I don't own Harry Potter, just saying.
Airiala continued to force the wind across the grounds. She knew that what she was doing wasn't really helping anyone, but it was still slowing the Deatheaters down slightly.
Raina had started throwing balls of water at them which Pyro and Lando hurling their own elements as well. Fire, Water, and Earth flew across the fields like cannons, some strong enough that the Deatheaters were hurled back towards the Forbidden Forest.
Not a single shot aimed at the Dark Lord hit him, nor did the mud or wind have any effect.
Airiala knew that only the Ultimate Truth combined with the power of Harry Potter would defeat Voldemort, but at the moment she was very nearly collapsed to the ground with all the effort she was using to keep the wind blowing. If she said the Ultimate Truth now it would kill her before she could use it to help anyone.
She looked up and saw Lucius Malfoy in the crowd. Anger filled her veins as memories of his attacks over the year returned to her.
She forced herself to her feet and focused her power into a tornado storm out on the field. She hadn't attempted this since that day at the beginning of the year, but she wasn't about to stop now. The wind focused out on the crowds and Airiala could hear the voices around her now.
"Airiala, stop!" Lando.
"Airiala, what are you doing?" Raina.
"Airiala, that's dangerous!" Pyro.
All around her she could hear voices telling her to stop, but the one voice she wanted to hear the most remained silent. If he wasn't concerned about her, then she wasn't going to worry about killing herself.
It didn't matter anyways right, he hated her now. Maybe she could blow them away and she wouldn't have to worry about revealing the Ultimate Truth. She could slowly die from any attempt to use her magic.
She fell down to one knee. Assuming that this didn't kill her first.
She forced herself, yet again, back to her feet and focused all her energy into the tornado that she was now whipping across the fields.
Voldemort's eyes focused on her for a brief moment before he too was swept up in the storm.
Once all the Deatheaters were flying about in the tornado's winds, Airiala used her last bit of strength to push the tornado as far from Hogwarts as she could.
Her ears were ringing and her heart was pounding, but she still pushed until her body gave out and she collapsed.
Lando rushed forward the minute Airiala's body hit the ground, Raina and Pyro right behind him.
He gently checked for a pulse and found it weak beneath his fingers. "My god! She's still alive!"
Raina and Pyro fell next to the girl as well and Raina also checked for a pulse. "It's weak, but it's there. We need to get her to the infirmary as soon as possible."
"How do we move her?"
Suddenly Airiala lifted into the air, suspended by a spell. The other three Elementals turned to see Severus using his wand to keep Airiala immobile and levitated. He turned without saying a word and guided the unconscious girl down the hallway.
The other teachers and staff were too busy making battle plans to really notice, except for Dumbledore.
He had stayed out of the way for most of the situation regarding Airiala, Severus, and the other Elementals. He knew that he couldn't interfere in the Ultimate Truth, that it was something that would show itself in time.
In his own personal research he had learned that the Ultimate Truth was something that only the Wind Elemental could speak and wield, but it would come at a great cost. What that cost was he hadn't had time to discover, but he was willing to bet that her life could very well hang in the balance.
Dumbledore wanted nothing more that to see both Airiala and Severus happy, with each other. He wasn't blind and had noticed the mutual feelings growing between the two.
He just wasn't sure what had happened recently to cause the two of them to stop speaking to each other.
Severus slowly lowered the Air Elemental onto the bed in the hospital wing. Several students were in there with various injuries after Voldemort's initial attack.
Lando rushed to the girl's side and Severus felt a rush of possessiveness and anger fill him before he pushed it aside. She didn't care about him and she wouldn't look to him to solve her problem of loneliness again.
She had the Earth Elemental.
Raina and Pyro stood next to Airiala's other side, both with worried look on their faces. Severus turned and looked at the Air Elemental, really looked at her, for the first time since she had fallen.
Her hair was limp and lifeless, her face paler than he had ever seen it, her eyes had dark circles under them, and her lips were pale rather than the pink that he remembered.
He couldn't help the worry that filled him at seeing her that way. What had happened to her? When had this started?
He thought back to when she was using her powers to push the Deatheaters back. She had fallen to her knees twice when the last time he had seen her use such power she had been able to walk and remain standing for a short time afterwards. She hadn't looked so close to death as she did now.
What had changed?
"Airiala?" Raina said gently brushing the girl's bangs from her face. Severus watched as Lando reached out and pushed Raina's hand away. He glared at the girl, as if it was her fault Airiala was lying in that bed.
Raina's eyes widened at Lando for a moment before she turned a concerned look to Pyro then back to Airiala.
"She's mine," Lando said firmly. "No one is going to be touching her but me."
Severus glared at the young man and almost reached out and yanked him from Airiala's side. She didn't and couldn't belong to anyone. She was the Wind Elemental and, as such, couldn't survive in such an environment.
He had realized that a long time ago, but thought that maybe they could find a way to be together, but he knew that was impossible after all.
Instead he turned and walked out of the infirmary. He had to get back to the front to help with strategy and battle plans before Voldemort returned from wherever Airiala had tossed him.
Airiala was in a dark place.
She was light and floating, but she knew that this was somewhere in between life and death. Despite the darkness she felt light and relaxed, more so than she had in a really long time.
She thought it would be nice to just stay here and not go back to the real world and not deal with the Ultimate Truth at all.
"You need to go back."
Airiala opened her eyes slowly. She expected to see more darkness, but was surprised to see that she was lying in a green field with a gentle breeze blowing over her.
She sat up slowly and looked around before her eyes landed on a young woman standing only a few feet away from her.
She was smiling at Airiala, her dress dancing slightly in the wind. Her dress was brown and looked like it was something out of another era. Her gray hair was pulled back in a bun on her head, and her silver eyes were shining behind a pair of glasses.
Despite she had never laid eyes on this girl before, Airiala felt a kinship to her and stood to face her.
"You don't belong here yet," the woman said to her softly. "Someday you will, but not today. You need to go back."
"To what?" Airiala said firmly. She took a deep breath and looked to her right towards the horizon. "Severus doesn't love me, and if I reveal the Ultimate Truth all that will happen is that he will reject me and I will die. I'm already here, so why don't I just stay?"
"You aren't dead."
Airiala turned back to the girl in shock. "What are you talking about?"
The girl stepped forward towards Airiala. "This isn't heaven, you aren't dead."
Airiala looked around at the peaceful surroundings and then back at the girl before her. "If I'm not dead, then where am I? Who are you?"
The girl smiled wider. "You know who I am, and this is just a place in your heart and soul that all Elementals could access if they tried hard enough. This is where all your previous incarnations exist, and this is the only place where the Ultimate Truth is known.
"Only the most powerful of Elementals could access this. Believe it or not, not all Elementals are created equal. Your friend Lando is the perfect example. He can control the land and Earth, but he could never alter it like my friend Graize could. He too was an Earth Elemental, but he was much stronger and more powerful than Lando is.
"You are the most powerful Wind Elemental to have ever existed, and that is why you know the Ultimate Truth without revealing it unknowingly. Every other time the Wind Elemental told the Ultimate Truth it was just because they wanted to tell the person they loved how they felt, they didn't know there would be consequences. You are the first to discover the Ultimate Truth by strength, determination, and research. You are also able to do so much more now that you know it."
The girl stepped forward and leaned in close to Airiala, her nose almost touching Airiala's.
"You, Airiala, can use the true power of the Ultimate Truth and wield all the elements at once."