A/N: As usual, I'm so terribly sorry this took so long, but I got
completely swamped with homework and studying for the upcoming end-of-term
exams. I really hope you guys had the patience to wait this long, and I
want to thank all of you who have held onto my story this long, but most of
you have probably given up hope for my story and me long ago...
Chapter 44: The Second War – Part II
The five were woken by a high-pitched scream and when Harry, Ron and Hermione sprinted into Nora's room, where the noise had come from, to see what was wrong, they saw Professor McGonagall standing at the foot of the bed, hands on her hips and eyebrows knitted together to form one thin, but severe, line as she looked at Nora and Draco in both furiousness and disbelief.
"Never -!" she began, but her rage had gone beyond words and she just spluttered incomplete sentences before pointing her wand at Draco and lifting him out of Nora's bed and to the other side of her room, while both he and Nora stared at their professor in exasperation. Ron thought the whole thing rather funny, but his grin quickly faded when McGonagall shot him a stern glance out of the corner of her eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?" began Professor McGonagall, trying hard to keep her temper. Nora did not know how to explain this, nor did she want to. It felt like it was her father standing in front of her, and she knew he'd completely blow up if he ever found her in bed with a guy, let alone a Slytherin. But Draco did not know how to explain this to his professor either, and the two just looked helplessly at each other before Hermione spoke up, taking pity on them. She explained the situation to McGonagall, who did not seemed too relieved to hear the full story, in fact, she looked just as stern as before, as if she couldn't care less. Hermione gave up trying to reason with the furious woman, who was still keeping Draco in the corner of Nora's bedroom, and looked apologetically at her best friend, who was already glad Hermione had given it a shot.
"Minerva, please keep it down, you'll wake the whole castle," said Dumbledore, poking his head inside the room, joining their small, but incredibly 'fun', party. "What's this?" he asked, the rest of his body entering the room as well. He looked curiously around, from Draco being kept miserably in on corner of the room, to Nora who sat furious on her bed, arms crossed, to professor McGonagall who seemed ready to murder any one who put one toe out of line.
"Albus, thank Merlin you're here!" exclaimed McGonagall. "Perhaps you are able to reason with these children. I absolutely cannot tolerate... this!" She waved her arms at Nora and Draco in the same prudish and stiff way as if she had just walked in on them having sex, which they had not. Dumbledore gave both Nora and Draco rather stern looks before turning back to Professor McGonagall, who was now emitting huffing noises in outrage.
"Minerva, I am sure this is all just a slight misunderstanding. It is not what you are perhaps assuming. Let us leave so they can get ready for breakfast and I will explain matters to you on the way downstairs," he told her. McGonagall looked as if she was fit to burst, but she remained in one piece and, before they knew it, her attitude changed completely and she snapped at them all to hurry up and get dressed so they can go downstairs for a good and healthy breakfast even sooner.
"I wish she would quit acting like my mum," muttered Ron sourly after professor McGonagall had shut the door in a snappish kind of way, leaving them alone at last. Nora let herself plop down on her bed and she stared at her ceiling while saying:
"I doubt I've ever been this embarrassed in my whole entire life. She probably thinks I'm a right slut now."
"Don't be silly," argued Hermione while Draco, finally daring to come out of his corner, primly sat himself down on the edge of Nora's bed. "She knew you two were going out before this incident and I think she really overreacted. I mean, even Dumbledore knew this was going on."
"Yeah, but Dumbledore knows everything," interrupted Harry. "So that's not really a big achievement."
"I still wish she would quit acting so motherly," said Ron, not paying much attention to the conversation the others were holding.
"Right. Let's hurry and get dressed before she comes storming up here again," said Harry, he and Ron already walking towards the door.
"And if you two start fooling around again it'll be both of your heads," Hermione warned Nora and Draco, in a voice that could replace McGonagall's easily. Nora stuck her tongue out at her friend before chucking her pillow at her, but Hermione was quicker and there was only a soft thump as the pillow hit the closed door and slid onto the floor.
~*~*~*~
The five quietly walked into the Dining Room fully dressed to find Dumbledore, McGonagall and, for some reason, Snape in deep conversation. Seeing their greasy haired potions master there in Harry's seat was not something they had expected and they all stopped dead in their tracks out of uneasiness. Dumbledore beckoned them over with a wave of his hand while he listened intently to McGonagall who was apparently trying to persuade the headmaster of something. Snape barely joined in on the conversation, though he did listen intently. The five took their seats, but since Snape had taken up one of them, McGonagall had conjured up her own chair, Nora was left to share a chair with someone else. She wanted to go sit on Draco's lap, but with McGonagall and Snape in the room, she thought it best if she took up half of Hermione's instead.
"Help yourselves," said Dumbledore kindly, indicating towards the food that occupied the table. The five students piled some breakfast onto their plates and guessed, by the low whisper McGonagall was using, that the conversation was about them or about something they weren't allowed to hear, which made eavesdropping all the more attractive. But they restrained themselves and instead started up their own conversation about the events that happened in Merlin's castle yesterday. Butterflies of dread were rapidly beginning to form and multiply again.
"I must get going again, Albus. The elves are bound to be in chaos without my supervision," said Snape scornfully, getting up abruptly and startling the five students in the process. Their Potions master exited the Dining Room and headed towards the kitchen leaving Dumbledore and McGonagall watching the five intently with worry in their eyes.
"Er... yes?" asked Ron, slightly creeped out by the look McGonagall was giving him, which did not change after he spoke.
"Nothing," said Dumbledore. "Nothing," he repeated airily. "Well, Minerva, we should be getting back to the Order, discuss the latest news. You five can find something to do until Voldemort arrives?" The five nodded and their Headmaster and Transfiguration teacher got up and made for the door.
"Er, sir," called Harry. Dumbledore turned around as McGonagall entered the Entrance Hall. "Merlin said to give you his kind regards." Dumbledore nodded gravely and swept out of the Dining Room.
"Not his usual cheery self, is he?" said Ron. The others shrugged, feeling Ron was right. Their Headmaster seemed to be filled with much more sorrow than usual and the looks he kept giving them, well, they seemed to be looks of disappointment. Perhaps he thought them foolish for making up such a plan that got them kidnapped and nearly had them killed?
"Looks like we'll have another day of terrible weather," said Hermione, glancing out of the window, raindrops tapping against it and gliding downwards. A flash of lightning filled the Dining Room with eerily bright light, casting misshaped shadows around it, and not a second later a loud rumble of thunder was heard. "The storm seems to be coming closer, isn't it? Yesterday it was still a couple of miles away, now it seems to be right above this castle..." Hermione trailed off. She did not know why, but this storm made her feel gloomy and heartrending inside. The others seemed to feel the same way, for they said nothing and just gazed out of the window, watching drop after drop of rain falling from the dark amethyst sky, clouds shifting heavily around.
"Wanna go explore the castle?" asked Ron unenthusiastically. Anything that took their minds off of the thunderstorm was fine by him. It felt as if the tempest was predicting the end of the Second War: horrible and boding evil.
"Let's at least get out of this room," agreed Nora and they slowly made their way into the Entrance Hall. The portraits on the walls seemed to sense, or know, something was wrong for they were unnaturally hushed. Even the fighting couple that had once helped them find their way to their living room weren't bickering as usual, but just sat solemnly in their straight-backed wooden chairs.
"You know, this castle just has to have a room where we can enjoy ourselves and not only ones where we get killed," said Draco confidently. Ron looked at him as if he were mad.
"He's right," agreed Hermione. "I say we go find it." Ron looked at her as if she was mad too and did not think much of the idea, especially if they were to search the dangerous and instable castle again.
"I don't want to," he argued childishly.
"Oh, come on, Ron," said Nora exasperatedly, feeling rather worn out. "It's not like we have anything better to do and we'll just stay near the main staircase so we don't get lost, all right?" Ron shrugged and Hermione heaved a tetchy sigh, before they walked up the staircase together, trying hard not to pay any attention to the thunderstorm right above the castle.
"Now what?" asked Ron when they reached the landing with their bedrooms.
"Now we just look around," said Hermione plainly. The others followed her down the corridor with their rooms and entered the door at the end of it, giving the others the feeling she had already done some exploring on this floor without them.
"Wow," stated Harry, looking around the room they had entered.
"Yes, who could have guessed the first room we entered was everything we were searching for?" said Hermione, trying to look surprised like her friends.
"You suck at acting," Nora told her as she passed her on the way to the middle of the extremely large and beautiful room. Hermione grinned and joined them all on the other side of the room by the window, which took up the entire outer wall. Though every other window they had looked out of in this castle faced the large meadow, this one faced a different side of the castle's grounds and showed them hundreds of flowerbeds, dozens of fountains, many trees of all sorts, uncommon and normal, and, what caught their attention in an instant, a large gold statue of the four Founders all together, beaming.
But this was not the most peculiar thing. Also standing in the amazing garden, apparently at random, were silver statues, of fair size, of many important wizards that had lived so far. Dumbledore could be spotted in an instant, standing close to the Founders, as well as Merlin, who had been placed amongst black flowers. And, as they gazed at the entire garden in disbelief, their eyes fell upon a small group of statues that could represent none other than them. Harry stood proudly and courageously with his wand raised, a smile on his handsome face. Ron had been placed beside him, grinning. On the other side stood Hermione, wand in her hand as well, as she smiled wisely to the world. Nora and Draco stood beside her, holding hands and smiling blissfully at each other.
Surrounding their statues were little fountains, shooting water jets straight into the air, and the most beautiful everlasting lilies, which seemed to bring tears into Harry's eyes. Hermione put a soothing hand on his shoulder and Harry sniffed, though he smiled at the statue of him, standing so proudly in between his best friends. If someone had told him about all of this 5 or 6 years ago, when his bedroom was still the cupboard under the stairs, he would have laughed out loud and called them insane. Now, though, if someone told him he did not have to fight in the Second War, that he did not have to kill Voldemort, well, he would not laugh, but he would call him or her insane, for nothing could be changed anymore. Fate was fate, even if it was forlorn.
"I wonder who makes the statues and puts them there," said Nora thoughtfully, interrupting Harry's thoughts.
"Maybe they just... appear, when a prophecy is made about someone," said Ron.
"But then wouldn't there a lot more statues? And how would they know what we look like," argued Hermione.
"Maybe statues are only made of those who are really important, which would be why Dumbledore and Merlin are there too," said Harry.
"And maybe they appear at the time when the person, of whom a prophecy is made, has to fulfill it," suggested Draco, eyes wandering unwillingly upwards to the ominous sky.
"Could be," said Nora. "But I still think it's creepy."
"What kind of a room is this anyway?" asked Ron as he turned his back on the large window and looked at the area in front of him. There was the usual fire roaring in a large fireplace on one side of the room with sofa's and chairs in front of it but on the other side of the room, where they'd expected a vast bookcase, was a large television. They all stared at it in disbelief until Draco ran forward and jumped onto the sofa that stood before it, picking up the remote control with a boyish smile on his face.
"Look!" he shouted happily, showing the remote control to Nora who smiled at the look on his face, for Draco looked like a 5 year old who had just received his favorite toy for Christmas. Ron and Harry sat down on the sofa as well and Draco turned the television on, eyes wide and shining in amazement. Hermione, instead, inspected the cloth that covered the entire wall behind the TV.
"What is it?" asked Nora, joining her.
"Some kind of a Family Tree," replied Hermione, scanning it for anyone familiar. "No one on here we know," she muttered after a while. "This is goes too far back and ends about a few centuries ago.
"What's this? Where are the brooms?" asked Draco confused.
"This is Muggle sport," replied Harry. "And it's boring. Change the channel." Nora walked over to see what they were watching, but there was nothing interesting, since at this time of the day there are usually only cartoons or infomercials.
"This Tillievision isn't of good quality," stated Draco plainly, looking at Nora. "It doesn't have any good to watch. During the trip we always watched fun stuff." He pouted, causing Nora to chuckle.
"Let's do something else," said Ron. "This is boring."
"Like what?" asked Harry, switching the TV off.
"Shouldn't we be on the look out for Voldemort?" questioned Hermione. Ron shrugged.
"Why? I say we let him wait out there on his own for a while." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Let's go," she said wearily. The others followed her out of the newly discovered room and into the hall, wondering where she was taking them. Hermione led them into the Entrance Hall before caring to explain what they were going to do.
"Well?" demanded Ron and the others, too, looked at her expectantly.
"Well, I think we go into the dining room for lunch and then, when we're finished, we wait outside for Voldemort," Hermione told them weakly. "I mean, there's no sense in postponing the inevitable and we might as well get it over with sooner rather than later." The others shrugged and they slowly entered the dining room. As usual food appeared on the table the moment they sat down and they steadily ate their lunch amongst the rhythmic 'tap tap tap' of raindrops hitting the window and the occasional flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder.
"So, who's ready to go and get killed?" asked Ron conversationally when they were all finished eating. Harry and Draco raised their hands proudly. Nora and Hermione paid no attention to them. Nora was too busy gazing out the window, wondering what would happen if she was out in the rain again, if she'd go all weird again, and Hermione was occupied in the farewell note she was writing to Terry.
"What are you doing?" asked Ron interestedly, leaning forwards to read whatever it was Hermione was writing, but Hermione folded the parchment up, sealed it and put it in her pocket without answering Ron's question.
"All right, so let's go," said Harry, though he would really rather stay here in the dining room, perhaps cowering under the table.
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Nora. "I've never been this frightened in my entire life." The others murmured their agreement and Draco held her hand tightly in his, as if afraid he'd lose her if he loosened his grip.
"Do you think Dumbledore knows we're going to wait on Voldemort?" asked Ron.
"Dunno. Probably not," said Harry. "Let's go," he said again. The five of them slowly made their way into the Entrance Hall and hesitated by the front doors.
"First let's touch the Amulet," said Hermione rather shakily. They all obeyed and when all of them had some extra strength Harry took a deep breath and opened the front doors before stepping outside in the chilly air, a strong wind nearly knocking him off his feet. He was joined by his friends and together, staying close beside each other, they walked to the middle of the meadow, the strong gust of wind blowing around them. It had stopped raining, thankfully, but the threat remained hanging above them in the sky. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen, but they still continued to walk to the spot where he had stood the day before.
"I want to ask you guys a favor," said Hermione seriously when they had stopped. The others looked at her.
"Anything," said Nora. Hermione smiled weakly and took out the sealed piece of parchment Ron had tried to read during lunch.
"If I die and one of you lives, could you please give this to Terry for me? It's a goodbye letter." She was on the verge of tears after completing her sentence and the others nodded.
"Of course we will, 'Mione," said Ron sincerely. "Anything for you." Hermione sniffed as she smiled at her friends.
"How touching," came a malicious voice from behind them. The five spun around and stared straight into Voldemort's ugly face. "That Amulet may have helped you five escape me once, but it won't happen again." Harry couldn't believe his ears. Voldemort thought they escaped Merlin's Castle through the Amulet and not by Disapparating? What a moron. But this meant they could still use their plan of pretending not to be able to do anything. All he had to do was get this message across to his friends. Hermione, though, had already figured it out as well, which meant that the two of them had to tell the other three somehow.
"How do you know?" asked Harry, trying to stall. "How do you know the Amulet won't help us again?"
"Because I won't let it," spat Voldemort. "I will kill you five and Dumbledore right away before anything can thwart my plan. And it should be easy as well, since you five appear to know nothing about dueling or anything else that would be needed to survive this Second War. Now where is that Muggle-loving fool. It would be easier to just kill you all at once, rather than having to use one curse over and over again."
"If you mean me, Tom, I am right here." Voldemort spun around and faced Dumbledore, who stood there looking ever so powerful.
"Dumbledore, how nice of you to join us. Tell me, what's this shocking news I received yesterday? You had not told these children about their fate?" he asked gleefully. Dumbledore glanced at the five, who stood cowering behind Voldemort, before looking back at the snake-like wizard.
"No, I did not," he said after a moment of silence. "I believed that if I could keep them in the castle for long enough you would not find them and give up. Another old man's mistake, I believe." Voldemort cackled; things could not have gone better.
"I always knew you were a fool, Dumbledore, but nobody believed it. They thought you were the greatest wizard in the world and that you never a made a mistake, but now you have, perhaps, made the most fatal one of all."
"The Second War is not over, Tom. Many things can still happen until it is." Voldemort did not reply with an answer, but instead sent a flash of green in Dumbledore's direction, who disappeared and reappeared on Voldemort's right, by the forest. The five stood helplessly rooted to the same spot, watching the duel between the two powerful wizards. Harry decided to use this time to tell Ron, Nora and Draco that they could still use the plan.
"So we can still pretend not to know anything and use it to surprise them later on," he finished, Hermione nodding her agreement.
"All right," said Ron and Nora and Draco consented. Dumbledore waved his wand in the air and then pointed it straight at Voldemort. The spell rushed past at amazing speed and sounded like an airliner before it hit the protective shield Voldemort had quickly set up. A loud gong-like note rang through the air, one that Harry recognized from the year before at the Ministry of Magic.
"You still prefer not to use the Avada Kedavra curse, Dumbledore?" asked Voldemort, his shield vanishing.
"I have already shared my view on this matter with you, Tom. But it appears that we are running into routine," replied Dumbledore, walking slowly nearer to Voldemort, who sent another killing curse at the man. Dumbledore Disapparated again and appeared behind Voldemort, who spun around. The five stood watching helplessly until Voldemort shouted something that they could not understand. It immediately turned cold while from all around them dark hooded figures appeared, their rattling breaths carried by the harsh wind.
"Expecto Patronus!" shouted Harry immediately, pointing his wand at the nearest Dementors. His silvery stag formed out of it and charged at the dark creatures along with Draco's stallion, Nora's unicorn, Hermione's otter and Ron's fire-breathing salamander. The five students watched the progress as Dumbledore and Voldemort continued to battle.
"Look," said Harry, smiling. The others followed his gaze and saw that about 10 more Dementors had Apparated in, meaning that the Metamorphmagus' had arrived. Harry saw one 'Dementor' wave at him and, waving back, he guessed it was Tonks.
"Dumbledore, you will not survive this Second War!" spat Voldemort and he sent the curse Dumbledore had cast, back so fast at the old man that there was no time to deflect it or move out of its way. Dumbledore seemed shocked when the spell shot towards him and when he was hit, he looked sorrowfully at his five students before slowly vanishing.
"Dumbledore!" yelled Harry, wanting to run forward and grab his headmaster, to pull him back into their world, but Draco restrained him.
"Yes, it seems you five are all alone now," said Voldemort with enthusiasm, rounding on the students. "But you don't stand a chance against me!" he roared, his voice suddenly strong and not high-pitched at all. Hermione and Nora whimpered as Voldemort walked closer to them, the Dementors all closing in, though they were still held back by the Patronus'.
"Unless I'm mistaken," said Harry coolly, looking around him. "There is one of you, and five of us." An evil grin spread over Voldemort's face.
"Very good, Harry, you can count," he said with fake over enthusiasm. "But, and I was waiting to show them until after a while, but since Dumbledore left so soon, let me show you my Death Eaters." He put a long, pale finger on his own Dark Mark and instantly 100 Death Eaters seemed to Apparated in as Draco painfully put a hand on his own Dark Mark, wincing in pain. "Yes, it hurts, doesn't it, Draco?" said Voldemort softly. "But it is something you deserve for betraying me. CRUCIO!" Draco fell onto the floor screaming in pain, as Nora tried hard not to let any tears escape, but Draco's constant cries of utter pain were not making matters any easier. When Voldemort finally took the curse off Draco, he did not get up from the ground, but lay where he was, shivering in the aftermath of the Unforgivable. Nora let herself drop beside him and held him close to her, stroking his hair, and kissing his head.
"Filthy mudblood! Get away from my son!" came Lucius Malfoy's angry yell. Nora looked up at the man who had run forward, anger and iciness in her eyes.
"I think he'd rather be loved by me, than tortured by you," she said coolly. Draco did not dare look; this was exactly what he had feared after constantly having the same nightmare of her taunting Voldemort. Malfoy seemed speechless and Voldemort ordered him back into the circle they had formed around the five as Nora helped a shivering Draco back up to his feet.
"Found true love, have you, now?" asked Voldemort icily, looking at the two holding hands. "Well, it'll pass, trust me-" He was about to continue when more people joined the 'party' and formed an larger outer circle around the five, Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Dementors still in the most outer circle, kept away by the Patronus' of the five.
"Where's Dumbledore?" demanded Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice.
"Oh, he's gone already," replied Voldemort happily. Harry could not really register what went on after that. All he remembered was two different shouts of 'Attack!' and then everyone had split up to battle each other and he and Draco were left standing in front of Voldemort in the meadow in front of the castle, which seemed darker for some reason, with translucent figures watching from behind the windows.
The weather seemed to be getting worse as raindrops were beginning to fall again. There were loud rumblings heard coming from overhead only seconds after streaks of lightning flashed and lit the large crowd up, all battling in the meadow in front of the castle, which towered high and gloomily above them.
Everyone seemed to be doing perfectly well without Dumbledore. All of the people from the Order and foreign organizations were intensely busy fighting Death Eaters, some shooting snide remarks at each other, some not, and some, like Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin and Cleopatra, were taking on two or more Death Eaters at once. It felt to everyone as if time had slowed down, but instead it seemed to be going a bit faster than normally the case.
~*~*~*~
Ron had no time to feel scared as two Death Eaters advanced upon him. He did the first thing that came to his mind and that was Stupefy, which took care of one Death Eater. The other sent a spell at him so fast, though, that all Ron could do was jump out of the way, landing in a spectacular dive on the grass, which was rapidly becoming more wetter, and shooting the impedimenta jinx over his shoulder at his opponent. He wondered what had happened to Dumbledore and a part of him could not believe that the old man was really gone. After having done so many incredible things, his own curse finished his own life. It seemed rather ironical.
"The poor weasel has grown up, has he?" asked Lucius Malfoy, walking towards Ron who struggled to get up. "Taking on two Death Eaters on his own. But then again, that might be the stupidity you seem to have a lot of."
"Oh, very witty," said Ron, nodding. "Yes, yes. I can barely contain my laughter. Ha, ha, ha." The sarcasm just dripped off of every 'ha' he said and Malfoy frowned, clearly confused.
"Do not mock me, Weasel, for it may be the last thing you do," he spat.
"Yes, thanks for the warning. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go. You see, there are more important Death Eaters I'd rather fight against," Ron told him, already searching for his next 'victim' and not paying much attention to Malfoy anymore, who seemed to be getting more and more confused by the second.
"How dare you!" he shrieked. "Crucio!" Ron, having decided that if he Disapparated or cast a shield charm, it would be obvious they had had training, let himself get hit and fell screaming onto the wet ground, writhing with pain. It felt as if a hundred people were poking at him with white-hot cutlery and knew that death would be a lot better than this. When the Cruciatus curse was lifted Ron could hardly get up and when he did, he stood trembling on both of his feet, looking a laughing Malfoy in the eye.
"Oh, that was fun," said Lucius, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "We should do it again soon."
"I'm not scared of you," said Ron bravely, but because he was shaking quite violently, so did his voice and he sounded more frightened if anything.
"Well, another lesson, perhaps?" asked Malfoy softly, his wand already pointing towards Ron's heart. Malfoy was about to open his mouth when a flash of red light came streaking from the right and hit him in the head, causing him to topple over, unconscious. Ron snapped his head to right and searched for the one who had saved his life. He saw a Dementor gliding eerily towards him and he was about to yell to his Patronus, which was still running around the Dementors, to attack it, when the Dementor waved at him. Ron frowned, his eyes wide in horror and confusion, before realizing it was probably Tonks. He waved back and gave her a smile and a thumbs up before turning around and walking slowly amongst the battling people, in search for either someone to save or someone to fight.
~*~*~*~
Hermione shot the Stupefy spell at her Death Eater, who dodged it and landed painfully on his side. Hermione got up from her lying position on the ground and had her wand pointed at the Death Eater, who turned out to be Avery.
"You filthy little mudblood, you," he said maliciously. Hermione shrugged.
"Yes?" she asked politely. "You called?"
"You will never win this battle," he told her, recovery from his confusion quickly.
"Not on my own, no, but that was never my plan in the first place."
"You won't live to see your friends die, either," Avery continued, ignoring Hermione's vague reply. "I'll take care of that. Avada Kedavra!" Hermione moved quickly to the side and Avery's spell went past her and hit a tree, which cracked.
"Oh, very original," she told him sarcastically. "And really unexpected, what with the warning before hand."
"Shut up!" roared Avery, and he sent another killing curse her way, but in his fury he missed and hit the same tree as before, which wobbled unsteadily for a few seconds, but did not fall.
"Patience, Avery. If you keep going like that, you'll never hit me again, and I don't think your pal Voldemort will be too happy about that, now will he?" asked Hermione. "Stupefy!" she yelled and a dazed Avery was hit in his stomach, causing him to fall over backwards. "One sucker down," muttered Hermione under her breath. "Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled when she saw a Death Eater sneaking up behind Ron, who was busy fighting some one else. He looked around when he heard a loud thump and gazed from the unconscious Death Eater on the floor behind him to Hermione who smiled, before indicating to his own Death Eater, who had now had time to shoot an unknown curse at Ron.
"Ah, the brilliant little mudblood, isn't it?" asked a cruel female voice from behind her. "What a great pleasure it will be to kill you." Hermione spun around and looked straight into Bellatrix Lestranges eyes.
"I've already gotten rid of enough Death Eaters, so don't bother," said Hermione coolly.
"They are stupid idiots, -" began Bellatrix.
"And so are you," finished Hermione. "How nice to know we're on the same level," she added happily.
"You cannot infuriate me like the others, my dear child," said Bellatrix, smirking.
"Oh, too bad then," Hermione told her simply.
"Crucio!"
"Protego!" Hermione sent the spell Bellatrix had cast back into her direction, but she jumped aside, and instead it hit the already twice stricken tree, which now gave a loud crack and slowly fell over. Birds flew out of the forest, twittering madly, and many people turned around to watch what had just happened. "Oops," said Hermione, shrugging.
"Avada Kedavra!" Hermione quickly dodged to the side, feeling immensely glad they had all of those irritating training sessions on their brooms in the Quidditch Pitch.
"Impedimenta!" she shouted but Bellatrix Disapparated and reappeared behind Hermione, who quickly spun around, wand pointed in front of her.
"Neat trick, huh?" asked Bellatrix, smirking at Hermione.
"But you can't Apparate into or out of these grounds," said Hermione, pretending to be confused. Bellatrix laughed. A high cackle, usually used for those Muggle cartoon witches with warts on their long and ugly noses.
"This isn't Apparation, silly little girl," she said, after disappearing and reappearing beside Hermione, who spun around again. "This is a form of Apparation, something you will never learn. Avada Kedavra!" Hermione had the strong urge to show her that she had already learned the form of Apparation but instead, sticking to the plan, she flung herself to the side, landing painfully on her side in the mud, splattering her clothes and face.
"Oof," she grunted, getting up, not bothering to brush herself off.
"Yes, it'd be lots better if you knew it as well. I daresay you're clothes are getting dirty," said Bellatrix, giving another smirk. Hermione shot another spell at her, but Bellatrix just Disapparated, reappearing somewhere else. It was completely impossible for Hermione to hit her with a curse and was beginning to get desperate until Emmeline Vance, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, sent a curse at Bellatrix, knocking her unconscious and tying her up at the same time. Hermione gave her a grateful smile and sighed in relief, wondering when this feeling of burden would lift, and if it ever would.
~*~*~*~
It was obvious to see that Nora was having more trouble battling Death Eaters than Hermione or Ron. Her eyes kept shooting quick, but worried, glances in Draco's direction to see if he was still alive, and whenever a deadly curse was sent in his direction it felt, for some reason, as if her heart was being smashed to pieces.
Currently Nora was fighting against a rather poor excuse for a Death Eater; he hardly shot any Unforgivables in her direction, he didn't make any mean retorts or tried to make small talk at all, and he was a very poor fighter. The few curses Nora sent at him, he dodged with extreme difficulty and he took his time shooting spells at her, giving her enough time to get ready to escape them. Voldemort seemed to have chosen just anyone as Death Eater, in his hurry to get a large number as soon as possible. But maybe it was better if the Death Eater couldn't fight, because Nora wasn't doing too well, either. She was fortunately helped out, though, by the only woman to have survived a Death Eaters' raid in her village somewhere in Africa. While keeping an eye on her own Death Eater, she cast a spell on Nora's Death Eater that tied him up with invisible rope. Nora thanked her and was immediately confronted with yet another Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov. He had pulled off his Death Eaters mask and she recognized his long, pale and twisted face from last year in the Ministry and from the Daily Prophet; he had once murdered the Prewetts.
"You're mine to kill," he spat. Nora was taken aback for a moment, where on earth had he come from? But she decided not to dwell on it, because he was already sending deathly, and unpleasant sounding, curses her way, which she quickly dodged. It wasn't until one Avada Kedavra curse streaked only millimeters from her head, that she decided to stop worrying about Draco, he was doing completely fine on his own, and focus more on trying to knock some Death Eaters out. This had sounded fairly simple in her head, but Dolohov seemed to be far more advanced than the previous Death Eater she had battled and unless she got him out of the way first, she wouldn't be able to fight any others as well.
"Have you had training?" asked Dolohov suspiciously when Nora flung herself out of harms way, landing a few feet to the right.
"No, you just really, really suck," she replied coolly, getting up and pointing her wand at him again.
"Now, that is no way to speak to someone so much higher above you, a place you'll never reach, lewd little mudblood. Crucio!" Nora had no choice but to stay put and let herself get hit, since Disapparation and dodging yet another curse would verify Dolohov's suspicions about her having been trained. She waited filled with dread for the curse to hit her and when it finally did, for time seemed to have slowed down all of a sudden, it was so much worse than she had expected. Lying on the muddy ground, large, thick raindrops falling from the dark sky, it felt as if all sharp, pointy things had just been heated to 1000 degrees and stabbed into her skin, over and over again. Nora could not help but shriek in pure agony as she writhed in the mud, tears rolling down her face, finding it hard to breathe.
Someone must have attacked Dolohov because when the curse was lifted and Nora looked with difficulty around to see where he was, he was lying a few feet away, shooting curses at Lupin, who Disapparated and reappeared a good distance away and immediately being confronted by two other Death Eaters. Nora got up, still shaking from the curse, and tried to hold her wand still in front of her.
"Yes, that hurt, didn't it?" asked Dolohov, smiling evilly. "But filthy, dimwitted mudbloods like you have to learn some manners." Nora said nothing. Her mind was more focused on her trying to hold her wand steady and being prepared to avoid another curse, especially the Cruciatus, because there was no way she ever wanted to feel that pain, ever again.
Nora could sense a pair of eyes boring into her, but she knew it wasn't Dolohov. It was Draco, yet she didn't dare look at him. She felt too embarrassed for screaming so loudly, which was probably what had got his attention in the first place. Nora continued to glare at Dolohov through the sheets of rain that just kept pouring from the sky. Everyone was completely soaked through and it would've have been rather chilly, with the cold wind, especially, if they had not all been battling so forcefully and filled with adrenaline.
"What's the matter? Too scared to speak?" asked Dolohov. Nora shrugged, not really paying attention. Why was she the only one not able to fight properly? None of the others were having as much trouble as she was. "Well, this is no fun. Avada Kedavra," Dolohov said lamely, casually pointing his wand at Nora, who ducked and felt the curse streaking past above her. Dolohov seemed to be thinking as he watched her get up again. "Well, if the usual curses don't work, then how about this one?" But when he opened his mouth to speak he was hit with a silencing charm and Hermione positioned herself squarely beside the still trembling Nora. Dolohov proved his far being advanced by making a motion as if sweeping something off of a table and instantly the two girls were knocked off of their feet and they flew a couple of feet through the air, before landing with a squelching noise in a mud pool, splattering sludge everywhere and on those nearest to them, who either didn't notice or didn't bother to care.
Dolohov walked over to the two girls and rounded on Hermione, who was already struggling to get up. He made the same sudden slashing movement with his wand as he had done a year previously in the Ministry of Magic and a streak of, this time, blue flames shot across Hermione's chest. Nora thought she saw Hermione give her an Oh-bloody-hell-not-again look but when she looked properly her best friend had crumpled on to the floor and she was left staring into the eerily piercing eyes of Dolohov who grinned and stood right in front of her.
Nora did not even try to get up; she was still trembling in the aftermath of the Cruciatus Curse and felt as if she could not move. Disapparating did not occur to her when Dolohov made the same sudden slashing movement and a streak of purple flame passed across Nora's chest. It did not even hurt, just a weird sensation from where the flames were, but she was afraid of what would happen, now that two of the five were already down. She shot one last glance at Draco before crumpling on to the floor as well, right beside Hermione.
It was then that one of the Order members, Hestia Jones, Apparated in front of Dolohov and yelled: "Petrificus Totalus!" Dolohov went completely rigid and he fell face forward in the mud as it began to pour even heavier. Hestia Jones muttered darkly as she looked at the unconscious Hermione and Nora.
"Damn Lucius Malfoy," she said, looking at the large battling group around her in disappointment. "If that snooty git hadn't held me up so long I'd have gotten here earlier." She heaved an irritable sigh and waved her wand, sending the Death Eater that had tried to sneak up behind her into the air.
~*~*~*~
Harry and Draco stood facing Voldemort in the midst of the battling group. Shouts and screams could be heard from all around them and sometimes he would see someone fly by as a particular jinx hit them. He looked around and spotted Ron fending off a big-boned, female Death Eater, who was doing rather poorly. He glanced at his watch as Voldemort shouted an insult at Draco and Harry saw that it was already 7 o'clock. Time seemed to go exceptionally fast. He glanced around again, but Nora and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. There was a feeling of dread in his stomach and he tried to calm himself by saying they were just fighting Death Eaters in the outer ring. Draco seemed to have noticed as well, because he frantically scanned the area, his vision obstructed by the heavy downpour.
Voldemort took advantage of their lack of attentiveness and yelled "Avada Kedavra!" while pointing at Harry, who reacted to late to dodge out of the way. But his life was saved when someone jumped in front of him, taking the hit as if they were in a movie. The short, rather pudgy person fell with a loud thump on the ground and lay motionless. Voldemort gave a frustrated shriek in fury and Harry took this chance to see who had saved his life. He was thinking of all sorts of noble things he'd do for that person's family when he saw to his confusion, shock and horror that the man lying dead at his feet was none other than Peter Pettigrew, the one who had killed his parents, and therefore ruined his entire life.
"That filthy piece of scum!" screamed Voldemort. "TRAITOR!" he bellowed at the sky, as if Wormtail was somewhere up there, floating towards heaven.
"Yes, that certainly backfired, didn't it?" asked Draco, smirking at the raging man in front of him and Harry, who was tuning back into the battle.
"Shut up!" screamed an infuriated Voldemort and he made a sweeping movement with his hand and Draco flew backwards landing painfully on his shoulder meters away in a pool of mud. He sat up, spluttering, and grabbed his shoulder, which hurt immensely. "Now to deal with you," said Voldemort menacingly, smiling hungrily at Harry who glared back, almost shaking with anger.
"Stupefy!" he yelled. Voldemort Disapparated and appeared on Harry's left. "Tarantallegra!" Voldemort disappeared again and reappeared behind Harry, who spun around to see a jet of green light hurtling towards him, but a second later it had slowed down and it looked as if it was hardly moving at all and Harry saw Draco standing where he had been thrown, his wand still pointed at the curse. Harry knew what to do now.
"Replacio!" he yelled, pointing his wand forcefully at Voldemort. Instantly the two of them switched places and Harry quickly cast a jinx on the curse Draco had slowed down, that made it speed up. Voldemort seemed stunned as he was now on the receiving end of it and Harry wondered why he did not move.
"YOU!" shrieked Voldemort looking at something standing by the forest. Harry followed his gaze and to his amazement saw Dumbledore standing there, practically radiating with power, pointing his wand at Voldemort and keeping him in his place. Harry smiled and looked back at Voldemort to see him getting hit by his own curse and giving one last shriek before he exploded. Harry stood frozen to the spot as he saw the force of the explosion rushing straight towards him.
Everyone stopped in battle upon hearing Voldemort's shriek. They saw the Boy-Who-Lived triumph over him once more, and for the last time, and witnessed the explosion before many used the form of Disapparation as the force of the explosion spread out. All of those who were knocked out and lying unconscious on the floor were thrown into the air by the energy of the blast and some just landed far away onto the wet and muddy ground while others crashed into the castle and slid down it's walls onto the earth. Hermione and Nora were smashed high into the castle and they fell swiftly down onto the ground with loud thumps. Ron had Disapparated into the castle, taking cover, while Draco, who could not muster the strength to move out of the way, was flung backwards in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch, landing painfully on his already broken shoulder. Harry, having been closest to Voldemort, was pitched high into the air and collided roughly against a tree, which cracked and fell over with a loud rumble.
The weather, already at a horrible stage, grew even worse and streaks of lightning lit up the bloody and muddy battlefield, where unconscious and dead people lay as immensely loud rumbles of thunder filled the air, as if mourning for the loss of those who had died. Dumbledore now stood in the middle of the meadow and he watched with sadness. He watched as a pitch- black substance floated high into the sky, from the place where Voldemort had been. Dumbledore saw it float away and he knew that there was another heir of Salazar Slytherin out there, soon to be possessed by that unknown evil that had dominated Salazar Slytherin himself and therefore causing him to kill three of his best friends.
Voldemort was defeated in the end, but too many innocent people had paid with their lives and it could not happen again. But it would. This was certain. However, the Second War was finally over and Dumbledore hoped that the five were still alive. The bravest teenagers in the world had to be alive. It would not be victory without them there. But as Dumbledore stood beside Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, he was not sure if all of the five would be present at the victory feast that would be held for them; one might watch it from above.
A/N: Yes! Finally finished this chapter! And I'm terribly sorry this took so long, but I'm in the middle of end-of-term exams, bla bla bla. I've already told you that a million times so you should know by now that I don't have that much time at the moment. But I really hoped you guys like this chapter.
Dumbeldave – Yeah, pepsi up your nose isn't the most wonderful thing, I agree. Well, I updated again and I really hope this chapter was worth the long wait as well, because I really did take too long updating this time, didn't I? Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Athenakitty – Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Nme – Yes, I agree, the chapters are way too short in the beginning and they really suck as well, but as the story proceeds everything gets better and I just hope you have enough willpower to read on. Hopefully you have gotten so far, but I doubt it. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Skins Thunderbomb – Thanks and yes I also think that reviewer should shut up and try to write a full story him/herself because it's not easy. And I'm also aware of the unpleasant fact that Ron is a bit too stupid in my story, and I'm really trying to not make him that way, but it just happens. I'll try to change it when I finish this story. Maybe you should eat fruit instead of chocolate? Get your sugar levels to a normal height again. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Chapter 44: The Second War – Part II
The five were woken by a high-pitched scream and when Harry, Ron and Hermione sprinted into Nora's room, where the noise had come from, to see what was wrong, they saw Professor McGonagall standing at the foot of the bed, hands on her hips and eyebrows knitted together to form one thin, but severe, line as she looked at Nora and Draco in both furiousness and disbelief.
"Never -!" she began, but her rage had gone beyond words and she just spluttered incomplete sentences before pointing her wand at Draco and lifting him out of Nora's bed and to the other side of her room, while both he and Nora stared at their professor in exasperation. Ron thought the whole thing rather funny, but his grin quickly faded when McGonagall shot him a stern glance out of the corner of her eyes.
"What is the meaning of this?" began Professor McGonagall, trying hard to keep her temper. Nora did not know how to explain this, nor did she want to. It felt like it was her father standing in front of her, and she knew he'd completely blow up if he ever found her in bed with a guy, let alone a Slytherin. But Draco did not know how to explain this to his professor either, and the two just looked helplessly at each other before Hermione spoke up, taking pity on them. She explained the situation to McGonagall, who did not seemed too relieved to hear the full story, in fact, she looked just as stern as before, as if she couldn't care less. Hermione gave up trying to reason with the furious woman, who was still keeping Draco in the corner of Nora's bedroom, and looked apologetically at her best friend, who was already glad Hermione had given it a shot.
"Minerva, please keep it down, you'll wake the whole castle," said Dumbledore, poking his head inside the room, joining their small, but incredibly 'fun', party. "What's this?" he asked, the rest of his body entering the room as well. He looked curiously around, from Draco being kept miserably in on corner of the room, to Nora who sat furious on her bed, arms crossed, to professor McGonagall who seemed ready to murder any one who put one toe out of line.
"Albus, thank Merlin you're here!" exclaimed McGonagall. "Perhaps you are able to reason with these children. I absolutely cannot tolerate... this!" She waved her arms at Nora and Draco in the same prudish and stiff way as if she had just walked in on them having sex, which they had not. Dumbledore gave both Nora and Draco rather stern looks before turning back to Professor McGonagall, who was now emitting huffing noises in outrage.
"Minerva, I am sure this is all just a slight misunderstanding. It is not what you are perhaps assuming. Let us leave so they can get ready for breakfast and I will explain matters to you on the way downstairs," he told her. McGonagall looked as if she was fit to burst, but she remained in one piece and, before they knew it, her attitude changed completely and she snapped at them all to hurry up and get dressed so they can go downstairs for a good and healthy breakfast even sooner.
"I wish she would quit acting like my mum," muttered Ron sourly after professor McGonagall had shut the door in a snappish kind of way, leaving them alone at last. Nora let herself plop down on her bed and she stared at her ceiling while saying:
"I doubt I've ever been this embarrassed in my whole entire life. She probably thinks I'm a right slut now."
"Don't be silly," argued Hermione while Draco, finally daring to come out of his corner, primly sat himself down on the edge of Nora's bed. "She knew you two were going out before this incident and I think she really overreacted. I mean, even Dumbledore knew this was going on."
"Yeah, but Dumbledore knows everything," interrupted Harry. "So that's not really a big achievement."
"I still wish she would quit acting so motherly," said Ron, not paying much attention to the conversation the others were holding.
"Right. Let's hurry and get dressed before she comes storming up here again," said Harry, he and Ron already walking towards the door.
"And if you two start fooling around again it'll be both of your heads," Hermione warned Nora and Draco, in a voice that could replace McGonagall's easily. Nora stuck her tongue out at her friend before chucking her pillow at her, but Hermione was quicker and there was only a soft thump as the pillow hit the closed door and slid onto the floor.
~*~*~*~
The five quietly walked into the Dining Room fully dressed to find Dumbledore, McGonagall and, for some reason, Snape in deep conversation. Seeing their greasy haired potions master there in Harry's seat was not something they had expected and they all stopped dead in their tracks out of uneasiness. Dumbledore beckoned them over with a wave of his hand while he listened intently to McGonagall who was apparently trying to persuade the headmaster of something. Snape barely joined in on the conversation, though he did listen intently. The five took their seats, but since Snape had taken up one of them, McGonagall had conjured up her own chair, Nora was left to share a chair with someone else. She wanted to go sit on Draco's lap, but with McGonagall and Snape in the room, she thought it best if she took up half of Hermione's instead.
"Help yourselves," said Dumbledore kindly, indicating towards the food that occupied the table. The five students piled some breakfast onto their plates and guessed, by the low whisper McGonagall was using, that the conversation was about them or about something they weren't allowed to hear, which made eavesdropping all the more attractive. But they restrained themselves and instead started up their own conversation about the events that happened in Merlin's castle yesterday. Butterflies of dread were rapidly beginning to form and multiply again.
"I must get going again, Albus. The elves are bound to be in chaos without my supervision," said Snape scornfully, getting up abruptly and startling the five students in the process. Their Potions master exited the Dining Room and headed towards the kitchen leaving Dumbledore and McGonagall watching the five intently with worry in their eyes.
"Er... yes?" asked Ron, slightly creeped out by the look McGonagall was giving him, which did not change after he spoke.
"Nothing," said Dumbledore. "Nothing," he repeated airily. "Well, Minerva, we should be getting back to the Order, discuss the latest news. You five can find something to do until Voldemort arrives?" The five nodded and their Headmaster and Transfiguration teacher got up and made for the door.
"Er, sir," called Harry. Dumbledore turned around as McGonagall entered the Entrance Hall. "Merlin said to give you his kind regards." Dumbledore nodded gravely and swept out of the Dining Room.
"Not his usual cheery self, is he?" said Ron. The others shrugged, feeling Ron was right. Their Headmaster seemed to be filled with much more sorrow than usual and the looks he kept giving them, well, they seemed to be looks of disappointment. Perhaps he thought them foolish for making up such a plan that got them kidnapped and nearly had them killed?
"Looks like we'll have another day of terrible weather," said Hermione, glancing out of the window, raindrops tapping against it and gliding downwards. A flash of lightning filled the Dining Room with eerily bright light, casting misshaped shadows around it, and not a second later a loud rumble of thunder was heard. "The storm seems to be coming closer, isn't it? Yesterday it was still a couple of miles away, now it seems to be right above this castle..." Hermione trailed off. She did not know why, but this storm made her feel gloomy and heartrending inside. The others seemed to feel the same way, for they said nothing and just gazed out of the window, watching drop after drop of rain falling from the dark amethyst sky, clouds shifting heavily around.
"Wanna go explore the castle?" asked Ron unenthusiastically. Anything that took their minds off of the thunderstorm was fine by him. It felt as if the tempest was predicting the end of the Second War: horrible and boding evil.
"Let's at least get out of this room," agreed Nora and they slowly made their way into the Entrance Hall. The portraits on the walls seemed to sense, or know, something was wrong for they were unnaturally hushed. Even the fighting couple that had once helped them find their way to their living room weren't bickering as usual, but just sat solemnly in their straight-backed wooden chairs.
"You know, this castle just has to have a room where we can enjoy ourselves and not only ones where we get killed," said Draco confidently. Ron looked at him as if he were mad.
"He's right," agreed Hermione. "I say we go find it." Ron looked at her as if she was mad too and did not think much of the idea, especially if they were to search the dangerous and instable castle again.
"I don't want to," he argued childishly.
"Oh, come on, Ron," said Nora exasperatedly, feeling rather worn out. "It's not like we have anything better to do and we'll just stay near the main staircase so we don't get lost, all right?" Ron shrugged and Hermione heaved a tetchy sigh, before they walked up the staircase together, trying hard not to pay any attention to the thunderstorm right above the castle.
"Now what?" asked Ron when they reached the landing with their bedrooms.
"Now we just look around," said Hermione plainly. The others followed her down the corridor with their rooms and entered the door at the end of it, giving the others the feeling she had already done some exploring on this floor without them.
"Wow," stated Harry, looking around the room they had entered.
"Yes, who could have guessed the first room we entered was everything we were searching for?" said Hermione, trying to look surprised like her friends.
"You suck at acting," Nora told her as she passed her on the way to the middle of the extremely large and beautiful room. Hermione grinned and joined them all on the other side of the room by the window, which took up the entire outer wall. Though every other window they had looked out of in this castle faced the large meadow, this one faced a different side of the castle's grounds and showed them hundreds of flowerbeds, dozens of fountains, many trees of all sorts, uncommon and normal, and, what caught their attention in an instant, a large gold statue of the four Founders all together, beaming.
But this was not the most peculiar thing. Also standing in the amazing garden, apparently at random, were silver statues, of fair size, of many important wizards that had lived so far. Dumbledore could be spotted in an instant, standing close to the Founders, as well as Merlin, who had been placed amongst black flowers. And, as they gazed at the entire garden in disbelief, their eyes fell upon a small group of statues that could represent none other than them. Harry stood proudly and courageously with his wand raised, a smile on his handsome face. Ron had been placed beside him, grinning. On the other side stood Hermione, wand in her hand as well, as she smiled wisely to the world. Nora and Draco stood beside her, holding hands and smiling blissfully at each other.
Surrounding their statues were little fountains, shooting water jets straight into the air, and the most beautiful everlasting lilies, which seemed to bring tears into Harry's eyes. Hermione put a soothing hand on his shoulder and Harry sniffed, though he smiled at the statue of him, standing so proudly in between his best friends. If someone had told him about all of this 5 or 6 years ago, when his bedroom was still the cupboard under the stairs, he would have laughed out loud and called them insane. Now, though, if someone told him he did not have to fight in the Second War, that he did not have to kill Voldemort, well, he would not laugh, but he would call him or her insane, for nothing could be changed anymore. Fate was fate, even if it was forlorn.
"I wonder who makes the statues and puts them there," said Nora thoughtfully, interrupting Harry's thoughts.
"Maybe they just... appear, when a prophecy is made about someone," said Ron.
"But then wouldn't there a lot more statues? And how would they know what we look like," argued Hermione.
"Maybe statues are only made of those who are really important, which would be why Dumbledore and Merlin are there too," said Harry.
"And maybe they appear at the time when the person, of whom a prophecy is made, has to fulfill it," suggested Draco, eyes wandering unwillingly upwards to the ominous sky.
"Could be," said Nora. "But I still think it's creepy."
"What kind of a room is this anyway?" asked Ron as he turned his back on the large window and looked at the area in front of him. There was the usual fire roaring in a large fireplace on one side of the room with sofa's and chairs in front of it but on the other side of the room, where they'd expected a vast bookcase, was a large television. They all stared at it in disbelief until Draco ran forward and jumped onto the sofa that stood before it, picking up the remote control with a boyish smile on his face.
"Look!" he shouted happily, showing the remote control to Nora who smiled at the look on his face, for Draco looked like a 5 year old who had just received his favorite toy for Christmas. Ron and Harry sat down on the sofa as well and Draco turned the television on, eyes wide and shining in amazement. Hermione, instead, inspected the cloth that covered the entire wall behind the TV.
"What is it?" asked Nora, joining her.
"Some kind of a Family Tree," replied Hermione, scanning it for anyone familiar. "No one on here we know," she muttered after a while. "This is goes too far back and ends about a few centuries ago.
"What's this? Where are the brooms?" asked Draco confused.
"This is Muggle sport," replied Harry. "And it's boring. Change the channel." Nora walked over to see what they were watching, but there was nothing interesting, since at this time of the day there are usually only cartoons or infomercials.
"This Tillievision isn't of good quality," stated Draco plainly, looking at Nora. "It doesn't have any good to watch. During the trip we always watched fun stuff." He pouted, causing Nora to chuckle.
"Let's do something else," said Ron. "This is boring."
"Like what?" asked Harry, switching the TV off.
"Shouldn't we be on the look out for Voldemort?" questioned Hermione. Ron shrugged.
"Why? I say we let him wait out there on his own for a while." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Let's go," she said wearily. The others followed her out of the newly discovered room and into the hall, wondering where she was taking them. Hermione led them into the Entrance Hall before caring to explain what they were going to do.
"Well?" demanded Ron and the others, too, looked at her expectantly.
"Well, I think we go into the dining room for lunch and then, when we're finished, we wait outside for Voldemort," Hermione told them weakly. "I mean, there's no sense in postponing the inevitable and we might as well get it over with sooner rather than later." The others shrugged and they slowly entered the dining room. As usual food appeared on the table the moment they sat down and they steadily ate their lunch amongst the rhythmic 'tap tap tap' of raindrops hitting the window and the occasional flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder.
"So, who's ready to go and get killed?" asked Ron conversationally when they were all finished eating. Harry and Draco raised their hands proudly. Nora and Hermione paid no attention to them. Nora was too busy gazing out the window, wondering what would happen if she was out in the rain again, if she'd go all weird again, and Hermione was occupied in the farewell note she was writing to Terry.
"What are you doing?" asked Ron interestedly, leaning forwards to read whatever it was Hermione was writing, but Hermione folded the parchment up, sealed it and put it in her pocket without answering Ron's question.
"All right, so let's go," said Harry, though he would really rather stay here in the dining room, perhaps cowering under the table.
"I think I'm going to be sick," said Nora. "I've never been this frightened in my entire life." The others murmured their agreement and Draco held her hand tightly in his, as if afraid he'd lose her if he loosened his grip.
"Do you think Dumbledore knows we're going to wait on Voldemort?" asked Ron.
"Dunno. Probably not," said Harry. "Let's go," he said again. The five of them slowly made their way into the Entrance Hall and hesitated by the front doors.
"First let's touch the Amulet," said Hermione rather shakily. They all obeyed and when all of them had some extra strength Harry took a deep breath and opened the front doors before stepping outside in the chilly air, a strong wind nearly knocking him off his feet. He was joined by his friends and together, staying close beside each other, they walked to the middle of the meadow, the strong gust of wind blowing around them. It had stopped raining, thankfully, but the threat remained hanging above them in the sky. Voldemort was nowhere to be seen, but they still continued to walk to the spot where he had stood the day before.
"I want to ask you guys a favor," said Hermione seriously when they had stopped. The others looked at her.
"Anything," said Nora. Hermione smiled weakly and took out the sealed piece of parchment Ron had tried to read during lunch.
"If I die and one of you lives, could you please give this to Terry for me? It's a goodbye letter." She was on the verge of tears after completing her sentence and the others nodded.
"Of course we will, 'Mione," said Ron sincerely. "Anything for you." Hermione sniffed as she smiled at her friends.
"How touching," came a malicious voice from behind them. The five spun around and stared straight into Voldemort's ugly face. "That Amulet may have helped you five escape me once, but it won't happen again." Harry couldn't believe his ears. Voldemort thought they escaped Merlin's Castle through the Amulet and not by Disapparating? What a moron. But this meant they could still use their plan of pretending not to be able to do anything. All he had to do was get this message across to his friends. Hermione, though, had already figured it out as well, which meant that the two of them had to tell the other three somehow.
"How do you know?" asked Harry, trying to stall. "How do you know the Amulet won't help us again?"
"Because I won't let it," spat Voldemort. "I will kill you five and Dumbledore right away before anything can thwart my plan. And it should be easy as well, since you five appear to know nothing about dueling or anything else that would be needed to survive this Second War. Now where is that Muggle-loving fool. It would be easier to just kill you all at once, rather than having to use one curse over and over again."
"If you mean me, Tom, I am right here." Voldemort spun around and faced Dumbledore, who stood there looking ever so powerful.
"Dumbledore, how nice of you to join us. Tell me, what's this shocking news I received yesterday? You had not told these children about their fate?" he asked gleefully. Dumbledore glanced at the five, who stood cowering behind Voldemort, before looking back at the snake-like wizard.
"No, I did not," he said after a moment of silence. "I believed that if I could keep them in the castle for long enough you would not find them and give up. Another old man's mistake, I believe." Voldemort cackled; things could not have gone better.
"I always knew you were a fool, Dumbledore, but nobody believed it. They thought you were the greatest wizard in the world and that you never a made a mistake, but now you have, perhaps, made the most fatal one of all."
"The Second War is not over, Tom. Many things can still happen until it is." Voldemort did not reply with an answer, but instead sent a flash of green in Dumbledore's direction, who disappeared and reappeared on Voldemort's right, by the forest. The five stood helplessly rooted to the same spot, watching the duel between the two powerful wizards. Harry decided to use this time to tell Ron, Nora and Draco that they could still use the plan.
"So we can still pretend not to know anything and use it to surprise them later on," he finished, Hermione nodding her agreement.
"All right," said Ron and Nora and Draco consented. Dumbledore waved his wand in the air and then pointed it straight at Voldemort. The spell rushed past at amazing speed and sounded like an airliner before it hit the protective shield Voldemort had quickly set up. A loud gong-like note rang through the air, one that Harry recognized from the year before at the Ministry of Magic.
"You still prefer not to use the Avada Kedavra curse, Dumbledore?" asked Voldemort, his shield vanishing.
"I have already shared my view on this matter with you, Tom. But it appears that we are running into routine," replied Dumbledore, walking slowly nearer to Voldemort, who sent another killing curse at the man. Dumbledore Disapparated again and appeared behind Voldemort, who spun around. The five stood watching helplessly until Voldemort shouted something that they could not understand. It immediately turned cold while from all around them dark hooded figures appeared, their rattling breaths carried by the harsh wind.
"Expecto Patronus!" shouted Harry immediately, pointing his wand at the nearest Dementors. His silvery stag formed out of it and charged at the dark creatures along with Draco's stallion, Nora's unicorn, Hermione's otter and Ron's fire-breathing salamander. The five students watched the progress as Dumbledore and Voldemort continued to battle.
"Look," said Harry, smiling. The others followed his gaze and saw that about 10 more Dementors had Apparated in, meaning that the Metamorphmagus' had arrived. Harry saw one 'Dementor' wave at him and, waving back, he guessed it was Tonks.
"Dumbledore, you will not survive this Second War!" spat Voldemort and he sent the curse Dumbledore had cast, back so fast at the old man that there was no time to deflect it or move out of its way. Dumbledore seemed shocked when the spell shot towards him and when he was hit, he looked sorrowfully at his five students before slowly vanishing.
"Dumbledore!" yelled Harry, wanting to run forward and grab his headmaster, to pull him back into their world, but Draco restrained him.
"Yes, it seems you five are all alone now," said Voldemort with enthusiasm, rounding on the students. "But you don't stand a chance against me!" he roared, his voice suddenly strong and not high-pitched at all. Hermione and Nora whimpered as Voldemort walked closer to them, the Dementors all closing in, though they were still held back by the Patronus'.
"Unless I'm mistaken," said Harry coolly, looking around him. "There is one of you, and five of us." An evil grin spread over Voldemort's face.
"Very good, Harry, you can count," he said with fake over enthusiasm. "But, and I was waiting to show them until after a while, but since Dumbledore left so soon, let me show you my Death Eaters." He put a long, pale finger on his own Dark Mark and instantly 100 Death Eaters seemed to Apparated in as Draco painfully put a hand on his own Dark Mark, wincing in pain. "Yes, it hurts, doesn't it, Draco?" said Voldemort softly. "But it is something you deserve for betraying me. CRUCIO!" Draco fell onto the floor screaming in pain, as Nora tried hard not to let any tears escape, but Draco's constant cries of utter pain were not making matters any easier. When Voldemort finally took the curse off Draco, he did not get up from the ground, but lay where he was, shivering in the aftermath of the Unforgivable. Nora let herself drop beside him and held him close to her, stroking his hair, and kissing his head.
"Filthy mudblood! Get away from my son!" came Lucius Malfoy's angry yell. Nora looked up at the man who had run forward, anger and iciness in her eyes.
"I think he'd rather be loved by me, than tortured by you," she said coolly. Draco did not dare look; this was exactly what he had feared after constantly having the same nightmare of her taunting Voldemort. Malfoy seemed speechless and Voldemort ordered him back into the circle they had formed around the five as Nora helped a shivering Draco back up to his feet.
"Found true love, have you, now?" asked Voldemort icily, looking at the two holding hands. "Well, it'll pass, trust me-" He was about to continue when more people joined the 'party' and formed an larger outer circle around the five, Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The Dementors still in the most outer circle, kept away by the Patronus' of the five.
"Where's Dumbledore?" demanded Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice.
"Oh, he's gone already," replied Voldemort happily. Harry could not really register what went on after that. All he remembered was two different shouts of 'Attack!' and then everyone had split up to battle each other and he and Draco were left standing in front of Voldemort in the meadow in front of the castle, which seemed darker for some reason, with translucent figures watching from behind the windows.
The weather seemed to be getting worse as raindrops were beginning to fall again. There were loud rumblings heard coming from overhead only seconds after streaks of lightning flashed and lit the large crowd up, all battling in the meadow in front of the castle, which towered high and gloomily above them.
Everyone seemed to be doing perfectly well without Dumbledore. All of the people from the Order and foreign organizations were intensely busy fighting Death Eaters, some shooting snide remarks at each other, some not, and some, like Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin and Cleopatra, were taking on two or more Death Eaters at once. It felt to everyone as if time had slowed down, but instead it seemed to be going a bit faster than normally the case.
~*~*~*~
Ron had no time to feel scared as two Death Eaters advanced upon him. He did the first thing that came to his mind and that was Stupefy, which took care of one Death Eater. The other sent a spell at him so fast, though, that all Ron could do was jump out of the way, landing in a spectacular dive on the grass, which was rapidly becoming more wetter, and shooting the impedimenta jinx over his shoulder at his opponent. He wondered what had happened to Dumbledore and a part of him could not believe that the old man was really gone. After having done so many incredible things, his own curse finished his own life. It seemed rather ironical.
"The poor weasel has grown up, has he?" asked Lucius Malfoy, walking towards Ron who struggled to get up. "Taking on two Death Eaters on his own. But then again, that might be the stupidity you seem to have a lot of."
"Oh, very witty," said Ron, nodding. "Yes, yes. I can barely contain my laughter. Ha, ha, ha." The sarcasm just dripped off of every 'ha' he said and Malfoy frowned, clearly confused.
"Do not mock me, Weasel, for it may be the last thing you do," he spat.
"Yes, thanks for the warning. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go. You see, there are more important Death Eaters I'd rather fight against," Ron told him, already searching for his next 'victim' and not paying much attention to Malfoy anymore, who seemed to be getting more and more confused by the second.
"How dare you!" he shrieked. "Crucio!" Ron, having decided that if he Disapparated or cast a shield charm, it would be obvious they had had training, let himself get hit and fell screaming onto the wet ground, writhing with pain. It felt as if a hundred people were poking at him with white-hot cutlery and knew that death would be a lot better than this. When the Cruciatus curse was lifted Ron could hardly get up and when he did, he stood trembling on both of his feet, looking a laughing Malfoy in the eye.
"Oh, that was fun," said Lucius, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "We should do it again soon."
"I'm not scared of you," said Ron bravely, but because he was shaking quite violently, so did his voice and he sounded more frightened if anything.
"Well, another lesson, perhaps?" asked Malfoy softly, his wand already pointing towards Ron's heart. Malfoy was about to open his mouth when a flash of red light came streaking from the right and hit him in the head, causing him to topple over, unconscious. Ron snapped his head to right and searched for the one who had saved his life. He saw a Dementor gliding eerily towards him and he was about to yell to his Patronus, which was still running around the Dementors, to attack it, when the Dementor waved at him. Ron frowned, his eyes wide in horror and confusion, before realizing it was probably Tonks. He waved back and gave her a smile and a thumbs up before turning around and walking slowly amongst the battling people, in search for either someone to save or someone to fight.
~*~*~*~
Hermione shot the Stupefy spell at her Death Eater, who dodged it and landed painfully on his side. Hermione got up from her lying position on the ground and had her wand pointed at the Death Eater, who turned out to be Avery.
"You filthy little mudblood, you," he said maliciously. Hermione shrugged.
"Yes?" she asked politely. "You called?"
"You will never win this battle," he told her, recovery from his confusion quickly.
"Not on my own, no, but that was never my plan in the first place."
"You won't live to see your friends die, either," Avery continued, ignoring Hermione's vague reply. "I'll take care of that. Avada Kedavra!" Hermione moved quickly to the side and Avery's spell went past her and hit a tree, which cracked.
"Oh, very original," she told him sarcastically. "And really unexpected, what with the warning before hand."
"Shut up!" roared Avery, and he sent another killing curse her way, but in his fury he missed and hit the same tree as before, which wobbled unsteadily for a few seconds, but did not fall.
"Patience, Avery. If you keep going like that, you'll never hit me again, and I don't think your pal Voldemort will be too happy about that, now will he?" asked Hermione. "Stupefy!" she yelled and a dazed Avery was hit in his stomach, causing him to fall over backwards. "One sucker down," muttered Hermione under her breath. "Petrificus Totalus!" she yelled when she saw a Death Eater sneaking up behind Ron, who was busy fighting some one else. He looked around when he heard a loud thump and gazed from the unconscious Death Eater on the floor behind him to Hermione who smiled, before indicating to his own Death Eater, who had now had time to shoot an unknown curse at Ron.
"Ah, the brilliant little mudblood, isn't it?" asked a cruel female voice from behind her. "What a great pleasure it will be to kill you." Hermione spun around and looked straight into Bellatrix Lestranges eyes.
"I've already gotten rid of enough Death Eaters, so don't bother," said Hermione coolly.
"They are stupid idiots, -" began Bellatrix.
"And so are you," finished Hermione. "How nice to know we're on the same level," she added happily.
"You cannot infuriate me like the others, my dear child," said Bellatrix, smirking.
"Oh, too bad then," Hermione told her simply.
"Crucio!"
"Protego!" Hermione sent the spell Bellatrix had cast back into her direction, but she jumped aside, and instead it hit the already twice stricken tree, which now gave a loud crack and slowly fell over. Birds flew out of the forest, twittering madly, and many people turned around to watch what had just happened. "Oops," said Hermione, shrugging.
"Avada Kedavra!" Hermione quickly dodged to the side, feeling immensely glad they had all of those irritating training sessions on their brooms in the Quidditch Pitch.
"Impedimenta!" she shouted but Bellatrix Disapparated and reappeared behind Hermione, who quickly spun around, wand pointed in front of her.
"Neat trick, huh?" asked Bellatrix, smirking at Hermione.
"But you can't Apparate into or out of these grounds," said Hermione, pretending to be confused. Bellatrix laughed. A high cackle, usually used for those Muggle cartoon witches with warts on their long and ugly noses.
"This isn't Apparation, silly little girl," she said, after disappearing and reappearing beside Hermione, who spun around again. "This is a form of Apparation, something you will never learn. Avada Kedavra!" Hermione had the strong urge to show her that she had already learned the form of Apparation but instead, sticking to the plan, she flung herself to the side, landing painfully on her side in the mud, splattering her clothes and face.
"Oof," she grunted, getting up, not bothering to brush herself off.
"Yes, it'd be lots better if you knew it as well. I daresay you're clothes are getting dirty," said Bellatrix, giving another smirk. Hermione shot another spell at her, but Bellatrix just Disapparated, reappearing somewhere else. It was completely impossible for Hermione to hit her with a curse and was beginning to get desperate until Emmeline Vance, a member of the Order of the Phoenix, sent a curse at Bellatrix, knocking her unconscious and tying her up at the same time. Hermione gave her a grateful smile and sighed in relief, wondering when this feeling of burden would lift, and if it ever would.
~*~*~*~
It was obvious to see that Nora was having more trouble battling Death Eaters than Hermione or Ron. Her eyes kept shooting quick, but worried, glances in Draco's direction to see if he was still alive, and whenever a deadly curse was sent in his direction it felt, for some reason, as if her heart was being smashed to pieces.
Currently Nora was fighting against a rather poor excuse for a Death Eater; he hardly shot any Unforgivables in her direction, he didn't make any mean retorts or tried to make small talk at all, and he was a very poor fighter. The few curses Nora sent at him, he dodged with extreme difficulty and he took his time shooting spells at her, giving her enough time to get ready to escape them. Voldemort seemed to have chosen just anyone as Death Eater, in his hurry to get a large number as soon as possible. But maybe it was better if the Death Eater couldn't fight, because Nora wasn't doing too well, either. She was fortunately helped out, though, by the only woman to have survived a Death Eaters' raid in her village somewhere in Africa. While keeping an eye on her own Death Eater, she cast a spell on Nora's Death Eater that tied him up with invisible rope. Nora thanked her and was immediately confronted with yet another Death Eater, Antonin Dolohov. He had pulled off his Death Eaters mask and she recognized his long, pale and twisted face from last year in the Ministry and from the Daily Prophet; he had once murdered the Prewetts.
"You're mine to kill," he spat. Nora was taken aback for a moment, where on earth had he come from? But she decided not to dwell on it, because he was already sending deathly, and unpleasant sounding, curses her way, which she quickly dodged. It wasn't until one Avada Kedavra curse streaked only millimeters from her head, that she decided to stop worrying about Draco, he was doing completely fine on his own, and focus more on trying to knock some Death Eaters out. This had sounded fairly simple in her head, but Dolohov seemed to be far more advanced than the previous Death Eater she had battled and unless she got him out of the way first, she wouldn't be able to fight any others as well.
"Have you had training?" asked Dolohov suspiciously when Nora flung herself out of harms way, landing a few feet to the right.
"No, you just really, really suck," she replied coolly, getting up and pointing her wand at him again.
"Now, that is no way to speak to someone so much higher above you, a place you'll never reach, lewd little mudblood. Crucio!" Nora had no choice but to stay put and let herself get hit, since Disapparation and dodging yet another curse would verify Dolohov's suspicions about her having been trained. She waited filled with dread for the curse to hit her and when it finally did, for time seemed to have slowed down all of a sudden, it was so much worse than she had expected. Lying on the muddy ground, large, thick raindrops falling from the dark sky, it felt as if all sharp, pointy things had just been heated to 1000 degrees and stabbed into her skin, over and over again. Nora could not help but shriek in pure agony as she writhed in the mud, tears rolling down her face, finding it hard to breathe.
Someone must have attacked Dolohov because when the curse was lifted and Nora looked with difficulty around to see where he was, he was lying a few feet away, shooting curses at Lupin, who Disapparated and reappeared a good distance away and immediately being confronted by two other Death Eaters. Nora got up, still shaking from the curse, and tried to hold her wand still in front of her.
"Yes, that hurt, didn't it?" asked Dolohov, smiling evilly. "But filthy, dimwitted mudbloods like you have to learn some manners." Nora said nothing. Her mind was more focused on her trying to hold her wand steady and being prepared to avoid another curse, especially the Cruciatus, because there was no way she ever wanted to feel that pain, ever again.
Nora could sense a pair of eyes boring into her, but she knew it wasn't Dolohov. It was Draco, yet she didn't dare look at him. She felt too embarrassed for screaming so loudly, which was probably what had got his attention in the first place. Nora continued to glare at Dolohov through the sheets of rain that just kept pouring from the sky. Everyone was completely soaked through and it would've have been rather chilly, with the cold wind, especially, if they had not all been battling so forcefully and filled with adrenaline.
"What's the matter? Too scared to speak?" asked Dolohov. Nora shrugged, not really paying attention. Why was she the only one not able to fight properly? None of the others were having as much trouble as she was. "Well, this is no fun. Avada Kedavra," Dolohov said lamely, casually pointing his wand at Nora, who ducked and felt the curse streaking past above her. Dolohov seemed to be thinking as he watched her get up again. "Well, if the usual curses don't work, then how about this one?" But when he opened his mouth to speak he was hit with a silencing charm and Hermione positioned herself squarely beside the still trembling Nora. Dolohov proved his far being advanced by making a motion as if sweeping something off of a table and instantly the two girls were knocked off of their feet and they flew a couple of feet through the air, before landing with a squelching noise in a mud pool, splattering sludge everywhere and on those nearest to them, who either didn't notice or didn't bother to care.
Dolohov walked over to the two girls and rounded on Hermione, who was already struggling to get up. He made the same sudden slashing movement with his wand as he had done a year previously in the Ministry of Magic and a streak of, this time, blue flames shot across Hermione's chest. Nora thought she saw Hermione give her an Oh-bloody-hell-not-again look but when she looked properly her best friend had crumpled on to the floor and she was left staring into the eerily piercing eyes of Dolohov who grinned and stood right in front of her.
Nora did not even try to get up; she was still trembling in the aftermath of the Cruciatus Curse and felt as if she could not move. Disapparating did not occur to her when Dolohov made the same sudden slashing movement and a streak of purple flame passed across Nora's chest. It did not even hurt, just a weird sensation from where the flames were, but she was afraid of what would happen, now that two of the five were already down. She shot one last glance at Draco before crumpling on to the floor as well, right beside Hermione.
It was then that one of the Order members, Hestia Jones, Apparated in front of Dolohov and yelled: "Petrificus Totalus!" Dolohov went completely rigid and he fell face forward in the mud as it began to pour even heavier. Hestia Jones muttered darkly as she looked at the unconscious Hermione and Nora.
"Damn Lucius Malfoy," she said, looking at the large battling group around her in disappointment. "If that snooty git hadn't held me up so long I'd have gotten here earlier." She heaved an irritable sigh and waved her wand, sending the Death Eater that had tried to sneak up behind her into the air.
~*~*~*~
Harry and Draco stood facing Voldemort in the midst of the battling group. Shouts and screams could be heard from all around them and sometimes he would see someone fly by as a particular jinx hit them. He looked around and spotted Ron fending off a big-boned, female Death Eater, who was doing rather poorly. He glanced at his watch as Voldemort shouted an insult at Draco and Harry saw that it was already 7 o'clock. Time seemed to go exceptionally fast. He glanced around again, but Nora and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. There was a feeling of dread in his stomach and he tried to calm himself by saying they were just fighting Death Eaters in the outer ring. Draco seemed to have noticed as well, because he frantically scanned the area, his vision obstructed by the heavy downpour.
Voldemort took advantage of their lack of attentiveness and yelled "Avada Kedavra!" while pointing at Harry, who reacted to late to dodge out of the way. But his life was saved when someone jumped in front of him, taking the hit as if they were in a movie. The short, rather pudgy person fell with a loud thump on the ground and lay motionless. Voldemort gave a frustrated shriek in fury and Harry took this chance to see who had saved his life. He was thinking of all sorts of noble things he'd do for that person's family when he saw to his confusion, shock and horror that the man lying dead at his feet was none other than Peter Pettigrew, the one who had killed his parents, and therefore ruined his entire life.
"That filthy piece of scum!" screamed Voldemort. "TRAITOR!" he bellowed at the sky, as if Wormtail was somewhere up there, floating towards heaven.
"Yes, that certainly backfired, didn't it?" asked Draco, smirking at the raging man in front of him and Harry, who was tuning back into the battle.
"Shut up!" screamed an infuriated Voldemort and he made a sweeping movement with his hand and Draco flew backwards landing painfully on his shoulder meters away in a pool of mud. He sat up, spluttering, and grabbed his shoulder, which hurt immensely. "Now to deal with you," said Voldemort menacingly, smiling hungrily at Harry who glared back, almost shaking with anger.
"Stupefy!" he yelled. Voldemort Disapparated and appeared on Harry's left. "Tarantallegra!" Voldemort disappeared again and reappeared behind Harry, who spun around to see a jet of green light hurtling towards him, but a second later it had slowed down and it looked as if it was hardly moving at all and Harry saw Draco standing where he had been thrown, his wand still pointed at the curse. Harry knew what to do now.
"Replacio!" he yelled, pointing his wand forcefully at Voldemort. Instantly the two of them switched places and Harry quickly cast a jinx on the curse Draco had slowed down, that made it speed up. Voldemort seemed stunned as he was now on the receiving end of it and Harry wondered why he did not move.
"YOU!" shrieked Voldemort looking at something standing by the forest. Harry followed his gaze and to his amazement saw Dumbledore standing there, practically radiating with power, pointing his wand at Voldemort and keeping him in his place. Harry smiled and looked back at Voldemort to see him getting hit by his own curse and giving one last shriek before he exploded. Harry stood frozen to the spot as he saw the force of the explosion rushing straight towards him.
Everyone stopped in battle upon hearing Voldemort's shriek. They saw the Boy-Who-Lived triumph over him once more, and for the last time, and witnessed the explosion before many used the form of Disapparation as the force of the explosion spread out. All of those who were knocked out and lying unconscious on the floor were thrown into the air by the energy of the blast and some just landed far away onto the wet and muddy ground while others crashed into the castle and slid down it's walls onto the earth. Hermione and Nora were smashed high into the castle and they fell swiftly down onto the ground with loud thumps. Ron had Disapparated into the castle, taking cover, while Draco, who could not muster the strength to move out of the way, was flung backwards in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch, landing painfully on his already broken shoulder. Harry, having been closest to Voldemort, was pitched high into the air and collided roughly against a tree, which cracked and fell over with a loud rumble.
The weather, already at a horrible stage, grew even worse and streaks of lightning lit up the bloody and muddy battlefield, where unconscious and dead people lay as immensely loud rumbles of thunder filled the air, as if mourning for the loss of those who had died. Dumbledore now stood in the middle of the meadow and he watched with sadness. He watched as a pitch- black substance floated high into the sky, from the place where Voldemort had been. Dumbledore saw it float away and he knew that there was another heir of Salazar Slytherin out there, soon to be possessed by that unknown evil that had dominated Salazar Slytherin himself and therefore causing him to kill three of his best friends.
Voldemort was defeated in the end, but too many innocent people had paid with their lives and it could not happen again. But it would. This was certain. However, the Second War was finally over and Dumbledore hoped that the five were still alive. The bravest teenagers in the world had to be alive. It would not be victory without them there. But as Dumbledore stood beside Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, he was not sure if all of the five would be present at the victory feast that would be held for them; one might watch it from above.
A/N: Yes! Finally finished this chapter! And I'm terribly sorry this took so long, but I'm in the middle of end-of-term exams, bla bla bla. I've already told you that a million times so you should know by now that I don't have that much time at the moment. But I really hoped you guys like this chapter.
Dumbeldave – Yeah, pepsi up your nose isn't the most wonderful thing, I agree. Well, I updated again and I really hope this chapter was worth the long wait as well, because I really did take too long updating this time, didn't I? Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Athenakitty – Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Nme – Yes, I agree, the chapters are way too short in the beginning and they really suck as well, but as the story proceeds everything gets better and I just hope you have enough willpower to read on. Hopefully you have gotten so far, but I doubt it. Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Skins Thunderbomb – Thanks and yes I also think that reviewer should shut up and try to write a full story him/herself because it's not easy. And I'm also aware of the unpleasant fact that Ron is a bit too stupid in my story, and I'm really trying to not make him that way, but it just happens. I'll try to change it when I finish this story. Maybe you should eat fruit instead of chocolate? Get your sugar levels to a normal height again. Thanks for reading and reviewing!