author's note
a trigger warning: this chapter will contain scenes with violence and death. read it only if you're comfortable. it will also be the longest chapter in this book. set off some time and enjoy. x

Here is the thing about war: when the last battle is approaching, your soul will ache. You will feel the end coming. You are already putting on your armor, asking the wind if you are going to commit yourself to dry earth or end in triumph.

Marina stood at the top of a staircase, glancing down. Under her, all of Hogwarts' students were marching toward the Great Hall. The children with hunched shoulders and bruised bodies were divided by their houses, Prefects leading their ways. She knew where the lost diadem was: in the Room of Requirement. But the room was enormous, and she needed help to find the little crown. The members of Dumbledore's Army couldn't help her now that Snape had called on them to meet in the Hall.

Perhaps she would be able to sneak past everyone, get to the Second Floor Girls' Lavatory, and whisper in Parseltongue without being seen or heard so she could find Nagini. Maybe the snake, who was a Horcrux herself, would be able to help her find the diadem.

A hand was smacked against Marina's lips. Turning, already bringing her knee up, she reached for her mother's wand in her pocket.

"Don't; it's me." It was a whisper, but her heart immediately understood who the owner of the voice was.

When you are ready for the final battle, your knuckles should already be bloody, your feet sore, and your throat cracked from war cries. She looked at him and understood that he was ready. He had already made up his mind and drawn his sword. Fear didn't exist in his bones. You see, he was already damaged and well familiar with hell. He had been forced to make hell his home when he was just a young boy. So she was afraid that he had come to make the hell that was war his home, too.

"They're here, aren't they?" she asked him, thinking about Tom and his followers. "That's why you're here. The battle is coming."

"The Order was called on. Harry is here, and You-Know-Who knows it." He looked down toward the Great Hall; Harry was in there.

"You can't be here, Remus," Marina whispered. "Tonks is pregnant. You need to be by her side. Imagine if you fight, and something happens to you. She needs you."

The corner of his lips tucked upward. "Tonks is here, down by the Great Hall. Teddy was born last month."

"Oh, Remus, that's amazing! Congratulations!" Both of them glowed when she said it. "I know you're going to be a great father."

He looked both proud and happy; Marina's heart filled with joy for him. His eyes moved from the staircase leading to the Great Hall to her. "Marina, I spoke to Ginny earlier. She says you are not ready to show yourself to Harry. I will not tell him that you are alive if you don't want me to, but understand that he can't live properly without you."

Suddenly, the floor became awfully interesting. "He needs to fight tonight. Don't you think he'd be upset and distracted if I suddenly arose from the dead?"

Remus began walking down the stairs. "Come with me." She followed, but with very, very short steps. "You are friends with death now. Look at your scar. Think about your family's history. You know the pain, the sorrow, the grief that death brings. Being left on earth when another is gone is probably the greatest misery. Harry has, for over a year now, carried that misery inside his heart. Don't you think that he will fight better without it?"

The staircase moved to the side, and they stepped onto another one. "Of course! But what am I supposed to do? Suddenly jump in front of him and go 'hey, I'm back'? I've been dead, Remus."

He almost laughed. "Go to him. He waits for you. When the battle is done, I want you to be Teddy's godparents."

They were at the bottom of the staircase now. Marina would have yelled and hugged Remus if they had not been standing in the hallway that led to the Great Hall. Guarding the entrance to the Hall stood two tall men dressed in black. They were wearing masks, so she could not see their faces. She found her mother's wand in her pocket. If she could get closer to them, she could stun them and knock them out without making too much noise.

Remus drew his wand, too. They hid behind a wall, and when they held their breath to be completely silent, they could hear the voices coming from the Great Hall.

"Many of you are surely wondering why I have summoned you at this hour." It was Snape's dark, monotone voice that chimed around the Great Hall. "It has come to my attention that earlier this evening Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade."

Marina glanced down the hallway. The ones guarding the doors had not moved an inch. She looked past them; in the shadows, by their side, something was moving, but they didn't notice it.

"Should anyone, student or staff, attempt to aid Potter, they will be punished in a manner consistent with the severity of their transgression. Furthermore, any person found to have knowledge of these events who fail to come forward will be treated as equally guilty."

Tonks, with now bright, red hair, stepped out of the shadows. She met Marina's eyes, smiled, and waved her wand between them. Marina tugged Remus' sleeve, and they came out of hiding.

"If anyone in here has any knowledge of Potter's movements this evening, I invite them to step forward now."

They crept up on the guards. Pointing her mother's wand at the smallest of them, Marina whispered, "Petrificus Totalus," and out of the wand came a white light. The guard's arms and legs snapped together, and he became stiff as a board. Before he fell, Tonks made a line with her wand, and a blue light hovered right under him. No sound was made when he hit the floor.

Marina pointed her wand at the other man and repeated the spell, but the light did not reach him. Her mother's wand made a sound similar to the sound her old had made when it snapped. She stepped back, worried that she had broken another wand, and Remus pointed his at the guard and made him fall to the floor.

"What's wrong?" he whispered so quietly that she could barely hear him.

"It's not my wand," she told him. "I have borrowed it from someone. It doesn't always work the way I want it to."

Tonks hurried past the door, and she joined their side, throwing an arm around Marina and pressing their cheeks together. Just then, they heard people in the Great Hall gasp. Peeking into the hall, Marina discovered that someone had stepped out of the crowd.

"It seems despite your exhaustive defensive strategies you still have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster."

To think that she had dared to forget his voice; Harry had stepped forward and was now facing Snape.

"How dare you stand where he stood?" His voice was pure anger and hate. "Tell them how it happened that night! Tell them what you did! Tell them how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him!"

Marina turned to Remus and asked, as if he still was Harry's professor, "Are you going to do something?"

"Wait until everyone gets here."

Snape drew his wand. Marina, Remus, and Tonks immediately reacted by pointing theirs at him, but before they could do anything, Professor McGonagall sprinted to stand in front of Harry. She moved faster than Marina could have believed: her wand slashed through the air, and a silver light rushed toward Snape. He was quick to cast a Shield Charm.

McGonagall lost her balance and stumbled backward. That was when Professor Flitwick stepped out of the Ravenclaw crowd, Professor Sprout out of the Hufflepuff crowd, and Professor Slughorn out of the Slytherin crowd. "No! You will do no more murder at Hogwarts!"

Marina heard steps behind her, and found several members of the Order of the Phoenix march through the hallway: Kingsley Shacklebolt was leading the pack, Arthur, Molly, Percy, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Fred and George behind him, then Ron and Hermione. All turning wide-eyed when they saw her, she grinned widely, trying to shush them by pressing a finger against her lips.

When she looked back into the Great Hall, Snape was in full flight, Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn all thundering after him. McGonagall cried, "Coward! COWARD!"

He cast one final look around the room, then waved his wand around himself, disappearing in black smoke. McGonagall turned to the students of Hogwarts, and the moment she parted her lips to speak to them, Marina felt someone wrap their arms around her and hug her from behind.

"Little one," George whispered as he pulled her close. She turned to face him and couldn't hold back her smile. Next, she threw herself into Fred's arms.

Ron stood still, his jaw dropped. "Hold on. You died."

She pulled away from Fred, and walked up to him. "Yeah, it didn't stick."

Moving on to hug everyone she could reach, she heard McGonagall's voice coming from the Great Hall, "...evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and Madam Pomfrey. When I give the world, you may calmly find your way to evacuation point. Prefects will lead the way."

A boy stepped out of the Hufflepuff crowd. "And what if we want to stay and fight?"

There was a smattering of applause.

"If you are of age, you may stay. We have already placed protection around the castle, but it is unlikely to hold for very long unless we reinforce it. I must ask, therefore, to move quickly and calmly, and do as-"

McGonagall's final words were downed as a different voice echoed throughout the Hall. It was high, cold, and clear: there was no telling from where it came; it seemed to issue from the walls themselves.

"I know that you are preparing to fight." There were screams amongst the students, some of whom clutched each other, looking around in terror for the source of the sound. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

Marina pulled away from Mrs. Weasley's motherly hug and covered her ears in panic.

"Give me Harry Potter," said Voldemort's voice, "and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Every head turned Harry's way. A figure stepped out of the Slytherin crowd, and it took Marina barely a second to find out who it was: Pansy Parkinson.

She pointed at him, "He's there! Someone grab him!"

Marina didn't even realize she had aimed her wand at Pansy before Percy put his hand over hers and made her aim at the floor instead.

Suddenly, there was a massive movement. Ginny stepped in front of Harry, and following her came the Gryffindors, Luna and the Ravenclaws, then, finally, the Hufflepuffs joined in, and they all faced Pansy and the Slytherins.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," said Professor McGonagall in a clipped voice. "Mr. Filch, will you lead Miss Parkinson and the rest of the Slytherin House out to the evacuation point?"

Marina let out a loud groan. She looked at the members of the Order, put her finger up to her lips again, then pointed Harry's way, so they understood that they were not to tell him about her return. Before Filch could stumble out of the Great Hall, she had walked down the hallway and found her way out of the castle to the evaluation point in the courtyard.

Blue and green lights formed a circle of protection around Hogwarts. Statues of stone had come to life and jumped down from their places on the walls; they were now kneeling on the ground, ready to fight for the castle.

Marina was scared. She anticipated what was about to come. Death Eaters would break the Protection Spells and march into Hogwarts. She would have to fight men two or three times her size and women who knew a hundred ways to slit her throat. They had trained years for this, and she was only a child. But she was putting on a brave face because if someone acts brave, others will follow.

She remembered what her mother had told her. Sometimes, she forgot who she was. Marina was darkness, chaos, and fire; determination, ambition, and cleverness; a weapon. It had never been in her nature to go down without a fight, and she was never afraid to be cruel. As long as Nagini was alive, she could not die. It was now her duty to lead those like her into battle.

So when the Slytherin House, which was lead by Filch, stepped out of the castle, she prepared to be their war drum.

She pointed her mother's wand at Filch, and a simple "Stupefy" was able to throw him against the wall. Now, she was standing in front of her own house, her palms sweaty and her knees weak.

"Is that Black?"

Some students began babbling. She took a step forward. "Are you actually preparing to leave the castle?"

Her eyes flickered around the crowd. She could see Blaise, Pansy, and Millicent turn to each other.

"The other houses have painted a picture of us. In their eyes, we are weaklings. They say we are evil; that we are the villains. Don't you understand that if you evacuate now, they will keep believing those lies?"

Behind her, Death Eaters were firing spells to break every Protection Charm created by the Order and her professors.

"Voldemort and his followers have taken away our youths. Because of them, we have witnessed brutal murders and been left with scars inside our heads. The rest of the Wizarding World believe that we are like him; that we are following his footsteps and taking his orders. I know that many of you have family members fighting for Voldemort. I know that many of you have been thinking about getting Dark Marks and follow your parents' footsteps. But you need to understand: you are not your parents. You are you. Think like you. When your parents and the students inside this school expect you to be a Death Eater simply because your uniform is green, it is understandable that you fool yourself into thinking you are one. Tonight, we have the chance to prove that we are not assassins. You can leave, and be the coward the Gryffindors think you are, or you can stay, and fight for your house, your friends, and your reputation. And I'm thinking that many of you won't have any problems with battling your foolish Death Eater family. They're the reason why people think you're terrible."

She paused. Her heart was beating in her ears, blocking out the screams of fear coming from inside the castle.

"Three years ago, Louis Thomas Allen was the newest member of our house. He was the most ambitious and determined boy I had ever met. When you slept, he was up learning spells. He had the power to change the world, to change the reputation of our house, but Voldemort murdered him only weeks after he had turned twelve. You want to know why? Because he was half-blood, like many of you are. If you want justice for Louis, I dare you to stay here when Death Eaters break into the castle. Face your family members, face Voldemort and Bellatrix Black, who pretended to be my family for years. Your house is your family now. Look around you; these people are your brothers and sisters. Tonight, we stand together as one."

A loud bang was heard - the Death Eaters had broken the Circle of Protection. The blue and green light which protected them faded away.

"Stay and fight. Be brutal. Rebel. Punish those who have wronged you. Don't back down and don't concede. Let's show everyone who we really are. If there is one thing I have learned from being a part of this house for all these years, it is that we Slytherins will do what needs to be done. Use your power now. If we are going down tonight, we are doing it as savages. We are going to bleed and burn, but we won't fear. Fly away now, or fight for your home and family."

Some responded with yells. A few threw their hands up in the air. She had little time to see their reactions to her words. She ran into the castle again, needing to get to the Chamber of Secrets as fast as possible.

Speeding down the hallway, she locked eyes with several people from other houses that were too young to fight for the castle. They were evacuating, some shaking in terror, others mad they were forced to leave. She heard movements through the hallway all around; running footsteps, shouts...

Turning a corner, she nearly collided with Neville, who was followed by a dozen others, all of them wearing earmuffs and carrying large potted plants.

"Mandrakes! Going to lob them over the walls - they won't like it here!"

She responded with a nod. "Have you seen the rest of the Army?"

"Huh?" He couldn't hear anything she was saying with the earmuffs on. "WHAT?"

"Just forget it!"

The whole castle shook; one girl nearly dropped her plant. Marina patted Neville's shoulder, then ran away again. She passed several paintings, the people in them screaming and stepping into portraits that did not belong to them.

Suddenly, Aberforth Dumbledore stood in front of her. Gritting her teeth together, she thought about Christmas, when he had yelled at her. He put his hands on his hips. "Where's the evacuation point? Tell the kids they can evacuate through my pub!"

She pointed behind her to the hallway she had just fleed from. "You've got to hurry if you're going to help all of them. The whole corridor is packed with students trying to leave."

"It never occurred to you to keep a few Slytherins hostage? Take a few kids from your house? They are kids of Death Eaters."

She could feel her face turn red of anger. "Watch your mouth, Dumbledore. Those kids are fighting their parents tonight."

He grunted and tore away in the opposite direction. Perhaps she should have asked him where Darya was. But it was too late now.

In front of the staircase that led to the second floor, stood half of the Weasleys. Above them, owls were flying everywhere. Marina ran to grab Ginny's shoulder, and she turned around alarmed.

"The diadem is in the Room of Requirement," Marina panted. "See if you can gather some people from the Army. We need to find it quickly. Luna knows what it looks like."

Ron turned. "You know where the diadem is? We've got to find Harry and tell him, he's looking for it!"

"I'm going to the Chamber of Secrets! I need to get something from there. You find him and tell him!"

"Wait - you need to be careful if you find the diadem. A Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being. It won't help to rip, smash, or crush it. Listen, Harry's been thinking about this. He stabbed Riddle's diary with a basilisk fang, right? See if there still are any in the Chamber."

Were there still any basilisk fangs left? There had to be. They never did anything to the skeleton of the basilisk.

"Okay, try searching the Room of Requirement, and I'll join you once I've got the fang." She looked at the rest of the Weasley family, "And please, please promise me to be careful and stay alive." There were so many of them, and they were all courageous fighters. She feared that not all of them would survive.

Fred