Edited and reposted 1/9/07. If you find any other errors please let me know and I'll fix them as soon as possible.

THE LORD OF AZKABAN

PART III

THROUGH THE GATES OF HELL

By

Padfootjr24

Lord Voldemort looked out over the sea of black cloaked figures before him and almost sneered in disgust. Every one of his Death Eaters had at least once looked out over the black waters toward Azkaban and flinched in fear as the early morning sun seemed to stain the sky with blood. He loved seeing fear in the eyes of his enemies but when his servants showed fear of anything except him it filled him with rage. He had fought for nearly sixty years to achieve his goal and when this last 'stronghold' was finally crushed he would purge his ranks of all the weak and cowardly. Men like Cornelius Fudge and those other Ministry sycophants had no place in his future.

"Today we did what no force on earth has ever accomplished. For over one thousand years Hogwarts has stood strong against all opposition, but her day is now over. Where once mudbloods and muggle loving filth once held the reigns of our world's future, now purebloods, and only purebloods will be welcomed. For far to long wizarding blood has been diluted by such impurities that have made our world weak. Fools like Albus Dumbledore," He said as he gave the elderly headmaster a swift kick in ribs. "Have tried to brainwash our children into believing that they are no different than mudbloods, squibs or even muggles. Well, over the last few years we have shown the world differently. We are stronger, we are superior, and we will live in a world where we are second to no one.

"Over the last six months, every Ministry on earth has bowed to us, every major magical institution has fallen, except one. For the last five years the people of the magical world have been looking to Azkaban, as they once looked to Hogwarts. It may be a mere prison but it has become a symbol to weak minded fools who believe my power will be stopped." Voldemort stopped for a moment and anyone with eyes could see his anger was rising. "They said Hogwarts could not be taken, and at this moment my servants are patrolling its halls. They said Dumbledore could not be defeated, and yet here he is, weak and powerless against me."

"And what of Harry Potter?" Dumbledore asked in a calm voice from his place on the ground with his fellow professors. Though they hated the boy more than anything else, every Death Eater present was asking themselves the same question and turned back to their master for his response.

"Harry Potter," The Dark Lord spat. "Is a coward. He alone is responsible for my only major defeat since I have returned and yet he hides. The boy is powerful, yes. Yes I underestimated him far too many times. But since our last meeting my power has grown considerably. When I find the little shit, his head will join all of yours," He said with an evil grin as he looked at the Hogwarts professors. "Mounted on the front gates to your beloved school."

XXX

"That's a lot of boats." 'Mad Eye' Moody muttered to himself as he looked towards the shore from the top of the east tower of Azkaban.

"They're on their way then?" Harry asked as he stood beside the man. "How long do you think it will take them to reach the shore?"

"At the rate they're going, I would say it will take them about two hours. The winds and currents you kicked up seem to be doing their jobs very nicely. Wait, well I'll be damned. They have Albus and the others with them."

"Now why would he bring... Ah, he wants Dumbledore to see the end of this war." Harry concluded after a moment of confusion. "A smart man would have eliminated a threat like Dumbledore the first chance he got but I must admit that despite everything that has happened I'm actually kind of glad they lived through it." He said before turning around and leaving the room where Moody remained watching. Making his way back down to the lower levels of the fortress, Harry headed towards the main hall where everyone was already assembled despite the early hour. As he walked, Harry thought of everything that had happened over the last few days since Professor McGonagall had joined them. As it happens she showed up on the very night that Draco and Gabrielle were to be married. This was one of the predominant reasons why Draco had been so nervous when they had gone on their little raid to steal the Hogwarts library, if he had not been back in time she would have certainly killed him.

The wedding itself was rather typical, he would have to say, though Harry hadn't exactly been to many. Since her father did not know of the wedding, or even where she was for that matter, Harry was honored to walk Gabrielle down the isle while Snape stood in for best man. Both the wedding and the reception ran smoothly though there were some that drank a little more than they should have. All in all it was a good evening but it was the morning after that currently had Harry's mind occupied.

/Flashback/

After a very long night of drinking and dancing, Harry groaned as he began to wake up. It had become a very dependable routine, waking up in the morning just before dawn, but at the moment he wished to any higher power that may be around that he could just sleep a few more hours. Feeling a slight shift of weight on his left shoulder he wrapped his arm around the figure at his side and just basked in the comfort of the body next to him. Judging by the feel of the long hair he felt down his arm, it was Bella he was holding and he briefly wondered when she had curled her hair. That question nearly stopped his heart. After several long moments he managed to begin breathing again, although it came in short soft ragged gasps. Stealing away enough courage, Harry managed to pry one eye open and to his horror his fears were confirmed when he spotted a tangled mess of brilliant red hair.

It was nearly a full minute later that he managed to acquire enough brain power to open his other eye and look around to try to take stock of the situation. It seemed that he was lying in the center of his bed with both Bella and Tonks on his right side. In fact, Tonks was asleep on the very edge of the bed and was lying in a position that clearly indicated that she would end up on the floor some time soon. As amusing as Tonks and her sleeping habits could be, the majority of his attention was still being used to figure out how he got in this mess and how he could possibly get out of it with his manhood still intact, if you know what I mean.

When he turned his eyes back to Ginny, he became instantly aware of just how serious the situation was. Ginny wasn't just laying beside him, no. She was laying beside him in all her naked glory. Despite the fact that his two wives were asleep just inches away he could not take his eyes off of her. Because of the climate on Azkaban, Tonks, Bella and even Harry had very pale skin but Ginny's was different somehow, it was almost like a soft creamy white instead of a normal healthy color. However she got her skin like that Harry didn't care because he thought it was beautiful. His eyes moved up from where the sheets covered her waist and briefly paused on her flat firm stomach before moving on. His exploration was suddenly interrupted when Ginny turned over and threw her arm across his chest while she buried her face into the nap of his neck. Surprised by the sudden movement, his brain almost shut down completely when she moved slightly and he could feel her bare breasts resting on his chest. Shooting a quick glance to his other side, he was relieved to see that the sudden movement did nothing to disturb Bella or Tonks.

'I'm dead, I'm a dead man.' He thought to himself when he imagined what their reaction was going to be when they woke up to find Ginny clinging to him. Briefly he entertained the idea of simply jumping up and running away but shot that down quickly. After much consideration he finally decided that he would simply do nothing. He would lay there and when everyone else woke up he would simply deny he knew anything. It wasn't a great plan, granted, but it was all he could come up with at the moment. He must have stayed there still as a board for nearly half an hour until Tonks began to stir. Immediately Harry's body went stiff and his breath caught in his throat as he waited for the inevitable. As he had originally predicted, Tonks' sudden movement caused her to tumble off the bed with a thump. Normally an action such as this would cause the woman to release a long string of expletives at her clumsiness but this time she merely popped back up off the floor with a grin on her face. Harry instantly clenched his eyes closed once again when he realized that, like Ginny, she was completely nude and he began fighting a losing battle with his body's reaction.

"Bella, wake up." Tonks shouted as she slapped her aunt on the top of her head. She was answered by only a single grunt as Bella simply rolled over and tried to bury herself into Harry's body. This however was a problem, for Harry at least, since wrapping her arm around Harry included wrapping it around Ginny. Harry open his eyes just in time to see Bella's fly open to be met with the sleeping face that shared her 'pillow'. However the reaction he was expecting was not the one he got. Instead of being yelled at himself, or even cursed, Bella jumped out of bed and rounded on Tonks. Despite the severity of the situation Harry was relieved that Bella at least had on a pair of pajama bottoms.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" The shear volume of Bella's voice was enough to wake Ginny and after a short moment of confusion she gasped loudly before sitting up quickly and wrapping the blankets around her exposed body. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STOP ME AFTER THREE DRINKS. YOU KNEW I WANTED TO BE IN CONTROL WHEN IT HAPPENED." Now Harry's anxiety gave way to confusion. 'What the hell is she talking about?' He thought to himself.

"Sorry, but you were having so much fun, I didn't want to spoil it." Tonks responded innocently as she grinned at her aunt.

"What is going on?" Harry finally spoke up as Tonks and Bella continued to stare at each other. At the sound of his voice both women spun around and looked at him with innocent expressions. Too innocent.

"Nothing." They both answered as one. Harry's eyes instantly narrowed in suspicion as the two began to nervously shift from foot to foot under his glare.

"What is going on?" He asked again in a firm voice as he stared the two down.

"Ok, ok, fine. We thought that if the two of you had enough drinks," Tonks began as she waved at Harry and Ginny. "Then we could, well, um, you know. Since Ginny got here we could tell that the two of you were attracted to each other and since she was obviously curious about our relationship but we figured the two of you would never bring it up so we thought that..." She drifted off as though she had nothing else to say. The two people in question stared at the two women in shock. As hard as he tried, Harry could not understand why the two would want him to be with Ginny. Silence reigned for several minutes before Harry found the answer.

"Alright, let me see if I've got this right. You thought that the two of use wanted a 'physical' relationship with each other. The two of you, apparently were interested in such a relationship with her also. So you decided to get us drunk to instigate it. Is that about right?"

"Well, when you put it like that you make it sound like something immoral."

"If you knew that neither of us would mention it, then why didn't you simply bring up the subject yourselves?" When faced with this question both Tonks and Bella looked confused for a moment before they had the good grace to look a little guilty, though Harry wasn't sure how guilty they actually felt, if any at all.

"To be honest, we never really thought about that possibility, but wasn't this way much more fun?" Bella commented as she looked between Harry and Tonks. Harry's attention was pulled back to Ginny when he heard what sounded like a muffled whimper. At first he thought she was crying, possibly due to embarrassment of the situation, but that thought was cast aside as she lifted her head slightly and her 'whimper' became a full blown laugh. To say that Harry was surprised and confused would have been a supreme understatement.

"What could you possibly find funny about this?" He asked in annoyance. Ginny's reaction was a complete reversal of what he expected it to be, so her amusement threw him off a bit.

"I was just thinking about what Fred and George are going to do when they find out about this." She replied as she gasped for breath. Harry instantly went pale which caused all three women to crack up.

/End Flashback/

Harry had a hard time keeping the grin off of his face as he thought about that night. The following night Ginny joined them as well. Though it was a bit awkward for everyone at first, with no liquor to loosen them up, but they quickly became comfortable with each other. True to form, Fred and George could not let the opportunity to prank Harry pass, but despite a great deal of discomfort, he could not help but think that it was well worth it. In fact, the biggest worry for Harry, Tonks and Bella was the reaction their daughters would have. While it was true that the two girls were not even five years old yet, they had long ago agreed not to keep any important secrets from their children and this certainly qualified. To the great relief of all parties involved, the two seemed delighted with the news and, to Ginny's supreme embarrassment, asked when she was planning on giving them another sister since Bella and Tonks had already had one child each themselves. Snape tried to be his normal snarky self about the situation but quickly shut his mouth when Draco popped up and asked him if he knew where his mother was with an innocent look on his face. Snape's face immediately became tinted with pink and it was clear that she was once again sleeping off the night before in his bed.

However, as most things eventually do, the pranks the twins played on Harry were getting very old and he soon became very annoyed. When the two seemed to show no signs of stopping, Harry had to threaten the pranksters with giving Anna and Catherine free reign to do whatever they wanted to the two men. Both Fred and George instantly paled and quickly agreed that enough was enough. The two girls may be very young but they were natural pranksters and were VERY good at what they did. The ironic thing about it though was that many of the things they did were not intended to be pranks at all, they just turned out that way. If the two wanted to take a dog outside to play fetch and they couldn't find a stick, using Moody's peg leg seemed to be the obvious thing to use. And if a certain Potions Master banged his knee into a table and was limping, giving the man another leg seemed like a good idea. Nope, the twins wanted no part of anyone who's sense of logic worked like that. After all, whatever they could come up with when they put their minds to it was certainly bound to be much worse and much more humiliating.

As Harry walked into the main hall with a smile on his face he pushed all these thoughts out of his mind as he tried to focus on the task at hand. Walking through the doors he looked around the room and saw that everyone, or at least the vast majority of his fighters, were already present and waiting. There were about three hundred people present and most of them were armed to the teeth. The only inhabitants of Azkaban that were not present were the children, except for Catherine and Anne merely because nobody, even their parents, wanted to get on their bad side. There were several small groups of people just milling around and talking but most were simply sitting at one table or another waiting to hear what they all knew was coming. As anxious as everyone was, it was no surprise that they all became quiet when they realized that Harry had entered the room. Those standing, quickly took their seats as Harry made his way forward to the head of the hall. When he reached his destination and looked out over the crowd it was clear that they all had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to say so he didn't delay.

"As some of you might know, Hogwarts was attacked late last night and after about thirty minutes of fighting, Voldemort took the school. Now, at this moment Voldemort and nearly three thousand Death Eaters are on their way here. However, they are not coming alone. It seems that old snake face wants to gloat a bit so instead of killing them, he decided to take the Hogwarts professors captive, including Dumbledore." Surprised muttering broke out almost immediately at the news but the most common reaction was soft chuckles at Voldemort's stupidity for allowing such dangerous enemies to live just so that he could rub his victory in their faces. Not that everyone wanted Dumbledore and the others killed, of course, but he had been warned numerous times to evacuate Hogwarts so if he didn't listen to reason he would have to live with the consequences, or rather die with them.

"As you all have been told, after I deal with Voldemort I will be casting a number of spells, with the help of Bella and Severus Snape, that will make it impossible for anyone to find this island if we don't allow them to. However, the drawback is that no one can leave while the spells are active. I have been working on a way to allow everyone here to leave at will but it will take some time to complete the necessary calculations and craft the actual spell. With this in mind I want to remind everyone here that they are free to leave at any time. It would be a simple matter of sending you back to the mainland with the professors after everything here is done. You will have the opportunity to live where you choose in a Voldemort free world."

"Do you have any idea how long it will take for you to alter the spell to allow us to pass through the shields?" Ginny asked from the front of the room, where she stood beside her twin brothers.

"It could take anywhere from two weeks, two months or two years. With a spell as complicated as this it's hard enough to make the smallest of changes, much less isolating and altering specific key components that..."

"Ok, ok, I don't need you to go into details I'll never understand. Can you make the necessary changes? Yes or no?" Ginny interrupted and rubbed the bridge of her nose as though the very thought of such technical stuff gave her a headache.

"Yes, I can."

"You see, that's all I need."

"Ok, as I said, it could be a while before anyone can leave here, so is there anyone who would like to leave now?" He asked seriously but surprisingly no one spoke up, not even any the younger people who would normally prefer to live in an area with some type of entertainment. After several minutes of silence both Fred and George stepped forward.

"I know we can't speak for everyone here, but you gave us a place to stay when we needed it the most. We've lived here for several years now and to be honest, I can't even imagine thinking of the Burrow or any other place as home any more. This is our home now and we're staying." George nodded in agreement with his twin as nods and mutters of agreement filtered through he crowd. It didn't take long before everyone agreed with the Weasley twins and decided to stay as well. Harry was more than a little surprised by the unanimous decision but was still greatly pleased by it.

"Alright," He began again after a brief pause to shake off his surprise. "As I said, Voldemort is on his way here and should reach the island in roughly two hours, so we have things to do. Bella, take your team and begin setting up the illusion charms you've been working on. Tonks, you and yours should leave for Hogwarts as soon as possible." Both women nodded sharply and made their way out of different exits with at least twenty five men and women behind each of them. Fred, George and Lee Jordan were with Tonks' group while the rest of the members of Harry's original Quiditch team, minus Oliver Wood, were with Bella.

"Everyone else please remember to be in your assigned positions within the next hour. Ginny, I would be grateful if you would make sure Anna and Catherine stay with you and out of trouble." He requested as he gazed at his two young daughters. He had no doubt that if left to their own devices they would try to involve themselves in his confrontation with Voldemort. They are, after all, his daughters and have a nasty habit of getting themselves into some kind of trouble on an almost daily basis. Ginny nodded in agreement as her lips curled into a smile and she made her way over to the two young girls. The moment she first met them she lost her heart to the two girls and enjoyed herself whenever they were around.

After going over a few more random and almost insignificant details, Harry walked from the hall and made his way towards the massive double doors that led out on to the grounds. Waiting for him there was the clan leader of the Dementors, Bob, as Bella insists on calling him, err it. Their conversation was short and to the point but it was quite clear that the dark creature was greatly looking forward to the coming conflict. Then again, if you were a being that fed off of a person's negative emotions you would feel the same.

Walking into the cool early morning air, he looked around and saw Bella's team spread out all along the base of the fortress, casting numerous illusion charms that Bella had developed with a little help from Harry. Their goal was to hide the changes of the building from Voldemort until it was too late for him to turn back. The illusion was so complete that not even Moody with his magically enhanced eye could detect any deception. After one last approving look around Harry vanished without a sound.

XXX

"Chris do this, Chris do that." A young woman muttered to herself in annoyance as she stormed out of the ward for permanent spell damage at Saint Mungo's Hospital. She was having a very bad day and it didn't look like that would change any time soon. Since the Ministry of Magic surrendered to Voldemort, security had nearly been tripled and she now found herself running errands and delivering messages more than working with the patients.

Having just finished her education at Hogwarts five months before, she was lucky to be taken on as an apprentice so early but so far it wasn't living up to her expectations. These were troubled times, after all, and she could do the most good using her knowledge and training to help the healers instead of doing chores any five year old could perform. With a huff she sat down behind the desk at the entrance to the ward and laid her wand down on the desk in front of her.

With Voldemort on the loose, no one within the hospital was taking any chances. Even when not healing wounds or summoning some potion or another, all employees kept their wands gripped tightly in their hand. Death Eaters could attack and crush the hospital any time they wanted and everyone wanted to be ready in case they happened to come while they were on duty. Looking up Chris, or rather Christine, saw the patrol of Aurors that had become so regular recently. They usually patrolled in groups of three and Chris had to regularly stop herself from rolling her eyes at the thought that three Aurors could stop an army of Death Eaters. True, their presence often made others feel more secure, but in reality so few would do little good against overwhelming odds.

After the fall of the Ministry, most of the Aurors had fled with their families, but some had stayed to fight. Many went to fight with Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts, some came to Saint Mungo's to act as security and some even tried to start some underground groups against the Dark Lord. Most of these groups were crushed before they could even get organized. It was only a matter of time before the whole world was bowing to that monster. Thus far he had been focusing on the main power bases but once those are gone, Hogwarts included, he will make quick work of the smaller institutions such as the hospitals and other small schools of magic.

She let out a deep sigh but her head shot back up again when she heard the sounds of curses being cast and a moment later the tell tale sound of three bodies hitting the floor. Instinctively she reached toward her desk and grabbed her wand in a vice like grip and leaned forward to peer down the empty hallway. She jumped slightly when the double doors were thrown open with a bang and a tall figure walked in. She immediately slid off her chair and crouched down behind her desk as she seemed to hug her wand to her chest. As she fought a losing battle to get her breathing under control she could hear clearly that the man was whistling some up beat tune as he walked towards her position.

While in school she got decent enough grades, but was never a great defense student so she had no illusions that she could beat someone that seemed to have beaten three highly trained Aurors in a matter of seconds. Her only chance was for him to miss her entirely. However, while she was thinking this through, she suddenly remembered the healer and the patients in the ward and came to the conclusion that she could not simply sit back and do nothing.

Realizing that she could no longer hear the whistling, she hoped that he had passed her by and she could possibly get a shot at him without him noticing. Normally she would never curse someone in the back but she felt she had no other choice. Trying to steady her breath once again, she breathed in deep before standing up and lifting her wand arm.

"Hello there!" Chris screamed in fright and jumped back. When she had stood up and turned around her face had come mere inches away from that of the intruder. When she raised her head to look at him she found him merely watching her with an amused look on his face. She could not place it at the moment but he looked very familiar to her somehow.

"Sorry to frighten you but I am looking for the Longbottoms, could you tell me where they might be." He asked her politely as if he had not just attacked a group of Aurors. As she looked at him, she never once lowered her wand and her eyes only narrowed as she heard his question. After all, Death Eaters had killed patients on more than one occasion.

"And why should I tell you? You clearly aren't a regular visitor if you don't even know where they are." She said flatly in a suspicious tone.

"Because I intend to help them recover. I feel they have been lying in those beds quite long enough, wouldn't you agree? A little rest is just fine, but there comes a point where 'a little rest' turns into a serious case of laziness." The man answered bluntly with a small smile. Chris looked at the man as if he were crazy. He could tell instantly that she didn't believe him so with a sigh he raised his hand and lifted the hair away from his brow, revealing a very familiar scar.

When the man in front of her raised his hand, her grip on her wand tightened but she almost dropped it in shock when her eyes locked onto the famous lightening bolt scar of The-Boy-who-lived.

"Harry Potter!" She gasped out in shock.

"Indeed. I think that if I can drive off Voldemort and most of his pathetic little followers, then healing a few people will take little effort." The younger woman nodded dumbly and merely walked around her desk and led him down the hall with a shell-shocked expression on her face. As they walked down the empty corridor, Harry glanced at the girl with curiosity. She appeared to be several years younger than him so the odds of him knowing her was remote, but he could not help but think that there was something familiar about her.

"What's your name?" He finally asked as they were nearing the doors that he supposed led to the ward where Neville and his parents were looked after. Chris jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion into her thoughts and looked at Harry with blank eyes for a moment before answering.

"Christine Granger!" She answered flatly as she studied his reaction. Harry simply nodded at first as if his brain had not processed what she had said, but then he suddenly stopped in his tracks and did a double take.

"Granger?" He growled loudly with his eyes open wide.

"Yes, I believe you know my sister." She obviously said this purely for theatrics since the whole of wizarding Britain knew that Hermione was once one of Harry's best friends. Harry just stared at her in shock for several moments as he tried to figure out why Hermione had never mentioned having a sister in the five years they had been friends. When asked she told him that she had started her first year at Hogwarts when he would have been in his sixth year. Thinking this over, Harry couldn't recall Hermione ever actually talking about her family very much. He knew that her parents were dentists but that was the extent of his knowledge, he didn't even know their names. He was well aware that many squibs would go and live in the muggle world and basically cut themselves off from everything magical, sometimes even their families. Maybe Hermione had tired to do the opposite after learning that she was a witch, cut herself off from the muggle world. Or maybe she was just ashamed or embarassed to talk about her muggle relatives around those that might judge her for her heritage. Either way, he didn't really care, it showed a serious lack of values, whatever the reason.

"So, where are we going, through there right?" Harry asked after quickly checking his watch. Not waiting for an answer, he simply began walking again, leaving the young apprentice behind him. She stood there for several moments as she debated whether or not to follow him. Despite his commanding presence she was pretty sure that he would not harm her but she could not be one hundred percent positive since she had never met the man before tonight. She was leaning heavily towards the option of just staying out of his way when she once again remembered the patients. She had sworn an oath to protect them from harm when she first began working at the hospital and she wasn't about to start going back on her word. So taking a deep breath she quickly took a few quick strides towards the doors and pushed them open.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" She screamed as she ran to the fallen body of Healer Burk. He was roughly forty years old with dark brown hair that was beginning to grow grey.

"I didn't kill him, if that is what you mean." Harry stated without even looking back in her direction as he continued to walk down the long isles of beds that were lining the walls. "He didn't want to be very cooperative, like those Aurors outside, so he decided to take a little nap. Ah, and here we are." He finished happily as he looked down at the three beds before him. Both Alice and Frank Longbottom look much the same as the last time Harry had seen them during the Christmas break of his fifth year at Hogwarts. Both of them now had completely white hair and looked a great deal older than they should, but their condition did not seem to have changed for either the better or worse. He was surprised by Neville's appearance though. Although he was not a victim of spell damage, the healers decided to put him in the same ward as his parents in the hopes that the company would help one or more of the three recover, at least partially.

As he looked down at his old friend, Harry felt a pang of sadness and pity in his heart. Neville had always been a good guy, and to see him reduced to this was hard to accept. Although, he did not feel the least bit guilty that he was now married to, and had a child with, the woman partially responsible for his condition. At the moment Neville was curled up in the fetal position while his entire body seemed to shake as if someone were violently shaking the bed under him. While his physical condition had not deteriorated to such extremes as his parents had, he now looked more like some filthy madman than the shy and sometimes awkward young man he had once known.

Shaking off such thoughts, Harry moved between the beds occupied by Neville and his father and turned to face Frank Longbottom. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hermione's sister slowly approach him with her eyes wide as she tried to take everything in. Harry had to suppress a chuckle as he saw the look on her face. It was plain to see that the young woman was terrified of him yet she was able to push that aside for now in favor of her curiosity. Apparently after several failed attempts to revive the middle-aged healer she decided to see exactly what he planned to do. 'Not that it will do her any good.' He thought to himself with a mental smirk. If she were anything like her sister she would watch for each and every detail so that she may be able to practice what she saw and do it her self. And she will more than likely be rather upset to learn that that will be impossible.

Harry approached Neville's father first and extended his arms as he did so. Like he did with 'Wormtail', his hands began to glow with a dull yellowish light that pulsed and grew brighter the closer they came to Mr. Longbottom's body. Finally, Harry reached out and moved the older man's body so that he was now lying on his back before he placed one hand on his forehead and the other on the center of his chest. When his hands came into contact with his body the pulsing increased dramatically and the fast pace was hard to keep up with and only lasted for several minutes, though it felt like an eternity to Christine. Looking back at Frank she was surprised to see that he now appeared to be sleeping soundly and his body was much more relaxed. She looked up at Harry with amazement, shock and disbelief shining in her eyes but was unable to ask any questions as Harry turned his back on her and began the process again with Alice Longbottom. Because of the severity of their wounds and the brain damage they had suffered from the Cruciatus curse it would take a bit longer for him to work on Neville's parents than Neville himself, but after ten minutes he was finished and even Harry himself was amazed at how much better the couple looked as they rested peacefully for the first time in over twenty years.

After running a few tests on the couple, he turned towards Neville and regarded his old friend with sad eyes before stepping forward. Like he had to do with his father Harry had to reposition Neville so that the young man was laying on his back before he got to work. Unlike with his parents, Harry only had to spend a few short minutes with Neville before he was more or less healed. It would take all three of them some time to fully recover their strength after spending so long in a hospital bed. But before Harry could even think about leaving he was a bit surprised to see Neville's eyes slowly flutter open and look around wearily in confusion. That is of course before his eyes landed on Harry. For a brief moment his eyes were blank before they flared up in recognition.

"H...Hrr...arry?" He fought to croak out after a moment's thought. His voice was rough and course from years of ill use and it took every once of strength he had just to get the sounds out of his throat.

"Yes, it's me Neville." Harry answered quietly with a sad nod of his head.

"Day?"

"September 29, 2003." He said knowing perfectly well what the man meant. Neville closed his eyes tight for a moment in despair before they shot open again, but this time his eyes reflected surprise. Even without using Legillimency, Harry knew what he must be thinking.

"No, I am no longer a prisoner of Azkaban, although I now run the place and make it my home with a number of others. I find that the island's atmosphere keeps most people away from me and I prefer it that way after everything that has happened." Neville nodded in understanding and just then Christine returned with a class of water for Neville who accepted it readily. Harry had taken precautions so she did not hear that he was living in the very building that once imprisoned him. After downing his entire glass of water Neville tried his hardest to sit up but Harry gently pushed him back down.

"Let me up, I'm going to go with you." He wheezed out weakly.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but where I'm going, you can't follow." Harry informed his friend kindly while he thought of what would happen if he were to come, only to run into a perfectly healthy and sane Bellatrix. Neville of course made to argue but before he could utter a word Harry pushed a bit of his magic into Neville's body and the young man almost instantly drifted off into a deep and peaceful sleep. Harry looked at him sadly for a moment before resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I promise you, when you wake, things will be much better." He whispered more to himself than to Neville before turning away from him.

"They should wake soon enough, though it will take all three of them some time to build their bodies back up once again, but just like any injury, they shouldn't try to push themselves too hard too fast. Their appearance should improve after a few good meals, decent rest and a little bit of exercise but as I said, they should take their time and do it right. Here," He continued as he tossed the shocked woman a small box that was held shut by a few metal clasps. After catching the box she opened it to reveal a dozen small glass vials, each was filled with a thick murky green liquid. "They should each take one full dose of that a week for the next month. It will help them on their way to recovery. Now, if you will excuse me, I must be going." He finished and quickly walked passed the girl and back towards the door. Christine wanted to shout out for him to stop but she was at a loss for what to say. Unable to think of anything else, she asked the question that had been on her mind since Harry had shown up.

"Why did you come here? From what everyone understands, you have no desire to help anyone in our world, so why help these three?" She asked with a touch of anger at Harry's lack of action in the current crisis. Harry stopped just before reaching the doors and turned around slowly with an emotionless expression on his face.

"I helped them because Neville has always been a good man and I have heard nothing but good things about his parents. None of them simply follows blindly behind others and that will be a quality that will be much needed. After today the magical world is going to need new leaders and people worthy of being looked up to. And who the hell are you to question me?" He asked in anger himself. "I'm sure that as Hermione's sister, you have heard a great many things about me over the years. First it was talk about her best friend but suddenly it changed didn't it? Every time my name has been mentioned in the past seven years it has been spat out in contempt by everyone I thought I could count on." Harry stopped and took a few breaths to calm himself down before continuing. "Imagine, if you will, you're fifteen years old. You've just seen the closest thing to a father you've ever known killed before your eyes and you're sent home just days later to find what is left of your family butchered." This statement hit her a lot harder than normal considering her parents were slowly tortured and killed by Voldemort himself just a few short years ago. "You go into shock, who wouldn't after so many traumatic experiences piled on, one after the other. You finally come to your senses days later while you are being savagely beaten by a gang of drunken Aurors. While this is going on they taunt you with the fact that your two best friends, who you thought of as a brother and a sister, helped put you into this position. A man that you looked up to as a grandfather and mentor ignored the very laws that he helped pass because he wanted nothing more than to see you thrown away. Now tell me, have you ever been in the presence of a Dementor?" Christine now stood stiffly before him and her face looked paler than death itself. It was not merely the words Harry was speaking but also the coldness of his voice that effected her. She was feeling both sick at the possibility of the same thing happening to her and the fear that Harry would take his anger out on her. She swiftly shook her head in the negative at his question and that brought a feral grin to Harry's face as if he liked nothing more than to discuss those dreadful creatures.

"Well, let me explain something to you. Dementors feed on a person's worst memories, not their best as everyone believes. That is why you experience these memories when one is near, they are bringing them to the surface. But you are not merely reliving these events as they happened in the past. You are experiencing them all at the same time. Every painful injury you have ever endured, every terrifying experience you have ever suffered are all pounding in your mind at the same time. The feeling is worse then the Cruciatus curse. But this happens when only one Dementor is present. More than one and the sensation is intensified greatly. I spent seven years in Azkaban where hundreds are present. Most prisoners go mad within a month of their arrival, I even went insane myself but was pulled back out. Now, tell me truthfully, if this all HAD happened to you, would you simply forgive and forget and do what everyone wanted of you? Or would you tell them to go fuck themselves?" Harry looked at the girl through narrowed eyes and sneered when she looked about ready to burst into tears. "I didn't think so. So from now on I would suggest keeping you mouth shut when you have no idea what is truly going on. Good day." He finished in a deadly voice and patted her cheek lightly before leaving the ward and apperating away the moment the doors closed behind him. Christine cringed back slightly when Harry touched her and as soon as he walked through the doors she fell to her knees and burst into tears.

XXX

After leaving Saint Mungo's, Harry apperated back to Azkaban and reappeared directly inside his own quarters and was in a pretty good mood. Lashing out at Hermione's sister wasn't nearly as gratifying as lashing out at Hermione herself but the look in the girl's eyes clearly told him that she had rethought the entire situation and had come to new conclusions. He would pay a great deal to see the next meeting between the two sisters. Looking up with a content look on his face his jaw suddenly dropped when he was greeted by a very unexpected and not to mention amusing sight. Sitting on his desk chair in the middle of the room was one Ginny Weasley. Now normally this would not be all that unusual but it was because of the state she was in. She did not look all that happy as Catherine braided her hair in a very sloppy manner while Anna skipped in circles around the two while wearing a fluffy pink tutu and humming along happily.

They had obviously been 'playing' with Ginny for awhile since they already had her dressed up in the most hideous robe Harry had ever seen and the make-up on her face was just a few steps away from being perfect for a circus clown. Afraid that he might not get another chance at it, Harry quickly conjured up a camera and took a very good picture for the old scrapbook. His two little girls merely continued with their activities but at the sound of the camera snapping Ginny's head shot up lightening fast and sent Harry a murderous glare. He knew that she adored the two young girls but that affection obviously did not extend to playing dress up.

"I see they got you already." He commented with an amused chuckle as he banished the camera away to a safe place to prevent Ginny from destroying the film.

"Harry Potter," She began calmly with her eyes narrowed but Harry could definitely detect the steel in her voice. "You WILL hand that picture over right this instant." Harry stood there for a moment in mock thought before shaking his head.

"No, I don't think I will. If it makes you feel any better, I also have pictures of Bella and Tonks in much the same situation." He grinned.

"We also have a picture of daddy playing dress up with us." Anna spoke up as she stopped her skipping. Harry's mouth snapped shut when Ginny looked back up to him with a mischievous grin spreading across her face. 'Oh no.' Harry thought to himself. That was a look he had become very accustomed to seeing on the twins faces.

"Is that so? Well, I am certainly going to have to see that one. So, how did they talk you into playing with them?" She asked with a smug expression and twinkling eyes.

"How did they convince you?" Harry retorted. By the look on her face Harry could tell that her answer was the same as his. When those two girls get those puppy dog eyes going there is nothing that he could deny them, even if it meant doing a little cross dressing. However that ended when Bella walked in and quickly snapped a picture of it. The brief moment of amusement was broken when Tonks suddenly apperated into the center of the room. She looked like she had been knocked around a little bit but nothing serious enough to get Harry or the little girls very worried.

"Mommy, are you ok?" Anna asked as she and her sister joined Harry at her side.

"Yes, Andromeda, I am just fine." She answered softly but did a quick double take when she saw Ginny but had the good manners to turn away and hide her smirk at the younger woman's appearance. "Why don't you and Catherine go play in the other room for now?" She said after giving the two a tight hug. Both children wanted to know what happened but they knew by now that when their parents told them to leave the room they wouldn't get any answers at that time so they both merely pouted as they left.

"So how did it go?" Harry asked as soon as he heard the door click and cast the necessary silencing charms. As an answer he was greeted by the smuggest grin he had ever seen. And that's pretty good considering he had a lot of experience with them from Snape and Malfoy.

"Oh, it was just perfect." She said in a sing song voice as she plopped herself down in a nearby chair. "While I was leading my team to pick off all of the patrolling Death Eaters in the corridors and offices, Fred and George got to test their new fireworks on a 'target audience' in the Great Hall. Most of them were in there celebrating their 'great victory'. Leave it to simple minded Death Eaters to let their guard down so quickly. Anyway, it appears that the twins 'accidentally' made the damn things a bit more powerful then we intended."

"How much more powerful?" Ginny asked curiously. She of course remembered the fireworks they had set off during their escape from Professor Umbridge during their seventh year and they had caused a lot of damage. But having only been on Azkaban a short while she has been unable to see all of their newer inventions.

"Well they certainly won't be having any feasts in there for quite some time, I can tell you. I didn't see it myself but I certainly felt the blast on the other side of the school. Apparently many of the Ass Kissers were killed quickly and those that managed to make it out of the Hall were picked off quite easily when they rushed through the doors."

"So, are they all dead?" You could hear quite clearly that he didn't care either way but he felt the question had to be asked. Tonks however seemed to take offense at the question.

"What do I look like, a butcher?" She snapped in mock anger as she sat up straight in her chair. "We captured two." She pointed out with a grin as she leaned back to get comfortable again. Harry chuckled to himself before he turned his attention to another matter.

'Bella'He said as he projected his thoughts beyond his quarters. He did not have to wait long for a reply.

'What? And how many times do I have to tell you how weird this is?'

'How are things going?'He asked, ignoring the sarcastic question.

'Going? Things are going fine. At the moment, I am enjoying a delicious ham and turkey sandwich while I watch Snape and Malfoy amuse themselves with some pointless argument about some ridiculous poison.'

'So everything is ready?

'Yep, all illusions are in place and I must say that I did a fairly good job in constructing that spell.'

'Bella, modesty does not become you.'

"You're right, I did an absolutely brilliant job on that spell. Oh, also the house elves have already returned with enough food and supplies to keep us stocked up for a very long time. Which is a good thing since it looks like Voldemort will get here sooner than Moody thought. We have about twenty minutes.'

'Well that is more than enough time. I was actually thinking that he could have pushed those boats on faster but apparently he isn't as strong as he likes to think he is.'

'Yeah, whatever. Now if you don't mind, I would like to get back to my sandwich.'

'Alright, I'll be down in a few minutes.'He informed the woman before turning his attention back to Tonks and Ginny.

"It seems Voldemort will be here in twenty minutes so we must get ready. How is your team? Any serious injuries?" He asked. Tonks took a moment to think before replying.

"Nothing too serious, we took the Death Eaters by complete surprise so they didn't put up much of a fight. There may be two or three that will be unable to take part in our little 'exercise' but the rest are in perfect form."

"Good, let's go. Ginny, make sure Catherine and Anna do not leave these rooms. The windows are going to be blacked out until everything is over. I don't want them to see or hear what is going on out there." Ginny nodded resolutely and kissed Harry before he and Tonks left the room.

XXX

"Mr. Potter, I assure you that despite my age I can still handle myself very well in a fight!" McGonagall snapped with an offended look on her face when Harry told her that she would be remaining inside during the 'confrontation'.

"Of that I have no doubt. But as good as you are, my people are better. Anyone of these men and women are perfectly capable of defeating many Death Eaters on their own. They have trained extensively to fight together and have had our tactics and strategies hammered into them, you have not. That is why you, Narcissa and Snape will remain inside." Harry said in a tone that brokered no opposition before he marched off leaving McGonagall in a huff.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" She screamed at Snape who had remained silent through the whole argument.

"No, I don't think I will. I took the liberty of watching some of these people train and I must say that Potter was right."

"Right about what?"

"The morning after I first arrived he told me that these people were 'without a doubt the most dangerous and vicious fighters in the magical world'. I believe those were his exact words, but either way, they have been trained very well."

"So you're just going to sit around and do nothing while this is going on?"

"Of course not!" Snape snapped and looked at his former co-worker as if she were some first year Gryffindor that just botched a simple potion.

"Well, what are you going to do then?" She asked impatiently, eager to find some way to help during the attack.

"I'm going to go find the best spot to watch." He informed her calmly and she was once again left standing watching someone's retreating back in shock as he walked off in search of a place with a great view with Narcissa at his side. After a few quick moments she made up her mind and quickly set off after them.

XXX

Voldemort looked up to the looming fortress of Azkaban with a sneer on his lips as his boats approached the shore. The sight of his greatest defeat will soon be nothing more than a pile of rubble and none will dare stand in his way now. He cast contemptuous glares at his many servants who shivered in fear. Their fear annoyed him but what angered him greatly was the slight pang of fear he himself had felt when the fortress first came into view.

Dumbledore, however, was very excited despite the severity of his wounds. His colleagues were extremely nervous and the look in their employer's eyes did not help matters any. They clearly thought with his age, combined with his wounds, he had gone a little mad. After all, why would anyone in their position be excited about the prospect of a long and tortuous death. Then again, if they had the same information that he himself had, then they would probably be a bit excited as well. Albus was greatly looking forward to this confrontation. Luckily for them, Voldemort's attention was directed ahead of them so he did not see the Headmaster. The look on his face would have surely brought the Dark Lord's anger down upon them all and that was something they all wanted to postpone for as long as possible.

It was only a short time later when three hundred long wooden boats ground against the rocky beaches of Azkaban. The Death Eaters climbed out quickly and assembled on the beach, waiting for instructions. Voldemort turned and ordered his servants to bring the Hogwarts professors ashore. The wizards were quick to follow his orders and roughly pulled their captives out of the boats and threw them to the ground. All of them seemed to be resigned to their fate, except Professor Flitwick who continued to struggle. In the end the Death Eaters had to bind him in iron ropes to keep him from lashing out at them as they approached. He may be less than half their size but he could still pack a hell of a punch. The only other notable reaction came from Dumbledore. But unlike his feisty little colleague, he seemed to have no energy what so ever. The pain and added pressure from his numerous wounds were beating down on him and he found that he could no longer stand on his own, a fact that Voldemort took great pleasure in seeing.

Surprisingly, once everyone was assembled before him, Voldemort did not take the time to gloat or even preach about the superiority of pure bloods. Instead he merely gave a few quick orders and then began leading his Death Eaters off the beach and towards the fortress. The Death Eaters took great pleasure in cursing the professors as they walked and even took a few shots at Professor Flitwick who was still bound and being levitated along the way. Dumbledore was also being levitated but due to Voldemort's orders no one harmed him. The Dark Lord knew the old man was dying and he wanted the fall of Azkaban to be the last thing he saw before his body gave out on him.

As Lord Voldemort neared the fortress, his eyes set in determination, he suddenly came to an abrupt halt when he saw the main gates opening wide. The Death Eaters behind him all stopped as well and quickly drew their wands in anticipation of a surprise attack from any remaining Aurors. But no attack came. After nearly a full minute three black cloaked figures appeared in the gateway and slowly began making their way across the rocky grounds. Dumbledore's head immediately snapped up with a slight grin across his lips as he winked at his nervous colleagues. As the seconds ticked by the Death eaters began to grow nervous though their master remained calm as he surveyed the three figures with curiosity. Through the connection of the Dark Mark he could tell that they were not among his Death Eaters but they simply reeked of Dark Magic. When they were a mere thirty yards away they suddenly stopped and made no other move for some time.

Despite his curiosity the Dark Lord was enraged by the fact that an entire army of his servants appeared to be wary of three individuals, not to mention the fact that they were currently standing in his way. He was preparing to simply blast the trio out of his way when one took a step forward. After a brief moment the person shifted into a more relaxed position and turned their head towards the annoyed Dark Lord.

"Lord Voldemort," The man began softly though the power in his voice was obvious. "I am here to negotiate your withdrawal from my island."

"YOUR ISLAND!" Voldemort roared with rage. He was not about to let this man believe he was the one in the position of power here.

"Yes, MY island. Did you not wonder why the Dementors refused to reenter your service? You will leave, and take your army with you or everyone of you will die today." The man said this so calmly as if he knew it were fact and that just infuriated Voldemort all the more. In one swift movement he drew his wand and leveled it at the man's chest.

"AVEDA KEDAVRA!" He roared with his anger fueling his magic. His wand buckled slightly as the sickly green burst of energy shot forward and cleared the distance at an alarming rate. Voldemort had a smug smile on his face as he saw the man did not have the time to move out of the way. He was preparing to kill his companions and merely step over their bodies when he received the shock of his life. As his curse neared impact the unknown man lazily raised his hand and seemed to actually 'catch' the killing curse. He seemed to hold the energy in his outstretched hand for a moment before closing his fist and extinguishing it's light. The Death Eaters were obviously terrified at such a display of power as were the Hogwarts professors. Frightened, they glanced at the Headmaster and saw an absolutely delighted look on his face. One look at him and the professors knew that he had been expecting this which was comforting, sort of. But they were still at a loss at who the man could be.

"KILL HIM!" The Dark Lord ordered after he himself had shaken off his shock. The Death Eaters closest to him were quick to follow his command and immediately sent their own killing curses at the man. With twenty four speeding curses baring down on him, the man quickly burst into action. He took two swift steps forward before going down to one knee and throwing his arms outstretched. Seconds later each curse slammed into an inky black shield that held the curses in place as if they had simply stopped. Unseen by the Death Eaters, the man clenched his teeth in pain as he threw his hands forward. Instantly the shield disappeared and all twenty four curses shot forward, back towards their casters. Most of them were to shocked to dodge in time but those that were faired no better since their curses followed them and each hit its mark. To his credit, Voldemort did not even flinch as three sailed right past his head. Whether this was due to courage, stupidity, or insanity no one knew but it was probably a combination of the three. By now Voldemort was well past the stage of being shocked, he was just out right furious. All his life he sought to control such power but had yet to achieve it and he knew of only one person that could come close to matching him.

"POTTER!" He screamed in rage as spit shot out from his mouth as if he were some rabid dog. Each Death Eater heard the name and wanted nothing more than to turn and run. The professors were feeling much the same. They had no desire to face the young man they had all betrayed, especially if he held that much power.

"Hello, Tom, I see you are well." Harry greeted as he stood back up and removed the hood of his cloak. "I must say that your negotiation tactics leave much to be desired. We haven't even gotten down to business yet and you have already lost some of your followers."

"Don't you dare mock me, boy. I will see to it that you die a slow and painful death…"

"Idle threats, Tom. And if I were you I would be more polite, if I wished to kill you, I could have done it at any time. You would do well to remember that. But as I said before, I am here for a negotiation, so why don't we get to it shall we. But first…" Harry raised his right hand and concentrated hard for a moment. Everyone could feel the waves of power rolling off of him and it was very intimidating to say the least. Seconds later Voldemort spun around at the sounds of panicked shouting from behind him. What he saw made his eyes go wide. Two massive shield walls had risen up from with his ranks effectively dividing his forces into three large groups. There were nearly fifteen hundred Death Eaters in between the two walls with Harry with the rest divided on either side. The shields themselves were transparent with slight tint of gold. Death Eaters all around were throwing curses at the shields, but as of yet nothing had gotten though.

"As it stood, I didn't like the odds. I'm good, but I would rather not have to keep my eye on three thousand people for the time being. I'm sure you understand." Harry explained in that same all knowing tone Dumbledore used so often to annoy people. The Dark Lord glared murderously at him for a moment before his more rational and Slytherin side took over. Deep down he knew that he could not match the power that the boy had already displayed so that left him with the choice of collecting all the information he possibly could before the confrontation escalated once again.

"If this were a negotiation as you say, then clearly you are prepared to offer something in return for pulling back." He stated with his snakelike eyes narrowed. The boy was way to confidant for his own good.

"I think leaving here with your life is a fair trade, wouldn't you agree?"

"You insolent whelp, your hatred for me is great, so if you were confident you could destroy me and my Death Eaters you would have done so already. You clearly have your doubts. If you believe I will turn and leave simply on your threat, you are sadly mistaken. Negotiations do work both ways. If I can guarantee no harm will come to this island, what guarantees do I receive in return?"

"Such as?" Harry asked in an intrigued tone.

"As I have stated, you have great power, but if I am to leave your little pile of rubble alone, what assurances do I have that you will not seek power over my territories?" He asked smoothly though he did not know that he was playing right into Harry's hands. Harry made a show of thinking for a moment before he answered.

"The answer to that question is rather obvious. If I wanted your territory, I would have taken it already. I have no interest in the outside world or I would have gotten involved in your pathetic little war a long time ago. But, if it's assurances you want, then that is what you shall receive." With that, he glanced back behind him at his two companions. "Would you mind joining us?" He asked with a grin. The two nodded and stepped forward. When they reached Harry's side he looked out over the Death Eaters with a wide grin. His eyes lingered on his former teachers even longer, he was going to enjoy their reactions to a certain someone.

"I'm sure every one of you has known at least one of these young ladies, at least by reputation. Ladies, if you will?" A collective gasp of shock went out through the crowd at the sight of Bella. Dumbledore looked sad for a moment while Professor Flitwick was squeaking in shock from his position on the ground where he was still bound and gagged. But by far the most interesting and amusing reaction was that of Voldemort. His normally pale features began to turn red with rage at the betrayal of one he held so close. Of all of his Death Eaters, it was Bella alone that he could count on to never waver in their mission. And now here she was, standing along side Potter. The smirk on her face only seemed to enrage him further.

"You seem rather upset at this turn of events, Tom." Harry said mockingly. "But here's an idea. As a show of good faith, I will allow you one killing curse that I will not block nor deflect. That is unless…" What Harry said was never heard because Voldemort was beside himself with rage that his incantation was so loud that it seemed like he was under the sonorous charm. Everyone waited for the woman to collapse to the ground in a heap but it never happened. When the curse slammed into her chest the green glow encompassed her body for only a few moments but in that time Bella let loose a short but intense scream of pain. When the glow had subsided Bella slumped slightly on to Tonks who had rushed to her side. Her body was shaking slightly and she was gasping for breath, but most importantly, she was still very much alive. No one seemed able to tear their wide eyes off of the woman as their mouths hung open in shock. Seeing the terrifying Lord Voldemort with his snakelike face with such an expression was absolutely hilarious despite the situation.

'Are you going to be alright?'Harry sent this thought to her in a worried tone as he looked at her intently with both his eyes and his magic to make sure that no serious harm was done.

'I'm fine. His curse is no where near as powerful as yours, but it still hurts just the same. But I am getting much better at blocking it out.'Even in her mind her tone clearly showed Harry how hard it was for her to focus through the pain. It took everything Harry had not to rush to her side and envelope her in a comforting embrace. But from experience, he knew that she would be alright again in a matter of minutes so he focused on the task at hand.

"Tom, as you can see, for Bella and also for Tonks, the killing curse is now nothing more than a minor inconvenience. You asked me for assurances, so I will offer you one. You take your Death Eaters and leave Azkaban and never return, and in exchange I will give to you what you have sought for most of your life. Immortality!" By now even Dumbledore had gone deathly pale. This was clearly not going the way he had expected it would and he certainly didn't expect Harry to offer the Dark Lord eternal life.

"I can gain that power on my own, Potter, I am nearly there now. You will have to do much better than that to save this place." Now Voldemort was bluffing, and Harry knew it. 'But he hid it well' Harry mused to himself. When he spoke again his voice carried a VERY dangerous edge to it.

"Don't try to play me for a fool, Tom. It may appear that we have each other over the same barrel, but it just appears that way. You are no closer to immortality than you were twenty years ago. While it is true that a killing curse will only rob you of your body, destroying a mere spirit will require little effort for someone of my power. We both know that what I have just offered you is something you will NEVER be able to achieve on your own. You will either accept this offer, or you will die, it is as simple as that." Harry finished as he looked his old nemesis square in the eye. Voldemort for his part was fuming at the lack of respect he was receiving but was somehow able to keep his temper under control, at least for the moment. He thought long and hard about both the situation he was currently in and about Potter's offer. He would never admit it out loud but the little brat was right. His research and tests towards gaining immortality had reached an impasse and he was unable to continue forward on his own.

Everyone looked on with baited breath as the Dark Lord stood quietly in thought while mulling over the offer. The Death Eaters, though terrified of him, could not help but look on to Harry with a little awe. After all, it isn't everyday that you come across someone that seems to be able to hand out eternal life to anyone they please. The Hogwarts professors, however, were a different story. They had all gone pale and were terrified at the new levels of cruelty Voldemort would undoubtedly exhibit once he had no reason to fear death any longer. By now Bella seemed to have shaken off most of the pain she was in and was watching the Dark Lord intently with great satisfaction.

Thinking very hard about the situation, Voldemort could find no fault in Potter's bargain. Under normal circumstances he would have attacked immediately but with his army divided by an unknown shield he was not very confidant that he could overcome his opponent's power. Deep inside he knew that the boy spoke the truth, he could kill him at any moment if that is what he wished, so there was no real strategic reason to lie only to turn on him later. But being a very guarded and mistrustful person he did not accept immediately. Everyone watched for nearly twenty minutes in shocked silence as Harry waited patiently for the older man's answer.

"All right, Potter, you have a deal." Voldemort finally spoke up. In the end he had decided to accept and then use his newly acquired immortality to help him defeat Harry Potter once and for all. After all, he couldn't afford to have his Death Eaters see their master talked down to in such a way from this mere boy without seeking some type of retribution, it sets a bad example. Though their expressions remained neutral, Harry, Bella and Tonks were cheering loudly on the inside at the Big Bad Dark Lord's gullibility and stupidity.

"Very well, you have agreed that despite your campaign in the rest of the world, Azkaban will remain solely under my control. In exchange I will not involve myself in the affairs of the outside world, as well as grant to you the power of immortality. Are these the terms you have agreed to?" After an extended moment he only received a sharp nod of the head as a response and Harry's eyes grew hard once again. "Do you agree? Say the words, Tom." Voldemort's eyes narrowed in rage for a brief moment.

"By my magic, I, Lord Voldemort, hereby bind myself to the terms and agreements negotiated with one Harry James Potter. Should this agreement be broken, my magic will be forfeit and be returned to the earth from whence it came." The fact that the Dark Lord had used his fictional name did not go unnoticed by Harry, or anyone else for that matter. He used the name Voldemort either because he did not want to speak his muggle father's name in front of his Death Eaters or because since that was not his true name the magical oath was not valid. Harry privately suspected that it was actually both reasons. Voldemort watched Harry intently for any sign that he had noticed and understood the deception but the little brat gave no outward indication that he had.

"Good, I'm glad we could come to an understanding here. I'll admit that the terrain around here isn't much to look at, but a couple thousand dead bodies scattered about certainly wouldn't do it any favors. So, now we will proceed." Professor Dumbledore had slowly raised his head back up from the ground to witness what was taking place. The idea both frightened and sickened him but it was something that he believed would be utterly fascinating to witness. And he wasn't disappointed.

The old headmaster had lifted his head just in time to see Harry slowly raise his right hand with his palm pointing directly at Lord Voldemort. He had his eyes closed and appeared to be in deep concentration. After what felt like an eternity, but had in fact been only two minutes, a small shimmering blue orb emerged from the palm of his hand. It was about the size of a muggle golfball and appeared to be made up of pure energy. The orb itself glistened like it was made of highly polished glass while small thin bolts of electric blue lightening danced over its entire surface. Once it had left his hand it slowly made its way across the ten foot gap between Harry and Voldemort. Everyone present could feel the power emanating from the thing and it was more than a little disconcerting. As Voldemort was its target, he felt much more than anyone else and as it grew nearer he became even more nervous. At one point he tried to back up a few steps but he quickly found that for some reason he could no longer move either his arms or his legs. While the seconds ticked by Harry maintained his concentration as small beads of sweat broke out on the Dark Lord's face and his hands became clammy. When the orb was mere inches away Voldemort closed his eyes tightly and tried to shield his mind from the incredible power that was saturating the area.

The crazed killer felt as if he would have a heart attack when he felt the object gently bump into his chest one, two, three times before it stopped. Confused, Voldemort cracked open his eyes and looked down just in time to see the orb regain its motion and push forward to slam into his chest. He let out an explosive gasp as an intense pain flared up thoughout his entire body. Almost immediately, the man crashed down to his knees as he gasped continuously as he bit down on the inside of his cheeks to keep from crying out in pain. He had not felt pain like this since he was in the service of Lord Grindlewald's Black Guard and had displeased him in whatever fashion. And even then it was nothing on this scale. He would certainly learn to enjoy the Cruciatus curse before he went through something like that again. Those among the Death Eaters that had relaxed slightly since the 'negotiations' began quickly raised their wands again but were unsure of what to do or even what was going on with their master.

Seconds turned into minutes and finally after twelve minutes Voldemort was able to get himself under control and struggled to stand up once again. If it had been anyone else, someone may have helped him to his feet but Harry, Bella and Tonks had no great urg to help him and his Death Eaters would have surely been punished greatly if they had had the 'audacity' to believe that he needed their help. It was not long before Voldemort was able to get his body under control and turned his rage filled eyes back to Harry. Harry would never admit it out loud but he was slightly impressed. Though he hated the man greatly, he had to admit that he handled extreme pain very well. Voldemort's thin lipped mouth opened slightly and Harry knew he was about to go off onto some kind of rant so he decided to cut it off.

"Tonks, I think now would be a good time for a demonstration. So, if you will?" He asked politely as he grinned evilly at the young woman in a manner that no one else could see. She responded a grin of her own before drawing her wand and sending a quick killing curse in the Dark Lord's direction. For an old man of seventy years old, he was pretty fast and very nimble and he was able to dodge her curse easily. Feeling his anger rising to new peaks he prepared to retaliate but when he raised his wand and spoke the incantation he was stunned and confused when nothing happed. His momentary pause was more than enough opening for Tonks to take advantage and her second curse connected with his left shoulder and the impact threw him backwards and damn near flipped him completely over. For the second time in as many minutes Voldemort was forced to hold the intense pain at bay as he lay motionless on the ground though he was greatly relieved that it did not hurt nearly as much as what he had experienced when that unknown orb had collided with his chest.

Every Death Eaters around looked on in shock at their fallen master but were relieved and a little awed when he began moving again. It took a moment but he was able to pick himself up and dust himself off before turning his burning red eyes to the former Auror.

"You shall pay dearly for that, you little whore." He seethed through clenched teeth as he raised his wand once again. However, his confusion and anger was rapidly turning into panic when his wand once again refused to work. He continued shouting curse after curse, his voice getting more strained and desperate as he went along. Dumbledore, and Voldemort's other prisoners, who had resigned themselves to the belief that Harry truly did plan to make a deal with Voldemort, realized that despite being present for every word spoken, they actually had no idea what was truly going on. After reaching this conclusion, the twinkle began to return to Dumbledore's eyes as he greatly anticipated seeing the direction this was going.

"WHAT THE DEVIL IS THIS?" Voldemort raged as he whipped around to face Harry once more while waving his now useless wand in the air.

"I would think that that it would be obvious. For your crimes, I have decided to turn you into that which you hate most in this world. A muggle!" Harry said in a mock excited voice as if he were revealing some great secret. "But have no fear, I fully plan to keep my part of our bargain. I will not try to gain power over areas you have recently conquered, since I think the people are going to want their communities back. Also, as promised, I gave you the gift of immortality, I just simply took your magic from you at the same time. But sadly, with your attempt at deception during your wizard's oath, I'm afraid your word cannot be trusted. So I'm sorry to say that you will just have to remain here where I can keep an eye on you. Oh, I know, you can share a cell with your old pal Wormtail. You can play like your having a sleep over or something. Won't that be fun?" Harry said in a very giddy voice as if he seemed very excited about the prospect. Tonks and Bella stood in the background snickering to themselves and even Dumbledore who was growing weaker by the moment could not hold back his amusement.

"You have also broken our agreement, Potter! You must comply with these guidelines or you to will lose your magic." To most of those present it was a bit of a shock to see the Dark Lord so calm and composed when he just found out that he had lost all of his magic. But those that knew him best knew that he was absolutely furious and may have already felt a panic attack coming on. 'Someone is clutching at straws now.' Harry thought to himself with amusement.

"Sorry, Tom, but you are wrong." He replied while lifting his right hand to cover his heart as if the Dark Lord's accusation had wounded him. "If you remember correctly, I swore no oath and I gave no word to keep. In my judgment you simply had no alternative. Everything I have offered, you shall have, but I certainly never said that you could have it all and still leave now did I. But, alas, it is almost time for a little recreation, so allow me to introduce you to a few of my friends." He said before he let out a loud whistle. After this chosen signal Voldemort whipped around to face his men. The last thing he saw before the world went black was well over three hundred witches and wizards appearing out of nowhere on the other side of the two shields that had isolated the Death Eater forces into three groups. His last thoughts were rather smug as he pondered how a mere three hundred could ever hope to compete with a force ten times their size. He didn't know who they were or who had gotten the idea in their heads that this was a winnable fight, but he was going to enjoy watching them get crushed. Of course he had no idea how wrong he was.

The moment after his fighters appeared Harry bent down and picked up a rock about the size of his fist and smashed it, with a resounding crack, to the back of Voldemort's head. He could have just as easily used magic but there was something satisfying about doing something with your own hands. The self proclaimed Dark Lord slumped to the ground without a sound so Harry prepared to jump into the fight as well. Looking around he saw two groups of about one hundred and sixty fighters on either side of the confinement area he now occupied. They were vastly out numbered by about five to one on each side but they were much more skilled and had more knowledge to call upon. But despite these advantages they were still being weighed down by numbers and were hard pressed to make much of an impact.

"Fools." Harry heard Bella mutter to herself when she saw the Death Eaters that were but a few feet away from them. Every one of them were turned to either the left or the right watching their fellow dark wizards fight instead of focusing on their own surroundings. Many apparently still had not gotten the clue and continued to bombard the shields with curses and hexes in an attempt to join one fight or the other. But like before, none had any effect. Seeing the difficulty the Azkaban fighters were having Bella quickly signaled for the Dementors by sending a burst of red magic into the air. Within seconds two hundred of the foul creatures glided through the main gates and quickly spread out across the battlefield, passing right through the shields as if they were not even there. The Death Eaters and professors felt their presence almost immediately and spun around in different directions to locate them. It was at this time that those still locked up with Harry, Bella and Tonks were reminded that they were not alone. They quickly began to panic at the look in Harry's eyes and they wanted nothing more at that particular time than to turn tail and run. Also the addition of five Dementors certainly didn't make them feel any better about their chances. Four of the Dementors took up position in front of Harry and the girls while Dementor 'Bob' stood at his side. After giving the clan leader a brief sharp nod the group of eight began marching forward towards their targets.

XXX

Dumbledore watched on in absolute glee as Harry explained to Voldemort that he was now a muggle. Although he had managed to keep his body language neutral, he was not able to hide the rage, disbelief and fear from his eyes. The look was almost enough to make you feel sorry for the man. Almost, being the operative word. He had heard Harry distinctly say something about meeting some friends of his and this comment left the old man deeply confused but that was soon to fade. Like Voldemort and the Death Eaters, his attention, and that of his colleagues, was pulled away from Harry only to be pulled in the direction of what started out as a minor disruption but quickly grew into an all out battle to the death. For a moment he thought it might have simply been a confrontation between a couple of Death Eaters. These thoughts were cast aside though as they stripped off their Death Eater robes and masks to reveal top quality dark green battle robes. Though they had removed their masks their hoods were still up so it would be next to impossible to identify them while they were constantly moving during the battle. Once it was over he may be able to see through the concealment but as things were it would be a waste of both time and energy, although he was greatly curious as to who these people were and where they had come from.

While it was true that he had no clue as to the identity of these people he felt a great deal of sorrow due to the fact that they seemed to be throwing their lives away for a lost cause. The odds were too great and it would take a miracle to overcome them. At that moment he remembered his conversation with Harry the night not that long ago when he had traveled to Azkaban to 'release' the boy. With all that was said during that meeting one statement rang louder in his head than any other. He had said, 'Harry Potter is gone, he no longer exists. He died the same day you threw him away.' The old Harry Potter would have surely have refused to let anyone fight alongside him if he could prevent it in an effort to keep them out of harms way. But this man that he now looked upon was colder and indifferent to the troubles of those outside of his small corner of the universe. It hurt him greatly to know that it was his own inept judgments that had brought the world within a short distance to a global holocaust. The old man sighed sadly at the thought of the grave mistakes he had made in the past. But he took a small amount of comfort in the fact that after today he will not be in a position to make the same mistakes again for some other small boy. Unlike most people he was not afraid of death, in fact he greatly looked forward to it. He just wished that he could go out in a more 'creative' and 'entertaining' way. Dying on a cold windswept beach surrounded by the dead and dying wasn't what he was hoping for. Putting these thoughts to the back of his mind he refocused his attention to the scenery around him. The first thing he saw was the absolutely flabbergasted looks on his colleague's faces. Curious, he followed their line of vision and it took all of his self control to prevent his jaw from dropping in shock.

When the unknown fighters had first appeared he was absolutely certain that they would be defeated and each one would be killed. However that did not seem to be the case. Where as vastly superior numbers would normally be a huge advantage in any army's favor, here it seemed to be a hindrance. Harry's 'friends', as he called them, used the size of their enemy to their own advantage by pushing full force into their ranks before each fighter would then brake off from the rest. Once they were on their own they would simply use their speed to run through their lines, throwing curses at anyone they happened to come across. This strategy was all the more effective because the Death Eaters had to be careful not to hit their own allies if their curses happened to have missed their elusive targets. Dumbledore watched in awe at the speed and skill that was being demonstrated and, being ever the scholar, he was greatly interested in who had trained them to fight in such a fashion. He was greatly impressed that they utilized muggle martial arts techniques since most wizards seemed to shy away from physical forms fighting. Their tactics and fighting style seemed faintly familiar to him but for that moment anyway he was unable to place it.

As time dragged on it became clear that they would not be able to win this fight on their own. The vast majority of the Death Eaters could not even begin to hope to match their skill but they still had the numbers and every time someone would be stunned one of the others would simply revive them. When they were injured, if it were possible, they would be healed enough to reenter the fight so the Azkaban fighters were always left with the feeling that they were accomplishing nothing. Suddenly an eerie chill spread over the battlefield like a thick blanket that smothered everything in its wake. Turning his head quickly towards the direction of the main gate Dumbledore quickly strengthened his mental defenses as best he could and was immensely glad of this when he saw numerous black robed figures emerging from the gateway. When they began to spread out everyone took notice of their arrival and Harry's forces took advantage at this momentary lapse of concentration to hit their enemies harder than they had been doing previously.

Looking over towards Harry he saw five of the creatures make their way to him, one being a bit taller than the others and much more powerful. Together with both Tonks and Bellatrix they began marching towards the group, presumably to get to the Death Eaters that were behind them. Realizing who the tallest Dementor must be, Dumbledore groaned softly as he put his head back down, an action that did not go unnoticed. For a brief moment he even had to stifle a soft whimper before it past his lips. He was not looking forward to being anywhere near that creature again. Knowing full well it wouldn't do any good, he didn't even both to warn his friends and fellow captives at what they were about to experience as the figures drew closer. For quite a while time seemed to slow down as his mental shields were brutally attacked by the power that emanated from the dark creatures. Whether it was two seconds or two hours he could not honestly tell you, all he knew for sure was that he was eternally grateful when his mind could withstand no more and his vision went black.

XXX

Harry stalked towards his prey with a single minded determination. The only person he blamed more for his hard life than Dumbledore, was Voldemort. And these people, animals really, served him and carried out his orders. These were the men and women that were responsible for so many more deaths and emotional upheavals than anyone could possibly count. It seems their whole purpose in life was to do nothing more than destroy lives. And they enjoy doing it. The only way to protect other children from experiencing what he had gone through was to eliminate as many of these savages as possible, whether they are killed or thrown into a cell in the prison makes no difference to him. Either way, they are getting exactly what they deserve.

Without even looking down at the unconscious forms of his former school teachers, Harry stepped over them without missing a step. By the time Bella and Tonks had passed them as well, the Death Eaters had collected themselves enough to fire at least some random curses. But since they were already beginning to feel the effects of the Dementors as well, their aim was off and not much power was put into each spell. The closer they got the more desperate the Death Eaters became. On a number of occasions a few tried to cast he Patronus Charm at the Dementors but they seemed to do little more then annoy the powerful creatures. By now, every one of them was pale and their skin had become clammy and coated with sweat despite the cold atmosphere of the island. Deciding that it would be a good idea to take at least a few prisoners, Harry called the Dementors back. Raising his hands slightly he held them so that his palms were a mere four inches from each other. In no time at all, bands of glittering gold lightening jumped back and forth between his hands. At first it started out rather small and didn't look all that remarkable. But as the seconds ticked by more and more bands appeared and the glow was beginning to grow brighter. Thirty seconds after he began Harry ripped his hands apart and what looked like a partial shock wave erupted from the golden light and flew at an alarming speed towards the terrified Death Eaters. Unknown to them, this was the same spell Harry had used to capture so many Death Eaters the last time Voldemort was stupid enough to bring his forces here.

When the shockwave slammed into the Death Eaters most of those in the front were thrown backwards so violently that they had been thrown into the air and came crashing back down on the now unconscious forms of their comrades. The sudden arrival of the powerful Dementors and the shock and fear the Death Eaters felt at the sight of their allies being taken out so easily gave their outnumbered opponents the opening they needed to strike hard and fast. Due to the strength of the Dementors they received very little resistance from then on and the remaining Death Eaters were subdued fairly easily. Seeing the Dementors swooping down on anyone nearby and 'kissing' them was enough for a great number of them to simply throw their wands down and surrender. These men and women were only stunned but with a modified version of the spell that was one of Bella's pet projects. She had only recently finished the calculations that went into building the spell and this was the first time it had been used in a combat situation. I'm sure the Death Eaters would agree that it is very effective. The spell itself would never ware off on its own, you must use the counter curse which is only slightly different from the standard Enervate charm. All in all, the battle lasted only about half an hour but the fighting had been brutal and it was very unlikely that anyone would forget the skill and determination of Harry's 'friends' any time soon. Once everything was under control Harry dropped the two massive shields before going through and making sure each Death Eater was either stunned or effectively bound. And just for good measure he also hit each professor with a stunning curse, no sense in taking chances, after all.

"Alright listen up!" He called out to get everyone's attention. "Start taking our injured and dead inside so that we may begin making arrangements for them. Anyone who is able, I would like them to begin clearing away the bodies of the dead Death Eaters as well as those who have received the 'Kiss'. Those still alive just leave where they are for now. We must look to our own people first." For the next hour Harry, Tonks and Bella helped care for the more critically wounded before they were taken back into the castle to receive more treatment and rest. Despite their superior skill and their element of surprise everyone was still greatly surprised to learn that they had only lost eighteen men and women in the attack. However, neither that surprise nor their victory would be much comfort to those that had lost a mother or father, sister or brother.

When it came time to dispose of the bodies of the dead Death Eaters Harry decided to use the same method Barty Crouch jr. had used when disposing of the body of his father during Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts. He would simply transfigure the bodies into something insignificant. Due to the fact that they were currently on an island with a rather rocky beach he chose to transfigure them all into small pebbles and cast them into the sea. This also included those that had been 'Kissed' since they were as good as dead anyway. With that chore taken care of, Harry saw to it that every captured Death Eater was securely bound.

Soon enough the rough terrain had been cleared of all but the stunned Death Eaters and Hogwarts professors. All uninjured fighters had now returned to the grounds and took up position behind the many captured Death Eaters, who were still bound, forming a half circle around them to prevent escape. Dumbledore and his group were set a bit away from Voldemort's forces but it was quite obvious they were taking no chances since they too were being blocked from any type of escape they might choose to try once they regain consciousness. Just for fun he had Voldemort placed directly in front of him. It was quite possible that the Dark Lord could convince himself that the present conflict was, and his subsequent 'demotion' if you will, was merely some horrible dream. If that were the case, Harry wanted his face to be the first thing that the old boy saw when he came around. After all, you don't become a muggle everyday, it should be special. But he planned on leaving him for last. But it wasn't just Harry and the other fighters that were there to keep everyone in line. No, in the distance you could distinctly see the black robes of the Dementors whipping about them in the howling wind as they looked on for any sign of trouble. Harry had asked them to keep their distance for one simple reason. He needed these people to wake up, not be driven insane, that could wait for later.

After several moments of thought Harry raised his head and nodded sharply and everyone immediately drew their wands once more and pointed them at the unconscious forms in front of them. While Harry shot a fairly large number of spells at once everyone else shot them off one at a time, reviving the stunned men and women. Once each had been hit with the counter curse it became a waiting game for everyone to be coherent and aware of their surroundings. Surprisingly it was Professor Flitwick that had awaken first and shook off the effects of Bella's modified stunner. Everyone had clearly thought that Dumbledore would be the first to awaken. 'He must be worse off then I thought.' Harry thought to himself in an emotionless, uncaring tone. After ten minutes Harry was beginning to get annoyed. More than seventy percent of the Death Eaters and the rest of the professors had awaken within the first five minutes but since that time nothing had happened. He was seriously tempted to simply kill them right there but that would make him no different than Voldemort. He had to at least give them something remotely resembling a proper trial. Well, most of them anyway. There was a select few that would not receive that luxury.

After another few minutes Harry conjured a large squashy chair and plopped down into it to sit out the wait. Looking around at the crowd he was amused by the many reactions he received when he looked at someone. The one he found the most satisfying however was Dumbledore's. The old man simply could not keep eye contact with the younger man and when he did look he was met with a stony gaze that would cause him to flinch back and concentrate on something else. But in those brief moments Harry could almost read the man's mind without using any form of Legillimency. In his crystal blue eyes held a lot of emotion that only seemed to be there when he was looking Harry directly in the eye. Those emotions were fear, shame, sadness and surprisingly anger. Harry almost snorted out loud when he saw this. 'What right does he have to be angry with me? He is the one that caused this, not me.' Shaking off such thoughts he gave another look around the area and was greatly relieved to see that everyone was now awake, though a few still seemed to be shaking off the effects of the stunning spell. Although many still seemed to be disoriented, Harry decided to begin anyway since he was growing increasingly bored. Hopping to his feet he banished his chair with a wave of his hand and turned to the crowd with a gleeful smile on his face.

"Now, I'm sure you are all wondering why I have not killed you yet. The answer to that question is fairly simple. I'm sure the magical community will demand to know if you are a willing follower of Voldemort or if you were somehow forced to fight for him. So, if any one of you have had the Imperious curse place on you or was forced to drink a potion of some kind that took away your free will, I would like you to raise your hands now." Harry shook his head in exasperation when everyone cringed at the name Voldemort but did his best to ignore such asinine behavior. To very little surprise nearly half of the Death Eaters had raised their hands immediately, proclaiming their innocence. Harry just looked out over the crowd as if he did not see anything.

"Nobody? Good, now we can…" To the surprise of many, including Bella and Tonks, Harry was cut off when the Minister of Magic himself came marching up from the shore with his entourage directly behind him.

"POTTER." The man yelled out in shock though his acting was clearly overdone but since no one knew that Harry was on the island Fudge must also have been there to find out. Harry, Tonks and Bella agreed that the man was more than likely part of the fight but turned and ran when it became obvious that they would lose. All it would take was stripping off your Death Eater mask and robes then just come walking back up the beach like you had just arrived. However even if he had not been involved in the actual fight the man clearly knew something. When the Minister of Magic shows up at the scene of a rather large battle just after it ends, it is not coincidence.

"What is the meaning of this? I demand an answer!" The man shouted. Harry just quirked an eyebrow at the man's tone. Either he was completely stupid or he had no idea who he was dealing with. It was probably both.

"Well, since you asked so politely," Harry began with sarcasm dripping from every word. "These men just tried to attack and capture Azkaban. They failed, so they will now face the consequences."

"You are in a position to do nothing with these men and women, Potter. Besides, many of them are Ministry officials and you have no authority over them. They will be taken from here and kept in a Ministry detention facility until their trials can be arranged." Fudge retorted after looking over the faces of the now maskless Death Eaters. After thinking for a moment Harry decided that he might as well play along.

"You are absolutely right. I have no power over the Ministry so I will leave them in your care." With a few quick words every member of the Ministry was standing beside or behind a very smug Cornilius Fudge. He obviously thought he had won some great victory or something but that was about to change. Fudge sucked in a deep breath like he was about to go on to some long winded monolog about the others being taken to the Ministry as well but he never got the chance.

"Since I have all of you together, we might as well get this over with. Death Eaters, for the most part, usually get a life sentence in Azkaban for the crimes they committed while in Voldemort's service. But you people are worse. Not only did you willingly join Voldemort, but you also betrayed the trust of those who put you into office. Also, you are guilty of the murders of fifty seven different department heads and untold number of underlings and associates. For these crimes you will each receive the Dementors kiss before your bodies are burned and cast into the sea." Neither Fudge nor his guards had time to even draw their wands before the Dementors swept up behind them. As they started taking soul after soul even Harry had to turn his attention someplace else to stop the chill that ran up his back each time he remembered that he almost met the same fate when he was in his third year at Hogwarts.

"Harry, how could you?" Harry snapped his head around in the direction of the voice and he nearly smacked himself for not recognizing it right away.

"How could I what?" He asked his former mentor.

"You just had dozens of defenseless men executed."

"So what. Don't even start judging me, old man, as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamont you have ordered the Kiss to be preformed on numerous people over the years, so don't act like you smell like roses. And as for them being defenseless, what idiot in their right mind would give someone their wand right before they were about to kill them." He said before walking off to help move their prisoners into the cellblocks. Surprisingly the prisoners gave them little trouble, whether that was because they were afraid of Harry or afraid of the new more powerful Dementors or a combination of the two, no one really knew, or cared for that matter.

After all of the Death Eaters had been put into their cells Harry and Bella walked back outside. The only ones still on the grounds were the Hogwarts professors who seemed to be all crowded around Dumbledore. While Bella set about removing all of the illusion charms that hid the improvements to the fortress, Harry walked over to the small cluster of teachers that had been joined by Snape and McGonagall. Not really caring what they were talking about and ignoring the fact that he was interrupting 'grown up' talk, Harry laid a hand on Snape's shoulder and when the older man looked up he motioned him to the side. For what felt like the hundredth time that day Harry went about healing any major injury he could find. Not but a few seconds after he started however Dumbledore ripped his hand off of his chest.

"Harry, please, just let me go. Trust me, I want to die!" The old man said with a kind smile as if he were talking to some distraught young kid. Harry, of course, was not that young any more and he was far from distraught.

"That is precisely why I won't let this happen. You are going to survive and you are going to face the world that was created by your mistakes. I will not allow you to use your death like some form of penance like that coward Lupin. If you want to make up for your past mistakes, as you say, then you will do it here on earth, not in hell where you belong." Harry said in a clipped tone that was not unlike McGonagall's. Dumbledore tried a few more times to stop Harry but he was unsuccessful and soon he was back to full health and feeling stronger than he had in years.

"Now, here is how things are going to be from now on. First, I have set up a bit of punishment for you because of your unfair and ILLEGAL actions during my trial as well as for my false imprisonment. Starting today, you actually have a certain level of immortality. Since it is such a small bit of the gift there were no complications."

"What do mean, he's immortal, and what complications?" McGonagall shouted as she jumped back to her feet. Everyone else including Dumbledore looked on at Harry as if he were insane.

"No, he is not immortal, not really anyway. All I have done is ensure that he will live for the next sixty years. It has now been sixty years since Tom Riddle killed his first victim so I felt that was a good number. Now normally I can only give immortality to someone who is willing. That was why I had to play that little game with Tom earlier. I had to put him into a position where he would readily agree. I didn't have to do this with Dumbledore because I wasn't giving him nearly enough to sustain him forever, just for those sixty one years actually. He had had a chance to stop Voldemort numerous times while he was first rising to power but he never did it. Now he WILL live with the consequences. Speaking of such…" Harry produced a long scroll from the folds of his robes and dropped it onto Dumbledore's chest where he was still laying. In confusion the old man picked it up and unrolled it. Seeing only a list of names he looked back to Harry for an explanation.

"Every person on that list is now under my protection. As you can see, some are former Death Eaters or members of the Order and some are even thought to be dead. They are no longer citizens of Great Britain, but citizens of Azkaban. Once you leave this island it will disappear and never return. But soon I will be able to allow these people to travel back and forth from here at will if they wish to visit family and friends, go shopping or simply get out for a while. When the Ministry is put back together and Aurors are back on the street, if one of my people is arrested for a past crime, I will come after them. If they are attacked and injured, there will be retribution. Also if one of these people happens to commit a crime while in England, investigators from Azkaban will be allowed to review all files and evidence regarding the case so that we may be sure that the accusations and arrest were not politically motivated or some means of revenge." Harry paused for a moment to collect his thoughts as everyone around him was looking on with shock and a little anger. Who was he to demand anything of a great wizard like Albus Dumbledore, and demand it in such a disrespectful manner? Having got his thoughts in order he reached back into his robes and produced a second scroll of parchment and also handed that one to Dumbledore who had just now stood up from the ground that he was sure would be his deathbed.

"This scroll is simply your standard magical contract, only much more powerful." Dumbledore took the scroll and discovered it to be quite long. He reached up to readjust his half moon spectacles and began to read it through thoroughly. It basically just described everything Harry had just demanded but in much greater detail. Apparently Harry, or whoever wrote this up, wanted to leave no room for loopholes or technicalities. As he neared the bottom of the scroll he was getting more and more confused that there didn't seem to be anything he was willing to give up in return. Did the young man actually believe that someone in a position of power would be naive enough to sign such a document when such an important component was left out of the written agreement? However he didn't have the opportunity to voice his curiosity because he suddenly found what he was looking for. The reason he was unable to find it at first was because he had assumed that it would be described in detail much like his demands were, but it wasn't. In fact the missing component was so small that it only took up the final line of the contract. The old man's eyes widened in shock as he read that line over and over again.

"In return I will guarantee that Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort, and his supporters, Death Eaters, will remain locked away deep within Azkaban until the end of time." Dumbledore's head shot up and he looked at Harry with wide eyes as if searching for something. The younger man smirked a bit, he actually found the probing of his mind amusing.

"If you are asking yourself if I would really use this as leverage to get what I want, then I assure you, I would. The safety of the people on this island is my only concern right now. I am perfectly capable of protecting from assaults on this fortress but when it comes to people leaving to visit relatives and such, I can guarantee nothing. Each of them can take care of themselves very well but not if they are facing twenty Aurors who would have no problem killing them for resisting arrest on bullshit charges. So, you will either sign that document or Voldemort and his servants go free."

"But Harry, I have no authority to sign such a contract. Only the Minister of Magic or top ranking officials in his administration could do so." Harry found it rather annoying that he was stalling but decided to hold his anger back for now.

"Wrong! According to the York Accord of 1737, if the Minister of Magic is killed or permanently incapacitated, then his senior undersecretary would then inherit the office. However if both should fall, then the job would pass to the most qualified of the three department heads for Magical Law Enforcement, Department of Mysteries and finally the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamont. As you can see, everyone ahead of you is now either dead or had received the Dementor's Kiss. Either way, none of them is currently able to take the job, so that leaves only you. While it is true that you have not been sworn in yet, the fact remains that you became the Minister the moment Fudge's soul left his body, so the contract will be perfectly legal. Now sign it!" It seemed all of the professors were shocked to learn that Dumbledore was now the Minister of Magic that they didn't even seem the least bit upset by Harry's tone or attitude and even if they did Harry wouldn't care in the least. The man nodded slightly in defeat and took the quill that Harry had just conjured and held out to him. While it was true that Voldemort no longer had his magic, he was still immortal and could cause an awful lot of damage with his Death Eaters if they were to walk free and the look in Harry's eyes told him that he would have no problem doing exactly as he threatened to do.

Dumbledore merely quickly scratched his name at the bottom of the paper without even looking before he handed the quill back to Harry who also signed it. After that was done Harry banished the quill and made an exact copy of the contract and handed it to his former mentor while keeping the original for himself.

"Good, now that everything seems to be in order, I must go. I'm sure you remember where the boats are." Harry stated plainly before walking off towards the still unconscious body of Lord Voldemort. McGonagall and Snape made quick, but heartfelt, goodbyes to their former colleagues before returning to the fortress. Just before he reached his longtime enemy, Harry turned turned back around and pulled something from his pockets. "Oh, you'll be needing these." Was all he called out as way of an explanation before banishing two normal leather pouches towards the professors before setting off again. Picking up one of the bags Professor Flitwick examined it to be sure there were no harmful charms or curses on it before taking a peek at what was inside. After finding nothing out of the ordinary, for a magical bag anyway, he opened it up only to find a hand full of small wooden block. He was confused for a moment before he took his wand back out and softly whispered a short incantation. Almost instantly each of the blocks began to grow until each one had resumed the size of a rather large magical trunk. His eyes went wide after he lifted the lip on one to reveal it was stocked to capacity with rare and valuable books. Looking back over his shoulder he could see that his colleagues were just as surprised as he was. Once again he used his wand to see if any nasty surprises had been left behind but instead he found something rather odd.

"Albus, the copyright charms have been broken. Why would he do that? How did he do that?" Flitwick gasped out. Copyright charms were used by publishers to make sure that the books they print can not be copied with a simple wave of the wand. They wanted to ensure, and rightfully so, that their books can only be obtained from them. It would be rather embarrassing to have someone selling your book at a cheaper price and taking all of you business.

"Why indeed?" Dumbledore muttered to himself for a moment before the answer can to him. "He must have had the books copied to help aid in the teaching of those that obviously live here with him. While Mr. Potter could make a good teacher if he put his mind to it, he can't very well teach what he does not know himself. Incase you didn't notice, all the magic he used today was wandless. Clearly he uses magic differently and more effectively than anyone else so there is no need for him to learn incantations and wand movements that would be useless to him. But as to how he managed to break the charms, I don't know and I don't relish the idea of pressing him for answers a second time." He said thoughtfully as he cringed slightly at the look in Harry's eyes nearly two weeks ago when he first came to the island with news of Harry's new found innocence. Most of those around him were confused but Professor Flitwick had a shrewd look in his eyes.

"You knew about all of this, didn't you?" He asked in a fierce whisper as if he was afraid Harry would hear him and become angry. Dumbledore nodded in a weary sort of way.

"I did not know about all of these other people, but the rest I knew and was unable to speak of it due to some powerful secrecy spell Mr. Potter was able to perform on all of us." After a few moments of thinking he agreed to explain all he knew on the boat ride back to the mainland that is until he remembered his pensieve and decided to simply show them what had taken place if he was able now that others knew the truth as well. It would make for a much better story then simply trying to explain something as important as that encounter was. They were about ready to head back to the boats when out of curiosity they turned to see Harry revive Voldemort.

XXX

"WAKE UP, TOMMY!" Harry shouted as he firmly slapped Voldemort across the face as if he were merely trying to wake him after a long night. Harry had used the counter curse to Bella's new and improved stunner but the snake like man was still a bit groggy. When the sting of the blow finally registered in the man's mind his eyes snapped open and glared at Harry with hatred flowing from every pore.

"POTTER…"

"Now now, Tommy, we won't have any of that. Incase your mind is still a little fuzzy, I will remind you that you are now a muggle. You have lost all rights you had in the magical world. Your sole purpose on this earth now is for my amusement, and believe me, it will be a long time before I grow tired of your screams. I am a firm advocate for the belief in 'an eye for an eye'. Even when I grow tired of you there are many here who would love to take a few shots at you. I'm sure you will remember some of them being that they were once Death Eaters and suffered at the other end of your wand. But you never know, maybe someone will show you mercy." Harry spoke as if he were speaking of something innocent and carefree and that made the 'former' Dark Lord more nervous than the words themselves. Suddenly Harry leaned over and pulled him up to his feet and draped an arm across his shoulders as if they were the best of friends and slowly they began walking towards the main entrance of the fortress. Voldemort's body was extremely tense and numerous times he tried to stop walking, to do something to try to get away, but everything failed. For some reason, he could put up no resistance, all the while Potter continued to ramble on about the most mundane and insignificant topics.

"You see these doors, Tom?" Harry asked in a friendly tone as he pointed up towards the massive doors that served as the gateway of the outer wall. "Over the last few years these have served as a doorway of sorts to a life free of persecution and manipulation. For others though," Voldemort froze in his tracks as a wave of icy cold air seemed to wash over him and his mind became clouded by his own pain as his screams from his past pounded in his head. Though he could not see it he knew instantly that a very powerful Dementor was approaching. "They are the very gates of Hell." Harry finished with a smug grin spreading across his face as he watched his old enemy in pain.

XXX

After Harry and Voldemort had disappeared into the fortress, the Hogwarts professors stood on the grounds for a few more minutes trying to make sense of everything that had happened recently. They were pulled out of these thoughts however when they saw Harry walk back out through the gates once again. He stopped in his tracks when his eyes landed on his unwanted guests. After a brief moment looking eye to eye with him they quickly got the message and walked quickly back towards the beach.

"Ah, so where is Tommy?" Bella asked when she suddenly appeared at Harry's side. Harry looked down into her eyes and smiled slightly.

"Bob is escorting him down to his cell now. Is everything ready?"

"Yep. All the illusions have been removed, everything has been packed away and Snape should be out here momentarily."

"And you're sure he can handle this?" He asked in a worried tone. Bella just rolled her eyes as if she had answered this question a thousand times before.

"Yes, I'm sure. I have worked with him on it for three days now. He can recite the incantation perfectly in his sleep and he has more than enough power. Nothing is going to go wrong." She said firmly as she looked intently into his eyes. Harry has been very nervous about performing this spell because if anything goes wrong than the power used will backfire on the casters and kill them. While Harry and Bella cannot be killed, Snape can. Harry would have rather used Tonks for the third part of the spell but unfortunately she is not powerful enough to pull it off. Actually, to be honest, he would rather have done this by himself but even he could not perform the entire spell on his own since it required three separate incantations in three different languages simultaneously.

Harry was immensely relieved when Snape showed up just a few minutes later because the longer he had to wait the more paranoid he would become. Snape for his part looked almost as nervous as Harry but Bella was as calm and composed as ever. After all, if Snape died then it would not affect her in the least. It was well known that they despised each other. However, like Harry and Snape, she just wanted to get this over with. No words were spoken between them, they just took up their positions standing facing each other in a triangle formation. After a few moments of silence Harry began. Both Snape and Bella glanced at him briefly and had to suppress a shudder since he was speaking a language few have ever been able to understand. Even after serving Voldemort for most of her life and being with Harry for over four years, the sound of Parseltongue still freaked her out a bit. Thirty seconds later Bella drew her wand and began chanting in what Snape had recently learned was ancient Egyptian.

After Bella began, Snape kept an eye on his watch nervously as the seconds ticked by. He knew that Harry would complete the incantation to perfection but he didn't like the idea of his life being placed in the hands of Bellatrix. He knew she would have no problem if she made a mistake that resulted in an untimely death, specifically his own, but he also knew that she was a perfectionist and how she wanted this to succeed just as much as anyone else. But the woman was still entirely too unstable in his opinion. Looking back at his watch he nearly gasped when he had five seconds to go and his hands suddenly began to feel clammy. Grasping his wand in his right hand he waited for what felt like an eternity before beginning himself. Exactly one minute after Harry had begun, Snape started a similar incantation, only his was in Latin.

For several minutes the three voices and languages blended together into one strong voice that spoke in a dialect that none had ever heard before, or would probably ever hear again. This spell took the magic of three individuals and combined their power into one source that's sole purpose is to remove Azkaban from the normal plain of existence and hold it in a state of limbo. With this in place no power on earth could get to the island or it's inhabitants since it will technically no longer exist on this world. As long as at least one of the original power sources still lives, in this case Harry, Bella or Snape, then the power protecting the island will remain in place.

Five minutes after Harry first began a small red orb began to form in the center of their formation and every so often small streaks of light would reach out and brush each of the three casters for a few moments before retreating back to the orb which was steadily growing larger. By now both Snape and Bella were sweating profusely and their words sounded strained as they were fighting to keep their concentration. Harry for his part looked and sounded perfectly calm but even he was beginning to feel the pressure. After ten minutes Harry suddenly stopped speaking and opened his eye and gazed in wonder at the now Quaffle sized orb that floated between them. Soon both Snape and Bella had finished and their exhaustion was quickly forgotten as they gazed ahead of them. Slowly the light coming from the orb began to pulse slightly but it quickly picked up speed. Soon it was flashing so rapidly that you would be hard pressed to distinguish between one flash and another. Suddenly, the orb exploded outward in all directions with such force that all three were thrown to the ground so roughly that it was a miracle that they all remained conscious.

XXX

Albus Dumbledore sat at the bow of the small rickety boat that was taking them back to mainland England with a sorrowful look on his face as the boats ors rowed by themselves. He glanced around at those accompanying him with an assortment of emotions playing out within him. Not that long ago Hogwarts had a full complement of capable professors who, despite the adamant denial of some, all loved to teach the young men and women who passed through it's halls. But now most of them are gone. Professors Sprout, Sinistra, Trelawney and Kingsley Shacklebolt, who had taken the post of defense professor two years ago, breaking the so called curse on the position, were now dead. Killed while following his orders to protect the school at all costs. Professors Snape and McGonagall would now be teaching children in Azkaban if the list of names Harry had given him was anything to go by. Now only four remained to guide the young minds of England. Professor Flitwick, Grubblyplank, who had taken over in Care of Magical Creatures perminently after Hagrid was killed. Professor Antwite, who was now teaching History of Magic. And the final professor was Dumbledore himself. However, now he wished that there were only three of them left.

He had been almost relieved when he realized his wounds were too severe to survive without medical aid. He had lived a very long and very eventful life. He had dearly wished for death for more than a few years now and the only reason he had to go on living was the war with Voldemort. But even now, when Voldemort appeared to pose no more of a threat, this simple release was denied to him. He thought back to the last sixty years and shuddered at the thought of having to go threw that again. But with several wars and many upstart dark lords that sixty years had been busy and had gone by fast. Now with most Death Eaters in England captured or killed, or soon to be one or the other, it appeared that there wouldn't be anyone willing to try to seize power with Harry Potter still alive. In that atmosphere, the next sixty years was shaping up to be very boring and would undoubtedly go by very slowly. Even now he could not understand why the boy held so much hatred for him. Sure, he had been wrongfully accused but was that enough to sit back and do nothing while countless men, women and children lost their lives. He certainly didn't think so.

He continued along this line of thought for sometime, trying to find a way to justify his actions while pointing out to himself that others, such as Sirius, had been wrongfully imprisoned as well but didn't feel like sitting back and doing nothing while the world destroyed itself. No matter how much he tried to deny it however he could never make himself believe it. After all, wizards and witches in general did the same thing all the time. By refusing to aid the muggle world, much less reveal themselves to it, countless millions have died in war after war while tyrants slaughtered even their own people, but yet wizards refused to get involved. The reason they did nothing is quite simple, if not a bit heartless. The muggle world wasn't their world. And in comparison, Harry obviously felt that the magical world, as well as the muggle world, no longer had any place for him nor he for it.

"MY GOD!" Professor Flitwick squeaked loudly as he stood up from his position in the middle of the boat. The other three quickly raised their heads and looked back in the direction of Azkaban. Their eyes grew wide and their mouths dropped open in shock as they watched what appeared to be a massive magical shock wave speeding towards them.

"Are we passed the anti-apperation wards yet?" Grubblyplank asked nervously as her eyes never strayed from the strange occurrence.

"No, we are not. We have another ten miles at least…" He suddenly cut himself off as the shock wave picked up speed and was nearly upon them. "SHEILD CHARMS! RAISE YOUR SHIELDS!" He yelled in near panic just seconds before the wave crashed into them. With his shield charm in place he braced himself but was shocked when he discovered that while large and magically very powerful, the shockwave didn't pack much of a punch. With as large as the wave obviously was he figured that as it got further and further away from it's central point it's destructive power dropped off. Looking about him he saw his colleagues looking a little bewildered. Turning around to make sure that Azkaban was not destroyed he received the greatest shock of his life.

The whole of Azkaban Island itself had vanished

XXX

His eyes slightly out of focus and his head pounding, Harry sat himself upright and rubbed his temples for a few moments before he began thinking straight again. Looking around quickly he was greatly relieved to see both Snape and Bella were alive and 'relatively' unharmed. Snape looked as sour as ever as he pinched the bridge of his nose but anyone who even slightly knew the man could see that he was immensely pleased the spell had apparently worked. And being alive was a bonus as well.

Despite the killer headache she was undoubtedly feeling as well, Bella was giggling like an annoying schoolgirl. What she found so amusing neither of them knew but they agreed that it was annoying as hell given the fact that their heads were still throbbing painfully. With a groan both Harry and Snape pulled themselves to their feet. After dusting themselves off Harry approached Bella and lifted her up off the ground. When she was set back down she had stopped giggling but still looked very amused.

"And what, may I ask, is so funny?" Harry asked in an annoyed tone though he was slightly curious. Bella merely looked up at him with a smirk on her face.

"I told you it would work." Harry groaned when she said this and began cursing himself for even asking in the first place. "How many times do I have to tell you that these things will work, but every time you are a nervous wreck."

"Hey, there is a big difference between being careful about these things and simply rushing in to it and doing it recklessly." He defended himself as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yes, that is what you said about my new stunner spell as well as the illusion charm and the others we have both constructed over the last few years and every time they have worked perfectly. When I write out the equations when constructing a new spell, I take every precaution and recheck everything I have done over and over again throughout the course of my research. So do me a favor, when I create a new spell, just take my word for it that I know what I'm doing. And when you create a spell, such as the one we just completed, and I tell you that it will work flawlessly, you would save a lot of time and energy by just accepting the fact that I am always right." She finished with a grin as she took his arm in hers and began leading him towards the front gate. "Lets go, my lover."

Snape watched the two walk off and shook his head in exasperation. "Insane." He muttered to himself all the way back inside where he immediately headed straight for his quarters where he intended to sleep until the end of time

TBC

Epilogue will be reposted soon.