A Much Simpler Happily Ever After
Harry struggled against the ropes Wormtail had tied him with, unsuccessfully trying to get loose. He had to stop this! There was no way he could let Voldemort come back to life. But he couldn't do anything if he couldn't get these bonds loose.
Harry froze. Bonds. That's it!
The Boy-Who-Lived looked over at Pettigrew, who had already the ritual. Some kind of white powder was already rising from the grave at his feet. Harry knew he had to act quickly.
"Wormtail!" He shouted, causing the animagus to stop what he was doing and look at the teenager. "I saved your life last year. That means we're bonded, and you owe me a Life's Debt. I'm calling in that debt now. I want you to stop this ritual, let me go and give me my wand immediately."
To Harry's surprise – since he hadn't even been sure if it would work in the first place – Pettigrew did stop what he was doing, and waved his wand, causing the ropes binding Harry to disappear, before handing him his wand. Oddly though, he seemed to be fighting himself the whole time. It reminded Harry of his second year, when Dobby was trying to tell him about the Chamber of Secrets but couldn't, and of Crouch's house elf Winky at the World Cup, when she was trying to run but it seemed like some kind of force was holding her back. Though Wormtail was doing as Harry had said, he seems to be fighting the actions the whole time, as if he was being forced but trying to stop himself.
Harry stored those thoughts away for a later time, when his life wasn't in danger. Taking his wand, Harry first stunned Wormtail, so he wouldn't have to worry about the animagus. Then, the boy stopped the fire under the cauldron. As soon as the liquid inside the massive cauldron had cooled, he scooped out the creature inside, not bothering to hide his disgust.
After a few more minutes of work, the creature that was Voldemort and the still unconscious Wormtail were laid next to Cedric's body. Harry looked sadly at the boy one more time. It was his fault Cedric had died. He should have just taken the cup, and not insist on sharing it.
Shaking his head of those thoughts, Harry made sure all three bodies were touching before sitting on top and summoning the TriWizard Cup to him so he could get back to Hogwarts. Dumbledore would know what to do.
As it turned out, Dumbledore did know what to do.
The first order of business had been to see Sirius proclaimed innocent, since they now had Pettigrew's body and later his testimony under veritaserum to prove it.
Next, though he seemed reluctant to do so, the Headmaster told Harry about Horcruxes, and how he believed Voldemort had made at least one, if Riddle's diary was any indication. Apparently, Dumbledore would be spending his summer continuing the search for answers about how many Horcruxes Voldemort had made and what they could possibly be during the summer. Until all the Horcruxes were found and destroyed, Dumbledore would be keeping Voldemort in his weakened form, in a kind of stasis where no one would be able to find him.
He also told Harry about the prophecy, and how it would come into play once any Horcruxes Voldemort had made were destroyed.
Harry didn't hear from the Headmaster once the entire summer. But, on the first morning at Hogwarts the next year, McGonagall told him he was to meet the Headmaster after dinner. Eager to find out what progress had been made, Harry anxiously waited until the meeting.
According to Dumbledore, everything was ready. There had been a bit of a rough patch with some man named Slughorn, whom Harry had never heard of before, and getting to the Horcruxes had been difficult, but Dumbledore had managed to find and destroy them all. All that was needed was to destroy the last piece of Voldemort's soul, the part still remaining in his disgusting body, if it could even be called that.
Dumbledore wanted to wait until Christmas hols, just to make sure Harry wouldn't be expected at school in case something went wrong or it took longer than expected. So, the date was set.
One must die at the hand of the other. It was totally justifiable, Harry tried to convince himself, after everything was said and done and he was back at the Burrow for Christmas. He didn't have a choice, it was either kill or be killed. Besides, Voldemort hadn't even been human, really. So it was okay. Killing him had been the right thing to do, even if he wished somebody else could have done.
Laughter caught his attention. The fifteen year old looked over to see Ginny sitting with Fred and George, head thrown back as she laughed, probably at a joke her twin brothers had told. She really is very beautiful, Harry thought to himself, not for the first time this year. And suddenly, the long gone Voldemort was the last thing on his mind.