And here is the bonus chapter I promised you because it is my birthday! ;);)

Chapter Ninety-seven

To Do, What Has To Be Done

When the sky began to pale to the East she slipped from the Hufflepuff's arms and, leaving a note so they wouldn't worry too much, she looked at her friends. Ron and Hermione were cuddled together sleeping and her brother was stretched out, his legs up on the coffee table, also sound asleep. She longed to touch him, brush his unruly hair from his forehead… knowing it was likely to wake him she didn't. Her eyes fell on the tall dark haired wizard who was asleep on the other sofa, her thumb brushing against the silver ring on her finger. Her heart melted, his face was so peaceful in sleep, so handsome, if life had been different, she would have gladly spent many years with him. She would spend the rest of her life with him… that just happened to be a matter of hours now, not years.

Slipping out of the Gryffindor common room she made her way through the castle. She needed to think and the best way to do that was walking. Unlike her numb wanderings of the day before yesterday, this time she was alert and wary. She needed to get to the end and there was no more time for mistakes. As she walked a plan began to form in her mind. It wasn't an easy one and she would probably destroy more than she wanted but…

As she walked she wondered if that was why Dumbledore didn't answer last night when Hermione summoned him to tell him of this latest nightmare… or why he hadn't been there when she looked into the Pensive. Maybe he had helped them reach as close to the end as he could and now he had to leave it up to them.

Finally, her plan sorted out, she headed for the dungeons to set it in motion.

She was in luck, it was nearly ten in the morning and the one person she needed to see was just walking down the corridor with only one other. Palming her wand so she'd be ready she called softly.

"Oi Parkinson!" The Slytherin witch spun around, her eyes going wide as she recognized who it was. The witch with her was equally surprised.

"What do you want Porter?" Parkinson snapped.

"I want a lot of things but what I need from you is some information." Taylor said in a cool voice as she walked up to the two Slytherins.

"You can go to hell!" spat the other witch.

"Probably but I will get what I want!" Taylor's necklace burned against her neck as the ancient language rolled off her tongue. The spell was similar to the Imperio Curse, and just as powerful, and just as illegal.

A few minutes later Taylor made her way through some of the darker corridors in the castle to a small door which she opened and, going back to the far wall, opened another door with a Dark Magic spell. The room she stepped into was small and dank. It only took her a moment to locate what she was looking for. After carefully pouring the potion that she would need into a flask she had transfigured, she vanished the rest, as well as the other dubious looking potions in the room, before she left and the door sealed itself once more.

Back out in the corridor she glanced at her watch and headed for the Great Hall. She truly didn't feel like being around anyone but she had promised in her note to meet her brother, the Hufflepuff and the others for breakfast. She had no trouble finding them when she walked through the large oak doors. An unbidden thought went through her mind. What if this was the last, or second to last, breakfast she ever had with them? This was a day she needed to enjoy, a day to spend with the ones she loved.

The thought squared her shoulders and lengthened her stride and she greeted her friends with a small smile as she sat down with them.

"Well you look a little more cheerful. The walk did its job did it?" Hermione asked as she studied her friend. She had never recovered from a nightmare that fast before. Maybe that was a good sign.

"Yeah, it did." Taylor answered with a growing smile, as only she knew the double meaning to her friend's innocent question. She really didn't feel all that hungry but she tried a little of everything, even grabbing a bite from the Hufflepuff's plate to see if she liked Eggs Benedict.

The conversation was easy and light. The Head Boy telling jokes and Ron making wise cracks had them all laughing, and Taylor cherished every moment of it. She could see that her brother was even smiling and enjoying this stolen moment. When they were finished eating Taylor suggested that they go out and enjoy the day for a while before they went back to planning, and the others agreed.

The sun was warm and bright as the six of them lounged under a tree. Ginny had them all laughing again and the Hufflepuff added his quick wit as well. The late morning passed into the afternoon as they all sat just enjoying each other's company.

At four o'clock they all reluctantly headed back into the castle to try to finish their plans. Stopping by the kitchens, they grabbed something to eat before they headed up to Gryffindor Tower and the seventh year boy's dorm room.

Two hours later they had the plan for the following night nearly laid out, minus the part about Nagini. As if by silent agreement no one mentioned Snape or the coming meeting that Taylor had with him a little later.

"I'm going to start working on the coins." Hermione announced a short time later, as she pulled her book bag out and took some coins out and dumped them on Ron's bed.

The boys were discussing the best place to have a watcher and finally agreed on a spot.

Ginny and Taylor had gone over to help Hermione.

At quarter after seven Taylor knew it was time to go. The two witches with her on the bed noticed her stand up and giving them a small smile she turned to her brother and the Hufflepuff and Ron. It took only a few seconds for her brother to look up from what they were discussing now and to pin her with a sharp glare.

"What are you doing?"

Unflinching she met his glare. "What I need to do in order for this to work."

"If you mean going to meet the murderous traitor, I don't think so!" Harry said as he straightened to his full height.

Taylor nodded, "I didn't think you would let me go…" in her heart she knew she had to go. She had no choice… Calm filled her up, as her necklace burned, her wrist flicked and she palmed her wand, the ancient words tumbled from her lips, as her wand sliced through the air. "I'm sorry brother." She whispered, as five bodies dropped where they were.

An hour later…

"Argh," Harry groaned as he blinked his eyes sluggishly. He felt like he'd had too much Firewhisky, but he couldn't remember drinking last night… Lifting his head he looked around and he realized he was laying on the floor. It was dark. Shaking his head his thoughts began to clear…

"Bloody hell! I don't remember drinking that much…" Ron's voice grumbled.

"What happened?" Ginny's voice asked thickly.

Sitting up, Harry palmed his wand and lit the lamps, blinking against the brightness. His memory flooded back to him and a long expletive flowed from his mouth as he stood up.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked, as he stepped over to the bed to check on Ginny and Hermione first.

"Yeah, but what… Oh Bloody hell! She didn't!" Greg said as he came to his feet and looked around desperately for his witch. A sinking feeling in his stomach told him she was long gone.

"Yeah. She did!" Harry bit out furiously. His sister had knocked them all out with a Dark Magic spell so she could go meet the traitor Snape.

Hundreds of miles away, in an abandoned, run down shack, Taylor stood facing Snape.

"Promise me you will do it!" Taylor said in a hard voice.

"Of course I will… your plan is simple. Are you sure…" Snape drawled in a bored tone, but the witch interrupted him.

"No! I need to be sure… You need to swear to it! Take the Unbreakable Vow!" Taylor demanded.

Snape stared at her for a long moment. "Surely you don't mean that… I owe you a life debt, that should be enough!"

"No. You saved my life from Voldemort at Christmas. That evens us up. I can't leave this to chance. There is only one shot at it… If we fail… You say you loved my mother then show it and take the Unbreakable Vow!" her voice was brittle.

Snape seemed to size up the underage witch for a long moment. He noticed she did not flinch from his hard look, and when he took her hand it was rock steady. Drawing his wand he said, "I promise to bring the Dark Lord to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow night, under the guise that you are willing to give him Potter in return for your life… I promise to send Nagini by Portkey to the Forbidden Forest tomorrow. I promise I will drink the potion and not interfere in the Department of Mysteries." A thin gold tendril flowed from his wand wrapping around their clasped hands tightening, until it seared into their skin and faded away, the marks it left fading as well.

Taylor nodded and was about to drop her hand when Snape twisted her hand over and stared at the silver band on her finger, his eyes narrowed.

"I hope you were not foolish enough to do what I think you did."

"Yeah, I probably did." Taylor pulled her hand from his and looked at the ring for a moment. "I know this is going to hurt him… But at least I had a glimpse of what might have been if things were different. I love him… but my duty is to my brother. Our happiness is a small thing when compared to the lives Harry can save…" Taylor turned to leave and his forlorn voice stopped her.

"Life is a hard thing to get through once your light… your love… is gone. You are simply reduced to surviving each day."

Looking back over her shoulder she could see the depth of his sadness, and her heart ached for him. "I'm sorry Severus. I'm truly sorry."

Their eyes met for a long moment before he looked away and then Apparated away.

Knowing it was past curfew, she was extra cautious as she slipped up through the castle, checking the Map often and moving silently under the cloak. When she reached the Fat Lady she gave the password and slipped through the portal. The common room was loud and still fairly crowded, the last Saturday night before school ended. After a quick search of the room she didn't spot her brother or the others and made her way up to the seventh year boy's dorm room. Pausing outside the door, she knew she wasn't likely to get a very warm welcome. Steeling herself, she tried the door. It was warded and, palming her wand, she quickly vanished them and let herself in, putting them back up again behind her.

"I'd like to know one good reason why I shouldn't hex you right now!" Harry growled as he watched the door open and shut seemingly on its own.

Pulling the cloak off she said, "How about for one, I have our plan put in motion. And two you left me with no choice."

"No choice? You stun your friends and leave them and you have the nerve to say you had no choice?" Ginny snapped rounding on Taylor.

"That's what I said. No choice. Now we can fight among ourselves or we can double check our plan, as well as decide just how we are going to go about killing Nagini." Her voice was hard.

"How do we even know you are you?" Ron snapped.

"Because Ron, I know Lions only roar on Wednesday, and Boars only wear pink to bed."

Harry was furious with his sister and refused to speak to her for the rest of the evening. The others were only a little less hostile, but their voices were clipped as they asked what she had found out. They were just finishing up when Dean, Seamus and Neville came in.

A while later the others had gone to bed and Taylor sat in the common room on the sofa beside the Hufflepuff, his stiff stance told her just how upset he was. She waited for him to break the silence that had been between them since they had come down.

"I'm not impressed with what you pulled tonight… whether you felt you had to or not. To use Dark Magic on us… I'm rather shocked. It was a cowardly way out."

Taylor nodded her head, she already knew that.

Silence settled around them again.

The Hufflepuff's voice was a little gentler this time, "When you do things like that it makes your friends question whether they can trust you or not."

"I know." She confessed.

Time seemed to play its tricks again and before she realized it the school clock was chiming one o'clock. Her heart took up a heavy thud in her chest and she could feel her resolve starting to waver. Knowing it was wrong but desperately needing his quiet strength, Taylor shifted on the sofa so that she was sitting close enough to touch the Hufflepuff. His arm lifted and settled around her shoulders, pulling her tightly against his side. This was enough for a while, just sitting with him. Though soon that too became not enough and, shifting yet again, she straddled his lap. Running her arms around behind his neck, she kept her eyes lowered fearing what she might see in his, and not knowing just what her's might give away. Instead she studied his lips and lightly stubbled chin for a few heartbeats before she closed the distance and kissed him. The emotions she had been able to keep in check while she was sitting beside him broke free and she poured them into her kiss, trying to say with the kiss what she couldn't with words.

All too soon the need for air divided their lips and this time it was her lips that traveled along his jaw to his ear where she nibbled and received a soft moan, his hands roaming her back beneath her shirt.

Running her tongue along the ridge of his ear she pressed her body into his, his moan deeper this time. "I'm sorry," she breathed into his ear before she moved back to his lips, her kiss demanding as he answered her need with passion of his own.

Breathing heavily their lips moved apart once again. The Hufflepuff's arms held her tight against him and he moved, picking his witch up and laying her down on the sofa, his body covering hers and settling intimately between her legs. His lips found hers as his hand slipped under the side of her shirt to cup her breast over her bra.

Heat pooled low in her belly and needing to feel his skin beneath her finger tips she slipped her hand under his shirt, allowing it to roam his back. Her body answered his and she arched up against him as their tongues danced together. A groan rumbled in his chest as the fingers in his other hand tangled in her short hair pulling gently, his lips trailed down her neck to her sensitive spot, where he worked a moan from his witch.

Pushing his control to the limit, he rocked against her gently as his lips claimed hers once more, his hand gently kneading the small bra covered breast in his palm. Desire pounded through him and his mind barely registered the soft "I'm sorry," that slipped from her lips from time to time.

Finally, their lips swollen and clothes disheveled, they settled together on the sofa. The witch pulled tightly against the wizard as he curled protectively around her, his leg over hers and his arm holding her tight against his chest.

Taylor felt exhaustion pulling at her, as the wizard behind her breathed deeply, but she fought it, not because she was scared to close her eyes, but because she wanted to cherish every moment. Commit it to memory.

Safe in the Hufflepuff's arms, she finally succumbed to her body's exhaustion and slept.

The sun was pouring in through the windows to the common room when she awoke. As if her mind had never really shut down, she opened her eyes knowing full well what today was. Even with that knowledge, and knowing what she needed to do, she resisted, seeking out a few more stolen moments with the sleeping wizard behind her.

Only the knowledge that if she didn't get done what she needed to, that it would be worse, drove her out of the Hufflepuff's sleeping arms. Taking quill and parchment she headed for the owlery.

Returning an hour later she found the Head Boy sitting on the sofa in the common room looking very much like he had just woken up.

"Hey… I didn't think you left the common room." He said sleepily as he stretched and yawned. "Where'd you go?"

"I just had an errand I had to do. Why don't you go have a shower and stuff while I get the others up. We can meet in the Great Hall in an hour." She attempted a smile at him but knew she failed. The weight of what they had to do settled on her. What she had to do…

"It's going to be alright." The Hufflepuff said, as he stood and pulled her against him, his arms holding her tight. "We have a plan, it's a good one. It'll work out. Harry will be okay."

Taylor returned his hug and took his reassurances for what they were, his hope that things would go as planned. Only she knew truly what today would bring.

After the Hufflepuff left, she went to wake the girls first. Ginny was already awake and gave her a tight smile when she entered the sixth year dorm. When she entered her room her eyes fell on the bed that had been hers for the past seven years, and she looked at the picture of her aunt and uncle. They had been good people. They had loved her and she had never had a chance to thank them. Mrs. Briggs face came to mind and her heart ached, as resolve flowed through her. Tonight she would make sure Voldemort could hurt no one anymore. Waking Hermione, she headed for the seventh year boy's dorm and found about what she suspected… four wizards asleep. Only her brother was awake.

Sitting down beside him as he lay in his bed, she put up a silencing charm.

"I'm sorry Harry. I should have found another way to go. At the time it seemed the simplest and quickest way to go."

"I'm not so angry about how you left… I just… he's a murdering traitor! He's…" pure loathing resounded in her brother's voice. "I'll kill him if I see him!"

Quietly Taylor said, "I know brother, I'm sorry." She listened to his vicious oath.

"Harry we can't do this alone. We need someone who Voldemort will listen to."

"He's a traitor! How can you be so sure he won't betray us as well?"

"Because he owes me his life… and he made an Unbreakable Vow with me that he would carry this through." Taylor said quietly, meeting her brother's eyes for the first time. She could see the strain in them, as well as disbelief.

"You made an… Unbreakable Vow? With Snape?" the name was spit out as if it were something foul.

"I needed to know we could trust him."

Harry shook his head at his sister. He wondered briefly if the last nightmare hadn't done something to her… her actions since had been even more erratic than usual. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Accept what I did as necessary and get ready for what we need to do today."

Harry picked up his sister's left hand and looked at the silver ring that was on her finger. "So is this what I think it is?"

Taylor met her brother's eyes but she only saw acceptance in them as he nodded slightly. "I guess… He's a good wizard and Merlin knows he loves you."

"And I love him too Harry." Taylor knew that she should tell her brother that Greg knew… but this just didn't seem the time to get into that. So she asked instead. "Have you talked to Ginny yet?" She saw him shaking his head.

"I don't know what to say to her… How do I tell her goodbye?"

"It's not going to be goodbye, Harry! It's not! I know it! Just tell her how much you love her." Taylor said as she fought the panic that threatened to overwhelm her at the thought of her brother dying. It was strange, she could face the knowledge that she wouldn't make it through tonight, even the pain of knowing she would hurt Greg, so much easier then the thought that she would lose her brother.

Sitting up Harry hugged his sister and she gladly returned the gesture, each whispering their love for one another.

Time played a trick again and all too soon the six of them were heading across the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest as the afternoon sun shone down on them brightly.

Taylor led them through the forest and along the path to the place where the Portkey would arrive, bringing with it Nagini. It would work because that was how the auror Mr. Timmons had brought the Manticore onto school grounds.

Standing off to the side, all with their wands drawn, Gryffindor's sword in Ron's hand as well, they waited. A pop and the snake appeared before them, hissing. Taylor used the combination Dark & light magic spell to determine that Nagini truly was a horcrux.

Just like they planned, they all sent stunners at it and Ron swung the sword, beheading the giant snake. Then they levitated the body into Hermione's hand bag, where it had more than ample room to fit.

There was no celebration, no smiles or feelings of excitement like there had been when they destroyed other Horcruxes. Only a grim satisfaction that this part of their plan had gone off without a hitch.

Heading back to the castle they were met at the front doors by Neville and Luna.

"I know you are up to something and we want to help." Neville said as he met Harry's eyes.

"Neville, you have no idea what you are asking. Go. Enjoy your last few days at Hogwarts." Harry said quietly.

"No. I've been watching you and you are planning something." Neville said forcefully.

"We could use two more people. It would make the whole thing safer." The Hufflepuff said reasonably.

Harry glared at the Hufflepuff as he thought. They did have a hole in their plan and two more would fill in those areas.

"Alright but you come with us now!" Harry said in a hard tone. "And if you have any doubts that you don't want to help. You leave now!"

The Ravenclaw witch and the Gryffindor wizard shook their heads. So after a couple of questions, so that they could be sure that they weren't imposters, and Hermione checked to make sure they weren't under some sort of spell, they took the newcomers up with them to the seventh year Gryffindor boy's dormitory and went over the plan carefully several times until even the two newcomers knew exactly what they had to do.

Time passed and all too soon it was time to go.

Grimly they said their own goodbyes to each other. The three couples clinging to one another for a few extra seconds. Then they made their way down through the castle, meeting only the few Gryffindors in the common room as they used the Map to avoid anyone else. Reaching the one-eyed witch stone bust, Taylor took out her wand and as her necklace burned against her neck, she vanished the wards surrounding it. Alarms sounded and the eight of them scrambled through the opening and into the passage below. Taylor paused only long enough to put the wards back in place before she raced along with the others. They weren't going to try coming out at Honeydukes, they were going to Apparate from the tunnel. They had no intention of returning this way, if they made it back.

Taylor took the Hufflepuff and Luna with her, Hermione took Ron and Neville, Harry took Ginny.

"Ready? Remember the plan. Be careful!" Harry's voice was firm and commanding, all places for doubt left behind. At the grim nods of the others they all spun and Apparated to the Ministry of Magic in London.

A/N Well there you have it... The next chapter is the ending I wrote before Deathly Hallows came out(or for the most part what I wrote before DH came out! I had to tweek it a bit to fit in with this VERY much more detailed and complicated story evolved! I promise not to keep you waiting too long before I post again! I hope you enjoyed this story! Feel free to let me know what you think!

A/N2 just a peice of likely useless triva... All the chapters but 1(chapter21) where Taylor has her nightmares about the Snake after her soul... they all have the word Snake in them. Like I said useless triva! ;)

Until next time, cytpotter.