*"Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore turned to the dais too. It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward …"

Harry Potter heard an Earth shattering "Noooo" consume every one of his senses. He did not even realize that the sound was his own voice, his own magic filling up this dreadful room. Time slowed. He saw Sirius falling, he saw Hermione being struck down by the flaming purple curse. The two people who had always been loyal to him maybe dead, and the immediate grief that consumed Harry Potter pushed his magic outward Sirius stopped falling, and for a moment Harry thought that this moment, watching his Godfather fall through this veil would last forever, until he realized that no one else in the room was moving either. Bellatrix face was frozen in triumph but her villainous cackle had died in her throat. Then Albus Dumbledore, frozen not from magic, but from shock, finally turned his gaze to the very stunned Boy Who Lived. The Headmaster reached out his wand and immediately Sirius Black was drug through the air away from the mysterious veil. It was like an adrenaline rush. Harry breathing raggedly noticed that others were starting to move again as if coming out of slow motion. Sirius was getting to his feet near the older wizard, and even across the distance with the sounds of the battle starting to fill his ears again he heard the older man tell the younger to take Harry and get him to safety. Sirius ran to Harry, dodging curses and spells. Dumbledore reentered the fray, by the time Sirius drug Harry towards the closest door, the old wizard was standing near the center of the room surrounded by immobilized Death Eaters. Harry registered other things, Mad-eye working to revive Tonks, flashes of light from spells and the sounds of battle continued, Kingsley engaging Bellatrix, but somehow she managed to slip away. Sirius let go of Harry to cast a quick spell at Neville who they had passed nearby. Harry couldn't watch her get away, so he took off after her with Sirius hot on his trail. Harry registered yells and screams, Sirius' voice ordering him to stop. But he couldn't let her get away; he could hear the blood pumping in his ears louder than any other sound. He sprinted through doors, down corridors, and around corners. Finally he came face to face with the lifts, and one was headed up. Harry forced the grated to open before the lift had stopped moving and took off at a sprint after the incredibly insane Death Eater. She looked back, hearing the pursuit, and aimed a spell in his direction, but Harry was able to dodge it, hiding behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren. The atrium was devoid of noise, Bellatrix had stopped running. Harry trying to catch his breath, listened.

Bellatrix mocked him, and Harry Potter felt hatred burn through him. He saw Hermionie crumpled on the ground, Sirius falling, he saw Cedric Diggory, the old Muggle grounds keeper Frank, He saw Frank and Alice Longbottom locked away at St. Mungo's. Harry Potter did something that he never thought he would do as the rage built up inside him, he leapt out from behind the fountain and bellowed "Crucio!"

Bellatrix Lestrange was flung backwards, knocked off her feet, she struggled to regain both her footing and her breath. She countered him, missing as he retreated behind the fountain again.

*"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain – to enjoy it- righteous anger won't hurt me for long- I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson –"

Their battle continued with her shooting curses at Harry, while he dodged and countered circling around the fountain. The deranged Death Eater demanded the prophecy in exchange for Harry's life. He told her that he had smashed it, and that her master knew. He baited her, using what he knew of the Dark Lord to his advantage.

*"And he knows!" said Harry with a mad laugh to match Bellatrix's own. "Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you is he?"

"What? What do you mean?" she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.

"The phrophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps! What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?"

His scar seared and burned…. The pain of it was making his eyes stream ….

"LIAR!" she shrieked, but he could hear the terry behind the anger now. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME- Accio Prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"

Harry laughed again because he knew it would incense her, the pain building in his head so badly he thought his skull might burst. He waved his empty hand from behind the one-eared goblin and withdrew it quickly as she sent another jet of green light flying at him.

"Nothing there!" he shouted. "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that-"

"No!" she screamed. "It isn't true, you're lying – MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED- DO NOT PUNISH ME-"

"Don't waste your breath!" yelled Harry, his eyes screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more terrible than ever. "He can't hear you from here!"

"Can't I, Potter?" said a high, cold voice.

Harry opened his eyes.

Tall, thin, and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupiled eyes staring … Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood frozen, quite unable to move.

"So you smashed my prophecy?" said Voldemort softly, staring at Harry with those pitiless red eyes. "No Bella, he is not lying… I see the truth looking at me from within his worthless mind… Months of preparation, months of effort… and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again…"

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not. I was fighting the Animagus Black!" sobbed Bellatrix, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he paced slowly hearer. "Master, you should know-"

"Be quiet, Bella," Said Voldemort dangerously. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your sniveling apologies?"

"But Master – he is here – he is below – "

Voldemort paid no attention.

"I have nothing more to say to you Potter," he said quietly. "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry had not even opened his mouth to resist. His mind was blank, his want pointing uselessly at the floor.

But the headless golden statue of the wizard in the fountain had sprung alive, leaping from its plinth, and landed on the floor with a crash between Harry and Voldemort. The spell merely glanced off its chest as the statue flung out its arms, protecting Harry.

"What - ?" said Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, "Dumbledore!"

Harry looked behind him, his heart pounding. Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates.

Other members of the Order of the Phoenix were joining him from the other lifts as the old wizard, quite possibly the only wizard in the world that Lord Voldemort feared, engaged him in the most spectacular display of power Harry Potter had ever seen. Everything at this point was a blur to Harry. He heard and saw spells and exploding stone from their surroundings. He vaguely heard Dumbledore engaging the most powerful Dark Wizard as the duel continued, and the next thing Harry Potter was truly able to comprehend was the disappearance of Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange's pained screeched as she called out to her master. Then Harry's scar exploded. He was sure that he was dead, it was the only explanation for the immense pain he now felt. Lord Voldemort had found a way to possess him. He registered Voldemort baiting Dumbledore to kill Harry himself. And Harry resigning himself to his fate thought of Hermione who may or may not be dead, and of his parents. He felt content. At least if he died now, the pain would stop, and he would be with those he loved again. The pain receded and Voldemort's hold on Harry was gone. Sirius Black was one of the last people to exit the lifts in the atrium, helping Remus Lupin carry a very gravely injured but still living Hermione Granger between them. Sirius almost let his grip on the girl slip, but someone took over his burden with Lupin, and Sirius took off running towards Harry. Harry Potter was struggling to stay conscious as he vaguely saw his godfather running towards him shouting his name. Harry Potter was barely able to put coherent thoughts together, but he felt relief as the man fell to his knees next to him, panic plain on his face. When Sirius saw that Harry was injured but not critically, his panic gave way to relief and for the first time in nearly 15 years Sirius Black sobbed like a baby. He pulled the boy into his arms; Harry was still unable to do much and groaned at the bone crushing embrace his godfather was subjecting him to.

"Padfoot…" Harry panted, "When did you turn into such a woman?"

Sirius Black's bark like laughter broke through his tears.

"Do not ever do that to me again pup."

"Hermione?"

"Mooney has her, I won't lie to you Harry, she is gravely injured" He pulled back to look into the boy's eyes "but if anyone can fix her up Poppy can. Now let's get you up and back to the castle."

Harry Potter lost consciousness as they fell to the ground after the portkey transported them directly into the hospital wing of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The Boy Who Lived woke feeling like he had been hit by a train. Every single inch of his body hurt, his muscles protested against his efforts causing him to groan aloud. The sun was shining through the windows of the hospital wing, and from their places by the door three men noticed that Harry Potter was starting to stir from his two day long slumber. The dark haired man sprinted to his godson's side. Sirius Black knew that there was no point in telling the stubborn teenager not to move, so instead of berating him, he helped him into a sitting position. Just then Harry caught sight of the girl still slumbering in the cot next to his. Her brown hair had been braided to be kept more in control, pulled away from her incredibly pale face. His heart stopped, and Sirius caught his expression.

"She's fine Harry, or will be. But it will take a long time for Hermione to make a full recovery. It may be another day or so before she is able to wake up."

Harry could only nod unable to force his gaze away from his friend. Remus Lupin had decided to give the two a moment, and headed straight for the matron's office at the far end of the ward while Albus Dumbledore stood watching the interactions between the two with a blank expression. Inside however Dumbledore was conflicted. Harry Potter deserved answers. He had almost lost two of the people he cared for most in this world, Harry Potter was no longer just a boy. He had the will to succeed in him, to do what needed to be done. Changes would need to be made. Harry needed more than just the power the prophecy spoke of in order to defeat Lord Voldemort. He watched as Poppy hurried back, hot on the heels of one of the three remaining Marauders, four boys he thought would never really grow up. One dead, the only thing left of his family, young Harry, struggling to sit up in a hospital bed once again. One turned traitor. One old before his time, not merely due to his affliction, but due to war and the toll that it was taking on them all, and finally one falsely accused of a most terrible crime… that of betraying his friends…. No, his family. Albus Dumbledore had work to do. It would be a long and arduous road, but there were things that must be done, wrongs that needed to be corrected, the first of which he would remedy now, by telling young Harry the truth of the prophecy. If the Battle of the Department of Mysteries had gone differently Harry would have raged, destroyed things, lashed out in any way he could have. But it did not, and something deep inside Harry Potter knew that this was always supposed to be the way of it. As he absorbed everything that the Headmaster told him, Harry turned his head over to look at Hermione, she didn't believe in destiny, prophecy or fate. He knew that he should distance himself from those he loved in order to protect them from the war that was coming, but looking at her, and then into the eyes of his father's two best friends he knew that it would be impossible. It would be useless, and he knew after what they had faced that he needed them beside him. The blood family Harry Potter was left with after his parents were murdered were only relations, matches on a DNA level. The missing truth in Harry Potter's world was that yes his family was dead, but he had formed a new one, and he needed them. He needed their support, and help. He would tell them all the truth, give them the choice, but those that chose to stay Harry would fight to the death to keep them safe and to make a new world, safe for them to live and thrive in.

Author's note: All sections in full italics will be excerpts from the books. I want to make sure that those are given all due credit as they are not my work. I'm really excited about this story. I love the world of Harry Potter; I just could not reconcile myself with certain parts. I am currently a student, mom, and aspiring author. I really write fan fiction to help myself when I'm at road blocks in my own stories, so updates may be sporadic. I may also be working on editing and updating a previous story that I have published here as well from time to time, it just depends on my own schedule. I'm very open to pointers and suggestions and respectful constructive criticism. If you would like a really awesome and completely addicting story to check out, I recommend Eclipse of the Sky by firefawn (you ROCK!) Over the past several years I have watched that story evolve from a quizilla (Showing my age there HAHA) interactive story to the amazing piece of work that it is today.

1/11 – updated because I was extremely sloppy and forgot to use spell check. I couldn't leave it like it was. lol.