THAT SUMMER, Chapter 20
By Reija Linn
Bill
Again that dream of drowning... my own face at the surface... no, not mine... Ron's...
When I woke from the darkness that had surrounded me, I was looking directly into a pair of shadowed eyes - shadowed from the hood the Death Eater was still wearing over his pointed face.
"Bill Weasley," he whispered. "We went to school together... do you remember me? No? Well, years can do that to a person... but perhaps you remember me from later? Remember the sound of my voice?"
'... Inferno... the sound of a curse, thundering through the night, then my father snatching me and Charlie, pulling us with him, out of the house...'
"You..."
'... flames and smoke, the sound of my mother screaming... Tina! Tina!...'
"You killed Tina... you killed my sister, and almost destroyed our house!"
"Yes."
"Who...?!"
The man took off his hood, slowly. I had to blink against the darkness of the room we were in, then I recognised him. He had grown older, fatter, his eyes darker, and wrinkles were deep in his face... but it was the same person, his picture had, after all, been in all the newspapers.
I wanted to speak a curse at once, he had taken my wand, of course, but I could master a couple of spells without, but by the time this thought had come up, he already reached out, his cold hand touching my mouth. "Silencium." Something unreal about his hand, as it gleamed in the almost darkness...
"No, Bill Weasley, you will listen to me. I still have something to say... an old wrong... no, I won't kill you... I need you to deliver this message to my old friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, should they survive this battle."
With this, the man handed me a small parchment role, sealed with wax, in which a small rat's paw was embedded.
"It is too late for me to go back, even if my Lord is defeated... I have done too much... but no matter how this battle ends, I have no will to live left in me. Should the Dark Lord prevail, hm, in a world ruled by him... I now know there is no victory for me there. He has used me, and now that I have no more left to give, he will kill me. And the Light will never accept me again... I can only pray that with my death, James and Lily will forgive me...
"Help James' son, as I should have helped the father. Don't worry about killing me... this, I will do on my own. Voldemort and Harry are outside - we are in the broomshed, in case you haven't noticed. Here..." he handed me something long and slim, "your wand."
And with this, Peter Pettigrew vanished, never to be seen again.
I quickly undid the silence spell he had put on me, and lit my wand with the 'Lumos' spell, but no trace of the man was left, though I thought I heard a rusting noise behind one of the brooms.
But there was no time left for this. I had to help Harry! As soon as I found the door, I left the shed, to be greeted with the terrible sight of Harry, crumpled on the ground, with the dark form of Voldemort hovering above him.
"Harry...!"
Voldemort turned in surprise, he obviously hadn't been counting on me. Harry lay unmoving. Was he...?
"So you have decided to join us, Mr. Weasley?" His tone was mocking, but I knew I had startled him. He obviously hadn't calculated that this servant could betray him.
"Expelliarmus!"
The Dark Wizard's wand flew far away at this spell of mine, but I knew he would be able to do many, many curses without it yet.
"For this, you will die," he hissed at me, enraged, slowly stepping towards me, thus missing that the still form of Harry suddenly stirred.
I prepared myself for the final blow, throwing curses at Voldemort, but noticing they ricocheted ineffectively.
"Vir..." Harry, slowly coming to his feet, tried to utter, but Voldemort did not notice. "Vir ingentis spiritus Akasha..."
Voldemort half-turned in surprise at the words before the curse hit him. Dark veils closed around him, as this creature with no human soul cried out in agony, a sound like a crow's scream. For Akasha was the world memory, the memory of all, and the Curse of Akasha was to feel the memory of the whole world upon oneself, feeling the agony of every being one had caused harm.
Harry looked at me, weary and tired, but with a face set and determined. And I understood.
"Avada Kedavra," a curse spoke in unison, green bolts of lightning shooting out of two wands simultaneously. The figure hidden within dark clouds shuddered, once, twice, then let out a last high-pitched scream, that could only be described with the word unearthly.
The ground shuddered at this scream, cracking open directly at the point where Voldemort stood, a large rift opening and widening as far as I could see, as the high-pitched scream died in the endless darkness of the rift.
I looked at Harry, silently, who stood on the other side of the crack in the ground, breathing heavily, sweat on his forehead.
"We... did it... Bill."
And so we had. You-Know-Who had finally vanished.
I crossed the rift on my broom, catching Harry just in time before he hit the ground in exhaustion. All around us, the battle against the Death Eaters was still being fought, though it could only be a matter of time now their leader was defeated.
The dragons had long stopped clawing at each other, both large forms were lying on the ground still and dead.
Mitchell was coming back to consciousness, I noticed with relief, and though a scarlet line of blood was dropping from a head wound he had received, it was minor. I quickly treated the wound with magic, then checked whether he had suffered a concussion - he had been lucky.
Harry, whom I had gently laid down on the ground, was opening his eyes now, emerald lakes filled with tears.
"Bill... I though you were dead." I suddenly found myself with a sobbing Harry embracing me, and only then noticed I was crying myself.
"I... thought you were... dead... too." It felt hard to breathe against the memory of seeing Harry lie there, unmoving, with Voldemort hovering above him.
The next thing I knew, I found myself in a breathtaking kiss with Harry, tasting salty tears on his lips and mine, knowing I could never feel to be parted from him again.
By Reija Linn
Bill
Again that dream of drowning... my own face at the surface... no, not mine... Ron's...
When I woke from the darkness that had surrounded me, I was looking directly into a pair of shadowed eyes - shadowed from the hood the Death Eater was still wearing over his pointed face.
"Bill Weasley," he whispered. "We went to school together... do you remember me? No? Well, years can do that to a person... but perhaps you remember me from later? Remember the sound of my voice?"
'... Inferno... the sound of a curse, thundering through the night, then my father snatching me and Charlie, pulling us with him, out of the house...'
"You..."
'... flames and smoke, the sound of my mother screaming... Tina! Tina!...'
"You killed Tina... you killed my sister, and almost destroyed our house!"
"Yes."
"Who...?!"
The man took off his hood, slowly. I had to blink against the darkness of the room we were in, then I recognised him. He had grown older, fatter, his eyes darker, and wrinkles were deep in his face... but it was the same person, his picture had, after all, been in all the newspapers.
I wanted to speak a curse at once, he had taken my wand, of course, but I could master a couple of spells without, but by the time this thought had come up, he already reached out, his cold hand touching my mouth. "Silencium." Something unreal about his hand, as it gleamed in the almost darkness...
"No, Bill Weasley, you will listen to me. I still have something to say... an old wrong... no, I won't kill you... I need you to deliver this message to my old friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, should they survive this battle."
With this, the man handed me a small parchment role, sealed with wax, in which a small rat's paw was embedded.
"It is too late for me to go back, even if my Lord is defeated... I have done too much... but no matter how this battle ends, I have no will to live left in me. Should the Dark Lord prevail, hm, in a world ruled by him... I now know there is no victory for me there. He has used me, and now that I have no more left to give, he will kill me. And the Light will never accept me again... I can only pray that with my death, James and Lily will forgive me...
"Help James' son, as I should have helped the father. Don't worry about killing me... this, I will do on my own. Voldemort and Harry are outside - we are in the broomshed, in case you haven't noticed. Here..." he handed me something long and slim, "your wand."
And with this, Peter Pettigrew vanished, never to be seen again.
I quickly undid the silence spell he had put on me, and lit my wand with the 'Lumos' spell, but no trace of the man was left, though I thought I heard a rusting noise behind one of the brooms.
But there was no time left for this. I had to help Harry! As soon as I found the door, I left the shed, to be greeted with the terrible sight of Harry, crumpled on the ground, with the dark form of Voldemort hovering above him.
"Harry...!"
Voldemort turned in surprise, he obviously hadn't been counting on me. Harry lay unmoving. Was he...?
"So you have decided to join us, Mr. Weasley?" His tone was mocking, but I knew I had startled him. He obviously hadn't calculated that this servant could betray him.
"Expelliarmus!"
The Dark Wizard's wand flew far away at this spell of mine, but I knew he would be able to do many, many curses without it yet.
"For this, you will die," he hissed at me, enraged, slowly stepping towards me, thus missing that the still form of Harry suddenly stirred.
I prepared myself for the final blow, throwing curses at Voldemort, but noticing they ricocheted ineffectively.
"Vir..." Harry, slowly coming to his feet, tried to utter, but Voldemort did not notice. "Vir ingentis spiritus Akasha..."
Voldemort half-turned in surprise at the words before the curse hit him. Dark veils closed around him, as this creature with no human soul cried out in agony, a sound like a crow's scream. For Akasha was the world memory, the memory of all, and the Curse of Akasha was to feel the memory of the whole world upon oneself, feeling the agony of every being one had caused harm.
Harry looked at me, weary and tired, but with a face set and determined. And I understood.
"Avada Kedavra," a curse spoke in unison, green bolts of lightning shooting out of two wands simultaneously. The figure hidden within dark clouds shuddered, once, twice, then let out a last high-pitched scream, that could only be described with the word unearthly.
The ground shuddered at this scream, cracking open directly at the point where Voldemort stood, a large rift opening and widening as far as I could see, as the high-pitched scream died in the endless darkness of the rift.
I looked at Harry, silently, who stood on the other side of the crack in the ground, breathing heavily, sweat on his forehead.
"We... did it... Bill."
And so we had. You-Know-Who had finally vanished.
I crossed the rift on my broom, catching Harry just in time before he hit the ground in exhaustion. All around us, the battle against the Death Eaters was still being fought, though it could only be a matter of time now their leader was defeated.
The dragons had long stopped clawing at each other, both large forms were lying on the ground still and dead.
Mitchell was coming back to consciousness, I noticed with relief, and though a scarlet line of blood was dropping from a head wound he had received, it was minor. I quickly treated the wound with magic, then checked whether he had suffered a concussion - he had been lucky.
Harry, whom I had gently laid down on the ground, was opening his eyes now, emerald lakes filled with tears.
"Bill... I though you were dead." I suddenly found myself with a sobbing Harry embracing me, and only then noticed I was crying myself.
"I... thought you were... dead... too." It felt hard to breathe against the memory of seeing Harry lie there, unmoving, with Voldemort hovering above him.
The next thing I knew, I found myself in a breathtaking kiss with Harry, tasting salty tears on his lips and mine, knowing I could never feel to be parted from him again.