Harry and Ginny fed the thestrals and played with the foals before hunting down the centaurs to deliver Firenze's cake to him. He was surprisingly grumpy; it seemed he really had wanted to go to the wedding. The centaurs had reluctantly allowed him to return to the herd at the end of the school year, but now didn't want him to get involved with the humans again, even if it was a house elf wedding and only a few humans were actually in attendance. "Get rid of the human invaders, Firenze," Bane growled at Ginny and Harry threateningly.

"Seriously," Harry sighed and rolled his eyes at the centaur. "Neither Ginny nor I are humans. If you weren't so prejudiced and looked at what's around you instead of only the stars, you'd know that," he admonished.

"There were only three humans at the wedding in actuality," Ginny informed them all. "Just Professors Sprout, Dumbledore, and Mr. Filch. I don't see why Firenze wasn't allowed to attend."

"You aren't humans?" Another centaur, Ronan, Harry thought, walked forward and sniffed them a bit.

"Fairy…dementor," Harry motioned between them. "I'm surprised you didn't know what I am immediately. I mean, the unicorns sure seem to have it out for me."

"Harry Potter is a…dementor?" Firenze raised an eyebrow and studied the duo in front of him.

"And he's with a fairy?" Ronan added as almost a question.

"Bane, you must admit," Firenze said with a twinkle in his eye as he turned to the seething centaur. "Things are getting very interesting around here."

"This was not in the stars," Ronan added with a nod.

"Well…er, I think we're going to head out," Harry tugged on Ginny's sleeve a bit. He was out if they were going to start in on a lecture about the stars. "It's getting dark, and we need to get back to our tent."

Ronan actually looked a little worried for them. "You must be safe in the forest, Harry Potter. There are dangers amidst the trees."

"I'm a dementor," he huffed one more time. "I'm fairly indestructible unless you all plan to start firing off patroni any time soon."

"Don't worry, I'll protect him," Ginny added on with a grin at the herd. "Dobby says hi by the way. It was a beautiful wedding."

They hurried out with confused centaurs in their wake. "Bloody centaurs," Harry grumbled. "They seem all right, but you never really know where you stand with them. They seem like they care one minute, then Bane comes along…"

"He's like Severus," Ginny nodded as they headed back to the tent.

"Yeah, I guess he is." Harry beamed at her and held the tent flap open for her to enter. She glared,at him before pushing him inside.

He couldn't wait to hear how that conversation went down.

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Harry carefully extricated himself from where Ginny was asleep wrapped around Jamie on the couch. He supposed he was supposed to wake her up and move them from the couch to separate bedrooms, but he figured this didn't count as funny business or manhandling or whatever Sirius was talking about. Seriously, Neville cuddled with Jamie most nights like this anyway.

Hovering around the room, Harry tidied up from where they had made popcorn and played Exploding Snap. He was very much in favor of camping, especially when it was in a two-bedroom wizard's tent with a full kitchen, sitting room, and washroom. It took him a bit to track down the fluffy blanket that he knew Ginny had packed and then wrap the two on the couch up in it. He smiled at how peaceful they both looked. Soulless or not, Harry figured Jamie was probably happy.

A few hours later, Harry was sitting just outside of the tent, enjoying the nighttime sounds of the forest when he felt a little vibration in the pocket of his tattered robes. He searched through his pocket pulling out the detritus of lip balm, spare knuts, and owl treats to find the HSMC coin vibrating and heating up.

He rushed back into the tent and straight back into this body. "Ginny!" He popped up, shaking the sleeping fairy.

"What? What happened?" She sleepily rubbed her eyes and squinted at him in the dark. "It's not morning, is it?"

"No, look!" He passed the coin to her frantically. "It's Draco, he's in trouble."

"It says: Longbottom Manor," Ginny studied it, shaking the tiredness from her mind. "How'd he get to Neville's house, and why's he in trouble there?"

"Neville gave him his family's emergency portkey," Harry quickly stood and pulled up Ginny behind him. "He must have escaped from Voldemort but was followed."

"Do you know where the house is?" Ginny asked him. "He never told me."

Harry shook his head. "Normally, I can just set out with a location in mind and my dementor senses will take me there, but I tried that as soon as the coin heated up, and I have no clue even what direction it's in."

"Ok, then who would know?" Ginny really considered the question. "Everyone in the club got this distress call…hmm…Severus might know…or Hestia could find it."

"That doesn't help us here though," Harry thought before taking the coin back. He quickly picked his wand up off the side table he'd left it on and tapped the coin. "There, I changed it to have us all meet at the Shrieking Shack. That way, we're already close and those who can apparate can go directly there."

"Great! Just leave the tent as is and let's get going!" Ginny grabbed her wand and rushed out the door, only stopping so slide on some trainers and still wearing her pajamas. Harry ran along in her wake, similarly dressed in flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt.

Where they had been camping was actually closer to Hogsmeade than the school, so it didn't take the two long to reach the outskirts of the village and the shack. A group of shadowy figures were already gathered. "I think it's in Devon," Harry heard one of them guess. It sounded like Sirius surprisingly.

"No, I think I heard Frank mention the Orkney Islands once," Remus countered.

"Regardless, I told you all, it's under the Fidelus Charm. You can't just find it," Severus Snape sneered out.

"Hestia will be able to help," Ginny said quickly as they reached the group that turned out to include Snape, Remus, Sirius, Matthew with a worried Professor Aurora Sinistra, Graham, and Hestia (everyone who could apparate).

"I thought you were in China?" Harry frowned at Graham who surprisingly turned pink in embarrassment.

"Erm...I was visiting this weekend..." he trailed off, glancing to Hestia who just rolled her eyes at him fondly.

"Ginny's right, I can get us to the general location, but even I can't see through a fidelus," Hestia wrung her hands in worry, changing the subject back.

"Ginny can!" Harry rushed to remind them all. "How did Sirius and Remus get here?" He asked at the end.

"The prats insisted on following me," Snape glared at the other two men who just glared back.

A ripple in the air appeared several feet from the group before Kara and Eir stepped through, seeming to materialize through fog to their location. "What do we know?" Kara immediately asked sternly.

Harry gaped at the two. It was the first time he'd seen the Valkyries without their full glamour. They were both wearing what looked like a thin, black leather armor of some unknown material, and had more weapons than he'd ever seen strapped to their bodies. Their teeth were razor sharp and glinted in the waxing moonlight with golden, glowing eyes. Enormous wings that looked like a mix between a bat's and a raven's stretched out behind them. "It seems Neville gave Draco a portkey in case he was in danger, and he must have been followed when he used it," Ginny explained without even blinking at their appearance.

"How did that happen if the manor is under a fidelus?" Sinistra spoke up for the first time, looking very confused at the group that was starting to gather. Harry was uncertain what Matthew had told her, so he could only speculate she had no clue who was in the club and what they all were.

"There's unfortunately a spell to track a portkey signature," Snape winced with shame in his tone. "I was tasked to create it for the Dark Lord during the first war. If Draco portkeyed directly into the manor, they just need to follow the signature even if they can't see where they're going."

A loud pop and Dennis and Colin Creevey appeared as they crashed to the ground holding an old glove. "Ow!" Dennis rubbed his bum he'd fallen on. "I'll make the portkey next time, Colin!"

"Hey, I did it right!" The druid protested with a glare.

"Did a fourth year just claim to have made an illegal portkey?" Sirius grinned broadly. "What are you teaching them in that club of yours Snape?"

"You're going to be cited for underage magic," Sinistra told them both with a frown. "As well as the illegal portkey if the ministry finds out."

"Oh please, we cast so many dampening wards around our house by my second year, we can cast whatever we want and no one's going to know," Colin rolled his eyes. "And I imagine we can cast whatever we want once we get to Neville's house too and claim self-defense."

"Ok, so we're only missing Bartholomew, David, Brook, Aurora, Aurelius, and Aceline," Ginny interrupted, looking around and counting.

"David and Brook are unreachable with their peoples during the summer. The coins wouldn't work in their realms, and I doubt the others' parents will let them pop off towards danger, especially since they can't apparate or apparently know how to make illegal portkeys," Snape glared at the two brothers who didn't look sheepish at all.

"All right, people, we need a plan," Graham rubbed his hands together decidedly, with a hint of nervous excitement. "Ginny, you know everyone's strengths and weaknesses the best, so what's your assessment of the situation?"

She looked at the group consideringly. "Mr. Black, Professor Sinistra, and the druids are the least protected of all of us."

"Hey!" Colin and Dennis both protested.

Ginny ignored them and continued on. "They will need to hang back at the very least. Hestia can get us to the area, and I can get us inside of the wards. Graham and Harry are best leading the way as both of them can take most spells without it harming them, Harry most of all."

"Really?" Sinistra raised an eyebrow at the fifth year questioningly.

"Severus is the one with the best knowledge of the capabilities of the Death Eaters," Ginny continued. "And Professor Lupin and the Valkyries are our best offense with Graham and Hestia being close behind them. I think Matthew and I can work a good defense with our magic. Mr. Black and Professor Sinistra can help Matthew and I as long as they stay behind the rest of us. I fear we need to hurry as neither Draco nor Neville are very powerful offensively."

"Creeveys, Eir, and Jamie are left here though," Snape glared at the younger students.

"The hell I'm staying! I'm a Valkyrie!" Eir yelled in protest.

Kara glared at the man. "Eir will be coming along. She cannot stay back when those of our clan are in danger, and that's what this club has come to mean to the both of us, we're clan now."

"Yeah, we might not be much use inside the manor, but if you leave us at the edge of the wards, we can be a big help there," Dennis added. "We got a really good look at the magic in your Dark Mark, Severus. It's possible we can create a ward that would attack anyone with the mark trying to leave the manor."

"Great! Let's get going then!" Ginny clapped her hands together and her wings suddenly appeared.

Sirius raised his hand tentatively. "Erm, how are those of us who can't fly going to get there?"

"Well, Harry, Graham, Matthew, Kara, Eir, and I are all fine…" Ginny raised an eyebrow in question to Hestia.

"Fine," the Ravenclaw grumbled with a sigh. "I'll take the lot."

Everyone except for Ginny stared at the girl with stunned expressions. "You can carry six people?" Sinistra finally voiced their question with a bit of awe in her voice.

"Erm, so…what exactly are you, Hestia?" Graham asked with a teasing smirk on his lips.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm a Roc for your information," Hestia sighed and looked at everyone challengingly.

"Er…a rock? Like a boulder?" Colin asked skeptically. Harry was just happy someone else asked before he had to.

Hestia grimaced. "No, idiot. A Roc as in R-O-C. I'm a bloody big bird!"

"Oh…ok…" Colin still looked at her questioningly.

With a loud sigh, Hestia began growing and stretching. Large brown wigs reached to the sky and amber eyes glowed as a razor-sharp beak formed. Hestia grew and grew beyond Harry's imagination until a falcon-like bird that was a size of a small airplane was staring down at them pointedly. "I don't think you're going to fit in the door of the manor," Graham remarked wryly before Hestia pecked at him dangerously. "Oi! Watch the beak!"

"Great! Everyone who can't fly, climb on, and Harry, please hide Jamie somewhere out of the way," Ginny instructed her boyfriend impatiently.

Sinistra watched the teen questioningly as he hurried to find a hidden spot, which happened to be behind a clump of bushes to lay down and drop off his body. The dementor rose up, causing the Astronomy Professor to gasp in alarm.

"Right, so we aren't going to be able to understand Harry anymore, keep that in mind," Ginny flew up into the air and waited as the non-flyers clambered onto Hestia and tried not to bend any of her feathers.

Graham gave a large shake and the gray-gargoyle rose into the air, followed quickly by Matthew who released his feathery wings and shot up into the air. Hestia beat her wings, causing a small windstorm before they were all in the air, her passengers already looking green. "I'll cast a disillusionment charm, so stay together," Snape ordered as he waved his wand wildly over his head.

"I hate flying on anything not a broom," Sirius groaned from where he was holding onto Snape for dear life.

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With Hestia's powerful wings and the other creatures' magic, they made it to a remote island more quickly than Harry would have thought possible. He couldn't see a house, but he could feel souls and magic just out of his reach. When they all landed and Hestia turned back into her human form with a grumble about inconsiderate passengers ruffling her feathers, Harry was certain they were in the right place, they just needed Ginny to lead them in the right direction.

The fairy walked several paces to the East and pointed at the ground. "This is the edge of the wards," she said to Dennis and Colin who were already pulling off their rucksacks and sifting through their ritual supplies.

"Do not under any circumstances enter the wards," Snape glared at the two of them. "You are both too young, and druid magic is not going to help you in a fight."

Colin rolled his eyes. "We'll stay behind the wards, but you had all better stay safe. I'll make some portkeys back to the shack in case anyone is injured."

"Good man," Sirius clapped the much younger man on the shoulder. "I want to see how you make those once this is over with, by the way."

"Sure thing, sir…" Colin responded, looking at the man warily. Even though he knew he was innocent, Colin still looked like he thought Sirius seemed suspicious.

"Stay together, stay safe," Sinistra instructed the brothers.

"Potter, this time, go right for the Dark Lord," Snape told the dementor. "Eat anyone in your way."

Harry gave him a happy salute, really looking forward to a great dinner since he hadn't been able to enjoy the cake the day before. "If you see green light, duck or hide behind Harry," Ginny added on.

Harry poked the Potion Master a couple times in the ribs meaningfully. It took the man a minute to catch onto what Harry was trying to remind him of. "Stop that Potter! Yes, Nagini, I get it. Whoever sees the snake, she needs to die before we kill the Dark Lord," Snape rubbed his side and gave the dementor a shove forward. "Dunderheaded dementors," he grumbled as they all followed Ginny through the wards they couldn't see.

Spell-fire lit up the windows of a large, stone manor house when they all were eventually able to see what was in front of them. "There's a door to the side," Remus told them, his eyesight catching the alternate entrance first. "That might be better than walking through the front door anyway."

The Valkyries seemed to blend into the night as well as Snape and Harry. The rest of the group were pretty noticeable though. Sirius, Remus, and Sinistra quickly started casting disillusionment spells on everyone. "Wands out everyone. Cast to incapacitate or kill. This isn't a DADA duel, so jelly legs and school yard pranks aren't going to do much against a Death Eater," Remus told them all darkly. "We'll deal with anything for underage magic later, though I doubt the ministry can track anything behind these wards."

The group quickly made their way across the dewy grass and up to the side door Remus had seen. When a quick Alohamora from Sirius didn't open the door, Kara stepped forward and touched the metal, causing it to warp and the handle fall off the door. "Handy," Sirius nodded and pushed the broken door open on silent hinges.

Screams and shouts echoed through the house as the group of humans and creatures made their way through a beautiful kitchen to a hallway that seemed to lead through a formal dining room to the main foyer. Just outside of the dining room, they ran into their first Death Eater. They stared at the man who was slumped against the wall with unseeing eyes gazing into the distance, a black and gold feathered arrow protruding from his chest. Sinistra bent down quickly and checked his pulse. "He's alive," she told them before quickly casting an incarcerous spell on him.

"He won't be bothering us. If Draco hit him with an arrow, he won't come out of the spell until Draco releases him," Snape sighed. "Merlin, Longbottom had better not be going to become a member of Malfoy family," he grumbled with a frown at the end.

"I thought Malfoy couldn't conjure his bow and arrow until he found his mate?" Matthew whispered questioningly from the back of the group. Snape glared at the veela, his eyes calling the man an idiot. "Right, yeah, Neville…guess that's good."

Harry was smiling, though he was uncertain how all that had come about. He really hoped both his friends were ok though. Draco really was starting to grow on him. "Keep moving," Snape hissed out as they walked towards the stairs and where they could hear most of the commotion coming from the higher floors.

Another couple Death Eaters were similarly staring into space with arrows in various parts of the bodies on the stairs. "He really is a great shot," Sirius muttered in appreciation. Harry was a little sad he hadn't been able to eat anyone yet but stayed on the lookout for danger ahead of them.

On the second floor they met one of Neville's victims. Harry actually pouted when he saw Bellatrix Lestrange's body crumpled in a pool of blood where it seemed most of the blood from her body had been expelled through every orifice it could find. He really had wanted to eat her soul. It would have been wonderful.

"Salazar's ghost! Remind me to never make Longbottom mad," Graham choked out as he was the first that came up to the body and seemed to be trying to keep himself from gagging.

"I imagine the Death Eaters weren't expecting this level of resistance," Eir snorted from where her eyes faintly glowed, the only part of her body Harry could actually see.

"Good for Neville," Remus muttered darkly and motioned for everyone to continue.

"Crucio!" A voice yelled coldly from a door up ahead and to their right.

Harry was certain it was the voice of Lucius Malfoy, and the accompanying scream was much too close to Draco Malfoy's voice.

He hurried forward to pause beside a whimpering form by a medieval suit of armor. Without a second thought, he reached out and gave the man's soul a violent yank, and sucked out all positive emotions, though there weren't many. "Harry!" Sirius rushed forward as Harry carelessly threw the unconscious body of Peter Pettigrew to the floor.

The dementor gave his godfather a little bow and motioned for the man to take his gift and bind it up for later use. "He still has a soul," Snape cast a spell quickly at the man before casting another to bind him.

Harry would have rolled his eyes if he had any. It didn't help them much if Pettigrew were unable to face trial. "Good catch, Harry," Ginny gave the dementor a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Crucio!" Was cast again with another scream following.

"Stay behind Harry and Graham," Snape reminded them all again as they reached the door. "Valkyries, take out those on the outer perimeter of the room. Aurora…just stay safe."

The woman snorted at him but did actually look very scared. She smiled at Matthew who gave her hand a quick squeeze. Harry held up a hand to stop them before he softly ghosted just his head through the door to see what they'd be walking into.

The Dark Lord himself was standing in the corner of what seemed to be a ballroom with his arms crossed and his red eyes glaring in sick enjoyment at the scene before him where Lucius Malfoy had his wand held over the twitching form of his son, a bow and quiver of arrows uselessly out of his reach and white wings speckled with blood. Augusta Longbottom and what was probably Neville's Uncle Algie were bound back-to-back with ropes and gagged, but both were conscious and seemed to only have minor cuts and bruises. Neville was shaking, unconscious, and very bloody just feet from Draco, but he was alive and Harry sighed in relief at that.

The best news was that it looked like Neville had gotten to Nagini before he passed out. The snake seemed to have deflated, like all the water in her body had suddenly left. Her lifeless body was crumpled at the Dark Lord's feet, and he could tell the man was furious at the death of his familiar and horcrux.

Quickly counting, Harry pulled his head back through the door and held up nine fingers for the remaining nine Death Eaters in the room. "Great, we outnumber them," Matthew commented, his wand raised a little higher.

"Potter, is the Dark Lord in there?" Snape asked, causing Harry to nod quickly. Harry made a slithering motion with his hand and then drew a finger across his throat. He really hated charades. "The snake is dead?" Harry nodded in relief that the man understood.

"Right then," Snape looked at the group behind him. "Black, Lupin, Sinistra, Matthew and Ginny, stay in the hallway. There are probably more Death Eaters in the manor. Watch our backs and fire on anyone coming this direction, especially once we start making a lot of noise. Graham and Hestia, you secure the friendlies and protect the family," the gargoyle and roc nodded in understanding. "Kara and Eir, perimeter as I said before. I have Lucius and Harry…the Dark Lord is yours," Snape looked at the dementor, a grim smile on his face.

Hestia moved up to beside the gargoyle form of Graham and raised a hand. "On my count then, one…two…three…Bombarda!"

The door flew open and Graham immediately absorbed a red, stunning spell thrown their direction before leaping onto the Death Eater who had cast it. Harry threw himself in front of a green, killing curse to save Hestia as she ran over to Augusta and Algie to free them. "Kill them!" Voldemort yelled out angrily into the room.

Harry turned and stood tall, facing the man who'd haunted his life from the time he was a baby. He watched in glee as Voldemort's eyes flicked from his hood and took in what he was before resting on the locket, then the ring, then the bangle with the badger emblazoned on it, then the distinctive bracelet that used to be a diadem. If a pale, snake-man could get paler and turn green, then Voldemort definitely did. Harry put a skeletal finger under the chain of the locket and twirled it slightly, a smile on his wide, chapped, dementor lips.

"Expecto Patronum!" Voldemort cast loudly and a blinding light seared down Harry's skin causing it to feel as if it were on fire.

Having survived the Cruciatus Curse, having his soul sucked from his body, basilisk venom, whatever he'd done to Quirrell, and other various tortures to his body, Harry stood strong and didn't flee. Thankfully, the patronus was nowhere near corporeal. For one of the most powerful wizards in Britain, the Dark Lord was unable to cast something that Harry had mastered in his third year. It seemed fitting that the man would be brought down by his own twisted soul.

Harry knew there was a lot going on around him. Snape and Lucius were dueling, Kara and Eir were almost dancing through the Death Eaters with daggers and swords flying, and Graham had blood dripping from his claws, but Harry's eyes were only on the Dark Lord in front of him. The thing that had once been a man was looking on his end, where everything came to a conclusion. Harry knew in that moment that Voldemort's boggart would have taken on the form of Death, and Death would look very much like Harry in that moment.

"Avada Kedavra!" He cast at Harry, who just laughed his haunting laugh as the green light hit him and was absorbed into his body. "Only Harry Potter can kill me. The prophecy…," Voldemort hissed right as Harry grabbed him by the throat.

Harry just smiled. "But, I am Harry," he screeched before the Dark Lord's body no longer had a soul.

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Harry carried Neville's unconscious body close to his chest as the group of creatures and humans limped out of Longbottom Manor and towards the wards. In the distance, Colin and Dennis Creevey were seated beside a small pile of bodies, it looked like three or four from what Harry could see. "What in Merlin's name?!" Severus gasped out, holding onto his bleeding shoulder with one hand and supporting Sirius who had a broken ankle from a bone breaking curse he'd been hit with when the Death Eater reinforcements came after them.

"They tried to apparate out of our new wards," Colin explained with a wince. "They're alive, but definitely need medical attention. They basically apparated directly into the equivalent of barbed wire."

Remus and Sinistra, who were both unharmed besides some scrapes hurried over to check on the bleeding Death Eaters and cast more binding spells. "Did you make the portkeys? We're going to need them," Graham asked. He'd changed back into his human form and was carrying Draco's unconscious body which was still slightly twitching.

"We have ten all set to the Shrieking Shack. We also cast a messenger spell to tell Madam Pomfrey to meet us there immediately," Dennis nodded and pointed to the pile of various odds and ends from their bags that they had turned into portkeys.

"Thank Merlin," Augusta Longbottom sighed. She seemed to be going into shock and Harry was glad that Madam Pomfrey would be there to see to her quickly.

"What's best to do with this one?" Hestia asked Sirius Black as she tossed Peter Pettigrew's body on the ground with no ceremony.

"Well, someone has to notify the ministry about this mess," Sirius smiled darkly and conjured a piece of paper and a quill. "Madam Longbottom, can you write the house's location at the bottom of this letter so the aurors can find the manor? I assume you are the secret keeper?"

The elderly woman nodded and quickly scribbled the location at the bottom of Sirius's letter, which Harry definitely wanted to know what he'd written at some point. The ex-convict stuck the letter to Pettigrew's torso with a sticking charm before turning to the Creevey brothers. "Can you make a portkey to the ministry?"

"We've never been there," Colin said apologetically.

Augusta snorted with little amusement before promptly making a portkey herself out of a rock and sending the man with a loud pop on his way. "He'll show up directly on the minister's desk. I don't think he'll be able to miss the man," she told them.

"Right, injured first," Ginny instructed them as she motioned for Graham to go ahead and take Draco.

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Madam Pomfrey and Headmaster Dumbledore both were waiting at the Shrieking Shack as the various members of the HSMC portkeyed in. Without question, they rushed to tend to the injured, Draco and Neville first. "Tom?" Dumbledore asked Harry frantically as soon as he had retrieved Jamie from the bushes.

"Very, very dead," Harry nodded with a smirk. "Neville killed the snake, I ate his soul, then Ginny incinerated his body just to be absolutely sure."

Dumbledore put a hand on Harry's shoulder and smiled at the teen in relief before turning back to where he was bandaging a cut on Kara's arm. "Ms. Brynhildr this will heal in no time, but you must take it easy for a few days," he instructed her while she was slowly reapplying her glamours and really not paying much attention to the man. "So many creatures in Hogwarts," Harry heard Dumbledore mutter with the happiest look on his face that Harry had ever seen.

"Ennervate," Harry heard Madam Pomfrey finally cast on Neville after healing most of his injuries. Harry rushed over as the high elf slowly began to blink his eyes.

"Draco?! Where's Draco?" Neville coughed out, turning his head and frantically looking for the blond.

"I'm here, Nev," Draco reached over from where he was just sitting up in the grass and grabbed onto Neville's hand. "Merlin! I thought I'd lost you for a minute," he sighed in relief. "Never do that to me again!"

"What all happened?" Harry asked as everyone turned eyes to the two, wanting to hear the story.

Neville scooted closer to the eros as Draco took in a shaking breath. "The Dark Lord decided to mark me tonight, that it was time. I think my parents were the ones to convince him. I was just handed over; they didn't care at all. I thought…I thought I'd just go with it. Take Severus's spot as a spy maybe if I had to, but he searched my mind first," Draco gave a sob at the remembered pain. "He tore aside my occlumency shields. It hurt so much."

Madam Pomfrey took another potion from her medical bag and handed it to him. "Take this then. It'll help to heal any damage he might have caused."

Draco downed the potion and almost pulled Neville into his lap to keep him closer. "He saw too much. My friendship with Harry, what we did for Severus, Neville…as soon as he left my mind, I used Neville's portkey. I knew he'd kill me the moment he was able to."

"Indeed, he would have," Snape agreed and sat beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder and lending some comfort.

"When Draco showed up at the manor, I knew it was bad," Neville began his side of the story. "Gran and Uncle Algie tried to shut down any way into the manor, but they eventually got through somehow. Thankfully, Gran and Uncle Algie were captured quickly, so there wasn't any need to hurt them, but Draco and I fought back."

"I wish I could have helped more," Augusta Longbottom looked at her grandson in pride, probably more pride than she had ever looked at him with in his life.

"Bellatrix cast the Cruciatus Curse on me, and I don't know what happened for a while after that," Neville looked to Draco questioningly. "Next I knew, Draco had a bow and arrow and was taking out Death Eaters with a vengeance. She ran as he started aiming at her, but I followed her up the stairs. I couldn't let her get away…what she did to Mum and Dad…" Neville ended quietly.

"I…well, they were hurting Neville. I had to do something," Draco said quietly with a shrug.

"So…Neville is your mate?" Harry asked with a prompting smile.

"No," Draco shook his head and immediately had to physically pull Neville back into his lap as the elf tried to pull away in surprise. "Wait, just listen…ok?" He asked frantically.

Neville stilled and gave a short nod of his head. "So, who…who is your mate?"

"Astoria Greengrass," Draco answered simply. "And I've known since I was five."

"What?" Neville asked with a wrinkle between his eyebrows.

Draco sighed. "The least-perky, perk of being an eros is that you know your mate as soon as you meet them, which was when I was five and Astoria was four, unfortunately. It's very confusing meeting someone you know is your mate when you're that young and have no clue what's going on. So, I did what any self-respecting five-year-old would do and ignored it," he smiled at Neville and started running a hand through the elf's hair, seeming to need to hold onto him and make sure he was ok. "Over the years, I got really close to Astoria and her sister, Daphne. I thought, as I got older, I'd just wait and see. Maybe I'd develop some sort-of romantic feelings for Astoria, but I never did. Especially since this awkward and annoying high elf bumbled his way into my life, who was just too adorable for his own good and just wouldn't let me get away."

"But I'm not your mate," Neville protested quietly.

Draco just shrugged. "So…I get a push from magic that leads me to a mate, but I still have free will, and I choose you, you idiot! I knew even before you chose me…yes, I'm an eros, I know you chose me as your mate, just as I knew when David and Brook got together and that those two have been hooking up for a couple months," Draco pointed at an embarrassed Graham and Hestia before smirking at the teen who had been about to protest.

"I just hadn't admitted it to myself. So, I saw you being tortured and knew I had to help. I really needed the only offensive magic my kind has, so I accepted my mate in my mind and soul, and summarily rejected her as well. So…hence the weapon. I can love whomever I choose to love. Mates may be a thing, but all relationships are decisions and hard work. Mate or no mate, you are who I want to be in a relationship with, not some girl I've only ever seen as a sister."

"And…Astoria?" Neville asked quietly.

"She's not a creature," Ginny supplied. "This will in no way affect her life. She can go on to live her life however she chooses now as well."

"Er, so the snake? What happened to Nagini?" Sirius asked, looking awkward at all the emotion-talk.

"She went after Draco," Neville said simply with a shrug.

"Of course, she did," Snape snorted in amusement.

"You-Know-Who was pretty mad at that," Neville nodded with a smile to his professor, leaving out the obvious torture he must have suffered after.

"Not as mad as when he saw me stride in wearing all his horcruxes," Harry laughed and twirled the locket on a finger again. Most looked very confused at the term, but Graham, Sinistra, Draco, and Augusta all sputtered in shocked indignation at what the man had done.

A silvery lynx appeared in their midst and Harry dove behind Professor Dumbledore at the sight of the patronus. "Aurors are on their way to Hogwarts. We will be at your office in thirty minutes. I assume you know something about what all is going on?" Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice boomed out with a hint of amusement in the tone.

"Right," Dumbledore turned and took in everyone's appearance. "Who all cast underage magic?"

"That we can be caught for?" Colin asked with a bit of a smirk at the question.

"Yes, Mr. Creevey, I think that would be the real question," Dumbledore chuckled, especially as no one raised their hand.

"Most of us used our creature powers or were behind the Longbottom manor wards," Eir supplied in explanation.

"We know how to cover our tracks," Dennis shrugged with a bit of a grin.

"I left Jamie under the bushes," Harry smirked at the headmaster, trying to not look like he'd literally just hid behind the man at the sight of Kingsley's patronus.

"Wonderful, one less problem to worry about," Albus smiled and nodded. "Now, I believe Sirius needs to head back to Grimmauld Place and all students except for Misters Potter, Longbottom, and Malfoy can head home as well."

"Does that include Matthew and I?" Graham asked.

"It does…and Aurora as well, oh hello, I didn't see you there, my dear," Albus turned full twinkle eyes on his Astronomy Professor.

"Albus," she nodded, still holding onto Matthew's hand as Dumbledore looked between them almost glowing.

"Remus, you and Severus will probably need to take the brunt of the credit here," Dumbledore continued as he considered the best plan of action. "I want to protect the students from the ministry and the press as much as we are able."

"Draci will have several spelled Death Eaters with arrows sticking out of them that he'll need to explain," Snape sighed with a sad look to Draco.

Draco just nodded though. "They're still alive, and I can remove the spell for their trial. I'm not too concerned since most people believe my species to be either extinct or mythical anyway."

Neville sighed and finally pulled himself up to a standing position with a pained wince. "I'm sure I'll need to answer for Bellatrix unless someone has a better plan."

"No one in their right mind is going to complain about her demise," Sirius patted the elf comfortingly on his back.

"And you Harry? Anyone besides Tom?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shrugged. "Pettigrew, but he's still alive and already in ministry custody. I also got one Death Eater that went after Ginny on our way out. I'm not sure who it was though. They tasted quite yummy, so I'm not too concerned about fallout."

"Well then, the adults will cover for everyone else then," Dumbledore instructed Snape and Remus.

"Shouldn't I stay then?" Sinistra asked in concern, wanting to help protect her students.

"My dear, you have no discernible reason to have been at Longbottom Manor," Dumbledore explained with a shake of his head. "It's best if your presence doesn't bring up more questions."

"Don't worry dear," Augusta patted her on the hand. "I may be old and have been tied up, but I was formidable enough in my youth that I can claim a couple of the bodies as mine and no one will disbelieve me. We'll protect the lot of you."

"You all shouldn't have to take all this on yourself, especially for those of us who are of age," Graham shook his head.

"The ministry already knows I'm a werewolf," Remus told the man. "Let us keep you safe for now. We don't want to start a creature hunt from this mess." Graham and Matthew sighed but also nodded at the logic.

"Now, on your way before you get caught in this mess," Dumbledore made shooing motions.

Eir and Kara waved their arms, creating the same kind of ripple in the air that they had arrived in. "Where are you two going?" Kara turned to ask the Creevey brothers.

"Cardiff, Wales," Colin supplied.

"Want a ride? We can drop you off first," Kara offered.

"Sure," he shrugged. "It'll get us closer anyway."

All four walked through the rift and disappeared. The rest of the group apparated away, Sirius after a quick hug for both Harry and Remus and an attempted and rebuffed hug for Severus. "Right, let's go tell the ministry that the war is over!" Dumbledore laughed out and strode quickly towards the castle.

"I'll head back to the tent and wait for you," Ginny hugged Harry tightly. "You go all dementor on their arses if they try to arrest you, ok?" She added in a whisper in his ear.

"Never any question about that," Harry answered wryly before giving her a quick but deep kiss. "See you soon."

"You better!"

A/N: Thanks for reading and please vote and comment!