Chapter 19: The Final Battle

"We need a plan," Harry declared next. If they were going to go after Riddle, they were going to need a solid plan. So far, all of Harry's plans had gone south and ended in his allies getting killed, so he was hoping that Dumbledore had something up his sleeve.

"Severus," Dumbledore said then, turning to the other boy. "You were with Riddle before. Do you think you can convince him you want back in the pack? If he thinks your allegiance lies with him, we can lure him into a trap."

"I can try," Severus agreed.

Though Harry didn't like the plan very much, he didn't have much of a choice but to go along with it. It seemed that Dumbledore was in charge now and he was fully committed to his plan.

The three of them remained outside for a little while strategizing and eventually formed a plan. Severus would go inside and find Riddle. He would tell him that he wanted to team up to kill the last two tributes. The plan hinged on Riddle thinking that he wouldn't have a problem taking Severus out once Harry and Dumbledore were dead. But he was arrogant and so all three of them were sure that this wouldn't be a problem.

It was decided that they would lure him into the Great Hall. They all agreed that it would be easiest to take him down if they all had room to move around and circle Riddle. If they tried to do this in a corridor, it would be too narrow and there would be too many places for him to run and hide. In the Great Hall, he would be in the open.

Once the plan was set, Severus went to find Riddle, deciding to check the dungeons first since that was where the cauldron of poison was. Harry and Dumbledore ate their fill of food leftover from the feast, fueling up for the battle to come. Then they made their way into the castle and to the Great Hall to prepare. It was decided that Dumbledore would act as the bait. He wasn't afraid of becoming a casualty of this fight if it came to that. He wanted Riddle defeated more than he wanted to win the Games himself. And Harry had to admit that he didn't think he was brave enough to act as bait himself. Instead, he would be hidden behind the open doors, and once Riddle had come into the room, thinking to finish Dumbledore off, Harry could close in from behind. Dumbledore would spring into action, and Severus would turn on Riddle and he would be surrounded. The hope was that he was so distracted trying to fight all three of them that one of them would be able to land a killing blow before he took them all out.

Waiting was torture. Harry got Dumbledore all set up in the center of the room. Dumbledore even cut his own hand so that he could smear the blood over himself and make it look like he was injured to throw Riddle off. Then Harry had to hide and wait for the sound of footsteps.

It took a while, and Harry feared that Severus had betrayed them. He'd probably told Riddle all about their plan, and they were off somewhere coming up with a counterstrike. Harry felt his stomach drop as he imagined the door being thrown open and having a knife plunged into him before he had a chance to even process what was happening.

But then he heard the footsteps and he clutched his knife tighter in his grasp, preparing to pounce. He listened as Severus guided Riddle into the Great Hall.

"There he is, the pathetic wimp," Severus said. "I told you I had him almost finished off. I wanted you to have the satisfaction of performing the kill.

From inside the room, Dumbledore feigned a whimper to lend authenticity to the story.

"Very kind of you," Riddle replied. "For that, I'll honor you with a good death."

Harry peeked out from his hiding spot and watched as the two boys approached Dumbledore on the floor and his heart thumped in his chest as he waited for Dumbledore's move. Then, just as they were nearing him, Riddle relaxed as ever, Dumbledore jumped up in offensive mode and Harry leaped from behind the door and came up behind the boy from two.

"What is this?" Riddle demanded, looking from Dumbledore to Harry, and finally to Severus, who'd turned and was now holding his weapon and facing Riddle with it. "You played me!"

"Your time has come," Dumbledore said, lifting his sword and arcing it above his head, bringing it down on Riddle.

Riddle was just able to duck out of the way and then he gripped his own sword in his hands and brought it up to meet Dumbledore's. While he was distracted, Harry looked for a chance to throw his knife, but was suddenly afraid. What if his aim wasn't true? What if he struck Dumbledore instead of Riddle? But then he shook his head. He couldn't be thinking like that. This wasn't the moment for second guessing. This was the moment for being courageous. So with determination, Harry lobbed his knife at Riddle and it stuck in his side. Riddle cried out, but maintained his grip on the sword.

In a rage, he swung at Dumbledore again, but this time Snape got him in the shoulder with his knife. Riddle stumbled and faltered a little with his sword, hitting Dumbledore in the knees instead of the torso. Dumbledore still went down, crying out in pain and he lay there, waiting for the final blow.

Riddle turned away from him and looked to Snape. "Your betrayal will not go unpunished," he roared. He swung with his sword again, but he was crippled now and Snape was able to dodge out of the way. Harry was still there too, but with his knife still sunk into Riddle's body, there was little else he could do. Though he was loathe to leave Dumbledore unprotected, he knew that the boy from three wasn't long for this world now, so he skirted around Riddle and Snape to where Dumbledore lay and took his sword from his hands. Dumbledore didn't put up much of a fight.

Riddle's sword had landed right on the backs of Dumbledore's knees. Harry could only imagine how painful that had to have been. Blood pooled under Dumbledore's body and he lay there limply, unable to move his legs at all, let alone stand up and hold his ground. He was completely defenceless.

Suddenly, a rush of courage flooded through Harry. "Hey!" he cried, drawing Riddle's attention to him to give Severus a break. He raised the sword in a challenge and Riddle attacked immediately. Harry was surprised at how well he was able to handle the sword, and he met each of Riddle's swings with swings of his own. The two swords clashed and clanged against one another as they fought and Harry attempted to lead Riddle a little away from Snape and Dumbledore. Maybe if he distracted him long enough, Snape could do something - bandage Dumbledore's knees or attempt to stop the bleeding.

Harry watched out of the corner of his eye as Snape walked up to Dumbledore and the boy on the floor looked up with a pleading look in his eye. Then Snape pulled a knife from his belt and sunk it into Dumbledore's chest, right where his heart lay.

"No!" Harry cried in fury. Snape was supposed to be with them, but he'd turned on Dumbledore before they'd taken care of Riddle. Harry knew he'd been wrong to trust him.

In a moment of weakness, Harry lost his grip on his sword and Riddle was able to knock it right out of his hands. He listened as it skittered across the stone floor and shut his eyes, knowing that Riddle wouldn't hesitate to kill him now that he was unarmed.

But then Snape jumped in front of him and blocked the killing blow. He pulled Riddle's focus once again, giving Harry a chance to scramble across the floor and pick up his sword again. With his sword in hand, Harry turned back to face Riddle just in time to see him sink his sword into Snape's core. For a moment, Snape's face was just shock, and then he fell, his limbs going limp and his body crumpling to the floor. His eyes remained open in his final expression of surprise and Harry gulped as he realized that it was just him and Riddle left now.

Riddle rounded on him. "There's no one left to protect you now," he sneered. "Give me your best shot."

Harry raised his sword again. His arms were getting tired, but he pushed through. This was life or death. There was no time to rest.

In staring Riddle in the face, Harry was suddenly reminded of all the friends he'd lost at this boy's hand. He'd only known Dobby and Hedwig a short while, but they'd been young. They hadn't deserved to die. Lily had been pregnant for goodness' sake, and James, love struck fool that he'd been, had been overcome with grief. The poison on the blade that had killed Remus had been a backhanded trick. After Remus it had been Sirius, and then Fred had gone down. And just now, Snape and Dumbledore, brief allies though they were, had been Harry's last hopes.

Each of these people Harry had taken the time to get to know and each of them had fallen because of Riddle. He'd been the obvious leader of the Careers – the one everyone took their orders from. He'd even personally killed most of Harry's friends. Harry thought back to the story Sirius had told him and he found himself in agreement. People like this didn't deserve to win the Games. Riddle was a murderer. He killed the innocent and the vulnerable. Harry hated the idea of killing anyone, but if he was going to be the victor, he was going to have to kill Riddle. And he was okay with that.

His sword was still inside Snape's body, but he had a whole slew of daggers attached to his belt.

As Harry advanced, he began to throw the knives at Harry, but somehow Harry found himself dodging every dagger Riddle threw at him, until finally he had Riddle backed up into a corner with no daggers left. Harry gripped the sword as hard as he could and raised it to chest-level.

"You're not really going to kill me, are you?" Riddle mocked. "I've been keeping tabs on you, you know. You haven't killed anyone yet. I don't know how you managed to make it this far without killing, but I can assure you that no tribute has ever won by not killing. That's why you're going to lower your blade. Then I'm going to walk over there and get my knife and end your life quickly and painlessly. I'll walk out of here and you can join all your friends wherever they are.

The comment about his friends was the final straw for Harry. With the force of both hands, he thrust the sword forward into Riddle's chest cavity. It was a lot harder than Harry would have expected. The force alone caused the both of them to fall back, Harry landing on top of the other boy.

"You – " Riddle spluttered as blood began to spurt from his mouth. The rest of the words became gargled as his head lolled and his whole body went limp. The canon sounded and Harry stared in horror at what he'd done. He'd killed someone. Sure, he'd done it to save his own life, and sure it had been Riddle, but still, he'd ended a life.

Tears began to fall down Harry's face as he felt the gravity of the situation. He would carry this guilt for the rest of his life. He was a murderer. That's what victors were – murders every last one of them. Riddle had been right about one thing – you don't win the Games by not killing.