WARNING: This story contains character death and flashbacks of the Final Battle! Please read and review!!
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To Kill A Madman
One Shot
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"I must admit, my life flashed before my very eyes…
"The adventures; the night terrors; the laughs; the danger… and I knew in an instant that I would miss it all.
"I also knew that I couldn't do anything to jeopardize my friends' futures; not even run if I had the chance to. I knew that killing Voldemort was the only way to keep my friends safe, even if it meant that I had to give up my own life just to be sure that it happened.
"It was dark; just past midnight, I suppose, when the school was attacked by hoards of Death Eaters… The D.A. fought so hard; every last one of them, and I desperately wished I could have told them how proud they made me…
"Minutes felt like hours; hours felt like days, and finally, Tom showed himself. I was prepared for what I had to do, but honestly, it didn't make me any less terrified… But I must admit… it was quite enjoyable to see the look of utter surprise on Tom's face when he finally realized that the wand I was pointing at him was no longer the Brother Wand to his own. I think he had actually found a way to use the connection of our Brother Wands to his own advantage. But, no, Instead of my old wand, I was firmly holding onto your very own.
"We only fought for a few minutes when I noticed we were being surrounded by Death Eaters… And that's when I knew that I would die…
"But I was hell-bent and determined that if I'd die; I would at least take that monster with me.
"It was so odd to see the Killing curse flying from the tip of my wand; just to meet perfectly with its intended target… and even odder to feel my entire body go numb when I was hit by a curse from one of the Death Eaters….
"It was like slow motion at first; waiting for the curse to take effect, and then… nothing. No pain; no noise… There was even a delayed reaction.
"I saw myself fall to the ground like I was watching the fight from someone else's point of view. I saw myself look over at the lifeless body of the monster that had plagued the Wizarding World since before I was even born… and I saw myself smile. I had done what no other Wizard could even dream of accomplishing, and I couldn't help but feel proud of myself… After all that had happened –after all who had died… my mum and dad, Cedric, Sirius…. After all the deaths' that I was responsible for… I was proud that I was the reason that this person died.
"I need you to answer me honestly, now, alright? Am I crazy? I mean, I just had a dream that an evil Wizard was trying to take over Great Brittan and that I was the only person that was able to stop him. It was my destiny to kill him or be killed myself! It felt so real… and if it was only a dream, them why was I in the MediWing when I woke up screaming and crying?" Harry Potter asked the rather old man that was seated before him.
Albus Dumbledore smiled softly as he replied "My dear boy, I am very sorry to tell you that it was not a dream-"
"But the scar! It's gone, Headmaster!" the Seventh Year Gryffindor shouted angrily as he pulled the fringe of black hair to the side, revealing perfect, unmarred skin. "Vanished; like it never even existed! And you… You were killed by Snape in my Sixth Year! I saw it with my own eyes! How can you be here talking to me right now if you were killed nearly two years ago? And speaking of being dead, wasn't I hit with the Killing Curse in the Final Battle? If this wasn't a dream, then how am I still alive and well?"
Albus sighed deeply. "Harry, my boy, I was not really dead. Professor Snape had forewarned me about Draco Malfoy and his mission so that I might be prepared for the ultimate deception. That very night, I downed a phial of Draught of Living Death. I've been in hiding to allow Severus to continue spying for the Order of the Phoenix, as was his request.
"Your scar is no longer there because it had only been serving as a link between yourself and Tom Riddle; a cursed scar. When Tom was killed, the link that the two of you shared was severed, causing the scar itself to be useless. All cursed scars vanish when one of the two people involved is killed and yours, Harry, was no exception.
"Lastly, my boy, you were not hit with a Killing Curse. Unfortunately, Neville Longbottom was. He saw Lucius Malfoy fire the curse and jumped in the way in order to save your life. Bellatrix Lestrange saw him dive and tried to cast a Full Body Bind hex on him, but apparently, she has rather poor aim… her hex hit you square in the chest and you simply passed out from the pain of your three fractured ribs, broken collar bone and the rather large gash that ran from the back of your left shoulder to the front of your left hip. And that was why you woke up in the hospital wing nearly three weeks later."
Harry sat there in utter shock. His parents, Cedric, Sirius, Neville… Tom; all dead…
"Three weeks, then? What has changed since Tom…? Since the Final Battle?"
"Well, Arthur Weasley has been elected as Minister of Magic; Ginny Weasley has gotten engaged to the young man from Salem that she has been dating since last summer; Hermione and Ron have both been offered jobs at the Ministry, and Professor Snape has been cleared of all Murder charges that he had been facing. All in all, it's been a very busy couple of weeks. Now, Harry my boy, was there anything else that you would like to know?"
Shaking his head slowly, Harry stood and made his way to the large oak doors of the Headmasters office. At the last second, he turned quickly to face Albus Dumbledore once again. Thoughts of what the old Wizard has said about faking his own death spurred Harry to change his mind.
"One last question, actually… were you really sorted into Gryffindor, or were you in Slytherin and just humored everyone when we thought and said otherwise?"
Albus Dumbledore; Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, smiled broadly; eyes twinkling rather madly, simply shooed the raven haired boy on.
"That, my dear boy, is a story for another time. Now, off to bed with you; It's well past curfew and NEWT's are just two months away…"
A/N: I really hope everyone enjoyed this nice little one shot! I really enjoyed writing what I thought would happen in the Seventh and final Book from JKR! Please be kind to this fragile author and review her very first one shot! And if you have some extra time, I'd also appreciate it if you would read and review my current on-going story 'Hermione Granger: A Mudblood's Story'. Again, thanks for reading!
-Betty Mcwillow