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Balance Factor Chapter 47

Year Seven

Five Kings

A/N: First part of the final battle! I hope you all like it!

I almost didn't want to put Snape's memories in this book at all. But I felt that it may have some significance to the ending. Note that Snape's memories of Lily are not there!

McGonagall slashed with her wand. Snape's shield spell deflected the blow. McGonagall summoned a torch, throwing a ring of fire around Snape's form, but, all of a sudden, the fire coiled into a black snake. The snake vanished into smoke, which then turned into daggers, hurtling towards Snape. There was a loud CLANG. The daggers vanished as they dropped to the floor, Shirogane's katana having deflected the blades.

And then, suddenly, between them, Shirogane stood. McGonagall flattered and Snape stumbled backwards.

"Call your side," Shirogane said clearly. Snape straightened up as the other Head of Houses ran up, brandishing wands.

"Potter's," Snape said calmly. Shirogane tilted his head towards Snape and then nodded to Harry who was standing a few feet away. Harry was in his shin form, his white hair brushing the floor and the gold and silver lining of his black cape shimmering in the candlelight. Snape's eyes widened.

"What?!" McGonagall asked, her face slack in shock from Snape's response. Snape lowered his wand.

"I've always been on Potter's side," he said, glancing at the other Heads of Houses.

"Do not go if he summons you," Harry said.

"I have no intention, Potter," Snape sneered at him. "What in the world happened to you?"

"Shirogane's Darkness happened," Harry said simply. Shirogane jumped out of the window, breaking it. Snape groaned a little, shaking his head.

"We need to secure the castle, Minerva," Snape said suddenly, pulling up his left sleeve and offering it to Harry. He looked seriously at the other three Heads of Houses and said, "All of us."

"I need to look for something," Harry said calmly. Snape looked at him and then lowered his arm.

"Something?" he prompted. "And prey, tell, what is this something you're looking for?"

"Ravenclaw's diadem," Harry said calmly. "Don't tell me it's lost, Severus Snape. It's not. Things do not just disappear. Tom Riddle found it when he was young and he had made it into something spawned of pure fear of Death."

Snape sneered a little, brushing towards the hall. "Fine. Go look for it then." The fact that he thought Harry was nuts spoke volumes through his tone. "In the meantime, we'll hold him off." He swept out of the hall, keenly aware that the other Professors were following him with their wands pointed at his back.

"Kazuki."

Harry whipped around, his excitement dying down when he realized it wasn't Ryuuko or Akira. There was a man with long crimson hair sitting at the window, his acid green eyes boring into Harry's form. Harry suddenly felt very exposed.

"Who are you?" Harry asked, a little distrustful. Was this the same man that Neville spoke of? The one that saved the children?

"My name… is Homurabi," the crimson haired man said. Harry felt a flash of anger pool in his gut as he recognized the name, but Homurabi stood up, walking closer to Harry and cupping his chin, tilting his face upwards. "You look like him… So much so… The Darkness in your factor is very much like his as well." His brow furrowed, his green eyes narrowed, "Who are you? What are you?"

Harry didn't even get a chance to reply. There was the sound of a katana cutting through the air. Shirogane's blade was pointed directly towards Homurabi's throat, his Father's icy blue eyes narrowed.

"If you hurt even one strand of hair on my son's head, I will make you regret it for the rest of your miserable life," Shirogane growled.

Harry was flabbergasted. Homurabi's eyes widened comically and he stepped back, letting Harry's chin go. The word 'son' took a few seconds to process, but then Harry threw himself in Shirogane's arms, pressing his chin against Shirogane's shoulder, inhaling his scent. Shirogane slowly, a bit awkwardly, rubbed his back gently.

"Your… Your son?!" Homurabi asked, his eyes very wide. "You have a son?!"

"That's right. And if you even think about hurting him, I will strip you of all your powers and rip you to shreds," Shirogane seethed. Though his voice was pleasant, his eyes were narrowed and dark.

"Excuse me. I do believe there is a war going on," Luna said mildly. Harry jerked out of Shirogane's hold, startled, completely having forgotten that. "We're looking for the diadem."

"Ravenclaw's diadem," Harry said, nodding. "We best hurry."

-0-

"Protego Horribilis!" Flitwick squeaked. Snape was setting up his own shields around the school, McGonagall tailing him closely.

"Piertotum Locomotor!" McGonagall said. Snape looked at her and spoke.

"It won't be enough… We won't have enough time to set up more complicated spells," Snape said, still creating a complicated shield. McGonagall scowled at him.

"We can at least delay him," she insisted.

"Then, perhaps, I can assist you," said a gentle voice.

Both professors whipped around, wands up. It was a man with vibrant green hair and hazy, but beautiful gold eyes. He was looking at them, holding a staff, leaning on it. He was wearing a black cape with gold trimmings and a white coat under it. He was wearing white boots that looked brand new.

"Ryuuko told me of the upcoming battle," the man continued. "And how we need to be able to protect the students. I can assist you."

Slowly, Snape and McGonagall lowered their wands. "Ryuuko told you? Who are you?" Snape asked.

"My name is Shisui," he said gently, holding up his staff. "I am the Secondary Light King."

A large barrier shimmered to life engulfing the school and its inhabitants. The white barrier glowed once, but then vanished.

"There," Shisui said calmly. "That will hold the castle and students. Those who wish to fight should be on the grounds." He turned to them. "I will have to man the boundaries. I am not much of a fighter though, so Ryuuko will assist me."

"Ryuuko's here too?" McGonagall relaxed a fraction. She was glad such a powerful fighter was in the castle, willing to help them.

"Yes. He's here. I believe he's on the south side," Shisui said. "Akira is assisting in evacuation." He looked at the night sky, taking a deep breath. "Shirogane told us he was summoned here, so Kazuki must be here as well, correct?"

"Yes," Snape said, sweeping back into the castle. McGonagall and Shisui followed.

"Please remain calm and move to your evacuation point assisted by Madam Pomfrey and Akira," McGonagall said.

"Of age students may stay to fight! All underage students must evacuate!" Snape said into the crowd.

There was a sudden echo in the entire school. Akira was in the Great Hall, assisting in pushing students along or forcing them to leave. Not that there were many that wanted to deal with the man who had a shiny blade in his hand.

"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile."

Akira screamed, "LIKE HELL THEY ARE!" into the ceiling, as if Voldemort was there. But Voldemort continued.

"You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you shall be rewarded."

There was a silence. Harry walked in the Great Hall where organization and evacuation were being held, wondering if Voldemort was still so arrogant to believe he was the strongest being in the world.

"You have until midnight."

Harry scowled a little, his form having shifted back into his vessel. The presence of three Light Kings in the area made his shin form unfavorable. Midnight was in half an hour.

"But Potter's there!" Pansy Parkinson screamed. "Someone grab him!"

Akira growled, stepping in front of Harry. He wasn't the only one.

The other houses stood up, stepping in front of Harry. Harry felt a rush of gratitude towards them, seeing wands being pulled out of sleeves. Pansy gave a start as a couple of Slytherins did the same, including Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

"Thank you, Ms. Parkinson," McGonagall said in a clipped tone. "If you would take your house to evacuate first."

"I'm staying," Draco said calmly. He looked to McGonagall and McGonagall shrugged.

"You may stay, Draco," Snape said. Soon, all the tables were evacuated with the exception of Order members and the ones willing to stay behind. Harry turned to Akira.

"Akira-nii, there's something I have to do," Harry said urgently. Akira blinked at him.

"Yeah, like not get killed by the ugly snakey man?" Akira asked. Harry scowled.

"I'm going to be looking for something. Shirogane has gone to find out more information about the diadem. Homurabi went with him," Harry said quickly. "It's said that no one in living memory has seen it, but-"

Harry froze. Living memory. Living memory.

"Huh? What?" Akira looked a bit dumbfounded at the expression on Harry's face.

Harry turned on his heel and dashed out of the Hall, searching for the ghost of Ravenclaw tower. If he remembered correctly, it was the Grey Lady.

-0-

Homurabi felt a thrill go through him as he followed behind Shirogane's back. It was almost like old times.

To find out that Shirogane had a son was a shock. Homurabi wouldn't deny that. But there was something odd about the child. He looked like Shirogane-so much so that Homurabi had initially mistaken him for him from the back. His eyes had been ruby red, the same color as Akira and Ryuuko. And his Factor… The child's factor was nothing like he had ever seen. It had originally been Dark, but when the child had changed his appearance to what Shirogane referred to as his human vessel…

It was stable. Light and Dark. Both elements were stable in the child's body. Normally, when a shin took on a human appearance, their Factors would remain Dark. But not this child. Not Kazuki.

"What?"

Homurabi blinked as he was addressed. Shirogane was staring expectantly at him, his eyebrows raised.

Shirogane had always been a particularly difficult person to read for Homurabi. Half the time, Shirogane would give vague answers to questions, or ignore them completely. Even rarer was when he asked Homurabi his opinion on things. Most of the time, he would just bark out orders and expect them to be followed. Homurabi kind of missed it in the years Shirogane refused to even speak to him.

"I… Kazuki," Homurabi said finally, looking at Shirogane calmly. Shirogane gave him a blank look but didn't stop him from finishing his question. "When did you… um… sire him?"

"I created him," Shirogane said shortly. "Centuries before." He looked around, pausing at certain areas before stopping in front of the hidden Room of Requirement.

"Oh! Let me. You need to find an item, right?" Homurabi asked, having seen the students enter the room and entered the room himself. "Are you sure it's here?"

"No." Shirogane said shortly. Homurabi opened the room anyway and entered, looking around. Shirogane entered as well, looking up at the piles and piles of junk. He held up his sword, just as he heard a loud shout from outside. The battle had begun.

Cutting through the piles of garbage was easy. Harry ran in when Shirogane was halfway through the room, eyes darting around at the garbage Shirogane had cut aside. The vanishing cabinet was sliced cleanly in half, the bust of someone was missing its head, a broken cage with the skeleton of five legs had its top shaven off, and…

"The diadem!" Harry exclaimed, pointing at the flying silver object, having been dislodged by Shirogane's sword.

Shirogane's head snapped up and he jumped up, looping the diadem on his katana, tossing it to Harry. Harry summoned his spear without a second thought and sliced it in half. The diadem screamed, a black wisp of smoke protruding from it. Harry let out a breath of relief.

Homurabi's eyes widened when he saw Harry summon the spear from Light. He stared at Harry, not having seen anything quite like him before as Harry destroyed the little tiara.

"Now… Father… and…" Harry studied Homurabi. "Father, can you join the battle? It has begun."

Homurabi raised an eyebrow at the boy who was now ignoring him. Judging at the attitude he had just presented him, all doubt of Kazuki being Shirogane's son was blown out of his mind. The child was snubbing him. Shirogane must have told the child what had happened to Ryuuko and influenced his hatred.

Well… he would have to change that.

"I'll join too," Homurabi said quietly. The child looked at him suspiciously, accusingly. It almost made Homurabi want to punch the child. Almost. Partially for looking like Shirogane, but not being him, and partially because the child was… well… a child.

"Alright," Harry said. "I'll go to see if I can find Voldemort. We need to end this as soon as possible. Shisui is manning the barrier, I hear, but his power is not infinite. Especially not against so many-"

Homurabi swept out of the room, worried for his counterpart.

"Potter!"

Harry froze when Snape approached him. Snape had a frown on his face and his eyes were wild. His robes were a little burned, but he didn't seem to care.

"Potter! The Dark Lord had tried to summon me," Snape said. "Here! You need to see these before I go back into the battle." He thrust a vial of silvery memories at him, Harry dropping his spear to grab them. The spear vanished into the Darkness and Harry nodded, quickly moving towards the Headmaster's office.

He heard Voldemort's ultimatum as he made his way to Dumbledore's office. One hour. That was plenty of time for him to finish up here. Plenty of time for him to observe Snape's memories, his feelings, his thoughts.

"The boy is powerful… More powerful than we could have ever believed, Severus." Dumbledore said.

"But how powerful! Powerful enough to defeat the Dark Lord? Powerful enough where he doesn't need us?" Snape sneered. "Do not play games with me. The child is strange. I suspected he might be a medicore, arrogant as his father, a determined rule-breaker, delighted to find himself famous, attention-seeking and impertinent-"

"He takes after Lily, I suspect," Dumbledore said, cutting Snape off.

"No! He doesn't! The boy seems different than them! Making friends with Granger and Weasley, knocking out that troll three days ago…" Snape sunk into a chair. "I knew Lily. He is not like her. He is kind, but detached. Polite, yet… there's something about him…"

The scene flashed.

"The Dark Lord seeks the King of Darkness."

Snape was pacing in Dumbledore's office. He looked immensely worried and wringing his hands. Dumbledore's blackened hand rested against the table, a golden goblet in front of himself.

"You mean… That man? Shirogane?" Dumbledore asked, looking very weak. Snape nodded.

"If he joins up with him-"

"You really need to get out of the dungeons more, Severus. You did not see how Shirogane reacted towards Ryuuko's presence, did you?"

Snape paused.

"No… I did not," Snape said slowly. Dumbledore smiled.

"He has the same feelings for Ryuuko as you did for Lily."

The scene shifted again. Harry saw that instead of Dumbledore, it was Snape that was in the Headmaster's seat now. Snape was looking up at Dumbledore's portrait. Homurabi was standing a few paces away, inspecting the contents in the office.

"So… You… Homurabi… Did kill Ryuuko," Snape said, confirming it. Homurabi looked at him and then frowned.

"I did. What business is that of yours though?" he challenged, his green eyes narrowed.

"…I have a request."

"Only if you grant mine. Tell me about Harry Potter."

Snape and Homurabi had a stare off. Then Snape sighed.

"Very well."

Harry withdrew from Snape's memories. Snape, at least, was honest with him and had always been. He knew he should have felt just a little bit cheated Snape told Homurabi about him, but he obviously didn't tell him much, as Homurabi had been surprised at his shin form. Snape must have only told him what he knew of his schooling years about Harry Potter.

Harry exited the office and moved back into the Great Hall. The injured were being treated. Shisui was sitting next to Madam Pomfrey and ignoring the screams of pain that his patients seemed to be letting out. People were inching away from him, but he seemed to be healing patients faster than Madam Pomfrey.

"Harry!"

Ryuuko wrapped Harry in a hug, smiling at him. Harry returned the gesture, calm and collected, loving the attention. Ryuuko placed him down and Harry closed his eyes.

"I didn't even get to enter the battle," Shirogane grumbled, looking a little put out. Harry laughed, looking around. Malfoy was sitting in the corner, holding up his wand and pointing it at Shisui. Harry could see Malfoy had a leaking wound, six inches across his face.

"Expelliarmus." Harry said calmly.

Draco's wand flew out of his hand and Harry gave a soft laugh as Draco scrambled up, staring at him. Harry beckoned him over and looked up at Ryuuko.

"Ryuuko, would you?" Harry asked.

"POTTER! THERE YOU ARE!" Draco was shaking him, dripping blood on his clothes. "You-imbicile! You're not actually planning on-"

"Separating with my vessel? Yes, I am," Harry said. "Though with my luck, that might not work properly. If it doesn't, I'll be sure to stab myself to death." He grinned at the horrified, slack look on Draco's face.

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron ran up to him, looking shocked. "You found it?! The diadem?"

"Destroyed it," Harry said, nodding. He held up Draco's wand and offered it back. "Were you about to curse Shisui, Draco? You better not have. Because there is a certain red-head who would gut you alive if you did."

Draco winced with the terminology. Harry blinked before remembering what he had done to Pettigrew a month or two ago. He gave a grin. He had warned him, after all.

Homurabi was standing a few feet away, his green eyes on Draco. Draco snorted, snatching his wand back.

"Of course not, Potter! I was going to summon the salve next to him for my head," Draco winced at the scream coming from Shisui's direction. "Not that I need it now." He glanced at Ryuuko, who was healing his head.

"Right… Well, I'll be off," Harry said. "I have an appointment with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. Maybe he'll have prepared tea for me."

"You're going?!" Ron asked, alarmed. Harry nodded.

"To separate from my vessel. Yes," he said calmly. "I'll be back. It might take some time for me to though, so if Voldemort spouts off some nonsense about me being dead, please ignore."

"Kazuki."

Harry turned to Shirogane. Shirogane's sapphire eyes gazed at him and then he raised a hand, stroking Harry's long black hair. The Direct Shin King embraced him, making Harry feel very warm inside.

"Father… Shirogane…" Harry smiled, looking up at him. "You should introduce me to the Shadow Palace after this is over." He gave him a bright smile and Shirogane tilted his head.

"There you guys are!" Akira said, banging open the doors.

"Ah, how was cleaning up?" Ryuuko asked, looking at his successor. Akira gave a low sigh and ruffled his hair.

"A pain," Akira said. Shirogane pulled away from Harry and grinned at Akira.

"Thanks for all your hard work, Akira-kun," Shirogane said, his tone becoming less serious, more playful. Harry shivered at the words and mannerisms, as he was completely unused to his strong and powerful Father acting like a child.

"Then maybe you should work next time!" Akira demanded, obviously not in the mood for games.

Harry laughed as he moved out of the front doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.