Hallowed
Chapter Fourteen: The Boy Who Lived


Harry took in the school's battered appearance. The entrance hall was wrecked with the great hourglasses knocked over and broken. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and topaz littered the floor and they too were covered in a thick layer of dust from where the wall looked to have nearly been destroyed to the left of the hourglasses. Portraits were in varying stats of disarray: frames broken, canvas burnt or ripped, and their subjects fleeing from one to another in attempts to find safety. With every step, Harry could tell that the castle itself had been under siege as well as those who inhabited it. He could only hope that most who were here had made it through the evening generally unharmed. To think that they were perfectly alright would have been foolish and naïve.

Getting to the seventh floor relatively quickly, Snape moved ahead of him and reached the place where the stone gargoyle had once stood. In its place was mangled stone with misshapen wings, a face that was missing one side, and a blackened body. When it set its one eye on Snape, the gargoyle narrowed it momentarily before refusing his request for entry. Severus didn't raise his wand; instead, he stepped aside and motioned Harry forward. As the gargoyle laid eye on him, it reconsidered and hobbled over to allow them access to the spiral staircase that led to the headmaster's office. At this, Harry couldn't help but comment.

"I think it recognizes a new headmaster."

"Just as well." Snape said quietly as they moved further up. "I never truly wanted the post."

As they entered the office, Harry saw that most of the headmasters and headmistresses in the past were feigning sleep as usual. The one called Everard was leaning against his frame while Dyllis sat in her chair as usual. Phineas Nigellus Black seemed to be the only one with half an eye open that Harry could tell. Albus Dumbledore was in his golden frame looking down his long crooked nose at them, but his eyes too were closed. It seemed that he was genuinely sleeping however. In a situation like this, Harry assumed that he would have been openly awake. Snape however, wasn't concerned with the past headmasters. He had moved to a cabinet and removed the stone basin that used to contain all of Dumbledore's collected memories. Placing it on the large desk, he spoke and drew Harry's attention to him.

"There isn't much time." Harry nodded and removed the flask from his mokeskin and approached the basin. Tipping the swirling fluid into it, he saw them swirling slowly. Snape prodded them with his wand and went on. "Look into it."

"Aren't you coming?" Harry found himself asking this question without really knowing why.

"This is best dealt with alone."

"They're your memories." Harry couldn't stop himself, and the former potions master finally agreed. Pressing his face into the swirling vapor-like liquid, Harry saw a play park with an old tree atop a hill looking down on it. There were two girls in this park; one with dark brown hair while the other had flaming red. They were both swinging, but the redhead, the younger of the two, was going higher and higher. The elder one watched with slight fear as she vaulted out of the swing at its peak. Sailing through the air as if she weighed nothing, the younger one landed lightly on her feet in a way no one could have normally.

"How are you doing that, Lily!" The older one called. "It's dangerous to go off like that!"

"Don't worry, Tunie!" The other girl called from where she stood a good few feet from the swings. "I'm fine, see?" Harry could already recognize the younger forms of both Lily and Petunia Evans. He had never seen pictures of his aunt when she was a girl, but there was just something about her that he found familiar; that and their names were a dead giveaway. "Go on, you try it! It's fun!"

"No…" Petunia slowed her swing and finally stopped. Getting off it, she regarded Lily with a strange expression. "It's as if you flew, Lily… "

"Can't fly, Tunie." Lily grinned as she picked a flower from one of the small patches nearby. It wasn't fully open just yet, but as it touched her hand, the petals extended and opened to their full bloom. "Wow!"

"How did you do that?" Petunia had run toward her and stared at the daisy as it lay open and perfect in her sister's palm. "Lily, how-"

"She's special." Harry turned to look behind him. At the top of the hill stood a boy with black trousers, what looked to be a turtleneck shirt, and a thin black coat. It was odd to see in this weather, but Harry also saw the curtained dark hair and black eyes of a young Severus Snape looking at him. "She can do things that ordinary people can't."

"You're that Snape boy from Spinner's End…" Petunia's voice caught Harry off guard. Turning back to look at his aunt, he saw a slightly scared look on her face. "You're the odd one."

"I'm special like her." The young Severus said as he crossed the gap between himself and the sisters. "You're just jealous because you're normal." This left Petunia in an odd state. She seemed caught between being angry and hurt by his comment. Either way, she turned back and looked at Lily.

"I'm going home! Come on, Lily." She ran off without another backward look at Severus, but her sister stayed; her expression was one of confusion and slight indignation.

"Why do you call her normal?"

"Because she isn't like us." Severus said. Lily had dropped the flower in her haste to look over her shoulder at her sister's retreating form just then, and he picked it up. "You're a witch, Lily Evans."

"That's an awful thing to say!" Lily's expression changed to one rivaling her sister's. "How dare you-"

"No!" Severus attempted to correct himself. "You don't understand! What you just did… It's magic!" He held out the flower to her. It still looked as perfect as it had when she had watched it transform in her hand. "She can't do things like this. I can. You're a witch and I'm a wizard."

"Those things aren't real-"

"Yes they are." Severus said not unkindly as he motioned to the swings. "You jumped out of that swing and landed here. She couldn't have done that. It's accidental magic; happens without you really knowing it."

"But how…"

"Some are just born that way; others come from magic families. My mum is a witch too."

From here, the scene faded out to that same hilltop but later one evening. Lily stood there holding a thick envelope bearing the Hogwarts crest. She had opened it and was reading the letter in her other hand. Harry recognized the writing on it and the acceptance letter much like his own had been when he had turned eleven. The leaves on the tree were starting to turn brown, and the winds were picking up, so it was safe to say that it was nearing September. As he was about to approach his mother, Harry heard a voice behind him; this one deeper, and he had almost forgotten the man was there.

"She was here for half an hour reading that letter and the supply list." It was Severus' current form that spoke now. The man had his eyes on Lily Evans and didn't let them leave her. "Still couldn't believe it was happening. She and I had met in Diagon Alley when getting our school things, and I cannot express how excited she was that it was real."

"So you and she were the same age?" Harry asked. Judging by what Snape had just told him, the answer was obvious. "Aunt Petunia never mentioned you."

"Of course she wouldn't." Snape answered bitterly. "Petunia was jealous of her sister. Why would she mention any part of this world to you when she resented every ounce of it?"

At that point, they could see Petunia coming up the hill to meet her sister. She saw what Lily was reading and was prepared to turn back when she was called back. Her sister's voice was filled with remorse.

"I wish you could go too, Tunie…"

"You heard what that Snape boy said." Petunia said with resentment. "I'm normal, not special like you or him."

"Still not fair." Lily frowned as she folded the parchment and placed it back into the envelope before pocketing it. "I want you to go too; that way I'll actually know someone there…"

"He's going." Petunia emphasized the word "he", and Harry knew who she meant.

"You should give Sev a chance, you know…" Lily said as she sat down on the cool grass. "He's alright; just takes time to get to know him."

With that, the scene faded again, and Harry saw a fleeting moment at King's Cross station where the Evans were saying goodbye to their youngest and Lily was preparing to board the Hogwarts Express. She had already gotten her owl and trunk aboard with Severus' assistance, and was having a quiet word with her sister before the train was to pull off. It did't look to be going all that well, though. Both were tearful, and Petunia looked to be ready to walk off when Lily wrapped her arms around her sister quickly to stop her. Eventually, Petunia did the same, and the scene changed again to show Lily being sorted into Gryffindor and Severus into Slytherin house. Both went their separate ways and Lily sat beside a boy that was unmistakably James Potter.

Through a few more scenes, Harry saw where James and Severus had their run ins with each other; James insulted Severus in front of Lily a few times in order to gain a laugh from his best mate, Sirius, and it backfired in the same way Harry had seen in his fifth year. Lily had stood up for her friend and James was left to try and regain her favor. In one scene however, Lily and Severus were walking along the edge of the black lake near sundown and talking. The topic was one that Harry didn't anticipate, and he was surprised at the conversation's contents.

"I know they're your friends, Sev, but I just don't know…" Lily, now looking to be somewhere around sixth year, stopped in her walk to look at the teenaged boy beside her. "Lucius was enough of a bugger, and now these others are just beastly. They use dark magic on younger students…"

"Have you seen them do it?" The question wasn't defensive. Severus seemed to be aware that the ones Lily was referring to weren't the friendliest lot, but he apparently hadn't seen this.

"They made Fletcher bury his own head in that jammed up toilet on the third floor last month. The door was open and I saw it." She continued her walk with him coming along beside her. "I'm not saying to just stop hanging 'round them, but I just don't want them to try and change you." She gave him a brilliant smile. "Don't want to lose my best friend to something like that, do I?"

"I'll keep that in mind." Their matching smiles faded into black as the memory changed to a stormy night on a cliffside. Harry could just hear the prophecy that Sybill Trelawney had made echoing through the air as the memory solidified. It showed a man, an older Snape, looking imploringly at Albus Dumbledore.

"No! Don't kill me!"

"The prophecy that you overheard did not speak of a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July-"

"Yes, I know, but he thinks it's her son!" Snape insisted. Harry was correct in assuming that "her" meant Lily's. "He plans to hunt them down now; to kill them…" He paused before speaking again. "Protect her…"

"And let the boy die?" Albus' tone was sharp.

"Protect them!" Snape corrected as he shook his head. "Hide them all. I beg you-"

"What will you give me in return?" Harry couldn't believe the question that came from Dumbledore's mouth. Surely, this was not a bargain. Dumbledore knew just how truthful that prophecy was, didn't' he?

"Anything…"

In that instant, Harry saw the bars of his crib, the house alight and whole, but he saw his mother looking at him through those bars. Her face was half in shadow due to the darkness from the night outside. At some points, lightning illuminated the room, and he could see the desperation in her eyes.

"Harry, you are so loved…" He had heard these words before. "Harry, Mama loves you… Dada loves you… Harry be safe. Be strong…"

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort's cruel shout interjected, and Harry saw the jet of green envelop the scene before him. Turning his head, he saw Severus Snape tense; transfixed on the form of Lily Evans Potter that was now lying on the floor just as it had done when Harry had seen it in Godric's Hollow. Again, the scene changed, and Dumbledore's office came into view.

"You said…" Harry could barely hear it at first, but as the memory solidified, Snape's voice was cracking slightly as he spoke. "You said you would keep her safe…"

"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person, Severus; rather like you." Dumbledore commented as he turned away from the window. Severus Snape was standing in the doorway leaning against the wall with a defeated expression on his face while the current Snape looked on with a forced blank expression. "The boy survived."

"He does not need protection!" The younger Snape looked up to meet Dumbledore's gaze with one of rage. "The Dark Lord is gone!" His tone was almost choked with emotion that Harry didn't think the man could have possessed.

"Voldemort will return. It is only a matter of time, and when he does, the boy will be in terrible danger." Dumbledore sounded as if he were almost pleading with Severus, and as a last thought he added: "He has her eyes. If you truly loved her…"

"No one… can know." He seemed to pull himself together a bit more as Dumbledore stepped closer.

"I shall never reveal the best of you, Severus." It seemed that Dumbledore had gotten the answer he wanted, and Harry found it to be terrible that he had emotionally strong-armed Snape into something he didn't seem to want to do. Harry had to wonder just how far Severus' love for Lily had gone, though. "So you will risk your own life every day to protect the boy…" At this, Harry could see flashes of is own school days; when he was sorted, the quidditch matches where Harry had nearly been killed by Quirrell's jinx and when Snape refereed, when Severus had stood in the way during Lupin's transformation, parts of the Tri-Wizard tournament, and occlumency lessons in fifth year.

The scene changed again to the ring that Dumbledore had destroyed before the start of term in Harry's sixth year. He saw the ring come off of a hand and spin to the floor. Voices were heard again, and Harry recognized Snape and Dumbledore talking quietly in the headmaster's office.

"The ring… Take this. It will contain the curse to your hand; it will eventually spread, Albus…"

"How long do I have?" Dumbledore's question was not in grief or worry. He seemed to be rather at peace with it. Harry could then see the blackened hand of the former headmaster.

"Maybe a year…" The scene faded at Snape's words, but it then returned to the same office on a later date.

"Do not avoid me, Severus." Albus Dumbledore's voice was sharper than it had been. "We both know that Voldemort has ordered the Malfoy boy to murder me; as punishment for his father's failings in the department of mysteries, no doubt." When Severus looked back to the headmaster then, there was a defiance in his eyes. "But should he fail, one could presume that Lord Voldemort would turn to you;" Another pause, and Snape looked away again but only briefly before returning his gaze to Dumbledore; the defiance gone. "You must be the one to kill me, Severus. It is the only way." At this point, Harry saw the headmaster's fall from the astronomy tower and Snape's utterance of the killing curse, but the memory quickly shifted back to Dumbledore's office.

"There will come a time when the boy must be told something." Dumbledore was sitting at his desk again with Snape standing across from him. "But you must wait until Lord Voldemort is at his most vulnerable."

"Must be told what?"

"On the night that Harry's parents were murdered in Godric's Hollow," Harry again saw lightning illuminate the entrance to his parents' house and James looking up at someone from the floor; his eyes wide open but no life in them. "Something went wrong." Whoever was there moved past James and up the stairs. "When Lily Potter sacrificed herself to save her son, the curse rebounded." Harry could see himself staring through the bars of his crib and reaching out with one hand toward his mother's lifeless shoulder while his other arm held a teddy bear. "A part of Voldemort's soul latched itself onto the only living thing in the room." The viewpoint changed so that Harry could see that it was Severus Snape standing in the doorway of that destroyed nursery. When his eyes fell on the baby and his mother, the man's face contorted in anguish and grief as lightning illuminated it. Even so, Dumbledore's words continued to filter through. "There is a reason Harry Potter can talk to snakes and can see into Voldemort's mind; a part of him lives within Harry himself."

"So… When the time comes, the boy must die?" They were back in Dumbledore's office and the headmaster nodded gravely at Snape's question.

"Yes. He must die."

"You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter so that he can perish at the proper moment."

"Don't tell me after all of this, you've come to care for the boy." Dumbledore's statement made Harry look up at the one to whom these memories belonged, but the present Severus Snape's face remained blank.

"Expecto Patronum!" And there it was; the silver doe that Harry had seen in the forest of Dean that night. Severus' patronus cantered around the room gracefully before dissolving completely; leaving Dumbledore to look back at his potions master-turned defense professor in shock.

"Lily? After all this time?" At this, the room changed to the nursery again, and Harry could see himself again in his crib; Severus Snape on the floor with the body of his mother. He held her to his chest and let his head fall against her lifeless shoulder. Just as quickly, Dumbledore's study returned.

"Always…"

Harry couldn't believe what he had just seen; Snape, the potions master that he was sure hated him completely, was risking his life to protect him? He wasn't really Dumbledore's murderer because they had agreed on it beforehand? It was all too much to fully absorb at the moment, but he found the conversation almost repeating. Just as soon as Snape had admitted that he would always love Lily Evans, he spoke again; posing the same question Harry had heard earlier.

"So when the time comes, the boy must die?"

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded gravely again. "He must die… And Voldemort himself must do it; that part is essential…"

Just as the memories had started, they ended, and Harry was back in the darkened and thoroughly shaken headmaster's study with Snape standing beside him. Gripping the basin for support, Harry couldn't find it within him to look the former potions master in the eye just yet. He kept his eyes on the memories that had stopped moving and used the time to try and gather his thoughts. Snape however, didn't need said time. He turned, and Harry chanced a look upwards. Obsidian eyes rested on him, and he couldn't for the life of him decide on what to say.

"Now do you understand?" It was a simple question but it was one that Harry hadn't expected. He had anticipated an awkward silence or something but not this. "Now you know why all of this has happened; why I protected you, why I attempted to keep the Dark Lord from your mind."

"You did it for my mother." Harry didn't want his voice to hold any anger or resentment, but he was afraid it might have. All this time. Snape had done all of these things for someone who was dead and gone. "You protected me for her."

"Perhaps." There was nothing to give away what Snape may have meant by that, and Harry had to admit he was curious.

"You said my father was lazy and arrogant." Harry began, but Snape raised a hand to silence him. Harry pressed on. "To an extent, you were right; he was arrogant, a bully, and didn't seem to care about those he thought were under him." This left Snape's mouth slightly ajar. "To some extent, I don't think he was right for my mother; now that I've seen who he was at some points in his life," Harry paused to consider the right words he wanted. "But I think there was part of him that genuinely loved her as well; even if he was an immature prat at times." Harry reflected on the memory he had accidentally seen from Snape during his fifth year. "I never forgot what he did to you that day after your O.W.L. It made me ask Remus about it. All he said was not to judge too harshly based on a few moments of immaturity."

"There were more than a few moments." Snape scoffed, and Harry nodded reluctantly.

"I know. I've seen it loads of times." He went on. "There's one thing I don't understand." He looked back at the pensieve and then at Snape again. "Did you ever tell her, my mother I mean, how you felt?"

"I wanted to think she knew." Harry could see that. He had watched Ron and Hermione get closer and fall apart over the years. He always knew Ron had a heart for her, but never quite knew how to express it or realize she was the one he wanted.

"I always wanted to think my father was a good man." Harry admitted. "It was all I had left of him, and I already heard that both of my parents were useless from my uncle." Deciding to leave that where it was for the moment, due to his having no idea what else to say, Harry extended his hand. "Thank you, Sir; for everything you didn't have to do." After a short pause Snape took it, and Harry thought about the other things in those memories that related more to the current situation. "Dumbledore said that it had to happen; I had to…" He couldn't say it, but Snape nodded.

"The Dark Lord himself must do it."

"So I should go to the forest, then." Harry muttered. He was sure that would have to happen eventually, or that it would at least be safer if he did, but knowing he had to die… "The snake!" He exclaimed in anger and frustration. "We didn't kill it. She's the last one-"

"I know." Snape's even tones seemed to calm him slightly, but Harry still felt uneasy.

"If I have to…to die," He managed while looking at Snape again. "Someone has to kill Nagini; otherwise-"

"Otherwise he will still be able to return, yes." Snape returned the memories to the flask and pocketed it before waving his wand to place the pensieve back in its cabinet. "It will be done." He pointed his wand to the door. "I suggest you begin preparing yourself. It will be hard enough going into the forest alone, but it is the only way."

"Right." Harry nodded to Snape and headed for the door that led back out onto the seventh floor. He didn't turn, but as he left the office, he thanked Severus again.

Heading through the darkened castle on his own, Harry had to watch the stairs, but he managed to get down most of the way without incident. He did have to leap over a few stairs that had been blasted apart at some point due to the battle that had gone on in the corridor above. This left him returning to the thought of how many had actually died this night. Passing the first floor, he decided to go into the great hall and chance a look around. Whether it would be harder to leave for the forest, it didn't matter. He owed it to these people who had risked their lives and those of their families to be here. Stepping back into the entrance hall, he saw the oak doors still slightly open from where he and Snape had entered earlier. Those who had been flying were no longer present, and another thought occurred to Harry: Did anyone tell the others that Snape was alive and in the castle? Surely they hadn't; otherwise there would have been an uproar. When he got to the doors that led into the great hall, he eased them open.

Inside were many people; professors, mothers, fathers, Order members, and students all huddled together. To one side, he could see Sybill Trelawney and Horace Slughorn easing a white sheet over someone's body. Harry couldn't tell just who it was, but he didn't see anyone around it that he recognized. Professor Sprout was near a cluster of Hufflepuffs and speaking to them in low tones. Harry recognized Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Ernie MacMillan, and Justin Finch-Fletchley among them. The Weasleys and Hermione were gathered around someone with red hair, and Harry's heart seized in his chest, but he saw the person sit up slowly; wincing in pain. It was Percy. His horn-rimmed glasses were askew, and he looked to have crushed ribs judging by the wrappings around his torso. Poppy Pomfrey was tending to some of the wounded while she spoke in hurried tones with Madam Hooch in a corner; Alastor Moody contributing to the conversation on occasion. To their left, Remus was looking rather perplexed as he spoke with his wife; Harry hadn't seen Tonks arrive, but he was sure she would eventually. He even saw Draco helping Professor Flitwick lift a heavy column as they were attempting to repair it. Turning to leave, he was thankful he hadn't seen anyone he knew lying beneath white sheets or simply looking up at the ceiling dead. There were several that were, but none of them were ones he knew personally.

Leaving the great hall, Harry crossed back over to the oak doors and exited through the gap that had been left between them. He stepped out onto the stone steps and looked out over the ruined bridge. From here, he would walk down the path to the larger expanse of the grounds so that he could reach the forest's edge. It was assumed that Voldemort wouldn't have all of his forces in the deeper trees, but he didn't think that he himself would just be on the other side of the first line of dark pines. As he was about to set off however, he could hear the sound of feet on stone from behind him. Turning, he saw Ron and Hermione standing there on the castle's threshold. Their faces told him that they had seen him enter the hall and had seen him leave; they also said that the two already knew what he was going to do.

"Are you mad?' Ron asked as he and Hermione stepped forward. "We know where you're going, Harry and-"

"And we can't let you!" Hermione finished in a tone that would have brokered no argument if she hadn't been on the verge of tears. Her voice cracked, and Harry had to will himself to keep his emotions under control.

"You can't just give yourself up to him, mate."

"I have to, Ron." Harry answered reluctantly. "There's a reason I can hear them; the horcruxes, and there's a reason I can talk to snakes and see into his mind. I think I've known for a while. You know it too." He saw the first tears leak from Hermione's eyes, and he couldn't keep a breath from hinging in his throat.

"We'll go with you…" She managed before fully dissolving into tears. She wrapped her arms around Harry while Ron came forward as well and stood just beside her; his expression torn.

"No." Harry choked out as he kept most of the lump that had formed in his throat from hindering his ability to speak. "No… Just-Just kill the snake; she's the last one. Kill it and then it's just him." He wrapped his arms around Hermione after shooting Ron a careful look. "Just make sure you kill it…"

"We will, Harry." Ron said quietly. His voice was already cracking as well, and all it did was make things harder. It took all of his strength to let go of Hermione and to turn back toward the path.

"Harry," She managed to compose herself enough to remind him of something. "The snitch… Do you remember what it said?"

"I open at the close…" Harry nodded as he repeated it. Looking inside the mokeskin, he removed the small snitch and nodded again. "Go and make sure no one comes to find me." Seeing the stunned looks on his friends' faces, he elaborated. "I don't want anyone else wandering into that forest. I won't hear him say to Kill the Spare again." At that, Ron and Hermione turned reluctantly and headed back into the castle. When he was sure they were gone, Harry placed the snitch closer to his mouth. "I am ready to die." With that, he put it to his lips and could already feel the gold begin to shift.

Pulling it away, he saw the layers fall back almost like a rose as it started to bloom. When the metal stopped moving, he was looking at a cracked black stone; it was the same one that had been inset into the ring that had put a curse on Dumbledore's hand.

"The resurrection stone…" It remained in the snitch's folds as he started to slowly leave the courtyard, and Harry considered the reasons Dumbledore might have left it to him. Could it have been for such a personal matter? The headmaster knew that Harry would have to take that walk to his own death, and it seemed he did not want him to do it alone. As Harry went along the winding path that led down to the full expanse of the grounds, he carefully pulled the stone from the snitch and placed the golden ball into his robe pocket. When he cleared the path, he turned the stone carefully in his hand. He had an inkling as to why Dumbledore had given him this stone now. It was confirmed when he looked up to see three people standing before him. To the left was Sirius Black, on the right was James Potter, and directly before him was Lily Evans-Potter. Stepping forward, Harry carefully reached out and touched his mother's hand. He could feel skin, her skin, but it was neither warm nor cold.

"You've been so brave, sweetheart." Lily said as she placed her other hand over her son's.

"Nearly there, son." James whispered as he moved closer as well; his solid hand resting on Harry's arm.

"Does it…" Harry found his voice cracking as he tried to form the question. It was something he wanted to know but was scared to hear. His eyes searched all three of them when he finally managed it. "Does it hurt?"

"Quicker than falling asleep." This time, it was Sirius who answered. He had moved to Harry's immediate left now.

"I'm so sorry-" He had to stop speaking for a moment as he looked at each of them again; his voice failing him for the second time. "I didn't want any of this… Didn't want anyone to die for me." The three adults looked on with understanding at him, but they said nothing. Harry slowly started to walk toward the dark outline of the forest, and they moved accordingly. James stepped back while Lily took his place at Harry's right; Sirius remained on Harry's left. He himself focused on his mother and not on the dark shadows that held his end ahead. "Dad, you didn't have time to prepare yourself."

"It wouldn't have mattered either way." James answered gently.

"Sirius, it seemed like you had just been released from Azkaban and were finally starting to get a life back."

"Until this war was over, I wouldn't truly have had that life." Sirius admitted. "Freedom didn't matter as much as your safety."

"And Mum…" He truly was at a loss when he thought of what had happened in that nursery.

"We all knew the risk and accepted them." Lily managed while ghostly tears formed in her eyes. "Going into hiding meant that we were fully aware that he was coming."

"But you all lost your lives-"

"And we would again, if needed." Lily countered gently. "Anything to protect the ones we care for above all else."

"Pettigrew betrayed you all." Harry said bitterly. "He was the reason all of this happened."

"And as I understand it, he paid dearly." Sirius said with a weak smile. "It is sad that we lost a friend to such a man, Harry. It only proves that the promise of power and a measurable amount of fear can corrupt anyone."

"There's something else." Harry said as he turned back to his mother. They were near the treeline now, and he didn't have much time to speak before he would be heard by the death eaters beyond the pines. "Snape, he went there after it happened. He never stopped…"

"I know." Lily managed a fond smile as Harry mentioned this. He couldn't help but stop walking for a moment to take that expression in. Dumbledore had warned Harry of the perils of the Mirror of Erised. The same warning could be applied here. These people were standing before him but they were neither living nor dead. They would not fill the void that had been left when they were taken from him, and they would not become more real in time. He could waste away simply talking to them and being in their presence. The feeling he had in Godric's Hollow's graveyard returned, and it scared him; he wanted to join them. Readying himself for the last steps into the forest, he posed a final question.

"Will you stay with me?"

"We never left." His mother answered in that same voice Harry had heard in his scarce dreams. Gripping the stone firmly in his hand, he resumed his walk into the trees. With each step, the air got colder and his legs became heavier. The trees thickened to the point where he had only one last fleeting glimpse of the castle and the few lights in its windows. Focusing again on the path ahead, he retrieved the snitch and held it in one hand with the stone in the other. Harry could see a fire burning in the distance, and if he listened closely, he could hear whispers. Taking one last look at the three around him, he replaced the stone into the snitch and let it seal tightly again before putting it back into the mokeskin; uttering a final whisper as his parents and Sirius were about to fade.

"I'll see you soon."

Stepping closer to the fire burning on the other side of a line of trees, Harry was prepared for the worst. He had his wand in his robes with the invisibility cloak. There would be no need for either of them at this point, but he felt unbalanced without them. The cloak was his father's and his wand had saved him more times than he could count. As he was prepared to round the last line of trees that separated him from what he assumed was a generous amount of death eaters and their master, he could easily hear a few notable whispers. Stopping to listen, he was thankful he hadn't stepped on the dry twig to his left.

"Well? How long are we waiting here?" It was Yaxley who grunted this question.

"I dunno…" Dolohov was the second.

"We could find him ourselves and spare all this pointless waiting." Bellatrix Lestrange offered, but her suggestion was answered quickly by her master.

"As enthusiastic as that sounds, he should have come to me." Voldemort's words held an almost uncertain edge to them as he spoke next. "However, it appears that he was not brave enough to enter this forest alone…"

Harry made his move and stepped out from the fir trees he was near. As he took in the scene before him, he could see the four he had identified while they spoke, and there were others. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were near Bellatrix, and Harry's heart clenched when he saw who sat looking down above them. Hagrid was being held there; his wrists and ankles magically bound. Moving down the slight incline, he made sure someone heard his footfalls; several death eaters looked up, but Hagrid was the first to speak.

"Harry? No!" The half giant stared helplessly as Harry moved closer and closer to the clearing. "What are you doin' here!"

"Quiet!" Bellatrix hissed at him while Voldemort rose from his position beside her. The look on his face suggested that he hadn't actually expected him to turn up. When the dark lord spoke however, there was no mistaking the triumph in his tone.

"Harry Potter." He spread his arms in an inviting gesture as he removed the Elder wand. "The Boy Who Lived… Come to die."

The tension in the air between them was thick, and there was no mistaking the looks of anticipation and interest on Voldemort's unmasked followers' faces. Red, snakelike eyes met Harry's green ones for a few moments as he made his way closer. There came a point however, where Voldemort didn't want to wait any longer. Raising the wand that had become known as the "Death Stick", he waited only a second longer before pointing it directly at Harry and speaking the words that would bring about his end.

"Avada Kedavra!"