GLORIOUS ALL OF YOU.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O
The Arcobaleno are tense as they watch their Cloud rush to gather the supplies he had already prepared- having long ago realized he would be driven to go on the run one way or another- from Gringotts. It takes him moments to get his trunk turned into an earring and tucked away into an expandable bag. (His ears are not pierced yet at this point). A Wizard's Tent is tucked into the bag next as well as food and water as well as a few other things.
The Arcobaleno watch how Harry uses the knowledge he had devoured over the last two years to ward the tent he lives in and help himself hide.
They witness the shadow tactics that Harry takes to using.
How he slides in and out of Hogwarts using the secret passageways he had found over the years. How he keeps in contact with his army, and hands out orders. They witness as those orders are obeyed, and how Harry gathers information. They witness his struggles and pain as he rushes around by himself, having left Hermione and Ron at Hogwarts in charge of his army.
They are beside their Cloud as he puts pieces together and brings his knowledge to the Slytherin Purebloods. They learn beside Harry about Horcruxes, and what it means when the Purebloods recognize what Harry has found and fill in the blanks.
They learn of the lengths Tom Riddle went to in his attempts to avoid death.
They follow their Cloud as he searches for the anchors Voldemort used. They are there when Harry remembers the diary he had destroyed in his second year, and they walk beside him when he sneaks back into the castle to get it.
Dumbledore finds him.
Instead of stopping Harry, the man gives him the diary, and explains the pieces he had already found, what he had put together. He explains about Tom, and what lengths the man had gone to. That he is certain there are at least seven Horcruxes that need to be found.
Harry sees the ring Dumbledore wears, sees the curse it has laid on the Headmaster and knows he is dying. Harry takes the ring, making sure never to touch it skin on skin. Then he treks down to the Chamber and the Arcobaleno feel their hearts stall in their chests when they see the colossal skeleton of the Basilisk their Cloud had faced at 12.
Harry walks forward and doesn't hesitate to reach into the Basilisk's mouth and rip fangs out. He bundles the fangs up in a cloth and stores them away in his bottomless bag. He steps back from the skeleton and they see his hand go to the scar on his shoulder that looks like a chemical burn and rub as he remembers the burn of poison killing him from within.
The next few moments see Harry taking the fang he had kept out of his bag and the bundle and sinking it into the ring. They all flinch along with Harry when a black-smoke-wraith rises above it and an inhuman screech echoes from the ring before the wraith fades alongside the screaming.
Harry brings the fang to the Goblins and gets them to forge it into a 'dagger' without actually changing its shape. Instead the dagger, when sheathed, appears to be a necklace of an onyx fang. (The Fang wasn't really a dagger in the conventional sense. Harry had just had the Goblins enchant onyx stone to hold the fang without dissolving and made it so that when he grabbed the tip of the fang and tugged, it would come out of the 'sheath' of onyx) The smaller fangs are similarly made into knifes and daggers and stashed all over their Cloud's body and in the bottomless bag. (Some of the much smaller teeth joined the large fang on the necklace, framing either side.)
It is enchanted so only Harry can pull the weapon from its sheath, so that anyone looking at it will only see a useless necklace and so that no one can remove it from his neck at all.
No one realizes Harry wears the fangs of a 1000-year-old Basilisk around his throat, that his daggers and knifes are more of the same.
As horrified as the Arcobaleno are that their Cloud had to face the Basilisk at 12, they also find that they are intensely proud of his accomplishment.
O~O~O~
The Arcobaleno trek beside their Cloud as he slides into the shadows and learns to be an assassin. They watch as Harry continues to slide in and out of Hogwarts, working with the students he had taught. They watch as he brings the Purebloods together and devises a way to track the other Horcrux using the ones he already had.
They watch as Ron and Hermione join him on the run, as the Ministry makes Harry their 'Undesirable Number One' and it gets dangerous for Hermione and Ron to stay easily accessible by the Ministry at Hogwarts
They walk beside the trio as they move constantly from place to place, following the Horcrux Compass, and the war worsens.
They receive the notice from the students- the soldiers- left in Hogwarts that the Ministry had fallen to Voldemort.
They watch as the trio slowly find each of the Horcrux and manage to destroy them. They watch as some of the scars are carved onto their Cloud's body for the first time when he gets caught in the traps protecting the Horcruxes. They are witness to the hit and run tactics Harry takes to using when he runs into Death Eaters or Snatchers, and how he earns a few scars that way.
They witness the trio going into Gringotts. And they witness Harry taking control of the situation and explaining to the King what they were tracking, what they had found inside the Bank. They watch as Harry plans with the goblins. As he stages a 'break in' to get Hufflepuff's Cup.
It is against the treaties that bind the goblins for them to help in any wizarding war. They are meant to be a neutral party since they hold the gold of the wizards. Harry thinks his way around the problem.
He tells the Goblins that he will pay for the damages he causes, and nothing else.
The Goblins can't break their word and 'help' Harry if they don't know when Harry will strike or how after all.
And so they watch as the trio breaks into the bank, impersonates Death Eaters, takes the Cup, and rides out of the ceiling on the back of a security dragon.
(It's like watching one of Skull's insane stunt shows where the next stunt just keeps getting more and more insane and dangerous than the last.)
O~O~O~
Time passes and moves into what would have been Harry's six year. The shadow tactics get worse, and Harry is constantly on the move or sneaking into Hogwarts.
The only reason he manages it is a little House Elf named Dobby, who is perfectly willing to transport Harry back and forth.
The Arcobaleno are horrified as they watch the war worsen.
When the trio figures out the next Horcrux they're looking for is being worn around Umbridge's neck they sneer at the sight of the woman. When Harry rants to his friends about how 'he had already known she was a disgusting person, but this is a kind of low he didn't know existed' they wonder what he means.
Until Ron asks the same question and Harry points out a few facts. They had all carried some of the Horcruxes at one point or another. They all knew how the Horcruxes had drained them, how being in close proximity to a Horcrux upped jealousy and anger, how it tore at their minds and bonds.
Umbridge was wearing one as a piece of jewelry and was utterly content and happy. Was capable of casting a Patronus.
And what kind of despicable being did she have to be naturally for a Horcrux to not even phase her?
Either way, they get ahold of the locket and Harry is all too happy to destroy it and add it to the collection of destroyed Horcruxes he is keeping.
O~O~O~
Voldemort finds out the trio is hunting Horcruxes, and he panics. He's furious, and out for blood. The attacks he launches show that, as Voldemort gets more vicious and targeted. He starts hunting for people to lure Harry out with.
It's how Luna Lovegood finds herself taken by Death Eaters; and it's also how Harry ends up captured when he goes to help her.
The Arcobaleno are very, very tense when it happens.
Luna takes one look at the three of them and her smile saddens and grows a little pained. "You should not have come Commander."
"You're mine Luna" Harry tells her, his green eyes gleaming "I wasn't going to leave you in their hands."
"I know Commander." Luna agrees "Clouds always cover what they consider to be their own, but this is going to hurt you."
Harry won't understand the many Cloud references Luna made when talking about him for years, but he grins at her anyway "I've already been hurt Luna. Getting hurt for My Own is nothing."
O~O~O~
When the torture starts, the Arcobaleno rage.
O~O~O~
They listen as first Hermione is taken.
They listen as Ron and Harry both Rage in the cell, the Cloud and the Storm feeding each other's fury. They are witness to the bleeding form of Hermione being thrown into the cell, how Ron storms forward and Harry falls back to check on the limp form of his heart sister even as Luna steps forward to help her.
They can do nothing as Ron is then taken out of the cell and Harry is left to rage even as he pulls the shirt off his back in an attempt to bandage the bleeding wounds on Hermione and pulls her into the back of the cell with Luna.
The next ten minutes, Ron's screams echo down to Harry before suddenly cutting off.
They see Harry go utterly still, crouched in front of Hermione and Luna at the sudden silence.
And when Ron is brought back to the cell, they can see the relief that Ron is still breathing mixed with the rage at the injures in their Cloud.
And then Harry is taken.
The Arcobaleno are not prepared for the intimate look in on how Harry's body was carved up. They are not prepared for the fact that Harry is tortured not for information, but simply because he is Harry Potter. They are not prepared to watch as different spells are hurled at their Cloud, each more painful than the last.
And, above all, they are not prepared for Harry to remain utterly silent in the face of it, only his eyes conveying his utter and compete fury.
(The memories need to paused constantly as they watch this part, each of the Arcobaleno needing to rage more than once, and Yuni breaking down a few times until Reborn covers her ears and turns her eyes into his chest so she will not need to watch anymore.
Not one of the others take their eyes off the memories when they play though. Not one of them looks away.
They will remember this the next time they go to call Skull weak. Will remember this before they move to strike him. They will remember the unbending spine and the glowing eyes in the face of torture.)
O~O~O~
Harry is thrown back into the cell like trash.
And the Arcobaleno watch as the four friends, as the small family, tends to each other's wounds.
They engrave these memories into their minds, so that they will never forget the faces, the bonds, and the strength that brought their Cloud to their side.
The Arcobaleno breathe a sigh of relief when Dobby manages to get their Cloud, Luna, Ron, and Hermione out of the cell.
And they mourn for Harry when Dobby loses his life in the process, watching in silence as Harry digs a grave out by hand for the elf overlooking the ocean.
(They try not to think about the graves that had already been made for the dead, or how many more they will see dug out by their Cloud before the end.)
O~O~O~
A week passes with Harry trying to heal and lead at the same time as he tries to take care of Hermione and Ron. The two of them are healed well enough though they are left with scars.
Luna helps clean out and heal Harry's wounds as much as she can. She apologizes that she is not a healer who would be able to do a better job.
"It's fine Luna." Harry answers, his voice tired and worn "I can't go to a hospital anyway, and you've managed to seal the wounds. I can deal with scars."
"Your Rainbow will not be happy when this comes to light."
The Arcobaleno jerk in place, blinking as it seems the woman- Luna- is looking right at them when she says this, missing the confused look Harry shoots at her back.
Before Harry can ask anything else a large bear Patronus comes barreling into the tent, and Neville Longbottom's voice comes from it.
Harry is being called back to the school.
He wakes Ron and Hermione and they go.
They find a resistance.
They find Death Eaters are in the school, taking over and issuing threats. Severus Snape is standing as headmaster.
Dumbledore dead at Snape's hand. (Though Harry had known the curse from the ring would have killed him anyway.)
Harry being discovered by Draco Malfoy and being forced into a duel to keep up appearances when others find the two of them. Disarming Draco and fleeing through the castle.
Finding the Diadem inside the Room of Requirement when the Horcrux Compass goes off. Harry lunging to tackle Hermione to the floor when she was snagged in the trap that made people want to put the diadem on. Destroying it and the now expected black-smoke-wraith and the inhuman screech.
O~O~O~
The Arcobaleno feel wrung out as they watch Harry go back to the resistance and gather information.
They feel worse when Harry comes to the conclusion that 'we have to move now or we won't get another chance.'
They watch children cheer when Harry makes the plan, and leaves Ron and Hermione with his soldiers even as he slips out to gain more information. They witness the way their Cloud stops when he is alone, how he leans against the wall, closes his eyes, and sags under the weight of command. How he struggles with himself before he straightens, because he has no choice, he must be the leader, there is no one else.
He goes back to the resistance afterwards and nods. "It's time. Come."
And he leads them back to the Great Hall where Snape has gathered the students so the Death Eaters can 'look' for Harry. Their Cloud straightens before he strides inside and commands the attention of all in the Hall.
O~O~O~
War.
The Arcobaleno watch the next memories, and they feel their hearts grow heavy with pain. It is war. True war. A battle and bleeding and pain. Desperate nights, and long days, no rest and praying that they live to see the next sunrise, that their loved ones live to see the same. It is soldiering on despite half-healed wounds because the supplies are running out and will be needed for more serious injuries- just as the Medics must be careful using their magic to heal when they are so tired already and have no idea when the next wave will attack and they will be needed to save lives. (They see that some of Skull's scars come from refusing more than the bare minimum of treatment just in case.)
And during this war, Harry stands at the front, leading those he had prepared, those he had taught, and those who stood with him. They watch as the castle comes to life, as armor and statutes pull themselves free of the walls and their stands. How portraits become messengers, and how the House Ghosts rally to Harry. They watch the House Elves pour out of the kitchens armed with knives.
They watch as Harry becomes 'The General' full time. As the body count begins to add up on both sides. How the battles are unending, the Death Eaters are merciless, and the war worsens as time passes.
They mourn for the children that are forced to fight and die. For their Cloud who was forced to lead.
Hogwarts becomes a sanctuary as Voldemort's attacks spread out from the school. Children, teenagers, babies, and adults pour into the castle as the only 'safe place' they can think of. Muggleborns have their parents moved out of the country or into Hogwarts to protect them.
O~O~O~
The war goes on for weeks, and always Harry is at the head of it all.
Organizing supply runs, sending out feelers, and spies. Helping to entertain the little ones, giving out what hope he can to those who reside in the castle, because he knows he is the face of the light, and he is their savior, their hope given form. Going out on rescue missions. Leaving the grounds of the castle and finding clearings so he can invoke the Taboo and summon Snatchers and Death Eaters alike so he can fight them.
It wears on the Cloud.
It wears on the Arcobaleno to watch it all and be unable to help.
O~O~O~
And then the day comes that the castle is attacked from within. It's early morning, two in the morning, when Harry snaps awake as the castle warns him.
He has never been so glad for the sentience of Hogwarts as he rolls out of his hammock (the beds and dorms had been given to the children and babies as more and more poured in) and drops to the floor.
Harry sends the Ghosts rushing to wake up the rest of the fighters and get the parents and little ones retreating to the safe rooms even as he rushes to meet the threat.
The Arcobaleno watch as Harry meets the attacking force alone. How it doesn't matter that Harry is alone, not one of the attacking force makes it past Harry to get to the retreating children.
(They remember Skull standing in the clearing in front of the mansion, in that Not-Future, the situation that so mirrors this moment when Skull refused to let one Millefiore step past him to make it to the young Sky he guarded and the Arcobaleno that escaped with her)
They are so painfully proud.
O~O~O~
That battle goes into the early morning hours. It only stops when Harry sends the Bloody Barron to see where the Death Eaters are coming from and discovers the Vanishing Cabinet.
He leaves Blaise Zabini and Hermione in charge of his forces, and he is the one to get to the Room of Requirement and burn the cabinet into nothing.
When the Death Eaters are gone, dead or driven out of the castle, Harry retreats from the group.
It is how he discovers Severus Snape meeting with Voldemort, and witnesses Voldemort ordering Snape's death.
The Arcobaleno watch as Harry approaches the dying man, and how he is offered memories in Snape's last moments.
O~O~O~
The Arcobaleno witness Harry throwing orders out to his forces before he retreats to the Headmaster's office and to the Pensieve he knows Dumbledore had kept inside.
The Arcobaleno watch the memory of Harry watching a memory. They learn of the manipulations, how everything is laid out in front of Harry through the memories given to him by Snape.
They learn of the last horrible truth: Harry is a living Horcrux.
The last besides Voldemort's snake.
How Harry had been raised only to die a martyr.
Harry comes out of that memory and he is utterly still. It takes a moment or two before Harry throws his head back and laughs. It's not a nice laugh. It is broken and disbelieving, it is grief and shattered hopes.
"You utter bastard" he breathes into the silence of the office as pieces snap into place and the picture comes into view for both him and for the watching Arcobaleno who are furious on his behalf. "You knew. You knew from the beginning, and you lead me to this moment. Raised me for this exact moment." A pause before Harry continues.
"And now I have nothing. I have nothing but Voldemort's death. For those I call my own, for the children huddled in the castle hoping for safety and praying for a miracle I cannot allow him to live…and in order to do that…" Harry trails off and the Arcobaleno can't breathe as they fill in the blank.
'In order to do that, I must die.'
It is utterly silent in the office as Harry stares at the Pensieve in front of him.
The Arcobaleno gather around him, knowing that he doesn't know they are there, that they are only seeing a memory, but still gathering to his side anyway as if they could offer him support.
They feel sick, and hopeless because this has already passed. There is nothing they can do for their Cloud, except watch and remember. They can do nothing but witness and swear to themselves that Skull will never go through this again. That they will never underestimate the man again. That they will never allow him to walk into war alone.
That he will never need to sacrifice himself again.
Harry straightens up and takes a breath.
He turns and glides down the stairs, back to his army, back to his friends.
O~O~O~
Voldemort takes offence to children driving his forces out of the castle. He mounts another attack a few hours after the last. He brings his forces against Hogwarts' wards.
Harry sees the wards flare to life and he whirls away from them. He commands the upper years and a few of the adults to hold the line, to watch the wards, to destroy the bridge leading to the castle.
He gathers the little ones, the children that had come to Hogwarts for sanctuary all the way up to the third years. He takes them, and the parents down to the Chamber of Secrets. He has the parents make the place more comfortable and lit up, before he walks around the gathered children who are so, so frightened.
And he smiles.
It's worn and tired, it's late nights and endless fighting. It's last ditch efforts and a promise.
A vow.
"I know you're scared." He tells the children and they fall silent as he speaks, their eyes focused on his face. "I know you hear the fighting and you worry about bad guys getting to you. I know you worry about your parents, about siblings, about friends."
"I know you worry." Harry continues and his voice seems to reverberate through the Chamber "I can't promise that everything will be alright. That your friends, your siblings, your parents that are fighting right now will be alright. I won't lie to you about that…but I can make you a promise."
Harry's eyes gleam bright violet with his resolve as he next speaks, and not one of the children or the parents in the Chamber make a sound "I can swear to all of you, that no matter what happens today, no matter who gets hurt, or who passes away…" the castle rumbles above their heads but the children don't look away from Harry as he speaks "Voldemort will die today. He will never hurt anyone ever again. When you come out of here…when everything is over…I can swear to you that Voldemort will be nothing but a memory."
He pulls his eyes away from the children staring at him like he is hope given form and turns to the parents "Keep them safe."
It is a command.
And the parents nod, a solemn "Yes sir" echoing in the Chamber.
Harry whirls away and the Chamber seals behind him.
O~O~O~
Harry pauses once the Chamber seals and leans against the door for a moment. For a moment, when no one is there to see it, Harry allows himself to falter, to be weak, to be tired. He allows his eyes to close, allows himself to mourn for what he knows is coming.
And then he straightens, shaking off his weariness and pain as he stalks away, the moment of weakness fading, all hints of doubt stripped away leaving only The General behind as he heads for the battle.
The Arcobaleno are on his heels, following him up out of the Chamber. They follow beside Harry as he joins the battle.
The wards around the castle fall, Death Eaters pour forward and Dark Creatures rush in alongside them. The battle rages on.
Bodies stack up and time passes. The battle seems endless and blood is spilled until two hours later Voldemort's voice echoes over the castle.
"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."
A pause and then he speaks again "Harry Potter, I now speak directly to 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, 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."
And so it is that Harry Potter walks to into the Forbidden Forest alone, to meet Voldemort.
O~O~O~
The Arcobaleno watch as Harry pulls out the Resurrection Stone and twirls it in his hands. (He'd been called to the Goblins for Dumbledore's Will Reading somewhere in the middle of his trek and he had put the pieces together with Hermione's help. It figured that he'd end up with all three Hollows.)
In the next instant Sirius Black, Lily and James Potter, and Remus Lupin are standing around him.
"…You are all here." Harry breathes, not really having expected it to work, and Lily smiles warm and soft.
"We never left"
A pause before "Does it hurt when you die?"
The Arcobaleno flinch back, away from the question their Cloud has asked. None of them want to think about what that question means, that Harry who has suffered torture and pain would ask this question.
Sirius shakes his head answering the question "It's like going to sleep."
James smiles warm and loving "It's almost over Harry."
Harry goes still and his eyes are haunted as he speaks next. "I'm sorry. I never wanted any of you to die for me. And Remus…you'll never get to see your son grow."
Remus shakes his head, a sad and warm smile on his lips "Others will tell him what Tonks and I died for. That we fought so that he could live. He will understand one day."
And Harry stills, looking out towards Voldemort for a moment before focusing of them again. "You'll stay with me?"
"Until the end" his father agrees.
"He won't be able to see you?"
Sirius shakes his head "No. We're here you see." He taps Harry's heart.
It's silent for a moment or two and then Harry speaks, his voice almost a whisper and a plea. "Stay close to me…?"
"Always." His mother swears and Harry closes his eyes.
The Arcobaleno take a moment to close their own. It's…painful to watch this. Agonizing to listen to this moment, to realize that their Cloud is not even an adult when he makes the choice to walk into the forest for the children in the castle. When he chooses to die for others.
When Harry drops the stone and steps forward, their eyes open and focus.
They will not dishonor their Cloud by looking away from this.
Harry walks forward and goes to meet Voldemort. He lifts the invisibility cloak from his shoulders before he comes into sight, putting the cloak away in his bottomless pouch and stepping from the shadows.
"Harry Potter" Voldemort breathes his name upon seeing him "…the boy-who-lived...come to die!"
In the next moment the Arcobaleno witness their Cloud standing straight and proud, his eyes fiery in their defiance as the Killing Curse flies towards his chest.
It hits.
And Harry falls.
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
It doesn't fit into the story itself, but the Horcrux Compass when it was tested by the Purebloods and Harry…Harry held the Diary and the Compass always pointed at him when they tested to see if it would track the Diary. No one even thought that Harry was what the Compass tracked through the tests so no one realizes Harry is a living Horcrux until Dumbledore's memories tell Harry himself.
Those of you who are curious: I have some of my one shots being adopted!
Dead Beat was adopted by Lucy's Dreamland (which has a chapter posted)
Roadrunner was adopted by TheSocialBookworm (which ALSO has the first chapter posted)