Chapter 48!

Colin wasn’t entirely sure how he had ended up in this position.

It had all started just after dinner, the slow downward spiral into crazed, arse over tit madness. He had been on his way to McGonagall’s office. Ginny had been called there not ten minutes before the end of Herbology, their last class of the day, but she hadn’t come back yet. He’d saved her a seat at dinner and everything, and it wasn’t like Ginny to skip a meal; the girl had one of the best appetites he knew. So, feeling concerned and curious he had bid his friends farewell, wrestled with his brother in the Entrance Hall for a moment or two and left on his search for his best friend.

When he’d arrived at McGonagall’s office however, she’d only need to see him standing there before her lips had pursed in that no nonsense way of hers. Of course she knew why he was there.

“I’m sorry to inform you, Mr. Creevey that Miss Weasley has gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“Well, I think that if you go down to the Library, Madam Pince can assist you in finding a Dictionary. Now if you’ll excuse me...”

Colin watched her walk off, gobsmacked for a moment before sense took over again. “Professor! Professor, wait!’ he ran in front of her, blocking her. ‘Professor, please, you have to tell me more than that! Did she go home? Is she sick? Is it one of her brothers? What’s happened?”

McGonagall looked up at him, her stern expression cracking just that tiny bit. She exhaled softly through her nose. “She is in perfect health, I assure you. Mrs. Weasley came to collect her. She feels that times being what they are that her whole family should be together. Miss Weasley left with her not fifteen minutes ago.”

Something hot had seemed to erupt in Colin’s chest. He frowned and looked out the window; the sun was setting over the lake. McGonagall stood there looking at him with an almost sympathetic expression.

“Did she…’ Colin had started, not really knowing how to ask without sounding like a child. ‘She didn’t… I mean, before she left…she didn’t say…”

“It all happened very fast.’ She’d said, not unkindly. ‘Miss Weasley was… very eager.”

“So she’s at Order Headquarters?”

Last year, Colin knew he would have been very strongly reprimanded for saying such a thing, especially out loud and in public. But the Order was as well known as Voldemort himself these days, and she was probably exhausted for reasons other than school and his constant questions, so McGonagall had just nodded. Colin had tried not to look too disappointed in front of her, but he’d gotten the impression she could sense it anyway. He never really was any good with his poker faces. He and Ginny had become very close over the course of the school year; he would have thought she’d have come to say good-bye to him, or at least left a message with McGonagall. But then, she’d been offered the chance to go home to her parents, to her brothers, to Harry; she’d dreamt of nothing else since the day they’d set foot in the castle – Colin could hardly blame her for jumping at the chance.

“Perhaps you could owl her, Mr. Creevey.”

Colin was quite sure he’d never heard a better idea in his life. And he was well prepared to run back to Gryffindor Tower, borrow Dennis’s owl, Bruno, and send Ginny a happy slash annoyed slash romantic letter telling her of his woes at her departure, but in that moment after McGonagall’s words he found that he couldn’t.

In that moment, the roof had caved in.

With reflexes he didn’t even know he had, Colin’s knees had buckled almost of their own accord and he had dropped to the ground, shielding his head with his hands. He flinched, hearing the sound of rock and plaster and dirt and water fall around him, and he had tensed up, waiting for the fall of the largest chunk of stone to fall on top of him and crush him – but it didn’t come. He’d peered up and saw McGonagall standing over him, crouched down almost completely in front of him, her wand outstretched as two large boulders of stone hovered over them. As McGonagall stood up, the boulders rose, and with a simple flick of her wand they were flung from above them, landing further down the corridor out of harms way.

Colin was on his feet, wand in his hand and peering out the window as quickly as she was. It was like the sound had suddenly been turned up. Screams could be heard from all around, and Colin had guessed that they were all looking at the exact same thing he was.

“Bugger me! Professor…”

McGonagall’s grip was firm on his arm; she was still looking out the window as she spoke. “Come with me, Mr. Creevey. Quickly now.”

Colin had never seen McGonagall run; he’d never even known she could. But she had, and at such surprising speed, back past the gargoyle, up the staircase and into the Headmaster’s office. The door had flung open with a bang, and the loud voices within the room stopped instantly. She strode in with a stiff posture; Colin had teetered on the threshold and despite the situation had taken a moment to look around in wonder. He’d never been in the Head’s office before.

“Albus, it has begun.”

“Then we haven’t much time at all.’ Dumbledore’s portrait had said without hesitation. ‘Armando, you know what to do.”

Colin remembered trying very hard not to goggle openly at Dumbledore’s portrait.

“Phineas!’ McGonagall had barked as Dumbledore continued his orders. ‘You need to go to your other portrait this instant and inform the Order of what’s happening here.”

Phineas Nigellus yawned, looking utterly non-pulsed. “Can’t it wait? I just got settled in for the evening.”

McGonagall had looked ready to spit nails. “You will do what I ask now or in ten seconds you will find yourself quite promptly blasted off the wall, never to give council to me or any Heads of Hogwarts ever again!”

“You wouldn’t dare, madam!’ Phineus had looked completely aghast.

“Ten…’ she had begun counting, wand gripped tightly at her side, ‘nine… eight… seven…”

“All right! I’m going!”

In the few seconds it took before McGonagall remembered he was standing there, Colin greatly appreciated this obviously preconceived system they had set up within the room. Apparently they had been prepared for this day for quite some time; Colin was very grateful for their efficiency – he was very scared and lost, personally.

McGonagall’s hand was back on his shoulder. “I need your help.”

Colin’s chest had swelled with pride and determination. “Anything, Professor. Just tell me what to do.”

A small, silver, twisted horn flew into his hands as soon as she had flicked her wand. She didn’t give him any time to ask, just ushered him out of the office, letting the door slam behind them again.

“But, shouldn’t we…?”

“Don’t worry, we’re well prepared for this, they all have their own assignments. Now, Mr. Creevey, I want you to put an announcement over. I want you to tell everyone to gather in the Great Hall, and that the Prefects need to keep everyone in order, and…”

“But Professor, my brother…”

“Your brother and everyone else will be completely safe as long as you do what I say.’ Her tone had been firm, but kind, and Colin had tried very hard to suppress his panic. ‘Now put the announcement over, Mr. Creevey, and follow me – quickly now!”

Colin didn’t question her any further. He ran along behind her, staying out of the way as she cast complex charms around them. It hadn’t taken much effort to work out how to use the magical PA system.

“Uh… attention!’ He was pleased when he heard his own voice echoing around the walls, as if the castle itself were talking. ‘Everyone, just calm down and listen to me. We all need to get to the Great Hall. So, Prefects, if you could see to that… stick together guys… we’re gonna be fine. And Dennis, if you’re listening, don’t do anything stupid! I mean it, you little twerp!”

“Mr. Creevey!”

“All right, Dennis, you’re not a twerp, but just…”

The castle shook again with another loud BOOM, followed by more loud screams, this time closer. Colin remembered gripping the horn tightly as he continued to run after McGonagall, shielding his face as the windows shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere.

“We’re gonna be all right, everyone.’ He had said again, not knowing exactly why. ‘Just get to the Great Hall.”

Thinking about what happened next, Colin only barely remembered running along after McGonagall. He hadn’t taken much notice of what she was doing, too caught up in his thoughts about his brother, his friends, Ginny; about what was going to happen. He remembered seeing black figures moving out in the grounds through the windows, flashes of light hitting the walls of the school, glass shattering and people screaming, ghosts flying everywhere. He remembered Trelawney and Sprout running along with them halfway, students who had become lost from their groups gravitating toward them in a frightened panic.

Upon entering the Great Hall, the doors opening with a loud ‘bang’, the mixture of the Castle shaking again and McGonagall’s “do not mess with me” demeanor, everyone’s conversations, sobs of fear and shouts of anger silenced instantly. Students were seated at their house tables, ghosts were hovering around like human-shaped clouds, and Hagrid took up almost an entire corner, shielding little first years against his massive frame. Colin had felt a hand wrap around his forearm, and it had taken him a moment to realize it was McGonagall’s. She led him up to the staff table; Colin’s eyes had looked around frantically for that familiar mess of his brother’s brown hair.

“I need everyone to remain calm, now!’ McGonagall’s voice was loud and booming. ‘As you no doubt have guessed, Hogwarts is suddenly in a very dangerous position. Now, I have already alerted the Ministry and the Order of the phoenix…’ this caused a great deal of chatter to break out, ‘… and they will be here momentarily, but for now our first and foremost objective is to get you all to safety.”

“How?”

“What about our parents?”

“What about our stuff?”

“There is no time to collect your things. Prefects and Heads of house, I ask you to please lead your houses back to your respective dormitories and use either the Floo network or Portkeys to transport yourselves home.”

“But I don’t wanna go! I wanna stay! Why can’t we fight?”

“Students who are of age may stay behind if they so wish. No, that does not include you, Peakes; I don’t care if you are seventeen in a week!”

Colin remembered the doors opening again, and dozens of witches and wizards filing in, wands raised. He’d recognized only two; Mad-Eye Moody and Lupin. They’d stationed themselves around the hall, all tending to their various tasks, but Colin hadn’t really noticed. He’d finally spotted Dennis, sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Luna. He went to rush over, when he felt McGonagall grip his arm again.

“You too, Mr. Creevey.”

“But Professor…”

“I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no.”

“But…”

“You heard what I said! I don’t have enough time to be worrying about you doing something foolish! You will go home; you and your brother like everyone else who is not of the age of seventeen older and be safe!”

Colin had frowned. “I want to stay. I’m not an idiot. I can fight. I was in Dumbledore’s army…”

“Now, Mr. Creevey!”

Even amongst all the confusion, and the fear, and the panic, Colin knew he would never ever forget the expression that flashed across McGonagall’s face as she squeezed his shoulders. When she spoke again, it was softer, more desperate.

“Please, Colin. For once… do as I ask of you.”

He’d wanted to do several things at once; yell at her, curse her, run off outside and take them all on himself. But he knew he couldn’t do that, not to Dennis, and if one thing mattered more than this ridiculous war, it was his brother. So he simply nodded determinedly, ran over to his brother and hauled him up onto his feet by the back of his shirt.

“Come on, we’re leaving.”

“But…”

“No buts! Luna, don’t do anything stupid.”

Luna and smiled and pranced off with the rest of her house. Colin dragged Dennis over to join the rest of the quickly Gryffindors filing out of the Great Hall, their voices punctuated by the occasional BOOM from outside. Colin did not let go of Dennis the whole way.

They were up in the Tower in what seemed no time at all, flanked by two Prefects, one Auror and one Order member with very pink hair who was so petite Colin wasn’t entirely sure she would be able to do much protecting at all if the occasion called for it. All around him students were disappearing through the fireplace or in a whirl of a Portkey, while only Dean Thomas, Neville Long bottom, Seamus Finnegan and Lavender Brown stayed behind, talking amongst themselves and looking determined, but wary.

Colin looked around now as Demelza came out of nowhere and hugged him. “Do make sure you both get home safely. “

“You too.”

She hugged Dennis as well, and with a teary wave stepped into the fireplace, disappearing in green flames seconds later.

“Can’t believe only half an hour ago we were eating dinner, whinging about Potions.’ grumbled Dennis, looking around solemnly. He and Colin were two of the only ones left. ‘Seems a bit stupid now.”

Colin watched as Jimmy Peakes and Euan Abercrombie disappeared, their fingers stuck to an old ink bottle, a grim and annoyed expression etched on Jimmy’s face. Colin understood exactly what he was feeling.

“Wish we were of age.’ muttered Dennis.

“Yeah, well you’re not, so you’re going home.”

“You mean ‘we’, yeah? Colin?’ Dennis frowned up at his brother as Colin looked at the floor. ‘You scummy rat! You’re gonna stay!”

Colin hissed for him to be quiet, grabbing his arm tightly. “Will you shut it?”

“No! What the hell is this?’ snapped Dennis, ripping his arm from Colin’s vice-like grip. ‘You think you can just Floo me home like some baby and stay here and try and be a big hero? No way in hell, Colin! I want to help just as much as you do.”

“What can you do, Dennis?’ whispered Colin harshly. ‘You’re not even fifteen yet! You’re only just learning about Unforgiveables.”

Dennis glared at him. “Harry wasn’t even fifteen when he was in the Tri-wizard tournament.”

“Harry’s different.”

“Why? Because he’s Harry Potter? Because he’s The Boy Who Lived? The Chosen one? That’s bollocks and you know it as much as I do. We’ve seen all the things he’s done, all the things he can do, but at the end of the day he’s just as average as we are, and yet he gets to fight every single time just because he’s “special”? And I have to miss out because I’m not?”

“No, cause you’re only fourteen you little wanker, that’s why!”

“So? You’re only sixteen!”

“Are you two quite all right over there?”

Colin and Dennis looked around to see that they were the last two left, save for the four students staying and the two other wizards. They were looking at them in concern; obviously their fight hadn’t been as hushed as Colin had originally thought.

Colin shoved Dennis toward the fireplace. “Fine, thanks.”

“We can’t wait any longer.’ said the pink-haired one. ‘You four staying, come with me. Dawlish, make sure this lot…”

“We can do it.’ said Colin grumpily. ‘We’re not kids.”

“All the same…”

“All the same there’s a war going on and you need an Auror far more than we need a Babysitter.”

“If you think for one minute I’m going to just leave you up here alone…”

“With all due respect, lady, I don’t care what you think. If you’d like, I could stay behind and help, then we could forget about all this and we could all go down and kick some Death Eater ass together.”

Dennis smacked him in the arm. “If he’s fighting then so am I!”

She ground her teeth together as the castle shook again. To his surprise, Colin felt a little intimidated under her stare, but he stood his ground, putting himself just the tiniest bit in front of his brother.

“What’s your name?”

“Colin Creevey.”

“You’re a stubborn little asshole, Colin Creevey.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The castle shook again, this time with more force. The window panes shuddered, and Colin was sure he heard one of them crack.

The Auror, Dawlish, took his small, pink-haired friend by the shoulder. “They’re breaking down the enchantments, I can feel it. We need to move now, Tonks.”

“Just go.’ insisted Colin seeing Tonks’s expression. ‘We’ll be fine, honestly.”

Tonks sighed heavily with reluctance. “No funny business. I mean it!”

Colin put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

She pointed warningly at him, quirked an eyebrow and turned and left, Dean, Neville, Seamus, Lavender and Dawlish in her wake.

As soon as the portrait swung shut, Colin shoved Dennis toward the flaming fireplace. “Right, get in.’

“Not without you.”

“Dennis, don’t be a ponce. Get in!”

“I said not without you!’

Colin balled his hands into fists. “I swear to God, I will start swinging…”

“Go on then, do it.’ challenged Dennis, shoving Colin. ‘Smack me, curse me, I don’t care! I am not leaving this castle without you, and you are not staying here without me.”

“Yes, I am, and yes, you are!”

BANG!

Colin hugged Dennis protectively, shielding him with his shoulders as the window panes smashed, sending shards of glass everywhere. The sound from outside suddenly increased massively in volume; flashes of different colored lights seemed to light up the night sky like fireworks, screams like some protest with thousands of people hovered through the air.

Colin grabbed Dennis by the front of his school shirt. “Dennis, please, I’m asking you… I’m begging you… get in the fireplace and go home! It’s not safe for you here!”

“It’s not safe for you either.’ Dennis looked up with Colin; their anger had abated, taken over by a sudden desperation. ‘What was the first thing we agreed on back in June last year?”

“Not to turn Butterbeer into a frozen dessert and try and sell it.”

“Okay, the second thing.”

Colin pursed his lips. “We stick together.”

“Exactly!”

“We also promised to look out for each other. I promised Dad. I told him I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, and if you stayed here with me…”

“I can help you, Colin. I can help.”

Colin considered his brother for a long moment. He wanted to stay so badly, he wanted to fight, but more than that he didn’t want Dennis to come to any harm. In the end, really, it wasn’t a hard decision to make.

“Fine.’ He said finally. ‘Let’s go home.”

Dennis frowned with suspicion. “Come off it.”

“You’re more important to me than staying here. They won’t miss me. Let’s go home.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Dennis frowned even more. Colin rolled his eyes, grabbed a large handful of Floo Powder from the bowl on the mantelpiece and poured some into Dennis’s fist. “Come on. Get in there before I change my mind.”

“You promise? You’re not just gonna ditch me?”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

Dennis’ lip curled skeptically. Colin just raised his eyebrows, patted Dennis’s back and pushed him gently toward the fireplace. After a long moment of hesitation, Dennis slowly stepped in, ducking under the mantle. He glared at Colin, as if waiting for him to bolt at any second, but Colin just stood there.

“I’ll see you at home.’ said Colin, nodding.

Dennis pursed his lips. He paused for another moment, then finally threw the powder down, shouted, “Thirty five, Huntingdale Road, Manchester!” and disappeared in a whoosh of green flames.

Colin finally let out the breath he had been holding, relief flooding through him. The castle shook again, the portraits around him clattering and crying out in fear and protest. He ignored them and stepped up to the fireplace, clenching the powder in his hand. He let out another long breath, not wanting to have one last look at the room behind him. The castle shook again; he pointed his wand at the fireplace and said, ‘Aguamenti’.

A stream of water shot from his wand, extinguishing the fire.

Satisfied and relieved, Colin tossed the powder carelessly onto the scarlet rug at his feet and bolted from the room, gripping his wand tightly.

“LILY DUCK!”

The jet of green light missed Lily’s head by millimeters; she dropped to her knees, her hands fisting wet grass as the curse ruffled her hair. She rolled to the left, got up in a crouch and aimed.

“STUPEFY!”

The cloaked figure deflected it and sent back another curse. Lily was already on her feet and raised a shield, deflecting his curse right back at him. As he raised a shield again, someone ran at him from the side, out of his peripheral vision, and with a blinding light sent him crashing into the nearby tree where he fell to the ground, limp, and moved no more.

Remus ducked another spell as he ran over and grabbed her hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m… INCARCEROUS!... yes I’m fine. Good God, Remus! What happened to your arm?”

“It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”

“It’s The River Kwai!”

“Don’t fuss, we need to move!”

“Wait! Wait!’ Lily pulled him to a stop. ‘Have you seen Harry yet?”

Remus looked at her, breathing as heavily as she was. “Quite frankly he could miss the whole thing for all I care, but you and I both know that simply won’t happen. I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

Lily nodded, not sure if she was reassured by this or not.

They ducked as another three spells flew over their heads. Remus squeezed her hand.

“Kingsley’s outnumbered! Come on!”

The grounds were utter chaos as they ran through the masses of people, like running through a gauntlet of death. It was like Hogsmeade all over again, but far more aggressive. Hogsmeade had been a trap, a diversion – this was all-out war. Spells were flying everywhere with reckless abandon. People were screaming; the great oak tree down by the lake was in a ball of flame, the face of Hogwarts castle was scarred with scorch marks, chips of stone blasted away, glass windows shattered. The grass was already strewn with bodies, some still and lifeless, some withering in pain, others mutilated with boils, burns, curses or missing limbs, crying out in agony. Lily’s chest clenched with panic and fear and power and determination all at once, like some mixed chemical reaction, and she tried to ignore it everything she ran along behind Remus, leaping over bodies, ducking spells, shielding against curses and throwing jinxes. His hand tightly clasped in hers was the only thing keeping her head on straight.

Kingsley was at the bottom of the stone steps when they found him, only just managing to hold off four Death Eaters all by himself. Lily and Remus let go of each other’s hands and stepped in to help.

“Incendio!”

Lily bent forward and rammed herself into the Death Eater, whose robes she had just set fire of the hem to. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground hard, and Lily stunned him before he even had a chance to recover. She felt a hand grab her shoulder and they turned her around roughly. In the moment they raised their wand to curse her, Lily jammed her wand roughly into their ribs, shouted “Depulso!” and sent the Death Eater flying; he landed on a fellow masked figure roughly, both of them collapsing to the ground in a heap.

She ran over toward Kingsley and the two Death Eaters he was dueling at once, knocking her shoulder hard into a particularly small one. Shocked by the physical contact, she faltered, and Lily took the opportunity to raise her wand and shout, “Stupefy!”

“Will you stop bashing them around?’

Lily looked away from Kingsley, who had finally taken care of the last cloaked figure and was not kneeling down beside them, over at Remus who was still in the middle of a duel. She rushed over, wand raised again.

“Relashio! This is a war, isn’t it? We’re meant to be… Protego!... fighting, after all!”

“Sometimes I think you still think you’re a … Petrificus Totalus!... bloody Muggle!”

Finally able to take a moment, Lily flipped her red hair out of her face and grinned. “Old habits die hard, I suppose.’ But her smile fell when she saw the Auror kneeling down beside the Death Eater he had just unmasked. ‘Kingsley? You all right?”

Kingsley ran a finger down the unconscious man’s wrinkled face. “Arnold Peasegood. He works in the Department of Magical Catastrophes. I’ve known him for nineteen years. I’ve had Sunday lunches at his house with his wife and children.”

Remus knelt down beside him and squeezed his shoulder. “Even some of the best of us can not fight the Imperious Curse.”

BANG!

The three of them flinched as a large section of the stone wall behind them was blown apart by a rogue spell; Kingsley had lain down protectively over his friend.

“We can’t stay here.’ said Remus. ‘He’ll be all right, Kingsley. Your stunner would most likely have jolted him out of his possession. It’s a terrible loss, but…”

“I know.’ Kingsley’s voice was even deeper when he was emotional. He stood up, looking down at his friend regretfully. ‘Mad-Eye will need assistance up in the castle. He’s taken two teams of eight up to the turrets to try and give us an advantage, both in force and visually. I will go meet them. Lily, what do you…? Lily?”

Remus frowned as he looked around. Lily had gone. “LILY! Merlin’s beard, where is she?”

BANG!

Kingsley grabbed Remus roughly by the robes, pulling him out of the way just as a large chunk on granite fell from above them.

“Lupin, we need to move!”

“But… Lily…”

“She’ll be fine, I’m sure. We’ll try and spot her from the towers! Now come on!”

Remus looked around once more, and saw masses of people, flashes of light, but no deep red hair. Frustrated and irritably, Remus gave in to Kingsley’s insistent tugging and followed him into the castle.

--------------

“Ginny! Look out!”

In the split second it took for Ginny’s mind to catch up with this advice, another wand had reached out in front of her, conjured a large shield and sent the yellow spell firing back at its owner, causing them to scream in pain as their skin erupted in hundred of pus-filled boils. In his distracted moment, Ginny stunned him, knocking the young wizard to the ground.

Ginny swallowed, breathing hard. “Thanks, Fleur.”

Her sister-in-law looked at her blearily. “Honestly, where iz your ‘ead? Ziz is not one of your classes! You could be killed! I don’t even know what it iz you are doing ‘ere in ze first…”

“STUPEFY!”

Fleur screamed as Ginny literally leapt on top of her as if they were playing some backwards version of leap frog and cursed the wild-eyed woman who had appeared behind Fleur, wand raised and ready to kill. The woman let out a harsh cry of surprise before she too fell to the ground next to her pus-filled ally.

Fleur, half-hugging Ginny as she set herself back on the ground, looked around at the woman, then back at Ginny in shock. “Ginny… I…”

“Honestly,’ chuckled Ginny, ‘where iz your ‘ead!”

Fleur laughed and properly hugged Ginny just as Bill ran over, ducking spells as he went. He grabbed Fleur and spun her around to face him.

“Voldemort in a jam jar! I just saw you… Ginny, you… are you two all right?”

The grass beside them exploded, and Bill pushed both girls forward, spinning around to shield them both. Four Death Eaters ran toward them, wand raised, masks gone revealing enraged faces. Ginny could feel Bill’s muscles tense as she grabbed his shoulders; they almost expanded, as if he were swelling up a size. She tried not to panic, her own body just as tense. She looked at Fleur, ready to find her just as nervous, but was utterly shocked to find her looking completely calm.

She placed a soft hand at the back of Bill’s neck and whispered in his ear, almost too low for Ginny to make out, “Do it.”

Ginny snatched her hand back away from Bill’s shoulder as if she’d been electrocuted; some sort of current seemed to flow through him as he stood up to his full height, his normally peaceful blue eyes blazing. He seemed to snarl, somewhere in the base of his throat, and just as the Death Eaters were less than ten meters away he dropped to one knee, shoved the tip of his wand into the ground and growled, “EXPULSO!”.

The ground rumbled, and with a loud crack the ground exploded in a long, thick, dirty line like a giant worm burrowing under the earth, right from the tip of Bill’s wand to the Death Eaters. It didn’t stop them completely, but it was good enough; they stumbled, one falling forward onto their face, two crashing sideways into each other, one who had been only a few feet behind stopped and tried to run back.

Fleur had stunned the fallen Death Eater before she had time to get up. Bill pointed his wand at the bulky man trying to keep his distance. “Accio!”

If the situation hadn’t been so serious, Ginny would have laughed at the comical way the bulky Death Eater was yanked toward Bill, as if someone had grabbed him by the back of his robes and dragged him backwards. He cried out and only just managed to turn when Bill threw a hard punch into his face, kicked him in the gut and them elbowed him hard in the back. Blinking away her surprise, Ginny ran forward and stunned the Death Eater Fleur was battling from behind. Fleur sent the third Death Eater flying with a quick, elegant upward jerk of her wand, and then stunned the fourth Bill was fighting with a satisfied nod.

Bill looked over at her and laughed. “I knew there was a reason I married you, you gorgeous thing!”

“Bill, really! Your sister iz ‘ere!”

“Yeah, I noticed that!’ he rushed forward and grabbed Ginny’s arm. ‘I thought the whole reason Mum came and picked you up today was to take you away from all this! What are you doing here?”

“You think I was going to sit at home and wait while the rest of you came and fought?’ snarled Ginny. ‘Fat bloody chance, Bill!”

“This isn’t the place for you!”

“And home is?”

“At least home is safe!”

“I want to fight!”

“You’re too young!”

“I’m nearly seventeen!”

“You’re a baby!”

“I am not a…”

“QUIET!”

Bill and Ginny, whose faces had both been flushed as red as their hair and contorted in anger, involuntarily bounced back from each other with the force of the shield Fleur had cast between them.

“’Ave you both forgotten where we are?” she snapped.

“No, which is exactly why Ginny needs to go home! Right now!”

“I’m not going anywhere but into that castle.”

“You take one step in there and I’ll…”

“You’ll what, Bill? Give me detention? You’re not my teacher anymore and you’re certainly not my father!”

Fleur grabbed Bill’s arm as he moved for Ginny again. “Bill, we do not ‘ave time for this!”

Bill relaxed slightly at his wife’s touch. He stared at Ginny, trying to do the ‘I’m your big brother you should do what I say if you know what’s good for you’ look, but she just stared right back at him with eyes older than he remembered.

He pursed his lips. “Will you stay where I can see you?”

“Bill, I don’t need…”

“I know you think you don’t need me to look after you, Ginny, but just for once can you please do what I ask you?”

Ginny flinched at his tone. He wasn’t usually one to yell or get mad, especially with her. He was normally the cool, together member of the Weasley clan, and it was always a bit of a shock to the system to hear him raise his voice. Looking up at him now, his eyes blazing, his face scarred yet still handsome and freckled, lights flashing and loud noises and screams around them, Ginny couldn’t help but relent to his request.

“What, you going to protect me with your new found power?’ She frowned. ‘Where’d you learn that stuff anyway? I’ve never seen you do anything like that before.”

“Part of the perks.’ He smiled, gesturing to his face.

“I’ve never seen Lupin do anything like that before.”

“Lupin doesn’t embrace it like I do. And I’m only slightly contaminated. Imagine what he could do if he really wanted.”

Ginny shivered at the thought as they began back toward the castle, her hand in Fleur’s. The main focus was on the massive structure; Ginny guessed they were trying to take it completely, but the Auror’s and the Order weren’t going to let them in easily.

Half way there, out of no-where someone went crashing into them. Ginny fell to the ground, almost dragging Fleur down with her. She heard Bill cry out in rage, ready to fire when a familiar voice shouted:

“Hey, it’s me! Its okay! It’s just me!”

Bill sighed with relief. “Lily, what the hell…”

Lily smiled apologetically as she looked around frantically. “Yeah, I know, I wasn’t watching… I’m looking for… oh, Ginny, darling, I’m so-… Ginny! What are you doing here? We told you to stay at Grimmauld Place!”

“Do you ‘ave some sort of ‘earing impairment?’ asked Fleur, looking concerned.

“No, she’s just a stubborn little git.’ huffed Bill.

BOOM!

The ground, not a meter away from Fleur’s foot exploded, sending dirt and grass everywhere. Ginny was pushed to the side roughly by someone; she couldn’t see who through the cloud of dust. The was a loud, deep roar, like an enormous animal, and she was suddenly running, and she could hear Bill let out another cry of anger and Fleur scream; she looked around to see Lily pushing her along by the shoulders, looking behind them in panic.

“What happened? Where’s Bill?”

“We have to move, Ginny.”

“But…my brother…”

“We’ll get back around, I promise, but we need to move or we’re going to get stepped on!”

Ginny frowned, wondering what the hell she was talking about, when another deafening roar sounded through the grounds. Ducking behind a nearby tree, Lily right behind her, Ginny looked back to see what had happened. Her mouth dropped open.

There were eight of them, all at least twenty feet tall, with ugly faces and skin that hung like some sort of old, leathery potato sack covering their bones, massive clubs twice the size of the average man clutched in their bulging fists. Ginny had never seen a giant up-close, and wasn’t at all excited to be experiencing it now.

“I guess they proved that theory right.’ said Lily in Ginny’s ear. ‘Bloody giants! If they had any intelligence they would have realized that Voldemort’s the whole reason they were mistreated in the first place, not gone and joined up with him!”

“They’re not all like that.’

“Yeah, well, I think political correctness is pretty much redundant at this point.’

Ginny felt Lily’s fingers tighten around her arm; almost sensing Ginny’s irresistible need to run back out into the action. She watched in horror as the Giants swung their clubs around, occasionally connecting with a wizard, knocking him or her flying into the air only to land very awkwardly yards away and not get up. Wizards surrounded each of them, trying to bring them down with different spells, but their skin was tough, like a Dragon, and the Giants continued swinging like they were batting away flies.

“We have to do something!”

“Don’t worry; the Giants will be taken care of. Now, I want you to stay here…”

“They’ll what? But, Mrs. Potter…”

“Ginny, you go anywhere near those Giants and I swear to God I will never let you see my son again!” Ginny frowned as Lily fixed her with a firm stare. ‘I want you to stay here out of trouble.”

“Where are you going?”

Lily looked over her shoulder back out into the chaos. “I have someone I need to find. But I’m going to go and make you a Portkey first and send you back to Grimmauld Place.”

“No! I’m not…”

“Ginny, look at me!’ snapped Lily, not unkindly. ‘This isn’t about being patronizing and this isn’t about thinking that you are not capable of handling yourself. You’re an extraordinary, powerful young witch, and I know it’s probably a really bad time to tell you this but I love you as if you were one of my own children, truly I do. But people are going to die today, dozens, maybe even hundreds, and I don’t want you to be one of those people. None of us do. So can you please, please, help us all out by setting our minds just that little bit more at ease and go home?”

Ginny screwed up her face stubbornly, gripping her wand tightly in her fist. The moment stretched on and on, and just as she was about to answer the tree they were hiding behind erupted into flames. Lily pushed Ginny out of harms way and turned to the Death Eaters approaching, wand raised. Ginny rushed to her feet to help her, but someone grabbed her by her hair and dragged her backward. She screamed, trying to turn around, to free herself, and she could hear Lily calling for her over the shouts of curses and the loud crackling of the fire.

“Lemme go!’ she snarled. ‘Let GO!”

“Not a pretty little girl like you.’ sneered a slimy voice in her ear. His arm snaked around her front, pulling her into his big frame. He grabbed her fist as she tried to stick her wand in his eye. ‘Oh dear, we can’t start off that way now can we?”

“Let go of me or I’ll curse you into next week!”

“You’re very feisty.’ He wheezed a laugh. ‘I like that in a girl. You smell nice too; of soot and grass and fear…”

Ginny wriggled frantically. “Don’t! Please! HELP!”

He laughed again. “No-one’s coming for you. No-one can hear you. You’re mine! All…”

“STUPEFY!”

She cried out as the man let out a surprised grunt and pitched forward slightly. With revulsion she shoved back hard with her shoulders and he fell to the ground in a heap. Ginny kicked the limp body with an angry cry and looked around to see who had assisted her. She looked up into the sky and her chest filled with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Harry swooped down, skidding to a halt in mid-air just a meter from the ground. He looked awful, as if he’d been out there fighting the whole time; his face was cut and his clothes were torn. He leapt off his Firebolt and rushed to her.

“Are you okay? Why are you by yourself? That bloke could have killed you!”

Ginny frowned and punched him in the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“You’re late!”

“Fashionably late. It’s the only way I know.”

“You’re also an ass. A late ass.”

Harry rubbed his arm while Ginny glared at him… then they smiled at each other and hugged tightly. Ginny had never been more happy to see anyone in her entire life.

“I’m sorry, I know. I had to fly here.”

“Where have you been? Where did you go in such a rush?”

“London.”

“What the hell did you go there for?”

“Voldemort was there. He was killing people and I couldn’t just let… PROTEGO!”

The dirt that had come flying toward them bounced off Harry’s shield. Ginny looked at him, taking a moment to feel very impressed. She hadn’t seen him to magic in months, and she could tell he had improved, if that were even possible. This was the Harry she remembered teaching them defensive spells, jinxes and Patronuses in the Room of Requirement years ago, the Harry who had fought of Dementors and Dragons and a Basilisk. Although he looked glad to see her, he also looked disappointed that it was under such horrible circumstances.

He looked around the grounds, his eyes hard. “Looks like the party started without me.”

“We couldn’t wait for you.”

“I know, and I’m glad you didn’t.’ He looked at her and smiled. ‘I’m surprised they let you come.”

“Yeah, well… they were desperate for people and I’m only too happy to help.”

The ground beside them exploded again and Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand as they ran, but as Harry tried to run toward the school, Ginny tried to run in the other direction toward the Giants. They stopped each other with a jolt and looked around at one another.

“This way, come on.”

“I can’t. I promised Bill.’ Harry frowned, and Ginny knew what was going through his head. ‘Just go, I’ll be all right. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“You promise?”

“All these promises! Anyone would think you lot didn’t trust me.”

“Ginny…”

“Yes, I promise. Of course I do.”

There was another loud bang and Harry and Ginny flinched. Harry looked around with a determined expression, and she squeezed his hand. “It’s okay! Go!”

He hesitated. Then his expression softened slightly and he grabbed her arms. “You still my girl?”

Ginny smiled. “Always.”

With a small, satisfied smirk he grabbed her by the back of the head, closed the distance between them and kissed her firm on the lips. In the short moment it lasted the sound, the danger, the world almost disappeared.

He pulled back far too quickly and fixed her with a stern look. “Don’t die.”

And then he was gone, running off into the midst of cloaks and spells and giants with almost a spring to his step, as if this were the moment he’d been waiting for all his life – which, she supposed, it actually was.

With one last look, she gripped her wand tightly and ran off in the other direction.

Draco circled above the chaos, keeping his eyes peeled for four things all at once; stray curses, a giant’s club, a flash of blonde hair and a flash of pink hair. His wand was held tight in his left hand, his right hand gripped the broom handle so hard his already pale knuckles were white. Most wizards, combining these two factors with the current environment and a shaky, nervous disposition would have no doubt fallen right out of the sky by now. Draco Malfoy was glad to report he was not one of these wizards.

He flew around in circles, his grey eyes narrowed. Where could she be? He knew she was here. Where else would she go? She was his main priority, nothing else mattered. He had to find her, and he was going to sweep her up on his broom and fly them as far away from this war as fast as he could.

He heard an annoyingly familiar voice in his head say, Coward.

This moment of distraction was all that was needed; a white hot pain suddenly hit Draco’s left leg and he screamed in pain. Slipping awkwardly off his broom to the left he only just managed to keep his grip, hooking his right leg around the base of the handle. His eyes were streaming with tears of pain as he tried to lower himself to the ground. Jerkily, he tried to descend, and was only ten meters above the ground when his broom exploded and he free fell with a cry, landing awkwardly on his side with a crunch. He groaned, pain shooting up his right arm and shakily got to his feet, still aware despite the pain in both his arm and his knee that he was in the middle of a warzone. He gripped his wand tightly in his left hand and looked around to get his bearings.

A roar sounded behind him, and he whirled around just in time to see a massive foot raised and ready to stamp down right on top of him. Draco leapt back out of the way just as the enormous heel smashed down into the earth, making the ground rumble. There were seven wizards nearby firing spells up at the giant, but like a Dragon its skin seemed to be almost complete impervious to magic, and so it just kept swinging its club, kicking wizards, sending them flying with deep grumbling laughs of satisfaction. Not stupid enough to stick around, Draco ran off in the other direction, toward the school, ducking curses as he went.

Despite the chaos and the near certainty of injury, or worse, Draco couldn’t help but feel a familiar buzz; the buzz he always felt when he arrived up the gravel driveway on September first, the massive castle looming over him. For all his complaints about how the school was run, (complaints which were very profound and completely necessary if anything was to be done about the appalling standards of the faculty and the curriculum) he did like Hogwarts. How could he not? It was the finest magical institute there was, and a Malfoy deserved nothing but the finest…

“OOF!”

Draco went crashing to the ground again as someone large rammed into him from the side. The cloaked figure straightened up, their mask falling away and Draco saw that it was…

“Alecto!”

The witch looked down at Draco with surprise, and then her expression darkened into a sneer. “Draco Malfoy!”

Draco scrambled to his feet, his hand still holding his wand determinedly. “Yes yes, truly shocking to see me… must stop meeting like this… whatever you barmy old woman! Have you seen my mother?”

With a speed he would never have expected from such an old woman, Alecto Carrow let out an angry scream and rushed forward. Before Draco knew what was happening he was on the ground again and stubby fingers were wrapped around his neck.

“You little scheming traitor!’ she snarled in his ear. ‘You ruined everything for the Master! Everything!”

“Get…off…me!”

Draco tried to maneuver his wand around but she was sitting right on top of his chest, her knees pinning his arms down. He tried to wriggle free but she was heavy and her grip on his throat tightened.

“He will reward me… oh yes he will… I will be the one to lay the broken body of the youngest Malfoy at his feet!”

“No… you…”

His words were cut off as her fingers tightened. Draco tried to focus, to get a grip on himself, to try and manipulate the magic within him and push it outward, but stars were appearing in his vision as his primal need for air, for survival, kicked in. He wriggled fiercely, gasping for breath, but the world was starting to black out around him. Not like this, he thought manically, not like this…

Then there was a scream, and pain shot down Draco’s neck; fingernails clawed along his skin as Alecto was ripped upward and away from him. He sat up on his hands and looked up with amazement.

Narcissa pulled Alecto’s head back sharply by her hair and sneered, “Get your filthy hands off of my son.”

“Mother!”

With an almost dignified snarl (if such a thing existed), Narcissa drew the tip of her wand along Alecto’s throat; a long red line appeared and blood dripped from the cut. Alecto’s eyes bugled as she coughed and spluttered, and Narcissa stood up, letting go of Alecto’s hair as if she were a rotten egg. The old woman fell beside Draco and moved no more.

Draco looked away from the dead body beside him to his mother. She was preening herself, lights flashing around her, making her long golden hair glow impressively. She was looking down at him with a mixture of horror, disbelief, anger and relief.

“Draco,’ her tone was harsh, ‘what in Merlin’s name are you doing here?”

“I’m… here to rescue you.”

For the tiniest of moments it looked like she was actually going to laugh. Instead, she rolled her eyes and jerked her wand upward; Draco was quickly standing on his feet. He didn’t waste any time with pleasantries. Grabbing her hand tightly he pulled her with him, half-running, dodging curses and explosions and fire and rogue swinging clubs as they weaved their way back toward the school. Draco nudged the large oak doors open with his shoulder and ignoring the pain, he lead his mother up through the empty Entrance Hall and up one, two, three, four flights of stairs until she finally pulled him forcefully to a stop.

“Draco this is absurd! Where are you taking me?”

“To the Room of Requirement. You’ll be safe in there.”

“The what? Excuse me? Safe? What you to mean ‘me’? Draco what is all this nonsense you’re speaking of?”

SMASH!

Draco shielded Narcissa with his shoulders as every window along the corner exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere. The noise from outside intensified as if the volume had suddenly been turned up.

Narcissa let out an annoyed huff and flipped her hair out of her face. “We need to leave. Now. It’s not safe here, especially for us.”

“Indeed, yes. Go home… pack some things… here, take this coin, I will contact you with it…”

“What do you mean?’ Narcissa looked up from the tiny coin in her hand, puzzled.

Draco squared his jaw and looked out of the window. “I’m staying here.”

“You most certainly are not! Didn’t you see what just happened with Alecto? You go out there and even attempt try to reconcile they’ll kill you before you’ve even spoken the first syllable! And we have not spent an entire year apart just to be separated again!”

“I’m not talking about them.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Oh, right, of course… you don’t remember…”

“Remember what?”

BOOM! The walls of the castle shook again.

Draco sighed impatiently. “Mother, I don’t have time to explain all this to you right now but… I’ve been living with the Order of the Phoenix for the past nine months. Living with Nymphadora. They’ve… she’s… sort of just… kept me.”

Narcissa’s blue eyes narrowed. “You’ve WHAT?” All propriety was gone. The cool, calm exterior she wore every day of her life crumbled right before her eyes; the mixture of stress and loss and suffering she had been feeling for so long was too much to bear anymore. “I don’t… you… it’s… Draco! Why did you let them do such a thing to you?”

“I went to Nymphadora months ago. She took me in…”

“Your cousin? Andromeda’s daughter? That half-blood!”

“Mother…”

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

“The Dark Lord would have killed me, and killed you for trying to assist me! It was safer for both of us for me to stay away.”

“We could have run. We can run now.”

Draco blinked. “That’s it? That’s all the scalding you’re going to give your traitorous, disappointment of a son?”

“I will kill you later. Right now we need to leave!”

“I told you I’m not leaving.”

“Draco, please stop this madness and come with me. We can go somewhere no-one will ever find us.”

“Mother I have spend the last good year hiding in the most decrepit building you will ever see in your life and I can tell you now without any hint of conviction that I am sick to death and beyond of hiding.’

Narcissa blinked, visibly shocked by Draco’s tone.

Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Please don’t think I’m suddenly a muggle lover, mother, because that’s not what this is about. Think about what will happen tonight if the Dark Lord wins. He will find us, make our lives more of a misery than it has been for the past three years, punish us for disservice, he will kill father and more terrible, unimaginable things. We know just as well as anyone what he is capable of. But if Potter wins…’ he looked out the window at the flashing lights. ‘No, not ‘if’ – ‘when’. Potter will beat him tonight, I’m sure of it. He’s too ridiculous to die now after all this time. They’ll win, I know they will, and I want to help them but not because I care about what they stand for, but because the life they will give us will be infinitely better than the one the Dark Lord will.”

The castle shook again, and Draco blessed its timing. It wasn’t often he flushed, only when he was particularly frustrated, embarrassed or lying… and his mother always knew which one he was feeling. He didn’t want her to know that he did care about the fate of someone, as surprising as it was to realize that that’s what that stupid feeling was, now of all moments.

He squeezed her upper arms. “Please, Mother, go somewhere you will be safe and I will meet you there.”

She pursed her lips, a million thoughts, retorts and demands obviously running through her head at once. Draco’s grip on his wand tightened in his pocket; he was prepared for her to stun him and drag him off by his ear if she had to.

But, after a long moment, all she said was, “Do you promise?”

“Yes, now please before they find us here.”

Narcissa hesitated and then rushed forward and embraced him tightly. Like at Christmas all those months again, Draco shivered at the contact after so many long months apart. He pulled her closer and snuggled into her, allowing himself a moment of unabashed, selfish need before they were two people again and he was giving her a curt smile and was running off down the hall, back toward the Entrance Hall.

----------

Harry didn’t know why no-one had tried to kill him yet. There hadn’t even been a jelly-leg curse thrown his way. Had Voldemort told them to stay away from him? Had the Death Eaters been given specific instructions that he was for Voldemort and Voldemort alone to finish? Had the idiot learnt nothing in the past seventeen years of “trying to finish him off himself”?

Despite the fact Harry was ducking spells, running for his life and leaping over lifeless bodies he didn’t know were friend or foe, he couldn’t help but smile at the thought. What a git!

It did give him an idea though – one he planned to put in to use as soon as he could find…

It was then, just as he ducked another rogue curse, that he spotted the familiar bushy head he’d been searching for. Harry heart leapt and he sprinted toward her. It was like he was running through mud, he wanted to go faster but his legs wouldn’t let him. People kept getting in the way but he barged past them, shoving them out of the way, not even stopping to apologize.

“Hermione! HERMIONE!”

At the sound of her name she whirled around, and despite the situation they were currently in she smiled at the sight of him running toward her, a smile he recognized from whenever he stepped off his broom after a Quidditch match or woke up in hospital after hideous, sinister ordeal – relief. She looked over her shoulder and signaled at someone, and it was only when she ran toward him that Harry saw Ron behind her, on his knees with his wand in one hand and something long and shiny in the other. At Hermione’s signal he was on his feet and running along behind her, firing curses and blasting people out of their way. Harry could tell they felt the same as him; that overwhelming sense of urgency to be together, like a magnetic force pulling them together that wouldn’t relent until their triangle clicked into place.

When they finally reached each other they said nothing at first. Then Harry pointed. “What’s with the sword?”

Ron looked down at the ruby-encrusted hilt in his left hand and shrugged with a smile. “Its war, isn’t it? Seemed fitting.”

“I told him he looks ludicrous.’ added Hermione.

Harry smiled. “You seen my mum anywhere?”

“Not since we got here.’

“Bugger it.”

Then several things happened at once. The ground exploded and Hermione was thrown off her feet with a loud scream. Harry, seeing the huge chunk of rubble fall out of the corner of his eye, ran forward and shoved Ron sharply out of the way; their feet became tangled and the two of them fell to the ground in an awkward heap.

“HERMIONE! HERMIONE WHERE ARE YOU?” Ron practically threw Harry off him and scrambled to his feet. He looked around frantically as he pulled Harry up by the scruff of his shirt. “I don’t see her! Do you see her? HERMIONE!”

The ground exploded again and dust and dirt and spells flew everywhere. Harry grabbed Ron’s arm and tried to drag him along, out of harms way, but Ron was resisting, screaming Hermione’s name, thrashing around trying to get out of Harry’s grip. A large group of people had suddenly apparated around them, screaming and firing curses in every direction.

“Ron, come on!”

“Lemme go! I promised I wouldn’t leave her!”

“We need to get out of here!”

“NO! Let. Me. GO!”

“RON!” Harry practically screamed into Ron’s face as he shook him by the front of his shirt. ‘We’ll find her, I promise! But we have to be alive to do it and we won’t be much longer if we don’t move! Right now!”

Ron clenched his jaw, the expression on his face indicating that such a decision almost caused him physical pain. But Harry set his jaw and shook him again, and after a long moment Ron nodded and trailed off after Harry.

------

Hermione jumped out of the way just as a spell hi the ground, missing her foot by inches. She jerked her head irritably, flipping hair out of her face as she aimed and growled, “Stupefy!”

Rookwood cast the spell aside easily and quickly returned two of his own. Hermione blocked one and only just managed to dance out of the way of the other, but he was firing more off in quick succession, and Hermione could do nothing but cast shield after shield. Every step he took forward she took one back, frantically trying to keep up with his lightning fast moves while her mind was focused solely on Ron and Harry. Where were they? She couldn’t look around to check.

The spells stopped for a moment and Rookwood looked at Hermione curiously. “You know, you’re quite good… for a Mudblood.”

Hermione smiled. “Thank you.”

Angered with her unexpected reaction, Rookwood snarled and started throwing curses again, more aggressively than before. Hermione danced and flourished, only just managing to block attack after attack. Some part of her kept expecting Ron to show up and knock Rookwood out, or turn his legs into jelly, or even slice his head off with that sword of his. Had the situation not been so dire, Hermione probably would have laughed at the absurdness of this last one.

The more curses fired so quickly Hermione barely saw him raise his wand… one… two… three…

Hermione screamed in pain as the fourth one went sailing past her shield and hit her right in the knee. She dropped to her other knee, only just managing to hold her shield up, but the next curse was big and hard and hit the shield with such force Hermione’s wrist snapped back with a crack. She bent over double and cradled her wrist to her chest, taking slow, uneven breaths through her nose, her jaw clenched to smother her groans of pain.

A pair of black boots and the hem of a robe came into her vision, followed by a laugh. “Good – but not good enough.”

Hermione raised her wand, ready to curse but Rookwood was on his knees in front of her and gripped her wrist again, squeezing tightly. She cried out again.

Rookwood smiled, put the tip of his wand under her chin and made her look up. “You know, its times like this I really miss working for the Department of Mysteries. There was a device we once had – before the Ministry took it away and locked it up in storage – one of our reconnaissance teams found it out in Norway. It was a tiny little ring with a gem the colour of a daisy, and when you wore it and pressed your hand against another person, their skin would feel like white-hot flames were burning them from the inside out. Can you imagine that? These poor, desperate people would claw at their own flesh, desperate to get to the flames and put them out. Wizards and witches would literally tear themselves to pieces, gouge their own eyes out… and all because of some silly little piece of jewelry.’

He bent in close to Hermione’s face. Hermione flinched away, repulsed, but his grip on her chin was tight. “Can you imagine something like that? A curse so horrific it would make you beg for Cruciatus.”

“I bet you loved it.’ she spat. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp again, but his fingers only dug in more. The pain in her knee was becoming almost unbearable.

“I always had it in mind to give to our Master for moments such as this. As shame I couldn’t use is on Potter’s Mudblood mother.”

Hermione’s skin prickled with panic, anger, pain and magic. For the first time her eyes connected with his. “Yes. Such a same.”

“Still,’ he ran a finger down Hermione’s cheek. She flinched and tried to pull away again. ‘It will be just as satisfying to lay waste to Potter’s best friend. Oh yes, don’t look so surprised, we know all about you. Hermione Granger, supposedly the brightest witch to walk the halls of Hogwarts in decades. Although you don’t seem very remarkable now, I must say.”

“You should see her when she’s drunk.’ said a new, familiar voice.

Rookwood only managed to turn his head a fraction before a large rock slammed into it. His eyes rolled up into his head with a tiny grunt and he fell limp onto the grass. Hermione cried out again in pain as he almost pulled her down with him; she shook his hands off her like he were poison ivy and looked up through the tears in her eyes.

Draco looked very awkward. He wriggled his fingers and, after a moment’s pause, hesitantly held his hand out for her. “He always was one to waffle on.”

Hermione let him help her to her feet. She winced as she looked down at the unconscious Death Eater, gingerly holding her knee. “You hit him with a rock?”

“I didn’t want to waste my first spell in months on him.’ Draco looked around. ‘Where are your lackeys? Why are you by yourself?”

“We got separated. What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

“I came with Potter. No thanks to any of you, by the way. The nerve! Leaving me behind like that!”

Hermione rolled her eyes as she rubbed her knee. “Well I’m sorry that your feelings weren’t on our priority list this evening, Malfoy.”

Draco frowned and caught her by the shoulders as she swayed. “Did he break it? Your knee.”

“I don’t know. It feels like it.”

“Should I… should I fix it?”

“No!’ Then she smiled apologetically. ‘I mean… you’re not an expert at it. I’d rather see someone who won’t turn my knee into a mushroom by mistake.”

“Point taken. I remain only slightly offended.”

At her slightly bent angle, Hermione saw Draco clutching his wand. He was twirling it, fingering it, jiggling it up and down, rubbing his thumb along the handle as if he were just itching to put it to use; which he probably was.

He looked at her awkwardly again, as if he wasn’t sure why he was even still there. “So… should I help you look for Potter and Weasley or something?”

“If you like. Don’t you want to go and find Tonks though?”

“And why would I want to do that?”

BANG!

Hermione screamed in pain again as Draco grabbed her by the shoulders, whirled her around and roughly moved them both out of the way just as a large chunk of castle wall landed where they had been standing moments before. They didn’t have time to recover as a massive club came out of nowhere. Hermione only just managed to get her shield up in time, but the force of the Giant’s swing was so powerful Draco lost his grip on her and she fell to ground again.

“Right, that’s it.’ snapped Draco. He puffed out his chest and glared up at the Giant. ‘Come on, take another swing! I dare you!”

The Giant laughed down at him and menacingly tapped the end of his club in the palm of his other hand.

“Malfoy don’t!’ Hermione tried to scramble to her feet.

“Stay back, Granger!’ Draco held out a hand and an invisible force pushed Hermione back to the ground. He smirked up at the Giant and raised his wand. ‘I’ve waited a long time for this.”

“Seven wizards can’t even take one of these things down and you think you can do it by yourself?!”

“I’m a Malfoy. I can do anything.”

“Don’t be an idiot! Malfoy!”

But he wasn’t listening. The Giant swung its club around like a baseball player preparing to bat, and Draco just laughed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Hermione tried to scramble frantically to her feet. It was absurd to think that he could take on a giant alone! Even Harry had needed help, and that had only been a troll! Had the extended period of time locked up in a house actually sent him mad? Or did he truly think he was that invincible?

“Come on then you disgusting swine!’ shouted Draco, thumping his chest. “Hit me! HIT ME!”

The Giant roared and swung, and Draco raised his wand… and he was pulled backwards as if someone had grabbed him by the back of his shirt, narrowly missing being smashed in the face. Draco fell on the ground hard and didn’t even have time to look around to see what had happened when another roar, even more earsplitting than that of the Giant sounded from the sky.

Someone pulled him roughly to his feet and a familiar voice – Hermione. She snarled in his ear, ‘Come on! We need to move or we’ll be barbequed!”

“Wha…?”

He was being dragged along, fingernails digging into his shoulder. He heard Hermione’s cry of pain as whoever it was that was with them pulled her to her feet. They were pulled backward a few paces as the roar like thunder booming overhead sounded again, closer and more ferocious. Draco looked up and his mouth dropped open as a massive black dragon dropped from the sky, claws outstretched and teeth bared. The Giant only had time to raise its club before the Dragon was on him, sinking its claws into his leathery skin and flying into him so hard it knocked them both to the ground in a massive tangle of talons and fists and roars of pain. The ground beneath his feet rumbled with the force of it, and he ducked as more Dragons fell from the sky, almost six of them, nostrils flaring with ready flame as claws outstretched. The all went straight for the Giants, only narrowly missing the wizards on the ground.

“But that’s impossible!” yelled Draco.

“LOOK OUT!”

Draco leapt aside, only just narrowly dodging a tail spike that thrust into the ground. He crawled hurriedly back over to Hermione, who was on the ground again. He helped her to her feet and the two of them half-ran away from the two wrestling beasts, away from the snarling and the sound of tearing flesh and bones being smashed and singed clothing.

Now that they were a safe distance away, Draco could have a better look at what was going on. There were seven Dragons in total, all of them either on top of a Giant or circling around it, swiping at it or shooting fire. It was very impressive, considering the circumstances.

“But this is impossible!” he breathed, watching in awe. ‘Dragons are fiercely wild. You can not tame them! You can not wield their will to yours! It would be like asking a fish to fly!”

“Charlie’s been doing something with them for years, Ron said.’ Hermione groaned, rubbing her knee. ‘Look, Malfoy, don’t worry about how they’re doing it just be glad they are. Come on, we need to go.”

“But how… what spell…”

“Malfoy!’ Hermione grabbed his face in her hands and made him look at her. For a split second she marveled at the fact that she had never been this physically close to him, and that when you peeled away the arrogance and the steely, mocking expressions he always wore, he actually looked normal. It was a testament to how much he had changed over the past year that he did not pull away from her, just stared at her. ‘I have to find Harry. And you have to find Tonks, yes?”

Draco blinked and took her hands away from his face by her wrists. “Potter. Yes. Potter is useless without you. Come on.”

------------

It was all Harry could do to keep up with Ron; he had longer legs and could travel further distances with less effort. And although Harry himself was a normally very fast person, Ron’s determination to find Hermione seemed to like adrenaline in his veins, urging him to go even faster.

“RON LOOK…”

Ron didn’t even hear Harry yell, as the cloaked figure that had been running toward him barely managed to raise his wand with a guttural scream before Ron swung his arm and punched him hard in the face, then struck the hilt of Gryffindor’s sword into the back of his head.

Harry looked at the unconscious figure as they rushed passed and finished lamely, ‘…out.”

It was like Moses standing at the Red Sea, the hundreds of people seemed to part as Harry and Ron darted through them. Harry didn’t really know where they were going. He was trying to let his feet guide him; he was trying to shut down walls in his mind he’d put so much time and effort into putting up so he could feel where it was he had to be; where He was. That was the main goal here after all – to find Voldemort. Then all of this could be over.

It was hard though, considering Ron was clearly leading at the moment. Harry had already lost Ginny and Hermione and was still yet to even spot his mother; he didn’t want to be separated from Ron as well. He was torn between the need to be with someone, and the need to be alone to find Voldemort.

Ron stopped suddenly, grabbing Harry’s shirt and pulling him aside as a Mad-eye Moody and three Death Eaters suddenly tumbled into their path. Harry watched in amazement as Moody took them all on without muttering so much as one word, barely raising a shield, parrying each blow the Death Eater’s took.

“What are you two doing standing there staring at me?’ he barked, his blue-eye swiveling around. ‘Get going, Potter! Now! Difindo!”

Harry grabbed Ron’s arm. “Come on!”

Then continued to run, more and more people blocking their way, at the same time Order Members and regular wizards and witches who had no doubt heard about the fight and had, thankfully, decided they would join in, trying desperately to clear the way for Harry, as if sensing what he was trying to do. He wished he could have stopped to help, or to at least say thank you, but to do so would have held him up, making their struggles completely pointless. As selfish as it seemed, Harry had to focus on one thing and one thing alone.

“I still can’t see her!’ Ron shouted over an ear-splitting roar.

“What?”

“Hermione! Where the bloody hell has she gone?”

“Maybe you should throw up sparks or something, telling her where we are.”

“Yeah good idea. She’ll really see a tiny burst of red sparks amongst all this!’ Ron waved a hand around.

Harry whirled around, ready to snarl at him, but something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention at the last second. His brain caught on a split second just in time and, correctly predicting what was about to happen, Harry shoved Ron backward with such force that Ron fell hard on his backside – the green jet of light missed him by centimeters.

Harry raised his wand, ready. “I’ll give you one warning – back off.”

Bellatrix laughed, rubbing her jaw leisurely with the tip of her wand as she sauntered toward him. “Baby Potter is giving me a warning? What are you going to do to me if I don’t, then? Send me into a fit of giggles with a pathetic tickling charm? We both know you haven’t got it in you to kill me.”

A flash of bright light made Harry blink and he saw Ron on his feet again, sword pointed threateningly toward Bellatrix. “Don’t you come any closer or I’ll run you through.”

She laughed again, this time throwing her head back. “It just keeps on getting better and better!”

“We don’t have time for this.’ Harry muttered to Ron.

“You run for it.’ Ron’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’ll take care of her.”

“You think I’m going to just leave you here with her?”

“There’s more important things going on here than me!”

Harry looked at him in surprise. He’d almost forgotten… But did he actually believe such a thing?

Bellatrix sighed, examining her nails. “Are you two quite done saying your good-bye’s? I haven’t tortured anyone in a good long while and… well I have to admit I’m getting a little antsy.”

“You’re sick. You need serious therapy.’ snapped Ron. His grip on Gryffindor’s sword was so tight his knuckled were white. ‘Anyone ever told you that?”

“Several.”

Harry pointed his wand more directly. “Tell me where I can find your boss and this won’t have to end badly.”

“Oh, I’m afraid you’ll find that it will.’ She grinned. ‘Now stand still, so I can present both your heads on a pike to my glorious master.”

Bellatrix raised her wand, a manic gleam flashing in her eyes. Ron gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter, Harry tensed, waiting for the inevitable curse…

“Avada Kedaoooff!”

Bellatrix fell to the ground and landed heavily on her side with a grunt. Harry and Ron only watched the impact before looking up at the person who had pushed her.

Neville smiled at them through blood-stained teeth, a gash over his left eye with blood pouring through it and his hair wet as if he’d fallen into the lake. Despite his haggard appearance, he was positively beaming, his wand pointed directly at Bellatrix.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.’ He breathed.

Harry and Ron just stared at him, amazed.

Neville jerked his head. “I saw Him near the forest. You’d better hurry.”

“You go anywhere near him Potter and I will rip your heart out of your chest with my bare hands!” screamed Bellatrix.

She scrambled to her feet and Neville stood ready. “Go, Harry!”

Although loathed to leave, responsibility tugged at his senses and Harry grabbed Ron and left.

“We shouldn’t leave him with her.’ Ron yelled over the Dragon’s ear-splitting roars, running along beside Harry.

“We don’t have time to be…whoa!”

Harry and Ron stopped again as a blonde boy fell at their feet. He looked up at them and half-grunted, half smiled with a quick, two finger salute.

“Harry! Ron!”

“Justin!”

Justin Finch-Fletchly jumped to his feet just as Terry Boot and Parvati Patil stumbled over, throwing curses at two hooded figures.

“I wish I could say I’m glad you could make it…’ Harry started.

Terry fired a spell and shoved Justin back toward the action. “Don’t be a prat! Just go! We’ve got it!”

“But you…” Ron started.

“Go!” shouted Parvati.

Weaving around them, Ron and Harry did just that. Harry could see the roof of trees that represented the Forest to his left, but every time he tried to squeeze his way through something would get in the way. A Giant would stomp between them, only to be lifted off its feet and into the air by one of the massive Dragons that were flying around. A couple of Centaurs that had joined the fight would trample past, bow and arrow raised and ready to fire. Wizards and Witches dueling each other would fall or stumble by, and every now and then they would shout, ‘Go for it, Harry!’ or ‘We believe in you, Potter!’ or ‘Duck you stupid twit!’.

Harry finally saw an opening in the mass of people that would take him to the Forest, when he felt it; that cold, overwhelming fist in his chest that seemed to grip his very soul and turn his blood to ice. He saw Ron hitch and bend over double out of the corner of his eye, as though he’d been punched in the gut.

“I don’t…’ he gasped, looking around in alarm, ‘I don’t know if I can… can take them right n-now.”

“Yes you can. Come on, stand up… that’s it…”

It was enough of a struggle to stand on his own, let alone help Ron up, but he still did it and the two of them had their wands out ready. It wasn’t hard to tell which direction they were coming from: the screams of horror and people running and sudden appearance of Patronuses were enough of a give-away.

“Look at them the bastards.” Ron growled, pointing. ‘Dementors weaken them then the bloody Death Eaters sneak in a curse them while they’re down! Merlin’s beard, if Hermione’s in there…”

“She’ll be fine, don’t worry. It’ll take more than a Dementor and a few…’

That’s when Harry’s scar ignited.

He screamed; the mixture of despair from the Dementors and piercing fire in his forehead almost too much to bear. He was on his knees before he knew what happened, and Ron was down beside him an instant later. Images swirled in his head and foreign emotions ran through him. It was the most bizarre feeling, to feel pain and despair on one end, but at the same time amusement and triumph on the other. Although it was just flashes, images out of order, he knew what was going on because one face kept showing up, clear as day, as if he were looking at her himself.

“Harry? Mate, talk to me! What’s he showing you?”

“We have to move. Now!”

“Move? You can barely talk!”

“Give me your hand.”

“What?”

“Just do it!”

Ron dropped his wand and his sword and, after prying one of Harry’s hands away from his forehead, clutched it firmly in his own. Harry focused on the feeling of Ron’s skin, sweaty and hot and physical evidence of his presence, and the pain began to ebb. When it seeped away to the point where the world had stopped spinning, Harry clumsily shoved the sword back into Ron’s hand, pulled Ron to his feet and dragged him back through the crowd.

He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

-------------

There was something deeply satisfying about watching utter chaos from the sidelines.

It reminded him of his days at the orphanage. When he would hide all of Ester Williams tiny little porcelain horses she was so terribly fond of all over the building and watch her hysterically and inconsolably spend hours on end looking for them, or when he would whisper rumors into every child’s ear, gossiping lies like ‘Did you know Steven said this about you?’ and ‘Rose thinks you do such and such’ or ‘Joseph told me this’ until it got to the point where everyone would hate each other and, more often than not, start an all-out fight in the living room, and he would simply sit by the window and watch, fascinated. Violence was interesting; so uninhibited and raw and honest.

During his time here as a student he’d spent hours reading about the last great wizard battle; the legendary confrontation between Grindewald and Dumbledore. It was probably one of his favorite books of all time. It went into such exquisite detail about every aspect of that afternoon, so intricate that if he closed his eyes he could still visualize himself standing there, watching Dumbledore and Grindewald duel as if it were right in front of him. The scene around him now seemed just as good, if not better – in this scene, there was no Dumbledore. He had made sure of that.

Decades from now people would be reading about this war, of this he was certain. Years in the future, some young boy with dreams too large for everyone else he knew to realize fully appreciate would be sitting in the back of the Library, a book cradled in his lap and his eyes wide with possibilities as he read about the story of Voldemort, the most powerful Dark Lord in history, and how he managed to bring the world to his knees, make it a better place and take out the two antagonists who stood in his way – Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

“Livingston.”

As the stout, blonde witch was running past she stopped and looked at Voldemort, instantly dropping to her knees. Voldemort resisted the urge to roll his eyes; the new ones always seemed to have difficulty standing.

“My Lord, I was just on my way to see about the blood traitor Tonks family…”

“Admirable, I’m sure, but I see that you’re coming from the castle and I was wondering if you had seen any sign of Harry Potter?”

“Word is he was seen over by the lake, master.”

Voldemort clenched his jaw, looking around the masses again. That didn’t seem right. The last flash he’d been able to grab from his mind before he’d closed himself off (something he was becoming annoyingly astute at) was near the castle.

“Should I go investigate, my Lord?”

He nodded, rubbing his wand against the palm of his left hand. “Yes, Livingston, that would be most helpful. Take Avery and whoever else you can with you… you’ll find it also beneficial to take a Giant with you if you can manage to disengage them from the Dragons, they’ll assist in shielding you from the spells of the Aurors up in the towers… and scour the castle for Harry Potter. I want to know of his whereabouts.”

“Yes, master. Right away, Mas-…”

That was as far as she got, for in that moment she was knocked viciously to the ground by a massive, horizontal tree trunk. The impact was nothing, like batting away a fly, and the trunk continued sailing toward Voldemort with excessive speed. He took a small step back, raised his wand and wordlessly cast magic. The trunk exploded with a loud CRACK, sending splinters and bark and branches and dust in every which direction.

And it was only a split second after this had happened that he felt someone grab the front of his robes and the familiar tip of a wand stick into his throat.

He looked at her, momentarily speechless. It was if her emotions were so powerful her face was incapable of picking just one to express. Her green eyes blazed into his, unwavering and unafraid. Her fingernails dug into his robes where the clutched him. She was so close he could feel her breath on his face.

He smiled.

“No, stay where you are.’ He held a hand up. His servants around him, who had begun to rush to his aid, stopped in their tracks. ‘There is no need. Mrs. Potter won’t be staying long.”

Lily grinned. “Did you see what I did there? With the tree?”

“I did see.”

“Pretty nifty, huh?”

“Ingenious.”

“Master!”

“I said remain where you are!’ Voldemort snapped. His eyes never left Lily’s. He still hadn’t moved; his arms (and wand) remained slack by his side.

Lily leant in closer. Their noses (had he actually still had one) were almost touching. Voldemort couldn’t remember the last time someone had been in such close proximity to him. It was… interesting.

He smiled at her again. “Lily Potter. What unusual circumstances have brought us to this point. Seems only yesterday…”

“No no no, we’re not doing the nostalgic talk.’

“Oh, come now, surely we must. Its not every day I get to reacquaint myself with someone I killed.”

“Keep talking and I let you find out first hand.’ She snarled.

Voldemort didn’t move. It was a very, very rare thing for his skin to crawl like it was now. Not out of fear, but anger and frustration. How could so much go wrong in such a small amount of time? Didn’t anyone stay dead anymore? Was Dumbledore going to show up next? He suppressed the old feeling, the urge he never seemed to be able to shake from his school days, to look over his shoulder.

“I tell you what, wasn’t easy getting here.”

“Oh no?”

“I nearly got trampled by one of your giant buddies. Not to mention the advance guard you’ve assembled.”

“How unfortunate.”

Lily squared her jaw. It was the only movement she’d made since grabbing him. “Anyone would think you were avoiding us.”

Voldemort smiled. “One must take precautions.”

“So it seems. My, how the authors will rejoice when decades from now they get to write of how Voldemort, the Dark Lord, bravely hid from a boy fifty years his junior.”

His smile faded instantly; a similar gesture appeared on her own face, only far more smug.

“I hide from no-one.”

“Oh no? Cause this, to me, looks an awful lot like hiding. All that’s missing is someone with their eyes closed counting to one hundred.”

“You have a lot of back talk for someone in your position.”

“My position?’ she laughed dangerously. The tip of her wand dug even harder into his neck. ‘Two words. That’s all it would take. Two words and I could end all of this right now.”

Voldemort tilted his chin upwards. “Then why haven’t you? I’m completely at your mercy. Why don’t you say those two little words and finish it once and for all?”

“I’ll tell you why.’ His tone was icy, and as he leant in Lily recoiled, her eyes widening slightly. ‘You’re so terrified you can hardly see straight. Because underneath all that anger, and hate, and righteous bravery you’re still the scared little girl I killed sixteen years ago who is both too stupid and stubborn to just move out of the way. You couldn’t stop me then and you can’t stop me now. I’m going to kill him – your son. I’m going to bring him to his knees and torture him with such rage that he’ll beg for me to end his life…’

“Stop it!”

“… and there’s not a thing you can do about it.”

“I could do it right now.”

“Do it then.”

In that moment something small dug into Lily’s ribs. She knew what it was without looking. She didn’t flinch, just sneered. The corner of Voldemort’s mouth curled slightly upward.

She shook him angrily. “You killed my husband. You tried to kill my son. You’ve destroyed my entire life. You’ve made my son’s life a living hell for the past sixteen years God damn you and you seriously think that I wouldn’t… couldn’t… kill you right here right now?”

“I think if you were so determined you would have done so already.’

Her face screwed up in rage. She was so angry and hurt Voldemort could practically feel it emanating from her skin in waves. Her eyes were watery as she breathed heavily through her nose. Her wand dug further into his neck. She said nothing, just glared with a venomous stare and he could only imagine what she was thinking. Her anguish was exquisite. He couldn’t help but shiver from excitement, imagining the way she would crumble when he killed her son in front of her eyes.

“Do you wish for some sort of an apology?”

“You’re not capable.”

“I’m sorry.’

He had said it with such sincerity Lily almost let go of him completely, out of shock. His face was expressionless for such a long moment, without meaning to, she almost began to believe him.

And then he smirked. “I’m sorry I cracked your husbands skull open before yours. Such a mistake in hindsight. Had I killed you first, it certainly would have made destroying your son, and my life, much easier. Ah ah ah…’ he tsk’d, grabbing her wrists firmly as she thrashed against him. ‘What kind of manners do you call these?”

“I’ll kill you… you evil, disgusting bastard…”

“My my,’ he chuckled, digging his fingernails into her skin. She only grunted in pain, trying to wriggle free of his grip. The tip of his wand dug a tiny bit further into her ribs. ‘You know, if I recall correctly, you said something similar to me the last time we met, did you not?”

“I believe my exact words were ‘Get bent’, but it has been sixteen years after all – one’s mind does tend to become somewhat fuzzy.”

“But it hasn’t been so long for you, has it? It would have been only moments, yes? Years gone by in the blink of an eye.’ he considered her again, feeling anger crawl under his skin. ‘How did you do this? How are you here? Tell me.”

Lily smiled. “Jealous?”

Voldemort sneered. It was all the answer she needed.

“I hope you figured it out.’ He snarled. ‘You’ll need such information if you ever wish to see your son again. Although, by the time I’m finished with him there may not be anything left.”

“If you even touch him…”

“No no, let me guess. You’ll do this: Avada Keda-…”

BANG!

Voldemort stumbled backwards from the force of the spell that had appeared between them. His grip on her was lost and he looked around, not surprised to find her gone.

“My Lord!’ his nearest follower rushed forward. ‘Should we go after her?”

He wiped his hands on his robes, making a mental note to burn them later. He considered his Death Eaters, trying to compose himself. They were watching him eagerly, waiting for orders. He didn’t even know half of their faces.

Clearing his throat, he said, “Assemble everyone. Recall the giants. Summon the Dementors. I’ve had enough of this procrastination. We’re ending this – now.”

----------

“She’s a bloody idiot!”

“You can’t say that sort of thing about your own mother.”

“The hell I can’t! Who does that? Who willingly seeks that psycho out?”

“Gee, I don’t know… maybe you?”

Harry skidded to a stop on the hill and cast a glance at Ron. “That’s different.”

Despite the situation, Ron laughed. “You’re a berk. Why he hell else would she go see Him? I’m gonna take a stab in the dark and say the same reason we’re looking for him right now.”

“Is this your idea of helping?”

“I hate it when you spurt out all this hypocritical bollocks, is all. Who cares why she’s there; let’s just concentrate on getting her back.”

“Why the hell do you think I ran over here like a…”

What he’d run over there like, Ron never got to find out. They both saw it at once. It was like a wave pulling back into the ocean; in the same instant the Death Eaters all apparated out in one collective, ear-splitting crack. The Giants ran away from the Dragons, making the ground shake with their stampede. The Dementors drifted away silently – Dementors never drifted away from victims, silently or yodeling.

Ron frowned. “They’re withdrawing.”

Harry felt no relief as he watched. The sudden silence was almost too much to bear. They remanding people were looking around, confused for a long moment before they seemed to realize what was going on. They too seemed to gather together, the ‘safety in numbers’ mentality obviously silently shared by everyone.

“Ron! Harry!”

Hermione was limping up the hill toward them. Ron was over to her in two quick strides. He lifted her off her feet in a bone-crushing hug; she wrapped her good leg around the back of his knee and gripped him so tightly it must have hurt.

At the same time Harry’s heart swelled to see her alive, his scar stabbed with a blinding pain.

“Are you okay?”

She didn’t miss a trick.

Harry laughed. She’d untangled herself from Ron and was over to him in a flash. She grabbed his arm and held his hand, looking terrible yet concerned as if she’d completely forgotten about her own injuries which, if he knew her, she probably had.

“Just my scar.”

“Did you see what happened? They’re retreating!”

Harry looked back down where she was pointing. His scar burned again as he watched movement in the gathering by the trees; one figure was making its way through the masses, heading for the front. He couldn’t’ see his mother amongst them. Had she been captured? Had she escaped? Was she…?

He squeezed his eyes shut as his head exploded with pain. “To hell with this shite.”

He squeezed Hermione’s hand tightly, linking their fingers together. He grabbed Ron’s arm, gripping him tightly. He glared down at the Forest, focusing on the feel of their skin, their presence, and pushed the pain out of his mind. It was like two bulldozers driving against one another.

“They’re not retreating.’ Harry growled as the pain slowly ebbed. ‘They’re assembling. This is it.”

“This is it?’ snapped Ron. ‘What the hell have we been doing for the past hour then? Practicing?’

“Should we do the same?” Hermione whispered.

Her question was answered on its own. Harry watched, unable to say anything as the mass of people, centaurs, house elves and dragons all seemed to drift toward him. His hand still in Hermione’s, he ran down the hill to meet them, Ron close behind.

Remus broke free of the crowd to meet them. He was dirty and wounded, but alive which was all that mattered. “Thank Merlin you’re alright! I didn’t even know if you were here! And you just left the house without saying anything and Ginny was in a right state and then we got called here…”

“Rambling!” laughed Harry.

“Right. Sorry. Not at all the time or the place.”

“Have you seen Mum anywhere?”

Remus opened his mouth to speak, when…

“HARRY POTTER!”

There was a collective shriek of surprise and terror as a shrill voice filled the sky. The voice boomed so loud it made many people clap their hands over their ears. Like everyone else Ron and Hermione looked at Harry in alarm. Harry said nothing.

“IS THIS WHAT IT COMES TO, HARRY POTTER? HIDING BEHIND THOSE WHO GLADLY FOLLOW YOU SO YOU WONT HAVE TO FACE ME?”

“Ruddy stinking snake-faced…’ Harry could hear Ron muttering in his ear the same time he felt his hand close around his shoulder.

Harry turned to Hermione. She looked terrified. “It’s okay.”

“How is it okay?”

“WE HAVEN’T COME ALL THIS WAY FOR IT TO END LIKE THIS, HARRY! COME OUT INTO THE OPEN WHERE I CAN SEE YOU! OR ARE YOU AFRAID?”

He squeezed her hand and let her go.

He turned to Ron. He was frowning down at him. “Don’t look so grumpy, yeah? Relax.”

“Harry, what the hell are you on about?”

“COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE!”

Harry gave Ron a playful punch in the arm. Ron looked appalled.

“If you see Ginny, tell her… tell her I…’ Harry stopped as he rubbed his wand between his fingers. He looked up to see everyone still looking at him, waiting, looking scared and anxious and determined and fierce and brave all at once. He smiled. ‘Don’t worry – she knows.”

And then he was running.

Everyone leapt out of the way. He could hear people calling his name, shouting at him, begging him to stop, but the wind in his ears drowned it out. He couldn’t stop. Adrenaline was pumping through him, driving him forward. His heart was racing with excitement and fear and determination. The crowd was massive, larger than he’d expected, filled with people he’d never met. He could see flashes of their expressions and it was almost overwhelming enough to make him stop, turn and run in the opposite direction. But he didn’t. He kept his eyes forward as he finally broke free of the crowd and ran out into the open field that lay between him and the Forest entrance.

Of course Voldemort was already standing there.

It was hard to believe it had been only over a few hours since Harry had last saw him. Their encounter in London seemed like years ago in a galaxy far away. It was an impressive sight; hundreds of Death Eaters, Giants, Goblins, Dementors stood behind him. There was an ominous glow in the Forest behind him, casting sinister looking shadows out toward them. It was almost exactly how Harry had always imagined it would be.

Voldemort looked satisfied. He was rolling his wand between his thumb and forefinger.

Harry waved. “Hi there.”

“I’ve been looking for you.”

“I would never have guessed.”

He scowled, his red eyes narrowed. Harry was surprised by the fact that he wasn’t scared. He wasn’t anything.

“You have something that belongs to me.’ He hissed

“Wrong. I have several things that belong to you.”

Harry reached into the collar of his shirt and pulled out the locket. Voldemort went rigid.

“Well, I did… before I destroyed them, that is. Oh, and by the way, bloody good job with Hufflepuff’s cup – that was a bugger to get. Malfoy can vouch for that.’ With every word Voldemort was becoming visibly more and more furious. Harry was having too much fun to stop. It wasn’t often he had anything over him to make him react this way. ‘You remember Malfoy, right? Blonde hair, kinda skinny, failed you miserably; but I reckon you were expecting that, weren’t you? Smart guy like yourself. Bet you didn’t figure into your plans that he’d end up working for us. He’s the one who lead me to one of your precious Horcruxes…”

Behind him, a tree burst into flames. Voldemort was looking at Harry with such rage it was surprising that Harry himself had not been the one to spontaneously combust.

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you’re so clever in discovering all this, Potter, when we both know you had nothing to do with it. It was all Dumbledore’s doing.”

“Yeah, that’s right. It was all Dumbledore’s doing.’ Harry grinned. And in the hiss only Voldemort would understand, Harry whispered, ‘And doesn’t that just bug the shit out of you?”

Voldemort’s wand came down like a whip. The grass at Harry’s feet burst into flame and he only just managed to leap out of the way. It was like running through a minefield; every where Harry stepped the ground beneath him would explode in a ball of fire. Beside the raw instinct not to have his feet blown off, Harry could think of only one thing to do.

CRACK.

Voldemort was visibly shocked. Harry had apparated right in front of him and grabbed him by the front of his robes. Around them still no-one had moved. It was eerily silent. Harry’s face was expressionless, despite the pain he was feeling from such close proximity.

“You haven’t destroyed them all.’

“No.”

Voldemort smiled. “Then how do you expect that all this,’ he gestured at their surroundings, ‘will end in your favor? Even if you did kill me, a very unlikely outcome, you know it won’t be the end. I will rise again.”

“I won’t be around to help you like last time.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“You’re awfully cocky for someone in your position.”

Voldemort sneered. “You sound like your mother.”

Harry smiled. “Thank you. No-one’s ever said that to me before.”

“Wipe that grin off your face. Don’t you understand that I’m going to kill you?”

“Its all business with you, isn’t it? We never just talk anymore.”

Harry’s head exploded in pain as Voldemort grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head backward, exposing his neck. He half grunted, half laughed as the tip of Voldemort’s wand pocked him uncomfortably in the hollow of his throat.

Voldemort leant in close. When he spoke it was in the soft, bone chilling whisper of Parseltongue. “I’m almost tempted to let you go, just so I can take her and kill her right in front of you – again. The fool she is; she’s so willing to lay her life down for you, I don’t imagine I’d even have to capture her to do it.”

“You keep away from her.’ snarled Harry.

“What about your friends? The young Weasley boy? The Mudblood you love so much? Or perhaps the pretty little girl who you dream about so often…”

“You won’t go near them.”

“Oh really? Going to stop me, are you?”

“Yeah.’ Harry shoved Voldemort away from him slightly, freeing himself from his grip. ‘I am going to stop you.”

“You know, you really should have just let yourself get killed when you had the chance.’ His high-pitched hiss sent shivers down Harry’s spine. ‘I’ll be honest with you… I’ve never met a more slippery opponent in my entire life. You’ve escaped me more times that anyone, but it doesn’t make you powerful, or special, or The Chosen One. No, Harry; at the end of the day you’re nothing but a boy, a thorn in my side, and I’m going to kill you like I should have done all those years ago. It’s not a question, it’s a certainty… and all you can do is decide where.”

“HARRY!”

It shouldn’t have distracted him, but Harry’s heart leapt hearing her voice for what seemed like the first time in years. He turned to the left and saw her as she broke free of the crowd, her red hair messy and her clothes dirty just like everyone else.

She stopped as she saw him looking at her and lowered her wand. Even from the distance Harry could see her green eyes were filled with tears; emotions she couldn’t verbalize. She just stood there, looking at him imploringly to come back, to turn away and run – run back to her. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything but stare at her.

He suddenly remembered something she’d said to him not long ago. Her voice ran in his ears as if they were having that very conversation now with their identical set of eyes.

"If you talk to Dad again, even just for a second... what would you say?"

"I'd tell him that I cherished the time we spent together, and I never expected anything from him. Even if I only saw him for a few moments it made me happy. And I'd tell him that I love him; that I'll always love him, and no matter what, I know he tried his best to help us.”

"You could say all that in a second?"

"I wouldn't have to. He'd know just from the way I'd smile at him."

He held her gaze… and smiled.

As if reading his mind, Lily’s eyes widened in horror. “Harry, no!”

He didn’t answer. In a flash he’d stepped forward, grabbed Voldemort again by the arm and with a loud CRACK, both of them vanished.

There was a long, confused pause, so silent they could hear crickets chirping… and then all hell broke loose.

The two divided sides rushed toward each other again. Lights flashed across the sky and spells and hexes went flying. Dragon’s roared and launched into flight. Giants thumped forward, swinging their clubs every which way. Centaurs galloped right into the fray. Wizards and witched filled up the voids in-between, screaming war cries.

Lily frantically pushed her way through them like a salmon fighting upstream. She was panicking. She was scared. She had to find someone… anyone…

She almost tripped over them. The two of them were crouched on the ground, screaming at each other.

“Where is it?” cried Ron.

“I had it right here!” snapped Hermione, searching her satchel. ‘I put it in between the vials…”

“Hurry up!”

“I’m trying!”

“What are you looking for?” Lily demanded.

Her question was answered as Hermione produced an old piece of parchment from her bag. She smoothed it out on the ground. Ron had his wand pointed at it instantly.

“Did Kingsley set up those wards?” asked Hermione.

“He didn’t get the chance but Moody did it. Is that…?”

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

At Ron’s hasty command, lines snaked around the parchment, filling out into the map of Hogwarts Castle.

Lily wanted to rip the paper from Hermione’s grip and search it herself. She leant in and looked at it, their heads colliding together painfully. “Is he there? Do you see him?”

“I don’t see him. Turn it over!’ snapped Ron.

“I haven’t finished this side yet!”

“Well hold it up so we can look at both sides at once!”

Hermione did, almost thrusting it into Ron’s face. “He has to be here. Those wards prevent anyone from apparating out of the grounds, and Harry wouldn’t have told us to put them up for no reason.”

Lily squinted, skimming over the hundreds of tiny dots moving around frantically on the map. “I can’t see him.”

“Doesn’t mean is not there.’ Said Ron. ‘He could be on the grounds, in the middle of the lake…”

Hermione’s eyes widened and she folded the map up.

“What are you doing?” snarled Ron, trying to take it off her.

“I know where he is.’

“What? Where?” demanded Lily.

Hermione said nothing, just leapt to her feet and began running.

Ron was on his feet a second later. “Hermione, wait!”

She didn’t seem to hear them as she ducked and weaved through the crowd towards the castle. Ron and Lily were on her heels, shoving people aside, dodging jinxes, leaping over bodies…

Lily tripped over robes and fell hard to the ground with a grunt. Winded, she rolled over onto her side and looked behind her to see what had caused her to stumble. It was Moody’s wooden leg. She clapped a hand over her mouth, dry-reaching, and got hurriedly to her feet. Looking around frantically she tried to get sight of bushy or red hair heading toward the castle… but she couldn’t see them.

“Hermione!” she shouted, pushing her way through the crowd. ‘Ron!”

It was pointless. They were gone.

------

Harry rolled over onto his stomach on the hard stone floor with a groan. His vision was blurred, and it was then he realized his glasses were missing. He fumbled around for them for only a moment before he felt them and slipped them back onto his nose as he pushed himself up off the floor.

He arched his back, stretching, and laughed. “I’ve never done that before. Can’t half tell, huh?”

Meters away, Voldemort was also gingerly picking himself up off the ground. He straightened up slowly and glared at Harry for a moment before looking around. “What… how…?’ he stopped and shot a venomous look back at Harry. ‘What are we doing here?”

Harry shrugged, looking around the Chamber of Secrets, still as desolate as he remembered. “You told me to choose where. Seemed only fitting.”

“You really are insane.”

“Hey, be glad I didn’t splinch you… although it would have made life a bit easier, to be completely honest…”

“Listen to you.’ Voldemort’s tone was laced with amazement. ‘You’re so calm.”

“Flapping my hands and running around in circles while screaming hysterically really isn’t my thing.”

“What do you have to be calm about? I’m going to kill you, Potter.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

Voldemort’s eyes narrowed. Harry watched him look around the Chamber again; no doubt he was thinking about the last time he’d been down there, over fifty years ago. Harry sometimes felt like it had been that long for him too. The thing that took up both their attention for a moment was the massive Basilisk corpse, still lying where Harry had slain it, the pool of blood around its head dried up.

His boots clicked softly against the stone floor as he walked over to it, his eyes still on Harry. “This was my first pet.”

“And here I was thinking you were more a fluffy bunny type of guy.”

“Snakes were my first real servants.’ A whimsical expression crossed over his pace face as he stroked the scales of the giant snake tenderly. ‘It was easily to find pythons and carpet snakes in the fields, but when I read about the magnificent creature that was the Basilisk, I knew I had to have one. It wasn’t easy, but oh so worth it. I raised it up from an egg, spent hours with it, talking to it, lavishing in its company as it did in mine…’ he turned his eyes to Harry. They were cold. ‘And you killed it.”

Harry gestured toward the snake. “He started it.”

Voldemort looked as though he was going to snap, but the moment passed and he suddenly found something amusing. “You really are extraordinary, aren’t you? A mere boy of twelve, killing a Basilisk would have been completely unheard of a decade ago.”

“Well I wasn’t too keen on becoming snake chowder, and seen as your sixteen year old self was so determined to make it so it didn’t really leave me with a whole lot of options.’ Harry smiled. ‘Haven’t changed much in half a century, have you?”

“My first Horcrux. First made, first destroyed. How ironic. No doubt that incident is what hinted Dumbledore to their existence.’ He paused and smiled bitterly to himself. ‘Poor Lucius. He tries so hard to please me, and yet always seems to be doing the opposite.”

“Maybe you should lower your standards.”

Voldemort looked over at him again. Harry wondered if those red eyes would ever not be eerie.

“And so it began, yes? Dumbledore’s quest to end the tyranny and reign he knew I would have over this world. I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised; a great mind like his of course would have worked it all out. He always was the nosy type, butting his ridiculous good intentions in where they weren’t wanted.”

“He was trying to help you.”

“Help me?’ Voldemort wheezed out a laugh. ‘I didn’t need his help. I’m more powerful than he ever hoped to be. I have seen magic at its most basic; at its core. I have traveled the world and learnt spells they dare not write down on paper. I have seen death, danced with it, stood on the very line that separates existence with oblivion and still returned unscathed.”

“But look what you had to do to do it.” Harry felt revolted just thinking about it. ‘You’re an idiot. No, more than that – you’re a coward. Dumbledore wasn’t afraid to die like you are.”

“I am afraid of nothing!’ snapped Voldemort.

“Oh, no, you’re right. Normal, every day sane people split their souls apart all the time. And I bet you thought you were so clever hiding them all over creation like you did. The Pensieve in the Museum, now that was clever, but honestly…

“You still haven’t found them all, have you.” It wasn’t a question. Voldemort grinned with satisfaction when Harry said nothing, just raised his wand at the ready. ‘Do you even know what they are?”

“Hermione didn't agree with me at first, but I knew, and I suspect Nagini’s being taken care of right about now.”

“She is protected.”

“Yeah, at your manor. Oh, don’t look so surprised,’ Harry added at Voldemort’s expression. ‘Where the hell else would you have been hiding all this time? You didn’t even notice me there the other day, did you? I was under my Dad’s Invisibility Cloak.”

Voldemort’s hand balled into a fist. It was the only display of emotion he gave. “You were so close and yet you didn’t come in and say hello? What bad manners.”

“Point is I know where you’re keeping her. I know that you’ve protected her from any wizards who try and go near her… but I found a loophole. I met someone who was only too willing to help me. Her name is Linda. You remember her? She’s about fifteen feet long, lovely pale scales, lives in that pit of snakes you’ve got in the sewers under Little Hangleton…’ Harry smiled and he knew Voldemort knew what he was talking about. ‘She was only too happy to help, what with me being her Masssster and all.”

“You didn’t…”

“Oh I did.” He chuckled. “Brought some of her friends along too. They were pretty excited to be out of that pit, I can tell you! What do you reckon Nagini’s odds are against ten serpents and an Anaconda? I personally wouldn’t wager a whole lot if I were you…”

BANG!

The floor at Harry’s feet exploded. He only just managed to leap out of the way.

“Why must you destroy everything I have?’ snarled Voldemort.

Harry looked at him angrily. “Sucks, doesn’t it?’

“Why can’t you just die?”

“You first.”

Three spells came flying toward him again. Harry blocked the first, dodged the second and only just managed to apparate three meters to the left to avoid the third.

“You won’t destroy the last.’ Snapped Voldemort. “Even if you did manage to discover where it is…”

“I know where it is. I know who it is.”

Voldemort stilled for a moment, as if this information had caught him off guard which, Harry mused, it probably had. Had he really not expected Harry to figure it out? Then again, this was Voldemort we were talking about, with an ego the size of Great Britain…

“And you think you can destroy it, do you? I can’t see you ending a life for the sake of destroying me.”

“You don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

“Oh I don’t know,’ he smirked, ‘you’re not as unpredictable as you think yourself to be.”

Harry’s scar burned again and it was so harsh it made his head snap back. Voldemort took advantage of Harry’s lapse of concentration and fired a spell; it hit Harry square in the chest, and he almost wished for the pain in his scar over it.

He hit the ground hard, the Cruciatus Curse flaying him from the inside out. He cried out as his skin burned, every nerve ending feeling as though they were being individually shot with thousands of volts of electricity. It was pain beyond anything anyone should ever feel and Harry was completely at its mercy, unable to do anything but scream and burn.

It seemed like an eternity, but it was over ten seconds later. Harry didn’t move; he lay there, gasping for breath as stared up at the ceiling. His scar still ached as if someone had drawn the lightning bolt shape with a white hot knife over and over again. He was drenched in sweat and his muscles ached, and he had a strange, sudden impulse to hug Lily.

Voldemort entered his line of vision and smiled down at him. “Now, wasn’t that fun?”

“Tons.’

“Again?”

“I’d really rather not.”

He didn’t get his wand up in time. It hit him again and he screamed louder than before, his cries echoing around the massive chamber so loud he could hear it over the sound of blood pumping in his ears.

And then it stopped again.

“Come now, Harry, you’re not even trying.’ Voldemort sounded offended.

Harry shrugged. The simple movement was agony.

Voldemort frowned and, with strength that surprised Harry, gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. “Your mother was a lot more aggressive than you.”

“I got you here. I got you away from them. That’s all that matters.”

“I could leave you here and return to them.”

“Well yeah, you could, of course you could. But it’s not them you want, is it? You’d have to be pretty daft to just leave me here, especially after all the trouble you’ve gone to after all this time to get me in your dastardly hands.”

“I should kill you now.”

“Go on then.”

Voldemort frowned and shook Harry by the front of his shirt. Harry muscles still ached too much for him to resist. “What’s wrong with you, Potter? Do you have a death wish?”

Harry smiled. “You’re not going to win. Knowing this puts me in a cheery mood.”

“How are you going to defeat me? You’re not even fighting back!”

“I know, weird huh?”

Voldemort sneered and shoved Harry to the ground again. Harry grunted from the impact but didn’t get up further than propping himself up on his elbows. Voldemort looked furious. Clearly this was not how he’d been expecting things to go. Harry was glad.

He pointed his wand at Harry. It was steady. “How odd that is should end this way after so many stimulating encounters. I almost regret it. Where shall I find a new adversary so close to my own level?”

“Try the local sewer.”

Voldemort dropped to his knees and grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt again. He roughly pulled him up into a sitting position, he was so close their noses (if he’d had one) we’re almost touching. Harry wanted to comment that perhaps he could do with a breath mint but figured now probably wasn’t the time.

“I’ve dreamed of his moment for so long it seems almost disappointing that its now finally here.”

“You need a hobby.”

He sniffed, amused. “Your father had the same tone, you know. When he stood at the bottom of your staircase, trying to keep me at bay, he had so many witty, sarcastic retorts it was a wonder he didn’t choke on them. But talk didn’t help him, nor will it help you. You’re just as weak as him, and you’ll die just as easily.”

“Sounds nice.”

Harry was surprised to find that, for once, he wasn’t joking.

“I almost regret doing this.’ whispered Voldemort. He ran his thumb across Harry’s scar. Harry closed his mouth, muffling his cries. ‘It is quite temping to keep you alive, just so you can watch this world burn; watch as I scourge our world of Mudbloods and Squibs and Half-breeds and all that is unworthy… all that you call family.”

“If you keep me alive you won’t get the chance.”

“And what makes you think that?”

“Because I have something you don’t have. Something you can never have.”

Voldemort leant in closer and pressed his forehead against Harry’s. It hurt, like embers running across his forehead, but he ignored it. “And what’s that?”

A flash of movement over Voldemort’s shoulder caught Harry’s eye. He smiled.

“Friends.”

BANG.

Voldemort went flying in a whirl of black robes. He landed roughly next to the dead Basilisk with a grunt and only barely managed to get to his knees before another explosion, bigger than the last, landed at his feet, sending him to the ground again.

Harry watched, feeling a shiver as he watched Hermione advancing on Voldemort, throwing vial after vial like some sort of machine. Her hair was wild and her expression was hard, and Harry’s heart swelled just seeing her.

He was so caught up in her, in fact, that it took him a long moment to realize he was being pulled to his feet by two big hands.

“For Merlin’s sake, you twerp,’ laughed Ron in his ear, dusting him off, ‘you didn’t have to just lie there and let him kick the shite out of you.”

Harry gripped his arm tightly in gratitude. “I was stalling.”

“Running off like that! You’re a stupid, fricking ponce!’ snapped Ron. ‘We couldn’t find you on the map and if Hermione hadn’t figured out where’d you’d gone… why didn’t you tell us what you were doing?”

“Cause I knew you’d try and stop me. I knew you’d find me in the end anyway.”

BANG!

Hermione wasn’t leaving any room for Voldemort to get up. She was hitting him with her potions, vial after vial, pulling them from her satchel with quick succession.

“How?”

Harry smiled. “Just a hunch.”

Hermione was out of vials. Voldemort was on his knees and with a snarl raised his wand. At the same time Harry summoned Hermione toward him like he’d thrown an invisibly lasso around her middle and yanked her backwards, Ron ran forward with his sword raised, ready to strike. He swung it downward but it missed Voldemort by inches, hitting the stone floor with a high-pitched clink.

“Ron, look out!” Hermione cried.

Voldemort cracked his wand like a whip and the ground beneath Ron’s feet rumbled like a giant mole was burrowing underneath. Ron lost his footing and fell to the ground, but as Voldemort raised his wand ready to strike again Harry and Hermione fired spells at him. They hit him in the side and sent him to the ground. Ron got to his feet and scrambled back over to them.

“You’re an idiot.’ Hermione snarled in Harry’s ear. “A stupid, stubborn, thick headed…”

“Live now, lecture later.” snapped Harry.

There was a soft noise, and it only took a second for Harry to realize that it was coming from Voldemort. He was laughing.

“Potter, you are so deliciously predictable.’ He chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet. ‘And now not only have you signed your death sentence, but your friends as well. You should have told them to stay away.”

“I did.’ Harry smiled at Ron and Hermione on either side of him. ‘They don’t listen.”

“You’ll not lay a hand on him, you hear?’ snarled Ron.

“You’ll have to get through us.’ snapped Hermione.

Voldemort smiled. “As you wish.”

Something like an invisible force field appeared from nowhere and knocked both Ron and Hermione hard to the ground. Harry felt himself pulled forward and was in front of Voldemort instantly. He raised his wand, ready to apparate out, when Voldemort created a small space between them and snarled, “Avada…”

In the split second between words, Harry could think of only one spell.

“Expelliarmus!”

“… Kedavra!”

The spells connected, just like they had in the graveyard three years ago. Harry’s wand vibrated dangerously in his hand but he didn’t let go. He was ready for it this time.

Voldemort cried out angrily. He tried to break the connection but with every movement he made Harry moved with him, desperate to keep them together just that little bit longer. The golden web appeared around them, shutting Ron and Hermione out. Harry could hear them shouting, begging, but he tried to ignore them. He had to concentrate.

The tiny little beam of light was struggling for a wand to inhabit. Harry kept pushing it back out, while Voldemort kept trying to will it back the other way. Harry didn’t really care if it connected with the other wand this time; he just needed to keep the connection going. He tried to keep it in the middle but it was proving to be quite difficult.

“This wont save you, Potter!” screamed Voldemort. “Not like last time!”

“I’m not doing it for me!” he retorted.

With great effort, Harry took a step forward. The pressure of the connected spells was resisting, and it was like trying to run through water, but Harry took one step after the other, slowly but surely, and was soon only one meter from Voldemort, their wands closer than ever. Harry’s hand was vibrating so much it hurt.

“I’m going to give you one chance!’ he shouted. ‘Surrender! Tell your Death Eaters and the Dementors and whoever else you’ve got out there to stand down and come with us quietly!”

Voldemort laughed. “You’re a fool!”

“It doesn’t have to end this way!”

“I’m sorry, Harry Potter… but it does!”

Harry’s gut twisted. Of course it did. How else could it end? He was resolved for this, he’d been expecting it, but the last shred of hope he’d been carrying around underneath it all had just died. He looked through the webbing. He could see the silhouettes of Hermione and Ron moving around, no doubt arguing with each other, trying to find a way in. He felt his chest warm just thinking about them.

Voldemort cried out in pain.

Harry took the opportunity. The connection of their wands broke, and Harry stepped forward to grab Voldemort by the scruff of his neck. The webbing wouldn’t hold long, he had only moments…

“You can feel it, can’t you? How much I care for them. I’m betting you’ve never felt anything like it in your life… and I want it to be the last thing you do feel.”

Voldemort stuck his wand into Harry’s ribs. “Once I finish you they’ll be next.”

Harry smiled. “You can try.”

The webbing faded. Harry felt it go down. He could see Hermione and Ron in his peripheral vision standing meters away. Harry knew why they hesitated; any spell they fired could hit Harry. It was what Harry had counted on also.

“It’s been fun.’ said Harry.

“I know why you’re doing this. And would you like to know one more thing before you die?”

“What’s that?”

Voldemort leant in close and whispered, “The other Horcrux… isn’t you.”

Harry stiffened.

“Avada Kedavra.”

---

“HARRY!”

Hermione screamed as Harry fell to the floor, limp. Voldemort dropped to his knees and howled with pain, his hands clutching his head as if it were being torn apart from the inside out. She felt Ron’s whole body go rigid beside her, and then without a word he ran forward.

“No, Ron, don’t!”

She reached out to grab him, to stop him, but her fingers caught nothing but air. Ron was on the other side of the chamber in a flash and without a second pause and stood over Voldemort’s screaming form, raised Gryffindor’s sword and brought it down with a forceful swing.

There was silence.

Hermione rushed forward, hardly able to see where she was going through the tears in her eyes. She sobbed loudly as she dropped to her knees beside Harry and cradled him in her arms.

“Harry? Harry, wake up. It’s okay. It’s over now. It’s finished. He’s…’

She looked over at Ron. He was standing with his back to her, staring down at the headless form of the most evil wizard to have walked the planet in half a century, the blood stained sword swung limp from his hand.

Hermione tapped Harry’s face again. “Come on, that’s enough now. You fooled him. Wake up, Harry. Wake up!”

Clang.

The sword fell from Ron’s hand and he dropped to his knees opposite her. The front of his shirt was stained with blood and his face was expressionless as he looked at Harry.

Hermione looked at him pleadingly. “What’s he doing? Why won’t he wake up?”

Ron frowned. His whole body tensed as he looked down at his best friend.

“You talk to him.” She whispered. ‘He’ll listen to you.”

“I can’t.”

“Don’t be absurd.”

“He can’t hear me, Hermione.”

“Yes he can! Don’t say that!”

Ron clenched his jaw, his expression cracking. He shook his head.

Hermione sobbed again and shook Harry. “Harry, wake up! Wake up! Don’t do this. Not now. Not after everything… Harry, please… WAKE UP!”

“Stop! Hermione, stop!”

Ron grabbed Hermione by the shoulder with one hand and clenched Harry’s shirt in the other. “He’s…”

“Don’t.’ she snarled. Her expression was desperate. ‘Don’t say it.”

She ran a finger along Harry’s face softly. He didn’t move. He didn’t smile. He didn’t open his eyes and cry ‘psych!’. He was lifeless, limp. Peaceful.

Ron stroked her hair. “I’m sorry.”

Tears were streaming down her face as she cried out in anguish. She pressed her forehead against Harry’s and hugged him close to her chest, rocking him back and forth as she sobbed. Ron let his own tears fall quietly as he embraced both of them.

A/N – You know, it’s been a year and this still hasn’t come out like I hoped it would. It took me months to even open it up again and finish it, but I’m glad it’s done now. Hopefully you can all forgive me for such a long absence, and hopefully you enjoy it.

Please review!