Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.

Triumvirate of power.

The three children started to concentrate on their magic. As they went deeper into meditation, a soft wind picked up, making their hair float around their heads. The lights in the large Hall dimmed, even if the sun was still shinning through the large windows. Phoenix, who had till then been holding the soul stone, dropped it. Instead of falling to the ground, the gem started to float and with their magic, they moved it so it was hovering just over the inert body of the Dark Lord. No sooner was the stone in place, the dagger fell out of Voldemort's body.

A dark mist flew out of the dead body, expanding around the room, clearly trying to evade the stone still floating over the body. As soon as the mist reached the circle drawn inside the triangle, a brilliant silvery light flew up, enclosing the mist in its confines.

The trio opened their eyes when they felt the mist starting to fight against their own magic. Taking a deep breath, they joined their magic tightly together and started to reduce the circle that held Voldemort's soul in place.

Dragon gritted his teeth as the circle slowly started to close tighter and the soul enclosed in it fought harder and harder to get free. It was taking all his concentration to try and make sure that nothing would go wrong. One simple mistake and all their work would have been for naught.

As the circle of light closed, the earth below them started to shake. Without the constrains of his body, Voldemort was now pure magic, and Gryffin could only be grateful that there were three of them holding the circle, else they would have been overpowered just after starting.

Phoenix felt relieved when the circle finally reached the size of a coin. The black mist was completely condensed under the soul stone. Now, the only thing they needed to do was to force Voldemort up towards the stone.

As one, the children raised their hands in a sharp movement, and the circle became a dense disk of light on the floor and started to shot up, dragging the now shrieking soul with it towards the stone.

The wind in the room picked up, howling as chairs and crashed against the walls and glass shattered all around them. The three teenagers remained unconcerned about the destruction happening around them, they just watched as the dark soul slammed against the stone. The fire within the powerful gem flared brightly and the wards that had forced Voldemort to enter the stone now closed around it, sealing the Dark Lord inside it.

All sound ceased at once, the stone fell to the ground and rolled gently until it came against a turned table and stopped its movement. Taking a deep breath, Gryffin closed his eyes and sat down heavily on the floor, panting laboriously.

"Merlin, that was even worse than I expected."

Phoenix hummed in agreement from where she had sunk on her knees. Her whole body hurt, still vibrating with the strong magic they had just channelled.

Dragon was the only one still standing; he slowly made his way towards the stone and carefully picked it up. Looking inside, he was mesmerized by the sight of the black soul fighting against the fire. Slowly, the darkness inside the stone disappeared, indicating the death of one of the most powerful wizards in history. Sighing, Harry sat down and leaned against a turned table.

"I can't believe it's done."

The red haired boy smiled tiredly. "Yeah, I don't think it has really sunk in yet. I feel like I could sleep for weeks."

The other two nodded in agreement. They remained seated for a long while, catching their breath and gathering some of their strength back. Finally, Phoenix pushed herself up, using a table to support her tired body and help her shaky legs hold her weight.

"We should get out of here; I want a comfortable, soft, warm bed after this."

Harry chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "I think you'll have to wait for that; they will surely want an explanation about what happened."

Griffin scowled lightly. "Damn, I'm afraid you're right."

Rolling her eyes at the two still seated teens, Hermione started to move towards the door. Griffin groaned as he saw that. "Can't you wait for a while longer? I don't want to answer questions right now."

The girl shook her head and continued on her slow way towards the door. "I want a bed. The sooner we deal with this, the sooner we'll be in a bed."

Harry grumbled under his breath. "I'm not sure, I don't really look forward being copped in the hospital wing."

Ignoring him, Phoenix finally reached the door, and after gently placing a hand on it, she muttered a few words to lower the wards. Sinking down in a chair that had been shoved towards the door, she watched as the double door slowly opened, revealing a large crowd of people waiting outside. The silence was suddenly broken as people started to rush inside taking in the destroyed Hall and the dead body still lying on the ground.

Madam Pomfrey immediately started to move her wand over Hermione, who rolled her eyes in exasperation but otherwise remained still under the nurse's care.

Harry found himself suddenly engulfed by strong arms that pulled him tightly against a broad chest. Blinking, he looked up into the deep concerned eyes of his father, who was now holding him tightly. His mother was standing at their side, a hand on her rounded stomach and teary eyes. With a bit of help from the silent man that held him, Harry stood up and immediately was embrace by the woman, who promptly started to cry against his shoulder.

"Oh, Mum, don't cry. Everything is alright now, it's over."

Lily nodded but didn't move from her position against his shoulder. James smiled lightly and hugged them both tightly. Relief coursing through him at the knowledge that his family was finally safe. Sirius and Remus soon joined them, looking carefully over Harry to make sure he was alright. The deep line of exhaustion that covered the boy's face showed just how difficult it had been to beat Voldemort. Remus was about to suggest that they move Harry to the hospital wing when Dumbledore's voice rang over the Hall, silencing everyone.

"A great thing has happened here today. Lord Voldemort has died at the hands of three powerful wizards. They have given us peace again and for that, I thank them."

As one, everyone turned to look at the three teenagers, deep gratefulness rolling off them in waves. Harry took the chance to look around to see where his two companions were.

Ron was in much the same position as he was, being clutched to his mother and not even trying to dislodge her. Hermione, on the other hand, was leaning against Charlie, who was talking softly to the girl's ear.

Everyone's attention turned to Dumbledore as his voice rose again. "Now I ask you to return to your obligations. The aurors have a bunch of Death Eaters to question, and the name of all those of us that want peace, I ask you to conduct fair trials, with the use of Veritaserum so that no one who is guilty gets away and that no one who is innocent gets punished."

Many people started to cheer at his words, knowing that if left to their own devices, the Ministry would accept money in exchange of freedom. With those words, Dumbledore had ensured that everyone would get a trial under Veritaserum and that the people would watch out for possible corruption. As the aurors started to move out of the room, the old wizard turned to his staff. Softly, he told them what he needed them to do. After a while, the only members of the staff remaining in the Great Hall were Madam Pomfrey, Snape, and Albus.

"Come on, let's go to my office. It's much more comfortable up there, and I think that our young friends could do with a nice cup of tea."

The nurse grumbled under her breath; she would have preferred to have them in the Hospital wing at once, but after working so many years at Hogwarts, she knew that arguing with the headmaster was useless.

Harry, much to his surprise, found himself scooped up into his father's arms.

"Dad! I can walk, you know."

The older man smiled softly. "I would hope so, after all, I've seen you do it often enough."

Ignoring the incredulous look he received from his son, he continued on his way out of the Hall and to the headmaster's office. Sirius, Remus, and Lily followed behind him, amused at the scowl painted on the boy's face even if he made no attempt to force his father to put him down.

A soft voice touched his mind, flowing with mirth. 'Enjoying yourself up there, Brother?'

The scowl on Dragon's face didn't change but his thoughts were tinged with warmth. 'Yeah, but don't you dare say anything about it, Brother, wouldn't want him to think I like being carried around.'

Hermione's laughter joined Griffin's, but luckily for Dragon, they reached the headmaster's office before neither could answer him back. It took a bit for everyone to settle down and tea to be served, but finally they were ready to explain what had happened.

After Dumbledore prompted them to start with their explanation on what had happened, Hermione started to speak, explaining how they had been getting closer to Snape when Myrtle appeared and explained what was happening.

"We decided we had the perfect chance to end it all. We knew who the spy in Gryffindor was and we thought we could use him to get close to Voldemort. Knowing the Dark Lord, we thought he would probably mark Colin for his help; after all, if he marked Peter Pettigrew for his help, Colin wouldn't be so surprising. Having decided that, Dragon quickly left, apparating to Hogwarts so he could take Colin's place while the two of us continued our search for Professor Snape and his auror friend."

A soft grumble came out of the dark haired professor, about how Tonks was most definitely not his friend. Ignoring him, Griffin continued their tale.

"It took us a while to find them; they had hidden themselves very well in a cave very deep in the forest. When we finally managed to track them down, we found they had both been injured and were in no state to apparate away. Luckily, Phoenix's tears took quick care of the injuries and we managed to get out of there quickly. Since we didn't know if Voldemort had attacked yet, we went back to the Chamber of Secrets; it wouldn't be good for us if the Dark Lord heard that Snape was safely back at the castle. We waited in the Chamber until Harry joined us there, an unconscious Colin with him."

Hermione watched as her friend took a sip of tea and turned to look at Harry, settled between his parents, telling him with a glance that it was his turn to talk. Acknowledging her request, the dark haired teen sat a bit straighter and started to talk.

"It was actually very easy to take Colin out. The only problem I had was to find him. He had left the Common rooms to look for a safe location to sleep for a while. I finally stumbled over him in a weird room; it changed every time I thought about something new. After that, it was really easy to stun him and take him down to the Chamber. Professor Snape was kind enough to give me a bit of polyjuice so I could turn into Colin and play my part of the plan. What happened after that you have already seen."

Dumbledore nodded pensively. "I still don't understand why Colin turned on us. He was always such a nice boy and he seemed to like you much, Harry."

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "We'll have to ask him. Myrtle thinks it had to do with his sister's death, and I'm inclined to agree with her. The death of a loved one coupled with the wrong influence would affect anybody."

Everyone nodded in agreement; Colin was not the first one nor would he be the last one to take the wrong path because of some misguided emotions. They could only hope that now that the Dark Lord was gone, things would settle down and they could continue to live their lives in peace.

Snape, who had remained mostly silent until now, spoke. "What about the tools you used to kill Voldemort? They are very powerful weapons, and if they fell in the wrong hands..."

Before any of the teens could answer, a soft glow started to form above them and a brilliant Phoenix appeared. He was much larger than either Fawkes or Hermione's animagi form. Everyone watched him in awe as he settled on Fawkes' usual perch and watched over them in silence. After a minute, a soft voice rang in their heads.

"The weapons will be taken into my custody until such a time that they are needed once again. Let's hope it will not happen, but one can never know, and the Darkness will not be banished just because Lord Voldemort has disappeared."

As he finished his speech, the dagger and the soul stone appeared in front of him, and in a bright flash of light, disappeared. Instead of going with them, the Great Phoenix looked towards his three protégés. Quietly, he spoke so only the three of them could hear him.

"You have done me proud, Young Ones. It is now time for you to live in peace and remember that you'll never be alone again because you have each other." The large bird started to glow softly. "Rest for now, you have earned it."

Griffin felt his eyes start to grow heavy. He knew that their mentor was pulling them to sleep but he didn't care right now. He was tired and the warmth that enveloped him was just too enticing to resist. With a large yawn, he rested his head against his father's shoulder and gently slipped into a deep, healing sleep.

The adults watched in amazement as the three teens started to glow softly and closed their eyes. In a minute they could all tell that they were asleep and the glow disappeared from around them. The silence was broken by the Phoenix's soft thrilling that translated into words in their minds. While his voice had been soft and kind before, it now held a sharp edge in it.

"I'm only going to say this once. Never betray them again, because should you do it, they will resist and next time, they could take you all down if they wished to do it. It's time for them to enjoy their much earned peace. Let them enjoy what remains of their childhood."

And without waiting for an answer, the magnificent bird disappeared, leaving a stunned group behind them.

Still deeply in thought, they brought the three teenagers to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey immediately took charge of them and threw everyone out with orders to wash up and eat something.

Everything settled down after that. The trio was held in the hospital wing for three days, much to their annoyance. When they finally were allowed out, they each went back with their families, decided to regain the love and trust that had once existed between them and always knowing that they would never be alone, no matter how far away they were from each other.

The End.

A/N: Well, that's it then, the last chapter of The Betrayal series, I hope you enjoyed them and no, there won't be any other sequels, if anyone feels like writing some more on it feel free to do so, as long as you warn me ( always love reading variations of fics). It's been a few years since I first posted The Betrayal, and I would like to thank you for all the reviews you've been sending me over this time. I would also like to thanks Vinnie once again, for her work as my beta. I hope you keep enjoying my fics,

Polaris.