harry and putting his own dish in the sink, charmed to automatically wash dishes and return them to their proper cupboards.

“Hey!” Harry said, affronted. “Trouble finds me!”

“You do realize that argument never truly held up, correct?” Severus said, raising an eyebrow.

“Since when?” Harry said, nearly pouting despite his age of fifteen.

“Since you fought a troll in a lavatory when you were eleven,” Severus said pointedly and Harry grumbled, making his father laugh. Running his fingers through Harry’s hair and dropping a kiss on the top of his head, Severus added, “Get your things. It is time to go.”

Harry nodded and hurried upstairs, grabbing his trunk and swinging his bag onto his shoulder. Despite his resolve to take the train, he was glad Severus had already sent Hedwig ahead to Hogwarts so she didn’t have to be stuck in her cage on the train for hours. Giving his bedroom a final glance, always a little sad to be leaving it and their home for the school year, he headed back downstairs, turning right to join his father in the front foyer.

“You have everything?” Severus asked, pulling on his outer robe and handing Harry his jacket.

Harry nodded, shrugging on his jacket and crouching to tie his shoes.

“You are sure?”

“Dad, even if I forgot something, you can just come back and get it,” Harry said, straightening and pulling his bag back onto his shoulder.

“I am attempting to instill a sense of responsibility in you, brat,” Severus said and Harry snickered.

“We both know I’m hopeless there,” Harry said and Severus rolled his eyes. 

“Let’s go before I pull you from Hogwarts all together,” Severus said, lightly gripping the back of Harry’s neck and pushing him out the front door.

“And abandon my education?” Harry said, turning to watch his father close, lock, and ward the door. “You would never allow that.”

“Homeschooling remains an option,” Severus said, leading them to the Apparation point on their property.

“You’re kidding, right?” Harry said and his eyes widened at the silence. “Right?”

Severus just smirked, clasped Harry’s shoulder, and Disapparated them away to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. As the travel ended, Harry drew in a deep breath and hunched over as his stomach rolled. He glared up at his father.

“A little warning would’ve been nice,” Harry said. “You know I hate Apparating.”

“You hate any travel that isn’t a broom, child,” Severus said and Harry rolled his eyes.

Harry stood up and looked around the platform, finding it already filled with families with more appearing every few seconds either by Apparation, Portkey, or the King’s Cross barrier. It didn’t take him long to spot the Weasleys and Hermione, finding Hermione waving at him enthusiastically. Severus must have seen them as well as he gently pressed Harry’s back, encouraging him to head for the sea of red hair. Hermione immediately hugged him as they approached.

“How was the rest of your summer?” Hermione asked.

“Quiet,” Harry said, glancing at Severus as his trunk was taken from him and handed to a nearby worker.

“Harry!”

Harry spun around at the unexpected voice, turning just in time to spot Sirius and Remus before he was gathered into a huge hug by Sirius. He smiled at Remus, one of his two unofficial godfathers—Kingsley being the other—over Sirius’ shoulder. He hadn’t expected to see the men, having resigned himself to just letters and packages through the post as they were consistently busy with Order tasks.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked once Sirius finally released him and he got a calmer, lighter, but no less loving hug from Remus.

“Severus told us what time you were going to be here and we wanted to see you off,” Sirius said.

“We’re going to be gone for a few weeks, following some intel,” Remus said.

“Has a horcrux been found?” Harry asked, knowing the horcrux hunt was the main Order task assigned to two of three of his godfathers.

“No, but there is a possible lead in Croatia,” Remus said. 

“We’ll be back by Halloween for our usual,” Sirius said and Harry nodded.

Their Halloween tradition had started with just him and Severus, but quickly included Sirius and Remus after third year. Every Halloween, they would come together and spend the evening sharing memories of Lily and James before heading outside where Severus, Sirius, and Remus would cast charms that created a stag and a doe that would frolic around. Severus would then harvest a special lily that he would duplicate for each of them and that would then give them all a night of dreams filled with those they each missed most: Lily and James. None of them had ever missed a Halloween, determined to create positive memories to erase the tragedy that had befallen them all that day in 1981. 

It had been because of that tradition that the three adults had officially put aside their hatred from when they were kids and agreed to get along for Harry, acknowledging the role they each could play for him and what they could each provide for him, particularly in terms of Lily and James and how beloved they had been in different ways to Severus, Sirius, and Remus. He hadn’t been sure they could do it, but he’d been thrilled when they proved him wrong. He wasn’t sure if they considered each other friends, but they were more than amicable and friendly, and it was good enough for him. He understood their rough past and appreciated the efforts they made to look past all of that for him, providing him with the most wonderful family he could have asked for.

“So, we wanted to come see you before we left,” Remus said.

“Exactly. Do well, have fun, raise some hell, get into some trouble, torment your professors,” Sirius said with a grin as Harry laughed.

“Black, I swear,” Severus said, sending Sirius an unimpressed glower.

“Ah, come on, Severus,” Sirius said, clapping Severus on the shoulder. “You know I only encourage it because you’re there to stop him.”

“You mean deal with the fallout,” Severus said dryly.

“What can I say? Kid’s good at trouble,” Sirius said and Severus snorted quietly, obviously agreeing with the sentiment.

“No question where he gets it from,” Severus said.

“Excuse me, I’m right here,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Do not deny it, child, we just had this conversation over breakfast,” Severus said and Harry scowled, shoving Remus away half-heartedly when the werewolf ruffled his hair affectionately with a chuckle.

“I hate all of you,” Harry grumbled, receiving laughs from his father and godfathers in response.

“Ah, the troublemaker we are tasked to protect.”

“Oh, come on!” Harry groaned at Kingsley, his third godfather’s comment, turning to see the man strolling towards them, Mad-Eye and Tonks stopping to talk to Mrs. Weasley. He pushed Kingsley away when the man threw an arm around his neck, giving a deep, booming laugh. “I’m going to find Draco and the others now.”

“Be back here in fifteen minutes,” Severus said.

Harry waved his father off and walked away, Ron and Hermione instantly following him through the crowds, looking for their other friends. They wound their way through the families milling about, nodding, waving, and smiling at those they knew as they went. They glared at the Slytherins that shouldered past them with sneers, children of Death Eaters. They had been problematic since first year, even with Draco’s friendship. Draco was, instead, often targeted with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the others, especially considering Lucius’ betrayal of the Death Eaters. Luckily, Draco did have support and protection in Slytherin from Blaise Zabini and a few others that were not in Voldemort’s circle.

Ignoring the Slytherins, they continued along the platform, searching for their friends. It didn’t take much longer for them to spot Draco and Lucius, amongst the crowds where they stood talking to Luna and her father, Xenophilius. They hurried over.

“Hello, children,” Xenophilius greeted while Luna hugged each of them.

“How in the hell did you convince Severus to let you take the train?” Draco asked Harry.

“By being very annoying and using the standard guilt trip,” Harry said, making Draco chuckle.

“Where is Severus, love?” Lucius asked.

Harry pointed the way they’d come. “He’s talking to the Order before we leave.”

“An excellent idea,” Lucius said. “Shall we ensure our children’s safety, Xenophilius?”

Harry glanced at Draco with exasperation.

“Absolutely,” Xenophilius said.

“Stick together now,” Lucius said to all of them. “Return to us in—”

“Fifteen minutes,” Harry interrupted. “Dad already told us.”

Lucius pat his shoulder. “Good boy.”

Harry rolled his eyes as Lucius and Xenophilius walked away, heading in the direction of Severus, Mrs. Weasley, and the others. “Honestly, they’re all acting like Death Eaters are just sitting on the train waiting for me,” he complained to his friends.

“They’re just worried,” Hermione said as they started walking again, hoping to find Neville, Seamus, and Dean.

“The burden of being loved,” Luna said lightly, looping her arms around one of Draco’s as she normally did. The two had been close ever since they all met in their second year and Luna’s first, though it had started with annoyed exasperation with the girl from Draco’s side.

“Honestly, even I had to convince Dad to let me take the train,” Draco said, hands in his pockets as they walked. “If he didn’t have a meeting at the Ministry, I’m pretty sure he would’ve Apparated me to school.”

“They wouldn’t actually attack the train, though, would they?” Ron said. “They’ve got kids here too.”

“They could easily arrange an attack that doesn’t harm their own,” Hermione pointed out.

“We just have to be on guard,” Harry said with a sigh. “Expect anything and everything.”

The others nodded and they continued wandering the platform. Eventually, they found Neville, Seamus, and Dean. It had also been a fight for them to convince their parents to let them return to Hogwarts, especially Dean with his Muggle parents and Seamus with his slightly paranoid magical mother. Neville hadn’t had as difficult a time convincing his grandmother as she whole-heartedly believed Hogwarts was the safest place he could be. They took some time to catch up on their summers as letters were only able to convey so much. Neville showed off his brand new wand, finally no longer tied to the wand of his father which had never worked properly for him and caused him nothing but strife in school for the last four years.

As they wandered back along the platform to where their parents and guardians were, they, once again, spotted the Death Eater children. They were tucked away in a corner behind a pillar, engaged in what seemed to be a very serious conversation. Harry and the others glanced at each other, all of them curious about what the enemy Slytherins could be talking about. Harry was going to suggest they find a way to eavesdrop when the ten-minute departure warning was called out across the platform. The Slytherins left the corner then and Harry looked at his friends with a sigh.

He suddenly had a very bad feeling.

He and his friends made their way back to Severus and the others, finding them all still there except for Mad-Eye and Tonks. Harry assumed they were likely already on the train. As they approached the adults, they were all pulled into goodbye hugs and handshakes with kisses from Mrs. Weasley planted on their cheeks. Harry was eventually pulled to the side by Severus, Sirius, Remus, and Kingsley.

“Stay safe, Harry,” Remus said, giving him a hug again.

“You both too,” Harry said, getting pulled into a crushing hug by Sirius.

“We’ll see you at Halloween,” Sirius said. “Don’t stress your father out too much, but don’t make it easy for him either.”

“Sirius,” Severus said warningly.

Sirius leaned in close to Harry conspiratorially, whispering, “Save it for Halloween.”

“Stop encouraging him, Black!” Severus admonished as Harry snickered.

Sirius laughed, ruffling Harry’s hair. “Have a good start, kid. We’ll be back before you know it.”

Harry smiled and nodded, watching Sirius and Remus shake Severus’ hand before walking back to Lucius to bid their goodbyes and likely exchange information about the mission. Harry turned back to Severus and Kingsley.

“You are to behave and stay where Kingsley can find you,” Severus said. “If there are any problems, find him. Use your Patronus if you have to.”

Harry nodded. “I will, promise.”

“He, Mad-Eye, and Tonks will be patrolling the train,” Severus said, somewhat unnecessarily as Harry was very aware of that fact, but he could see how worried his father was so he chose not to voice the thought. He just nodded again.

“You’re wearing your holster, kid?” Kingsley asked.

Harry lifted the hem of his shirt to show his holster and wand.

“Good lad,” Kingsley said. “I’ll keep an eye on him, Severus, promise.”

“I know you will,” Severus said. “The question is will you stay under his eye?” He gave Harry a hard stare.

“I will, I promise,” Harry said. “I’ll get a compartment with my friends and we’ll stay there.”

“Everything will be fine,” Kingsley said assuredly. “Kid knows what to do, so do his friends.”

Severus sighed and nodded. “Give us a moment, Kingsley.”

“See you at Hogwarts, Severus,” Kingsley said, turning and heading for the train.

“Last chance,” Severus said and Harry shook his head, amused.

“Dad, it’ll be fine. It’s just a few hours,” Harry said.

“A lot can happen in a few hours,” Severus said pointedly and Harry sighed, hating how many examples the man could likely pull from the last four years to exemplify that exact statement.

“I know, but it’ll be okay. Even if something does happen, we’ll be okay,” Harry said, choosing to keep his bad feeling to himself. Severus was worried enough.

Severus looked pained as he cupped Harry’s cheek before sliding his hand to the back of Harry’s head and tugging Harry to his chest. Harry immediately wrapped his arms around Severus’ waist while his father’s wrapped around his shoulders, the one still buried in his hair.

“I love you,” Severus said quietly, kissing the top of Harry’s head.

“I love you, too, Dad,” Harry said. “I’ll see you in a few hours, promise.”

“I know,” Severus said, squeezing him before letting go. “Be good and have fun.”

“I will.” Harry smiled, hugged his father quickly once more, and turned to head to the train. “Bye, Dad!” 

He ran off, briefly stopping to get one more hug from Lucius and kiss from Mrs. Weasley. Once they’d finished, Harry boarded the train with Ron, Hermione, Draco, Luna, and Neville. They found a compartment quickly, making sure it was on the platform side so they could wave to their families. As Harry waved at Severus a few minutes later, the usual ball of anxious sadness settled in his chest. It was a feeling he had every year despite knowing he would see Severus in a few hours and still got to see his father all year long. Despite that, he still felt the bittersweet loss of saying goodbye every year.

As the train began to move and their families disappeared from view, they all settled back on the seats, getting comfortable for the journey. Luna began to describe her trip with her father to Albania where they had explored little villages and vast forests for some creature Harry had never heard of before. She told them the story they’d learned from a villager about a haunted forest, a woman having being murdered by a man who had been desperately pursuing her only to be rejected. The legend said there was a tree with markings that indicated where the murder had taken place, but Luna and her father had been unable to find it. Once she finished her story, they broke off into separate conversations, catching up on their summers and predicting their year along with theories about their new Defense professor. When the trolley came by, they all grabbed some sweets, sharing amongst each other.

After a few hours, it was growing dark as the train continued on to Hogwarts through the Scottish Highlands. Harry was playing chess with Ron while Hermione read and Draco, Luna, and Neville chatted when the train’s lights flickered. They all stopped what they were doing and frowned up at the compartment light. When it didn’t happen again, they made to resume their activities only for the train to shake, knocking over some of Harry’s chess pieces, the others yelling in their tiny voices. Harry looked at his friends, finding confusion and worry in their faces. Harry and Draco stood, stepping into the corridor where others were doing the same. Murmurs were running up and down the corridor, especially when the lights flickered again.

Harry frowned when he thought he heard an odd comment and turned to Justin Finch-Fletchley. “What was that?”

“Someone’s saying the last couple train cars have disconnected,” Justin said.

“What? How is that—”

Harry was cut off when he was suddenly thrown from his feet into the opposite wall. Draco flew next to him, slamming into the opposite compartment’s door, the glass cracking under his force. Harry had no time to react as he and everyone around him began tumbling as their train car rolled. The sounds of folding steel, breaking glass, and screams filled the air around Harry. He gasped, groaned, and cried out as he rolled with the train, smashing hard into now glass-covered surfaces and other bodies. It seemed to be forever before the rolling car finally stopped, leaving Harry laying painfully on the car ceiling, surrounded by glass, moaning, and crying.

Harry blinked against the pain and the blood trickling into his eye. He fought through the daze he was in, trying to clear his mind and make his body move. Slowly, he regained control and some coherence, pushing himself to his knees. He cried out when pain radiated from his left thigh and, looking down, found a huge shard of glass buried in his leg. He groaned, pushing himself over to sit, leaning against a section of wall between two compartments.

Swiping shakily at the blood blinding his one eye, he gazed around. Students were all over the train car, sobbing and screaming in pain and fear. He watched a couple students get to their feet, obviously less injured, and begin checking on others.

“Harry!”

He looked to his right and found both Draco and Hermione stumbling out of compartments. They didn’t seem terribly injured aside from many cuts and chunks of glass dotting their skin. Draco fell next to Harry, examining what he could of Harry’s leg.

“E…everyone else?” Harry asked.

“Ron’s unconscious and I think Neville’s broken his arm, but they’re all okay otherwise,” Hermione said and Luna emerged from the compartment at well looking alright besides the blood in her hair, indicating a head wound.

Harry nodded, glad his friends were mostly alright. “We need to get out of here. We need to find Kingsley or the others.”

“We should stay here and wait for them,” Hermione said.

“They could be hurt,” Draco said. “They might not be able to get to us.”

Harry watched as Draco pulled off his jacket and tore it into strips uncaringly for its expensive nature. One was wrapped and tied tightly around Harry’s thigh above the glass. The pressure and jostling of the glass made Harry groan loudly.

“I’m going to blow out the window in this compartment,” Draco said and he slipped back into the compartment he’d come out of. “Bombarda!” he shouted a few seconds later and then there was an explosion that shook the car, pulling cries from nearby students.

“What the bloody hell happened?”

“Ron, you’re awake!” Hermione cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

“No idea what happened,” Harry said, glad Ron also seemed relatively unharmed other than a huge gash running across his forehead and into his hair.

“Come on,” Draco said, returning to them. “We should start getting people out of here.”

Harry was helped to his feet by Draco and they stumbled their way through the hole Draco had created in the side of the train car. They stepped out into the dark, finding themselves in a huge open field, telling them they were still in the middle of nowhere Scotland. Another few train cars had rolled from the track across the grass while the rest of the train was folded and twisted together across the track. Students were crawling from the cars, helping friends and fellow students.

Harry and Draco were shuffling away from their car with Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Neville behind them when three black smoke clouds hit the ground in front of them, leaving behind Bellatrix, Amycus, and Alecto.

“Look who we found,” Amycus said with a twisted grin while Bellatrix and Alecto cackled.

Harry barely had time to pull his wand before the Death Eaters attacked. He and Draco were forced away from the others by Alecto’s pursuit, desperately warding off her horrifically dark and torturous curses. Harry ducked a strange purple curse, falling to the ground when the movement jostled the glass in his leg painfully. He cried out as a Cruciatus tore through his body, contorting on the ground. It seemed like Alecto was going to hold the curse forever only for it to end suddenly. He drew in a sharp breath and rolled over to see Draco had physically tackled Alecto to the ground. They were wrestling until Alecto got Draco pinned under her, wand stabbing into his throat.

“Imagine the reward if I were to deliver Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy,” Alecto said dangerously. “If we have you, well, we’ll have your traitorous fathers too. Our lord has wanted his revenge for so long. What better way than to use you to get them and bring an end to all of you.”

Harry watched Draco raise his wand only for Alecto to wrench it from his grasp and toss it aside.

“I think I’ll have a little fun first, just like they are,” Alecto said and her words were punctuated by screams from Ron, Luna, and Draco, and the exploding of one of the train cars. Harry swore he could hear Bellatrix laughing maniacally and was sure she had been the one to explode the car.

Harry gathered his magic and pushed it out in a huge blast. He pulled students from the train so they were safe from the fire now burning the car. Bellatrix, Alecto, and Amycus were thrown away from his friends and protective shields appeared around his friends.

“Harry! Harry, stop! You’re using too much magic!”

Harry looked towards the train and found Kingsley running towards him. His godfather hurried to him, kneeling beside him despite the magic leaving him in waves. 

“Harry, you need to stop,” Kingsley said firmly.

“I…I need to p…protect them,” Harry said even as he felt his head grow light and his skin tingle.

“You protected them, kid,” Kingsley said. “Let us take over.”

Harry found he didn’t get much choice as he felt his rolling magic fizzle out and he rolled to the side, sick in the grass. He heard Kingsley curse behind him and a large, warm hand landed on his back, rubbing gently. He was left trembling, dizzy, and weak a couple minutes later and he slumped into the ground. He was adjusted so his head was on Kingsley’s leg. Harry fought to keep his fluttering eyes open.

“Ev’ryone okay?” he mumbled.

“They will be,” Kingsley said and then Harry thought he heard several pops. “Severus!”

Dad’s never going to let me leave home again, was Harry’s last thought before he drifted away.