The Human Stain
By Anna Kate
Anything between / is parseltongue
Chapter Seventeen- To End It All
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Tom helping Claudia to stand, and Chryseis walked over to them. Suddenly, all of the living humans were thrown to the floor as the house shook. A voice rang out throughout the foyer.
"Welcome back, Draco. I've been waiting for you."
Next to Harry, Draco's eyes went wide, as his mouth dropped open.
"God," he whispered, then jumped to his feet and drew his wand out of his sleeve. "COME OUT!" he shouted, turning in a circle, eyes cast upward on the balcony above. Harry stood and drew out his wand too, while Tom helped Claudia to her feet again.
"Now now, Draco, is that anyway to treat your father?" the voice rang out again. Harry gasped.
"You lost that right the day you killed Chryseis." Draco shouted and the voice laughed.
"Pity." All of a sudden, a black-cloaked figure appeared in the hall opposite them and Claudia screamed. Lucifer was a nightmare come to life. Tall, skeletal with tattered white hair hanging around bulbous ice-cold eyes, he was terrifying. No wonder Claudia had screamed! Draco backed up slightly. Lucifer began to walk towards them.
"I should have known you would return. You always would. Whether to see your precious child," Chryseis cried out. "Your dead uncle," Dead Draco covered his mouth with his hand. "Or to find... The Key." And Harry's eyes darted to the black tome which had skidded across the floor from them as they fell. He looked up and met Lucifer's eyes. He knew what he had to do.
Taking a deep breath, Harry turned on the spot and sprinted towards the book, just as Lucifer did too. They raced to get the Book of the Dead Days and Harry threw himself the final inch.
Time hung in the air. Harry felt the world slow and become still as he seemed to see himself lurched forward for the book, Lucifer watched him with bared teeth. Then suddenly, Harry hit the floor and the world returned to normal time. He grabbed the book and kicked upwards with all his might, sending Lucifer to the floor. Jumping to his feet, he shouted "RUN!" and booked it out of there. On the grounds, Harry and Draco each grabbed a teenager and apparated away to Hogsmede, all ready running to Hogwarts by the time they had landed.
Pounding on the oak doors on Hogwarts, Claudia screamed.
"He's coming! OH GOD, he's coming!" she cried, and Harry glanced behind to see Lucifer and a horde of men in white heading up the long winding path to Hogwarts. Harry pounded more rapidly on the door and it finally swung open.
"Yes?" a pompous boy Harry recognized as a Ravenclaw prefect answered the door. Harry pushed past him and the boy stuttered. "I say..." he started, but Harry turned around and jerked back his fringe.
"I AM HARRY FUCKING POTTER, OKAY AND YOU NEED TO SHUT THAT GODDAMN DOOR OR WE WILL ALL DIE!" he screamed but the boy reluctantly shut the door. He missed by seconds. The killing curse hit him and he fell dead to the ground. Claudia screamed, high-pitched and wavering and Harry had to kick the body out of the way to shut the door.
"HOGWARTS!" he shouted to the ceiling. The castle seemed to move in reply. "SET YOUR WARDS. A BATTLE IS TO BE FOUGHT TODAY." He shouted and there was a blinding light and the whole school trembled before settling again.
"Now what?" Draco shouted against the rumbling outside.
"To the Headmasters!" Harry shouted and took off at a sprint. Behind them Tom laughed.
"This brings back memories!" he exclaimed before running after them.
00
The world was a bit groggy. And it hurt a bit. That was what Merlo Boot was thinking as he slowly awoke in the Hospital Wing. His throat was killing him and he really really wanted his mum. Giving a quiet cry, Merlo opened his eyes to the first daylight he had seen for weeks. A quiet tear slid from a damaged eye.
He was alive.
00
Harry and Draco arrived at the Headmasters' office moments before Claudia and Tom did. They entered, running up the stairs and burst into the office. They were greeted with Remus and Snape kissing, quite passionately, against a bookshelf. Harry flushed red.
"Um..." he coughed and the Headmaster's jumped apart. They were both breathing heavily and Remus was straightening his robes. Tom was laughing behind his hand. "Just so you know, Lucifer is storming the school." Harry told them and they both went into panic mode.
"WHAT?" they chorused, before Snape grabbed a microphone of sorts and spoke into it.
"Would all Prefects please escort 1st to 3rd years to the dungeons. 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th years, please await further instruction in the Hall." He snapped and hit a button, which sent a magical alarm through the school. Harry winced, recognising the sound; it had been set up during the Second Voldemort War. Part of him wanted to march straight to the Hall and await orders, the other part knew he was more useful at the Head of this battle rather than a fighter.
In truth, Harry hadn't defeated Voldemort by himself. Hermione had lent her knowledge, Ron, his strategy. Neville Longbottom had lent his own magic and mother's love and secretly, Draco had sent his own love. Harry had only been a channel for all this to go through. Without them, they'd still be fighting that war or worse, dead.
Remus grabbed a few books off the shelf, and Harry remembered the book in his arms.
"Remus," he spoke, passing the thing over to Remus. Remus took it and flicked through the pages.
"Inside the book is.. a Key of some sort. I thought Hermione could study it." Harry suggested and Remus nodded. The werewolf turned to face Harry's daughter.
"Claudia, could you please go to the library. Hermione Granger, John's mother, will meet you there. Show her this book and tell her everything you know." Claudia nodded, looked at Tom and took the book off Remus before taking off at a run, Tom following behind her. Remus nodded to Snape and another message was sent out.
"Could Hermione Granger please go to the library immediately? Claudia Potter will meet you there." He spoke into the microphone and Harry could still hear the alarm sounding in the distance. Another thing he had learnt during the Voldemort War was that, eventually, the alarm didn't register anymore. The school had been stormed so many times.
"We should go to the Tower and get our weapons." Draco mumbled. Harry startled.
"You have our weapons?" Harry said and Draco nodded.
"I found them after... after you left. And they're upstairs, along with our uniforms." He added and Harry had a thought. He walked over to the microphone and looked down at the settings. He pushed a button with a phoenix and spyglass on it.
"Would all members of Dumbledore's Army return to Hogwarts. Uniforms and weapons." He said and then put the microphone down. He nodded to Draco and together they left for the tower. They broke into a run midway and sprinted up the stairs once Mirella had let them in. Bounding up the stairs two at a time, Draco and Harry burst into Draco's room and rummaged through the various wardrobes. Pulling out slightly dusty outfits, they got dressed.
The Dumbledore's Army uniform was a mid-thigh length gold robe, black combat boots with silver buckles (Remus had gold on his boots), navy breeches, and a slate-grey under-coat. If hair was long, it was tied back with a red and orange ribbon that looked like phoenix feathers. It was a traditional look, and fit in well with their modern weapons, which included a Muggle Browning Hi-Power Handgun. Harry had been quite fond of his Browning, once upon a time.
Tightening the thigh holster with a sharp tug, Harry turned and looked at Draco. He nodded approvingly.
"You look just as good in it as you did back then." Harry whispered, stepping forward and cupping Draco's face in his hands. Draco smiled.
"I was mad then." The blond pointed out and Harry threw back his head and laughed. He kissed Draco gently and then let him go. They stepped apart just as the sirens sounded; the wards had fallen. Harry checked his watch; 3.14pm, March 13th. Exactly 25 years ago, Voldemort had broken through the wards of the school.
Nodding to Draco, kissing him once more, Harry turned on his heel and ran to meet the Death Eaters and Lucifer, head on.
00
Claudia entered the library quietly and sat at the nearest table to the door, the big black tome in her hands. She did not open it and neither did she want to. The book seemed to radiate a bad aura and she traced it lightly with her hands.
"You can feel that too?" Tom asked softly as he slid into the seat beside her. She nodded and shook her head.
"It feels odd. It's cold, but welcoming. Enticing. What is it?" she asked him and Tom gave her a pointed look. She knew what it was; death. "It's not called the Book of the Dead Days for nothing, then." She noted and Tom nodded his consent. They looked up as the library door slid shut.
A short woman with bushy brown hair and John's mouth sat down in front of Claudia. She stuck out her hand and smiled warmly.
"You must be Claudia. I'm Hermione Granger." She introduced herself and Claudia just gaped at her.
"Mrs. Granger?" she gasped and Hermione stared at her.
"... Yes?"
"Don't you recognise me? I'm Claudia Evans!" Claudia exclaimed and Hermione looked at her face before grinning.
"Well, this is ironic. I would question you further, Claudia, but I'm afraid we're running out of time. Hermione Granger." She introduced herself to Tom and shook his hand, after he said 'Tom' by way of introducing himself. Claudia passed the book over to her, and Hermione gasped. "Is this-?"
"The Book of the Dead Days? Yes, it is." Claudia confirmed. Hermione ran her hand down the spine of the book.
"I've only read about it. I never even dreamed that it still existed." She said in a awed whisper. She flinched away suddenly, but then continued to touch the book gently. Prying open it's pages, Hermione began to look through the book.
"Do you know what we're looking for?" Hermione asked and Claudia shrugged.
"All I know is that it's referred to as The Key, and can help us defeat Lucifer." She told Hermione and Tom nodded his agreement. Hermione hummed thoughtfully and continued to turn the pages of the book. She stopped.
"Claudia, did you read your last assignment book?" she asked, looking up at Claudia grinning. Claudia frowned.
"The Angel's Curse? That textbook?" she said and Hermione laughed.
"The Angel's Curse is fact, actually. When Lucifer fell from Heaven into Hell, he was not only cursed by God to be the Keeper of the Dead, but also to be the Darkness in the world. What do you do to dispel darkness?" Hermione asked, and Claudia looked blank for a moment before grinning.
"You use light!" she said grinning. Hermione nodded.
"Exactly! Look." she swiveled the book round to show Claudia the page she was looking at. It was titled 'Deus collucere'
"Deus collucere?" Tom asked, crossing his arms on the table.
"Deus collucere? Be lit up by the Lord?" Claudia asked and Hermione nodded and grinned. Claudia scanned the page but then sobered up. "It's a charm that has to be used by someone living but connected to the dead. A necromancer." She said and Hermione frowned.
"True..."
"Claudia... You're a necromancer." Tom reminded her and Claudia glared at him.
"I know that! But I don't have any magic in me." She pointed out and Hermione's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her arm. Claudia gasped and began to protest but Hermione shushed her.
"Do you hear that?" she asked in a whisper after a moment.
"Hear what?" Claudia said, but the minute the words had left her mouth, she heard a dull whirring noise, that eventually became a full-blown siren sound. Hermione jumped up and an order for all of Dumbledore's Army to come rang through the halls.
"Come with me! Now!" Hermione shouted over the siren and she took off at a run. Claudia grabbed the book and looked at Tom and together they ran after Claudia's ex-English teacher.
00
Harry and Draco were waiting in the Entrance Hall, surrounded by some twenty other people. All of them were dressed in the exact same uniform, all carrying guns and wands.
"Harry! Draco!" someone shouted over the crowd and Luna managed to elbow her way through the crowd to reach the boys. She grinned at them and they smiled back. "Merlo's awake!" she told them and they both hugged her.
"That's great, Luna. How is he?" Harry asked and Luna explained all about his high blood pressure and white-blood cells increase, all of which Draco understood but Harry knew nothing about. He only smiled and nodded, all the while looking at the door which seemed to be slowly caving in. When the first splinters fell, Harry lept into action.
"MOVE AWAY FROM THE DOOR NOW!" he shouted and the group did so. He knew these people and they knew him; he had trained them all, some older and some younger than him, but they knew when he spoke, they should listen.
"Ron!" Harry heard a shout from the outskirts of the crowd and recognized Hermione's voice. He frowned and pushed his way to the outer edges just before someone ran into him. Pushing the person away, he noticed it was Claudia, clutching the book to her chest. She was wearing a Dumbledore's Army uniform and carrying a gun in a thigh holster. So was Tom. Harry could only stare.
"You have a gun?" he asked in a shocked whisper. "CLAUDIA EMILY JELINEK POTTER, WHY ARE YOU CARRYING A GUN?" he shouted at her and the crowd turned to look. Claudia winced at the use of her mother's maiden name and flushed a deep red.
"Hermione gave it to me. To fight with."
"YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE INVOLVED IN THIS BATTLE." Harry snapped and Claudia rolled her eyes. Tom stepped forward.
"Lucifer knows well enough about guns, though he cannot block them. What does he know about necromancers?" Tom reminded Harry and Harry had to agree. Lucifer knew nothing about necromancers.
/You stay close/ Harry snapped to Claudia in Parseltongue and she grinned at him, before flicking out her tongue in a snake-like manner. Harry smiled slightly back and led them both over to Draco and Luna. They had been talking for mere moments before another alarm went, which meant for the first wave of fighters to go out. Luna ran back to her position in the formation, which was near the front. A call went out for the 1st Phoenix Group to go.
That was them.
"I love you." Harry told Claudia and she nodded tearfully.
"I love you too." She whispered before hugging him quickly.
"I love you. Forever." Harry told Draco and Draco only looked at him before lurching forwards and catching his lips in a fierce kiss. When they finally parted, Draco spoke.
"I love you too. Forever." He told Harry and Harry nodded. Claudia then turned to Draco.
"I... I love you too Dr-... Da" She hesitated over the last word, but Draco gaped at her in realisation. By calling him Da, Claudia had accepted his status as her father's partner. Harry grinned at her, before turning to Tom. He opened his mouth but Tom stopped him with a raised hand.
"If you say you love me, Potter, it will give irony a whole new meaning." He said and they laughed. Harry nodded, but carefully touched Tom's shoulder in thanks.
"Are you ready?" Harry asked and Claudia and Draco nodded. Tom clutched Claudia's hand, who held onto Harry's. Harry offered his hand to Draco and Draco took it, and together, the four of them walked forward into a blazing battle.
00
The battle did not end quickly. Before long, an eighth of the original team was down and Harry had lost sight of Claudia, Tom and Draco. He didn't have time to worry about them, shooting spells at the enemy. Men in white were facing them, all wearing white masks, all trying to look as angelic as possible while doing the most devilish things.
Harry threw himself to the ground, dodging a purple beam of light and came face to face with a dead corpse. Trying not to concern himself with who it was, Harry got to his feet. Drawing his gun, he shot a Death Eater in the leg and then ran on.
Ahead of him, he saw a whip of black hair, and heard a cry and realised it was Claudia. She was physically fighting with a Death Eater who stood a lot taller than she did, and a lot broader. She was currently kicking him in the back of the knees, and scrambling to get out her gun.
Harry snarled and drew his wand, marching forward. Claudia seemed to notice him and a flash of emotion crossed her face.
"No!" she shouted, and Harry frowned. "This is my battle!" she told him sternly and Harry looked at her incredulously.
"What?"
"You can't protect me forever!" she aimed a kick in the top of the mans thigh and he snarled at her, trying to get her but his long hair was wrapped around her hand. "Let me win by myself!" she cried and Harry nodded. Claudia snarled and brought her hand down in a sharp motion at the base of the man's neck and he dropped to the floor.
Harry ran on.
He met Tom standing in the middle of a clearing, his hands out beside him, while men tried to get to him, but seemingly couldn't. Harry nodded to him and Tom smirked, before concentrating more on the shield around him. It was quite an interesting sight.
Draco was not within Harry's sight, but Harry knew that he would not be far from the field, if he could help it. Harry was beginning to get so worried that everywhere he looked, he saw a wisp of blond hair near him, and though he turned quickly to look, it was never Draco.
"Come on, come on." Harry whispered to himself, running on, dodging curses that flew at him from all directions. It was pretty dangerous work, running across a battlefield. Harry looked up and stopped dead in his tracks. Draco stood opposite Lucifer, both doing what Harry remembered he and Tom doing years ago.
There was a golden net around them, and a white beam from Draco's wand, while a green came from Lucifer's. It was terrifying, because Draco's teeth were bared in a feral snarl and Lucifer was laughing coldly.
"You cannot win, son." He hissed and Draco growled at him. Harry could see he was weakening and closing his eyes, he thought at Draco, sending a message.
'Let go, Draco. Let go and run.' He thought and Draco seemed to hear. He looked up at his father and with a mighty cry, let go of his wand and ran as fast as he could towards the castle.
"DRACO!" Lucifer shouted, and Draco kept running, dodging bodies and leaping over a stone fence and still running towards the castle, faster and faster. He was running for his life. Harry watched him go and the minute Draco hit the inside wards, he turned to face Lucifer. He had not moved from where he had been standing.
Suddenly, Harry saw a blur of a figure and Claudia was running straight towards Lucifer, head down and she head butted him! She sent Lucifer to the floor and was lying flat on top of him, her hands pressed to his chest.
Harry couldn't see, but Claudia was whispering something while Lucifer tried to push her off. Though his magic was strong, his strength was obviously weak. A light was building up around Claudia's hands, and Lucifer was screaming. Looking around, Harry saw that Draco had gone to the edge of the castle and was watching, his eyes wide.
Suddenly, Claudia was thrown back and Harry spun around and saw that Tom had his hands thrown out towards her. He was shouting something and Harry couldn't hear what for some reason. Lucifer stood up and two blackened hands marks were printed on his chest, burned there for ever.
"The mark of a necromancer." He whispered and in a flash he was gone.
Claudia fell to the ground in a faint and Harry ran over to help her. The battle was over. For now.
00
Claudia was taken to the hospital wing, though she had woken up pretty easily after Lucifer disappeared. It was just a check-up. But in the room, she spotted Merlo and how lonely he looked. She walked over, frowning down at the blond boy. He looked up at her and she looked down on him.
"Hi." She said and he blinked.
"Hey."
"I-I'm Claudia. I helped look after you." She told him and Merlo thought for a second before smiling.
"I recognise your voice." He replied and Claudia smiled. She sat down beside him and settled in for a nice chat.
00
Back in the Headmaster's Office, Harry and Draco were talking to Snape and Remus.
"He knows that Claudia is a necromancer now." Harry said and Remus nodded.
"It won't help. But it's useful that she's on our side, it leans in our advantage." Snape pointed out. Draco and Harry nodded.
"The only question now is... when are you two going to make honest men out of each other?"
000
Author's Note:
The final chapter! Just the epilogue left!
-Anna Kate