Don't own Harry Potter. Two chapters in a day! Pretty exciting!

Severus walked into the hospital ward the next day still tired. It was hard to sleep when he was worried about Airiala. It wasn't until he was standing next to Dumbledore that he realized that something was wrong.

Airiala's bed was empty.

"Where is she?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm not sure, but it appears as though she awoke on her own in the middle of the night."

Severus didn't listen to any more. He turned and walked out of the hospital wing straight to Airiala's room in the castle.

He knocked on the door and waited for a few moments before muttering the password and just walking in. After all this time he was going to talk to her, he was tired of waiting.

The room was empty, but he could see evidence that she had been there. It calmed him to know that she was okay. He walked out of the room and started to search the castle.

Now that school was out there was no need to be the fearsome Potions Master, so he walked along quickly, searching for the girl.

He found her, after about an hour of searching, in the courtyard with the other Elementals. The four of them were standing there talking about something when he watched Airiala take a couple steps back.

She was vibrant and beautiful, just as she always had been.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and knelt to the ground. He watched as the ground around her cracked and the the part she was standing on moved up, as if raising her on a pedestal.

It stopped after a few inches, but Airiala looked up at the other Elementals with a smile. "I did it!"

Severus pulled back and blended into the shadows to observe her. She hopped off the raised land and rejoined the group, all four of them talking excitedly.

He watched as she took a handful of dirt in one hand, took her other hand over it and rained water on the dirt, creating mud. She packed the mud into a ball before holding it out and then setting the whole think ablaze. She tossed the fireball into the air before pulling a rush of wind at it, dousing the flame. The ball fell back to the earth, dirt once again.

Airiala could control all the elements.

He cast a quick spell that allowed him to hear everything they were saying. He had to know what else was going on.

"Amazing," Raina exclaimed. "Who know that the Ultimate Truth would allow you to do such things?"

Airiala shrugged. "Who would know. No one in our past memories has ever been able to harness the Ultimate Truth the way I did. Each time an Air Elemental became close to doing so it only lead to disaster."

Pyro nodded. "That's true. Every single one of my past memories involving the Air Elemental and the Ultimate Truth only show it ending badly for the Air Elemental. None of the survived."

Airiala sighed. "So why did I?"

The group became quiet for several moments. Airiala looked at her hands as if seeing them for the first time.

"I should be dead," she said softly, "but I'm not. Nothing about this situation is different than the previous ones, except..."

"What?" Lando said, stepping forward. "What was different?"

Airiala looked at her three closest friends. "When I confessed the Ultimate Truth, the person I was confessing to was knocked out. There was no way that he could have heard it to respond. In all other instances of the Ultimate Truth being revealed the Air Elemental confessed to someone who was fully awake and could respond. In addition, I already knew the Ultimate Truth before confessing, the other Air Elementals confessed accidently."

Pryo stepped forward. "Hold up, are you saying that because you already knew that Ultimate Truth before you said it and the fact that Severus was knocked out when you told him rendering him unable to respond may have spared you from death?"

Severus blinked in surprise. When had Airiala told him the Ultimate Truth? When he was passed out back on the battlefield? He remembered waking up and Airiala with glowing eyes surrounded by water, fire, earth and wind attacking Voldemort.

Airiala shrugged. "I don't know, but it's possible."

Raina stepped forward and placed a hand on Airiala's shoulder. "Are you going to try again?"

Airiala looked up at Raina. "No," she said firmly. "I already know the answer. There is no reason to give up my life like that."

Severus wanted to stay, to step forward and say something to her, but he didn't. Someone had to have heard what she said to him, what she confessed, what the Ultimate Truth was. He thought back to the battle. Who was close enough that they might have heard something? Who would know?

Potter.

He was standing right there when Severus had awoken on the battlefield. It was possible that the boy had heard what Airiala had said to him. Severus had to know. If the Ultimate Truth usually had a response then he wanted to know what it was.

He wanted to know how he would have responded.

He looked back at the group in the courtyard before turning and walking down the hallways.

He had to find Potter and know what the Ultimate Truth was.