A/N) I actually cannot believe we are nearly at the end! This time next Thursday the final chapter would have been posted!

Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Final Battle

Sunday 2nd November 1996

Sirius could only stare at the body of his godson, lying there in the dirt, face-down. His eyes didn't even register the fact that Voldemort had collapsed as soon as the curse had struck Harry. There was silence in the air, hardly anyone dared to breathe. The Death Eaters stunned into quiet by the still form of their Master lying on the cobbled and leafy earth.

If he hadn't have been silenced, Sirius would have been cursing and screaming. His anger was bubbling beneath the surface, ready to be let loose. If he had a wand in his possession he would probably be very, very dangerous right at this moment. He was annoyed at his own failure to protect Harry. It should be me lying there in the mud, not Harry. He bowed his head, resting his stubble chin against his chest, his eyes closed.

Immediately the image of James Potter's body floated into his mind's eye. He could still recall the grief and anger that had torn through his body when he had arrived at Godric's Hollow in 1981. His only spark of hope had been finding Harry, crying in the rubble, beside the body of his dead mother.

I swore to protect him. I promised James I would do everything in my power to save him! But I failed...

Sirius couldn't stop the tears that were cascading down his cheeks, completely unnoticed by the Death Eaters, who stood in utter shock, still staring at Voldemort's unconscious form.

"You want me to go back?" asked Harry curiously.

"I think," said Dumbledore, "that if you choose to return, there is a chance that he may be finished for good. I cannot promise it. But know this, Harry; that you have less to fear from returning here than he does."

It was only when Voldemort started to come around and asked if 'the boy was dead?' that Sirius finally allowed himself to look up at what had happened. His quick and sharp mind understood that the Dark Lord was wary. He shouldn't have been knocked out but he had, he had to be sure that the boy that had defied him so many times was truly dead.

Sirius watched as Voldemort ordered Narcissa Malfoy, pale and trembling, walk forward to where Harry's body lie on the muddy earth, kneel down and examine him. Sirius couldn't see what she was doing, for she had draped her long blonde hair over Harry's face as her hands trailed over, checking everywhere for any life signs. A part of him hoped that Harry had somehow survived but he knew in his heart that he had not.

Narcissa Malfoy sat up from her task and declared loudly: "He is dead!"

Sirius felt his hopes drop, could barely believe that his best friend's son was dead. Harry was his family, always had been, and now that had been taken away from him.

Shouts and cheers of jubilation echoed all around him and he struggled even harder against the ropes, determined to break free, desperate to grab a wand – any wand – and fight back against the bastard that had murdered his godson. His restless struggles ceased as he felt magic wash over him.

"Got something to say, Black?" said Voldemort, strolling up to him, laughter in his eyes, his black robes swishing behind him, as the Death Eaters jeered in the background.

Sirius stared darkly at the monster before him. It was stupid what he did but he was simply beyond caring. He spat, directly at Voldemort, hitting him just below his eyes.

It happened so suddenly that Sirius barely had a chance to blink. The ropes fell from around him, magic arched out to grab him and he was flying through the air. His back smashed into the ground and a scream of agony was ripped from his throat. He had landed close to the body of his godson; Harry looked so tiny in death.

Voldemort was striding towards him, anger flaring in his eyes, his wand raised. "I should kill you for that, but no, not yet." His red eyes moved around the circle of followers. "Harry Potter is dead by my hand, and no man alive can threaten me now!"

He's right about that... I don't have the strength to fight him, not right now. No matter how much he wanted to leap up and attack Voldemort, his battered body simply wouldn't let him. His spine was aching and he was sure he had broken something in the various falls and throws he had suffered that night.

Voldemort lifted his wand, and Sirius flinched, but the oncoming curse was not aimed at him, rather at the dead body of his godson. The Cruciatus Curse struck home and Harry's body lifted into the air, remaining limp, being thrown from side to side; the glasses that sat on the dead boy's face flung off and into the mud near to where Sirius had been cast. With a flick of his wand, Harry's body fell with a heavy thump to the forest floor, landing right in front of the prisoner.

Sirius growled towards the Dark Lord. "You bastard!" he hissed.

Voldemort chuckled. The wand zeroed in on him. "You shall carry the body." It was a command, not a request.

"No," Sirius retorted. He would not lower himself to do that bastard's bidding.

"Crucio!"

Sirius collapsed back to the ground, his body writhing, screams being torn from his throat by force. Pain rocketed through him. Minutes seemed to pass before it ended but when it did, he found himself facing his godson's still face.

"Do as I say or you will suffer more then you already have done." Voldemort's voice was darker and crueller than ever before.

Sirius glared, fully prepared to continue defying him, to allow the Dark Lord to kill him, but something stopped him. His eyes moved down towards his godson's body, and for a second he thought he saw the movement of eyes behind the eyelids. He wasn't sure but Harry's face was towards him and he was blocking everyone else from view. Had he really seen brief movement from behind the eyelids? Or was it his imagination hoping that some life was still retained in that body?

Could his godson still be alive? Could he truly have survived? Had Narcissa Malfoy lied to the Dark Lord?

"Well?" Voldemort was waiting.

Sirius moved forward and picked up the glasses that had been thrown from Harry's face and placed them back on, his eyes focused upon Harry's eyelids. No movement came, he had been so sure... He could see Bellatrix grinning with glee just behind her master. Shuffling forward, he slid his arms underneath Harry's body, slowly turning him over so that he could lift him under his back.

The curse that had hit him in the back (and the resulting throws) caused him considerable pain but he ignored it. He was an Auror, trained to deal with injuries like this. He gritted his teeth against the agony that arose, inflaming his skin. He knew he was pushing himself too hard, but Voldemort wouldn't care, he wouldn't be bothered if he was making his prisoner risk certain paralysis.

He'd probably like that to happen to me. Probably be easier to kill me that way.

A wand dug into the back of his neck. "Move," ordered Voldemort, dangerously.

Sirius walked shakily through the forest amongst the crowd of cheering Death Eaters. Spells were shot into the sky as the moved, trees being cut down by trigger-happy wizards. It was only then that Sirius realised two giants were crashing their way through the forest at Voldemort's side. He hadn't seen them during the battle at Hogwarts. Perhaps he had been so confident of success he had felt he didn't need them? It didn't matter now. He walked onwards, his mind refusing to acknowledge the pain in his upper back.

"Stop," bid Voldemort, and Sirius did so.

They had come to the edge of the Forest, having passed through the line of Dementors only seconds before. Voldemort strode forward, his wand pointed at the base of his own neck, his voice magically magnified, so that it echoed through the grounds and, undoubtedly, into the school.

"Harry Potter is dead! He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him! We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy-Who-Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

They won't surrender. I know they won't. Sirius didn't dare to voice his thoughts allowed. He saw what he had not noticed before: the great snake that housed a Horcrux was hanging around Voldemort's shoulders. If only I had a wand... But he had lost his during the battle for his capture. It was somewhere, out there, lying within the Hogwarts grounds.

He moved forward again, getting closer to the Castle, the Death Eaters still celebrating their victory. Sirius could not forget what he had thought he had seen behind Harry's tightly closed eyelids. Dare I hope?

"Stop."

Everyone came to a halt once more, this time in front of the open doors of the school. Light streamed down from the Entrance Hall and then he saw the first of hundreds of people emerging from the school. He could now see how many people had died in the battle, plenty had. So many faces he had seen earlier were no longer amongst the crowd of defenders, but his gaze found Remus Lupin who stood beside McGonagall, whose mouth had opened in a shout of denial.

Then, pushing their way to the front were Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Ginny's face was horror-struck, silent tears pulsing down her face, however Ron and Hermione looked as if they had already known what Harry had done. They knew... And now Sirius felt even worse. Harry did it not only to save me, but to save all of them.

More cries shattered the brimming silence that Voldemort's arrival had brought.

"SILENCE!" cried Voldemort. He lifted his wand. There was a bang and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced upon everyone who stood upon the steps, crowding around one another to see the truth of Harry's death. "It is over! Set him down, Black, at my feet, where he belongs!"

Sirius felt someone shove him in the back and he bit his lip trying to keep in the hiss of pain that threatened to escape if he let it. He bent down and lowered his godson's body into the grass, right in front of Voldemort. Someone grabbed him back, a hand twisting in his hair, lifting his head up and placed a wand at his throat. He closed his eyes. He knew who it was. Just his luck to have Bellatrix out for his blood.

"You see?" declared Voldemort. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"No!" That was Hermione, able to speak through the charm Voldemort had placed upon them all. Her face was a mask of fury, and the dried tear patches on her cheeks shone outwards, but her eyes were hard and unbreakable. She would go down fighting. She wouldn't bow before Tom Riddle. "He beat you!"

Sirius' heart swelled as the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming obscenities at the Dark Lord. Once more a loud bang extinguished the voice of resistance. But Sirius had to wonder why the spells weren't holding. No one should have been able to break through Voldemort's charms. Briefly his eyes travelled to Harry's body, so still on the grass.

Voldemort lied to the crowd, proclaiming that Harry had been killed trying to sneak out of the Castle grounds.

"You bloody liar!" Sirius bellowed at the same time as Neville Longbottom broke free from the crowd, shouted a curse at Voldemort, and then collapsed as Voldemort swept him back.

Disarmed, Neville Longbottom got to his feet, definitely standing up to the Dark Lord.

"And who is this?" asked Voldemort. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Sirius felt his head pulled back further as his cousin let out an insane laugh. "It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The leader of their so-called resistance! The son of the Aurors!"

Voldemort looked contemplatively at Neville. "Ah, yes, I remember my followers telling me about your valiant efforts to destroy their hard work within the school." His eyes narrowed. "But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?"

Neville's fists curled. "So what if I am?" he shouted loudly.

Voldemort made him an offer which the boy refused.

Good on you, Neville!

More cheering erupted from the crowd as Neville goaded them on. All alone out in the open, it wouldn't take much for Voldemort to strike the boy down where he stood. If only I could get free!

Silkiness emerged from Voldemort's tone. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head be it."

Sirius watched as Voldemort waved his wand. Seconds later, out of one of the many shattered windows of the castle, something flew out, and landed directly in Voldemort's outstretched hand. It was the Sorting Hat.

"The house of Salazar Slytherin will be the only house that represents Hogwarts from this point onwards! My noble ancestor! His glorious views will be preached everywhere! There is no need for other houses, now." He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still. Placing the hat onto Neville's head, it slipped beneath his eyes.

Sirius felt himself thrown to the ground as Bellatrix released him to point her wand towards the crowd of defenders, some of whom who had made moves to run forward and help. The threat of the wands forced them to reconsider their options.

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort, flicking his wand, setting the Sorting Hat alight.

"NO!" yelled Sirius.

Without even thinking, not even caring, no longer under the watchful eye of Bellatrix he leapt up, ignoring the tearing pain in his back and lunged forward, shifting his shoulder so that he fell into Voldemort, sending them both sprawling to the ground. But his distraction was all that was needed to encourage the defenders once more.

A wand zeroed in on him, red eyes glared hatefully and he knew his time was up –

- but, whether it was luck or not, something happened that draw Voldemort's attention completely away from him.

It was only when the head of the snake fell to the muddy ground that Sirius understood what had happened. Neville had somehow managed to pull the Sword of Gryffindor from the flaming hat, having broken free of the curse, and had sliced off the head of the gigantic python. How in the hell did Neville manage to get hold of the sword?

Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream of fury and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet.

Chaos reigned down upon them all as defenders and Death Eaters fought back. Sirius rolled to the side as a curse nearly stuck him. And then someone was there, grabbing him by his arms and dragging him away, thrusting an unfamiliar wand into his hands.

"Take it!"

Sirius looked towards the voice of his rescuer but whoever it was, was gone. But his eyes found the balding tail of a rat slipping through the green grass. Wormtail. He saved me and gave me his wand. Why?

He searched looking for Harry's body where Voldemort had stood, but he wasn't there. It had completely disappeared.

The Death Eater's had succeeded in driving the defenders back. Voldemort was at the fore-front of the fight, yelling that they would all die. Sirius reacted instinctively as a spell shot in his direction, casting a shield charm with the wand given to him by Pettigrew. It wasn't a strong shield but adequate enough to batter aside a few curses that had come his way.

Then, the three Death Eaters that had tracked him, fell as one. Sirius stared, but shook his head, not seeing anyone there and sprinted towards the Great Hall doors, pushing his way through, stunning and cursing whatever Death Eater he could reach. Voldemort was already way into the Castle, buffeted into the Great Hall by the sheer volume of numbers.

This was it, the final battle: the deciding factor of the entire war.

"Stupefy!" He felled a Death Eater with one strike, rushing towards his friend, Remus Lupin who stood beside Tonks and Charlie Weasley, casting spells throughout the hall, aiming for the Death Eaters and helping those that needed it. It was an all out melee. The Death Eaters were aiming to kill, though the Auror's that remained were felling without mercy.

"I thought we were going to lose you, Padfoot," smiled Remus grimly, his hair dusty and his face streaked with blood.

"I always fight back," replied Sirius, holding his wand aloft. "Extundo!"

Remus counter-acted another opponent with another curse. "Where'd you get that wand anyway?"

"Wormtail," answered Sirius, ducking as a jet of green light sped over his head, "would you believe." He retorted in kind, killing the Death Eater that had attempted to kill him. Most days he hated killing but today was a little bit different. If he had no choice, he would. That particular Death Eater hadn't even given him a choice.

And then there was an unmistakeable yell throughout the hall that caused several fighters to turn and stare as Molly Weasley turned on Bellatrix Lestrange (who had aimed a killing curse at young Ginny Weasley) and fight furiously at her, her wand moving in a blurring motion.

Slowly but surely the Death Eaters were being driven back, stunned or killed; the students, Professors and the Order was winning. Bodies littered the floor but most fighters were intent on watching the two duels between Bellatrix and Molly, and Voldemort and McGonagall, Kingsley and Hestia Jones. Sirius bounded forward but stalled as he saw a curse by Molly streak through Bellatrix's defences and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.

"You – will – never – touch – our – children – again!" screamed Mrs Weasley.

Bellatrix Lestrange toppled and she fell to the stony floor, dead. Voldemort's scream of anger was great. The three duellers facing him were flung through the air as invisible magic echoed off him, and then his wand was turning towards Molly -

Sirius ran forward, but someone got there first.

A gigantic shield charm expanded in the middle of the Hall, protecting Molly from any danger that Voldemort posed to her. The Dark Lord whirled around for the source and then, Sirius felt his heart almost stop beating, as Harry appeared in the hall, having pulled off his Invisibility Cloak.

Sirius couldn't help grinning, even as he felt his own legs collapse underneath him. He'd done too much, fought too long with going without healing... Remus grabbed him under the arms and pulled him back to the side-lines where Ron, Hermione, Neville and the Weasley family stood, watching as Harry and Voldemort circled one another. Everyone in the hallway looked on at the two combatants, hardly daring to believe that their hero, their saviour had truly survived yet again.

Voldemort was taunting him. "Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody," replied Harry. "You've lost, and you don't even know it! There are no more Horcruxes! It's just you and me! One of us is about to leave for good!"

Sirius couldn't help but admire how Harry was handling himself, but confusion was settling in. How had Harry survived? He had seen him hit by the killing curse, hadn't he? What magic was this? He grunted in pain as someone desperately tried to heal him. He was beginning to lose feeling in his legs... his eyes felt so tired...

"You have to stay awake!" That was Remus, too busy to concentrate on his friend's injuries then what was going on between Harry and Voldemort. "If you want to walk again, stay awake!"

Sirius blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head. His hearing was failing, the words said by the two opponents not getting through to his brain. Someone was shaking him, but his brain was too foggy. He lay there, amongst the crowd of people watching the diatribe between Harry and Voldemort, slowly falling into blackness.

Words were just discernable through the mist...

"I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people – I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you! Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them! You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"

Sirius' last thought before darkness shrouded his mind was: Oh, Harry, don't make him madder.

Blackness descended.

"Rennervate!"

"What the -?" Sirius slurred, his eyes blinking slowly.

"Stay still."

"Moony?"

Other voices penetrated his vision. Was he like this because of the injuries sustained to his back?

"Sirius," that was Molly Weasley, he was sure of it. "You've got to stay awake. We nearly didn't revive you."

Something kick-started in his brain. If you want to walk again, stay awake!

This time that instruction went through his thick-headed skull and he became instantly awake, his Auror senses tingling with alertness.

He became aware of what was happening in the midst of the Great Hall. Harry faced Voldemort.

The godson he thought had died in front of him still lived. He was here, fighting one on one against the Dark Lord. Even his loyal followers had stopped to watch the exchange. This was it, the deciding factor. He recalled thinking that before. But his brain wasn't keeping up with what Harry was saying, what he was baiting Voldemort about.

They were talking about Snape...

"Severus Snape wasn't yours," Harry was saying. "Snape was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother. And you never realised it, because of the thing you can't understand. Snape loved my mother, for nearly all his life, from the time when they were children. He asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

So he really had been on their side. He had been right to trust Snape. He cast about, searching for his old rival, but couldn't find him. Where was he? Why wasn't he here? Come to think of it, he hadn't seen him in the forest either... Had Snape done a bunk on both sides?

Voldemort was now ranting on how Dumbledore had been trying to keep the Elder Wand from him, how he had intended Snape to be the true master of the wand. How he had killed Snape hours ago to gain true possession...

But he's wrong ... Snape never was its master. He got it wrong... And Snape had died for something he had never been able to understand.

Harry was speaking once more, dragging Sirius away from his internal thoughts. "That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."

"He killed –" Voldemort began to shriek. It was clear he was very close to losing his temper.

But Harry seemed to know what he had to say. He explained everything how Voldemort had got it wrong, how killing didn't necessarily mean the wand giving you its allegiance, how the true master had been Draco Malfoy until Harry had disarmed him earlier that evening.

Did he really do it? Is Harry really the true possessor of the wand?

Whatever Harry knew, he understood it all, and was confident that he was right.

"...If the wand knows that its last master was disarmed, then I am the true master of the Elder Wand," finished Harry.

Voldemort's red eyes blazed, his face twitching in abject anger. They both raised their wands at the same time, saying separate spells.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

A tremendous bang echoed around the hall. Golden flames erupted around the two duellers. Sirius shielded his eyes from the bright light. He did not see what happened within that glowing ball of energy... But as it flickered and died, the results became clear for everybody to see.

Harry stood tall and proud, clutching two wands in his right hand. Voldemort's body lay on the floor, his snakelike face vacant, the body that had housed his shattered soul completely still.

There was a second of silence and then screams, cheers and roars of all the watchers rent the air. People were rushing towards Harry in the commotion, smothering him with delight and happiness in his victory.

Sirius tried to get to his feet but found Remus' hand on his shoulder, keeping him down. "Moony, what are you doing?"

"You've suffered an injury to your spine, Sirius, if you move you could lose the use of your legs. I don't know how you managed to continue to fight with that injury..."

"I'm stubborn."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I should never forget that..." he murmured, his eyes fixed on the growing crowd that surrounded the Boy-Who-Lived. "Harry will find us once he can fight through that crowd."

Sirius threw him a look and folded his tired arms onto his chest. "You'd better be right about that. Plus, Harry had better explain to me why I saw him hit by the killing curse and how the hell he managed to survive it - again! I think that explanation got lost while I was a bit unconscious!"

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think! Thank you for all the reviews!

Next chapter: The End Of It All in which explanations are given, Harry visits the Dursleys, and the fate of Pettigrew is revealed... To be posted on Monday.

Important note regarding this chapter: One of the reasons I had Sirius going in and out of unconsciousness is because he did suffer quite a bit in the last few chapters of this fic. He's fought too long, and has suffered injuries and he's pushed himself too hard to the point where his body is telling him to just give up. Not to die, though, just to stop. It also, I think, gives the Harry/Voldemort confrontation a different spin because Sirius would really hate it if he missed the end of the war... which he very nearly did. So, that is my reason as to why I kept to Sirius POV. I think it would have been more boring if I'd written from Harry's POV.

Until next time,

the-writer1988