A/N: Whew this one is a monster. And with this, and seeing as it is 11:39 PM here, I actually did manage the 5 chapters in 5 days. Ish. Go figure. This is unedited, as I wanted to get it out before midnight.
Chapter 25
Harry breathing stayed at furious pace. He was barely holding himself above her, somehow finding the strength to keep from falling on top of her. The haze was leaving his mind quickly now, and he was starting to feel some what horrified that he and Emily had just lost all control of themselves and went at it like a couple of animals on the floor. Their bodies were slick with sweat and he had to resist the urge to run his tongue across her navel, the desire for her still strong but manageable.
All of a sudden he felt her hand close around him below, starting to pump him back and forth. He let out a groan of bliss, it felt wonderful, and he looked down to see that both of her hands were busy, one with him, and the other between her own legs. The fog in his head returned just enough for him to erupt all over her stomach and didn't recede until she let out a high pitched whimper and her hips began convulsing beneath him. The sudden movement and sound brought him back to the present and he drew his wand trying to banish the fumes around them. It was the smell that was driving them crazy, he knew.
Banishing them didn't work and he had just started to conjure up gusts of wind when she once again started touching him. It took more effort than anything he had ever done before, but he pulled away from her touch, sat up, and continued to blow the heavily scented air away from them. She was not to be denied by that however, matching his position before placing open mouthed kisses all over his chest working her way down his body. He hurried up his casting, knowing that if the scent remained when she touched him again, he would probably succumbed to the desire like the previous time.
He remained fortunate in that her pace was slow and he had ample enough time to finish and pull away from her temptations by several feet. Harry looked at her, and he couldn't quite place the sight. Emily Riddle looked almost drugged, half lidded red eyes locked onto him, mouth open with her tongue just barely peaking past her lips.
"Sorry about this," said Harry, as he leveled his wand at her before conjuring a jet of water to splash against her. The effect was instantaneous, she leapt away from the stream with a yelp, moving fast enough that Harry barely saw kneeling form rise and then it was like she was standing a few feet backwards a moment later. He let the magic falter and as he took in her nude form, though the fumes had been dealt with, the desire still wracked his body, and he wanted her again. Shaking his head, his eyes met her own and he knew she was back to her senses, she was pissed at him.
"Was that really necessary? Covering me in cold water? Damn, my tits feel like they can cut through someone's carotid artery right now. That was freezing." He felt bad about it, despite it being the best choice of action he could think of at the time. He looked to the side, dismayed to see their clothes in tatters a few feet away.
"Can you do something about them? I'm not at the point with repairing charms that I can re-knit fabric together."
Still shivering, she knelt down to grab her own wand, and he was surprised that their wands had remained so close to their bodies in their activities. With a wave the clothes rose into the air and began reattaching themselves to each other, stitching up the rips and tears. It only took a few minutes before they were fully clothed and she addressed the situation.
"Good job. Though it was unpleasant, the water worked. Tempus." She gave a frustrated sigh, "It would seem that we wasted the better part of an hour enjoying each other's company. I suppose I did get to react to your confession the way I wanted to. Its been just over an hour and a half since we arrived at the ministry. No need to worry though, we have more than enough time as the ministry is pretty much closed until work resumes tomorrow morning."
Harry let loose a breath he had been holding, happy that they hadn't blown anything. And a little disappointed that she hadn't blown him either, though that was more or less the room talking for him. "What room are we in this time? I can't imagine they have a place dedicated to studying sex in the Department of Mysteries."
"They do, though its called the Love Chamber. Those fumes that covered the room were from that fountain." Harry looked to were she was pointing and was shocked to see a simple stone fountain, surprised he hadn't taken note of it before hand. He crept closer and got a whiff of the same scents he had smelled earlier before jumping back, not wanting to be taken in again.
"Relax, its just amortentia. A ridiculously powerful love potion. The most powerful one we are able to brew at the present. The fumes are supposed to be incredibly seductive and I think we were rather vulnerable to them thanks to what happened in the Fear Room." She stopped speaking for a moment, then she looked at him. "I won't lie, I wanted you very badly when you confessed to me and that desire went out of control when I started to smell you and sex mixed together."
"I smelled the same thing. Well, you not me, I mean."
"I think its safe to say its the same scent. We are together when we do it after all." As she spoke she made way to the fountain, even going so far as to brush her fingertips over the potion's surface. "I wonder." And before he could do anything to stop her, she lowered her head to the liquid and began to drink.
"Emily!" She had just placed herself under a love potion, at a time like this? Had she completely lost it? "Emily, stop!" He sprinted towards her, grabbing onto an elbow propping up her bent form before wrenching her away from the fountain. She came with his pull easily enough, even turned to face him.
"Calm down Harry. Just testing a theory." It was hard to look at her, with the potion running down her chin. It reminded him of the one time she had been using her mouth on him and his hips jerked hard enough to dislodge his member and he spilled over onto her face.
"Try not to test your crazy theories when we are busy, thanks."
"Nonsense, it was a test that I was more than willing to risk the failure of our objective over. Your turn, go drink."
His eyes widened, she was mad. She wanted them both to fornicate like animals until the Unspeakables showed up the next day and took them into custody. The fumes had addled her head. "I can't do that Emily. We have a job to do, and I have no interest in getting caught because you have decided for some crazy arsed reason that you all of a sudden want to dose me with love potion."
"Do you trust me, Harry?"
"What does that have to-"
"DO. You. Trust. Me. Harry?" Her red eyes were blazing into his own, and he nodded. He did trust her, and he made his way to the fountain. If she needed him to drink this bloody potion then he would do it, for her, and damn the potential consequences. Dipping his head to the surface he began to drink. And was shocked to find that he was drinking nothing but water.
"Its fake. Just water."
Emily started cackling behind him, before grabbing him by the back of his robes, spun him around and once again kissed him full on the lips. It was hard but short and she released him, still giggling and smiling the whole time.
"Oh I can assure you, that is indeed amortentia. It is without a doubt the most powerful love potion in the world, Harry. It can't create love mind you, just infauation, but its more powerful than the Imperius curse. The amount of control someone can exert over another with amorentia is almost limitless. Such a silly thing couldn't hope to affect me, for I am already truly, madly, and deeply in love with you. My infatuation with you is already complete. For you to experience the same reaction to the potion as I did, can only mean you love me the same."
Her smile eased up to nothing more than the curves of her lips as she kissed his cheek. "It was lovely to hear you tell me you loved me Harry. It was a memory I will cherish for the rest of eternity. But to be given factual proof that your love for me is stronger than the most powerful love potion in the world is an incredible thing. To know the depth of your feelings go further than I ever expected them to is empowering and I want you to know I cherish that knowledge more than anything else, even more than the knowledge of the prophecy."
Too many emotional hurdles one after another, first the situation in the fear room, and then the crazy sex, now they were trying love potions. It was making his head spin. "Come on, let's get the prophecy, get back to Hogwarts and leave tonight. There's no point in waiting out the rest of the year."
"Tongues will wag when a student and professor run off together. More so when said student is Harry Potter."
"Its fine, Amelia Hurst never really existed in the first place. When we come back, I'll be an adult and able to do things my own way." She paused for a moment, then nodded her head.
"Tonight it is. I can get us to Germany, France, or even Spain through apparition. It will be taxing, but I can manage. Which place sounds best?"
Harry had no clue, the only country he thought about was France as it was the country that held Beaubatons, another institute of magical education.
"France, I'd love to see the school they have there. I over heard Fleur talk about it somewhat last year, and I'm curious to how it looks."
"Sure, the term there has already reached its end. We can explore the school and grounds at our leisure."
He smiled at her. Things were moving up in the itinerary, but he wouldn't have it any other way. In a few hours time they would be in France, together and Harry felt that things were now looking brighter than they had ever had before in his life.
Finally making their way out of the Love Chamber, he looked to Emily. "Your turn now, I guess. Actually, I think it needs to remain your turn. Both of my decisions held us up for far longer than yours did."
Once again the circular room began its rotation, and when it stopped, four doors were now marked. One with the letter A, two with the letter X, and the last was marked with a phrase, 'A Good Time'.
"Really?"
"Tell me you didn't like it."
He remained silent, not bothering to answer. The question was rhetorical, they both had enjoyed it, immensely. She pursed her lips in a cute way as she gazed at the doors around them, before picking another of the eight remaining unmarked doors. As she entered he heard suck in a breath with a hiss, before whispering, "This is it."
The room they had entered was filled with clocks of all shapes and sizes, from the smallest pocket watch to great grandfather clocks situated on the walls and various desks inside the room. The air shimmered with crystals of light, likely reflections from the all the glass. In a case on the far wall, stood a large amount of time turners of various sizes. Beside the glass case stood another door, one which Emily began making her way towards.
"This is where they study time, and in conjunction with that, prophecy, the prediction of where time takes us. What may or may not become, the paths of the future."
Making their way carefully through the desks, not willing to bump into any of the precariously laid clocks on their surfaces, they reached their destination. He honestly expected Emily to swipe a time turner, as the ability to move through time seemed to be too incredible a power for her to pass up. She didn't even give the cabinet a second look, and he was unable to remain quiet.
"I'm surprised you don't want a time turner. Sounds like something you would love to have."
"Some things in this world have dangerous consequences. Consequences that not even my Horcuxes can protect against. I would rather not become an un-born today or at all if possible. I am more than well aware of what time can do to me, so I don't fuck with it. I'll fight death, it has an opposite. Life and death are two sides of a single force, I just put myself to one side of it. Time has no sides, doesn't even have real direction, we only perceive it as moving forward, but if that were so, then it wouldn't be possible to change it. Needless to say it has been changed, many times."
"I know, I changed it once."
They had stopped before the door while she spoke to him, but with his declaration, words failed her. The time turner incident had been one he had spoken to no one about, even he and Hermione never brought it up to one another. It was as though they both knew it was something they could never speak of for the rest of their days, but now he was seized with the need to tell her everything. He opened his mouth to do so, but she pressed a finger to his lips.
"As interesting of a story that guarantees to be, I get the feeling its a long one. Tell me later tonight, in France." He nodded to her, smiling again as she opened the door to the next room. The room in front of them expanded high into the air, a good forty feet. Towering shelves lined the hall as far as his eye could see, filled with dusty glass orbs, some gleaming slightly, but most an inert, dark grey. After a brief bit of gawking at the ceiling, he looked at the shelves themselves and found them to be numbered, with fifty-three being in front of them.
After a brief bit of fiddling with her wand, Emily started moving down the row of shelves, her wand pointing her in the direction. Harry recognized it as the Point Me spell, except in stead of pointing north, it was apparently pointing in the direction of the prophecy about them.
"This way."
Sixties, seventies eighties, they passed the towering columns one by one, and he watched as her wand started to shift in a more perpendicular direction as the entered the nineties. It was on row ninety-seven that the wand lay at a ninety degree angle to the direction they walked and they both continued following its direction down the aisle. They made it perhaps ten feet before once again the wand was perpendicular to her body and she gazed towards the shelf. There, in front of their eyes, stood a glowing orb, with a tag reading:
S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter
"Here it is. After fifteen years, I will finally know what this damned thing says."
And almost carelessly, Harry watched her lift the small sphere before allowing it to fall mere inches onto the corner of its stand. Though the drop was short, the glass shattered and a wispy Sybill Trelawny rose up and recited the prophecy to them both.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied her, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as her equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."
It was too much. Having her lover finally confess to her only to hear minutes later that she was destined to either die by his hand or slay him herself. 'For neither can live while the other survives.' She had thought it was done, that the prophecy had ended but, no, it would forever be in place between them. As long as they both were alive, one of them would kill the other. She felt her heart break.
No one could force her to hurt him. She would never commit the act, so it would be the reverse. Someone would control him, take him from her, place him under their control and force him to kill her. She'd never give them the chance.
Grabbing his arm in a vice like grip she started to run, him stumbling beside her, shouting her name, asking her to calm down, to stop. She didn't slow, but she did shout out her thoughts to him as they moved rapidly down the rows.
"Don't you see Harry. One of use will kill the other. It won't be me, I'll never let that happen. Someone will steal you away from me. Poison your mind, convince you that I have to die. Then you will come for me and we will fight, and then one of us will die. It will be that bastard Dumbledore, he knows. Why do you think you face such adversity every year at Hogwarts, Harry? He's been training you every year, all this time, for the day he gets you to kill me."
All of a sudden he wrenched his arm from her grasp, and she skidded to a stop. "Harry we need to move, now."
He just shook his head at her and she was seconds away from stunning him and carrying him away forcefully before he spoke, "Focus Emily. Think. I haven't almost died every year thanks to Dumbledore. That was your doing. It was you who almost kills me every year. You're panicking, calm down. We have time. Breathe."
He continued,"We're running away tonight. We can even skip going back to Hogwarts if you think we need to. I'll find another way to stay in contact with everyone. We'll leave here and go straight to France and plan our next move, but I need you to be in control, you're the brains behind this operation, remember."
Slowly her heart rate calmed. He was right, freaking out would only lead to mistakes and bad decisions. No one knew they were here. No one knew where they were now nor did they know where they were going to be.
His safety and his love were the most important things to her right now. She could forget her plans to rule the world. She would throw it all away, and the two of them would go halfway across the world and be together. Wait a century and return. She would take the same steps with him that she took with herself. Make it so he would never age or die, and they would come back when all her opposition was dead and gone. She would start over with him by her side, two immortals, and take the world by force. By then, the muggles may have even destroyed themselves. It would be only too easy.
"You're right. I panicked." She took a deep breath, before releasing it. "I'm fine now. We'll still return to Hogwarts. You grab the things you need and I'll grab my Horcrux there and bring it with us. Just in case Dumbledore eventually finds out what I did and starts tracking them down. Though you are a Horcrux too, you are an unstable one, and you might not be strong enough to keep my soul bound to this realm."
"Alright then. We have a plan. Let's go." Anxiety filled her chest still, and she wanted nothing more than to run pell-mell for the exit. She forced the urge down, gripping his hand gently and kissed his lips softly. "What would I do without you?"
"Probably terrible things and start another war. Good thing I am here to stop you."
"Indeed, a very good thing." The two walked back to the shelf that held the prophecy were she repaired the prophecy, but it had turned gray and cold. She cast a warming charm and an illumination charm on the orb and it looked and felt almost exactly like it had before. Pulling his body into her own for a hug, reassurance that they would get through this together, they separated and once again made their way to the exit.
They made it back to the circular room and after a few moments of its spinning she pulled open the door marked with the A. Holding it open, she vanished the markings from each door, but was tempted to leave the message on the Love Chamber. The temptation was easy to overcome as secrecy was far more important than a humorous prank but she admitted she did feel the urge to do it.
After cleaning up all the evidence of their time in the Department of Mysteries, sans the bit of sweat and other fluids in the Love Chamber, but she figure those would be over looked as a poor clean up job from today, they entered the lifts and she asked for the atrium.
The loud clanking started up again, and Harry asked her why they didn't return to her office while she slipped on his invisiblity cloak and rapped him on the head again, restoring their visibility. "Its far easier to leave my office after hours than it is to enter it. The only perk is that I am able to apparate directly inside of it. That is only allowed for a select few offices in the entire building, only myself, the Minister and Amelia Bones can enter my office in that manner. The latter two can apparate into any office that isn't warded against apparation entirely. No, we'll use the floos in the Atrium. The one's on the left are warded off at night so no one may enter, but the ones on the left allow people to leave at all times. Such are the late hours of bureaucrats."
They resumed their silence again as the lifts dropped them off into the Atrium. They were home free, she thought. Just a few more feet and they would b-.
She felt the magic of a spell approaching her, and knew she had no time to move. The caster was too close to her back. It was all over, Harry was going to be taken from her and she would never see his face again.
"Protego."
Hearing her lover's spell she turned around jerking the cloak from her body to stun the disillusioned figure in hidden in her blind spot near the lifts. Apparently someone had been hiding in wait to ambush them as they left. It would have been the killing curse had Harry not expressed his desire that no one die tonight. When her spell made contact, the hidden figure's charm failed to reveal the falling form of Alastor Moody. If that grizzled old auror was her then she could be certain that-
"I seem to have found you again Ms. Riddle."
Once again turning around to face the bane of her existence, she gave a shriek of outrage when the completely visible body of Harry Potter flew past her to lay prone behind Dumbledore's legs. Then her world exploded into a mess of anger and hate.
Mundungus Fletcher clocked the time it took the Knight Bus to reach his destination at just under twenty-nine minutes. "Thanks for the lift, Stan, I'll tell Dumbledore you really helped a bloke out." He glared at the man threateningly, but knew the reedy man had gotten him where he was going as fast as he could
The ride had done wonders to calm him down, despite how bumpy the ride had been. Better the worst trip possible on the magical bus than a direct confrontation with Voldemort herself. He would ask Dumbledore to pick it and the small chest up when he told them what he had overheard.
Hastily making his way into headquarters he shouted at the top of his lungs, "You-know-who's got Harry at the Department of Mysteries!"
It was like an explosion went off in the home. The portrait of Sirius' mum started screeching but even that was drowned out by the mad rush of footsteps heading towards the entrance. Sirius Black was the first there, followed by Molly and Arthur, then Tonks and Remus and various others.
"What the hell are you saying, Dung?" Sirius wasted no time in voicing his concern.
"Spoke in English didn't I. She's got Harry, and they are both in the Department of Mysteries. Got 'im under the Imperius or somethin', he don't even know who he's with."
"How do you know its You-know-who, Mundungus? Dumbledore said she's young. Was he with a young woman with black hair and red eyes?" Arthur asked this one.
Before he could answer, Molly cut in, "Why didn't you do something, you useless oaf. You should have tried to get him out of there?!"
"What? Me against that psychopath? You lost your marbles there Molly if you think I'm gonna tango with her. Better a livin' man gettin' reinforcements than a dead man who can't do nothin'. And no, I didn't see squat, they was invisible, but I recognized 'is voice. Clear as day, and the girl had to be You-know-who, she's the only one who would treat Malfoy like the little toady he is, and she called him a useless bugger."
"That doesn't mean it WAS her though. It could have been someone else, anyone else really." Tonks chimed in with her opinion. "He could've been tricked into stealing it for her by a Slytherin student. Hell, maybe he's dating a Slytherin for all we know."
"He is."
"What?!" Countless voice's echoed their surprise at what Sirius just told them. Harry Potter was in fact, dating a Slytherin.
"Youngest Greengras girl, Astoria. They've been together for months. Kid really loves her. Could it have been a teenager's voice Dung?"
"Well I mean, she sounded young, but you really wanted to gamble on the chance that it may not be You-know-who herself? I don't see a Slytherin teenager bad mouthin' a pureblood like Malfoy so easily. Or orderin' him around like she was talking about."
Sirius was the first to be stirred into action. "No, we go en masse. Arthur, send a patronus to Dumbledore's office, we'll need him there. With luck he'll get there in a few moments, without luck, well I've got a score to settle with Voldemort myself. And a blasting curse impacting her skull is gonna be just the start of tipping the scales back into balance." As a group they left the building and apparated one by one to the visitor's entrance at the ministry. No one noticed that Mundungus Fletcher stayed behind.
"How are we going to get in? The wards will keep us out won't they?" Hestia Jones asked, but Arthur was quick with an answer.
"They are replacing the wards tonight, we should be able to force our way through fairly easily. Though our presence will be noted by the Magical Law Enforcement Department."
"Good, even more back up. Stand back everyone, I can do it." Dedalus Diggle pulled the sleeves of his robes up and with a flamboyant wave of his wand the wards in place shattered with a loud crack and a flash.
"Hopefully that will get there attention." he said before leading them through the entrance. They had barely gone more than a few feet before a flash of fire signaled the arrival of Albus Dumbledore.
"Arthur, whats going on?"
"Mundungus came back from his watch shouting that You-know-who had Harry here in the Department of Mysteries. He was certain that it was Harry's voice he heard, but he was only speculating You-know-who's involvement."
"Where is he? Where is Mundungus?" Dumbledore asked. Everyone looked around but he was no where to be seen.
"Little coward probably scampered off the moment he could." Dedalus said. "He's not really the bravest person here."
"No, but if that's the case, I think we must assume that Harry is indeed here with Voldemort to retrieve the prophecy. Mundungus Fletcher is competent enough, if he has fled, that means he is certain that Voldemort is here. We'll split up. Mad-Eye and myself will remain here, it is most likely she will exit this way as its the easiest to access. I want the rest of you to split up into teams of three. Anyone who can not perform a disillusionment charm come to me before you leave. Follow Arthur's instructions and head to other exits that she may try to use. Use a patronus to contact the rest of us should Voldemort or Harry appears. First priority is Harry's safety. I will come immediately."
The group dispersed quickly each heading to a different location. Soon only Alastor and himself were left. Alastor approached Dumbledore, being a seasoned auror and told Dumbledore his plan.
"I'll disillusion myself near the lifts. Its dark enough back there no one will notice me. Once they leave the lifts and I am directly behind them, I'll stun them. My eye will let me see them through Potter's cloak and I'm sure she made him bring it, if she does have him here."
"Good I will be in the other direction, in the shadows of the fireplaces. I will be further down than you, so if you try to curse her at a range close enough where she can't dodge, know that my spells will be from about three times as far away. Make your decision carefully before you cast. Nothing lethal, she may use Harry as a shield."
"Give me some credit Dumbledore, I've been in quite a few hostage situations. I know what to do to get him out alive. If I fail, summon the boy. She won't expect that to be your first act and at least we'll have him safe. Did you call for back-up?"
"Yes, though the rest of the staff will be late, they didn't have the means of transportation I did. Also I'm certain the Auror department is busy tonight. Some of the paintings in my office were discussing an attack by the three Lestranges being carried out down in Kent."
Alastor nodded gruffly before taking his position near the lifts and then casting the charm to allow him to blend into the background. Albus retreated into the shadow's near the closest fireplace before doing the same, and they waited.
The silence stretched for over five minutes before they heard the grinding of the lifts. They remained silent as the apparently empty lift arrived and left. It was only Dumbledore's keen eyesight that noticed the person under the disillusion spell, and his heart clenched when there was only one. Had she already killed him? His worries were laid to rest when he saw Alastor's spell, a beam of red, light fly off target to what he had to assume was another invisible person. A perfect shot, he hoped, only to be thwarted by the last person he had expected.
"Protego."
The shield charm broke the figure's camoflauge, but it didn't matter. Dumbledore knew the voice already. Harry Potter had protected Voldemort. That probably meant extended use of the Cruciatus curse before the Imperius. Harry could resist, Dumbledore knew he could, so Emily would have had to mentally break him before casting it. He had failed the boy again. The only bright side was that if he was still able to perform magic so easily, then odds are the torture curse's effects wouldn't be too lasting.
Immediately after the shield charm, a second invisible figure was revealed. He watched as Emily Riddle flung young Harry's cloak from her body and somehow pinpointed Alastor's exact location and stunned him. The entire series of actions had lasted barely longer than a second and Albus knew he had to move even faster to salvage things.
"I seem to have found you again Ms. Riddle."
Even as he spoke, he had already begun his silent casting. The first was a stunner that hit Harry in the chest, the second being a summoning charm that landed less than a moment afterwards. He had just finished his sentence, and Emily had just turned to him, before Harry's limp body blurred past her to rest behind his legs. Dumbledore was cool, calm and collected, ready for the onslaught of magic that he would face in any moment. He was unprepared for the scream of anguish that left her lips as her eyes locked onto Harry body. Nor was he prepared for a second scream, far louder, that was nothing but pure anger.
"GIVE HIM BACK, YOU BASTARD!"
Emily didn't even finish her screech, before her wand was in motion sending a sickly green light at the old man's head.
Dumbledore would die tonight. No one touched what was hers, especially when that something was Harry Potter.
The anger was overwhelming. Equally on par with the love she had felt hours before in the Chamber of Fear, and her magic reflected that. Each killing curse she sent at the man was more vibrant than any other time in her life she had ever cast it. Dumbledore proved himself quite capable as he moved out of the way of her first curse, flicking his wand behind him, without even looking, before banishing Harry to the far right wall, away from the fireplaces on the left that would lead to her escape.
She had cast three killing curses at the man before her eyes left him as they followed her lover's journey across the floor. All of a sudden it didn't matter if the old man lived or not. All she had to do was make her way to Harry, then make her way to the grates on the other side. Her thoughts were interrupted by the charging of a golden centaur, who released a golden arrow from the bow in its hands. She jerked her head to the side getting a nasty cut on her cheek from the arrow, but at least it didn't split her skull. The arrow flew much faster than the half-breed itself and she blasted the animated statue out of her way as she began making her way to Harry Potter. But in the brief moment her vision had been blocked, things had changed.
Her lover's body was almost completely invisible to her, being covered by the witch from the fountain. She even felt a brief flare of irrational jealousy that another witch was with him before having to avoid a silver jet of light that came from her opponent's wand. The old man was playing for keeps, using magic that would destroy her body at the barest touch.
Focusing once again on the task of maneuvering her way in between Dumbledore and Harry, she changed up her spells focus more on tactics that would delay him. She used the same animation spell that she had used against Lucius, causing long vines of marble to rip themselves up from the floor to crush the man. Dumbledore blasted them, and sent the shrapnel in her direction. She only barely created a dome around her, turning the rocks that passed through into water vapor. Dumbledore sent a jet of fire at that she ignored think it to be useless against her shield and cast another killing curse his way. A bad decision as the fire cut through her shield and wrapped around her, the blistering heat licking her skin causing terrible pain. She transfigured the flame into a snake and sent it Dumbledore's way as well as two more killing curses. The old man moved to meet the snake head on, leaving the killing curses to sail away from him. The snake failed to reach him as well as the golden statue of the wizard intercepted it and wrestled it to the ground.
She was breathing heavily now, the exertion getting to her. But she was not done. Summoning a wave of feindfyre, she sent the flames his way only for the golden goblin and house elf jump into its path, dispersing the magic, but reducing their bodies into a molten mess. At least the man was out of cannon fodder now.
A blue light streaked towards her, so she revealed her trump card. Wordlessly she conjured up a magical shield with an ancient spell, the Aegis Charm. This silvery shield could disperse any magic other than the killing curse, but the magical force behind it was immense. Thankfully it would remain with her for the rest of the duel if she desired. She would need it, as her power was starting wane.
With a burst of speed she rushed her old professor, sending out a simple wall of fire that only served to block his view of her for a few moments. As soon as the flames were up and heading towards him, she changed directions, running full sprint towards Harry. She was mere feet away when the golden statue bowed in an unnatural manner and three small golden orbs shot from it straight at her. It was a complex piece of transfiguration that Dumbledore could not have possibly been able to perform so quickly. The balls slammed into her body, throwing her back the way she had come.
"Stay away from my student, Voldemort!"
Damn it all. More meddlers. Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick had arrived and along with Dumbledore they began their offense anew. Emily struggled against the onslaught of the three of them, barely able to defend. More often than not she would blast though their spells with a well timed killing curse and send a follow up spell in its aftermath. She was awarded with a sharp squeak and was pleased to see the small charms professor fall to the ground with part of his face missing and blood covering the ground. One down. Two to go.
Her body was in the worst amount of pain. She was pushing too hard. Drawing on magic she simply didn't have. It was starting to show as open sores appeared over her flesh, her spells now being fueled by the very magic that created her body. But it was a price she was more than willing to pay, as long as she could just get to Harry.
It was another vibrant flash of green that illuminated another arrival and Emily felt a happiness that was only second to having Harry in her arms. Severus Snape had arrived, and it looked far more dramatic to her than it probably was. His black cloak was flowing behind him and he already had his wand in hand. He had come to aid his master in her moment of need. One of her faithful, one of her beloved followers.
"Severus, take the boy." Albus was a fool, still wanting to trust the man behind him.
"Severus, aid your master. Kill Dumbledore now!"
And for a brief moment their eyes locked, and Emily recalled the one time the man had begged her for mercy. 'Please, spare Lily. Kill the boy and his father, but please, master, spare the woman I love.' She saw the look in his eyes and she knew, Severus Snape was hers no longer. She had taken his love from him, now he would return the favor.
"I'LL KILL YOU ALL. DIE!"
Even though she was tired, even though her own body was paying the price for her continuous use of magic, she fought on. The killing curses spilled from her lips like speech, and the green glow in the room was almost constant. In less than a minute, she stood alone in the middle Atrium firing off the green light constantly. Severus and Minerva both hid behind fireplace, shooting off spells whenever they had a moment to do so, while Dumbledore had fashioned a golden wall from the remains of the statues, the wall was constantly in motion intercepting her spells as they came at him, with his return fire landing on her shield. Finally, she managed to blast the fireplace that hid McGonagall in just the right way that a piece of the mantle slammed into her neck with a sickening crack. Dumbledore turned to her, in his haste to save her slipping life, forgetting that her true aim was the boy.
She ran full sprint for him as Snape abandoned all pretenses of defense and emerged to fight her alone. This man had no fear of death, and he was willing to die to stop her. She would ensure he paid the price with his life. Refusing to even slow down she kept firing her curses at the man, once again mere feet from the boy when her path was block off by what she knew to be Gubraithian fire. The everlasting flame, she would not be able to douse it.
"Give up, Emily."
Dumbledore walked towards her, wand leveled at her face. He was breathing hard, robes covered in blood, and Emily fervently wish the two she had taken out had perished. It would pain the man for the rest of his days. She saw Severus lying in a heap to the far side and hoped that of the curses she fired at him, it was the killing curse that landed true.
"Just you and I now, Dumbledore. I'll be taking the boy and your life with me as I leave."
She hadn't even had the chance to curse the man when the audible sounds of apparition began flooding the hall. All around her wizards and witches where appearing and even the floos had begun working and were spitting out people. She had one last chance.
Delving into one of her oldest tricks she transformed her body into a black mist and moved through the flames. If people could apparate in, then she could apparate out, all she needed was to grab his hand. She would emerge victorious yet.
As though Dumbledore had expected this action, the moment she disappeared he fired a powerful banishing spell at Harry Potter. The spell passed through the the people on its way, but it did pick up the line of Gubraithian fire and her own misty body before slamming into the wall. The everlasting flame landed in the grate, but her body sailed through the building, still being forced back by the spell into muggle London, before dispersing several hundred feet away from where she had been.
Her body reformed and she fell to her hands and knees in the middle of a street. Painful, choking sobs wracked her body, and she started keening a painful sound that anyone who heard froze in motion. The tears fell down her face, and the pain overtook her entire body, forcing her to curl into a ball sobbing into her knees. For several minutes she lay there, overcome by the grief of her failure, before her mind was able to move past it.
"No."
It was a whisper. Faint, but edged in steel.
"No, I will not let this happen."
With a force of will that no one in her condition should have been able to have, she wrenched her bleeding battered body up from the asphalt. Dumbledore would take him back to the safety of Hogwarts. He would be there. Looking at her arm and seeing the open, bleeding wounds caused by her exertion, she turned her gaze to the sky.
"I WILL HAVE HIM BACK!"
And with a sharp crack, she disapparated.
XOX*WARNING* *CANON DIVERGENCE* Continuing from this point on is the original ending I had envisioned for this book. The cannon ending for this book disregards the rest of this chapter and 26 (though the scene with Dumbledore and Harry in 26 happens in 27 so I advise you to read that so you won't be wondering what the heck happened.) 27 starts from the sentence above. XOX
Lord Voldemort appeared on the grounds of Malfoy manor. Wasting no time she blasted the door open. In seconds Lucius appeared with Narcissa. The man was in shock, but his wife sprung into action, immediately approaching her and trying to use magic to knit her flesh back together.
"My Lord, what happened to you?"
"Gather my Death Eaters, Lucius."
"My Lord, you are in no condit-"
"GATHER MY DEATH EATER'S, LUCIUS!" The shout was loud and at the same time a vehement hiss.
The man bowed his head and left. She went to sit in a nearby chair, his wife continuing to try her best to heal the wounds on her body to no avail. The pain did ease with the magic however, so she let the woman continue.
"I can't get the wounds to close. What kind of magic did this?"
Narcissa Malfoy had never joined her ranks officially, and rarely ever spoke to her. Much less called her the Dark Lord. Voldemort let the behavior slide as she was still loyal to the cause and supported her husband's decision fully.
"Don't bother any longer. These wounds are of my own doing. You can not heal them, only take the worst of the pain away. Get me a strengthening solution." Narcissa nodded and hurried off.
Voldemort was now alone in the foyer. Her breathing was still hard and her body still ached. She impatiently let the time pass as she watched her blood seep into the chair she was seated in. Narcissa returned first, holding a vial filled with yellow liquid. She downed it at soon as she touched it. The potion would not have any immediate effects, but her magic would return at a faster pace and her body would heal with its return. Given an hour's time she would look normal again, though her magic would be pathetically low. Lucius entered a few minutes later, fully garbed in his Death Eater robes. He was not the only one either, the black clad figures poured in one after the other, their numbers totaling somewhere in the mid thirties.
The Dark Lord stood, even though her body was not ready, she would still spear head her forces. "Tonight, something was stolen from me. Something I value greatly. Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick and even Severus Snape, my old follower, banded together to thwart me. By the time I was done with them, only that muggle loving old man remained standing before me. Using a pathetic trick to save his own life, he threw me out of the ministry of magic, where I had been to retrieve what was mine before stealing my property and running to Hogwarts. I will not allow him to get away with that."
"Tonight, we take Hogwarts."
A/N: Argh, thwarted by . The uploading of the chapter flubbed up and the spacing was gone from this chapter. Took half an hour to fix manually.