Really trying to finish this out for you! I am guessing that I should be finished with this story within the next month or two. Four chapters are left including the epilogue, so I am guessing two months with two chapters per month. I am truly going to try and finish this before the semester starts again. It looks like I may be taking on a full four classes of teaching on top of full administrative duties. So, the writing needs to be wrapped up. Please enjoy this chapter!

This was weak. Harry didn't even know. How had he become this soft? How had he be broken so easily against the stream of time? Had his life in DC, had his life with Penelope made him weak? No. That just couldn't be true. Love made you strong, and if there was anything that he had in droves- it was love. The door to his cell opened and a body was flung down on to the floor in front of him. It had been Ron's turn to be taken.

Ron had been appealing to him, please tell. Please give information. Really, what information to Harry have to tell? He wasn't really a part of the resistance. He was never given any real information. The only thing that he could speak to was Hermione, and they asked about her incessantly.

Harry helped Ron to the side and worked deftly to care for his friends wounds. They always seemed to go a bit easier on Ron. It was more fun to bring the Chosen One to his knees. There was hardly any sport in torturing a blood traitor. Sometimes he was grateful that he was the one getting the brunt of the pain. Other times, times that he wasn't proud of, he wished that Ron would sometimes get the worst of it. It was in those moments that Harry would immediately feel shame.

Harry had been keeping a few things in reserve. Precious power that would help him in his moment of need. If he trusted himself like he once did, he would guess that the time was coming soon. It wouldn't be long before that power deep within himself started to wane as his body would weaken against hunger. Against thirst. Pain. Fear. They were feeding and watering the two barely enough to keep them alive and hunger was a constant friend now. It at least allowed him a focus rather than the never ending source of despair that was imprisonment.

There was a chance now that he was never getting home to Penelope. Never getting to fulfill the promise of seeing her again. He was going to disappear on her just like when her parents died. That broke his heart more than any loss of his own life. Her sadness.

An alarm sounded somewhere above him and Harry could hear the sound of fighting.

"Ron!" He hotly whispered to his friend with a good shake of the shoulder. "Ron, listen- something is happening!" Ron merely grunted at him, still recovering from his own ordeal. Through small nudges and pleads, Harry was able to rouse Ron and place him safely to one side of the door. Their cell was not like that of Neville and Ginny's, it was four solid walls with only a metal door to be an entrance and an exist.

Harry now crouched in the opposing corner, where he would be able to see out the door when it opened and used a small burst of power from what he had kept back to knock out the lights. Cast into darkness, Harry waited.

It seemed like an eternity before the door opened and Harry thrust himself forward with a spell on his lips. Barely a moment before he would have struck, Higgs and Theo's faces clicked into his mind and Harry paused, power swirling around an outstretched hand. "Theo?" He asked, almost too scared to hear an answer.

Theo smiled grimly and turned to Higgs, "Let the commander know that we have the package and we'll be heading out soon."

The two men maneuvered into the room and grabbed both Harry and Ron, lifting the two men by placing a strong shoulder under the crook of the arm and lifting. Harry found himself weeping openly, however no one would ever mention it. They were free.

It was slow going down the hall, they dared not use portkeys without first doing a basic health assessment for Harry and Ron and apparition was out of the question as wards had been erected when the Rebellion attacked the ship. Once top side Theo and Higgs squirreled Ron and Harry away to one side where they could do a fast field check. No small number of episkeys later, the duo were deemed fit for portkey travel.

Harry smiled at Higgs and allowed the man to help him up and leaned against the other man. Just because he was ready to travel, didn't mean that he could make the jump on his own. The two spun and a bright green light filled Harry's vision.

When it vanished, Harry saw Ron standing over Theo. Harry's vision swam and the sound of waves crashed through his hearing. What was this.

"You couldn't have just given us the information." Ron was saying and kicked Theo's body once, twice, and a third time effectively moving the limp body out of the way. "Then we could have killed you- or maybe we could have let you live. Depending on what you told us." Ron met Harry's eyes with a sort of haunting plead. "We could have let you go back to where ever you came from and we could have kept the wizarding world. But no. You had to be brave. You had to be righteous."

Ron shot an avada kedavra at Higgs and Harry used a push of energy to thrust debris in front of the man. Higgs was knocked back with a grown and Harry dove for Theo's body. Ron shot another curse at him, but Harry was faster. As soon as his hand had gripped the fallen man's wand the protection spell was on his lips.

"Protegro!" Harry blocked on-coming spell, but felt his reserve waning.

This was why Ron had never been hurt as badly.

Why Ron encouraged him to give up information.

Why he never lost as much weight.

Why Ginny and Neville had tried to stop him.

Ron was a traitor.

They battled against one another, brothers in everything but blood fighting for survival and now- for a different master.

It was through sheer luck that an explosion rocked the boat hard enough for Ron to lose his footing. With a shout, Harry cast a bludgeoning hex and Ron was cast over the railing of the boat down into the harbor below. Crying now in earnest, tears of both anger and sadness, Harry gathered the injured Higgs and the body of Theo before activating the portkey and with that they vanished from the ship.

They arrived at the portkey landing spot and action happened quickly from there. Harry and Higgs were taken for medical inspection. Theo's body was whisked away. All of this occurred as more of the rebellion departed and arrived through portkeys. Though they were home, the battle still raged on aboard the ship, but Harry for once was glad to not be within the action. He had been dealt a shock that would stay with him for the rest of his life. Ron. Ron had betrayed him. All of them, the whole wizarding world. Everything that he had known had been a lie.

This was the mantra that continuously rolled in his head through answering the necessary questions about his imprisonment, his original rescue attempt, and finally his rescue in turn. He grieved thoroughly over Nott. Theodore Nott, though he hadn't been a friend for long was someone that Harry had known for most of his life.

It was later on in the evening when a knock occurred at his door. Harry was on bed rest with a constant guard and medi-witch not too far away, but Edgecomb had deemed his private quarters to be a better fit than the infirmary. His being there would serve as an unwanted distraction to those healing, as she put it. Harry knew it was because she wanted him isolated and watched for any signs of long term mental damage due to the treatment he had received aboard the Dauntless.

The door creaked opened when he didn't respond and he watched curiously as a small feminine form slipped through ajar space before it shut softly behind them. Ginny looked different, though this was really the first time he was able to get a good look at her. Her rescue had been too hectic to give him a solid view of how she had changed. She had been held captive for years. Separately from Malfoy, it would seem as the man was under the impression that Ginny had died. They all had thought that. But, here she was. She had always been a small girl, but this person before him resembled a skeleton more than a person. Deep circles stemmed under her eyes, and though her hair was freshly washed it had the consistency of straw. Indications of long term malnourishment. Her skin was yellow from lack of nutrients and probably some kidney problems. Her eyes were sunken, but there was still a fire there- fortunately. She sat on his bed and the mattress dipped under her slight weight.

"How bad was it?" She wanted to know. Had they tortured her too? That was a stupid question, of course they had. How had she survived it?

Harry couldn't lie to her, even if he wanted to- this was Ginny and for all their problems, this was the woman he had once loved and married. "It was bad, Gin- really bad. How did you survive?"

Ginny looked away from him seemingly far off. "I built a world for myself so that I wasn't there. Every time that they would do those awful things to me, I slipped away so that way it was like they were doing them to someone else. It worked- for the most part. Somehow, I think that my time with Riddle's diary somehow helped here. They stopped after a while, if it weren't for feeding us, I would have thought that they had forgotten us entirely. It was like they lost interest. Something else drew away their time and attention." She paused. "It was harder on Neville, though. He's so sensitive- you know. All those other people being tortured. Hurt. Dying. He wanted so thoroughly to save them all, but he was just as much of a prisoner. Maybe even more than normal. He's never exactly been adept at wandless magic, so he was no help in a large amount of cases. Eventually, this all just became the new normal."

Harry shuddered. He couldn't imagine all of that being normal. She reached out a bony hand and gripped his arm with a surprising amount of strength.

"Is Draco- I mean, I know that I had a lot of gall, asking you about him. But I need to know- is he okay? Is he dead? They told me that he was but I could never be sure of the truth."

This, Harry was relieved to answer. "He's alive, or at least he was the last time that I checked. He's at a safe house in America with Hermione." Ginny's eyes widened before brimming with tears. To her credit she wiped them away with a sleeve and took a series of deep breaths to calm herself.

"He's alive." She whispered, more to herself than to him. "He's with Hermione." They were silent for a long time. "Neville is there now, I think." She relayed at last. "I know Marietta sent him away to heal and that's the only place where I can think of that he would be safe." She paused, "I wanted to stay- to make sure that they found you." She was quiet again for a long time before asking. " Are you happy- I mean, before all this. Before coming back to the wizarding world. Were you happy?"

Harry was unsure how to answer such a question. Ginny had so thoroughly destroyed his heart. Her betrayal, though different than Ron's cut in a way that sat so deeply on his soul that he wasn't sure that he could ever forgive her. But, maybe there should be forgiveness. She was alive when he thought her dead- they all did. So, maybe this was the chance to do things the right way.

"I'm happy, Gin. Truly. I've a great job, a great home, a great girl. I think that you should go to Hermione's. See Draco, and get that same chance at happiness."

Ginny looked away from Harry. "Do we deserve happiness? I don't know how you can say that to me, to us after what we did to you."

Harry shrugged and sat up with difficulty. His body was tired, but his soul was also tired of being angry and this would be the best and possibly his only opportunity to lighten at least one load. "Everyone deserves happiness. You and I." Harry paused and took a deep breath before continuing. "We were never meant to be together forever. We were so young. We never would have been able to make each other truly happy. Do I wish that you had gone about things another way? Yes. But now that it has been done, there's no going back and only going forward. So, go. You've earned happiness after spending so long in the dark."

Ginny smiled at him and cautiously reached forward. Seeing no rejection on Harry's face, she closed the gap and gave him a firm but gentle hug.

"I don't know if anyone truly deserves you, Harry James Potter." Harry cracked a small sad smile.

"Oh, but if only I deserved those who surround me." Was his quiet response.

When Ginny went to Hermione's a week later, she carried with her a hefty stack of letters from Harry to Hermione, Rose, Penelope, and even to Blaise, Draco, and Morgan.

He was going to end this, once and for all. He and Marietta had spent the week staying up late into the night sharing information and creating plans. Harry had learned from his earlier mistake of not casting off half-cocked and Marietta had learned to give him a job so that he could feel useful. There seemed to be a better understanding now, though Harry deeply wished that it had not been at the sacrifice of Theodore Nott.

The news that Marietta shared with him made him feel sick with anger and more than a little despair. So this was their plan. Marietta sat back in her chair and drummed her fingers daintily on the wooden desk in front of her.

"That's the end game." She glanced down at the notes and chalkboards strewed across the expanse. "They've been planning this a long time." First it had been simple. Turn good people. Let darkness sink into their hearts. Let it take a grip through dark magic. Let the world grow angry. Grow dark. Harry had been watching it all too closely on the muggle side. The rise of the conservative right. The rejection of basic humanity. The resurgence of antisemitism. This was their doing. Now, it seemed from Marietta's sources that the Death Eaters were going to use some kind of ceremony to rip open the heart of the universe and let all the darkness escape. Plunging the world into eternal darkness. This was their end game. It was never about world domination or bringing back the Dark Lord. This was about destruction. The was about the world's end.

"What must we do?" Harry asked.

Marietta looked shaken, for once their fearless leader looked a lot younger and more afraid than anyone would have ever seen her.

"We fight."

The beginning of the end is starting. Exciting and dark times for our heroes. What will happen? Only my story board knows. Please, read and review!

iBless!