A/N: Guys, I'm so sorry for the delay. Ten days is unacceptable. Truth is, life got seriously in the way, and then I go writer's block for a few days more. But there it is: the last chapter. It was a bitch to write, but I think I did my story justice. Enjoy. :)

Disclaimer: I unfortunately don't own anything related to Harry Potter. I own, however, my OCs Alys and Emy Warren, and the plot.

14. Ninth year (part 4): The final Battle

It was the 30th April 1998. Emy and Alys Warren were in their hide-away, erasing all remaining proof of their presence. Emy was waving a wand in the air, returning the small place to its original, mould-covered-walls type of thing, state.

Alys was packing the rest of their things - letters, clothes, ammo, everything she could reach that had any importance. When her eyes fell to a particular letter, not addressed to them both but to her alone, she froze.

It had been sent in late February, the ink dimming a bit because it had been left in the sun. The writing was messy, a bit like the person itself, but it brought a pang of longing in her chest. She realised she had not seen or heard from Fred - or George - in a set of months, and realised only then how much she really missed him - them.

She mouthed the end of the letter, 'be safe and more importantly be your own awesome self, for me, Love, Your Fred', and smiled.

"You think the boys will be there?" she asked in a small voice, constrasting with the harshness of her look - skinny dark jeans and light blue shirt with her gun holster.

Emy turned to her, her wand freezing in mid-air. She looked almost surprised to hear her twin asking something so simple after everything. "I hope so." She smiled back, and suddenly it felt like a normal day.

They left the crooked house in the early evening, backpacks on their shoulders and a sense of going to war settling in the pit of their stomach. Sometime soon, Voldemort would fall, or they would all die. Strangely enough, both were okay with that.

When Emy took her sister's hand to Disapparate them both to Shell Cottage, she interlaced their fingers in a way she had not in a long time. Alys shared a look with her sister, and it was as if they saw each other for the last time.

They appeared in a 'pop' on a windy beach, the sound of waves and smell of iodine filling their senses. Alys turned to face the ocean and felt a strong emotion overcome her. It was so peaceful to just look at the water coming and going... She stood there for what felt like seconds or centuries, until her sister gently tugged on her hand, and she faced the hill behind her.

The cottage sat there, quietly, alone, its roof covered in shells of any colours, glittering in the slowly setting sun. A figure was walking their way, hair set ablaze by the light, and Alys found herself grinning stupidly.

Bill's scars shone in the light, but his smile made him appear the handsome man he had always been, and when he embraced both girls at once, it was like coming home. Like they were both teens and were visiting the Burrows.

When they walked up to the house and Bill actually passed a hand through Alys' hair saying 'That's horrendous', it definitely was not like they were on the eve of a war...

Shell Cottage was like a little piece of paradise. Or at least that's what Alys was thinking as she stared through the window of the small bedroom Emy and herself would share, the waves in the distance echoed by a chime hanging by the window frame.

"Als, dinner!" came Emy's voice right after her realisation that she wanted such a house for herself, and forget about everything else...

Fleur was both an exquisite decorator and cook, and the proof was the delicious fish dish that French people called "bouillabaisse". Alys had had some in France before and loved it already, so she was not ashamed to take a second helping. She had not had food that good for a long time...

"So..." Bill began as she slurped in a big piece of colin fish, "why are you here?"

Emy looked at her sister who shrugged, entranced by the dinner. "We thought it was only a matter of time before he went to Hogwarts. We heard some terrible things about what happens to those kids... It seems normal he should go."

"Harry has not been seen in months, Ems... I doubt anyone knows what he is planning. But we are all on red-alert all the same."

Alys chewed her potatoes, brow furrowed. She was not disturbed by speaking her mouth full. "I though' you 'ad seen 'Arry some days 'go."

Bill nodded, his hand squeezing Fleur's on the table. "He left yesterday, as a matter of fact. With Ron, Hermione, and the goblin. And a few hours later-" he waved his wand in the air and a newspaper flew to the table, "-this was out."

Emy grabbed the paper and showed the headlines to her sister. The picture was showing a dragon - a dragon, a real, dragon! - flying through a roof. Gringotts. "Gringotts Bank on Diagon Alley was broken into a few hours ago," Emy read, "Undesirables Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Mudblood Hermione Granger were seen on the scene. They broke into a high security vault to steal an as-of-now unknown object. Security has been reinforced around the premises."

"As if he'd go back," Alys huffed. She then looked up at Bill. "Any idea what he was looking for?"

Bill shook his head, but Fleur sighed and shuddered at the same time. "I woke up earrly yesterrday," she said in her singing accent, "and 'Ermione was drrinking Polyjuice. She left looking like that 'orrible woman. Bellatrix."

Alys gripped her fork so hard her knuckles were white. Emy was staring at her in something akin to fear, and she stammered her answer. "B-b-b-but wh-why?"

"We don't know," Bill concluded. He reached across the table and grabbed Alys' hand, and her green eyes met his. She was fuming. "I heard rumours that you two were hunting her. Why?"

Emy too reached for her sister, and Alys felt herself gradually calming down. "Alys had an unpleasant run-in with her in Downing Street in November. Since then, Lestrange has hunted us. She went to Belfast to kill our parents - who were safe by that time, thankfully - and managed to attack us once or twice. But after a time she became silent, and Alys...and we decided she had to be stopped for good. We learnt in Paris that she didn't leave Malfoy Manor these days..."

"I don't know about that," Bill said while still staring at Alys, "but I know one thing, and it is that Bellatrix Lestrange is a crazy woman who likes nothing more than to play with her food. Be careful."

Alys looked up again, and he twitched under the rage in her eyes.

But no one talked again after that.

Alys slept soundly that night, for some unknown reason. Emy did not sleep a wink. Her thoughts, as usual these last few weeks, were on Oliver and the danger he too was in for being her boyfriend. Although they had not seen each other since Bill's wedding, he still claimed his love for her too openly for it to be safe...

So when Alys woke up on the morning of the 1st of May, her sister was not in the bed. Or in the cottage, or on the beach, for that matter.

"Where is Ems?" she asked sleepily and a bit worriedly to Fleur as she helped with breakfast.

Fleur smiled sadly. "Elle est allée chercher Olivier," she answered in her singing French. She went to fetch Olivier.

Alys eyed the window giving on the sea wearily. She too longed to see Fred. How long had she not heard his voice, seen his smile? She passed an absent hand in her short hair and sighed. She had changed too much since summer. Who knew if he'd still like her now?

"Fred et George viennent pour le déjeuner. Bill les a prévenus que vous étiez là." Fleur continued as if she had not noticed her guest's discomfort. Fred and George are coming for lunch. Bill told them you were here.

Alys felt her blood freeze in her veins in an uncomfortable way. She had wished very hard that her friends and...more would come and meet them before everything blew to pieces, but this was...too much. She found herself gasping and almost choking on the lack of air. "T-t-tu crois q-qu'ils... Tu crois qu'ils me reconnaitront?" D-d-d'you t-think... Do you think they'll recognize me?

Fleur's eyes snapped to hers, and she suddenly was the perfect impersonation of her mother-in-law, dear Molly. "Ne sois pas stupide, Alice. Bien sûr que oui. Nous avons tous changé dans cette histoire..." Don't be stupid, Alice. Of course they will. We all have changed in this ordeal.

So Alys spent that morning torn between two feelings that both needed her to stare through the window: the first was worry for her twin and the wish that she'd appear on the beach as soon as possible; the second was excitement and a bit of fear that she'd see two lanky and ginger figures appear on the beach before her sister did.

As a matter of fact, it was the second that happened. She had been idly toying with the fringes of the curtain when she saw someone pop onto the beach out the corner of her eye. And there was no mistaking that bright orange colour.

All of a sudden she was on her feet, checking if her Pink Floyd tank-top was looking okay, checking her hair in the mirror, wiping away traces of eyeliner that had gone awry. And she ran down the stairs like a lovestruck moron.

Actually, she was not the only one to do so. As she ran outside into the garden, someone was running towards her too, and as they met onto the grass, Fred crashed into her, bringing her into his arms and nuzzling her neck to breathe her in as if he needed her to live. Alys closed her eyes, and realised how much she had missed those arms and that embrace...

"Your hair is ridiculous," he mouthed in her neck, and she giggled, properly giggled, as if she was not a crazed criminal and gun-handling woman. She felt him smile into her skin, and she squeezed him harder.

"I missed you so bad," she managed to croak.

Then someone cleared their throat, and George appeared in front of her, his ear still missing, his smirk still in place, and this slight shake of head that translated to perfection what exactly he thought of this reunion.

"Georgie..." she smirked, using the nickname he hated the most. He indeed cringed, and as Fred put her back on solid ground, he too brought her into a hug.

"Gred's right, that hair of yours is horrendous..."

She nudged him off her. "Desperate times, all that. Stop mocking my hair!"

"Okay, then let's talk about that top of yours..." he chuckled, and she was home.

Emy did not reappear until much later in the afternoon, when Alys was so filled with worry she was very close to ask one of the boys to Apparate her to Puddlemere. Although she knew Ollie would probably not be there now.

In fact, the sun had started its course down the sky and it was in an eerie atmosphere that the blonde appeared at the door, looking a bit dishevelled, but pulling behind her a weary-looking Oliver who, if Alys was not wrong, had a few grey hair on his temples.

"Ems!" she cried, and launched herself at her sister. Fred and George went to greet their former Quidditch Captain and then encompassed both in a hug. Alys let her two friends hug the hell out of their best friend, and she went to hug her kinda brother-in-law. "Good to see you Ollie."

"Likewise, Als," he said, his eyes going to her hair. She rolled her eyes, but he did not voice any comment.

That is, until Bill appeared at the door, panting as if he had run up the hill, and waved his hand in the air in a perfect imitation of Ron when under pressure. "The Order! We've been called!"

Emy grabbed her wand in her pocket at a speed that was inhuman, and Alys' reached for a gun-holster that wasn't at her belt. Yet. "Why?" Fred asked in the middle of it.

"Harry's been sighted. In Hogsmeade."

Alys exchanged a look with her sister. Finally. She knew it. The Boy who Lived was there to save them at last. And they'd fight for it. "When, where?"

"As soon as possible, the Hog's Head," he looked pointedly at Emy who nodded gravely. As soon as he said those words, Alys disappeared into the stairs, grabbed her bag and stuff, and ran back down to get ready.

Fleur changed into a pair of jeans and something easier to move into, tying her long blonde hair into a more practical ponytail. Oliver shed his heavy coat - had he been somewhere cold recently? - and Emy tucked her own hair into a bun.

Then all eyed were on Alys, because she had just clicked her gun to load it, had whirled it expertly in her fingers, and had placed it at her hip. Fred's eyes were wide when she met his gaze, and she hoped she'd not see that fear in there anytime soon. Fear of her.

Alys had been in Hogsmeade once before, the year prior, when Bill had been attacked by a werewolf. She had appeared in front of the school directly, though, and had not seen much of the victorian-looking village with its crooked façades and lopsided signs.

The Hog's Head was very dusty, very dark, and didn't smell good either. The tenant, one Abe, or so George called him, was a very gruffy-looking old man that apparently had some importance. He was not too happy to see all these people appear in his pub, especially since even more started to fill the space.

It was very emotional to be reunited with Molly and Arthur again, and with Charlie, Remus, Tonks, and even Kingsley, whom Alys hadn't seen since November. When she was presented with a photograph of one Teddy Lupin, it was even harder to cope with what was about to happen.

The hidden tunnel over the fireplace brought them to the strangest room Alys had ever seen, filled with hammocks, banners of Hogwarts Houses, and filled with even more students.

"Harry is here!" one was shouting at them, "He came! He's gone to the Great Hall!"

There was quick understanding between the members of the Order, and they exited the Room of Requirements, or apparently thus was its name, and Alys kept her hand firmly on her gun's hilt. Hogwarts might be a big playground in which she'd have loved to live - and had bitterly wanted to for years - but right now it was empty of any soul. Safe for the crowd gathered in the Great Hall.

They hadn't reached the bottom of the stairs, though, before a voice erupted in everyone's head, from the walls, the air theyr breathed, everywhere. It hurt so much Alys clutched her head as hard as she could to drive the voice out.

Voldemort. It was him. In person. And he had brought with him an army. But then again, so had Harry Potter. Who was to be delivered to the Dark Lord before midnight to avoid casualties.

Harry Potter who was standing in front of one black-clad man Alys recognized as Professor Snape, his wand held aloft. "I think you have had quite the breach in your walls, Professor," Harry said smugly before turning to acknowledge the Order behind him. Ron and Hermione, who had been standing close, joined their ranks, and Alys was shocked to see how their faces were marked with...it was undescribable, but something was for sure: they had seen a lot.

Hogwarts became a castle on siege. Under the orders of one Professor McGonagall, who never once took off her pointy hat or shed that air of importance that made her charisma.

Molly and some of the teachers were tasked to cast protecting spells around the castle; Bill and Fleur were tasked to see the younger students out through the Hog's Head and to Apparate them somewhere safe; Remus, Tonks, Kingsley, Arthur, Fred and George were sent to the upper levels to keep the Death Eaters from entering. When Fred grabbed Alys' hand with a grave nod, she missed her chance to remind him she loved him.

Oliver left them too to gather a small force of Quidditch players to attacks from the air. He exchanged a small kiss with Emy that left the blonde crying. But when the stern Scottish teacher turned to her, she sniffed away her tears and pulled Alys towards the astronomy Tower. They were to make sure no one Apparated there, as it was the only place in the school where it was possible to do so.

An hour later, the Astronomy Tower was the least of Alys and Emy's problems. It's top had been blown off to pieces anyway, so there was no threat there anymore. But the rest of the castle, that was bloody dangerous. Death Eaters everywhere, along with giant spiders and giants. Alys had never regretted her lack of magic more than in that moment.

She had just emptied her third magazine, and as she recharged, she heard a voice she'd recognize anywhere shout out from up front. "Gred! Careful!"

She launched herself into the corridor without any consideration for her sister whose protection spell would not be quick enough to catch her as she turned the corner. Her gun lifted, she aimed, and the bang that followed resulted in a Death Eater crumbling to the ground, chest pierced with a bullet. On the floor before him, Fred looked at her advance, eyes wide, blood trickling down his forehead.

Alys pushed the hood of their foe aside, and groaned. "Rookwood, you moron..." she had recognized a Ministry douche, and as he was gurgling his last breaths, she spat at his feet.

When she helped Fred to his feet, the ceiling started giving way over them, and several things happened at once: Fred pushed her aside and out of the way; Harry and Ron came running down the hall, launching curses behind them; someone else Alys barely recognized as Percy Weasley shouted Fred's name; and Emy appeared at the corner, that blasted protectiong spell of her finally hitting them both.

She fell.

Fell.

Landed.

So did a boulder.

On her leg.

She shouted.

So did Fred. So did Emy. So did Percy.

Then silence.

And dust. And coughs...

Silence...

Silence...

"Als!"

She sucked in a relieved breath that turned into a cough and a moan as she tried to move her leg. The dust-covered face of the man she loved appeared, and so did her sister's.

"Ouch," she croaked, blessing magic when her twin and Percy together levitated the boulder off of her. Nearby, Harry and Ron were still fending off enemies.

Fred helped her up, and as it appeared her leg was indeed broken, scooped her up in his arms. She barely noticed forgetting her gun on the floor as he acknowledged his brother and asked him and Emy to lead the way. To put her somewhere safe.

Midnight rang.

With it came back the voice.

And the realisation.

They had lost people.

Fred set Alys down in the destroyed Great Hall, among hundreds or others. Injured, or worse. She caught a glimpse of Remus and Tonks, their hands almost touching as they rested next to each other, and she let out an anguished cry echoed by Emy two seconds later.

Teddy Lupin, with his bright blue hair, was orphaned. And he had this bitch of a Lestrange woman to thank for it.

Alys was going to kill her.

Or not, she thought as the gentle nurse Madam Pomfrey set her broken bone. It hurt too bloody much.

Fred had not left her side, contrarily to Emy who was tending to the angry cut adorning Oliver's cheek. His hand was tucked in hers and he was staring at her in awe. Alys stared back, realising something: they had both almost died.

So she tugged on his hand and, regardless of the grime and dust covering them, she kissed him, with all she had. And he kissed her back with as much passion. She was crying, scarring her face with ugly tear-tracks that washed away some of the dust.

And then, out of the chaos, she whispered, "I love you so much, Fred Weasley."

And he smiled.

Final Author's Note: I know that the war doesn't end here, but for Alys and Fred, it does. There are together, they are alive. Alys will not go after Bellatrix and get killed (which, I admit, was my first intention when starting this story). Fred is alive.

There won't be an epilogue because this ending makes sense to me and to my chracters. However, I'd like to thank each and every one of you who have read, liked, and sometimes reviewed this story. Harry Potter remains my main fandom, and I can't keep but coming back to it.

So this is not a goodbye, but a farewell. :)