On the morning of Monday, June 2, Harry Potter strode into the Great Hall as the population was chatting away over their breakfast. Without breaking his stride, he made his way to the front of the Hall, garnering more and more attention as he walked. He ignored the many attempts to question him as he walked, and refused to even look at Dumbledore. As he passed the Gryffindor table, Ginny stood and walked calmly at his side. Continuing on his way, he walked behind the Head Table, where Severus joined him to flank his free side. The Great Hall went instantly silent at this. Harry and Snape had always openly hated each other, so for them to be standing together like this, presenting a united front, something drastic must be happening. There could be no surer way for Harry to have gained the attention of everyone in the Hall. Most of the room was too afraid to breath, afraid that if they did they would miss whatever was about to happen. They could all tell that history was about to be made this day, and excitement buzzed through them that they would be a part of it.

Coming to a stop, Harry raised his right hand, which held Godric's wand, and then his left hand came up, catching the sword as it appeared. Several at the Head table, and a handful of students whose parents had talked about it, recognised the sword for what it was. The truth this signified about the young man who was holding it shocked most of them speechless. It dawned on them instantly that this was the young man who had been devastating Voldemort's forces all year; the man who had killed Lucius Malfoy in single combat, and defeated Bellatrix Lestrange. Not even the Headmaster knew that his greatest victories had been in the last few weeks, as Voldemort had been keeping these defeats close to the vest.

Harry spoke with a commanding tone, his voice echoing throughout the Hall and permeating to every corner of the castle. "Hogwarts, chlyw 'm alw. Achlesa 'r hysgol chan i mewn a i maes." It felt, to many of the occupants of the room, like Hogwarts herself was sitting up and taking notice of his words. "'M eiria bod chyfraith, i mewn 'n angen." A flash of gold blinded them momentarily, and when they blinked open their eyes they looked around in astonishment to see the windows and doors completely sealed. The fortress of Hogwarts was awake.

Dumbledore was on his feet instantly, and rounded on Harry. His face was nearly purple with rage. He was the only one in the hall who recognised the Welsh words spoken, and knew what had just happened. In his anger he didn't pause to think how Harry could do this, merely unleashed his fury that the lad seemed to have the audacity to try. "How dare you! You have no authority here!"

Harry met his look head on. Really, he thought to himself, the man wasn't thinking clearly. The fact that he had done it in the first place clearly illustrated his right to do so. "As the sole heir of Godric Gryffindor, I am seizing control of the castle until such time as our enemy has been defeated. For your own safety, Headmaster Dumbledore, you are to be sequestered in your office for the next week."

The students watched in shock as the spluttering Headmaster was surrounded by a force of house elves, and then gone. It happened so quickly most of them were still blinking in shock trying to understand what was going on. When they realised that Harry was still standing there, waiting, their attention returned to him, the man who had just calmly banished the great Albus Dumbledore and seemed to have control of the greatest fortress in the world.

Harry looked around at the wide-eyed students, making sure he had their undivided attention. "As I said, I am declaring Hogwarts under martial law for the next week. The reason for this is simple. On Friday evening, the castle will be invaded by Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters." He stopped briefly as cries erupted throughout the hall. His gaze flickered to the Slytherin table, where several students appeared restless and shifty. "There will be no chance for you to release this information outside of Hogwarts, so please don't even try. Nothing will leave or enter this castle without my express permission. Those students who I feel may pose a danger to the rest of us will be detained in a secure location until Saturday morning, or the conclusion of the fighting. You will not be harmed, and your accommodations will be perfectly comfortable. Any attempting to resist or harm your fellow students will be placed in an enchanted sleep until after the conflict, at which point you will be handed over to Amelia Bones at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If you do not attempt to harm anyone, you will be released on Saturday morning without question." There were a few outraged shrieks as more elves came in and escorted a good portion of Slytherin house as well as several students from the other three out of the Hall. Most looked resigned to going, but several fought, and were quickly subdued. "I am doing this to protect the innocent students who reside in this castle, and to prevent anyone from sabotaging our resistance. The safety of every individual in this castle is my priority, and I will do whatever is necessary to protect you."

When the Hall was once more devoid of movement, Harry continued. "This will be the final battle, and I will be defeating Voldemort on Friday night. I know this because over the last several weeks I have put plans in motion that have forced Voldemort into a corner. In his impatience, we will strike, and we will win." A cheer went up from most of the students, with the younger ones looking on in awe at the fierceness of their older classmates. "We have many plans in place that will attempt to ensure your safety, and no one will be forced to participate in the defence of the castle. For the next week, you have two choices. If you wish to fight, we will train you as best we can. Otherwise, you will continue with classes until Friday, at which point you will be taken to a secure location until after the fight." Harry paused again as this sunk in.

"I need you to choose now. Those not wishing to fight, and the teachers, you are dismissed to your classes now. With the exception of Potions classes, all classes will be taught as normal until Friday. Professor Snape has other obligations during this time, and his classes are all cancelled. If you wish to help during his regular class times, we will have several people brewing healing potions down in the dungeons. Feel free to volunteer your time. If you chose not to fight, you will be taught a few basic things this week in the unlikely event that you are placed in danger, but for the most part life will continue as normal. There is no harm in not wishing to fight. I want you to continue this week as normally as you can. If you wish to send any owls, they must be approved through me so that no information is leaked out of the castle; the Owlery has been locked down for the time being. In addition, any student third year or below is required to leave. I will not let you fight in a battle you are unprepared for. If this is the option you choose, please gather your things and head to class."

Again, he stopped as there was a large exodus from the Hall. The younger students all left, with curious glances back at him. Of the fourth and fifth years, about half of them got up and left. In the upper years, only a handful did. Once movement had stopped and the doors had been shut, Harry waved several people up to him, that no one had noticed in the Hall before. Remus, Tonks, Bill, Fred and George, Mad-Eye, Pomfrey, and Amelia Bones joined him at the head of the Hall, followed by Ron and Hermione.

"These will be your trainers over the next week. We will teach you some general spells, and then specialized ones in an area of your choice. Fred and George will be helping some of you set up traps throughout the school in the event things don't go as planned. Madame Pomfrey will be teaching you how to heal your classmates if they are harmed. Ron and Professor Snape are our chess masters. They have carefully orchestrated this battle, and a handful of you will be asked to help them with this. Hermione will be using several of you to carefully prepare our equipment. The rest of you will receive combat training from Remus, Tonks, Bill, Mad-Eye, Madame Bones, and Ginny and myself.

"I am not going to sugar coat things. Some of you will get hurt. But if we work hard and things go according to plan, this will be minimal. We know when and from where the Death Eaters are coming. We will be watching their every move using an advanced map. As soon as possible, we will take each of them out, and then replace them with one of you under Polyjuice." There were sounds of confusion from the students. "I know, that seems weird. We will make sure you can tell the difference between a real Death Eater and one of your classmates Polyjuiced to replace them, and teach you how to maintain the illusion of a fight without harming each other. This is what most of the battle here will consist of: sabotaging Death Eaters, taking their place, and acting the part so that no one is the wiser."

"The reason for this subterfuge is three-fold. Professor Snape has been a spy in Voldemort's camp for nearly twenty years, and we need to protect his cover. Secondly, we hope to take most of them out before the fighting really starts. Once they are aware you are there, they will fight back and it will be more likely that someone will get hurt. But most importantly is that Voldemort's familiar will be present for the battle, meaning he will have eyes and ears here. The entire battle is largely a performance for him to witness through her. We need him to think the fighting is really happening until I am able to get to him and finish him off." There were nods all around.

"In addition, you must know that there are two events that we have staged for that night. The first is Professor Dumbledore's death, at the hand of Professor Snape." There were shocked cries. "However, it will be entirely fake, as he will not be leaving his office. Again, this will be mostly for show. After Professor Snape takes down the fake, I will go mad with grief. At this point, Professor Snape is going to use the distraction to kidnap Ginny."

"Are you insane?" Came a cry from the Gryffindor table.

Harry turned and levelled Dean Thomas with a firm gaze. "No, I am not. I told you this was all planned out. We need to be able to get to Voldemort, and to do that I am allowing him to kidnap my wife." More shocked cries. "Yes, you heard correctly. Ginny and I are indeed married, and her capture is my ticket into Voldemort's headquarters, and the means whereby I will be able to defeat him. I will accompany her to his hideout, and, together, we will finish him off. But it is important that Voldemort not discover our plan, so none of you can let on to what is happening and none of you can interfere on the night in question. We must allow him to leave with Ginny, and we must make it look real. Once he leaves, I will follow him. At this point, Nagini, that's Voldemort's snake, will leave and the charade will be up. Professor Snape will capture her as soon as it is safe, and Ginny and I will be on our way."

Harry stopped and carefully looked at them all. "Does everyone understand the general idea?" There was utter silence in the Hall, with most of them shooting glances at Ginny by his side. "You will all swear a magical oath to protect this knowledge, or you will be detained with the rest of those of questionable intent." Slowly, heads started to nod. "Very well, Hermione has your training schedules up here and will instruct you on the correct oath. Good luck."

No one outside of Hogwarts knew that anything unusual was happening, aside from those who had already offered their assistance to Harry. Regular letters were sent to parents, even from those of questionable intent who had been detained. To the outside world, business was as usual at the great school, with the exception of Dumbledore having to cancel a meeting at the Ministry. He was quite ill, you see, and unable to leave. But inside the school, life was far from usual. The younger years and others who chose not to fight still went to class, though many of them had been condensed so that the teachers had time to help in the training. But after dinner, they were all locked in their common rooms as battle simulations were run throughout the school. The Great Hall was turned into a factory every night to produce their battle equipment under the careful eye of Hermione, and a team of brewers spent every night stocking the Infirmary up on potions. All of Hogwarts was preparing for battle.

Late Thursday night the final simulation was successfully run, and afterwards the fighters all assembled in the Great Hall. Harry smiled at them. "You all have performed amazingly this week, and we are excessively proud of you. I want you all to get as much sleep as possible, and then take a break tomorrow. At five, we will gather here for the final battle."

Ginny stepped up to his side. "We can never express our gratitude for what you have done for us this week." She smiled softly. "I'm going to ask one more thing, however." Harry turned to her in surprise. "You see, I very much want my husband to survive this, and so I will give him every advantage I can. Nearly sixteen years ago, it was the love of Lily Potter that flowed through his veins that sent the killing curse rebounding on Voldemort. Last week, many of you were there when we asked the Legion to swear blood oaths of love with Harry, in an effort to increase this protection. I ask the rest of you to do so tonight, providing him the protection and power that will get him through his own fight. With the love of Hogwarts behind him, he will win."

Harry collapsed into his seat at the surge of people that immediately stood and moved towards him. In a daze, his hand came up as student after student swore to him. Many of them hugged him fiercely, or gave him words of encouragement, before they retreated. Harry was in awe. There were students from every house, and every year above third. There were students of every background and skill level. There were students who, until this week, had never even spoken to Harry. And yet every single one of them was willing to offer of themselves to help the man who was standing between their world and the chaos of the Dark. They gave freely of their blood and offered their surety that he would triumph.

Hogwarts was coming together to win this war.

The Great Hall was only at about a third of its normal occupancy on Friday morning. Even most of the teachers were absent. The students that were there ate quietly, each of them thinking about what was going to happen this night. Many of them had friends or family that was staying behind, and there was more than one who was wishing they could change their decision from Monday. Towards the end of the meal, the doors opened and Harry stepped into the Hall.

He smiled at the anxious faces. "For your own safety, I will be escorting you to a secure location for the next day. It is impenetrable, and only I can open the door. In the event of the worst outcome," he ignored the shocked outrage around him, "the wards will fall. In which case, I wish you all the best of luck. If you would please follow me, we are going to the Chamber of Secrets."

Quietly, the exodus of Hogwarts began.

Lord Voldemort was ecstatic. His plans were going perfectly. Severus had found a way for his servants to infiltrate Hogwarts, something about a Room of Needs that could become whatever he wished, including an outlet to the outside, and no one in the castle was any wiser. His Death Eaters had been using their children to spy on the situation, and it had been business as usual at the castle this week. It was even better since Severus has pathetically decided he couldn't go through with the entire mission.

It wasn't often that Voldemort allowed his baser needs to be satisfied, but occasionally he took part in the festivities that his Death Eaters so enjoyed. It raised moral, you see. And, occasionally, he found it made for an excellent punishment when he forcefully took the wife of some disobedient servant. But he had to admit that he was looking forward to this. He would get to take something from Potter, something that would break the foolish boy, something that could never be replaced. Yes, he was going to enjoy it. And he was going to enjoy it even more when he cut the baby from the stupid girl's womb in front of Potter.

Yes, it was a perfect plan. Severus was even brewing the correct potions for him so that nothing went wrong, and a couple little extras. He thought it would be amusing if he could show the stupid boy a memory of the girl willingly submitting to him, so Severus was brewing a tricky little mix of compulsion and lust potions. He was sure that Potter had tried to teach the girl to resist the Imperius by now, so something different was needed, something that she wouldn't be prepared for.

Lord Voldemort sat on his throne, laughing with mirth. Oh, it was going to be an enjoyable evening.

With the last of the students evacuated, Harry had raised the outer protections on the castle, the ones that would have been visible to the invading force. Everything had to look normal, and they had to be able to leave when the time was right.

Inside the Hall, all was ready. It had taken every store of Polyjuice that Severus and the Auror department had, but every student in the Hall was carrying a small vial. In addition, they had all been provided with specially spelled cloaks to help protect them, a small earpiece, and a pair of contact lenses. These had been Hermione's ideas. The earpieces were built like their Muggle counter parts, and allowed Ron, who would be orchestrating the battle as it happened, to communicate with everyone else in the castle. Each lens was spelled to recognise the special charm that was applied to their fighters. This way, they could always recognise friendlies, no matter what face they wore. With one last run through of the plan, and many wishes of good luck, the fighters dispersed throughout the castle after carefully applying disillusionment charms and silencing charms. The command group remained in place in the Great Hall, staring at the back wall. Hermione and Remus had carefully duplicated the Marauder's Map onto the wall, and Ron was stationed before it, ready to command his troops. Hermione was by his side, prepared to help troubleshoot any problems that might arise.

In the centre of the Hall, Harry and Ginny were wrapped in each other's arms, lost to the world. The others that were scurrying around left them alone, recognising that they needed this time. They didn't move until Ron spoke. His voice echoed throughout the Hall and from each of their earpieces.

"It's time, everyone. Snape just entered the Room of Requirement."

Harry kissed Ginny one last time, hugged Hermione and Ron, and strode from the room. The instant he left, Ginny collapsed to the floor, struggling to control her emotions. So much could go wrong tonight, and she was the one who stood to lose the most. Hermione was by her side in an instant, silently encouraging her. Neither said anything, not wanting to alert Harry to her distress over the earpieces. So their despair was totally silent.

"Nagini is through, and slinking down the corridor."

With a deep breath, Ginny stood and dashed her tears away. She carefully checked all of her equipment and headed for the door. She had a role to play tonight. Ron's eyes watched as she left the room before snapping back to the map. He wasn't allowing himself to think of the danger she was willing walking into this night.

He eyed the map, quickly counting and tagging the new dots as they appeared. "It looks like there are seventeen in total. They're making their way out of the room and down. Sixth floor, east corridor, be advised they are on their way."

One of the dots on the map lagged behind the others as they climbed down the stairs and was quickly ambushed. Ron watched as it was dragged to a room and then a Ravenclaw seventh year took its place with no one the wiser. One down.

"They've split into two groups. One heading down the sixth floor and the other towards the fifth. Nagini is maintaining her post on the east stairs to watch both groups. Avoid going down that way in case she spots any movements."

The two lead dots heading into the darkened fifth floor were quickly swarmed by friendly dots and pulled away. This time it was a pair of Hufflepuffs that replaced them. Three down.

"Harry is heading to the sixth floor. The rest of you, do not openly engage the Death Eaters unless necessary."

Ron watched as Harry's dot reached the group and they stopped to attack him. He stood in the middle of the corridor, preventing them from moving forward. His distraction was enough to cause the loss of one more Death Eater from the back of that group. Four down.

His gaze shifted to the fifth floor. The Death Eaters seemed to be moving quickly, searching rooms for anyone as they moved. One of them chose the wrong room to search, as it was full of hidden students. He was quickly replaced. Five down.

"Harry, you need to retreat and allow them to move forward."

When Harry's dot moved, four of the Death Eaters didn't follow on, just slowly faded from the map. He wasn't pulling any punches tonight as was going straight for the kill. Nine down.

The two groups converged at another staircase, and together headed down to the fourth floor. In the process, one more was picked off the back. Ten down.

"The Dumble decoy is stationed midway through the third floor. Ginny, get in position. Everyone else, begin resistance."

The Death Eaters' dots came to a halt as the students started to actively fight back. Ron watched tensely as they fought, wishing he had more to look at than just dots with names.

"Two down, medics to the east side of the fourth floor."

Harry seemed to be the only one willing to inflict permanent damage, as another two names near him faded out. Twelve down. McGonagall's dot came running and joined in the fight.

"Severus, you're up."

Snape stepped out of the shadows and in to the middle of the fight. His presence caused many of the students to scatter, thus allowing the Death Eaters to head down another floor. Two more were captured on the way. Fourteen down.

Within seconds of stepping foot on the fourth floor, the Death Eaters were surrounding the decoy. The snake that was curled up in the shadows had no way of knowing that only three of her master's fighters were real.

Ginny Weasley was fighting fiercely against the invading Death Eaters, concentrating most of her efforts on protecting the younger students. Thus she didn't see the deadly curse that was aimed at her back by one of the figures. A sudden movement in the corridor came just before a solid metal shield erupted in front of her, taking the brunt of the curse. She turned around to see that while protecting her, Dumbledore had lost his advantage. In the distraction, Snape had stepped out of the shadows and joined the fight on the side of the Death Eaters. He used the moment of Dumbledore's focus on Ginny to send a disarming curse at the Headmaster.

Startled, Dumbledore turned around. His eyes widened when he saw his Potions Master and trusted friend standing with two wands trained on him. "Severus, do you really want to do this?" Dumbledore said calmly.

Severus sneered. "More than you can imagine. I've lived under your thumb for too long, old man. How could you think I was really on your side? What would possibly induce me to join the Great Meddler? And Potter? He's useless. You are nothing more than a delusional old man who believes in fairy tales and miraculous endings. Welcome to the real world."

"Snape!" Harry was running, but there was no way he'd make it in time. He sent a curse, but it was blocked before reaching its target.

Severus raised his wand, pointing it straight at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra."

A flash of green light and Dumbledore collapsed to the ground, surprise on his face. Harry screamed, and started flinging curses. His rage made them go wide, and the rest Severus batted away with a shield. From behind the circling Death Eaters came another cry.

"Harry! Be careful!"

Snape sneered and turned quickly. Instantly, he was on the young girl, his hand wrapped around her throat and his wand aimed at her temple.

"Ginny!"

"Move, and she dies, Potter."

Harry came to a screeching halt, panting. He made an impressive figure, his wand emitting sparks and blood dripping from the sword in his hand. "Let her go, Snape, you bastard. Haven't you done enough?"

Severus laughed. "Don't you know, the whole point of tonight's little exercise was to get a hold of this little thing. My master has great plans to enjoy her. Pity you were too weak of a man to have taken her yourself. Now you'll never have the pleasure." His hand moved from Ginny's neck and opened, palm up. "Did you know that the Headmaster is the only one that can charm portkeys to and from Hogwarts? He made this for me in case I was summoned to the Dark Lord. Pity he's dead and I can't thank him properly."

Harry screamed with rage as Severus, with Ginny, disappeared. His wand came up and he shot curses at the Death Eaters. The three remaining never noticed that all of them were aimed very deliberately.

"Death Eaters all taken care of. Harry, go get my sister back and kick the bastard's arse."

Still breathing heavily, Harry turned on his heels and ran.

Behind him, the Hogwarts students came to their senses and attacked the remaining Death Eaters. Nagini didn't know the difference between the curses she was expecting and the light show she saw. She simply moved along. Her mission was accomplished, and her master had instructed her to get out of there.

"Snake is gone, repeat snake is gone. Stand down. Good job, everyone. Let's round up the bastards and make sure none of them get away."

The instant Harry was out of sight of everyone, he clutched the portkey around his own neck and disappeared. He was deposited in the middle of the Shrieking Shack, where Severus and Ginny were waiting for him. He was still stumbling from the landing when Ginny's arms went around him. He hugged her tightly before stepping back. They didn't have time.

Harry pulled out his own Polyjuice and down it, not even stopping to gag. In less than a minute, two Snapes were in the room.

"Be careful, you two." Severus handed over his own portkey to the Dark Lord. "And come back."

His doppelganger gave a clipped nod, and pulled Ginny to him. "Go take care of those bastards who are up at the castle."

Severus Snape watched as Harry and Ginny disappeared to their destiny, then turned on his heel and made his way back up to the castle under a strong disillusionment charm. He needed to make sure everything was taken care of up at the castle, and he had a snake to catch.

Lord Voldemort looked up, practically gleeful, as Severus dragged the small and screaming form of Ginny Weasley into his throne room. He had expected them some time ago, but, based on the condition of the girl, he suspected Severus had stopped to taunt and hurt her. The man could no doubt not resist taunting the plaything of that foolish boy Potter that they both hated so much. He would have been inclined to punish Severus, but tonight he had accomplished two great things. He would allow his fun. The girl was fighting him with everything she had, while screaming at him for being a traitor. When Severus threw her on the floor in front of him, she looked up, met his eyes, and froze.

"Tom." She bit out.

Lord Voldemort raised one nonexistent eyebrow at her presumption. "Miss Weasley, we meet at last."

"I know you, Tom."

The child had spirit. He admired that. "Ah, yes. You were on rather intimate terms with my diary, were you not? It is a pity that the plan was ruined. You look strong; I could have done much with your life-force."

She glared at him. "I am strong. Stronger than you."

Lord Voldemort laughed. "Ah, but my dear, I understand you did my bidding for almost a year."

She spat at his feet. "No, I resisted your control for almost a year. And then Harry destroyed your dear basilisk and diary, or didn't you hear?"

He frowned. He didn't like to be reminded of that failure. Lucius had suffered cruelly for the role he played. "Yes, the boy was unusually lucky."

She laughed harshly. "Luck had nothing to do with it." Voldemort admired her loyalty. He wished his followers had such.

"My Lord," interrupted Severus. "Perhaps we should get on with it?"

He looked up at his most faithful servant, the man who had brought him the key to defeating the Potter brat. "Is the old fool gone?"

"Yes. He has been taken care of."

Voldemort smiled. He wondered what the old man was thinking when he realised how very wrong he had been. "Very good, Severus. You shall be rewarded. How did the boy take it?"

Severus laughed. "He was furious. It allowed me to take this one right out from under him. All his blustering bravado disappeared the instant I had my hand on her."

"Coward!" The girl spat. "Harry could beat either of you in a fair fight."

Ah, Voldemort thought, why would anyone ever agree to a fair fight? A terribly foolish thing to do. "Such loyalty is admirable, little one. It is a pity that the use I have for you means wasting it."

"I will never help you."

"Ah, but you will not have a choice. You will help me break Potter, the boy you claim to love." Her face went white. He looked at Severus. "The potions?"

With a sneer, Severus handed him a deep green potion, and then turned to the girl. He wrapped his hand around her throat, choking her until her mouth opened unwillingly. Then he poured a red potion down her throat. She gagged, trying to keep from swallowing it, but Severus smashed a hand over her nose, forcing her to swallow to breath. Lord Voldemort watched her fight it with pleasure. He could feel as his own potion began taking effect, and was slightly puzzled. He would have assumed that the potion would increase his own lust, and instead he just felt... unsettled. He supposed it would be that way until the deed was finished.

"Well, is it working?" He demanded.

"Patience." Severus was watching the girl carefully, an odd expression on his face. Maybe the man was rethinking his choice to not do this himself. No matter, he was willing to share her. It would only hurt Potter more. Voldemort chuckled as he thought of the boy's reaction. It would break him so surely that he would practically give himself up to death. It would be a delicious victory.

The girl went rigged on the floor, and drew in several deep breaths. She shook her head, and placed both hands flat on the ground. Slowly, she climbed to her shaky feet. She blinked, as if confused. Cocking her head and staring at him.

"Come to me, my child," he crooned.

She looked at him, giving him a small smile. "You wish to use me, to steal my virginity from Harry. That's not very nice of you."

His eyes widened. She was certainly a bright girl. "And I will. It is futile to resist, my child. It will only make it hurt more."

"Pity that isn't going to work," she spoke back, calmly.

"You are strong willed, but I will break you. And, if I cannot, I will take you anyways. There is no way out for you."

Severus looked concerned and stepped closer to her. The girl turned to him, tilting her head up to look at him. Without looking at Voldemort, she spoke once more. "Tom, you cannot take what isn't there. I cannot give you what you seek."

He was confused. Severus had checked... "Severus, did you check her?"

Severus tilted his head down to the girl, and brought his hand up to her cheek. For several silent moments they simply looked at each other, Voldemort's confusion increasing all the while. "There was no need, I already knew the answer."

Lord Voldemort watched in utter shock as the two embraced and kissed. When they pulled back, however, it was not Severus Snape who stood there, but Harry Potter.

Lord Voldemort was on his feet instantly, wand up. "You!" He shot a spell that the boy batted away harmlessly.

"Hello, Tom. Have you met my wife?"

"Wife? But..." Two more spells were shot, but this time it was the girl who countered them. She seemed to have pulled a wand from thin air.

"Yes, we've been married for almost a year now. It really has been marvellous." It made no sense to Voldemort. How could they be married and no one knew? And how had he been fooled? He had watched as Severus killed Dumbledore, and he seemed to have been on the boy's side all along.

"How did you get here?" He couldn't figure out why he was unable to hit the boy. Severus had said he was a weakling! Ah, but clearly, Severus had betrayed him. How much of what he had been told was a lie?

"Why, Severus helped, of course."

"But he just murdered Dumbledore!" He knew this, Nagini had seen it. Voldemort wished he could take the time to check on her now, but he needed all his concentration. The boy was not yet returning his own fire, merely blocking any spells sent his way, but Voldemort was not fool enough to believe that would last forever. And he was outnumbered, despite how unskilled these two children probably were compared to him.

"No, Dumbledore is safely locked away in his office where he cannot interfere. It really is a rather nasty habit of his. And Severus is currently helping my friends secure the last of your Death Eaters. It wasn't very difficult, actually. We had most of them rounded up before I even left the castle."

Lord Voldemort screamed in rage. He didn't even articulate his spells, just shot raw magic at the couple.

His eyes widened in shock when the boy raised both hands. In one was the Sword of Gryffindor that had claimed so many of his servants, and in the other was a wand. But it looked nothing like the one the boy had used before. The sword cut clean through the wave of magic he had sent, sending it harmlessly swirling around them. At the same time, the boy seemed to be gather more magic and adding it to the swirling vortex around them. He looked calmly into Voldemort's shocked eyes.

"It's amazing the things that Godric Gryffindor was able to discover about magic before he died. And, luckily for me, he deposited most of his knowledge and much of his power into his wand, which he left as an heirloom of the family. It was ever such a shock when I claimed it as my heritage."

He didn't understand how that could be. There were rumours, of course, that the Potters were connected with Gryffindor, but surely there would have been some evidence if they were hiding this. In his shock, he watched as the boy finally channelled the power around him and sent it swirling at him. It was coming from every direction at once, and nothing he tried seemed capable of blocking or diverting it. His last thought before his body hit the ground was that he was glad he still had a couple of weeks left before his ritual protection died.

Resigned to once more having to go through the painful process of creating a new body, he was somewhat shocked when the instant his spirit was free it erupted in excruciating pain. This was nothing like the last time. He could feel invisible hands pulling at him, trying to tear him to pieces. Eyes wide with shock, he looked up into the angry visage of Harry Potter. The boy was standing before him, and he quite calmly took the blasted sword and slit his own hand, coating it with blood. Then he turned and pushed it through Voldemort's spirit.

Ginny Potter watched as the love of her life whispered an ancient Welsh spell and reversed the magic Voldemort had sent, added to it, and used it to rip him from his body. The black spirit rose instantly from the body, resignation on its visage. This changed quickly to surprise. At seven distinct points around it, portions of the ghostly figure were tore off into thin air. Harry walked confidently forward and used his own blood to add strength to the sword he held. Then he shoved it right through the spectre's heart.

The dark being exploded into pieces as she watched, sending a wave of magical energy through the room. She was thrown back against the wall, and brought her head up in just enough time to see Harry's crumpled form be surrounded by glowing lights. One by one, each of them shot into his body near his heart, and then out again through his still bleeding hand. Before her astonished eyes, each one took the shape of a small child. They turned to her, and bowed in unison. Each offered a message in turn.

"His love is strong." A little girl with curly hair said.

"Strong enough to burst the very gates of hell that kept us captive." The largest child, a boy, told her.

"Love him for us." Admonished a small pudgy boy.

"We will watch over him and his as he did for us." A thin slip of a girl comforted her.

"Burn the evil one for his crimes." She nodded at the tallest girl who had straight hair down to her shoulders.

"And then take him home." Begged a boy with wild hair that stuck up in every direction.

"All will be well with the Loved One." Comforted the last, a wide-eyed lad with an endearing smile.

Then they turned and pressed a ghostly kiss to his forehead before fading into the ether. Astonished, Ginny crawled forward. She fumbled for her wand and quickly healed Harry's hand, then dragged him and the sword away from Voldemort's body. With a quick spell, she watched as the body burned to ash. Deciding to be safe, she gathered up the ash with a quick spell and dropped it into the small pool of Harry's blood that had collected where he lay. It bubbled angrily and gave off an acrid smoke. Then she picked her way back to Harry.

It was time to take him home.

In a castle in Scotland, a roomful of children and a handful of adults stood guard over eight dead and nine breathing Death Eaters. Two of them were in critical condition and weren't expected to last the night. No one cared too much about their odds.

Ron sat in a chair, his eyes following as Hermione paced back and forth in front of the large map. After every couple of passes, she would stop and scan it for movement, and then began again.

Standing by one of the large windows, a cage containing a rather large snake at his feet, was Severus Snape. He was staring, unseeing, out into the night.

The tension in the room kept it completely silent as they all waited.

An hour after he had portkeyed away with Ginny Weasley, Severus' wand glowed briefly. He looked up. "The Polyjuice is about to wear off." Carefully, he rolled up the left sleeve of his robe and stared at the mark that was there.

Those that couldn't see Snape, turned their eyes to the arms of one of the Death Eaters, and a roomful of people waited anxiously, staring at a mark they desperately hoped would disappear.

In another room of the castle, pacing anxiously, was the caged Headmaster. He knew something was going on. The portraits, though no longer obeying him, had informed him that his stay would soon be over. That meant the fight was happening tonight. Desperately, he turned to Fawkes, but the phoenix merely offered a sad trill. They were both stuck here. Oddly enough, the phoenix didn't seem too upset by this turn of events. It was also the longest he had remained in Dumbledore's presence in the last several months.

Dumbledore's head shot up when a noise pierced the calm of his office. He tilted his head. It sounded like... shouts of joy. Whipping around, he eyed the portraits. Every single one of them was smiling. And one witch was actually dancing a jig.

"What is going on?" He demanded.

"The students are all safe, the Death Eater invaders have been caught or killed, and it would seem the Dark Lord has been destroyed."

"How do you know?" He asked desperately. "Was the fight here? Is Harry okay?"

"No, the fight here was merely a precursor. Harry went to him. But, every occupant of the Great Hall is currently cheering. I believe this was set off by Professor Snape screaming 'It's gone!' He seemed quite happy."

The mark. The mark was gone. Could it be? Could it really be that Harry had fulfilled his destiny? But it made no sense. He was supposed to fail without Albus' help. He didn't even know what his power was, so how could he have used it to defeat Tom?

"Can I get out?"

"The Castle has been instructed to only release you when Mr. Potter wishes. Now would not seem to be that time."

For the millionth time this week he asked, "And how was it he has such control over the Castle?"

This time, there was an answer. A portrait deep in the back, one that he had never so much as seen twitch, spoke. "He called forth the ancient protection spells, as is his right as my heir."

Albus stared. "Godric? Is that you?"

"Hello, Albus."

"Your heir? He is your heir?"

"You were always blind when things didn't go your way. The Heir of Gryffindor used his heritage to destroy the last surviving Heir of Slytherin tonight, and his wife stood by his side. I would imagine she is tending to him now."

"Wife?" Albus chocked.

"Yes. It was to be my gift to them. I gave him the one thing he had always most wanted, and I do believe I picked well. They have done marvellously."

"But... I don't understand."

"And that is why Harry locked you away. You did not understand, and so you blindly believed that only your view of things could be correct. If you continue to work against my son, I will see you banned from this school. He has done as destiny decreed, and he saved your life by keeping you here tonight. Do not interfere again."

Albus collapsed into his chair. Could it be true?

Ginny and Winky carefully tended to Harry, cleaning the blood from his body and running dozens of diagnostic spells until Ginny was convinced he would be okay. With a relieved sigh, she climbed into the bed beside him and curled around him, waiting patiently until he woke up.

In the Great Hall of Hogwarts, a room full of people were still anxiously awaiting news about their hero. They were quite convinced that Voldemort was gone. The disappearance of the Dark Mark would only occur if his body had died. Of course, it was possible that his spirit was still out there, but they still hoped for the best.

A loud crack tore through the stillness of the room, and every eye turned to see Dobby standing there. The little elf beamed at those around him.

"Master has defeated His evilness. All worked according to Master's plan."

A great cheer went up, but Hermione was on her knees before the happy elf, her face still worried. "And Harry? How is Harry, Dobby?"

Dobby smiled at her. "He is well, Mistress Grangy. Mistress Ginny has been healing him. She tells Dobby that Master simply needs his rests. Theys will be here to celebrate tomorrow, she says."

Hermione shrieked with joy and enveloped the startled elf in a tight hug.

Fred and George took this as permission to release several large crates of fireworks.

Harry blinked slowly awake. His body ached, and there was an odd stinging sensation in his left hand. Looking around carefully he breathed a sigh of relief to find Ginny's red hair spilled across his chest. Now that he had located her, he could put more effort into trying to remember what happened.

Ginny stirred on his chest and slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position. He watched with a smile on his face as she stretched and rubbed at her eyes. Then she stiffened and turned sharply to look down at him.

"Harry!" Instantly, her arms were around his neck and she was kissing every inch of his face.

Harry laughed. "Gin! I'm fine."

She pulled back and gave him a stern look. "You just destroyed Voldemort, so forgive me if I'm excited to see you awake."

His eyes popped open wide. "He's gone?"

"You don't remember."

"Um, not exactly. My brain feels a little fuzzy."

She giggled. "You did it love. He's gone."

He shouted for joy and pulled her down to him. "That's the best news I've heard in a long time. Now, what say you to a celebration?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

A/N: I'm so sorry that took so long! I just couldn't seem to get anything to work the way I wanted it to.

In the meantime, I used my block on this story to work on a handful of new ones. This story will have one more chapter (probably) tying up loose ends and such. Elemental will continue to be posted. War Against Voldemort is in need of a serious revamp (seriously, the early chapters are in no way up to the standard I like for myself). I have a relatively short story that is finished and I will begin posting now, and another story at least half way done that I might wait to post for a bit.

As always, let me know what you think. Obviously, we have to deal with Dumbles next chapter, but all the big action is over with.