Author's Note: THE CLIMAX OF THE STORY IS FINALLY DONE! I really hope you guys enjoy this. I spent a lot of thought and effort writing it. I couldn't think properly the rest of the day yesterday after I'd finished. I've been thinking about this chapter since I started writing this fic, whichwas a year ago, almost exactly! And the last two chatpers are coming tomorrow hopefully, so then I wil be DONE! No more leaving you hanging. I can move on to bigger and better things.

Just so y'all know, Gravestones is on hold until September. And if you are reading this and are originally one of my buds from I will not be posting Gravestones there anymore since they have retarded rules and won't let you leave something alone for a little while. Anyway, I promise I'm not abandoning that fic, I jsut have a play to write by the time school starts in three weeks. In September I will have ample boring classes to write all the fics I've promised, including Gravestones, Ditto, and Class Plans. Please keep with me, even after this story is done! Check my profile - it has all the news on all my fanfics.

Let me reiterate that in bold and underline it: CHECK MY PROFILE FOR MORE INFO ON MY OTHER STORIES AND WHEN THEY WILL BE COMING OUT! Whenever I have news, I post there. Also,I sometimes talk about it on my LiveJournal, which my "Homepage" link on my profile.

Anyway... this is 13 pages on Microsoft Word, so enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 21

And the world went Dark... ( -- That's the chapter title, btw!)

Harry was thrown into a desperate panic as he saw Ginny screaming in agony on the ground. He tried to go to her, but he was thrown down by an invisible force field. He cast every hex he could think of at Voldemort, but all of them bounced off the shield and he ended up hexing himself with jelly legs for a split second before he hurriedly muttered the counter curse.

"Stop it!" He shouted desperately. "Stop it, Tom, this isn't her fight!"

Voldemort lifted his wand, abruptly ending the curse, and watched Ginny twitch for a moment before answering.

"This isn't her fight, Harry? I thought all of you noble Muggle lovers believed everyone must fight for good and light and all that rubbish."

"Ginny!" he said loudly, fighting the tremor in his voice to be brave for her, though he knew she couldn't hear him. Trying not to vomit after seeing her in such pain he yelled, "Ginny, hold on!"

"Not going to answer me, Harry? Very well." Voldemort raised his wand and before Harry could even shout against it, he'd raised his wand on her again. "Crucio!"

Ginny twitched violently and screamed louder than Harry had ever heard her scream before. It was so loud that it gathered the attention of several duelists nearby, turning to see what victim was at the hands of the Dark Lord. Harry's blood boiled in anger and he ran toward the barrier, throwing all his weight into it. He felt the force collide with his shoulder, but then it gave way and Harry slipped through with only a slight buzzing in his ears. Voldemort was so surprised that he lifted the curse on Ginny, who promptly fell unconscious. Harry took this opportunity to run to her, kneeling down on the ground and calling to her to wake up while brushing her hair back from her face.

"How did you do that, Potter?" Voldemort spat, looking confused and incensed at the same time. "How did you break through my shield? I created that myself. There was no possible way for anyone to get in or out."

Harry didn't answer, but instead kept his full attention on Ginny.

"Ginny," he whispered frantically. "Ginny, you have to wake up. This is no time to become the damsel in distress. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Ginny remained unresponsive, however, even though some of her smaller muscles spasmed slightly from the Cruciatus Curse.

"No matter," Voldemort said, narrowing his slitted eyes and raising his wand. Now Harry had to pay attention. He was just about to raise his own wand, but Voldemort wordlessly summoned it to him, effectively disarming Harry and leaving him cornered.

Oh Merlin, Harry thought, shoving his hands into his pockets in search of anything that might help him. In his left hand pocket he felt a few wrappers and the map of the area. In the other… nothing but a little oval thing that Harry didn't know the purpose of. Wait! Harry thought, afraid to get his hopes up too high. Is that… It is! He kept a firm hold on the small capsule and grabbed Ginny's arm, waiting for the right moment.

Voldemort smiled at Harry's obvious desperation. "Searching your pockets for something to save you? Nothing and no one can help you now. Not your parents, your godfather, or our precious Dumbledore will be coming to your rescue this time Harry Potter. You always were a pathetic disgrace. Avada Kedavra!"

As soon as Voldemort uttered the deadly curse, Harry threw the object on the ground as hard as he could while clutching Ginny to him. He saw the green light begin to emerge from Voldemort's wand as if in slow motion before smoke emerged from the capsule below and enveloped them in serene quiet.

He was still on his knees, and Ginny was still lying down motionless next to him, but they were in a completely different place. It was a comfortable cream-colored room with a desk to his left, complete with three quills and several bottles of ink. There was a bookshelf in front of him, loaded with every book Harry had ever used at Hogwarts. To his right was a fireplace, letting in a comforting amount of light and warmth to make the room cheery and comfortable. Behind him stood a large queen size bed, covered with a soft down comforter.

Harry quickly put one arm under Ginny's knees and another under her upper back and carefully lifted her, trying not to notice how her head lolled around without any support. He walked over to the bed and set her down gently. He pulled the chair from the desk over to the side of the bed and sat there, holding her hand and waiting for her to wake up.

He didn't have to wait long. After a few moments of silence Ginny's eyes fluttered open and she grimaced in pain. Harry quickly stood over her, relief spreading throughout his body, and waited as her eyes focused and she looked up at him.

"Harry?" she asked quietly, her voice hoarse. "Where am I?"

Harry smiled, unable to express his gratitude that she was alive and well. "We're in a Secret Hide-Away. I had to get you out of the battle before you were killed."

Ginny nodded. "Those things come in handy, eh? Did you know I was the one who suggested them to George? He and Fred took ages to figure it out."

"Well I'm glad they finally did," Harry said sternly, surprising himself with his protectiveness.

Ginny rolled her eyes and slowly got up, wincing a bit. "So what position are we in the real world?" she asked, scooting up against the pillows.

"Well, erm, not a very good one," Harry replied. "We're sort of on the ground, disarmed, with the Avada Kedavra halfway to my head."

"Lovely!" Ginny said, sounding so much like Rita Skeeter that Harry almost cracked a smile, even in the dire situation.

"Lovely?" He asked in confusion. "What's lovely about being two seconds from death?"

"Well Harry," Ginny said in the tone she got when Harry was being totally brainless or she totally ingenious. "One thing about a Secret Hideaway is that where you left is not exactly where you appear when you get back."

"Er… clarify, please?" Harry asked.

"What I mean to say," Ginny continued, now looking more like her lively self, "is that Fred and George, being pranksters, decided that it would be funny if people using the secret hideaway thought they would be appearing in the same spot they were standing in a busy hallway or something, when all of sudden they reappear five feet to their left or right, very likely knocking into someone and scaring people halfway to Durmstrang at the thought of people apparating in Hogwarts. "

Harry couldn't help but grin at this revelation. He also couldn't help but think that as soon as this was over, he was buying 30 galleons worth of merchandise from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"So we'll be at least five feet away somewhere?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Yes, although from there I really don't know what you're going to do." Ginny frowned worriedly and Harry was taken aback to see tears in her eyes.

"Oh Merlin Ginny, please don't cry over me," Harry muttered, looking away.

"Well, when I don't know if you're going to live through the next hour or not, I can't really help it!" she said angrily, wiping away a few treacherous tears that leaked down her cheek.

Harry would have yelled back, but he felt this was neither the time nor the place. "Look, Ginny," he said after taking a deep breath. "I don't know what's going to happen out there. All I know is that I'll do my best to kill that son of a-" Harry chuckled slightly, ignoring Ginny's strange look at him stopping mid sentence. He had intended on using the actual phrase, but had suddenly thought of something much more appropriate. "I'm going to kill that son of a Muggle."

The corners of Ginny's mouth twitched as well and she reached out and touched his hand.

"I don't think we should wait any longer," she said quietly. Harry nodded and they stood walking a little way away from the bed. Without needing to say anything, they both wrapped their arms around each other and hugged for a moment, never wanting to let go. "Don't die out there, okay?" Ginny asked in a joking tone, but Harry knew she was being sincere.

He nodded and kissed her quickly, wishing he could stay with her forever. "Same to you. Now how do we get out of here?"

"Snap your fingers three times, like it says on the package. But be ready for a rough landing."

"Right," Harry nodded again. They each snapped their fingers three times and soon found themselves enveloped in a cloud of smoke and their knees suddenly gave way. Harry grabbed on to Ginny and they both fell over, landing on something scratchy and rather uncomfortable. Opening his eyes, he saw that they had landed in a bush, large enough to cover them from sight.

"Alright Ginny," Harry said as loudly as he dared, trying to make himself heard above the noise. "Either stay here or leave. If things look bad, go and find help."

"Who am I going to ask, the entire Order is here!" she protested.

"Ginny, please!" Harry whispered frantically. "Please, just stay out of it. For me."

Ginny looked taken aback at first, but she reluctantly nodded. Harry gave her hand a squeeze before crawling quietly away from the bush to the other side of the small clearing where Voldemort stood, and reemerged a safe distance away from Ginny's hiding place.

"Potter! How did you… what happened to the girl?" Voldemort asked hastily, his cool exterior gone for a moment.

"Safe," Harry replied. He was keeping a brave face, but not having his wand had left him very conscious of his weakness. Voldemort definitely had the upper hand.

"Ah, well it was fun while it lasted," said Voldemort, back to his nonchalant attitude. He trained his wand on Harry again. "Now where were we?"

Voldemort instantly started firing curse after curse. Harry dove for cover behind a large out-cropping of rock, but that didn't appear to be a safe place to be, because it was soon blasted to pieces, large shards of granite embedding into his skin all over his body. Harry hissed in pain, but pushed it aside, running to the next bit of shelter he could find, which happened to be a rather flimsy old tree.

"You can run, but you can't hide, Harry Potter," Voldemort cackled. Harry new this, and as soon as he heard the killing curse firing, he ducked quickly. It blew a hole clean through the tree and it quickly caught fire. Diving behind the next tree, which was a bit sturdier, he caught his breath for a moment, before running to the next one.

The flimsy old tree was aflame in seconds all the way to the top branches. There was a soft summer breeze blowing, which quickly pushed the flame to two more trees, which slowly began to burn and crackle.

Harry found another larger rock and was able to rest for a moment, noting that the fire was making it much hotter than usual. He looked to where he had come from, and saw that within the past five minutes, there were now five trees on fire, quickly spreading and conflicting with the duelists who weren't far away.

"Harry, don't you see? You've lost. Why don't you come out and admit defeat?" Voldemort asked while blasted the rock several times with very powerful curses. One more, and Harry knew he'd have to start running again. He started to take a deep breath – which wasn't nearly as refreshing as it ought to have been, due to all the smoke – when a huge CRACK resonated around him. At first he thought it was someone apparating nearby, but then there was a huge thud that shook the ground. The fire appeared to have consumed the first tree, and it had fallen over, no longer strong enough to support itself. He saw that Voldemort was temporarily distracted by a large flaming tree blocking his shot and took the opportunity to quickly sprint farther in order to hide behind a clump of dense bushes. He was absolutely positive Voldemort hadn't seen where he'd gone when the rock was blasted apart again, and Voldemort looked incensed.

"Harry, there really isn't any time to waste," Voldemort said. He spun on his heel and with a whirl of his cloak, he disappeared. Harry looked frantically around, trying to find him. A moment later, he saw a black cloak appear a bit farther away, and Voldemort continued to speak, peering behind the rocks.

"Aren't you bored of this, Harry?" he asked before disappearing from that place and reappearing about twenty feet away. "Don't you want it to be over? To see your parent's again?"

Harry growled under his breath and burrowed himself further into the bush, trying to keep as silent as possible. He could no longer see Voldemort when he disappeared or reappeared, and had no way of preparing himself for it, seeing as he didn't have a wand.

Suddenly, Voldemort stopped talking. Harry thought maybe he was searching too intently to waste his time with pointless one-way banter, but as he strained his ears he heard a definite hiss.

"Nagini, my sweet, find the boy."

There were a few more hisses before Harry heard an intelligible reply.

"What does Massster want done with him?" came a sibilant female voice that Harry assumed was the snake. He heard a few more hisses, and then nothing more, not that he could do anything about it anyway. Besides, he had another thing that was a bit more pressing on his mind.

The roar of the fire was becoming increasingly loud the closer it spread toward Harry's hiding spot. There was no way he would be able to hear an approaching snake, and he settled for trying to find a way out of this mess and get a wand. Apparating would give him away. He couldn't run for it without getting hit, and he doubted there would be a flying car waiting for him somewhere. He briefly entertained the thought of using Floo Powder, but finally decided that he'd wasted too much time pondering his escape. He needed to finish this, and in order to do that, he needed his wand back.

Harry was just considering moving to another spot, as the heat was beginning to be unbearable and he could hardly breathe, when something cold and scaly brushed against his leg.

"Massster wishes to ssspeak with you. Follow me…" said the snake before slithering past him, back toward the clearing.

Harry new that Nagini would report his position to Voldemort and he would come to him if Harry didn't follow, so Harry took a deep breath and stood up from behind his hiding place.

"Ah, Harry, so nice of you to join me."

As Harry stepped forward, he noticed that though many were still dueling, most had turned to watch, including Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. But Harry pushed all of them out of his mind. There would be no more playing around, getting distracted, or hiding behind bushes. The time had come.

"So what's it like to murder in cold blood, Tom?" Harry asked as he stepped forward. "A defenseless one year old boy, and you killed him. Did he remind you of me, or were you feeling particularly wicked that day?"

"Oh, you know how it goes," Voldemort said with a glint in his eye.

"No, I guess I don't. But then again, I never will. Apparently I'm supposed to die today."

As Harry reached the middle of the clearing facing Voldemort, something caught his eye. Lying on the ground near the snake lay a long wooden stick, roughly the shape of-

A wand! Ginny's wand! Ginny must have dropped it while she was being tortured! Not only was that understandable, but it was rather fortunate.

Harry slowly began to walk toward it, trying to look as casual as possible in the situation.

"So I've been wondering, what was the deal you had with Ernie Prang, eh? I know you wouldn't kill him for nothing," Harry continued mockingly, covering a few feet of ground.

"My, my, Harry, you do have a good memory. It's a shame your mind was completely wasted by Dumbledore," Voldemort shot back, smiling twistedly. "Ernie Prang arranged through one of my Death Eaters to take care of a little black market deal in Devon. In exchange, he was to bring you when you rode the Knight Bus. Sadly, you did not ride the bus this year, and so I killed him for not following through with his deal."

Harry was about ten feet away from Ginny's wand by the time he replied, "Ah, yes, I see how the evil mind works. It doesn't matter whose fault it is, as long as someone is punished brutally. Am I right?"

Voldemort laughed loudly, almost matching the sounds of the crackling flames surrounding them. "Harry, you never cease to amaze me. You learn so quickly."

Harry was now practically stepping on the wand. Waiting for the right moment, he stood there, ignoring Nagini's agitated hissing as she watched him carefully from about four feet away.

"Well, Harry, as lovely as this little chat has been, I really must bid you adieu. I have a world to conquer, after all. Nagini," he nodded in the snake's direction his red eyes reflecting the flames surrounding them, "now would be a good time."

Harry didn't know what Nagini was supposed to do, but seeing her raised head, hissing and spitting, he instantly dove to the ground and grabbed the wand. Nagini lunged for him, and though Harry tried to back away, he was no match for a snake in terms of agility. He felt an overwhelming pain as her fangs sank into his right wrist, releasing her deadly venom into his blood stream before pulling back and circling him, watching him in his agony.

Gasping in pain, Harry's knees crumpled and he fell to the ground, the wand hanging loosely from his injured hand as he slapped a hand over the deep wound to quell the blood.

"And here we are again, Harry Potter. Although I doubt there will be a phoenix here to save you this time," said Voldemort. "There are other people crying for you, though. I can hear your girlfriend as we speak. I suppose she's not as safe as you said she was. I'll kill her, no need to worry about that, but for now, I am content to watch you whither away."

Voldemort was right. Harry could feel the poison coursing through him, and yet he could do nothing to stop it. The heat from the fire wasn't helping matters, as it felt like his blood was literally boiling. He figured most had fled, trying to avoid getting burnt alive, but in the background he heard muffled cries. He couldn't really distinguish who was who, though. His hearing was a bit fuzzy and he could help but feel a strange deja vous.

"You see, Harry," he continued pacing back and forth, enjoying Harry's discomfort immensely. "Nagini is a rare type of snake known only to the magical world. She was born about three hundred and forty years ago, and she is still considered to be a hatchling. Her venom is more feared than even the Basilisks, because it is painful upon contact with blood and increases in pain until the heart can't take the stress anymore and simply fails."

"R… really?" Harry said, wincing as his voice grated at his throat. "Sounds... like fun."

"Actually, Harry, you'll be interested to know that her venom is what comprises Black Powder, which I understand you came in contact with not long ago," said Voldemort with a smile.

Harry had had enough of this banter. It was getting far too hot and he was hurting far too much to sit here and listen to this. Harry discreetly switched Ginny's wand to his left hand.

"Well, Harry, as cliché as it is to say, I'm deathly curious. Do you have any last words for me?" His eyes glinted mockingly.

"As… a matter of fact…" Harry said struggling to sit up. He took a deep breath, inhaling a bunch of smoke. Coughing a bit, he sat up, yet still managed to conceal the wand. "I have something to say… to your snake."

He pointed the wand at a huge rock behind him and quickly thought, Wingardium Leviosa! The rock lifted and moved toward him, slowly enough that Voldemort couldn't see.

"Oh? And what might that be?" Voldemort asked, smirking.

Harry flicked the wand and the rock flew over Nagini. Another flick and it came crashing down on her.

"No! What have you done!" Voldemort screamed. He quickly flicked his wand and the rock flew to the side, revealing two halves of a snake. Harry watched with disgust as the snake halves struggled for a few seconds before they finally lay still.

Voldemort stood. "There will be no more fun and games, Potter. Crucio!"

He screamed and twitched in agony, trying to get away from the millions of snakes that he felt biting him everywhere. There seemed to be no escape. The pain seemed to go on for hours. Writhing on the ground, he finally felt the curse lifted. He lay there, spitting out blood from where he'd bitten his tongue.

"You will die, Potter, from the poison. I'd get it over with and just kill you in the more conventional manner, but I'd rather watch you suffer. It is time you realize that you are a mere mortal, just like all your little friends."

Harry looked up at the man who had been his sworn enemy for his entire life. His skeletal frame stood rigid in fury, his eyes blazing, turning brighter red than even the flames behind him. He truly looked like the most feared man in the world. And Harry decided that it was time to put an end to it.

"You're… mortal now, too," Harry said shakily. He stopped a moment as his stomach gave a twinge and he was forced to vomit painfully. Looking back up again, he repeated, "All of your Horcruxes… were destroyed. You're mortal now…."

Voldemort's eyes widened and he stepped back. "No, it can't be true. I went through every step necessary to protect them."

"Like you protected… Nagini?" Harry asked.

Voldemort paled, and for a figure who seemed to never see the sun, he literally looked like a ghost. Raising his wand shakily, he glared at Harry, though he still looked shell shock. "Potter, spit it out now. What are you on about?"

"Yes, Tom," Harry said, standing shakily on his feet. "The diary… the ring… The cup… the locket… the shield… your precious snake… Now there's only… one thing… left." Harry raised Ginny's wand. "Any last words?"

Harry didn't wait for an answer. Instead of thinking of something horrible and hateful, he dredged up his best memory – the one with the most love.

"Ginny?" said Harry hesitantly.

"Hmm?" she asked, resting her head against his chest and closing her eyes.

"I love you."

Ginny slowly opened her eyes and stared up at him.

"Do you mean that?" she asked, sounding anxious.

Harry nodded. "More than you'll ever know."

"On the contrary, Mr. Potter, I already know," she said, smiling. "Because I love you, too."

Even though he was in a weakened state, nothing, not even Voldemort, could have held back the power he suddenly unleashed as he shouted out, "Avada Kedavra!"

The light, instead of being bright green, was a blinding white, illuminating the area perfectly for miles around. It shot toward the Dark Lord, furiously fast, and went straight through his chest, piercing his heart. Screaming in anguish, he fell to the ground, no longer Voldemort, the invincible and immortal He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but Tom Riddle, the man who didn't understand what it meant to love or be loved.

The heat of the fire was finally closing in, and Harry felt very dizzy and nauseous. The world was spinning. Harry dropped Ginny's wand to place a hand on his head, trying to right it. He saw several blurs move toward him as if in slow motion and felt someone grab onto his shoulders before his eyes rolled back into his head and the world went dark.