Chapter 66: Winging It

"That wasn't one of the scenarios we'd discussed, was it?" Dan asked, looking at Harry.

"No . . . no it wasn't," sighed Harry. "It was my stupid 'Gryffindor/nobody gets hurt on my account/gotta save everybody' mentality that kicked in, you see."

"Mental is right," Rupert sat back, shaking his head.

"Guys . . . think . . . Harry and Neville are both here . . . they're okay," Emma pointed out to her friends.

"Oh . . . right . . . brilliant," Dan admitted, blushing, even as Rupert smacked himself on his forehead, rolling his eyes.

"Little slow on the uptake, aren't they?" Tom grinned, looking over to Draco.

"A bit, but then, they're Gryffindors," Draco smirked, then laughed. "Truthfully, though, everyone there had a collective heart attack, watching that happen."

X X X

Harry became aware of light filtering through his closed eyelids and ventured to open them a bit . . . yes, this is what it was supposed to look like, if the books and movies were any indication . . .but . . . wait . . . this wasn't King's Cross.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around. He was in a garden, at the rear of a cottage which looked vaguely familiar . . . was it his parent's place in Godric's Hollow? Getting to his feet, he turned around and saw that only the garden and the cottage were visible to him, beyond that was foggy and indistinct.

Then he heard it; that painful, mewing and screeching that he knew to be the bit of Voldemort's soul that had been living in him for more than fifteen years. 'But', he thought, looking around. 'Where is it?'

"Over here, darling,"

Suddenly, his mother and father had appeared, a ways down the stone walkway that led through the garden toward the cottage. Harry smiled and walked over to them.

"Hello Mum . . . Dad," he said, even as he looked down to see the dying piece of Voldemort's soul, laying on its side under a rose bush. He turned away from it and faced his parents.

"Hello, son," James said, as he reached out and patted Harry on the shoulder. Harry jumped a bit and then threw his arms around both of them, hugging them, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I can feel you!" he gasped, when he could find his voice.

"Of course you can," Lily laughed.

"But when I saw you with the Resurrection Stone, I couldn't!" Harry stepped back, quizzical look on his face.

"Ah, but that was just a glimpse of us, through the Stone . This is different," explained Lily. "This is your reality at this moment, just as it was when you met Albus at King's Cross . . . "

"You know about that?" Harry gasped.

"Well, we were with you the first time you went through this, you know . . . we had to go back and do it all again with you . . . working out a bit better this time, though, isn't it?" James smiled at his son.

"But do I get to make a choice again, this time, or am I really dead?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I think you know the answer to that," replied Lily, as she picked up a basket of cut flowers and turned toward the cottage.

"Mum! Wait!" Harry called, as James joined his wife, putting his arm around her waist. "How do I get back, Dad? There are no trains here!"

James turned, laughing, the old Marauder gleam in his eyes.

"Try clicking your heels three times and saying 'there's no place like home'."

"James! Now stop that!" Lily slapped James' arm and then turned to look at Harry. "Just close your eyes, darling; you never left the Great Hall, you know. Tell Sirius, Remus and Severus we said hello!"

"Mum . . Dad. . .wait," called Harry, but his eyes were closing and the whole scene just drifted away.

X X X

There was total silence in the Great Hall as everyone stared at the bodies of Harry and Voldemort, both unmoving.

"My Lord," croaked Pius Thickness, the Dark Lord's puppet Minister for Magic, as he took a tentative step toward the black robed figure, sprawled on the stone floor.

Voldemort moved his head, a small groan coming from his lips. Rabastan Lestrange rushed forward to assist his Master to his feet.

"I don't need your help," Voldemort hissed, pushing the Death Eater away and turning to look over to where Harry lay. "Is he dead?"

No one moved for a moment and then there was a collective intake of breath as Harry rolled over and quickly pushed himself to his feet, wand already pointed at Voldemort.

"That's not possible," breathed Rabastan. "No-one can survive the 'Killing Curse'!"

"I have . . . Twice!" Harry shot back. "So, here I stand, Tom. Now, shall we step outside and finish this once and for all?" Harry asked, sweeping his arm to indicate the door to the Courtyard. "Wouldn't want to hit any innocent bystanders, now, would we?"

Voldemort stood there, absentmindedly caressing the Elder Wand and a smile, or what passed for a smile, appeared on his face.

"Certainly, Harry. If you're that eager to try your luck again," answered the Dark Lord, who then 'Apparated' out the door to land on the far end of the Entrance Courtyard.

"Everyone stay inside, please," said Harry, as he made his way to the door. "For your own safety."

Everyone watched Harry in silence as he left the Great Hall.

"Not bloody likely," stated Sirius, who 'Apparated' to the surrounding covered colonnade. The remaining spectators, Death Eaters and defenders alike, either 'Apparated' or ran through the door, spreading out along the colonnade wall, so as to not miss the final duel.

Harry looked around and shook his head. He saw Fred wink at him and George give him the thumbs up, which made him smile.

"Feeling cheerful, are you Harry?" asked Voldemort.

"Quite. And yourself? I know sensing all your Horcruxes being destroyed, one by one, must have been draining, to say the least," Harry remarked, as Voldemort and he slowly circled, wands at the ready, waiting to see if the other would strike first.

Voldemort hissed at Harry in 'Parseltongue', but Harry shook his head, smile on his face.

"Sorry, Tom. When you hit me with that 'Avada Kadavra', it wasn't me whom you killed, but the last bit of yourself, the last Horcrux . . . the one you accidentally made when you killed my mother . . . I was the closest living thing and your sliver of soul has been living in me ever since. Didn't you ever wonder why I could speak 'Parseltongue', or why we were mentally attached to each other? You just made yourself totally human again . . . well, what little bit of humanity is left, that is."

"It matters not, Harry." Voldemort stood tall and indicated the wand in his boney hand. "You see, I have the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in the Wizarding World."

"Yes, you are holding the Elder Wand, but you are not its Master," Harry informed him, with a slight sneer.

"I tookit from Dumbledore, I possess it, it obeys me," snarled the Dark Lord.

"Actually . . . no . . . you didn't take it from Albus . . . I did; surprised him and took it from him . . . I defeated him, in a manner of speaking, long before your trip to the Chamber of Secrets, Tom. In fact, I was the one who put it with Albus' body," replied Harry. "So, that makes me the Master of the Elder Wand; that's why your 'Avada Kadavra' didn't kill me, although it did get rid of your Horcrux."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed . . . 'could this be true . . . could this . . . child be the Master of the Elder Wand . . .NO! ", he thought furiously, his brain rejecting such a notion. 'I am the most powerful Wizard in the world, no mere student could have the skills to defeat me.'

Harry found it slightly unsettling, not being able to 'tune in' on Voldemort's thoughts, but then, was that really such a bad thing? He smiled to himself . . . he could get used to only having his own thoughts banging around in his head.

Suddenly, he sensed, more than saw, a movement from the Dark Lord, raising the Elder Wand, signaling the time had come.

"AVADA KADAVRA!" shouted Voldemort, as green light flashed out from Albus' wand.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" came Harry's responding cry, a red flash streaking toward the Dark Lord.

The spells met with a crash; sparks and wisps of magic flying out from the fireball the collision of opposing magic had formed. Both of the dueling Wizards were grasping their wands and willing their spell forward and for a brief few seconds, there was no movement in either direction. Then slowly, inch by inch, the sparking energy ball begin moving toward Voldemort, who gritted his teeth and growled in fury . . . to no avail. Moving faster and faster Harry's spell finally won out and touched the tip of the Elder Wand. The Dark Lord was lifted off his feet, screaming, and fell to the ground, arms out, eyes and mouth open . . . dead.

In the eerie silence that followed, there was no movement, no clapping or celebration, and the only sound was Harry's footsteps as he slowly walked over and looked down into the lifeless eyes, then reached down and picked up the Elder Wand.

"If I might make a suggestion?"

A familiar voice rang out across the Courtyard and the crowd turned, as one, to see Albus Dumbledore standing in the doorway into the school.

"Dumbledore!" "That's not possible!" "He's dead!"

"Ah, as to that . . . I would quote the American Muggle author, Mark Twain, who said, 'The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated'."

Suddenly the Death Eaters realized that while they had been staring, open mouthed, at the Headmaster, every one of them had been singled out by one of the defenders and they each had a wand pointed at them. There was no escape this time; it was over.

Albus walked forward, smiling.

"I see most of you, and I'm speaking to the followers of the late Tom Riddle, have grasped the situation and will now turn your wands over to the Witch or Wizard who is pointing theirs at you. You may try to 'Apparate' away, but we know all of you and you will be tracked down and brought to trial, so . . . ."

Reluctantly, belligerently in some cases, wands were confiscated and in minutes the Death Eaters were bound together, two by two and lined up, to await the arrival of the Aurors. Mad-eye Moody was directing the round-up, even as Kingsley Shacklebolt sent a message to his office and the faithful few under his command who weren't assigned there by Pius Thickness.

X X X

"What? No cheering? No celebration? " Rupert asked, running his finger through his hair.

"Of course there was, but not right away," Ron informed him. "We really did have to secure all of those Death Eaters and until every last one was tied up, we didn't even think of it." He shrugged. "I guess we were a bit in shock, but still in 'combat' mode, especially with Mad-eye in charge . . . having a grand time, old Mad-eye."

"That is until Healer Treiber arrived on the scene," giggled Molly Weasley.

Severus rolled his eyes, as the others snickered, causing Dan, Rupert and Tom to look at each other, eyebrows raised in question. Emma, however, was having none of that.

Crossing her arms, she impaled Severus with a look.

"Out with it! Now! Every detail!" she instructed him, obviously not interested in any protests from the Potions professor.

"If you don't tell the whole story, Severus, we'll provide the details," warned Remus, Sirius nodding emphatically.

"Oh, very well," Severus sighed, resigned to the task.

X X X

Katie Treiber skidded to a halt in the Entrance Hall doorway, out of breath, as she surveyed the milling crowd of defenders and the rows of Death Eaters being seated in the center of the Courtyard. Then she spotted the body lying, arms spread wide, eyes staring sightlessly at the heavens. Voldemort was dead! But where was . . .

"He's over there, dear," Minerva whispered, having stepped over to stand next to the young woman.

Katie looked where Professor McGonagall pointed and saw Severus speaking with Arthur Weasley. She took off running, weaving her way through the crowd. Arthur saw her coming and smiling, turned Severus so he'd be ready when Katie launched herself into his outstretched arms. Her momentum started them spinning and she was laughing and crying when Severus finally managed to stop and set her on her feet.

"It's over, Severus!" she cried."And you're alive!"

"It is, indeed, Katie, dearest, and I am," replied the Potions Master. Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Her arms went around his neck and he reached down, circled her waist and picked her up. The wolf whistles, shouts and laughter went unheard, even as the kiss lengthened and deepened.

After an almost indecent amount of time, Severus set the Healer down on her feet, took her hand and knelt. Katie gasped, tears springing to her eyes. It suddenly went very quiet, so everyone, including thetrussed Death Eaters, heard Severus' words.

"Katie Treiber, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

He had reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring; a round emerald, surrounded by a ring of tiny sapphires.

"This was my mother's and I know she'd be proud to know it was going to be worn by my wife . . . that is. . . if you'll have me?" he concluded.

Everyone waited for her to answer, but she stood frozen, her hand over her mouth. Severus' eyebrow went up in question and she managed to nod before she spoke. "Yes, Severus . . . I will marry you!"

That's when the cheering started, that's when the defenders of Hogwarts let loose all their pent up emotions and the victory celebration really began.

X X X

"SEVERUS SNAPE, YOU LIED TO ME!" Emma was on her feet, glaring at the man leaning back against the table.

"I did not lie; I merely bent the truth, in order to prevent you going off on a tangent about my personal life, about which you seem utterly fascinated," came the reply. "There were more important things to discuss at the time."

"You said you were 'seeing someone'! Married is a lot more than 'seeing someone'!" Emma huffed, with Rupert trying, unsuccessfully, to calm her down.

"Well, I do see her, everyday, when I go home," Severus smirked.

"I suppose you were bending the truth about "the pitter patter of little feet in the dungeons, too !"

Emma was on a roll and Rupert gave up, throwing his hands in the air.

"No, there are no little feet running through the dungeon; Alan is a Third year and his feet are almost as big as mine. Eileen, who is a First year, does wear a smaller size, but I wouldn't say she pitter-patters, either." Severus smiled.

"You're enjoying this way too much, mate," Remus poked him in the ribs.

"Oh! You! You!" Emma sputtered.

"Yes, he can be exasperating at times," said Katie Snape, as she and her children came in the door. Besides the two Hogwarts aged students, she carried a toddler on her hip, who wiggled to get down and promptly ran to his father. Severus scooped the little version of himself up and put his laughing child on his knee.

"This is the pitter-patter one, but only in our home; the dungeons are much too dangerous. Say hello to our guests, Michael," instructed the proud Papa.

"Hello!"

"Hello, Michael," chorused the 'visitors'.

"I'm three!"

"Splendid!" Emma answered. Turning, she smiled at Katie. "Hello, to you, too. "

"Have you enjoyed the story?"

"Every minute of it," Dan answered, as the others nodded.

"We've been listening ,outside the door, for a couple of minutes, the last part of the battle and all. We decided to surprise you at the end . . . surprise!" she laughed.

"Surprise just about covers it!" Tom agreed.