A/N: Thanks to the people who have been reviewing my story! I'm glad to
know what y'all think. Well, I'm almost done with this one. I'll probably
go two or three more chapters before its over though. Other than that, I
don't really want to tell y'all much about what's coming up! Read, find
out, and tell me what you think! Me
Chapter Nine
Harry Potter was finally Dursley free, forever. He grinned ear to ear as he and Luna made their way down the stairs. They passed Dudley on the front step. He grunted at them and scooted himself several feet away. His Aunt Petunia was already waiting in the car to drive them into London.
"How do you plan on getting...wherever it is that you're going?" His aunt asked. Her demeanor seemed to have changed back to its normal coldness.
Harry sighed. "We're going to fly." He answered.
"In a plane?" she asked next.
"Why pay for a plane when you can use a broom?" Luna replied.
Aunt Petunia nodded. "I see."
"Or we could buy a portkey?" Harry suggested, looking at Luna. "That way, we wouldn't have to worry about the luggage weighing us down."
Luna thought a moment. "Sounds like a plan." She decided. "Besides, I need to go to Hogwarts anyway, and you need to be in Hogsmeade by Monday, right?"
Harry nodded. "Ron and Hermione's wedding is this Friday, too, isn't it?"
"It's going to be an interesting week..." Luna agreed.
Luna had her meeting with Dumbledore. She and Harry had just begun to move things into their house in Hogsmeade by the time Friday, and Ron and Hermione's wedding came.
Ron and Hermione decided they would get married on the Hogwarts grounds. Dumbledore was the one who presided over the wedding. Some of the people in attendance included Hermione's parents, Ron's family, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell (who curiously enough had shown up with Fred and George...), Neville Longbottom and his grandmother, Professor Lupin and practically the entire Hogwarts staff, and several people that Ron and Hermione were sure they'd never met before.
The actual wedding took place down by the lake. The weather was perfect; so perfect, in fact, that Ron and Hermione were able to get all the way through the 'I do' part before even so much as a breeze disrupted them. Harry had been Ron's best man, and Ginny was Hermione's maid of honor. The ceremony had started, and ended before Harry even realized it.
Most of the guests headed directly inside afterwards. The reception was to have a marvelous cake, and plenty butterbeer for all. Several people, however, stayed outside. Harry, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell remained near the lake to catch up on the past several weeks in each other's lives.
Something about the scene looked eerily familiar to Harry. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. What had Katie said? Luna was laughing, hard. Angelina was carrying on her own conversation with Neville. Harry had no clue what they were talking about. Across from him, Ron sat in one of the white lawn chairs. Hermione was perched in his lap. Ginny, despite her formal attire and the availability of many chairs, was sitting on the ground next to him. This definitely reminded him of something.
Luna looked up at the sky and groaned loudly. "There goes the perfect weather!" she whined, wiping a single raindrop off of her forehead. "Do you guys want to head inside? People are probably looking for you two, anyway..." She glanced at Ron and Hermione.
Harry looked up. Luna wasn't kidding. The sky was an ominous shade of gray. Those storm clouds had moved in rather quickly. Still, the familiarity of it all was confusing him. He began to think. What did this remind him of? Where had he...?
Harry gasped. His mind took him back to his sixth year at Hogwarts. A nightmare. It had been a nightmare. He had told Lupin about it, hadn't he? He could remember...down by the lake...he was with the Marauders...the sky...and Ron and Hermione. It had seemed strange to him then, but now...
Had Angelina and Katie been there? He tried to think. No, they had not. He was experiencing some altered form of deja vu. The nightmare. He could remember it all now. Luna laughing, and Ron and Hermione. And Voldemort. He remembered why it had scared him so much...
"Oh god..." he whispered to himself.
Luna frowned. "What is it, Harry?" she asked him.
"We need to get inside. We need to get into the castle, now!" Harry screamed.
Ron shrugged. "It's only sprinkling outside, Harry..."
"No, Ron! Not that! It's..."
Luna screamed. Harry was too late. He hadn't warned them in time. Voldemort was standing in front of them. The castle was gone. Everywhere was darkness, and they were going to die. His friends were going to die.
"No!" Harry screamed, stepping in front of Luna with his wand drawn. Why hadn't he killed her? It would have been so easy...
"You can't save them, boy." Hissed Voldemort. "They will die, and so will you."
"You're wrong!" Harry yelled.
"Oh no, Harry. I am very right." Voldemort laughed. It was a cackle. High-pitched, and cold. "I shall make you watch them die, and then I shall kill you..."
"It's eight against one!" Harry blinked. Had Neville just challenged Voldemort?
Harry shook his head. He remembered his nightmare. Neville had fallen first. "Neville, NO!" screamed Harry, jumping at his friend. A green light had shot from Voldemort's wand. Neville fell, and did not move.
"Neville!" Hermione sobbed. She knew the curse. Neville was gone.
"Harry..." Ron was red with anger. He had his wand drawn.
"No, Ron." Growled Angelina. Her and Katie stepped in front of him. Any wand blast that would touch him would have to go through them first. Harry didn't remember this in his nightmare. Katie and Angelina had not been there...
"You think you can challenge me? You shall end up just like that stupid boy...." Voldemort smiled.
Angelina attempted one of the Unforgivable Curses. Voldemort flew backwards several feet, groaned, and got up to brush himself off. He laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" he asked them. Another green light shot from his wand. Harry couldn't believe it. He had killed both of them with one curse.
"Angie..." Ginny whispered. "We're going to die..."
"No!" Harry hissed. "I refuse to let him think he has the upper hand, damn it! We might as well form a neat little line for him while we're at it, if we think that way!"
"He does have the upper hand, Harry." Luna whispered.
Harry shook his head. "Didn't you see? When just Angelina used that curse, she knocked him off his feet..." he whispered. "If we all use it at once, we can do some serious damage!" He frowned. "He may be the most hateful bastard alive...that's what makes it work so well for him..."
"But if all of us did it together..." Hermione caught on.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny raised their wands. Ginny wiped a tear from her eye, glanced at Neville, and returned her glare to the object of her hatred.
"Who's next?" Voldemort was getting confident. "You will all fall. It is inevitable."
"Let's do it," Luna whispered.
Five different people cast the same spell. Five different green lights were speeding towards Voldemort. He flew backwards several feet, but this time, he lay still.
Ron took a step forward. "Did we...kill him?" he gulped.
"I don't think so." Harry shook his head. "He's unconscious."
The sky returned to its previous shade of blue. The castle came back into view. They were back on the Hogwarts grounds.
Ginny dropped on her knees where Neville lay. The people who had been inside the Great Hall were now outside. Many were screaming. Harry frowned. Angelina, Katie, and Neville were gone. Ginny still had herself wrapped around Neville, even as his grandmother appeared on the scene. Fred and George had found Katie and Angelina, and could do nothing but stare. Dumbledore pushed through the crowd.
"Where is he?" he demanded. "What happened?"
Harry was confused. His friends had died. Was Dumbledore talking about Voldemort? His temper flared. "I don't know what happened, all right? We were sitting there, and then we weren't there, and he was! He just started killing people. Just like in my..." Harry stopped.
"...your dream?" Dumbledore finished for him.
"Yeah." Harry frowned. "Did Professor Lupin talk to you about it?"
"Yes. You were sitting over there?" Dumbledore pointed to the lake. "Let's go have a look. What do you say?"
Harry was aghast. "What's wrong with you? I don't want to 'go have a look'! Some of my best friends just died! It's not like we'll find anything, anyway! We only knocked him unconscious!"
"Yes, and when that happened, you returned to the grounds, correct?" Dumbledore was actually smiling. Harry was beginning to think the old man was insane. "I bet you that if you returned, he has returned as well,"
"That's the craziest load of crud I've ever heard!" growled Harry, but he reluctantly followed Dumbledore.
Dumbledore walked all the way to the edge of the grounds, and the beginning of the Dark Forest.
"We weren't this far back," Harry grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air.
Dumbledore shook his head. "You weren't, but...lumos!" A bright light filled the area around Harry and Dumbledore.
Harry gasped. "It's...but, sir! When Cedric..." Harry stammered.
"I know, Harry. You don't have to explain anything to me. Professor Snape will be here in seconds to give Tom here his most potent sleeping potion...It should at least last long enough for the Dementors to arrive..."
Professor Snape didn't take long, just as Dumbledore had said. Dumbledore didn't even bother trying to move Voldemort. He left him where he lay in the Dark Forest. Harry fetched him a chair, and he sat guard until the Dementors arrived ten minutes later. The Dementors immediately delivered the Dementors Kiss. They then took Voldemort, who was (oddly enough) still sleeping, straight off to Azkaban. Harry could do nothing but stare at them. They had just sucked out his soul, and yet, it did fit that he spend the rest of his life in prison.
Harry returned to the crowd of people. Ron was very white faced, but otherwise seemed all right. Hermione was sobbing on his arm. Professor McGonnagal was leading her parents back into the castle. Harry reckoned they'd probably need a large dose of Prozac. Fred and George were huddled around Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley was beside herself. She hugged George under one arm, and Fred under the other. Harry scanned the crowd for Ginny, but didn't have to look far. Grandma Longbottom was holding her grandson in her arms as if he were a child, and Ginny still sat where she had fallen when they returned. Harry started to panic. He remembered Luna coming back with them, but he didn't see her anywhere.
He caught sight of Lupin. He was standing near the lake, and several of the teachers had gathered there with him. He ran up to them. "Have any of you seen...?" he began, but breathed a sigh of relief. "Luna!" She was sitting cross-legged in the grass, staring out at the lake.
Lupin placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "She's a little shaken up, but I think she'll be all right..." he smiled.
"She has her reasons for being shaken up," Harry sighed, and took a seat in the grass next to Luna. She didn't look at him for several minutes. "Luna?" he finally whispered.
She sighed deeply. "I'm fine, Harry."
He frowned, but then he remembered something. "Luna? You remember what you said to me the summer before our sixth year?" he asked her.
"Not really, Harry, no." she frowned.
"Time heals all wounds, Luna." He smiled, and wrapped her in a hug. "Remember that. One day, this one will heal, too..."
"Sure it will, Harry," Luna smirked.
Harry got back up. Lupin pat him on the back. "Well done, Harry."
"We all did it, Professor Lupin." Harry shrugged.
"Did he get away?" Lupin whispered.
Harry couldn't help but smile. "Well, he sure is gone...in a manner of speaking."
Lupin looked confused. "What do you mean, Harry?"
Harry explained to Lupin how it was that the five of them were able to return to the castle. Slowly, he told of how Neville had died, and then Angelina and Katie. He talked about the Unforgivable curse, and how the five of them had realized that it could work, and how Voldemort had been knocked unconscious. Lupin only nodded throughout Harry's whole story.
"Yes, but what did you mean?" Lupin asked again. "You haven't explained that part yet!"
"Dumbledore found Voldemort. We'd knocked him good. He was still unconscious, and near the edge of the Dark Forest. Snape helped. He made a sleeping potion. The Dementors came about twenty minutes ago..." Harry explained.
"...The Dementors Kiss?" Lupin finished.
Harry nodded. "It's over."
A/N: There is an epilogue! I will have it up ASAP! Read and Review please!
Chapter Nine
Harry Potter was finally Dursley free, forever. He grinned ear to ear as he and Luna made their way down the stairs. They passed Dudley on the front step. He grunted at them and scooted himself several feet away. His Aunt Petunia was already waiting in the car to drive them into London.
"How do you plan on getting...wherever it is that you're going?" His aunt asked. Her demeanor seemed to have changed back to its normal coldness.
Harry sighed. "We're going to fly." He answered.
"In a plane?" she asked next.
"Why pay for a plane when you can use a broom?" Luna replied.
Aunt Petunia nodded. "I see."
"Or we could buy a portkey?" Harry suggested, looking at Luna. "That way, we wouldn't have to worry about the luggage weighing us down."
Luna thought a moment. "Sounds like a plan." She decided. "Besides, I need to go to Hogwarts anyway, and you need to be in Hogsmeade by Monday, right?"
Harry nodded. "Ron and Hermione's wedding is this Friday, too, isn't it?"
"It's going to be an interesting week..." Luna agreed.
Luna had her meeting with Dumbledore. She and Harry had just begun to move things into their house in Hogsmeade by the time Friday, and Ron and Hermione's wedding came.
Ron and Hermione decided they would get married on the Hogwarts grounds. Dumbledore was the one who presided over the wedding. Some of the people in attendance included Hermione's parents, Ron's family, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell (who curiously enough had shown up with Fred and George...), Neville Longbottom and his grandmother, Professor Lupin and practically the entire Hogwarts staff, and several people that Ron and Hermione were sure they'd never met before.
The actual wedding took place down by the lake. The weather was perfect; so perfect, in fact, that Ron and Hermione were able to get all the way through the 'I do' part before even so much as a breeze disrupted them. Harry had been Ron's best man, and Ginny was Hermione's maid of honor. The ceremony had started, and ended before Harry even realized it.
Most of the guests headed directly inside afterwards. The reception was to have a marvelous cake, and plenty butterbeer for all. Several people, however, stayed outside. Harry, Luna, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell remained near the lake to catch up on the past several weeks in each other's lives.
Something about the scene looked eerily familiar to Harry. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. What had Katie said? Luna was laughing, hard. Angelina was carrying on her own conversation with Neville. Harry had no clue what they were talking about. Across from him, Ron sat in one of the white lawn chairs. Hermione was perched in his lap. Ginny, despite her formal attire and the availability of many chairs, was sitting on the ground next to him. This definitely reminded him of something.
Luna looked up at the sky and groaned loudly. "There goes the perfect weather!" she whined, wiping a single raindrop off of her forehead. "Do you guys want to head inside? People are probably looking for you two, anyway..." She glanced at Ron and Hermione.
Harry looked up. Luna wasn't kidding. The sky was an ominous shade of gray. Those storm clouds had moved in rather quickly. Still, the familiarity of it all was confusing him. He began to think. What did this remind him of? Where had he...?
Harry gasped. His mind took him back to his sixth year at Hogwarts. A nightmare. It had been a nightmare. He had told Lupin about it, hadn't he? He could remember...down by the lake...he was with the Marauders...the sky...and Ron and Hermione. It had seemed strange to him then, but now...
Had Angelina and Katie been there? He tried to think. No, they had not. He was experiencing some altered form of deja vu. The nightmare. He could remember it all now. Luna laughing, and Ron and Hermione. And Voldemort. He remembered why it had scared him so much...
"Oh god..." he whispered to himself.
Luna frowned. "What is it, Harry?" she asked him.
"We need to get inside. We need to get into the castle, now!" Harry screamed.
Ron shrugged. "It's only sprinkling outside, Harry..."
"No, Ron! Not that! It's..."
Luna screamed. Harry was too late. He hadn't warned them in time. Voldemort was standing in front of them. The castle was gone. Everywhere was darkness, and they were going to die. His friends were going to die.
"No!" Harry screamed, stepping in front of Luna with his wand drawn. Why hadn't he killed her? It would have been so easy...
"You can't save them, boy." Hissed Voldemort. "They will die, and so will you."
"You're wrong!" Harry yelled.
"Oh no, Harry. I am very right." Voldemort laughed. It was a cackle. High-pitched, and cold. "I shall make you watch them die, and then I shall kill you..."
"It's eight against one!" Harry blinked. Had Neville just challenged Voldemort?
Harry shook his head. He remembered his nightmare. Neville had fallen first. "Neville, NO!" screamed Harry, jumping at his friend. A green light had shot from Voldemort's wand. Neville fell, and did not move.
"Neville!" Hermione sobbed. She knew the curse. Neville was gone.
"Harry..." Ron was red with anger. He had his wand drawn.
"No, Ron." Growled Angelina. Her and Katie stepped in front of him. Any wand blast that would touch him would have to go through them first. Harry didn't remember this in his nightmare. Katie and Angelina had not been there...
"You think you can challenge me? You shall end up just like that stupid boy...." Voldemort smiled.
Angelina attempted one of the Unforgivable Curses. Voldemort flew backwards several feet, groaned, and got up to brush himself off. He laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" he asked them. Another green light shot from his wand. Harry couldn't believe it. He had killed both of them with one curse.
"Angie..." Ginny whispered. "We're going to die..."
"No!" Harry hissed. "I refuse to let him think he has the upper hand, damn it! We might as well form a neat little line for him while we're at it, if we think that way!"
"He does have the upper hand, Harry." Luna whispered.
Harry shook his head. "Didn't you see? When just Angelina used that curse, she knocked him off his feet..." he whispered. "If we all use it at once, we can do some serious damage!" He frowned. "He may be the most hateful bastard alive...that's what makes it work so well for him..."
"But if all of us did it together..." Hermione caught on.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Ginny raised their wands. Ginny wiped a tear from her eye, glanced at Neville, and returned her glare to the object of her hatred.
"Who's next?" Voldemort was getting confident. "You will all fall. It is inevitable."
"Let's do it," Luna whispered.
Five different people cast the same spell. Five different green lights were speeding towards Voldemort. He flew backwards several feet, but this time, he lay still.
Ron took a step forward. "Did we...kill him?" he gulped.
"I don't think so." Harry shook his head. "He's unconscious."
The sky returned to its previous shade of blue. The castle came back into view. They were back on the Hogwarts grounds.
Ginny dropped on her knees where Neville lay. The people who had been inside the Great Hall were now outside. Many were screaming. Harry frowned. Angelina, Katie, and Neville were gone. Ginny still had herself wrapped around Neville, even as his grandmother appeared on the scene. Fred and George had found Katie and Angelina, and could do nothing but stare. Dumbledore pushed through the crowd.
"Where is he?" he demanded. "What happened?"
Harry was confused. His friends had died. Was Dumbledore talking about Voldemort? His temper flared. "I don't know what happened, all right? We were sitting there, and then we weren't there, and he was! He just started killing people. Just like in my..." Harry stopped.
"...your dream?" Dumbledore finished for him.
"Yeah." Harry frowned. "Did Professor Lupin talk to you about it?"
"Yes. You were sitting over there?" Dumbledore pointed to the lake. "Let's go have a look. What do you say?"
Harry was aghast. "What's wrong with you? I don't want to 'go have a look'! Some of my best friends just died! It's not like we'll find anything, anyway! We only knocked him unconscious!"
"Yes, and when that happened, you returned to the grounds, correct?" Dumbledore was actually smiling. Harry was beginning to think the old man was insane. "I bet you that if you returned, he has returned as well,"
"That's the craziest load of crud I've ever heard!" growled Harry, but he reluctantly followed Dumbledore.
Dumbledore walked all the way to the edge of the grounds, and the beginning of the Dark Forest.
"We weren't this far back," Harry grumbled, throwing his hands up in the air.
Dumbledore shook his head. "You weren't, but...lumos!" A bright light filled the area around Harry and Dumbledore.
Harry gasped. "It's...but, sir! When Cedric..." Harry stammered.
"I know, Harry. You don't have to explain anything to me. Professor Snape will be here in seconds to give Tom here his most potent sleeping potion...It should at least last long enough for the Dementors to arrive..."
Professor Snape didn't take long, just as Dumbledore had said. Dumbledore didn't even bother trying to move Voldemort. He left him where he lay in the Dark Forest. Harry fetched him a chair, and he sat guard until the Dementors arrived ten minutes later. The Dementors immediately delivered the Dementors Kiss. They then took Voldemort, who was (oddly enough) still sleeping, straight off to Azkaban. Harry could do nothing but stare at them. They had just sucked out his soul, and yet, it did fit that he spend the rest of his life in prison.
Harry returned to the crowd of people. Ron was very white faced, but otherwise seemed all right. Hermione was sobbing on his arm. Professor McGonnagal was leading her parents back into the castle. Harry reckoned they'd probably need a large dose of Prozac. Fred and George were huddled around Mr. And Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley was beside herself. She hugged George under one arm, and Fred under the other. Harry scanned the crowd for Ginny, but didn't have to look far. Grandma Longbottom was holding her grandson in her arms as if he were a child, and Ginny still sat where she had fallen when they returned. Harry started to panic. He remembered Luna coming back with them, but he didn't see her anywhere.
He caught sight of Lupin. He was standing near the lake, and several of the teachers had gathered there with him. He ran up to them. "Have any of you seen...?" he began, but breathed a sigh of relief. "Luna!" She was sitting cross-legged in the grass, staring out at the lake.
Lupin placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "She's a little shaken up, but I think she'll be all right..." he smiled.
"She has her reasons for being shaken up," Harry sighed, and took a seat in the grass next to Luna. She didn't look at him for several minutes. "Luna?" he finally whispered.
She sighed deeply. "I'm fine, Harry."
He frowned, but then he remembered something. "Luna? You remember what you said to me the summer before our sixth year?" he asked her.
"Not really, Harry, no." she frowned.
"Time heals all wounds, Luna." He smiled, and wrapped her in a hug. "Remember that. One day, this one will heal, too..."
"Sure it will, Harry," Luna smirked.
Harry got back up. Lupin pat him on the back. "Well done, Harry."
"We all did it, Professor Lupin." Harry shrugged.
"Did he get away?" Lupin whispered.
Harry couldn't help but smile. "Well, he sure is gone...in a manner of speaking."
Lupin looked confused. "What do you mean, Harry?"
Harry explained to Lupin how it was that the five of them were able to return to the castle. Slowly, he told of how Neville had died, and then Angelina and Katie. He talked about the Unforgivable curse, and how the five of them had realized that it could work, and how Voldemort had been knocked unconscious. Lupin only nodded throughout Harry's whole story.
"Yes, but what did you mean?" Lupin asked again. "You haven't explained that part yet!"
"Dumbledore found Voldemort. We'd knocked him good. He was still unconscious, and near the edge of the Dark Forest. Snape helped. He made a sleeping potion. The Dementors came about twenty minutes ago..." Harry explained.
"...The Dementors Kiss?" Lupin finished.
Harry nodded. "It's over."
A/N: There is an epilogue! I will have it up ASAP! Read and Review please!