Walk away and I stumble

Chapter fifteen

"Who goes there?" The Dark Lords voice said, it wasn't his usual drawl, it was weak and croaky which told Severus that Wormtail would not be far away, the deed had to be done soon.

"You knew that this time was coming Voldemort, it is time to end this." Severus said trying his best not to stutter or stumble over the name of his 'master'.

Voldemort turned to face the intruder, he saw the face of Harry Potter before him but he could not fully comprehend that it was in fact the boy-who-lived standing before him.

"Harry Potter, it certainly looks to be you however there is something that you said that makes me believe otherwise. At our last encounter he called me by my birth name and not by my great name now, tell me boy, what is that?"

"Tom Riddle" Severus said simply, he had remembered this from a conversation with Dumbledore and from another with the actual Harry, "I thought that I would give you that dignity before you died."

"Your confidence is astounding, tell me Harry Potter, why is it that you go against our bargain?" Voldemort asked and Severus froze. Bargain?

Harry was panicked, Dumbledore had followed him when he had stormed off, the headmaster not willing to lose his golden boy, he had left Minerva in charge of contacting Order members.

"I have to explain something to you Albus" Harry said as they jogged to the apparition point outside of the Hogwarts gates, "I made a deal of sorts with Tom."

"What?" Dumbledore said both surprised and outraged at this news.

"It was to keep Kayla safe without him knowing about her, it was the only thing that I could think of to keep her safe, I had no choice in the matter."

"What was the deal Harry?"

"That neither of us would attack the other until we had a mutual agreement between us that we would duel and to ensure that we both stuck to this agreement we put our life on the line with an unbreakable vow."

"What made you consider doing such a thing, I know that normally I can take your mistakes in my stride but I am sorry to say that that was the stupidest thing that you have done to date."

"Gee, thanks." Harry said sarcastically as the two of them reached the apparition point and it was then that they hit a major flaw.

"Um, Harry, I hate to point out the major flaw in your plan but how on earth do you plan on tracking them down?" The headmaster asked.

"I love him Sir, we are connected through our daughter, if I cannot find him then no one can, besides I am also connected to Tom in some way or another, combined the two and I should be able to track them easily."

"Then lead the way."

Back at Riddle Manor House Voldemort was laughing, "Who are you?" He chortled, "Because you are not Harry Potter."

"I am Harry Potter." Severus said stubbornly, he was so sure that his plan should have worked; he couldn't think where it had gone wrong.

"If you were truly Harry Potter then you would know that sneaking up on me like this will not only cost me my life but it will also cost you yours, I know that you are no Harry Potter for you did not know of this unbreakable vow." Voldemort paused before speaking again as it seemed that Severus could not. "More company." He said simply.

"Maybe we should get on with it then before they arrive and ruin our fun!"

"Now, that only confirms that you are not Harry Potter, he, unlike me, does not enjoy our duels, he wishes them over with haste, whereas I enjoy to prolong my enjoyment. I do wonder who you are although I have little time, you are excused, my patience wears thin."

"As is mine!" This came from neither Severus or from Voldemort, it was the real Harry this time, Severus couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Go" Harry directed at Severus.

"But …" Severus began trying to protest, Harry however was having none of it.

"GO" He almost shouted, Severus didn't say anything more, this wasn't his place, never had been and never would be. This wasn't about prophecies or whether it was possible that Harry didn't have to fight with Voldemort it was more that Harry had to do it.

Harry had to do it, it wasn't because he wanted to, he really didn't, it wasn't because he felt obliged to do it because he didn't and it wasn't because he felt that it was his duty to the wizarding world, even though it kind of was, none of these was the reason that he had to do it.

He didn't even have to do it because it was his birth right, although that was close, Harry had to do it because he would never believe that Tom was dead if he didn't do it himself. It was a psychological thing when it came down to it, if Harry didn't kill Tom himself then he was never going to be happy.

Severus left and found Dumbledore outside, no words passed between them and however strange that it seemed they sat down and prepared to wait for as long as it took. Severus prepared to wait forever, the polyjuice just starting to wear off as the tears began to fall.

Dumbledore offered no words of comfort seeing as it was Severus' fault that they found their selves there. Albus hated to think of Harry duelling for his life and there wasn't a thing that they could do.

They could see various colours of spells illuminating the grounds outside, worry spread through both of the elder men, concern and anxiety were also mixed in there making them both extremely panicky and not to mention tense.

"What if he dies?" Severus suddenly asked, Dumbledore immediately turned his head to look at his potions professor.

"He won't die Severus, all you need is what's in your heart to know that, have faith in him and he will succeed."

"Because no one has faith in Voldemort."

"Indeed"

Hours passed, well at least what seemed like hours, in reality it was more like minutes, the two wizards waited for all sound to cease and when it did they hardly dared to believe that it was over, they certainly didn't move.

It was Severus who made the first move, he jumped to his feet and almost dashed inside if it hadn't have been for the hand that rested upon his arm.

"Listen" The headmaster instructed and Severus did.

There was sounds of movement, someone in pain almost staggering down the stairs, but they waited impatiently for whoever it was to immerge, their wands were poised in case that it was Voldemort that had survived the battle and not Harry.

The thought was almost unbearable to think but it had of course cross both Severus and Albus' mind even though they willed it to go away as the door opened.

The old wood door creaked open with an ominous slowness and revealed Harry who immediately fell into Severus' outstretched arms, the younger boy was sobbing in complete distress.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it took me absolutely ages to write, but I'm trying to get all my unfinished stories done so I can start a few new ones. Don't forget to review.