Chapter 21

Professor McGonagall was teary eyed, but grinned confidently back anyway and left down the hall with James. Remus watched them until they were out of sight.

"Happy now?" Voldemort sneered. "You've saved the innocent masses now let's finish this,"

"Ladies first,"

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"How did you get your wand back?" The question Hermione was dreading had finally come up. She looked at Sirius with watery eyes and fiddled with the jaded piece of wood sadly.

"It's Kingsley's," she muttered.

"Why did he...," Sirius trailed off as his eyes grew wider in realization. "He's not is he?"

"It was a Hippogriff," Hermione whispered.

"A Hippogriff?"

"It's a long story," she shook her head. "It wounded him pretty badly and he bled out before I had a chance to do anything," Sirius was looking from Hermione to Dumbledore as though expecting one of them to yell "April Fools!" But neither of them did.

"We told him to be careful," Sirius finally croaked.

"We didn't have a chance, Sirius," Hermione said feeling inexplicably guilty all of a sudden. "There were giant Hippogriffs and...It was all a blur,"

"I don't believe it," Sirius seemed to be deflating.

"I-I-I'm sorry Sirius," Hermione sobbed. Sirius' head shot up like a bullet and he gripped Hermione quite tightly by the arms.

"Don't you dare apologize," he said gravely. "Don't you think for one second this was your fault...Do you hear me?"

"Yes," Hermione said calmly and Sirius' grip relaxed. "I hear you,"

"Good," Sirius let go and wiped some would-be tears from his eyes and straightened his robes. "Well...Shall we do some avenging?" Hermione and Dumbledore smiled at each other and held their wands firmly.

"We shall," Dumbledore chuckled. The three of them moved from under the concealing shadow of the trees around the lake and out into the midst of the battle. Hermione was not out of the shade five seconds before a rather lanky Death Eater leapt in front of her. Without a moments hesitation Hermione thrust her borrowed wand in his face and sent him hurtling into two other Death Eaters behind him. She cut a path through the Death Eaters, stunning and blasting left, right and center. Hermione could hear Sirius cursing anything that moved behind her. Dumbledore however was oddly quiet, but Hermione couldn't imagine even a Death Eater would be stupid enough to take him on.

"Well well, long time no see," a gruff, rusty voice came form Hermione's left and she spun around to see Fenrir Greyback smirking at her, baring sharp, yellow teeth.

"Oh damn it...Are you still alive?" Hermione sighed sarcastically.

"And biting," Fenrir growled, advancing.

"Oh Fenrir you are funny," Hermione hissed.

"I try...Where's my old friend Remus?"

"Ummm...Killing you master as I recall, but he might have moved on by now," Hermione said, feigning concentration.

"You're as arrogant as he is," the aging werewolf sneered.

"I try," Hermione was forced to throw herself back as Fenrir suddenly launched himself at her. She stumbled backwards and the dog-like man landed on all fours before straightening up quickly.

"Good reflexes," he mused.

"Well thank you," Hermione smirked. "But I think your just getting a bit slow in your old age,"

"You'll regret that," Fenrir snarled.

"Oh really? Come on then," Hermione egged him on. "Here doggy," Fenrir whipped out a pale brown wand and brandished it like a sword.

"Crucio!" he cried roughly, but Hermione was ready and jumped out of the curses path easily.

"That's getting a bit tired now," she sighed. "Interna Pirona," Hermione watched as Fenrir doubled over, clutching his stomach and dropping down to his knees. She knew that he would be feeling his insides being lit on fire. "See that's inventive,"

"You bitch," Fenrir gasped, he shakily held his wand up and muttered something in a jagged, gruff voice. Hermione felt as though she had a rope around her neck that was dragging her to the ground. Her hands flew up to her throat, but she felt nothing. Fenrir was on his feet now and looking at Hermione with sadistic delight. "No more smart ass remarks?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'll...Just...Say...Them...Slower...For...You," Hermione choked out and Fenrir was almost as red as she was.

"Crucio!" He screamed and the choking curse lifted from Hermione as it was replaced by hot, stabbing pains. She balled up and wrapped her arms around her abdomen and waited for the pain to pass. When it finally did, Hermione continued to stay in a ball, making the fierce man above her think she was still in the grip of the Cruciatus. As he snickered darkly to himself, Hermione slipped the wand under her arm and muttered under her breath.

"Petrificus Totalus," She watched Fenrir's legs snap together as he fell down like a board dropped from a builders scaffolding. Hermione smiled and stood up, brushing the dirt from her clothes. The old werewolf had a look of pure shock on his face and his arms seemed to be glued to his sides. His eyes were squinted in an unmistakable glare and Hermione just smirked. "Hey...It could have been worse," she shrugged and started to walk off, but stopped a couple of steps away and turned her head back. She held out a warning finger to Fenrir. "Stay," she said slowly as she turned her back and heard a low throaty growl coming from behind her.

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Sirius smiled as he saw Hermione walking away from the frozen figure of Fenrir Greyback.

"What you got to smile about?" A thick voice came from behind him. Sirius threw his arm over his shoulder and without a glance cast the Confundus Charm on the Death Eater. He turned and smiled as the burly man stood still with a dazed look.

"You're a fish who is desperate to find his way back to the lake," Sirius suggested and burst out laughing as the menacing looking Death Eater opened and closed his mouth like goldfish and dropped to his stomach on the floor, flopping around. "That one never gets old," he snickered and looked over to see Hermione confronted by four Death Eaters. He jumped over several corpses and landed next to her. "Need a hand?"

"Love one," Hermione said gratefully. "Stupefy!" They jumped apart as one of the three standing Death Eaters cast the Cruciatius curse.

"That's not nice," Sirius clicked his tongue. "Incarcerous!" A stubby, dark haired Death Eater fell next to his stunned friend, bound by magical ropes. "Not you lay there and think about what you've done," Six more Death Eaters had appeared behind the remaining two and Sirius and Hermione cast worried glances.

"I have an idea," Hermione muttered under her breath. "When I say so, put a shield around both of us,"

"Gotcha," Sirius winked. They moved closer together as the eight advancing attackers jeered and twirled their wands arrogantly.

"Now!"

"Protego!"

"Avis Engorgio!" Hermione yelled, instead of the usual flock of small blue birds that appeared with this spell. There was a bigger group of large black crows with a serious attitude problem dive bombing the attackers. Sirius and Hermione were protected from the birds by the shield and they watched with satisfied grins as the Death Eaters ducked and they threw their arms over their heads.

"Nice one, Hermione," Sirius chuckled.

"Came in handy when I was still at Hogwarts," Hermione said, remembering the countless occasions she used it on Draco Malfoy.

"Speaking of Hogwarts," Sirius looked around with a frown. "Have you seen Dumbledore?"

"No, but he could be anywhere," Hermione said calmly, but also scouring the crowd for any sight of silver hair.

"Yeah, you're right," Sirius sighed. "Come on we should get back into it," The blue shield protecting them disappeared and Hermione and Sirius set off together into the thick of the fighting.

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

"Confundo!"

"Diffindo!"

"Impedima!"

"Incarcerous!"

"Avada Kedavra!" Spells could be heard all through the grounds but everyone seemed to stop when the Killing Curse was cast. Hermione turned in time to see a green flash send a well dressed wizard to the ground.

"Marius!" A remorseful voice could be heard calling out for the fallen wizard and several figures charged forward and made short work of the murderous Death Eater.

"Incendio!" Hermione jumped back as fire sprang up on the sleeve of her robes.

"Aguamenti," She calmly pointed Kingsley's wand at her burning clothes and looked up to see Lucius Malfoy smirking. Hermione's eyes widened, she was sure she saw him drop from the balcony.

"Surprise," he said sarcastically.

"And not a pleasant one,"

"Malfoy?" Hermione turned to see Sirius standing behind her, glaring at the platinum blonde figure of Lucius.

"Black," Malfoy hissed back. "I didn't realize they let murderous degenerates walk free these days,"

"Well I knew you were out and about so I thought it would be alright," Sirius retorted coolly.

"I think I'll leave this one to you," Hermione whispered and went to help a short, elderly witch who was being hexed by several Death Eaters.

"I thought that pathetic lump Wormtail framed you and sent you to Azkaban," Lucius sneered.

"He did," Sirius nodded as he and Lucius started to circle. "And then Remus broke me out,"

"Of course he did," Lucius feigned sincerity. "He's the Gryffindor hero,"

"Oooo do I detect a little green monster?" Sirius grinned.

"I am not jealous," Malfoy seethed.

"I know...I was just talking about your appearance in general," Sirius shrugged.

"Still with the smart mouth," Lucius sighed. "It does get a bit tiresome after a while,"

"Not for me," Sirius held out his wand and Lucius did the same. "Stupefy!"

"Protego!" Sirius spell bounced off the shield and he was forced to get out of the way of his own curse. "Very graceful," Malfoy snickered.

"Incendio!" Sirius said and before Lucius had a chance to react his robes had caught on fire. He shrieked and jumped around trying to pat out the flames wildly, before calming down enough to conjure water from his wand. "Okay...Okay," Sirius was holding his sides from laughter. "You win the dance contest,"

"Crucio!" Sirius dropped to his knees, still holding his sides but for a different reason now. He sucked a few desperate breaths through clenched teeth and tried hard not to scream. Lucius stood over Sirius watching with malicious glee as his childhood enemy writhed in pain. "Hmmm...One down three to go," Lucius mused. "I think I'll go for James next,"

"D-D-Diffindo," Sirius choked out, pointing his wand at Lucius' foot. A blood curdling scream cut through the night air like a knife. Sirius had split Lucius' foot clean in half. The blonde Death Eater dropped to the ground, clutching his severed foot and gasping. Sirius got slowly to his feet and looked down at Lucius. "Don't you ever threaten my family Malfoy," he spat. "Episkey," Lucius' foot healed itself and he laid on the ground panting. Sirius stunned Lucius and walked away, ready to take on anyone who wanted to try him.

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Remus and Lord Voldemort were finally left alone in the hallway. Voldemort's red eyes were flashing dangerously, while Remus maintained a look of unnerving calm.

"You're very fortunate to be alive right now," Voldemort said darkly. "Why throw that second chance away just to be killed by me?"

"Pure Slytherin arrogance," Remus mused. "What makes you think you will kill me?"

"Logic," Voldemort retorted. "You cannot honestly believe you stand a chance against me...Gryffindor heir or not,"

"You base your strength on your Slytherin heritage...How is my heritage any different?" Remus challenged calmly. "If anything it's better,"

"And you have the nerve to say Slytherins are arrogant," The Dark Lord sneered.

"You're right my mistake," Remus nodded. "Stupid...Not arrogant,"

"What do you think will happen to Hermione when you die?" Voldemort asked slowly.

"I'm not going to die," Remus sighed.

"Humour me," Voldemort hissed.

"She will go on with James, Sirius and Snape and come after you with everything she has," Remus said coolly, his own smirk growing. "And if I didn't kill you...She sure as hell will,"

"It's very touching how much faith you have in each other," Voldemort said lowly. "She was very adamant that you would come for her no matter what and now you have this sad unwavering belief that should you die she will avenge you,"

"It's called love," Remus retorted. "But you wouldn't know anything about that,"

"Apparently not," Lord Voldemort said softly. "But I'm the only ignorant one here,"

"What do you mean?"

"You say I cannot love and I say you cannot kill,"

"You think I can't kill you?" Remus asked incredulously. "After all you have put Hermione and I through?"

"No I don't," Voldemort said simply. "You're not a murderer,"

"Try me,"

"I am,"

"Fine...If you insist," Remus gripped his wand tighter and Lord Voldemort held his head higher and twirled his wand in his long, pale fingers. "Crucio"

"Protego," The curse bounced lazily off and neither wizard looked worried. "Imperio!" Remus didn't have time to react and felt a strange sensation of release wash over him. His mind emptied and an odd serenity surrounded him as a voice popped up in his ear. "Jump out the window,"

"Why?" another voice answered.

"Jump out the window," the first voice repeated.

"No way," his own voice replied in his head.

"Do it,"

"No,"

"You don't argue with me,"

"Obviously I do,"

"Jump out the window,"

"I said no," This time Remus said it out loud and stumbled back a little as the peaceful feeling was lifted sharply from his mind. He breathed out quickly and looked straight into Voldemort's crimson eyes. "Nice try,"

"I thought so,"

"Diffindo," Lord Voldemort looked a little surprised as the curse missed his chest and split open the side of his robes.

"That was rather barbaric for the heir of Gryffindor, wasn't it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not when it's aimed at you," Remus retorted calmly.

"How spiteful,"

"That wasn't spiteful...This is spiteful, Crucio!" Voldemort stopped his advance as he toppled back, clutching his ribs. His teeth were clenched and his livid red eyes were glowing.

"That doesn't hurt as much as it used to," Lord Voldemort said lightly, straightening up and looking at his pale ribs that were showing through the rip in his robes.

"Shame,"

"You know what I don't understand, Remus...,"

"Lots of things I imagine,"

"You have had several opportunities to kill me and haven't taken advantage of one of them," The Dark Lord smirked. "What's wrong killer? That pesky conscience getting the best of you?"

"Forgive me if I have a healthy respect for life," Remus hissed sarcastically.

"So how do you see this ending?" Voldemort sighed and leant against the wall lazily. "You and I calling a truce and agreeing to live together in mutual harmony?"

"I have no doubt that I could kill you, but then I am left to live with the nagging question of whether or not I am truly better than you or if I have lowered myself to your insane, murderous level," Remus was talking slowly and calmly, humoring Lord Voldemort. "On the other hand if I left you alive I would be sentencing Hermione and I to a life of looking over our shoulders and that's not something I can bring myself to do either,"

"So which is it?" Voldemort asked darkly. "Murder or paranoia?"

"Rather depressing ultimatum when I think about it," Remus grinned. "But you haven't left me with much of a choice,"

"There is another option," Voldemort said calmly.

"Which is?"

"You join me,"

"Ah my fault, I thought you were being serious,"

"You're powerful Remus and I don't deny that and you are of very pureblood, I think we could accomplish amazing things," Voldemort said seriously.

"I have no interest in doing anything to aid you or your cause," Remus said, disgusted.

"Think about it, you would no longer have to worry about Hermione again," Voldemort suggested with a small smile.

"No I wouldn't," Remus admitted. "Because she would have left me for joining you,"

"Hmmm...So should I take that as a no?" The Dark Lord asked.

"I would,"

"Crucio," Remus doubled over and balled his fists at his sides. Voldemort sidled forward and fiddled with his wand. "You know something...," he said softly. "I think I'm actually going to regret having to kill you...You've made quite a good adversary,"

"Likewise," Remus croaked, not having the strength to focus on a spell so he kicked out and hit Voldemort's shin. Remus heard a groan of pain and smiled a little to himself as he straightened up. "That's really gonna bruise,"

"Avada Kedavra!" Remus threw himself against the wall and watched as the deadly green spell missed him by mere inches.

"Talk about overreacting," he smirked.

"Diffindo,"

"Protego!" Remus flinched behind his shield as the vicious spell bounced off and hit the wall, splitting the wall paper in half. As the pale blue barrier faded Voldemort sent the same curse flying back at Remus who felt on of his pant legs rip and deep cut form down his shin. He sucked a sharp breath in through his teeth and gripped his bleeding limb. "Episkey," he muttered and watched as the gash healed itself.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Crucio!" The spells were both cast at the same time and collided in mid air, throwing both wizards backwards. Remus felt his back break glass as he was thrown through a stained glass window and out onto the dark slated roof. He stood up and balanced himself on the roof and brushed the glass from his hair. Without a thought to the dark wizard still in the manor, Remus walked to the edge of the slates and looked out over the grounds, which could now only be described as a battle field.

"Funny time to be star gazing, Remus!" a sneering voice came from the next level of the roof. Remus turned and looked up to see a pale face, framed in jet black hair smiling down at him.

"Snape you git!" He grinned. "Throw me a rope or something,"

"I'll do you one better," Snape winked. "Levicorpus," Remus didn't have time to object as he was raised from the roof just as he saw movement in the window and was lead higher to the top of the giant manor. He landed evenly and put a hand on Snape's shoulder to balance himself.

"Thanks," Remus breathed.

"How did it go?"

"He's still alive...Snape I don't think I can do it," Remus whispered, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"Do what?"

"I don't think I can kill Voldemort,"