Chapter 15:
Un-doing
Voldemort
raised his wand. "Avada--" He took one final look at the terrified
Harry Potter, and yelled "Kadavra!"
There was
a flash of light.
Harry
opened his eyes just in time to see it. Voldemort crying out in shock as his
wand was knocked from his hand, flying behind him. Flying straight towards
Lucius and Draco Malfoy.
There was
a flash of light.
Draco saw
the wand flying towards him and dove out of the line of fire, skidding on his
stomach along the wet stone rooftop.
There was
a flash of light.
A look of
sheer horror passed over Lucius Malfoy's face as he realized what was
happening and try to dive out of the way.
There was
a flash of light.
Lucius
Malfoy fell lifelessly onto the wet stone. For a moment, everyone on the
rooftop was still and silent, struck dumb by what had just happened. And
then…
"Harry!"
The voice came from above his head. Harry looked up and saw Laelyn flying above
him. "Catch!" she cried, dropping his wand. Harry jumped to his
feet and caught it, pointing it at Voldemort. The Dark Lord looked over to
Lucius Malfoy's dead body, in front of which should have sat his wand.
"Looking
for this?" Voldemort eyes came to rest on Draco Malfoy, who had the wand
and was spinning it around in his fingers like a baton.
"Excellent!"
Cried the Dark Lord. "Hand me my wand, young Malfoy!"
Draco
shrugged. "Sure," He said complacently. The he put a hand on either
end of the wand and, grinning maliciously, brought it down on his knee with a
loud crack. Voldemort cried out in anger.
"Oops,"
said Draco, throwing the broken wand over the edge of the rooftop.
"You'll
pay for this…"
"I
think not," said another voice. Voldemort whirled around to see Sirius
Black, free of the ropes that had been holding him.
"Black…"
snarled Voldemort. Sirius glared at him.
"There's
no sense in threatening the boy. Maybe in your mind he deserves to pay, but
unfortunately, you won't be around to collect."
Voldemort
turned slowly, aware of another presence, and realized suddenly that he was
surrounded by wizards. His eyes flitted quickly from face to face. The two
eldest Weasley children, and that insolent little Nymph who'd saved
Potter. Ginny Weasley (also free from her ropes), Young Malfoy, Sirius Black,
and of course, Potter. Voldemort bared his teeth at them.
"You
can't win!" he cried, turning around and looking at each face in
turn. They all glared at him. The two Weasley boys grabbed him on either side.
"Should
we execute him now, or in public?" Charlie's face was hard and
cold. Sirius put a hand on his shoulder.
"No
Charlie. It's not our decision to make. We have to take him to
Fudge."
Harry
glared at Voldemort. "You've lost. You might as well face it.
It's over Voldemort."
Bill and
Charlie tightened their grips on his arms. "Let's go," Bill
said gruffly. "The sooner we get him locked up, the better." They
waved their wands and disapparated, leaving behind only the heap of flesh and
bone that had once been Lucius Malfoy, laying face down on the rain-flooded
roof.
*****
"This is simply unbelievable,"
exclaimed Cornelius Fudge. "Our prayers have been answered. It is finally
over!"
The minister of magic looked very relieved. Harry
felt much better himself. Dumbledore had arrived at the Ministry of Magic
minutes after them. The headmaster was solemn, but Harry could tell he was
pleased.
"They're taking him to Azkaban right
now as we speak," Fudge said, sounding even a little smug. He turned
towards Sirius. "I see we were wrong about you, Black." Sirius
remained emotionless. "I cannot speak for the rest of the world, but from
now on you have my trust. I'll see what I can do about an official
pardon." Sirius nodded solemnly.
"Thank you."
"And once again Harry, you've shown a
great deal of bravery and valor. It takes a lot to stand up against one so
infamous, never mind capturing him and delivering him here so he can be brought
to justice. On e behalf of the entire wizarding world, I thank you."
"It wasn't really me," Harry said
modestly. "I could never have done it on my own. In fact, it was Draco
who told us about Vol—You-know-who's plan and helped us stop
him."
Fudge turned towards Draco. "Well then, thank
you, Mr. Malfoy. You have done a very courageous thing." Draco's
eyes were glazed over as he nodded. "Now I'm sure you're all
anxious to get back to Hogwarts. This must have been a very exhausting night
for you all. Albus, I insist that these three students be excused from class
tomorrow. They need to catch up on their rest." He smiled at the group of
wizards in front of him. "Thank you all."
They all followed Dumbledore out of the ministry.
When they were out under the open skies again, Laelyn looked up at the sky and
held out her hand.
"Hey, it's stopped raining," she
remarked casually. Bill put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
"Come on, let's go back to the
school."
She nodded. "Yes. Let's go home."
*****
When they were safe inside the school once again,
Dumbledore lead them all to his office. He closed the door behind them and
turned to face the seven bedraggled individuals, his eyes twinkling.
"Congratulations," he said, smiling.
"You have all proven yourselves on this night. Rest assured you shall all
be rewarded in time. For now I can only offer small tokens of gratitude to some
of you." He turned to Harry, who had his arm around Ginny. Draco was
standing behind the two of them, looking very solemn. "I want you three
to know that we are all very proud of you. I think it's quite obvious
from your behavior tonight that you all know exactly what you are doing where
magic is concerned. And that is why I am going to do something I may very well
regret later on. You are all exempted from your exams this year." The
three students looked at Dumbledore in shock.
"Thank you, professor," Harry said
happily.
Dumbledore
nodded. "You've all earned it." He cast his glance towards
the adults in the room. Charlie stood behind Sirius, a weary yet happy look on
his face. Sirius looked solemn but relieved. Laelyn was leaning dejectedly
against Bill, who had his arm wrapped protectively around her. "You four
have certainly lived up to my expectations and more. As you know, awards are
very important here at Hogwarts. Competition runs in our veins here." He
looked first at Bill and then at Charlie. "If you were still students
here, you would be receiving our highest honors. As it is, I can only think of
one alternative, and that is to dedicate awards in your names. Therefore, We
will add to our trophy case the Bill and Charlie Weasley award, to be presented
each year to the student who exhibits an exceptional amount of bravery and
valor." Laelyn squeezed her husband's hand encouragingly, and
Charlie looked at the floor, slightly embarrassed by Dumbledore's praise.
"Thank
you," They both muttered in unison. Dumbledore smiled.
"I always
knew you two were destined for greatness." He turned his gaze to Sirius.
"Mr. Black. I know not where to begin. I want, first and foremost, to
express my happiness for you. You can be sure that you'll receive a
pardon soon, now that the minister of magic is on your side. And I also want
you to know that as soon as you are a free man again, I would be honored to
have you join our staff here at Hogwarts as soon as a position opens up. And,"
His mouth twitched up at the corners, "I don't expect we'll
have to long to wait before that happens."
Sirius bowed
his head. "Thank you, Albus."
Dumbledore
stepped towards Bill and Laelyn. He looked down into the tiny woman's
face worriedly. "And you, my child," he said, his eyes soft and
kind, "What is there to say."
Laelyn closed
her eyes. Her entire demeanor was that of a very old and very tired person.
"I tried to do what was right," she whispered weakly. Dumbledore
nodded and put a hand on her shoulder.
"It is
through your actions that Harry, Ginny and Sirius are alive right now."
"When I
think what could have happened if I had been half a second later…"
"But you weren't. And that's what
matters." Dumbledore sighed. "By word or deed I know not how to
honor you, my child. That you did what you did without any thought for
yourself, and in your current condition… it is a truly amazing thing that
you have done. I wish there was some way to reward you."
She
smiled shakily. "Everything is as it should be now. What more could
anyone possibly want or hope to have?"
Dumbledore
smiled back down at her. "Indeed," he said, "Indeed."
*****
Harry
caught up to Laelyn and Bill in the hallway.
"Laelyn,
wait!" The two of them turned to face Harry. Laelyn looked up at her
husband.
"You
go on ahead, Bill. I'll be there in a minute." Bill nodded
understandingly and headed off down the hall. Harry and Laelyn looked at each
other in silence for a few moments, and then Laelyn threw her arms around the
boy and gripped him tightly. It took Harry a few seconds to realize that she
was crying.
"Laelyn,
what's wrong?" He asked worriedly. She shook her head.
"I
don't know… I don't know. I was so frightened…"
He
hugged her back. "You didn't act like it," he said, feeling
like he wanted to cry himself. "You were very brave. And you saved my
life. I'll never forget that. Never."
She
stepped back, her cheeks moist with salty tears. "I killed him,"
she whispered. "Draco's father. I killed him."
Harry
shook his head. "Voldemort killed him. You did the right thing. I owe you
my life. And besides, even if Lucius had lived he would have spent his whole
life in Azkaban anyway."
"I
suppose you're right. I just hope Draco doesn't hold me
responsible."
Harry
put his hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. "NO-ONE
hold you responsible. You heard what Dumbledore said. We all feel that way. All
of us."
Laelyn
smiled fleetingly. "I'm just glad everything turned out all right.
I didn't want to be a hero. I just wanted to raise my son in a world
where we wouldn't have to look over our shoulders every two
seconds."
"Well,"
Harry said quietly, "Now you can."