To Bring End to the War

Masquerades chapter seven

... … …

Travis only held consciousness long enough to nod slightly to the crying Jakki and whisper something.

"I saw…Jon…" it was quiet, if there had been any noises in the trees closest to them, Jakki would never have heard it. "He's… alive…flash was…in the opposite…direction… from him…"

At first when he fell unconscious, Jakki thought he had died, but when she put her head down on his chest she could still feel it raising and falling with his breathing. Jon's alive, she thought with some relief. But there's still Mercey, I need to know.

She looked around desperately for a stick sturdy enough to hold her ankle ridged, but there were none suitable close by. Jon, where are you? You know the charm mum used on us when we were little…on me, really, I always broke things when I tagged along behind you and Ricky.

Jon and Jakki were on a line, it seemed, if one was in trouble, the other knew. They had something like the telepathy twins shared, and their mother had always referred to it as their 'special line'. The line came in hand more often than not, and at the moment it seemed to have pulled through to help. Jon came crashing through the tree line not more than ten feet from his sister.

"Jon!" she yelled and waved to him, flagging him over to where she was half kneeling next to her unconscious boyfriend. He noticed immediately and ran to her.

There was blood trickling down from a minor gash on his temple, and blood was smeared back into his hair line from the times he had tried to wipe it out of his eye. His hair was a light brown mess, matted down to his forehead with sweat and blood. His robes were torn open in several places revealing more small scrapes. None of his abrasions were in need of immediate care, although the head wound was bleeding without stop. A flash-memory of Viktorya lying in the snow bleeding bombarded Jakki's thoughts momentarily, and she hastily pushed them away.

"You're okay, aren't you?" she asked, she knew he was but she just had to ask anyway.

"I'm fine," he smiled at her, big brothers are always fine was his message though she knew he thought it inappropriate to say at the time. "What about you, you look terrible."

For the first time, she looked down at herself to see what damages had been acquired since she left the broken down house. She hadn't donned her cloak at all that day, because it was hot that day and there was no need for it, but her jeans were ripped and blood-stained now from a long jagged cut on her thigh along with a few other thorn-caught rips in denim and flesh. Her shirt also bore a few tears due to thorns and twigs, and there was one blood spot on her chest from when she wiped her bleeding hand across the shirt. Her hair was just barely holding onto the French braid it had been put into that morning, and matted down to her neck and face. Jon had hit the nail on the head, she really did look terrible.

"All's good," she said reluctantly and worked her twisted ankle out from under her and onto his lap (as he had moved to sit next to her when he arrived). "But, something's twisted, sprained, stretched, or broke in my ankle. I'd fix it myself but I can't remember Mum's Bracing Charm. Could you do it for me?"

He nodded quickly and muttered the spell. Immediately her ankle was painlessly set back to the proper angle, as stiff and ridged as if she had put it into a cast. She mentally scolded herself for not remembering the incantation as she stood and tested it out. "Perfect, thanks," she said and turned to run to the light's flash. It was gone, but she knew where it had been, she knew the farmyard like she knew the pattern on her Moshi's black and white coat. "Take care of Travis; I gotta go see what that explosion was."

"You're not going alone," he grabbed her arm as she turned away. "He'll be fine here, after all, the Death Eaters all ran already."

"No, someone has to be here in case he wakes up again," she said, looking down at him with a bit of fear for him flashing across her eyes. "Besides, I… well, I…erm…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I can Apparate him to the house," he had already hoisted the seventeen-year-old boy onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry and stood. Of course he was strong; he had a younger tag-along sister that he had to carry around when she got hurt. "If you just stay here for a second more, I'll be back and I'll go with you."

She thought for a while, hesitating on weather or not she really wanted to wait that long to go see what was going on. If she refused it would be longer to verbally fight her way away from her brother. "Fine, but hurry, please, I can't stand not knowing anymore."

"I know, Mercey's still out there somewhere," he replied, a sad look on his face. "Promise you'll stay put?"

"Promise to hurry?"

They smiled at each other before Jon turned on the spot and disappeared with a crack. Waiting had always been hard for Jakki, as she was incredibly impatient and just wanted to get going and do something. That was one way she justified bringing a book with her everywhere, that way if she had to wait she could read. But she didn't have a book at the time, why carry a book somewhere when you're being attacked? Also, the wait seemed longer because she was so impatient to see what the greenish-white flash was.

He was back in a matter of minutes and they ran off. She knew where it was, she just knew. It was useless to Apparate since the exact location was about as exact as knowing that Hogwarts was outside London.

… … …

There was a clearing now where the unused stable had been. Wood boards were scattered now, sticking up out of the ground in a million different angles. The paddock-turned-cornfield next to it was blown away in a curved shape like a poorly-made crop circle. Standing in the middle of the circle of the disaster was a black-haired young man with glasses, and two bodies slumped in front of him, one closer than the other.

"Harry!" Jakki yelled as soon as she was in shouting-range of him, and running ahead, Jon held back, he had only gone with so she wouldn't go alone. He was still scared for her, even though he knew it was really over now…forever.

The black haired man turned to her with an odd look on his face. It was like guilt and shame mixed with finality and a little touch of happiness. She went up to him and looked confused for a moment before she looked down at the two bodies now behind him.

She saw the furthest one first; an odd pale body that almost glowed in the dwindling light. The face was upturned with red eyes wide open and staring at the darkening sky without end, everything about him looked snake-like and like a corpse. It was her first real look at lord Voldemort and she was glad she never saw him when he was alive.

Her gaze drifted to the other body laying on it side with reddish brown curls obscuring the face. Immediately upon seeing the hair color, her jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock.

"Mercey..." she whispered, dropping down at her knees next to the body of her best friend. Rolled over to her back, the girl's dark brown eyes were blank and empty, looking up without seeing anything; she was also dead.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill her, she came running by when it happened," he said, sounding as guilty as he could have possibly been, not knowing if it was good or bad that she didn't look up. "There was a Death Eater chasing her that looked a lot like her. He had the same color hair and eyes. I think it was… Jakki, are you okay?"

"How do you think I feel, Hero-boy?" she looked up with tears in her eyes, not angry with him, just upset and frustrated that she couldn't have come sooner. "My best friend is dead now, and she didn't even want to be here. She was only here 'cause I begged her to. It's all my fault."

Jon came and let her cry on his shoulder, rocking her back and forward. He remembered the last time she had cried like that; it was when their sister had died. Jakki tried to never cry, she always thought she was too tough to be beaten by tears.

"Really, I'm sorry-" Harry started again; by this time Hermione and Ron had come to join the congregation.

"Just don't say anything, it's okay, really," Jon said quietly over his sisters sobs. "She's not angry, trust me. She's just upset, she takes deaths pretty hard. She'll be fine in the morning."

"We should go back up to the house," Hermione suggested, trying not to look at both the bodies and the crying girl.

"Yeah," Jakki tried to wipe her eyes, even though tears were still flowing down her cheeks. "Travis is there, and I want to be there when he wakes up."

"I'll get Mercey if the rest of you want to go ahead," Jon offered and the trio of Gryffindors nodded before leaving silently. Jakki stayed back, she didn't want to be apart from anyone she cared about at the time. She needed the comfort.

… … …

As soon as Travis woke up, they all made their way back to Godric's Hallow and back to the house next door to where it all began. It was nearly dawn. Mrs. Knight fussed over her children and their guest (she was a very welcoming person when it came to children, it was how she achieved a job in her department) when they came home battered and bruised, to which Jon explained. They were all given giant mugs of tea while she administered to their injuries.

"I called the order when I saw you all got back here," she said finishing up on her daughter and moving onto her son. "They're going over to the farm now to clean up any final Death Eaters they can find. And you three," –she pointed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione- "are to head back to the old headquarters. But first I'm going to clean you all up. You must have had quite a battle from what I can tell."

No one laughed at her joke, Jakki looked at her mother with a rather depressed look. "Mercey's dead, they got her back there."

Harry looked away, grateful that she had chosen not to blame him.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Knight asked, assuming that the girl had come in unconscious. She stopped herself before saying anything else; she knew she was just being stupid. Of course Mercey was dead; they would have waited for her to gain consciousness before they transported her back here.

"I should go back home," Jon said, breaking the silence that was beginning to build again. "Michelle will be wondering where I've gone thins time."

"No need, I'm here," a pretty young woman with dark brown, almost black hair and vibrant sapphire blue eyes stood in the doorway of the kitchen in a frilly nightshirt and slippers just as frilly as the shirt.

Jon went to here immediately and hugged her close. Jakki looked away, and Travis put his hand on her knee, squeezing gently.

"She's been here since you left," Mrs. Knight said, putting a bandage on her daughter's last wound. "She told me you had gone off to get Jakki."

By this time Michelle was crying hysterically into his shoulder as he smoothed her hair and rocked with her. She nodded slowly in acknowledgement to her mother-in-law's statement.

"Now, Jakki, go up stairs and wake you're father, he's been worried sick about you." Jakki nodded and hopped down from the countertop while her mother went over to Harry. "I'll just fix your friends up and send them on their way, okay?"

She nodded again and went to the door. Michelle broke away from Jonathan long enough to give Jakki a hug. "Thank-you for not hating me,"

Jakki tried to smile and hugged her back, for the first time in her short time with the older woman, she actually felt somewhat familiar with her. She whispered quietly, to her alone; "I never hated you, I was just jealous."

She was Michelle's eyes gloss over with more tears before she turned and left to go up to her father.

… … …

The next few days went by hazily, before she even knew it, Jakki was at the funeral for Mercey. She didn't cry, all her tears had already been dried up by this point. However, she did do her friend the honor of wearing a black dress to the funeral; it first time since she was six that she willingly put of a dress.

She let Michelle and Holly help her pick out the dress; her first step towards truly accepting them as her sisters. It was a simple knee-length dress, with a belled skirt and three-quarter sleeves. It was tied up in the front, and decorated at the skirt, sleeve, and neckline hems with lavender ribbons. She also wore the simple little silver charm she had gotten from Mercey for Christmas their first year at Hogwarts. Her fancy boots had their normal laces replaced with matching lavender ribbons and a black ribbon tied back her hair in a half-pony.

The service was small, since Mercey was the last of her family to survive. Her brother had been killed a few weeks earlier by Death Eaters after he had went on the run. He died on a valiant attempt to find Jakki, and was never completely found. Jacelynn and Angela had come to pay their respects and left directly after the service. They held a grudge towards Jakki, thinking she had been the reason Mercey was dead. She couldn't blame them, after all, she felt responsible for it.

Afterwards Jakki settled down for a while, still living with her parents for another year. She stayed secluded and solitary for that year, only leaving the house with Travis, when he begged her to. Angela and Jacelynn forgave her, but soon got married and left the country with their husbands. Mercey's death was a rift too big for them to completely bridge and get over.

Live was slow to return to normal for Jakki. Every time she saw evidence of the war, she had flashbacks of what had happened that summer. Evidence of the war was everywhere, even though most of it dissolved away for the rest of the world.

Soon enough, Jakki felt like reentering the world and joining in with the wizarding community once again. Although the war had took and exceptionally large toll on her personally, she hid it from everyone else in the world and tried to act like everything had returned to normal. But nothing had. Nothing ever would fully return to normal, for neither her nor the rest of the world. Her 'scars' from the Second War would never fully heal and disappear. She was glad for that. She never wanted to forget.

… … …

A/N: this chapter was originally due to be finished and come out yesterday, since yesterday (August 13) was Jakki's birthday. Unfortunately, I had problems tearing myself away for the manga I was reading, for this reason I apologize, it's irresponsible of me as a write to do something like that. But now you have it, the final 'chapter', the next thing to come out will be the epilogue, which will be five years forward from the end of this (Jakki is eighteen at the end of this, so she'll be twenty-three the next time you see her), and this is the first chapter I've written since Deathly Hallows came out. I read it and felt completely stupid because my story made almost not sense in tying all the loose ends that Jo did. Will she ever cease to amaze me?

Anyway, I've tried to at least keep this chapter separate from what has happened in book 7, which was quite a bit of trouble since I felt so guilty about writing this so horribly. And I felt like I had to bring back all the characters that were originally meant to be in here, like Jacelynn, Angela, and Joel, who I had forgotten about. Any questions, I'll be happy to answer them, and don't worry, the epilogue shouldn't take long, since I don't plan on writing it as long as I have all these chapters.

And I didn't get any reviews on the last chapter so…no one guessed who died, so no new character will be appearing like I had planned.