Fairborn Adventures
AN: Hey guys!
Welcome to Chapter 97.
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Chapter 97
October 1st, 1978
'My anchor.'
Faint ripples of warmth pulsed from the ring in steady swells, tickling up the length of his arm. Harry took it off and placed the band of golden upright on the table, letting it whirl from one hand to the other.
'But assuming that it all went smoothly, that my deed was selfish enough, how will it actually work should the worst happen?'
He let it hover over his open palm, studying it curiously.
'I can hardly take my father's bones and the only servant I have is Dobby, an elf... Surely there's got to be a way to let whatever is left of me merge with my original body?'
'Perhaps Voldemort's body had been destroyed back in Godric's Hollow, that's why he needed a new one,' Harry mused, running his hand through his hair: 'I can't really explain it otherwise.'
"You're being very weird again, love." Marlene's blue eyes peeked over the evening edition of the Daily Prophet, one delicate eyebrow curled: "Put it back on, stop playing with it for once, and also stop brooding while you're at it."
"As you wish." Harry placed the ring back on his finger with a grin and reached out for the bottle of elven wine: "Some for you as well?"
Marlene's gaze flickered from him to the bottle and back up: "Uhm, no!" She quickly shook her head, burying her face behind the paper again: "Not really feeling like it tonight..."
"Suit yourself." Harry took a few small sips, leaning back in his chair: "Anything interesting?"
"I suppose two more attacks on muggle villages and a few missing people don't count as interesting anymore." She folded the paper with a small sigh: "However, like the proper pureblood and lofty lord of the House he is, my dear brother formally announced his wedding to all of wizarding Britain in the newspaper."
Harry chuckled: "He seemed overjoyed when he dropped by and announced it to us yesterday morning. Why don't we let them have this little bit of happiness?" Taking a few more sips he cooked his head: "Besides, it's been a good week for pureblood love anyways."
"Why is that?"
"Arcturus told me that he's finalized the marriage contract between his granddaughter Narcissa and Fabian Prewett," Harry said: "I'm assuming they'll be announcing it soon as well."
"Good." Marlene's lip twitched and she hid her face behind the newspaper again: "I wish them all the best."
He bit back laughter. "You can't possibly still be mad that she kissed me in our fifth year, can you?"
"I'm not mad!" The paper was torn down, revealing sparkling blue eyes: "You're mine now, that's all that matters. I'm just saying that our story could've been a lot more romantic if you hadn't been such a flirt and shared your first kiss in this timeline with me, your wife, instead."
Harry carefully placed his half-empty cup out of harm's reach: "Wait a minute, whoever said Narcissa was my first kiss here?"
"Carefully, love." His wife's eyes snapped back up, blazing with irritation: "One more joke like that and I'll have Dobby prepare the couch for-"
A soft snap echoed through the kitchen.
"Morgana's wrinkled ass, Dobby-" Marlene leaped off her chair: "-I merely mentioned you, I didn't call you!"
The elf's large ears fell, however, Harry's attention was drawn to what he was holding.
"Dobby be very sorry, Mistress Marly, but Dobby didn't follow a summon, he merely wanted to bring Master and Mistress the buzzy mirror."
Indeed, the tiny runes on the mirror glowed a faint gold. Much more obvious however was the frantic voice shouting from within it.
"Harry! Harry, please we need you!"
'James!' A cold fist clamped itself around his heart.
The mirror instantly zipped from Dobby's into Harry's outstretched hand: "James! We're here, talk to me!"
His own reflection faded away and was replaced by his father's pale expression.
"Thank Merlin, you finally picked up!" James wiped a film of sweat from his forehead, leaving a smear of crimson: "The Castle was infiltrated! There are Death Eaters down in the dungeons!"
"How the hell did they get in?!" Marlene frowned, changing her cozy outfit for the evening into a simple blue skirt and a plain blouse with a flick of her wand.
"We don't know!" James yelled over a small explosion that boomed through the background: "But we could really need you guys right now!"
"Hold tight, we're coming!" Harry said over the frantic pounding of his heart: "Search for our names on the Map!"
"Wait, how will you get in-" The connection faded away, as did the glow of the mirror.
"James?!" Harry stared at it in shock: "Fuck, James!"
"They're going to be alright." Marlene cupped his jaw, nudging his head back from the blank mirror down to her. "We should get going, Harry."
"This is it." Harry grabbed her hand and apparated them up into their bedroom, summoning his Cloak from the hanger.
'This is where it begins, or perhaps this is where it ends.'
A second soft snap and they stood at the edge of the Black Lake, glancing into the distant village of Hogsmeade.
Crimson flames clawed high into the night sky, illuminating the houses and roofs. Terrified screams and the sound of spellfire tore through the darkness.
"He will be here tonight." Harry swallowed the heavy lump in his throat: "Voldemort will be here."
'And this time, I cannot run. I refuse to run...'
Marlene nodded, fingers tightened around his hand: "He wants the Castle to look for his Horcrux. He seeks reassurance that he is still anchored."
'But he's not anymore.' Harry stared down at his ring: 'While I am.'
"Let's go." He led her up the slope by her hand, closing in on a veil of faintly rippling air that encased the entire Castle and its ground like a giant dome.
In one smooth motion, he wrapped the Cloak around both of them, stepping over the threshold and wincing at the harsh burn that razed through their veins.
"Still better than being torn to bloody pieces like anyone else that would've tried crossing that," Harry murmured, stowing the Cloak back within his robes before ascending the hill towards the courtyard with large steps.
"How did the Death Eaters even get in?" Marlene's breath came ragged as she attempted to keep up with him: "It can't have been through the passageways! Surely Dumbledore tied them to the wards of the Castle and not to himself, guaranteeing they'd prevail in case of his death?"
'How indeed then?'
"The Rat." Harry cursed under his breath: "With how many hours he spent skulking down in the dungeons he must have found something-"
"-and passed it on to his little snake girlfriend," Marlene hissed as they reached the empty courtyard: "Hopefully she'll be here too, I look forward to meeting her."
Two shouts echoed over from the giant oak doors.
"Harry, Marlene!"
"Over here!"
James and Lily stepped into the light of a torch, waving them over to them. Harry grimaced as he saw the state they were in.
Their robes were torn and slightly smoldered in different areas. Specks of blood clung to their fingers and arms but still, they managed two grim, determined smiles.
"Thanks for showing up, mate." His father ran a hand through terribly disheveled hair before gesturing for them to come inside. "We missed you quite terribly."
'It's way too calm and empty here,' Harry frowned and glanced around cautiously: "Where is everyone?"
"Castle's in complete lockdown," James answered, leading them to the Great Hall: "The younger years are in their common rooms, the prefects and anyone over the age of seventeen is down in the Great Hall with the staff."
"What's the situation like?" Marlene asked.
"They came from the dungeons roughly half an hour ago, presumably somewhere close to the Slytherin common room," Lily said, pushing open the doors into the Great Hall. "We fought them back down and are now holding the giant staircase and every floor above ground level, but the staff doesn't feel comfortable invading their territory and pushing them back out, even though Horace is down there in his office all by himself."
"I see," Harry hummed, his gaze traveling through the Great Hall underneath floating candles and the empty, dark night sky.
The tables had been pushed aside, providing space for some conjured beds of a makeshift infirmary. Prefects and upper-year students hurried around, some of them carrying injured classmates, others sitting together in tight groups, their heads buried in their arms, wands at the ready.
The moment they entered all eyes turned to them, some widening hopefully, others frowning deeply.
'Fear not everyone, your heroes are here to save the day.'
"Mr. Peverell! Ms. McK- I mean, Mrs. Peverell!" McGonagall's astounded shout rang through the hall. She hurried down from the podium where the teachers had gathered: "How did you two get in here? The Castle is in complete lockdown!"
"So I've heard," Harry grimaced, spinning the Elder Wand between his fingers. "How many Death Eaters are down in the dungeons?" he added to James.
"Roughly ten and none have arrived since the wards were changed into lockdown mode," James said after a brief nod from Lily: "Of course, there's no telling how many upper-year Slytherins support them. For all we know half the bloody House might back them up..."
'Then House Slytherin will suffer great losses tonight.'
"How could you possibly know their numbers, Potter?" McGonagall's lips thinned.
"We asked Sir Nicholas to do some reconnaissance for us," Lily lied swiftly: "They hardly have the means to perform an exorcism and exterminate a ghost right now, so we thought it might be a good idea to send him."
"That-" McGonagall frowned, mouth agape: "-that's a surprisingly ingenious idea, Lily."
"Glad you agree," Harry murmured, sending another look up at the ceiling: "Marlene and I will clear out the dungeons now. I suggest you think of a way to get the younger students out of here because even the wards of the Castle won't keep Voldemort out forever."
"He's here?" Flitwick squeaked, face paling. "But- but these wards have existed for almost a thousand years, surely-"
"-they won't keep him out, Professor, and unlike me, he will cross them with brutal force," Harry repeated firmly and turned to leave, snatching Marlene's hand: "Voldemort won't care about spilling the extra drop of magical blood. Get these students out of here. Quickly."
"I will do what I can, but this is suicide, Mr. Peverell!" McGonagall cried, hands on her hips: "You cannot take on almost a dozen Death Eaters all by yourself!"
Harry glanced over his shoulder, shooting her a long look: "Chances are I've beaten half of them already during my very first Hogsmeade trip, Professor."
"Yes-" he added when McGonagall's eyes widened, "-that was me all along, thanks for not giving me detention back then..."
He turned and hurried back through the wing doors with Marlene at his side, hearing two further pairs of footsteps follow them.
'Bloody Gryffindors.'
"What do you guys think you're doing?" Harry sighed, heading left towards the dungeons.
"We had a deal, Harry, remember?" James said determinedly: "Shit's going down now and neither Lily nor I will sit by idle and twiddle our thumbs while you're out there fighting."
'Out of all the people in this castle, you two are the only ones I worry about.' Harry shared a tense glance with Marlene: 'I'm playing with the idea to just lock you up in the Room of Requirements until it's all over...'
"Fine," he deflated, taking two steps down at a time: "Do you have the Map with you? Where are they now?"
James scrambled for the folded piece of parchment underneath his robes: "Five are at Slughorn's office, the rest are left behind in the area around the common room."
"Let's rescue old Sluggy first then," Harry decided, coming to a scattering halt inside the cold, dimly lit corridor at the feet of the staircase.
"Open up, Slughorn, we know you're in there and we won't harm you!" a harsh voice shouted.
The loud banging of hands against wood sounded from where a cluster of dark-robed figures had congregated by the doorway next to the potions' classroom.
"Peverell!" They recognized him and spun to face him, hurling bright curses as they did so. They burst against Marlene's shield like distant fireworks, flinging brilliant sparks against the ceiling.
'You're all in the way.' Irritation bubbled in his stomach: 'You're all obstacles...'
The Elder Wand slid into his palm and he thrust it outward. A brilliant, white flash tore through the passageway. Screams echoed from cold walls until there was dead silence. Ozone mixed with the scent of burned flesh filled his nostrils.
Harry blinked away the floating, green spots in his vision until the corridor came back into focus. Ashes floated to the ground in front of him, coating blackened, withered bodies in a thin, gray layer. A deep scorch mark tore through the rough stone wall, leaving only the heavily warded door as spotless as it was before.
"Merlin, fucking hell!" James gagged, steadying a tumbling Lily by the waist, both their eyes widened in horror.
"They would have done much worse to us," Harry insisted, pointing at the door and looking at his parents expectantly. "You can either come with us or seek shelter here with Slughorn."
"We're with you," James swallowed heavily, tearing his eyes away from the corpses, "as promised."
'Perhaps they do understand a little bit then.'
"Alright, but stay behind me." He moved further down the hallway, spinning his wand between his fingers in anticipation and showering the ground with silver sparks.
They soon stepped into an open antechamber. He paused and cautiously eyed the opposite stretch of bare, damp stone wall, which concealed the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
'Now where could they be?'
"Intruders!" A shout echoed from the right. "Over here!"
Harry twisted around and batted aside a barrage of red spells and orange hexes accelerating towards them from the shadow of a small alcove. He hurled a torrent of clawing fiendfyre in the general direction, pouring his hatred into the cursed flames until the screams subsided.
Glancing back over his shoulder he saw the wall concealing the common room shift to the side. Roughly half a dozen dark-robed figures hurried out from within and opened fire at Marlene, James, and Lily.
The blonde danced through the incoming bright beams of magic. She twirled between two foes, circling them in rings until their curses hit each other, sprinkling blood over the stones.
"Hello, Rosier," Marlene greeted the only girl among the group, hurling a volley of spells at her: "You're missing part of the costume. Where is your silver mask, silly?"
"After tonight we shall no longer need it, you filthy blood-traitor whore!" A tall, young man snarled and stepped in front of Elana Rosier. He threw up a shimmering shield, yet stumbled back with each spell that struck it.
"A stinging charm took you out last time, Wilkens," Harry laughed coldly in recognition, wrapping his magic around the shield until it flickered. He tore the Elder Wand down, shattering it like glass: "And a lot has happened since then..."
His next spell burst through Wilkens' neck and shoulder, ripping the entire limb off and spraying red across Elana's dirty blonde hair.
"Richard!" the Slytherin alumna cried, face distorted in hatred when she blinked back at them: "Serpensortia! Serpensortia!"
"Don't worry, that was only one of the boys you fucked behind the Rat's back, wasn't it?" Marlene thrust her magic into the air, crushing the black snakes into a paste of dark scale and twitching tails. "I'm sure there's plenty left."
Elana let out a hoarse scream, wand aimed not at Marlene, but over at Lily.
"Avada Kedavra!"
'No, please.' Needles of ice pierced Harry's heart and he launched forward, yet someone else already reacted before he could.
"Lily!" James' hazel eyes went wide and he wrenched his wrist around, yanking up a stone slab from the ground to intercept the bright green flash of light.
It detonated in a cloud of shards and rubble, tossing him back into the wall with a sickening crunch.
"You bitch!" Marlene growled.
She ducked the next killing curse, wrapped the air around Elana's neck, and snapped the top of her spine with a flick of her wand. Light green eyes turned blank and she crumpled to the floor.
"James!" Lily hurried over to her boyfriend, cradling his head in her arms and combing black hair out of the way: "James, please wake up!"
"He'll be fine, but he needs to see Pomfrey quickly."
Harry punched a duo of piercing hexes through the skulls of the two Death Eaters her and James had disarmed and stunned, spraying blood and gray paste over the stone.
"Why?!" His mother flinched away, gasping at him in horror.
'Why don't you understand?' Harry grimaced, summoning the few wands scattered around and snapping them like twigs in midair: 'This naivety is what got you killed last time!'
"Don't you look at me like that, Lily." He thrust a finger at the entrance to the common room, his voice gaining in volume: "The moment we leave, someone will come out, revive them and hand them a wand. This scum will sneak back up into the Castle and murder or rape the next muggle-born they see! Do you want their blood on your hands?"
"No, of course not," Lily choked and shook her head, a tear trickling down her cheek: "I- I just don't think I could ever bring myself to kill someone."
"And that's okay, really." Marlene walked over to her, levitating James with a flick of her wand and taking the redhead by the hand: "But it also means we'll need you to watch over James now and make sure he's okay, do you understand?"
"Ye- yes," Lily nodded dazed, green eyes flickering back to the unconscious form of her boyfriend with worry. "I- I don't want to do much fighting anymore, I just want to stay with him..."
'All the better,' Some of his worries were lifted and he shot his wife a grateful nod.
"Let's get out of here," Harry suggested.
They hurried back up the corridor, passing Slughorn's office just when the lock clicked and the professor's bald head peeked out from behind the door.
"Harry! Thank Merlin, you came." He wiped the sweat off his forehead with a small handkerchief: "I just-"
His gaze dropped and he stared fearfully at the charred, ash-covered corpses to his feet: "Dear Circe, what did you do, Harry?"
'Next he'll call me Tom, just as Dumbledore did.'
"You should have let them inside your office if you wanted to save them, Professor," Harry snorted in exasperation: "We're going back to the Great Hall now, you can either stay here, go to your Slytherins, or come with us."
Slughorn swallowed, fidgeting nervously with his fingers: "I- I'll come with you, I think."
"Good choice," Harry muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes.
"Hogsmeade will have fallen by now," Marlene whispered in his ear while they climbed the stairs back up: "These Death Eaters only served as a distraction, to cause trouble and test the Castle's defense. Voldemort will send the rest of his forces soon and reinforcements from the Ministry are unlikely to arrive anytime soon, they're too cowardly to give up their own important position…"
"It doesn't matter, I won't run again," Harry vowed, squeezing her fingers tight. "No matter what he throws at us, I won't run."
'Only one dream will prevail tonight, the other will be snatched away.'
The state of the Great Hall had not changed much since their absence. McGonagall met them the moment they approached Pomfrey and placed James on a bed.
"James?" Her voice hitched and face paled: "What happened to him, Mr. Peverell? Where are the Death Eaters?"
"He's not seriously injured and the Death Eaters have all been dealt with as well." Harry ignored her choking sound and glimpsed around: "Have you found a way to evacuate the Castle? Within the next hour, Voldemort will-"
He paused, feeling a faint tingle creep over his skin. His head snapped up.
A crackling beam of white magic flashed above the floating candles, clearly visible through the large windows and empty ceiling of the Great Hall.
'Voldemort.'
Time stood still as he watched the beam of eldritch energy fork towards the dome of wards, turning the dark night into the brightest day when it finally connected.
'Fuck.'
The shockwave that followed tossed Harry to the ground and shattered every window in the Great Hall, perhaps even the Castle, with a piercing burst that left his ears ringing.
Gone was his sense of balance. Gone was his hearing, despite the dozens of high screams that tore through the air around him.
He lifted himself back up and strained his neck to glimpse at the sky, feeling the warm blood trickle from over his earlobes already.
Colorful patches of interwoven magic and shimmering stripes of silver ripples poured through the air and rained down onto the Castle like leaves blown from a tree.
Marlene stepped next to him on shaky legs, the shock still evident on her face. "The wards," she murmured with a grimace as she vanished the blood from their ears: "He took them all down."
"Well, there goes our defense." Harry cursed, ignoring the panicked shouts around them.
'But there's no way that didn't exhaust him for at least some time.' He squashed a flicker of unease: 'It would definitely exhaust me, so it'll have the same effect on him, right?'
"Professor-" he helped McGonagall back to her feet, "-we need to get to the courtyard. Voldemort will attack from there! He will-"
The Great Hall suddenly fell silent again when a multitude of distant, blood-curdling roars sounded through its thick walls.
"Are- are those giants?" Slughorn whimpered in fright.
'I thought the tribes had abandoned him. Why are they here?'
"To the courtyard, quickly!" Harry made a turn and hurried outside, followed by Marlene, some of the professors, and even a few students.
A long bridge connected the courtyard to the opposite valley, two lonely torches flickered at the other side of it. Their faint light cast massive shadows over the hills as one by one, colossal, gigantic silhouettes, pounced over the grounds towards it, brandishing thick clubs as they roared through the night sky.
'Someone has to stop them.' Harry spun his wand. 'Or at least delay them... And I can't exhaust myself just yet. I need my strength for the fight that matters...'
He turned to McGonagall, catching flickers of dread in her eyes: "Our magic and spells won't hold them back for long, Professor. If you have an ace up your sleeve now is your time to use it..."
"It's truly time then." The witch nodded tight-lipped and shared a long look with her colleagues. She flicked her wand from her waist and turned around to the entrance of the Castle: "Stand back everyone!"
"Piertotum Locomotor!"
'Now that sounds familiar...'
One by one, the massive statues decorating the towering Entrance Hall of the Castle jumped down from their plinths. Their impacts shaking the ground and fracturing the tiles they landed on.
Stone fingers crunched and tightened around their colossal weapons as they rose from their knees to their full height of far above eight feet. Like a silent, faceless horde, they took formation and marched past Harry towards the bridge.
'So noble, so fearless in the face of adversity.'
Harry tore his eyes away from the statues, who now faced their imminent destruction only to delay the enemy's approach by a few valuable minutes.
'As long as they're the only sacrifice tonight I won't care...'
"I've always wanted to try that spell." McGonagall watched her creation with pride: "Hogwarts will not fall toni-"
The mist of her breath suddenly froze over the moment it escaped her mouth.
Harry watched as it twirled upward, like smoke on a breeze. Then he felt the cold creep through his own bones, settling deep inside him.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A bright granian burst from the tip of Marlene's wand and took to the sky, sharing just enough light to make out the shape of dozens, perhaps even hundreds of twisting shadows in the darkness above the Castle, closing in rapidly.
"Too many," Flitwick squealed, sounding utterly defeated as his ethereal rabbit flickered before the darkness swallowed it completely: "There's just too many of them..."
"He's bred them since the last time," Harry mused loudly. He blocked out the cries around him, watching the dementors glide closer, their long black cloaks floating in the breeze. "But I truly thought they learned their lesson..."
'This time none of them shall remain.'
Marlene stepped in front of him, eyes sparkling.
"You're far more powerful, far greater than them, Harry. I've witnessed it myself." She cupped his jaw, brushing her lips over his, leaving a sweet taste on his tongue: "Send them back to whatever depths of hell they escaped, my love."
"I will." Harry thrust the Elder Wand high into the night sky, letting the hatred consume him in its endless depths.
'I am powerful, I am great...'
Screaming, ebony flames clawed out from inside his wand, moving in angry hisses and whispers of black mist. They gained in size until they wrenched into the volatile flickering totem of his family.
He sent the Carnifex up into the sky, smiling in grim satisfaction as the closest dementor was shredded into a spray of black mist. It tore apart anything that floated above the Castle. Scraps of ripped, black cloaks and the tar-like substance the dementors bled rained down on them.
"Albus was right, this magic is not natural, it's rotten in nature." McGonagall swallowed heavily. The hand holding her wand trembled madly and her eyes were wide in apprehension: "I dread to think that you even know a curse like that, Mr. Peverell."
"You should be thanking him on your knees for letting you survive the night!" Marlene spat. "How dare you-"
"It's fine." Harry drew himself back up, placing a soothing hand on her shoulder.
'They won't understand. They refuse to see it.'
A series of soft snaps of apparitions echoed over the courtyard. Black cloaks rustled through the night, and bright spells flashed from their owners' wands racing towards their position near the Entrance Hall, striking a few of the students around him.
"Back inside, everyone!" Harry yelled, batting curses aside and letting them scorch deep gashes into the stone walls and pillars surrounding him.
Marlene threw up a golden bubble of magic, shielding their retreat back into the Castle. Harry remained at the doorway, mercilessly cutting down anyone who dared cross the courtyard.
A sharp thrill of adrenaline raced through his veins as he forced his arm to move faster. The Elder Wand was now a pale blur, slashing through the air over and over, black robed figures falling with each swing.
But no matter how many holes he smashed through their flesh, how many limbs and spines he tore out, or how many skulls and bodies he crushed into a bloody paste of entrails and splintered bones, their opponents' numbers barely dwindled.
'The giants have almost pushed through by now.'
Anxiety coiled inside him as he watched Hogwarts' last remaining stone statutes being smashed into splinters of rubble on the bridge.
'If we let them cross it they will overrun the Castle in minutes.'
"Stay behind!" he yelled over his shoulder at Marlene before picturing a single black feather and wrenching the world past him, launching into the air from the steps of the entrance hall.
'Let's see how resistant our large friends are to gravity...'
The raven took to the sky, diving through the haze of spells, over the edge of the courtyard, and down into the depths of the valley. He transformed just before landing at the bottom of the bridge and rolled back up into a stance near the central foundation, his skin quickly spitting out the tiny stones that pierced into it during his fall.
Harry stabbed the Elder Wand forward like a dagger.
"Bombarda Maxima!"
His blasting curse merely ricocheted off of the stone and fizzled into thin air.
'It's too well warded for any spells. I need more...'
Crimson flames erupted from his wand and clawed through the wards, biting rabidly at the foundation underneath and melting it into a pool of bubbling lava.
He fixed the black feather before his mind's eye and took to the sky once again, dodging the first boulders and bricks that fell from high above.
The earth trembled. The combined roars of dozens of enraged giants boomed in his ears as the foundation gave in and the entire bridge collapsed into itself, whirling up a fountain of dust that Harry narrowly escaped from.
'At least from up here I can see the bigger picture.'
The Castle had been breached from every side, dark-robed figures streaming into all its entrances. Spellfire flared from countless shattered windows, lighting it up as bright as the moment he first saw it when crossing the Black Lake as an eleven-year-old boy.
A patch of golden hair sparkled amongst the roaring flames near the main entrance, still holding the courtyard all by herself, cutting down one enemy after the other.
He dove low and transfigured back next to Marlene, pulling her with him up onto the furthest step.
"He's still resting somewhere." Harry steadied her and stroked her back, brushing golden curls behind her ears: "And as long as Tom isn't here we can tear away more of his followers"
"Wait!" She tugged on his hand, causing him to stop.
Her eyes were fixed on something past his shoulder. The blood had drained from her face and her lips thinned. "Harry, look-"
He spun around.
Roughly a hundred yards out, two scarlet orbs emerged amidst the great cloud of dust from the collapsed bridge. Their dark-robed owner flew gracefully, like smoke on the wind, his pale face shining in the darkness.
'No more running.'
"You know what I need you to do..." Harry turned back around, hardening his heart as he held out the Cloak to her.
She darted past it and threw her arms around his neck, crushing her body against him with a force that made him stagger.
"You can't stay here," he breathed in her scent, his voice less than a choke, less than a faint whisper: "I won't be able to fight, knowing you're around. I- I won't be able to breathe if you're in danger..."
"I know." Marlene clung to him desperately and buried her face in the crook of his neck. "I know."
"Make sure you win!" She kissed him, heavily, pouring a wild torrent of emotions into where their lips were attached. "You have to win, Harry. You must!"
"I won't lose," Harry vowed and gently pried himself out of her tight embrace. "I refuse to lose. We are due our sunset."
"I love you." Tears sparkled in her blue eyes before she faded away underneath the Cloak, like evening lights to the darkness.
He turned around, spinning the Elder Wand between his fingers in a swirl of golden and blue sparks.
'For you.'
The Dark Lord landed between the mounds of charred corpses sprawled across the courtyard, crimson washing over his bare feet.
A faint, cold rain began to lash upon the withered limbs and faces, it soaked into Harry's robes the moment he stepped back out and down the stairs.
'Only one dream will prevail tonight, the other will be snatched away.'
"Harry Peverell...the Master of Death…"
Voldemort spread his arms at the courtyard's center, shimmering with magic through the darkness, brighter than the smoldering rubble all around him.
"Come, let us see what powers you truly hold..."