I said I would get it up today ;) I'm glad people are enjoying it, I'm enjoying writing it!

Chapter Thirty Five

The Battle Pt 1

The next morning rose with a battle cry. The two forces stood opposite each other on the grounds of Hogwarts, a sea of white on one side and a sea of black on the other.

With the cry, the black and the white ran together to create a shade of grey and red as blood began to spill.

Hermione was circling the skies on Asteron's back. They swooped over the battle, occasionally helping those on their side out when they needed it. But their main target was Ginny.

She was no where to be seen and an uneasy feeling was filling Hermione as they flew. She knew it would subside as soon as she saw her opponent and the Onyx Dragon.

She soon spotted one of her lovers duelling against one of Ginny's. Sirius and Tonks were fighting side by side as they duelled Bellatrix. Usually, they could take her on alone, but Sirius had already been killed in a sense by the witch and he didn't want to take any chances. It had been lucky that Hermione had actually managed to create a spell to bring him back from the veil when she was seventeen.

"How come Tonks' isn't with her duelling partner?" Hermione asked, scanning the area for Kingsley. He was fighting a little way away with Charlie Weasley. He wasn't with his duelling partner either.

"Fate has selected her to help Sirius. You see, they have a reason to fight Bellatrix and no one else. They are of the Black bloodline and Bellatrix is a reflection of what they could have been like if they hadn't resisted the purist propaganda of their family. This isn't just a fight between a mad witch and two of her relatives, it's a fight against the darkness that dwells deep inside both Tonks and Sirius." Asteron explained.

Sirius and Tonks had gradually gravitated towards each other during the battle and were fighting back to back against the tide of the enemy. Their latest two opponents fell to the floor, one stunned and one dead, and the pair turned to face their next opponent.

"Well if it isn't my mangy dog of a cousin and my itty bitty half-blood niece." A cruel voice cackled.

The two narrowed their eyes at the woman before them. Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Bellatrix." Sirius growled.

"Temper, temper doggie. I don't want rabies." Bellatrix scolded, sounding madder than she ever had before.

The three all drew their wands and pointed them at those who were fighting against them.

"Now, this isn't fair." Bellatrix pouted. "Two against one."

"Since when have you cared about fair?" Tonks scoffed.

"That wasn't very nice. Crucio!" Bellatrix spat.

Tonks fell to the floor, but refused to scream. She silently thanked the ministry for sending her out on raids to capture Deatheaters. Most Deatheaters had used that spell on the Aurors, thus allowing them to build up a slight resistant to it. Only just enough so they didn't scream. It wasn't satisfying for the torturer if they didn't scream.

Bellatrix pouted and glared at her niece. As she was distracted, Sirius sent a strong stunner at her.

Bellatrix merely flicked her wand again and a shield blocked it. She sent a nasty slicing hex at him.

Sirius cried out as he didn't quite manage to dodge the curse and it caught him across his cheekbone. "Bitch." He snarled.

"Tut, tut. That's rude!" Bellatrix spat, sending a Cruciatus his way too. This time, Sirius managed to dodge the curse.

Tonks had been silently lying on the floor gathering her strength as she watched her Aunt and Sirius duel. Anger filled her and she leapt to her feet, wand pointed at the mad witch.

Sirius raised his wand and aimed it at his mad cousin. "I'm sorry you hate me so much, Bella. We are family after all."
Bellatrix just glared at him.

"Avada Kedavra!" Two voices spoke at once and Bellatrix's eyes widened in shock as the killing curse hit her from both sides. As she fell to the floor, her face perpetually frozen in shock, Sirius and Tonks looked at each other and their wands.

"Good shot." Sirius complimented Tonks.

"You too." Tonks smiled.

The two turned and leapt back into the fray.

Hermione silently cheered as she saw her lover and Tonks win the battle against Bellatrix. "Well done, guys." She whispered.

She and Asteron soared over the battle once more, their eyes searching for their target. Hermione soon spotted her second lover and Charlie's duelling partner.

Remus and Bill were standing side by side as they faced off one of the worst werewolves of all time, and Ginny's second lover. Fenrir Greyback.

"I'm guessing fate has chosen these two to pair up as Greyback infected them both. Obviously, Bill's not infected properly but he does have some traits. Is this about revenge?" Hermione asked.

"Yes and No. In some respects, it is about revenge for what Greyback did to them, but on the other hand this battle is about fully accepting the wolf inside of themselves as part of them. While Remus might have a perfect balance between man and wolf, it doesn't mean he's actually accepted the wolf as part of himself." Asteron explained.

Both Bill and Remus had shut the battle out of their minds, resigning to their periphery. That was how they didn't realise that their own duelling partners had gone and they were fighting together.

It was only when Remus saved Bill from a Deatheater who was about to kill him that they realised.

"Where's Charlie?" Bill asked, worried.

Remus motioned to a few yards behind them were Kingsley and Charlie were fighting side by side.

"Thank Merlin." Bill breathed.

"It's so nice to see two of my cubs working together." A deep, gravely voice snarled.

The two men turned to see the one that had made them what they were. Greyback.

Remus' eyes flashed amber and a snarled ripped from his chest. He looked far scarier than Hermione and Bill ever remembered him looking. Even when he had transformed it hadn't been as scary as this. This was a show of unrestrained power that was too primal for his human body. Thus it was scary.

Greyback smirked and growled back. Bill found his own chest rumbling, surprising him, but it wasn't as violent as Remus'.

Remus' muscles rippled under his skin as he sank low to the ground in an oddly animalistic way. Greyback mirrored his stance and the two began to circle each other. Greyback moved first, lunging at the man he had bitten when he was just a boy.

Remus neatly dodged, using his younger, sprier form to his advantage. He gripped his Alpha's shoulder and bit down. Due to his rage and the primal energy running through him his teeth had sharpened and now resembled a wolf's. Not only that, but his senses had increased.

Greyback had exactly the same thing and so did Bill to a lesser degree. He was only partially a werewolf so his teeth weren't as sharp as the others' but his senses were still sharp.

Greyback released a howl of pain and shrugged the younger werewolf off of him. He growled and lunged once more at the younger wolf. He had anticipated Remus' lithe dodge and turned at the last second.

The air was knocked out of Remus' lungs as he impacted with the hard ground beneath him. Greyback used his strength to pin the other man beneath him and leant down, his teeth aiming for his jugular.

A spell slammed into Greyback and he flew off of Remus, colliding with a tree. He slumped down and Remus looked up to see Bill standing above him with his wand out.

The primal haze that had overtaken the two wizards faded and they remembered they had wands. Greyback, however, was too far gone in his instincts. He growled and prowled closer to them. At the last second he leapt at them. Remus used his strength to push him off balance and Bill shot a killing curse at him.

Greyback slumped to the floor, his face contorted into a snarl. Remus and Bill looked at each other.

"Well at least he can't harm anymore children or families." Bill sighed, sneering at the body.

Remus stared at the body of his Alpha and then looked back at Bill. "In wolf lore this means you're the new Alpha. All werewolves will now look to you."

Bill started and stared at him with wide eyes. "What? But I'm not a werewolf."

Remus shrugged. "You have werewolf genes in you and that's all that matters. If you hadn't been part werewolf then his Beta would have taken over. I think the wolves are in better hands."
Hermione and Asteron were swooping low over the battlefields, helping those in need whenever they saw them. There was still no sign of Ginny. It seemed she was lying low.

"A prophesy is about to be fulfilled." Asteron said.

Hermione looked around. "Ginny's here?"

"Not yours. Harry James Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle are facing off for the last time." Asteron told her.

Hermione looked down to see Harry and Voldemort standing opposite each other. An unlikely figure was standing by his side.

"Severus? Why is he with Harry? He can't stand him!" Hermione gasped, frowning.

Asteron chuckled. "Have you learnt nothing."

"Fate put them together? Is Fate mad?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Possibly."

"But why are they together?" Hermione couldn't work it out. Possibly because she couldn't think.

She was filled with more worry than she was for the others. After all, Voldemort was infinitely more powerful than Bellatrix and Greyback. Of course, that isn't to say she wasn't worried about the others, but there wasn't a prophesy about them.

"Voldemort took the most from both men. He stole their childhood innocence, from trying to kill Harry at aged eleven and from brainwashing Severus from his early teens through his spies within Hogwarts. Not only that but he took Harry's only family from him and he stole Severus' first love. Of course, Harry has found a new family but he suffered through the loss of his parents. Likewise, Severus found you but he blamed himself for years for Lily Potter's death." Asteron explained, shaking his head.

"That's so sad." Hermione whispered regretfully.

Harry was fighting his way towards the large gap that circled the imposing figure of Voldemort. He didn't even notice the dark figure of Severus Snape striding towards him as well.

"Voldemort!" Harry cried.

Voldemort's red eyes glowed as he looked at the Boy-Who-Lived. "Harry Potter, we meet again." His view shifted to one side and he smiled as he saw the other man. "Severusss. The traitor returnsss."

Severus sneered. "Not quite."

Voldemort sighed. "Such a waste."

Harry levelled his wand at Voldemort. "Fight me. The prophesy says that one of us has to die and today it will be you!"

"You talk big for a boy who has never won a fight." Voldemort snarled. "I shall be the victor."

"Enough talk. It's time to duel." Severus spat, getting annoyed with the banter between the two enemies.

"Sectumsempra!" Voldemort growled, sending a curse Harry's way.

Severus grimaced. He had created that spell and he hated to see his spell be used to hurt the saviour.

Harry hissed as the spell cut his chest. Thankfully, Severus was on hand to mutter the counter curse. Once Harry was healed, he pointed his wand at Voldemort. "Incendio."

Voldemort quickly extinguished the flames that licked at the bottom of his robes. "Nice trick, boy. But I have some other help."

A thick fog rolled across the grass and all the happiness inside of Harry and Severus leached out of them. A fleet of Dementors began to float towards them.

Severus and Harry looked at each other in horror. "We need to perform the Patronus charm!" Severus cried.

Harry shut his eyes and he began to think about Pansy. He pictured Pansy's smiling face. The way a dimple appeared on her left cheek and her blue eyes sparkled.

Severus dug within himself and Hermione immediately leapt to the forefront of his mind. He pictured her serenely face as she curled up with Remus and Sirius as he read to her.

Both men raised their wands. "Expecto Patronum!" They cried.

As the silver stag and doe galloped towards the oncoming army of Dementors.

As the light from the silver figures touched him, Voldemort shrieked. His skin began to blacken and shrivel. His skin flexed and rippled before bursting into ash.

Harry and Severus looked at each other. Suddenly, Severus gasped and gripped his arm. He pulled back the arm of his robes. Apart from the birth mark, his skin was unmarred.

"It's gone." Severus whispered.

"He's really gone? It seemed too easy." Harry murmured.

Hermione stared wide eyed at the scene below her. "How did that happen? Expecto Patronus?"

"It wasn't that curse that killed him. The memories that fuelled the Patronus did. They were of those the two loved and their love was so strong that it purged the darkness from his soul. But Voldemort's body was mainly darkness so it killed him. Only strong true love could do such a thing." Asteron smiled.

"Yeah, but love can't save you now." A voice drawled.

Hermione turned to see Ginny. This was it. The final battle.

Please Read and Review. The next part is Ginny and Hermione's battle.