The Merging

by Shaydrall

To Harry Potter, Fifth Year seemed like the same as any other. Classmates, homework, new dangers, Voldemort risen in the shadows… the usual, even with a Dementor attack kicking things off. But how long can he maintain the illusion that everything is under control? As hope for a normal life slips away through his fingers, will Harry bear the weight of it all... or will it crush him?

28. The End of the Beginning

"One day we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy." -Albus Dumbledore to his students, End of Year Feast 1995

~ Chapter 28: The End of the Beginning ~ (Faith)

All these eyes.

The Death Eaters had such confident postures, hidden behind their masks. Outnumbered, Harry could practically feel their arrogance and bloodlust. How many of them were part of that same group he faced in the Department of Mysteries all that time ago. How many freshly indoctrinated to Voldemort's chaotic will? How many detached from it all, simply seeking to take advantage of the oppressed?

How dare they?

Something alien seethed beneath his skin as he grit his teeth in an incomprehensible fury. The whispers grew louder, crowding his thoughts until little else remained, drowning the taunts and jeers being rained down upon him.

Look at them all.

Looking down on Me.

On tHeiR LoRD!

Make Them BOW!

MAKE THEM-

"Kneel!"

The hiss that escaped Harry's mouth reverberated with power. The room was suddenly filled with grunts and exclamations of shock as almost every Death Eater jerkily got to one knee with their heads bowed, as if they had lost control of their bodies.

Harry looked at the lone Death Eater, a woman from the cut of her robes, who was visibly shaking on the spot, resisting his command. Her left hand was grasped tightly over her right shoulder.

"Rise!"

As if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders, the Death Eaters stood once more, all looking back at their master. He looked… more shocked than anything.

"You dare try to control what is mine?" Voldemort said in a low voice. Suddenly his anger was gone, replaced by laughter. "You become more worthy with every passing moment. Like a reflection of myself! How extraordinary… I do hope you won't disappoint me. Kill the boy!" he finished in Parseltongue. "I will be waiting, Harry Potter."

And with that he left.

Harry's attention returned to his surroundings. The Death Eaters were all pointing their wands at him, in the process of casting a wave of lethal spells, a chorus singing his certain doom.

And again whispers threaded his thoughts, this time with a single word. One that he repeated with a flash of his wand.

Flames burst forth, encircling Harry as the attacking spells reached him, dissipating as though striking something solid. The Death Eaters all took a step back as the pillar of undulating flames rose higher above them all, radiating unbearable waves of heat, slowly forming into an enormous snake which hunched over to avoid touching the high ceiling. Its body uncoiled to reveal a very alive Harry Potter who looked at them all with malice.

"Kill them!" he commanded with a reverberating hiss, sending a curse at the nearest Death Eater on his right, catching the distracted man in the chest and instantly downing him. With that attack came movement from the rest of the room. His basilisk lunged at the left side of the room, decimating the upper level in a fiery burst of debris and screaming from everyone nearby as they moved to combat it.

The other Death Eaters all continued their assault, raining spells upon him while moving as far away from the snake as possible.

All but one.

As Harry shielded a number of curses, he saw the woman at the back who hadn't knelt earlier very obviously turn to her right and kill her nearest ally with a green spell before doing it to another. It was after the third that the Death Eaters around her realized what was happening.

"Traitor!"

"Kill her!"

What!?

Was it actually possible for someone to have turned traitor? Thoughts of Order or Ministry infiltrators were considered and dismissed in an instant. None had the conviction to kill. But that was neither here nor there.

Harry surged ahead, not one to let an advantage pass him by, and engaged more of his opponents at a close range. A flick of his wand caused the carpet on the stair to come to life, grabbing those standing on it as it attempted to integrate with their clothing and drag them to the floor. He further transfigured a part of the floor in front of him to help shield what his wand could not.

No matter how skilled he was, taking on so many at once was suicide. His spells were set to disrupt and delay any actions they could take until-

Harry barely ducked under a swiftly cast killing curse, righting with hatred in his eyes.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The man dropped, reducing the Death Eater's numbers again. Obscuring black mist poured from his wand briefly as he shifted positions to behind a large statue and sniped another wizard. His Fiendfyre creation was still reducing everything on the left side of the room to ash, the Death Eaters frantically doing anything they could to keep it at bay, futile as it was. Now they had almost all been consumed. It was almost impressive that the remaining members even continued to struggle against the monster, but at this point it was inevitable what would happen.

"Glacius!"

Harry reacted instinctively, forming a Protego shield in front of him as the dozens of deadly projectiles smashed into an icy dust mere feet from his body. His wand snapped up and to the side, unleashing a luminous black whip that cut through the hasty shields of three clumped together Death Eaters before ending them as well.

"Cruc- aaahhh!"

Harry glanced up to find another of his opponents had been killed mid curse by the mystery traitor, only for her to be hit in the back by a deep blue spell that could have been anything, causing her to stumble noticeably. She barely caught herself before losing her left arm just below the elbow in a small spray of blood, her harsh scream one of both pain and rage. The woman choked out something Harry wasn't able to catch as her attacker's bore down on her. The small orange orb however was unmistakable.

An explosion rocked the upper level, bringing a great deal of it crashing down in a heap of wood and stone, crushing the Death Eaters beneath. Their shouts were swallowed up by the noise of it all, and the collapse caused a wave of ash and smoke to push out into the room. It took only seconds for the survivors to begin struggling back to their feet, none forgetting they were in the middle of a fight for their lives.

"Shit! You bitch, I'll kill y-"

The labored curse was cut off with a wet choking as a metal piece of debris found itself lodged in his neck. Harry wasted little time bringing the other survivors down before turning his wand on the final Death Eater who had been facing him.

"Fulmine Caer!"

Harry said the spell from memory, striking the final remaining Death Eater with a pure blue bolt of lightning that rendered him a smoking corpse. He breathed deeply, for the first time feeling the drain of everything he had been pushing out in the past few minutes. The heat was still so present in his body but the absence of energy was refreshing. Clarity returned to his mind as the haze of battle and his condition receded. It was only a matter of time before it would return full force.

The basilisk was now making its way back to his side of the room, having consumed all of the other wizards in the room. Only the large amount of protective warding on the building kept it from being a flaming wreck, though it was clear how rapidly that was failing too. Harry wasn't leaving anything to chance.

"Leave her. Destroy the entire building. Make sure no one else remains."

Obediently the basilisk moved into the narrow halls, leaving terrifying flames in its wake. And just like that Harry was alone once more.

Almost.

The traitor Death Eater was trying to move out of the rubble with little success. Within seconds she'd simply given up, tapping her stump of an arm weakly as she tried to do… anything. Her mask and a good portion of her robes were gone from the proximity of the explosion, and her veins were visibly purplish, suggesting the first spell she'd been struck with was a Blood Freezing Curse. Blood sluggishly dripped from the horrible wound, giving further evidence to the identity of the curse.

"Have to…"

The voice brought his attention back to the traitor's face, only to freeze as he finally took in her features, ones that he'd seen only once before but would never forget. His voice was a whisper of shock that filled the now quiet ruin of an entrance hall.

"Nym?"

In a heartbeat he was at her side, countering the curse and conjuring bandages for what would soon be a more seriously bleeding wound as her body temperature began to rise. They bound the stump tightly, forcing a cry of agony from the woman. A numbing charm was the extent of the comfort he could give, but he cast it all the same as his brain repeatedly tried to make sense of her being alive and in front of him.

It was… impossible? But he could feel her magic as he pulled her clear from the rubble. Feel it through his hands and arms as he kept her from collapsing against the rubble. And in the brief moment he laid her down and let go it was gone, like she didn't even exist.

"Har?" The teen jolted out of his thoughts as his eyes found hers which were struggling to focus on him. "I got arm cut off."

"I- yeah," he said automatically. She was clearly already in shock. "You're-"

"Need arm, accio-"

Harry ducked his head as he was nearly brained by the flying severed arm which landed squarely on the ground next to them with a thud, staining the already destroyed carpet further. The black of the Dark Mark stood out sharply from the pale skin around it.

"Nym-"

But Harry got no further as he was jerked forward from Nym grabbing his shirt, wand clattering uncaringly to the floor. Her head thudded into his chest with what little motor control she could still manage.

"Alive… alive…"

Whatever he might have done was lost as he gritted his teeth against a surging inner fire.

"Don't…"

That was as far as she got before slipping into unconsciousness, helped along by Harry's silently cast stunner.

Emotions too tangled to make sense of twisted in his gut, building to such a level that he had to finally look away from the woman. Relief was only matched by anger. Both were crushed by the fire in his veins. He simply didn't have time for this.

He wrapped her arm in more conjured bandages, placed both it and her wand on her chest, and sent her along with a rubble made Portkey. With the major Manor wards now dismantled, it would take her to the Hogwarts gate where he knew a guard would be. She would be taken care of from there. Hopefully.

"Time to end this."

With some effort he stood straight, eyes to the back of the manor. His foe was directly ahead. There was nothing between them now.

Xx~xX

"Say that again?"

Albus Dumbledore took pride in the fact that he was virtually unshakable after all these years. No matter the news, he could work through it and do whatever he needed. To act when others would not. Forge the path to his victory.

Now though he'd been completely frozen.

"My father was possessed by You-Know-Who and fought Harry Potter in our living room," Percy Weasley repeated impatiently, doing his best not to cross his arms. "I've just come from leaving him in the Hospital Wing with Madame Pomfrey. My mother is helping as well. It seemed more prudent than risking St. Mungo's."

"Of course," Dumbledore said faintly, still processing the single sentence that had flipped everything on its head. "So Harry is-"

"Alive, yes," Percy said with a nod. "No idea how. He came to our house this evening apparently."

"And the duel?" came the faint reply.

"Harry won. He…" for the first time Percy's professional demeanor broke and he looked distinctly uneasy. "He grabbed my father while he was still possessed and caused him to scream before collapsing. They both were. It was… unsettling."

"And where is Harry now?" Dumbledore asked, needing to know.

"I'm sorry, I don't know," Percy apologized. "He said something like "I can't" and then disapparated from within the house. Destroyed the wards we spent so much time on and wrecked the foundation so we obviously can't go back, not with things as they are. I can't imagine-"

"Thank you, Percy, there is no need to continue," the Headmaster said quickly as the young Weasley began to pick up steam. "Please return to Arthur's side and keep our Mediwitches safe in the event something still remains. I'll be relying on you for their protection," he added, causing the young man to stand a bit straighter.

"Of course, you can count on me."

As the door snapped shut, Dumbledore addressed the apparently empty room, or more specifically the woman he'd been in the middle of meeting with before Percy barged in unannounced.

"Narcissa, change back. We must act fast."

Silence.

"Narcissa?"

Getting a sinking feeling in his gut, Dumbledore quickly checked the castle map only to find the Black in question making a mad dash for the nearest secret passage out of the castle.

"Oh dear, this is going to get messy…"

The Headmaster returned to his desk and jotted out a quick note, moving over to Fawkes immediately after.

"My friend, this must reach Nicholas at once. Harry's life might very well depend on it."

With a flash of flames, the Phoenix was gone. Dumbledore moved slowly back to his desk, feeling the weariness moving through his bones. No doubt this would be a night he'd not be forgetting any time soon.

He'd only just sat when the office door suddenly burst open, Kingsley rushing in.

"Headmaster, Nymphadora was just found at the gate! She's alive, but severely injured!"

Instantly Dumbledore was on her feet.

"Take me to her!"

Xx~xX

Bellatrix was silent as she watched her Master from the corner of her eye. He stood patiently in the center of the grassy field that he had once often looked out over from the window of his office. Malfoy Manor had beautiful grounds, kept perfect by their House Elf, though who knew what had happened to the thing with Lucius and Draco dead. Perhaps it had found Narcissa?

A moment of thought was spared for her sister. Months ago Potter had said he was the one keeping her safe, but what had happened while he went missing? Was she with him or had they been separated? News of her capture or death had not been heard, even after all this time. Hopefully she was still safe, but she needed to focus. Potter had returned, and was making his way here, as evident by the now burning manor.

"That's right, Harry Potter." The almost whisper from her master was easy to pick up on the quiet night air. "Push past every obstacle to face me. Prove to me that I am right!"

She didn't know whether to be worried or pleased.

The Dark Lord had been certain that he lived, that they were bound by fate to face one another. That this was the reason they shared the connection they did. Put simply, he would know if anything happened. He would feel it.

Bellatrix couldn't help but think that her Master's "fate" had taken a turn for the worse. Her desire for a thrilling duel with the boy was irrelevant. Potter simply needed to die so her Master could finally be past this obsession. So that he could return to the man she had first decided to follow.

Their attention was grabbed by a detonation at the back of the house which gave birth to a figure obscured by the flames behind him. Slowly it moved, making its way up the hill to where they waited. Minutes in silence passed until finally it drew level with them, bringing Harry Potter into easy view.

What… what had happened to him?

This was Harry Potter, her very magic told her this was true, but there was so clearly something off about it that put her on edge. As the boy neared them he stumbled before he caught himself. Her eyes swept him up and down, looking for an injury but finding nothing significant other than his bloodstained and damaged clothing. He didn't appear to be tired either, which was frankly amazing considering he'd just broken through a force of Death Eaters that contained a number of the inner circle. Alone.

She wondered at what point the teen had stepped into the realm of the great, a place for names like Lord Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore.

As the sounds of his footsteps finally became audible, their eyes met momentarily and she was shocked to find them dully glowing. A trick of the light? He broke their gaze first.

"...would be here, naturally… Shut up! I need to focus!"

Her ears picked up low mutterings in the quiet of the evening. He was talking to himself?

Finally Voldemort stepped forward with a smile, hands wide in greeting. "At long last. You've kept me waiting, Harry Potter."

"Had to take out some trash first," the teen said in an even voice. Once more his eyes flickered to her own. "What about her? One more obstacle to hide behind?"

"Bellatrix?" Voldemort glanced at her before returning his attention to his foe. "She will not interfere under any circumstance. She is a witness to the battle, nothing more. We are making history, after all."

Bellatrix clenched her teeth but said nothing. She just needed patience. Let her Master finish with Potter the way he needs, then slowly, carefully bring him back to the man he once was. He would see her value once more. Everything will not have been for nothing.

"You said this is our final fight," Potter said, his voice rushed but clear, "but you'll just run when I'm about to kill you."

"I believe those would be my words to you, but I'm guessing you have a request?" Voldemort said with a scoff. Bellatrix also smirked at the comical statement. Potter's next words effectively murdered her amusement.

"Let's make an unbreakable vow."

Silence struck the grounds before low laughter rolled from the Dark Lord.

"A… vow?"

"Yes."

His eyes were alight with what could only be delight.

"I agree."

As they approached one another Voldemort stepped forward first, pale right hand extended. Harry matched him and extended his own, hesitating before firmly gripping the wizard's wrist, Voldemort's fingers closing over his. Not a soul moved for several seconds.

"Be honest, Harry, did you expect something to happen when we touched?" Voldemort said with a knowing smirk. Bellatrix's eyes moved quickly between both her Master and Potter as she approached with her wand drawn, ready for any kind of trick the boy could be planning.

"...I did," the teen admitted, his expression belying his honesty.

"Have you forgotten? Your mother's protection from me is completely gone, both in blood and home. You've come of age after all. I do hope that was not your trump card." Voldemort's expression could almost be mistaken for concern, if he hadn't been incapable of the emotion in the first place. "And yet despite this you stand firm. So very brave, to have come here as you did. I don't know if you're aware, but the community that so vigorously championed you a year ago has all but abandoned your memory. To them you have either run away or died. They may think worse of you than myself these days. The only person you're fighting for now is yourself."

Potter just let out a slow laugh.

"Do it," he said to Bellatrix. She looked over at her master who nodded, still smiling. Lightly she touched her wand to their hands.

"Will you agree to duel me one-on-one, here and now, until only one of us remains alive?" Harry said tightly.

"I will." Voldemort's reply was punctuated by a thin cord of fire that wrapped around both their hands. "Will you agree to the same, Harry Potter?"

"I will."

Another cord of fire bound them.

"You are both bound to the duel," Bellatrix said, withdrawing her wand and backing up.

"Perfect."

A ripple of force erupted from a minute flick of Voldemort's wand, blasting the teen back to tumble to a halt in the grass. Laughter followed.

"Foolish child! With defiance in your eyes you commit to your own suicide!" Voldemort raised his wand to the ready, beckoning with the other hand. Potter slowly pushed himself to his feet, glaring hatefully in return. "Come and receive the death fate has for you! I will gladly deliver it!"

x~x

Not far away a woman in black appeared next to a flaming manor, eyes wide in shock as she took in the sight.

"No…"

Her whisper of horror was consumed by the raging flames, bright against the growing darkness. She had never once returned to this place after escaping, the risk had always been far, far too great. Not to reflect, not to mourn, not to even try and simply recover some of her personal effects that she'd had to leave behind. So much of her life had happened in this building. So much of the pain she internalized and accepted locked in those walls…

A distant rumble was all the warning the world had before a large part of the east wing collapsed in on itself, revealing a portion of the beast that caused the damage before it disappeared once more. There was no way anyone was alive in there.

But if there was even a chance he was…

Flickering lights instantly recognized as spellfire lit up in her peripheral, far removed from the destroyed building. Even at this range she could tell a duel had begun.

Hope and dread clashed horribly in the pit of her stomach.

With a steadying breath the woman disillusioned herself and ran forward, leaving the manor and all it had once represented behind her.

She never looked back.

x~x

"I will not lie, Harry, I am impressed."

The two combatants slowly circled one another, one tall and calm, the other slightly hunched but alert. Damage surrounded them where spells had been deflected, but both were unharmed.

"Credit where it is due," Voldemort continued, his wand never leaving his target. "If you'd lived longer I dare say you could have one day risen to the heights of even that old fossil in the castle."

"You spend a lot of time talking about me being dead when I'm not," Harry said flatly, eyes never leaving the tip of Voldemort's wand. Sparks trailed off of it occasionally in an attempt to bait him, but he was too wary of a counterattack to try.

"Perhaps we should fix that then?"

Voldemort's wand twisted and pulled, causing a roar as a sudden gale kicked up and pushed Harry back. He stumbled on the uneven ground but kept himself from falling over, shielding against the two curses Voldemort sent his way directly after. Harry regained his footing and returned with a salvo of his own, alternating between direct spells at the dark lord and explosive ones at his feet.

Voldemort however was not to be fooled. He countered the more dangerous spells meant to put him off balance and simply shielded the others with a wave of his wand. As ever, power was something the man had in spades. He could afford to throw it around as much as he pleased.

Three spells incoming, two at the chest, one at his legs. Harry stepped to the left, parrying the first one at his chest while avoiding the other two. He returned with a rotting curse and bone breaker that both fizzled out on a rippling shield. Harry scowled and sent the Sirius special only to have it flicked away into the night where it impacted with something and became a distant glowing ball of fiery destruction.

"It appears we could trade spells here all night," Voldemort observes mildly. "But that simply proves what I already knew. You are capable, Harry Potter, but not at my level. What will you do about this, I wonder?"

With that he plunged the tip of his wand into the earth at his feet, sending a pulse of magic outwards in all directions. A beat of silence was followed by a very low rumbling. Harry looked around as much as he could without lowering his guard as the earth around him shifted more and more. A hand suddenly burst forth from the ground between them. And another. And another. He knew he was surrounded without even looking behind him. Voldemort had raised a horde of inferius. Of course the Malfoy grounds were filled with them.

Their presence was problematic, but more pressing concern was that he could not sense them around him. Hell, he couldn't even tell where Bellatrix was anymore. His sense of magic had been bent the moment his hand touched Voldemort's, as if only the man before him existed in the world. While Harry hadn't really expected the merging to begin when they touched, he was curious what might come of it. At the rate he was falling apart he was willing to take the risk in the event it could help him, and it seemed to have done just that. As if his warped soul had been teased by the prospect of the most powerful horcrux of them all, it held back in the hopes of consuming this one final meal. The unbreakable vow bound them to the duel, but it likely also ensured his life. He knew that if either of them were to leave, he would die.

At least the voices had quieted. As if they too were waiting for the outcome of this duel.

But he still had to win. Voldemort was content to shield against anything he threw at him, and the moment this became a battle of killing curses or unblockable spells he'd lose outright. The dark lord was far the better of the two in casting them quickly. In any case, he would need to get flashy for a bit. He had a bunch of ankle biters to get rid of.

Harry dug deep, drawing on as much magic as he could before converting it into a wave of flames that was more akin to a firestorm that spread out over the battlefield. He dropped to the ground and moved to the side as a surprised Voldemort became obscured, knowing it wouldn't take long for spells to follow. But the wave of inferius never stopped climbing out of the ground, and so were completely exposed to their greatest weakness. Within seconds he'd wiped them all out, breathing heavily on his knees, but ready to move if needed.

Voldemort watched him impassively from beyond the burning ground, a flick of his wand extinguishing the remaining flames in an expanding wave until they were gone, the ashes of the inferius joining the wind. What was on his mind was anyone's guess.

A wave of black fog rushed from the end of Voldemort's wand, spreading out like a fan in front of him. Harry barely took in the grass withering beneath it before enclosing himself in a sphere of magic, a silent thank you to the Headmaster for that one, and following it with another of the old man's favorites, blasting everything around him away with a wave of force.

"Avis!"

A horde of tiny birds burst forth from his wand, almost at once engulfed by a surge of flames from Voldemort. But Harry had energy to burn and he made this clear, casting the spell over and over until they were everywhere. Voldemort couldn't help but look around him warily, bringing his wand back to likely deal with them all.

"Too late," Harry growled.

Magic surged. Pain lanced through his brain and blood leaked from his nose as he mass transfigured every bird into a thin spear of metal that gleamed in the moonlight. There was no doubt what the follow up would be.

"Die!"

"Master!"

The panicked shout of Bellatrix was engulfed by the sound of over a hundred spears piercing their target from all directions. And in that moment Voldemort was frozen, a look of shock etched onto his face.

That melted into shadow.

Harry's eyes widened as the figure of Voldemort dissipated into blackish smoke, like he'd never been there in the first place.

A violent force blasted him off of his feet to the side, crashing him into the ground with a sickening jolt. Dimly he noted he was only a few feet from where Bellatrix had positioned herself, something she was rapidly changing once more, not wanting to get caught up.

"That…"

Harry forced himself to his feet as he took in the fully alive and unharmed Voldemort standing several meters from where he'd been. His red eyes gleamed against the darkness beyond them.

"...was dangerous," the Dark Lord said in a low voice, all traces of amusement gone. He grabbed at something at his chest and pulled it free, tossing it to the ground. It looked like a pendant of some kind, though it was clearly damaged.

"Cheating bastard…" Harry couldn't help but grunt, taking the moment to catch his breath. He felt like he was running on fumes but the tank was still too full. It was even more exhausting than normal.

"You are too much like your father," Voldemort said coldly, narrowing his eyes at the teen. "Absurd transfigurations at the drop of a hat. I am glad that you are the end of the Potter line, if only so that I will never have to deal with another one again. I-"

Voldemort broke off suddenly, his eyes following something in the darkness. A twisted grin lit his face.

"Oh my…"

A jerk of his wand at apparently nothing produced a sudden and panicked shout that came from neither Harry nor Bellatrix. However, much to their mutual horror, they both recognized the owner instantly.

"How delightful that you've come visit me after all this time," Voldemort said with a smile that was far more terrifying than anything he normally wore. He reached out to apparently nothing, closing his hand around what suddenly revealed to be the neck of a woman with two tone hair and a petrified expression on her face.

"Welcome home, Narcissa."

x~x

No.

"Cissy?"

Harry's mind shut down for a moment as he took in the sight before him. It was impossible. Narcissa knew that Voldemort would kill her the second he was able to. There was no way she would put herself in this kind of danger. There was no way!

"Cissy!"

Why is she here?!

"Stay where you are, Bellatrix."

The woman froze at Voldemort's tone, empty of emotion. He looked down at his captive, wand seemingly forgotten in her hand, as though she instinctively knew it wouldn't do anything to help her situation.

"I've missed you dearly, Narcissa."

"M-My Lord, I-"

"No, no, no," Voldemort interrupted, placing the tip of his wand against her cheek and effectively causing her vocal chords to stop working. "Narcissa, calling me in such a way is reserved only for my followers. Something you have not been for quite some time."

The tip of his wand traced down the side of her cheek and under her chin, rising up the other side of her face.

"Forgive me, Harry," he said suddenly, addressing the frozen teen. "This little bit of business will only take a moment."

Wait.

Harry's mouth moved but no sound escaped. His eyes were locked onto the tip of Voldemort's wand and the fearful expression on Narcissa's face. He still couldn't believe it was real.

"To betray me like you did, Narcissa… You thought you could evade Lord Voldemort forever? That you could escape my wrath? How considerate of you to tie up your own loose end."

The tip of his wand pressed painfully into the side of her head.

"Crucio."

Screams filled the air and for a short time it was the sound of a woman in the most sickening throws of pain. But it didn't take long for everyone to realize that it wasn't one, but two people screaming.

"Stop!"

Harry was breathing heavily, eyes wide and intense, his wand pointed at Voldemort but he knew better than to attack while he had a hostage. It mattered little though, he couldn't put his wand down even if he wanted to.

"Let… Let her go."

"What is this? Care for an enemy?" Voldemort's tone was filled with false surprise. "And for her to suddenly make an appearance during our most fated duel, more than a year after she ran. I wonder what the truth of this mystery is?"

Grabbing her face, he stared into her eyes with intensity and Harry knew he was using Legilimency on her. Tortured as she was, whatever resistance she may have was long gone.

"Ah… I see now. You've been playing house. How heartwarming," he added sarcastically. "A woman who abandoned her husband and son… and the boy who killed them both."

Voldemort gave Harry an indescribable look.

"You are twisted, Harry Potter." His wand lowered to the woman at his feet. "And you no less. Crucio."

Her screams were knives to his mind.

"You bastard! Let her go!" Harry was half way through casting another killing curse before Narcissa floated between Voldemort and him.

"Be careful, you wouldn't want to kill her by accident, would you? I think that would be even worse than myself doing it, don't you think?" He dropped her to the ground and cast the spell once more, thoroughly enjoying the anguish he was bringing.

"Stop!" Harry looked around wildly for something, anything to help. "Bellatrix, don't just stand there! Help her!"

"Help her?" Voldemort laughed at the absurdity of it. "Help this traitor!? A woman who left everything we stand for behind for the safety of blood traitors and Muggle lovers!" His face turned cruel as he looked down at her. "How many of the fold were casualties of your cowardice? Your husband! Your son! Murdered by my greatest enemy only for you to ally yourself with him? To sup with him and laugh about your meaningless existence? To comfort him? Did you really think you would be free of my retribution!? Crucio!"

Harry watched helplessly as the torture continued. He simply could not risk Voldemort outright killing her, and yet there was no doubt where this was leading. He would murder her, even if just to make him suffer for it. Frantically he tried to come up with a way to save her, but again and again it wasn't good enough. He couldn't be fast enough. And yet even though he couldn't look away from the scene before him, something captured his eyes for the barest of moments.

Bellatrix stared at her Master and sister with a look he'd never seen on her face before in all her life.

The screams cut off as Voldemort finally lifted the spell, but the quiet of the night was not to return. Pained moaning mixed with sobs filled the air. A heartbreaking sound for all but the one who caused it.

"Master."

Bellatrix spoke for the first time since shouting her sister's name. Her voice rasped as though she'd not had a drink in days.

"Master, I..." Bellatrix cut off for a moment before continuing, her voice more steady, yet it was still a harsh sound. "If I may… please, we can deal with this traitor after the duel. You… you have waited so long for this moment, to kill Potter." Her eyes continued to flicker between those of her master and the crumpled form of her sister. "Allow me to deal with this problem, Master, please. It is a family matter."

Voldemort's glare was void of anything as he took in the words of his longest living supporter.

"Indeed it is. Very well." He suddenly banished the woman at the lone Death Eater's feet where she rolled bonelessly to a halt, still too pained to do anything but remain conscious. "But I will not wait. You have been looking for an opportunity to regain the favor you once held. You have it before you. Kill her."

x~x

Bellatrix was frozen. The sight of her sister tortured was almost too much to bear, but now she could hardly breathe.

Kill her.

"Show our dear Harry what it means to oppose Lord Voldemort."

Kill her.

"Show Narcissa what a truly loyal follower of the Dark Lord will do for her Master."

Kill her.

"Show me your devotion."

This… this wasn't what was supposed to happen. Punishment was inevitable, she knew this more than anyone. Her master never let his displeasure at failure go unfulfilled. There was no such thing as a grudge, merely a promise to be fulfilled later. She ran, yes. She was sheltered by an enemy, yes. But he'd punished her now, hadn't he? She needed a Healer or risk permanent damage from the Cruciatus.

But...

Narcissa whimpered, unable to speak, as she looked up at her sister. Her eyes were pleading. Pleading for something she simply didn't understand.

Suddenly Bellatrix realized, this has been her master's plan all along, the moment Narcissa showed up. To make her kill her sister.

Something vile burned in her stomach.

"Bellatrix."

His voice made her look at him. Her body moved automatically to respond to his call.

"That thing is a traitor of the highest order," Voldemort said coldly, staring at Narcissa with disdain. "It has caused me more problems than I care to think of and is a stain on the name Lord Voldemort and all we stand for. Exterminate it."

Slowly her wand pointed in the direction of her sister's head, unable to maintain any true target with the amount it was shaking.

"You can't!"

Potter was looking at her with something akin to disbelief.

"Don't do it! You're not that kind of a person!"

"I…"

Why?

"Of course, as expected from a child brought up by Dumbledore," Voldemort said dismissively. "Bellatrix, when you joined my movement all those years ago it was not to right the wrongs of society. It was not out of hate for Muggles. It was certainly not to protect your family."

He took a step forward, standing tall.

"It was simply because I asked you to."

Why?

"You were empty then, of purpose and meaning, and I gave that to you. You have tortured and killed countless people under my instruction. Do not pretend that after all this time that is not who you are. You are a Death Eater, and I am your Master. Kill her."

Why are they trying to convince me?

It made no sense. Voldemort wanted her to kill Narcissa and she clearly didn't want to. Why not force her? To make them all suffer that would be the most effective move. Potter wanted to save her sister but couldn't do anything without opening himself up to attack, instead trying to potentially talk her down from doing the deed. But why?

And suddenly it hit her.

The vow.

Narcissa had intended to ambush the Dark Lord, allowing him to defend himself despite being in a vowed one-on-one duel. She entered willingly into their conflict. However Bellatrix herself never had even the slightest desire to harm or interrupt, so she couldn't be touched by them until the duel had ended.

"Don't do it!"

Potter's voice was steady, but there was a frailty there she'd never heard from him before.

"Bellatrix!" Voldemort regarded his most loyal servant with an intense gaze. "Carry out my command! You know it is what must be done!"

"Screw him, that's your family!" Harry shouted, his wand aimed at Voldemort. "She's your sister! She loves you!"

"Love is for the weak and foolish! We have always valued power above all else!"

"Of course you'd say that you fucking orphan psychopath!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Crucio!"

Their duel resumed with violent ferocity. Explosive and lethal spells left deep marks in the ground, some getting far too close to the Black sisters for comfort. Her world was spinning, her mental state wrung out from the stress of what was happening. But the one thing she knew was that she just wanted her sister to be alive. As long as Narcissa lived, she would be able to fix everything. And for that she needed to get her out of there.

Bellatrix bent to grab her sister's arm and with a snap of rushing air they were gone.

x~x

Crack!

The Dark Lord stumbled from the failed apparation as he looked about wildly, eyes settling on the only other person on the hill. Instinctually he'd attempted to follow his traitorous Death Eater, but the vow held him here, on the hill, damaging him for his desire to chase and murder the women who had just run away.

"You…" Voldemort seethed as he took in his enemy. "How dare you turn my servant against me!"

"You did it yourself," Harry spat, his wand still raised high. All of his training. All of his effort. It was all for this moment. Narcissa was out of his sight. He needed to end this. "I can't think of anyone else more deserving to die than you."

The two circled each other once more but it was clear that neither had the momentum they'd started the duel with. They'd both expended so much to win and yet here they stood, unwilling to back down.

Exactly as Harry has planned.

"You don't even understand how out of your depth you truly are. Even if you did miraculously strike me down, I would simply return again. I have conquered death, Harry. It is almost comical that the very last thing truly in my way is you. A boy who hasn't even graduated from school yet."

He stepped forward, madness and rage in his eyes.

"Do you understand, Harry Potter? The duel will be mine! That woman's life will be mine to dispose of! This country and its people are mine! This Fate between us is mine!"

Harry laughed, unable to contain himself. Even after all this, Voldemort had only further proven exactly what Dumbledore had told him over and over. That in the end, he was nothing but a man.

"You're wrong, Voldemort," he said finally, deflecting the sneak attack the wizard tried to hit him with while he was distracted. "You don't know anything, Voldemort. Why don't I show you!"

And Harry vanished, reappearing directly on top of Voldemort with his hands clasped on either side of his head as he at last revealed his trump card. His glowing green eyes boring into the blood red one of his enemy.

"Legilimens!"

Xx~xX

"The office is prepared for our absence. We won't be gone longer than the evening."

"I'm surprised the boy is still alive after all this time," Perenelle said with a curious frown. "How do you suppose he managed that?"

"I did place a protection on him to help temoprarily prolong his life if he encountered another soul fragment. Other than that I couldn't tell you," Nicholas replied. "No matter. You have something you want to say before we go. I can see it. Speak."

They stood there in silence for a moment, the wife staring at the husband. Finally she did.

"Do you think that I don't know what you're planning? You are trying to draw Him out of hiding. You are using the boy's life as bait."

"He is dead otherwise," the famed Alchemist said in return, not denying his wife's words. "Opportunities like this are not to be slept on. The lives of a single boy and long dead girl are an easy price to pay in exchange for the end of His."

"Think nothing of the sort, I was just pointing out your hypocrisy," Perenell said smugly. "And if the boy dies? What then?"

"Then we take her with us, simple as that."

He snapped his fingers. The two vanished as space warped around them. They had a ritual to prepare.

Xx~xX

"What have you done!?"

Harry blinked as his awareness came into sharp focus. They were standing at opposite ends of a room they knew well. The mental space that existed between them.

"So, we did end up here," Harry muttered. Though they were not touching here, he could still feel the struggle between them. Even just standing there they battled for dominance. But to the one who knew what was happening, it was already decided. There was only one way this would end. Only one way he would accept this end.

"How have you trapped me in this space? Answer me!" Voldemort commanded, brandishing his wand. He looked down in surprise when it did nothing.

"It's over, Voldemort. You've lost."

"Hardly," he sneered, looking around rapidly as if there were some kind of hidden exit. "You are barely an infant in the mind arts, how have you brought us here?"

"It was a gamble," Harry conceded. "Physical touch wasn't enough, so I figured we needed to go somewhere closer." He motioned to the room they were in. "This is as close as it gets for us. The fact that you're the one who made this though is honestly just poetic."

"Enough of your mockery! I will twist your mind until it is a warped fragment of what it used to be."

"It's almost funny how clueless you really are," Harry mocked, drawing a near growl from the dark wizard. "Let me help you understand what's happening. A little clue for the brilliant Tom Marvolo Riddle. Your precious diary is gone."

Voldemort froze, his face bearing an expression none had seen it wear before.

"You… you know?"

"The ring."

He took a step.

"The diadem."

He took another step.

"The locket."

Step.

"That's-!"

"The cup."

Step.

"The snake."

He stopped, only a few feet from the man whose entire world had been turned on its head.

"Even the one within myself."

"Within you? That can't- How?" His hand grabbed a fist full of Harry's shirt, wand digging into his neck, but suddenly they were apart once more, as if it had never happened. Voldemort recovered instantly. "How?"

"You were careless," Harry said with a smirk.

"I was not!"

"And yet, they are nevertheless gone," Harry returned serenely in his best Dumbledore impression.

"Of course he would be involved." Voldemort swore under his breath. "You claim you have destroyed them all?"

"Oh, no, I didn't destroy them," Harry said mildly. His expression suddenly turned vicious. "I consumed them. They are mine!"

"That's impossible!" Voldemort gritted out. "My horcruxes… You are lying! For such a thing to have happened... I would have known! I would have felt it!"

"All that's left…" Harry pointed his finger, causing the Dark Lord to take an involuntary step back. "...is you. You are my horcrux, Lord Voldemort."

He smiled, the rush of his victory flowing through his veins.

"And I've come to reclaim you."

Voldemort struggled momentarily with the weight of it all and could only explode forth in a wave of rage. Harry caught him by the arms and they grappled, neither appearing to have the advantage.

"I am the true master of this soul! I refuse to be consumed by something so insignificant as you!" he bellowed, trying but failing to drive Harry to the ground. Voldemort was backed into a corner, and the teen knew it, pressing his advantage with everything he had.

"You don't have a choice!"

Harry pushed forward, bringing Voldemort to his knees as they still struggled for dominance.

"I have something I fight for! People I fight for!"

Strength flowed through his body, unmatched by anything Voldemort could bring to bear, alone and weak as he was.

"I have something to go back to! There are people waiting for me! And I!"

He bore down on the vile wizard with all his weight.

"Will!"

"No!"

There was the feeling of something cracking.

"Return!"

The mind space shattered. Colors blended together as everything came apart. And as Harry dimly lost the fight to remain conscious, he still couldn't help but enjoy a single pervasive feeling that enveloped his whole being.

Victory.

Xx~xX

The ground was cold. The night was calm.

I did it.

The voices he'd been hearing all night were barely whispers, now a muddied hiss in the back of his mind.

I've won.

The sky was cloudless, filled with countless stars. It was beautiful.

It's over.

Pain seized his body, forcing a gasp from his lips.

Hurts… a lot.

His arms twitched. Legs shifted imperceptibly.

Move…

Grass slipped through weak fingers with no strength.

Please… move…!

Footsteps through the grass filled the air. Slow, as though unsure, but never stopping. He was defenseless, but it mattered little at this point. He'd taken in the final piece of Voldemort's soul. Added to his own once more. There was no way...

"You?"

The voice was one of shock.

"You… won?"

Harry pushed through the haze and drew in a breath to speak.

Xx~ Moments earlier ~xX

"Cissy! Are you alright?"

Narcissa groaned in pain as she pushed herself into a seated position. Her sister held her upright, unwilling to let go of her fully. Partially so that she wouldn't fall, but also for proof that she actually was safe in Bellatrix's arms. She's just used every scrap of Healing knowledge she'd picked up over the years to bring her sister back from the brink.

"Bella, you… have to… go back!" Narcissa's voice came in short bursts, she could barely take in air without setting her whole body on fire.

"Wha-?"

"He's going… to be killed… You have to… save him!"

"Save him?"

"Harry!" she shouted, only to whimper as what felt like a knife slid down her spine. But she pushed through it, forcing more air into her lungs. She needed to act. "The Dark Lord will kill him… Please, Bellatrix, I'll do anything! Forget about me and save him!"

"How can you say that!" Bellatrix snapped. "I betrayed my master to save your life! Do you have any idea-?"

"I'm sorry you have to suffer by picking me for once!" Narcissa spat in anger. "If you won't help then get out of my way! I need to help him!"

She tried to push herself to her feet, only to collapse onto her sister. It was obvious she couldn't stand properly yet. The damage from the torture curse was simply too much to her nervous system. She needed to rest before she'd be able to move.

"Stop, you're just going to hurt yourself more!" Bellatrix said in frustration. "And are you out of your mind? Potter is our enemy! If you don't stop this the Dark Lord will kill you as soon as he finishes with the boy. I didn't save you just to let you run off and die!"

"I didn't ask you to save me!" Narcissa shot back. "And He's been trying to kill me since I fled, how can you still pretend like something else has been happening? Move, Bella!"

It was only a matter of time before Narcissa stopped trying to walk back to the duel and did something even riskier to get there. Bellatrix knew she wouldn't stop.

"If I go, will you promise to stay here?"

"...Only if you promise to save him."

"Fine," Bellatrix lied immediately, standing up. They were a decent distance away from the duel, but still on the Malfoy grounds. There were no sounds of spellfire. The ever distant voices had extinguished. But there was only one way that the duel could have ended. She could still dimly feel the ever present link to her master. It felt so odd, as if it had faded but not completely. Was he severely weakened by the duel? She may need to assist him. "I'll go, okay?"

"Save him, Cissy! Please..."

"Don't. Move. I'll come collect you in a bit."

x~x

"How?"

Nothing made sense.

Alive on the ground was Harry Potter, clearly barely clinging to life. Behind him was the body of her master, face down in the ashen dirt. Her diagnostic spell confirmed his death. Further proof, the familiar weight of her Master's oppressive magic was gone. Subconsciously she reached and reached, as if it were just beyond her senses, yet there was nothing, no matter how much she stared at his corpse. The only sense she had left… led her to the teen on the ground.

They'd made a vow. Only one was to remain.

And the reality of the present moment was beyond comprehension.

As her Master's closest follower, there were things she knew that very few others even had slight privilege to. But there was one thing she knew that not even her Master had known she did.

The Dark Mark bound their lives to his.

Lord Voldemort truly was an individual who put himself before all others, particularly at the expense of other lives. His followers were linked to him through their Mark, enabling him an extreme amount of control over them in many ways. He could even syphon their magic to him to recover his own. The price for this however, was that if he died, so too would all bound to him.

This is how she'd known for certain he'd come for her. This is how she'd held on through all the years in Azkaban.

But Bellatrix was clearly alive.

Lord Voldemort was clearly not.

And the link to her master, the faint feeling she'd known for so much of her life… led to the boy.

"...she safe?"

Bellatrix blinked as she realized that the boy was speaking. Slowly and with great effort, he'd forced the words past his lips.

"What?"

"Narcissa… safe?"

Bellatrix turned back to the downed teen. He hadn't moved, not even to attempt to look at her. Instead he just stared at the star filled sky, drawing slow breaths. His eyes were glazed over. She didn't need to be a Healer to understand the condition he was in. Perhaps this, along with the surprise that came with the question itself, allowed her to answer so steadily.

"Cissy is fine."

Purest relief shown on Harry's face as he smiled.

"Thank you."

Bellatrix clenched her teeth. Her wand was quick to direct itself at the last Potter but no spell came to her mind.

"..."

He still lay there, completely defenseless. His wand wasn't even in his hand, laying a foot to the right of his body, another slightly longer one right next to it. She instantly recognized her master's wand. Impulsively she picked them both up, instinctually feeling the high compatibility they had with her. Just as quickly she dropped them, feeling sick.

What was she doing? What would she do? Her purpose was gone. The teen had effectively wiped it all away. She turned her back to him in a sudden surge of anger only to stop before taking a step.

"Wait… don't go."

There was tired anxiety in his voice. A quick look back showed him in the exact same position as well, though his head leaned more toward her.

"...don't leave me... alone."

The line froze her.

How many had she killed in her Master's name? How many had been left to their cold, miserable end? Yet now she found she simply couldn't take that first step.

I don't want to die alone.

How many times had she thought those words, haunted by her worst fears in the depths of Azkaban. Even with the others in adjacent cells there may as well have been an endless void between them, each locked in their own minds by the Dementors. The thought of her master saving her was her one dim light in the dark, and she'd gripped it relentlessly to the point just short of madness. It led her from moment to moment for years until, finally, her wish came true.

I don't want to die alone.

And her Master was gone.

I abandoned him.

No matter the circumstances, it didn't change that one inexcusable truth. She'd had to pick between him and her sister. Between her master and her closest, most beloved family. Her little sister.

Her choice left her lost.

Really it just made her wonder… how weak had she become since meeting Harry Potter?

With a frustrated breath she turned back to the teen, moving so that she was right next to him.

"Thank you."

Again his thanks. It gripped her in a strange way she intrinsically hated.

"You faced my master. Even winning you had no chance of survival," she said finally. No matter what had happened between them, it never lessened the respect she had for his power, nor the fear he wielded.

But Harry Potter's expression just shifted to one of resignation.

"Was dying anyway..."

Truly? She was curious but knew it wasn't worth pressing. When Harry spoke again though, his voice had a thread of anger and frustration.

"So close…"

Of despair.

"So close?" she repeated after a second, curious.

"Just one…"

Was he even paying attention to her? She wasn't even sure if he really recognized her or not.

"One day..."

He tensed suddenly as the unmistakable look of pain overcame his expression. Bellatrix felt an invisible pressure wash over her as Harry took a gasping breath, leaving her skin tingling. What was happening to him? What had been happening to him?

"Are you still there?"

Bellatrix let out a small breath and sat down. She just didn't have the energy anymore to take this standing.

"Yes."

A stretch of silence. Another surge of magic accompanying a pained face.

"...ella…"

"..."

"Bella…?"

She let out a long breath. When he died would she slip into darkness as well?

"...What is it, Harry?"

His voice dropped even lower, though she still heard him clearly in the silence of the night.

"Think she'd be upset... if I called her Mum?"

She?

Bellatrix closed her eyes, easily able to recall her distressed sister's face as she pleaded for her to go back and save the boy who had single-handedly ended the Malfoy line.

"Who knows?"

Whatever he might have said after wasnt to be as Harry finally lost the battle to stay conscious. Bellatrix could still hear his breath in the stillness of the night. Slow and shallow. It seemed his time was finally running out. And she was just sitting here. Waiting.

Crack!

Bellatrix jumped to her feet in alarm as her sister apparated directly next to her, out of breath and dropping to her knees with a whine of pain. There were stains on her clothes like she'd fallen in the dirt.

"Cissy! I told you to wait!"

She tried helping her sister up but was pushed back in favor of looking around wildly, finally locating the fallen dark lord and going stock still.

"He did it…" she said faintly before coming to her senses. "Harry!"

She was at his side in a heartbeat, hands going from his face to his chest. Her wand was out and moving, the diagnostic spell she'd learned years ago telling her nothing she wanted and everything she didn't.

"You can't die on me now!" she hissed, tears clouding her sight. "Not when I've finally gotten you back! Wake up! You won, wake up!"

"There's no use Cissy, he's dead," Bellatrix said flatly, having regained her composure.

"He is not dead!" she fired back. "He's still breathing! He's still hanging on!"

"It won't stay that way for long." At the end of the day it made no difference what any of them thought about it. She'd seen hundreds more in far better condition whose deaths were foregone conclusions. This didn't look any different to her. "You can't do anything. It'd be a mercy to finish it."

Narcissa grabbed at the bottom of her shirt, nearly destabilizing the standing woman.

"We have to take him back to Dumbledore! He can save him! He said he could!"

We?

"Bella! I need you to take us, I nearly lost an arm when I apparated here, I'm barely okay from the Crucio."

Her? Take the boy to Dumbledore?

"Have you lost your mind? He took the one person I-"

But she cut off, her heart crashing to the pit of her stomach. Hasn't she just proven that wasn't true? She was a woman whose heart knew nothing but betrayal. After everything she'd done for him, she just threw it away. Still, she refused to back down.

"He's my enemy," she said resolutely.

"He's my son!"

Madness.

Her sister had truly lost her mind. Bellatrix merely stared with wide eyes at her enraged sister, unable to prevent herself from leaning back slightly. What had happened between the two of them?

"I don't care what you've got to say! See how long it takes me to make it official!" Narcissa shouted. In a heartbeat she had scooped up the two loose wands and looked at her sister expectantly. "Now bring us to the front gate of Hogwarts!"

Bellatrix stared at her sister in silence before looking down at the dying boy with too many conflicting thoughts to make sense of. Truly there had only ever been one other to have such a profound effect on her emotions… So similar, yet so different. Perhaps...

Bending down, she took hold of the boy and her sister before vanishing them into air, only corpses in their wake.

Xx~xX

"Headmaster!"

It was to a very unexpected scene that Albus Dumbledore arrived at the front gates.

He had been practically flying out of the Entrance Hall and onto the grounds of Hogwarts a few moments earlier. It was one thing when the castle came under attack from Death Eaters in the middle of the night. It was quite another when Bellatrix Black came knocking.

And then to find himself facing, not Voldemort himself, nor even a handful of his followers, but a wary looking Bellatrix carrying an easily recognized Harry Potter and flanked by a panicked and injured Narcissa Black.

"Is he alive?"

The question trumped all else. How Narcissa had managed to find him, why Bellatrix appeared to be helping, what had happened to Voldemort; all temporarily irrelevant.

Surprisingly it was Bellatrix who answered.

"Not for long."

With a wave of his wand the gates were open and Narcissa dragged her sister inside.

"He just fought Voldemort and is barely hanging on!" The younger explained rapidly, the gentle hand she'd laid on Harry's chest a sharp contrast to her demeanor. "You must be able to help him!"

"He just- of course," Dumbledore said quickly, wand whipping around and sending off three separate patronus messages. "Come with me.

The Headmaster began to lead them swiftly to the castle, never for a moment lowering his guard.

"What of Voldemort?"

"The Dark Lord is dead."

Dumbledore caught himself before he stumbled, head snapping back to face the source of the unbelievable words, the most subtle of passive Legilimency brushing her mind. If Bellatrix noticed she made no attempt to block or divert him, and the truth of the statement rang out.

"His is," Narcissa confirmed, holding out the dead dark wizard's wand, Harry's still safe in her other. He took it in limp fingers, astonished at what he held.

"Headmaster!" McGonagall approached them quickly from the grand staircase, flanked by a number of Aurors. A beat of stillness as they all recognized exactly who was in their entrance hall, before all wands were drawn and shouting filled the space. Bellatrix moved the point of her wand to Dumbledore's head and the group hesitated.

"Stand down," he ordered at once, causing all of them to look at him as if he were crazy. "You will not attack her and if you do I will not defend you from her retaliation. We do not have the time to discuss present matters."

"Indeed, we do not."

Dumbledore sighed in relief, pleased that his friend had found them so quickly.

"Nicholas, we have him but he's in a poor state."

"As long as he is alive we can still save him," said the Alchemist, making a motion over Harry before lifting him with no effort whatsoever. "Join me immediately, Albus. Time is of the essence."

"Of course," Dumbledore said, eyes moving between the still tense groups. "Narcissa, I apologize but given the circumstance-"

"It's fine, I'll see myself out," Bellatrix said shortly, still giving the Aurors a deadly stare. "Keep the boy alive, Dumbledore, his business with me is not over."

With that she exited the hall, Narcissa following closely behind after one last meaningful look in Harry's direction.

"We'll make sure they leave." The group followed the two women.

Putting everything aside, Dumbledore swept after Flamel, covering ground at a quick pace. They moved rapidly through passageways he had only become aware of within the last hour, leading to a place he only knew existed by way of being the Headmaster. The castle's magical core, as it was. It was heavily guarded, but before the great Alchemist and his wife the protections were nothing. And as before he felt it long before he saw it. The beating heart that pulsed life into the very stones that surrounded them. Dumbledore felt fortunate that he could witness such a thing before his end. The room was a marvel to his senses, and without realizing it he'd begun to breathe in sync to the slow pulsing rhythm.

"It appears the number of visitors only grows. How curious."

Dumbledore's eyes locked on the portrait of the legendary wizard. He still sat in apparent ease, though nothing about his presence brought positive feelings. There was a pervasive sense of foreboding that accompanied that gaze.

"You have him?"

Perenelle was standing not far away with a wary eye on their observer. Nicholas moved Harry off of his shoulder and pushed him at his wife who received the floating teen and set him beside the pulsing pillar.

"He's stopped breathing," she said absently, placing fingers on his chest and pulling up slowly. As if tied by an invisible string his chest rose with an audible inhale, falling as she lowered her hand again. Another twitch of her fingers locked the motion into a loop, steadily providing his body with oxygen.

"You are sure this will work?" Dumbledore said worriedly. The plan had already been detailed briefly as they prepared to retrieve the boy. It was really luck that he'd been brought back to the castle so promptly.

"His soul cannot withstand the fight any longer," the Alchemist said, a hand gently over Harry's head. "We are providing him with a form of reinforcement."

"Then you truly mean to…"

"I'm sorry, Albus, this was the only solution that did not come at the cost of an innocent's life. As to our location..."

There was no mistaking where he sent his gaze this time.

"We need to be in direct contact with the phylactery."

"What… are you doing?"

Merlin stood in his frame. Whatever curious, carefree expression he had been wearing before was long gone.

"Freeing something from your grasp, and saving a boy's life at the same time," Perenelle said with satisfaction. "Kindly wait over there like a good worthless painting."

"You would dare-" Merlin broke off as the pillar flared a bright light. "Thieves… that does not belong to you. I will wipe you from existence."

He stepped forward, out of the painting's frame. One foot lightly touching the floor before the other. Magical energy swirled about him, sinister and powerful.

"Perenelle."

"I will perform the rite. Finish this quickly."

The Alchemist smiled coldly, stepping toward their adversary. He wielded no wand, but only a fool would consider him unarmed.

"Gladly. Albus, please protect Perenelle in case anything goes wrong. This should take but a moment."

"Of course," the Headmaster said at once, his wand drawn and ready.

"You are in my way, old man," Merlin said emotionlessly, his wand moving like an extended finger. Dismissing the pest in front of him. A massive magical force exploded against an invisible wall just beyond the Alchemist's outstretched hand. A single glowing rune hung there, warping the air around it. Nicholas gestured with his free hand, arcs of electricity dancing between fingers before striking at the wizard in front of him. Merlin met the lightning with the tip of his wand, seeming to draw it within the wood and causing it to turn a hot red for a moment. The wizard's eyes narrowed as his mouth formed a sneer.

"Sorcerer."

The word was said with distaste.

"Wizard," Nicholas returned with contempt. "I have a message for your master. Gate."

The word reverberated with power as a vertical line in the air behind Merlin suddenly drew outwards in both directions, revealing a pool of darkness beyond. The wizard was momentarily shocked by its appearance.

"You… who are you? How do you know such magic?"

"Now why would I answer a broken artifact's question?" the Alchemist said. "Be gone and deliver my message."

A wave of force pushed Merlin through the gateway, which promptly closed with a rush of air. Dumbledore blinked for the first time, struck dumb by what he'd witnessed. What had just happened?

"My friend, that was…"

"Later, Albus," Nicholas said lightly, turning back to his wife. An absent wave of his hand caused the portrait on the wall to completely vanish. "Perenelle?"

"It is done."

She stood, beads of sweat running down the side of her face. As simple and quick as the process had been it was by no means easy.

"He is balanced. Now it is up to him." She moved her hand across her face, all traces of sweat vanishing. "He simply needs to claw his way back to consciousness."

"He will."

Dumbledore knelt at the teen's side, a hand on his chest. He focused on the heartbeat, steady and strong.

"If there's one thing Harry Potter can do flawlessly, it is fight his way to the end."

XXXXXXXX

A/N: I mean I don't really know what to say at this point. Damn it's been a while, I suppose. Extended fights are really not my thing in the slightest (why this took a while), but putting writing before my family and work isn't either (why this ACTUALLY took almost 2 years). I'm married now and having a kid. But I hate leaving things unfinished, and I owe it to everyone who has read this to give them the end that I'd planned all those years ago. I suppose this isn't really the end. I've got an epilogue planned which will explain the result of what just happened, and a handful of oneshot chapters I've collectively titled "The After Years". Much easier to write because they don't have massive battles in them (wew). They'd be shorter too. But at the very least now you aren't hanging out literally at the start of the final battle. Really can't be more sorry you had to deal with that.

A special shout out to everyone who left a review or continued to drop a follow to show that they had hoped I'd not left this forever. The reminders were what pushed me to make the time to finish this. I spent some time going back and trying to clean up the earlier chapters of typos and whatnot, as of now I've actually written the majority of this story on my phone so it needed it.

A couple notes about what my future plans are, for those who are interested. I still write in my spare time, but it's usually random and disjointed. Sometimes though I happen onto something that really sticks. The next project I'll be working on at length will be a BNHA (My Hero Academia) fic. If you're into that or just like the way I write stuff then keep an eye out for it, I imagine you'll be seeing a chapter 1-2 in the near future. It seems unlikely that I will write another HP story, but if I did it would probably be an offshoot of the one I already did. Anyone interested in seeing a more fleshed out version of what I did in chapter 17? I had an idea for writing a side story about Harry going back sometime around chapter 26. He's so different by then, knows his days are numbered, it makes me curious how he'd interact with them all a second time, especially the other characters he didn't see (like tracey and daphne). Anyway, if there's something you are curious about or want to see, let me know. Maybe it'll give me an idea.

Anyway, look forward to the epilogue, which my friend is literally texting me right now about taking 3 years because he's an ass. It won't I swear. I'll try to get that to yall in the next couple weeks.

One time, Legilimency got autocorrected to LEGO lime curry. ⇐ This makes my life feel complete.