Author's Note: And now we come to the end of this depressing little story. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Someday (hopefully someday soon) I hope to have the sequel and prequel ready to post, so if you're still interested in the story of Harry and Alana (or if you'd prefer to learn about the story of Draco and Alana), keep an eye out for that. There is an epilogue after this chapter, but it's really only about story notes and things like that; nothing truly important. Thank you to all those who have reviewed and followed this story; I truly do appreciate it. This is In The Darkness I Remain, signing off.

I've come to the end of what I can tell you, Harry. There is one more part to our story- the reason why I betrayed you. But that isn't my story to tell. For that story, you have to ask Cho.

The only thing I can explain now is why you didn't die when Voldemort hit you with the Killing Curse.

Every so often, when she's under duress, a Star can pour all of her magic into one wish for herself, and that wish is instantly manifested. The night you 'died'- I used my wish that night. I wished that the Killing Curse would never kill you. I wished with everything I had that you wouldn't die.

I had hoped, up until the moment I walked away from you, that you would make a wish, so that I could save you. You had control of my heart, at that point more than Draco did. Had you wished it, I could have saved you.

The thought that my wish had failed haunted me for years, until the day Voldemort revealed the truth to me.

Five years later, the night you defeated Voldemort, you made a wish to use Voldemort's Killing Curse against him. No curse or spell can deflect that Curse, but as I have often said, there is no force more powerful than humanity's ability to wish. It is powerful enough to conquer the Killing Curse.

So. That's everything. I've told you all I can, Harry; what comes next is completely up to you.

-Alana

March 30, 2019

Harry closed the now-completed journal, feeling sick to his stomach. A horrible dread grew in his stomach as suspicion formed.

What if she hadn't been the one to betray him?

What if she had in fact been the one to save him, and had had to live with the stigma of a treachery she hadn't committed?

What if he had been more wrong than he'd dared to imagine?

What if Alana wasn't a traitor… but a heroine?

There was only one thing to do. He had to talk to Cho.

April 06, 2019

He shuddered as he entered the island prison of Azkaban. This forbidding fortress was a chilling reminder of the evil not long dead, and of the evil still in the world.

The prison guards had been informed that Harry would be coming to interrogate Cho Chang, so when he came they escorted him to the interview chamber, which hadn't been used since the day Ron and Hermione came to interrogate Alana.

As Ron and Hermione had with Alana, Harry took a moment to compare the Cho he remembered to the woman before him. She had once been very pretty, her long, thick black hair framing a lovely half-English, half-Chinese face. She'd had very saucy, lively eyes, and a sly mouth.

She was gaunt and haggard now, half-starved and wild. Her hair was dull and hopelessly tangled, her beauty nearly forgotten. The eyes that had once been perennially hidden behind tears were now frenzied; the smile had turned to a mocking sneer.

Harry felt disgusted. The girl he'd once fancied had grown into a traitor, an enemy.

He held up Alana's journal. "Do you know what this is?" he asked quietly.
"I've no idea," she said, her voice almost as fast as her frantic eyes.
"This is a letter, sent to me by Alana Montblanc," he said. "Explaining what happened eleven years ago. Do you know why I'm here, Cho?"
Cho smiled, a smile of pure malice. "To hear me tell you why she betrayed you."
"Yes," Harry said mildly. "Only, I have this funny feeling that she wasn't the one that was the traitor."

The words came, slowly at first, then faster and more frantically. The most incredible thing was, Cho was proud of what she'd done.

As the story progressed, Harry got more and more incensed. Cho's motive was, of course, jealousy of Alana. Alana was the Dark Lord's favorite, Alana had always been adored and feared, Alana was beautiful and rich, and Alana had Harry. So Cho schemed to bring her down.

Cho had spied around and discovered that Alana had fallen in love with Harry, and was going to abandon the Dark Lord. She'd also figured out that Alana was carrying Harry's child. So she'd blackmailed Alana, told her to keep to the mission, or Cho would tell Voldemort the identity of the baby's father. So to protect the child, Alana had been forced to betray the father.

Furthermore, Cho had figured out the contents and meaning of Harry's Prophecy. She had become a double agent for Voldemort, cozying up to Harry, watching Alana, and orchestrating the trap that Alana was forced to lead Harry into.

Alana had been blackmailed into helping Harry choose a date for the Final Battle, and then had been forced to return to Voldemort to tell him when Harry was coming. She had been forced to round up the Death Eaters, and had had to watch Harry fall.

Harry had to leave before he threw a Killing Curse at Cho. He was furious with her… but even more incensed with himself. He should've known. He should have trusted Alana. But he'd been so blinded by the roles carved out for them by the War that he hadn't seen the truth.

When he got back to Hogwarts, he nearly ran to his office. He furiously scribbled a note, then sent Hedwig soaring.

I know the truth.

I'll make it all right again.

I promise.

He had no idea how to fix what had happened. He didn't know what form this relationship could take.

But swore that he would fix things between him and Alana, if it killed him.