Chapter Twenty-Eight: Battle

"Bow to death, Harry."

Harry felt his spine being forced down and grudgingly obeyed, clutching his wand tightly in his right hand, ready to battle. Jeers erupted around him from the Death Eaters that had returned to their master at the sign of his return. Voldemort wanted to kill him, but wanted him to die like Harry's own father had – fighting.

He swallowed, readying himself.

The pressure on his spine vanished and from Voldemort's lips came the curse of death.

Harry's instincts flared and he dived away, rolling into a crouch. "IMPEDIMENTA!" he yelled, rolling away as Voldemort conjured a simple shield that sent his own spell rebounding back to him. Harry covered his head with his hands. His rebounded spell passed overhead, hitting one of the Death Eaters.

He had rolled behind one of the gravestones; his breath coming in sharp takes. He hesitated for a split second before he pointed his wand over the head of the stone and yelled: "EXPELLIARMUS!"

"Is that all you can do Harry? Childish spells? None of those would do me harm." Voldemort was goading him. Gritting his teeth he prepared to face death with honour. He briefly closed his eyes and brought Sirius to mind, and then Ron and Hermione, imagining them for the last time in his life.

Ignoring the pain in his leg Harry stood, standing tall and proud in the circle of Death Eaters. He smiled grimly. If this was where he would die he would go down fighting.

Then, once more he cast the disarming spell just at the precise moment Voldemort let loose the 'Avada Kedavra". The two spells impacted together and suddenly Harry's wand was vibrating. From Harry's wand came red light and from his enemy's was green. The green came closer to his wand, but something in Harry's mind told him to push back – not to let the green colour spell hit the edge of his wand.

Focusing his mind, Harry forced the spell back yelling as his determination to survive sapped his strength. "Come on!"

And then he heard a voice he recognised.

"HARRY!"

Risking a glance Harry saw his Godfather and a pack of Aurors descend upon the Death Eaters. Harry heard Voldemort yell in anger and turning back to his opponent he forced his spell to impact upon Voldemort's wand and then a gold line of sparkling magic energy sparked between the two wands, causing both to vibrate harder and (despite the noises of spells around him) Harry could discern the unmistakable sounds of a phoenix song.

Shapes began to erupt from Voldemort's wand. A hand that vanished and then…

…a body began to appear, head and shoulders first. A man Harry did not know fell to the ground and began to pace round the circle, his unearthly voice echoing around. "Killed me, that one did."

Even the Death Eaters and Aurors had stopped fighting, mesmerised by what was happening. Only one pair was continuing to battle: Sirius and Barty Crouch Junior.

Harry swallowed, moisture falling down his throat.

Another shape emerged.

That of a woman, but Harry couldn't see her face, his attention upon his Godfather – part of him still focusing hard on maintaining the connection.

And then his attention was diverted to another figure rising from the wand. A woman with red hair and startling green eyes was emerging – Harry's mother, Lily Potter. He swallowed, feeling tears wallow in his eyes.

"Your father's coming. He wants to see you." The voice spoke in an ethereal chant, as if she was speaking from somewhere far away.

Harry could feel the wand vibrate harder making his grip loosen, but determination sank in, even as he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Sirius dispatch Crouch Junior with a Full-Body-Bind Curse. His gaze returned to his mother, who was looking at him sadly.

Once more a burst of light erupted from the wand and the tall form of James Potter sprinkled to the ground, standing up straight, his black hair standing up on end and a sad smile on his face. Harry gazed transfixed, ignoring Voldemort's yelling.

And then his father spoke, the first time he had ever heard him speak properly. He had heard his father before when he had been practicing the Patronus charm in third year, but that had just been a sentence: now he could hear his father's voice coming from the figure in front of him. Tears began to fall from his eyes and he struggled to maintain his composure.

"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments…but we will give you time…You must get away! Go with Sirius!" For the briefest of seconds James Potter's spectral eyes met those of his friend and then returned to his son. "He'll get you'll back to Hogwarts using the Portkey. Do you understand, Harry?"

Harry nodded, his arms shaking more than ever as the connection became stronger. "Yes, I do, dad."

Lily leaned in close and whispered into her son's ear. "Do it now…be ready to run…do it NOW!"

And Harry let go as chaos broke loose. The spirits of Voldemort's victims headed straight for him in dazzling bright light. Running with all his might Harry bounded to Sirius side. His godfather aimed his wand at another Death Eater who was raising his wand at Harry and dispatched him with a jinx.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Sirius yelled to the Aurors. As they apparated to safety, Sirius pointed his wand at the Triwizard Cup and bought it sailing towards him. Harry grabbed hold of the Cup at the same time as Sirius did and they were sent back…falling and twisting before they both landed with a thud outside of the maze.

Harry coughed as he sat up. "How did the cup get to the graveyard?" he asked Sirius.

"Wormtail stunned you and then turned the cup into a Portkey and made you hold it. That's how you got there."

Harry nodded numbly.

Fear crept in his belly, even as he saw Dumbledore and McGonagall rushing towards him. The Aurors that had apparated away from the graveyard were also running towards them.

"HARRY!"

He felt darkness closing in, and then everything went black as he fainted in his godfather's arms.

To be continued...