Disclaimer: Same as always…JK owns it all and I make no money from my writing

AN: Hey guys! *hides ashamed* I'm so very sorry that it took over a year to update…life got topsy tervy and I had EXTREME writer's block! Soooooo…instead of more excuses, here you go! The final chapter!

As Harry walked down the corridor on his way back from the Great Hall, having just finished writing his Charms NEWT, he thought back onto the last several months since the press conference. It had taken a while but the majority of the Wizarding world had finally come to terms with Harry being a vampire and being mated to a Malfoy. If only they had been as accepting of the new laws. Endless howlers and mail curses had been sent to both the Ministry and Harry, by the magical community and a few angry vampires, but now at the end of June the fuss was starting to calm down.

These last months had been some of the busiest and happiest of Harry's life. Draco and Harry still lived with Severus who, despite his grumblings over "hormonal teenagers," seemed to quite enjoy having the two fledglings sharing his quarters. It also seemed that living with a Professor, and the student with some of the highest grades, had rubbed off on him as his own grades had gone up, he had just finished his last exam and was very hopeful.

Aside from schoolwork and getting to know his mate better, Harry's weekends had been devoted to recruiting as many vampires as possible to the light as well as coming up with a strategy for the battle that was sure to come. Harry had spent long hours with Dumbledore and the leaders of the vampire covens, planning for every possible scenario. For the first time since he entered the magical world Harry felt prepared for what came next.

Harry smiled contently to himself as he walked towards the dungeons, lost in his own thoughts as the rest of the school left their exams and began heading about their own business. Harry had just reached the final staircase before home, when he heard someone calling his name.

"Harry! Harry, wait!" A third year Hufflepuff called breathlessly as she ran towards the vampire. "The Headmaster wanted me to give this to you!" she panted, holding out a letter.

Harry took the envelope from the girl whose name he didn't know. "Thanks." he said with a smile which caused the girl to fidget and giggle nervously before running off down the corridor. "Mental." Harry muttered watching the girl in confusion. Shaking his head, Harry quickly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Harry,

It's time. Please come to my office immediately. Everyone else will meet you here shortly.

Professor Dumbledore

P.S.

I like cotton candy.

Harry sighed, then shoved the letter in his pocket and quickly looked around to make sure that there was nobody around before running as fast as possible Within seconds, he was standing in front of the stone gargoyle. "Cotton Candy." Harry said quietly, causing the gargoyle to jump aside, allowing Harry access to the spiral staircase, which he quickly climbed. Once at the top, Harry knocked on the large wooden door and waited for a response, only to have the door swing open revealing Dumbledore, Severus, Draco, and some man Harry didn't know. Harry silently walked over to Draco, wrapping an arm around his mate's waist, feeling all the tension leaving the blonde's body at the simple touch.

"I'm sorry Dumbledore, that's all I know. The Dark Lord was talking with three vampire leaders, and he feels the thirty vampire recruits will be enough to squash all resistance; they are attacking tonight during the end of exam feast. I must go, Headmaster, before I am missed. I would like to make it out of this war alive." The man said before turning and walking to the door.

"Thank you Roland, you have done us a great service." The Headmaster said with a smile as the door closed behind the man. Quickly the Headmaster turned to the vampires in front of him. "You all heard him. Voldemort is attacking tonight with thirty vampires, his several hundred Death Eaters, Dementors, Giants, Werewolves, and anyone else he has recruited. Severus, our forty vampires should be enough yes?" Albus asked as he quickly walked to his desk.

Severus gave the older man a withering glare. "Whether or not our numbers are sufficient is irrelevant, Headmaster. We have run out of time to recruit more, but yes I believe our forty will suffice."

Dumbledore gave Severus a quick nod before turning to Harry and Draco. "As you know, we will need the Order of the Phoenix here for the battle. The complete Order is on its way here as we speak. Harry, that includes Miss Granger, and all the Weasleys, save Ginevera. I know things are tense between you and your friends, but you need to work together. Is that understood?"

Harry nodded, his face showing his nerves at having to endure the verbal abuse Ron always threw at him.

"Relax love, soon you won't have to be around the Weasel anymore." Draco muttered, giving Harry's cheek a quick kiss.

Albus smiled at the two young mates and was about to interrupt their tender moment when there was a loud knock on the door. With a quick wave of his wand, the door opened and the Order filed into the office.

"What are the blood suckers doing here?!" Ron hissed angrily upon seeing Harry and Draco standing there.

Draco and Harry had to bite their lips to keep from hissing at the red head.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor for your obvious racism, and another ten for daring to question the Headmaster's choice of company. Now Mister Weasley, unless you want to lose more points, keep your mouth shut." Severus growled, sending Molly and Arthur a sharp look as if daring them to defend their son.

Molly glared back but kept silent and Arthur shot a disapproving look at his youngest son.

"Enough! Harry and Draco are here because we need the vampires on our side, speaking of which Harry, you need to summon the covens." Dumbledore said looking pointedly at Harry.

Harry nodded and quickly walked over to the fireplace to floo call all three leaders of the covens who were ready to fight.

"I don't see why Snape is standing up for Potter and the fangers! He always hated Potter!" Ron whispered angrily to Hermione who was trying desperately to keep him quiet.

Severus growled lowly at hearing the red heads hushed query, and with an apologetic look to the Headmaster he turned on Ron. "Because Mister Weasley, I am, as you so eloquently put it, a fanger also! Now kindly shut up!" Severus hissed dangerously.

"The leaders will be here shortly, the rest will meet us in the Great Hall, Professor." Harry said walking back towards the group, noticing the tension.

"Excellent! Now to bring every one up to speed. Voldemort is attacking tonight during the feast; he has all his Death Eaters and the other magic beings we have previously discussed. But we have just been informed that he also has a company of thirty vampires. Luckily for us, Harry, Severus, and Draco have been training with our own company of forty vampires." Dumbledore said with a smile hoping that would comfort the majority of the Order who were eyeing the three vampires warily. "Excellent! Now there are a few mo….." The Headmaster continued before being cut off by the floo flaring up, depositing two men and a woman, triplets in their humans lives, into the office. The woman was tall and thin, her flaxen blonde hair swirling around her waist as she walked, her eyes a piercing blue as deep as the freshest lake. Both men were over six feet tall and like the woman had the same flaxen blonde hair that the Viking people were famous for, their eyes a cobalt blue. "Ah wonderful, I believe introductions are in order!" Dumbledore continued, smoothly giving Harry a look that clearly meant that the young vampire was meant to do the introductions.

Harry nodded to Dumbledore before turning to the three vampire leaders. "Agmund, Egor, Erica these people are the members of The Order of the Phoenix who will be fighting with us today." Harry stated bowing to each individual ancient as he spoke. "Everyone, these are Agmund, Egor, and Erica, three of the oldest vampires in the world and the leaders of the three covens who will be fighting here." Harry continued ignoring the looks of shock and hatred from a few of the Order.

"Young one, the presence of these humans, how will it affect our strategies?" asked Erica in a heavy Norse accent as she stepped away from Agmund and Egor.

Harry smiled apologetically before turning to the Headmaster for the answer.

"Well my lady, Harry had previously told me that you would rather stick to fighting the vampires in Voldemort's army instead of the Death Eaters, and I think that should still be the plan. By all means if a Death Eater attacks you, attack back, but you are most needed facing your own kind; our spells, as you know, have little effect on vampires, so you are our greatest hope." Dumbledore said smiling at the beautiful ancient who, with a nod and a slight smile, turned back towards her bothers.

"While we are on that, I was hoping you would talk to your covens quickly before we meet up in the Great Hall." Harry said quickly, still not use to giving his opinions and expressing his desires to the elders. "I was also hoping you could remind them that our actions today could undo everything we have gained in the last few months. So if at all possible, when around the humans I would like us to fight with magic, if only to lure our opponents away from the majority of the humans. I'm worried that if they see us in fighting as vampires it will ruin everything." Harry admitted quietly hating that he had to worry about this.

The ancient siblings nodded before Egor spoke up. "We will do this for you, young one, but it may be difficult, to fight in our fashion is in our blood."

Harry nodded his understanding before speaking again. "Speaking of blood, I think we all should feed heavily before the battle. There is going to be a lot of bloodshed, and I don't know about you older ones but Draco and I still find it difficult to just walk away when someone is bleeding." Harry said ruefully as he saw a few members of the Order squirming uncomfortably.

The triplets smiled knowingly before Egor spoke in his quiet voice. "Yes that would be best, even ones as old as us get tempted still. Our covens will be fed before we meet in the Great Hall. Perhaps Dumbledore, you could use that extra time to make your students aware of our presence so there is little panic." he suggested before walking to the floo, Agmund and Erica following him. "We will return in an hour." Egor said before walking into the green flames and disappearing followed by his siblings.

Once the three ancients had left Severus turned to Dumbledore. "Headmaster the fledglings and myself need to go now if we want to be sufficiently fed before we are due in the great hall. Unfortunately our donors may not be enough…Either we need to go to a muggle settlement, which would take too long, or have more people willing to let us drink." He said ignoring the gasps of outrage and disgust from around the room.

"I see." Albus said thoughtfully, resting his bearded chin on his pointed fingers as he slowly gazed expectantly at each member of the Order of the Phoenix in turn.

After a few uncomfortable moments Arthur Weasley stepped forward along with Fred and George. "We'll help you" Arthur said his voice shaking slightly showing his nerves.

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, Fred, George, we can use all the…food we can get, and Severus will have a blood replenishing potion for you." Harry said with an encouraging smile as he led the three red heads out of the office followed by his mate and sire.

"Quiet please!" Dumbledore called above the deafening din in the Great Hall, within moments the entire hall was silent. "Now I am sure you are all wondering why I have called you here, interrupting your exams. We have received intelligence that Lord Voldemort will be attacking Hogwarts during the feast tonight." The headmaster stated calmly, getting drowned out by the scared voices of the students. "QUIET!" Albus shouted causing the hall to go silent once more. "There is no need to panic as we have a plan for this exact scenario. Now firstly, all students sixth year and younger need to gather in the corner of the hall with your prefects, who will take you by portkey to a safe location where you will be able to contact your families. Your belongings will be sent by house elf as soon as possible. Head boys and girls stay behind please." The hall remained eerily quiet as the prefects portkeyed the students out of the hall. Dumbledore was just about to start speaking again when Harry walked into the Great Hall with Draco, Severus, and the three Weasleys. Without a word the six of them walked up to the Head Table and stood behind Dumbledore. "Now seventh years, you are all legally adults. The choice to stay and fight is yours, although if any of you will be joining Voldemort in the fight you are not welcome to stay here. I'm sure you understand. So any students not wanting to stay should go to their head boy or head girl and they will portkey you to a safe place as well."

After a few minutes when all the seventh years that wished to leave had been portkeyed away, Dumbledore opened the doors to the Great Hall with a wave of his wand revealing the members of the Order. "For those of you who don't know, these people are the members of the Order of the Phoenix and will be fighting here at the school to defeat Voldemort. They are not the only ones. In a few minutes more guests, who will be critical in this battle, vampires, will join us. There will be forty vampires, plus Professor Snape, Harry and Draco fighting alongside us tonight. These allies are here to fight Voldemort's own vampire troops." Dumbledore said seriously ignoring the out bursts from the students at the revelation of their potions master being a vampire. Dumbledore waited for the noise to settle before continuing. "These vampires will be focusing mainly on Voldemort's own vampire recruits, they are necessary in this battle as our spells do not effect vampires other than to anger them. Now I believe Harry has a few things he'd like to say to you before you are given your assignments."

Harry swallowed nervously, the taste of Fred's blood still thick on his tongue, before walking next to Dumbledore. "Hi guys I just wanted to run some things by you. As I hope you have all realized over the past few months, vampires, my people are not monsters. We have self-restraint, and every vampire on our side has fed heavily so we are not a risk to any of you. That being said I cannot promise the same for the vampires fighting for Voldemort. Voldemort is unaware that we have our own vampire troops so hopefully our presence will be enough to distract their vampires from the rest of you. But I need to be honest with you all, there will be people hurt and bleeding in this battle, and I am not promising that Voldemorts vampires will resist feeding. Our own forces will do our best to draw the other vampires into the forest or as far from the main battle as possible to try and stop that from happening. But I felt you needed to be prepared." Harry looked around the Great Hall at all the 7th year students who had remained behind; some of them looked determined, others down right terrified. "Secondly," Harry said as he waved his wand opening the doors to the Great Hall, "These are the vampires of three of our oldest and strongest covens, they are here to fight alongside us." He said as the covens filed into the hall, paying no mind to the multiple stares they received. Harry turned to Dumbledore with a nod before he, Draco, and Severus went to join the rest of the vampires.

"Alright every one, now onto your assignments." Dumbledore called out cheerily.

Harry stood in the courtyard holding Draco's hand tightly in his as he watched hundreds of spells hit the protective wards around the castle. "This is it" he whispered as he turned to look at his mate, the one person in the world he couldn't live without. "I need you to stay safe Draco." he almost whimpered as he pulled Draco closer to him, drawing comfort from the fact that he was there now.

Draco smiled softly, giving Harry's hand a tight squeeze. "Ditto." he whispered as he leaned in and brushed a chaste kiss over Harry's lips.

Harry was about to answer when a deafening crack echoed around them, looking up Harry saw large chunks of the wards falling from the sky to dissolve in thin air. "The shit is about to hit the fan now!" he said with a grin as he drew his wand.

"Honestly love, I don't understand some of the things you say." Draco teased as crouched down into battle position instinctively.

Harry chuckled, but quickly sobered as the first of Voldemort's vampires darted into the courtyard, only to be quickly greeted by the vampires fighting for the light. By the time the Death Eaters arrived, the air was full of hisses, growls, and screams as the Dark Lord's vampires were being led away from the castle and destroyed. Harry stood firm beside his mate as he kept a watchful lookout for Voldemort, only to have his focus interrupted by a scream he knew all too well. Without thinking, Harry raced over to where he had heard Hermione scream, leaving his mate behind. Harry froze for a moment at the sight before him. Ron was lying on the ground bleeding profusely from multiple wounds on his torso and Hermione was lying beside him curled up twitching and screaming as Bellatrix Lestrange cast the cruciatus on Hermione another time.

Harry saw red, how dare the bitch torture people who were once his friends! With a growl he pointed his wand at the mad witch.

Hearing the growl, Bellatrix turned from Hermione to see a very angry Boy Who Lived pointing his wand straight at her heart and fangs bared. "Well, well, if it isn't little Potty, came to save your mudblood eh?" she taunted, her laugh ringing in Harry's ears.

Harry tightened his grip on his wand using all his self-control not to kill the evil witch in front of him. "Stupify!" he growled his wand still pointed at Bellatrix. The moment she hit the ground Harry's focus turned to Ron and Hermione. "'Mione, are you all right?" he asked as he knelt beside her.

"Y-Yes but Ron…" Hermione said in a shaky hoarse voice as she slowly got to her feet.

Harry nodded, moving over to Ron who had gone a sickly white color. Harry quickly picked Ron up, barely registering the amount of blood pouring from his once best mate. "Madam Pomfrey has the Great Hall turned into a hospital," Harry explained as he began to make his way to the Great Hall.

"Harry!" Hermione called out waiting until Harry turned around before speaking again. "Thank you…and I'm sorry."

Harry nodded, pushing the emotions to the back of his mind for the time being. "Hermione, please let Draco know where I am." Harry requested before running to the Great Hall with Ron. Once he walked through the doors, Harry was taken aback. There were so many injured people, and many dead ones scattered throughout the hall. Shaking his head, Harry made his way over to Madam Pomfrey. "Poppy, Ron!" Harry said panicky for the first time since he found his old friend bleeding on the ground.

Madam Pomfrey quickly turned towards Harry, her face going white when she saw the state the redhead was in. "Set him here Harry, and go get Arthur, he's over by the doors." she said quickly, as she began running diagnostic spells over the young Gryffindor.

Harry turned towards the door spotting the red headed patriarch right away and hurried at a human pace over to him. Once Harry stood beside the man who always treated him like a son, he saw why Mr. Weasley was in the Great Hall to begin with. On the floor side by side were Fred and George, both appearing to be asleep, except for how pale they were. Harry took a moment to mourn for the two brothers who always made him smile. "Mr. Weasley." he said quietly as not to startle Arthur, regretting having to add more pain onto the already grieving man.

"Oh! Harry what are you doing here?" Mr. Weasley asked shakily, taking in Harry's blood soaked cloths.

"Ron…Madam Pomfrey wanted me to get you." Harry whispered, the fear of losing the person who was once his best friend making itself present.

Arthur nodded, the little color that was left draining from his face before quickly heading over to where the healer was working with Harry on his heels. "Dear Merlin!" he gasped when he saw his son. "Poppy?" he asked with a desperate whine in his voice not being able to tear his eyes from his son.

Madam Pomfrey looked up at the shaking father with a look of despair on her face. "I'm sorry Arthur, there is nothing I can do. He's lost too much blood and whatever caused these wounds won't respond to magical healing."

"There…There has to be something Poppy! Some potion, some spell, some…." Arthur trailed off as his eyes fell on Harry.

Both Harry and the medi-witch looked at Arthur, confusion written on their faces at his silence, until Harry understood. "No Mr. Weasley, I can't, Ron would never forgive either of us!" Harry protested shaking his head furiously.

"Harry he will die!"

Harry looked at Arthur sympathetically but determined. "This…. vampirism…is worse than death. Arthur, we make do, try to be as happy as possible…but it's not a substitute for death…"

Arthur stared at Harry, his eyes frantic. "Please Harry, I already lost two sons today, I can't lose another!"

Harry bit his lip, trying to decide what to do, before giving in. "Are you sure, Arthur? This is irreversible, and if he doesn't find his mate, or is rejected, he will still die." Harry said, as he knelt down beside the dying red head, listening closely to the sound of Ron's heart and how much blood was still pumping through his body.

"Do it Harry, we'll deal with all that when the time comes." Arthur said desperately, before turning towards the door at the sound of his wife's screams upon seeing the bodies of the twins.

"Go Arthur, I will take care of things here." Harry said softly, before biting his wrist and putting it against Ron's lips. "Drink Ron, please, your family can't lose you too." he whispered in Ron's ear, praying the red head could hear him. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, Harry felt Ron weakly drawing the blood from Harry's wrist. "Oh thank Merlin!" Harry sighed as Ron's sucking got stronger. Once Harry began to get light headed from blood loss he pulled his wrist from Ron's mouth.

"Did it work, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley's voice asked from behind him.

Harry turned around to see a tear stained and red eyed Mrs. Weasley leaning heavily on her husband. "Yes, he drank my blood, so he will be fine. But the change isn't instant, in a few moments he will vomit, and then I need to explain things to him quickly. After he vomits he'll be semi-conscious and completely able to hear everything I say. Then, after he throws up a second time he will go into the month long death. After a month he will wake up a vampire." Harry quickly explained, while listening to the sound of his blood pumping through Ron's body.

Mrs. Weasley was about to answer when Ron convulsed on the floor, before starting to vomit. Harry quickly vanished the bloody vomit before leaning down to speak quietly into Ron's ear. "Hey mate I know I'm the last person you want to talk to right now, but Bellatrix cursed you to near death, there was nothing any one could do…Your dad…he begged me to change you, he couldn't lose you. I'm sorry Ron but you're going through the change. Very soon you will lose all your senses, vomit again, and then die. I know when you wake up in a month, you're going to madder than a hippogriff with a hangover but, believe me mate…you'll understand then why your family couldn't lose you today. Ron I'm sorry, I didn't want you to go through this, but you will be fine and strong and when you wake up we will talk. Hopefully by now the pain is fading, see you in a month mate." Harry muttered as he watched the slashes on Ron's chest slowly knit shut and. after throwing up once more, he heard Ron's heart give one last final thud before it went quiet.

Standing up, Harry ran a hand over his face tiredly before turning to the Weasleys. "He'll wake up in a month, but he is going to be angry. He made his opinions on vampirism clear in September, but there's nothing for it now. Excuse me, I need to join the battle." Harry muttered brokenly. He knew he should feel better about saving the life of his first friend, but condemning him to live an eternity as a vampire didn't seem like a good alternative. Harry only hoped that Hermione would be Ron's mate and that fate wasn't cruel enough to make that not so.

Hours later, Harry stood in stunned silence next to Draco as they watched Severus separate the Dark Lords head from his body with his bare hands.

Days after the final battle, Hogwarts was still overrun with humans and vampires alike, there were hourly memorial services going on for the people who fell during the battle and no one felt right leaving the castle until they were finished.

After Severus had killed Voldemort, the battle became a blur. The surviving Death Eaters had either laid down their wands or fled; either way the Aurors had rounded them up and carted them back to Azkaban to await trials.

For Harry, the last three days had been a whirlwind of emotions, relief being the main one; relief this his loved ones were alive, relief that Voldemort was dead, relief that the Weasley's didn't hate him, relief that the covens were still intact, and relief that the ministry didn't view their actions negatively.

When Draco and Severus found out that Harry had changed Ron they were surprised, but when he told them why, they were shocked. Both men swore to stay by Harry's side and help teach Ron how to be the best vampire he could. All in all the future looked bright.

The future of the wizarding world had indeed been bright, Harry thought as he stood hand in hand with his mate on the grounds of Hogwarts fifty years later for the annual service to honor those who gave their lives for the light. After the final battle, things had been a mess but the world slowly got rebuilt.

When the wizard officiating the service came to Fred and George's names Harry turned around and looked at his small coven smiling softly at Ron and Charlie. He had been right, Ron had been furious when he woke up and had tried to tear Harry apart. But after a while Ron lost the anger and fully embraced his new life as a vampire. He had been extremely disappointed when Hermione hadn't turned out to be his mate, but the moment he laid eyes on Luna, all his disappointment flew out the window. Those two were happily mated mere weeks after Ron turned.

A couple years after the battle, Hermione approached Harry's small coven and asked to be changed, presenting a very logical argument for why it would be a good idea, and jokingly insisted that the "Golden Trio should never separate." Severus had of course cursed her Gryffindor sensibilities, but Harry reluctantly agreed to change her as well. Shortly after being turned, Hermione ran into Charlie Weasley in Diagon Alley. Ron found it hilarious that his ex-girlfriend's mate was his older brother.

After Charlie joined their coven, Severus decided there were entirely too many Gryffindor's around for him to be continually in their presence. Besides, his fledgling was grown and making his own. So he decided to set up an apothecary of his own. He still considered Harry his childe, and was included in the coven like family, but it was Harry's coven, so he had to let Harry take leadership.

Once the service was over the vampires hung back to chat with people they went to school with. It was bitter sweet seeing their friends growing old and having children of their own. As if sensing Harry's thoughts, Draco walked up to him and grabbed his hand tightly. Even after all these years he still loved Harry as much as he did the day of the final battle.

After an hour, Harry gathered up his coven. "Let's go home guys." he said softly before they all ran off in the direction of home.