Chapter 58-The impossible

"Behind you Sirius! Look out!"

Hearing Harry, Sirius turned just enough for Bellatrix's curse to miss him by half an inch. Realizing what he was standing in front of, he aimed a stunner at Bellatrix and maneuvered his way over to Remus and Harry.

"Harry you have to get back to Hogwarts. I've already lost Lily and James. I'm not losing you too."

"Likewise," Harry said stubbornly. He held his wand at the ready and sent a jinx at the nearest death eater. Neville was sending spells too, having taken up the fight with Bellatrix who was back on her feet after the stunner. It was like fighting her, defeating her, was an obsession for him. There would have been no way to get him to leave either, although Harry wished there was. They'd just all have to do their best and hope they won.

Dumbledore had just arrived back at Hogwarts, the destroyed cup in his hand, when the patronus Sirius had sent reached him.

"Battle at the Department of Mysteries. The kids are here. Come at once!"

The dog vanished after shouting the rushed message, and both Dumbledore and Snape, who'd been walking past while patrolling the corridors, paled.

"Potter's in the middle of a battle fighting alongside Order members against death eaters? Is he trying to get himself killed?"

Dumbledore couldn't help noticing the potion master's sincere concern.

"But this is touching, Severus. Have you come to care for the boy after all?"

Had he?
I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that.

Didn't anyone ever care about you?

There had been times when Harry had almost seemed to care about him even though they had never gotten along. But had he come to care about Harry? From the beginning he'd expected the boy to be James Potter all over again, exactly like him. But James would never have apologized to him. Wouldn't have been concerned about if anyone cared. No, Harry wasn't James. And sometimes Snape couldn't deny he saw his best friend alive in Harry.

"That makes no difference," Snape said in a tone that was almost a snarl. "Did you or did you not tell me that if I ever loved Lily I should protect her son? He's in danger now, so I suggest we don't lose any time."

"You know it is impossible for you to help Harry in front of so many death eaters. You are needed too badly as a spy for the Order."

Dumbledore gave the potions master a look that clearly told him to stay. Then he took the sword he had just used to destroy the cup a few short hours ago and gave it to Fawkes, sending it on ahead before leaving for the Ministry himself. Snape didn't wait long. Ever since Voldemort had threatened Lily, Snape had done everything Dumbledore had asked of him. He'd often put his life on the line, never questioned an order he was given, all for the promise of Lily's safety. But Lily hadn't been safe, and he wasn't going to obey this time. Dumbledore assumed too much. He was not just going to let the last living connection there was to Lily die if there was a way to prevent it.

Things were about to get a lot harder at the Department of Mysteries. So far they had only been up against death eaters. That was bad enough, but at least Voldemort wasn't there. The kids were all doing their best to help, as were the werewolves. It looked like they had a good chance until-

"You will retrieve the prophesy for us, unless you want your friend to suffer."

While Neville had been dueling Bellatrix, Avery had come up behind him and had a wand held at his throat. Neville was as good now at dueling as any of Dumbledore's Army and a shade better than some of them, but defeating two death eaters at once was too much to expect of anyone. Harry decided to stall for time.

"Prophesy?"

He suddenly understood what all the crystal balls were. He glanced for a second at the shelves beside him and saw one of them had his name and Voldemort's on it.

"Don't give him anything, Harry!" Neville yelled. Harry didn't see what choices he had, He couldn't let Neville get hurt, and he couldn't give Avery what he wanted either. This must be what Voldemort had wanted in the visions, the thing he'd given Harry dreams about getting.

"Aren't you curious about the exact wording?" Malfoy had come up to join Avery. Harry's first thought was of his dad. Malfoy had been dueling him the last he'd seen him, but a quick glance let Harry see his dad was currently dueling another death eater. Somewhere in the course of the battle he must have had to switch opponents for some reason.

"Couldn't care less about the prophesy actually," Harry answered.

"Then give it here if you care about your friend."

There was only one solution Harry could think of.

"Make Avery let him go first. I'm not trusting any death eater."

Malfoy seemed to debate with himself. He had no way of knowing Harry would hand the prophesy over once his friend was free, but he could always grab another of Harry's friends. He nodded at Avery, who reluctantly pushed Neville aside, knocking him unconscious. As soon as Harry saw that, he sent the shelf crashing down, breaking every prophesy on it. The words of each one were jumbled together so there was no way to tell what any individual prophesy was about. Malfoy yelled in rage.

"My master-"

"Won't be happy about this," Harry finished the sentence for him. "And I have a feeling he won't be happy with you for letting it happen. Guess we're both lucky he isn't here."

"Aren't I, Potter?"

Harry turned, but he didn't need to see who'd spoken. He'd known as soon as he heard that cold voice and felt the pain in his scar.

"So you smashed the prophesy, Potter?"

By now Remus and Sirius had seen who harry was up against and were trying to get to him, but they were too far away and there were too many people in the way for them to send a spell at Voldemort.

Voldemort moved nearer to Harry, then spotted something laying on the floor. Harry recognized Dumbledore's wand. It must have come out of his pocket when he smashed the prophesies. Voldemort looked at it with the closest thing to reverence Harry had ever seen on his face.

"How did you get this?"

Harry was defiant.

"There's no way I'm telling you anything."

"Then I have nothing more to say to you. You have irked me too often, for too long. But before you die, since you love playing the hero perhaps I will kill your friend first."

Voldemort believed nothing was worse than death, Harry knew, but that didn't mean he wouldn't inflict as much pain as possible before he killed. And Voldemort knew Harry well enough to know that the worst pain he could inflict on him was not physical. Neville was the nearest of Harry's friends, and Voldemort aimed the wand he had just picked up, Dumbledore's wand, at him.

"Avada Kedavra."

But Harry had moved between Voldemort and Neville.

There was a stunned silence as Harry fell. That horrible sight was the only thing Remus and Sirius saw. They registered the idea that Voldemort had fallen too, but their eyes were locked on Harry. In seconds they reached him, with all of Harry's friends who had seen what happened with them.

"Harry, no. Please. I can't lose you." Sirius barely mouthed the words he felt so choked. Remus was refusing to believe it and had his wand aimed at Harry. He knew no spell could bring back the dead, but Harry couldn't be dead. He'd survived the curse before. He had to survive it again.

"Ennervate. Ennervate!"

But there was no response, and in that moment Remus and Sirius felt as dead inside as Harry appeared to be. The baby they'd held and played with, the boy who was such a part of they're lives, could not be dead. Remus looked away, but Sirius had noticed something.

"Moony, wait a minuet. I- I think he's breathing."

Remus would have given anything to believe that, but he shook his head. Sirius was only fooling himself. When he answered, it sounded like every word was causing him pain.

"There won't be any miracle this time."

Harry opened his eyes, and tried to look around. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but as soon as he realized he didn't have anything on, the clothes he wished for instantly appeared on him. Weird. He got to his feet and saw something even weirder, a deformed, distorted figure that was in obvious pain. He was about to go closer when he heard a voice he had only ever heard before when a dementor got too close. There was no cold feeling this time though. Only warmth.

"Nothing you can do for him. Not that he deserves any help." It was the voice of James Potter.

Harry turned and looked into the faces of his parents. Lily was looking at him lovingly, as if she could look at him forever and it wouldn't be enough. James looked almost exactly like Harry except of course he had hazel eyes and no scar. There couldn't be any experience to compair this too. For the first time in his memory, he was face to face with his parents. Only one thing could darken the happiness of this moment, and that was the realization of what it meant.

"I'm dead then?"

Looking back, it seemed a stupid thing to say when meeting his parents for the first time. But it was only natural for him to ask that as the memories of what what he thought must be his last earthly moments came back to him. Lily and James exchanged a look.

"Not yet," James old him. "That will be up to you. For now, we have a lot to talk about."

Until now Harry hadn't paid any attention to where they were, or else maybe it had just materialized, but when his parents led him to set down, he realized he was on the porch outside Phoenix House.

"Home," Harry said without thinking. James smiled at him.

"That's what it looks like to you?"

"Can't you see it?"

Shaking his head, James answered. "Your mother and I see something different. You know how we said the choice of being dead or not is up to you? I think if you decided to go on, you'd have to go through the door."

The idea that he had a choice was amazing. He'd been hit by the killing curse for the second time, ands yet he was alive. Guessing what he was thinking, Lily started to explain.

"I know this will be hard for you to take in, but when Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a baby, his soul was so damaged that it split when the killing curse rebounded on him. There was only one living thing in the room for it to attach itself too."

"Me," Harry said in understanding. "But then how do I have a choice if I'm a horcrux?"

"Because you're not a horcrux anymore," James told him, and smiled at his wife. "Your mother's protection helped you again."

"He wanted the protection my blood gave you," Lily continued. "But when he took your blood it anchored your life to his instead. Plus your new wand helped you tonight."

Dumbledore's wand. But Harry was it's master now. So that must mean it wouldn't work against him. He should have known it was part of Dumbledore's plan to lose that wand to him. The greatest wizard of all time would not be defeated that easily without a reason.

"Da-" Harry stopped himself. "I mean Remus and Sirius knew I was a horcrux didn't they? That's why they've been acting so strangely around me."

"Yes, they did," Lily said. "But they love you so much they couldn't admit that possibility, even to themselves.

"And after all the near heart attacks you've given him, I think Moony's earned the right to be called your dad." There was a smile on James' face that reminded Harry very much of Sirius.

Harry smiled too, but realized now he had to chose. He was with his parents. He wanted so badly to stay with them and get to know them. But images of the only dad he'd ever known, of Sirius, of Mila, and all his friends came to mind. Remus had been through so much loss already. Harry wasn't the only person who kept him from being alone anymore, but he knew he'd never get over the loss. Sirius had never completely gotten over the loss of his friends, and he'd suffered twelve years in Azkaban for no reason. Harry couldn't make him suffer more. His little sister. She'd just recently become part of a family again. How could he make her lose a member of that family as long as there was a choice?He looked at his parents.

"You gave your lives for me."

"So you could live, Harry," Lily told him lovingly, already guessing what he wanted. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be back with the others. If you did decide to come with us we'd love finally being together with you, but it isn't as if we'll never see each other again."

Harry thought about that. It was true. Eventually he would see them again, although it would be many years from now.

"I didn't want you to die for me," he said. "Either of you."

"I do wish we'd have had more time together," Lily told him. "But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go. If I had it to do over, I'd do the same thing."

She hugged him, and Harry was glad it was possible to feel it. Somehow, now that he'd seen them and spoken with them, it didn't feel like Lily and James were dead. They were just somewhere he couldn't be for awhile. James took his turn hugging his son.

"Go back and tell my git of a best friend that if he doesn't stop blaming himself for what happened, he'll have to answer to me when he gets here someday. Oh, which reminds me, thanks for saving him tonight."

Harry hung his head. "He was there because of me. Because I fell for that trick and told them."

"He and Remus would have been in danger anyway," James told him. "It would only have been a matter of time until Voldemort came after Sirius. Sirius would have only had two choices, join him or fight him. And with Moony's furry little problem, he wouldn't exactly be held in high regards either. You haven't done anything wrong. And Dumbledore just destroyed a horcrux tonight. If the snake and Voldemort can be killed tonight, the war will be over with. " He smiled. "Be sure to tell Moony I said thanks for doing such a great job of raising you."

"And thank you for trying to be nice ton Sev," Lily added. He's never forgiven himself for his mistakes. He'll need help moving on with his life."

"I will," Harry promised. That was one promise he could keep. He realized he'd been breaking promises a lot lately. There was only one thing left to say for now.

"I love you."

"We love you too, son," James said.

"So much," Lily agreed. Then things started to dissolve. Harry was going back.

"Master!" Bellatrix spoke as if to a lover."Master."

"Get back!" Voldemort hissed, and got to his feet. That sight was all Sirius could stand.

"I'm going to kill him myself!"

Without thinking further, Sirius charged at Voldemort, Remus at his side. That monster who had killed Lily, James, and now Harry wasn't going to live to see another day. It was unbearable thinking that he still lived while their loved ones were lost to them. Within seconds it was complete chaos. Nobody was near Harry to see it when he opened his eyes.

One of the first things Harry saw was the giant snake trying to strike Luna. The next thing he saw was Fawkes dropping the Sword of Gryffindor at Neville's feet. Neville must have woken up at some point while Harry'd been unconscious. Neville beheaded the snake before it could hurt anyone, and the last horcrux was destroyed. Now if only Harry could get to Voldemort-.

The evil wizard was dueling Sirius while Bellatrix looked on, laughing.

"Did you love him cousin? Did you love the Potter brat?"

Sirius had always been an emotional man. Those he loved, he loved fiercely. And he never took the loss of anyone he loved well. Now his hand shook with grief and hate, and the spell he cast missed it's mark. Instead of hitting his opponent anywhere it would do real damage, it hit Voldemort's hand. That send Voldemort's spell at Bellatrix instead of at Sirius, and nobody had realized until just now where she was standing. She gave a shriek as the spell hit her, then went falling backwards through the veil she had so nearly sent Sirius through. Voldemort screamed in rage at the loss of his most loyal follower, and aimed his wand at Sirius.

"I'm the one you want, Riddle!" Harry shouted.

Voldemort turned at the sound of his enemy, the one person he had never been able to kill. All around there were cries of "Harry!" and "He's alive!"

As much pain as Remus and Sirius had been through before, they're relief and joy was double that now. But it didn't look as if it would last.

"Not for long," Voldemort threatened.

"You won't be able to kill me," Riddle," Harry said. "Your last horcrux is destroyed." Voldemort's eyes widened slightly. "Yes, we know about those. You want immortality? You have to defeat me first."

"Harry don't!" Remus, who over the course of the battle had ended up on the other side of the room, tried to get to his son. He wasn't going to lose him again. Most of the others were trying to get to Harry too, and to help him. But Harry quickly put up a shield to keep them back.

"It's all right. This has to be my fight. I know what I'm doing. He can't hurt me." Then another thought came to him. He looked at Voldemort. "And you can't hurt any of my friends or family anymore. I've done for them what my mother did for me."

"But you did not die."

"Doesn't matter," Harry responded. "I love these people enough that I would have died for them. I proved that. That's all that matters." The happiness of that thought warmed him. "And that wand won't work against me."

"This wand is unbeatable."

He thought just because it was Dumbledore's wand it couldn't be beaten?

"And you are not immortal," Voldemort said.

"Neither are you. Not anymore."

"We shall see. Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Voldemort fell, and the Elder wand flew into the air. Harry caught it as Voldemort hit the ground. Nothing, no vapory form, came from the body. This time, Voldemort was dead. Again there was a stunned silence, but this time it was followed by a loud cheer, And Harry, even though he had survived the killing curse yet again that night, wondered if he was going to be crushed to death by all the people hugging him now. His dad, Sirius, Tonks, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna- all there. All safe, even if they did look badly shaken. The werewolves had all survived too. Even Lawrence had survived his injuries.

"Harry!" Remus struggled for breath, hugging Harry and looking at him as if expecting him to disappear. There were happy tears in both his and Sirius' eyes.

"When we thought we'd lost you-" Sirius tried to finish the sentence.

"Scared the bloody life out of us mate," Ron added.

"Hey, it's all right. I'm here. We're all fine."

Harry took a moment to see what was happening. Almost all the death eaters had fallen or given themselves up. It was amazing how many of them the werewolves had taken down with only two years of education. Dumbledore had just arrived, which seemed to take the fight out of the death eaters who were left. One death eater had not given up yet though. Dolohov raised his wand, and Harry and Remus were the two people most directly in the path of his spell.

"Avada-"

"Sectumsempra!"

Before Dolohov's spell had been finished, Snape's spell left him bleeding on the floor, his throat cut. He lay very still, though Snape's hand shook, just slightly. Sirius was shaking again too. Dolohov would have killed either Harry, Remus, or both if Snape hadn't been there. Before now Sirius would rather have hexed himself than said what he was about too, but there was no denying he owed Snape a lot.

"Thank you," he said, taking a step closer to the other man. He seemed to debate whether to offer him a hand to shake or not. "If it weren't for you, I would have lost people I love again tonight, and I've already gone through all the loss I can stand."

Snape didn't answer. He turned to look at Harry instead.

"This makes more times saving you than care to remember, Potter. Since you seem to make a habit out of doing the impossible I doubt this will concern you, but I consider my debt to James Potter repaid. So I will not be spending the rest of my life saving you."

But Harry was paying more attention to the way Snape was looking into his eyes, like he was trying to see someone else there. Harry knew Snape could use Legilimens to know what others were thinking, and hoped he would now. He dropped his Occlumancy shield and thought about his mother, of what she had said about helping Snape move on. He knew by now what it felt like to have Snape answer his mind, and felt that now. Even if he hadn't he would have guessed by the expression on the potion master's face.

"Listen, whatever happened between the two of you, I know she wants you to be happy."

Snape tried not to show the words meant anything to him, but Harry was sure he saw the normally hard expression soften a little.

AN: hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I had a hard time writing it, so I hope it turned out.

The scene where Harry sees his parents turned out to be close to the one in Paddyand moony's version. When I started out to write this I had the same idea before I read that part in her version, but I give her credit for inspiring parts of it. My thanks as always to her and to my readers. Oh, in case you're wondering, this story isn't over yet. I have a couple more chapters planned.