Hermione, Arabella, Kit, Torry, who had Crookshanks, and Lynch landed safely on the ground in a house. Hermione looked at her surroundings ans smiled, knowing exactly where she was.
Grimmauld Place. It was heavily guarded. Kreacher was no longer a spy, Sirius made sure of it as he monitored the house elf's every step. The gangly house elf came to Lynch and took Hermione and Arabella's belongings that they had packed before they left. He brought them upstairs into an empty room. Arabella looked around the house, a little frightened of the gloominess and darkness of it.
"Mummy, I don't like this place very much," she said sadly to her.
Hermione pulled her closer and said, "I know, I didn't like this place either the first time I came here. But you know what? It's safe. We won't be found here. We'll go home when the war's over."
Arabella looked at a house elf head that reminded her of pictures of taxidermy that she saw in a book once. "You promise?" she asked looking at it disgusted.
Hermione smiled. "I promise."
"Hermione! Arabella! You two are alright!" came a familiar voice. Hermione turned and saw her parents running to them. She held out her free arm, the one that was not holding her daughter, and hugged her mother tight. Her father came in and hugged her once Charlotte let go.
"Grammy! Gramps!" Arabella cried smiling at them.
Charlotte was crying. "The guards at our house had gotten word that Death Eaters were at the Manor. We were immediately brought here about five minutes ago. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. We both are. I was hit, but Arabella protected me," Hermione gazed lovingly at her daughter, who blushed, but grinned.
Charlotte and Jacob looked confused. "We'll tell you later. Right now, someone needs to go to bed." She looked at Arabella and Kreacher brought them to their room. Torry followed with the family cat. Kreacher thought it would have been best if mother and child would share a room after what happened tonight.
Since Arabella was already in her pajamas, she just laid her in the bed and gave her Peter to hold. Torry set Crookshanks on the bed. He curled up into Arabella's side, warming her with his fluffy fur. She giggled a bit as it tickled her skin. "I will go and meets Kit now, miss."
"Okay, thank you, Torry." And their house elf was gone.
Hermione tucked her in the bed. She sat on the edge as she did not want to leave her if she was awake. And she knew that Arabella didn't want her to leave as well. Arabella was getting a little tired from all the magic she used tonight. Protecting her mother had drained her a little. Arabella reached up and stroked her mother's chin. Hermione closed her eyes at her touch. "I'm happy you are okay, Mummy."
"I'm happy you're okay. Are you? That must have drained your magic a bit," she asked taking her wandering hand and holding it in hers.
The little girl nodded. "A bit."
"Arabella," she laid down next to her on the other side. "I want to thank you for saving me. I know you tried to save me before when you were in my tummy, but you didn't succeed."
Arabella nodded. "No one hurts you, Mummy. I don't want them to. It hurts me." A tear rolled down her cheek and Hermione wiped it away with a kiss and held her tight in her arms. After a while, she heard her even breathing and knew that she was asleep.
She gently untangled her arms from her and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Arabella. Goodnight." She stroked her cat once. "Watch over her, Crooks." She smiled as she got a small "meow" from him. And she left the room, closing the door, but leaving a crack.
She walked down the stairs and in the kitchen with the long table, with the many chairs. She saw that Lynch had left. At the table were Torry, Kit, her parents, and Sirius. She smiled and sat down next to her mother.
"She's asleep," she said to them smiling a bit. They all returned one at the mental image of the two year old in a deep, cute slumber. "Where's Lynch?" she asked.
"He went back to the Manor to help the other Aurors get the Death Eaters out. The Aurors that were protecting the Grangers are standing outside guarding. Of course, they can't be seen except by us," Sirius answered.
Hermione nodded.
"What happened?" Jacob asked.
Hermione sighed. "Well, I was putting Arabella to bed when I heard shouting and heard someone yell that there were Death Eaters. Lynch had yelled to them that they needed to get us out. My motherly instincts came in and I just shoved Arabella into the closet, telling her not to come out no matter what she saw. Then a Death Eater came in a stupefied me. I blacked out and the next thing I know is Arabella is on top of me smiling at me and the Death Eater is on the other side of the room, dead. Later, Arabella told me that she had shielded me and a white light appeared, absorbing the Killing Curse he had thrown at me." She looked at them each dead in the eyes and said firmly, "My daughter is the second person to survive the Killing Curse...behind her father."
Their eyes widened and she exhaled smiling. "She's got her father's genes."
They all smiled, knowing how...extraordinary the little girl was.
Harry knew it was time. He knew today was the day. It was the day he was going to be killed. He woke up and showered. He chuckled as he thought this. 'My last shower' he thought to himself as the hot, soothing water ran down his back, burning his almost-healed wounds. He didn't pay them no mind.
He got dressed and went to the Great Hall to eat breakfast. It looked almost bare as there were only several hundred students that had returned. It was quiet, but not too quiet. When they saw him, they looked at him. Some frowned, some smiled, others didn't know what to think.
He made his way over to the empty side of the Gryffindor table, next to Luna, Neville, and a Hufflepuff girl named Serena Larson, along with her Hufflepuff boyfriend. They were both supporters of Harry and were proud of it.
Serena was the Hufflepuff friend of Luna's that was going to get as many "Badgers" in the battle. Her boyfriend, Will Stratford, got as many as she did. He was as loyal to Harry as a Hufflepuff was. Harry was glad to have so many friends, it was such a shame that he had to meet them now, right before he was to be sent to die.
He put some eggs, sausage, and a biscuit on his plate eating it hungrily.
"Today's the day," he said to them.
They looked up suddenly, shocked a bit.
"Really?" Neville asked.
He nodded. "I can feel it. He's coming. After breakfast, we need to get ready. Nev, get the Gryffindor 'soldier's together; Luna, Ravenclaw; and you two, Hufflepuff." They nodded without question. Well, without questioning their orders.
"Have we got anyone else to help us?" Will asked.
"We got some more Aurors. They'll be here today later. After breakfast. The centaurs have offered to help, thanks to the encouragement from Firenze," he replied with a smile.
After breakfast, the four students left to round up their housemates, while Harry went get to McGonagall's office. He opened the door at her signal. "Yes, Harry?" Formalites were down, at least on her part.
"It's time, Professor. It's today. The battle will be on this day. I can feel it." She nodded and sprang into action.
This year's prefects were to round the First, Second, and Third Years together so that they wouldn't lose them. "Soldiers", as Harry called them, arrived all day for the battle as soon as they got the signal. Harry greeted the sight of the Giants walking in from the Forbidden Forest, with the centaurs at their feet, trying not to get crushed. Harry stood at the entrance to the castle, greeting them as they came in, Firenze in the lead with his bow in his hand. There were about close to ninety centaurs.
"Hello, Harry Potter," he said smiling.
"Hello, old friend." He noticed the other centaurs looked a bit uneasy. "I assume you are the leader?" The centaur nodded.
Harry turned to the other centaurs, "Centaurs, your leader is one of the bravest mythical creatures I've ever met. He saved my life once from Lord Voldemort, and I know he can save others from him as well. You should be glad to have such an amazing creature as your leader!"
The centaurs looked at him and raised their bows, yelling a battle yell, cheering him; including Bane, who once thought Firenze a traitor.
Firenze was a hero among his species and he would never forget it. Hagrid had met up with the giants and was talking to them. It was strange to see Hagrid looking up at someone. He saw the giant nod and soon make his way over to Harry. The other giants, there were about twenty of them, stayed behind.
Hagrid and the male giant approached Harry. "'Arry, meet me cousin, Wilko. Wilko, this is Harry Potter."
The giant smiled at him. He had perfect English. "It's nice to meet you, Harry. I've waited all my life to meet you." Harry smiled.
"Any friend or family of Hagrid's is a friend of mine."
Soon, darkness was nearing, and everyone that said they were going to come, came. Even some sons from Durmstrang came, even though their headmaster was a former Death Eater. Harry nodded to Viktor Krum when he gave one first. McGonagall ordered for the First, Second, and Third Years to be brought to the Room of Requirement, guarded by several older students who didn't want to be on the battlefield. She also ordered Madame Pomfrey to stay in the Wing for wounded "soldiers" to come for her to heal them.
Harry looked up in the sky out the window, and saw that it was going to be a full moon. "Oh, no, Remus!" He whipped around and looked at the werewolf. He was pale and he closed his eyes, ashamed that he had forgotten to take his potion. Tonks tried to soothe him.
"I'm going to be in control, I promise you," he told her and kissed her on the mouth. She kissed him back.
They were inside the castle, waiting.
Waiting for them to come.
And soon it did.
Three things happened at once.
One, someone, who was keeping watch at a window, shouted, "They're here!"
Two, everyone in the room became quiet and grouped up. They had enlarged the room so that the giants and centaurs could fit.
Three, Harry closed his eyes and sighed, feeling a pain in his forehead.
At Grimmauld Place, Hermione, Arabella, Charlotte, Jacob, Sirius, and the house elves were all in the living room. Just sitting quietly. Arabella was asleep, with her head being cradled in her mother's lap.
But not for long.
She woke up gasping, and startling everyone else; especially Hermione.
"What? What is it, sweetheart?" she asked her soothing her by stroking her forehead.
"It's time, Mummy. It's starting," she replied.
Hermione looked at her seriously. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "I'm sure. I saw lots of black cloaks and Daddy with a whole bunch of people."
Hermione hugged her close and looked at the others. "All we can do is pray," she said and they nodded.
There were several hundreds of Death Eaters and Dementors. Harry wondered if it was as much as they had. If they were outnumbered. No way it could be. It was equally matched. There was hope for a defeat, but he didn't know how much.
He saw Voldemort, along with Nagini, Wormtail, Bellatrix, Lucius Malfoy, and Antonin Dolohov made up the front column. He saw a man he'd never seen before, but knew his name by his description from Remus. It was Fenrir Greyback, who was a werewolf. He was the werewolf that bit Remus. He, too, like Remus, was beginning to transform.
"Stand back!" Harry shouted as Remus went lupine. The "soldiers" stood away as he completed the transformation. Tonks was the only one who didn't move. She put her arm around him and soothed him. "Shh, Remus, it's okay. It's alright." He was looking around at everyone, a little afraid of what they were going to do. "Shh, calm down. Listen, they're here. They've come and we need you, wolf form or not, We need you. So, can you please control yourself and fight?!" she yelled trying to encourage him.
He settled down under her touch and nodded understandingly.
Harry saw his fangs and smiled, thinking of a plan. "I know how we can get Nagini."
They looked at him. "Remus, if we can get you in, do you think you could go after her and rip her apart?"
He nodded, baring his fangs.
Harry nodded and turned to the rest, who were all coming back together. He decided to say a speech to lift them up and give them the courage they needed to win this battle and war. "This is it. The end. Whatever happens tonight will be the beginning of the future. Just promise me not to kill Peter Pettigrew, aka Wormtail. Capture him. I need him." He sighed.
"We are different in every way. We have humans, centaurs, giants, half-giants, purebloods, half-bloods, muggle-borns, English, Scottish, Irish, Bulgarian, werewolf, Lions, Badgers, Ravens. We're all different and we may come from different places, but we all have one thing in common:...we all wanna kick some fucking Death Eater ass!" They all cheered, but it wasn't over. "I encourage you to look at the person on your right and left and tell them that you'll be there for them if they're hurt. This is not every man for himself. To win, we need to help each other. Those men out there-" He corrected himself. "-those creatures don't know how to love. They don't understand our love. The love that we have. Not just for our families. But for each other. We are all friends bonded in love. The person standing next you might be someone who beat you in a Quidditch match, or someone who stole a boyfriend from you, or got the best spot in the Auror Department, or bashed you on the head with a club." The last one he was referring to the giants.
He saw one giant playfully punch one on the arm apologetically. He pointed to them. "See?! That's what I want to see! Forgiveness! If we forgive, then we can win this. Because that person who beat you could be a brother, sister, colleague, friend, or lover." Three couples looked at each other and smiled. Neville and Luna. Tonks and Remus. And Will and Serena. He smiled at them.
"If we stick together, we will win. AS ONE?!" He pointed his wand in the air. Everyone else cheered and did the same whether it was a wand, club, bow, or claw; they were going to work together. "THEN LET'S GET THEM!" Another cheer came and the doors were opened and everyone-human, werewolf, centaur, giant, half-giant-ran out to meet the Death Eaters showering them with hexes, curses, and spells. Once they got into the crowd of Death Eaters, Harry shouted, "NOW, REMUS!"
Remus lunged for Voldemort, who was trying to help a fellow Death Eater. Time stopped as he leapt into the air, lunging for Nagini, who was at her Master's side. She didn't see him coming. He sunk his teeth in her neck and threw her around, ripping her skin apart. It was like watching a hungry animal. It was watching a hungry animal. Hungry for death of the evil.
The snake squirmed and soon stopped as she died. Gone.
There was a black smoke that came out of her. And Remus threw her away. Disposed of. Everyone heard a scream as loud as the Giant's yell. It was Voldemort. He was one Horcrux weaker.
Harry smiled and finished battling several Death Eaters, killing them all. He stared at Voldemort. He regained his composure and he gave him a knowing look, turning and going into the forest.
Harry followed, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Completely prepared to die for the ones he loved.
"NEVILLE!" Luna yelled as she saw him fall. She hurriedly defeated her prey and ran to his side, kneeling down and protecting him as Death Eaters began to attack him as he fell. "STAY AWAY FROM HIM!" she bellowed as the last one fell. She lugged him to the side of the castle, out of sight, to take care of him. She laid him gently and looked over him wounds. His leg was bleeding freely and he had countless cuts on his face. She kissed his face and got to work on healing him.
"It's going to be okay, Neville. Just hang in there, love," she told him. He called out in pain as she moved his leg. "Sorry, love." She quickly healed it and got rid of the blood. She stopped when she heard him speak.
"Will you marry me?"
She looked at him and without hesitation nodded vigorously, grinning widely. She leant down and stuck her tongue in his mouth, kissing her new fiancee. "Mmmm..." she moaned and Neville wanted to ravish her right there, but they had to keep fighting.
She broke away. "Come on, if we want to get married, we have to keep fighting."
Who knew that the same question was being asked across the battlefield as a human and a werewolf were fighting together. Remus had held a Death Eater by his hair, while Tonks kicked him in the throat with her big combat boots. He fell down dead.
Tonks looked at Remus lovingly. "Will you marry me?!" she yelled.
The werewolf looked at her and nodded, licking her cheek. She laughed and kissed his long nose.
The question was also being asked by one other couple. Will Stratford asked Serena to be his bride and she kissed him as well, saying, "yes."
It was full of love on the battlefield.
"Love was a battlefield" would be a phrase to describe it. But also, for love to happen, they had to battle. Fight for their love.
"It comes down to this, Potter," Voldemort sneered as they arrived to a clearing. A circle. A battle ring. "Me or you. If you ask me, it's me."
"Yeah, you with your fucking face on the ground!" Harry smirked back. That ticked him off. A Crucio came at him. He dodged it easily. "You gonna fuck on me?! You gonna fuck on me?! You have to better than that, motherfucker!"
Crucio after Crucio came. He dodged them all. "Is that all you got?!" He was shut up instantly as he wasn't paying attention and got hit. Voldemort came up to him and said, "You all talk, boy. Fight back!" He let him go and Harry leapt up and shot a Crucio at him. He blocked it.
It went on for half an hour.
Curse after curse.
Spell after spell.
Hex after hex.
Some hit.
Some were dodged.
Harry was bloodied up horribly. He was sweating and covered in dirt. He was on the ground on his back under the Cruciatus Curse. Voldemort walked up to him. "You will lose everything, Potter. That Mudblood whore. Your bastard child. Gone. After I'm through with you, I'm going after them."
Harry wanted to leap up into his face and break his neck. But two things were stopping him: one, it wouldn't do anything. He was still immortal. Two, he was too weak.
"Any last words, Potter?"
"I am completely in love with Hermione Jane Granger. And I love my daughter Arabella," he said with tears streaking down his face.
"Aw, young love, how disgusting. Avada Kedavra!" He said the emerald-green curse Harry had been waiting for.
Before he died, he heard Voldemort yell in pain as the Horcrux came out.
It came fast and all he saw was blackness.
Arabella Charlotte Granger-Potter widened her eyes as she saw an emerald-green, as green as her eyes, light. She gasped, drawing the attention of her mother, grandparents, and great-uncle.
"What is it, Arabella? What did Daddy see?" Hermione asked her daughter.
"A green light," she replied.
"From who?" she asked anxiously.
Arabella thought hard, but didn't see anything, just darkness. "I don't know. I can't see anything anymore. It's so dark."
That's when Hermione covered her mouth with her hand and hit her knees, sobbing. "HARRY!" she cried.
Arabella felt like a failure. She failed her Daddy. She was supposed to keep him safe. She failed her mother.
She fell on her knees as well, crying.
"Daddy..."