CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Lara stared up at the metal grate, an icy fear gripping her heart as she thought of Harry and Draco fighting Voldemort. She knew they could handle themselves, but she feared the extent of His power.
"I have to get out of here." She muttered, inspecting the grate from her position metres below it. Suddenly, her eye noticed the sides of the hole, made of a soft dirt.
*Maybe if I throw the curse around the edges of the grate, where the dirt is...* She thought to herself, raising her hand and aiming a jet of light on the rim of the grate. The curse hit the soil and immediately blasted away half the soil, leaving a small hole towards one side of the grating.
*He seriously underestimates my intelligence* Lara though happily as she levitated herself towards the hole, using her hands to make the hole slightly bigger before slipping through.
*Now that I'm out, where's Harry and Draco?* She thought, looking around the room as if hoping to find some clues as to their whereabouts. Looking towards the door, she saw the dark night sky outside suddenly illuminate. Walking out onto the front porch, she saw three figures on the field below, only illuminated by the brief flashes of different coloured lights that occasionally surrounded them.
Descending the steps, she began her sprint across the field, trying to determine who each of the figures were and thus who had the upper hand.
When she was metres away from them, she began to differentiate between the figures. Harry and Draco each had their wands out (something which she found quite strange) and were hurling random curses at Voldemort. What she found even stranger was that the curses seemed to keep hitting an invisible barrier, even though Voldemort was not raising his hand to create defense spells.
Running the last few metres, she reached Draco. Voldemort, already preoccupied with the onslaught of curses, stumbled back a few metres at the sight of Lara.
"You're supposed to be in the... in the cage..."
"*Supposed to be* are the key words there." Lara said drily, before turning to Draco.
"What's happening?"
"Voldemort....IMMOMBILARUS... he's got some sort of...EXPELLIARMUS... permanent barrier." Draco said between hexes. "It's stealing from his life source... PETRIFICUS TOTALUS.... obviously, since you said demons don't have normal magic."
"So you're trying to break the barrier with these curses?" Lara asked, jumping aside as Voldemort managed to aim a curse at her.
"Yeah... OBLIVIATE... Will it work?" Draco asked.
"Sounds plausible, but something's wrong here... how can His curses go through the barrier?"
"I don't know, probably an advanced spell... PESKIPIKSI PESTERNOMI!" Draco yelled, dodging another curse. Lara shrugged, pulling out her own wand and commencing to fire curses at Voldemort.
"RIDDIKULUS!" Harry yelled, the jet of red light shooting out of his wand and hitting the shield. The sound of splintering glass filled the air, making it immediately obvious that the barrier had broken.
"Seems like your little barrier didn't work too well did it?" Lara said smugly, stepping forward.
"So you got past my barrier. That is but a small victory. You have yet to defeat me." Voldemort said, crumpling to the ground after the effort of holding up his shield.
"I don't see how that will be hard, especially when considering your shield drained you of most of your energy." Lara said, smiling sweetly. Voldemort's face paled slightly, already a deathly white because of the moons sickly glow. The sky had cleared from the earlier storm, and it was now a deep blue strewn with glittering stars, the sun having set several minutes ago.
"I am still powerful." Voldemort warned, although not very convincingly.
"As long as you believe that." Lara said, stepping forward and placing a well aimed kick at his stomach. Voldemort groaned, curling up in pain.
"You think that hurts do you? Well what about losing someone you love? How much more do you think that will hurt? Oh, but I forgot. You don't love anyone! You're just an empty shell, no heart, no compassion, just a walking slice of evil and power!" Lara yelled, tears streaming down her face as she vented out 15 years of frustration on the man who killed her mother.
"Lara, stop!" Harry yelled. But it was too late, suddenly, Voldemort reached out and took hold of Lara's foot, pulling it out from under her. She landed with a thump in the ground. Draco and Harry stepped forward quickly, intent on pulling her out of Voldemort grasp. But no sooner did they reach out to grab her when she disappeared, along with Voldemort, with a sickening crack.
"Crap." Harry whispered into the night.
*****************
"Let me GO you BASTARD!" Lara yelled, rattling the bars of her cage with all her might. But it was no use.
"Now now, that's no way to speak to the man who has your life in the palm of his hand." Voldemort said through the bars of the cell. Lara narrowed her eyes in anger but did not reply.
She had been in the cell for several hours, although from her view through the tent flap she could see it was still night time. Voldemort has apparated them to a large comfortable tent at the edge of the field housing his army.
Immediately, guards had rushed forward and bound Lara's arms, rendering her wand magic useless. Before she could even think of using energy magic, they had thrown her into a cell in the corner of the tent, where she quickly discovered that it's bars were bewitched with the same spell as the metal grating on the hole back in the ranch.
Now, although she could use her energy magic to untie her bindings, she could not use it to break free of the cage.
Bottom line, she was trapped.
"I must admit though Lara, I did not expect you to escape from my little trap back at the farm. I under estimated you, something which I will make sure doesn't happen again."
"And what about Harry and Draco, and the shield? Did you plan that too?" Lara said visciously.
"No, that also went slightly wrong. I did not know that normal spells would drain my barrier, so for a time there I actually thought I'd lose. Preposterus notion... of course. So when you came towards me, unleashing you anger, I found another way to achieve my ends."
"And what, exactly, did you want out of all this."
"You. Or more specifically, your power."
"You want to suck my energy dry just like you did to that demon."
"That's the general idea."
"Don't I have to be dead?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you do." Voldemort said, smiling wickedly.
"So why aren't I dead yet?"
"Potter and Malfoy." Voldemort said these names with disdain. "I was meant to kill them both, annoying little brats. I under estimated them too. I need to kill them before I kill you."
"Why do you need me alive?"
"As bait of course. They won't come if they know it's a lost cause."
"They won't come at all."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Especially since I sent one of my guards men to lead them here."
"They won't fall for a such a stupid trick." Lara sneered.
"Lara!" A voice called out from the door of the tent. Lara looked over at the door and groaned when she saw Harry standing there.
"I think you under estimated their stupidity Miss Black." Voldemort whispered to her, before rounding on the dark haired boy. "Hello again." He said happily.
"Let her go!" Harry said threateningly.
"Or what? You'll poke me with your wand?" Voldemort sneered.
"Let her go or I will kill you." He said evenly.
"If you want her, come and get her........." Voldemort said softly. The oppresive and dangerous atmosphere was suddenly shattered by the arrival of a Vampire.
"Master, there's trouble in the ranks!" He cried, panting. He had obviously run a long way.
"I'm busy now." Voldemort said through gritted teeth.
"Master, it's the werewolves and banshees, their fighting each other. It's getting out of hand." Voldemort stamped his foot down in impatience.
"Very WELL!" He said, flicking his wrist slightly so that a cell suddenly shot up around Harry. Another quick wrist flick later and it was obvious that the bars had been bewitched with the same spell as Lara's. "I will return to continue this happy reunion shortly." The Dark Lord said before sweeping out of the tent, his dark robes billowing out behind him dramatically.
"Where's Draco?" Lara hissed once he had gone.
"Gone to get help." Harry replied.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm not exactly going to let you die am I?"
"No, you have to kill yourself as well don't you?"
"I am going to get you out of here." Harry said evenly.
"OH YEAH?" Lara yelled. "AND HOW DO YOU PROPOSE TO DO THAT WHEN YOU'RE LOCKED IN A CELL? HUH?"
"Calm down Lara." Harry said warningly, eyeing the doorway frantically for fear that her rantings had caught someone (or something's) attention.
"CALM? CALM? YOU ARE ASKING ME TO BE CALM?"
"Yes. Now relax." He said calmly.
"Alright..." Lara said, taking a deep breath. Suddenly, an idea crossed her mind. "I have an idea." She said softly.
"You do?" Harry asked.
"Yes. You can't break those bars on your own right? ?"
"No."
"Well what if I gave you some of my energy?" Lara offered. Harry raised his eyebrows.
"And then I'd break free, find Voldemort and kill him."
"Yes."
"Why can't you do it?"
"Because the prophecy says you must kill him, so you must kill him." Lara said simply.
"Fine." He said. Lara nodded, taking a deep breath. Slowly, she concentrated on feeding her energy through her body and across the air to Harry's. On the other side of the tent, Harry felt his fingertips tingle as the energy reached them and began to race up his arm into his heart, joining his original store of energy.
"Done?" Lara asked softly.
"Yeah." Harry replied, suddenly feeling different. He felt alive, more alive than he had ever felt in his life. He could feel his blood, surging through his veins, he could feel his heart beating in his chest, and all of it seemed to tingle with an unspoken energy.
"Did it work?" Lara asked. However her question was answered by a sudden explosion, the force which knocked Lara back against the walls of her cage and which would've ripped the tent from it's foundations if it hadn't been kept in place by magic.
Once she had recooperated from the shock, the brown haired girl looked over and saw Harry standing in a pile of bent metal bars (obviously the remains of his cage) and looking very powerful indeed.
He walked toward her cage, leaning down beside her.
"What are you doing? Go find Voldemort!" Lara hissed.
"I'm getting you out first." Harry said calmly.
"NO YOU AREN'T!"
"Yes, I am."
"YOU'LL USE UP ALL YOU'RE ENERGY!" Lara yelled.
"SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? HUH? JUST LEAVE YOU HERE TO DIE?" Harry shouted back.
"AS OPPOSED TO USING ALL YOUR ENERGY TO FREE ME AND THEN DISCOVERING YOU'RE TOO WEAK TO FIGHT VOLDEMORT?"
"I won't be." Harry said determindly.
"HOW THE HECK DO YOU KNOW?" Lara roared.
"Look Lara, no matter what you say I'm still going to get you out of there." Harry said, standing up and raising his hand in preparation for the spell.
"WHY? WHY ARE YOU RISKING THE SALVATION OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO SAVE ME?" Lara cried, desperately trying to convince him out of it.
"BECAUSE....BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" He yelled back, a single tear breaking free and streaming down his face.
Lara stared at Harry in shock, her mind still processing the words her heart had longed to hear. A silence fell about them that was so intense they were convinced even their hearts had stopped beating to accommodate it. Lara opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out.
"Don't, whatever you're going to say, just don't say it." Harry said weakly. "I know you don't love me, but I don't think I'll be able to take it if you say it to my face. Now stand back so I can free you."
"I don't think so Mr. Potter." Voldemort said from the doorway, where he had returned from his interruption.
"You." Harry said, his voice emotionless.
"Yes, me. I'm not going to bother asking how the hell you got out of your cage. It's obvious Miss Black here decided to give you some of her magic. Stupid really, since I'm going to kill you anyways." Harry turned towards Voldemort, preparing to fight.
But the truth was he didn't care anymore. He didn't care if he lived or died, he didn't care if good or evil triumphed. All that mattered to him was the girl sitting metres from him. He could still picture her face, the look of absolute shock when he had finally confessed the secret that had been tearing away at his heart for weeks. And the blank look on her face told him all he needed to know.
She didn't love him back.
He vaguely heard Voldemort cry out, and felt rather than saw a jet of light escape his hand and streak towards him. Lazily, he stepped out of the way, the hex grazing him on the shoulder. But even though blood began to pour from the wound and down his arm, he didn't feel it. He couldn't feel anything at all but the uneven beating of his shattered heart.
"Harry...." Lara whispered softly, finally finding her voice. Her mind still failed to accept what she had heard, to possibly consider what he had said was true. It couldn't be, Harry Potter simply could not love Larrissa Black.
But he had said it.
"Harry...." Lara said again.
"What." He said hoarsly, lazily dodging another curse and getting another graze on his thigh.
"You've got to fight." She said desperately. Voldemort stopped throwing his hexes, noticing Harry's slow and deliberate movements. He sensed something was wrong, something had changed during his brief absence from the tent.
"Why? What am I fighting for?" Harry said hoarsly. Gone from his eyes was the spark of determination, that ray of hope. He was now an empty shell, his eyes dark and lifeless.
"You're fighting for goodness, kindness, compassion. But above all you're fighting for love." Lara whispered, her voice shaking.
Harry was trembling by now, the effort to merely stay standing taking it's toll on him. Voldemort had lowered his hands by this stage, relaxing his guard and instead watching the scene before him unfold, trying to understand what had happened.
"Love?" Harry's voice croaked, chocking on the word. "Love? What has love ever done for me? I loved my parents and they were taken from me. I loved my friends and then they found each other! And then...dammit, I loved you." Harry's voice was thick with emotion now, and even the greatest fool alive could now determine what had caused the grief evident in Harry's eyes.
But Voldemort, in all his wisdom, could not see it. Voldemort, who understood suffering and death, did not understand compassion and kindness and love. He could not understand how one emotion could cause such grief and such happiness at the same time.
"Isn't that love worth fighting for?" Lara whispered into the silence that had settled over them.
"WHY DAMN IT? WHY FIGHT FOR A LOVE THAT CAN NEVER BE?" Harry yelled.
"Why can it never be?" Lara asked, remaining calm.
"BECAUSE YOU DON"T LOVE ME BACK!" Harry yelled, and even saying those words brought a whole new wave of pain over his broken heart.
"Says who?" Lara said softly. Harry's heavy breathing suddenly stopped. He turned toward Lara, his whole body shaking. He was acutely aware of everything around him, of every breath of wind coming through the window, of every drop of blood rolling off his shoulder and falling to the floor.
"W....what?" He said, so softly she barely heard it.
"I...I love you too Harry Potter."
Lara stared up at the metal grate, an icy fear gripping her heart as she thought of Harry and Draco fighting Voldemort. She knew they could handle themselves, but she feared the extent of His power.
"I have to get out of here." She muttered, inspecting the grate from her position metres below it. Suddenly, her eye noticed the sides of the hole, made of a soft dirt.
*Maybe if I throw the curse around the edges of the grate, where the dirt is...* She thought to herself, raising her hand and aiming a jet of light on the rim of the grate. The curse hit the soil and immediately blasted away half the soil, leaving a small hole towards one side of the grating.
*He seriously underestimates my intelligence* Lara though happily as she levitated herself towards the hole, using her hands to make the hole slightly bigger before slipping through.
*Now that I'm out, where's Harry and Draco?* She thought, looking around the room as if hoping to find some clues as to their whereabouts. Looking towards the door, she saw the dark night sky outside suddenly illuminate. Walking out onto the front porch, she saw three figures on the field below, only illuminated by the brief flashes of different coloured lights that occasionally surrounded them.
Descending the steps, she began her sprint across the field, trying to determine who each of the figures were and thus who had the upper hand.
When she was metres away from them, she began to differentiate between the figures. Harry and Draco each had their wands out (something which she found quite strange) and were hurling random curses at Voldemort. What she found even stranger was that the curses seemed to keep hitting an invisible barrier, even though Voldemort was not raising his hand to create defense spells.
Running the last few metres, she reached Draco. Voldemort, already preoccupied with the onslaught of curses, stumbled back a few metres at the sight of Lara.
"You're supposed to be in the... in the cage..."
"*Supposed to be* are the key words there." Lara said drily, before turning to Draco.
"What's happening?"
"Voldemort....IMMOMBILARUS... he's got some sort of...EXPELLIARMUS... permanent barrier." Draco said between hexes. "It's stealing from his life source... PETRIFICUS TOTALUS.... obviously, since you said demons don't have normal magic."
"So you're trying to break the barrier with these curses?" Lara asked, jumping aside as Voldemort managed to aim a curse at her.
"Yeah... OBLIVIATE... Will it work?" Draco asked.
"Sounds plausible, but something's wrong here... how can His curses go through the barrier?"
"I don't know, probably an advanced spell... PESKIPIKSI PESTERNOMI!" Draco yelled, dodging another curse. Lara shrugged, pulling out her own wand and commencing to fire curses at Voldemort.
"RIDDIKULUS!" Harry yelled, the jet of red light shooting out of his wand and hitting the shield. The sound of splintering glass filled the air, making it immediately obvious that the barrier had broken.
"Seems like your little barrier didn't work too well did it?" Lara said smugly, stepping forward.
"So you got past my barrier. That is but a small victory. You have yet to defeat me." Voldemort said, crumpling to the ground after the effort of holding up his shield.
"I don't see how that will be hard, especially when considering your shield drained you of most of your energy." Lara said, smiling sweetly. Voldemort's face paled slightly, already a deathly white because of the moons sickly glow. The sky had cleared from the earlier storm, and it was now a deep blue strewn with glittering stars, the sun having set several minutes ago.
"I am still powerful." Voldemort warned, although not very convincingly.
"As long as you believe that." Lara said, stepping forward and placing a well aimed kick at his stomach. Voldemort groaned, curling up in pain.
"You think that hurts do you? Well what about losing someone you love? How much more do you think that will hurt? Oh, but I forgot. You don't love anyone! You're just an empty shell, no heart, no compassion, just a walking slice of evil and power!" Lara yelled, tears streaming down her face as she vented out 15 years of frustration on the man who killed her mother.
"Lara, stop!" Harry yelled. But it was too late, suddenly, Voldemort reached out and took hold of Lara's foot, pulling it out from under her. She landed with a thump in the ground. Draco and Harry stepped forward quickly, intent on pulling her out of Voldemort grasp. But no sooner did they reach out to grab her when she disappeared, along with Voldemort, with a sickening crack.
"Crap." Harry whispered into the night.
*****************
"Let me GO you BASTARD!" Lara yelled, rattling the bars of her cage with all her might. But it was no use.
"Now now, that's no way to speak to the man who has your life in the palm of his hand." Voldemort said through the bars of the cell. Lara narrowed her eyes in anger but did not reply.
She had been in the cell for several hours, although from her view through the tent flap she could see it was still night time. Voldemort has apparated them to a large comfortable tent at the edge of the field housing his army.
Immediately, guards had rushed forward and bound Lara's arms, rendering her wand magic useless. Before she could even think of using energy magic, they had thrown her into a cell in the corner of the tent, where she quickly discovered that it's bars were bewitched with the same spell as the metal grating on the hole back in the ranch.
Now, although she could use her energy magic to untie her bindings, she could not use it to break free of the cage.
Bottom line, she was trapped.
"I must admit though Lara, I did not expect you to escape from my little trap back at the farm. I under estimated you, something which I will make sure doesn't happen again."
"And what about Harry and Draco, and the shield? Did you plan that too?" Lara said visciously.
"No, that also went slightly wrong. I did not know that normal spells would drain my barrier, so for a time there I actually thought I'd lose. Preposterus notion... of course. So when you came towards me, unleashing you anger, I found another way to achieve my ends."
"And what, exactly, did you want out of all this."
"You. Or more specifically, your power."
"You want to suck my energy dry just like you did to that demon."
"That's the general idea."
"Don't I have to be dead?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, you do." Voldemort said, smiling wickedly.
"So why aren't I dead yet?"
"Potter and Malfoy." Voldemort said these names with disdain. "I was meant to kill them both, annoying little brats. I under estimated them too. I need to kill them before I kill you."
"Why do you need me alive?"
"As bait of course. They won't come if they know it's a lost cause."
"They won't come at all."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Especially since I sent one of my guards men to lead them here."
"They won't fall for a such a stupid trick." Lara sneered.
"Lara!" A voice called out from the door of the tent. Lara looked over at the door and groaned when she saw Harry standing there.
"I think you under estimated their stupidity Miss Black." Voldemort whispered to her, before rounding on the dark haired boy. "Hello again." He said happily.
"Let her go!" Harry said threateningly.
"Or what? You'll poke me with your wand?" Voldemort sneered.
"Let her go or I will kill you." He said evenly.
"If you want her, come and get her........." Voldemort said softly. The oppresive and dangerous atmosphere was suddenly shattered by the arrival of a Vampire.
"Master, there's trouble in the ranks!" He cried, panting. He had obviously run a long way.
"I'm busy now." Voldemort said through gritted teeth.
"Master, it's the werewolves and banshees, their fighting each other. It's getting out of hand." Voldemort stamped his foot down in impatience.
"Very WELL!" He said, flicking his wrist slightly so that a cell suddenly shot up around Harry. Another quick wrist flick later and it was obvious that the bars had been bewitched with the same spell as Lara's. "I will return to continue this happy reunion shortly." The Dark Lord said before sweeping out of the tent, his dark robes billowing out behind him dramatically.
"Where's Draco?" Lara hissed once he had gone.
"Gone to get help." Harry replied.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm not exactly going to let you die am I?"
"No, you have to kill yourself as well don't you?"
"I am going to get you out of here." Harry said evenly.
"OH YEAH?" Lara yelled. "AND HOW DO YOU PROPOSE TO DO THAT WHEN YOU'RE LOCKED IN A CELL? HUH?"
"Calm down Lara." Harry said warningly, eyeing the doorway frantically for fear that her rantings had caught someone (or something's) attention.
"CALM? CALM? YOU ARE ASKING ME TO BE CALM?"
"Yes. Now relax." He said calmly.
"Alright..." Lara said, taking a deep breath. Suddenly, an idea crossed her mind. "I have an idea." She said softly.
"You do?" Harry asked.
"Yes. You can't break those bars on your own right? ?"
"No."
"Well what if I gave you some of my energy?" Lara offered. Harry raised his eyebrows.
"And then I'd break free, find Voldemort and kill him."
"Yes."
"Why can't you do it?"
"Because the prophecy says you must kill him, so you must kill him." Lara said simply.
"Fine." He said. Lara nodded, taking a deep breath. Slowly, she concentrated on feeding her energy through her body and across the air to Harry's. On the other side of the tent, Harry felt his fingertips tingle as the energy reached them and began to race up his arm into his heart, joining his original store of energy.
"Done?" Lara asked softly.
"Yeah." Harry replied, suddenly feeling different. He felt alive, more alive than he had ever felt in his life. He could feel his blood, surging through his veins, he could feel his heart beating in his chest, and all of it seemed to tingle with an unspoken energy.
"Did it work?" Lara asked. However her question was answered by a sudden explosion, the force which knocked Lara back against the walls of her cage and which would've ripped the tent from it's foundations if it hadn't been kept in place by magic.
Once she had recooperated from the shock, the brown haired girl looked over and saw Harry standing in a pile of bent metal bars (obviously the remains of his cage) and looking very powerful indeed.
He walked toward her cage, leaning down beside her.
"What are you doing? Go find Voldemort!" Lara hissed.
"I'm getting you out first." Harry said calmly.
"NO YOU AREN'T!"
"Yes, I am."
"YOU'LL USE UP ALL YOU'RE ENERGY!" Lara yelled.
"SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? HUH? JUST LEAVE YOU HERE TO DIE?" Harry shouted back.
"AS OPPOSED TO USING ALL YOUR ENERGY TO FREE ME AND THEN DISCOVERING YOU'RE TOO WEAK TO FIGHT VOLDEMORT?"
"I won't be." Harry said determindly.
"HOW THE HECK DO YOU KNOW?" Lara roared.
"Look Lara, no matter what you say I'm still going to get you out of there." Harry said, standing up and raising his hand in preparation for the spell.
"WHY? WHY ARE YOU RISKING THE SALVATION OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO SAVE ME?" Lara cried, desperately trying to convince him out of it.
"BECAUSE....BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" He yelled back, a single tear breaking free and streaming down his face.
Lara stared at Harry in shock, her mind still processing the words her heart had longed to hear. A silence fell about them that was so intense they were convinced even their hearts had stopped beating to accommodate it. Lara opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out.
"Don't, whatever you're going to say, just don't say it." Harry said weakly. "I know you don't love me, but I don't think I'll be able to take it if you say it to my face. Now stand back so I can free you."
"I don't think so Mr. Potter." Voldemort said from the doorway, where he had returned from his interruption.
"You." Harry said, his voice emotionless.
"Yes, me. I'm not going to bother asking how the hell you got out of your cage. It's obvious Miss Black here decided to give you some of her magic. Stupid really, since I'm going to kill you anyways." Harry turned towards Voldemort, preparing to fight.
But the truth was he didn't care anymore. He didn't care if he lived or died, he didn't care if good or evil triumphed. All that mattered to him was the girl sitting metres from him. He could still picture her face, the look of absolute shock when he had finally confessed the secret that had been tearing away at his heart for weeks. And the blank look on her face told him all he needed to know.
She didn't love him back.
He vaguely heard Voldemort cry out, and felt rather than saw a jet of light escape his hand and streak towards him. Lazily, he stepped out of the way, the hex grazing him on the shoulder. But even though blood began to pour from the wound and down his arm, he didn't feel it. He couldn't feel anything at all but the uneven beating of his shattered heart.
"Harry...." Lara whispered softly, finally finding her voice. Her mind still failed to accept what she had heard, to possibly consider what he had said was true. It couldn't be, Harry Potter simply could not love Larrissa Black.
But he had said it.
"Harry...." Lara said again.
"What." He said hoarsly, lazily dodging another curse and getting another graze on his thigh.
"You've got to fight." She said desperately. Voldemort stopped throwing his hexes, noticing Harry's slow and deliberate movements. He sensed something was wrong, something had changed during his brief absence from the tent.
"Why? What am I fighting for?" Harry said hoarsly. Gone from his eyes was the spark of determination, that ray of hope. He was now an empty shell, his eyes dark and lifeless.
"You're fighting for goodness, kindness, compassion. But above all you're fighting for love." Lara whispered, her voice shaking.
Harry was trembling by now, the effort to merely stay standing taking it's toll on him. Voldemort had lowered his hands by this stage, relaxing his guard and instead watching the scene before him unfold, trying to understand what had happened.
"Love?" Harry's voice croaked, chocking on the word. "Love? What has love ever done for me? I loved my parents and they were taken from me. I loved my friends and then they found each other! And then...dammit, I loved you." Harry's voice was thick with emotion now, and even the greatest fool alive could now determine what had caused the grief evident in Harry's eyes.
But Voldemort, in all his wisdom, could not see it. Voldemort, who understood suffering and death, did not understand compassion and kindness and love. He could not understand how one emotion could cause such grief and such happiness at the same time.
"Isn't that love worth fighting for?" Lara whispered into the silence that had settled over them.
"WHY DAMN IT? WHY FIGHT FOR A LOVE THAT CAN NEVER BE?" Harry yelled.
"Why can it never be?" Lara asked, remaining calm.
"BECAUSE YOU DON"T LOVE ME BACK!" Harry yelled, and even saying those words brought a whole new wave of pain over his broken heart.
"Says who?" Lara said softly. Harry's heavy breathing suddenly stopped. He turned toward Lara, his whole body shaking. He was acutely aware of everything around him, of every breath of wind coming through the window, of every drop of blood rolling off his shoulder and falling to the floor.
"W....what?" He said, so softly she barely heard it.
"I...I love you too Harry Potter."