A swarm of Dementors was gliding amongst the trees as I approached; I could feel their chill, and I wasn't sure I would be able to pass safely through it. I had no strength left for a Patronus. I could no longer control my own trembling. It was not, after all, so easy to die. Every second I breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on my face, was so precious; to think that people had years and years, time to waste, so much time it dragged, and I was clinging to each second. At the same time I thought that I would not be able to go on, and knew that I must. The long game was ended, the Snitch had been caught, it was time to leave the air... 

The Snitch. My nerveless fingers fumbled for a moment with my pocket and I pulled it out.

'I open at the close.' 

Breathing fast and hard, I stared down at it. Now that I wanted time to move as slowly as possible, I seemed to have sped up, and understanding was coming so fast it seemed to have bypassed through. This was the close. This was the moment.

I pressed the golden metal to my lips and whispered, "I am about to fucking unalive."

The metal shell broke open. I giggled feebly; wow, the thing actually understood my memeing. I lowered my shaking hand, raised my wand beneath the Cloak, and murmured, "Lumos."

The black stone with its jagged crack running down the centre sat in the two halves of the Snitch. The centre of Marvolo's ring. 

Okay? What was this meant to do? I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, and turned the stone over in my hand. Dumbledore, again, leaving me weird messages and clues that I had no idea how to decipher... 

I knew something had happened, because I heard slight movements around me that suggested frail bodies shifting their footing on the earthy, twig-strewn ground that marked the outer edge of the forest. I opened my eyes and looked around frantically.

They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, I could see that. They resembled most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been memory made nearly solid. Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved toward me. And on each face, there was the same loving smile.

James was exactly the same height as Harry. He was wearing the clothes in which he had died, and his hair was untidy and ruffled, and his glasses were a little lopsided, like Mr Weasley's.

Lupin was younger too, and much less shabby, and his hair was thicker and darker. He looked happy to be back in this familiar place, scene of so many adolescent wanderings. 

Amy looked slightly older than she was when she had left us, and her long, straight, dark hair shimmered as she rested her hands in the pockets of her Ravenclaw uniform. 

Lily's smile was widest of all. She pushed her long hair back as she drew closer to me, and her green eyes, so like mine, searched my face hungrily, as though she would never be able to look at me enough.

"You've been so brave."

I couldn't speak. My eyes feasted on her, and I thought that I too would like to stand and look at her forever.

"You are nearly there." James said. "Very close. We are... so proud of you. My little girl..." 

"Does it hurt?"

The childish question had fallen from my lips before I could stop it.

"Dying? Not at all, Daze." Amy said. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep. But that's not much coming from me; I had insomnia." 

She grinned as I laughed weakly. 

"And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over." Lupin said. 

"I didn't want you to die." I said. These words came without my volition. "Any of you. I'm sorry -" 

I addressed Lupin more than any of them, beseeching him.

"- Right after you'd had your son... Remus, I'm sorry -" 

"I am sorry too." Lupin said. "Sorry I will never know him... but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."

A chilly breeze that seemed to emanate from the heart of the forest lifted my hair off my shoulders. I knew that they would not tell me to go, that it would have to be my decision.

"You'll stay with me?"

"Until the very end." James said. 

"They won't be able to see you?" I asked. 

"We are part of you." Amy said. "Invisible to anyone else. Like old days, with your Cloak." 

I looked at my mother.

"Stay close to me." I said quietly.

And I set off. The Dementors' chill didn't overcome me; I passed through it with my companions, and they acted like Patronuses to me, and together we marched through the old trees that grew closely together, their branches tangled, their roots gnarled and twisted underfoot. I clutched the Cloak tightly around me in the darkness, travelling deeper and deeper into the forest, with no idea where exactly Riddle was, but sure that I would find him. Beside me, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Amy, Lupin, and Lily, and their presence was my courage, and the reason I was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

We had travelled on mere minutes when I saw light ahead, and at the same time several metres away, Yaxley and another Death Eater stepped out into a clearing.

A fire burned in the middle of the clearing, and its flickering light fell over a crowd of completely silent, watchful Death Eaters. Some of them were still masked and hooded; others showed their faces. Two giants sat on the outskirts of the group, casting massive shadows over the scene, their faces cruel, rough-hewn like rock. I saw Greyback, skulking, chewing his long nails; the great blond Rowle was dabbing at his bleeding lip. I saw Lucius Malfoy, who looked defeated and terrified, and Narcissa, whose eyes were sunken and full of apprehension. 

And in between them stood Draco, his hands tied, his forehead bloody, and his eyes wide and fearful. A shock went through me, before I realised that Riddle was after me, and he had more reason to keep Draco alive than to kill him. 

Every eye was fixed upon Riddle, who stood with his head bowed, and his white hands folded over his wand. His wedding ring glinted in the light of the fire. He might have been praying, or else counting silently in his mind, and I, standing still on the edge of the scene, thought absurdly of a child counting in a game of hide-and-seek. Behind his head, swirling and coiling, the great snake Nagini floated in a glittering, charmed cage, like a monstrous halo.

When Yaxley and his friend rejoined the circle, Riddle looked up.

"No sign of her, my Lord." Yaxley said.

Riddle's expression did not change. The red eyes seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew his wand between his long fingers.

"My Lord -" 

Bellatrix had spoken; she sat closest to Riddle, dishevelled, her face a little bloody but otherwise unharmed.

Riddle raised his hand to silence her, and she did not speak another word, but eyed him in worshipful fascination.

"I thought she would come." Riddle said in his high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames. "I expected her to come."

Nobody spoke. They seemed as scared as me, whose heart was now throwing itself against my ribs as though determined to escape the body I was about to cast aside. My hands were sweating as I pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath my robes, with my wand. I didn't want to be tempted to fight.

"I was, it seems... mistaken." Riddle said.

"You weren't, bitch." 

I said it as loudly as I could, with all the force I could muster: I didn't want to sound afraid. The stone slipped from between my numb fingers, and out of the corner of my eyes I saw my parents, Amy, and Lupin vanish as I stepped forward into the firelight. At that moment I felt that nobody mattered but Riddle. It was just the two of us.

The illusion was gone as soon as it had come. The giants roared as the Death Eaters rose together, and there were many cries, gasps, even laughter. Riddle had frozen where he stood, but his red eyes had found me, and he stared as I moved toward him, with nothing but the fire between us.

Then two voices yelled: 

"DAISY-FLOWER, NO, RUN!" 

"DAISY! NO!"

I turned; I knew that Draco had shouted, but Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a tree nearby. His massive body shook the branches overhead as he struggled, desperate.

"NO! NO! DAISY, WHAT'RE YEH -?"

"QUIET!" Rowle shouted, and with a flick of his wand, Draco and Hagrid were silenced.

Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking eagerly from Riddle to me, her chest heaving. The only things that moved were the flames and the snake, coiling and uncoiling in the glittering cage behind Riddle's head.

I could feel my wand against my chest, but I made no attempt to draw it. I knew that the snake was too well protected, knew that if I managed to point my wand or my hands at Nagini, fifty curses would hit me first. And still, Riddle and I looked at each other, and now Riddle tilted his head a little to the side, considering me standing before him, and a singularly mirthless smile curled the attractive mouth. 

"Well, my love." Riddle said, very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "Would you like, perhaps, to beg for your life? If you got on your knees now and pleaded for forgiveness, I might reconsider what I am going to do to you..." 

I watched as Riddle's tongue moved slowly and discreetly across his lips, his eyes watching me hungrily. 

"I must admit, the idea entices me; little Daisy Potter, on her knees before me." Riddle purred, and his smile widened ever so slightly. "It used to entice you too, did it not, my love? Wife, get on your knees, beg for me, service me... and I might just let you live to birth my children." 

"Service you?" I broke my silence, the implication of his words not lost on me - he wanted me to suck his dick in front of this whole clearing of Death Eaters, didn't he? "SERVICE you? I'll take death, thanks." 

Riddle's eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward. 

"I'm Daisy Potter, the Girl Who Lived, the Chosen One. I'm not going to SERVICE you." I sneered. "Never fucking again." 

"Daisy Potter." Riddle repeated, his voice very soft again. "The Girl Who Lived."

None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting; everything was waiting. Draco and Hagrid were struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and I thought inexplicably of Fred and George, and their blazing looks, and the feel of their lips on mine - Riddle had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side, like a curious child, wondering what would happen if he proceeded. I looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while I could still stand, before I lost control, before I betrayed fear - 

I saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone.

Then I felt myself free-falling in darkness, landing with a sudden jolt. I heard a familiar voice whispering to me through the black - 'He took your blood at the graveyard believing it would strengthen him... He took into his body a tiny part of the enchantment your mother laid upon you when she died for you... His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and Harry, and so does Voldemort's one last hope for himself.' 

So it had been Riddle who'd blasted the hole in the castle wall, killing Harry. That was why Harry survived; Riddle couldn't kill him while he had the protection inside him. I was thinking groggily; did that mean I was still alive? It must. 

I was lying facedown on the ground again. The smell of the forest filled my nostrils. I could feel the cold hard ground beneath my cheek, and every inch of me ached, the place where the Killing Curse had hit me feeling like the bruise of an iron-clad punch. I didn't stir, but I remained exactly where I had fallen, with my left arm bent out at an awkward angle. 

I had expected to hear cheers of triumph and jubilation at my death, but instead hurried footsteps, whispers, and solicitous murmurs filled the air.

"My Lord... my Lord..."

It was Bellatrix's voice, and she spoke as if to a lover. I didn't dare open my eyes, but allowed my other senses to explore my predicament. I knew that my wand was still stowed beneath my uniform because I could feel it pressed between my chest and the ground. A slight cushioning effect in the area of my stomach told me that the Invisibility Cloak was also there, stuffed out of sight.

"My Lord..."

"That will do." Riddle's voice said.

More footsteps. Several people were backing away from the same spot. Desperate to see what was happening and why, I opened my eyes by a millimetre.

Riddle seemed to be getting to his feet. Various Death Eaters were hurrying away from him, returning to the crowd lining the clearing. Bellatrix alone remained behind, kneeling beside Riddle. A strange black substance was clouding my eyes; I blinked ever so slightly, and my vision cleared; I felt it trickling down my face. In fact, I felt more liquid trickling from my nose, mouth, and ears. 

I closed my eyes again and considered what I'd seen. The Death Eaters had been huddled around Riddle, who seemed to have fallen to the ground. Something had happened when he had hit me with the Killing Curse. Had Riddle too collapsed? It seemed like it. And both of us had briefly fallen unconscious and both of us had now returned... the black stuff... the Horcrux inside me had died... 

"My Lord, let me -" 

"I do not require assistance." Riddle said coldly, and though I couldn't see it, I pictured Bellatrix withdrawing a helpful hand. "My wife... is she dead?"

There was a complete silence in the clearing. Nobody approached me, but I felt their concentrated gaze; it seemed to press me harder into the ground, and I was terrified a finger or an eyelid might twitch.

"You." Riddle said, and there was a bang and a small shriek of pain, and Draco growled. "Examine her. Tell me whether she is dead."

I didn't know who'd been sent to verify. I could only lie there, with my heart thumping traitorously, and wait to be examined, but at the same time knowing, small comfort though it was, that Riddle was wary of approaching me, that Riddle suspected that all had not gone to plan... 

Hands, softer than I'd been expecting, touched my face, and felt my heart. I could hear the woman's fast breathing, her pounding of life against my ribs.

Then the hand was withdrawn. She had sat up.

"She is dead!" Narcissa Malfoy called to the watchers.

And now they shouted, now they yelled in triumph and stamped their feet, and through my eyelids, I saw bursts of red and silver light shot into the air in celebration.

Still feigning death on the ground, I understood. Narcissa cared more about Draco than about whether Riddle won.

"Silence!" Riddle screeched over the tumult, and the Death Eaters quietened. "My wife... my beautiful wife..." 

More footsteps approached, and I knew who these belonged to this time. I felt more than saw Riddle crouch beside me, and I nearly jumped as a hand cupped my face, a thumb swiped affectionately over my cheek. 

"My wife died by her stubbornness, her stupidity, her incredibly reckless and naive belief that staying true to her values would save her." Riddle said softly, then his hands moved further down my body, caressing my curves. I willed myself not to shudder. "What a shame... what a waste... what we could have accomplished together..." 

Riddle's lips pressed onto my neck as his hands slipped beneath my school skirt, and my mind was racing. What the fuck was he doing? 

"I will miss you, my love." He murmured into my ear. "I loved you... but you just had to disobey me." 

Riddle raised his voice to the others as his hands crept further up my skirt. 

"And now Daisy Potter, the Chosen One, is no more! She was only good alive as an attractive hole to me, and now, she is good as an example to Hogwarts as to what will happen if they displease me! She can disobey me no longer - watch!" 

I had been expecting something, knew my body would not be allowed to remain unsullied upon the forest floor; it must be subjected to humiliation to prove Riddle's victory - but I didn't think it would be like this. It took all my determination to remain limp as Riddle felt me up, not to scream out as he forced his fingers into me, and as he finally withdrew his hands from me, the clearing echoed with jeers and shrieks of laughter. 

"Now," Riddle said, "we go to the castle, and show them what has become of their heroine. Who shall carry the body? Yes -" 

There was a fresh outbreak of laughter, and after a few moments I heard the sound of sobbing come closer. 

"You carry her." Riddle said. "You were her first crush, were you not? I remember that she informed my diary. It is only fitting. Pick up your little friend, Draco." 

The hands that lifted me into the air were gentle. I could feel Draco's arms trembling with the force of his heaving sobs; tears dripped down upon me as my friend cradled me in his arms, and I didn't dare, by movement or word, to convey to Draco that all was not yet lost.

"Move." Riddle said, and Draco stumbled forward, back through the forest.

Branches caught at my hair and uniform, but I lay still and quiet, my head hanging, my eyes shut, and in the darkness, while the Death Eaters crowed all around us, and while Draco sobbed blindly, nobody looked to see whether a pulse beat in my exposed neck... 

The victorious procession marched on toward the open ground, and after a while I could tell, by the lightening of the darkness through my closed eyelids, that the trees were beginning to thin. A little later, I sensed, by a freshening of the air, that we had reached the edge of the forest.

"Stop."

Draco must have been forced to obey Riddle's command, because he lurched a little. And now a chill settled over us where we stood, and I heard the rasping breath of the Dementors that patrolled the other trees. They wouldn't affect me now, I knew it. The fact of my own survival burned inside me, a talisman against them, as though my silver squirrel kept guardian in my heart.

Someone passed close by me, and I knew that it was Riddle himself again because he spoke a moment later, his voice magically magnified so that it swelled through the grounds, crashing upon my eardrums.

"Daisy Potter is dead. We bring you her body as proof that your heroine is gone. The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Girl Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

There was silence in the grounds and from the castle. Riddle was so close to me that I didn't dare open my eyes again.

"Come." Riddle said, and I heard him move ahead, and Draco was forced to follow. Now I opened my eyes a fraction and saw Riddle striding in front of us, wearing the great snake Nagini around his shoulders, now free of her enchanted cage. But I had no possibility of extracting the wand concealed under my uniform without being noticed by the Death Eaters, who marched on either side of Draco and I through the slowly lightening darkness...

"Daisy," sobbed Draco, "oh, Daisy... Daisy-flower..."

I shut my eyes tight again. We were approaching the castle; I strained my ears to distinguish, above the gleeful voices of the Death Eaters and their tramping footsteps, signs of life from those within.

"Stop."

The Death Eaters came to a halt; I heard them spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of the school. I could see, even through my closed lids, the reddish glow that meant light streamed upon me from the Entrance Hall. I waited. Any moment, the people for whom I had tried to die would see me, lying apparently dead, in Draco's arms.

"NO!"

The scream was the more terrible because I had never expected or dreamed that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound. I heard another woman laughing nearby, and knew that Bellatrix gloried in Professor McGonagall's despair. I squinted again for a single second and saw the open doorway filling with people, as the survivors of the battle came out onto the front steps to face their vanquishers and see the truth of my death for themselves. I saw Riddle standing a little in front of me, stroking Nagini's head with a single white finger. I closed my eyes again.

"No!"

"No!" 

"NO!" 

"Daisy! DAISY!"

Harry's, Terry's, Fred's, and George's voices were worse than Professor McGonagall's; I wanted nothing more than to call back, yet I made myself lie silent, and their cries acted like a trigger; the crowd of survivors took up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the Death Eaters, until - "SILENCE!" Riddle cried, and there was a bang and a flash of bright light, and silence was forced upon them all. "It is over! My wife is finished! And what a shame; to think I was finally beginning to understand the horrors of love..." 

I felt cool lips suddenly press down on mine, and I nearly jerked in my surprise. Draco's hands tightened around me, and Riddle moved his lips against my unmoving ones, pleasure evident in the breathed little groan against my lips, then he was gone again as Terry and George yelled simultaneously, "Get off her! Get off her!" 

A second bang silenced the two boys and the furious clamour coming from the other side again. 

"Set her down, Draco, at my feet, where she belongs!"

I felt myself lowered onto the ground.

"You see?" Riddle said, and I felt him striding backward and forward right beside the place where I lay. "Daisy Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? She was nothing, ever, but a girl who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for her! Nothing, ever, but a receptacle for my seed, to produce my offspring!"

"She beat you!" Fred yelled, and the charm broke again, and the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a third, more powerful bang extinguished their voices once more.

"She was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds." Riddle said, and there was a very obvious relish in his voice for the lie. "Killed while trying to save her whore self -" 

But Riddle broke off; I heard a scuffle and a shout, then another bang, a flash of light, and grunt of pain; I opened my eyes a tiny amount. Two people had broken free of the crowd and charged at Riddle; I saw the figures hit the ground. 

"Ah, yes, I remember. Fred and George Weasley. The homewreckers who destroyed my marriage." Riddle said, looking down at the twins, who were struggling back to their feet, standing in the no-man's-land between the survivors and the Death Eaters. "But you are pureblood, aren't you, little brats?" Riddle asked the twins, who stood facing him, their hands curled in fists.

"So what if we are?" George said loudly.

"You show spirit and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make very valuable Death Eaters. We need your kind, Fred and George Weasley. Come to me, beg me for forgiveness for your wrongdoings to me and my wife, and I shall consider letting you join me."

"We'll join you when hell freezes over." Fred said. "Dumbledore's Army!" He shouted, and there was an answering cheer from the crowd, whom Riddle's Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold.

"Very well." Riddle said, and I heard more danger in the silkiness of his voice than in the most powerful curse. "If that is your choice, Weasley, we revert to the original plan. On your heads," He said quietly, "be it."

Still watching through my lashes, my heart pounding, I saw Riddle wave his wand. Seconds later, out of one of the castle's shattered windows, something that looked like a misshapen bird flew through the half light and landed in Riddle's hand. He shook the mildewed object by its pointed end and it dangled, empty and ragged: the Sorting Hat.

"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School." Riddle said. "There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice everyone. Won't they, Fred Weasley?"

He pointed his wand at the twins, who grew rigid and still, then forced the hat onto Fred's head, so that it slipped down below his eyes. There were movements from the watching crowd in front of the castle, and as one, the Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the fighters of Hogwarts at bay.

"Fred here is now going to demonstrate what happens to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me." Riddle said, and with a flick of his wand, he caused the Sorting Hat to burst into flames.

Screams split the dawn, and Fred was a flame, rooted to the spot, unable to move, and I lost my mind. 

I pulled the Invisibility Cloak from inside my pocket, swung it over myself, and sprang to my feet ready to strike, ready to save Fred, as Fred moved too.

In one swift, fluid motion, Fred broke free of the Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming hat fell off him and he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering, rubied handle - the slash of the silver blade could not be heard over the roar of the oncoming crowd or the sounds of the clashing giants or of the stampeding centaurs, and yet, it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke Fred sliced off the great snake's head, which spun high into the air, gleaming in the light flooding from the Entrance Hall, and Riddle's mouth was open in a scream of fury that nobody could hear, and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet.  

Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, I cast a Shield Charm between Fred and Riddle before the latter could raise his wand. Through the din, George's yell was loudest of all the others. 

"DAISY!" George shouted. "DAISY - WHERE'S DAISY?" 

Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, everyone was feeling the giants' stamping feet, and nearer and nearer thundered reinforcements that had come from who knew where; I saw great winged creatures soaring the heads of Riddle's giants, Thestrals and Buckbeak the Hippogriff scratching at their eyes and now the witches and wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike were being forced back into the castle. I was shooting jinxes and curses at any Death Eater I could see, and they crumpled, not knowing what or who had hit them, and their bodies were trampled by the retreating crowd. 

Still hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, I was buffered into the Entrance Hall; I was searching for Riddle and saw him across the room, firing spells from his wand as he backed into the Great Hall, still screaming instructions to his followers as he sent curses flying left and right; I cast more Shield Charms, and Riddle's would-be victims, Terry and Kylie, darted past him into the Great Hall, where they joined the fight already flourishing inside it.

And now there were more, even more people storming up the front steps, and I saw Charlie Weasley overtaking Horace Slughorn, who was still wearing his emerald pajamas. They seemed to have returned at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight along with the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade.

And it was not over yet; I sped between duellers, past struggling prisoners, and into the Great Hall.

Riddle was in the centre of the battle, and he was striking and smiting all within reach. I couldn't get a clear shot, but fought my way nearer, still invisible, and the Great Hall became more and more crowded as everyone who could walk forced their way inside.

Percy and Blaise were duelling together, seemingly well-acquainted by now by the way they twisted and weaved as if they'd been practising together for years. I saw Yaxley fall with a scream at Flitwick's hands, saw Walden Macnair thrown across the room by Hagrid, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground. I saw Aberforth Stunning Rookwood, Arthur and Percy, with Blaise, flooring Thicknesse, and Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy running through the crowd, not even attempting to fight, screaming for their son. 

Draco had rejoined Terry, and Fred and George were duelling Greyback. 

"You will never lay a hand on my girl, d'you hear me?" Fred snarled. "Never!" 

"Yeah, 'cuz she's dead, ain't she?" Greyback cackled. 

Fred and George's faces twisted, in an odd mix of fury and grief, the same mix I'd experienced earlier, and while Greyback was laughing, distracted, the twins shot two green jets of light at exactly the same time, hitting Greyback square in the chest. And Greyback collapsed. 

Riddle was now duelling Professor McGonagall, Slughorn, Kingsley all at once, and there was a cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him - Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master she duelled three at once: Terry, Hermione, and Ginny, all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them, and my attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny and Terry, in between their heads, that they both missed death by an inch -

I changed course, running at Bellatrix rather than Riddle, but before I had gone a few steps I was knocked sideways.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"

Mrs Weasley threw off her cloak as she ran, freeing her arms. Bellatrix spun on the spot, roaring with laughter at the sight of the new challenger.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Mrs Weasley shouted to Terry, Hermione, and Ginny, and with a simple swipe of her wand she began to duel. I watched with terror and elation as Molly Weasley's wand slashed and twisted, and Bellatrix Lestrange's smile faltered and became a snarl. Jets of light flew from both wands, the floor around the witches' feet became hot and cracked; both women were fighting to kill.

"No!" Mrs Weasley cried as a few students ran forward, trying to come to her aid. "Get back! Get back! She is mine!"

Hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights, Riddle and his three opponents, Bellatrix and Molly, and I stood, invisible, torn between both, wanting to attack and yet to protect, unable to be sure that I wouldn't hit the innocent. I didn't know what the fuck to do, where to turn, what to prioritise. 

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" Bellatrix taunted, as mad as her master, capering as Molly's curses danced around her. "When Mummy's gone the same way as little Potter?"

"You - will - NEVER - touch - my - daughters - again!" Mrs Weasley screamed. I was briefly warmed in my heart that Mrs Weasley considered me a daughter, but the fear soon came thundering back through me. 

But Bellatrix laughed the same exhilarated laugh Terry had given before he toppled backward in the Department of Mysteries, his skin tearing apart, and suddenly I knew what was going to happen before it did.

Molly's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's constricted arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.

Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge; for the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Riddle screamed.

I felt as though I'd turned into slow motion; I saw Professor McGonagall, Kingsley, and Slughorn blasted backward, flailing and writhing through the air, as Riddle's fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb. Riddle raised his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley.

"Protego!" I roared, and the Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Hall. Riddle stared around for the source as I pulled off the Invisibility Cloak at last.

The yells of shock, the cheers, the screams on every side of: "Daisy!" and "SHE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid, and silence fell abruptly and completely as Riddle and I looked at each other, and began, at the same moment, to circle each other.

"I don't want anyone else to help." I said loudly, and in the total silence my voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

Riddle hissed.

"Mrs Riddle doesn't mean that." He said, his red eyes wide. "This isn't how she works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Daisy?"

"Nobody." I said simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good, bitch." 

"One of us?" Riddle jeered. His whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the girl who has survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings? Because I let you live, in return for sexual intercourse and the birthing of my offspring?"

"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me and my brother?" I asked. We were still moving sideways, both of us, in that perfect circle, maintaining the same distance from each other, and for me no face existed but Riddle's. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, that I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight again?"

"Accidents!" Riddle screamed, but still he did not strike, and the watching crowd was frozen as if Petrified, and of the hundreds in the Hall, nobody seemed to breathe but us two. "Accident and chance and the fact that you permitted me to kill for you!"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight." I said as we circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these banterful people -" 

"But you did not!"

"- I meant to, and that's what did it. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding, you dumb fucking bitch? You can't torture them. You can't fucking TOUCH them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Tommy, do you?"

"You dare -"

"Yeah, I dare." I said. "I know things you don't know, Tommy. I know lots of important things that you don't. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?"

Riddle did not speak, but prowled in a circle, and I knew that I kept him temporarily mesmerised at bay, held back by the faintest possibility that I might indeed know a final secret... 

"Is it love again?" Riddle said, his face jeering. "Dumbledore's favourite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death, though love did not stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork? Love, which did not prevent me stamping out your Mudblood mother like a cockroach, Potter - so what will stop you dying now when I strike?"

"Just one thing." I said, and still we circled each other, wrapped in each other, held apart by nothing but the last secret. 

"What?" Riddle whispered. 

I smirked. "You taught your student too well. You killed her parents, you killed her brother, you tortured her friends, tortured HER... sexually assaulted her, impregnated her, married her... then you were stupid enough to think she wouldn't turn against you. 

"Love WILL save me." I breathed. "And it HAS. Because you were in love, and you were foolish enough to think I was too." 

Riddle's expression changed, murderous, and we both halted across from each other. 

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" I whispered. 

A red glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above us as an edge of dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of our faces at the same time, so that Riddle's was suddenly a flaming blur.

The bang was like a cannon blast, and the golden flames that erupted between us, at the dead centre of the circle we had been treading, marked the point where our magic collided. 

Our hands had both thrust out, Riddle using the Grace he'd stolen from me, me using all of my power at once. 

And Riddle fell backward, arms splayed, the slit pupils of the scarlet eyes rolling upward. Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his white hands empty, the handsome face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by my Angel Grace, and I stood with my hands outstretched, white light glowing from my palms, staring down at my enemy's shell.

One shivering second of silence, the shock of the moment suspended; and then the tumult broke around me as the screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. The fierce new sun dazzled the windows as they thundered toward me, and the first to reach me were Fred, George, and Terry, and it was their arms that were wrapped around me, their incomprehensible shouts that deafened me. Then Harry, Draco, Ginny, Louis, Blaise, Ron, Kylie, and Hermione were there, and then all the Weasleys and Hagrid, and Kingsley and Professor McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout, and my classmates and friends, and I couldn't hear a word that anyone was shouting, nor tell whose hands were seizing me, pulling me, trying to hug some part of me, hundreds of them pressing in, all of them determined to touch the Girl Who Lived, the Chosen One, the reason it was over at last. 

The sun rose steadily over Hogwarts, and the Great Hall blazed with life and light. I was an indispensable part of the mingled outpourings of jubilation and mourning, of grief and celebration. They wanted me there with them, their leader and symbol, their saviour and their guide. I had to speak to the bereaved, clasp their hands, witness their tears, receive their thanks, hear the news now creeping in from every quarter as the morning drew on; that the Imperiused up and down the country had come back to themselves, that Death Eaters were fleeing or else being captured, that the innocent of Azkaban were being released at that very moment, and that Kingsley Shacklebolt had been named temporary Minister of Magic. 

They moved Riddle's body and laid it in a chamber off the Hall, away from the bodies of Bonnie, Connie, Tonks, Lupin, and fifty others who had died fighting him. Professor McGonagall had replaced the House tables, but nobody was sitting according to House anymore; all were jumbled together, teachers and pupils, ghosts and parents, centaurs and house-elves. 

After finally talking to everyone I wanted to talk to, I collapsed onto a bench beside Luna. She gazed at me in wonder, then smiled. I smiled back wearily. 

"I'd want some peace and quiet, if it were me." She said.

"I'd love some, to be honest." I replied.

"I'll distract them all." Luna said. "Use your Cloak."

And before I could say another word, she had cried, "Oooh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger!" and pointed out the window. Everyone who heard looked around, and I slid the Cloak up over myself, grinning, and got to my feet.

Now I could move through the Hall without interference. I spotted Ginny two tables away; she was sitting with her head on her mother's shoulder. I saw Neville, eating everything within sight. Along the aisle between the tables I walked, and I spotted the Malfoys, huddled together, and Draco was enthusiastically telling his parents something, who both looked shocked but pleasantly so. Everywhere I looked, I saw families reunited, and finally, I saw the three whose company I craved most, the sword of Gryffindor lying beside their plates as they ate, surrounded by a knot of fervent admirers. 

"Hey, guys, it's me." I muttered, crouching down between them. "Will you come with me?"

They stood up at once, and together me, Fred, George, and Terry left the Great Hall. Great chunks were missing from the marble staircase, part of the balustrade gone, and rubble and bloodstains occurred every few steps as we climbed.

Somewhere in the distance we could hear Peeves zooming through the corridors singing a victory song of his own composition:

"We did it, we bashed them, wee Potter's the one, and Voldy's gone mouldy, so now let's have fun!" 

"Really gives a feeling for the scope and tragedy of the thing, doesn't it?" Terry said. 

Painstakingly I recounted my realisation that there had been a Horcrux inside me, and what had happened in the forest, and they had not even begun to express all their shock and amazement, when at last we arrived at the place to which we had been walking, though none of us had mentioned our destination.

"Let's return the sword." I grinned. 

We pushed open the door to the headmaster's office and then an earsplitting noise made me cry out, thinking of curses and returning Death Eaters and the rebirth of Voldemort - 

But it was applause. All around the walls, the headmasters and headmistresses of Hogwarts were giving me a standing ovation; they waved their hats and in some cases their wigs, they reached through their frames to grip each other's hands; they danced up and down on their chairs in which they had been painted: Dilys Derwent sobbed unashamedly; Dexter Fortescue was waving his ear-trumpet; and Phineas Nigellus called, in his high, reedy voice, "And let it be noted that Slytherin House played its part! Let our contribution not be forgotten!"

But I had eyes only for the man who stood in the largest portrait directly behind the headmaster's chair. Tears were sliding down from behind the half-moon spectacles into the long silver beard, and the pride and the gratitude emanating from him filled me with the same balm as phoenix song.

And after we had returned the sword, we made our way up into Gryffindor Tower, straight into the common room, and we all collapsed into our favourite armchairs by the fireplace, though it was empty of fire. 

"Softpaw," Terry said, "I love you, but never get murdered again." 

Fred and George laughed, and they reached out for me; I took their hands and beamed at all three of my boys. 

"Yeah, don't worry about that." I said, basking in the warm glow of the sun coming from the window, and from my heart. "I don't plan to. Ever again." 

~~~

Alrighty you guys, so there won't be an epilogue for this book. As you know, the epilogue for Deathly Hallows was a whole nineteen years in the future thing, but we're not gonna do that here - because I have two more books planned!! 

So the next one will be up on my profile, it's number eight, and it will be Daisy's last year in Hogwarts (because she returns because she misses and loves it so much lol). It will explain the mystery of Snape and Gabriel, Lucifer, and Castiel's absence, contain Fred and George drama and family drama and friend drama, and ofc there's a villain still at large that has to be dealt with! 

And the final book, number nine, will be about Daisy's life after Hogwarts. I've got a lot planned, so don't worry, I'm not going anywhere! 

But anyway, these past seven books have been a ride, and I loved it all! Thank you guys so much for supporting me, and I'll see you in number eight ;)