Disclaimer: as I said countless previous times –actually, countable, but
don't feel like it right now- I OWN NOTHING!
Dedication: Red, this story is for you! For all those who have no idea who Red is, check previous chapters or read next sentence: Red is the Red Dragons Order. Savvy? Good.
Chapter 30: Revelations and Help
It was April. Wonderful April. Harry, Ron and Ginny were training for the last Quiddich game of that year. The one against Ravenclaw. Well, at least it took Harry's mind off Voldemort.
The Torch was safe, everything was peaceful. The fifth and seventh years were studying as much as they could for their exams... The birds were blooming and the flowers were flying... Especially when they were under the spells of some very nice Slytherin students who decided that the owls were too milk-happy, always throwing the letters into the milk at morning. And as for the flowers, the same Slytherin students decided to make the Herbology class more interesting.
Yep. Harry had to wonder why it had all went so well until then –except for a few man-eating plants that were hungry and a few very nice bludgers he received during the Quiddich training, but alas, you can't have everything in life, now can you?-. All was normal and maybe too beautiful –except said man eating plants. Ugh-.
Right now, the four sixth year Gryffindors that seemed to be nearly impossible to part –although Amala had made it much later than the others into the group- were eating dinner in the Great Hall.
"I miss my parents" Amala said. "And auntie Mona! God, how I miss her! She's a really wonderful person. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her since last May, but hey! Hopefully I will see her soon"
"Is she away from your house or something?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, she travels a lot. She loves India, by the way and loves all the gods and goddesses there. She studies Tantra there, too. It's an oriental way of life, kind of like Yoga..."
"Lucky you" Mark Evans said. 'I've nobody really cool in my family. My grandparents from my dad's side are unfortunately dead, but I still have my grandparents from my mom's side. They're wizards. My dad's a muggle, but he said he had a witch in the family before marrying mum. Some cousin of his, Lily. Seen some of her pictures. Beautiful woman, I'd probably have loved her. She had green eyes, just like yours, Harry! And she had an awful sister, Petunia."
Harry gaped.
"Pe-Petunia?" he stuttered.
"Yeah. You know her?" he kid asked.
"I do" Harry whispered. "Tell me, did she marry a muggle, Vernon Dursley?"
"I think it was something like that... Why?"
"Your aunt was Lily Potter" Harry said quietly. "My mum"
The others around them stopped to look at the two cousins.
"You had no idea you were related?!" Neville asked, surprised.
"No, we didn't!" the two replied at the same time.
"I can't believe it" Hermione muttered. "Oh, my..."
Amala just stared at them, saying nothing. Ron was gaping and managed to gather all his power to say:
"Bu 'ow?"
"Seems like my mum had a cousin who got married and had Mark. I don't think Dumbledore knew."
"I'll ask my dad what happened" Mark said. "I never thought I had you, of all people in my family"
Harry nodded and Hermione got up.
"Well, um, we should go study... Weird to know facts, but hey, it's a small world, right?"
The two nodded and looked at each other weirdly before getting up and following the bushy-haired girl.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Amala had decided to make a stop at the dungeons before going to her bedroom. It wasn't really in her way, but hey! It was in the same building, right? She smiled at her weird logic and knocked carefully at the door of Severus's quarters.
"Come in" she heard a voice say.
She entered and saw her boyfriend sitting down on the couch, reading a book, wearing some black pants and a black blouse. He seemed a lot more comfortable than usual.
"Amala!" he said, a small smile on his lips. "Great to see you again. Thought it was McGonagall and I nearly started giving you the speech of 'I don't really want to talk now'"
"You shouldn't do that to me, you know that, Severus?" she asked and sat next to him. He seemed a lot more comfortable than usual.
"Mhm" came the reply. "You do know it's a bit after curfew and you're not supposed to be here, right?"
"Right! I knew I forgot something before crying out to the school that I was coming to see you"
He snorted and let his book down –the title being, as Amala quickly noticed, "A Guide to the Most Difficult Potions" by Hannah Draught.
"I thought you knew that book by heart?!" she asked.
"Just forgot a few details about the Dragon's Draught. Some of the effects... I actually wrote on it what Jack said"
"Jack Towers?"
"Yes, him. But right now, I think I have a better thing to do."
"And that would be..."
"Talking to you" he replied. "Books are always there, but not the same can be said about a person"
She smiled happily.
"Well, that's definitely true! I can carry books around, but when school's over, I'll regret not having you"
His face got suddenly darker.
"What will you tell your parents?"
She turned a bit red and pursed her lips.
"I already told them that I'm going out with someone... a Slytherin boy called Sev. From the number Seven, which is a really lucky number, don't you think so?"
"Sev, short from Seven?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, um, yeah. Do you mind?" she asked sheepishly.
"No, but they will find out eventually of who I really am" he replied with a deep voice.
"I can deal with that when it comes" she answered. "I'm not a Gryffindor for nothing"
He smiled and slid a hand under her shoulders as she leaned gently on him.
"I really am that lucky to have you" he muttered.
"Severus, I had no idea you knew such lines" she amusedly said.
"What can a man do?" he questioned back. "In front of such a beauty..."
"There! Another line" she said, spotting it immediately.
"Truth speaks your mouth and in your eyes the stars shine" he added amusedly.
"Put such fine words to better use, I do believe you can come up with something better" Amala laughed.
"Put words to better use? But do words not come from the mouth? Very well, I will put it to a better use" and kissed her tenderly.
"Did you drink any of your potions lately?" Amala asked after they broke the kiss.
"No, why?"
"You're awfully relaxed and comfortable and all that"
Severus just snorted.
"Happens even without potions" he replied.
As he was about to move back to her, there was a knock on the door and they both turned their heads towards the door.
"Hide in my bedroom" he whispered quickly and she left with the easiness of a cat. When she was nowhere in sight, Severus replied, half taking off his shirt. "Come in!"
As the person came in, he stood up and pretended to get dressed.
"Severus?" said the female voice he knew all too well.
"Minerva!" he replied. "Nice to see you again. Can't a man even dress in peace?"
"I thought I heard voices" she said. "Were you with somebody?"
"If I were with somebody, would I be getting dressed?"
"So you really want me to answer that, Severus?" she asked and he rolled his eyes.
"If I were with somebody, I would not answer the door right now! Plus, as you can see, I'm fully dressed and only had to take my blouse a second ago, and there's no sign on me whatsoever that I was going to..."
"I get the point!" Minerva stopped him. "Yes, I can see you were pretty much alone here. I wanted to ask you about tonight's watch over the castle. I'm going to be in it. Do you wish to be?"
"No, I really shouldn't be. After all I lost yesterday night with brewing that potion and didn't get much sleep."
"That's what I thought" she said. "Just checking anyway. I'll have Filch to guard this corridor. Is that alright?"
Severus replied with a calm-as-ever tone.
"Yes, I'm alright with that."
"Good. Goodnight, Severus"
"Goodnight, Minerva"
She left, shutting the door behind her in a simple manner. He locked it magically and went to his bedroom, also casting silencing spells. Not a good idea to be heard by Filch while talking to Amala.
"You can't leave" he said. "Filch is watching over this corridor"
"Heard that" she replied. "I thought you had some secret passages leading from here to God-knows-where? After all, I traveled through them, too"
"The whole school is under guard. Even the Prefects are guarding. There's supposed to be a death eater attack soon and some of us are keeping on watch"
"So, I'm stuck here with you, huh?" she asked.
"Yes"
"Well, who am I to complain?"
Amala went to him, embraced him and kissed him. He smiled down to her in a very calm and relaxed way. He seemed like the wonderful version of the man she had fallen in love with and frankly, she didn't mind! She thought this might be a dream, so she would act like she would in a dream of the sort, too. But since she didn't really believe it, she decided to stay decent.
"I should transfigure you some pijamas" he said quietly.
"If you say so" she replied in a mock voice of 'don't you think I know you better than that?'
"Too bad you turn 17 only this summer" Severus muttered in return, pretending to be speaking to himself.
"Why?" she asked.
"Did I say that out loud?" he wondered. "Must be more careful..."
"What does it have to do with anything?" she asked, mock confused.
"You're under age" he replied with a mischievous smile.
"What?! No! Forget the damned rule!" she said devilishly, but not seriously. "Now, really, why obey it?"
"Because I do not want to be accused of anything" Severus replied with the same mischievous smile.
"Perhaps you're right" she said.
He went to his own closet and picked out some pants and a blouse and transfigured them into pijamas.
"I'll go change" she muttered and left for the bathroom, leaving Severus to shake his head.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
The night had been great... Well, in Amala's version, at least. She hadn't expected Severus to try anything since, well he had said it last night, too, she was under age.
But that didn't stop them from their game. They played with words –and not only-, but really sleeping, after they decided it was late. She had hoped before, of course, that once he became her boyfriend, he would be a tad nicer, but she definitely hadn't expected this turn. Huh! Who'd have thought? Severus and fluff in the same sentence. He must have taken a potion. It was too fairy-tale-ish.
And if Ron and Harry would just stop bothering her like that! So, they'd spent the night together, so what?! Didn't they know the whole age- problem?!
"Oh, shut up" she mumbled.
Hermione, on the other hand, was smiling to her like a real friend. She finally managed to shut the two up before they went to the classroom.
"But, you know" she added "I must say one's mind goes to not so innocent things when you say you've spent the night with him"
Amala just laughed and the four of them made it to their class in a very good mood. Although she did notice Severus nearly run out of the room, McGonagall asking him something sternly. She wished he wasn't in trouble.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
A dryad walked through her trees, watching them with a smile. To a human, she would seem to be a weird walking tree. Alas, nobody remembered the stories of the dryad nobles as truth, but as myth... Even wizards! They should know better... And thinking about myths, she should ask the naiad if the Loch ness Monster was real. She'd always wondered about that.
She stretched her branches and looked up towards the night sky. She'd already been there for too long and was getting bored. Really, if Naranesh hadn't told her of the possible attack, she'd just leave. After all, the castle had been warded a long time ago by Jack Strois himself and who could cross his wards? And there were Dumbledore and Snape and McGonagall there. She sure as hell didn't believe there would be anything crazy enough to attack the castle just like that! Plus, all was so peaceful.
So, there were quite a few wards around, she knew the centaurs –pesky, pesky creatures- would try to kill anyone who dared cross their forest. Of course, the elven party had been set up by Naranesh herself and therefore they might have not even known the elves were there. And the very nice giant spiders were definitely not to cross. Not to mention the weird other creatures in there, lost from the other worlds. She once had made it in another world herself and only realized it when a group of griffins walked by her. Only then did she ask the trees where she was and found out she made it in a very wild world, definitely nowhere near Hogwarts. Unpleasant, but not disastrous.
Suddenly, she felt the trees telling her something and she looked at them for a few seconds before running as fast as the wind towards the Forbidden Forest.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
The naiad watched as the dryad ran with a huge speed through the trees and decided to follow. Well, she hadn't actually seen the dryad, but she saw a tree that was traveling with the speed of light. She got out of the lake and ran herself into the forest, right behind her friend, the lake behind her shining in the moonlight mysteriously.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
A raven was staring down at a very huge group of... whatevers that were approaching. Damn! What was up with the army?! And how dared they even get in close proximity to that place? Even he knew –and he was a raven, for crying out loud- that no sane dark creature should ever get close to the human nest that was so close. And a huge nest it was, also having a lot of little humans in it and a few bigger humans. And sometimes little humans learned to fly, but not too often. He wondered what they did when they didn't learn that. Ah, well, who was he to question humans?
But why did these creatures come here? They were dark and ugly and wouldn't be able to get in the human nest. Even he felt, as a neutral being, that the nest was protected by nature itself. Oh, no, only light beings could enter. And those things definitely weren't light.
As he thought of that, he could see with great surprise a running tree –'must be a tree goddess' he mused- and a beautiful blue thing that looked like water –'and a water goddess' he mused again-. They were running quickly –of course they couldn't see the army, he had been on a high branch, but they would see it soon-.
He flew after the two, seeking their presence. Hmm, curiosity killed the cat, but did it kill the raven? Nope. Just the cat, thank God. So, he was safe. He could hear the sound of wind through the branches now, but strangely, there was no wind. Weird, he should feel it! But when the sound of water could be heard, he realized what was going on. The goddesses were talking! The wind replied again and the water said something before the water ran back and so did the tree. The raven felt the tree under him start to shake and move and flew up, not making any sound. He would not betray the goddesses!
The trees moved, making a nice wall in front of the army and the crow waited to see them reach the tree wall. When they did, some howled in frustration and a bunch of black humans came out in front, shooting fire at the trees.
The raven gave a loud cry and shot out of the tree. He would not end up fried! The trees under him started burning and he flew towards the human nest. There he could see what would be going on. And then he would fly home and that was that!
/-/-/-/-/-/-
=By gum, look at those things! =/ the dryad said, amazed, to her friend.
/=Tell me about it?= the other replied.
=I'll keep them and put a wall of trees, you take care of the waters!=/
/=Sure, and be careful!=
The naiad ran towards the lake while the dryad made the trees around her gather closely.
=Sorry to leave you to die, friends=/ she whispered to them as she ran. Behind her she could hear her beautiful trees saying back they were happy to die for her. She wasn't. She wished they wouldn't die... Because they would be burnt soon.
She put a lot of obstacles on her path back and when she made it to the castle, she saw the naiad had already talked to Iris who was running towards the castle at full speed.
/=The water is ready!= the naiad said. /=And so are the wizards! How're your trees?=
=Fine. But many will die=/ she replied, in a choke. She could hear, although nobody else could, the cry of the burning trees. Her dear trees... Her beloved, beloved trees...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"ALBUS!" Iris cried as she entered the office. "We're being attacked!"
"What?!" the Headmaster asked, meeting her eyes. "Severus, you go and alert the Professors, Minerva, lock the children in their common rooms!"
"No! Don't lock them!" Iris said. "If we are attacked badly enough to be defeated, then they are surely doomed."
"But if they are crazy enough to engage in battle..." Minerva said.
"No, they won't! They surely won't engage in battle! Tell them to stay away, hidden, tell them we have a great plan which needs not to be ruined. Tell them that any interference besides the supernatural forces might be disastrous for our plans. And warn the Slytherins that whomever joins the dark side will suffer the consequences just like a Death Eater. Tell them that, Minerva. And add the fact that we are in advantage and need to keep it that way. And that nobody should help us, or the enemy or the results would be disastrous for both sides."
Minerva just nodded and ran out the door, after Severus who had already done it a few seconds ago. Albus just looked at her for a second before he said:
"You knew this would happen"
"God, you know I did, Albus, that's why I said it in the last few Order meetings. Now, let's summon the Order and the Aurors."
The two of them started summoning, Iris the Order and Albus the Aurors before they too rushed outside, where the battle had already begun.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
Severus jumped in the middle of the battle, striking left and right like he always dreamed he would. But hell, the creatures attacking them were so numerous! There were about twenty giants, a lot of dark creatures of all kinds and more Death Eaters than he remembered seeing in the past meetings. And then, there was Voldemort himself, hitting everybody in his path, shooting Avada Kedavra's as if they were nothings. But trees and water jumped in his way, getting hit, making sure his spells didn't reach anybody who would die from them. The trees would lose their leaves and look as if winter had just come, but they would survive. And water made sure the spells were deflected. So, the Death Eaters started shooting fire, trying to evaporate the water and to burn the trees. If only there would be a tad more light... he could see clearly!
In the middle of the trees there was a tree-woman which he easily recognized as a dryad. It seemed to be both hurt and furious, which was a bad thing for Voldemort. But she couldn't reach him, there were too many wizards and creatures between them.
But even though the trees and the water helped, Severus knew they would lose. They were badly outnumbered and dark animals rushed out of the Forest so fast, he wondered where they came from. It seemed that for every creature they killed, there were another ten to replace it. And soon they would loose... It was a miracle nobody human had died yet, although burnt trees lay everywhere, dead, and the wizards were stupefied and petrified all over the battle field.
Oh, curse all the creatures! And a giant had just stood on some of the trees, reducing them to branches and roots. The dryad let out a cry of pain and attacked the giant with everything she had, taking it down with her branches, shooting something that seemed like a wooden spear through its heart.
"MY TREES!" she cried, in pain. "MY TREES, YOU IDIOT!"
Voldemort laughed at her pain, not caring that he had lost one of his soldiers... he had more coming. He had dealt with the Hogwarts wards enough for them to allow his army on the school ground. But it took a lot out of him, he had to admit. Whoever had put the wards on the school had been much more powerful than him. And he couldn't last like that forever. Thank God the creatures were in, though! Their power was helping him. In fact, that was the only way to enter the castle and conquer it: make the wards shatter for a moment, enough for his army to enter. And then the army would help him unconsciously and the burden would be lifted off his shoulders... sort of. But he feared the moment he would have to open the castle doors.
He then saw some flying things in the distance.
"Well, DUMBLEDORE, seems that your PETTY ORDER has arrived!" he cried to the other wizard who glanced at the people on broomsticks.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
Sirius glanced at the others around them and sped up his broomstick. He needed to get to Harry! He was supposed to, as the goddess had said, help him and allow him to use the Torch!
"Hurry bloody up!" he muttered and sped even more. But when he got closer, he noticed all the dark creatures around the field and his heart shrank. He couldn't let Harry go out of the castle between all those animals! And there was Voldemort himself! Sirius gulped. Nope, no way in hell was he going to let Harry out, he'd rather die than that!... even if he died again.
He made it in the middle of the field and started shooting spells everywhere. Iris rushed to him and cried over the sounds of the battle:
"I can't get Minerva to allow Harry to use the Torch now! Help, Siri!"
Sirius looked at her, horror-struck. He couldn't do that! HE COUDLN'T! But in the next moment, he realized that maybe Harry would be safer than any of them while he was carrying that blasted Torch and he would save many people from dieing. He could feel a powerful something telling him that was what he should do. He had felt something like that before... That thing was to be trusted!
He rushed to Dumbledore and yelled at him, asking for Harry to save them. Dumbledore agreed and he rushed in the castle.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"That's our cue!" Saren cried to the elves as they exited the Forest and jumped on their enemies. She had fought in human wars before and she would sure as hell fight again, never mind the fact that she was supposed to be loving and kind. But then again, all elves could fight and she was an elf! And so was Soveran, he was fighting like a lion in the sea of ogres. She was fighting with a vampire, herself.
"No chance to defeat me, hun, I'm older than you!" he laughed. "I've been here since the 18 hundreds!"
"I've been here for four thousand five hundred years!" she cried in return. "I do believe I'm older!"
She then stabbed the creature in the heart and it turned to dust immediately.
"God, I hate to kill" she told herself. "Seven hours until daylight, we're so doomed!"
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Harry!" Sirius cried, entering the Gryffindor common room after yelling at the Fat Lady for a while and threatening to vandalize her again.
"Sirius?" the boy asked.
"Get the Torch and get outside and do something!"
Harry ran up the stairs and Hermione told him:
"Sirius... he already tried, but he somehow didn't manage to take it away from where it was..."
Sirius just stood there, dumbstruck.
"He couldn't...?" he whispered, the whole common room staring at him. But soon there were running footsteps down the stairs to the dormitories and Harry came in the room carrying the Green Flame Torch.
"I did it!" he said, proudly. "Let's go out, Sirius!"
They left the common room in a hurry, Harry seeming very majestic to those who remained inside.
"Whoa, mate. Whoa" Ron said to Neville. They had all been panicking until Sirius had come in and taken Harry with him. There had been no way to speak to anybody in that racket and now all seemed quiet. Plus, he just realized, nearly nobody there had seen Harry with the Torch before. And now he seemed even more majestic than usual.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
On the battle field, Severus Snape knew that they would lose soon. No matter how great their forces, the enemies had forces not known before to them.
"BARTY CROUCH!" cried Voldemort. "Where is he?"
"He has not come here, master" Lucius Malfoy replied. "He wasn't there at the meeting spot, either!"
"WHAT!" Voldemort cried. "How couldn't he? I will punish him myself!"
Severus heard that part of the conversation and understood that he wouldn't be able to play Barty Crouch anymore. 'Punishing' was over an hour long and he couldn't possibly drink Polyjuice under the Cruciatus spell. And only one mistake and poof! He would be dead.
And then, Voldemort himself spotted him in the mass of fighting creatures.
"Severus!" he cried, enraged. "Traitor! Avada..."
The Potion Master realized he wouldn't be able to get out of the range of the spell in time, but tried to nevertheless.
"Kedavra!"
The spell flew at him and Severus's mind flew towards two people in that last second... Amala, who'd be in grief... and his Master... The one he hadn't seen in such a long time... Jack Strois.
The spell hit him and he collapsed to the ground, hit badly...
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Severus!" Albus cried. "What have you done?!"
"Killed him!" Voldemort laughed as the elder man rushed to the Potion Master's side.
The Headmaster seemed to shine in his white robes, under the silvery moonlight. He bowed down over Severus's pale body and a tear fell down from his eyes as he looked at the dead face that had been so dear to him. The slightly open mouth seemed to say one last word, his opened eyes gazed into nothingness.
"Severus..." he said slowly and painfully.
Voldemort laughed cruelly as he watched the old man bowing over the traitor.
"Face it, Dumbledore! He's dead and he will stay that way"
"I don't think so!" said a voice. "Voldemort!"
Nearly everybody turned their heads to the newcomer. He was tall, dressed in black and had two dark wings on his back. Oh, yeah, and he looked like a god.
"How dare you?!" the Dark Lord cried.
"I dare. I am Mark Strois, Death's own messenger. And I came to remind you your little pact with her twenty years ago!"
Voldemort paled seriously, although nobody had thought it would be possible.
"Severus Snape will come back to life now... and so will Nymphadora Tonks!"
"What?!" Voldemort said. "NO! She said ONE life I must spare! ONE, not two!"
"But she said that for a secret, you would spear two lives"
Albus looked around him and saw the dead body of Tonks lying down. His heart sank but then lifted back as he saw the very pale Dark Lord in front of him.
"What secret would be so great I should spear both lives?" he questioned loudly.
"There is something you do not know of Crouch" Mark said.
"I know all about him, you fool! He is my only faithful servant!" Voldemort said.
"I know. But he is also soulless at the moment" Mark said with a smirk. "The man you have in your service is not Crouch"
"Who is he, then?" Voldemort asked, feeling like a man in a cage.
"Severus Snape" Mark replied, his eyes narrowing.
"NOOO!" Voldemort cried and Mark went to Severus and touched him right above his heart, after that doing the same with Tonks.
"Too late now..." Mark said and smiled wickedly at the Dark Lord. "Your doom awaits, Tom Marvolo Riddle! Here it comes, floating dangerously in a green light"
With that, Mark turned his back on the Dark Lord and walked away, disappearing in darkness. Behind him, Severus and Tonks woke back to life.
Everybody stared at the weird scene and at the two dead waking up.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"I hope you know what you're doing, Mistress" Mark muttered.
"You doubt me?"
Mark looked at the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Again, she had appeared out of nowhere. He really loved her, but sometimes it got annoying when she did that.
"No. I just hope all will come out right in the end" he replied, lifting up his chin.
"You do doubt me" she concluded, a mischievous smile on her face.
"No..." he tried to argue, but didn't manage as she interrupted him.
"If you wouldn't, you wouldn't hope for it to come out right. It will. No human or human like creature will die in this battle...anymore" she said with a mischievous smile which made him wonder sometimes what exactly she controlled and which she did not.
"How do you know?" he asked and she laughed.
"I am Death!" she replied simply
"But what if one kills another..."
"They won't. At this very moment, Harry Potter is doing the very thing for which this battle is fought! He will prove the full forces of both light and dark side. And you know who will win..."
"I do!" Mark muttered. "I do... but how many will die? It would be horrible for some to die so young!"
"I decide who stays and who goes. I am the Goddess of Time and therefore of Destruction! You know that even though I say I am Death, you know that I am not... do you not?"
"Death and destruction two of your faces, Mistress" he replied, wondering why she was reminding him that. "I trust you completely and I beg for you to forgive me for not trusting you for a moment. And would it be alright if I begged you to spare the lives of those on the field?"
"It is alright, but I already told you I would. None must die now. It is not yet their time! But when it shall come, be sure I will take them. I do not spare uselessly, Mark. But I do not kill uselessly, either. I do all when it is necessary and I will always do everything at the right time and I will seem to be Death, but I am not only Death, but also transformation, which is another face of Death. You should know that by now"
"I know" Mark said. It was a bit complicated, but he had understood it a long time ago. "But then... may I ask... how many will be transformed?"
"Tonight? Many. I will do now what I would do in years. I am Time itself, the Time that kills, that devours everything and they call me Death. They are right... and I will kill many of their weaknesses tonight. But fear not, all shall go to right and none shall lose their physical bodies in this night."
"How will you act?" Mark questioned. Was he pushing it too far? But even if he was, she was patience itself and wouldn't make him feel bad because of it. And it seemed that he hadn't pushed it too far with his deadly curiosity.
"I will be there in blackness and I will use the Torch with the Green Flame. I will act through it. And then another will take my place and they will think I wasn't even there. But I will be there more tonight than in any other time they could think of."
She smiled at him and her teeth started growing incredibly long and sharp, her lips curled in an ironic smile and her beautiful body was surrounded by a black aura. Instead of the beautiful kind woman before, she was frightening, her teeth seeming to be ready to destroy everything in her path, the smile saying what she thought of the world. In one of her hands appeared a long sword that only added to the effect. Mark stared at her full of devotion, knowing that behind the terrible mask there was more love than anyone could ever think. He knew that she would do only what would be good to the ones on the battle field, but that didn't stop him from shivering at the mere sight of the mesmerizing goddess before him. Her body became black and more beautiful than it had already been as she became the image of Death. The ones on the battle field would lose many of their weaknesses, but it would hurt a lot... just like taking out a rotten tooth.
"Fools and only fools think they can escape me tonight!"
/-/-/-/-/-
Back on the battlefield, the atmosphere started changing again, everybody snapped out of stupor and started attacking their enemies with viciousness. And in that precise moment appeared Harry with the Torch.
"What do I do now?" he asked Sirius.
"Don't know, you're the bearer!" Sirius replied.
Harry looked around the battlefield and spotted the one man he deeply hated. Voldemort. He walked past Sirius in full storming-mode, everybody stepping away from his sight, friend or not.
"Harry? Harry! HARRY!" his Godfather cried desperately, but got no response. Instead, the teen rushed to the dark wizard and pointed his wand at him, holding the Torch in the other.
"You will hurt nobody now!" he cried loud enough for everybody to hear.
"Too late, Potter!" he spat. "This time, one of us will die!"
"I agree, Voldemort" Harry said, his eyes glittering.
"What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" said Iris, nobody hearing her, though. "This is sooo wrong"
Both Voldemort and Harry drew their wands and Voldemort had to admit he was in disadvantage. Blasted Torch! It made Potter too powerful!
"Crucio!" he cried, as a beginning, but Harry got out of the way.
"Expalliarmus!" Harry cried, but Voldemort ducked.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Stupefy!"
"Crucio!"
"Expalliarmus!"
"Impedimenta!"
"Reducto!"
Sirius watched for a few minutes as the two wizards shot spells from one another, neither losing, nor winning, both moving terribly fast. Well, he would have stayed to watch for a longer while, but he was attacked by a blasted lethifold. What a time!
Everybody fought viciously, all knowing, however, that the victory would be determined by the winner of the duel between Voldemort and Harry Potter. But it wouldn't hurt if they still fought for their lives, did it?
Sirius blasted the animal into pieces and jumped against a Death Eater who seemed to be hitting him wit all he had. Except the Avada Kedavra, that is. He somehow managed to also fall under the Cruciatus and he screamed so loud Iris could hear him from the other side of the battlefield and started making her way towards him, passing over the petrified body of Sprout and the stupefied Nott. But when she made it to Sirius, he had already taken care of the pesky wizard and was fighting with a few vampires. So help was welcomed anyway.
And then, there was a cry... and all went green and then black.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry looked angrily at the man in front of him and shouted at the top of his lunges, the most unforgivable of the unforgivable curses:
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green flame of the Torch melted with his spell, however and instead of hitting only his opponent, the spell seemed to grow in size and to hit everything around it... including Harry.
His vision blurred and he fell into darkness...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
In the dungeons, Draco felt power rush towards the common room and cried desperately to his fellow Slytherins:
"RUN!"
But before he could do anything, a green wave hit him fully.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
In the Gryffindor common room, Amala opened her eyes from the silent prayer she was murmuring and let out a sigh of pain and fear. Then, something powerful and green hit her fully and she fell to the floor, unaware that the same had happened everywhere in the castle, portraits and ghosts being hit themselves and students collapsing on the floors. In Hogsmeade, the people who hadn't gone in the battle to help saw the green wave come to them and also fell hit by it.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The next morning, near dawn, the sun rose to see many people sprawled on the grounds and floors of Hogwarts. He let his sunbeams hit them, especially one of them, a boy he knew too well, awaking him first.
Harry opened his eyes to see the dawning sun arise over the castle and its grounds. Somewhere further, he could see Voldemort himself laying on the ground, still unconscious. He could do something... put an end to the war now... this moment! But he knew it wasn't yet the time. That weird creature that had appeared in his sleep had told him so and he knew it wouldn't be good to mess with her. And for a second there, she had let him see... see something... but he couldn't remember what... He remembered saying 'oh' and... that was all. But he knew that killing Voldemort now wasn't in the plan. Something else had to happen. And besides, he couldn't have cast the spell there even if he wanted to. He couldn't feel his limbs...
But he somehow managed to get up and he saw that all the creatures around him were in deep sleep. The Torch was still standing next to him.
And then, they all started to wake up in the same time, scaring him. The vampires, protected in some bubbly-things, disappeared first, followed by the creatures, the Death Eaters and finally Voldemort himself. Students ran out of the castle, staring at what was outside.
And over them came a great light... In the dawn, another sun approached them. A pure white sun, but which didn't harm their eyes. As it approached, they realized that around it white birds were flying in circles, other color birds approaching it also and starting to circle like crazy.
Then, looking below it, for the bright orb floated above ground at about five meters, they could see animals running in circles, approaching in a way that proved they were happier than ever before.
And music started singing in tunes they couldn't understand, it seemed that the wind and water, as well as the birds and animals chirped and made noises in the same time, reuniting with flute-like sounds nobody could tell where they had come from. The colors seemed much brighter than usual all around them, but the brightness didn't hurt their eyes, but made them feel wonderful.
Sirius turned into his dog form and ran towards the orb happily. The elves started singing themselves, laughing in the same time. Harry held the Torch majestically, but he felt his knees were starting to give up on him. Most of the students were awed and Amala let herself fall on her knees, smiling happily.
"Goddess..." she muttered, realizing who the orb was.
Some of the elder Slytherins were uncomfortable and seemed to want to run away, but not managing to. Severus seemed to be very comfortable and a happy smile appeared on his face as the orb made it in the middle of their gathering and landed gracefully, turning into a very beautiful woman.
"Good morning, Hogwarts, school of the old with the heart of those young" she greeted. "I am Naranesh, Daughter of the Goddess Niamana. I come to you today"
They all greeted her back in their own ways. Dumbledore smiled and bowed his head, Sirius –now again human- bowed to the ground, Amala made a weird bow herself, it was like one of those Indian bows. Most of the Hufflepuffs said 'hello' back, the Slytherins tried to say the most elaborate and impressive hellos and do the most impossible bows and some girls even took off their jewelry and went in front of the goddess and put them down on the ground, as an offering. The Ravenclaws said hello and then sent a representative with all their gifts. The Gryffindors went and sat in front of her. The elves sang and danced in joy, speaking in their language. Iris Rose tried to translate, but she didn't manage to, all that Harry understood was that they were happy to see Naranesh as Niamana herself, but that they weren't surprised to see her that way. A beautiful hippogriff landed next to her and she touched it gently on its beak.
"I come here to give a warning: the war has begun where it ended a thousand years ago, as it was supposed to happen. I am afraid that in the next battles, you will have no such grace as you did last night and I am afraid that in those battles, some will die... But this night, you have shown the forces that shall be fighting. The dark side will have dark creatures, tones of them and death eaters... but you, you are so much more powerful! It was said that the forces battling in the first battle will be there in the next battles... so I made sure a magical creature would be fighting on your side, too. This hippogriff has been here last night in the last few moments. It is here to show that creatures, both who walk and fly, who are proud and who should be treated as equals, but which can serve a wizard will help. They will be here, fighting at your side! And there will be royal blood, which was here through the bearer of the Green Flame Torch, for it nobles those who carry it... But that royal blood shall not be the one of Harry Potter, but of a different person. A descendant of kings of the old! She is heir of Eagle, king of the Fal'sil and his wife, Roxana Chase, the one who chased after the White Stag!"
"Chase?!" Jane Chase let out a breath.
"Yes, young one" she said, slowly. "Your ancestor"
Jane gaped and seemed to pale a bit.
"Come! Eagle, the great king, has left you his throne. He said that it is finally time for blood of his blood to climb on the throne and rule again."
"He said it? He couldn't have..." she whispered. "I have heard of his story, though I never understood why it had been so popular with my grandmother. It happened a thousand years ago, did it not? Maybe he was wrong, I cannot be a queen. Maybe my mother..."
"Your mother forgot who she is" Naranesh said kindly. "She is, like many of her age, in complete denial as to who she is. As you might remember, she chased an elf around the world, but it wasn't for the noble reasons your ancestors had. She chased him in order for him to tell her the recipe for a potion."
Jane let out a sound of surprise... She had never known the real reason for the chase... Her mother had always told her she had chased him for wisdom. She had assumed it had been like in the case of the first Chase. And instead of chasing wisdom...
"Do not misjudge her" Naranesh added slowly. "She did what she thought right. Her choice of chase came not from egocentrism, but from the desire from wisdom which she did not understand and which she covered with too much dust to see clearly again. So she chased knowledge. But you... you are still young and can see clearly. You shall be helped, of course. And as for Eagle, he was so sorry he could not see you. But it was time for him to rest with the rest of those who he loved. He had already fallen in an enchanted sleep to prevent him from his death, he could not push it anymore. All he could do was pass on everything he had... to you! And he died then. It was my eyes who saw him fall, although the others could not."
Jane just gaped, trying to suck in all the information. Which wasn't easy. And Naranesh understood and said nothing for a few minutes as the girl breathed hard. After that, she added in the same kind manner:
"He has also left you a great fortune. You are now very rich, much richer now even than the Malfoys."
Jane said nothing, two tears going down her cheeks... After a few minutes, she spoke again.
"I need to think" she whispered. "Could I... Do you mind if I...?"
"Go right ahead" the goddess said kindly and Jane turned her back to everybody and entered the castle.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
After the first few words, Naranesh had made it clear she wanted to stay for a few days before leaving. She was of course offered a bedroom in the castle and she accepted. The animals had lied down on the school grounds and the teachers and students were chatting excitedly. Naranesh had told them quite a few things about the war, speaking of a great shadow that had fallen over the Slytherin heir and that needed to be lifted. Or something like that, her words were not at all clear. But she had mentioned a deadly war that was about to fall over the worlds. She had also said, to everybody's curiosity: "and the daughter of light and the daughter of darkness shall see the magic that lies within. And Death shall bite the ones who seem to help the royal, but only pull it back. And colors will switch and white shall seem black and black shall seem white until the two sons of the prophecy shall vanquish either one or both."
And hell if Harry understood anything. However, nobody else –not even Hermione- didn't understand the words of the goddess, so he cheered up.
And only at dinner did Jane appear back, a bit tired, but somewhat more happy.
"You have chosen right" Naranesh said with a smile.
Amala sat next to Harry, Hermione and Ron again, after walking around the goddess all day long. She seemed very happy and quite fresh, although she had jumped around all day.
To Harry, all seemed to be a fairy tale. One that would end good.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: Finished another chap! And, to leave you a cliff-hanger, the first sentence in the next chapter is... :::drums::: "It did not end good"
So, guys, a nice ickle question: why don't you review?! THREAT: IF YOU DON'T WRITE ANYTHING, I'LL BE E-MAILING THIS STORY TO THE RED DRAGONS ORDER AND WON'T BE POSTING ANYTHING ANYMORE!
Dedication: Red, this story is for you! For all those who have no idea who Red is, check previous chapters or read next sentence: Red is the Red Dragons Order. Savvy? Good.
Chapter 30: Revelations and Help
It was April. Wonderful April. Harry, Ron and Ginny were training for the last Quiddich game of that year. The one against Ravenclaw. Well, at least it took Harry's mind off Voldemort.
The Torch was safe, everything was peaceful. The fifth and seventh years were studying as much as they could for their exams... The birds were blooming and the flowers were flying... Especially when they were under the spells of some very nice Slytherin students who decided that the owls were too milk-happy, always throwing the letters into the milk at morning. And as for the flowers, the same Slytherin students decided to make the Herbology class more interesting.
Yep. Harry had to wonder why it had all went so well until then –except for a few man-eating plants that were hungry and a few very nice bludgers he received during the Quiddich training, but alas, you can't have everything in life, now can you?-. All was normal and maybe too beautiful –except said man eating plants. Ugh-.
Right now, the four sixth year Gryffindors that seemed to be nearly impossible to part –although Amala had made it much later than the others into the group- were eating dinner in the Great Hall.
"I miss my parents" Amala said. "And auntie Mona! God, how I miss her! She's a really wonderful person. Unfortunately, I haven't seen her since last May, but hey! Hopefully I will see her soon"
"Is she away from your house or something?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, she travels a lot. She loves India, by the way and loves all the gods and goddesses there. She studies Tantra there, too. It's an oriental way of life, kind of like Yoga..."
"Lucky you" Mark Evans said. 'I've nobody really cool in my family. My grandparents from my dad's side are unfortunately dead, but I still have my grandparents from my mom's side. They're wizards. My dad's a muggle, but he said he had a witch in the family before marrying mum. Some cousin of his, Lily. Seen some of her pictures. Beautiful woman, I'd probably have loved her. She had green eyes, just like yours, Harry! And she had an awful sister, Petunia."
Harry gaped.
"Pe-Petunia?" he stuttered.
"Yeah. You know her?" he kid asked.
"I do" Harry whispered. "Tell me, did she marry a muggle, Vernon Dursley?"
"I think it was something like that... Why?"
"Your aunt was Lily Potter" Harry said quietly. "My mum"
The others around them stopped to look at the two cousins.
"You had no idea you were related?!" Neville asked, surprised.
"No, we didn't!" the two replied at the same time.
"I can't believe it" Hermione muttered. "Oh, my..."
Amala just stared at them, saying nothing. Ron was gaping and managed to gather all his power to say:
"Bu 'ow?"
"Seems like my mum had a cousin who got married and had Mark. I don't think Dumbledore knew."
"I'll ask my dad what happened" Mark said. "I never thought I had you, of all people in my family"
Harry nodded and Hermione got up.
"Well, um, we should go study... Weird to know facts, but hey, it's a small world, right?"
The two nodded and looked at each other weirdly before getting up and following the bushy-haired girl.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Amala had decided to make a stop at the dungeons before going to her bedroom. It wasn't really in her way, but hey! It was in the same building, right? She smiled at her weird logic and knocked carefully at the door of Severus's quarters.
"Come in" she heard a voice say.
She entered and saw her boyfriend sitting down on the couch, reading a book, wearing some black pants and a black blouse. He seemed a lot more comfortable than usual.
"Amala!" he said, a small smile on his lips. "Great to see you again. Thought it was McGonagall and I nearly started giving you the speech of 'I don't really want to talk now'"
"You shouldn't do that to me, you know that, Severus?" she asked and sat next to him. He seemed a lot more comfortable than usual.
"Mhm" came the reply. "You do know it's a bit after curfew and you're not supposed to be here, right?"
"Right! I knew I forgot something before crying out to the school that I was coming to see you"
He snorted and let his book down –the title being, as Amala quickly noticed, "A Guide to the Most Difficult Potions" by Hannah Draught.
"I thought you knew that book by heart?!" she asked.
"Just forgot a few details about the Dragon's Draught. Some of the effects... I actually wrote on it what Jack said"
"Jack Towers?"
"Yes, him. But right now, I think I have a better thing to do."
"And that would be..."
"Talking to you" he replied. "Books are always there, but not the same can be said about a person"
She smiled happily.
"Well, that's definitely true! I can carry books around, but when school's over, I'll regret not having you"
His face got suddenly darker.
"What will you tell your parents?"
She turned a bit red and pursed her lips.
"I already told them that I'm going out with someone... a Slytherin boy called Sev. From the number Seven, which is a really lucky number, don't you think so?"
"Sev, short from Seven?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, um, yeah. Do you mind?" she asked sheepishly.
"No, but they will find out eventually of who I really am" he replied with a deep voice.
"I can deal with that when it comes" she answered. "I'm not a Gryffindor for nothing"
He smiled and slid a hand under her shoulders as she leaned gently on him.
"I really am that lucky to have you" he muttered.
"Severus, I had no idea you knew such lines" she amusedly said.
"What can a man do?" he questioned back. "In front of such a beauty..."
"There! Another line" she said, spotting it immediately.
"Truth speaks your mouth and in your eyes the stars shine" he added amusedly.
"Put such fine words to better use, I do believe you can come up with something better" Amala laughed.
"Put words to better use? But do words not come from the mouth? Very well, I will put it to a better use" and kissed her tenderly.
"Did you drink any of your potions lately?" Amala asked after they broke the kiss.
"No, why?"
"You're awfully relaxed and comfortable and all that"
Severus just snorted.
"Happens even without potions" he replied.
As he was about to move back to her, there was a knock on the door and they both turned their heads towards the door.
"Hide in my bedroom" he whispered quickly and she left with the easiness of a cat. When she was nowhere in sight, Severus replied, half taking off his shirt. "Come in!"
As the person came in, he stood up and pretended to get dressed.
"Severus?" said the female voice he knew all too well.
"Minerva!" he replied. "Nice to see you again. Can't a man even dress in peace?"
"I thought I heard voices" she said. "Were you with somebody?"
"If I were with somebody, would I be getting dressed?"
"So you really want me to answer that, Severus?" she asked and he rolled his eyes.
"If I were with somebody, I would not answer the door right now! Plus, as you can see, I'm fully dressed and only had to take my blouse a second ago, and there's no sign on me whatsoever that I was going to..."
"I get the point!" Minerva stopped him. "Yes, I can see you were pretty much alone here. I wanted to ask you about tonight's watch over the castle. I'm going to be in it. Do you wish to be?"
"No, I really shouldn't be. After all I lost yesterday night with brewing that potion and didn't get much sleep."
"That's what I thought" she said. "Just checking anyway. I'll have Filch to guard this corridor. Is that alright?"
Severus replied with a calm-as-ever tone.
"Yes, I'm alright with that."
"Good. Goodnight, Severus"
"Goodnight, Minerva"
She left, shutting the door behind her in a simple manner. He locked it magically and went to his bedroom, also casting silencing spells. Not a good idea to be heard by Filch while talking to Amala.
"You can't leave" he said. "Filch is watching over this corridor"
"Heard that" she replied. "I thought you had some secret passages leading from here to God-knows-where? After all, I traveled through them, too"
"The whole school is under guard. Even the Prefects are guarding. There's supposed to be a death eater attack soon and some of us are keeping on watch"
"So, I'm stuck here with you, huh?" she asked.
"Yes"
"Well, who am I to complain?"
Amala went to him, embraced him and kissed him. He smiled down to her in a very calm and relaxed way. He seemed like the wonderful version of the man she had fallen in love with and frankly, she didn't mind! She thought this might be a dream, so she would act like she would in a dream of the sort, too. But since she didn't really believe it, she decided to stay decent.
"I should transfigure you some pijamas" he said quietly.
"If you say so" she replied in a mock voice of 'don't you think I know you better than that?'
"Too bad you turn 17 only this summer" Severus muttered in return, pretending to be speaking to himself.
"Why?" she asked.
"Did I say that out loud?" he wondered. "Must be more careful..."
"What does it have to do with anything?" she asked, mock confused.
"You're under age" he replied with a mischievous smile.
"What?! No! Forget the damned rule!" she said devilishly, but not seriously. "Now, really, why obey it?"
"Because I do not want to be accused of anything" Severus replied with the same mischievous smile.
"Perhaps you're right" she said.
He went to his own closet and picked out some pants and a blouse and transfigured them into pijamas.
"I'll go change" she muttered and left for the bathroom, leaving Severus to shake his head.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
The night had been great... Well, in Amala's version, at least. She hadn't expected Severus to try anything since, well he had said it last night, too, she was under age.
But that didn't stop them from their game. They played with words –and not only-, but really sleeping, after they decided it was late. She had hoped before, of course, that once he became her boyfriend, he would be a tad nicer, but she definitely hadn't expected this turn. Huh! Who'd have thought? Severus and fluff in the same sentence. He must have taken a potion. It was too fairy-tale-ish.
And if Ron and Harry would just stop bothering her like that! So, they'd spent the night together, so what?! Didn't they know the whole age- problem?!
"Oh, shut up" she mumbled.
Hermione, on the other hand, was smiling to her like a real friend. She finally managed to shut the two up before they went to the classroom.
"But, you know" she added "I must say one's mind goes to not so innocent things when you say you've spent the night with him"
Amala just laughed and the four of them made it to their class in a very good mood. Although she did notice Severus nearly run out of the room, McGonagall asking him something sternly. She wished he wasn't in trouble.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
A dryad walked through her trees, watching them with a smile. To a human, she would seem to be a weird walking tree. Alas, nobody remembered the stories of the dryad nobles as truth, but as myth... Even wizards! They should know better... And thinking about myths, she should ask the naiad if the Loch ness Monster was real. She'd always wondered about that.
She stretched her branches and looked up towards the night sky. She'd already been there for too long and was getting bored. Really, if Naranesh hadn't told her of the possible attack, she'd just leave. After all, the castle had been warded a long time ago by Jack Strois himself and who could cross his wards? And there were Dumbledore and Snape and McGonagall there. She sure as hell didn't believe there would be anything crazy enough to attack the castle just like that! Plus, all was so peaceful.
So, there were quite a few wards around, she knew the centaurs –pesky, pesky creatures- would try to kill anyone who dared cross their forest. Of course, the elven party had been set up by Naranesh herself and therefore they might have not even known the elves were there. And the very nice giant spiders were definitely not to cross. Not to mention the weird other creatures in there, lost from the other worlds. She once had made it in another world herself and only realized it when a group of griffins walked by her. Only then did she ask the trees where she was and found out she made it in a very wild world, definitely nowhere near Hogwarts. Unpleasant, but not disastrous.
Suddenly, she felt the trees telling her something and she looked at them for a few seconds before running as fast as the wind towards the Forbidden Forest.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
The naiad watched as the dryad ran with a huge speed through the trees and decided to follow. Well, she hadn't actually seen the dryad, but she saw a tree that was traveling with the speed of light. She got out of the lake and ran herself into the forest, right behind her friend, the lake behind her shining in the moonlight mysteriously.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
A raven was staring down at a very huge group of... whatevers that were approaching. Damn! What was up with the army?! And how dared they even get in close proximity to that place? Even he knew –and he was a raven, for crying out loud- that no sane dark creature should ever get close to the human nest that was so close. And a huge nest it was, also having a lot of little humans in it and a few bigger humans. And sometimes little humans learned to fly, but not too often. He wondered what they did when they didn't learn that. Ah, well, who was he to question humans?
But why did these creatures come here? They were dark and ugly and wouldn't be able to get in the human nest. Even he felt, as a neutral being, that the nest was protected by nature itself. Oh, no, only light beings could enter. And those things definitely weren't light.
As he thought of that, he could see with great surprise a running tree –'must be a tree goddess' he mused- and a beautiful blue thing that looked like water –'and a water goddess' he mused again-. They were running quickly –of course they couldn't see the army, he had been on a high branch, but they would see it soon-.
He flew after the two, seeking their presence. Hmm, curiosity killed the cat, but did it kill the raven? Nope. Just the cat, thank God. So, he was safe. He could hear the sound of wind through the branches now, but strangely, there was no wind. Weird, he should feel it! But when the sound of water could be heard, he realized what was going on. The goddesses were talking! The wind replied again and the water said something before the water ran back and so did the tree. The raven felt the tree under him start to shake and move and flew up, not making any sound. He would not betray the goddesses!
The trees moved, making a nice wall in front of the army and the crow waited to see them reach the tree wall. When they did, some howled in frustration and a bunch of black humans came out in front, shooting fire at the trees.
The raven gave a loud cry and shot out of the tree. He would not end up fried! The trees under him started burning and he flew towards the human nest. There he could see what would be going on. And then he would fly home and that was that!
/-/-/-/-/-/-
=By gum, look at those things! =/ the dryad said, amazed, to her friend.
/=Tell me about it?= the other replied.
=I'll keep them and put a wall of trees, you take care of the waters!=/
/=Sure, and be careful!=
The naiad ran towards the lake while the dryad made the trees around her gather closely.
=Sorry to leave you to die, friends=/ she whispered to them as she ran. Behind her she could hear her beautiful trees saying back they were happy to die for her. She wasn't. She wished they wouldn't die... Because they would be burnt soon.
She put a lot of obstacles on her path back and when she made it to the castle, she saw the naiad had already talked to Iris who was running towards the castle at full speed.
/=The water is ready!= the naiad said. /=And so are the wizards! How're your trees?=
=Fine. But many will die=/ she replied, in a choke. She could hear, although nobody else could, the cry of the burning trees. Her dear trees... Her beloved, beloved trees...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"ALBUS!" Iris cried as she entered the office. "We're being attacked!"
"What?!" the Headmaster asked, meeting her eyes. "Severus, you go and alert the Professors, Minerva, lock the children in their common rooms!"
"No! Don't lock them!" Iris said. "If we are attacked badly enough to be defeated, then they are surely doomed."
"But if they are crazy enough to engage in battle..." Minerva said.
"No, they won't! They surely won't engage in battle! Tell them to stay away, hidden, tell them we have a great plan which needs not to be ruined. Tell them that any interference besides the supernatural forces might be disastrous for our plans. And warn the Slytherins that whomever joins the dark side will suffer the consequences just like a Death Eater. Tell them that, Minerva. And add the fact that we are in advantage and need to keep it that way. And that nobody should help us, or the enemy or the results would be disastrous for both sides."
Minerva just nodded and ran out the door, after Severus who had already done it a few seconds ago. Albus just looked at her for a second before he said:
"You knew this would happen"
"God, you know I did, Albus, that's why I said it in the last few Order meetings. Now, let's summon the Order and the Aurors."
The two of them started summoning, Iris the Order and Albus the Aurors before they too rushed outside, where the battle had already begun.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
Severus jumped in the middle of the battle, striking left and right like he always dreamed he would. But hell, the creatures attacking them were so numerous! There were about twenty giants, a lot of dark creatures of all kinds and more Death Eaters than he remembered seeing in the past meetings. And then, there was Voldemort himself, hitting everybody in his path, shooting Avada Kedavra's as if they were nothings. But trees and water jumped in his way, getting hit, making sure his spells didn't reach anybody who would die from them. The trees would lose their leaves and look as if winter had just come, but they would survive. And water made sure the spells were deflected. So, the Death Eaters started shooting fire, trying to evaporate the water and to burn the trees. If only there would be a tad more light... he could see clearly!
In the middle of the trees there was a tree-woman which he easily recognized as a dryad. It seemed to be both hurt and furious, which was a bad thing for Voldemort. But she couldn't reach him, there were too many wizards and creatures between them.
But even though the trees and the water helped, Severus knew they would lose. They were badly outnumbered and dark animals rushed out of the Forest so fast, he wondered where they came from. It seemed that for every creature they killed, there were another ten to replace it. And soon they would loose... It was a miracle nobody human had died yet, although burnt trees lay everywhere, dead, and the wizards were stupefied and petrified all over the battle field.
Oh, curse all the creatures! And a giant had just stood on some of the trees, reducing them to branches and roots. The dryad let out a cry of pain and attacked the giant with everything she had, taking it down with her branches, shooting something that seemed like a wooden spear through its heart.
"MY TREES!" she cried, in pain. "MY TREES, YOU IDIOT!"
Voldemort laughed at her pain, not caring that he had lost one of his soldiers... he had more coming. He had dealt with the Hogwarts wards enough for them to allow his army on the school ground. But it took a lot out of him, he had to admit. Whoever had put the wards on the school had been much more powerful than him. And he couldn't last like that forever. Thank God the creatures were in, though! Their power was helping him. In fact, that was the only way to enter the castle and conquer it: make the wards shatter for a moment, enough for his army to enter. And then the army would help him unconsciously and the burden would be lifted off his shoulders... sort of. But he feared the moment he would have to open the castle doors.
He then saw some flying things in the distance.
"Well, DUMBLEDORE, seems that your PETTY ORDER has arrived!" he cried to the other wizard who glanced at the people on broomsticks.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
Sirius glanced at the others around them and sped up his broomstick. He needed to get to Harry! He was supposed to, as the goddess had said, help him and allow him to use the Torch!
"Hurry bloody up!" he muttered and sped even more. But when he got closer, he noticed all the dark creatures around the field and his heart shrank. He couldn't let Harry go out of the castle between all those animals! And there was Voldemort himself! Sirius gulped. Nope, no way in hell was he going to let Harry out, he'd rather die than that!... even if he died again.
He made it in the middle of the field and started shooting spells everywhere. Iris rushed to him and cried over the sounds of the battle:
"I can't get Minerva to allow Harry to use the Torch now! Help, Siri!"
Sirius looked at her, horror-struck. He couldn't do that! HE COUDLN'T! But in the next moment, he realized that maybe Harry would be safer than any of them while he was carrying that blasted Torch and he would save many people from dieing. He could feel a powerful something telling him that was what he should do. He had felt something like that before... That thing was to be trusted!
He rushed to Dumbledore and yelled at him, asking for Harry to save them. Dumbledore agreed and he rushed in the castle.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"That's our cue!" Saren cried to the elves as they exited the Forest and jumped on their enemies. She had fought in human wars before and she would sure as hell fight again, never mind the fact that she was supposed to be loving and kind. But then again, all elves could fight and she was an elf! And so was Soveran, he was fighting like a lion in the sea of ogres. She was fighting with a vampire, herself.
"No chance to defeat me, hun, I'm older than you!" he laughed. "I've been here since the 18 hundreds!"
"I've been here for four thousand five hundred years!" she cried in return. "I do believe I'm older!"
She then stabbed the creature in the heart and it turned to dust immediately.
"God, I hate to kill" she told herself. "Seven hours until daylight, we're so doomed!"
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Harry!" Sirius cried, entering the Gryffindor common room after yelling at the Fat Lady for a while and threatening to vandalize her again.
"Sirius?" the boy asked.
"Get the Torch and get outside and do something!"
Harry ran up the stairs and Hermione told him:
"Sirius... he already tried, but he somehow didn't manage to take it away from where it was..."
Sirius just stood there, dumbstruck.
"He couldn't...?" he whispered, the whole common room staring at him. But soon there were running footsteps down the stairs to the dormitories and Harry came in the room carrying the Green Flame Torch.
"I did it!" he said, proudly. "Let's go out, Sirius!"
They left the common room in a hurry, Harry seeming very majestic to those who remained inside.
"Whoa, mate. Whoa" Ron said to Neville. They had all been panicking until Sirius had come in and taken Harry with him. There had been no way to speak to anybody in that racket and now all seemed quiet. Plus, he just realized, nearly nobody there had seen Harry with the Torch before. And now he seemed even more majestic than usual.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
On the battle field, Severus Snape knew that they would lose soon. No matter how great their forces, the enemies had forces not known before to them.
"BARTY CROUCH!" cried Voldemort. "Where is he?"
"He has not come here, master" Lucius Malfoy replied. "He wasn't there at the meeting spot, either!"
"WHAT!" Voldemort cried. "How couldn't he? I will punish him myself!"
Severus heard that part of the conversation and understood that he wouldn't be able to play Barty Crouch anymore. 'Punishing' was over an hour long and he couldn't possibly drink Polyjuice under the Cruciatus spell. And only one mistake and poof! He would be dead.
And then, Voldemort himself spotted him in the mass of fighting creatures.
"Severus!" he cried, enraged. "Traitor! Avada..."
The Potion Master realized he wouldn't be able to get out of the range of the spell in time, but tried to nevertheless.
"Kedavra!"
The spell flew at him and Severus's mind flew towards two people in that last second... Amala, who'd be in grief... and his Master... The one he hadn't seen in such a long time... Jack Strois.
The spell hit him and he collapsed to the ground, hit badly...
/-/-/-/-/-/-
"Severus!" Albus cried. "What have you done?!"
"Killed him!" Voldemort laughed as the elder man rushed to the Potion Master's side.
The Headmaster seemed to shine in his white robes, under the silvery moonlight. He bowed down over Severus's pale body and a tear fell down from his eyes as he looked at the dead face that had been so dear to him. The slightly open mouth seemed to say one last word, his opened eyes gazed into nothingness.
"Severus..." he said slowly and painfully.
Voldemort laughed cruelly as he watched the old man bowing over the traitor.
"Face it, Dumbledore! He's dead and he will stay that way"
"I don't think so!" said a voice. "Voldemort!"
Nearly everybody turned their heads to the newcomer. He was tall, dressed in black and had two dark wings on his back. Oh, yeah, and he looked like a god.
"How dare you?!" the Dark Lord cried.
"I dare. I am Mark Strois, Death's own messenger. And I came to remind you your little pact with her twenty years ago!"
Voldemort paled seriously, although nobody had thought it would be possible.
"Severus Snape will come back to life now... and so will Nymphadora Tonks!"
"What?!" Voldemort said. "NO! She said ONE life I must spare! ONE, not two!"
"But she said that for a secret, you would spear two lives"
Albus looked around him and saw the dead body of Tonks lying down. His heart sank but then lifted back as he saw the very pale Dark Lord in front of him.
"What secret would be so great I should spear both lives?" he questioned loudly.
"There is something you do not know of Crouch" Mark said.
"I know all about him, you fool! He is my only faithful servant!" Voldemort said.
"I know. But he is also soulless at the moment" Mark said with a smirk. "The man you have in your service is not Crouch"
"Who is he, then?" Voldemort asked, feeling like a man in a cage.
"Severus Snape" Mark replied, his eyes narrowing.
"NOOO!" Voldemort cried and Mark went to Severus and touched him right above his heart, after that doing the same with Tonks.
"Too late now..." Mark said and smiled wickedly at the Dark Lord. "Your doom awaits, Tom Marvolo Riddle! Here it comes, floating dangerously in a green light"
With that, Mark turned his back on the Dark Lord and walked away, disappearing in darkness. Behind him, Severus and Tonks woke back to life.
Everybody stared at the weird scene and at the two dead waking up.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
"I hope you know what you're doing, Mistress" Mark muttered.
"You doubt me?"
Mark looked at the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Again, she had appeared out of nowhere. He really loved her, but sometimes it got annoying when she did that.
"No. I just hope all will come out right in the end" he replied, lifting up his chin.
"You do doubt me" she concluded, a mischievous smile on her face.
"No..." he tried to argue, but didn't manage as she interrupted him.
"If you wouldn't, you wouldn't hope for it to come out right. It will. No human or human like creature will die in this battle...anymore" she said with a mischievous smile which made him wonder sometimes what exactly she controlled and which she did not.
"How do you know?" he asked and she laughed.
"I am Death!" she replied simply
"But what if one kills another..."
"They won't. At this very moment, Harry Potter is doing the very thing for which this battle is fought! He will prove the full forces of both light and dark side. And you know who will win..."
"I do!" Mark muttered. "I do... but how many will die? It would be horrible for some to die so young!"
"I decide who stays and who goes. I am the Goddess of Time and therefore of Destruction! You know that even though I say I am Death, you know that I am not... do you not?"
"Death and destruction two of your faces, Mistress" he replied, wondering why she was reminding him that. "I trust you completely and I beg for you to forgive me for not trusting you for a moment. And would it be alright if I begged you to spare the lives of those on the field?"
"It is alright, but I already told you I would. None must die now. It is not yet their time! But when it shall come, be sure I will take them. I do not spare uselessly, Mark. But I do not kill uselessly, either. I do all when it is necessary and I will always do everything at the right time and I will seem to be Death, but I am not only Death, but also transformation, which is another face of Death. You should know that by now"
"I know" Mark said. It was a bit complicated, but he had understood it a long time ago. "But then... may I ask... how many will be transformed?"
"Tonight? Many. I will do now what I would do in years. I am Time itself, the Time that kills, that devours everything and they call me Death. They are right... and I will kill many of their weaknesses tonight. But fear not, all shall go to right and none shall lose their physical bodies in this night."
"How will you act?" Mark questioned. Was he pushing it too far? But even if he was, she was patience itself and wouldn't make him feel bad because of it. And it seemed that he hadn't pushed it too far with his deadly curiosity.
"I will be there in blackness and I will use the Torch with the Green Flame. I will act through it. And then another will take my place and they will think I wasn't even there. But I will be there more tonight than in any other time they could think of."
She smiled at him and her teeth started growing incredibly long and sharp, her lips curled in an ironic smile and her beautiful body was surrounded by a black aura. Instead of the beautiful kind woman before, she was frightening, her teeth seeming to be ready to destroy everything in her path, the smile saying what she thought of the world. In one of her hands appeared a long sword that only added to the effect. Mark stared at her full of devotion, knowing that behind the terrible mask there was more love than anyone could ever think. He knew that she would do only what would be good to the ones on the battle field, but that didn't stop him from shivering at the mere sight of the mesmerizing goddess before him. Her body became black and more beautiful than it had already been as she became the image of Death. The ones on the battle field would lose many of their weaknesses, but it would hurt a lot... just like taking out a rotten tooth.
"Fools and only fools think they can escape me tonight!"
/-/-/-/-/-
Back on the battlefield, the atmosphere started changing again, everybody snapped out of stupor and started attacking their enemies with viciousness. And in that precise moment appeared Harry with the Torch.
"What do I do now?" he asked Sirius.
"Don't know, you're the bearer!" Sirius replied.
Harry looked around the battlefield and spotted the one man he deeply hated. Voldemort. He walked past Sirius in full storming-mode, everybody stepping away from his sight, friend or not.
"Harry? Harry! HARRY!" his Godfather cried desperately, but got no response. Instead, the teen rushed to the dark wizard and pointed his wand at him, holding the Torch in the other.
"You will hurt nobody now!" he cried loud enough for everybody to hear.
"Too late, Potter!" he spat. "This time, one of us will die!"
"I agree, Voldemort" Harry said, his eyes glittering.
"What? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" said Iris, nobody hearing her, though. "This is sooo wrong"
Both Voldemort and Harry drew their wands and Voldemort had to admit he was in disadvantage. Blasted Torch! It made Potter too powerful!
"Crucio!" he cried, as a beginning, but Harry got out of the way.
"Expalliarmus!" Harry cried, but Voldemort ducked.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Stupefy!"
"Crucio!"
"Expalliarmus!"
"Impedimenta!"
"Reducto!"
Sirius watched for a few minutes as the two wizards shot spells from one another, neither losing, nor winning, both moving terribly fast. Well, he would have stayed to watch for a longer while, but he was attacked by a blasted lethifold. What a time!
Everybody fought viciously, all knowing, however, that the victory would be determined by the winner of the duel between Voldemort and Harry Potter. But it wouldn't hurt if they still fought for their lives, did it?
Sirius blasted the animal into pieces and jumped against a Death Eater who seemed to be hitting him wit all he had. Except the Avada Kedavra, that is. He somehow managed to also fall under the Cruciatus and he screamed so loud Iris could hear him from the other side of the battlefield and started making her way towards him, passing over the petrified body of Sprout and the stupefied Nott. But when she made it to Sirius, he had already taken care of the pesky wizard and was fighting with a few vampires. So help was welcomed anyway.
And then, there was a cry... and all went green and then black.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
Harry looked angrily at the man in front of him and shouted at the top of his lunges, the most unforgivable of the unforgivable curses:
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green flame of the Torch melted with his spell, however and instead of hitting only his opponent, the spell seemed to grow in size and to hit everything around it... including Harry.
His vision blurred and he fell into darkness...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
In the dungeons, Draco felt power rush towards the common room and cried desperately to his fellow Slytherins:
"RUN!"
But before he could do anything, a green wave hit him fully.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
In the Gryffindor common room, Amala opened her eyes from the silent prayer she was murmuring and let out a sigh of pain and fear. Then, something powerful and green hit her fully and she fell to the floor, unaware that the same had happened everywhere in the castle, portraits and ghosts being hit themselves and students collapsing on the floors. In Hogsmeade, the people who hadn't gone in the battle to help saw the green wave come to them and also fell hit by it.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
The next morning, near dawn, the sun rose to see many people sprawled on the grounds and floors of Hogwarts. He let his sunbeams hit them, especially one of them, a boy he knew too well, awaking him first.
Harry opened his eyes to see the dawning sun arise over the castle and its grounds. Somewhere further, he could see Voldemort himself laying on the ground, still unconscious. He could do something... put an end to the war now... this moment! But he knew it wasn't yet the time. That weird creature that had appeared in his sleep had told him so and he knew it wouldn't be good to mess with her. And for a second there, she had let him see... see something... but he couldn't remember what... He remembered saying 'oh' and... that was all. But he knew that killing Voldemort now wasn't in the plan. Something else had to happen. And besides, he couldn't have cast the spell there even if he wanted to. He couldn't feel his limbs...
But he somehow managed to get up and he saw that all the creatures around him were in deep sleep. The Torch was still standing next to him.
And then, they all started to wake up in the same time, scaring him. The vampires, protected in some bubbly-things, disappeared first, followed by the creatures, the Death Eaters and finally Voldemort himself. Students ran out of the castle, staring at what was outside.
And over them came a great light... In the dawn, another sun approached them. A pure white sun, but which didn't harm their eyes. As it approached, they realized that around it white birds were flying in circles, other color birds approaching it also and starting to circle like crazy.
Then, looking below it, for the bright orb floated above ground at about five meters, they could see animals running in circles, approaching in a way that proved they were happier than ever before.
And music started singing in tunes they couldn't understand, it seemed that the wind and water, as well as the birds and animals chirped and made noises in the same time, reuniting with flute-like sounds nobody could tell where they had come from. The colors seemed much brighter than usual all around them, but the brightness didn't hurt their eyes, but made them feel wonderful.
Sirius turned into his dog form and ran towards the orb happily. The elves started singing themselves, laughing in the same time. Harry held the Torch majestically, but he felt his knees were starting to give up on him. Most of the students were awed and Amala let herself fall on her knees, smiling happily.
"Goddess..." she muttered, realizing who the orb was.
Some of the elder Slytherins were uncomfortable and seemed to want to run away, but not managing to. Severus seemed to be very comfortable and a happy smile appeared on his face as the orb made it in the middle of their gathering and landed gracefully, turning into a very beautiful woman.
"Good morning, Hogwarts, school of the old with the heart of those young" she greeted. "I am Naranesh, Daughter of the Goddess Niamana. I come to you today"
They all greeted her back in their own ways. Dumbledore smiled and bowed his head, Sirius –now again human- bowed to the ground, Amala made a weird bow herself, it was like one of those Indian bows. Most of the Hufflepuffs said 'hello' back, the Slytherins tried to say the most elaborate and impressive hellos and do the most impossible bows and some girls even took off their jewelry and went in front of the goddess and put them down on the ground, as an offering. The Ravenclaws said hello and then sent a representative with all their gifts. The Gryffindors went and sat in front of her. The elves sang and danced in joy, speaking in their language. Iris Rose tried to translate, but she didn't manage to, all that Harry understood was that they were happy to see Naranesh as Niamana herself, but that they weren't surprised to see her that way. A beautiful hippogriff landed next to her and she touched it gently on its beak.
"I come here to give a warning: the war has begun where it ended a thousand years ago, as it was supposed to happen. I am afraid that in the next battles, you will have no such grace as you did last night and I am afraid that in those battles, some will die... But this night, you have shown the forces that shall be fighting. The dark side will have dark creatures, tones of them and death eaters... but you, you are so much more powerful! It was said that the forces battling in the first battle will be there in the next battles... so I made sure a magical creature would be fighting on your side, too. This hippogriff has been here last night in the last few moments. It is here to show that creatures, both who walk and fly, who are proud and who should be treated as equals, but which can serve a wizard will help. They will be here, fighting at your side! And there will be royal blood, which was here through the bearer of the Green Flame Torch, for it nobles those who carry it... But that royal blood shall not be the one of Harry Potter, but of a different person. A descendant of kings of the old! She is heir of Eagle, king of the Fal'sil and his wife, Roxana Chase, the one who chased after the White Stag!"
"Chase?!" Jane Chase let out a breath.
"Yes, young one" she said, slowly. "Your ancestor"
Jane gaped and seemed to pale a bit.
"Come! Eagle, the great king, has left you his throne. He said that it is finally time for blood of his blood to climb on the throne and rule again."
"He said it? He couldn't have..." she whispered. "I have heard of his story, though I never understood why it had been so popular with my grandmother. It happened a thousand years ago, did it not? Maybe he was wrong, I cannot be a queen. Maybe my mother..."
"Your mother forgot who she is" Naranesh said kindly. "She is, like many of her age, in complete denial as to who she is. As you might remember, she chased an elf around the world, but it wasn't for the noble reasons your ancestors had. She chased him in order for him to tell her the recipe for a potion."
Jane let out a sound of surprise... She had never known the real reason for the chase... Her mother had always told her she had chased him for wisdom. She had assumed it had been like in the case of the first Chase. And instead of chasing wisdom...
"Do not misjudge her" Naranesh added slowly. "She did what she thought right. Her choice of chase came not from egocentrism, but from the desire from wisdom which she did not understand and which she covered with too much dust to see clearly again. So she chased knowledge. But you... you are still young and can see clearly. You shall be helped, of course. And as for Eagle, he was so sorry he could not see you. But it was time for him to rest with the rest of those who he loved. He had already fallen in an enchanted sleep to prevent him from his death, he could not push it anymore. All he could do was pass on everything he had... to you! And he died then. It was my eyes who saw him fall, although the others could not."
Jane just gaped, trying to suck in all the information. Which wasn't easy. And Naranesh understood and said nothing for a few minutes as the girl breathed hard. After that, she added in the same kind manner:
"He has also left you a great fortune. You are now very rich, much richer now even than the Malfoys."
Jane said nothing, two tears going down her cheeks... After a few minutes, she spoke again.
"I need to think" she whispered. "Could I... Do you mind if I...?"
"Go right ahead" the goddess said kindly and Jane turned her back to everybody and entered the castle.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
After the first few words, Naranesh had made it clear she wanted to stay for a few days before leaving. She was of course offered a bedroom in the castle and she accepted. The animals had lied down on the school grounds and the teachers and students were chatting excitedly. Naranesh had told them quite a few things about the war, speaking of a great shadow that had fallen over the Slytherin heir and that needed to be lifted. Or something like that, her words were not at all clear. But she had mentioned a deadly war that was about to fall over the worlds. She had also said, to everybody's curiosity: "and the daughter of light and the daughter of darkness shall see the magic that lies within. And Death shall bite the ones who seem to help the royal, but only pull it back. And colors will switch and white shall seem black and black shall seem white until the two sons of the prophecy shall vanquish either one or both."
And hell if Harry understood anything. However, nobody else –not even Hermione- didn't understand the words of the goddess, so he cheered up.
And only at dinner did Jane appear back, a bit tired, but somewhat more happy.
"You have chosen right" Naranesh said with a smile.
Amala sat next to Harry, Hermione and Ron again, after walking around the goddess all day long. She seemed very happy and quite fresh, although she had jumped around all day.
To Harry, all seemed to be a fairy tale. One that would end good.
/-/-/-/-/-/-
AN: Finished another chap! And, to leave you a cliff-hanger, the first sentence in the next chapter is... :::drums::: "It did not end good"
So, guys, a nice ickle question: why don't you review?! THREAT: IF YOU DON'T WRITE ANYTHING, I'LL BE E-MAILING THIS STORY TO THE RED DRAGONS ORDER AND WON'T BE POSTING ANYTHING ANYMORE!