For my reviewers

The Battle of Hogwarts May 2nd 1998

Remus POV

I stared in disbelief at the young man in front of me. The son of two of the best people I had ever met. I couldn't call him a boy anymore. He bore the weight of the war just as much as any grown wizard, perhaps even more.

He stood in the room of requirement and for the first time I saw some of James in his stature. The previously withdrawn boy had usually slouched in a corner, easily overlooked but in that room he stood proudly, confident in his orders.

He looked worse for wear. So did Ron and Hermione, his friends who had stuck with him through all of those months on the run. Their hair was overgrown and matted. Harry's had never been so wild. Their complexions were pale almost to the point where they looked ill. There was no disguising the dark shadows beneath their eyes.

They all bore new injuries. Most were simple scrapes or bruises but Harry boasted an impressive circular mark on his neck. Ron's shoulder was laced with a scar. I sadly took in the word mudblood traced into Hermione's skin. No, it would be a mark of disrespect to call them children.

The Order made a circle around the only son of a Marauder. I could feel the presence of Tonks behind me. Tonks being a young metamorphmagus witch who for some reason had an infatuation with me. I had always refused her. I used the excuse that I was a werewolf but the truth was that it would feel as though I'd be betraying Amy. Even if she had been dead for eighteen years.

"We're fighting", Harry announced. The kids that made up 'Dumbledore's Army' flocked around him, cheering. I made my way through to the Boy-Who-Lived to give him my luck. He pushed an eager young Colin Creevey out of the way to fly into my arms.

"I'm so glad you're okay", I whispered into his hair.

"Good luck out there Moony", he replied.

And then the stolen moment was over.

"Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight." The hissing voice of Lord Voldemort announced across Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. But Harry remained at Hogwarts, unbetrayed. Protection had been added to the school. The Slytherin's had been banished. Snape had been driven away. The Order had been called.

Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a battle. A battle that dwarfed any other of its kind. The Battle of Hogwarts.

I stared in silent disbelief at the sight of Voldemort's troops rallying towards us. The protection had been brought down. Defences had failed. I could hear Tonk's and Kingley's heavy breathing from behind me. The group of seven students, a mixture of Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's were stunned into silence. Even the Whomping Willow had claimed some victims, sweeping several foolish death eaters off their feet and hurling them into the dark night sky.

"We need reinforcements", Kingsley said in his baritone voice as the forces raced across the bridge. I counted six giants, twelve acramantula and a swarm of masked individuals heading towards us.

"It is the quality of ones convictions that determines success, not the number of followers", I replied calmly, brandishing my wand as the screams from the other side of the castle assaulted my ears. I winced as I saw a giant squish two figures with one well-placed foot. I prayed that they weren't students.

"Who said that?" Tonks asked curiously. She had seen a lot fighting with the Aurors but nothing compared to this. I saw the fear in her eyes and smiled briefly, wondering why she wasn't placed in Gryffindor rather than Hufflepuff.

"Me", I answered.

The giants neared the castle, each footstep causing the ground to shake. Grawp raced forward and punched him clumsily. For the first time I appreciated that he truly was small for his kind.

"Go get 'em Grawpie!" Hagrid bellowed, audible even above the yells. "Aim fer the eyes!" He instructed the skeletal Thestrals. They screeched back at him, the eerie sound of their cry joining the chorus of screams.

I took careful aim and shot a stunner at a death eater who was still several hundred yards away. He didn't expect the attack and fell to the ground. Kingsley and Tonks followed my lead and we began taking down as many of the hooded figures as we could.

We had barely even disabled a dozen death eaters before several horrific shrieks alerted us to the fact that the courtyard was no longer a death eater free zone. My thoughts quickly flashed to the two seventh year students, a Gryffindor called Dean Thomas and a Ravenclaw called Cho Chang. They had been the first line of defence on the bridge. I prayed that they were still alive.

Three death eaters led a dozen acramantula on to the scene. We stood back to back. An unspoken promise to defend each other passed between us.

"Kingsley,Tonks and I will take care of the Death Eaters. Aim for the acramantula's underbellies." I instructed the petrified students. I briefly closed my eyes and forced myself to breath.

And then they were upon us. They were three men, their masks had slipped when they were fighting. They all bore injuries, one moved with a limp. Another had a glassed over look in his eyes. He moved sluggishly which led me to believe that he was imperiused. I almost felt sorry for him but then he sent the cruciatus curse at Tonks which I angrily deflected. So much for sympathy.

I recognised the third as Dolohov, the death eater that had cornered Amy on more than one occasion. He had been one of the five that were responsible for killing Gideon and Fabian Prewett. He was also part of the group that tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity. He was the reason that Neville's parents didn't even recognise him.

I disarmed the imperiused wizard within minutes and I knocked him out, choosing against taking his life seeing as he was cursed.

Kingsley was occupied with Dolohov. Both were competent wizards and Kingsley, who loathed the use of dark magic had been forced to use some of the bloodier spells in his repertoire to keep up with the ferocity of Dolohov's onslaught.

I worked with Kingley, leaving Tonks to deal with the less experienced individual who she already had the upperhand with. All my hatred for Dolohov was like a much needed surge of energy.

"Sectumsempra!" I roared, using Snape's old version of the cutting curse. Dolohov deflected it with a swipe of his wand. He smirked at me, almost daring me to do my worst.

Without warning, an explosion racked the castle almost from its core. The unmistakeable sound of a wall collapsing rumbled not too far away. A wave of dust filled the air. Then there was a scream. A horrible, heart wrenching scream.

The force of the explosion had knocked Tonks right off her feet in a blur of bubblegum pink and a stream of obscenities. The death eater she had been battling may have been young and inexperienced but he knew how to take advantage of the situation.

I knew what was going to happen just before it did.

It was like Amy all over again. I could see it but my feet were rooted to the ground.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The beam of green light soared towards Tonks who had been on the ground. She screamed and twisted to dodge the curse but a mixture of obstacles and injuries hampered her movement. The curse hit her and the life faded from her dark eyes.

Tears sprung to my eyes at the sight of the young Auror dead on the ground. I may not have been in love with her but I loved her like a sister. She was almost like Lily to me.

Without thinking, I barged forward and physically tackled the death eater to the ground. I wrestled and took advantage of his surprise. I punched him several times and hit his head against the concrete until he was knocked out. I dropped him and watched as a pool of blood formed around his head.

What had I done?

I had always tried to reject the animal within but I had acted just like an animal, so vicious and bloodthirsty. I had wanted him to suffer. I was disgusted with myself. What would Amy have thought of my actions?

I didn't even see the curse headed towards me.

Not until it was too late.

Like Tonks had moments ago, I yelled in surprise. I too, tried to stop it. Just as Amy had, all of those years ago, I brought my wand up to defend myself. I uttered the first curse that came to mind. It brought a small smile to my face.

"Expelliarmus is a useful spell, Harry, but the Death Eaters seem to think it is your signature move, and I urge you not to let it become so!"

My words of wisdom and yet ironically, there I was using the exact spell I had discouraged him from using.

The red light was no match for the green. It flickered and then went out.

"Good luck Harry", I whispered.

Then the green light consumed me and I thought no more.