Hi! I'm back! Also you guys really delivered with your reviews! Really, it made me so excited to post this chapter. Finally the answers to all your burning questions below...

(also clarification: Sirius was midway between the Shrieking Shack and Hogsmeade when he destroyed the horcruxes, so the Shack is still intact.)

-Cat

Chapter 34

Upon This Place (James)

It happened too fast.

There was an anguished yell.

James' legs pounded, jarring against the ground. Voldemort smirked and was gone, but it did not matter where he went. Sirius was…

The yell was his, James realized. Sirius had not made a sound, simply crumbled like a broken statue. The fissure of lightning was still tattooed against James' eyelids. He could still see it, hitting Sirius over and over and over…

His kneecaps collided with slick stones. Sirius' cloak was smoking gently and his eyes were closed. A strange, labyrinthine burn was visible beneath his collar, winding up his neck and disappearing down his shirt. Feeling numb, James pressed two fingers to the other side of Sirius' neck.

Nothing. Not even a flutter.

"No, no, no. Padfoot, come on…"

James shook him, and his head lolled against the ground. His black hair was soaked and rain pattered against his face.

Then Lily was there.

"James, move," she whispered.

"I can't-I can't leave him here," he muttered. "We need to…"

"His heart's stopped," Lily continued, her voice soft.

"No," James denied, louder. "It hasn't. He can't be dead. He has to… he needs to finish this."

"James, you need to move away from him, let me get closer-"

"I'm not moving!" he shouted. Some part of him knew he was being ridiculous. Spells were cracking overhead, the battle still fierce. Shouting was garbled. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, as if time had ceased to matter. James blinked water out of his eyes, realizing that their were moving shapes circling them. Order members had surrounded them, guarding them where they knelt.

"James!" Lily grabbed his arm and actually pushed him backwards. He landed hard in a puddle. "Stay back," she commanded. Shock held him down. She was moving her wand in circles around Sirius. James rubbed rain from his eyes and realized she was drying a hasty ring around his friend's body.

"What are you-"

"I'm trying to save his life."

James' own heart nearly stopped. Lily aimed her wand directly at Sirius' chest. "Fulgure," she said fiercely. Another bolt of lightning, brilliant blue, shot from her wand into his chest. James shouted in surprise. Sirius could not take that much voltage twice in a row, what was she thinking?

A few seconds passed.

Then a rattling hiss of intaken breath. Lily pressed her fingers to the undamaged side of his neck. Her shoulders realized infinitesimally.

"Thready, but there." Her face was bone-white, eyes red-rimmed, but she smiled.

James let out a breath he did not realize was caught in his lungs. Sirius was alive.

"We need to get him out of here," James stuttered. He conjured a stretcher and levitated Sirius onto it. Suddenly the volume of battle returned as if they had exited a vacuum. Everything was too loud, too confused. James levitated the stretcher and ran with it to Honeydukes. Lily covered him, throwing up shields and hurling spells at Death Eaters and Greyback's werewolves. Frank joined her outside of the sweet shop, guarding the door so that she could duck inside with James.

The shop was littered with spilled Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, fizzing whizbees, and blood lollipops. The sharp sweet odor of burning sugar stung James' nostrils. But the Death Eaters had not penetrated the little store. Even if they had, the passageway to the castle was blocked. The only way to Hogwarts now was the established walking path that all the students took from the castle.

James and Lily lay Sirius out of sight in one of the back rooms. His chest was rising and falling shallowly. His face was frighteningly slack, lacking the usual energy and grace. James' initial relief was giving way to steady panic. Sirius was not out of the woods yet.

"Will he be okay?"

"I…" Lily trailed off, looking down at him and chewing her lip. "I don't know. What I did was a risk, I've rarely seen it done at St. Mungo's. Using electricity to restart a heart is a method in muggle medicine. It worked, but… I'm not sure what kind of damage he's sustained."

"We have to finish this quickly then," James muttered. A rainbow of lights were flashing across the windowpanes. The sounds of shouts and screams were muffled. He looked back at Sirius, pale face shrouded in shadows. "We can't leave him here alone…"

A loud bang, followed by wails of fear. Poisonous green smoke filled the windows, swelling against them like a tide. Through it, vague shapes were running.

"I'm not sure we have a choice, James," Lily whispered. He met her gaze with horrified agreement. In the muted glimmers, her eyes were dark emerald. "We're outnumbered. Everyone has to fight to keep him out of Hogwarts. And… and the people here rallied around you. We need you out there."

James squeezed his eyes shut, hating the feeling that he was leaving Sirius behind forever. He wanted nothing more than to be forgotten by the rest of the world, left in peace to worry about-mourn-his friend. But Voldemort had vanished for a reason. He was probably now fighting on the Hogwarts front, pushing to disable the wards and enter the final sanctuary. Harry was in there…

"Okay."

He stepped around the counter, candy wrappers crackling beneath his trainers. Leaving Sirius behind felt like betrayal. Like physical pain.

"Wait, James." Lily grabbed his shoulder and spun him towards her. Before James could say a word, she kissed him softly on the mouth. For a moment, everything stopped. Then she broke away and leaned her forehead against his chest.

"Just in case…" she murmured. "Love you."

He hugged her close.

"Love you too, Lils."

He took one final look at Sirius, drinking in the sight of him alive. Vague deja vu swelled in his chest, remembering that Christmas night. He shuddered.

"This will end differently, Padfoot," he promised. Then, together, he and Lily burst out into the hazy battle beneath dark skies.

James' brain could barely process as they bludgeoned their way along the path to Hogwarts. The density of fighters was steadily increasing as they went. As well as the number of bodies to trip over. Alive or dead, James could not tell. The variety of enemies was changing as well. James ducked as a giant swung a club the size of an elm tree at his head. An icy chill of despair was creeping into his veins…

"Expecto patronum!" shouted Lily next to him. A silvery doe bounded forward, dividing a swarm of dementors and creating a passage for them to run along.

The specters thickened in a black cloud above, a million times more horrific than the storm that raged, charged by some dark force. More patronuses danced about the battle, tiny stars of light.

Between the pouring rain, the strobe of flashing spells, the shouts and screams, and the noxious smell of blood, the race to the front of the battle was disorientating. Every once and awhile, James would recognize someone: Moody roaring as he dueled both Carrows at once, Aberforth leading a volley of stunners at a giant, the Longbottoms locked in a match with Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange.

There were more joining their side too. James was shocked to see centaurs firing their arrows into the melee, accurately aimed at the Death Eaters and feral werewolves. Eerie, skeletal horses with leathery wings were diving with dangerous accuracy at the dark wizards. Other witches and wizards were apparating at the edges, their battle-cries being the names of their dead loved ones. And through it all, an undercurrent of fear. Where was Remus?

But James' focus was now centered on bright gold cracks spider-webbing from an epicenter in an invisible wall. James pushed forward. The battle appeared to abruptly end against a pale translucence, as if cut off by a knife. He wished he could get a bird's-eye view of the fight. He had a feeling that the Death Eaters had them pinned against the Hogwarts wards, surrounding them like a consuming tar.

He blasted Dolohov out of his path. With the larger Death Eater's bulk gone, James could now see the Dark Lord, his white head gleaming like a skull. He was guarded on all sides by his followers, all of his will bent on the barrier. The cracks originated from a needle-thin beam from his wand.

"That's not going to last much longer," Lily yelled into his ear.

James' brain accelerated to lightspeed. When the wards fell, they could not let the Death Eaters cut them off from the castle. They would be slaughtered, and the students inside would have no defense. He scanned around him and picked out a few aurors that he trusted.

"Scrimgeour!" he shouted to the nearest one. The lion-haired wizard was blowing in and out heavily, but acknowledged James with a quick look. James motioned to the weakening shields. "Those aren't going to last long. When they go down, we have to charge the castle. It's our last defense. We need to get in there before they do!"

"How long do you think the fortress will last against this?" Scrimgeour asked.

James glanced at Lily for an answer. For the first time, he regretted not reading Hogwarts, A History. A twinkle in her eyes told him that had they not been in the midst of a battle, she would have teased him for it.

"It will hold for a little while. The castle has enchantments built into the architecture." She paused to hex another enemy. "Long enough to give us an opening to cut off the head of the snake."

Scrimgeour's amber eyes narrowed dubiously, but he nodded. "How do you propose we spread the message?" he asked gruffly.

"We can't quite, but we can hold off the Death Eaters and get everyone else to run. Use shield charms and blasting hexes and whatever else we can think of. Create a gauntlet for us to run. Lily, you should lead the charge. Hopefully everyone else out of range will figure it out."

Lily nodded quickly.

"And You-Know-Who?"

"I can hold him long enough," James said grimly, meeting Lily's eyes. Echoing Remus' words made his gut clench painfully. He understood now, the power of what Remus did that night. He understood the moment he felt Remus' magic on the edges of the Riddle House wards. Remus felt like the ocean, vast and untamed. Sometimes calm and sometimes wild. It was the same magic that wrapped around him and deflected the killing curse in the Ministry. Voldemort would not be able to harm him.

Where are you Moony?

"Who should I recruit to help?" Scrimgeour asked.

James shook away his worry and listed the aurors in the immediate vicinity. "And get Mad-Eye if you can find him. And the Longbottoms."

Scrimgeour took off. Thunder was beginning to rumble ominously overhead. The frequency of nature's electrified forks was increasing rapidly. A sound like stones cracking…

Then everything stopped, all sound disappeared. The rain, the thunder, the lightning. Fighters paused in confusion, looking up at the chasmic roof of clouds. An earsplitting BANG rent the atmosphere.

James saw the heads of the crowd instinctively duck, and over the lower plane, James could see an enormous hole, widening in the dome over Hogwarts. And before it, Voldemort's head floated like a grotesque balloon.

"Now!" James shouted, while nonverbally casting a strong Arresto Momentum! As his aurors surged forward, Lily in the lead calling for the others to follow, Voldemort remained stationary. James felt his face stretch in a satisfied smirk. Knowing, however, that it would not last long, James sprinted towards his opponent.

Rabastan reached the Dark Lord first, disabling James' freezing charm. Then, together, the servant and the dark wizard turned to James. Merlin's saggy left-

He dove right and rolled, narrowly avoiding two killing curses. Well, his plans rarely went exactly as he thought they would. He'd expected some side attacks from other Death Eaters, but Rabastan was different. He was psychotic and relentless, much like his dead sister-in-law. And he practically worshipped Voldemort.

James rolled again, a killing curse leaving a smoking crater where he had just been laying. He responded with a low tripping curse, that raced across the ground like a scythe. Several running Death Eaters stumbled, but Voldemort dissipated it with a slash of his wand. James ground his teeth, struggling to concentrate on his current foes.

The battle was rushing towards the castle like a giant, writhing beast, leaving James and the Dark Lord and his inner circle. Another man appeared behind Rabastan. He was young, with sandy blond hair. Barty Crouch's son. James had no time to be surprised. He was trapped on the edge of Hogsmeade, the bloody ground of the newly slain.

He switched tactics. He could no longer be on the offensive against the three wizards and whatever invisible Death Eaters that had remained in the fringes of the dark. His limbs were shaking with exhaustion, but he managed to hurl himself behind a fallen giant. Wheezing for breath, he gripped his wand with white knuckles. The blasts of spells on the giant's thick skin rippled his hair.

Was this his final stand? Would he see Lily again?

She burst into his head, clear and fierce. Coughing, he inhaled deeply and blindly crawled along the smelly body until he could see over the fleshy ear. Voldemort was watching, amused as his two Death Eaters peppered James' hiding place with spells. Around them, the rest of the dark army was rushing like a river towards the castle. If only he could get a better shot of the dark wizard…

Suddenly, James felt a strong arm grasp his and lift him straight up into the air. His organs dropped with momentum and he cried out in surprise. He felt himself swing around and land awkwardly on a rolling, unsteady surface covered with golden fur.

"We must hurry, James Potter, or we will be overrun," rumbled a smooth voice. James' eyes were wide with shock. A centaur. He had swept up from behind and now was galloping full tilt outside the range of the Death Eaters and Voldemort. His sleek palomino body rocked beneath him, transitioning smoothly to fair skin. The centaur's hair was flaxen blond. One of his flanks was sticky with blood, but there was not even a hitch in his gait.

"Wait," James gabbled. They were flying past trees, catching glimpses of pursuing foes. "Vold-"

"You cannot face him alone," the centaur said cryptically.

James couldn't think of a response. He barely had time to marvel at the fact the centaur was allowing him to ride to the castle. A spell whizzed by his ear, reminding him what they were running from. James twisted on the centaur's back and returned fire, as well as blocking three more spells.

Then they burst out from the trees into the midst.

"Damn," James panted. They were pounding through a wave of Death Eaters and towering giants surging up the steep slopes. They were barreling through more, toppling them like bowling pins as they neared Hogwarts. By the time the wizards could react to the centaur ramming through their forces, James had a shield conjured to block any retaliation.

The number of Death Eaters was enormous. From the centaur's back, James could see them spread out across the hill like ants. But the centaur was running faster. They were catching up with their companions, who were rushing ahead of the dark forces. James was struck by the realization that he never would have made it without the centaur. "Thanks, uh-"

"Firenze," the centaur responded shortly between bellowing breaths.

The castle was looming over them. The setting sun had found a break between the clouds and the earth and was splashing the stones with red. James had the strangest impression that he and Firenze were stationary as the castle rushed up to meet them on the battlefield. The great wooden doors were open. The masses were rushing inside, chased by night. James and Firenze were the last, before the doors closed with a crash and sealed them in.

"We need to move the children out of the castle."

"How? They've blocked all the exits. We're trapped here. And it won't be long before they break through that door."

"We'll find a way!"

"What the hell do you plan to do?"

"Face it, we're damned here-"

"ENOUGH!"

James' magically enhanced voice echoed through the Entrance Hall. Silence settled like a blanket. An itchy, uncomfortable blanket. All eyes fell on him, where he stood five steps up on one of the many staircases. He swallowed hard.

"Listen," he said, quieter. No, he did not have a plan, but he had a start. "This castle is not our enemy. It has a life of its own and it cares for the children it protects. We will find a way to evacuate the students safely. Arthur?"

Arthur Weasley looked up from where he was gently dabbing at a bloody gash on Molly's forehead. "James?"

"The Room of Requirement might be a good start. Go to the seventh floor corridor and see if it will provide an escape route. Minerva, gather the Heads of Houses and get them to lead their students there. If that does not work… we'll use the floo if we have too."

Minerva and Arthur nodded and pushed through the crowd.

"Look, Potter," said a man that James recognized from the Ministry. "It's not that we don't trust you but… I thought there'd be more of a plan."

James felt the weight of a hundred questioning stares. Outside the great doors, there was a series of booms like thunder. He inhaled shakily.

"You may have overestimated my ability to predict what would happen here today. Kill Voldemort is the plan. Everything else must change around that." Even to his ears, this sounded too uncertain to be comforting.

"What about the lives of our children?" demanded a middle-aged witch from the Department of Magical Transportation.

He clenched his fists, struggling to rein in his fears, awoken by such a simple question. "Of course I am not asking you to stay. But fighting today may be the only thing that will ensure a better future for our children. I know you're concerned, I… I know." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to hide the wave of crippling anxiety. "My own son is in the hospital wing right now, with everyone else's sons and daughters."

Lily was by his side again like an anchor. The volume of the attacks on their final sanctuary was increasing. "We have limited time," she said. Her melodious voice had a cooling effect on the restless crowd. "Let's focus on preparing for the inevitable. Right now, we have no choice but to fight for our children. And in this case, our advantage is only hope."

Solemn murmurs rose and fighters dispersed. James relaxed slightly as the attention moved away from him. Moody began barking orders at aurors, who began shoring up layers of defensive magic and traps for the Death Eaters when they broke through. The wounded were helped deeper into the castle, and someone was sent for Madame Pomfrey.

From his vantage point on the stairs, James scanned the heads, but could not see Remus. His stomach churned, what ifs filling him like an anesthetic, pulling him downwards. What if the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade found Sirius? What if Remus was lying somewhere on the grounds, dying alone? What if they were both dead?

"James!"

James shook his head. Arthur was pushing his way down the stairs. And his expression was a wide smile.

"The Room of Requirement created a new passageway! I don't know where it goes, but hopefully far from here. Minerva and the Heads of House are gathering their students now."

"Thank Merlin," James sighed. "Get Molly to gather some volunteers. We're going to need help moving the younger children from the hospital wing."

James could no longer resist pull on his entire being, willing him to check on Harry, to see him alive and bright-eyed. He took Lily's hand and they climbed through the halls of Hogwarts towards the infirmary. Ava Finch was waiting outside, several young auror trainees around her. She nodded at James and let him and Lily pass.

Inside the large, vaulted chamber, the younger children were playing with some generous Hogwarts students. There was a group of seven red-haired children, undoubtedly the Weasleys. The oldest child looked like he would be entering Hogwarts soon. He was sitting solemnly on one of the beds, bouncing the baby up and down. Identical toddlers with wide grins were busily pulling the sheets off of all the other beds, followed by an older child with a worried scowl. Neville Longbottom was with Ron Weasley, both clapping as Nymphadora Tonks changed the shapes of her nose and ears. Besides them, there were at least ten others, all different ages, though not old enough to actually attend school. But James only had eyes for one.

Harry squealed when he saw his parents and waddled towards them. James scooped him up and threw him up in the air, making Harry yelp in delight.

"Good to see you, buddy," he said, forcing a grin onto his face. Lily gave Harry a little kiss and then approached two students.

"Cynthia, Meg, they're evacuating everyone below the age of seventeen from the castle. The little ones will need to be taken out as well." As she spoke, Lily started to gently herd the children together. "We have some volunteers coming to help, but I would like for the two of you and maybe a few friends to be in charge of this group once you're out."

All of this was said in what James assumed was Lily's "teacher voice." He smirked and was about to comment when the door opened. James turned, expecting to see Molly. It was not.

Snape strode inside, his Death Eater cloak billowing like bat wings.

James was tired. He had not slept more than three hours or showered in three days. His emotions were stretched so thin that he was surprised he was still functioning as a human being. And yet, he still had enough energy to feel a trickle of disgust at the appearance of the greasy-haired man.

Snape looked just as unhappy to see James. He paused mid-stride, but clenched his jaw and asked, "Is Madame Pomfrey here?"

Lily straightened her spine from where she was bending over Neville. She did not look at Snape, but James could tell every cell and fiber of her was trained on him. As for James… the disgust was rapidly growing into a monster of enmity.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded through his locked jaw.

"Isn't that obvious?" Snape asked smoothly, his upper lip curling. "I'm looking for the matron. But since she clearly is not present, I'll take my leave."

"Hold on," James commanded shortly. "You sold us out."

Snape had turned only a quarter of the way towards the door, but he froze. "I did." His lips almost did not move with the confession. "And yet here I am, looking for Madame Pomfrey to update her on Dumbledore's condition. What are you going to do about it?"

James' chest puffed in indignation. How dare Snape ask a question that he did not know the answer to? He knew what he wanted to do. But killing Snape was not an option right now, not in a room filled with children, with his son.

"You're the reason he hunted us down," James said, not caring if he was being redundant. At least he had not hexed Snape yet. By now, the tension had drawn the eyes of all the young people in the cavernous room.

Snape stared at him impassively. But there was a flicker of emotion on his face. A wince. "Yes," he said in a monotone. "I am the reason."

"How dare you-"

Snape chuckled then. James had never heard him laugh before. It was a horrible, mirthless sound. His eyes stayed empty. "You seem to be laboring under the assumption that I cared about what I was doing at the time.I did not even stop to think about what the prophecy was about. I simply reported it. It was only later that I learned the Dark Lord's interpretation."

"And what? Suddenly decided you wanted to fight on our side?" James bit out, aiming his sarcasm like a scythe.

"No," Snape answered. Now he sounded regretful. His gaze flickered to Lily, but she was still keeping her attention on the children. "I… I didn't really believe anything then."

"So what? Now you do?"

"Maybe I do," Snape said quietly. His empty eyes met James' fully. "But that doesn't matter. Right now, I need to find Pomfrey. Dumbledore is-"

But Snape seemed to have lost interest in their argument quite suddenly. His black eyes were staring over James' shoulder through the hospital wing window.

James turned. Beyond the spears of evergreen trees, a mile-wide inky plume of smoke was rising, underbelly cast in ghastly orange light. It was like the earth just over the hill had cracked open and was retching its pitch-like guts into the air. All the air was sucked from James' lungs and the world crashed around his ears.

Hogsmeade was burning.

Then the windows shuddered with the sound of an explosion. Hogwarts had been breached.

a/n: So sorry...apparently I can't help myself. Also, action sequences are hard to write. If you have any advice for me, I would appreciate it!

To the Guest who asked me to give you an eta for the next chapter: Of course I can!

In fact, I was going to leave a note on this chapter anyway because (and I apologize from the bottom of my heart) I am going out of town again. For a week :( Which means the next chapter won't be posted until Monday July 31st. Possibly Tuesday Aug 1st. I'm hoping to have time to write while I'm gone, but if that does not happen, I'll need a little extra time to edit the next chapter before I post.

But as a consolation gift, I will tell you that next chapter is Remus POV (so don't worry, he's not dead, just mia).

Review while I'm gone! Thank you again for your support. I could not do this without you guys :)