Chapter 43

Every minute felt like eternity. Every beat in his heart was like a knife stab. 'Why did it have to come to this? Why do I have to lose everyone?' It had only been ten minutes since Harry left, ten minutes of emotional turmoil. Ewan Potter knew he was going to lose his little brother, he knew, yet it didn't make it any easier. Ewan sat with his friends and loved ones surrounding him, yet he didn't feel anything. 'Any minute now, any minute...'. Soon, Ewan would learn that Harry was dead by Voldemort's hand. He kept telling himself he would feel it. Except he didn't, he never did.

So when Hagrid carried Harry's body in front of the castle, he broke down. He never felt it, he never felt the broken connection. Everyone in the order was upset and crying. Many protested, but Ewan wasn't caring all he saw was his brothers body, laying on the ground at Voldemort's feet.

"Ewan Potter." said Voldemort. "How upset you must be?"

"You killed them, all of them...because you-" started Ewan.

"-are merciful." said Voldemort. "I will not kill you, if you choose to join me."

"Why would I join someone who is weak?" asked Ewan. "Whose afraid of his own name. Tom Riddle, son of Merope Guant, heir of Salazar Sytherin, and Thomas Riddle, a muggle. Why would I-"

"SILENCE!" yelled Voldemort. "For your insolence, Potter. Cruico!"

Ewan knew the pain was going to come but it didn't. "Why would I join someone who is afraid of a simple flame-freezing charm? "

"Cruico."

There was no pain still. " Why would I wish to join a man who is afraid of dying?"

"I hate to end a magical line Potter but you leave me no choice. Avada-"

"Protego!" yelled a voice form the middle of the Hall where Voldemort stood.

There in the middle of the room stood, Harry, his wand aiming at Ewan, protecting him.

Yells of shock , the cheers, and screams on every side of "Harry!" "HE'S ALIVE!" were stifled at once. Voldemort and Harry looked at each other. Sirius grabbed Ewan by the cuff of his neck and pulled his to the side, everyone circling around Harry and Voldemort.

"I don't want anyone else to try and help," Harry said loudly, and in the total silence his voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

"Potter doesn't mean that," Voldemort hissed, his eyes wide. "That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody," said Harry simply. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good...."

"One of us?" jeered Voldemort, his whole body was taut and his red eyes stared, a snake that was about to strike. "You think it will be you, do you, the boy who survived by accident, and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings?"

"Accident, was it, when my mother died to save me?" asked Harry. "Accident, that when I didn't defend myself tonight, and still survived, and returned to fight?"

"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and premitted me to kill them for you!"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," said Harry. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people -"

"But you did not!"

"- I meant to, and that's what I did. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Haven't you noticed how none of your spells hurt my brother? You can't torture them. You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?"

"You dare -"

"Yes, I dare." said Harry. "I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don't."

This continued for minutes on end. Harry and Voldemort back and forth, talking of magic, and love, of Dumbledore, and weapons, of Snape, and Patronues, of remorse, then of the Elder Wand and its true Master, Harry.

"So it comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your wand know it's last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder wand."

Suddenly a flash of gold and red blast through the enchanted sky of the Great Hall. Voldemort shrieked a spell into the air, followed a millisecond by Harry.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Tom Riddle hit the floor with a mundane finality, his body feeble and shrunken, the white hands empty, the snakelike face vacant and unknowing. Voldemort was dead, killed by his own rebounding curse, and Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

The screams and the cheers and the roars of the watchers rent the air. Ewan ran straight to Harry. It seemed as though only those two existed.

Hours passed with celebration, eating, reunions, but the whole time the brothers stayed together. Until Harry deiced to go to the Headmasters office with Hermione and Ron. Ewan gave Harry his space and went to speak with Professors McGonagall and Snape.

It was a day later that Ewan was presented with his old elder and phoenix feather wand from Lucius Malfoy. Harry and Ewan placed the Elder wand, Dumbledore's wand, back into his tomb. Kingley's Shackbolt was made the new Minister of Magic, Sirius and Maria were married and had a beautiful little black haired, blue-eyed boy named Regulas 'Reggie' Orion Black. A few months later, Ewan became engaged to Katie.