A year after Waters Run Deep.
The final battle had been more of an anticlimax then anything else. Voldemort had summoned his last resources, of course, and he had no choice but to make an appearance himself; the only thing that could have saved his Death Eater movement.
But it didn't.
In a gruelling fight, suddenly aware of his mortality, Voldemort realized how much he had underestimated the Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One. And how much he was mistaken when he had Albus Dumbledore killed.
Severus Snape he had seen, fighting at the side of the Light. When Bellatrix returned from her time locked in the caves below the Hogwart's grounds, she'd announced that Snape was a traitor.
But Snape never responded to his repeated summons.
Harry Potter, the baby he had tried to kill, had grown into the powerful leader of the Light. The quests for the Horcruxes had only increased his abilities, and with his friends at his side, he radiated a strength that none could match.
Not even the Dark Lord.
Harry panted, his wand still in his hand, raised over Voldemort's broken body.
It was over, and he had yet to realize it. After all the fighting, all the deaths, it had ended today.
A noise behind him made him swirl around, his wand pointing at the dirty face of Bellatrix Lestrange.
"I promised Neville long ago I'd let him have you," Harry said mildly.
She shrugged. "Draco insisted on battling him first. Lucius joined him. Two against one was a bit too much for your friend, although he killed them both. But he was wounded, they carried him off."
"There's always tomorrow."
"Don't kid yourself, Potter. This ends today. Either by the Kiss or another means, I won't live to see tomorrow now that my Lord is dead."
"Why are you here, then?"
Bellatrix sighed. "I don't know. At first I thought to kill you, but what would be the point? It would be a hollow victory, even if I could manage it. I already saw last year that you are more powerful then me, when you broke the curses on that blasted door."
Harry grinned. "I was impressed myself," he admitted. In the surrealistic afterglow of battle, catching up with his second-greatest enemy seemed perfectly normal. All they lacked was a good cup of tea.
"You've gone back," she said. It wasn't a question, of course. The Horcrux was gone after all.
"Certainly."
"That annoying little man you animated…"
"Oswy."
"Yes, him. He helped you, I suppose?"
"Very much so. He roams the caves, but I've rewarded him by giving him entrance to the castle too."
They fell silent.
Eventually Bellatrix lowered her eyes.
"I fear the Kiss," she said.
"If it were up to me, I'd rather you kill me now," she looked at him, hopeful.
Harry shook his head. "I can't. Even if we hadn't…back then…I couldn't. Not like this."
"I know."
She smiled slightly.
"You know, maybe you did have a point…about what you said…back then."
And before Harry could make a move, she had pointed her wand at her own heart.
"Avada Kedavra"