The final three chapter installment of this tragic tale.

Temporary Home

The library was quiet as usual, with Madam Pince roaming the shelves constantly shushing the students in order to maintain that silence. Harry set at a secluded table in the back corner of the room with his face buried in a Defense Against the Dark Arts book. On the table in front of him was proof that he'd been there for a while, a sixteen inch long essay for Advance Transfiguration and a 12 inch long one for Advance Charms both lay there complete, as well as the start of the eighteen inch one due for Potions; he was waiting for Draco's arrival in order to complete that particular paper, unfortunately the Malfoy was still in his Arithmancy class at the moment.

It was nearing the two week mark since Harry had returned to Hogwarts and he was weighted down with back assignments from his long absence. Fortunately he and Draco had almost all their classes together so he, along with the help of Hermione and even Ron, had managed to get Harry caught up. Harry was glad for the extra help, being their seventh and final year all the classes were harder in order to get them ready for their NEWTS at the end of term. They had feared that Harry would never be able to catch up and would have to repeat the year, but Hermione had planned ahead for this and with her rigorous work schedule it had only taken a week of late nights and a weekend barricaded in the library to get him caught up. Now all he had to do was remain caught up. Not too hard a feat considering his schedule had a lot of free periods due to him dropping a class or two. Most of his free periods he shared with at least one of the others and was spent getting assignments done so as not to put them off until the last minute, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays he had a free period without anyone because both Hermione and Draco had Arithmancy and Ron had remedial Transfigurations with McGonagall. Harry usually spent the time as he was now: adding finishing touches to assignments and studying DADA since they had no teacher for the course that year.

Harry looked up from his book when he heard footsteps approaching his secluded table, he smiled when he saw Draco heading towards him; apparently classes were over. Harry had an additional free period and Draco was the only one who had it with him. This time was going to go to finishing the Potion's essay of course, but Harry still liked the one on one time with his love. It was a rare treat. True, Harry and Draco had been nearly inseparable since their return to Hogwarts, but they rarely had a moment alone. They were always with Ron or Hermione or some other student. Draco was Head Boy and had duties that took some of his time away from Harry. They were just getting into the swing of things and were still forming patterns so they didn't know when exactly they would be able to have their "secret" meetings again.

Draco gave Harry a quick peck on the lips as he took his seat at the table and pulling out his potions stuff. Without any hesitation the boys got to work.

::-::-::-::

"Harry we need to talk to you," Hermione said as she and Ron took seats across from Harry and Draco at the library table; Ginny was already seated in the chair on the other side of her.

"Actually I wanted to discuss something, too," Harry said, putting his quill down next to his now complete Charms assignment. It was Monday after lunch and the one period that all five of them had together. "I was considering restarting the DA," he said, the looks on Hermione's and Ron's faces were pure shock. "I mean, there's no Defense teacher this year and that's not exactly good. If Hogwarts is really going to be a fighting ground in the upcoming battle then the students need to know how to defend themselves. I don't really worry much about the older students, they've had at least one proper teacher, but a lot of the younger ones haven't and even the older ones can use more help."

Hermione and Ron continued to look at him in shock. "You guys don't have to be a part of it you don't want to," Harry said, "Draco already agreed to help, so if you're too busy…"

Suddenly Ron broke out laughing. "Actually mate, that's exactly what we came to talk to you about. We thought we would have a hard time convincing you, but that was easy."

Hermione smiled. "OK, let's work out how we're going to do this…"

::-::-::-::

Harry's third weak back at Hogwarts was drawing to an end, and everything was going great. He was doing well in classes, he practically lived with Draco in the Head Boy's dorm, they had the first DA meeting to be the next day, and there was no news about the war and as the Muggle saying goes 'no news is good news'. Things couldn't get better. Harry was happy and the people around him were happy and Draco was with him and they were happy. It was great.

It was Friday night and Draco had joined them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for dinner. Harry was rather enthusiastically eating his pudding and was getting it all over his face. Just as he was going in for another bite a pale hand pushed the dish away from him. "I think you've had enough, Harry." Draco stated.

Harry glared at him. "I was still eating that."

"Eating it, or using it for a facial?" The blond asked, taking a napkin and using it to wipe some of the food from Harry's face. Harry turned bright red. He mumbled a thank you and turned back to his food embarrassed.

Silence surrounded the two of them after that, until, "That's it, I can't take anymore of this, when's the wedding already?" Dean Thomas laughed.

If possible Harry turned an even deeper shade of scarlet as he looked up at his year mate. "What?"

"Oh come off it Potter," Seamus Finnegan said, "You two already practically live together and bicker like a married couple; when are you going to make it official and put a ring on it?"

Harry was speechless.

Draco sighed. "I had planned to properly propose to Harry at the end of the term, but seeing as you two are classless clowns I guess I have no choice but to do it now." Draco stood and knelt down on the ground turning the full force of his molten silver eyes on to the boy sitting in shock at the table; silence completely overtook the Great Hall like a wave crashing down around them. "Harry James Potter, I love you and I don't know why, but I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me? I have a ring but I left it up in my room seeing as how I wasn't planning on doing it like this."

Harry was doing a very good impression of a fish, but before he could find the words to reply a loud CRACK reverberated though the silent Hall. Draco was instantly on his feet, wand drawn, and standing protectively in front of Harry. Harry's shock dissipated in a second and he was also on his feet with his wand drawn, eyes fixed on the person who had just apparated into through Hogwarts' barriers and into the Great Hall.

"Harry Potter, sir," Dobby the house elf called out, running towards the two seventh years, carrying what looked to be a swaddling of cloth. "Harry Potter sir," he called again as he got closer Harry realized just what it was the house elf was carrying. His wand fell to the ground and he ran to Dobby.

"What happened?" he asked, kneeling before the elf and taking the baby he was carrying wrapped securely in blankets. "Is he hurt, where is Lily?" He pulled back the blankets and looked over his son. Ian was awake, his large green eyes staring at his father as the man examined every inch of the baby making sure he was unharmed; Harry sighed when he realized the baby was all in one piece. He held the small person close to him, kissing him on top of his bright red hair. "Where's Lily?" He asked again.

Draco had come and stood next to him by name, also looking over the child for harm, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron stood not to far away, the entire Great Hall was watching the scene.

"Mistress Lily called Dobby sir," the house elf said, "Bad people, Death Eaters, had come to the house and was banging on the door. Mistress Lily told Dobby to take Ian Potter, sir; somewhere he would be safe."

"And you brought him here?" Draco growled. "We told you what to do if something happened to Lily."

Dobby tennis ball sized eyes widened even further. "Dobby knows sir, but Mistress Lily said to take Ian Potter, sir somewhere he would be safe. He wouldn't have been safe in the house with those horrible Muggles. Dobby is sorry for not following orders, Dobby will punish himself now."

The house elf made a run the Gryffindor table and grabbed a knife. "No," Harry yelled, "Dobby, I forbid you to punish yourself. You didn't do anything wrong, you did what you thought was best for Ian. But do you know what happened to Lily?"

Before Dobby could reply, a silver streak ran into the Great Hall and stopped at Harry's feet, it was a fox shaped Patronus, Lily's. The fox opened its mouth and Lily's musical voice came out of it, "Harry, bad news. Death Eaters came to the house, I told Dobby to take Ian. I'm ok, but I don't know what the elf did with your son, hopefully he followed the orders given to him, but you never know with these freed elves. Anyway I'll be arriving at Hogwarts tomorrow, tell Dumbledore to be expecting me." Message complete, the Patronus vanished.

Harry released the breath he hadn't known he was holding and would have collapsed from his relief if Draco hadn't been there to hold him stable. "She's ok," Harry said in an airy relieved tone. "My son is ok and Lily is ok." He continued looking down at the baby in his arms.

"Harry," Hermione said softly.

Harry looked up at his friend, tears in his emerald eyes. "I- I'd thought the worst." His voice shook, "Dobby wasn't supposed to come here unless one of them was dead. He was supposed to take Ian to the Dursley's if anything was happened to Lily. He was only supposed to come here to tell me if Lily or- he was only supposed to come to tell me if Lily was dead, or if my son was dead. When I saw him holding- I thought my baby was dead, I thought he was dead." Harry was sobbing, holding on to Ian for all dear life; he'd been terrified that the worst possible thing had happened.

"Hush, hush Harry," Draco whispered, "Its ok, let's go somewhere private. Hush, hush stop those tears." Draco wrapped an arm around Harry and began leading him towards the door of the Great Hall. The students and teachers all stared at them as they made their way. Harry stopped before they left the hall.

"Draco," he called out to his boyfriend, "the answer is yes. I will marry you."

The Great Hall exploded into applause as the doors swung closed behind them.

::-::-::-::

Harry woke to a sound he hadn't heard in just over three weeks, and surprisingly the baby cries didn't bother him at all. Most of the previous night had been spent in the Headmaster's office getting things sorted out. It had been decided that Harry would officially move into the Head Boy's room with Draco and Ian would stay with them there. During the day, when the two of them had classes, the baby would be watched by various members of the staff and Tonks, who had also insisted on being put on baby duty (practice for when she and Lupin had their first child). It was up to Harry as to rather he wanted to bring Ian to meals in the Great Hall or eat privately in his and Draco's rooms. When Lily arrived she would be assigned primary caretaker for Ian when the rest of the staff was unavailable; she would also be employed as Madam Pomfrey's aide in the Hospital Wing.

Harry rolled out of the bed and made his way over to the ornate crib that McGonagall had transfigured for them, and pick up his son. "Good morning little fire ball," he said to the child. "Let's get you out of here, before you wake up your soon to be step-father over there."

"Too late," a tired voice grumbled from the bed.

Harry smiled at Draco. "Good morning," he said. Draco just glared at him as he tried to wake himself up; he'd never been much of a morning person. Harry chuckled and turned back to his son. "Let's get you ready for the day, shall we," he said, carrying the baby out of the bed room and to the bath. "Let's get you all fresh and clean and we can have Dobby bring you a bottle in the Great Hall."

Fifteen minutes later, he was setting a freshly bathed, pampered, and clothed Ian back down in his crib so he could get himself ready for the day,."Are you awake yet, Dray?" he asked, the other boy was still sitting on the bed with an expression that said he was angry at the world in general and was going to hex whoever the nimrod who invented mornings into the middle of next week.

Draco sighed. "I can't say I missed the baby wake up calls, but I guess I'll get used to it." He stood up and stretched his long toned limbs, his platinum blond hair falling back and reflecting the light like a halo around his head. Harry loved Draco's hair in the morning, when it was nice and soft before the Slytherin had the chance to slick it back. "I'm going to shower." He stated before turning to Harry. "Care to join me, fiancé?" Harry grinned before checking Ian one last time, and following his future husband to the bathroom.

Forty-five minutes later they were back in the bedroom getting dressed when they heard a knock on the portrait hole door. "I'll get it," Harry said, since Draco was still in the middle of his grooming routine. "Who is it?"

"Your mom, open the door," A musical sounding female voice called.

A large grin spread across Harry's face as he flung the portrait hole open. "Lily!" He screamed wrapping his hands around the older girl. "You're really alright; I was so worried."

"Of course I'm alright, what do you think I'm some weak little Hufflepuff? I have you know my mother always bragged I had the mind of a Ravenclaw, but dad always complained that my heart was Gryffindor. I shut them both up right quick when I followed in dad's footsteps and got sorted into Slytherin."

"And an infamous Slytherin you were," drawled a voice from further in the rooms. "She had graduated before our first year here, but everyone knew about Lily Nightly, the Slytherin who cared."

"Look whose talking; congrats on the engagement." The two Slytherins glared at each other, before what could pass for a small smile spread across Draco's handsome face.

"I'm glad you're ok. Now can we get a move on to the Great hall, I'm starving."

Harry and Lily chuckled as Harry went to get Ian and Lily grabbed the diaper bag by the door. They made their way to the Great Hall in high spirits and all headed towards the Gryffindor table to be greeted rather energetically by Ginny and Hermione, both of which were eager to begin cooing over the baby, while Ron set back looking rather uncomfortable.

"Guys this is my friend Lily; she's a medi-witch that until recently worked at a Muggle clinic. She helped me out a bit when I was away. And this little guy is Ian." He held his son for them to see and Ginny and Hermione both let out a loud squeal, so did a few other girls sitting at the table. Harry had just set down when a bottle appeared on the table in front of him. He smiled and adjusted his hold on Ian to feed the baby. Lily and Draco set down, Draco grumbling something about annoying Gryffindors as Harry was surrounded by females wanting to see the baby, they engaged each other in conversation.

Eventual the hype about the baby died down to a dull roar and Harry finished feeding Ian and handed him to Lily to burp while he started in on his own breakfast. As he ate he realized how silent Ron was being and wondered why. Once Lily handed him Ian back, he turned to his best friend. "Ron," he said causing the red head to look up at him shyly, "would you like to hold your son?"

Ron eyes widened in shock and he could only nod. Harry smiled and helped him hold the nearly five month old infant. "Watch his head," he warned and Ron nodded, not taking his eyes off the small person in his arms.

Ron ran his fingers gently across Ian's red hair and stared into his emerald eyes. "He's really- he's really mine." Harry smiled and nodded and Ron turned back to the baby and cooed in a small voice, "Hello little Ian, I'm Ron, it's very nice to meet you." Ian cooed and giggled and everyone could only smile at the beautiful sight of father and son.

::-::-::-::

Later that evening the first DA meeting of the year started in the Room of Requirement. "Hello everyone," Harry said from his spot in the front of room, Draco and Lily standing at his left, Hermione and Ron on his right, "Welcome to the first DA meeting to the year. I'm not going to go into so long speech about how important it is to protect ourselves in these times of war, because we all know that. I'm simple going to say thank you for coming. You know why you're here and you know why you're important.

"This year is going to go a bit differently from the previous DA," Harry continued. "First off, we're not going to only teach DADA, we will also have lessons in Occlumancy and Legilimancy, Draco is going to be in charge of that because he's the best in our age group. Also I'd like to introduce you all to Lily Nightly, she graduated Hogwarts eight years ago and his now back employed as Madame Pomfrey's aide. She's going to be teaching us all some useful healing charms and the like. We will also be taught proper dueling techniques by Snape later in the year. The biggest difference this year is that the lessons go beyond just this room. The DA is recognized as an official club at Hogwarts this year, Lily will act as our staff sponsor, and because of this DA members will randomly be put to challenges by other staff members. You are expected to be on guard and ready for attack at any moment. I'm not saying to walk around paranoid all the time, but you should be able to sense or at the very lease respond to danger. Teachers have right to send hexes or jinxes at any DA member at any given moment of the day to see how they react to the danger.

"That said, let's get started, shall we. I'm going to split you all into three groups, Defense, Occulmancy, and Medical training. Your group members today will be your members for the remainder of the time you are in the DA, what you are taught will rotate by meeting…"

::-::-::-::

It was early in the morning and Harry was at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Ian was asleep in his arms, and he had left Draco behind in their room. The morning was peaceful and all was calm. The hour was so early nearly everyone in the Tower was still sleeping. Harry had woken suddenly with the urge to be outside; he had taken Ian with him up to the Tower for the sole reason of not wanting to be away from his son. For the past few days Harry had, for some reason, been on edge. He didn't understand why, but he felt something big was going to happen soon. As he stood at the top of the highest point in Hogwarts looking out over the silent grounds before him a sense of dread filled him, he knew this was only the silence before the storm.

Harry looked down at his sleeping son and kissed the top of his fire red hair. For some reason he felt as if he was saying goodbye.

Glitter in the Air

Time passed quickly. Everyone settled into comfortable patterns of classes, homework, DA, and personal time. Harry and Draco spent a lot of time together with Ian. Ron had grown much attached to his son, but still wasn't too fond of Draco and thus wasn't around as often. Hermione, Ginny, and half the other girls in the school all adored the baby and loved to be around him. Even Snape seemed to like to little infant, though he would never admit to it. Lily was kept busy with helping Madam Pomfrey, watching Ian, teaching DA, and occasional helping out in other classes, mainly Transfiguration she was a natural at it and kept the class entertained with her ever growing feud with McGonagall (apparently the two of them weren't exactly the best of friend when Lils was a student). Everything at the school seemed to be going fine.

Every Sunday night after dinner the Gryffindor Trio, along with Draco and Lily, met up at McGonagall's office to Floo over to the Burrow (the new HQ for the Order). Harry, Draco and Lily would sit through the Order meetings while Hermione and Ron went upstairs to play with Ian. (Molly adored Ian and doted on the babe as if he was her on, she was so excited to see her first grandchild.) Not much progress was being made with the war. Despite the exceptional spying abilities of Severus Snape, they could not figure out what Voldemort was up to. He was constantly sending Death Eaters out on apparently pointless tasks and would disappear for days at a time. The Dark Lord refused to share his plans with anyone including Snape, but the Potions Master had gathered that Hogwarts would be in danger in the near future. They could only speculate as to when.

While all of this was going Harry had a growing sense of unease. He felt that something big was going to happen soon, but he had no clue as to what. Things were changing around him. He began to spend as much time as possible with his son and Draco. He felt the need to constantly be with people who loved him and that he loved in turn. He made an effort to be close with Ron and Hermione as well, feeling that his time left with them was short, but the more Harry pushed for closeness, the more they (Ron especially) seemed to drift away.

::-::-::-::

It was an early Saturday morning at Hogwarts. A large crowd of students were gathered outside the school near the Quidditch pitch. A feeling of anticipation hung in the air as they all seemed to be waiting for something. Finally the guests of honor arrived. Harry, Draco, and Lily stepped in front of the crowd, immediately silencing the eager voices of the students.

"Ok," Harry said once he'd gain the attention of the crowd, "I'm sure you're all ready to get started with today's big event, but there are some things that must be explained before we can begin. First, I must remind you that this is a friendly practice battle, I'm not saying go easy on your opponents, but no serious maiming blows are allowed or face the consequences that is our Staff Person in Charge, Professor Snape. Second, I'm sure you all want to pick you sides and work together with your friends, but the groups have been chosen ahead of time. The picture on your invitation determines what group you're in: I'm leading Group Phoenix, Draco is in charge of Group Crow, and Lily takes charge of Group Dove. Group Dove will be a specialized group dedicated to healing and taking care of the wounded, while Phoenix and Crow are the primary fighting units. Once all the rules have been discussed Group Phoenix will regroup with me by the lake and Group Crow will follow Draco to the Quidditch changing rooms, Group Dove will stay here."

Harry spent the next five minutes going over the guidelines for the squabble that had been planned. After nearly a month of DA meetings Harry had asked Dumbledore for permission to stage a faux scrimmage between the club to test their abilities in real battle situations. The Headmaster had given his consent to the scrimmage after appointing Professor Snape to over see the event. Harry had sent out invitations to meet at the Quidditch pitch, only giving the bare minimal of details regarding what was to happen. The DA had gotten overly excited, seeing as how this was the first time they got to test what they'd learned on such a large scale.

After the opening speech was made, Harry led his group over to the lake and began splitting them smaller groups and assigning roles. Once everything was ready he sent up green sparks with his wand and received the answering sparks from Draco and Lily. That was the cue for the battle to begin. Harry signaled to Hermione to lead her section ahead. The object of the game was to stun the other team's leader. Harry had split the Phoenix into three smaller groups: the Tigers, Lynxes, and Wolves. Hermione in charge of the Lynxes and they were the forward moving/front-line group. Composed of the quickest moving and thinking members, their objective was to go out into battle and take out as many opponents in the first blow as they could, take the others by surprise and hopefully wipe out their entire front line. Harry led the Tigers. Their prime objective was defensive spells. They surrounded Harry and kept others from approaching him. Blaise Zabini led the Wolves. They were the rear guard, in charge making sure that no one attacked them from behind, and if the Lynxes and Tigers fell, they moved to the front lines, and defensive roles. Ron had been put in Group Crow, mostly because Harry couldn't handle how distant Ron was acting towards him, and also it had been kind of a sign of goodwill between the Phoenixes and Crows, Ron in exchange for Blaise.

By the time the Tigers and Wolves reached the designated battlefield, the Lynxes had already wiped out a a large amount of Draco's men and all Hell was breaking loose. Group Phoenix were all wearing burnt orange armbands in order to be distinguished from the Crows with their black armbands, and the neutral party Doves with their white armbands. Everywhere Harry looked he saw students in orange bands facing off with students in black bands, while students in white bands dodged around administering counter curses and jinxes to those who were hit, and if the counter couldn't be used right away, dragging the felled students from the field.

Harry could see Draco in the midst of his Crows, smirking as he shot a tripping jinx at a Phoenix that was trying to sneak up on him. He seemed to be standing alone, but Harry could tell by how certain few Crows moved around him he had a personal guard blending in with the rest of the fighters. Harry whistled to his Tigers, the sign that he was going to make a move on the enemy leader. He was immediately flocked by his guard and they delved into enemy territory, which was a sign for the Wolves to join the main fighting force.

Harry was surprised by how few curses and jinxes came his way as he made his move towards Draco and the ones that did was quickly deflected by one of his men. Soon Harry was in the Heart of Crow territory, standing face to face with Draco. The Malfoy smirked. "Bout time you got here, Potter. I gave my men orders to let you pass unharmed, but I thought you would never make your move."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Whatever, can we just get on with this." Draco said nothing, instead he raised his wand and a silent stunning spell shot towards Harry. Harry counter with a shielding charm, but before the battle could progress any farther a loud crashing sound was heard over the noise of the faux battle.

::-::-::-::

Harry laid back on the bed, Draco hovering above him, kissing down his jaw line and over his bare chest. A low moan escaped Harry's lips as a warm tongue flicked over his left nipple. Soft but strong hands ran down his abdomen, caressing him gently and leaving a burning path like fire. Harry was melting beneath Draco's loving ministrations. He wrapped his arms around the blond's shoulder and nodded his consent for the other to slip inside his already prepared entrance. As Draco slipped deeper into him, a long low moan escaped Harry's kiss bruised lips. Draco slowly began to thrust in and out of him and Harry held on to him tighter, never wanting to let him go. Draco nuzzled the side of his lover's neck, nipping and sucking marking the boy as his own and Harry happily returned the favor. As Draco continued to move, pushing them both closer and closer to their climax, tears began to spill from the corner of Harry's eyes. He wondered why this too felt like good-bye.

::-::-::-::

Death Eaters were attacking Hogwarts. The barriers around the school had fallen, and the cloaked and masked figures moved in on the school, attacking at random. Teachers ran around trying to gain control of the students and herd them back into the school. Some students ran screaming away from the Dark Lord's minions, others (mostly DA members) stood and tried to fight back. Someone had grabbed Harry's arm and began running, trying to drag him away from the chaos. Harry paid no mind to this, all he could think was "this is it, it's finally come".

Eventually Harry yanked his arm away from the person who had grabbed him. He turned back and rushed back into the midst of the battle. Letting out three loud whistles and sending a spray of orange sparks with his wand, he summoned the DA to him. Not far from him he heard a responding three whistles and silver sparks shot into the air, Lily was summoning members to her. Another three whistles and blue sparks signaled Draco was calling members to him as well. The DA had been trained to look for the signals and gravitate towards the closest DA leader in the case of a real battle like this. The three leaders would be spread out across the field making it so that the students could always reach at least one of them. Harry was surprised how all of them managed to keep their cool in this state of panic, not long after he'd sent up his sparks, a group of about fifteen student divulged on him. Harry had to keep calm. This was it. This was the moment they had all been waiting for.

"Are you all ready?" Harry asked his group of loyal students. There was a chorus of yeses. "This isn't a game anymore," Harry warned, "This is a real battle, with real Death Eaters. They're not going to go easy on you. You will be hurt and, Merlin forbid it so, some of you may even die. If you want to go back to the safety of the castle do it now. If not, then let's get out there and give it our all." Harry looked at the faces of the students surrounding him, they were all so young some even first years, but they all looked so determined, they'd been training for this. When none of them left to go towards the castle Harry gave a reluctant nod. "Merlin watch over us all." He gave another three whistles and shot up another burst of orange sparks. Six whistles and a spray of silver and blue sparks was his response. "Let's do this." The students all entered the battle.

::-::-::-::

It was late at night and Harry and Draco were seated at the top of the Astronomy Tower. Draco had his back leaning against the wall, and Harry's head was lying against the blond's chest. Above them, the sky was a portrait of stars and constellations. The night was silent, and they were at peace.

Harry sighed. "Draco, how did we get here?"

Draco looked at him, not understanding the sudden question. "We took the stairs," he replied.

"No, I didn't mean how we got up here physically. I meant, how did we get here, like this, where we are and how we are now?"

Draco thought about this. "We took the stairs," he said again. "We took the long way around getting to them, but we've been climbing the stairs since the very beginning and we're still on the stairs now. We never saw that there was a lift right around the bend."

::-::-::-::

Harry was detached from himself, floating above the battle field, watching from a distance. Below him, his body battled on, shooting curses and jinxes every which way; fighting; defending; protecting.

Around him others fought, each with their own goals in mind. All Harry wanted to do was get this over with. End it all once and for all. So he fought; he defended; he protected. His opponents fell left and right, taking some of his allies with them. The DA members still standing around him gave their all to keep him safe, if only until he reached the Dark Lord. It was like the morning's scrimmage all over again, cutting through enemy territory towards the opposing team's leader. But two things were different this time. One, when he got to Voldemort there would be more waiting for him than his boyfriend and a simple stunning spell, the green lights of the Killing Curse lit the field all around him. And the second difference, the reason he was making it across the field without being harmed wasn't because his safety had been ordered, but because others stood in the way of the attacks coming at him; he thought he'd fall apart if he watched another DA member fall.

Through the noise of battle he heard two whistles and saw a shower of silver sparks; Lily was checking positions. Harry whistled twice in reply and sent up his orange sparks. He heard two more whistles and saw blue sparks not far from him. Draco's team was the closest to them. That meant those two teams would try to meet up and Lily would pull her team back out of the battle. They wanted to minimize as many student casualties as possible after all.

Harry kept his team moving, ahead of him he could see the vile form of Voldemort floating above the field.

::-::-::-::

"Draco, if anything happens to me, you will take care of Ian right?"

"I already promised I would."

"You'll love him right, as if he was your own son, and never let anything hurt him?"

"Harry, as far as I am concerned, Ian is my own son. I love him as much as you do, and to hurt him would be to rip my heart out and feed in to Nagini."

Harry nodded and snuggled closer to his love. "I was thinking that I want Ron to be a part of his life. I want Ian to know that Ron is his father by blood, even if you're the one he gives that title to."

"I'll see, Harry. No promises."

::-::-::-::

One long whistle resonated through the air causing Harry to look up instantly to see who sent it. A spray of silver sparks, followed by a shower of red ones. Lily had fallen. The only good thing that Harry could grasp from that was that the following sparks were red not green. Red meant down, out of the fight, green meant dead.

Two whistles and blue sparks; Draco wanted to know where he was. He responded with his two whistles and orange sparks. They were getting closer together, but still pretty far apart. A Death Eater materialized in front of Harry, a flash of red light came his way. Harry defended with a shielding charm, and then cast a full body bind. The Death Eater fell and Harry moved on. He could see Voldemort through the crowd, not too far from him. This was all going to be over soon.

::-::-::-::

"Draco, why do you think people tell lies?"

Draco shrugged. "A way to avoid things, I suppose."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes the truth doesn't always have good results. Sometimes it can cause a conflict. Sometimes it can hurt more than anything else ever could. To tell a lie is to protect oneself, and perhaps others, from unsavory results. It's almost a defense mechanism."

"What about when the lies hurt more than the truth?"

"Maybe the lies are avoiding a much more painful truth than they look like."

"Are you saying it's ok to lie?"

"You didn't ask me if it was ok, you just asked why people do it."

"Now I'm asking if it's ok."

"I suppose it is, if you're doing so to protect someone you love."

Silence, then, "Draco, if I asked if you've ever lied to me since we got together, would I want to know the answer?"

"I don't think you would."

Harry nodded. "What were you trying to protect me from?"

"I wanted to protect you from yourself."

::-::-::-::

A single whistle resonated across the battlefield. The Death Eaters all stopped what they were doing, and then, seemingly as one, they vanished from the battlefield. Students, teachers, Aurors, and Order members stood confused on the field, around them laid the fallen bodies of both allies and enemies.

It was over. Voldemort was dead. The war was over.

Silence reigned most powerful. Until a pained scream escaped one of the student's mouths and he sprinted across the field, disregarding his own physical casualties in his hurry to reach what was most important.

The dying glare of orange sparks followed by green ones reflected in Draco's silver eyes.

::-::-::-::

"Draco, is there really a lift right around the bend?"

"I don't know Harry, and it's too late to find out. We're too far up the stairs to turn around now and look for an easier way."

"What do you think is at the top of the stairs?"

"We won't find out until we get there."

"If only I could know what's at the top right now, I think then I will be able to die happy."

::-::-::-::

The only sound that could be heard was the sobbing of those unable to control themselves. No one wanted to speak, but the tears flowed freely. Even the ones too young to know what was going on was crying. Ian had not stopped wailing since he'd woken up that morning.

The two people standing before the coffin were completely silent. Neither even had a tear in their eye. The boy before them looked as if he was sleeping. His eyes closed and face relaxed, a tiny smile tweaking the corners of his lips. The girl wrapped her café au lait colored arm around the other's waist, he turned and looked at her then looked away.

Footsteps approached them from behind, stopping about two feet away, "Draco I just wanted to say-"

"You were never under the Imperious curse, we're you Weasel?" Draco cut in.

Ron's eyes widened, then softened and shook his head. "No, I wasn't"

"Why did you do it?"

Ron opened and closed his mouth, but couldn't find the words to say.

"Harry knew," Draco said softly, "He could never figure out why you would do it. But he knew. He was just so deep in denial; one would think we lived in Egypt."

"I just wanted him to love me. I knew he never would, from the beginning it had always been you he wanted. I just wanted him to love me."

"You never did forgive him for choosing me, did you?"

Ron shook his head slowly. "No I didn't?"

Draco looked back at the body lying in the coffin. "Are you happy now?" He asked Ron, "Now he's neither of ours. Isn't that what you wanted? Isn't that's why you turned your wand against him?"

Ron's eyes widened at the last question, but before he could reply Draco made as to grab him. "I'll kill you!" The blond yelled, his stardust eyes mad with grief. Lily held him back from attacking the red head, but he still put up a decent struggle. "I'll kill you. You took him away from me. You took him away from his son, your son,Weasel. I'll kill you!"

"Shh, Draco, calm down." Lily tried to soothe the boy. "Now is not the time for this. Now is the time for remembering Harry."

Tears rolled down Draco's cheeks as he stopped struggling against the arms holding him back. "I'll kill him, Lils, I swear I will."

::-::-::-::

"Draco, what do you think Ron is trying to protect me from when he lies to me?"

Draco didn't speak for a moment. "Nothing," he finally said. "The Weasel is just looking out for himself."

Epilogue: How Soon is Now

"Are you ready to go, Ian?"

The red head twelve year old looked up with his big green eyes and smiled. "Yes Father."

"Then let's get going."

"Yes Father," Ian said again, grabbing the handle of his trunk and dragging it out the room. His father smiled and with a wave of his wand vanished the trunk to the back of the car. Ian's smile grew; he loved when his father used magic to make things easier for him. "Is Aunty Lily coming?" He asked.

"She's meeting us at the Train Station, so we better hurry if you want talk to her before you go."

Ian nodded and rushed for the door, only to pause and turn around. "One sec." he declared rushing back into the room and stopping before a small end table that held crystal picture frame. "Bye dad," he said, "I'll see you over Yule." The twelve year old placed a quick kiss on the glass, before rushing pass his father and out the door.

Draco smiled, his silver eyes locking on the green ones staring at him from behind the glass frame. "Bye Harry," he said simply, before flicking off the light and following his son out.

::-::-::-::

"Aunty Lily!" Ian screamed, running towards his 'aunt' on platform nine and three quarters. The medi-witched smiled and gathered the over excited child into her arms.

"How are ya, Ian? Nervous?"

"Nope," The hyperactive eleven year old declared. "I can't wait to get to Hogwarts. I'm going to get sorted into Gryffindor and go on tons of adventures. I'm going to learn a lot and be the strongest wizard in history."

"You're sounding a bit Slytherin to me." Lily chuckled.

"Nun-uhn, I'm going to be a Gryffindor just like dad, though I wouldn't mind being a Slytherin like you and Father."

"You know, your dad was suppose to be a Slytherin, but he asked to be put in Gryffindor," Draco said.

Ian's emerald eyes widened in surprise. "Really? You never told me that before! Great, now if I'm put in Slytherin I can still be like dad and make you happy."

Draco looked surprised. "Ian," he said softly, "You know you don't have to be like your dad to make me happy. I love you just the way you are."

Ian nodded. "I know, Father," he said, "But I was hoping if I could be more like dad, you wouldn't miss him as much and then you wouldn't cry at night."

::-::-::-::

The whistle of the Hogwarts Express blew and the train began to pull out of the station. The second year Ian Sirius Potter-Malfoy made his way through the carts of the train, looking for somewhere to sit, he slid the door open to one of the cabins and saw two red head children that he didn't recognize, they must have been first years. One was girl, with a really short haircut wearing jeans and a tee-shirt, she actually looked a bit tomboyish and the only thing defining her gender was two star shaped hair clips pinning back her bangs. The boy next to her must have been her twin, his haircut was only a bit shorter than hers and he also wore jeans and a tee-shirt.

Ian paused outside the cabin, the boy look at him and smiled. "Hullo," he said shyly, "I'm Rodney and this is my sister Rose. You can sit in here if you like."

"You're Weasleys." Ian stated. "Father said all Weasley's have red hair, freckles, more kids then they can handle, and can only be trusted as far as you can throw them without a wand."

The girl, Rose, eyes narrowed. "Then that must mean you're a Weasley, too." She said, "You have red hair and freckles."

Ian nodded. "Father said my biological father was a Weasley, but I never met him because Father said he's the one who took my dad away."