Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

The air was filled with a howl, not that of his patronus, nor of a werewolf. Two identical howls followed suit as the giant pall of Fluffy the large, hulking Cerberus slammed downward, taking Voldemort in the chest and throwing him off of Harry. Nagini slid off toward a thicker area of trees, and Harry saw Rudra about to follow. "No, Rudra, bring me my wand!" He called, and then turned to Hagrid. "Hagird, kill the other snake," he said pointing toward Nagini.

"Fluffy, sic 'em," Hagrid called, and then in one leap, the Cerberus cleared Harry, Hagrid and Rudra – who had finally returned with the wand- and landed a paw square on Nagini, killing it quiet clearly. Tom Riddle, unconscious on the ground, was unaware, and thus would have no reason to question Harry's knowledge of the need for Nagini to die.

"Hagrid, we have to make Voldemort thing we killed the snake because we were angry, he can't know I had a reason!" Harry said, forcefully, trying to get to his feet. He was shocked when the snake suddenly glowed bright red, and then the light passed, or it seemed. It may have been a trick of the eyes, but Harry could have sworn a soft red glow surrounded the carcass even as he turned toward the snake's former master.

Harry bent down and found the hand of Lord Voldemort, and without a second thought, pocketed it. He'd want proof, as much as it disgusted him to touch something so filthy.

"Wha' was tha' Harry?" Hagrid asked, signaling the Cerberus to calm down. It seemed the three headed dog was completely at Hagrid's control, which was definitely a good thing at this point in time, because normally Harry would feel distinctly uncomfortable with the thing in his presence due to their run in in his first year. However, it didn't affect him because right now, he was more focused on the man Fluffy had just knocked unconscious.

"That, Hagrid, was something that put us one step closer to killing Voldemort." He said, motioning to the man. "He can't know we had a reason for killing the snake, alright Hagrid?"

Rudra slithered up Harry's leg and rested around his neck as the half-giant nodded and Harry bound Voldemort tightly. However, in the process of lifting the man up, he slammed him against another tree branch, waking him. Voldemort began hissing in parseltongue for Nagini. Harry was all too happy to burst his bubble. "Let's say your snake got caught underfoot, Voldy." Before he could say anything else, Voldemort erupted in an inhuman-like roar, and a wave of magic threw Harry back into the air. He opened his eyes and saw Fluffy make a lumbering jump, allowing Harry to land on his back.

In a slightly delusional state, Harry hissed out in parseltongue, "Good doggy." And as Harry regained his sense of self, and Voldemort was gone. Not that he had dissapparated, because that was impossible, but Harry thought it likely he had reached into his robes pocket and activated a portkey. "Incarcerous!"

Harry turned as the spell hit him atop Fluffy's back, and wrapped him in ropes. Remus emerged from the trees looking flabbergasted. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry, Evanesco." The ropes disappeared. Harry shook it off and looked up.

"Let's get to the castle, Remus, they're still fighting."

"Fluffy, let's get 'em." With the dog, and Harry atop it in the lead, the three made their way back to the school, Harry saw by looking over his shoulder that a battered Remus had been forced back into his transformation as the moon came out from behind a cloud, but that just meant that he would arrive before Hagrid. Grawp was fighting a group of Death Eaters, but the fact of the matter was, Harry was shocked that Voldemort had amassed so many followers, their had to be more than three thousand Death Eaters and Dementors marching on the school, and many less Aurors, Order members, and other fighters of the Light.

"Alright Fluffy, do what you can," Harry called. "Rudra, hold tight." The dog, as if sensing what he needed, took to the air and landed amidst a group of Death Eaters, his huge paws scattering them. The two heads on the outside took to snapping at Death Eaters, and sometimes getting them, while the third seemed to rotate between the same, and letting out roars which became louder and louder, deafening Harry.

Harry began letting off a series of Reductor Curses at passing Death Eaters, and amused himself by spotting none other than Lucius Malfoy himself and using a curse so strong that it sent the man flying into his companions, one of which was Peter Pettigrew. "Incendio!" Pettigrew caught flame, and continued to screech as none of his fellow Death Eaters took the time to put the fire out.

Harry was not at all saddened when he saw the man fall to the ground, clearly dead and still burning. For good measure he sent a Reductor Curse at him and likely destroyed the man's lungs. He turned his attention back to the battle, occasionally being jarred as the Cerberus took to the air or took off at a run. He cast a spell on a Death Eater who had seemingly broken through the final line and was nearing the doors of the school which were—scarily enough—hanging open.

That was when he noticed something scary. There was no last line in front of the castle. "Fluffy, we need to get into the castle!" The beast gave another roaring bark, and burst into a quick run once again, Death Eaters and Aurors alike clearing a path for them. As they reached the doors, Harry saw that flames were burning in the Great Hall. "Through those doors." Fluffy came in through the open doors and Harry saw what the problem was. Several Death Eaters were trapped on this half of the room, along with some fallen students by a line of fire conjured by the students and fed by the House Tables. At the head of the group of students, Harry was proud to see Hermione and Ron fueling the fire.

Fluffy jumped in at Harry's command, destroying every Death Eater in his path and avoiding the bodies of students who might still be alive. When he was sure his surprise attack had quelled his opponents, Harry turned and motioned toward the students. "Repeat after me, aguamenti." Students tried, but even with everyone who was able to trying, the four flaming tables couldn't be put out.

"Fluvius!" Godric Gryffindor limped into the room as he cast the spell, and Harry only barely had time to hear Hermione call out for everyone to hold their breath before a large torrent of water flew down on the flaming tables and began to cover the floor.

"Exsicco," called another voice, and the water disappeared at once. Salazar Slytherin limped in behind Gryffindor. "Well done my old friend."

"And the same to you, of course," Gryffindor replied. It took the students a stunned moment to recover before a cheer rang out. "No time to celebrate, there are still Death Eaters trying to get into the school. Seventh and sixth years, we require your help, if a spell occurs to you that is not one of the three Unforgivables, you are more than welcome to use it."

Harry watched a large number of people clamber over the tables and dash toward the doorway. When he saw Hermione, Ron and Ginny he stopped them. "Fluffy, can you carry three more." The dog gave a confirming bark, causing Ginny, Ron and Hermione to cower. "Ron, Hermione, you remember Fluffy, Ginny, Fluffy here almost ate the three of us alive a few years ago, but he saved my life twice, so I'd say we can trust him, get on. He leaned far down. Fluffy had grown over the last few years. Ron still couldn't reach his hand.

"Mobilius Corpus," Ginny called, lifting him onto the dog's back. Harry did the same to Ginny, who then summoned Hermione up onto the beast.

"All of you hold tight. Come on Fluffy, I'll buy you a giant bone after all this," Harry said, and he meant it. The dog bounded from the room after Slytherin and the seventh and sixth years, leaving Gryffindor to handle the remaining students. Harry felt the dog tense up as they reached the outside and called out, "Hold tight!" Ginny's arms encircled him, as they took to the air in a massive leap. Harry saw the two Death Eaters they crushed before they landed.

"That's disgusting," Ginny said shocked when Harry gave a dark laugh.

"I've seen worse. Voldemort's eyes popped from his head, literally. Blind as a bat, he's missing his left hand and wand as well. We had a good battle." Ginny turned to look at Hermione who shared the same look of concern. Harry sounded almost… happy. Of course, the next thing he said shattered that to pieces. "Fluffy, crush him."

The dog took another leap forward. "Die Malfoy!" Draco Malfoy looked up as the Cerberus came flying downward and dodged the paw narrowly. "Sectumsempra!" The spell missed, leaving a deep gash in the ground.

"Harry," Hermione scolded.

"It's saved my butt today. This is war Hermione, deal with it." Harry hated to be rough with her, but he was sure he was right, and Ron called out an agreement before setting fire to the robes of the fleeing Malfoy. A blonde woman slid up near him, putting the fire out on the boy.

"Mother," Malfoy called, and Harry turned his gaze on her. Narcissa Malfoy it was indeed.

"Incarcerous," Harry called compensating for the movement of the Cerberus beneath him by swinging his wand downward and to the left, ropes bound Narcissa and Draco Malfoy to each other. With a silent flick of his wand he raised them and threw the two onto the back of the dog, "stupefy, stupefy."

"Hermione! We'll drop you off at the doors, get them into the Dungeon!" Before Harry could instruct the dog to take him toward the castle doors, someone finally wised up and hurled a hex toward him, which sent him flying from the back of the beast.

"Fluffy, get them somewhere safe, get them into the school!" The dog barked an affirmative and leapt past him, crushing Death Eaters as it landed. Just as Ginny was crying out for Harry to hurry up and come with them, Draco and Narcissa flew off of the back of the Cerberus.

Harry jumped over a fallen Death Eater, dodged a killing curse and levitated the Malfoy's into the air, only to hear a spell, "Tarantallegra!" Harry broke the spell and turned just in time to dodge the curse which hit a Death Eater behind him. Lucius Malfoy, covered in blood and favoring his right arm hurled a Reductor Curse at him, which he dodged barely in the shock of the sudden attack. This hit the man's wife and caused the two Malfoy's to break from their bonds and fly off in two different directions before hitting the ground. Harry saw over Malfoy Senior's shoulder that Fluffy had successfully gotten his friends into the school.

"Cru-"

"Protego!" The shield broke under the spell, and the spell got him just the same, though perhaps a bit diminished.

Harry turned his wand on Lucius and said, "Crucio!" The man fell to the ground immediately, pain searing along his spine. "Crucio," he repeated stepping on Lucius' wand, breaking it.

Lucius leapt back to his feet and drew a wand from a fallen body. "Avada Ke-"

"Enough. Retreat! Retreat, we've lost this battle, but we've not lost the war. Retreat my minions."

Lucius stopped mid-spell and reached into his robe pocket. Harry went to summon forth the portkey the man was obviously reaching for, but when he did nothing happened. Cursing Malfoy saw his fleeing comrades, including his wife and child who had regained consciousness and gulped. He held his hands up in defeat, and convinced, Harry lowered his wand. Before he could speak, Lucius leapt down and reached into the pocket of the body next to them. "Goodbye Potter." A moment later he and the body were both gone.

Harry could only curse in disgust. Several people were still rounding up Death Eaters, but they seemed to have everything under control.

Harry slept in the Great Hall that night with the other students; the school was still being examined for Death Eaters by the teachers and the Four Founders. Ginny lie under the blanket next to him, and the two had stayed close by each other's side all night after the battle of Hogwarts ended.

The good news was that only two students died in the fight, but the Auror's ranks had been violently diminished. In the wake of the battle McGonagall had announced that Hogwarts was actually making a Cerberus their mascot. This was mainly because Harry and Fluffy had saved McGonagall's life three times in the battle.

The school board had come by and announced the school would not be closed down due to the battle because of the lack of casualties compared to their estimation, they deemed Hogwarts as a safer place than any other building in Europe, which heartened many students that they'd be allowed to stay at Hogwarts. No teachers died thankfully, and Harry had decided to personally account for everyone he knew well. No one he knew in the slightest had died, except for one person.

"I've got to go see his body before they take it, Gin," Harry said, standing.

"Harry, it's just going to hurt."

"You've not seen hurt."

Harry stretched and walked down the isle of students to an area in the back closed off by a conjured curtain. He pushed this aside when he found the opening and slipped through. The people behind the curtain looked up when he came through, and several immediately ordered him back to bed. "Please, professor just let me… say goodbye." When Remus looked over at the Healer and nodded, the man threw his hands up into the air in a gesture at Harry.

"That boy is injured badly and shouldn't be walking, much less going through any emotional trauma." As soon as the man stopped, Harry looked over at Remus.

"I know that, but Harry is a man, and he has a right to say goodbye to his friend." Harry smiled gratefully at Remus and limped past him to a covered bed.

A boy on the other side of the bed pulled back the sheet and Harry found that a lump caught in his throat as he surveyed the face, normally so full of joy, now looking terribly afraid. Why hadn't Harry gotten to the Great Hall just a little bit quicker?

This isn't right… what gives you the right… what? You scum… we both had problems as children, but you don't see me going around killing people. Oh, but you will, and it will be you, you sad excuse for a human being. I'll make you pay for this, I swear it. I'll make you pay,

"I'll tear you limb from limb!"

"Harry, calm down," Remus commanded, "You're scaring everybody."

Harry felt himself beginning to shake as he looked down upon the body in front of him, freshly scarred, and filthy to boot. Harry rustled blonde hair with a smile, he looked over the gaunt cheeks almost fondly, and said, "He and I… we're so much alike… Voldemort and myself. But I didn't choose to go about killing people because no body gave a damn when I was a child, so why did he? What in that measly brain of his gives makes him think he has the right to take the life of another who has done nothing wrong, ever?" He fought down the lump in his throat.

"Harry calm down," said the boy opposite him at the bed.

And then Harry did something he promised himself he wouldn't do, he had promised it last year at Dumbledore's funeral too. As he lay his hand slowly upon Dennis Creevey's forehead and burst into tears. "I'm sorry Dennis, looks like I'm a failure after all."

"No you're not Harry, you've been awarded Order of Merlin first class for fighting against Voldemort personally, why should you think yourself a failure?" Harry closed his eyes and merely continued to weep. I am so. Damn. Weak.

When next he was able to open his eyes Harry looked down at the boy's face sadly. "I couldn't catch Voldemort, I couldn't catch any of the Malfoys, hell I couldn't even protect my friends. If it weren't for that Cerberus of Hagrid's what might've happened to Ron and Hermione and… and Ginny."

"We wouldn't have blamed you for any of it, Harry." Ginny was standing in the curtain, and behind her he could see Hermione and Ron returning to the sleeping bags.

"Gin… I mean…look at him there, he's usually laughing, running around with Collin, annoying me, making me laugh, or hanging out with you. How does he go from that, to this so quickly?" Collin, who sat on the other side of the bed cracked a small smile. "I think… I think I've missed Hogwarts," Harry said softly, with a look of dawning comprehension on his face.

"Then come back, Harry."

"I can't Gin, I've got my reasons." Harry turned away from her and back to the body on the bed. He rolled the blanket down farther and revealed the boy's battered body. Silently he waved his wand and replaced dirty filthy blood clothes with a shirt and pair of pants of pure white, then got rid of all the filth on the boy's body, healing several cuts on it. "Dennis died a hero; and he deserves to look the part."

Harry walked around the bed, put his hand on Collin's shoulder and gave a smile, "get some sleep." He turned back to McGonagall, "I'm not accepting the Order of Merlin, I insist on nominating Dennis, and if it's necessary I'll personally pursue it to my death," which might not be that far away, he added silently.

"Harry, is it that you don't want to be rewarded or recognized at all," Remus asked.

"Yes, there are many who deserve to be rewarded much more. You don't know Remus… I've done things to Voldemort today that I never want to do again to anyone, not even him and worst of all, I loved it, every second of it, and I'd do it all again in an instant. I actually laughed and smiled as the potion flask I tried to get him to drink from shattered and cut his skin, as the snake I conjured ripped his skin off. Not either of these two," Harry explained to everyone, motioning toward Rudra and Maleck at his feet.

Harry walked toward Ginny and smiled at her comfortingly, he could see tears welling up in her eyes to match his. "Collin, Mr. and Mrs. Creevey, I'm more sorry than you can ever imagine for your loss. Voldemort has destroyed another family, but he's sure as hell not going to get away with it, I'll make him pay for every life he's taken, even if I die doing." The redhead leapt forward, wrapping her arms around him, and Harry returned the hug, unable to help burying his head in the crook of her neck, crying.

So weak.

It took him several moments to regain his composure.

"Go on to bed then Harry." As soon as Ginny let go of him, he lead her from behind the curtains and came face to face with several, most notable of the bunch was Neville Longbottom, sporting cuts all over his face.

"Neville, I've got a question."

Neville looked up. "You killed Rodolphus Lestrange tonight."

Nevile nodded.

"Did it help?"

When the boy shook his head no, Harry nodded as if it was expected.

"Did it feel good?" Again Neville shook his head no.

Harry had to smile, "Good, I think that's the way it's meant to be, because if it felt good to kill, we would be just as bad as Him."