Mundungus
and Wormtail took off their masks and threw them to the floor,
"It's
now or never." Said Mundungus feeling
surprisingly light hearted.
"Enervate!" Said Peter waking Harry up.
Harry
could barely think straight, he had to fight to draw breath, the pain in his
back was reduced to a dull ache, but he wasn't fooled, he knew that his robes
were still being soaked with fresh blood.
He
suddenly felt strong arms lifting him up and blinked to see two sparkling blue
eyes smiling back at him…
"Dumbledore?" He croaked feeling very disorientated.
"Yes! You must help Dumbledore!" Said a strange young man's voice, which was
laced with adrenaline.
"No! He thought you were Dumbledore!" Whispered another…
Harry
recognised that voice!
"Wormtail!" He growled.
"Yes,
it's me, but I want you to let me help you." Said Peter, shying away.
"Why
on earth should I trust you?" Spat Harry trying to ignore the fact that
he still couldn't feel his legs.
"I
owe you my life Harry." Mumbled Peter
frowning
"Come
on! There isn't much time." Urged the other man.
"I
can't move." Said Harry blandly.
"What?" Asked Peter anxiety creeping into his voice
"I
can't move my legs."
~~~*~~~*~~~
"So,
Dumbledore, we meet again. Don't
imagine that I shall spare your life this time. I've already dealt with your precious Potter boy. I don't require
you any longer." Called Voldemort in a
mocking tone.
Dumbledore
remained completely calm, at least it seemed that way to anyone who looked at
him.
"This
is not a game Tom. Many people could
lose their lives in this battle." He
said evenly, looking the dark lord in the eye.
Voldemort
visibly stiffened. He stepped forward
and the Death Eaters encircled behind him,
"And
you will be the first to die professor." Voldemort cried pointing his wand at Dumbledore.
Without
hesitation, Dumbledore made his way down the steps and stood opposite the man
he'd once known as Thomas Riddle.
Without
a word the two mages faced each other and the Earth seemed to tremble in
anticipation.
"A
duel to the death." Said Voldemort, his
mouth twitching as he spoke.
"If
that is the way it must be, then so be it." Replied Dumbledore bowing gracefully to his opponent.
As
if slightly shocked by this, Voldemort hastily bowed and raised his wand.
Almost
as though signalling the duel to commence, a clap of thunder rumbled the air as
the lightening streaked across the tumultuous sky of black.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry
watched as the two death eaters hastily whispered to each other obviously taken
aback by his revelation.
He
sighed still lying on the floor, there must be something I can do…
Then,
like a sudden inspiration he latched onto an idea.
"If
you two really do want to help me, then take me outside."
Their
conversation halted as the two eyed him cautiously.
"Why?" Asked the taller, whom Harry gathered was
Mundungus Fletcher.
"That's
all I need you to do." Harry replied
suddenly feeling a rush of hope that helped to increase the adrenaline that he
knew he would need to escape.
The
two men looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
"But
how will you get to Hogwarts?" Asked
Peter.
"I'm
going to fly there." Said Harry
matter-of-factly,
"Fly? But you have no broom." Said Mundungus looking confused as he pulled
Harry up from the floor.
"He
is going to transform back into his dragon form." Said Peter, "Aren't you Harry?"
Harry
almost smiled at his Dad's old friend but he wasn't ready to forget what
Wormtail had done, even if for the moment they had to work together.
The
two men managed to carry him to a window that was large enough for him to go
through, but seeing as there weren't many windows in Azkaban this had taken
them a fair while.
Harry
looked at the two traitors and he realised the sacrifice they were making to
help him.
"I
could probably carry you down, you could run, someone might help you." He said clinging to the window ledge.
"No
Harry, you have a battle to fight, besides, we deserve whatever punishment we
get." Said Mundungus Fletcher sitting
heavily in the corridor his hands on his head.
"Good
Luck Harry, I know you don't forgive me for what I've done, I didn't expect you
to. I just wanted to say… I know James
would have been proud."
Peter
broke down into tears and Harry felt himself feeling sorry for the pathetic man
who looked so broken.
"You're
not a bad person Peter, you were weak, but today you have shown strength, I
can't forgive you for what you did to my parents, but I'm sure that they'd have
forgive you, don't be weak any more. Turn yourself in, it's the only thing that I ask of you, set my
godfather free." Implored Harry quietly
before he turned to the window and pulled himself up onto the ledge. He transformed into his dragon form, and
ignoring the continuing pain in his back he stretched his wings and for the
first time in his life, he used his wings to fly.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Severus
Snape could hardly believe what he was seeing, Dumbledore and Voldemort,
duelling. It was breathtaking but
sickening to watch, the observers on both sides, Hogwarts and Death Eaters were
momentarily united in awe of the two powerful wizards, the tension was thick in
the air and Severus was struggling to remember to breathe. So much depended on the outcome of this
duel…
Voldemort
send wave after wave of the worst imaginable curses, but Dumbledore blocked
every one and sent equally powerful replies if not such terrible curses which
forced Voldemort onto the defensive time after time, but neither could break
through the other's defences.
The
storm continued to build and the tempest in the sky would ordinarily have been
thought spellbinding, but all anyone could see were the two darting figures and
the jets of light, and all anyone heard were the cries of the duellers as spell
after spell was cast and then cast aside.
Voldemort
of course used Avada Kedavra at his liberty, but each time it was met in the
air and deflected or dodged by the surprisingly agile old mage. But as Snape watched he realised that
Dumbledore was tiring, much more so than the dark lord, the headmaster would
not be able to hold out for much longer…
But
what was he waiting for? Snape
shuddered. What on earth could save
them? The only thought that replied was
Harry Potter… But The Boy Who Lived was nowhere to be seen.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Harry
realised soon after he'd left that he'd made a mistake, I'm never going to make
it!
The
pain in his back was hard to bear. The
wound was pulling with every beat of his wings. His hind legs were trailing through the air, useless. His energy was draining with every minute of
flight and he suddenly knew that he didn't even know where he was going.
Something
was drawing him eastward, and he knew he was getting nearer to Hogwarts,
getting nearer to home.
Harry
thought suddenly of his friends, and the professors, of the Hogwarts
grounds. Everything that he'd missed so
much whilst he'd been away. He was
free!
Then,
it came into view, the old castle, the forbidden forest stretched out in front
of it and the lake rippling softly as the strong winds churned the surface.
Harry
got over the initial euphoria of seeing the old castle again and the fear set
in… Something was utterly completely wrong… He could feel it in the air.
~~~*~~~*~~~
McGonagall
had never been as in awe of Dumbledore as she was in that moment. She had never seen a dueller with such
presence of mind, grace and power combined, for the first time she felt like she
really understood Dumbledore's power.
But
she too noticed the weariness begin to creep in, and let out a cry when he
narrowly dodged the latest jet of deadly green.
Beside
her she noticed Severus looking sickly grey with an expression of horror on his
face, she recognised it as the same look he'd been wearing the night that
Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts, the night they thought that Dumbledore had
been killed… He's already given up
hope! She thought.
Instinctively
she grabbed his arm,
"Severus! Everything will be fine… You'll see." She whispered, only hoping to draw his eyes
away from where they were riveted.
"Perhaps
you are right Minerva!" Exclaimed Snape
suddenly his eyes shooting upwards.
"Look!" He cried pointing upwards to the stormy sky.
"It's
a dragon!" Gasped Minerva squeezing
Snape's arm.
"It's
Harry!" Replied Snape staring wide-eyed
into the distance.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N
Okay, so it's still kind of a cliffhanger… But hey,
it's not too bad!
Sorry it took so long, but I really don't like writing
duels/battles as much as I like reading them or imagining them, I don't know
why…
Hope it's not disappointing, and yes I know, it was
way too short, but what you see is all I got!
I have one last plea, erm, I've got this original
story going, well, actually only the prologue and 1st chapter,
shrugs shoulders but I'd really like
some opinions on it, and I swear it's really short right now so it wouldn't
take long to r&r… Oh no! That was way
too shameless! I apologise! It's called ' The Daughter of Nacré '… I
leave it to your own discretion…
http://www.fanfiction.net/index.fic?action=story-read&storyid=326505
(Is putting a link too desperate??? Ah well, I am desperate!
*g*)
Love you all
Jona
xxx