The Battle of Hogwarts. . .

Minerva McGonagall stumbled tiredly through the ruins of the Hogwarts castle, dodging the smoking remnants of spells. She was looking for bodies.

The battle had been long in coming; everyone could tell that the tensions between the death eaters and the rebels was growing. And when Harry Potter had shown up at Hogwarts with Hermione and Ron, she had known that the end was coming. It was inevitable that things would end up this way.

Minerva looked around the toppled walls and blood-stained floors of the castle. She had never thought that one day she would be combing through the devastated school like this. With a heavy sigh, she continued on her grim search.

A few feet ahead, she could see a motionless hand, stretched out on the ground and reaching out from behind a fallen pillar. Minerva cleared the corner of the stone pillar and gasped.

"No," she breathed, falling to her knees next to the body of Remus Lupin. "No, Remus. . ." There were tears in her eyes. "First Fred, and now this?" She reached over and tenderly picked up Remus' wand from where it lay still clasped loosely in his limp grasp. It was broken, the unicorn hair core dangling out of one end.

She looked up from Remus' broken wand and noticed his sightless eyes, staring into the dark sky. Minerva reached out and gently closed them, noticing as she did so the other body next to Remus.

"Tonks."

. . . . .

After Harry had revealed that he was alive and after Voldemort had been killed, everyone gathered in the great hall to mourn the dead.

In the great hall, in front of all of the bodies of the dead lain out on the floor, Fleur Weasley drew her husband away from the others.

"We must tell them,"

"The Hunters?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "They deserve to know."

Bill turned to look over to where Remus and Tonks lay. "Do they even know what's going on here?"

She hesitated. "I believe so. I recall my aunt saying something, in one of her letters, about the sanctuary receiving a letter from Remus, saying that he wouldn't be back until things were better over here. There was a conflict between those who wanted to help and those who said that it was not their war. She chose to stay."

Bill nodded. "Come on, then. Let's get out of this crowd so you can speak with them."

Once the two were out of the great hall and inside an empty classroom, Fleur nodded at Bill. "A rainbow now, please."

He held out his wand. "Eritque arcus."

After the rainbow had shimmered into existence, Fleur tossed a galleon into the spray. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Lady Thalia."

In the mist, the image of two teenage girls appeared. One of them, a dark-haired girl with stormy blue-green eyes and a silver circlet on her head jumped up from her seat. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"I am Fleur, and this is my husband Bill," Fleur gestured at him. He waved awkwardly at Thalia. "My aunt is Angele Leveque," Fleur continued. "She lives in your sanctuary."

"Do you wish to speak with your aunt?" Thalia asked. "Because if you do I can not help you."

Fleur shook her head. "I- we need to speak with you."

Thalia nodded. "Ok, what?"

Fleur glanced over to Bill. He gestured for her to continue. "We are at Hogwarts right now. You-Know-Who, or Voldemort," she pronounced it the French way, "has just been killed."

Thalia's eyes brightened. "That is good. Did Remus ask you to tell us? Is he returning soon?"

Fleur bit her lip, shaking her head. "Remus Lupin was among those killed in the first attack."

"Oh." Thalia winced. She glanced over her shoulder to where another hunter stood behind her. "I understand he was recently married. Is his wife-?"

"She is also dead. Their son, Teddy, is alive. I do not know what will happen to him now," she finished sadly.

Thalia nodded solemnly and slowly. "Thank you for telling me, Fleur. Remus will be honored by us." She ended the conversation by waving a hand through the image, a silver bracelet sparkling on her wrist.

Fleur and Bill were left alone in the empty classroom.