Disclaimer; I own nothing, nothing at all...

A/N Thank you to everyone who reviewed and thank you for the kind words about the loss of my dog. Everyone made me feel much better about it. I have to give credit to Lady Lupin of Mugglenet for the idea for this chapter. She wrote about it in her editorial 'Spinner's end #14'. She is an awesome editorialist. I hope this is totally not what anyone expected...lol. Happy reading and don't forget to review.

The Dark Lord

They approached the cabin cautiously, surrounding the tiny lodge as best they could. The mist that was hanging around the edge of the woods seemed to thicken before their very eyes. Harry nodded to everyone and said;

"On the count of three. One…two…three…Reducto!" Thirteen blasts came at the hut and blew it right off of its foundation. By the time the smoke cleared, a startled looking Wormtail was standing in the middle of what used to be a room in the cabin.

"Where is Voldemort?" Harry yelled. Wormtail was shaking from head to toe in the presence of the order members.

"I…don't know…he…I…uh…" he continued to stutter.

"Answer me Wormtail." Harry shouted.

"Don't make this harder on yourself Peter." Remus said calmly. "You are surrounded. Cooperate and maybe you will come out of this alive. You and I are the last of the marauders. You could make up for betraying Lily and James by helping us."

"I can't." Wormtail whined. "He will kill me…you don't know."

"I will kill you." Harry retorted. "You don't deserve another chance. But like Remus said, if you help it will make up for some of your deceitfulness."

"He is there." Wormtail whispered pointing to a chair behind him in the room. A silvery cloth fell off of Voldemort as he pointed his wand at Wormtail.

"Avada Kedavra!" the jet of green light hit Wormtail in the back and he crumbled to the rubble strewn floor with a sickening thud. The thirteen order members kept their wands pointed at Voldemort.

"Ah, friends and family and lovers. What a group you have here Harry." he said mock bowing at them. He bent over slightly and touched his wand to Wormtail's forearm, hitting the dark mark. A slight rumble and then thirty or so Death Eater's dropped from the sky landing behind Voldemort. Thousands of Dementors could also be seen swirling in the sky above them, while smaller Dementors circled the perimeter of the forest.

"Baby Dementors!" Hermione said to Draco in horror. The smaller Dementors were more active than the larger ones, circling and swooping about in an excited manner.

"Ah, my loyal servants. It seems that we outnumber our friends here by quite a few. And even my newest subjects have come to watch and feast!" Voldemort said clasping his hands together. His words seemed to excite the Dementors even further. The swirling black cloaks made dizzying patterns in the sky.

The order members gathered together to form a tight grouping. Wands still pointed outwards. The death eaters started to circle the group, laughing and taunting them.

A mixture of fear, sadness, and power radiated from both groups. The baby Dementors could no longer control themselves. They swooped in on both groups not discriminating on which they would feed off of.

A cloud of sadness descended on the order, Remus attempted to pass out chocolate but the depth of sadness was almost too much. The death eaters looked no better. It seemed they were experiencing the same emotions as the order. Voldemort however looked mildly affected at best. Once Remus forced some chocolate in everyone he told them all to prepare for the Patronus charm.

"One the count of three." Harry said while the death eaters and Voldemort were temporarily distracted. "One…two…three…EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Different creatures appeared from the tips of the order members wands. Harry's stag appeared at the forefront of the group, charging down the baby Dementors with ease. Ron's Crup snapped at the bottoms of the Dementors robes, and Draco's eagle soared above nipping at them with its beak. A protective circle encased the order. Baby Dementors and then the adults bounced off the shield.

"It's working!" Ron said as he watched his patronus bite a baby Dementor and drag it to the ground.

The death eaters however were not so lucky. None of them could conjure a patronus. Not that they didn't try. Some even removed their mask in the misguided thought that it would help. Harry saw Crabbe and Goyle Sr., MacNair and Greyback attempting to fight off the Dementors. Then it happened. Draco looked up and saw his father struggling against a baby Dementor.

"Father." Draco said looking confused.

"Draco? Are you alright?" Hermione asked.

"It's my father. How did he escape Azkaban?"

Hermione looked over at the group of death eaters that were frantically trying to fend of the Dementors kiss.

Lucius Malfoy was trying to shoot 'Avada Kedavra' at them but it had no effect. A large Dementor lunged at him clamping his mouth over Lucius'. A sickening scream filled the air as Lucius Malfoy's soul was sucked out of his body. He was the first, but not the last. Some of the weaker Death eaters were the next to go.

"Keep up your patronus!" Harry shouted. Everyone did their best to hang on, but it was growing increasingly difficult.

Just then a low soft song came from the skies overhead. It was soft at first but grew louder and more soulful as the volume increased. Harry's heart leapt. It was Fawkes. He had not been seen since Dumbledore's funeral, but here he was flying overhead singing his song. It bolstered the group's spirits and their patronus' became even stronger. Harry thought of a world free of Voldemort, a life with Ginny, being away from the Dursley's.

"Give up Voldemort. We have destroyed all of your Horcruxes. You are all that is left of your pathetic, used up soul."

"Potter, join with me. We can do so much as a team rather than enemies. Your blood flows in my veins. You have some of my same powers and abilities. We could be more powerful than anyone could imagine."

"No, I don't need power. I have all I need standing around me." Harry replied. Around them the Dementors, unable to get to Harry or the other order members were falling quickly. Kiss after kiss rendered the death eaters helpless. They started to circle around Voldemort. Voldemort tried to conjure a patronus again and again but was not able. A patronus was such light and good magic he never had a chance to perform the charm. Terrible thoughts flooded Voldemort's mind. Being alone in the orphanage, his 'Avada Kedavra' rebounding on him at Godric's hollow, Harry escaping in the graveyard, the haunting faces of his own victims, the feeling of agony when he had tried to posses Harry in the ministry of magic, finding out the prophecy had been smashed, learning Harry had destroyed his diary and the basilisk. The outpouring of emotion drew the Dementors in. They circled Voldemort like he was prey.

The hundreds of Dementors rushed in, surrounding Voldemort, obscuring him from the order's field of sight. All they could see was jets of green light being shot at the Dementors from every direction. It had no effect. They kept gliding by, stealing a bit of Voldemort as they went by. The shrieks coming from the circle of Dementors was almost unbearable.

"Keep your patronus' going strong." Harry said loudly. "They will feed on him, not us."

Everyone nodded and held their wands strong. The outpouring of fear coming from Voldemort worked the Dementors into a frenzied state. They swooped down from everywhere but suddenly Fawkes swooped down from the sky and the Dementors scattered to the edges of the forest momentarily.

Voldemort lie on the ground in front of them, barely alive, barely conscious.

"Harry, Harry, Harry." he said weakly. "These creatures cannot kill me. I have made preparations for immortality. Things you know nothing about." he laughed hoarsely.

"I know all about it." Harry said. "And all of your preparations have been destroyed. The diary, the ring, the locket, the mirror, the goblet and Nagini. All that's left is to destroy you." He pointed his wand directly at Voldemort.

"Mirror?" Voldemort said in a high pitched inquisitive voice. "I never made a mirror into a Horcrux." Cruel, cold laughter followed this revelation.

Harry turned to look at the order, all of whom had shocked looks on their faces.

"The mirror of Erised. The one you had hiding in Malfoy Manor." Harry said sternly again.

"I used that mirror for many things, but never for hiding a bit of my soul." he wheezed, trying to stand up. Harry shot a beam of red light at him knocking him back on the ground.

"Seems you missed a vital piece of my soul Harry." he laughed.

Harry swore to himself before turning to the group.

"I'm sorry." he said. "I thought we destroyed them all, my mistake may have cost us our opportunity."

Just then Fawkes flew off again towards the forest and the Dementors came sniffing back around. The order cast their patronus' again to fend them off, but this time Harry's had changed. It was no longer the stag that charged down the Dementors. It was now a huge phoenix, its long tail feathers and huge wing span circling the order giving them increased protection from the hungry Dementors. Again they tried to penetrate the patronus charm but could not. The patronus was too strong. With nothing else to feed on they turned again to Voldemort. Baby Dementors kept lunging at Voldemort.

"Look!" Ron shouted pointing at a particularly large Dementor that was now closing in on Voldemort. Even through the hazy patronus barrier they could see the Dementors gaping mouth hole coming closer and closer to Voldemort's head. One last scream was heard before the Dementor clamped his mouth down on Voldemort's. Everyone stood there watching for a moment. The Dementor had delivered its kiss. With nothing left to feed on they began to retreat. Harry's phoenix flew after them chasing them into the darkness.

Exhausted the order let their wands fall. All of the patronus' followed Harry's, chasing the Dementors off for good.

Harry let off a small gasp. There on the ground in front of them was Tom Riddle. He was older, hair grey but it was definitely the handsome man who had once been head boy at Hogwarts.

Harry approached cautiously, and kicked the wand that lay on the ground backwards towards the other order members. Hermione rushed forward to pick it up.

"Tom?" he asked the unfortunate creature who was still on the ground in front of them. His eyes were yellow and rolling in the back of his head. Drool fell from his mouth. He seemed startled by Harry's movement towards him.

"Tom, can you hear me?"

No response. The other members of the group shuffled closer to the near crippled Tom Riddle.

"Blimey." Ron whispered. Harry looked up at Remus.

"He said the mirror wasn't a Horcrux. I failed." Harry said in a defeated manner.

"It's possible he was lying." Remus said studying the pitiful being before him. "But it's also possible that he was correct. But you did not fail."

Harry looked at Remus with more confusion than the had ever felt. Voldemort was not dead. Just sitting there soulless.

"I was supposed to kill him. Neither can live while the other survives. That's what the prophecy said." Harry told the rest of them.

"I don't believe it that is it's only meaning." Remus said helping Harry to his feet. "There are things worse than death." Harry nodded, but still didn't quite understand what had happened.

"Why is he like this though? Wouldn't the kiss have killed him in this weakened state?" Harry asked.

"Not necessarily. If what he said was true, that one Horcrux is enough to keep him alive. He can never die as long as that exists. But, what a cruel twist of fate. The Dementors kiss has sucked his very soul out of him. He is an empty shell. He may indeed still be immortal. But he will live like this for all of eternity. No awareness of himself or those around him, no power and no hope. It's a fate worse than death." Remus said as he looked down on Tom Riddle.

Hermione gasped at the very thought. She turned her gaze away from Tom and buried her head on Draco's chest.

Tom's head rolled about on his shoulders. His eyes remained unfocused and Remus and some of the others had began to bind him up with flicks of their wands. Ginny walked up and stared at him. He had made her life a living hell in her first year at Hogwarts. Drool fell from his mouth onto the ground near Ginny's shoes.

"You are disgusting." she said before spitting on his paling grey skin. He made some kind of indistinguishable noise "You got your wish Tom. Living forever." she leaned down and whispered to him "And I hope you enjoy it." He gagged and drooled and spat fluids out of his mouth. She stood up and walked back to where her brother was standing.

"Remus, Ron and I are going to apperate him back to the ministry. You guys head back to the Inn." Harry said grabbing one side of what used to be Voldemort. Remus grabbed the other side and Ron his feet.

With a pop the three plus the shell of Voldemort disappeared. Hermione kissed Draco squarely on the lips.

"It's over." she said. "No more Voldemort. No more hiding."

A smile came across his pink lips.

"Free." he simply said. And she kissed him again.

They all turned around to head back to the Inn and back their things. A overwhelming sense of happiness and peace hung over the group of ten. They walked and chatted, this time walking around the massive forest and back onto the dirt road that lead back into town. Their guard had been let down. And that was just what he was waiting for.