Chapter 18
One Last Battle
Everything was blurry. How long had he been asleep? He sat up and rubbed his eyes and looked blearily around. He was in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. 'How did I get here?'
The last thing Ronald Weasley remembered was being told that Hermione was pregnant. Of course, that was great news, but Ron wasn't ready for that type of responsibility. He was only seventeen, for Merlin's sake! Hermione being pregnant had been a shock, but he was sure that they would be able to cope with it.
But something was off. Hermione was pregnant, and here he was lying in the hospital wing!
Somewhere in a distant corner of the room, someone cleared their throat. Ron's head immediately shot up as he glanced to where the noise had originated. Dumbledore stood there, watching him closely, his eyes slightly dull compared to the luster they had held the last time Ron had seen him. "Professor?" Ron asked. His throat was sore and parched, though he didn't feel it necessary to tell Dumbledore that at the present time.
"Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore nodded in greeting as he worked his way around all of the other beds crammed into the hospital wing. Ron squinted for a moment, then realized that there were people in all of the beds, and there were way more beds than usual.
"Professor, why's everybody in here? Is there an infection going around or something?" Ron asked as he stared at a bed particularly close to him, on which a fourth year Slytherin girl was laying.
"No, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore stood over Ron's bed and stared down at him with a knowing, gleam in his eyes. His lips were pressed into a thin, grim line. "Mr. Weasley, what is the last thing you can recall before tonight?"
Ron shot Dumbledore a weird look. "What do you mean? Why?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Ronald, it is crucial that you tell me your most recent memory; we must know when you were put under the Endograveto curse."
Ron blinked. "But professor, there's no such-"
"Mr. Weasley, your most current memory, please."
"Well…" Ron eyed Dumbledore distrustingly.
"Ron," Dumbledore began sternly. "If you do not tell me, I will be forced to bring it out of you. I do not want to resort to this, but two students' lives are in danger!"
Ron paled. "Who?"
Dumbledore sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy." He said after a moment's hesitation.
"H…Harry?" Ron's eyes widened.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley, Harry."
Ron gulped. "Well," he said. "The last thing I remember is Hermione telling me that she's pregnant." He looked at Dumbledore again as if wondering if he should go on or not, but Dumbledore didn't look in the least bit surprised, so he continued. "I remember being surprised; that wasn't supposed to happen. But I think that maybe we can cope with it."
Dumbledore nodded and stepped away. "Um, Professor?" Ron asked, and Dumbledore turned on his heel and looked at Ron sharply.
"Harry…uh, he'll be okay, won't he?"
Dumbledore's face fell. "I do not know, Mr. Weasley. At this moment, nothing is certain."
XXX
Lucius followed the sound of crashing and quickly came upon a clearing, in which Draco and Harry were rolling around, clinging to each other. Whether they were fighting or making out, Lucius couldn't tell, but it still made him angry.
Stepping into the clearing, Lucius raised his wand, pointed it to the couple, and cleared his throat loudly.
Draco jerked away from Harry, face flushed. His eyes widened when he caught sight of who was standing there, and he immediately jumped to his feet, nearly shaking with fear.
"F…father," Draco stuttered out, backing up against a tree.
Lucius looked at his son coldly, his gaze unwavering. His lips were pursed, which caused Draco to cower even closer to the tree. Harry watched the silent exchange between the two silently as he slowly lifted himself to his feet.
"Mr. Malfoy," Harry greeted, his expression unreadable.
Lucius' gaze turned to Harry and his lips curled into a smirk. "Ah, Mr. Potter. It has been far too long."
Lucius stayed where he was, glaring between the two men silently.
Draco eventually became bolder, and he finally pulled away from the tree, straightening his back and setting his shoulders.
"What do you want, father?"
"Do not address me as such, Draco," Lucius said, glaring harshly.
Draco's brow furrowed, but he didn't say anything.
"You are fraternizing with the enemy," Lucius went on to explain. "And this shall not go overlooked. By me, or any of the other Death Eaters. After all that I have done for you, this is how you repay me, boy?" Lucius motioned towards Harry angrily before continuing.
Draco had tuned him out by the time his father had finally finished with his outraged, one-sided screaming match. He was busily trying to find a way out of the grave he had dug himself into when he was yanked from his musings by a huge wave of pain that caused his knees to give out from under him and his whole body to convulse.
"Draco!"
Draco could hear someone screaming his name somewhere in the distance, but the pain was quickly eating him alive from inside, and he rapidly lost consciousness.
XXX
"Professor, what's the Endograveto curse?"
Dumbledore glanced at Hermione's bed, his eyes gleaming. "Well, Miss Granger, I thought you of all people would know what it is, but I shall explain. It is similar to the Imperius Curse, with other affects similar to the jinx that Ginny Weasley was put under in your second year here at Hogwarts. The only problem here is that the victim is fully conscious of the choices he or she is making.
"You see, Miss Granger, the curse brings out the worst in people. Of course, Ron can still be held responsible for the actions that he has performed, but there are certain aspects to his actions that are not entirely his fault. The curse messes with the mind of the victim, so although the actions are made consciously, they are also pushed upon the victim."
Hermione nodded in understanding. "And Voldemort put Ron under this curse?" she asked.
"This, I cannot tell," Dumbledore said with a frown. "The curse is very hard to trace; it was only recently found by Aurors because it was used on Avery Whitman who was a very reliable informant to them a few years back."
Hermione's brow furrowed as she tried to work out what Dumbledore was saying. "This is all confusing, Professor," She said after a long bout of silence. "So Ron acted upon dark feelings towards Harry, he knew that he was doing it, but he wouldn't have carried out the actions without being put under the curse?"
Dumbledore looked away and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "I'm afraid that I've been saying this a lot, Miss Granger, but it's true that I don't quite know."
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, completely confused now.
"I mean that I don't quite know if Mr. Weasley would have joined Voldemort eventually if the war hadn't ended today, or not. With these types of curses, it is always hard to be sure."
"So…there's a chance that Ron might have turned on us?" Hermione asked with fear in her voice. "Is there still a chance that he will?"
Dumbledore just shook his head. "It's hard to be sure," he replied quietly, before making his way out of the room.
XXX
Lucius finished his 'Crucio' spell with a flourish before turning to Harry with a menacing grin curling his lips into an angry slash of red on his otherwise pale face. "Who would have known that the man I've raised since birth would turn out to be such a weakling?" he asked, his voice quiet but threatening at the same time. "He's not like you, though, Harry," he continued. "You faced the Dark Lord. You were put to death by the Dark Lord's own hand, and yet you survived.
"For seven years, you have been facing the Dark Lord, knowing that a day like this would come. And you've succeeded in banishing Him. But you must know by now that He will come back. Only an idiot wouldn't know.
"And He will be vengeful. But you can still join our ranks. You still have a chance." Lucius paused to look questioningly at Harry, who was glaring at him angrily as he stood over Draco's unconscious form protectively. When Harry shook his head curtly, Lucius nodded. "I should have known that you would not come willingly. Very well, then."
With that, Lucius drew up the left sleeve of his black robes and touched the dark mark on his wrist with his wand. His eyes glimmered cruelly at Harry for a few moments, before he muttered a soft curse under his breath. The snake within the skull's mouth writhed as Lucius gritted his teeth. Seconds later, two flashes of green light flew straight over Harry's head and landed on either side of Lucius.
The flashes of light turned out to be two Death Eaters, and though they were masked, Harry could tell that they were Pansy and Goyle's fathers. "Where's Wormtail?" Lucius asked with a glare towards Goyle Senior.
The man cringed but answered. "Dead, sir,"
Lucius sighed angrily before looking back at Harry. "His doing?" he asked after a few moments of silence.
"No, sir," Mr. Parkinson answered. "Weasley's."
Lucius' eyes narrowed and he glared back at Mr. Parkinson. "Which one?" he demanded curtly.
"That girl. I don't remember her name."
"Which one?" Lucius repeated, causing Mr. Parkinson to cringe away from the glowering Malfoy.
"The sixth year." He answered with a shudder. "Jenny, I believe."
"Ginny," Lucius corrected, then looked back at Harry, smirking. "I believe we'll have to put her in her place as well, then, won't we? She can't go around killing off our valuable servants, now, can she?"
Harry's eyes widened and he slowly began to lift his wand. He stopped abruptly when Goyle Senior stepped up and said, "I'm afraid not, Lucius. She's already dead,"
Lucius' smirk grew into a sneer as he watched Harry's actions closely. Harry closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Did you love her, boy?" Lucius asked in way of conversation.
Harry refused to reply, and Lucius grinned. "Love only hinders, and you'll do well to remember that."
When Harry's eyes opened, they were flashing between gray and an angry shade of red. Lucius gasped and took a step back. He fumbled with his wand for a moment before it dropped to the ground. Before he could pick it up again, he was hit square in the chest with a 'Crucio' from Harry.
The other Death Eaters stood back and watched Harry with awe. When Harry released Lucius from the curse, he lay limply on the ground, gasping for breath. Harry grinned at him superiorly. His eyes gleamed menacingly and he leaned down and grasped Lucius' chin tighter than necessary.
Lucius glared up at him. "I didn't know you had it in you, boy," he muttered between pants. "I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again."
With a smirk, he lifted his hand from behind him, victoriously holding his wand up for all to see.
"Avada Ked-"
His curse was abruptly cut off by another one, which was aimed directly towards him. "Expelliarmis!"
All eyes swung in the direction that the spell had come from, to find Draco, propped up on his elbows and laying on his stomach as he panted for breath. Harry smiled warmly at him before turning back to his father.
Lucius' wand had landed directly in front of Harry, and he picked it up with a smirk before breaking it in half. "Can't be much useful like this," he said, his eyes glittering. Lucius knew then what was to come, and he knew that he was doomed.
"Any last words?" Harry asked, smiling.
Lucius' eyes narrowed as he glared at Harry. Harry sneered, then pulled away enough to be able to aim his wand properly. He was surprised when Lucius spat directly in his face.
Harry raised his hand to touch the wet, sticky warmth that had landed on his cheek. He looked at his wet fingers disgustedly before glaring at Lucius. "That's it, then," he said, wiping the spit onto his trousers.
With that, he drew his wand back, and shot the killing curse point blank at Lucius.
Lucius didn't so much as shudder.
XXX
If you wanted to, you could probably say that he died peacefully. There are some people who choose to believe so. After all, the only person that's ever survived the killing curse was far too young to remember now if the curse hurt at all. So who's to say that the killing curse causes any pain?
A/N: Hopefully, this chapter doesn't disappoint you. Of course, this isn't the last chapter; there is one final chapter to go, and it should be up soon. I know I promised not too much more suffering, and to tell you the truth, I didn't quite have the heart to put Harry and Draco through too much this time around, so this chapter is (hopefully) suffer-free, for the most part.
My apologies for the late chapter, but so far, I've re-written it three times. I wanted to make everything perfect for the almost-finale; please let me know if I have!
