Voldemort was thoroughly enjoying himself as his Death Eaters clashed with the Order and their supporters. So far, he was managing to keep out of the fighting, but all that would change soon enough. However, for the time being he was happy for his closest followers to keep the enemy away from him, while he surveyed the battle and decided on the best way to get to Harry.
Rather surprisingly, Harry had positioned himself right at the back of the opposing forces, which meant that Voldemort had to work his way through to the boy. Not that Voldemort was overly concerned as he had every faith he and his forces would end up victorious. Harry couldn't hide forever, and when Voldemort got his hands on him he was planning on making sure the young wizard who had plagued him for years would no longer be an issue.
Although Harry wasn't the only person Voldemort was interested in. Obviously he wanted Dumbledore taking out, and at the moment Lucius was busy battling with the old headmaster. Despite the fact he wouldn't have minded taking out Dumbledore himself, Voldemort had already given Lucius permission to kill the old man if the opportunity arouse.
Another person on Voldemort's hit list was Severus Snape. Voldemort knew Severus had turned up to help deal with the attack on the Hogwarts Express, and he hadn't been bothered when he'd returned to Hogwarts with the other Professors, but he'd fully expected Snape to join his fellow Death Eaters once the final battle for underway. Instead he'd shown his true colours and was fighting alongside the Order. It had already reached Voldemort's ears that Snape was more than happy to take out Death Eaters, so Voldemort was spreading the word that the Potions master was fair game to be killed along with the rest of their enemies.
The only other person Voldemort was interested in was Draco. Unsurprisingly, he'd vanished from sight almost as soon as the fighting began. No doubt he'd ran off to his mudblood, but Voldemort knew he wouldn't risk leaving the grounds of Hogwarts so for the time being he was content to leave Draco as he was. However, he did have plans to capture Draco's mudblood and kill her in front of the blond wizard. Draco would then return home with Lucius and finally do his family proud and give the Malfoys a son and heir they could be proud of. What happened to him after that would be down to Lucius, as Voldemort had already decided that Draco wasn't the wizard he'd hoped and he knew that even killing his daughter and lover wasn't going to bring him into line. He and his mother were of no further use to him, and Voldemort was happy to hand them over to Lucius to do with as he wished once he was victorious and he'd made Draco suffer as much as he possible could.
Smirking at the thought of causing Draco even more suffering, Voldemort surveyed the battles going on nearest to him. Lucius and Dumbledore were still going at it hammer and tongs, and he couldn't help but chuckle to see Bellatrix fighting both McGonagall and one of the older Weasley boys simultaneously. From where he was standing, Bellatrix looked to be on top and Voldemort would bet that before long one of her opposition would be dead, quickly followed by the other one.
However, before Voldemort could watch a victory for his favourite female Death Eater a searing pain tore through his body. With an anguished cry, he fell to his knees, clutching at his chest as it felt as though his heart was going to tear right out of his body. In a sea of pain, Voldemort was unaware that his fall had caught both Lucius and Bellatrix's attention until he heard Bellatrix screaming his name. Raising his head, he saw Bellatrix turn towards him, abandoning her twin duels.
"Bella," he croaked weakly, trying to warn her of the danger as he saw both McGonagall and the Weasley boy pointing their wands at her back.
"Avada Kedavra!" came the twin cries, and Voldemort howled with rage and pain as Bellatrix fell to the floor, a stunned expression etched on her face as she was hit by two killing curses.
Forgetting about his own pain, Voldemort dragged himself over to Bellatrix. Raising his own wand he used all his energy to blast both McGonagall and the Weasley boy off their feet. He then cradled Bellatrix's body in his arms as he confirmed she was really dead. Picking up her discarded wand, he sent a silent message for his Death Eaters to retreat into the woods, before disappearing with Bellatrix's body.
Lucius was the first of his supporters to arrive in the woods, and he knelt down beside Voldemort and his sister-in-law, checking on the condition of them both. He'd seen Bellatrix struck down, so it was no big surprise that she was dead, but he had no idea what was wrong with Voldemort.
"My Lord?" he cautiously questioned, aware that other Death Eaters were arriving and gathering around them.
"She's gone," Voldemort hissed.
"I saw," Lucius said sympathetically.
"Not Bella, Nagini," Voldemort said, raising his head to look at Lucius with angry eyes. "I felt her depart. You need to get back the manor and find out what happened, Lucius. Whatever your wife has done, she's going to pay for it."
"Yes, My Lord," Lucius replied with an obedient nod of his head as he got to his feet and appeared back home with a sharp crack.
"This isn't over," Voldemort announced, rising to his feet and addressing his puzzled followers. "This is merely a break in the hostilities. We will also use this opportunity to retrieve our fallen comrades. Be ready to move again on my command."
Turning his back on his Death Eaters, Voldemort sank back down beside Bellatrix and pondered his next move. He was now vulnerable and for the first time in decades he could be killed. However, he still had his confidence and all his years of experience behind him and he was sure he could take Harry. After all, how could a seventeen year old wizard possibly hope to kill the darkest wizard the world had ever known?
As he waited for Lucius to return, Voldemort slipped Bellatrix's wand into his robes. If he was going to fight Harry, he would need to do so with a wand that wasn't his own. Last time he'd fought Harry with his own wand, their cores had reacted and the boy had gotten away from a certain death. However, there was no getting away this time. This time one of them would die, and Voldemort was not going to let it be him.
Eager to get on with things, Voldemort was pleased when Lucius returned. However, he wasn't so pleased when Lucius informed him that Narcissa was no longer at the manor. How she could leave, Voldemort wasn't sure, but somehow she'd managed to escape, and he was furious. She would pay for disobeying him, and by the time he was finished with her, Narcissa Malfoy would rue the day she ever crossed him.
"And Nagini?" Voldemort asked, even though he knew his snake was gone.
"There's a pile of blood of Draco's bedroom floor and signs of a recent fire," Lucius replied. "I poked around in the ashes and found a few small bits of snake skin. It looks like your snake was killed and then burnt."
"Bitch," Voldemort hissed. "I'm sorry Lucius, but by this time tomorrow you will no longer have a wife. Narcissa is a dead woman."
"I understand, My Lord," Lucius said, only feeling a small pang of regret as he recalled the witch Narcissa used to be. He would miss the obedient witch he'd first married, but he certainly wouldn't miss the troublesome woman his wife had become over the last year or so.
Leaving Lucius to contemplate losing his wife, Voldemort cast a spell to make his voice carry before walking towards the edge of the forest.
"It's time for us to face one another, Harry Potter," he called, knowing that he was audible in the castle. "You have half an hour to sort your dead and injured and leave the bodies of my supporters in the courtyard. We will collect our fallen friends, in forty minutes and there will be no fighting. In one hour I will appear in the courtyard and we shall face each other, Harry. It's time to end this."
Satisfied his message had been delivered, Voldemort returned to his Death Eaters and started to prepare for the final showdown with Harry Potter. He knew this was the end and one way or another there was going to be a victor in little over an hour's time. Soon everyone would know who had won the war and who would have control over Wizarding Britain.
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The Death Eaters abrupt departure from Hogwarts and its grounds took the Order by surprise, but they quickly took advantage of the break in hostilities to get people to safety in The Great Hall. For many people it was a chance to digest what had happened so far, and for the Weasleys it was chance to find out that they'd lost one of their own. Apart from Molly, no-one else had known of Ron's loss as they were all out fighting, but one by one they appeared in The Great Hall and were given the news that their precious brother was no more.
Just before the Death Eaters had departed, Tipsy had arrived back with the news Nagini was gone, so Harry had a fair idea why the dark had retreated. Quickly news spread around the Order that the time was at hand, and Voldemort was now ready to be defeated. He could now be killed, and all eyes were on Harry as he prepared to face the fight of his life.
"But what if he's fled for good?" Sirius questioned.
With the Weasleys huddled together saying their goodbyes to Ron, none of them were present as Harry, Dumbledore, Hermione, Draco, Blaise, Theo, Sirius and Remus discussed the next step.
"He won't have," Harry replied confidently. "He won't leave here until he's killed me, or at least tried and failed."
"And he wouldn't leave me behind," Draco said. His friends had told him what Pansy and Daphne had been saying, and he'd stuck to Hermione like glue ever since as there was no way he was letting anyone from the dark get their hands on her.
"No, this is just a strategic retreat," Dumbledore said.
No sooner had Dumbledore finished talking then a loud rumbling filled the air and Voldemort's voice boomed through The Great Hall. As expected he was calling for Harry to face him, and everyone knew looking at the determination on Harry's face that he would be meeting Voldemort as requested.
"Should we do as they want and give them their dead?" Sirius asked. He knew that the amount of dead Death Eaters outnumbered the amount of fatalities on the light, and he'd been thrilled when McGonagall had earlier announced that she and Charlie Weasley had killed Bellatrix.
"Yes," Dumbledore said with a nod of his head. "But no prisoners or wounded Death Eaters are to be returned. Sirius, Remus, spread the word and start helping move the dead into the courtyard."
Among the dead was Daphne Greengrass and despite what a wicked little cow she'd turned out to be, Draco, Theo and Blaise were all sad to see her body moved past them to be delivered to the courtyard. She was still so young, and it hurt to see someone they'd grown up with have their life cut so short. However, despite their sadness, none of them were really mourning her as they all knew there were greater losses that day than Daphne.
"Are you ready to face him?" Hermione asked Harry as she gave her best friend a reassuring hug.
"I have to be," Harry replied, trying to sound confident. However, he wasn't able to totally hide the tremor in his voice from his best friend.
"We all believe in you, Harry," Hermione said. "You can do this."
"I can," Harry said with a determined nod as he began to psyche himself up to face Voldemort one last time.
An hour had never passed so slowly, and once the Death Eaters had gathered their dead, the Order began to gather in the courtyard. Harry may have been the one about to face Voldemort, but every single person who was able wanted to be there to support him. Standing right at the front of the group were all the people closest to Harry. Dumbledore stood right in the centre with McGonagall on one side and Snape on the other. Molly was standing beside Dumbledore, with the other Weasleys all beside her. Neville, Dean and Seamus were beside the Weasleys and over the other side of the line next to Snape stood Draco, Hermione, Blaise and Theo. And then finally on the end of the front row Sirius and Remus stood side by side watching Harry with pride.
"Good luck, Harry," Ginny called encouragingly as he moved slightly ahead of the group waiting for Voldemort to appear.
Ginny's cry was echoed around the group and the air was soon filled with people wishing Harry good luck. Hoping their faith wasn't misplaced, Harry turned around to see a sea of black emerge from the forbidden forest. Biting down his nerves, he stood still as a statue as the group of Death Eaters approached the courtyard. Like the Order, they gathered on the opposite side of the courtyard and finally they parted to let Voldemort walk through to face Harry.
"We meet at last," Voldemort said loudly, happy to play up for the assembled crowds.
"Let's finish this, Tom," Harry replied, knowing how the use of Voldemort's real name would annoy him.
"Let's," Voldemort agreed with a snarl.
At virtually the exact same time, Harry and Voldemort leapt into action and began to throw curses and hexes at each other. Very quickly it became clear that Voldemort wasn't using his own wand as his and Harry's wand didn't make any sort of connection, which might have given Harry the edge. However, if Harry was disappointed he didn't show it as he battered away at The Dark Lord's defences, while keeping himself out of harm's way.
Despite Voldemort being older and much more experienced, both in general magic and in the Dark Arts, Harry was more than a match for him. Harry's youth enabled him to constantly keep moving and not give Voldemort a target to hit, and while Voldemort focused on trying to hit Harry with curses that would hurt him, Harry was prepared to throw any spell that entered his head at the dark wizard. The result was that Harry soon had Voldemort rattled, and it became clear that Voldemort was becoming increasingly frustrated that Harry wasn't proving easy to kill. It looked like he'd entered the battle expecting an easy fight, and when the fight he was in was anything but easy, he seemed unsure of himself.
On both sides of the courtyard, there was silence, but on both sides there was the thought that Harry was going to win. For the Order and their supporters it was a euphoric thought, but for the Death Eaters it was a fate worse than death. In fact by the time Harry and Voldemort had been trading blows for fifteen minutes the only two people who hadn't thought about Harry emerging victories was the two wizards battling to the death as they were too concerned with the battle at hand to even think about who was going to emerge triumphant.
As the crowds began to seriously believe in Harry, he was constantly getting the upper hand on Voldemort. Only Voldemort's experience and will power kept him in the fight, and every time it looked as though Harry was getting on top of him, he would rally. But then fate stepped in, and while hurling a tickling hex at Voldemort, Harry stumbled on a rogue piece of brick.
A collective gasp rose from the Order as Harry stumbled and only his excellent reflexes kept him on his feet. However, Harry wasn't invincible and the stumble caused him to lower his guard and give Voldemort an opportunity. Never one to miss and advantage, Voldemort blasted Harry in the ribs with a nasty slicing curse which tore into his sweater and through to his skin and as Harry wobbled on his feet, he advanced with a terrifying smirk on his lips.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort curried triumphantly, sending a jet of green light Harry's way.
"No!" Hermione cried in disbelief as the jet of light hit Harry squarely in the chest and sent him sprawling to the floor.
Collapsing to her knees, Hermione wailed in pain at the sight of her best friend lying dead in the courtyard. She'd now lost both of her best friends, and it looked like she was going to lose a lot more as it looked as though Voldemort and his Death Eaters had won the war.