AN: This is the sequel to Uncovering the Truth, Defying the Enemy and The Last Stand. Please read these first, because too much happened for me to summarise, and if you come in here looking for canon, then you are going to be VERY confused.

Previously in the Veritas series:

"HARRY!"

Running down the middle of the Great Hall, through the crowd of startled aurors, Hermione threw herself into Harry's arms, sobbing into his robes.

His arms encircled her automatically, rubbing her back, and she let herself cry, vague threats escaping her, threatening retribution for scaring her so.

Another hand stroked her hair and a soft female voice asked if she was alright. The voice was familiar and, as Hermione calmed down, she slowly realised that the man holding her was just a little too tall, a little too broad-shouldered to be Harry.

Pulling back, she looked up into his face to see mischievous brown eyes smiling down at her.

"Hermione?" James Potter whispered, realisation dawning on his face. "You're all grown up."

April 20th 1998

"Prongs?" Hermione whispered. "Aunt Lily?"

Lily Potter pulled her out of her husband's arms and embraced her. "Hermione, thank Merlin you're alright! Where's Harry?"

"I don't know," Hermione admitted, clinging to her. "None of us know. How did you know …?"
"We told them," Daphne answered from behind them.

Hermione had a second moment of confusion, before realising that the woman standing between Daphne and Luna was not Addie. "Leona? I'm Hermione."

"I want to know where my son is," Lily said shakily.

"So would I, Jade, but we're not going to get an answer for that any time soon," Jen said, approaching them. "Surprise!"

"Oh thank Merlin," James muttered, sweeping her into a hug. "How the hell …?"

"I'll explain later," Jen said, hugging Lily as well. "Here and now is not the time and place for that conversation."

"Be grateful," a new voice said. "I found out over the floo."

Lily enveloped Arabella in a hug as well. "You're okay too!"

"Where's Mandy?" Hermione asked. "Is she okay?"

Arabella's smile slipped. "I don't know. Hopefully she got sent to the infirmary."

"Jen," Ginny called. "I don't mean to interrupt the reunion, but …"

Jen turned towards her and sucked in a breath. "Oh, thank Merlin!" She hurried over and took her daughter into her arms. "Hi sweetheart; it's okay, Mama's here now."

"Excuse me!"

The flurry of the reunion quietened, and they all turned to face Fudge, who was slowly turning purple.

"Would someone mind telling me what is going on?!" He demanded, clearly trying to sound impressive, and failing miserably.

The rest of the Great Hall had fallen silent, watching the scene play out.

"Minister Fudge," Hermione said. "Allow me to introduce James and Lily Potter, and Leona McKinnon."

Fudge gaped at them. "But … but … but … you're dead!"

"So was Lady Black, according to the Ministry," Cedric said helpfully. "And so was I for a year - at least my body was found. How did an investigation conclude they were dead?"

"No idea," Hermione admitted. "It doesn't look like there was one. Well, for James and Lily, anyway. I don't know about Jen."

"Look, I don't care about that right now," Like said. "Where's my son?!"

Hermione grimaced. "To cut a long story short, Voldemort attacked Hogwarts last night - Oh, shut up!" She glared at the people who had screamed. "Your children fought him; the least you can do is hear the bloody name!" She turned back to Lily. "There was a big fight, obviously, at the end of which Voldemort disapparated with the Death Eaters he had left, and Harry disapparated after him."

"Alone?" Lily whispered. "He went after him alone?"

"Well, there was someone else with him," Hermione said. "But only a few months older."

James took his wife's hand, scanning the Great Hall. "Lils, it'll be okay. There aren't many aurors here so he must have back-up."

"I'm afraid not," Amelia said, glaring at Fudge. "We had a huge decrease of budget after the first war, so these are all the aurors we have - Minister Fudge decided when he got here that Harry didn't need any back-up."

There were probably a dozen things in that sentence that James and Lily didn't understand, but they seemed to have taken Jen's words about the time and place to heart, as Lily's own reaction was to turn on Fudge with a kind of deadly fury in her eyes. "How dare you …"

"Lily," James interrupted, with a strange calm in his voice. "Let me handle this." He turned to address Fudge himself, very deliberately turning his back on Lily at the same time.

For a second, the fury in Lily's eyes grew, before it settled again, and she moved closer to Hermione to take her hand. "Pureblood wives don't often have a say in matters," she murmured to her. "And if Fudge thinks I don't, he's going to think he and James are on the same level."

"Minister Fudge," James began. "You know, I'm sure we've met before. Your name's familiar. Jen, where do I know his name from?"

"Cornelius Fudge," Jen complied, the perfect straight-woman. "Used to be a member of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad."

"Of course," James said. "I recognise the bowler hat. Very stylish. But I digress - Minister Fudge, I assume you have a reason for not sending my son any back-up."

"Well, Harry is the Boy-Who-Lived, after all," Fudge said, ignoring the fact that James would have no clue what he was on about. "He's the Chosen One. He's the only one who can kill You-Know-Who."

James raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't know who. I'll assume you mean Voldemort."

Hermione caught Lily's eye and looked away quickly, in case she burst out laughing.

"So why do you think Harry's the Chosen One?" James continued.

His tone was perfectly pleasant - he could have just been discussing the unusually chilly weather they'd been having recently - but there was an underlying note that heart the Great Hall as spellbound as his sons battle had, not even two hours earlier.

"There's a prophecy, Mr Potter," Fudge answered. "It says that Harry will defeat You-Know-Who."

James folded his arms, letting the moniker slide this time. "Really? What does it say?"

"That Harry will defeat You-Know-Who," Fudge repeated.

James gave a tight smile. "No, Minister. I mean the exact words. My wife and I were aware of a prophecy, but we never heard it."

"Well, I haven't heard it per se," Fudge admitted. "But …"

"You haven't heard it," James repeated.

There was danger in his voice now - anyone with intelligence could hear it - and a shiver ran through the Great Hall as everyone seemed to take a collective step backwards.

Even Lily pulled Hermione back a few steps, eyeing her husband warily.

Fudge, however, had never been accused of being an intelligent man, and chose not to quit while he was as ahead as he was ever going to get, continuing to explain how no one had heard the prophecy, but that it was well-assumed what it said.

The aurors were staring at Fudge with a kind of slow-dawning horror, as though none of them had realised that they were relying on an 'untrained' sixteen-year-old because of a rumour of all things.

Seeing their expressions, Amelia cleared her throat quietly, drawing their attention back to her. "Maybe now you'll remember who the Head of DMLE is, Scrimgeour."

The Head Auror hung his head and nodded.

"Take ten of your men and try to track them," Amelia ordered. "The prophecy says that Harry can defeat him, not that he will, and it says nothing about Death Eaters."

Eager for redemption, Scrimgeour led ten of his fellows out of the Great Hall, and Amelia went back to watching Fudge slowly dig himself into a gigantic hole.

Just like the previous summer, he was back on his soap-box, resorting to the only politics he really knew - impassioned monologuing - and promising to restrict Muggle-born rights further to prevent another war coming, but this time the newly returned were not in any mood to help him.

Finally, James interrupted him: "Thank you, Cornelius; I think that's quite enough. Amy, lovely to see you again! Did I hear right that you're the Head of Law Enforcement?"

Amelia gave him an affectionate smile that startled a good number of the aurors. "Welcome back, Jamie. Yes, I am."

"Wonderful," James said. "How quickly can you contact Dumbledore - Where is Dumbledore, by the way?"

"North America," Hermione answered. "He's searching for something. Fawkes can take a message for us. Why do you ask?"

"We need to hold an emergency Wizengamot meeting," James answered.

"But there isn't one scheduled!" One of the parents protested.

James rolled his eyes. "That would be why it's called an emergency meeting."

"You can't just call an emergency meeting, Mr Potter," Fudge protested.

"I'm the Head of an Ancient and Noble Family, Fudge," James said coolly. "It was Lord Potter last time I checked. I'm calling a state of no confidence."

"Now see here," Fudge said, swelling with indignation, "I was elected by the public! You can't just get rid of me!"

James narrowed his eyes. "You let my sixteen-year-old son go off to fight Voldemort with no back-up — I think you'll find I can do whatever the fuck I want."

Amelia cleared her throat. "Lord Potter, Minister Fudge does have a point, I'm afraid. You would need a majority vote."

Fudge smirked. "Thank you, Amelia."

"Madam Bones," Hermione said. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but … if you have a majority of the Ancient and Noble families voting, that overrules the need for a full majority, right?"

Amelia smiled at her. "That's absolutely correct."

"Ah," Fudge said. "But there are six Ancient and Noble families remaining and only two have known heirs."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Minister," Jen said sweetly, rocking her daughter. "There's Lord Potter and myself, obviously, which is two. Hermione is Lady Ravenclaw, so that's three."

"And we hold the Hufflepuff line," Frank said, stepping out of the crowd with Alice. "We just don't shout about it."

Fudge gaped at him. "How — But — How — But —?"

"Very eloquent, Minister," Jen said dryly. "We sent a message to the Ministry when the attack first started, and only Amelia and a handful of others turned up. You didn't even flinch. That's four out of six. All those in favour of a state of no-confidence."

It certainly wasn't only the four of them who answered, but they were the ones that counted.

As Fudge deflated, Amelia took him firmly by the arm. "Lady Ravenclaw, if you could please send a message to Albus?"

"Right away, Madam Bones," Hermione agreed.

Ginny appeared at her side with a scrap of parchment and a quill. "He didn't come back for an attack; you think he'll come back for this?"

Hermione shrugged. "I'm hoping. He thinks he could let last night slide, but he won't want the meeting happening without him." She scribbled a quick note and handed it to Fawkes as he landed on her shoulder. "Sorry to use you as an owl."

Fawkes sang a comforting note and vanished in a flash of flame.

"Lady Ravenclaw!"

Hermione turned to see the goblin army gathered in the Entrance Hall, many students crowded on the stairs watching nervously.

It was Ragnok who had hailed her and she curtsied towards him as he approached her.

"What did we say about titles, Ragnok?"

"Not to use them," Ragnok answered with a goblin smile.

"How are your injured?' Hermione asked quietly.

"We lost twelve to the Death Eaters," Ragnok said with a scowl. "But the others suffered only minor injuries. Do not worry yourself," he added, at her grieved expression. "To die in battle is the greatest honour of any goblin. We have come to offer our services."

"Services?" Hermione repeated.

"Your prison has been abandoned by the Dementors," Ragnok reminded her. "I am suggesting we offer a goblin guard, in exchange for a more open relationship with the Ministry."

There was a sharp intake of breath behind them.

Fudge immediately opened his mouth to protest, but no sound escaped.

Amelia tucked her wand away again. "On behalf of the Ministry of Magic, I'd be delighted to accept your offer, Director Ragnok. Lady Black, I believe, has them held somewhere at the moment?"

"I do," Jen confirmed. "And I'd rather they stay there until we can put them through a trial and back in again." She frowned. "Actually, speaking of getting back, how did you two get back?"

"That would be us," Daphne answered. "Luna here had the idea to apparate to them. We took care of the few Death Eaters that were there, and now here we are."

"What about our children?!" A woman shouted from the crowd, her voice bordering on hysterical.

Jen winced. "Right - sorry, madam. Winky! Can you fetch me a list of all the students in the infirmary please?" She asked, when the little elf appeared.

Once she had the list in her hand, Jen duplicated it and handed a copy to Alice, before kissing her daughter's head. "Lily, do you mind …?"

"Not at all," Lily said immediately, holding out her arms for the baby. "Come here, sweetheart."

"Ready?" Jen asked Alice, who nodded grimly.

The two woman approached the terrified parents, who were huddled together. "Okay," Jen said. "We will come to you one at a time. You will tell us the name, year and house of your child, and we will tell you if they are in the infirmary or not. The infirmary is in a safe location, not here, and was manned by trained students, a Healer, and Lady Longbottom here. However, I should warn you that eleven people were killed last night, and I regret to say that I do not know who they are just yet."

While Jen and Alice began their task, Hermione slipped away to the antechamber she had been avoiding, where eleven bodies still lay, covered with sheets.

"Get a grip," she muttered to herself. "Eleven is a bloody miracle and you know it."

Raising her wand in a shaky hand, Hermione flicked the sheets back away from their faces.

Ten were students, two Gryffindors, four Ravenclaws, three Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin.

The Slytherin was a shock - it was Pansy Parkinson who stared unseeingly up at her. Finding her left arm under the sheet, Hermione pushed up her sleeve to find the Dark Mark imprinted on her pale skin, although she was still dressed in her school robes, with no Mask in sight.

A quick scan with her wand found now injuries, and she forced to conclude the Killing Curse - apparently, she had fallen victim to 'friendly' fire.

At least, Hermione was fairly certain that no one on their side had been using the Killing Curse.

Still, it was strange, looking down at the dead body of someone she knew, even if it was someone she had never liked.

Quite unsure how to feel, Hermione moved on to the next body.

Ironically, Pansy was lying side by side with a Gryffindor - a seventh year named Cormac McLaggen, who Hermione recognised from the Quidditch try-outs. He was their reserve Keeper - an irritatingly arrogant young man who annoyed Harry and Ron to no-end.

Unlike Pansy, it was clear what had killed Cormac immediately. A great gash on his neck had left the sheets stained with blood.

Cutting Curse.

Hermione turned away quickly, her eyes landing on the seventh year Ravenclaw beside him. She didn't recognise his face and turned away hastily, emptying her stomach on the stone floor behind her, her stomach unsettled by both the horror of his injuries and the shock of relief that it was no one she knew.

Clearing the floor with a wave of her wand, she turned back to the seventh year, trying to place his face. She was certain she recognised him from somewhere, but it was difficult to focus on that. This student had also been attacked by Greyback, but he hadn't been as lucky as Lavender (she hoped).

His throat had been ripped out.

"Hermione," Katie called softly from the doorway. "Do you need someone with you?"

Hermione swallowed hard. "I want to say no. But I do. You don't have to …"

"I'm the Head Girl," Katie said, coming over to take her hand. "And you have already done more than enough. I need to do this."

"Alright," Hermione conceded. "Do you know who that is?"

Katie paled at the sight of the Ravenclaw. "Yeah, that's …" she cleared her throat. "That's Matthew Rivers. And that," she added, pointing to his house-mate beside him, her eyes still wide open with the same unseeing fear as Pansy's, "is his girlfriend, Marnie Carter. He was a prefect."

"Merlin, of course he was," Hermione whispered.

Katie sniffled. "He was going to propose to her at graduation."

Hermione took a shaky breath. "At least they're together." She pointed her wand at the wound in his throat, murmured a few words, and the skin knotted together.

"I didn't know you could do that with werewolf bites," Katie said shakily.

"You can heal the wounds," Hermione said. "But if they're still alive, it will still leave a nasty scar. And you can't take away the infection." She covered up the four she had identified, and moved on to the next, another Ravenclaw.

"That's …" Katie hesitated. "I don't know her name."

"I do," Hermione said thickly. "That's Laura Ashford. Her father's on the Wizengamot. And she's one of the girls that gave Luna such a hard time."

"What killed her?" Katie asked. "Killing Curse?"

"Maybe," Hermione answered. "Given the angle of her head, I'd say her neck's broken as well. I don't think we'll ever know which came first."

The second Gryffindor was lying between Laura and the last Ravenclaw and Hermione recognised her as well.

"Amelia Kent," she sighed. "She's one of Ginny's dorm-mates."

"Were they close?" Katie asked.

"Not really, I don't think," Hermione said. "In these cases, I don't think that's the point."

With no other injuries, they had to conclude yet another Killing Curse.

"That's four out of six so far," Katie said. "Were the Death Eaters using other spells?"

"Well, unless they were killed instantly, they were sent straight to the infirmary," Hermione pointed out, "and hopefully stabilised."

Katie nodded, moving to the next body, waving a wand over them. "Oh, why did I say anything?"

"Not the Killing Curse?" Hermione asked, glancing at his face. This one she didn't recognise, and she felt another horrible jolt of relief.

"I don't know what it is," Katie said, frowning. "It's just … It's Dark Magic, whatever it is."

"Best leave it to the professionals then," Hermione muttered. "Do you know who he is?

"Adam Milton," Katie whispered. "We dated, when I was in fifth year. Only for a few months and it wasn't … I mean, I didn't …"

Hermione wrapped an arm around her and guided her away to the last three student bodies, all Hufflepuffs

Two of them were identified as seventh year Robert Davey (whose older brother, Roger, had managed to make such a spectacle of himself at the Yule Ball) and fifth-year Isla Kensington.

Proving that Katie had, indeed, spoken too soon, neither of them had been killed with a Killing Curse.

Robert had an open wound on his chest which Hermione had put down to an unfortunately placed Cutting Curse, until they realised that there was something rather important missing.

"How are we supposed to find a human heart?" Katie asked.

"Look," Hermione answered. "We can't exactly summon it; think of the panic. I'll speak to Hogwarts; see if she can guide me to it."

Katie frowned down at Isla. "And what about her?"

Isla had a nasty burn mark across her chest and Hermione unconsciously traced the path of her own scar. "Flame-Whip Curse I think. Jen will know for sure."

The last student was the hardest for Hermione to deal with.

Justin Finch-Fletchley's body was not mangled or damaged in any way, signalling a quick, painless death by Killing Curse, but that didn't ease Hermione's grief. She and Justin had shared a certain camaraderie over both getting Petrified in their second year, and he had often worked with her in Herbology.

"Better go and tell Susan," she told Katie, wiping her eyes. "And Ginny about Amelia. They won't want to hear it second-hand."

"What about Professor Burbage?" Katie asked, her eyes sliding to the body of their teacher.

"Jen will know what to do," Hermione answered with certainty. She re-covered the remaining bodies with the sheets and accompanied Katie out of the antechamber, closing the door gently behind them.

How do I handle this? Every second these parents wait is another second of their hope building.

Stepping onto the dais at the front of the Great Hall, Hermione managed a weak, shaky smile as every eye turned to her. "Would you like me to give you the names of the students killed now or wait for them to get to you?"

"Now," One of the mothers answered. "I can't wait any longer."

There was a flurry of agreement and Hermione nodded. "Alright. But remember, just because your child is not on this list … Lady Black had given us all Portkeys, so these are only the people who were killed instantly, before the Portkey could activate. I cannot guarantee your child's safety." She took a deep breath. "Pansy Parkinson. Cormac McLaggen. Matthew Rivers. Marnie Carter. Laura Ashford. Amelia Kent. Adam Milton. Robert Davey. Isla Kensingon. Justin Finch-Fletchley."

Sobbing tore through the Great Hall, as several families collapsed; at least two of the students were Muggle-born, and Pansy's parents were both Death Eaters, so they were either with Voldemort or locked up in the grounds of Ravenscroft Manor.

"I am truly sorry for your losses," Hermione continued. "I know that's of little comfort, but one of those students was a friend of mine."

"Wait," one of the fathers said shakily. "You said there were eleven bodies."

Hermione heaved a sigh and looked over at Jen. "We lost Professor Burbage."

Professor Sinistra let out a cry. "I told them! I told them they shouldn't leave!"

Alice hurried to her side and wrapped an arm around her, guiding her to a chair.

Jen closed her eyes, turning away from the parents for a second. She had only met Charity a few times, but that was enough for her heart to hurt.

And those kids …

As awful as it sounded, Jen had been hoping that more of the bodies had been adults, even if that would mean more of a personal blow, because they were supposed to be the protectors.

She had done all she could to protect the children of Hogwarts - and it still hadn't been enough.

Lily crossed the floor to where she was standing, handing the baby over. "I always needed Harry at times like this. I don't remember Professor Burbage."

"That's because she only joined the staff a few years ago," Jen said, hugging her daughter close. "She started Hogwarts the year after we graduated, Gryffindor. She taught Muggle Studies, even though she didn't know the first thing about Muggles, bless her heart."

"I'm sorry," Lily murmured, still holding the baby's tiny hand. "How old is she?"

"Less than twenty-four hours," Jen said with a weak laugh. "I had to leave her in the rubble with a boatload of protective charms. We'd managed to completely forget about the full moon - my Patronus wouldn't come, he didn't have a mirror; I had no other way of warning him. And even if I did, he would never have got home in time …"

"It's okay," Lily said, giving her a one-armed hug. "You both got out of it alive, that's the main thing. What's her name?"

"Do you know, we hadn't even thought of that," Jen admitted. "I was a month early." She gazed down at her daughter, who had drifted off to sleep. "I'm surprised she's not screaming."

"I asked one of the house-elves to bring me a bottle," Lily said. "Figured I may as well make myself useful."

Jen breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jade; you're an angel." Her daughter shifted in her arms and she smiled, looking back down at her.

When Lily have given birth to Harry, Jen had walked into the hospital room expecting to meet Daniel James Potter, only to find out that Lily had taken one look at his face and declared that his name was Harry, not Daniel (even though it wasn't a name she and James had ever discussed.

Lily said later that she had just known, upon looking at her child's face, what her name was supposed to be.

Now, as Jen gazed upon her sleeping baby, she knew exactly what Lily had meant. "Serenity," she murmured. "Serenity Hope Lupin."