Part IV: Revolution

Chapter XXII: In Which Oceans Rise and Empires Fall

"You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately.

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me.

"One hour."

Corinna sat on the cold stone floor of the Great Hall. The ceiling above reflected the pure darkness of the near-dawn sky. There were no more stars shining as if they had given up on hope and gone out. The long House tables were pushed to the raised platform to make room for the injured and the dead.

She hadn't been out long, according to Grace who had managed to get Corinna into the Great Hall after her, Keran, and the brassy-haired boy whose name was Eoin was able to drive Bellatrix back just before Voldemort called his Death Eaters back. She hadn't been awake long when his warning came from nowhere and echoed across the Scottish Highlands.

Her ear was bandaged up, but her hair and shoulder were still soaked in blood and puss. It would have taken a quick spell to get it all cleaned up, but that was not a priority when other people needed blood-replenishing potions or bones set. She supposed she could do it herself, but she could not bring herself to care.

Against Grace's pleas, she stood from where she was among the injured and took up her place with the dead. She had walked past the large group of Weasleys as they surrounded the body of their fallen son and brother. Mrs. Weasley's sobs seemed to echo throughout the Hall despite them not making a sound. The other Weasleys weren't fairing much better, especially George who looked like he was going to collapse if it wasn't for Mr. Weasley clinging to him for dear life.

It didn't take long for her to find Dora and Remus. With their eyes closed, they could be mistaken for sleep. Merely recovering their energy for the second phase that was inevitable. Their arms were splayed out, as if even in death, they were searching out for each other.

Remus looked younger in death, the wrinkles that lined his mouth and eyes relaxed. The only thing that aged him was the grey hair that threaded through his mousy locks and his threadbare clothing that had been repaired using the mending charm a few too many times. Dora was the opposite. She looked older with her sallow skin and neutral brown hair spread out around her head. It was impossible to grapple that she was only seven years Corinna's senior when Corinna herself no longer felt like she was seventeen.

In fact, the entire scene before her did not seem real. Every time she blinked, she expected things to change. For the veil to lift and everything go back to normal. Remus will sit up and show off more pictures of Teddy and Dora will tease her about something trivial. Corinna will be annoyed, shooting a sarcastic comment back at her cousin, but then the conversation would turn back to the blue-haired boy that Corinna couldn't wait to meet.

But that was never going to happen. Just as she had told Draco earlier, death was not discriminating. It was taking children away from parents, and parents were killed before they could watch their children grow up.

Corinna drew her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly. She didn't realize she was rocking until the motion started to make her nauseous. Bile rose up and burned her sensitive throat and she sputtered out a cough, her dry lips trembling. It was only then that she noticed that tears had fallen from her heavy eyes, the tears intermingling with the general layer of grime coating her skin.

Her brain was very slow to process the fact that Voldemort had given Harry an ultimatum. Either walk to his death at dawn or let the battle continue. She knew for a fact that he was battling within himself on what to do. Voldemort's speech didn't indicate whether or not his snake was killed, so there was still that to contend with before anything else.

Corinna trembled violently, feeling nothing of the outside world. If anything, the Great Hall should be sweltering by the amount of people were in it, but it was as if the dead themselves created a vacuum that made it near-impossible to feel anything. No, the chill that shook Corinna to her very core was all in her head. Her entire body was numb, but within was pure and utter torture. It would have been a relief if someone used the Cruciatus curse on her.

The screams of the dead intermingled with all the dead bodies she had witnessed in the last few hours. She wished she could simply shake her head and begone with the thoughts, tear her heart out of her chest and be done with the feelings, and welcome the kiss of a dementor so that maybe, just maybe, her soul could have some relief of the crushing slew of emotions. She couldn't even begin to identify half of what was going on inside her; whatever they were, it was painful.

There was plenty of movement going on around her as people searched out loved ones in hope that they weren't among the dead, or those who ran to the fallen, begging for them to come back. Some were helping the injured or trying to comfort those dealing with the sudden losses. Some where venturing out to the grounds or into the corridors in search of more bodies of the fallen, bringing them in to join the others who fought valiantly again tyranny. Others were planning. What they could possibly be planning, Corinna didn't have the energy or brain capacity to even grapple for a possible answer.

Corinna just happened to glance up at one particular movement. Ron had ran over to join his family, Bill dragging him into the folds of the mourning circle. Hermione was right behind him, but she stood out in the fringes, only to just as quickly step forward and wrap an arm around Ginny.

Something in the back of her mind was still working because, she realized if Ron and Hermione were there, that meant that Harry must be nearby. She lowered her knees to the ground and slowly moved to stand up. Even at her full height, she couldn't see past what was nearby. She could see Lavender's mangled body with Trelawney and Parvati taking up vigil over their fallen friend. Padma, who had been looking around wildly, spotted her sister. Relief flooded her features until she saw who Parvati was hunched over. Padma knelt down and wrapped her arms around her twin sister and they both openly cried.

She continued down the line of the dead. Some she recognized, some she didn't. Either way, it was a huge loss for everyone. One person to die in the name of blood purity and one man's fight for ultimate power was one too many.

Corinna stubbornly wiped the tears away before they could fall further down her burning cheeks and forced her eyes to look away from the dead. She looked at the open doors. The destruction was evident in the entrance hall where chunks of the balcony were missing. The night air was welcomed in through the open doors that were barely hanging on by a few of the hinges from being blown open. Emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and topazes littered the ground among the muted dust and debris.

No one was out in the entrance hall. Not even the ghosts, unless one counted the ghost of the battle that still clung to the air, suffocating everyone who dared continue to draw in breath.

She glanced back at the Weasleys and Hermione. She was not about to disturb them. They deserved this time to mourn. It was what she should be doing. She needed to watch over Dora and Remus and make sure they were okay. She knew they still had time before Voldemort made good on his promise. There weren't any more Death Eaters in the castle as they had retreated into the Forbidden Forest to wait either for the Boy Who Lived to walk to his death or for their orders to show no mercy on those who dare oppose them.

As much as she wanted to go out and search for Harry, her legs wouldn't move. The simple process of lifting her foot up and placing it in front of her seemed as impossible as bringing back the dead. She was rooted in place as she glanced back at the entrance hall. She swore she could see some of the gemstones littering the ground shift, but she couldn't be sure. There was nothing distinct about the pattern splayed out.

She felt a tug on the sleeve of her robes. She tried to say his name, but it only came out as a dry rasp. Instead, she followed where the invisible figure led her out of the Hall and into the rumble of the entrance hall. He dragged her to the little alcove that used to house the House Point hourglasses. No one would be able to notice them right away unless they purposefully headed that way.

After a whispered spell that Corinna could not hear, the figure melted into existence.

She had to admit, she was very disappointed.

"What are you doing, Draco?" she demanded. Her voice was low and crackled, straining to move past her lips.

Draco looked worse than when Corinna had last saw him jumping into battle. His lip had split further and blood smeared across his jaw in an attempt to swipe it away. His platinum hair was mussed up from its usual slicked back hold, and a few shades darker from the grime that coated everything.

"Have you seen Potter?" he demanded, keeping his voice low. Despite that, his voice echoed through the empty hall, or maybe that was in her head. She couldn't tell, and she didn't care to differentiate.

"Thinking of bringing him to Voldemort personally?" Even with how strained her voice was, there was still the punch of venom within her words, lashing out with the anger that intermingled itself with everything else churning inside her, some of which she had no words to describe. Anger seemed to be the one emotion she could handle in an attempt to make everything else coiling within her diminish.

"I knocked out a few of my own before he called them back," Draco reminded. "What more do I have to prove to you?"

"You still chased after us in the Room of Requirement," said Corinna. "So forgive me for not completely believing in you."

Draco's jaw clenched and he looked like he wanted to hex Corinna. She would like to see him try. Give her a reason to quit seeing the good she knew was in there. The anger she was focused on craved a release, and the man who was complacent during so many things he could have easily stood up during was the perfect target.

"Why are you even trying, then?"

"Because we aren't so different."

She coughed loudly, finding it hard to reign in her breathing once they violent tore through her chest. She was doubled over as she kept her elbow against her mouth. Draco just stood there, his hands awkwardly at his side as he struggled with if, or how, he should help her.

It took a moment to regain control of her breathing and she straightened up, her back and chest aching from the effort.

"What are you talking about?"

Corinna grimaced and swallowed thickly. "It was something that Bellatrix mentioned, it was stupid." Her voice was notably worse, going from a pack a day smoker to two or even three. "If things were different, I would have been raised by your parents."

"Do you really think that would have made a difference?" asked Draco, not looking convinced.

"I'd like to think," she whispered. "But I know better than to think that."

Draco stared at Corinna, and she was convinced he probably had the same thoughts swirling in his head. Thinking how things would have been different between them if they were raised almost like siblings. She might have had an illusion of a better life prior to Couch Jr.'s revelation if she were raised by Narcissa and Lucius, but then she wouldn't have had Aunt Andromeda, Uncle Ted, and Dora in her life. Those couple of years were worth more to Corinna than she could ever begin to fathom. That was one of the reasons why she was glad that scenario didn't pan out.

The other was the fact that she was convinced her and Draco would have killed each other as kids.

"If it means anything," said Draco coolly, "I'm glad that didn't work out. I don't like sharing."

"And here I thought we were having a nice family moment."

"For us, that was a nice family moment."

Corinna snorted, but her throat burned and seized from the movement.

"Why are you even looking for Harry?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"I know he—"

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

Corinna and Draco whipped around to see Terry standing at the entrance to the alcove with his wand trained on Draco. Draco had his up in a second in retaliation, but neither uttered a curse. Terry also looked worse for wear after the battle, sporting a black eye and numerous cuts to his clothes. Even when he wasn't smiling, his dark eyes were usually alight, but they had dimmed significantly.

Maybe now he was understanding why Corinna never wanted him included whenever things descended into a battle.

"Terry, this isn't—" she began to say as she looked behind Terry to see if she could spot anyone else. All she could see was Oliver Wood carrying an impossibly small body in his arms.

"He's a Death Eater!" Terry hissed, stepping closer.

Corinna moved to stand between the men at odds with each other. Hurt and confusion crossed Terry's features, the frown looking out of place on his round face. Draco gave an indignant huff behind her. She would have rolled her eyes at that, but she kept them trained on Terry and she refused to break the contact.

"He's sort of on our side," Corinna defended. She raised her voice to be more forceful, but all it managed to accomplish was make her voice raspier—a feat she thought would be impossible. The next time she spoke, gravel would probably pour out instead.

Terry did not look convinced, and kept his wand aloft at Corinna's chest, but she knew that he would never utter a spell against her except in a purely academic setting. "Are you still Imperiused?"

Corinna rolled her eyes. "Is it that hard to believe that he's growing on me?"

"Actually, yeah," said Terry easily. "He's a dick."

"I'm not disagreeing with that," said Corinna quickly.

"I'm right here!"

Corinna felt like they were running around in circles. The reserve of nerve that was currently keeping her upright was running low, and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball on the ground and bawl her eyes out. She wasn't even sure what really kept her head up as she turned to face Draco again.

"What were you saying about Harry?"

"He's up to something," said Draco coolly. "Like with that diadem, or whatever."

"You found Ravenclaw's diadem?" asked Terry, sounding surprised that her and Harry managed to accomplish something that generations of students had attempted and subsequently failed to accomplish. "Where is it? Do you have it?"

"The remains are currently in Hermione's bag," said Corinna as she glanced back at Terry, who instantly looked heartbroken. She couldn't understand why he was so attached to an object that he had no way of getting his hands on. "It was destroyed in fiendfyre."

"And you destroyed Hufflepuff's cup in nearly the same way," said Draco, who seemed to have been paying more attention to their stories from earlier than he let on. They should have been more careful. "And now you're going after the Dark Lord's snake."

Terry and Draco glanced over to the side, glancing over at the marble staircase. They look like they might have heard something odd, but Corinna was unaware, and she didn't see anything there.

"You mentioned that the diadem was important to stopping You-Know-Who," Terry clarified. "What, you have to destroy ancient school artefacts and his snake for…what exactly?"

For the first time since she woke up, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was overwhelmed as she stepped back to look between Terry and Draco. Their eyes were now boring into Corinna, and she resisted the urge to twitch under their gaze.

"I can't say," said Corinna, her voice impossibly soft. Even if she had the okay, she did not have nearly enough time to explain Horcruxes and how destroying them would bring about Voldemort's destruction. "Just know that…that destroying the snake will bring the end of Voldemort." She sighed heavily, screwing her eyes shut. "Another battle is inevitable. Harry won't be stupid enough to walk to his own death." At least, she could only hope. She just wished she knew where he was. If only she had thought to get the map from him. The uncertainty of what was going on threatened to consume her already fragile state. "If you get a chance to, we need to kill that snake."

"Will the Killing Curse work?" asked Terry, catching onto more than Corinna thought she had let on. Guess there was a reason he was in Ravenclaw.

Corinna thought a moment, but the only things she knew for certain that would destroy a horcrux were basilisk fangs, Gryffindor's sword, and fiendfyre. "Maybe," she said, but the uncertainty in her voice was evident to Terry and Draco, who both glared at Corinna. "Look, even I don't know everything of what's going on. I know for certain that the basilisk fangs Hermione has in her bag will definitely do the trick."

"So you expect us to get close enough to stab a snake that could kill us in one bite?" asked Draco. His tone was neutral, as if he was commenting on an article he was reading. "And would, might I add, include us getting close enough to the Dark Lord himself to get the job done."

Corinna glanced over at Terry and then back at Draco. "Well, there's one of us here that could," she reminded.

Draco violently shook his head. "No, no. Absolutely not. He's an expert Legilimens. I doubt even Snape is good enough at Occlumency to fool him. There's no fucking way I could do it. I'll fight on your side and possibly even send a Killing Curse at the snake as long as she's a good distance away from me. But you cannot ask me to do that."

"Fine," said Corinna, her voice sounding a bit stronger now. Her throat was still dry and scratchy, but that was the least of her problems right now. "That'll be enough."

"It's about time your satisfied with something, Carina."

"Call me that one more time, I dare you."

"It's the name you told me to call you."

"When I was under the Imperius Curse."

"Are you two really bickering right now?" asked Terry, folding his arms over his chest. Corinna wasn't sure if it was the two stone he claimed to have gained or harried from the battle he was shoved into, but he did seem to have a bigger presence about him. His shoulders seemed broader and his jaw set in determination.

"It's my specialty," Corinna muttered, she shot one last glare at Draco. "You stay hidden until we know what's going on."

"What are you going to do?" asked Draco. "There's only about a quarter hour left until the deadline."

Corinna was at a loss. It had taken all her mental capacities just to keep going talking with Draco and Terry. She rubbed her temples and tried to sort out her thoughts, but she became hyper-fixated on the pounding in her ear and the images of her fallen loved ones circled through her mind like a horrible picture slide.

"Corinna…" Terry was gentle now, reminding her so much of the kid who offered to study with her in the library or invited her over to his tent to celebrate the World Cup.

"I'm going to look for Harry," she finally settled on. "Maybe knowing that Voldemort plans on joining the fight will help in some way. We'll know where that stupid snake is since he won't let it out of his sight."

Terry nodded. "Okay," he said, his jaw set again. "I'll go help you. Where do you think he went? He's obviously not with you or Ron or Hermione."

Corinna and Terry had stepped back into the Great Hall. Draco kept himself in the alcove, casting a Disillusionment charm on himself so he wouldn't draw in any more unwanted attention. She noted some of the Weasleys were now missing, notably Ginny and Hermione. She couldn't spot Ginny, but she saw Hermione going around helping some of the injured. She walked over to her, Terry hot on her heels.

"Hermione!"

She straightened up as Corinna and Terry approached. Tears leaked freely from her eyes despite the determined look she put on as a mask. "I am so sorry about Lupin and Tonks," she whispered and immediately wrapped Corinna into a hug.

Corinna did not realize how much she needed that as a fresh wave of emotions crashed through her, causing her body to shake as they were desperate for release. She clung to Hermione and the two women were near silent as they comforted each other.

It was finally Corinna who pulled away and looked at Hermione. "We are close to the end of the hour. Do you know where Harry is?"

Hermione shook her head. "I figured that's why you disappeared from here. I can understand why he wouldn't…" She let the statement hang, and Corinna knew what she was talking about.

"What happened after I left to help…" asked Corinna, unable to say Lavender's name, but Hermione understood.

Hermione quickly explained getting to the Shrieking Shack to find Voldemort and Snape talking. She didn't know exactly what happened since her and Ron couldn't hear much, but Voldemort had Nagini kill Snape and Harry managed to collect some memories from the wound.

"He probably went to Dumbledore's office," said Hermione, her voice squeaking as she tried to contain her sobs. "We know he has a pensieve."

With a semblance of a plan in place, Hermione went to pull Ron from his family. It seemed to take some coaxing, but he managed to tear himself away and the four of them headed upstairs. Corinna and Terry glanced over at the alcove that Draco was hidden in but didn't mention anything to them. She thought she saw something shift in front of the broken hourglasses, but she felt like she was imagining a lot of things lately.

If the Great Hall was a graveyard, the rest of the castle was a ghost town—one that even the ghosts themselves wanted nothing to do with it. Walls crumbled so that the corridors and classrooms now had scenic views of the surrounding grounds. In the beginning dregs of dawn, the Forbidden Forest and surrounding mountains were pitch against the sky. A lump formed in Corinna's throat as she looked out at the Forest, which seemed to move despite the lack of wind. She just had to hope they weren't too late.

They made it to the guarded entrance of the Headmaster's office. Corinna stepped forward and cleared her throat with a wince. "Asphodel."

The gargoyle did not move.

"Maybe Snape changed it," said Hermione, "to something that Harry would guess."

"What the hell would that be?" asked Corinna, her brain refusing to come up with anything. The only thing she was aware of was the ticking seconds until the second battle would begin.

The other three said whatever had come to mind, Ron and Hermione coming up with more as they knew the situation more than Terry. Even Voldemort was suggested by Hermione.

"This is just a waste of time," said Ron, gripping his wand tightly. He was extremely pale, his freckles standing out even more than usual. "Why wouldn't he come back to us once we left the Hall?"

The question hung heavy in the air, threatening to suffocate them all as they all thought the worse.

"He wouldn't," said Hermione in an impossibly low voice. Corinna would not have even heard it if it hadn't reflected the thoughts rushing through her mind.

"He might if he thinks it will end things," said Terry. Of the four of them, he knew Harry the least. He would be going off what he had observed in their few and far between interactions and whatever Corinna has told him—which, admittedly, would not have painted Harry in the best light at the moment.

"He's not stupid," said Corinna, but even she didn't sound convinced. "He should know that dying isn't going to end this battle."

"What about that enchanted map?" suggested Terry. "Does someone have it on them?"

"Harry does," said the three of them, nearly in stereo.

"Well, where else would he have gone after he looked at those memories or whatever?" asked Terry. "You three know Harry best."

"I think we know exactly where Harry is," Ron choked out, his fists clenched so tight Corinna was worried he would snap his wand in half.

A Silencing Charm cast on them would not have been nearly as effective. Ron's words drew all the air out of the corridor. Hermione turned to cling to Ron, burying her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her curls. Corinna knew that Terry wanted to make a comment, but he remained silent. Instead, he looked over at Corinna, whose dried lips trembled as she desperately tried to reject the notion from her mind, but it was next to impossible as the reality of the situation threatened to crush her from the inside out.

No one was certain who made the decision to go back downstairs to the Great Hall, but they did. Ron and Hermione supported each other, and Terry put a comforting arm around Corinna that she did not feel. All she could feel was cold. A cold that seeped right into her bones and froze her very soul. She would not have even been able to feel a Dementor if one were around.

The walls still standing around them threatened to collapse around them, Corinna's vision narrowing to the point she barely saw what was in front of her. Even the portraits were empty, the once-moving frames bringing comfort that one truly was never alone in the vast castle. Corinna had never seen the castle so cold and silent.

But still, they marched forward, shoulders hunched. She knew. Every part of her knew what was going to happen next, but she still fought against it, warring inside her own body as her head and heart battled for the coveted spot of what she was going to believe.

None of them were aware that the hour was up. The sun was slowly peaking out of the horizon, causing the sky to turn grey as dawn taunted them. The grounds glowed orange, but the Forest remained dark and foreboding, as if it absorbed all the light that dared touch its leaves. It was a stark reminder that despite the losses that seemed to be earth-shattering, the sun continued to rise, and time marched on without caring what was going on within Hogwarts.

As they descended the marble staircase, a voice rang out around them. It crawled through the battle-heavy air and echoed off the crumbled walls. The distant sounds in the Great Hall could not be heard as the voice, cold and high, filled their heads to the point nothing else could fit in there.

"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone.

"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist—man, woman, or child—will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters, will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."