The Adventure Continued
Chapter 23: Face-Off
A/N: I am so sorry about not updating sooner! I got a horrible cold and every time I tried to write, I had a huge headache and I ended up sleeping for two hours or more. But, I finally finished this chapter and I presume that there will be one or two more before this story is at an end ) Hurrah! I love endings to a story. Usually they're happy ) Well, thank you to the few people who reviewed for my last chapter! I'm glad you all enjoyed my excuse for a cliffhanger. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well! Thanks Ya'll!
Leaving Ginny to be tended by her mother, Harry and Hermione went headfirst into the fight. Spells, hexes, curses, all beams of light exploded around them, aimed poorly to hit anybody. A curse hit Hermione in the back of the head and she fell unconsciously to the ground. Another spell barely missed Harry's head.
"Harry!" Neville called to him when he saw the black-haired boy in the middle of the chaos. "We've got to do something. The spells are bouncing off the walls and hitting us! We're falling down like the snow!"
"Here, follow me!" Harry pulled at Neville and ran towards the doors and outside onto the grounds. For a minute, the gounds were silent except for the two men panting.
"What are we doing? The fight's in there!" Neville exclaimed.
"I know," Harry answered, "but she wants me, not them. They'll be coming."
No sooner had Harry said that then a dozen black figures stormed out of the castle. "There he is!" one of them cried.
Several redheads poked their heads out the doors and saw the conspirators now running away from the castle and twenty figures ran after the group of black. Now, everyone was racing towards Harry and Neville.
"Oh, brilliant," Neville muttered, digging into his pockets. "Harry, if we die, you must have this." Neville pulled out a beautiful mirror out of his pocket and handed it to Harry. Harry glanced at the mirror and instantly recognized it as the second to the mirror Sirius had given him. "This is how I've been tracking you, Harry. I know you still have yours."
"You stole Sirius' mirror? How did you know I had one?" Harry cried, shoving it into his pocket.
"I might be slow, but I'm not stupid," Neville answered, holding out his wand in front of him. The black figures were coming faster and faster at the pair. "Can we talk about this later? I think we're in trouble."
Harry stood determinedly on his spot, also raising his wand. "If we have that chance," said Harry gravely. "Ready?"
"If we must," Neville answered. "We're mental, you know that, Harry?"
Harry looked at his friend out of the corner of his eye, and nodded. The black figures were now upon them, shooting spells that Harry and Neville did their best to dodge. Harry shot a spell that blasted the ground around them and turned the area into ice. The first black cloak slipped on the ice and fell on their back, tripping several conspirators around them. Another spell erupted from Neville's wand, surrounding himself and Harry in a circle of fire.
"What good is that going to do?" Harry yelled in frustration, trying to aim at the enemy through the red and orange flames. "I can't see!"
"Neither can they!" Neville answered and pulled Harry through the fire. Miraculously enough neither were burned, and both circled around to find the rest of their fighters on the other side. When Harry glanced back, he could see the shadow of himself and Neville where they were a few seconds before in the middle of the flames.
"How did you-?" Harry began.
"Never mind," Neville answered. "It's ancient Italian magic." Both Neville and Harry were standing at the steps next to the castle, watching the battle below. "What are we going to do now, Harry?"
"Oh, you're asking me?" Harry responded. He still wasn't quite sure what had happened and how he just got there. "What do you think we should do?"
"DIE!" a voice cried behind them.
Harry and Neville jumped out of the way as they heard a zooming sound next to them. A green spell hit a tree on the far side of the grounds and the tree exploded. Harry closed his eyes tight- he should have known this was coming. When he finally opened his eyes, he saw Bellatrix Lestrange was standing over them, holding her wand.
"Well, well, well, Potter," she sneered. "Back to begging for your life again. How does it feel to finally be defeated? Not the best anymore, are we?"
Harry jumped up to his feet followed by Neville and the two exchanged looks. It had been almost four years since Harry had faced his godfather's murderer, but this time Harry wasn't a child.
"Of course you're not the best anymore," Harry responded casting a spell that Bella easily blocked.
"Silly little Potter thinks he can beat the Dark Lords more trusted supporter!" Bella blasted a curse that sent fire between Harry and Neville.
Neville got up to his feet and held his wand up. "Merlin's beard, Harry, she still insists on talking to you in third person!" Neville threw a spell that took Bella by surprise and turned her legs into rubber.
"Haven't you gotten it through your thick skull that your precious 'Lord' is dead?" Harry added, taking advantage of the moment to hit Bella with another small curse.
"And have you forgotten what I did to your parents, Longbottom? Crucio!" Bella screamed angrily, her eyes and body full of the hatred that she had bottled up since her master's death. Neville yelped in agony and shook violently on the ground.
Harry shot a curse at Bella that destroyed her concentration. "Leave him alone! You're quarrel is with me!" said Harry standing between his enemy and his friend, barely five feet between both.
"My quarrel is with anyone responsible for killing my master!" she shrieked. "Avada Kedavra!"
The spell barely missed Harry, but Harry didn't turn around to see where it went. One by one, curses, hexes, anything he could think of to distract Bella came out of his wand. Yet, one by one, Bella blocked them with ease.
"This is getting ridiculous, Potter," Bella laughed. "It's time we stopped playing like little children. Good-bye, Harry Potter!"
The spell came at Harry fast before he could realize what was going on. His body tensed up and exploded with pain. A screaming came from all around him, but whether it was his or not, Harry couldn't determine. He fell to the ground and all went black- black as the sky was getting, black as the cloaks that were racing towards him, black as his hair was compared to the dark ground, and black as his godfather's name. But to Harry, black was peaceful.
When Ginny Weasley woke up ten hours later, the news that Harry Potter had died had been flowing through the media. When first heard, the redhead couldn't comprehend the information. Harry couldn't have died! He always got through these situations! But many witnesses were there when they saw the 'Chosen One' fall and the compelling evidence was conclusive.
Twelve people had died fighting with Harry. The first and most important was Bellatrix Lestrange. No one could explain why she fell down after she hit Harry with the Killing Curse, but when her supporters had gathered around her, there was no mistaking her lifeless look and all of them had ran for their lives. Seven of the conspirators had died next to their leader and the last four deaths were from Harry's team.
A private funeral was scheduled for the following Wednesday at dawn, seven days after Harry's death. Ron, Hermione, and later on, Ginny, all agreed that Harry would be buried next to his parents in Godric's Hollow. It was very suiting for Harry to have died like his parents for the same cause and with the same courage as Godric Gryffindor.
The night before the funeral, the two redheads and brunette sat up in the living room at the Burrow. The rest of the family were out or had gone to bed and had left the three in silence. Neither of them had moved until the clock struck midnight and the three jumped in alarm.
"I can't do this anymore!" Ginny cried tearfully. "What's going to happen to us?"
Tears also filled Hermione's eyes that she couldn't hold back anymore and Ron looked uneasily at his fiancée and sister. "I don't know, Gin," he answered huskily and shaking his head.
A knock on the door sent Ginny flying in the air and Ron walked tentatively to the door. "Who's there?" Ron called.
"It's me! Who else?" the muffled voice answered.
"Who's 'me'?"
"ME!" Neville cried, opening the door and jumping inside. "What kind of friends are you to keep me standing in the snow like that? Haven't you been watching the weather lately?"
The three chuckled at Neville's small bit of humor, but the loss of their best friend was still weighing down their hearts. "You guys are upset about Harry, aren't you?" Neville questioned.
"Aren't you?" Hermione answered seriously.
Neville shook his head and cast a glace at the door that went unnoticed. "Not really. In fact, I think Harry is really annoying. Do you remember when he used to run his hands in his hair with frustration? The stupid git thought he was so cool! And then when he thought he saved me all those times-"
"Neville, how can you talk about Harry like that?" Ginny retorted. "Harry died and all you can do is to insult his name?"
"Yeah, Neville, how can you insult me like that? I'm supposed to be dead, you know!" Harry's voice boomed, pulling off his invisibility cloak to reveal black hair, pale white skin, and emerald green eyes hidden behind his round pair of glasses.
"Harry!" Hermione shrieked in excitement, but then her expression fell. "No, you're dead- you're not here. This is only my imagination."
Harry glanced at Neville and shrugged. "Sorry, Neville, I'm just a figment of your imagination. I guess you were mental after all."
The three still sat in silence, staring at the newcomers, but not knowing what was going on. Harry had died in front of fifty witnesses and here he was standing in front of them like his death had never happened.
Ron was the first to stand up and approach his best friend. He held out his hand and barely touched Harry's left shoulder. His finger hit Harry's cloak and his bony shoulders beneath. "Blimey, you are real!" Ron exclaimed in shock. "You're really not dead!"
Hermione and Ginny jumped up and ran to Harry, both embracing him and almost knocking him to the ground. "You're supposed to be dead!" Hermione exclaimed.
"You're supposed to have a funeral tomorrow! This can't be real" Ginny laughed, kissing Harry's cheek.
Harry took the moment to kiss Ginny back and then looked into her brown eyes. "Am I real now?"
Ginny's face glowed with happiness as she embraced his again and both held each other for the longest time.
"What's going on down there?" Mrs. Weasley called downstairs, hearing the commotion. The five friends laughed uncertainly, all thanking their lucky stars for their mutual black-haired friend. In a few moments, they knew they would all be able to sleep soundly that night and whatever questions they had, it could wait until morning. It was just a miracle that the Boy Who Lived Died and Lived Again.