Lux Aeterna
By Pleiades
Prologue
As the deadly curse struck her full in the heart, Ginny tumbled gracefully to the icy floor and fixed him with warm, passionate eyes that held not a hint of blame or remorse. Her gaze was intense, her figure proud, tragic, and beautiful in its defeat, almost like a fallen lion. She seemed to be whispering softly, and a smile, heartfelt and composed, spread lazily across her waxen features, driving Harry forward into the chasm of pure sorrow that had opened up at his feet with her fall. Only partially aware of the hot tears drowning his vision, he staggered to her side and dropped, cradling her in tired, thin arms that shook with raw emotion.
Her breath was coming in thin, painful rasps, and her hands felt frozen to the touch; yet she seemed not to suffer. She smiled angelically up at him, as if in reassurance, and as she opened her mouth to speak, Harry imagined that he could hear his mother's voice reaching out to him, soothing and gentle.
"… So beautiful, Harry…"
The dull, dreamlike sense of unreality that had sustained him over weeks of immersion in the darkest, most hellish branches of magic now seemed to collapse with these words, and with its downfall came consciousness. Cruel, unrelenting consciousness. Ginny was dying. The one person who had accepted the darkness in him, who had loved him, was passing away.
Harry looked down at her in disbelief, saw the distant look enter her eyes, and inwardly cried out for explanation. How had it come to this? Shaking his head in a futile attempt to dispel the sorrow and incredulity, Harry watched as her gaze flitted upward, to a point just above his left shoulder. Confused, he turned around, but saw only death and devastation. Whatever she saw, however, seemed to fill her with the most heavenly joy and acceptance.
Facing her once again, and seeing the life draining steadily from her small, delicate body, Harry felt numb. How could he have let this happen? She was so precious, so innocent. She deserved to live in the light, not to die in this dark, horrible place. He had come here to save her, not to draw her to this devastating end.
Not daring to meet her brother's eyes, Harry wept hard, bitter tears, his grief not only for the innocent girl lying supine in his arms, but for a lifetime spent travelling from one catastrophe to the next. He wept for his parents, for Cedric Diggory, for Percy Weasley, and for all the people he had failed.
Still more words leaked from Ginny's now colourless lips. He listened intently, not knowing if they were directed at him, but found himself unable to reply. Never before had he seen such happiness and warmth on a person's face, and it galled him.
Harry knew it would not be long. Her speech was so silent, as to be barely distinguishable from her soft, almost non-existent breaths.
"… Knows what he must do… Harry… your wand…"
Astonished, Harry hesitated for a moment and then put the slender, golden instrument into her hand. She struggled to hold onto it, the effort almost as draining as her fight to hold onto life just a little longer.
"… Lux… aeterna… luceat… eis…"
For a moment, Harry stared blankly down at the dying figure in his arms. Then realisation hit him like a rock. He looked into her eyes, barely able to see through a haze of tears, and instantly understood the expression on her flaccid visage. It was confirmation. She had done that, for him. Speechless, he found he could do nothing but stare back into those once-dazzling orbs, and wonder that he had not truly noticed their strength and passion before.
Harry retrieved the wand as it fell from her weak fingertips. She spoke again, but no sound emerged. Harry didn't need to hear her words for they were on his lips also. And then she fell silent, and died.
Harry leaned forward, and kissed her tenderly on cold lips.
"I love you too," he whispered. "I know what I must do."
Taking one final, stern look at his enemy, Harry raised the golden wand to his head. His lips moved soundlessly, uttering words that were completely swallowed up in the ominous shadows of the disordered throne room. As he continued the incantation, he took no notice of the Dark Lord's uncertain approach, but continued speaking quiet, powerful words that only he could hear, or understand.
Lord Voldemort raised his wand in suspicion. If this was suicide, it was taking far too long.
Harry's next words, however, were unmistakeable for their terrible effect. Dazzling green light filled the darkness, bathing the two lovers in an ethereal, emerald death shroud, and joining them together in the immortal bonds of love. The Dark Lord smiled in triumph, almost drinking in the sight of Harry's body as it collapsed to the floor in a sickening heap. Finally, he would have it all, all that power, and it had been so easy.
The green glow faded from the two bodies, and the Dark Lord's expression changed from one of victory of one of extreme doubt. He lowered his wand, the strain of holding it suddenly becoming too much. His shoulders sagged wearily and ached in protest, causing him to howl in despair. Somewhere, a snake hissed in agonized response, but the heir of Slytherin was helpless to react. His powers were gone, the dark spells that had once promised immortality now represented nothing more than a memory of greed and desire. His wand fell to the floor, and burst into flames.
Then there was a heavy thud, followed by another, and another, and then many, many more...
***
... But Ron hardly noticed. With his heart hammering at his ribs and fighting to get out, he hurtled across the icy cavern and pulled two frozen hands into his own. At that moment, he knew remorse. It tore at his soul with its sharp talons, struggling to release the aching torment and grief within, but to no avail. For a long, long time he sat there, gripping the palms of the two people who had mattered most to him in the world, and wishing that, somehow, he could change the past.
He hardly noticed as Sirius grasped his shoulders in an attempt to draw him back. Moving on stiff, almost leaden feet, he allowed himself to be steered past the obstacles, the bodies, littering the floor, only vaguely aware of the large black blurs racing past, wands outstretched, frantically hastening to secure the body of the Dark Lord lest, once again, his death be no more than a mirage.
Ron found that he did not really care; he felt empty, tainted, betrayed.
How could he live now? Without her? Without him? Knowing that it was his
fault they died...
Pleiades (August 1st, 2001)
***
A/N: Well, I'm back at last. Sorry for the delay, but work and Windows
98 have been plotting against me. This is, of course, the long-awaited
sequel to my last series, "The Secret Keeper". Thanks to everyone who emailed
me and said such nice things about that fic. I know it wasn't perfect,
but I tried my best. I'll only be posting one chapter a week at best. Sorry,
but it's hard to keep track of a complicated plot. There should be around
twenty chapters like last time. If you haven't read, "The Secret Keeper,"
I would advise you to do so, but it's not essential. There now follows
a summary of "The Secret Keeper," for those who just want to get into the
story, or who have forgotten what happened. Heck, it was a long time ago.
I'm not even sure I remember!
Summary of, "The Secret Keeper".
Summer after Goblet of Fire- Harry was pretty depressed over Cedric's death- The Dursleys' House was attacked by Death Eaters- Lord Voldemort perfected a new adaptation to curses to render them more powerful. It worked by concentrating the curse on a single organ of the body- Harry discovered his godmother was none other than not so old Mrs. Figg, who also just happened to be the former lover of Sirius Black- Sirius taught Harry to use the Killing Curse- Percy was killed by Pettigrew, and Remus' house was cursed, as part of Fudge's conspiracy to conceal evidence proving Sirius' innocence- Harry learned that his mother was the heir of Godric Gryffindor, that she made him the Secret Keeper for a powerful talisman, the, "Penna Potissimus," or primal feather. This represents the source of all magic (or so Dumbledore said) and must be guarded carefully. The guardianship was passed down from Gryffindor to Gryffindor throughout history.
It was found that Sirius' innocence had been proven just months after his imprisonment, that a pardon had been signed and then concealed by Fudge so he would not face public humiliation for his mistake- Ron ran away in search of Pettigrew, for revenge, only to be captured by Draco Malfoy, who had become a Death Eater- Harry visited Godric's Hollow, where he, Sirius, and Arabella were captured by the traitor Mundungus Fletcher- Harry, Ron, Sirius and Arabella were brought to Azkaban, where Voldemort had established a base and secured the service of the Dementors- Harry taught Sirius to conjure a Patronus.
Voldemort wanted to transfer the Fidelius Charm that made Harry the
guardian of the Penna (which was magically concealed in the core of Harry's
wand) to himself. To do this, he used Priori Incantatem on his and Harry's
wands to bring back the spirits of his previous victims, including the
Potters, and then resurrected them entirely- Voldemort poisoned Harry to
make his parents cooperate in the transfer of the charm- the Potters managed
to fool Voldemort, and Harry used the Killing Curse, with the extra power
of the Penna, on Voldemort- Voldemort was weakened, but not killed- Harry
escaped with Lord Voldemort's wand- The spell keeping the Potters alive
ended, and they disappeared, leaving Harry distraught- Fletcher and Wormtail
tried to cut off Harry's escape from Azkaban, but Snape killed Fletcher,
and Wormtail escaped with his master's wand- Draco Malfoy helped Harry,
Ron, Sirius, Arabella and Snape escape Azkaban, and return to Hogwarts,
where a battle between the Dementors, Death Eaters and the Order of the
Phoenix and Giants was taking place- Lucius Malfoy was killed in the battle
and exposed as a Death Eater- Snape was able to cure Harry's poison- Sirius
was proven innocent- The story ended with Harry thinking about his parents,
and feeling determined to bring them back.