Severus was curious as he opened the door. On the other side was Ginerva Weasley. "Oh, hi Professor." She seemed surprised to see him there. He expected her to be nervous, like other students generally were when speaking to him, but she wasn't. "I was looking for Harry. Is he here?"

"He is not." It was the end of the day and it was Harry's free period.

"Oh." She looked dissappointed. "Ok. Thank you sir."

She turned to go, but Severus cleared his throat. "Miss Weasley." She stopped and looked up at him expectantly.

"Would you be willing to give something to him for me when you see him at dinner?"

"Sure." He wasn't sure if her face brightened then at the prospect of seeing him at dinner in the next hour or for some other reason. Severus turned and went to retrieve an evelope from the desk in the living room, and came back to the door with it, handing it to Ginny. She looked at it, possibly wondering what was inside, and then smiled at him. He wasn't used to students smiling at him.

"I'll make sure he gets this."

"Thank you." She turned and walked away and he closed the door. Remus being Harry's Godfather, students coming to his door and smiling at him... this was turning out to be a strange day. Severus had no idea that it was turning out to be a strange day for his son as well.

"What do you mean we're related?" Harry was asking at that exact moment out on the grounds. He frowned at Draco.

"Just what I said. You and Ginny are related."

"I don't want to know."

"It's not a big deal. It's not like you're going to marry her or anything. And even if you do it's common amongst wizards. Mother and father are second cousins."

"I don't want to know," Harry said, putting his hands up over his ears. "I kissed her. I don't want to know how we're related."

"Well since you're a Snape, that makes you related to me, and I'm related to the Weasleys. Technically that makes you related to Black too."

"Not listening," Harry said as they walked with Draco through the mostly melted snow and ice which had mingled with dirt to make mud. Harry's shoes and hems of his pants were covered in brown muck and his socks were soaked completely through.

"I looked it up in the book that has my family tree. It's interesting and you really should know about it."

Harry stared at him. "What's so interesting about it?"

Draco laughed. "You have no idea. Ok, so the Malfoy and Prince families have been intermarrying for years."

"Prince?"

"Well, before your grandma married your grandpa her surname was Prince. Ok, so Albrecht Malfoy, that's my great grandfather, married Denidah Prince and had two sons, Abraxas, that's my grandfather, and Luther. Luther married Ansley Prince and had your grandmother Eilene Prince. Luther was the older brother so he had Eilene twenty years before his brother had my father Lucius. That makes my father and your grandmother cousins."

"This is making no sense," Harry said plainly. He doubted that even if he had the family tree in front of him it would make any sense.

"It does."

"Wouldn't my grandmother's last name still be Malfoy?"

"Her father disowned her when she married a Muggle born so she took the Pince name again. Your side of the family seem to do that a lot."

Harry shot him a look and Draco ignored it. "So your grandmother and I are second cousins, and my dad and your dad are second cousins, and that makes uncle Severus and me third cousins, and you and me fourth cousins."

"You calling him uncle doesn't help this explanation any."

Draco shot him a look and scolded him, "Pay attention."

"Ok ok. But how does any of this matter at all?"

"Mother and Sirius Black are cousins which is why I had to stay with him this summer, and the Weasleys are related to the Blacks. I had to look in a library book to figure out their relation because they were blasted off our family tree ages ago. Basically, you and Ginny are fifth cousins twice removed."

"Fifth cousins twice removed? We might as well not be related at all. You had me worried. I thought you were going to say she was my aunt or something."

"Well you wouldn't let me come right out and say it. You don't even realize you're related to half the school. So am I and so is Ron."

"Who else are we related to?"

"The Prewitts, Longbottoms, Greengrasses, Burkes, Flints, Notts, Macmillans, Bulstrodes, Abbotses, Travers-" Harry held up a hand to get Draco to stop.

"So I'm everybody's cousin?"

"Basically yeah."

"And your family actually got together with all of these families while you grew up?"

"Well not all of them. But I knew a lot of students before coming to Hogwarts. You were one of the odd ones nobody knew."

Harry gave him a playful shove as they finally made the steps leading up to the castle and were able to get out of the mud. In the Great Hall Harry sat down next to Ginny as Draco headed for Slytherin table. Ginny slid an envelope over to him.

"What's this?"

"Professor Snape asked me to give that to you."

"He did?"

She nodded and took a drink of pumpkin juice.

Harry carefully ripped open the top of the envelope and unfolded a note.

'I have asked Remus to be your second Godfather. He has agreed. It is typical in wizarding families for children to have two Godparents. Some even have more. It is now in my will, and as such, no one, not even the Headmaster or Wizengamot can dispute it.'

Harry looked up to the staff table, eyes searching for his father, but he wasn't there.

"What does it say?" Ginny asked.

"He made Remus my other godparent. He's my godfather now."

"Really?" Her eyebrows were so high up they disappeared into her bangs. He slid the letter back over to her to read.

"I would have liked to have been eavesdropping on that conversation. I thought they hated each other."

"I don't know," Harry said. He looked back at the staff table and this time found Remus looking at him. Remus smiled and gave a motionless wave, and Harry waved back.

"This has been a strange day," Harry commented, and when he had Ginny's attention, he said, "First I walked in on Ron and Hermione snogging in the dorms this morning when I went back up to our room to get a book I'd forgotten."

Ginny giggled and Harry's face turned red, remembering the awkwardness of the situation he'd walked in on.

"Then before dinner, Draco told me I was dating a relative."

"Ooh, how are we related? We're related to a lot of people you know."

"That's what Draco said. Fifth cousins twice removed or something like that. I don't even know what that means."

She smirked.

"And then I get a letter saying my dad has finally gone crazy and made nice with Remus long enough to make him my Godfather."

"Aren't you happy about that?" she asked.

"Of course I am, I-" There was a rumble in the distance and it echoed around the Great Hall, causing everyone to stop talking for a moment and listen.

"That wasn't thunder," Harry said. Ginny took his hand and he squeezed it tight. "It wasn't stomy at all out," he said. He looked to one of the tall windows on the wall. The sun hadn't started to set yet, so he was still able to see the clear skies.

There was another rumble, and students started murmuring as the Headmaster and several Professors stood up.

A first year a few seats away was just saying, "Maybe it's a troll in the dungeons. I heard one broke in once-" when Harry's father ran in from the doors to the Entrance Hall and shouted to the Headmaster, "We are under attack!"

A girl screamed from across the hall, and there were other sounds of fear, but another rumble, louder this time sounded and silenced them all. The silence only lasted the space of a few seconds however as the staff were scrambling from their seats and the Headmaster was barking out orders for the Prefects to get everybody below sixth year into the dungeons.

Still holding Ginny's hand Harry ran over to his father, who had now joined the rest of the staff. Draco came over too, and in the chaos of students scrambling, Harry spotted Ron's orange hair at the entrance to the Great Hall as he and Hermione tried to get past the students who were all running out.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment against the cacaphony of sound, and then opened his eyes and shouted over the noise, "It's him isn't it!" The serious lines of a frown were etched into his face.

"Yes," his father said equally as grimly.

The hall cleared of younger students and most of the Prefects, leaving the staff and the sixth and seventh years as another rumble was heard.

The Headmaster sounded grave as he started giving specific orders. "Minerva, Filius, take the sixth years. Stick to the plan. Aurora, Pomona, take the seventh years. Rolanda, gather your players."

"Sixth years with me!" McGonagall shouted as she hurried to the door to the staff room behind the Head table. Harry didn't move. He was still holding Ginny's hand tightly. She was supposed to have gone with the other students to the dungeons, but he wasn't sure why they were being divided like this.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, but Dumbledore was either ignoring him, or hadn't heard because he had hurried off with Professor Trelawney and several others. It was his father who answered him.

"We have been planning for an attack on the castle. Fifth years and below will be in the dungeons where it is safest, helping staff to reinforce the protective spells and enchantments on the castle. Minerva is taking sixth years to the rooftops to send hexes and curses down at any attacking Death Eaters. The seventh years will be stationed inside the Entrance Hall, Great Hall, and around the first floor to fight any Death Eaters who decide to come into the castle that way.

"What about us?" Harry asked, and his father, who looked ready to move off and take on whatever duty had previously been assigned to him, stared into his eyes looking torn. Remus was waiting for an answer as well it seemed.

"Tell me," Harry said.

"Go with Minerva."

"That's not what I'm supposed to do."  He had a prophecy to fulfill, he just wasn't sure how.  The Headmaster would know, but he had left.

"It is what I'm telling you to do." Unexpectedly then, his father pulled him into a tight and quick hug in front of his friends and then pushed him away towards the door to the staff room. Then he ran out into the Entrance Hall, Remus following close on his heels.

"You're not going with Professor McGonagall, are you?" Ron asked.

Harry hesitated. He was going to say no, that he was going to go out onto the grounds, but the hug from his father and the protective look in his eyes made him pause. Harry didn't know the plan. He didn't know what the staff were going to do. What if they were going to do something drastic and he ran out onto the grounds and ruined everything, or got killed?

"Let's go with Professor McGonagall," he said finally. Where he went, his friends would go... Ginny would go, and he didn't want to be responsible for their deaths or being in danger. He didn't want to be that guy.

"You're sure?" Ron asked.

"Come on." They ran to the door behind the staff table just as the floor and walls began to shake and the sound of a loud explosion could be heard nearby.

As soon as they got into the room, they realized that it was empty. McGonagall and the others had already moved on.

"The rooftops," Harry said.

"North and South tower and on top of the East Wing," Hermione recited, as though she had memorized every inch of the castle from Hogwarts a History. "The East roof is closest."

They ran out the door in the back of the staffroom, and Harry wasn't certain where it lead to until they found themselves going straight up a flight of narrow winding steps. It lead to a hatch in the ceiling similar to one in the North Tower, and they pushed it open, unprepared for what was going on above them. As soon as the hatch opened, a red spell sizzled by Harry's right ear and he dropped the hatch, letting it bang closed above him.

"What's going on?" Draco asked, voice tense.

"They're fighting up there. I could only see a couple of students and a lot of spells."

"Are we going up there or not?"

Harry steeled himself for the possibility that he was about to get hit with a spell, and threw the heavy trap door open, pushing against it with his shoulders and climbing out quickly. There were two death eaters fighting three sixth year Hufflepuffs. Professor Flitwick was lying on the rooftop, unmoving.

He dove out of the way of a spell and landed next to the Charms Professor. Harry stared down at him and was grateful that the tiny man's chest seemed to be slowly rising and falling. Perhaps he was only stunned. At a shout from Ron, Harry looked up and remembered that his friends were trying to get out of the hatch. He started firing curses at one of the Death Eaters just as one of the Hufflepuffs got hit in the hand with some sort of curse that was shrinking her fingers into little stubs. His friends piled out of the opening and began fighting. No sooner had they come out than more Death Eaters appeared, using brooms to fly up to the rooftop. The students spread out and every time a Death Eater went down, another one took his place.

After long minutes that seemed more like half an hour, Harry was at the edge of the roof, sweating and trying to hold off a Death Eater that looked like he might have just graduated a few years before. He looked down to the ground to the stone steps that lead to the Great Hall and was dismayed to find almost thirty Death Eaters trying to break the door down to the Entrance Hall.

"They're going to get in the front doors!" Harry yelled, and Ron and Draco made their way over, dispatching Death Eaters as they went. Draco already had a gash above his eye and from the looks of it had been wiping the blood out of his eyes with his sleeve. Some of his white blond hair was stained red.

"We're a little busy up here-" Ron shouted as he dove out of the way of a bright green jet of light. "-to be worrying about what's going on down there."

"He's right," Draco snapped out as a man with bright red hair dove at Draco in anger and Draco sidestepped him. The man went over the edge and landed on the people on the steps below.

"I have an idea," Harry said, looking over the edge.

"I know your ideas!" Draco told him. "This isn't going to be smart!"

"Lower me down with your wand, and when I'm just above them, drop me."

"Forget it!" He sent off a stunning charm and it hit home in the chest of a woman Harry thought he might have seen once on Diagonalley.

"Lower me down or I'm jumping!" Harry said angrily, and Draco met his eyes for a moment before nodding. Harry climbed to the parapet and then felt Draco levitating him. He let go and started to descend.

None of the Death Eaters below him even noticed because they were busy pouring all of their magic into some sort of shared blasting charm, trying to blast the door apart. Just when Harry was a few feet above their heads, he felt Draco release him from the levitation charm and he plumeted into the center of them, startling them and landing on several. The charm stopped for a moment and in the next moment, Harry was a large gray bear, snarling and biting at the people around him. He took a chunk of flesh out of a man's arm and spit it out before biting somebody's wand in half straight out of their hand. Someone sent a stunning spell at his back and it hit him and tingled but it didn't knock him out. He stood up on his hind legs, something he hadn't done yet, and was surprised at how tall he was. Those around him seemed to be surprised too. He swiped at them with his claws, creating deep gashes in whoever was close enough, and they scattered. Suddenly the doors opened from behind him and the force of a strong accio pulled him backwards and inside before the massive doors banged closed again.

Harry spun angrily to see what Death Eater had pulled him in, and realized that it was his father, Remus and Dumbledore. He transformed into himself again, surprising the fifteen or so seventh years that were there in the Entrance Hall. He was certain they were going to scold him for what he had done, but instead they set to work immediately warding the doors again. There was a blast from the other side of the door, and Harry knew that outside they had regrouped and were pooling their magic again. As he watched, he realized that the three professors were doing the same from the inside, and at this point it was a battle of willpower and magic alone. He sprinted back into the Great Hall to go back up to the roof.

Harry might have made it up there, but several of the tall windows broke and seven Death Eaters flew in on brooms.

Harry sent off a spell and ran at the nearest one. He leapt and transformed in mid air into his bear form again. As he almost took the hand off of that man, he heard a seventh year somewhere behind him shout, "It's ok, Harry's got it!" and he growled as he lunged for the next one. In that moment, he didn't feel like Harry though, as his claw came slashing down through the air and caught a wizard's cloak, ripping it clean off of him. The man shouted in surprise. No, not Harry. But who? James had an animagus name, and so did Sirius. Even Remus had one for his wolf form.

There were two wizards left to incapacitate and Harry turned on them. Their eyes were wide with fear and uncertainty. Harry opened his mouth and roared and together they bolted for the door to the Entrance Hall. Harry took chase and was pleased that he could run faster than them with his long strides.

Even the Headmaster looked away from the door that he was still pouring energy into as the two men ran screaming across the Entrance Hall, Harry in pursuit. He swiped at one's feet and he fell and Harry moved over him, saliva dripping from the edges of his mouth and onto the man's face.

"Please, please I have kids. They go to school here," the man pleaded. Harry was aware that four or five of the seventh years had just taken out the other wizard. There were tears in the man's eyes and Harry transformed above him, wand aimed at his chest.

"You should have thought of them when you joined Voldemort," he said angrily. He stunned him and bound him with ropes and chains, and then snapped the man's wand in half. The castle shook several more times and Harry was ready to run back to the rooftop to make sure his friends were ok, but the door shuddered ominously and he stared at it along with the others gathered there.

Remus walked over to Harry and put his hand on his shoulder as the door shuddered again.

"Let it down," Harry said.

"That would not be wise," Dumbledore said, but Harry walked to the center of the three men and faced the door.

"Let it down."

"No," Severus said, but Harry only looked at him, eyes hard. "You are not invincible."

"The prophecy-" said Dumbledore as the door shuddered more violently this time. They were breaking through the barrier spells.

"To hell with the prophecy," Harry said angrily. "Let it down!"

Remus shook his head and Severus looked like he was ready to bind Harry in chains and carry him to the dungeons, but then the Headmaster lowered his wand, and the barrier came down.

"I am the master of my own soul... my own fate," Harry said. He lifted his wand and spelled the doors to fly open, and then ran out in his bear form into the crowd of surprised death eaters. He heard the doors slam closed behind him again, but could hear that he hadn't come out alone. Remus and his father and the Headmaster were shouting off spells faster than he thought was possible as he used his head to push Death Eaters down and tear at their clothing and wands. A wand snapped under the weight of his foot and he snarled as several spells hit him in the back, making it feel as though his fur was on fire. He rolled to put any flames there might be out and in the process rolled over several people as he tumbled down the stairs, crushing them.

"Avada Kedavra!" rang out somewhere above him and he didn't recognize the voice. He hoped the killing curse hadn't hit anyone. He heard the spell again, and then again, and realized that the spell wasn't aimed at the men at the top of the stairs, but at him. And he did recognize the voice this time, it was Voldemort and as he looked he realized the man had killed several of his own men.

"You fools! The bear is Potter! Capture him! I want him alive!"

Not good. Not good. Not good. Harry snapped at several people as he got to his feet and ran for the green houses. It wasn't really shelter, but it was away from the mass of Death Eaters that were now chasing him. At least they're leaving the door to the Entrance Hall. He looked behind him to see if Dumbledore was going back inside, but he wasn't there. He couldn't see his father and Remus either, or any of his friends on the roof. Panic gripped him and he fell on his face in his human form. Shit. Just Harry. Now I'm just Harry. I can't fight them like this.

He got up and ran, allowing terror to fill him for the space of ten seconds as the group of angry wizards gained on him. As a boy he was short and had a shorter stride. As a boy he was weaker than those behind him. As just Harry he was nothing.

"You're not alone!"

What was that? Harry turned just as a spell sailed right at his face and caught his cheek, slicing it open as it went by. Draco was there and so was Hermione. How had they gotten out onto the grounds? They backed up to him, wands out as the group of Death Eaters surrounded them.

"We fall together," Draco said. "The fox and the ugly bear."

"And the owl," Hermione said. Harry gave her a sideways glance as he readjusted his stance.

"The owl?"

She gave him a nod. So she had done it. She had finally transformed. He wondered if Ron had too and why Hermione hadn't told him. Maybe it was because she'd often been heard to say, 'I am not an owl,' whenever Harry and Ron had asked her to pass notes in class or deliver a message for them.

"I'd rather not fall at all," Harry said, and threw off a curse at the ring of Death Eaters. Draco and Hermione did the same and somehow, knowing he wasn't out there on the grounds alone, made him feel more than just a child who couldn't run fast and wasn't strong. He ran at the ring of men and women firing hexes as he went, and was caught totally by surprise when one of them hit him in the chest with an outstretched fist, knocking him off his feet and sending him over backwards hard to the cold, muddy earth. Harry's last thought as he stared up at the sky was that the fist had to have been charmed, because it felt like it was solid metal. His chest ached, and he was positive his ribs were broken.

He heard Hermione scream somewhere behind him as he struggled to get air, and heard Draco curse, but there was too much discordant noise from the fighting around them to hear anything else.

Two men grabbed him roughly and hauled him to his feet. He wasn't sure where his wand was, but he didn't have it. One of them bound Harry with blue ropes and he wasn't sure why they were blue. His feet didn't seem to want to work properly so they dragged him across the grounds, not being careful to keep him upright, and dropping him in the mud several times.

People were still running past him and firing spells, but he didn't recognize any of them. They were all wearing dark robes and some of them had Death Eater masks. He didn't see any students or staff, just flashes of people running by, flying by on brooms, and explosions and jets of light. Occasionally a spell would hit the ground nearby and send mud exploding around them, but the men dragged him on, right to the center of the grounds.

As they dropped him into the center of another circle of Death Eaters onto his knees, Harry thought he'd seen Hagrids hut on fire out of the corner of his eye, and he wondered if Hagrid was all right.

There was a soft 'oomph' behind him and Harry turned to see Ron lying in the mud and struggling to sit up. His hands were bound behind his back. A Death Eater came up behind Harry and bound his hands behind his back in blue ropes before removing the ropes that had held his arms to his side.

"Ron," Harry said.

"Ginny got hit in the chest with a spell on the roof. She's ok. I think she's just passed out like Flitwick."

"They got Hermione and Draco," Harry said. "They were with me."

"Get off!" Hermione screamed then and Bellatrix Lestrange and a man with wild hair dropped her next to Ron.

"Hermione, are you ok?" Ron asked.

"Are you ok?" Bellatrix mocked in a high pitched voice as she walked off. A golden spell crackled in the air above them as it flew over their group and Harry wondered which side had fired it. He looked around at the group of Death Eaters surrounding them. Some of them looked excited, and others looked completely impassive, as if this was just another day on the job. Their sole role in this battle seemed to be to stand in this circle in this spot and guard whatever prisoners were dropped off as the battle raged on.

"How many of you have kids that go here?" Harry asked as there was a high scream somewhere in the distance. No one answered or even looked at him. "Kids like me, or younger? Kids who are inside fighting right now, and dying."

One of the women flinched and Harry knew he'd hit a nerve. "Eleven and twelve year olds," he continued, feeling saddened and inscensed at the same time by his own words. "Lying on the floor, dead. Your kids. My friends."

A man walked up to Harry and backhanded him across the face and then walked back to the circle.

"Cowards, all of you," Hermione said, and Harry hoped she wouldn't get hit too.

Harry felt helpless listening to the battle around him. He was on his knees and couldn't see anything beyond the circle of black cloaks. He tried to turn into a bear, but his wrists only burned when he tried. The blue rope must have been made to keep an animagus from transforming. He tried again but the rope seared against his skin.

"Harry stop," Hermione said from behind him. "Whatever you're doing is making the rope catch fire."

"I can't change Hermione," he said.

The circle parted in front of them, causing Harry to look up as they dragged Remus in and dropped him on the ground a few feet from Harry. They didn't even bother to tie him up as they left and the dark clad witches and wizards closed ranks again.

"Remus, no."

Remus coughed and weakly looked over at Harry.

"Harry." He tried to reach out for his Godson but was too weak to do so. There was blood starting to dry on one side of his face and neck and his shirt was ripped and covered in blood in several places.

"Severus- still fighting."

"I'm not worried about him right now," Harry lied.

"I'll be fine- cub."

Hermione let out a small sob behind him and Harry turned his head enough to see that Ron had moved closer to her so she could put her face against his shoulder. A wizard moved forward and kicked Ron hard on an injury he had on his leg before moving back to close the circle.

Harry looked up again at the woman who had flinched at the mention of children inside the castle. "You don't have to do this," Harry said directly to her. "You can still go inside and find your kids. Help them fight. Keep them alive." She looked away and wouldn't answer.

There were several explosions, and then silence, followed by a cheer that was echoed several times, and then silence again. The quietness was deafening after the multitude of discordant sounds that had been going on for the last forty five minutes. The sun was sinking lower in the sky though there was still a lot of light left. Harry's stomach grumbled and he was reminded then that he hadn't yet had dinner.

"How many of you are related to the Malfoys?" Harry asked, knowing none would answer. Pleading with them, and trying to get them to change their minds was all he could do at this point. Without his wand or ability to transform, he was helpless. "I know some of you are. I am too. Draco said we shared a great grandfather." A few of the witches and wizards looked surprised and Harry was satisfied to know that they were at least listening. "I'm Severus Snape's son." That didn't seem to surprise them, though he had hoped it would. He supposed, after what they had done to his father, they already knew (though he still didn't know what had happened exactly when his father had disappeared). "This is a stupid cause," Harry said, more to himself then. "Over pure blood... I'm not pure blooded."

"Voldemort isn't either."

The ranks parted and four large men pushed his father into the center of the clearing, where he fell next to Remus and then struggled to sit up on his knees because his hands were bound behind him as well. He didn't look injured in any way that Harry could see, just dirty, and tired, and angry. The four wizards pushed him down and then kicked him in the stomach, presumably for saying Voldemort's name, and then left and the circle closed.

"Where is Draco?" he asked.

"Do not worry about Draco Severus," came a cold voice, and finally the circle of Death Eaters took several large steps back in unison, suddenly expanding the circle as others came to join them. Voldemort came to stand in the center, directly in front of Harry. "Draco will be dealt with later by his family, for being feeble minded enough to be led astray." They all looked to see Draco standing in the ranks of the new larger circle, looking unhappy. He was holding his mother's hand, or rather his mother was holding his hand, and Harry took note that she and Luicius did not seem happy either. Lucius looked thin and worn, and Harry wondered how long ago they'd broken him out of Azkaban, and where Draco's mother had been all this time.

"We are Draco's family," Severus spat, looking straight into Voldemort's eyes.

"Severus, I'm surprised at you. I know we were harsh, but you had been lead astray also and needed to know that there were consequences. We are still your family."

"You are a dictator. This is a cult. Not a family."

"Cult, family, it makes no difference. You will be brought back into the ranks after you are more thoroughly taught a lesson." Voldemort turned away from him with an almost serene looking smile and smiled at his followers, ignoring Harry.

"We have triumphed my friends! Dumbledore is in hiding, we have retrieved our lost sons, and Harry Potter has been captured. We will soon overtake the rest of the castle and liberate our misguided children. We will soon be able to teach them the truth. We cannot fail!" The ring of people cheered and threw their fists up into the air, causing Voldemort to smile. Draco and his parents looked grim.

"We have but one final task before we overtake the castle," Voldemort said, turning to Harry and smiling. "We will see the boy hero fall. We will see him completely and utterly destroyed, so that you will know there is no greater wizard than I." Everyone watched Harry as Voldemort motioned with his hands and called out, "Devon. Where are you son?"

Devon came through the circle with a smile on his face and Harry paled. Devon had a jar of red powder in his hands and Harry's mouth started to water. No, no no. I've beaten this. I don't need it anymore. The cravings are gone.

But they weren't. His mouth watered and he tensed as the unwanted voice in the back of his mind said, 'it's over. Take it. You want it. I want it.'

"Harry," Severus said, but there was a grunt of pain and Harry knew someone had come up and hit his father or pushed him down. "You can beat it," came his father's rough voice somewhere to his left and there was another grunt of pain.

"What is that?" Ron asked behind him, but Voldemort was laughing and Devon was grinning, and Harry had his eyes shut tight.

"Harry knows what it is," Voldemort said, motioning Devon forward. Harry could hear the lid of the jar being unscrewed. "And he wants it, don't you Harry?"

"Go to hell," Harry spat, eyes opened again.

"There's no need for crass words. We are all wizards after all. We are civilized, are we not?"

"Bastard."

"You see," Voldemort said with a little laugh, motioning down to Harry, who was shaking with anger. He was trying to force the panic inside him down as people around him laughed. "The boy hero is not civilized. He is not strong. He is not a hero at all. He is nothing more than an addicted little boy."

Devon brought the open jar right up under Harry's nose and let him smell the Asphodel and then he put it next to Harry's lips as if inviting Harry to stick his tongue into the jar.

"Harry?" Hermione sounded worried and uncertain behind him. He'd never told his friends about the dirt. He'd hidden it from them, and now everyone would know. They would know he was weak. They would know they were all doomed.

"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked Devon.

"You got me kicked out of school," he whispered so only Harry could hear. "My wand was snapped. When you take this, I'll have beaten you, and your wand will be mine. I'll be unstoppable."

"You think Voldemort will let you be unstoppable?"

"I think, I can't wait to see you die," Devon said and he stuck his fingers into the dirt and lifted some out. Harry turned his head sideways to get away from it and Devon laughed. "You're just a commonner Potter. Even your name is common. There's nothing special about you at all, and I'm better than you in every way."

Devon moved his fingers towards Harry's lips again but there was a gasp from several people and he stopped, wondering what was going on. A large black dog sailed over the shoulders of two shorter Death Eaters and landed in the circle, before bounding once and tackling Devon, sending him and the canister of Asphodel flying. Sirius transformed on top of Devon, pinning him down, and said in an angry voice, "Not my Godson. Not this time." There was another gasp and Voldemort screamed out something that Harry couldn't make out. His heart was hammering in his chest. Sirius had come for him. Just for him. Just to save him from the dirt. From himself.

Wands were drawn and spells were being fired at Sirius but he bounded off of Devon and scrambled to get behind Harry to untie the ropes. "My Godson is his own master," Sirius said in Harry's ear, and then Harry was free. A spell hit Sirius square in the chest at that moment, ripping his chest open and he fell backwards into Ron and Hermione who were on their knees and still bound. Harry thought that would have been the end of the chaos, that they would tackle him and tie him up again, but his father had kicked out the legs of someone standing near him and Draco had grabbed his mother's wand and cursed Bellatrix Lestrange right in the face. Her eyes disappeared behind a layer of skin and she screamed and scratched at her face because she couldn't see. Harry only caught a glimpse of all of this because it happend so fast. Death Eaters were scrambling and Voldemort shouted an expletive before he vanished with a pop. They must have somehow taken down the apparation wards before they attacked.

Harry scrambled for his friends and hurried to untie Ron before falling over the redhead to get to his father as Ron untied Hermione. His father promptly got into a fist fight with the wizard he had tripped and hit him hard in the face several times before reaching into the man's robes and withdrawing a handful of wands.

"Harry," he said and tossed Harry his wand. Severus took his own, dropped the others, and stood up throwing hexes as he went. Ron and Hermione scrambled for their wands, and Harry turned to see that Sirius was still lying there on the ground, eyes closed, blood pouring out of his chest. Harry was afraid to go to him. He was afraid to touch him and feel cold skin. He was afraid because he knew he could do absolutely nothing to save him.

"Go to him," Remus rasped. Harry had almost forgotten that he was laying there injured as well. He obviously wasn't able to make it to Sirius on his own or he would go to him. Harry stood and moved to Sirius, feeling like everything had slowed down around him. Ron and Hermione were running from the Death Eater that had hit Harry in the chest and knocked him backwards, Draco was far away and falling in slow motion as Lucius pulled him to the ground and out of the way of an unforgivable, and Severus was hitting Devon in the face repeatedly while the disgraced Ravenclaw pulled at the Potion Master's long hair. And Sirius lied still through it all.

Harry got to his knees beside him, and picked up his hand. It wasn't cold. "Sirius?" His voice was quiet; uncertain. Sirius opened his eyes and smiled, but Harry didn't know how considdering that his chest was open and Harry could see his ribs, and so much blood.

"Hey kid. You're gonna be ok." Sirius said quietly. He lifted his other hand and brought it to Harry's face, running his thumb over his cheek.

"Don't go," Harry said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the things I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong," Sirius said. He closed his eyes and Harry panicked and squeezed his hand tighter, making him open them again.

"I did. I wasn't fair, I-"

"Do your best Harry. That's all that matters. Remus taught me that. I'm already proud of you no matter what happens. I love you- like a son. And I'm sorry I've been a sorry excuse for a Godfather." He sucked in a deep breath like the pain had finally gotten to him and Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at Sirius' chest to do the only healing spell he knew, but Sirius reached up and took his wand hand.

"No. This is goodbye. I'm going to go see your mom and dad so they can give me a piece of their minds. So I can have peace of mind, finally."

"No. I haven't given you a full piece of mine yet."

Sirius smiled. "I'm sorry Harry." The hand Harry was holding went lax and Sirius didn't open his eyes again.

"Sirius?" Harry's voice was so low it was almost gone. "SIRIUS!" He didn't stir and Harry set his Godfather's hand down gently on his chest. "Goodbye," he whispered. He didn't even get to say it so that Sirius would hear it.

Harry turned to see if his other Godfather was still alive. The Godfather he'd had for less than an hour.

"Remus?"

"He's gone, isn't he?"

Harry nodded and Remus said, "Leave me here with him. I'll be fine."

"I can't lose you both in one day."

"I'm not going anywhere Harry. Do what you have to."

Harry was going to protest but a spell exploded in the mud next to them then and sent Harry flying along with the rocks and dirt. He landed with a deaddened thud. Through the smoke of the explosion Harry could see Remus stirring and thought that he didn't look any worse than he had before.

The explosion, the screams and cries of pain and anger, and the pain of being catapulted ten feet through the air was a rude way to be brought back to the reality that there was fighting going on all around them. Harry picked himself up and looked around. There was total chaos on the grounds. Surely Voldemort wouldn't be on the grounds in this. Hadn't he only appeared after things had settled the last time? He'd be somewhere where he could observe, like a coward. Harry looked towards the castle and then up to the tallest towers. There was a lone figure silhouetted against the setting sun at the top of the North Tower.

"Bastard," Harry said to himself. Sirius was dead because of him. His parents were dead. His father had almost died. Remus was possibly dying now because of the monster's sick and twisted ideas and lust for power and control. Harry was sick and tired of losing people to this war. He was tired of encountering the man again and again.

Feeling like he had nothing left to lose, and like he was too tired to care anymore for his own safety, Harry took off towards the North tower at a sprint, and then a run. He would never make it to the top, not through the castle anyway. There were likely Death Eaters scattered throughout and making war inside. He didn't have a broom either, but he had to get to the top. Harry leapt into the air to jump over two wizards struggling in the mud, wands forgotten, and put out his arms to steady himself. The wind against his face made him think of how it felt to fly on his broom, and Harry closed his eyes, waiting for the crash as he fell to the ground. The only thing was, he didn't fall. He didn't crash. Wind was whipping through his hair and he opened his eyes, both surprised and pleased to find himself soaring through the air. Flying was freedom. Flying was life. And he was about to take back both his freedom and life. Harry didn't know what kind of bird he was or how he had transformed, and he didn't care. He had a task to complete.

He moved his wings in fierce up and down motions and rose higher, and below heard his friends shouting and whooping from two different directions. Ron was at the castle steps and Draco was leaping up and down, fist in the air. They were cheering him on. Harry let the feeling wash over him as the wind washed through his wings, and then turned and locked eyes on the silhouette at the top of the tower. Voldemort was watching him, and had his wand out. He sent the killing curse at Harry, who veered away at the last second and then around the side of the tower. Voldemort ran to the other side to look out over the parapets but Harry wasn't there. He'd circled back and came around the front again, now behind the twisted man. Voldemort turned and cursed as Harry's large talons gripped his hand, ripping at the flesh. He dropped his wand and Harry swooped down and grabbed it, dropping it over the side of the tower. He landed in a rather unceremonious fashion as himself on the center of the roof. Voldemort was gripping his bleeding hand.

"IDIOT BOY! Do you really think you can defeat me just by taking my wand? Your magic will never be as strong as mine!" His eyes betrayed him though, becuase he gave Harry an uncertain look. Yes, Harry thought, I'm a bear, and I'm this. Two things, and I surprised you.

Voldemort lifted his hand and a ball of fire appeared. He tossed it back and forth between his hands, the heat not affecting him. He was trying to show that he didn't need a wand to do Harry damage, and Harry laughed. The man shot him a glare and threw the ball of fire at him, causing Harry to drop his wand. The wand rolled away to the edge of the roof where it stayed against the parapet.

"I don't need magic," Harry said, "all I need is teeth."

"A silly little eagle has no teeth boy." Voldemort smirked. An Eagle? So that's why Ron and Draco had cheered so hard. Harry thought he might have been a big bird, but an eagle?

Voldemort laughed. Maybe because Harry had been thinking and hadn't responded. Harry only gave him a sly smile though, and the man stopped laughing suddenly, because Harry had dropped to all fours and had transformed again, growing to several times his size. He noted that the fur on his paws looked different, no longer white and gray, but dark brown. It felt bristly and different than normal. He snarled and looked up, locking eyes with Voldemort, whose eyes were wide in surprise.

"That's not possible," he said. "You're not strong enough to be an anamorphmagus."

"I'm strong enough to rip you to pieces," Harry said, and he was surprised when it came out as a growl and as words. Or maybe he had imagined that it had, but Voldemort seemed to understand, because as Harry advanced, Voldemort backed up until he was at the ramparts. He threw another ball of fire at Harry from his hands and it hit him in the back, but Harry didn't care. He felt the pain but it seemed unimportant.

"You take everything I love," Harry said. "You chew it up and spit it out. So that's what I'm going to do to you."

"I CANNOT BE KILLED!" Voldemort yelled angrily, but Harry could smell the fear and hear it in his voice.

"You can be eaten," Harry roared and he lunged for Voldemort, who seemed to forget that he was already at the edge of the ramparts, and fell over them backwards in a last bid effort to escape Harry's overly large teeth. He disappeared from sight and Harry went to the edge still in his bear form and looked down at the ground. The evil demon's broken body lay there in a heap at the bottom. Harry transformed back into himself and stared over the side.

Voldemort was unmoving. He didn't stir, like Sirius. Like Cedric. Like Harry's parents. Harry laughed hollowly. Not because he was happy in any sense of the word, but because there was irony in this man's death. For all his supposed power and followers, none of them even realized or seemed to care that he had fallen, that he had died. But simple people, like Sirius, and Cedric, and Lily and James. They died and the earth seemed to stand still for those that loved them, and knew them. Harry went to edge of the roof and picked up his wand, and then went to the trap door and opened it. It was over, and it was time to collect Sirius' body, and make sure Remus and his father and friends were ok, and move on.

There were bodies in the corridors throughout the castle, but Harry was grateful that so far he hadn't seen any students. His trip to the Entrance Hall was uneventful aside from running into Professor McGonagall who looked harried.

"Ok Potter?" she asked, stopping quickly to check in with him.

"Ok," he said. "Voldemort is dead."

"He- he is?"

Harry nodded and moved past her and out the front doors. So was Sirius. He didn't feel much like spreading the news about Voldemort. That would make people happy, and he didn't feel like being happy. What was there to be happy about? Chunks of the castle interior had crumbled, the grounds were littered with smouldering, muddy craters, and there were bodies everywhere. And Harry was back down to one Godfather.

"Harry!" Draco jogged up to him and then met his stride as Harry headed back across the grounds towards Sirius' body.

"He dead? I saw him fall."

Harry nodded.

"What happened to the ugly bear?" Draco was referring to his preformance as an eagle.

Harry thought about it. What had happened to the ugly bear? The ugly bear had taken out Death Eaters outside the castle's front door, but had not made an appearance after that. "He's not here anymore," he said. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like the pizzly wasn't comming back.

"Who was up there with Voldemort then... after the eagle?" Draco seemed genuinely curious. Had he heard Harry roar from down below over all the noise?

Harry looked at him, eyes cold and tired and making him look a hundred years older than he really was. "The grizzly."

"The pissed off grizzly," Draco said with a snort. "Remind me never to make you mad."

He let Harry continue on past him to Ron and Hermione who looked ok. Ginny was with them. She looked pale and shaken but otherwise fine. Ron had his arm around Hermione's shoulder and Harry stopped in front of Ginny and put his hand gently against a small scratch on her cheek. He looked her in the eyes for a long moment and then kept walking. His father was kneeling next to Remus who was holding the gash in his side. He knelt down next to them.

"He'll live," Severus said, sounding stressed and cranky and not even letting Harry ask the question. He was sending healing spells at the gash and gave a quick glance at Harry to see that he was ok and then went back to Remus. When Harry didn't say anything, Severus said, "You've been practicing other transformations."

"No," he said honestly, and Severus gave him a doubtful look. Remus laughed and coughed at the same time and they both looked down at him.

"You two," he said, grimacing. "Harry tries to eat Voldemort and you two are going to fight over it."

Severus sent another healing spell at Remus which made him wince.

"The hybrid bear doesn't live here anymore," Harry said quietly, causing his father and Remus to look at him again. "The eagle and the grizzly do." He got up and went to Sirius' body a few yards away. He had a feeling they weren't the only one's watching him as he stood over him. Sirius was a big man, bigger than Harry could carry, but he wasn't going to let his Godfather lay there in the mud and snow like he was worthless. Harry knelt down and struggled to get his arms underneath him, and then struggled to stand. He couldn't get Sirius off the ground, but he continued to labor to do so. After long moments someone appeared on the other side of Sirius and put their arms under him. Harry looked up. It was Draco.

"You don't have to do this," Harry said. "He's my Godfather."

"He's my second cousin, and he's important to you." They locked eyes and then Harry nodded and they lifted him together though it was still difficult. Harry tried not to look at Sirius' lifeless face. He hadn't thought about his Godfather's smile in a long time, but he remembered it now, and his barking laugh. Ron came up to them then and lightened the load by taking Sirius shoulders, and then Hermione and Ginny were there too, taking his feet.

"We'll help," Hermione said gently, and he gave each of his friends a look of grattitude.

"Take him down to the lake."

As they awkwardly made their way across the charred and sprawling lawns, students and staff came out of the castle to watch.

"Where are they taking him Albus?" Minerva asked.

"To bury him."

"There's time for that... for a proper funeral."

"No," Albus said sadly, "Harry needs to bury him today-" he stopped short as a loud argument broke out across the lawns between Severus and Remus.

"Let me go down there!" Remus said angrily, trying to stand as Severus tried to hold him down.

"You can't walk! You've lost too much blood!"

"Then carry me!"

Albus made it to them in the middle of their tense stare off.

"I've got to be there," Remus said, pleading. "To see him in the ground." And in his eyes Severus could see that it was a real need. The last of the man's childhood friends.

"Stubborn fool," Severus said as he got up and lifted Remus under one arm. Albus supported him on the other side and together they dragged Remus to the treeline at the edge of the lake, his legs useless because he was too weak to use them. When they got to the edge of the lake, they found Harry and the others with shovels (probably transfigured by Hermione), digging a rectangular hole.

"Let me down," Remus said weakly, and they lowered him to his knees next to the shallow grave. He used shaky hands to scoop loose dirt away from it.

"This can be done with magic," Severus remarked quietly to Albus as they stood back and watched.

"Not if they're going to move past it... him," Albus said. He conjured a shovel and went to the grave too but didn't dig with any vigor as the teens or overly weak Remus were doing. Severus crossed his arms. This was ridiculous. There wasn't even a coffin. There were others dead, scattered across the grounds and possibly even up in the castle. There was no reason to bury any of them now. They would probably have several days filled with funerals in the coming weeks. Even as he thought it, he shuddered though. How many of his students were gone?

The hole was dug surprisingly fast and Albus conjured a simple wooden coffin straight into the hole. It was nothing special, just a pine box. Harry and Draco and Ron lifted Sirius' limp body and lowered him gently into it and then stood and stared at it. Remus had tears in his eyes, and so did Ginny and Hermione, but Harry seemed almost... impassive.

"Goodbye," Harry said softly, and Albus sealed the lid over it. The others stood back as Harry started to shovel dirt onto the box and Remus pushed small ammounts in with his hands. When it was done, Harry planted his shovel firmly into the dirt, and then knelt to lift Remus.

He said something quietly into the man's ear, but Severus was too far away to hear. The others started to walk away and he went to help Harry lift Remus up, who still had silent tears trailing down his cheeks.

"I'll take him," Severus said, and Harry stepped back. Severus cast a charm at the man to make him lighter and then moved off at a slow pace with him, Dumbledore already ahead of them with the rest of the group.

Harry stayed behind and Severus felt like he needed a moment to himself at the gravesite as the last traces of light disappeared over the mountains on the other side of the lake. He wanted to ask Remus what Harry had said to him in any case and wanted privacy to do so.

"What did he say?"

"What?" He tried to lift an arm to wipe his eyes but he wasn't able.

"My son... what did he say to you when he helped you up?"

Remus was silent as he stumbled and tried to get his legs moving again. "He said, 'Sirius loved us, and we loved him, and that's all that matters.'"

Severus didn't respond, and after about ten more steps, Remus finally collapsed and passed out as Severus had said he would. He levitated him and looked back into the trees behind him, but could no longer see Harry as they were exiting onto main grounds again. He would have to find Harry after he took Remus to Poppy.

Luckily Severus didn't have to take him all the way up through the castle, because a makeshift infirmary had been set up in the Great Hall.

"Lay him there Severus, on the table. Then you can take a seat next to him so I can check your core reserves and take care of your injuries," Poppy said, busy at another table over a student who had a broken arm.

"Do you need my help?" he asked.

"Minerva and Pomona and Sibyll are helping. Sibyll is a surprisingly competent healer when she's sober."

"I will be back later then. Do not let Lupin leave. He stubbornly believes he has superpowers and can go without healing."

She snorted despite how stressed she looked and shot Severus a bemused look. "It sounds like two other men I know." He narrowed his eyes at her but didn't respond and instead went back into the Entrance Hall.

Draco was rushing past him and he caught Draco by the arm to stop him. He looked... guilty of something. "Have you seen Harry?"

"No?"

"The truth."

"That was the truth!" Draco insisted, and he hurried down the Dungeon stairwell towards Slytherin. Severus frowned, looking around at the dozens of scared students. After sending two injured Hufflepuffs towards the Great Hall, he made for the front door again, but not before the two Weasley children ran past with a bundle of something wrapped up in a coat and out the front doors. Draco came sprinting past a moment later after them, something in his arms as well, and Severus had a feeling this odd behavior had something to do with Harry.

He followed at a quick pace, but his ankle was sprained and he found it difficult to keep up. By the time he was at the bottom of the stone steps leading away from the castle, the three teens were already making their way down the dirt drive towards Hogsmeade. He squinted, and in the distance he thought he could just make out the form of a beast... a grizzly bear, dragging a body. What the hell were they up to?

Severus lost sight of them by the time he'd made it to the edge of the school grounds but had a feeling they were headed towards Hogsmead, and turned to follow them. There was a trail where something had been dragged through the snow and mud and he followed it all the way up to the decrepit Shrieking Shack. The door stood open and he could hear voices and crackling inside.

"What- what are you doing?" he asked, out of breath when he made it inside and into the living room. There was a huge fire that looked like it was about to engulf the entire room at any moment, and there were Tri W fireworks in the center of it next to Voldemort's lifeless and broken body.

"He said he couldn't die," Harry said, staring into the flames. "We're making sure he does. I don't want him coming back."

"So you decided to burn a house down around him?"

They didn't answer because one of the fireworks exploded then, spreading the fire up to the ceiling. They stared at the body for long moments, and Severus half expected it to move, or for Voldemort to scream out in agony, but there was none of that. Another firework went off and Severus motioned for the teens to clear out. They went back out the front door and a safe distance away down the hill, and watched as the three story shack was fully engulfed in flames, lighting up the darkness and the entire hill.

"You said you hadn't seen Harry," Severus commented to Draco, pulling his eyes away from the blaze to look at the blond for only a moment. The reflection of the flames was dancing in Draco's eyes, and he seemed to be in a trance like the others.

Finally he answered, "I didn't see Harry. All I saw was a big strong bear."

People from Hogsmead came up the hill to see why the Shrieking Shack was on fire, and Severus told them they were burning the body of Voldemort. At first there were looks of fear, but then awe and finally celebration. The people of Hogsmead had heard the battle and the ones that hadn't gone to help had hidden, only coming out when they heard the crackle of a fire, fearing the entire town was burning.

The house was almost fully burnt to the ground ten minutes after Severus had arrived, and he was about to usher the teens back to the castle when there was one, long, tortured shriek from the center of the flames. Everyone stared until Harry startled Madam Rosmerta and Aberforth Dumbledore by transforming into his grizzly form. Harry gave a mightily loud roar, and the shriek from inside the flames ceased. Everyone watched him, but he stayed in his bear form.

"Harry Potter is a bear?" Rosmerta asked.

Severus snorted and said, "Among other things." She gave Harry's furry back a look of awe. After the shriek, Severus knew there was no way he would get his charges back to the castle, so he stood with them and watched until the house was nothing more than a pile of ashes and the flames had dissapated. Harry moved forward first, back in his human form and with his wand out. He walked over the still hot embers like they were of no consequence to him, to the center of the house and used his wand to move charred beams away.

"Well?" Ron called.

"Bones," Harry said. "Dead, charred, ugly bones." He stared at the bones for a moment and kicked them with his shoe and then turned around and walked back to his friends. "Now we can go."

Severus watched as they retreated down the hillside with the ten or so people that had come from Hogsmead, and then stared back at the ashes. Voldemort had claimed to Harry that he couldn't die. Had in fact come back to life somehow after his spell had rebounded on Harry as a baby. Had fallen from the North Tower and appeared to be dead, yet still could shriek from the midst of burning flames. They might be satisfied that he was dead, but Severus wasn't. He conjured a metal box and went out into the ruins of the house, and then used his wand to call any and all remains of the man into the box. The bones crumbled as they went in. He closed the lid and sealed it with several locking spells. He would take it to Dumbledore and let him figure out what to do with it. And then he was going to go to bed and sleep for a week.