Disclaimer: For the last time, i don't own Harry Potter. I also don't own anything by Loius Sachar or Annie Dalton.

Geth342: Well, this is the last chapter. There is now a sequel to the story- Hide My Name With Fear. Feel free to check it out.

This chapter is dedicated to every single person who put me on alert, who added me to their favourites, who took the time to review my story (even if most people did seem to stop around chapter 22) and who even read this far. You are all awesome and i can't thank you enough :)

This chapter is also dedicated to my older brother who, when my mother said that i would one day be embarrased to put my writing up on a website, said that he was an adult who very much enjoyed what he had read of this story and gave me the confidence to finish this story.

For the last time, i hope you enjoy this chapter and please read and review :)

Chapter 25: End of a Life

-'Millions of human children are dying of hunger because rich countries couldn't care if they live or die! And the powers that be say we mustn't interfere with their free will! Well, that sucks! If you want humans to change, angels are going to have to make waves!'- Making Waves by Annie Dalton.

-The secret was to take small steps and just keep moving forward. If he tried to take too big a step, the current would knock him off his feet and carry him back downstream. - Small Steps by Louis Sachar

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I know that I possess a lot of the qualities found in my house. I am clever. I can keep my head in a bad situation and see the right way out. I am brave but not to the point of stupidity. I care about those I love. I stand up for what I believe in, no matter what the cost, and I'm not afraid to let people know what I think.

In fact, the only quality that I do not have is one that many Slytherins do not have. It is a quality that is associated with my house but has never been stated as a part of it; I am not evil. I cannot hurt someone for no real reason and I cannot fight for something that I do not believe in. If I hurt someone, I will feel remorse at some point.

It is one year to the day since the Hogwarts student Michelle Victoria Grant was murdered by the wizard Daniel Skoloro in the 'Battle of the Snakes'. It is almost one year to the day since I became a magical outlaw and Daniel Skoloro was imprisoned in Azkaban for life.

After Shelly passed away, the battle sort of fell apart. Seeing an actual death had sobered everyone up and no one- not even Adam- felt like fighting anymore. Instead, the ministry was summoned and people started to try and revive other people.

To this day, it still surprises me that no one apart from Shelly was killed in that fight. Everyone was hurt and about a quarter of people had very serious injuries but no one apart from Shelly has died as a result of that battle. It's been viewed as nothing less than a miracle by the majority of the magical world.

After arresting Skoloro, the Aurors began to question people about the events of the battle and who was behind it all. This became a problem for me. Everyone mentioned that I had performed the Cruciatus curse on Skoloro although some added that I had been under stress at the time and had been trying to stop the battle. In addition, Adam decided to lay the blame at my feet as did all of his friends and a lot of other random students who knew that I was a trouble-maker, found out about the plan and assumed that the whole battle had been my idea. In fairness, I didn't exactly do myself any favours by deciding to honour Shelly by telling the exact truth (bar my relationship with Tammy).

It didn't take long for the Aurors to decide who had caused the battle- very few people had covered for me and most of them had been from my house (Simon Ackley and Rhian Groves were the only two non-Slytherins who covered for me. Jon Stickler didn't cover for me but he did point out that I was the only one who tried to stop the fight). In addition, I had performed an Unforgivable Curse, although leniency would be provided in that case. They arrested me.

There were only two weeks left of term so they decided to hold me in the Castle until it was time for my trial. I guess they didn't want people to hear about what a shambles Hogwarts was if a fifteen year old could pull off an entire battle. But their plan backfired. One afternoon, when most people were outside enjoying the weather and my guards had gotten bored and wandered off (which they were prone to doing. I think they thought that I was so remorseful, I would act like a good boy until my trial) I escaped.

Due to my solitary confinement, I had had a lot of time to plan an escape. I had been sitting in the dorm about five days after the battle when I decided to put my plan into action.

First, I went to Seifer's bed and took his broom, replacing it with some money and a note saying that I would try to pay the rest off and I was sorry. I packed my bag with a mix of Muggle and Wizard clothing as well as a few other items. One of the guards had told me where my wand was hidden (he felt sorry for me and always struck up a conversation with me. It wasn't very hard to get the information out of him) and I had snuck out and got it the night before. That was one of the riskiest parts of my plan- if I had been caught, the security around me would have tightened and I would have ended up in Azkaban. But luck was on my side and I soon had my wand with me. With it, I performed a glamour charm on myself (not a very good one) and a disillusionment charm (equally bad) and then ran up to the North Tower and to a window. I leapt onto the broom and flew away, despite the fact that I hated flying and the sky was a clear blue. No one realised that I was missing for another three hours.

I hid in the Muggle countryside in England for a week. I would go to the corner shop and steal food once a day but, otherwise, I stayed hidden from the population. When I did venture out, I wore a hooded jumper with the hood up over my face despite the hot weather- it was easier if no one saw my face. Then, I returned to the Wizarding world.

The first thing that I did was to get the Trace removed from me in a shady back-alley. I had to use the birthday money I had with me. It was expensive but worth it. Then, I returned to the Muggle world and found some short jobs I could do to earn enough money to get the tracing spell that had been put on my wand removed from it. After that, I was set.

I spend different amounts of time in the two worlds. I applied to an education programme in the Muggle World and studied for a Business Studies AS Level- my reading of my grandfather's book really helped- (I had and still have no idea as to what my OWL grades were. I can guess vaguely but that's as far as it goes. It's probably too difficult to find someone who doesn't want to be found with an owl because no one appears to have tried it) as well as a few GCSES. It was hard to do it all in one year and on limited time but I think I coped (apart from in maths. I had done an Arithmancy OWL but one paper required a calculator and things such as Sin and Cos. The best I could do with my calculator was to add two numbers together.) I also do part time jobs such as handing out leaflets or cleaning windows and I'm hopefully going to study Business Studies to A level and maybe a few more subjects to AS. A little bit of magic when no one is looking never hurts either.

I also spend time in the Wizarding world doing more shady jobs and learning a few new spells from Theodore Nott, the man who had suffered because of the original war. He lives in a dangerous alley in Manchester in very poor conditions and the first time I went to see him, I was very wary. Now, however, the local criminals are fairly used to me and sometimes offer me jobs. Considering that I'm on the run from the law, the legality of my work never really bothers me. With him, I became more accomplished at glamour and disillusionment charms as well as learning some practical spells. In return, I pay him or do odd jobs for him.

I visit my family at least once a fortnight but I have no pattern as to when I show up. I feel guilty for putting my parents through the fact that their only son is a criminal but it can't be helped. There was no way that I was going to Azkaban. Every time I visit, I talk for a bit about anything but magic and play with Holly; then I leave. Holly's grown bigger now. She hasn't started speaking but I'm sure she will soon. She still plays with my doll.

My parents have taken on a policy of hiding my existence from their friends and telling Matt that I'm at camps or on courses in the holidays. I'm not sure whether this is out of shame or a desire to protect me. They have also decided not to tell Holly about me exactly- she will meet me but my life won't be discussed with her and, unless she's also magic, the wizarding world will never be mentioned to her.

In the meantime, I've changed my appearance a little bit. I've grown a bit taller (I didn't actually do that on purpose), I've become a bit stronger from all the grunt work I do, my hair is longer than it ever was and I've pierced one ear. It's not a dramatic change but it's enough of one I think. In any case, I usually perform a glamour charm or just wear a hooded garment if I'm out in public.

I'm not scared of heights any more. When I want to go to some places, I use Seifer's broom and I've done it so often that it just doesn't scare me, although I am still a bit wary. I prefer catching the train.

I often think about my time at Hogwarts and the death of Shelly Grant. At the time, I blamed Adam for starting the fight but my exile has given me more time to consider facts.

Tammy was right. I should never have started the whole plan by making waves. In some cases, that's the only option but in my case, it wasn't. Despite what I said at the end of the battle, I was the one who started the plan. I advocated violence. It might not have been my decision, but it was me who caused the battle and me who killed Shelly.

Violence doesn't solve problems. It causes them. There are some times when it's right to fight, but I guess I should have made it clearer. Many of the students of Hogwarts said that they weren't actually aware that we hated the way we were treated and if we had just asked, they would probably have eased up. I don't believe most of them but maybe they had a point. None of them knew why we were so violent. If we had explained it to begin with, they would have understood.

Amazingly, a lot of Slytherins weren't punished. Every older wizard who took part was- some were imprisoned, others given community service and two had their wands snapped- and some Slytherins were given an incredible amount of detentions or expelled but most got off with very little punishment. Maybe it would have looked bad in the press if an entire house were punished. The only thing that irritates me is that Adam escaped punishment. Sometimes, life just isn't fair.

I've only seen my friends once since the events of last year. When they were going to their families for Christmas, I went to the platform and found them all. I wore a hooded cloak and people weren't paying much attention to me anyway. Tahir, Florrie, Jake and Kali all looked away when I revealed my face to them, and told me that I should go. Seifer told me that all the Slytherins were on thin ice and that if I wanted to remain safe, I should stay away. He told me not to worry about the broom and wished me luck. I did the same for him and then he wandered back to his adopted family, leaving me alone and friendless.

The fact that I haven't been caught after that shows that my friends did want to give me a second chance at life. Their turning away was a way of saving themselves and me. See no evil, do no evil.

The one thing that I can't change is my guilt. Every time that I've ever tried to justify Shelly to myself, I always remember the day that she betrayed me to her house and my oath that I would make her pay for it. It hadn't been an empty threat but it hadn't been entirely serious. My idea of 'making her pay for it' had been just making her really upset. Sometimes, I ask myself whether I actually made her regret betraying me or whether it was the other way round.

The other thing that hurts me about her was the fact that although I heartily disliked her, I guess I really did have a grudging respect for her. She was smart and fair. She could have acted like she hated me and she could have betrayed my family secret at any time she wanted, but she didn't because she knew how much Tammy liked me. I like to think that she was being honourable as well but I guess I'll never know now.

As well as feeling guilty about Shelly, I also feel terrible about Tammy. She put her trust in me ever since we were eleven and I saved her and Shelly from Jon Stickler and Darren Trott…and it ended her up in hospital. She lies in a coma and has done ever since Ryan Reaver attacked her. He was expelled for it but that didn't really matter much because he had already done his NEWTs. I have no doubt that if I hadn't stayed talking to her in the battle, she would have come out better. When I first heard that she was in a coma, I thought that, with magic, she would be out in no time. But there are some things which magic can't change. I learnt that the hard way.

I think it might be a curse to know me. I get away with things and survive; in that respect, I'm lucky. But the people around me get hurt. In that respect, I'm not so lucky.

I try to visit Tammy once a week. For obvious reasons, I have to sneak in- they're not going to let a hooded stranger/ complete stranger/ known criminal into St. Mungo's- and the first time I tried it, I nearly got myself caught. I showed up in a hoodie and heard her family talking with the doctor about her condition. The one thing which got me was the venom with which her father spoke about me- evidently, he blamed me for this (he may have had a point) - and what he thought should happen to me (a lot worse than Azkaban). In a way, it reminded me of myself.

Now, however, I'm used to it. I always sneak in towards the night under a disillusionment charm and wait for anyone inside the room to leave. She's in a room by herself so it's not that hard to avoid random people visiting other patients.

It always spooks me when I see her. She's still beautiful but there's lifelessness to her. The only movement that she makes is breathing. Her hair is limp, her arms just lie on the covers and her eyes remain closed. Her mouth is slightly open but that's it. That's a description for her on any day. The only thing that changes is the cleanliness of her hair as they only clean it every few days, I think.

When I visit her, I talk about random things. I tell her about my day and my life. I regale her with random stories from school and from my primary school. I remind her of all the good times we had and I tell her of some of the bad times we had. I told her once that Shelly had been killed but I've never mentioned it since. It's too painful. Even then she didn't respond.

I do all this because I've heard that talking to people in a coma helps; they have acute hearing or something. Also, because it helps me to have someone to talk to; there is no one else who I can tell all my troubles to. And I still love her. I've often wondered whether I meant what I said, that night before the battle, and every time I've visited Tammy, I've decided that I did.

Every time I leave, I do the same thing. I tell her I'm leaving and then I kiss her on the lips and whisper that I love her. The first time I did it, the coolness of her lips frightened me but now I'm used to it. I want to prove that I'll stick with her even if she is in a coma and I'm not the wizarding world's favourite person.

I've heard the healers saying that they are not sure if Tammy will ever improve and that her family are taking it hard. They think that she was injured too harshly and that, considering the magic that is performed on her every day, it's a bad sign that she never responds to anything. Some healers suspect that she will die soon.

I don't want to believe this. I want her to live. And I think that I will get my wish.

Last night, when I kissed her, I saw her finger move.

FIN