Chapter 17 – The Last Marauder


'Sirius!' Harry yelled. 'Sirius!

He had reached the floor, his breath coming in searing gasps. Sirius must be just behind the curtain, he, Harry, would pull him back out…

But as he reached the ground and sprinted towards the dais, Lupin grabbed Harry around the chest, holding him back.

'There's nothing you can do, Harry –'

'Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!'

'-it's too late, Harry.'

'We can still reach him –' Harry struggled hard and viciously, but Lupin would not let go …

'There's nothing you can do, Harry … nothing … he's gone

He felt his body being jerked awake and blinked his eyes as he tried to get used to the light.

'Aww was baby potter having a nightmare?' a mocking woman's voice said.

His arms were tied together with ropes, hanging from the ceiling. He was in a huge empty room, with nothing but a table and an unused fireplace. On the other side of the room were Bellatrix Lestrange and Wormtail. Bella was grinning delightedly at him while Wormtail's expressions remained ambivalent.

'You' he snarled.

'Yes me' she smiled maniacally back at him, 'I've been dying to see you again Potter; I believe I still owe you for last year at the ministry.'

She raised her wand at him and uttered crucio!

The pain was unbearable; his whole body felt like it was on fire. And then it stopped.

'Enough! We must wait until the Dark Lord comes back' Wormtail said to her.

He forced himself to look up again, the pain from the cruciatus curse still lingering in his bones. She had lowered her wand but was still grinning, her eyes dark and empty except for a burning spark of madness.

He felt hatred, more hatred than he had ever felt in his life. In front of him was the woman who had killed his godfather, and the man who betrayed his parents. The anger was coursing through his veins, but there was nothing he could do. His wand was lying on a table, next to the silver sickle and Cho's necklace.

Cho …

His heart stopped beating as he remembered she had come with him. He would never forgive himself if anything had happened to her.

'Aww look, little baby potter is upset about something' she shrieked with laughter. 'Is little bitty potter afraid?'

'I'm not afraid of either of you' he snarled, 'and I'm not afraid of Voldemort either.'

It was a lie, but he was so angry that he had to do something, anything, to fight back.

'Do not utter the Dark Lord's name you filthy half-blood' she said menacingly.

'I told you before, Voldemort's a halfblood too. You did know that didn't you? How does it feel to be taking orders from a non-pure blood?'

'Silence you filthy vermin, you dare to utter his name with your –'

'That will do' a cold high voice said.

Harry's heart missed a beat again; there standing in the doorway was the tall thin man with the pale white face, merciless red eyes with vertical pupils, and a snake-like nose with slits. Lord Voldemort.

He walked in the room past Bella and Wormtail, who were now down on one knee in respect, and surveyed Harry with his cold eyes. His scar was bursting with pain now, and he forced himself to focus on occlumency to make it subside.

'So … you have learnt some new skills since we last met' he laughed coldly, 'you would have made a great deatheater Potter. But fate destined you to be meek, wasting the talents I gave you on helping those muggle-loving fools.'

He paced around the room now, lowering his voice but still staring at Harry.

'So be it. Lord Voldemort has no need for compassionate fools. I will give you a choice Potter; suffer excruciating pain as I break into your mind, or tell me the prophecy now and die quickly.  

'I'll never tell you' he hissed.

Voldemort did not seem angry though, he just continued looking at him with those malevolent red eyes.

'Never is a long time my young friend, as you will soon discover. Your werewolf friend was most uncooperative too, and held out longer than I would have expected, but eventually I broke into his mind.'

Lupin … no …

Harry felt a sharp pain in his chest and he could no longer look Voldemort in the eye.  

'Wormtail, fetch your old friend and bring him in here.'

Without a word Wormtail left quietly through the door, and Voldemort continued his cruel mocking.

'It was Wormtail who suggested we use Lupin to deceive you. He guessed, quite rightly, that you would have an emotional attachment to the last of your father's friends. And so I captured him, and I learned everything I could. After months of waiting; my young deatheater at Hogwarts providing information, and Bella using the polyjuice potion, we finally created the perfect distraction to lure Dumbledore away.'

He cackled loudly again, his laughter ringing through the large room.

'Do you see now Harry? You have some of the power of Lord Voldemort inside you, powers that I myself gave you, and yet you weaken yourself by caring for these fools. And now your compassion will be your downfall. I will know the prophecy one way or the other, and then I will kill you.'

Wormtail came back through the door, levitating a body with his wand in front of him.

Lupin … he was covered in blood, his entire body littered with open cuts and bruises. Wormtail waved the body against the wall with his wand and then resumed his place in the corner of the room.

Lupin's whole body was shaking as he lay on the ground. He had been tortured with the cruciatus curse to the point of injuring himself, his skin covered in deep cuts and red marks. He seemed to be in a trance, unaware of his surroundings and oblivious to everyone. Harry felt as is he was going to be sick, the pain in his heart making his whole body tense.

'I'm afraid he's not quite with us anymore; I had to use very powerful magic that destroyed his mind' Voldemort's cold voice said with mock remorse.

Harry felt tears welling in his eyes … Lupin … tortured because of him … he couldn't bear it. He forced himself to look up again, this time staring at Wormtail.

'I hope you're really proud of yourself Wormtail' he said bitterly, 'You betrayed my parents. You let Sirius go to Azkaban for twelve years, and then your friends killed him. And now you've killed Remus. I hope your new friends were worth killing the old ones over.'

Wormtail said nothing; his eyes remained focused on the floor. Voldemort on the other hand laughed again, a cold heartless laugh that reflected his enjoyment of the situation.

'Wormtail here is as worthless as they come. Your father was a fool to trust him; he is a coward, he has been a coward his whole life, and he will always be a coward. He is loyal only to those who can protect him, and his one redeeming quality is that he chose to serve me. But enough talk, your werewolf friend is useless now, and Lord Voldemort disposes of useless things.' Avada kedavra!

Harry closed his eyes and felt tears flowing down his cheeks. Lupinplease, just let me die … and then the pain hit him again. Like a thousand hot needles being poked into his skin, his very bones felt like they were on fire, his eyes rolling in his head. It went on and on, and then it stopped again, leaving him limply hanging from the ceiling. Unable to put up a defense, his scar exploded with pain, and he saw memories flashing before his eyes. He was in Dumbledore's office; as if he was dreaming. He saw the pensieve, with the shape of Trelawney rising, as Dumbledore touched it with his wand.

'No … you can't see that … NO!' he screamed as he forced Voldemort out of his head.

His scar was exploding with pain again, and Voldemort was looking at him with a cold fury.

'So … you have become quite a powerful occlumens. But it does not matter; it is only a matter of time. Eventually I will break into your mind.

'Master, if I may interrupt. Potter brought along a guest to your reunion party' Bella grinned madly, 'his girlfriend is currently being held by the dementor downstairs.'

Voldemort's nostrils widened with excitement, his lips once again forming a cruel smile.

'Excellent' he whispered, 'fetch her Wormtail; we must invite her to the festivities.'

Not Cho as well … he could not let her be harmed… he struggled against the ropes but they were tied too tightly, it was no use.

'crucio!'

The curse hit him again, blinding all his senses except the overwhelming pain. It seemed to go on forever until finally it stopped.

'Ah your lovely friend is here.'

He forced himself to look up again, and saw a shivering Cho on the ground, leaning against the wall with her hands clasped across her chest.

'Would you like to tell me the prophecy now? Or shall I show your friend the true meaning of pain?'

It was no use anymore. He was going to divulge it eventually, and then he was going to die. He couldn't let anyone harm Cho, he just couldn't. Voldemort was right, he was weak.

'If you let her go, I'll tell you everything' he said, his voice shaking.

Bella laughed insanely, and Voldemort smiled at him.

'Let her go? I suppose she is of no threat to me, therefore I don't care if she lives or dies. Very well, tell me the prophecy and I'll let her live.'

Harry felt like he was going to be sick, and he could no longer look Voldemort in the eyes. He was beaten, death was now an inevitability, and all he wanted now was for Cho to be saved. He felt a lump in his throat as he spoke, his voice sounding cracked and dry.  

'This is the part you didn't know about, the end of the prophecy.

The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives …

The prophecy had been carved in his memory, and he recited it while looking at the ground. When he was done he looked up, and stared at them. Bellatrix looked bewildered while Voldemort was in deep thought.

'Master … is he telling the truth?'

'Yes Bella, he is not lying, and now I begin to understand.'

He looked up at Harry and smiled; an evil smile of triumph and understanding.

'So … that is why I couldn't kill you before. You have some type of power which allows you to escape me. And once I destroy you, I will be unopposed even by that muggle-loving old fool.'

He laughed coldly now, relishing in his victory.

'And that is why Dumbledore didn't seek to kill me, he knew he couldn't. Only you could, and that is why he wanted to protect you above all else.'

'You have what you want, let Cho go and finish me' He said bitterly.

'No, I don't think I will.'

'You … you promised … we had a deal.'

'And you are a fool to have trusted me. I suffered for thirteen years, thirteen years dwelling only as a spirit because of you and your foolish mother. You are going to suffer as I did Harry, you will watch her suffer and die, and then you will die too, in the most painful way possible.'

Voldemort pointed his wand and Cho and then uttered 'crucio!'

'NOoooooo' he screamed, trying to break his bonds. Cho was writhing on the floor and screaming in pain. He … had … to … do … something.

He felt emotion beyond anything he had ever felt before. Anger, bitterness, hatred, fear, guilt … they were overwhelming him. But beyond all he felt desperation. Desperation to help her. He looked up at the ceiling where the rope was tied around his hands, wanting to break the ropes with all his fury.

It was burning. He was so angry that the ropes were now burning, and he felt the fire searing his flesh. But it didn't matter, the pain didn't matter anymore, and he fueled the fire with more of his anger.

'Master ….'

The rope broke, and he landed on the ground. Voldemort was still pointing his wand at the writhing body of Cho.

'Master!' Bella shrieked as she pulled out her wand, 'he is free!'

He looked at the table where his wand lay and held out his hand with all his concentration. It flew off the table into his hand and he pointed it at Voldemort.

'Do nothing' he shrieked, his eyes wide with astonishment.

'I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done.' Harry said, his voice shaking with anger.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed now, and he no longer looked careless or cocky.

'So the next piece of the prophecy passes…. Yes, and now there is only one piece left. We fight, but you are still just a boy. Your newfound power is no match for the heir of Slytherin.'

But Harry wasn't listening anymore, he wanted to cause pain. He wanted to make them pay for what they had done. All the emotions bubbled in his mind, and he yelled incendio.

His whole arm was shaking as a stream of fire shot out of his wand. The force of the spell was such that it shook the whole room and the walls showed cracks. Voldemort eyes opened wide in astonishment, and he conjured a clear shield in mid air that deflected the fire.

'Avada kedavra! He shrieked before Harry could even cast another spell.

He remembered, as if in some other lifetime, the apparition lessons he had taken, and instantly displaced himself next to the table as the killing curse blew a gash into the wall.

'Stupefy!'

The spell made him recoil as it flew at Voldemort, the wind rushing in its wake and the whole room being shaken again. Voldemort disappeared and reappeared a few meters left and then brandished his wand in a swirling motion, conjuring a snake, after which he sent another killing curse at Harry. He threw himself out of the way and yelled at the snake in parseltongue. No, stop! Attack the witch, do it now!

The snake, confused, hesitated a moment and then turned around and headed for a wide eyed Bella. All those long nights he had studied dueling techniques flashed through his mind, all the techniques and spells he had studied from the restricted section. Without delay he pointed his wand at the necklace on the table and transfigured it into a stag. A beautiful white stag, surrounded by a golden glow, charged at Voldemort. The blood in the necklace had given the conjured animal some of his own power, and it charged, unafraid of anything, at Voldemort. Bella meanwhile had destroyed the snake and shrieked for instructions from her master, who sent a killing curse at the stag. The stag vanished into fog and a broken necklace clattered to the ground, having lost all its power. Harry waved his wand again and sent another stunner at Voldemort, but he had recovered too quickly and simultaneously replied with another killing curse.

They both realized what they had done a moment too late, and their spells collided, binding their wands together. The beam that connected and vibrated their wands was no longer red or green, but thin and golden.

'Kill him' Voldemort shrieked, 'kill him you fools'

Harry tried to break the bond but it was too powerful. Bella pointed her wand at him and there was nothing he could do to block it. He saw her wave and prepared to die, when she was suddenly thrown against the wall with a scream. A green beam from Wormtail had hit her and she fell to ground, no longer moving.

'You traitor!' Voldemort screamed at him. There was fear in his eyes now, fear beyond anything Harry had seen in him before. Wormtail stood shaking, his wand pointed at his master, and he looked at Harry with pleading eyes.

'I'm so sorry Harry, for everything. I know you'll never forgive me for being a coward, but I realize now what I must do. I cannot kill him but I will hold him off and buy you some time. You must grab the portkey and escape. Goodbye Harry, I know your parents would have been very proud of you.'

He then pointed his wand at Voldemort and shouted an unknown curse. The impact of the spell broke the connection between them and sent Voldemort flying into a wall. There was blood seeping from a cut on his head, but he instantly stood up and shot a spell at Wormtail, who barely managed to fling himself out of the way.

'Run Harry, Run!'

He ran over to Cho and grabbed her hand, and then summoned Lupin's body over to them. There was a triumphant sound from the other side of the room, and he saw Wormtail's body collapsing lifelessly to the ground. Without hesitation he summoned the portkey to them and the last thing he heard was Voldemort's scream of fury.

They were back in the classroom, back at Hogwarts. They were safe. He let go of Lupin's body and felt a sudden loss of strength. The entire ordeal had exhausted him, the spells having sapped all his energy, and he fell into unconsciousness.