Return of the Lion

Return of the Lion E. C. R. Potter

Summary: In the future, Voldemort has conquered all of Europe and has set his sights on the rest of the world. But there is a light of hope when Harry Potter returns after a two-year absence to challenge the Dark Lord. H/H and R/OC.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

Romans 8:25

Chapter 1: The Dark Times

The world was facing dark times those days. As far as muggles knew the world had suddenly been isolated from Europe and whatever had taken over that continent was slowly spreading into Africa and Asia. However, that was only part of the truth.

The entire truth was known to the wizarding world. Within just a few years of his rebirth, Voldemort had overthrown the ministries of magic of Europe and set up his own order. An order where purebloods received all the privileges and muggle-borns were degraded to slavery status in hundreds of labor camps built throughout the continent. Dark creatures wandered around the lands freely terrorizing anyone who was in their path. Muggles who failed to flee to foreign lands were carted into extermination camps where misery and despair were prevalent. Those wizards who were caught smuggling muggles out of Europe were executed. Many wizards fled from Europe.

As if that weren't enough, Voldemort's forces were slowly moving into Africa and Asia. He also had hundreds of agents working secretly in Australia and the Americas. Indeed, the wizards and witches of those lands feared the day that would inevitably come when Voldemort would be the ultimate master of the world.

New York city was one of the few places that was generally unaffected by the terror in Europe. Yet, the atmosphere in the Big Apple was one of high tension and fear of the darkness spreading across the world. There were many people in the city that knew the truth about the darkness that was spreading. One of those people was sitting in a bar near Times Square looking depressed.

He was a young man around 18, and towered over most people at a tall 6 foot 2. He had brilliant fiery red hair and freckles all over his pale face. He was dressed completely in black as if he were in mourning. He wore a black trench coat that went down to his ankles, black combat boots, black jeans, a black belt, and a black button up shirt with collar.

"Give me anything with alcohol," he said in a clear southern British accent.

"I.D.," said the bartender, a gruff looking man in his mid forties. The red haired man pulled at a Columbia University Student I.D. "Sorry pal, says here you're underage."

"Bloody hell," cursed the red haired man. He dropped his head on the counter just as the news flashed on the T.V.

"Records confirmed that some 300 people were massacred today in cities throughout Europe in Berlin, Paris, Prague, and Barcelona. It is still not entirely clear how these civilians were killed but experts believe that it has something to do with the phenomenon that has been dubbed as the 'darkness'. In related news, five people were killed in Jerusalem as the 'darkness' seems to have started spread into Israel..."

"Ronald Weasley! There you are!" The red haired man turned to see a young girl of his age enter the bar; her hands on her hips and stern look on her face. She had wavy, waist length auburn hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing fashionable winter clothes of a college student. She was also quite tall at 5 foot 7.

"Hey Maggie," said Ron with a weak grin. Ron Weasley and Margaret Chapel had been steadily dating for a few months since the beginning of their freshmen year at Columbia University. Margaret was a muggle, but she somehow knew that there was more to what was happening in Europe than most muggles did.

Since the first time they had met, the mysterious red haired British man whom was attending Columbia with a full scholarship had entranced Margaret. After steadily dating for months, the two had completely fallen in love with each other. Yet, Ron always seemed depressed, and Margaret guessed that it had to do with "darkness" overtaking all of Europe, including England.

"Come on Ron, you don't belong here," said Margaret as she pulled Ron off of his stool.

"OK, OK. I'm up Maggie," muttered Ron as Margaret pulled her out of the bar into the cold December night outside. It was Christmas Eve and the snow was falling between the skyscrapers. Ron and Margaret started to make their way to the campus of Columbia University where they lived. They past many Christmas festivities along the way, which seemed to be making Ron more and more depressed.

"I should be spending Christmas with my family," muttered Ron. "I should be in England, with my parents, my brothers and my sister. But that can never happen now."

"Ron, your family's OK."

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT?!" yelled Ron. "Do you have any idea what its like in Britain now?! They're probably all dead! And I'm living here in New York, hiding like a coward!"

Margaret bit her lip and looked down. She knew what it was like to lose a family; her parents who lived in Albany had died in a car crash right before she had graduated from High School. Margaret didn't know entirely what had happened to Ron before he came to New York. The only things she knew about Ron was that he was the sixth of seven children and that he went to boarding school in Scotland.

"Sorry," muttered Ron as he cooled down. "Its just that, I have no idea what's happening to them right now." Margaret nodded in understanding. They started to make their way back again.

"Its not just my family," said Ron suddenly. "Did I ever tell you I had two best friends?"

"No," said Margaret, interested in finding out another aspect about Ron's life.

"The two greatest friends I could ever ask for, we were inseparable. But then, one of my best friends disappeared without a trace, two years ago, right when this 'darkness' was starting to take over. He disappeared, along with the headmaster of our school. People lost hope after they were gone and many just gave up. I haven't heard from him in all that time."

Margaret had no idea what Ron was talking about, but she continued to listen.

"For a long time, I was angry at him. I blamed him for abandoning us when we needed him the most. But my other best friend never gave up hope that he would return. And then, about eight months ago, I abandoned her and ran to New York. I bloody abandoned her!" Margaret was surprised when Ron stifled a sob. "Who am I to accuse my best friend of abandoning us while I myself abandoned our other best friend?! I'm nothing more than a bloody coward who fled when he was needed!"

Margaret placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Ron, you're not a coward. I know you as one of the bravest people I know and I love you because of that."

Ron made a weak grin and kissed her. "Thanks Maggie. I needed that. Oh, and I love you too."

"Um, excuse me sir. Could you please come here for a minute?" Ron and Margaret looked up to see a short old man walk over to them, leaning on a cane. "Ah, why don't I find your fortune for you." Ron and Margaret ignored the man and continued walking down the sidewalk. Suddenly, the old man called out, "You're a Hogwarts alum, are you not?"

Margaret was surprised when Ron stopped still in his tracks. Without a word, Ron turned around and walked up to the old man. "All right, what do you have to say?" demanded Ron, his brow furrowed.

The old man chuckled. "I'm a seer, fellow wizard. I can make a prediction for you."

Ron snorted. "Oh, so seers can make predictions," he said sarcastically. "Sorry but I'm skeptical about divination."

"At least hear me out," said the old man. He suddenly went into a trance and in an eerie voice said:

"When the dark days have come and the serpent rules, there will be a day when light enters the world again. For the days of the serpent are numbered and his doom shall be signaled by the return of the lion. And the days of darkness will be over."

Ron simply stared at the old man before he went back to Margaret. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"Nothing," said Ron. "Lets just go back now."

After a while, the two finally made it back to the apartment where Magaret lived with her Aunt and 8-year old cousin, right next to Columbia's campus. Margaret's family had taken an immediate liking of Ron. So the two went up to her apartment. They started kissing passionately while in the elevator but met with a horrifying sight when the doors opened on her floor.

The door to Margaret's apartment was ripped off of its hinges and the living space itself looked like a hurricane had flown through. Everything was either broken or damaged on the floor. Margaret gasped when she found her aunt unconscious on the kitchen floor, blood leaking out of her left temple. She started looking everywhere for her cousin Peter but was distressed to find that he was nowhere in the apartment.

"Ron!" she shouted. "Peter's gone! Where could he...Ron? What's the matter?" Ron was staring at the living room wall. His face was pale and his body was shaking. Margaret slowly made it Ron's side and gasped.

Burnt into the wall was a livid skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth. "The dark mark," muttered Ron. Underneath the mark, burnt into the wall were the following letters:

Ronald Weasley,

If you ever wish to see the muggle child alive again, come to the abandoned shoe warehouse in south Harlem at midnight. If you even think about alerting the authorities, the muggle will die. Surrender yourself to us, fugitive.

Margaret glanced at one of the few clocks that survived and saw that it was 11:46 PM. A few tears rolled down her cheeks. "Ron, what is this about?" she asked.

Ron suddenly screamed. "This is my fault!" he hollered. "If I had never come here, the Death Eaters wouldn't have taken Peter! It's me they want!" He calmed down and whispered. "I should just surrender myself."

"Ron, I don't know what's going on but surrendering won't do anything!" yelled Margaret angrily with tears falling.

Ron looked up at her, a defeated look on his face. "This is all my fault. If we never..."

"I don't care whose fault it is! All I care is that those people have my cousin and I'm going to fight them to get him back!"

Ron stared at Margaret for a second. His face suddenly took on a look of determination. "You're right!" he said. "Lets go fight for Peter." He grabbed Margaret's shoulder.

Margaret suddenly felt a tingly feeling when her apartment started to dissolve away. A second later, Margaret was shocked to find herself standing in the middle of the warehouse in Harlem!

"Wha...how...how," she stuttered.

Ron was studying his surroundings as he said, "Its called apparation." He pulled out a wooden stick from his coat.

"What's that?" asked Margaret, feeling a little scared.

"My wand," said Ron. He looked at Margaret and grinned. "You see I'm a wizard."

"A wizard? As in magic and stuff?"

"That's right."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Margaret wouldn't have believed him if it weren't for the demonstration of apparation he had just shown.

"I'll explain later." Ron suddenly motioned for quiet. A second later, about thirty men in dark black cloaks and masks entered the room. One of them led a crying Peter Chapel into the warehouse, holding a wand to his throat.

"Peter!" shouted Margaret. She tried to run to him, but Ron held her back.

"Ronald Weasley," said one of the masked men. "You are hereby under arrest for treason against the Dark Order. Surrender yourself and we will take you into custody back to England."

"I'll go, " said Ron, "only if you let that boy go."

The masked men started to laugh hysterically. "Do not be absurd, Weasley," said one of them. "Did you really expect us to pass up a chance to kill muggles?"

Ron swished his wand and shouted, "Accio Peter!" The young boy suddenly flew into Margaret's arms. They both stared at Ron eyes wide. "RUN!" he shouted.

Margaret and Peter tried to make a dash for the exit. Before they could get there, one of the hooded men shouted "Petrificus Totalus!" Margaret and Peter both collapsed to the floor, their bodies frozen solid. If her lips could move, Margaret would've screamed.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Ron. He disarmed one of the masked men and dashed to Margaret and Peter. He hurriedly performed the counter curse, and Margaret scrambled to her feet, clutching a very frightened Peter. Before they could move, the masked men surrounded them.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted one of the masked men. Ron's wand shot out of his hand. "It ends now Weasley," gloated the man while his comrades chuckled. "Why not watch us kill the muggles before we kill you." Margaret and Peter were clutching each other, sobbing while Ron stood in front of them.

"You'll have to kill me first before I let you lay a finger on these two, Death Eater," yelled Ron.

The man grinned behind his mask. "Suit yourself," he said. He pointed his wand at Ron.

Suddenly, a voice with a strong London accent called out, "Oh come now, surely you don't want to kill him first and miss your chance to kill me."

The masked men all whipped around, shocked and surprised. But the most shocked of all was Ron, for he had instantly recognized the voice. "It can't be," he muttered. It was. The voice had come from a young man who was leaning against the wall next to the exit, his arms crossed.

It was Harry Potter.

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A/N I'm back! And I'm better than ever! At least I hope I am. So here's the first chapter to my latest fic. Is it enjoyable? I sure hope it is because it's going to be novel length. So read and review, please. And just sit back and enjoy the "Return of the Lion"!

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."

Revelation 5:5

Chapter 2: The Hero Returns

Ron stared at the young man leaning against the wall. There was no mistaking his best friend whom he hadn't seen in two years. He was tall, about six feet. His emerald green eyes sparkled behind a pair of rimless glasses and his lightning bolt-shaped scar was clearly visible behind his bangs. His raven black hair stuck from underneath a tattered and patched up black hat that looked just like the school Sorting Hat. He wore sleeveless scarlet robes that went down to his knees and was held in shape by a black belt around his waist. An image of a golden lion's face was drawn on the torso part of the scarlet robes. Underneath the robes, he wore a white long sleeve shirt that disappeared into a pair of black dragon hide gloves. He also wore white trousers that disappeared into black dragon hide boots. He had a black cloak that he wore like a cape flowing down his shoulders.

The masked men, Death Eaters stared at the young man in shock. "Harry Potter?" demanded one of them.

Harry made a small bow and said, "In the flesh." He straightened up. "I have a number of questions I need to ask you guys. I leave for two years and come back to a world completely different. What happened while I was gone? And Ron, what are you doing in New York?" Ron was too shocked to say anything.

The Death Eaters started drawing toward Harry, completely forgetting about Ron, Margaret, and Peter. "If we can kill the famous Harry Potter, than our reward would be that much greater," said one of them with a chuckle.

Harry simply lowered his stance and grinned. "Give it your best shot," he said.

The Death Eaters all fired curses and hexes at Harry. Harry simply grinned and deflected all the curses with a shield charm. With lightning fast reflexes, Harry leaped forward and made a flying kick into one of the Death Eater's faces. He then spun around and backhanded another one. Two more Death Eaters pounced at Harry but he simply whipped his wand out and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" He placed enough power in the curse to knock them out.

Harry leaped forward and placed a drop kick on another Death Eater. He used the momentum of the kick to flip over in the air. While in mid flip, he flicked his wand and shot out a shock wave that blasted five Death Eaters away. Three more Death Eaters fired curses at him but Harry, with the image of a racket or bat hitting a ball, swung his wand around and deflected the curses back to their originators. Harry crouched down and started firing stunners and disarming spells at the rest of the Death Eaters, occasionally blocking one of their curses.

Another Death Eater came forward. He started twirling his wand around like a baton making all sorts of fancy moves. After the Death Eater had finished with his wand twirling, there was a moment of silence before Harry pointed his wand and said, "Stupefy," knocking the Death Eater out.

That left only one Death Eater. Rather than face Harry, the cowardly man grabbed the Cleansweep 7 broomstick that he had on his back and fled into the air through a hole in the roof. "Oh no you don't!" yelled Harry. He pulled out his Firebolt from beneath his cloak, mounted it, and took off after the Death Eater. Harry's superior broom soon caught up.

It was then, that Ron witnessed an amazing sight. Harry's hair started to grow thicker and longer. His nails started to change into claws and his robes started to change into golden fur. Within less than a second, Harry Potter had transformed into a magnificent golden lion with a shaggy black mane, emerald eyes, and a scar on his forehead!

Ron instantly remembered the words of the seer he had met earlier that night:

"When the dark days have come and the serpent rules, there will be a day when light enters the world again. For the days of the serpent are numbered and his doom shall be signaled by the return of the lion. And the days of darkness will be over."

'Harry is the lion,' thought Ron. 'The prophecy was true.'

With a mighty roar, the lion that was Harry pounced on the Death Eater, bringing the broomstick he was riding crashing down. At the last moment, Harry transformed back into his human form and performed a charm that cushioned their fall. In this way, all the Death Eaters were defeated.

Harry studied the motionless forms of the Death Eaters and grinned. "Hmm. Not bad. I was afraid that my wand skills would be a little rusty but it looks like I've still got what it..." Suddenly, Ron ran forward and punched Harry's cheek as hard as he could! Harry rocked back but held his footing. He stared at Ron with an expression of surprise and bewilderment. Ron looked livid.

"Two years!" he yelled. "Two bloody years and no word from you! Where the bloody hell have you been?! Do you know how much we needed you? Do you know how much I needed you? Or how much Hermione needed you?"

Harry looked sorrowful. "Ron, all I can say is that I'm sorry. I can explain, but it still doesn't warrant my leaving without any word. You have every right to be angry with me. But please, at least hear me out."

Ron threw his arms up looking exasperated. "OK, fine. I'll hear what you have to say. But we should really get back."

The company returned to Margaret's apartment. Little Peter had completely forgotten his fear and was awed by Harry's powers: especially his animagus powers to transform into a lion. Eventually, Margaret put him in bed. Harry also placed a minor memory charm on Margaret's aunt while Ron repaired the apartment. Soon, there were no traces of the attack in the apartment.

After everything had been set in order, Harry and Ron sat down and explained everything to Margaret. They told her about the wizarding world, about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and about Voldemort. Margaret was a good audience who gasped at all the right places. She seemed frightened to find out what the "darkness" that was threatening the world really was.

After everything was explained to Margaret, Ron turned to Harry. "Alright, explain," he said with a stern face. Harry sighed.

"Well to begin with, you remember what happened after the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, right? That was pretty much the start of things. After Voldemort's (Ron shuddered at the name) return, Dumbledore wanted full preparation for the war that would inevitably come. So he took me to a special training facility in Tibet during the summer before sixth year. I was trained to become a Battle Wizard."

Ron remembered that that was when he had lost contact with Harry. "Why didn't you ever tell us? At least you could've written."

Harry shook his head. "One of the conditions of training in this facility was that I sever all contact with the outside world until the end of my training. For two years, Dumbeldore and my other trainers drilled me in all forms of dueling, martial arts, and combat magic. I was also trained to become an animagus as I demonstrated before. Dumbledore stayed behind but he will also come back eventually." He sighed. "I only found out what happened after I completed my training about a week ago. If I had known I would've come as fast as I could, training or no training."

"Well you didn't know did you?" yelled Ron. "While you were gone getting pumped up in the Himalayas, the world as we know has changed! You-know-who is the absolute ruler of Europe and is threatening the rest of the world! People are dying by the thousands everyday! And I don't even know if Hermione is alive or not!"

"I know Ron," said Harry. "That's why I want you to come back to Britain with me."

Ron stared at Harry looking shocked. "What?"

"Lets go back home Ron. We can work to bring Voldemort down together. That's the main reason why I came to New York first before I went back, to bring you home."

Ron looked frightened. "But...but I abandoned everyone. They wouldn't welcome me back."

"The treatment you get will be no different from mine for not being around the past two years. If we go back together, things will work out fine. We'll defeat Voldemort, find Hermione and everything will be back to the way it used to be."

"What about Hermione? We don't even know if she's alive."

"Oh no, she's alive. That's one thing I'm absolutely positive about."

"What? How come?"

Harry pulled a bracelet from his cloak. It had three gems on it, one red, one blue, and one green. All three were giving off a dazzling light.

"Before I left for my training," said Harry. "I had this bracelet created as a connection between the three of us. The red gem represents you, the blue gem represents Hermione, and the green gem represents me. So long, as the gems give off their light, I know that the person it represents is alive. Its also through this bracelet that I was able to find you."

"So we can use that bracelet to find Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Unfortunately no. Hermione is somewhere in Europe and the Dark Magic there is much too powerful to find her exact position. But at least I can see that she's alive. Whichever way, we can't start looking for her until we go back to Britain. So Ron, will you come with me?" Harry stood up, smiled, and offered his hand.

Ron stared at Harry's outstretched hand for a moment. Finally, he grinned and said, "You know, I'm still angry with you. But that doesn't mean I don't want my best friend back." Ron grabbed Harry's hand. "I'm in mate."

"And I'm going with you two," said Margaret looking determined. Ron faced her looking surprised and angry.

"Oh no you're not Maggie," he said. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do, Ron," said Margaret glaring at him. "I am coming with you. And don't you dare try to leave me behind. I can take care of myself."

"Oh, so a muggle can take care of herself against a bunch of bloodthirsty wizards," said Ron sarcastically. "It's too dangerous for a muggle, Margaret!"

"Hang on a minute," said Harry. He tossed his wand to Margaret who caught it. "Say 'lumos'," said Harry.

Margaret shrugged and said, "Lumos." To her and Ron's surprise, a brilliant light lit up on the wand's tip!

Harry grinned. "Now say 'nox'." Margaret shakily said the word and the light went out. Harry pulled out a feather from inside his cloak and placed it on the table. "Swish and flick the wand like this," Harry did the hand gestures, "and say, 'Wingardium Leviosa'."

Magaret shakily nodded. She swished and flicked the wand and said, "Wingarium Leviosa." The feather rose about two feet into the air. Ron was utterly speechless.

Harry grinned. "Just like I thought. You're a muggle-born witch, Margaret."

Margaret was completely speechless. Finally she managed to say, "B-but, how is that possible."

Harry seemed to be thinking, "Where did you grow up?"

"In Albany."

"Which means you should've attended Salem Academy of Magic when you turned eleven. Well, that explains it. Remember Ron, the old principal of Salem was notorious for his prejudice toward muggle-borns, seven years ago."

Ron nodded in understanding. Margaret however, didn't look quite that convinced. "B-but how could I be a witch? I m-mean, how is it possible. Before tonight, I've never performed any magic."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Haven't strange things happen around you whenever you were angry or upset?" he asked.

"Well once, when I was twelve, I was upset for being grounded and a light bulb in my lamp exploded. And there were times when my aunt's hair turned green when I was angry with her."

"Well there you have it," said Harry. He took his wand back and tucked it into his belt. "Besides, those tricks you just used should be enough to prove that you, Margaret Chapel, are indeed a witch."

Margaret finally seemed to accept her identity as a witch. Ron however still wasn't satisfied. "Just because you're a witch doesn't mean she can come with us."

"Actually it would be safer for her to come with us," said Harry.

"What? What kind of logic is that?"

"Think about it Ron. Margaret is a muggle-born who has absolutely no training whatsoever. If we left her behind, she'd end up as a target of Death Eater agents in America with no means of defending herself. It would be much safer for to come with us and learn magic first hand. We'd probably run into some of our old Hogwarts professors, they'd help train her."

Ron spluttered for a moment before he grudgingly said, "OK Maggie, you can come with us." Margaret beamed at him.

"Right, now that we've got that worked out, we need to get back to Britain," said Harry. He pulled out an old glove from inside his cloak. "This portkey will take us to Hogwarts. I've done some research during the week I've been back and I found out that the school is being used for the British resistance against Voldemort. The portkey will take effect in about thirty minutes. So hurry up and get everything you need."

Margaret hurriedly went to her room and packed a few belongings she would be bringing. She also left a note for her aunt. Ron summoned all of his belongings from his residence.

"OK, is everyone ready?" asked Harry.

"Yes," said Ron and Margaret.

"OK, we've got a minute before the portkey takes effect. Grab on." Ron and Margaret took a hold of the old glove Harry was carrying. Slowly the seconds counted down. Finally, the time came and the three disappeared with a flash.

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A/N Well, now you know why I titled this story, "Return of the Lion". Because Harry is the lion and his return signals the start of the downfall of Voldemort's order. The reason why it is PG-13 is because it's a lot darker than my previous fics. But that shouldn't be too much of a hindrance though I can't say about anybody younger than 11. So do you like this chapter? Well things will get even more exciting in the following chapters. So enjoy. And please R/R.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

Matthew 5:4

Chapter 3: A Girl with no Legs

Europe was a hellhole those days. A land where evil did not sleep and darkness was ever present. People lived in fear as dark creatures wandered around terrorizing their victims that could not hide away. The great cities of Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Moscow, Florence, St. Petersburg, and Athens had been converted into Dark Fortresses where Death Eaters lived in great luxury while beggars littered the streets, forever preyed on by the dark creatures whom roamed Europe. But, the most horrible, yet magnificent of these fortress cities was London where Voldemort himself resided: in a great fortress known as Parselrock. This fortress was the symbol of the Dark Lord's reign of terror and its dungeons were a spawning ground for the legions of dark creatures that served Voldemort.

There were labor camps all over the continent. Muggles and muggle-borns were used in slave labor to construct the mighty fortresses that were once metropolitan cities. Yet resistance movements constantly sprung up, mostly in the labor camps themselves. Muggles and muggle-borns as well as many pure bloods fought the dark terror overrunning Europe, and most never gave up hope that they would survive and peace would return.

There was a labor camp near Paris that had British slaves working there. One day, a five-year old muggle boy was pushing a rock around as part of the slave program. He was weak and hungry, and most people would not be able to imagine the harsh brutality of forcing a boy so young to work such backbreaking labor.

As the boy worked hard to get his job done, the roof of the shelter he was in suddenly started to collapse due to disrepair! Too exhausted, the boy couldn't understand the cries of warning as the roof fell on his head. At the last minute, a girl about the age of eighteen dove forward and pushed the boy out of the way. In the process however, her legs were crushed under the debris and she blacked out.

* * * * * * * * * *

When the young girl finally came to, she found herself lying in a bed in a dark room. She also noticed that someone was moving around in the room. "Where am I? Who's there?" she asked weakly in a clear London accent.

"Shh, everything's OK now," said the person. It turned out to be an American woman in her early thirties with shoulder length blonde hair and warm blue eyes. "I'm Dr. Susan Thomas, a surgeon. You're in what was Versailles Palace. It's the headquarters of the French resistance now." She gently stroked the girl's hair with a kind smile on her face. The girl in the bed had long frizzy golden brown hair that went down to the small of her back and cinnamon brown eyes.

"The boy? Is he..."

"He's OK. He's here with us in the resistance. You saved his life. Now child, tell me, what is your name?"

"Hermione. Hermione Granger." Hermione's face suddenly turned into a look of alarm and fear. "Doctor, why can't I feel my legs?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Susan Thomas suddenly looked very sorrowful. "Hermione, I'm so sorry. I don't know how to say this, but by the time we were able to clear the debris off of you...Hermione, I'm so sorry."

Hermione apprehensively glanced at her covers at where her legs should've been. As soon as she saw the lack of the bumps in her covers she started weeping, for it could only mean one thing. Both of her legs had been amputated above her knees. Susan gently comforted the crying girl as Hermione wept for the loss of her legs, yet felt thankful that she was still alive.

* * * * * * * * * *

The resistance found an old wheelchair for Hermione. They were all muggles whom had developed a deep hatred for the magical community due to Voldemort's reign. For that reason, Hermione kept the fact that she was a muggle-born witch a secret for the time being.

Hermione got used to the wheelchair in no time. She was still sad about the loss of her legs but she decided that at least she was alive and that she would enjoy the rest of her life even without the ability to walk. If she was even slightly resentful of the fact that if it were a witch or wizard whom had found her, she would still have her legs, she hid it well.

Hermione got to know the members of the muggle resistance very well. They were all once people who had their own lives, jobs, families, and were blissfully unaware of the existence of the magical world: until Voldemort came. Now, they had lost everything to the Dark Forces and the only thing that had left was to fight back. Indeed, Hermione found that the former palace was lain out with all sorts of muggle weapons: machine guns, hand grenades, cannons, missile launchers, rifles and other weapons she had no clue were.

Hermione grew to become friends with Susan Thomas. Despite their age difference, they became quite close and were on a first name basis. On the other hand, John Seymour, the leader of the resistance remained skeptical of the legless girl in a wheel chair. He seemed to be convinced that Hermione was a magical spy and was always interrogating her.

"So where are you from?" asked Seymour.

Hermione sighed exasperated. "I've told you so many times John. I'm from London, but I went to boarding school in Scotland."

The Texan resistance fighter looked unconvinced. He was a large man at six foot four and was loaded with muscles, around 28 years of age with a full head of blonde hair along with beard and moustache. He often boasted that he was once a Texas Ranger. Hermione couldn't help but feel small around him, which she definitely was without her legs.

"So did you have any friends at this boarding school?" asked Seymour, not even bothering to hide his skepticism.

"Yes, two inseparable best friends," said Hermione a little sadly. It hurt her to talk about Harry and Ron. Both of them had disappeared from her, Harry two years ago, and Ron just a few months before. She missed them dearly, especially Harry.

During their school days, Hermione had feelings for Harry Potter. Yet she always dismissed those feelings believing them to be simply nothing more than a childhood crush. It was only after Harry had disappeared that she realized that her feelings were not just a childhood crush: that she was in love with her missing best friend. Hermione had spent many nights after her epiphany crying herself to sleep since she had no clue of what had happened to Harry.

After Harry's disappearance, Voldemort had grown more and more powerful until he had become the ruler of Europe. Hogwarts was one of the last safest places in the world but even the school couldn't keep out the Death Eaters forever. She and Ron stuck together after Harry had left, but even that had ended on their graduation day. On that day, the Death Eaters finally breached the defensive wards of the school and either killed or captured all the students and teachers there. Many had fled but Hermione had been amongst those that had been captured. Since then, she was carted off to different labor camps throughout Europe until she was finally taken to the Paris labor camp. There, she had run into the accident that had cost her legs. And now, here she was in Versailles, with a muggle resistance group.

"So how do we know that you're not some spy for those witches and wizards?" hissed Seymour.

Susan threw her arms up exasperated. "John. She lost her legs saving a child's life. How much more convincing do you need?"

"But if she were a witch, the loss of limbs would be nothing. They can grow 'em back."

Hermione would've laughed if the situation weren't serious. Wizard medicine could not grow back amputated limbs. But the muggle ignorance was starting to get on her nerves a little.

"I'm going outside," said Hermione. She wheeled her chair out to the balcony. From there, she could see Paris in the distance. All the landmarks, the Eiffel tower, the Arc du Troiumphe, and Notre Dame Cathedral were still standing. But they were now magical strongholds of a dark fortress city. The gloomy atmosphere surrounding Paris looked so different from when he had last visited there with her parents back when she was twelve years old, during the summer before her third year.

Her parents. Hermione let a few tears slide down her cheeks. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were murdered by Death Eaters during the spring of her fifth year. Hermione could still remember her world come collapsing down when she received the owl that bore the news. And she could still feel the warmth of Harry comforting her while she cried the entire night in his arms. It was a few months after that when Harry disappeared. Hermione had never given up hope that he would come home some day. She truly believed in her heart that Harry would be the one who would finally defeat Voldemort when he returned from wherever he was. That was the hope Hermione had held onto, even when she had seen the world fall apart in front of her eyes.

Hermione glanced down at the children in the courtyard of the palace, playing in the snow. The boy whose life she had saved saw her and waved. Hermione smiled and waved back. The adults of the resistance had tried their best to hide their children from the horrors of reality of life. Many of the children lived oblivious of the terrors that went on outside the palace.

"Here Hermione, this is for you," said a voice from behind her. Hermione craned her head around to see Susan handing her a small package.

"What's this?"

"A special Christmas treat I've been able to dig up."

"Oh, is it Christmas?"

"Actually, its what you British call Boxing Day," said Susan. Hermione sighed.

"I lost track of the dates a long time ago," she said. 'Its only been six months since I've last seen Ron or anyone I know. It seems like years ago,' she thought.

Susan glanced over the balcony toward the city. "I know what you're thinking. You wish that you were spending Christmas with your friends and family." Hermione nodded and thought of Harry. She dearly wished that it were with Harry and the Weasleys that she was spending Christmas.

Susan sighed and glanced at the city. "I moved from Pittsburgh to Paris so that I could set up new horizons with my medical fields. Unfortunately, when I had only been there for a month, the 'darkness' took over. I immediately joined the resistance John set up here and helped them out with my medical knowledge. My family back home probably thinks I'm dead." Susan chuckled bitterly before she turned to Hermione. "Do you have family?"

Hermione shook her head. "My parents died when I was fifteen. I have no other relatives."

"That must have been very hard to deal with."

"It was. But Harry helped me recover. He knew what it felt like to have no parents."

Susan nodded in understanding. Hermione had told her about the best friend she was in love with. "Could you tell me about him?" she asked.

"He was the bravest person I ever knew," said Hermione. "He was selfless, kind, always put others before him, and was very mischievious. He somehow always made me laugh, and he always comforted me when I was sad. He was famous around where we were from, but he never asked anything in return. And he never used his fame for his own advantages. I don't think I can remember how many times I've been dragged into his adventures, breaking so many rules in the process. He'd always laugh whenever I scolded him about breaking rules or whenever I had to urge him to do his homework. He always knew how to brighten the day and I love him so much." Hermione closed her eyes and let a few tears slide down her cheeks. Not being with Harry had been a constant ache she had been carrying for the past two years. Not being with Harry seemed more like losing a limb than the loss of her legs had seemed to her.

Susan was amazed by the young girl who was talking about her best friend in such a way. She may only be eighteen, but it was clear to the doctor that she had already discovered her true love. Hermione sniffed and brushed the tears away.

"Every night, I pray that he would come back. I always believe that just his return would change everything and that it would signal an end to these horrible days." She offered Susan a watery smile. "Harry's return is my anchor to hope. So long as I believe that he will come back one day I don't fall into despair."

Susan squeezed Hermione's shoulder and smiled. "Come back inside. You'll catch a cold out here." She walked back inside the palace.

Hermione glanced up at the sky. 'Please,' she prayed. 'Please bring Harry back to us. We need him. I need him. Please.' She let a tear roll down her eye as she turned her wheelchair around and went back into the palace. Little did Hermione know that across the Atlantic, in New York, her prayer had already come true.

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A/N I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! But to make the plot work out, I had to have something horrible happen to Hermione around the beginning of the fic. How could I do that to her? But of course, in the magic world, who knows what's going to happen. So R/ R please.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms."

1 Peter 4:10

Chapter 4: Return to Hogwarts

Once the sight of the greatest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, Hogwarts castle was now the headquarters of the largest resistance organization against Voldemort. The leaders of the resistance were the former professors of the school as well as a number of powerful witches and wizards, and the castle was still the citadel of hope and citadel against the war against the Dark Forces.

On Christmas Day, the leaders of the resistance were discussing their next course of action against the Dark Lord. Present in the Great Hall were some of the most powerful wizards and witches on the light side.

"Is everyone here and accounted for?" asked Minerva McGonagall. She was one of the leaders of the Hogwarts resistance.

"We are all here but I don't think we're all accounted for," said Severus Snape sounding as oily as usual. He gestured toward Sirius Black who was dozing on the table across from him. Remus Lupin, who was sitting next to Sirius, nudged him with his elbow. Sirius sprang up.

"Did we win the war yet?" he asked still half asleep. Remus rolled his eyes.

"Its like I always say," mumbled Alastar "Mad-eye" Moody. "People don't have enough CONSTANT VIGILENCE!"

"Let us begin right away," said McGonagall with her usual no nonsense tone. "Hagrid, have you been able to contact the giants?"

Rubeus Hagrid straightened up in his much too small seat. "Most of 'em haven' chosen sides professor," he said. "But some a 'em went ta You-know-who's side. I know that at least me cousin, Fanir went ta the dark side."

McGonagall sighed. "I wonder what Albus would say about that if he were here," she muttered. She turned to Arthur and Molly Weasley. "Arthur, have you been able to contact some of the muggle resistance groups?"

Arthur sighed as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yes, but they haven't been to forth coming. Most of them have a deep-rooted fear of wizards and frankly, I don't blame them. It's going to be very hard convincing them to fight along magical resistance groups."

McGonagall was about to say something when the doors suddenly swung open. The members of the resistance all held their breath thinking it was a Death Eater attack, but they all let out a gasp when Ron Weasley entered leading an 18-year old girl dressed in muggle clothes with long auburn hair. Without a word, Molly Weasley ran forward and pulled her son into a strong bear hug.

"Owe Mum. You're cutting my circulation," complained Ron.

"Ron where have you been all this time?" scolded Arthur as he pulled Ron into a hug.

"Er, Dad. You're not going to believe this but I was attending a muggle university in New York." Ron turned to the bashful looking girl right next to him. "Mum, Dad, this is Margaret Chapel. Maggie, these are my parents."

Margaret made a polite curtsey. "Hello Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley," she said a little shyly. Margaret was completely startled when Molly suddenly pulled her into a fierce hug.

"Any friend of Ron is a friend of the entire Weasley family," she said. She pulled away from the flustered looking Margaret and turned to her son. "Ronald Weasley, you have a lot of explaining to do. What were you thinking, just running off to America."

"Uh, Mum. Before you say anything, there's someone else with us." He and Margaret stepped out of the way to allow another man to enter the Great Hall. All of the Hogwarts resistance gasped when Harry Potter walked in.

For about a full minute, there was pure silence in the hall. Then, Sirius suddenly bounded up, grabbed Harry by the collar, and started to shake him senseless. "Where the hell have been?! Do you know how much we needed you here while you were away at God knows where?" he demanded.

"S...Sirius. Can I have my circulation back?" said Harry. Sirius released him. "I'll explain everything later. For now, please just accept the fact that I'm back."

Sirius stared at Harry for a while before he smiled and pulled Harry into a hug. As if the hug was a cue, all of the other members of the ganged up on Harry, either wishing him a welcome back, or scolding him for leaving them without a word.

* * * * * * * * * *

After all manners of explanations on part of Harry and Ron were given, it was decided that Margaret would be given a crash course education in magic while the others prepared for battle. The first move was to get Margaret a wand. Mr. Ollivander was amongst the resistance and with him, his entire stock of wands.

"Ah yes, Mr. Weasley," said Mr. Ollivander. "Fourteen inches, willow, unicorn tail-hair, was it not?"

"Yes it was," said Ron. "We were able to get it with prize money my Dad won in a Daily Prophet Draw. It was actually my second wand, but the first one was a hand me down so it doesn't really count."

Mr. Ollivander nodded before he turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter. Holly, eleven inches, and phoenix feather: excellent for dueling. One of the most powerful wands I ever sold, along with its brother."

Harry nodded and pulled out his wand. "Still the same one," he said.

Mr. Ollivander turned to Margaret and smiled. "Now lets see which wand will chose you, Miss Chapel. Which arm is your wand arm?"

Margaret timidly lifted her right arm up: Mr. Ollivader scared her out a bit with his eerie nature. Mr. Ollivander set the tape measure on her arm and Margaret jumped a little when she noticed that it was taking measurements on its own. Mr. Ollivander finally emerged with a wand.

"Try this, eight inches, maple, and a single feather of a phoenix. Wave it around." Margaret took the wand and waved it but before she was able to bring it down, Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand. "No? Well, how about this? Twelve inches, cherry, and dragon heartstring." Margaret waved it but it was snatched away again. This continued on for another couple of wands, all with no success. Margaret started to get worried that no wand would be suitable for her. Mr. Ollivander on the other hand seemed to be enjoying what he was doing. "Tricky customer eh?" said Mr. Ollivander with glee. "Well, maybe this one. Twelve inches, pine, and a single tail hair from a unicorn."

Margaret took the wand timidly. Immediately, she felt wand get a little wand and buzz with an electric tingling. She waved the wand around and blue sparks shot out.

"Bravo," said Mr. Ollivander while clapping his hands.

"All right!" shouted Ron as he made a victory pose. Harry was also beaming. Margaret smiled at them.

"Well, let's go set up your magical education why not?" said Harry as they made their way back to the Great Hall. They met McGonagall there.

"Well Miss Chapel, I ask that you brace yourself because we are going to cram in what students usually learn throughout seven years into a couple of weeks. It is going to be a lot of hard work."

Margaret smiled and said, "I'll be ready for anything Professor."

McGonagall nodded and said, "Of course it would be a lot easier to work out a curriculum if we could get you sorted."

"That would be no problem," said Harry. "Margaret, could you sit on that stool?" Harry pointed to a stool in one of the corners of the room. Margaret shrugged and sat on the stool. Harry whipped his hat off of his head and placed it on Margaret's head. He pulled it down below her eyes and ears. After about a minute of silence, Ron made a double take when the hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"

Ron timidly pointed at the tattered hat as Harry put it back on his head. "Um, Harry, is that hat..."

"Yep, it's the school Sorting Hat," said Harry. "Brilliant companion but can be a bit annoying at times."

"It said that I have the strong qualities of a Gryffindor but that my intelligence points more toward Ravenclaw," said Margaret with a faint smile.

"Well, that settles it," said McGonagall. "Miss Chapel, we will begin your training tomorrow. You will learn Transfiguration with me, Potions with Professor Snape, Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Lupin, Herbology with Professor Sprout, and Charms with Professor Flitwick."

"I'll make you proud professor," said Margaret. After McGonagall had left, Margaret turned to Harry and Ron. "You got any advice?" she asked.

"Just keep an eye out on Snape," said Harry.

"Yeah, Snape, our most brilliant potions master. Just loved us," said Ron sarcastically.

"You're also lucky you're only taking the core curriculum," said Harry. "Otherwise you might've ended up with Trelawny in divination." Ron snorted with laughter.

"Oh yeah, never failed to predict Harry's death," he said. Both he and Harry burst out laughing.

"I'm still a little scared. What if I'm no good at magic?" asked Margaret, looking a little worried.

"Don't worry about it Maggie," said Ron. "Trust me, before you know it, you'll be out-dueling me."

* * * * * * * * * *

A few days later, the leaders of the resistance were discussing their next plan of action. It was decided that some wizards were to free the prisoners in a labor camp near Manchester. It was also hoped that the move could convince some muggles to combine their resistance movements.

"So do we have any volunteers who want to go on this mission?" asked McGonagall.

"I volunteer," said Harry before anyone else could speak up. All of the leaders stared at the young wizard.

"Harry, I would've thought you'd want to stay in some position of leadership," said Sirius.

"Wouldn't your skills work better in a place of authority?" asked Remus.

"I appreciate the confidence everyone has in my leadership abilities," said Harry with a small smile. "However, the place where I can use my abilities the most is out on the battlefield. It was what I was trained to do these past two years."

Murmurs filled the hall as the leaders discussed, Harry's decision to go straight into the line of fire. Finally, Snape spoke up, "What's with all the discussion? Surely, if Potter wants to go get himself killed, let him go get himself killed. It would do us all a favor."

"Love the confidence you have in Harry, Snape," said Ron. He turned to Harry and said, "You know I'm not going to let you go alone, right?"

"Ron I'm not letting you come with me. Its too dangerous," said Harry.

"Oh, like we all don't live during dangerous times," said Ron. "What right do you have to order me around, Harry?"

"Look Ron. I can't bear putting you in danger. There's too much responsibility on this mission."

"Oh, and I suppose you can handle all the responsibility," snapped Ron. "Look who's talking! You disappeared for two years without a word! I admit that I can fully accept your excuse but it still doesn't take away the bloody fact that you were gone!"

"Ron, I..."

"Don't 'Ron' me, Harry! I'm coming with you and that's final!"

Harry finally gave up. "OK Ron, you can come with me." Harry sighed while Ron grinned and slapped Harry on the back.

"Oh, but Ron, Harry's right it's too dangerous for you," said Molly.

Arthur however, said, "Molly, Ron's a grown up man now, he can make his own decisions." Molly sighed and gave in.

"OK then," said Remus. "You two should leave first thing in the morning. Oh, and you should probably take this with you." Harry gasped when he saw Remus pull out his father's invisibility cloak.

"OK Remus," said Harry while grinning. "And thanks for looking after the cloak while I was away."

The next morning, Harry and Ron took off on broomsticks, flying south to the realm of Voldemort's empire.

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A/N OK, I got so many complaints that I'm going to have to tell you now: Hermione will get her legs back, just not yet, and not for a while. So please, keep that in mind as you read this. So please R/R and wait for the next chapter.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,"

2 Corinthians 1:10 Chapter 5: Deliverance of the Camp

Seamus Finnigan was looking toward one of the concentration camps from one of the hideouts. He was part of a wizarding resistance group that was on a mission to liberate the concentration camp. The hope was that they could then convince the liberated muggle resistances to join with the magical resistances.

"This is going to be impossible," muttered Seamus. His group was composed of former Gryffindor students who were all fighting the dark forces. They were in an underground bunker, which had a lookout post that was disguised as a rock.

"Way to go with the optimism," said Ginny Weasley with the sarcasm she had inherited from Ron.

"Well think about it though," shouted Seamus looking frustrated. "What hope do we have? Even if we can liberate this camp, how is that going to change the tide of the war?!"

"He's right," said Lavender Brown who was sitting in a far corner over a crystal ball. "My inner eye shows dark times ahead of us." Parvati Patil, who was sitting next to Lavendar, nodded her approval with a gloomy face.

"Are you out of your minds!" yelled Ginny, her red hair flailing around. "And you call yourselves Gryffindors! If you..." Ginny would've continued if a silent alarm hadn't suddenly ringing.

"W-what's that?" asked a groggy looking Neville Longbottom. He had just woken up in the sleeping bag in another corner.

"We've got an intruder," hissed Dean Thomas. He and the other's started to draw their wands. Ginny however, motioned for quiet.

"Don't worry," she said. "Fred and George designed all the traps in this bunker. We're perfectly safe." As if on cue, a scream was heard. "You see, that's the intruder getting caught in one of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes traps," said Ginny looking smug.

"Well let's go get this intruder, than," said Dean. The Gryffindors all made their way deeper into the bunker where the scream had come from. Sure enough, they found a young man struggling in a net that was glowing with a yellow light.

"Don't try breaking out of that," said Seamus. "It's a fool-proof dark wizard catching trap."

"Well it would work perfectly if only it had caught a dark wizard," said the man looking annoyed. Ginny immediately recognized him with a gasp.

"Ron?"

"Ginny." Ron grinned at his sister.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"I'd explain if I didn't enjoy being caught in some net."

"Oh, sorry," said Ginny. She muttered an incantation and Ron fell to the floor with a thud. He groaned in pain as Ginny helped him back to his feet.

"Ron? Why are you here?" asked Lavender.

"Oh I just figured I'd sell all of you to You-know-who," said Ron while grinning. When the others just stared at him, Ron sighed and said, "I'm here to join you guys."

"Good luck," said Dean. "We don't stand a chance against the wardens of this camp. They've got security trolls all over. And this one monster."

"Monster?" said Ron with a raised eyebrow.

"W-we think they've got a c-chimaera in there," stuttered Neville looking frightened.

Ron simply shrugged and said, "We can worry about that later. In the mean time, just get everyone here ready to attack the camp in about a hour."

"WHAT?!" shouted all of the resistance members. "You expect us to get ready in a hour?!"

"We mustn't!" said Parvati. "If Professor Trelawny were here, she'd predict how this sudden attack would end in disaster."

"Well, Trelawny's words will really discourage me," said Ron sarcastically. He grinned when Lavender and Parvati scowled at him. "Don't worry, everything will go fine. There's a bug in the camp right now, or should I say lion."

* * * * * * * * * *

It was past curfew in the concentration camp. All of the prisoners were locked up in the tiny bunks made of concrete. These bunks were designed for a maximum capacity of ten people, but were crammed up with at least thirty prisoners in each. Under the snow, the roads had gravel spread out over them that was painful for the prisoners who were bare foot.

Security trolls patrolled the camp, brandishing their clubs stupidly. These clubs were feared for knocking many a prisoner's head off for trying to escape.

A large lion was prowling through the snow in the camp that night. He was mostly moving around in the shadows, avoiding the trolls. With cat-like movements, he easily avoided the potential threats he encountered by slipping into places where no human could enter.

The lion was looking for the warden Death Eater who was in charge of the camp. If he could bring down the head of the camp, then the stupid trolls could easily be brought down.

Eventually, the lion spotted something in the center of the camp. A fat Death Eater, who was clearly the warden, was walking toward a young girl of about twelve, flanked by trolls. The lion also spotted prisoners looking at the girl from the windows, expressions of terror on their faces. The girl looked terrified as the Death Eater walked up to her.

"Muggle," hissed the Death Eater. "You stole some of the security tolls' rations. Did you not?" hissed the Death Eater. The girl was visibly shaking and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"P-please sir. My m-mother is s-sick. I o-only wanted to g-give her some f-food."

The Death Eater laughed. "Ah yes, well everybody must take care of their mother. But of course, you still broke the rules, therefore you must be punished."

"P-punished?"

"Death!" hissed the Death Eater. The girl shuddered and fell to her knees in front of the Death Eater.

"No, please!" she begged. "My mother! She needs me! She would die without me!"

"Well then, you have nothing to worry about," said the Death Eater. The girl wearily looked up into the grinning face of the Death Eater. "She'd be joining you soon anyway."

"No!" screamed the girl. As if that was the cue, the prisoners started rushing out of the bunks, curfew forgotten as they tried to make it to the girl before she was mercilessly executed.

"Do any of you fools really think you can save this girl," hissed the Death Eater. All of the prisoners abruptly stopped. "You'll all be punished for breaking curfew. But first, I'm going to finish this muggle scum before your very eyes."

The Death Eater raised his wand toward the terrified girl and started to mutter the killing curse. Suddenly, the lion sprung out of his hiding place and pounced on the Death Eater with a mighty roar! He covered his body over the frightened girl and growled at the trolls who were closing in on him, their clubs raised. The Death Eater slowly stood up, looking shocked.

"A lion? In England?" he wondered out loud. It was also clear that all the prisoners were thinking the same thing. However, they didn't really care since for some strange reason, this lion seemed to be against their oppressors. The girl hesitantly petted the lion as the lion gently nudged her. She was mesmerized but the beautiful emerald green eyes of the lion.

"Thank you," she whispered before she ran away. She disappeared into the crowd.

It didn't take the wizard long to figure out the secret of the lion. "Get him," he ordered the trolls. "He's an animagus!"

The trolls lumbered toward the lion, waving their clubs over their heads. The lion remained in a crouching position while the trolls lumbered closer. Suddenly, he leapt onto one of them and sunk his fangs into the throat of the troll. From that troll, the lion pounced onto another one and slashed his claws into its face.

Another troll swung its club down, but the lion rolled out of the way as the club crashed into the snow. The lion leaped forward and sunk his claws into the troll's arm. The troll howled and pain and tried to fling the lion off. In the process, the troll rammed its club into a number of the other trolls surrounding it. The lion simply clung out to the troll’s arm, never letting go. Finally the troll fell down, exhausted.

That left only one troll. The troll swung its club down as the lion pranced back and forth, avoiding the club. Eventually, the lion pranced behind the troll, whereupon it leapt onto the troll's back. After much thrashing about, the troll sank down, exhausted.

The lion silently crept up to the Death Eater. "Don't think just because you beat a few trolls you can beat me," said the Death Eater. The quiver in his voice however, betrayed his fear.

The lion simply edged closer to the Death Eater. Suddenly, the Death Eater shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" The lion simply leapt out of the way of the green light of the killing curse, leaving behind a smoldering crater. The Death Eater fired a number of other killing curses and the lion simply dodged each of them. The Death Eater suddenly panicked. He pointed his wand toward the crowd. "Surrender or they die!" he shouted.

Before he could fire any curses however, the lion suddenly leapt in front of him and transformed! A gloved left hand grabbed the Death Eater's throat while a wand was pointed into the Death Eater's terrified face. What was previously a lion was now a young man in scarlet and gold robes, a black cloak, and a tattered black hat. Emerald green eyes shone behind a pair of glasses and a lightning bolt-shaped scar was clear behind messy black bangs. The Death Eater immediately recognized the wizard.

"H-Harry...Potter?"

"Whom did you expect?" said Harry with a sinister grin. The Death Eater looked positively more frightened than ever.

The Death Eater managed to squirm out of Harry's grasp and backed off. By now, the crowds were cheering Harry on.

"Don’t think I'm finished yet!" yelled the Death Eater. He placed two fingers on his lips and blew a shrill whistle. A monstrous creature suddenly leapt in between the Death Eater and Harry.

It was a chimera. It had three monstrous heads. Its main head was the head of a lion: flames were gushing from this head. Its body was the body of the goat, including a goat's head right behind the lion's head. It had a snake's tail that ended in a snake's head, fangs shining menacingly.

The crowds backed away in fear. Harry however seemed unimpressed as he smirked at the chimera. Suddenly, he started hissing in parseltongue. He seemed to be conversing with the snake's head. Eventually, it seemed as if the snake's head was convinced that Harry was not an enemy. The lion's head seemed to recognize Harry's animagus lion nature and also recognized Harry as a friend. The two heads also appeared to have convinced the goat head as well.

The Death Eater recoiled in horror as the chimera wandered away. "W-what...what happened?"

"Oh I don't know," said Harry with a thoughtful look. "I guess all I have to say is...Stupefy!" The Death Eater slumped unconscious.

* * * * * * * * * *

"This had better work, Weasley," hissed Seamus. A small army of resistance wizards was gathered in front of the camp.

Ron grinned. "Trust me Finnigan," he said.

With a cry, the wizards and witches charged into the camp brandishing their wands. However, they were startled when they found all of the prisoners already liberated and surrounding something in the center of the camp; they were cheering. The Death Eater warden was tied up and was lying in front of all the trolls who were all piled up. Sitting in top of the pile of trolls, his legs crossed, was Harry Potter. All of the wizards and witches, except for a grinning Ron, gaped at the Boy who lived whom they hadn't seen in two years.

Harry simply beamed down at the wizards. "What took you so long?" he asked.

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A/N Did you like this chapter? I had quite a hard time writing it. But it still was a lot of fun. I hope you had fun as well. So R/R.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me. "

Psalm 23:4

Chapter 6: An Attack on Hogsmeade

The news of the liberation of the concentration camp near Manchester spread like wildfire through Voldemort's empire. Rumors that Harry Potter had returned were welcomed by the oppressed and they dared to hope once again, that the Boy who lived would once again finish Voldemort off. It was possible that the return of the lion would indeed be the downfall of the serpent.

In Located in the spot where the Tower of London formally was, stood the massive fortress tower of Parselrock, the center of Voldemort's empire. On the top floor of the massive fortress was the throne room of the Dark Lord. It was a dark chamber that was a perfect replica of the Chamber of Secrets hidden underneath Hogwarts, with massive pillars decorated with snakes, and a massive statue of Salazar Slytherin at the end of the chamber. In front of the statue was a massive, black throne that was decorated with dragon claws. Seated on the throne was a being of utmost terror.

He was tall, nearly 6 feet 6 inches, had a thin white face with pulled up skin that made it look like a skull with a lipless mouth and a pair of slits for nostrils. His white hands had frighteningly long fingers that made them look like spiders. He had black hair, and was wearing elegant black robes with silver hems. But the most frightening aspects of him were his eyes: scarlet red eyes with slits for pupils that resembled a cat's eyes. This was the instigator of the so-called "darkness", the ruler of the Dark Order, the Dark Lord Voldemort.

He was flanked by a dozen dementors: vile creatures about two meters tall, dressed in dark robes, and with hoods that hid their horrendous faces.

In front of Voldemort's throne were two beautiful woman, both clearly in their mid twenties. One of them had waist length blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She was kneeling in front of the Dark Lord. The other woman had short brown hair and cold hazel eyes. She was standing behind the blonde woman, staring straight into the Dark Lord's eyes. They were both wearing tight, revealing black robes and it was also fairly obvious that these two women were sisters.

"So tell me, Icicle," said Voldemort. "Do you think the rumors are true?"

"My lord, it certainly appears so. Harry Potter has returned,” said the blonde woman who was evidently Icicle. "According to rumors, he has come back as a Battle Wizard, far more powerful than most."

The other woman chuckled. "Oh, so my little sister is frightened of a few rumors."

Icicle sprang to her feet and sent a death glare at her sister. "You will not speak to me that way in front of our master, Flame!"

"Oh really," said Flame with a nasty smirk. "Whichever way, Icicle, it is no longer necessary to worry. I have already dispatched an entire legion of our forces to Hogsmeade. They will finish Potter off!"

Icicle stared at her sister, speechless. Voldemort however let out a high-pitched laugh. Flame frowned.

"Does something amuse you, my Lord?"

"Flame, Flame, Flame," said Voldemort while shaking his head, a grin on his face. "You must understand that if Potter truly has become a Battle Wizard, it will most likely be the legion that you just sent that will be finished."

Flame spluttered but was unable to say anything. Icicle smirked at her before she turned to Voldemort and said, "My Lord, what do you suggest we do about Potter."

"Gather the Killer Elite," said Voldemort. "They are probably the only ones on our side who can fight a Battle Wizard on our terms."

"I will get on it right away," said Icicle. She smirked at Flame as she turned around and strolled out of the Chamber. Flame glared at her before following her out.

* * * * * * * * * *

The liberation of the concentration camp in Manchester had been a tremendous success in many ways. Now, muggle resistance groups were willing to accept the fact that not all wizards and witches were evil, and at least in Britain, they were willing to join forces. By New Years, people were daring to hope again, all because of Harry's return.

"Who would've ever thought," said Sirius Black as he, Harry, Ron, and Remus were walking along the corridors of Hogwarts. "That just your return would make such a difference. I mean, sure people believed in you because you are the Boy who lived, but now you actually seem to have the abilities to match your reputation."

"Sirius, its really nothing," said Harry. "I just received more training than the average wizard. Anybody can do things I can if they went through what I went through these past two years."

"Yeah but Harry, the fact that it's you makes a big difference," said Ron looking excited. Harry chuckled.

"You know, we really missed you these past two years," said Remus. "Especially Hermione."

Sirius and Ron immediately went silent. Harry sighed and gazed out of the window. "I missed everyone as well. It was sheer torture not being able to contact anyone for a full two years. Now, I'm back and yet..." Ron was startled to see that Harry was slightly shaking. Sirius however, seemed to understand what was going on in Harry's mind and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We're all worried about Hermione, Harry," he said. Harry was holding back tears and his teeth were gritted. "At least we know that she's alive."

"But that's all we know!" yelled Harry, turning around to glare at them. We don't know where she is or how she's doing! For all we know she could be sick! Or hurt! Or worse, some sick Death Eater could be raping her! I swear by God, if anything along those lines has happened to her, I'll never forgive myself!" A few tears actually rolled down Harry's cheeks.

Ron opened his mouth to say something but found that he couldn't. These were things that Ron was also afraid of and he also saw that Sirius and Remus had the same fears. Harry turned back to gazing out the window.

"You know she was the one I missed the most of all," he said. "No offense to you guys, but the two of us grew so close to each other during the years we have known one another. Being away from her was...is like not being fully alive. I feel like she completed me in ways that...hey what's that?" Harry seemed to have spotted something in Hogsmeade. Ron, Sirius, and Remus looked out the window to see what was happening and gasped.

Hogsmeade was under attack by an entire legion of Dark Creatures!

"They're attacking the village!" shouted Remus.

"Oh, well spotted," said Ron and Sirius at the same time.

"Accio Firebolt!" shouted Harry. His broomstick flew out of the broom shed and sped toward the window. "Go get the others," said Harry as he mounted the broomstick. "I'll hold them off in the mean time."

"Will you be OK?" asked Sirius. He, Ron, and Remus looked concerned.

Harry grinned. "Don't worry. A fully fledged Battle Wizard can't be beaten that easily." He sped off toward the village as Ron, Sirius, and Remus ran off to alert the resistance.

* * * * * * * * * *

Due to its close proximity to Hogwarts, Hogsmeade village was one of the few places in the wiarding world not conquered by Voldemort. However, since the protective wards of the school didn't extend to the village, Hogsmeade was constantly prone to attack by dark forces. As a result, most of the villagers lived either underground or areas where they could take refuge in Hogwarts.

On that day, one of the largest forces of dark creatures attacked Hogsmeade. The villagers ran into hiding as a force of about three hundred creatures pillaged the village. There were goblins, trolls, demons, dementors, chimeras, manticores, and dragons. The Death Eaters, whom appeared to be the commanders of the great dark army, controlled them all.

"Potter!" yelled one of the Death Eaters as he had his dragon, a Peruvian Vipertooth, set what was the Three Broomsticks on fire. "Potter! Where are you? Come out and fight! Potter!"

Dementors started gliding forward, searching out anybody whom had failed to escape from the school. Before they could get very far however, a silver patronus, in the form of a stag, charged at the dementors and drove them back.

Harry Potter came strolling down street, his wand out and his face grim.

The dark creatures stopped in their tracks, as the Boy who lived walked up to just in front of them. He glared at the dark forces, which were astounded by the fact that their target had just walked up to them. Finally, one of the Death Eaters spoke.

"Harry Potter. So you have come."

"You didn't give me a choice," said Harry.

"Then prepare to meet your doom, Potter."

Harry grinned and crouched low. "Give it your best shot."

"Kill him!" The Dark Creatures unleashed their powers at the young wizard. Harry simply leapt out of the way and started running the opposite direction. The Dark creatures gave chase. Whenever one of them got close enough to physically harm him, Harry managed to knock them out with either a karate chop on the back of their necks, or a swift kick in the gut as he dodged their attacks.

Although Harry was running away from the Dark Forces, he didn't seem to be trying to escape from them. Rather, it appeared as if Harry were luring them away from the village. Finally, Harry stopped in the middle of a large clearing quite a bit of a distance from Hogsmeade. He faced the Dark Creatures whom had entered the clearing behind him.

"We have you now, Potter," said one of the Death Eaters. They all laughed as the Dark Forces drew in closer to him. Harry simply remained quiet as the creatures drew closer. Finally, when they were only about three meters away, he spoke.

"If I were you, I would run away as fast as I can."

The Death Eaters started laughing hysterically. "How foolish can you get, Potter?" said one of them. "Shouldn't you be the one who should be trying to run away?"

Harry's eyes startled to cackle with energy. He looked incredibly grim as he raised his hands in front of him, his arms outstretched. "You have no idea just how powerful a Battle Wizard is," he said. "The one thing I fear the most of all is my own power. Just imagine what would happen if anybody used it in the wrong way. Of course, your precious Dark Lord had the same power I do and he used it in a way I myself have vowed never to use. Now, if you don’t run, you will experience first hand just how powerful I, and your master really are." Harry's hands started to emit sparks of energy.

"Is that all you have to say," said a Deaht Eater as the others laughed. "Kill him!"

All of the Dark Forces leapt at Harry just as he shouted, "Maximus Reducto!" There was a flash of blinding light.

* * * * * * * * * *

The wizards and witches of the Hogwarts resistance finally made it to the clearing where Harry had lured the Dark Forces. However, they stopped short and gasped at the sight that greeted them.

"Bloody Hell," muttered Ron. The others were speechless.

What was formerly the clearing was now a smoldering crater about the size of a Quidditch pitch. The shape of the crater indicated the blast had come horizontally. At the edge of the crater, where the blast had clearly originated, stood Harry Potter looking exhausted.

* * * * * * * * * *

Only about half a mile away, in the hills that surrounded Hogsmeade, there was a rider. This rider was wearing the silver and scarlet armor of a knight, including a helmet and visor that covered the entire features of the face. The rider also had a red cape but instead of a horse, the rider was saddled on a majestic stag.

"Harry has grown more powerful than we even imagined," muttered the rider in a clear feminine voice. The stag nodded in a way that suggested that he understood what the rider had said.

The rider pulled the reigns on the stag. The stag turned around and galloped away.

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A/N Did you like this chapter? Hope you did. Well, Hermione will come out again in the next chapter and it will focus on her again for a while. I promise that I will get Harry and Hermione reunited soon. In the mean time why not do something like, guess who the rider on the stag is, or reviewing this chapter.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs."

Proverbs 10:12 Chapter 7: A Supposed Betrayal

"Wizards! Those damn wizards have come!"

Hermione woke up from her peaceful slumber. She had, like many nights before, been blissfully dreaming about being in Harry's arms, legs and all. However, it seemed that now was not the time to be having peaceful dreams.

Once she was fully awake, Hermione dragged herself out of her bed into her wheelchair right next to it. She also threw a blanket over her thighs, covering the fact that she had nothing below them under the skirts of her nightgown.

Hermione managed to wheel herself out of her room and gasped at the sight before her. Legions of Death Eaters were streaming into the palace. The members of the muggle resistance were fighting them off, but bullets and explosives didn’t stand much of a chance against magic. Feeling defenseless, Hermione tried to wheel away from the thick of the battle. She wheeled into Seymour and Susan.

"Hermione, are you OK?" asked Susan. Hermione nodded.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I'll tell you what's going on," hissed Seymour. His face was very red with anger. "Some one betrayed us to the wizards!"

"We don't know that for sure," countered Susan.

"How else could they have figured out where we were than? The only way they could've found out is if we were betrayed!" yelled Seymour. He glared at Hermione and Hermione shuddered; it was clear that Seymour suspected her.

At that moment, an explosion rocked over their heads. "Dammit!" yelled Seymour as he started firing his machine gun at the Death Eaters who were closing in. One of them fired a beam out of his wand that created an even larger explosion. Hermione was flung off her wheelchair and hit the ground quite hard. She promptly blacked out.

* * * * * * * * * *

When she finally came to, Hermione was still on the ground, and she found herself surrounded by a dozen Death Eaters. It was clearly only a few minutes later and she saw Susan and Seymour tied up with other members of the resistance near by. She also shuddered when she saw the bodies of some resistance members who weren’t so lucky. Tears brimmed on her eyes and she tried to sit up, fighting a throbbing headache.

One of the Death Eaters took a step toward Hermione and muttered in a sophisticated British accent, "Granger?" Hermione immediately sat up, her eyes wide in astonishment.

"How do you know her?" demanded Susan. Seymour looked absolutely livid.

The Death Eater whipped around to face them. After considering them for a moment, the Death Eater said, "Why, I've known her for quite some time now. Did you not know that your 'friend' here is a witch?" His voice suggested that he was smirking.

"Ha! I knew it! I knew she was the traitor!" shouted Seymour, a look of satisfaction on his face for having his suspicions apparently confirmed. Susan's eyes widen into a look of betrayal. Hermione tried to catch her eye while shaking her head. That tears were falling freely now.

"Take them away. To the camps," said the Death Eater to his comrades. The captured resistance members were led away, leaving Hermione with the Death Eater. Hermione glanced up at the Death Eater with fear in her eyes. The Death Eater chuckled and said, "Who would've thought that I'd run into you here, mudblood." He threw off his hood and Hermione gasped.

It was Draco Malfoy.

"You!" shouted Hermione, her previous fear replaced with anger.

"Yes me," said Draco with a smirk. "My, have you changed, Granger," he said as he glanced down at her skirts where the lack of her legs was obvious. "Your new look actually suits you better."

Hermione gritted her teeth, trying to hold her anger down. "Say something like that again Malfoy, and you'll lose more than just your legs."

"I see that other things haven't changed," said Draco. He started gazing her up and down. Hermione shuddered and wished she had more on than her thin nightgown. "Good thing the rest of you is intact," he said with a sick grin.

"W-what do you mean by that?" demanded Hermione. She started to get frightened of the gleam in Draco's cold gray eyes.

"What I mean is that you could provide me with some very private entertainment," said Draco, with a look in his eyes that could only mean mad lust.

Hermione was now shaking with fear, and she tried to crawl away. She backed up into a pile of crates. Draco crouched right next to her and grinned. He cupped her cheek. Hermione shuddered at how icy Draco's hand felt.

"Not right now, of course, but once we get back to Malfoy Manor. I will show you how I made many a girl scream with pleasure."

Anger welling up in her blood once again, Hermione slapped Draco as hard as she could. "I would rather die," she hissed. Draco's face rocked back, and he looked furious when he turned back to her.

"Perhaps you would like to lose your arms as well, mudblood! Then, you will really know what its like to be helpless!" He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Hermione's right shoulder. Hermione simply glared at him defiantely. Finally, Draco's face relaxed into a smirk.

"But we have plenty of time, Granger," he said. "Once we're at the manor, maybe you'll think differently." He placed his hand on her shoulder and the two promptly disapparated.

* * * * * * * * * *

Back in Scotland, Harry was just about to leave Hogwarts when Ron cornered him at the front door. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to go away for awhile."

"Where?"

"I can't tell you. But I promise I'll be back in a few days."

"How do I know that? The last time, you disappeared for two years!"

"This isn't the same as last time. I promise I'll be back. I just have to go do this."

Ron was about to say something when Margaret came by, looking exhausted from her training. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"Nothing much," said Harry. "I'm just leaving for a few days to do something very important and Ron doesn't seem to trust my promise that I'll come back."

Margaret glared at Ron and Ron backed away looking a little sheepish. "You should learn to trust your friends more," she said.

Ron sighed. "All right. You can go. But you'd better come back!"

Harry grinned and nodded. He left the school and proceeded to make his way to the forbidden forest. Although it was generally known that most people would rather kiss Voldemort than go into the forest alone at night, Harry seemed to have no problem walking through the dark canopy. Eventually, Harry made it to a large clearing, deep in the forest.

After waiting for a while Harry looked up to see someone enter the clearing. It was the rider on the stag. Harry smiled as the stag walked up to him.

"Hey," said Harry.

"Hello Harry," said the rider with a clear feminine voice. She climbed off the stag and walked up to Harry. Before either could say a word, they embraced each other. They remained in that position for a few minutes before they finally pulled away. Harry then went up to the stag and pulled its neck into a strong hug. The stag rested its head on Harry's shoulder, making sure its long antlers didn't hit Harry. Finally, Harry pulled away.

"I received your owl," said the rider. Hedwig suddenly swooped down and landed on the rider's shoulder. "She's very clever," she said as she stroked the snowy white owl.

Harry smiled and said, "Thanks for coming here."

Both the rider and the stag looked at Harry. "So, you're really going?" asked the rider.

Harry nodded and said "I know it's not wise to leave Hogwarts now. If the school is attacked while I'm gone, the resistance will be over. But this is something I really need to do."

"Well, I suppose that's why you wanted to see us," said the rider.

"Yes. I want you to protect Hogwarts while I'm gone."

"Are you sure we can handle the job? Voldemort will probably have the school attacked with his most powerful forces while you're gone. Do you really think we can stop them?"

Harry smiled. "When I called you two back, I also managed to grant you powers similar to my own. The two of you are practically Battle Wizards now, like me. I have absolute confidence in your abilities."

The rider beamed behind her mask. Suddenly, the stag started prodding Harry with his antlers in a playful way. Harry grinned and transformed into a lion. The lion and the stag started prance around the clearing, playfully pouncing on each other occasionally. The rider laughed at the antics of the two animals as they occasionally rolled around on the grass. At times, the lion's mane got tangled with the stag's antlers. Finally, Harry turned back into his human form.

"Well, as much as I like frolicking around, I really can't waste time. I need to go."

Both the rider and the stag nodded in understanding. Harry hugged the stag again. He then, walked up to the rider.

"Remember Harry," said the rider as she hugged him, "that I always loved you, and I always will."

Harry nodded and hugged her back. "I love you too. Always have, and always will."

They remained in an embrace for a few minutes. The stag also placed his head on Harry's shoulder and Harry hugged him as well. Finally, he pulled away and pulled his Firebolt out from beneath his cloak.

"I've got to go," he said. He mounted the broomstick and took off into the night air. The rider looked up as Harry flew away before she climbed back onto the stag.

"Go get her, Harry," she said, as the stag galloped away into the forest.

After flying for a while, Harry stopped in the air. He pulled out the bracelet that had the three gems on them. All three gems were shining. Harry started concentrating and sending magic into the bracelet. Suddenly, all three gems flashed and gave off beams of light! The green gem gave off a beam that was pointing toward Harry's chest. The beam of the red gem pointed to Hogwarts. And the beam of the blue gem pointed toward the south.

"Yes!" shouted Harry. "The connection is still strong!" He turned around, and sped his broomstick toward the way the beam of the blue gem was pointing.

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A/N One of the things I like about Draco Malfoy is that he works either way. You can use him as some kind of hero, or you can use him as a nasty villain, and they both work in character surprisingly enough. Well, a little warning: next chapter is the chapter that warrants the high rating of this story. So please keep that in mind while you read it. So please R/R.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

Note: I’ve edited this chapter a little to comply with portkey’s requirements. Basically, it contains attempted rape and I’m hoping that it’s current state is acceptable for portkey.

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"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Genesis 3:15

Chapter 8: At Malfoy Manor

Perhaps the largest manor in the wizarding world that existed was Malfoy Manor. In fact, it could probably be considered more like a small castle than a manor house. About half the size of Hogwarts, it was the second largest gathering spot of Death Eaters after Parselrock. It was a medieval style manor house with tapestries, paintings, large halls and chambers, ominous corridors, four stories, it's own Quidditch pitch, and an entire labyrinth of dungeons. However, it wasn't exactly a welcoming place and Hermione felt like she was a prisoner there.

Actually, she was. Hermione was locked up in her bedroom with no company what so ever. It was a small bedroom, with a four-poster, a soft green carpet, and its own bathroom. It was a little too small for anybody to live in, but since Hermione had no legs, it really didn't matter. She usually spent the entire day in bed and she received three meals a day. Her biggest problem was that she had to crawl to the bathroom on her arms: a very tiring and humiliating experience. She was still wearing the same nightgown, which she had been wearing when Draco had captured her.

Having nothing else to do, Hermione often cried silently for hours, or she would sleep and have peaceful dreams about being with Harry, whereupon she would let tears fall again. She knew that Draco would be coming for her one of these days when he deemed ready, and the thought frightened her. This was her darkest hour and the time she missed Harry the most.

Finally, about three days after Hermione's capture, someone entered her room. Hermione fearfully looked toward the door and screamed in terror. For the person whom had entered the room was none other than Lord Voldemort!

"Greetings, Hermione," said Volemort with a sinister grin on his face. "I trust that you know who I am."

Hermione was speechless. Her eyes were wide with fear and sweat started to build on her brow. Voldemort walked up to the bed. Hermione pulled her covers up higher and tried to back away. She caught sight of Lucius Malfoy and a blonde woman she didn’t know standing in the doorway. She recoiled in horror as Voldemort gently stroked her cheek with his icy cold, spider like hand.

"There, there, little mudblood," said Voldemort. "You should be overjoyed considering what you have been chosen for."

"What?" whispered Hermione, still frightened.

"You, Hermione Granger, have been chosen to be the mother of my heir."

"WHAT?!" Hermione's yell wasn't enough to show how shocked and horrified she was.

"Now, now let me finish," said Voldemort. "You are to be the mother of my heir by young Draco Malfoy." This did not alleviate Hermione's horror. Lucius looked proud. "Icicle, why don't you explain this to Miss Granger?"

The blonde woman, Icicle nodded and stepped forward. "You see my little mudblood. Our master wishes to have a wizard by his side. An immensely powerful wizard whom would serve our master faithfully and take his place if anything should happen to him. Perhaps 'lieutenant' would be a better word than 'heir'."

Hermione simply stared at Icicle as the blonde woman started pacing back and forth in front of the bed.

"For some reason, incomprehensible to myself at least, a child between a pure blood and a muggle is more powerful than a pureblood on an average basis. Although some of us try to deny this, I'm afraid that no one can argue against fact. It is true that some of the most powerful wizards in existence, such as our master and Harry Potter, are mixed blood."

Hermione now had a general idea of where Icicle was going with this.

Lucius beamed at Icicle as Icicle said, "Young Draco has been chosen to be the father of this lieutenant. Of course, for this lieutenant to be the most powerful possible, the mother must either be a muggle or a mudblood. Young Draco has nominated you, my little mudblood."

Hermione shuddered and shouted, "No! I won't cooperate!"

"Oh but Hermione," said Voldemort, "don't you want your legs back?"

"What?"

"If you cooperate, I can magic up a new pair for you."

Despite her fear, Hermione sent a defiant death glare at Voldemort. "I would rather die," she hissed.

"That is too bad," said Voldemort. He, Icicle, and Lucius made their way out of the room. "Whichever way, you will not have a choice. For my heir to be conceived, it must happen tonight!" The three left the room laughing hysterically.

Hermione pulled the covers over her head and started crying. Within that night, Draco Malfoy was going to come rape her, and have her carry his child. The thought was horrifying and Hermione couldn't help but think about Harry. The boy she loved was still her anchor of hope, but as she lay there thinking about was going to happen within a few hours, that she was going to lose her virginity to someone she absolutely despised, she started to despair. She whispered, "Harry..." over and over again.

After a very short two hours, Draco entered the room, locking the door behind him. Hermione started shivering underneath her covers.

"I can make it a lot easier if you'd only accept the inevitable," he said. When Hermione said nothing, Draco simply said, "Well I guess I'm going to have to do this the hard way. Of course, I could just use the Imperious Curse, but this way is more fun." He yanked the covers off of Hermione.

"NO!" she screamed. Draco pressed his body onto hers and kissed her strongly. Hermione started to beat at him with her fists and struggle underneath him. Tears were now falling freely.

"Now, now, it'll be over before you know it," said Draco with a lust filled grin. He started to unbutton her nightgown. However, he abruptly stopped when he found a wand pointed to his face. His wand, he realized. Hermione had pulled Draco's wand out of his robes!

"Don't think I'm that easy," she hissed. Draco was speechless, his eyes wide with astonishment as Hermione shouted, "Stupefy!" Draco slumped off the bed unconscious.

Hermione took a few moments to catch her breath. She was still shaken about what had nearly happened, but she was relieved that she was able to fight Draco off. 'I need to get out of here,' she thought. Now that she had a wand, her abilities at transport were greatly improved.

She pointed the wand at herself and said, "Mobilicorpus." Hermione's body slowly levitated into the air. She tried moving around a little and satisfied to find it a lot easier than moving in a wheelchair though not as good as walking.

Hermione made her way to the door and said, "Alohomora." The door swung open and Hermione levitated herself out. She dearly wished she had Harry's invisibility cloak with her as she started to make her way through the corridors.

Luckily, Hermione had memorized the way they had entered from and was positive that she could make her way out of the manor without getting lost. She prayed that the corridors didn't move around like they did at Hogwarts. She was currently on the fourth floor and she needed to take the back steps to get to the main entrance. She also knew that she had a slight advantage since she had Draco's wand to open certain doors. The wand would prevent alarms from sounding. Also the fact that she had no legs, and was rather levitating above the ground was a bonus since she was less likely to run into booby traps.

Hermione managed to make her way to the first floor without running into anybody. It was clear that the Dark Lord had already gone back to Parselrock along with most of his Death Eaters. The manor was therefore mostly empty. Still, Hermione didn't want to take chances.

Finally, Hermione managed to make it to the main corridor that led to the Main Entrance of the manor. Before she could get to the main entrance however, Hermione felt a presence and hurriedly floated herself into a corner. Just in time too as the Cruciatus Curse came whizzing past her!

It was Icicle. "You will not escape, my little mudblood," she yelled. "You will carry our master's heir, whether you like it or not!"

Hermione stuck her wand out and yelled, "Expelliarmus!" Unfortunately, she couldn't get a good aim at Icicle. Icicle fired another Cruciatus Curse and Hermione had to pull her arm back to avoid it.

'Think Hermione, you can get out of this mess somehow,' thought Hermione. She glanced around at an elegant mirror that was hanging on the other side of the corridor. 'Maybe if I can lure her reflection into that mirror.'

Icicle was suddenly startled to see Hermione fly out of the corridor toward the main entrance. She gave chase and fired the Cruciatus Curse at her, bringing her reflection into the mirror. Her eyes went wide however, when "Hermione" disappeared in a wist of smoke as the curse hit her! It was a decoy charm.

The real Hermione, who was still in the corner, yelled, "Stupefy!" The stunner rebounded off the mirror and hit Icicle. She fell unconscious with a scream.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She flew herself toward the main entrance and pushed the doors open. 'This is it,' she thought. 'Now, if only I can manage to get to Hogwarts.' Hermione dearly wished she knew how to apparate.

There were still a lot of traps in the front yard of Malfoy Manor. Since she had no legs, Hermione knew that she wouldn't be in danger of stepping on anything and setting a trap off. Still, she had to be very careful, and she gently flew herself toward the front gates, about a hundred yards away.

It was a slow and tedious process, but finally, Hermione made it to the front gates. She couldn't help but smile as she realized that she was now at the final obstacle. She knew that anybody who tried to trespass the gates that was not a Malfoy or a Death Eater would be killed. The same thing would happen if she tried to levitate herself over the gate or fence. She prayed that Draco's wand would be good enough as she raised it and whispered, "Alohomora." To her extreme relief, the gate swung open.

'I'm free!' she thought, a huge smile on her face. She floated out of the gate when a voice called out, "Expelliarmus!" Hermione was horrified as the wand flew out of her hand! Having lost her magical levitation, Hermione fell to the ground. She groaned in pain and looked up.

Lucius Malfoy had fired the disarmer. He now carried the wand and was looking livid. "You won't escape, mudblood!" he yelled. "You will carry my grandchild, even if I have to witness the event and make sure it takes place!" Draco came forward from behind Lucius looking furious.

Hermiobe screamed, "NO!" She had been so close to escaping, only to be caught again at the last minute.

"Yes," hissed Draco. "Why not finish the job right here, right now?"

"NO! Please!" begged Hermione. Tears started flowing from her eyes again as Draco pinned her. Hermione started sobbing, as she realized that there was no escape this time, with Lucius watching over them. She closed her eyes and tried to brace herself for the coming torture.

"Get ready," hissed Draco.

"Stupefy!" Suddenly, Lucius was hit by a stunner and was rendered unconscious!

"What?" Draco whipped around and was horrified to find himself at wand tip of a raging young wizard. A wizard with scarlet robes that had a golden image of a lion on its torso, a black belt, white trousers, a white undershirt, black dragon hide gloves, black dragon hide boots, a black cloak worn like a cape, messy raven black hair sticking out from beneath a tattered black hat, emerald green eyes behind a pair of rimless glasses, and a scar on his forehead in the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Don't...even...think...about it!" hissed Harry Potter.

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A/N Oh dear, I sure hope none of you are going to hate me for what nearly happened in this chapter. There was no actual rape but there was attempted rape...yeesh, I'm scared of my own writing. Well, at least I brought Harry and Hermione back together. So tune in next chapter because it's probably going to be the fluffiest chapter of this entire fic.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Listen! My lover! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills."

Song of Songs 2:8

Chapter 9: Reunited

"Stupefy!" Draco slumped unconscious. Still feeling a little frightened, Hermione wearily glanced up at the young wizard.

"H...Harry?" she whispered.

It was Harry all right. He looked a looked older, stronger, and far more confident than when Hermione had last seen him two years previously. Harry slowly turned and gazed down at her, his emerald green eyes still as mesmerizing as Hermione remembered.

"Hermione..." he said. His eyes glanced down to her legs or rather, her lack of legs. He gasped and clutched his chest. "Oh my God..."

The first thought that crossed Hermione's mind was, 'He's going to reject me. He's going to reject me because I'm a freak! I'm a legless freak! Oh Harry...' Hermione buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.

Far from rejecting her however, Harry kneeled right next to Hermione and pulled her into a strong hug. He whispered, "I'm so sorry. I should've been here. I'm so sorry," over and over again, tears starting to fall from his eyes. Overcome with relief that Harry wasn't going to reject her, and an even stronger joy of being back in Harry's arms again after such a long time, Hermione threw her arms around Harry's neck and cried full out on his shoulder. After remaining in that position for about a minute, Harry gently picked Hermione up and carried her to his broomstick nearby, Hermione's arms still wrapped around Harry's neck. She was afraid that if she ever let Harry go again, he would disappear from her forever.

Harry's Firebolt took off into the air, flying away from Malfoy Manor. Hermione was seated in front of Harry, facing him and still crying into his shoulder and her arms wrapped around Harry's neck. Harry had his left arm wrapped tightly around Hermione while his right steered the broomstick. They flew away into the night.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The sun shone through the window, illuminating a sleeping Hermione's face. Harry sighed as the light gave her an angelic glow. 'She's become even more beautiful than I remember,' he thought. Sure she had no legs, but that didn't matter for how Harry felt for her. It still broke his heart to see her without any legs since it was a symbol of how much she had suffered while he had been away. Harry silently cursed himself for not being able to be next to Hermione when she needed him the most.

They were in a hidden bunker near Liverpool that kept them hidden from the Death Eaters. Hermione was sleeping peacefully on a comfortable bed, her nightgown fully repaired. Harry was sitting in an armchair right next to the bed. He was wearing his usual clothes, with the exception of his hat and gloves. He gently stroked Hermione's bangs and kissed her forehead. Hermione's eyes fluttered open.

"It wasn't a dream," she said, a smile forming on her face and her eyes watering up. "You really are here."

"And I always will be from now on," said Harry.

"Thank you for saving me. The thought of what might have happened if you hadn't shown up then scares me."

"You're welcome," said Harry as he started to stroke her golden brown hair.

"How did you find me?"

Harry grinned and pulled out the bracelet with the three gems. He explained to her what it did. "While you were in Europe and I was here in Britain," he said, "the dark magic was too strong for me to actually figure out where you were. However, when Malfoy brought you back to England, you were actually close enough for me to be able to trace you to where you were."

Hermione smiled at Harry as he put the bracelet away. He cupped her cheek with a smile on his face. The smile faded away into a look of concern. "Hermione, what happened to you?" He briefly glanced down at her missing legs before he turned his attention back to her face.

Hermione sighed and explained everything that had happened to her from the moment Harry had disappeared two years ago. Harry held onto her hand and squeezed hard when Hermione mentioned the time when she first woke up and realized she had no legs. Finally, Hermione had finished, tears still streaming down her face. Harry sat next to her on the bed and gently cradled Hermione's head as Hermione leaned on Harry's chest.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," said Harry. "I should've been there with you. If only I was here, none of this would've happened."

Hermione said nothing. A part of her wanted to accuse him of that being true, but for now she was so happy to be with Harry again that she didn't want to accuse him of anything. Still, there was something she needed to find out.

"Harry, where were you these past two years?" She glanced into his emerald eyes, her cinnamon ones burning with her question.

"I was in the Himalayas," said Harry with a matter of fact tone. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as the gears in her head started turning.

"You're a Battle Wizard?" she asked. Harry grinned.

"I guess it's always up to you to put two and two together," he said. "So, you know what a Battle Wizard is."

Hermione nodded. "Of course, I've read about them in many books including 'Hogwarts: A History'." Her eyes started to shine with concern. "Are you really a Battle Wizard?" Harry nodded. "Can you do all the things they're rumored to do?" She swallowed and whispered, "Can you temporarily raise the dead?"

"Yes, for a month at most." Harry looked down at Hermione where her legs were missing. "Hermione, you were all alone when you needed me the most. I was away getting trained as a Battle Wizard without ever knowing how much you were suffering. I won't blame you if you hate me."

"Harry I could never hate you. I love you too much."

Harry suddenly sprang back, his eyes wide. Hermione looked at him confused. "What did you just say?" asked Harry.

"I said that I could never hate you because I..." Hermione suddenly gasped as she realized what she had just said. Harry just sat there speechless. Hermione turned away, buried her face into her hands and started crying. "Harry I'm so s-sorry. I-I can't believe I said that. I mean how c-could you ever love a legless freak l-like me?"

"Hermione, you're not a freak," said Harry. "Just because you don't have any legs doesn't change the way I feel about you."

Hermione looked up, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "W-what?"

"I love you too," said Harry, his green eyes sparkling with sincerity. "When I was away, I missed you so much that it felt as if my heart had been torn out of my body. I was devastated when I came back and failed to find you. And I was crushed when I realized how much suffering you had gone through. And I promise that I won't ever leave you again."

"Promise?" whispered Hermione. When Harry nodded, Hermione let out a sob and threw her arms around Harry. They hugged each other for a while before they pulled away a little. Herrmione's cheeks were burning and she could see that Harry was also a little nervous. Slowly, they leaned closer and closer to each other until they're lips met.

Fireworks exploded inside of both of them as they kissed each other passionately. Both Harry and Hermione had waited two full years for this moment and when it had finally come, it was better than anything either one of them could've imagined. Harry felt his knees lose their feeling and he was thankful that he was on the bed next to the girl he loved. Hermione had tears of joy rolling down her face. The passionate kiss continued for some more time until the need for oxygen finally forced them to break apart for moment before they went back to kissing each other. They just continued kissing in that hidden bunker that day, blissfully isolated from the rest of the world.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, at Parselrock, Voldemort was gathering his group of assassinators known as the Killer Elite.

"Death Eaters," said Voldemort. "Now is the chance to crush the resistances to our reign once and for all. Since Harry Potter is not at Hogwarts right now, the school is at its weakest point."

"What is your command, master?" asked one of the many Death Eaters.

"Each of you gather all of your mightiest forces you have and crush the school once and for all. Kill everyone that is there and don't let anyone escape. This will be our last chance to finish them before Potter comes back."

"With all do respect my lord," said another Death Eater, "why is it so important that we finish the school off while Potter is not there? Would it not be more convenient if the school and Potter were destroyed at the same time?"

Voldemort slowly got up and walked up to the Death Eater. He suddenly pulled out his wand and said, "Crucio!"

The Death Eater screamed in pain as the curse ripped through his body. Finally, the Dark Lord took the curse off.

"Do any of you know what a Battle Wizard is," hissed Voldemort. The other Death Eaters remained quiet. "Imagine a being with enough power to wipe a city off the face of the planet. Imagine a being so powerful that he can't help but feel absolute confidence when he takes on a challenge. That's what Harry Potter is now."

The Death Eaters remained quiet as Voldemort started pacing back in forth in front of his throne.

"Thousands of years ago, There were hundreds of Battle Wizards on Atlantis, the ancient home of the wizards. However, after the great disaster, it was decided that there would only be one Battle Wizard per generation. There immense power became a legend of fear amongst wizards. And the most frightening thing about them is the fact that a Battle Wizard can only be defeated by another Battle Wizard."

The Death Eaters all shuddered as the Dark Lord stopped pacing. "Now do you understand why you must crush Hogwarts while Potter is not there? I trust that none of you are that foolish," he said. "Now go! And may victory go to the Dark Order!"

The Death Eaters all gave out a large cheer as Voldemort started laughing his high pitched laugh. He caught sight of Draco Malfoy standing nearby his throne, in between his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Do not despair, young Malfoy," said Voldemort. "You will soon get the mudblood back. After all, you want her to be the mother to my heir."

Draco bowed low before leaving with the other Death Eaters.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Outside, across the Thames River from Parselrock, the rider on the stag was watching the Death Eaters and their dark forces leaving the fortress, led by the Killer Elite.

"They're going to go attack Hogwarts," muttered the rider. The stag nodded and started to nudge his head toward the north.

"I know," said the rider. "We need to get back to the school as fast as we can." The rider turned the stag around and started galloping away toward the north. Faster than the wind, the stag sped toward Hogwarts.

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A/N I have a confession to make. Even though I attend college in Portland, I am currently taking a semester off and am residing in Japan right now. That's why I update at slightly different times than other people. Of course, it gives my American readers to read the new chapter first thing in the morning (lol). Well, this story is really moving along. Please R/R.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

Chapter 10: The Battle of Hogwarts

"I need a break," moaned Margaret as she dragged herself toward the Great Hall. She had just finished her most recent round of training and was extremely exhausted.

Ron chuckled as he walked next to her. "Oh come now, Maggie. You can't be that exhausted." He made a devilish grin and said, "Besides, you may need some stamina for what I've got planned later."

Margaret pretended to look horrified. "Why, Ron Weasley. What ever gave you that idea?" she asked, the laughter in her voice evident.

"Oh gee, let me try to remember," said Ron. He gently pulled her into a long passionate kiss. After a while, they reluctantly broke up for the need of oxygen.

"Did that jog your memory?" asked Margaret.

Ron put on a thoughtful look. "Hmm. No! I'm going to need another reminder." They both grinned and dove into an even deeper kiss.

"Ahem." Ron and Margaret sprang apart looking very red and faced a not so happy Severus Snape. "If you were students here, I would've taken off twenty points from each of your houses and given you both a month's detention, separately."

"Oh but Professor Snape," said Margaret. "We are both full grown adults and I believe we have every right to make out where we please." She made a slight smirk while Ron chuckled behind her. Snape steered and walked away.

"Now, where were we," said Ron as he tried to pull Margaret closer to him. Margaret was about to respond when an explosion suddenly rocked the foundations of the castle. Ron and Margaret shared an alarmed glance at each other before they dashed to the Main gates and threw them open.

The Castle was under attack by Dark Forces of an incredible number! There were dragons, trolls, dementors, and all matters of dark creatures led by a elite looking troop of Death Eaters.

The other members of the Resistance streamed out of the castle. "Good Lord, it's the Killer Elite," said Remus.

"Is that bad?" asked Ron.

"Its bad," muttered Sirius. "There the worst of Voldemort's minions."

"Enough chitter chatter," said Snape. "Just split up and defend yourselves!" With that, all of the resistance fighters split up and charged into the foray of the enemy!

Ron and Margaret tried to stick with each other. Unfortunately, they were separated when the Death Eater Flame attacked them. Ron was blasted into a brigade of trolls by a reductor curse fired by Flame.

"Ron!" Margaret tried to make her way to her boyfriend but Flame stepped in front of her.

"You should worry more about yourself, mudblood," hissed Flame. She fired the Cruciatus Curse at Margaret who just managed to dodge it.

Margaret shot a disarmer at Flame but Flame simply blocked it with a shield charm. "Why, you're a beginner, aren't you?" said Flame with a malicious grin.

Margaret shuddered a little and thought, 'I'm in trouble.' She dodged another one Flame's curses. She tried firing a number of curses but Flame simply deflected all of them. 'I guess it sucks really being a beginner,' though Margaret.

"Expelliarmus!" Margaret's eyes widened as the wand went sailing out of her hand. Flame closed in on her with a malicious sneer. "It ends here, mudblood," hissed Flame. She raised her wand to perform the killing curse.

Suddenly, Margaret leapt forward and rammed a heavy punch onto Flame's nose! Flame reeled back, shocked as Margaret landed a chop on her wrist, causing her to drop her wand. "I may be a beginner at magic," hissed Margaret, "but I've been taking karate since I was seven!" With a swift combination of punches and a roundhouse kick, Margaret knocked Flame out!

It was around that time that Ron finally came to. He quickly scrambled to his feet so as to make it to Margaret when three trolls ambushed him. "Uh-oh," he muttered as the trolls closed in on him. He was just barely dodged one of the clubs swinging downward as he leapt out of the way. In the process, he ended up running into another red head.

"Watch where you're leaping, Ronald!" yelled Ginny. She fired a powerful stunner at one of the trolls and knocked it out.

"Why don't you step out of the way, Virginia?" yelled Ron. He decided to use a trick that he used back in his first year. Ron shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!" One of trolls' clubs levitated into the air and came crashing back down onto the troll's head, knocking it out. The last troll swung their club down at them and Ron and Ginny split up to avoid the club.

Ron yelled, "Furnunculus!" just as Ginny fired the jelly-legs curse. The troll collapsed at the combination of the two curses. Ron and Ginny gave each other a high-five.

Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Snape were firing curses at their enemies and staying in control. Suddenly, Sirius made a malicious grin and pointed his wand behind him and fired a minor curse. The curse hit Snape in the back of the head! Snape whirled around in anger but Sirius was looking oblivious, firing curses at his enemies again.

"Black!" hissed Snape. "Watch where you're firing your curses!"

"Oh, sorry Snape," said Sirius with a devilish grin. "There're just so many enemies here that one of my stray curses must've hit you by accident."

Snape sneered and turned back to firing curses at the dark forces. But, he then also sneeked in a minor curse onto the back of Sirius's head. Sirius whirled around in anger but Remus grabbed his wrist and glared at him.

"Just drop it, Sirius!" he snapped. Sirius grumbled and turned back to firing curses at the dark forces.

At the moment, a dragon, a Chinese Fireball to be specific came whizzing over their heads, shooting flames at the resistance fighters. Remus ducked to avoid the flames and Sirius bounded out of the way by changing into a black dog.

At that moment, a dementor came swooping down on Remus. Remus hurriedly thought up a happy thought, fighting down the memories provoked by the dementor of being bitten by a werewolf, and said, "Expecto Patronum." Though the patronus he created lacked a clear form, it was still enough to drive the dementor away. He breathed a sigh of relief as Sirius came barking up to him, still in his dog form.

The Fireball was still flying around shooting flames at the resistance fighters. That didn't last however, when Hagrid grabbed the dragon's tail and hoisted himself on to the dragon's back!

"Well now," said Hagrid looking very happy, "aren't yeh a cu'e dragon?" The dragon roared and tried to fling Hagrid off its back. The half-giant simply clung onto the dragon's horns and started patting the dragon's head! "Oh, so yeh wanna play?" said Hagrid. "Well, Lets play toge'er." Hagrid through a rope around the Fireball's neck and made it into a make shift reign. He pulled on the reign and the dragon complied. Soon, Hagrid had full control over the Fireball and was having it shoot flames at the dark forces rather than the resistance fighters. The members of the resistance started cheering when they so the dragon on their side.

"Way to go, Hagrid!" shouted Ron while waving his hands frantically.

"You're the best!" shouted Magaret.

Seeing the fireball attacking the dark forces, all of the other dragons concluded that the dark forces were the real enemy and turned on their masters! Within minutes, the dragons had rounded all of the dark forces up. The resistance fighters cheered at seemingly winning their victory.

However, all such thoughts of victory were lost when the ground trembled a little. The resistance fighters all held their breath as the tremors continued. They started to get stronger, and there was a thudding sound coming with every tremor.

Suddenly, the originator of the tremors burst out of the forbidden forest! It was a giant. A giant about 25 feet tall, extremely muscular, had long whitish hair, gray eyes, was bare chest, and was wearing a pair of large trousers and boots. He was also carrying a club about the size of a bus.

Hagrid gasped and said, "That's me cousin, Fanir!"

Suddenly, a Death Eater popped up on the giant's shoulder. He was a short, skinny man who had the image of once being chubby, and had a gleaming silver right hand.

"Wormtail!" spat out Sirius. Remus also looked extremely angry.

Wormtail laughed a squeaky laugh that resembled a rat's squeak. "Thought you had won?" he gloated. "Thought you had defeated the Killer Elite? Well too bad, because Fanir here is going to finish all of here now!"

"What's the matter, Peter?" growled Remus, sounding like a wolf, "too cowardly to fight yourself? Still relying on people bigger and stronger than yourself to fight your battles?"

Wormtail made a very ugly look at Remus. "Kiil them," he ordered the giant. The giant gave out a mighty roar and swung his club down at the resistance fighters, leaving a crater about the size of a parking lot! The resistance fighters barely leapt out of the way.

The dragons all flew toward the giant, but Fanir simply swung his club around and batted all the dragons away.

"He's me cousin," shouted Hagrid. "Let me speak wi' him!"

"Won't do any good," growled "Mad-Eye" Moody. "Look at his eyes." Sure enough, Fanir's eyes were glassy and seemed to have no life in them. "Pettigrew's got him under the Imperious Curse!"

The resistance members started firing curses at the giant, but Fanir simply glanced them off as if they were nothing. Wormtail started to laugh again.

"That won't be enough to defeat a giant!" he gloated.

"No," said Sirius. "But I know what will. And that's to get the guy controlling the giant!" Wormtail suddenly looked frightened. Sirius fired a powerful hex at Pettigrew, but Fanir put a hand around him and blocked the curse. Wormtail laughed again.

"You can not win!" He shouted with a laugh. "Now, prepare to meet your dooms!" The resistance members were starting to give up, losing hope.

"Don't give up yet!" yelled Ron. "Remember, there was a time when we were all despaired, by the way I saw it, that all changed when Harry returned! The Return of the Lion signals the defeat of the serpent! We can't give up hope when Harry hasn't even been defeated yet!"

"But where are your precious Potters now?" mocked Wormtail. "Not here. Fanir, kill him first."

Fanir roared and charged at Ron who was glaring at Pettigrew defiantly. All of the Weasleys turned completely pale as the giant gave a mighty heave and swung his club down at Ron!

Margaret and Ginny screamed. "Ron! NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Both of them burst into tears as the club came crashing down on Ron.

However, Ron was not crushed by the club to everyone's surprise, including Ron himself. For at the last minute, someone had leapt in front of Ron and cast an extremely powerful shield charm that deflected the monster club! It was the armored rider on the stag.

"Good job," said the rider in a clear feminine voice. "I'm sure that Harry is very proud to have a best friend like you."

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A/N Although I love Yokohama, Japan, there are times when I just plain miss life in Portland, Oregon. All well, I'll be back there next September anyway. So, please R/R this chapter. I'm starting to fall behind schedule a little on my writing but if you review, I'll continue the daily updates.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken."

Isaiah 25:8 Chapter 11: The Rider on the Stag

For a moment, everybody was absolutely silent. It seems as if people were in complete shock of the timely arrival of the rider on the stag.

"Is it just me, or does that rider's voice sound very familiar?" whispered Remus.

"I personally can't believe who that stag looks like," whispered Sirius.

"Sorry, I'm late," said the rider, "but it took some time to get here from London, we should've never gone there. And you can't apparate on Hogwarts grounds."

Ron was speechless, as he sat there on the ground in front of the rider. "W-who are you?" he finally managed to splutter out.

The rider didn't need to answer, for at that moment, due to the blow of the club on the shield charm, the rider's helmet cracked in half and fell to the ground. Long, wavy, dark red hair flowed out and a pair of very familiar emerald green eyes shone warmly toward Ron. The rider gasped and brought her hand to her mouth as she realized that her helmet had fallen off. She muttered, "Oops," and looked a little red.

Everybody present gasped as they recognized the rider, and Sirius and Remus looked particularly shocked. "Its not possible!" screamed Sirius. "It can't be her!" It was. The rider was none other than Lily Evans Potter!

Lily looked around and shrugged. "Well, I suppose the cat's out of the bag," she said. The stag nodded. As soon as Lily dismounted the stag, the stag transformed into a man who was wearing the exact same armor and cape as Lily, but looked identical to Harry, except that he had brown eyes and no scar. It was James Potter!

By then, absolutely everybody on the battlefield was speechless. Sirius and Remus looked at Lily and James with shock and disbelief in their eyes while Snape looked horrified.

James looked around. "Well, as much as I'd love loved to catch up with everybody, I think we need to take care of this giant," he said. James made a gentleman like bow toward Lily and gestured toward Fanir. "Would you do the honors, Lily?"

"Why Prongs, I would love to," said Lily. She slowly walked up to the giant and pulled a wand out of her armor. She looked up at Wormtail and said, "Peter."

Wormtail, who had been speechless up till then, suddenly started screaming hysterically with terror. "Lily?! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NO, IT CANNOT BE!!!" He started shaking his head fiercely in a gesture that could only be described as extreme guilt.

Feeling Pettigrew's hysteria, the giant seemingly panicked and swung his club down toward the ground in a single powerful blow, leaving a crater about the size of a car. Lily however, used a burst of magic to propel herself forty feet into the air, thus avoiding the club. She landed on top of the giant's head, pointed her wand at the top of the head and shouted, "Maximus Stupefy!" The giant fell over unconscious with a mighty crash.

Wormtail was pinned under the giant's right arm. He tried to struggle out when he suddenly saw a shadow over him. He wearily looked up to see James standing over him looking menacing.

"Why hello, Peter," said James with a grin on his face, yet strong malice dipping in his voice. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"J-James?" mumbled Pettigrew, looking terrified.

"Tell me, Peter. What were your words again when you agreed to become our secret keeper? That we could trust you with our lives?"

"James, I-I..."

"I trusted you with my life, Pettigrew!" yelled James. He rammed his fist as hard as he could into Pettigrew's face. Wormtail was promptly knocked out. James walked over to Lily and said, "Do you know how long I've waited to do that?" with a grin.

Lily grinned and nodded. She turned to all the resistance fighters who were still speechless and said, "I think we owe them an explanation." James nodded. They made their way to Sirius and Remus.

"Hey, Padfoot, Moony," said James. Sirius and Remus simply stared at them, still shocked.

Finally, Sirius managed to splutter, "J-James...? L-Lily...?"

"Is...is it really you?" asked Remus.

Lily nodded and smiled. "Trust me, Remus. Its really us."

Remus and Sirius looked over James and Lily for a moment. They both appeared to be in their early twenties, the age they were when Voldemort murdered them, 17 years previously. Suddenly, Remus and Sirius smiled widely, and they pulled Lily and James into fierce hugs, laughing with pear mirth while tears of joy streamed down their eyes. As if on cue, all of the resistance fighters, except Snape who had a neutral look, ran forward and either pulled Lily and James into hugs or shook their hands.

Snape walked up to James. James turned to him and put up a neutral look on his face.

"Potter," said Snape in a neutral tone.

"Snape," said James in a similar tone. He brought his hand out, and Snape slowly shook it, both still wearing neutral expressions.

"But James, Lily, how is this possible?" asked Sirius.

"I believe I can answer that," said a voice coming from the castle. The resistance fighters all whirled around and gasped to see none other than Albus Dumbledore walking toward them.

"Headmaster?" asked McGonagall with slight hesitation.

"Professor?" asked Hagrid. Dumbledore nodded with a merry twinkle in his eye. In a matter of seconds, all of the resistance fighters were gathered around Dumbledore, either showering him with questions or shaking his hand and welcoming him back.

"Please, please, one at a time," said Dumbledore, still smiling. "As many of you know, I was over seeing Harry Potter's training in the Battle Wizard training facility in the Himalayas these past two years. I myself have just completed my own battle preparations there and was finally able to return. Now about Lily and James..." Dumbledore smiled at them. "Do any of you know what is one of the most amazing abilities of a Battle Wizard?"

Ron shrugged an said, "Uh, no. That would be something Hermione would know."

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Although it is not fully known to other people, the most amazing ability of a Battle Wizard is the ability to temporarily resurrect the dead for a month for a specific purpose. Harry raised Lily and James to help us in our fight against Voldemort."

Sirius and Remus turned to James and Lily who nodded. "So, you haven't really come back, have you?"

Lily sighed and said, "No, we'll fade away again after the month is up."

"But that's not going to happen for some time," said James with a grin. "So all of you are stuck with us for a while."

At that moment, there was a strong gust of wind. The resistance fighters all looked up to see someone flying toward them on a broomstick. The resistance fighters all held their breaths but released them when they saw it was Harry Potter with what looked like a large bundle on his back.

Harry landed about couple of meters away from the resistance members. He looked around at the bodies of all of the Dark Forces before he caught sight of James, Lily, and Dumbledore. "You were attacked?" he asked.

"I am afraid so," said Dumbledore. "But the members of the resistance were able to fight them off."

"With a little help from your parents," said Ron looking excited.

"Oh come now, we didn't really do anything," said James. "Just knocked out a giant. And it was Lily who did that." James beamed at Lily who smiled back at him. They kissed each other briefly.

"So, Harry," said Ron walking up to him, "where did you go?"

"Well I was looking for someone," said Harry as he gently nudged the "bundle" on his back. The "bundle" timidly lifted up a full head of long bushy brown hair.

Ron gasped and asked, "Hermione?"

"Hello, Ron," said Hermione a little shyly. She glanced at Harry unsurely who smiled and briefly kissed her.

At that moment, all of the resistance members dashed up to Harry and Hermione, all highly overjoyed for what had suddenly turned into the happiest day of their lives.

* * * * * * * * * *

A few days later, Hermione was in a new wheelchair, in the stands of the Quidditch pitch. She was watching Harry and James, playing a mini-game of Quidditch with just the Seeker and Chaser. The idea was that James had to score at least sixteen goals before Harry could catch the snitch. The bludgers were flying around trying to knock them off their brooms as they flew around each other, James trying to get the quaffle through the hoops while Harry searched for the snitch.

Hermione glanced up at Harry who was zooming around on his Firebolt, chasing the snitch around. She had never seen Harry so happy and joyful as he zoomed around playing Quidditch with his father.

"They're so much like children," said a voice next to her. Hermione looked up to see Lily sit next to her. "Hello Hermione, how are you doing?"

"Feeling a little worried," said Hermione as she glanced up at Harry. She winced when a bludger nearly hit him.

"I know exactly what you mean," said Lily. "There were so many times back in school when I just worried myself to death whenever I saw James out on the Quidditch Pitch." She also winced as James dodged a stray bludger. He and Harry were laughing as they continued zooming around in the air.

"I've never seen Harry so happy before," said Hermione. It brought so much joy to Hermione to see Harry so happy to finally be with his parents, however brief that time might be.

Lily sighed sadly. "Harry's missed so much," she said. "He never deserved growing up without us. James and I should've been there with him." She turned toward Hermione and asked, "What is he like from your point of view."

"Harry is the most amazing person I ever met," said Hermione. "He's selfless, kind hearted, and never asks anything for his fame. He always thinks about others first, but its sometimes so amazing that he grew up that way when he could've grown up to be cold and cynical because of his upbringing, or maybe arrogant because of his fame."

Lily smiled and said, "You love him, don't you?"

Hermione looked up at Lily in mild surprise to hear this coming from Harry's mother, but she smiled and nodded, a faint blush settling on her cheeks.

"James and I have always been looking over Harry, even when we couldn't be with him," said Lily. "I've seen the way you look at Harry, it’s the same way I used to look at James when we were in school." She suddenly stood up, walked over and kneeled in front of Hermione. She placed her hands on Hermione's shoulders and looked intensely into Hermione's eyes, her green ones gazing into her brown.

"Lily?" asked Hermione a little timidly.

"Hermione Granger," said Lily with a smile on her face. "I would be honored if you became out daughter in law."

Hermione gasped and spluttered, "W...what? I...I...I..." She wasn't able to continue for at that moment, Harry and James touched down right next to them.

"Hey, beautiful," said Harry with a smile. He leaned in toward Hermione but Hermione backed away a little, blushing furiously.

"Harry, we're in front of your parents."

Harry glanced up at Lily and James. Lily winked at Harry while James wrapped his arms around Lily and grinned at his son.

Harry grinned and said, "Who cares," He leaned forward and kissed her passionately. Hermione smiled and kissed him back, equally as strong.

"That's my boy!" crowed James.

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A/N Well, did you like this chapter? I hope it was enjoyable. At least, you all finally found out who the rider and the stag are (vast majority of you were correct). So, please R/R this chapter. Next: You will finally get a full explanation of what a Battle Wizard is.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

Exodus 20:11

Chapter 12: A Time of Rest

The full moon shone over the Hogwarts grounds and the snow in the Forbidden Forest glittered in the moonlight. The howl of a wolf was heard and a mighty wolf leapt into between the trees, running around as if he were home. As the wolf prowled around the snow, a large black bounded forward and pounced on the wolf with a joyful yip. The two started pouncing on each other playful when a stag charged them, its antlers lowered. The dog and the wolf broke apart and started to chase after the stag in a playful manner. However, the next animal to come was one that made the scene so much more different than the one that was often scene decades ago.

For what had followed was not a cowardly rat, but rather, a majestic lion. The lion pounced after the other three animals. The lion especially seemed to enjoy chasing after the stag and the wolf and dog were often inclined to watch the other two animals play around.

* * * * * * * * * *

Ron and Margaret were walking around the corridors of the castle, looking for a good place to make out.

"Well, since we've used up every single broom closet in the castle, where should we go next?" asked Margaret, a glint in her eye that suggested something.

"The library?" said Ron with a raised eyebrow. Margaret grinned and the two made their way to the library. They made their way to the back of the library where they could get some privacy. Unfortunately, when they got there, they found Hermione there with her head buried in a large book. There was also a whole lot other books on the desk nearby. Hermione looked up at the couple and smiled.

"Hi Ron, Margaret," she said. "You know, the library isn't the place you want to go for a make out session. Try the Astronomy Tower, that's where Harry and I go." She blushed red as she said the last part.

Ron and Margaret blushed furiously. "So where is Harry?" asked Ron. Hermione pointed out the window at the full moon. Ron nodded in understanding. Ever since the end of their third year, Harry had often wished that he could go on one of the full moon escapades the Marauders' had gone on during their school days. This was his only chance to do so with his father as well. Furthermore, it was an excellent opportunity for Harry to get to know James better.

"I guess it makes sense," said Ron. "This month is the only time Harry ever gets to spend with his parents."

"What? Why?" asked Margaret, "Can't Harry bring them back any time he likes?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, a Battle Wizard can resurrect a dead person only once and once only. This one time is the only time Lily and James can come back."

Ron glanced at Hermione who had her face buried in her book again. Sure she was in a wheelchair with no legs, but the sight of her with a book in the library was so familiar that Ron couldn't help but chuckle. Margaret elbowed Ron in the ribs as Hermione looked up at him, a scowl on her face.

"What's so funny, Ron?" she asked with a warning tone.

"Oh its just that this sight is so familiar," said Ron. "Seeing you here in the library, reading books about..." he picked up one of the books, but his eyes went wide in surprise and confusion as he realized what subject they were on. "Battle Wizards?"

Hermione nodded and said, "Ron, do you know anything about Battle Wizards?"

"Er, no."

"Well you should read more. It would've helped with your grades back in school."

Ron scowled as Margaret chuckled and said, "That's what I always tell him."

"My grades were fine," said Ron.

"Because of my help," pointed out Hermione. Ron grumbled but didn't say anything since it was true.

"So what does the great bookworm have to say about Battle Wizards?" said Ron. Hermione chose to ignore the comment.

"You've heard about Atlantis, right?" asked Hermione. When Ron and Margaret nodded, Hermione continued, "It's the great continent in the Atlantic that sank below the sea thousands of years ago. Muggles have legends about Atlantis as well. What muggles don't know is that Atlantis was the ancestral home of the magical community. Virtually all wizards and witches of the ancient world lived on Atlantis."

"I know all this," hissed Ron. Margaret glared at him as Hermione continued.

"What a lot of people don't know about are the ancient guardians of Atlantis, the Battle Wizards."

"What?" asked Ron.

"The Battle Wizards: ancient warriors of the lost continent with immense powers and abilities. Battle Wizards were supposed to be the guardians of peace on Atlantis and they were just that for thousands of years. However, things weren't always peaceful on the continent as dark wizards started to rise among the population. Soon Civil War erupted and the continent was ultimately destroyed by the battles between the Battle Wizards. The surviving wizards and witches escaped to the main land and mingled amongst the Muggle Community."

"So let me get this straight," said Ron with a skeptical look. "An entire continent was destroyed in a magical battle. There's no way something like that can ever happen."

"Ron, you know just how powerful Harry is right?" asked Hermione. Ron nodded and Hermione continued, "Now, imagine thousands of wizards with the exact same power fighting against each other. Also add into that the power to temporarily resurrect the dead, meaning that fallen soldiers would get up again and continue fighting. Tell me now, Ron Weasley, how is it not possible for a continent to be destroyed."

Ron gulped and said, "I see your point."

Hermione went back to her history lesson. "Since then, it was decided that there would only be one Battle Wizard per generation. They're trained in a secret training facility in the Himalayas for two years and become the sole Battle Wizard of his or her generation. Godric Gryffindor was the official Battle Wizard of his generation, although there was an unconfirmed rumor that Salazar Slytherin was one as well. Most likely not true. So that was the way it was for centuries, until fifty years ago when a slip up occurred." Hermione paused, waiting for Ron to finish her sentence. He seemed to be completely clueless however. Hermione sighed and said, "Tom Marvolo Riddle became the Battle Wizard of his generation."

"What?!" shouted Ron. "You-know-who is a Battle Wizard?!"

"That's right," said Hermione. "If people had known what Riddle would become, they would've never made him into a Battle Wizard. As luck would have it, Riddle used his powers as a Battle Wizard to become the greatest dark wizard ever to exist. Its almost ironic how the supposed guardian of peace ended up becoming a megalomaniac tyrant."

Hermione took a deep breath before she continued. "It also explains why You-know-who fears Dumbledore: because Dumbledore is a Battle Wizard of a previous generation."

"And it also explains why he wanted to kill Harry," said Ron. "He was eliminating all future Battle Wizards."

Hermione nodded as she shut her book. "Well, I'm going to bed. Good night," she said as she wheeled her wheelchair out of the library.

Ron glanced at Margaret and said, "Astronomy Tower?" Margaret grinned, and the two left the library.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hermione woke up when she felt a slight weight on her bed. She opened her eyes and saw Harry sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Oh sorry. Did I wake you?" he asked, a tired smile on his face.

Hermione smiled and said, "Yes, but that's OK." She glanced out of the window and saw that it was dawn. "Did you just come back?"

Harry nodded and yawned. He looked very exhausted. "Yeah, I'm beat. But it was worth it. Dad, Sirius, and Remus are completely exhausted as well, but I needed to see you first."

Hermione smiled as Harry lifted her head up into a sweet kiss. The kiss started to get steamy as their hands started roaming around. Harry and Hermione's bodies were so close together as they started to lose themselves in the kiss. Unfortunately, there was an interruption.

"Hi Harry, I was wondering if..." Lily barged into the room and stopped short when she saw Harry and Hermione spring apart blushing very red. "Oh, did I interrupt something?"

"Uh, no Mum. Y-You didn't i-interupt anything," spluttered Harry blushing fiercely. Hermione couldn't help but giggle.

"Lily? What's going on?" asked James from behind Lily as he stifled a yawn.

"I think we just interrupted our son's snog session," said Lily with a grin. "Want to give Harry some lessons?" James grinned and pulled Lily into a passionate kiss.

Hermione laughed as Harry said, "Mum, Dad, I don't need a lesson," looking very embarrassed.

"Why Harry, don't you want to see how much your Mum and Dad love each other?" said Lily looking smug while James had a huge grin on his face. They both still had their arms wrapped around each other.

"If you don't mind, we'd like some privacy," said Harry looking a little annoyed. He started to usher his parents out of the room. Lily and James left with huge grins on their faces.

"Come on Lily, let's leave Harry behind and go have some time to ourselves," said James with a grin that suggested just what he meant. Lily playfully smacked James though she still had a grin on her face. Harry rolled his eyes as Lily and James waved goodbye and disappeared down the corridor.

"Can you believe them?" said Harry still looking annoyed.

"Oh I don't know," said Hermione with a smile. "I think it's very sweet to see how much your parents are in love with each other."

"Not as much as I love you," said Harry with a large grin. Hermione blushed red but she smiled as Harry sat next to her on the bed.

"You know, I love you too," said Hermione. Harry smiled but he also yawned as the exhaustion of his night out with the Marauders started to catch up with him.

"I should probably go back to my room and get some sleep," said Harry.

Hermione shook her head and said, "You can stay here for a few hours." Harry smiled and lied down next to her on the bed. Hermione pulled the covers over them and wrapped her arms around Harry. They gently pulled each other into a sweet kiss that started to get more and more passionate. Finally, they broke apart for the lack of oxygen. Hermione gently laid her head against Harry's chest as Harry pulled her closer to him.

Hermione thought back to everything that had happened since Harry had disappeared. She remembered the time when Harry had first disappeared and she had realized how much she loved him and she had cried herself to sleep. Back then, there was no way she could've imagined that she would be lying in Harry's arms two years later. Tears of joy brimmed up in her eyes.

"Harry, when you left two years ago, I was devastated. It was only after you had gone that I realized what I felt for you, and I constantly cursed myself for not acting on my feelings while you were here. I missed you every night while you were gone and I often wondered if you missed me. But I never lost hope that you would be back. That was my anchor, even when everything around me fell apart. And now, you're back, and I think I love you even more than when you were gone. I love you so much, Harry."

Harry did not answer, his steady breathing indicating that he had fallen asleep. Hermione smiled and thought, 'He looks so peaceful when he's asleep.' She snuggled closer to him and slowly fell asleep.

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A/N Well what do you know: this chapter is actually a lot more fluffier than chapter 9. I didn't intend make it come out like that. But ultimately, I'm more than satisfied with the outcome of this chapter. So please, read and review this chapter. Also, the Bible Verses at the beginning of each chapter is only a symbolic theme for each chapter. I ask that you remember that they are only symbolic.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."

John 5:9 Chapter 13: Start of the Battle of Parselrock

In London, surrounding the mighty fortress of Parselrock was the single largest gathering of dark forces in all of Europe. The tension there was quite high; recent successes of the resistance fighters had prevented the dark forces from extending their territory out of Europe, all spurred by the "Return of the Lion" as people had dubbed Harry Potter's return.

In an attempt to crush the heart of the resistance, Voldemort had sent his Killer Elite to destroy Hogwarts a full week and a half previously, but the lack of news had made some Death Eaters nervous. Amongst those was Icicle, who's sister Flame was a member of the Killer Elite and had therefore gone to Hogwarts. She hadn't heard from them in quite some time.

"Where are they?" yelled Icicle, clearly frustrated. She was pacing back and forth in front of her tent, in a clearing not too far from the Thames River. "They left a week and a half ago! We should've had some news by now!"

"Patience, Icicle," said Lucius Malfoy, relaxing in a luxurious seat right next to his tent, "There is no way the Killer Elite could've been defeated. We will be celebrating our victory soon."

"I suppose so," said Icicle, calming down a little. "Slave!" she yelled. Two shackled people came forward, ragged and dirty. They were Susan Thomas and John Seymour. "Get me my tea," ordered Icicle.

Seymour tried to lunge at Icicle, but Susan held him back. "John, don't do anything stupid," she pleaded.

Seymour looked like an erupted Volcano. He completely ignored Susan's pleas and tried to attack Icicle.

"Crucio." Seymour hollered in extreme pain as the Cruciatus Curse ripped through his body. Susan looked terrified as Icicle walked up to him grinning like a madwoman.

"Stop it! You're going to kill him!" shouted Susan. Icicle however, had no intention of taking off the curse as she walked up to the writhing Seymour.

"Let that be a lesson for insubordination, muggle," sneered Icicle.

Suddenly, a huge explosion rattled the camp of the Death Eaters! "What?!" Icicle and Lucius looked up to see a horrifying sight.

The Resistance was attacking the Death Eater stronghold in London! Thousands of fighters of both magical and muggle resistances were storming the Death Eaters and overpowering them.

"The Killer Elite have failed?" hissed Icicle. "That's not possible! There must be some other explanation!"

"Really? Why don't you think about it logically?" said a very familiar voice. Everybody present whirled around in surprise to see who the voice had come from. "That attack on Hogwarts was a gamble wasn't it? It was an attempt to wipe out the resistance once and for all wasn't it? So how can the resistance be attacking you now? Why, logic dictates that your Killer Resistance lost, pure and simple as that."

The voice had come from a very familiar young girl with bushy golden brown hair and cinnamon brown eyes. She had a look of pure determination on her threat and she actually looked quite threatening, despite the fact that she had approached them on a wheelchair. Her thighs were covered by a red and white, checkered quilt.

"Hermione?" asked Susan looking very confused.

"Granger?" spat Seymour, though he too looked quite confused.

"Why, my little mudblood," smirked Icicle. "Young Draco has missed you very much. I am glad to have this opportunity to deliver you to him."

"If I were you, I would preparing myself for a duel," said Hermione, glaring defiantly at Icicle.

Icicle started laugh. "Oh really, mudblood?" she said between laughs. "Now tell me, what can a legless freak do against the likes of me?"

Hermione simply said, "Don't take things at face value." Icicle simply grinned and fired an explosive curse at Hermione, which flung her out of her wheelchair into the air. Hermione however, simply twirled around in the air and landed gently behind Icicle on her feet...her feet?! Everybody present stared at Hermione in shock while Hermione looked smug.

Yes, Hermione was balancing on the tiptoes of a right foot, a left foot slightly raised above the ground! She was wearing white pointed end shoes that went well with her satin white travel robes that simply glowed in the darkness of the night and flames from the nearby battle. She looked like an angel, beautiful and frightening. She was now, in fact a full inch taller than previously at five foot seven.

"H-how is this possible?" spluttered Susan from the corner she was hiding in. "I amputated your legs myself, Hermione." Icicle and Lucius were glaring at her, the exact same question in their eyes.

Hermione smiled sweetly and said, "Harry. He used the regeneration powers that Battle Wizards use to raise the dead to regenerate my legs. The difference is that since it was only part of a body that was regenerated, rather than a full body, these legs are permanent."

Icicle smirked. "Oh, is that so mudblood. Well, be happy then, since you will lose them again if you continue fighting against us!"

"Want to bet?" asked Hermione with a grin.

Icicle glared at Hermione who seemed to be filled to the brink with confidence. Suddenly, she shouted, "Crucio!" twice and fired two curses at her.

At the last moment, Hermione whipped a long staff and deflected the two unforgivables with an advanced shield charm! Icicle was caught off guard. She managed to barely dodge the first curse but the second one grazed her arm and she hollered in pain. "H-how did you do that," she hissed.

Hermione twirled the staff around. It was five feet long, and had a golden disk on the end while the staff itself was navy blue. "Five feet, cherry, and a single tail feather of a phoenix. An Ollivanders speciality staff made specifically for me," said Hermione.

"That deflection had nothing to do with the staff," hissed Icicle. "Magical wands and staff only channel the wizard or witch's magic. That shield you just used came from you yourself!"

Hermione grinned and pointed her staff at Icicle. "Lets just say that you're facing the one witch who as the top of her class every single year of her Hogwarts education."

Icicle hollered in anger and fired another curse at Hermione. Hermione simply deflected it with another shield charm. She swung her staff upward at Icicle and Icicle was flung twenty feet away by a magical force. She tried to fire another curse at Hermione but Hermione simply swung her staff again and Icicle was flung away.

Lucius tried help Icicle but he abruptly stopped when he realized that a wand was being pointed at the back of his head. "Don't even think about it, Malfoy," hissed a masculine voice Lucius hadn't heard in nearly twenty years. He fearfully turned around to see James Potter pointing a wand at him, with Lily Potter standing next to him, her hand on her wand as well.

"P-Potter?" stuttered Lucius in disbelief. Lily and James grinned maliciously.

Icicle fired another curse at Hermione but was once again flung away. "How is this possible?" she demanded, painfully dragging herself back onto her feet. "You were not this powerful back at Malfoy Manor."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Don't you read books?" she asked. "Its general knowledge that a wizard or witch can channel his or her full power only when their full body is in tact. Since I didn't have my legs before, I could only access half of my powers. But now that my legs are back, not to mention that I have a staff specifically made..."

"I get the idea!" yelled Icicle, looking annoyed. Hermione realized that she had gotten carried away and turned a little red, clearly embarrassed. "But I am still not letting myself be beat by a mudblood!"

Icicle raised her wand and started to say, "Avada Kedav..." but Hermione was faster when she shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Icicle's wand flew out of her hand into Hermione's who promptly snapped it. Icicle charged at Hermione in a physical assault but Hermione landed a powerful kick, with her newly regenerated right leg, onto Icicle's chin and knocked her out. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd use a physical attack on an opponent," she said to herself.

Lucius tried to attack Hermione but James tackled him and pinned him to the ground. Lily walked up to him and hissed, "Don't Malfoy."

Lucius growled. He suddenly used a burst of magic to blast James and Lily away from him. Before he could escape however, a large black dog bounded forward and pinned him to the ground once again. Lily whipped out her wand and shouted, "Stupefy!" Lucius slumped unconcisous.

"Thanks Padfoot," said James. Lily also smiled at the dog.

Sirius transformed into his human form and said, "My pleasure," with a grin.

Hermione walked up to Susan and Seymour. "All right witch! Do your worst!" yelled Seymour looking threatening.

Hermione stared at him sadly. Wordlessly, she raised her staff at them and their shackles fell off. Susan looked at Hermione in surprise while Seymour looked outright shocked. "What new trick is this, witch?" he demanded.

Hermione sighed sadly and said; "I guess it's going to be 'obliviate' for you later, John. I'm sorry for your prejudices you just can't drop." Seymour spluttered angrily but remained quiet. Hermione turned to Susan and said, "Susan, I'm so sorry for keeping secrets from you. I should've told you that I was a witch from the first time we met. But I was afraid of being prejudged in a similar way many wizards have prejudged me because I'm a muggle-born. Susan, I just wanted to that I'm so sorr..." Hermione had tears glistening in her eyes when Susan abruptly stopped her.

"Hermione, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I considered you a friend, and yet I immediately assumed that you betrayed us when I found out you were a witch. I'm also sorry for what I did to your legs."

Hermione smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. As you can see, that's been completely taken care of." She visibly tapped her left foot on the ground to emphasize her point. Susan smiled and pulled the younger girl into a strong hug.

"This place is too dangerous for you," said Hermione. "Take John and follow that dog," she pointed at Sirius, who had just turned back into his animagus form. "You can trust him with your life. He will take you back to the area controlled by the resistance." She nodded at Sirius who nodded back.

Susan smiled at Hermione before she dragged Seymour away after Sirius. Hermione turned around to see Lily facing her.

"Hermione," she said, "Harry is about to storm Parselrock. I want you to go after him."

Hermione looked surprised. "Shouldn't you been the one who should be going with Harry? I mean, you are his mother..."

Lily shook her head. "James and I will be gone again after this war is over. Harry shouldn't live in the past, he should be heading into a bright future with you."

Hermione stared at Lily for a moment. She and Lily pulled each other into a strong hug before Hermione ran off to catch up with Harry.

* * * * * * * * * *

While the battle raged around him, Harry Potter was standing in front of the main entrance of the fortress known as Parselrock, Ron right next to him looking apprehensive yet determined.

Harry pulled his hat lower and said, "OK, let's go." Ron nodded and the two started to walk toward the doors.

"Wait!" Harry and Ron spun around to see Hermione run up to them. "I'm coming with you!"

Harry did not look too pleased. "Hermione, its too dangerous. I don't think..."

"Don't get all chivalrous on me, Harry James Potter!" hissed Hermione. Ron cowered away in fear as Hermione continued, "I am more than capable of defending myself. And nothing you say or do is going to change my mind! I am coming with you!"

Harry looked a little angry, but he could see Hermione's determination and knew it was no use to argue. "Fine, you can come," he said, looking defeated. Hermione nodded.

With that, Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned around, and walked toward the doors of Parselrock.

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A/N For a second, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to bring this chapter up in time. But, I typed as fast as I could and here it is. I'm a little behind in schedule but I'll try to catch up. Anyway, please read and review this story.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

Matthew 6:14

Chapter 14: End of a Rivalry

Harry, Hermione, and Ron tore through the corridors of Parselrock as fast as they could. Although most of the dark forces were outside fighting the battle, there were still a good many Death Eaters inside of the fortress. Each floor had a large ominous corridor, which was held up by Greek style pillars that ended in a magnificent staircase that led to the floor above. The trio climbed each staircase as fast as they could, since Voldemort's chamber was on the top floor.

Each floor was defended by some of the most power Death Eaters in Europe. Fortunately, these were absolutely no match against Harry, and could only offer a minor challenge to Hermione. Ron often felt a little small next to his powerful best friends, but he had his moments with his share of powerful curses he sent toward random Death Eaters. Finally, after fighting off at least some 142 Death Eaters, the trio made it to the sixth floor of the fortress tower.

"How much more do we have?" asked Ron warily. He was very exhausted from running through sixth levels of the fortress. "If we don't get to the top soon, I just might as well turn myself in to You-know-who since I won't be able to fight him because of exhaustion."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come on, Ron. You can't be THAT exhausted." For her part however, Hermione was amazed hat she had absolutely no weariness at all. She realized that it was because her new legs granted her so much more running power than before. "Anyway, we should be there soon."

After saying that, Hermione walked through the corridor. However, when she came in sight of the staircase to the next floor, she abruptly stopped. Her eyes widened in fear and her body started to shake uncontrollably. She also seemed to have lost her ability to speak, as she just stood there, paralyzed with fear.

"Hermione what's wrong?" asked Harry coming up behind her, concern written in his green eyes. He soon saw what was wrong, and his teeth gritted in anger.

Standing in front of the staircase, wearing elegant silver and green robes, with the image of a snake on the torso, was none other than Draco Malfoy. Harry could understand Hermione's fear since he knew how much pain Malfoy had brought on her. Harry reassuringly squeezed Hermione's shoulder. Hermione clutched Harry's hand on her shoulder as if it were a lifeline.

"Malfoy?" spat Ron. "What are you doing here?"

Draco made his trademark sneer. "Well, what do you expect, Weasley? I'm here kill you, fight off Potter, and make sure Granger carries my child."

Hermione started trembling fiercely. Harry gently circled his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. Ron started swearing loudly and was about to go fight Draco when Harry said, "Ron, no! Leave him to me."

Harry gently passed Hermione to Ron. Hermione seemed reluctant to let go of Harry, but Harry gave her strong assurances, which finally convinced her to let go of Harry and stand by Ron. "I'll conquer your fear for you," whispered Harry. Hermione nodded and weakly smiled.

Harry slowly made his way toward Draco who was still smirking. "So it comes to this, doesn't it, Potter."

"If you say so, Malfoy."

"This duel didn't just start here, Potter. Nor did it start when you took the mudblood from Malfoy Manor. No Potter, this is the climax of everything that has happened between us. Ever since we first met in the Hogwarts Express all those years ago."

"Pity," said Harry in a mocking sad voice. "I'm going to miss our little rivalry."

"Enough chit chat, Potter," hissed Draco. "If you're not going to make the first move, I will!"

Before anyone could move a muscle, Draco dashed passed Harry with inhuman speed and fired a series of curses at Harry's back. Harry just barely managed to turn around in time to block the curses. Before Harry could attack, Draco once again dashed behind Harry and fired curses at him from behind. This time, Harry rolled away and dodged them.

When Harry finally regained his balance, his former look of confidence had been replaced with a look of shock, disbelief, and even a little fear. "H-how is this possible?" whispered Harry. "You couldn't possibly have that much speed unless..."

"That is correct, Potter," said Draco with a tone of triumph. "I too am a Battle Wizard!"

"What?!" yelled Ron in disbelief. Hermione started shaking again.

Harry appeared to be the most shocked of all. He simply stared at Draco, shock and fear all over his eyes.

Draco sneered at Harry. "Common knowledge is that only a Battle Wizard can defeat a Battle Wizard," he said. "The only way I can fight Potter on my own terms, is if I become a Battle Wizard myself." Draco suddenly pointed his hands at Harry and shouted, "Maximus Reducto!"

Hermione screamed as the highly advanced reductor curse slammed into Harry, ending in a huge explosion of debris. Ron ducked, expecting a tremendous explosion like the one in Hogsmeade. Fortunately, no such thing happened.

"Don't be so frightened, Weasley," sneered Draco. "This fortress was built to withstand the power of Battle Wizards. It won't be destroyed by one advanced reductor, though I can't say the same for Potter." He started laughing.

Draco stopped laughing however, when Harry got up with out a scratch. He brushed of his robes and glared at Draco with a new look of determination.

"You know, Malfoy," said Harry. "I never expected that I would fight against you with equal terms. But I guess there is a first time for everything, and a last time." Harry suddenly pulled out something from underneath his cloak. Ron and Hermione gasped when they saw that it was the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

Harry passed his wand into his left hand took up his sword in his right hand. "Lets get a little more serious," he said. Harry suddenly rocketed forward and swung his sword down at Draco, the blade giving off a dazzling white light in the form of an even larger sword. Panicking, Draco cast a powerful shield charm over himself. The dazzling blade struck the shield with flash of sparks, and both the shield and the blade disappeared with a crack. Draco leapt back and dodged Harry's sword as it came flashing down.

Draco yelled "Multiplicus Diffendo!" A legion of magical energy blades were conjured up that went flying toward Harry. Harry swung his sword around and deflected all of the blades.

Harry then shouted, "Maximus Reducto!" Draco was completely caught in the explosion, he shield charm barely holding.

As soon as the explosion subsided, Draco shouted, "Crucio!" just as Harry shouted, "Multiplicus Diffendo!" Harry was caught by the Cruciatus Curse and started writhing in pain, but Draco was forced to take off the curse so that he could dodge Harry's energy blades.

Harry started wheezing a little but he still had a clear head. He yelled, "Stupefius Expelliarmus!" and fired a combination stunner and disarmer. Draco dodged the spell with a quick roll to the side. He was also panting and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.

Suddenly, Draco started coughing violently, and Harry was shocked when he saw blood coming up with the coughs.

"Draco, what..."

"Don't pity me, Potter!" yelled Draco. "I still have enough power to finally beat you."

Draco suddenly yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" Hermione screamed as the green light closed in on Harry. However, Harry suddenly disappeared!

"Wha..." Draco glanced up to see Harry high up in the air. Harry once again gathered energy onto his sword and formed the dazzling large blade. Harry swung the blade downward as he fell toward Draco. There was a large explosion as the blade hit the ground. Draco had rolled out of the way.

Draco suddenly pointed his wand forward and shouted, "Draco Incendio!" Harry was shocked when a powerful flame in the form of a mighty dragon erupted from Draco's wand with a mighty roar. Harry barely managed to dodge the fire dragon and was singed.

"What the?" he muttered.

Draco glared at Harry and said, "The dragon flame spell is my own creation, Potter. A spell that can only be used by me and me alone: it's my greatest spell in my arsenal and it’s the spell that will mean your doom!"

Draco suddenly started coughing up blood again. Harry had a look of concern on his face but dropped it when Draco glared at him.

"Is that so?" said Harry. "Well, to tell you the truth I also have a spell that I alone can use: the stellar patronus."

Draco and Hermione stared at Harry in shock and disbelief. Ron looked confused. "The stellar patronus? What's that?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hermione couldn't help rolling her eyes and said, "Ron, didn't you ever pay attention in History of Magic?"

"Hermione, it was Binns teaching that class. No one paid attention in that class, except you."

Hermione went into her lecture mode: "The stellar patronus is essentially a more advanced form of the patronus charm. It is basically a dark magic cleanser and anybody whom is hit by has all dark magic in his body expelled. It takes on the shape of the zodiac sign of the caster." At this point she stopped and glanced at Harry in confusion before she continued, "But in all history, only one person was ever known to have been able to use the stellar patronus: its creator, Godric Gryffindor."

"Yes," said Harry. "But what a lot of people don't know is that Gryffindor hid the secret of the stellar patronus somewhere in Hogwarts after Salazar Slytherin's betrayal." Harry pulled his hat down lower. Hermione gasped in understanding.

"The Sorting Hat," she said.

"That's right," said Harry. "This hat on my head is the secret to my abilities as a Battle Wizard. So long as I have this hat on, I am the sole possessor of the stellar patronus."

"Is that all you have to say?" hissed Draco. He coughed up more blood but continued: "If you've quite finished, why don't we finish what we've started, Potter!" He straitened up and yelled, "Draco Incendio!" Once again, the fire dragon flew toward Harry with a mighty roar.

Harry stood his ground. He started to move his wand and sword around into the form of the constellation Leo and said, "Astra Patronum Leo!"

A mighty, golden Lion burst forward, with shining stars within the body that correlated with the constellation Leo. The lion sped through the fire dragon, causing it to disappear with a scream. Draco stared in disbelief as the lion engulfed his body. He started screaming as a powerful surge of energy sped through his body. A shadowy vapor started to seep out of his body. Soon, the light of the lion disappeared, all of the vapor left Draco, and Draco Malfoy collapsed to the ground, panting and wheezing.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron gathered around Draco. "There isn't a single trace of dark magic in your body anymore," said Harry. He kneeled down in front of Draco and examined the blood Draco had coughed up.

"I should've known," said Harry. "You used the Battle grant spell, didn't you Draco?"

"The what?" asked Ron.

"The Battle grant spell," said Harry. "It grants you the powers of a Battle Wizard, but at a price." He turned back to Draco and said, "Why Draco? You should know that that spell was fatal."

Draco now had tears rolling down his face. "I wanted to win. All my life I've always wanted beat you, Potter. But it never happened. Just once, I wanted to beat you, and yet even this last gamble failed."

Harry stared at Draco in disbelief. "At the cost of your life?"

"That wouldn't have mattered since Hermione was supposed to carry my child. I was going to take her after I beat you and at least have the Malfoy blood line live on."

Rage started to build up in Ron as he spat, "Malfoy you sick ba..."

"Let me finish!" yelled Draco as he coughed up more blood. He was fully crying when he said. "Hermione, I'm so sorry."

Hermione stared at Draco in disbelief. "What?"

"I'm so sorry," whispered Draco, tears streaming down his eyes. "When the Dark Lord chose me to bare his heir it was also decided that a muggle or a muggle-born would be the mother. He read my thoughts and found the feelings I had for you. So they decided to use you."

Hermione gasped. Draco continued.

"I never wanted to have to rape you, but I could not go against the Dark Lord. I wanted you to at least accept willingly, but you refused and gave me no choice. I'm so sorry. All I ask before I die, is that you have it in your heart to forgive me."

Hermione stared at Draco for a while. Finally, a look of sorrow came over her face and she whispered, "I forgive you Draco Malfoy."

Draco smiled but another coughing fit of blood took hold of him. He started cough up more and more blood until finally, he collapsed. Slowly, he closed his eyes, his breathing stopped, and Draco Malfoy was dead.

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A/N Ack! I fell behind schedule! How could I? But I finally managed to get this chapter complete. Sure hope you all enjoy it. So, please read and review this chapter. This story is coming down on the climax. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

Chapter 15: The Lion against the Serpent

The trio remained kneeling around Draco's dead form for a while. That had never expected that they would actually be mourning for the loss of the one person in school they had hated the most. Hermione even let a tear role down her cheek, a sign that she had truly forgiven the person who had given her so much grief.

Finally Harry pulled his hat down lower and stood up. "Come on, we've got a job to do." Ron and Hermione nodded and stood up.

Hermione glanced up at the staircase and said, "The next floor should be the top floor."

Harry nodded. "That's where Voldemort is." Ron and Hermione looked frightened and Harry seemed to have lost his usual confidence. "Lets go," he said.

Unfortuanately, when they hadn't even moved a step, they stopped when they heard the sound of what sounded like applause, only they heard clicks instead of claps: the clicks of hundreds and hundreds of pinchers. The trio turned around and gasped at the sight. Harry was gritting his teeth, Hermione looked frightened, and Ron looked about ready to faint from sheer terror.

Acromantulas! Giant spiders. Hundreds and hundreds of giant spiders were closing in on them, barring their pinchers and eight legs menacingly. Harry quickly cast a powerful shield charm that kept the spiders away. "I can't keep these spiders away forever," said Harry.

"Forget the spiders, you and Hermione go fight You-know-who!"

"What?" Harry and Hermione whipped around to face Ron. He looked extremely frightened but determined at the same time.

"Ron..."

"Harry, I just have this feeling that it has to be me who holds these spiders up. Besides, how could I ever truly call myself a Gryffindor if I can't face my greatest fear?"

Harry and Hermione were reminded of the time when Ron had sacrificed himself in a chess match back in their first year. Harry nodded and placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. Suddenly, a sudden glow eminated from Harry's hand and transferred into Ron's body. Ron's eyes widened.

"Harry, what?"

"I transferred a portion of my Battle Wizard powers into you. It’s a temporary deal but it should be enough to fight off the arcromantulas."

Ron was clearly surprised but also relieved. He turned to the spiders, fighting his fears down.

"Good luck, Ron," said Hermione as she and Harry started to make their way up the stairs.

Ron pointed his wand at one of the spiders. He tried to fire a stunner but was completely surprised when he shot a powerful blast that disintegrated two of the acromantulas. "I could get used to this," said Ron with a grin. He readied himself to fight off the remainder of the spiders.

* * * * * * * * * *

The chamber on the top floor awed Harry: it was an exact replica of the Chamber of Secrets hidden underneath the school. But if there was a difference, it was the sinister throne at the end of the chamber. However, when Harry and Hermione walked up to it, they found that it was empty.

"Where is he?" asked Hermione. Harry looked back and forth gritting his teeth. He was feeling a burning pain in his scar indicated that Voldemort was somewhere near.

"Riddle!" yelled Harry. "Come out! Come out and fight!" His voice echoed throughout the chamber.

For about a minute, there was silence throughout the chamber. Suddenly, Hermione let out a scream when her body was flung forward toward the throne as if she were summoned by a summoning charm. She was seated in the throne whereupon magical ropes were conjured up and she was tied to the throne.

"Hermione!" Harry tried to make his way to a frightened Hermione but stopped when a sudden surge of pain ran through his scar.

Lord Voldemort stepped out in view from behind the throne, wearing a black robes with silver highlights and a green serpent embroidered on the torso.

"Why Harry, long time no see," he said.

"Voldemort." Harry's extreme confidence was gone, his face clearly showing the fear he felt for being in the Dark Lord's presence once again.

"I you're worried about your mudblood friend here, than there is nothing to worry about," said Voldemort gesturing to a saking Hermione. "She is still my first choice for mother of my heir, though I am afraid I am going to have to choose a new father. I had her tied up to make sure she didn't interfere with our duel." Voldemort turned to Harry, a very ugly look on his face. "Why don't we finish it, Potter? Why don't we finish what started 17 years ago? Let us end it one and for all!"

"My thoughts exactly!" yelled Harry. He shouted, "Stupefius Expelliarmus!" at the same time Voldemort shouted, "Crucio!" The two spells met half way in between them and formed into the golden thread of Prior Incantatem. Voldemort immediately broke the connection.

"I see that we still can not duel with our wands," he said. "I suppose when that happens, we need to rely on these." Voldemort pulled out a sinister looking single edged sword, its hilt in the shape of a skull, and a green serpent drawn along the blade. "Recognize this, Potter? Its made from the fang of a basilisk, still as poisonous."

"Is that so?" said Harry. "Well I could care less, so long as I can defeat you!" With a yell, Harry charged forward, his sword once again emanating the dazzling blade of light. The blade hit Voldemort's sword, sending out a flurry of sparks. Undaunted, Harry swung out another blade which Voldemort also caught on his sword.

"Impressive," said Voldemort. He started flinging his sword around in brilliant sword skills that no one would've known he had. Harry deflected each of the blows with brilliant skills.

Finally, Harry saw his chance. He made a flying leap, somersaulted in the air and landed behind the Dark Lord, whereupon he yelled, "Maximus Reducto!"

The explosion caught Voldemort in full force as it slammed into his back. Voldemort was blasted away down the chamber and slammed into one of the pillars. The force of his impact was so strong that a few cracks emerged on the pillar.

However, Voldemort appeared to be unharmed as he stood up and brushed dust off of his robes. Harry gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Disappointed, Potter?" asked Voldemort. "I would expect that you knew that an advanced reductor wouldn't work on me."

"Of course I knew that!" hissed Harry. "I was still hoping for at least a little effect."

Voldemort grinned and started to make his way toward Harry, brandishing his sword and wand. Harry steadied himself and shouted, "Draco Incendio!" A powerful flaming dragon shot out of Harry's wand. Voldemort looked surprised as the fire dragon engulfed his body. However, Voldemort simply walked through the flames unharmed and suddenly emerged in front of Harry through the flames. Before Harry could react, Voldemort had placed him on the Cruciatus Curse!

"Harry!" screamed Hermione. She felt as if her insides were being torn apart as she saw him writhe in pain on the ground in front of her, barely holding in his screams of pain.

"I'm impressed, Potter," said Voldemort. "The dragon flame was a spell that only young Malfoy could use, but you have brilliant added it to your own arsenal after only one duel with him!" Voldemort laughed out loud as Harry continued to writhe in pain. He lifted his sword up in a stance that clearly meant he was about to decapitate Harry. "Unfortunately, that is enough to defeat me." Hermione screamed as Voldemort swung his sword down.

Despite his pain, Harry managed to lift his sword in time to block Voldemort's strike. Before Voldemort could do anything more, Harry lifted his wand and yelled "Stupefius Expelliarmus!" Voldemort was blasted away but unfortunately, he was neither disarmed nor stunned. Still, the curse was broken.

Harry groggily stood up panting as he shook off the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. "Harry, are you all right?" asked a tearful Hermione.

"I'll live," said Harry. He was still glaring at Voldemort who once again stood up.

"Not bad, Potter," said Voldemort.

Harry gritted his teeth and yelled, "Multiplicus Diffendo!" Hundreds of magical blades of light were conjured up and flew toward Voldemort. Voldemort simply cast a powerful shield charm and blocked all of the blades. He made his way up to Harry brandishing his sword over his head. He formed a huge blade of light around the sword and swung it down at Harry.

Harry also formed a powerful blade of light around his own sword. The two blades collided into each other, shooting off sparks as well as the sound of cackling energy.

Harry and Voldemort continued to swing the powerful blades of light at each other, sparks and energy released with every hit of the blade against each other.

"You know you can't beat me, Potter," taunted Voldemort as the two blades collided against each other. "I have been a Battle Wizard far longer than you have. By sheer experience, I have the advantage."

"Really Riddle?" hissed Harry. "I thought you wouldn't have been able to catch up with the high energies of youth!" He placed a strong kick, boosted by magic on Voldemort's midsection.

The magic boosted kick sent the Dark Lord flying across the chamber. However, while he was still in the air, Voldemort managed to catch Harry off guard and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Harry's wand flew out of his hand and landed twenty feet away to his right.

"Harry! Your wand!" shouted Hermione from behind him.

"Don't worry, I can still fight," said Harry. He lifted his sword up in front of him, both hands on the handle.

Voldemort started laughing hysterically. "You are a fool, Potter!" he said. "Without his wand, how do you expect to block this?"

Hermione shuddered as Voldemort shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"

"Harry, dodge it!" shouted Hermione. Harry was just about to do that when he realized that Hermione was right behind him! If Harry dodged the killing curse, it would hit Hermione!

Harry started to think as fast as he could. He had vowed to himself that he would always protect Hermione, and he knew that if he let Hermione die, he would never be able to live with himself. There was only one thing left to do. If one of them were to die, than Harry knew who that was to be.

Hermione's eyes went wide, when it became clear that Harry wasn't going to dodge the killing curse. Furthermore, he spread his arms out in a gesture to prevent Hermione from even being hit by the curse.

"I love you, Hermione," said harry. It was a whisper but she still heard it. Hermione felt a pang in her heart and tears were flowing from her eyes.

"Harry! NOOOOOOOO!!!" she screamed. The green light of the killing curse engulfed Harry.

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A/N Sorry, this chapter was so late but I've been busy lately. I guess my schedule has been fully disrupted. Anyway, please read and review this chapter. This chapter is the last cliffhanger because the next chapter is the last one! Thank you so much for reading this fic.

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series belongs to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. Inc., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Raincoast, and any other affiliated party.

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"Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of prophecy in this book."

Revelation 22:7

Chapter 16: Endings and Beginnings.

The next few seconds were a complete blur for Hermione, amidst the tears and screams. She barely noticed the fact that she had broken out of her bonds in a sheer burst of magic brought on by anguish. She barely noticed Voldemort laughing triumphantly at the demise of his arch nemesis. All she saw was Harry crumble lifeless to the ground.

"Harry...no...please...no..." Hermione kneeled in front of Harry's body, and gently cradled him in her arms. "Harry...please...Harry..." Harry's body was cold, and there was no breath and no pulse. Herrmione was fully sobbing now, her tears rolling off her cheeks and falling onto Harry's peaceful face.

"I've won!" shouted Voldemort, completely ignoring Hermione. "Finally, after 17 years! It ends! The Potters are no more! I am the true master of this world!" Powerful dark winds and light were now emanating from his body as the Dark Lord laughed in evil triumph.

Hermione, hugged Harry's still form closer to her, tears falling freely. He would never talk with her again. He would never hold her again. He would never laugh with her, never comfort her, and never kiss her ever again. The pain of the realization was too much for Hermione to bear. Without Harry, there was no more hope for her. No more point to live.

Hermione glanced down into Harry's face. He looked so peaceful in his death. Tears still falling, Hermione closed her eyes, leaned forward, and whispered, "I love you, Harry Potter." She gently kissed Harry's lips.

For a split second, there was nothing. However, Hermione was surprised when she suddenly felt warmth on Harry's lips. A second later, she felt a heart beat. Then she felt Harry's arm circle around her and Harry's lips start to kiss her back. Hermione opened her eyes to see a pair of emerald green eyes flutter open.

"H-Harry?"

"You know, Hermione? I love you too," said Harry with a smile. He wearily pulled himself up to his feet.

"Potter?!" yelled Voldemort in shock. "How did you survive the curse?"

"Exact same way I survived it 17 years ago," said Harry. It was only then that Hermione noticed that there was a trail of blood down his face, from his reopened scar. "Love. Hermione's love this time rather than my mother's but still the same. Didn't rebound this time but still the same."

"Love?" said Voldemort in a disbelieving tone.

"Yes Hermione's love saved me this time," said Harry. He started think for a minute and said, "Tell me Riddle. Have you ever performed the secret power of Battle Wizards: the ability to temporarily resurrect the dead?"

"What? Why would I ever want to raise the dead?" demanded Voldemort.

"Do you understand love, Riddle?" asked Harry. "The secret of the true power of a Battle Wizard is love. Unlike what you believe, love truly conquers all, even death."

Voldemort looked like he was about to hyperventilate. Snapping out of a trance, Hermione grabbed her staff, which had been discarded next to the throne when she was tied up, and shouted, "Accio Harry's wand!" The wand flew toward them and Harry snagged it in the air.

"I can not be defeated!" yelled Voldemort, close to hyperventilating. He shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" as loud as he could. The green light of the killing curse sped toward Harry.

"Love conquers all, Remember that, Tom Marvolo Riddle," said Harry. He moved his wand and sword in the formation of the constellation Leo and shouted, "Astra Patronum Leo!"

The stellar patronus in the form of a lion charged toward Voldemort, disintegrating the Avada Kedavra curse in the process. Voldemort screamed in pain as the patronus engulfed him. Since Dark Magic was what was sustaining Voldemort's life, cleansing dark magic from him was outright fatal!

"My world! It cannot end! It musn't! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Voldemort screamed as his body crumbled into dust. Thus perished Lord Voldemort.

Exhausted, Harry collapsed into Hermione's arms. "Is...is it over?" asked a weary Harry.

Hermione smiled and gently kissed him. "Yes Harry, it really is over this time."

"Thank...God," whispered Harry. He promptly fainted in Hermione's embrace.

* * * * * * * * * *

Outside, the battle was still raging. The resistance and the Dark Forces were still blasting each other with equal powers. Suddenly, the Death Eaters abruptly lost their powers! The resistance abruptly stopped fighting when the Death Eaters lost their powers. The Dark Creatures fled away, their connection to the Death Eaters seemingly lost.

"What is going on?" demanded one of the Death Eaters. "Why can't we use dark magic?!"

"The answer to that is quite simple, really," said a voice from the resistance side. It was Albus Dumbledore. "Harry has used the stellar patronus on Voldemort."

"What?!"

"The stellar patronus cleanses all dark magic out of a person's system," said Dumbledore. "Since all of you are servants of Voldemort, you have all also have been cleansed when Voldemort was cleansed."

With a pang, the Death Eaters realized this was true. They surrendered and the resistance cheered. In this way, the domination of Europe by the Dark Forces was ended once and for all. Freedom returned to the Earth.

* * * * * * * * * *

After the end of the reign of terror of the Dark Forces, there was much to do. It was decided that advanced memory charms would be placed on the general muggle population and remove all knowledge of the "darkness" from muggle minds. There was also a lot of work going into rebuilding the nations of Europe, both magic and muggle. The reestablished governments all worked hard to rebuild what had been lost in the reign of terror.

There were also many partings during this time. The first parting, two days after the defeat of Voldemort, was surprisingly Ron Weasley and Margaret Chapel.

"I never expected that you would be the one to go back to school," said Hermione as she and Harry were saying goodbye to their red haired friend. He had already said goodbye to his family, after assuring Molly that he would write to them at least once a week.

"Yeah well, with some stroke of luck, I managed to get a scholarship for Columbia. I might as well finish the whole curriculum. I'm also considering living permanently in New York," said Ron. Harry and Hermione however did not miss the small blush on Ron's cheeks.

"Come on Ron, we're going," said Margaret, next to an old boot that was the portkey back to New York. Ron blushed red and made his way to Margaret and gave her a quick kiss. Harry and Hermione shared a knowing smile. They knew the real reason why Ron wanted to go back to New York.

"Good bye, Ron," said Hermione. She gave him and Margaret a hug.

"See you around, mate," said Harry. He gave both Ron a Margaret a hug as well.

"Good bye, guys," said Ron. "And remember Harry, you'd better make me the best man at your wedding." Harry and for some reason Hermione blushed red. Finally, the time came and Ron and Margaret disappeared.

* * * * * * * * * *

A few days later, there was another more tearful farewell. The month for Lily and James resurrection was up. The farewell was going to take place near the Qudditch Pitch at Hogwarts.

On that day, many people who were friends of the Potters came to see them for the last time. This time, they were able to say goodbye.

Sirius and Hagrid were outright balling. Remus looked tearful. There were also a good number of other friends of them who had tears in their eyes. Even Snape had shown up though there was no emotion on his face.

Hermione was one of those with tears in her eyes. During the short time she had been with them, Hermione had grown close to them, especially Lily. She had grown to love Lily and James like her own parents, and she knew that the Potters saw her as the daughter they never had.

Hermione glanced over at Harry. She knew that he too had grown very close to the parents he never knew in the short time they had been together. She saw that Harry's eyes were watering up and that he was barely keeping his emotions in check.

"Goodbye, Sirius," said James as he gave his best friend a hug. "At least we can say that this time." Sirius nodded as he tried to fight back the sobs in his throat.

"Good bye, Remus," said James. He and Lily gave Remus a hug as well.

"Its been great being able to go on our midnight excursion again, even though it was only once," said Remus. James nodded while he let a tear slide.

"Goodbye, you two," said a tearful Lily. She gave both Remus and Sirius a strong hug. Hagrid also gave them a strong hug, nearly crushing them.

James then went and shook Dumbledore's hand. "It was good to be able to see you two again," said Dumbledore, the merry twinkle back in his eye.

Lily and James completed saying their farewells to everyone. Lily came to Hermione, and they shared a strong hug, tears in their eyes. "I've grown to love you so much, Hermione," said Lily. "Please, Promise me that you will take care of Harry."

"I promise," said Hermione. She also shared a hug with James.

Finally, Lily and James came to Harry. Wordlessly, all three of them pulled themselves into a large hug, tears flowing from her eyes. "I have never been more lucky," said Harry, "to have a mum and a dad like you two. I'll miss both of you. And this time, I won't miss having parents. I'll miss my mum and dad Lily and James Potter."

"We'll miss you too, Harry," said James. "Remember, we love you and always will. And we are so proud of you son."

"Goodbye Harry," said Lily. She slipped a black velvet box into Harry's robes. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"James gave that to me after we graduated from Hogwarts," said Lily. "I trust you know what to do with it." Harry smiled and nodded.

Finally, the time came. People said goodbye over and over again as Lily and James's forms started to fade away. Finally, they were gone.

* * * * * * * * * *

About two weeks later, life had finally started to return to the way things were before Voldemort's reign. Jobs were opening up, the Ministry of Magic was reestablished, the Daily Prophet was running once again, wizarding businesses were opened, Gringnotts opened its vaults, the Knight Bus was traveling once more, the WWN was playing songs again, the Floo network was back, and Hogwarts was once again bustling with students.

Harry and Hermione moved into a small house near Hogsmeade. It was secluded enough to give Harry the necessary privacy to evade the media, yet close enough to give them full access to hogsmeade and Hogwarts. As could be expected, Harry decided to use his Battle Wizard skills as an auror. But after the recent defeat of Voldemort, dark wizards were in short supply so Harry had plenty of free time. As for Hermione, she became a free-lance writer. Thus, they both had plenty of time to just be with each other.

One night, Hermione was just finishing up the touches on her latest work when Harry came up to her and said, "Hey, you want to go out a little?"

"OK," said Hermione with a sweet smile. They went out into the moonlight and just took a walk hand and hand. Before Hermione had realized it, they had come to the lake at Hogwarts. When they had gotten there, Harry let go of her hand and walked a few paces forward. Hermione was confused. She had never seen Harry look so nervous.

Harry took a few breaths to calm his nerves. Finally, he managed to find his voice and said, "You know Hermione, I know we haven't been dating for that long but...bloody...how do I say this? Hermione, I love you more than anything. I cannot imagine ever being in love with anybody else the way I love you for as long as I live. You are the one true love of my life."

Hermione had tears glistening in her eyes. There was a light breeze that blew her bushy brown hair up in a wavy motion that shone in the moonlight. She opened her mouth and said, "I love you too, Harry. More than anything imaginable."

"Let me finish," said Harry, his beautiful emerald green eyes locked with her cinnamon brown ones. "You are the star of my life, my lifeline, the number one reason why I want to wake up everyday and face the world. You are my everything. So I ask you..."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat when Harry kneeled down in front of her, his green eyes showing just how nervous he was. Harry pulled out the velvet box Lily had given him at their parting. He opened it and Hermione gasped. Inside was a ring. A single gold band with a large, beautifully diamond on it. Hermione stared at the ring, her heart beating more furiously than she could have ever known was possible. 'Could it be?' she wondered hopefully. 'Is this what it looks like?'

Her questions were answered a second later when Harry said, "Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

For a second, Hermione forgot how to breathe. Then, a wide smile broke out on her face and tears started flowing from her beautiful brown eyes. "Yes," she whispered. Then, more louder: "Yes! Harry, I will marry you! I will be your wife! Oh Harry, I love you more than life it self!" She flung her arms around Harry. Harry broke out into a wide grin and kissed her passionately. Soon, tears were flowing from his eyes as well as they constantly whispered, "I love you...I love you..." over and over again in between kisses. Up above them, the moon shone in celebration for the happiness of the couple and their new beginning.

THE END

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A/N It's over. It's the end. This fic is finished! I don't believe it, but this has been the hardest fic ever to write. But its finished now.

The original idea for this story was that it would be a Christian Allegory. Although it ended up as one big action/adventure spectacle, it was still highly allegorical as I'm sure some people have noticed. That's why I put Bible Verses at the top of each fic, to set the mood of each chapter.

A special thank you to all of my readers. There are so many of them that I cannot list them all here. It has been such a joy reading reviews all the time. For now, I'm going to be working on my Harry Potter website, which I hope to get up on the net in a few days. Just check my author's section in a few days. Once again, a special thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. Thank you and God bless all of you.

E. C. R. Potter