A/N- This starts further back in the evening, from Harry's point of view.
There's more to him then meets the eye. But will anyone but Ginny ever know
that?
I know what is happening even as McGonagall comes striding into the common room, not subjecting herself to the indignity of going through the portrait hole. Our time has come. The battle we have all been expecting for weeks has finally started. I don't know if I'm relieved or merely glad that the waiting is over. It seems so dull and wearing waiting for the inevitable.
I know this has to happen. My scar has been growing steadily more and more painful over the last few weeks, a sure sign that Voldemort is getting ready for a decisive battle. Two hours ago, Ron held me down while Hermione poured one of her special pain relieving agents down my throat so that I would stop flinching every time someone shouted. Those two are so overprotective. I know that I wouldn't want them to be any other way.
Now I can function properly and think clearly for the first time since this battle began to build. Hermione was right- I am far better off being able to fight then punishing myself with my scar. Hermione is always right it seems. That is, except when she claimed that she had no feelings for Ron. I'm glad that sorted itself out, all though it doesn't really matter now.
I'm hoping that duelling me will satisfy Voldemort- that he won't bring his Death Eaters into the school. At least we don't need to worry about spies. All those with Voldemort leanings, suspected or proven, were asked to leave. Dumbledore hated to do it in the end, but we needed a stronghold. He wasn't wrong in any case. I have to wonder, though, how many were pushed into that decision by their expulsion. Needless to say, there are very few Slytherins left.
I change my attention back to the common room. Ron and Hermione are holding each other close, sitting on a comfy armchair together and calmly accepting what both of them know. McGonagall has gone to fetch everyone from the dorms. As it is one thirty in the morning, most of the lower years are asleep. Ginny, her scarlet hair flying, comes tumbling into the portrait hole, the books she has in her arms go flying. She seizes one, and shoves it at me. I catch Hermione looking worriedly at her from the corner of my eye. I dismiss it as my love begins to speak.
"Harry, look at this! We can defeat him. We can get rid of him for good! But.there is a catch." I can tell from the tone of her voice that she doesn't like what she's telling me. I look at the book that she's holding. Sure enough, there is a spell that will overpower a single great evil completely. However, it requires raw magical power in pure form to power it. Whoever finishes the spell will die, and it takes one male and one female to perform it. I look into those chocolate eyes and am lost for a minute. I shake my head.
I smile at her, a cross between a warrior's bloodlust and reassurance that must look very odd.
"We have him, love," I say, and she smiles back.
"It may not come to this. We may get him anyway, " she reassures me. We both know that isn't the case, but it's nice to pretend for a little while.
McGonagall is calling for our attention. We sit back, and listen as she gives the instructions. As expected, sixth year students are escorting the rest of the younger years to the dungeons. Ginny, as Head Girl designate, will lead them. We seventh years will go to join the teachers. As everyone quietly starts moving, a feeling of inevitability overwhelms me. This is it. I give my love one last hug, one last kiss. I want to bury myself in her hair and never let go. But I can't. She gently disentangles herself from me.
"I have to go. Send Hermione for me when you need me, " she says quietly. I nod. We both know it's when, not if. I give her one last squeeze, and brush a lone tear of her cheek.
"We've only had three weeks. It's not fair," she whispers. I look away, unable to take the brilliance in her eyes. She's right. It isn't fair. None of this has been fair.
"No, but we'll have eternity," I vow, and she smiles again. I can feel my heart crack and bruise. How I wish we had had longer! That doesn't matter now, I try to tell myself. But it does matter- more then I will ever admit to anyone, even myself.
She has a serene smile on her face as she ushers the terrified looking first years through the portrait hole. And she is smiling as she, too, disappears. I cannot tell whether it was bravado or merely acceptance of what is to come. I can only hope that I can face this battle the same way.
Our last peaceful moments are over. I turn reluctantly away from the portrait hole as Colin Creevy, the last one through closes it behind him. Professor McGonagall eyes me with understanding. Wordlessly, the remaining Gryffindors follow her through the hidden staircase that she used when she came to gather us.
We know that most of us will not be back. How could we not, with the level of killing that takes place every time a raid is staged? But it just isn't right, dammit! We shouldn't have to be old enough to know these things. We're not even out of school! But then, neither was Cedric. At least we have some warning before we see death. He had none. We have lived for every moment, every experience. Or we have tried to.
I am leading us out, right behind McGonagall. Ron and Hermione, wands ready but holding each other's hands. They are right behind me, the way they have always been. Seamus and Dean, Pavarti and Lavender and Neville. I turn and look into Ron's eyes. He nods, just once. We have been through these fights before. Strangely, we are not afraid. I'm actually strangely excited- I'm finally ready, able and willing to complete the path my mother set me on sixteen years ago. Perhaps it's just the adrenaline now coursing through my system, but I'm glad that I'll be able to see her soon.
I can hear Hermione reciting obscure curses on the shady side of legal under her breath. She had been tutoring Lavender and Pavarti in survival while they tutored her on how to deal with boys. She needed it, with the way Ron tended to become a stammering prat anytime he got anywhere near last year. I think reassuring herself makes her feel better. I smile as she recites the curse to make genitals fall off. Not like it will do much good, but at least it has some shock value.
We finally arrive in the Great Hall. I can see most of the Ravenclaws with Flitwick, fidgeting as they accept instructions. Fear is written on every face. The Hufflepuffs are just entering as we do. Ernie MacMillan is sheltering Hannah Abbot the best that he can. I suspected that she might be pregnant- now I'm sure. Madam Pomfery is bustling over to them. Now she's leading a very distraught looking Hannah away, towards the dungeons. Ernie looks forlorn. Well, at least one person from our year will survive this. I'm not so sure about everyone else.
The few Slytherin seventh years that have not been kicked out are standing near the Ravenclaws, looking nervous but determined. I can see Blaise Zabini talking to Padma Patil. The doors boom. The slower, stupider part of me realises that we have less time then I thought.
I notice that the giant, ornate doors have been locked the whole time. Part of my brain shouts 'well, obviously.' I can't believe that I didn't notice that! As if they would just leave the doors open as an invitation to destroy us. So much for my hope of Voldemort calling me out and leaving the school alone. The locks don't matter anyway- the door is splintering under the multitudes of spells hitting it. I can see the sickly light of the Killing Curse shining already. One is tossed my way. They aren't even through the door yet!
"Ron, do something about you're hair! It's a walking target!" I shout as I notice what they're aiming at. Ron whips around, and Hermione casts a Glamour on it to turn it an unremarkable brown. She nods, and then we no longer have time for rational thought. Death Eaters are pouring in. Hermione attempts to cast one over me, as well, but I shake it off. "Use your energy on something else!" I tell her, and dash a stunning spell off. I don't stop to see whether or not it hits someone. I shoot another, and then another. I whip around, and see Neville writhing underneath a curse. I see the same Death Eater I saw in Dumbledore's pensieve, the one that was caught for torturing his parents. Before I can stop her, she stops, and then I hear the terrible words. "Avada Kedavra, she shouts with a sadistic smile. Neville, completely brain damaged, dies in a flash of light.
"Like mother, like son," I hear her say to a man fighting beside her. His grin sickens me to the core.
I look, and see Hermione. She has seen and heard it too. In agreement, we simultaneously cast the curse ourselves.
"Avada Kedavra" we shout, and the two don't see us until it's far too late. Heads on both sides whip around at the sound of my voice shouting that curse. I shake my head. I've had to take a life. I'm no better then they are. My eyes are drawn to the sight of Neville's mangled corpse, and I change my mind. I do what I have to do. They kill for the pure joy of it.
"Bloody well time, Potter!" I hear someone shout, and very quickly BOTH sides are using the Unforgivables. Apparently, I am a leader here, whether or not I want to be.
I see Ron fighting with Nott, and I cast another one. The fighting grows more bloody, more furious. No matter how many curses I throw, how many people I fell, there is always someone else to take his or her place in the throng. I recognise ex-Slytherins, yes, but also ex-Ravenclaws, and ex-Hufflepuffs. It heartens me to see no Gryffindors in capes, with skull tattoos on their arms, but I may just not have spotted them yet. Ron is flying through, casting hexes, curses and Unforgivables. I can see a pattern in his fighting, a definitive method that is leaving a trail of bodies behind him. I see McNair aiming for Sally-Anne Perks. She doesn't see him, she's dueling someone else with typical Ravenclaw formality. I catch him with a stunner powerful to knock out an elephant. One minion down, several hundred more to go. I whip around to see Hermione, a small cut bleeding down her cheek. I point at it.
"Shrapnel curse." She shrugged, not really bothered by it. Then her eyes darken with rage.
"Bastards have gotten Pavarti and Padma," she commented viciously, and I looked to see Gryffindor red and Ravenclaw blue on the floor, dark hair strewn over it.
"Damn them to Hades!" I swear, and see another Ravenclaw fall. I look around for more of my year mates. Most of them are on the floor. Malfoy the younger has Blaise Zabini under Imperius- I can see her struggling against it. That's right- they used to date before he was kicked out. I toss a stunner her way, and she hits the ground. Now that she looks dead, maybe they won't kill her. He leaves to find a new toy.
We're losing. There must be three hundred Death Eaters in here. There is no way we're going to get rid of them all.
"Ron! Behind you!" I shout, and he ducks and rolls out of the way. A severing charm ricochets and hits a lump I'm assuming is Crabbe Jr. He yelps, and Ron takes out three more. My best friend has been in the thick of things. Can't send him to get Ginny. I have to do that spell. Damn, it's going to kill us both! I was hoping that one of us was going to get out of here alive. It's not to be. Railing at fate, I roll over to Hermione.
"Hermione, go get Ginny." She snaps her head around to look at me, her eyes uncomprehending.
"That book? It has the spell I'm going to use. She knows it, I don't. I need her." Finally, the light dawns in those hard amber eyes, and they soften for a moment. She knows what we are about to do.
"You knew about the spell," I state, dodging a curse.
"I knew. I hoped it wouldn't come to that." She shakes her head. "We have no time. Don't you dare die while I'm not watching your back, Potter." I have to grin at that. She looks startled at the humour on my face. "It's not funny." She shoots a curse over my shoulder. I hear a scream. I was wondering if she would ever get around to using that curse.
"I'll try," I promise.
I watch my blood sister dash out of the main fighting. Most of it seems to be contained to the Great Hall. The teachers and reinforcements are covering the entrances. They let Hermione through. As she's leaving, I watch as Dean falls. Malfoy picks him off the floor, and shouts "Mudblood!" before using a severing charm on his throat. I see Hermione flinch as she disappears.
I hate being so helpless! I toss another stunner, hitting someone in the back. They fall- Artemis! That was Roger Davies! No doubt to his side- the Dark Mark is blazing on his arm. I feel numb as I continue the fight. Roger and Cedric had been friends, and year mates. I find myself wondering why he would have turned? He even dated Cho after she had gotten over Cedric. No time to wonder. It doesn't matter anyway. Refocusing, I turn back to the battle. Aim, curse, new target. Repeat a thousand times.
What's taking Hermione so long? Shouldn't she and Ginny be back by now? It feels like a thousand years have passed since I sent her. More then one life has been snuffed between then and now.
Aha! I see a flash of red at one of the doors. So did someone else- that was the Killing Curse! Did it get her? Where are they? Did it hit Hermione instead? I need to know that the hell is going on!
I see my blood sister running back into the fray, the blood on her cheek looking like primitive war paint. Ginny is behind her, but her hair is disguised. That was what took them so long! Marry me, I want to shout at her. No point in asking her now. We know that I wouldn't have called her if we were going to survive this. Ginny is tossing stunning spells out with enough force to knock out half of Muggle London. I see her jump a body as she pounds the ground, heading towards me with desperate speed.
I watch as my love's face hardens to marble. Her normally expressive features. She knows what we need to do. I smile at her, but she doesn't notice. Her face is horrified as she watches her brother struggle with Lucius Malfoy. I watch her grow up completely as she casts her first Unforgivable curse. He drops, and Ron comes sprinting over to us.
"Ginny? What in Hades do you think you're doing? You should be safe!" he shouts at her. He's in a rage, and I can see the adrenalin in his eyes.
"Farathoom, Ron, do you really think that I can stay safe while you all are dying?" she screams back, her redheaded temper getting the best of her. Then I see her eyes widen, and she shouts the killing curse.
"Duck, Ron, duck!" she bellows. A few brief seconds of understanding is all I'm granted before seeing my arch enemy die. I turn to rejoice about it with Ron, only to see his limp body fallen to the ground. I look for Hermione, hoping she didn't see him die. Needing the comfort from the small shake of her head. All I can think is not Ron. Of course that wasn't Ron. Look, he has brown hair. Not red. It isn't Ron.
I hear more screaming, and whip around. Hermione is writhing the same way Neville was. I look frantically for her assailant, but I can't find the bastard! Where is he? Too late, she goes limp and life flees from her eyes. The two people I swore with my lifeblood to protect have both been ripped from me. I will avenge them! My heart is screaming in pain. It hurts more then my scar did before they force-fed me that potion.
No! They can't be dead! We are the Trinity, damn it! We are supposed to be unbreakable, everlasting. If we die, we die together. We vowed that when we swore to each other by blood. That crimson liquid is being spilled far too often right now. Ron is lying in a pool of swiftly cooling blood, the Glamour on his hair dead with its caster. Hermione, lying on the cold stone floor, the red streak down her face a testament to her bravery.
Ginny! She is still here. I see the sheer pain and temper written on her face. Then she too starts to writhe before throwing it off. I look at her in amazement. No one can throw off an Unforgivable that easily. Most wizards can't even throw off the Imperius Curse. She gives me a cocky grin that lights her face with a small amount of humour. I can see acceptance and sheer power snapping in her eyes, and I remember the times that those beautiful big brown eyes have melted my heart. I'm going to die. But so is she. What right do I have to do this to her?
She speaks, pulling me out of my pit. Her power is already building, I can feel it, sense it. But then, so is mine. My body accepts even as my mind struggles with what we are about to do.
"I love you, Harry. See you in the Summerlands, " she says with a small grin.
"Love you too, Ginny. We'll meet up with Ron and Hermione soon." I barely see anything going on, and take the time to remember my life for a moment. I see my mother, hear her screams and her songs. I remember the Dursleys, and my Hogwarts letter. I remember the Weasleys. I think of Ron and Hermione, and all the crazy, mixed up adventures we got into. Most of all, I remember Ginny. I clear my head, satisfied that I have done my best. I would have liked longer, but obviously it was not to be.
My voice and hands steady, we turn. I don't know how I know it is time, but I know that figure. Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort, is walking into the room and surveying the carnage with a sadistic smile.
Ginny and I are melding, focussing, as he strides towards us. We are more like two halves of the same person by now. We start to glow, and I sense somewhere that the fighting in the rest of the room has stopped. He looks nervous. Good, he should be.
Before he even reaches us, he stops. A smile twists across his face, his red eyes still look jittery. His shout cuts through the air.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" I'm not afraid. After all, my own spell will kill me. But it will also kill him. Less then a split second later, Ginny and I cry out in one voice her eleventh hour find.
"REVERSI DESTRUCTO!" We cry, and our voices meld with our power. It hits Voldemort's spell dead on, and begins to battle it. I barely note the dead silence around us. The silver light erupting from our wands starts to drain instantaneously. I can feel the spell burn its way up my arms, and the reservoir of power unchecked that I have always been half-aware of begins to empty. I hang on, as Ginny does even as the sheer force throws her into my arms. I tighten my other arm around her as we continue to throw everything we have or might have been into the spell. Through the haze I see two more red heads come bursting in, at the front of a large amount of reinforcements. They are too late. I feel pity as Bill and Charlie are forced to watch their sister die. I'm going with her, and they are not. At least she's going in a blaze of glory, with her beautiful hair starkly contrasting with my robes and her entire body glowing. She is so beautiful it makes my heart hurt. Maybe that will bring some comfort to them.
I'm almost empty. The energy that was so much a part of me is almost gone, leaving me a husk. My soul is starting to free itself from my body. Slowly, I concentrate on forcing my last bit of energy out of my wand. One last shot. The energy shapes itself into a phoenix, and Voldemort crumples, emitting a high pitch scream of agony as he returns to dust. I smile, and hold Ginny tight. One last time, I bury my face in those crimson locks. I feel my soul completely free itself.
Wait. That's a light. Is it a tunnel? There are so many people.
Light. Ginny. I hold her hand. She seems brighter and strong once again.
Goodbye, all. I've gone home.
I'll see you when it's your time.
Smiling, I look down at the redhead, her hand attached to mine.
"See love? We have Eternity," I say to her, a smile on my face. I know the battle is far from over. But my part and her part are now over. I look up, and see another redhead walking towards me. I know I am finally home.
I know what is happening even as McGonagall comes striding into the common room, not subjecting herself to the indignity of going through the portrait hole. Our time has come. The battle we have all been expecting for weeks has finally started. I don't know if I'm relieved or merely glad that the waiting is over. It seems so dull and wearing waiting for the inevitable.
I know this has to happen. My scar has been growing steadily more and more painful over the last few weeks, a sure sign that Voldemort is getting ready for a decisive battle. Two hours ago, Ron held me down while Hermione poured one of her special pain relieving agents down my throat so that I would stop flinching every time someone shouted. Those two are so overprotective. I know that I wouldn't want them to be any other way.
Now I can function properly and think clearly for the first time since this battle began to build. Hermione was right- I am far better off being able to fight then punishing myself with my scar. Hermione is always right it seems. That is, except when she claimed that she had no feelings for Ron. I'm glad that sorted itself out, all though it doesn't really matter now.
I'm hoping that duelling me will satisfy Voldemort- that he won't bring his Death Eaters into the school. At least we don't need to worry about spies. All those with Voldemort leanings, suspected or proven, were asked to leave. Dumbledore hated to do it in the end, but we needed a stronghold. He wasn't wrong in any case. I have to wonder, though, how many were pushed into that decision by their expulsion. Needless to say, there are very few Slytherins left.
I change my attention back to the common room. Ron and Hermione are holding each other close, sitting on a comfy armchair together and calmly accepting what both of them know. McGonagall has gone to fetch everyone from the dorms. As it is one thirty in the morning, most of the lower years are asleep. Ginny, her scarlet hair flying, comes tumbling into the portrait hole, the books she has in her arms go flying. She seizes one, and shoves it at me. I catch Hermione looking worriedly at her from the corner of my eye. I dismiss it as my love begins to speak.
"Harry, look at this! We can defeat him. We can get rid of him for good! But.there is a catch." I can tell from the tone of her voice that she doesn't like what she's telling me. I look at the book that she's holding. Sure enough, there is a spell that will overpower a single great evil completely. However, it requires raw magical power in pure form to power it. Whoever finishes the spell will die, and it takes one male and one female to perform it. I look into those chocolate eyes and am lost for a minute. I shake my head.
I smile at her, a cross between a warrior's bloodlust and reassurance that must look very odd.
"We have him, love," I say, and she smiles back.
"It may not come to this. We may get him anyway, " she reassures me. We both know that isn't the case, but it's nice to pretend for a little while.
McGonagall is calling for our attention. We sit back, and listen as she gives the instructions. As expected, sixth year students are escorting the rest of the younger years to the dungeons. Ginny, as Head Girl designate, will lead them. We seventh years will go to join the teachers. As everyone quietly starts moving, a feeling of inevitability overwhelms me. This is it. I give my love one last hug, one last kiss. I want to bury myself in her hair and never let go. But I can't. She gently disentangles herself from me.
"I have to go. Send Hermione for me when you need me, " she says quietly. I nod. We both know it's when, not if. I give her one last squeeze, and brush a lone tear of her cheek.
"We've only had three weeks. It's not fair," she whispers. I look away, unable to take the brilliance in her eyes. She's right. It isn't fair. None of this has been fair.
"No, but we'll have eternity," I vow, and she smiles again. I can feel my heart crack and bruise. How I wish we had had longer! That doesn't matter now, I try to tell myself. But it does matter- more then I will ever admit to anyone, even myself.
She has a serene smile on her face as she ushers the terrified looking first years through the portrait hole. And she is smiling as she, too, disappears. I cannot tell whether it was bravado or merely acceptance of what is to come. I can only hope that I can face this battle the same way.
Our last peaceful moments are over. I turn reluctantly away from the portrait hole as Colin Creevy, the last one through closes it behind him. Professor McGonagall eyes me with understanding. Wordlessly, the remaining Gryffindors follow her through the hidden staircase that she used when she came to gather us.
We know that most of us will not be back. How could we not, with the level of killing that takes place every time a raid is staged? But it just isn't right, dammit! We shouldn't have to be old enough to know these things. We're not even out of school! But then, neither was Cedric. At least we have some warning before we see death. He had none. We have lived for every moment, every experience. Or we have tried to.
I am leading us out, right behind McGonagall. Ron and Hermione, wands ready but holding each other's hands. They are right behind me, the way they have always been. Seamus and Dean, Pavarti and Lavender and Neville. I turn and look into Ron's eyes. He nods, just once. We have been through these fights before. Strangely, we are not afraid. I'm actually strangely excited- I'm finally ready, able and willing to complete the path my mother set me on sixteen years ago. Perhaps it's just the adrenaline now coursing through my system, but I'm glad that I'll be able to see her soon.
I can hear Hermione reciting obscure curses on the shady side of legal under her breath. She had been tutoring Lavender and Pavarti in survival while they tutored her on how to deal with boys. She needed it, with the way Ron tended to become a stammering prat anytime he got anywhere near last year. I think reassuring herself makes her feel better. I smile as she recites the curse to make genitals fall off. Not like it will do much good, but at least it has some shock value.
We finally arrive in the Great Hall. I can see most of the Ravenclaws with Flitwick, fidgeting as they accept instructions. Fear is written on every face. The Hufflepuffs are just entering as we do. Ernie MacMillan is sheltering Hannah Abbot the best that he can. I suspected that she might be pregnant- now I'm sure. Madam Pomfery is bustling over to them. Now she's leading a very distraught looking Hannah away, towards the dungeons. Ernie looks forlorn. Well, at least one person from our year will survive this. I'm not so sure about everyone else.
The few Slytherin seventh years that have not been kicked out are standing near the Ravenclaws, looking nervous but determined. I can see Blaise Zabini talking to Padma Patil. The doors boom. The slower, stupider part of me realises that we have less time then I thought.
I notice that the giant, ornate doors have been locked the whole time. Part of my brain shouts 'well, obviously.' I can't believe that I didn't notice that! As if they would just leave the doors open as an invitation to destroy us. So much for my hope of Voldemort calling me out and leaving the school alone. The locks don't matter anyway- the door is splintering under the multitudes of spells hitting it. I can see the sickly light of the Killing Curse shining already. One is tossed my way. They aren't even through the door yet!
"Ron, do something about you're hair! It's a walking target!" I shout as I notice what they're aiming at. Ron whips around, and Hermione casts a Glamour on it to turn it an unremarkable brown. She nods, and then we no longer have time for rational thought. Death Eaters are pouring in. Hermione attempts to cast one over me, as well, but I shake it off. "Use your energy on something else!" I tell her, and dash a stunning spell off. I don't stop to see whether or not it hits someone. I shoot another, and then another. I whip around, and see Neville writhing underneath a curse. I see the same Death Eater I saw in Dumbledore's pensieve, the one that was caught for torturing his parents. Before I can stop her, she stops, and then I hear the terrible words. "Avada Kedavra, she shouts with a sadistic smile. Neville, completely brain damaged, dies in a flash of light.
"Like mother, like son," I hear her say to a man fighting beside her. His grin sickens me to the core.
I look, and see Hermione. She has seen and heard it too. In agreement, we simultaneously cast the curse ourselves.
"Avada Kedavra" we shout, and the two don't see us until it's far too late. Heads on both sides whip around at the sound of my voice shouting that curse. I shake my head. I've had to take a life. I'm no better then they are. My eyes are drawn to the sight of Neville's mangled corpse, and I change my mind. I do what I have to do. They kill for the pure joy of it.
"Bloody well time, Potter!" I hear someone shout, and very quickly BOTH sides are using the Unforgivables. Apparently, I am a leader here, whether or not I want to be.
I see Ron fighting with Nott, and I cast another one. The fighting grows more bloody, more furious. No matter how many curses I throw, how many people I fell, there is always someone else to take his or her place in the throng. I recognise ex-Slytherins, yes, but also ex-Ravenclaws, and ex-Hufflepuffs. It heartens me to see no Gryffindors in capes, with skull tattoos on their arms, but I may just not have spotted them yet. Ron is flying through, casting hexes, curses and Unforgivables. I can see a pattern in his fighting, a definitive method that is leaving a trail of bodies behind him. I see McNair aiming for Sally-Anne Perks. She doesn't see him, she's dueling someone else with typical Ravenclaw formality. I catch him with a stunner powerful to knock out an elephant. One minion down, several hundred more to go. I whip around to see Hermione, a small cut bleeding down her cheek. I point at it.
"Shrapnel curse." She shrugged, not really bothered by it. Then her eyes darken with rage.
"Bastards have gotten Pavarti and Padma," she commented viciously, and I looked to see Gryffindor red and Ravenclaw blue on the floor, dark hair strewn over it.
"Damn them to Hades!" I swear, and see another Ravenclaw fall. I look around for more of my year mates. Most of them are on the floor. Malfoy the younger has Blaise Zabini under Imperius- I can see her struggling against it. That's right- they used to date before he was kicked out. I toss a stunner her way, and she hits the ground. Now that she looks dead, maybe they won't kill her. He leaves to find a new toy.
We're losing. There must be three hundred Death Eaters in here. There is no way we're going to get rid of them all.
"Ron! Behind you!" I shout, and he ducks and rolls out of the way. A severing charm ricochets and hits a lump I'm assuming is Crabbe Jr. He yelps, and Ron takes out three more. My best friend has been in the thick of things. Can't send him to get Ginny. I have to do that spell. Damn, it's going to kill us both! I was hoping that one of us was going to get out of here alive. It's not to be. Railing at fate, I roll over to Hermione.
"Hermione, go get Ginny." She snaps her head around to look at me, her eyes uncomprehending.
"That book? It has the spell I'm going to use. She knows it, I don't. I need her." Finally, the light dawns in those hard amber eyes, and they soften for a moment. She knows what we are about to do.
"You knew about the spell," I state, dodging a curse.
"I knew. I hoped it wouldn't come to that." She shakes her head. "We have no time. Don't you dare die while I'm not watching your back, Potter." I have to grin at that. She looks startled at the humour on my face. "It's not funny." She shoots a curse over my shoulder. I hear a scream. I was wondering if she would ever get around to using that curse.
"I'll try," I promise.
I watch my blood sister dash out of the main fighting. Most of it seems to be contained to the Great Hall. The teachers and reinforcements are covering the entrances. They let Hermione through. As she's leaving, I watch as Dean falls. Malfoy picks him off the floor, and shouts "Mudblood!" before using a severing charm on his throat. I see Hermione flinch as she disappears.
I hate being so helpless! I toss another stunner, hitting someone in the back. They fall- Artemis! That was Roger Davies! No doubt to his side- the Dark Mark is blazing on his arm. I feel numb as I continue the fight. Roger and Cedric had been friends, and year mates. I find myself wondering why he would have turned? He even dated Cho after she had gotten over Cedric. No time to wonder. It doesn't matter anyway. Refocusing, I turn back to the battle. Aim, curse, new target. Repeat a thousand times.
What's taking Hermione so long? Shouldn't she and Ginny be back by now? It feels like a thousand years have passed since I sent her. More then one life has been snuffed between then and now.
Aha! I see a flash of red at one of the doors. So did someone else- that was the Killing Curse! Did it get her? Where are they? Did it hit Hermione instead? I need to know that the hell is going on!
I see my blood sister running back into the fray, the blood on her cheek looking like primitive war paint. Ginny is behind her, but her hair is disguised. That was what took them so long! Marry me, I want to shout at her. No point in asking her now. We know that I wouldn't have called her if we were going to survive this. Ginny is tossing stunning spells out with enough force to knock out half of Muggle London. I see her jump a body as she pounds the ground, heading towards me with desperate speed.
I watch as my love's face hardens to marble. Her normally expressive features. She knows what we need to do. I smile at her, but she doesn't notice. Her face is horrified as she watches her brother struggle with Lucius Malfoy. I watch her grow up completely as she casts her first Unforgivable curse. He drops, and Ron comes sprinting over to us.
"Ginny? What in Hades do you think you're doing? You should be safe!" he shouts at her. He's in a rage, and I can see the adrenalin in his eyes.
"Farathoom, Ron, do you really think that I can stay safe while you all are dying?" she screams back, her redheaded temper getting the best of her. Then I see her eyes widen, and she shouts the killing curse.
"Duck, Ron, duck!" she bellows. A few brief seconds of understanding is all I'm granted before seeing my arch enemy die. I turn to rejoice about it with Ron, only to see his limp body fallen to the ground. I look for Hermione, hoping she didn't see him die. Needing the comfort from the small shake of her head. All I can think is not Ron. Of course that wasn't Ron. Look, he has brown hair. Not red. It isn't Ron.
I hear more screaming, and whip around. Hermione is writhing the same way Neville was. I look frantically for her assailant, but I can't find the bastard! Where is he? Too late, she goes limp and life flees from her eyes. The two people I swore with my lifeblood to protect have both been ripped from me. I will avenge them! My heart is screaming in pain. It hurts more then my scar did before they force-fed me that potion.
No! They can't be dead! We are the Trinity, damn it! We are supposed to be unbreakable, everlasting. If we die, we die together. We vowed that when we swore to each other by blood. That crimson liquid is being spilled far too often right now. Ron is lying in a pool of swiftly cooling blood, the Glamour on his hair dead with its caster. Hermione, lying on the cold stone floor, the red streak down her face a testament to her bravery.
Ginny! She is still here. I see the sheer pain and temper written on her face. Then she too starts to writhe before throwing it off. I look at her in amazement. No one can throw off an Unforgivable that easily. Most wizards can't even throw off the Imperius Curse. She gives me a cocky grin that lights her face with a small amount of humour. I can see acceptance and sheer power snapping in her eyes, and I remember the times that those beautiful big brown eyes have melted my heart. I'm going to die. But so is she. What right do I have to do this to her?
She speaks, pulling me out of my pit. Her power is already building, I can feel it, sense it. But then, so is mine. My body accepts even as my mind struggles with what we are about to do.
"I love you, Harry. See you in the Summerlands, " she says with a small grin.
"Love you too, Ginny. We'll meet up with Ron and Hermione soon." I barely see anything going on, and take the time to remember my life for a moment. I see my mother, hear her screams and her songs. I remember the Dursleys, and my Hogwarts letter. I remember the Weasleys. I think of Ron and Hermione, and all the crazy, mixed up adventures we got into. Most of all, I remember Ginny. I clear my head, satisfied that I have done my best. I would have liked longer, but obviously it was not to be.
My voice and hands steady, we turn. I don't know how I know it is time, but I know that figure. Tom Marvolo Riddle, AKA Lord Voldemort, is walking into the room and surveying the carnage with a sadistic smile.
Ginny and I are melding, focussing, as he strides towards us. We are more like two halves of the same person by now. We start to glow, and I sense somewhere that the fighting in the rest of the room has stopped. He looks nervous. Good, he should be.
Before he even reaches us, he stops. A smile twists across his face, his red eyes still look jittery. His shout cuts through the air.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" I'm not afraid. After all, my own spell will kill me. But it will also kill him. Less then a split second later, Ginny and I cry out in one voice her eleventh hour find.
"REVERSI DESTRUCTO!" We cry, and our voices meld with our power. It hits Voldemort's spell dead on, and begins to battle it. I barely note the dead silence around us. The silver light erupting from our wands starts to drain instantaneously. I can feel the spell burn its way up my arms, and the reservoir of power unchecked that I have always been half-aware of begins to empty. I hang on, as Ginny does even as the sheer force throws her into my arms. I tighten my other arm around her as we continue to throw everything we have or might have been into the spell. Through the haze I see two more red heads come bursting in, at the front of a large amount of reinforcements. They are too late. I feel pity as Bill and Charlie are forced to watch their sister die. I'm going with her, and they are not. At least she's going in a blaze of glory, with her beautiful hair starkly contrasting with my robes and her entire body glowing. She is so beautiful it makes my heart hurt. Maybe that will bring some comfort to them.
I'm almost empty. The energy that was so much a part of me is almost gone, leaving me a husk. My soul is starting to free itself from my body. Slowly, I concentrate on forcing my last bit of energy out of my wand. One last shot. The energy shapes itself into a phoenix, and Voldemort crumples, emitting a high pitch scream of agony as he returns to dust. I smile, and hold Ginny tight. One last time, I bury my face in those crimson locks. I feel my soul completely free itself.
Wait. That's a light. Is it a tunnel? There are so many people.
Light. Ginny. I hold her hand. She seems brighter and strong once again.
Goodbye, all. I've gone home.
I'll see you when it's your time.
Smiling, I look down at the redhead, her hand attached to mine.
"See love? We have Eternity," I say to her, a smile on my face. I know the battle is far from over. But my part and her part are now over. I look up, and see another redhead walking towards me. I know I am finally home.