SO sorry for that screw up!! Here is the ACTUAL last chapter… I managed to upload the wrong file before!! Also sorry that it took so long to make this correction… I had problems uploading the file for some reason.
So yeh, heres the file that should have been up last week!!
Hey there guys, hope you're all doing good…
So here it is. The final chapter of Child of the Key. I just wanna say thanks so much to all the people who have stuck with me even though I have been completely crap with getting this done. So thanks… and I hope you enjoy it. Oh, and the title… I know its odd and I'm still not sure if it totally fits but it's a song lyric, and when I wrote this chapter it just popped into my head, so there we go!
Review stuff….
Naitch03- sorry that you didn't like Voldemort, and thanks for your other compliments. The issue of time is really that I paced it very badly, everything happened before Christmas and when I came to continuing it after so long I realised that there was little left for after Christmas. I hope it didn't mess it up too badly…. This was one of my first stories and it's been going for so long… I've been so determined to get it done, and do the ending I wanted, that I was aware that the months inbetween were rushed but I felt that it was worth it to give the story a decent finish and not leave it in the unfinished pile forever. Oh yeah, and Blaise… I know she's actually a he but I began this story long before the character was expanded upon in the books so meh.
Buffyrules-115- sorry for the spelling and mess ups towards the beginning…. As ive said I was a major beginner when I began this fic.
Chapter 52 And they splashed into the deep blue sea… it was a wonderful splash
"Buffy behind you!" Faith cried, driving into a roll even as she said it to dodge another wand blast.
"They're everywhere!!" Buffy yelled back as she tackled the deatheater attacking from behind.
"Where's Charlie!?" Faith exclaimed, peering through the darkness while lashing out at as many Death eaters as she could reach.
----
"Moony!" Sirius bellowed as two deatheaters grabbed his childhood friend. He leaped toward them, transforming as he did, so that by the time he reached them, it was the jaws of a huge dog that clamped around the bastards arm, not merely the hand of a man.
----
"Willow!" Xander cried, hurrying towards the witch only to see her eyes turn black, and the deatheaters rushing her flew back away from her, hitting the walls with nasty cracks. "Never mind." Xander added, ducking a jet of light and leaping back into the fray.
----
Harry and the others ran for the dormitory stairs. There were already deatheaters on the steps, and terrified students running for their lives. One cloaked figure stunned Neville, but before the boy hit the ground, the deatheater was unconscious from Harry's counter attack.
----
The battle raged throughout the castle, but Dumbledore forged through the corridors. He had to find the evil son of a bitch leading the attack. Tonight all this would end.
----
Hermione Dawn Blaise Ginny and Luna stood together, wands raised, breathing heavily. The deatheaters slumped around them were not moving, but the five girls found themselves frozen for a moment.
"This is it." Dawn said eventually, looking to the others, "One way or another, it ends tonight."
"Guys?" They heard the boys calling from the common room, "Everyone ok up there?"
"A couple of third years are injured, they came in through their dorm." Hermione called back.
"They should stay here." Blaise said, to nods from the others. Hermione went back into the third year dorms and told the girls to look after the injured and keep them comfortable until someone came for them. The girls then descended to the common room.
"How the hell did they get in?" Hermione snapped, "They shouldn't be able to apparate…"
"It doesn't matter now." Dawn said steadily, "They're in. We have to stop them." They all swallowed, looking round at eachother.
"Everyone ready for this?" Harry asked. There was no question of whether they were all to be involved- this was war now, and every one of them had a reason for it to be personal. House groups and conflicting pasts meant nothing now, the small band of students stood united. Everyone nodded, and Harry took a deep breath, "Then lets go."
The scenes that the teens beheld on their journey through the castle should never be seen by such young eyes. Students, teachers and friends fighting side by side… and falling side by side.
"Professor!" Hermione cried as they reached the entrance hall to see Professor McGonogall tumble down the steps evading a shot. The cry distracted her attacker, and Dawns wand blast took him down. They all paused for a moment, shocked by the sheer mass of people filling the familiar space. The first to move again was Harry, running down the steps right into the fight. Next was Ron. He turned to Hermione,
"I love you." He said, and kissed her, then vaulted over the banister with a feral whoop, taking down at least three deatheaters in his landing alone. Hermione watched as Draco kissed Dawn and they too separated. The two girls shared a quick encouraging half-smile, and leapt into battle themselves…
--------
Dawn threw herself round the corner with a cry of anguish, the curse aimed at her heart just skimming her arm. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, gasping for breath and regaining her composure. Just as she was ready to face her enemy once more, Dawn spun in the opposite direction. She couldn't say how on earth she could possibly know, but Voldemort was down there. She just knew. She yelped as the deatheater she'd abandoned grabbed her from behind but it was only a second before a curse hit him in the back and he crumpled off her.
"You alright?" Harry asked, rounding her corner.
"Thanks to you." She smiled.
"Your arm…"
"It's nothing."
Harry suddenly looked down the same way Dawn had a minute ago, frowning. He took a step that way…
"Harry no." Dawn exclaimed, and Harry knew then that she was as involved as he- she felt Voldemort just like him. But it didn't change his reply.
"I have to. Only I can do this." He replied.
"No, Harry, not on your own."
"Dawn…"
Dawn found herself holding on to him arms desperately, trying to stop him bolting down the corridor. "Only I can take him down." Harry said adamantly.
"Not on your own!" She cried. Harry pried one hand loose and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, mimicking his action of a few nights ago.
"It'll be ok Dawn…" He said, a lump in his throat. Dawn felt tears welling in her eyes,
"Harry… I love you. You don't have to be alone in this." She gasped before she'd even managed to think it. "I mean… we all love you…"
Harry smiled sadly, but couldn't look away.
"It's gonna be ok." He repeated, and in a dreamlike state, he kissed her. In that moment the rest of the world fell away and Dawn believed his words, but she knew that she had to pull away, and when she finally did the look in his eyes was one of deepest sorrow. Dawn swallowed,
"I'm coming with you." She said firmly. Harry couldn't find an argument, and so they set off running down the hall together, leaving the others to hold the fort in the entrance hall.
As they moved further into the dungeons, the pair slowed, wands raised… Voldemort was close. They stopped outside a classroom door, glancing at each other. This had trap written all over it, but they had little choice.
"Stay behind me." Harry ordered. He opened the door.
"Harry my dear boy." Voldemort said as they entered. "You disappoint me. I didn't think it would take you so long to find me." He was sitting easily on the edge of the teacher's desk. "Ah, Dawn… I wondered if you would be joining us."
"You're not gonna touch her." Harry spat. Voldemort smirked,
"Oh how sweet. Thankfully it is not necessary for me to touch your little friend in order to kill her."
"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, but the dark lord deflected it easily.
"Now Harry that is just rude." He sneered. "Crucio!"
Harry screamed in pain as the curse hit him.
"Expelliamus!" Dawn cried. Voldemort deflected it, but the spell served its purpose in that he had to release Harry to do so. Dawn looked between the two, now standing stiffly at either end of the room, each waiting for the slightest movement in the other. She was wracking her brain for anything she could possibly do to help. Any moment they would burst into action, and chances were both she and Harry would end up dead. This was wrong, completely totally wrong, they shouldn't be here…
Suddenly all eyes turned to the door, and the running footsteps in the hall. Voldemorts eyes went wide, and he pointed his wand at Harry's heart.
"Avada Kedavra." He cried.
"NO!" Dawn screamed, and she leapt into the path of the blast.
Harry's vision was taken over by a blinding green flash, and the next thing he knew he was on his back, a limp weight on top of him. It took a moment for his mind to clear, but the crash of the door being thrown open snapped him back to reality.
"DAWN!" He exclaimed, clambering out from beneath her. Her head lolled back. "No… No…" Harry gasped, gulping for air, "Dawn wake up…"
"Harry!" Cried another voice. He looked around with blurred vision and saw Dumbledore, Draco and Blaise close behind him. But what immediately caught their attention was not Dawns limp form. Harry followed their gaze to the other end of the room, where Voldemort lay slumped back across the desk. He seemed to be smoking. Harry took a step closer and watched in awe as the dark lords body seemed to disintegrate, forming instead into a dusty cloud above the desk that was slowly taking form… Harry's eyes widened, and with a dry throat, he murmured the first incantation Dumbledore had taught him in their meeting a few days before.
"Armadilha."
Just as the cloud became recognisable as the spirit of the most evil wizard the world had ever seen, something that looked roughly like a huge bubble appeared around it. The scream of fury that it let out would be with each of them for the rest of their lives. Harry stepped closer, glaring at the hopeless form with pure hatred in his eyes.
"This ends now." He said, though all the others heard was a snake like hiss. The figure was throwing itself against the sides of the bubble, desperately trying to free itself. "Turns out some Portuguese monks a few hundred years ago came up with a really effective way to trap and dispel nasty spirits." Harry continued, "Yes, you heard me right- Monks. Not wizards. Muggles." He smiled at Voldemort as he raged within the monks trap.
"Deixe o espírito cruzar-se sobre."
The spirit writhed.
"Deixe o espírito ser liberado da bobina mortal."
It screamed, a foul sound that reached through every hall of the castle.
"Remova este espírito deste mundo, para retornar nunca!"
Harry finished the incantation at a yell, the only way to compete with the wails of the spirit as it began to glow, getting brighter and brighter, until most couldn't look upon it any longer. But Harry would not look away. He had to be sure. As the screams reached a peak, the spirit burst into flames, and the bubble imploded, leaving nothing but a scattering of ash on the desk top. Harry stood frozen to the spot.
"Harry?" Dumbledore called tentatively. The three were venturing further into the room, all gaping at Harry and the spot where Voldemort had been. It was only when Draco cried,
"DAWN!" That Harry became aware that the rest of the world was still there. He spun to see Draco kneeling beside Dawn, touching her face gently, "Oh god Dawn please…" He begged.
"She saved my life." Harry murmured, standing over them, "It should have been me…"
"Don't be stupid." Draco snapped, surprising the boy who lived, "If you had died then we'd all have been screwed!" There were tears in his eyes as he pressed his fingers to her throat, feeling for a pulse. He frowned, "Fuck me." He gasped, not caring that the headmaster was only a foot from him. "The bastard was really losing his touch."
"What?" Harry exclaimed.
"She alive's." Draco said, gathering her in his arms with desperate, ragged breaths.
"Get her to the hospital wing." Dumbledore said, quiet but firm. "You should have little trouble, the Deatheaters will have fled at that first scream… they'll have known what it meant." Draco nodded, and hurried out. Harry watched him go, before turning to the headmaster, who he found was smiling wryly.
"How?" Harry asked.
"The same way it happened with you." He replied. Harry frowned at him,
"You mean…"
The headmaster nodded,
"Buffy gave her life for Dawn's. She was marked by the same love that marked you after your parents' death. It didn't stop him touching her, because it wasn't as directly connected as with you, but Buffy's love would never allow that curse to touch one under its protection."
Harry nodded, heaving a huge sigh. He felt utterly drained,
"Is it… is it… over then?"
Dumbledore smiled softly,
"As I said, I think we will find that the remaining deatheaters will have fled the castle when they heard Voldemort's screams. It's over. Except for the cleaning…" He frowned and left the room in a sort of daze. Harry turned to Blaise now, and opened his arms. She threw herself into them and they hugged tightly. After a deep kiss, Harry asked the one remaining question,
"Where are the others?"
"We left them in the entrance hall." She replied, "…as soon as Draco and I realised that you and Dawn were gone…"
Harry smiled softly, took her hand, and they headed off to find the rest of the group.
"You are all aware of what happened two nights ago." Dumbledore said at a special assembly two days later. "That night was not fun, for any of us. There were many casualties. Professor Vectra lies unconscious in the hospital wing, and many of your fellow students keep her company. But the vital truth is that we faced the greatest threat of our time, and we emerged victorious. Lord Voldemort no longer darkens our world. The bravery shown in the dungeons that day by two students rivalled the greatest aurors, and every one of us owes our life to them." He paused for dramatic effect, "I award two hundred and fifty points each to Harry Potter and Dawn Summers." He caught Harry's eye and smiled, though the smile he got in return was only half hearted. Ron, beside him, had nasty burns on his neck and a heavy sling on his arm, Hermione was on potions for the consistent headaches since a particular shot to the head, and of course Dawn still lay in the Hospital wing with Professor Vectra.
"I can't believe we still have to do the exams." Ron moaned, without sling now that Madame Pomfreys treatment was finished. They were all sat round Dawns bed, just waiting for her to regain conciousness. Madame Pomfrey had given up on trying to get them to leave.
"After all that the exams will be nothing." Blaise said.
"I'll second that." Hermione agreed, to the shock of them all. "Oh come on!" She cried, "We fought an army of deatheaters. There's no way they're failing us." They all laughed.
"Reckon ill get out of it?" A shaky voice put in.
"Dawn!" They all cried, and she grinned.
"Hey guys, what did I miss?"
"We found out that the killing curse is as useless on you as it is on Potter, and then he did some crappy muggle thing and saved us all." Draco summarised.
"Knew you'd do it." Dawn said to Harry with a soft smile.
"Couldn't have without you." He replied, squeezing her hand.
The exams flew by with less stress than any of them had previously believed possible. A few tests really didn't seem like much after all they had been through. The ministry apprehended a significant proportion of the deatheaters that had stormed the castle, and there was talk of presenting Dawn and Harry with some sort of medal, but neither of them was particularly interested. One of the captured deatheaters was Wormtail, though he tried several times to slip away in rat form. This meant that Sirius was finally cleared of all charges, and to Harry's joy he was invited to live with his godfather and leave the Dursley's once and for all.
When the end of term came, the rather expanded group of students made plans to gather over the summer, and each felt that this would be the best summer in many years. Dawn was to travel home by floo with Buffy and the Scoobies, and Faith too would return with them. As Draco had nowhere else to go, it was agreed that he too would spend the summer in Sunnydale.
The day before everyone was to leave school, Harry was alone in his dorm, finishing his packing. There came a gentle knock at the door, and he called for the visitor to come in.
"Hey." Dawn said, entering.
"Oh hey." Harry replied, smiling awkwardly, "How are you feeling?"
"Headaches all gone, sleeping great… I think I'm fully recovered." She said gladly, "Cept this of course." She raised the edge of her t-shirt to reveal a lighting bolt scar just like Harry's, but on the left hand side of her midriff. "But I kinda like it…"
Harry chuckled,
"It's better than splat bang in the middle of your forehead." He joked.
"Yeh…" She smiled.
There was an awkward silence, both knowing what she had come to discuss but neither wanting to broach the subject.
"Look…" She said eventually, "About what happened, that night…" She sighed, "We were both under a lot of pressure…"
"Yeh… absolutely…"
Dawn shook her head, laughing softly,
"But that doesn't change anything…" She sighed again, "Harry… I like you, and you like me… but we… we aren't meant to be like... that… we never were…"
"I know." Harry replied quietly,
"You do?"
"It sounds cheesy but I realised that when I saw Blaise after the fight… all I wanted was to kiss her… I was so relieved that she was ok…" Dawn smiled at the truth in his eyes… this wasn't an excuse.
"And I feel that way about Draco." Dawn said. "I love you Harry, and I always will, but only as a friend." They both nodded, and Harry held out his arms. They hugged tight, and realised in that moment that here was a friend they could trust with anything, a friend forever.
Dawn and Draco stood with the others in the entrance hall. The coaches were waiting outside to take them to Hogsmeade.
"I'll see you guys soon." She said, and they each hugged, many of them hugging the scoobies too.
"Stay outta trouble." Hermione said with a grin.
"On the hellmouth?" Dawn replied, "No problem, it's easy compared to here!"
"I'll see you soon." Charlie said to Faith. He too was to go on the train, and they shared one last kiss before they finally had to give in to Flich's yells of impatience and join the other students in the coaches. The Sunnydale bound group waved them off, before heading up the stairs to get their things.
"So… good year?" Buffy asked Dawn. The young girl looked to her side where Draco walked, her hand clamped in his, and smiled,
"The best." She replied.
THE END
Translation for the incantations:
Armadilha Trap
Deixe o espírito cruzar-se sobre. Deixe o espírito ser liberado da bobina mortal. Remova este espírito deste mundo, para retornar nunca Let the spirit cross over. Let the spirit be released from the mortal coil. Remove this spirit from this world, never to return.