Lyall had been helping with the injured, when their bodies had been brought in. They were pale and still warm, they had died hand in hand, they both looked like they were sleeping, he was old, but he wasn't naive enough to think that. It was later that he would find out what his son had done for Andromeda. He had fallen as soon as he'd seen them. His son had only just begun to live his life, and Nymphadora, too young for this kind of faith. Nymphadora had been Remus' first everything, though Lyall could vaguely remember Remus saying that James Potter had been his first kiss, but that didn't matter anymore; Lyall had never seen him as happy as he had been with her. But it wasn't for them that he cried, it was for Teddy, he wasn't going to know either of them, he wouldn't even remember them. It wasn't fair, but then again, war wasn't meant to be fair. Lyall made a promise to Teddy that night, he would love him twice as much, for Remus, if he managed to survive until the very end.

Lyall was in such a state, that he hadn't even noticed the hand on his shoulder, until he heard the boy speaking in a low hushed voice: "I'm sorry for your loss. You must be Professor Lupin's father." He looked up into the face of a boy about seventeen, his eyes were rimmed with tears. "Thank you very much." Lyall didn't know what else to say, all he wanted to do was curl up and die himself. "I really am sorry, and I would've said it to her too, if I had ever met her." The boy seemed to be rattled with grief for two people he barely knew. "I was there when Dora... I mean Nymphadora's dad died, I seen everything, him and Dirk Cresswell tried to protect us from the Snatcher's, if they hadn't I'd probably be dead right now. I owe Ted a lot and I will never be grateful enough. He saved us, were others would've left us." Lyall was touched by the boy's powerful words. He must have seen so much with those young eyes and Lyall couldn't help but feel a little affection for this strange boy, who had taken it upon himself to talk to him, where others wouldn't have dared too. The boy's speech had brought even more tears to his eyes. "I'm sure my son would be proud of the way his students turned out." Which wasn't a lie, it was this stranger's kindness that brought back his faith in humanity. Even if this portion of humanity was almost over, whatever the outcome.

Dean had seen Lyall at his worst, racked with grief over his son and a daughter-in-law he hardly knew, but the final thing that truly made Dean human and young in the face of evil, was the reaction he had when he seen the body of Lavender Brown. Whatever strength he had been clinging onto seemed to fade away as soon as he found her body lying amongst the fallen.



Tonight proved something in Lyall's mind; the world wasn't divided into Death Eaters and Order members, and for one night, this old Ravenclaw felt like the roaring lion of Gryffindor, burning bright. Everything from that moment on was a blur, Lyall couldn't remember anything after that. His light had gone out, there would be nothing left to shine through the darkness. His life had been filled the life and laughter of his wife and son, now he was the only light left, alone in the sky full of dead stars. He would find other stars to join him, but he would never replace the ones that had gone out.

Lyall was one of the few who could actually say that he was there when Voldemort finally fell. He and Aberforth had their revenge on Dolohov and Yaxley, they deserved nothing but death, after taking away his son's light, all of them deserved to die. Molly got Bellatrix, before Lyall even got the chance to look at her. The hall erupted into celebration when Harry Potter finally took down Lord Voldemort.