A/N: I couldn't bear to keep you waiting a moment longer! x

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Chapter 19 - The End and the Beginning

Remus had been away on Order business when he received the owl from Hermione. It was a short note and she'd clearly written it in a hurry.

Remus,

Harry saw a vision of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort and he wants to go to the department of mysteries to rescue him. I'm not sure where you are, but wherever it is, can you please come?

Hermione

Remus had frowned at the note. Harry wanted to go off to the department of mysteries to rescue Sirius who he believed was being held there by Voldemort? Why the hell hadn't he gone to a teacher first?!

He quickly made his excuses to the new pack of werewolves he was living with and took off back towards London. He sent a patronus to Dumbledore on his way. It seemed only fair to let the headmaster know what was going on, even if Harry hadn't.

His mind put the pieces together as he made his way south. Harry had gone off to the ministry of magic following an image he'd seen in his head. Wasn't this exactly what Dumbledore had wanted to stop happening? Wasn't this why he'd suggested Harry take occlumency lessons?

And now Harry was putting himself and likely Ron and Hermione too in serious danger. He only hoped he got there in time…

By the time he got to the ministry, Dumbledore and Sirius were just arriving too.

"Come on!" Sirius said on seeing Remus, and they made their way hurriedly into the building. "Tonks and Kingsley are on their way too."

It didn't take long to reach the place Harry was with the others. The sounds of crashes and shouts were audible from down the corridor to the department.

Sirius and Dumbledore doubled their pace and Remus followed.

They arrived in a large stone room on which a raised dais stood with a strange looking veil. Harry, Ginny, Luna Lovegood and Neville were all there. Remus hoped Hermione and Ron were OK. They weren't usually too far from where Harry was. Ginny certainly didn't look well. She was clutching her ankle and panting, but the others were still fighting.

Remus turned his attention to the other people in the room.

Though they were wearing masks, he thought he recognised Bellatrix Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy among the death eaters.

"Bellatrix!" Sirius grinned with relish, moving over to duel his cousin where she stood on the raised dais.

Their wands flashed like swords as they shot spell after spell at each other.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius swore, missing death by inches as a jet of green light flew past him. "If you think you're killing me today you've got another think coming!" And he set a jet of purple light back at her which caused her to double over and clutch her side.

Remus grinned. Sirius was managing just fine. He turned to Harry. Harry and Neville were both staring at something on the floor a few feet away. It looked like a figure, a ghostly white figure which appeared to be speaking, but of course it was too loud for anyone to hear it.

"Finite." Remus said, saving his wand at Neville's legs to stop them jerking madly as they had been. "Harry, where are the others?" He asked, crouching low beside him.

"They're next door." Neville said, his voice a little muffled by his clearly broken nose.

"Episkey." Remus said, and this righted itself too.

"Thanks." Neville said, putting a hand gingerly to it. "Can you do Ginny's ankle?"

"I think we'd better let Madam Pomfrey take care of that." Remus said, turning to Ginny. "I wouldn't want to try and mend anything bigger than a nose myself."

"Lupin." Came the sneering voice of Malfoy from behind him. Remus turned to face him. He was wearing a mask. "Good to see you old chap." He said.

"I wish I could say the same." Remus replied pleasantly.

"Whose side are you on today then?"

"The right one I think."

"Is that so?"

"Quite."

Malfoy turned away from him. And though Remus couldn't see his expression, his whole demeanour was suddenly one of fear as he looked at where Harry and Neville lay. "Where is it?" He cried. "Where's the prophecy?!"

Remus turned around too. Malfoy was bearing down on Harry now. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT?!" He yelled, seizing him by the front of the robes and shaking him hard.

"Protego!" Remus yelled, waving his wand and causing Malfoy to let go of Harry. "What are you on about, Lucius?!" He said crossly, moving over to them.

"The prophecy!" Malfoy yelled, sounding quite mad with panic now. "Where's the prophecy?!"

"It smashed." Harry told him, meeting his gaze steadily. "I don't think your boss is going to be too happy about that, is he?"

"WHAT?!"

Bellatrix Lestrange had heard him.

She came rushing over from where she'd been fighting Sirius. "What lies are these?!"

"It smashed!" Harry repeated. "Look, there." And he gestured at the little pool of smashed glass and liquid a few feet away.

"NOOO!"

Bellatrix fell to her knees beside the broken shards and raised them in her hands. "No, master!" She said, sounding quite hysterical now. "Oh master, we tried. Forgive us. Forgive us all!"

"Now now, Bella. Enough of the dramatics."

Remus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the cold cruel voice.

He wasn't sure where he'd come from, but Voldemort was suddenly here. In this room.

He heard the sound of stunning spells being fired from the other Order members, but Voldemort blocked them all with a lazy wave of his wand.

"So." He said, turning to Harry now. "You smashed my prophecy…"

"That's right." Harry said and, to Remus' amazement, he didn't appear remotely afraid as he looked defiantly back at the wizard.

"Well… now that is most inconvenient, as I really wanted to hear what it said."

"Oi! Voldy!" Came Sirius' voice from where he still stood on the dais and Remus saw Voldemort's face contort with anger as he turned to face him.

Sirius sent a jet of amber light at Voldemort but Voldermort blocked it. He sent a spell of his own back which Sirius narrowly dodged.

"You're another one who's irked me for too long." Voldemort said, cricking his neck as he raised his wand again and pointed it at Sirius. "Avada kedavra!"

It was as though time stood still. There was the flash of green light, there was the look of surprise in Sirius' eyes, but as the spell made its way towards his friend, Remus knew he would never be able to defend himself in time.

But then, out of nowhere, appeared a magnificent shield. A shield so strong it sent Voldemort and the other death eaters flying backwards.

Remus stared wildly around for the source of it and his eyes fell on Dumbledore, wand raised, brow furrowed in concentration, as he came to Sirius' aid. As he saved his life.

Seeing the danger was over, he turned his eyes on Voldemort. "You and I, Tom. Let us duel. Remus, Sirius, Nymphadora and Kingsley, please see to it that my students return to the castle. I will return shortly to meet you there."

"No way!" Sirius shouted.

Remus certainly wasn't going to leave Dumbledore like this either. But Voldemort was on his feet. "As you wish, Dumbledore." And he sent a swarm of locusts in Dumbledore's direction which caused everyone in the vicinity to cough and choke.

Sirius was by his side now. "You alright?" He muttered.

"Me?" Remus said. Sirius was the one who'd almost lost his life twice. "Are you alright?!"

As Sirius, Kingsley and Tonks saw to Malfoy and Bellatrix (Tonks had set up an anti-disapparation spell and Kinglsey and Sirius managed to stun both death eaters), Remus moved to Harry and Neville. "Let's get the others." He said.

"There are other death eaters too." Harry told him. "They're stunned, but they might wake up."

"Tonks and Kingsley will see to it." He said. "Now let's get you all back to the castle."

Remus and Sirius ended up taking the kids back to Hogwarts on the Knight bus. With the general state of them, they thought it would be the safest option. Hermione and Ginny at least needed to go straight to the hospital wing.

"Will Dumbledore be alright?" Harry asked as he sat with Sirius, who had an arm around him. Remus supposed the man was so thankful his godson was alive he'd forgotten to be angry with him.

"Yeah." Sirius promised.

"What was Malfoy on about, a prophecy?"

Sirius' smile faltered. "Er, I think it might be best if Dumbledore explains that to you, Harry." He said gently. "But for what it's worth, I don't think he's right about everything."

"I went to check if you were at home or not." Harry said, and Remus got the feeling he was trying very hard to make Sirius understand something. "I promise I did. But Kreacher said you'd gone to the department of mysteries."

Sirius frowned. "Did he? Well I hadn't. I was upstairs sorting out the bloody mess he'd made in the…" And then his expression changed. He suddenly looked like the murderer he'd been accused of being for thirteen years. "That treacherous little…"

Remus turned to the others. Ginny had her eyes closed and a hand clutched to her ankle. She was being comforted by Luna who had a hand on her back and was murmuring softly. Ron was sitting with Hermione who was stirring but still very pale, and Neville was looking out of the window, his expression far away.

Remus moved over to sit with him. "Are you alright?" He asked gently.

Of all the students he'd taught at Hogwarts, Neville was one of his favourites.

He recalled with brilliant clarity the time in one of their classes when Neville had defeated his Snape boggart by forcing it into his grandmother's clothes. Though of course his intention hadn't been to make his old schoolfellow a laughing stock, he had to admit he hadn't minded it.

Neville was one of those students who many teachers looked over or, in Snape's case, actively bullied, as he wasn't as naturally gifted with learning. But Remus had never been the kind of person who took someone at face value. He saw the potential in them. And Neville had been one of his favourites for this reason.

Neville turned to face him, his eyes rather overbright. "Just… thinking." He said evasively.

Remus thought he understood. "About your mum and dad." He said quietly.

Neville nodded and looked back out of the window. "Yeah."

Remus squeezed his shoulder. "You will have done them proud back there." He said and pretended not to notice as a fat tear leaked out from under the boy's eyelids.

"But I didn't." Neville said, so quietly Remus had to strain to hear him. "I didn't avenge them."

"Oh Neville." Remus sighed. He could quite understand how the boy was feeling, but he'd have to learn soon enough. "It wouldn't have made you feel better to have killed Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Would have." Neville muttered.

Remus smiled. "Maybe for five minutes. But then what?"

"At least she'd be dead."

"She'll be in Azkaban." Remus promised him. "And take it from Sirius, that's probably worse."

Neville nodded. He turned back to Remus. "Thanks, Professor Lupin."

"Neville, you don't have to call me…"

But they'd arrived at Hogwarts.

Remus and Harry supported Ginny and Sirius and Ron took Hermione to the hospital wing. Neville and Luna trailed after them, looking a little unsure where they were supposed to be.

Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all impressed. "What on earth were you children doing?!" She said crossly. "But it's lovely to see you, Remus dear."

Remus smiled. Madam Pomfrey had always been kind to him, ever since he was eleven years old. She'd never made him feel like a monster or a burden of any kind, tending instead to him with a gentleness and care he'd never received from anyone except his parents before.

"I should have known you'd have been involved." She said crossly on seeing Sirius.

"That's outrageously unfair!" Sirius said with mock indignation. "It was me they were coming to rescue!"

"I'm sorry." Harry said morosely to the others. "You should never have listened to me. It was a stupid idea from the start."

"Quite possibly the stupidest ever." Sirius agreed. "But we won't discuss it now."

"It didn't work out too badly though, did it?" Ron said. "At least we managed to get a few death eaters thrown back in Azkaban."

Unfortunately, their boss still managed to escape though.

Dumbledore arrived in the hospital wing a couple of hours later. He said he'd been with Fudge, who had arrived at the ministry just in time to catch a glimpse of Voldemort before he vanished.

"Sometimes we need to see the truth with our own eyes in order to believe it." Dumbledore said generously. "It takes some of us longer than others, but we all get there in the end. Now, I would like a private word with Harry please..."

Remus and Sirius watched as Harry left with Dumbledore. Remus knew what the man was going to tell him. He was going to explain about the prophecy and how 'neither could live while the other survived'. He knew Sirius wanted to be there with Harry as much as he did, but what could either of them do or say? He was nearly sixteen now. There were some things he could handle hearing on his own.

"He'll be OK." He said to Sirius who still had his eyes on the door Dumbledore and Harry had left through.

Sirius turned back to him. "Yeah. I know." He smiled sadly.

"Close call back there." Remus told him.

Sirius grinned. "Reckon I missed death by centimeters."

"I don't know why that's funny to you."

Sirius shrugged. "It's funny the way life works I suppose."

"Well I'm glad you're alright."

"Obviously me too. I'd rather not be dead, given the choice. Shame I didn't manage to get Bellatrix though."

Remus smiled. He and Neville should get together some day.

Dumbledore brought Harry back to the hospital wing half an hour later. "Some rest, a calming beverage and the company of friends." He said, leading him over to where the others were gathered around Hermione's bed. "Remus, Sirius, can I borrow you for a minute?"

Remus and Sirius followed Dumbledore to his office on the second floor.

Once inside, he fixed them with a serious look. "I've told Harry about the prophecy."

"Thanks, Dumbledore." Sirius said irritably.

"He needs to know."

"If you say so."

"But Voldemort didn't hear the prophecy." Remus said. "It smashed before he could hear it."

"Well, he heard the first part." Dumbledore said. And then he sighed. "There's something I've not always been honest with you two about…"

By the time he was done, Sirius was staring at him as if he'd just seen a ghost. "You're telling me Voldemort went after James and Lily because someone made a prophecy saying Harry would be the only one with powers to match his? So if he'd never heard the prophecy he'd never have…" He trailed off, continuing to stare at Dumbledore in shock.

"I'm afraid so." Dumbledore said. "In going after Harry he marked him as his equal. And he tied their fates together in a way I'm not sure even he understands."

Sirius was shaking his head. He appeared to still be in a state of numb disbelief.

"What can we do?" Remus said, deciding to focus on the practicals. "How can we help protect Harry?"

"You are doing all you can do." Dumbledore said. "Look after him as you have been, and when the time comes for him to do what he must do, you can be there for him."

"When the time comes for him to try and kill Voldemort single-handedly we can stand around like ignoramuses you mean?" Sirius said angrily.

"Call yourself what you like. You will still be important."

"It's bonkers." Sirius said. "I know you think you're right on this Albus, but I wholeheartedly disagree with you."

"I would never have guessed." Dumbledore said with a slight smile.

"Thank you for telling us what you know, Albus." Remus said politely. "Can we do anything more to help?"

"Not now, Remus." Dumbledore smiled at him. "We will discuss what has happened tomorrow night at headquarters. For now, though, I think it's best if we all try and get some rest."

"That doesn't make any sense." A thoroughly un-rested Sirius said in the kitchen of twelve, Grimmauld Place as Remus made the suggestion himself. "You can't try and rest, as surely that just defeats the whole point."

"Stickler." Remus teased, accepting defeat and another glass of wine from Sirius.

In truth he'd much rather be in bed, but Sirius, who seemed to have endless reserves of energy, still wanted to discuss the events of the evening.

"I'll strangle him when I see him." He said (of Kreacher). "That bastard elf could have got Harry killed!"

Remus decided it probably wasn't the best time to point out that had Sirius been kinder to Kreacher, he was probably far less likely to have sold him and Harry out.

"Harry didn't exactly need much encouragement…" Remus added, thinking again of how the boy had gone charging off to London without even telling a teacher. "I really think we'll need to have a serious conversation with him."

He wondered what James would have done in their position. Of course he'd have been proud of his son's courage, but surely he'd have been angry he'd put himself in danger like that too. No, they definitely needed to have words with him. But it was a conversation that could wait for another day. The poor boy had just been told his life would end with either killing or being killed by Voldemort.

"I'll do it." Sirius said. "Once he's back for the holidays. What's that muggle fairytale about the woman trapped in the tower? That'll be Harry this summer."

"Rapunzel." Remus, who had a muggle mother, supplied. "But I think that's probably where the metaphor ends."

They both went to meet Harry at King's Cross on the last day of term. Remus noticed there was a different atmosphere on platform nine and three quarters today. Families were grouped together more tightly and they hurried home quickly on collecting their offspring as opposed to hanging around to chat.

The Daily Prophet had finally been forced to admit what it had been denying all year now. Voldemort was back. Fudge had been sacked and replaced by Rufus Scrimgeor, who had previously worked as an auror. Remus could quite understand why he'd been voted in at this time of crisis, although unfortunately it looked like the war was only really just getting started.

Remus and Sirius watched with a smile as Harry bade goodbye to Ron, Hermione and Ginny. He really was a great kid. James and Lily would have been so proud of him.

He extracted himself from his friends and made his way over to them both. "Hi." He grinned.

"Hi, Harry." Remus smiled, as Sirius clapped him on the back. "Glad to be home?"

Harry nodded. "I think so."

Sirius grinned. "I wouldn't be so sure if I were you…"

Harry looked at him a little nervously.

"Don't worry." Sirius winked. "We'll take you out for dinner before your summer at Fort Knox begins."

"He's just being protective." Remus told Harry behind Sirius' back as they made their way home.

Harry gave him a reluctant smile. "I know." He said. "I don't mind really."

Remus smiled back. He thought he could understand Harry's tolerance of his godfather's fierce protectiveness. It was one of Sirius' most endearing qualities. He really would go to the ends of the earth for those he loved. And Remus had a feeling this was only just the beginning…

The End.

…

A/N: Well that's a wrap! Do let me know what you think in the comments. I'm pretty sure I'll also write a sequel to this story, which will cover Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts so keep an eye out for that if you're interested x