Harry dodged yet another spell, hurling himself against a wall. The bolt of light passed inches from his face, and collided with one of the Deatheaters. Tossing a strand of hair off his face, he threw himself into the battle.
The next minutes passed in a blur of attacks, parries, dodges, lunges and hurriedly cast spells. And still, he was no nearer the last Horcrux than he had been before. The ring of cloaked figures was impenetrable – they would not let him through, no matter how hard he tired to break through their defence.
Gritting his teeth, he tossed random spells, his only aim being to hurl them as fast as he could. For a split second, there was an opening in the black wall – and he pushed through.
For a moment, time seemed to stop; so great was his shock. There, on a stone slab in the middle of the room, lay a bruised and tousled, but very alive-looking...
Remus.
'Remus...' Harry muttered, not quite believing his eyes. He shook his head. Remus was still there.
His rational part was screaming that this was a trick of Voldemort's. That it was nothing more than someone (or something) that was made to look like Remus, just to stop Harry's hand.
Except then Remus looked up at him, and there was hope and relief shining in his pale eyes, pure hope, and joy and a little disbelief. And instantly Harry knew it was him, Remus.
'Let's go,' Harry grabbed Remus hand, deciding to think about all this when they were somewhere safe.
The Deatheaters were yelling something, but he cursed two and saw Hermione and two others attack the remaining, shock evident on their faces.
'No,' Remus murmured gently, his hand covering Harry's. 'You know you have to do it.'
'What...?'
'He placed the Horcrux inside my being. The only way to stop him coming back is to kill me.' Remus spoke in a faraway, emotionless tone, as if he was not really talking about his own death.
'We'll find a way,' Harry exclaimed frantically, looking around to make sure no-one was aiming at them. He took a second to cast a charm that concealed them from everyone's eyes. 'I just have to get you out of here.'
'I will not have anything to do with his return, Harry,' Remus said wearily, sitting up. 'I will not. I'd rather die. And you know that is the only thing to do.'
Harry shook his head, his hands shaking, eyes huge.
'Remus, I – I can't.'
'You must.'
'No.'
'Harry...!'
A sudden idea struck Harry. It was crazy, but in the circumstances, he did not see any alternatives.
Harry looked around, and then shouted an order, at which his companions all looked at him and lifted they hands, signaling that they understood.
'Come with me, Remus,' he said decisively and calmly, and Apparated them.
Besides Harry and Remus, only McGonnagal, who had been summoned from Hogwarts, a dazed Severus and two Healers were in the room.
Remus was nervous, biting his lip and tapping his fingers on the metallic hospital table. Severus' hands were clenched into fists, knuckles white. McGonnagal appeared as calm as ever, a slight paleness giving away that she was anything but.
'Are you sure it's going to work you?' Remus asked again.
'Well, it's better than the alternative,' Harry shrugged, eyeing the Muggle equipment that surrounded Remus. 'Ready?"
Remus nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Severus took a step towards the table and grasped Remus' hand, trying to comfort him without words.
Remus closed his eyes.
'Avada Kedavra,' Harry whispered, a single tear running down his face.
Time seemed to halt as Remus' eyes went wide and then closed slowly, millimetre by millimetre. The hand that Severus still held grew slack.
Harry looked away as the Healers rushed to Remus' side and began to press something on the whirring machines, shouting orders Harry did not understand.
What if he had been wrong? What if the curse could not be counteracted? He knew there was no spell to bring back the dead. How many chances were there that Muggle technology would be able to do what magic could not?
He pressed his face to the cold glass that was one of the walls, trying to block out the Healer's voices and the beeping of the machines, concentrating on his erratic heartbeat instead.
A simple and undiluted fear ran through his blood. What if he was wrong? What if Remus was really dead? What if killing him and bringing him back would not destroy the Horcrux? What if, what if, what if?
Minutes passed – minutes that seemed like long, endlessly long, years to him.
And then there was silence.
Harry froze, too afraid to turn around.
Then he heard Severus sobbing quietly.
Harry shut his eyes tighter, feeling tears run down his face, an overwhelming guilt suppressing every other emotion. He had been wrong. Wrong all along.
And now, because of his folly, Remus was dead.
'Harry?' McGonnagal placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. 'Son?'
Harry turned around - and it took all his strength to do it. Except then he felt his knees go weak as he saw Severus hugging a very much alive Remus.
The last thing Harry remembered was the Healers telling Severus that they had to take Remus to be examined, but he knew, just knew, that everything was going to be alright...
