Sirius' Death- Fading Desire.
Harry picked himself up as the roaring flames from Dumbledore's wand swept through the cave, setting fire to each of the Inferi.
"My God, this isn't what I expected Tom to achieve. He's a strong wizard, Harry, one of the strongest I've met. Mind you, I was familiar with Gellert Grindelwald." The old man rasped, eyeing the crowd of over a hundred inferius.
"But this... it's just overwhelming. You have to understand, each one of them is a dead person, Harry." The boy looked at him in shock; he had seen the ruthlessness of Voldemort, but he had never expected the man to be so callous about human lives.
"B-But professor, there are more than a hundred of these creatures...Did Tom kill each one of them?" Harry asked without even pausing to mention his nemesis' name.
"Quite so, Harry. Hundreds of lives have been destroyed in order to create this army to protect one of these soul pieces." Dumbledore replied as he blasted back two of the inferi crawling toward them.
"Bombarda Maxima!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at a group of at least ten of those creatures, blasting them into parts.
Harry spun around as another wave rose out of the murky water of the pond; his wand hand trembled as he searched for an accurate spell from his arsenal to deal with the situation.
He wasn't as clueless or vulnerable as he had been when Sirius took him in, but he wasn't a treasure trove of knowledge like Dumbledore.
The old man glanced at his companion and noticed his nervousness; he fired a spell of his own, erecting a wall of fire around them.
Dumbledore swayed on his feet as Harry joined his side to support him, "There are a lot of them, Professor. I don't think we'll be able to hold them off for long."
"An area-wide spell could end their existence, but we have to escape from here to do that." Harry continued in the same tone.
"Worry not, my boy. I will take care of that, give me just a moment to prepare this." Dumbledore said as he plucked a device from his robes.
"Venusignisco!" Harry chanted, lifting his wand as a tendril of fire crept out of it, he focused on the spell and willed it to cover them entirely.
It was a spell he had picked from the Black Library, one of the rare defensive spells that used fire as its basis. It wasn't powerful enough to hold back the Inferi for long, but it would buy time until Professor Dumbledore could complete his plan.
The Tendril soon lit with roaring fire and burned the creatures that came into its contact; Harry gasped as the strain of holding the spell increased.
"Just a little bit more, Harry," his companion said, chanting something continuously in Latin.
He dropped the little ball of white light and cast a strong shielding charm in front; Harry could feel the immense heat radiating from the spell.
Dumbledore murmured silently, "It will burn every one of them, ending their wretched existence."
At last, the old man turned around and held his hand tightly. With a "Hold on tight," they disappeared from the wretched cave.
They appeared with a whoosh in the familiar village of Hogsmeade; Harry gasped and suppressed the feeling of nausea.
He had learned to Apparate and was quite good at it; it came easily to him, just like flying. Dumbledore grasped his shoulder, righting himself.
"That wasn't a good feeling, was it?" the professor asked, eyeing Harry amusedly.
"My old bones can't take that much strain anymore, my boy," said Dumbledore, pointing his wand at the air.
'Tempus', 9:00 p.m.
Harry contemplated as he said, "It took us nearly an hour to get that thing."
Whatever Dumbledore was about to say was cut off by a brilliant flash in the distance, coming from Hogwarts.
"That doesn't look good, Professor," Harry said, worriedly.
"No, it doesn't," his companion replied hastily. "Follow me, Harry. Quickly." Dumbledore apparated toward the castle.
Harry appeared in the Forbidden Forest, some distance away from the school grounds, and stood ready with his wand.
Dumbledore walked quickly toward the castle, while Harry followed closely behind, scanning the grounds for any sign of disturbance.
Suddenly, a loud screech was heard, and a woman was flung down from the astronomy tower.
"Arresto momentum!" Dumbledore pointed his wand at the falling figure.
"Stupefy!" Harry cried as he fired his spell at the shadows leering down from the tower.
Dodging the spell, the person fired a blood-boiling curse toward him; he hastily erected a shield to protect himself.
"Bombarda!" he fired back with determination.
Dumbledore eyed the still form of Professor Pomona Sprout, the Herbology professor and head of Hufflepuff house. The rise and fall of her chest was the only sign that she was alive; even her breathing was labored, and her body was twitching intermittently. A sign of physical torture.
Meanwhile, Harry had blasted off the edge of the tower, and a figure sailed down from the edge. With a thud, the man fell on the hard stone and died on the spot.
"Harry, no!" Dumbledore screamed frantically; he didn't want the boy to get blood on his hand.
"It's not the time for moral reasoning, Sir. We've already had the argument about this, you do this your own way while I'll follow Padfoot's lead." Harry said coldly, walking forward with determination.
Dumbledore didn't follow him; instead, he called an elf and directed it to help Pomona to the infirmary. Standing up, he flicked his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" He whispered something to his phoenix patronus and sent it to notify others.
(_-_-_X_-_-_)
Harry peeked inside the Great Hall; his wand was ready. What he saw was utter chaos. Ron, Susan, and Neville were dueling against Crabbe Sr. and Goyle Sr. Susan had just fired a "Reducio" in response to a dark spell that had melted the table she was standing on.
The curse sailed past Goyle Sr.'s head as he tilted it slightly, all while Crabbe Sr. was cornering Ron and Neville. Harry took the opportunity and fired a tripping hex toward their opponent, who dodged at the last second, focusing fully on Harry now. Ron took advantage of it and disarmed him, thinking quickly; he bound the downed man in ropes.
Neville exclaimed, "Harry!" Goyle, who was still busy dueling Susan, started and looked around to find the infamous Potter boy.
"Stupefy!" Susan fired with determination, her opponent batted it aside without even looking at her.
The girl was knocked back, crashing through a table before she could react. Ron and Neville ran to her prone form to help her.
Harry hissed in Parsel tongue, causing a black mamba to appear out of thin air and slither towards his opponent at a fast pace.
"Confringo", "Reducto", "Avada Kedavra." The man fired spell after spell, but the snake evaded them with ease.
Taking advantage of the distraction caused by the snake, Harry fired a spell at the fat man. "Bombarda!"
Goyle took the blast full-face as he was blasted from his position in the opposite direction, crashing through two of the tables before landing just beneath the table he had been standing on previously.
"Take her to Madam Pomfrey," Harry said. "I believe the security of the castle has been breached; keep an eye out for any disturbance. Stun first, ask questions later." Ron and Neville nodded, picked up the unconscious Susan, and hurried out of the hall.
Harry sighed and looked toward the head of the teachers' table; Dumbledore's chair lay in tattered pieces. Suddenly, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he heard the unmistakable cackle of Bellatrix Lestrange. If she was here, then something big must be happening.
He exited the hall and took the stairs leading to the source of the offending sound; he would have to check it out. The mad bitch could cause much harm to untrained students, as he climbed the last stairs to the first floor, his eyes caught the scene of Professor Fitwick dueling with Bellatrix, while her brother-in-law watched the duel with rapt attention.
Harry didn't miss a beat and animated the armored knight to attack the man, but Rabastan quickly took control of the knight and willed it to attack him. His control over transfiguration and animation charms wasn't the best right now.
He exclaimed "Expulso!" and exploded the metal knight into pieces.
The younger LeStrange sibling quickly banished those pieces toward him, although he sidestepped most of them with his seeker's reflexes; some still managed to harm him here and there.
Harry hissed in pain, clutching his left ribs and blood pooling under his arm as he pointed his wand shakily at his injured side.
"Episkey." The blood stopped flowing, but the lingering pain didn't subside; he knew he couldn't last long and had to end this fight quickly.
"Nogracordus!" He said pointing his wand at his opponent, the man fumbled with his wand and erected a shield hastily.
The spell collapsed with the shield shattering it with an explosive sound; he knew the man was disoriented, but Bellatrix's goading kept him focused.
"Naughty boy," she cooed mockingly. "I see, cousin Sirius hasn't held back with your education. Quite a naughty spell you're using."
Harry ignored her in favor of casting his next spell, which would have killed the man, only for the unexpected shield to appear from nowhere.
It was casted by his brother, Rodolphus who rushed down the stairs to join his brother's side.
"You bloody idiot! The Dark Lord has specifically ordered Severus Snape to handle this boy. Why didn't you call him as soon as you saw him?" He admonished.
"Ah, good to see the lap dog of that half-blood licking the boot of his master." A voice sneered from behind Harry, whom he recognised immediately.
"Padfoot!" Harry shouted as he fired another spell that was countered by the older LeStrange brother.
"Expelliarmus!" another voice cried out, which Harry recognized easily.
"Moony!" Harry exclaimed, he was glad to know that his surrogate father and uncle were with him.
"Confringo!" Remus shouted, directing his wand toward Rodolphus, who batted it aside before exploding with his own barrage of spells.
"I will deal with you, dear Bella," said Sirius. "You should focus on that prick over there," he added, pointing to Rudolphus.
"Stay Back, Harry let professor Fitwick deal with Rabastan." Sirius said firing a chain of spells at his cousin, who countered them with equal force and power.
It couldn't be denied that perhaps Sirius Black was one of the only people alive who could take on Bellatrix Lestrange and most of the Death Eaters, and defeat them.
Sirius conjured three swords, lit them with a spell, and sent them sailing toward his cousin.
Bellatrix dodged one of them while conjuring a pair of shields to block the remaining two swords. Harry looked in surprise as Remus suddenly lunged at his opponent, his wand held aloft and his eyes shining gold.
Harry's attention was diverted to a high-pitched scream coming from somewhere above the floor; he gritted his teeth in frustration. The three Death Eaters were equally matched with Padfoot, Fitwick, and Moony, and he would have to pass them to reach the stairs. They were blocking the rotating staircase.
He would have to defy Sirius' order and involve himself, the screams continued to echo through the empty hallways of the castle; Harry made his choice.
"Mora ignis!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand at Rabastan's back. His coat caught fire as he screamed in agony and fell to the ground; Padfoot sent him a glare that he chose to ignore and fired an overpowered Disarming Charm, sending Rodolphus to the end of the alleyway.
Harry ignored the outraged voice of Moony and dashed forward, leaving Bellatrix in the hands of three men.
Harry jumped over the prone form of Rebastan and turned toward the stairs, climbing two steps at a time. On the next floor, he found Hermione, writhing in pain from the torture curse. A fat man stood over her.
"You mudblood bitch! How dare you touch me with your vile magic?" The man thundered as he pointed his wand toward Harry. Harry winced as the exertion of climbing the stairs caused his ribs to send pain through his body; he buckled down as another 'Crucio' was cast upon Hermione. She screamed and writhed on the ground.
Harry collected himself and fired a quick Disarming Charm; the man ducked under it without looking and swirled around to face Harry. At least the curse on Hermione had been lifted.
"Avada Kedrava!" The sickly green spell raced toward him, and he hastily conjured a duck that flopped on the ground after being hit by it before vanishing.
"Confringo!" Harry fired back, but the man stepped forward and batted it to his left.
"Crucio!" He ducked down to avoid the curse, and winced as he felt the wound reopening. Harry quickly looked down to see a line of blood trickling from the wound.
"Fucking hell." He whispered. "Nogracordus!"
The man hastily raised a shield against the blue spell; it would fill the lungs of Harry's opponents with tar and kill them slowly but surely. There was no countercurse, as was the case with most curses of Black origin.
"I will kill you, Potter. And I will have my fun with this little bitch down here." The Man boasted as he fired an unknown curse toward him. To be on the safe side, he conjured a stone slab to shield against it. And he was thankful for that, because the Withering curse disintegrated the rock pretty quickly.
Harry fired a chain of "Expelliarmus,", "Confringo," and "Flippendo," against his opponent. To his dismay the main raised a shield in time against in onslaught. But it seems he didn't need to worry about that, as suddenly a black whip wrapped around the man's throat and pulled him to the ground.
Standing behind the man was Bill Weasley, above Hermione's unmoving body on the ground. The spell had likely sucked out all the blood from the man's body, turning it a sickly yellow as he took his final breaths.
"Thanks for that, Bill. I doubt I would've been able to defeat him without bleeding out myself." Sirius chose that moment to come rushing around the corner, his eyes found Harry, and he ran to him.
"You're bleeding, Prongslet! We need to take you to the Hospital wing." Sirius said in a sincere tone.
"There's no need for it," said Harry, climbing to his feet and grimacing as he staggered toward his dear friend.
"Hermione!" He knelt beside her, opened her small leather pouch. Without another word, he reached into it with his hand until his elbow, feeling around inside for a moment before pulling out what he needed.
He took out the vials containing the calming draught and the potion to alleviate symptoms of torture. He uncorked them with shaking hands, but Bill took them from him and held Hermione's lips open, allowing him to drip the liquid down her throat with practiced ease.
The girl's prone body shuddered for a few seconds before she groaned; Harry nodded to Bill as the tall redhead picked the girl up to take her to the infirmary.
Harry stood up on shaky legs as Sirius supported him; he grinned at his Godfather before wincing in pain.
"You'll be the death of me, pup," Sirius muttered, handing him two vials of potion - one green in color, and another red.
Harry gulped it down and felt his wound close, breathing out evenly as he supported his own weight. Moony climbed the stairs in a rush at that moment, panicked.
"Some Death Eaters have cornered Arthur, Dumbledore, and Charlie on the top of the Astronomy Tower," Remus said, rushing toward the next set of stairs before turning toward them sadly.
"Bellatrix got away with Rabastan's body and Rudolphus vanished, Fitwick is on his way to secure the bridge in front. Hurry up." Harry followed the man at a steady pace.
They reached the observatory in record time, and as they climbed the stairs to the top roof, they noticed the two sides sizing each other up.
On one side stood the unmistakable and dangerous group consisting of Augustus Rookwood, Antonio Dolohov, Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and Fenrir Greyback. And somehow, there was also Rudolphus Lestrange. On the other side stood Albus Dumbledore, Charlie Weasley, and Arthur Weasley.
Their appearance seemed to be the signal for the duel to begin; Padfoot took his side and began exchanging curses with the LeStranges. Harry engaged with Draco while leaving his father to Moony, who quickly started cursing him left and right.
Dumbledore was busy dealing with the dangerous man named Rookwood, an experienced Unspeakable with a reputation for deadly curses.
Charlie Weasley focused on Greyback, leaving Antonio Dolohov for Arthur Weasley; they weren't matching up correctly, and Harry saw both of their numbers dwindling quickly.
It happened as he had expected; Draco was nowhere near his level. He exchanged a few spells with the boy before distracting him with a conjured hawk and then finishing him off with a disarming charm. The boy flew back and collided with the top of the stairs painfully, before rolling down the said stairs.
Dolohov had quickly overpowered Arthur, banishing him over the Astronomy Tower; but, from the lack of a body hitting the ground, it seemed as though Mr. Weasley had been saved somehow.
Harry fired quick-cutting curses at Greyback, turning his attention to himself, giving Charlie the chance to extract revenge on Dolohov.
Rookwood seemed to be holding his own against Dumbledore's magical might, and wasn't that terrifying and impressive at the same time. Moony was having a difficult time against Lucius but wasn't on the brink of defeat, which was enough for now.
Harry's shield held under the onslaught of Greyback, he brought it down and quickly ducked to avoid a killing curse. He rolled to his left, got back up, and without becoming a still target for the notorious Greyback, Harry conjured several silver daggers and sent them toward the creature.
Greyback had taken hold of the dagger and Harry staggered back, wide-eyed as it vanished into thin air; the backlash of his own spell had thrown him back. The werewolf didn't stop there and fired a series of curses towards him; Harry erected his strongest shield, which absorbed the chain of spells.
He fired back his own, without a doubt, devastating and throwing Greyback toward the stairs Snape was climbing from. The Dungeon bat sneered at the falling form of Greyback and sidestepped to climb up.
Harry's face brightened as he saw the Defence Professor coming to their aid; it seemed the man had forsaken the Dark Wizard. How wrong he was at that moment.
The first order of business for the man as soon as he climbed the stairs was to meet Dumbledore's eyes, which looked at him strangely. Rookwood had used the moment to slip from the presence of the warlock and focused on Sirius, who was promptly disarmed, but Harry fired a wide-range confundo, throwing the two Death eaters back.
"Avada Kedavra!" The words haunted him as his body shivered involuntarily, and he looked up sharply. What he saw made his eyes go wide; the old headmaster was falling from the tower. Snape, looking emotionless as ever, Harry doubled his efforts in casting a series of spells toward Snape.
The former potions professor's eyes widened; he conjured a hasty shield and sneered at Harry from his position.
"Avada Kedavra!" Another voice shouted, and he saw a sickly green curse heading towards him. Even with his seeker's reflexes, he knew he couldn't avoid the curse; he was forced aside by someone from his right, and watched in horror as Sirius was hit by the curse.
Rudolphus cackled. "Here goes the blood traitor, rest in hell, Sirius Black."
Rookwood grabbed his arm and Apparated away from the tower; the wards were down, Snape was nowhere to be seen. Nor were Malfoy or Greyback; Lucius Malfoy had vanished too.
He eyed the lifeless form of his surrogate father numbly; he moved forward, trying to glean some life into his eyes. No shine could be seen there; the usual laughing eyes were silent.
He touched Sirius's face; it was cold and growing colder by the second. Harry gripped his forearm, tears forming in his eyes.
The first sob escaped him as he felt no pulse, none whatsoever. He stumbled forward and tried to hear his father's heartbeat, trying his best to find any evidence that Padfoot might still be alive. There was no sound of a beating heart.
Harry jerked away from the frame of his godfather, before bursting into tears like a small child. He cradled the head of his godfather in his lap and attempted to straighten the wavy black hairs.
The sobs didn't stop after that, not even when Minerva arrived at the scene. Not even when Tonks carried him to the other side of the room to console him. He tried to form words, but it seemed his lips weren't in control; all he could do was wail.
When Fitwick attempted to levitate Sirius' body down to the area where Dumbledore's lay, Harry followed him almost automatically. He didn't want to leave Padfoot's side; if this was the last time he would be around the man.
The devastation that the Death Eaters had brought to the castle was monumental; the devastation they'd brought into his life was shattering. He was left with no living family, except for Lupin and the Weasleys. Sirius had been angry with Dumbledore for a long time, and Harry understood why. It was the same for him, but according to Moony, he had a golden heart just like Lily Potter.
The bond he had created with Dumbledore wasn't manipulated on his end; it was a genuine mentor-student relationship that he had formed during their special classes.
He eyed the old man's body with pained eyes, but returned to Sirius. It was announced that Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore had sacrificed their lives for Hogwarts; therefore, they would be buried there.
Even in the state he was in, Harry knew where Sirius would have wanted to be buried - beside his best friend, in the cemetery at Godric's Hollow. Andromeda arrived within fifteen minutes, sobbing her heart out; she had been devastated by the death of her only decent cousin.
Harry worked with Theodore Tonks and Remus Lupin to bury the body beside his father's in the graveyard at Godric's Hollow. The funeral was held the next day. Not many were invited; only those closest to him, like the Greengrasses and the Bones family, or what remained of it. Also, his friends from school and members of the Order of the Phoenix attended.
The casket was brought down, and Harry lost a part of himself with it. The pain, the loneliness were tearing holes into his chest. There was a void left, and Harry knew nobody would be able to fill it.
His hands trembled as he raised his wand in the air; a quick spell and the crest of the House of Black appeared in the air. A tradition of the Blacks that Sirius had made him learn, the only tradition that Sirius wasn't bitter about.
Harry was now the new Lord Black; Draco had been disinherited due to his connection with Voldemort. Harry now controlled the Black estate, and it seemed he would not be able to return to Hogwarts. But more on that later; for now, it was time for mourning.
He mourned for Sirius Black, a true friend, an honorable Marauder, a supportive mentor, and, last but not least, the best father he could have had besides his own.
Tears trickled down his cheek as he stood in front of Sirius's grave; Lupin never left his side.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; All the rights are reserved for J.K Rowlings.