I've finally published the first chapter of the next part of the series. Finally! This chapter was so damn hard to write because of the way I left things at the end of Unchosen. I didn't want to rush things but I also didn't want to utterly depress you guys. I hope I found a decent and realistic balance because this chapter kind of sets the tone for the rest of this part of the series, which will also be the last part. I expect it to be shorter than the previous one. I'm thinking 20 chapters but my stories tend to live a life of their own and this one might suddenly decide to be longer than that. I guess we'll see where it takes me.

I still want to thank everyone who's made it this far with Danny and me. I love hearing what you think of it and watch that favourite and alert number go up. Thank you for reading this story. I hope you'll continue to do so until the end of The End.

Chapter 1

"As light and dark collide…"

The whisper seems to come from deeper within the forest. The fog makes it impossible to see anything over three feet away. The woman this voice belongs to, whoever she is, doesn't seem to be anywhere too close to me.

"The second part of a chosen whole determines victory."

"Hello?" I call out to her. "Is anyone there?"

I don't think she heard me for her words aren't an answer to my question. Perhaps I need to get closer.

"The home of the soul returns,"

"Hello?" I repeat, going deeper into the forest where I think she must be.

To my right, I see a dark figure standing amongst the trees. At first glance, I assumed it was another rock but it's moving. It has to be the woman.

"And in exchange for life before the close,"

The figure doesn't move as I run up to her. The woman has her back to me but slowly turns around when I grab her by the shoulder.

"Harry?"

I gasp as the person I thought was the woman from the prophecy turns out to be my brother. He has the blankest expression I've ever seen on his face and stares at me with dead eyes as he opens his mouth and out comes the woman's voice.

"The power to vanquish the Dark Lord shall thrive in his marked equal."

He doesn't respond to me calling his name. Instead he smiles, in a way that belongs on Voldemort's face more than it does on his, and raises his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The green beam of light marks the end of my dream. I scream and gasp as I wake again, not in the Forbidden Forest but in my own bed, tangled up in my sheets. I frantically throw them off me as breath comes in short sobs and I need to remind myself it was just a dream. The same dream I've been having every night, for the past three weeks. But just a dream. It is not a forebode of what's to come. It's not real.

"Danny?" I look up, only now noticing that the door to my bedroom is open and in the doorway stands the object of my nightmares. "You were shouting out my name."

"I-" I choke. "It… it was just a bad dream."

Albeit a repetitive one that drives me insane.

"You have been having a lot of those lately," Harry sounds like he might be frowning at that.

"There are a lot of bad things to dream about."

The supposed prophecy I heard at the end of the school year being the main one.

"Do you need me to-"

"No," I quickly say. No matter what it is he was offering, I don't want it. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" He steps further into my room. "Because yo-"

"Go away!" I snap at him.

The approaching footsteps stop and even though I can't see his expression in the dark, I'm sure it's hurt. I realise he's just trying to help, but I don't want him here.

"Okay," He retreats back to the hallway. "Goodnight, Danny."

He closes the door, trapping me in complete darkness again, alone. I heave a sigh before falling backwards on the bed, shivering now that I've gotten rid of my sheets and the night sweat has dried on my skin, staring at the ceiling I can't see.

This is the 23th time I've had this dream since we left Hogwarts. And every single time it takes me by surprise how alarmingly real it feels. Like I really was just transported from my bed into the Forbidden Forest. As soon as I wake up, I know it's not real. I wasn't there, those words weren't Harry's and he did not try to kill me. But in every dream lies a bit of truth. What this nightmare is trying to tell me is not hard to figure out.

"In exchange for life," I whisper into the dark.

The words those woman spoke three weeks ago have not stopped haunting me, during the night and the day. I know them by heart.

As light and dark collide, the second part of a chosen whole determines victory. The home of the soul returns, and in exchange for life before the close, the power to vanquish the Dark Lord shall thrive in his marked equal.

There are only so many things it can mean and while I'm confused as to what 'the home of the soul returns' and 'the close' means, it is quite clear that I will have to die. It doesn't say why, or how, or when, unless you consider 'before the close' to be specific enough. All I know is that my life has to be forfeited. Whether that means I'll die as a means to motivate Harry to the end, or if I will die saving my brother so that he can finish the quest we started on together, or if I have to die to destroy a Horcrux – we don't really know yet how to destroy them – or if a Death Eater will eventually get his hands on me. My consciousness makes it look so simple. I have to die so that Harry can defeat Voldemort and in my nightmare it is him that fires the spell to kill me. He would not hurt me but knowing he could be the reason I have to die, makes me so angry at him. I haven't been able to look him in the eye since we've returned from Hogwarts. How do you look at someone who you know will be the end of you?

It might also all not be true. The woman in the pensieve's memory is someone I've never met before so there's no proof whatsoever that she's a reliable source. She might not even be a real Seer, she could just have been making all that stuff up. Of course there is the fact that Dumbledore himself confirmed my suspicions about what that prophecy meant. Though it wasn't really Dumbledore, just a painting. What does paint know about my destiny?

But if the whole thing is some elaborate hoax – which I desperately hope it to be – why would Dumbledore, the real one when he was still alive, steer me in the direction of that memory, claiming that it contained the answer to what my role in this tale would be. Somehow this wasn't really what I had in mind. Yes, I wanted to save Harry, and I may at some point have claimed to do it at any cost, but maybe this is a price that even I'm not willing to pay.

I wish there's someone who could explain the entire thing to me, reassure me that 'in exchange for life' doesn't mean I have to die. That perhaps it simply means that my life will just be have to put on hold while we try to defeat the darkest wizard alive. I was planning on having to do that anyway so that doesn't change much. But if it means what I'm afraid it means…

Every time I convince myself that the woman's wrong, Dumbledore's wrong, I'm wrong and this isn't exactly what it sounds like, I remember the expression on the late Headmaster's face when we discussed the vial the first time. While his painted image wore a very close resemblance to the look during the last day at Hogwarts, the fact that the very alive, very knowledgeable Albus Dumbledore had, in hindsight, looked like he was asking an impossibly painful thing from me leaves very little doubt in my mind that no matter how much I pretend it isn't so, my life really does have to end.

And that scares me. Wouldn't that scare anyone? As much as I've always claimed to be willing to sacrifice my life for my brother, it's another thing entirely knowing for a certainty that's what you have to do. And I'm not sure I can do it.

Most nights I can't fall asleep after the nightmare but lately, more often than not, I do somehow wake up a couple hours later. I'm sure it should be blamed on the worryingly small amount of sleep I've been having these past few weeks but I'm just glad to slip into a dreamless sleep once in a while.

At least today there's something to look forward to for a change – all we've done since leaving Hogwarts is staying inside the house while our parents are off doing their duties for the Order of the Phoenix now that they too have lost their leader and I've been trying to keep my distance from my brother in the close proximity we are limited to now – because today is uncle Remus' wedding day.

After Tonks pretty much screamed out her undying love for him at the Hospital Wing, everything just switched into high gear. He put his issues about his age, his wealth, his lycanthropy behind him and even though it required a lot of pressuring from both Tonks and my mother, he asked her to marry him. That was last week and they've somehow managed to throw together a small wedding in such a short period of time. It will just be the bride and groom of course, and their families. Uncle Remus' parents passed away many years ago but my parents, Harry and I are just as much family so that makes it a wedding party of six guests. It will be very small and intimate, a stark contrast to the Weasley-Delacour wedding we'll be attending a week later.

I'm happy for Remus, I really am but happiness has been a bit of a foreign concept to me these days. I can't actually feel happy, knowing that this happiness, and everything else I can feel, is limited by how much time I have left. I feel like I have a terminal disease and am just counting the days I have left instead of making them count.

Knowing I won't fall back asleep after the nightmare, especially since I already had three hours of sleep yesterday, I get up and tiptoe downstairs. I don't know what to do with all this free time on my hands lately. I've read every book I've ever wanted to read this summer but even that can only distract me from what always occupies my mind so long. About ten days into the holidays, after having cried and screamed and begged not to die – all quietly in my own head – I thought that I should have a bucket list. That's what people do when they realise life eventually comes to an end and don't want to be left with regrets. So that's what I did, in an uncharacteristic acceptance of defeat. I grabbed quill and ink and wrote down Danny Potter's bucket list. It started with me summing up all the books I had bought but never got to reading. I figured I'd start small. I mulled it over for a while and then wrote down turning seventeen. That's a very significant age for any wizard or witch, even when they do still have an entire lifetime after it. It marks the start of adulthood and in a couple of days I'll be a child no more. That used to be a thing I looked forward to, to be a grown-up. Now I'd give anything to not age and be someone who can depend on her parents to fix her issues. But I fear this isn't something they can take off my shoulders. I can barely accept myself what Dumbledore is telling me to do from the grave, there's no way I can tell my parents that their only daughter is walking into her own grave by following their son.

So the next point on my bucket list won't be a hard one… I hope. I'll get to cross it off in a couple of days, I'm sure I can make it a couple more days. After some hesitation I also added turning eighteen to the list. I'd like to add nineteen and twenty and twenty-five and so old I can barely get out of my bed without breaking anything anymore but I guess in my case that would be greedy. If I could just turn eighteen, that'd be good. I'd really like another year.

I haven't really added anything else after that. I think defeating Voldemort is something that should definitely belong on a bucket list. Perhaps not mine though, because I know where that would leave me. As I've thought about other things I'd like to do before the end, I realise all my goals are long-term and that's exactly what I can't have anymore. If there was more time, and unfortunately I know there isn't, I guess I would add the following.

Graduate Hogwarts

Become a Magizoölogist (despite me loving Potions, since neither of them is an option anymore I guess I can admit to myself that I do prefer Magical Creatures over Potion Ingredients, career-wise)

Have my own place

Fall in love again

Fall out of love first, or make Cedric love me again. Either is good… but much preferably the latter

Make amends

Create a family of my own

Then I realised it's stupid to fantasize about things I know I can't have anymore and I tossed the bucket list into the bin.

I should spend my time thinking about the things I can have, what I can be. I'll never be anyone's wife or boss or mother but I can be that brave Gryffindor girl who died for the cause or the most amazing sister in the world who gave her life for her brother. Those are pretty heroic names to go by but compared to accomplishing all the things on my sincere bucket list, it's just nowhere near enough.

That makes me angry, not being able to have things I took for granted that I'd eventually have one day. Isn't it ironic that I wasted last year fighting and cutting Cedric out of my life for making plans for the future while that should have been a mute point since I don't even have a future to fight about. It's so funny it makes me want to punch a hole in the wall. That might alert my family that there's something wrong though.

I couldn't tell them. I can't even say it out loud, let alone to them. Perhaps they wouldn't believe it, or maybe they would and try to persuade me not to get involved in this war as a measure to keep me safe. I wish I could let them do that but I can't. Wouldn't it be the most selfish thing I ever did, not dying when I know it would mean victory on Harry's end? That the world could escape it's dark demise if only one girl can put millions of lives before hers? Besides, letting my family stop me means letting them know what Dumbledore told me. I don't think I can do that. How do you tell the people who love you that you're going to die? Maybe I just want to spare them the agony of knowing what's coming, take away a small part, however small, of the pain my death would cause them. I guess I can do that much for them.

I'm sure they've noticed my awful, solemn attitude these past few weeks but I assume they're blaming it on the massive blow we suffered through the loss of Dumbledore like it is for all of them. Harry's been very moody and depressed as well. It has not been a good couple of weeks at the Potter household. Then again, I'm certain it's the same for many wizarding families these days. I wouldn't know. I haven't really kept in touch with anyone. Wayne has written me a letter, telling me about his summer and how his family feels so very unsafe. I suppose we all do these days. Noah wrote to me, as did Charlotte, asking me if I could spend a couple of days in France during the summer. I told them I couldn't, and that was hard. Though the war requires me to be here right now, I'm fully aware this might mean I'll never see them again. Until the war is done, I can't travel safely to France and once the war is done, I'll be gone. I would love to see them again before that but perhaps I'd just burst into tears if I do. I've always been terrible at keeping things from Noah, regardless of whatever distance between us.

I've received one other letter. Three days ago an owl I didn't know landed on my windowsill and wouldn't leave until I had petted it multiple times and declared it the most beautiful owl I had ever seen. It wasn't that hard to realise the owl belonged to Blaise Zabini. The note he send me – it really wasn't long enough to deserve the status of letter – contained only one sentence.

At least you're a woman of your word, Potter.

That's the closest I'll ever get to a thank you from the guy. Coming from him, that was massive praise. I hadn't actually expected to hear from him again after I send him the documents back. I didn't feel good about going behind my dad's back about it but I did give Zabini my word, no matter what it was he'd ask of me. And since my dad has done most of his work at home now that the ministry has become a place for crazy people under Rufus Scrimgeour, it was actually surprisingly easy to get my hands on his seal. So easy, I was afraid an alarm would go off as soon as I touched it. It didn't and to this day my dad has no idea I forged his approval. Let's hope he'll never find out.

Even though I already had more than enough sleep for one night – by the adjusted standards of this particular summer – I do somehow fall asleep asking myself where Zabini is right now and whether or not I should be doing the same thing and flee from England and leave this entire mess behind for someone else to figure out.

"Danny?" I wake again to someone softly shaking me awake.

Perhaps it is best to wake up now, it wouldn't do well to have a new nightmare on the living room couch. I rub my eyes before opening and looking up at my mother.

"What are you doing, sleeping on the couch?" She frowns.

"I couldn't sleep," I tell her as I sit up, stretching my arms over my head.

"I can see that," She smiles softly.

"Guess I was more tired than I thought. What time is it?"

"Still pretty early. I was going to make breakfast before waking you guys. We don't have to be at Andromeda and Ted's place for another three hours."

"Need some help?"

"That would be nice, yes."

So I help my mother prepare breakfast before she goes upstairs to wake my dad and my brother. By the time they get downstairs, my father is giddy like a high school boy over his best friend's wedding day. Despite my opposite mood because of obvious reasons, I can't help but let his excitement rub off on me. By the time I have to get ready for the wedding, I'm actually kind of looking forward to is.

My dad, Marauder till the day he dies, thought it would be a great idea if we showed up in gold and red outfits as a tribute to ours and Remus' House, as well as a possible slight to the fact that Tonks herself was a Hufflepuff at Hogwarts. It's silly but I think uncle Remus will appreciate it. My mom went along with it, probably just happy to see dad excited about something again.

We agreed that me and my mom would wear gold, seeing as her hair would clash horribly with red, leaving my dad and Harry to dress up in ridiculously red formal robes that I think might have been designed by George and Fred Weasley.

As I get into my soft golden strapless dress with a sash around the middle, and look for my black pumps that could be anywhere, I hear a sigh come from the doorway.

"What?" I frown as I see the dejected look on my father's face.

"You don't look like a girl at all," He sighs.

What? I glance down at my own look. I'm wearing a dress for goodness sake, high heels as soon as I can locate them and my curly black hair has grown way past my shoulders. How do I not look like a girl?

"He meant you look very grown up, dear," My mother explains when she sees my confusion.

"Too fast," He mutters under his breath when he turns around to go downstairs. "Growing up too damn fast."

"This might be a good time to warn you that your father tends to get a bit emotional and nostalgic during weddings," Mom smirks. "I'd prepare myself for a 'my little girl' speech sometime during the day if I were you."

Great, just what I need. My dad getting all teary eyed about the fact that I'm getting older while I know I'm not going to get much older than this.

"Are you ready?" My mother prevents my mind from going down some pretty dark roads.

"I just need my shoes, I'll be right down."

I eventually find them buried underneath my bed – no idea how they even got there, then again I've had some angry destructive fits since I returned home – and go downstairs to apparate to the Tonks' house with the rest of my family. Me and Harry aren't seventeen yet so we couldn't participate in the apparition examination at Hogwarts last year, not that we could have succeeded if we did. I think we both had too much on our minds last year to actually set our minds on being able to apparate. That's why now we're forced to side-apparate with our parents which is not a pleasant experience.

We arrive far removed from the actual house but these days everyone has strongly repellent wards. You're stupid if you don't. So we have to walk a fair bit before actually arriving.

"Who is it?" Uncle Remus voice comes from the other side of the oak door after my dad knocked.

"It's your best man, Moony," My dad smiles even though the groom can't see it through the wood.

"What was the first thing you said to me?"

"Jeezus, Moony, who the hell remembers that?"

"Prongs?"

"Fine. I said you looked like coming up the flight of stairs killed you or at the very least should have."

"James!" Lily gently slaps my dad as a scolding.

Terrifying as it is that we apparently now have to ask personal questions before opening the door, it can teach you a few new things no one dared answer before. But that's pretty much the only perk.

It seems to be the right answer because Remus turns the lock and lets us in. As soon as he gets a good look at us, he bursts out laughing. We must look pretty ridiculous. Nonetheless it's kind of nice to see him laugh like that. For a man about to marry the woman he loves, he's been very gloomy this past week. I don't think Tonks is to blame for that though.

"This has Prongs written all over it," He smiles as he lets us get inside.

"Well, it's not like we objected either, Remus," My mom says.

"Harry looks like he objected," He glances at Harry who does look mighty uncomfortable in his bright red dress robes. "You all look great. Come on in."

The first one to greet us as we walk into the very spacious living area is an older man I'm assuming is Ted Tonks, Nymphadora's dad. Unless her mom is extraordinarily manly. But I'm assuming the mother is off somewhere helping her daughter get ready for her wedding day. That's what mothers do then, right?

"Good to see you again, James, Lily," He shakes my parents' hands before doing the same to me and my brother. "Nice to finally meet you, Harry, Danny. Your parents never shut about you, neither does this one by the way."

Remus doesn't even pretend he never gushes about us. Just urges the entire family plus Ted to the backyard where the ceremony will be held. A wizard in long black dress robes seems to have made all the preparations for the wedding. It's a quick and quiet affair. Tonks walks downstairs, her dad doesn't walk her down the aisle because there isn't an aisle to walk down to. She's wearing a very simple white dress that makes her purple hair stand out even more than it normally does. But what makes her so very radiant is the smile that she wears the entire time and that ridiculous look of happiness she directs at her husband-to-be. And even though Remus will always be a more subdued person that his bride, the look that is reflected in his eyes is quite similar to hers.

The world's a pretty shitty place with the war and the fact that Remus forcibly changes into a werewolf every full moon and that ridiculous new werewolf legislation law the Ministry past two weeks ago (another big reason for this being a quiet affair) but in just this moment it seems that both of them have forgotten it. I'm pretty sure they don't even realise there are other people present but I guess that's kind of what your wedding day is supposed to be like. I guess it's nice getting to share it with friends and family but what actually matters is that you and the person you love more than anything are bonding yourselves to each other because you can't imagine doing anything else.

This is supposed to be a happy moment. It is one and I want to be happy for my uncle who's had a pretty rough life and probably knows more about loss and grief than I do but I'm suddenly overcome with such an acute heartache that I can't possibly be glad for him in this moment. Because I want this moment. Not now of course but someday. Merlin, I really want that. I suppose I hadn't really given much thought to the possibility as I'm still only a teenager but knowing that I can't ever have that, makes me desire it so badly. I want to walk down the aisle – a proper aisle, not the flower beds in this dried out garden – and look at someone they way Tonks look at Remus. I want to forget that there are other people present. I want someone to look at me the way Remus looks at Tonks. I want to be old enough to marry someone, without it being oddly young. I want to say 'I do' in front of my family and friends. I want all of that. I want the chance to have it. I want the chance to mess it up. I want the chance to fix it. I want-

"Danny?"

I turn to Harry sitting on my right and it is only when I look at him that I realise he looks all blurry because tears had been welling up in my eyes and are now freely rolling down my cheeks. I can't even control it at this point. I'm sure Harry noticed, if the handkerchief he's holding out to me is any indication.

"I-," I hiccup as I gratefully take the handkerchief from his hand. "I'm just… very happy for them. Very happy."

That's not even the biggest lie I told today. But it is a lie. It should be the truth but instead of experiencing joy over someone I love very dearly having found what most people would do anything for, I am inconsolable over that fact that I'll never be in their shoes. That I'll be robbed of that opportunity because there's just no time. Not for me.

"I had no idea you loved weddings so much," Harry smiles weakly, looking uncomfortable in a way that has nothing to do with dad's unfortunate obligatory dress code. I don't know if he looks like that because he doesn't believe my words or if a crying girl just naturally makes him this awkward.

"Yeah," I sniffle. "I love weddings."

And so the list of things I'll never have, keeps on growing.