A/N: Sorry again for the delay. It took a while to get this chapter to where I was satisfied with it. Now that this is done, I should be able to get the last chapter done by Monday. Then I will begin working on the sequel.
Enjoy!
Chapter Twenty-One
Endgame
Harry's counter spell met Voldemort's in mid air and both of the spells were sent off in different directions with a bang. Harry stood stock still while Voldemort circled him.
"You know, Harry. I was going to try one more time to recruit you, but you have become too much of an irritation to me," Voldemort said. He sent off another simple curse which Harry simply twisted to avoid, never taking his eyes off of Voldemort.
"Really Tom?" Harry said with a grin. "And here I thought I had done that a long time ago. It just shows me how thick you really are."
Harry dodged another curse, and fired one of his own. Voldemort swept it aside with ease. His crimson eyes flared in anger and he advanced a step closer to Harry. He threw another curse and Harry deflected it with a spell of his own again. Voldemort was getting angry that Harry was defending himself so well, and not giving him a window to attack in.
"Do you really think you can kill me Potter?" Voldemort hissed. Harry's eyebrow raised and he grinned.
"Who said anything about killing you, Tom?" Harry asked cryptically. Voldemort laughed at his reply.
"So now you admit you cannot kill me?" Voldemort said. Harry shook his head and smiled again.
"Oh I wouldn't say that, Tom," Harry answered. "But you won't like what I will do to you."
Voldemort's eyes narrowed and he sent a killing curse at Harry. Harry ducked, still not taking his eyes off of Voldemort. Harry sent a simple stunner, knowing it would not do anything to him, and it hit Voldemort. As Harry predicted, the spell simply sent Voldemort back a step. Voldemort stopped talking and proceeded to rain down curses on Harry. Whatever spells Harry could not avoid, he would send his curses into the paths of Voldemort's, knocking them off course.
Voldemort grew tired of the game Harry was playing, and sent another killing curse at Harry. It was a bit too close to Harry, and he had to spin to avoid it, since he was not sure if his sword could deflect the curse. Voldemort took that moment to send a series of hexes and curses; knowing Harry was a bit occupied with avoiding the killing curse. Harry was hit by a strong bone breaking curse in his left foot. His spin was interrupted, but not before he was able to send off a bludgeoning curse back at Voldemort.
Both of the combatants fell to the ground, wincing in pain. Harry muttered a quick healing charm on his foot while Voldemort prepared to attack again. Harry stood up just as Voldemort called out a spell that Harry did not expect.
"Legilimens!"
ooo
Bill had arrived right after Harry at the edge of the wards, and he started to immediately take down the anti-portkey wards. He had them down in a matter of a few minutes and the Auror force portkeyed in. They all heard Harry call for Fawkes, and they sprung into action as they heard Voldemort snarl in rage.
They stormed the house, easily overpowering the remaining Death Eaters. The Death Eaters were bound and stunned in a matter of moments. After they had been sent back to the holding cells, the force advanced to the rear of the house. They entered the back yard and found that they were being held back from advancing any further due to an invisible field.
"Bloody hell," Ron said. "We need to help him!" He watched Harry dodging curses and sending his own back. Most of the Aurors watched in awe as Harry was effectively bringing Voldemort to a stalemate. Ron tried to push through the barrier, but he was pushed back again.
"Ron, this barrier is to prevent any interference of the duel," Bill said after he ran a scan of the barrier. "We can't help him."
Ron turned his attention back to Harry and saw that Harry had been hit. But he cheered out loud when Harry had hit Voldemort as well in the process. Ron's cheer died out a moment later when Voldemort forced his way into Harry's mind. Both of the combatants stood still as the battle raged on in Harry's mind.
ooo
Voldemort was trying to push his way through Harry's initial mental wall when he heard a roar from above him. He looked up and saw that a Hungarian Horntail was closing in on him fast. Voldemort quickly jumped out of the path of the dragon as it swooped down at him. He gathered his energy and sent a large burst of magic at the dragon. He had hit and wounded the dragon, but it was still active.
Voldemort smirked to himself and had to admit, Harry's first defense of his mind was rather impressive. 'Oh how would I have loved to have this man at my side. He would have made a truly valuable asset to my cause,' Voldemort thought to himself. He sent another burst of magic at the dragon, effectively disabling it. When the dragon did not move, Voldemort turned back to the wall in front of him. It looked like a solid steel wall, but with enough force, he would be able to break it.
Voldemort proceeded to hammer on the wall with strong curses for a few moments. The wall began to bend and warp, but it was trying to repair itself as he continued to try to break down the wall. He managed to weaken it enough to punch through it. He sent his most powerful reductor towards the wall and saw a hole that he could squeeze through. He quickly passed through the space. But when he turned around, he discovered that the hole had closed rather quickly. Weighing his options, he decided that if he was trapped in Harry's mind, he would do as much damage as possible.
He looked around and saw what looked like the restricted section of Hogwart's library. He sent as many curses as he could at the bookshelves, but the spells were deflected by a strong shield on each book case. He continued to work on one at a time until he felt a hand grab the back of his cloak and yank him to the ground. He looked up and saw a very angry Harry Potter balling his fists.
"You just made your last mistake, Tom," Harry said. He drew back his fist and punched Voldemort as hard as he could.
Voldemort's head was ringing after the first punch. Unfortunately for him, Harry did not stop with one punch. Harry rained down a series of hard blows on Voldemort. Voldemort managed to scramble away from Harry's attack, but only for a moment. He desperately looked around for an exit when Harry caught up to him. Harry landed a solid kick to Voldemort's back, sending him flying into the steel wall that was Harry's shield. Harry approached his battered enemy and grabbed the front of Voldemort's robes.
"Get. Out. Of. My. MIND!" Harry yelled as he punctuated each of his words which a punch. Harry backed up and spun around, throwing a crippling kick to Voldemort's chest. Harry' foot connected and a small hole opened in the steel wall allowing Voldemort to fly at high speed out of Harry's mind.
ooo
Ron saw Harry jerk himself roughly, and then Voldemort went flying back several feet, crying out in pain. Voldemort was lying on the ground for a few moments clutching his head. Harry closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his strength.
ooo
Harry rebuilt his wall, and added a couple of more dragons for his perimeter watch. He opened his eyes and saw Voldemort getting to his feet shakily. Harry raised his wand and fired several curses at Voldemort.
Voldemort's eyes widened considerably when he saw the curses coming at him. He dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. He was covered in a thin layer of dirt that had been thrown into the air by Harry's spell. He stood again, and raised his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort hollered. Harry sidestepped the curse with ease and resumed his barrage of spells.
Voldemort went on the defensive and conjured a strong shield. With each spell that impacted on his shield, he was pushed back a few inches. The shield was ringing like a gong with each impact. Voldemort cursed under his breath as each hit weakened the shield. Soon cracks could be seen and he was weakening from the energy drain of the spell he was using. The shield broke apart, forcing Voldemort to dodge again. He tried to send a few retaliatory spell back at Harry, but Harry was not relenting at all.
Harry was exhausted from the constant spell casting, but he pushed forward as much as he could. His barrage was stopped suddenly by a sharp pain in his right leg. He looked down quickly and found a small dagger sticking into his leg. Voldemort saw his opening and struck as hard as he could.
"CRUCIO!" he shouted. Harry conjured his special shield, but it only held for a few moments. Since he did not have anyone else that he could draw power from, the shield only lasted for about ten seconds. The curse hit Harry in the chest and he fell to the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain. He quickly reinforced his occlumency shields and grinned at Voldemort.
Voldemort snarled in rage as Harry struggled to stand up while under the cruciatus curse. But when Harry started to walk towards him with a feral grin, Voldemort felt something he had rarely ever felt. Fear. 'How can this be?!' he screamed in his mind. Clenching his jaw even tighter, he poured more power into the curse. Harry stumbled for a moment, but then regained his footing and continued on his way towards Voldemort.
ooo
Ron saw the cruciatus curse hit Harry and saw him fall. Everyone's shoulders fell, knowing that when this happened during a battle, the victim was usually killed shortly after. Each of the Aurors prepared themselves to have to face Voldemort, and they knew a lot of them would not survive, if any at all. Ron blanched when he saw Harry stand up while still under the curse.
"What the…" he exclaimed. Bill's jaw fell open as he saw Harry slowly advancing on Voldemort.
"Uhh, Ron? Did you know he could do that?" Bill asked.
"I heard he did it to Snape, but I never thought Harry could withstand Voldemort's," Ron said.
Bill whistled softly to himself. He never knew that it was possible for someone to be able to do what Harry was doing. He cheered with everyone else when he reached up and snatched the wand Voldemort was using out of his hand and snapped it.
ooo
Harry stood in front of Voldemort with the two pieces of a wand in his hands. He reached down and yanked the dagger out of his leg. He knew the knife was poisoned, but he didn't have time to worry about that now. He felt a chill in the air that meant only one thing. The dementors were coming.
The dementors hit the barrier blocking Harry and Voldemort, and then they noticed the rest of the gathering of humans on the other side of the field. They quickly flew off to attack the group of Aurors. Harry could not allow that to happen. He threw a sharp kick into Voldemort's chest, effectively knocking him back quite a few feet and he landed in a crumpled heap. Harry drew his other wand after sheathing his sword.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" he yelled. A stag and a large dog leapt from his original wand, while a large dragon erupted from his custom wand. They joined the others that the Auror group had summoned as well.
He turned his attention back to Voldemort. He was standing again, but he had been weakened by the battle so far. Harry put his wands away and drew his sword. He stepped towards Voldemort and smiled when he saw Voldemort back up a few steps. Harry's head was pounding from the energy he had used so far, and he could feel the poison slowly burning its way through his veins.
Voldemort looked around for a weapon, but he was unable to find one. In desperation, he charged at Harry. Harry had not expected this and his sword dropped a bit in his surprise. Voldemort collided with him and they were knocked to the ground. Harry threw Voldemort off of him and saw that Voldemort had managed to get a hold of Harry's original wand.
ooo
Hermione woke with a start and tried to sit up. She was pushed back down by a firm yet gentle hand. She looked over and saw Madame Pomfrey giving her a stern look.
"Take it easy, Ms. Granger," she said. "You have been through a terrible ordeal. You need time to rest." Hermione brushed Madame Pomfrey's hand off and tried to sit up again. A sharp pain in her side let her know that she had at least a couple of ribs that had been broken.
"Poppy, I appreciate your concern, but I need to get back to Harry!" Hermione said. She moved to stand, but she was pushed back down again.
"Ms. Granger. If you persist in this course of action, I will have to restrain you," Poppy said sternly. Hermione sighed in frustration. She could feel her ring heating up, meaning that Harry was in danger or was seriously injured. She turned her head when she heard a comforting trill and saw Fawkes on a perch nearby.
"Fawkes, can you hear me?" Hermione said in her mind. She heard him chuckle in her mind.
"Of course I can, Hermione. But my answer is no. I will not take you to him. It is too dangerous, and besides. Harry has invoked a traditional one on one duel. I cannot penetrate the barrier around him. We will have to wait," Fawkes sent back to her. Hermione became more nervous than she had been before. Harry was fighting alone against a monster. Her mood became darker by the moment as the ring continued to become steadily hotter.
ooo
Harry stared at Voldemort, who was grinning like a madman now that he had Harry's wand. Voldemort conjured a sword in his other hand with Harry's wand. Voldemort smirked, knowing that Harry had the brother to his previous wand and it would work terrifically for him.
"Ah, now that's better," Voldemort hissed. "Now that I have a proper wand, I shall be able to finish this very quickly." Harry had a sudden idea. He knew Voldemort had no idea about the sword and how it worked. He flicked his wrist and his custom wand popped out of his wrist holder. True to his prediction, Voldemort fell for it.
"Oh no, we can't have that. Expelliarmus!" Voldemort said lazily. Harry watched the spell rocket towards him and he angled his sword.
Voldemort was shocked to see the disarming spell flying at him at double the speed. He tried to dodge the spell, but it was moving too fast for him. Harry's wand flew through the air and landed in Harry's hand. He quickly put it into his wrist holster where it could not be taken out again except for him. He pocketed his custom wand, mentally daring Voldemort to go after that one.
"Impressive Potter," Voldemort remarked. "However, you will find that I am also a well established swordsman." Harry raised his eyebrow.
"You had better be more impressive than Grigor," Harry said. "He was a fine swordsman, but he still fell to my blade."
Voldemort's eyes narrowed. He had known Grigor had been killed by the reports of him fighting Potter, but not that he had been defeated by swordplay. Grigor was one of the few who could beat Voldemort in a sparring match. To hear Harry had killed Grigor unnerved him greatly. He slowly raised his sword as Harry did the same.
Harry started with his traditional respectful salute, but he noticed Voldemort did not do the same. Harry stared at him in shock as Voldemort simply charged at him. Harry easily deflected the initial strike.
"Bad form, Tom," Harry said. Voldemort simply snarled in anger and lunged again.
Harry parried the blow again and this time he forced Voldemort's blade back a bit. Voldemort continued to do fast and precise strikes, but Harry parried each one. Harry went on the offensive. With a flurry of blows Harry had driven Voldemort back several steps. Voldemort was still weak from the mental battle earlier and he was losing ground fast. His hand and arm were getting sore from the intense vibrations from the blows Harry was striking. He reached inside his robes and reached for his emergency portkey. But as soon as he touched it, it burned his hand. He backed up a step and looked at his burned hand.
"What's the matter Tom? Trying to run away from a formal duel?" Harry said with a clever grin. Voldemort looked back at Harry and realized he was right. He could not escape from the duel, as it was a formal duel and he would have to yield to end the duel. Voldemort knew that Harry would never yield.
In desperation, Voldemort lunged at Harry again, but Harry was ready for it. He quickly stepped to the side and brought his blade down hard. With a flash and a loud snap, Voldemort's blade was broken. His forward motion carried him a little past Harry.
Harry flipped his sword in a fluid movement and spun around. His aim was true as the blade pierced Voldemort from behind and went into his heart. Voldemort screamed in pain and fell to his knees. Since the sword had pierced him from behind he could not even try to pull it out. He looked down and saw the runes on the blade start to glow.
ooo
The dementors had been driven off right away. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the dementors fled, only to find they had only made it halfway to Harry's position. Everyone had chuckled to hear the dementors scream like little girls when they were faced with so many people casting a patronus at once.
Ron had watched the battle nervously. Knowing he could do nothing to help his best friend, Ron did the only thing he could think of. He prayed. He prayed to Merlin, Dumbledore, and to anyone else he could think of. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see Bill nodding his head and he gave Ron's shoulder a quick squeeze.
"Relax little brother, you know Harry. The one thing he doesn't know how to do is fail," Bill said. Ron smiled and nodded. He looked over just in time to see Harry run Voldemort through with the Edge of the Light. Everyone near Ron cheered to see Voldemort fall to his knees.
ooo
Harry watched as the runes glowed and Voldemort's eyes went blank for a moment. Then Voldemort started to scream in pain. Harry was getting dizzy from the poison in his system, and his vision was getting a little fuzzy around the edges. He backed up and sat down as the sword did its job. Harry could see that the containment orb was turning a greenish black and was trembling.
Voldemort continued to scream until he saw images flash in his mind. He started to feel something he had not felt in many, many years. Not since he was a young child and back at the orphanage. He felt something on his face and then he realized the sensation. He was crying. The strange feeling he had forgotten was sadness. He watched as scenes played out in his mind of the things he had done. He tried to comprehend what kind of monster would be capable of such acts of cruelty. The tears streamed down his face as he watched scene after scene. And when it came down to the end of the scenes, he realized something.
He had done these horrible acts. He was truly a monster and he cried out in despair. He wanted to end this miserable existence of his. 'How could I have gone this far? I only wanted to get back at my father for deserting my mum?' he thought to himself. He felt the searing pain stop and then he felt the sword being pulled from his body. He looked up at the heavens and prayed for a quick death. But it never came as the wound had healed itself.
Harry stood shakily looking down at Voldemort. He held his word and wand that ready, just in case. The containment orb was still shuddering, making the whole sword vibrate. Whatever the sword had pulled out of Voldemort, it was not happy to be contained in such a way. Harry's vision was still getting blurrier, as the poison threatened to overtake him. His heartbeat had become erratic, but no one could help him since Voldemort had not yielded or been killed. According to the magic around them, the duel was still going.
"My God," Voldemort whispered. He looked up at Harry, and immediately winced and looked away. "How can you stand to be near me after all I have done to you and yours?"
"Voldemort-" Harry rasped before he was interrupted.
"Tom." Harry looked bewildered for a moment.
"Excuse me?" Harry asked quizzically.
"My name is Tom Riddle." Harry nodded in acknowledgement.
"Tom," Harry said. "Do you yield?"
"I do," Tom whispered. With a pulse of magic the barrier disappeared and the Auror force charged over to them. Harry fell to the ground and started to convulse.
"HARRY!" Ron screamed. He slid to a stop next to Harry desperately trying to hold Harry's head still. Another couple of Aurors held his body down while they tried to stabilize him. "What's happening to him?"
"I hit him with a poisoned dagger," was the whispered reply. Tom held out his hands towards the Aurors, waiting to be taken away. They bound him and stunned him. Once they took him back to the strongest holding cell they had. Bill returned with the dagger and conjured a sealed container around it.
They were about to call for an emergency medical team when a flash of fire heralded the arrival of Fawkes. By that time, Harry was unconscious. Fawkes flew over and landed on his leg and started to cry in Harry's leg wound. There was a foul hissing sound as the phoenix tears eradicated the poison. Fawkes gripped Harry's leg and with a flash of flame, he took Harry away from the field.
Ron sat there in shock at the space where his best friend was a moment ago. He stood up and reached down to pick up Harry's sword. He noticed the shuddering containment orb and a chill went down his spine. He was holding the essence of Voldemort's evil. A determined look came upon his face and he turned and apparated away.
ooo
Hermione was nervous when Fawkes had disappeared a few moments ago, knowing that the duel had finished, but she did not know how badly Harry had been hurt. The ring on her hand was burning fiercely, meaning it was not good. Fawkes arrived in a flash of flame, depositing Harry gently on a bed. Hermione jumped up and ran to his side, calling for Madame Pomfrey.
"POPPY!!" she hollered. Madame Pomfrey had been waiting for Harry to arrive. And knowing how Harry got into trouble, she knew he would need a lot of work.
"Let me through Ms. Granger," Poppy said firmly. She waved her wand over Harry and began to pull out several potions. "Tilt his head back so we can get these into him."
Harry's leg wound was still hissing a bit, and Fawkes landed on his leg again, crying into the wound some more. The wound finally closed up, and some color returned to Harry's cheeks. Hermione sat down and let Poppy work on Harry.
An hour had gone by and Hermione had told the gathered group of Aurors and their friends that Harry was still not fully out of the woods yet. She told them that the poison was resistant to Fawkes' tears. All they could do was sit and wait for a miracle.
ooo
Harry had been lost in a grey and blank landscape when he finally heard some muffled voices. He tried to open his eyes, but they would not move. He felt a warm sensation on his hand. He managed to get his pinky to move just a tiny bit. A startled gasp met Harry's ears, but he couldn't move any more than he had. His body was so tired and all he wanted to do was sleep.
"Harry?" he heard someone say. He knew the voice, but his mind was too fuzzy to place the voice. He drifted off to the grey landscape once more.
ooo
He emerged from the grey landscape later, and this time he was able to move a few of his fingers. His hand was gathered up gently and placed against something warm and soft.
"Harry? Can your hear me?" the pleasant voice said. This time his mind was clear enough to recognized Hermione's voice. He moved his index finger, trying to wipe a tear away.
"Hrmne," he mumbled. He felt a small wet splash on his face. He forced open one of his eyes and had to shut it right away because of the intense light. "Eyes hurt."
"Harry, just listen. You need to rest up some more. Your eyes need to get used to light again. Just don't push yourself too quickly," Hermione said. She shifted to allow Poppy to administer a potion. Harry swallowed the potion and his throat felt better right away.
"How long?" he whispered.
"Harry, it's been two weeks since you came here. Just relax. You need to rebuild your strength," Hermione said. Harry nodded and he drifted off again after Poppy had him drink another potion.
ooo
Harry steadily improved in his condition, not wanting to incur any wrath from the two stern ladies who were watching over him. It was another three days before he was able to fully wake up and be aware of his surroundings. After another week, Poppy had let him start trying to work his strength up so that he could start to walk on his own again.
During that time, he learned that the poison that he had been afflicted with was a mixture of basilisk venom and some other unidentifiable poison. Fawkes' tears had cured the basilisk venom, but it was a slow progress with the other poison. They had tried experimental antidotes and they finally got the right mixture four days after Harry had been poisoned. But it had done so much damage, that it took quite a few restorative potions to start to reverse the damage.
By the time five weeks had gone by, Harry was able to walk at a somewhat slow pace, but he was unassisted and he did not have to use a cane even. His health improved rapidly, and finally the day came that Poppy was ready to release him.
"Mr. Potter-" she started to say.
"Poppy, how long have you known me? Call me Harry please," he said with a smile.
"Very well. Harry, just remember to take it easy. No more hunting evil wizards for quite a while please," Poppy said. He answered her with a hug that caught her off guard.
"Poppy, you know I adore you, but I would prefer to be in your company for tea, instead of being threatened with ropes to keep me in a bed, thank you," Harry said. Poppy smiled and hugged him back. "Thanks for helping save my life, Poppy. I owe you one."
"Keeping yourself healthy and uninjured will be enough for me, Harry," she said.
The said their goodbyes and Harry and Hermione left Hogwarts for their home. After some settling back in, and getting Harry comfortable, they were able to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Voldemort was gone, they both survived the ordeal, and so did their friends. Hermione only had one more thing she wanted and decided it was time to mention it to Harry.
"Harry, remember what you said to me a couple of months ago?" she asked.
"Which conversation was that?" Harry asked, looking up from his book. She smiled a dazzling smile that made his heart speed up.
"Oh just the little thing we talked about. You know, waiting to get married until After Voldemort was dealt with," She said.
"Ah, yes. As a matter of fact, I do," he said nonchalantly. Hermione's face fell, thinking he had changed his mind. He had caught her look of disappointment and smiled.
"I think we might just have to remedy that, shall we?" Harry said. Hermione looked up and smiled and rushed over to him. She sat down on his lap and they sat the rest of the night, staring at the dying flames of the fire, slowly falling into a peaceful sleep.