CHAPTERED FIC (20/21, PART THREE): Immortalias Aestas - R - H/D
Chapter Twenty, Part II
It was chaos.
There was no other word to describe it. As soon as the Death Eaters had appeared they'd begun to fling curses; the air was filled with the sound of spells and the downpour of rain.
Harry dove to the left as someone threw a Stunner at him. That's interesting, he thought. Obviously Voldemort had told them to bring Harry to him alive. He clearly wanted the pleasure of killing him himself.
Harry rolled to his feet, slipping slightly on the wet grass, only to see one of McGonagall's desks fly open to pelt the unsuspecting Death Eater with pieces of parchment and bits of broken quills. Harry quickly yelled, "Incarcerous!" and they were bound tightly, falling straight to the ground as easily as if Harry had Petrified them. Harry Stunned whoever it was and left them there, the desk moving over the prone figure to stand guard.
"Well, they sure get straight to the point," Draco said, flinging a curse over Harry's shoulder before pulling him behind a suit of armor as another curse came flying toward them. "We need to waterproof ourselves," he said briskly, quickly casting water-repellent charms on Harry's glasses and outer clothes.
"Good thinking," Harry said, as he'd already been unable to see clearly out of the wet lenses.
Harry used his vantage point to scope things out; as no one had attempted to go toward the school yet, they were relatively safe.
"Do you see him?" Draco asked, obviously meaning Voldemort.
"No," Harry said, throwing a curse at the back of a Death Eater that had Lavender in their sights. "And I don't feel him, either. I don't think he's here yet."
They didn't have long to ponder this, as the knight they'd been hiding behind suddenly moved. It clanged across the grass toward a huge, hulking Death Eater, before bringing its fist down on the top of their head, knocking the mask they'd been wearing askew.
"Rowle," Draco said, tugging Harry across the lawn, flinging curses as he went. He hid them behind another suit of armor and Harry sighed exasperatedly.
"Draco, I'm not going to spend the entire time crouched behind some rusty old knight!"
"Of course you're not," Draco said dismissively. "I just figured we should try to scout things out and see where to go."
Harry knew he had a point, so looked out over the battlefield.
There were already bodies littered on the ground. Some of them had on the blue cloaks that the Weasley twins had given them and Harry fervently hoped they were simply Stunned.
He saw Kingsley engaged in a duel with an unmasked Rabastan Lestrange. Kingsley appeared to be winning, as Lestrange was being forced backward toward the Forbidden Forest. Suddenly, three red Stunners shot out of the woods, and Lestrange fell to the ground. Kingsley made short work of binding him, then quickly levitated the body into the forest before turning to help Hestia Jones fight off another Death Eater.
"Here," Harry said, digging into his pocket and pulling out his invisibility cloak. "Get under here, that way we can move around without anyone seeing us."
Draco gave him a stern look. "You've had that the whole time?"
Harry shrugged before throwing it over them. "Try to be quiet," he said. "It doesn't muffle sound at all."
Covered in the cloak, they made their way through the battlefield, throwing out spells where they were needed but mostly trying to locate Voldemort. Harry released one of his Decoy Detonators, which exploded, drawing the attention of an unmasked Avery, who was quickly downed by a spell from Emmeline Vance.
Everywhere they looked they saw people dueling masked Death Eaters. Some of them had lost their masks, making them easier targets for people with personal vendettas. Sirius was dueling a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange, and Snape was battling a sneering Dolohov, who'd nearly killed him when his spy status had been discovered.
The rain was making the ground muddy and slick; several times Harry and Draco nearly went down in the muck.
"We should move toward the center," Harry said, releasing his final Detonator. Draco nodded. As they set out Harry suddenly froze as a wave of cold enveloped him.
"Dementors," he forced out, already hearing the faint screams of his mother's final seconds. Just as suddenly as the cold appeared, it dissipated slightly as several calls of, "Expecto Patronum!" came from the forest behind them.
Harry drew a deep breath and looked up; sure enough, the sky was filled with the dark figures of the Dementors. They were swooping down onto the figures on the lawn, seemingly not caring whom they had targeted, as Death Eaters and Order members alike fell victim to their terror.
From the gates of Hogwarts came shouts and more spellfire. Harry heard Dawlish's voice crying out commands. It seemed the Aurors had arrived. Their numbers made things a little more even, although there were still more black-robed figures than anyone else.
"Took them long enough," Draco muttered, grabbing Harry's arm as he nearly went down in the mud again.
They positioned themselves more in the center before Harry threw off the cloak, tucking it quickly into his pocket. It was pretty dark and wet and he was hoping the Shield hat would keep him from being recognized so easily. Luckily the hat covered Draco's tell-tale blond hair, too.
"Hey, Mulciber!" Harry called out, grabbing the Death Eater's attention and allowing Tonks to find her feet again. "Hope you like the accommodations at Azkaban!"
"Potter!" he snarled, raising his wand. Lightning quick, Tonks had him bound and at her feet, nodding her thanks at Harry.
Unfortunately his yell of Harry's name brought him all kinds of unwanted attention, because suddenly there were several wands pointed in his direction. As the spells were yelled out, he found himself hitting the ground hard as Draco shoved him down. Mud coated his glasses and got into his mouth, causing Harry to choke. Draco was flinging Stunning spells at everyone in the vicinity; some of them hit their targets but most of them went wide. Draco pulled Harry up but they were in serious trouble. That is, until a wolf's howl rent the air and a huge gray wolf went flying over their heads, bringing down two Death Eaters in one go and effectively surprising the others. Harry quickly took care of one of them, Draco getting the final one.
"Thanks, Moony," Harry said, wiping the mud off his glasses.
The Dementors chose that moment to attack again, and Harry quickly cast his Patronus to ward them off. The chill had invaded his bones, though, so Harry took a small bite of the chocolate Snape had given them, feeling the effects recede slightly.
"We have to keep moving," Draco said. "It'll be harder to hit us if we don't stay in one spot. Let's try to draw them toward the school so Macmillan's plant can do some of the work for us."
The two of them set off at a run, throwing spells out as they went. They seemed to gain the focus of the elder Crabbe and Goyle, who followed in pursuit. As they neared the school, Harry quickly covered Draco and himself with his cloak and stepped away to the side. It was obvious who the younger Crabbe and Goyle got their lack of intelligence from, as the two men continued to run right up to the building. Ernie's plant shot out and grabbed them fast, twining around their bodies until they were pulled right up close to the walls of the castle, completely unable to move.
"Brilliant," Harry said. He didn't have too much time to think about it, though, as someone shouted, "The Dark Lord is here!" and Harry gasped as his head throbbed in pain.
The Dementors swooped in again, but this time were waylaid by a Patronus that seemed to come from above them.
"Harry, they're casting from the school!" Draco exclaimed.
Harry forced himself to breathe and was glad to feel that the pain in his head subsided slightly to a dull ache. He looked up and sure enough, Draco was right; it seemed that those in the Charms classroom had decided to help after all.
Harry stood unsteadily, wincing as the pain in his head flared once sharply. "I need to find Voldemort."
Draco nodded and threw the cloak over them, and they set off back into the battle.
Harry glanced around, and noticed that crystal balls seemed to be hurtling from the castle. Trelawney's bespectacled head appeared in a window, followed by more crystal balls. One of them found a target, cracking sharply in half on the head of Selwynn, who went down in a heap. There were hexes being thrown from the windows of the castle, from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Tower both. Padma and Terry were circling above throwing Stunning spells down on the heads of the Death Eaters. McGonagall's desks were throwing themselves at their enemies, sometimes tackling them and other times being blown to pieces by a spell. The suits of armor had lost Hannah's spell but were still clanging noisily around the grounds, doing their best to bring down the Death Eaters; Flitwick must have charmed them to attack.
As they walked past a dueling Auror and Death Eater, there was a loud bang as someone released one of the Decoy Detonators. Farther on was a flash of fireworks from one of the twins, and more bangs from the Detonators. And still the black robes were everywhere.
It also looked like those students who'd started out in the Forbidden Forest had been pulled onto the lawn. Seamus and Dean were rushing at a group of Death Eaters, bellowing something at the top of their lungs. Lisa Turpin and Michael Corner were frantically trying to keep up with the hexes being thrown at them by Gibbon. Ron and Hermione were no where to be seen, and Harry felt a rush of panic at the thought that something had gone wrong. All of this was wrong, they weren't ready, they didn't know enough spells! Harry had just made up his mind to rush into the middle of everything when he was stopped by Draco.
"Harry," Draco said, grabbing him forcefully by the arm. "Get it together."
"They're our classmates, Draco!" Harry said, voice gone high in terror.
"You can't be everywhere at once!" Draco yelled, shaking Harry by the shoulders. "You're only one person!"
Harry sucked in a breath. Draco was right. He was supposed to be the one this whole thing revolved around and here he was falling apart underneath an invisibility cloak. Enough was enough.
"You're right," he said tightly. "Sorry."
Draco looked at him with concern, but finally nodded. "Let's find Voldemort and end this."
They made their way across the lawn, using the growing pain in Harry's head to guide them.
As they ran, slipping every now and then in the mud, Harry saw Daphne and Neville valiantly fighting off Yaxley, although it was clear that Yaxley had the better spells. Neville finally hurled himself at Yaxley's knees, bringing the large Death Eater down in a tangle of limbs. Daphne shouted Neville's name and Harry saw Yaxley's wand rise as he yelled, "Sectumsempra!" Daphne had enough sense to spin out of the way, but the spell still caught her and she went down in a heap, clutching her arm. Neville pushed himself up into a sitting position and promptly punched Yaxley in the face; Harry could hear the sound of bone breaking at impact.
Twisting out from under the cloak, Harry pointed his wand at the bit of Yaxley he could see and yelled, "Stupefy!"
Neville clambered off of Yaxley and clapped a hand to Harry's shoulder. "Thanks, Harry."
Daphne was crying, her hair plastered to her face from the rain. She was holding a hand to her arm, which was dripping blood through her fingers.
"Neville, you need to get her off the lawn," Harry said, stunning another Death Eater as he ran over to her. "Take her into the forest and try to bind the wound."
Neville nodded and scooped the much-smaller Daphne up into his arms. "End this, Harry," he said seriously.
Harry nodded. "I'm going to. Right now."
Neville gave him a nod and ran toward the forest.
Draco had thrown off the cloak when Harry had moved to curse Yaxley but had gotten waylaid by one of the Carrows. He was running toward Harry when Lucius Malfoy suddenly Apparated right behind him. Before Harry could even say anything, Lucius had a dagger to Draco's throat.
"Hello, Draco," he said, voice menacing. "How nice to see you again."
"Father," Draco said evenly. "I'm sorry I can't say the same."
Lucius' mouth twisted. "The Dark Lord requests your presence, Potter," he said. "Find him quickly or you will be sorry." And just like that, he disappeared with Draco.
"Fuck!" Harry yelled, running to scoop up his cloak and berating himself the whole while. Lucius had obviously known right where Draco was the entire time; no doubt there were spells that could locate family members, and Lucius would most likely be well-versed in them. Why hadn't he thought of something like that?
"Harry!" he heard Hermione shout. She ran up to him and Harry felt instant relief that she was okay. "Was that Lucius Malfoy?"
"Yes," Harry said. "He took Draco. He said Voldemort wants to see me."
Hermione pulled him toward the forest. "You can use your ring. It will take you right to Draco, remember?" She pushed him in amongst the trees and he was amazed to see that there was a sort of mini-hospital set up among the foliage. Ron was being tended to by Madam Pomfrey, who was daubing some sort of thick green paste on his face.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked.
"Ernie's damn plant," Ron said. "Got too close as I tried to get Travers into range. Grabbed him right good but it snapped me in the face. I'll be good in a minute and then I'm going back out there. We're massively outnumbered."
Hermione grabbed Harry's hands and pulled off his gloves, revealing the silver ring on his finger.
"Just say 'Portus, Draco', and it will take you right to him. Make sure you're ready, Harry. It could be a trap."
Harry nodded. "Be careful," he told her.
"You, too."
Taking a deep breath and making sure his wand was clasped firmly in his hand, he said, "Portus, Draco." He felt the instantaneous tug behind his navel and the forest disappeared. He reappeared just as suddenly, right in front of the stairs to the school.
He knew instantly that it was the right place, as his head exploded in pain and he fell to his knees, his left hand pressed against his scar.
"Harry!" Draco shouted, struggling to get away from his father. "Go back, it's a trap!"
"Ah ah," Voldemort said smugly. "Potter won't be going anywhere, I'm afraid." And with a flick of his wand a huge dome of red light spread out above them, locking the four of them inside.
He noticed dimly that the red dome of light had two good purposes; one, it blocked out the rain that was still falling steadily, and two, he could no longer feel the Dementors. Harry managed to get to his feet, but the pain in his head was excruciating. He swayed slightly but kept a firm grasp on his wand. If Voldemort held true to form he'd try to disarm him any second now.
"Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried. Harry's wand jumped in his grasp but Harry had been expecting it and therefore didn't lose his grip.
He hauled air into his lungs and felt the pain in his head lessen just slightly.
"You're getting predictable in your old age, Tom," Harry said. "Always the same thing, every time."
Voldemort eyes flashed with anger. "Do not call me Tom," he said. "There was one other tonight that made the same mistake; he will make it no longer."
Harry reeled at that. Dumbledore was dead?
Voldemort smiled nastily. "Oh, yes. Dear old Dumbledore is out of commission. Left you lot without a leader, he did."
Harry glared at Voldemort. "That won't matter, seeing as I don't intend to let you live past this night." He raised his wand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Obviously his move had been expected as well, because Voldemort didn't lose his wand, either.
"Tsk, tsk," Voldemort said. "Really, Potter, get serious. You think you can defeat me with your second year spells? Oh, no. It will take much more than that. Crucio!"
And oh, okay, he should have expected this, too. It was interesting that no matter how many times you had to undergo this that you never really got used to the pain. It was undoubtedly the worst pain he'd ever felt; it felt like there was acid in his veins and it was slowly burning him alive. He could distantly hear screams and realized they were coming from him; when Voldemort finally ended the spell Harry was panting and tears were clouding his vision. He rolled over and got his legs under him although he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand right away.
"You know, I've longed for this night," Voldemort began conversationally. "I don't mind saying it's been a sixteen year long goal. To finally rid myself of your presence once and for all? Yes. I have dreamed of this night often."
Harry slowly stood, legs shaking as they took his weight, but holding. "Sorry to disappoint," he said, "but it won't be me who dies tonight."
Voldemort laughed. "Potter, you stupid child. How mistaken you are. Crucio!"
Harry had been expecting it this time, though, and cast Contego. He could feel the magic of the shield pushing against him as Voldemort's spell bounced off, and knew he wouldn't be able to hold it for long, even with the ring to focus the energy. Thankfully Voldemort didn't cast it again right away so Harry could let the shield drop.
Voldemort was regarding him thoughtfully. "It appears that you've finally finished the spell that Severus told me about back when I still thought he was on my side," he said after a moment. "Tell me, who was the one that figured it out?"
"It was Blaise," Draco said, wincing as the dagger dug into his throat. "Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis." There was an enormous amount of pride in his voice as he said their names.
"At least they were Slytherins," Voldemort conceded, then flicked his wand at Harry. Harry felt like there were needles poking him everywhere; it wasn't anywhere near as painful as the Cruciatus, but as he was pretty overloaded on pain at the moment it didn't feel anything remotely like pleasure, either.
Voldemort did something so that Harry's head once again threatened to explode and Harry felt his grip loosen on his wand; the wand sailed into Voldemort's outstretched hand. Voldemort gave a maniacal laugh that sent ice down Harry's spine.
"I am betting, however, that even Slytherins couldn't figure out how to cast such a spell without a wand," Voldemort said. "Crucio!"
Oh, shit, okay, he was dying, Harry was convinced. Nothing could hurt as badly as his body did at this moment. His arms and legs twisted in on themselves as pain wracked his body. He was dimly aware of Draco screaming his name, but could hardly hear him over the screams that were coming out of his own mouth.
And then the pain was gone, and Harry was again left gasping on the ground, his breath wheezing in and out of his chest, tears falling freely down his face. He managed to get his knees under him but knew he wouldn't be able to stand, not after that last bout. He was shaking everywhere.
He looked at Draco who was still held in place by the dagger in his father's hand. Draco had tears streaming down his face, but his gaze was steady as he looked at Harry. Harry took a deep breath, breathing in the calm that Draco was trying to give him.
Voldemort was twirling Harry's wand in one long-fingered hand. When Harry looked at him he realized that Voldemort was regarding Draco thoughtfully. He felt his stomach clench; nothing that Voldemort came up with at this point could be good.
"Young Malfoy," he said. "Tell me why you did not join me."
Draco looked at him, bemused. "Are you serious?" he finally asked.
"Quite," Voldemort said. "Your father was under the impression that you would, you see, and then … well. You did a complete about-face and took your mother with you."
Draco shrugged, the movement hampered by Lucius' grip. "My father was mistaken."
"Clearly," Voldemort said, stepping closer. "I want to know why he was mistaken."
Draco's face turned bored, although it was slightly ruined by the tears drying on his cheeks. "I don't particularly care what you want."
Voldemort smirked. "No, I'm sure you don't. But if you don't tell me, I'll be forced to cast Cruciatus again on Potter here, and I'm really not certain how many more bouts he can handle. We could very well have another case of Longbottoms on our hands."
Draco's glance moved to Harry, no doubt seeing how badly he was feeling and realizing that Harry most likely couldn't undergo another round of the spell.
"Our ideals differ quite significantly," Draco finally said.
"I see," Voldemort replied. "Such as?"
Draco's teeth clenched momentarily but he relaxed again slightly and said, "I'm not much for torturing people."
That got a laugh. "People in general or certain people in particular?"
Draco made a sound of irritation. "Depends."
"Perhaps you need a more practical demonstration," Voldemort said and Harry braced himself for the incoming spell. "Cru-"
"Stop, for God's sake, stop!" Draco cried, twisting in Lucius' grip. "All right, I'll answer your damned question!"
Voldemort smiled. "I think you just did. It seems you were right, Lucius. Your son does fancy himself in love with Potter."
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied distastefully.
"Hmm," was Voldemort's response. Draco, however, didn't seem to understand that now wasn't really the time to talk.
"I don't fancy myself anything," he retorted. "I know."
Harry felt his eyes widen in shock. He'd thought that's how Draco had felt when he'd seen his Patronus, but Draco hadn't said the words, and Harry hadn't asked to hear them. Now, though, Draco had just declared his love in front of his father and Voldemort, of all people, and if his father's expression was anything to go by it was most unwanted news indeed.
"I see," Voldemort said. "Most interesting."
He tucked Harry's wand in his pocket and turned to look directly at Lucius.
"Lucius," he said imperiously.
"Yes, my Lord?" Lucius replied carefully.
"Kill your son," Voldemort said.
Lucius' hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger. "My Lord?" he said, aghast.
"I said 'kill your son'," Voldemort repeated. "He has brought dishonor on your family, Lucius. He has sided with Dumbledore and his ilk. He has not remained true to the cause. You have spent the past several months going on at length about how he has sullied the Malfoy name with his dalliances with Potter, have you not? And now we have a confession that not only has he been taking up with Potter, as he told your portrait so nicely, but that he loves him. This is something that must be handled, am I correct?"
"Yes," Lucius said weakly. "But my Lord-"
"Kill him," Voldemort demanded. "If his earlier behavior truly shamed you as you have claimed, this added confession should make it even easier."
Harry could see Lucius swallow from where he was kneeling. "My Lord-" Lucius tried again.
"I said KILL HIM!" Voldemort yelled, pointing his wand at Lucius. "Kill him now!"
Lucius stiffened, the dagger at Draco's throat digging in slightly, causing Draco to wince as the blade nicked him. Lucius was shaking, trying to keep the dagger from dragging across Draco's throat, and Harry suddenly realized that Voldemort had put him under Imperius, and that Lucius was trying to fight him off.
It was a fight he wasn't winning. A drop of blood dripped from the tip of the dagger down Draco's neck and Harry realized that they were well past the hour the invincibility potion lasted; there was no way Draco had been able to take the second dose.
Harry hauled himself to his feet, swaying slightly, not sure what he intended to do but knowing he had to do something, or Draco would die right in front of him.
And suddenly several things happened at once.
The red dome of light that had been around the four of them abruptly disappeared, and within seconds a huge, black dog had hurtled itself at Lucius, knocking both him and Draco to the ground. Draco let out a scream of pain as he fell, but Harry pushed away the thought of what that scream might mean, as Narcissa unexpectedly appeared next to him, flinging curses at Voldemort, who seemed shocked that everything had suddenly gone pear-shaped.
Voldemort seemed to regain his focus, though, and easily downed Narcissa with a spell. She crumpled to the ground at the Dark Lord's feet.
There were shouts of more curses hurled past him, all of which were easily deflected by Voldemort, and suddenly Harry understood.
Draco had been wrong; this fight was about Voldemort and Harry. It was Harry that had to take him down. It was Harry's responsibility to rid the world of the Dark Lord - not anyone else's.
In that moment, the air was filled with phoenix song, and the sword of Gryffindor clattered to the ground at Harry's feet.
Not even thinking about anything, only knowing that this had to end before he lost anyone else he cared about, Harry stooped down, picked up the sword, and ran full tilt toward Voldemort, jumping over Narcissa's prone form and plunging the blade through Voldemort's chest.
Voldemort jerked in surprise, red eyes wide with shock. There was a gurgle in his throat, and blood bubbled up from his mouth. "Well, well, Potter," he said, choking. "I didn't think you had it in you. Clearly, I was wrong."
Harry viciously pulled the sword out; it was slick with blood, the drops falling heavily to the ground.
"This is over," he said clearly, and watched with satisfaction as Voldemort gave one more jerk before his body seemed to collapse in on itself and he fell to the ground. Harry took one step toward the tangle that was Draco and Lucius when there was a flash of brilliant red light from Voldemort's body, and Harry's world exploded in a burst of pain more excruciating than even the Cruciatus curses he'd just been subjected to.
There were shouts all around him but he didn't even try to decipher them, instead falling gratefully into the darkness that swallowed him.
(end chapter twenty)
(next chapter)
***
Acer Postulo - Latin - translated to English means "sharp needles"
Servo Insquequo Nex - Latin - translated to English means "protect until death"
It was chaos.
There was no other word to describe it. As soon as the Death Eaters had appeared they'd begun to fling curses; the air was filled with the sound of spells and the downpour of rain.
Harry dove to the left as someone threw a Stunner at him. That's interesting, he thought. Obviously Voldemort had told them to bring Harry to him alive. He clearly wanted the pleasure of killing him himself.
Harry rolled to his feet, slipping slightly on the wet grass, only to see one of McGonagall's desks fly open to pelt the unsuspecting Death Eater with pieces of parchment and bits of broken quills. Harry quickly yelled, "Incarcerous!" and they were bound tightly, falling straight to the ground as easily as if Harry had Petrified them. Harry Stunned whoever it was and left them there, the desk moving over the prone figure to stand guard.
"Well, they sure get straight to the point," Draco said, flinging a curse over Harry's shoulder before pulling him behind a suit of armor as another curse came flying toward them. "We need to waterproof ourselves," he said briskly, quickly casting water-repellent charms on Harry's glasses and outer clothes.
"Good thinking," Harry said, as he'd already been unable to see clearly out of the wet lenses.
Harry used his vantage point to scope things out; as no one had attempted to go toward the school yet, they were relatively safe.
"Do you see him?" Draco asked, obviously meaning Voldemort.
"No," Harry said, throwing a curse at the back of a Death Eater that had Lavender in their sights. "And I don't feel him, either. I don't think he's here yet."
They didn't have long to ponder this, as the knight they'd been hiding behind suddenly moved. It clanged across the grass toward a huge, hulking Death Eater, before bringing its fist down on the top of their head, knocking the mask they'd been wearing askew.
"Rowle," Draco said, tugging Harry across the lawn, flinging curses as he went. He hid them behind another suit of armor and Harry sighed exasperatedly.
"Draco, I'm not going to spend the entire time crouched behind some rusty old knight!"
"Of course you're not," Draco said dismissively. "I just figured we should try to scout things out and see where to go."
Harry knew he had a point, so looked out over the battlefield.
There were already bodies littered on the ground. Some of them had on the blue cloaks that the Weasley twins had given them and Harry fervently hoped they were simply Stunned.
He saw Kingsley engaged in a duel with an unmasked Rabastan Lestrange. Kingsley appeared to be winning, as Lestrange was being forced backward toward the Forbidden Forest. Suddenly, three red Stunners shot out of the woods, and Lestrange fell to the ground. Kingsley made short work of binding him, then quickly levitated the body into the forest before turning to help Hestia Jones fight off another Death Eater.
"Here," Harry said, digging into his pocket and pulling out his invisibility cloak. "Get under here, that way we can move around without anyone seeing us."
Draco gave him a stern look. "You've had that the whole time?"
Harry shrugged before throwing it over them. "Try to be quiet," he said. "It doesn't muffle sound at all."
Covered in the cloak, they made their way through the battlefield, throwing out spells where they were needed but mostly trying to locate Voldemort. Harry released one of his Decoy Detonators, which exploded, drawing the attention of an unmasked Avery, who was quickly downed by a spell from Emmeline Vance.
Everywhere they looked they saw people dueling masked Death Eaters. Some of them had lost their masks, making them easier targets for people with personal vendettas. Sirius was dueling a cackling Bellatrix Lestrange, and Snape was battling a sneering Dolohov, who'd nearly killed him when his spy status had been discovered.
The rain was making the ground muddy and slick; several times Harry and Draco nearly went down in the muck.
"We should move toward the center," Harry said, releasing his final Detonator. Draco nodded. As they set out Harry suddenly froze as a wave of cold enveloped him.
"Dementors," he forced out, already hearing the faint screams of his mother's final seconds. Just as suddenly as the cold appeared, it dissipated slightly as several calls of, "Expecto Patronum!" came from the forest behind them.
Harry drew a deep breath and looked up; sure enough, the sky was filled with the dark figures of the Dementors. They were swooping down onto the figures on the lawn, seemingly not caring whom they had targeted, as Death Eaters and Order members alike fell victim to their terror.
From the gates of Hogwarts came shouts and more spellfire. Harry heard Dawlish's voice crying out commands. It seemed the Aurors had arrived. Their numbers made things a little more even, although there were still more black-robed figures than anyone else.
"Took them long enough," Draco muttered, grabbing Harry's arm as he nearly went down in the mud again.
They positioned themselves more in the center before Harry threw off the cloak, tucking it quickly into his pocket. It was pretty dark and wet and he was hoping the Shield hat would keep him from being recognized so easily. Luckily the hat covered Draco's tell-tale blond hair, too.
"Hey, Mulciber!" Harry called out, grabbing the Death Eater's attention and allowing Tonks to find her feet again. "Hope you like the accommodations at Azkaban!"
"Potter!" he snarled, raising his wand. Lightning quick, Tonks had him bound and at her feet, nodding her thanks at Harry.
Unfortunately his yell of Harry's name brought him all kinds of unwanted attention, because suddenly there were several wands pointed in his direction. As the spells were yelled out, he found himself hitting the ground hard as Draco shoved him down. Mud coated his glasses and got into his mouth, causing Harry to choke. Draco was flinging Stunning spells at everyone in the vicinity; some of them hit their targets but most of them went wide. Draco pulled Harry up but they were in serious trouble. That is, until a wolf's howl rent the air and a huge gray wolf went flying over their heads, bringing down two Death Eaters in one go and effectively surprising the others. Harry quickly took care of one of them, Draco getting the final one.
"Thanks, Moony," Harry said, wiping the mud off his glasses.
The Dementors chose that moment to attack again, and Harry quickly cast his Patronus to ward them off. The chill had invaded his bones, though, so Harry took a small bite of the chocolate Snape had given them, feeling the effects recede slightly.
"We have to keep moving," Draco said. "It'll be harder to hit us if we don't stay in one spot. Let's try to draw them toward the school so Macmillan's plant can do some of the work for us."
The two of them set off at a run, throwing spells out as they went. They seemed to gain the focus of the elder Crabbe and Goyle, who followed in pursuit. As they neared the school, Harry quickly covered Draco and himself with his cloak and stepped away to the side. It was obvious who the younger Crabbe and Goyle got their lack of intelligence from, as the two men continued to run right up to the building. Ernie's plant shot out and grabbed them fast, twining around their bodies until they were pulled right up close to the walls of the castle, completely unable to move.
"Brilliant," Harry said. He didn't have too much time to think about it, though, as someone shouted, "The Dark Lord is here!" and Harry gasped as his head throbbed in pain.
The Dementors swooped in again, but this time were waylaid by a Patronus that seemed to come from above them.
"Harry, they're casting from the school!" Draco exclaimed.
Harry forced himself to breathe and was glad to feel that the pain in his head subsided slightly to a dull ache. He looked up and sure enough, Draco was right; it seemed that those in the Charms classroom had decided to help after all.
Harry stood unsteadily, wincing as the pain in his head flared once sharply. "I need to find Voldemort."
Draco nodded and threw the cloak over them, and they set off back into the battle.
Harry glanced around, and noticed that crystal balls seemed to be hurtling from the castle. Trelawney's bespectacled head appeared in a window, followed by more crystal balls. One of them found a target, cracking sharply in half on the head of Selwynn, who went down in a heap. There were hexes being thrown from the windows of the castle, from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Tower both. Padma and Terry were circling above throwing Stunning spells down on the heads of the Death Eaters. McGonagall's desks were throwing themselves at their enemies, sometimes tackling them and other times being blown to pieces by a spell. The suits of armor had lost Hannah's spell but were still clanging noisily around the grounds, doing their best to bring down the Death Eaters; Flitwick must have charmed them to attack.
As they walked past a dueling Auror and Death Eater, there was a loud bang as someone released one of the Decoy Detonators. Farther on was a flash of fireworks from one of the twins, and more bangs from the Detonators. And still the black robes were everywhere.
It also looked like those students who'd started out in the Forbidden Forest had been pulled onto the lawn. Seamus and Dean were rushing at a group of Death Eaters, bellowing something at the top of their lungs. Lisa Turpin and Michael Corner were frantically trying to keep up with the hexes being thrown at them by Gibbon. Ron and Hermione were no where to be seen, and Harry felt a rush of panic at the thought that something had gone wrong. All of this was wrong, they weren't ready, they didn't know enough spells! Harry had just made up his mind to rush into the middle of everything when he was stopped by Draco.
"Harry," Draco said, grabbing him forcefully by the arm. "Get it together."
"They're our classmates, Draco!" Harry said, voice gone high in terror.
"You can't be everywhere at once!" Draco yelled, shaking Harry by the shoulders. "You're only one person!"
Harry sucked in a breath. Draco was right. He was supposed to be the one this whole thing revolved around and here he was falling apart underneath an invisibility cloak. Enough was enough.
"You're right," he said tightly. "Sorry."
Draco looked at him with concern, but finally nodded. "Let's find Voldemort and end this."
They made their way across the lawn, using the growing pain in Harry's head to guide them.
As they ran, slipping every now and then in the mud, Harry saw Daphne and Neville valiantly fighting off Yaxley, although it was clear that Yaxley had the better spells. Neville finally hurled himself at Yaxley's knees, bringing the large Death Eater down in a tangle of limbs. Daphne shouted Neville's name and Harry saw Yaxley's wand rise as he yelled, "Sectumsempra!" Daphne had enough sense to spin out of the way, but the spell still caught her and she went down in a heap, clutching her arm. Neville pushed himself up into a sitting position and promptly punched Yaxley in the face; Harry could hear the sound of bone breaking at impact.
Twisting out from under the cloak, Harry pointed his wand at the bit of Yaxley he could see and yelled, "Stupefy!"
Neville clambered off of Yaxley and clapped a hand to Harry's shoulder. "Thanks, Harry."
Daphne was crying, her hair plastered to her face from the rain. She was holding a hand to her arm, which was dripping blood through her fingers.
"Neville, you need to get her off the lawn," Harry said, stunning another Death Eater as he ran over to her. "Take her into the forest and try to bind the wound."
Neville nodded and scooped the much-smaller Daphne up into his arms. "End this, Harry," he said seriously.
Harry nodded. "I'm going to. Right now."
Neville gave him a nod and ran toward the forest.
Draco had thrown off the cloak when Harry had moved to curse Yaxley but had gotten waylaid by one of the Carrows. He was running toward Harry when Lucius Malfoy suddenly Apparated right behind him. Before Harry could even say anything, Lucius had a dagger to Draco's throat.
"Hello, Draco," he said, voice menacing. "How nice to see you again."
"Father," Draco said evenly. "I'm sorry I can't say the same."
Lucius' mouth twisted. "The Dark Lord requests your presence, Potter," he said. "Find him quickly or you will be sorry." And just like that, he disappeared with Draco.
"Fuck!" Harry yelled, running to scoop up his cloak and berating himself the whole while. Lucius had obviously known right where Draco was the entire time; no doubt there were spells that could locate family members, and Lucius would most likely be well-versed in them. Why hadn't he thought of something like that?
"Harry!" he heard Hermione shout. She ran up to him and Harry felt instant relief that she was okay. "Was that Lucius Malfoy?"
"Yes," Harry said. "He took Draco. He said Voldemort wants to see me."
Hermione pulled him toward the forest. "You can use your ring. It will take you right to Draco, remember?" She pushed him in amongst the trees and he was amazed to see that there was a sort of mini-hospital set up among the foliage. Ron was being tended to by Madam Pomfrey, who was daubing some sort of thick green paste on his face.
"What happened to you?" Harry asked.
"Ernie's damn plant," Ron said. "Got too close as I tried to get Travers into range. Grabbed him right good but it snapped me in the face. I'll be good in a minute and then I'm going back out there. We're massively outnumbered."
Hermione grabbed Harry's hands and pulled off his gloves, revealing the silver ring on his finger.
"Just say 'Portus, Draco', and it will take you right to him. Make sure you're ready, Harry. It could be a trap."
Harry nodded. "Be careful," he told her.
"You, too."
Taking a deep breath and making sure his wand was clasped firmly in his hand, he said, "Portus, Draco." He felt the instantaneous tug behind his navel and the forest disappeared. He reappeared just as suddenly, right in front of the stairs to the school.
He knew instantly that it was the right place, as his head exploded in pain and he fell to his knees, his left hand pressed against his scar.
"Harry!" Draco shouted, struggling to get away from his father. "Go back, it's a trap!"
"Ah ah," Voldemort said smugly. "Potter won't be going anywhere, I'm afraid." And with a flick of his wand a huge dome of red light spread out above them, locking the four of them inside.
He noticed dimly that the red dome of light had two good purposes; one, it blocked out the rain that was still falling steadily, and two, he could no longer feel the Dementors. Harry managed to get to his feet, but the pain in his head was excruciating. He swayed slightly but kept a firm grasp on his wand. If Voldemort held true to form he'd try to disarm him any second now.
"Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried. Harry's wand jumped in his grasp but Harry had been expecting it and therefore didn't lose his grip.
He hauled air into his lungs and felt the pain in his head lessen just slightly.
"You're getting predictable in your old age, Tom," Harry said. "Always the same thing, every time."
Voldemort eyes flashed with anger. "Do not call me Tom," he said. "There was one other tonight that made the same mistake; he will make it no longer."
Harry reeled at that. Dumbledore was dead?
Voldemort smiled nastily. "Oh, yes. Dear old Dumbledore is out of commission. Left you lot without a leader, he did."
Harry glared at Voldemort. "That won't matter, seeing as I don't intend to let you live past this night." He raised his wand and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Obviously his move had been expected as well, because Voldemort didn't lose his wand, either.
"Tsk, tsk," Voldemort said. "Really, Potter, get serious. You think you can defeat me with your second year spells? Oh, no. It will take much more than that. Crucio!"
And oh, okay, he should have expected this, too. It was interesting that no matter how many times you had to undergo this that you never really got used to the pain. It was undoubtedly the worst pain he'd ever felt; it felt like there was acid in his veins and it was slowly burning him alive. He could distantly hear screams and realized they were coming from him; when Voldemort finally ended the spell Harry was panting and tears were clouding his vision. He rolled over and got his legs under him although he wasn't sure he'd be able to stand right away.
"You know, I've longed for this night," Voldemort began conversationally. "I don't mind saying it's been a sixteen year long goal. To finally rid myself of your presence once and for all? Yes. I have dreamed of this night often."
Harry slowly stood, legs shaking as they took his weight, but holding. "Sorry to disappoint," he said, "but it won't be me who dies tonight."
Voldemort laughed. "Potter, you stupid child. How mistaken you are. Crucio!"
Harry had been expecting it this time, though, and cast Contego. He could feel the magic of the shield pushing against him as Voldemort's spell bounced off, and knew he wouldn't be able to hold it for long, even with the ring to focus the energy. Thankfully Voldemort didn't cast it again right away so Harry could let the shield drop.
Voldemort was regarding him thoughtfully. "It appears that you've finally finished the spell that Severus told me about back when I still thought he was on my side," he said after a moment. "Tell me, who was the one that figured it out?"
"It was Blaise," Draco said, wincing as the dagger dug into his throat. "Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis." There was an enormous amount of pride in his voice as he said their names.
"At least they were Slytherins," Voldemort conceded, then flicked his wand at Harry. Harry felt like there were needles poking him everywhere; it wasn't anywhere near as painful as the Cruciatus, but as he was pretty overloaded on pain at the moment it didn't feel anything remotely like pleasure, either.
Voldemort did something so that Harry's head once again threatened to explode and Harry felt his grip loosen on his wand; the wand sailed into Voldemort's outstretched hand. Voldemort gave a maniacal laugh that sent ice down Harry's spine.
"I am betting, however, that even Slytherins couldn't figure out how to cast such a spell without a wand," Voldemort said. "Crucio!"
Oh, shit, okay, he was dying, Harry was convinced. Nothing could hurt as badly as his body did at this moment. His arms and legs twisted in on themselves as pain wracked his body. He was dimly aware of Draco screaming his name, but could hardly hear him over the screams that were coming out of his own mouth.
And then the pain was gone, and Harry was again left gasping on the ground, his breath wheezing in and out of his chest, tears falling freely down his face. He managed to get his knees under him but knew he wouldn't be able to stand, not after that last bout. He was shaking everywhere.
He looked at Draco who was still held in place by the dagger in his father's hand. Draco had tears streaming down his face, but his gaze was steady as he looked at Harry. Harry took a deep breath, breathing in the calm that Draco was trying to give him.
Voldemort was twirling Harry's wand in one long-fingered hand. When Harry looked at him he realized that Voldemort was regarding Draco thoughtfully. He felt his stomach clench; nothing that Voldemort came up with at this point could be good.
"Young Malfoy," he said. "Tell me why you did not join me."
Draco looked at him, bemused. "Are you serious?" he finally asked.
"Quite," Voldemort said. "Your father was under the impression that you would, you see, and then … well. You did a complete about-face and took your mother with you."
Draco shrugged, the movement hampered by Lucius' grip. "My father was mistaken."
"Clearly," Voldemort said, stepping closer. "I want to know why he was mistaken."
Draco's face turned bored, although it was slightly ruined by the tears drying on his cheeks. "I don't particularly care what you want."
Voldemort smirked. "No, I'm sure you don't. But if you don't tell me, I'll be forced to cast Cruciatus again on Potter here, and I'm really not certain how many more bouts he can handle. We could very well have another case of Longbottoms on our hands."
Draco's glance moved to Harry, no doubt seeing how badly he was feeling and realizing that Harry most likely couldn't undergo another round of the spell.
"Our ideals differ quite significantly," Draco finally said.
"I see," Voldemort replied. "Such as?"
Draco's teeth clenched momentarily but he relaxed again slightly and said, "I'm not much for torturing people."
That got a laugh. "People in general or certain people in particular?"
Draco made a sound of irritation. "Depends."
"Perhaps you need a more practical demonstration," Voldemort said and Harry braced himself for the incoming spell. "Cru-"
"Stop, for God's sake, stop!" Draco cried, twisting in Lucius' grip. "All right, I'll answer your damned question!"
Voldemort smiled. "I think you just did. It seems you were right, Lucius. Your son does fancy himself in love with Potter."
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius replied distastefully.
"Hmm," was Voldemort's response. Draco, however, didn't seem to understand that now wasn't really the time to talk.
"I don't fancy myself anything," he retorted. "I know."
Harry felt his eyes widen in shock. He'd thought that's how Draco had felt when he'd seen his Patronus, but Draco hadn't said the words, and Harry hadn't asked to hear them. Now, though, Draco had just declared his love in front of his father and Voldemort, of all people, and if his father's expression was anything to go by it was most unwanted news indeed.
"I see," Voldemort said. "Most interesting."
He tucked Harry's wand in his pocket and turned to look directly at Lucius.
"Lucius," he said imperiously.
"Yes, my Lord?" Lucius replied carefully.
"Kill your son," Voldemort said.
Lucius' hand tightened around the hilt of the dagger. "My Lord?" he said, aghast.
"I said 'kill your son'," Voldemort repeated. "He has brought dishonor on your family, Lucius. He has sided with Dumbledore and his ilk. He has not remained true to the cause. You have spent the past several months going on at length about how he has sullied the Malfoy name with his dalliances with Potter, have you not? And now we have a confession that not only has he been taking up with Potter, as he told your portrait so nicely, but that he loves him. This is something that must be handled, am I correct?"
"Yes," Lucius said weakly. "But my Lord-"
"Kill him," Voldemort demanded. "If his earlier behavior truly shamed you as you have claimed, this added confession should make it even easier."
Harry could see Lucius swallow from where he was kneeling. "My Lord-" Lucius tried again.
"I said KILL HIM!" Voldemort yelled, pointing his wand at Lucius. "Kill him now!"
Lucius stiffened, the dagger at Draco's throat digging in slightly, causing Draco to wince as the blade nicked him. Lucius was shaking, trying to keep the dagger from dragging across Draco's throat, and Harry suddenly realized that Voldemort had put him under Imperius, and that Lucius was trying to fight him off.
It was a fight he wasn't winning. A drop of blood dripped from the tip of the dagger down Draco's neck and Harry realized that they were well past the hour the invincibility potion lasted; there was no way Draco had been able to take the second dose.
Harry hauled himself to his feet, swaying slightly, not sure what he intended to do but knowing he had to do something, or Draco would die right in front of him.
And suddenly several things happened at once.
The red dome of light that had been around the four of them abruptly disappeared, and within seconds a huge, black dog had hurtled itself at Lucius, knocking both him and Draco to the ground. Draco let out a scream of pain as he fell, but Harry pushed away the thought of what that scream might mean, as Narcissa unexpectedly appeared next to him, flinging curses at Voldemort, who seemed shocked that everything had suddenly gone pear-shaped.
Voldemort seemed to regain his focus, though, and easily downed Narcissa with a spell. She crumpled to the ground at the Dark Lord's feet.
There were shouts of more curses hurled past him, all of which were easily deflected by Voldemort, and suddenly Harry understood.
Draco had been wrong; this fight was about Voldemort and Harry. It was Harry that had to take him down. It was Harry's responsibility to rid the world of the Dark Lord - not anyone else's.
In that moment, the air was filled with phoenix song, and the sword of Gryffindor clattered to the ground at Harry's feet.
Not even thinking about anything, only knowing that this had to end before he lost anyone else he cared about, Harry stooped down, picked up the sword, and ran full tilt toward Voldemort, jumping over Narcissa's prone form and plunging the blade through Voldemort's chest.
Voldemort jerked in surprise, red eyes wide with shock. There was a gurgle in his throat, and blood bubbled up from his mouth. "Well, well, Potter," he said, choking. "I didn't think you had it in you. Clearly, I was wrong."
Harry viciously pulled the sword out; it was slick with blood, the drops falling heavily to the ground.
"This is over," he said clearly, and watched with satisfaction as Voldemort gave one more jerk before his body seemed to collapse in on itself and he fell to the ground. Harry took one step toward the tangle that was Draco and Lucius when there was a flash of brilliant red light from Voldemort's body, and Harry's world exploded in a burst of pain more excruciating than even the Cruciatus curses he'd just been subjected to.
There were shouts all around him but he didn't even try to decipher them, instead falling gratefully into the darkness that swallowed him.
(end chapter twenty)
(next chapter)
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Acer Postulo - Latin - translated to English means "sharp needles"
Servo Insquequo Nex - Latin - translated to English means "protect until death"