A/N: Hopefully this is what everyone has been waiting for. I wanted to make a few corrections to the last chapter, since I didn't actually show it to Loony Laura before posting. (She really is quite anal retentive about these things, and I should ask for her guidance more often.) First off, the snake Nagini was five INCHES thick, not five centimetres. That's just my Canadian side rearing its ugly head. Second, I first had Harry tell Ginny 'I won't tell you to feel better about it, because that's not possible.' Then I had him say only a few sentences later, (stupid me) 'Don't worry, you'll feel better.' Fine, I admit I'm a dunce. Thank you Loony!

Voldemort Disclaimer: I shall wipe the earth clean of all those who dare oppose my views. Mudbloods and Muggles will cower in terror at my feet, and some day I will own this story. Not today, but my immortal self will eventually rule all, so the story will also be mine, oh yes. It will be mine. (fiendish ear-splitting cackle.)


Chapter Thirty-seven – When Next Light Faces Dark

Tom Riddle's eyes were more snakelike than ever in the flickering torchlight, and in them, Harry could see the depth of many ages.

Now that he could look upon the Dark-Lord's face without his scar searing with excruciating pain,Harrycould analyse his features. It was much like what Harry thought it would feel to be looking into the eyes of a vampire. So much intelligence and cunning, but no soul to be seen. It took Harry a moment to realize that Voldemort was looking directly at him, and that although Harry was looking for his mind, he had somehow blocked Harry out completely.

That's why the pain in my scar isn't so bad right now. Harry realised. He knows what I've been doing to him all year. He's found a way to block me.

Harry immediately threw a typical stunner at him, which Voldemort blocked effortlessly with a casual wave of his wand. Harry decided immediately that his job here tonight would be to keep Voldemort away from the rest of his friends. If he succeeded in keeping him occupied, at least until Dumbledore could arrive, then his mission would be fulfilled. There was really nowhere to hide here, so Harry would have to rely on his feet to get him out of the way quickly. This was an advantage he held over Voldemort. A young boy with plenty of recent practice would certainly be more agile than an old man who was more than seventy, wouldn't he?

Once again, Harry was proved wrong, as the Dark Lord leapt away from his disfigurement charm like a spry teen. He shot back with a cutting curse, and Harry felt the curse slash his hip just as he leapt away. He cried out, and toppled to the ground, his hip numb. Voldemort turned away, looking for new prey, obviously disappointed with the weakness of his foe.

He aimed his wand over at Ginny, who was now alone and facing away from them, still not aware of the Dark Lord's arrival. Voldemort looked over at Harry with a wicked grin. He knew full well that he was now aiming at one of Harry's best friends. He also obviously recognised her as the girl who had likely killed his pet and spy Nagini, and by the twisted expression of glee on his face as he pointed his wand, he conveyed the fact that this was one of the worst actions he could take against Harry. He wanted Harry to see it.

Harry almost heard the words before they were spoken, and he raised his wand quickly to avert disaster.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry had sent a quick soundless stinging hex at Voldemort's hand, and Voldemort flinched, whipping his wand back to face Harry when his attack on Ginny went wild and hit the wall. "Trying to hog me to yourself, Harry?" Voldemort screeched gleefully. "How noble!"

Ginny, who had felt the heat of Voldemort's spell, neatlydispatched her current foe with a well aimed stunning spell, turned and gaped at the sight of Voldemort holding his wand on Harry, who was also pointing his own back at the Dark Lord. It was the first time she'd come face to face with the man responsible for her disastrous first-year, and the horrified expression on her face showed clearly how intensely this sight had affected her.

Harry didn't dare take his eyes off of Voldemort, but he was able to wave his left hand at Ginny, to let her know that he wanted her to stand elsewhere. Somewhere away from this fight.

She nodded at Harry with wide eyes, and began to fight her way down the hall, staying carefully away from Harry and Voldemort's duel. From the edge of his vision, Harry saw her find herself another partner in the form of Hannah, and the two of them resumed covering each other's backs using evasion techniques.

In the slight pause while Harry and Voldemort had their stand off, he also noticed a group of teachers join the fight out of the corner of his eye. Hagrid and Grawp were more obvious than any other people when they came in behind professor Trelawney. Hagrid came forward brandishing his pink umbrella, shooting spells with the tip. Grawp the giant, who stood more than twelve feet above the crowd failed his fists, whipping Death-Eaters aside like they were ratty old robes. The stunners and curses that flew at them simply rebounded off their hardened giant skin.

"So long as I've got your attention, they don't" Harry finally answered Voldemort's cackle with a laugh of his own, although he didn't feel like laughing, and threw a leglocking curse at him. Voldemort quickly conjured an intricate silver shield, which the curse rebounded from, bouncing back towards the teen. Harry scowled, remembering the last time he'd seen that shield.It had been the night of Sirius' death. He quickly conjured his own shield, bronze and gleaming, and the rebounded spell hit it like a gong and flashed up into the ceiling, leaving a black scorchmark. He hadn't bothered to send it back at Voldemort, since the Dark Lord's shield was still in place. Instead he decided to shoot a more complicated poisoning spell, which would require Voldemort to alter his shield type.

Voldemortdid change his shield to an invisible ailments barrier, and Harry was able to quickly throw another stinging hex at him through the wall which was meant to repel only viral attacks.

Remus was battling along with Hermione at the far end of the hall. They didn't seem to be having too much trouble, and Harry could only hope that none of them got hurt tonight. The hallway was now getting crowded, and the sight of a good number of unmoving bodies littering the floor terrified Harry. Fawkes flew from person to person, crying tears into their wounds, and soothing their fears.

Voldemort sent three cutting curses in succession, and Harry was able to stop two of them by catching them deftly with the tip of his wand, ready to send back out towards the caster. The third bolt narrowly scraped past Harry's shoulder, leaving his robes torn, and the sensation of fresh blood trickling down toward the fingers of his left hand. The pain was barely noticeable what with the adrenaline beginning to pump through his veins, and Harry wasted no time in sending the two beaded cutting curses back at Voldemort from where they had collected in the tip of his wand. Neither bolt made their target, but it was enough to give Harry some proper time to think.

Professor Snape swept through the battle like a great bat, distracting both Harry and Voldemort at the same moment. No one stopped him. To the Death-Eaters, he looked like he was coming forward to proclaim his allegiance with his lord, while only the pack and a select few teachers understood otherwise. Snape came forward, moving neither to Voldemort, nor to Harry. He stopped just short of the fight, and Voldemort paused to glare at him.

"So, are you a traitor?" He asked impatiently, keeping his wand carefully trained on Harry. "Or are you not?"

"I am not a traitor, lord." Snape said carefully. "Not to the correct people, at least." He quickly fired off three heavy curses, leaving three Death-Eaters unconscious on the floor behind him, even though he had now lost his wand to a disarming charm.

Voldemort smirked. "I thought as much." He moved to strike Snape down, pointing his wand almost lazily at the now unarmed professor. Snape looked like he might actually be ready to die. He had closed his eyes, and to Harry, he looked as if he was simply waiting for the inevitable. It was a sort of suicide, Harry realized.

Harry had used the time given to him by conjuring a floating rebound shield between himself and Voldemort. He saw what Snape was doing, and held out his left palm, pointing it upwards and cupping his fingers.

Bluebell flames erupted into Harry's hand, and he wasted no time in lobbing the ball of fire at his distracted nemesis, sending off a tripping jinx with his wand at the same time.

One good thing about all of the juggling and pitching practice he'd gotten while demonstrating to the DA, was that his aim had improved immeasurably. The fire hit Voldemort directly in the chest, and he pitched backwards over the tripping jinx, his swirling black cloak flying up over his head. Harry summoned Snape's loose wand, and tossed it to him.

Snape was immediately set upon by four other Death-Eaters, who although they hadn't seen his quick fighting before, they had recognised the significance of their comrade's actions, and his seeming cooperation with their Dark Lord's arch nemesis. Anyone couldhave knownwhat it meant.

Harry stepped forward to help Snape.

He stopped short when he realised that Snape seemed to have it all easily under control now. The potions professor slashed with his wand and swirled. The shots of magic flew faster than Harry had ever seen. Snape's duelling form was immaculate, rivalled only by that of Dumbledore, who was dramatically fighting with six shadows at the other end of the fourth floor. Harry had a sudden ridiculous memory pop into his head of Snape in his first year, saying that there would be no 'silly wand waving' in his class.

He obviously didn't find wand waving quite as 'silly' as he'd let on. In fact, Harry realized that although Snape was obviously very adept at defensive magic, he wouldn't have been able to do anything of this sort without a wand.

In less than six seconds, the four Death-Eaters Snape had caught in his web of hexes had been accordingly dealt with. He also took an extra two seconds to shoot a stunner at an unknown Death-Eater who was sneaking up on a distracted Ernie MacMillan across the hall, and another second to take out one of the robed figures who was creeping up on a lone Slytherin student.

Harry was struck very suddenly with the realisation that indeed, professor Severus Snape was fighting on their side.

And he was winning.

A swish of light out of the corner of Harry's eye, made him leap out of the way. He remembered thenwhat his self-appointed mission was, and turned just as Voldemort was getting to his feet. His red eyes flashed in the flickering light of the hall torches, and his now smoking robes puffed out the image of pure rage and power.

For a moment, Harry felt intense fear, but he squelched it, and held his wand at the ready, waitingfor Voldemort to make a move.

"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort was still far enough away at the moment he sent the curse for Harry to quickstep out of the way. The death curse went over Harry's shoulder, and Harry felt more than saw the green light explode against the castle wall behind him, making the stone blast outwards, leaving a deep dent.

"I supposed that one would miss you, Harry." Voldemort sneered in his creaky voice. "I am pleased."

So am I, thought Harry.

"I want you alive so you can watch as your friends and teachers fall." Voldemort's red eyes flashed again violently, and his lipless mouth twisted into a sneer.

"What about your prophecy?" Harry asked him, sending a soundless mouth mastication charm at him. Voldemort ducked almost lazily, as if he had been expecting it. "Don't you want to hear it?!" Harry yelled, hoping he could distract the Dark Lord from his task.

Voldemort's eyes snapped to the middle of the hall, where Harry could see professor Trelawney on the floor caught in the chill of a glacé charm. She was frozen in place, her body covered in a light dusting of frost. Harry nearly rolled his eyes, knowing she had been trying to fight fair again. He also realised that he'd gotten just as distracted by his own comment. He focused his mind back on his fight.

"I have no fear of the prophecy." Voldemort eyed the professor again as he sent a rope bind toward Harry. Harry shot the ropes off to the side where they wrapped around one of the Death-Eaters now battling with Lavender and Seamus, who were fighting back to back against three. The least he could do was make the battle as even as possible for them. They'd only ever worked two on two. He logged it away in his brain as something to remedy in the DA meetings, should he live through tonight.

With his next shot, Voldemort forced Harry closer to Trelawney's body, making him leap out of the way of a lashing hex. Harry heard a body fall behind him, but he couldn't bring himself to look. "I understand that very few people have heard this prophecy. I have no need to fear you or this prophecy, when the whole thing will die with her." He pointed his wand at her prone body. "If I can't hear the prophecy, then no one will. Ever. Avada Kedavra!"

"Cambre!"

Harry was desperate, and had no way of knowing if it would work. He'd reacted too slowly to stop the curse at it's source, and the warping charm was the only thing he could think of which might stop a curse that had already been shot. The killing curse was said to be impossible to block. It went without saying that the curse would be impossible to warp either.

To someone who hadn't seen the results of brother wands meeting in battle, it might have seemed for a moment as though time itself had come to a stop.

The curses met each other in an 'L' shape. Voldemort's an intense green, and Harry's a bright blue. They met each other at a bead of pure white light that was impossible to stare at directly lest the viewer leave with spots in their eyes. The thin lines of power connected and held steady. Neither one going any further toward their intended destination.

Harry looked over at Voldemort, who was holding his shuddering wand as still as he could, and trying to bring the spell around so it was pointing at Harry instead of Trelawney.

Harry knew that if the spell were aimed at him, he could duck it quickly enough once he let go. If it was under his control then he could easily deal with it, so he tried to bring it around to face him as well.

It didn't work. The spells were stuck in a ninety degree angle, and no one could escape.

The only options for Voldemort, were to press forward and try to get the spell through, or lift his wand away and release the spell, with the possible repercussion of the spell backfiring upon himself and killing him. It was obvious that Harry, who was now a cunning and intelligent dueler, would be aiming the warping spell to rebound directly at its caster.

Harry's only options were to lift his wand away and release the spell, thus killing professor Trelawney, or to press on and hope Voldemort would give in first.

And so they were at a standstill while the battle continued to rage around them.

The rest of the Order had arrived, with a large number of Aurors and took over the largest part of the battle while Harry and Voldemort duelled their wills against one another in the middle of the fray. Harry heard most of the fighting wrap up with a number of arrests being made, and antiapparition chains being conjured to take away numerous Death-Eater prisoners. A few other battles were still ongoing, but Harry couldn't see who they were. He wondered why the Death-Eaters didn't bother to use their special portkeys. He knew they must have them.

All the while, he brought up wells of power he had never known to be inside him to press against Voldemort's.

Phoenix song then began to sound above them, and a dome of crisscrossing golden threads began to slowly form around Harry, Voldemort and Trelawney. People stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle of Harry and his nemesis fighting as though caught in time. A few of them paid very dearly for it.

Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Luna stepped out of the crowd, looking beaten and bruised, but alive. Neville lay half-sitting not far away, clutching at an injured leg. Harry knew he'd been the victim of Voldemort's lashing curse. They all stared at the dome with wonder and amazement.

A loose spell shot towards them, and sizzled out against the edge of the dome. Dumbledore hurried forward, sending a release spell at Trelawney that also fizzled out on the dome before it reached her.

Harry and Voldemort held steady, neither one willing to give up the game. Beads of light began to shoot back and forth between the point of light joining their spells at a ninety degree angle.

Harry's wand began to heat up painfully and the phoenix song called louder. It filled his heart and he almost felt his power itself heat up with the increased volume. It seemed for a second that two phoenixes were singing in harmony, and Harry realised why. Fawkes the Phoenix flew over to them, and circled the enclosure twice. He obviously couldn't do anything for them, since the power of his feathers was now in Harry and Voldemort's hands. It was a stand off he couldn't stop.

Both of their wands began to vibrate with the power they were exhuding. Both Harry and Voldemort seemed to be equally matched this time, and the bead of light joining them did not move. No matter how much more power Harry put into the fight, Voldemort seemed to be able to just barely match him, and vice-versa. Obviously, Voldemort had been unprepared for Harry's strength the first time, but not now. Now they were equal.

"Don't give up Harry!" he heard Hermione's voice call desperately from outside the dome.

"Press on mate!" Ron joined in, and Harry pressed on.

Voldemort pressed back, and the light remained unmoving. Harry knew that if the light were to be forced either direction, the one losing wand would end up regurgitaing shadows of its most recent spells. It was not a horrible thing, to be sure, but somehow Harry knew it was more than that. Like maybe it was a form of power drain too.

Voldemort laughed at him, and even though the sound was quite forced, it felt almost as if Harry were slowly being drained of his power. The connection weakened for a second, and the light slipped gingerly towards Harry.

"No! Stay strong, Harry!" he heard Ginny yell. Her sudden pleading felt like a verbal slap in the face to wake him up, and he growled, forcing the light back towards Voldemort again.

It stopped, as Voldemort sneered, tensing his shoulders and gritting his teeth against the onslaught.

Dumbledore attempted a few desperate spells against the exterior of the golden dome, but nothing worked. He put his hand up to the side of the dome, and slowly dragged one finger through the light.

That's all it was after all, just light. Dumbledore's hand passed through the barrier with ease, making ripples form as if it were passing through water. He didn't wince. He didn't look happy or upset.

He looked simply resigned.

Dumbledore stepped into the dome.

"What do you think you're doing professor?!" Harry ground out through clenched teeth. He was sweating heavily, and his stomach was tensed uncomfortably. He could see Voldemort looking a little green from both the bright light of his own curse, and also from the apparent effort of keeping matched with Harry to the end. The fury intheDark Lord'seyes flared as he realised that Dumbledore was interfering again.

Dumbledore attempted another release charm on Trelawney from inside the barrier, and nothing happened. His wand emitted no power whatsoever while he stood in the glare of Harry and Voldemort's connected wands. Here, in the dome of phoenix magic, Albus Dumbledore was no more powerful than a muggle.

He walked over to Trelawney, and attempted to lift her out of the way.

Trelawney's body was frozen to the floor.

She wouldn't budge.

He moved towards Voldemort, and tried to push him out of the way physically.

Dumbledore gasped and reeled away, clutching at his hands. He'd been stung somehow, and Voldemort wouldn't budge. The Dark Lord even let off an aggressive growl of anger at Dumbledore's insolence, and pushed the bead further toward Harry.

Harry pushed back, nearly groaning with the effort. He thought he might just pass out soon from the intensity. His palms were burning with heat, and he smelled a bit of singed flesh. A wisp of smoke emitted from Voldemort's hand too, but he didn't dare let anyone see that he was finding it painful.

Dumbledore stepped back towards the connected bead of light, and analyzed the glowing spot.

He stood there staring at the light for a long thoughtful second, and the people outside the dome held their breath.

Finally he spoke. "When a person knows what they are doing, they cannot be innocent." He told Harry sadly.

"To protect the innocent." Harry muttered absently, trying to focus as hard as he could on holding the connection.

When Dumbledore began to walk forward, it was then Harry understood.

He had a split second to decide whether he should lift the spell, and let Voldemort kill Trelawney, or keep the spell strong and have him kill Dumbledore instead.

It was his choice now.

One or the other.

Voldemort's eyes widened in anticipation. He would be killing someone today whether Harry liked it or not.

Harry's heart leapt into his throat. He couldn't do this. He couldn't decide.

Dumbledore, no matter his shortcomings, had always been like a grandfather to Harry. How could he just let him die?

Harry didn't like Trelawney as a teacher, but she was lying there frozen, unable to help herself. How could he let her die either?

Dumbledore knew what he was doing.

Trelawney didn't.

"To protect the innocent." Harry muttered again, horrified at the choice he was making, watching Dumbledore step between the curses and into the bead of white light connecting them. Dumbledore's blue eyes locked with Harry's in that last second, and Harry felt something wash through him like warm butterbeer.

The white light exploded, like the flash of a camera, and the dome of golden phoenix song was obliterated from around them.

The green death curse surrounded Dumbledore's body for a moment, and Dumbledore's always sparkling eyes went wide and unseeing.

The warping spell also hit Dumbledore, but as it was not intended to be used directly on a person, the spell hit him, and went rebounding off his skin back up the green stream towards Voldemort. Towards the place that Harry had been trying to warp the killing curse.

Both Dumbledore, and then Voldemort were blasted backward in tandem from the warping spell, and Voldemort hit the wall behind him with a loud thud. A few sounds of bones cracking, and Voldemort's eyes widened in pain. He immediately understood there would be no more battle here for him. It was obvious that both of his legs were broken. Possibly other bones were broken, but Harry could only see the unnatural angle of the Dark Lord's legs.

It didn't matter, sinceVoldemorthad accomplished one of his many goals now.

Dumbledore, the only man he'd ever truly feared, was dead.

He reached into his robe pocket, and muttered something to himself. The portkey activated, and he disappeared in a swirl of black, his red eyes locked triumphantly on Harry's.

Dumbledore's body on the other hand, floated as though atop an invisible cloud. He wafted side to side like a feather. Falling gently until his body came to rest softly against the edge of the fallen and smashed mirror that had once blocked the supposedly collapsed secret entrance into the hall. Harry couldn't help but suppress a sob of horror.

What had he done?!

The Death-Eaters had seen their Dark Lord's disappearance, and his act was taken as an order of retreat. Only twelve Death-Eaters were currently strong and coherent enough to reach for their portkeys and mutter the activation, five of which were already wearing antiapparition chains. The Aurors in charge of them hardly noticed their escape.

The rest of the Death-Eaters were forced to stay, doomed to wait another month or so while their lord recuperated, and thought up another way to break them from prison. Harry knew it would happen. It was only a matter of time.

The DA, the teachers, and the Order members present stared at the body of their fallen leader. Harry brokenly stumbled toward him, the only person moving now after such a horrifying scene. He sunk to his knees beside his headmaster, and reached over to close the wide staring blue eyes for the last time.

Death was a horrible thing to witness, and Harry had witnessed more death than most. He felt some unseen locked door inside him fall wide open, and the uncontrolled pure emotional power of his grief blasted outwards, making the four remaining crystal chandeliers explode above him.

People all over the hall shrieked and scattered, as shards of crystal rained down on them. A few unconscious people and chained portkey-less Death-Eaters got the brunt of it, but no one was seriously hurt from the scattered glass.

Harry lifted his head to see the settling crowd all staring at him in alarm and surprise. His eyes were swimming with tears and his sight was shuttered at the edges with encroaching unconsciousness. The hall grew completely silent at the spectacle and Harry scanned the crowd weakly to address them. He was dizzy, and knew he wouldn't stay conscious much longer. He had to tell them all what it was like. What sort of pain they would be feeling for the rest of their lives as a result of witnessing this death.

"Think of this moment when you see the Thestrals." He said.

And as he collapsed across the unmoving body of his mentor, the darkness taking over, he knew they would.