Note- This was begun before HP6 came out. As such, there are significant differences in some facts as relating to cannon. There may come up a few spoilers from Half-blood Prince, but the timeline has mostly veered away from it.

Another note/warning- This chapter is extremely verbose and grandiose, on purpose. Think of it as written in a wizarding tome, one of those kept for people like Hermione to read. The language becomes gentler after this.

Disclaimer- I own naught but the original plot, characters, locals, and spells. Known elements belong to JKR, etc. I mean no infringement on copyrights thereof.

Chapter One - As Prologue To

The blaze of golden light dazed those in witness, as they watched in fearful apprehension the scene unfolding before them. Their worst fear and their greatest hope were swallowed unerringly into the glint, the murmur of incantations the only hint to remaining life of both parties. Not a one could determine who cast what or even what exactly was cast.

Time seemed a standstill, unmoving, as were the combatants surrounding the spectacle. They were as though statues, no longer interested in dueling one another, as their fates were drawn by those unseen.

The light did not dim, but seemed to change consistencies, as various colours swirled into the blinding glow. As the battle within grew in fervor, the shimmers beat in stark contrast to the blood tinted sky. Nature knew the day was not of innocence, knew death loomed and surrounded the horizon, seeking to claim the unwilling in its most macabre embrace.

Dark and light in its most savage glory was unleashed before bloodstained parties. They seemed not to breath, as though that slight movement might somehow turn the tide against their own favour. All in presence knew the victor of this most fatalistic battle would, in very being, guarantee which side would win the day.

That this struggle would come to two enemies in fierce contest was at once inconceivable, and yet, seemed to make perfect sense. The chaos that reigned the well concealed world had found its focal point in the most opposite similar beings in this age, and that power, that strife, was polarizing in their desperate encounter. It was as determined by augury, the two foes were met with each other's force.

Suddenly the torrent intensified, the tone condensing to form a vivid expanse of indeterminate tint. As the glare culminated, the colour transformed into an unforgivable shade of green. The end was fast approaching, and in that heart stopping moment of incognizance, the extemporaneous audience's respiration was bated within their systems.

Time then seemed to jump, its fickle constitution rearing itself to stun the masses, amusing itself in that it alone knew the grim resolution, and was the only thing to be unaffected by it. As quickly as the finale arose, the actualization of its yield was slowly disclosed. The prismatic discharge of hexes faded, a distinctive fog that was burnt away.

A silhouette appeared through the colour in the middle of the gore strewn battlefield. The crimson light bathed the figure's outline, making it as though an obelisk of blood. Awash the wondering people, it made the tension of the air arduous to contend with, as they attempted to make corporeal judgement of the conqueror.

Just as the weary populace of the grounds gained better sight, the last traces of spell residue dissipating, a new light gaining sustenance arose from the ground. A ground that one could now see was littered with the bones of the opponent whose luck did not hold. The beam which showed this gruesome display continued on its steadfast ascent, watched critically by the living adversary. The light it imparted swiftly evinced this person, in all of his battle weary grandeur.

As the incandescence in the form of a sphere came eye level, it burned azure, though through its form it seemed imbued with a black tinged red that sent shivers down the onlookers spines. This ghastly illumination alighted upon the one before it, sending his face into involuntary spotlight. Upon this revealing display, the collective breath was forced from lungs in varying degrees of disbelief, and felicity, or in the case of the fallen's side, anger.

Attention was stolen from the champion abruptly, as the lighted orb in front of him began a fearful spinning, appearing, if one can imagine it, enraged. The dance of light gained strength, and the one before it gained determination. With the first movement seen of the figure, he brought his hands up in what would seem in any other event as a conciliatory gesture. At this moment, it only bid ill for that it was toward.

A glow formed from the hands, a physical manifestation of the being's power, a gold and silver portending of the other light's fate. Stunned, those watching basked in the shine which shown brighter than the blood of the sky. The light magnified as with a swift upward stroke, the man sent a stream of colour to meet the other. They battled for dominance, pulses of radiance shining. Slowly, the gold and silver overcame the reddish blue, sliding over it, encompassing it. This force was not compromising, was not merciful. It would not stop without complete annihilation of its foe.

With a burst of light, shooting sparks throughout the spectators' vision, the drive of power from the standing party inundated the evil of the other, hiding it from view as it crushed in and destroyed it. With a blast of raw power, the sphere appeared to rupture. As the light impossibly brightened, the vanquishing of the soul showed clearly the scar on the victor's forehead.

The resulting shockwave threw its force outwards, sending all within the immediate vicinity back and down. Those not, wished they had been so stunned when the screaming of agony tore through the throats of the marked. Grasping their arms as though attempting to rip them from their joints if only to stop the pain, they fell upon the ground almost as one. None were spared, as the dark bond was wrenched away, leaving nothing but a dead tattoo of a skull as a marker should anyone look. The snake of the mark was gone, into oblivion as was the one who created it.

Those who could, though now few, looked upon the one before them, who even in the middle of the force wave, had remained fully upright. They watched as he gazed at the scattered skeleton of his foe. They saw as he stepped closer to it, bent down and retrieved the wand some knew to be the brother of his own. And they continued looking as he rose staring at it as though seeing being the physical plane through it, and as he took it in both hands. Some were startled at the sharp sound as he snapped it in twain, some were not.

Turning, the young man carefully and, some noticed, painfully, moved towards the foremost group of still standing persons. As he did, Albus Dumbledore stepped towards him, his elderly body and outrageous robes showing the evidence of the battle plainly.

Reaching the headmaster, the victor reached out and handed the broken pieces of the wand that had done so much damage, to the older man. His only words were simple and filled with such emotion as to make it impossible to determine individual feelings.

"It is done. I am done."

With that he turned away, walking a short distance to stand over a defeated body. Leaning down, he gazed at the dull amber eyes of his former mentor, the last one of his parent's best friends. He smoothed back some tawny hair and ran his fingers over the eyes to close them.

"Say hello to Sirius for me, Moony."

Standing and glancing around, he saw the devastation the war had wrought along the once cheerful grounds. The red of the sky having yet to fade cast a morbid look on the land and on the old, powerful, remaining, castle. Glancing up at the time worn battlements of the first place he had felt as home, Harry Potter disapparated.

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A/N: For those reading The Betrayal of Innocence, note that I am continuing that as well as this new one. Updates on both will be posted regularly.

Should you wish a personal response to a review, please include your email address. Feel free to email me, if you so choose, at MoonpoetessZ at yahoo dot com.

Best Regards and Pleasure Reading,

-Zenn

(Note - The warning on the language of this chapter was added after a million complaints as to it. I hope it does nothing to disinterest those who come here.)