Chapter Seven: The Battle of Hogwarts, Part Two

It was amazing how many students returned to Hogwarts when news of a possible battle got out, and almost every single student sat in the Great Hall. Voldemort and his Death Eaters had reached Hogwarts seconds after Harry did. Snape was gone and as McGonagall began issuing evacuation orders, a high, cold voice sounded, magically amplified. "I know you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts and I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you shall be rewarded. You have until midnight."

After Parkinson singlehandedly got the entire Slytherin House kicked out, or at least, those who returned out of curiosity, McGonagall turned to Harry. "Aren't you supposed to be looking for something?"

"Oh yeah!" He ran forward, grabbing Charlotte. "Look, his last Horcrux was Ravenclaw's diadem. I talked to the Grey Lady and she told me everything, but where did he hide it?" He didn't seem to be talking directly to her. "Lovegood was trying to recreate it…" He stopped so suddenly, Charlotte ran into him. "Come on!"

They ran up the stairs two and three at a time, Harry gripping her hand tightly. As they rounded a corner on the seventh floor, the cousins almost ran into Ron and Hermione, holding dirty, curved, yellow objects that looked slightly like… "Snake fangs?" Charlotte asked.

"It was Ron's idea." Hermione said. "He was able to mimic the Parseltongue sounds Harry made and got us into the Chamber! Basilisk venom can destroy Horcruxes, Harry."

"Yeah, great." Harry said shortly. "Come on, we need everyone out of the Room of Requirement." As everyone left, Harry suddenly turned around. "Can we get the house-elves out, as well? We don't need any more Dobbies, dying for-"

He was interrupted as the fangs Hermione was holding clattered to the floor and she kissed him fiercely. "Ginny, go evacuate the elves and come straight back here." Ron ordered. "Come on you two! We have a bloody Horcrux to destroy!"

"Right. You three do that." Charlotte said sharply. "I've got to find Seamus." With that, she hurried off, running straight into her boyfriend. "What's going on?"

"Neville and I are bringing the bridge down." He said happily. "Care to help?"

She nodded, joining him and Neville at the bridge entrance. Seamus immediately went to work, creating an explosive compound strong enough to work. Charlotte looked over his plans, making small adjustments and tweaks, as Luna skipped over to them, her hair dirty and matted, and she herself was dirty and had small cuts on her body. "Hello."

"Luna!" Neville rushed over to her, hugging her tightly. "You're okay?"

"I'm alive, aren't I?"

"Alright, come on and help me set the charges. Who's setting them off?"

"Me." Neville said immediately as he and Charlotte carefully placed the small detonators along the bridge.

"Guys! Harry! Dementors!" Charlotte rushed over to Harry and Hermione's aid with Seamus, Luna, and Ernie Macmillan joined them. Charlotte raised her wand, not knowing what to expect, as she'd never successfully performed the Patronus Charm. "Expecto Patronum!"

To her surprise, a silver raven flew above, leading Seamus's fox, Ernie's boar, and Luna's hare. "Think of something happy!" Luna urged Harry. "We're alive! We're fighting!"

Then, a great silver stag joined the other Patronuses and chased the dementors away. Before they could say anything, a giant emerged from the forest and Seamus dragged her away and back to the bridge. Neville was already there, taunting the Death Eaters. "Come on, then." He said before turning and running. He waved his wand and the first two charges lit.

The air, before filled with screams and curses, exploded with the sound of the mini bombs they'd made, and Neville scampered across just as the bridge fell. Suddenly, Voldemort's cold voice sounded once again. "You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet, you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one." Seamus's hand found Charlotte's and he intertwined their fingers. "I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat at once. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, the battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Seamus, Neville, Charlotte, and Luna turned back toward the castle. The wounded were on the raised platform in the Great Hall, as all the tables were gone. The dead lay in the middle of the Great Hall, and the Weasley family was surrounding one of the bodies, but Charlotte saw her dad's white face, eyes as if closed in death. "DAD!" She broke away from Seamus and shove Sirius away from him. "Dad, please, don't be dead!" She fell to her knees, her hand finding his cold hand and she gripped it tightly. "Please." She said brokenly.

She felt Sirius's hand on her shoulder. "He's not dead, Charli." He knelt down on the other side of Samuel. "Not yet."

She sniffed, turning to see the body the Weasleys gathered around a body, shielded from view, but Percy was among them, sobbing harder than Mrs. Weasley. Remus and Tonks were with the wounded, Remus holding her hand, clinging to it desperately. She was also shocked to see, there in the corner, Snape, looking as if he was barely clinging to life. Harry had disappeared, and Seamus sat down, looking at Samuel's pale form. "Is he gonna be alright?"

"Yes." She insisted. "He'll be fine, right Dad?" She asked, looking at him. "You can't die now, you've got Sirius and me, and Isobel. We need you, Dad."

Seamus gently tugged her to her feet. "Your da's in good hands." He said, motioning to Sirius, who'd transformed into the Grim-like dog and laid his head on Samuel's barely rising chest. "Come on."

Lavender Brown was also among the injured, and as she passed the Weasleys, she finally saw who'd died. Ron Weasley, the annoying git who managed to win her friendship during the previous term, lay on the floor, his eyes closed, his face white. She turned away, feeling the tears once again. Hermione and Ginny were quietly sobbing over their friend and brother, and the twins were unusually solemn. They walked outside, where Oliver was helping Neville carry in more dead bodies, and she saw Harry walking off, alone. "I'll be right back." She said to Seamus and caught up with him. "Harry, what are you-"

"It's the only way." He interrupted her. "Charli, you've been like a sister to me, you know? Just, make sure Seamus makes you happy." He kissed her forehead, much like Samuel did. "I love you, cousin."

"I love you too, Harry." She whispered as he slipped the Invisibility Cloak back on.

She knew he was going to his death and that knowledge broke her more than anything else. She clung to Seamus, her head buried in his chest as she sobbed bitterly for her friends, family, and especially for Harry. He carried her back to the Great Hall and let her cry, running his fingers through her hair.

Sometime later, Voldemort's voice was heard once more. "Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. Here is your precious hero."

"NO!" Hermione's gut wrenching yell was joined by many others. Charlotte, however, stood with her best friend, glaring at the Dark Lord. "HARRY!" Hermione cried, fresh tears streaking down her face. "Harry!"

"SILENCE!" Voldemort roared. "It is over! Set him at my feet, Hagrid, where he belongs!" Silence was forced upon them all. "Now, who will join me?"

"Draco!" Narcissa Malfoy called, and Charlotte saw him standing in the shadows. "Come! Quickly!"

Draco stepped forward, and caught Charlotte's eye. He, instead of moving forward, moved to Charlotte's other side. To her surprise, Narcissa also joined him, defiantly walking past Voldemort. At the same time, Neville Longbottom stepped forward into the empty space between the Order and the Death Eaters. "You offer me your allegiance, Neville, correct?"

"I'll join you." He stated, carrying the sword of Gryffindor. "When hell freezes over! To Dumbledore's Army!"

Several things happened at once: Neville sliced off Voldemort's snake's head, Harry disappeared, and Kreacher, Sirius's old house-elf until he gave Grimmauld Place to Harry, came charging out of the entrance hall, leading an army of house-elves and crying, "Fight! Fight for my Master, defender of house-elves! Fight the Dark Lord, in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!"

When Charlotte caught sight of Lucius Malfoy, the rage that she'd pushed back after she learned he killed her mother flared up inside her. "CRUCIO!" She roared, her wand pointed at his heart.

Draco and Narcissa were fighting alongside the Order now, and neither one came to his rescue. He screamed and somehow managed to get to his feet. "Stupefy!" He yelled and she flew backwards into the Weasley twins, watching him helplessly as he ran off, until a jet of blinding green light hit him and he moved no more.

"Where'd his body go?" Charlotte heard Hermione ask thickly. The poor girl had lost two of her dearest friends.

The battle had moved itself in the Great Hall. Voldemort was dueling McGonagall, Slughorn, and Kingsley. Bellatrix was dueling Hermione, Ginny, and Luna. Charlotte saw Dolohov start dueling Seamus and she rushed over to her boyfriend's side. "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Mrs. Weasley suddenly roared and forced the three girls away from Bellatrix Lestrange.

Charlotte threw curse after curse at Dolohov, the Nonverbal spells being an advantage, and right before Bellatrix fell, Charlotte threw one of the Half-Blood Prince's spells at him. "Sectumsempra!"

The three dueling Voldemort flew backwards suddenly and Voldemort's wand pointed at Molly Weasley. "Protego!" Someone yelled, and then, Harry appeared.

"Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?" Voldemort taunted, his red eyes flickering over to Charlotte.

"Nobody." Voldemort started circling around Harry and the cheer died on Charlotte's lips. "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? You think it will be you, do you? The boy who has survived by accident and because Dumbledore pulled the strings?"

There was a lot of talking, a lot of Harry spilling Voldemort's secrets and talking of the Elder Wand, the wand of legend. "Dumbledore's last plan didn't backfire on me. It backfired on you." Harry pointed his borrowed wand, which Charlotte recognized as Draco's. "That wand isn't working properly for you because Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore. Draco Malfoy Disarmed him. And I took this wand from him weeks ago." Harry took a deep breath. "If the wand in your hands knows its last master was Disarmed, than I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Expelliarmus!"

It sounded like a cannon blast and Charlotte covered her ears, burying her head in Seamus's shoulder. She didn't want to see Harry die for real.

The silence was shattered by cheers and roars, and Charlotte finally looked. Harry still stood there, the Elder Wand in his hand, and Voldemort…Voldemort lay still on the floor, dead.