The Victor

You're not alone,
Together we stand,
I'll be by your side,
You know I'll take your hand,

When it gets cold,
And it feels like the end,
There's no place to go,
You know I won't give in
Keep Holding On- Avril Lavigne

"Harry Potter is dead."

The words crashed over every person in the castle like a bucket of ice water. There was a terribly victorious sort of glee in the voice that pierced the grievous scene that was the Great Hall. All around, people clutched their wands harder and held onto their friends like they were all that were tethering each other to the earth.

It chilled everyone to the bone, and even those who were grieving for people they lost were forced to quiet their crying and listen. Molly finally moved from where she clutched the body of her dead son, her eyes full of tears until she clenched them shut. Even George's painful sobs were quieted. His eyes stared wide and empty at the floor. Hermione and Ron both looked at each other with damp faces, stricken with fear.

"He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. Your hero was nothing more than a coward."

"He's lying." Ginny seethed with clenched fists trembling at her sides. "Harry would never run."

She wasn't alone in her disbelief. Neville was picking himself up from where he sat with Seamus and glaring up at the ceiling as if he expected Voldemort to descend from it any minute.

Ron wished with all his heart that they were right. But he knew, as did Hermione, that they were only half right. Harry hadn't tried to flee. He had done the very opposite. He'd gone to give himself up so they could get at the snake.

"Come out and see your hero." The voice sneered. "We bring you the body as proof. I will kill every man, woman and child who tries to resist…come out."

He sounded close now and as the voice faded away. Everyone inside could hear the gleeful jeering of the Death Eaters who were standing before the great doors of Hogwarts.

Led by McGonagall with Neville close behind her, everyone who could rose to their feet without saying a word. Gently, Bill placed a hand on George's shoulder who lingered unmoving beside his twin.
"George…" His voice was cracked and hoarse, but he didn't need to say anything else as his younger brother shrugged off his hand and stood up slowly.

They all filed out, dirty and injured, but no less defiant of Voldemort and his followers. Slowly, they trickled out of the doors to face the victors of the battle. George stopped beside Percy, behind Ron and Hermione at the front of the crowd, and his face contorted into a scowl of fury.
The Death Eaters stood in a large group in the courtyard, all clothed in black and some looking worse than others, but all wearing cruel smirks. Bellatrix Lestrange's cackle cut the air like a knife as she skipped along the length of the line on her Master's right hand, waving her wand in the air and laughing sadistically.

"We won! We won!" She laughed, kicking a stray rock at them with the toe of her boot.

But it wasn't she, or even Voldemort himself who stood smiling horribly in front of his psychotic lieutenant, that commanded everyone's attention. Hagrid, his huge figure bound in chains, was forced to stand out in front of the Death Eaters who were ready to kill the half-giant at the first sign of aggression. It was he, and the body he cradled like a baby in his huge arms, that drew all eyes.

It was most unmistakeably Harry.

"The Boy Who Lived is dead!" Voldemort's voice rang out, and all his followers, save the Malfoys who had pushed their way to the front, laughed cruelly.

The first scream, to everyone's great surprise, came from McGonagall, who clapped her hands over her mouth and whose normally strict eyes were filling with tears.

"Harry!" Ginny's scream was even worse and she burst from the crowd to run towards him. Her tangled hair flying around her face and her eyes full of new tears. He couldn't be dead. But the proof was there and still she refused to believe it. She made it only a few steps before Arthur's heavy footsteps crunched over the rubble behind her and he pulled her back, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"Stupid girl!" Voldemort shrieked. "Harry Potter is dead…from this day forth, you put your faith in me."

"NO!"

Ron roared and Hermione screamed together as they too tried to pull ahead. Ron reached for his wand in fury before Percy clapped his hand down on his arm.
"Don't!"

The gasps and horrified cries were starting to weave into the crowd now, before, "SILENCE!" There was a loud bang as Voldemort raised his wand above their heads and several people ducked instinctively.

"He was killed running, he would let all his friends die to save himself…a pity it was all for naught." Voldemort continued, his snake like face contorted into a terrifyingly gleeful smile. "Harry Potter was never anything more than a boy and a cowar-"

"He beat you!" Ron roared and lunged forward, stopped only by Percy who threw his arms around his younger brother's chest to hold him back.
He wasn't the only one shouting and struggling to charge. All through the group of surviving defenders, witches and wizards were crying and roaring their defiance. Neville, Seamus, Bill and even Luna looked ready to lunge into the fray once more.

There was a second loud bang and the noise was silenced once again.

"Join me!" Voldemort's voice rang out as silence covered his opposition. "I will spare your lives, and those of your families if you chose to follow me…." His laugh was high, cold and piercing and was echoed by the ranks of Death Eaters behind him.
"Defy me any longer…and you, and your loved ones will be destroyed with The Boy Who Lived."

All hope had been lost. George saw no light at the end of this tunnel now. It was over, Voldemort had won, they couldn't beat him. Harry must have known how but now his body lay in Hagrid's arms for all to see. George's jaw clenched and his eyes, which had never fully dried, refilled with angry tears. They'd all died in vain. His twin, his best friend, had given his life, and for what? There was no point in it anymore. Fred was dead for nothing. Perhaps it was the Gryffindor in him, or perhaps he was just so overcome with grief that he didn't care at all anymore, but George found the hand clutching his wand twitch at his side and felt himself filled with an urge to throw himself at Voldemort. He could do nothing against him, but that didn't matter. At least he would die fighting. If he died it would stop hurting. He and Fred would go as they lived, together.

All of a sudden, Neville was moving in front him, limping heavily and bleeding from his head but steadily moving forwards to stand before Voldemort himself. There was one terrible moment in which George could feel the stares of the students as they clearly thought he was going over to join the Death Eaters.

Clearly, they thought so too as there was an uproar of scornful laughter from the Death Eaters, led first by Bellatrix Lestrange who was cackling gleefully at him.

"I'd like to say something." Neville called out loudly and Voldemort's mocking face twisted into one of suppressed anger.

"Well I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say…"

"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone…people die every day….

The air suddenly seemed far colder, and far more constricting. Every eye was fixed on Neville who stood alone, between the Death Eaters and Hogwarts, taking his stand.

"We lost Harry tonight…but he's still with us. He's still here…" Neville's voice grew and he placed a hand over his chest, turning to face the survivors. He looked first at the Weasleys and then slowly widened his gaze to the crowd.

"So is Fred, Remus…Tonks…they didn't die in vain."

George saw Percy twitch out of the corner of his eye and felt a sharp pang in his chest at Fred's name. He was very aware of how empty the space to his right was, where his twin should be standing.

And then suddenly, Voldemort's face had gone cold and cruel and Neville was shouting. There was a great flash of silver and Neville was no long unarmed.

Everything else happened so quickly that if anyone had blinked, they would have missed it. Harry rolled out of Hagrid's arms and onto his feet, sparking a great rally cry from all the survivors who drew their wands and readied themselves to fight again. The flame of hope was rekindled in George's gut and he forgot for a moment as he spun automatically to his right to share the moment with his twin brother. "F-" His heart sunk back down to his shoes as he realised there was no one there.

Voldemort's cry of fury and the scrambling of Death Eaters as they charged forward again was rivalled only by a war cry from the castle's boundaries.

xxxXxxx

Please don't be too late, oh please don't be too late. Panic started to race through the wizard's head as he Apparated into the outskirts of Hogsmeade. All around him dozens of witches and wizards were appearing. These were the family and friends of those who were fighting in Hogwarts, and some past students who hadn't heard the word. Horace Slughorn, who was still in his emerald green pyjamas, hurried over to his side.

"I should say we have a good force about to be here! Let's just hope they didn't need it earlier." The older wizard puffed, slightly out of breath as he looked up at the castle.

Charlie Weasley had a strong feeling that those fighting at Hogwarts could have needed the back up much earlier. The school was in ruins and smoke and dust was still settling around it. They had done what they could. Rallying every able bodied person who was willing to help had not been an easy task. It had taken hours on end to track down the families of the students who had remained behind. But better late than never.

Unwilling to wait any longer, Charlie held his wand aloft and shot sparks in the air.
"With me!" He bellowed as loud as he could and started sprinting as fast as he could toward towards Hogwarts.

How many people had died? How many people were left alive and fighting? Were they still fighting? Charlie had no idea, he just wished he had been there to fight with his family sooner rather than later.

As they thundered into the grounds, Charlie felt it shake beneath his feet and suddenly from the Forest burst a whole herd of Centaurs charging towards the courtyard, arrows sailing towards a sea of black robes that were Voldemort's ranks.

With a bull-like roar, Charlie hurtled past Slughorn over the bridge and led the reinforcements to battle.

His wand drawn and raised, the second eldest of the Weasley children leapt head first into fray that had begun anew. Unable to get a jinx in, he settled for pulling back his fist and punching the nearest Death Eater square in the jaw as hard as he could.

They were all being forced back into the castle now, wizards from both sides were storming up the steps and fighting all within reach.

There was a loud bang and Dolohov went screaming by Charlie's head and almost knocked him to the floor.

He scanned the sea of heads as best he could, for any heads of red hair that could be his family. With a cheer, Bill suddenly appeared at his side.

"You're alive!" Charlie whooped with a lopsided grin, clapping a hand on his older brother's shoulder. He had no time to ask why Bill seemed to flinch at his statement, or why his face was emptier and sadder than Charlie remembered ever seeing it, before he was suddenly caught up in a duel.

"And you're late!" Bill called back over the roar of activity. His earring glinting as a jet of green light flew close by his head.

"Better late than never! At least you saved some of the gits for me!"

The battle had flooded into the Great Hall, those who were left were fighting in very close proximity to everyone else now. There was no spreading over the castle, and now Voldemort himself had joined the fray.

There was no time to grieve, no time to think about all the bodies that lay now in harm's way again along the length of the Hall. Harry was alive. There was still something left to fight for and that's all that anyone could afford to think about.

Yaxley screamed and then fell unconscious to the ground under the combined force of George and Lee's spells, Thicknesse, who had recovered and retreated earlier, was floored again by Percy and Arthur.

"Draco!" Narcissa Malfoy screamed over the din, and George stumbled to the side as Lucius Malfoy pushed his way through, echoing his wife. They had long since abandoned Voldemort's battle, caring about nothing more in that moment than finding their son.

As George stumbled back, he collided with someone and whipped around ready to attack before he realised it was his father who too had his wand raised ready and lowered it as he saw George.

Hermione, Ginny and Luna were all duelling Bellatrix who seemed to be holding all three of them back with ease as she danced along one of the stands, amid all their spells with a twisted sneer. Suddenly Ginny screamed and barely brought up her wand in time to divert the Killing Curse, barely escaping death.

"Ginny!"

George and Arthur both whirled around and ran toward the three girls, about to leap to their aid and take on Bellatrix themselves.

Lestrange sneered and laughed at the rescue attempt and Luna's wand went flying from her hands.

"How sweet!" She cooed but before either of the wizards could so much as open their mouths, someone else barrelled between them.

Molly's hair flew and her eyes were wide in rage as she roared out her fury and George was momentarily so shocked at the language that came from his mother that he forgot who she was going up against.

"Molly!"

"OUT OF MY WAY!"

Bellatrix burst into hysterical laughter as the plump, aging witch scrambled up to face her. This poor, out of shape, housewife of a witch dared to challenge her?
"Come on then, Granny!" She shrieked, her wild hair flying all around her face as she leapt up and down and both witches started to duel.

The sight was terrifying to behold. The three girls who had been duelling Bellatrix before were forced into a stunned sort of halt along with Arthur and George as every one of them saw Molly Weasley in a whole new light.

And it wasn't just that group. Almost everyone in the Hall had come to a stop and was watching the two duels that still raged on. McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley were all duelling Voldemort on the other side of the Hall.

Molly stumbled as Bellatrix's curse struck the floor by her left foot and she nearly toppled over, much to Lestrange's delight.

"Mum-"

"Mol-"

"NO!" Molly shrieked and George, Ginny and Arthur all skidded to a halt as she refused their help. "Get back! She is mine!"

Bellatrix roared with laughter again and then suddenly yelped as Molly fought on with a renewed vigour and fury that actually forced Bellatrix back several paces, forced to stop her onslaught and defend herself. The twisted sneer became a snarl and jets of green and red flew from both wands. They were both fighting to kill, there was no doubt about it.

"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" She taunted, deflecting Molly's curse and sending it right back at her. Her cold eyes crept over Molly's shoulder to the three other Weasleys right behind her, and beyond them to the line of bodies where she knew one of the sons lay. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?!"

And suddenly George was throwing himself forward with a feral snarl, held back by his father's firm hands on his arms.

Molly had already lost one child tonight, she wasn't about to lose any more. Her brown eyes grew dark and flashed with a fierce burning fire. She would not abide being taunted about their loss by anyone. Least of all Bellatrix Lestrange. Her reign of madness and death ended now.

"You-will-never-touch-our-children-again!" She screamed, punctuating each word with a new spell.

The whole world seemed to go silent for a long few seconds as her curse finally struck its mark. Bellatrix started to laugh, and then her face went slack and her eyes bulged as she realised these were her last living moments. She had been bested.

Bellatrix Lestrange swayed and fell hard, dead at the feet of Molly Weasley.

"Blimey, Mum…" Ginny murmured as she gaped in disbelief.

Cheers exploded from the defenders of Hogwarts and Voldemort screamed in fury, throwing back his three opponents as easily as if they had been pillows.

Molly's hand fell limply to her side, her wand held loosely in her fingers and she climbed back down to the floor. She was out of breath but there was an undeniable glint of pride in her eyes at what she had achieved.

Arthur suddenly swept her into a crushing embrace. Nobody saw Voldemort raise his wand and point it across the hall directly at her. And then suddenly, Harry was there and Voldemort was circling him like a terrible beast would circle its prey. All eyes were on them, no one dared look away for fear that they would miss a second. This was it, one way or another, this battle would end for good.

"I don't want anyone else to try to help." Harry called out and those who had been about to take a few steps to his side, stopped. "It's got to be like this."

George slowly became aware of Bill, Percy, Charlie, Fleur, Ron and Hermione all edging towards them, grouping together. He supposed it was from some previously unknown need to be alongside each other as a family if this was to be it.

So still was the Hall save for Harry and Voldemort, that it seemed like no one else even dared draw breath too loudly.

And then suddenly, as the dawn finally broke over the castle, bursting through the shattered and crumbling walls, two spells were screamed.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The flash of light as red and green jets collided in the air was almost blinding it was so bright and somebody, George could not tell who, screamed.

And then, as suddenly as it had happened, it was over. There was a cold, stiff silence as Tom Riddle finally crumpled, defeated into a twisted pile of black robes and Harry stood victorious at last, two wands clutched in his fist.

The roaring of cheers and applause was deafening as every person joined in. George threw his arms around his sister before she was sprinting towards Harry. Hermione and Ron were already hugging Harry, and then Neville, and Luna flew past George towards the victor.

He ran with the rest of his family, who were next to throw their arms around Harry, no doubt very near crushing him in their happiness.

Voldemort was vanquished. The only ones who had need to fear now, were what was left of the Death Eaters. Any of them who could still move had either fled or been restrained.

It was over.