"Are you sure we made the right choice? Just letting the Trix go like that?" Harry asked Roxy as they lay next to one another under a tree in a secluded area of Magix Central Park fiddling with the frames of the new glasses he'd obtained (a smaller version of the old pair).
Roxy swallowed the bite of apple that she'd just taken and paused briefly.
"If we had said no, they probably would have done more to us at the time than just toss us into the violent, rather scary at the time sea..." Roxy shuddered at the memory. "As much progress as we have both been making in our training, just two of the Trix would still be able to kick our asses into the Realm of Oblivion..."
"True. And with Voldemort, the man- if he can still be called that after everything he's done to himself and others- I've never outright beaten him. It's always been a combination of luck and outside help... It's always came to a draw in my opinion. What's going to happen when that isn't the case?" Harry closed his eyes took a deep breath to calm himself.
Roxy took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "The Winx Club always fought together when it came to the Trix and the other enemies they faced over the years. It was them and their allies and friends. It'll be the same for you. Just because you have to strike the final blow against old Snake Face doesn't mean you'll have to do it all alone..."
"I'm guessing everyone who wants in is going to come and chop down a few Death Eaters and miscellaneous dark creatures Voldemort is using to make it a bit easier, doesn't it?" Harry queried.
"You know it!" Roxy exclaimed. "Do you really think my family would want to miss out on the action? And the friends you made at Red Fountain don't seem as if they'd want to miss out on the action. It's what they're training for, after all..."
"It still doesn't make the idea of facing him any easier, really. While I'm safe from him and his ilk here in Magix, my friends aren't. I didn't care for the Dursleys, but they're dead because of him. Hermione's parents are dead because of him. My own parents and my godfather are dead because of him! I wonder a lot... who's going to be next before I can finally end him?" Harry admitted.
Roxy looked at him sympathetically and cradled his head in her lap, lightly playing with his hair. "It won't be too long. Look how many people you have fighting with you... for you! Even if they're not out there on the front lines, they're helping you learn new spells, fighting styles, survival techniques, doing research and supporting you otherwise... You seem to have a power... the power to draw people close to you..." she smiled down at him.
"Hopefully I don't end up drawing them to their grave..." Harry muttered darkly.
The pink-haired fairy sighed. "You... we can't guarantee anything like that, but we can prepare to the best of our abilities and things work out in the end..."
"That's the best anyone can hope for, I suppose..." Harry sighed. "Doesn't mean I have to like it though."
"Who the hell likes the idea of going to war? Besides the magical side of my family." Roxy hurriedly added the last part at an incredulous look from her boyfriend. "I don't like fighting. Even after getting used to magic and understanding more of what it can do... it doesn't mean that I have to like everything about it, especially the fighting and certain dark spells."
"We're going to have to toughen up more then, since this war that's dragged both of us into it is far from over. At least the Trix will stay out of our way..." Harry said.
"Or so they say," Roxy pointed out. "They aren't exactly known for being trustworthy individuals..."
"Point taken. Like Icy said though, we've got bigger fish to fry. If the Winx Club beats them again in the meantime, I don't care. In fact, as long as they're focused on giving as much hell to Voldemort as possible, I say let them have their fun with the Death Eaters..."
Roxy looked at him with an odd expression.
"I could swear that even though he denies it, he's actually developing a bit of a sadistic side..." she thought. "I've never heard of anybody wishing the Trix on anyone. Even those as deserving as Voldemort and the Death Eaters..."
"It'll be our little secret, right?" Roxy asked suddenly. "If anyone ever found out that we... kinda-sorta cut a deal with Icy and Darcy... it wouldn't exactly look too well for us, would it?"
"I certainly wasn't planning on telling anyone." Harry said. "I know how bad it would look if anyone here knew. Hell, even back home. Stormy bloody well nearly fried Hermione with a lightning bolt!"
Roxy shuddered at the very thought. "Ouch. Bloom told me about a time that Stormy hit her with one of those... I don't envy her a bit..."
"Neither do I," Harry nodded fervently. "The way she described it, it sounded eerily similar to what the Cruciatus Curse feels like..."
The two of them looked up at the clouds for a few minutes, trying to calm themselves.
"I guess the game of war is a tricky one. There are very few choices in it that guarantee you a win." Roxy sighed after a while.
"That sounds like something your aunt would say..." Harry murmured.
"It does, doesn't it? Just goes to show I'm right if I sound like an actual expert at war." Roxy giggled and the sound of it made Harry smile.
Despite his wavering levels of confidence in his ability to do what he knew he had to do, at least Roxy would be amongst those there with him when he had to do it.
"How are things searching for the remaining Horcruxes?" Harry quizzed Dumbledore via projector phone.
Dumbledore sighed. "Not so much better than when last we spoke, young man. Even after accepting your advice and enlisting the help of a few talented and trusted individuals to track down the cursed items, unfortunately we were unable to find them."
"Not one bloody bit of luck at all..." Ron muttered darkly, agreeing with the Hogwarts Headmaster. "I don't suppose you've found a device or a spell that can track the things, have you?"
Harry shook his head. "No such luck, Ron and believe me, I've actually looked."
"That would have made things far too easy..." Hermione opined.
"I wish things could have been easy for once though. I have life hard enough as it is..." Harry muttered.
"Don't we all? We've all had our challenges in life, but we overcame those and will overcome those in the future, I am sure of it." Dumbledore smiled a serene smile that drew odd looks from the teenagers.
Sometimes, the old man was a little too optimistic...
"Where do we move forward from here then? I can always try to do some more research over on my end to try and find something that would help us... I mean, by our count, there's only two more left. The diary, locket and ring have been destroyed, the Snakecrux has been killed and Voldy basically exorcised me himself..." Harry counted out the Horcruxes that he had listed on his fingers.
"We have to keep trying. There are only two more left before we can end all of this. We can't let this go on for longer. Things are at a standstill now, but we need to put an end to him and end this decisively. He's hurt enough people." Ron growled.
"Long periods of silence like this are never good. People are still disappearing and bodies are still being found, but he hasn't launched another major attack since summer..." Hermione pointed out.
"He's still recovering, but he's also still planning, I am sure of it." Harry said.
"We'll just have to be ready to foil his plans again, won't we?" Ron said. "We always do."
"Don't be so cocky, Ron. Pride always goes before a fall. Just because he's been doing less damage than we thought he would doesn't mean a thing. He's still hurting people, or have you forgotten Hannah's mother shortly after Sixth Year started? She had to fight tooth and nail against her grandparents to come back here! Eloise Midgen was withdrawn, Susan's aunt was almost killed, my parents were killed and Harry, you wouldn't have known this, but..." Hermione turned to face him.
"But... what?" Harry asked apprehensively.
"We got word yesterday that Terry Boot's family was attacked and it looks as if Voldemort himself was present at the attack. His mother and a sister were killed, his other sister, his brothers and his father are all missing. Mr Boot Senior is a Daily Prophet reporter and a higher up one too. He wasn't one of the ones slinging mud at you during our Fifth Year, though. He'd know all sorts of things; have all sorts of connections. Added to the fact that his wife is Muggle Born and... it doesn't look good for the Boot family right now, all told..."
Harry winced. "Yikes. Arrange a chat with him sometime, please? I know I didn't know him all that well, but... he's one of us, you know?"
Dumbledore nodded. "We all know. He will be offered protection from the Aurors when he leaves Hogwarts to bury his mother and sister and I will offer him protection of my own, if he wishes it. It takes attacks like this to remind people that have gotten complacent that Voldemort has yet to be defeated..."
Dumbledore's office fell into a stony silence, offset only by the barely heard murmurs of magical devices and Fawkes' soft trilling.
"Well... I had better get going. Even in times of war, I still have homework to do..." Harry was the first to speak again.
"Indeed as do your friends here. N.E.W.T.s are approaching and I daresay Mr Weasley and Miss Granger both find that the previously mentioned tests are living up to their name..." Dumbledore nodded.
"Goodbye, then?" Hermione asked.
"Goodbye." Harry ended the call and flopped back into his bed as he did.
He sighed. "When will all of this end?"
After several weeks of looking for an appropriate place, Voldemort had thought of the perfect place to place his newest headquarters: the old Rosier manor and its grounds.
Evan Rosier had been one of his most loyal and most lethal Death Eaters before he had been killed by the Auror Moody all those years ago in the First Wizarding War. A master at wards and runes, the place had been filled with all sorts of deadly traps and curses that would kill all but the most expert witches and wizards if they had not been keyed in.
Aurors had somehow managed to break in, leading to Rosier's death as well as several others on his side that day, but many Aurors had also been lost in the ferocious battle.
Today, what was left of it had been restored by Voldemort himself and even had the enchantments that had not worn off over the years fortified, as well as new ones being added on top of those.
No one was getting in there if he himself didn't want them there.
"Any news, Severus?" Voldemort gazed down at his most trusted spy, who was currently bowing down to him.
"I am afraid not, My Lord. Things at this moment are remaining... stagnant. No one seems to be making any plans to try and defeat you..."
"Or perhaps, Snape..." Voldemort hissed. "they are not including you in their latest plans and operations. Why is this? Are you losing their trust?"
Snape paused. One wrong answer and he would be tortured- or worse.
"I see your hesitation, Severus. Do you have something to hide?" Voldemort's tone sent chills down some of the few Death Eaters present in the room with them.
Bellatrix, naturally remained unaffected. Or rather, she appeared to actually be enjoying the byplay.
"No, My Lord. I have nothing to hide."
"Prove it."
Snape looked Voldemort in the eye and followed along as the Dark Lord examined his memories.
"You speak the truth. You know of no new plans, but that doesn't mean that they are not being made... perhaps Dumbledore suspects that you are too close to me to risk telling you anything new... In that case, your usefulness is wearing thin." Voldemort drew his wand from his sleeve and stroked it with a single, pale, bony finger.
"Leave, Severus. Our discussion is over." Voldemort commanded.
Snape left the room as quickly as he could without appearing to be running away, thanking Merlin that he'd escaped without a Cruciatus Curse being applied to him.
This time.
"As for the rest of you... Step up your recruitment methods, using any way you can. Things have been far too calm lately. It is time to enact another major attack on our enemies, but our numbers are far too low for what I have in mind..."
A beat passed.
"What are you waiting for? Leave!" Voldemort stood up and brandished his wand.
Immediately, they all scarpered, except for Bellatrix, who had to practically be dragged out by her husband.
As he sat down again, Voldemort laughed to himself a cold, humourless laugh.
Soon.