Chapter 49
The Graveyard Duel
Notes from the Authors: First, we both want to thank all of you for your reviews and comments. There is clearly a lot of love for Fleur. Second, Content Warning: Transphobia and Bigotry.
As Lily and Fleur landed on the ground with a thud, Lily felt the mud beneath her, with the cold, night air striking her. She forced herself up, reorienting herself as she looked around, wondering where they were. "Fleur, are you okay?" Lily asked, seeing her friend on the ground and going to help.
"I am," Fleur replied weakly as she stood up. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure," Lily replied, as Fleur held out her wand, creating a light with it.
"I did not think that ze cup would be a portkey," Fleur said.
"Me either," Lily agreed. They were in what looked like an overgrown area, with a church not too far from them. "A church?"
"Why are we here? I do not understand," Fleur commented. "Zis can't be a part of ze task, can it?"
"I don't think we're meant to be here. This isn't right," Lily said, before turning around after hearing a noise.
"Hello?" Fleur called out. Lily's eyes widened as she saw a large gravestone with one word on it: Riddle!
"Fleur, run!" Lily exclaimed. A jet of green light flew towards Fleur and Lily. Lily dived out of the way, and turned, feeling horrified and hoping that Fleur was okay. She wasn't on the ground. Fleur, and the cup, had vanished.
"Imbecile! You let her escape!" a voice hissed as Lily fired back a curse at the source of the sound. Before she could try to fire a second off, she was struck with a jet of red light, sending her crashing to the ground. She felt her wand get yanked from her hand as she was magically pulled up against the Riddle gravestone, where stone scythes held her in place.
She saw then who it was restraining her: Pettigrew. "You!" she exclaimed.
"Is it ready?" a voice hissed.
"It… it is, Master," Pettigrew said, as he walked away from Lily.
"Hurry!" the voice hissed loudly.
"What are you doing?" Lily demanded angrily, although she was ignored by Pettigrew.
She saw a small cloth bundle on the floor and cried out in pain as she looked at whatever it was. Pettigrew picked it up and dumped it into a bubbling potion in a large cauldron.
Pettigrew raised a wand and began chanting.
"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"
Fragments of bone appeared out of the ground and landed into the potion, which began to hiss and bubble some more. Pettigrew began to weep as he took out a dagger and held his right hand over the cauldron.
"Don't do this!" Lily exclaimed, a cold chill running through her. Pettigrew looked at Lily, and then at the cauldron.
"F…Fl… Flesh of the servant… willingly… willingly given… you will revive your master," Pettigrew's sobs grew louder, followed by a cry of pain as he sliced through his wrist, his hand falling into the cauldron.
Still weeping, Pettigrew walked back to Lily, cradling his stump, and took his dagger, making cuts in Lily's arm. She winced, not giving him the satisfaction of crying out. Pettigrew walked over to the cauldron and let the drops of Lily's blood fall into the cauldron.
"Blood… of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… res… resurrect your foe!"
The cauldron bubbled more, and fizzed. Lily prayed that whatever was dropped into it had drowned. Her hopes were dashed as she cried out in pain as her scar began to hurt, badly. The cauldron began to dissolve into a mist. Through the mist, she looked on horrified as the dark outline of a man, tall and skeletally thin, rising from within, as the mist faded into the outline.
"Robe me," the cold voice said from the steam. Wormtail, still sobbing and holding his stump, moved to quickly pick up the black robes that were on the ground. He carefully pulled them over the head of the figure, before the man stepped out of the mist, staring at Lily.
Lily stared back into the face that had haunted her nightmares for years. His face pale white, with wide, scarlet eyes and a nose as flat as a snake's nose, with slits for nostrils, Lily's greatest nightmare had come true.
Lord Voldemort had returned!
Voldemort stepped forward, looking at Pettigrew, who was on his knees, still sobbing, before turning to face Lily. "Harry Potter. You stand on the remains of my late father," Voldemort hissed softly, looking at her. "He was a muggle and a fool, just like your dear mother. But both died for a purpose. Yours to protect you, and mine has now returned me to life," Voldemort said.
"My name is Lily," Lily snapped angrily.
"You have even fashioned yourself a new name, and a new persona, just as I did. You didn't like yourself, your name, or anything your parents gave you," Voldemort said, smirking. He walked over to Pettigrew. "Your arm, Pettigrew," he ordered.
"Thank… thank you, Master," Peter sobbed, holding up his stump.
"Your other arm, Wormtail," Voldemort hissed. Pettigrew obeyed and cried out in pain as Voldemort pressed a finger to it. Lily screamed in agony as her scar began to hurt. Voldemort smirked as he walked over to Lily.
"My mother, a witch, lived nearby, and fell in love with a muggle of all people," Voldemort sneered. "You and I are a lot alike, Harry."
"It's Lily, you transphobic git!" Lily snapped.
"It hurts, doesn't it? Knowing the world treat you poorly, with such disrespect, when you can be raised above all of them. In that, we are much alike," Voldemort said. "So, I will make you this offer. Join me, Lily, and help me shape the world to be a better place."
"You mean ruin it?" Lily snapped. Voldemort laughed.
"You really don't understand me, Lily. Only my true family, my death eaters, do. What I do is considered evil, yes?" Voldemort asked.
"Very," Lily replied coldly.
"Tell me, how much does it hurt for someone to misgender you, I believe the term is? How much does it hurt, knowing that those who aren't worthy are raised up? Look at the muggle world, where leaders are uncaring and let their people be hurt. Lily, join me, and the world will be better. I will not ask again," Voldemort said.
"Better for who?" Lily spat angrily. "You and yours? Those who you deem suitable? That's not better, that's twisted!"
"Much like your parents, Harry Potter, you are a fool. The weak will perish, and the strong will survive. Our kind will rule over muggles, until there are only our kind," Voldemort hissed, and in that moment, Lily knew he had been trying to enter her mind. She remembered what Dumbledore had told her, and felt thankful as she thought of Ginny, trying to block her mind from being read or controlled. "I will not allow filth to survive, when the world is meant for the betters. Your parents were weak and fell quickly. My family will rise, and speaking of which," he said, as Lily heard people apparating. He saw people appearing wearing black masks, the same as those at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Welcome my friends, welcome! We stand here, thirteen years since we last met, and yet you arrive when summoned as though no time as passed!" Voldemort said.
Lily watched as he walked around the group, all of whom were hooded, looking at Voldemort, carefully moving forward. Lily wondered if they were afraid, or grateful. She wondered how Voldemort felt that she would join him. Was he insane? Or did he genuinely believe he would rule the world better than anyone else?
The one thing Lily knew from muggle movies and books was that when someone believed in what they were doing, they were more dangerous than anyone else. To her, that made Voldemort even more dangerous than ever.
"Master… Master," the death eaters murmured, bowing before their lord.
"You answer my call as though it were yesterday, all united under the Dark Mark. Yet, I smell the stench of guilt in the air," Voldemort said, looking at the group. "All whole, healthy, with your powers intact, and you arrived so quickly! So, I ask myself, where were you when I was in need of you? Where were those who had sworn their eternal loyalty to me? Certainly not by my side, nor were they living the old ways. Did they, perhaps, think me broken? Or did they pledge their lives to another… maybe the champion of Muggles, Albus Dumbledore?" Voldemort asked, looking coldly at the death eaters.
As he took a breath, Voldemort shook his head. "I confess myself disappointed," Voldemort said.
One of the Death Eaters, Avery, begged forgiveness, but Voldemort struck him with the Cruciatus Curse, watching him writhe in agony.
"Wormtail here, he has not only allowed a witness to escape, but he returned to me only out of fear," Voldemort said, as Pettigrew wept on the ground. "And yet, he did return before any of you, and he helped return me to my body," he said, reaching out and touching Pettigrew's stump with his wand. Molten silver came out of the wand and attached itself to Pettigrew's bleeding stump, forming a new hand.
Pettigrew stopped sobbing as he looked at the hand with reverence. "Thank you, Master, thank you," Pettigrew said.
"Fail me again Wormtail, and I will kill you," Voldemort warned. "Now, kill one of these people, since I will have penance for their failures."
Wormtail's eyes widened as Voldemort handed Pettigrew a wand, looking at the Death Eaters.
"Please, Master, forgive us! We returned, we knew you would return," Lily recognised Lucius Malfoy's voice.
"Lucius, my slippery friend," Voldemort said, pulling off Malfoy's mask and holding a hand up to Pettigrew. "I understand that you present a representable face to the world, but still enjoy torturing muggles and Mudbloods?"
"I've never renounced the old ways, my Lord, even though I was forced to… do deeds to remain free to search for you," Lucius said.
"And yet you ran from the Dark Mark when one of my most loyal sent it into the sky?" Voldemort scoffed. "Tell me, why should I spare you?"
"I have only ever been loyal, my Lord," Lucius insisted.
"Indeed. You were the one behind the Chamber of Secrets being open, though I am not pleased with how it ended," Voldemort's voice was cold and haunting. "I will deal with you later. For now, we have a guest."
"Harry Potter?" one of the Death Eaters asked.
"Yes, the boy who lived, the boy whom everyone believes is my better," Voldemort scoffed.
"My name is Lily!" Lily snarled angrily.
"Everyone thought this mentally ill child was my downfall, but it was his mother's sacrifice, an old form of magic I failed to remember. Yes, I made a mistake, but now, I have corrected that mistake," Voldemort hissed, pressing a finger to Lily's scar.
She screamed out in pain, with the Death Eaters laughing. Voldemort stepped back, and waved his wand, releasing Lily.
"Now, Harry, I trust you know how to duel? We shall end this tonight," Voldemort hissed, as Pettigrew returned Lily's wand to her.
"My name is Lily. Are you deaf as well as ugly?" Lily snapped, before glaring at Pettigrew, who quickly scurried off.
Voldemort let out a cold laugh. "First, we bow to one another. The niceties must be observed," Voldemort said, bowing to her. A part of Lily wanted to refuse, but she decided to not let Voldemort appear better than her in any way, so she bowed.
"Good, good, you do show some respect to the rules," Voldemort seemed pleased. "And now, we fight."
Voldemort began by casting the Cruciatus Curse at her, but she leapt out of the way and cast the Impediment Jinx at him. Voldemort flicked his wand, creating a shield which easily deflected the jinx, and laughed.
"Oh, this is priceless, the boy thinks he can match me," Voldemort said.
"You mean a half-blood?" Lily demanded, glaring at him. "Do any of them know?"
"You mean about your story in the Daily Prophet this morning? Oh, Rita Skeeter, that friend of yours will die, but I am no half-blood. You see, Potter, whilst I was born from a muggle, my muggle blood was purified long ago, by my own ancestor," Voldemort laughed as he spoke, remembering what had happened all those years ago…
Standing alone in the ancient graveyard, Voldemort looked at the tomb in front of him, at the ancient structure that had clearly been protected. Finding it had been a task none had ever accomplished; the one inside wanted no one to know where he had chosen to be interred.
With an almost lazy flick of his wrist, Voldemort opened the door to the tomb, and walked down the staircase. The old torches caught fire as soon as he stepped down each step, and as he reached the bottom, he was in a large, circular room, with a symbol that he recognised; it was the same face he had seen when he had first found the Chamber of Secrets, back at Hogwarts.
The thought of the oaf, Hagrid, being blamed for everything still amused him, even if that old fool, Dumbledore, had ensured the bumbling idiot had been named gamekeeper.
He looked at the face, and spoke an ancient spell, in Parseltongue of course, and waited. He watched as the ground began to shake gently, with the stone face starting to move.
"Who are you to disturb me? How dare you enter this chamber," the voice snarled.
"I have come for your strength and power. You will submit them to me," Voldemort hissed.
"FOOL! I SUBMIT TO NO ONE!" the voice answered angrily, the chamber starting to shake. Snakes began to pour from the mouth, until Voldemort simply waved his wand, turning the snakes into dust.
"I have come for your power, to purify that which is tainted," Voldemort demanded. "I, the greatest wizard who has ever lived, sought you out to correct a vile mistake my fool of a mother made."
He watched as the face seemed to study him. "Who are you?"
"I am Lord Voldemort, and I am descended from you," Voldemort replied calmly. "I have been forced to live with the disgust of the knowledge that my mother… a poor excuse for a witch… mated with… a muggle," he practically spat out, as though the words caused him to be sick.
"MY LINE HAS BEEN TAINTED? THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE!" the voice of Salazar Slytherin boomed. "I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS! YOUR BLOOD MUST BE PURIFIED!"
Voldemort watched as a black cloud spat out from the mouth of the stone face, and as it struck him, he let out a scream of agony. He felt like his body was on fire, and as he fell to his knees, he saw his skin becoming paler, feeling his face shifting.
"YOU WILL BE PURIFIED! YOU WILL NEVER BE TAINTED BY MUGGLE BLOOD AGAIN!" Slytherin's voice filled the tomb. "THIS WILL BE MY GIFT TO YOU. GO, AND PURIFY OUR WORLD. MUGGLES ARE NOTHING MORE THAN VERMIN TO BE ENSLAVED OR DESTROYED! I HAVE SPOKEN!"
As the pain subsided, the statue became still once more, with Voldemort carefully forcing himself to stand up. As he did, he looked down at himself. His hands – no, his entire skin – had paled, and had taken a bony appearance. He felt his face and let out a soft gasp. His nose had seemingly vanished. He quickly cast a spell to see his appearance.
No more was he the handsome young man he had been. Now, his nose were two slits, his eyes were red, and he almost resembled a snake. He banished the image, and began to laugh, coldly, at the events of what had happened…
"Of course, my family know the truth, some went to Hogwarts with me, including Avery. You think you were telling them something shocking?" Voldemort asked, smirking. "Now, Potter, let us end this."
Voldemort cast another spell at Lily. She knew she couldn't win against Voldemort, but she wasn't going to just surrender. As she cast a spell towards him, the two spells struck one another.
Lily's eyes widened as a bright light began to shine from the centre where the spells connected, enveloping her and Voldemort in a bubble. He ordered his Death Eaters to remain where they were.
Lily watched as the ghostly form of an old man emerged from Voldemort's wand, the man from her dream.
"He was a wizard, then? Keep going, lass," the man, Frank, said. The next figure was Bertha Jorkins, also encouraging Lily. She watched as her mother then appeared.
"Hold on Lily, my sweet, beautiful daughter. Your father's coming, love, he wants to see you," Lily Sr. insisted.
"Mum?" Lily asked, seeing her mum smiling proudly at her.
"We're so proud of you sweetheart, of who you are," Lily Sr. said, as James Potter appeared.
"Lily, help is coming. When the spell breaks, you must run. We can delay him for a few moments, but no longer. We love you, sweetheart, and we're proud of you as your mother said," James said.
"Be careful, Moody, the one who has been teaching you, is not the real Moody, it's Barty Crouch Jr." Bertha Jorkins' shadow warned her.
Lily felt tears rolling down her cheek as she nodded, although she also felt a wave of disgust rush through her; she had trusted Moody, and now she found out he was Crouch Jr, the one who had caused all of her pain? No wonder he said she had to enter the tournament; had he lied about her magically still being Harry? Was that why Fleur had felt so uncomfortable around him, could she have sensed it somehow? Lily had so many questions, but no time to ask them.
"Now Lily!" James insisted. Lily broke the spell and ran, quickly, with all the shadows launching themselves at Voldemort. Lily ran towards a treeline, where she hid as she heard Voldemort scream. Before the Death Eaters could react, the sky was lit up with red and green jets of light.
Lily felt her heart lighten as she saw Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, Molly, Fudge, Bill, and Moody – no, Crouch Jr, she reminded herself bitterly – coming down the hill, attacking the Death Eaters. She watched as Remus and Sirius stood side by side, launching attack after attack, as Ginny came racing towards her.
"Lily, we need to go, now!" Ginny exclaimed.
"No, wait, Moody, he's not Moody," Lily replied. Ginny and Lily looked at saw Moody about to attack Dumbledore, so both Lily and Ginny both launched a curse at him, disarming him and catching his wand. Moody looked at them with pure venom in his eyes as Voldemort ordered his Death Eaters to leave Moody alone.
Lily looked at Ginny as they fired another curse at one of the Death Eaters, just as the same Death Eater fired a green light towards them. Lily's eyes widened as the curse, the killing curse, was heading for her and Ginny.
Before she could react, however, as though in slow motion, a dark shape leapt in front of her. She watched, almost in slow motion, as Cornelius Fudge took the killing curse meant for the two of them!
Lily cried out in horror as Fudge's body fell to the ground, his eyes forever open to the world. Ginny pointed up as Fawkes flew towards them. Lily grabbed hold of Fudge's body, unwilling to leave him to be fouled or mutilated by Voldemort. As she grabbed Fudge, Ginny grabbed Lily, and held her hand up, grabbing Fawkes's leg.
She felt everything dissolving as flames surrounded her, Ginny, and Fudge, with Voldemort letting out a scream of pure anger as they left the graveyard behind.