Harry Potter thought he would never have to set foot (in person) in this room again. Revisiting in his dreams was bad enough, and yet, here he was once more. But this time, it would be the last. This time, he was not alone.
Behind him, his army: wands drawn, jaws clenched and eyes wide and alert with trepidation- this was the moment they had all been waiting for.
To his right, Ronald Weasley: best mate, brave, noble, and loyal through and through- the encouragement when all was thought to be lost.
To his left, Hermione Granger: smartest witch of the age, derived from Muggles and destined for greatness- the brain behind the battle.
And at his side, Ginevra Weasley Potter: strong as she was small, survivor of the Dark Lord's minion, and poised to perfection- the love to bind it all.
"So, Potter," sneered Lucius Malfoy, tossing back his hood to reveal his face that was now deeply scarred from the last battle at Hogwarts and his encounter with the Grey Knight. "You came here to die, just like your ignorant Godfather?"
"No," Harry stated, more calmly then he felt. "I came here to end this, once and for all. Where's Tom? Or is he too afraid to face me?"
"HA!" cackled Bellatrix Lestrange, "So the wee baby Potter thinks that he can defeat the Dark Lord? Think again, baby Hawwy, there's no Dumbledore to save you this time!"
"What makes you think he needs Dumbledore?" solicited Neville, stepping out from the crowd to stare Bellatrix in the face.
Bellatrix's eyebrows raised, "Ooh look, little Longbottom has come back to be finished off. It's about time I got the chance to finish what I started- CRUCIO!"
"Protegeumenta!" cried Neville, before she had the chance to bat an eye. "You and me, Bella. Here. Now. This is over."
The battle ensued before many of the Death Eaters knew what hit them. After extensive training the past two years, the DA had caught up to the level that most Aurors were at when it came to dueling. It was more than the Light battling the Dark- every person in Harry's army had a personal grievance against Lord Voldemort and his followers. Some, like Neville, had more than others but for many it was as if it was an individual fight.
Harry and Ginny moved toward the left of the chamber, followed by half of the army, while Ron and Hermione headed right. Curses flew in every direction and more than once did Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Luna, and Neville have to revive some of their classmates from stunners. The more advanced members of the D.A. fired Hermione's newly researched Stunning spell at the Death Eaters, who in turned were stumped when they could not revive their comrades with the usual 'Ennervate'. Dodging curse after curse, Harry made his way to the top of the chamber so he could have the height advantage and fire Mega Stunners on unsuspecting Death Eaters down below. Blocking the majority of hexes, but still hit by several, Harry was bleeding from his head and he could feel it trickling down his cheeks and neck. He had several bruises already forming on his arms, face, and legs, but he could see that by far he was not the worst.
Glancing down, he saw Neville and Bellatrix sending curses flying faster than any other dueling pair in the room. Harry stayed away from that match up- he knew it was Neville's fight and would not take that away from him. Neville deserved his revenge more than any other in the room- Harry felt himself included. Cho Chang was dueling with Peter Pettigrew, the man responsible for murdering Cedric Diggory. Harry could see that she was crying, but this time it wasn't tears of pain or confusion- it was tears of fury. Harry knew Peter didn't stand a chance, and he even had another Death Eater trying to help him in his fight against Cho.
Harry sent curse after hex after curse down into the chamber, knocking down more Death Eaters than any other, while still deflecting those jinxes that were sent at him.
"Avada Ked—"
Harry rounded, but he wasn't quick enough. Lucius Malfoy had began to speak the killing curse, only to be cut off mid hex by another hooded figure that had appeared rapidly behind Harry in the doorway.
"Crucio!"
Harry's eyes widened at the twitching form of Lucius Malfoy. He had never known anyone to be able to hold Lord Voldemort's right hand man under an unforgivable and yet there he was, writhing and screaming on the floor. The senior Malfoy's mystery attacker was relentless, as though his very life depended upon Lucius's demise. All at once, the curse was lifted and Lucius retched on the floor.
"Expelliarmus!" cried Harry and the hooded figure as one. The Death Eater's wand soared between them and they caught it together. Their hands touched, and it was then Harry understood. Gazing upward underneath the hood- Harry saw his eyes. Eyes that were filled with pain, hurt, abuse, and longing, eyes that would no longer stand what had been forced upon them. Harry nodded and handed over the wand to the hooded man. Backing away, he concentrated on the others that had rushed to Lucius's aid, stunning them all.
"Extractica! Relashio! Cuttera! Abrasiadius!" cried the hooded figure, ripping open Lucius's robes and slashing open his flesh with each hex. Two more cutting hexes ensued and Lucius lay vomiting up blood onto the floor.
Slowly, deliberately, the hooded man approached the silvery haired death eater who was gasping for his breath on the stone floor. The room seemed to pause in anticipation. Harry's army stared, unknowing who could be hiding in the shadows and had come to help them- every member of the P.A had already been accounted for. The remaining Death Eaters held their breath at who could have been so powerful as to inflict so much damage on one of their number- especially on the Dark Lord's right hand man.
The soldiers on Harry's side had seen this cloak before, but had thought they would never see it again.
"Ginny," whispered Hermione. "Look! It's the Grey Knight!"
"Bloody hell! I can't believe he's here!"
Ron breathed a sigh of relief- if the Grey Knight was here; he knew nothing would happen to Hermione. Not after the Wizard's Oath he had forced the knight to make at the Battle of Hogwarts. The Death Chamber seemed to chill as the Grey Knight spoke aloud to the pitiful form of Lucius Malfoy, Lord Voldemort's right hand man, as he lay spitting up blood and writhing on the steps.
"By the blood so infused in my veins, I rightfully take the life of the one that made me." His voice echoed through the strangely silent chamber, chilling the hearts of all that heard its cry.
"With the power of the hate you brainwashed me to believe, I turn it upon its source. Through the engraving slashes I have made on your chest, know with whom my allegiance lies."
With a wave of his wand, the hooded figure ripped away Lucius's robes and shirt. There, carved on his chest for all to see were six crudely hashed marks. Cut to the bone, they were spilling blood rapidly, but in the unmistakable form of two letters:
HP
Reaching up, the man removed his hood to reveal his face before he voiced his final curse. Silver blonde hair shook down from its confinement and was shaken back to reveal the flushed face and fierce gray eyes of none other than Draco Malfoy. Hermione and Ginny gasped, unable to believe that the one wizard they had hated more than any other (excluding Voldemort) had turned completely around and sided with the light. With a voice that did not waver and eyes that held no trace of tears, the heir of Malfoy spoke his final words to his father.
"My hate dies with you. Eviscero Capitalis!"
Lucius Malfoy's head was separated from his body in one, swift movement. Unabashedly, Draco stepped forward to where it was rolling on the floor and picked it up. The room stood still as he descended the stairs toward the dais and mounted it. Facing the remaining Death Eaters, he raised his father's severed head and displayed it for all to see.
"May your children find the light and may your fate be bestowed upon you as my father's was- so very richly deserved."
Draco turned and threw the head through the veil where it disappeared and the curtain fluttered back to a standstill. Draco stepped down and walked back to the top of the chamber to where Harry Potter stood. He knelt and whispered,
"Forgive me, all these years, I didn't know what I was doing."
Harry nodded and replied softly, "I know. There is nothing to forgive. Join us. Help us end this for good."
Grabbing Draco's hand and lifting him to his feet, the two nodded and turned to face the crowd. The dueling resumed, but not for long. An icy wind broke through the chamber and the Death Eaters genuflected to their Master, who had Apparated onto the dais in the center of the Death Chamber.
"So you've finally decided to grace us with your presence, then, Tom?" spat Harry, even more icily then the wind that had nearly knocked them flat.
"You dare to speak to the Dark Lord in such a manner!" cried a Death Eater whose mask had not yet been removed.
"I dare to speak to MURDERING FLITH in such a manner," replied Harry mercilessly.
Voldemort laughed, a high-pitched, cold, cruel laugh that made even his Death Eaters' hair stand on end.
"You've come here to die, Potter. Just like your father. Just like your Godfather. They were FOOLS."
"You know NOTHING about my father! Or Sirius!" cried Harry, wiping the blood from his eyes.
"You cannot defeat me, Harry. With your precious Mudblood-loving Dumbledore dead, you are hopeless. You don't stand a chance against me."
"I 'stood a chance' before I could stand, Mouldy-Shorts," Harry retorted.
His insult had its desired effect- Voldemort was fuming.
"You DARE—"
"Oh yes!" cried Harry, advancing towards him down the stairs. "I dare."
"You dare to approach me without your wand raised, Potter? Have you no intelligence?"
"I have more than intelligence. I have what I need- and unfortunately for you, you will never know what it is. I approach you to end this. Once and for all."
The room was wrought with silence, as if no one dared to attack until Lord Voldemort had made the first move. The surviving few Death Eaters remained in their genuflects on the floor.
"You honestly think you have the power to kill me, Potter? You have the audacity to approach me without Dumbledore to protect you?" he snorted.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…" murmured Harry in a low, cryptic voice.
Ron stepped beside him, limping on his broken ankle, his chin dripping blood onto the floor, "Born to those who have thrice defied him,"
Neville followed suit, half of his face covered in scorching hex marks, "born as the seventh month dies…"
Hermione joined in, her once beautiful, shiny, tamed hair now burned, frizzed and standing on end from the electric shocks she had been submitted to through a curse, her hands covered in her own blood from her nose, "And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,"
"But he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…" cried Ginny, shoving away the Death Eater that had been pinning her against the wall to join those that were advancing towards the dais. She didn't see his mask rip along the seam as he caught on the wall before hitting the floor.
"P-pow-power?" stuttered Voldemort, to no one in particular. Then with false confidence, "What power could he possibly have that I don't?"
"and either must die at the hands of the other," chimed Luna, her voice harsh, not at all like its usual dreamy self. There were hex marks across her face and creamy white throat; the white of her right eye was red from exploded blood vessels.
"for neither can live while the other survives…" stated Harry, firmly, still advancing towards the dais, but this time he wasn't alone- his army was behind him.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies," they stated as one, as their descent to the dais was completed.
"There it is, Tom. What you've been waiting for. All this time," whispered Harry softly. "The Prophecy that you've been trying to get your hands on for the past three years. Was it worth it, Tom?"
Voldemort was practically shaking with uncharacteristic rage.
"No!" he cried, "I won't have it!"
He raised his wand and pointed it at Harry.
"Ultimatus Avadus Kedavrus!" he screamed.
Time seemed to stop entirely as the curse shot forward like a bolt of black lightning. Before Harry had a chance to raise his wand, duck, or dive out of the way, he heard someone shout—
"NO!"
Someone dove in front of him and the curse dropped them to the ground with a sickening thud. Cho Chang shrieked through her bloody nose and the rest stood silent, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.
A rushing sound of wind blasted through the room and then a voice- a voice more powerful than Phoenix song- rang out.
"There can be no greater love, than to lay down one's life for a friend."
So fell the bravest Gryffindor. A fate meant for the Boy-Who-Lived was willingly born by his best friend.
Hermione dropped to the floor, sobbing, cradling Ron's limp form in her arms. The rest of the room stood still, save for one. Neville Longbottom raced forward and leaped onto the dais with a single bound.
"You BASTARD!" he screamed.
And then Neville did something that was very brave, very stupid, and very brilliant at the same time. With all his strength, he pushed the Dark Lord and watched as he stumbled. The jaw of every living Death Eater in the room dropped as their Master fell through the veil.
"STUPEFY!" cried the Death Eater that had been pinning Ginny against the wall. Neville fell flat to the floor, stunned.
Harry's army turned as one to see the Death Eater that had been targeting Ginny the entire time. His mask was completely torn along the edge and he dashed it to the floor in one sweep.
"Percy!" Ginny gasped. "Percy how COULD you?"
"I warned you, Potter," Percy said, completely ignoring his sister. "I knew this would happen. You being with Ginny has only put her in danger. Mingling with the likes of Dumbledore and his stupid Order. I wanted to protect her. You siding her with Dumbledore was a death warrant. By my joining with the Dark Lord, he offered her protection. My life for hers. If I stood at his side, he guaranteed me no harm would come to Ginevra.
"I thought Ron would be able to fend for himself, but it seems I was wrong! Now my brother is dead and all because of you! And now with the Dark Lord's protection gone, thanks to that stupid little friend of yours, Ginevra may never be safe! I'll kill you for what you've done to my family, Potter."
Unfortunately for Percy, he didn't have the chance. Ginny hit him square in the jaw with her firm little fist and then turned her wand on him. Tears streamed down her face, as she looked her brother in the eyes.
"Ron was right about you, Percy. You really are the world's biggest fucking git."
As if they had been stung by a blast-ended skrewt, the remaining members of Harry's army stunned and bound the Death Eaters with anti-disapparation jinxes. Ginny collapsed to the floor with Hermione, cradling the limp form of her brother in her arms with a dazed look on her face. Harry limped to the dais and pulled himself onto the platform, he could still hear Voldemort fighting and screaming hexes from behind the veil. Scratched, bruised, torn and bleeding, Harry turned to his faithful army. Ginny looked up from her brother, as Harry stopped at the archway.
"Harry!" she cried. "What are you doing? It's over."
Harry simply smiled faintly and shook his head. Hermione's gaze snapped up and she looked into his eyes.
"You understand, right, 'Mione?" he whispered.
The smartest witch paused and then she nodded. She reluctantly let go of Ron and rose to her feet.
"Harry? Harry, what are you doing?" screamed Ginny. "Harry, don't move, or you'll go right through! Harry, STOP!"
Ginny made to run after him, but Hermione held her back.
"Hermione, stop! Let go! Harry, come back! Get down!"
Harry sadly shook his head. "Hermione, you know what to do, right?"
Hermione nodded weakly.
"Tell them, Hermy, tell them my story. The world deserves to know the truth."
"I will, Harry," she promised, as the tears ran down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Gin," Harry choked. "It's the only way. …Ginny, I love you."
Without another word, the Boy-Who-Lived stepped through the veil.
"HARRY!" screamed Ginny, still attempting to break free from her best friend's grasp. "Harry, no!"
With the last swish of his tattered and bloodstained cloak, Harry James Potter disappeared from the Wizarding World- never to be seen again.
