::34::

Harry knew without a doubt that he was dead. If it wasn't from the white, almost blinding lights surrounding him, then it was definitely from the figure standing before him.

"Harry," Said Dumbledore, his arms spread wide, "You brave boy. Please, let us walk."

"Dumbledore." Harry whispered. He felt tears begin to prickle at his eyes as he walked toward Dumbledore. Dumbledore didn't seem to mind, he only gave Harry a soft smile as he guided Harry to sit down beside him.

As Harry's eyes finally adjusted to the light, he found that they weren't in a white void, like he originally thought, but rather a cavernous room with a high vaulted ceiling. And they were sitting on an ordinary wooden bench. In fact, the place looked suspiciously like King's Cross, only without the hustle and bustle of people and trains clogging up the station.

"So…I'm dead." Said Harry finally. The thought didn't hurt him as much as he thought it would. Perhaps because it was over and done with already.

"Ah," Said Dumbledore, smiling brightly. "On the whole, I would think rather not."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "But…but I should be!" He said in disbelief. "I let him kill me! I didn't defend myself! Even though I tried…" Harry looked down at the ground as he spoke. "I tried to avoid it. I didn't want to believe you."

"Harry," Said Dumbledore placing a withered hand on the boy's shoulder, "No one expected you to accept death calmly. I suspect that most rational people might be rather angry and scared to learn they have to die."

"You did." Said Harry.

"Ah, yes, well no one said I was a rational being." Said Dumbledore, eyes twinkling. "What matters is that you came here on your own terms. And that, I think, will make all the difference."

Harry's death was unceremonious. There was no attempt to fight back, there was no screaming, there was no dramatic fall to the ground. One minute he was simply standing and the next he was on the ground, unmoving. The forest clearing was silent; no one was moving and no one dared to let out a triumphant scream that the Boy Who Lived was finally dead.

Something stung at Sakura's eye and she reached up, surprised to find that it was a tear. She flicked it away with a casualness that made it look like she was flicking a stray hair back into place.

"My Lord?" It was Bellatrix's voice that finally broke through the terse silence. Sakura turned toward her voice and found that in the time she had been staring at Harry, Voldermort had fallen to the ground as well.

Sakura meant to push through the crowd toward the Dark Lord when Sasuke was suddenly at her side, his voice low and menacing in Sakura's ear. "What did you do with Naruto?"

Sakura flinched away from Sasuke and she half turned to look at him, her eyes hardening into a glare. Naruto. It was a name that the woman tiptoed around as just the sound of it was usually enough to send the beast into a snarling frenzy. Sakura herself was torn in confusion over the boy; half of her didn't care what happened to him any more than she would want to care about a stranger and the other half felt a certain fondness for him. It was like a warm feeling spreading through her chest that felt altogether foreign to her. And lastly, there was the small part of her mind that said she should just hand him over to the Dark Lord and be done with it.

As she heard his name now, she could feel the beast stirring and Sakura was in no mood for what usually followed. "What's it to you?" She snapped, pushing away from him.

Sasuke's eyes were red and he grabbed her arm and yanked her closer to him. Sakura snarled in response and she would have had punched him into Hogwarts already except she didn't want to create a scene. "I felt his chakra, Sakura. Don't lie to me." Sasuke hissed.

Sakura remained silent in the face of Sasuke's wrath. She didn't want to admit to the confusion she had felt upon seeing the blond haired ninja. How her head had felt like exploding. How she knew she should have pushed him into the clearing along with Harry, but somehow she couldn't and that she ended up stunning him to spare him instead.

Sasuke's grip on her arm became tighter. "If Orochimaru or that bastard knew he was here –"

"What?" Asked Sakura, forcibly pulling Sasuke's fingers from her arm although he snatched them away before she could do any real damage, "Like you care?"

"He's more than a pawn." Sasuke snapped. He looked like he was about to say more, but then he shook his head. "He's more than a pawn." He muttered.

Naruto angrily swiped the tears away from his eyes as he stared away into the darkness. He had to calm himself; he had to think. Harry was dead and there was nothing more that Naruto could do about that. Harry had made his decision to sacrifice himself so they could kill Voldermort and Naruto sure as hell wasn't going to let his friend die in vain.

But first he needed to get to the snake.

But how? Should he just jump in and take them by surprise? No one would be expecting him now after Harry was already dead. Voldermort would have his defenses down.

Yeah, that seemed like a solid plan.

But there was also the fact that Voldermort was surrounded by his usual horde of Death Eaters, many of whom liked to shout out Unforgivables like they were going out of style. He would be deader than a doornail if he just charged in. And even if some Death Eater decided to think first and shoot later, Hermione had been pretty clear when she had warned him that under no circumstances should he approach Voldermort. Her tone of voice had made that one abundantly clear and then for good measure, she had thrust the bingo book under his nose and made him read out loud the line where it said that Voldermort wanted him captured alive.

So, he couldn't just charge in.

But it was a good thing that Naruto could disguise himself then! He would just use a henge and jump right in! But…that still wouldn't stop anyone from killing him, disguise or not. He would need a distraction, someone who could divert attention away from him while he got to the snake.

A kage bunshin then! He would disguise himself and the kage bunshin and then while the kage bunshin distracted Voldermort and whoever else was out there, Naruto would make his way to the snake and kill it once and for all.

And Sakura! He would need to get Sakura out of there, once the snake was killing and Voldermort was ready to be taken care of. So he would create two kage bunshins then, one to create the distraction and one to get Sakura out of there. But…there was still Sakura's odd behavior to contend with. Was she truly on Voldermort's side or was she being brainwashed? What if Naruto's attempt to rescue her was botched because she didn't want to be rescued? Or worse yet…what if she alerted everyone to his presence? Maybe she was best dealt with after Voldermort had been taken care of.

Just one kage bunshin would do.

Would Sasuke be down there? No, he couldn't focus on that now. Naruto scowled and put his head into his hands. Plan making was too hard. This was why subterfuge was better left to Sai and Kakashi. Making sure his chakra was thoroughly masked, Naruto quietly made a kage bunshin before creeping closer to observe. None of this would work if the snake was still had its protection.

Voldermort was on his feet now while Harry was still on the ground, his mouth gaping open. A well-dressed blond woman was kneeling before Harry, her hand pressing against Harry's chest underneath his shirt. Voldermort's face was drawn tight as he waited for the woman to conclude whatever examination she was performing.

Finally, she lifted her head and Naruto saw relief on her face. "He is dead!" She cried.

There was silence and the Death Eaters seemed to be waiting for Voldermort's cue. When his face finally broke into a sinister grin, they erupted into cheers and applause. Bursts of silver and red erupted into the sky as the Death Eaters stomped their feet, shaking the forest floor.

Voldermort flung his hands in the air. "You see?" He cried out. "Harry Potter, dead by my hand! No man alive shall threaten me now!"

As if to prove his point, Voldermort pointed his wand at Harry, issuing an Unforgivable Curse. Naruto flinched and dug his nails into his palms. Having personally felt the effects of the Cruciatus Curse, he was thankful that at least Harry couldn't feel it.

When Voldermort had his fill of fun, he dropped Harry's body to the ground where it flopped down like a sack of potatoes, his glasses going askew as the Death Eaters around him jeered with laughter. "Nagini." Voldermort called out idly.

Naruto's heart leapt into his chest and he leaned forward as the giant snake suddenly appeared out of the darkness, coiling around Voldermort's feet before he lifted it onto his shoulders. Naruto could make out Voldermort's lips moving as he said something to the snake, but it was lost in the chaos of voices in the forest clearing. Naruto watched as Voldermort dragged the tip of the Elder Wand down the snake's body and the milky substance suddenly fell away like ash.

It was now or never.

When Ron Weasley burst into the clearing, half of the Death Eaters were oblivious to the fact, too drunk on the fact that victory was finally in their grasp.

But Sakura noticed. She shouldn't have been surprised to see Ron here; he and Harry had been practically inseparable while at Hogwarts. She drew a kunai and was at Voldermort's side before he even knew what was going on. Even Sasuke had drawn his sword, although it was more for show than anything.

Ron dodged two curses that were sent his way, diving to the ground and rolling. His pants were scuffed when he bounced back to his feet and he managed to charge one of the Death Eaters, knocking him down. Sakura watched the red head's movements, her eyes sharp as she followed him while Voldermort watched with idle amusement. She hadn't known the wizards to be a very physical bunch, but you would have never guessed that based on the way Ron was moving. His wand was tight in his grasp, but he made no move to use it. Something was wrong.

She heard someone in the crowd call out to Ron, but it was ignored as Voldermort let out a laugh. "Weasley, is it?" He called out. "Come to mourn for dear Potter?"

Ron turned to Voldermort and there was unmistakable fury in his eyes. It was almost familiar.

"I'm not here to mourn." Snarled Ron. And then he flicked his wand out in a movement that was almost too quick to catch. "Expelliarmus!"

That's when Sakura knew. She was already moving toward Ron when Voldermort's wand erupted in familiar blue chakra for a brief instant before it was ripped from his grasp and flung out of sight into the forest beyond. Voldermort's face exploded in rage and he let out a shout, but Sakura had already flung herself at the wizard, tackling him to the ground.

Ron exploded beneath Sakura into a cloud of smoke, a branch flying from his grasp and hitting the ground a few feet away. Sakura gasped. A kage bunshin! That could only mean…

She turned toward an unarmed Voldermort, eyes wide, but it wasn't him that Naruto was after.

Hermione Granger was already flying through the air with a kunai poised to strike Nagini in the head from where she was coiled only a few feet from Voldermort. Voldermort turned, and his face seemed to turn even paler than it already was. He thrust his hand out, summoning his want to him, but even Sakura knew it would never get to him in time. And without his wand, he would be powerless to do anything to stop Nagini from dying.

'The snake?' Sakura couldn't help but thinking, 'Why the snake?'

But the question was completely blown from her mind as one of Orochimaru's snake arms snatched Hermione out of midair. The young witch was jerked away from Nagini with a gasp, the kunai jerking from her grip before being reeled back in toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's hand glowed green as he slammed it into Hermione's chest.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Sakura screamed.

The noise in the Great Hall had finally dimmed to a few quiet murmurings and sniffles. Madame Pomfrey had finally finished attending to the injured and was now sitting on a chair on the dais looking completely drained, a few other students sitting around her looking similarly exhausted. Professor McGonagall was quietly conversing with Kakashi and Kingsley off to the side and from the looks on their faces, Sai presumed their conversation wasn't progressing well. Around Sai, the Weasleys had let themselves fall into a morose silence. Mrs. Weasley was sitting with Mr. Weasley, her face buried in his chest while he held her in his arms. Beside Sai, Ron was sitting with his arm tucked tightly around Ginny while Hermione sat on her other side, the youngest Weasley's hand tucked tightly in Hermione's own.

How much time had passed since Voldermort called off the attack? Hours it seemed like, but logic told Sai it couldn't have been more than an hour. Yet still, Harry had not yet emerged from Dumbledore's office. Naruto had presumably gone to check on him, but something put Sai ill at ease.

What if the whole thing was a trap? Hermione had explained how Voldermort had killed Snape in cold blood, and that Snape had offered his memories to Harry, but what if Hermione was wrong? What if Voldermort somehow orchestrated the whole thing? What if he set up an ambush for Harry in Dumbledore's office, knowing that Harry would need to go there to retrieve the Pensieve to access Snape's memories? Could that have been why he called off the attack?

Sai immediately stood, causing Hermione and Ron to look up at him.

"Sai?" Asked Hermione worriedly. "Is something wrong?"

"Harry and Naruto have been gone for a while." Said Sai, glancing toward the door.

Hermione and Ron exchanged a worried glance as if they caught the drift of Sai's thoughts. "Maybe…Maybe the greasy bat just had a lot of memories he wanted to show Harry. Needed to properly demonstrate how much he hated Harry since he can't do it anymore." Ron attempted a grin, but it seemed to die before he could lift the corners of his mouth; like joking about death had left a bad taste in his mouth.

Hermione shoved Ron in the shoulder, but even that was weak and halfhearted, as if she just didn't have the strength anymore.

Bingo Book

Undesirable #25

Danzo

Status: Ninja (Konohagakure), Leader of Ne

Family: Unknown

Security Status: TRACKED – movements being watched. Will dispose of at the right time.