A/N: Still Tweaking :D
Chapter 13
Departure
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione's eyes scanned the view she behold.
"It's dark." Harry sounded less optimistic.
"Of course it's dark, and it's almost time."
Suddenly, the bells chimed above them, signaling the passage of another half an hour. They were standing at the fourth landing of the clock tower, their eyes piercing through the transparent dial. Something told them the view wouldn't be quite the same the next time they stood at the exact same point. Hermione judged the time to be half past eleven, since the chimes were repeated every half hour… Only thirty minutes to go.
"We should be heading to his office now…"
"Headmaster was right you know, it is REALLY dark tonight"
"Yes, Harry, you going to stand there gaping at it? Or shall we do something about it?"
Harry turned, eyes still trubled, "Let's go."
It took them less than five minutes to get to the Headmaster's office. As they entered, they were greeted by the remaining teaching faculty of Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to have turned up to see them off. The entire room seemed to have been cleared, to leave some large space at the center of it. As they walked forward, all their teachers stepped aside, warm smiles on their faces; even Snape seemed to have let go of his smirk. Harry felt awkward, he had never seen or felt these emotions from his tutors, McGonagall seemed to have watery eyes; Hagrid was downright sobbing and Snape… Snape… What in bloody hell…? A chill ran down Harry's spine, his eyes… his eyes, were they affectionate? Harry stood rooted as he reached Snape. That seemed to snap Snape out of whatever state that he was in.
"Go on, Potter…" His eyes were cold and distant again, until they found Hermiones'.
"Hermione, Harry…" Dumbledore's soft voice ushered them in. It was then that Harry noticed the odd set of drawings on the floor at the center of the room. It was sort of a chalk drawing, with all sorts of wavy shapes and figures drawn within two concentric circles. The only things that made sense were some words written touching the inner edge of the inner circle. It said,
"Curare quomeaminspeDimitteme, utinveniamquoLocum et tempus, quod volumus"
But as he read it, it didn't make sense either. Oh well, as long as this works…
"You've come so far, both of you. And yet, you still have a long way to go… All of us here at Hogwarts consider it our privilege to have guided the heirs of our founders…"
Tears and smiles ran amuck all around them, and a sense of pride was dancing in the air around them. Harry's throat ran dry, if there was any time to speak, it was now. Only fifteen minutes to go.
"Thank… You… Thank you all so much." A smile glistened in his face. "We won't disappoint. It's almost time then, I guess, this is goodbye…"
"Goodbye? No Harry, this is Hello! You'll be seeing most of us where you're going! Although we might be more glamorous and less wrinkly that what you're used to!" Everyone broke out in laughter. It was the perfect moment, and they couldn't have asked for anything more. A light moment was hard to come by in this dark world of theirs, and they did not want their last moments in this time stream to be teary and heavy.
"The spell must be cast without much ado, both of you, step into the inner circle. We only have ten minutes remaining." Dumbledore rushed them in.
The moment had come. They stepped into the circle. Dumbledore looked at his colleagues and nodded. All of them surrounded the perimeter and had their wands at the ready. Hermione raised her eyebrow.
"Surely, you didn't think we were here just to wish you the best, did you Granger?" Snape smirked.
"I would've been surprised if that was all that you did, Professor." Hermione retorted; these exchanges were typical in their recent conversations.
"Everyone, let's begin. Keep in mind that you have to keep stiff until midnight and try not to mispronounce."
All wands were now pointed straight at the two teenagers. The hands holding the wands stiffened, and the incantation began.
"Curare… quo…meam… in… spe…"
The words were the ones that were engraved on the floor below. Harry felt a chill in his bones. His insides were beginning to churn. Nobody said this would be easy!
Hang in there, Harry! Don't lose your insides just yet.
Mione, do you feel it too?
I don't feel anything, Harry. You must be nervous.
Nerves? Might be…
The incantations continued and Harry grew more restless. He was nauseating and his scar was throbbing. He could see plumes of smoke moving about now and then outside the window. He was in disarray, even his eyes were playing tricks on him.
"Dimitte…me…ut… inveniam… quo…"
The throbbing was getting worse and worse. Who knew that time travel could have this effect on him? It was becoming unbearable… And then, he felt it. The connection was opening up. Voldemort was trying to enter his mind. He remembered the pain of the last time the Dark Lord did so. He had begged Dumbledore then, to kill him, just to relieve him of the pain. But he was not the same fragile Harry that had been at the department of mysteries now, and the occlumency lessons were paying off. He concentrated hard and fought the darkness from entering his mind. Hermione jumped suddenly as she felt the turmoil in Harry's mind and knew something was not going right. Harry was concentrating hard; after all, Voldemort was perhaps the most skilled legilimens of the present time, to keep the door closed.
"inveniam... quo… Locum… et…"
Suddenly, Harry could no longer feel his arms or legs. The spell was taking effect, the displacement had begun. And that one moment of distraction took its toll, and Harry could now see himself flying through the darkness. He was Voldemort, Voldemort was him. One look around and terror struck. He was here! VOLDEMORT WAS IN THE CASTLE! Harry snapped back into his own body, apparently, Voldemort had shown what he had intended to… His eyes weren't playing tricks before, death eaters were indeed surrounding the castle, and with everyone here in the Headmaster's office, it would have been fairly easy to break in. He had to tell them! If the death eaters reach here while the spell was in progress, all of them would be defenseless. He had to tell them!
"THEY'RE HERE! THE DEATH EATERS! STOP THE SPELL; WE HAVE TO STOP THE SPELL!"
He was yelling, but his voice refused to leave him.
"Why can't they hear me? STOP THE SPELL!"
"Harry, stop it. Harry… HARRY!"
Harry turned to look at Hermione. Only her face was visible, her body down from the throat was almost transparent. Tears rolled down her cheeks, her face was twisted in anguish.
"It's no use. The time-stream displacement has already begun. We are in transition, Harry. Some parts of "us" have already left this stream, including our voices. We… We are… … … helpless."
His eyes widened. He was terrified. The circles at his feet were glowing. Wands were still pointed at him and the casters were rigid as rocks, helpless.
The door suddenly burst open, with a group of death eaters marching in, led by the Dark Lord himself. His snake eyes narrowed under the light of the circles, and it took a moment to register. But, he recognized the time-displacement circles soon enough. Rage was boiling within him. A plot to prevent his rise? Kill him in his cradle? Poison the worthless food at the orphanage? He drew his wand at lightning speed.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Horror filled Harry's eyes as the green jet hit Professor McGonagall and she fell to the floor, lifeless. He heard Dumbledore yell,
"HOLD YOUR WANDS! COMPLETE THE SPELL"
More green jets flew around and more bodies hit the floor.
"tempus…qu..od.."
"Severus, put your wand down! The spell must not be complete!" Voldemort yelled.
Even Harry's nose was turning transparent, but his eyes were opaque and fixed on Snape. It followed Snape's wand as it slowly went down. TRAITOR! The thought had only flashed in Harry's mind when Snape raised his wand again and yelled "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green jet was coming toward him. It was over, he was stuck between time streams, and he could do nothing. Through the flashing green jet, he searched for Snape's eyes. He wanted to see it, but couldn't. But, the jet did not hit him, instead it passed by him, just brushing his hair. It went on and hit the person behind Harry…
Tears flooded his eyes. He did not look back. He knew who the spell had hit. He knew it was not a death-eater. He knew who was standing behind him. He knew it was Dumbledore. When the time-displacement spell was being cast, it was agreed that the legilimens must be the focal point of the spell, and so Snape and Dumbledore stood opposite to each other, channeling and focusing the energy from the spell. The circle below them dimmed. Harry couldn't bear to look. He was cracking up, so was Hermione. He could feel the turmoil within her.
"Well done, Severus!" Voldemort walked up to Snape. "Though I would've preferred to do it myself… But, I have another trophy to claim." Voldemort turned his eye-slits to the barely visible Harry. Finally, it's time, Harry Potter! Just look at you! Stuck between time streams, and no one to save you…Sssso helplessss…. He savored his words. It was his moment.
Harry was still fixated on Snape. His thoughts were so mixed up; he thought his mind was going to shatter. But, it didn't matter, it was over. He closed his eyes. All hopes gone. It was over.
"VOLUMUS!"
The circle suddenly grew to life and it shone brighter than before. Somebody had completed the time-displacement spell! The brightness temporarily stunned the advancing Voldemort. Harry looked up to see who it was that had completed the spell. The only one holding his wand up was Snape.
"SEVERUS! YOU FOOL!" Screamed Voldemort, still covering his eyes. It WAS Snape! Snape completed the spell! Harry's eyes were bulging with surprise; it was almost as if they would pop out at any moment. Why? Whose side are you really on? Why?
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" This time the fearsome green jet was making its way from Voldemort's wand toward Snape. Move Snape, Move! Harry yelled again, but to no avail. Now, even what left of Harry was going into transition…Move!
His eyes met Snape's. He recognized the look. It was the same one that made him stand rooted to the spot when he came into this room earlier,Affection. He shifted his vanishing eyes toward Snape's lips. His eyes stayed in this time stream just long enough for him to see Snape mouth the words "Good… Bye… li…ly".