Chapter 10 – To Be a Rock and Not To Roll

AN

I can't believe that I'm posting the final chapter of this story. It seems like only five minutes ago that I uploaded the first chapter of the first of this trilogy, and yet here we are. Considering that this was a sort of back-up story I turned to when the one I was working on crashed and burned, I have to say I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Okay, some house-keeping issues.

Yes, I know that 'Na zda-ró-vye' isn't a proper Russian drinking toast (I think it just means 'thank you' or something) but it has been accepted as such here in Western Europe, so I'm using it as such. So there.

No, I'm not trying to make any political statements with the Ron bit. Bearing in mind the timing of this story, I just thought it was an appropriate conflict to use. It also gave me the opportunity to flaunt my extensive knowledge of Soviet-era weapons, too.

No, as tempting as it is, bearing in mind how the story ends, I won't be doing a sequel. I have far too many other half-baked ideas that I have to work through without dragging this one out any further.

Finally, can I ask for a huge round of applause for Arnel, who has been my rock throughout this story. I can't thank her enough for all her help and support: she's a star!

Remember kids, all that glitters may not be gold, but it's probably worth stealing, anyway.

"Actually, I think we're doing this the wrong way round," Harry confessed. "Viktor said you should go in the cold water after you've been in the warm."

"There's absolutely no bloody way that I'm diving in the Blake Lake and then just standing around in the cold. No, it's better doing it this way," Ginny noted.

"I agree," Luna added. "Viktor Krum might be used to freezing weather, but we're not. Just warm up the pool like we agreed, Harry."

"Okay," Harry agreed and pointed his wand at the largish rock pool in front of them. "Aquae Arderent!"

The clear water in the pool began to boil almost at once. A cloud of steam rose into the frosty January air.

"That should do it, Harry," Ginny announced and Harry instantly cancelled the spell. The water continued to bubble for another few moments before it settled down.

"By the time we've taken our swim in the lake, the water here should have cooled enough for us to get in," Luna decided.

The three of them all looked at each other with a grin.

"So, are you two lovely witches ready to do this?" Harry asked.

"No, but let's do it anyway," Ginny giggled.

Simultaneously, the three of them cast-off the heavy robes they had been wearing, leaving them standing naked in the frosty air. Luna was the first to move.

"Come on, you two," she called as she ran the short distance towards the Black Lake. "No dilly-dallying! Just leap straight into the water."

Harry and Ginny ran after her and plunged straight into the frigid lake. Ginny gasped as the shock of the freezing waters lapping around her legs hit her.

"Straight in!" Luna insisted. She was already up to her waist and was continuing to wade out further. Taking a deep breath, Ginny hurried after her friend.

Soon, all three of them were up to their necks in the dark water. Ginny could feel her teeth chattering and had already lost all feeling in her fingers and toes.

"Bloody hell, this is agony," she moaned. "How long do we have to stay in here?"

"Just a few minutes," Harry advised her.

"I'm not sure I'll last that long. You could cut glass with my nipples about now," she complained.

"Stop moaning," Harry told her. "What about me? I'll tell you, when we get out of the water my ego is going to take a major battering. The last time my bits were this small was when I was about three years old!"

"Never mind, Harry. I'm sure Ginny will help warm them up for you later," Luna giggled.

"He can warm his own bits up. It was his stupid idea to do this ice-swimming in the first place," Ginny gripped.

From her position gently floating in the bitterly-cold waters, she could just make out Hogwarts in the distance. They had found this secluded inlet the week before while out flying and a crazy tale Viktor Krum had told Harry about swimming in pools cut from the ice back in Norway had inspired him to suggest this mad stunt. While Ginny was normally up for most challenges, this really was becoming a dare too far.

"Right, I think we've been out here long enough," Luna decided, her teeth chattering. "The rock pool should have cooled enough for us to use it by now."

Gratefully, the three of them began to swim back to the shoreline. As her toes found purchase on the gravelly lake bottom, Ginny stood and frantically began to wade towards the warmth of the pool. She glanced over at Harry, who was nearly completely clear of the water. He certainly hadn't been kidding about the effect the freezing temperature was having on him, although he didn't have to be quite so blatant in trying to massage life back into his frozen appendage. Still, it was probably his most precious body-part, so maybe he shouldn't be criticised too much.

Luna was first to reach the rock pool and she cautiously dipped her hand in the water. She grimaced for a second before she became accustomed to the high temperature.

"It's just about cool enough to enter, but he careful," she announced before gingerly stepping into the pool. Slowly, she lowered herself down until she was able to sit. The steaming water only came up to the top of her stomach, leaving her breasts exposed. Ginny warily copied her friend's actions, and nearly shrieked as she lowered her foot into the scolding water. Taking it very slowly, she too sat down in the pool opposite Luna. The pool was small enough that her feet were touching the blond-haired witch's.

"What's Harry doing?" Luna asked, peering intently over Ginny's shoulder.

Ginny turned and saw her boyfriend bending down, apparently retrieving something from one of the piles of snow that remained from the fall that had occurred the previous week. She was torn between curiosity at what he was doing, and just ogling his shapely bum as he bent over. In the end, ogling won.

A few seconds later, Harry apparently found what he was looking for and stood up. He turned and jogged back to the pool clutching a bottle of clear liquid in his hand.

"What's that, Harry?" Ginny asked, trying to ignore the amusing sight of his manly bits bobbing up and down as he ran.

"Vodka," Harry announced as he reached the pool. "Viktor said that to complete the ice swimming experience it's vital to have a few shots of neat vodka afterwards. I came and hid this bottle in the snowdrift last evening, so it should be ice-cold by now. Care for a snifter, ladies?"

"You, Harry Potter, are a bloody genius," Ginny declared. "Gimme a shot of that now!"

"Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea. But where on earth did you manage to get a bottle of genuine Russian vodka during term time?" Luna asked, eyeing the label on the bottle appreciatively.

"I have my sources," Harry smirked and pulled three long shot glasses from a small bag he had brought with him. He sat on the edge of the pool with his legs dangling in the water, and poured three large shots of the vodka into the glasses. He handed a glass to Ginny and then Luna, before slipping totally into the water next to his girlfriend. He casually draped his left arm around her shoulders, before reaching back and grabbing his glass.

"It's traditional to down this in one," he instructed the girls before lifting the glass to his lips. "Na zda-ró-vye!"

"Na zda-ró-vye!" the girls repeated and knocked back their drinks.

"Wow!" Ginny exclaimed as the vodka burned down her throat. It had a surprisingly creamy aftertaste to it, and she could feel the warmth spreading through her body. She was definitely going to have more of this stuff!

"Mmm, that was yummy," Luna announced dreamily. "I've had vodka before, but only cheap brands. This is much nicer, especially ice-cold."

Ginny looked over at her friend affectionately. Since Hermione had been spending so much time with Eddie, Luna had migrated towards Harry and her more and more. Not that she minded; Luna was her oldest friend and she loved the strange girl to bits. Ginny couldn't help but notice that Luna was growing into a stunningly beautiful witch. Her long dirty-blond hair was clinging to her wet, pale skin and her large blue eyes were regarding them with a mischievous twinkle in them.

"I thought you'd like it," Harry said, sounding pleased. "We'd better be careful, though. This is strong stuff and we'll end up pissed as newts if we're not careful."

"Yes, that would be terrible," Luna agreed with a wicked smile on her lips. "Just think what might happen if three naked, randy teenagers end up getting drunk in a secluded place like this?"

Ginny just winked at her friend as Harry turned a spectacular shade of red.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The incessant chirping noise was becoming really annoying. Ginny blinked blearily into the pitch darkness and wondered for a moment what was going on.

"Bloody hell, Gin, can't you shut that thing off?" Demelza's sleepy voice moaned.

As her friend's words sunk into her muddled mind, Ginny realized that the noise that had awoken her was coming from her communication mirror. Angrily, she grabbed it from the bedside table and activated.

"Do know what bloody time it is?" she growled as Harry's image appeared in the mirror.

"Ginny, we have a problem. The Tracking Alarm we placed on Malfoy just went off. He's just entered the Room of Requirement," Harry said urgently.

"What? What time is it?" Ginny asked blearily.

"Just after two o'clock in the morning, but that's not the really weird thing. I've just checked the Marauder's Map and he's got over a dozen Slytherins with him," he informed her grimly.

"Shit!" Ginny cursed leaping out of bed. "He's making his move. You alert Luna and get the rest of the boys up. I'll grab Hermione and wake everyone one up in the girls' dorm."

"I'm already on it," Harry snapped and the mirror went dead.

"Demelza! Vicky! Wake up, we've got a situation here," Ginny bellowed as she grabbed a pair of jeans and a jumper.

"What?" Vicky grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Get up and dressed. I need you to wake everyone up and get them to meet in the common room. The Slytherins are up to something," Ginny cried, pulling her top over her head.

Without pausing to see if her dorm mates were moving, she shoved her trainers on her feet and ran out of the room. Pounding up the short flight of steps that led to the sixth year girls' room, she flung the door open and ran to Hermione's bed.

"Hermione, wake up!" Ginny yelled, shaking her friend. "Malfoy is up to something and he's got half of Slytherin House with him."

To her credit, Hermione responded a lot faster than she had. The bushy-haired witch pushed herself up on her elbows and looked at Ginny intently.

"What's happening?" she demanded.

"Malfoy's just entered the Room of Requirement and he's got over a dozen of his mates with him. He's been threatening revenge for months now and this must be the start of it," Ginny explained urgently.

"You know, they could just be having a party, or something," Hermione pointed out.

"At two o'clock on a weekday?" Ginny pointed out acerbically. "Besides, the Slytherins aren't exactly known for their swinging parties, are they?"

"No, I guess you're…" Hermione began but she was cut off by Ginny's mirror chirping for attention again. She activated and Harry's distressed features appeared.

"Death Eaters! We've got Death Eaters in the school. I can could ten so far, with Antonin Dolohov in the lead," he spat.

"Shit!" Hermione cursed and leaped out of bed. She started to hurriedly pull her clothes on.

"There are Death Eaters in the school?" came the frightened voice of Lavender Brown whose bed was just opposite Hermione's.

"Yes, now get up and get dressed. We're meeting in the common room. Don't forget your wand!" Ginny yelled and ran out of the room to wake the girls in the other rooms. It took her five minutes to get everyone moving and heading downstairs. She found Harry already there with most of the boys. He was pouring over the Marauder's Map looking worried.

"We've got eleven Death Eaters and fifteen Slytherins in total and it looks like they're heading for the main entrance. I guess they're going to try and seal the exits before they do whatever they're planning on doing. I've alerted Luna and she's getting the Ravenclaws together, but we've got no way of alerting the Hufflepuffs," Harry said angrily.

"Damn, that was bad planning on our part. What about the teachers?" Ginny asked.

"Most of them have their accommodation on the lower floors and the Death Eaters are between them and us. If we can work it with the Ravenclaws we should at least be able to hit the Death Eaters from two directions at once. That should even the odds a bit," Harry pondered.

"You want to fight them?" a second year girl gasped in horror. "Why don't we just stay here and block the door."

"Because that door was never intended to stand up to a direct assault," Ginny spat. "A couple of good Blasting Charms and they'll be in, or maybe they could just cast a Fiendfyre Curse in here and stand back while we burn. We can't afford to be trapped in here."

"Ginny's right, but I'm not expecting all of you to fight, anyway. I want volunteers from the senior H.D.A. group only. The rest of you are to head to one of the secret exits and try to escape. If you can get to Hogsmeade and raise the alarm, that would be really helpful. Who's with me?" Harry asked.

Almost without exception the members of the H.D.A. raised their hands. Ginny could only smile at the loyalty Harry's housemates were showing him.

"Great! Right, I want all the rest of you to head for the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. You'll find a hidden passageway behind it that leads out of the castle. Does anyone know where the statue is?" Harry demanded.

"I do, Harry," Neville said. "I'll lead the young'uns out of the school. I never attended your Defense meetings, so I'll be no use against Death Eaters. I'll try and get help as soon as I can, though."

"Good man," Harry said, slapping Neville heartily on the arm. "You get going as soon as you can and I'll liaise with the Ravenclaws and try and set up an ambush. The passageway is well away from where the Death Eaters are, so hopefully you'll have no problems."

"Okay, I'll be as fast as I can," Neville promised. "Alright, all those that are leaving come with me now! We need to raise the alarm immediately."

Neville left with a large group of frightened first, second and third years, with a few additions from the upper years tagging along, too. Looking around, Ginny saw that they still had twenty-one willing fighters.

"Luna, are you there?" Harry called into the mirror. A second later, Luna's still tranquil face appeared.

"Hello, Harry. How are you?" she asked with a placid smile.

"I'm good, thank you," Harry smirked, clearly amused by his friend's casual greeting. "Are all the Ravenclaws up?"

"Oh, yes. Most of them didn't want to get out of bed until Eddie came and started yelling at them," Luna explained happily.

"Good for Eddie. Right, this is the situation: we have a group of twenty-six mixed Death Eaters and Slytherins congregating by the main entrance. I have no idea what they're up to but they're blocking us from alerting the teachers. I need you to gather up every Ravenclaw from the fourth year up who is willing to fight and move towards the Entrance Hall. Hopefully, we can catch our unwanted guests in a pincer movement and take them out. How many bodies can you bring to the fight?" Harry asked.

"Wait a second," Luna responded and she disappeared. About a minute later, Eddie's face appeared in the mirror.

"Harry, we have fifteen people willing to fight. Will that be enough?" he announced. He looked red-faced and angry, like he'd be arguing with his housemates.

"Yeah, that will do," Harry confirmed. "I'm not sure we can get everyone else out of there, though. I think the rest would be wise just to stay put and lock the door. Most of the exits I know of would take them too close to the Death Eaters."

"Okay, I'll get them to barricade themselves in as soon as we leave. What do you want us to do now?" Eddie asked.

"Head towards the main entrance, but stop before you reach the main stairwell. We'll get in position and hopefully we can hit them from two directions simultaneously. If we can catch them in a crossfire we might able to take the lot of them down in one go," Harry instructed.

"We're moving now," Eddie said tersely before vanishing.

"Okay, let's move!" Harry yelled and led them out of the portrait hole. Ginny paused and addressed the fat lady, who was by now wide awake and in some distress.

"Have you any means of alerting the teachers to what's going on?" Ginny asked.

"I'll try, dear, but none of the teachers have portraits in their bedrooms that I know of," the woman replied. "I'll pass the word to the other portraits and get them to keep an eye on the intruders."

"Thanks," Ginny smiled and ran to catch up with Harry.

They moved forward at a slow jog until they reached the main stairwell. Harry halted them in a corridor nearby and cautiously peered round the corner. Seeing nothing untoward, he reached for the mirror and quietly called Luna.

"We're in position, Harry," Luna responded immediately. "We must be a couple of floors below you and on the far side of the hallway."

"Great. Start to move forwards. Get as many people to cast Disillusion Charms on themselves as they can. Put your mirror on the vibrate-only setting and call me when you've got the Death Eaters in sight," he instructed. He then turned and motioned for everyone to close in on him.

"This is the plan. The Ravenclaws are in position above the main entrance. We're going to cast Disillusion Charms on ourselves and move down to the opposite side of the hall. We should then be on either side of the Death Eaters, and shooting downwards so there'll be no chance of hitting friendlies. Your signal to start casting spells will be when I launch my first curse at them. Don't get nervous and start casting before! Use the most powerful and deadly spells you know. Those scum wouldn't spare you, so don't give them any quarter."

The grim looks on the faces of those assembled suggested mercy was in short supply that night.

"Good. Anyone not know how to cast a Disillusion Charm?" he asked. Two fourth years raised their hands. "Right, Ginny and I will cast the spell on you. Any questions? No? Right, Disillusion yourselves and let's move. Good luck everyone and stay safe."

They cast the charms and started to head down the stairs. Looking back, it seemed to Ginny that the rippling effect that the Disillusion Charm had when moving made the whole stairway look like it was underwater. They stealthily continued down the stairs until they reached the first floor landing where they began to fan out. Looking through the banisters, Ginny could clearly see the group of Slytherins and Death Eaters congregating in the hall below. There appeared to be some sort of dispute in progress and she could just hear snatches of it. Malfoy appeared to be arguing with a dark, burly man she recognised as Dolohov.

"That wasn't… part… you said we'd take out…now!" Draco whined, sounding for all the world like his mummy had just told him he couldn't have any more sweets.

"Shut it, you insignificant brat!" Dolohov yelled. "You might have got us in the castle, but I'm giving the orders now. I say we go after Dumbledore first!"

"Luna, I'm about to launch my first curse," Ginny heard Harry whisper into his mirror. "Good luck."

A second later, a bright blue bolt of light smashed into the group below with such force that the flagstones were blown apart sending debris in all directions. Ginny launched a Blasting Curse of her own as screams started to fill the air.

The Death Eaters were caught completely unaware, but responded quickly and started casting Shield Charms. The Slytherins weren't so quick off the mark, and bodies fell like rain. By the time Ginny fired off her second curse, she estimated that perhaps half of their foes had fallen, while several more were obviously wounded.

"On the landing!" Dolohov cried and started to hurl curses at the defenders. Ginny heard a cry of pain from somewhere to her left, but did dare take the time to look who had been hit. The Disillusion Charms had dispelled as soon as they had started firing, but they still had the advantage of numbers and a superior position. Another Death Eater fell, clutching his throat as blood squirted through his fingers.

"You little bastards!" a voice roared, and Ginny saw the instantly recognisable figure of Fenrir Greyback charge towards the stairs. Several spells impacted near him, but he powered forward, seemingly oblivious to the curses. When he reached the first floor landing, he turned left towards the Ravenclaws. Ginny started to panic when she saw who the nearest person to the advancing Death Eater was: Luna.

"Shit," she bellowed, rising to her knees to get a better shot. "Avada Kedavra!"

The bolt of blinding green light shot from her wand and headed straight towards the large, vicious Death Eater and Ginny was convinced she had him. Then, at the last second, Greyback ducked and the curse missed him by inches. He stood and glared in Ginny's direction.

This proved to be the last thing he ever did as moments later he was hit by a bolt of white light. It struck him solidly, knocking him sideways. Then, with agonising slowness, his head toppled from his shoulders, sending a shower of blood in all directions from his neck. His body fell forwards and rolled down the stairs. From the other side of the hall, Ginny saw Luna waving merrily at her.

"They're running!" someone yelled, forcing Ginny's attention back to the ground floor.

The few remaining intruders had opened the main doors and were heading out into the school grounds. A stray bolt of red light hit the last one and he crumpled to the ground.

"Malfoy and Dolohov are getting away," Harry yelled, leaping to his feet.

"Not bloody likely," Ginny growled, also standing.

"Let's get after them, then," Harry yelled, sprinting towards the stairs.

Ginny followed him and soon they were out of the main doors and heading towards the castle grounds. Looking around, she noted that Luna, Hermione and Eddie were following close behind.

Harry came to an abrupt halt and pulled out the Marauders' Map. He scanned it rapidly.

"They've split up," he announced. "Zabini and two others I don't know are heading towards the main gates. Dolohov and Malfoy are heading towards Hagrid's hut."

"Zabini? That low-life bastard! He's mine," Eddie declared and sprinted off in the direction of the main gates. A fraction of a second later Hermione followed him.

"Where do you want me to go?" Luna asked, looking conflicted.

"Go after those two," Harry told her. "I've no idea what Eddie's like in a fight and Hermione hasn't got that ruthless streak that you need in battle. Keep an eye on them."

"Okay, be careful you two," Luna called as she started to run after Eddie and Hermione.

"Nice take-down of Fenrir, by the way," Ginny called at her departing friend. Luna just waved her hand in acknowledgement and kept running.

"Okay, I think our prey our trying to get to the Forbidden Forest. They probably figure we won't find them in there," Harry said scanning the map.

"Then let's get moving. The map doesn't cover the forest and we probably will lose them in the dark," Ginny pointed out.

They set off at a blistering speed. Both of them were in the peak of physical fitness and could keep up a fast pace for a long time. It wasn't long before Hagrid's hut loomed into sight.

"Down!" Harry suddenly screamed and pushed Ginny to one side. A bolt of purple light clipped him on the arm and sent him spinning. Ginny flung herself to the ground and attempted to locate the source of the curse. In the dark, however, she could see little.

Another bolt of light, orange this time, hurtled towards them but this time she managed to get a Shield in place. It was followed by several more curses, each was deflected, but Ginny couldn't get a clear view of the person casting it.

"Harry, are you alright?" she called out desperately, unable to look back in case she missed a spell being fired at them.

"Yeah… I… ow! I got hit on the arm, but other than that I'm okay. I dropped my wand and I can't find it in the dark, though," Harry moaned.

"How unfortunate," sneered a voice from behind them. Ginny spun around only to have her wand ripped from her fingers by a Disarming Spell. Dolohov stood there, grinning in triumph. "You can come out now, Draco. I have them," he called.

"You bastard!" Ginny growled.

"Shut up, you little bitch. I'm personally going to enjoy torturing you," he snarled back.

"Antonin, we can't linger here!" Draco Malfoy cried, hurrying towards them. "The other scum are bound to come after them in a minute. Just kill them and let's get out of here!"

"Sadly, you're right. Shame really, I could have had some fun with this little girl. Never mind. I guess I'll just have to…" Dolohov began when he was suddenly interrupted by a loud cracking sound.

Dolohov jerked suddenly. Two more cracks sounded, and the Death Eater's body shuddered and then fell. Even in the dark Ginny could see a blood stain forming through his clothes.

"What the…" Draco began before another crack sounded, although this one seemed higher in pitch. Draco screamed and fell to his knees. Three more cracks echoed in the night and the blond boy fell face-first into the grass. Ginny spun around and saw a sight she could barely believe.

Ron Weasley stood a few yards away with what appeared to be a Muggle pistol in his hand. He grinned at his sister.

"Hiya, Ginny. Long-time no see. You're looking good," he said casually.

"Ron?" gasped Harry in disbelief.

"The very same. Good to see you, Harry. I heard you got betrothed to my little sister here. All I can say is that you're a braver man than I thought, mate," Ron smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Ginny demanded, "and where did you get that Muggle gun-thingy?"

"Gun-thingy? Blimey, you sound just like Dad," Ron laughed. "This, my dear sister, is a Tokarev TT-33 self-loading pistol. Actually, I'm surprised it worked so well. The damn thing is twice as old as I am!"

"Who else is out there?" Harry asked warily. "Those first shots came from a different direction."

"Ah, you always were a smart one, weren't you?" Ron said with a grin. "Ariya, you can come out now, love."

Out of the darkness stepped a short, dark-haired girl. Her skin was a dusky brown and her eyes burnt with a dark intensity that was unnerving. In her arms she carefully cradled a Muggle rife. The girl stared at Ginny with a hard, unfriendly gaze.

Unfazed, Ron marched up to the girl and put a protective arm around her shoulders. He grinned mischievously at them.

"You two might be betrothed, but I can top that," he smirked. "I'd like you to meet my wife, Ariya."

"Wife? But she can't be any older than I am," Ginny gasped.

"Nah, she's only a couple of months older than you actually," Ron confirmed. "You'll have to forgive her not talking much, but she doesn't speak a word of English. I tell you, learning Kurdish was one of the hardest things I've ever done."

"Kurdish? Ronald Weasley, you have some explaining to do!" Ginny snapped.

"Bloody hell, you sound just like Mum when you do that, Gin," Ron laughed.

"But where have you been?" Harry asked. "Not that we're not grateful for you appearing in the nick of time like that. Our necks were really on the chopping block there, but how did you manage to pop up just when we needed you?"

"Ah, actually we've been hunting down Malfoy since Christmas. We nearly got him at Malfoy Manor last month, but the git got away. This is the first time he's left the protection of Hogwarts and we were able to get a clear shot at him," Ron replied.

"But…" began Ginny.

"It's probably easier if I start from the beginning," Ron sighed. "After I ran away, I really hadn't got a clue what to do. The fact I could do magic without being detected helped, and I survived by nicking stuff from Muggle shops. Then, one day, I saw Mum out looking for me and I knew I had to get out of the country. I went into one of those Muggle libraries and did a bit of research. I decided that India sounded a pretty cool place to visit."

"Research in a library? Hermione will be proud of you," Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, you better not tell her, she might have a heart attack," Ron laughed. "Anyway, I started my journey by following something the Muggles call the Silk Route. I got through France and Italy fairly easily, and then stowed away on a ferry that ended up in Turkey. I then decided to cut across a country called Iraq and that's where my troubles began. One day, I was passing through a small village when it was suddenly attacked by Muggles with tanks and helicopters. The inhabitants of the village defended themselves, amazingly, with a combination of magic and Muggle weapons. Well, long story short, I got mixed up in the fight and ended up saving a family from a group of Muggle soldiers who were going to shoot them on the spot."

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered.

"The village was Kurdish, and the soldiers were Iraqi, with whom they've been in conflict with for years," Ron continued. "Kurdish society is amazing; magic users live openly side by side with Muggles. They figure that they're all just Kurds, you know, no matter what skills they possess. One man will fight with a wand while the other fights with a Kalashnikov."

"A what?" Ginny asked in puzzlement.

"Oh, a Russian gun," Ron explained. "We use lots of weapons we captured from the Iraqis. See, my darling wife here is a hotshot with that SKS rifle of hers. She takes the bloody thing to bed with her, I kid you not."

"How did you two get together?" Harry asked, looking at the girl warily.

"Ah, well, you see the family I saved were relatives of Ariya and she was… err… quite grateful. She was just showing me her gratitude when her father walks in on us. Next thing I know, we're being married with the barrel of a gun being pointed at my head the whole time. I was suddenly stuck in a strange, dangerous place that was being attacked by a Muggle army, with a fifteen year old wife who couldn't understand a bloody word I said! It was a bit of a shocker, I can tell you!" he snorted.

"But you seem pretty happy now," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, well, once I began to learn the language I realised what Ariya's people were up against. I really wanted to help and I joined the armed group that was defending the village. We really had some close scrapes, believe me! I also started to learn the local lingo and once I began to understand what Ariya was saying, I came to realise what a brilliant person she was. She's so strong and brave, not to mention beautiful. We really didn't know each other when we married, but we fell in love pretty quickly," Ron explained with a sappy smile on his lips.

"Amazing," Ginny gasped, "but that doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"Ah, you have Ariya to thank for that," Ron said, hugging his wife. "A few months ago, I explained exactly what happened to me here at Hogwarts to her. I think I'd been avoiding talking about it up to then. As I was explaining it to her, a thought occurred to me. For about a year and a half, I absolutely hated Harry's guts. I'd gone from being his best mate to wanting to kill him in the blink of an eye, and you know what? I couldn't really explain why. Then I realised something else; I didn't really feel that way about him anymore. Hell, I was actually really pleased when I heard you two were betrothed. Honestly, Harry, did you know you're even famous in the Middle East? Anyway, that got me thinking. All this anger towards Harry seemed to get worse and worse the more I talked to Draco Malfoy."

"Oh, shit! He was using the Confundus Charm on you, wasn't he?" Ginny gasped in horror.

"Got it in one. I should have realised when he used it on that git McLaggen to ensure I got a spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. A 'favour for a friend' he called it. That pompous bastard didn't get my place on the team, by the way, did he?" asked Ron plaintively.

"Sorry, we didn't have a lot of other options," Harry apologised.

"Don't worry, Harry managed to knock some of the arrogance out of him. In fact, he nearly made the git piss his pants," Ginny grinned.

"Wish I'd been there to see that," Ron laughed. "Anyway, once I got out of the country, I found that all my anger towards Harry just slipped away, and I was just gutted that I'd done the things I'd done. After talking to Ariya, the Knut dropped and I realised what had happened. My darling wife then decided that there was a blood-feud between our family and the Malfoys, and I was honour-bound to extract revenge. You can see why I love her so much, can't you?"

"I'm beginning to," Ginny admitted, smiling at the impassive girl.

"We arrived back in the country in November and have been hunting Malfoy ever since. Unfortunately, he was too well protected at the Manor, so we followed him here hoping he'd stick his neck out. We've been camped in the Forest for the last few weeks, but when we heard the sound of fighting we came to investigate, and, ta-da, we find Malfoy served to us on a plate. Cheers, guys!"

"We should be thanking you," Harry insisted. "Dolohov had us at his mercy. You really saved our skins."

"Well, maybe it makes up for all the stuff I did previous," Ron ventured hesitantly. "Am I forgiven?"

"Yeah, you are. Welcome back, mate," Harry said offering his hand.

Ron strode forwards and shook it warmly before pulling Harry into a hug.

"Ouch, careful, my arm got cut open," Harry moaned.

"Oh, bugger, I forgot you were injured," Ginny cried. She ran to the fallen body of Dolohov and grabbed her wand, before casting a healing charm on Harry's wound.

As she turned, she found Ariya was now standing directly behind her with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Sis… sisters?" the Kurdish girl asked hesitantly.

"Sisters," Ginny confirmed, before grabbing the girl and pulling her into a hug, rifle and all.

"Your parents are going to be pleased to see you," she heard Harry say. "Your mum's been going spare."

"Ah, that's the thing, now we've polished off Malfoy, we're heading straight back," Ron said apologetically.

"What?" Ginny screeched, letting go of Ariya. "You're not even going to say hello to the rest of the family?"

"Ginny, if Mum catches sight of me, she'll never let me leave. Technically, I'm not an adult for another couple of months and I need to get back home as soon as possible," he explained. "For the first time in my life, people need me. Believe it or not, I'm actually one of the best magic users our community and I've been helping teach the youngsters. Ariya's father is one of the village elders, and as he had no son of his own, he's dragged me into the governing council. There, I'm not just the youngest, least-accomplished Weasley, I really matter! People trust my opinions and rely on me. They need me back. Besides, I'm not ready to face the others yet. Soon, I think, but not yet."

"It sounds like you've got a pretty amazing life for yourself," Harry told his friend. "Is there anything we can do to help Ariya's people?"

"Nah, I don't think…" he began.

"Ron, we raided Malfoy Manor last summer and nicked a load of really valuable jewellery from them. After everything that's happened, I think you'd be entitled to a cut in the proceeds. It would only be fair," Ginny insisted.

"Well, we're always short on cash. The village doctor does need to buy some more medicines," he pondered.

"Just tell us where to send the money," Harry interrupted. "The Malfoys owe you big time, and just think how much they would hate the idea of their cash being spent to help a mixed Muggle/Wizard community."

"You're right," Ron agreed. He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. "This is the address of a Kurdish contact we have in this country. I'll let him know you're coming. Just give whatever you think is fair to him and he'll see it gets spent well."

"I will do," Harry confirmed. "Ron, I…"

Ariya suddenly interrupted, speaking rapidly in her own language. Ron looked warily back towards the castle.

"Someone's coming and I really don't want to be discovered here. We'd best be off. Harry, mate, I probably don't need to say it, but look after my sister. Ginny, tell the others that I love them and that I'm sorry. Please try and convince Mum not to come and look for me, huh?" he begged.

"I will, Ron. I'm sorry for all the cruel things I said to you. You're my brother and I love you," Ginny said, running up and hugging him.

Ron dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head and started to move away. He'd moved a few feet before he stopped and looked back at Harry.

"Is Hermione doing okay?" he asked plaintively.

"She's doing well," Harry replied gently. "She'll be sorry she missed you."

"Tell her that I'm sorry. Tell her I just couldn't be the person she wanted me to be," he said apologetically and then he was gone into the night, with his tiny but well-armed wife beside him.

"Harry! Ginny! Are you okay?" called a voice.

They turned and saw Eddie, Hermione and Luna running towards them. Following closely behind were Dumbledore, McGonagall and, surprisingly, Professor Vector.

"We're fine," Harry called as they approached.

"Did you get Dolohov and Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry confirmed pointing at their bodies lying in the dark. "We had a bit of help, though."

"Quite a lot of help, actually," Ginny added, staring sadly into the darkness where her brother had vanished.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"I call to order this meeting of the Prince Harry and Lady Ginevra Admiration Conglomeration," Sirius announced happily. "Oh, and happy Easter everyone, too."

"You've missed coming up with these stupid names, haven't you?" Harry groaned from his seat on the other side of Grimmauld Place's kitchen table.

"I have indeed, and I've had months of bed rest to come up with new ones," Sirius said smugly.

"You'll be getting plenty more bed rest if you call me Ginevra again," Ginny growled.

"Are you really sure you want to marry that one, Harry?" Sirius asked his godson in a conspiratory manner. "I mean, she's a bit stroppy, isn't she?"

"Eva?" Harry pleaded in a resigned tone.

"Of course, Harry," Eva replied with a sweet smile, before she hit her husband hard on the arm.

"Ouch! That hurt, woman," Sirius moaned.

"It was meant to," Eva told him sternly. "Now, do you want to get on with this?"

"Of course, my delicate and entirely non-aggressive angel," Sirius agreed quickly. "Unfortunately, due to my enforced absence, I'm a bit behind on what's been happening. My darling wife, wracked with concern at my wellbeing, as refused to tell me bugger-all until now, so I need a bit of a catch-up. Bill, perhaps you would like to start?"

"Thanks, Sirius," Bill responded. "By now, you should have all received the proceeds of the jewellery sales into your Gringotts accounts. As agreed, myself, Ginny, Harry, Percy and Hermione have all donated a share to pass on to Ron. Oh, Harry? I did check out that contact my brother gave you and it was legitimate. The man runs a charity supporting Kurdish refugees based here in London."

"I still can't believe Ron's married," Hermione said in disbelief.

"Yeah, and that was one girl you don't want to mess with," Ginny noted.

"It looks like all the Weasley offspring are destined to marry young," Bill noted. "Why, I don't think even Fred and George are going to escape, not if Alicia and Angelina have their way. Although which girl marries which twin is up for debate."

"Charlie being the exception, of course," Ginny pointed out.

"Oh, I don't know," Harry objected. "He did seem very taken with Tabitha the Welsh Green. I'm sure they'd make a lovely couple."

"Now that's one wedding I would like to attend!" Sirius sniggered.

"Well, as you know, the Ministry investigation into all the marked Death Eaters has concluded," Tonks said, taking over. "The Auror Office has officially declared that all Death Eaters have now been accounted for. Personally, I suspect that one or two might have fallen through the cracks, but if they have, then they're only low-ranking, unimportant members. Oh, Harry, you might be interested to hear that Severus Snape has been sentenced to three years in Azkaban."

"What? I didn't hear about this," Harry exclaimed, looking like Christmas had come early.

"Yeah, and he was bloody lucky to only get three years. Apparently, to gain entry to the Death Eaters, Snape killed his own father, who was a Muggle. He would be looking at a life sentence, but Dumbledore intervened and pleaded for leniency due to his spying activities. Amelia nearly threw both of them in prison, actually. After all, the Order of the Phoenix was never an official organisation and Snape should have been reporting to the Ministry, but she was convinced to be merciful. Dumbledore's used up a lot of good-will in getting Snape's sentence reduced, though. Put it like this, I don't think he will be Chief Warlock for very much longer."

"Oh, this day just keeps getting better and better," Harry beamed.

"Personally, I'm pissed off that Snivellus got such a reduced sentence," Sirius tutted. "Still, it means he'll never teach at Hogwarts again, at any rate. But let's move onto the subject I really want to hear about: the Horcruxes. Eva's hinted that we've made some real progress, but hit a bit of a snag. What's happening?"

"We think we have only one Horcrux left to deal with," Remus told his friend before launching into a detailed account of how they dealt with the ring, cup and diadem.

"So, we've just got this locket to find?" Sirius queried. "Have we no clues at all?"

"Just this note that was left inside the fake locket," Remus confirmed handing a copy of the note to Sirius.

Sirius scanned the note intensely for a moment, but then stopped abruptly. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open.

"Sirius? Does this R.A.B. mean something to you?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Of course it does. R.A.B. is my brother, Regulus," he replied in a shaky voice.

"Regulus? Oh, damn it! I knew those initials were familiar," Remus cursed.

"By why didn't we find any mention of this in official records?" Hermione protested.

"Regulus's involvement with the Death Eaters was kept extremely quiet," Sirius explained. "He was, after all, a member of a Noble and Most Ancient house, and the Ministry liked to hush-hush such things. Besides, his body was never found. All these years, I thought he fought for Voldemort willingly…"

"Do you have any idea what your brother might have done with the locket?" Eva asked urgently.

"Well, he was extremely close to that deranged elf Kreacher, so it's possible he might have hidden it for him," Sirius speculated.

"So, it might still be here in this house?" Harry gasped.

"It's possible," Sirius admitted, his eye widening. "Harry, all those Dark objects we cleared out of the house when we moved in here. They're still in the cellar!"

"Dobby!" Harry called. "We need you!"

The little elf appeared with a soft pop.

"Dobby, do you remember, when we cleared out the house just after I moved in, we boxed up a load of Dark objects and stuck them in the cellar. Do you recall if there was a locket among those objects?" Harry asked eagerly.

"There were a number of lockets, Master Harry," Dobby replied. "All of them were nasty things, and Dobby sealed them away well."

"We need to see those lockets immediately. Can you get them for us?" Harry asked, obviously struggling to remain calm.

"Of course," Dobby replied, and with a snap of his fingers he was gone.

It was an agonising ten minutes before he returned clutching a small wooden box which he carefully placed on the kitchen table. Harry and Eva leapt up and opened it. As soon as the box was open, Harry let out a gasp. With a trembling hand, he reached in and withdrew a heavy gold locket with a serpentine S inlayed on the front.

"This is it," he breathed. "We've found the last Horcrux."

Ginny leapt to her feet and kissed him enthusiastically. The rest of the group started clapping and cheering enthusiastically. It was several minutes before things calmed down.

"So, what happens now?" Luna asked. "Another trip to Romania, perhaps? Can I come this time? I'd love to meet Charlie's dragon girlfriend."

"I think we should all go, this time," Eva decided. "This could be the culmination of everything we've worked for."

"Yeah, and I think we need to invite a couple more people, as well. Amelia, for one. She needs to know that we've destroyed the last Horcrux. And, as much as I hate to say it, Dumbledore should be included," Ginny announced grimly.

"Dumbledore?" Sirius repeated in shock. "Why invite him?"

"Because he needs to know that Voldemort has been dealt with. I have this feeling that old Dumbles is convinced that Voldemort has to be in a corporeal form to be killed outright, but I'm pretty certain that's bollocks. I'll bet my last pair of knickers that this last Horcrux is the only thing securing Voldemort's soul to this plain of existence. Once it's destroyed, he'll just float away like a feather on the wind," Ginny confirmed. "We'll tell Dumbledore that we've found a Horcrux and let him watch us destroy it. Only then will we tell him that we've destroyed all the other ones, as well. If he's still convinced that he has to engineer some final confrontation between Harry and snake features, he's going to have a bloody hard time arranging it!"

"That sounds good," Sirius agreed. "Romania, here we come!"

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Two days later, a sizable group of witches and wizards could be found standing outside the enclosure of Tabitha the Welsh Green dragon. Charlie, the dragon handler, was looking around uncomfortably, clearly rattled by the august company he had.

"Would it be possible to explain why I've been asked to come all the way here now?" Dumbledore asked mildly. "As gratifying as it is to visit a former pupil and see what a fine job he is doing in caring for endangered species, I feel there must be something behind this most unusual get-together."

"We thought you would be very keen to witness this event, Albus," Sirius said with an insincere smile. "You see, we've managed to locate one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and are about to destroy it."

"Indeed?" Dumbledore said with interest. "What is this object and how did you manage to locate it?"

"It's a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin himself," Sirius explained. "How we came by it? Well, it was purely by chance. It appears my brother, Regulus, stole it from Voldemort and hid it at Grimmauld Place. We discovered it purely by accident."

"Most fortuitous," Dumbledore noted. "I am concerned, however, that so many people now know of its existence. Perhaps it would be best if…"

"They were all there when it was discovered," Sirius interrupted. "We were hosting a dinner party for family and friends when our house-elf popped up and said he'd found something suspicious in the cellar. We realised what it was at once, of course, and rather blurted it out in front of everyone. Naturally, they all wanted to come along to see it dealt with."

"There will be no Obliviations, Albus, so get that idea out of your head," Amelia Bones said in a firm voice. "Everyone present has proved they are trustworthy, and I'll not have you playing god with peoples' lives."

"I don't think you realise the seriousness of this, Amelia," Dumbledore began.

"And I don't think that you realise that you have no say in the matter," Amelia snapped. "If I get the slightest hint that you've disobeyed my direct instructions you'll be spending some quality time in Azkaban, and I'm pretty sure we've figured out how to prevent Phoenixes entering the place, too."

"As you wish, my dear," Dumbledore conceded. "I just hope that this doesn't come back to haunt us. I would like to know, however, why we have come here to destroy it? Back at Hogwarts we have a proved method of destroying a Horcrux: a fang from a basilisk."

"Which someone has to physically stick into the bloody thing," Harry pointed out. "Trust me, Headmaster, I know how risky that can be."

"I suppose, and I concede that dragon fire should be a fool proof means of destroying one, too," the old man acknowledged.

"So why is he moaning about it then?" Ginny muttered quietly. Harry just smirked at her.

"Right, well, we're going to Levitate the locket out into the dragon enclosure and then Charlie is going to cast an illusion of a rival dragon over it. The lovely Tabitha should then take care of this little problem for us," Sirius explained.

Dumbledore merely nodded and everyone gathered at the edge of the enclosure to watch the events unfold. Things went exactly as they had done before, save this time Harry wasn't crippled with pain. Ginny smiled as her boyfriend casually draped his arms around her, unaffected by whatever desperate attempts the last Horcrux was making to protect itself.

"Here we go! Tabitha's about to breathe fire at the illusion," Charlie announced.

A split second later, the illusionary dragon, and the locket beneath it, was engulfed in a jet of flame. If anything, it was even more impressive than the last time they witnessed it. Tabitha's eggs had hatched and she now had a clutch of baby dragons to defend, resulting in her bathing her apparent foe in a sea of fire. By the time the dragon had finished, the whole area was scorched black and what little plant life had been present was completely eradicated.

"Well, that was a sight to behold," Dumbledore commented.

"Yes, it's an incredible thing to…" Charlie began, but then suddenly paused and looked around him. "What's that noise?"

The group went quiet. Ginny began to notice a strange wailing noise, sounding like it was coming from far away. The noise was getting louder, however, as if whatever was making the sound was getting closer. Harry removed his arms from around her and drew his wand.

"What the…" Sirius started to say, but was interrupted by a scream so terrible it caused all present to cover their ears.

Ginny fell to her knees, her hands pressed to the side of her head in a desperate attempt to block out the dreadful noise. She could feel the ground beneath her vibrating and she felt like she was going to be sick. Then, as suddenly as the screaming had started, it stopped. She warily climbed to her feet, when Hermione's shocked voice caused her to look up.

"Oh, my god!" Hermione cried, fear evident in her voice. Ginny turned to look in the direction her friend was facing and her blood ran cold. There, standing only a few yards away, was Voldemort.

"You foul, worthless wretches," the snake-faced monster spat. "I will rend the flesh from your bones."

Harry roughly pushed Ginny behind him and pointed his wand at the Dark wizard standing before him.

"Nobody interfere," he called decisively. "It's got to be this way: me and him."

Ginny gaped at Voldemort, trying to fathom how he could possibly be here. Had Dumbledore been right? Had they needed to ensure that Voldemort was in corporeal form when they destroyed the last Horcrux? How did the Dark Lord manage to suddenly appear here? Her brain raced as she watched her hated nemesis float towards the man she loved, intent on killing him. Would Harry be able to… wait a minute! Floating?

"Harry," Ginny began, finally understanding what was happening.

"No, I mean it, stay back, Ginny," Harry yelled, his wand still held out purposely before him.

"You cannot defeat him, Harry," Dumbledore called out, hurrying forward. "It is not the time!"

"Harry…" Ginny tried again.

"You're not facing him alone, Harry," Sirius bellowed, leaping to Harry's side with his wand drawn. Eva instantly rushed to stand defiantly by her husband's side.

"You vile, filthy creatures," Voldemort cursed. "You hideous traitors to the purity of the Wizarding World. I will make you all beg for death a thousand times!"

"Harry…" Ginny yelled insistently.

"We're all with you, Harry," Bill cried. The others all yelled their support and suddenly there were a dozen wands pointed at Voldemort. Ginny sighed in frustration.

"Oh, buggering hell," she spat and stomped forward.

"Ginny!" Harry yelled in dismay and tried to grab her arm. She evaded him and marched forward.

"You dirty, blood-traitor," Voldemort raged at her. "I will make Potter watch as I rip your still-beating heart from your chest and crush it between my fingers."

Ginny walked purposely up to Voldemort and stopped just a few inches away from him. She swung her arm as if she was going to slap the evil wizard in the face. Her hand, however, passed straight through him with no visible effect. Ginny shivered at the cold sensation.

"What the f…" Sirius gasped.

"He's a ghost," Ginny said, turning to face them all. "You can relax now, Voldemort has absolutely no power to harm you anymore."

"I don't understand," Dumbledore gasped.

"I'm afraid we haven't been very honest with you, Professor," Ginny admitted to the old man. "You see, this wasn't the first Horcrux we brought here to destroy. Last summer we had Tabitha the wonder dragon melt Marvolo Gaunt's ring, Helga Hufflepuff's cup and Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem. The locket was the fourth Horcrux we destroyed here.

"Of course, Tom's diary was destroyed in my second year, Nagini was killed in the Ministry of Magic last year and the Soul Bonding Ritual I did with Ginny took care of the one in me," Harry added, still sounding a bit shaken.

"But then…" Dumbledore stammered.

"Voldemort is finished," Ginny confirmed. "The last anchors his remaining soul part had were destroyed and, as he didn't currently have a body for it to be housed in, had no choice but to pass from this real of existence. Clearly, Riddle didn't have the balls to face whatever comes next and chose to remain here as a ghost. That wasn't something we were expecting, but it hardly matters. He has no more power than The Fat Friar or Moaning Myrtle now. He can spend the rest of his days howling to the wind, unless he grows a pair and chooses to move on."

"But you don't understand! By doing this you have doomed Voldemort's mortal soul to an eternity of pain! Without some form of redemption, his splintered soul will be cursed forever," Dumbledore said in horror.

"That was it? The reason you wanted Voldemort to gain human form? Just so his soul had a chance of redemption in the next life?" Ginny spat angrily.

"Condemning someone's soul to eternal suffering, even someone as evil as Voldemort, is a terrible thing, Miss Weasley, and an act I will not be party to," Dumbledore replied heatedly.

"And what about the people that would have been killed or tortured if Voldemort had returned?" Harry yelled. "What about them? It was that bastard's choice to cut his soul into pieces. He knew the risks and has to pay the price!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, boy," the old wizard growled. "Yes, innocents may have suffered as a result of his return, but their pain and suffering would be temporary and they would have found release in the next life. Tom Riddle now has no such option, and his sundered soul will live in agony forever."

"Then that seems a fitting punishment," Amelia Bones announced, stepping forward. "What gave you the right to decide what should happen to Voldemort? What right had you to calmly decide that innocents must be sacrificed just so a man who voluntarily vandalised his own soul had a chance of redemption? In short, Albus Dumbledore, who made you god?"

"Clearly, no one else understands the implications of this," Dumbledore said gravely. "Therefore, I had no choice other than to make hard and at times unpleasant choices. I maintain I was right and what happened here is a tragedy."

"Maybe, but I for one realise the necessity of it," Bones replied in a cold, hard voice. "It's become clear to me that your judgement has become suspect, Dumbledore. I dread to think what could have happened if these fine people here had not chosen to ignore you and fight the Dark Lord in their own way. I stand behind them one hundred per cent, and totally endorse what happened here today. Moreover, I believe your influence could have resulted in untold loss of life and suffering. You were once a good and great man, Albus, but I can no longer trust you."

"Amelia, I…" he began.

"No! I will not listen to your honeyed words and feeble excuses. Your time is finished, Dumbledore. Yesterday, a secret vote was taken by the Wizengamot and it was overwhelmingly agreed that you should be removed as Chief Warlock. In addition, I am hereby terminating your position as Headmaster of Hogwarts. I have already spoken to Professor McGonagall and she has agreed to replace you as Headmistress. Trust me, once I reveal just how badly standards have dipped at the school under your leadership, there will be no complaints at your removal. Finally, I am withdrawing the British Ministry's sanction for your position as Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. I'm sure I don't have to remind you, without your own country's approval, you cannot remain in that position. If you have any sense, you will announce your retirement now and spare us all the bitter fallout this is all likely to cause. Trust me, Dumbledore, if you don't go willingly, I know enough to blacken your name forever," Bones told him sternly.

Dumbledore looked at her with a sorrowful expression on his face.

"Has it really come to this, Amelia?" he asked. "After all that I have done, all that I have suffered, I'm to be cast out like a beggar?"

"You have the choice to walk away now with your dignity, not to mention a respectable pension, intact. Frankly, I think that's more then you deserve," the intimidating witch replied.

"I agree," Harry said angrily. "You made my life hell, Dumbledore, and you were happy to set me up as your unwitting sacrifice. If you don't retire like Amelia suggests, so help me, I'll go to every newspaper I can find and tell them all your dirty little secrets."

"Oh, we could do a special edition of The Quibbler," Luna announced happily. "Perhaps we could give away free a 'Dumbledore is a lying git' poster with ever copy!"

"Great idea, Luna," Ginny chuckled.

Dumbledore nodded his head in a defeated manner.

"I know my mistakes have been numerous and no one regrets the pain you have suffered more than I, Harry," he acknowledged. "Perhaps it is time for me to fade into the background. Heaven knows, nothing I have done in the last few years has been correct, and I do feel my advancing years. Perhaps Elphias and I can finally take that world tour we planned so very long ago. That would be most pleasant."

"A wise decision, Albus," Amelia agreed. "We do, after all, have a new generation to take care of things now, and from the little I have seen so far, I think we're in good hands."

Ginny walked over to Harry and slipped her hand into his. He turned and gave her a smile of pure, unrestrained happiness.

"It's over, Ginny," Harry said warmly. "We're free to do whatever we want."

"Nah, it's not over," she said smiling. "Our lives have only just begun."

EPILOGE – SIX YEARS LATER

Ginny stopped to wipe the sweat from her brow. The dense Indonesian jungle was hot and humid, and they'd been walking for over an hour now.

Their guide was becoming more agitated with each passing minute. His eyes swivelled in their sockets as he peered nervously around him.

"He's going to leg it any minute," Harry whispered into her ear.

She turned and looked at her husband with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah, but we should be near enough to the temple that it doesn't matter. He'd just be in the way if he sticks around, anyway," she pointed out.

"Very true," Harry agreed, offering her a drink of water from his canteen.

She watched him as she drank. The last few years had been very kind to Harry, and he now possessed the kind of body most women would kill to get their hands on. He was tall, lean and muscular, and his sweat soaked clothes were doing very little to hide his physique. His jet-black hair, current shoulder-length, and his startling green eyes all had the power to reduce the coldest females to gibbering wrecks. Playfully, she let the fingers of her left hand caress his sinewy thigh. He grinned at her.

"Feeling playful, are we?" he challenged.

"Well, we haven't had any fun since that hotel back in Jakarta, and if our flighty guide decides to bugger off…" she hinted tantalisingly.

"Actually, I think he already has," Harry noted looking around him.

Ginny turned around in surprise. She hadn't even heard the little runt go. Still, no great loss, they'd only hired him at the last village because he claimed to know an easy route to the ruined temple.

Sighing, Harry pulled out a worn-looking map from his pocket and studied it.

"I think we're pretty close, actually. If I'm not mistaken, I can hear running water up ahead and I think that's the last river we have to cross. From there, we should be able to see the ruins and hopefully we'll find out if this Dark wizard actually exists or not," he commented.

"Oh, I'm sure he exists," she grunted. "Although I expect he's some tin-pot little magician who just gets his jollies terrorising the locals with his half-baked spells. They always are."

"What about that bloke in Mongolia?" Harry objected. "He was a bloody handful."

"You always bring up Mongolia," Ginny huffed. "Okay, I admit I underestimated that wanker, but you must admit the rewards outweighed the risk."

"Maybe," Harry replied doubtfully.

It was an old argument. In the four years they had been traveling the world, they had rarely encountered anyone with a fraction of the magical power that either of them possessed. But hunting Dark wizards was only a small part of what they did, although they weren't averse to taking the odd commission to do so. Their main employment came from the goblins who frequently requested them to seek out lost artefacts or find lost treasure hordes. For the bigger jobs, Bill and Fleur often accompanied them and, on occasions where her knowledge of magical creatures was required, Luna. They often worked alone, though, which, if Ginny was honest, was what she preferred. Much more opportunity for fun!

"Well, we should have four or five hours of daylight left," Harry noted. "Hopefully, we can wrap this job up today."

"Good. I vote we then take a couple of weeks off. We've been busy lately and I could do with a rest," she decided.

"Sounds good," he agreed. "Where do you want to go?"

"Morocco," Ginny said decisively. "We haven't spent any time in the house there since we bought it. That beautiful pool is calling to me, plus, I really fancy some Moroccan food right now."

"Morocco it is," he agreed with a grin. "Do you want to invite Luna over for the second week?"

"It depends. Is she still seeing that dippy witch with the horrible dyed hair?" she asked hesitantly.

"Good grief, no!" Harry laughed. "Luna dumped her ages ago. She's seeing some wizard from Italy at the moment, I think."

"Well, as long as she doesn't want to drag this bloke along," Ginny conceded. "She really does have a strange taste in men."

"Tell me about it," Harry smirked mischievously.

Ginny laughed. "Come on, then, stud. Let's polish off whoever this dopy twat is hiding in the ruins. The faster we do that, the sooner I can get laid, have a hot bath and eat a huge plate of kefta."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry agreed. "Come on, love, let's get to work."

She followed her husband down the path towards the river, feeling his excitement at their new adventure growing through their soul bond. She would never have guessed that when, all those years ago, she approached that frustrated young wizard who had just been entered into the Triwizard Tournament against his will, it would have resulted in the wonderful life she led today. Sometimes, she pondered, you just had to take a gamble. And sometimes, those gambles paid off.