Chapter 20: Hel or Highwater

I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from writing this whatsoever. The Harry Potter franchise is the property of Warner Brother's and J.K Rowling.

The last chapter! Well, last proper one, as chapter 21 will just be an epilogue of sorts (one that you'll still definitely want to read, as it has important stuff in it). Also, I have to mention that I've recently read through the entire story and realized just how many spelling mistakes I've missed. It's pretty embarrassing, as well as the fact that I've been using commas all wrong the entire time. Apologies for that, I'm usually the type to stop reading a fic after too many mistakes, so it's pretty hypocritical of me to not try and do better. They should mostly all be fixed now for my readers on AO3. Sorry to anyone reading on , but I don't really use or like this site so the changes only apply to AO3, though these last two chapters will have the fixes.

***Warning for some pretty graphic descriptions of violence in this chapter***

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"Now, Odin was the all-father, the god of gods. He is comparable to Zeus from Greek myth, and though his descriptions and names vary throughout the transcripts, many experts agree on one thing; his insatiable thirst for knowledge was not always pure."

- Mrs. Jondottir to a rather small Norse Mythology class in Manhattan, New York, 1993

He awoke to a blistering cold and the groans of the damned.

His head pounded, and belatedly, Johnny realized he was not the Rider. And it was so fucking cold, the kind of cold that whips at your face and digs into your skin like a thousand tiny shards of glass. He hadn't felt like this in over a year.

Johnny's legs were shaky as he got to his feet and took in his location. A cyan blue hue was everywhere. Literally, there was nothing here that wasn't some variation of the color. Besides him, of course. There were spirits in front of him, hands wrapped around their chests, faceless and stumbling forward to a gate ahead. It was giant, and just slightly cracked open. The ground he was standing on wasn't that big either, a large drop into a foggy void below promised to anyone who fell.

Where the fuck was he?

A small cough had him spin around, a sudden, terrible thought that it would be Mephisto behind him ran through his mind, but it was quickly dispelled.

The man before him wore a cloak of some sort with fur around the shoulders, gold armor that was almost dark in the blue light, and carried a long spear as well as a scabbard attached to his waist with a sword. A helm that was also gold and had horns, a large grey beard, and an eyepatch.

Johnny felt goosebumps all over, his blood ran cold. A powerful aura was enveloping him, there was a low buzzing in his ears. Being in the man's presence was something that could be physically felt.

"Hello again, Johnny." He said, and his voice was a bit gravelly, but not hard to understand at all. And Johnny knew who it was.

Odin, god of poetry, war, and death. The All-Father.

Did he kneel? Johnny felt like he should be kneeling right now.

He was halfway through doing so when Odin shook his head, a chuckle escaping his lips.

"There is no need for that, Johnny, I assure you." He said, and it sounded so damn grandfatherly.

Johnny stood back up, almost transfixed. "Where are we?" He asked.

"My boy, you have read the books, have you not?" Odin responded. "Where do you think you are?"

The cold, the dead spirits shuffling to an imposing gate, truthfully, Johnny already had a pretty good idea.

"Hel," he said, "realm of the dead."

"Among other things," Odin tacked on with a nod, "you are correct, boy."

"I'm dead then?" He asked.

"That is a more complicated question," Odin answered with a frown, "do you feel like you are dead, Johnny?"

"Well, no," he said, shrugging, "but if I'm here, then..." Johnny spread his arms out.

"You might as well be anyway," Odin finished for him, "fortunately for you, it is not that simple."

Johnny snorted, fueled by his hopelessness. "Looks pretty simple to me."

Odin's frown deepened. "Let me finish."

He felt a surge of guilt and looked away. "Sorry..."

"As I said," Odin continued, "it is not that simple. Yes, you are where the dead roam, but you yourself, are not dead. In fact, you are not the first person to enter through the veil."

"You know about it then?" Johnny asked, unable to keep out his curiosity.

"Of course I do, Odin said, "I am the All-Father, boy, I know all. Now listen closely. A few others have come through before you, and while they did not last long in this wretched place, the veil was not what killed them."

Just the freezing cold he thought, but wisely did not say out loud.

"Long ago, the God Loki thought it humorous to place the veil in wizardkind's Ministry, to watch them wonder over it, to see them fail over and over again to understand it. To this day, he sometimes visits - disguised, of course - to have a laugh."

So he wasn't dead. That would have come as a huge relief if he wasn't stuck in an entirely different realm, with no way back. The only thing behind Odin was the edge of the platform they were on. God, he hated magic.

"If you are to escape, you must follow the dead. Their path will lead you to the keeper of Hel." Odin continued. "You must convince her, in whatever way you can, to allow you to pass." A frown overtook his face again. "Unfortunately, I fear your pleas will be denied. But you are formidable, and I have faith that you will succeed." He rummaged deep into a pouch on his waist, before taking out a rough-looking rock that glowed a bright blue with a white rune engraved on it. "Here," he said, tossing it to Johnny, who caught it. "You will need this travel stone once you get past the keeper. There will be a building with a circular roof, you will not miss it. Inside will be a rocky and half-destroyed archway. Use the stone on it, and you will be able to return to exactly where you came from."

Johnny could hardly believe his luck. Here was the God of all gods, giving him an opportunity to return to his friends. One question forced itself out of his mouth. "But why?" Johnny winced internally, cursing at himself for questioning such a gift.

Odin smiled patiently. "Because, I am someone who does not like being indebted, Johnny Blaze, and many years ago, while I was living the life of a man, you emptied your wallet for me, gifting me with all the money inside. I, a mere stranger, someone who you did not know, nor needed to help. And yet, you selflessly did anyway. You are a good boy - no - a good man. So take what I have given you, and some more advice. Do not stray from the path once you enter the gateway with the rune. It will mean your life if you do. Goodbye, Johnny, may we meet again."

He lifted his spear a few inches off the ground, before slamming it down. Odin's form shimmered and turned gold before he disappeared entirely.

The biting cold of Helheim returned, and Johnny shivered. "Better get it over with now..." He turned into the Rider, letting the heat wash over him. Unsurprisingly, it still hurt like a bitch, but it certainly beat the cold. And with no other option, he walked forward towards the double doors accepting the dead.

The fact that this place even existed, was blowing his mind. Yes, he had fought a frost troll, and Draugr, Dumbledore had even confirmed the existence of the Gods themselves to him, but to be somewhere straight out of the myths was truly a whole other thing entirely.

As he walked, the spirits gave no indication that they knew he was there. They did not react even when he walked right through them. They were on an entirely different plane of existence.

In the distance, perched on a cliff, the Giant known as Hræsvelgr watched him advance, its large wings unmoving for once, the winds of Hel stopping momentarily.

"This is crazy," he muttered to himself.

But Johnny knew that this was likely the least crazy thing he was going to see here, and he was proven right once he got past the double doors.

There was a woman, a beautiful woman seated on a marble throne of sorts. Her skin was blue, almost, and she wore a plain white gown and had a gloomy expression on her face. A wolf sat below her on the ground, it stood on all fours immediately when Johnny passed through.

Was this the keeper of Hel? He looked around, but there were only spirits drifting by, nothing else living beside these two. In the distance, past a golden bridge, was the building with the circular roof that Odin had talked about. It was red and bronze in color, and looked ancient.

The woman frowned at him as he approached, and Johnny felt oddly sad for somehow disappointing her.

"You should not be here," she said. Her voice was ethereal. The wolf growled lowly.

"If it helps, I didn't mean to." He responded, stepping closer.

The spirits around them whispered louder and moved along quickly.

"I just need to get by," he continued, "I have a way out, and if you just let me cross the bridge, I'll be gone."

It was so simple, would be so easy to just let him pass, that Johnny should have realized she'd never go for it.

"You should not be here," she hissed. "The last one to come here willingly killed my last keeper, and I had to take its place."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said truthfully, "but I promise I mean you no harm, I only wish to cross the bridge and leave Hel."

"No one alive can be in this place, those who come here unwarranted must be punished, so they can remain here properly." She stood from her throne, the crowd of spirits walking by dispersed and gave them a wide berth. The wolf's growling grew louder.

"Killing me in battle will only send me on to Valhalla," he tried to reason.

"Perhaps," the woman agreed, "but if you die quickly, maybe it won't count as much of a battle at all."

The wolf beside her grew, becoming almost ten times his normal size, easily towering over Johnny. He could make out its bloodstained fur now.

"Please," he practically begged, "I don't want to fight, Odin has given me a way out, I need to get back home."

Her beautiful face was contorted into a scowl, she resembled more of a witch now.

"Do not speak to me about the raven king," she snarled, "he is the reason I am here in the first place!" The last word was boomed out, and with a raise of her hand, a jet of light shot out and struck Johnny in the chest, sending him sprawling.

He stood up, brushing the attack off. It hurt, but wouldn't be enough to kill him.

"Fine, have it your way."

"I am the Goddess of death, and you are in my domain. This place will be your home forever!"

He rushed forward, already so damn tired. The wolf immediately pounced and tackled him to the ground. Good thing about this was that at least Hela couldn't get a shot off without hurting her furry buddy. And, yeah, he knew who she was. Didn't matter much at the moment. She was just an obstacle.

Garmr - Johnny knew him, too - took a nice bite at his shoulder, and Johnny yelled.

Alright, maybe he spoke too soon about this position being good.

On the next bite attempt, as the great big wolf was slobbering and snapping all over him, Johnny shoved a hand down its mouth. Gross, yes, but he had a plan. Hellfire shot from his entrapped hand, burning the stupid wolf from the inside.

It got off him with a howl followed by whimpers as it backed away.

"Yeah, that's right you fu-"

Another beam of light caught him in the chest, and it was only Johnny's quick thinking that saved him, for he shot out a chain to wrap around a small glacier close to the edge. Trying to climb up now would mean his death, so Johnny instead let himself hang precariously off the edge, an unfathomable void below eagerly awaiting his fall.

The right moment came when Hela peered over, no doubt to say some final word that villains always did, but Johnny barely gave her the chance, shooting a fireball straight at her face.

Her screams were far more satisfying than the ones from the wolf.

After he was sure that Hela was away from the edge, Johnny began pulling himself up in earnest. He'd never fought a God before, could he even kill her?

Well, there was only one way to find out, really.

Once Johnny was able to pull himself back over the edge, harsh winds started billowing in. It seemed Hræsvelgr had grown bored of idly watching. Though the winds weren't strong enough to knock him off his feet from this distance, Johnny was wary of an intervention. A God his size was a maybe, the wolf, even less so, but a Giant like Hræsvelgr? Forget it.

He surveyed the battlefield. All the spirits were gone, Garmr was still coughing out smoke and huddled down at the farthest point away from where Johnny stood. Hela was on her knees facing him in the middle of the area before the bridge.

She wept and groaned in pain. And when Hela looked up at him, her beautiful face was completely gone. Marred by his hellfire, or perhaps he had just taken away the illusion and showed who she really was.

"You... you... what are you?"

"I'm the spirit of vengeance, and all these people you've watched over, all the ones you've condemned to an eternity here, you will feel their suffering."

Johnny grabbed her by the throat and was about to end it when Garmr tackled him again. Knawing and biting at him in a last-ditch attempt to protect its master. Johnny grabbed at the top and bottom of its mouth and opened it wide before spewing more hellfire down its mouth. The wolf tried to run again, but Johnny held tight as he stood up. With considerable effort, he pulled hard. And for a few moments, he could hear the sinews stretching, the stomach-churning sound of the wolf's skin being torn apart.

With one last powerful tug, Garmr's jaw was ripped off entirely, taking a good chunk of its neck and upper chest out as well. Blood sprayed everywhere, including onto Hela, whose face was slowly healing from the burns, bones still just a bit exposed.

"NO!" She screamed, and twin blasts of magic were sent his way again, but Johnny was ready this time and rolled to avoid them. He returned fire with a chain that wrapped around her at blinding speed.

They burned into her skin, and she struggled to get the next words out. "You can't... there are consequences... to killing a God."

He knew a lot about consequences already.

"Will you let me go if I spare you?"

Again, he never wanted to kill her, but she had forced him into a fight.

Hela looked mutinous. "What choice to have?"

"Not much of one at all, really," he said.

"Then go, monster, leave my realm." Hela snapped.

He resisted the urge to shout back. That's all he had wanted in the first place.

Whatever, though, at least he could leave, Johnny released the chains and they dissipated into a fiery nothingness. He sighed, seeing the glint in her eye.

They never did stay down that easy, did they?

He got about five feet onto the bridge when she tried to fire a cheap shot. Johnny was expecting it, so as soon as he heard the spell fire, he turned and ducked to the side, shooting a chain back at her that wrapped around her neck. He tugged hard and she was dragged helplessly towards him. If she had actually hit him, it would have sent Johnny flying off the bridge.

Her renewed pleas for life fell upon deaf ears, and soon enough he had her by the throat again.

Johnny stared straight into her black eyes. "Repent."

Hela, the Goddess of death, slumped over lifelessly after only a second of the penance stare. The ground shook for a moment but eventually settled. The wind had stopped blowing as well, Hræsvelgr was nowhere to be seen anymore.

He trudged on past the bridge and into the building with the circular roof. It was seemingly abandoned, and the state of the place showed that. Everything was dirty and covered with dust, not to mention the small sections of the roof that were caved in.

"Quaint, isn't it?"

Johnny sighed. At this point, it didn't even come as a surprise.

"Mephisto, I hope you've come here to give me an explanation."

The devil stood there just before the archway, grinning as always. "You're talking about the prophecy, right? I know you found it."

Johnny didn't even want to know how Mephisto knew that. "Then you also know that your son is dead."

Mephisto's expression did not change. "Yes, I do. Well done, Johnathan."

"And do you remember your promise?"

"I do," Mephisto said, "but I believe we've hit a slight snag in this discussion."

Johnny tilted his head. "Oh, yeah? Do tell."

Mephisto's eyes were alight with mischief. "You never shook my hand."

Rage. Unbridled rage was bubbling up within him.

"Am I supposed to take that seriously?" He shouted.

"Take it however you wish," Mephisto shrugged, "you did not shake my hand when I offered to seal the deal, so I will not be able to remove your curse."

"I never had to shake your hand when I sold my soul to you! I shed blood to make that deal you fat-headed asshole!"

"And you didn't do that when I came to you months ago, either," Mephisto snarled back, all traces of humor gone. "I witnessed you take the prophecy, as only you, Blackheart, or I, could. Shortly after I was forced to stop peering in, straining to project myself that far takes a toll."

"That's why your visits were so sporadic," Johnny realized.

"Yes," Mephisto said, sneering, "very well done, boy. The deal I made with you almost two years ago was the last one I've done in a while. People are praying to their gods, becoming less desperate for the devil's help."

"Good,"Johnny spat, "I'm glad it's making you weak!"

"You think me weak!?" Mephisto boomed, growing a little in size to tower over Johnny, his skin turning a bit red.

After a few moments, Mephisto took a deep breath and shrunk down to regular size.

"I assume you've heard the prophecy," he asked.

"Yes," Johnny lied, "every word of it."

Mephisto sighed before shrugging in an 'it can't be helped' manner. "Then you know I must kill you." He sounded like the very idea of it was so exhausting to go through with.

Johnny was numb with a weird mix of shock and all too familiar understanding. Deep down, he knew Mephisto was lying about helping him, but a foolish, hopeful part of Johnny needed to believe. And now, that vain hope had been crushed.

"You never intended on helping me,"Johnny said, not accusingly, but blankly, "I don't think you could undo what you did to me even if you wanted."

"Finally realizing, are we boy?" Mephisto said tauntingly.

"That you're a giant dick? Yeah, but I've known that for a while."

Mephisto grinned, but Johnny knew there was no humor behind it. "You are as vulgar as ever."

Johnny was furious that he wouldn't even admit to it, that he'd leave him guessing because he knew it'd piss him off.

"You've eliminated Blackheart for me, Johnny, and while it would have been preferable if you had both died, I'll make sure to finish you off properly now."

"You manipulated us into trying to kill each other!" Johnny yelled.

"Of course I did, stupid child, I am the master manipulator," Mephisto said, sounding bored. "Who do you think made it so your transformations were erratic? Not that it mattered, you found a loving family again, and my curse would not stay long. First the brother, now these wizards. If we were in my realm, oh, it'd be so easy, alas... I suppose I'll have to trap you here forever." He raised a hand towards the archway, and Johnny knew then that he'd destroy it. But as he began to leap towards him in an attempt to stop Mephisto, he noticed that nothing had happened.

Mephisto clearly noticed too, waving his hand more erratically, a scowl on his face as there were still no results.

"What... is this?" He asked, looking furious.

"This," another voice said, one he had heard upon arriving in Helheim, "is your hint to leave, Mephisto."

Odin was back, a frown settled on his face.

Mephisto bowed deeply. "All-Father, I did not know the life of a mere mortal meant so much to you."

"Rise, foul demon," Odin said calmly, but there was a hint of bite in his tone. "I have promised this boy free passage out of Hel, and I would see him do so."

Mephisto looked like he had swallowed something unpleasant, looking back and forth between Johnny and Odin. "You... you have?"

"Yes," Odin said simply, "now begone, before I personally bring the army of the Aesir to your domain."

"This is not over, Johnathan Blaze," Mephisto snarled, looking back at him, "the raven king cannot protect you forever. I do not know what he is up to, but you cannot trust him. His controlling nature will soon spread to you and your-"

"Enough!" Odin said, slamming his spear down again, and a gust of wind blew Mephisto to dust.

"He's not... dead, is he?" Johnny asked hesitantly. The room was so quiet, and Mephisto's words had his mind racing.

"No," Odin said somewhat stiffly, "I doubt he is, for he can never leave his realm for very long, preferring to astral project himself most times."

"I don't believe him, by the way," Johnny said after, "what he said about you. To be honest, I'll never believe another word out of his mouth for as long as I live."

Odin smiled softly, though it seemed slightly forced. "You are right to do so, he is almost as bad as Loki with his mischief and deceits. Now... I believe you had somewhere to be?" Odin motioned towards the stone archway.

Johnny stepped closer, and saw the abandoned workshop to his left, while the archway was on his right. The workshop's fire was still ablaze. He slipped the travel stone that Odin had given him and raised it to the archway. Immediately, the half-destroyed structure started to repair itself, the middle glowing a blue light that grew stronger and stronger until it shone brilliantly once the archway had completed its reconstruction.

He turned to thank Odin, but the God was gone as if he had never been there at all.

Johnny walked into the light, and what he saw was not all that different from the landscapes of Hel. The blue hue was darker than before, no longer cyan in color. A long and winding path was before him that twisted and turned unnaturally upwards. The ground was plentiful with frost-covered rocks, plants and trees. The path itself was not very wide, and Johnny could see what Odin meant earlier by not straying from it, as it looked pretty easy to fall off of.

And then he heard the voices. His father, Crash, Mona, James. All of them calling out for him, telling him to come to them. He could hear others too; Sirius, Hermione, Tonks. But Johnny shook his head, following those voices would kill him. So instead, he followed the path perfectly, and about halfway up, he saw another archway and knew he'd be home soon. The voices got stronger the closer he went, but Johnny ignored them.

At the archway, Johnny took a deep breath, before stepping through.

When he returned through the veil, there were no Order members to be seen. The Death Eaters were still tied up, and they all looked up at him in shock. Karkaroff was there too, keeping his wand on them

"When the hell did you get here?" Johnny asked.

"Dumbledore brought me along, but the old man is far too fast for his age," Karkaroff said softly, looking at him in amazement. "You should not be able to even be here."

"I've heard that a lot today."

He kept going and walked past some of the teens. A pudgy-looking boy and Molly were tending to them. Ron was giggling and Ginny was out cold. A blonde-haired girl was also unconscious while Hermione and Tonks still lay motionless, but Molly was working on them, getting help from the sandy-haired girl that had helped him from before, who was tending to the dark-haired girl and the dark-skinned boy.

"J-Johnny?" Molly asked uncertainly.

He kept walking, a bad feeling wrapping around him like tendrils. He tried to ignore the overwhelming guilt, ignore the hatred he had for himself right now. Was Blackheart just a pawn in the end as well? Had he killed someone who only ever wanted the same thing as him?

Blackheart's body was still there, and Johnny pulled him aside so he could get through the door. Once back in the circular room, he realized belatedly that this was the one that spun. He cursed as it came to a stop. Now what?

But he saw that two doors were still wide open and that the one he went through had never shut behind him. Did someone charm it to do that? Dumbledore probably could. He peered through the door closest to his left and saw that it was the one that led back to the elevator lift.

Johnny walked through it and into the lift. Used to the ridiculously fast speed now, he barely registered moving upwards.

Once out, he broke into a run towards the atrium. There was the sound of spellfire and shouting.

A great snake made of fire was swooping down at Dumbledore from the sky, a robed figure with a bald, pale head was above him on a small platform where the golden statues used to be. Used to, because every single one of them was in pieces scattered around the atrium, and a pile of ash on the floor before him.

Dumbledore was duelling what could only have been Voldemort, as well as a crazed-looking woman with wild black hair. Dumbledore brandished his wand in one, long, fluid movement and the snake, which had been an instant from sinking its fangs into him, flew high into the air and vanished in a wisp of dark smoke; the water in the pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass.

For a few seconds, Voldemort was visible only as a dark, rippling, faceless figure, shimmering and indistinct upon the plinth, clearly struggling to throw off the suffocating mass.

The rest of the Order was assembled nearby with Harry, staring at Johnny with complete shock on their expressions. They were all alive. Sirius looked the most surprised, and made to move forward but was tugged back by Remus, who shook his head urgently.

Johnny looked back at the fight. Voldemort was now gone, and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides, drenching the polished floor.

"MASTER!" The woman screamed from her position stuck under a golden arm of a statue. She was able to grab her wand, which was just a few inches away, and levitate the appendage off of her.

Had that killed Voldemort? Whatever, it didn't matter right now. The woman had her wand pointed at Dumbledore, and Johnny shot off a fireball at her. She turned to look at him now as it sailed through the air, her eyes wide. She barely dodged it in time.

She screamed again, this time at Johnny. Good, get her distracted and off Dumbledore.

"No!" Dumbledore shouted, even as Harry bellowed in pain from his position behind where the statues used to stand, clutching at his scar. "She's too fast, Johnny!"

An elf's head flew up to take a green spell that exploded it on impact. Johnny sent two fireballs in return. The woman was forced to roll to avoid them and he shot off another one.

But Dumbledore couldn't protect him and help Harry. The rest of the Order didn't know what to do, and through it all, Johnny could hear Harry begging Dumbledore to kill him.

The distraction was all the woman needed. Spells shot towards him at such incredible speed, he couldn't hope to dodge them all.

"Avada Kedavra!"

One out of the six she sent his way struck him in the chest, sending him to the ground.

There were anguished screams, but Johnny felt fine. He knew that spell, how it meant instant death, but he sat back up almost immediately.

The woman looked dumbstruck, so much so that she did not continue to attack him.

Johnny looked to the Order, Harry was recovering, but everyone else was staring at him. Even Dumbledore, whose eyes were wide.

"What?" He asked, and then he realized.

Johnny looked to his hands, they looked like his own. No longer bone, just flesh. He reached to touch his head and felt only hair. Johnny saw a small ball of orange, so faint he barely believed it was something at all. It shot up to the roof and then disappeared through it.

His powers were gone.

The Atrium was suddenly full of people. The floor was reflecting emerald green flames that had burst into life in all the fireplaces along one wall, and a stream of witches and wizards was emerging from them. As Johnny got to his feet, he noticed one man standing out from the rest.

"He was there," someone shouted, a man with a ponytail, "I saw him grab a woman and disapparate, Minister!"

Johnny looked back to where he knew the woman had been moments before and saw that she was gone.

"I know, Williamson," the man walking forward shouted back, "I saw him too!"

So this was the Minister for Magic? He didn't look like much.

He was wearing pyjamas under his pinstriped cloak and was gasping as though he had just run miles. "Merlin's beard, here - here! - in the Ministry of Magic! Great heavens above, it doesn't seem possible. My word, how can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," Dumbledore said, apparently satisfied that Harry was all right, and walking forward so that the newcomers realized he was there for the first time (a few of them raised their wands, others simply looked amazed; the remaining statues of the elf and goblin applauded and Fudge jumped so much that his slipper-clad feet left the floor), "you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparation Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

"Dumbledore!" Fudge gasped, apparently beside himself with amazement. "You - here - I - I -" And then his eyes bulged comically once he saw who was with Dumbledore. "Sirius Black!" He shouted, looking wildly around at the Aurors he had brought with him, and it could not have been clearer that he was in half a mind to cry, "Seize them!"

"Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men and win again!" Dumbledore said in a thunderous voice. "But a few moments ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for a year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong men for twelve months, and it is time you listened to sense!"

Fudge stuttered something, but Dumbledore cut him off.

"Sirius Black was never a Death Eater, Cornelius, it was Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed the Potter's all along. We had both been fooled."

"Well - I - oh, very well, Dumbledore. Dawlish, Proudfoot! Go down into the Department of Mysteries. Take Lockley with you to lead the way!"

At once, three men sped off.

It was then that Fudge noticed all the other Order members standing there, including Harry.

"Harry Potter?" Fudge gasped again. "He-here? What's all this about?"

"I shall explain everything," Dumbledore repeated, "when Harry is back at school."

He walked away from the pool to the place where the golden wizard's head lay on the floor. He pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Portus." The head glowed blue and trembled noisily against the wooden floor for a few seconds, then became still once more.

"Now see here, Dumbledore!" Fudge said, as Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to Harry carrying it. "You haven't got authorization for that Portkey! You can't do things like that right in front of the Minister of Magic, you - you-"

His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him magisterially over his half-moon spectacles.

"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts," Dumbledore said. "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures teacher so that he can return to work. And, perhaps most importantly, you will exonerate Sirius Black and acknowledge that we were all wrong this entire time. I will give you..." Dumbledore pulled a watch with twelve hands from his pocket and glanced at it, "half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the headmaster will find me."

Johnny couldn't help the smile that worked its way onto his face as Harry touched the Portkey and disappeared. It was fun to watch Dumbledore go. The smile faltered though, as Johnny looked back towards the roof. He felt different, changed. But there was still some lingering feeling of being the Rider. Like there was a piece that remained behind.

Sirius came up to hug him tightly. "I thought you were dead," he said quietly.

"Nah," Johnny responded, "can't get rid of me that easy."

Sirius let out a small bark of laughter that startled some of the Aurors. Dumbledore was already explaining everything that had transpired to them.

"You know," Sirius said, "I think it'll work out."

"Don't jinx it, you idiot," Johnny said, laughing a little.

Yeah, he was happy to be back.

She awoke to a white ceiling and a comfortable bed.

Hermione shot up and immediately regretted it. A strong need to throw up overwhelmed her and a small bucket was forced onto her lap.

After a few seconds, she was done and wiped any leftover bits onto the sleeve of her gown. Which wasn't very sanitary but-

Wait, gown?

She took in her surroundings and realized that she was in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts.

"Feel better?"

Hermione looked up to see Johnny's concerned face.

"Wha-"

"The lady said that the slash was almost fatal." He said, cutting her off. "You've been out for a few days."

"The 'lady', has a name, Mr. Blaze. Now move out of my way so I can attend to my patient."

Madame Pomfrey waved her wand at Hermione, performing diagnostic spells. "You seem to be alright now. As he said, it was nearly worse, but thankfully Molly was there, otherwise... Anyway, you'll have some scarring, but as it wasn't the full moon, I don't think there'll be any side effects from Greyback attacking you."

"Did... is everyone else alright?" She asked, glancing between the two, reaching to touch her face. She couldn't feel the scars though.

"Tonks is in some other magical hospital. Ginny has a concussion, and Moody's here too, but otherwise, yeah, we're all good." A dark look passed over his face, and Hermione did not miss it.

"What happened?"

"The Ministry is finally recognizing Voldemort's return, and Sirius has been cleared of all charges." He said.

"But that's great news, isn't it?"

Johnny shook his head. "I lost my powers."

"What?" Hermione said a little too loudly, and Madame Pomfrey shushed her as she went to check on another patient.

"Got hit with the killing curse, and it separated me and whatever demon I had been bonded to."

She could hardly believe it, he must have been the second ever person to survive the curse. This was something he must have wanted, she thought. After all, living the way he did surely wasn't fun, and the few times he did talk about his transformations it was always with a bitter and angry tone. But... he seemed sad, for some reason.

"And... how do you feel about it," she asked tentatively.

He shrugged. "I don't know."

There was a long pause, in which he got a bit closer to her bed. He was trying to play it off, she knew.

"I also went to Hel, and killed the Norse Goddess of death, so that was cool."

It was with great effort that Hermione didn't shout again. "C-care to, er, explain? That's quite a bomb you've just dropped on me."

"Sure, but it might take a while," he said, shrugging again.

Hermione reached out a little and grabbed his hand.

"We have time," she said, squeezing.

He looked at her, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess we do."

"You've WHAT?"

Johnny stifled a laugh as he found their compartment. The train was really fucking long. Thankfully, Ron's shout carried far.

Several students gave him odd looks on the train, but Dumbledore assured him there was no harm in taking the ride home with them.

"Can you guys shut up? I'm trying to find my friends and I can't quite hear their obnoxiously loud voices over yours."

"Johnny!"

He leaned against the sliding door frame of their compartment. "Jesus, did a hurricane come through here?"

There were chess pieces everywhere, and two owls were twittering annoyingly at Ron from above.

"Ron's burst a gasket over my new boyfriend," Ginny said matter-of-factly.

"Has he now?" Johnny responded, smirking. "Don't worry, they all have to grow up sometime."

Ron, who was muttering under his breath as he picked up the chess pieces, did not respond.

"What are you doing on the train?" Hermione asked, looking curious. She was good as new, according to Pomfrey, which was a relief to him. The scars over her face weren't even that bad, either. Just three faint pink claw marks across her face that were hardly noticeable. It was from the right side of her face starting from the nose and going to her right cheek.

"Asked Dumbledore if I could see you guys, considering I stayed until you woke up." He said. "Dumbledore figured it was fine, extra protection and all that. Nobody would know (he looked down the train corridor to make sure nobody was nearby) that I'm, er, not exactly a wizard." He hesitated to say muggle in front of the pudgy boy and blonde girl but figured that one of them had already seen him for what he was there, so it didn't matter too much.

It had been a few days since Hermione had woke up, and they were all finally headed home. He still felt a pang of guilt in his chest whenever he thought about Blackheart, but he tried to shove the feeling away.

Hermione beamed as he squeezed in next to her, and they all sat and enjoyed the ride back to King's Cross station.

On the other side of the barrier between the muggle and magical platforms of King's Cross station, Harry found a surprise awaiting him.

A fair few members of the Order were there, all dressed in muggle clothing. Mad-Eye, Tonks, Lupin, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Kingsley, and Sirius.

Harry rushed forward, hugging Sirius.

"Hey, pup," his godfather greeted him before he felt a light smack on his shoulder. "That's for being a bloody idiot and not using the enchanted mirror I gave you for Christmas, eh?"

"Lay off him a little," Johnny said, coming up behind Harry. "You would have done the same."

"Too right," Sirius conceded, "which is why I have to be that much more stern with the kid. Can't have you turning out like me, can we?"

"That would be pretty bad," Harry admitted.

Sirius and Johnny laughed, and Harry grinned stupidly. He was okay, Sirius was alive. And so was Johnny.

"But what are you all doing here?" He asked them.

"Well," Sirius said, cutting off Lupin from answering, "we thought we'd give ol' Vernon and Petunia a talking to."

"He means threatening them," Tonks added cheerfully.

Lupin looked exasperated.

Harry's good mood plummeted. "You mean I have to go back with them?"

Kids were milling by, adults were openly gawking at Sirius.

"Afraid so, kiddo," Sirius said, "but chin up, eh? It'll only be for a week."

Harry's mood shifted rapidly again. "Only a week?"

Sirius nodded happily. "Yep, just to renew the blood wards for a bit. Dumbledore'll be by sometime next week to pick you up and bring you over to my place and convince them to move somewhere else. Once you leave, the protections will start to fade."

"I'm surprised he's letting me," Harry admitted.

Sirius sighed. "Dumbledore loves you just like I do, kiddo, and he only wants you to be safe. Now that I'm a free man properly, there's no issue to come stay with me."

Harry nodded, and before they could start looking for his relatives, two people came running up to him.

It was Tracey and Blaise.

"Hey," she said breathlessly, "we wanted... to talk to you before you left." Tracey eyed Sirius and Johnny apprehensively.

"I'll go find Hermione's parents," Johnny said, nodding at Tracey briefly. "Got to talk to them about me coming to guard their house anyway."

"Don't stare into her eyes too long, godkiller," Sirius called, grinning. Johnny gave him a rude hand gesture behind his back in return.

Harry blinked, what was that about?

"Nice to meet you," Sirius said, turning back around, "I saw you two at the battle, thank you for coming to save me - even though it was a trap, and protecting my godson."

"O-of course," Tracey said, blushing. "Harry's our friend."

"He's lucky to have you both, then," Sirius said with a smile. "Ah, I see Petunia from here, be right back Harry."

Harry watched as the rest of the Order left him alone with Tracey and Blaise.

"So, what's up?" He asked them.

"Well," Tracey started, "we just wanted to say that we support you, and we-" Blaise elbowed her lightly. "Fine, I was wondering if you wanted to visit sometime in the summer. Blaise usually has his house to himself over the break, and if it wouldn't be a problem, I think it could be fun. Invite your friends too, if you want." Blaise was nodding emphatically.

Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't that.

"Oh," he said dumbly, "yeah, that sounds fun, I'd have to ask but I'm sure it'd be fine."

"Really?" Tracey asked, before straightening. "Great!"

"Where's Greengrass?" Harry asked, remembering the other girl.

Immediately, both teen's faces darkened. "She, er, well... her parents... they sort of... support You-Know-Who - not like Death Eaters or anything. And she wanted to come too, but because we all went to help you, she's grounded for the whole summer."

"I see," Harry said, never knowing Greengrass' parents supported Voldemort. Yet she'd come to help him anyway, so maybe she wasn't like them. "Well, feel free to send me an owl - oh wait," he cut off. Could they even send letters to him? Grimmauld Place was still under the Fidellus charm. "Er, you know what? Why don't you give me your address, Blaise, and a day and time to be there, and I'll do my best to come. If I can't I'll just send an owl myself."

They both looked at him a little oddly, but Tracey gave him Blaise's address, and then they said their goodbyes.

Harry went and found his relatives, looking sufficiently terrified from the Order's warnings to treat him better. It was unnecessary, really, he'd only be there for a week, and then Harry would never have to see them again. He felt lighter at the revelation. Hermione's parents were nearby, talking to Johnny. They were frowning slightly as Johnny spoke. He got a little closer to them, not really caring much to hear each Order member take turns vaguely threatening his relatives - though Mad-Eye saying "I expect what you don't know could fill several books, Dursley," nearly made Harry snort.

"But I don't understand," Mr. Granger said, his hair darker than Hermione's, and he had a neatly trimmed beard. "Why don't you just stay with us?"

Johnny looked flustered. "Well, you see, sir, I'd be on rotation with other members of the Order, and I wouldn't want to impose either."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Granger said, she had wavy hair the exact same shade as Hermione's, "you're protecting us, it's the least we can do."

Johnny shook his head. "I won't be doing much really, just watching over in the event anything happens, which is highly unlikely anyway."

Hermione for her part, looked a little wide-eyed, just watching the exchange. Harry had never seen her with that expression before.

A hand was placed on his shoulder, Harry turned to Sirius.

"Time to go, pup," he said, hugging him as Mr. Granger once again argued to have Johnny stay, to which the teen just let his shoulders drop, and agreed.

He looked around at them all, and Harry felt an overwhelming sense of hope. And with a smile and wave to Sirius and the others, he walked with his relatives back to the car with his trunk and Hedwig's cage.

Alone in his room, a sobbing boy had his face buried in a pillow. His hair was platinum blonde, and he wore all black.

"I can't..." he blubbered. "I don't know how..."

The boy cried more, and let out a few unintelligible words.

He raised his head, swiping at his eyes with his sleeve. "I'll do anything to stay alive, to keep her safe. He knows I can't succeed, but I have to."

A voice whispered in his ear, so close that the boy whipped his head to see who it was, but found nobody else there.

"Anything?"