Disclaimer: Part two of 'The Meaning of Fear.'

Note: The title for this did not come from the cartoon 'Dark Wing Duck.' In fact, I've never even heard of that cartoon and I'm insulted that you would even mention it. This Disclaimer is over.

I Am The Terror

James eagerly took the letter off the owl's leg and immediately ripped it open. That turned to shock and then rage as he read the contents.

"The bastard refused," James said in a whisper, "he won't agree to a duel."

"What?" Sirius asked in shock. "But . . . but once this gets out he'll be a pariah."

"He already is," Lily said harshly, "but this way he knows that there isn't a legal way that we can kill him. If we so much as lay a finger on him then Dumbledore'll have the Aurors on us."

"Are you sure about that?" Remus asked, hoping that they were wrong about the man who had done so much for them.

"Albus sent me a not of his own," Lily said in disgust, "explaining that 'Severus' had been responsible for Harry's death and that it was okay because 'Severus' was sorry. He added that 'Severus' was under his protection and that he would not allow any misguided attempts to get revenge."

"Can we call the Aurors on him?" Sirius said suddenly. "I'm sure they . . ."

"Won't do a thing," Lily interrupted, "not when the Chief Wizard is on the side of the accused."

"So that's it then," Remus said in defeat, "we can't do anything."

"I don't have any kids," Sirius offered, "or a wife to take care of. I'll do it."

"No," Lily said firmly, "we'd just be trading you for Snape."

"And you're worth ten of him mate," James said emotionally, "you too Remus, even with your monthly problem."

"There is someone else," Lily said with a smile, "someone who insisted that Dumbledore swear several unbreakable vows promising to shield them from prosecution."

"I think he also slipped in getting sworn in as a member of Law Enforcement," James added with a smile, "and god knows what else. Good thinking Lils, but who's gonna ask him?"

"Every boy should get to spend time with their father," Lily said firmly, "don't you agree dear?"

"Of course my love," James said quickly. Maybe he could get Harry to hand over his proxy for the family votes? It wasn't much but it would break Lily's pesky three fourth's majority she needed to change the family constitution.

IIIIIIIIII

Luna crawled into Harry's lap and rested her head on his shoulder. She marveled at the way he automatically shifted so that his view of the book wouldn't get interrupted. "Harry," she sighed in content.

"I missed you too," Harry said, "and I'm glad you found a way to join me."

"Was I a good girl then?" She asked hopefully.

"And good girls get rewards," Harry agreed.

"Mmmmm." Luna nuzzled Harry's neck. She didn't even look up when the door opened, Harry was too relaxed for it to be a threat.

"Am I interrupting something?" James asked.

"Not at all," Harry said grandly.

"Got a moment Harry," James asked as he sat down next to his 'son.' He averted his eyes to avoid watching the way the blond on the Harry's lap nibbled at his jaw line.

"What can I do for you James?" Harry asked, squeezing Luna in just the right way to produce a cute little 'squeak.'

"Does your contract with Dumbledore allow you to take other jobs?"

"Like what?"

"Like Snape is refusing my request to meet on the field of honor," James said heatedly, "along with Lily's, Remus's, Sirius's, and a half dozen others."

"You want me to persuade him to meet you?"

"I want you to show the world why one does not mess with the Potter family," James said savagely, "I want him to die screaming, I want him to beg for death, I want him to feel just a small measure of the pain Lily and I feel every day since the death of our son."

"Speaking of Lily," Harry said thoughfully, "does she know about this request of yours?"

"It was her idea," James replied, "we don't have the knowledge to do a proper job of it . . . might not have the guts either I suppose. But you, you can do it."

"I can," Harry agreed, "anyone else?"

"Peter if you see him," James added quickly, "and is there anything you can do about Dumbledore?"

"I have my own bone to pick with him," Harry replied, "one which will be addressed in due time."

"Thank you," James said greatfully, "how much?"

"Send him an estimate Luna," Harry ordered. He tilted his head down and whispered into her ear, "be sure to give them the family discount."

"Yes Harry," Luna agreed.

"Was there anything else James?"

"Nothing business related," James said quickly.

"Personal then?"

"Lily was hoping . . . that is to say that Lily and I were hoping that you would come over for dinner," James said slowly, as if he'd rehearsed the line a hundred times.

"When?"

"Anytime with an hour notice," James replied, "less if you need less. Oh, it can also be any meal if you like."

"Arrange it Luna."

"I will Harry," Luna agreed. Her hands disappeared under his shirt.

"And uh . . . I also wanted to ask you a few things," James added, "if you're not busy."

"Not at all," Harry said grandly.

"Did you play Quidditch?"

"What?"

"Quidditch," James repeated himself, "doesn't matter what house you were in so long as you were on the team."

"So if I were say . . . the Slytherin Keeper?"

"I'd ask if it was a good team," James said firmly, "faling that if you were a good Keeper."

"Seeker, Gryffindor."

"YES," James cheered, "at least one . . ."

"At least one what?"

"Can we put off this conversation until we eat?" James begged. "Or at least until Lily's here with us."

"If you like." Harry leaned in and whispered something into Luna's ear, causing the girl to shudder in delight.

"We could do it tonight," Luna suggested, "so long as you don't mind having your dinner here."

"Not at all," James said, "but I thought we'd use my home." He tore his eyes away from the way the blond wiggled and jiggled in the boy's lap. James pushed down an irrational surge of jealously, when he was Harry's age, he was happy to get a grope through three layers of clothing.

"We have plans for after the dinner," Luna explained, "for immediately after dinner."

"I see." He didn't. "I'll set things up with Sirius."

Neither member of the couple bothered to look up as James made his exit.

IIIIIIIIII

Dinner was a tense and silent affair. Lily kept opening her mouth to make conversation, but nothing came to mind and she would inevitably go back to her meal. This wasn't how they'd expected it to be, this wasn't how it should be. Harry was their son, sort of, there shouldn't be this distance between them.

James felt a crunch as he bet down and he felt a shoot of agony from one of his teeth.

"What's wrong," Harry asked upon noticing James's wince of pain.

"Think I chipped a tooth," James replied.

"Let me see," Harry ordered.

"Why," James asked suspiciously, still not ready to trust his 'son.'

"I know a little something about dentistry," Harry replied. His smile faded as he remembered having to tell Hermione's parents that their daughter was gone. The two dentists had proved to be invaluable to the cause, both for their knowledge of medicine and their ability to make even the most hardened Death Eater talk. "I don't normally use it for healing, but I know enough to tell you if there's anything seriously wrong."

"Oh. What do you normally use it for?"

"Do you really want me to tell you," Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Lily said quickly, before James could respond.

"Thought not."

IIIIIIIIII

Severus was in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing recovering from his injuries. He'd always thought that he was tough, always thought that he knew evil, always thought that he could endure anything. Always thought that until he met him, the boy with the killing curse eyes. He suppressed a shudder, he was under no illusions as to what would have happened if Lily Potter hadn't summoned Albus Dumbledore and he didn't permit himself to believe that the Headmaster held any power over the stranger. Harry Potter had allowed Dumbledore to take his prisoner for some reason of his own, not because the boy feared or respected the old wizard. Severus knew that he was safe only so long as Harry Potter allowed it and for the first time in years, he felt fear.

IIIIIIIIII

"Luna," Harry called out, "entertain Lily for a bit while I speak with James."

"Yes Harry," Luna agreed. She took Lily by the hand and gently pulled the woman out of the room.

"Doesn't it ever bother you," Lily asked. "The way he orders you about like that."

"I think there's something you need to understand about me Lily," Luna said to the other woman, "and that is the fact that I will do anything that Harry tells me to do, with a smile on my face and a song in my liver, because it's Harry telling me to do it. If Harry told me to kill you and everyone else in this floor then there is nothing on earth that could stop me."

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment. "A small part of me thinks that the sun rises because Harry wants it to and the rest of me knows that he would stop it if he wished to. Like I said before, it's not a healthy relationship but it's what we have."

"Oh."

"I wasn't always this way," Luna continued with a smile, "over exposure to the Cruciatus Curse tends to change a person."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's fine," Luna chirped, "I was never all that sane in the first place so it wasn't that great a loss."

"I . . . oh."

"How about I tell you a story," Luna suggested, "would you like that?"

"Sure," Lily agreed.

"This is a story about one of Harry's very best friends," Luna began, "a girl he befriended in his first year . . . I think that you would have liked her. She was intelligent, honest, had an innate sense of fairness, and she never let the war dehumanize her. If she had survived, I very much doubt that Harry would have shown the world just how far he was willing to go . . . some say that it was her death that made him a monster. I say that the funeral could have used a bit of music to liven things up. Oh, and the cake was a bit dry too."

"How did she die?"

"She died defending a group of children, some only a few months younger than herself, from an even larger group of Death Eaters," Luna said with a dreamy look in her eye, "the fact that every one of those children was the child of a Death Eater or sympathetic family, probably didn't even register."

"Noble," Lily said with a nod.

"Stupid," Luna retorted, "it was a trap of course. If our friend had run, not a single child would have been hurt. She was blind to a being's color, race, and family line. In the end, those noble ideals were what killed her."

"And Harry got his revenge," Lily asked, "a revenge so terrible that they . . ."

"Oh no," Luna disagreed, "Harry didn't do anything . . . not for several months anyway."

"Then what . . ."

"They tried the same trick with him," Luna giggled, "they couldn't resist."

"What happened?"

"They had him trapped in one of the shops in Diagon Alley," Luna began, "and it was filled with children . . . the vast majority of which were the spawn of Death Eaters. Harry selected one of the Death Eater children and dragged him to the door as a human shield, he ordered them to put down their wands and surrender or he would begin killing hostages every half hour on the half hour."

"He didn't," Lily gasped.

"He did," Luna said calmly, "they told him he was bluffing . . . they laughed at him." Luna giggled. "They stopped laughing when he killed the first hostage and told them they had thirty minutes before the next."

"No . . ."

"After the battle we learned that of the sixteen Death Eaters that attacked that day, nine of them had children in that shop with Harry Potter. They took six Death Eaters alive that day and we didn't loose a single friendly." Luna's smile dropped. "Harry would have never done it if they hadn't started things off. Since they had cast their morality out, Harry felt that he was under no obligation to show civility."

"Oh . . . oh . . ." Lily heaved.

"That's why you brought him here isn't it?" Luna asked coldly. "To do what you lacked the stomach to do for yourself?"

"Luna I . . ."

"But I'm sure it was the only thing you all could do," Luna continued, "why take care of a problem yourself when you could just kidnap someone to do it for you."

"We didn't . . ."

"And to top it all off, you're so smugly sure that you have the moral highground that it lets you ignore that fact."

"Would it help to say I'm sorry?" Luna asked.

"It might," Luna allowed, "have you tried?"

"Luna, I'm so . . ."

"Don't tell me," Luna interrupted, " you already told me that. Besides, I'm the one that chose to come here."

"I'll tell Harry when we get back," Lily promised.

"Thank you."

IIIIIIIIII

The Headmaster didn't show his face for several days but when he finally did, his demands more then made up for the brief time they had without his insane ideas.

"You want me to go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked in shock.

"You are . . . you do appear to be a fifth year," Dumbledore pointed out with a smile. "And you have no record of schooling in this world. All that could make it difficult to get a job don't you think?"

"So."

"So it might be nice to have some credentials, time at Hogwarts would do that for you." Dumbledore stroked his beard. "You can of course refuse, but I would recommend getting some sort of paper trail regardless of what you do."

"And it would allow you to keep a close eye on me," Harry added.

"Yes . . . well . . ."

"I don't see the need to attend Hogwarts," Harry said blandly, "thanks to you, I am quite wealthy after all."

"But . . ."

"If you want me to go to Hogwarts then you will need to find some way to make it worth my while," Harry interrupted, "as it is, I already have access to the facilities."

"I shall think of something to offer," Dumbledore promised.

"Before you do," Harry said with a smile, "any agreement we make has to explicitly note that I am permitted to carry out any personal business without fear of punishment or reprisal."

"Ms. Lovegood," Dumbledore asked with a raised eyebrow, hiding a smirk in his beard as he considered what someone Harry's apparent age would consider 'personal business'.

"For the most part," Harry agreed. Not to mention Snape and anyone that annoys me.

"As long as it's for their own actions and not the actions of their counterparts," Dumbledore hedged. "Not that Snape is likely to do anything to purposefully annoy you after having spent time in your... care."

"Agreed." Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"What brought this on anyway," Harry asked mildly.

"The Potters have been talking about withdrawing their children," Albus said reluctantly, "and several other families have made noises that lead me to believe that I will soon be the Headmaster of an empty school."

"So firing your pet murderer and resigning in disgrace never crossed your mind did it," Harry asked idly, hiding his shock at having siblings. "I'm sure that this would all blow over if the main causes were gone."

"Yes . . . well . . . I was hoping that your presence would be enough to convince them . . ."

"That their children would be protected against you and Snape," Harry interrupted. "I'm not a babysitter or a bodyguard."

"None the less, anticipating your terms, I've completed a new contract that covers compensation for your time at Hogwarts." Dumbledore took some pages out of his jacket. "We can of course raise the amount if you wish."

"Add that I don't have to attend class, participate in any activities, or sleep in my assigned dorm, or just follow any of the rules in general, and you have yourself a deal."

"How about only having to go to Defense classes," Dumbledore countered. "Would you be willing to agree to that?"

"Who's the Professor," Harry asked, as he considered the long string of Defense Professors that had attempted to kill him and idly wondering if that was actually part of Tom's curse on the position.

"That remains to be seen," Dumbledore demurred, "but if the Professor is not to the highest standards then I will cancel this contract . . . you have my word."

"Deal," Harry agreed with a smirk, figuring the new Professor would probably try to kill him within a forth night and he'd have free run of the school and some additional pocket change, as well as making Dumbledore look like an idiot. His smile disappeared as he read the contract. "You bloody bastard."

"Something wrong Harry," Dumbledore asked with twinkling eyes.

"You never said you were hiring me," Harry accused.

"You never asked," Dumbledore pointed out.

"You said I was young and . . . you rat bastard," Harry laughed. "Okay, I'll give you this round. You want me to do a good job then agree to let me teach the way I want to teach."

"Of course," Dumbledore said quickly, "so long as it's effective and unbiased."

"I'll agree to that after I confirm that the other instructors are held to the same standard," Harry retorted.

"I . . . fine," Dumbledore sighed, but I'd like to point out that by doing a good and impartial job you may actually sway some more people, that would join Voldemort otherwise, to your side and finish the job a little quicker with a bit less bloodshed needed?"

Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Dumbledore chalked himself a tentative point in the win column and quickly changed the subject. "I presume that you'll want to bring Ms. Lovegood with you?"

"I doubt that you'd be able to keep her away. Who do you have teaching right now and is hiring me going to be a problem?"

"I have an Auror on loan from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Dumbledore said, "and he will be more than happy to get back to work and out of Hogwarts."

IIIIIIIIII

While Harry was having his talk with Dumbledore, Luna had been forced to find other ways to entertain herself.

"May I pretty please have twenty pounds," Luna requested with fluttering eyelashes.

"What for," Lily asked suspiciously, having two daughters that had inherited their father's pranking genes had long ago rendered her immune to innocent looks.

"Harry has given me permission to do whatever I wish today," Luna replied, "and I wish to make you an only child."

"I'm not going to help you kill my sister," Lily said flatly.

"But she did all sorts of horrid things to Harry," Luna whined, "it's only fair that I get to express my displeasure. It's not fair that Death Eaters got to her first." Luna whined, like a child being denied sweets.

"No."

"What if we make sure she's evil first," Luna suggested, "then may I douse her house with petrol and block the exits before burning it to the ground."

"No, no arson."

"You're no fun," Luna said with a pout. Her smile returned as she remembered that there were several things that she could do that, while horrifying, didn't count as arson.

"You may accompany me while I visit her," Lily offered, "and if she's as bad as you say then we will report her to the police. No arson."

When they arrived at the Dursley house, Luna walked right up the door and began impatiently pounding on the door.

"Yes," Petunia said as she answered the door, "what can I do for you?" The years hadn't been kind to Petunia Dursley, she looked worn and had aged considerably since the last time she'd seen her sister.

"It's me Petunia," Lily said.

"Lily," Petunia sobbed. She surprised both of the other women by enveloping her sister in a hug. "Oh Lily."

"What's wrong Petunia?" Lily asked. She patted her sister awkwardly, this was not how she expected their reunion to go.

Over the next couple of hours and over several cups of tea, the entire story came out. It seemed that while this Petunia was different from her analog. In contrast Vernon Dursley had a lot in common with his counterpart, he was mean, petty, spiteful, and just a generally unpleasant odious foul excuse for a human being. He also did not have Harry to bully and use as a scapegoat for everything that seemed to go wrong in his life.

"You simply must come stay in the spare room," Lily said sympathetically, "you can't stay here."

"Would it be okay?" Petunia asked. "I couldn't imagine that you'd want to see me again, not after all those terrible things I said about you."

"We're family," Lily said firmly, as if that explained everything.

Luna was sorely disappointed that she hadn't been permitted to do anything to Petunia Dursley, but found some minor amusement in placing some subtle curses on Vernon at Petunia's behest. She also consoled herself with the fact that he hadn't been told not to arrange any fiery accidents for Vernon. Making a mental note to ask Harry if he wanted in on the fun later, Luna happily skipped after the Evans sisters as they left Privet Drive.

IIIIIIIIII

The students watched with undisguised curiosity as the blond sitting on the lap of the man that Dumbledore had introduced as their new Defense Professor and carefully fed him his breakfast. Luna, for her part, ignored the stares as she spooned another serving of oatmeal into Harry's mouth.

"Look after the Potter twins," Harry ordered between mouthfuls.

"Yes Harry," Luna agreed.

"Be prepaired to tell me what types of people they are," Harry added, "I'm curious about the sort of parents the Potters are."

"Of course Harry," Luna agreed.

IIIIIIIIII

Ron gave what he thought was a devilishly handsome smile to the two Potter twins as they walked towards their first class.

"Hello Ladies," he purred, "care to keep me company on the next Hogsmead trip?" In looks, both girls heavily favored their mother which made them delectable examples of the female form. Besides, they were twins and since the Patils had refused his advances . . .

Ron wasn't sure what happened next. One minute he was making his move, the next thing he knew there was a sharp pain in his stomach.

Ron doubled over at Luna's punch and he fell after her follow up. Luna reached down and lifted the boy off the ground by his collar.

"Should I kill him?" Luna addressed the Potter sisters. Upon hearing no response, she turned to regard them with wide innocent eyes. "Well."

"No don't."

"He was just playing around," the other agreed, "understand."

"No," Luna said honestly, "I don't. In the future it might be best not to play this sort of game again."

"I gotta go," Ron whimpered, he turned and fled.

"I do believe he messed himself," Luna said conversationally.

"Who are you?" One of the Potter twins asked.

"I'm Luna," she replied, "the assistant Defense Professor." She smiled at the two girls. "I'm going to be accompanying the two of you today."

IIIIIIIIII

Luna met up with Harry after the classes had finished and she was eager to be back with the man who had been her constant companion since they'd finished the war.

"I hear you overreacted to something Ron did today," Harry said when Luna strolled into their assigned quarters.

"I still haven't forgiven him for that time he put gum in my hair," Luna said with a sniff.

"When was that?"

"I believe that it was my seventh birthday party," Luna replied.

"Ah . . . so it didn't have anything to do with our Ron's desertion then," Harry said with a nod, "I understand."

"Nothing at all," Luna agreed, "I don't mind the fact that he tried to run off and leave us to face the Death Eaters alone." Luna's eyes narrowed in anger at the memory.

"He didn't volunteer to fight with us," Harry said with a shrug, "and he was just a child."

"He volunteered the moment he became your friend," Luna said harshly, "and still could have backed out years before it mattered. When it finally mattered, little Ron got a wake up call. He could get hurt, war wasn't fun like he thought it would be. No, it alternated between mind numbing terror and mindless boredom and there wasn't enough glory to fill a thimble. He's lucky they got him before I did."

"Alright," Harry sighed, "fair enough."

"Forgive me?"

"I was never angry with you," Harry assured the girl, "just wanted to know what happened and why."

"So, no punishment," Luna asked sadly.

"Now, I never said that," Harry replied.

Luna giggled as she rushed across the room and into his arms.

IIIIIIIIII

Dumbledore walked into the Defence Professor's office. He normally wouldn't have attended the meeting, Headmasters summoned their staff not the other way around, however this Professor was a notable exception to that rule.

"You wished to speak with me about something Harry," Dumbledore announced himself.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "Luna was looking through the original school charter when she found something interesting."

"I presume that you're going to enlighten me."

"Turns out that the Defense Professor, originally called the 'Master-at-Arms,' is responsible for the defense of the school and the protection of the students in addition to their duties as an instructors."

"Please allow me to see that," Dumbledore asked eagerly. His eyes danced over the parchment. "Where did you find this?"

"Luna found it," Harry replied, "I didn't ask where."

"Please ask her to inform me if she finds anything else that dates to the founders," Dumbledore begged. He cast a couple charms to verify the age of the document. "Extraordinary that it's survived so long."

"I thought so," Harry agreed.

"I believe that we should frame it for display," Dumbledore mused, "do you have any suggestions as to where it should go?"

"How about the Great Hall," Harry suggested carefully, "and how about we change my title back to 'Master-at-Arms' to honor this discovery."

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed, "of course that's what we shall do. Excellent suggestion Harry."

"It was Luna's idea really," Harry said modestly. One would expect a printer's daughter to know a bit about forgery. "I can't take any credit for this."

"Would you accept an old man's request," Dumbledore asked.

"Perhaps."

"Be sure to reward her greatly for this," Dumbledore said, his eyes dropped back to the parchment, "extraordinary."

"Oh I will," Harry promised. "I also couldn't help but notice something else here."

"Another thing," Dumbledore said calmly. He wasn't sure what the boy's trick was, but he was going to be ready for it. "Do tell."

"Turns out that the Defense Department is responsible for the safety of the students and school," Harry said with a laugh, "hilarious since most of my Defense Professors tried to kill me."

"Yes . . .well, luckily we haven't had that problem here."

"I'm sure," Harry agreed.

Dumbledore began walking out of the room when he was struck by a sudden thought.

"Would you mind taking up that duty?" He asked hopefully, seeing it as another way to drag the boy back into the light.

"If you like," Harry said, "we have a Hogsmead weekend coming up don't we?"

"Two days," Dumbledore said.

"I'll have to draw my orders up quickly then," Harry said with a frown.

"Orders?"

"I am only one person," Harry said blandly, "two if you figure that Luna's like an extra set of hands. I can't assure their safety without help you know."

"Yes of course."

"If the staff or Prefects have any requests then have them see me," Harry added, "why not be accommodating we can, eh?"

"They won't be happy to have to change their weekend plans," Dumbledore promised.

"Too bad."

Indeed they weren't pleased, but not one of them was willing to complain after getting a look at Harry's flat dead eyes.

IIIIIIIIII

Snape grumbled as he watched the last group of students return to the school. Why had the Headmaster insisted that he act out his part in that lunatic Potter's plan? No doubt it was because he wanted to foster some sort of reconciliation or some similar rot. Snape sneered, this new Potter was just as petty as his 'father.' Imagine deligating a task like patrolling the town to make sure that all the students had left to the Head of Slytherin? He rubbed the stumps where his thumbs used to be, perhaps it wasn't so bad as that.

"Severus Snape."

Snape turned around and to his horror, saw that he was being addressed by James Potter.

"Thou arte a coward," James growled. He pulled a glove off his belt and threw it at the greasy man. "Severus Snape, thou arte a killer. Severus Snape, you are responsible for the death of my son."

"Potter," Snape growled, "I am not going to allow you to engage me in some childish duel."

"Then I will kill you where you stand," James said firmly, "defend yourself or not. It makes no difference to me."

Snape's eyes swept over the growing crowd and noted that every exit route was blocked off by one of the Marauders or a grim faced Lily Potter.

"You can't do this," Snape screamed. He searched the crowd for any help, any friendly face. "Potter Please."

"I shall give you to the count of three to draw your wand," James said with deadly finality.

"Potter no."

"One."

"Think about what you're doing," Snape sobbed.

"Two."

"Lily please," Snape called out to his old friend, "I'm sorry. You can't let him do this."

"Three."

"NOOOOOO." Snape made a frantic grab for his wand. He got it half way out of its holster before being bisected by a dark purple curse.

"It's done," James said dully, "my son is avenged." He reversed the grip on his wand and offered it to one of the Aurors in the crowd.

"Keep it mate," the Auror said, "clearest cut case of self defense I ever saw."

The crowd murmured in approval and several offered statements to the effect that James had shown greater restraint then they would have under similar circumstances.

"Feel better?" Luna asked.

James's looked over at Harry's pet psychopath, his expressionless eyes bored holes through her.

"Just tell yourself this," Luna said, "he's never going to be able to hurt anyone else again."

"Does it help?" James asked.

"Does what help?"

"Does it help to tell yourself that?" James asked. "I should feel good but I just feel empty."

"I don't know," Luna admitted, "it never bothered me. Not after all that happened before we took the gloves off anyway."

"Lily," James sobbed. He embraced his wife tightly, telling himself over and over that at least his girls were safe from the man that had taken their older brother.

AN: Don't think I'll write much if anything more of this. Again, the title was definitely not a 'Dark Wing Duck' reference. Polish by dogbertcarroll.