AN: Well here it is, the last instalment of the story that dragged on for far too long. I lied though, it's got two parts. I figured it came off better that way. I apologize that it sounds rushed, but I really had to force myself to get it over with.

On the plus side, I'm almost finished exams, and I'm thinking of re-doing this to include the fifth and sixth books. I'm actually planning on writing a fic that explains Harry's seventh year, and then another that follows a similar, but completely different plotline of SFC.

Anyway, enjoy, and don't hurt me too much.

Chapter XXIII

All Good Things…

For the next two days the entire school was in chaos. I was reminded of Dumbledore's comment during my first year: "What happened there was a complete secret, so naturally, the entire school knows." The revelation that the great hero Harry Potter was at the school and had been all year was now common knowledge among the students. Not only was Harry Potter alive and well, but he was somewhere at Hogwarts preparing some grand coup against the Neo Death Eaters. It would only be a short amount of time before it would be safe for the students to go outside again. There were so many times that I just wanted to scream at them.

The only saving grace was that if any of the students had come to realize who Harry Potter was, they were kind enough not to voice their suspicions aloud. I don't know if I would have been able to deal with the attention after so long out of the spot light.

To say the staff's reaction to my identity was mixed would be a little bit of an understatement. Hermione was happy to know that I was safe, but a little put out that I'd hidden from her. That was to be expected, and so I gave her space. Ron, on the other hand, was torn between knowing his best friend was alive and knowing that his best friend had neglected to contact him for six years. He looked as though he wanted to strangle me the majority of the time, but I was hoping he would come around like Sirius had.

For some of the staff, they were simply happy to know that they hadn't failed me in the end. They'd used me to defeat Voldemort six years ago, but they hadn't lost me like they'd thought. For others, they were filled with mixed feelings over what to think about my hiding and my new appearance. To them, I hadn't died when I fought Voldemort, but I also wasn't the young boy they'd sent of as a sacrifice. I was different, obviously, and far more independent, and it scared them.

It wasn't surprising that it was Severus' reaction that I found most difficult to cope with. While it was my own fault entirely, it would have been nice to know that the older wizard was able to move past who I used to be and accept what I had become. Wishful thinking obviously, but disappointment is always crushing.

I tried to respect Severus' sentiments on the matter, but after several months of not sleeping alone, and of having someone hold me when I woke up, I was beginning to feel like an insomniac. I could no longer sleep more than a few hours of sleep each night. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought I was heartbroken. It was an impossibility of course, because Severus and I only shared a mutual fondness. We weren't just acquaintances with benefits, but we were by no means soul mates either.

Still, it was difficult to walk by the man and offer a smile only to have him send me a withering glare in return; a look that told me I wasn't worth to dirt he walked on. I'm sure, if there hadn't been students around, he would have spat at my feet.

And so I kept telling myself that his reaction was justifiable, and no more that I deserved for lying to him, and that we wouldn't have had a future together anyway, even though I couldn't sleep at night, and I wanted to scream at him every time he sent me one of those disgusted looks.

When Monday rolled around I was quite convinced I looked like a Zombie. No amount of charms or Pepper-Up potions were going to get rid of the dark bags under my eyes, and so I'd given up trying, and instead slathered on the concealer I used to hide the scar on my forehead.

Looking slightly worse for wear, I made my way to the staff lounge to get a cup of coffee before facing the students in what was sure to be a class full of questions on anything other than defence. What I got when I reached the lounge was most definitely not what I had expected. Sitting on the couch was none other than Ginny Weasley in a state of pure shock. Her face was covered in soot, and her clothing was singed.

Ron sat beside her, rubbing her shoulders in a reassuring manner. The tension in the air pressed heavily against the room's occupants as we waited for the girl to calm enough to explain what had happened.

"I was visiting the twins," Ginny began when she'd finally calmed enough to speak, though her voice was still breathy and shaken. "They were attacked by the Death Eaters while I was there.

Aside from the odd gasps from my fellow professors the volume in the room dropped as everyone hung on the red-heads words.

"Fortunately their products make good booby traps. By the time they got to us, half of them had been taken out, and we were able to fight the rest of them off. Fred's with George at St. Mungo's right now, he took a nasty blow, but he's going to be alright," she added the last bit quickly when she noticed Ron and Hermione's faces pale substantially.

"I came here as soon as I was able to floo over. They didn't attack us for the fun of it like they've been doing before. The threatened us as we fought. They're doing it to get back at the people who stood up to them at the last Hogsmead raid. I don't know if we were the first, but everyone needs to warn their friends and family, anyone who might be in danger of these Death Eaters."

There was panic in the lounge. All of the professors began to insist all at once that they be able to go to their families houses to warn them. Dumbledore immediately calmed them with a single world; "Silence!"

The room was silent, everyone, myself included, waiting for his next words.

"I will open Hogwarts to the floo network, for communication purposes only," he stressed. "You will not leave the castle. There are still students who need to be attended to. You will speak to those you think might be in danger and you will warn them about the possible threat. If they are concerned for their safety, they may come to speak with me and we will arrange a safe location for them to reside until we have this matter under control.

"For those of you who have Muggle relations, you have my permission to leave for a brief period. I'll find someone to cover your classes as you do so. Hermione, Ethan, you may leave as soon as you're ready. I'll excuse you for the day."

I was motionless for a moment, trying to figure out how much risk my Muggle friends were. Deciding that it would have been possible for any number of people to have followed me, much like Severus did, I was out of the room in a flash. Unfortunately I wasn't out fast enough to miss Ron's parting comment in front of his sister.

"Why don't you just call him Harry bloody Potter, Headmaster, it is his name after all."

I rushed to my telephone the second I oriented myself in my apartment after arriving. I wasn't surprised that the first message from Kestor, yelling at me for ditching him that night after the concert. I quickly deleted it. The next one was Kestor calling to apologize for yelling at me. It brought a smile to my face. There were a couple more messages from Kestor and my fellow band mates trying to convince me to come to a practice, or to at least talk to them.

I ran through about a dozen of these before reaching one that made my blood run cold…

"Ethan!" came Alistor's angry voice from the recording. "Where the fuck are you, mate! I don't care if you had a falling out with Kestor, but I thought you'd at least have the common courtesy to come to his funeral! Even if you didn't care for him, his family still thought you were alright. You have any idea how crushed they'd be if you didn't show up?"

I dropped the phone to the floor, my knees going weak. Kestor had died... and recently too, if the frequency of the phone calls was any indication. I refused to cry as I picked up the phone and called Alistor's house, hoping beyond reason that I hadn't missed the funeral. I already had Kestor's death on my conscience. I wasn't going to let something like this rest there as well.

I had to choke back a sob when Alistor picked up the phone and answered. Her voice was filled with tears.

"Alistor, it's me," I said quiety, bracing myself for the inevitable.

It never came. Instead, Alistor responded tiredly. "You finally decided to call us? After how long? The funeral's this afternoon, and you decide to call us now?"

I stumbled over my words, my eyes clouding with tears. "I didn't know… I was out of town and I just got your message… I… He… What happened?"

"We don't know. He went out to the bar one night, and then didn't come back. They found his body in an alley. He didn't have any bloody wounds, and he wasn't mugged. The don't even know what killed him…" Alistor broke down into tears over the phone. "I saw his body, Harry… his face… It looked like he'd been frightened to death. It was, horrible…"

It was that moment that my resolve hardened. It was, beyond a doubt, the NeoDeath Eaters who'd done it. It was, essentially, my fault. And now it would be up to me to remedy the situation.

I got the details of the time and location for Kestor's funeral, deciding then that as soon as I was finished I would head back to Hogwarts, find out who'd grown too big for their britches, and I'd kill them.

I was on autopilot for the entirety of the funeral. I greeted the right people and offered my condolences, I sympathized with my friends, I shed tears for the death of my friend and ex-lover, and then I left. I know my band mates were confused over my behaviour, so uncharacteristic, but I wasn't about to stick around and explain it to them.

As soon as I was out of public view I returned to Hogwarts and made my way into the dungeon. Pansy was to be moved to Azkaban the following day, and I wasn't about to let the chance slip away.

Two Order members were guarding her, and they gave me strange looks as I approached. I smiled at them, and with a simple gesture of my hand I had them under a wandless sleeping charm. The two men slumped in their seats, one going so far as to actually fall out. The thump roused the Death Eater and she came to the bars of her cell to observe.

The woman gave me a feral grin, reminding me a little too much of Bellatrix Lestranger. I returned her smile at the thought. It would make what I was about to do so much easier. I'd never thought of Lestranger as human.

"So I see the great Harry Potter was the one to bring me down. I guess that makes my capture a little more bearable." She brought a chair up to the bars and sat down to face me, still grinning. "It was all these fools would talk about, actually. You're little confession in the staff room. Not the most tactful way to go about it, but I couldn't expect any more from a Gryffindor."

I never broke eye contact with her as I took the fallen guards seat and sat down facing her. She continued to talk.

"I have to say though, it is impressive to know that you took down two of the most powerful wizards of are time. And one with your bare hands no less. So… masculine of you. It shows you have an animal determination. Your mudblood mother would be so proud. I'll bet she…"

Pansy was cut off as I took that moment to strike; I'd had enough of her talking.

I launched an attack of Legimency on her mind, determined to find her master's identity, or at least where he'd be. I ripped into her mind, convinced the information was there, but buried. I shredded through the blocks on her mind one by one, ignoring her screams. When I finally got what I wanted, I let out a feral growl and tore myself free of her mind, regardless of the further damage it would do to her psych.

I paused a moment to look at her sprawled on the floor, her mindless body now limp. If she survived long enough for someone to find her down here, she'd spend the rest of her days in St. Mungo eating her food through a tube.

The satisfaction I felt over that idea was far greater than it should have been, and I began to wonder if I might have become a little unhinged. Pushing the thought from my mind, I pulled my magic around me, concentrated, and pushed my way through the Hogwarts wards. They shattered before me as I aparated out of the castle and to the location of the Neo Death Eater meetings.

I wasn't surprised to find myself in the middle of a swarm of dark wizards, and at that moment I no longer cared. My attention was focused solely on the young man sitting on a throne. Not exactly who I had expected, but given the nature of the group, it wasn't a complete surprise.

I snarled, and let my magic go, pulsing around me. It was raw magic, but also an effective shield. It would consume any curses sent my way and keep my attackers away physically until I was completely drained. I took a step forward towards the throne, my eyes fixed on one person. "Zabini."

The little ponce had the tenacity to smile at me, as though I were visiting for tea. "Welcome, my friend. It's been too long since I last saw you, though to be honest, I thought you were dead."

I controlled my temper, knowing the angrier I got the more my magic would flare, draining me far faster than was wise. "I could say the same to you, though I'll admit, your disappearing act was a little more thorough than mine. You actually had everyone convinced, whereas I became unavailable for a time."

"What can I say?" Blaise asked, stepping away from his throne. "We Slytherins were always better at planning."

The man advanced, drawing his wand gracefully. He held it idly by his side, waiting for me to make the next move. I let my magic flare around me again, pushing the Neo Death Eaters back a couple of steps.

"Down boy," Blaise commanded with a chuckle. He kept advancing until he reached the outside of my magical barrier. "I've heard about things like this. You'll get pretty tired holding it up after a while… a long while I'd expect, given who you are. Won't you find it hard to attack though? I take it that's why you came."

I'm sure I growled at the moment. "Why are you doing this?"

"Are you naïve, Harry?" His eyes were wide with shock. "You know what Slythrin house is famous for, beyond producing dark wizards. We're ambitious. That's why we become dark. You can't become powerful as a light wizard. There're too many restrictions. So I figured I'd take my chances here. I just didn't figure you'd still be around when I made my play.

"Your play?" I asked incredulously. "You've been planning this all along."

"Well before I offered to spy on Voldemort for the Order. The second I heard about the prophecy to be exact. Neither can live while the other survives. I fed each of them enough information to keep you alive long enough to destroy Voldemort and get yourself killed in the process. At least that's what I was hoping for. It appeared to work too."

The Neo Death Eaters were beginning to stir, mostly in disbelief. The leader who'd rescued them after the fall of their master had just confessed to using them as pawns. Their eyes flicked between Zabini and myself, unsure of which one to fix their rage on. Blaise captured my gaze and tapped his wand to his left arm. Immediately the Death Eaters were still.

"An ingenious little charm," he explained. "I placed it on the dark marks of my followers after they became a little too independent for their own good. I much prefer it over having to say crucio every time they do something that displeases me."

"Why were you attacking children?" I asked, ignoring his words. I couldn't care less what he did to his Death Eaters, so long as they were out of my hair for the time being. I reigned by magic in a little, allowing Zabini to get closer.

"The first time wasn't my idea. It's what I meant by them getting to independent. The second time was because my followers had become a little too restless. I figured I'd let them have some fun. It was Pansy's idea. I hear she did a real number on Hermione before you took her down." A slight frown marked the man's features as he considered this. "I hope you're treating her kindly. She's my lover, you see."

I allowed myself a full fledged smirk at this, and brought my magic in further. Zabini moved closer as though drawn by the wall it created. "You'll be able to use her in that capacity, but I doubt she'll be good for much else any more."

Blaise's eyes hardened as he snapped, "What do you mean?"

"I needed to find out where her friends were hiding, but someone had put a block around her memory. She couldn't have spoken if she'd wanted to. I tried my hand with legimency, but I must say I was never very good at it. I might have spoiled her mind while I was at it." I smiled now, but I knew the full weight of what I had done would hit me if I made it out of here alive. It didn't stop me for the moment, however. "It's quid pro quo after all."

Blaise was furious, drawing his wand and pointing it at me, knowing he was helpless until I dropped the shield or my magic ran out.

"You bastard!" he raged. "That filthy Muggle wasn't worth half of what Pansy was, and I was kind enough to kill him, not leave him as an invalid."

I shook my head at Blaise's display of passion. "Now now, you're not showing nearly the restraint your predecessor did. And besides there's no guarantee she survived the shock of having her mind torn apart."

The man took an angry step forward, his face contorted in his rage the same instant I let my magic flare again; one pulse that sent everyone to the ground. The Neo Death Eaters remained on the floor, stunned and unable to stand. To Zabini's credit, he only staggered as the magic pushed past him and my shields dropped.

Nearly instantaneously he pounced, wand at my throat, taking me to the ground.

"I'll kill you," he whispered in my ear, "but I'm going to make it slow and painful. You'll be awake until the very end."

"You won't survive long once the spell on your followers breaks," I pointed out, preparing myself to reverse our situations. Blaise looked for a retort, while I wriggled under him to get my hand on my wand. After keeping the shield up for as long as I had I didn't have the strength for wandless magic.

"But I'll be alive, and you'll be dead," Blaise finally said. "And if you kill me, the spell breaks immediately, and you die with me."

He had a point, but I no longer cared. I wrapped my fingers around the wand in my pocket, trying to angle it towards the man. With a wordless spell I had him pinned under me, his wand in my free hand. "You seem to forget how resourceful I am, Blaise. My wand broke in my battle with Voldemort and I still managed to come out on top. I don't think I'm going to have so much trouble with you."

I clearly had the advantage, but Blaise wasn't one to go down without a fight. Without his wand, he did the only thing that he had in his repertoire. He baited me, hoping to get me to screw up. "Go ahead then Harry. Use the curse. Kill a defences classmate at point blank. We'll see if you're man enough to do it."

'Silly serpent,' I remember thinking, 'You should know better than to taunt a lion."

I smiled remembering how I'd killed Voldemort without a wand to filter the effects; compared to that this would be easy. I'm sure the smile was still on my face as those two unforgivable words slipped out.

The curse had barely left my lips when the Neo Death Eaters descended on me, ready to tear me limb from limb.

I welcomed the darkness when it came.

Death is but the next great adventure.