Chapter three: I'm just waiting

"NEX CONTEGO"

The beaming green light stopped mid flight, inches from a terrified Ginny, and floated in mid air.

"What?"

Harry smirked, the momentary look of utter bewilderment on Voldemort's face was worth the years of researching and training.

"You're not the only one who did his homework… you see, Dumbledore told me that when you tried to kill me as a baby you put a little of yourself into me…"

Harry sent the killing curse flying at Voldemort, it missed by inches and cracked open the wall behind him.

"I didn't understand until a few months ago, even you didn't know what you had done. You still don't do you? Else you wouldn't have been trying to kill me all these years!"

"What are you talking about boy?"

"Harry…?"

"It's ok Gin, Voldemort didn't make seven Horcruxes… he made eight. And you're looking at it"

Suddenly Harry's eyes shined a shade of red, just like the dark lord in front of him. Ginny gasped and understood, Voldemort had accidentally connected with Harry the night his curse failed to kill him, and placed a small remaining part of his soul into Harry.

"It explains everything, the dreams, my scar hurting, being able to see into your mind… and now, I have control of every spell you cast. We are practically one. Doesn't it make you sick"

"Impossible… I would have known!"

"Ha! You barely have a soul, you wouldn't notice losing one more little piece would you"

Voldemort smiled, "A trick! Ha Harry I never thought-"

"Shut up! This is the end, but I'll give you a choice. We don't have to die, if we walk away we can both live BUT, I will only let you go on one condition"

Voldemort smirked, Ginny still stood frozen with shock and disbelief.

"Amuse me…" Voldemort leered.

"Make the unbreakable Vow with me. No more Horcruxes, no more killing. Go into hiding and leave forever. We will both die, but you have another good hundred or so years. Accept this!" Harry was shacking, he could already sense that Voldemort would never except to disappear quietly, but the other option relieved and terrified him.

"What if I, as I'm sure you know I will do, refuse."

"We both die tonight"

"No Harry!" Ginny grabbed Harry's arm, Voldemort took this temporary distraction to aim a curse at Harry. Harry blocked it, but by the time he looked back up Voldemort was gone.

"Damn!" Harry swore.

"Harry…" Ginny approached him delicately, "You're not really… going to die, are you?"

"I don't know what will happen to my soul. But if my body is destroyed Voldemort's soul will vanish. I never really thought he'd go quietly anyway" Harry attempted a reassuring smile, but Ginny's eyes watered.

"How long have you known, never mind I don't want to know. We need to find him don't we"

"I need to find him, no Ginny listen to me. You need to help the others. I know you can conjure an amazing patronus, it's the other's that need you're help. Not me"

Ginny wavered for a moment before moving forward and kissing him, without looking him in the eye she forced the marauder's map into his hand and ran down the stairs away from him. Harry took a few moments before looking at the map. He watched her run out of the castle and into the fray, praying she'd be ok, he looked for Voldemort and saw him standing in the great hall.

Harry moved quickly, he met no one on the way. Voldemort had obviously taken the castle for himself and told his army to stay away. He entered the hall and was immediately met with a curse that flew him across the room, he performed a repellent jink on the incoming wall which forced him onto his back instead of smashing his body into the wall.

"Very good Harry, tell me how do you plan to kill us both at the same time"

Harry did not reply. He threw jinxes and curses at Voldemort, some hitting and drawing thin blood , others cracking the walls. Above him the enchanted ceiling rolled with the thunder and lightening that was outside.

"Quiet fitting don't you think!" Voldemort gestured at the ceiling.

Harry ignored his goads. A certain remark about Ginny gave him the power to perform a nasty curse on Voldemort causing the bones in his body to fracture. Voldemort being familiar with this performed a regenerating spell in seconds and threw a torture curse at Harry.

"We could do this all night" Voldemort was breathing deeply, obviously growing weary as was Harry. Both carried wounds. Harry was sure he'd sprained or fractured his ankle when he took a sudden fall, he'd performed a hasty bandaging spell that was allowing him to stand painfully on it. Both were covered in bruises and gashes. The hall was in tatters, the house flags were ripped and burning and bits of brick littered the floor.

"I'm just waiting" Harry said, his eyes looking at the door, "They should be there by here now" he thought.

"You're little friends will be dead by now, I assured my death eaters who ever killed the mud blood and blood traitor would be heavily rewarded" Voldemort laughed.

Harry's eyes caught the abandoned map on the ground a foot from him.

"Don't be so sure" He said. "Malum redimio!" A large red and gold rope flew from Harry's wand and entangled Voldemort, Hermione and Ron entered the hall, both exhausted and wounded but still alive.

"Do you have it?" He asked

"Yes!" Said Hermione producing a bag from inside her robe.

Harry took it, he scooped a handful of floo powder from the bag and threw it into the fireplace. He then used a charm to move the struggling but bound Voldemort into the green fire.

"This is it, Ron, Hermione…."

"Don't get soppy on us mate, do what you have to" Ron forced a grin and put his arn around a tear filled Hermione, screams from outside distracted them

"We're winning, the ministry turned up a while ago. Most death eaters have been captured" Hermione sounded blank, "Are you sure you don't want-"

"No I can do this alone, just… just look after Ginny. OK"

Harry stepped into the fireplace, with one final look at his friends he opened his mouth and said "Ministry of magic, department of mysteries direct connection" With Voldemort at his side (the binds were slowly draining him of his energy) Harry disappeared from Ron and Hermione's sight.

"This is it then, it'll all be over soon…" Hermione stared at the empty fireplace.

"We need to do what we can for him, the others need us Mione"

Together they left the hal and ran back into the finishing battle, the Great Hall stood destroyed and empty as the final flames crackled away.

A/N: that was a really hard chapter to write! Hope you enjoyed! I know I said this will be the last but I think it's better to do one more, though it will probably be quiet short! Hope it made sense, I'm tired and can't be bothered to re read at the moment he he.

The spells I made up, they meant Death shield and Evil binding.