Harry looked up at his parents, who were smiling as if there was nothing at all strange about this situation.
"How?" He choked out.
"It doesn't matter how, son. We're here. We're here to help you finish this." James clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder.
"This is a trick." Harry shook his head vehemently,
stumbling backwards.
His mother and father looked at each other,
bewildered.
"Why would we trick you?"
"Voldemort's doing this. Or Snape. You aren't real."
"Harry, we've been watching over you all these years.
We thought it was about time we made an appearance."
"That's impossible."
"The ones who love you never really leave you." His mother said softly.
"Stop. Stop talking to me like you're her." Harry felt his eyes welling up with tears, unable to look at what he knew wasn't real.
"Please let us help you."
"The time's come to defeat him, Harry." His dad said,
his jaw set resolutely.
"I know."
"We'll go with you...stand at your side in your greatest victory." His mother said, smoothing down his his hair.
Harry tried to shake off the comfort of his mother's simple touch. He tried to force himself not to look at them, to keep explaining away their sudden appearance.
But he couldn't.
He didn't need an explanation. He needed his parents.
He swallowed hard.
"Mum...I can't do this."
Her face broke into a smile, tears filling her large green eyes.
"Of course you can, darling."
His father put his arm around Lily, looking at Harry seriously.
"This is the moment, Harry. Every step has brought you
closer to this place, to this chance. You could end it
all- all the suffering, all the pain, all the
sacrifice- it could be over when the sun cames up
tomorrow. Everyone- your mother and I, Sirius,
Dumbledore- knew you could do this. We still know. And
we're going to be there with you. No matter
what...you're not alone."
"What if I can't? What if I fail?" Harry finally voiced the question that always haunted him.
His father shook his head angrily.
"He's not your equal, Harry! You have powers he could never dream of possessing. Own them. Embrace what you meant for...and you won't fail."
Harry looked at them both for a long moment.
He took a deep breath.
"Let's go."
--
Ron finished reciting the spell along with Hermione,
and they stood there, wands held out, waiting.
Slowly, the substance around the door began to melt and pool at their feet.
"OH YEAH!" Ron pumped his fist in the air, grabbing her from the side and hugging her hard.
"Oww!" Hermione laughed.
He kissed her temple triumphantly, and they stepped through the open door together.
--
Draco looked between his mother and the man he now knew to be his true father.
"You're serious." He said, his young voice suddenly sounding very tired.
"Yes. I'm so sorry, darling. I wanted to tell you so many times, but I-"
"No, you didn't." Draco said wearily, running a hand through his hair.
He turned his attention to Snape.
"That's why you were always so nice to me. Why you always helped me with class."
Snape said nothing.
"Draco-" Narcissa reached out for him.
He stepped back, shaking his head. His light blue eyes were half-rimmed in tears.
"No. No. You don't talk to me anymore. Neither of you.
You lied to Dad, you lied to me- for all these years.
You don't get to just apologize and make everything
all right."
"Well, then what would have me do?" Narcissa said,
starting to cry.
"Get the hell out of my life."
Draco started to walk away, when suddenly Severus
spoke. His voice was so soft it was near a whisper,
and his eyes remained fixed on the ground.
"When have I ever let you down, Draco? I have saved
your life, time and time again. I performed the task
you could not. I took the life of a trusted mentor and
friend. For you, Draco. For my son. I gave up
everything," He finally did look up at this point,
Draco's back still to him, "And I'd do it again,
gladly."
Draco turned around, tears starting to fall down his pale cheeks.
"I'm not thanking a man who's lied to me my whole life."
He walked away, blinking back the hot sting of fresh tears.
--
Harry stood before the door to the final corridor, his hands shaking horribly.
"You really think I can do this?" He said, shaking out his hands before withdrawing his wand.
"I think this is what you've been waiting for your entire life." Lily said with a proud smile.
He nodded.
"We'll be right behind you. You can do this." James said
"We love you, Harry."
Lily leaned forward, kissing her son's forehead.
Harry took a deep breath, and with one last look back at them, he walked down the final hallway leading to Voldemort.
All roads had led him here.
It was time.
--
Ginny woke up with a jolt, her frighteningly thin arms strung up against the pillar.
Footsteps were echoing down the corridor leading to the chamber.
Her bare feet barely reached the ground. The ropes
binding her had been lowered little by little today,
and her back was bloody and raw from sliding down the
rough stone.
A long shadow appeared against the wall, illuminating a man entering the chamber.
Another one of Voldemort's followers, she thought without much feeling, here to inflict more pain. She had become almost immune to being hurt, telling herself that as long as she could feel pain, she was still alive. She still had a chance.
Suddenly, the man broke into a run, racing towards her.
Ginny drew in a sharp breath as the realization hit her, her dry throat barely able to form the word.
"Harry..."
--
Harry reached her, desperately tearing at the ropes binding her.
"Gin, I'm here, you're going to be okay, I'll get you out of this..." His voice was choked with the shock of finding her like this, so thin and pale.
She said something, too quiet for him to hear.
He took her face in his hands, his wand clattering to
the floor. She looked at him for a long, quiet moment,
and in her dark blue eyes he saw the girl he knew. He
saw Ginny, still somewhere deep within this broken,
beaten body.
"Harry..." She said again, a small smile spreading across her face.
"What is it, Gin?"
"I knew you'd come."
--
Ron threw his shoulder against the door.
"Okay, I think I just dislocated something."
"Don't be such a baby." Hermione sighed, flicking her wand and opening the door.
"Oh, aren't we clever." Ron rolled his eyes.
"I'd have thought you'd have figured that out by now"
She grinned, grabbing his arm and leading him through
the door.
They appeared to be in some kind of gallery.
Ron opened his mouth to say something else, but Hermione's grip on his arm tightened.
They heard voices.
Ron and Hermione raced to the edge, and looked down to see an enormous, sprawling chamber. And in the middle of the room, chained to a pillar, was Ginny, with Harry desperately trying to get her down.
Ron was about to shout that he and Hermione would be right there, but then his voice died in his throat.
A dark shadow was stretching across the room.
Voldemort was here.
--
Voldemort clapped his thin, skeletal hands at the sight of Harry and Ginny.
"Bravo, Harry."
Harry whipped around, grabbing his wand off the ground.
"You finally found me." Voldemort said, with a slow smile.
"You look like you're barely strong enough to be standing. Gone ill or something?" Harry said, his teeth clenched.
"You know perfectly well what's wrong with me, Harry."
"Do you want me to make a list?" Harry said, his voice surprisingly strong.
"You've found and destroyed almost every part of me.
For that, I must commend you. But you're not finished,
Harry. And neither am I."
"Let Ginny go. This is between you and me."
"No, Harry, it's not just between us anymore. Do you want to know why?"
Harry said nothing.
Voldemort nodded into one of the dark corners of the room.
Bellatrix stepped forward, holding the shards of Hufflepuff's cup in a wooden box.
"Harry, you remember Bellatrix, I assume?"
She looked at Harry, winking.
"What a handsome young man you've become." She leered in that horrible little girl voice.
Harry could practically feel his blood boiling.
"What my dear assistant holds in her hands is the
remainder of the last Horcrux you and your little
friends have destroyed. As I'm sure you now know,
there is a simple spell that can lead you from one
Horcrux to the next. One you've taken full advantage
of. And to commend you for your efforts, I'm going to
allow Bellatrix reveal to you the final Horcrux. Once
you destroy it, all that will be left to do is destroy
me."
Harry still didn't speak, proud of Ron and Hermione for destroying this themselves.Then, unbidden, his mind flashed to the fact that if Bellatrix had the shards of the cup now, she probably got it from Ron and Hermione.
She could have killed them. His two best friends could easily be dead.
Harry forced this thought to the back of his mind. He couldn't think about that now. He had to destroy the final Horcrux.
"Show me." He finally said.
"Gladly." Bellatrix cooed, waving her wand over the box.
"Revelio..."
Golden, glittering print began to write in thin air..
As more and more letters appeared, Bellatrix began to laugh- an awful, piercing laugh.
But Harry didn't even hear her.
The swirling print spelled out two words.
GINNY WEASLEY.
--
"What the-" Ron nearly threw himself over the edge to get to his sister.
Hermione grabbed him, one hand clamped over his mouth.
"Ron, if they know we're here, they'll kill us." She hissed urgently in his ear.
"You expect me to do NOTHING?" Ron looked at her in shock.
"This is Harry's fight. He'll find a way."
"By killing my sister??"
"You and I both know he'd never do that. There has to be another way."
"WHAT?"
Hermione looked at the ground, at a loss.
-
Ginny said nothing, looking at her name levitating
strangely in mid-air.
Harry hadn't moved, and the only sound in the room was Bellatrix's high-pitched laugh.
"You see, Miss Weasley and I have been closely linked
for some time. When the spirit of Tom Riddle entered
her, it made her take his place as the final Horcrux.
I couldn't have been happier. I knew that your best
friend's little sister would be well-protected. And
when Bellatrix told me you two had fallen in 'love"
Voldemort spat the word as if it was the most
detestable curse word he could think of, "I saw how
perfectly this would all play out."
Harry felt his hands begin to shake again. It sounded as if Voldemort was talking from very far away.
"So..." Voldemort held out his hands, "We're all
waiting...go on, Potter. Destroy the final Horcrux.
Kill her. It's your only chance of defeating me."
"No."
"Then you'll die where you stand. The wizarding world will lose its last hope. Is one little girl really more important than that?"
"I'M NOT KILLING HER." Harry said, his green eyes fiery.
"Well, then, this is the end of the road for you, I'm afraid. Bellatrix, remove my cloak."
Bellatrix smiled, slipping the cloak off his frail shoulders.
"Kill him, Master. I've waited seventeen years to watch this."
"Dumbledore always called your love your strength. But
now...I am proved in thinking it is your greatest
weakness. You could save thousands of lives...but no.
Your "love" is what dooms you. What dooms everyone."
"Wait!" Ginny suddenly cried out.
They all turned to her.
"Harry...just do it." She said, a familiar look of "don't-even-try-to-argue-with-me" in her eyes.
"Don't be crazy." Harry laughed weakly.
"You'll save everyone. You'll set them all free.
Please...I'm begging you. End this. It's worth it."
"Not if it means losing you!" Harry looked at her incredulously.
Ginny looked at him, a small, sad smile on her face.
"Harry, I love you. You know that. And that's enough for me. I don't have any regrets, and if my life is the cost of ending this war...then it's time. I'm ready."
"No, Ginny, stop talking that way."
"Harry, how about some parental advice?" Voldemort beckoned to the corridor where his parents were watching.
Bellatrix marched over to them, pushing them out into the open, muttering under her breath.
Harry looked at them desperately. But their eyes had gone strangely blank.
"What's wrong, little Harry? Ask them what to do"
Bellatrix smiled.
Right before his eyes, his mother's beautiful skin was rotting and peeling. His father's brown eyes were beginning to jut out as his face thinned and hollowed.
With the horrible smell of singed flesh, they were turning back into corpses. Their bones appeared as their human bodies melted away.
Harry gagged, stumbling backwards.
Ginny closed her eyes, unable to watch.
"Lily and James Potter don't appear to be the formidable foes they once were." Voldemort smiled, his fanged teeth horrifically revealed.
His mother and father's skeletons fell to the floor,
cracking on impact.
"My idea, Harry. A little twist on the Inferi that I created. Fully reanimated visions of the dead. Did you like their little visit?" Bellatrix laughed.
Harry vomited on the cold stone floor, feeling like his insides were ripped out through his mouth.
"Guess he didn't like my little treat." Bellatrix shrugged to Voldemort.
"No one's here to help you now, Harry. Time to make a
decision for yourself. They've all left you. Sirius,
Dumbledore, your parents, your friends..."
"BECAUSE OF YOU!" Harry shouted, choking on a sob.
"Why don't you face me like a man then?" Voldemort shouted back.
Harry looked at him, blind hatred coursing through him. Voldemort smiled at the look on his face.
"There you go, Harry! There's the anger you need! Now do it! Kill her! Finish me! Show me what you're really made of! If you're really the one to defeat me, then PROVE IT!!"
Suddenly, Bellatrix let out a cry, falling to the ground.
Behind her stood Narcissa and Snape.
"If he won't finish you, we will." Narcissa said,
stepping over her unconscious sister.
Voldemort looked at them, amused.
"What is this, a coup?"
"You could say that." Narcissa said, walking towards Voldemort.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Harry cried.
But Snape ignored him, not even drawing out his wand.
He put his hand on Ginny's arm, and started to speak
softly.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!!" Harry scrambled to his feet,
racing over to Ginny.
"Do it, Narcissa!" Snape cried, stepping away from Ginny.
Narcissa spun towards Ginny.
"Avada Kedavra!" She shouted, and a blast of green light hurled towards Ginny.
--
Harry and Ron's desperate shouts were drowned out by the terrific blast of Narcissa's curse.
The green haze finally settled, Harry racing through it with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Ron had shaken off Hermione, running down the steps to the chamber.
Suddenly, Hermione caught his arm.
"Ron...look..." She whispered.
Ron stopped in shock.
Narcissa's wand clattered to the floor.
Harry nearly fell over, catching himself on the pillar that held Ginny. Ginny- who was still very much alive.
Harry looked down to see what had tripped him.
The dead body of Severus Snape lay at his feet.
Snape had thrown himself in front of the curse.
"Look at the Revelio curse." Hermione said, her hand holding Ron's arm tightly.
It no longer spelled Ginny Weasley. Wisps of smoke revealed where it had changed seconds ago to SEVERUS SNAPE. And with his death, the lettering had disappeared.
"W-What-" Ron stammered.
"He transferred the Horcrux to himself." Hermione blinked in awe.
--
Narcissa raced to Severus' side.
Harry's wand stuck his wand against the skin of her neck. She looked at him, her blue eyes full of tears.
"Get out. You have no chance without Severus of ever accomplishing anything." He said coldly.
She shook Severus.
"How could you do this to me? How could you leave me like this?"
"Get OUT." Harry repeated.
Suddenly, Narcissa went totally rigid, falling to the ground as chains wrapped around her.
"You heard him."
Harry turned around to see Ron and Hermione.
Hermione's wand was out.
Harry felt oddly conflicted at the sight of them-
happy they were all right, but wishing they were a
million miles away and safe.
She stepped behind the pillar, doing another spell.
Ginny's chains vanished, and she fell into her
brother's arms.
"Severus transferred the Horcrux to himself. It's almost over now." Hermione said quietly.
"Go on, Harry." Ron said, nodding towards Voldemort,
who looked significantly weakened by this sudden blow.
The last remaining bit of his soul barely clung on inside of him.
Harry turned to face him.
"Your little friends are making this too easy"
Voldemort forced a smile, shakily raising his wand,
aiming it at Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.
"Avada-"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted back furiously, and their wands connected again.
But this time, Harry was not a weak, fourteen-year-old boy. He faced Voldemort as man now, and within no time, the small orb of light was dangerously close to the white, withered hands of Voldemort.
Harry could practically feel all of them next to him.
His parents. Dumbledore. Sirius. Every life that had
been lost because of this creature in front of him.
But there was nothing left to fear. Harry could and would beat him now.
Harry closed the space between them, the bonebreaking effort of maintaining the connection making it enormously difficult to put one foot in front of the other.
"It's over, Voldemort!" Harry shouted over the roaring wind connecting their two wands, looking into his serpentine eyes.
Harry was finally successful, and the orb blasted into
Voldemort with a blinding light. Vodemort's wand
dropped to the ground. Harry stood over him- a sad,
pale monster shaking and writhing on the ground.
Voldemort looked up at him, blood seeping from his eyes. He was crumbling to pieces, his last shreds of life slipping away like water through cupped hands.
Harry sheathed his own wand, drawing out Gryffindor's sword.
He raised it above his head.
Voldemort's voice, small and weak, echoed sadly through the chamber.
"Please..."
Without a moment's hesitation, Harry brought the sword down, slicing through the withered skin of Voldemort's neck.
As Voldemort died, his bones turned to ash, his body dissolving in a mass of flames.
Silence fell over the chamber.
It was finished.
--
A/N- Next time- three months from the death of Voldemort. The Aftermath and final chapter. Thanks for reading!
miss you katie!
love you and see you soon ev