Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or this world or anything. Well, I do own some things. I'm a materialist for goodness's sakes. I own a lot of things. none of which are represented in this story. I don't think this disclaimer makes a lot of sense, but I hope I got the point across.
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Harry (part 2)
Harry pushed up off of Severus's couch and strode to the door.
He didn't realize he had Draco with him until he felt a sharp tug on his arm and looked down to see their hands intertwined, tan and pale fingers threaded one through the next.
"Harry?"
Harry looked up from their joined hands and met Draco's gaze. The blond's grey eyes were swirling with fear and worry and a fierce determination.
"You have a plan."
It was a statement, not a question, and Harry nodded in response, though in truth he didn't have a plan. He just knew he wanted Voldemort dead.
Draco smiled. "Okay, I trust you." The smile became a grin and now the blond was dragging Harry as they moved through the heavy wards on Severus's door as if they were so much tissue paper before stepping out into the hall. "Let's go kick his ass."
Harry grinned and followed the blond towards the Great Hall as the walls of Hogwarts shuddered around them.
When they got there, they saw that the massive room was full. It looked like everyone had gotten into their battle groups, and Harry quickly counted them off in his head. He knew there were at least two teams out in the field or on guard duty, but it looked like everyone else was ready. The room echoed with tense conversation and there was electricity in the air.
Tonight, it would end.
When they entered the room, Harry let go of Draco's hand. He didn't really want to do it, liking he way the long cool fingers felt against his skin, but there were more important things to focus on.
Hermione and Neville broke away from their teams, along with a few of the other group leaders. They gathered around Harry and Draco, their faces serene, but their eyes shining with the fierce light that told Harry they were ready to fight.
"Hermione, it's the weapon." The bushy haired girl nodded. It was one of her spies that had told Harry about the weapon only that morning. "Severus is under Paige's wards in the dungeon right now."
Hermione gasped. "We have to sever their connection before we destroy the weapon, or he could--"
Harry held up his hand, cutting her off sharply. "Draco and I will take care of that. I just need all of you to get me to Captain Snake Face." There were nods around the circle. "Neville, you take your team and reinforce the wards. Hermione, you start triggering the traps. The Death Eaters will have to get close to the castle and that puts them right in our path. Ginny, head up to the infirmary. I want to keep the casualties low on our side, but there are no guarantees. And set up a few warded rooms for Death Eater injured." The red headed girl opened her mouth to protest, but Harry shook his head. "I don't want to hear it. This ends tonight and there are going to be a lot of wounded on both sides. They deserve the chance to live until their trials." Ginny bit her lip, but nodded.
Harry jumped as he felt a cool hand settle on his shoulder. He turned to see Draco staring off at the end of the hall. Harry followed his gaze and saw a strange red light covering the far wall. The red glow grew brighter and larger and as a fierce blow to the wards shook the floor beneath them, Harry felt his stomach drop to his feet.
"On the floor everyone, now!"
No sooner did he speak than the wall turned fiery red and blew inward.
Flaming chunks of stone were flying through the air, now choked with dust and ringing with screams. Harry struggled to his feet and looked at the carnage around him. Piles of rock littered the floor of the Great Hall and Harry could barely see the other teams through the gritty air. He looked down and saw Hermione under a table. He pulled her free and when he was satisfied that she was uninjured, the two of them went to work getting the other team leaders up.
Neville was fine. Scratched and bruised by the flying debris but otherwise healthy. Ginny was dazed. A chunk of rock had hit her in the head, leaving a long streak of blood mixed in with her red hair. Harry flagged down one of the other uninjured soldiers and handed her off to be brought to the infirmary.
Taking a moment to catch up with his own thoughts, Harry saw that most of the uninjured survivors were working to free anyone trapped under the rubble while dodging more of the falling stones. He wondered how many of his friends might be in there, hurt or dying, but he had to fight. If he didn't confront Voldemort now, they might as well leave the fallen to die, it would be the same fate in the end.
He grabbed Neville and Hermione away from their rescue efforts. "I have to go out there. He's not going to stop and we won't survive another hit like this." The two of them nodded, then Neville looked around sharply.
"Where is Draco," the brunet asked and Harry felt his breath freeze in his chest. He hadn't looked. The whitelighter hadn't even crossed his mind since the blast. He turned frantically, searching for a glimpse of blond hair. He spotted Draco hunched over a supine figure on the floor and breathed a sigh of relief. The air around the two men was light blue. Draco wasn't injured, he was healing.
Taking a moment to wipe away tears of relief that Harry would blame on the dusty air, he walked over to the white lighter.
"There, there, pet. You'll be fine and well in a minute. Just rest here while I go find someone to bring you up to the--Oh, hey Harry," the blond said as he stood, nearly bumping into Harry.
Draco swayed slightly on his feet as another blast rocked the castle and his eyes looked glazed. Harry signaled for one of the other rescuers to bring the fallen soldier, whom he now saw was Dean Thomas, to the infirmary before he wrapped his arms around the sagging blond's torso and led him to a low pile of rubble in the corner. Helping Draco sit, Harry did a quick field triage on the other boy. There were no cuts or bruises visible, but when Harry pressed Draco's chest the blond winced.
"Broken ribs," Harry said. The blond nodded, his glazed eyes clearing quickly.
"Doesn't matter," Draco said, standing. "We have to get out there and --"
The blond broke off with a gasp, pressing his hands to his stomach and falling to his knees on the floor.
Harry knelt down next to him. "Draco? Are you okay? It's your ribs--"
"No, no," the blond gasped out. "It's something-- stabbing…"
Harry shifted Draco's shirt out of the way, but the skin beneath was smooth and unmarked. There were no wounds and Harry said as much.
Draco shook his head. "No, doesn't matter. We have to fight." he stood, but just as quickly fell again.
Harry stood up carefully as the floor shifted beneath his feet and spotted Hermione in the crowd, waving her over to where Draco now lay on the floor, unconscious.
"What is it," she asked.
"He's injured. Internal or something. He said it felt like a stab. I have to get out there and stop the weapon before it bring the entire castle down on us but I need you to watch over him."
Hermione nodded, her lips in a thin line. "You're going alone."
It wasn't a question, but Harry answered anyway. "Have to. It's my duty."
Harry knelt down again to brush his fingers over Draco's cheek before rising and striding out of the Great Hall.
Harry made his way to one of the vantage points. He needed to get a look at the battlefield before he charged out. Maybe it wasn't the Gryffindor way, but if it kept Harry alive for a little bit longer he would take it.
The field was covered with the remaining fighting force of the castle and that of the Dark Lord. Black robed forms shifted under the ever-present haze of curses and spells.
From where he stood Harry couldn't see who was winning, but he did spot a small tent at the eastern border of the battleground, just under a small copse of trees.
Harry cast a mild Glamour over himself. Voldemort had finally given up on wanting a personal confrontation a few weeks previous and issued a 'kill on sight' order. Taking off from a hidden door in the castle he moved towards the thick brush that edged the battlefield. There was some open space between the castle and the cover of the bushes, so he ran.
Harry dodged several curses, absently noticing that they seemed weak. As he looked around he saw that there were fewer fighters on the field from either side than he had expected and the fighting was not as fierce as it should have been. He knew why his side was depleted. The destruction of the wards of Hogwarts had injured a number of soldiers and sent many others to help the wounded and shore up the castle's defenses, but as Harry watched he saw several Death Eaters fall to the ground, no curse having touched them.
Slowly moving past the battle, Harry jumped back when a Death Eater came crashing through the shrubbery to collapse at his feet. The man's mask had split down the middle, and as he fell it dropped to the ground, exposing a young and unfamiliar face. The man was pale, his skin visibly grey in the dim spell-light cast over the field. As Harry watched the man groaned and curled around his left arm. Harry looked away from the man and off into the corner where the weapon was hidden, seeing a blue glow flare around the small tent.
Now more than ever he knew he had to destroy that thing. Not only was Voldemort using the weapon to destroy Hogwarts and all those it contained, he was killing his own Marked, and one of those was Severus. Paige's ward would only protect the man for so long, Harry had to get to that weapon and shut it down, destroy it if possible.
Unable to completely ignore the man writhing in pain at his feet, Harry moved him further away from the battle and under the secure cover of some thick bushes. It might not be enough to protect him from the battle, but it was the best Harry could come up with in a hurry. He knew the man was a Death Eater, and as such had done horrible things in the name of an insane cause, but his punishment would come in the courts of the Wizarding World, not underfoot on a battleground when he was too weak to fight back.
The pained Death Eater settled, Harry set off again.
Unfortunately the cover ran out before he reached his goal and there was an open field of some few yards between the edges of the brush and the tent.
That area was thickly covered with Death Eaters, and though these showed the effect of the weapon as well, they seemed to be withstanding the power drain. And though the blue glow had faded, Harry was not fool enough to believe that there were no other protections on the tent. With the ferocity of the battle behind him and the eerie silence of the tent before him Harry quickly ducked down into the brush to plan his assault on the seemingly flimsy stronghold.
Unfortunately, the closer he got to the ground, the more his exhaustion and heart-sickness weighed on him. He hadn't had a proper night of sleep in weeks, since he heard what he thought was Draco giving up on him, on them, and the war had only escalated. His body was weak, his mind was spinning. Pushing his glasses up onto his forehead, Harry rubbed his eyes fiercely with the heels of his hands, the end of his wand, gripped tight in his fist, tapping against the plastic frames.
Dropping his lenses back into place, Harry stood up again, shaking the exhaustion off as best he could and taking a deep breath. The only way in, the only one that might work, might be unexpected enough to succeed, was a frontal assault. He would have to move in hard and fast, curses flying, and pray that he got pat the guards and the wards and into that tent.
Resolved, Harry took another deep breath, then ran his tongue over his dry lips. His thoughts wandered back to Draco and he grinned briefly. His death could be only minutes away, but he could still taste the sweet lemony flavor of the other boy on his lips. The warmth of being loved welled up inside his chest and wrapped around him as he stood behind the brushy shrubs. At least he had that. If he died, at least he had that.
And so he charged.
He got past the first few guards with no problems. They were startled and the draw of the weapon had weakened them enough to slow their reflexes. He stupefied four before he got to a real fight.
The second row of guard, three of them, had seen him come out of the darkness and as Harry hexed the first four, theses three had a chance to ready their spells.
Harry dodged an Avada and some purple curse, but a Cutting Curse got through his faltering Protego and hit his shoulder. He felt his grip on his wand weaken and quickly shifted it to his other hand, silently thanking Snape for their private dueling lessons as he knocked out two of the three guards.
The third ran ahead to the tent, where another four guards were waiting. The last four looked stronger than any Death Eaters Harry had seen so far. If he had time to think about it he would have wondered how they remained so strong a they were closer to the weapon than any others, but there was no time for contemplation.
He knocked out the third Death Eater from before, the one that slashed his shoulder, with a quick hex, and Harry managed to throw a cutting hex of his own that managed to connect with two of the oncoming Death Eaters.
Unfortunately this gave the other two time to loop around and come in behind him and the next thing Harry knew he was being attacked on all four sides. Sheer panic bolstered his shields, but he knew that would only lat so long, and though the two injured Death Eaters were now weaker, Harry wasn't sure he would be able to defeat all four of them.
Harry threw cutting curses and tripping hexes around along with anything else he could think of that would at least weaken the four Death Eaters. It was working and their attacks weakened, but it was still four against one and as Harry watched his shield flickered once, again, and then failed.
He barely heard the Stupefy before he hit the ground and darkness rushed over him.
When he awoke he groaned. His head felt pounds heavier than it should and everything around him glowed with a painfully bright blue light.
Squinting through the glare he tried to look around, get an idea of where he was, but before he could shift into a sitting position he felt a heavy foot shove him back down. Turning his head slightly he saw one of the Death Eaters from before, a woman, look down on him with her face twisted in an expression of sadistic glee.
There were no other Death Eaters in sight and Harry assumed they had returned to their positions at guard. Shifting his eyes to the side he saw he was surrounded by fabric walls, and through his exhaustion and pain he almost laughed. He was inside the tent. That was what he wanted and the Death Eaters had actually brought him in.
Now if he could only get up and find the damn weapon…
"Welcome, Mr. Potter."
Harry winced. Voldemort's voice had gotten no more lovely since their last encounter, and through the throb of what must be a concussion, the hissing noise was nauseating.
"Howdy, Tom," Harry said, using his best American accent. It was complete shite, but in for a penny, in for a pound, and the snake-faced bastard was already mad at him. "How're y'all doin' here?"
The Death Eater pressed her foot down a little harder and Harry felt bone grinding on bone under her heel.
"Now, now, Harry. Such poor sssportsmanship is unsightly," Voldemort hissed out.
Harry slowly moved his hand up to rub his face. Returning it to the ground at his side he sighed and looked up at Voldemort. "Say it, don't spray it, Tom."
The Death Eater ground down again and Harry groaned at the pain, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. Then the pressure eased up, until the Death Eater had stepped off completely and Harry reopened his eyes and saw her standing a few feet away.
Voldemort was standing over him, and almost kindly expression on his lipless face as he held out his hand.
"Do you need some help, Harry?"
Harry looked from the hand to the man and raised an eyebrow in his best impression of Snape, before standing without assistance. "Sorry, Tom. Hate to be rude, but I want to set a good example for Miss. Death Eater over here," he said, waving at the woman who moved forward sharply, her hands clawed, before stopping at a gesture of Voldemort's. "Doesn't do to accept help from the enemy, does it?"
The Dark Lord giggled again. "My goodness, Harry. I never noticed how entertaining you can be. We should have spoken long ago."
Harry's head was thumping and Voldemort's voice wasn't helping. Neither was the friendly act the man was putting on. "What are you doing, Tom? And we're on a first-name basis now?"
"It would seem so. And I see no reason to keep up with childish threats at this point. The outcome of our battle in inevitable now. You will die, it's only a matter of when
"I see no reason to keep up with childish threats at this point. The outcome of our battle in inevitable now. You will die, it's only a matter of when."
Harry snorted, though he felt a sinking in his stomach. He was weak and injured, his shoulder now thumping with pain to match his head and he could feel the thick flow of blood trickled down his arm. He was starting to feel dizzy and sick, but he steeled himself. It was all going to end soon, one way or another.
"All right, Tom. You're talking a big game. So where is this weapon of yours?" The red slitted eyes widened slightly and Harry grinned. "Yeah, I know about it. So come on, this is the point in the movie where you describe your super evil plan, and then the horrific and esoteric method by which you're going to kill me. Let's get on with things, shall we? Time's a wasting."
Harry heard the other man curse before he was knocked to the ground again.
This time Voldemort did not offer to help him up.
As Harry struggled to his feet, the other man grimaced. "You are too flippant, Mr. Potter. With this machine I plan on destroying your precious castle and everyone inside." Voldemort giggled again, and again Harry felt that stupid high-pitched noise dig into his brain like a drill. "And," Voldemort said, "I'm going to use the magical core of your favorite spy to do it."
Harry felt a cold chill run down his back and he shivered reflexively.
Voldemort grinned at the sight. "Yes, I plan to snuff out our dear Severus's life like a candle."
Harry growled and lunged at the man. His hands were empty, his wand having been taken at some point, but he didn't care. He wanted Voldemort dead.
The Dark Lord held up his wand and Harry felt the hot sizzle of a cutting curse run across his chest, opening up his shirt and the skin beneath, but his momentum kept him moving forward and he fell on Voldemort, knocking him to the ground.
As the hit the floor, Harry caught sight of something just past where the man had been standing, a large metallic contraption, and crouching near it was a shadowy figure. But Harry thought he saw, the light caught on pale blond hair.
"Enough!" Voldemort shouted, shoving Harry to the side and rising.
Harry lay on the ground where he had been pushed, panting with exertion and pain, his blood now soaking through the remaining fabric of his shirt. Voldemort looked as energized as anyone could when they had spent an entire battle hiding behind the lines and Harry couldn't stand. He didn't have it in him to rise again.
"Master," the female Death Eater said and as Harry looked over at her he saw her pointing past Harry, past Voldemort, to the blond figure in the shadows.
Voldemort turned sharply, his wand in his hand again and Harry felt one more burst of energy rise in him as he lunged to his knees and tackled the man around the waist, knocking him to the ground.
Harry rose to his feet and threw himself at the female Death Eater who had run towards them as Voldemort fell, her wand outstretched. With a quick worldess spell, Harry's wand was out of her pocket and back in his hands and the Death Eater lay unconscious on the floor.
Harry looked back to Voldemort to see that the Dark Lord had gotten to his feet again and advanced on the weapon and the man that knelt next to it, Draco.
Harry's breath caught in his throat as he saw Voldemort raise his wand, the tip already glowing an ominous green. So close to the weapon, an Avada Kedavra would take out the machine -and everyone around it including the now-trembling blond. It would be the solution to all of Harry's problems, the weapon and the Dark Lord destroyed in one go, except that Draco was there.
Harry couldn't let the blond die.
Using the last of his energy he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Draco as the curse spewed forward. And as everything around him turned a vibrant green, Harry thought he heard the rustle of wings.
TBC…
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Note: …Hey… So… Been about a month, huh?… Yeah…
Okay, I'm sorry. The truth is that this chapter was hard. It's just about the end of the story and it's battle/fight scenes which I've never written before. I had a draft last week-end but my beta didn't completely love it and neither did I and then I didn't have any time to work on it during the week. And then there is the fact that I just don't like writing endings. If any of you read my other long story, the complete one, ANNIVERSARY, then you know it actually took me about a year between the second-to-last chapter and the final one. I just really don't like endings.
But they are inevitable. And so is my standard begging for reviews. This story hasn't got the response that some of the other fics have, but I'm really proud of this work, if I can own my own pride in someone else's creation. I would like to know what you guys think. I always like to know what you guys think. So review. Good or bad. Thanks.