I don't own Harry Potter.
Lupin let out a howl of dismay and Moody yelled, "Tonks!" and limped over by the hole and looked down. Everyone was content to watch him; they didn't want to risk putting all of their weight on the unsteady floorboards.
From below, they heard a giddy giggle and then, "Gee, Nymphie, thanks for breaking my fall!" So Sirius was alive at least. Nobody was quite sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing anymore considering his seemingly irreversible mental state. "Hey, Nymphie! Nymphie? Get up!"
Everyone paled. Moody saw Sirius poking Tonks' motionless form. "Oh no," he groaned and began to limp for the stairs to assist his young companion. Harry took Moody's vacated viewpoint, careful of the weak floor.
Lupin, meanwhile, escalated his howling lament. Snape twisted his face into a grimace and tried to plug his ears from the sound; he would definitely need something for his pounding migraine, now. He began to ponder the most effective (meaning the most potent) ingredient he could add to a potion to alleviate it. Perhaps the Drought of Living Death would work…
Meanwhile, Moody had finally reached Tonks and Sirius and had examined Tonks. "I think she's just unconscious… but I'm not sure!" he called up. "I'm going to bring them both back up."
"Okay then, erm…" Harry turned to Ron. "Who is this guy, again? Am I supposed to know him?"
Ron sighed and shook his head. "That's Mad-Eye Moody, Harry. Don't you remember? He's supposed to be our fourth-year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, except he's replaced by an imposter Death-Eater who tries to get you killed…"
"Ah, how could I forget?"
Ron shrugged. "I guess it's your lack of brain-cells, mate."
"Ah, of course! How could I have been so forgetful?"
"But Harry, darling, you're not forgetful!" Mary Suewriter piped up.
"Somebody should put a gag on that girl," Fred commented, "It seems that every time she opens her mouth, something bad happens…"
No sooner than the words were out of Fred's mouth, everyone heard Moody utter a loud swear-word and then a loud crash. This time, Dumbledore rushed to see what happened.
"Alastor, what happened?" he called down the stairs.
Moody groaned and in a strained voice said, "I think I just broke my hip."
"I rest my case," Fred said. Mary Suewriter gave Fred a hurt look, starting to reform her opinions on Fred. Maybe his death had been a good thing after all…
"I'll conjure you a stretcher, Alastor," Dumbledore said and waved his wand. Soon Moody, an unconscious Tonks, and Sirius were levitated into the room, the latter of whom was sucking his thumb and rocking back and forward in a fetal position.
"Tonks!" Mary Suewriter cried out upon seeing the unconscious woman. She looked quite lifeless, almost the way Mary had pictured her in the brief moment when her death was described. "No!"
"Why do you care about her?" Harry asked. "You don't really know her!"
"I know, dearest, but I really loved the Lupin/Tonks pairing! Now all of my favorite pairings are completely and utterly ruined!" Mary Suewriter sobbed.
"Enough with the 'dearest''s. Seriously," Harry said.
Mary Suewriter cried harder.
"I'm sure that all of this could be mended by Poppy," Dumbledore said with a smile, gesturing to all of the night's casualties, "Well, except for Mr. Black, of course."
Sirius let out a small giggle and rocked himself harder.
"Don't worry, I'll use my parents' fortune to pay for his therapy," Harry said.
"I think he might be beyond saving, Harry," Hermione pointed out as Sirius grinned, took his thumb out of his mouth, and offered it to Lupin saying, "Does the bunny want a turn? It tastes good! Bunny will like! Pickles with apple-sauce and mustard!"
Lupin paused in his lament long enough to give Sirius a pitying look. He then promptly resumed his howling.
"Lupin, if you don't stop that soon… I… I'm going to do something very Death-Eaterish!" Snape exclaimed, seething.
Lupin stopped howling and contented himself with softly whimpering over Tonks' motionless body.
"Perhaps we should leave the Shrieking Shack now," Hermione commented. "We would be able to sort this out in the Hospital Wing before anyone else gets hurt… or dies…"
"Dies? Who dies? Is it me?" Sirius asked, looking at Hermione, his eyes having a feral glint in them. "I know I do! Don't lie to me!"
"No, Sirius, it's not you," Hermione said, edging away from him.
"Flibbertigibbet!" Sirius shrieked, pointing his thumb at her. When nothing happened, he stuck his thumb back in his mouth.
"I suppose Ms. Granger has a fair point," Dumbledore said. "We might as well heal the injured. And we can talk more in the Hospital Wing."
"Well, it's about time!" Ron exclaimed. "I've been sitting here on the ground for this whole time bleeding all over the place and nobody even notices!"
"I agree, but I think Lupin should stay here. It would look odd parading around the school grounds with a werewolf, let alone have one in the Hospital Wing," Snape pointed out.
Lupin bobbed his head in a dejected way.
Hermione paused to pick up the books and then said, "Let's go. Someone can tie that girl up so she doesn't hurt any more people."
But before they could do anything, a voice from the entrance of the door exclaimed, "Not so fast!"
Everyone turned around only to see… Fudge, the Minister of Magic! He looked disheveled with his green bowler hat skewed to the side, his hair sticking up everywhere, and with his torn and travel-worn clothes. His face was even redder than Ron's had ever been and a tic was jumping in one of his cheeks and his wand was out and pointed at all of them.
"Fudge!" everyone exclaimed.
"I heard everything!" he giggled in a high-pitched voice, "I heard it all!"
"Heard what, Cornelius?" Dumbledore asked.
"Don't call me that!" Fudge shrieked, spittle flying from his mouth. "I heard about those books! I heard what happens! I heard it all when it was explained to you, Dumbledore! I heard about my downfall and how that Potter punk goes on his quest to save the day! Terrible mess, terrible mess!"
"You know, you had the opportunity to be the hero, but you chose not to believe me!" Harry pointed out.
"Yeah, so go away, meanie! Nobody likes you!" Mary Suewriter added.
"Oho… but the author underestimated the means to which this character would go to keep his power!" Fudge giggled. With his other hand, he took out several familiar objects and dropped each of them on the floor in plain sight.
"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed.
For on the floor were the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and a bloody snake's head. All of them looked as if they had been hit with a sword. Fudge grinned as he twirled Gryffindor's sword in his hand. "I've destroyed almost all of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's Horcruxes. And when I do destroy them all, I can kill him and take his title of Dark Lord, learn form his mistakes, and rule the world with an iron fist!" Fudge cackled. "And all I have left to do is kill you…" he pointed his wand at Harry. "Say your prayers, Potter! Avada Kedavra!"
Nobody could do anything. All they could do was watch in horror as the green curse slowly inched toward Harry Potter. Mary Suewriter looked upon this in horror. She wanted to scream; she wanted to do something to save her beloved. This was all so wrong! Nothing was turning out the way it was supposed to. All of her favorite pairings had been destroyed and now her beloved Harry, the hero of heroes, was about to die. And this time, he wouldn't come back.
The curse was now inches away from Harry's chest. He turned his head and his eyes met hers. She looked deep into them. And she swore she head the whisper of Harry's last thoughts. 'I… hate…YOU!'
Time suddenly sped up as the curse hit Harry directly in the chest. His body then slumped lifelessly down onto the ground.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Mary shrieked, "Harry, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry I even came here! O, how I wish I could amend this!"
As soon as she had said these words, the scene froze. The room glowed a green light and started to spin. Faster and faster it went until there was blackness.
This is the end of the tenth chapter, but it's not the end of the story. There's at least one more chapter left. Two at tops. I haven't really sorted everything out, yet. I would like to thank Mina-chan AMD, Flamespirit-eth, and Ogreatrandom for reviewing for the previous chapter. Please leave lots of reviews!