All five of them arrived and hid just below the windows by the door, just in time to hear Snape talking, "You have performed extraordinary magic with this wand, my Lord, in the last hours alone."
"No, I am extraordinary, but the wand resists me," Voldemort explained.
"There is no wand more powerful, Ollivander himself has said," Snape emphasized, "Tonight when the boy comes, it will not fail you I am sure of it. It answers to you, and to you only."
"Does it?" Voldemort questioned.
"My Lord?" Snape asked, uncertain what he meant.
"The wand, does it truly answer to me?" Voldemort clarified. "You're a clever man, Severus. Surely you must know. Where does its true loyalty lie?"
"With you of course, my Lord," Snape answered confidently.
"The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly because I am not its true master. The Elder Wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Dumbledore, Severus. While you live, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine. You've been a good and faithful servant, Severus but only I can live forever," he explained as he was walking around Snape.
"My Lord—" he said, trying to give assurances.
Voldemort walked away and whispered, "Nagini, kill." All five of them were startled by the fact that the snake attacked Snape, giving Voldemort a chance to make his escape. Once the snake had his fill, he slithered away in the direction of where Voldemort left. All five of them walked into the room. Harry walked over and kneeled by him, trying to cover the blood from his neck. Harry could see that Snape was crying.
Snape choked out, "Take them. Take them. Please."
Harry looked behind him, using his other hand, motioning, "Give me something. Quickly. A flask, anything." Ella grabbed an empty bottle from her pocket and gave it to Harry. He took it and used it to grab Snape's tears.
"Take them to the Pensieve," Snape instructed as Harry tried to close the bottle. Ella walked over and closed it for him. "Look at me. You have your mother's eyes." Snape closed his eyes and took his final breathe. Ella gave Harry the bottle and he put it in his pants pocket. Ella and Harry both stood up and were ready to leave.
When they got outside, Voldemort: spoke up, "You have fought valiantly but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter and Ella Cullen, I now speak directly to both of you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonor. Join me in the Forbidden Forest tonight and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me."
"Edward, I need you to take Ron and Hermione back to the castle and fight there," Ella replied.
They all nodded.
Harry and Ella towards Dumbledore's office in silence, contemplating what could happen when they went to meet Voldemort at the Forrest. But first, they needed to understand what Snape wanted them to see. When they arrived at Dumbledore's office, it felt bleak but nothing changed as far as how it looked. The doors to the Pensieve opened and the silver plate floated across near Dumbledore's desk. Harry slowly poured Snape's tears into it and he slowly placed his face into it before floating into the memories. It started off innocently enough:
A flower slowly opened up in Lily's hand, young Petunia pointed at her and said, "Freak! You're a freak, Lily! I'm telling Mummy! You're a freak, Lily!" and ran off.
She heard a voice behind her, "She's just jealous. That she's ordinary, and you're special."
She looked behind her and saw that it was Snape, "That's mean, Severus."
Voldemort was calling out, "Severus."
Snape was standing across from Dumbledore overlooking the mountains, emotionally wrecked, "No! Don't kill me!"
"The prophecy did not refer to a woman. It spoke of a boy born at the end of July," Dumbledore explained.
"Yes but, he thinks it's her son!" Snape agreed, "He intends to hunt them down now, to kill them. Hide her, hide them all. I beg you."
"What will you give me in exchange, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
Snape: Anything.
Lily was kneeling by the crib, looking at Harry, "Harry. Harry, you are so loved. So loved. Harry, Mama loves you. Dada loves you. Harry, be safe. Be strong."
She stood up in time to see Voldemort and heard him say, "Avada Kedavra!" she screamed as a bright light had surrounded her. He had disappeared the moment Ella had come running into the room.
Ella screamed, "NO!" as she gathered Lily into her arms. She could distantly hear Harry crying. She looked over to see Snape falling down to his knees when he saw Ella holding the love of his life in her arms. Snape managed to get up and pick her up from Ella's arms. She gathered a blanket and wrapped it around Harry as she picked him up and forced him to not see what had happened to his mother.
"Do you swear to not say a word to Harry about what has happened?" Dumbledore asked.
"I swear," Ella replied. Snape stood there, gaping at Ella's response to what Dumbledore had asked.
"Harry deserves to know!" Snape called out.
"And he will, when the time is right," Ella said.
"And when will that be?" Edward asked.
"At Voldemort's most vulnerable moment," Ella replied. "Let me ask you this, when should we tell Harry about what had happened?" No answer came from him. "Harry has all of us to protect him and to do what is right and necessary when the time comes. Voldemort will do all that he can to kill Harry the moment Harry starts Hogwarts."
Snape was standing at the window in Dumbledore's office, "You said you would keep her safe."
"Lily and James put their faith in the wrong person, Severus. Rather like you. The boy survives."
"He doesn't need protection, the Dark Lord is gone!" Snape retorted.
"The Dark Lord will return! And when he does, the boy will be in terrible danger! He has her eyes. If you truly loved her..." Dumbledore started off.
"No one... can know," Snape stated.
"That I shall never reveal the best of you, Severus?" Dumbledore asked.
"Your word," Snape said as he looked straight into his eyes.
"When you risk your life every day to protect the boy?" Dumbledore asked.
"He possesses no measurable talent, his arrogance rivals that of his father and he seems to relish his fame," Snape remarked.
"Don't say a word against my father," Harry called out as he stood up against Snape.
"James Potter. Lazy, arrogant," Snape said, taunting Harry.
"My father was a great man," Harry told him.
"Your father was a swine!" he told Harry. The memory shifted to Snape kneeling before Dumbledore, observing his hand, "Drink the rest. It will contain the curse to your hand for the time being. It will spread, Albus."
"How long?" Dumbledore asked.
"Maybe a year," he replied.
"Don't ignore me, Severus. We both know Lord Voldemort has ordered the Malfoy boy to murder me. But should he fail, one should presume the Dark Lord will turn to you. You must be the one to kill me, Severus. It is the only way. Only then will the Dark Lord trust you completely. There will come a time when Harry Potter must be told something. But you must wait until Voldemort is at his most vulnerable," Dumbledore informed him.
"Must be told what?" Snape asked.
"On the night Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry, and Lily Potter passed herself between them, the curse rebounded. When that happened, a part of Voldemort's soul latched itself onto the two living thing it could find. Harry and Ella. There's a reason Harry and Ella can speak with snakes. There's a reason they can look into Lord Voldemort's mind. A part of Voldemort lives inside them both," he clarified.
"So when the time comes... the boy must die?" Snape inquired.
"Yes. Yes... he must die as does Ella," he confessed.
"You've kept him alive so that he can die at the proper moment. You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter!" Snape replied as if his heart was ripped into two.
"Don't tell me now that you've grown to care for the boy," Dumbledore said, a bit confused.
"What happens to Ella?" he asked.
"At the right moment, Harry must be the one to kill her," Dumbledore replied.
Snape waved his wand towards the window, "Expecto Patronum," he said.
Dumbledore saw what his animal was and was clearly surprised, "Lily... after all this time?"
"Always. So when the time comes the boy must die?" he replied.
"Yes. He must die. And Voldemort himself must do it. That is essential," Dumbledore told him.
Once the memories were done, he sat down on the stairs for a moment, trying to process what he had seen and heard.
"Harry, all this time, I wanted to tell you the truth but I couldn't," Ella said.
"I'm never going to see you again," Harry said.
"You don't know that," Ella whispered.
"But Dumbledore said that I had to die by his hand," Harry responded.
"What Dumbledore didn't say was why you had to," Ella informed him.
"What are you talk about?" he asked.
"You'll find out when we face Voldemort tonight at the forest," Ella said as she stood up, "It's time." Harry was ultimately confused but all this time, he's learned to trust Ella in all of this. He stood up and they both walked out of Dumbledore's office, towards the forest.
On the stairs, they bumped into Hermione, Ron and Edward. Edward walked over to her, brows furrowed. Hermione spoke up, "Where've you been?"
"We thought you went to the forest," Ron responded.
"I'm…" Harry looked over to Ella and rephrased what he was saying, "we're going there now."
"Are you mad? No. You can't give yourself up to him," Ron said.
Hermione took a good long look at Harry and knew that something was up, "What is it, Harry? What is it you know?"
"There's a reason I can hear them, the Horcruxes," Harry said as he turned to Hermione and Ron, "I think I've known for a while. And I think you have too." Hermione became emotional in an instant and rushed over to Harry and hugged him. Ron figured out what Harry meant but decided to not say anything.
When they parted, Hermione said, "I'll go with you."
"No, kill the snake," Harry instructed. He knew that he was safe with Ella there. "Kill the snake and then it's just him." Hermione nodded, realizing that he had all the support and confidence he needed. From there, Harry and Ella departed for the forest but first they had to do something before meeting Voldemort. Once they got to a remote area halfway into the forest, Harry whispered, "I'm ready to die," he reached into his pocket and grabbed the Snitch. He made sure that the phrase that was written was on it was facing him before holding it close to his mouth and blowing on it. The Snitch opened slowly to reveal a black diamond-shaped ornament. It floated away from the Snitch. Harry pocketed the Snitch and opened his right hand, "The Resurrection Stone." He wrapped his fingers around it and closed his eyes for a moment before opening it again and finding his loved ones around him. The first one he saw was his mother who had her arm outstretched to him. He walked over to her, only to find that he couldn't touch her physically.
"You've been so brave, sweetheart," she responded. "Ella, thank you… for taking care of him."
"It's my pleasure," she told her.
"Why are you here? All of you?" he asked.
"We never left," she responded.
Harry walked over to where Sirius was and asked, "Does it-? Does it hurt? Dying?"
"Quicker than falling asleep."
"You're nearly there, son," James told him.
"I'm sorry. I never wanted any of you to die for me," Harry told all of them before looking over to Remus," And Remus, your son…"
"Others will tell him what his mother and father died for. One day, he'll understand," he assured him. "Ella, there're are papers hidden behind a certain painting. It regards to my son."
Ella smiled, knowing what he meant, "I'll find it. I'll be sure that your son is well taken care of, Remus"
"Thank you."
"You'll stay with me?" Harry asked.
"Until the end," James assured his only son.
"And he won't be able to see you?" he asked, wanting to be sure that Voldemort doesn't know that he truly had called his loved ones with the Stone.
"No. We're here, you see," Sirius said as he pointed to Harry's heart.
"Stay close to me," Harry said as he laid eyes on his mother.
"Always," she promised. He closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were gone.
"They will always be here with you, Harry," Ella said, "Just as long as you remember them." Harry nodded. Ella knew that he needed a moment to himself, to gather his emotions before facing Voldemort. After a moment, he looked at Ella and nodded once. They both walked to find Voldemort.
All the while, Voldemort and his army were standing around, waiting for Harry and Ella to show up, a Death Eater showed up and said, "No sign of him, my Lord."
"I thought he would come," he said, losing confidence that they had disobeyed him.
Hagrid, caught in ropes saw him first and responded, "Harry? No! What are you doing here?"
A Death Eater tightened the rope and said, "Quiet!"
Voldemort had seen that he had shown up with Ella, "Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. Come to die." He looked around as he spoke to his army.
"Aro," Ella scoffed. "Thought as much as you would be here."
"My friend," he said as he smiled.
"Where's your bodyguard?" she retorted. With no response from him, she smiled. "I do have to say that I'm surprised that Marcus and Caius aren't with you."
"I killed them," Aro replied.
"Pity," she responded.
"Enough talk!" Voldemort said.
"I am genuinely more surprised that you are taking orders from Tom, Aro," she said. "Since when is Tom the law to the vampires?"
"Since I agreed to help," Aro said.
"Again, when did you allow a non-vampire be in control of you, Aro?" she asked. He said nothing. Ella scoffed, "You are truly weak, if you truly did control to Tom."
"ENOUGH!" Voldemort said. "This has gone far enough as it had. It's time for action!"
"You're right, Tom," she agreed. "It is time for action!" In a blink of an eye, she was on top of Aro and with a single blow, her fist ran through his throat and she twisted his head off. Everyone around her had gasped.
The Death Eaters immediately surrounded her and she began to fight them, just as Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and screamed out, "Avada Kedavra!" A bright light had hit Harry, blinding everyone around them.
Harry stood up from where he was lying on the ground. Everywhere he looked, things were white. Off to the side, he could hear something making noises. It had the form of a small, naked child, curled on the ground, under a seat, skin raw and rough, flayed –looking and it was shuddering, like it was unwanted, stuffed out of sight and struggling for breath. He was wondering what it was, then he heard a voice, "You can't help." Harry turned around to see that it was Dumbledore talking to him, "Harry, you wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk." He turned slightly, waiting for Harry to join him.
When he did, he glanced back and asked, "Professor, what is that?"
"Something beyond either of our help," he answered, "A part of Voldemort sent here to die."
"And exactly where are we?" he inquired, once he was satisfied with Dumbledore's answer.
"I was going to ask you that. Where would you say that we are?"
"Well, it looks like King's Cross station. Only cleaner. And without all the trains."
"King's Cross, is that right? This is, as they say, your party. I expect you now realize that you and Voldemort have been connected by something other than fate since that night in Godric's Hollow all those years ago."
"So it's true then, sir? A part of him lives within me, doesn't it?" he questioned.
"Did," Dumbledore corrected. "It was just destroyed many moments ago by none other than Voldemort himself. You were the Horcrux he never meant to make, Harry."
"Ella as well?" he iinquired.
"Yes, but you killed the piece of Voldemort yourself."
Harry nodded, "I have to go back, haven't I?"
"Oh, that's up to you," Dumbledore said.
"I have a choice?" Harry's brows furrowed.
"Oh, yes. We're in King's Cross, you say?" Dumbledore asked, "I think, if you so desired, you'd be able to board a train."
"And where would it take me?" he asked.
"On," Dumbledore answered simply.
"Voldemort has the Elder Wand," Harry told him.
"True," Dumbledore agreed.
"And the snake's still alive," he added.
"Yes," he said.
"And I have nothing to kill it with," he stated
"Help will always be given at Hogwarts, Harry, to those who ask for it," Dumbledore reminded him, "I've always prized myself on my ability to turn a phrase. Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it. But I would, in this case, amend my original statement to this: Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who deserve it. Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living and above all, those who live without love."
Harry processed what he said and decided to take a different route, "Professor, my mother's Patronus was a doe, wasn't it? That's the same as Professor Snape's. It's curious, don't you think?"
Dumbledore caught what Harry was trying to do, "Actually, if I think about it, it doesn't seem curious at all. I'll be going now, Harry."
"Professor? Is this all real? Or has this been happening inside my head?" he asked.
"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"
"Professor? What should I do? Professor?" he asked as he was calling out to Dumbledore as he disappeared into the light.
The Death Eaters that were around Ella moved away from her, giving her a chance to stand up and flit to Harry as Bellatrix went to Voldemort, "My Lord? My Lord? My Lord, are you hurt? My Lord?"
Voldemort struggled to stand up and when he did, he shoved Bellatrix's help away from him, "I do not need your help."
"No," Bellatrix called out as she saw her sister make an approach to Harry's body, "Come. My Lord!" then looked at Harry's body, "The boy... is he dead?"
As Narcissa walked over, she silently asked Ella to not say anything; when Ella saw Narcissa's pleading eyes, she said nothing. Narcissa leaned down to Harry's face and whispered, "Is he alive? Draco, is he alive?" Harry nodded slightly, not wanting to give away anything to Voldemort. Narcissa stood up and turned around and said, "Dead."
Voldemort turned to the Death Eaters that were holding Hagrid and said, "Let him go." They let go of the ropes on his wrists, "Pick him up." Hagrid walked over to Harry and kneeled down, grieving over him.
"It'll be okay, Hagrid," Ella whispered. "I promise."
"Quiet!" Voldemort ordered. Hagrid lifted Harry up in his arms and stood up. Ella stood up next to Hagrid. "It's time." They all took the long walk back to Hogwarts.
Once they got there, the students and staff of Hogwarts were surrounding the main entrance as Voldemort was leading his army.
Ginny was the first to talk, "Who's Hagrid carrying? Neville, who is it?"
Voldemort proudly announced, "Harry Potter is dead!"
"No! No!" Ginny cried out and was ready to run towards Hagrid but her father stopped her midway. Ella opened her mind to Edward, begging him to stay silent.
"Silence," Voldemort ordered. "Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead. From this day forth, you put your faith... in me. Harry Potter is dead! And now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us. Or die."
Lucius stepped forward, calling out "Draco! Draco, don't be stupid!"
"Draco. Come," Narcissa implored her only son. Draco was hesitant about joining him. He looked at Ella and she immediately knew that he had taken what she said to the heart but only did what he was told because of his parents. He stepped forward and walked over. He briefly slowed down in front of Voldemort.
"Ah. Well done, Draco. Well done," he said as he hugged him. After Draco stood next to his parents, Neville stepped forward and everyone was confused. "Well, I must say I'd hoped for better. And you might you be, young man?"
"Neville Longbottom," he answered.
"Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks."
"I'd like to say something," he said.
"Well, Neville, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say," Voldemort replied.
"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone," he started off.
"Stand down, Neville," Seamus reprimanded.
"People die every day," Neville pointed out, which silenced Seamus. "Friends, family. Yeah, we still lost Harry tonight. He's still with us, in here. So's Fred, Remus, Tonks... all of them. They didn't die in vain. But you will. 'Cause you're wrong! Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! It's not over!" He said as he pulled the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Sorting Hat.
Harry chose that moment to "wake up" and with his wand pointed at Voldemort, shouted, "Confringo!" The students and staff were shouting with cheer as they all stood, ready for war. Some of the Death Eaters decided to leave. Ella flitted to Edward and to the rest of her family as they joined Harry, Hermione and Ron near the stairs inside the castle, "I'll lure him into the castle. We have to kill the snake."
Hermione brought out a Basilisk fang and said, "You'll need this." Harry took it, gratefully.
Ella looked over to her family, "Aro's dead."
"How?" Carlisle asked. She gave a bag to Carlisle, who opened it and saw that it was his body in pieces. "That only leaves Marcus."
"We can worry about burning the bodies after Harry faces Voldemort one last time," Ella replied. Carlisle nodded.
"We will take care of the other vampires," he replied. "You and Edward just worry about Harry and helping him." Ella and Edward nodded.
Ella looked over at Harry, "Ready when you are."
"Let's go," he said. And they all went in different directions, hoping to split Voldemort and the snake from each other. Ron and Hermione ran one way, Harry, Ella and Edward ran in another and the rest of the Cullens had their own plans and ran to do their duties.
"You were right," Harry told him, the moment he had sensed him in the room, "When you told Professor Snape that wand was failing you. It will always fail you!"
"I killed Snape!" he exclaimed.
"But what if that wand never belonged to Snape? What if its allegiance was always to someone else?" he asked, pausing a moment to allow Voldemort to think about what he just said. Not a moment too soon had Voldemort understood what Harry meant, he spoke up, "C'mon, Tom... let's finish this the way we started it. Together!" Harry grabbed Tom and they both disapparated out the window. Both Ella and Edward had their own problems, dealing with two of the remaining guards that were with Volturi. Together, they managed to dismember them. They managed to carry all of the broken pieces together to where the rest of the broken body pieces just outside of the school and gave them to the Cullens.
"What's happened so far?"
"Most were killed but there were some who did Volturi's bidding out of fear," Carlisle responded.
"What's going to happen to them?"
"That'll be up to Vladimir and Stefan," Carlisle responded. Ella was going to ask but decided against it. It wasn't the appropriate time due to the fact that she still needed to help Harry.
"I'll be back," Ella said as she left. She walked over to the main entrance, just in time to see Harry and Tom roll away from each away and both grappling after their own wands. Once they both stood up, they both cast their own spells against each other, fighting for dominance over each other. Ella stood by as the rest of the Cullens stood next to her.
"Ella," Carlisle said.
"No, we cannot interfere," she said.
"But he will kill Harry," Esme said.
"He already tried," Ella replied. They all looked at her. "The horcrux that is in Harry is no longer there. Voldemort killed it in the forest." Esme was going to say something, "Esme, Harry's just distracting him."
"From what?" Jasper asked.
"Harry's giving Hermione and Ron a chance to kill the last horcrux," Ella whispered. They all sighed with relief and went back to watch the fight, ready to intervene if necessary. Out of nowhere, Voldemort pulled back, only to realize that Nagini had been killed. Once Voldemort had got whatever strength he had, he fought against Harry one last time but before he could, his body was shutting down on him and his skin was peeling away from him and he slowly disappeared into thin air. Everyone sighed in relief. Ella walked over to Harry, smiling. Harry felt relieved that the battle was finally over. Ella hugged him to her and he hugged himself to her.
"Thanks," he said, "mom." Ella smiled as she felt her eyes swell with non-existent tears as she heard him say that.
"Let's go back inside," Ella said as she led him back into Hogwarts, knowing that the rest of her family was following. Once they were inside, Carlisle immediately went into doctor mode, helping those who needed medical attention. Ella nodded towards Edward, motioning to him to help out. Just as he turned around, Ella and Harry both saw Hermione and Ron walking into the Great Hall, holding hands. They both had a big smile on their faces as Hermione and Ron both smiled timidly. Harry led all four of them to Dumbledore's office.
As they walked, Hermione spoke up, "Why didn't it work for him, the Elder Wand?"
"It answered to somebody else," Harry answered. "When he killed Snape, he thought the wand would become his. But thing is, the wand never belonged to Snape. It was Draco who disarmed Dumbledore that night in the astronomy tower. From that moment on, the wand answered to him. Until, the other night when I disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor."
"So that means…" Ron started off.
"It's mine," Harry said.
"What should we do with it?" Ron asked.
"We?" Hermione and Ella said at the same time.
"I'm just saying, that's the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in the world. With that, we'd be invincible," Ron clarified.
They all got into Dumbledore's office and Harry brought out the box that was made especially for the Elder Wand and looked up at Dumbledore's picture. "This wand's allegiance may be mine but I don't want to use it because it's yours. My wand is what I'm most comfortable with and it's a part of who I am as a person," he said and Dumbledore smiled and nodded. With that said, Harry brought out his own wand, and using the Elder Wand, he fixed his own wand. Once that was done, he put the Elder Wand back into the box and left it there. He picked up his wand, turned around and felt at peace for the first time in his life. Hermione went up to him and hugged him and Ron followed. The three of them went through so much together in the past 7 years and he wouldn't change a thing about it.