Disclaimers etc. See part 1

Author's notes: Happy Turkey day to my fellow Americans... To the English, hello from the
Colonies, aren't you glad you got rid of us? To the rest, hope you had a good Thursday.

This starts the closure. I'm guestimating about... 3ish more chapters plus Epilogue. I'm going to
tighten down the rest of the outline and then I'll know for sure. Anyway, enjoy!


Part 43

They sat there for endless minutes, a strange picture of sorrow. Three bodies, one unnaturally
still, the others shaking in grief.

The storm had lessened to a drizzle, it was as if the very sky itself was grieving with them. In the
sudden silence the end of the battle had brought, a small sound came to them, the movement of air
could be heard. The flapping of wings. And then, a bright spectrum perched on his shoulder.
Fawkes.

Fawkes!

He turned, muscles stiff in protest and with bleary, puffy eyes examined the bird. "Fawkes..." his
grief roughened voice spoke, "Fawkes, please..." he couldn't get the words out, his lips felt too
clumsy. Harry's hands absently rubbed small circles into his back and he found strength again, "Its
not too late. Please..."

The phoenix looked at him, looked him in the eyes and an over whelming sense of 'No.' pervaded
his senses. "Why...?" he asked.

A voice, full of warmth and compassion and love spoke to him. "Because he does not wish it."

He blinked, but the voice was gone leaving him with nothing but a blinking avian. He shared eye
contact with it for a few more moments before it leaned forward and brushed against him. Beak
against cheek in strange gesture of comfort.

Fawkes left his shoulder and went to his fallen master, the bird looked incredibly sad. Again, it
leaned forward in that same gesture of comfort, and spread his wings in a close approximation of
a hug. Then, with as little fanfare as he had ever seen come from the phoenix, he disintegrated
into a pile of ashes.

They both sat there, staring, wide eyed at the remains. Until it moved.

A small golden beak appeared, followed by glossy black feathers with golden highlights. She, and
Severus knew without a doubt it was now a she, spread her wings and once again settled onto his
shoulder.

"What now?" Harry asked, his voice laced with wonder and rough with emotion.

Severus removed his cloak and wrapped it carefully around the fallen headmaster's body. "We
bring Albus back." He answered with grim determination.

Harry nodded and moved away to give Severus room to work. He gently brushed away the ashes
and with the utmost care he cradled the body to him and stood on shaky legs. Then carefully he
began the slow trek back to the main doors of Hogwarts.

Harry walked next to him offering what support he could.

A figure was waiting was waiting for them at the threshold, Minerva. "Severus, what-" She
gasped, finally understanding what his burden was. "Oh no..." she turned her head slightly and
yelled, "Poppy!"

He shook his head, "That won't be necessary, Minerva. Please clear the hallways."

She nodded and called the other teachers and had them check the hallways on the way to the
infirmary.

Once he arrived in the infirmary he laid his burden down on an empty bed. Harry and Severus
arranged him carefully and slowly pulled the sheet over his head.

Gradually, they became aware of their surroundings. Draco was in the infirmary, sitting next to a
bed on the other side of the ward looking at them with a deep sadness.

"Draco?" he asked.

The young man gestured to the bed next to him, "They poisoned him."

Harry and Severus moved closer.

"Madame Pomphrey thinks it was something he took days, maybe weeks ago that was waiting for
some sort of trigger."

There were poisons that could remain distilled indefinitely until someone released them. It could
be charmed into mixing within a human body. Poisons like that could lay dormant for months.

The still, familiar form on the bed froze him. Lucius. Dead. Lucius was dead. Gone was every
chance he ever had to find some peace with his past. A reunion, a conversation that was 20 years
overdue, would never happen. Fawkes nuzzled his cheek and Harry placed a hand on his arm.

Draco looked at his father and murmured, "I'm an orphan for the second time in under a week."

"Draco." Severus placed what he hoped was a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder,
"Go find Ron and Hermione."

Familiar blue-grey eyes looked at him in surprise, "Yes sir."

Draco was gone and they were left alone. Harry carefully prodded him to turn around and pulled
him in for a hug. Their new height difference made it easier. Their chins now rested on each
other's shoulders and their arms easily found purchase.

Poppy found them in exactly that position a few minutes later.

"Well, now that the secret out you two don't seem to be concerned with hiding it."

"Shut up." They both answered her.

She made shooing motions with her hands. "Out, both of you, I need to make sure there are not
lingering surprises on both of them."

Severus nodded in understanding. Just as they were leaving she called after them, "Minerva needs
helps, she's in no condition to lead alone."

Severus nodded again and they left.
______

They found Minerva in her office, talking to a floating head from the Ministry.

"I don't know what happened!" she yelled, "I wasn't there! The H- headmaster is dead and I'm
assuming Fudge is as well. The wards are completely down, we need protection now!" Minerva
was at her finest, but it was obvious she was having difficulty keeping it together.

"I'm sorry," the floating head said, "but we cann-"

Severus gently pushed Minerva aside, "Now listen to me, you pompous little windbag! We. Are.
Defenseless. The wards are down and there are not enough wizards of sufficient power to raise
them again and remain upright afterwards to run the school! You will send Aurors who are skilled
in spell sharing immediately and you will post guards around the perimeter of the castle! You will
also refrain from telling any of this to any reporters. And you will do it NOW!" The last word had
practically been roared.

"Y-yes sir." the bureaucrat stammered.

The connected ended and Minerva's shoulders slumped. "Thank you, Severus."

"Don't thank me, I always enjoy a good yell."

Harry snorted, "Well that explains a lot."

Severus jumped, he had almost forgotten that the young man had been by his side, he had been so
quiet. Physically and mentally. "Yes, well, I needed to find he bright side to the monotony of
teaching brainless children who care more for an idiotic game than something that could one day
save their lives."

Harry blinked, "You've been wanting to say that to me forever, haven't you?"

Severus just blinked for several seconds before returning to Minerva's side. He could feel Harry's
amusement at his non-answer. He turned his attention to the woman in front of him, "We need to
address the school. Assess the damage, take a head count, plan the next few days."

She nodded slowly. "I know. Just sometimes, I remember and I have to... I can't..."

He stepped in front of her and gently took her into his arms, "I know. But we must."

"Yes," she nodded, "We must."

"Start the rest if the staff checking for damage, Black and Lupin should keep a lookout for the
aurors. It will probably take them a while to realize that they can apparate directly here.
Bureaucrats are notoriously narrow minded when it come to these things."

Minerva chuckled a bit.

"The three of us will check on the students. After, we'll make plans to reinstate the wards." He
concluded.

With a tentative list of things to do, they left.
______

Draco stood in front of the fat lady for a good 5 minutes before uttering the password he had only
learned the day before. The portrait looked at him funny, but opened up anyway.

Stepping inside he looked around. There were Gryffindors littered everywhere. They all seemed
to look up as one. He stood there, tense, waiting for some sort of confrontation.

A blonde one, Creevey, stepped up. Draco stiffened. They stared at each other a bit.

"They're upstairs." Collin said. "You know they way." With that he turned and went back to
doing whatever they had been doing.

He stood there in a slight shock for a few more seconds. Seamus spoke up, "We took a vote.
We're more afraid of Hermione than we are of you." Then, as one, all of Gryffindor went back to
what they had been doing and started studiously ignoring him.

Blink. Well that had been interesting. With a shrug he went up the stairs.

Hermione answered the door with a worried look on her face. "Draco." she breathed. "You're
ok?"

"Define ok."

She practically dragged him inside and enveloped him in a hug. A warmth molded to him from
behind. Ron.

He took comfort in the two warm bodies pressed against him. Surprisingly he didn't feel
prompted to push the intimacy any further. In fact, their current position felt more intimate than
most of their time in bed. "Could we just..." he wasn't sure what he was asking, what he wanted.
Hermione pulled away a bit and he felt cold. Too cold. "Wait. Can we stay like this? Just laying
down?"

Moist lips ghosted over the back of his neck. "Sure." Ron answered.

"Just laying down?" He felt more unsure of himself now than when he had faced his father.

"Just laying down." The red head confirmed.

As he was being led to the bedroom he got the unshakeable feeling that everything was going to
be alright.
______

Checking the dorms had been relatively easy. It seemed as if the only operatives that Voldemort
had managed to get inside Hogwarts were the ones he brought with him. All of the students had
been quickly rounded up and sealed in their towers. Head counts had remained at the same levels
as they had been before the attacks. They were all thankful for that. Any more tragic news might
have been too much.

Black and Lupin had apparated 3 very confused looking aurors into Minerva's office. At their
confused faces Severus said, "Didn't they tell you anything?"

They just shook their heads.

Oh good. No sense in making this any easier. "How many others are there?"

Black spoke, "Enough to adequately cover the castle. Barely." He looked annoyed. It was
probably the bare minimum needed.

"Then let's get this done." Severus turned to Minerva, "Do you have the list?"

She nodded and produced a slip of parchment, "I wrote them down, in order. I'm glad A-" she
stopped a moment, her voice catching, "I'm glad be made me memorize them."

He took the parchment without comment and scanned it quickly. He turned to the aurors. "I
assume you are well versed in spell sharing?"

They nodded.

"Minerva, would you call Filius and have him meet us in the headmaster's office?"

She nodded.

He turned to Black and Lupin, "Watch those Aurors. Carefully."

Orders given, they dispersed.

The short, stout charms professor met them at the entrance to the office. He had a serious look on
his face.

"The wards?" Flitwick asked.

"The wards." Severus answered.

They all trudged up the stairs. The headmaster's office was at, what one might call, the magical
apex of the castle. It was almost like a magnifying glass for spells. It also allowed castle wide
spells to be performed without having to evenly distribute the casters outside the castle. It was
often a useful trait.

Minerva, Severus and Filius formed a circle in the center of the room. Each auror stood behind
them.

"Harry," Severus called, "Stand next to me." He turned to Minerva, "Traditionally you would be
the anchor, as you are most probably the next headmistress, but we do not have the luxury to wait
for you to recover. I suggest that Harry and most probably by extension me be the anchors, only
temporarily." He hastened to add.

Minerva gave a weary shake, "No Severus, even if they offered it to me, I could not take the
position. I understand your reasoning and I am not offended." She turned to the younger man
standing by his side, "Harry, you do understand what Severus wants to do."

Harry considered the question carefully before answering, "Intellectually, I think I do. But I'll
probably find that once you do it, I wasn't prepared at all. But that's nothing new. I want to help
and if that means I get to be put under some powerful, all encompassing spell, that is more than
likely to be incredibly overwhelming, why not?."

She smiled fondly at him, "Then stand in the center."

For magic this powerful, involving this many people a circle needed to be invoked, to not only
contain it but to help focus it. Once that was done, the aurors said a simple incantation that would
allow their the wizards to 'share' the spell with them. Then with wands raised the three professors
began. It was a complex layering process, one protection after another was laid down, with Harry
at the center of it all.

The final spell, a binding of sorts, the glue that held it all together sent a warm glow up the stone
walls, the castle suddenly felt alive again. Normal and whole. Harry on the other hand looked
deathly white and ready to collapse. The rest of them didn't look much better but at least they
would probably recover in a few minutes.

The aurors were instructed to head down to the medical wing and Severus carefully guided Harry
to a large comfortable chair.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Harry's eyes were closed. But he answered anyway, "I don't know. Its very... indescribable."

Severus nodded. He had felt a small wash of what Harry must be feeling.

The young man continued, "I feel... so week, but powerful. The castle... its talking to me, almost
getting to know me."

"Let it." Severus told him. "Its probably easier."

Harry nodded and relaxed back into the chair.

Minerva and Filius were whispering in the corner, he walked up to them.

"We both have many things to take care of, announcements and other... plans can wait while he
recovers. I'll make sure you two aren't disturbed." Minerva said to him before ushering Filius out.

He stared at the closed door for a few moments more before returning to Harry. In those few
seconds he had fallen asleep, he carefully moved the sleeping man over and sat down beside him.
Gathering Harry into his arms, he felt the exhaustion of the day seeping into him. The exertion in
the last 2 hours had been enormous. His eyes became heavy and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

TBC...

I thought I'd stop there and let you guys digest that. Please feed the author.