Suddenly, Harry and I were surrounded by whiteness. I nearly had to squint at how bright it was. We walked back and forth, trying to make out where we were. "Do you have any idea where we are?" I asked Harry. A deep, smooth voice answered me from behind. "You are at King's Cross." I turned to the source of the voice. An old wizard with long hair and a long beard stood near one of the gleaming white benches. Dumbledore. "Ariel, so nice to see you again. I see you've found Harry," he smiled. Farther away, Harry was looking at something under another bench. Dumbledore walked over to Harry. "This is another piece of Voldemort's soul come to die," he said simply. Harry looked at Dumbledore. "How do you know Ariel?" he asked. "I have been to her school in the U.S. I met her there. Of course, the whole school was buzzing about the girl who lived. The boy who lived was all the way in Scotland at Hogwarts," he replied with a laugh. Harry cracked a smile. Dumbledore motioned for me to come to them. He put an arm around each of us. "You two have a choice," he began. "We do?" Harry interjected. Dumbledore nodded. "If you two decide to, you can board a train right now." "Where will it take us?" Harry asked. "On!" said Dumbledore. "You can also choose to go back. You will be hurt, yes, but you can live. The pain of the spell will only last a short time," he finished reassuringly. Harry stepped up beside me and grabbed my hand. "I want to go back," he said gently. "We need to finish what we started. "Let's go Harry," I said. I squeezed his hand.

We were back in the woods, in the clearing. I could hear voices around us, but couldn't bring myself to move. "Are they dead, my lord?" a woman's voice asked. "Narcissa, go check!" Voldemort ordered. A moment later, I felt a woman hovering over me. I desperately wanted to reach out and find Harry,to make sure he was okay, but pain racked my body, making it still impossible to move. I felt the woman get farther away. "Dead, my lord," she confirmed. "Let the beast carry them to Hogwarts to show the others," he snapped. I heard a loud, obnoxious sob. "Little Harry, sweet Ariel," a familiar voice whispered as they picked us up, throwing us each over a shoulder. Hagrid. I felt myself bounce lifelessly on his shoulder for a long while as he carried Harry and I out of the woods and up to the school. I assumed we were there when Hagrid stopped walking and I heard a crowd of people gasp. I picked out a specific voice from the crowd. "Ron, tell me Hagrid's not carrying who I think he's carrying. Please Ron, tell me it's not them," Hermione said desperately. "Hermione..." Ron's voice cracked as he said her name. He let loose a low sob. "No!" Hermione screamed. Her word seemed to echo. Voldemort began to speak. "Yes, both are dead. I have done it! And I have brought them here so you can watch my beloved Nagini swallow them hole," he said with a sneer. I heard the snake slither away from him. At that moment I felt Harry grab my hand and shake it subtly. I barely turned my head to look at him, so as not to alert the others. He mouthed to me, "We are going to jump down on three. One, two, three." We pushed off Hagrid's shoulders and dropped to the ground. Many people screamed. A loud bellow came from behind us. We turned around in time to see a boy emerge from the crowd wielding a sword. With one swift move, he took the head of the snake off, which, until now, I had not noticed had maneuvered itself dangerously close to Harry and I. My eyes grew wide as I heard Voldemort screech in pain. He began to break to pieces; crumbling in his robes. The pieces of his body floated away into the sky. The remaining death eaters began to run, and the rest of the witches and wizards present began to cheer. Harry and I, still dazed from what happened, were attacked and crushed into a hug my Ron and Hermione, and then the rest of the Weasley family. Tears flowed freely down everyone's faces. When everyone let us go, we wasted no time latching on to one another. My body shook with sobs of relief. Harry was almost hugging me too hard, but I couldn't complain, we were alive. I could feel myself soaking the shoulder of his jacket with my tears, but I knew he wouldn't mind. After a long time he released his grip on me, but only so he could cover my face and neck with wet, tearful kisses. Despite everything, I couldn't help but smile at his eagerness. He let me go a moment later, and I took a second to wipe the tears from my face as he did the same.

That night, after more hugs, tears, laughter, and the feeling of relief raging through us all evening, we all decided it was time to go to bed. Hermione offered to take Ron to the girls dormitory, so Harry led me up to the boys dormitory. He gave me a brief tour of the dorm before he showed me to his bed. We climbed in stiffly, feeling the effects of a long, physically demanding day. We curled up together, completely intertwined. "I meant what I said today in the woods Ariel," Harry whispered. I looked up at him. "I didn't just say it because I thought it we were going to die. I wanted to tell you before but I was nervous.." He placed a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you," he said, his voice low, full of emotion. "I love you too," I breathed, kissing him again. We drifted off to sleep then, holding each other close.

The next morning I awoke late. The sun was streaming in through the window by the bed. Harry was still sleeping. I propped myself up on my elbow so I could look at him. We had been so tired last night that he had forgotten to take his glasses off. We had both remained in the same sleeping position all night, so I wasn't surprised that they had stayed on. I reached over to lightly stroke his bruised jaw; his face was dirt streaked, and a few small cuts littered his cheeks. His hair was still slightly matted to his forehead. His eyes fluttered open a moment later. "Hey," he said, pushing himself up to kiss me. "Hey," I replied. He reached a hand up to pull something out of my hair; a piece of leaf, or a twig, I wasn't sure. I giggled. "We're a mess. Can you show me where I can shower?" I said as I threw back the covers. "Yeah, if I can get out of bed. I'm a little sore, believe it or not," Harry said with a humorous tone. I walked over to the mirror on the back of the door to examine the damage. My hair was full of dirt and other debris, I had a few small cuts on my face, and several bruises on my arms and legs. Harry walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He planted a kiss on my neck. "I was so afraid I would never be able to do this again," he whispered in my ear. "Me too," I said. He removed his arms from my waist and took my hand. I grabbed my bag and we walked to the boys bathroom. Once inside, I saw that the bathroom was separated into two sections; one with sinks and mirrors, and another with private shower stalls. There was no one else in the bathroom. I chose the shower stall closest to me and went in. There was a small changing area with shelves and hooks, separated by a curtain from the shower itself, which was gigantic. I turned on the shower to let the water warm up. I undressed slowly, examining my body carefully for more cuts and contusions. There were many, but they would heal. I hung up the clothes I was going to put on after my shower and let my dirty clothes drop to the floor. I pulled back the curtain and stepped into the hot water. Instantly my skin was on fire, but not because the water was too hot. The cuts and scrapes that covered my body were finally being rinsed of the dirt that had caked them all day and night, and it STUNG. I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling out, and after a moment the initial sting began to subside. With my eyes closed, I stood still under the water, letting it beat down on me. I heard the shower curtain rustling and I opened my eyes to see Harry climbing in the shower with me. "Harry what are you doing? What if someone comes in?" I exclaimed. "We'll stay in here until they leave," he replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I laughed. I moved so he could get into the shower stream, and he winced as the water hit him. "These damn cuts!" he said. "Yeah, I just went through that before you decided to jump in the shower with me," I replied. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back into the water. I couldn't help but think about how sensual he looked, the hot water rolling down his skin. I must've made some sort of noise, because he raised his head back up and looked at me. My breath quickened when I saw the look in his eye. Harry pushed me back against the shower wall and crushed his lips to mine. I lifted my hands to his wet hair, attaching them to the back of his head so he couldn't pull away from the kiss. I could feel him growing more turned on by the second. I moaned when he pressed his hips into mine. He pulled my hands out of his hair, breaking my weakening grip on him. He broke the kiss, only to move his lips to my neck and collarbone, where he lightly nipped at the wet flesh. I gasped at the sensation, feeling the arousal pool in between my legs. I gently pushed his shoulders down with my hands, and he spun us around under the water so his back was on the shower wall. Capturing my mouth into another kiss, he began lowering us down on to the shower floor, using the wall for support. Once he was sitting on the stall floor, I straddled his lap. I could feel his hardness brushing against my opening, but he didn't enter me yet. He lifted his hips to press it against me, and smirked when all I could do was pant and pull at his hair. At long last, he pushed into me, and I gasped loudly. I would never get used to how good that felt. We moved together slowly, feeling every inch of each other, our hands everywhere. It didn't take long for me to reach my peak, and I swore loudly when I came. Harry let out a low growl when he came a few moments later. I collapsed against his chest and we held each other as our breathing slowed. "Alright, I need to actually get up and shower now," said Harry, chuckling. I kissed him softly and stood up. "Me too," I replied. I reached out a hand to help him up. He stood up and pulled the curtain back, reaching for the towel he brought in with him. I watched him wrap it around his waist before he closed the curtain for me. I was reaching for my shampoo when I heard the curtain open again. I turned to see Harry peeking in. "I love you," he said smiling. "I love you too Harry," I whispered, returning the smile. "I'm going to shower for real this time," he said, closing the curtain for the final time. I laughed.

After a proper shower and breakfast, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I decided to walk around the grounds to examine the damage. The castle was a mess, the forest had been partially burned, the covered bridge collapsed, and the stone bridge was a pile of rubble, although still standing. We were standing on the stone bridge when Harry pulled something out of his pocket. "I've got the Elder wand," he said. Hermione gasped. "You have to get rid of it!" "Not bloody likely. He should keep it!" Ron retorted. "Hermione's right, you can't keep it," I added. Harry nodded. "I know." He held up the wand and snapped it half, then tossed it down into the river far below. "It's truly over," Harry said walking back toward us. He took the hand of Hermione's that wasn't occupied by Ron, and took my hand in his other. "And all is well."

** Well there you have it! I was nervous about uploading since this was my first fanfic ever, but I've gotten such positive feedback! Thank you all so much, I appreciate it! I am currently working on another story, and I'm hoping I'll be able to post it soon, so if you liked The Two Who Lived, keep an eye out for more of my writing. **