Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope, not me.
A/N: The last part of The Wasteland, in which just about everything is resolved - I hope! It's the longest part so far, and I think it's my favourite...
If it's confusing, I probably stole it from the poem. If it's in another language, I definitely stole it from the poem. Just for the record, the mantra datta, dayadhvam, damyata is from one of the Hindu Upanishads and means 'give, sympathise, control'. TS Eliot uses it profusely in The Wasteland.
I will say no more, except this - review Mecca, which went up yesterday. It is a one-shot follow up to Jerusalem that I've had written forever and never got round to posting... it's not particularly fantastic, but it's adequate (I think) and serves its purpose, which is to show the shaky friendship of Harry and Hermione at that stage.
Now I really will say no more.
Part V - What The Thunder Said
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
—But who is that on the other side of you?
- TS Eliot, The Wasteland, Part V, What The Thunder Said
Godric's Hollow, May, 1998
Here it began, and here it would end.
Here were arrayed the armies of the living and the dead, ready, waiting. The Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and those who had gone before.
And he, Harry Potter, the Necromancer.
The coterie stood behind him, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Cho. Already, there was something palpably different about them. Harry wondered if he cared.
There was something palpably different about him, too.
Several metres away, he could see his parents, standing, wands at the ready, amongst the ranks of the Order of the Phoenix. He had not spoken to them yet. He did not know if he could. He did not know if they would recognise him.
What is that sound high in the air? Murmur of maternal lamentation?
His felt his scar burn. He raised his wand. "They're coming," he said quietly.
Who are those hooded hordes swarming over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth ringed by the flat horizon only?
And they came.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Da.
Ron closed his eyes. He could feel the magic draining out of him, out of the coterie, but he knew he had to keep going.
You can do this, he told himself. Keep breathing. Keep breathing.
Five of them. Just five. Animating an army.
I will not let them die.
He knew the others had changed. New things had woken in them. Djinn, undine, dryad, sylph. They would never be the same again.
Ever since the Department of Mysteries, when he had been immersed in thoughts and drowned in memories by the minds, the brains that passed through his hands, he had been different. He could read the Tapestry. He was... spirit.
Ron Weasley, the spirit.
He knew the Death Eaters were coming. He could feel them, sense them, their lives, pouring out over the brown wind. A damp gust, bringing rain,
It was so much harder now. The people they were animating were fighting, expending energy. His energy. But Harry's will, the will of the Necromancer, said they should be alive.
And Ron Weasley would keep them alive.
Datta: what have we given?
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Da.
Ginny threw her head back. So little left now, so little. So little, because she was clinging to herself.
London Bridge is falling down...
The djinn was screaming within her now, screaming for release. It wanted to burn her up from the inside out, give her to herself, send to the heavens on fiery wings.
I am the djinn and the djinn is me...
...falling down...
But Harry did not want her to become the djinn. Harry wanted her to be Ginny.
Harry needed her to be Ginny.
I am the djinn and the djinn is me...
Ginny... djinny... djinn...
...falling down...
With a scream, Ginny let go of Hermione's hand. Let go of Luna's hand. Let go of the coterie. Let go of life.
And held fire in the palm of her hand.
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
The djinn flew, blazing, into the sky. To destroy.
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key turn in the door once and turn once only...
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Da.
Hermione Granger had never been so afraid in all her life.
She considered, normally, that she was a rational person who could deal with situations. She had found out that her parents were not her parents, and she dealt. Regina Lupin died, and she dealt. Dumbledore died, and she dealt.
But now she was a member of a coterie. She was earth, the rational, the logical, and she could not deal.
Amongst the rock one cannot stop or think... sweat is dry and feet are in the sand...
Ginny had been the first to go, flying, screaming, on wings of fire. She blazed through the Death Eaters.
Hermione was not so brave.
Then Luna, aetherial.
Hermione was not so brave.
Then Cho, bringing rain into the wasteland.
Hermione was not so brave.
She could feel the dryad inside her... but the dryad was her. She could not unleash herself. There was nothing to unleash.
She was Hermione Granger, and there was no book she could learn this out of.
She was scared.
But she was not alone.
Ron took her hand.
"Together, Hermione," he whispered. "Together, for Harry." He pulled his wand from his sleeve.
"Together," she answered softly, and found the dryad within.
Earth and spirit. Natural and metaphysical.
Hermione and Ron.
Damyata: The boat responded gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar...
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
It was inevitable that they should meet again.
"Hello, Bellatrix," Sirius said coolly.
"Come back for some more?" she replied sweetly.
"What do you think?"
A woman drew her long black hair out tight and fiddled whisper music on those strings...
Flying, faster, quicker, harder. She had been training.
So had he.
And bats with baby faces in the violet light whistled, and beat their wings...
"Sirius!" Regina's voice, behind him, somewhere. Regina's voice, telling him to be safe.
He would be safe. He would not die while she was living.
Bellatrix drew a breath. "Avada Keda-"
"Stupefy!"
Falling, falling, falling.
And behind her stood Neville Longbottom, straight-backed and proud, wand held high. "That's for my mum," he said clearly. "And my dad."
"Do... do you want me...?" Sirius asked hopelessly.
Neville shook his head. "Don't kill her," he answered.
"She's dangerous, Neville -"
"I know," Neville answered. "But I will show mercy."
And with that, he walked away.
Ganga was sunken...
Sirius pointed his wand at Bellatrix. "Constringere!" Ropes shot out of the end and bound her tightly.
He leaned down to check that they were tight. "Fly on, Bellatrix," he muttered. "Do not look back."
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
It was inevitable that they should meet again.
"Hello, Peter," Remus said coolly.
Peter had his wand in his silver hand. "I - I'll -" he began.
"Don't talk," Remus interrupted, and fired the first spell.
He identified Peter's tactics at once. He was trying to get close enough to use his silver hand - to burn Remus apart.
After prison and place and reverberation...
"Remus!" he heard Aemilia shriek somewhere.
He turned. A mistake.
"Argentum!"
Somewhere, distantly, he heard Aemilia scream. He could not scream. He was burning, burning, burning.
He raised his wand with a silver covered arm. "Stu - stu -"
"Stupefy!"
Peter fell, James Potter behind him. Lily rushed to Remus's side. "Remus... Remus!"
It was hard to breathe now, the silver in his bloodstream. Lily at his side, Aemilia falling to her knees on the other, weeping, crying. "Don't die, Remus, don't die, don't die..."
He who was living is now dead...
He took her hand. "Aemilia..."
"It's only silver, Remus," she whispered. "Only silver. You can beat it."
Nature is inexorable.
We who were living are now dying...
Lily pointed her wand at him. "Finite Incantatum!"
A slight easing. "It's working..." he rasped.
"Finite Incantatum!"
Lily raised her wand for the third time, but Aemilia stopped her. "Let me," she said softly.
"Finite Incantatum!"
Three times is magic.
Co co rico co co rico...
Gone.
"Remus?" Aemilia asked quietly.
He heaved himself up on his elbows. "Aemilia," he said. Her name, nothing more.
"What are you thinking of?"
"How much I love you."
She threw her arms around him. Lily smiled, got up and followed James away.
"We're going to have a baby," Aemilia whispered to Remus.
With a little patience.
"I love you, Aemilia," he said. "How I love you."
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
It was inevitable that they should meet again.
And he was powerless to do anything.
Severus Snape dispatched Lucius Malfoy and withdrew under the cover of the trees, and watched as Harry Potter faced Lord Voldemort.
"Hello, Potter," Voldemort said coolly.
"Hello, Tom," Harry replied, equally as coolly.
"Hiding behind your parents again?"
Harry ignored him. Severus realised that it was his Occlumency training that allowed Harry to keep his cool, and felt a traitorous pang of pride. "My legions have won, Tom," he answered.
"But you have not," Voldemort shot back.
"Yet."
What is the city over the mountains?
Severus had never seen so fast nor furious a duel. Harry and Voldemort were blurs, white and black, black and white. Behind him, the legions reformed, Dumbledore and the Potters at the head.
Black and white, white and black.
Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air...
"Vestis Acclaro!" Harry yelled, and the Tapestry revealed itself.
Voldemort laughed.
Harry looked up, agonised. "You have no thread!"
"I am outside the Tapestry," Voldemort said, "and so I cannot die!"
Falling towers...
A movement behind him caught his eye. Lucius Malfoy was struggling up. He pointed his wand at the legions, clearly not caring who he hit.
"Avada Keda -"
"NIAMH!"
He ran, knowing he was too late, knowing he could do nothing.
Oh lady, lady, lady.
The Killing Curse flew, green and undulant, from Lucius Malfoy's wand. Snape's shoulder caught Niamh in the stomach and they rolled safely out of the way.
And Ron Weasley fell...
Jerusalem Athens Alexandria...
...fell...
...Vienna London...
...fell.
...Unreal.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Harry felt Ron die.
One to spin, one to weave, one to cut.
Snip.
"NO!" he yelled.
The coterie was faltering. They could not reanimate the dead much longer.
Voldemort laughed. Immortal Voldemort, who could not die.
All things are recorded on the Tapestry... but he has no thread.
Like Ron, Voldemort was dead.
Dead man walking.
He was the Necromancer. He could bring death... or life.
"Mortalis!"
Then spoke the thunder...
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Voldemort faltered. There was a bang and a cloud of smoke. Grimly, Harry waited.
The awful daring of a moment's surrender...
Voldemort was gone.
Tom Riddle stood in his place. And he laughed.
"You cannot defeat me! I have more magic at my command than you will ever imagine!"
Harry's arm blurred. Something silver went streaking through the air.
"But I have a sword," Harry said grimly.
Tom Riddle looked down, stupidly, at the hilt of Godric Gryffindor's sword protruding from his chest, egg sized rubies covered in red blood. His blood.
And he fell, fell, fell.
Harry Potter had won. Voldemort was dead.
But what was the price?
Da.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
He fell to his knees at Ron's side and shook him hard. "Ron! Ron!"
Hermione shook her head silently, tears streaming down her face. "He's gone, Harry. He's gone."
Harry gestured wildly about them with his arm. "They're gone too! But they're here! Ron! Ron!"
A hand fell on his shoulder. Dumbledore. "Harry," his old mentor said softly, "you must let him go. He's -"
"HE - IS - NOT - DEAD!"
"He is," Dumbledore said sadly. "He has gone to the Otherworld. I will watch him for you."
Harry stood and faced down Dumbledore, nose to nose. "He is not dead," he said between gritted teeth.
Ginny took his arm. Her wings of flame had faded now, but fire still burned deep in her eyes. "Harry -"
"I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO BE SO!"
And the world changed.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Helena clasped both her hands to her mouth. Harry's yell had brought the Tapestry back, but a different Tapestry, a new one, a warped one,
"Arachne, no!" she breathed.
A sin worse than necromancy. Changing time. Changing history.
"NO!" she yelled, grabbing Aralinda's arm. Dead Aralinda. "He can't do this!"
"HARRY!"
Someone was running, sprinting towards the boy. Running, even though it might be too late.
"HARRY!"
By this, and this only, we have existed...
Lily Potter grabbed her son, shook him. "Harry, no!" she said.
Three times is magic.
The Tapestry vanished.
Ron Weasley sat up. Hermione Granger threw her arms around him.
And Harry Potter fell, crying, into his mother's arms.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
"You saved me," Niamh said stupidly.
"In a manner of speaking," Severus said. "I rather expect Ron Weasley will hate me for eternity now."
Silence. Tender silence.
"I saw your son," Niamh told him quietly. Building a wall between them, higher, higher. Hadrian would be proud.
Severus did not say anything. There was nothing to say.
In this decayed hole among the mountains, in the faint moonlight, the grass is singing...
"He looks like Helena," she added quietly, "but he has your eyes."
Severus tenderly brushed a tear off her cheek. "One day, we will have a child of our own," he told her softly, "who will have your eyes, Niamh."
She threw her arms around him, wept into his shoulder.
He was flawed, he was dark and he was volatile, but he was hers.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
Remus Lupin, Minister of Magic, began the cleanup. Aemilia, her hand in his, refused to leave his side.
Together, they stared down at the dead body of Tom Riddle. "What shall we do?" Aemilia asked him softly.
"Bury him," Remus answered. "We must honour the dead." He reached down, grimacing, and pulled the sword from Riddle's chest.
He dropped it almost instantly, swearing under his breath. "Bloody silver!"
Aemilia shivered.
He noticed at once. "Sorry, Aemilia."
She smiled weakly and drew a little nearer to him. "Just... stay away from silver, will you?"
"I'll do my best," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
That afternoon, it was gruesome work. Remus commanded workers as they gathered the bodies of those that had fallen and made preparations for their burials. Many had died.
But Aemilia was, inexplicably, happy.
These fragments I have shored against my ruins.
They had won.
Remus was safe.
And the space between the stars was shining.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
She found him standing alone, watching Lily hold her son. James had come up at some point and put his arms around them both. The family.
She put her hand on his arm. "Sirius?"
His eyes were full of tears. "Reggie," he whispered. "I've missed you so much."
Regina put her arms around him then, this achingly special, beautiful man. "I know," she said into his shirt. "I know."
Sirius was shaking with suppressed emotion. "He almost died," he said shakily, holding her tight. "Harry almost died! And... and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't save him, just like I couldn't save you."
She drew back and looked him in the eye. "I made my own choice," she told him softly.
He nodded imperceptibly. "I know."
"The war is won."
"I know."
"We... do not have long." She knew she was fading, that the coterie could not sustain the legions of the dead much longer.
He closed his eyes. "I know."
Three times is magic.
"Sirius? R-Regina?"
They turned to look at her, brown hair crusted with dirt and mud, clothes ripped, tears coursing down her face.
She was the most beautiful thing Regina had ever seen.
The girl's voice broke. "F-father? M-mother?"
"Hermione?" Regina said quietly.
She nodded. "Yes."
Wordlessly, Regina held out her arms, and her daughter rushed into them. A moment later, Sirius wrapped his arms around them both.
The sea was calm.
Family.
§ § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § § §
His mother drew back at last. "I'm so proud of you, Harry," she told him, cupping his face in her hands.
Harry knew he was shaking, could not stop. "I almost destroyed everything," he whispered.
"But you didn't," his father told him, putting his hand on Harry's shoulder, "and that is what is important."
Ron groaned and got to his feet. "I feel like I've been hit in the head with ten Bludgers," he moaned.
"Stop whining, Ron," Ginny snapped.
Harry couldn't help but smile.
Ron caught his eye. "You all right, Harry?"
"No," Harry replied, "but I will be."
Ron fidgeted uncomfortably. "Um... hi, Mr and Mrs Potter."
James offered Ron his hand, and Ron shook it uneasily. "You did well," James said.
"None of this would have happened if it weren't for you, you realise," Lily said.
Ron grinned crookedly. "Thanks."
"You're quite welcome," Lily said.
Ron turned to Harry. "Harry, mate, have you seen Hermione?"
Harry pointed. "Over there."
Ron turned. Hermione was with Sirius and Regina. Family. "I guess it all came right for her," he said. He grinned again. "I'm glad."
"Me too," Harry said.
"Well... er, nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Potter," Ron said. "I'd better... go and find my mum and dad. Let them know I'm all right. Coming, Ginny?"
"Not yet," Ginny replied.
Ron shot her a strange look, but loped off.
Ginny stuck her hand out for Lily and James to shake. "I'm Ginny Weasley," she said.
A wicked smile spread across James's face. "You're the one Harry proposed to, aren't you?"
"Dad!" Harry exclaimed. Ginny turned scarlet.
"Let me tell you something, Harry," James said, still grinning mischievously. "My mother was red-haired. So is your mother - in case you hadn't noticed. There is a family tradition to keep up here. Don't break it."
Harry saw his mother catch Ginny's glance and roll her eyes. He smiled. "Don't worry," he told his father, "I don't intend to break it."
Ginny caught his eye and smiled. She did not need to do anything more. "I'd... better go and find my parents as well," she said. "Bye, Mr and Mrs Potter. Bye, Harry."
"Bye, Ginny," Harry said.
Now turn to Mecca...
James was still grinning wickedly. "Good move, son," he said. "That was smooth."
"James!" Lily scolded. "I'm sorry, Harry, your father hasn't had much of an opportunity to grow up."
Harry smiled. "I don't mind."
Family. And a future.
Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
Harry realised he could hear someone singing. Together with his parents, he watched.
It was the Patil twins. Dirty, covered in blood and muck and gore, but smiling, Parvati and Padma walked across the battlefield. And they were singing.
"Shantih... shantih... shantih..."
Finis
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REVIEW!
And read and review Mecca, which went up yesterday... it is lonely and needs reviews.
Invented Spells In This Chapter
Argentum - the Silver Curse. Remus ends up covered in silver, which is - obviously - not good.
Vestis Acclaro- We all know this one now, don't we? It brings the Tapestry into the mortal eye.
Mortalis - This invented spell of Harry's makes Voldemort mortal. His virtual immortality had placed him outside the Tapestry, but mortality brought him back in. This is why 'Voldemort' disappears and 'Tom' appears.