Note: So... Hi to everyone who is still reading this. I honestly can't believe that there still are but then I continue to get Favourites and Follows and I just don't know what to say except thank you for reading this and thank you for waiting so long for me to update. I know I should have gotten back to this sooner, except that the year plus away from writing completely took any feeling for my stories out of me. I procrastinated typing this out for about two whole months until a friend got me back into all this and this is the product I suppose. I would have gotten it out sooner if I had forced myself to type this out but then it would not be nice would it? I still don't think this is the best chapter I have ever written, but I'm sort of satisfied with it and I know that if I stare at it any longer this would never be posted. I hope that you enjoy this and that it is worth the wait.
Disclaimer: None of the characters belong to me.
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They felt their feet slam into the ground and their hands let go of the Cup. Harry raised his head, asking, "Where are we?" Cedric shook his head and got up, pulling Harry up to his feet as the four of them looked around. They were obviously no longer on Hogwarts grounds, the mountains that surrounded the castle were now replaced with headstones and dark trees. They were standing in an overgrown graveyard, the dark outline of a church barely visible in the distance to their right and an old house on the top of a hill to their left. It was completely silent and slightly eerie.
"Did anyone know that the Cup was a Portkey?" Cedric asked, looking at Harry, Hitsugaya and England. The three could only shake their heads. For all the preparation and staking out they had done to prepare for and prevent any tampering with the task, no one had known about this. 'This means that it must have been done by someone on the inside…' Hitsugaya thought to himself.
"Is this meant to be part of the task?" Harry asked, glancing around nervously, the hairs on his neck raising as he felt like they were being watched.
"No. It isn't…" Arthur muttered, pulling his own wand out. "Wands out. Something is not right about this…" Following his cue, the remaining three pulled out their wands as well, arming themselves. "Someone's coming."
Squinting through the darkness, they watched as a figure drew nearer, walking steadily towards them between the graves. Harry could not make out their face but from the way they were walking and holding their arms, he could tell that they were carrying something. Whoever they were, they were short and wearing a hooded cloak that was pulled up over their head, obscuring their face. Several paces later, he saw that the thing in the person's arms looked like a baby, or was it merely a bundle of robes? Harry lowered his wand slightly, glancing sideways at Cedric, Hitsugaya and Arthur. Cedric glanced back with a quizzical look, lowering his wand slightly as well, raising his wand once again when they noticed that their two companions had not lowered their guard in any way. The figure stopped beside a towering marble headstone, only six feet from them.
Then, without warning, Harry's scar exploded in pain, triggering a surprised and concerned yell from Cedric as he bent to help. Hitsugaya glanced at Harry for a moment before returning his gaze to the figure. England scowled, knowing exactly what that meant. From the bundle, a high cold voice said, "Kill the spares."
0-0-0
Gilbert frowned. Something was going on, something that was not supposed to happen. He stood up from his seat in the stands, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening in the maze but most of his sight was being clocked by the hedges that made up the maze itself. He muttered a curse, craning his neck to try to spot Arthur's blonde hair or even Hitsugaya's white that was so similar to his own. The plan was for the two of them to meet up in the maze and with the length of time that had passed, they would have met up already. Ruby eyes widened as he scanned but failed to find either of them, neither could he see the yellow and red that Cedric and Harry had been wearing. "They're not in there." He frowned, turning to Rome and Urahara, signalling to them that something had gone wrong. A sudden dark streak told him that one of the Shinigami had gone to investigate, but he did not turn to check which of them it was, instead focussing his eyes back to the maze, still searching. 'I trust you to come back Arthur, just come back in one piece ja?'
Hinamori, out of her Gigai, shunpo-ed around the maze, checking around to prove or disprove the albino's claim. She hoped it was the latter. The latter meant that nothing had gone wrong, that everything that happened was still under control and they would be near to provide the backup needed if it was called for. For Gilbert to be right meant that something had slipped past their defences, that there was something that had been overlooked, that their friends were in danger with none of them being able to go and help them. Making her way around, she paled and rushed back to her Gigai, before running to Urahara. "They're not in the maze!"
Urahara and Rome merely frowned at her exclamation, looking as if they already knew, if not expected, it to happen. At her questioning gaze, they just shrugged. "There is nothing we can do now Hinamori. We don't know where they went or what is happening. All we can do is believe in them and trust that they are capable to defend themselves." Urahara explained, turning his gaze back to the maze where officials seemed to have caught on that something had gone wrong for the area was surrounded by Ministry witches and wizards. They heard Fudge announce that everything was normal and for the crowd to calm down, but ignored it, knowing well that nothing was going according to the Minister's original plans but letting the man bring a semblance of order to the crowd. Returning to her seat with a shake of her head, Hinamori could only shrug at the questioning gazes asking silently about what their orders were now that the original plan no longer applied. Understanding that they were to do nothing, everyone turned back to the maze, awaiting for the return of their friends and hoping that they would return unscathed. 'We all trust in your abilities, so please, come back safely.'
"Something is wrong…" Hermoine commented, craning her neck to get a good look into the maze before turning to watch the nations and the Shinigami. "Everyone's on edge... something must have happened." Her observation was met with cries of disbelief and worry, but none of them could take action. It was a painful feeling, helplessness, being unable to help the ones she cared for who were very possibly in a lot of danger and yet, it was a feeling that was forced onto her for there was truly nothing that could be done. They did not know what was wrong to begin with, simply that something had definitely gone wrong and that in itself was never a good thing to begin with. There was just nothing they could do to help in this situation except to wait and believe. They could do nothing else, but even the knowledge of that did not help how painful it was.
In that moment, they all felt as one unit, none of them having much in common, some having just met, but all of them, at that time, felt the same hope and wish for those they cared for. That they would return safely despite the circumstances in which they had been thrown into.
o-o-o
England groaned softly as he opened his eyes. If there was one spell he hated being hit by it was the killing curse. Even if they could not die and would merely be knocked out for a time, it still felt like they were kicked, painfully, in the chest. Pushing himself up, he saw Hitsugaya moving to another position, one where they could not be seen by Pettigrew. Following suit silently, England crouched down next to the Captain as they watched the ritual taking place. He scowled as he recognised the spell and the ritual but could do nothing to stop it. The ritual was too far into the process, Pettigrew having already added Harry's blood into the mixture and to stop it now was impossible without harming everyone in the area. He sighed internally, having come to accept that Voldemort was not dead as his magical community had assumed, and that that night was the night where he would rise again, no matter how much he wanted the alternative to be real.
Beside him, Hitsugaya frowned, watching the ritual, or what was left of the ritual, silently. It went against every rule in Soul Society to allow a soul to return that way, not adding the fact that the man being revived had broken many more rules by splitting his soul and should really be in hell at the moment. The Captain had woken up much earlier, after all it is not possible to kill what was already dead, but, not knowing exactly how to stop the ritual safely, had decided against taking action. He could have easily done more harm than good, which was the last thing any of them needed at the moment.
They watched as the sparks that had been emanating from the cauldron extinguished themselves and a surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron instead. They watched, expressionless in contrast to the terror on Harry's face, as a dark outline of a tall, skeletally thin man rose slowly from the cauldron. They watched as Pettigrew picked up the black robes from the ground and pulled them over his master's head. They watched as the man turned to stare at Harry, who stared back at the face that had haunted his nightmares for three years.
They watched as Lord Voldemort rose again.
o-o-o
Harry continued to stare at Voldemort, even as the man looked away from him and began examining his own body before slipping a hand into his robes and retrieving his wand, using it to throw Pettigrew against the headstone where Harry was tied. Harry watched as Voldemort took Pettigrew's hand and pressed a finger to the Dark Mark that was present on Pettigrew's arm and felt his scar sear with pain again. Harry stared as Voldemort addressed him, softly talking about his past, revealing his father. He stared as the Death Eaters Apparated, falling to their knees to kiss the hem of Voldemort's robes before moving to form a silent circle around the grave he was pinned to. He listened, tense, as Voldemort addressed the Death Eaters, talking quietly to them and watched the reactions of fear that each Death Eater showed at his words.
Watching to make sure that all the attention was being focussed on Voldemort, England and Hitsugaya quietly left their hiding spot, only to stare as Voldemort continued his monologue. 'Someone obviously thinks highly of himself.' Hitsugaya thought, raising an eyebrow to his companion, silently asking if that was how the man always was. "To be honest, yes." Arthur whispered, rolling his eyes. "Of course, to the magical community he has enough power, to them at least, to be worth being terrified over seeing as he did start an entire war and everything, but I always wondered if they ever kept up with the modern world. Surely an explosion could take all of them down at once but we never had a reason to try that. It can't help his cause that many things can now be done remotely such that he'll never see the person behind a strike." England's expression turned thoughtful. "For all that can be said of Muggle Studies, I don't think it's really working, especially with the outdated textbook and the fact that it is not compulsory. Maybe we should make it compulsory, but they have never listened anyway." He shrugged, turning his attention back to Voldemort. At that moment, the both of them had the same thought as Voldemort continued. 'When will he stop talking?'
o-o-o
"Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand." At the command, Pettigrew approached Harry, pulled out the wad of material gagging the boy and, with one swipe, cut through the bonds tying Harry to the gravestone. Harry stood, looking around to see if there was a way for him to escape, only to notice two very familiar people standing in the open, two people who were just as dead as Cedric the last he saw them. Following his gaze, Voldemort turned to look at England and Hitsugaya. "You were both dead! Wormtail used the Killing Curse on the two of you!"
Hitsugaya shrugged, eyeing Voldemort coldly. "You cannot kill what cannot die, especially if they are already dead." He replied indifferently, staring at Voldemort straight in the eye, showing the pale wizard that they not only did not fear him, but were also ready to challenge him if need be. The red slits widened as the dark wizard watched the two of them, before frowning at the implication of their presence.
"Do not let them interfere." Voldemort's orders cut through the silence that had come over the graveyard as the Death Eaters stared in disbelief at the two. The command snapped those that circled him out of their shock and they drew their wands, firing spells at the two of them hurriedly, as if they were afraid of being accused further if they were any slower, which was fair considering who was giving the orders. The spells were easily dodged, and those that were not were successfully blocked, but that only brought about a wave of more powerful spells that were harder to block. Arthur sighed and prepared for another battle to add to the ranks of the many that he had fought in before.
After making sure that he would not be interrupted, Voldemort turned his attention back to Harry only to find him missing, having flung himself and rolled behind the marble headstone of the grave of Voldemort's father. Harry knew that there was little hope and with Hitsugaya and Arthur both being kept away from his duel by the Death Eaters, there would be no help, but he knew that if he was going to die, he wanted to die upright and fighting like his father had, not kneeling at Voldemort's feet like a cowardly child. He stood up and gripped his wand tightly in his hand, thrust it out in front of him and threw himself around the headstone, facing Voldemort. The other was ready for it and as Harry yelled 'Expelliarmus', Voldemort yelled 'Avada Kedavra'.
The two spells collided and then suddenly, both wands were vibrating intensely, connected by a beam of light that was deep gold. They were both lifted into the air before descending onto a patch of ground that was free of graves. The Death Eaters ran over, deserting the battle they were in the midst of to reform the circle that they were in before. Breathing heavily and covered in minor wounds, Hitsugaya and England watched on, the former a little more wary and the latter with more interest, looking as if he knew what was happening. "Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort shouted, eyes wide with astonishment at what was happening.
Then, an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air, coming from every thread that formed the bright beam of gold that connected Harry and Voldemort. "The phoenix song…" Arthur breathed, a smile appearing on his face. "Don't let the connection break! It's helping you!"
"I know." Harry replied through gritted teeth as their wands began to vibrate more powerfully than ever and the beam started to change, now as though large beads of light were sliding down the thread connecting the wands. Harry concentrated on forcing the bead backwards towards Voldemort, his ears full of the phoenix song, and then, the bead connected.
They all watched in shock and amazement as, one by one, the ghosts, apparitions, shadows, of the people Voldemort had killed, from Cedric to Harry's father appeared, surrounding Harry and speaking quietly to him. Suddenly, as if on a spoken cue, Harry pulled his wand upwards, breaking the connection. The light vanished and the song died, but the shadows did not disappear, lingering long enough to distract Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Following the unexpected, but not unwelcomed, cue from Harry, England and Hitsugaya ran after him, casting spells to block the ones that were fired at them by those who had recovered from the shock. Wasting no time, they dove for the Cup, Harry reaching out to grab Cedric's arm.
They heard Voldemort's scream of fury at the same moment they felt the jerk behind their navels and it sped them away in a whirlwind of colours. They were going back.
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Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it may not seem as good as the previous chapters but I tried. The time away from writing anything fiction at all has changed my writing style and I honestly hope to be able to change it back to the one that I was comfortable with and one that I like, but for now this is it. There will probably be only one chapter left to this and then a short epilogue. I will try to get it out as soon as I can, but I want to wrap this up a lot better than how I started it four years ago. I also really want your opinion on something.
I've always planned for this to be a series, running until the Deathly Hallows if I can help it, but I want to know if you all would like a continuation. Additionally, I've decided that I will probably cut out the Bleach characters for the subsequent fics for the simple reason that there are simply too many characters for me to keep track of and give ample time to. It is a limitation to my writing that I have come to accept through the four years of writing this fic and I really hope that you can understand that.
Please review and tell me what you think. Or, if you don't want to, a favourite or a follow tends to keep me motivated to keep writing and get the next chapter out. Thank you so much for continuing to read this and waiting so long for my updates. I'm really sorry that this took so long to come out, but I will finish this.