Dove wasn't sure why people began heading out of the Great Hall. She could barely stand up. She had cried her heart out and felt so dizzy she would pass out at any moment. A crowd began gathering, calling people out towards them. Dove didn't want to leave her sister's body, but then she heard a shout of fear, she couldn't help but follow after the crowd.

A large group of Death Eaters began to appear through the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Dove walked through the crowd of students, nearly bumping over a familiar student.

"Draco?" Dove asked loudly, jumping back. She stared ahead at the blonde boy who she hadn't seen in over a year. Students pushed past them, nearly meeting the Death Eater crowd.

"Dove..."

There was a loud laugh causing heads to turn. Dove stepped downward closer to the crowd. You-Know-Who stepped forward, a bone-shaking grin upon his face.

Dove stared ahead, taking another step as her family began to come closer into view.

"Harry Potter is dead!" He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."

"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

There was silence on the grounds and from the castle. Dove felt nothing. Harry was dead? Harry was dead. And all of those who died today, Tori, Fred, Colin, Professor Lupin... they died for nothing... all of this. It was for nothing!

The Death Eaters came to a halt; they spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of the school. Dove stared at her family. They didn't know. They didn't know Tori was dead.

"NO!"

The scream was the more terrible because Dove had never expected or dreamed that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound.

Bellatrix Lestrange gloried in McGonagall's despair. More and more people began to gather, shocked at the news.

"No!"

"No!"

"Harry! HARRY!"

The yells came from Ron, Hermione, and Ginny Weasley whose voices were worse than McGonagall's; the crowd of survivors took up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the Death Eaters, until - "SILENCE!" cried Voldemort, and there was a bang and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced upon them all. "It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!"

"You see?" said Voldemort, strolling over to the place where the dead Harry laid.  "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"He beat you!" yelled Ron, and the charm broke, and the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a second, more powerful bang extinguished their voices once more.

"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," said You-Know-Who "— killed while trying to save himself. And now it's the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us... or die!"

"Draco!" Both Draco's parents stood forward, their hand out towards the crowd of students.

"Draco. Come." His mother called. Draco glanced around, taking a step forward.

"Draco." Dove shook her head, grabbing his arm. "You can't."

"Draco." His mother called once more. Draco frowned, leaving Dove's grip. He crossed the empty field in between the two crowds.

"Well done, Draco." You-Know-Who grinned, giving the boy some awkward hug.

"Dove," It was now Dove's mother who stepped forward. Dove shook his head, her face scrunching up as she tried her best not to cry.  Her mother called her once more, but Dove shook her head.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see it was George, who himself looked to be trying to stop crying. Dove's mother paused, sighing as she faded back into the crowd.

You-Know-Who started to laugh, causing everyone's attention to turn to Neville Longbottom, who'd broken through the crowd.

"And who is this?" He said in his soft snake's hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"

Bellatrix gave a delighted laugh.

"It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord! The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I remember," said You-Know-Who, looking down at Neville, who was struggling back to his feet, unarmed and unprotected, standing in the no-man's-land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. "But you are a pureblood, aren't you, my brave boy?" He asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands curled in fists.

"So what if I am?" said Neville loudly.

"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

"I'll join you when hell freezes over," said Neville. "Dumbledore's Army! Doesn't matter that Harry is gone."

"Stand down, Neville!" Someone shouted.

"People die every day! Friends, family. Yeah... We lost Harry tonight. He's still with us. In here. So as Fred, Tori, Remus, Tonks... All of them. They didn't die in vain. But you will. Because you're wrong!" He turned to You-Know-Who. "Harry's heart did beat for us. For all of us! It's not over!" He shouted, and there was an answering cheer from the crowd, whom You-Know-Who's Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold.

"Very well," said You-Know-Who, and Dove heard more danger in the silkiness of his voice than in the most powerful curse. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, we revert to the original plan. On your head," he said quietly, "be it."

Still watching through his lashes, You-Know-Who waved his wand. Seconds later, out of one of the castle's shattered windows, something that looked like a misshapen bird flew through the half-light and landed in Voldemort's hand. He shook the mildewed object by its pointed end and it dangled, empty and ragged: the Sorting Hat.

"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," said You-Know-Who. "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, then forced the hat onto Neville's head, so that it slipped down below his eyes. There were movements from the watching crowd in front of the castle, and as one, the Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the fighters of Hogwarts at bay.

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," said Voldemort, and with a flick of his wand, he caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames.

Screams split the dawn, and Neville was a flame, rooted to the spot, unable to move. They heard the uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over the out-of-sight walls and pelted toward the castle, uttering loud war cries. At the same time, a large giant came lumbering around the side of the castle and yelled, "HAGGER!" His cry was answered by roars from You-Know-Who's giants: They ran at him like bull elephants making the earthquake. Then came hooves and the twangs of bows, and arrows were suddenly falling amongst the Death Eaters, who broke ranks, shouting their surprise.

In one swift, fluid motion, Neville broke free of the Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming hat fell off him and he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering, rubied handle - The slash of the silver blade could not be heard over the roar of the oncoming crowd or the sounds of the clashing giants or of the stampeding centaurs, and yet, it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke Neville sliced off the great snake's head, which spun high into the air, gleaming in the light flooding from the entrance hall, and You-Know-Who's mouth was open in a scream of fury that nobody could hear, and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet. 

"HARRY!" Hagrid shouted. "HARRY— WHERE'S HARRY?" Chaos reigned. Suddenly Harry was running through the empty space.

"POTTER!" Draco's voice shouted and suddenly he too was running across the empty space. He threw a wand to Harry before disappearing into the crowd.

The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, everyone was feeling the giants' stamping feet, and nearer and nearer thundered the reinforcements that had come from who knew where; A great winged creatures soaring the heads of You-Know-Who's giants, and Buckbeak the hippogriff scratching at their eyes while the giant punched and pummeled them and now the wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike were being forced back into the castle.

And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, and they seemed to have returned at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight along with the shopkeeps and homeowners of Hogsmeade. The centaurs burst into the hall with a great clatter of hooves, the house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the entrance hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleaver, and at their head, was one screaming: "Fight! Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!"

They were hacking and stabbing at the ankles and shim of Death Eaters their tiny faces alive with malice, and everywhere Dove looked Death Eaters were folding under the sheer weight of numbers, overcome by spells, dragging arrows from wounds, stabbed in the leg by elves, or else simply attempting to escape, but swallowed by the oncoming horde.

But it was not over yet: Dove was dodging jinxes left and right. She saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan, saw Dolohov fall with a scream at Flitwick's hands, saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground. She saw Ron and Neville bringing down Fenrir Greyback. Arthur and Aberforth flooting Thicknesse, and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son.

"This is for Fred and Tori!" bellowed Percy Weasley, who had suddenly appeared behind Dove, fighting off Augustus Rookwood. Dove turned, staring at him with anger in her eyes. He glanced at her and Dove immediately knew. This was the man who killed her sister. At once, it became two on one. Percy and Dove fought side by side, both driven by anger. It was clear Rookwood was losing when a black spot of Avalon appeared next to Rookwood. He held his wand out pointed at his sister.

"Dove..."

"Victoria's dead." Dove snapped, not taking her eyes of Rookwood. Avalon froze, his eyes widened in shock. Rookwood grunted as if to say who cares and held his wand out. There was a pause before Avalon turned his wand onto Percy.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!" Dove cast quickly, but there was no need for it. At the last minute, Avalon spun, hitting Rookwood straight in the chest. The Death Eater went flying in the wall, lying unconscious when he made an impact. Percy, Dove, and Avalon all stood in front of him, their wands out. "Do we kill him?" Avalon asked with no hesitation.

"No," Dove replied, raising her head. "Let him rot in Azkaban, where he belongs."

You-Know-Who was now dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, Kingsley all at once, and there was a cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him— Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master she dueled three at once: Hermione, Ginny and Luna Lovegood, all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them, and Dove's attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Mrs. Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms, Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of the new challenger.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" shouted Mrs. Weasley to the three girls, and with a simple swipe of her wand, she began to duel. Dove watched with terror and elation as Molly Weasley's wand slashed and twisted, and Bellatrix Lestrange's smile faltered and became a snarl. Jets of light flew from both wands, the floor around the witches' feet became hot and cracked; both women were fighting to kill.

"No!" Mrs. Weasley cried as a few students ran forward, trying to come to her aid. "Get back! Get back! She is mine!"

Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights, You-Know-Who and his three opponents, Bellatrix and Molly, and Dove stood, torn between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, unable to be sure that she would not hit the innocent. She glanced behind her, no longer seeing her brother there.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Mrs. Weasley's curses danced around her. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie? What about his little girlfriend, Tori?"

"You— will— never— touch— my— children— again!" screamed Mrs. Weasley.

Bellatrix laughed an exhilarated laugh. Mrs. Weasley's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's constricted arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.

Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and You-Know-Who screamed.

Dove felt as though he turned into slow motion: she saw McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as You-Know-Who's fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb, You-Know-Who raised his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley.

"Protego!" roared Harry, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Hall, and You-Know-Who stared around for the source as Harry came into the light.

The yell of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of: "Harry!"

"HE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and completely as You-Know-Who and Harry looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other.

"I don't want anyone else to help," Harry said loudly, and in the total silence, his voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

You-Know-Who hissed.

"Potter doesn't mean that," he said, his red eyes wide. "This isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody," said Harry simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good...."

"One of us?" jeered You-Know-Who, and his whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. They were still moving sideways, both of them, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other, and for Harry, no face existed but You-Know-Who's. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"

"Accidents!" screamed You-Know-Who, but still he did not strike, and the watching crowd was frozen as if Petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody seemed to breathe but they two. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," said Harry as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people—"

"But you did not!"

"— I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"

"You dare—"

"Yes, I dare," said Harry. "I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"

You-Know-Who did not speak, but prowled in a circle.

"Is it love again?" said You-Know-Who, his snake's face jeering. "Dumbledore favorite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like and old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter— and nobody seems to love you enough to run forward this time and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?"

"Just one thing," said Harry, and still they circled each other.

"If it is not love that will save you this time," said You-Know-Who, "you must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"

"I believe both," said Harry, and he saw shock flit across the snakelike face, though it was instantly dispelled; You-Know-Who began to laugh, and the sound was more frightening than his screams; humorless and insane, it echoed around the silent Hall.

"You think you know more magic than I do?" he said. "Than I, then Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"

"Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."

"You mean he was weak!" screamed You-Know-Who. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"

"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!"

"You thought you did," said Harry, "but you were wrong."

For the first time, the watching crowd stirred as the hundreds of people around the walls drew breath as one.

"Dumbledore is dead!" You-Know-Who hurled the words at Harry as in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, "I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"

"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."

"What childish dream is this?" said You-Know-Who, but still he did not strike, and his red eyes did not waver from Harry's.

"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my mother. And you never realized it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"

You-Know-Who did not answer. They continued to circle each other like wolves about to tear each other apart.

"Snape's Patronus was a doe," said Harry, "the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realized he asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"

"He desired her, that was all," sneered You-Know-Who, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him—"

"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"

"It matters not!" shrieked You-Know-Who, who had followed every word with rapt attention, but now let out a cackle of mad laughter. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! I crushed them as I crushed your mother, Snape's supposed, great love! Oh, but it all makes sense, Potter, and in ways that you do not understand!"

"Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me! He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand! But I got there ahead of you, little boy— I reached the wand before you could get your hands on it, I understood the truth before you caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong, Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, it did," said Harry. "You're right. But before you try to kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done... Think, and try for some remorse, Riddle...."

"What is this?"

"It's your one last chance," said Harry, "it's all you've got left.... I've seen what you'll be otherwise... Be a man... try... Try for some remorse...."

"You dare—?" said You-Know-Who again.

"Yes, I dare," said Harry, "because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle. That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."

"He killed—"

"Aren't you listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore! Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die, undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"

"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand!" You-Know-Who's voice shook with malicious pleasure. "I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"

"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard... The Elder Wand recognized a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realizing exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance... The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."

Blank shock showed in You-Know-Who's face for a moment, but then it was gone. Dove glanced around the room, immediately spotting the blonde-haired boy. He looked at You-Know-Who with fear instantly as he backed further into the crowd.

"But what does it matter?" You-Know-Who said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone... and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy..."

"But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him."

Harry twitched the hawthorn wand, and he felt the eyes of everyone in the Hall upon it.

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

A red-glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he too yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing his wand:

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between them, at the dead center of the circle they had been treading, marked the point where the spells collided. Dove saw You-Know-Who's green jet meet Harry's own spell, saw the Elder Wand fly high, dark against the sunrise, spinning across the enchanted ceiling like the head of a snake, spinning through the air toward the master it would not kill, who had come to take full possession of it at last. And Harry, with the unerring skill of the Seeker, caught the wand in his free hand as You-Know-Who fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward.  You-Know-Who hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. You-Know-Who was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended: and then the tumult broke around Harry as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward Harry. Dove was sure Harry could not hear a word that anyone was shouting, not tell whose hands were seizing him, pulling him, trying to hug some part of him, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Boy Who Lived, the reason it was over at last.

The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great Hall blazed with life and light. Dove was an indispensable part of the mingled outpourings of jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebration. The news was now creeping in from every quarter as the morning drew on; that the Imperiused up and down the country had come back to themselves, that Death Eaters were fleeing or else being captured, that the innocent of Azkaban were being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of Magic.

They moved You-Know-Who's body and laid it in a chamber off the Hall, away from the bodies of Fred, Tori, Tonks, Lupin, Colin Creevey, and fifty others who had died fighting him. McGonagall had replaced the House tables, but nobody was sitting according to House anymore: All were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves, and Firenze lay recovering in the corner, and Grawp peered in through a smashed window, and people were throwing food into his laughing mouth. After a while, exhausted and drained, Dove found herself seated next to her sister once again as the sun shone in through the thick windows.

"We did it, Tori. We won."

"Dove?"

She glanced over her shoulder towards the Great Hall entrance, where people were coming in and out. Her mother stood there, looking pale and roughed up. Dove rose immediately, running towards her mother at full speed. She wrapped her arms around her, desperate to feel like a young child again.

"Thank Godric you're alright, oh. I was so worried." Her mother began, holding her daughter tightly.

"Where's Father and Avalon?"

The two women broke apart. Eleanor sighed, "I'm not sure. They've both disappeared. I don't suppose we'll be safe anymore. We'll most likely have to relocate..."

"Not with them," Dove said suddenly. She shook her head, "We're not protecting them. We can't. They've made their choice. It doesn't mean we have to go along with it."

"We're family, Dove."

"So was Victoria, but Father didn't have a problem abandoning her, did he?"

Her mother went silent for a moment. "Dove, where's your sister?"

Dove felt her mouth run dry. She immediately regretted saying that. "Mum..." She began slowly, unable to meet her mother's concerned filled eyes.  "She's... she's gone."

"Gone where?"

"... Victoria's dead, Mum."

"No..." Eleanor gasped, a hand over her mouth. She immediately looked behind her youngest daughter at the rows of the fallen only to recognize a head of dark hair.

And with that, the two women hugged each other and cried.

final chapter tomorrow!