A Hero In The Sunset

September 30th, 1977

The cheerful muggle tune he had been whistling on his way down from the office died on his tongue when Albus entered the Great Hall through the side entrance next to the staff table. No exciting chatter sounded from any of the four candle-lit tables. Instead, the mood was rather solemn; the majority of students sat in small groups around a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"I take it there has been another attack?" Albus felt his heart drop when he approached Minerva, taking a seat between her and Filius.

"Indeed, there was." His transfiguration professor, a woman who rarely showed how emotionally affected she was, sniffed audibly into a white handkerchief. "It's terrible, Albus." She handed him her copy of the Daily Prophet before her trembling fingers reached for a cup of pumpkin juice.

The Headmaster's eyes roamed over the front page, narrowing when they took in the all too familiar wording of the headlines and especially the picture underneath.

MUGGLE VILLAGE DESTROYED IN SAVAGE ATTACK

Does the repetitive sighting of the Dark Mark threaten the Statute of Secrecy?

Albus briefly skimmed through the article, feeling his mood drop with every additional line he took in. All too soon he stumbled over the number of humans who lost their lives last night:

'68 killed, with over a hundred further injured or in critical condition.'

It was, without doubt, one of the biggest attacks with the most casualties as of now.

The Headmaster was about to continue reading the sections of the Auror report that had been published when an assembly of students stepped into the Great Hall, led by none other than the potions professor.

"Albus..." Horace hurried up to the staff table completely out of breath, panting heavily and clutching his side. He fidgeted with his fingers, looking particularly uncomfortable as he stood there accompanied by the Head students: "I'm afraid I have further bad news."

"What happened, Horace?" Albus frowned. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that nearly every single student in the Great Hall was watching the interaction curiously. Among them was also a girl with a crown of golden honey and a boy with midnight black, ebony hair.

"Two students from Slytherin were reported missing by their housemates this morning." Horace admitted: "They were last seen yesterday night by the students they share a dorm with."

"Who's missing?" Even without knowing the names yet, Albus' mind was spinning with ideas about what might have happened.

"Arthur Gibbon from seventh year and Gregor Higgs from sixth." Horace loosened the collar of his robes, taking deep, ragged breaths: "The prefects and head students searched the entire Castle for them, even asking the house elves for help, yet without success so far."

"I see." Albus' heart fell. "Please continue your search for now." He added to his head students, who had remained behind the potions master up until now: "I doubt anyone knows the Castle better than you, Mr. Potter. Do your very best to find them."

"If they're still here we'll find them." The Gryffindor nodded grimly before turning on the spot and heading back to a waiting group of prefects.

"You don't think that..." Horace's eyes dipped down to the front page of the Daily Prophet, confirming that his train of thought was quite a similar one. "I mean, surely they didn't..."

"I'm afraid we can't rule out the possibility. But I assume there was a different reason for why they haven't returned to the Castle." Albus sighed: "Have they taken their possession with them?"

"No, everything has been left untouched in their dorm." Horace shook his head: "Their clothes, trunks, personal belongings, even their unfinished homework are still there. It's just them and their wands that are missing."

"What do you think happened, Albus?" Minerva inquired, having listened in on the conversation so far.

"I'm not certain and I don't like to assume anything." The Headmaster pondered: "However, if they did leave the Castle last night, then it makes little sense for them not to return."

"Unless they were injured, of course." Filius squeaked: "But given that a muggle village was attacked, I doubt they could have suffered anything serious."

"But something must have happened." Meadowes chimed in: "Voldemort would hardly willingly expose any spies he has in the Castle by making them return late from a raid."

"Aren't we getting a bit ahead of ourselves now?" Horace seemed indignant: "We're already judging them for crimes they might not have even committed!"

"Really, Horace?" Minerva's nostrils flared: "Arthur Gibbons was one of the closest friends of Thomas Avery and we all know what was found on his arm when they discovered him in Hogsmeade last year. I still believe Hogwarts is well within its right to check students for the Dark Mark. It's a matter of the school's security, now more than ever with students sneaking out at night."

"You know I agree with you, but we still cannot violate the privacy of individuals like you suggest, Minerva." Albus tried to calm the mood: "What we will ensure, however, is that it'll be close to impossible for students to simply sneak out at times like this. As soon as I'm back in my office, I will check the Castle 's wards to see what might have transpired last night and update them to immediately notify me should a student leave the grounds."

"I doubt it will help much." The Ancient Runes Professor, Bathsheda Babbling spoke up for the first time: "Hogwarts thrums with so much ambient magic that one simply has to stand at the right spot and imagine a secret passageway out of the school for one to appear. There will always be ways to bypass the wards."

"Then we must collaborate with the people who know the Castle even better than we do to incorporate as many of these loopholes as possible." Albus decided, studying James Potter who was coordinating the search parties among the prefects: "In the meantime, I'd like you to write to your student's families, Horace. Perhaps they've been in contact with them and made aware of any plans to leave the school spontaneously."

The potion master nodded and hurried back in between the house table to the exit of the Great Hall.

"We all know this isn't just some case of homesickness, Albus." Minerva huffed.

"I know, my dear friend, I know." He sighed heavily, his gaze resting on a very specific couple at the Gryffindor table again.

'Though I seriously doubt it's as easy as you'd like it to be either.'

October 1st, 1977

She watched her own reflection dance in the small mirror that was incorporated into the necklace she had been working on for a month now. A heart-shaped face with high, defined cheekbones and pouty pink lips stared back at her. She knew she was a beauty and she looked just as she ever did with the exception of her eyes.

Sure, the two piercing ice-blue orbs sparkled like the sun on a glacier. In fact, the coldness in them had granted her the occasional nickname during her early years at Hogwarts. However, right this moment, there seemed something off about them. They were even more foreign than usual, even colder. Like there was something vicious resting deep within them.

'The eyes of a killer?'

She tried to shake off the thought and continue with her work, but no matter how hard she tried, she failed to concentrate on anything. Instead, various gruesome images of last night continued playing in her mind over and over again.

Blood splattered from Gregor Higgs' young face while he twitched on the floor in a pool of bright crimson. Curtesy of her piecing hex that tore straight through his neck.

Screams of pain and agony tore from a silver-masked man as her projectiles pierced his body, drawing deep gashes and terribly wounds.

Marlene tightened her knuckles, enjoying the momentarily painful distraction as her fingernails dug in the flesh of her palm. Still, she couldn't escape her own mind; not so soon after it happened.

The scribbling of Harry's quill over a roll of parchment made her eventually glance towards him. Standing up, she walked the short distance across Slytherin's study to where her boyfriend sat by the other wall. She instantly regretted doing so.

"I know it's not a pretty sight. You might want to remain over there, trust me, it doesn't smell well either..." Harry cringed as he ran the tip of the Elder Wand over the black tattoo that stained the human forearm placed on his desk: "But I'd be a fool to waste an opportunity like that..."

Even Marlene's tough stomach struggled against what her eyes took in. The severed limb might have been cleansed of any blood, but the way its skin had ashed, its fingers curled and part of the bone standing prudently from the flesh, almost had her throwing up on the spot.

"This furthers my studies by days, possibly even weeks." Harry eventually paused his work when he noticed that she was merely staring at him for some time. Shadows of worry flickered in his eyes: "I haven't approached you yet, because I wanted to give you some time to deal with everything yourself."

He placed his wand on the table and stood up, walking over to her: "But if you'd like to talk about anything or just share what's on your mind, then you needn't look any further." He took her hands in his, gently squeezing them: "We can share everything now, remember?"

"How do you do it so easily?" The question rolled off her tongue. Her eyes briefly shifted to the remains of the Death Eaters: "The killing... It's like it doesn't bother you at all..."

"Unlike you, my love, I just grew up with it." Harry shrugged: "You've seen what my life was like, I've shown you everything. The first time I killed was in my first year at Hogwarts. I narrowly escaped death in every year that followed while watching one person after another being taken away from me."

"But that was self-defense in your first year, wasn't it?" Marlene challenged, biting her lip worriedly: "And you've not killed anyone else before you came back either, up until your duel with Malfoy."

"What is this about?" Harry inquired, his voice carrying hints of apprehension. "Are you having second thoughts about this?"

"No, I don't think so." Marlene quickly shook her head, though it was easy to tell that she wasn't fully convinced herself: "I'm just... reflecting a bit."

"Well, what exactly are you reflecting about?" Harry frowned.

Marlene waited for a few seconds before answering carefully: "There's a pattern in what people have been telling us for months. A warning that is being repeated over and over again. Be it Aurelius who cautions us of the side effects some of the rituals we performed had, or Ollivander who tells us not to meddle in some aspects of magic because they change you." She swallowed heavily when she caught a dark shadow in the depth of Harry's eyes but continued nevertheless: "And the last one was Dumbledore telling us that it's not within our right to decide who lives and dies."

"What are you trying to say, Marlene?" Harry grimaced: "If things are getting too much for you- "

"No, please just listen!" Marlene interfered desperately: "All I'm saying is that we've changed; I have changed. Everyone around me noticed, especially Florence. I keep thinking about that boy I killed; he was basically a child, younger than me, Harry! Don't you think that killing might have changed you? That it will change me as well?"

"No, I don't think so." Harry merely frowned: "Of course, it changes us but not in the sense that people are trying to tell us. I don't like it, I don't enjoy it, but sometimes killing is necessary. We're at war, Marlene, and wars aren't won without killing."

"But what will be left of us once this is all over?" Marlene asked: "How far can we truly push this without losing ourselves? I just don't want to become an evil person, Harry."

"The world isn't split in black and white, in evil people and good people, or in heroes or monsters." Harry shot her a long look: "Heroes don't get to walk off into the sunset after defeating the villain in real life; they die playing the hero."

"It doesn't have to- "

"Now it's my turn to finish, Marlene." Harry held up a hand, shutting her up quickly. Marlene shivered. She could hardly remember ever seeing him this serious.

"My parents were proclaimed good people, heroes even, and they both died and left me alone. Cedric Diggory was a good person, one of the best, and he died as well. My godfather was a good person, despite everything he's been put through, despite 13 dark years in Azkaban. He was a hero to me." Harry whispered: "And you know what happened to him?"

A memory of Sirius Black's boyish grin and his sparkling gray eyes vanishing behind the veil danced through her mind: "He died to protect you." She gulped.

"Indeed, he did." Harry nodded grimly: "So it should be obvious that I'm not playing hero this time around. I don't care about Dumbledore's greater good; I don't care about magical Britain. I've been too selfless for too long in my life; it's time to be selfish now. All I care about is getting my family and the people I love through this war unharmed. My means don't matter as long as they survive, and as long as anyone who wishes harm on them dies."

"I don't know if I'm strong enough for this." Marlene gulped, lowering her gaze in shame. "I don't know if I can do the same..."

"I know for a fact that you're strong enough for this. I wouldn't have chosen you as my partner if that weren't the case." He gently cupped her cheek and lifted it, forcing her to meet his eyes again: "You did the right thing by killing this boy yesterday. Not just because you stopped him from committing countless atrocities that night, but because you dealt a strike against the very people who intended to destroy you; the same people who want to separate us and eradicate everything we've built together."

"I think you're right." 'Those are the people who want to kill Harry, nothing more' Heat bubbled in her stomach and she flexed her fingers: "I won't let them do that; I won't let them take you away from me."

"Exactly, I would never let them either..." Harry nodded slowly, closing the distance to take her in his arms: "Which is the reason why we have to strike hard and strike first. But for that, I need you to be certain and not doubt what we fight for."

"We fight for each other." Marlene exhaled deeply, whispering into the crook of his neck as he cradled her against his chest, holding her tightly: "We fight for the little sunset we dream for us."

October 10th, 1977

"Alright, class, listen up! Today I have something exciting planned for you."

The pleasant chatter immediately died down, with all eyes turning to the front where Professor Meadowes stepped into the room from her office.

Harry had to admit that so far every single one of her classes had been very pleasant. Meadowes proved to be not only incredibly knowledgeable on her subject, but also capable of conveying that knowledge to her students, a quality not every professor Harry encountered at Hogwarts possessed.

"Ms. Evans, could you give me the definition of the term 'dueling', please?" Meadowes glanced over her shoulder at Harry's mother, one hand hovering over the blackboard with a piece of chalk.

"Yes, ma'am." The redhead nodded and began reciting from memory: "Dueling is a formal practice in wizarding culture in which two or more wizards or witches engaged in combat under the condition that only magical means could be used."

"That is correct, Ms. Evans." Meadowes nodded as she finished copying down what was said on the blackboard. "However, for the next couple of weeks, we will start learning more about dueling in a non-formal way. What part of this definition should I change for that?"

Harry and Marlene exchanged a brief glance. By the small wrinkle between the blonde's eyes, Harry could tell that they both sensed the same foreboding.

One of Marlene's classmates from Ravenclaw spoke up to answer: "Perhaps we should cancel out the latter part. In a real duel, outside of fancy arenas and away from cheering visitors, there is only one rule, namely that there are no rules at all."

"Exactly, Mr. Bole!" Meadowes nodded satisfactorily, crossing out the second part of Lily's definition: "If any of you ever find yourself in a real duel, it won't matter what means you use to subdue your opponent, muggle or magical."

"I certainly won't brawl in the dirt like some filthy muggle." Elana Rosier snorted to one of her friends, both girls breaking out in giggles.

"That will be five points from Slytherin." Meadowes sharp voice tore through the classroom while she glared at the offender: "Something you should learn Ms. Rosier- " The professor pulled her wand: " -Is that this piece of wood is the only thing that separates you from a muggle. If I were to take it away from you and throw you into the ring with a random muggle, chances are you'll end up losing quite badly. Unlike witches and wizards, the majority of muggles stay in shape and do sports, giving them a physical advantage."

Rosier merely tossed her dirty blonde hair over one shoulder, looking not even half as graceful as whenever Marlene did it, and glared at the Professor.

"Now then..." Meadowes continued: "Despite my theoretical background, you might have noticed that I prefer a practical approach when it comes to the dark arts. That is why we will continue said approach in dueling."

Exciting chatter made its round through the class before she shut it down: "However, there is much to learn before I will have any of you engage in an actual duel against your peers. We will slowly approach the subject, starting with simple aspects, like the stance and moving on to the more difficult ones, including the choice of spells and different strategies during a duel."

"But we will duel eventually, yes?" Sirius asked hopefully from behind him.

"Yes, eventually, Mr. Black." Meadowes agreed: "But we will take a safe approach, especially since most of you are barely of age and won't have gathered any dueling experience so far."

There was silence for a few seconds before literally every single pair of eyes in the classroom turned to Harry. He let out a small sigh, not feeling too amused about this recent development, especially when a Hufflepuff spoke up, pointing almost accusingly at Harry: "Peverell killed someone in a duel over a year ago, professor."

"Well, Mr. Peverell, perhaps I should not have generalized across the board." Meadowes eyes roamed over the heads of the students: "Your peers tend to think that you do have some experience already."

"I somehow doubt that it wasn't until my peers' reaction that you learned about this, ma'am." Harry replied somewhat challengingly: "I also doubt that a single duel counts as experience in your books..."

"And you're correct in both cases." Meadowes smiled: "However after being told about your duel with a former student of this faculty, I doubt we should refer to your experience as a 'single duel'."

Harry decided not to comment on her observation at all and merely continued watching her.

A small gleam dwelled up in Meadowes' eyes: "Well, I had originally planned on asking Mr. Black to perform the role of a volunteer as he was so eager to show off his skills with a wand in previous lessons- " She allowed for a small round of laughter to spread from bench to bench: "However since you, my class, reminded me so kindly of Mr. Peverell's experience on the subject, I think there could hardly be a better option, could there?"

The murmur of agreement rose and people started bobbing their heads, looking at Harry with an almost hungry expression.

"I guess the choice has been made for me..." Harry squeezed Marlene's hand under the table, indicating that he was fine before standing up: "How would you like me to assist, professor?"

"We will just be showing the class some elementary dueling procedures, none of them should be unfamiliar to you." She added with a very annoying ghost of a smile.

"Very well." Harry nodded, letting the cool wood of elder slide into his palm: "I'll follow your lead then..."

Meadowes flicked her wand a few times and moved the blackboard and her desk to the side of the classroom, freeing some space for them: "If you would be so kind as to take up position on the other side?" She gestured over to the wall.

'I won't expose my true powers.' Harry left his outer robes on his bench, shooting Marlene another small reassuring smile before walking over. The Elder Wand hummed with anticipation: 'But I also can't lose and risk my wand's allegiance.'

"For the sake of keeping the exercise educational, I will ask you to refrain from casting anything lethal or anything that might harm other students," Meadowes murmured under her breath, erecting a faint rippling wall of magic that separated them from the rest of the class: "It should be obvious that the Unforgivables are included in that category."

"I understand, ma'am." Harry nodded.

"Let's start with the stance." Meadowes adjusted her feet, standing almost parallel, wand arm outstretched and aimed at him, the other arm arched over her head: "Pay close attention, everyone. A position such as this will decrease Mr. Peverell's potential area of attack."

A few of his classmates were stretching their necks to get a better look; some even stood from their benches.

"Feel free to take any stance of your liking, I'm sure you know a few, Mr. Peverell."

Harry did give the woman the satisfaction of seeing his annoyance and merely copied her stance, adjusting it a few times to make his act look all the more believable.

"If we went back to assuming this is a formal duel, what would be the next step?" The Professor asked him.

"We bow to each other, Harry," Crimson eyes on a snakelike face burned into his: "Bow to death, Harry..."

"Following tradition, one would bow." Harry tore Voldemort's image away like curtains from a window, taking in his current opponent. He inclined his head for a formal bow, a gesture that was mirrored by his professor.

"Let us start then."

With his senses on high alert already, Harry had no issue blocking the first hex that was sent his way with a lazy flick of the wrist. A few more beams of light followed. Harry dodged rather easily, adjusting his stance with a few steps or simply leaning in the opposite direction to let them dash past him.

"As you can see Peverell prefers to dodge curses instead of shielding or blocking them." Meadowes explained during a small break from casting, not breaking a sweat so far: "Depending on your physical conditioning it's a solid tactic, however, the more accurate your opponent the more difficult..."

'And now she will try to prove so.' Harry grinned, spinning the Elder wand between his fingers before dodging the first spell that was sent his way with a twist of his upper body.

'She's surprised by my reaction speed.' He mused when Meadowes failed to hide the stupefaction in her reaction, still, she continued her assault. 'Courtesy of one or another ritual.'

Slowly, the excitement and awe that spread from the audience turned into groans of frustration when Harry hadn't even raised his wand for a single time, two minutes into the duel.

"Why doesn't he fight back like he did with Malfoy?" The confused questions of his peers sounded over the spell fire and through the wards to him: "Perhaps he really doesn't have any idea what he's doing..." Someone else commented spitefully.

Harry ignored them and watched as the first sign of exertion broke on his professor's forehead, gleaming faintly in the sunlight that poured through the windows: 'It's time then.'

He spun around one final time before bringing his feet down, securing his stance to meet the next bright beam of light head-on. Harry welcomed the jelly-leg curse with the tip of his wand, waiting until it barely made contact before flicking the wood in a semicircle.

'I bet she didn't see that coming.' Harry grinned when the curse struck Meadowes legs before she managed to react with a shield herself.

"Looks like Mr. Peverell finally understood the educational goal of the lesson and stopped playing Seeker in a quidditch match. In case you're wondering, he redirected my spell. It's a very advanced technique, so far unheard of from anyone his age, thereby catching me by surprise." The professor shot him a short nod of approval.

Steadying herself on the nearby table, she fixed the wobbling mass her legs had become until they carried her weight by themselves once more: "No more need to hold back now, Mr. Peverell. Let's finally see what you've got shall we?"

"I didn't know I was holding back?" Harry raised an eyebrow in amusement when the mock duel continued.

"Provocations are a popular tool used during duels to tempt an opponent into becoming careless and making a mistake," Meadowes explained while she kept up her attack, firing a volley of Auror-grade hexes and curses at Harry. She brought the tip of her wand to her forehead tapping against it a few times: "The majority of duels are won up here. Never let a cheeky opponent like Mr. Peverell here get into your head."

'If only I could actually go for the head.' Harry grimaced, getting annoyed by the confined space and surroundings he had at his disposal. It's been a few years since he had dueled in a classic sense, especially without the use of lethal force. 'My strength lies in abstract, highly volatile, and deadly magic, none of which I can demonstrate in a classroom.'

Conjuring a bright silvery shield to steal a few seconds, his eyes glanced over to Marlene, who was watching him from the benches. At his questioning look, the blonde gave him a subtle grim nod.

'If she wants an educational experience she can get one herself.' Harry thrust his wand in a horizontal motion that had the surrounding air rippling with his magic. He yanked all of it back in, compressing it at the tip of his wand before charging it up.

'Time to use one of Voldemort's tricks against Dumbledore during their battle at the Ministry.' With a small smile, he tightened the grip on the Elder wand. Harry continued pushing through the wood until the volatile, dark gray orb at the tip of his wand started buzzing with raw magical power: 'The spell has probably not even been invented yet.'

A bright red stunner from Meadowes' wand illuminated the older witch's face, showing how her eyebrows almost vanished in her hairline when she realized her mistake. Harry absorbed the stunner with the tip of his wand, letting it fuse with the gray orb; the ghost of a smile on his lips: 'I always wanted to try this.'

The small orb of magic imploded in a wild, angry sizzle, shrinking to the size of a Knut before it crumbled into a faint, smoking ripple. Only a split second later, it surged across the classroom towards Meadowes, where it burst with a force that had Harry's ears ringing.

The shockwave threw the books off the shelves, and almost shattered the windows, leaving them vibrating while the students cried in surprise and fear.

Meadowes protected herself with a silver shield but was hurled back against the door to her office nevertheless. She landed heavily, sliding down to the floor with a painful groan.

'Looks like class is over.' Before the witch was able to regain her composure, Harry had summoned her wand and walked over to her, reaching out with a helpful hand: "I hope my voluntary performance was to your satisfaction, Professor?"

"That it did. Though I'm too old to be tossed around like a wet rag, Mr. Peverell." With a small scowl, she allowed him to hoist her back up to her feet.

"You have my apologies."

"Thank you." Meadowes accepted her wand with a grateful nod before she turned to a class that eyed Harry warily as if they had seen a ghost: "Strategies, especially traps are another very important component of dueling. To my shame, I have to admit that I didn't see this one coming. Well done, Mr. Peverell, take 20 points for Gryffindor."

"You are most generous, ma'am." Harry thanked her while walking back to his assigned seat next to his girlfriend.

"Don't thank me too soon, young man." Meadows chuckled: "The points are largely given for services not yet performed..."

'That doesn't sound good.' Harry raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Pardon me, Professor?"

"Well, I'm talking about your continuous help over the next few weeks, of course." Meadowes grinned satisfactorily; a strange, foreboding gleam in her blue eyes: "With Ms. McKinnon teaching the class the Patronus charm, and you covering the dueling lessons, I have very high hopes of everyone achieving an 'Exceeding Expectation' or better in their NEWTs. I find myself most eager to see what else we can all learn from you two..."