Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Harry's Tale Part 4

"Harry returned to the Dursleys one last time and they were sent into hiding before Harry himself was taken to the Burrow by the Order of the Phoenix," Teddy explained. "He, Ron and Hermione stayed for Bill and Fleur's wedding but during the wedding a Patronus arrived saying the Ministry had fallen and the Minister was dead."

"Oh, that's horrible," Lily put a hand to her mouth "And during a wedding as well!"

Teddy knew nothing of his parents-in-law's wedding except for this and he didn't know what happened after Ron, Hermione and Harry had left but he could guess it wasn't nice so he went on "Well Harry, Ron and Hermione Apparated away to Muggle London. After a run in with some Death Eaters they took refuge in Grimmauld Place."

"Eugh," Sirius groaned at the mention of his childhood home "How come they had a run in with Death Eaters in muggle London?"

"Voldemort put a taboo on his name," Al explained "And Dad or Aunt Hermione said it."

"Now that's a rather sneaky move," James noted "I suppose it was to try and catch the Order or Harry."

Rose nodded and continued with the timeline "You know how Harry got the locket from the night Dumbledore died, it was a fake and there was a note inside which said someone called R.A.B. had taken the real locket and was going to try and destroy it."

James took over "And Dad was looking around the house and he came across a room which belonged to an R.A.B."

"There aren't any R.A.B.'s in my family or … wait …" Sirius gaped at them all, then whispered "Regulus."

"Yep, he turned on Voldemort and tried to destroy his Horcruxes but he … died in 1979 in the process," explained Lily.

"But that's next year," Sirius gaped; he may hate his parents and the fact that his brother was a Death Eater but he never wanted Regulus dead! "He's only seventeen!"

"I'm sorry Sirius but he tried to stop Voldemort in the end so he can't have been all bad," said Lucy misinterpreting Sirius's face.

"But that's just it," said Sirius angrily "he's not all that bad at all. He's never done anything except try to please my bloody parents. He doesn't deserve to die! Give me a minute." And he turned and stormed outside.

"Sorry, I didn't realise he was close to his brother," Lucy frowned.

"He's not but he would never want anything to happen to him," sighed James and a few minutes later he reappeared in his dog form leaving muddy footprints all over the kitchen.

"Sirius," James groaned "Mum is terrified of dogs, she'll freak if she sees those footprints."

"I'll clear them," Rose volunteered and with a flash of her wand the footprints were gone.

"Thanks," James said as Sirius transformed back into a human.

"So did he do it? Did Regulus destroy the locket?" asked Sirius.

"No," replied Albus "it was still there though, in Grimmauld Place until you died and Mundungas Fletcher stole everything of value and sold it off. But he was caught by a Ministry official who said she'd let him off if he gave her the locket. It was Umbridge, the one who made Dad's life heel for a year."

Lily gasped "How on earth did they get it then?"

"Easy," Fred shrugged "They took Polyjuice Potion, broke into the Ministry of Magic, got the necklace from around Umbridge's neck and freed imprisoned Muggleborns all within an hour."

"Sweet, they broke into the Ministry," Sirius grinned "I have the best godson ever!"

"Why were Muggleborns imprisoned?" Lily frowned.

"Lily, the Death Eaters had taken over Britain, they were rounding up Muggleborns and sending them to Azkaban in dozens," explained Rose angrily thinking of the innocent people who had died there during the war.

"That's worse than this time," Lily gasped.

"This time, Voldemort hasn't gained control of the Ministry," Teddy reminded her. "Unfortunately they didn't escape as easily as Fred said. A Death Eater, Yaxley grabbed Hermione when she Apparated away and she accidently brought him to Grimmauld Place so they had to go on the run for real. They were camping in a tent with no actual food, that sort of on the run."

"But they got the locket," said Rose positively.

"But they couldn't destroy it," added Lucy negatively.

"That a bit of a pain," stated James.

"So they camped out for a few months and I get the feeling something big happened before Christmas but they never told us what," Teddy frowned. "But on Christmas Eve they went to Godric's Hollow to visit Lily and James's graves. But they were attacked by Voldemort's snake Nagini and only narrowly escaped. Unfortunately Harry's wand got broken in the process."

"His wand broke," Remus gasped.

"How'd he survive without a wand?" asked Sirius unable to imagine life without his wand.

"No idea to be perfectly honest, they got another wand from somewhere," answered Albus. "Not long after that though they found Gryffindor's sword and Uncle Ron was able to use it to destroy the locket."

"Wicked," breathed James and Sirius.

"The next big thing that happened we don't actually know a lot about," Rose frowned; she hated not knowing the full story "Mum and Dad refuse point black to tell us anything except Mum was tortured and they only narrowly escaped from some unmentionable place along with Luna, Dean Thomas, Ollivander and Dobby the house-elf. However Dobby was killed in the process."

"Poor little elf," said Lily sadly "I always lay flowers on his grave when I go to visit Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur. Daddy buried him the muggle way with a spade and everything. Dobby was so brave."

"He saved their lives by apparating them away to Shell Cottage – that's where Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur live," added Albus.

"Is your mother alright?" Remus asked Rose.

Rose nodded "She's perfectly fine now but she was almost shaking when she and Dad told Hugo and I the story. We haven't brought it up since"

"And you really don't know anything else?" Sirius asked looking like he wanted the full story "Any of you?"

"No," Lucy replied looking shocked that her aunt had been tortured "In fact I didn't even know that happened until now."

"Well at least Hermione's alright," said Lily with relief as she was hit with a pang of sadness when she remembered the time travellers had told them that Alice and Frank would end up being tortured into insanity.

James couldn't actually bring himself to say anything. He was for the first time in his life it seemed shocked into silence. His future son and his friends were only seventeen and eighteen and they had faced so many horrors that not even the foulest of wizards deserved to face – especially at their age. James was the same age as they were and he would say he was brave but he couldn't imagine doing everything they had done. His only comfort was that the three of them had survived – their children were living proof.

"Tell me it doesn't get any worse," croaked James weakly. Lily saw the pain in his eyes and laced her fingers through his.

The time travellers all looked at each other warily.

"It does get worse," said Lily at last. "But afterwards it all gets a whole lot better."

James nodded "Well let's hear it then, I'd rather we got it over with."

Fred grinned "You'll like this bit though, they break into Gringotts."

"No way," scoffed Remus "It's impossible."

James seemed to have brightened up slightly and Sirius looked in awe.

"You mean, they really broke into Gringotts and lived to tell the tale," Sirius laughed.

"Not to mention they robbed a high security vault and escaped on a blind dragon," said Lucy airily "Nothing difficult, just a walk in the park."

"They robbed a high-security vault!"

"They escaped on a dragon!"

"They weren't killed by the goblins!"

Remus, James and Sirius all grinned "wicked."

Lily was amazed but also very curious "What exactly were they robbing anyway?"

"The cup of Hufflepuff," Al answered "Then they went straight to Hogwarts to find the last Horcrux."

"Did they not destroy the cup first?" Remus questioned.

Rose shook her head "Griphook, the goblin, double-crossed them and took the sword of Gryffindor."

"Smarmy little gits, goblins are," James muttered.

"Well this was the night that the Final Battle took place," explained Lily. "It's also called the Battle of Hogwarts though."

"To be honest, we don't know so much about it," Fred said "I mean we go to the memorial each year but our family don't talk about it."

"Understandably," Remus nodded knowingly "I'm assuming a lot of people died that night."

Teddy looked pained; there was well over fifty people died that night but there was only two which really mattered to him.

Lily noticed Teddy's face and her eyes flashed to Remus "is this when Remus …" she trailed off unable to finish. The idea that none of her friends would live to reach their fortieth birthday was too hard to comprehend.

Teddy nodded "yeah, this was it."

Lily put her arm round Teddy hoping to comfort him and took over the story "Voldemort was destroyed that night. Ron and Hermione went down to the Chamber of Secrets and used a Basilisk fang to destroy Hufflepuff's cup."

"That was enterprising," James sounded impressed "so that only left two Horcruxes."

Al nodded "They found the diadem of Ravenclaw in the Room of Requirement and it was destroyed. Draco Malfoy's friend Crabbe set fire to the room with Fiendfyre and it has the power to destroy Horcruxes. He was trying to kill Dad, Ron and Hermione I guess, but it backfired and he died."

"Serves him right," Sirius mumbled not knowing who Crabbe was but deciding that if he was trying to kill his godson, then he got what he deserved.

"Hold on, you left out Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione getting together," Lucy interrupted.

Rose perked up "it's a great story – how could you leave it out, Al!"

"Sorry, I didn't realise it was an important detail," Al smirked knowing Rose would disagree.

"Of course it's important! I wouldn't be here if it hadn't have happened," Rose retorted playfully hitting his arm.

"I'd like to hear it, might lighten the story up, I suppose," James broke in.

Rose looked at Albus smugly "well, it happened in the Room of Requirement. Mum and Dad had just got back from the Chamber of Secrets and Mum had a huge armful of Basilisk fangs. Then Dad asked how the house-elves were going to escape."

"Escape? They'd make good fighters," Sirius interrupted "well Kreacher would anyway, that little blighter's been after me for years. If I wasn't blood related to my mother, that elf might've killed me."

"Well, Mum is a huge supporter of elf rights," Rose explained.

"Yeah, so as soon as Uncle Ron mentioned them, she threw the fangs away and practically jumped him," Fred laughed.

"She didn't jump him," Rose protested "it was very romantic."

James started laughing "especially with Dad standing there like an awkward third-wheel."

Rose glared at him while Sirius, James and Remus tried to stifle their laughter.

"I think it's lovely," Lily spoke up "they were in the middle of a battle. Who knows what could have happened."

"Exactly," Rose grinned at Lily.

"So then, what about the other Horcrux?" Remus asked curiously "you mentioned a snake earlier."

"Yeah, Voldemort's pet, Nagini," James nodded "but a bit happened before that."

The Marauders and Lily all noticed as the time traveller's face's fell.

Remus spoke up "so apart from Dora and me … did someone else …"

He trailed off and Fred answered "yes. Remember how I said I was named after my uncle who was a war hero. Well, he's different. Most of my family are war heroes but Uncle Fred, he … well he was killed during the battle."

Lily gasped "No!"

"Obviously we never knew him," Fred explained looking unnaturally downcast "but we can see how much he meant to our family, especially my Dad. He hides it well, but I don't think he's ever got over it."

"Well of course not," James said casting a look at his two best friends, the reminder that he would lose them – or that they would lose him stung. "That's not something that you're just going to be okay with."

Lucy also looked rather upset. She was the only one of her cousins who was a twin and although she and Molly didn't see eye to eye on everything, they'd spent their whole life together and she was closer to no one than Molly. Every time their Uncle Fred was brought up, it reminded her how much she loved her sister and made the thought of losing her unbearable.

Teddy decided to move on with the story "Voldemort and the Death Eaters had set up camp in the forest and Harry decided to turn himself over."

"WHAT!" Sirius exploded "After all this, he just decides to hand himself over!"

"But he survives, doesn't he?" Lily looked at the time travellers desperately.

James grinned at her "Al, Lily and I wouldn't be her if he didn't."

Sirius looked marginally calmer "but why? Why did he do it?"

"Because he was a Horcrux too," Lily said sadly; she hated to think about how close her father had come to dying on that night. "It was the only way to defeat Voldemort apparently."

Remus looked completely aghast as he asked, "how on earth did he survive walking straight into You-Know-Who's camp with the intention of dying?"

"Sheer dumb luck," chuckled Fred trying to lighten the mood.

James explained more accurately, "When Voldemort cast the killing curse, instead of killing Dad, he killed the Horcrux."

"Wicked," Sirius grinned. "That's some kid you got there, Prongs, surviving the killing curse twice."

James smiled sadly, pleased that his future son survived but equally horrified that Harry had been so close to death for the umpteenth in his not overly long life.

"So then what happened?" Lily questioned eagerly wanting to get to the part were Voldemort was defeated so she could rest easy.

"Dad pretended to be dead so as to make sure Voldemort didn't actually kill him and then the most badass thing you've ever heard happened!" Al replied excitedly.

"Professor Neville, a BAMF if I ever saw one," grinned Lucy.

"What did he do?" asked James intrigued.

"Oh you know, just a standard day for Professor Neville," Rose laughed. "Gets the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat and then slices the head off Nagini, the last Horcrux therefore making Voldemort completely vulnerable."

"Absolute hero," Teddy nodded completely seriously.

"I really want to meet this man," Sirius said in awe. "That is an epic finish to a battle."

Remus grinned, "please tell him how much we admire him for doing that."

"He'll appreciate hearing that," Teddy smiled at his father. "He's always spoken highly of you."

"I'm glad I'll have a good impact on his life then," Remus returned the smile easily.

"So is that it then?" Lily inquired "After Neville kills the snake, is that the end?"

"Yep," Lily replied "The Death Eaters didn't last long after that especially after the final standoff between Daddy and Voldemort. Obviously I don't need to explain who won that one."

James, Sirius, Lily and Remus all cheered.

"Thank goodness it's all over!" exclaimed James "that was one hell of a story."

"Lily! You left out an important detail!" Fred interrupted the cheering.

"Please let this be good news," Sirius groaned as he stopped jumping around.

"Don't worry, I think you'll appreciate this part," Fred promised. "You see, our amazing Grandma Weasley did something that a whole lot of people had been wanting to do for years."

"Go skinny dipping in the lake?" suggested James.

"Stop!" moaned Al as he rubbed his eyes, "I want to remove that mental image for all eternity!"

James grinned at his grandson's misfortune.

Fred looked equally disturbed, "thankfully no, Grandma Weasley restrained herself from that impulse. No, she straight up murdered Bellatrix Lestrange!"

Sirius jumped straight out of his chair and started dancing around the kitchen singing "Ding dong, the witch is dead!"

"Can't deny she had it coming," Remus said in a cold tone as he thought of all the atrocities she had done and was yet to do.

"I'm never going to be able to look at Molly again without wanting to constantly congratulate her," chuckled James.

"Well all's well that ends well," quoted Lily, relaxed now that she knew no more major catastrophes were on store for Harry.

"Exactly," Rose grinned, "the wizarding world has been at peace for nearly 30 years now."

"We can just hope it stays that way for a long time to come!" said Remus hopefully.

"I think our main problem currently is the fallout of James ruining Rose's wedding," sniggered Al.

Rose's mood visibly deflated as she recalled the events that had brought them there. James looked equally upset, unlike years ago at Teddy's wedding, he wasn't an immature teenager anymore. Whilst he was happy he had got to meet his grandparents and their friends, he was genuinely sorry for his accidental actions that he knew had repercussions for not just Rose and Scorpius but also possibly Alice and himself. He could only hope they would be able to get back to their own time sooner rather than later.

A/N: thanks for reading if you have got this far then you must be very dedicated as I haven't updated in about 2 or 3 years I think. Sorry if you've been waiting for an update, I have always said I will finish this and I still intend to. I actually wrote this back in 2012 and am just adding finishing touches to this chapter before I update it.

Many thanks for reading.

Thanks if you review!

Uploaded: 4/12/2015