Fred eyed me mischievously as we headed towards the common room door. "What are you planning, Black?"

I smiled gleefully, happy for the distraction. "You'll see, Weasley ol' boy."

The tournament ended just about how I had thought it would- terribly.

Cedric dead, Voldemort back, and Harry once again being hunted by dangerous, murderous wizards. Dumbledore insisted he spend almost the whole summer with the Dursleys, saying that the "Blood magic would keep him safe and hidden."

Like that did any good.

Harry had been attacked by dementors, and then expelled for using magic outside of Hogwarts and in front of a Muggle, no less. Not that that Muggle didn't already know about magic because he lived with Harry, or anything. Whatever.

Dumbledore had at least pulled through and got him un-expelled, and he spent the rest of the summer with us.

But I don't know if that was a good thing or not.

The new Defense professor had it out for him, as did the Ministry, and we all know how well Harry follows rules.

I don't think any of us really knew how bad it could get, though. Nothing that happened that year could begin to live up to how it had ended. Even now it hurts to think about.

After what happened in the Department of Mysteries, it was safe to say I was a mess. I had only had my father for two years, but I had grown pretty attached. I mean, it's not that big of a surprise, is it? He is- was- my father. And now that's both my parents in the grave.

Fred had helped as much as he could that summer, but he had already graduated Hogwarts by that point. I hate to say that my sixth year was definitely more of a mess than I wished. He did his best to cheer me up before I had to go back, but three months is hardly enough grieving time for a father I had only just gotten back.

Looking back I feel slightly- scratch that, a lot more than slightly- bad for my professors. I had been more than a handful; often going completely off the handle for little to no reason at all. I hardly showed up to class, and I think I might have only turned in a handful of assignments to each professor the whole year. How I actually made it to my seventh year is a question that's still up to debate. Probably more of Dumbledore's crazy doing.

I sighed and rubbed a hand across my forehead. I guess I hadn't been too fond of the crazy old professor, but I hadn't wanted him dead. I don't think many people did. I thought about Headmaster Snape who now sat at the head table with the other professors. I don't think he wanted him dead, either.

Harry had been devastated. I guess he was closer to Dumbledore than even Hermione and Ronald could have guessed. The following battle that took place for no more than a few minutes still shook me from sleep every now and then. Not because it had been bloody or grossly horrific; I think it just had to do with the fact that Death Eaters had broken intoHogwarts, and killed our Headmaster.

We all thought he was invincible. But I guess that's when they die, right? When people start believing it's impossible.

It had been a massive shock to us all when Snape was given his position, but it shouldn't have been. Not with how the ministry wass acting, being slowly corrupted like a river near a tanning factory. I wondered if Harry knew Snape was currently sitting in his old mentor's spot now.

I looked across the room, at all of the D.A. members, old and new, and thought about my missing friends.

When Harry, Hermione, and Ron had vanished from Bill and Fleur's wedding, all hell had broken loose. It was as if someone had lit a match too close to a bomb previously thought to be neutralized. The whole Weasley family had gone berserk, along with the members of the Order. They had tried looking for Harry and the other two at first, but after a few weeks of absolutely nothing, they had decided perhaps it was best to let the children do whatever it was they were doing. A war was waging, and they had more important things to worry about.

Or something like that.

And then Gringotts had practically exploded, a dragon bursting forth from the glass dome- according to witnesses. And lo and behold, the first sighting of Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger since earlier that summer.

We had all taken a deep breath of relief at that point. 'At least they're still alive,' we all said. And those who didn't say it were certainly thinking it. I guess people hadn't realized how much they were hoping Harry was off trying to fix this mess for them, like he had the first time.

Even though that had been an accident, and actually 100% not Harry's doing at all.

People liked to forget that he had only been a baby, and that even now he was still just a teen. But I guess in times of war, children really do grow up fast.

Some of us had learned that the hard way. Even now Neville was still sporting a nasty purple bruise on his forehead, a cut just healing from a hex he had received from one of the Carrow siblings. And the limp from a few weeks ago was only now starting to disappear. We had all wondered, at first, why the hat had put him in Gryffindor at all.

He had really earned his place this year, though. I don't think there was a single student- or professor, even- that protected the muggle-born students more than Neville had. Not that I hadn't been before, but I was very proud to call Neville a friend.

We had become a bit of a duo of sorts, ever since the Golden Trio left. The small battle at the end of last year had knocked me off of my self-pity road to destruction and back on track to what mattered right now- getting Voldemort the hell out of here. And when we had come back to Hogwarts for our final year, and been confronted by the… Dangerous staff changes, Nevile and I had formed a bit of a protection squad. The times we- along with Seamus and Dean on occasion, as well as other D.A. members- had ended up in the hospital wing this year alone was preposterous. But better us than some small muggle-born first year, we always said.

"Rita?" My head snapped up to meet Neville's worried gaze.

"Huh?" I said, stupidly.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked.

"Yeah. I just… I don't know, I'm thinking, I guess."

Neville nodded. "I wonder how much longer we're going to have to hide out in here." He said, surveying the room.

All over brightly colored hammocks hung, students lying about and chatting. Some somber, others loud and rambunctious still.

We had all retreated to the only safe spot of the castle, the Room of Requirement, after the incident that had given Neville that limp and cut. It had been a particularly bad demonstration the Carrow siblings were doing on some half-blood fifth year who had stepped in to try and help a muggle-born student escape the Slytherins.

"Probably until Harry comes back." I said, in response to his earlier wondering.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall. "I wonder when that will be. I have faith in Harry; I know he'll figure something out and come back to help. But I just wish that would come sooner." He rolled his head to look at her with wide eyes. "I'm starting to go stir crazy in here."

I gave a half-hearted laugh in agreement, leaning my head back against the wall and closing my eyes. "It is nice not to have any homework, though."

"You can say that again!" Seamus cried, arm thrown in the air and a grin across his face.

"It is nice to-" I started to say, but was cut off by Luna.

"Look… She's coming through the painting."

All conversations stopped immediately at her soft comment, and everyone's attention was immediately on the painting that led to the Hog's Head Inn, where we were getting our food from. For as wonderful as the Room had been, it couldn't conjure up food.

I turned to look at Neville. "What do you think is going on?"

He grinned at me as we stood and started towards the painting. "I reckon Harry's finally decided to pay us a visit."

The girl in the portrait relayed the message that someone was to come to the Inn; that Dumbledore's brother had something important for us.

"Alright, I'll go." He popped the portrait open before turning back, his eyes catching on me first.

"Use the old coins Hermione made, and tell all the D.A. members to come, and to bring the Order." With that, he disappeared behind the painting.

We watched as he walked away, getting smaller and smaller until he vanished.

I did as Neville instructed, sending a message through our Army coins.

"What do you think's going on?" Ginny asked.

I shrugged and gave her a sly look. "Neville's under the impression that Harry's returned."

Sure enough, when Neville came back out from the portrait, he was joined by Hermione, Ron, and Harry.

The room erupted in cheers and we all rushed the trio, hugging and congratulating them on things we had heard about throughout the year.

"Harry!" I cried, as I finally got through the crowd and threw my arms around him, and then Hermione. "I'm so happy you guys are safe."

"What are you all doing here?" Harry asked.

I stepped back from Hermione and gave Ron a hug as Neville answered.

"Couple weeks back things got pretty nasty here. It's been bad since Dumbledore died; Snape's headmaster now, and he's got the Carrows here. They can't get into the room though, much less find it, I'm sure."

Harry nodded. "Well, don't worry. We're ending this tonight."

"Yes!" We cried, cheers erupting once more.

We talked with the trio as more people started pouring in through the portrait. We said hello to Order members and D.A. soldiers as they entered, morale jumping higher with each new, smiling (or grim) face.

"Fred!" I yelled as a familiar redhead popped through, his twin close behind.

"Rita!" He replied happily, scooping me up and kissing me soundly. There were a few wolf whistles from some of the students that we studiously ignored as he set me back down.

"Long time no see." I said with a grin.

"Wow. I'm so happy to know I've been missed." George said dryly.

I laughed and patted his arm. "Don't worry, Georgykins. No one has been missing you too terribly."

"Hey!" he cried, but was drowned out by all the other commotion of the room.

"Ok, ok!" Harry yelled, getting everyone's attention. "We're going to need help, but I don't want anyone to do anything they aren't comfortable with. If you're too afraid, it's alright, you can go back through this tunnel and find somewhere safe and far away to go. Ron, Hermione and I have things we need to find before we can stop Voldemort, so we'll need people to make distractions for us."

The twins and I shared gleeful looks.

"No worries, Potter!" We yelled.

"Does anyone happen to know about any Ravenclaw artifacts? We think Voldemort has used something from each of the houses as horcruxes, and it's one of the last ones we need to find before we can end this."

Luna, not surprisingly, stepped forward.

"Rowena had a diadem. It's said to be lost, but Helena's ghost might know where it is." Luna said in her soothing voice.

"Good. Can you help me find her?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Luna said.

Harry then turned to Ron and Hermione, telling them to go down to the chamber and find the basilisk fangs to destroy the other horcruxes.

"Is it just me," George whispered, "or has our little brother surpassed our own levels of awesomeness?"

Fred nodded in mock sadness. "It seems he has, brother. It seems he has."

"You're both ridiculous." I hissed. "Be quiet and pay attention."

"Yes Ma'am," Fred said with a smile and mock salute.

"Ok. I'll leave the rest to you all then. Thank you for all your help." Harry said, before the four of them rushed from the room.

Remus stepped forward. "Alright, everyone. Listen up. This is about to be one of the most dangerous things most of you are ever to take part in. We need to stay safe, and try to keep together in pairs or small groups. Look out for one another, and pay attention to your surroundings." He paused. "Now let's go end this."

A roar rose from everyone in the room as we poured out, wands at the ready.

Already we could hear small explosions outside the castle. Students were herding towards the great hall, and we joined their ranks. Apparently there was some kind of impromptu meeting being held.

When we got there, Snape was standing in the front. McGonagall walked in, and was immediately hounded by Snape. Easily, she deflected any questions about Harry's presence before surprising everyone there as she quickly slashed her wand through the air, a swoosh!ing noise prefacing the charm she fired at him. The students watched with bated breath as the two professors faught, the other Heads of houses joining in, until Snape fled from the room. Harry and Luna appeared then from under his cloak, and took off after McGonagall.

"Well," I said. "I guess this is the part where we start locking the Slytherins in the dungeon?"

….

"I wasn't being serious!" I yelled as they pushed the last Slytherin into the dungeons.

"So? We don't want them running off and joining their death eater parents." A Ravenclaw said.

"This is ridiculous." I muttered, turning and taking off to do something that was actually useful.

I had meant it as a joke when I said that in the great hall, but apparently the others had taken it into full consideration, and here we were. But I couldn't really say they were wrong, could I? It would be easier with the Slytherins out of the way.

As I made my way through the halls, I noticed a lack of armor suits. This question was quickly settled, however, when I saw McGonagall on the front steps, marching them out as our first line of defense.

"Damn." I laughed, "She's showing them."

"Rita!" I turned to see Fred, George, and-

"Percy?"

"Yeah, the git came back," George said.

"Apologized for being said git," Fred explained.

"Ah. Well, welcome back, Percy." I said.

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Come on," I said, "Let's see who else we can find. I wanna make sure Harry's okay."

We took off towards the stairs, fighting through the throng of students either running to escape or running to fight.

Suddenly a chilling voice boomed throughout the whole castle.

We all listened as Voldemort promised no one would be hurt if we brought Harry to him by Midnight. People around us murmured as he spoke, and I turned to the boys with a scowl.
"Come on, we have to find Harry!"

The castle continued to shake as the Death Eaters tried again and again to break through the enchantments the adults had put up. We passed Neville and Professor Sprout, who were laden with dangerous plants they were planning on throwing out windows at the Death Eaters, based on a snippet of conversation I overheard.

Honestly, I was not surprised anymore.

"Has anyone seen Harry?" I called, but no one responded. People continued to run around to get ready for when Voldemort's forces inevitably broke through.

It was obvious when they broke through.

A loud noise echoed throughout the castle, and screams rose up from levels below. Fred and I shared a look, worry set deep in his face.

George had broken off to help some other Order members at some point, leaving just Fred, Percy, and I on the search for Harry.

"I guess just follow the loudest noises, and we're bound to find them at some point?" I suggested.

It turned out to be helpful, because not much longer we found them, running around a corner and crashing into us.

"Harry!" I cried, throwing my arms around him again.

"What happened to you three?" Percy asked, motioning to their singed looks.

"Crabbe lit the Room of Requirement on fire." Hermione answered. "But we were able to destroy two more horcruxes."

"Good. Come on, what's next?" I asked.

"We have to kill the snake." Harry said darkly.

I blinked. "Alright. Let's go then."

We all took off down the halls, heading back towards the ground floor. We were stopped by popping noises as a few Death Eaters apparated into the hall, their wands already raised and pointed at us.

"Watch out!" Harry yelled.

The hall filled with lights and yells as duels broke out, fear coursing through me. A spell shot by Percy caught one of their hoods, throwing it off and revealing the minister. Angry, Percy hexed him with a side comment about, "You can count this as my resignation."

I let out a heavy breath as the hall fell into silence again. "That wasn't too bad."

Fred turned to agree, but was cut off as the wall behind us blew to pieces.

…

I opened my eyes with a groan, my head pounding worse than the time I had gotten a hangover on a bottle of firewhiskey Seamus had snatched last year. Sitting up, I pressed a hand to my forehead and winced as my fingers came away red and wet.

Looking around, I noticed I was in the Great Hall, along with possibly hundreds of other people.

"Wh-What's going on?" I asked no one in particular.

"Rita!" Someone cried, and then the air was knocked out of me as someone grabbed me from behind.

Sobs wracked their body, causing me to shake from the force.

"...George?"

He continued to cry, his arms tightening around me. My stomach sank as I turned as much as I could in his hold to look at him.

"George. What happened."

"Rita… He- He's gone." He sobbed, angry, jagged cries coming from his throat.

"W-Who?" When he didn't answer I grabbed him by his shoulders and shook."Who, George?!" I yelled desperately.

"F-Fred-!" He choked, breaking down into heavier sobs.

The world spun out from under me, the pounding in my head roaring into a symphony of pain as everything was suddenly too loud, too bright.

"N-no…" I pulled away roughly, staggering to my feet. I had to go, get away, it was too much- too much, too much, too much-!
"Rita!" I turned, searching for who had called my name. A stupid hope rose in me that maybe George had been wrong, maybe he wasn't gone- but no, that was a girl's voice-

"Padma..." I croaked out. "I-"

She crashed into me, her arms wound around me.

"I'm sorry!" She cried, holding me tight and rocking us back and forth.

"Where's Harry?" I say instead, because I can't focus on that right now, not now.

First my father and now Fred-

"He's around here somewhere." She said, pulling away but leaving her hands on my shoulders. "You should go back-"

"No." I said, cutting her off. "I have to keep fighting. I don't want more people dying." I tore away from her, and ignoring her yells, took back off deeper into the castle to help anyway I could.

It wasn't long before I came across a screaming Lavender Brown, a few stunned Death Eaters later, being attacked by Greyback.

"Hey!" I yelled, firing a hex at his back.

The werewolf turned and fixed me with a glare, his teeth stained red. I shot another curse at him, signaling for Lavender to run off. I breathed a sigh of relief when she did, and then turned tail and ran the other way.

I could hear Greyback's pounding steps behind me, slowly gaining as I took turn after turn. Looking over my shoulder, I attempted to fire a leg-locking curse at him, but missed.

Swearing under my breath, I turned forward once more just in time to smack into a corner I hadn't taken right.

I hit the ground and rolled with an 'oof!' I flipped onto my knees and tried to crawl away when a hand grabbed my ankle and yanked. A scream tore from my throat as Greyback hauled me up and then slammed be back into the ground. My head cracked against the stone floor, sending stars shooting across my vision. He laughed, more like a snarl that sent chills down my spine.

Once again I attempted to scoot away, but I could barely focus to see where I was going. He hauled me up again, but this time I thrashed against his hold with as much strength as I still had.

I knocked him off balance, and we both tumbled off the balcony.

If asked, I probably could have given you a list of every bone that broke on impact. Before I even had a chance to try and suck in a breath, Greyback's shadow loomed over me, before something was ripping into my throat.

My scream garbled as my mouth filled with blood, the hot liquid pouring out down the sides of my face and neck. I heard a yell that sounded as if it was coming through water, before a bright light flashed and the figure above me was being replaced by Hermione.

""Mio...ne" I choked.

"Rita!" She sobbed, her tears falling on my cheeks and mixing with my blood. So much, did I really have that much blood…?

"It's ok, you're going to be ok." She told me.

But she's never been the best at lying to me.

I grabbed her wrist and squeezed as hard as I could- which wasn't very hard.

"It's… Ok. I know- I know… You'll… win." I wheezed, my chest feeling heavier and heavier.

Is this really what dying felt like?

For a moment fear stabbed through me, the pain caused by that even worse than the wounds and broken bones. But then I thought of my father, Fred… And my mom from so many years before.

And I knew it was going to be ok.

I gave Hermione a watery smile as the air shuddered out of me. This was better, really. How could I go on without the both of them? The two people I had loved the most my whole life...

Death is a bittersweet kindness.

Yes, this is the end.

I'm sorry for the awful quick ending, but honestly I knew this was only going to go more downhill. I've lost most of the excitement I had for this, and basically it's been a drag for me considering that when I started this I was quite God awful at fanfic, and I wasn't able to quite break free from that on this story. Anyways, it's been five years, and I thought it was time to end all of our suffering.

I know that probably a lot of that final battle was mixed up and not exactly 100% canon, but it's been a while since I've read the last book so you'll have to forgive my terrible memory.

Thank you to everyone who stuck through all these years, and for all the support I got.

- MMJ