Chapter 182

Unexpected Arrivals

Lily growled as she sent the final werewolf flying backwards, before throwing a curse at it, which caused a lightning bolt to strike. The rain was pouring down, though Lily had used a spell on her glasses to repel it, giving her clear sight. Her hair, however, was plastered to her head, as was the hair of the others.

"Damn, I hate the rain," Lily said bitterly, seeing the area clear. "That's another wave clear, but I think they've gotten in through other places."

"What should we do?" Ginny asked. "How many more waves are there?"

"I wish I knew," Draco said, as a bolt of lightning struck the castle, causing part of the wall to break apart, sending rubble flying. "Watch out!" he cried, racing and leaping at Hermione, knocking them both away, moments before a large stone struck the ground where Hermione had been standing.

"Thank you," Hermione gasped, catching her breath. "Bloody weather. I hate storms."

"Right now, so do I," Draco agreed, chuckling as he got up, helping Hermione, feeling the rain plaster his hair to his face.

"Looks like we've got some more incoming," Lily said, racing over to them. "You both okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to Draco," Hermione said. "How many more are there?"

"No idea, but we've got plenty of support here. What's happening with the Dragons?" Lily asked.

"Fleur's handling that, with Hagrid," Hermione said. "Let's get moving; we need to hold the line, and make sure none of them can overwhelm us."

"Agreed," Lily said, seeing the bodies around them. Some of them were wounded, and unconscious, and there were plenty of dead bodies as well. Lily saw several of the muggle fighters on the floor, clearly dead, as well as some of the forces that Scrimgeour had brought along. She closed her eyes as she tried to fight back the anger and the guilt.

"Lily, you didn't do this. They knew what they were fighting for," Ginny said softly, holding Lily's hand. "I know you're struggling, but we can mourn after. Lana's going to have a lot of people to talk to when we're done."

"That's for sure," Lily agreed. "I just… I wish none of this was happening."

"So do all who have faced such perils," a familiar voice came from behind them. Lily frowned, turning, surprised as she saw a see through apparition of Albus Dumbledore!

"How the hell is it that I'm not even surprised?" Lily asked. "The stone?"

"Indeed," Dumbledore replied. "I am aware that you're struggling, but I knew you'd need some support."

"I always welcome support, and I've got a lot of questions I want to ask," Lily said, trying to ignore the rain pouring down, making her both wet and cold. "Why are you here now? We're kinda in the middle of something, if you didn't notice."

"We have a few minutes before Lady Voldemort will launch her next attack," Dumbledore said.

"Albus… how are you here?" Minerva asked, looking at him, her eyes wide.

"Lily opened the Snitch I left her, which contained the Resurrection Stone. Whilst it does not bring me back fully, it does allow my spirit to be here, to aid however I can," Albus explained.

"Albus, there's so much… I want to ask," Minerva said. Dumbledore smiled at her.

"I wish I had the time to answer all your questions, Minerva, but the universe rarely gives us what we want," Dumbledore said. "Right now, I can only appear briefly. I could sense your guilt at the deaths that have occurred, and you are not the only one tonight to have deaths weigh heavily upon them. Neville is struggling, but he does have Miss Patil by his side, or I should say, Mrs Longbottom now."

"I'm sorry, what?" Ron asked, frowning.

"Neville will explain later, I am certain. But that is not important right now. What is concerning is that there was a breach at your secret base, and someone escaped. Mr. Pettigrew is on his way here now," Dumbledore said. Lily growled angrily.

"That rat bastard. He told us whatever he needed to tell us so he could get a chance to escape," Lily snarled angrily. "I'll make sure he pays for what he's done tonight. No more Miss Nice girl."

"This is why I came, Lily. I must caution you not to let your anger drive you. If you do, then you become the same as Voldemort, and I do not wish to see that. It would destroy me if I witnessed your kind heart destroyed by anger and hatred," Dumbledore said kindly, looking at her with adoration. "You are, Lily, an amazing young woman, and you have fought many enemies. Tonight is going to be difficult for you, but you can succeed. However, if you allow yourself to succumb to anger, then you will fall, and I could not allow that to happen. Thankfully, Severus was able to guide you to opening the Snitch, but now, you must focus on the good in your heart and be the same woman you have always been; the one who chose the right path, no matter what."

"He's right, Lily. You can't allow the darkness to defeat you," Minerva said, smiling at her softly, before a flash of lightning lit up the night sky.

"I can't stay, but I am always here with you, Lily, and I am proud of the woman you've become," Dumbledore told her.

"I need to ask; why didn't you tell me any of this?" Lily asked. Dumbledore smiled again; she hated how he could always disarm her with his charming, grandfatherly smile.

"If I gave you the answers, you wouldn't understand them. Knowledge without Wisdom is dangerous, more so than any other weapon. Watching you grow, I fell into the trap of not finding the right time to tell you everything. You first arrived at Hogwarts, loved, cared for, and you showed great courage, and kindness. You showed love to your friends, even though you were fighting your inner demons, wanting to come out as Lily. I so wanted to just take you by the hand, and guide you through everything, but I feared it was too soon, and you wouldn't understand," Dumbledore said.

He sat down, and Lily was surprised to see that the rest of the castle seemed to be frozen. Dumbledore chuckled softly.

"A gift from Merlin; he activated that fine necklace you were given, and all of us here, we are currently in a moment of time, whilst the world is frozen, sort of," Dumbledore said, as he sat down.

"I really don't understand this," Ron commented.

"You will, in time, Mr Weasley, I assure you," Dumbledore promised. "Death is not always the end of life; for some, it is the start of a new journey. For Voldemort, it will be the end. For you, when the time comes, it will be a peaceful journey."

"Why didn't you kill him sooner?" Sirius asked. "You had every chance to."

"No, he didn't," Lily spoke up. "The Horcruxes kept him linked to the world."

"Exactly. If I killed him, his spirit would remain, like it did when he tried to kill Lily," Dumbledore replied.

"You didn't tell us everything. You kept so much to yourself. Did you not trust us?" Remus asked.

"It was never a matter of trust, Remus, I assure you. I will admit, I did not know if you were truly the spy or not. Whilst it seemed unlikely, the evidence seemed to be against you. Why did you never speak up?" Dumbledore asked.

"No one would believe me, or listen to me," Remus replied bitterly, before sighing, realising the point Dumbledore was making. "You didn't think people would believe you."

"Very few did. I attempted to tell everyone that Voldemort would return, but the world refused to believe me, and so I had to work in secret. Perhaps I shouldn't have done, and perhaps I should have been more open. In truth, when I was younger, I made so many mistakes that I felt I needed to ensure that I wouldn't make any other. I trusted Gellert, and yet he, too, betrayed me, though I know in his final moments, he did try to protect me. Perhaps he felt guilty; I do not know," Dumbledore said.

"Maybe he did truly love you," Lily offered. "I know this is an odd time to talk about this when there is a fight for the safety of the world going on around us, but… we can't always understand why people we love do certain things. We just have to hope that our love is strong enough to keep them on the right path. I dread to think what I'd have done without Ginny."

"You would be an amazing young woman, no matter what. Your heart has always been good, and so has your soul. If my original plan for you had gone the way I intended, you would have grown up in a muggle house that would not have truly loved you, and yet you would still have fought for others because it's who you are," Dumbledore said.

"So why tell us now?" Sirius asked. "I mean, out of all the times you could have spoken to us, this is literally the worst time."

"I suppose it is," Dumbledore chuckled. "But this will be the final time you see me. After tonight, I believe my spirit will continue with my new journey, and I will not be needed. I have watched over you as best I can, and right now, you have everything you need to win this battle."

"Wait, you… you mean you're going to be really gone? Forever?" Lily asked, a tear rolling down her cheek. Dumbledore stood up, and cupped her cheek, his spirit hand wiping the tear away.

"The ones we love are never truly gone," Dumbledore promised, pointing to the side. Lily gasped as she saw her parents standing there, as well as Arthur Weasley.

"Mum? Dad?" Lily asked.

"Dad?" Ginny asked, her voice quivering. Arthur walked over to Ginny, speaking to her softly as Lily Senior and James Potter approached Lily, smiling proudly at her as Dumbledore stepped back.

"Oh, my sweet, beautiful girl," Lily senior said, almost cupping her cheek. "I've been waiting for this moment for so long. I wish I could be here for more of your life, but… you have made me the proudest mother in the world."

"Lily, you've overcome so much, and you are the perfect example of who a person should be," James said. He then looked at Sirius and Remus. "Thank you, both of you, for helping raise Lily. Remus, I'm sorry I didn't realise that Peter was the traitor."

"You both gave me the greatest gift when you named me Lily's Godfather," Sirius said, smiling at his friend.

"I know I was in Azkaban for most of Lily's life, but being here with her, she's so much like you Lily," Remus said. "Especially when she's angry. Oh, you should have seen her when Sirius and Severus were arguing."

"We all thought you'd returned," Sirius laughed, grinning at Lily Senior.

"Maybe I had, through my daughter," Lily Senior said, as Severus appeared.

"I was… what's going on?" Snape demanded, looking around.

"A gift, Severus, for all you have done and risked," Dumbledore said. Lily Senior, and James, both looked at Snape.

"Oh Severus, I am so sorry for abandoning you when you needed me," Lily Senior said, with a sad smile.

"You've helped my daughter so much, Severus, and I'll always be thankful to you for that. You've made it so she can be the young woman that she is," James added. Snape looked at them, and then at Lily Senior.

"Lily… I am… so sorry, for everything I said, for all that I did. You were right; I was spending time with the wrong people. I wish…" Severus said, but Lily Senior stepped up to him and looked at him.

"I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago, Sev," Lily Senior said, smiling. "I know you loved me, and I'm sorry I couldn't give you the same in return, or that I couldn't save you from the Death Eaters."

"My choices were my own, you are not to blame," Severus told her, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Your daughter… is just like you."

"Keep protecting her, please?" Lily Senior asked. "She's becoming an excellent potions master, but she needs to learn from you. You can teach her in ways others can't, you can keep her from letting the darkness destroy her. Sirius and Remus have never had to face the darkness like you have."

"I promise," Severus said, smiling weakly at Lily Senior.

"Lily, we can't remain much longer; the necklace is going to run out of power soon," Dumbledore said. "Remember, the darkness will never win if you always love."

"Lily, my sweet, baby girl. I am always going to be so proud of you," Lily Senior said, smiling at her. Lily Junior felt tears rolling down her cheek. "And when you and Ginny get married, we'll be watching."

"And we'll always be proud of you," James promised. Lily nodded, watching as her parents, and Dumbledore, began to fade away, leaving them where they were. Lily then looked up at Snape, and smiled, embracing him in a hug.

"Thank you, for always watching out for me… Uncle Severus," Lily said softly. Snape, for the first time in his life, smiled at her, tears running down his cheek.

"It has been my genuine pleasure. I am sorry I was not… a better person to you," Snape replied.

"You were always there when she needed you, Severus," Sirius said. "That's what matters. Now, we've got a problem. Pettigrew escaped, and he's on his way here."

Snape's face hardened as he heard that, and Lily could see the anger in his eyes.

"I will make sure he pays for what he has done," Snape promised.

"Stay with Lily; keep her safe. We need to hold the line here, but we need to clear the rest of the castle," Sirius said, as the rain began to fall again, showing that the power of the necklace was now used. An explosion filled the air as dragons were flying overhead. "Get moving!" Sirius called out. Snape held Lily's arm, and guided her into the castle, followed by Ginny, Ron, Fleur, Hermione, and Lavender, as more of the fighters on their side, led by Flitwick, emerged, as the statues from the school were fighting the giants just outside the main gate. Lily turned, seeing Sirius and Remus kiss before they launched attacks at the giants, knowing they were going to be okay.

As Pettigrew reached the hilltop where Lady Voldemort and Bellatrix were standing, he panted, looking at them.

"My lady, I managed to stop others from arriving," Pettigrew said. "I stopped them at their hiding place and can show you where it is later."

"Well done, Peter," Lady Voldemort complimented. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them I was sorry for what I had done, and I wanted to help. As I expected, they… they kept me in a room, not trusting me, but… not killing me either," Pettigrew said.

"Good. Prepare to go into battle. We need to finish this fight, and soon," Lady Voldemort said. "I will enter the fray myself soon, and I will find Potter. If you see her, leave her to me."

"I'll go with the rat," Bellatrix said, looking at Lady Voldemort, who nodded.

"Be careful, Bella," Lady Voldemort said. "I do not wish to lose you."

"You won't," Bellatrix promised. "Pettigrew, with me,"

"Ye… yes ma'am," Pettigrew replied, following Bellatrix, heading for the castle, hoping that soon, he'd have his chance to prove exactly where he belonged.