Omg i am so sorry its taken me until now to get you updates! i know i promised you updates at half term in february and failed adn i'm sorry so here is the rest of the story! i actually finished and i'm quite proud of it because it didnt quite teeter off like some of my others did. so here's the rest, and i hope you enjoy it. i'm trying to finish the zillions of other stories i've started, so i'll get those up when i can. Istalindar

Three weeks later Snape found them in the potions room, working in near silence as they carefully and gingerly put the results of their work together. He watched in silence as three of the most intelligent pupils in the school worked diligently on a potion to save the world.

"Here goes." Hermione murmured. "Basilisk scale shavings, final ingredient. Everyone cross their fingers." Snape found himself crossing his fingers behind his back. If this worked, he could finally be free. Hermione let the shavings slip from her fingers into the potion, and a pure blue smoke began to slowly rise from it. "Time to lose the rings."

The three students pulled off the rings, and one by one dropped them into the potion, the Slytherin ring last. There was a huge bang that threw them all backwards, and from the floor they watched as four columns of coloured smoke rise from the surface of the liquid. The yellow, blue and red columns curled around the green column, and soon swallowed it completely. There was a flash, and then silence.

Draco rose first, and peered into the cauldron. He turned and helped Ginny and Hermione up, and the three looked into the cauldron.

"So I'm assuming it worked, then?" Ginny asked, reaching into the cauldron and removing the shell of her gold ring, the topazes all missing.

"I guess so." Hermione said withdrawing her ring as well. "But what the hell-"

Give me control. Amelie demanded suddenly. Hermione was so surprised she did.

Amelie reached into the cauldron and withdrew both her ring and another. It was a ring with a huge rectangular dark green emerald set in golden claws. Engraved on the surface on the emerald was a coiled snake, mouth open and fangs shown.

"It worked." Snape breathed. The three students spun, Amelie automatically concealing the ring behind her back.

"Professor!" Ginny exclaimed. Snape stepped from the shadows.

"That ring must be given to Voldemort before the battle. Amelie, that will be left to you."

"Obviously." She agreed.

"I'm very proud of you all. A hundred points each." Hermione and Ginny shared incredulous looks. "Now, clear up and then I expect Dumbledore will want to talk to you." Amelie returned control to Hermione.

He gave them a rare smile before sweeping off leaving them to tidy away their equipment. Just as they were finished Harry came in.

"Dumbledore's sent me to get you." He said moodily. "We all have to go to his office." The three shared looks, and Hermione stepped forward.

"Look, Harry, we're sorry. We're all really high strung at the moment, and it was really important to us that this worked and-"

"So did it?"

"Did what?" Pansy walked in. "What are you doing?"

"Hermione dragged us into extra credit research." Draco said with a sneer.

"Oh, right. What on?"

"The alternate veritaserum." Ginny said with a sigh.

"Um, guys? Dumbledore." Harry pressed.

"Oh, fine." Ginny sighed and waved her wand at what was left of the mess of the experiment. "Come on." She left the classroom, Harry on her heels.

"Go on Granger, I'll be there in a minute." Draco snapped.

"Bugger you, Malfoy. Dumbledore wanted to see us all."

"Fine. We'll talk later Pansy." Malfoy swept out of the classroom in a passable impersonation of Snape, leaving Hermione to follow at his heels.

&

Dumbeldore's office was as messy as usual. When Hermione and Draco arrived, albeit slightly late, Dumbledore looked up and smiled.

"Sit down." They sat, and Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at them. "I hear you have been successful in creating the potion?"

"We didn't so much create a potion as a ring." Hermione commented, holding out the ring. Dumbledore did not reach to take it, merely regarded it on the desk where Hermione had placed it.

"So you did. You shall give the ring to Voldemort before the battle, and at the right moment you shall release the potion and use the pheonix to destroy him at the same time that Harry destroys him. Together, these three elements will destroy him."

"You hope." Draco commented.

"It is our last hope, Mr Malfoy.you know this as well as any of us." Dumbledore said gently.

"But what if it fails?" Draco pressed. "What then?"

"Then we fight to the death." Ginny said softly. "There can be no other option."

"There is always another option." Draco contradicted.

"Yeah, like cowardice." Harry spat.

"I don't believe in cowardice." Draco said blithely.

"What do you believe in then?" Harry demanded.

"Running when outnumbered."

Harry rolled his eyes, but Dumbledore nodded.

"He has a point, Harry. To stand to the death in a battle you know you cannot win when you can still escape is foolish. It is only cowardice if you run away and refuse to ever fight. Running away only to return at a more advantageous time and place is merely tactics."

"So you're agreeing with him?" Harry demanded.

"Just because he is a Slytherin and for the last seven years your enemy does not make him stupid, Harry." Harry looked up and saw Ron standing in the doorway.

"You too? Are all my friends abandoning me then?" Amelie sighed and took control.

"You are abandoning us, Harry." She commented. "Your friends are standing together only for you to stand apart. We all need you, but you help no one but Voldemort by hating us all. I suggest, for now at least, a truce. You set aside your hatred and I'll convince the others to do the same."

"None of us hate you, Harry." Ginny said pleadingly. Draco coughed conspicuously. She sent him a warning look. "Draco doesn't particularly like you, but he doesn't hate you." He coughed again. "Shut up Draco." She said flatly. "Harry, we need your help. We cant do this without you!"

"You seem to have managed so far." He said sulkily.

"So far. Harry…Tom chose you. He didn't choose me, or Hermione, or Draco or Ginny or anyone else! He chose you! You cant be turning your back on that." Amelie said reasonably.

"I'm so annoyed! You're right, he did choose me. Me! So why are you all doing your secret little plans and keeping me out of them?"

"Because we thought you might react like this. Harry…we can only do so much. The killing curse is your responsibility – your duty!"

"What if I don't want to kill him?"

There was dead silence in the room. Amelie stepped forward, her arms loose at her sides. Then she held out her hand.

"Take it, Harry. Let me show you what will happen if you don't kill him."

"What are you talking about?" Harry demanded, looking around a little frantically at all the flat faces around him.

"I'm talking about seeing, Harry. It's time for you to see. Now take my damn hand!" Harry reached out and Amelie snatched at it, closing her hand tightly around his and closing her eyes. Harry closed his eyes uncertainly, and then, suddenly, unexpectedly, he could see.

They weren't in Dumbledore's office anymore. They stood on a field under a scorching hot sun, the sky a bleached blue colour. The ground was flat, and all the vegetation was dead.

"Where are we?" Harry asked, looking at the girl standing beside him, still keeping a tight grip on his hand.

"A battlefield." Amelie said softly. "The battle finished yesterday. All day today they've been working to clear up the mess. Now they have, and this is what's left."

"An empty field." Harry said, derision in his voice.

"This field was later known as Pillar Stretch." Amelie commented. "You'll find all the greatest Light-Dark battlefields have names like that. Pillar Stretch, Tower Clearing. Godric's Hollow."

"Godric's Hollow! That's where-"

"Where you lived. I know. Come on." Amelie led him across the bare field, their feet raising small puffs of dust.

"So why Pillar Stretch?"

"Because the pillars of fire stretched in a long row that could be seen for several miles." Amelie answered shortly. "Because of the magic that consumed from within."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean people burned alive, in towers of writhing flame that everyone could see for miles. Hence, Pillar Stretch. Here we are." They walked down a slope in a small dip in the land. There were a few houses set in a backdrop of trees.

"Where are we?"

"Godric's Hollow." Amelie answered shortly, opening the gate to the right-hand house and walking up the path, Harry following behind her.

"Are my parents-"

"They're dead Harry. Hagrid took you to the Dursleys about five minutes ago." Harry yanked hard on her hand so Amelie turned to face him.

"You were going to take me in there, knowing my parents are lying dead on the floor?" he demanded.

"I was and still am. Come on."

"No."

"This is something you have to see, Harry. Then you'll understand why it is so important that I would go against my own father in this." She pushed open the door and looked around, taking deep breaths. Harry felt her hand shaking.

"Are you alright?" he asked, frowning.

"I'm fine." She smiled weakly at him. "Let's get this over with." She started up the steps and when they came to the landing, Harry rushed forward, nearly breaking away from her hand. She yanked him back.

"No!" she snapped.

"But my dad!" Harry looked frantically at where one arm extended across the floor from the bedroom.

"Is dead, Harry. Nothing you can do now will save him."

"Why did you bring me here?" Harry shouted, the sound echoing in the silent house. "I don't want to see this! I don't want to know!"

"You have to know!" Amelie shouted back. "You have to see for yourself what Voldemort will do to us all! You have to see!"

"What? I've already seen it." Harry said.

"Come on. Let's make this as quick as possible and then we can both go home." Amelie stepped past him and walked hurriedly to the door across from the bedroom, yanking Harry inside so he didn't see the still form of his father for more than two seconds. Inside the nursery, Lily Potter, née Evans, lay on the ground, her arm outstretched across the floor. A shadow in the corner moved, and Harry drew his wand. Amelie reached out and pushed it down. Amelie knelt and held out her free arm.

"Come out, sweetie. Don't be afraid." She said softly. Harry watched in amazement as a little girl walked hesitantly from the shadows.

"Mama. Help mama, please?" The little girl didn't go to Amelie, but sat down by Lily's head, stroking her red hair. "You will help her, right?"

"Who is she?" Harry whispered, staring at the girl with her black hair and brown eyes.

"She's your older sister, Harry. She's two…was two yesterday, actually. She wasn't meant to be here – her carer lost her long enough for her to follow daddy here. Her carer's dead now."

"My sister." He looked again at the little girl. "She doesn't have green eyes."

"She has her father's eyes." Amelie said softly.

"What's her name?" Harry asked, taking a tentative step forward towards the little girl.

"Ask her." Amelie said, her voice so quiet Harry barely heard her.

"Hey there." Harry squatted by the child. "Why don't we leave mum alone, eh?"

"You'll fix her?"

"I cant fix her. What's your name?"

"Why cant you fix her? I want her fixed!"

"My love, remember Jula? She's coming to get you soon." Amelie said softly.

"But mummy-"

"What's your name?" Harry asked again, tipping the little girl's chin up with one finger.

"Me?" the little girl smiled. Her teeth were small and white. "I'm Amlie Volmort."

Harry let go of Amelie's hand.

&

Amelie came to in her room, the room lit by the setting sun.

Evening. Hermione commented.

What happened?

You showed Harry who you were and what Voldemort would do to everyone. Hermione explained. You certainly have a way of making a show. I cant believe you saw them die.

It was more of a blur, actually. Seen through two year old eyes it was bound to be. Aunt Jula cleaned it up a bit for me. She's a psychic – a lot more of one than I am, so she cleaned it up and gave it to me wrapped in warning tape. She wanted me to see, not to torture myself.

Just like you wanted Harry to see. Well, you succeeded in that, at least. Hermione swung her legs out of the bed, surprising Amelie with her control. Amelie could have sworn that she had been in control. He saw. And he went ballistic. Started throwing things, yelling about how there was no way Lily would have slept with Voldemort. We tried to explain but he wouldn't listen.

I should talk to him.

Havent you done enough? Hermione demanded. There were better ways of doing it than that.

But they wouldn't have made the right impact. I have to go talk to him. can I have control?

In a word, no. Because you arent strong enough to hold onto it.

What do you mean?

You collapsed earlier. Come on, I'll take you to Harry, then you can sit down and talk.

Okay.

They met Ginny just outside the Head's Suite.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"I'm alright." Hermione answered. "Amelie's recovering."

"Can I talk to her?" Ginny asked. Hermione shrugged and nodded. She gave Amelie just enough control to talk, but kept tight hold on the rest. "Are you okay?" Ginny repeated.

"Fine. A little tired though. Do you know where Harry is?"

Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?

They're just checking, honey.

"Out at the Quidditch pitch. What did you show him? he said something about his mum and dad being dead, but other than that there was a lot of mumbling."

"I showed him the scene just after Hagrid took him away."

"You showed him his dead parents? Why?" Ginny demanded, her eyes wide.

"Because he also saw me there. When I was two…I saw my mum die. But my point was that he saw me there, actually saw me, so he'd believe me when I said I was his sister."

"And did he?"

"I havent really explained that much yet."

"How did you do it though? That much detail…"

"Strictly speaking, it's not my memory, it's actually Snape's."

"Snape? What was he doing there?"

"Looking for me, actually. But Jula…that's his sister, got the memory from him and gave it to me, so I could remember what Voldemort had done."

"Snape's got a sister?" Ginny asked dumbly.

"She's dead now. Voldemort killed her. She was more like mum than anyone else." Amelie smiled sadly.

"But Harry said he talked to you…to two-year-old you. How-"

"I cheated. I changed the memory a little so he could have it from the mouth of the little girl."

"So you lied to him."

"Nope. It's all true. And I did actually say my name when I was that age. I just rearranged it a little so he would believe me. It's not a big deal, Ginny."

"If you say so. Like I said, he's down by the Quidditch pitch if you want to find him." Ginny looked doubtful.

"Thanks." Amelie let Hermione take back control, and they left Ginny standing by the portrait.

Hermione negotiated the halls easily, stepping into the fading sunlight and quickly crossing the lawns until she came to the Quidditch pitch. A lone flyer circled high above.

Sit here and wait for him. He'll come to you. And, Amelie…listen to him. He might be an idiot sometimes, but he's living, breathing feeling flesh, and you just ripped his heart out.

You have a way with words. Amelie commented drily. Her only response was the control suddenly in her hands, and the absence of Hermione that indicated a mental box. Clearly, Hermione wanted nothing to do with this.

She watched Harry circle and dive, noticing immediately when he saw her. His flying suddenly became strained, different from the fluid air-acrobatics he usually displayed. Eventually he flew down to where she sat on the edge of the grass on the pitch.

"What do you want?" he demanded.

"I need to explain."

"I don't think so. I think what you showed me was clear enough." Harry snapped.

"Lily didn't willingly sleep with my father." Amelie said.

"He-"

"My father is a rapist, a murderer, a meglomaniac psychopath. You know this, Harry. What I showed you tells you nothing about your parents you didn't already know. Your mother and father died to save you, Harry. All you saw was me sixteen years ago, finally being reunited with a woman I barely knew."

"Lily was your mother." Harry forced out. Amelie nodded.

"She is my mother. I can tell you the full story if you'd like to listen. My story isnt what I wanted to show you, Harry. What I wanted to show you was the destruction Voldemort caused, the orphans he made. And will make, if you don't help us."

"Dammit, I was always going to help! I didn't want to know!" Harry cried, throwing his broomstick down.

"I know you didn't." Amelie said softly. "And I know this isnt easy for you-"

"Not easy? Not easy! You don't know-"

"Don't I?" Her voice was deadly soft. "Try finding out that your father raped your mother and murdered her friends, before she ran away, abandoning you to the madman so she could live happily ever after with her lover and her new son? Not that I wished her unhappiness, but she left me behind! What did I do?" Harry watched in amazement as her eyes grew suddenly shiny. "Why didn't she love me? I know the 'fruit of the loins' thing…and I did look like Tom…but why couldn't see have loved me anyway? I wasn't him, I wasn't him!" Amelie hung her head for a second, scrubbing furiously at her tears. She heard Harry sit down in front of her and looked up to see him hold out his hand. She looked from it to his face several times before placing her hand in his.

"We don't have it easy, do we?"

"Must be an Evans thing." Amelie commented, her voice cracking. Harry rolled his eyes, standing and pulling her upright.

"Come on." And he tugged her up towards the castle.

&