Chapter 7

HOLY CRAP! IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER! WE'RE GONNA FIND OUT HOW IT ENDS! WOOHOO!
Haha. To all my fans, THANK YOU! I LOVE YOU! Well, this is the last installment and I know this story got really confusing at times, but guess what? CONFUSION SOLVED. Just read on and hopefully all the questions will be answered. Thank you for making this one of your favorites, commenting, and all the other stuff. I've started (and finished because of this story's writer's block) another story. It's a self-insert where it is the story of how I fall in love with Remus Lupin (sexiest werewolf ever). So it will be published soon, and in my opinion (I'm my own worst critic) it's way better than this. And, it didn't turn into a CrackFic! (What now, Midnightfluff?) So anyway, thanks you guys! Here we go!

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't own any of this Harry Potter stuff. All rights go to JKR, who is awesome.

Chapter 7

"Ginny, Ginny, wake up. Get home, now," Harry whispered.

"What? Harry? What's going on?"

"Voldemort is here. Here in Ottery St. Catchpole. Go home."

"No. I'm staying to help you fight. Besides, it'll take a while for them to break the barriers placed all around here."

"Fine. There's no point in arguing. But we need Dumbledore. Come inside." They walked inside.

"Hello Ginny," Luna said dreamily.

"Hey Luna," she answered.

"Dumbledore," Harry said to his headmaster, "Voldemort is here. He's trying to break the wards. I know it." The man rose from his chair with a vitality that contradicted his looks.

"Sirius, Xenophilius. Come with me. We must protect this area. Severus, keep Harry safe." The three men walked out the door. Harry looked to his father.

"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"We wait," his father simply replied. Ginny settled into a book she found, Luna was reading a magazine upside down, Harry paced the kitchen, and his father watched him.

"Will you quit staring at me? It's freaking me out."

"What? Oh, sorry, son. I was thinking."

"Oh. Well, never mind, then," there was a long silence, and Harry continued, "Hey Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"W – Why do I look like James Potter? And not you?" Severus opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by Dumbledore, Sirius, and Xenophilius returning.

"Well, we've strengthened the wards. The best thing now is to go on living like normal," Sirius said as he sat down.

"I agree. Harry, Ginny, Luna, go get some sleep," Xenophilius said, "Goodnight, sleep tight, and don't let the wrackspurts get in your head tonight!" Harry and Ginny exchanged odd looks while Luna merely giggled and agreed with her father. Luna took Harry and Ginny to a spare bedroom where there were two small beds. She floated out of the room after saying goodnight. Ginny and Harry got into their beds, and Harry stared at the ceiling. He sat there for a half an hour, until Ginny walked over to him.

"I can't sleep," she said and laid down next to him. He started to stroke Ginny's long red hair.

"Ginny, I don't want you to get into this; I don't want you hurt."

"That's very thoughtful, but I'm going to deny your wish."

"Ginny, please," Harry said as he sat up, "Just stay safe. Stay hidden."

"No, Harry. I'm helping you fight Voldemort. There is nothing you can say to change my mind." Harry stared at her, but again realized he was fighting a losing battle.

"Once again, there's no point in arguing. Let's try to get some sleep, before the fight."

"If there is one, keep that in mind."

"Right. 'Night, Ginny," Harry said and gave her a quick kiss. Harry drifted off to sleep, having a dream about his Patronus being a Crumple-Horned Snorkack…

"Harry, son, get up," Severus said. Harry's father was hovering over him, greasy hair falling around his face.

"Dad? Whazzgoinon?" Harry sat up, felt Ginny's sleeping form still next to him, and looked quizzically at his father.

"The Dark Lord is starting to break through the barrier. I came to get you out of here."

"Then we'll have to take Ginny with us."

"No. I don't want to be responsible for a child that isn't mine."

"I don't care. You should treat her like a daughter; I love her. If you want to take me, you have to take her. I won't leave her again." Severus glared at his son, but his son glared straight back, black eyes to jade.

"Fine. Wake her and be in the kitchen in five minutes, no more." Harry rolled over and gently shook Ginny's shoulder.

"Ginny wake up, again. We're getting out of here with my dad."

"What? Why?"

"Voldemort is breaking through the barrier. We have to get out of here."

"How do we know?"

"I don't know. But if we don't get to the kitchen in five minutes, you can't come with me. Your decision?" She looked at him, trying to decide.

"I don't want to lose you again, so I guess I'm in. Let's go." She said this and they stood and walked out to the kitchen. Severus was packing food in a small rucksack.

"How can we be sure we'll be safe with him?" Ginny murmured.

"He's my father; I trust him." His father turned around.

"Are you ready?" Both Ginny and Harry nodded. They left the kitchen. It was early in the morning, no earlier than seven o'clock.

"We can't Disapparate within the barriers. We'll have to walk a few miles. Move quickly," Snape said as they started walking. They walked a short while and Harry started talking.

"Dad? Uh, how did you know Volde-"

"Don't say his name."

"Sorry. How did you know You-Know-Who was getting through the wards?"

"I – I have a Dark Mark, son. I used to be a Death Eater."

"Dad, I know this."

"Well, the Mark was growing stronger, and started to burn. I knew he was getting closer."

"Oh. Well thanks for getting me out of here. At least I know you'll defy orders for me now." Harry said this and clapped his hand to his forehead.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Ginny asked. Snape turned around just in time to catch his son falling.

"Ah! He's really close. It feels like he's right next to me."

"That's because I am, Harry," said a high and cold voice in Parseltongue. Snape's face turned white with terror while Ginny rose into the air.

"To get me, you'll have to hurt your little girlfriend Harry. Come on. You know what to do." Ginny rose higher and higher into the air, her eyes rolled back in her head, and her long red hair flew all around her.

"NO! STOP POSSESSING HER! I'LL DO WHAT YOU WANT! JUST LET HER GO!"

"If you say so," Voldemort hissed, and flew out of Ginny's body. She started to fall, screaming. Harry tried to move to catch her, but was rooted to the spot, as Voldemort just put him under the Imperius Curse, and he couldn't fight it off.

"DAD! SAVE HER! PLEASE!" Snape seemed to come to his senses, because he ran forward and caught Ginny with a Levitation Charm right before she hit the ground. Voldemort appeared some twenty feet in front of Harry. He pulled back his left sleeve and pressed his Mark. Bellatrix Lestrange materialized next to him, grinning evilly.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"I will be in need of your services shortly, Bellatrix. But now is the time for Harry Potter to die. Stand up boy! I want to see the fear in your eyes." Harry did not stand, and was ready for the Imperius Curse this time. Voldemort stopped trying to make Harry stand and used this Cruciatus Curse on Ginny. Harry broke his concentration from resisting when he heard the screams. She was unconscious.

"STOP!" Harry bellowed, and aimed a jinx at Voldemort that he easily blocked. Voldemort let out a mirthless laugh.

"Do you really think you can beat me, Harry Potter?"

"Yes, I THINK I CAN!" Harry aimed curse after hex after jinx at the Dark Lord, all that he blocked with a flick of his wand.

"Hey Voldemort! I hope your son looks like you! HE'LL NEVER KNOW LOVE! JUST LIKE YOU!"

"Don't you dare talk to the Dark Lord like that, Potter!" Bellatrix screeched, "Avada Kedavra!" She aimed the curse at Harry.

"NOOOO!" Snape yelled and blocked his son. He fell to the ground at Harry's feet.

"DAD! NO! He can't be dead. HE CAN'T!" Bellatrix started to cackle maniacally.

"He's not your father, you stupid boy!" Voldemort said.

"W – What?"

"Why do you think you look so much like James Potter? Why do you think your last name is Potter? Are you really that clueless?" Bellatrix yelled.

"But – but –" Harry stammered, "I love him! He is my father!"

"No he isn't!" Bellatrix chortled.

"I killed your father, James Potter, along with your Mudblood mother! Now, it is your time to DIE," Voldemort said as he raised his wand. All of a sudden, a curse from behind Harry came soaring towards Voldemort. Harry spun around, and saw that Sirius and Dumbledore were running toward them.

"Harry! Get down!" Sirius yelled. Harry obeyed and watched as curses flew over him.

"Tom, it was unwise to come here. Aurors are on their way." Voldemort sneered at his name.

"I will leave when my work is finished. Out of the way old man. It is time for Potter to die." Dumbledore and Voldemort got into a fierce battle, with Bellatrix and Sirius having their own battle off to the side. It was teacher versus student and cousin versus cousin. Voldemort and Dumbledore had a connected stream of magic, with the center moving back and forth between them. Dumbledore was using a spell that emitted a yellow light, while Voldemort's was green, the unmistakable Killing Curse. The center started getting closer and closer to Voldemort and he broke it off, sending Dumbledore's spell skyward and his towards Bellatrix. It hit her square in the chest, and the rest seemed to go in slow motion. Sirius stopped dead in his tracks, along with Dumbledore. Voldemort seemed to not care that it happened, and stood there dumbfounded. At that point, people from the ministry showed up. Voldemort saw them, and Disapparated immediately. Dumbledore quickly gathered the ministry workers and took them off to the Lovegood household. Harry was still sitting next to Snape's body. Sirius walked toward him.

"He lied to me. I started to accept that he was my father and loved him. I TRUSTED HIM!" Harry completely broke down.

"C'mon, Harry. Get up. Leave him."

"What'll we do with the bodies?"

"Burn them. Head back to the house. I'll sort this out."

"No. You take care of Bellatrix. I'll get him." Harry took one last fleeting look at the man he thought was his father, and muttered, "Confringo." He watched as the body went up in flames. He saw Sirius do the same, and went to go revive Ginny. She got up, and Harry recounted what happened to her.

"Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry," she said and put an arm around him.

"It's alright. I never really believed it until the end. I just felt the need to have someone that was like a fatherly figure. So, I convinced myself that he was my father. I was wrong. Horribly wrong," Harry hesitated as Sirius walked up and they watched the ashes of Snape and Bellatrix fly away. He continued, "He never loved me, and I was an idiot to believe he did."

"Harry, that's where you're wrong. Not for convincing yourself that he was your father; anyone would've thought so, and there were facts and guesses that made it fit. No, you were wrong about the fact that he didn't love you. I believe that he always loved Lily, so in turn, he loved you."

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"Did you know he wasn't my father?"

"I had my suspicions. But, as I said, there were things that could've happened to make the story fit." There was a long silence, in which Ginny rested her head on Harry's shoulder and Dumbledore joined them.

"The ministry people are gone. I see you did away with the bodies. May they rest in peace," Dumbledore said quietly.

"She was going to have his child. But in the end, he didn't care. He never loved her," Harry said, "And that's why I'm going to bring Voldemort down. I have something worth fighting for: Love. The love of friends and family. It is a magic that he doesn't understand. And it'll be his downfall."