Author's note -

Hello all. Tim here, with an update and, surprisingly, a conclusion. Though probably not enough of a conclusion to satisfy most of you, and for that I apologize.

You see, it's become clearer and clearer to me over the past year that I will probably not finish this story. The imminent release of Deathly Hallows pretty much solidified that, and I had basically written myself in to too many corners, which I would imagine is a common dilemma amongst speculative fan fic writers. (more on that in a second). But for those of you who have enjoyed the story and been so patient with me (and even those of you who have been not so patient) I didn't want to leave you empty handed. So after I explain the corners I couldn't work myself out of, I'm going to finish this up starting with everything I had written on the next chapter, and then a brief outline of everything I had planned for the rest of the story. That's not against the guidelines, is it moderators? 

The corners –

#1 – Harry's scar

I still truly believe that this is going to be the final Horcrux that Harry must destroy in HP however I couldn't reach a decision myself on how it should be destroyed. Everything I thought of seemed too silly, contrived, or easy. Yes I know the cup was easy to destroy, but that was an inanimate object; this is a part of a living person. I figured I would just keep writing for now and something would eventually come to me, but nothing ever did. I thought Harry would have likely have to kill himself in the process of destroying his scar, but I wanted him to live to see the end and I couldn't have him destroy it in front of Voldemort, as that would reveal that Harry knew about the rest of the Horcruxes, blowing his and Snape's ruse. You'll see why that's important when I reveal later on how Voldy is finally defeated.

#2 – Time

There was too much time left in the story until June, and I didn't have enough story left to fill that time. I didn't want the characters to be idle for 4-5 months.

#3- Hermione

I had originally intended for Hermione to be chosen as the second Daughter of the Equinox (look it up, her birthday is the fall Equinox) giving Ron & Harry even more motivation. But the problems with that idea must be all too clear to you. She's no longer a child, obviously, and would be of little interest to the spirits from the gate, and she is likely too tall to drown in a cauldron.

So, for better or for worse, here is my conclusion as it stands.

"Rubeus, my old friend, it surprises me to find you so disagreeable all of a sudden. You've been nothing but cooperative until now."

Hagrid snorted laughter. "Cooperative. That's an interestin' way to put it."

Voldemort stood back and observed his old classmate silently. "You're disappointing me Hagrid. But worse than that, you're going to disappoint your baby brother."

Hagrid raised his head slowly. The thick iron chains binding him to the basement wall prevented him from what he wanted to do most at that moment, which was crush Voldemort's skull with his bare fists. Voldemort caught this image briefly from Hagrid's mind, and smirked.

"Grawpy kin take care of 'imself," Hagrid said, but there was no conviction in his words. "I'm not gonna let yeh threaten me like this anymore."

Voldemort's smirk turned in to a leer. "I'll make sure the other giants tell him that when they're breaking his fingers later tonight. 'Hagger! Where Hagger?' " Voldemort mocked. " 'Hagger's chained up in a basement, letting this happen to you! ' "

Hagrid shuddered. "I don't know what yeh want those unicorns for… but whatever it is is likely 100 times worse than whatever yeh could do to me or Grawp."

Voldemort scowled. "Here's the reality of your situation, dear Hagrid. If you continue to refuse, I will kill you. Slowly. Then I will kill your brother, even slower, and I'll make sure that he dies knowing that you were responsible for his pain. And in the end, I will simply find someone else to breed my unicorns for me. Sure, it may take longer…"

Hagrid astounded Voldemort by laughing at this. "I may be a bit slow, but I ain't nearly as stupid as yeh seem to think I am Tom." Voldemort hissed at the usage of his given name. "You have a deadline. I don't know what it is, but I've realized that nobody else can get you what yeh need in time. The reality of your situation is that yeh need me. And in the end, yer bound to kill me and Grawp anyway."

Voldemort stared at Hagrid, completely at a loss for words. Hagrid, who had been bluffing for the most part, realized that his suspicions were correct, and he smiled.

"I ain't gonna do it Tom," Hagrid said. "Kill me. Kill my baby brother if yeh must. But I am not gonna be a part of whatever you're planning anymore."

Voldemort, out of ideas, resorted to what he knew best. "Crucio!!" Voldemort's anger hit Hagrid at full force, but the spell had very little effect on him (Hagrid's resistance to spells was why the Death Eaters had needed Grawp for leverage in the first place.)

When Voldemort withdrew his wand, Hagrid raised his head and grinned again. "Are we finished, then?"

Voldemort growled angrily. "SNAAAAPE!"

Almost as if he had been waiting at the top of the stairs, Snape immediately came running down the stairs two at a time. "Yes, my Lord?"

"Maybe you can convince this filthy half-breed fool to listen to reason!"

Voldemort stormed up the stairs, leaving Hagrid alone with Snape. Hagrid glared at Snape and said nothing.

"Hagrid," Snape began.

"I've got nuthin' to say to you, yeh murderin' double crosser," Hagrid interrupted.

"Fine," said Snape. "Just listen then."

Hagrid turned his head away from Snape. "I s'pose I've got no choice," he growled.

"I know what the Dark Lord has in store for the unicorns," said Snape. "I also know that his plan is doomed to fail."

Hagrid chuckled weakly. "Is that so? He's told yeh what he's doin' then?"

Snape shook his head. "Of course not," he whispered. "Dumbledore figured out some time ago that…"

Hagrid turned his face back towards Snape, alive with fury. "DON'T YEH DARE SAY HIS NAME, YOU BAS…"

Snape interrupted Hagrid by slapping him in the face. Hagrid, stunned, said no more. "We don't have time for this, Hagrid," Snape whispered fiercely. "Dumbledore anticipated years ago what the Dark Lord is planning to do. The plan to make sure it never succeeded was put in motion more than 2 years ago! All you're doing by refusing to cooperate is putting you and your brother at risk for nothing!"

"Ah well, you've certainly convinced me Snape!" Hagrid said sarcastically. "Go ahead and unlock me, I promise I'll behave!"

"What if I were to tell you," Snape whispered, "that I have seen Harry? That I have spoken with him?"

And that was all I had. The rest is just an outline. I of course wanted to flesh this out a little more, but these are the most important story points that I had left.

Snape is unable to convince Hagrid to cooperate, and Voldemort finally loses his patience and kills Hagrid. But not before Harry has had enough dreams/visions about him to pinpoint Voldemort's current hiding spot. Once all the Horcruxes are destroyed, Harry sets out for this place, in the middle of the night since he doesn't want to put Ron & Hermione in danger and he knows they will insist on coming. They (and Ginny) catch him anyway, and he reluctantly agrees to let them all come.

Narcissa's child is born in perfect health. When she returns from St. Mungo's, Voldemort reveals his plans for the child to her. She is unhappy, but does not dare argue.

The Trio + Ginny find and confront Voldemort. After a brief battle, he overpowers all four of them and imprisons them in the same basement where he kept Hagrid. Upon seeing Harry alive, Voldemort begins to grow suspicious of Snape for the first time.

Voldemort keeps them all alive, as he wants them all to witness the resurrection of Slytherin before they die. He does use the Cruciatus curse on Ginny a few times though while captured, for his own amusement and to anger Harry.

With Hagrid dead, breeding the unicorns becomes extremely difficult, but Snape manages to finish the job with only days to spare.

Everything is set for the Black Sacrifice to be attempted again. Hours before it is set to begin, however, history repeats itself and 2 of the infants mysteriously disappear. Voldemort, though angered, having never heard the end of Arcturus' story, decides to proceed with the ceremony regardless. Just as the remaining two infants are about to be placed in to the cauldrons, the Auror Rahgente Gadfly appears before Voldemort and demands that he stop the ceremony. Voldemort, after briefly dueling with Gadfly (Gadfly dueling like a seasoned pro and not like a wet-behind-the-ears Auror) asks "Who the hell are you!?" Gadfly says "I have a feeling… that Miss Granger might be able to explain that one to you." Voldemort & Gadfly look expectantly at Hermione, who is tied to a pole with the other three. Hermione is surprised to be deferred to, and looks Gadfly over intently. "Dumbledore…," she whispers softly. Gadfly nods, and when he smiles the other three recognize him as well. Voldemort then realizes that Snape has deceived him, and turns to look at Snape with his wand raised. Dumbledore uses this brief distraction to untie everyone from the pole, plus rescue the 2 remaining infants. Harry points out to Dumbledore that he has left Salazar behind, but Dumbledore shakes his head and tells Harry that Salazar needs to remain. He gives one infant each to Hermione & Ginny, then orders the four of them to run, but Harry refuses, saying he won't leave Dumbledore again. This whole time, Voldemort has been using Cruciatus on Snape. Just as Voldemort says "Avada…" the ground begins to shake and he does not finish the curse. He looks around, confused. He asks Dumbledore if he knows what is causing the shaking. Dumbledore nods, and responds sadly "That would be Grawp, I'm afraid. I freed him from your Death Eaters about 20 minutes ago. He was most distraught to hear about what had happened to his brother…" Grawp appears from behind a tree, and for the first time they all notice the path of destruction behind him. In his grief over Hagrid, he has destroyed everything he can get his hands on (noticeably leaving alone anything that was living.) He comes to the clearing and sees Arcturus' Gate. He picks up all four cauldrons and crushes the Gate to powder with them, then picks them up again and crushes it some more for good measure. He then continues on his way, continuing his destruction through the forest. Voldemort falls to his knees at the sight, and his rage is so great that even Dumbledore steps back a little. Voldemort looks up from the ground, and the first thing he sees is Salazar on the altar. Much like Grawp before him, his rage is such that he will kill anyone he sees, and since Salazar is the first person he sees, he decides he will kill him first. Narcissa, who has been watching all of this from the other side of the clearing, sees what is about to happen and steps in between Voldemort and her son, and pleads for his life – she has already lost one son, she couldn't bear to lose another. Voldemort tells her to step aside, and she refuses, pleading with him to kill her instead. Voldemort complies with this, and kills Narcissa. He then turns his wand again on Salazar. (this is why it was important that Voldemort was unaware that the Horcruxes had been destroyed) Oblivious to the irony, and still unable to comprehend love, Voldemort performs the killing curse on his son Salazar. Of course, protected by the magic from his mother's sacrifice, Salazar is unharmed and the spell rebounds and hits Voldemort. Voldemort is still quite powerful, and does not die right away. As he is dying, he finally notices that Harry no longer has a scar on his forehead. He then looks over at his son, who now has a lightning-bolt shaped scar of his own on his forehead. Finally realizing what has happened, Voldemort dies.

Dumbledore decides that Harry should raise Salazar, to insure that he is raised to be nothing like his father. Harry agrees, then right on the spot, asks Ginny to marry him and help him raise Salazar. Ginny says Yes without hesitation. Dumbledore offers only one more piece of advice – they re-name the child Godric.

We learned from Nearly Headless Nick that to become a ghost, you had to reaaally not want to die at the time of your death. Who wanted to die less than Voldemort? Voldemort comes back as a ghost, and Dumbledore, ever the model of forgiveness, decides to let him live at Hogwarts, so long as he goes by the name of Riddle and never tells anyone who he really is. Knowing that the Sacrifice can never be performed again, Arcturus decides he can now leave Hogwarts, making Riddle the new Slytherin ghost. Harry tells Arcturus that he is welcome to live at 12 Grimmauld Place, and Arcturus accepts the offer happily.

Hogwarts re-opens in the fall, and Harry, Ron, & Hermione decide to complete their 7th year despite being a year too old for it (leaving Godric in the care of the Weasleys in the meantime) With Dumbledore alive, Snape can come out of hiding. Snape is made Defense Against The Dark Arts professor, and Slughorn comes out of hiding as well to return to teach potions. Dumbledore even manages to teach Grawp how to be groundskeeper.

After graduating, Neville comes back to Hogwarts to replace Sprout as Herbology professor. So great is his talent, he discovers a plant extract that can revive his parents from their current mental state. Neville's portrait receives a place of honor amongst the healers of St. Mungo's.

Harry becomes an Auror, naturally. Ron goes on to play for the Cannons, whose theme song soon becomes "Weasley is our King". Hermione can pretty much do anything she wants, so I never was able to decide what I think she should do after school. But her and Ron marry shortly after graduation, that much I'm sure of.