Love/Hate
(Harry Potter and the Knights of Slytherin)
Fan-fiction by Bizmarck
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter etc. It's just a fan-fiction, read and enjoy.
(Chapter 12)
Authors note: Sorry this one took so long, but oh well, at least it's finished, hope you all like the ending! It sure took a lot longer then I thought ;-)
Harry, his will effectively on autopilot in its struggle with Voldemort, looked impassively at his friends, the situation remained hopeless. Once again, and completely, they were at the mercy of Snape. Harry grimaced slightly as Voldemort once more tried in vain to retrieve his soul. Though Snape's compassioned plea had brought Harry out of his blind rage it was simply not enough to make Harry believe his former potions master, he would quite simply never be able to trust the man, irrespective of what he saw or heard. But Harry had already decided that his current actions could not bring about a long-term acceptable outcome, now he simply had to find a way to justify to himself what this implied. Memories of Dumbledore floated through Harry's mind, the old headmaster's wise words were sorely missed, and Harry felt almost cheated that he was no longer around to dispense his seemingly infinite insight.
But perhaps he was, even though the old headmaster was no longer with him in body, Harry had known him well enough to be able to contemplate how his old headmaster 'would' have thought, and he knew in his heart what the older man would have done in this situation, trusted Snape. As unfathomable as that idea was, Harry could no longer doubt his old Master's ideas as much as he had once been able to, his own growing experiences only seeming to confirm the principles of Dumbledore, and dispelling his own mistrust into the old wizards logic. So Harry was able to come to a very simple decision in the end, one he could finally accept without hesitation… he would trust Dumbledore.
Harry relaxed his body; the sudden release of tension on the disputed section of soul from his end had a noticeable physical effect, Voldemort appearing as if he had suddenly been hit by physical force, being pushed backwards violently. Harry took a moment's pleasure in this event, noticing that Snape had turned away from him to again focus on Voldemort. Voldemort recovered quickly and flexed in exhilaration at having what was left of his soul, whole once again. Energy gushed forth from the floating wizard, an evil laugh rising and overwhelming the battle sounds that were even now getting closer. Harry collapsed to the ground, as he and the other objects where released from the binding spell.
"Quickly, get the Cross, we are almost out of time" Harry heard Snape call to the older Death-Eater. Getting up from the floor, Harry again tried his shackles. He was distracted by Voldemort, who was spinning slowly, obviously caught up in appreciating his own brilliance, the Dark Lord caught Harry looking at him and slowly stopped, before looking around at the other frozen forms.
"Take them outside and kill them" Voldemort said coldly, raising his wand he disintegrated the shackles holding Harry, smiling crawly at the young man. Around the inside of the church the groups of Death Eaters used their wands to begin to move the frozen youngsters. Harry stood still, knowing that any sudden movement would only invite his demise earlier. Harry glanced at Snape, who was ignoring him and looking mildly agitated. The old man reappeared carrying the Cross of Hufflepuff, Snape marched across and grabbing the object out of his hands.
"My Lord we must do it now!" Snape almost yelled at Voldemort.
Voldemort calmly looked at Snape, rising up a little higher in the centre of the circle. Harry hadn't noticed, but the circle of chanting Death Eaters had become louder and more intense, a second ring of magic was visibly starting to form around the group. Almost before Voldemort nodded Snape threw the cross into the centre of the circle, where it was immediately caught and held by streams of magic bursting forth from the chanting magic users. Voldemort immediately closed his eyes, spreading his hands out wide. Harry, who was himself being manhandled towards the door, noticed that the Death Eaters who were moving his friends had stopped to watch the proceedings, bunching up slightly towards the entrance the he, Ron and Neville had burst through only minutes before. Snape had come up beside Harry and was not watching the proceedings, instead Harry saw him reach into his robe, suddenly hearing the unmistakable noise of a Muggle transmission device emanating from Snape's cloak. Looking down Harry saw the tiniest trace of magic coming from the former teacher's wand. Snape and Harry made the briefest of eye contact, with Snape's eyes flicking up at the heavens for a second. Harry instantly looked up, seeing a bright and very distant flash from high above. Without hesitation the young wizard elbowed his distracted guard in the stomach, Snape pushed the stunned man out of the way and grabbing Harry.
"Contego!" screamed the older wizard. Before any of the other Death Eaters had a chance to react the world turned white. A massive white ray of magic screamed in from the heavens and impacted all around the small group of captives and captors. The impact time was only for a split second but was enough to throw back everyone on that side of the church violently. Harry and Snape immerged untouched, the previously frozen Order of the Phoenix members also remaining relatively unharmed, having received enough protection from being immobilised, though all except Luna were now free of their bind, as most of their captors had been rendered unconscious by the blast.
"Reverto-armas!" yelled Snape. Harry was already on his feet as his wand came flying back to his hand. Turning he fired on the stunned Death-Eater that still had Luna in a bind, knocking the larger man out. Of the other, originally hidden captors, only two more remained conscious, having been thrown clear through the open door into the compound, Neville deflected a blast form one as he recovered, Hermione returned fire, causing the dark wizard to dive to his left in search of cover.
"Lookout!" called Ron, pushing Neville out of the way as a powerful stream of green magic came in from the other side of the abandoned church. Bellatrix had recovered from her shock and was circling around the still chanting, and seemingly oblivious, circle of mages. Harry looked up to watch an alarm flare sail into the sky, the small red orb exploding brightly leaving red tracers, it had been fired by the older wizard from earlier, and who was now circling to help Bellatrix, who herself had been pinned down by Ron and Luna. Ginny, Neville and Hermione moved outside to hunt down the two remaining there, Ron and Luna had moved forward and were in a fierce fight with Bellatrix and company. This left Harry and Snape huddling behind cover next to the open door, Harry looked over to the floating form of Voldemort, seemingly as oblivious to the surrounding activities as the chanting mages.
"Can't we just blast him now?" asked Harry, uncommon darkness lacing his voice.
"No, normal magic wont work within the circle, everyone in it is immune until the rite is complete" replied Snape, taking in the new situation.
"If he finishes the rite, won't he become too powerful to stop?"
"He may be, but then no one really knows how the cross really works, not even him" said Snape, who then raised from his position and sent a powerful spell towards Bellatrix, impacting against the wall behind her it exploded violently, showering his former team-mate in debris and dust. Ron used the opportunity to rush forward, covered by Luna, he dove sideways, his spell hit Bellatrix on her flank and sent her flying backwards, the older wizard raised to fire on Ron, still coughing from the dust, but was hit by a spell from Luna, and promptly collapsed. Harry and Snape rose from their positions and turned just as the other three came rushing in from outside.
"Did you get them?" asked Ron, now dusting himself off.
"One got away" replied Hermione.
"No matter" replied Neville, an evil grin on his face "we have Voldemort"
And before anyone else could react he raised his wand, green fire spewing from its end, the Avada Kedavra curse bouncing off an unseen magical sphere and raced harmlessly into the night sky. Both Hermione and Ginny backed away slightly from their comrade, somewhat shocked at the choice, and power, of his last spell.
"A disturbingly powerful effort Longbottom" Snape said calmly, honestly impressed with his former students conviction in using the unforgivable curse.
"Though unfortunately futile" he continued. Snape moved around so he was standing more centrally in the classic cross footprint of the old church. Harry and the others moved over to stand next to the older wizard. The sudden lull in excitement in their immediate surroundings allowed them to again appreciate what was happening all around them. The intensity of the battle taking place outside was punctuated by the occasional screams of Dragons and other powerful mythical beasts. The fighting from the West appeared to be getting further away, as if the Death Eaters were making headway, while the other two fronts appeared to be holding steady, as far as they could guess at last.
"The rite will be finished in ten minutes" stated Hermione, looking at her Muggle watch "we may not be in a position to try and kill the Dark Lord by then, and even if we are he may be to powerful for us." she said dead pan. A nearby cry of a mountain troll emphasised that they were still surrounded by the enemy, and their saviour by the Aurors was looking far from certain.
"Very true Miss Granger" stated Snape "one of us will have to enter the circle and attempt to draw some of the power away from Voldemort."
Harry noted his former teachers use of the Dark Lords name, again wondering about the mysterious figures motives.
"I will go in" offered Neville immediately, the hatred in his eyes still not dissipated from before. Luna gave him a worried look.
"No mister Longbottom" interjected Snape, placing his hand on the now large young mans broad shoulders.
"Voldemort has wand protected the rite, only wands with the same base element as his may enter the circle" continued Snape. Harry knew the implication immediately, his expression hardening, already preparing himself for what he knew was about to come.
"Well what base element does his wand have?" asked Neville impatiently.
"A very rare one" continued Snape, staring down the outburst of the younger man, the older wizard then turned to look at Harry, the other Order of the Phoenix members followed his gaze.
"Harry has the same wand element" said Hermione suddenly "but surely The Dark Lord knows this?" she added more suspiciously. The continued twists and turns in Snape's loyalties taking their toll on even her good-natured trust.
"He does" Snape replied "but he was never expecting Harry to be given a chance to enter the circle, he did it to stop any of us from doing just that."
"That's rather paranoid" countered Hermione "and considering his level of paranoia I'm surprised he trusted Harry to be taken care of."
Snape watched her carefully for a second, not expecting this line of questioning form his former star pupil, even Ron was impressed that she was talking back to a teacher, even if only a former one.
"He didn't have a choice, he now knows of my bind to protect Harry from him, and so could not kill Harry himself." Snape continued quickly. "In any case Voldemort feels safe in the knowledge that no one would trust Potter to face him alone, particularly me, as my life depends on it."
"But you don't trust Harry" observed Luna dryly.
"Correct" replied Snape with a wry smile for the young lady "But I trust Dumbledore, and know that I am gambling my life for a cause much more important then myself"
Harry glared at his former teacher, somewhat disturbed that he shared a similar mindset with the man he despised almost more then Voldemort.
"Something that Voldemort could never comprehend, and so is somewhat blinded to" finished Snape. Harry was already prepared, stepping closer to the magical circle, knowing time was running out. Ginny was caught slightly off guard, overwhelmed by the speed of proceedings. Quickly running forward she planted a kiss on Harry, who was completely un-expecting the gesture, and barely had time to return the quick hug afterwards.
"Be careful Harry" she said quickly, before stepping back. Harry managed a quick smile, and a cursory glance back at his other friends, all watching him with determined expressions.
"You will have the element of surprise" advised Snape wisely from behind Harry "I am not sure of what will happen in there, but don't rely on normal magic, it will be more a battle of minds"
Harry looked back at Snape, giving him a nod in acknowledgement.
"We will try and hold this position as long as we can." was the last thing Harry heard before he stepped in-between two chanting Death Eaters, and his world disappeared.
From outside of the circle, Harry's form immediately took on a similar pose to that of Voldemorts', and began do ascend towards the dark wizards position, the dark wizard floating slightly off centre and the two starting to spin slowly around each other, their expressions relaying nothing of what was going on within their minds.
"Ginny, you're with Snape" said Neville suddenly "Secure the perimeter"
The others were brought back to their current situation, and the three pairs immediately split up to secure the courtyard, no sooner had Ron and Hermione reached the ruins of the southern church wall then the spells began to fly…
Harry blinked a few times as his eyes grew accustomed to the light, looking around he saw… nothing, there was literally nothing to see, he was effectively floating in space, the only thing visible was the light, blinking a few times Harry began to make out another floating figure, considerably closer to the light then he was, it had to be Voldemort. Attempting to move forward Harry felt resistance, as if the light held physical weight. Remembering back to what he had learnt about the Rite of Cecilia, and the need to become one with the enchanted objects power, Harry began to channel his emotions, the most powerful currently available to him being hate, his need to beat Voldemort, and his desire for revenge. The velocity in which Harry's body suddenly shot forward surprised even him. Recovering quickly he leaned his virtual body forward, flying towards the light. Moving quickly at first his progress began to slow as the force against him increased. Slowing considerably, Harry was behind and to the left of Voldemort, switching his focus from the light to Voldemort Harry fed off of his passion for revenge, his floating form subconsciously moving into the shadow created by Voldemort's virtual body, entering the shadow Harry felt the force of the light fade away and again flew forwards, positioning his elbow for a hit he impacted into the back of Voldemort at great speed… and bounced off harmlessly. Shocked at not having felt anything during the impact Harry was suddenly caught by the light and thrown back violently, quickly focusing his mind again, he steadied himself against the force of the light, coming to a stable state about ninety degrees from Voldemort and twice the distance to the light away.
Voldemort had felt nothing, but the shock of seeing Harry had broken his concentration and he had fallen back a bit against the light, Harry watched as it appeared that Voldemort was going to use his wand, though this only caused him to fall back more, and he quickly abandoned the idea. Both returned their concentration to the light source, which Harry could now see was the brilliantly shining Star-Cross of Hufflepuff. Spurred on by Harry's emergence, and the desire to pay back whoever had let this happen, Voldemort started to make headway towards the cross. Harry could guess the consequences of Voldemort making it to the cross first, and redoubled his efforts, after a minute of intense focus and concentration it was apparent to Harry that this was not a race he could win, Voldemort had simply had too great a head start, and was now only meters away, arm outstretched. Doubt started to creep into Harry's mind causing his own progress to slow. 'How could he lose, how could his hatred of Voldemort not be enough?' Harry thought to himself, desperately attempting to kindle a last ditch effort. What he found instead was his mind slipping towards another consequence of not beating Voldemort to the cross, something considerably more important to him then not getting revenge, something he had forgotten in his focus of hate, his friends. Visions of Hermione & Ron filtered through his mind… of the Weasleys, of Hagrid, Neville, Luna, the visions continued to grow as he remembered all the people that he had grown to know, all the people he held deer, and all the people that would suffer greatly if Voldemort was not stopped here, once and for all. Completely overcome by thoughts of the others he was shocked to find that his distracted mind had not caused him to fall back against the force of the light, indeed he was still floating forwards, looking up Harry could see that Voldemort had almost reached the cross, the expression on his face showing his extreme internal struggle and concentration. Refocusing his emotions Harry concentrated on his affection for his friends, all of them. Finding himself moving forwards quickly he continued to expand his thoughts to all the people he cared about, the emotions flooding trough the young wizard. It was as if an internal damn had been broken, his efforts to funnel these emotions into a desire to reach the cross were only crude, though the shear strength of his conviction on behalf of his friends spurred the young man forward. Voldemort could just make out Harry flying in from the side, this was enough to give him the final desire he himself required.
Two hands closed around the cross in the same instant of time, Harry shouted as he felt the power of the cross flow into him, having to utilise every fibre of his control not to let go, the perceived pain coming from his virtual hand being almost unbearable.
If anyone outside was paying attention they would have noticed that the star cross had floated up in-between the two wizards and was beginning to irradiate a complex stream of light, one that was both delicate and powerful, twisting and turning slowly to surround the two floating forms. It was one of the most beautifully graceful sights imaginable, and one no one was paying attention to. For this was all taking place in the middle of a war zone…
An semblance of a front line had long since disintegrated, the entire area had degenerated into a furious massive melee, with combat occurring in every
conceivable direction. Groups of opposing wizards and magic creatures fought pitched battles wherever they ran into each other, the most intense exchanges being focused on the struggle to hold the old church within the central compound. The scene was almost indescribable, Wizards, dragons, trolls, giants, centors, dementors, gargoyles, hippogriffs, witches, werewolves house elves, every conceivable magical sentient being was represented in the combatants, the injured, and the dead. The battle was taking place on the ground, in the buildings, in between the ruins, in the forest and in the air. Every type of spell was being used without restraint, the list of injuries were horrendous, and the cries of the injured mixed with the almost deafening sound of magic combat.
All this however was oblivious to the two competing wizards still within the rite circle, caught in there own titanic struggle. Eventually the pain passed some type of threshold and Harry felt nothing at all, opening his eyes he was back in the real world, in front of him was Voldemort, in between them was the star cross, which immediately lost its luminosity and fell to the ground. The circle of magic glowed brightly for a second then a ring of magic shot into the heavens, immediately followed by the rites magic field disseminating spectacularly.
"Avada Kedavra!" screamed both wizards simultaneously, still floating. This time there was no meeting of spells, no mixing of magic, a gigantic thunderclap overpowered every other sound in the area, the sudden expulsion of force tacking down a few unlucky Aurors on brooms who where flying nearby and knocked over a nearby giant.
Harry crossed his arms in front of him and attempted to steady himself, opening his eyes he found he was still floating above the ground, mildly shocked, he only began to feel the power flowing trough him. The feeling was exhilarating, he felt unstoppable, no spell felt beyond his grasp, no action felt beyond his capabilities, he could do anything to achieving his one goal. This goal that was powered by his channelled emotion, his affection for the people he cared about, and the needed to protect them, his goal… to defeat Voldemort. Looking across Harry could see Voldemort, his own form still floating, around them the world appeared as if it was happening in slow motion, apparently not even manipulation of time was beyond their abilities now, Harry was barely conscious of the spells he was using, merely having to think of them or feel them appeared to be enough, it was as if his senses themselves had become magical, his every thought harnessing unknown magical abilities to help him attain his goal.
"You persist in hampering me Potter" Harry heard Voldemort's words in his head.
Somewhat unprepared for the mental attack Harry was barely able to sharpen his minds defences against Voldemort's sudden incursion, though he couldn't help a brief look by the dark wizard into his memory.
"So Snape is my betrayer" came Voldemort's voice, once more in Harry's mind, his tone did not betraying any hint of malice, more as if this action was an amusing fact.
"I suspected he was powerful enough to hide the ultimate truth from me…" continued Voldemort, Harry remained silent, in the meantime formulating another desire.
"Though I would never have believed that he would be foolish enough to place his faith in you, obviously I over estimated the man" Voldemort continued, laughing cruelly.
"No" replied Harry "you underestimated him, as I did."
This generated only a bigger laugh from Voldemort. Who stopped only after he noticed a gold band had materialised around is wrist.
"You can not escape me Voldemort" said Harry coldly. "Only one of us will be alive by the end of tonight"
Voldemort admired his bracelet then gave Harry a purely evil grin.
"You stupid boy, do you really believe you can do anything to me that I don't myself desire?"
Harry's expression did not waver.
"Very well then, let us fulfil your wishes!" said Voldemort, suddenly launching into an attack.
Down on the ground Ron had just enough time to look up and subconsciously admire the blazing flashes of light, which was all that was visible of the accelerated battle between Voldemort and Harry. He was breathing heavily, blood ran down his left arm, his shaking hand still gripping a high calibre revolver, now empty. Looking at it for a second he threw it to the ground, the muggle weapon landing next to the body of a werewolf that it itself had helped create. Behind him Hermione stopped shaking, blinking a few times she turned to tend to the injured. Ron stared blankly for a few more second then looked around. An unconscious dragon and a dead mountain giant was only some of the stranger sights that met his eyes. All around him lay dead and injured magic users, many of them from his side. He couldn't refer to them as Aurors anymore because many of them weren't. Ron cringed slightly as his eyes rested upon the body of a young witch, her once beautiful features having been distorted by some ungainly spell, and she had been on the Death-Eaters side. He looked at his hands, still trembling at the spell he had cast to 'kill' the mountain giant. Next to Ron a much older wizard came up to his side, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry about it lad, you didn't have a choice, let's deal with the wounded" he said kindly. Ron snapped out of the trance he was in, moving quickly to help stabilise one of the many badly injured. There was no real time for reflection in any case, though the immediate battle had been won, with the remaining Death-Eaters fleeing, they would soon regroup, or another entirely separate group would immerge, it was important to try and remove as many of the wounded as possible, because at any time they may find themselves in a new fight. The sizable force that Ron and Hermione had been part of had continued to gain reinforcements, small groups joining them from time to time, the new fighters being made mostly of normal wizards and witches of all ages, and various mythical creatures, not Aurors at all, but family friends and allies of good, who had felt obliged to join in the struggle. And these unfortunately made up many of the casualties, the powerful array of creatures in the service of the Dark Lord taking their toll amongst the brave civilian fighters. Luckily there appeared to be considerably more injured then dead on the side of the Aurors, though unfortunately there were also now considerably more injured then able, particularly when the incapacitated of the Death-Eaters was included in the count. The raging battle had formed into three distinct struggles, one for the woods and southern ruins, one for the central ruins and one for a rocky ridgeline to the north of the ruins. Ron had just witnessed the temporary victory of his sides for the woods, though considering the number of able people still standing, it could not really be called a victory. Already many people were being evacuated and moved to a temporary field hospital, (called such only because it was a concentration of injured and healers) to the East, and nearer to the Auror controlled portal key. Ron got ready to move out with Hermione and fourteen other civilian fighters (all that could be spared) to give token reinforcement to the central conflict. Moving over to the remains of an old doorway they were stopped by the appearance of Luna, arm slung around Neville and hobbling badly. Hermione gave out a short gasp upon spotting her friend, Neville was covered in blood, the bloodied short sword and frightening expression he also had being enough to make even Ron take a step back.
"Neville what happened?" asked Hermione quickly, moving up to help Luna, Neville let go of the shaking young woman and leaned for a second against the remnants of the doorway.
"We have secured the ruins but there is no one left…too many injured." he got out between breathes. "I got a message from Lupin, it looks like we're about to lose in the north, they need everyone to stop it turning into a slaughter."
"Where is Ginny?" asked Ron, worried that his sister was not with the other two.
"She was badly injured, Snape took her to get treatment." Neville continued, though his face portrayed no real sadness at having to dispense the information, it was clear that he was now running completely on adrenalin.
"Oh no" gasped Hermione on instinct, giving Ron a sympathetic look. Ron looked on impassively, his entire family was currently somewhere on the battlefield, in what state, he did not know, his emotions were no longer functioning properly either.
"I heard that there was a force of Death Eaters moving south to swing around and destroy the portal key, but I'm not sure of anything anymore" finished Neville, his intense expression finally overcome by exhaustion. Silence returned, the distant sound of the last fierce battle being fought in the north providing a chilling background. A few flashes from above reminding them that another battle was still taking place, the one that all the carnage around them was for.
Though ten of the nearby civilian wizards and witches were older (sometimes considerably) then the young order of the Phoenix members they still looked to the four for leadership, all having shown it brilliantly only moments before. Originally the four youngsters had been lead by older Aurors, but the continue combat had resulted in almost all Aurors becoming casualties, the remaining number being caught up with the mammoth struggle to the north, the more open environment seemingly sucking in the greater proportion of resources from either side. In this case it was Hermione who took the initiative
"Neville, take the remaining people here to help in the north, gather who you can as you go. Ron, find a broom and check out if there really is something coming from the south, if there is, the injured will be in danger. I'll head to the healers with Luna to get her some help, and warn them if something is really coming" she said quickly. Ron and Neville simply nodded, reenergised at having clear objectives again.
"Come on lets go" said Neville to the others, only giving Luna the briefest of glances before turning to head off. Luna was not in a state to notice in any case, slumping against Hermione she was only half conscious. With the others filed past, Hermione slung Luna's arm over her shoulder and started to head off to the healers, about two minutes later she saw Ron flying off to her right on a discarded broom, it taking longer for him to find a functioning one then expected.
Flying up into the night sky Ron was overcome by the stillness of it all, after the carnage of the last hour the sound of relative silence was almost deafening. All the combat was now concentrated around the ridge and planes to the north, Ron turning to look at the spectacular lightshow in the distance, punctuated by flashes and distant rumbles. Looking down his eyes travelled over the now abandoned battlefield, the dead still lying were they fell, the complete absence of light allowing the whole horrifying scene to be bathed in calm moonlight. Looking up he saw the continued flashes of Harry's and Voldemort's fight, the blazing streaks in the sky a serial sideshow to the combat to the north, below the two accelerated combatants was the now seemingly abandoned ruins, the irony of the situation not being lost on Ron, both sides had seemingly forgotten their purpose for being here, Voldemort. It had been quite obvious to all after the two's emergence that they were locked into a private contest it was impossible to intervene in, and in any case the immediate struggle facing all was of greater importance, and so the battle had evolved, consuming the resources of both sides evenly, each sides still believing they could win, and/or only too conscious of what the battle had already cost them, and what it would cost them if they lost, and Voldemort survived… this thought being the case for both sides.
Looking back around Ron scanned the forests below, looking for only a moment it didn't take him long before he spotted the dark group, only about a mile away from the healers, and moving straight towards them. From what Ron could make out there were about fifty of them, amongst them creatures that Ron had no desire to see closer. If they came upon the wounded there would be carnage, Ron knew that there would be no quarter shown, he had to move fast. Being the only thing air-bound in the area Ron was not hard to spot, a gargoyle took flight from the group of fifty and come straight for him. Ron was out of time, and couldn't risk losing the fight, Ron dove towards the trees, flying low and accelerating towards where the healers were. The gargoyle came in at 3 O'clock, Ron feigned left and ducked under a heavy branch at high speed to avoid the initial collision, the creatures talons missing his head by inches, the gargoyle arced back around gracefully, picking up speed and catching up to Ron from behind and on his left. Continuing to weave through the trees at high speed Ron did not have the time to look back at his pursuer, spotting a gap in the canopy he fired a warning flare ahead of himself, Ron would never have believed a creature made of stone could fly so swiftly but the hairs standing up on the back of his neck told him the creatures talons were only meters away, and getting closer. With a final burst of speed Ron literally exploded out of the undergrowth into the small clearing, pulling up sharply. Spells flew just under the young man, slamming into the hapless gargoyle which immerged immediately behind him. Froze in mid-flight the creatures momentum carried it across the clearing were it impacting into a tree and smashing into a million pieces.
Taking a deep breath Ron looked down, spotting Snape and Hermione, their arms still raised from the deflection spell they had used to contain the gargoyle fragments, and flew down to them. The two were surrounded by wounded and unconscious, looking around Ron guessed that there were hundreds scattered around the clearing and between the trees, the handful of healers spending there time simply stabilising the dying and working on the more critically injured. Landing, Ron saw a healer bent over the unconscious form of Ginny, the young witch appeared to be deep in concentration, next to Hermione and Snape sat Luna, only looking mildly better then before.
"Is she going to be ok?" asked Ron automatically.
"We are not sure" replied Snape "What did you see?" he suddenly asked.
"We have to get everyone out of here, there are about fifty of them maybe
more, they will be here any minute." answered Ron immediately, about to state the fact, even without prompting.
"There are too many to move, we will have to get help" said Hermione, the desperation in her voice evident.
"No" said Snape coldly. "There is no help, we will have to save who we can."
And with that he turned as if to leave.
"And what about the rest? Are we just going to leave them to die?" asked Hermione.
Snape stopped in his tracks, only half turning back to face the two.
"And what would you suggest we do Ms Granger, throw our lives away in a futile attempt to stop the slaughter? There is no point" he stated definitively, no emotion present in his voice. Hermione watched him for a second, the anger growing inside of her.
"We can't just leave them!" she stated in final protest. Turning a little more, Snape locked eyes with the young woman, his eyes matching hers in intensity.
"I, can" he said calmly, though his words carried such intensity that it was able to shake Hermione out of her anger. Turning back around he walked over to the kneeling witch, assisting her in healing Ginny. Hermione turned to look at Ron, who had moved closer to be next to her, tears began to form in her eyes, unable to accept the idea of abandoning the people around her. Wrapping her in his arms Ron gave her a tender hug. Away to the south they herd the terrible cry of a large beast, the creatures animalistic instinct releasing a cruelly joyous outburst in its recognition of easy pray, ripe for the killing, and now only a hundred meters away. Hermione cringed, and then heard Ron whisper into her ear.
"It's time"
Pulling back slightly Hermione looked at his calm face in shock, her teary eyes expressing disbelief, then silent, determined approval.
"Ron… I" she began, but was cut off as he bent down and kissed her. She was barely able to return the gesture before he pulled his head away, pointed his wand hand towards the heavens and shouted
"Potentia-elementum!"
Immediately Ron's entire body became rigid, Hermione gasping slightly as his other arm's grip on her tightened. His eyes glassed over as unseen power overrode his system. Already the air around the two began to almost crystallise. High above, strange lights flickered across the sky, streaming in from the horizon to dissipate immediately above where they all stood. Hermione wrapped her non-wand hand around Ron's torso, her eyes narrowing as she looked through the trees towards the advancing Death Eaters.
"What are you doing!" yelled Snape, moving towards them. "You are going to kill yourselves!"
He couldn't move any closer as wind began to whip up fiercely around the two.
"Try to shield them" said Hermione simply, her quiet voice carrying remarkably well over the increasing noise. And with that they suddenly disappeared. Snape removed his hand from shielding his face as the sudden wind instantly dissipated, looking around he saw the two materialise immediately above the position of the Death Eaters, the tormenting of the air recommencing immediately around them, high above everyone the light show had intensified, something resembling lightning discharging in the upper atmosphere.
"They are too close" said Snape darkly, already beginning to back away. Next to him Luna suddenly walked past, seemingly completely oblivious to what was going on. Snape stopped to stare at the young woman in confusion. Walking calmly in front of the last injured person she raised her wand, a deflection spell forming a weak defensive barrier in front of her, it was a token gesture, considering the area she was attempting to create the shield over, and Snape knew it. Looking back around he could see that the small number of healers and helpers littered amongst the injured were all staring at Luna and him, awaiting some kind of guidance. Snape knew that there was only seconds left, Hermione and Ron were already accelerating towards the unsuspecting Death Eaters, the dark group being themselves too caught up with thoughts of the upcoming massacre to notice what was coming in from above. Snape looked at the faces of the healers, recognising immediately that they were not going to run, they couldn't, he could see it in their eyes.
"Damn fools!" yelled Snape, turning and pointing his wand at Luna's back.
"tribuo-vis-vires!" Snape yelled, blue magic streaming from his wand and impacting into Luna, instantly her shield grew in size and intensity. Snape watched in horror as Ron and Hermione disappeared into the trees.
From either side of him more streams of blue magic impacted onto Luna, the shield literally exploding in size and intensity, then Ron's spell discharged and the world turned white.
Harry and Voldemort's struggle had been going on for what felt like hours, the two fighters almost oblivious to the events unfolding in slow motion around them. The fight had been intense, seesawing on many occasions. Harry had almost been defeated numerous times, though each time the young wizard recovered just enough to avoid being finished off. Voldemort had the experience and the talent on his side, but somehow Harry's will was strong enough for the out skilled magician to always just get away. Pausing for the first time in the intense duel they both were able to take in what else had been happening, both noticing that the fighting below them had finished, and that the impressive light show that was the massive battle in the North was almost matched by the single discharge of Ron's powerful spell. The immense stream of magic funnelled down from the heavens and decimated everything in the immediate area, looking down Harry could see the deflection spell of Luna, calving a neat V shape in the otherwise white circle of impacting magic which hit the earth like a stream of water. Harry's eyes were able to take in everything, a brief glance was more then enough for him to know where everyone was, and what they were doing, looking at the battle to the North Harry was able to see that a large group of new civilians had appeared and were moving to back up the Aurors and their allies, the Aurors were going to win, unless the Death Eaters received immediate reinforcements.
"You are going to lose Voldemort" Harry said simply, a satisfied smirk on his face. "You can not defeat me alone, and soon I will have an entire army on my side to help finish you off" he stated coldly, floating in the night sky. Voldemort had also been looking around, noticing that many of his Death Eaters were already in retreat.
"Cowards!" he said bitterly. Looking back at Harry Voldemort suddenly gave him a purely evil smile.
"It appears that no one deserves to survive this night but me" he said with satisfaction. And with that the two returned to the world around them, time sped back up to normal, Harry didn't understand the meaning behind Voldemort's last comment, and subconsciously looked back quickly to Ron and Hermione, the last of the spell discharged and he could spot his two friends kneeling together in the centre of the decimated landscape, the instant Ron's spell finished Hermione's deflection spell, which had been keeping the two alive in the eye of the storm, ended, and the two collapsed into unconsciousness. Similarly Luna did the same, followed by many of the healers which had been poring their power into her.
"Such a wasted effort" Voldemort said, causing Harry to look back at the dark wizard. "Though it does give me an idea on how to finish this."
And with that the dark wizard flew backwards, his arms outstretched, Harry watched him apprehensively, then suddenly sensed what he had planned, honestly shocked, he sprang into action, his own arms flying out.
Down on the battlefield of the northern ridgeline and planes, Lupin and Tonks were straining to deflect a concerted effort to overpower the flanks of their precarious position on a small rocky outcrop. Then suddenly the attack faltered, and then ceased entirely. In fact all across the front Death Eaters were disengaging and falling back. "Now what's going on?" asked Tonk's, moving next to Lupin. He was about to respond when he was overcome with an erg to look at where he knew Harry and Voldemort where. Voldemort was shinning like a red beacon, surrounded by intense deep red light, his body being a dark object at its centre. Blue streams of magic started to shoot up into the heavens from the nearby Death Eaters, as well as from the woods to the West where the survivors of the other battles were scattered.
Lupin's entire mind seemed to focus on the two floating figures, followed by a simple thought, one he felt very obliged to act upon.
'I must help Harry defeat Voldemort.'
Back up in the air Harry prepared himself for what he knew was about to come. White magic began to form in thin wisps around his floating form.
Voldemort already had a head start, fed by the strength of his followers.
Harry noticed a few offensive spells slam into the magical sphere around Voldemort, including some rather powerful and maintained Avada Kedavra curses.
'Damn' thought Harry, he had not made the subconscious call to his side specific enough. Suddenly however Harry felt a surge of power, flicking his eyes down he saw that Snape was transferring strength to him. This was followed by multiple other blue streams of magic impacting into the magical sphere around the younger wizard, accelerating his formation of the counter spell.
Red lightning was already crackling from the inner surface of the invisible magical sphere around Voldemort towards the centre of his open palms, where an intense red point of light was building rapidly.
Harry was out of time, pointing his wand his entire body gave off an intense flash of white light before a bright stream of white magic screamed off towards Voldemort impacting and surrounding the Dark wizard.
The sight was awesome. Harry, floating high in the sky, was glowing bright white and was being fed by a considerable number of blue streams of magic. The young man straining to maintain his containment of Voldemort's destructive spell, the white stream of magic he was discharging had effectively neutralised Voldemort's red light, and strangely there appeared to be nothing surrounding the dark wizard at all. The streams of strength-transfer spells fired by the Death Eaters concentrated immediately behind the Dark Lord, about two meters away from his floating form, seemingly dissipating into an invisible point, the numerous offensive spells impacting randomly were the only indication that Voldemort's invisible magic sphere was still up.
Harry cursed his inexperienced, due to his general request for aid, he was only receiving the same amount of magic from his allies as Voldemort was, his advantage in numbers being lost with the multitude of people outright attacking Voldemort, something he no longer had enough spare concentration to alter. Though these attacks would draw away some of Voldemort's focus they were nowhere near as effective as what Harry would have been able to do with the equivalent magic. As it was, he was straining already.
"You would sacrifice the lives of all your followers, all the ones who are helping you now!" screamed Harry's voice in Voldemort head.
"Why not" said Voldemort coldly "They have served their purpose."
Harry could almost 'feel' the sick smile that was forming on Voldemort's face, the prospect of destroying his ignorant and worthless followers for their poor efforts only spurring him on. Voldemort focused more effort, enjoying Harry's obvious struggle to maintain control.
"And you would sacrifice your own life in an attempt to save them all." said Voldemort in Harry's head, continuing to feel the magic and specifically tormenting Harry.
"Which is the more foolish action?" Voldemort asked rhetorically.
Harry found one last reserve of strength, pouring all of his efforts, all his strength and concentration, into not only containing the cataclysmic spell, but also feeding it back into its source; there would be no surviving if he failed. This sudden offensive act, as well as Harry's complete dedication to the action, forced Voldemort co commit all of his own efforts, both Wizards literally shacking with effort. The balance of power was resting on a knifes edge, but in this contest Voldemort was the surging mass, while Harry was the valiant damn, holding back the tide, and both wizards could already see the cracks beginning to form… it was only a matter of time.
Far bellow the two floating wizards a single figure ran at speed through the ruins of the old castle. He too was under the influence of 'Harry's request', though due to the general terms of the influencing spell he was able to chose in which way he would render his aid, and unlike all the other magic users in the surrounding area, his immediate thought was not to aid with the use of a spell… either offensive, or defensive. Coming to a halt immediately bellow the floating form of Voldemort, Neville Longbottom looked up at his target, almost 200m above him. His posture, stance and expression were a sight to behold, he was arguably the most dangerous looking, if not scary, combatant on the battlefield, and this being for either side. Bloodied and battered, he was now carrying his well used short-sword in his right hand, wand gript firmly in his left.
The situation above looked relatively stable, the multitude of offensive spells slammed into Voldemort's invisible magic sphere at regular intervals, It was quite apparent Voldemort was well protected from magic. An evil grin crossed Neville's face, he was sure that Voldemort had once again ignored what he would consider a Muggle threat, it was something he would bet his life on. Admiring the short-sword for a second, Neville gave it a few sweeps, then magically re-sharpening the surface to a super fine edge, though insuring that the sword itself remained non-magical. Looking back up he readied himself, taking a few deep breathes before pointing his wand at the ground.
Harry had only seconds to live, and he knew it, his body screamed at him to surrender, to end the pain, it was after all completely hopeless, but somehow he couldn't give up, Voldemort would have to defeat him outright, Harry could except no less from his own efforts…
Harry's eyes sprung open, the resistance was gone, the pain dissipated, his first instinct was to asking the question.
'Am I dead?'
In front of him floated the oddly serene form of Voldemort, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief. Harry could make out a thin red line travelling the length of his body, effectively splitting him in half. Looking up he could see Neville, vertical momentum now spent, arcing gracefully in the air in his final strike pose, eyes never leaving Voldemort, before he began to plummet back to earth. Harry had just enough sense to give a quick flick of his wand to reunite Neville with his own just recently discarded wand, before focusing back to Voldemort.
Free of attacks against his containment spell Harry threw every ounce of his efforts into feeding back the unstable cataclysmic spell into Voldemort. The effect was instant, the intensity and speed of the attack was like being hit by a sledgehammer. Voldemort was completely unprepared for the physical attack of Neville's, and it would have been difficult under normal circumstances to survive such wounds. With both wizards relinquishing there suggestive spells the magic users below ceased their activities, simply standing and watching the spectacle above.
Harry, now completely drained of his power, struggled to float back from Voldemort and towards the ground as quickly as he could.
Voldemort opened his eyes, releasing one last terrible scream from his tormented body in a vein attempt to save his life. The containment spell collapsed, a blood red sphere, gold lightning discharging on its surface, expanded around the dark wizard before collapsing inwards. Force relatively contained a bright flash of brilliant red light, accompanied by a sonic boom and shockwave, was all that escaped Harry's spell, the annihilation of Voldemort so complete that no physical remains, not even ash, floated down from the spells epicentre.
All around the ruins the magic users were beginning to come out of their trance like state, the remaining Death-Eaters quickly making their escape, non remaining on the Auror's side with any desire or energy to try and stop them.
I his eagerness to return to the ground Harry had landed far away from were Snape and the others where, and it took him some time to get back to them.
Harry appeared on the wall of a small ruined house located next to the clearing that was the southern field hospital, ahead of him he could see that Neville had already made it back ahead of him, the young man was sprawled on the ground looking up at the stars, completely exhausted. The only indication that he was still alive was that he was absentmindedly stroking the hair of Luna, who was resting her head and one arm on his chest and was looking otherwise peacefully asleep. Harry's eyes searched until he spotted Snape, Ron and Hermione, the two younger wizards resting on the edge of the grass protected by Luna's shield spell before the terrain turned scorched and twisted. Harry immediately made his way towards his old friends.
"Harry!" called Ron enthusiastically, though then clutched his head as if he was currently having the worst hangover of his life.
"Harry" called Hermione in a more measured tone, instinctively trying to get up to give her friend a hug, but her legs almost immediately giving up below her.
"Don't waste your strength" said Snape with his usual lack of affection. Harry made the last of the distance and knelt down to scoop up his two friends in one massive hug, the three friends were overcome with joy despite the pain of their respective wounds.
"Ginny?" said Harry pulling back a bit.
"Will be fine" answered Snape. "And so will these two… despite all logic" he added in his classic tone. Taking a breath Snape continued.
"I underestimated you Weasley" he said, looking down at the group of three "And you're both quite lucky I never overestimated you Miss Granger" had added. Something resembling a smile passing across his lips. Ron and Hermione enjoyed the comment, being as close to a complement they could expect from their former potions teacher.
"We missed the best bit though" said Ron turning to Harry.
"I heard that you vaporised Voldemort, after Neville cut him in half!" he continued excitably, cringing again due to his over enthusiasm and injuries. Harry noted the first time he had heard Ron use the Dark Lords name.
"You should have seen the look on his face" said Harry, smiling "He never saw that coming."
Behind them Snape was about to say something when he was interrupted from above.
"Severus Snape" said a female voice with authority. All turned to look at the source of the voice, a very warmly clothed witch came down from the night sky, frost and ice still visible on her clothes.
"Julia Norwich" replied Snape, turning to face her, the other three could not help but notice that Snape suddenly had a large cunning smile on his face, it almost being unrecognisable to the three former students.
"It is so good to see you again" he continued smoothly. The witch landed elegantly, removing her thick beanie to reveal short blond hair, Harry recognised her as the witch from Snape's memory.
"Trust your first contact with me after all these years to be a request for help" she said slyly, moving closer.
Harry suddenly remembered the heavenly burst of magic from inside the church, she must have been very high up indeed to remain undetected.
"One can always rely on a fellow knight of Slytherin" Snape said before the two embraced like old friends, the three Order of the Phoenix members simply looking on bemused.
"Who 'are' the knights of Slytherin?" asked Hermione suddenly, overcome by her academic curiosity, it had long bugged her not to be able to find an answer to this question. Julia, arms still loosely wrapped around Snape, looked up at him, receiving a nod from the taller man.
"The knights of Slytherin were set up to protect the honour of the house of Salazar." she stated, the pride in her voice evident.
"Salazar knew that his house would attract the most powerful and capable wizards and witches" continued Snape. "He also knew that the nature of power could lead to instability."
"So he set up a society to ensure that the more undesirable and dangerous people could be 'removed' if it were necessary" Julia finished.
Harry gave a smirk, it sure sounded like something Slytherin could come up with, morally twisted, and infinitely complicated.
Snape turned back to Julia, effectively ignoring the other three, his hands were still loosely wrapped around her waste.
"So has any man managed to tame you after all these years my dear?" he asked almost casually, his eyes and expression best described as being like a carnivores, judging its prey.
"Non that have lasted beyond their arrogance" she replied in kind, her expression taking on a similar aspect. Snape smiled as he recognised the fight in his eyes (It had been too long).
The other three watched on in mild fascination, and slight horror, at seeing Snape act this way in front of them, apparently completely unperturbed.
"So where have you been holding up all this time?" asked Snape, the question being again perfectly weighted. Julia smiled cunningly back at the former professor, raising her hand her larger broom flew obediently into it.
"Let me show you" she said in a low voice and a smile.
Before anyone knew it Julia had mounted the now floating broom and quickly remove her heavier coat, throwing it to one side, Snape moved around to sit sidesaddle behind her, looping one arm around her now thin waste.
"Aren't you going to stay and help the others?" asked Hermione, slightly shocked at his quick exit "or at least find out what happened to them?"
Snape looked around for a second, taking in the scene, no real emotion present in his face.
"There are others more capable then I" replied Snape. "And in any case Professor MinervaMcGonagall) is alive, and knows how to contact me" he said almost casually, only the slightest of edges present in his voice. Harry was somehow not surprised that he simply seemed to know whether his former colleague was alive or not.
Julia looked like she was about to head off, though hesitated as Snape indicated for her to pause. Normally the three young adults would have found the site of Snape on a boom, riding side-saddle, side splittingly amusing, though events had overtaken them, and the scene barely registered as odd.
"Potter" said Snape, drawing the attention of the young wizard "You inherited much more of your mother in you then just her eyes" he said simply, giving Harry a respectful nod. Immediately after he finished the gesture Julia took off, and the two quickly disappeared off into the sky.
Harry smiled to himself, trust Snape to manage to complement Harry while still managing a half insult towards his father. Shaking his head slightly he looked back towards Neville, Luna and the other injured. Harry noted that many more people were appearing to help the multitude of incapacitated.
Behind Harry Ron and Hermione had collapsed back onto the ground, Hermione's head resting on Ron's outstretched arm, the two talking amongst themselves.
Harry, still crouching, thought about the nights events, quite simply amazed that he and his friends were all still alive. In the back of his mind however he still harboured apprehension at finding out the fate of the others he knew had taken part in the battle. Harry took quick stock of his magical powers, not surprised that he had relinquished most, if not all of the power he had received from the Star cross of Hufflepuff in the last attempt to defeat Voldemort.
Harry mused at the irony of it all, through it had appeared to be a titanic struggle between good and evil, the most dangerous player in the game had been a man with no clear morals or scruples, but someone who simply believed deep down that what they were doing was right, a man who couldn't really be trusted by anyone, or for anything, not even to be evil.
Eyes defocused in thought Harry came back to reality to realise he was staring at a beautiful young woman amongst the injured, she was leaning back on her elbows and smiling at him, Harry returned her smile, all previous thoughts instantly vanishing. The young wizard rose to go and pay the young fiery redhead a visit.
Perhaps there wasn't a clear line between good and evil, and perhaps it would take more then his lifetime to figure out the grey, but it didn't matter, Harry would do the best he could, as he was sure most other people would too, and that would be enough…
The End.
Authors note: Wow reading back over that it gets a bit complicated, but I was really running out of patience and I think it still flows in a manageable way. It has the most important ideas in it I wanted to get across, and is quite exciting to read, at least I hope. Well that's it for HP hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to leave a review.
Thanks!