It was a solemn walk. A walk of memories, good and bad. A Walk of Remembrance. A walk that signaled an end to many things not the least of Voldemort's second reign and very soon Harry Potter's life. Harry's vivid emerald eyes didn't sparkle and glitter with life as they had for the last seventeen years on the earth, but were dulled with a look of resignation and a worldly tiredness. That tiredness was what had brought out this walk of memories. Slowly, Harry walked through every inch of his home, Hogwarts. He committed each stone, each plant, each particle of soil, each drop of water to a memory that soon wouldn't be necessary.
"Harry, what are you doing?" questioned Hermione just as he started his walk.
"I am taking my last walk around Hogwarts" replied Harry morosely.
"Your last walk? What are you talking about, Harry?" wondered Hermione. Harry merely chuckled lifelessly at her naivety and continued his walk. They didn't know about the plan. The plan that would be the end of Voldemort. The plan that he and Albus Dumbledore had slaved hours over. A plan that he had made sure was perfect in every possible way.
Flashback
"Are you sure, Harry? It's too risky to ensure that you will come back safe and sound" asked Albus worriedly. Harry gazed straight back at him, his boyhood shyness leaving him as he answered the most important question of his life.
"Yes. In fact, if we change the plan so that I use the "resuctro" curse instead, there will be no risk in Voldemort's survival."
"NO! You know the effects of that curse, Harry. Don't play martyr, it is not safe for anyone around you, much less yourself. That curse kills both the giver and the receiver, as you know" argued Albus.
"Of course, I know. I know all these spells like the back of my hand. If I use that curse, there is no way that ANYONE can bring Voldemort back to life. Not even the darkest magic can overcome that curse once put on a person." replied Harry stubbornly. Harry didn't want to die. No, no, in fact he probably wanted to live more than any other person alive wanted to, but he knew that logically and illogically that he would die during the Final Battle. He rather die doing something that would keep his loved ones safe, than die at the hands of some revengeful death eater trying to avenge his dead Master.
"Harry," pleaded Albus, but Albus knew in his heart of heart that Harry would win this argument no matter what he did.
"Albus" was all Harry said, before skillfully moving the conversation on to safer topics.
End Flashback
After the plan was thought up, it took a simple potion and charm to make sure all ran its course during the Final Battle. This left Harry making his goodbyes the morning of the much-anticipated event. Every person in Hogwarts received something that morning, whether it was a charmed music box (Flitwick), a magical blooming rose (Sprout), a chocolate frog with a special card (Ron), a yearbook of pictures and memories (all students), a book with that knew every story possible (Hermione) or Harry's pictures of his mother and father (Lupin). Even the snarky ol' potions master received something, though no one other than the two knew exactly what it was. As the time drew closer and closer to the start of the battle, Harry visited his friends for the last time. Just before, the battle party was set to apparate, he broke down into tears for the first time since his parents died. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't Albus Dumbledore or Hermione Granger or even Molly Weasely who gathered him up into their arms and held him. It was Severus Snape who swooped down onto the boy and gently held him. For the first and last time, Harry Potter cried into the robes of one Severus Snape.
"It's not going to be okay, but it's going to be over" said Severus petting Harry's head gently and soothingly. It was those words that gave Harry the determination to finish what he was meant to do in the Final Battle.
"Harry Potter, we meet again" crooned Voldemort in midst of the Final Battle.
"Yes, we do, but this time you won't live." answered Harry bravely gazing into Voldemort's snake red eyes.
"Quite a brave little one, aren't you? Just like your dead parents. Oh yeah, I forgot, you wouldn't know, would you?" taunted Voldemort aiming his wand at Harry lazily.
"Eat shit, you good for nothing piece of crap" replied Harry. With an evil smirk, Voldemort muttered the curse that would could not be turned back. The curse that would go down time as the most evil and dark curse ever.
"Avada Kedvara" However, he wasn't counting on Severus Snape to come running in at the same moment throwing off his concentration at a crucial moment.
"Harry!" The curse meant for the Boy-Who-Lived instead struck the man later to be known as the True Martyr.
"Not Professor Snape! No more, Tom. No more. You have taken too much from me this time. My parents, my friends, and now the only man who looked at me and saw Harry not Harry Potter. No more, never again, Tom. Animulus Constratu Resuctro" chanted Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Man-Who-Saved-Us-All. As the blessed light encircled him, he sighed with relief. He would finally get the peace, quiet, rest, relaxation, tranquility and love he had been waiting for his whole life. He would finally go home.
