Chapter 2:
May 1998
Hogwarts Castle
"Give up Harry Potter and you and your loved ones shall be spared. If you continue to fight, every man, woman, and child will be killed. You have until midnight; if I do not have Harry Potter in my possession, I will order my Death Eaters to attack. And they will show no mercy."
Lord Voldemort's horrible booming voice rang through the crowded Great Hall as every soul within Hogwarts Castle trembled with fear. Harry Potter moved quickly, making his way between the students that separated him from the adults at the head of the room.
"There he is!" A familiar female voice screamed. Harry turned toward the voice and saw Pansy Parkinson point in his direction, her eyes mad with hatred.
"Filch, would you please escort the Slytherin students out of the castle? They can be the first to leave." Professor McGonagall answered coldly. She turned to Harry as he approached her. "Potter, what are you doing here? This is the worst place for you to be, considering You-Know-Who is after you!" She hissed, her lips thinner than he'd ever seen.
"I have to be here to finish this. I have something to search for, is there any way you can stall Voldemort?"
Professor McGonagall flinched, but composed herself quickly. "Of course, Potter. But it won't keep him out forever. We'll need to prepare for battle."
"I just need you to buy time and be prepared to fight." Harry explained.
"We'll defend the castle while you search for what you need, Harry." Kingsley told him in his slow, deep voice. "We have been your guard for two years and we will continue till our last breath."
"Thank you." Harry answered gratefully.
Harry returned to Hermione and Ron as the adults put their heads together to formulate a plan. "Are you sure the Horcrux is at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, doubtfully.
"I'm sure, he would not be threatening Hogwarts now if he wasn't afraid of what we would find. We have to find that Horcrux, and fast."
"This castle is huge, mate. How are we supposed to find a bloody Horcrux in this place?" Ron asked, his ruddy eyebrow furrowing in worry. "Especially if we're about to be under attack. Dunno about you, but I think it'll be a little harder to find it while under attack."
"Then we have to be quick. The sooner we find it, the better. And don't forget, we still have the cup to destroy too." Harry turned as the adults broke apart, and Kingsley stepped forward to speak.
"Okay, here's the battle plan. Anyone that is seventeen or older may stay and fight. We will not expect you to if you do not wish. You can be evacuated with the younger students. As for the ones who stay, Lupin, Arthur, and I are going to head out onto the grounds with some of the fighters to defend the grounds. We need the passages in and out of Hogwarts defended, any volunteers?"
"We know more about the entrances than anyone in the castle, we can do it." Fred called out, and Kingsley nodded.
"Good, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick will put up enchantments and protective spells around the castle. They will not hold off the attack, but it will buy us enough time to mount a defense. We have to work quickly!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried out of the Great Hall as everyone began moving. Harry checked the watch that Mrs. Weasley gave him for his seventeenth birthday. It was fifteen minutes until midnight; time was running short.
"Harry?" Hermione's anxious voice faded out as Harry's sight dimmed. Hogsmeade lay before him as he walked through the village in the dark, the heavy weight of Nagini's serpentine body pressed on his bony shoulders. Cold fury draped him like a cloak as he strode through the night toward the huge castle looming in the distance. He had one thought on his mind, to destroy the boy who lived.
"Harry!" Hermione's fearful voice jerked Harry back to his present position and he looked up at her. "Where did you just go?"
"Into Voldemort's mind," Harry admitted. When Hermione looked horrified, he continued, "Sorry, Hermione! I can't help when I get a vision from him! They come and go. I have no choice in the matter."
"What did you see, mate?" Ron asked anxiously.
"He's in Hogsmeade, headed here. We have to move now." Harry looked around, trying to think of where to start looking for the Horcrux.
The three of them hurried down up the stairs, trying hard to think of a location. "What did you say they could be?" Ron asked.
"Something of Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's." Harry repeated. "But what would those things be?"
Before they could answer, they heard running footsteps and Professor McGonagall appeared at the end of the corridor, her wand out. A herd of desks flew behind her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione pressed themselves against the wall to let her pass. "Bloody hell, did I just really witness that?" Ron asked, startled.
"That's one tough witch." Harry agreed. "But if it works, I'll thank her later."
Before the other two could respond, a loud boom shook the castle, causing dust to fall from the ceiling. Harry gave the other two a horrified look at the other two. The Battle of Hogwarts had begun.
Down on the grounds, Lupin, Arthur Weasley, Kingsley and several other students shot bursts of light at oncoming Death Eaters. The onslaught kept coming, green jets of light shooting past them and narrowly missing the three men. Lupin's eyes widened as a green light shot directly at him, hitting him squarely in the chest.
"Remus!" Arthur cried, shooting his own jet of light at the source of the spell. "We have to retreat, Kingsley. We can't hold them off forever and we need to get Remus out of the line of fire."
"Good idea, Arthur." Kingsley backed away. Together, Arthur and Kingsley carried Lupin inside. Arthur waved his wand at the open doors and they slammed shut, sealing themselves off.
"What are we going to do?" Arthur panted, kneeling on the ground beside Lupin's body. "We can't hold them off, and we can't protect Lupin's body."
"Arthur, look!" Kingsley shouted suddenly, pointing at a bright light near Lupin's body.
"Is that-is that a ghost?" Arthur asked, shielding his eyes with hand.
The bright light dimmed and a tall dark-haired teenager with glasses appeared. But the figure was vaguely familiar. "Harry?" Arthur gasped, eyes widening.
The teenage boy blinked and looked around, confused at first. "What the bloody hell is going on here? It sounds like Sirius shot off Filibuster Fireworks."
"That's not Harry, Arthur. I think that's James…" Kingsley's own eyes were wide with shock.
"James? But he's d-" Arthur stopped short as he realized that the confused teen might not take it well if he knew he was dead.
James looked over at the two, confusion evident on his face. "Do you know what is going on?"
"Voldemort is attacking the school. We were hiding here to come up with a plan of attack when our friend died."
James finally saw his old friend dead on the floor. "Remus!" he cried hoarsely, dropping to his knees beside his friend. "You've gotten so old, mate. What happened to you?"
Another bright light appeared, this one not as startling to Arthur and Kingsley. A barklike laugh made this newcome easier to recognize. "Prongs, he always looked older than his year, wouldn't you say?"
"Sirius? What is going on?" James asked, looking around at his old friend.
"I think that's something we should ask them." Sirius jerked his head at Arthur and Kingsley as the castle shook again.
A third blinding flash appeared, this one producing a considerably shorter teen, but was with a considerably different response from Kingsley and Arthur. "Pettigrew, what are you doing here?" Arthur snarled, pointing his wand at the teen.
"Wait, what the bloody hell is going on?" Sirius shouted, jumping between Arthur and Peter, who cowered before Arthur's wand. "He's our friend!"
"He's some friend. He betrayed James." Kingsley told him coldly. "Move aside, he deserves to be brought to justice."
"Peter would never betray me." James said defiantly, getting to his feet. "This isn't right…" He looked down at the dead body of Lupin at his feet. "This isn't our time, Sirius."
"What do you mean?" Sirius demanded, still glaring at Arthur.
"Lupin is much older than we are. Was there something more to the map than we thought?" James wondered out loud.
"You're not making any sense, Prongs!" Sirius shouted.
"If you three are here, that means-" Kingsley looked at Lupin's dead body. A bright flash of light enveloped Lupin's body, making James stumble back in shock. A tall figure appeared when the light dimmed, revealing the seventeen-year-old Remus Lupin.
"Moony, I don't understand." James looked confused, as Remus stared down at his new body.
"I think when we put our blood in that potion we left a part of ourselves in that map, Prongs." Remus replied. "A bit of who we are."
The largest boom sounded close to the castle, startling the men back into the reality of the situation. "Okay, we don't have time for cozy reunions." Arthur told the teens quickly. "Voldemort is attacking right at this very moment and we need to go stop him."
"Voldemort is attacking? Why didn't you say?" Sirius pulled out his wand, readying himself. The other three did the same.
"We don't need you out on the grounds, I'm sure the rest of the fighters could use you more than we do. Go on up and find your s-I mean, go find the others."
James nodded and led the other three up the stairs.
Harry had finally found the location of the last of the horcruxes. He used the map to find his way to the Room of Requirements, but four familiar names had just appeared on the map one at a time in the entrance hall that caught Harry's attention.
Harry hurried in the direction of the entrance hall, noticing that the dots were moving in his direction. He slowed to a stop as the four dots rounded the corner, revealing the four teens that he had heard so much about.
James stared across the corridor at his teenage son, seeing an almost perfect mirror image of himself. "Who are you?" He asked, wonderingly.
Harry fought to speak over the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "My name is Harry Potter, and I'm your son."
