Author's Note:

The bitter-sweet finish!

Chapter 28: The Confrontation

Zabini stood waiting for them on the top of the hill. He was flanked by two men. One Scorpius recognized from the fight at Hogwarts as the man called Dean Thomas. Dean held the sword of Gryffindor in one hand.

The other man was pale and tall, but not someone Scorpius had seen before. In his hand he held a bow that was almost as tall as himself, and that was inlaid with Sapphires up and down its length. The bow of Ravenclaw.

Zabini smiled lightly at the four of them.

"I've been waiting for you."

"Well, you could have made it easier for everyone involved, and just come to us," said Albus irritably.

"Impertinent, as always, Potter," said Zabini coolly.

"Yes, I have a lot of arrogance, just ask Malfoy about that."

"Don't get me started on it," said Scorpius dryly.

"You chose the losing side, Potter. You should have joined me. I would have given you power, all that you wanted. You could have had Ravenclaw's bow." Zabini eyes were locked on Albus.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm not interested in a world of ash and sorrow. I don't want a world without my friends."

"If you join me, I will let your friends live. As it is, they will die, as slowly and painfully as I can make it."

Albus hesitated, looking at his sister, Scorpius, and then Zoë.

"Don't listen to him," whispered Lily. "He's lying."

"Am I? What would I lose letting a couple of harmless children go? Their lives are in your hands." Zabini was staring at Albus with what Scorpius recognized as desire.

"I already turned your creatures of Hell down, now you make me repeat myself? Even if I could trust you, I can't sacrifice all of England for the four of us. I've been terribly selfish in the past, and I won't continue to be."

"So be it," Zabini said quietly. "Eustice, the girl."

Even though both Zoë and Lily where there, everyone knew he meant Zoë.

Zoë instantly vanished.

Scorpius leapt forward, swinging his axe up and over, bringing it down towards Zabini, but Dean was too quick, blocking Scorpius's blow with the sword of Gryffindor. A sound like rolling thunder exploded as the two great weapons crashed together, locking against each other. The sound could be heard across the entire battlefield.

Together, Lily and Albus attacked Zabini, dueling him furiously.

Something flickered in Scorpius's peripheral vision. Still exchanging blows with Dean, he chanced a glance at it, confused. The air seemed to be shimmering, and moving back and forth.

Eustice—the man in possession of Ravenclaw's bow—had an arrow notched to his great weapon. Aiming, he let it fly at the shimmering air.

A scream of pain rent the night sky. The bit of air shimmered more thickly. There was a thud, and Zoë appeared kneeling on the ground, an arrow protruding from her forearm, blood pouring down and dripping off her fingers, and Slytherin's dagger lying on the ground in front of her.

Lily threw her glance to Zoë for an instant, distracted. Zabini took the opening and blasted Lily to the floor.

Scorpius, bewildered and worried by the sudden turn of events, was caught off guard when Dean pulled the sword of Gryffindor back and swung it around, hitting Scorpius hard in the side of the face with the ruby studded hilt. Scorpius fell back onto his rear end, blood trickling down his cheek.

Only Albus remained on his feet. He was dueling Zabini, fiercer than ever and determined to make up the deficit caused by his friends' sudden injuries.

To Scorpius's surprise, it seemed that Zabini was actually working very hard to keep up with Albus's furious onslaught.

Finally, Zabini managed to get a spell around Albus's guard. Just as the hex was about to connect with Albus, Scorpius saw a smug grin spread across his friend's features. Albus spun on his foot and disappeared.

Albus reappeared instantly on the other side of Zabini, furiously attacking once more. Zabini was quick in whipping around to counter him.

Scorpius started to get gingerly to his feet, but then Dean was on him again, whacking away with his sword.

Scorpius ground his teeth together with frustration as he was worked steadily backwards, ever on the defensive.

Zoë reached out with her uninjured hand to grab Slytherin's dagger. "Touch it, and she dies," said Eustice with the bow of Ravenclaw turned on the motionless figure of Lily. Zoë hissed angrily, and sat back.

Albus and Zabini were still dueling, the fate of England tied up in their fight. Once again Zabini got past Albus's defenses, and once again Albus disappeared and reappeared behind Zabini.

Zabini smiled once Albus did the trick for the second time. "I'm more impressed than ever. To be able to Apparate like that under such pressure, and on a split-second's notice! It must take quite the concentration. Not many fully trained wizards could do that. I've never even tried it myself; it must be very difficult."

Albus laughed out loud, while still sending jinx after jinx at Zabini. Scorpius didn't know what his friend could find so funny at a time like this. "I'm glad you think so, Zabini. It did take me quite a while to master."

Just then Dean brought the sword of Gryffindor swinging down. Scorpius moved to block it, but wasn't quite fast enough. The sword sliced a long gash down Scorpius's shoulder and arm, running all the way to his elbow.

Luckily for Scorpius, it wasn't his dominate arm, but that didn't stop him from crying out in agony and staggering back.

Albus cast a quick glance of worry over at his blonde friend. Zabini took the moment of distraction to send a slew of curses at his opponent.

Albus once more Apparated away. This time he didn't reappear behind Zabini, but a good ten yards from him.

"What? You running Potter? Are you scared? Are you going to leave all your friends here to die?" sneered Zabini.

"Hardly." said Albus. "I was going to see how far I could get without resorting to this, but I can't fool around and let my friends be put through pain. You were impressed at my ability to Apparate under pressure like this, so I want to know what you think of my next set of moves."

Suddenly Albus was gone. He reappeared behind Zabini, firing a volley of spells. Zabini turned, deflecting the shots, but then Albus disappeared again. He was now back on the other side of Zabini, firing off more hexes. As Zabini whirled around, Albus popped up over to his right, once more shooting jinxes and jets of light.

"Impossible!" screamed Zabini, turning to defend himself from the latest attacks. "Eustice, get him!"

Eustice fired an arrow that struck Slytherin's dagger, knocking it a good ways from Zoë to prevent her from getting it easily. Once he had done that, he turned, firing bolt after bolt at Albus.

Albus Apparated away, laughing as he disappeared. He reappeared somewhere else, firing more spells. He was forced to Apparate again as more arrows came at him.

Zabini turned, and ran for the dagger of Slytherin. Albus saw where he was going, and Apparated to the dagger to protect it. But Zabini had predicted that, and Albus had barely appeared when a jet of black light struck his chest. Albus was launched back twenty feet and landed with a loud thud on the ground.

Zabini bent over and picked up the gleaming blade that was now at his feet. His gaze lingered on the emeralds in the weapon's hilt before scanning over to where Albus was struggling into a kneeling position.

"I must say, you have great potential. Very great indeed. No wizard has ever been able to Apparate so many times, so fast, and in such a small proximity too. To be able to do that without giving yourself even a minor Splinch…" Zabini shook his head. "The concentration, the foresight! You must have been thinking at least three or four Apparations into the future to be able to pull that off so well. You really do belong in Ravenclaw with a mind that capable. It's such a pity I'll have to kill you. If you had joined me no one would have been able to stand against us. But you know it's now over: I have three of the weapons, and you barely have one." Zabini looked over to where Scorpius sat slumped on the ground, covered in blood, with the sword of Gryffindor pressed to his throat. Dean stood waiting for direction from Zabini.

Albus struggled to a standing position just in time to see Zabini disappear. Scorpius could see the same weird shimmer in the air as when Zoë had turned invisible. The shimmer suddenly started to move towards Albus, but Albus stood still, not sure what to do. Didn't he see the shimmer? wondered Scorpius. But before Scorpius could say anything, the shimmer was behind Albus. Albus let out a scream as blood gushed from a wound appearing above the back of his knee.

Albus collapsed weakly to the ground as Zabini reappeared in the place of the shimmer, chuckling. Scorpius suddenly realized that for some odd reason he could now see whoever it was that went invisible, if only just barely. It must be that the axe lets me see them.

Zabini gave a vicious kick to Albus's wand hand, sending the teenager's only weapon spinning away.

"I will make you pay for your decision to go against me, Potter. I'm going to kill your friends right before your eyes, and you will be helpless to do anything," said Zabini coldly.

Scorpius watched in wide-eyed fear as Zabini strode towards him.

Zabini stopped in front of, and slightly to the right of Scorpius, standing right besides Dean.

Not waiting for Zabini to make the first move, Scorpius swung Hufflepuff's axe up and at Zabini. Zabini reacted quickly, moving the dagger to block the blow.

Something very unexpected happened next. In one quick movement, Dean brought Gryffindor's sword away from Scorpius's neck, and brought it around, slicing at Zabini's exposed side.

This didn't seem to catch Zabini completely off guard—as if a small part of him had expected to be betrayed . He reacted instantly, but he wasn't quite fast enough. As he spun away, bringing the dagger across to protect himself, the sword sliced a gash down his side. He hissed in pain.

"Eustice!" Zabini yelled.

Eustice responded as if he, too, had almost expected the turn of events. He spun around, an arrow already notched to the bow of Ravenclaw. There was a soft twang, and then the arrow was whipping through the air so fast it was hard to see. There was a grunt from Dean as he staggered a few paces back, and collapsed to the ground next to Scorpius. Gryffindor's sword hit the earth with a soft thump. A shaft protruded from Dean's heart.

Scorpius stared with wide eyes as Dean choked and struggled on the ground.

"I was wondering when that idiot was going to backstab us, I was never convinced he was on our side," said Zabini with disdain. His side was dark with blood, and his hand was clasped to it. "You can never trust Gryffindors."

Scorpius could hear the sound of the battle still raging below them, but it seemed so distant. Behind Zabini and a little bit away, he could see Lily starting to move into a sitting position, but neither Eustice nor Zabini noticed her. Scorpius looked over to see Zoë slowly sliding her wand out of her clothes, while Albus inched towards his wand.

"Time to get this over with," said Zabini, turning back to Scorpius.

"Yes, I agree," said Scorpius quietly.

Scorpius lunged to his feet in one swift, jerky movement. Using all his strength, he pressed his toe under the sword of Gryffindor, and kicked it as hard as he could in Lily's direction. It soared through the air and landed with a thud a few feet from Lily. Lily rushed to the sword, scooped it up, and charged towards Zabini.

Scorpius jumped forward, attempting to take Zabini by surprise, but Zabini blocked his attack easily.

Eustice notched an arrow to his bow, taking aim at Lily as she sprinted towards Zabini.

Hastily trying to distract him, Zoë fired a spell at Eustice. This forced Eustice to jump aside, without having time to fire off his shaft. Just as he was once again preparing to shoot, Zoë sent another hex his way.

Eustice swore as he danced out of the way once more. This time he turned and fired at Zoë. She was still on her knees, and bleeding from her forearm. She couldn't move in time. The arrow buried deeply into her shoulder. With a scream of pain, Zoë peeled over backwards and lay rolling on the ground.

Albus had now managed to hobble over to his wand. Picking it up, he spun on the spot, Disapparating. The next instant he appeared behind Eustice, who once again had his bow trained on Lily. Eustice fell over silently onto his face as Albus stunned him from behind.

Meanwhile, Scorpius, Lily, and Zabini were locked in a perilous tornado of death. All three of them whirled back and forth, exchanging blows back and forth.

The axe and the sword had a much greater reach than Zabini's dagger, but he was excellent at wielding the weapon. He spun in and out, back and forth, positioning himself just perfectly so that Lily and Scorpius kept having to check their swings to make sure they didn't hit each other.

Scorpius's attacks were starting to slow, as he continued to lose blood through his injuries. Zabini, on the other hand, didn't seem to even notice the gash down his side.

Scorpius looked for some way to end the fight, knowing that every moment he got weaker, and so did Zoë, who lay motionless where she had fallen.

Out of the corner of his eye Scorpius saw Albus standing with the bow of Ravenclaw in his hand–an arrow notched to the string.

With a flash of insight, Scorpius saw what needed to be done. He leapt towards Zabini, bringing his axe down for a blow. Zabini blocked it easily, but Lily stabbed with her sword just a split-second after Scorpius's attack.

Zabini started to twist out of the way, just as Albus let go of the string of Ravenclaw's bow. "Time for you to go where belong, you murdering filth."

Zabini was caught in the momentum of his movement, unable to stop himself. His eyes widened with fear for the first time as the arrow flew towards him, strong and true. He managed to jerk himself slightly to the side, turning invisible, but the shaft seemed to change its path as Zabini himself did.

There was a gurgling, choked cry, as Zabini reappeared and fell to the ground—a feathered arrow sticking straight through his throat.

"It's over," said Albus, a weary smile spreading across his face, just before he collapsed to the ground.

"Albus!" Lily rushed over to him.

"I'm okay," he smiled up at her from where he sat on the ground. "It's just my knee hurts to stand on. But you should go get help—probably Mum would be best. She needs to know right away about . . . that," he gestured towards Zabini's prone figure. "And we all need help with our injuries, especially Zoë," he looked over at where Zoë lay, passed out from the loss of blood. "She'll be fine, but she needs help reasonably soon.

Lily nodded, running down the hill and jumping astride the broom she had left in the valley, soaring into the air.

Scorpius slowly trod over to where Albus sat, and plopped himself down heavily beside him.

Scorpius looked out at the battle that was slowly starting to wind down, but that still had figures fighting here and there.

"You think everything is going to be okay?" Scorpius asked Albus.

Albus smiled again. "Yes, everything will be. Once they learn Zabini is dead, and we have all four weapons, the rest of his army will surrender."

"And what about the dwarves?"

"I'm sure a deal will be cut that will satisfy their anger. We'll probably end up giving them all four of the weapons to compensate, but I can't imagine them turning that deal down. Besides, it will probably be best—the weapons can't cause much destruction if they're locked up below ground for century after century."

Scorpius looked over at Dean's dead body. "Looks like your mum was right, he was loyal to our side till the end."

"Yeah, and it's a good thing too. If he had been on their side, and he hadn't sacrificed himself to injure Zabini, I don't think we would have won."

They were silent for a few moments.

"For the first time in my life, I'm looking forward to the future," said Albus, his green eyes distant.

"Oh?"

Albus looked over at Scorpius with gratitude.

"I owe you a lot, Scorpius."

"For what?"

"For giving me my life."

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed it. I know it was a long road, but at last we have come to the end of my first novel-length story. I would like to thank all of you who pushed this fanfiction to 150 reviews! It would have been a lot harder without your support. And thanks also to all of you who subscribed to either me as an Author, or to the story, or who added me to your favorite Author's list or the story to your favorite stories list. Each time I got one of those emails was amazing.

If you liked my story, you can find my newest fanfiction on my profile. Also Harry Potter, and also the next generation. I personally think it is a lot better than this one, but I'll let you judge. If you enjoyed this story, and you like my work, you should definitely check it out.