Disclaimer: This is all J.K. Rowling's. This story is a work of fiction. Anything you recognise is JKR's, everything else is mine. No profit is being gained by this.
Wow. Just wow. This story has attracted more views, followers and favourites than I could have dreamed of. Thank you to everyone out there who followed, favourite and reviewed this fic. If you did all three, then you are extra special and this chapter is dedicated to you guys.
But enough of the mushy, emotional stuff. Things are going to get darker. Harry will find he's shouldered a huge responsibility as a consequence of Bellatrix's actions. But what will happen when he goes through the Veil will not be until a couple of chapters later guys. What happens between this chapter and the aftermath of Harry going through the Veil will be incredibly important. It will explain how Harry has his new found power, and the consequences of possessing it. Ultimately, it's his wielding of the power that will determine the outcome of his destiny. But now's not the time to tell you the plot. The answer is to write it. So… I give you… chapter one… of…
Somewhere Back In Time…
Chapter One: Framed
"Grief is the price we pay for love." – Queen Elizabeth II
The Veil flapped slightly as Harry and Bellatrix fell through, but other than that there was no other sign of the two disappearing. The first thing Harry noticed when they saw the interior of the Veil was that it was dark, dark as far as the eye could see, except in the place where he and Bellatrix stood. Still holding each others hand, they moved deeper into the Veil. Harry was worried about this, and he turned back to see if the stone archway which was the entrance was still there. The suffocating darkness was his answer; they were stuck inside.
The light which bathed them seemed to be emitting from a grey mist which swirled around them. It had an eerie glow to it, one which Harry didn't like. But he wasn't worried about what he did and didn't like at the present moment; now was the time to figure out how to get out of here.
But it was as he thought this that he realised that Bellatrix's hand was somehow slipping from his. He turned to face her, and to his utter horror, saw her fall to the ground with a gasp. Harry put out his arms to catch her but cried out when he realised he wasn't quick enough. She fell to the floor with a thud.
Harry dropped down onto his knees beside her. His eyes followed the movement of her hand and he saw that she was trying to staunch the wounds the gold had caused. But it was the fact that the blood was leaking from everywhere that shocked him. The gold had embedded itself in her back but it was streaming like an unrestrained river from her abdomen. He was clueless on how to help her, but it occurred to him that he should help stop the blood flow. He drew his wand and went to knit the wounds, but he stopped when he heard the word.
"No."
That word was said so softly, and with so much pain, he wasn't sure if he had heard it or if he had just imagined it. Harry turned his face towards Bellatrix's. Eyes brimming with tears and barely holding her composure together, she was the absolute epitome of tragic beauty. Harry had a hard time preventing himself from breaking down there and then.
"Harry…"
Again, it was barely a whisper. Harry grabbed Bellatrix's hand and looked her in the eyes, so she knew she had his full attention. Bellatrix closed her eyes and took a deep breathe which caused her to shudder violently before continuing.
"Harry… I'm dying… no shhh..." she said when he showed signs of interrupting. "I'm going to go… look…"
She raised the hand that Harry was grasping. To Harry's shock, he found he couldn't get a proper grip on it. His hand was slipping and sliding, and it was then he realised that some sort of mist was seeping off of Bellatrix, joining the grey mist surrounding them. He gazed despairingly towards Bellatrix.
"Bella…" he began. Bellatrix vigorously shook her head, causing more of her to join the mist.
"Harry… you have to change this… all this… the misery, the hurt, the pain… you can end it… but you need to go back… back to the beginning, back to when it all started… you can do that-"
She was cut off suddenly as she gave a huge gasp of pain. Her body shook and convulsed, her face contorted as she experienced unimaginable pain. Harry watched in dread as Bellatrix's hand slid through his and fell lightly to the floor. He scrambled to grab it back, only for it to pass through his fingers like smoke. He saw Bellatrix's face, shining with glistening tears as they fell from her beautiful eyes down her pale cheeks…
That seemed to be the very thing needed to wake him up. Bellatrix was going to die, because of him? Because he was irrational and angry? Merlin's pants, not on his watch. He picked up his wand and was about to cast the necessary spells to revive her, to protect her, but Bellatrix had already started to fade away. The mist was siphoning huge streams from her now and she was gradually getting fainter and fainter. Harry couldn't take it no more.
"No- no-no-no- Bella- no –don't go- not now- not –not now." His voice struggled to work against his mounting terror.
Bellatrix gave him a tragic smile, and mouthed "I'm sorry". Harry looked around for anything, anyone, to stop this- to end this all- to say it was all a bad dream-
But no-one came because no-one was there. Bellatrix Black spent her last ever minutes straining to tell Harry one last thing.
"Change it all Harry… change the past to change the future… you can do it… please Harry… change it all… change me… please"
And with that, she gave one last contented sigh; a look of peace came over her face as the mist that was surrounding them surrounded her and took her to the unknown.
The light the mist had created died with Bellatrix as it dispersed. Harry sat there in the darkness dumbfounded, playing the last minute over and over in his head.
"Change the past to change the future… you can do it… change it all… please Harry…"
Then something in Harry grew. Unidentifiable at first, he soon recognised the unmistakable feeling of grief and sorrow. It got hotter and hotter, became more and more intense until he couldn't take it no more.
Harry Potter screamed aloud. He vented his rage out towards everyone and everything and with that came a tremendous shock wave that issued from his rapidly spinning magical core. The shock wave ripped through the darkness, spreading out in a circle away from its source. Harry stopped screaming long enough to see the light it created race across this barren desert, long enough for it to disappear.
He looked around, squinting through his eyes. Light doesn't just disappear. It had to come back.
He couldn't have been more right.
A small blip of white in the distance showed the point where his light wave hit something. It too then sunk and disappeared. Then it came rushing back. Like a ripple caused by a pebble hitting the surface of a pond, an intense wave of sound and light hit Harry. He only had enough time to throw up his arms to shield his face before he was tossed and turned around, buffeted by the forces of his very own grief. It hurt, by Merlin it hurt, and just when Harry couldn't take anymore, it stopped. He lay there on the floor, breathing in and out. Slowly and cautiously, he raised his head.
At first he thought nothing had happened. But he soon realised that there was a noise; a sort of crackling wispy noise. Harry pushed himself up off of whatever he was lying on and drew his wand. Tentatively, he listened for whatever the sound was. He heard it again, a single crackle. Listening as intently as he possibly could, Harry started to move towards the sound.
His feet made no sound as he skirted across the floor of the Veil. His breathing was fast and shallow, anticipation of what he was to discover flooding him. He was drawing nearer and nearer to the sound. The wisps and crackles were now becoming more and more pronounced, the sounds finer and more refined. He started to run, moving quicker and quicker. Finally, Harry found the source.
A small twisting ball of energy, pulsating and swirling in the air, hovering. Harry stood there, dumbfounded. Simultaneously he wanted to leave it, and go towards it, and it was only because he was intrigued that he went towards it. He wanted to leave this hell. And this seemed to be the only option available. As he drew nearer, he saw the pulsating mass was actually spinning very fast.
Curiosity caused him to move closer. He walked right up to this swirling sphere, so close he was almost touching it. A feeling of recklessness came over him; what would happen if he touched it?
Slowly, he raised his hand, moving it closer and closer until his fingertips were mere inches away. Then he moved them so they brushed the surface of the swirling mass.
The effect was instantaneous; the spinning ceased. Harry withdrew his hand, wondering what he'd done. He got his answer of something very, very wrong when the ball crackled violently and spun even more vigorously than before. Then, it split into two rapidly twisting masses, before fusing back into one. Then it split into four. It fused again only to then break up into eight. Harry watched with awe and mounting wariness as the sphere broke, doubling its size every time it did so. He had the sense to do something when he felt how hot each piece was when it got near enough and big enough to brush his face.
Harry drew his wand and shouted at nothing.
"STOP!"
The sphere continued its ever-growing process of splitting, fusing and spinning. Harry was getting more and more worried. Had he caused something which was irreversible? Had he done something so wrong that he might be stuck in here forever? Would he see Bellatrix ever again?
It was these thoughts that made him snap into action. Abandoning safety and throwing all caution to the wind, he raised his wand and yelled just as two thousand and ninety-six pieces of hot, dense, glowing balls of his grief fused together for one last time.
"FINITE INCANTATEM!" Harry roared this as loud as he possibly could.
Abruptly, the ball stopped spinning. Harry saw that the process it was going through repeatedly had ceased. He let out a huge sigh of relief.
But it seemed the ball had other plans. Far from stopping altogether, it was as if that it wanted to make Harry's life even more hellish than it already was at the present. It elongated, stretching out in the shape of a ladder, the rungs binding each side. But it didn't stretch out as one ladder. Oh no. More ladders were sprouting off of the main one, each with its own set of rungs. Harry gave a cry of despair. He had tried to fix a problem, only to make it worse. He ran into the mass, getting caught up and entangled in the rungs. He noticed each rung was imprinted with an eerily glowing date. The one he was looking at said 1977. He managed to wriggle free and look at more. Each had more dates. 1993, 1962, 1971. It went on and on. As he waded through he saw dates come up twice…
That was when he realised. Harry realised he was staring at Time. The timeline of his world, his universe, and the timeline of others. Then he realised with a jolt of elation that he could jump into anyone that went in his favour; no Azkaban; a dead Voldemort; no manipulative old men; his parents, Sirius and Lupin, well and alive; and most importantly, his Bella, safe and sound.
He searched for such a Time with renewed energy. If there was anyway of being able to leave this Hell, then he would take it. Harry searched everywhere, trying to find a timeline that he could jump into, but in vain. No timeline he looked at could offer him what he desired.
Feeling the waves of despair wash over him again, Harry cried aloud. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. Why was Fate so cruel as to give him force hope? He lashed out, wand pointing at any angle. Anger took hold of him; this was not going to happen!
But when he lashed out, his emotional state caused accidental magical to fly out as sparks from his wand. These sparks connected to his broken Time-Turner around his neck. The Time-Turner glowed eerily all of the sudden and then a bolt of pure white light sped out, spiralling into the one date that had floated into its way. That one date was one very special date to Harry. It was the year his parents fell in love: 1977. Harry didn't realise this until the other ladders and the rungs of dates disappeared. His anger ceased in a heartbeat as shock took over. He looked at it and realised what was going to happen. He backed away; he didn't want to go back to that time – he would have to meet his parents. Who knew what kind of problems that would cause if the truth of who he was got out then? He sure wasn't going to go.
Harry scrambled away from the date and ran as fast as his legs could humanly function. No, he wasn't going, he wasn't, he wouldn't-
Harry never got to finish his train of thought as he heard the rushing sound behind him. His legs seemed to grind to a halt even though his mind was telling him he was still running. His body turned around, even though he didn't make it do so. His eyes, which he did control, flickered over to the date, which was flying towards him at speed. Bracing himself, he could only stand and take the impact as it slammed into his chest, the force of it sending him flying backwards forty feet.
Harry landed harshly, the wind being knocked from his body. As he lay there, bruised and weak, he was vaguely aware of his surroundings changing. Colours and shapes whizzed past his eyes, though his rattled brain could make no sense of it. He felt the magic tingling in the air, and somehow knew that he was being taken to someplace, sometime: 1977 to be precise.
And as he lay there, thinking of what the hell he would do once he was out of this shit state, memories of the last month played through his mind.
!-FLASHBACK-!
Sirius had hurtled out of nowhere, rammed Dolohov with his shoulder and sent him flying out of the way. The prophecy had again flown to the tips of Harry's fingers but he had managed to cling on to it. Now Sirius and Dolohov were duelling, their wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand-tips-
Dolohov drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement he had used on Harry and Hermione. Springing up, Harry yelled, "Petrificus Totalus!" Once again, Dolohov's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backwards, landing with a crash on his back.
"Nice one!" shouted Sirius, forcing Harry's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew towards them. "Now I want you to get out of- "
They both ducked again; a jet of green light had narrowly missed Sirius. Across the room Harry saw Tonks fall from halfway up the stone steps, her limp form toppling from stone seat to stone seat and Bellatrix, triumphant, running back towards the fray…
"Harry, take the prophecy, grab Neville and run!" Sirius yelled, dashing to meet Bellatrix. Harry did not see what happened next: Kingsley swayed across his field of vision, battling with the pockmarked and no longer masked Rookwood; another jet of green light flew over Harry's head as he launched himself towards Neville-
"Can you stand?" he bellowed in Neville's ear, as Neville's legs jerked and twitched uncontrollably. "Put your arm round my neck –"
Neville did so - Harry heaved - Neville's legs were still lying in every direction, they would not support him, and then, out of nowhere, a man lunged at them: both fell backwards, Neville's legs waving wildly like an overturned beetle's, Harry with his left arm held up in the air to try to save the small glass ball from being smashed.
"The prophecy, give me the prophecy, Potter!" snarled Lucius Malfoy's voice in his ear, and Harry felt the tip of Malfoy's wand pressing hard between his ribs.
"No - get - off - me . . . Neville - catch it!"
Harry flung the prophecy across the floor, Neville span himself around on his back and scooped the ball to his chest. Malfoy pointed the wand instead at Neville, but Harry jabbed his own wand back over his shoulder and yelled, "Impedimenta!"
Malfoy was blasted off his back. As Harry scrambled up again he looked around and saw Malfoy smash into the dais on which Sirius and Bellatrix were now duelling. Malfoy aimed his wand at Harry and Neville again, but before he could draw breath to strike, Lupin had jumped between them.
"Harry, round up the others and GO!"
Harry seized Neville by the shoulder of his robes and lifted him bodily on to the first tier of stone steps; Neville's legs twitched and jerked and would not support his weight; Harry heaved again with all the strength he possessed and they climbed another step-
A spell hit the stone bench at Harry's heel; it crumbled away and he fell back to the step below. Neville sank to the ground, his legs still jerking and thrashing, and he thrust the prophecy into his pocket.
"Come on!" said Harry desperately, hauling at Neville's robes. "Just try and push with your legs-"
He gave another stupendous heave and Neville's robes tore all along the left seam - the small spun-glass ball dropped from his pocket and, before either of them could catch it, one of Neville's floundering feet kicked it: it flew some ten feet to their right and smashed on the step beneath them. As both of them stared at the place where it had broken, appalled at what had happened, a pearly-white figure with hugely magnified eyes rose into the air, unnoticed by any but them. Harry could see its mouth moving, but in all the crashes and screams and yells surrounding them, not one word of the prophecy could he hear. The figure stopped speaking and dissolved into nothingness.
"Harry, I'b sorry!" cried Neville, his face anguished as his legs continued to flounder. "Tb so sorry, Harry, I didn'd bean do-"
"It doesn't matter!' Harry shouted. 'Just try and stand, let's get out of-"
"Dubbledore!" said Neville, his sweaty face suddenly transported, staring over Harry's shoulder.
"What?"
"DUBBLEDORE!"
Harry turned to look where Neville was staring. Directly above them, framed in the doorway from the Brain Room, stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. Harry felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle of his body - they were saved.
Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry, who had no more thoughts of leaving. Dumbledore was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realised he was there and yelled to the others. One of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line-
Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her.
"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.
The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock. Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore, too, turned towards the dais.
It seemed to take Sirius an age to tall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch. Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfathers wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the Veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place.
Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange's triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing - Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second…
But Sirius did not reappear.
"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "SIRIUS!"
He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out…
But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry-"
"Get him, save him; he's only just gone through!"
"- it's too late, Harry."
"We can still reach him-" Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go…
"There's nothing you can do, Harry… nothing… he's gone."
"He hasn't gone!" Harry yelled.
He did not believe it; he would not believe it; still he fought Lupin with every bit of strength he had. Lupin did not understand; people hid behind that curtain; Harry had heard them whispering the first time he had entered the room. Sirius was hiding, simply lurking out of sight-"
"SIRIUS!" he bellowed. "SIRIUS!"
"He can't come back, Harry," said Lupin, his voice breaking as he struggled to contain Harry. "He can't come back, because he's d-"
"HE - IS - NOT - DEAD!" roared Harry. "SIRIUS!"
There was movement going on around them, pointless bustling, the flashes of more spells. To Harry it was meaningless noise, the deflected curses flying past them did not matter, nothing mattered except that Lupin should stop pretending that Sirius - who was standing feet from them behind that old curtain - was not going to emerge at any moment, shaking back his dark hair and eager to re-enter the battle.
Lupin dragged Harry away from the dais. Harry still staring at the archway, was angry at Sirius now for keeping him waiting-
But some part of him realised, even as he fought to break free from Lupin, that Sirius had never kept him waiting before… Sirius had risked everything, always, to see Harry to help him… if Sirius was not reappearing out of that archway when Harry was yelling for him as though his life depended on it, the only possible explanation was that he could not come back… that he really was-
Dumbledore had most of the remaining Death haters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilised by invisible ropes; Mad-Eye Moody had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay, and was attempting to revive her; behind the dais there were still flashes of light, grunts and cries - Kingsley had run forward to continue Sirius's duel with Bellatrix.
"Harry?"
Neville had slid down the stone benches one by one to the place where Harry stood. Harry was no longer struggling against Lupin, who maintained a precautionary grip on his arm nevertheless.
"Harry… I'b really sorry…" said Neville. His legs were still dancing uncontrollably.
"Was dad man - was Sirius Black a - a friend of yours?"
Harry nodded.
"Here," said Lupin quietly, and pointing his wand at Neville's legs he said, "Finite." The spell was lifted: Neville's legs fell back to the floor and remained still. Lupin's face was pale. "Let's - let's find the others. Where are they all, Neville?"
Lupin turned away from the archway as he spoke. It sounded as though every word was causing him pain.
"Dey're all back dere," said Neville. "A brain addacked Ron bud I dink he's all righd - and Herbione's unconscious, bud we cou'd feel a bulse-"
There was a loud bang and a yell from behind the dais. Harry saw Kingsley hit the ground yelling in pain: Bellatrix Lestrange turned tail and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her but she deflected it; she was halfway up the steps now-
"Harry - no!" cried Lupin, but Harry had already ripped his arm from Lupin's slackened grip.
"SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" bellowed Harry. "SHE KILLED HIM - 'I'LL KILL HER!"
And he was off, scrambling up the stone benches; people were shouting behind him but he did not care. The hem of Bellatrix's robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were back in the room where the brains were swimming…
She aimed a curse over her shoulder. The tank rose into the air and tipped. Harry was deluged in the foul-smelling potion within: the brains slipped and slid over him and began spinning their long coloured tentacles, but he shouted, "Wingardium Leviosa!" and they flew off him up into the air. Slipping and sliding, he ran on towards the door; he leapt over Luna, who was groaning on the floor, past Ginny, who said, "Harry - what - ?" past Ron, who giggled feebly, and Hermione, who was still unconscious. He wrenched open the door into the circular black hall and saw Bellatrix disappearing through a door on the other side of the room; beyond her was the corridor leading back to the lifts.
He ran, but she had slammed the door behind her and the walls were already rotating. Once more, he was surrounded by streaks of blue light from the whirling candelabra.
"Where's the exit?" he shouted desperately, as the wall rumbled to a halt again. "Where's the way out?"
The room seemed to have been waiting for him to ask. The door right behind him flew open and the corridor towards the lifts stretched ahead of him, torch-lit and empty. He ran…
He could hear a lift clattering ahead; he sprinted up the passageway, swung around the corner and slammed his fist on to the button to call a second lift. It jangled and banged lower and lower; the grilles slid open and Harry dashed inside, now hammering the button marked 'Atrium'. The doors slid shut and he was rising…
He forced his way out of the lift before the grilles were fully open and looked around. Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the hall, but she looked back as he sprinted towards her and aimed another spell at him. He dodged behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren: the spell zoomed past him and hit the wrought-gold gates at the other end of the Atrium so that they rang like bells. There were no more footsteps. She had stopped running. He crouched behind the statues, listening.
"Come out, come out, little Harry!" she called in her mock baby voice, which echoed off the polished wooden floors. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"
"I am!" shouted Harry, and a score of ghostly Harry's seemed to chorus I am! I am! I am! all around the room.
"Aaaaaah . . . did you love him, little baby Potter?"
Hatred rose in Harry such as he had never known before; he flung himself out from behind the fountain and bellowed, "Crucio!"
Bellatrix screamed: the spell had knocked her off her feet, but she did not writhe and shriek with pain as Neville had - she was already back on her feet, breathless, no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the golden fountain again. Her counter-spell hit the head of the handsome wizard, which was blown off and landed twenty feet away, gouging long scratches into the wooden floor.
"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled. She had abandoned her baby voice now. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson-"
Harry was edging around the fountain on the other side when she screamed, "Crucio!" and he was forced to duck down again as the centaur's arm, holding its bow, span off and landed with a crash on the floor a short distance from the golden wizard's head.
"Potter, you cannot win against me!" she cried.
He could hear her moving to the right, trying to get a clear shot of him. He backed around the statue away from her, crouching behind the centaur's legs, his head level with the house-elf's.
"I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little boy, can never hope to compete-"
"Stupefy!" yelled Harry.
She hadn't been expecting Harry to retaliate so quickly, but Bellatrix defended herself anyway. A Shield Charm faster than Harry thought possible was brought up, but he was already moving. Something was coursing through him as he edged round the Fountain. He felt it happen. He could feel the magic growing stronger inside him; he could feel himself being affected by that.
He knew where Bellatrix was, from her harsh breathing. He knew when and where she moved, even though she didn't make a sound. Something inside him was changing, and it was changing fast. As he decided on what spells to use against her, curses, hexes, jinxes and spells ran through his mind, ready for him to use. He had no knowledge of them; he only knew them from now.
His breath hitched when he heard Bellatrix mere metres away from him. Twitching his wand anxiously, and then swallowing, he flung himself out from his hiding place and yelled.
"Pressori Senies!"
A deadly pressure wave streamed from the end of Harry's wand and flew towards Bellatrix. Her eyes widened as she saw it and she fired the counter-spell while Disapparating to another part of the Atrium. Harry saw through her tactics immediately and jumped onto the Fountain. Scanning the area briefly, he seemed to take note of the area even though he wasn't looking properly at it. Escape routes, places of refuge, advantages for Bellatrix and himself – it all entered his mind. His reflexes and thinking capabilities had heightened considerably. So he was ready for Bellatrix when she finally appeared.
"Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus! Mutilo! Ventus Surgo! Sectumsempra!"
All these curses and hexes fell from Harry's lips and blasted their way towards Bellatrix. She opened her mouth to return in kind but instead wisely chose to raise another shield and step aside.
They stood there; Harry on the Fountain; she on the hard floor, glaring at each other. They both made to speak at the same time.
"You pathetic little boy, you-"
"- filthy bitch, you killed Sirius-"
Jets of light issued from both wands as they duelled once more.
HB~HB~HB~HB~HB
Anyone who came in would then be astounded by the amount of magic thrown around, each combatant duelling to kill the other. For Bellatrix, she was surprised, surprised that The Boy Who Lived had such great magical reserves and power; although his power didn't equal the Dark Lord's, it was close. And his magical stamina and reserves definitely outstripped Voldemort's. And it was because of these two things that she was slightly afraid of Harry, wary of his movements and his magic.
In contrast, Harry was having the time of his life. Bellatrix was currently on the defensive, and had been since the second bout had started. Magical incantations flowed from his lips, translating into jets of light that smashed and slammed into Bellatrix's faltering shields. He continuously advanced, not giving her any room or option to escape; her fleeing was not an option. He was going to destroy her.
She had tried to Disapparate a number of times but with each try came failure. Harry had cast extremely powerful Anti-Disapparation and Anti-Portkey around the entire Atrium, disabling Bellatrix's escape tactics in a single hit. The only way she'd get out was if she severely injured him. But Harry didn't feel that'd happen anytime soon.
Another spell swam to the forefront of his mind.
Fumus Nebulae.
Harry grinned. What a surprise she'd have. With a backward flick of his wand starting from his right hip and ending in front of his heart, he finished the movement of with a wide arc, while roaring the incantation.
"Fumus Nebulae!"
Huge tendrils of smoke sprang from Harry's wand-tip, immediately clouding himself from Bellatrix's view. As he manoeuvred himself through the smoke, he thought the only downside to this was that he couldn't see Bellatrix either. Deciding to change that fact rather quickly, he moved into a patch of clear that meant his sight was unimpeded.
As he did so, Harry found himself looking at the exposed back of Bellatrix. Grinning wildly, he raised his wand and prepared to end this once and for all.
"Stupef-!"
A Bone-Crushing Curse hit Harry in the side of the face before he could complete the Stunner. He never even got to groan in pain before he was knocked for six. The bones shattered on impact and he could taste the warm metallic blood seeping into his mouth. Picking himself up off of the floor, he groaned and swayed slightly before dodging a Cruciatus Curse sent his way, courtesy of Rodolphus Lestrange. He and his brother, Rabastan, walked arrogantly into the Atrium.
It seemed the Death Eaters had created a block in the doorway of the Atrium. Harry could see the Order and his friends trying to break through to no avail. Realising he had to fight this one out for himself. He gripped his wand even tighter and stood to face assailants. As he did he caught the eye of Dumbledore and he saw the old man looking at him with a sad glint in his eye. Then Dumbledore mouthed the words to Harry. Avada Kedavra. To say that Harry was shocked was an understatement. The famed Leader of the Light was telling him to kill, even though he didn't kill himself. Dumbledore was totally against killing. So why was he telling Harry to kill Rodolphus? He continued to stare at Dumbledore, and he knew he should do it when he saw the old man discreetly nod his head.
"You dare attack my wife Potter?!" Rodolphus screamed, his face livid. "No-one but me lays a finger on her! You boy, will suffer at my hand, you will-"
Rodolphus neither had the skill nor intelligence his wife possessed, and Harry took great pleasure in this fact as the jet of green light that had left his wand slammed into the Death Eater's chest. Rodolphus' eyes bulged slightly before he crumpled to the floor. Bellatrix screamed in horror and Rabastan bellowed in fury as Rodolphus died. He too raised his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled.
Harry neatly sidestepped the Killing Curse and responded with something just as ferocious, except it was dead on target.
"Sectumsempra!"
The hex hit Rabastan in the throat and he went the same way as his brother, dying almost instantly. Harry immediately turned to Bellatrix but found she had ran beyond his Wards and had alerted the other Death Eaters. Those that arrived took one look at the dead bodies of their comrades and then at Harry. One of them he recognised as Mulciber cried. "You'll pay Potter! We'll take you to the Dark Lord!"
The members of the Order and his friends were still trying to get through as a hail of curses and hexes followed that proclamation sped across the room. Had they hit Harry, they would've turned him into a vegetable. But Harry wasn't going to let that happen. A powerful shield followed by an equally lethal barrage sent back caused the Death Eaters to scatter, Bellatrix among them.
A Death Eater Harry recognised as Avery suddenly tackled him from behind, pinning Harry to the floor. He looked too gleeful for his own good as he raised his wand.
"Cruc-!"
"Impedimenta!" Harry yelled.
Avery was thrown off of Harry mid-curse and landed on his back. Harry retaliated to make sure Avery couldn't do anything else anymore.
"Mutilo!"
The burly Death Eater's body instantly became a bloodied mess as the remaining Death Eaters screamed in rage. Green jets of light now flew over his head along with other spells now. They were aiming to kill and he was severely outnumbered.
But that was not what made Harry scared. What scared Harry was the magic he suddenly possessed and the curses he was firing around. He was using magic he'd never ever heard of, and yet it was coming to him as easily as if he'd been born with the knowledge. These were spells of mass destruction and damage that killed his enemies. And he threw them around as carelessly as a seasoned Death Eater.
He was brought out of his musings when a particularly nasty hex blew a six foot crater into the floor next to him. He moved on, taking a few more Death Eaters down, not caring if he killed or maimed. Soon he found himself face to face with Bellatrix again. She went to curse him to Hell and back, but he was too quick.
"Levicorpus!" He suddenly thought, the spell reaching the forefront of his mind. Bellatrix was hoisted into the air by her ankle before she could get a single syllable out. Harry Banished her away with a flick of his wand and then ran. He carried on running until he reached where his friends were.
It was at that moment that the Order broke through the shields and swarmed into the Atrium. The Death Eaters turned to face this new attack and one Harry knew was called Dolohov shouted the Killing Curse.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry yelled for them to duck and that yell soon turned into a scream of horror as Ginny turned around and ducked moments too late. Her body was bathed in green as she was lifted into the air and fell so way away, her wand sliding out of her hand with a clatter.
"NO!"
That roar was one Harry never wanted to hear as he saw Ron run to the lifeless body of his sister, her eyes wide and glassy, still staring at the ceiling.
The Order had engaged with the Death Eaters now, fury and anger written all over their faces as they battled to avenge Ginny.
Harry turned to the place of tragedy, ignoring the warnings and shouts that were hurled his way. It seemed to really sink in at that moment. Ginny was dead. The breath within Harry seemed to rapidly leave him as his blood turned to ice and he felt dizzy. Ginny, dead. No…no… no she couldn't be , he wasn't letting anyone die…
Ron seemed to sense that Harry was watching him. The devastation burning in his eyes almost killed Harry there and then. Ron looked at him as if it was his fault. Then he spoke.
"…she's dead…" Ron croaked, voice cracking with emotion. "…she's dead… and it's your fault…"
Those words alone were enough for Harry to know that Ron would never forget or forgive Harry for what happened. In Ron's eyes, the blame for this tragedy would lay with Harry.
As if the grief was too much, Ron suddenly launched himself at Harry, punching and kicking any part of him he could reach. Harry pushed Ron away with a spell. Ron took this as a sign of aggression and drew his own.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry watched with numb shock and horror as his once best friend sent the Killing Curse in his direction. Suddenly he was saved when a huge weight crashed into him and forced him to the ground. He landed awkwardly, gasping as a rock hit the side of his face; he saw that it was a spell that saved him and as he lay there, he saw that the Order members were in various states of injury.
Tonks and Mad-Eye were on the floor, unconscious, where previously Dumbledore had been attempting to revive them. Lupin was dead, Harry realised with a jolt of horror. But it was then Harry realised that Dumbledore had been there. His brain suddenly went into overload. Why hadn't Dumbledore tried to protect him when he was up there with the Death Eaters? Why hadn't he caught them all?
But as Harry looked around, he saw that the Death Eaters were in fact, captured and tied up with what seemed to be invisible ropes. He turned to Dumbledore again. The Headmaster was shaking his head sadly.
"It had to be done Harry, it had to be done." he said.
Harry was confused. What had to be done? He realised when he saw Dumbledore looking sadly towards where Hermione and Ron were huddled, round Ginny. Looking to their left, he saw Neville cradling Luna, who had a broken arm. All this, this horror, this sadness, it had to be done?
"It was for the Greater Good Harry." he heard Dumbledore say.
Hatred for the Dumbledore rose in Harry like he'd never felt before. Harry was about to push himself up off of the floor and shout profanities at Dumbledore when he saw something snake-like and pale, with gleaming red eyes and slits for nostrils. Lord Voldemort walked into the Room, lipless mouth curled in a vicious grin
"Harry Potter." he hissed softly.
In one fluid movement, Dumbledore Banished the Order and the injured teenagers, along with Harry, over to the other side of the Atrium. Everyone was out cold except Harry so he didn't have to face a murderous Ron. Lying some way away, carefully suspended, was Ginny. Harry felt another throb of hatred. Dumbledore had let her die. And now he was going to take the glory by defeating Voldemort. No he bloody well wouldn't.
The Dark Lord and the Headmaster duelled, using spells Harry would never have normally recognised, but somehow he did. Pressure waves, acid sprays, gusts of wind and fire, even water-animation spells were used. Harry couldn't help but watch in awe as the magic crackled and sung, the air heavily laden with both Light and Dark.
It all changed however when Harry realised that his comrades were waking up. Not wanting to find out what Ron was going to do if he saw him nearby, Harry picked himself up and ran into the battle.
Dumbledore's eyes widened when he saw what Harry was doing and he attempted to wandlessly Banish Harry. Harry saw exactly what he was doing and brought up two shields; one to dispel the Cruciatus Curse sent by Voldemort; the other to send the Banishing Charm to Voldemort.
Voldemort saw what he had done and cancel the spell. Then with a flick of his wand, the greatest and most terrible Dark Lord of all time launched a barrage of spells at Dumbledore that caused the old man to go instantly on the defensive and retreat. Eventually one got through and brought Dumbledore to his knees. Wand still in hand, the aging Headmaster looked up at Voldemort as he spoke.
"Goodbye old man."
The jet of green left Voldemort's wand and Dumbledore found he didn't have the strength the move. But he was saved from doing so when a white bolt collided with the Killing Curse and sent it off course.
HB~HB~HB~HB~HB
Bellatrix watched as Potter moved into action after diffusing the curse and Banished Dumbledore towards his friends for good measure. She had thought her master had finished the old man off once and for all, but it was not to be. She had whooped with joy as the Headmaster was brought down, as the Silencing Charm that he'd put on her and her fellow Death Eaters was broken, but had groaned when the boy had deflected it. But then it struck her. How could Potter, a boy still in Hogwarts, deflect a spell from her master, the greatest sorcerer the world had ever seen?
The groan turned to a scream however when she saw the boy defeating her master, his face a mask of pure rage as the Dark Lord suffered blow after blow at his hand. It was then that Bellatrix realised she was slightly – no, very- afraid of Potter. If he could perform magic like that now, Merlin knew what he would be able to do once he'd finished his education.
Her musings were cut short when her master grabbed her robes, and as they were all bound by enchantment, Appararted them all out of the Merlin-forsaken Ministry.
HB~HB~HB~HB~HB
Harry looked around debris his duel with Voldemort had caused. The energy and stamina involved had rapidly depleted his magical core and had almost rendered him unconscious. But summoning the last of his strength, he had forced the Dark Lord to flee, and had saved his friends.
He thought this was all rather something to be proud of as he lay on the floor, voices and shouts around him just a blur. Twenty minutes had passed since the duel had ended, and the Minister and some Aurors, and Healers from St Mungos had arrived to take care of the scene and the injured. While on the floor, he was guarded by two of the Aurors, an act for which he was immensely grateful as he really did not want to get up. He watched as each of his friends were taken out one by one, and his heart gave a little tug of grief as he watched Ginny's body leave. She didn't deserve to die. And it was all the fault of Dumbledore…
Speaking of which, he was currently engaged in conversation with Fudge. It seemed he'd managed to convince the Minister that Voldemort really was back. From his position on the floor and his deliriousness, Harry couldn't tell what they were talking about. He mentally groaned however when the two Aurors were told by gesture from Fudge to pick him up.
Grasping his arms, they hauled Harry roughly to his feet and he stood there, supported and swaying as Dumbledore and Fudge walked up. Dumbledore said some words to Fudge so quietly Harry couldn't hear, but he had the bloody annoying sad look in his eyes.
For the Greater Good…
That memory prompted Harry to speak.
"Listen here, old man," he began, his voice slurred.
One of the Aurors Silenced him and it was then that Fudge spoke. His eyes didn't quite meet Harry's and he fiddled with his bowler hat nervously. Then, with a small nod from Dumbledore, the Minister cleared his throat and spoke to Harry, eyes still averted. Harry couldn't ignore the felling of dread in his chest.
"Harry James Potter, you are being charged with the murders of Ginevra Weasley, and three civilians. You are also charged with numerous other crimes that will be brought forth when you stand Trial. Until then, you will be permanently Stunned and held in a Ministry Holding Cell until said Trial is held."
That sobered Harry up. He looked wildly from Dumbledore to Fudge as he snapped his head up. The looks on their faces were adamant. He was being tried for murder. Harry tried to complain, to say they had this all wrong, but a jet of red hit his chest before he could make any sound.
Sorry this took so long to write. Real life got in the way and the computer I was using thought it'd be funny to delete this chapter, so I had to re-write it. Plus I wasn't happy with some of it. But it's here now.
The flashbacks will continue for the next few chapter's, then you'll find out what happens to Harry as he leaves the Veil. I need your reviews to tell me how this story is going and what you think. So remember, please review. Hope you enjoyed this one
Ventus Surgo – literally means 'Wind Surge' – it's a powerful gust of wind that blows anything in it's path over.
Mutilo – 'Mutilate' – I think that one speaks for itself.
Pressori Senies – 'Pressure Waves' – deadly pressure waves that alter the pressure of the area where the spell is cast. Particularly deadly as they can either make you explode or implode. No wonder Harry chose it, it has interesting results.
Fumus Nebulae – 'Smoke Cloud' – basically a smoke shield.
