Ahh... the last chapter is here! Some of the scenes were taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Enjoy!


Chapter 25

Over at last


"I need you to take care of the snake. As soon as possible. Let everyone know that it has to be destroyed before anyone attempts to kill Voldemort." Harry spoke calmly.

"You tell them that yourself." I shook my head. "Because you're not leaving! You can't! I won't let you!"

"Isabella, please, you saw what Dumbledore said." Harry pleaded.

"I don't care what he said! I can't lose you!" I screamed.

"So, you'll let everyone die? All muggles, muggle-borns, and blood-traitors are in danger while he lives. Is that the kind of future you want for your daughters? What makes you think he'll stop at humans, what makes you think he won't find a way to kill vampires next?"

"We can find another way, something other than you dying!" I pleaded. "I can turn you, make you a vampire, you will be dead technically, it can work!"

"You can't know that for sure. Look, I don't…" Harry stopped screaming and was now looking at the floor. "…I don't want to die. It was never in my plans, but can you tell me that if we changed places, you wouldn't sacrifice your own life for someone you love?"

It was now me, who turned my gaze to the floor. He was right. I knew he was and it's exactly why it was so hard for me to find any more arguments or physically stop him from what he was about to do.

Harry stood up. His heart was beating faster, like a frantic bird, once again. Perhaps it knew it had little time left, perhaps it was determined to fulfill a lifetime's beats before the end. I looked at him for what I was sure was felt the last time.

"I love you," I whispered, my arms crossed on my chest, trying to stop the emerging feelings from coming out to the surface.

"I love you too. You were always like a big sister to me. Can you tell Hermione and Ron that I'm sorry for not giving them a proper goodbye? And…Ginny…Someone needs to tell her I loved her, and that I will always watch over her." He gave me a nervous smile; all I could do was nod.

We hugged each other and I felt my arms not wanting to let go. Harry gave me one last look and smiled at me, taking something from his backpack. He did not look back as he pulled his Invisibility Cloak over him and closed the office door.

My hands automatically went into my own hair. My heartfelt like it was about to burst into shreds inside my body. I let him go, I was meant to protect him, and I failed…

Before anyone would start looking for me, I decided to join the rest at the Great Hall. The castle, its hallways, and corridors were still empty. I felt like a ghost striding through it alone. The portrait people were still missing from their frames; the whole place was eerily still as if all its remaining lifeblood were concentrated in the Great Hall where the dead and the mourners were crammed.

At last, walking down the marble staircase into the Great Hall, perhaps some tiny part of me hoped to see Harry, standing next to the Weasleys, snogging Ginny, or laughing with Ron or discussing something with Hermione, but he wasn't there.

Then Neville nearly walked into me, waking me up from my dreams. He was one half of a pair that was carrying a body in from the grounds. I glanced down and felt another dull blow to my stomach: Colon Creevey, though underage, must have sneaked back just as Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had done. A little boy, who followed Harry and Edward around during the Triwizard Tournament with his camera…He looked tiny in death.

"You know what? I can manage him alone, Neville," said Oliver Wood, and he heaved Colin over his shoulder in a fireman's lift and carried him into the Great Hall. Neville leaned against the door frame for a moment and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. He looked like an old man. Then he set off on the steps again into the darkness to recover more bodies.

I followed him outside, stopping only to see the number of unclaimed bodies lying on the ground. I moved toward Neville, who was bending over another body. "Neville."

"Blimey, Isabella, you nearly gave me heart failure!" He exclaimed. "Where is Harry?" Neville asked suspiciously.

"It's all part of the plan," I spoke, trying to calm myself as much as it was possible. "There's something he has got to do. Listen…Neville…"

Neville looked suddenly scared. "Wait, he's not thinking of handing himself over, is he?"

"No," I lied. "Of course not…this is something else, but he might be out of sight for a while. Do you know Voldemort's snake, Neville? He's got a huge snake…Calls it Nagini."

"I've heard, yeah. What about it?"

"It's got to be killed. My family, Ron, and Hermione know that, but just in case we…" The awfulness of that possibility smothered me for a moment and made it impossible to keep talking. I didn't want to have to risk Neville's life, but what if we indeed would be too busy or not around...But I pulled myself together again: this was crucial, I must be like Dumbledore, keep a cool head, make sure there were backups, others could carry on, someone to jump on the possibility. Dumbledore had died knowing that three people still knew about the Horcruxes; now my whole family and Neville knew and would have to take Harry's place. "Just in case we're…unavailable or busy and you get the chance… "

"Kill the snake?" He guessed.

"Kill the snake," I repeated.

"All right. You're okay, aren't you?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. Thanks, Neville." I lied again, and he continued on with what he was doing previously.

Someone else was moving not far away, stooping over another prone figure on the ground. I stopped in my tracks, looking at Ginny. She was crouching over a girl. "It's all right," Ginny was saying. "It's ok. We're going to get you inside."

"But I want to go home," whispered the girl. "I don't want to fight anymore!"

"I know," said Ginny, and her voice broke. "It's going to be all right."

Out of all people who had to suffer, why did it have to be Harry and Ginny, my godbrother and the sister of my best friends! I couldn't look at her anymore, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep it together if she started talking to me. Was it selfish? Maybe, but I couldn't do it, not right now.

I went back inside to find Edward. He was my rock at the darkest of times and I needed him, needed to be around him and my family. I knew they would understand why I had to let Harry go to Voldemort, I knew they wouldn't hold it against me.

I ran up to Edward, who was talking to Professor Sprout at that moment.

"Love, what happened?" He looked at me with a concerned look, I wasn't surprised, he always knew when I was upset. "Excuse us, Professor."

He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the abandoned corridor.

"Edward, I…Harry…" the emotions that I was trying to hold inside me erupted with great force. I was sobbing and beating my hands at his chest, not even being able to look up into his eyes. I opened my shield for him and replayed what happened. The memories brought even more pain.

"Oh, honey…" He whispered in understanding, pulling me closer to him, locking my hands in between our bodies. He lowered us to the ground, and I wrapped my hands around his body. "Shhh…You did the right thing…You did the right thing." He kept whispering over and over again.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now," I spoke each word in between breaths. "He grew up in front of me! He thinks I can take over, finish the snake, kill Voldemort, but I can't, I just can't."

"Of course, you can!" He suddenly pushed me away a few inches and stared into my eyes. "You're the most extraordinary person I've ever met. You traveled back in time, you brought me back to life, you gave birth to two amazing girls, and fought in numerous battles. You can do anything!"

"Hey, sour patch, what's wrong?" I heard Emmett's voice from behind me.

"Emmett!" Edward growled.

"No, he's right. You both are. I can't feel like that, not right now, while the war is still going, and innocent people are dying." I spoke more determinedly. "We kill the snake, kill Voldemort. If Harry has the strength to face death, I should at least be able to keep it together until it's all over."

With that, I gave Edward a kiss and went outside to help drag the bodies into the castle. The work didn't make my thoughts stop from traveling deep into the Forbidden Forest, it didn't make me stop wondering if Voldemort has already done what he had planned to do, but it did help me get my priorities straight. Snake, Bellatrix, and Voldemort were just three priority names on my kill list, and I repeated the three names in my head until I heard a voice magically magnified so that it swelled through the ground, crashing upon my eardrums.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost a quarter of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

There was silence in the castle, I noticed in my peripheral vision that Neville, Ron, and Hermione were all staring at me. I didn't dare look back at them.

"Come," said Voldemort from outside, and I heard him move ahead.

"Harry," sobbed Hagrid. "Oh, Harry . . . Harry . . ."

I knew that they were approaching the castle now, I started walking outside first, followed by my family and the rest of the wizards in Hogwarts.

"No!" The scream was more terrible because I had never expected or dreamed that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound. I heard another woman laughing nearby, and looked to see that Bellatrix gloried in McGonagall's despair. Voldemort was standing a little in front of Hagrid, in whose arms lay the lifeless body, stroking Nagini's head with a single white finger. I closed my eyes for a second.

"No!"

"No!"

"Harry! HARRY!"

Ron's, Hermione's, and Ginny's voices were worse than McGonagall's.

"Bella," Edward whispered in my ear. "I can hear Harry's thoughts."

My head immediately snapped to Edward and then back to Harry's body.

"He's alive, he's been to the King's Cross Station, just like the one I've been to. He chose to come back." Edward whispered once again, and I tried my best to keep the emerging smile out of my face.

"We must pretend that he's not alive though. He probably has a plan." I whispered so low that I doubted even Edward would be able to hear me through people's screams of abuse at the Death Eaters, but then I saw him nod slightly in agreement.

"SILENCE!" cried Voldemort, and there was a bang and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced upon us all. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs! You see?" said Voldemort, after Hagrid lowered Harry to the ground. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"He beat you!" yelled Ron, and the charm broke, and the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a second, more powerful bang extinguished their voices once more.

"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," said Voldemort, and there was relish in his voice for the lie. "I killed him while he was trying to save himself…"

Voldemort's speech was broken off: with a scuffle and a shout, then another bang, a flash of light, and a grunt of pain; someone had broken free of the crowd and charged at Voldemort: It happened so fast, not even my family could react on time, I saw Neville hit the ground, disarmed, Voldemort throwing the challenger's wand aside and laughing.

"And who is this?" he said in his soft snake's hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Bellatrix gave a delighted laugh.

"It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I remember," said Voldemort, looking down at Neville, who was struggling back to his feet, unarmed and unprotected, standing in the no-man's-land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. "But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?" Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands curled in fists.

"So, what if I am?" said Neville loudly.

"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

"I'll join you when the hell freezes over," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army!" he shouted, and there was an answering cheer from the crowd, whom Voldemort's Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold.

"Very well," said Voldemort, and I heard more danger in the silkiness of his voice than in the most powerful curse. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head," he said quietly, "be it."

I saw Voldemort wave his wand and was ready to run to shield Neville from whatever Voldemort will do in the next moment. Less than a second later though, out of one of the castle's shattered windows, something that looked like a misshapen bird flew through the half-light and landed in Voldemort's hand. He shook the mildewed object by its pointed end, and it dangled, empty and ragged: the Sorting Hat.

"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," said Voldemort. "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, then forced the hat onto Neville's head, so that it slipped down below his eyes. There were movements from the watching crowd in front of the castle, and as one, the Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the fighters of Hogwarts at bay.

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort, and with a flick of his wand, he caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames.

Screams split the dawn, and Neville was a flame, rooted to the spot, unable to move, and I couldn't bear it any longer. As I started running, many things happened at the same time.

I heard the uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over the out-of-sight walls and pelted toward the castle, uttering loud war cries. At the same time, Hagrid's half-brother, Grawp, came lumbering around the side of the castle and yelled, "HAGGER!"

Then came hooves and the twangs of bows, and arrows were suddenly falling amongst the Death Eaters, who broke ranks, shouting their surprise. I noticed Harry pulling the Invisibility Cloak from inside his robes, swinging it over himself, Neville moved to the right. In one swift, fluid motion, he broke free of the Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming hat fell off him and he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering, rubied handle. The Sword of Gryffindor…

The slash of the silver blade could not be heard over the roar of the oncoming crowd or the sounds of the stampeding centaurs, and yet, it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke Neville sliced off the great snake's head, which spun high into the air, gleaming in the light flooding from the entrance hall, and Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream of fury that nobody could hear, and the snake's body thudded to the ground. Someone…and I hoped that someone was Harry cast a Shield Charm between Neville and Voldemort before the latter could attack, Hagrid's yell came loudest of all.

"Harry!" Hagrid shouted. "Harry, where is Harry?"

Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, and nearer and nearer thundered the reinforcements that had come from who knew where; Harry saw great winged creatures soaring the heads of Voldemort's followers, thestrals and Buckbeak the hippogriff scratching at the remaining Acromantulas while Grawp punched and stomped on them and now the wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike were being forced back into the castle. I was shooting jinxes and curses while I ran around my friends at any Death Eater I could see, and they crumpled, not knowing what or who had hit them, and their bodies were trampled by the retreating crowd.

I searched for Voldemort in the crowd, knowing Harry would be trying to find him as well, and saw him across the room, firing spells from his wand as he backed into the Great Hall, still screaming instructions to his followers as he sent curses flying left and right; I cast more Shield Charms at Voldemort's would-be victims. Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott darted past him into the Great Hall, where they joined the fight already flourishing inside it.

And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, I saw Charlie Weasley overtaking Horace Slughorn, who was still wearing his emerald pajamas. They seemed to have returned at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight along with the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade. The centaurs Bane, Ronan, and Magorian burst into the hall with a great clatter of hooves, as behind Harry the door that led to the kitchens was blasted off its hinges.

The house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleavers, and at their head, the locket of my uncle Regulus bouncing on his chest, was Kreacher, his bullfrog's voice audible even above this din: "Fight! Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!"

They were hacking and stabbing at the ankles and shim of Death Eaters their tiny faces alive with malice, and everywhere I looked Death Eaters were folding under the sheer weight of numbers, overcome by spells, dragging arrows from wounds, stabbed in the leg by elves, or else simply attempting to escape, but swallowed by the oncoming horde.

But it was not over yet: I sped between duelers, past struggling Death Eaters, and into the Great Hall. Voldemort was in the center of the battle, and he was striking and smiting all within reach. I could not get a clear shot, but fought my way nearer, the Great Hall became more and more crowded as everyone who could walk forced their way inside.

I saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by Jasper, saw Dolohov fall with a scream at Flitwick's hands, saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Esme, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground. It was the strangest thing ever, seeing Esme using her strength to harm people…Bad people at that, but still…

As I looked more, I saw Ron and Neville bringing down Fenrir Greyback. Edward Stunning Rookwood, Arthur, and Percy flood Thicknesse, and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy run through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son.

Voldemort was now dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley all at once, and there was cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him.

Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master, she dueled three at once: Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them, and my attention was completely diverted from Voldemort as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch. No! I felt a loud growl escape my lips as I darted in that direction. No one was going to be killed by her ever again!

"Not my daughter, you bitch!" Molly roared.

Molly Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms, Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of the new challenger. "Out of my way!" shouted Mrs. Weasley to the three girls, and with a simple swipe of her wand, she began to duel.

I didn't stop making my way to them as I watched with terror and elation as Molly's wand slashed and twisted, and Bellatrix's smile faltered and became a snarl. Jets of light flew from both wands, and the floor around the witches' feet became bot and cracked; both women were fighting to kill, and I could never forgive myself if I let someone like Molly Weasley become a murderer.

Molly sent another curse that threw Bellatrix into the wall and was raising her wand once again. I lowered her hand. "if you don't mind, she's mine." I spoke to Molly.

"Not at all, dear."

I ran up to the woman, who was trying to get a breath as she was standing up. I lifted her up by her neck and slammed her into the wall of the castle.

"You!" She groaned, unable to get a breath.

"Hello, auntie," I spoke with an evil smirk. "Goodbye, auntie."

I slowly pressed onto her neck, enjoying every second of it. Her hands tried to rip my own away from her neck, she looked into my eyes in horror, her lips started turning blue and she stopped struggling after a second. I broke her neck another second later, "that's for my dad," I whispered and returned to the fight. The watching crowd roared around me, and Voldemort screamed.

I saw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing, and writhing through the air, all three caught mid-air by Jasper, Alice, and Carlisle. Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb, he raised his wand and directed it at me.

"Protego!" roared Harry, still invisible under his cloak, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Hall, and Voldemort stared around for the source as Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak at last.

The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of: "Harry!" and "He's alive!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and completely as Voldemort and Harry looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other.

"I don't want anyone else to help," Harry said loudly, and in total silence, his voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

Voldemort hissed. "Potter doesn't mean that," he said, his red eyes wide. "This isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody," said Harry simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good…"

"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, and his whole body was taut, his red eyes stared, like a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

"Accident, was it when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. They were still moving sideways, both of them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"

"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort, but still he did not strike, and the watching crowd was frozen as if petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody seemed to breathe but the two.

"Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women and permitted me to kill them for you!"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," said Harry as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people…"

"But you did not!"

"…I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"

"You dare…"

"Yes, I dare," said Harry. "I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"

Voldemort did not speak but prowled in a circle, and Harry knew that he kept him temporarily mesmerized at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that Harry might indeed know a final secret…

"Is it love again?" said Voldemort, his snake's face jeering. "Dumbledore's favorite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him from falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter…and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse." I was ready to lounge, but Alice placed her hand on my shoulder, she shook her head and smiled slightly. "So, what will stop you from dying now when I strike?"

"Just one thing," said Harry, and still they circled each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by nothing but the last secret.

"If it is not loved that will save you this time," said Voldemort, "you must believe that you have magic that I don't, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"

"I believe both," said Harry, and I saw shock flit across the snakelike face, though it was instantly dispelled; Voldemort began to laugh, and the sound was more frightening than his screams; humorless and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall. "You think you know more magic than I do?" he said. "Then I, then Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"

"Oh, he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."

"You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"

"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"

"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."

For the first time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one.

"Dumbledore is dead!" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry. "In the marble tomb on the grounds of this castle, I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"

"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."

"What childish dream is this?" said Voldemort, but still, he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry's. He was interested.

"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"

Voldemort did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart.

"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized," he said as he saw Voldemort's nostrils flare, "he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him…"

"Of course, he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"

"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand! Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy…I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Death stick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, it did," said Harry. "You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done…Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle."

"What is this?"

Of all the things that Harry had said to him, beyond any revelation or taunt, nothing had shocked Voldemort like this. I saw his pupils contract to thin slits and saw the skin around his eyes whiten.

"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left... I've seen what you'll be otherwise…Be a man…try…Try for some remorse…"

"You dare…?" said Voldemort again.

"Yes, I dare," said Harry, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle."

Voldemort's hand was trembling on the Elder Wand, and Harry gripped Draco's very tightly. The moment, I knew, was seconds away.

"That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."

"He killed…"

"Aren't you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die, undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"

I was following Harry's speech closely, I too, like the rest of the people in the hall didn't know where he was leading with this.

"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" Voldemort's voice shook with malicious pleasure. "I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"

"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard…The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance…"

Voldemort's chest rose and fell rapidly, and Harry could feel the curse coming, feel it building inside the wand pointed at his face.

"The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."

Blank shock showed on Voldemort's face for a moment, but then it was gone. "But what does it matter?" he said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone…and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy…"

"But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him."

Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and I saw the eyes of everyone in the Hall fall upon it.

"So, it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does…I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

A red glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. I heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled pointing Draco's wand. My breath stopped in the middle of my throat, I was sending my hopes that Harry was right to the universe, Heavens, Gods, whatever, and whomever.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort roared.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry screamed.

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. I saw Voldemort's green jet meet Harry's red one, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of Nagini, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward.

Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around the room as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as everyone thundered toward Harry, and the first to reach him were Ron and Hermione, and it was their arms that were wrapped around him, their incomprehensible shouts that screamed louder than any others'. Then Ginny, Neville, and Luna were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and I could no longer understand a word that anyone was shouting, hundreds of people were pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason – it was over at last…

I looked to my right and found Edward, beaming at me from the other end of the room. To my left, Alice was jumping up and down with excitement, when she noticed a smile making its way on my face, she hugged me tightly around the shoulders. I wrapped my arms around her and felt a relieved sigh escape my lips as the smile crept its way fully onto my face. I was pulled out of the hug with my sister by the strong hands of my husband. He lifted me in the air and twirled me around for a few seconds, before placing me down on the ground and putting his lips on mine.

"It's all over." He whispered into my lips when we parted.

"It is." I beamed at him. "Where are the girls?"

"Outside." He smiled. "Them, their uncles, and boyfriends are stopping the remaining death eaters from fleeing."

"That's so not safe! What if they…Wait, did you just casually say 'boyfriends'?" I smiled even brighter at him.

"Whatever's meant to be – will be, right?" He shook his head. "At least it's Fred and George and not Malfoy or Goyle."

I pressed my lips to his once again, only stopping when I felt the presence of Carlisle, Rose, and Esme. I hugged all three of them and thanked them once again for helping us out today.

"Bella, we'll always be here to help, we're a family after all." Rose smiled at me.

"And family does everything for one another." Esme agreed.


And that's it! I have an epilogue coming though and it's an interesting one, so bear with me for another day or two:) Thank you for staying with me throughout this journey and thanks for reviewing my chapters! It's been a pleasure writing about Isabella Swan-Black, and I hope you enjoyed reading about her adventures.