Disclaimer: All of Harry Potter belongs to Ms. J K Rowling. I am but borrowing the plot, using it to create another story.

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In destroying him, I've met my fall

Chapter 1

Dear Cedric,

It's been one and a half months since the last war.

Six weeks since the Wizarding World attained peace.

... Forty-two odd days since Ron and Sirius died.

I doubt that many would have recovered so soon from the aftermath. At least I haven't, what with Sirius dying in my arms, after his being hit concurrently by Malfoy and Nott's Avada Kedavra when he tried shielding me against their hexes. He had been the first to die, and that had been the day when I was kidnapped.

Kidnapped.

How embarassing.

The Death Eaters had managed to catch me unaware when I was out in the Shrieking Shack visiting Padfoot - he had just came back from another mission. The two of us had managed to stun several of the Death Eaters, but the odds of winning when against a dozen skilled killers was rather minute... I just hadn't expected to lose Sirius to them...

I had been brought to one of the more secluded manors, one, which I was told, was unplottable. The Death Eaters had... played with me. Hexes, curses and the Unforgivables had been used often, with Crucio being the most common among it. After all, I've learnt to stop Imperio within seconds - a skill I'm ever thankful, the things they wanted me to do were disgusting - and Voldemort wanted me alive... they couldn't do anything too harmful to me. Unfortunately though, muggle torture became an everyday punishment. Whips, cat-o-nine-tails, shackles, brands, those I have endured without a sound, but their forcing themselves into me had me screaming.

It had been a nightmare.

I felt so dirty that I had wanted to die... Well, it was not as if I hadn't tried. Merlin, I've never knew that the Death Eaters were so... demented. I've had rough ideas that they might enjoy raping women - the temptations prove to be too appealing for those bastards to bear, but males? I still shudder at that prospect. God, how it had hurt...

Snape only managed to get me out about a week later. By then, I had already felt so weak that I was about to drop dead anytime, anywhere. He had been his usual scowling self, this time even worse when he saw me. I had fully expected him to blast at me for being so stupid to get caught... that was why his pouring down vials of energy-regaining potions into my throat without any words had caught me by surprise. Maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought him to be. The potion was also why I managed to duel against Voldemort for so long without falling on my face. In the end, Snape's cover had been blown, but thankfully, he had been fully capable of fending for myself before Dumbledore's forces arrived.

Still, why the students, especially Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Draco entered the fight was beyond me. How could Dumbledore send them? Did he not understand the infinite dangers that stand? Ron is now dead, Ginny is still in a coma, Draco sustained so many injuries that he had been on life-support for a week, and Hermione is still trying to recover from the aftermath. Even Snape, or so I heard, got knocked out... wonder if he's woken up?

You know, Cedric, I'm kind of glad that you're no longer here. The evils unleashed for the past two years had been frighteningly close to home. We were being trained very much for survival, for even Hogwarts had been pliable for damage since the end of my fifth year. For some reason, the wards surrounding Hogwarts were starting to break, and the professors had gathered that the protection set by the Founders were fading when someone managed to crack the core node in the Forbidden Forest - the one huge crystal that set all of the spells in place.

By the end of sixth year, most of the students are already tired, war-bitten, and sickened by the terrors commited by those bastards. Hell, I'm even beginning to understand why our people fear his name so much... he's too damned good a strategist, and under his lead, the Death Eaters were...wild.

All of us have changed. We're forced to grow up at the age when we're supposed to enjoy life to the fullest. Many have become bitter at the lost their family to the war, and I know of several Gryffindors who had lost their parents. Those who became orphaned were permanently placed under their Head of Houses care, and they stayed in Hogwarts all year round. After all, Hogwarts, though vulnerable, was still considered the most safe under Dumbledore's guide.

Now that we possess a world free of evil... of Voldemort at least, the younger students would, hopefully, retain the innocence that only children will have, though for the older ones, I'll not know of how much they've changed. I know I have matured both mentally and physically, especially after the duel with Voldemort... It had made me seen how susceptible even wizards like Voldemort are to death, and fear. That look in his eyes, the fear evident in his scarlet eyes had made me realize that he, too, is human enough to fear death.

The voices still reside in my head, occassionally giving me encouragement, but most of the time blasting me for allowing uncle Vernon to have his way with me. They are pretty enraged with my relatives, and sometimes, I wonder if I really am going mad, what with having two voices, sometimes four, in my head. Then, there is this constant mantra that they kept saying, 'We'll come for you soon.' Wonder what this means...

Furthermore, I keep having this weird sensation when I awake from dreams of those two voices, the feeling that I've known them since before the duel. Then, my body will have this very odd experience, it was as if I'm changing into someone else. I know this sounds silly, but it's like my skin is stretching to fit another physical form. It hurts sometimes, but fortunately, it hasn't gone as bad as uncle Vernon's beatings...

Now that is another nightmare, and nope, I'm not going into it. Anyway, it hadn't been as bad as what I've gone through in the hands of the Death Eaters, and morbid as it seems, those beatings had made me feel that I've redeemed myself, that I'm... alive. That had been why those two voices had been scolding me. They kept telling me that I should not feel this way, that I'm not guilty for the deaths of Sirius, Ron, you, and many others...

Still, I just can't help but feeling responsible. If I had killed him immediately when he first fell, if I had been able to fend them off in my fourth year, then those who've died might not have died. For this alone, I can help but feel guilty.

Then again, it really is my fault...

Not knowing what else to write, Harry Potter hurriedly signed his name, his thoughts still clouded by the smiling forms of Ron when they won the sixth year Quidditch Cup, and of Sirius, when he came by for Christmas at Hogwarts. Unnoticed to himself, tears started falling from those brilliant emerald orbs as he wept once more for the deaths of his loved ones.

Sirius's name had been cleared after the war, after Fudge had been pulled down from office by the public. Arthur Weasley had, by popular demand, became the next Minister, and his first trial was that of Wormtail, who had been arrested that very day. He had been testified to be a Death Eater, much to the horror of the congress, thus within days, Sirius's name had been cleared, with Wormtail being thrown into Azkaban. His grave now resided next to his friends James and Lily, and the formerly-arrested-properties under his name had been transferred over to Harry - his only godson.

However, Harry had not cared much about that property. He had lost the only family he had, and even Remus, encouraging as he was, couldn't take up that place, now empty, in his heart.

Realizing where his thoughts had gone, Harry wiped the tears off his cheeks, and tried to stand up, wincing as the slashes on his back bled once more. His body was getting thinner, close to the point of being severely malnutritioned, yet this had not bothered him much. His eyes still held the same pain as it had weeks ago... pain not for himself, but for those that had died.

Quietly, he walked over to Hedwig, smiling slightly as the owl nipped at him worriedly.

"I'm fine, Hedwig. Here," he placed a portion of the toast given to him for dinner, "eat it. I'm sorry for not having more." The white owl hooted indignantly, as if protesting that he shouldn't give her so much when he himself did not have much to eat in the first place, but Harry just ruffled her feathers lightly, calming the irate owl.

When Hedwig finally started eating, he went over to the misty window, gazing at the beauty of the lightning storm. Opening the window, he allowed the raindrops to fall onto his face, the coolness of the waters washing over him as he felt a lingering pain all over his body. Ignoring it, he continued to play with the rain, though Hedwig, sensing something turned over to look at him, only to be surprised to see a girl in place of her master, her black tresses flying wildly with the incoming wind. The appearance only sustained itself for a few seconds though, for Harry had reverted back to his old self...

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Hogwarts

Hospital Wing

Severus Snape, resident git of the dungeons, awoke to an awful backache.

"Bloody Hell..." He groaned, trying to find a posture that would alleviate the pain, but not finding any. Squinting against the bright light, he could see two vague figures in front of him, yet it took several minutes before his eyes adjusted to see the forms.

"Poppy, Albus." The man croaked, and a comforting hand held him up in a sitting posture whilst another fed him a potion and some water. He muttered a word of thanks, grateful that the potion helped regain some of the lost strength. Gazing at the relieved faces of both people, Severus felt albeit embarassed, though he covered it up rather well. He did turned flaming red when Minerva McGonagall suddenly appeared by his bed and launched herself at him, seemingly in tears, going on about how he'd finally woke up.

"Get off me, woman." The black-haired man had growled, pushing the usually strict professor into Pomfrey's arms. McGonagall, noticing her actions, apologized immediately, but Snape cut her off her tirade, asking, "How long was I out?"

"Almost two months, Severus." Dumbledore replied, his gnarled hand placed on the younger man's arm in a comforting gesture. He too, had been upset when the potions master had went into coma, for through the past years, there existed a close relationship between the two men, a relationship that bordered almost to a father-son bond. Therefore, he had been delighted when Poppy called on him, telling him that Severus was finally waking up.

Snape, on the other hand, was shocked by the amount of time he had slept through.

"Two months?" He intoned, disbelieving. The transfiguration mistress nodded her head, smiling slightly, "Yes. Many had been unconscious in the last battle. Even he," the witch pointed at Dumbledore, who was smiling wryly, "wasn't immune to the backlash when the last bout of curses broke the shields that had been placed by Merlin-knows-who."

At this, Severus fell silent, a silence that Poppy thought was due to his tiredness, and she hurried the two professors out with the excuse that 'Severus needs his rest'. Dumbledore, knowing that the black-haired man was pondering on something, just patted his shoulders, urging, "You need some rest, food, and a decent haircut."

His comment brought the potions master out of his reverie as he fingered his hair that was now past the usual shoulder length. Scowling, he accio-ed a piece of black velvet, with which he tied his hair with, retorting, "Maybe Albus, I'll just leave it as it is."

The headmaster just smiled, happy that the man was finally willing to change his image. Then, remembering something, Dumbledore spoke seriously, "Severus, Voldemort is dead."

"I know, Albus." Snape trailed absently, rubbing his left forearm unconsciously as Dumbledore left the room, being hauled out by Poppy.

"I was there." he mumbled, his mind still reeling from what he had saw...

He had seen how Voldemort had died, how the dagger had been flicked into Voldemorts body... how that voice had sounded so eerily in the mind of those present.

It had not sounded like Harry Potter at all. In fact, he was willing to bet all his potions that the boy... no, young man had been possessed by some unknown spirit or whatever... not that he was superstitious, but there had been cases of such possessions through the history of magic.

Hell, he was even beginning to suspect that some spirit had guided him through the dome shield that had surrounded the arena of Voldemort and Potter's duel. The dome had been impregnable - all who tried passing into it were stunned, petrified, or dead. Yet, a voice had guided him into the battlefield, bringing him to where Potter had fallen, the gleaming dagger still gripped tightly in his hand, along with a chained necklace. One, which had two rings in it, the insides engraved in a tongue known to few...

Oh yes, he knew what those words meant, but it had came as a shock to him. Who would have known that two of the founders were lovers? Lovers who'd pledged their entire life in a mystical soul bond that would last through eternity? Then, the voice rang once more in his head, this time, sounding rather amused.

"Who'd have known that you too, knew parseltongue? Oh! And an elemental mage too..."

Severus had been shocked by how the voice had known two of his hidden abilities, but the voice turned serious immediately when he kneeled down and carried Harry in his arms.

"Take care of him, shadowmaster. He is my beloved."

The black-haired man had just nodded his head, 'feeling' the voice smile, though he ignored it, stalking through the blood field with the knowledge that the boy in his arms needed medical attention immediately. However, he could only make it to the border of the second shield, for the dome got shattered, and the backlash rendered virtually everyone unconscious.

"Take care of him, Severus. I'll be by soon."

It had been the last command before he lain on the ground, Harry's body under him as he shielded the boy from the worst of the backlash...

Remembering the voice, Severus Snape frowned, looking out into the stormy night as he wondered...

What could all these mean?

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End of chapter 1

Well, finally up! Phew! I thought to add some Harry torture in this, but... I dunno, things got kinda out of hand...

Anyway, thank you Indil Elondil, Keteri, ENT THE CANNIBLE, Mikee and little buffy for reviewing!!! It really gladdens me that someone out there likes this story!

Also, if there's any question, don't hesitate to ask! I'm afraid that I've got this bad habit of writing, then realizing that no one understands it ^_^!

Ephirel =รพ