Harry knew what was going on, he could hear the screams as much he tried to blot them out. This was all Voldemort's idea of fun; he was doing this just to screw with Harry's mind. He was hoping that the shock would make him too emotional as he was that time in the Ministry of Magic, make him not care anymore, to make him rash and stupid.
It wasn't going to work a second time, he wouldn't let it.
He blocked out his mother's screams, he blocked out his father running to her immediate aid. It was the only way he could deal, he had to keep focussed on the battle in hand; otherwise Lily wouldn't be the only one to be subject to pain and torture.
Voldemort stood staring straight at Harry and they made eye contact. Red and green intently trying to stare into the others mind.
"You know it's all pointless. Time is fragile and you have – well let's put this in a way a dirty little half-blood such as yourself would understand – you have been as subtle as a bull in a china shop".
Harry stood, still staring at his nemesis, calculating his next move. When words finally came they were devoid of emotion and crisp and clear "Well, you'd know all about being a dirty little half-blood wouldn't you Tom?"
Voldemort made no obvious retaliation to this. He stood in the same proud posture as he had from the start; there was not even a twitch of a lip or the movement of an eye. It was as if the whole seen was on pause. Maybe he was playing the game the same was Harry was, maybe he was actually scared of him however unlikely that may seem.
Harry pushed this to the back of his mind; Voldemort was too arrogant to fear Harry. He was just playing to amuse himself; playing the game to humour the boy before going in for the kill – literally.
"You do know that this is now redundant? This is just a little extension work for me, an extra-curricular activity. You will never be born, you have altered the relationships of this time, and everything from this point on will be different. Think about the variables, even if your parents get together a different night, a different egg a different sperm and a different Harry Potter."
Harry just laughed "On the other hand everything might be the same. This might have happened originally." He gripped his wand by his side, knowing that Voldemort would reply to anything he sent too quickly, he would be better just dragging this out as he did in first year. Hopping for Dumbledore to suddenly appear and flush out the Dark Lord from the one place he was never supposed to attack, the one place everyone thought they were safe.
Harry was struggling to block out the panicked breathing of James in the corner, he could see the marauders in front of him even though he wasn't registering what they were doing. All that mattered in that room were him and Mr Tom Riddle (The name Voldemort was his choice, his idea to get people to fear him. Harry wouldn't give him the satisfaction. From this moment on, it would be Tom and Tom only). He could feel the back up Ron and Hermione were ready to provide as they stood next to him and he qould be eternally grateful for this even though he couldn't acknowledge it now. No doubt the couple were wandering why he was just talking, why he wasn't making the first move while he had the chance.
The truth is Harry had been in this situation too many times before, Voldemort was better than him when it came to duelling. At least when he was on his own, talking was stalling and stalling could give them a better chance of escape. It was worth the chance instead of provoking Voldemort and making him attack, no doubt meaning everyone in the room would be dead within 30 seconds.
Voldemort cleared his throat and in silky tones said "all the more reason for me to do this…aveda kedevra"
The green light flew at Harry at a rate of knots. He stood staring as the light came towards him almost as if it was in slow motion but dodging it would be as impossible as dodging a speeding bullet. It was going to hit him. He was going to die.
He could see nothing else in the room now, it seemingly was taking forever for the light to hit him but it was coming. All that Harry could see was this bright light less than a foot away now. He braced himself, stood up tall and waited for the wall to hit.
It was inches away; he took a breath and held it, closing his eyes and hoping that death was better than life. There was no flashing of images before his eyes; there was no white light or comforting choirs of angels or voices of loved ones who had already died. Just this knowledge of the inevitable, the green light was death and it was going to hit.
There would be no time to respond, no curse could be sent to send the bastard down with him. This was the end, Voldemort was now immortal. The last opportunity to get rid of him had gone in a blaze of green light.
Harry felt the light hit him as if it was a wall of ice, it took your breath away making your lungs collapse and each half breath you get froze the inside of your airways making it more and more painful. It stung all your skin before making it numb, you could feel you legs cave in beneath you as your vision slowly blurred into nothing but a bright light. Harry hit his head on the floor as he fell to the ground feeling the curse pass through his body. He could feel his scar stinging as if someone had just sliced it open with a scalpel. He could feel a liquid trickle from it before this too went numb. Finally it felt as if something was pulling at your body, like a centrifugal force was spinning your soul from you body, as if someone was pulling you away from your vehicle during life. It continued until the pain was intense
Then it all stopped, and Harry knew no more.
Hello children – this tiny chapter is dedicated to Lil and baby Abbie/Harry who is being born at this very moment in time. 2 weeks late though, what you planning on being? A squatter?
Now channel 4 teletext, page 382 has a write-in section called Mega-zine. Basic rule is the more obscure your letter the better chance of it being printed. For example, my first letter was the correct way to eat a Crunchie. The email address is mega-zine(at)teletext(dot)co(dot)uk. You write under obscure names, e.g. Fluffy the Evil One, Manky Horrible Brussels Sprout, She Who Lost The Plot. Then there is the sister website www(dot)vegetablerevolution(dot)com which rocks.
Thirdly www(dot)key103(dot)com. My local radio from back home broadcast through this website now, and it's a decent radio station so I thought I'd give it a little plug. Enjoy.
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. You know I get a little buzz when I get reviews, it makes me go all of a-tingle and also means I'm more likely to get writing again.
