Harry dodged and ducked curses flying wildly around him as he fought.
Out the corner of his eyes, he spotted some of the wedding guests trying to run and others fighting back and defending others.
The bride and groom each took on a pair of Death Eaters- Fleur looking beautiful, yet deadly, a hint of her Veela heritage showing as she fought those who dared to crash what supposed to be her perfect wedding day.
Many of Fleur's Veela relatives had transformed and were lobbing fireballs at Death Eaters in that form and he saw Moody and Dumbledore fighting four Death Eaters at once each.
He jabbed his wand out and a rope of bright red energy lassoed itself around a pair of Death Eaters, tying them tightly together.
Raising his wand into the air, he moved it forward in a sweeping motion and a blast of energy trailed from his wand, right up to the tied up Death Eaters, sending them propelling through the air and knocking into another Death Eater, that was also airborne, thanks to Hagrid.
All three fell to the ground, unmoving.
"I need you to teach me that one, Harry!" Ron exclaimed as he dodged another spell and fired off another one of his own.
"Maybe later, Ron!" Harry and Ron ducked a large slab of stone, which ended up narrowly missing Viktor and hitting into the Death Eater he was duelling instead.
They soon found themselves separated and Harry faced off against a lone Death Eater.
"So, Potter. Been getting special magic training, I see. Well, it's not going to help you against me! Avada Kedavra!"
Harry conjured a large slab of stone and a shield in rapid succession, which blocked the curse and protected him from the pieces of exploded stone as the Killing Curse made impact with it.
"Hey! I thought that it was just Voldemort that was supposed to be killing me! Or has he changed his rules now because he's too afraid to face me?" Harry taunted.
"How dare you speak the Dark Lord's name!" the Death Eater snarled.
Harry nearly rolled his eyes. "I think of all people, I've earned the right to call him whatever I want. Voldemort, Voldemort, Vol-de-mort."
This only served to enrage his opponent further- which was exactly what Harry wanted- who began throwing out spells that cracked the ground beneath them with the power that they radiated.
His opponent lost focus with every taunt and as he grew more distracted, Harry used the opportunity to hold out his free hand and called his sword to it.
He swung it out in front of him and it deflected the curse sent at him right back at the caster, who fell to the ground, screaming and clutching at his mask.
"I'll relieve you of that, thanks. Accio!"
The mask flew off the Death Eater's swollen, reddening face and into Harry's hand.
"Your wand too... Expelliarmus!"
The newly unmasked Rodolphus Lestrange's wand joined the mask in Harry's hand.
"Hmm... Always good to have an extra wand on hand..." Harry pocketed it, bound the man with ropes that glowed red and Stunned him before moving onto the next fight.
Hermione looked much more nimble than she ever had before as she fought ferociously, getting to put all the combat spells she'd studied and told him about recently to practical use, Luna somehow managed to look supremely unbothered about the fact that she'd Transfigured a Death Eater into a stuffed toy version of themselves and Fred and George seemed to be employing similar tactics to the Death Eaters they faced off against, turning them into various stuffed animals.
How they managed to get only three OWLs apiece... They had to have failed those on purpose for whatever twisted reason...
His magic sense flared up again, telling him to check the boundaries again. The Death Eaters were being pushed back, but something, something was wrong-
Some distance away from The Burrow and its gardens, Harry felt his scar sear with pain, as it hadn't in several months.
He fell to his knees and clutched his forehead in pain.
He had to fight it, he had to, there was a big fight going on-
Just as he managed to stand to his knees, another figure in dark coloured robes appeared, that made Harry's blood run cold.
"Hello, Potter," Voldemort stood in front of him, sneering; his bone thin, unnaturally pale fingers clenched firmly around his own wand.
"Oh. You..." Harry ground out.
"Imagine my surprise when one of my Death Eaters summons me here because you were here at one of my... diversion tactics..." Voldemort hissed.
"Diversion tactics?" Harry fought down the feeling of dread that threatened to engulf him.
It wasn't himself Harry feared for, even though he knew what Voldemort was capable of, but the other people he might be targeting...
"Right now, all over Britain, my Death Eaters are attacking the homes of several prominent government officials as well as Blood Traitors. By the time of the next sunrise, all of Magical Britain will be in chaos. But of course... you won't be alive to see it..." Voldemort fired off the first curse.
Harry swiftly dodged and swung his sword at Voldemort, who narrowly dodged having his waist sliced open.
"So... you've been learning to fight with swords as well. Interesting curriculum that new school of yours has..." Voldemort tossed another curse out at him, which Harry deflected with the sword as well.
"You wouldn't have lasted one minute there. Even though many students don't actively use magic there, they'd still be able to beat you in a fight!" Harry lashed out with the sword again, while firing a spell at the same time.
Voldemort snarled and became further enraged.
"Why won't you die, boy?" He snarled.
"Last time I checked, I was of age and therefore, no longer qualify as a boy. Or are we talking relativity here? You're like what? Somewhere in your seventies now? In that case, I suppose I am a boy compared to you... WHOA!" Harry's eyes widened as he narrowly dodged a Killing Curse.
Voldemort started throwing Killing Curses at him like there was no tomorrow.
Each time he managed to conjure a solid object to block it or dodge it, Voldemort seemed to get more and more enraged.
This was both a good thing and a bad thing.
Good, since it meant that Voldemort was losing his focus and letting emotion guide his fighting instead of logic, bad since an enraged Voldemort was definitely more lethal than he normally was and that was saying something...
Harry cast a spell that produced a bronze coloured light at the same time that Voldemort cast his Avada Kedavra and the two spells collided with the loud sound of a gong...
The deadly beam of green light seemed to split in two , one going straight for Voldemort and the other straight for Harry...
Neither wizard had time to avoid the curse as it rushed straight for both of them...
"Crap." was the last word that went through Harry's mind as it all went dark for him.
Harry opened his eyes and groaned as he slowly got to his feet.
What the hell had just happened?
He'd just been fighting Voldemort and...
Killing curse rebounded at him again. Crap.
As he looked around his new surroundings, he began to wonder: was he dead? Was this what it was like to be dead?
The cool, white floor he had just been laying on and his entire surroundings seemed to be covered in some sort of weird mist or fog, though it wasn't mist or fog of any kind he'd ever encountered before...
As it all clicked, he realised that he was naked and barely had the desire for clothing formed in his head, than a set of robes appeared a short distance away from him.
As he slipped them on, he heard the sound of something whimpering and flailing about and looked for it.
He recoiled at the sight when he found the source of the noise- something that closely resembled a small, naked child, but seemed twisted; mutated beyond words.
"There is nothing you can do about it, Harry..."
Harry looked around at the sound of the voice.
A tall, messy-haired, dark-haired man with glasses walked towards him.
Harry's eyes widened in shock.
"Dad?"
"In the flesh," James Potter grinned. "Albeit, not quite..."
"But you're dead... Does this mean that Voldemort killed me? Did he finally succeed in what he's been trying to do since I was one year old?" Harry asked anxiously.
"Not quite, my son." James smiled at him "Why don't we have a seat and I will explain it to you..." Harry's father gestured to a row of seats he hadn't noticed before.
The two men sat in silence for a few moments, simply studying each other.
"Well then, Harry. It's like this." James finally broke the silence.
"Dumbledore thought there were only six Horcruxes. He was wrong. There were seven Horcruxes, Harry. That night, when I died and when your mother died as well, trying to protect you, Voldemort's soul had already become unstable from his forays into the Dark Arts and creation of multiple Horcruxes. Your mother's sacrifice... It was the magic behind that which repelled Voldemort's curse that night and caused it to destroy him- albeit temporarily." James explained.
"I don't think I follow... Dad..." Harry still felt confused about the overall situation
"When Lord Voldemort tried to kill you, a bit of his soul split off and went into you, making you the seventh Horcrux. Voldemort's unintended Horcrux." James simplified it for him.
Harry grew horrified. "Wait... So you mean that Voldemort had a bit of his soul in me this entire time?!"
James nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. That soul fragment is gone now, Harry. It's gone forever, by his own hand. Three more Horcruxes remain. Once destroyed, he will be mortal again. Then you can go on to destroy him- with the help of both your old friends and allies and your newer ones."
Harry looked a bit unsure of himself. "So... You... you and Mum approve of what I'm doing? Of my choices?"
James smiled. "Of course we do. Sirius as well. They both said to tell you hello. They'd have come here with me, but the Fates decided that only one of us could meet you here..."
Harry looked around. "Where is this place anyway?"
"Between. Here, you get to make a choice. Come with me into the afterlife- that means you die, in case you didn't realise- or you go back. I think you know what choice you must make though."
Harry nodded. "I know, Dad. I know what I must do..."
"Well then, Harry. This is goodbye for now." James stood up, as did his son. "I don't want to see you back here for a long, long time, you hear me? When it is truly your time to die, we'll all be here, waiting for you though." James hugged Harry tightly and ruffled his hair slightly, which Harry was surprised to find that he could feel.
Harry hugged back and they broke apart.
"We love you, Harry. And we're proud of you. Go. Do what you must do and go live a long, happy, fulfilling life." James put his arms of Harry's shoulders and looked his son in the eyes.
"I will, Dad. I promise." Harry nodded.
"Oh, and say hello to Remus for us and tell him to stop acting like a downtrodden martyr and enjoy life with Tonks..." James added.
Harry chuckled. "I'll be sure to pass on the message."
James nodded happily. "Now get out of here and finish what you started!"
Harry felt himself face down in the grass, feeling as if he had been ran over by the Knight Bus.
In the distance, he could hear the sounds of battle continuing, albeit with less ferocity than before.
Slowly standing to his feet, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Voldemort doing the same and when they locked eyes, Harry saw Voldemort's widen just a fraction.
"No..." Voldemort looked as if he'd met his Boggart when he saw that Harry was still alive. "No!"
"Oh yes, Voldemort. I'm still here. Still walking, talking and fighting!" Harry threw another spell at him, but Voldemort Disapparated, with a frustrated roar of rage.
"Harry!" Hermione, Ron, Luna and Ginny came running towards him, all looking rather dishevelled.
"We managed to beat back the Death Eaters. Some escaped, some were captured and then no one knew where you'd gone and..." Hermione suddenly had him in a bear-like hug that he was sure would finish him off if Voldemort didn't.
"Hermione! Let him breathe!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Sorry..." Hermione looked sheepish.
"The three Death Eaters that you bound with those glowing red ropes- Lestrange included- they're still tied up. Not even Dumbledore or Moody could break them. Mr. and Mrs. Delacour tried as well and it didn't work for them either. What did you do?" Luna asked, seemingly unbothered by the fact that she was just in a fight for her life.
"It's a spell I learnt back in Magix from one of the Red Fountain professors," Harry answered as he looked around for his fallen sword and retrieved it a few metres away. "What happened after I came out here? What's going on up there now?"
Ron sighed. "A few people on our side got seriously hurt and Dad tried calling the Aurors, but no one there responded..."
"No one... responded?" Harry's eyes widened. "Right! Voldemort was here. He said that this was a diversion tactic! One attack of many!"
"He was here?!" Ginny and Ron exclaimed in unison, looking rather horrified at the thought that Voldemort had been so close by to their home. "You-Know-Who? Here?!"
"Yes, Voldemort was here! I managed to fight him to a standstill and he left! He said that the Death Eaters were all over the country, attacking prominent government officials and Blood Traitors! We were not the only targets today!" Harry exclaimed.
"The Aurors would have been spread thin all over if that's the case! No wonder no one's been answering Floo calls there!" Hermione said.
"Come on. Let's go join the others and see what the damage is. I have a feeling that it's going to really, really bad by the end of it all..." Harry leaned on Ron for support, suddenly feeling rather tired and still aching all over.
"Harry?" Ron looked worried. "Are you alright? Not going to pass out, are you?"
"No, Ron. I'll be fine. Let's just get back to the others before they begin to worry that I was kidnapped or a rogue Death Eater killed you lot..."
" You would say you were fine even if Voldemort had tossed a few Crucios at you. Come on. We'll go get you checked out." Ginny stood on Harry's other side and put a hand on his shoulder as they walked back to the now ruined marquee.
"This is a nice change for once. Normally, we're the ones being broken out of prison..." Stormy observed as she blasted a hole in the wall of Azkaban prison.
"Yeah, this is nice. Is this all we're suited to? Breaking his stupid lackeys out of prison? What's Voldemort even doing that benefits us anyway? Nothing!" Icy exclaimed as she swept her hand and encased two Azkaban guards in a block of ice.
"Interesting creatures they have around here though," Darcy spoke as she used her own dark magic to keep the Dementors under her control. "I have to get some of these Dementor things. They may not be able to control them much here, but I sure can!" the shadow witch chuckled. "Imagine some of these sucking out the souls of the Winx Club. A fate worse than death..."
"Come on, Aurors! We can't let the prisoners escape!" one Auror Captain called out as he flung a curse at Stormy.
"Hey! Watch it!" Stormy snarled, sending a lightning bolt at the man, which left him convulsing on the ground for a few moments and then he lay still, never to move again.
"Captain Dawlish!" An Auror cried out, before he too, was electrocuted.
Several more Aurors and prison guards came barrelling through the corridors, firing off hexes, jinxes and curses; fighting to try and keep the prisoners under control and fight off the Trix as well.
"I don't think so!" Icy swept her hand out and all the guards found themselves encased in ice.
The Trix turned to the would-be escapee prisoners.
"Hey you! We're breaking you out of this place! Those of you who are already Death Eaters, you're going to be rejoining your master!" Icy said.
"Those of you who aren't, decide now. Choose to serve the Dark Lord..." Darcy paused as she surveyed the prisoners below her. "...or stay here in Azkaban with these lovely creatures..." she gestured to the Dementors, clustered together in shadow cage she had conjured up.
"Make your choice. Now." Stormy finished.
One man, with matted, dirty, platinum blond hair stepped forward out of the crowd.
"I will be the first to go with you. I am eager to rejoin the Dark Lord's service..."
A distinctly less refined-looking Lucius Malfoy smirked as he spoke.
Once the Trix created a portal and sent the prisoners through it, the three smirked at each other as they converged their magic and brought it down as one giant blast, which left Azkaban Prison barely standing.
They chuckled amusedly at the destruction they had wrought below them as they circled around the prison from the air.
"Jail break: accomplished." Darcy smirked.
"More than that. More like jail obliteration!" Stormy cackled like a demented school girl.
"Alright, ladies. Our work here is done. A masterpiece, I must say, but done nevertheless..." Icy took in the damage they did coolly. "Let's get outta here."
The ice witch snapped her fingers and the Trix disappeared, leaving behind a near flattened Azkaban in their wake, completely unbothered by the moans, groans and cries of the Aurors, prison guards and remaining prisoners under the rubble as the Dementors, now free of Darcy's control, swarmed down on them for a feast.
Fun fact: I toyed with the idea of having Bloom have to heal Harry for some reason, thus having the Dragon Flame dispel the Harry-Horcrux. Somehow, I think Dragon Flame would be rather effective against Horcruxes, don't you?
Also, what did you think of that scene between James and Harry? My own spin on Chapter 35 of Deathly Hallows, of course- handled differently because of vastly different circumstances...