When Remus woke up, the battle was over. The air smelled of sulphur and ash, Greyback lay in a crumpled heap before him, and Dolohov was trapped in... a bed? Before he could consider the thought further, however, he heard the sound of babies crying. He scrambled to his feet, ignoring James' words of protest, and together with Elias and Percival he headed to their children.

He picked up Harry, shushing and calming him with pats on the back. "Its all right, its all right Harry. I'm okay, you're okay. We're safe now. Nobody is coming to get you. I'm here." Were some of the things he murmured to his infant son. He looked out to the grounds; the battle seemed to have died down. But... which side won? Apprehensive, he asked James to look after Harry while he went out to see. But James was having none of it; "Oh no, Remus. I'll go. You stay here with your son. I'll be fine. And besides, I doubt we lost. We have Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall on our side. Not to mention that Filius Flitwick, old though he may be, was a Dueling Champion once upon a time. I'm sure they had no trouble, no trouble at all." And so, with Remus subdued, James headed down the steps and hurried towards the entrance where--

He saw the returning army. Aberforth, Minerva and Filius all walked through the doors, looking disheveled but otherwise unharmed. Minerva caught the worried look on James' face and calmed him at once, "Albus is fine, Potter. Went ahead to speak to Cornelius Fudge, I imagine. Inform him of what transpired tonight, to be sure. How are the children? Miss Lestrange was kind enough to inform me we had... unwanted guests."

James, now much more relieved, gave her one of the grins he had back during his school days, "Taken down. Two of them are dead, and the last one is wrapped up in a hospital cot. Well, we're pretty sure Rodolphus Lestrange is dead; only a pile of soot left. He might have escaped, but since only Albus Dumbledore can Apparate in and out of Hogwarts... I doubt it." He explained, before waving his wand and casting a talking Patronus. His stag hurried up the steps to inform Remus and the others of what happened. "There, that should keep the beaming fathers happy."

Aberforth, though, noticed that James hadn't answered the question properly. "And the children?" He asked. Made sense he'd be worried; his granddaughter is one of them.

"Oh, yeah," James seemed surprised, "Forgot to mention that. They cried a bit at the end, but their fathers picked them up right quick. Should be fine, I imagine. Feel free to go to the Hospital Wing and check on them, Ab." He stood aside as Aberforth hurried past him and up the steps, no doubt to ensure his family's safety. Flitwick then cast a Charm and two large Mouse Patronuses headed outside. James frowned, "What was that for, Professor?"

"My dear boy, you didn't forget Sirius is out there, did you? Someone had to inform him he can come back from the Forbidden Forest!" The old professor squeaked, "And besides him, I wanted to call in Alastor Moody to pick up Dolohov and the dead Death Eaters! Now if you'll excuse me, Minerva and I must check on the students! I'm sure Professors Slughorn and Sprout kept them safe, but it never hurts to be too sure!"

With that, Professors Flitwick and McGonagall headed off to their respective Common Rooms, while it was probable that Professors Sprout and Slughorn were already watching over their own students. Before James could follow after anyone, though, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the Castle Door and witnessed four figures approaching, all of which he recognized. Sirius Black was one, of course, having been alerted by Flitwick's Patronus. Another was Alastor Moody... who was holding Peter Pettigrew by the collar of his shirt. The last, and perhaps least expected alongside Pettigrew, was Severus Snape.

James drew his wand from his jacket pocket, aiming at Snape, "Hold your fire!" Moody snarled, his magic eye trained on Snape out the side of his head, "He might be a Death Eater, but he betrayed Voldemort at the last second." It seemed that the tracking charm placed on Voldemort's name must've been broken, if the ever-vigilant Alastor Moody was using it. "He isn't what I'd call trustworthy, Potter, but I think we can count on him to not curse us. Not when he's so outnumbered anyhow."

James narrowed his eyes at Snape, but did as Moody asked and lowered his wand... but he didn't stow it away, which did not go unnoticed by the once-Death-Eater. Either way, they had more pressing matters to attend to.

"While I'm sure you'd like to wring this little rat by his neck, Mr. Potter, I've gotten Sirius here to agree to subjecting Pettigrew here to the Dementor's Kiss. I believe you'll find it an agreeable punishment." Alastor Moody explained, yanking Pettigrew back towards himself, as the traitor had begun skulking off.

"Keep in mind he's an unregistered Animagus, there, Alastor." James warned, "His Animal form is a Rat, so he'll try his best to sneak out of your grip if you don't keep a firm hold on him."

Alastor's magical eye whizzed in its socket to look directly at Pettigrew through the other side of his head. "Oh is he now? Mighty useful information indeed, Potter. Appreciate that. But don't you worry. He won't be escaping me any time soon." He then gave a short laugh before heading off to take Pettigrew to the dungeons, to be held for questioning, and later, transfer.

Sirius watched as Moody headed off, followed by Snape, before stepping up to his old friend's side. "Well, James, its over. Voldemort was defeated by Albus Dumbledore, and the Generals were taken down by McGonagall and Flitwick. Brilliant, they are. Guess they didn't make it to their age for nothing, eh?"

James grinned back at Sirius, and the two headed off, to see what they could learn from the Aurors outside, and also whether they could lend a hand at all.

Meanwhile, up in the Hospital Wing, the three children had just fallen back asleep...

"We should get going tomorrow morning, Remus, Elias." Percival suggested, helping Poppy Pomfrey restore the Hospital Wing to its normal state. Alastor Moody had already collected Greyback's corpse and Dolohov's unconscious body on his way to the Dungeons. Percival looked at the three sleeping children, and his expression softened. "... With our conditions, we can't raise our children, can we?" He asked softly, a pained expression on his face.

Lupin shook his head. "I can't, at least. Without Lily to watch him during the full moon..." He trailed off, calming himself. The recent loss of his wife obviously still stung; it had happened just a few hours ago, after all. "... I'm going to see if James can help me raise Harry. Sirius... can't, he's in too much of a difficult position. But James... he might be able to help. Elias? Percival? What will you do?"

Elias rubbed the back of his head. Getting a good look at him, Remus finally appreciated what an interesting person Elias was. Tall and lithe, he had a body like a cat's, with feminine features that made it hard to tell what his sex was. If it weren't for his deep voice, he might've been able to pass for a woman. "Well," Elias began, "And don't freak out, but I was going to send Lancelius to live with my relatives after this. See, Minerva's nephew lives in Greenwich, and uh, my sister is married to him. Lancelius would grow up seeing me during the summer and the holidays, but he'd mostly be raised by the McGonagalls. I think it'd be good for him. Plus, their house is under the Fidelius Charm. I'm Secret-Keeper, and I'm almost always at the school, which is plenty safe with Albus around."

Percival didn't seem phased, though Lupin's eyebrows raised. The former spoke first, however, "Guess I'm the only one who wasn't prepared for this. Damn, that's embarrasing. Oh well, I can always have my Dad help me raise Alexandra. I'm sure he wouldn't say no... but, well, I don't want to remind him too much of Aunt Ariana... maybe I should consider remarrying... but after Mikaela..."

Remus spoke up, "Percival... If you don't mind a werewolf and James Potter, I could look after Alex for you." He offered, much to Percival's surprise. "I know, I know, its risky. I- I shouldn't have even offered. Sorry, forget I said any--"

"That sounds perfect, Remus." Percival interrupted, a wide grin on his face. "I couldn't think of a better environment for Alexandra. She can grow up friends with Harry! Like siblings!" He clapped Remus on the shoulders, and the Marauder gave him a shaky smile in return.

"You're too kind, Percival," Remus chided, "But yes, they could grow up like siblings. Now I just have to see if James would be willing to help me raise them. I hope he says yes..."

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This is the end of the Preamble. The next few chapters will focus on Harry and the others' Childhoods, and after those we'll move on to the much-awaited School years!