Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter.
I am sorry for my absence over the last month, real life has been so hectic that I haven't had time to upload a new chapter. Can you believe its been 25 days :-o. I shall try harder over the next couple of weeks.
Here is one of my favourite chapters due to various reasons and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Harry was lying on the cold damp ground it was dark and he could hear panicked voices, barely opening his eyes more than a couple of millimetres he could see all The Death Eaters huddled around Voldermort who also appeared to be on the ground. He closed his eyes and awaited the moment someone came to check he was dead. "My my Lord are you ok?" Bellatrix asked him
"I am fine. You there go and check that the boy is dead." Whoever he had ordered to check was moving closer to him, he strained his ears and he could hear Hermione sobbing. 'She is still alive.' the relief flooded him. The person's body was now above him who bent down and a feminine hand shifted under his t shirt and to feel his heart beat. The short intake of breathe told Harry they could feel his heart racing however she moved her body as to hide her face from the others and lowered her head.
"Is Draco alive, is he safe?" It was Nassica Malfoy and without thinking about what he was doing Harry moved his head a fraction up and down to nod a yes to her. She stood up and faced The Death Eaters his fate now in her hands."The boy is dead My Lord you are victorious." The crowd cheered and Bellatrix smirked at Hermione who flinched at the stare.
"I think we should have some fun with him before we return his body to his supporters CRUCIO." Harry knew this was coming and forced his body to stay limp as he was lifted into the air as the curse threw him about, however it didn't hurt and he suspected it. He realised that his wand was not going to hurt him and he just had to keep limp so his body would bend similar to how it would if the real curse hit him. "You there carry Mr Potter, we shall pay the castle a visit and show them how I have defeated the boy. We can also show them how I will deal with those that who opposes me." Voldermort looked across at Hermione who had a tear strained face and smirked. Harry heard sobbing from above him and he was lifted into a pair of large arms realising that Hagrid had been in the clearing he forced his body to remain limp as he was carried to the school. A small hand grasped his and he realised Hermione must have been allowed to walk along side of Hagrid, she squeezed his hand so tight that he fought the urge to apply pressure back to her. She had to believe he was dead or his cover may be blown, fortunately she was too upset to notice that his hand was normal temperature and not turning cold like it should. Slowly the group made their way along the lawn and to the main entrance yard where Voldermort once again transported his voice. "Hogwarts I have a surprise for you, come to the Entrance Court Yard and see for yourself. I have killed Harry Potter now it is time for you to join me ... or die." Slowly the people who Harry had fought beside entered into the court yard and screams filled the air at the sight of his dead boy, beside him Hermione pulled herself together and gripped his arm tightly. "As you can see The Boy Who Lived has died at my hands, you have nothing left to fight for so now you have a choice. Who here is willing to join me and become one of my loyal followers? I welcome you all with open arms no matter your status. All of those who decline will have to be dealt with in accordance to their crimes." Silence filled the air as he smiled at the students and adults in front of him and suddenly he noticed Draco in the crowd. "Draco my dear boy, tell me why do you stand over there when you belong here with me and your parents? Be a good lad and come back to the right side." He stood there staring at the blonde who appeared to be rooted to the spot. Slowly he took a step forward and held his head low, silence enveloped him from the body of people behind him as he took further steps towards the dark side. Voldermort greeted him with open arms and hugged him before letting him be ushered by his parents towards the back of the group. "See you have nothing to be afraid of, do not fear me." Still grinning like a lunatic he looked at the individual faces in front of him and a movement to the left hand of the group made him spin around. Slowly Neville was walking towards him with shouts from the crowd behind telling him not to do it.
"Who do we have here?" He cocked his head to the side to assess the wizard in front of him. Behind him Draco was silently indicating to not come any closer, it wasn't worth it.
"My name is Neville Longbottom." To this Bellatrix cackled with laughter and stared at the man who had stopped between the two forces.
"Well Mr Longbottom I am sure I can find a place for you within our ranks. Although you are not to the standards I was hoping for.." The only light in the courtyard was from the burning walls of Hogwarts and the light from the Entrance Hall making it difficult to assess the facial expressions of the teenager.
"Can I say something?" With a shocked nod from Voldermort he turned towards his friends "Harry did not die in vain, he would want us to fight and to stand up to this injustice. He would not stand by and watch us one by one surrender our lives to this crazed pureblood bigot who is only a half blood. He would want us to fight and to stand up for our selves, he would want us to protect those we love and care for. Those who Voldermort would have killed because of their parents blood status." He looked at Hermione and smiled. "I for one will not stand aside and watch this happen. I spoke to Harry before he went to face this murderer and he told me not to give up if ... " He was cut off due to being stunned by the enraged wizard, his body thrown into a pile of rubble due to the spell.
"Shall I show you what will happen to all of you those oppose me, bring the mudblood here." Hermione was roughly dragged from Harry and forced onto the ground below Voldermort, realising that it was now or never Harry pulled his invisibility cloak over him and made a run for it. Voldemort raised his wand at the brunette, who held her head high and was no longer crying she was going to die with dignity, "Cruc..." he was cut off by Hagrids painful shout.
"ARRY HAS GONE." The half giant was looking into his arms in shock, the body which had been there a few moments ago had disappeared from his arms. In a moment of weakness Voldermort turned towards him and Hermione ran back towards the safety of the castle while shooting hex's at the unsuspecting Death Eater's. Panic erupted through Voldermort's army and half of them apperated away to safety, including The Malfoys, with Voldermort screaming after them, suddenly he ran at the shocked group of resistance and started to fire curses in all directions. Everyone ran back into the castle and the war broke out again between the two sides. Harry, who was under the cloak, started to cast shield charms on everybody he passed who was on his side. Running through the group he saw Hermione fighting a well trained Death Eater he climbed the stairs and pulled his cloak off.
"VOLDERMORT IT IS ME YOU WANT NOT THEM!" He yelled over the crowd and everyone stopped duelling to see him, Hermione almost cried for joy but decided to disarm her opponent while they were not looking. Suddenly the fight broke out again and Harry fired a range of curses at the man who was advancing on him which caused the area to light up in various colours including red, green, orange and purple. As quickly as he appeared Harry then disappeared again as Voldermort took fight and grabbed him launching the pair into the air. Hermione barely had time to watch them as they left via a stair case window when she heard a hissing behind her. Spinning around she saw Nagini coiled up ready to strike, quickly aiming a reducto curse at the snake she sprinted into the court yard while avoiding the spells flying between the two sides. Finally tripping over a pile of rubble she watched in horror as Nagini launched itself at her, however in mid flight two things happened. Neville jumped over the rubble slicing the head off of the snake with The Sword of Gryffindor and Snape levitated a pile of rubble above her head to prevent the snake hitting her. The serpents body landed at her feet unmoving and then evaporated into a cloud of smoke.
"Well done Mr Longbottom, you have just done the most sensible thing I have ever seen you do, Miss Granger with me we need to find Potter." He reached down grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, the trio slowly advanced across the court yard disposing of as many Death Eater's as possible while dodging various hex's and curse's that was thrown at them. The court yard was lit up from all the duelling between both sides it caused an orange glow that had streaks of green, if she wasn't duelling for her life Hermione would have been in awe. Once they reached the far side of the court yard a dark mass came crashing to the ground beside of them, putting an end to all of the duelling in the vicinity. Voldermort's joy ride with Harry had ended when Harry forced the other wizard's flight path to change, from crashing through Hogwarts, to landing roughly on the ground. He had achieved this feat using muggle fighting and he had punched Riddle in the side of the head, when he faltered due to the snake being killed, causing him to become unconscious for a split second. The pair crashed into the ground and was thrown 40 foot apart, their wands flung from the owner's hand. The whole audience watched as the pair slowly scrabbled for their wands and started to circle each other, waiting for the first strike of the battle between them.
"You know what Tom you have wasted your time. Your followers have betrayed you, your snake is dead and I am still alive. You think you can defeat me with that wand? Well you can't. Have you not noticed how all the spells you have inflicted on my friends have not harmed them, you have been stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. I died for them like my Muggle Born Mother died to save me, the same reason you were stripped of your powers all those years ago. You never learn do you Riddle, love will overcome you in the end, I may not defeat you today but I know that everyone who loves me would fight until you were defeated." Voldermorts eyes glowed with hatred and if possible the red gleam in his eyes turned almost black.
"Let's see how you fair in this Potter, I am the master of the Death Stick. I killed Severus Snape." His rant was cut short by Harry laughing at him, Hermione shot a curious look at the man stood next to her and poked him to make sure he was real.
"Severus was never the master of that wand. The night of Dumbledore's death Draco Malfoy disarmed him and thus claimed ownership of that wand. Oh and before you think of flying out of here to kill Draco you should know that I disarmed him at Malfoy Manor in March. I am the true master of that wand Tom and you will not be able to kill me with it, I hope you are ready to meet your maker." With that Harry shot a disarming spell at him followed by a stupefy and a cruciatus curse. These were deflected by Voldermort and he sent a torrent of his own spells at Harry who managed to dodge and block them, suddenly he was blasted off of his feet by an explosion jinx shot at the ground under him. Flying backwards through the air he manage to gauge his landing and barrel rolled onto his feet, turning on the spot he jumped to the side to avoid a curse fired at him. Sending a non verbal sectumsempra at his opponent he dived behind a column to avoid the spell fire. Breathing heavily and realising he was quickly running out of energy he levitated a block and launched it at his unsuspecting rival, Riddle blasted the object into pieces and casted a fire ball at him. Momentarily freezing at the sight he had to dive out of the way of the oncoming assault to which he sent a wall of water at his attacker, who separated the wall and watched it with an amused expression as it hit the wall behind him. Harry shot a severing jinx at Tom who misjudged his timing and was hit on the cheek causing blood to run out of the wound. Placing a finger to his face and feeling the warmth from the blood Voldermort yelled and blasted the wall above Harry causing him to dive for cover while sending various stunning spells at his opponent. The display carried on between the two who fired spell after spell at each other while dodging and shielding themselves, Harry sent a volley of jinx's at his rival followed by a stream of fire who deflected it towards the crowd around them. Realising that his opponent was becoming bored by the display, and was likely to attack his friends, he sent another curio curse at him which made contact with Riddle, putting all of his anger into his spell he watched as Voldermort writher in pain. Even though Voldermort had hot knives piercing his skin he aimed a severing spell at Harry whom deflected it towards the column behind him. He missed the second curse sent his way by The Dark Lord which hit him square in the chest, fire roared through his veins causing him to collapse to his knees. Looking back towards his rival he quickly casted a disarming spell at Riddle who had casted a killing spell at him, the two spells collided with each other and exploded with a shock wave that knocked everyone to the floor. Looking up Harry saw a wand cart wheeling towards him and extending his hand he caught it, he looked across the court yard and saw the motionless body of Voldermort. Realisation hit him of his tasking being finally over when suddenly the pain in his veins increased, making his blood feel like it was magma and he blacked out.
As people started to stand they were frozen at the sight before them Voldermort and Harry had fought to the death and it had been an amazing battle. Hermione awoke from her frozen state and ran towards her best friend fearing the worse, reaching him she knelt down and felt for a pulse. Relief flooded her as she felt a faint pulse but was ushered aside by Snape and Minerva who quickly cast status spells over him and with one look at Minerva Snape levitated Harry, grabbed hold of Hermione's hand and apperated the pair to 's hospital. Minerva strode towards the lifeless body of Voldermort and casted the same spell which confirmed he was dead, she had seen how Severus had saved Hermione and Neville from various spells and trusted him realising he was fighting for the light side. Turning to the crowd that had appeared she cleared her throat "Voldermort is defeated." She Casted a spell that captured the remaining Death Eater's in a magical ring, a spell Dumbledore had taught her shortly before his death. "Well what are we waiting for, collect the bodies of our dead and place them in The Great Hall. Kingsley would you kindly contact the Auror department and have them come and take these scumbags away. I think we need to celebrate." She looked towards the east and saw the sun rising over the mountains 'He did it, well done Potter.' With that she walked into the castle to aid in the collection of bodies 'so many have fallen for a good cause. We shall remember them all.' All around her people were crying with relief and grief, some people were sat in shock at what had happened while others were hugging friends and families. 'It has been dark for too long, time for the light to shine through.' With that Minerva shot a spell from her wand and the castle was instantly bathed in warm light, she then walked back into the court yard and levitated Tom Riddles body and placed it into a storage cupboard in the Entrance Hall.
Meanwhile at 's Hermione followed Professor Snape along the corridors until they reached the fourth floor for spell damaged patients. As they entered the ward five healers came rushing towards the trio and took Harry into an examination room Snape grabbed hold of the brunette and shook his head at her as she made her way to follow. "Granger you should wait out here, and I want you checking out before I head back to Hogwarts." He went to leave when she grabbed hold of his sleeve.
"Professor why did Voldermort think he had killed you." She steered the pair towards some seats and sat down looking at him with curiosity etched into her bruised face.
"It is a long story but I shall tell you a brief version for today, I am sure you can wait for the full story once Potter is better. The Dark Lord summoned me to his side shortly before I met Potter outside of The Headmaster's office, I knew at some point he would want to dispose of me due to The Elder Wand. So using an unsuspecting Death Eater and Polyjuice Potion I fooled Riddle into believing he had me in his presence and watched him kill Lestrange Senior. I of course was watching from a nearby location so I could use the imperious cure successfully and answer all of his questions as I would have answered them. Now wait here while I get a healer." He left a very speechless witch behind him and explained what had happened to the pair of them to a healer who had just exited the examination room, the latter walked towards Hermione after her conversation with Severus and beckoned her to follow her into a different examination room, while quickly explaining to her colleagues what Harry had been through.
"Oh Professor." Snape turned around to face her and she ran up to him and hugged him "Thank you for saving my life in March, Harry never told me but I knew it had to have been you. Thank you." She turned on her heal and headed towards the nurse leaving a very embarrassed Severus Snape behind; if she had turned around she would have seen him smiling.
So there we have it another chapter uploaded. Please do not forget to R&R :-)