Story Title: Curse

Chapter Title: Avada Kedavra!

Author: Avril13

Rating: Strong PG-13/T (I guess)

Warnings: Nope. You wouldn't like me to spoil the fun, would you?

Chapter Word Count: 2,673

Date: 06 January 2007

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everyone else from Potterverse belong to JKR.

A/N: I updated chapter 6 for spelling errors, since my spell check wasn't working.

Chapter Six – Avada Kedavra!

"Harry, is that really you?" Sirius exclaimed, holding Harry by his shoulders.

"Yeah, Padfoot, it's me." To Harry, it felt like Sirius was back from the dead. They hugged.

Hermione stood awkwardly a few feet away, looking like she didn't know what to do.

"Welcome Harry, welcome." Remus ruffled Harry's hair. Then he turned to Tonks who was standing in the shadows. If he had seen her face, he would have seen tears glistening in her eyes.

"Remus, I'm so sorry." She whispered sadly. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Remus became as stiff as a board. He couldn't move, but his eyes widened in shock and accusation.

"What…" And before Sirius could say anything else, jinxes shot at them from all directions. Harry, Hermione and Sirius ducked, but Hagrid stood his ground trying to fight back. Several jinxes and hexes hit him in the chest and he flew backwards letting out a painful yell.

"SURRENDER! YOU ARE SURROUNDED! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!"

"NEVER!" The trio shouted in unison. They shot jinxes back, trying to take cover. The situation looked desperate. There were at least two-dozen Death Eaters against the three of them.

Hermione noticed a giant tree in the middle of the clearing. Instead of fighting the Death Eaters she set it on fire. She could see some of them pulling back and others trying to go around.

Suddenly, a bright green light flashed from behind the Death Eaters and Harry could see one of them falling to the ground, obviously dead. The next instant, spells started flying all over the forest.

"Mad-Eye!" Sirius hissed through clenched teeth, and Harry couldn't tell whether it was from anger or relief. Harry used the confusion and ran back to see what happened to Hagrid.

He found him lying in the bushes. Hagrid's face was frozen in a painful grimace. The robes on his chest were completely burnt and half of his beard as well. His eyes were wide open and his wand firmly in his hand pointing towards Death Eaters like he was still fighting. Harry immediately knew that Hagrid was dead.

He fell on his knees next to Hagrid's body.

"Hagrid, Hagrid! Oh no, not Hagrid!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw a figure raising a wand. Harry recognized him as Antonin Dolohov. He rolled over just in time to avoid the blast that hit the giant tree behind Harry. It started to fall with a loud cracking sound.

"Sectumsempra!" Dolohov couldn't block the spell. His face and chest were ripped by the curse and he fell on his back jerking with pain and bleeding.

Harry turned around trying to find Sirius and Hermione. His view was blocked by the fallen tree. He tried to make his way back through the broken branches. On his left the fire spread engulfing bushes into flames. Harry could smell the smoke and feel the mounting heat.

Obviously magically shielded from the blaze, four Death Eaters appeared from the wall of fire and were now heading towards Harry. He could see their cloaks streaming against the flames as they walked. Their dark figures were growing bigger as they were approaching casting long dancing shadows before them. The explosions of fire and flaming sparks dazzled the night sky above the Forbidden Forest.

"I have to hide! They'll see me." Harry thought. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance against four grown up wizards. But the branches of the fallen tree were getting thicker and stronger as he was pulling back and he couldn't make it through. Desperately trying to run he fell and got tangled in the ivy and blackthorn. He couldn't use his wand and he couldn't pull the cloak or Firebolt. The commotion attracted the Death Eaters' attention and they turned towards his position. The more he struggled the more entangled he became. Then panic seized him. He had to think of something fast.

"If you want to be a serpent you wish to become a serpent." Athena's words rang in his head. "Of course!"

The Death Eaters couldn't find the boy they could see seconds ago.

"Where is he?" Harry could hear their voices.

"Keep looking! He can't have just disappeared from the face of the earth!" One of them shouted blasting his way through the brushwood.

"Maybe he Apparated."

"We'd hear the sound!" The Death Eater snapped exasperatedly. "And who'd be able to apparate in such conditions? Honestly Crabbe!"

Harry didn't hear the rest of the argument, because he slid through the branches looking for Sirius and Hermione. He could hear the sound of the battle fading away.

It was then that he saw Sirius lying on the ground withering in pain.

sss

After Hagrid fell, Sirius engaged in the battle trying to keep the Death Eaters at the distance. He saw Harry's 'girlfriend' setting a giant tree in front of her to fire. He shouted at Hermione "Take cover! I'll take care of them!" It was a bit of an overstatement – he couldn't possibly take care of so many Death Eaters single-handedly.

When Moody and others attacked, Sirius looked around in order to get them all to a safer position. Remus was still petrified and helpless and Harry was out of sight.

Sirius could hear Harry say in a broken voice: "Not Hagrid!"

"We have to pull back!" He yelled.

Hermione gasped in shock. "But what about Professor Lupin?" She shouted.

Sirius didn't have time to comprehend the fact that she called Remus 'Professor'. He turned back when they heard the blast and cracking sound of the falling tree. Both dived in the opposite directions. Sirius could see Remus lying beneath the branches. He tried to pull him out when unbearable pain knocked him onto the ground.

"Crucio!" Bellatrix Lestrange was standing behind him laughing while he screamed.

"Good evening dear cousin. How are you today?" She cackled sarcastically. "You seem to be in a lot of pain."

"Go to Hell, you bitch." Sirius spat at her.

"Crucio!" She stepped closer. "You never learnt your manners. It was always you that spoiled everything! You filthy Gryffindor! You just couldn't be sorted to Slytherin like the rest of family. Crucio!" She paused every time after casting the curse obviously enjoying watching him withering in pain.

"Oh no, you preferred your mudblood friends. Crucio!" She was hysteric. "Where are they now?" Her eyes were burning in utter hatred. "I still remember your first year. I was looking forward greeting you in Hogwarts. But no, not you. You had better plans. Better friends. You didn't even come home for Christmas! Blood traitor! CRUCIO!"

sss

Harry raised his eyes and saw Bellatrix standing above Sirius, pointing her wand at him as he was twitching in pain. As quickly as he could he transformed himself back into the human. Fortunately she didn't hurry to finish Sirius off. Harry could hear her hideous laughter, as she was taking her time like they were not in the middle of the battle.

As Harry was transforming blinding hate filled him. He remembered every bad thing she did. He remembered Neville's parents and her triumphant scream as Sirius fell through the Veil and died. While the memories were speeding trough his head he wished to destroy her. To make she didn't exist, to wipe her from the face of the earth. He had never felt like that. But most of all Harry remembered her words:

"Never used an Unforgivable curse before have you boy? You have to mean it Potter! You need to really want to cause pain!"

"NO! Not this time!" He shouted pointing his wand. In a split second she turned; but it was too late.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" In an instant Harry felt like something was sucking his soul out. Every cell of his body trembled while the surge of energy rushed towards his right hand. He could feel no air in his lungs and a splitting pain going from his skull, over his chest to every bone of his body. Everything froze for a very brief moment and thenthe blinding green light left the tip of his wand and hit Bellatrix straight in the chest.

Harry did mean it.

Her lifeless body fell to the ground. Lord Voldemort's most faithful follower was dead.

Totally exhausted, Harry stepped forward and fell to his knees staring at her. The pain was gone with the flash, but he felt emptiness spreading from his chest and unnatural coldness in his blood. Bellatrix didn't look evil anymore, but almost innocent and so peaceful, so serene. Surprised, he realized how small and fragile she seemed. And then, the pain was back again. His forehead was burning like never before.

"The scar!" He cried "My scar is back!" He didn't dare to touch it.

Sirius looked at Harry in disbelief. "You killed Bellatrix!" He exclaimed.

"Bellatrix is dead! The boy killed her!" One of the Death Eaters yelled, pointing at them.

Like awaken from a dream, Harry jumped and looked around. "Where's Hermione?"

"It doesn't matter now! We've got to get out of here before they arrive! Finite Incartium!" He lifted the spell from Remus. He stood up still looking shocked at Tonks' betrayal.

"I can't believe it…all this time, she was working for them." He said, yanking his head towards the Death Eaters, who were cautiously getting closer. Bellatrix' death apparently shook them. It gave Sirius, Remus and Harry some time to regroup as Moody and others were joining them.

"I won't leave her! HERMIONE!" Harry bellowed, frantically looking around.

"Over here!" He heard her voice from the other side of the fallen tree. Behind him, Sirius and Remus were firing curses towards the Death Eaters.

Before he could do anything else, he heard someone say "AVADA KEDAVRA!" and Hermione's scream of terror as a flash of green light illuminated the forest. He could hear the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"No, Hermione! NO!"

"There's nothing you can do for her anymore. She's gone." Sirius grabbed him tightly. "We've got to go before it's too late." Harry struggled, but Sirius wouldn't let go.

"Portus!" Remus made the portkey. Moody and a few others were already around him. Harry recognized Kingsley Shacklebolt, Angelina Johnson, and Cedric Diggory.

"Quickly, take the portkey!" Sirius told him.

Harry took the portkey. Moody started counting "One… "

"Something is wrong."

"Two…"

"She screamed! Bella didn't let a sound out of her mouth!"

"Three…" but just before Moody said the last number, Harry released the portkey. The next moment they disappeared leaving only Harry behind.

sss

"Bring the injured in here!" Madam Pomfrey commanded. "I'll take care of heavy wounds first, the others will have to wait!"

"Where is Harry? Where are Hagrid and Tonks?" McGonagall asked Remus and Sirius.

"Harry? But he should be here! HARRY!" Sirius was panicky.

"He must have stayed, to find that girl." Remus added resigned. He looked completely shattered.

"Perhaps he'll come with the other group." Moody was nervous, waiting for the rest of his squad to arrive.

"What happened there? Will someone tell me?" McGonagall asked again.

Moody stepped in. "It was a trap like I said. Only it was Tonks that betrayed us."

"No! Surely not Tonks!" McGonagall looked at them in disbelief like expecting that someone would deny Moody's words.

"Believe it or not! Hagrid paid with his life because of it!" Moody was furious.

Every word was like a dagger, being stabbed into Remus' heart, over and over again.

"Mad-Eye, you disobeyed my orders. I told you to stay here until I come back." Sirius turned to the old auror.

"As a matter of fact you left me in charge. And as the commanding officer I took initiative and led us to counter ambush. If we trained those kids like I said we should have, there would be far more Death Eaters that tasted death." Moody responded stubbornly.

"Who did you kill?"

"Parkinson."

"Splendid. Now his kids will be our sworn enemies to the rest of their lives. Are you going to kill them too? We can't kill them all, Med-Eye. Don't you understand?" It was apparent that this wasn't the first time they had this argument.

"You sound like Albus. If we had killed more of Death Eaters when we had a chance, we wouldn't be in this position, and many good people would still be alive, including him! But no, we had to put them all in Azkaban. And of course when Dementors rebelled, we had them back in action." Moody raised his voice.

"Dumbledore was a great wizard and a noble man!"

"And now he is a dead wizard and our children and grandchildren are enslaved and all we have is this filthy hole you call Headquarters! How noble is that?"

"The Death Eaters never came in such a number and fought so fiercely like tonight. They were after something. The Ministry wouldn't send so many of them to one place. All of Voldemort's best followers were there. Bellatrix, Karkaroff, Rookwood, Dolohov, Crouch… they were all there. Why?" Sirius said more to himself.

Moody continued: "That boy couldn't be Harry. He must be an imposter. No boy of that age can cast the Killing Curse. I've never seen such a powerful Killing Curse before. And he was a slave too."

"A killing curse?" McGonagall repeated faintly. "Who…"

"Bellatrix. My cousin. He saved my life."

"He's an Animagus, too." Remus added.

"What kind of Animagus?" Sirius gasped in surprise.

"That's the most intriguing of all. A snake Animagus."

"But there was only one snake Animagus recorded in history! It was Athena Malfoy, one of the headmistresses of Hogwarts." McGonagall exclaimed.

"Animagus or not, he knows how to fight. I wish I had more like him here. But it couldn't be Harry!" Moody couldn't calm down. "Finally they've arrived." He turned to the rest of his squad.

Sirius looked but immediately realized that Harry wasn't among them.

"You can say what ever you like, but I know it was Harry. I'll find him, even if it's the last thing I do. And I'll find Karkaroff. He'll pay for killing that girl. You'll remain in charge, I'm going back!" Sirius stepped towards the exit.

Moody stood on his way followed by Remus.

"Don't be foolish. There's no point going there now. Even in your wild shape it'd take you one hour to get there." Moody said.

"They don't know that he is an Animagus and telling by his actions he'll turn into a snake and sneak to them unnoticed. But they know Padfoot very well. They'll kill you on the spot if they see you." Remus added.

For a three or four seconds Sirius struggled with his own feelings. Only twenty minutes ago he had Harry in his arms. The hug brought him memories of the happy life he'd once had. And now it's all lost. It was his fault. He should have known that Harry wouldn't leave her, the same way James didn't leave Lilly.

"Don't worry. It's not all lost. We'll find him tomorrow. He'll be hiding somewhere in the forest. You'll find him by your scent. Get some rest now." Remus put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. He knew what his friend was thinking.

"Yes Remus, we'll find him." Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry about Tonks. I really am mate." he added.

Remus nodded.

A/N

Not a dull chapter from now on. Many thanks to all that reviewed last chapter (both of you), especially to madm05 – you write really great. It makes your reviews so precious. I changed this chapter at the last moment and it will alter the story flow. I can't make any promises, but some delays are possible. I wish you had enjoyable reading and please review.