Okay, I know it's been forever…I don't even remember what was going on last chap:P hahaha…Well, after reading HBP, well, this is the way I'd rather have had everything turn out:P haha, okay, I know I've taken ages to finish this, but here we are:D Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed and kept me in line:P
Chapter 29: The Final Act
-----
Severus Snape bent forward instinctually as yet another burning pain throbbed in his forearm. He was being summoned, he knew, and he was suffering for not answering. He also knew from the early morning's search that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were nowhere within the castle, and without having to see it to know, he knew that the Dark Lord had both pieces of that bloody glass.
Now he was waiting. Waiting for Dumbledore to return and counting the intervals of pain that he experienced while waiting. He didn't like waiting, not one bit. But he couldn't act without word from Dumbledore. Should he stay or should he go? Should he attempt to apparate there and then try to figure out where he was? Was it even possible to get an owl to Dumbledore from wherever the Dark Lord's keep currently was?
He grasped his arm once more as the fire dug its claws into his skin. Too much time had passed already that he hadn't answered. Was it still wise to even go? What excuse could he make that would only land him one or two rounds with the Cruciatus curse?
"Damn it all!" he cursed, pacing furiously in his office.
"Severus?" McGonagall's voice floated through his open door. She was obviously looking for him.
"Here," he snapped coldly, agitation filling him.
She poked her head into his office and frowned at him. "What are you doing in here?"
"What does it look like?" He didn't say it sarcastically, although that's how he definitely meant it. He was in no mood for any of her pep-talks or anything else that would reap no progress in getting Dumbledore here sooner. He clenched his fist on his arm once more it burned again.
"Dumbledore has returned. Everyone is in his office, waiting."
"What the devil--!" He scowled deeply, glaring in his cold way while she smirked.
"They've only just arrived. I'm gathering everyone, but you get yourself up there and do it now," she directed him. He was already striding quickly past her, and as she exited the classroom soon after, she could see him not, and barely hear his retreating footsteps. With that she went about her stations and alerted the teachers of what was happening, directing the ones who would stay and protect the children as well as the ones who would be joining them.
---
"Severus, good of you to join us," Dumbledore remarked kindly as Snape strode into the Headmaster's office, hair askew and forearm burning worse than ever. His office was filled with aurors, some Snape was familiar with, others he was not. And they looked quite impatient. One could feel the tension in the room taut as a bowstring, and everyone was looking at Snape with expectance.
"Potter-"
"We know, my boy. Minerva has informed us of all that has happened. It seems that Tom Riddle has gotten a bit ahead of us in this game." Dumbledore regarded Snape's folded arms, noticing the way he held himself to press his arm against his Dark Mark hidden beneath his robes. He looked him in the eyes to answer the question that few even knew existed. "You do not need to go, my boy. We need you here."
Several aurors regarded him curiously, others with impatience. Snape knew that they probably did need him, and he also knew that Dumbledore was aware of the burning discomfort he was feeling. And it would only get worse as time went on.
"What we need to do is find where he's hiding! Where's he's taken Potter!" an agitated auror said from the back. "We -must- take action!"
"And how are we gonna do that? Do you know where the Dark Lord is hiding!" another equally-exacerbated auror responded to him. The tension was broke, and the room turned to tumult.
"We cannot just sit here!" someone yelled back as the room became loud with voiced opinions.
"If you know the way, do please inform us!" someone said sarcastically.
"No one knows where it is! We have to think!"
"You might as well guess!"
"There is a way..." Dumbledore began, his soft voice surprisingly cutting through the loud hubbub as the aurors gave him their full attention. "I believe young Mr. Potter was given several potions to safeguard him from Voldemort, was he not?" Several less-seasoned aurors shuddered at the mention of His name.
"Several, yes," Snape agreed, his mind working feverishly to see how this was an advantage, and how he might press it.
"And he has had much contact with a substance known as Pure Light, has he not, dear boy?" Dumbledore asked warmly, as if he'd just posed a question as to whether someone liked puppies or kittens better.
"Pure Light?" someone asked.
"Isn't that stuff dangerous--?" the same agitated-auror asked, looking at Snape accusingly.
"And highly unstable?" someone else posed to Dumbledore, who merely smiled in response.
"What is Pure Light?" a young female auror asked her friend.
"Severus, care to enlighten us?" Dumbledore asked politely. Snape inwardly swore. How could it be that Dumbledore was so calm at this moment? It was so humanly wrong it wasn't even funny. They needed to act, and whatever he was getting at, Snape didn't like riddles, and he wanted answers.
"Pure Light is as you described- to the un-talented fool," Snape said harshly to the room, coldly as he would to the dunderheads he taught everyday. He tried to think of everything he knew about the substance while at the same time ignoring the burning in his arm that only proceeded to worsen. "It is the purest and the oldest of things in the world. The properties of the substance make it useful as an antidote to almost anything- in the right hands. And it is rare, near impossible to encase and utilize in these modern times. Even in the proper hands, it can cure and then destroy the participant in its powers."
"So he gave something to Potter that'll kill him?"
"He didn't kill Potter, idiot," an older auror with many scars told the same young female.
"What few know," Dumbledore began with the utmost patience, "is that takers of Pure Light leave a trail of residue behind as it works its way through their body, burning out the poisons." Several people intook hopeful breaths. Others were on the edge of their seat. Dumbledore was silent to let the information seep in.
"Can we follow it!" the impatient girl asked.
"No, we cannot," Dumbledore told her. Several people cursed, and Snape smirked. Obviously, these people didn't know Dumbledore quite as well as he did. "There is one who can follow the trail, however, but enlisting the aid of this creature is not easy."
And then the murmurs began once more. It bothered Snape almost to tears. He wanted to answer the burning call on his arm. The Dark Lord was carrying on his plans right now, and no one was as painfully aware of that fact as Severus Snape was. The Omnivieve Glass, the boys, and the Fate of the wizarding world was being toyed with in His possession. The future would be decided tonight.
"Another fact that goes with the study of Pure Light is the process of containing it. The only way to keep the stuff in a form we can use is to encase it in one of nature's own creatures- a wood sprite," Dumbledore told them.
"Well let's go get one!"
"Ah, it's not that easy. You see, you must enlist the help of the sprite it is encased in." The room was silent as the grave; no one breathed. "Our sprite has been dead for hundreds of years."
Loud swearing and lamenting was heard, and Dumbledore gave Snape a wink and a smile, acknowledging that his skills were vital to the success of this- and they only had an hour, maybe two before Harry's mind was able to be penetrated by Voldemort and he would wreak whatever havoc he was planning.
"The sprite has a natural desire to follow trails of the Pure Light that was once part of it's body- and only it's body- so it can lead us to the Dark Lord's hiding place post haste." Dumbledore gave a look of expectance that the crowd was satisfied. They were, of course, not.
"This thing is dead! You can't bring things back from death!"
"Pure Light can cure anything-" Dumbledore said smugly, and with a look at Snape, "in the proper hands."
"Impossible!"
"We should send out a search- Contact embassies and have them keep a look-out of anything suspicious in the past six hours!"
"The government isn't going to cooperate with us, fool! Look how many dark wizards they've released that line the pockets of their coats!"
"We should act now!"
Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the room fell silent. "You have one hour, my boy. I'm sure any of these competent wizards and witches would be most overjoyed to assist you with the gathering of ingredients you might need."
Snape inwardly groaned. Several aurors actually did groan.
"Once that sprite is alive and breathing, we'll have to follow it immediately, as they are quite fast and once you lose them, we've lost the trail." Several people rose from their seats, ready to help however they could while others went with news to inform their awaiting masses of what actions to take. "I hope several of you played seeker during your Quidditch years." There came nervous laughs at that, and Snape begrudgingly accepted the aid of three with impressive potions backgrounds, setting about making an unheard-of antidote to death.
---
"Don't lose sight of it!"
"It went through those trees!"
"AHHH!"
The rain was pouring heavily, the dark clouds obscuring what available light they had, the rain making it even harder to see in the artificial night. The sprite zoomed this way and that, and already they'd been flying for going on half an hour thanks to the tracing magic of the sprite. They'd been warned that the trail would be a difficult one, zig-zagging every which way as apparating to a destination (as Lucius Malfoy most likely had) left no exact uniform trail in time or space to follow.
"It doubled back!"
"Go! GO! I'll circle 'round!"
"Over that bluff!"
It went on like this for a solid hour; rain, confusion, darkness, and flying seventy miles-per-hour through the air. The flying team of aurors had been reduced to a number of six due to weather conditions, natural disasters, and fatigue. Several were on stand-by to take up the place of their fallen brethren and follow the eclectic path of the small creature. It was not an easy task, following a recently-reanimated wood sprite no larger than a snitch. It had none of its' natural inclinations but to follow the trail of invisible-residue which had been once part of its' being, and with a focus that intense, it made for a formidable ally.
"Do you see that?" one auror yelled to another.
"What?" she yelled back through the rain.
"Way off the horizon! That ruined castle!"
"Could that be--!"
At that very moment a red streak of light flew through the trees and knocked one of the aurors right off his broomstick to the cold ground where he lay unmoving.
"Shield! Everyone!" a scarred auror shouted as more bright strikes of light cut through the air, the now five aurors dodging spells as they followed the path of the sprite towards the castle at dangerous speeds. "Silver! Watch out!" he shouted as he kicked the side of the said auror's broom, knocking the witch into a terrible spin, but out of harm's way. "Secan flammarit!" he cursed, pointing his wand in the direction of the castle and the lookout who was hexing them. At breakneck speed they whizzed around it, following the path of the sprite, dodging curses and firing off their own. The lookout was engulfed in flame and magical fire, falling from his post to his utter ruin.
The little sprite took a sudden sharp turn straight up into the air directly above the ruin of the castle. The aurors followed it nearly to their deaths as it plummeted straight down, shattering its wooden body upon the stone of the roof in a splintering mass.
"Cessarus momentum!"
Three of the five aurors were stopped just in time from shattering their own brooms and bodies upon the castle. While the best of the flyers, these aurors were still new to their field. But they had served their purpose.
Hovering above the roof and ruin while being pelted with rain, they knew one thing for certain: Harry Potter was directly below them, right in the dead center of the mass of wood-sprite bits beginning to float away in a small stream of rainwater. They quickly flew the perimeter, finding only one other Death Eater, and doing away with him quickly. The rest of his followers must have fled inside, which meant they would be up against a formidable amount considering Voldemort had grown as powerful as they'd all believed.
They took quick bearing of where they were, finding the place to be Unplottable on any map. A wise move by Voldemort. Two aurors were sent off, one to fetch the members of The Order of the Phoenix, the other to inform Dumbledore personally. The rest stayed behind circling the ruin, testing it for weak spots. They didn't dare touch it- Voldemort wasn't so foolish as to leave the stones without some sort of magical barrier, and they were in no hurry to further warn the enemy that they were literally at his doorstep.
But they did know one thing at least, and that was that Harry was located somewhere within the walls directly beneath them. The question was how to get to him without alerting the Dark Lord, and they didn't have much time to find an answer.
---
Harry regained consciousness after being subjected to a variety of curses, both unforgivable and otherwise, and found himself strapped to a sort of slanted-table in a room of harsh stone. He couldn't move either his arms or legs, and his head was throbbing, his fingers itching with tampered magic.
He lolled his head to one side to see numerous Death Eaters standing about him- with and without masks- and on the other side he saw the Omnivieve glass, fully assembled on a pedestal covered in fine velvet. He tried to raise his head, but found it impossible. He felt weak. Incredibly weak. Had Snape's protective potions already worn off? How long had they cursed him for once he'd passed out ? More importantly, had they messed with his mind?
Dractnox…?
No reply came from the creatures overhead, dotted about the room with their unmoving amber eyes and shiftless forms. He figured as much. No doubt Voldemort was controlling them to some extent.
He searched the room as far as his eyes would allow him, and saw Draco against the far wall, watching him in turn. The blond haired boy met his eyes briefly, and then looked away as his father walked by with instructions for his son, sending him off elsewhere in preparation for the Dark Lord.
Harry caught site of Bellatrix Lestrange watching him, and she grinned as his eyes met hers. He just stared right back, not much else he could do if he wanted, as she took a step forward like an excited dog moving in for the kill.
Lucius Malfoy blocked her as he stepped in her way, speaking in tones Harry couldn't quite hear, nor words he could understand. He wasn't surprised by this. His brain was so addled by all the cursing that had been done unto him, his body still so sore, it was a wonder he was yet conscious. Lucius left Bellatrix after sneering in Harry's direction, and the mad woman in question came right up to the platform, looking down at Harry with an evil smile. She took his chin in her hand and gave it the kind of squeeze an annoying relative might. She grinned again and left him, even more confused than before and twice as worried.
Harry eyed the Omnivieve glass carefully. What in the hell was Voldemort up to exactly? The thing should be useless to him. It would destroy his evil, all evil about and connected to him, and that which was even minutely linked with his malice. Hadn't he realized that the first time he'd come in contact with it?
Harry's eyes rolled up into the back of his head, losing consciousness again as his skull throbbed, the room turning to black and silence around him.
---
"There is strength in light and good, and in the hearts of those we fight with and whom we'd fight for. You are the best of aurors and the dearest of friends. Tonight we make the end of Voldemort's reign, and the end of the suffering caused upon his behalf. I only ask that you go as far as you are willing, for tonight will not be without bloodshed."
Many wizards and witches were there listening to Dumbledore, rallied outside Hogwarts on the lawn of the castle. Some were old, and some- like Ron and Hermione- quite young. But they all served the same purpose, and that was to rescue Harry and once and for all do away with Voldemort.
Dumbledore regarded the faces before him, wondering how many he wouldn't see after tonight. He hated sending them to war, but he knew it had to be done- and for once they knew the exact hiding place of Voldemort's lair. And if his calculations and suspicions were correct, then Voldemort would not be running from them tonight. Tonight, Dumbledore suspected, he wanted them to come and seek him.
He smiled at the group, and grasped his broom in hand in preparation to leave. The others followed his lead, and he grimly pushed off, following the auror who had come to fetch them. He only hoped that they'd get there in time to save Harry.
---
Harry slowly regained consciousness yet again, and this time he saw Draco, who was watching him from a corner of the room. He beckoned to him with a look, wanting his help, or for him to go get help.
Draco looked about the busy Death eaters, and approached Harry with a sneer. "Almost time now, Potter," he intoned, looking down at Harry. Harry frowned. They were going to do something to him soon, but he didn't know what.
"Draco, Draco, I would have thought you had had enough time to belittle this trash back at your little school," Bellatrix announced as she came up to Draco's side with a grin.
"Yes, aunt," Draco acknowledged as she gave Harry's face a squeeze.
"The Dark Lord is very pleased with you, Draco. And Lucius…I only wish I had sons to further glory the Dark Lord!" Bellatrix exclaimed almost ruefully. She squeezed Harry's face harder.
"Bella, the Dark Lord requested he not be spoiled," a deeper voice than Draco's addressed from behind in reference to her squeezing. It was obvious she wished to inflict a great amount of pain upon Harry, and only hoped the Dark Lord would give her some scraps.
"Yes yes, Lucius," she replied offhandedly, releasing Harry's face for the second time that evening. "Is everything is preparation? It must be perfect!"
Lucius nodded. "Go and summon the Dark Lord. It is near time." Bellatrix was off with excitement to fetch her beloved leader, and Lucius placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Very well done, Draco. After tonight you will be branded with His mark, and truly join the ranks of the superior wizarding order."
"Thank you, father," Draco said appreciatively. He moved to tighten the bonds on Harry's wrists, and Lucius nodded approvingly, going about his business and organizing the others. "I don't know what I can do…He has your wand," Draco whispered to Harry as he bent to 'secure' his bindings. "There's no way I could possibly get it…We're too far in…"
"…get help…" Harry murmured.
"I can't…"
"Can't what, Draco?" Lucius asked from behind his son.
Draco nearly blanched, but tried to keep his cool. "I can't get these any tighter, father," Draco said as if frustrated at not being able to inflict more pain upon Harry.
Lucius smiled at his son. "That doesn't matter. It is time. Come and stand amongst your equals, son." He put his hand on Draco's shoulder and led him away from Harry's bound form.
Harry tried to tug at his straps, but it was no use. Draco hadn't loosened or tightened them. He noticed that the room went quiet, and that all the Death eaters were bowing.
Voldemort had entered the room, sans Bellatrix, and within his hand he held both his and Harry's wands. He approached the center of the room and Harry, with a smile on his snake-like face.
---
Dumbledore's forces were gathered outside the ruined castle, aurors and teachers alike, mulling over strategies to get inside. There were numerous and very powerful wards and enchantments placed upon the place, and so far no one had managed to penetrate Voldemort's stronghold.
"Albus, these charms are complex, even for me to dis-spell, and so far none of our people have been able to make past the gate there," McGonagall said in reference to an open, rusting gate hanging on its hinges.
Dumbledore himself stepped up to it, finding he was unable to enter, although he was able to undo a few of the nastier charms that enchanted the entrance and attempted harm on the intruder.
"I don't believe we can undo the charms from the outside, Minerva. It is made to be undone from the inside…"
"And how do we get in, Albus?" she asked, annoyed with this.
"Severus?" Dumbledore addressed, looking to the potions master who was warily standing with drawn wand. He didn't like being here at all, but knew everything he had been doing, every moment he'd spent as a double agent, had been brought to this. His mind was the most conflicted of everyone there.
"Headmaster," the dour-faced man said, walking up to Dumbledore.
"I believe this is a barrier one cannot enter unless they possess something the rest of us do not." He gave Snape a knowing look, and the potions master nodded, absentmindedly touching his forearm.
He approached the barrier with wand drawn, and easily walked right through it as if nothing stood in his way.
"Hey!" Ron shouted from somewhere behind Dumbledore. "How'd he--"
"Quiet, Ron," Hermione chastised. "His mark," she whispered knowingly, motioning to Snape.
Ron reddened a bit and frowned. "And what's he doing, then?"
Dumbledore proceeded carefully towards the barrier, and passed through it; Snape had disabled it successfully.
Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt- two of the Order members called upon to fight- joined Dumbledore's side.
"That was easy," Tonks remarked, looking about skeptically with drawn wand.
"Too easy," Shacklebolt noted, observing Snape who stood scowling. "You'd think they'd at least have some-"
He stopped mid-sentence, pushing Tonks down and dodging a curse. Dumbledore deflected it before it could harm any aurors behind them. Wands out and ready, the aurors went into a wary formation, looking about for an ambush.
A squat Death eater stepped out slowly from deeper within the keep, his mask and hood up as he addressed Dumbledore.
"'Allo Dumby."
"Amycus, is that you?" Dumbledore asked politely.
The squat Death eater giggled to himself before firing off a curse at Dumbledore. He shielded himself easily enough, and regarded the man with interest.
"Tell me Amycus, where is your master? Where is Harry Potter?"
"Oh no, Dumby, you won't get me with legilimens…avada kedavra!"
Before the curse entirely left his mouth, the Death Eater was hit with more than a dozen curses fired off by the aurors. The killing curse which he had performed had not hit its intended target, but instead had been veered off course as a consequence of his being cursed himself, and it hit one who wasn't quick enough to dodge it.
As if a signal flare had been fired, several Death Eaters appeared out of nowhere, curses were immediately fired, and the battle had begun. Flashes of red, green, and yellow light filled the air, curses soaring overhead like eerie fireworks.
Some Death Eaters had their masks on, others had fallen, revealing the identities within, and still more seemed to come. Although Dumbledore's forces far outnumbered that which they were currently fighting, they weren't attempting to just murder them, although when it came to defending one's self, certain measures had to be taken (Dumbledore wanted justice done, but done correctly).
"Watch out Ron!" Hermione shouted, pulling him down to the ground and shouting protego! They were momentarily shielded, and she fired off her own spell from the safety of the shield "Expelliarmus!"
"Advance!" someone shouted, rushing the gates and advancing through, attempting to further penetrate the keep.
"Snape!" someone shouted at the potions master. He turned, and took a curse in the chest by one of the Death Eaters. "You blood traitor!" she screamed emphatically.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand in the direction of the Death Eater standing over Snape.
Bellatrix Lestrange looked at Hermione with a sadistic grin as she went for her own wand. Snape was on the ground having trouble breathing, but Bellatrix momentarily forgot him and went for Hermione instead.
"Crucio! Crucio!" she shouted as Hermione dodged her spells, running behind a column. "Come out come out little girl!" she called as she stalked her quarry. Hermione peeked her head around the corner as curses flew back and forth. "Crucio!"
" she shouted as Hermione dodged her spells, running behind a column. "Come out come out little girl!" she called as she stalked her quarry. Hermione peeked her head around the corner as curses flew back and forth. ""She ducked back, feeling the curse fly right past her cheek.
"Petrificus totalus!" Ron shouted from behind Bellatrix. She seized up, falling to the ground, stiff, attempting to throw off the curse. "Expelliarmus!" Her wand once again went flying.
Tonks was having her own battle further inside the castle's keep. She was boxed in between stone, and firing off curse after curse at the Death Eaters who seemed to be not in short stock.
"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Dumbledore came to her aid, unarming and knocking out several of the Death Eaters with whom she'd been under fire.
"Advance! Advance!" came the voice again.
Snape himself joined back in on the fight, having gotten his second wind and recovered from the most severe shocks of Bellatrix's curse. He quickly healed his own wounds, quickly cursing Bellatrix as she struggled free from Ron's curse.
"Accio wand!" Ron commanded, taking Bellatrix's wand and snapping it in two. She shrieked in fury, fighting even more to get free. Snape quickly bound her to a column with ropes a sticking charm, and ordered Ron and Hermione out of sight as they rushed the castle keep, further penetrating it's thick outer defenses and the legion of Death Eaters awaiting them.
---
Voldemort slowly slinked to the middle of the platform on which Harry was bound, smiling wickedly.
Harry's scar burned terribly, only adding to his frustration and resentment. Voldemort looked at him smugly, examining him, and Harry only glared back, his mind a mass of uncertainty and terrible ire.
He looked upon his loyal Death Eaters, and commended them for serving him thus far, but he would wait no longer.
"It is the time, my loyal friends, to bring about the end to a new beginning, and the ultimate destruction of the one they call The Boy Who Lived; the one who has for so long been the bane of my existence, and the very end of which will be my rise to true power."
He grinned at Harry, and in that look, Harry knew that a very real end was somehow upon him, something he couldn't control, and no matter how hard he wished it, he realized none were going to come for him.
---
"Expelliarmus!"
"Crucio!"
"Avada kedavra!"
Curses were flying back and forth through the air, aurors and Death Eaters alike going down, and still they fought their way deeper into the castle, fighting hard as time was of the essence, knowing that the enchantments and potions which Harry had been under the protection of were already waning if not totally gone.
Hrmione rushed around a corner, breathing heavily, narrowly missing a curse. A dark hooded figure raised their wand toward Dumbledore, and she cried out a curse, hitting him straight in the chest. He went down and the hood flew back, revealing it to be none other than Draco; the very person Harry had sworn was on their side.
She darted to him in anger, raising her wand and firing to disarm him, only he shielded himself quicker.
"Wait!" he shouted at her. "Potter! Inside!" he cried out with wide, terrified eyes.
"Where!" she shouted back, shielding herself as a stray curse nearly hit her.
"Dumbledore, where's Dumbledore?"
"Where is Harry!"
"Get me to Dumbledore!"
Hermione looked out over the cold scene, looking for the form of the tall old wizard. Instead she saw Snape, and he didn't look too good, but he was at least as good as Dumbledore.
"Professor!" Draco called out, trying to get the dark man's attention. He looked in their direction just as Hermione caught sight of Dumbledore.
"Professor Dumbledore!" she called out, but was hit with a curse in the back. She let out a shriek as she fell onto Draco, deep slashes in her back.
Many curses and darting later, and Dumbledore and Snape were both at their side. Hermione's cuts were deep, but Snape was able to heal them quickly.
"Are you alright?" Ron asked, his own face covered in scratches and dirt. He took Hermione and helped keep her steady. She was weak.
"Potter!" Draco cried out. "Potter!"
"Where, Draco, where!" Snape asked quickly, shaking the boy.
Tonks and Shacklebolt arrived on scene, looking a little worse for wear. "There's still quite a battle going on outside, but Mad-Eye reckons it's nothing we can't handle," Tonks informed Dumbledore, panting.
"How many more are there?" Shacklebolt asked, looking very anxious and rather put-off.
"Draco, where is Harry?" Dumbledore asked, looking the blond boy in his eyes.
He regarded them all with fear and anxiety, but allowed Dumbledore access to all he knew.
---
Voldemort smiled grimly, placing Harry's wand on one side of the boy, his own on the other. He cast a glance at the Omnivieve Glass, and knew that he had precious moments to spare. Extending his hand to it's full size, he clamped it down upon the glass.
In placing his hand upon it, however, Voldemort felt a surge of pain shoot straight through his body, the glass glowing in surged brightness. He kept his palm there, and felt himself dissipating from within, whatever was left of his soul being pulled from his very cells.
Slowly, Voldemort was being drawn out of his body, his spirit swirling up and about him like so much steam. The Death Eaters watched not without amazement as the steam-like replica of their dark lord began to swirl overhead. A wave of his wand with hand on the Omnivieve glass, Voldemort's spirit took a quick turn, directing itself towards Harry's body and engulfing it in the steam-like mist. Harry held his breath, but it didn't matter. He felt Voldemort's being saturating his own through his very skin, his body rebelling against it even as he began to take hold
"The rise of a new world order is about to begin, my loyal Death Eaters. A secret beginning to the dawn of a new age," Voldemort hissed out as if from two places- the steam, as well as his voice. He pointed his wand at his hand and murmured "esclicier" as a thin line of crimson appeared on it. "You have served the dark ways well, and now the ultimate sacrifice must be paid for this new age to come forth." Lucius smirked in enjoyment, glad the Potter brat was finally getting what was coming to him. And where was Bellatrix? Surely she wouldn't miss this for all the world…"Sadly," Voldemort continued, his hand hovering over the glass, "none of you will be there to enjoy it."
Confused faces regarded their Dark Lord as he slammed his bleeding hand down upon the Glass, blood smearing over the surface as the glass began to glow brilliantly.
Voldemort doubled over in pain as his weak body began to die, his spirit leaving it and entering Harry's as the Omnivieve glass began to completely destroy the linked evil. Death Eaters began to drop over while others watched in horror at the display, feeling a draining effect upon themselves from their dark marks, before succumbing to pain upon the ground.
"My Lord, what is this!" Lucius demanded as he too fell to his knees in pain, feeling some part of him being ripped from his very being.
"So naive, Lucius," Voldemort hissed, watching his bent-over follower fall to his knees. "Do you believe I would let creatures like you live to testify of what has transpired here? With none alive, there will be no spies left to filter out, none to pester me in my rise to the top. No one would dare suspect the Boy who Lived, and none shall live whom know the truth."
Lucius looked horrified beyond belief, grasping his arm in pain and betrayed shock as he tried to make his way out of the room and disapparate to some safe location. But there would be none for him. His link through the Dark Mark to the Dark Lord would follow him anywhere, utterly destroying him with the blood-magic upon the Omnivieve glass. There was nothing he could do but lay there upon the floor, his movements becoming smaller, weaker, as his life was snuffed out by the power of the Omnivieve glass.
---
Bellatrix let out a shriek of pain from her location secured to the column. She struggled hard to get free as the aurors stared at her. The other Death Eaters were letting out similar shrieks of pain, some dropping to their knees, stopping the fight with Dumbledore's army.
Snape was doubled over in pain outside the castle door himself, the other side containing Harry as per Draco's information. Some of the Death Eater's were fighting it, but dropping to their knees in pure life-draining pain.
"What's happening?" Tonks asked, looking about with confusion. "What's happening to them?"
"Severus? Are you alright?" McGonagall asked, looking at Snape with concern.
"The Devil woman, I'm not alright!" he shouted, dropping to the floor, unable to hold himself up.
Dumbledore stopped his inspection of the heavily warded door and approached Snape with concern. He looked him over speculatively as Snape further collapsed to the floor. "My boy?" Snape didn't answer, but Dumbledore could feel it. "He's dying. They all are."
"What?"
"What do you mean, they?" Tonks asked, looking worried.
"Voldemort must somehow be utilizing the Omnivieve Glass. Every person branded with his mark is dying…"
"Can we stop it?" Shacklebolt asked.
"Perhaps…a sharing of energy might keep him alight long enough for us to get inside," Dumbledore responded.
"I'll do it," Shacklebolt volunteered. "You need to get us inside. I'll do it."
"Are you sure?" McGonagall asked, looking at the auror with uncertainty.
"Yes, hurry, we don't have much time," he agreed, knowing that whatever was happening in there, surely Harry didn't have much time left himself.
---
Harry could feel himself being drawn out of his body, the steam of Voldemort being drawn in.
He was still frozen in place on the platform, body bound, but his mind and essence swimming with the dractnoxes midair, being drawn from it slowly as watching with horror what was happening to his body. Isn't there anything I can do!
The last Death Eater in the room dropped to his knees in pain as Harry watched with horror as the weak shell of Voldemort's body began to clumsily undo a binding at Harry's body's foot and left hand.
Harry tried desperately to get back in his body; wished it, willed it, prayed it, tried to force it, but it wouldn't receive him again. The ceremony was almost complete as the glass glowed less and less, it's inner golden light fading slowly as Voldemort's body became slack, hung over and slowly sliding to rest on the floor, too weak to undo any more bounds. Harry's body didn't move, and it sickened his spirit to know that somewhere in there that vile worm was taking refuge. The pounding on the door grew greater and greater, and with a great blast it flew open right off its hinges. Order members rushed in armed and ready, wands raised in battle-ready confusion upon seeing the body-littered ground. Mad-Eye Moody himself approached one cautiously and kicked it with his foot. The body didn't move, and he gave a satisfactory snort.
"Dead. All dead."
Dumbledore, however, was not interested in the bodies he knew to be dead, or the ones which were still dying. His interest lay in the one dying body laying on the floor next to a bound Harry Potter.
He remained motionless whilst deciding what he should do. The Omnivieve Glass was there, glowing only slightly, a testament to the fact that they had a very sick and almost-dead potions master outside the door, hanging on by barely a thread with Kingsley Shacklebolt's sharing of his life-energy. Snape's own energy was leaving him with the waning of the light of the glass.
Dumbledore approached it cautiously and moved his hand about it, sensing. He lifted the glass from its place and cleaned the blood off with a handkerchief, wiping the glass clean and pocketing the stained cloth. It's glowing ceased. Snape went completely limp against Shacklebolt, the auror becoming quite alarmed.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled upon seeing Harry's bound body.
"Don't tell me he up and had a heart-attack," Tonks said from behind Dumbledore, watching the same limp shell that was Voldemort. She took a step closer to His body, and Dumbledore held out a restraining arm
"Snakes die from the tail up, my dear. Stay back." He, however, approached cautiously as the others had their wands trained on the body in question.
"Professor Dumbledore...Harry's alright, isn't he!" Ron asked, stationed behind several aurors as he was known to do foolish things without thinking.
"He's not dead," Hermione stated to the thought in everyone's minds, perking up and making Ron let go of her.
Dumbledore regarded the form of Tom Riddle and tried to draw conclusions. His body was dead. He knew it, could smell it, sense the death of unnatural long life and absence of magical auras. This was a shell; a snakeskin. Nothing was left in this body, but how?
He looked at Harry, the young man who upon several occasions had defeated the Dark Lord unprecedented by others. He wasn't dead. Unconscious, yes, but two of his bounds were undone. Had he tried to escape?
He regarded the Omnivieve Glass once more, seizing the thing and putting it in his robes for safe-keeping. He laid a hand upon Harry's forehead to see if he could reach him. He didn't get anything at all. "Harry?"
I'm here! Right here! he screamed to deaf ears. Can't you do anything! he asked the Dractnox. You must stop this! Return me to my body!
he screamed to deaf ears. he asked the Dractnox."Thisss cannot yet be done...You are Dractnox and Dractnox are you..."
"Professor Dumbledore, is Harry alright?" Hermione asked, weak with fear and exhaustion.
Dumbledore stood closer to Harry for inspection, deciding if it was safe or not to move him. He had a good guess what Harry had gone through, but wasn't sure of the best course of action. But making his choice, whether he was wrong or not, he moved to the straps.
"That means he's okay, right--? Hey! What are you doing!" Ron shouted from the back. "Let him go!"
Dumbledore fastened the last arm strap back on, holding Harry's body still as he observed him for several more moments. He put his hand to Harry's head once more and murmured a spell, trying to get him to regain consciousness. Slowly, those green eyes opened and looked confusedly about the room, mind-addled and bewildered.
"How do you feel, my boy?" Dumbledore asked in a bland tone.
Those green eyes changed mildly, a change that would go unnoticed to most others, but was as pronounced as a scream to Dumbledore.
"I feel a little dizzy, but I'm alright." He tried to move his arms, but found he was still bound.
"Harry! Are you alright!" Hermione asked from across the room.
"I'm alright, but could you let me off this thing, please?" he replied, looking to Dumbledore. "These clasps hurt."
The voice sounded so very much like Harry. Tone, inflection, the bright look in those green eyes. Had he imagined what he'd seen? He looked into those eyes closely while Harry smiled expectantly. Dumbledore touched Harry's arm and unmistakably, a gleam of shadow passed over those eyes.
Here! I'm right here!
"Be gone from this boy!" Dumbledore commanded in an impending tone.
"Albus, what are you doing!" McGonagall asked with incomprehension.
"What are you talking about? Professor, please. I'm right here. Let me up. I want to go home, now," Harry's voice pleaded.
"Leave him at once!" Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry's forehead and Hermione grabbed his arm.
"Sir, please don't!"
Hermione was grabbed off of Dumbledore and restrained by Tonks, who looked both confused and worried.
"Let me go!" Ron shouted angrily as he, too, was restrained by several aurors.
This can't be happening! I'm right HERE! HERE! He tried to go back to his body, but just passed through it once. Do SOMETHING! he commanded the Dractnoxes. I want back in my body!
He tried to go back to his body, but just passed through it once. he commanded the Dractnoxes."That can be arranged..."
At once Harry saw the Dractnoxes swirling about above him, engulfing him, drawing him into their midst as he became one with them, and was plummeting towards his body with rapid speed. And suddenly, the room was gone, Dumbledore was gone, and all light disappeared.
Where am I now?
Suddenly Dumbledore was before him once more before being momentarily closed out by blackness. He was back in his body, looking at Dumbledore through his own eyes, but suddenly blackness closed on Dumbledore, and then he was before Harry's eyes again.
Blinking. It was Harry's involuntary blinking being controlled by another, and while he saw out the eyes, he didn't control where they looked.
He tried to speak, his body lurching and face showing an expression of surprise as his eyes looked quickly about the room. To Dumbledore, it was proof that Harry's body housed more than just one entity.
"I'm here," he tried to say, but it ended up coming out "M-meer."
"Release him," Dumbledore commanded as Harry's sight of the elderly wizard diminished, but he had control of his speech.
"Dumbledore He's in here! Get Him out!" Harry quickly shouted, anger rising in him for the fact that something else was using his body, sneaking about in there and he couldn't even find the source; the place where Voldemort was rooting himself to Harry's essence.
His sight returned as a smile not made by his will curved lips that spoke without his accord.
"This body is mine. There will soon be nothing left of the boy you once knew," Harry's voice said. It sounded so strange to Harry, to hear his own voice and feel the words being said but not being the one doing it. It made him angry, and he dug deep within his mind, trying to feel where He was hiding; where He was controlling.
"Leave him at once. You are finished, Tom. It's over. Leave Harry's body and let justice be done on you." They were commands, not requests, and everyone in the room was in silent horror.
"You're a fool, Dumbledore. You'll have to kill me before I leave this body willingly."
Harry hoped that if he couldn't force Voldemort from his body, if the task was truly impossible, then he hoped that Dumbledore would do it. He'd rather be dead than have this vile putrid waste living the rest of Harry's natural life in his body, regardless if he could leave it or not.
Where is he?
"Behind your mind'sss eye...your magical core..."
A spark of wild hope lit within Harry as he ignored the vile words pouring from his own voice, the verbal sparring between Dumbledore and Voldemort.
You're in here with me, aren't you?
"Yesss...We arrre everywhere..."
He isn't able to block me out anymore!
"He hasss no control...He ssspeaksss not to usss...You may ssspeak to usss…"
Tell me where to find Him.
"He isss behind your mind'sss eye..."
Where is that?
"Deep within you...trying to meld with your core and become inssseparable..."
I want him out! Show me the way! Force this unnatural thing out for good!
He felt a great pull inside, like he was being stretched too thinly over too great a distance. Something twinged against him, like a silk thread alerting the spider of intruders to its web. Immediately he felt himself being pulled towards it where a great feeling of sickness and nausea overwhelmed his very spirit. He felt something painful pulling at him, trying to disperse his spirit like dye in water. He fought it with all his might.
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
I WILL have this body, Potter!
To those watching Harry's restrained body, it seemed he was having a yelling match with himself, body twitching and writhing like one possessed, which he rightly was. Physically, he was unaware of every one and thing around him, but mentally, he felt the pain Voldemort was inflicting upon him, trying to force his spirit from his own body, destroy all rightful attachment, and he could sense the Dractnoxes nearby, as if they were with him waiting to be called upon.
He summoned them, begged them, pulled them to him for help as he felt his spirit becoming weaker as he was loosened from its link to his core and his claim to his body, and Voldemort established himself deeper to its heart.
The Dractnoxes came to his aid without a word as he felt himself becoming larger and stronger, drawing strength from the creatures as he fought with all his will against Voldemort's presence.
A great pain seized him as he inflicted more damage upon Voldemort, shredding the parasite embedded within, and he screamed, and he knew Voldemort was screaming too. He felt himself being ripped from his body, dissipating like so much steam, and knew that the same thing was happening to Voldemort.
The onlookers didn't know what to do. Harry's body gave several jerks as his pain-filled voice reverberated through the room. Then all went silent. His screaming ceased, his body stopped moving and fell limp to the board, eyes open in system-shock.
Nobody moved. Dumbledore regarded Harry's slack form, knowing that he was yet breathing, but it was all but impossible to tell if one went by only sight.
"Is he…?" Ron's voice trailed off.
"Dumbledore, please..." Hermione pled with a withheld sob. "Un-bind him..."
Dumbledore moved across the floor to Harry's body, and put a hand on his forehead, trying to sense if Harry was still in there on not. His green eyes didn't follow Dumbledore's hand, nor did they contain the light that usually looked out from within them.
"I cannot sense Harry's spirit…" Dumbledore started slowly, eyes trained on Harry's still face. "…nor the presence of Voldemort."
Hermione released a sob as several aurors gasped with shock. Dumbledore unbound Harry and gathered him in his arms.
"Where are you taking him?" Ron accused, following Dumbledore in his wake.
"St. Mungo's...along with our other wounded."
Kingsley Shacklebolt stood as Dumbledore walked past him, and put Snape's arm around his shoulder, hefting him to a standing position as others grabbed their wounded and several remained with the dead. They apparated from the site of destruction to the very doors of St. Mungo's, depositing the wounded aurors and other witches and wizards into the hands of the healers. There was still a lot of work left to do back at the ruined battlefield.
Only when Hermione and Ron showed up at the door to Harry's own room did Dumbledore leave. He warned them that their friend would never be the same, motioning to the green-eyed brown-haired boy who lay in the bed unmoving, breathing and watching with unseeing eyes, but not there.
Hermione and Ron both shed silent tears. Dumbledore told them to talk to Harry, to stay with him while they could. No, he didn't know what was going to become of the boy who lived, but for now, as what was left of Harry was safe, Dumbledore had grave business to attend to, and he wouldn't receive a rest well until three days later.
-----
Well from what we know about horcruxes and the like, let's just pretend there's an easier answer to killing off old Moldy-shorts and actually having a happy ending, yeah? And for those who haven't yet read Half Blood Prince…well, let me just say I'm ever so sorry, and hopefully this will be some consolation haha…oh well…I wanted to go out in crazy flaming glory, but yeah, this will have to do just as well;) lol. I think one more chap to wrap things up and we'll be set;) Happy New Year!
And to some wonderfully patient muggles:
Lady Foxfire: Was this longer? Haha, I'm so awful.
Cornuthaum: Haha, that certainly wasn't fast nor furious:P hahaha, I'm so terrible, really:P
S.S.I: I'm a horrid liar, according to everything I promised last time with everyone:P hahaha, there will be one more chap, I think an epilogue, and then I will have one finished fic FINALLY! Hahaha…Oh I'm awful. I still have to write the next chap for A Pirate's Life Indeed. It's a rather involved chap, so it's gonna take a while:D And I'm just absolutely horrid, but I've been writing my butt off the past week to get everything ready for New Years…yargh I'm tired:P btw, how was your green day concert May 7th? Lol
Bujiana: To say I'm lazy is the biggest understatement of the year:P haha, let's just call it writer's block:P Here's to a longer chap, and one more for good measure…goodness it's been a bloody long time, but thanks for everything and all your support:D
FlyingPixie: Okay, I lied, one more chap to go:P haha, oh I'm awful…
divine thing: I hope this was thorough enough. I'm tired and just did up the finishing touches…yargh what a write:P lol, thanks for stickin' with me, and hopefully some of your questions (if even you can remember what was going on…I sure as heck can't:P) were answered:P
RainStoem666: Thanks so much for reading, hopefully I haven't lost you for good:P lol. Harry can converse with the Dractnox with both his mind and just with normal speech….but then it just makes everyone think he's weird:P lol Thanks so much!
Teesta: thanks so much!
Omega-I: well, one more chap;)
TheBonnie: haha, yeah, I've been forever:P
Morough: Ha, I hope we even remember what's been going on:P Glad to see you've got a username:D
Shion20: Hope that answered your little question;)
Brittany: Hope you got what you expected;) lol
Neha: heh heh, yeah, that was a favourite for all;)