A/N: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. They Belong to JKR. If you don't know who she is… shame on you!

The Final Goodbye
By: Nanio-713

"Well, we meet again Harry. Do you know what today is? Toady is the 7th year anniversary of the time we first fought each other." Voldemort hissed while watching Harry, the Boy-Who-Lived, from across the room. Faint sounds of spells being cast and people screaming floated through the door to Voldemorts main dining hall in his hideout. The table was gone, of course, leaving the room empty except for the two occupants.

Harry stood facing Voldemort, a smile playing on his lips. "Yes, I remember. It's also been two years since we last saw each other, that time being at the Department of Mysteries. You know, I can still see you the way you were when I first met you, stuck on the back of Quirrell's head. I'm sure your new body must feel amazingly comfortable, compared to back then."

"Actually," Voldemort replied, "Quirrell's head was quite comfortable." As Harry chuckled, Voldemort's face took on a sympathetic look. "Harry, are you sure you want to fight me? Think about it: if only we can kill each other, then we can both become immortal if we join forces. None will be our equal!"

"No, Voldemort. We've been over this dozens of times. Hell, we've been over this hundreds of times. It won't work, and you know that. You tend to have a jealous streak with your power. Whenever anyone nears you in strength, you try to kill them. In time, you will try to kill me regardless of any plan we make. Besides, I'm not into the whole pureblood thing." At Voldemort's frown he added, "yeah, I know that is just your excuse to gain power, and you really don't care. Still, we would both have to act for it, and I don't feel like living that big a lie."

Voldemort smiled, making his face look more sinister than happy. "You shouldn't make your decision based on assumptions when it comes to my power. Who knows? I may end up training you myself."

"That sounds tempting but I think I'll pass. Besides, you wouldn't be trying to convert me if it wasn't for dumb luck."

"That was not dumb luck. I told Goyle to listen in on your conversations whenever he could."

Harry snorted, "yeah, but you didn't tell him to walk into the bathroom as I told Ron the prophecy, now did you?"

"So I got lucky once. What's the big deal? It's not like you never got information in the same way."

"Okay, it's not my fault you tell Draco too much. He's 17, for Chris sakes! What kind of dark lord is dumb enough to let an arrogant prat in on his secret plans? I mean, yeah it was a trap, but you should have let him know he shouldn't tell me everything! It was more than what a spy would have told me."

"Draco has already been punished for that, or did you forget? I didn't think anyone could forget watching a boy get every bone in his left arm ripped out of his body one by one."

"Whatever. Since we're on the topic of Death Eaters, did you ever find someone to replace Malfoy Senior?"

"Alas, I have not. It's so hard to find good Generals these days when people kill them before their replacement is fully trained."

"Hey, I apologized for that last week through our mental connection. Right after you apologized for trying to kidnap my girlfriend and my servant."

"Oh yes, I remember now. How are Ginny and Bellatrix doing, anyway?"

"They're fine. Ginny is outside, fighting Death Eaters, while Bellatrix is at Hogwarts, helping Madame Pomfrey prepare beds for the injured." A small smile graced Harry's lips. "By the way, Ginny is still mad at you for binding Bella to me without our consent. Especially since Bella wants to sleep in my bed 'in case I need some assistance' during the night? Tell me, why do all magical binding spells have to be sexual in nature?"

"Ancient wizards were barbaric and perverse, Harry. What more can I tell you? Besides, I've never heard you complain."

Harry laughed, "The only time I want to complain is when those two nearly get into a catfight. I swear that I am amazed that Ginny is willing to accept Bella being around me at all! Tonks and Hermione told me that they would've broken up with me by now."

"She's in love with you, Harry. It's going to take more than a horny servant to keep her away. Sometimes I wish my mind could have connected to my diary so that I could have gotten to know your girlfriend better. She seems to be quite the firecracker. Although I figured you would have settled this situation out by now, regardless of her personality."

"Not a chance, Voldemort. Not a chance. Ginny is greedy, and doesn't want to share me with anyone. Why did you give me Bella, anyway? By the way you talk about her, my guess is that you were quite fond of her."

"Bellatrix was one of the few people who ever got close to me. I enjoyed her company, but we were never more than a little friendly with each other. I felt that having her around would be a good experience for you, and that's why I gave her to you." Voldemort watched Harry, and then sighed deeply. "Well, Harry, I must admit that I never expected to have a discussion like this with you one day. I guess it was a good idea to start trying to talk to you mentally, after all."

"That is true. Once we started talking, we reached a quick understanding. I was a bit surprised when we became acquaintances. Then, when we became something close to friends, I was amazed to find that you really weren't trying to kill me like that."

"Of course not, Harry. That would have been unfair. I realized after your fifth year that the only way we will kill each other was through a proper duel, like the time I got my body back. I just began to use the mind link to get to know my enemy. Who would have guessed that a prophecy and a war would let two enemies become so close?"

Harry shrugged, "Not me. I thought that we'd go on hating each other until the bitter end. We're still trying to kill each other, though, so obviously there is still some animosity. Although… I will admit that I don't feel any right now."

Voldemort simply shrugged and said, "Nor do I, Harry. This is no longer about us, though. This is about the war. This has gotten so large and out of hand that the only way for this to end is for one of us to die. I promise you, though, that I will protect Ginny and Bellatrix from any sort of punishment if I prevail."

"Likewise, I promise you that Narcissa will remain untouched if I win." At the look of shock on Voldemort's face Harry added, "Oh come on, Tom. You've given me enough hints to realize that you have feelings for the woman. I can tell you right now that the Ministry head, Amelia Bones, has a plan to ruin Narcissa, as well as other Death Eater families, if you are defeated. I'll talk to her if I survive since Amelia owes me a few favors, though."

A long, uncomfortable silence fell in the room as the two men watched each other. There seemed to be nothing else left to say, and neither was very keen on starting the last duel of one of their lives. They stared into each others eyes, finding respect and admiration swimming through the both of them. As they both stepped within dueling range, Voldemort said, "You parents would be proud of you, Harry."

Harry nodded, briefly, before taking his dueling stance. Both men cleared their minds, and waited for a signal to begin their duel. A rather large bang erupted outside, which caused Voldemort to begin by yelling "Crucio!" As the cruciatus curse flew forward, Harry dodged the spell and countered with "Stupefy!" The Dark Lord diverted the spell to the side, and then shot another cruciatus curse. Harry blocked it using a powerful shield before shooting a bone-breaking curse at Voldemort.

Voldemort was impressed: as the battle progressed, Harry showed that he was willing to use not only dangerous light spells, but various dark spells, as well. Harry shot an acid hex at Voldemort, who blocked it by conjuring a sheet of metal to block it. As the spell hit the metal, it began to melt and leave a large, useless pool of molten steel and liquid on the floor. Voldemort apparated to Harry's side and attempted to hit him with the killing curse. Harry's Quidditch reflexes saved him, though: he saw Voldemort appear, then quickly apparated so that he reappeared behind Voldemort. Harry pushed with a spirited offense, shooting several deadly – and painful – curses at Voldemort. He watched as they neared the dark lord before he raised his wand and drew an intricate rune in the air. The rune glowed with an eerie green light before sucking in most of the curses. Voldemort then summoned the same golden shield Harry remembered from the Department of Mysteries to block the rest of the spells. Three beams of light hit the shield, each making a large bang, like a gong, as they hit. Harry fell to one knee, slightly drained from casting those spells, as the dark lord made the shield disappear and put his hands on his knees, clearly exhausted

Both men stopped for a moment to catch their breath. They both turned to each other once they were ready to continue, and regained fighting poses. Voldemort raised his wand high into the air before bringing it down yelling, "To the last!" in Parseltongue. When his wand touched the floor, a black shadow crawled across the floor towards Harry, as another crawled out towards Voldemort. Once it connected to the two men, Voldemort explained, "This spell binds our souls fate to our bodies. That way, what happened to me last time will not happen again. If we die now, then we cannot come back, as I once did. If this spell is recast during this duel, it will kill one of us. I don't quite know the process if it is cast the second time. I only know that one of us will die."

Harry knew that Voldemort said this for a reason, but before Harry could think about it, the shadows flew up and surrounded him. It became so dark that Harry couldn't even see his nose. Suddenly, pain more powerful than the cruciatus curse coursed through his veins. It felt as if his skin was melting. His organs twisted as if tiny snakes wrapped around each one. His heart and lungs felt momentarily constricted, as if they were each in a vice. He felt as if his body was about to implode from the sheer pressure upon his body. Yet as quickly as the pain came, it stopped. A low light suddenly blinded his vision, and he found himself kneeling across from Voldemort, who looked as if he too were about to collapse.

Both men stood straight while Harry raised his wand in the air. Before he could say anything, Voldemort yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" Harry brought down his wand as he saw the green light escape Voldemort's wand and yelled "Maximus Reducto!" The large red beam met the large Green beam in midair, causing both spells to suddenly explode. Harry was surprised, since he expected the two wands to connect. Unknowingly he asked, "Why didn't the spells link like they did in the graveyard?"

Voldemort smirked before replying with, "That's because I had my wand customized. My core is no longer a phoenix feather, Harry. I had it replaced with Basilisk venom. It's perfect for those casting dark spells. Luckily, the wand still accepted me after it was customized."

Harry almost laughed at the revelation. Wow! Voldemort took quite a large amount of time planning this duel out. "I hope I'm not disappointing you, seeing how much effort you put into planning out the details of this duel."

"On the contrary," Voldemort remarked, "you have made this duel most interesting. I am thoroughly enjoying myself, seeing as you proved yourself to be better at dueling than I expected. Indeed, you have made this duel the hardest in my life."

"It is the hardest thing that I've ever had to do as well. However, I'm not sure how much that counts, seeing as I don't have an incredibly large amount of duels to compare it to, like you." Both men heard a large banging on the door, snapping them out of their reverie. "They're getting impatient outside, now. I think it's time, don't you?"

As Voldemort nodded, Harry raised his wand in the air. He hesitated for a moment to etch this moment into his mind. Voldemort standing there, ready to face death in the eye and laugh. Harry took note of how he himself looked, confident and ready to break the world in half, if necessary. He drank in the grave atmosphere and the low light of the bare room, as well as the smell of singed floorboards and residual magic. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Harry brought down his wand and hissed, "To the last!"

This time, there was no slow creep of a shadow. Darkness immediately reached out and smothered everything within seconds. Harry felt as if he was drowning, surrounded by a thick blanket of darkness, slimy and sticky and absolutely repulsive. It was as if he was sinking in tar that was tightening around him with rapidly increasing pressure. He reached out, as if trying to swim out, when his hand touched some sort of rope. Harry immediately wrapped his hands around it, and hung desperately as the rope felt as if it was trying to wriggle away. Harry felt his entire body ready to collapse, to explode and feel no more, except for his hands. His hands felt almost weightless, as if they were the only things not wrapped in darkness.

Reaching out with his mental link, Harry found Voldemort in the same predicament. They were both hanging on to the ropes, feeling as if they were about to explode. The moment one of us let's go of the rope we will die, Harry thought to Voldemort. The one to survive will be the one who hangs on, I think. It won't stop until one of us is dead as you said. Once Harry let his link with Voldemort disappear, the rope felt as if it was even harder to hold onto. It was as if acknowledging the importance of the rope made it even more difficult. Instinctively, Harry pulled himself closed to the rope, and began to wrap as much of his body around it as possible. He noticed that the places he touched the rope seemed to lessen in pressure as well, making it easier to hold on.

Voldemort, however, wasn't as lucky. He didn't pull himself closer to the rope, although he began to identify the texture of it. This feels like snakeskin. It's as if we're holding onto snakes. Voldemort mentally began to laugh; I find it amusing that I surrounded myself with snakes to the point where I feel as if I literally need to hang onto one to survive. Pushing that thought aside, he tried to focus all of his attention to the rope. It slithered, twisted, pushed, and pulled to get him to let go. Suddenly, the rope began to coil itself, causing Voldemort to let go.

It was pain beyond recognition. Voldemort screamed as his body felt like it was being crushed into a tiny ball. He yelped in agony as he felt bones snap and grumble, slowly, one by one. His mind seemed to be squeezed and remolded as if it was play-doh, and all that followed was dark.

The only inclination that Harry had of any of this is the sudden realization that he could not feel Voldemort anymore. He couldn't tell if Voldemort was alive, dead, or hiding himself. He was just… gone. That was the only way to describe it. Slowly, Harry felt the pressure, as well as the rope, disappear. He seemed to be merely floating for a moment before he felt the floor under his feet. Harry began to pant as if he ran one hundred miles, but he stayed standing. As the darkness disappeared, Harry saw the room take shape and noticed Voldemort's body, or what was left of it, lying on the floor.

It seemed more like a clump of parts than an actual body. Blood steadily poured out of the mass of robes, hair, and gore piled together. The pounded flesh was sop damaged that Harry couldn't make out any particular body part. The only thing that Harry could distinguish was a single eye resting at the top of the pile.

Harry looked at the pile that was once Voldemort, wondering if he should say anything before he left. A large banging on the door knocked him out of his thoughts, followed by a woman's voice. "Harry!" Ginny yelled, "Harry, are you alright? Please, someone open up! Harry! Please be alive, please!"

She must have been like that the whole time, Harry thought. The Death Eaters must be caught, then. Well, might as well let them know I'm alive, as well as calm Ginny down. She must be having a right fit worrying about me.

Harry began to walk towards the door, leaving the corpse lying, untouched, on the floor. As he reached for the handle, Harry turned and said, "Goodbye, Tom. I'm sorry you had to die. You were a worthy opponent, as well as an interesting companion. You will not be forgotten."

Having said goodbye to Voldemort, Harry opened the door and fell into the arms of his beloved Ginny, ready to tell the world of his victory.

A/N: I've always found that I enjoy watching two enemies talk trash to one another before a fight, especially when they do it calmly. That then led me to the decision that Harry and Voldemort should be friendly to each other, too. If you don't like it, then there is nothing I can do about that. If you do, then I hope you let me know. Now is the time to review, after all.