I'm home! Yay! The beach cured the writer's block that's been killing me the last few weeks, which has me feeling especially good right now.

Thank you so much to all my reviewers. And shout out to bpbookworm, thank you for helping me with that typo! Much appreciated, it is now fixed :). And to my guest reviewers, J, Sean, Silver stars, and everyone labeled 'Guest', I value all of your comments and words of affirmation very highly.

I know you have been patiently waiting for this chapter, so I'll stop talking now.

-Cat

Chapter 35

We Will Rise (Remus)

Remus was not dead yet. Which, in his opinion, was very impressive. Not that he had anything to do with it. But someone, or something out there really wanted him alive. He had been reborn too many times to die here.

He had seen it, the moment Sirius collapsed in a seizure of electricity. He was too far, much too far to help, watching in horror over the horde of fighters imprisoning. The following minutes (years) of violent spell-casting were done without his heartbeat. His fingertips felt numb. He barely recognized that he was duelling a gaunt Malfoy, barely even heard his taunts.

His insults were nothing compared to the sight of Sirius being carried on a stretcher into Honeydukes. Hope tortured him as he went on the defensive. Maybe he was alive. He had to be alive.

Remus' rare lapse in concentration was his downfall. As he flew through the air to the fringes of the battle, he had just enough time to be grateful that Malfoy had not chosen the killing curse.

He landed hard on his shoulder, felt the wrench of the ground and heat of friction as he slid in the gritty mud. Then his head connected with something hard and his vision went black and whirled with dancing stars.

He was out for… he was not sure once he woke. His dreams-nightmares-whirled with his father bleeding out, grappling with Voldemort, Greyback slitting his throat.

"Ow," he groaned softly. He rubbed the back of his head, feeling the crusted, flakey blood. Rotating his bruised shoulder, he used the wooden siding he had been unconscious against to push himself to his feet. Pain sparked like fireworks announcing that he was still, blessedly, living.

Absence of sound more present than pain. Panic welled in his throat. One too many bumps on the head, his hearing was gone. Gasping-and hearing the hoarse sound with a flood of relief. He was not deaf…

He was alone.

Remus looked up and down the street and saw…. no one. Bodies. Empty shells. The acrid smell of smoke. The worse odor of spilt blood and sharp fear. Remus swallowed down bile and stared down the path towards Hogwarts. It looked as though a stampede had careened up the road, tearing down trees and trampling grass to a blackened bruise. A scar across the grounds. The battle had reached the castle.

Remus closed his eyes and listened, wondering if there were any living things left. Footsteps, healthy, heavy. Scouting Death Eaters were the most likely. Scuffling. Rats, maybe? Groans. The injured clinging to life. And that was when Remus thought of Sirius lying in Honeydukes. His eyes snapped back open, hyper-alert. The presence of Death Eaters in the town meant they were likely tying up loose ends. His stomach clenched.

He walked swiftly. Sensitive to everything except himself. Every drip of wet eaves into puddles, every wind-rustled leaf. He reached Honeydukes without incident. The windows had been shattered like sheets of hard candy. His steps crunched and there was no sound from behind the counter.

Excruciating hope clenched his heart, cutting off his blood supply.

Sirius was pale as death. Remus waited a full, everlasting second. Then Sirius' chest rose a tiny fraction. Remus let out a breath he was holding.

"You never know when to quit, Padfoot," he whispered. He scanned the battered shop. "What do I do now?"

He could leave Sirius here. But the threat of Death Eaters was too close. So he needed to move him. Move him where?

The castle was certainly under attack, so bringing Sirius there would most likely endanger him further. But those inside the fortress… Remus could not abandon them to finish the battle without his assistance. He could now hear the explosions, so distant they were almost undetectable. Maybe he was actually feeling them, the compression of air particles and dense solids. It would not be long before the castle was breached.

His head was pounding, doing its best to create chaos in his thoughts. He kneaded his fists into his eyes. Come on, Moony. You don't have time to sit around and do nothing.

Deciding he needed to act soon, Remus levitated the stretcher. Sirius was completely unresponsive. He needed to get to Hogwarts. He did not fancy going up the same road the rest of the fighters took, but all of the passageways he knew of had been barricaded. He checked out the window. A blur of black sharpened into a Death Eater when it passed before the broken aperture of glass. Remus froze.

A second, and then a third Death Eater joined the first. Sirius would be guffawing loudly if could hear the level of swear words romping through Remus' brain.

Soon there was a group of five dark wizards gathered outside the sweet shop. They did not speak, but Remus felt a frazzled energy. They were planning something… waiting for something.

Remus cursed the blinding walls on either side of him. He could not see the rest of Hogsmeade, only the confines of the candy shop. What were they waiting for?

Think, Moony. What would you do if you were James? The answer came quickly. Evacuate the kids. If they were trying to send the students through the tunnels, they would have to use time they did not have to unblock them. Even if they were, Voldemort anticipated this move. He had turned Hogsmeade into a death trap.

Does Hogwarts have any other escape routes? The answer to this question would have to remain untouched for now. Remus took one last look at the ambush designed for the Honeyduke's tunnel. Whatever the Death Eaters were planning, Remus did not want to stick around and find out. Quietly as he could, he levitated Sirius towards the back entrance. The storage room was dim, the back windows only allowing heavy gray light to enter. It was getting darker outside.

Remus opened the door gently and checked outside. There was a single Death Eater leaning against a building two blocks down the alley. It was almost comically easy to stun him silently. The Death Eater slumped down the wall without a sound.

"Where to now?" Remus muttered under his breath. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic, trapped in a maze without an exit. Grinding his teeth, he set off eastwards down the alley. The only option he could think of was the Shrieking Shack. Even if it were guarded, it was far enough away from town that maybe he could take down the Death Eaters there undetected.

Resolving himself, Remus spread out his consciousness, hoping to sense any Death Eaters before they saw him. He was shocked by the ease of it. His magic pooled across Hogsmeade like water, minnowing through streets and alleys and over rooftops. Each Death Eater was a spot of dark energy, some more complex than others.

Remus winced as he walked, floating Sirius beside him. He tried not to concentrate too much on each magical signature. They were too layered, too uncertain, too… human. And that knowledge weighed heavily.

They were nearing the edge of town and Remus could feel his nerves beginning to fray. The expanse of land between him and the Shrieking Shack was blackened by fiendfyre. The rain had stopped, and instead, ashes fell like gray snowflakes. Veins of embers crisscrossed the ground between him and the Shack. It was too exposed. Anyone with eyes would see him.

Beyond the destruction, he could feel six Death Eaters, lurking around the dilapidated building. How would he get past without alerting anyone? How could he do it and still protect Sirius?

He paused just inside a shadow of a building, feeling the Death Eaters pacing. Their too human impatience. Would he have to kill them? The thought of it made Remus taste bile. He could feel the wolf's indifference. He'd killed before now, what had changed?

Quiet, he told the wolf.

Then something else nudged at his magic. It was further away, down a different road, one that was seldom traveled. Remus listened.

Tiny brightnesses were filling a different building, one that was dirty, filled with smudges. But there was one signature he recognized. Flitwick?

Abruptly, Remus changed course. He wove stealthily against brick walls and wooden siding until he emerged on the less-worn road. Through the falling ashes, Remus saw a sign swinging. A severed hog's head. And inside, the glow of wand-light and moving figures.

His adrenaline spiked. If that was Flitwick, then those figures had to be evacuating students. They had no idea what danger they could be in. Remus moved quickly, his mind jumbling together a haphazard plan. His soft tapping on the door made the low rumble of whispers die instantly.

"Who's there?" whispered the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick.

"Remus Lupin," Remus responded, equally hushed. "First year, Sirius Black lit your hair on fire accidentally. I returned to the classroom alone to apologize for him."

"Hmph," huffed Flitwick over a cacophony of muffled chuckles. The door creaked open, revealing the shorter wizard, his own students towering over him. But his severe expression softened when he saw Sirius laid out on the stretcher behind Remus. "Come in."

Remus slipped inside and the students squeezed together to make room for the injured man on the stretcher. Ignoring the wary stares he was getting, Remus looked to Flitwick.

"There are Death Eaters guarding the exits of the all the passages. How in Merlin's name did you get here?"

"Room of Requirement," the charms professor responded. Remus followed his pointing finger to an open portrait above the fireplace. His eyebrows rose. Students were walking single-file down a dark corridor of earth and spilling into the cramped bar. Their faces were pale and few of them spoke. The younger ones visibly trembled.

"Listen," Remus said, speaking quickly and leaning over the professor so only the closest students could hear. "They won't all fit in here. We need to sneak them out of town. At this point, the woods are probably the safest bet. Is there any way we can conceal such a huge group?"

Flitwick's brown eyebrows contracted. With a thoughtful frown, he surveyed his students and the traffic jam coming through the bottle-necked entrance.

"Disillusionment?" he muttered to himself. "No...Too many subjects, the charm will be spread too thin. Distract the Death Eaters? Risky. We could… create our own tunnel."

Eyes glittering, he cracked the door again and peeked outside. Then, with a grim set of his mouth he said decidedly, "It will have to do." He turned back to Remus. "You know the concealing charm correct?"

"I-of course, but with this many people?"

"Not on the people, no. On a path that we are going to imagine. From this door to the woods. Hopefully the trees will provide enough cover once we reach them."

"An imaginary path," Remus repeated. His analytical mind grasped onto the idea, running through every possible what-if. "Okay…like a ward then, only instead of spherical, it will be cylindrical?"

"Exactly." Flitwick grinned, pleased that Remus had caught on quickly. "Same spell, different geometry. The ward is a good thought too. Perhaps we can throw some other things in for extra protection."

It would be more complex, but there was still radial symmetry in a cylinder. Remus looked outside, imagining the field of charms spreading out from an imaginary line that stretched between the Hog's Head and the forest. If the situation weren't so dire, Remus would be excited by the mental exercise. But as it was, they had students perilously crowding a bar in a warzone. They needed to get them out before they were discovered or the dilapidated building burst at the seams.

"I'll do the concealing charm, Remus. Would you weave in some defensive spells?"

With a nod, Remus concentrated. He could feel Flitwick's concealment charm tunnel snake away from the bar. Without even drawing his wand, he thought salvio hexia, protego maxima. He knew it worked right away.

Flitwick did not comment on the wandless magic, but gave Remus an appraising look. Then he aimed his wand at the ground and a glowing gold line traced itself down the center of their tunnel. "Roger," he said to a Ravenclaw boy wearing a prefect's badge. "You take the lead. Follow the gold line into the woods. No speaking until you're a safe distance in. I'll be guiding the others along behind you."

Roger nodded and stepped inside. Flitwick guided students to fall in behind the student, whispering instructions and reminding them to be quiet. A few of the first and second years blanched when they realized they were hiding in the forest they were told to avoid at all costs. Remus stood by, glancing towards the passage into the castle.

"Go, Remus," Flitwick said knowingly. " Help your friends."

Remus hesitated and looked down at Sirius. Flitwick followed his gaze, humming in sympathy. Sirius was still breathing, but it was shallow and labored. The maze-like design of the lightning wound was harshly visible.

"I won't let him out of my sight," Flitwick promised softly. "He did a brave thing today."

"He did," Remus murmured. He grasped Sirius' cold hand and squeezed gently. It stayed limp. Blinking hard, Remus turned away. "Stay safe, Padfoot."

Then, Remus pushed through the students and into the tunnel, hurrying as fast as he could against the current. Maybe he was imagining things, but he thought he felt the ground tremble around them. A low boom shook dirt from the ceiling. Remus quickened his pace, praying he would make it to the castle in time.

Hogwarts was fighting back. Remus could feel the surging defensive magic in the walls as soon as he stumbled into the Room of Requirement. An enormous living organism, humming to life when its residents were threatened. The level of magic was impressive. Remus wondered how he could have possibly missed it when he was a student. But back then, the castle was safe and dormant.

He scanned over the remaining students. Their fear was more tangible here, like the sour taste in Remus' mouth. A few were in tears. McGonagall was supervising the exodus, trying to keep her face soft, but her mouth was so thin her lips had disappeared.

"Minerva!" Remus shouted over the crowd.

Her head snapped towards him and her eyes widened. When he reached her, she gripped his arm in a claw-like grasp. "We thought you were dead," she breathed.

"Not yet," he said with a small twitch of his mouth.

She sniffed and her grasp loosened to a comforting pressure. "Thank Merlin," she said. "I don't know what James has planned, but I last saw him he was heading to the hospital wing. The young ones are still there. The castle has been breached, Remus, they'll need help."

"Got it," he said, slipping towards the door. His heart was pounding. The implication was clear: the most innocent souls were trapped in the hospital wing, a horde of Death Eaters standing between them and escape.

"Good luck, Remus," she called after him.

"See you on the other side, Professor," he responded over his shoulder. Then he was pushing into the abandoned seventh floor corridor. Barnabas the Barney gestured urgently towards the lower floor from his tapestry. Remus saluted and dashed down the stairs.

The first sign of battle was the smashing echoing up the stairwell. The second was an explosion of stone at the next corner, which choked the hall with dust and shrapnel. Momentarily blinded, Remus spread out his consciousness into the fray, feeling the cataclysm of energy signatures clashing together.

Voldemort was not difficult to find.

Remus swallowed back the tidal wave of fear and revulsion. The Dark Lord's mind was familiar in a horribly intimate way. Whispers of phantom pain made Remus recoil instantly, but not before he felt the Dark Lord's satisfaction at having been found by the werewolf. Voldemort wanted to finish what he started on Halloween.

The dust cleared and Remus had a physical picture of the entrance hall, much more raw and unfiltered. The battle roiled below, spilling into the hallways and choking the stairs. Instead of red bursts of emotion and pain, Remus could see the blood, smell the tangy metallic odor. Faces contorted in both anger, fear, or even enjoyment flashed in and out of view. He averted his eyes from the slack faces of those on the ground, either dead or unconscious. He would dwell on his own turmoil later.

He saw Malfoy, eyes desperate and mouth set. The Lestrange brothers, twin gleaming slits of satisfaction paired on each face. He saw Dedalus Diggle topple head over heels away from Dolohov. Hagrid roaring in anger and swinging large fists, a pink umbrella sparking dangerously in the left hand. Andromeda's yelp of pain sounded nearby. Frank dashed in the direction of the sound. But Remus was distracted by the mesmerizing head of the snake.

On the opposite side of the hall stood Voldemort, clothed in darkness and watching Remus with a skull-like mask. A brush of remembered cruciatus, the stabbing probe blocked instantly by Remus' mental walls. Then, with a barest hint of a smirk, Voldemort turned in the direction of the hospital wing.

Remus' mouth went dry. Voldemort knew who was trapped there, probably from following tendrils of thought with his powerful legilimency. Harry was in danger.

Remus parted the fighters with a nudging of his mind. A path like a dry ravine through a raging sea appeared before him and he charged after the Dark Lord. He had two followers, and he could sense the dual nature inside of each. Withered men and ravenous beasts, Greyback and Julian sprinted on his heels.

Remus darted forward, springing up the steps and into the passage Voldemort had taken.

Expulso! Remus thought, aiming his wand at the stone framework of the archway. There was a rending crack of breaking stone and the entire facade slid like and avalanche, blocking his pursuers. It would not stop them indefinitely, but long enough for Remus to confront Voldemort without being hindered.

His mind raced now, on the other side of the cave-in, peering through the dust. Teetering on the edge. A part of Remus-a part deeply ingrained by his seventeen year fight with the wolf-did not want to be the one to deliver the final blow. The other part, a kill instinct he'd been denying all of those seventeen years, urged him forward.

His steps and panting breath echoed eerily in the dim hallway. The torches in their brackets shuddered with low light, as if the passing of the Dark Lord made them cower away. The hall was empty. The lack of people was unnerving, as if Remus had somehow stepped into some alternate dimension.

The illusion was shattered by a series of pops, followed by a hissed, "Avada Kedavra!"

Remus stumbled sideways, but the green light only briefly illuminated the hallway ahead. The sound of a body hitting the floor. Remus slowed, heart in his throat, nerves singing with energy. The hospital wing was just around the corner.

"I know you're there, Lupin," said Voldemort in a soft voice. It slithered like a snake across the stone and into Remus' veins.

"I will admit that I am impressed by your… resilience. Your worthless mind should have snapped long ago."

Remus let the Dark Lord talk, sliding along the wall until his shoulder was just a centimeter from the corner.

"You can come out. I don't want to kill you right away."

This was not reassuring, but Remus stepped away from the wall. Do what you have to, he thought to himself as he faced what awaited him.

Voldemort was standing with a relaxed posture, hospital wing doors blessedly shut behind him. Ava Finch lay at his feet, her eyes wide and unseeing. Only a few meters from where his dark robes met the floor, three auror trainees were stiff as boards, eyes rolling in sockets with terror.

"It will be a shame to kill them. All of that potential-wasted," Voldemort whispered, sounding nearly regretful. He glided over to the nearest, a young boy with curling brown hair. A pale, bare toe brushed his cheek.

"Leave him."

Remus' softly spoken order was magnified by the smooth stones. So was Voldemort's derisive chuckle. The Dark Lord finally looked at him, his skin tight on his face.

"Do you think that you can stop me? You are weak," hissed Voldemort. Despite the venom, Remus recognized a subtle desperation. Voldemort was mortally wounded by the destruction of his anchors to life. Every move he made would have to be calculated according to that. The prophecy damning the child in the hospital wing was the only thing driving the Dark Lord now.

"I'm stronger than I was," Remus replied simply. The wolf inside was bristling, ready for action. He was completely alone in the face of evil, but he was immensely grateful the hospital wing doors remained firmly closed. Don't do anything stupid, James, he thought. He was sure James was behind those doors and knew that danger to his child was imminent. The sun-bright signature burned with adrenaline.

"True." Voldemort's head cocked, reminiscent of a curious child examining a science experiment. "It would be such a waste to break you. You could be great, you know. Embrace your darkness, wolf."

Remus almost laughed. No matter how intense his fear of losing his mind may be, his fear of losing his soul was even greater. "Not in a thousand years, Tom."

Voldemort's stance hardened. "You will lose everything," he hissed.

"So be it."

Before he could prepare himself, Remus' head was being penetrated with hundreds of white hot daggers. The attack was violent, shredding Remus' barriers like cloth. Distantly, he felt the jolt of pain from his knees hitting the floor. Then the corridor was swept away in a dizzying hurricane-

Eyes like coals, gaping maw of pale teeth, explosion in his shoulder, blood boiling with the curse…

The Wolf. His first enemy, his darkness, crushing him from existence, ripping away his being… thirsting to kill…

Father. Hands shaking, face blurred above him, chanting, "What have I done?"

Mother. Sobbing, loving, dead…

Brothers…

Sirius was white as Remus screamed at him, throat raw…

James. Bursts of ugly jealousy as he fell in love, held his child. Remus could never have those beautiful, precious, impossible things…

Peter. Hands, shaking and hesitant, pulled him to a pillar and sat him upright. Jolts of electricity, keeping him from escaping into unconsciousness. "I'm sorry." … Peter lying dead in the bloody dawn, his humanity found too late to save Remus…

And always, always the Dark Lord.

"Such anger, Lupin. But what could anyone expect from a beast?" Cruciatus after cruciatus…

Mind on fire…

The yawning void…

Alone-

No.

The storm of memory ceased. Remus stood in the calm, only half aware of the surprise in the invading entity.

Something had healed on the banks of this void. Remus could feel Voldemort pushing, trying to find a grip in the cracks to pull him apart. But those cracks… they had let something else in, a light. They were wounds that had become fountains, paradoxically pouring strength into him that flared with solid light.

Remus was more than the cracks.

He grew with the warmth inside, knowledge that his brothers never left him during the hardest fight of his life. And he would never leave them. That light was brighter than any darkness.

With barely an effort, he swept away the Dark Lord's stabbing knives as if they were mere needles.

He opened his eyes and saw Voldemort across the corridor, his crimson eyes shocked. He was clutching his chest and panting for breath. His lips were forming a word, but the only sound that entered the hallway was the skeletal figure's pained gasps.

The gasps became an unnatural wheezing sound. Unnerved, Remus realized the Dark Lord was laughing.

"Do you really think love can defeat me?"

The question was hurled suddenly, like the lash of a whip, the word "love" spat like something disgusting. Voldemort's false amusement vanished, replaced by a snarl that twisted the skull-like features. Despite himself, Remus flinched at the sight.

"Yes," he answered. "I believe it can."

But Voldemort's fury was now beyond conversation. He took a menacing step forward, hunched like a predator. Remus brandished his wand, final spell rising to his lips, ready to dodge any retaliation.

Before either could make another move, several things happened at once.

The door to the hospital wing burst open. Voldemort's head snapped away from Remus to the occupants of the chamber, his body following fluidly. There was a crackle of spells as the Dark Lord engaged with a hidden enemy.

James and Lily.

Harry!

Remus darted forward but his path was blocked by something warped, lithe… Julian. Remus reacted quickly, skidding to a stop and feinting left. Julian's fist whistled by Remus' ear. Remus dropped to the ground and stuck out his leg, tripping the wiry werewolf and sending him crashing downwards with a sickening thud.

Scrambling upright, Remus turned his wand on Julian. Then he hesitated. His snarling foe carried no weapon but his fists and claws.

"Petrificus totalus," he muttered after a split-second of consideration. Julian's deformed limbs zipped together.

Remus paid for the timing of his moral dilemma.

Wham!

Stars exploded in Remus vision when his back slammed into the ground away from Julian. He gasped. His chest felt heavy, like his ribs had been kicked inwards. There was a ringing in his ears, overpowering screams wrenched from the hospital wing. The kids… Coughing, he turned his head, vision blocked, eyes meeting the terrified eyes of the frozen, brown-haired boy.

Behind the boy's curls, Voldemort advanced towards three figures. He was still hunched, as if Remus' violent ejection of the Dark Lord from his mind had somehow damaged him. But his duelling skills were still nearly unmatchable by the three opponents. A flash of glasses, a whirl of red, and a billowing sable cloak. Remus could not see the children.

"Hello Lupin."

The growl of Greyback brought him back to the present fight. Struggling to catch his breath, Remus rolled his head on the floor to look up at the werewolf.

To his surprise, Greyback stepped back and allowed Remus to stand. Remus' gaze flicked down the the werewolf's dirty paw, which was clutching a worn wand. This would be a wizard's fight then, nothing like the tussle in the cellar of the Riddle House.

Remus balanced on his toes, nerves stretched to the breaking point, warily watching the larger werewolf circle around.

Greyback lashed out first, a whiplash of blinding light that Remus ducked to avoid. It sizzled overhead and Remus retaliated quickly, sending four stunners that dogged Greyback's lightning fast dance away. Then the larger werewolf pounced forward, forcing Remus to stumble out of reach.

Ava's body tangled with his feet. Tripping-

He caught himself and hit Greyback with a cutting hex that ripped through his leg with a burst of pink mist. Greyback roared with pain and anger.

Shouts behind him, Lily's voice. Swallowing the anguished need to rush to their aid, Remus kept his eyes on Greyback, choosing instead to spread out his magical consciousness. He could feel several tiny bright lights of nascent magic, the children, huddled at the back of the hospital wing. A few students bravely forming a human shield around them. James and Lily, burning brightly, sun and moon. Severus, dim and corroded, but alive and lying crumbled between two beds.

Half of his mind focused on the duel with Greyback, the more feral side attacking and defending. The other half was building a wall around the children, sending soothing tendrils of comfort and safety into their frantic bodies.

Then it happened.

Remus felt rather than saw James' and Lily's wands launch away. Heard the clatter against the stone, James' hoarse shout of pain when he hit the ground.

"Mum! Da!"

Clear-noted and frightened, Harry's little voice was magnified by the vaulted ceiling. Then, his snitch-bright presence zipped around Remus' shields towards James and Lily.

Forgetting Greyback completely, Remus spun towards the battle raging behind him. The air was punched from his lungs a second time. Harry was racing towards his father on little bare feet. James was white-faced, leg unnaturally bent, glaring defiantly at Voldemort. Lily rushing to intercept her son.

"Harry, no!" she shrieked.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Everything converged. Lily caught Harry in her arms and skidded into James. The green light sailed across the room straight towards the child.

A scream wrenched from Remus' throat.

"HARRY!"

A strong wind rushed through the hospital wing, Remus at the epicenter. It caught Greyback and hurled him with a resounding crack into a bed. Remus barely noticed the way his life flickered out.

The wind lifted Voldemort's robes like dark liquid, but he was unmoved. As was his curse.

It struck-

Horizons of time, rushing, slowing, vanished.

There was a moment in Remus' mind, when he was breaking himself apart to break apart the walls around the Riddle House. It was a moment of peace, when all time stood still. Where it ceased to exist, as though Remus was somehow… outside of time. All the waves of the world were stilled into that mirrored glass void and there was only peace.

This was similar.

Only instead of peace, there was everything at once. Layers and layers of himself, filling the corners of the hospital wing. There was the chamber that was broken and burning and swept with the wind of his terror. But there was also the one he was familiar with, with the vast ceiling, filled with light.

At once he could hear and see and smell it all. Those lonely first moons, just he and the matron and fear. The aurulent sunset and "We solemnly swear to be bound as brothers until the end." The afterwards, waking to his brothers instead of that aching desolation. Laughter echoing, Della's luminous eyes, the smell of hot chocolate. Drowning. And later opening his eyes into darkness. Mind out of control. Pieces scattered. Arduous healing.

All of the waves all at once.

Now the final one. Remus watched from his timeless vantage point, as the killing curse deflected away from Harry Potter and his parents. Its direction was reversed. Everything else was frozen as Remus followed the green light's progress across the room…

And struck Voldemort in the chest.

The moment the Dark Lord's hollow carapace hit the ground was the moment that time returned. There was an explosion of soundlessness, followed by the heavy exhale of a ceasing storm.

a/n: !

Obviously, this is not the end. Explanations and some closure to follow in the next chapter (which will be posted on Saturday or Sunday). Stay tuned!

YOU are the reason I keep writing. Even if it's just a single word, I love hearing from you guys!