Title: James Sirius Potter
Author: dragons_syn
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com
Rating: G Disclaimer: I do not own Harry, Hermione, Ron, or any other of J.K. Rowling's characters.
As I sit here, on this bright and sunny day here at Hogwarts, I can't help but reflect about what my life has been like.
"Hey, aren't you James Potter?" some pointy nosed, greasy haired kid yelled from across the train car.
"Ugh" I moaned. "Not this again." I say to Art Weasley as I grab his cloak sleeve and duck into the first available compartment.
"I don't see what the big deal is, I would think that you would be proud of who you are, and proud of who your parents are." Art said. "I am."
"That is all well fine and dandy, you lived with your parents in the Burrow, for most of your life. Me? I lived between London, the Burrow, and Hogsmeade. I never got a moments rest from being James Potter." I said as I locked the door to the compartment.
The day I got my Hogwarts letter was a day of joy and dread. Not only was I going to attend the most prestigious Witchcraft and Wizardry school there was. But I hoped I was going to finally be rid of the fame that was always attached being the child of my parents. With any luck I could escape into the anonymity of the crowd and fade into the scenery. To be left alone to my own devices and hopefully free of all of the preconceived notions that have plagued me since my birth. Boy was I a fool to think that. I was going to the very school where my parents attended, where my parents trained, and where the final battle happened. I was going to Hogwarts.
"I hate my parents! Actually, I hate my father more. I know that sounds really harsh. But do you know what it is like to live in the shadow of someone's deeds? To be the son of the great Harry Potter! No! Of course you don't. Ever since I can remember, all I ever heard was how great it must be to have Harry Potter as a father or Hermione Granger as a mother. Whether I lived with my father or my mother, it was all the same. By the time I got my Hogwarts letter this year, I was sick of it. I even considered not attending Hogwarts. I have never and would never denounced my magical heritage, but I didn't think that I could go and endure seven years of being Harry Potter and Hermione Granger's son. Why couldn't I have a life where nobody would notice me unless I wanted them too? Because I had to have Harry Potter and Hermione Granger as parents. Two of the three greatest warriors from the ultimate battle with Voldemort. Uncle Ron, being the third warrior." I started to tell Art, noticing he was somewhat annoyed at the lack of mention of his dad.
I sighed as I sat down by the window. The Hogwarts Express lurched forward and began the journey that would take us to the castle by the lake.
"Actually I hated my parents, but I don't now. I still just get agitated whenever something like that happens. Old habits I suppose." I said.
"I can't even begin to know what it feels like to have the constant pressure on you to live up to the expectations of the wizarding world. But you can't let it get to you. So what made you change your mind?" Art asked.
"Saw it happen."
"Saw what happen?"
"I saw the battle."
"Wicked! When? How? How come you never told me?"
"I saw it last night, in Dad's pensieve."
"No way! You looked into your dad's pensieve? I thought he had that locked up."
"He did, he does, but Uncles Fred and George, kinda taught me something to help me out with that."
"Oh boy, will Grandma Molly be angry is she ever found out. So out with it, what did you see? I have heard the stories over and over, can never hear it too many times, but you saw it, you actually saw the battle?"
"Yeah, and a little more than I wanted to see too."
"OK, start from the beginning."
"Well I picked the lock to the cabinet and took out the pensieve. Always wondered what Dad kept in there. What secrets he didn't want anyone else to find out. Dad has always been very frank with me. He told me about the battle, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Dad was out on Order business, he said he might be late, but that he would definitely be back to see me off to the train. So I knew that I had plenty of time, so I looked into the pensieve."
*****Pensieve*****
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in Headmaster Dumbledore's office.
"I fear the final confrontation is at hand." He said softly.
"But Professor, if the prophecy said that only Harry can defeat Voldemort, then what can we do?" Hermione asked.
"Ah, that is the question young Miss Granger. You three have survived everything since your first year here at Hogwarts. You have seen each other through thick and thin, through the good and bad. You will find that the bond you three share is much stronger than any magic."
"Begging your pardon, professor, but what does that mean?" Ron asked completely confused.
"All in due time, Mr. Weasley. All in due time. And now I think it is time for you all to head to your dormitories. Tomorrow is graduation rehearsal, I believe, is it not."
"Yes, Professor" all three said in unison and exited Professor Dumbledore's office.
As they headed down the hall towards Gryffindor Tower, they discussed what Dumbledore had told them.
"Maybe he meant that by helping Harry train and learn incantations and spells we were helping him." Ron said.
"Possibly. I am not quite sure. Harry? You OK?" Hermione asked as she looked over at Harry.
"Uh? Yeah, yeah, I am fine. It is not everyday that you get a pep talk about a battle that only you can fight."
"Yeah, that has to mess with one's mind. Doesn't it? Ouch!" Ron said as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.
"Why don't we get some sleep, and think about what Dumbledore said in the morning." Hermione suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. Good night." Harry said as he and Ron climbed the steps to their beds.
It wasn't too much longer after they had fallen asleep when Dumbledore's head appeared in the fire.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. It has begun. You must quickly get out of the castle and to Hagrid's immediately."
"Yes, sir." Harry said as he jumped out of bed and threw on his cloak and was putting on his shoes. Harry, Ron and Hermione had gotten into the habit of wearing their clothes to bed for just such an occasion. "But what about."
"Miss Granger? She is waiting for you in the common room, if I am not mistaken." Then Dumbledore's head disappeared from the fireplace.
As Harry and Ron made their way down the stairway into the common room, Hermione was seen to be pacing back and forth.
"You can see the battle from the window, they are in the Forbidden Forest."
"Dumbledore said to go to Hagrid's. Why are we going to Hagrid's when we should be going into the forest?" Ron asked.
"Who knows, we better do as Professor Dumbledore asks. I am sure there is a plan, somewhere." Harry said as they exited the port hole behind the portrait of the fat lady.
They hurriedly maneuvered the staircases and ran to Hagrid's house. Upon reaching the house, Hagrid opened the door, before they even knocked.
"Hurry, get inside."
"Hagrid, what is going on?" Harry said as he locked the door behind him.
"The Death Eaters and the Dementors are working their way through the Forest towards the castle. Dumbledore thinks they are trying to get to you while you are sleeping. Cowardly mongrels they are."
"But your house is on the way to the castle, Voldemort will know I am here."
"Professor Dumbledore, said to wait for you three to get here and to keep you here for safe keeping. Those were my instructions."
*I can't ask them to protect me with their lives. If Voldemort is in the forest, then I am going after him. He will not take another person who I love away from me.* he said to himself as he quietly and slowly backed away towards the door.
Harry quietly as he could opened the heavy bolt that secured the huge door and managed to creep out of Hagrid's home, unnoticed for a brief moment. Fang had stood up and was about to bark when Harry motioned for him to be quiet. He obeyed. Harry took advantage of Ron and Hermione's interrogation of Hagrid to find out why they had to hide out in his home.
"If I am the only one who can fight this fight, then I suppose now is as good a time as any." He muttered to himself as he steeled up his courage and walked in to the Forbidden Forest.
He got no more than 10 feet into the forest when he heard Ron come running up from behind him.
"Hey, you weren't thinking about fighting without us, were you?" he said jokingly, putting an arm around his shoulders.
"Really, Harry, just what were you thinking." Hermione said.
Taken aback at how quickly they realized he was gone, he asked "How did you know?"
"Fang, was clawing at the door, probably to come after you." Hagrid said with Fang bounding at his side.
"Look, I can't ask you to fight a battle that we all know that I have to fight. I don't know what I would do if I lost another person who was dear to me. First my parents, then Sirius. I just couldn't handle it."
"Nothing is going to happen to us, and besides my parents and brothers are out there fighting in this war. I just can't sit here and watch it. This is a family thing, right brother?"
For the first time, Harry realized that without it being official that he was part of the Weasley family and that he considered Ron to be more than just a friend and trusted confidante, he was his brother.
"Fine, just don't get yourselves killed." Harry sighed realizing that he was not going to win this discussion.
They trudged off into the Forbidden Forest, lead only by the sounds of battle and the screams of the fallen.
As they got closer to the battle field, they could see smoke rising, presumably from fires, they could see some people on broomsticks engaged in aerial battles, and they could hear the anguished cries of the wounded and possibly dying.
They ran as quickly as their legs could carry them into a clearing in the forest. What they saw was unbelievable.
There were bodies strewn everywhere. Some they recognized. Professor Flitwick laying on his side, his eyes glossed over, his face contorted in horror, dead, seemingly from a Dementor's kiss. Professor Trelawny laying propped up against a tree, still alive, just barely, the lower half of her body missing. Various other members of the Order either dead or barely dead. Madame Pomfrey, seemingly unharmed was attending to everyone she could. She looked up when she heard a noise come from the forest. Wand raised she aimed it at them.
"Madame Pomfrey, it's us. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid." Harry began.
"Oh Harry dear, you should have stayed back at the castle. It is not safe here." She began not looking at them.
"Madame Pomfrey? Are you hurt?" Hermione asked noticing the distinctly lack of eye contact.
"Quite fine dear, just a bit wounded, tis all."
"Madame Pomfrey? Why aren't you looking at us?" She further questioned, realizing that she had not aimed her wand at them, but in their general direction.
Madame Pomfrey raised her head and gazed upon them. Her eyes were missing. Completely gone from their sockets. "I am not looking at you, because I can not, dear."
Hermione gasped in horror. Hagrid ran to her side and offered to help her up.
"Hagrid, be a dear and guide me to the next person who needs help. I always said I could perform my job blindfolded. Now I suppose I will just have to do it blind." She joked meekly, hoping to cut the tension that was now present.
"Of course, of course. You three stay down and out of sight."
The trio didn't responded, they just stood there, transfixed by they carnage that played out in front of them. No matter what they have had to face in the past. The first real encounter with Voldemort when he was trying to get the Sorcerer's Stone, to his attempt to kill him with the basilisk, to his attempt through the Goblet of Fire tournament, and even when he tried to have him killed in the Ministry of Magic, nothing could have prepared them for the fight they must engage in now.
The Dementors had but one mission in their lives, if you could call it a life, and that was to drain happiness from people and in so doing so, drain their life. The Death Eaters, on the other hand, seemed to be deliberately maiming their victims. It was later determined that Bellatrix Lestrange was the one who deprived Madame Pomfrey of her sight and it was Peter Pettigrew who deprived Professor Trelawny of her legs.
Slowly coming out of the shock of the moment, he realized that the Death Eaters and the Dementors had a group of the Order surrounded, it appeared to be they were the only surviving members of the Order still standing. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagal, Professor Snape, Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Lupin, Arthur Weasley, and Tonks, were standing back to back, trying to fend off the oncoming hoard.
Harry leaned over and whispered something to Ron and Hermione. They nodded in agreement, and each took off in a separate direction.
Suddenly the odds became better for the Order, as one by one, Death Eaters and Dementors alike began to fall. The trio had engaged in a sneak attack, using whatever curse, spell, Patronus they could to even the score.
Just when it seemed that they were gaining the upper hand an ominous voice bellowed across the clearing.
"Enough!" it shouted, "Let me deal with the boy."
"Voldemort." Harry said with bitterness in his voice."Yes, it is I, boy. You have interfered in my plans for long enough. For eighteen years I have thought of this day. The day where I will have vengeance."
"Vengeance? Vengeance for what? For a baby surviving? For a world that will not follow your lead? I will tell you about vengeance. You have taken some of those that I hold most dear, and I will be damned if you take anymore." Harry said as he raised his wand and shouted "Expelliamus"
A fierce battle raged between the two destined warriors. Order members and Death Eaters alike were waiting with eager anticipation to find out the victor of the battle.
"Why won't you just die, boy. I will make it quick and easy or slow and painful. You choose."
"Funny, I was just thinking that about you." Harry quipped. Over the last seven years Harry has been battling the Dark Lord and now, on the final days at Hogwarts he was going to be damned if he was going to give up now. Exhausted and wounded, Harry had been dealt the final straw.
Voldemort decided that if he couldn't get Harry directly, he would start taking out those he held dear, starting with those in audience. Voldemort aimed his wand at Hermione and Ron, who in turn raised their wands hoping to deflect whatever curse was to be thrown at him.
Harry knew there would be only one curse that was to be cast, Voldemort was not going to bother with a trivial thing like torture, not now. His goal was to throw Harry off balance, off his game, with the hopes of gaining the upper hand, he was going to kill them.
"Avada Kedavra" Voldemort yelled.
Simultaneously, Harry cast the same curse.
The effect was that the strength of the curse was lessened, combined with the counter curses cast by the intended victims did not result in death. It did, however, seriously wound Ron.
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione yelled as they joined him by his side on the ground.
"Bastard!" Harry yelled with anger and rage burning furiously in his eyes.
Voldemort underestimated the effect harming two of his most trusted companions would have on his adversary.
Harry stood up and with resolve repeated the Unforgivable curse. But just as it was with Bellatrix Lestrange, the curse did not have the expected result.
"Foolish boy, you don't have it in you to kill." Voldemort spat. "It takes someone with the resolve the kill to accomplish the task. Observe." He said as he again aimed his wand at his friends.
Harry summoned whatever strength he had within him, stood in front of his friends and prepared himself for the most difficult thing he would ever have to do in his life. He was going to have to kill someone.
Harry raised his wand, stared Voldemort straight in the eyes. Voldemort arrogantly lowered his wand, believing that Harry, no matter what events may befall him, was inherently good and could not cast the curse successfully.
"Avada Kedavra" Harry yelled along with two other voices.
Voldemort didn't have time to react to the curse being cast by three people at the same time, was hit by the blasts from their wands and died instantly. It was over.
Harry dropped to his knees besides the fallen Ron and exhausted Hermione.
"I figured out what Dumbledore meant, yesterday. He meant that we were stronger together then apart. So I figured that since there is a part in each of us that really wanted to cast that curse, but that part of us that was good wouldn't allow it, if we combined each other's powers it would work. So it's over..right?" she said looking up into Harry's eyes.
"Yes, it is over."
"I concur with Mr. Potter, it is indeed over. It seems that the Death Eaters are in retreat. But we will work on rounding them up. Evil is never truly vanquished, but it has been dealt a cruel blow tonight. Congratulations." Dumbledore said as he helped Ron to his feet. "Now we must attend to the wounded. Arthur, he will be fine." He said reassuringly taking note that Arthur Weasley was distraught about his son and the wounds he sustained.
As everyone left the clearing, taking the wounded back to the castle's infirmary. Harry and Hermione were left to ponder the events of the evening.
"Harry? Are you alright?" Hermione asked noticing that Harry had become quite pale.
"Not really. This battle is over, but it is never going to be over, isn't that what Dumbledore said, it will just keep coming. If not, Voldemort then someone else and what then. Do we rage another war, do we risk more lives of those that we love. Do you realize that you, Ron, Mr. Weasley, Hagrid, and Dumbledore, any of you could have been killed tonight, because of me! It would have been my fault!"
"You are right, the battle is over, and so is the war. You won, you saved us all. You protected us. You did that Harry. You." Hermione said, cupping Harry cheek and making him look at her. "You."
Harry looked utterly exhausted. Hermione finally managed to coax him back through the Forbidden Forest and into Gryffindor tower. By the time that she got him up to his room Dean and Seamus were up and firing off questions left and right. So she coaxed him back down the stairs and into her room. Being prefect meant that she had her own room, she knew that Harry needed some uninterrupted rest so she thought it best to have him sack out in her room and she would sack out in the common room or something.
She managed to get Harry to sit on the bed, she peeled him out of his shoes and took off his cloak and laid him down. The whole time Harry just stared off into space, almost as if he couldn't process what had happened. She covered him up with her comforter and grabbed a blanket and was just about to walk out of the door.
"Hermione, wait. Don't leave. Please don't leave me." Harry pleaded.
"Harry, it's OK, you are safe. It's over." She said as she dropped her blanket in the chair and sat on the bed next to him.
"I am so tired, so very tired." He said.
"I know, just lie back and rest now."
Harry looked up at her and touched her cheek, brushing a strand of hair away.
"I am just so tired." He repeated as he kissed her, she responded to his kiss with a passion that neither could explain.
The next morning as the sun shone through the window, Harry nuzzled in closer to the warm and softly scented bed he was in, gently kissed the shoulder of the person next to him. In the foggy moments of waking up, he realized that he was not alone in his bed, that he wasn't in his bed, and he was lying next to Hermione. It would seem that Hermione had the same realization at the same moment.
*****Pensieve*****
"UGH! Could have done without that image." Art said wrinkling his nose at the image.
"Yeah, well me too."
"Wow, that is how the war ended. That was wicked!" Art said.
Our parents had downplayed the event, probably because we were so young, but still seeing the events as they happened from the one true person who experienced them gave me a whole new perspective on who I was. The story that I told Art that day lasted the entire train ride to Hogwarts. As we boarded the boats towards the castle, I looked over to the Forbidden Forest. What secrets might it hold that I might find out, just like our parents did. Were there other events that took place that day that Dad didn't put into the pensieve? Did he keep those images locked away in the safety of his own mind? Who knows all I know is that when I climbed those great stones steps my first year at Hogwarts and into the Great Hall waiting to be sorted, I felt a great sense of pride and honor. I feel the same sense of pride and honor, as I sit here now, waiting for my name to be called.
"James Sirius Potter."
Yes, that is who I am. I am proud of who I am. Of where I came from. I am godson to Ron Weasley. I am son of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. And as I stand here on my graduation day, accepting my diploma from Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Weasley, my wonderful aunt Ginny. I am proud to say that yes, I am James Sirius Potter.
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com
Rating: G Disclaimer: I do not own Harry, Hermione, Ron, or any other of J.K. Rowling's characters.
As I sit here, on this bright and sunny day here at Hogwarts, I can't help but reflect about what my life has been like.
"Hey, aren't you James Potter?" some pointy nosed, greasy haired kid yelled from across the train car.
"Ugh" I moaned. "Not this again." I say to Art Weasley as I grab his cloak sleeve and duck into the first available compartment.
"I don't see what the big deal is, I would think that you would be proud of who you are, and proud of who your parents are." Art said. "I am."
"That is all well fine and dandy, you lived with your parents in the Burrow, for most of your life. Me? I lived between London, the Burrow, and Hogsmeade. I never got a moments rest from being James Potter." I said as I locked the door to the compartment.
The day I got my Hogwarts letter was a day of joy and dread. Not only was I going to attend the most prestigious Witchcraft and Wizardry school there was. But I hoped I was going to finally be rid of the fame that was always attached being the child of my parents. With any luck I could escape into the anonymity of the crowd and fade into the scenery. To be left alone to my own devices and hopefully free of all of the preconceived notions that have plagued me since my birth. Boy was I a fool to think that. I was going to the very school where my parents attended, where my parents trained, and where the final battle happened. I was going to Hogwarts.
"I hate my parents! Actually, I hate my father more. I know that sounds really harsh. But do you know what it is like to live in the shadow of someone's deeds? To be the son of the great Harry Potter! No! Of course you don't. Ever since I can remember, all I ever heard was how great it must be to have Harry Potter as a father or Hermione Granger as a mother. Whether I lived with my father or my mother, it was all the same. By the time I got my Hogwarts letter this year, I was sick of it. I even considered not attending Hogwarts. I have never and would never denounced my magical heritage, but I didn't think that I could go and endure seven years of being Harry Potter and Hermione Granger's son. Why couldn't I have a life where nobody would notice me unless I wanted them too? Because I had to have Harry Potter and Hermione Granger as parents. Two of the three greatest warriors from the ultimate battle with Voldemort. Uncle Ron, being the third warrior." I started to tell Art, noticing he was somewhat annoyed at the lack of mention of his dad.
I sighed as I sat down by the window. The Hogwarts Express lurched forward and began the journey that would take us to the castle by the lake.
"Actually I hated my parents, but I don't now. I still just get agitated whenever something like that happens. Old habits I suppose." I said.
"I can't even begin to know what it feels like to have the constant pressure on you to live up to the expectations of the wizarding world. But you can't let it get to you. So what made you change your mind?" Art asked.
"Saw it happen."
"Saw what happen?"
"I saw the battle."
"Wicked! When? How? How come you never told me?"
"I saw it last night, in Dad's pensieve."
"No way! You looked into your dad's pensieve? I thought he had that locked up."
"He did, he does, but Uncles Fred and George, kinda taught me something to help me out with that."
"Oh boy, will Grandma Molly be angry is she ever found out. So out with it, what did you see? I have heard the stories over and over, can never hear it too many times, but you saw it, you actually saw the battle?"
"Yeah, and a little more than I wanted to see too."
"OK, start from the beginning."
"Well I picked the lock to the cabinet and took out the pensieve. Always wondered what Dad kept in there. What secrets he didn't want anyone else to find out. Dad has always been very frank with me. He told me about the battle, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. Dad was out on Order business, he said he might be late, but that he would definitely be back to see me off to the train. So I knew that I had plenty of time, so I looked into the pensieve."
*****Pensieve*****
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in Headmaster Dumbledore's office.
"I fear the final confrontation is at hand." He said softly.
"But Professor, if the prophecy said that only Harry can defeat Voldemort, then what can we do?" Hermione asked.
"Ah, that is the question young Miss Granger. You three have survived everything since your first year here at Hogwarts. You have seen each other through thick and thin, through the good and bad. You will find that the bond you three share is much stronger than any magic."
"Begging your pardon, professor, but what does that mean?" Ron asked completely confused.
"All in due time, Mr. Weasley. All in due time. And now I think it is time for you all to head to your dormitories. Tomorrow is graduation rehearsal, I believe, is it not."
"Yes, Professor" all three said in unison and exited Professor Dumbledore's office.
As they headed down the hall towards Gryffindor Tower, they discussed what Dumbledore had told them.
"Maybe he meant that by helping Harry train and learn incantations and spells we were helping him." Ron said.
"Possibly. I am not quite sure. Harry? You OK?" Hermione asked as she looked over at Harry.
"Uh? Yeah, yeah, I am fine. It is not everyday that you get a pep talk about a battle that only you can fight."
"Yeah, that has to mess with one's mind. Doesn't it? Ouch!" Ron said as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.
"Why don't we get some sleep, and think about what Dumbledore said in the morning." Hermione suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. Good night." Harry said as he and Ron climbed the steps to their beds.
It wasn't too much longer after they had fallen asleep when Dumbledore's head appeared in the fire.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. It has begun. You must quickly get out of the castle and to Hagrid's immediately."
"Yes, sir." Harry said as he jumped out of bed and threw on his cloak and was putting on his shoes. Harry, Ron and Hermione had gotten into the habit of wearing their clothes to bed for just such an occasion. "But what about."
"Miss Granger? She is waiting for you in the common room, if I am not mistaken." Then Dumbledore's head disappeared from the fireplace.
As Harry and Ron made their way down the stairway into the common room, Hermione was seen to be pacing back and forth.
"You can see the battle from the window, they are in the Forbidden Forest."
"Dumbledore said to go to Hagrid's. Why are we going to Hagrid's when we should be going into the forest?" Ron asked.
"Who knows, we better do as Professor Dumbledore asks. I am sure there is a plan, somewhere." Harry said as they exited the port hole behind the portrait of the fat lady.
They hurriedly maneuvered the staircases and ran to Hagrid's house. Upon reaching the house, Hagrid opened the door, before they even knocked.
"Hurry, get inside."
"Hagrid, what is going on?" Harry said as he locked the door behind him.
"The Death Eaters and the Dementors are working their way through the Forest towards the castle. Dumbledore thinks they are trying to get to you while you are sleeping. Cowardly mongrels they are."
"But your house is on the way to the castle, Voldemort will know I am here."
"Professor Dumbledore, said to wait for you three to get here and to keep you here for safe keeping. Those were my instructions."
*I can't ask them to protect me with their lives. If Voldemort is in the forest, then I am going after him. He will not take another person who I love away from me.* he said to himself as he quietly and slowly backed away towards the door.
Harry quietly as he could opened the heavy bolt that secured the huge door and managed to creep out of Hagrid's home, unnoticed for a brief moment. Fang had stood up and was about to bark when Harry motioned for him to be quiet. He obeyed. Harry took advantage of Ron and Hermione's interrogation of Hagrid to find out why they had to hide out in his home.
"If I am the only one who can fight this fight, then I suppose now is as good a time as any." He muttered to himself as he steeled up his courage and walked in to the Forbidden Forest.
He got no more than 10 feet into the forest when he heard Ron come running up from behind him.
"Hey, you weren't thinking about fighting without us, were you?" he said jokingly, putting an arm around his shoulders.
"Really, Harry, just what were you thinking." Hermione said.
Taken aback at how quickly they realized he was gone, he asked "How did you know?"
"Fang, was clawing at the door, probably to come after you." Hagrid said with Fang bounding at his side.
"Look, I can't ask you to fight a battle that we all know that I have to fight. I don't know what I would do if I lost another person who was dear to me. First my parents, then Sirius. I just couldn't handle it."
"Nothing is going to happen to us, and besides my parents and brothers are out there fighting in this war. I just can't sit here and watch it. This is a family thing, right brother?"
For the first time, Harry realized that without it being official that he was part of the Weasley family and that he considered Ron to be more than just a friend and trusted confidante, he was his brother.
"Fine, just don't get yourselves killed." Harry sighed realizing that he was not going to win this discussion.
They trudged off into the Forbidden Forest, lead only by the sounds of battle and the screams of the fallen.
As they got closer to the battle field, they could see smoke rising, presumably from fires, they could see some people on broomsticks engaged in aerial battles, and they could hear the anguished cries of the wounded and possibly dying.
They ran as quickly as their legs could carry them into a clearing in the forest. What they saw was unbelievable.
There were bodies strewn everywhere. Some they recognized. Professor Flitwick laying on his side, his eyes glossed over, his face contorted in horror, dead, seemingly from a Dementor's kiss. Professor Trelawny laying propped up against a tree, still alive, just barely, the lower half of her body missing. Various other members of the Order either dead or barely dead. Madame Pomfrey, seemingly unharmed was attending to everyone she could. She looked up when she heard a noise come from the forest. Wand raised she aimed it at them.
"Madame Pomfrey, it's us. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid." Harry began.
"Oh Harry dear, you should have stayed back at the castle. It is not safe here." She began not looking at them.
"Madame Pomfrey? Are you hurt?" Hermione asked noticing the distinctly lack of eye contact.
"Quite fine dear, just a bit wounded, tis all."
"Madame Pomfrey? Why aren't you looking at us?" She further questioned, realizing that she had not aimed her wand at them, but in their general direction.
Madame Pomfrey raised her head and gazed upon them. Her eyes were missing. Completely gone from their sockets. "I am not looking at you, because I can not, dear."
Hermione gasped in horror. Hagrid ran to her side and offered to help her up.
"Hagrid, be a dear and guide me to the next person who needs help. I always said I could perform my job blindfolded. Now I suppose I will just have to do it blind." She joked meekly, hoping to cut the tension that was now present.
"Of course, of course. You three stay down and out of sight."
The trio didn't responded, they just stood there, transfixed by they carnage that played out in front of them. No matter what they have had to face in the past. The first real encounter with Voldemort when he was trying to get the Sorcerer's Stone, to his attempt to kill him with the basilisk, to his attempt through the Goblet of Fire tournament, and even when he tried to have him killed in the Ministry of Magic, nothing could have prepared them for the fight they must engage in now.
The Dementors had but one mission in their lives, if you could call it a life, and that was to drain happiness from people and in so doing so, drain their life. The Death Eaters, on the other hand, seemed to be deliberately maiming their victims. It was later determined that Bellatrix Lestrange was the one who deprived Madame Pomfrey of her sight and it was Peter Pettigrew who deprived Professor Trelawny of her legs.
Slowly coming out of the shock of the moment, he realized that the Death Eaters and the Dementors had a group of the Order surrounded, it appeared to be they were the only surviving members of the Order still standing. Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagal, Professor Snape, Mad-Eye Moody, Professor Lupin, Arthur Weasley, and Tonks, were standing back to back, trying to fend off the oncoming hoard.
Harry leaned over and whispered something to Ron and Hermione. They nodded in agreement, and each took off in a separate direction.
Suddenly the odds became better for the Order, as one by one, Death Eaters and Dementors alike began to fall. The trio had engaged in a sneak attack, using whatever curse, spell, Patronus they could to even the score.
Just when it seemed that they were gaining the upper hand an ominous voice bellowed across the clearing.
"Enough!" it shouted, "Let me deal with the boy."
"Voldemort." Harry said with bitterness in his voice."Yes, it is I, boy. You have interfered in my plans for long enough. For eighteen years I have thought of this day. The day where I will have vengeance."
"Vengeance? Vengeance for what? For a baby surviving? For a world that will not follow your lead? I will tell you about vengeance. You have taken some of those that I hold most dear, and I will be damned if you take anymore." Harry said as he raised his wand and shouted "Expelliamus"
A fierce battle raged between the two destined warriors. Order members and Death Eaters alike were waiting with eager anticipation to find out the victor of the battle.
"Why won't you just die, boy. I will make it quick and easy or slow and painful. You choose."
"Funny, I was just thinking that about you." Harry quipped. Over the last seven years Harry has been battling the Dark Lord and now, on the final days at Hogwarts he was going to be damned if he was going to give up now. Exhausted and wounded, Harry had been dealt the final straw.
Voldemort decided that if he couldn't get Harry directly, he would start taking out those he held dear, starting with those in audience. Voldemort aimed his wand at Hermione and Ron, who in turn raised their wands hoping to deflect whatever curse was to be thrown at him.
Harry knew there would be only one curse that was to be cast, Voldemort was not going to bother with a trivial thing like torture, not now. His goal was to throw Harry off balance, off his game, with the hopes of gaining the upper hand, he was going to kill them.
"Avada Kedavra" Voldemort yelled.
Simultaneously, Harry cast the same curse.
The effect was that the strength of the curse was lessened, combined with the counter curses cast by the intended victims did not result in death. It did, however, seriously wound Ron.
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione yelled as they joined him by his side on the ground.
"Bastard!" Harry yelled with anger and rage burning furiously in his eyes.
Voldemort underestimated the effect harming two of his most trusted companions would have on his adversary.
Harry stood up and with resolve repeated the Unforgivable curse. But just as it was with Bellatrix Lestrange, the curse did not have the expected result.
"Foolish boy, you don't have it in you to kill." Voldemort spat. "It takes someone with the resolve the kill to accomplish the task. Observe." He said as he again aimed his wand at his friends.
Harry summoned whatever strength he had within him, stood in front of his friends and prepared himself for the most difficult thing he would ever have to do in his life. He was going to have to kill someone.
Harry raised his wand, stared Voldemort straight in the eyes. Voldemort arrogantly lowered his wand, believing that Harry, no matter what events may befall him, was inherently good and could not cast the curse successfully.
"Avada Kedavra" Harry yelled along with two other voices.
Voldemort didn't have time to react to the curse being cast by three people at the same time, was hit by the blasts from their wands and died instantly. It was over.
Harry dropped to his knees besides the fallen Ron and exhausted Hermione.
"I figured out what Dumbledore meant, yesterday. He meant that we were stronger together then apart. So I figured that since there is a part in each of us that really wanted to cast that curse, but that part of us that was good wouldn't allow it, if we combined each other's powers it would work. So it's over..right?" she said looking up into Harry's eyes.
"Yes, it is over."
"I concur with Mr. Potter, it is indeed over. It seems that the Death Eaters are in retreat. But we will work on rounding them up. Evil is never truly vanquished, but it has been dealt a cruel blow tonight. Congratulations." Dumbledore said as he helped Ron to his feet. "Now we must attend to the wounded. Arthur, he will be fine." He said reassuringly taking note that Arthur Weasley was distraught about his son and the wounds he sustained.
As everyone left the clearing, taking the wounded back to the castle's infirmary. Harry and Hermione were left to ponder the events of the evening.
"Harry? Are you alright?" Hermione asked noticing that Harry had become quite pale.
"Not really. This battle is over, but it is never going to be over, isn't that what Dumbledore said, it will just keep coming. If not, Voldemort then someone else and what then. Do we rage another war, do we risk more lives of those that we love. Do you realize that you, Ron, Mr. Weasley, Hagrid, and Dumbledore, any of you could have been killed tonight, because of me! It would have been my fault!"
"You are right, the battle is over, and so is the war. You won, you saved us all. You protected us. You did that Harry. You." Hermione said, cupping Harry cheek and making him look at her. "You."
Harry looked utterly exhausted. Hermione finally managed to coax him back through the Forbidden Forest and into Gryffindor tower. By the time that she got him up to his room Dean and Seamus were up and firing off questions left and right. So she coaxed him back down the stairs and into her room. Being prefect meant that she had her own room, she knew that Harry needed some uninterrupted rest so she thought it best to have him sack out in her room and she would sack out in the common room or something.
She managed to get Harry to sit on the bed, she peeled him out of his shoes and took off his cloak and laid him down. The whole time Harry just stared off into space, almost as if he couldn't process what had happened. She covered him up with her comforter and grabbed a blanket and was just about to walk out of the door.
"Hermione, wait. Don't leave. Please don't leave me." Harry pleaded.
"Harry, it's OK, you are safe. It's over." She said as she dropped her blanket in the chair and sat on the bed next to him.
"I am so tired, so very tired." He said.
"I know, just lie back and rest now."
Harry looked up at her and touched her cheek, brushing a strand of hair away.
"I am just so tired." He repeated as he kissed her, she responded to his kiss with a passion that neither could explain.
The next morning as the sun shone through the window, Harry nuzzled in closer to the warm and softly scented bed he was in, gently kissed the shoulder of the person next to him. In the foggy moments of waking up, he realized that he was not alone in his bed, that he wasn't in his bed, and he was lying next to Hermione. It would seem that Hermione had the same realization at the same moment.
*****Pensieve*****
"UGH! Could have done without that image." Art said wrinkling his nose at the image.
"Yeah, well me too."
"Wow, that is how the war ended. That was wicked!" Art said.
Our parents had downplayed the event, probably because we were so young, but still seeing the events as they happened from the one true person who experienced them gave me a whole new perspective on who I was. The story that I told Art that day lasted the entire train ride to Hogwarts. As we boarded the boats towards the castle, I looked over to the Forbidden Forest. What secrets might it hold that I might find out, just like our parents did. Were there other events that took place that day that Dad didn't put into the pensieve? Did he keep those images locked away in the safety of his own mind? Who knows all I know is that when I climbed those great stones steps my first year at Hogwarts and into the Great Hall waiting to be sorted, I felt a great sense of pride and honor. I feel the same sense of pride and honor, as I sit here now, waiting for my name to be called.
"James Sirius Potter."
Yes, that is who I am. I am proud of who I am. Of where I came from. I am godson to Ron Weasley. I am son of Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. And as I stand here on my graduation day, accepting my diploma from Headmistress McGonagall and Professor Weasley, my wonderful aunt Ginny. I am proud to say that yes, I am James Sirius Potter.