Disclaimer: I do not own HP. I repeat, I do NOT own HP. But, of course, you lot know this, right? If not, whack yourself repeatedly in the head with a blunt object until you do.
Chapter 31 – Another Bye
"Expecto Patronum!"
Creatures of all shapes and sizes leapt into the air at the sounding of that spell.
Harry's silver stag raced towards the dementors, accompanied by the silver panther that was Severus'. Dumbledore's phoenix ripped a large swath through the dark creatures, followed by Flitwick's fox. McGonagall's tiger, Vector's horse, and Sirius' dog all rounded up dementors into a circle, learning Remus' (who had come in with Sirius) giant wolf to pick them off one by one. Ginny joined the fray with what looked like a cloud of Snitch's and Neville surprised everyone by managing to produce an owl. Everyone else who attempted the spell just came up with mist that floated over the rest of the Patronus'.
The Patronus' made small work of the dementors in record time and moved back to stand protectively above their owners before vanishing. Down behind the ranks of his Death Eaters, Voldemort frowned and hissed, "Bring him forward, Luciusss."
"Yes, my lord," said the blonde man, turning and vanishing into a group of trees. When he reappeared a few moments later, it was with a tall figure cloaked in black. Voldemort smirked at this and turned to look up at Harry, lazily locking eyes with the young man.
Harry flinched as his scar flared painfully but stared right back at the Dark Lord.
"Potter! Give yourssself to me now and I ssshall leave Hogwartsss be."
Harry snorted and crossed his arms, scowling. Voldemort arched an eyebrow.
"Come now, Potter! Sssurely you don't want all of your friendsss to die… Asss they sssurely will if thisss comesss to a fight."
"What do you mean 'comes to a fight?'" demanded Harry. "It looks like your damn well ready for a fight!"
"A fight isss a much different thing than a masssssacre, cousssin."
Harry's eyes rolled black at that and he bellowed, "Don't you dare think you're going to play on our relation!"
Voldemort smirked.
"Oh, but I ssshall play on one relation of yoursss. Aubrey!"
"My lord," said the cloaked figure that had come with Lucius.
"Throw back your hood, my ssson. Ssshow Potter your face."
The figure nodded slowly and reached up hands that were as pale as blocks of ice and threw back their hood.
"Oh my God," gasped Ginny, sagging against Harry's side. He pulled her close as she buried her face against his neck, mumbled, "No, please, no…"
The creature that had once been Ronald Weasley just smiled a cruel smile and looked at Voldemort. "Shall I dispel their miniscule protections, lord?"
Voldemort smirked as he said, "Yes, Aubrey. Do so."
"He can't do that, can he?" exclaimed Draco as Ro-Aubrey started towards the edge of the wards. He looked up at his mother then at his uncle. "Can he?"
Narcissa looked at Severus, who shook his head slowly. Dumbledore was the one to reply to the blonde's inquiry.
"He may very well be able to, Mister Malfoy."
"May is not an option," snarled Harry, eyes swirling completely black now. "He can do it."
"How do you know?" asked Sirius. He suddenly noticed Harry's eyes and exclaimed, "And what happened to your eyes!"
"This isn't the time, Sirius," said Severus, earning a scowl from his twin. "Harry, what are you talking about?"
"His aura, Sev. I can see it. He…he used to be pale green. Now – now he's..."
"He's what?" asked Hermione.
Harry shuddered and said, "It's like a black hole. All of the light around him is being sucked in." He turned his face away and closed his eyes, burying his face in Ginny's russet hair.
"That's not good, is it?" asked McGonagall.
Harry shook his head slowly in response and mumbled against Ginny's hair, "No, professor. No, it's not good at all."
Now on the grounds, Aubrey had reached the edge of the wards, which had begun to glow a faint gold at the moment of his approach. He slowly reached out a hand to touch the invisible shield, eyes half-closed in some sort of elation. The wards turned scarlet at his touch then black. A huge crack leapt up from where his hand was and spread out all over the domed area of wards.
Then the wards fell.
* * * *
Flitwick gasped, "This is impossible! He just dispelled the wards that have been on this castle since it was built!"
"It can't be impossible," said Harry, "being as he just did it." He took a deep breath then looked down at Ginny, gently shaking her. "You alright for this?"
The redhead looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks and determined eyes. That was all he needed for an answer and he let her go, taking a step back.
"I think its time for a cavalry charge."
"Pardon?" said Remus to McGonagall's smile.
"Go," said the Transfiguration professor and Harry nodded, looking at the other four.
"Ready?"
"As we'll ever be, Potter," replied Draco, looking paler than usual.
Hermione nodded sharply and Severus said, "Let's go."
"Alright then," said Harry and an instant later, in a flurry of emerald dust motes, a Thestral stood in his place. Pupil-less green eyes glowed to radioactive frequency's as the Death Eater's below began their charge. The Thestral threw back its draconic head and screamed a challenge before it flared its wings and leapt off the edge of the battlement.
The screams of the Forest Thestrals and those of four other Animagus forms answered it.
To the surprise of Death Eater's and Hogwarts residents, the Thestrals that resided in the Forest came charging out onto the grounds. The Thestral tossed his head and screamed again, his wild black mane falling back to reveal a lightning bolt scar that shone white against the black coat. The unicorn screamed its own challenge, echoed by the shriek of the phoenix and roar of the dragon.
"Merlin's beard," gasped Sirius as he watched the black unicorn race across the grounds towards the approaching Death Eater's, Thestrals surrounding it on all sides. The scarred Thestral raced along at the unicorn's side, the phoenix and dragon swooping over their heads.
"We have to help!" cried Ginny, turning and shoving her way back through the older students and professors.
"Virginia!" yelled McGonagall after her and turned to follow.
Dean and Seamus looked at each other then locked eyes with Neville, who was shaking but had a determined look on his face. "Let's go," growled the smaller boy and all three ran after McGonagall.
Sirius watched the confrontation below for a moment longer before – with a soft pop! – he became a huge, Grim-like dog again. He barked once then went after the boys leaving Remus to yell after him.
"Sirius!"
Narcissa frowned after the Animagus then turned her eyes back down to the battle that was unfolding below.
* * * *
On the grounds, the Death Eater's were not debating retreat. Even in the face of Thestrals (whom all of them could see) and a dragon, they weren't retreating. Perhaps it was the fact that Aubrey, the creature that Voldemort had imbued with Lord-knew-what was facing off with the Animagus form of one Harry Potter.
Aubrey smirked at the creature standing in front of him, which snorted steam and glowered with blazing eyes.
"Hello, Potter," he murmured. "Miss me?"
The Thestral snorted again and stomped a hoof. Aubrey smiled a cruel smile then charged with more speed than humanly possible. He drew a gleaming sword from his robes as he charged, a maniacal grin crossing his pale features.
The Thestral screamed a challenge and planted its hooves, flaring its wings and lowering its head to glare at the charging figure under its fringe of dark mane. It snorted steam and waited for Aubrey to get closer…
Up on the battlements, everyone held their breaths.
Ginny threw open the main doors of the castle on this sight and screamed, "HARRY!!"
Blade met blade in a flurry of sparks and Harry, human once more, shoved Aubrey back hard. His scar screamed with pain but he ignored it, focusing on the pale face that used to belong to Ron.
"So, purred Aubrey, "decided to face me as a human rather than a beast?"
"Something you don't have the courage to do," snarled Harry back. He pointed Slytherin's sword at Aubrey's heart and sneered, "You don't have the courage to face me as a human. No… You've got to let Voldemort do whatever the hell he did to you."
Aubrey smiled coldly.
"He made me better. Like he could make you if you let him. Look at me, Harry. No conscience, no worries, no nothing. I can do whatever I want and never have the repercussions of a soul. Or at least a human soul."
Harry bared his teeth and glared as Aubrey continued with a smirk.
"No pain. No more feelings of not belonging. You wouldn't have to feel loved."
"I want to have a conscience," growled Harry. "I want to have worries. I want to feel pain. I want to feel like I don't belong. But most of all…" He drew both arms back, dropping his right foot back into a fighting stance Severus had taught him.
"I WANT TO FEEL LOVE!"
With that he charged and Aubrey grinned insanely, bringing his own blade up in defense.
* * * *
"Harry," murmured Ginny, staring across the grounds at him. She then ran towards the battle, just seconds before McGonagall could pull her back.
"Ginny!"
Dean, Seamus, and Neville charged around their Head of House with wands at ready and dove after Ginny.
"Obsequium!"
"Verto muris!"
"Commoveo!"
Two Death Eater's got caught up in the swath of Dean's spell and fell to their knees, dropping their wands onto the ground. He kicked them away before punching both into unconsciousness. Seamus smirked at the mouse now in the spot of the Death Eater he'd hit and began turned that same spell on others. Neville meanwhile plowed after Ginny, shoving Death Eater's out of the girl's way with his hex.
"Harry!" yelled Ginny, shoving past two Death Eater's and hitting one that moved in front of her with Wingardium Leviosa. The Death Eater shrieked as they were born up into the air only to drop back down on top of another Death Eater who was about to throw a curse at Seamus' back.
"Ginny!" barked Neville, shoving a Death Eater aside to stay on her tail. But a fallen Death Eater grabbed his ankle and jerked hard, throwing him off balance. He hit the ground with an expelled rush of air then rolled over and pointed his wand down at the Death Eater, who had their wand pointed at him as well. Neville gasped and tried to pull away as he saw the face that had been hidden under a now abandoned mask.
"Say goodbye," snarled Lucius Malfoy, jerking the young Gryffindor closer.
Neville saw that half of the elder Malfoy's body had been slagged by fire (hence the reason he was on the ground) and struggled to get away, disgusted by the sight. When the words of the Killing Curse started to gather on the blonde man's lips, he pointed his wand in a quavering hand and yelled the first curse that came to mind.
"Pruefoco!"
Lucius gasped and dropped his wand as both of his hands flew to his throat. Neville scrambled back away from the man, getting his hands stepped on several times. When he finally managed to stand up and look around he found that he had lost sight of Ginny. Cursing, he turned…
And found himself face to face with Voldemort himself.
"Why the young Longbottom," purred the Dark Lord in his serpentine voice. "Perhapsss I should finisssh what was ssstarted with your parentsss."
"NO!" screamed Ginny's voice suddenly and she dove in front of Neville, spreading her arms in front of him and glaring. "Don't you dare, Tom!"
"What did you call me?" hissed Voldemort, eyes narrowed in sudden fury.
"Tom," growled Ginny, glaring defiantly. "It's the name I knew you by! The name I still know you by!"
"Ah," said Voldemort, "the child Luciusss gave my old diary to. A pity that won't sssave you." He drew his wand from his sleeve and purred, "I ssshall greatly enjoy being rid of two young Gryffindor whelpsss."
Neville squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his face against Ginny's shoulder. The redhead held her head up haughtily and glared defiantly at Voldemort as the pointed the rod of yew at her chest.
There was a sudden cry of dismay from the Death Eater's and the black unicorn sailed overhead, landing directly behind Neville and Ginny. Its dinner-plate sized hooves were planted on either side of them as its head dipped down in front of them, ebony horn pointed at Voldemort. The creature shorted and shook out its green and black mane, breathing heavily.
Ginny looked up at the beast in amazement and gasped, "Severus."
"Ah," said Voldemort, taking a slight step back. "Ssseverusss. How good of you to come sssee me."
The unicorn snorted and Voldemort smirked.
"I sssee you now, my boy. Thought you could hide from me forever."
With another snort, the unicorn gently nudged Ginny and Neville away. Voldemort pointed his wand at them again and the unicorn took a step forward, black eyes blazing.
"They won't be going anywhere, Ssseverusss. And neither will you. Except perhapsss to join every measssly little relative."
The unicorn snorted and took another step forward, forcing Ginny and Neville to duck underneath it. As the creature stepped forward again, they began to slowly crawl backwards. When they were out from underneath the dark beast, Neville grabbed Ginny's arm and dragged her into the moiling battle before Voldemort could do anything.
The Dark Lord frowned after them for a moment then shrugged and said, "No matter. I ssshall sssimply kill you inssstead of them, Ssseverusss."
The unicorn snorted and planted all four of its hooves firmly. It ducked its hard and glared at him from underneath a fringe of green/black mane. As though it were saying "Go ahead and try."
Voldemort smirked and took a step back, lifting his wand. Which was all the unicorn needed. It threw back its head and charged the Dark Lord, almost skewering him with its ebony horn.
But Voldemort dodged the horn with a snake-like agility and grasped a handful of the green/black mane. The unicorn screamed as the Dark Lord threw himself across its sloped back, drawing a dagger from the folds of his robes. Immediately the beast began to buck but Voldemort stuck on like a tick.
He leaned forward and hissed into the furry ears, "It doesss not matter how I kill you Ssseverusss, jussst that I do. And I ssshall do it now."
With that the dagger rose high and buried itself below the unicorn's dark shoulder, which was already scarred from numerous hexes and curses. The unicorn screamed again, this time not in challenge but in pain, and reared up on its hind legs, pawing at the air.
Then it toppled over backwards with a deafening scream.
* * * *
The phoenix saw the unicorn fall and shrieked in both anger and terror. It took to the air, unmindful of the Hogwarts staff and older students joining the battle. Only one thing was on its mind and that was the unicorn.
In the air the phoenix could see all of the battle. It could see Seamus and Dean fighting back to back with McGonagall trying to make her way through the Death Eater's to them. It could see Dumbledore and Vector slowly making their ways towards the dragon, who was currently in an odd sort of tug-of-war with several Death Eater's who had managed to loop a rope around its mouth. It could see the big black dog dodging between the Death Eater's and slowly making its way towards the clear area where Harry battled Aubrey.
The phoenix could also see Voldemort pointing his wand down at the unicorn, which was lying on the ground on its side. That would not do.
That would not do at all.
With a scream of outrage, the phoenix furled its wings and dove, becoming a dive bomb of crimson. It opened its wings just before it hit Voldemort, who looked up in the second before the swan-sized bird struck with golden talons. The Dark Lord bellowed in pain and rage as talons and beak tore at his eyes and face. He tried to throw up a hand to protect his eyes or get his wand into a position to curse the bird out of existence but the phoenix would have none of it. It flapped its wings and clawed at the pale hands every time they tried to come up. The yew wand clattered to the ground and Voldemort attempted to dive after it. But the phoenix pressed him back, further and further towards the forest.
Where two Thestrals waited, eyes gleaming brightly. The two creatures screamed cries of challenge and leapt forward as the phoenix moved back, leaving the Dark Lord's face and forearms torn in bloody shreds. One red orb had been ripped from its socket and the other was not in much better condition. So when Voldemort turned at the screams of the Thestral's, he didn't see what hit him until the two beasts drove him into the ground. Bones broke and the Dark Lord bellowed in pain before a large hoof came down on his windpipe, crushing it. Another smashed in his skull as the Thestral's took out their own brand of revenge on the creature that had tried to kill what they saw as one of their own.
He was only mortal after all.
* * * *
Back in the battle between Harry and Aubrey, the dark-haired young man was wavering. A good amount of his energy had been taken out in his Animagus transformation, which had only completed itself a week before the battle and which he was, therefore, not used to. Already his arm ached from the contact of the sword's.
Aubrey saw the weakness and drove forward with an insane grin, pressing the young Slytherin harder.
"Getting tired, Potter?" he purred. "And we've only just started this battle. Don't faint on me now."
Harry glared and his jaw tightened against the harsh words he wanted to expel at the creature that had once been his friend. He pushed back and their swords locked against each other, the metal grating harshly.
"Give it up, Potter," hissed Aubrey, brining his face close to Harry's. "You won't win. I'm stronger than you, faster than you, and smarter than you. I'll kill you before this day is done."
"Don't…be…so…sure," ground out Harry, putting all his weight on his left leg and shoving Aubrey back with his sword. He pivoted sharply on the left leg and hit Aubrey in the jaw with the full force of a roundhouse kick. The impact knocked him off his feet and he rolled away from Harry, who dove at him, sword flashing.
Aubrey rolled up onto his knees and snapped his sword up just in time to block Harry's downward swipe that would have taken off his head.
"Very impressive, Potter," he said, admiring the angle of the katana. "But could you really have done it? After all, I'm still Ron."
"Bullshit!" spat Harry before Aubrey shoved him back. He staggered but regained his balance in time to block Aubrey's blade as it came at him.
"I think not," he purred. "Let's see if my dear sister agrees."
Harry's eyes widened in horror and he looked over to his right to see Ginny shoving her way through the Death Eater's. Her brown eyes locked with his and she cried, "Harry!"
Aubrey smirked at Harry and said, "Isn't she lovely?"
Harry looked from Aubrey to Ginny then back again before he shoved the grinning madman back and yelled, "Ginny, no!"
"Wha…" began Ginny before she was cut off. Slowly, she tilted her head down to look at her stomach, from which the hilt of a dagger protruded. She lifted her head to look at Harry before she toppled to the ground.
"GINNY!"
Harry rushed forward and fell to his knees beside the russet-haired girl, dropping Slytherin's sword as he gently pulled her into his arms. "Gin," he hissed in a hurried tone. "Gin, look at me. GIN!"
"Don't…have to…shout," mumbled Ginny, peering up at him. "Harry…"
"Don't talk," urged Harry. He looked down at the dagger buried in her stomach and his own clenched at the sight of scarlet staining her yellow blouse. "Don't move."
"Harry," murmured Ginny. "It's cold. Why's it cold?"
Harry looked down at her in horror before her pulled her close, burying his face in her hair.
"I don't know. I…"
"Harry…"
"What?"
"I…" Ginny sucked in a breath and Harry saw blood bubble up over her lips. "I love you." She then sagged in his arms and he pulled back to stare down at her in horror.
"Gin?" he breathed. "Gin? Wake up. Please? Please, Ginny, wake up. Look at me. Gin?"
There was no answer. The brown eyes just stared blankly up at him, no life behind them. Harry felt a prickling behind his eyes and he pulled the limp form close, pressing a kiss against her forehead.
"I love you. I love you, Gin. Don't leave me. Please. Please don't leave me. Don't leave me alone."
"Very sweet, Potter," came a voice from behind him. "Now shall we get back to our fight?"
Harry's body stilled at those words and he gently laid Ginny's body down on the ground. Slowly, he took off his jacket and laid it over her, tucking the corners in around her body. Then he picked up Slytherin's sword, put all his weight on his right leg, and with a swirl of black across his emerald eyes, pivoted about and leapt at Aubrey with a look of otherworldly fury on his face.
The Dark wizard was driven back by the sudden fury of the other wizard's attacks. And with a quaver of fear, Aubrey noticed something. A new look in Harry's eyes.
As during the earlier half of their battle, they were flooded completely black with only a bare line of emerald showing about the slitted pupils. But now…now the Heir of Slytherin wasn't holding back anything. He had nothing holding him down.
And every reason to kill Aubrey.
This causing him to stumble in his attack and Harry took the opening that it left. The katana flashed and Aubrey reeled back, a deep slash cut across his stomach. Harry's rage seemed to grow at the sight of blood and he pressed even hard. Aubrey managed to cut him once or twice but they were small and Harry took no notice of them.
It caused even the creature Voldemort had created out of evil to falter, this single-mindedness.
And with that falter, Harry plunged his sword into Aubrey's knee. The blade slid through bone and tendons as though they were butter and Aubrey went down with a shriek of pain, his sword dropping to the ground. Harry jerked the sword out of the knee and pulled it back above his head in what would be a deathblow.
The blade came down with the speed of a guillotine.
But never struck home.
Aubrey opened eyes he had shut to find the blade of the katana at his throat. Harry stood above him, whole body shaking and eyes wide at the prospect of what he'd almost done. The serpentine orbs were green again now and brimming with tears.
"Why?" he murmured. "She was your sister!"
"Key word there being 'was'," said Aubrey, pain lacing his tone. "I hope she wasn't too important to you."
"I LOVED HER!" bellowed Harry, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"Pity," said Aubrey and Harry's anger took over again. He pulled the sword back up and hissed, "Go to hell, you bastard!"
"Not without you!" snarled Aubrey, grabbing the hilt of his sword and thrusting the blade upward in the same instant that Harry's came down.
Obsequium=Submission
Verto muris=Transform mouse
Commoveo=To Move Violently
Pruefoco=SuffocateA/N: The above spells, hexes, and curses are from the Lord and Lady Hex's Guide to Curses. If you wish you use them, feel free. Just don't use the one spell from the Guide that's forbidden use! If you do, I shall have to come after you with sharp pointy objects and with the Lord and Lady right behind me. They're figments of your imagination. So are we. Good point…
A/N2: Oh yeah……ain't that the cliffhanger from Hell? *maniacal laughter*