Lord of Darkness

Bonus & Extras

***One day ownership will be mine... BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY! ***

A/N: So the story is officially done, but I had more than a few ideas, and requests, to add scenes in that just never really fit anywhere. That is what this chapter is all about. None of this is canon but is just here for fun and to show you, my readers, what I had planned that never made it into the final cut.

There is a brief A/N before each scene giving some context or background information.

Enjoy!

***LoD***

A/N: The scene below was... well kind of a crappy version of what I ended up posting as Draco's attempt to get Harry to stay at Hogwarts, needless to say I am glad I changed it.

***LoD***

It had been a mistake, coming to Hogwarts, and Harry knew that now. Over two months into the school year and he already knew enough to pass all of his classes for the next few years without effort. What was the point in him staying if every teacher just taught what was in the book? This realization was why Hedwig was currently perched on his shoulder as he walked towards the main entrance to the school so late at night.

"Wait!"

An aggravated sigh escaped the boy's lips, and he could feel the annoyance in his companion as well. Draco Malfoy, the boy he had just a few days prior mentally tortured. Was the stupid fool looking for revenge?

"Wh-where are y-you g-going?" the blonde boy huffed out, as he panted from the effort involved in sprinting down the hallway.

"I am leaving, there is no point in staying here."

"B-but wh-what about y-your classes?"

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance, "What about them? I can already pass this year with my eyes closed. The entire reason I came to this school was to learn, and clearly I can do far better on my own than with a bunch of senile old fools telling me their worthless opinions."

The Pureblood continued his sputtering, "But what about... about me!?"

"What about you?"

"You can't just leave me! You are the first interesting thing to happen so far!"

This earned a snort from the raven-haired Slytherin, "And I care about you because?"

"I... I can serve you! I want to follow you!"

"I do not need a follower Malfoy, and I certainly do not need an annoying servant."

"I will do better I promise! Please stay, give me another chance to prove that Hogwarts can be useful to you, that I can be useful!"

The boy-who-lived groaned, but thought about his alternatives. It probably would be easier for him to access books and research materials without interference while at the school, and if all adults were as useless as their professors then he would undoubtedly not find anything more interesting in the rest of their society. Perhaps it could be 'fun' to take a different approach to his future domination.

Why conquer the world alone when one could have others do it for you?

"Very well Draco... you have your chance."

The Malfoy grinned, before swearing his allegiances.

***LoD***

A/N: Following is what I had originally thought of for Harry's encounter with the troll before I had the idea of having him take control of it.

***LoD***

Harry Potter gave a sigh of boredom as he strolled through the hallways of Hogwarts. He had originally intended on going to the celebration that was being held in the Great Hall, but upon realizing that it was basically just a party about how he killed a Dark Lord and had dead parents he quickly opted out.

Unfortunately, that did mean he was left with nothing to do... except for to track down whatever repugnant creature was causing that God awful smell and murder it in the worst ways possible. He quickly followed the stench until he spied a troll about to bash in the door to a bathroom, one containing a certain classmate of his, if his senses were correct, and they always were.

"Excuse me." the boy called out, drawing the beast's attention as it turned to stalk towards its newest prey. "I am afraid that you have been unlucky enough to offend my olfactory sense, which means that I am going to need to remove you from the area."

The Troll, not understanding what the tiny piece of flesh was rambling about, roared and took a longer stride forward as its club was raised for an attack.

"And you know what the best way to remove a foul smell is?"

An instance later, before the swing could be completed, the monster caught fire, bursting into flames as it roared out in agony and fell backwards.

"It is much the same as lighting a match to burn the odor away, except in the case you are the smell entirely... and I am going to burn you away."

Hours later the staff would complete their sweep of the castle, and find no evidence to Quirrell's claims about the Troll that had entered the castle.

***LoD***

A/N: I had the idea of revealing Harry's evil much earlier on, but ended up scrapping the idea to draw out Dumbledore's ignorance of it. I must say though that it gives a sort of eeriness to Harry, as an evil that Albus knows but cannot prove.

***LoD***

Albus Dumbledore gave a weary sigh as he finally reached the Quidditch field, and heard the excited cheering echoing through the stands. When had the walk begun taken so very long? Perhaps he could just take a seat on a nearby bench rather than using the tower reserved for teachers.

"Headmaster?"

Turning the man noticed the curious emerald-eyes of Harry Potter looking down at him.

"Ah hello my boy, enjoying the game so far?"

"Indeed, would you like to join us sir?"

"That would be lovely thank you Harry." Perhaps he could even do some investigating while he was... No, he could not do that. Students depended on a trusting relationship with the adults that were supposed to take care of them. It would be terribly inappropriate for him to break that relationship he had just begun to form with the young boy.

Taking his seat next to Harry, who had scooted over to make room, the man decided that it would do no harm to get to know the child a bit more.

"So Harry, how have you enjoyed school thus far?"

"It has been quite exciting sir."

The elder nodded in agreement, "Indeed, hopefully the rest of the year will calm down a bit. I have not had so much stress in quite a few years I must say."

"I can imagine, it could not have been easy replacing a teacher so late in the school term."

"No... no it was not."

"A shame he passed away."

The blood in Dumbledore's veins froze as he stared at the game being played out before them. The official statement had been that Quirrell had a family emergency and would be on an extended leave of absence. The only people who would have known about his death were the Heads of House, Hagrid, himself, and... the killer.

The elder Wizard glanced over, to observe the boy. He was so innocent, so pure and happy...

Green eyes turned up to meet his own, and for a split second the Headmaster saw something dark and malicious within them. A shadow blacker than anything he had encountered, eclipsing even Tom at his height, and then it was gone, and the smiling eleven year old boy was back.

"Everything okay Headmaster?"

"Yes... yes my boy everything is... fine."

What would he do now? What could he do now?

***LoD***

A/N: When I outlined the first 'book' of Lord of Darkness I had been planning on following the story for the most part in terms of events. The reason that the scene below was replaced was that I was having a hard time filling the time between his Christmas break and the confrontation with Quirrel.

***LoD***

"I see myself with the stone... and yet I cannot take it..." a voice muttered as Harry Potter entered the final room. Standing before him, and in front of a mirror, was a turban clad professor earning a disappointed sigh from the boy.

"And here I was hoping it would be a surprise ending, maybe McGonagall or a student... instead it is the obvious one, how very anticlimactic."

A growl escaped from the professor, "You think yourself so smart do you boy!?"

"Smart enough to get through the traps designed for an adult wizard with a dark parasite stuck to his soul, yes."

Quirrell stared in shock for a moment at how casually the boy had announced his own situation, before a dark chuckle rang through the room.

"Let me see him Quirrell, I wish to look upon my greatest adversary."

"B-but master, you are not strong enough for..."

"SILENCE! Do not question me."

"O-of course..."

The man turned, and unraveled the clothing covering his head to reveal a deformed face on the back of his skull.

"Gross, well I suppose that is what you get for trying to kill someone superior to you."

The face sneered, "You think yourself great than I Potter? When I have returned I will show you the meaning of suffering!"

"So... it would be in my best interest to ensure that you don't return correct?"

"Make him retrieve the stone, force him to Quirrell!"

"Yes master" with that the older man turned and drew his wand, only to find himself thrown across the room and into the mirror, cracking it in the process.

"Oh my, it appears as though you fell and hurt yourself, let me help you up."

In an instant the professor was lifted from the ground by pure magic, leaving him floating in mid air. "Now I know this is going to seem a bit forward of me but... could I practice a few of my spells on you? It is just that I have always been curious to see what I can do to a human body but I have so few opportunities. I figure that since you aren't going to be around after tonight anyway it really is the optimum situation."

Without waiting for an answer the boy clenched his fist, causing bones to break and organs to rupture as blood poured from the older man's mouth.

Luckily for all, save Quirrell himself, the chamber was sound-proof. Thus no one would ever hear the final agonizing screams of the man.

***LoD***

A/N: Below is an original rough draft of Harry confronting Tom in the Chamber of Secrets during his first year.

***LoD***

Strolling through the underground tunnel Harry Potter came onto an odd scene, a young man standing over a redheaded girl, who was currently lying on the cold stone floor, unmoving. "You know, if there wasn't any context to this situation I would say you are one hell of a creeper."

The individual sneered in aggravation, "So, you must be the legendary Harry Potter."

"And you must be the soul fragment that was locked into the diary that miss Weasley was carrying around all year."

Tom Riddle halted, confusion evident in his face at how the younger boy knew so much.

"Oh come on, it wasn't like you were being subtle about it. I must say you were very lucky though. I mean taking over a young girl to unleash the Basilisk was a gutsy move, especially with all the adults constantly present at Hogwarts. What ever would you have done if one of them had stumbled upon you hm?"

The anger returned on the older boy's face, "It doesn't matter what you think! All that matters is that I have returned, and once more Lord Voldemort shall rule the world!"

"Uh you never actually managed to rule England much less the world... pretty crappy for a Dark Lord I must say."

Harry was ignored as Tom seemed to mutter to himself, "Soon she will take her last breath, and then I will be whole once more and..."

The raven-haired boy called out to interrupt, "Well we certainly can't have that hm?" A wave of his hand fed energy directly back into Ginny, causing her to take a large gasp of air as her eyes opened once more, startling the soul fragment enough that he took a step back in shock.

"Wh-what? How!?"

The boy-who-lived merely smiled, with one gesture removing the girl from harm's way and another causing a pair of jaws to emerge from the shadows below the returned man, before slamming down and ripping him into two pieces.

"Would you believe me if I said 'Magic'?"

***LoD***

A/N: Okay, so what follows is actually one of the first scenes I conceived of in this story. During my previous HP fanfic, Blessed Blood, there is a scene where Harry encounters a Boggart and it is a darker version of him. I had planned on doing a 'crossover point' in which this and Blessed Blood overlapped, and that being the form of each other's Boggarts. In the other story Harry feared his inner darkness, in this story he feared his inner weakness.

***LoD***

"What can I say?" He inquired, a look of excitement appearing on his face, "I am rather interested to find out what I 'fear most'."

The Werewolf gave a reluctant nod, before motioning for the others to step backwards. The remaining Potter continued a few more feet, before halting as the container opened, and the creature took shape. A moment later he found himself face-to-face with... himself? He was about to comment, when the individual shrank back in fear.

"P-please don't hurt me!"

Harry blinked, his face becoming passive as he began noticing the bruises, the slight limp, and the way that his doppelganger favored its right side. All telltale signs of abuse.

"I-I'll be good I promise! Please just don't hit me anymore." this time it was practically a whimper, and the real Harry felt a snarl coming to his lips. It was pathetic, a reminder of what he just as easily might have become had he been weaker, had he allowed himself to break instead of molding himself to greatness.

"I-I-I will do whatever you want just don't..."

The true boy-who-lived snapped at the illusion, "Be quiet you pathetic waste of space! To think that you are anything like me is an insult. Now begone before I turn you to ash."

It fled a moment later, and the emerald-eyed boy stormed from the room, ignoring everyone else present as he sought to be alone with his own frustrations and annoyance.

***LoD***

A/N: The following was an idea I played around with by putting Harry into the TriWizard Tournament. I ended up changing it because there are SO MANY 'Godlike' Harry Potter fics where he ends up stuck in it and just decimates everyone, I wanted to go with something a bit different.

***LoD***

The moment that the Goblet of Fire relit itself Draco Malfoy knew something bad was about to happen. There had already been three champions selected, which meant any more would be cause for more than a little concern. A slip of paper was fired out and nimbly caught by the Headmaster, who paled a moment as he looked down at it.

"Harry Potter"

Malfoy, along with the entire Slythern House, froze in fear as their Lord glanced up before his eyes narrowed in clear annoyance.

Silence fell and it seemed as though no one dared breathe much less make a sound. Glancing to his left the blonde felt his blood freeze more than it already was. The shadows along the walls were lengthening and some had already reached the floor. Was this it? Was this the end of his, along with everyone else's, life? Would they be torn apart in a bloody massacre because someone had the audacity to force the sole remaining Potter into a tournament against his will.

"Harry?"

The darkness retracted in an instant as the boy turned to look at Daphne Greengrass, who had an equally scared look upon her face.

He smiled before replying, "It seems we have a bit of a situation hm?" A second later he rose and made his way towards the door, ignoring the breath of relief from an entire long table.

***LoD***

A/N: Just a more badass version of the second task in the Tournament... I changed it just because it felt a little bit too showoffy, and I have something similar planned for a future fic. Also take note that my original plan was to introduce Daphne as a romantic partner later on in his fifth year, hence why she hasn't yet joined him.

***LoD***

Daphne watched as the French champion emerged from the water, devastated and screaming about her sister being 'lost forever'. She had, personally, never liked the Delacour much, always thinking the Witch too stuck up and full of herself.

But the thought of losing her own younger sister... that had her heart clenching in pain. She couldn't imagine what the Veela was going through at this moment. To know that not only was your younger sibling lost... but it was you who had failed her.

A decision formed in her mind a moment later and she immediately rose before walking to where her the Potter heir sat.

It was time.

She had pushed off the decision for far too long, opting to remain in the limbo of neither with nor against him. No longer could she do that, not after today. His eyes glanced up to her own, curiosity contained within as if he didn't know what she was about to do.

A quick glance around ensured that they were either out of view, or unnoticed, by the staff. Then, without another thought of hesitation she dropped to her knees, "My Lord... please save her sister." she began, a subdued tone emanating from her lips. "If it had been me I would not... I would not be able to survive if something happened to my own sibling. Please save Fleur's sister, and I will do anything you ask."

"Anything?"

Surprisingly there was no lewdness in his voice, no insinuation or any promise of darker demands. Just curiosity.

"Anything" she confirmed without hesitation. She might not care about the French bitch, but her younger sister certainly did not deserve to suffer.

Harry let out a longer breath, before nodding seconds later, "Very well."

Then he rose, walking down the stands until he reached the lake, and, ignoring the curious stares from those assembled nearby, extended his hand towards the water.

It was the slightest of gestures, one that to even a Pureblood would mean virtually nothing at all, perhaps an indication that a tapestry was out of place or something equally inconsequential.

What came next, was not.

A wave of Magic shimmered over the body of water, before the unthinkable happened and it rushed upwards, tearing itself from the bonds of gravity as if it watching a downpour of water in reverse. A moment later and the lakebed was dry, the liquid formerly covering it hanging a dozen meters in the air, along with the creatures occupying it.

Staff and student alike gaped in shock as the boy-who-lived strode calmly down into the pit, unshackled the sleeping girl, and brought her back up to her sister without a moment of hesitation.

"I do believe, miss Delacour, that this belongs to you."

***LoD***

A/N: Okay so this is one that I really regret NOT putting in, but I just ended up forgetting about it until after it would make sense to include. As I said before Daphne was going to be a later addition to the group of girls than she ended up being.

It is in two parts.

***LoD***

The year was not going well for Daphne Greengrass. She had become a bit of an outcast in Slytherin, with most of them flocking towards Harry. Thus, she had taken to walking outside of the castle when possible, just to get some fresh air and clear her head.

Unfortunately, she hadn't noticed the upper classman following her, that is until a hand grabbed onto her cloak and she was thrown against the stone wall, the breath ripped from her lungs in shock. "Well well well, what do we have here?" the boy smirked as he looked down at her. "Such a cute girl all by herself at night, you really should be more careful you know. No telling what kind of trouble you could run into."

"G-get away from me!"

Instead he advanced towards her, a disgusting smile on his face promising terrible things in her future. "Now now no reason to get upset, how about we have a little fun hm?"

She hastily grabbed her Wand that had fallen nearby and pointed it at the boy, hand shaking in fear. "I-I'm warning you!"

"Oh please, what are you going to do hm? You going to jinx me? Give me a rash? Turn my hair yellow?"

He took another step, and she acted without thought. It wasn't a Stunner that flew from her Wand, but a Spell designed to throw an opponent backwards without causing much harm, to give her time to run away.

In her haste, and fear, the Magic was overcharged, firing higher than expected.

Daphne watched in horror as the older student's head snapped around with a sickening crack, his body falling lifelessly to the ground.

For what felt like hours she stared at the corpse, before finally dragging herself up and sprinting from the area, her mind in too much of a panic to form any plan. Nor did she notice the raven-haired boy step out from around a corner, looking at her retreating form before back at the deceased individual.

He took a few strides forward until he was able to crouch down over the face, still frozen in death, "No sense in letting you go to waste hm..." he whispered as tendrils of energy flowed down into the older boy's eyes, causing them to blink with life once more.

***LoD***

Daphne Greengrass hadn't slept at all, she had originally planned on going to her Head of House but realized that doing so may very well cause her to be sent to Azkaban. Sure, she would claim self defense, but that didn't mean such a plea would work.

She needed a plan, and the first step was to dispose of the body to give herself more time. There was even a chance it would never be linked back to her in the first place, that she would be able to pretend like it had never happened.

When she returned to the same spot the next morning the breath left her once more, because the spot was empty, no corpse to be seen. After spending a frantic couple of minutes searching nearby, and coming up empty handed, the Pureblood resigned herself to needing help. It was likely that someone had already found the body and brought it to the staff's attention, that meant her time was already up.

Entering the Main Hall she spotted Snape eating with the rest of the staff, unusually calm for someone who might have discovered that a murderer was prowling the school.

Still, she needed help.

Walking up to the man, and earning his attention, she swallowed her anxiety and lowered her voice, "Excuse me, professor? I need to speak with you about..."

"Miss Greengrass, there you are. I've been looking for you."

The girl froze in horror, because she remembered that voice and the last time she had heard it was right before she had committed murder. Turning around slowly she felt her blood freeze as the former corpse walked up to her, smiling warmly as if nothing had ever happened

"It seems you dropped your bracelet last night when you were taking your walk. I found it after we parted ways." He offered the object, something she had in fact lost the previous night but had been in far too preoccupied to notice.

She took the object, face frozen in confused shock.

"You really should be more careful with where you leave things miss Greengrass, no telling who might stumble upon them." For a moment the older boy's eyes dulled, becoming lifeless before they lit up with a deep emerald-green.

Her eyes widened, before shifting to the side and towards the only other person she had ever seen with such an eye color.

Harry Potter took that time to look up from his breakfast, made eye-contact with her, and winked before returning to his food.

***LoD***

A/N: Below is the famous "Rave Party" scene that I had originally intended instead of Gabbie/Fleur/Harry bonding. In the end it just didn't feel right.

***LoD***

"Come on Gabbie keep up, you were the one who demanded to follow me after all."

And the young girl had, after waking up to her elder sister sneaking out she had practically blackmailed the older Witch into bringing her along, after a change of clothes of course. She wanted to see Harry, and knew that Fleur would be doing so.

Moving silently down the empty halls the duo finally came to the entrance to the Slytherin common room, which was opened a moment later by a House Elf. The moment they stepped inside it was obvious that a Ward had been setup to keep the sound and atmosphere inside.

A deep booming reverberated through their bodies from the music. Lights flashed this way and that, mesmerizing and nearly blinding in their intensity, smoke obscured and turned those dancing nearby into shapes in the fog, and the smell of sweat and lust filled the air.

Fleur grinned, she had snuck off to Muggle parties during her younger years at school and had always found them fascinating, and so much more fun than parties from her own culture. Wizards and Witches were such prudes when it came to physical contact, but the non-Magical individuals? They touched, groped, and rubbed against one another in lust-fueled orgies.

"Fleur, I don't know about..." Gabbie muttered in hesitation. True, she was feeling the effects of the situation as well but she was young enough to not know what to do with the feelings and sensations. She was confused, and in that confusion she pulled back in concern.

Her sister, however, was already wading into the group, eyes flashing around for any hint of her newest lover. Gabrielle attempted to follow after her, to stay with the one person she knew, but she was pushed around by the much larger teens and eventually fell backwards to the, less crowded, area surrounding the dancers.

"Hi there."

The voice was obviously male, and obviously older, and she turned her head to see the Hogwarts student looking down at her, his eyes leering over her body in ways that did not make her feel comfortable in the least.

He was looking at her like an object rather than a person.

"What's a cute little thing like you doing here?"

"I-I uhm... my older sister brought me and..."

His words were slurred a bit, reminding the young Veela of her father's friends when they would drink too much. "How about we find somewhere private and get to know each other better?"

Before she could respond he reached out and grabbed her arm, before pulling her off towards a back room, despite her fighting to escape his grasp. Tears began brimming at her eyes at what was happening, at her helplessness, that is until a voice interrupted them.

"It looks as if she doesn't want to follow you, kindly let her go."

The older boy snarled, before spinning to face down the voice, only for whatever rebuttal to die on his lips as he faced down a very annoyed Harry Potter.

"U-uh my uhm... my Lord I was just..."

"You were just letting her go and finding somewhere else to be, before you piss me off any more than you already have tonight."

The threat was obvious, and the upper classman immediately released her before practically bolting from the room.

Harry chuckled, before reaching down to apply a cooling Magic to the bruise on her arm, "How about we find you somewhere to sit hm?"

Moments later he had gently led her back to a group of chairs situated, slightly higher up than floor level, and guided her to sit in one next to his own. Seconds later Draco Malfoy made his way over, a smirk on his face along with several other important Slytherin males.

"I have good news my Lord," he called out over the music, before displaying a bottle he had been carrying. "A gift from my father, very nice vintage."

Another, older, boy grinned in excitement, "That is the good stuff right there. Don't mind if I..." only to have his hand swatted away by a scowling Malfoy.

"Our Lord has first rights."

"Oh... yeah of course..."

After pouring Harry, a glass the blonde sat down on his right, while Blaise produced a box of cigars and passed them around, "Malfoys do not have a patent on good taste, these are from my mother who sends her regards."

As the teens settled down Harry glanced over to the young girl seated next to him, who had been stealing looks of interest at his drink, "Would you like a taste?"

There were two very different ways Gabbie could take his question, one innocently offering a sip of the amber liquid, and one which was resolutely not innocent. From the corner of her eye she noticed Fleur still dancing, apparently finding several other girls to grind up against, and made her decision.

She was at an adult party, why not act like one?

Reaching forward, she took one of the finger from his free hand, dipped it into the glass, pulled it back out and put it into her mouth. She had stumbled onto one of Fleur's 'secret' books once that had mentioned 'eye-contact' and so looked up directly into the emerald filled orbs as she dragged her lips back over his finger, tasting not only the liquor, but him as well.

***LoD***

A/N: Okay, so the following scene needs a bit of explanation. I had an idea, way back when I started this, to have Hedwig be kidnapped at one point and taken to the Ministry for experimentation. NATURALLY this would not have ended well for any Ministry employee. The following is Harry's retrieval of her.

***LoD***

Slow, steady strides echoed through the Ministry hallways as Harry Potter ventured deeper and deeper into the underground facility. His face was calm, his body relaxed... or at least it would be to the casual observer.

To those who knew him best, however, it was quite obvious that he was beyond furious, and that there would likely be a massacre in the next several minutes. Finally, he reached his destination, the Department of Mysteries, secured by a massive set of double doors.

Normally he might consider being polite and knocking.

The doors were ripped from their hinges and thrown backwards with enough force to embed them into the stone walls behind him, and his journey continued unhindered, at least until the first Unspeakable approached him with Wand drawn.

"Halt there, you can't..."

They froze as their head rolled from their neck, body falling to the floor a moment later. Continuing on his journey Harry eventually found what he was looking for, his very first friend strapped to a table, needles and other devices stuck into her skin as a handful of Wizards and Witches recorded information nearby.

His blood boiled in rage, a darkness forming on his face as he moved forward. A moment later one of the Unspeakables looked up and noticed him, "Who are you? You can't be in here!"

Harry ignored them, a wave of his hand vanishing the instruments as he gently picked Hedwig up off the table bridle style.

"H-Harry?"

"Come on, we are going home."

She nodded slightly, before passing out in his arms. One of the Wizards moved to stop him, only to halt as a deep growling sound echoed from somewhere nearby, "I'm sure you're curious, about what happened to Quirrel my first year..." the teen noted with a chillingly apathetic voice. "How about a first-hand experience?"

From the shadows nearby a large wolf-like creature leaped onto one of the men, tearing at his torso with razor-sharp claws and teeth. A Witch screamed in horror, attempting to run just as Harry closed the door behind him, locking the men and women in, and sealing their fates.

***LoD***

A/N: The following scene was what I had originally planned for the ending chapter. It came about from Susan's death, along with her and Neville's families. In such a situation Neville would NOT have joined back with Harry, and instead gone with Ron, but still knowing victory was impossible, only vengeance was left.

***LoD***

Neville Longbottom stormed down the hallway, eyes alert for his target. A soft voice interrupted his search, giving him pause as he spun around to see his classmate.

Hermione Granger

"You won't find him there Neville, he's at the very end in the meeting hall."

The Longbottom's eyes narrowed, obviously confused as to why she would be helping him, he was answered a moment later, "I'm not doing this for you, Harry... he knew this would happen and wants to confront you himself. For what it's worth, I'm sorry about Susan."

His shoulders as he gave a sad smile, "Yeah... thanks Hermione. I wish you the best."

"You too."

With that they each turned and departed for their own battle. Neville reaching his first as he pushed open the doors to see his former best friend standing at a tall window, gazing off into the distance, he called out a moment later, "I hope you didn't have any trouble getting here. I instructed my followers to leave you unharrassed but... well clearly they don't always follow orders."

"Harry" the boy replied, before drawing the Sword of Gryffindor.

"I see you have your ancestral weapon, good. I must say it is a bit disappointing to be right about this in the end though, that it would all come down to us."

The Longbottom held his gaze, "I thought it was you and Dumbledore in the end, I sincerely doubt I have any chance of beating you."

Harry chuckled, "Dumbledore? Nonsense, his time had ended, just as Voldemort's had. Did you know Neville, that the prophecy that sent the Dark Lord after my family could have been about you as well? Just the flip of a coin put us on this path. It has always been about us Neville, for over a decade now."

"Do you think it would have made a difference?" the Gryffindor inquired softly, "Do you think we still would have ended up at this point? Would I have been the Dark Lord instead of you?"

The raven-haired teen shook his head, "Of course not. You would have stuck to your path. You always had a sense of justice far stronger than my own Neville, as I said all those years ago, there is a greatness in you. You would have succeeded where I have failed, of that I have no doubt."

Shaking his head one last time the Longbottom held the blade steady, just as Harry summoned his own.

***LoD***

A/N: The following two scenes were requests by a few readers and I figured they would be pretty decent additions.

***LoD***

"This is silly..." Daphne muttered, as she adjusted her dress for what felt like the fifth time in the past ten minutes. "We should have broken this up into more manageable portions rather than doing it all at once."

"It's tradition for the family of the bride to pay for the wedding," Tonks reminded her from nearby, while twirling around in her own bridal gown. "In case you forgot not all of us have rich family members that can pay for that."

The Greengrass heiress flushed in embarrassment, glancing over to where Ginny was working on Hermione's hair. "Yeah... you're right, sorry."

Her apology was waved aside, "Don't worry about it. I think it's actually kind of fun having a giant group wedding. We can all do each other's hair and this way no one is left out because of money or timing."

"Plus Lucius got to kiss Harry's arse by volunteering to pay for it." the Pureblood noted with a grin, earning one from the Metamorphmagus as well.

A knock on the door earned their attention as Narcissa peeked inside, "Are you girls almost ready?"

"Just finishing up Hermione's hair and then we are good." Ginny called back, earning a smile and a whispered thanks from the bushy-haired girl.

As the two stood and made their way over to the group Fleur smiled as she looked over her sister and the others, "So, how are we going to do this? Single file? By pairs? Maybe all in one big line to really intimidate Harry?" The last question was said with a smirk, earning laughter from the others.

Luna decided to answer first, "I think we should go by pairs. Ginny and I always talked about getting married at the same time and that way anyone who doesn't have someone to walk them down the aisle has one now."

The redhead smiled warmly at her best friend, "That's a really nice thought Luna."

"Plus," the blonde continued, "we can keep the pairings for the wedding night too!"

"LUNA!"

***LoD***

Hermione smiled warmly as she watched her lover pace back and forth, idly twitching and tapping his arms in a nervous fashion. It was rare to see him in such a state, in fact she struggled to come up with another time in which he looked so anxious. If their expressions were any indicator, the other girls were in silent agreement.

"Do you think he will be this way for me too? I mean... you know when it happens."

Hedwig laughed softly, "I am sure he will Ginny. Harry isn't the type to take such a thing lightly and I always knew that he would be an amazing..."

She was cut off when the door opened, the man standing in the entryway smiling in a way that put everyone at ease. "You can go in now."

The boy-who-lived was, predictably, the first one to enter and behold the blonde cradling a blanket wrapped bundle in her arms. "Are you... is..."

"We are both fine Harry," Fleur cooed softly, earning a soft whine from her arms. "Would you like to hold her?"

He nodded, a bit hesitantly at first, before moving forward. "I..."

"You will be fine love, we both trust you."

The teen took the offered newborn from the mother, and looked down at her, his eyes full of love, "She's perfect..." he breathed out in awe, earning smiles from the rest of the women as well as they alternated between looking at the father and his daughter.

***LoD***