Chapter 24: The Confrontation
"Finite Incantem," Voldemort commanded with a swish of his wand. Harry sprawled out across
the ground as his arms and legs broke free of the body bind curse. Breathing heavily, he jumped to his
feet, his legs shaking slightly. Pulling his wand out of his robes, he faced Voldemort and pointed it
straight at him. His scar was throbbing but Harry ignored it; there was nothing he could do about it now.
The Dark Lord laughed, the cold mirthless sound ringing throughout the room.

"My, my, Mr. Potter, you seem to want to get straight to the point tonight. And so we shall." He smiled,
if you could call it that; his thin lips curved upward and his eyes glinted dangerously. "We shall duel
again. How many times is this now, I have forgotten... But this time will be different."

"Five," Harry said defiantly. "Five times we've dueled. And this will be the fifth time I escape." The 
Dark Lord's laughter filled the room again.

"Quite sure of ourselves, aren't we, Potter?" Voldemort hissed, his eyes narrowing. "We shall solve that.
Crucio!" He cried. Harry felt pain beyond pain, the worst sensation he had ever felt in his life.
He heard screams louder than he imagined was possible. Suddenly it all stopped. He was on the cold ground
panting, sweat trickling down his forehead. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and stood again.

"Potter, I am getting quite tired of this pride of yours. You should learn to be more humble in front of
the Dark Lord." He pointed his wand at Harry again. "Crucio!" Harry fell as he felt the pain stabbing
him like a thousand knives, and he once again heard the screaming, but this time recognized it as his own. 
As the spell stopped, he gasped for breath and struggled to stand again. He managed to, feeling himself
swaying a bit. The Dark Lord looked at him, surprised.

"Well, I am amazed by your stamina... Your courage in the face of danger," he mocked. He pulled up the
sleeve of his robe and touched a spot on his arm; Harry knew the Dark Mark was located there. Voldemort
seemed to know what he was thinking and answered his unspoken question.

"Of course I can't kill you without an audience. That wouldn't be any fun, would it, Potter?" he asked,
grinning again. "Ah, I have waited for this moment for so long! You are the final obstacle in my path
to greatness and you will be removed - permanently." Harry glanced at Adele. He had forgotten she was
with him until that moment when he realized the prophesy could not be fulfilled until she died. She 
looked up at him with fear in her eyes and Harry felt a pang of guilt. Adele had to die for him.
Her prophesy rang in his ears: The death of the one who Sees beyond must occur... She will fall protecting
the one who will vanquish the Dark Lord....
The sound of sudden popping noises all around them startled Harry. Death Eaters began to appear, just like
they had after Cedric's death; but there were more, many more. Harry couldn't believe his eyes. We'll
never escape, he thought to himself desperately. Then he spied the only possible chance for survival:
the small blue stone they had used as a portkey lay thrown aside on the ground. I can't let him see,
he thought desperately. The Dark Lord smirked. 

"Isn't this a nice party, Potter? Let's play a little game... I'm sure you're familiar with this one by now...
Crucio!" Harry fell once again to the ground, twitching in pain. He gasped as it finally stopped and 
heard the Death Eaters around him laughing loudly. Harry quickly realized the stone was only a few inches
away. He put his hand on top of it as he stood up and moved back toward Adele. It was no longer warm and
glowing; instead, it was cold to the touch. Damn it, he thought. It's not going to work... I'll
have to do the spell again... He wished Hermione was here; this was a very advanced spell and he was
not sure he would be able to do it. He continued walking backwards and felt himself trip over 
Adele's feet; she was still lying on the ground in a state of shock. Her breath had become ragged and Harry 
knew they had to get back quickly or they would both be dead. Please work, please work.... he pleaded 
silently. If this doesn't work, he thought to himself, I'll never see Rachel again... With
renewed strength, he took a deep breath. Behind his back, he pointed his wand at the stone. 

"Portus," he mumbled quietly, and the world around him swirled away.

**************************

Professor McGonagall had managed to bring Ron and Hermione back to their common room; they were both extremely
upset. Professor Dumbledore had instructed her to make them comfortable and have them stay inside of the 
room. After a few hours of searching, the staff met back in Dumbledore's office. Professor Snape pulled
Professor Dumbledore aside.

"Albus, I have searched the dungeons and found no sign of Mr. Potter. But the Dark Lord is calling me; I 
must go." Dumbledore nodded.

"Then go, Severus. You will most likely find out more there about Harry's whereabouts than we will here."
Professor Snape turned and walked out the door, his cloak billowing. Dumbledore faced the crowd of teachers.
"Well? Any signs?" he asked.

"I searched the fourth and fifth floors and found nothing," Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"I didn't find anything on the first or second floors," Professor Sprout said sadly.

"Nothin' round the castle nor the forest," Hagrid said, downcast.

"I checked all the dormitories - no sign of him," Professor Lupin said breathlessly. He looked up at 
Dumbledore. "Now what do we do?" he asked. Dumbledore sighed.

"Now... we wait."

*************************

Hermione and Ron sat in an oversized armchair in the common room, the thick silence between them unbroken
for nearly an hour. Professor McGonagall had left to search the school with the rest of the teachers a
while before, and Hermione and Ron felt very alone. Hermione finally shattered the silence.

"Ron," she whispered. "It's getting late, maybe we should go to bed..." He glared at her. "Or maybe not,"
she mumbled, staring back at the dying embers in the fireplace. She checked her watch; it was nearly 
3 AM. They had not discovered Harry was missing until nearly midnight, and the time seemed to have just
flown by. Now, however, it had slowed considerably, and each minute that passed seemed like an hour.

A loud crashing noise directly behind them caused Hermione to scream. Turning quickly in her chair, her
eyes widened at the sight. Harry and Adele Fleur had appeared in the middle of the common room, their 
clothing dirty and torn and both of them out of breath.

"HARRY!" she shrieked. "Harry, are you okay? Oh, Harry!" He stumbled out from beneath Adele.

"I'm fine, not sure about Adele... someone go get Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore..." Ron took off running.
Hermione stayed, her hands covering her mouth. Ron was back within five minutes. A few teachers helped
to conjure Adele onto a stretcher and take her up to the hospital wing. Dumbledore turned to Harry.

"Please follow me," he said. Harry followed Dumbledore up to his office to begin the retelling of the
night's events.

**********************

Rachel Wheaton paced her room nervously, tears running down her face and splashing onto her white
nightgown. Oh Merlin, please let him be alive, she thought to herself. All of the other girls in
her dormitory had fallen asleep long before, but then again, none of them was really aware of what was 
going on. When she had tried to find out by questioning Professor Lupin, who had come into their room 
looking for Harry, she was told that he was in danger and that she would be told as soon as they had 
information. He's always in trouble, why did I have to choose him? she asked herself, really not
meaning it. She knew that if he was safe, that was all that mattered.

*********************

"...and so I turned the rock into a portkey and touched Adele and we somehow ended up in the Gryffindor
common room," Harry finished. Dumbledore looked at him a bit sternly.

"You're lucky to be alive, Harry. You had the entire school worried sick about you. Do you know what 
started this all?" he asked. 

"Er... the prophesy?" he guessed, a little confused. Dumbledore shook his head.

"No. The fact that you did your prefect round alone. You and Mr. Malfoy's dislike for one another should 
not put others or yourselves in danger, as it did tonight. Had Draco been there, he could have gone for 
help;
 that is why prefects do their rounds in pairs." Harry hung his head guiltily.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. 

"Well, everything turned out okay in the end. Just be cautious for next time." Harry nodded and started to
leave the room. "And also, Mr. Potter - for violating the prefect rules, you will serve a detention next 
week with Professor McGonagall, as will Mr. Malfoy." Harry nodded; he was a little angry about this but
too exhausted to complain. He turned to leave the room again.

"Oh, and Harry - I do believe there is a young woman in the Hufflepuff common room waiting to see you," he
added, a twinkle in his eye. "I know it's past curfew but I'm sure it won't hurt, just this once..."

Harry smiled a bit. "Thank you Professor Dumbledore," he said, leaving. He walked through the empty hallways 
until he reached the Hufflepuff common room entrance. "Swedish Short-Snout," he said; he remembered the 
password from the last time he had walked Rachel to her room. The portrait gave him a disapproving glance 
but swung open nevertheless. He walked in and saw no one. He craned his neck to look up the stairs to the 
girls' rooms.

"Rachel?" he whispered quietly. "Rachel, are you up there?" he asked, a bit louder this time. The door
was flung open with a bang.

"HARRY!" she cried, running down the steps and into his arms. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Harry, what happened?" He sighed.

"It's really kind of a long story, Rach..." 

"Tell me," she demanded.

"Okay, well, I'll tell you the parts I can... See, Voldemort couldn't kill me as a baby but he keeps trying
to in order to fulfull a prophesy." He was pleasantly surprised that she hadn't flinched at all when he 
mentioned Voldemort's name. He launched again into the story. "So pretty much every year, he comes up with
a new scheme to kill me... I think there's going to be more than one this year though, since I'm still 
alive..." He finished explaining the situation, leaving out the parts about his and Adele's prophesy, since
they were both intertwined. Rachel looked up at him when he was done.

"I'm just so glad you're safe," she said, hugging him as she ran her fingers through his messy black hair.
"I've never been that worried in my life..."

"I couldn't just let go and let him win. I had to find a way out, Rach... I knew I had to see you again."
She smiled, brushing a lock of hair out of his face. 

"You're amazing, Harry Potter," she told him, looking deep into his eyes. Their faces were pulled irresistibly
 together and their lips touched. She pulled back and smiled at him again.

"That was nice," he mumbled, blushing.

"Would you like to do it again?" she whispered into his ear.

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Romance AND action... hopefully a little bit for everyone!!!
The story is not over, it's really only about the middle of the school year, so there will most likely be
many more chapters!