OK, let me lay it out for you constant reviewers. I don't have any inclination that you should care about what I think, but writing it out will help me get it clear in my own head. I had intended to have this story end awhile ago. Ron and Hermione were to be married and the whole Voldemort problem was going to go unsolved. In the sequel, I would have let you know how it turned out, but it would have been in retrospect rather than in semi- present time.

I am still going to write a sequel, but the opportunity to write about their return to school was too attractive to pass up. How things are different, how Ron and Hermione deal with not getting married yet. But the thing I really wanted to write about was the siege of Hogwarts. I can't say that I'll do that momentous occasion any justice, but I think it will be blast to write. I don't know when I'll get to it, but I only have a few more chapters…I promise.



Potions was a lot better than Harry remembered. Advanced Potions was only studied by a small number of students, most of which were from Slytherin. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the only Gryffindors in the class and there were only two students from Ravenclaw. House Hufflepuff seemed to have opted out of the class, most focusing Herbology or Magic in Business.

Ron had looked at Harry guiltily when it was time to split into pairs, but Harry had motioned for him to go with Hermione. If Ron wasn't paired with Hermione, he would just stare at her all class, anyway. Harry had resolved himself to pairing up with some Slytherin for the rest of the year, when Draco sat down next to him. True, Draco was a Slytherin but he was also a friend. And Draco knew just about everything about the subject. Harry had always assumed that Draco had done well in the class because he was Snape's favorite, but Draco was actually very knowledgeable about the brewing of potions.



Because Harry's potion were always up to par, Snape had little reason to belittle him in class. Harry, more relaxed, learned more than he ever had and even began to have an appreciation for the subtle art of potion brewing.



Because it was an advanced class, Snape had even less patience than usual. By the middle of the class, one of the female Ravenclaws ran from the room in tears after being berated by Snape. Snape had ripped into her with a fervor that even Harry had never been subjected to. The girl had added four bugbear hairs instead of the prescribed five.



"This is a poison we are working on!" Snape had yelled after the girl had ran away. "This is isn't some love potion or a Tincture of Amnesia! Wizards die everyday dealing with these liquids. I'll not have some feather-brained child die in my class because she couldn't read the damn directions!"



Harry made a promise to not screw up in Snape's class. With Draco's help, Harry survived the first day. Snape had seemed distant, almost ignoring Harry, until he began making his rounds through the class, inspecting potions.



Harry's gut constricted when Snape came to a stop in front of their desk. Snape barely looked at the potion, keeping his black eyes on Draco and Harry. "It seems the two of you have finally reconciled your differences." Snape remarked with a patronizing grin on his crooked mouth.

"Yes, sir." Harry responded.

"Carry on, you two." Snape said. "And make sure you don't get any of it on you. It will eat through you skin like acid. We wouldn't want to lose the all important Harry Potter would we?"

"No, sir." Harry responded, trying to keep the attitude out of his voice.

Snape seemed to have heard it anyway. He leaned over the desk and put his face inches away from Harry's. "I don't like you Harry and I'm sure the feeling is mutual. You would do well to stay out of my way."

"I will, sir."

"Good." Snape said, straightening. "I was to prepare this very potion for the Voldemort, you know."

"Excuse me, sir?"

"When I was undercover I had found a piece of Lucius Malfoy's hairs in his room. I made a Polyjuice Potion and used it to get close to Voldemort's food. I wasn't going to give him much, just a drop or two into his drink. I think it would have been enough to finish him. He was already almost dead from an infected wound he had picked up somewhere in New Orleans." Snape raised an eyebrow at this and Harry was certain that Snape knew exactly how Voldemort had gotten the wound. Harry had stabbed him, himself.

"Healing spells," Snape began. "don't work very well on evil wizards. Did you know that?"

"No, sir."

"I did, sir." Draco said quietly, his eyes far away.

Snape looked at Draco for a moment and something akin to sympathy crossed his greasy face. "Yes, I suppose you would." Snape looked back at Harry. "Unfortunately. I was caught in the act by Lucius, himself. If I hadn't used some quick Apparation, I'm sure I wouldn't be here, right now.

"The point is, Potter, that I know exactly what you and your friends have been up to for the last few months. And I hope you can now truly appreciate the necessity of killing Voldemort."

"I always have known, sir. He killed my parents."

Shockingly, Snape didn't smirk when he said, "Perhaps you do know, boy. Voldemort will not stay hurt. He will come to this school and I hope by the powers that be that you'll be ready to do what you need. If you aren't, this school will fall and everyone you have ever loved will die."

Snape straightened and walked away without saying another word and moved on to the next desk.

Harry looked over at Draco and shrugged. Snape hadn't exactly been civil, but it was the closest thing Harry had ever seen. The rest of the class passed without event and when it ended, Snape returned to his desk and did not look up when the students left.

When Harry got out of the room, he looked down at his schedule and saw that Education in the Wizarding World was next. The schedule didn't say who taught the class.

He looked over at Draco. "Do you know who teaches this next class?"

Draco looked down at his own schedule and shrugged. "No idea. It'll probably be some stuffy Ravenclaw alumni."



The class was taught nearly on the other side of the castle, in one of the ancient towers.

When Hermione saw which tower they were going to see said, "I didn't think any classes were taught over here. In my six years here, I've never even stepped foot in this tower."

And from the looks of it, no one had. The ascending stairs were old, cracked and covered with years of dust and grime. The torches that ran along the stairs, magic or otherwise, had burned out long ago and Hermione took out her wand to make a light.

They were about halfway up the long staircase when they heard a voice yell from below. "Harry! Wait up!"

Harry turned to see a panting Neville Longbottom, struggling to carry all his books, running to catch up with them.

When Neville caught up he looked warily at Draco. He no longer showed the fear he always had, but the years of torment could not easily be erased. Neville and a few other Gryffindors, who had taken the vacation to America, were the only students who knew the truth behind Draco's fall from grace with the Death Eaters. After Draco's father had savagely beaten him, Neville had been the one to heal his injuries. Neville no longer hated the pale haired boy, but old habits die hard.

"You're in this class, Neville?" Ron asked.

Neville shrugged. "I didn't sign up for it, but when I got here it was in my schedule."

Harry looked at Ron and Hermione. Dumbledore again? Hermione shrugged and Ron gestured with his head towards the stairs as if to say, 'Let's go find out.'

Harry and the rest continued up the stairs. At the top, there was an old, moldy door.

"This looks promising." Ron said sarcastically and grabbed the rusty handle. There was a dull crack and the handle broke off in Ron's hand.

Draco laughed and asked, "Having trouble controlling that strength of yours?"

Hermione laughed and grabbed one of the broken pieces. "No it was just old. Look." Hermione twisted the piece and it crumbled.

Harry pulled out his wand and cast an opening spell at the door.

Nothing happened. His spell had disappeared when it touched the door. Harry threw his shoulder into the door. He was rewarded with aching joint, but the door hadn't moved.

Ron stepped forward and, with a grunt, kicked the door where the handle had been. The door flew off its hinges and soared into the room, moldy fragments of wood hissing by their heads.

Ron bow expansively and said. "After you, m'Lady."

Hermione smiled and walked through the door, the rest following her. Harry thought that the school had made some mistake. The room was in worse shape than the tower. Apparently, a large crack had, at some point formed in the ceiling. The rain had long ago destroyed what Harry guessed had once been desks. Now, they were little more than lumps of warped wood. Ancient tapestries hung from the walls, but a group of mice had left them as little more than frayed thread.

"What's going on, here?" Draco asked. "They can't expect us to have a class in here, can they? Where's our teacher?"

"Right here, Mr. Malfoy." came a voice from a corner of the room. Harry looked to the voice and saw a silhouette of a man holding something long and shiny.

The fireplace suddenly caught fire and the light slowly spread across the room. As the light spread, the room transformed. Whatever the light touched became new. The desks shimmered and changed from their moldy forms into intricately carved tabletops. The dirt and grime on the floor disappeared and the old tapestries were renewed and became beautiful depictions of the Houses' animals. The Gryffin, Serpent, Eagle, and Badger were so detailed that they could have been real.

"I hope this is to your liking." said the voice and Harry turned to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the corner holding the Sword of Gryffindor in his gnarled fists.

"Nice trick." Draco said, dropping his school bag on the ground and looking around the room.

"I'm glad I have your approval, Mr. Malfoy." Dumbledore said.

"I don't understand." Harry said. "Where's our teacher?"

Dumbledore smiled. "As I said, I am your teacher. Well, amongst others."

"I thought this was a Education in the Wizarding World class." Ron said.

"Have you ever heard of such a class, Mr. Weasley?"

"Well, no, but-"

"That class does not exist here at Hogwarts. I've brought you all here for something far more important."

"I don't understand all of the pretext, Professor." Harry stated. "Why lie to us in our schedules and bring us all the way to some abandoned tower? Why was the door locked?"

"As for the door, Mr. Potter, I had to keep all other away. Only someone with Ron's strength could have opened it. And as he's is quite possibly, physically, the strongest person in the world, the chances of another getting through that door was very slim."

Dumbledore laid the Sword of Gryffindor on the large desk at the front of the room. Harry didn't know how Dumbledore had gotten the sword, the last time he had seen it, it was in the bottom of his trunk in his room, but he supposed it didn't really matter. Dumbledore usually got what he wanted.

"The schedules," Dumbledore continued. "were to cover your whereabouts, in case someone asked you about your schedule. If anyone is wondering where you are, they'll think you are in some obscure class in one of the far reaches of the castle."

"What's the real reason we are here?" Hermione asked.

"Please, sit down." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the desks.

Everyone sat down. Harry's desk seemed to mold to his body, making for an extremely comfortable chair.

"As for the real reason I brought you here-" Dumbledore stopped and sat down behind his large desk. "Sometime this term, Voldemort will come against this castle. Of that we are almost sure. He was never one to suffer insult gently, and when Harry nearly killed him in the sewers of New Orleans, he was certainly insulted." Dumbledore chuckled. "Tom Riddle's greatest weakness was that he could never say no to a challenge. I think it was what started him down his dark path in the first place. This castle is his next challenge. No doubt that he now knows of the Sentinels camping out within our walls. Instead of deterring him, he will only want this castle all the more. Which is fine by me. I'd much rather fight him on my own grounds, with every defense that I've set up over the years on our side. Voldemort will not find taking this castle and easy task."

"What do we have to do with that?" Neville asked, his voice thick with worry.

"When it comes time to defend our home, I want you five to help me."

Harry didn't understand. "We would have done that anyway, Professor."

"Your roles will be large in this undertaking." Dumbledore said. "Mr. Weasley will be at the head of the Sentinels, where ever the fighting's thickest. From there, Ron can effectively lead the men and women who have come to revere him. Miss Granger will no doubt be at his side. Their love for each other is too strong for them to be apart when the other is in danger. And, as I'm sure they have seen, their bond-magic multiplies itself when they are together. They will be a force to be reckoned with."

Dumbledore turned his gaze to Neville. "Injury is a guarantee in war. Mr. Longbottom, you are the best healer that this school has seen in years. For the last couple of years your teachers in Herbology, Nature's Magic, and Advanced Remedies have been telling me that they are having trouble keeping up with you. And from what I've seen, you've come up with a few tricks of your own."

Neville was struck speechless. He was so red that Harry couldn't tell where his skin stopped and his red Gryffindor tie began.

Dumbledore smiled. "You will be leading our medical group. You and your team will be running where the danger is thickest, healing and saving the lives of our men and women. I would have Madam Pomphrey accompany you, but I'm afraid she is too old to be sprinting across fields and carrying casualties. Your unit will be as important as any other in the coming battle."

Neville nodded shakily and Dumbledore turned to Draco.

"Your experience with the Death Eaters is particularly fresh. Professor Snape was infiltrated into their ranks, but it took so long for him to get close the Voldemort that he could learn very little by the time he was caught. He actually lasted longer than we could have ever hoped. As one of the newly trained Death Eaters, you were shown how they think, how they move and you know who they have. You will be a key element in the planning of our defenses."

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Harry…I've put you through a lot over the years, and the only way I've been able to justify any of it is that you've always survived and become stronger. My prophesy says that you are the only one who can defeat the Black Wizard. What we don't know is how you are supposed to do it. Will you defeat him in a climactic duel or is it that an action of yours will lead to his fall."

Dumbledore sighed heavily. "Whatever the case, we cannot risk you missing the opportunity to kill him."

The Sword of Gryffindor lifted off the table, suddenly and floated toward Harry.

"Harry Potter, this castle is yours to command." Dumbledore said as the sword settled into Harry's grip.

"What?!" Harry yelled, coming out of his seat.

Dumbledore rubbed his eyes and he looked older than Harry had ever seen him. This solution had been lying heavily on his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Harry; more sorry than you know. You must lead. The prophesy demands it."

"You can't be serious!" Harry protested. "I'm just a kid!"

Dumbledore smiled wearily. "And now you are in command of humanity's last hope. And for that, I'm sorry."

"What about you?" Harry asked, his mind reeling. "You're the Headmaster. You should lead."

"It's not up to me, Harry." Dumbledore said heavily. He smiled suddenly. "But if it's any consolation, I feel better leaving it in your hands than any one else, including the rest of the faculty. I'll be here. I could never abandon this place. I'll help you in any way that I can, but the fate of the school is yours."

Harry would have argued further (it was so ridiculous!), but an eagle swooped through one of the open windows and came to a rest on Dumbledore's desk. There was a letter in its talons. Dumbledore leaned forward and pulled the message away from the bird. He unrolled it quickly and scanned the page. He looked up at Harry. "It's addressed to me, but you should read it."

Harry walked toward the desk numbly. It was all going to fast. For years, he had wanted everyone to stop treating him like a child, but this was too much. He took the parchment away from Dumbledore with shaking hands.

At the top of the page there was a fancily embroidered S with a wolf sitting on its haunches next to it.

# Greetings to you, Professor Dumbledore.

We here at the Stillwater Academy have heard of your dire situation in England. It seems the final battle has come more quickly than either of us had anticipated. By our reports, Voldemort is gaining strength and will be assaulting your castle before long. I have not forgotten my promise to you. I have suspended classes her in Montana in response to goings there. Myself, my faculty and the students that I have deemed ready to come will arrive there shortly. I only ask that you open to the Floo Network to incorporate the fireplace in my office. No need to respond, I will come as soon as the way has been activated.

In our discussions here in America, you said you would be giving control of the castle to young master Potter. I am not ashamed to say that this decision troubles me. I can only hope that the boy is ready to do what he must. If you have done this, my faculty and I will follow him without question.

Thomas Gabriel

Stillwater Academy, Headmaster#

When Harry finished reading, Dumbledore stood and said, "I had better go open the Floo Network." He strode from the room without further comment, leaving Harry and his friends in shocked silence.

I am heading home for New York in the morning. In case I won't find the time to write for awhile, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. It is undoubtedly the most wonderful time of the year. Oh and by the way, I don't own Harry Potter. This work is a sad attempt to help me pass my time when I am not studying or sweating my ass off. I love you all! Don't press charges.