Chapter 11-The Sacrifice
Harry could only watch in wonder as Ginny valiantly defended herself. Voldemort slung spells at her faster than he could follow with his eyes, each one knocked aside instantly by the fiery redhead. Voldemort's responses were growing slower and slower from the deadly wound that Harry had inflicted with Godric's sword, but he was still a challenging opponent. Ginny was slowing as well, there was only so much of his vicious attacks she could take. Harry could only watch, writhing in pain, wondering what had caused such a reaction inside of him. He had never been this incapacitated before.
He had never been this helpless.
He wanted desperately to protect the girl he loved, to save her from the battle that he should be fighting, but he was powerless.
He struggled against the oppressing weight of his pain, but it would not relent. The fight was Ginny's now, she was on her own.
"Fool of a girl! I will break you like I broke him. You are stupid to challenge me." Voldemort threatened, although doubt could be seen in his eyes.
Ginny didn't waste time on making a witty reply, all of her efforts were contained in blocking his attacks. This was by far the most challenging duel she had ever been engaged in, but she supposed she should have expected no less from the great Dark Wizard himself.
Finally, Ginny spotted an opening in his defenses.
"Sectumsempra!" She shouted. The spell flew through the air at unearthly speed, and struck him square in the chest, on top of the wound Harry had made.
Ginny smiled in triumph, but her moment of victory was short-lived. Her smile faded as the spell that was so expertly delivered was absorbed into an orange haze, disintegrating into nothing, having no effect on Voldemort whatsoever.
"What?" Ginny whispered in shock.
Harry hung his head. How could they defeat Voldemort, if not with spells?
Voldemort sneered in sinister victory. "I told you that you were a fool for challenging me. Did I not say there was no escape? You cannot beat me. Surely you didn't think I was lying about that?"
Ginny's heart dropped like a rock in an endlessly deep lake, sinking and sinking until the surface could no longer be distinguished from its depths. What had she gotten herself into? What sort of evil power was he using?
"Magic is useless against me." He repeated again, rubbing in his victory.
Ginny set her mouth in a grim line, making a decision that was one of the riskiest she would ever make.
"Then I will use no magic." She said as she swiftly put her wand away.
Harry almost choked on his breath. What was she thinking? That wand was her only hope!
Voldemort's eyes widened in shock. "I am impressed. I didn't know a little girl like you would be brave enough to provide the sacrifice that we need."
"What sacrifice?" Ginny asked in confusion. Her heart rate sped up even more from his foreboding words.
"Oh, Harry didn't tell you?" Voldemort replied casually.
Harry remembered those cursed words from Voldemort, wishing they weren't true. He didn't know exactly what this meant, but he knew that the chances of both of them escaping this catastrophe alive were very slim.
Harry shot up a distress signal with what little strength he had left, praying that some sort of salvation would come to their aid.
If no one came, then their fate would surely be bleak.
Harry hung his head in defeat.
He had failed her.
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Neville never did have a good sense of direction, especially not in castles with staircases that liked to move.
But his anger drove him onward, pushing him past fatigue, increasing his adrenaline until he ran with vicious abandon.
Bellatrix was in the castle, the woman responsible for his parents' insanity. She had come to the school to exterminate them all for the twisted love that she had for her master, taking away the fragile shards of Neville's life that she hadn't already destroyed. Although hate was a rather passionate word to describe Neville's impassive nature, there was no more fitting word to describe his feelings towards that monster.
Neville wanted more than anything to see her suffer, to see the look in her eyes when she fell, at last, defeated. He wanted to see his parents avenged. He wanted to be the one that did it, but he was so afraid of facing her and failing like he had so many times before. He could not bear to see that victorious gleam in her eyes, he could not face his own disappointment after failing to do the one thing he had always dreamed of doing.
Neville needed to see her brought down.
He would not be able to rest until she was as lame and pathetic as her own victims.
He needed to see the light leave her eyes.
He shoved aside his fear, and raced after her like a madman, determined to accomplish this one thing for the sake of his parents.
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A seemingly harmless schoolgirl shot deadly spells at a witch in a corridor strewn with bodies.
A killer with a gleam of madness in her eyes fought desperately to add to the number that she had already killed.
Amidst all this, a life hung in the balance while the war raged on.
Hermione shot spells at her with reckless abandon, realizing that Draco's life was relying on her ability to get through this quickly. It was not only important whether or not she won, it was important how quickly she could win. This was no longer a battle against her opponent, it was a battle against the tyrant of time itself.
How long could he cheat death?
Would it be enough?
"Just give up, little girl. This isn't your world. Go back to your soap operas and disgusting machines, leave us true wizards alone. You are not wanted here!" Bellatrix taunted.
Draco had managed to wake up at this point, and was watching the exchange between the two. He was dangerously close to being engulfed by the abyss of unconsciousness again, but he fought it with all he had. The wound in his chest had stopped bleeding, but he had already lost so much blood that it still had a great effect on him. Hermione's healing spells had stopped the damage from spreading, but they had not healed the existing damage or eliminated the pain.
Despite all this, he still tried to help her.
"Hermione… Hermione… I believe in you…" It was barely a whisper, but it was enough for her.
Hermione turned to face him, spending precious seconds on a plan that she could only pray would work.
"Your wand" She mouthed silently. Then, as quickly as she had left it, she plunged back into the exchange of deadly spells with Bellatrix.
Draco had seemed to understand, however, because he brought out his wand for her to see.
Hermione waited for an opening in Bellatrix's attacks. As soon as she saw it, she put her plan into action.
"Accio wand!!" Hermione commanded.
Draco's wand flew towards her with unearthly speed, landing cleanly in her outstretched left hand. Without waiting for a second, she started launching attacks at her opponent from both wands, overwhelming her with force.
Bellatrix's eyes widened in shock, trying desperately to defend herself against the double assault of spells.
"What? You're just a Mudblood. Lord Voldemort can't even pull that off!!" Bellatrix shouted over the commotion of spells.
"Then die at the hand of the Mudblood who wasn't good enough for the order of purebloods. Die because of your ignorance." Hermione countered as she increased the frequency of spells.
Draco watched with rapt attention. He had never seen such skill come out of Hermione before, such rage he had never seen within those peaceful brown eyes. She was obviously insulted by the Mudblood comment. Draco couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, knowing that he had surely caused her pain many times through his careless words.
"You underestimate me because of my blood, something that I cannot change. You are the one who will pay the price." Hermione taunted angrily, never losing the target of her ambidextrous assault.
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw a figure enter the room. His vision blurred from his semicomatose condition. He couldn't be sure who it was, but if he had to make a guess, it would be Neville.
"Neville! What are you doing?" Hermione bellowed above the commotion of spells.
Draco's suspicions were confirmed. The underestimated, forgotten coward had come back for revenge long overdue.
"Something I should have done a long time ago." Neville said as he strode forward bravely. Draco had to admit, he was impressed with the sudden courage from the boy. Perhaps there was a Gryffindor within him after all.
Neville joined in the flurry of spells, overcoming Bellatrix's feeble attempts to defend herself. She was hopeless against three wands, she never stood a chance against Neville's courage and Hermione's intelligence.
Her guard was just a second too slow, and a spell hit her square in the chest. She flew back, hit the wall with a deadly thud, and then slid to the floor in a heap. Hermione, against her better judgment, warily approached her to make sure that the deed had been done.
"Worthless…. Mudblood…." She heard muttering. Bellatrix was not dead, but she was getting there rather quickly.
"Some will never change." Hermione said sadly.
Neville asked, "Does it hurt… when they say things like that?"
Hermione looked at him, admiring him for his sudden display of bravery. "No, no it doesn't hurt as much anymore. I'm okay."
Neville observed, "I don't know much about this, being a pureblood, but… Hermione, maybe it should hurt."
Hermione thought about his words, pondering them quietly.
"This shouldn't be common. You shouldn't have to be used to treatment like that."
The pangs of guilt that Draco had felt before suddenly turned very strong very quickly.
"You're… right, Neville." Hermione said in wonder at her own words. "You're right."
She stepped forward, examining the babbling Bellatrix in her final moments. She was a mess, bleeding from the spell and the impact against the wall. She lay helplessly, at the mercy of those whom she had openly mocked for years.
"Not fair… not fair… fight… too many… not fair, not fair!" Bellatrix babbled in broken sentences. Hermione assumed it was in reference to the way they ganged up on her in their fight.
"At least we left you with the opportunity to acknowledge that it wasn't a fair fight. Your victims died in cold blood, without so much as a chance to say goodbye." Hermoine observed.
"Mere mudbloods… only Mudbloods… kill them, kill them…" Bellatrix continued talking meaninglessly, bits and pieces of the past surfacing in her words.
Hermione turned away, disgusted. No matter how many people she tried to convince, no matter how many times she said the words hurt… some people would never change.
"You shall die clinging desperately to the very words that betrayed you." Hermione said solemnly.
"Avada Kedavra!" She shouted, no longer afraid to administer the notorious killing curse.
There was a bright flash of green, enveloping the room, and another life met its end.
"She met the end that she delivered to so many others." Hermione observed.
"Although she met a violent end, it won't bring them back." Neville observed quietly. "I'm still alone. We haven't accomplished anything except… ending another life."
Hermione turned to him. "No, that's not true! I won't believe it. I won't believe that this fight was for nothing! Our problems aren't so small that they can be solved by one single action, Neville. Her death won't bring your parents back to their senses, and it won't stop the name-calling that has gone unmonitored for too long, but… it wasn't for nothing. I have to believe that."
Neville nodded. "I hope so."
Just then, both of their attentions were suddenly captive of a distress signal shot from Dumbledore's office. Distracted by the victory of their battle, they had forgotten that a war was still underway.
"…Voldemort…" Draco said weakly.
Hermione went back to his side, Neville following.
"That's right! We completely forgot about Voldemort! He must be stopped." Hermione observed. "But first, Draco, you need to get some help."
Draco shook his head. "No, no. I… I must take him down…"
Hermione objected, "You are in NO condition to do such a thing! Now, we'll go to the infirmary and get you all better and THEN if you want to take down Voldemort, by all means…"
"No." One silent word was enough to cut short her strong, solid words.
"Draco… you can't. You're not strong enough." Hermione observed.
"Even if I'm not strong enough… I have… you all with me. You… are strength enough for me. I can fight…. if you are with me." Draco said weakly.
Hermione shook her head. He could be so stubborn sometimes. "Your life is in danger, I can't let you do this!"
"Hermione, please… please… I need to." Draco said weakly, and she saw in his eyes an emotion that she had never seen before.
Hermione shook her head. "I can't believe I'm letting you do this. Fine, fine, if you must… Come on, let's go." She helped him up, and the three of them set off to Dumbledore's office, following the distress signal.
(A/N): I know I don't usually put A/N's at the bottom, but I decided it was time for a change. Hello one and all!! I'm soo sorry for the late update, college has changed from being a sweet, docile kitten to a vicious beast. Work load is crazy. Gahh!! I have not had as much time to write as I'd like. Once again, so sorry, so sorry. Hope the chapter makes up for it!! Thanks to my reviewers, especially xHarryxPotterx, Inkweaver2, wildchild1017, Aswen, and mhaj78. I really appreciate your support!! Keep the reviews coming, I love getting them!!!