This is it. It's been fun, perhaps I'll write more, I dunno. Anyway, I hope you have all enjoyed the story. You're a great audience. -D


Ashes to Ashes

Dumbledore stayed behind to assemble the Order. Maylin, Moody, and Black raced from the office. Down the spiral steps, around the statue and through the halls of Hogwarts. Maylin body shook from the inside. Thoughts and memories poured in like an ocean she couldn't control. The Ministry had trained her to kill. Working as a diplomat for the American Ministy was an easy cover for professional destruction. But now she was home. The stakes had risen. Maylin was at a loss. The two men by her side kept pace. They too feared the outcome of the unavoidable situation; however no one can exactly plan for the day they die. Today is as good as any other, thought Black.

Maylin stopped them for a second to catch their breaths.

"Damn this place is big." Moody's eye seemed to be as tired as he was. The three huddled for a moment, wands drawn. "So Lynnie, how should we play this out?"

"Honestly Sirius, I just assume find Voldemort and rip his goddamed head off."

Sirius smiled, "Yes, but I'm sure that besides Snape, who could be dead for all we know -"

"He's not." Maylin's eyes met Sirius's. What were once a passionate blue had become a pale hue of worry. For the first time in his life, Sirius saw that Maylin was afraid.

He touched her chin. "He's not dead, Lynnie, I apologize."

Maylin stared back, her voice quiet. "Okay."

"Anyway," Sirius continued. "Besides Snape, Voldemort could have any number of Death Eaters with him. Where ever he is. Any sudden action would end in immediate annihilation of either Moody, myself, or Snape."

"But not me." Maylin's gaze returned to the floor.

"No, not you. He needs you alive."

"Dear God," speechless and overwhelmed, Maylin played the scenario over and over in her head. No matter how it crossed her mind, the conflict was going to be anything but clean.

She looked at Moody and Black. Her voice picking up in urgency – they were being watched.

"How long until the Order assembles?"

Moody chimed in, "It could be anytime, Lupin is on constant alert, but getting to Hogwarts is a pain in the-"

"Ahem!" Interrupted a voice. The three turned to see a small squeaky balding man in a black robe. Maylin raised her gun to the man's head. "What do you want?"

"No need for violence Ms. Hunter, My Lord simply -"

Before the words escaped his mouth Maylin's silver bullet shot straight to his left leg. The squeaky man yelped and fell to one knee. The man cried in pain and surprise. "You shot me?" he whispered to no one.

"Who are you?" Maylin stepped closer, the gun tight in her hand. The man grasped his leg tightly and tried to raise his wand. With one swipe of his hand Black summoned the wand from the bleeding man's hold. Trembling he spoke.

"Squire, Clive Squire."

"You're the professor I was sent here to replace?"

Nodding furiously the squeaky man complied. Moody stepped up.

"And you joined the forces of the Dark Lord?" he asked gruffly.

The man continued to nod.

Moody shrugged, Maylin nodded in agreement and shot the man through the right leg. Maylin lowered her legs to the floor. She grabbed Squire by the collar and pulled him close. With the other hand she secured the cold gun to the side of his face.

Her voice was rich and articulate, her eyes had regained their tint of fire. This man was to be judged.

"Do you swear allegiance unto the Dark Lord known as Voldemort, and should you swear allegiance to him, do you hold yourself responsible for the actions completed under his service that include but are not limited to, trespassing, treason, and murder?"

The small man hissed. "Yes."

Maylin moved closer, the gun tighter.

"Where's my husband?" she hissed cooly in return.

"On the roof."

Maylin let go of Squire's collar and dropped him to the floor. She raised her gun once again. Blood, brain and skull spewed onto the concrete floors. Dumbledore would yell, but, as always, there were more important things to worry about now.

As the gunshots rang throughout the building Harry Potter once again found himself sneaking about the school under the guise of his invisibility cloak. Moments ago is scar began to burn to the point of paralysis. Harry fought the overwhelming urge to scream by tying his shoes and sneaking past the professors on watch. Silently and mindfully he turned corners and moved closer to where it sounded like the shot came from. If Professor Hunter knew he was out and about, she would most certainly have his head.

Across the school another student snuck behind the back of his panicky prefect and made his way through the school halls.

Slithering atop the cold slick floors Draco Malfoy knew something was up. He knew those shots belonged to Professor Hunter, he didn't want to miss a thing. As he made his way to the next hall he tripped over what appeared to be nothing at all and fell shoulder first into the solid rock floor. He cursed under his breath and knew instantly it was Potter. Harry stopped for a moment to laugh under his breath but better judgment forced his hand out of the cloak. "C'mon," he whispered.

Draco looked quickly left than right before slipping under the confines of the cloak. "What's going on here, Potter!?" Draco hushly demanded. "Those were bloody gunshots!"

Harry pointed to his scar. "It's burning, I think Voldemort has found a way in."

Standing above Squire's body, Maylin's chest heaved and her trigger finger twitched slightly. A bead of sweat appeared on the side of her face and crept slowly toward her chin. She glared at the dead man. No thoughts crossed her mind. She was ready to move. Sirius Black reached for her arm but instead she turned and faced him head on. "We have to keep moving. You were right, Voldemort is not alone." Sirius nodded. "Should we wait for the rest of the Order?"

Maylin reloaded her clip. "Why? Voldemort wants me, not the Order. What's the Order going to do? Talk him to death?"

"The lady has a magnificent point," added Moody. His eye changed its gaze to Maylin's gun. "Are you even going to use your wand?" Maylin cocked her head. Her voice a solid monotone. "I'll only break that out if I need to cause some serious damage."

"Is this what you learned from the Ministry doing public relations?" Maylin glared at Moody through serious slit eyes. "Not public relations," she said snapping her gun into place. "Population control." Maylin raise an eyebrow, turned and continued her way down the hall. For a moment Moody and Black stood behind, Moody's voice thick with confusion. "She's married to Severus Snape?"

Sirius nodded before taking off running behind her.

"Huh," thought Moody as he hobbled behind Sirius, "that lucky bastard."

As they made their way to their final destination, word of Voldemort's presence reached the Order. Remus Lupin and the Order of the Phoenix were finally on their way.

There was but one known entrance to the roof of Hogwarts. On this evening the door way to the stairs was blocked by twenty Death Eaters, wands drawn.

The three wizards stopped dead in their tracks. "Only the woman may pass," a voice howled. Maylin looked to the men by her side. I don't have a choice.

The two men nodded. "They're going to kill us, you know. After you leave us and go up those stairs, we're as good as done for." Sirius's voice was only half kidding. Maylin took his hand for a moment and kissed his cheek. She did the same for Moody. "The Order is on their way. You won't have to hold them off long." Sirius smiled. "Dog fight it is then?" "Damn right, if they're going to try to send you back to Azkaban, then there had better be a damn good reason." Maylin winked and turned to face the squad before her. She re-holstered her gun. "Leave your weapons."

"That's not fair!" Maylin shot back. Maylin listened to herself for a brief moment and rolled her eyes before removing her weapons and throwing them to the side of the hall. "I should've known this wasn't going to be a fair fight," remarked Maylin as she turned behind her to a seemingly empty space. Make yourselves useful boys, I'll leave the door open. Make it hasty then get the hell out of here.

From the far corner of the room Harry and Draco eyed the thrown weapons. "Can we even get around them?" wondered Harry quietly to his fellow student. Draco nodded. "I think once she goes through those doors all hell will break loose. What the bloody hell is Sirius Black doing here?" Harry shook his head, "Long story," he replied. Draco nodded, "Fair enough, when it starts we make a run for it."

Maylin walked confidently towards the doorway. The Death Eaters parted a way for her as her hand pulled the door open and closed it shut. The screams and cries of magic erupted the moment the door had closed. They will be safe she though to herself, she could feel that the Order was close. Before ascending the steps she turned the door knob behind her. The door cracked open. Haste boys, haste.

The ascending stairs twisted into the frigid night. A cold eeriness crept beneath her skin and sunk heavily into her heart. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to be strong or fierce. She didn't want the worry, let alone the 'what if.' She knew what lay beyond the outer door; she had no choice but open it. She clenched her fists and pushed her way into the darkness.

The Death Eaters surrounded Black and Moody. "You will go nowhere." "Nowhere." "Nowhere." "Nowhere." The voices echoed. "Perhaps you will die?" "Will die?" "Will die?" Moody and Black moved closely together as the crowd swarmed in upon them. Wands drawn and ready, the two members of the Order crouched low. Black smiled with almost sick anticipation, today is a good day.

As the Death Eaters lunged toward the men, Harry and Draco took off for the pile left by the wall side. Harry drew his wand as Draco nabbed the stuff. They shuffled around the crowd and slipped quickly and quietly up the stairs. Staying under the cloak they wormed their way upwards and stood momentarily behind the door to the roof. Harry touched his scar. It burned furiously. Harry winced as Draco pushed open the door. Draco's mouth opened wide. His heart pounded. He curled his fingers around the knife on the ground. His eyes opened. He had chosen his side.

Maylin stood before them. Her hair whipped wildly in the bitter wind and snow. Her hands outstretched to the man barely outside of her grasp. Blood ran freely down the side of his face. His hands bound to his back, he lifted his head slowly. His bruised body contorted painfully under the strain of the spell that bound him. He couldn't move. His eyes rose heavily. He wanted to touch her, but she was just too far away. "M'lyn?" She moved towards him and touched him softly on the face. Blood ran down her fingers. She bit her lip and moved closer. Snape knew the only reason Voldemort had placed him before Maylin was because now Voldemort would force her to make a decision. The spell or Snape. But there was really only one thing on Snape's mind. He coughed hard, trying to speak. "Did you get – get, my mess -my message." He drew in hard to breathe, air burned, the blood stung.

"Severus," she whispered. "No," he shook his head haphazardly against the will of the spell. "No, May, my – my, mess-" "Yes!" she cried then bowed her head to his, "Yes," she whispered again. "Severus, why didn't you just tell me?" He pulled in the crisp air through his broken crimson nose. "You, were too – important." He looked at her and tried to smile. "I never stopped. Never stopped loving you. I'll die here – loving you." He placed his forehead against hers. Maylin closed her eyes and pulled him close.

She muttered something beneath her breath then kissed him gently on the lips. "What? What was that?" Maylin looked into his dark and fading eyes. I love you.

The bitter wind blew harder as Snape's body drifted away from her to reveal the two figures standing just outside of the roof's darkness. Lucius Malfoy snickered loudly as he used his wand to pull Snape from the doorway. "It's a shame, Maylin," He gloated over the wind. "He really did love you." Maylin changed her glare. "And you!" she yelled at the silent figure. "What's your game, Riddle?" The figure stood silent against the cold of the night. "Answer me you, Bastard!" Voldemort pulled his wand from within his robes and pointed it at Maylin. His voice cracked and hissed. "I want that spell, Ms. Hunter. I want back what you've taken from me." Maylin stepped forward.

"You're an arrogant fool for thinking that you could wield a spell as powerful as that."

"So be it." Voldemort pointed to Snape who was lying in the snow. Lucius nodded. Maylin knew this was their game. She placed her hand behind her back and motioned to the boys. Wand.Harry snuck her the wand and quickly glanced at Malfoy. His skin had turned sallow. Draco glared at the man he called father. Maylin pulled her wand from behind her back but before the words even escaped her mind she was thrown back into the door. Her head slammed into the solid wood. A smooth warmth trickled down to her back. Voldemort held her with a strength she had never experienced. Her mind raced. She needed a strong counter spell and she needed one fast. "Lucius," Voldemort called back to the man behind him. "Why don't we show Ms. Hunter here why we don't comply with insolence. And -" he paused, "show her the old fashioned way." Lucius smiled and pulled from behind his back a large cane. He held the cane with both hands and drew from it a thin sword. He raised it high in the air and then sharply into Snape's gut as Maylin shouted her counter curse.

From within the cloak Draco burst into the open and without second thought plunged Maylin's dagger into his own father. Voldemort's gaze faltered, Maylin's curse threw him backward. Lucius fell to the ground. His eyes blazed with fury, Draco's with betrayal. Maylin fell to her knees then upped and lunged toward Draco. But it was too late. With one wave of Voldemort's wand Draco body flew from the roof and off into the

darkness below. Maylin yelled out to him. She scurried in a panic to the side of the roof. She saw nothing below but a pool of darkness. Then a voice came through. We have him Lynnie. It was Lupin. The Order had arrived.

We're on our way up.

No, Remus, get to the top floor landing, Black and Moody need back-up.

But, Lynnie-

I'll send down Potter! Go!

She turned from the edge and caught a quick glimpse of the door opening and closing, Potter had already gone downstairs. Good boy. Her wand lay shattered in the snow under where she had fallen. Her gun was missing. She was back to square one. She rose to her feet and stared hard at the figure before her. Lucius lay by his side gasping, dying. Snape didn't move. She called to his mind.

Busy. He replied.

Maylin smiled brokenly to herself. The belly wound would take hours to kill him, but the stress would soon throw him into shock.

Voldemort raised Maylin's gun to her head. His voice scraped over the howling winds.

"I had such hopes for you."

The crack of the bullet shattered the cry of the wind and split through

Maylin's shoulder. Warm blood iced over her arm. She fell to her knees.

"You're aim is terrible," she hissed ignoring the sharp pain.

"If I had wanted you dead, I would've done so many years ago. I tried to teach you not to fear."

"I don't fear you, you fucking bastard." Maylin's voice cut the freezing cold.

The gun went off again, her thigh winced with the bullet's entry.

The pain was making it difficult to focus.

"Snape and I had a deal, and for once I didn't break my promise. What would have been the point? I had always intended to keep you alive hoping that one day you would see the light within the darkness. But no, you were always too much like her."

"Don't do this to me."

Voldemort paused and stepped closer. Her bent down and whispered through his hood. "You are still weak, just like your mother."

Maylin's eyes widened as for the first time she looked at the creature face to face.

I'm so fucked.

He had pulled the hood back from his head and glared at her with eyes she recognized. Pale but powerful eyes. Passionate dangerous eyes. Her eyes.

Maylin looked down into the red snow below her. She couldn't feel the pain in her shoulder or head. Unarmed and helpless, for the first time in a long time, Maylin was terrified. No.

"Yes," Voldemort declared aloud. "I killed your mother this way. She too couldn't handle the power I had so graciously placed in her grasp. She ran. I followed, but I let you live. Always hoping that at some point you would realize your potential and stand by my side. Like father, like daughter, I told myself."

Maylin's mind flooded. She looked to Snape. He was fighting to stand but soon it would be too late. He crawled helplessly through the snow, a trail of blood in his wake.

"But," Voldemort continued, "It seems only too clear that you have made your decision, if I cannot have that spell of yours and you will not partake in my reign; then have no choice but you end you here. At least I can tell myself I tried."

Like a dream, Maylin's world slowed to a crawl of time. Her eyes open, her mind unlocked, she saw the end before her and knew in an instant it would all be over soon. Voldemort raised his wand. The wind swept across the roof in a bitter gust of pain and hopelessness. In the distance she heard the words of judgment cut through snow and ice. The green blaze illuminated from the Dark Wizard's hand and wrapped around his wand. It swelled and spiraled from Voldemort's hand and into the space between. Maylin screamed and like a leaf in the storm was thrown back into the hard ice below.

But the curse never touched her. An unknown dead weight lay heavily on her body. She raised her good hand and ran her fingers through Severus Snape's bloodied matted hair.

She opened her eyes. What looked like steam floated from the pointed of the curse's contact. His eyes were closed his arm twisted underneath her back. She touched his face. He was still breathing. Maylin shook the confusion and pain from her body and with her good arm pushed Snape off of her and laid him as best she could in the snow. He moaned wearily and curled into a ball around his wound. Maylin bent over him kissed his cheek and as quickly as she could turned again to face her enemy.

She looked out over the roof but he no longer stood. She tried to find his mind but it too was lost. She took a weak step forward and under her foot heard the crack of wood. She looked down and stepped back. Face up in the snow clutching his wand laid Voldemort. His colorless eyes stared toward the heavens, his mouth agape but silent. He laid there petrified and dead. The green blaze of the curse had sunken into his skin and into his soul once and for all. Maylin breathed deep and bent down to pick up her gun that laid by the dead wizard's side. She gained her balance, and just for good measure, she raised the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. She then turned and threw the gun somewhere to the side of the roof and fell on her knees next to Snape.

She cupped his head in her lap and bent over to touch his face. His eyes opened slowly. For a moment, he smiled. "Are you – you, n-not...dead?"

Maylin half shook her aching head. "No, love, not dead." Snape blinked slowly. "Is evr'ythin – all...alright?"

Maylin looked down into his dark eyes and gently pushed back the hair from his forehead. She bit her icy lip and with one finger softly traced the lighting scar on his forehead. "Yes, love," she said quietly, "Everything is going to be alright." Snape acknowledged with a faint nod then slipped back into unconsciousness.

Maylin smiled as she held him close and listened to the members of the Order as they made their way up the stairs.