AN: Hello guys! I hope you've all had a fantastic weekend! I've decided to cut chapter 52 in two pieces, as it was simply too long for one update and well.. they did it with the movies as well, haha. Anyways, because it does actually count as chapter 52, I will upload the second chapter on Wednesday if I get at least 3 reviews. Big thanks to Guest and JustAFangirl for their reviews! Enjoy!
Chapter 52 - part one
Night had descended full and well by the time Daisy's feet met even ground. It had been more difficult to find the way down with only the light of the moon to guide her and she had not dared to light her wand, fearing it would attract unwanted attention to her person.
Moving into the direction of the castle, she took care to keep a large distance between herself and Hogsmeade and steered clear from the road at all times. Although the battle had clearly already begun, she had no desire to run into any latecomers. Therefore, she kept close to the mountain expanse until she had passed the front gates, before cautiously crossing the road and slipping into the safe confines of the Forbidden Forest.
As Daisy moved, she tried not to pay any attention to the eerie, almost foreboding silence that closed in on her from all sides. There was no wind that night, no hooting of owls or chirping of crickets. It was as if even the animals were holding their breaths for the outcome of the ongoing battle.
Her next steps brought her into a circle of damaged trees, several of them having parts of their trunk missing, others only having bark skived off. It was because of this first sign of battle that she almost didn't see the man lying in the middle of the chaos.
Forgetting all thought of care and safety, Daisy rushed forward and kneeled down next to him. Her disillusioned hand shot out to his shoulder and softly shook it. When no response came, she used both of her hands to try to turn him on his back. There, she came face to face with his wide, unseeing eyes and a mouth still opened into a silent scream.
Appalled, she pulled her hand back from the dead body. Whoever he had been, friend or foe, he had never even made it to the site of battle.
A twig snapped behind her and she looked up only just in time to see a beam of green light heading her way. On instinct, she threw herself to the ground, the spell only missing her by an inch before it hit the tree behind her. Before she even had time to register what was going on, a second spell was fired at her and she rolled to the side. Grabbing hold of her backpack, Daisy quickly scrambled to her feet and made for the darkness of the inner forest. By now, her Disillusionment charm had worn off and she was practically naked in the eye of the predator on her trail. Another tree was blown to pieces as she dodged another beam of light and she chanced a look over her shoulder to notice not one, but two men only a mere ten feet behind her. And that's when it happened.
Her left foot somehow caught on a protruding tree root and Daisy faltered slightly before she regained her footing. In that small moment of chaos, she had not noticed the spell coming her way and was hit square in the back. The force of the spell blew her from her feet, making her sail a couple of yards through the air before she fell face-first into the damp forest floor.
The force of her landing had apparently knocked her out for a few seconds, for the next thing she heard was the sound of voices coming from above her.
'.. do you think she was doing here?'
'Probably one of them students, trying to escape.'
'She's the first one to do so.. Don't you think..-'
'I don't care what her reasoning was, Gregory. She's dead, isn't she? Let's get back to the Dark Lord, else he punishes us for tardiness.'
Dead? The thought circled around in her head for a while, being unable to link it to any memory. She didn't feel particularly dead. Then again, she had never been before, so she really had no idea of recognising the sensation of being dead.
Footsteps could soon be heard leading away from her and when she could no longer hear any sound, Daisy dared to lift her head. When she indeed concluded that they were gone, she pushed herself up from the ground completely, pulling her bag – which had landed some few feet away – towards her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the possibility began to dawn that perhaps, she was not dead. After all, she was still very much corporeal, judging from the fact that she could sit on the ground and hold her bag, and there seemed to be no sign of a body except for the one that she currently inhabited. Then, a vague memory from many years ago drifted up. "It means you cannot be killed. Not by magic at least." For once, Daisy was glad for Hermione's bookishness.
She did not wait for that realisation to sink in, nor to completely wrap her mind about the concept of being untouchable – at least to magic. Instead, she pulled herself up by a tree and when her legs had finally stopped shaking, moved into the direction she thought the Death Eaters had left for.
By the time she reached a small hill her mind finally seemed to kick back to life and so she cast another Disillusionment charm over herself. Then, leaving her bag there out of fear of making noise, she crawled up the side of the hill. From her position between the large tree roots, she had a perfect view on the scene that was playing out in the clearing below.
The small crowd, all dressed in black were standing in silence, as if waiting for something. Among them Daisy recognised several of the Death Eaters that had come by the Hog's Head Inn, mentally putting a name to their faces. Then, her gaze fell upon a figure who did not seem to fit in and her heart seemed to stop for a moment when she realised it was Hagrid. He was bound by thick ropes and kept in place by several of the black dressed figures. As far as Daisy could see, he did not appear to be harmed, but she could only wonder for how long that would last.
Next, a flash of pale blonde caught her attention and she turned her eyes on the person of Lucius Malfoy and a woman with black and white hair, who she could only guess to be his wife. Only.. he did not look at all like the man she had seen all those years ago as Malfoy's Boggart. This man looked thin, his cheeks hollow and his eyes lying deep in their sockets. Underneath those grey eyes – who reminded her all too much of someone else – were purple bruises, making him look as if he had not slept in a very long time.
'No sign of him, my Lord,' a man spoke and she turned her head to him. She recognised his voice as belonging to one of the Death Eaters who had chased her down the wood and was surprised to find the boasting confidence that had given sound to his voice mere minutes ago, was now replaced with a fearful undercurrent.
The figure to whom he had spoken, a tall, hairless, emaciated figure, did not respond at first. Instead, he walked a couple of paces away from the group, his face now entering Daisy's line of vision. A shiver ran down her spine at the visage of it, instinctively knowing that this could be no one other than the Dark Lord himself. His skin was almost translucent, every vein in his face as clear as if they lay up and not under the skin. His eyes were red slits and he had snake-like slit nostrils. All in all, he looked more like a monster, than a man.
'I thought he would come,' he at last said, his voice that of the fabric of her nightmares, to the woman that had followed him.
Daisy wondered briefly of whom he could be talking, but then a figure appeared at the other end of the clearing. From her position, she at first could not make out the identity of the newcomer, only that he was dressed in Muggle attire and seemed to hold no hesitation in appearing in front of the Dark Lord. A sickening feeling of foreboding came over her and she prayed she was wrong.
'Harry, no! What are you doing here?' Hagrid called out and for the second time in only a few minutes, her heart stopped.
'Quiet!'
In the meanwhile, Harry had stopped some few meters away from Voldemort, staring him straight in the eye. She wanted to rush down to him, tell him to run, to hide, but her body felt like it was glued into place. All she could do was watch as the scene below her unfolded, the sense of foreboding growing stronger by the second.
'Harry Potter,' the Dark Lord broke the silence at last, sounding himself as he could not quite believe that Harry had come. 'The boy who lived.. has come to die.'
The raven haired boy did not answer. In fact, he did nothing at all, even when Voldemort started to raise his wand. In the background, a monstrous snake came slithering into the clearing. Raise your wand Harry, Daisy thought fervently, defend yourself! But he did no such thing.
'Avada Kedarva!'
Green light engulfed the clearing. Then, when it receded, Harry's body lay motionless on the floor. The boy who lived, lived no more.
On the other side, Voldemort had ended up on the forest floor as well. Brushing off the woman who was anxiously flitting around him, he got to his feet.
The woman with black and white hair whom she had guessed to be Mrs. Malfoy previously, cautiously moved over the unmoving body of Harry, while the rest of the group all took a step closer.
The woman who had just been rudely shoved away by the Dark Lord was now again by his side, looking more tense than before. 'The boy, is he dead?'
Mrs. Malfoy crouched down, seemingly inspecting him for any signs of life. Then, she stood and turned to the expectant group with an empty face. She spoke only one word; one that meant almost certain victory to the Dark side and the loss of all hope for the others.
'Dead.'
