"We are nothing on Earth, if we are not first and foremost the slaves of a cause, that of peoples and freedoms."
Frantz Fanon

For a long time, Hermione had wondered how it would all end. Would all the members of the Order die before the end of the war? Or would Voldemort die by some miracle, during some unimportant battle? No, once again it seemed that there would have to be a confrontation, at Hogwarts, which would result in the death of one of the two sides. The probability of them all killing each other was slim, but possible.

As soon as she'd received the information, she'd informed Remus, then they'd disapparated out of the battle. They then warned the others with patronus and managed to enter the castle grounds unseen. The priority was to evacuate the castle, so that all students not of fighting age could leave the country as quickly as possible. She found them all in the Great Hall, and it seemed that the alarm bell had already been rung. Hermione took charge of calmly explaining things to the students, while Remus warned Illvermorny, the American school of magic, that the majority of the students would be arriving there. Remus and Sirius were the first to return, and Hermione asked them to warn them over their radios that Hogwarts was under attack and that if foreign wizards wanted to help them restore peace, now was the time to get moving.

The first groups were evacuated, but Hermione faced resistance from those who wanted to stay and fight, even though they clearly weren't old enough. She knew they had the skills, she was the one training them and she wasn't so stupid as not to teach them how to defend themselves and attack Death Eaters, but even the most experienced wizards would die in battle, so there was no way thirteen or fourteen year olds were going to fight Death Eaters who wouldn't hesitate to kill them.

"Let go of me, there's no way I'm leaving this castle!"

Hermione immediately recognized the voice and moved towards the source of the noise.

"Raphaël, calm down. Leave it, I'll take care of it. You'll be safe if you leave. No one will be able to protect you here."

"But I want to stay and help! How do you think I can leave when you're all here fighting and you might die!"

For a brief moment, Hermione remembered the Battle of Hogwarts she had experienced. She remembered Ginny's insistence on staying put while Mrs. Weasley asked her to leave the castle.

"You'll stay in the Great Hall. The doors will be locked, and you can help treat the wounded. Madam Pomfrey will be there, I think there will be others with you. But promise me that if anything goes wrong, if you feel the Death Eaters are ready to enter the Great Hall, you'll take the first emergency portkey you find and get out of here."

"I promise."

"Thank you."

Hermione was about to leave to find Remus, but Raphaël called out to her one last time.

"Mum…"

There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but right now he was running out of words. How could a simple sentence express all he felt when Hermione might be going to her death?

"Please take care of yourself."

"I love you, son"

The witch gave him one last hug before turning away for good. She found Remus in the corridor and the two of them set off to help the people installing protection around the castle. Gradually, members of the Order were returning and so were a few foreign wizards. Hermione was frightened because she knew that the Death Eaters were clearly outnumbered and that if the foreign wizards didn't come to their aid, they would be slaughtered.

"Helena! We've got a problem. Have you seen Harry and Neville? "

"No. That's right, now that you mention it, they weren't with Raphaël."

"We have no idea where they are."

"They wouldn't have been sent to Illvermorny without us paying attention."

"They're the smallest, someone would remember."

"Can't you do something with the Link?"

Hermione nodded, then tried to feel the presence of the two children. She was sure they were in the castle, but where was a good question. She tried her best with a spell.

"Accio Harry Potter, Accio Neville Longbottom."

"Do you think it will work?"

They had to wait three long minutes for two floating figures to arrive. The parents took their children in their arms and accompanied them. Of course, they were met with resistance from the two boys, for whom leaving the castle without their parents was out of the question. They couldn't understand why Raphaël was allowed to stay and they weren't, especially as there was no one to look after them and their parents liked them to be looked after all the time. James, Frank and Alice didn't change their minds, and the goodbyes were heartbreaking. Harry pleaded with his godfather and uncle to come to his aid, but they shook their heads, James was right, Harry would be much safer away from the castle and the battle. Eventually they realized it was the right thing to do, and it was in a fit of tears that they were sent to the United States.

"If I die, Harry becomes an orphan. Who will look after him?"

"Padfoot and I will."

"And if you die too?"

"Well, Alice is his godmother, and she and Frank will look after him just fine."

"What if they die too?"

"Helena and Remi will be there."

"And what if..."

"James, really. If we're all dead, I'm sure they'll look after him in Illvermorny and Raphaël and Neville will be there for him."

It seemed to be the same problem for everyone, Hermione saw Andromeda and Ted Tonks came across a stone Tonks who didn't want to leave the castle. She was about the same age as Raphaël and Hermione told them that he was staying in the Great Hall to treat the wounded and that there were emergency portkeys if needed. Although the parents were not very reassured, they could sense that their daughter had no desire to leave and wanted to help. Staying locked in the Great Hall seemed to be the solution that suited both parties.

Hermione and Remus headed outside the castle to check on the state of the protection. They both knew that the Death Eaters were trying to break through the barriers, but they hoped they wouldn't succeed just yet, they still had things to do. When they were outside, they stood for a moment transfixed by the scene.

"Who are all these people?"

"I think they're foreign wizards."

"Lots of foreign wizards. By Morgana, they've answered Remus and Sirius' call!"

Indeed, there were a lot of people in front of them. Many more than they could have hoped for. In front of this crowd, Hermione thought that maybe they were going to survive after all. She left it to Moody to explain the situation.

"Don't you think we should go and get them?"

"Only look for them. We have to destroy Nagini first, otherwise I'm afraid he'll send her to safety."

"We're not even sure it's here."

"You didn't see Severus' message. He saw it with him."

"Well, that's good. This is our priority. You take care of the snake, I'll take care of him and distract him enough so you can kill him."

"I don't like the idea of you facing him alone."

"Do you doubt my abilities?"

"You know I don't."

"So keep quiet. You can come and help me after you've taken care of the snake. Let's go."

"You know we probably won't be able to destroy them ourselves."

"I know we can't. They've mastered fiendfyre, they can do it. I trust them."

"Don't you think it's better to keep Regulus away from dark magic? And Sirius, I don't think he's..."

"I think it's better that they both do it. And anyway, if we each fight a part of Voldemort, we won't be able to destroy them at the same time."

Remus said nothing more and they headed for Hermione's room, where the undestroyed horcruxes were locked in a safe. The Hufflepuff cup, Merlin's wand and Nagini. That was all they had left to destroy before they could kill Voldemort for good.

"Helena! Do you know if Raphaël has left?"

Regulus had called out to them in a corridor, looking worried.

"He's in the Great Hall, he didn't want to leave when we could all die. It'll soon be locked to protect them, but you should still be able to get in."

"I'll be going then. I wanted to see him before the battle, you never know."

"I understand. When you've finished, join us with Sirius, we need to talk to you."

The wizard nodded, although he found the request strange. He had no idea what they were going to say, and with these two, it was better to expect anything.

On the way to the room, they passed members of the Order, all of whom seemed to be trying to hide their concern. They passed Gideon and his girlfriend, who were talking in hushed tones, and Hestia and Edgar, who were taking the few reluctant students back to the Great Hall. They also saw Marlene, deep in discussion with Madam Pomfrey about the best way to protect a wounded person on the battlefield. Fortunately, Remus and Alice had devised a system some time before that would allow them to apparate directly into the Great Hall if they were wounded. They had, of course, made sure that the Death eaters couldn't use them.

Once they were in Hermione's room, they grabbed the horcruxes and set off again, as they had no time to lose.

"You know there's a good chance we'll die today."

"I know, Mione, I've noticed. And given that most of the people we know died on May the 2nd, I'd say it's more than likely, especially as we'll be fighting a huge number of Death Eaters."

"Well, Bellatrix isn't here."

"There's still her husband and brother-in-law, Voldy and a whole bunch of others who want to kill us at all costs, believe me, we'll have enough work as it is."

"What I'm trying to say is that, even if we're likely to die, we mustn't lose sight of our objective."

"I know, destroying Voldemort, making sure Harry isn't an orphan, the same goes for Neville, and saving as many people as possible. But we're also going to make sure Raphaël isn't orphaned a second time, aren't we?"

Hermione couldn't answer as Sirius and Regulus arrived in front of them. At the same time, she didn't really know what she could have said to him. They went into an empty classroom and Hermione began to explain the situation.

"We'll be busy during the battle and probably won't have time to deal with it at the right time, and we'd really like you two to do it. "

"Do what."

"Destroy the two remaining horcruxes."

"You haven't done it yet?"

"No, he'd noticed that we'd destroyed the previous ones, so we didn't want to try again and have to look for new ones. It's likely that he's noticed them by now, but he hasn't been able to create any new ones."

"And why the two of us? I don't feel up to it at all, it's very advanced dark magic and I'm not really sure I can fight it."

"Horcruxes can only be destroyed with very powerful substances. Only basilisk venom or fiendfyre can destroy them. And you're the only people we know who have mastered fiendfyre. We need you. We know it's dark magic, we know it's hard for you to touch it, but we wouldn't ask you if it weren't the only solution."

"Do you realize the consequences of fiendfyre on the battlefield?"

"Of course, but you won't be destroying them in the middle of battle, so you'll have to go a little way off. Do you accept?"

"You already know the answer, don't you? If it's the only way, of course we'll do it."

Regulus said nothing, but nodded at his brother's assertion.

"When do we have to destroy them?"

"Rem' will send you a signal."

"How about red sparks followed by green sparks?"

The two Blacks nodded, and at the same time Hermione received a patronus from Moody, alerting her that the protective barriers were about to give way and she needed to get her arse over there fast. The wizards rushed out of the castle and joined the other fighters while Hermione went to check if the Great Hall had been properly protected. It was locked, but Hermione added three protective spells on top of what was already there, then went out and looked at the battlefield. It was so crowded that it was difficult to see who needed help. She couldn't see Voldemort or his snake, but she did spot James fighting six Death Eaters at the same time, and although he seemed to be coping, Hermione decided to go and help him.

She attacked two of them from behind and they immediately fell to the ground. But three more Death eaters arrived to help the remaining ones and James and Hermione found themselves back to back, surrounded by seven Death Eaters. Unfortunately for them, they were pretty good. They were good at parrying spells, but James noticed that some of them had trouble casting attack spells immediately after defending themselves and used this weakness to his advantage.

Hermione was hit in the face, which seemed to be the trigger, as she cast several spells and knocked out the Death eater in front of her. Between them, they had managed to take down all nine Death Eaters, but they had to remain vigilant, as the spell that grazed Hermione proved.

"Have you seen Sirius and Remus?"

"No, I'm sorry, but stay focused James, there's still plenty out there who want you dead."

The two friends went their separate ways to help others fight. Meanwhile, Remus was actively searching for the snake. He'd managed to avoid numerous spells and hadn't had to do any real fighting; all he'd had to do was keep the Death Eater out of his way. His objective remained unchanged, but he was beginning to wonder if the snake was really on the loose. He'd been looking for it for a long time and still hadn't seen its shadow. He could see the bodies littering the ground; there were Death eaters, aurors, foreign wizards. He knew some of them, but only by sight. No member of the Order seemed to have fallen. In the distance, he saw Moody fighting four or five Death Eaters, and Alice and Frank fighting the Lestrange brothers. They didn't look to be in a bad position, but with Death Eater, especially these ones, you never knew what to expect, so Remus hoped they'd be careful.

He'd just killed a Death Eater who was a little too insistent when he saw him. A huge snake was slithering between the bodies and looked ready to devour the corpses. He'd found it. Now he just had to kill it.

Remus was surrounded by several Death eater and was doing his best to wrestle them to the ground. He'd sensed that three of them were werewolves and seemed to have some resentment towards him. True, he was one of the only werewolves not on the side of the Death Eaters, there was also Remi and Helena, of course, but that didn't make him someone who liked fighting other werewolves. Especially since they seemed to be Greyback's heirs. Speaking of Greyback, he hadn't caught sight of him yet, and knowing him, that was a little worrying.

Gideon, seeing that he was in trouble, came to his aid, and after a long and exhausting fight, they managed to finish them off. Werewolves were far more difficult to fight than normal wizards, he was sure.

"Moony to your left!"

Remus recognized James's voice and turned to his left. This was a mistake, as the spell heading for him landed right in his right eye.

"Remus, are you all right?"

Gideon's voice was tinged with concern, and James's when he reached him was no better.

"Damn. Can you see anything?"

"Not really, no. A bit of light, but I'm seeing black and red."

"It's really not a pretty sight. Don't you think you should get some help?"

"James, we're in the middle of a battle, I'm not going to the infirmary now."

"But you're blind in one eye! How do you expect to fight properly?"

"I've got other, heightened senses. I'll be all right, don't worry."

Remus got to his feet and cast a spell on the Death eater, who stood ready to cast the avada on James.

"You see, it's not just me who has to be careful. Let's all stay focused."

Hermione had seen him and wasn't changing direction. She had to kill him. Her objective was clear. She had to keep him busy, so Remus could take care of Nagini, then Sirius and Regulus had to destroy the two remaining horcruxes, and then she could kill him. But she hoped she could make him suffer first.

She attacked him immediately, having nothing to lose. Voldemort easily parried her spell, but turned back to her all the same. He showed no emotion, seeming to suspect that Hermione would find him in the end.

"Helena Grace. I've been waiting for this moment."

"Me too, Riddle, I've been waiting for it for over fifteen years."

Hermione didn't give him time to reply, and hit him with another spell, followed by several more. She had to keep him busy, and they weren't going to do that by taking turns casting spells. She had to destabilize him. She knew Riddle liked to talk. He liked to brag during his fights and she would have breaks while he talked, but for now, she had to attack.

Remus attacked the serpent, bringing it further forward. He had to kill it, and only fiendfyre would work, and he couldn't cast this spell in the middle of combat unless he wanted everyone to die. He had mastered the spell, but it was no exaggeration either. The snake had spotted him and seemed to have understood that he wanted to take it further, but wouldn't give in to Remus' urge. So the wizard had to cunningly lure it away. He had to cast a spell that wasn't destructive, otherwise it would just bounce off the snake, but which could still draw it away. He tried several spell combinations, without success. When he finally managed to ward it off, the snake pounced on him, causing him to fall to the ground, and a hand-to-hand fight began. Remus had never thought he'd be fighting a snake, but this wasn't just any snake, it was a horcrux. But it was still strange. He managed to defend himself quite well, but Nagini bit him during a moment of inattention.

It hurt, he could feel the venom penetrating his skin, but he didn't give up. With a successful sweep of his arm, he managed to pull the snake away from his body and grabbed his wand, which had fallen to the ground. He quickly got to his feet and, once his feet were firmly planted on the ground, cast the fiendfyre spell on Nagini. He saw the flames engulf the body and then Nymphadora's silhouette appear between them. He paid her no further heed, having long known that this was a horcrux defense mechanism and that it wasn't his wife talking to him. Once the snake was definitely dead, he stared at its left arm and tried a formula to extract the venom from its body. He wasn't sure what kind of snake it was, but he suspected it was probably poisonous. He'd removed as much venom as he could, but he was sure he hadn't been able to get rid of it all. He'd deal with that wound later, but for now, the fight went on.

He raised his wand to the sky and emitted a stream of red sparks, followed by a stream of green sparks. He waited a few dozen seconds, then repeated his gesture, in case the Black brothers hadn't seen it the first time.

Sirius and Regulus were facing two Death Eaters, and they were both fighting hard. The two opposite were also brothers and pure-bloods, about their age. They'd met them several times at pureblood gatherings when they were younger, the children mostly keeping to themselves, but the two Black brothers had never liked them. Sirius simply didn't like them, as did just about every conservative pureblood family, and Regulus found them too arrogant, boasting that their blood was the purest even though they weren't part of the Black family.

But the two men opposite seemed to be delighted to be facing them. The two blood traitors. They knew that, for the Death Eaters, they were a target to kill. In themselves, they wanted to kill everyone, but they knew that if they succeeded in killing the Black brothers, they would be rewarded. But Sirius and Regulus had no desire to let that happen, and although they wanted to kill them for their family name, they forgot that they had been raised in that family, and therefore knew more spells than many of them.

Sirius was the first to spot the sparks in the distance and, still fighting, indicated to his brother that they should hurry. Regulus took him at his word and increased the violence of his spells. The Death eaters were taken by surprise and one of them received the spell in the chest. The other had half a second's inattention when his brother fell, and it proved fatal.

"Where do we go?"

"We need to go somewhere where there aren't too many people, because I don't want to kill everyone with the fiendfyre. It's been so long since I used it."

"You know what they say, Sirius, you never forget dark magic. I think the black lake is a good idea. I doubt there will be anyone there, the battle's really concentrated here."

Sirius nodded and they set off for the black lake. They made sure no one was watching them, but everyone was focused on the battle and no one paid them any attention. Regulus reached into the cloth bag Hermione had given him and pulled out the two horcruxes. He felt uncomfortable as soon as his skin touched the horcruxes. He couldn't describe the sensation, but he knew deep down that these things were Evil.

"I don't think it's a good idea to do it at the same time. We don't know what might happen. If the other will need support, help..."

"All right, then. I'll get started. Which one would you rather destroy?"

"The cup. I could never destroy something that belonged to Merlin."

Sirius took hold of Merlin's wand and placed it on the floor, under Regulus's worried gaze. He was afraid of what was going to happen, because he knew the horcrux would fight back. And Helena had explained to him that it was often the person's own fears that came back, but also sometimes unhappy memories. And Sirius had plenty of unhappy memories. And Regulus had no idea how to react to them.

He saw his brother cast the spell and the horcrux ignited. At first glance, nothing else happened, but Regulus knew that something was bound to happen. Then he saw her. The figure gradually emerged through the flames, until it stood upright in front of Sirius. Regulus was terrified now. Because he knew that whatever was happening, it was going to be bad. Before Sirius stood the person he had most despised and hated, and at the same time the person he had most feared. Walburga Black, their mother.

Then, gradually, another figure emerged from the flames. It was Sirius, younger. He couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old, but he was badly bruised. Regulus saw his mother lashing out at his brother, casting a ton of spells on him for some reason the wizard couldn't even remember, so many identical scenes had taken place.

Then a new scene appeared in the flames, and Regulus knew instantly what scene was about to unfold before his eyes. He had no desire to relive it, he'd been traumatized enough as a child, but he couldn't look away. Sirius was a little older, and this was the first day he'd been home since he'd been assigned to Gryffindor. He'd avoided coming back since then, but he'd had no choice, it was summer vacation. Regulus would always remember that evening. His mother had forced him to watch her torture his brother, screaming that he wasn't worthy to bear the Black name. Sirius screamed, both the youngster in the flames and the real Sirius, and Regulus remembered how he'd tried to intervene but his mother had pushed him away with the cruciatus spell. Sirius had taken a month to fully recover.

"Sirius, this isn't reality! These are just images. It's not Mother! It's not you, it's not me!"

Sirius didn't seem to come out of his torpor until Regulus spoke to him, realizing at the same moment that the insults and torture hurled at him were not real. He redoubled the intensity of his spell, then the flames finally disappeared, and with them his memories. He fell to the ground and Regulus rushed towards him.

"I didn't think she'd appear. I didn't want you to see this."

"Don't apologize, I've seen it before when I was little, it was just memories Sirius."

"I wasn't expecting this. Helena had told me that someone would surely be there and insult me, calling me less than nothing, but I wasn't expecting memories."

"Do you think you'll be all right? Do you need a break?"

"We don't really have time to wait. Go ahead."

Regulus grabbed the Hufflepuff cup and placed it on the floor. Unlike Sirius, he knew that memories could surface when the horcrux defended itself. But he'd never thought he'd have to get rid of a horcrux, and he hadn't prepared himself mentally to relive parts of his past. Parts he didn't want Sirius to see, but he didn't really have a choice anymore.

Sirius saw the fiendfyre emerge from Regulus's wand and the cup burst into flames. Almost immediately, the silhouette of a fifteen-year-old boy became visible in the flames. But it wasn't Regulus. Sirius had never seen this person, but judging by his clothes, he was certainly Muggle. The scene continued and Sirius was shocked by what he saw. His brother, also about fifteen, was vigorously kissing the stranger. His brother... He'd never thought Regulus would be... He couldn't formulate a correct sentence in his head, but he didn't have time to think about it any further, as for him, their mother appeared.

She walked towards them, an expression of pure disgust etched on her face. Sirius saw her cast a spell to ward them off and grabbed hold of his son.

"Don't you ever do anything so disgusting again!"

Then she grabbed the other man and led him into the Black house.

"You'll see what we do to vermin like you."

"Mother, let him go! Andrew! Mother, please."

"Shut up, Regulus. "

Sirius had never seen his brother in such a state. He had fallen to the floor and was weeping uncontrollably, letting the memory of his mother torturing and then killing the teenager wash over him.

"Regulus, fight! It's only a memory, it's not real!"

His brother didn't seem to hear him, and Sirius didn't know what to do. He knew his brother was gradually losing control of himself, and given that he was supposed to be mastering the fiendfyre at the same time, it was worrying.

"REGULUS!"

Sirius tried to reach his brother, the fiendfyre had pushed them away, but it was as if a force prevented him from doing so. He had to try several times before finally reaching him. And when he was close enough, he slapped him. He slapped him a second time to be sure, and this had the effect of waking Regulus from his torpor.

"Take control of the horcrux! It's only a piece of soul! Concentrate, Reg, it's almost over."

It seemed like an eternity, but Regulus managed to destroy the cup. When everything stopped, he didn't look at his brother. He was unable to look him in the face. He didn't know what he would find in his eyes, but he preferred not to know. He fell to his knees again and stared down, even when Sirius called his name. He was forced to meet his gaze when Sirius knelt down and forced him to raise his head.

"I'm sorry, I never thought..."

"You were already gone when all this happened."

"I'm sorry I abandoned you. I know you blamed me for it for a long time, and I also know I never apologized for it."

"You didn't abandon me. You went where it was best for you. You went with James. He's been more of a brother to you than I ever was."

"No, he hasn't. You're my brother, and..."

"I've always taken their side, and I was the first one to cut off."

"Because Mother made you. But it doesn't matter, I've never assumed my role as big brother. I should have known they'd come after you after I left."

"It wasn't your role or your concern at the time."

"But she killed your boyfriend! How do you expect me to... I didn't even know you were like me."

"I'm not gay, Sirius."

"It's just..."

"Just because I've been with a man once in my life doesn't mean I'm gay. There's a wonderful thing called bisexuality."

"Oh. Once in your life?"

"Do you really think I wanted to try that again after what they did to the first one? After what they did to me?"

"What they did to you?"

Sirius's already unsure voice became more hesitant.

"First Mother took care of me, to remind me I was a Black, then she put Bella in charge of reminding me I was a man."

"Reg I..."

"It's okay Sirius, it's been over ten years now. Of course it's a trauma, but don't worry about me. We should go back instead, they need us there, it's still war."

"You think you're fit to go back there, not even five minutes ago you were collapsed on the ground and..."

"Sirius, shut up, let's go."

Remus stood in front of Greyback, a look of hatred that you weren't used to seeing on his face. But he hated him so much that he couldn't control his expression. This thing, he couldn't bring himself to call it a man, was everything he hated rolled into one. He knew that it had hurt hundreds of families, that it had made him a condemned man, and for the first time in his life, he wanted to be the one to kill someone. But it seemed that fate didn't agree with him, as Remi appeared at his side, looking just as hateful as he did. After all, he too had been bitten by Greyback. Moreover, Remus knew that it was he who had raped and broken Helena when she was imprisoned, and that this had only increased Remi's hatred of him tenfold.

Greyback was attacking a lot, and he wasn't short of insults either, but the two Remus remained concentrated and coordinated to finish him off. The fight lasted a long time. Their werewolf senses were all alert, and they knew that the slightest mistake would be fatal, so they had to fight as precisely as possible. Despite all the hatred they had for him, they couldn't let it consume them, it wouldn't work in their favour.

They were perfectly coordinated, and Remus was surprised. He had never really fought with his double, but it didn't seem to matter, the connection was a natural one. After an interminable moment, Remus managed to land a blow that knocked the monster to the ground.

"This is for Helena."

He sent another spell that knocked the monster further to the ground.

"This is for Remi."

Then he sent it one last blow.

"And this is for me."

Remus, the eldest, didn't wait any longer and threw the fatal blow.

"This is for all the other victims."

Then they turned to each other, their eyes shining, not quite realising the significance of their gesture.

"He... he'll never hurt anyone again. Never."

"No. At least we managed that."

They slowly turned away from each other and Remus looked through the crowd for Hermione, he knew he had to go and fight alongside her now, but he couldn't see her, which worried him slightly. Remus looked around for Sirius and James, but couldn't see them at first glance, then he found the silhouettes of Sirius and Regulus and met his companion's gaze. At first he saw relief, which was replaced by panic, a panic that Remus only understood when two spells hit him at the same time, one from behind and one from the right, which he had never seen coming.

"REMUS!"

He heard James's cry, but he was far too far away to join him. He fell into Remi's arms and his gaze became increasingly vague.

Remus was panicking. Remus, his double, had just been hit by two spells, and he should have seen them coming. Even if he was looking for Hermione, he should have seen it, he was supposed to have better senses than that! He caught him before his body hit the ground and tried to catch his gaze.

"You... You're me, aren't you?"

Remus stood for a moment in shock, not knowing what to say immediately, but time was running out, so he answered the first thing that came to his mind.

"I'm not you."

"But in another life you might have been. We have the same... name, we've had the same... life up to a... certain point. I'm... sorry that fate... gave you... a life like that... I wish... that it had happened... differently. I still had ... so many things... to ask you."

"Remus, Remus stay with me. Please, you can't leave!"

"Tell... tell Sirius that... I love him, okay? That I love him. Take care of him and James."

Remus's eyes closed slowly, the seconds seeming at once to last for hours and to pass at lightning speed. Remus spoke to him, tried to keep him conscious, but to no avail. Then Remus's body became lighter and lighter before turning to dust and disappearing completely. Remus could hear Sirius's screams coming closer and closer to him, but at the same time they seemed so far away. He stared for a long moment at the empty space between his arms, where Remus had been standing just moments before, tears rolling down his cheeks and there was nothing he could do about it. Remus was dead. He had failed.

Hermione had just parried a spell when she saw Voldemort suddenly freeze. She realised at once, a horcrux had just been destroyed. And since Sirius and Regulus had to wait for Remus's signal, that meant that it was the snake that had been destroyed. That was a good thing, it was the most difficult horcrux to catch and destroy, the other two shouldn't be too difficult, Hermione just hoped it wouldn't be too hard for Sirius and Regulus to get rid of it.

She took advantage of Voldemort's weakness to weaken him by casting a whole series of spells. She knew that these spells would not kill him, but she had to make him suffer. And she had to take advantage of her opponent's weaknesses, because there wouldn't be many of them. Voldemort quickly came to his senses and began fighting again in earnest. They were both getting hurt, and the Head of the Death Eaters was gradually increasing his intensity, wanting to get the fight over with, but Hermione knew that that wasn't possible; first the Black brothers had to destroy the remaining horcruxes. She resisted, she knew that she was much tougher than Jedusor, her age and her skill were also serious advantages, and she knew that she was in control of her spells, but Voldemort was also in control of his, and one little lapse of concentration could be fatal.

Then, finally, he froze again, meaning that one of the horcruxes had been destroyed. Hermione took the opportunity to cast other spells, not weaker ones, but ones that required less effort in terms of energy given. Time passed slowly, and Hermione began to wonder what was wrong when she saw that the destruction of the second horcrux did not arrive, she feared that there was a problem with Regulus and Sirius, but finally he froze again and she smiled. Things were finally about to get serious.

Sirius was still shocked by what he had just seen and experienced. He was terribly angry at himself for having left the Black house without thinking for a moment that his family would take revenge on Regulus. He should have known better. And most of all, his brother had been tortured because he'd gone out with a man, and for him, that was just one more failure. He had felt so alone when it had been discovered that he preferred men, and he hadn't even been able to support and protect his little brother. He blamed himself for walking away from him like that, he would have so much preferred Regulus to come and talk to him about it, even when they were back at Hogwarts, rather than him facing it all alone. But he knew now was not the time to think about that. He had to get back into the battle, without thinking about what had just happened. But first he had to make sure that Remus and James were all right.

Regulus was at his side and they both arrived on the battlefield, their eyes roaming over the fighting in progress. Sirius first saw James, who looked shocked and frightened at the same time. He followed what he was staring at and was relieved for a moment to see that Remus was alive, but his blood ran cold almost immediately. An unsettling purple spell was moving towards his right, and Sirius couldn't understand why Remus couldn't see it. Then a yellow-orange spell hit him in the back and Remus collapsed. Sirius shouted his name and ran towards him, but it was too late. He was too far away, he could see him say something to Remi and then his body gradually disappeared. Sirius was running, he wanted to scream, and his gaze never left the spot where Remus had been standing just a few seconds before. James had arrived just before him, but didn't seem to understand what had just happened any more than he did. Remi was shocked too, and he could see the tears streaming down his cheeks, but Sirius didn't let his out, crying would only make it more real. Remi was clutching his chest and Sirius had fallen to the floor, Regulus' hand on his shoulder.

"Where the hell is he? His body couldn't have disappeared, he must have gone somewhere, he must have disapparated, he…"

Remi didn't seem to be able to say a word and was still staring at his arm. It was James's voice that brought him out of his torpor.

"He's dead, Padfoot. He's... He's gone."

James's voice was strangled but Sirius could make out every word and every syllable felt like a knife in his heart. Remus couldn't be gone. He couldn't have left him like that. He just...

"He didn't see it coming because he got a spell in the eye. He was blind in one eye and I let him go on."

Sirius said nothing. He didn't know what to say. Remus was dead, his world had just collapsed and he was at a loss for words.

"It's not your fault, James."

Remi's voice was calm and collected, but the two marauders could hear the pain in it.

"He's dead now. I should have been more vigilant, in the euphoria of... But he's gone. This is not the time to feel sorry for him. He shouldn't have died in vain. I'm going to Hermione, we've got to end this."

Remus left, under Regulus' heavy gaze, James and Sirius unable to turn away from the spot where they had seen Remus disappear.

James blinked, he had to pull himself together. Hestia had just died before his eyes, just as Marlene's husband and Gideon had received a serious spell a few minutes earlier. He had helped her to the infirmary as a matter of urgency and sincerely hoped that Madam Pomfrey would be able to pull him out of this critical state.

But for the moment, he had to concentrate on his mission, which was to stay alive, kill the Death Eaters, make it easier for Helena and Remi to destroy Voldemort, while keeping an eye on Sirius and Remus. Unexpectedly, this was the most difficult part. He hadn't seen Sirius since the beginning of the battle and had been separated from Remus, who had just taken a spell in the eye. He had made sure that no one could attack him while he was looking for them. He finally found Remus, next to Remi. They had just killed Greyback, and if they weren't all on a battlefield, James would have applauded them. But he quickly froze when he saw a spell shoot from Remus's right side. It only took him half a second to make the connection with the fact that he could no longer see out of his right eye, but it was too late. He couldn't say a word. He heard Sirius shout in the distance, but all he could do was obey his legs as they ran towards Remus. He saw him open his mouth and say something to Remi. He only heard the end of the sentence before his body disappeared like dust.

"…love. Take care of him and James."

James stood with his arms flailing and his eyes brimming with tears. He didn't understand what had just happened. How Remus could be there and then, a few seconds later, disappear without a trace. He blamed himself. He should never have let Remus fight again after he'd been shot in the eye, it was unconscionable. But at the same time, deep down, he knew he could never have stopped Remus from fighting, he was a Gryffindor after all. Remi left them to join Helena, and James knelt down next to Sirius, took them in his arms, and they burst into tears, Regulus' hands on their shoulders, simply signifying that he was there. Remus was gone, and they were going to have to learn to live with it.

Hermione was fighting with the most strength and power she had ever used. All the horcruxes had been destroyed and all that remained was to kill Voldemort. Some of the people around them were so amazed by the battle. None of them showed any mercy for their opponents, and Hermione was casting increasingly deadly spells. During her fight, she had felt the Time Ring vibrate, without understanding why. She just hoped Remus was all right. She was reassured by this when she felt his presence behind her and saw him attacking Voldemort at the same time. But she knew deep down that something serious had happened.

The fight was getting bigger and bigger, the spells were becoming more and more violent and the two Time Chosen could sense that the end was near. Voldemort was weakening, they were weakening, but neither was giving up. Then Remus sent out another spell, faster, and it hit the Dark Lord right in the chest. At the same time, a black spell came from Voldemort's wand and headed straight for Hermione. She knew it was too late, she didn't have time to block it, so she reflexively put her hand in front of her head, and the spell hit her full force.

The world was split in two. The Death Eaters had just seen their master die and at the same time he was casting a spell on the leader of the opposing camp. As for the members of the Order, they were both relieved to see the end of Voldemort's reign and shocked to see Hermione take a spell.
The witch staggered dangerously before falling suddenly to the ground. Remus rushed to her side, but Hermione stopped him with a gesture.

"Don't touch me, Remus. I don't want to infect you."

"Show me where the spell touched you, I want to see your wound, if I can heal it."

In reply, Hermione held out her right hand, and Remus didn't understand immediately. There was only the Time ring and the signet ring of the Blacks. Then he saw it. The Time ring turned black and then the curse spread first to Hermione's hand, then to her arm and the rest of her body.

Remus put his left arm under Hermione's head to stop her from hitting the ground. Her eyes were rolling and she wasn't sure where to look or what to do. She could feel the spell coursing through her veins and spreading through her body.

"I'm sorry... It shouldn't have happened like this... The prophecy..."

"Hey, Mione, take it easy. Don't worry."

"Remus... Please don't leave me. Don't... It hurts."

"Hey, you're doing really well. Just hold on a little tighter. I'm proud of you Mione."

"I'm scared."

"Don't forget I'll always be with you. We'll see each other again. And remember I love you forever."

Hermione's body had gone completely black, no part of her skin could be discerned that had not been contaminated by the spell. Her eyes were fixed on Remus's, then her expression froze and her soul escaped from her body.

Remus held Hermione's lifeless body, but he didn't cry. He couldn't. He had just lost the pillar of his life, and he was going to have to learn to be alone. The only person who really knew who he was had just left this Earth, and Remus didn't know if he was going to be able to get over it.

Remus' sixth death was this one. But like all the others, he was going to have to learn to overcome it. He had no choice. The war may have been over, but it was never really over for the survivors.

Raphaël was worried. He'd been locked up for hours and hadn't heard from anyone. He didn't even know if Harry and Neville were all right in Illvermorny. He could hear shouting and banging outside the room, but he couldn't go and see what was going on. Gideon had turned up in a bad way and he'd helped to nurse him back to health, but he hadn't been able to give him that much information, and Raphaël was horribly frustrated. He was beginning to feel it deep down, something wasn't right. After too many hours of waiting, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and everyone was pleased to see that it was their allies who had opened them.

Raphaël saw Alice and Frank heading towards Gideon, he saw Andromeda Tonks hugging her daughter with tears in her eyes, but he still couldn't see his mother. He came out of the Great Hall and saw Regulus, Sirius and James coming towards him, their faces serious.

"Where's Mum?"

Raphaël didn't wait for an answer and ran out of the castle.

"Raphaël, wait, don't..."

Regulus dashed after Raphaël, but it was too late. The teenager slalomed between the bodies, being on the battlefield didn't worry him that much, all he wanted was to see Hermione. Then he stopped abruptly. In front of him was Remus, stroking Hermione's hair, staring. He saw his mother's lifeless expression immediately and screamed. He was about to rush towards her, but Regulus stopped him by grabbing him round the waist. Raphaël struggled, screaming, hitting Regulus, but the wizard wouldn't let him go.

"Let go of me!"

"Cry."

Regulus loosened his arms and turned Raphaël towards him.

"Cry. That's the only thing that will help you."

And Raphaël burst into tears. His mother was dead, and with her, his sense of belonging to a family. He was alone, unattached, and he didn't know how he would cope with another loss. So Raphaël cried and cried until he fell over with exhaustion. Hermione's death left a gaping hole in Remus's heart, but for Raphaël, it meant that he would have to learn to live again. And he would. Death was the end of life, but life was made up of rebirths. Raphaël didn't know it yet, but he would overcome this death. He wouldn't always wake up screaming every night, it wouldn't always be the first thing on his mind in the morning, but it would take time to rebuild. And his family will be with him.