Author's Note:
I have been very busy lately with work and whatnot and just wanted to say that for the near future, I will most likely only be posting once a week instead of twice — some time in the Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday zone. I like to have my filler chapters piled up a bit as I personally feel less rush and pressured and at the moment am only twelve chapters ahead, not to mention that my beta has been very busy lately and has only had time to look over up to chapter 182 and I am waiting on her to catch up with me. I apologize for this delay, but promise to still drop one chapter a week. Hopefully I will be back to my twice a week posting soon.
Yes, I have seen Spiderman: Far From Home, and I loved it. If anyone wants to discuss it, please message me. I also saw Yesterday this afternoon and it was so good! I recommend. But I must say that a world where the Beatles, Coca-Cola, and Harry Potter do not exist, is not a world I want to live in LOL.
DISCLAIMER I: I do not own parts of the scene below, that belongs to the amazing JKR.
DISCLAIMER II: I do not own the Shakespeare quote from Macbeth.
Hope you guys like my take on this scene. Also sorry/not sorry.
Reviews and Comments: To LifeonEarth: Thanks for liking that I didn't Imperius Viktor and as to Cedric, we shall see. Theo did what he thought would hurt Corner's pride the most and no, Ginny does not agree with it, but unfortunately you will not see her thoughts on the subject for a few more chapters as more important things are about to take precedence. Thank you! To Guest: Thank you very much! To MystiquePriya: Thank you! To Wolf's scream: Theo is a Slytherin after all. Yes, I don't think most double agents are very happy, this is true. Thanks for liking the attacking cabinet (that was my ode to the mob attack from Beauty and the Beast) and the fire ant pit made me think of Nick being buried alive in CSI. Thank you! To scrappy8: Thank you! To Denisa: Ginny won't find Theo's prank too funny, no, but that will be dealt with later. Thank you. To Guest: As Captain America says: Patience. Thank you! To cha-chris: Thank you!
To coloredwords: I am glad that you liked my small changes to the Third Task, especially the riddles which I thought were quite fun. As to Cedric, we will see. I love giving Harry family to support him. Molly and Arthur are there for the third task, but didn't come earlier to see Harry off. Thank you! To Astronaughtilus: Thank you. I am following canon to some extent, but I am changing things as well. I'm sorry if you feel that is hurting my story. I disagree. Thanks for reading. To xXMizz Alec VolturiXx: Thank you! Yes, you will find out with the pawn is in this chapter! To hills: You're not an idiot! I love that I still managed to keep you on your toes with the cup being a portkey, I take that as a compliment! Yes, Hermione is technically almost seventeen after the whole Time Turner bit, she aged herself almost a full year. You thought Krum would be killed in the maze because of the desperateness of the pawn? Interesting. Thank you! To Inhaled Atoms: Thank you! That's kind of insane that I'm only in year four and I've surpassed the entire series in word length lol.
To Moony The Sheep: Thanks for saying the riddles were brilliant. I love Remus and Tonks and they are definitely going to get more kinky in the future. You think Harry will remain in angry silence when he finds out about the Horcrux? Hermione and Viktor are cute and you don't think they will last? You're right, they won't, because Hermione will end up with Ron. Thank you! To aj613: I love that you are hoping Cedric makes it out alive. I loved having the champions be sportsman like. Thank you! To Guest: Sorry, things are getting a little hairy right now and Hinny is a bit aways. To Guest: Thanks for loving my Remadora scene. I would also like my own Remus, they are just so cute and I love writing them from cute to hot in zero to sixty. Thanks for loving my take on the third task. Sirius definitely needed to get away for a bit, especially in preparation for what he's about to deal with LOL. To HGRHfan35: So many questions! I hope all of them are answered soon. Ha, I like the reference to Jameson being light, dark, or fifty shades of grey (even though that was the worst book I have ever read in my life). Yes, Bill and Fleur have locked eyes! Marauder is getting old… that's all I said. Thank you!
To Leaf Ranger: Yes, Cedric got to it at the same time. Thanks for loving my new traps and yes, without Moody the imposter to handle them, Harry would find more traps and obstacles in his path. You think Bagman is the pawn? Interesting. Thank you! To Menna Taha: You think I'm going to save Cedric? Yes, Harry is better trained and he does have faster reflexes, this is true, but let's remember that he is still only fourteen and about to up against the darkest wizard to ever have lived and his followers. Sorry, I have never viewed Harry or Ginny as bisexual, so no, that will not happen. Thank you! To Guest: I thought the Rubik's cube was fun, thank you! To alix33: The maze was whispering incoherently. Thank you! To Steelcode: I'm glad you laughed so hard at Theo and Harry's revenge on Michael lol. Thank you! To nesciamema: You hope Hermione and Viktor will stay together? We'll see. Thank you! To andreiiacampos7: Thank you!
To speedsONEandONLY: Thanks for loving the riddles and thanks for loving Hermione and Viktor. This is true, Harry did keep his promise as Theo offered… Thank you! To al: Thank you! To RedheadLover: Sorry, this will be a Ron/Hermione fic by the end but I'm glad you're enjoying Hermione and Viktor. Hinny goodness will be coming soon. Thank you. To Jmcglynn522: I did leave you hanging. You think Miranda Jameson is the bad she? Interesting. Yes, harry has so many people who love him. It's so nice! Thank you! To musemesmer: Thank you! You thought Krum was going die? We'll see. Thank you! To xXQueenofDragonsXx: Hating Voldemort seems fair to me. Thank you! To flowermage: You think Viktor will die, but not Cedric? You think Bagman is the pawn because of the gambling bit. Corner did get what he deserved as he's more concerned with what people think about him. Thanks so much for reading!
To Soveliss: Theo is always brilliant! I can't wait for people to see where his story is going to go next! Thanks for loving my few lines from the POV of the pawn. It's fun to do to keep you guessing. Thank you! To Yami_Faerie: I love that you're screaming lol. I loved giving us some Remadora, as I missed them. Thank you! To LadyPhoenix: Thanks for liking the changes I made on the third task. Thank you!
Thank you to Steel for letting me bounce ideas — your suggestions are always helpful and appreciated!
Thank you to my Beta — SilverStarwolfe!
My posting schedule: Once a week and sometimes on weekends.
As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!
Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SEVEN:
The One Where Everyone Dies
Harry's heart was pounding from the portkey when he fell on his ankle in the darkness. He gasped from his fall. His leg felt like someone had sliced a knife through his muscle and pulled it all the way up his calf. He was pretty sure that his ankle was broken, possibly in more than one place. He looked up at Cedric, his eyes wide.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know. Did you know that the Cup was a portkey?" Cedric asked him, reaching down to help pull Harry to his feet.
Harry shook his head, wincing at the pain. "Ah bollocks, my ankle isn't going to cooperate."
Cedric nodded, putting an arm around his waist. "Lean on me. We'll figure out where we are."
He did so just as the blinding white pain hit him. It was so shocking and so sudden that he lost his vision, his wand slipped from his fingers as he covered his head with his hands. His knees buckled as his head split and he would have collapsed to the ground if Cedric wasn't holding onto him.
"Kill the spare," a voice echoed and Harry flinched, shoving Cedric as hard as he could before he could even comprehend what he was doing.
The two of them fell to the ground tangled in each other just as a flash of green light shot above them.
Harry's eyes were wide as he met Cedric's. "Get to the Cup! We have to get back!"
"How do you even know that it'll take us back?" he whispered urgently.
Harry shook his head, both of them rolling behind a large stone to avoid the killing curse a second time. "Just take it already!"
Cedric grabbed Harry's arm tightly. "I'm not leaving you here!"
"I didn't say that," Harry hissed back in annoyance. "Let's go!"
He just wanted to get the hell out of here before someone else sent a killing curse in their direction.
Cedric nodded and pointed his wand at the cup and said, "Accio Cup!"
The TriWizard Cup came barrelling towards them and the slicing charm that hit Harry's wrist was enough to jerk him free just as Cedric vanished with the Cup and Harry gasped in pain. He grabbed his wrist, trying to stop the blood from gushing out as a high pitched laugh seemed to echo around him.
"You let him get away, you fool!"
"My Lord, he —"
"— Leave it be! Our man on the ground will take care of him. Tie him into place!"
Harry winced as arms grabbed him and shoved him hard against the stone he had just been hiding behind. His head cracked against it, but the pain in his scar was so strong that he barely felt it. His wrists were pinned up over his head and vines erupted from the ground to hold him into place; the sharp thorns stabbing into his palms and arms. The pain in his head subsided enough for him to focus and he recognized the man in front of him from the dream that he had had in the summer. Woodrow Selwyn, he thought, wincing when the man healed his gushing wrist before brushing his hair away from his face.
"The famous scar," he muttered, tracing it with his thumb.
"Get your fucking hands off me!" Harry exclaimed, moving his head away from him.
Selwyn smirked. "You're in for quite the ride, Potter. My hands on you are the least of your worries. Have you ever seen a snake eat someone alive? I can assure you, it hardly looks like it would be pleasant," he said with a menacing grin.
Harry swallowed carefully, glancing around for any sign of the snake in question and when he didn't see one, he sighed in relief. Honestly, he'd had enough of snakes to last him a lifetime.
"Or maybe you'd like me to let another touch you? I have friends who love nothing more than to split open the ripe virgin arse of a teenage boy, would you like that?" he asked, his voice heated as if he wanted nothing more than to watch such a thing take place.
Harry paled as the high cold voice that spoke from the distance sent shivers down his spine and he knew with every fibre of his being that this was it; this was the ritual that Voldemort had been waiting for him for.
And he had never been more terrified in his entire life.
~ ASC ~
Cedric landed in the centre of the maze with a yelp, falling on top of Viktor as he crashed and sending the Bulgarian Champion to the ground.
"Argh!" Viktor exclaimed.
Cedric scrambled to his feet and grabbed Viktor's arm. "Sorry, I — Harry!"
Viktor merely raised an eyebrow. "Vhere is Potter?"
"The Cup — it was a portkey! It took us to this graveyard and someone was trying to kill us! We—we grabbed the portkey to come back, but just as it started to go, I felt Harry's grip loosen and… we have to get to him! Viktor, I have a really bad feeling about where we were!"
He reached for the cup and Viktor's hand at the same time, but nothing happened.
"No!" Cedric exclaimed, angrily. "The portkey must have only been for one round trip! I don't even know where he was."
"Vho vas vith him?"
"I don't know, but they tried to kill us… I think he was a Death Eater."
Viktor's eyebrow rose. "Fleur has already left the maze. Ve vill have to go out and get help. It vas a graveyard?"
Cedric nodded. "Yeah. I want to say that it looked like it was near Hampshire, but I can't be sure. I only got a quick look. Viktor, we can't leave him there!"
Viktor nodded. "Ve should send up sparks. I only just escaped from those skrevts."
Cedric looked relieved and nodded and they both turned to send up red sparks just as a cold voice said, "Avada Kedavra!"
The sound of a body hitting the ground next to him made Cedric blanch as he looked down at Viktor's lifeless eyes and when he saw the figure holding the wand before him his eyes widened.
"You! Why did you —?"
"Me!" The figure said with a grin. "How did you escape, boy?"
Cedric swallowed. "The portkey took me back."
"And Potter?"
"He's there," Cedric said slowly, his wand raised.
The pawn's usual jolly face turned into an evil smile. "Then my job here is done. Unfortunately, I can't have you blabbing about my business."
Red sparks erupted into the air from Cedric's wand, but the figure was faster.
"Avada Kedavra!" The voice exclaimed and Cedric collapsed next to Viktor; dead.
The red sparks disintegrated before they rose above the maze and the figure paled. The task was done, he thought as he strolled casually back to his post on the right corner of the maze, leaving the two dead bodies entwined together and swallowing slowly.
He just had to bide his time and then he would escape. Killing the champions had been the last thing that he had wanted to do, but what choice did he have? He was too far gone now; in too deep. If he wanted to live, he had to do he was told.
There was no other choice.
~ ASC ~
As Selwyn moved back into the shadows, Harry blinked around at his surroundings. His head was pounding from hitting it on the stone and he felt disoriented, not quite aware of himself as his scar throbbed painfully. An eerie fog seemed to have crept over the ground, blocking most of the place from view, but the tombstones and graves that rose in and out of the fog had him gulping. He was in a graveyard, he realized. There was a large manor in the distance on a hillside and a black outline of a small church was visible beyond a large yew tree to the right of the hill, but he couldn't make out any familiar features. He attempted to read some of the names on the stones: Clarke, Smith, Johnson, Roberts… none of them helped him try to decipher where he was.
The fog flowed across the ground in thick clouds making everything hazy and smoke-filled. He blinked furiously trying to make sense of where he was; trying to find a clue to help him get home. The shuffling returned and his vision was suddenly filled with a levitating large black cauldron, big enough to fit a grown man. He watched as Selwyn carefully placed it on the ground, his wand emitting blue sparks to erupt around the bottom and purple and red flames danced beneath it.
A familiar high-pitched laugh grabbed him by the throat and he glared at the woman who strolled through the fog. Bellatrix Lestrange was the image of the beautiful monster; the one who lured you into the night by her beauty and feminine wiles only to tear you apart by the throat the moment that you were alone. Her dark black curls hung half-way down her back, her tips dancing in silver. She wore a black lace corset dress and tall black laced boots under her black hooded open robe. Her lips were blood red against her pale skin and her eyes danced in manic glee.
"Not so brave now, are we, Potter?" she taunted.
Harry merely spit at her feet.
Bellatrix flicked her wand and Harry's head smashed to the left, his cheek burning and vibrating as if he had been slapped by a rock. "I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart, Potter. We'll see how smart that mouth is when I cut you open."
"If you touch me my father will kill you!"
She smirked. "Your father's dead, Potter, and if you mean that pathetic excuse of a cousin of mine, I'm hardly worried. He's nothing but a mongrel beast who will be leashed and muzzled soon enough. So many of us are just dying to play with you, Potter."
Selwyn chuckled menacingly. "I figured between Fenrir and Macnair, the boy could be well broken in. You know, I heard that there's no better way to make a boy yours than by sodomizing him."
Bellatrix laughed. "I bet he'd like it."
She flicked her wand again and tears leaked down Harry's face as a black silk thread stitched its way across his lips preventing him from speaking again. He could taste his own blood as his mouth burned from the pain of it.
"Bella," a voice echoed in the fog sending shivers down Harry's spine. "There will be no playing with him! The boy is mine and mine alone!"
"Of course, my Lord."
Selwyn moved towards the cauldron, stirring the contents with his wand. "It is ready, my Lord."
The white-haired man in a black suit walked out of the fog with a bundle of blankets cradled in his arms. The blankets were stirring and Harry knew exactly what was inside those blankets. The long white-hair of the man was tied back with a black silk ribbon and when he turned, his pointy face made Harry gasp.
It was none other than Abraxas Malfoy.
Abraxas passed the child to Selwyn, his eyes dancing in delight. Harry stared at the stirring movement of the baby in the robes, unable to look away. He remembered what that child looked like; he remembered the monstrous form that Voldemort had taken once he possessed the child, but he was still unable to look away. The child's head, flaky skin of black and red like a burn-victim, turned to look at him, eyes so dark they glinted red and he felt his scar sear with pain so intense that he gasped.
He could hear noises at his feet and when he looked at the ground, a gigantic snake was slithering through the grass, coming out of the fog like a horror film. She circled the headstone where he was tied and as she slithered, his gaze followed her, and he caught the name on the stone that he was tied to.
Tom Riddle.
He swallowed slowly, fear trickling through him. The ritual, he thought… he was tied to the tombstone of Voldemort's father and that seemed more terrifying than he could explain.
He watched as the liquid in the cauldron bubbled and boiled over. He could feel the heat of the flames on his legs and feet as the cauldron began to send out fiery sparks as though it were about to burst into flame at any given moment. Steam was thickening, blurring the outline of Selwyn as he tended to the fire and mixing with the fog making it hard for Harry to see what was happening.
But when he heard the cold high voice echo through the fog again, he shivered.
"Hurry!"
The whole surface of the water was alight with sparks now as if diamonds were floating on the top.
Selwyn gave the potion one last stir before he carefully unwrapped the body of the child and Harry yelped through his muffled mouth trap. It was even worse than he remembered. Scaly and flaky, pus-filled; red and black and raw. The child's face was thin and flat, almost snake-like, and the dark eyes gleamed bright red. There was no hair on its body and the toddler, for that's what it had grown to become, was clearly still helpless.
Bellatrix moved to lift the child into her arms, her eyes staring at the monstrosity in absolute adoration. She placed a gentle kiss to the top of the monster's head and Harry fought back vomit as part of the monster's raw skin stuck to her lip. The monster's thin, feeble arms reached up to wrap around her neck as she carried the it to the rim of the cauldron. She carefully lowered the creature into the cauldron and the potion made a hissing sound before he vanished below the surface, landing with a soft thud as it hit the bottom.
If he could just get to his wand… he had to get out of here, he thought. But his wand was lying on the ground where he had collapsed and not nearly close enough for him to have access to it. He tried unsuccessfully to summon it towards him, but to no avail. The pounding in his head was making it hard for him to concentrate and the blinding pain in his scar, had him blinking to keep focus.
Cedric must have arrived safely back at Hogwarts by now, he thought. Everyone would know that something had happened to him. Of course, no one knew where he was, he thought, bitterly, and he didn't know how long the monster needed to be in that potion. Please let it drown, he thought, his scar burning almost past endurance… please, let it drown.
But he knew that it wouldn't. He knew with every fibre of his being that when that monster rose from the cauldron, he would be reborn and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.
Selwyn was standing over the cauldron now as Abraxas and Bellatrix stepped back, their wands all raised high over it. If reminded Harry of the three witches from the story of Macbeth and as he thought, 'double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble' — he knew that the three of them couldn't be more far removed from the Shakespearian tragedy.
Bellatrix raised her wand high, her voice loud and powerful as she spoke. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"
The ground beneath Harry shook and cracked. He felt the vibrations under him and under the stone like the earth was splitting. He watched in horror as a large bone burst from the earth, hovering over the cauldron and disintegrated into dust, falling softly into the potion. The diamond surface of the water broke and hissed sending sparks in every direction and turning a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.
Selwyn raised his wand now, his voice trembling a little. "Flesh of the servant — w-w-willingly given — you will revive your master!"
He stretched his right hand out in front of him, gripping his wand tightly and with a quick severing charm, sliced his middle, ring, and pinkie finger cleanly off and Harry watched in horror as they plopped into the potion, blood spurting from his hand like a fountain, pebbling the dirt at his feet. Selwyn let out a small grimace, biting his tongue hard enough to draw blood, but to his credit, he did not scream, though thick tears rolled down his cheeks. The cauldron bubbled higher and the blue turned a burning red, bright enough to illuminate the entire graveyard through the fog.
Selwyn reached down to grab the blanket from the ground, wrapping it around his hand carefully and not making a sound as Abraxas moved towards Harry. His eyes were shining in glee as he held his wand high.
Harry swallowed back his bile as he watched the man hover near him, pulling a jagged dagger from his back pocket. It had an elaborate emerald and ruby handle and the blade itself seemed to shine in bright silver. Harry couldn't take his eyes off of it. He touched the tip of the blade to the centre of Harry's wrist and conjured a ceramic bowl from a rock.
"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe," he said loudly.
Harry could do nothing to prevent it, the vines were holding him too tightly in place. The tip of the blade sliced into his wrist and he made a gasping sound through his sewed lips as the blade sliced him cleanly from wrist to elbow. Blood sprayed from his arm as Abraxas hit the artery and Harry tried not to pass out as he watched the bowl fill with his own blood.
Abraxas sealed the wound once the bowl was full and Harry blinked in pain, the blood loss making him feel dizzy and disoriented even more than he already was. Between his injuries in the tournament and the wounds he'd suffered here, he knew he must have already lost close to a litre of blood as he tried to blink away the dizziness, to focus on what was happening.
Harry watched as Abraxas carefully turned the bowl upside down and his blood trickled out into the cauldron making the liquid turn an instant dazzling white.
Bellatrix took the bowl from Abraxas, painting the remaining blood across her forehead and cheeks in long lines before she licked her fingers clean. Selwyn stood tall on the other side of her, holding his bleeding hand in the blankets as the three of them stared in awe at the bubbling potion. It was simmering now, sending diamond sparks in all directions.
Harry's heart was pounding like a jackhammer. This was it. Voldemort had found his ritual and now he was going to emerge from this cauldron and kill him. Everything they had learned; everything they had planned with the operation and the hunt had been for naught, he realized.
This was where he was fated to die.
A surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron, obliterating everything in Harry's line of vision until all he could see was the dark outline of a tall, skeletally thin man slowly rising from the cauldron. The steam cleared and Harry saw the deathly white skin clinging to his bones, the flat thin and snake-like face, slits for nostrils and those dark livid scarlet gleaming eyes.
Lord Voldemort had risen again.
~ ASC ~
Sirius glanced at his watch and let out a small sigh, sneaking a look over at Remus.
"I hate not being able to see anything! That French girl emerged from the maze almost half an hour ago!"
Remus nodded. "But three Champions are still in there."
"How hard can it be to get through the bloody maze?"
Zee smiled and kissed his cheek. "We don't know what they are dealing with in there, Sirius. There could be creatures or spells or who knows what is hidden in the depths. Not to mention that it's a maze."
Misha slapped Sirius on the back. "He is strong! He vill come out soon and maybe he vill be victorious, da?"
Sorcha linked her arm with her husband's as she smiled. "Victorious or not, I'm so proud of him!"
MIsha kissed his wife softly. "As am I. Being a champion alone is very worthy."
Remus glanced at his own watch. "It has been quite a while though. Do you think there are many dead-ends in the maze?"
Hagrid, who was sitting two rows behind them, moved to sit with them. "There's a fair few I know tha'! But findin' it shouldn' be ter hard."
Tonks nodded, her eyes on the large maze before them. "He's been in there for over an hour, but he was in the lake for an hour and twenty-minutes…"
Remus wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek.
The seven of them stared ahead, worry in their eyes as they looked for a sign from the three remaining Champions.
Someone had to be approaching the cup soon.
~ ASC ~
"My Lord!" Bellatrix gasped, offering her hand to help him from the cauldron.
He emerged naked, his hair-less body so deathly white that he seemed to shimmer in purple, as if he were bruised all over. He accepted her hand, stepping out onto the grass before he merely held his arms out, held head back as if waiting for her to check him over.
Bellatrix smiled in pleasure as she moved forward. She placed her hands on his face, sliding them down his cheeks, down his neck, over his shoulders and arms. Harry watched in horror as her hands trailed over his hips, over his bum, and moved between his legs to touch him before sliding down his thighs and kissing his toes.
"You are perfect, my Lord," she said breathlessly. "Absolutely perfect."
Voldemort crooked a finger at her and she stood up. He gripped her firmly by her neck and squeezed making her eyes bulge in shock. "I do not need your approval, Bella."
She nodded, gasping for breath as he let her go, shoving her to the ground roughly. "Yes, my Lord."
Voldemort made a motion for her to stay on her knees as he began to examine his own body. His hands were like large, pale spiders; his long white fingers caressed his own chest, his arms, his face. He reached down and cupped his groin, fondling for a moment as if checking to make sure that all was there as Bellatrix stared up at him, eagerly licking her lips. He held up his hands and flexed the fingers, his expression rapt and exultant. The large snake slithered around him, hissing, and Harry's ears perked at the words spoken in Parseltongue.
"You are alive once more, my Lord. You are whole again. It was successful."
"Yes, it was. Thank you, Nagini; you have been a great help to me and you shall be rewarded."
The snake hissed its pleasure, turning its head to stare at Harry and the moment his eyes met the yellow ones of the snake, the sharp pain the look caused had him gasping. Suddenly he was thrown back into memories: Vernon Dursley was locking him in his cupboard, Marge Dursley was beating him with her belt, Sirius was dead, Ginny was lying unconscious on the floor of the Chamber… and then just as quickly, the visions vanished.
Harry attempted to gasp for breath, breathing heavily through his nose in an attempt not to hyperventilate. It had been here all along, he thought. There was another one. The snake was a Horcrux! He knew it so strongly that it shocked him, but as his scar burned in pain and he knew that it was true.
This snake held a piece of Voldemort's soul.
Voldemort ignored Harry and instead turned to look at his three loyal followers, a gleaming smile on his face. "You three have proven yourselves to be more than just loyal, but true friends. Lord Voldemort does not forget that. Abraxas, robe me."
Harry watched as Abraxas waved his wand and Voldemort was suddenly dressed in black trousers, a black shirt, black shoes, and a black billowing robe. He smiled down at himself in approval before he held his hand out to where Bellatrix was still kneeling before him.
"Bella, let me see your arm, my dear."
Bellatrix was grinning widely as she stood up, holding her right arm out proudly to display the perfectly inked Dark Mark.
"It is back," he said with a smile, tracing it with his finger. "They will all have noticed it by now so, we shall see and… we shall know."
He pressed his long white forefinger to the tattoo on Bellatrix's arm and she moaned in pleasure. The sound made him smile and he cupped her chin, pressing his pasty white thin lips to hers.
"Always a treasure, Bella," he said, pushing her away.
He held his hand out to Abraxas and smiled when the man placed his wand there. His long fingers flexed the handle, running his fingers along it lovingly as if it were a lost limb before he turned to look down at where Harry was still tied to the tombstone, a cruel smile twisting on his snakelike face.
"You stand, Harry Potter, upon the remains of my late father," he hissed softly. "He was a fool much like your mother, but I suppose that they had their uses in the end. She died to defend you and I killed my father and see how useful he proved to be in his death…"
He began to pace back and forth as Selwyn, Abraxas, and Bellatrix stood idle by the cauldron waiting for him to give his next orders.
"My father proved more useful to me in his death than he ever did in his life and now look, my true family returns…"
The air was suddenly full of swishing cloaks. Between graves, behind the yew tree, in every shadowy place, witches and wizards were Apparating. All of them were hooded and wearing arabesque death masks and one by one they moved forward; slowly, cautiously as though they could hardly believe their eyes. Voldemort simply stood in silence, waiting for them. Then one of the Death Eaters fell to his knees and crawled towards Voldemort, kissing his boots.
"Master… Master," he murmured, his voice full of terrified awe.
The Death Eaters behind him began to do the same; each of them approaching Voldemort on his knees and kissing his boots and the hems of his robes before backing away and standing up; forming a silent circle, enclosing Voldemort and Harry in the centre. Abraxas, Selwyn, and Bellatrix all stepped back, hoods up, to take their places in the circle.
"Welcome, Death Eaters," Voldemort's voice echoed quietly through the eerie silence of the graveyard. "It's been thirteen years since we last met and yet you answer my call as if it were yesterday." His thin lips curled into a cruel smile. "But I smell guilt; the stench covers the air."
The circle seemed to shiver around them as though each member longed to step away, but didn't dare to do so.
"I see you all, whole and healthy and I ask myself, why did this band of followers never come to the aid of their master to whom they had sworn eternal loyalty?"
Harry shifted, the pain in his scar had lessened to a slight twinge and he tried to manoeuvre his body to reach the mirror in his pocket. If he could just touch it; if he could just say Sirius' name, he knew that they would find him. The thorns pierced into his skin, but he ignored the pain. It was becoming second nature to him now; something for him to focus on. He wiggled his butt, kicking his legs out a little.
No one paid him any attention.
"And I answer myself," Voldemort continued into the darkness. "They must have believed me broken, they thought that I was gone. They slipped back among my enemies, and they pleaded innocence, and ignorance, and bewitchment… and then I ask myself, but how could they have believed that I would not rise again? They, who knew the steps I took, long ago, to guard myself against any mere mortal death? They, who had seen proofs of the immensity of my power in the times when I was mightier than any wizard living? And I answer myself, perhaps they believed a still greater power could exist, one that could vanquish even Lord Voldemort…"
Harry wiggled a bit more, tears blinding him as his ankle shifted the wrong way and reminded him that it was broken sending a fiery pain through his body that had him groaning. But he felt the mirror, he felt it shift from his pocket. He just had no idea how he was going to activate it, he thought bitterly.
"… perhaps they now pay allegiance to another; perhaps that Champion of Commoners, of Mudbloods and Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?"
At the mention of Dumbledore's name, the members of the circle stirred and some muttered and shook their heads. Voldemort ignored them.
"I am deeply disappointed in all of you," he said, sadly.
One of the men suddenly flung himself forward, breaking the circle and collapsed at Voldemort's feet. "Master! Master, forgive me, please! Forgive us all for our foolishness!"
Voldemort merely shrieked in cruel laughter before he raised his wand and said, "Crucio!"
The Death Eater on the ground writhed and screamed. His body contorting in ways it shouldn't, his muscles spasming as if he were being electrocuted and Harry closed his eyes to block out the image, but the sounds he could hear seemed to make it worse when he couldn't see it. A gasping sound of relief made Harry open his eyes again as Voldemort spoke.
"Get up, Aurelius," Voldemort said softly. "Stand up. You ask for forgiveness? Your father has shown nothing but loyalty to me over the last year. Abraxas has told me what Titus has done to assist in my return, but you… you didn't even answer your father's call when he summoned you to help. I want thirteen years' repayment before I even think of forgiving something as worthless and pathetic as you, Avery."
Avery whimpered and moved back to his place within the circle, his eyes downcast in shame.
Voldemort turned back towards the circle. "Lucius, my slippery friend. I am told that you have renounced the old ways to the world and that you present a respectable face, but that's only to the public. Your father says that I can count on you to take the lead in a spot of Muggle-torture. Abraxas, did you not say that Lucius was proud to lead the exploits at the Quidditch World Cup this summer?"
"I did, my Lord," Abraxas spoke from across the circle. "But I'm afraid that he still needs to learn some discipline as well. He's far too cowardly for my liking."
Voldemort smiled. "And you would ask your master to show it to him?"
Abraxas smiled cruelly. "No one else is more worthy, my Lord. Do what you wish with him."
"My Lord," Lucius said quickly. "I was constantly on the alert, had there been any sign from you, any whisper of your whereabouts, I would have been at your side immediately, nothing could have prevented me —"
"— Really?" Voldemort interrupted. "And yet it was not you who came to find me in Albania, was it? And was it not you who ran from my mark when a faithful Death Eater sent it into the sky last summer. Yes, I know all about what you've been up to, Lucius, and you have disappointed more than just your father as of late. I expect more faithful service in the future."
"Of course, my Lord," Lucius said reverently. "You are merciful, thank you."
Voldemort simply sneered at him. "But… you do need to earn a little respect as well. Crucio!"
Lucius screamed as he fell to the ground. His head bobbed at an odd angle and his legs twitched madly before Voldemort lifted the spell.
"Do not disappoint me again."
"Thank you, my Lord, thank you!"
Harry was half-listening to the conversation around him and half-trying to pull the mirror up. The thorns tore through his arm as he managed to painfully pull one arm free from the vine. He gripped the mirror tightly in his hand and carefully wrote on the surface in his own blood.
Riddle grave.
He watched the letters shimmer before vanishing and he shoved the mirror back into his pocket. He had no idea if that had reached his father or not, but he had to try. With his mouth sewn shut, there was no way for him to verbally access the mirror. He had never tried to send a message a different way, but the mirror was charmed to communicate and he had to pray that it meant all forms of communication.
He winced when Bellatrix suddenly grabbed his chin. He hadn't been paying attention to her and she had noticed his attempt at getting free. She waved her wand and the vines shot up from the ground wrapping around him like a vice and holding him more securely and tightly into place; thorns piercing into him on all sides. She merely smiled cruelly before moving back to her spot in the circle as Voldemort continued to talk.
"Rodolphus and Rabastan should stand here, but they are still entombed in Azkaban. They were faithful. They went to Azkaban rather than renounce me. When Azkaban is broken open, the Lestranges will be honoured beyond their wildest dreams. Dolohov, too, will be awarded for his sacrifice along with Rookwood… Abraxas will get the Dementors to join us — we will recall the banished giants and all of my devoted servants shall return to me… an army of creatures whom we all fear."
He walked around the circle, stopping to comment to some, others he passed in cold silence.
"Macnair… destroying dangerous beasts for the Ministry of Magic now? You shall have better victims soon, I will provide them for you."
"Thank you, Master, thank you," Macnair murmured.
"And here," Voldemort said, moving to the two largest hooded figures. "We have Crabbe, you will do better this time, will you not, Crabbe? And you too, Goyle?"
They bowed clumsily, muttering dully.
"Yes, Master!"
"We will, Master!"
"The same goes for you, Bulstrode and Macklebee."
"Yes, Master," they both declared.
"And you, Nott," Voldemort said quietly as he walked past the stooped figure in Macklebee's shadow. "You've been a great help to me so far, but your past discretions still leave much to be desired."
"My Lord, I prostrate myself before you, I am your most faithful —"
"— That will do," Voldemort said as if he were bored. He stopped again in front of another wizard, smiling. "And Barty… what you did to your father was truly beautiful work. I only wish that I had seen it. It sounds like a true masterpiece."
"Thank you, my Lord," Crouch Jr said brightly. "I learned from the best, Master."
"That you did," he said proudly, squeezing Crouch Jr's shoulder in reassurance. "For those of you who haven't heard, Crouch here tortured and murdered his own father, the infamous pain in our arse, Bartemius Crouch Sr. I believe that I heard you cut off his testicles and stuffed them into his mouth?"
Crouch Jr nodded, a bright grin on his face. "He choked on them, my Lord."
Voldemort chuckled as if he had been told a rather amusing story. "Well done, my son. Lord Voldemort is proud of you, and you will be rewarded for your loyal service to not only me, but to the world, for ridding us of that disease."
He nodded at the wizard standing next to Crouch Jr.
"And you, Fenrir, have you continued to live your savage ways?"
The man stepped forward, falling to his knees before Voldemort and kissing his boots. "Always, my Lord. I live to serve you."
Voldemort moved to the robed figure on the right of Fenrir and reached out his hand. "The lovely and deadly Bellarosa returns to me tonight."
A perfectly manicured hand slipped into Voldemort's as the death mask vanished revealing the most beautiful woman that Harry had ever seen. Beautiful dark hair fell around a face that looked like it had been carved from marble, skin like warm honey with dark brown eyes under long lashes.
"I am yours to do with what you wish, my Lord. I am yours to command, ever, and always."
He smiled in amusement. "I have heard that you have another new husband… are they boring you, these men?"
She shrugged. "Sometimes. But something terrible always seems to happen to them."
"How terribly sad," he said with a cruel smile. "If this one gets too boring, may I suggest letting Fenrir have him. He does enjoy a good spot of torture now and again, or even Macnair?"
Bellarosa smiled coyly. "Of course, my Lord."
Voldemort dropped her hand and moved on to where a large gap stood in the circle. "And here we have six missing Death Eaters… three dead in my service. One, too cowardly to return, I shall enjoy killing him. Two who remain my most faithful servants and who are in fact working for me right now. In fact, they are both stationed at Hogwarts awaiting instructions."
The Death Eaters stirred and Harry saw their eyes dart sideways at one another through their masks.
"It was because of Abraxas' efforts that he was able to convince Ludo of the importance of our task and it was because of him that our young friend arrived here tonight… yes," Voldemort said with a grin curling his thin lips and the Death Eaters all looked at where Harry was tied tightly to the tombstone; the thorns from the vines cutting into him from all directions. "Harry Potter has kindly joined us for my rebirthing party. One might go so far as to call him… my guest of honour."
There was silence, quiet enough to hear a pin drop on the grass until the Death Eater on the left of Woodrow Selwyn spoke up.
"Master, we crave to know… we beg you to tell us… how you have achieved this… this miracle… how you managed to return to us…"
"Ah, what a story it is, Parkinson," Voldemort said with an air of excitement. "And it begins and ends with the Potter boy."
He walked lazily over to stand next to Harry so that the eyes of the whole circle were upon the two of them. The snake continued to circle the tombstone, its eyes watching Harry as if waiting to pounce.
"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes upon Harry, whose scar began to burn so fiercely that he wanted to scream in agony. "You all know that on the night that I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in an attempt to save him and unwittingly provided him with a protection that I admit I had not foreseen… I could not touch the boy."
Voldemort raised one of his long white fingers and put it very close to Harry's cheek.
"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice and this is old magic, I should have remembered it and I was foolish to have overlooked it… it doesn't matter, I can touch him now."
Harry felt the cold tip of the long white finger touch him and he thought his head would burst from the pain of it. The finger traced his scar almost adoringly before moving in silent motion down his cheek, down the side of his neck, over his shoulder. It inched down his chest, over his thighs, and stopping on his broken ankle — where he suddenly grabbed it, and squeezed. Harry groaned in agony as the pain shot up his leg and Voldemort merely laughed softly in his ear before he stood up and continued to address the Death Eaters.
"I miscalculated, I admit it. My curse was deflected by the Mudblood's foolish sacrifice and it rebounded upon myself. Pain beyond pain, my friends; nothing could have prepared me for it. I was ripped from my body. I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost… but still, I was alive. What I was, even I do not know… I, who have gone further than anybody along the path that leads to immortality. You know my goal — to conquer death. And now, I was tested, and it appeared that one or more of my experiments had worked… for I had not been killed, though the curse should have done it. Nevertheless, I was as powerless as the weakest creature alive and without the means to help myself… for I had no body, and every spell that might have helped me required the use of wand… I remember only forcing myself, sleeplessly, endlessly, second by second to just exist. I settled in a faraway place, in an Albanian forest I had once visited to seek something lost and I waited… surely, one of my faithful Death Eaters would try and find me; one of them would come and perform the magic that I could not… but I waited in vain."
The shiver ran once more around the circle of listening Death Eaters. Voldemort let the silence spiral horribly before continuing.
"Only one power remained to me. I could possess the bodies of others. But I dared not go where other humans were plentiful, for I knew that the Aurors were still abroad and searching for me. I sometimes inhabited animals — snakes, of course, being my preference, but I was little better off inside them as pure spirit, for their bodies were ill adapted to perform magic and my possession of them shortened their lives so, none of them lasted long. Then four years ago, the means of my return seemed assured! A young, foolish, and gullible wizard wandered across my path into the forest… a teacher at Dumbledore's school. He was so easy to bend to my will. He brought me back to this country and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders. But my plan failed. I did not manage to steal the Philosopher's Stone, and I was thwarted again by Harry Potter."
The silence seemed to echo across the graveyard, not even the wind stirred. The only sound was Harry breathing loudly through his nose as he hoped desperately that Sirius had obtained his message and was on his way. If the message didn't go through, he didn't know how he was going to get out of here alive. But the mirror stayed silent in his pocket. He felt no vibrations. No sign of it having activated and his hopes were dashed.
Voldemort continued to talk as the Death Eaters stared at him as if they were enraptured by his speech.
"The servant died when I left his body and I was left as weak as ever. I returned to my hiding place far away, and I will not pretend to you that I didn't then fear that I might never regain my powers… Yes, that was perhaps my darkest hour… I could not hope that I would be sent another wizard to possess… and I had given up hope, now, that any of my Death Eaters even cared as to what had become of me… and then almost two years ago, my wish was granted in the eyes of this beautiful witch."
He waved his wand and the death mask vanished, revealing a regal woman in her mid sixties or seventies.
"Isla, my sweet, you found me and you held me in your arms as your husband told you where to bring me. It seems that Abraxas had heard rumours that I was alive, hidden underground in an Albanian forest. He and Isla immediately came to find me. Brax used his skills to break out my faithful Bella from Azkaban and along with Bella, came the snivelling rat of Peter Pettigrew."
Pettigrew whimpered as his mask was removed and he fell to his knees. "I'm here to serve you, my Lord."
"Hmm," Voldemort said. "You have consistently failed me, Wormtail, and now you snivel before me like the rat that you are." He turned back to the circle. "But Pettigrew did help. He and Bella found the pureblood child that nourished and housed me in the Selwyn Manor in Croatia for over a year so that I could build up my strength; so that I could return to you all, regenerated, renewed, and restored. And then… Woodrow and Thaddeus brought me Bertha Jorkins."
Selwyn bowed so low that his nose touched the ground. "It was our honour, Master."
Voldemort sneered. "They merely wanted to fuck her… make her bleed a little — but she proved to be invaluable in ways that they never imagined. She told me that the TriWizard Tournament would be played at Hogwarts this year. She told me that she knew of a faithful Death Eater who would be only too willing to help me, if I could only contact him. Imagine my surprise to learn that my beloved Barty was in fact alive and well, but being kept a prisoner in his own home. She told me many things, including how to use the one who helped orchestrate this whole event into motion. The Memory Charm upon her was quite powerful, but I broke through it, and her mind and body were both damaged beyond repair. Her body maybe a bit more than was necessary, but we all know how much Wood and Thad like to play with my pets," he said, smiling cruelly. "But she had served her purpose so, I disposed of her, and worked with my loyal followers to help concoct this potion of my own invention."
He moved back to gesture to the large cauldron which was still steaming behind him.
"With a little help from Nagini," he continued. "The potion was concocted from unicorn blood and snake venom while I waited for the right opportunity to snag my essential ingredients. The child's body I possessed abled me to once more be in human form and strong enough to travel until the time was right for my rebirth. I knew I would settle once more for my old body and my old strength and I knew that to achieve this, I would need three powerful ingredients… Selwyn bravely provided me with his flesh. My father's bone meant that we would naturally have to come here, to the graveyard where he is buried. But the blood of a foe… Woodrow wanted me to use any witch or wizard who hated me, but I knew that if I wanted to truly rise again, more powerful than ever, it had to be the one who stripped me of my power thirteen years ago. I wanted Harry Potter's blood; for the lingering protection his mother once gave him would then reside in my veins too."
The Death Eaters seemed to be waiting with baited breath.
"But how to get to Harry Potter? For he has been better protected than I think even he knows; protected by his blood traitor godfather and that half-breed Mudblood loving wolf with charms and protections keeping him well hidden; with his mother's protection blended into the charms… making it impossible for me to ever find him, let alone touch him… Then, of course, there was the Quidditch World Cup, but I was not strong enough to attempt a kidnap in the midst of a horde of Ministry wizards nor foolish enough to send another in my place, and then the boy returned to Hogwarts, where he is under the protection of that crooked nose Muggle-loving fool from morning until night. So, how could I take him? Why, by using Bertha Jorkins' information of course."
He smiled cruelly, his eyes roaming around the circle.
"Ludo ensured that the boy's name was entered into the Goblet of Fire; to ensure the boy won the tournament; that he would touch the TriWizard Cup first which would be a portkey to bring him here, beyond the reach of Dumbledore's help and protection and into my waiting arms. He was being watched by my faithful servant at Hogwarts and I saw the fear he possessed, but a little fear leads a loyal servant to be born to me. And here he is… the boy you all believed had been my downfall."
Voldemort moved slowly forward, turning to face Harry and his eyes gleamed in pleasure as he raised his wand said, "Crucio!"
It was pain beyond anything that Harry had ever experienced. His very bones were on fire, shaking as if he were being shocked and burned alive from the inside. His head was splitting and his eyes were rolling madly and he wanted nothing more than for it to end.
And then it was gone.
He was hanging limply in the vines that bound him to the headstone, looking up into those bright red eyes as the Death Eaters laughed around him.
"You see how foolish it was to suppose that this boy could ever have been stronger than me," Voldemort said loudly. "But I want there to be no mistake in anybody's mind. Harry Potter escaped me by a lucky chance and I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, in front of you all, where there is no Dumbledore to help him and no mother to die for him and no half-breeds and blood traitors for him to hide behind. I will give him his fair chance. He will be allowed to fight, and you all will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger wizard. Just a little longer, Nagini," he whispered and the snake glided away through the grass to where the Death Eaters stood watching.
"Bella, untie him, and give him back his wand."
~ ASC ~
Sirius checked his watch again and blew out a long breath. "It's been well over an hour now! We're going on two!"
Remus frowned as he saw Dumbledore move from his position in the maze to say something to Madame Maxime and he squinted. "Karkaroff's run off."
"What?" Sirius asked in surprise.
"Dumbledore, he just said that he's run off. Something spooked him."
"Well, it was mentioned that he wasn't exactly taking his sore arm well," Sirius said carefully, grateful as always for his friend's wolf-hearing.
Remus nodded. "But to desert his champion while he's still in the maze?"
Sirius shrugged. "I don't know, Moony." He glanced uneasily at Zee. "It's been a really long time and three of the four champions are still in there."
Zee squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek.
Sirius held her hand tightly, his eyes on the maze. Karkaroff choosing this moment to run off was rather suspicious he thought. His eyes met Snape's and he stood up. "I'll be right back."
He moved down the stands and grabbed a cup of water as Snape sat next to him. "My mark is back."
Sirius' eyes widened. "What?"
"Just now. It flickered and it's fully tattooed, no scarring. I bet that's what spooked Karkaroff."
Sirius stared at him. "So he's… how? I thought that he needed Harry?"
"Wanted Potter, yes, but didn't necessarily need him," Snape said carefully. "Bagman and Jameson are still patrolling the maze at the back. Carthaginian, Birmingham, and Flitwick have gone to help patrol. I'm going to go offer a hand as well, see if we can figure out where the champions are stuck in the maze."
Sirius nodded as he watched Snape hurry off, his stomach churning.
He was in the maze, he thought, the panic rising.
He was in the maze.
He was safe.
He was in the maze.
But the words didn't reassure him.
~ ASC ~
Bellatrix skipped towards Harry, smiling gleefully. Harry tried to climb to his feet, but his ankle would barely support him as Bellatrix flicked her wand and the vines broke free of him, loud suctioning sounds echoing in the silence as a hundred thorns popped out of his skin. She waved her wand and the stitches across his mouth flicked open and he gasped desperately for breath, the thin silk still threaded through his lips in pieces.
Harry placed one hand back against the tombstone as Bellatrix handed him his wand and he contemplated making a run for it. His one hand was holding his mirror in his pocket desperately wondering if he dared try to call for help as his ankle shook violently under his weight. The Death Eaters closed ranks and formed a tight close-knit circle around him and Voldemort, removing all of the gaps from the missing Death Eaters.
"You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness.
Harry nodded sharply, his heart pounding in his chest as a memory shot across his brain so strongly that he almost gasped in surprise.
"Don't die, okay?"
"I'll try not to. Same for you, okay?"
Harry nodded, his eyes wide. "I'll try not to, too."
Sirius smiled and leaned in to kiss his son's forehead. "I love you, Harry."
The memory brought tears to his eyes and he furiously blinked them back. He did know how to duel, but how could he be expected to duel the darkest wizard who had ever lived when he had thirty Death Eaters at his back and he was up against the impossible — the Avada Kedavra Curse. There was no known spell to counteract it. Moody had told him. How could he defend himself?
"We bow to each other, Harry," Voldemort said, bending a little, but keeping his snakelike face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed. Show us your manners… bow to death, Harry."
The Death Eaters were laughing again. Voldemort's mouth was smiling. Harry did not bow. He was not going to let Voldemort play with him before killing him. He would not give him that satisfaction.
"I said, bow," Voldemort demanded, raising his wand and Harry literally felt his spine curve as if a huge invisible hand were bending him ruthlessly forward and the Death Eaters laughed harder. "Very good," Voldemort said softly, raising his wand again so that the pressure bearing down on Harry lifted. "And now you face me, like a man… straight-back and proud, the way your father died… and now, we duel."
Voldemort raised his wand, and before Harry could do anything to defend himself, before he could even move, he had been hit again by the Cruciatus Curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming that he no longer knew where he was. White-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was ready to explode and he knew that he was screaming.
And then it stopped.
Harry rolled over and scrambled to his feet. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably. He staggered sideways into the wall of watching Death Eaters, one of them grabbed him and he heard a whisper.
"They know."
And then he was pushed back towards Voldemort.
"A little break," Voldemort said, the slit-like nostrils dilating with excitement. "A little pause… that hurt, didn't it, Harry? You don't want me to do that again, do you?"
But Harry wasn't listening.
He was focusing on the words that Lucius Malfoy had just whispered in his ear. They knew what — where he was? Did that mean that they were coming for him? His heart soared with happiness at the thought. He wasn't going to die, he thought. Not today.
"I asked you whether you want me to do that again," Voldemort demanded. "Answer me, you insolent twat! Imperio!"
The sensation of the curse hitting him made his mind go completely blank and it was such a nice feeling as a voice urged him to say no.
I will not, a stronger voice in the back of his head demanded, I will not answer him.
Just answer no.
I won't do it, I won't say it.
Just answer no.
I won't, he thought and suddenly he felt the dream-like-state lift at the same moment that he raised his wand and thought of his family coming for him and shouted, "Expecto Patronum Familia!"
Three huge solid animals burst from his wand and circled him making Voldemort's eyes widen in surprise before he masked it.
"Crucio!"
The curse ripped into Harry and he screamed, but the stag charged, antlers drawn and knocked Voldemort off of his feet making the Death Eaters gasp in shock. When Voldemort fell, the curse lifted and Harry was breathing heavy, trying to catch his breath as he scrambled to his feet, his leg trembling badly under his weight. He flipped his wand and the wolf and dog charged at Voldemort. The power of it barrelled through him as they charged over and over and over until Voldemort sent a shield charm up so powerful that all three animals disintegrated.
He smirked. "Parlour tricks — that's what you have for me, boy? Crucio!"
With the reflexes born of his Quidditch training, Harry flung himself sideways onto the ground; he rolled behind the marble headstone of Voldemort's father, his ankle screaming and he heard the loud crack as the curse missed him.
"We are not playing hide-and-seek, Harry," Voldemort's soft, cold voice said he moved closer and the Death Eaters laughed again. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean that you are tired of our duel? Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish it now, Harry? Come out, Harry… come out and play, then… it will be quick… it might even be painless… I would not know… I have never died…"
Harry knelt behind the headstone and he knew that this was it. He had fought as hard as he could and when he stepped out from behind that tombstone, he was going to die. He tried to think of how to escape; of how to get past the thirty Death Eaters and Voldemort, but his mind went carefully blank.
"Harry… be a man, come out and face me like your father did…"
His father, he thought and then it came to him.
They had the same wand cores.
Remus had told him that if push came to shove, their wands wouldn't work against the other. He didn't have to use some incredible powerful spell, he just had to distract him. Priori Incantatem, he thought. He just had to distract him long enough to get away.
He didn't know if it would work. But he had to try, he thought desperately. He couldn't die here.
Not today.
Harry took a slow breath and stepped around the tombstone, shouting, "Expelliarmus!"
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort cried out at the same time.
A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as the red light blasted from Harry's, but instead of the spells hitting their targets, they met in midair and Harry's wand was suddenly vibrating as through an electric charge was surging through it. His hand seized around it and he couldn't have released it if he wanted to as a narrow beam of light connected the two wands in bright deep gold.
And then Harry felt his feet lift from the ground and he and Voldemort were both being raised into the air, their wands still connected by that thread of shimmering golden light. The Death Eaters were shouting, asking Voldemort for instructions and the snake slithering at their heels.
The golden thread connecting Harry and Voldemort splintered, but the wand stayed connected and a thousand more beams arched high over Harry and Voldemort, criss-crossing all around them until they were enclosed in a golden, dome-shaped web, a cage of light, beyond which the Death Eaters cries were now muffled.
"Do nothing!" Voldemort shouted and Harry saw his red eyes were wide in astonishment and he knew that Voldemort didn't know what was happening. "Do nothing unless I command you!"
Harry couldn't help but grin, feeling confident for the first time since he had arrived in the graveyard. He concentrated with all his might on the gold thread as an unearthly beautiful sound filled the air as if the light-spun web was singing a song of hope — a phoenix song — and his confidence soared. He held tighter to the wand as it began to vibrate more powerfully and large beads of light began sliding up and down the thread and he focused with all of his might on sending those beams towards Voldemort. He concentrated every last particle of his mind on forcing that bead towards Voldemort and when he succeeded, his wand became easier to hold.
He watched the beads fly across the light and into Voldemort's wand. Just a little further, he thought, just a little further, and then he could make his escape.
But something stopped him.
He watched in horrid fascination as a ghostly figure of a man slid out of the wand.
"So, he is a wizard, how 'bout that?" he asked in astonishment as Voldemort stared at him in shock.
A woman came out of the wand next and then another man and suddenly Harry's stomach clenched. He suddenly knew who was coming out next and he watched in amazement as the ghostly apparition of Lily Potter came out of the wand.
"Mum?" he asked in astonishment, his eyes wide.
"Harry," she said, her voice like music to his ears. "My handsome boy. You're so brave, baby; hold on, just hold on a moment longer, okay? Dad's coming."
James Potter came out of the wand then, grabbing his wife's hand. "Hi, Harry. Hold tight okay, just a bit longer."
"Dad?"
"Used to be Dada, but I'll take Dad," he said with a smile.
More figures began to emerge from Voldemort's wand. It was vibrating so hard now that Voldemort had to use both hands to keep it steady. But Harry's eyes were on his parents, tears in his eyes.
James grinned widely at him. "I know that you're scared, Harry; anyone would be. But you've been incredibly brave tonight; braver than anyone your age should ever have to be. We love you so much and we're watching over you. But you know what you have to do now."
Lily smiled. "I promise that you can do it, baby. Misha told you that it was possible and I know that you're scared, but you can do it. Go to him. We'll only stay for a few seconds longer once you let go."
Harry nodded, his eyes wide and blurred with tears.
"Harry, tell them that it's about time that they found strong women to keep them in line," James said with a smile.
"Tell them we approve and that we love them. When we tell you, baby, let go. We love you."
Harry nodded, his vision blurred.
"Now!" James exclaimed.
Harry nodded and let his wand drop, transforming into his Animagus as the figures moved in around Voldemort. His wand hit the ground and he rolled, his sharp teeth tearing through the ankle of the Death Eater who attempted to grab his wand as the man howled.
He scooped his wand between his bloody teeth, stumbling over his broken ankle and thought: Sirius, as hard as he could and he Disapparated with a loud crack just as he heard Voldemort scream.
"NO!"
And then Harry crashed headfirst into a concrete wall.
End Author's Note:
I know, I know, I suck, another cliffhanger.
From this point forward in the story, I am steering further and further away from canon. Some things may of course still play out, but with the Horcrux Hunt and with the changes I have made, I just wanted to give people that head's up.
Thank you as always!
Here are a list of the Death Eaters mentioned:
Abraxas Malfoy
Woodrow Selwyn
Bellatrix Lestrange
Aurelius Avery
Lucius Malfoy
Walden Macnair
Vincent Crabbe Sr
Gregory Goyle Sr
Marcus Bulstrode
Aaron Macklebee
Thaddeus Nott
Barty Crouch Jr
Bellarosa Zabini
Fenrir Greyback
Castor Parkinson
Isla Malfoy
Peter Pettigrew
Rodolphus Lestrange (Azkaban)
Rabastan Lestrange (Azkaban)
Antonin Dolohov (Azkaban)
Augustus Rookwood (Azkaban)
Others were there but unnamed.
Thank you for reading and please review!