Pandora's Box
Kneazle
DC: I do not own Harry Potter or afflictions to Warner's Bros. or J.K. Rowling's. I merely use the characters for entertainment purposes only. Anything mentioned in this story is afflicted only to its rightful produces. I own nothing but the plot.
AN: Prefer listening to "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter" soundtracks or songs which lyrics have been inserted while reading. Also, the Renaissances become teachers. Think of this story to be like X-Men: they fight and teach, and have similar powers to: ex, Hermione = Kitty Pryde. The song during chapter eight is by Godsmack, "Awake".
[Mar. 1, 02]
**-**
Why wont you die
Your blood in mine
Will be fine
Then your body will be mine
Why is everything so fucking hard for me?
Keep me down to what you think I should be
Must you tempt me and provoke the ministry
Keep on trying I'm not dying so easily – Jonathan Davis, "System"
**~**
Chapter Nine
Hermione's eyes watched Harry grin slightly. He changed the weight on one foot to the other, bouncing lightly on the heels of his feet.
"Why are you smiling, Potter?" sneered Riddle.
"Because I know that I'm going to win," he replied.
"You believe so," snapped Riddle. Harry just shook his head slowly. When Riddle said nothing more, Harry's emerald eyes narrowed to slits.
"I know so."
Riddle's eyes widened.
Harry's eyes looked back slightly as he barked out a command, "free the prisoners. Kill the Death Eaters. Then get out of here. With or without me."
Hermione nodded, blasted a Death Eater right off his feet, and charged forward. She and Oliver ran towards the high table, where the teachers sat in shock. It seemed as if they were too tired to move, to fight back.
Ron, Lavender, Dean, Padma, Blaise and Cho ran down towards the Slytherin common room, where somewhere down there they could find the place where Riddle kept the prisoners.
"Wait!" hissed a voice. Ron turned, and with his wand pointed at the voice, he commanded, "Show yourself."
A young woman their age stepped out of the shadows. "I'm Sarah Fawcett. Remember me? Ravenclaw?"
Ron nodded, and put the wand down. "Do you know where the prisoners are kept?"
She nodded, her glossy brown curls bobbing as she did so. "Follow me. I know a few passages we can take to avoid more Death Eaters."
Ron nodded, and they disappeared out of the Great Hall.
Draco and Lucius moved off to fight in their own space, sending spells backwards left, right and centered.
Remus, Seamus, Ginny, Neville and Fred began to walk around the High Table, making sure Oliver and Hermione could figure something out, to get the teachers out of their tired state.
George was running around the whole Great Hall, amidst of the battles and was sending off Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, trying to distract the Death Eaters. They worked wonders.
"Minerva! Can you say something?" asked Hermione, stepping up to her idol. Minerva McGonagall stared blankly up at Hermione. Her eyes were sad, pained. She couldn't talk.
"Severus?" Oliver tried, looking at Snape.
"They've got some spell on them," he sighed wearily. "They're held in place by a locket in Riddle's office – Dumbledore's old one – and cannot come out of it until it's broken."
"Do you know what it looks like?" asked Oliver. Hermione looked pained herself.
"Of course."
"Can you lead Neville, Fred and George to it? We'll work down here," asked Oliver, motioning those three over. They heard what they were to do, and nodded.
Severus Snape looked them over, something flashing in his eyes before they returned back to their onyx black. "Follow me," he said briskly, and the four disappeared out of the Great Hall, lost in a sea of Death Eaters charging at them.
Oliver and Hermione shared a look; they were going to work as a team. He laced his fingers together, and she placed a boot in it. Then, placing her hands on his shoulders, he counted three and boosted her into the air. She did a forward somersault and landed directly in front of the Death Eaters they were a couple meters away. She grinned, waved a bit and their wands went flying past her, to her behind.
Remus, Seamus, Ginny and Oliver stood behind her, the Death Eaters wands' in their hands. Simultaneously, they snapped each one. A loud, crack, filled the Great Hall.
Anguished cries from the Death Eaters were a loud boom too; when their wands snapped, it was like a piece of their soul disappeared.
Hermione raised her right hand, her fingers clasped tightly in her palm. Then, one finger went up… and then another.
When the fifth was up, jets of green light brushed by her. They hit the Death Eaters, and the whole front line fell to the ground, their unseeing eyes staring up at Hermione. She shivered, but did the same thing again with her hand. More Death Eaters surged forward, and once again, on the fifth count, they went down. This time, though, Hermione and Ginny sent waves of their power out, knocking the Death Eaters back, stumbling a few paces.
A few tripped, and as the others moved forward, were trampled. Hermione could hear their cries, the sound of boots crushing bones and the sighed of a thin line of blood traveling towards her.
Human blood.
She suddenly felt the world slide out from under her; it was too much for her to handle. Vomit crept up into her throat, and she tried to swallow. It didn't help, so seconds later, she bent and threw up the vile taste from her mouth.
She spat out whatever saliva was left, trying to cleanse her mouth. Nothing helped. A shadow fell across her, and she looked up to see a Death Eater looming above her, leering.
She sighed, and with her palm out, did the same thing to him as she had done to Pansy Parkinson two weeks ago.
Finding the main body parts, the ones where people were must vulnerable; she mentally grabbed the one of the heart and tightened her hold. The Death Eater screamed, and fell to the ground, panting and clutching his chest.
His eyes were so wide she could she the whites, and his mouth was open in a scream so loud and wide that she could see his back molars.
The next second, Oliver had tackled the Death Eater, wrenching him to the ground, and constantly pounding his fist into the man's jaw. Hermione let go of the man's heart and he slumped to the ground unconscious.
Oliver offered his hand out to her, and Hermione took it. "Thanks," she whispered. Oliver grinned at her, and turned away to continue fighting.
In truth, they weren't doing too badly. Ginny was helping Seamus, as he refused to physically touch any Death Eater. Ginny seemed to think that was ridiculous but he helped her, circling so that she would physically attack, and he would grab their wands and kill them with spells.
Hermione didn't notice the man creep up behind her. She didn't notice until she was swung into the air. But she slipped through his grasp using his mutation and spat on him, before using her pocketknife. He missed it, but it cut along his check. Muttering curses at her, he allowed the crowd to suck him in and he disappeared behind them, as more Death Eaters came forward.
"Is there no end to them?" she shouted, sending a blast of energy out at them. The shock wave crashed into them, sending the large group flying backwards, all together into one of the walls. A cleared path the size of the football field lay between her and them.
"Wow, Herm," commented Ginny, coming up next to her. "Anger management classes."
Hermione shot her a cold look, and said, "shut up Ginny," before she turned to face a new opponent.
**-**
The dungeons were damp and cold, as a chilly breeze swept up over the seven raced down the hallways.
"This way!" commanded Sarah, turning sharply to the left, her heels clicking lightly on the cobblestone floors. Ron trotted behind her, his super speed allowing him to keep up easily. The rest, Lavender, Cho, Dean, Padma and Blaise, were panting heavily by the time she placed a finger to her lips, silencing them.
Nodding, they regulated their breathing and opened the heavy iron door. Sarah stepped in first.
"Fawcett," said the heavy voice grunt that could only be Crabbe or Goyle's. Ron steadied his shaking hand, placing it out in front of him.
"On three," he mouthed. "One…"
Sarah smiled politely and took the key rings from Goyle. "Sleep tight," she grinned. Performing an unconscious spell, she knocked them heavily out with a torch holder, just as Ron barged in, his hand and wand ready to be deadly.
"What the hell?" he asked, looking down.
"I can take care of myself, Mr. Weasley," she said coolly. Ron's wide eyes showed that he had no intention of not believing that.
"Right-o," said Blaise, grinning widely as Cho stepped out from behind him. "Are we ready to set some prisoners free?"
Sarah nodded, un-hooking the ring before tossing the pairs a key each. "I'll stay here, near the front, so no one suspects that there is anyone far back. Okay?"
Without waiting for them to answer, she turned her back, fumbled with the key on her ring and placed it in the lock. Looking up at the motionless group, she snapped, "What are you waiting for? You have your orders from Harry!"
Ron jumped into action, grabbing Lavender's hand and dragging her to the farthest cells in the whole dungeon. She protested the whole way, and the group heard her shrill voice until they faded away, down into the darkness that surrounded them.
Blaise and Cho grinned, before racing each other down. They had to get the prisoners out as soon as they could, before Harry or Voldemort were killed.
Dean and Padma went one lock down, working opposite of Sarah. She swung her door open quickly, and shouted inside of it, "you're free! Leave!"
The prisoner stared up at her, as if she was going to kill him. Sighing, she pointed her wand at him and the man cowered. "Revivifium," she said. A gold glow encircled the man, and the bags under his eyes disappeared; his skin was clean, and his hair no longer filthy. No longer a living shell of himself, he stood with renewed strength and strode out of the dungeons, thanking Sarah. She smiled in return and proceeded to the next cell.
Each time, the prisoner thanked her, looking much better than before. Something fluttered in the bottom of her stomach as opened one of her last cells. Many other prisoners were passing her, from where the others were. Ron and Lavender appeared, following Blaise and Cho as they stepped into her lockdown area.
"Are you guys ready to get out of here now?" she asked, shuddering. After all these years, she thought, finally. I'll be able to leave this Hell I've known.
Cho opened her mouth to respond, when she shut it again, her teeth clicking together as she did so. Her eyes were wide with fear and with a shaky hand, she pointed over Sarah's shoulder.
Sighing, the girl turned – and screamed pointedly into the face of a mountain troll.
Sarah scrambled back, still screaming. She ducked her head, bringing an arm up to protect her face as the mountain troll's club came down crashing on her.
However, the club never hit Sarah, but seemed to roll off her as a blinding, curved gold light bubbled around her.
Looking back, she saw Blaise with a livid look on his face. He was slowly advancing on the troll, who had a dumbfounded look on its face.
"You dare to hurt another one of our kind?" he whispered in a deadly vile voice, hissing it lowly. He left the group of Renaissance/Salvation wizards behind as he continued walking past Sarah to stand directly beneath the troll.
It grunted, glowering down at Blaise. "You kill my parents, you kill my brother, my idol," he continued. "And now, you and your kind shall suffer."
Ron looked speechless. So this is what Hermione used to mean when she said all Slytherins aren't that bad… they do have a soul inside.
"Ron," snapped Blaise.
"Hmm?" replied Ron, in awe.
"Leave. Leave this troll to me. He's mine. Don't worry about me," he said, pointing his wand at the troll. It recognized the sign of a challenge and grunted back in return. He backed up a few paces and stood beside Cho. "Be careful," he whispered to her.
She nodded, tearfully, and hugged him tightly as she ran out of the dungeons following the others.
Once gone, Blaise turned back to face the troll, only to barely miss the swing of its club. The momentums of the swing made the troll trip a bit, on his right foot, and Blaise used this to his advantage. Kicking him there, on the ankle, the troll tripped completely now. It fell to the ground, shattering some glass somewhere in the dungeons, rattling the opened locks.
Blaise bent his knees, making his legs absorb the shock of the floor shaking. He then realized that the troll had hit its head hard, with greenish blood leaking out of its ear. Momentarily stunned, Blaise used the opportunity to stare blankly down at the creature before pointing his wand directly between its two eyes.
"My revenge is over," he whispered in a deadly voice, "Avada Kedavra."
**-**
Neville, still a little intimidated by Snape's presence was quiet as they crept down the hallway, finally to the spot where Dumbledore's gargoyle stood. Instead, there was now a winding snake, with sapphire eyes.
"Do you know the password?" asked Fred, panting slightly. George looked around, prancing this way and that, making sure no one was coming.
Snape looked grim. "Yes."
"Then why don't you say it?"
"I don't know how to say it," replied Snape, glaring at Fred. Fred stared defiantly up at him.
"You're shitting me. It's a word. You're a professor. Hello?" he said, staring at his old potions master. "One plus one does not equal five, so what's the problem?"
"You need to say the password in Parseltongue!" cried Snape finally.
Fred, Neville and George, who had turned and was paying attention to the argument, all groaned.
"Perhaps I can help," said a cool voice behind them.
Turning, the group gasped, no sound coming out in what one could only say as a silent, death scream. They were looking in to the face of a melting, deformed Lord Voldemort.
"Oh shit," murmured George, backing away until he was up against the cool stonewall. Through his thin sweater, he could feel the pricks of where the wall wasn't chipped away perfectly. The musky coolness seeped into his shirt, chilling him to the bone.
Fred copied his twin, both of them pressed up against the wall, either side of the stone snake. Snape and Neville were rigid in shock.
The deformed face gave a twisted grin. "Never saw a polyjuice potion do this before, huh?" said the cool and raspy voice of the owner. The scarlet eyes that were trademarks of Lord Voldemort's were slowly dulling, becoming a mundane brown.
The man's sinister grin stayed plastered on his face as he bent down to the height of the snake's mouth and hissed, "massacre."
However, no one understood what he spoke because it was in another, low, hissing language.
The snake slithered aside, and the man stepped through the space that was created, and continued to walk briskly up the moving staircase.
The others followed wordlessly.
Once they reached the top, the man turned, sat down at the edge of the desk that was there, and crossed his legs like a man should, by the knee.
Neville gapped openly. The face was no longer melted, deformed or that of Lord Voldemort's. Instead, the handsome features of a familiar friend stared back at them. Neville blinked in surprise as he tried to place the face with an old friend.
What he blurted out surprised even Snape. "JUSTIN FINCH-FLETCHLY?"
Justin grinned, a handsome smile that was only considered now abominable to the others. He looked at each in the eye.
"Quite so, Neville," he replied simply. "Ah, the old Hogwarts days when we were all naïve and friends."
"What happened?" shouted Fred, striding up to him and grabbing his collar. He shook him violently. "How could you let down everyone and become one of them?" he spat the last sentence.
Justin calmly removed Fred's hands from his collar, sneering in disgust. It looked out of place on the young man.
"Weasley, you just don't get it, do you?" he snarled. "Stupid Muggle-lover like yourself. You can't see it and you never will. So I'll spare you the embarrassment of the lack of knowledge.
"That day when you and your silly friends were captured and sent into status by my Lord, I remembered thinking that all hope was lost," said Justin, sneering at Neville, who surprisingly glared back with matched resentment. "When the Lord then took you and your friends to wherever it was that you were placed, he came back and asked, 'who shall join me now? Think of glory, power you have never imagined!' I was tempted. Of course, there was hardly anyone who wasn't amongst us who was left. Most teachers were, though." He paused to remember the day.
"You're sick," spat George. Justin's brown eyes flickered over to him, and with a simple wave of his hand, George went sailing back, slamming against the far wall, his eyes wide in horror. As he slid down, a spot of red marked the place his head hit. Blood oozed down the wall, to where George now lay.
"George!!" screamed his brother, as Fred went to make a move towards him. The palm in front of his face made him stop.
"One more step Weasley, and I'll kill you right here and now," threatened Justin. Fred simply glared at him.
"Go ahead," he spat, sucking in his saliva before he spat it out onto Justin's face. Justin opened his mouth, after he delicately wiped the spit off his cheek.
"Avada"—he was cut off as Neville slammed into him, pinning him to the ground. With his mind, he broke Justin's wand, and did as Hermione instructed – he found one of the seven main body organs with his mind and squeezed it. Justin went gasping for air.
"Please—Neville—stop," he gasped. Neville glowered at him.
"You son of a bitch," he barked. "When you had no friends, who was around? Me! When you needed help with work, who was there to help and tutor you? Me! Is this the way to treat one of your old, and best friends? Huh?? Answer me, dammit!"
Justin gasped for air, wheezing as he replied, "no—no, of—course not, not—at all—Neville, my—friend."
Neville slammed his free hand down into Justin's jaw and placed his mouth near Justin's ear. "You are no longer my friend," he said softly, so only Justin could hear. "Rot in the Hell you helped create, you bastard. Avada Kedavra."
Neville stood up, glared down at Justin's inert body, and glanced over at Fred who was holding George's head up delicately.
"How is he?" asked Snape quietly.
"Concussion," replied Fred, with a choked voice. "We should get out of here as soon as we can."
"Take George and get the bloody hell out of here," commanded Neville. "Snape and myself with find the locket. Okay?"
Fred nodded, preformed light lightweight spell and left the office, George's body floating quickly next to him.
"I would never have suspected you to be one of them," said Snape in a low voice. "You never seemed the type."
Neville ignored him, as he began looking around Dumbledore's old desk for something that looked like a locket. As he opened a drawer, he said quite suddenly, "I always was."
Glancing up, but not moving his head, he saw Snape stop his search and straightened. He turned, looked at Neville, and nodded. "I always knew too."
The two held a mutual respect for each other now. Neville nodded, smiled slightly, and went back to looking around the desk. As he shuffled through some papers, a letter with Dumbledore's loopy scrawl caught his attention.
The name on the front made his eyes widen slightly. Harry Potter made him pick it up. It was sealed, so he had no idea what it was about. Glancing around the room, he saw Snape looking interestingly at a picture frame that he was trying to move without success. He was very focused to that, so Neville quickly stuffed the letter into his coat pocket. He'd give it to Harry later.
If he lives, reminded a nasty voice. Neville growled in a low voice, hoping Snape wouldn't hear. He didn't.
He will, he retorted to his subconscious. He then wrinkled his nose as he pulled at a chain on the handle of the drawer. It slipped to the floor, an oval locket at its end.
"Found it," he said, holding it up. Flicking it open, she saw tiny little teachers locked inside. They were screaming silently, their expression murderous and scared.
Snape came over, took one look at it, and grabbed it from Neville. "HEY!" he protested; but at that very moment, Snape swung it above his head, and made it come plunge down onto the desktop.
The locket cracked, splitting open. The gold contents of it went in every which direction, and the teachers inside flew out, like birds that were caged being set free.
Once the last teacher left (Professor Binns was saying something about missing homework), Neville and Snape looked at each other.
They bolted from the office, their job done. The rest of the work would be up to Hermione, Oliver, Draco and Harry.
**-**
Draco snarled as Lucius's fist connected with the side of his face. He felt the automatic swell and knew tomorrow – if he lived that long – he would have a bruise there.
"You shit, you shit-ass father," he snapped, swinging at Lucius. The end of his knuckles met with Lucius's cheek, too, and the force of Draco's swing made Lucius' head snap back.
When he turned his head to face his son, his eyes were colder than Draco had ever seen them before, and they were narrowed into steel slits.
"You are no son of mine," said Lucius coolly. "I am not your father. I have never been a father."
"Well that's the first truth you've ever said," snapped Draco. "All I learnt from you were lies – lies and more lies. I'm sick of lies. I want the truth, and the only way I'll have it is to be free of you!"
He then slammed his hands into Lucius's shoulders, making his father rear back, rocking on his heels. Draco took that to his advantage and did a roundhouse kick to his face. Lucius fell on his back, and pushed himself up on his elbows to see Draco's feet step on either side of his father's waist.
Squatting, he looked his father in the eye and asked, "How does it feel to be on the loosing side now? Are you sure you chose the right side all along?"
And with that said, he pointed his wand at his father's face, and said, "Goodbye Lucius. I'm glad that I never got to know you the way a father should get to know his son. Avada Kedavra!"
Lucius's elbows went limp, and his whole body shuddered once before he fell to the ground, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.
Once Draco was sure he was dead (how could he not have been? He wondered later), he went over to join Oliver and Hermione.
They were arousing all of the Professors, who seemed to have woken up from a deep sleep.
Minerva McGonagall took one look at Hermione, realized it was she, and hugged tightly. "I'm so glad that you and the others escaped!" she crooned.
Hermione looked a bit ruffled, but flattered. "Professor—"
"Minerva, dear Hermione. We're adults now," she interrupted.
"—Minerva, Harry and Riddle are in the middle of a fight. If you go outside, you should find a coach that will take you and all of the other Professors to Bingingham Castle."
"Bingingham? What's that?" asked Flitwick.
"That's the Institute of Magical Studies, or Institute of Magic," said Oliver from where he was standing. "We made a new Hogwarts. Students are there and we're expecting tons more soon. We could really use the teachers and help."
The other Professors gave instantaneous replies and hurried out of the room, but not before little Flitwick stopped to glare up at a Death Eater and kick him forcefully in the shins and then hurry away.
"How'd it go?" Hermione asked Draco.
He gave her a side-ways look. "My father is dead."
"You killed him?" said Hermione, stating it rather than asking. Draco gave her a look that was unreadable, but she could only guess how he felt.
"Yes," he then turned to watch Harry and Riddle. "Shall we go?"
Oliver and Hermione were silent. Finally, Hermione spoke up, "Harry might need our help. He'll hate us if we try to help him, but I'd rather have him hating me for eternity than having him dead."
Oliver and Draco nodded, inching closer to where Riddle and Harry were dueling.
"Think you can win, Potter?" hollered Riddle, making a 'shoo' motion with his hand. Harry gritted his teeth together as he braced himself against the wave of power that washed over him.
"I think so," he replied, and spread his legs apart, one in front of the other. He then placed the heels of her hands together, cupping them, so if the fingers touched they would form a crude heart. He brought it behind his waist, and then thrust his hands forward. Riddle was knocked off his feet, sent flying back, skittering across the floor.
When he hit the wall, the large Hufflepuff tapestry came falling down on him, covering him completely.
There was silence for a few seconds, except for the moaning of Death Eaters, and the sound of footsteps of students as they ran out of the Great Hall and onto the Quidditch Field where they would be safe.
Suddenly, there was a terrifying roar as the Hufflepuff tapestry began to burn. The flame turned into a large fire, engulfing the whole tapestry. As the fire died away, its ashes blew away in a non-existent wind.
Tom Riddle, his black hair much more disheveled than before, scarlet eyes burning, stood in the middle of the ashes. His shoulders were hunched, and he was looking deadly, livid, enraged.
"You will never win," he said softly, his voice carrying across the now empty Great Hall. "Never, Potter."
As he began walking towards, Harry, Hermione, Oliver and Draco could all feel the energy radiating off of his body.
"Never," he repeated again, stopping only a few hundred paces away, panting heavily. Hermione gulped.
**-**
Ron, Lavender, Cho, Sarah, Dean and Padma met Seamus and Ginny in the hallway by the Hogwarts doors. Fred came with George floating behind him, briefly filling them in on what happened in Dumbledore's old office, which the fake Lord Voldemort was.
Ron, Ginny and Lavender were surprised, but said nothing as they realized that Snape and Neville had completed their task when the Professor came rushing out, mixed with many students from the Great Hall.
They didn't stop to talk, but began wondering what they should do now.
"We
should do as Harry said," begged Lavender. "I have a really bad feeling of
what's going to happen, please Ron!"
Ron shook Lavender off.
Cupping her face with his hands, he said, "Lavender, those are my best friends
in there. I love them. I have to be there for them, and I will do anything for
them. I will also disobey Harry."
Lavender, tearing up, tried to shake her head, but Ron silenced any further complaints with a passion-filled kiss.
"My promise," he whispered huskily to her, his lips mumbling against her own. "My promise to you that I will come out alive. I will marry you, Lavender Brown. I love you."
She bit her lip, and finally sighed. "Go," she whispered, "but be careful."
He nodded, looked around the group, and said, "A few of you should go out there. Help George and get those damn Professors on the coach. Seamus, Ginny. You guys come with me."
"Me too!" piped up the petite Sarah. She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Ron. "Me too," she repeated.
Ron nodded, and waved them forward with two fingers. Blaise appeared then, and Cho clung on to him the rest of the way out of Hogwarts with Dean and Padma. Neville and Snape arrived soon too, descending the large staircase in the front of the Hall.
With a quick nod to the four, they kept running by, and left the building. The whole school was unusually and uneasily quiet.
A roar caught the group's attention as they ran towards the Great Hall, only a football field's length away.
Ron made it to the door first, holding a stitch in his side from using his super speed all the time.
Riddle looked furious as he stopped only a yard away from Harry, saying, "Never." Ron looked off to the side, where Hermione, Oliver and Draco stood, by the head table. They were close to Harry, but off to the side. They would only be able to get out of the Great Hall if they went through the line of fire.
"Harry!" called Ginny, "we're staying! We're rooting for you!"
Seamus cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, projecting his voice, "we believe in you!"
Harry made no intention of hearing them, but Ron knew he did and appreciated the vote of confidence. Riddle ignored them as he picked up his forgotten wand.
Harry stretched his hand out and summoned it into his waiting hand that way. They never took their eyes off one another.
"Potter!" screamed Riddle, "Welcome Death with open arms and He might spare you!"
Harry smirked, "Why don't you just die, Riddle? Spare us all the trouble."
At this, Riddle let out an enraged cry, and with pent-up anger, let his energy flow out in a huge wave at Harry. The smirk disappeared as he focused his attention to blocking the attack.
He fell back a couple of steps, his arms making an 'x' in front of his face as he did this. Bowing his head, the group watched beads of sweat appear on Harry's forehead until he was thrown off his feet. He fell hard to the ground.
Riddle was walking slowly closer, and stopped when Harry pushed himself to a sitting position on the ground. Blood oozed its way slowly down his cheek. He ignored it as he watched Riddle for any new movement.
With a sense of foreboding, Ron realized that this was the moment that Lavender had meant. Something was amiss; Harry's powers seemed to have dropped considerably since Riddle's last attack. They wore him down.
Riddle, realizing that, stepped once more, confidently forward before straddling his feet to be equal with his shoulders. His brother wand was pointed at Harry's chest.
"Oh, how I've waited for this day," gloated Riddle, "for so long. And now, finally, you will be dead."
Harry's chest rose and fell with heavy labored breathing. He wheezed, and Hermione was sure he broke some ribs on that fall.
"Avada Kedavra!" brought her back to her senses, as she realized that Riddle had said those unforgettable words.
Her eyes widened; as did Ron's and everyone else's. The curse was aimed directly at Harry's chest, and he watched as the curse sped closer and closer to him.
Hermione hardly knew what she was doing until she was looking at the curse head-on. She was taking the curse for Harry.
"HERMIONE!" screamed Oliver's voice. She looked once over at him, and mouthed, "I love you", just as the curse hit her.
In a way, it was beautiful. There was the sense that all her worries were gone, the sense of floating and that nothing would ever hurt her now. She felt her body grow warm, very warm. Too warm for any being on the world, and just as she thought she couldn't stand the heat anymore, she fell into a black void.
**-**
MistWalker: is this fighting well? I doubt you'd want to eat ice cream with a cherry on top right now, but… ^_^ interesting chapter huh? Like you said, no story is complete without character torture… MWAHAHA
G*Ness: Well, okay, so Draco didn't "flat out" kill Lucius, but it was pretty close, huh? And yes, the story will be Seamus/Ginny. I made my mind up now ^_^. Oh! And in case if you're wondering, it will be a happy ending. Well, semi-happy anyway. **Cackles evilly**
Smile7499: You'll just have to wait to the next chapter to find out what Seamus' power is. But I can say that whatever it is, it's extremely important to what happens next. Think: since I've been using the X-Men powers… which character's power haven't I used? Guess, if you want. Just go through them – SHE is a main character. That is all. ^_~
Lady Knight of Kennan: If posting stories on FFnet is publishing, and then I'm set for journalism in University. I was told we need to publish five items, and I sure as hell have more than five.
Moony: tell me whenever it's posted, okay??
Please, please, please, PLEASE review and tell me what you all think of this chapter; it's the climax and turning point of the story, and I'd really like to know what everyone thinks of this chapter! Thanks! -- Kneazle