Harry ran, he was unhappy that Ginny was by his side, because truly he wanted her far away, safe in the headquarters, but trying to get her to stay behind was impossible.
"This way!" Hermione yelled as they took a short cut down to the great hall, closely followed by Sirius and the other order members.
"Are they in the school?" Harry yelled to Ron who was looking at the map and running at the same time.
"No, not yet, they are still on the grounds, closing in on the school." Ron yelled back to Harry, who nodded. This is what they had expected, and yet Harry was not entirely sure if he were ready.
When they reached the great hall, it was already to find that a lot of students, like them, had actually returned to the school. Neville was the first to approach them.
"When we heard what was happening, we couldn't just stand by and let it happen." Neville said as Luna joined him. And a warm feeling ran through Harry as he knew these people were here to help him.
"NO!" Carly screamed, as they dragged her towards the school, she did not want any part of this, unless she was on the other side, and she certainly did not want to witness it from this side.
She was kicking and screaming, and this seemed to amuse Voldemort. She wanted to beat the crap out of him, he was a monster, maybe before he could have had at least one redeeming quality, but now, she wanted to kill him with her own hands, she wanted him to hurt as much as he had hurt other people, she wanted him to pay.
Draco was beside her, unwilling to fight, but she knew that it was because he was scared, not because he agreed with them.
"I'll die before I see you kill them!" Carly screamed, furious, and for some reason she felt betrayed… He was meant to be her father, and look at what he was doing. Her mother was beside him, and looking completely dead to the world as she stared out towards the ancient school.
"Charis do be quiet." Voldemort said, his tone showing he was still amused by her, though he did not look her way, but rather towards the school, the joy evident on his face.
"This isn't going to be nice, people will die today, you are doing this at a great personal risk." Dumbledore announced to the people in the great hall, but it seemed irrelevant, because not a single person dared move from their spot, they were too determined to stop this, and now.
"Forget all manners you've been taught about duelling." Moody barked out. "They won't be so kind to you."
Harry looked to Ginny nervously, taking her hand in his own.
"Be careful out there." He told her sternly.
Ginny smiled at him softly.
"Don't get yourself killed."
"When those doors open, I want them all to die! Do you understand me! Dead all of them, just leave me Dumbledore and Potter." Voldemort yelled out to his followers, his voice a sickly mixture of malice and excitement, Carly struggled against the ropes that bound her to Draco.
A loud roar of approval sounded form his deranged followers, and it made Carly shudder, knowing they were all too happy to follow his orders, regardless of the lives they will ruin, probably because of them.
"NO!" She screamed as she saw the doors shudder, knowing they were about to open. "NOOOO!"
Harry could hear a single scream above them all, and it terrified him, even Ginny stepped back as she heard it echo around the grounds.
"Carly!" She cried out, and Ron had to restrain her from running forward, and Sirius looked like he would happily murder anyone in his way as he tried to get his daughter back.
The whole school building suddenly shook, and a few people screamed. It was now, on this very day the war was going to be finished, but Harry did not know at what price or even if that price would be worth it in the end.
A loud roar, and they were running, like their life depended on it, and well, it probably did, wands raised, and in an instant they were fighting, it was like nothing before… True horrors the world had seen, but this was... There were screams, and cries, people around him yelled their curses and hoped that the person they were fighting would fall and not get back up. These were people he considered friends, and look at what they had been reduced to.
Something warm and wet splattered across his face, and he turned in terror to see someone beside him fall to the floor, liquid seeping from their clothes. He screamed a killing curse, and the emerald glow engulfed a hooded fighter, before he fell to the ground in silence.
Although she did not want to see the things before her, Carly could not look away. She needed too badly to know that her friends were alright, she needed to badly to just see them. She could feel Draco behind her moving, but paid very little attention to him, as she was too immersed in the destruction before her. It was not until she felt the ropes around her break that she even looked at Draco.
"What?" She demanded, her hand holding onto the normal rope, no longer glowing red, it lay limp in her palm.
"Peter Pettigrew was never that smart." Draco replied holding up a wand that looked almost out of place in his hand. He held up the wand and looked around before casting a spell. "Accio Wands."
No one would notice in this type of warfare if two wands fell out of their pockets, and Carly was relieved to have hers back in her hand. She looked at Draco pleadingly.
"Are you going to follow me?" She asked him. His silvery eyes looked at her, and then to the battle before them, they were in the very outskirts of the forbidden forest, a safe enough distance form the battle, if he went to fight there was no guarantee of his survival, but if he stayed here, what did that say about him?
"Yes."
Ginny screamed as she felt her leg break under the foot of the Deatheater, who was grinning down at her, then he stamped down harder, and Ginny sobbed, she could barely bring herself to remember a single curse as her mind went numb with the pain.
"Oh this is too easy." He hissed down at her, he pointed his wand, and for a second Ginny honestly thought she was going to die. And then as if from no where a small body launched itself at the Deatheater, and he tumbled with the force, Ginny saw her saviour punch him ruthlessly, until he was out cold.
And then standing there before her, with her hand outstretched, was Carly Black.
Ginny gratefully took the hand of her best friend, and was surprised when Draco Malfoy grabbed her around the waist, supporting her weight.
"Take Ginny into the school, find somewhere safe, and tell me where!" Carly instructed Draco, the blonde boy nodded curtly but before he could go Ginny protested.
"I'm not leaving you, I promised Sirius you would be alright, I'm not going anywhere." Ginny argued, Carly looked at Draco, who looked unsure.
"Ginny you're hurt." Carly stressed, ducking form a stray curse, and looking pleadingly at her best friend.
"And I thought you might be dead, I'm not going anywhere." Ginny replied sternly, pointing her wand at her leg, and whispering a spell, and even though it still looked badly bruised and not quite right, she could stand on it at the very least.
"Stay with me and Draco, close, I don't want to lose you."
Harry was struggling as he fought another Deatheater; it seemed that no matter where he turned he could not find Voldemort.
And as the thought entered his mind, it seemed that he had finally found him. Standing there, smiling at him, like this was the most amusing thing he had ever come across, he was looking perfectly at ease with the situation, which was sickening in itself. Harry stared at him, the disgust and hatred evident on his face.
"Finally Potter." Voldemort said, his voice the normal silky sound that Harry had somehow become used to. "You've kept me waiting for this for a very long time."
Harry wanted to shout at him, but knew it was a waste of breath; he wanted to see him undone, to see him angry.
"Now, shall we get on with it?" Voldemort asked, realising that Harry would not lose his cool, and almost instantly, a bright red curse shot past Harry's ear.
The fight begun, it was like nothing before, the curses he sent at Harry seemed to snap at him, not just glide through the air, it was like their only purpose was to hit him. Harry sent back his own curses, but they would not hit their target, and too soon it was getting deadly, flashes of bright green shooting towards him, back and forth and no one was winning.
Harry fell to the side as he flung himself out of the way of another green curse, knowing if it touched him that it would be his end, and he did not want to leave those he loved to that.
"So close!" The amusement in his voice was only getting more, and it was infuriating in itself.
He was laughing, laughing at Harry.
Suddenly with a flick of his wand, Harry sent a green curse towards Voldemort, and just as it was about to touch him, Voldemort disappeared, a loud resounding pop, and then another, and as he turned around to look behind him, Harry's eyes widen as he saw the emerald curse move towards him.
Most people say as death nears you that everything seems to slow down, but that was not what was happening, although everything was perfectly clear to him, it was going too fast, he saw Carly running towards him, and he saw the curse flying towards him, and then before his very eyes, he saw the curse go into her chest as she threw herself before him.
Voldemort froze in the second he realised what he had done, as he looked at the still body of his daughter, everything around him was a blur except for her body lying there before him.
Her perfect ivory skin contrasting against the dark ground, her beautiful, rich brown hair fanned around her head, and her stunning green eyes looking up at the sky, completely lifeless.
He did not see the emerald curse that flew towards him, or the look on the faces of those around him as it struck him.
He fell to the floor, silent, still, dead.
"MONSTER!" the sudden pain filled scream surprised Harry, as he saw a woman run towards Carly's body, and then gripping her body he saw a woman, one that Tonks had shown him a picture of. "My baby girl, my brilliant, beautiful baby girl."
In seconds Tonks and Ginny were there, both sobbing as if tomorrow would never come, and when Harry looked up at Sirius' broken face, he honestly thought that tomorrow may never come.
Not for everyone.
Away in the ministry the Secret Keeper who had been given charge of the prophecies stopped short as he saw one of them glow silver.
The one person who was intended as true evil,
Will have the purest of heart,
She will sacrifice everything,
To save the world.
Those that she leaves behind will suffer greatly,
Her loss will hurt them,
But her sacrifice,
Will reunite those once lost,
She will sacrifice everything,
To save the world.