The house was a fortress of nightmares.
The moment the Order and Aurors burst through the door, the Death Eaters were already waiting. Flashes of green, red, and blue light erupted in the darkness as spells collided in the narrow hallways.
Moody took the lead, barking orders as he deflected curses. Kingsley and Tonks fought side by side, their wands moving in perfect synchronicity.
Ron and Hermione didn't hesitate. They weren't just fighting for Harry. They were fighting for his mind, his life, his future.
Bellatrix's cruel laughter echoed through the chaos.
"You're too late, dearies!" she sang, her wand whipping through the air as she sent a slicing hex at an incoming Auror. "You think you can save your little hero? He's already mine!"
But the Order wasn't here to listen.
They were here to end this.
Ron saw him first.
Harry lay in the center of the room, still, his body twitching from aftershocks of torture and Legilimency attacks. His skin was pale, drenched in sweat, his breathing shallow.
For a horrifying second, Ron thought
No. No, he's alive. He has to be.
Bellatrix sensed his panic and struck.
With a flick of her wand, she conjured thick, black chains around Harry's limp body. "If I can't break him, then no one will have him!" she screeched, tightening the restraints around his chest and throat.
"NO!" Hermione screamed as she sent a blasting curse.
The chains shattered but Bellatrix was already moving, lunging toward Harry with a dagger raised.
A stunning spell hit her in the side, knocking her back.
Kingsley.
Before she could recover, Moody sent a second curse, hurling her against the stone wall with a sickening crack.
Bellatrix collapsed, unconscious.
The battle raged on behind them, but Ron and Hermione were already on their knees beside Harry.
"H-Harry?" Hermione's voice shook as she pressed her fingers to his pulse point. Relief flooded her when she felt the faint, fluttering heartbeat.
But he wasn't waking up.
"His breathing's bad," Ron muttered, panic rising in his chest. "We need Stevan. We need to get him to St. Mungo's now."
Kingsley called over his shoulder, "Tonks! We're Apparating him out! Cover us!"
Tonks and the remaining Aurors pushed forward, fighting the last of the resisting Death Eaters as Ron, Hermione, and Kingsley carefully lifted Harry's barely conscious form.
Then a crack.
The battlefield disappeared.