The graveyard that they landed in was still and quiet. A subtle fog lingered in the air, growing denser the further away it stretched from the graveyard and the small cottage that sat just over a small stone wall that ran the length of the perimeter of the graveyard. Yew trees sat outside of the stone wall, helping to mask the outside world. The only visible thing beyond the graveyard was a fine old house on a nearby hillside. There was no sign of life there, but Fleur knew that looks could be deceiving.
Immediately, she and Harry placed their backs against each and scanned the landscape. The Triwizard Cup clattered on the ground at their feet, breaking the silence. They had their wands at the ready for any threat that was bound to appear, but nothing came after a few minutes of waiting.
Fleur's heart was pounding in her chest. She felt twitchy and eager, ready to curse anything that crossed her path. Occasionally, she swore she saw something moving in the fog out of the corner of her eyes, but when she looked to see what was there, all she saw was stillness. It was only thanks to her lover at her back that she didn't lose her nerve.
"Anything?" Fleur whispered, but her voice sounded loud in her ears.
"No," Harry replied. "But I swear that I keep seeing something move in the mists."
"Me too."
Suddenly, the sound of a cracking branch had both of them spinning around towards the source of the noise. Fleur caught a glimpse of a fluttering black cloak disappearing behind a man-sized gravestone at the opposite end of the graveyard. Glancing over at Harry, she knew that he had seen it too.
"They're bound to have wards up," Harry murmured, not taking his eyes off of the gravestone. "We need to get outside of them to alert Dumbledore to our location."
Fleur nodded. Hermione had been very detailed in explaining the plan to her and Harry. The witch was so dedicated that she refused to sleep with either of them—or let them sleep with each other for that matter—until they were able to recite the plan step by step for her perfectly.
Harry pulled out the small ball of yarn that would act as a locating beacon for Dumbledore's magic to latch onto and passed it over to Fleur.
"Walk down the path towards the main road," he said, gesturing in the direction opposite the house on the hill where a thick iron gate sat barring the graveyard's exit. "Once you're out of the gate, let the string trail behind you. I'll be fine here."
As much as Fleur wanted to refuse him, she knew that the plan was solid. They had to split up, if only to allow the villains an opportunity to show themselves. She just had to trust in Harry's ability to keep himself safe, regardless of how nerve-wracking that was.
Fleur took the ball of yarn from Harry's hand and planted a delicate kiss on his cheek, mindful that it could be the last time she ever touched him. "Be careful," she whispered in his ear before she started off down the path towards the gate.
While running would have gotten her there quicker, Fleur was still mindful of the things she had seen in the mists. As she grew closer to the gate, walking slowly and with her wand in a defensive position, the mists grew thicker in front of her. They seemed to double with each passing step, and they were forming a loose barrier around the gate and stone wall that encircled the graveyard.
Nothing jumped out at her, even as she reached the exit. She cast a simple detection charm on the gate for any magical traps, but nothing came up. She pushed open the cold iron gate, and it creaked harshly on its hinges.
Fleur sensed an object flying towards her before she saw it. She lunged through the gate and onto a small dirt road and brought up a simple shield to block whatever was flying in from her left-hand side.
A multi-colored ball of light shattered against her shield and exploded into a cacophony of ear-piercing sounds. Animal screeches, the brakes on a train, and the cracking sound of thunder rang out, all intermixed with various indistinguishable sounds. Despite the noise that made Fleur want to cover her ears, her shield held.
However, she dropped her shield when she saw what came crashing through the mists.
Fleur had only ever read about Graphorns before. She'd once dreamed of seeing such a proud and magnificent beast, but she was regretting that now.
The Graphorn was taller than Fleur; its humped back stretched to nearly double her height, and the greyish-purple hide that covered its body looked difficult to penetrate. It had sharp horns on its head that seemed to cut through the mists as it strode towards her, swinging its head from side to side in what Fleur knew was an act of dominance.
The beast locked its eyes on Fleur. Then, it kicked up a clod of dirt beneath its feet. The tentacle-like appendages that hung over its mouth twisted and curled as it puffed out a billowing breath and lowered its head.
"Fuck," Fleur cursed as the Graphorn charged at her.
A dozen ideas all battled for control of Fleur's mind as she stared down the beast, but one won out above the rest. "Terra Conjurus!" She shouted as she dragged her wand upwards through the air.
There was a rumble. The earth in front of Fleur cracked open like a dropped egg, and a thick slab of stone rose up out of the crevice. It was barely larger than the Graphorn, but Fleur hoped that it would be enough. She managed to put a single strengthening enchantment on the stone before the Graphorn rammed into it.
The slab of stone trembled and cracked noisily as the Graphorn's head came into contact with it. The beast let out a deep cry of pain as it was stopped in its tracks. Fleur knew it wouldn't stay still for long, not when it was so easy for it to just run around the stone slab, but she hoped that it would at least be stunned for a moment while she got to work.
Fleur grabbed the ball of yarn and hurled it away from her and down the road. She kept the loose end of the yarn in her hand, watching as the ball slowly unraveled and bounced its way down the dirt pathway towards the paved road.
The sound of pounding footfalls and a defiant roar signaled the Graphorn's attack. Fleur turned just in time to see the beast dashing with what seemed like impossible speed for a creature of that size. Her first instinct was to bring up another wall, but she knew that she wasn't going to make it in time.
Well, if she couldn't block the beast's charge, she just had to get out of the way.
"Ascendio!" Fleur cried, forming a quick curl with the tip of her wand.
A burst of magical force propelled Fleur upwards. Her feet left the ground and she started for the stars as the Graphorn charged. She thought that she was safe when her feet cleared the beast's head, but it's damned humped back hit her ankles hard.
Fleur's upward ascent stopped abruptly as she was flipped end over end. Her arms flailed helplessly as she tried to steady herself, but the magic that propelled her upwards continued to make her flip end over end. Her stomach lurched as the world spun around her. She didn't dare open her mouth to speak an incantation, but she managed to silently cast the Slowing Charm.
Immediately, her momentum slowed drastically. She was essentially lying prone in the air as she started to gently float back down to the ground. Fleur beamed, proud that she managed to handle this issue, but her joy turned to ash when she saw the Graphorn run up beneath her, staring angrily up at her and billowing an aggressive noise that made the tentacles on its face shake.
As she mentally prepared for what she had to do, Fleur caught glimpses of the graveyard out of the corner of her eye. There were jets of light being fired back and forth between two spots, but the mists obstructed her vision too much for her to be able to identify the casters. She hoped Harry was safe, but she'd only find out for sure once she did her duty.
The Graphorn roared again and stood up on its hind legs. It stretched its jaw open wide, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth perfectly designed to pierce the flesh of the creature's victims. Fleur was close enough that she felt the beast's warm breath wash over her.
Just as she readied herself to cast a curse down the beast's gullet, she was suddenly being pulled away from the Graphorn. Her Slowing Charm faded, and she picked up speed as she flew towards the road.
"Reduc—" Fleur began to curse whoever had summoned her, but she stopped herself when she saw Albus Dumbledore standing there in his ghastly violet robes.
Dumbledore had a genial smile on his lips as Fleur neared. "Hello, Ms Delacour."
Fleur spotted movement out of the corner of her eyes. "Professor Dumbl—"
Once again, she stopped her words. She realized that he was perfectly aware of the charging Graphorn, and he was prepared to deal with it. The old wizard held out his hand, and the Graphorn suddenly stopped in its tracks. It kicked its legs helplessly as it rose several feet into the air.
Fleur landed gently on her feet beside Dumbledore and stared in awe as he handled this beast as easily as she would a pixie. Graphorn's were notoriously magic resistant, so it would take an exceptionally powerful witch or wizard to affect it like this.
"There there now," Dumbledore said soothingly, closing the gap between himself and the Graphorn.
The Graphorn glared at him with fury in its eyes, but it didn't seem capable of opening its mouth to make any noise.
"Such a fascinating creature," Dumbledore said to Fleur. "They're known to be terribly aggressive, but I've seen a handful be tamed before. One of my old friends even kept a couple in his suitcase once upon a time before he managed to relocate them to a safe sanctuary."
"I don't know if this one can be tamed," Fleur muttered, still wary of the creature despite Dumbledore's firm control over it.
"No one is beyond redemption," Dumbledore said sagely. "Even a Graphorn can be taught the error of its ways."
The Graphorn sneezed and covered Dumbledore with a thin mist of snot, but he didn't seem to mind.
"But we shall have to leave that for another time," Dumbledore smiled. With a whispered word, the Graphorn closed its eyes and went limp. Dumbledore gently lowered it down to the ground and then vanished the snot off of himself. "We must reach Harry before it is too late."
Fleur didn't need to be told twice. She took off at a sprint back up the dirt road and through the gate. The flashes of light from the graveyard weren't present any longer, but she could hear someone speaking ahead. Dumbledore trailed closely behind her, but the old man was clearly panting and struggling to keep up.
As she rushed through the mists, Fleur skidded to a halt when she saw a dark and twisted figure rising from a cauldron.
In the middle of a clearing, the thing that came out of the cauldron looked bone white. It was in the shape of a person, but it was clearly wrong in several ways. It looked too serpentine to be a normal human, especially with its missing nose and scarlet eyes. When it stretched, its spine cracked in several places, and then shadows seemed to wash over its body. The shadows coalesced into a set of robes. The figure stepped out of the cauldron and held out its hand. Fleur hadn't even noticed the sniveling man beside the cauldron before now, but he was there too, cringing as he offered the thing a wand.
"Harry Potter," the words escaped the thing's lips like a whisper, but they rang out clearly through the graveyard. "The Boy Who Lived."
Fleur's beloved was tied to a massive tombstone. He was struggling against the bonds that held him and had an oozing cut down his left arm. Seeing him like this ignited a fire within Fleur that she had never felt before. An intense desire to protect her partner overwhelmed her mind, and she felt her body growing hotter and hotter until a ball of flame started to form in her free hand.
However, just as she was preparing herself to lash out and hurl the flames at the two individuals who were holding Harry captive, Dumbledore placed a calming hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, the fire inside of her was quelled to a manageable level, as though a box had been built around it to contain the fire. The ball of flame in her hand shrunk noticeably until all that was left were sparks dancing in between her fingers.
"The Aurors are on their way, Tom," Dumbledore announced calmly.
So this was Voldemort, Fleur thought to herself.
Voldemort turned with a cruel smile on his face. "Dumbledore," it hissed. "So, you've come as well to witness my ascension."
Fleur sensed a flare of magic coming from Voldemort as he took a step towards Harry. She instinctively tried to run towards Harry to protect him from Voldemort, but before she or Dumbledore could act, a jet of acid-green light flew from its wand and struck Harry in the chest.
Harry's eyes remained wide open as he died. The killing curse engulfed his entire body and dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. Harry's body went slack in the bonds, and Fleur screamed.
Voldemort's malicious smile turned into a grin as its red eyes focused in on Fleur's horrified face. "Be grateful that he doesn't have to linger in purgatory as I did. Now, I suggest you throw down your wand and—"
Magic left Fleur's wand before she even registered what she was doing. A roar of glowing red flames shot out in an unrelenting torrent, burning everything in its path. It wasn't a spell that Fleur knew; it was her magic instinctively reacting to what was inside of her. Whatever Dumbledore had done to calm the fire inside of her was not enough. She felt the fire burst out of its captivity and spread throughout every inch of her body until it felt like she was boiling beneath her skin. It seemed like her body couldn't contain it, and even the flames gushing out of her wand were not enough to lessen the pressure building up inside of her.
The flames rolled over the graveyard like a tidal wave. Fleur faintly heard the screams of the sniveling man as his skin blistered and burst as he was burned alive, but she didn't stop funneling the flames out of her wand. Her eyes were focused in on Voldemort, who was hiding behind a translucent blue shield that surrounded his entire body. He was gritting his teeth as the flames swirled around his shield, looking for a way to penetrate it.
Even Dumbledore wasn't safe from the flames. The aged wizard had conjured a sphere of water that he immersed himself in. Fleur's fire formed a sphere around it and tried to boil away the water, but Dumbledore's magic sustained his shield.
The only thing her flames didn't touch was Harry's body. It was still limp against the gravestone, and Fleur's flames refused to touch him. They twisted around his body, as though repelled by a magical force, and then continued on through the graveyard.
Harry's face looked so peaceful in the firelight, Fleur thought to herself sadly. The tears that leaked from her eyes evaporated almost immediately from the intense heat.
Finally, after nearly a minute of continuous flames, Fleur felt the fire inside of her start to shrink. The burning pain under her skin remained, but the fire was dying. With her rage expended, Fleur lowered her wand, and the flames in the graveyard vanished, leaving behind a scorched scene of destruction.
Fleur didn't have it in her to fight anymore, not after witnessing Harry's death. She lowered her wand and waited for the inevitable embrace of death as Voldemort dropped his shield and pointed his wand at her. He was sweating and had a dark look on his face as a ball of green light formed on the tip of his wand.
Dumbledore was trying to get to her. Fleur faintly heard him calling her name and the splash of water hitting the ground as he canceled his sphere of water. She didn't bother to acknowledge the man; she just stared onward at that jet of green light as it left Voldemort's wand and flew straight towards her.
Suddenly, Fleur felt herself being knocked aside. She hit the ground hard, grimacing at the pain, and felt a weight on top of her. When she looked up, she saw two brilliant green eyes staring back at her.
An explosion rang out overhead as two spells crashed into one another. The multicolored light was so bright that Fleur had to shut her eyes, but she didn't care; all that mattered was that Harry was in her arms, alive.
"Come on," Harry shouted, grabbing her hand as he scrambled to his feet. He pulled Fleur up with him, and the two turned to face the ongoing battle.
Dumbledore had his back to them, his wand arm rotating in the air like he was spinning a lasso as he directed four over-sized wolves towards Voldemort. Blood was dripping from his arm, but it didn't seem to lessen his control over his magic in the slightest.
One wolf lunged towards Voldemort, and the man batted it away with a bludgeoning hex that crushed the wolf's body. Two other wolves lunged then, and Voldemort's wand moved faster than Fleur's eyes could follow. In an instant, the two beasts were nothing more than a pile of remains on the ground.
Realizing that there was little more that his creations could do, Dumbledore dispelled his magic. The remaining wolf and the bodies of the three slain ones reverted back to tombstones.
"Lay down your wand, Tom," Dumbledore said, keeping his wand at the ready as he took a step to block Harry and Fleur from Voldemort's sight.
The Dark Lord didn't miss them though, and his red eyes narrowed as he examined Harry. "You should be dead." The words came out as little more than a whisper, but they were loud enough to Fleur. She didn't understand it either—she had seen Harry die and suddenly he was back again—but if Voldemort didn't understand it, then she supposed that she had little chance of knowing how this happened.
Harry looked a little uncomfortable himself, as though he didn't quite know what to say. His eyes flickered towards Fleur and then back to Voldemort. "Love kept me here."
"Love," Voldemort spat before letting out a cold, high-pitched laugh. "Don't be absurd."
"Love is more powerful than you realize," Dumbledore interjected. "It is a magnificent force."
"If it's so powerful, then I'll have to snuff out your love first," Voldemort taunted before giving a subtle twirl of his wand.
Fleur felt his magic hit her. It yanked her off of her feet and pulled her towards him, but Harry grabbed her hand before she could fly off. He grabbed on tightly with a look of desperation on his face.
"You won't have her," Harry shouted as he gave a sharp yank backwards.
Harry's magic flared out and washed over Fleur. All traces of Voldemort's spell vanished, and she fell back to the ground and landed on her unsteady feet.
Voldemort's visage twisted in anger. "Crucio!" He shouted.
A hunk of conjured stone exploded as the unforgivable curse struck it. Dumbledore vanished away the remnants of his creation and eyed Voldemort cautiously. "It's over, Tom. I'm asking you to turn yourself in now."
Fleur wanted to shout at the Headmaster. How could he possibly insist that Voldemort simply turn himself in after all he had done? A monster like him deserved death, something slow, painful, and excruciating.
Something in the mists moved then, and Fleur feared that another beast or perhaps one of Voldemort's followers was there. Then she saw something else move in the mists, and another, and another.
Moving in time with one another, a dozen witches and wizards wearing the scarlet-red robes of the British Aurors climbed over the half-wall that surrounded the graveyard and stepped into view. All of them had their wands drawn on Voldemort as they encircled him.
Voldemort glanced at them like they were little more than a nuisance. "If you think they can stop me—"
"On the contrary," Dumbledore interrupted. "I know they can't. But together, all of us can stop you, Tom. Now, please, lay down your wand and—"
An Auror dropped dead as Voldemort's killing curse struck her.
Pandemonium broke loose as curses began flying in every direction. Voldemort was a blur as he twisted his body and weaved his wand through the air faster than Fleur imagined possible. Curses rained down on him from all sides, yet none of them managed to penetrate his defenses. He side-stepped spells that weren't even in his periphery and he blocked those that he couldn't avoid while simultaneously firing spells back at everyone. In a flash, two more Aurors were dead on the ground.
Fleur and Harry both brought up their own shields as a flurry of spells that Voldemort dodged flew towards them. The Auror's spells crashed against their shields, but they managed to hold on.
"Stay here," Dumbledore said as he stepped forward to confront Voldemort directly.
"Like hell," Harry snapped, dropping his shield for a moment to fire a bludgeoning hex at Voldemort, who blocked it expertly with a well-timed shield of his own. "This is my fight too."
Dumbledore looked like he wanted to say something, but he was forced to quickly block a stray spell sent his way. Then, Voldemort turned his attention towards Dumbledore and he didn't have the chance to say anything more as he restarted the deadly duel.
"I'm with you," Fleur told Harry. She could see it in his eyes that he didn't want her here in danger with him, but he also knew that he couldn't get away with telling her that. So, he simply nodded and started forward to fight alongside Dumbledore.
In the few seconds that had passed, another five Aurors were dead on the ground. The four remaining fighters looked to be struggling, even without having Voldemort's full attention on them. Despite the damage that had already been done, Voldemort still looked perfectly capable of fighting indefinitely if needed, but he was currently making little headway as he was focused on defending against Dumbledore's spells.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, adding his voice to the fray as a jet of red light blasted from his wand.
Voldemort batted the spell aside and didn't even bother with a rebuttal, something that Fleur noticed angered Harry. With a subtle grace, Voldemort ducked beneath Dumbledore's stunning spell, and the Auror who had been sneaking around to Voldemort's unprotected back was struck by the spell in his face, sending him flying backwards.
Fleur felt exhausted from her earlier use of magic, but she wasn't going to let Harry be in this fight without her. She cast spells tentatively, always ensuring not to throw too much magic into them so that she didn't burn herself out. Her spells barely seemed to register as Voldemort dodged and blocked them with ease, but after barely half a minute of continuous casting, Fleur noticed that Voldemort was finally starting to show signs of waning.
Together, Dumbledore and Harry were pushing Voldemort back. Their aggressive, unrelenting spellcasting was causing Voldemort to have to block more frequently. The remaining Aurors continued to fire their own spells, and a couple started to get through. A thick red beam of light cut through Voldemort's robes, opening up a gash along his ribcage, and another clipped his calf.
With an unearthly howl of rage, Voldemort jabbed his wand towards the ground and cast something. Fleur had never before heard the words that left Voldemort's lips, nor had she ever seen the spell that struck the ground.
A tremor wracked the earth, throwing everyone off balance. The only one who had been prepared for it was Voldemort himself, and he quickly lashed out and slew two of the Aurors with a single blasting curse. Dumbledore managed to bring up a shield in time in front of the remaining two Aurors, stopping them from being cleaved in two, but he was struggling to maintain his footing.
"Voldemort!" Harry screamed, drawing the man's attention to him for a brief second. Harry silently sent a curse towards Voldemort, and he lazily dodged out of the way of it.
"Time to kill you once and for all," Voldemort cried. "Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted simultaneously.
The two spells crashed in midair with a thunderous boom. It was strong enough that Fleur was actually buffeted by a gust of wind. When she stabilized herself though, she saw something incredible.
Harry and Voldemort's wands were connected by a beam of golden light. Both of them were gripping their wands tightly, and the shimmering, golden light danced around like lightning but never broke contact between the two wands. Hundreds, if not thousands, of beams of light arced out from the main one linking the wands and soared up into the air before coming back down, forming a golden dome that surrounded Harry, Voldemort, and Fleur.
Faintly, Fleur heard the sound of Dumbledore trying to break through the barrier that had formed, but her entire focus was on the two men in front of her who appeared to be battling for their lives. The beam of light was vibrating wildly, and a cry of a phoenix sounded.
Voldemort and Harry were locked in a perfectly even struggle, and Fleur knew what she had to do: she was going to help her love live without fear from this foul creature ever again.
"Diffindo!" Fleur cried as she pointed her wand at Voldemort's outstretched arm. The dark lord couldn't do anything as the charm soared towards him. He put his free hand in front of his wand arm in a futile attempt to block the spell, but Fleur's charm cut clean through it. It severed his hand cleanly right through his palm and carried into his wand arm. Her charm didn't have enough power to sever the arm completely, but it cut most of the way through the bone.
Voldemort's arm went limp as he screamed in rage and pain. The golden light that connected both of their wands pulsed, and a golden bead of light appeared on the thin line. With a roar, Harry pushed hard with his magic, sending the bead of light down the beam until it hit the tip of Voldemort's wand.
Harry's disarming charm activated then. Voldemort's wand flipped helplessly out of his hand and clattered on the ground beside him. The golden light suddenly vanished, and the dome around them disappeared too.
Voldemort's eyes flared a dark red. "You—!"
"Bombarda!" Harry shouted.
There was an explosion of flesh and bone as Voldermort's head was turned into a fine red mist. Then, all fell quiet.
A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! If you are interested in reading more or supporting me, check out at p atreon .com(slash) ashox