Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects, or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes

that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.

When You Have Nothing Left to Lose

Chapter 9:

"Go, go, go!" A man shouted as explosions and spells of various colours dashed back and forth from both sides. He was ushering other troops out into the chaos after apparating into the building.

From the other end of the street, a trooper wearing the uniform of the enemy of these new troops ran up to his commander who was cowering below a shattered window inside the carcass of a building. "Sir! We need reinforcements! We ca-" The auror had been cut down by one of the many killing curses flying about from the oncoming Death Eaters.

"We have these imbeciles now." A Death Eater officer smirked.

Suddenly, a massive explosion encompassed an entire building nearby before more Death Eaters emerged and started to eliminate all soldiers on the street. The Shadow Wolf led this charge. Unlike their opponents, however, the Shadow Army continued to disappear into clouds of smoke before appearing in another, more advantageous position to strike down their enemies.

The Shadow Wolf led half of his troops straight for the Death Eaters who had attempted to assault the location. He worked his way over ruthlessly, cutting down any opponent in his path while never halting in his advance.

"We have to get out of here!" The man, who previously forced his comrades out into the carnage, screamed.

"Sir! The floo is blocked! We can't get out!" Behind the Death Eater guard turned soldier, the lower half of a man's body was slumped against the ground in a bloody mess. The Shadow Army terminated its operation just as a man tried to teleport away.

The roof collapsed in on the building housing these troops, killing all inside right in front of the officer who had just rushed his men into the place with the failed promise of escape.

Turning around from the depressing wreckage to survey the Shadow Army's advance, the officer found a hand wrapped around his neck before being pinned against the rubble behind him.

"Did you really fucking think you could succeed in taking Diagon Alley when I had my sights set on this place?" Harry spat venom from behind his mask. "You traitorous shite, this is not your domain. You are nothing more than guards forced to be soldiers by your pompous politicians called leaders. What a waste of life. It is unfortunate your mistake must cost you your lives." Harry snapped the man's neck and flung him to the side.

"Sir, we just finished off the rest of the aurors and traitors. Besides Gringotts, Diagon Alley is ours." James informed his commander. "What are your orders?"

"Any civilians in the area?" Harry asked.

"Negative, commander. They were either killed in the skirmish before we arrived or managed to flee from the battle."

The Shadow Wolf nodded his head. "Good. Trace where these floos were going as far as you can. Try to see if we can discover where the traitors are hiding. Meanwhile, place the necessary amount of troops to guard the Alley. We are to hold here for the rest of the war. Use the rest of the troops to start massing at the steps leading to Gringotts."

"Are we attacking the bank, sir?" A slip of fear leaking into James's voice. "Do we want to start a war with the goblins as well?"

"We won't let it become a war, but it is yet to be decided if we will be capturing Gringotts... That is for the goblins to decide." The leader of the Shadow Army turned from his personal battalion's second-in-command as his words sunk in.

Minutes later inside a manor in the middle of Wales, the leaders of the separatist Death Eaters received the news of the fate of their troops.

"What are we to do now? He has seized all of magical Britain excluding the Ministry itself and people's homes!"

"We can't stop him; he has too many troops and is too strong. Nothing the Ministry or us could throw at him that will conquer him and his forces."

"What if we revealed who he was to the rest of Magical Britain? Wouldn't that destroy him?"

"Or make him stronger! Are you insane? That will just boost people's confidence in him!"

"We already discussed this; we will not reveal his identity!"

Before the conversation could continue, one of the guards ordered to wait outside the chamber rushed inside.

"Sirs and madams, we need to get you out of here. They're here. We don't know how, but the Shadow Wolf and his forces have entered the base and are eliminating everyone here. Come with me!" He drew his wand as his leaders followed behind him. As, they entered the hallway, the other guard stationed outside fell over, gasping for breath and life, as both receded away.

"Holy fuck! Eric!" The first guard shouted for his fellow, bending down to see if he could help Eric in any way. "Get back!" He shouted as further spells came barreling down the corridor, as Death Eaters began to emerge from around the corner. The guard charged forward, as the the leaders fell back into their chamber and closed the doors.

"For Eric!" They heard him shout before yelling a war cry. A second later, it abruptly ended.

"The emergency exit!" One shouted before running over to a wall and hitting a pattern in the stones.

As the doors opened, the woman who initiated the mechanism fled into the appearing tunnel. A few more managed to flee, but half of the separatist leaders halted in their tracks, hearing the loud clank of a sole pair of boots on the tiled floor outside the chamber. Despite many other footsteps being heard as well besides the Shadow Wolf's, the sole man's presence sent shivers down each of the separatists' spines and forced them to stop in their own tracks.

Once the footsteps stopped right at the other side of the door, half of the remaining traitors woke from their trance and fled into the tunnel before the doors bursted into the chamber, blown off their hinges but still intact.

The other half of the people started for the exit but were stunned in one swift motion by the Shadow Wolf's wand.

Turning to his troops, the man motioned to the tunnel, commanding, "Follow where that goes. Capture anyone you find and bring them to me. If it travels to an apparation point or a floo, trace the mutinous scums' movements."

"Yes, sir." Five of his men said in unison as they departed down the emergency exit.

"What do you want us to do with them?" The Shadow Cub asked, kicking the closest traitor, whose eyes overflowed with fear.

"Bring them back to base. I want them tortured for any knowledge they possess that could prove useful to the cause." Harry beckoned over his son before whispering in his ear, "Tell the warden that I order him to have them exterminated once that is done."

Teddy nodded his head and started ordering the troops to accommodate his father's orders, as the Shadow Wolf turned away and left the manor. Outside his troops were maintaining a perimeter, preparing to enter or entering the building, or planting runes all over the exterior of the building.

Upon seeing his commander, James met up with him.

"Our men are almost done with the runes, sir. By the time we have ransacked the building and escorted out our prisoners, it'll all be finished."

"Good." Harry nodded his head; a slip of weariness slipping into his voice. "Any updates on Diagon Alley? Any word from the goblins?"

"Well, the Ministry has tried sending troops to regain the marketplace, but we held them off quite easily. The goblins have decided to surrender to our forces without a fight. I think the word of our victories and strength has even them scared."

"Good. It is better not to have more bloodshed than necessary. Tell Joshua to send a battalion or two in to seize all Ministry funds and assets held at the bank for the organization." Harry paused in thought. "Have them also claim the traitors' vault contents as well. Let's break them both even further."

"I'll let him know immediately." James bowed before leaving to notify the third-in-command of the entire Death Eater Army.

As Harry departed for Hogwarts, the three remaining leaders of the Death Eater separatists huddled together in a cold, dark alleyway in the muggle world. All of the the others who had fled down the tunnel had already been captured or were dead.

"We have no choice, now. It's the only plan we have. Fucking get it done." The one woman among them spoke before leaving.

She and her three comrades would not survive the night. Ministry forces claimed her life two blocks from the alley. One of the other men killed himself before Harry's hunters could capture him.

The last of the three managed to fulfill the first's plan before later that night stepping out onto a muggle street without looking both ways. As a pureblood, he had not known any of the customs of muggles, so he possessed not the faintest clue as to the bus barreling down the street. His mutilated body could not be identified by police.

By dawn the next morning, the entire separatist movement in the Death Eaters was exterminated.

That was not to say, however, that it had left no impact on the current movement by the rest of their former comrades.

As Harry sipped some scotch in celebration of his many victories the day and night before at his desk at the Hogwart's Death Eater base, someone knocked at the door.

After casting a glamour charm on his face, Harry unlocked the door with a slight motion of his hand.

"Harry… we have a problem." Daphne dropped a newspaper on his desk.

His previous joy at the end of an enemy and the wounding of another plus the sight of his love ended immediately upon reading the headline of the Daily Prophet.

"What the fuck?!" Harry yelled, slamming the paper down. "I guess those separatist fuckers got one last laugh in before I could fully end them, huh? All of magical Britain now knows who I really am!"

"Love, don't worry. We won't lose any followers because of this. We just may gain more." Daphne sat in her lover's lap.

"It isn't that… People always supported or hated Harry Potter for the current events and gossip. The Shadow Wolf was more than that. He transcended it all. He was a symbol of greatness that could not be manipulated. Harry's image constantly was." The man sitting in the chair grew silent.

"Harry Potter is not dead, but neither is the Shadow Wolf. They are both alive, inside you. You have grown so much since we met in that little shite town trying to kill each other. You aren't manipulative anymore, and you do have a soft spot for the ones you love. That isn't wrong. It isn't like you have to switch between both constantly. Embrace both sides and make them one." Daphne hugged him close.

"Now, what is the new Harry Potter slash Shadow Wolf going to do about this?"

The Shadow Wolf in full combat gear proceeded down the Grand Staircase and through the halls of Hogwarts. Behind him followed Daphne, Teddy, and James as well as his personal battalion of troops.

They walked proudly into the fully crowded Great Hall. where students, teachers, and faculty alike were gossipping about the striking news.

While the Shadow Army proceeded to take position guarding the entrance to the Great Hall as well as lining the inside of the hall, Harry and the other three proceeded towards the teachers' table and Headmistress Weasley.

"Harry?" She asked in disbelief.

"Give me your stand, Headmistress." The Shadow Wolf ignored her question. As the woman stepped back. Harry as well as his cub and love stepped up to the stand, turning to the students. James positioned himself slightly off to the side while facing the three, recording the action using his wand.

"It is said that behind a mask, a man becomes something else. It brings out something the man is not or who he truly is, but once it is taken off, that the man returns to a normal man of society." The Shadow Wolf removed the silver wolf mask on his face.

"I, however, am the same man with my mask on as it is off. Us Death Eaters use our masks to protect those we care about, to save them from any consequences that we can prevent, but that does not mean we follow our cause any less than another who shows his face proudly. I came into the Death Eaters as the Shadow Wolf to prevent attention to my cause that was not from belief but from admiration of a man who joined it. The Death Eaters did not create the Shadow Wolf; I created the Shadow Wolf and everything he stands for as I am him. The mask did not forge me; I forged the mask that I wear proudly on my face into battle. Do not dare to think that I am who I used to be: a man to be controlled, manipulated, disrespected, used. I am no longer a puppet, nor am I a puppeteer. I lead my men into battle right alongside them. I do not cower behind a desk as my troops are slaughtered like your Minister Corner. Do not treat me any differently than before just because you know my birth name."

Daphne and Teddy then removed their masks as well.

"Look. The Shadow Queen is Daphne Greengrass, and the Shadow Cub is Teddy Lupin. Despite who the world has thought them as, they are truly two of the most dangerous people in magical Britain now. They stand behind me as symbols of strength as do I.

"Now, I address the Ministry directly. I am coming for you. I have seized every piece of public land of magical Britain excluding your Ministry of Magic. You are weak, and we will crush you. You have done everything in your power to try to cheat yourself from your fate, but your fate is inevitable." Harry and his family behind him donned their masks. "Now come and get me."

James then cut the transmission. It had been broadcast to every wizard and witch in Britain.

The Death Eaters then began to proceed out of the Great Hall.

"Harry, wait!" Hermione yelled, grabbing the man's shoulder. As soon as her hand touched him, he turned and growled. His followers around him immediately went on edge.

Hermione's hand drew away in fear slowly. "Please, can I talk to you?"

The Shadow Wolf stopped growling but remained still and silent.

"Please? As a favor to a once good friend?" Hermione begged the man.

"Meet me in the Gryffindor common room in a half hour. Make sure nobody else is nearby." Harry then turned and walked away.

"Why are you giving that to her? She tried to kill you." Teddy reminded his father.

Daphne shook her head. "He needs this Teddy. She didn't really wrong him recently, but he does need closure."

Harry looked back at the woman in surprise. "How do you do that?"

"Because I understand you, Shadow Wolf, and you understand me."

"Very true, my Shadow Queen."

The group then proceeded to the Room of Requirement while Harry walked to his old common room. Still held in a portrait at its entrance was the fat lady.

"Password?" She said, looking down while arranging some glasses on her table. After a moment of silence she looked up and gasped, startled.

"I'll say this only once: Let… me… in." The Shadow Wolf enunciated each word.

"Um, uh, yes, sir." She fumbled before the doorway opened and she fled from her painting.

Ignoring her fear, the former Gryffindor proceeded inside his old common room and began looking around to see that time had not affected its appearance. It still was the same room he had known as a boy turning teen turning man.

Finally he settled at the window to wait for his former friend, staring out at the grounds around the ancient castle.

Minutes later, the headmistress entered the room the two once called their common room.

"Must you strike fear in the heart of every soul you meet?" She sighed in frustration.

"It gets the job done. Besides, you never know who your real friends are nowadays until they prove themselves." Harry kept looking out at the late winter morning.

"Have I not done that?"

Harry turned from the window and sat on the couch in front of the fire, pondering her question. She still stood near the entrance.

"A long time ago you did… when I was another man… when I followed blindly unlike today."

"What does that have to do with anything? I have never stopped being your friend." Hermione started to get worked up. "Why does everything come back to your cause?"

Harry ignored her second question and aimed at the first. "You may never have stopped, but you did stop trying to be my friend. I grew away from you and Ron when you two got married and furthermore ever since. Did you know that the morning I disappeared from the Ministry and the majority of the world, Ginerva had left me? Did you know that she left a letter saying that I would never see my children again if she could help it? Did you know that constantly I had to adapt to her way of life and change for her but not the other way around? Did you know she blamed me for as her reason for leaving? Did you know that we had been having marriage troubles for years?" Harry's words grew more and more passionate with each question.

Hermione sat down in shock, silent at this realization.

"No. You did not. You may have been a friend but not a good one by any means.

"The reason I bring up my cause as well is that it totally opposes your views. You always need someone to look up to. You admire the Ministry. You think since it is filled with our generation, that it is perfect, but it is not. It is so heavily corrupted. We are at war, and if you are not on my side, which I do not see how you could be with how you view things, then you are against me, unfortunate as that may be."

"I could join you."

"Why would you join me? Because of who I was? That is not why you join a cause, and you know it." Harry shook his head.

"No, because I trust you. You're still Harry… just different." Hermione tried to appease.

"And Ron and your children? What if they disagree?"

"You're not the only one with marriage issues."

Later that night, Hermione Granger took on the Dark Mark and began learning an entirely new form of magic she had never dared to even attempt to learn.

"Susan! What are you doing about this?" Minister Corner slammed down the next morning's copy of The Daily Prophet. Harry's response to his unmasking held precedence as the headline.

"What do you expect me to do, Minister? I'm not in control of these troops; you are. I try to send a united front to attack them in one direction, you send a quarter of them somewhere else! I can't win this war for you without your help, but you need to also learn to back off!" The two were shouting in Ms. Bones's office.

"You know what, Ms. Bones?"

"What, Mr. Corner?" Susan mocked the fool.

"I am firing you, effective immediately." The Minister straightened his robes.

"For what? Not being your lapdog and giving you impossible to achieve results?"

"For your continued failures and inadequacies. Now, excuse me while I leave you to collect your things. My aurors will escort you out of the building." The man turned and walked out of her office, proud with himself.

"Hello, love." Daphne swung into Harry's office from the kitchen. A tray supporting pancakes for the two perched in her hand.

"That looks delicious if I do say so myself." In the months since the traitors turned on them the two had begun having a known relationship with no fear of the repercussions since there was no judgemental council to condemn their romance.

"You know I didn't make them." Daphne chuckled as she sat across from the man as he set aside the newspaper. Where it previously rested sat complex diagrams and schematics, as well as footnotes and comments.

"Are those the final battle plans?"

Harry was silent a moment, as he piled the papers together and hid them underneath a floorboard underneath his desk.

"Not exactly. More just to help with some ideas for taking out the building, but why don't we enjoy breakfast before we discuss such serious topics like war?" Harry grabbed Daphne and sat her in his lap right after she set down the food. She giggled.

"If you insist." She joked.

Harry's chuckles dispersed, and he grew silent in thought.

"What's wrong, love?"

"It's really happening isn't it? … We actually are going to do it; we are going to win." Harry thought aloud in wonder.

"Yes, Harry. We really are." Daphne smiled. "We really are going to win. We are going to have moments like these often throughout the rest of our lives because we made it so. We didn't just adapt to a bad situation, we changed the situation."

"I love you." Even if Harry had wished not to, he could not help but smile.

"I love you, too. Now, eat up. I'm sure there's still a lot we have to do to prepare this great future of ours." The two then quickly ate before rushing out of Harry's quarters.

Teddy met up with them, and the three proceeded quickly to a large chamber, where Teddy and Daphne emerged into a crowd shrouded in shadow surrounding an arena illuminating the Shadow Wolf. This transmission would be sent to every member of their organization.

"Hello, one and all! I commend every each one of you for your efforts to our cause. I commend your success and your failures. Most importantly, I commend your devotion and your loyalty. Without it, the Death Eaters would have fallen long ago. Without it, the Ministry would still reign supreme and unchallenged in their corruption!"

A round of cheers came from the crowd around them.

As the cheers died, Harry continued.

"Now we stand on the brink of triumph, at the edge of victory! We stand readying ourselves for the final blow! We have liberated the magical towns of Britain, seized the ancient castle of Hogwarts and the neighboring Hogsmeade, completely occupied Diagon Alley, gained Gringotts, and wounded the Ministry at every turn! The public has embraced our view, and now everyone recognizes the enemy!

"It is time we finished this. Prepare to receive orders in the coming days as to the final plan. Soon, the Ministry of Magic will fall! Soon the Minister and his fellow rodents will be exterminated! Soon we will lead this cause, our cause, the one we have given our blood, sweat, tears, and our lives for into a new world. We will lead this new world into a new era, where we know magic is secure, where our lives are secure. We give our lives to ensure that no one else has to!"

Everyone's cheers vibrated the air to a dangerous pitch. These normally reserved, normally ghostly warriors in battle's uncharacteristic show of emotion truly propelled how close their organization was to victory for all other members watching this speech.

A week and a day later in magical towns across Britain, wizards and witches woke to find large plain boxes resting at their doorsteps.

Inside held mysterious and perplexing instructions.

Help us end this. You will know our call when it comes. Prepare yourselves.

-The Shadow Wolf

The Ministry, in reaction to this, began dispersing troops to secure the towns and especially their headquarters. Auror brutality increased and as a result did crime, resulting in a continually building cycle between the two.

Brooms were sabotaged, resulting in many injuries on the part of the aurors. More and more fights began breaking out, and the number involved in each began growing as well, with regular citizens easily beginning to outnumber the undersupplied aurors.

This continued to progress for days.

During one of these nights, rained poured down on Magical Britain. Inside her home, Susan Bones rested in a chair watching the rain between shots of firewhiskey. A warm fire was the only source of illumination in the room.

"Wondering how all of this happened?" The voice of man sounded from the wall behind her chair.

Susan automatically turned quickly, drawing her wand in defense against the unexpected sound. She stumbled, though, and only managed to fall to the ground, dropping her wand in her drunken state. Before she could reach it, the Shadow Wolf picked her wand up from the ground.

Acting as if none of this had just occurred, Harry continued, "you really should know how, and I think you do deep down."

"What are you talking about?" Susan growled, standing up slowly and glaring at the man.

"I'm talking about why the Death Eaters have grown so powerful and the Ministry so weak. You know why everything seems to be falling apart." Harry leaned back against the wall, waiting for her answer.

Susan mumbled something very quietly.

"What was that?" Harry smiled behind his mask.

"The Ministry is corrupt."

The Shadow Wolf's smile grew wider. "I am glad you see the truth. Now, how would you like to fight for good in this war?"

Hours later, Daphne woke up in her and Harry's bed, hearing movement in their dining room.

"I take it you were successful?" Daphne asked before rounding the corner into the room which she heard the noise. Once she turned around it, she halted in surprise.

The room was decorated with flowers and candles. Romantic music filled the air.

"Yes, I was, but I don't want to talk about business, love." Harry was dressed in a loose black outfit.

"What's the occasion?"

Harry chuckled and did not answer her but instead pulled out a chair for her to sit down on. After that he got down on one knee and pulled out a small black box.

"Daphne, I am so very lucky to have met you. If I was to have one regret, it is that I did not meet you sooner. You have changed my life in every way possible and found my true self while still helping me stay true.

"You have shown me the light, let me vent when I need to but restrained me when needed too.

"I could never imagine life without you. I know that the future is quite uncertain. Who knows when life is going to get in the way, but I can't imagine mine without you. I know that whatever comes I can handle with your support, and I am always here to support you too. I am with you forever and always...

"Daphne Greengrass, will you marry me?" Harry opened the box to reveal a bright diamond adorning a platinum band with multiple smaller ones complementing the larger rock.

"Of course, Harry." Daphne cried, as the man smiled and slipped the ring on before kissing his now fiancé.

"Merlin, I love you." Daphne resumed kissing him passionately.

As the rain poured down on the night, neither the darkness, nor the water could depress the mood of the two. As far as they were concerned, it was as sweet, romantic, and great as a bright sunny day.

"Is everyone ready for this?" Harry spoke to his comrades standing in the briefing room. Everyone nodded their affirmations.

"Good. Now we have gone over this multiple times. It's time we act." Harry then paused a moment.

"Good luck, everyone. Be safe, and I will see you on the other side." Everyone quickly began exchanging handshakes before filing out of the room. Harry stopped to kiss his boy and wife before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

He reemerged inside a dark alley before leaving and entering a busy street before entering a phone booth.

Moments later Harry Potter dressed in just a black suit emerged inside the Ministry of Magic.

"Good day to everyone!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs, forcing everyone to stop and stare at him.

Aurors quickly rushed him, pinning his arms behind his back and searching him to find his wands held in their holsters.

"Now this isn't a very proper greeting, is it?" Harry grinned, seeing Ginerva starting to run towards him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" Ginny screeched.

"Hello, bitch. Come to try and steal my fortune or some sort?" Harry asked pleasantly.

"Why you little-" She slapped the man's face. The blow did not affect him in the least.

"I'm so very glad you're here." Harry smiled. "It wouldn't have been the same without you."

Suddenly, explosions rocked the entire building. Walls broke down. Pieces of the ceiling caved in. Fire roared from each of the floos, followed by Death Eater upon Death Eater. Out of nowhere more came from floos in almost every department, especially the DMLE with Neville and Susan leading the charge.

In every magical town, citizens dressed in their given Death Eater robes and masks and marched out into the streets, assaulting every auror who came into sight, targeting the town halls, where most of the corrupted officials would be found.

Among them a nerdy looking man with glasses led a charge in revenge for his little boy who had recovered from his brain trauma months ago.

The aurors around Harry shook in fear, watching the events unfold around them.

They were so distracted, it was easy for him to break one's nose into the man's brain using just an elbow before sweeping the feet out from behind the others before using wandless magic to destroy the cuffs around his wrists and seize his wands. Easily, he killed them as they tried to get up.

Ginny raised her wand to him but lost it after a quicker spell from Harry.

"Welcome to the revolution."

Harry shot another spell at her, stunning her before she could reply.

With one final spell, the Shadow Wolf donned his robes and mask before leading his army into the Ministry.

All over Magical Britain, the fall of the Ministry began.

AN: Here is chapter 9 of WYHNLL. My apologies to my fans for my long absence, but it has been a more than hectic year. I hope this, though, will show all of you that I am back, and that I am going nowhere soon. Occidere Prima Vel Occidi!