The pain woke Harry up.
His scar burned fiercely, and he knew Voldemort was close by.
"Wake up, young Harry," hissed the voice from Harry's very worst nightmares. "It's time to join the celebration."
Harry struggled to open his eyes, finding blood from a cut on his head clotting in them.
"Oh, my apologies, Mr Potter" hissed Voldemort. "Let me help you up."
A force like a huge hand grabbed Harry around the middle and lifted him upright, holding him in its firm grip. Laughter followed his abrupt movement and Harry opened his eyes to look directly into the blazing red, cat-like eyes of Voldemort standing a few feet away.
Pushing the pain from his scar into the back of his mind, Harry tried to concentrate on his surroundings. He couldn't move his head, but he could see they were standing in the middle of the street in front of the Hog's Head tavern, surrounded by at least a hundred Death Eaters.
Incredibly, the shabby pub was still standing, despite several large holes and a multitude of burn marks.
Aside from the laughter of the Death Eaters and the crackling of burning buildings, he couldn't hear any other sounds; the battle was over.
"Ah, Harry," said Voldemort. "I want to thank you for joining us here tonight. It has saved me the trouble of having to hunt you down. Now that the last of my real opposition has been taken care of, I would have finally had the time to spend finding you of course, but this way is definitely much easier. For that, you have my gratitude."
Suddenly the force holding Harry upright disappeared, leaving him fall to his knees.
"Oh it's too late for kneeling," said Voldemort jauntily. "You had your chance, but chose to throw it away."
More laughter rang out from the surrounding circle, reminding Harry of the vampire Rhokoth and his mindless minions, cackling at every word their master spoke.
"And now you are here with us, at the moment of our greatest victory!" yelled Voldemort raising his arms into the air. The crowd cheered, some firing sparks into the night sky.
"With the destruction of the Aurors, none are left that pose a threat to us. Tomorrow we shall march into the Ministry of Magic itself and take our place at the head of the wizarding world!"
More cheers followed, but Voldemort wasn't done yet.
"My loyal friends, both old-" he said, sweeping his hand to indicate those standing closest to him, "-and new." The hand swept again, taking in the outer circle of masked people. "This moment has been a log time coming. We have worked long and tirelessly to bring about this magnificent, if inevitable, victory. You have all earned a special place in the new order of the world, and you shall be richly rewarded for your efforts."
The cheers were almost deafening as the circle voiced approval of their leader's words.
"Where is Severus?" asked Voldemort, turning to his inner circle followers. "I haven't seen him recently. Where is my most trusted advisor? I am sure he would want to be here to see this- to witness the final moments of his favourite student and the end of the Potter line."
"We can't find him," a female Death Eater to Harry's left practically spat out with undisguised hatred. "He has ran away to hide - cowering somewhere safe, no doubt."
"Now, now, Bellatrix," said the Dark Lord, in a light but reprimanding tone. "What have I told you about your petty jealousy? He must have found something to amuse himself with, although I have been told the pickings were rather slimmer tonight than anticipated."
"I killed him," whispered Harry.
Voldemort spun around to face Harry. "What?" he demanded. "What did you say?"
Harry slowly stood up, his anger fuelling his strength. He had decided, on that long-ago night in the cemetery, where he had first faced Voldemort in his new body, that he would not die on his knees. Nothing had changed since then, so Harry stood up.
"I stuck him inside a building and burnt it," he said. "He is dead."
"Crucio!"
Incredibly, Harry had forgotten exactly how much the curse hurt. He had locked away the memory where it couldn't haunt him, but now it was back, and it was worse than he could have imagined.
Liquid fire burned every inch of his skin. It permeated the air in his lungs and the blood in his veins, bursting through every cell of his body.
When it stopped, he was sobbing and his throat was raw from screaming. Many in the circle around him were crackling in glee and anticipation.
"That was not nice, Harry," said the madman, his eyes almost glowing with excitement and anger. "I had plans for your former potions professor, and you have ruined a rather disappointing night."
"First my Dementors fail to show up on time, no doubt delayed by some Muggle village they have stopped to feast on, then the remains of Dumbledore's bumbling flock somehow managed to prevent my other allies from joining us, the Aurors gave us a ridiculously weak fight, and now you force me to have to look for a new potions master to fill my needs. I am not happy, Harry. Crucio!"
It was even worse the second time. Every muscle in Harry's body hurt like it was being stabbed with knives. His flesh felt like it was being torn from his bones, his eyes like somebody was twisting them in their sockets, and he wondered if Voldemort was going to sent him mad with pain.
At that moment, he didn't care, just so long as it stopped.
After what seemed like an eternity, the agony receded, and Harry's training kicked in. He grabbed the memory of the torture and shoved it into a deep place inside of his mansion, away from his current thoughts so that it couldn't interfere with his thinking.
Instantly he became more aware of his surroundings. The Death Eaters were all laughing- all except one.
Through blurred vision, Peter Pettigrew was recognisable to Harry, even with the black cloak and skull faced mask. His silver hand stood out against the dark robes, reflecting the flames consuming the buildings around them like a beacon. While his comrade's laughs and chuckles could be seen in the movements of their heads, Peter was staying perfectly still, in silence.
Before he had a chance to contemplate the meaning of what he was seeing, the invisible hand grabbed Harry again and lifted him from the ground - standing him up to face Voldemort.
"Don't worry, Harry," he said. "You are not going to die tonight, or ever, for that matter."
"Master, you must kill him!" screeched Bellatrix. "He defied you!"
"Must?" asked Voldemort, turning his face to her. "Who says I must do anything?"
Bellatrix stumbled out an apology. "I am sorry master, but the people-"
"The people will believe what I want them to when they see Harry Potter serving as my slave, and not these fairy tales about the chosen one. I have plans for Harry - his blood is far too precious to be wasted for the enjoyment of the public."
Harry felt himself lift from the ground and turned, like a trophy being displayed.
"Look well at the hero of the wizarding world, my friends, because you will be seeing him often in the future. Mr Potter here is going to become a second body for me. I will destroy his mind and make him a tool for my use. What will the people say when they see the famous Harry Potter has succumbed to my will and become the living embodiment of my voice, except that I am indeed the greatest wizard who has ever lived?"
The skull face masks hid the expressions of the surrounding crowd, but Harry was sure there was a lot of nervous shuffling amongst the cheering, and he suddenly believed that others shared his doubts about who truly was the greatest.
He was lowered to the ground to stand facing the Dark Lord again.
"Nagini?" called Voldemort. "Where is my faithful pet? I wish to share this moment with her."
Harry heard the giant snake as it approached through the crowd. Death Eaters leapt aside, almost falling over in the haste to part before the monster winding its way through them. It slid passed Harry so close that he felt its tail touch his leg, making him shiver.
"Did you feed well my pet?" the Dark Lord hissed, almost tenderly, in Parseltounge.
He bent to lovingly stroke the head of his familiar.
Harry longed to reach out and grab the beast in his hands to throttle it to death, but he knew he wouldn't last long enough to even touch it, let alone hurt it.
"They are wrong," hissed the snake in annoyance. "I can not eatssss them."
Voldemort looked confused. "What do you mean?" he hissed back
"The ones in red are not meat!"
Voldemort suddenly stood upright.
"Give me one of the bodies," he shouted. "One of the Aurors. NOW!"
A confused panic broke out amongst the Death Eaters at his demand and several figures ran off, returning almost instantly with the red robed body of a young male Auror floating between them.
"Finite Incantatem!" said Voldemort tapping the body with his wand.
The face of the Auror suddenly changed to the less life-like features that Harry recognised from the targeting range at the D.A. headquarters.
"What is the meaning of this?" screamed Voldemort.
From high above them, a sound began. It was unearthly and beautiful, filling Harry with courage. It was the song of the phoenix, and it was once again speaking in his ear just as it had done on the night Voldemort had regained his body:
… Don't give up hope …
Fawkes. Fawkes had again come to him in the hour of his greatest need.
A huge concussion rocked the ground as the Hog's Head tavern disintegrated behind Voldemort.
Debris followed the shockwave, knocking everybody to the ground, including the Dark Lord and Harry. Shouts of panic erupted all around Harry as a wave of spells descended on the struggling to stand mob.
Harry looked up and saw a veritable wall of red robed figures in the distance charging down the street towards them, firing spell after spell into the disorientated Death Eaters.
Another shout drew Harry's attention to the other side of the circle, where he could see a crowd of people attacking from that direction. At their head was the imposing sight of Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
As the Death Eaters rallied and started to return fire, Harry finally discovered why his former transfiguration professor had been second only to Albus Dumbledore in the running of the most prestigious magical school in the world.
Unconstrained by any worry for her opponents, she was like a force of nature. The very ground she walked on rose up to launch itself at any who stood in her way.
Spells cast at her were absorbed by blocks of stone that circled around her like a flock of Hermione's conjured birds. As one stone was destroyed by a killing curse, another would leap off the ground, growing as it rose to take the missing one's place. Spells flowed from her wand in an unbroken stream, lashing the skull faced attackers with brutal power.
To either side of her, Rubeus Hagrid and his giant brother Grawp strode, swinging huge clubs to brush aside any Death Eaters that came into range. Two normal sized, redheaded men ran near the giants, casting shield spells to block incoming curses and returning fire at every opportunity. Arthur and Charlie Weasley showed no fear as they followed McGonagall and the Hagrids into the thickest group of the Death Eaters that had risen to fight back.
The rest of the Order of the Phoenix was not far behind, and amongst them Harry could clearly see some of the D.A. They moved together, shielding and casting spells like they had trained for this precise moment. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to watch.
Harry felt another surge of hope as he realised Hermione had come through, and the Death Eaters were caught in between forces determined to wipe them out, once and for all.
A powerful hand grabbed Harry by the throat and lifted him to his knees.
"They may have used you to bait their trap," said Voldemort, rasing his wand.
"But they will not be getting you back alive. Avada-"
A solid silver hand came out of nowhere and grabbed the raised arm of the Dark Lord from behind. Voldemort stopped in shock at the sight of his attacker.
Peter Pettigrew pulled against the inhuman strength of the Dark Lord with all of his magical hand's power, forcing Voldemort's arm backwards painfully.
"Wormtail," hissed the Dark Lord, letting go of Harry. "You will die for this!"
"I should have died long ago," whispered the former Marauder, with an expression that looked surprised and terrified at his words. He struggled to hold the wand back, but looked at Harry and spoke with more confidence. "Run, Harry. Get away."
Harry scrambled unsteadily to his feet, the after effects of the Cruciatus curse making him too weak to be steady. He hesitated, trying to think of a way to help Peter who was now starting to lose the struggle for Voldemort's wand.
Suddenly Nagini rose above the wrestling pair and came down in a lightning fast strike, sinking her fangs into Pettigrew's neck. Peter let go of Voldemort and grabbed the Snake with both his hands, but her poison worked quickly, and he fell, still grasping her, dead before he hit the ground.
Time slowed to the merest crawl as incredible events that would be talked about and studied for years unfolded right before Harry's eyes.
Voldemort raised his wand again just as Harry was knocked to the ground by a massive furry figure racing past him.
Through pain blurred eyes, Harry saw a look of fear in Voldemort's eyes as the black shadow of an unnaturally large dog flew through the air to crash in to the Dark Lord, driving him over backwards.
For a split second, Harry thought it was Sirius.
Then he saw the beast wasn't the coal black of his godfather's Grim - it was grey, wolf grey.
Remus Lupin, in his werewolf form, was on top of Voldemort, his deadly powerful jaws locked around the throat of the Dark Lord. Voldemort's hands were around the wolf's neck, clawed fingers digging into the fur cruelly as he sought to push the savage face away and crush the life out of it at the same time. Thin tendrils of smoke curled from under the Dark Lords grip where his fingers were burning the wolf, and sparks of magic crackled between them, but Remus refused to yield his hold.
A blue spell slammed into the werewolf's side, almost knocking the beast over, but it held on. Harry turned and saw a maskless Bellatrix Lestrange running towards them screaming incoherently at Lupin. Her face was twisted into a grimace of rage and horror as she ignored everything around her to aid her master.
A spray of blood erupted from her open mouth.
Harry clearly saw her expression change to one of disbelief as her legs faltered before giving way, and she slowly crumpled to the floor. Behind her Neville Longbottom, wand still raised, briefly smiled with savage satisfaction at the sight of the fallen madwoman, before a spell caught him in the side and flung him away into the night.
Hearing his name called, Harry looked up to see Ron and Hermione fighting their way through a line of Death Eaters. To one side of them, a bloodied Fred and George Weasley were casting spells in tandem with each other, one perfectly covering the other as they moved in a synchronised dance-like way that dropped masked figures all around them as they worked their way towards him. For one of the first times in his life, Harry saw the twins were not smiling, but their eyes gleamed with a savage glee.
An angry hiss grabbed Harry's attention away from his friends. He turned to see Nagini finally escape from Pettigrew's grasp and rise up to help her master.
Harry's eyes fell on a wand lying on the ground just in front of him. It wasn't his wand, but he recognised it – it was Voldemort's.
It seemed like he had all the time in the world to carefully reach out and pick up the instrument of his parent's murder, the aim it at Voldemort's familiar.
He watched his spell fly in slow motion as it made its journey across the short distance to the rearing snake, and cleanly severe her head before she could strike.
The last thing Nagini saw, before departing this world for the next one, was Remus Lupin, werewolf, leader of the Order of the Phoenix, and the last Marauder, violently tear the throat from the creature that had once been Tom Riddle.
Voldemort's body gave a titanic, convulsive heave, but the werewolf was too heavy to be lifted off, and stayed on top.
The huge wolf raised its bloodied snout to the sky and howled a blood curdling cry of victory, pain, and loss, to the silent moon hanging heavily in the smoke filled sky above them.
At that exact moment, every Death Eater screamed in agony and clutched their forearms, joining together into a nightmare chorus with the wolf, drowning out Fawkes still circling above them.
The piercing scream of the destroyed Horcrux joined in, unheard by anyone, except for the one person who knew to listen for it and was close enough to do so.
Time returned to its normal speed for Harry, and a deathly silence fell over the battle field as everybody froze at the terrible sound.
The Death Eaters fell to the ground unconscious, or possibly dead, and the Aurors, Order of the Phoenix, and the D.A., suddenly bereft of opponents, weren't sure what to do next except look around, trying to figure out what was happening.
Then somebody barked out a short, bitter laugh of triumph. It sounded to Harry like Mad-eye Moody.
It was a sickly, weak thing; a thing of desperation and relief, but it started a chain reaction. Soon everybody was either cheering or laughing, congratulating each other on their victory. Above them, Fawkes flew on, his song changing, rising into a new tune; an uplifting tune of victory.
Ron and Hermione reached Harry at the same time as the twins and Professor McGonagall. They helped him to his feet, and the trio were soon in a three-way hug.
"Oh, Harry," said Hermione. "You did it. You destroyed the last Horcrux."
"Good shot mate," congratulated Ron. "I would have been here earlier, but I got waylaid and had to be rescued myself."
Harry laughed, knowing full explanations were going to take time, and at this moment, he didn't really care.
Over Ron's shoulder, he saw a familiar redheaded girl pushing her way through the cheering crowd that was starting to surround them.
"Ginny!" he called, waving. "Ginny!"
His friends parted and the short girl ploughed into him, grabbing him in a fierce embrace. Wincing at the pain, Harry wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug with fervour before bending her head back to kiss her quite thoroughly.
"It's a good thing we desensitised ourselves to this sort of thing," said one of the twins.
"True, otherwise we might well be going blind right now," agreed the other.
"I thought you were meant to be keeping a low profile," said Ginny playfully, pulling back from the kiss.
"Just staying at home behaving myself," agreed Harry, finally noticing just how roughed up she was.
One eye was blackening, and a large cut on her forehead was still bleeding freely. Mud and dirt matted her hair, and her robes were torn and bloody in several places, but she had never looked so beautiful to him than at that exact moment.
"If this is behaving himself, I hate to think what his bucks party is going to be like," said Fred.
"Ah - but I do so look forward finding out," answered George.
"Oi,." said Ron to the twins. "Quit it you two. Leave them alone – they deserve a bit of peace and don't need you two pressuring them into an early marriage."
Hermione looked at Ron in surprise.
"That's my job," he finished, smiling.
The twins grinned like maniacs.
"What took you so long?" Harry asked nobody in particular.
"Sorry about that," said Hermione. "We had a bit of a problem with the time turner."
Understanding filled Harry. "You sent in the fake Aurors?"
"And evacuated the townsfolk before the attack," she answered.
"Yeah, mate. Can you believe we were trying to save target dummies," said Ron grinning. "You and your bloody 'saving people thing'!"
"Why didn't you stop them capturing me?" Harry asked.
"Because, Mr Potter, the magic released from the Founders tombs interfered with the time turner and the castle wards, keeping us from participating in the battle until we did," answered Professor McGonagall. "There simply were not enough people left outside of the wards to search for you and continue to execute the plan to set the trap using the 'Target Dummies' I believe you called them?"
"Although I will say that the magical energy now contained in the school is a most welcome addition, however poor the timing of its delivery. It should make many things possible now that were only dreamt of before."
A large crowd had gathered around them, and Harry saw Kinglsey and Mad-eye organising Aurors to round up the downed Death Eaters, as the Order of the Phoenix and D.A. members came forward to try to shake Harry and his friends' hands or pat them on the back. Everybody was keeping a fair distance from the growling werewolf though, everyone except a young, female Auror.
Lupin still sat on top of the corpse of Voldemort, growling, but Tonks was bending down to talk to him.
"Is he going to be all right?" Harry called to the pink-haired Auror.
"He'll be fine," she answered, without looking up. "He just needs a moment to calm down a bit before he can be sociable. He took his Wolfsbane, so his mind is actually his own, but I think he lost himself for a minute there and went a bit, er, feral, you might say."
"Lucky he insisted on coming with us," said Ginny. "If he hadn't you would probably be dead by now. We were stuck in the castle for too long to get to you in time…"
"You did enough," Harry said. "It's over now."
"So what do you reckon 'the power he knows not' was?" asked Ron, earning confused stares from almost everyone.
Lupin suddenly yelped loudly and jumped aside as Harry's forehead exploded in pain a hundred times worse than the Cruciatus Curse. A monstrous black shadow rose from the rapidly cooling corpse of Voldemort, and flew at Harry.
Spells flew from several alert people, but they passed through the ghostly apparition harmlessly as it quickly closed the distance.
He had just enough time to thrust Ginny out of the way before the shadow he had seen once before slammed into him.
Then it all went dark, yet again.