Disclaimer: All Harry Potter people, places, things, and ideas (all Harry Potter nouns) belong to J. K. Rowlings. Mordecai and Elisabeth are mine. "I'll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places," is from Bing Crosby.

Chapter 30: A call to arms

Being unsure of how much time they had, the Order members began preparing extensively for the inevitable battle. The spells protecting the castle had been reinforced, from the inside halls to the outside fields. All of them practiced their defensive skills extensively and Minerva also made certain to initiate safety drills so that if the battle occurred during a school day, the students would know where to go.

It was assumed that most of the staff and the other members of the Order would participate in the battle, but it was questionable if some of the students would be involved. Mordecai and Elisabeth had been conducting a Defense Against the Dark Arts club, with Lupin looking in on them every once in a while.

A month had passed since the attack and Minerva was troubled by their preparations so she decided to speak with Lupin. "Remus, they are children! We cannot permit them to fight in this war! How could I possibly explain this to their parents?" she exclaimed.

"If they really want to help our efforts, they will not be stopped, and I think you know that," he reminded.

She crossed her arms as she sat in the chair. "I will not put them at risk like that!"

He sighed heavily and faced her. "Minerva, they will either fight with us in an organized manner, standing where they are least vulnerable, or they will end up sneaking into the battle and fighting anywhere they see an open place, probably getting hit with who knows what in the process," he countered.

"I just wish things didn't have to be this way," she commented quietly, leaving her chair to pet the little owl who still resided as her guest. "I don't know where in Merlin's name Severus is either," she said to the bird.

Lupin heard part of her comment. "Severus was here a month ago and helping our side, wasn't he?"

Minerva did not see any point in falsifying what he obviously knew. "Yes," she admitted.

"I should remind you that one of the students you will have to stop from fighting is Mr. Maddock. He and Miss Wellington are the ones hosting this club," Lupin mentioned.

She sighed heavily. "I know those two and it is a near impossibility to talk them out of anything. I suppose we will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," she resolved. Upon looking at her bookshelf she remembered something. "I think it's time I gave him another book."

Lupin watched her with puzzlement written on his face as she removed what appeared to be an old Potions book and then left her office. Mordecai and Elisabeth had just ended a club meeting and walked out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, which they had been permitted to use for the meetings. Both had their minds on the approaching battle as they walked toward their common room.

"I wish we knew a few more shielding spells. You and I know what sort of damage those people can do," Elisabeth mentioned as they entered, noticing that they were alone.

Mordecai did not face her immediately and took a deep breath. Then he stopped walking and put a hand on her shoulder. "Lisa," he paused and looked into her hazel eyes with sincerity, "I don't want you fighting in this battle," he told her calmly but firmly.

She raised an eyebrow. "Cyrus, you and I are at the top of our class. How can you tell me that you don't want me in the battle when you need me?"

He saw her vehemence and led her over to the floor by the fireplace and spoke quietly. "I can't let you fight because I need you. People are after me and if they realize how closely you and I are, they will use you against me and I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you because of me."

Seeing the concern in his eyes, she moved toward him and kissed him softly. "I love you, and you know that. What if something should happen to you? I would be devastated if you died and I had been hiding somewhere, doing nothing to try to prevent it. Don't you understand? If we fight together, then we can watch out for each other."

There was logic to her heart-felt response and he understood perfectly. He kissed her soundly. When the kiss ended she smiled wryly at him. "I take it that you agree with me."

He hugged her. "As much as I would rather keep you safe, I see your point. Perhaps two wands are better than one in this case."

The following day Minerva called Mordecai to her office. "What is it, mum?" he asked after he shut the door.

She had an old Potions book on her desk. "Have a seat," she offered. He sat and she spoke again, lifting up the book. "Your father wanted you to have this. It is his old Potions book, with notes that he made, improvements to potions, and even a few spells that he invented. I ask you not to use any of the spells except the shielding and deflecting ones, on request from your father."

"Thank you, I'll do as you both ask," he said as he nodded and accepted the book. Sitting back down in a chair, he opened it and looked through a few pages. Minerva raised an eyebrow as he snorted at something written, trying not to laugh. "What, may I ask, is so amusing?" she inquired.

"He wrote, "Professor Eygore is the biggest idiot ever to pass through the school's doors. If I ever get out of this class, I should find a way to thank the guy who accidentally made his shoes disappear," Mordecai explained.

Minerva chuckled. "I remember that day. We were playing chess and he told me about it." Mordecai soon left the office and headed back to the common room to finish his homework. As he worked on his essay for Potions, he wondered how is father was doing.

For Severus, spying on the deatheaters was not as difficult as he had first thought. They were creatures of habit and still held their meetings in the same places, though he was no longer included. He listened carefully to their strategies, hidden behind a crypt in the cemetery.

Different ones where shouting all sorts of battle plans, making one collective, unintelligible noise. Voldemort abruptly put his wand up and cast a few torturing curses and then they were silent. He walked to the center of where they stood and spoke. "All of you are useless to me if you only chatter. I have heard of nothing useful and have decided that we shall attack in September," he stated.

Pettigrew scurried over to him. "But Master, why not attack immediately and retaliate for our losses?"

You-Know-Who backhanded him and he fell to the ground in a whimper. "You idiot! That is what they are expecting us to do! If we wait until September, they will think that we have moved on our forgotten and we shall have an element of surprise."

Not if I have anything to do with it, Severus thought to himself. As the others left, Pettigrew pulled himself up from the ground. "At least we don't have to worry about Snape anymore. He wouldn't dare show his face to us again," Pettigrew said snidely before accidentally stepping on the snake that had been near Voldemort's feet.

"Pettigrew, you imbecile! You could have injured it in your carelessness! You are fortunate that Nagini has already eaten!" Voldemort fumed.

"I'm sorry, Master, I didn't mean to disturb your last Horcrux," he squeaked.

"Shut up! And as for Snape, in spite of his betrayal, he was not the simpleton you are, and I wouldn't put it past him not to attempt spying on us," Voldemort snapped before he and Pettigrew disappeared.

Severus needed to clear his head and he figured that a visit to a muggle café and a cup of tea would be sufficient. Dressing simply in a black shirt and jeans, he walked through a few streets in London before he found the café. After sitting down with his tea, he stared out of the window. Though it was late in the evening, he watched as several people went by. He noticed when an older couple entered and took a table near his. The man had steel-gray hair and a matching mustache. The woman's short salt-and-pepper hair was in tight curls. They were holding a small electronic device in their hands.

"Now how did Jerry tell you this thing works?" the woman asked.

"He said it was an MP3 player and you hit these buttons here," the man explained.

Severus noted that the two were Americans and watched out of the corner of his eye as the two brought out a small speaker and found a few songs. Some where old, a few were modern, but the one that stuck in Severus' mind was "I'll be seeing you, in all the old familiar places." He finished his tea listening to the lyrics:

I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces all day through
In that small café, the park across the way
The children's carousel, the chestnut trees, the wishing well

I'll be seeing you in every lovely summer's day
In everything that's light and gay
I'll always think of you that way
I'll find you in the mornin' sun
And when the night is new
I'll be looking at the moon
But I'll be seeing you

I'll find you in the mornin' sun
And when the night is new
I'll be looking at the moon
But I'll be seeing you

After finishing his tea and leaving the café, he could not keep his mind off of a certain Headmistress. Minerva, how are things ever going to be normal again? I wish I could be with you, in all the old familiar places, but now more than ever we both have a job to do. He headed to the nearest fireplace and decided to warn her about the plan to attack in September.

Nearly a week had passed since Minerva's discussion with Lupin. It was nearly 1:00 in the morning and she had drifted into a fitful sleep when a noise at her fireplace woke her. She grabbed her dressing gown and saw Severus' face in the coals. "Minerva? Minerva are you there?" he called.

She knelt down. "Yes, Severus, I'm here. What news do you have?"

"You-Know-Who is planning to attack in September. I also learned that his pet snake is the last Horcrux. I cannot continue this conversation much longer. If I learn anything else, I will contact you," he told her briefly.

Then he was gone again and she returned to bed with an empty ache in her heart. Why does life have to be so cruel to keep us separated like this? Will this ever end, or will something new simply replace it? I am growing tired of these difficult times, she thought as sleep overtook her.

Mordecai's seventh year began in a fairly normal manner with the Sorting Ceremony and the Feast, except that he had been appointed Head Boy and Elisabeth was Head Girl. The only differences were announcements that the students were to be escorted from their classes and kept under strict curfews, but event that had been done previous years and the precautions felt normal to him.

However, as he and Elisabeth escorted the younger students to Ravenclaw tower, he spotted several Order members inside and outside of the castle. "I think something's going to happen soon," she said to him after the others had gone to their dormitories. They were the only two in the common room, looking out of the window.

"Whatever it is, we will be ready for it," he added as he put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him and they watched as people talked in a circle. Then the circle broke and the people split off into different directions, seeming to disappear into the night, or at least fade into it.

On the ground, Minerva and Harry watched the circle of Order members meet and then disperse. "You're sure that he said Voldemort would be here?" Harry questioned.

Severus had spoken to her once over the summer, through fire coals again to reveal the day of the attack. "Yes, and we are as prepared as we can be," she told him with a sigh.

They stepped outside, staying close to the castle for a while. Then she saw it, off into the distance. A black spot seemed to grow larger and move toward them. The mass began to take physical forms, with tall hats and flowing black robes, creating a smoky appearance as they continued to move toward the castle. Harry suddenly gasped and Minerva knew that his scar was bothering him.

Elisabeth and Mordecai saw the black mob as well from the window. "They're coming," he uttered with realization.

"Then we need to be there too," she commented with resolve.

"First we need to see that everyone here is safe," he reminded her.

Outside two lines began to form, one of aurors and Order members, the other of deatheaters. "Finally, we end this, Potter!" Voldemort called out from somewhere among the ink-stain black mess.

No one was certain who fired first, but suddenly they were surrounded by smoke and coloured beams once again. Minerva was not exactly sure when, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed that a few students came to join the battle, led by Mordecai and Elisabeth, fighting in an orderly fashion using deflective strategies.

The two directed some of the others and fought standing side by side. Mordecai had found some useful defensive tactics from his father's Potions book. It seemed as though both sides were only firing light for a while, but then curses were heard and people began dropping from both sides, due to injuries or worse.

It was at that point that Minerva noticed Severus far off to her right. Something whizzed by, nearly missing her, and she was forced to return her attention to the battle. Severus had arrived and had been hidden as the Order members formulated plans. Now he stood facing Pettigrew.

"Well Snivellous, it looks like one of us is going to die today. You stand condemned no matter which side wins," he said snidely.

Severus shot a spell at Pettigrew that caused him to fall flat on his backside, but he got up quickly. "It won't be me."

As the battle continued, Harry fired a spell at Voldemort. The dark lord dodged it, but his snake that usually resided with him, his last Horcrux, was tossed a few meters away due to the force of the spell. It ended up wandering over near Pettigrew. He had been stepping backward to avoid Severus' spells.

Severus solved that problem by firing a spell directly at Pettigrew's feet to throw him off balance. The rat stepped back hard to regain his balance. In his disorientation when he fired the killing curse at Severus, he accidentally aimed it at the snake. Having a psychic link to the snake, Voldemort felt the loss. "Pettigrew, you imbecile!" he hollered, moving toward the other man to get within firing distance, Voldemort failed to realize that Harry had been able to see him move.

You-Know-Who turned quickly. He and Harry began a fire fight of curses, shields, and other spells. Severus tried to distract Voldemort by aiming a few more lethal spells in his direction. Unfortunately the dark lord blocked them. "You, I'll kill you for your treachery, but I want you to suffer first," he spat as he shot the torturing curse at Severus.

Despite the pain the coursed through his body as he fell to the ground, Severus knew that what he had done was just the distraction that Harry needed to win. The Boy-Who-Lived killed Voldemort before he could utter another curse at anyone else. At the point of death, his body was consumed in an explosion of bright light that caused the battle to stop. When the light had dissipated, all that remained of the dark lord was a burn mark on the ground.

Severus managed to gain control over the curse and put a stop to it before it could kill him. The deatheaters knew what had happened and attempted to run away, but some were not fast enough and were captured, including Pettigrew, whom Severus had stupefied as he moved away. In the bloody, painful state that he was in, Severus shuffled off into the shadows and disappeared.

The students involved cheered and returned to the castle, all but Mordecai and Elisabeth. "I can't believe it's really over," she said to him as they hugged each other.

He smirked. "I wonder what it will be like going to school without having a fear of impending doom."

"Normal, Cyrus, it's called normal," she told him with a grin.

"I'm glad you fought next to me," he whispered before kissing her on the cheek.

"So am I," she added.

As relieved as they all were that the battle was over, there were a few fatalities and some casualties. Injuries had to be seen to before anything else was to be done. Minerva sighed heavily, not seeing Severus. She knew in her heart that he was not dead, but she was still worried. Mordecai and Elisabeth eventually returned to their dormitories while several people headed to the infirmary.

After injuries and a few other issues had been taken care of, the Order filled into the staff room, those who could not find chairs standing. "Now that You-Know-Who is finally gone, we still have deatheaters to track down," Bill Weasley pointed out.

"And Snape, we never did find him. That greasy git, I bet he's helping them hide!" Ron exclaimed.

In the commotion, Lupin put his hands up and spoke over it. "If everyone would stop talking for a moment," he paused and caught Minerva's eye, "I believe that our Headmistress has something to tell us regarding Snape."

She nodded and stood. "Professor Snape is not with the deatheaters, nor did he kill Albus Dumbledore. We have Peter Pettigrew, do we not?" she paused and the others nodded. "The ministry will interrogate him with truth serum in a few days and you shall see that what I tell you is true. Severus Snape was framed. Pettigrew took polyjuice, which we have in our possession, and pretended to be Snape. On that day I saw two Severus Snapes, one staggering out of the forest, and one being chased in by Mr. Potter."

"I agree with Professor McGonagall that Snape is innocent," Harry concurred.

"You do realize that we will have to prove this before a board of inquiry," Arthur Weasley reminded.

"Don't we have to find the man first?" Molly pointed out.

(My thanks to lullaby moon, trulyamused, Kimmy Malfoy, and artemissan09 for reviewing :D)