Chapter Twenty Nine – War!
Harry looked over at the island that had appeared in front of him with a nervous anticipation. This was it; the final piece of the puzzle was almost in his grasp, but he was worried about the cost. Voldemort was coming and people would get hurt or worse. As he gazed at the island his attention moved to the beautiful and ethereal woman stood watching him with a patient gaze as she stood on the shoreline. 'What did she called me?' he mused, 'king and son?' Realising that he had been silent a little too long he cleared his throat.
"Madam, do I know you?" he asked politely.
The woman chuckled to herself. "So very polite, just like his ultimate father." She said almost to herself before looking directly at him.
"No Harry Potter, but I know you as well as your lovely wife stood next to you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as Nimue, or as you may know me – The Lady of the Lake. I am also you ultimate grandmother, Merlin was my husband and father of my children. And although the lines diverged quickly they were the children that ultimately produced you two." As she spoke Harry could feel an emotion growing inside of him. All his life he had no family that loved him, that was until he met Hermione and then Sirius. But this was the love of a mother figure, a love that he had only ever felt briefly and fleetingly, whether though Molly or occasionally others.
"Grandmother?" he whispered.
Nimue smiled. "Well Grandmother times many hundreds but the name will suffice.
"But how are you still..." he asked but unsure on how to ask such a question of a lady his voice failed.
"Alive?" Harry nodded. "Well you see I am not human, I am a Fae, as are you and Hermione...well partly. You don't think anyone could be given the gift that my husband bestowed upon you do you? Only one with Fae blood running through their veins could ever hope to be given the gift of immortality."
Neville gasped at this news and his jaw hung open in astonishment.
"So we are not human?" he asked sadly, thinking back to his conversation with Fawkes.
"Off course you are, but you are human with a little bit extra. Fawkes told me about your worries about this. Anyway what wrong with been partly Fae?" she asked a little put out.
"Nothing Grandmother, nothing at all. I was just a little concerned for our children." He replied in a worried voice.
"Well don't be young one, now I guess you have question. I would hurry now, he's getting closer." She told him
Before that however, Harry felt he had to do one more thing. He used some of his magic and levitated himself and Hermione off the barge and gently moved them to the shore. With a final magical step they both gently bumped into the ground and stood on the island. They both walked slowly to the woman and as one wrapped their arms around her.
"Grandmother!" they both said.
Nimue looked shocked for a second before she smiled and held the pair close.
"My Dears, what brought this on?" she asked blinking back a few tears.
"I've never had a grandmother and Hermione didn't really ever get to know hers either." Harry replied, his voice muffled by been held in Nimue arms.
With a final squeeze Harry let go and re-arranged his expression to that of his earlier demeanour. One of determination and resolve.
"May we speak later?" he asked her.
"I certainly hope so my young one, but now to business. You four are permitted to come onto my island and Lady Hogwarts is always welcome." She told the remaining group on the barge. "I must thank you for revealing my island and myself to the world." She told Bill as he jumped of the barge and waded to the small beech putting on his top before he did so. Before he waded he turned around and lifted Fleur, bridal style of the barge and carried her to the shore. Neville upon seeing this act of chivalry repeated it for Ginny.
Nimue looked at the group stood with her before nodded and smiling.
"Good! Come!" she instructed and walked slowly into the trees. The seven remaining people all looked at each other for a second before following the figure into the trees.
"So Immortal?" Neville said to Harry and Hermione. Harry grinned and looked a little sheepish.
"Sorry mate, meant to tell you but stuff got in the way." Harry told the amazed teen.
"Wow, that must be amazing" he said.
"You'd think so but I can tell you dying hurts like hell." He told the young man
"What? Dying?"
"Yeah, Mione and I have been 'killed' quite a few times so far and even though we always come back, it still hurts both of us. We share a live essence and what one feels so does the other. It's an amazing thing most of the time, but when one of us is 'killed'... well you can imagine."
Neville shuddered at the thought, he couldn't imagine the pain he would feel if he had to watch and 'feel' his beloved die like that; and multiple times as well if Harry was to be believed; and Neville did believe Harry.
Within a minute or so they became aware that the dense trees were thinning and soon they were all stood on the edge of a clearing, unable to go any further. The reason for their immobility was in the centre of the clearing. Illuminated by a clichéd shaft of sunlight was a large granite rock and imbedded in the rock was the sword. Excalibur glowed in the light, its silver blade untarnished by the eons and it's golden hilt was topped with a large ruby in the pommel. Faint etchings could be seen running down the blade but only the last third of the blade was visible, the remainder was embedded in the rock.
"Behold Excalibur!" Nimue announced.
As if drawn, Harry walked forward until he got to about ten feet from the stone when the sword seemed to glow in a green light and an evil snarl could be heard.
"Well, yes! There is the problem. It seems whilst I was half sleeping the eons away, waiting for you, Tom Riddle got to it first. He was never able to draw the sword, but he still was able to cast his evil magic on it. It took the soul of an innocent virgin to cast it, but cast it he did. Now I cannot get close to the blade. Excalibur fights the evil, but on its own it is not strong enough to cast it off."
"There will be another problem Harry." Hermione said, her brain concentrating furiously. "In order to help the sword, you will have to draw it, but like Gaunts ring or the Diadem, we know the way to activate a Horcrux is to use it in the way it is intended. Once you try to draw the sword the Horcrux will activate and with Tom so close that would be...bad!"
"Crap! What do we do?" Harry asked.
"We have no choice, we need to destroy Excalibur!" Hermione told the stunned group.
"One question Mione, how do you destroy the supposedly indestructible?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked at him with a desperate look.
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In the town of Hogsmeade no one was around. Word had got out that Voldemort was coming and a lot had fled. Shops were boarded and homes emptied of valuables and the inhabitants had run. Those that chose to remain and fight had moved to the school in order to help there.
With multiple 'pops' Death Eaters, Giants, Trolls, Werewolves and Inferi all appeared with a flash. Finally Lord Voldemort also appeared with Bellatrix on one side and Peter Pettigrew on the other in the centre of the throng. It was here, it was now and death was watching on.
"My lord, the town is deserted, no one is here."
"Destroy it, destroy it all and then we march to Hogwarts; we march to victory!" Voldemort yelled, casting the first curse of the day on Honeydukes, setting the sweet store alight.
Voldemort watched in glee as his troops systemically destroyed the magical village. Within an hour nothing was left and Voldemort began his march to the school. As he marched at the head of his army an intense pain hit him like a brick. He screeched in agony and fell to the floor, fitting as he did. The army faltered and stopped; unsure of what to do. Bella had knelt down by her Lord and Master and was trying to revive him. The fitting had stopped as had the foaming at the mouth but Voldemort was still out cold. Her diagnostic spells were coming up confused. Voldemort seemed to be in some sort of physic shock, and his magical reserves were very low.
Deep in Voldemort's mind he was screaming. The impossible had happened; he was vulnerable. His last Horcrux had been discovered and was under threat.
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"Harry, he's on his way, he has destroyed Hogsmeade and was marching on the school. Your approach to the sword stopped him for a while, but he knows you are here. We must hurry." Cassie said.
"You four and Cassie go back to the school and help them. They need you more now. " Harry told them.
"Are you sure Harry?" Cassie asked tears in her eyes.
"Sure, and be careful. I don't want to lose anymore friends."
"Good luck Harry" both Ginny and Neville said; Ginny giving both him and Hermione a kiss and Neville just kissing Hermione.
"I love you like a brother Harry but even you don't get a kiss from me!" he joked.
Bill wordlessly grasped Harry's arm in his and nodded before gently kissing Hermione on the cheek. Fleur with tears in her eyes kissed both of them on each cheek before they all took hold of Cassie who vanished with them.
"Now what?" Hermione asked.
"We need to destroy the sword but how?" Harry mused. He glared at the sword and raised his hand.
"REDUCTO! BOMBARDA!" he yelled as both curses shot from the palm of his hand and flew towards the sword. They both hit the blade and the snarling could be heard even louder this times. The two spells Harry had cast flew around the sword before suddenly flying of back towards the caster. Both hit Harry dead in the chest and he flew backwards, hitting a tree with a sickening thud. His chest was a bloody mess and a hole the size of a fist was present. Hermione gasped in pain as Harry died, his body sliding down the tree and hitting the floor with a thud. Nimue looked at harry with a shocked expression on her face. Despite knowing he was immortal, watching one of your family die in such a horrible way was unpleasant to say the least. She was also surprised when Hermione gasped in pain at her husband's 'death'. Looking closer she was surprised to see that the pair were Life-Essence bonded, an ever deeper bond than a soul bond. This surprised her, even Merlin and her did not have such a strong bond; these two would be inseparable in life and even finally in death. They would light up the galaxy as they travelled the path of life.
Evan as she gazed at her grandson she was amazed to see the immortality manifesting itself as the wound in his chest slowly repaired and sealed over. With a gasp Harry sat up and looked around; momentarily confused before understanding once more.
"Well not that way then!" he muttered as he hauled himself to his feet. Walking over to the women, he kissed Hermione gently. "Sorry love!" he whispered.
"Idiot!" she said as she slapped his shoulder.
Harry grimaced and summoned Merlin's staff to his hand. Holding the staff with the crystal pointing at the sword he threw raw magic at the sword, this time remembering to place a shield around himself first. A stream of glittering light shot out the end and hit the sword and stone, enveloping it in a burning light. The sword snarled and dark light enveloped it as it fought the light. After five minutes Harry stopped leaving the sword and stone burning bright red with heat. He sighed as he banished the staff.
"Now what?" he asked.
Neither woman could give him an answer as he sat down in front of the stone, it pinging and creaking as it cooled.
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Voldemort had regained consciousness and was fuming. He was ranting about something been found and in danger. He had marched right up to the ward line and was throwing curse after curse at the invisible barrier. Numerous dead Death Eaters and two dead trolls were lying just inside the wards; every so often Voldemort would order another one across so he could check the progress of his assault.
The wards flashed once more as another part of them fell and once more another Death Eater died as he tried to cross the ward line. He got further than the others but still the wards remained...but for how long?
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Inside the school it was organised chaos. Younger pupils were deep within the castle, protected by barriers and secret doors as well as some older students; but the rest of the older ones were all running around trying to organise the defence of the castle. It was into this that Cassie and the four others arrived and were soon seen by the headmistress.
"Cassie, thank Merlin you are here. The other you was not strong enough to help." She said as a tired looking older version of Cassie walked up to her younger counterpart and the two merged with a golden light.
"How are things Headmistress?" Cassie asked.
Well the Gargoyles are at the perimeter along with some of the Order members. Poppy has the infirmary ready along with a dozen or so Healers from St Mungos she knows to be trustworthy. We have over a hundred people from Hogsmeade ready to fight including Dumbledore's brother. All the seventh and sixth years that can fight are nearly ready and the firth years are to protect the younger years. How are the ward holding up?" she asked looking at the sweating Cassie.
"Not good, Minerva, not good. They won't last much longer and it's hurting me so much to keep them up."
"I know Cassie, but we need them a little longer it you can." Minerva told her whilst Cassie nodded grimly.
"Bill, your family are outside with the rest of the order. They asked if you would join them when you got here. Fleur are you sure you wish to fight, what with your pregnancy?" she asked the beautiful French woman.
"Oui! I will fight with my 'usband and will die with 'im if necessary. This ends today!" she stated and the pair along with Ginny and Neville left to join the Weasley clan.
Suddenly Cassie screamed in absolute pain. "There down! The wards are down!" she whimpered before she fainted.
Minerva McGonagall stared at the woman in front of her for a second whilst she processed the information.
"Shit!" she swore. Pressing her wand to her throat she amplified her voice.
"ALL DEFENDERS OF HOGWARTS AND FIGHTERS FOR FREEDOM. THE WARDS ARE DOWN! I REPEAT THE WARDS ARE DOWN. THEY ARE COMING!"
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Voldemort cried in triumph as the last of the castle wards fell prompting a massive cheer from his supporters.
"Rat take the troops to the castle, kill anything that gets in your way." He told the wizard
"My Lord?" Peter asked.
"DO IT RAT. Potter is elsewhere and that is where I need to be." He said annoyed before turning to Bellatrix.
"Bella you're with me, I need you to kill Potter's Mudblood bitch whilst I deal with him."
"Yes My Lord." Bella replied gulping slightly in a mixture of fear and arousal.
Voldemort shadow apparated the pair of them away leaving a slight trail of black smoke.
"ATTACK!" Peter yelled as the masses surged forward, Dementors flying forward.
The group of witches, wizards and Gargoyles stood in defence braced themselves for the oncoming storm. All that could raised their wands and thought the happiest thoughts they could muster. Molly thought about her family, Ginny thought about Neville and his love for her. Susan thought about the love of her life stood next to her as she squeezed her hand. Kingsley thought about his wife and son and Remus thought about little Teddy at the cottage with his grandmother. Tonks thought the same as she stood side by side with her husband. Luna thought about her friend Harry and the love she felt for him and Hermione. All the positive thoughts melded and as one the group shouted.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The silver animals bursts forward but augmented by the magic of Hogwarts they all blurred into one, one large and beautiful phoenix that flew towards the oncoming dark creatures. With a cry it flew into the hoard of Dementors and they screamed...they screamed the sounds of death as they were ripped from this existence. Within minutes all that was left was a few dark cloaks that slowly drifted down in the wind.
The Death Eaters stopped there charge in surprise at the death of the Dementors. With a cry of rage Peter screamed at them to fight and commanded the Inferi to attack.
The un-dead creatures swarmed forward towards the tired defenders.
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Harry suddenly stood up with an expectant look on his face.
"I have an idea." He told the women. With a grin he summoned to his hand the Sword of Gryffindor.
"What happens what an indestructible object meets an immovable force? Well I guess we shall find out!" he said raising his hand.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you Potter!" snarled a voice from the trees. Harry whirled around at the sound and watched in horror as Tom Riddle; Lord Voldemort strode out from the forest with Bellatrix at his heels.
"Tom, welcome! I was beginning to think you would miss the party. And Bella as well; so good of you to bring your rabid dog with you." Harry sneered, trying for play for time; he could see Hermione moving slowly out of the corner of his eye. Unfortunately Voldemort had also seen her move. Without any warning he threw a cutting curse at Hermione who ducked and then he threw a rapid chain of curses at Harry.
"DIFFENDO! INCENDIO! REDUCTO!" he yelled as the spells shot towards Harry. Harry just stood there and with the sword he swatted all three curses away, one of them nearly hitting Bella as it rebounded.
"Good! Good Potter, I see you have been learning. I was hoping for a decent battle and it seems that you may be able to provide it." Voldemort whispered to him.
As they talked it was obvious that Voldemort had placed himself between Harry and the sword in an attempt to keep his Horcrux safe.
Harry held the sword in one hand and summoned Merlin's staff in the other.
"Tom, are you sure you want to do this, last time we met I gave you a bloody nose, this time I intend to remove it, well if you can call that a nose." He told the man as he tried to circle around him.
Voldemort was nervous of the wizard in front of him but refused to show it. He knew he had to strike hard and fast. With no warning he began to throw silent curses at Harry who grinned and waved the staff. A glowing ball of golden light sprung up around him and the curses impacted harmlessly upon its surface. Voldemort stood with his mouth open as he glared at the boy.
"That the best you got Tom?" Harry taunted as he used the staff to send a powerful stream of magic at the evil man. The stream struck Voldemort in the chest and flung him backwards towards the trees. With a sickening thud he impacted the trees, breaking a few on them before he landed with a thud. Harry sent a second blast of pure magic towards the evil wizard but the stream of powerful magic hit the trees, blasting them apart. Of Voldemort there was no sign. Harry looked around in puzzlement before he felt a powerful blast to his back knocking him to the ground with the force of the impact. He felt blood and worse run down his back before he managed to flip out of the way, his immortality healing his damaged back.
"Just like a coward, hitting a man in his back." Harry sneered as he turned to face Voldemort, who sent a killing curse at Harry. Harry ducked out of the way and once more used his staff to send wave after wave towards Tom. He managed to duck the first wave, but the second caught his side. Voldemort flew across the clearing but at the apex of the flight Voldemort turned around and shimmered. In his place was a massive black dragon, compete with black wings and interestingly a forked tongue. The dragon took a breath and breathed a spire of white hot flame at the younger man. Harry managed to shield most of it but still his cloths and hair caught fire burning his skin in the process. Harry screamed in pain as the skin bubbled on his arms and legs. Voldemort shot another burst of the white hot flame at Harry who caught the entire blast in his chest. His entire body burst into flames, the sword and staff dropping to the floor as he burnt. Voldemort roared in triumph but this was short lived as the burning man raised his hand and bright blue light shot from it and hit the dragon in the side. The dragon was flung far from the island and landed with an almightily splash in the lake half a mile away. Harry dropped to the floor quite dead for the moment.
Bella meanwhile had pulled her wand and was grinning at Hermione. "So Mudblood, you got him to marry you did you? How did you manage that? Other than putting yourself out for him you have nothing to offer, so a slut you must be." She crowed.
Hermione had just grinned at the witch, her word having no effect on the immortal. Nimue had melted into the trees, a Fae she may be but combative magic was not one of her talents.
Hermione started firing spells at Bellatrix who laughed and batted them away like annoying insects. This was all part of Hermione's plan as the spells she had used were low power and she knew that the hag in front of her would be easily able to repel them.
Bella was laughing at her and occasionally flinging the odd curse all the while singing in a childish sing-song voice.
Hermione grinned at her and was about to cast a spell at full power when she suddenly felt Harry 'die' and she stumbled in pain. Unaware of the reason for her foe's stumble Bellatrix took advantage of hit and cast a powerful cutting curse at the fallen witch. This struck Hermione on the shoulder, totally severing her right arm and flinging the body several feet in the opposite direction.
"Take that you silly itty bitty girl!" she giggled. Looking around she saw both teens apparently dead but no sign of her lord and master.
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The Inferi had discovered to their loss that Gargoyles could not be hurt by them. The gargoyles meanwhile had discovered quickly that the best way to deal with one of the un-dead was to bodily rip them apart, favouring the removal of the head. Even un-dead Inferi struggled to continue without a head. That was not to say that the forces of light had it easy. There were hundreds of the creatures and only a handful of the stone guardians. The rest of the dark creatures had to be disposed of the usual way with fire curses. This was hard work and inevitable some of the creatures made it through the lines of defence. It was when this happened that the main Death Eater force attacked and the battle was now fully engaged. Like all such battles plans went out of the window and chaos ruled; the forces of light found themselves split up and out numbered.
Hagrid and Grawp were trying to kill the giants, aided by Remus, Tonks and Kingsley. They had managed to kill one of the massive creatures by blasting its head apart, but they were been beaten back by the others. Whilst the giants had no magic of their own they were big, strong and surprisingly fast. This made for difficult hunting but on the positive note, they giants weren't all that intelligent. The forces of light had hurt them and like all creatures when hurt they went after the source of that pain. This had allowed the small group of defenders to lead the giants away from the main battle thus effectively neutralising them. Now all they had to do was stay alive long enough to stop the giants. Hagrid turned to his brother to ask him to run after one of the more injured giants when a stray boulder thrown by another of the massive creatures hit both him and Grawp. The boulder killed Hagrid instantly and badly injured Grawp. Grawp turned and tried to rouse Hagrid, puzzled by his inaction but that was when a second stone was thrown and killed once more as Grawp died. The others were shocked and still firing curses tried to retreat. They were near the borders of the Forbidden forest and running out of time, room and strength when salvation came in the form of a full herd of royally pissed off Centaurs, bows firing and spears throwing. Within a few seconds three giants died and the rest turned and ran. The only other injuries sustained by the fighters was a broken arm by Tonks when she fell over her own feet and a badly bruised Kingsley. However all were grief stricken by the death of the gentle groundskeeper and his even more gentle brother.
Minerva was leading a large force of students and Order members against a force of Trolls and Death Eaters. Sadly they had already suffered losses with the death of Seamus Finnegan and Terry Boot, both killed by killing curses, as well as the death of Emmeline Vance and four other younger students. Minerva was devastated by the losses but could not allow herself to grieve at the moment. They were currently in retreat and rapidly running out of room. The advancing Death Eaters were grinning and were feeling sure of an easy victory. That was until a massive roar was heard over the lake and a large Black dragon was seen been hurled across the water and impacting upon its surface. All the Death Eaters could feel their master's pain through their Dark-Marks and this was the distraction that the large Goblin force needed. They emerged from the school, swords drawn and shouting battle cries. They swarmed over the Death Eaters with swords and knifes flashing decimating the startled and distracted Death Eaters, leaving just the large thick looking trolls who were looking around with piggy eyes. Minerva was not proud of herself as she couldn't help think that they just looked like large versions of Crabbe and Goyle as she ordered the attack of the remaining trolls and few surviving Death Eaters.
Meanwhile the Weasleys and Luna were in a group of fighters trying to keep the Inferi and Death Eaters at bay. They were fighting closely with the Gargoyles, and defending them against attacks by the Death Eaters. Whilst at first disheartened by the stone giant's ability to rip the Inferi apart; the Death Eaters had discovered that the Gargoyles were very susceptible to the Bombarda curse. When hit with such a curse the stone defenders basically blew apart, often injuring anyone around them with shards of razor sharp stone. Such an injury had been sustained by Fred Weasley, who was currently been carried by his brother to the infirmary. Fred had lost one of his legs in such a blast and the remaining one was badly crushed. George had managed to cauterise the wound to reduce the blood loss but he knew his brother needed help and he needed it badly. George was levitating the groaning Fred through the castle and he rushed into the hospital wing.
"HELP!" he yelled at the chaos that greeted him. Everywhere he looked healers were rushing around tending to the injured and dying. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!" he yelled once more. A healer looked up and went over to the pair. Running his wand over the prone twin, George could see the expression on his face darken as the results were displayed.
"Sir, I'm sorry but he will lose his other leg as well. The damage is just too great. If we were at St Mungos I may be able to save it but with the resources we have here I have to remove it if you want me to save his life."
Fred had awoken during the conversation and weakly waved George over.
"L-L-Let them take it Georgie, when this is all over we can find some Fire Whisky and both get leg-less together..." he giggled before passing out once more.
"Do it!" George told the healer.
"Yes Sir, do you wish to stay with him?" he asked.
"Would love to but I'm needed out there! My family is fighting and I need to help." He said to the healer. "Look after him please." And he left to rejoin the fight.
Luna had left the Weasleys and was using her Vampire skills to vanish from sight and creep up on the unsuspecting Death Eaters. As she wasn't too keen of draining all of them dry and it taking far too much time, she had grown claws on her hands and was creeping up behind them and slicing their throats to allow them to bleed out. So far she had killed over twenty this was and that number was rising. She felt very bad about taking life, but knew that this was the only way and that Harry and Hermione needed her help.
Neville and Ginny were back to back casting spells all the time in an attempt to reduce the number they were facing. They had become split off from the main group and both were getting tired. As they fought Neville heard a growl and turned to see a pack of were-wolves stalking towards them.
"Shit!"
Ginny turned to see what had concerned her lover and paled at the sight.
"Neville, I love you!" she told him and they both braced themselves for the death that was about to rain down upon them.
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Bellatrix couldn't believe it, they had done it. Both Potter and his whore lay dead at her feet. Sure she had heard that the pair were immortal and yes she had seen things she didn't understand but no one could come back from this. Potter's body was a burnt husk and the Mudbloods was almost in two pieces. Dammit but they were dead! She moved away and walked to the shoreline to try to see her Master. As she looked out over the lake she missed the next few events. Slowly Harry's body healed itself, the skin returning to its pink colour and the blood flaking away from him. Of more surprise was what was happening to Hermione's body. The severed arm had vanished in a yellow glow and the stump was glowing with the same yellow light. Inside this light a form could be seen taking shape; that of a skeletal arm, the bones clearly visible. Slowly the muscles and sinew could be seen taking shape quickly covered by flesh and blood vessels. This was soon covered in new pink skin before the glow receded. As one the pair gasped and sat up confusion etched on both faces. Harry was stark naked his clothes burnt to ash, and Hermione had her one arm missing from her armour. Harry grimaced in pain and slowly stood. He glanced at Hermione and smiled before shimmering and in his place stood a massive golden dragon, his wings reflecting in the sunlight. With a silent jump he launched himself into the air whilst Hermione slowly walked over to the discarded Sword of Gryffindor and took hold of the hilt.
Bella was looking out over the lake when she saw the water bubble and foam about half a mile away. With a sudden splash the black dragon launched itself into the air, screeching in triumph. Bellatrix laughed and yelled for joy at seeing her Master. Because of her distraction she did not hear Hermione creep up behind her but she did see, with horror in her eyes, the enormous Golden dragon slam into the black one in a cloud of claws and teeth.
"Noooooo! UUUUUGGGGGHHH!" she screamed as the bright and shiny blade of Gryffindor silently appeared in the middle of her chest. She looked down on horror, her wand falling harmless from her grip as her body began to realise that she was mortally wounded. It was then that she heard the voice in her ear.
"Mudblood Eh? Well what do you have to say now?" Hermione whispered in her ear. With a jerk she pulled she sword out from the body of the mad bitch and this action caused Bella to whip around so she was facing her executioner. She saw Hermione raise the sword and look her in the eyes.
"See you in Hell!" Hermione told her and swung the sword hard and fast. Bellatrix Lestrange, the most feared of all the Death Eaters and killer of untold hundreds died as her head flew from her body and landed with a splash in the lake. The body stood for a few seconds before it crumpled to the floor, blood spurting from the open wound.
"No-one cuts my fucking arm of and gets away with it!" Hermione muttered before wiping the blade clean on the body. Looking up she watched the battle high in the sky over the lake. Voldemort had recovered from Harry's initial assault and sent flames at the larger dragon. However unlike before the flames just licked around the body of the large Gold dragon with no apparent effect. Harry flew fast and hard at Voldemort and breathed his own flame; this flame was unlike any other. It was very similar to the touch he had inflicted in Professor Quirrell all those years ago. It was fuelled by the love of his parents and the continuing love of Hermione. The flames hit the black dragon full in its face and Voldemort screeched in pain and agony as the positive feelings drained his body and tugged at the blackness in his broken soul. Harry hit the dragon again with his flame and as he flew past the dragon he raked his claws along the flank of the black beast drawing a deep black blood from the wound. Unfortunately as he flew past Voldemort managed to swipe Harry with one of his wings, causing Harry to howl in pain. The two dragons flew apart, both panting with the effort of the fight. Harry breathed his flame once more but Voldemort was wise to this and ducked out of the way. It was then that it went wrong for Harry. Despite all his power, Voldemort was the more experienced fighter and somehow managed to cast magic whilst in an Animagus form. He threw the spell at Harry causing him to revert back to his human form and at the same time Voldemort whipped his tail around slamming it into Harry's body. Harry lost consciousness immediately and fell to earth like a stone. As the time the two dragons were above the island when the attack occurred, Harry slammed into the floor with a thud.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
The forces at the school thought that things were going their way, they had destroyed nearly all the Inferi and the trolls, the giants had fled and a large number of the Death-Eaters were down or dead. This had come at quite a cost; only four of the Gargoyles were still functional and over half of the Goblin force were dead. Of the humans, many were injured and many had died. The school building had been badly damaged in places, one of the towers had collapsed when it was hit by an explosive curse and the main doors to the entrance were damaged. One lay on the floor and the other was hanging by its hinges. Many of the windows were broken and glass littered the floor in most places adding to the hazards. Most of the light forces were now together in the main quad in front of the now damaged main doors to the school. They were feeling confident when Pettigrew showed that he was not the idiot people often thought he was. With a massive cannon shot from his wand; he summoned a large Death Eater force he had kept in reserve, with over a hundred apparating suddenly into the battlefield. These were rested and fresh troops all pointing their wands at the students and teachers; and the forces for light knew they were finished and it showed in their demeanour.
Pettigrew smiled and raised his voice.
"Surrender or die, the choice is yours!" he yelled.
"What do we do?" Molly Weasley asked, the blood dripping down her face from a nasty scalp wound.
Minerva McGonagall looked over the remains of her forces with despair in her soul. She looked dreadful, her usual tidy demeanour long gone; her hair knotted and unkempt. Her eyes were downcast and despondent as she looked at the vastly superior force in front of her. She looked over to the other side to see Cassie laid on the floor, apparently unconscious. So many deaths of her charges and the physical damaged to the school had taken a lot out of her and she was very weak.
"The only thing we can do, we surrender and prey for a miracle. We pray for Harry and Hermione!" she said as she threw down her wand in defeat.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Hermione rushed to the clearing in the centre of the island, her heart hammering in her chest in fear. Harry was out cold, not dead this time she felt but close. Voldemort was struggling but gaining strength as he recovered from the dragon-breath Harry had used upon him. She ran to the clearing, the sword she had used to kill Bellatrix held aloft. As she arrived she could feel the air displacement as Voldemort, still in his dragon form land in the clearing. Harry was weakly struggling to his feet and was bleeding from many wounds.
"Harry! Catch!" she yelled and hurled the sword towards her lover and husband. Harry nodded and twisted to catch the sword. As soon as it hit his hands he once more twisted and used the momentum and every ounce of his strength and magical power to hurl the sword towards the gleaming blade of Excalibur. Voldemort blurred back to his 'human' form and screamed at Harry, blasting him and the sword with curses as he did so. However nothing, no force on Earth was strong enough to stop the blade as it flew true and fast towards the unbreakable sword. Passing the darkness that seem to emanate from the sword; it closed its trajectory and the two metal objects hit. Time seemed to slow but with a sudden ghastly noise both blades shattered. The sword of Gryffindor broke into a million tiny shards of metal, whilst the sword of the magical king of Great Briton splintered into two pieces. The majority of the blade remained in the stone whilst the hilt and broken section of blade fell to the floor with a clang. For a few seconds there was absolute silence before three things happened simultaneously. The first was Voldemort fell to his knees screaming in total and absolute agony as the most powerful of his Horcrux's was destroyed. The second was the Horcrux exploded, dark light exploding from it and an unearthly cry heard. The third was the explosion of magic from the sword itself. This threw magical light high into the air and an enormous explosion ripped outwards knocking trees and everything standing in its path flat. This included Harry, Hermione and Voldemort; all knocked out by the force.
For a long few minutes nothing moved, no sound could be heard and there were no signs of life. However after a few moments Harry struggled to regain consciousness, aware that time was short. He raised his head and saw Voldemort also struggling to his feet and looking around for his wand. He saw Hermione sitting up, her hair a complete mess and a rather nasty looking wound on her forehead where she had been struck by flying debris. He saw the broken shard of Excalibur lying a few feet away from him, and despite everything he could still feel it sing to him. He saw Nimue walk into the clearing with a look on her face he had not expected to see; a look of hope and pride. Somehow he knew what was required of him; instinctively he rolled over to his hands and knees and crawled to the sword shard. Voldemort saw this and something made him panic, something he feared more than anything else was about to happened. Summoning his wand to his hand he pointed it at Harry.
"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" he yelled and the sickly green curse flew the short distance to Harry and hit him in the back. Silently and with no fuss Harry's body dropped to the floor. Hermione's body, like a puppet whose strings have been suddenly cut, also flopped down to the ground with a soft thud.
Voldemort yelled in triumph, his wand hanging limply from his hand as he viewed the scene. He'd done it; finally he'd done it and beaten the prophecy. The world was his, his to do with as he pleased. He started to laugh and dance an obscene little dance.
"I've done it, Potter's dead! Do you hear that Dumbledore, your little boy-wonder failed!" he crowed to the sky.
Unseen by the celebrating Voldemort, unseen by anyone other than Nimue that is, Harry hand had made it to the sword shard and had grasped it before the killing curse struck. It was still grasped in his dead hand as both the shard and the remains of the blade in the stone began to glow.
Chapter Thirty – The next great adventure?
Harry slowly awoke and groaned in pain as his nerve endings started firing once more. "Ouch! What the fuck hit me?" he muttered as he slowly sat upright and looked around.
"What the hell?" he asked as he observed his surroundings. No longer was he on the small island but in a warm and comfortable looking office. It was square with bookcases around two of the wall full of books with odd titles on the spines and a solid looking wooden door in one of the walls. On the third wall was a large stone built fireplace complete with crackling fire and a picture of Hogwarts above it, and on the fourth was a bay window with dark red velvet curtains drawn. Lying on the floor a few feet away was Hermione who was just starting to stir. Harry crawled over to her and gently lifted her off the floor and placed her head in his lap.
"'Mione...'Mione time to wake up love. I don't know where we are but I'm guessing we are not in Kansas anymore." He gently told her. Hermione groaned and put her hand up to her head.
"Shit! That hurt!" she swore. Her eye's fluttered open and she gazed into the eyes of her love for a few seconds before her senses kicked in.
"The Killing curse, you were hit by the Killing curse...Oh fuck! Fuckity Fuck! Shit and Bugger it! D-D-Does that mean were dead?" she asked.
"Not a clue, but we are not on the island anymore." He told her with a laugh for her language. All the times she had told him off for swearing and she was doing it like a pro.
Hermione sat up and looked around in surprise at their surroundings.
"What the hell?" she asked echoing Harry's words.
"Yeah, that's what I said." He told her with a grin. He gently hauled himself and Hermione to their feet and looked at the room more closely. In front of the fire were three high wingback leather chairs with a small table in front of them. Hermione walked over to the door and opened it only to see a brick wall in place of the opening. Raising an eyebrow she walked over to the curtains and pulled them open, only to stumble back and cry out loud, her hands held up to her mouth. Harry actually thought she was going to vomit but she somehow resisted the urge.
"'Mione, what's the matter?" he asked in a concerned voice as he moved to comfort his distressed wife.
"Go look!" she told him, still looking decidedly green.
With a raised eyebrow Harry walked over to the window and drew back the curtains. At first he thought it was just night outside as he was presented with a starry vista in front of him. Never before had he seen so many stars and he gasped in wonder. Turning back to Hermione he looked at her with a questioning glance.
"Look down!" she grated.
Harry turned back and his gaze slowly moved downwards and with a gasp he took hold of the window frame. For beneath the 'room' was nothing...nothing but vast emptiness of space. Slowly he let go of the frame and took a longer look, he could see galaxies and nebulas as well as different coloured stars. He placed his hand against the glass and instantly could feel the coldness of space. He removed his hand and it was instantly warm again. As he gazed he was struck by how beautiful the view was but he could understand Hermione's dilemma. For someone scared of heights, this was the ultimate height; nothing but the vast universe beneath her was enough to send her into the depths of fear.
"Where the hell are we?" Harry whispered.
"Close it! Please!" Hermione begged from the other side of the room. Harry closed the curtains and walked over to her.
"It's closed, does that help?" he asked her in a gentle voice.
"Somewhat!" she stated. "I know it's still there, but the closed curtains help a little. Where in the name of Merlin are we?" she asked echoing Harry's earlier question.
"Well, Merlin has little to do with it my young friends." Came a voice from one of the chairs in front of the fire. Both teens whipped around, hands raised and both of them glowing with power.
"Hey, hey! There's no need for any of that now is there? You are both perfectly safe here." The figure said. His face was hidden in the shadows of the chair but the voice seemed warm and friendly.
"Safe? Safe?" Hermione uttered. "You have an odd notion of 'safe'! What's safe about been in a floating room drifting in the outer reaches of space?" she gasped in surprise and some anger.
"Yes young Hermione, despite your irrational fear of heights, you are perfectly safe here." The figure said. Harry could hear Hermione mumble something about her fear been totally rational but only quietly.
"Who are you sir, if I may ask?" Harry asked in a polite voice. When you find yourself floating in an office in deep space, been polite to the one seemingly in charge seemed like a good idea to Harry. Harry heard the figure chuckle before he answered.
"Yes, been polite seems a good idea does it not young Harry." Harry realised that the figure had read his thoughts so easily that he felt nothing.
"Don't worry about it Harry, I mean you and your good wife no harm." He said as he stood and walked out of the shadows. Whatever Harry was expecting it wasn't the figure stood in front of him.
"Cedric?" he whispered in a strangled whisper, his face taking on a horrified look.
"What? Oh no sorry, you see I don't have a form like yours so I sort of borrowed one from your memories. If you don't like it I can swap it." And suddenly Sirius was stood there followed by his father and then his mother before settling on Sirius once more.
"NO!" Harry cried.
The figure looked at Harry in confusion before he seemed to nod and grimace at Harry.
"Ah I see, you miss these people, sorry...emotions! Never had them before, they are quite ...curious." he replied as his form changed to that of Mr Weasley.
"Is this better?" he asked.
Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was wondering who this person was.
"Who am I? Yes well that may take a bit of explaining. You have met the person you knew as Dumbledore yes? The one who ultimately sired you both? Yes? Good, well I'm his boss...well sort of."
"You mean..." Hermione asked pointing upwards with an awed look.
"Goodness no! Well not really...well not how you mean. Oh this spoken language of yours...it's so limiting." He grumbled before he tried to explain more.
"Your ultimate Grandfather calls us Gods of Time, but the word 'God' is inaccurate as is I suppose the word 'Time' but for now that will suffice. We are responsible for the movement of what you both call time and we try to make sure that the things that need to happen, happen and in the right order you see?"
Both teens looked blankly at him.
"No? Oh well how can I make it simpler? I'm a God of Time! Yes? No? Oh well it will have to suffice." He told the stunned pair.
"Why don't we all sit, and I'll make some...tea? Is that right?" he asked a little stumped. Hermione nodded with a slight smile and the two of them cautiously made their way to the chairs. The being smiled and looked at the table and suddenly there was a steaming pot of tea and three cups. As he sat he seemed pleased with himself at first but then looked at the items with a confused look.
"Let me." Hermione said as she poured three cups and added milk and sugar for hers and Harry's. She looked over at the being in front of her. "Sugar?" she asked. 'Mr Weasley' shrugged in confusion so Hermione smiled and added one spoonful and stirred it. Handing him the cup she took her own and sat in the chair next to Harry. 'Mr Weasley' looked at the cup with a curious look and then over at Hermione. She smiled and took a sip of the drink. The being mirrored her actions and took a sip. He swirled the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing.
"Wow! That's amazing!" he gushed.
"You never drank tea before?" Harry asked.
"I've drank anything before." He replied. "I can see why you corporals like it so much."
"You should try pizza!" Hermione muttered, as soon as the word had left her mouth, three meat feast pizza's appeared on the table complete with cardboard boxes. The entity looked at the boxes with some confusion and then Hermione felt a presence touch her mind, and she gasped at the enormity of the presence. It gently brushed against her intellect as it gently sought the appropriate memories. The God of Time smiled and quickly picked up his and opened the box. He seemed the savour the smell and with a little encouragement took his first bite. As soon as the cheesy morsel hit his tongue he groaned loudly, quite embarrassing the two teens by the obvious undercurrent to the moan.
"Oh my... Me!" he uttered, "I think I've died and gone home!"
Nothing more happened for the next ten minutes apart from the Being eating all of his pizza, and most of Harry's. Finally he sat back, burped a little; which caused him to giggle, which in turn caused him to giggle even more; and looked at the two teens.
"Now that was good, but I guess you have questions?" he asked. "Off course you do." He answered himself. "Oh is that rude? Not allowing you to answer. Oh I see, yes it is rude."
"Stop doing that!" Hermione told him. "Stop reading our thoughts, and yes that is considered rude!" she yelled, then put her hand over her mouth in horror as she realised that she had just yelled at a 'God'. However the entity didn't seem to take offense.
"I'm dreadfully sorry my dear lady. Please forgive me; I'm just not used to this corporeal existence."
Harry nodded and turned to face the being. "How may we address you sir?" he asked.
"Ah yes names! Never had one of those before; never saw the need. But for now you may address me as... Bob!"
Hermione couldn't help herself but to giggle. She had expected something far more grandiose than 'Bob'.
"Is there something wrong with the name Bob?" Bob asked. "It seemed appropriate. I nearly picked up on the name that young Hermione was thinking but Slartibartfast seemed a little odd." He said.
Harry stared at Hermione who blushed. "It's from a book I once read, very funny, you should try it." She muttered. Harry just grinned and nodded.
"No Bob, it's a good name. Now is there any chance you could explain to us where we are, and why we are here. Are we dead?" Harry asked.
"Good questions Harry, I may call you Harry? Good. Well where are you? Well you are currently in-between your galaxy and its neighbour floating in an artificial time and space bubble that I created. I have used this matrix..." He said pointing to the study."..to create an environment that you would feel comfortable in. I could get rid of it and we can see the universe together..."
"NO!" Hermione yelled, "No, this is fine." She said, blanching at the thought of floating in space unaided.
"Well yes, that is where we are, why we are here is simple. I needed to speak to you both about a few things that you will both need to know. And to your final question, no you are not dead."
"But how sir, I mean Voldemort hit me with the killing curse and we both were told that even with our immortality, then that would be fatal for both of us."
"Yes, that was true at the time, but not now, not now that you have touched the artefact. Because of that you are both true immortals. Nothing and I do mean nothing can ever kill you or hurt you now."
"Er what about decapitation?" Hermione asked in an odd voice.
"Let me ask you something, the last time you died, what happened? And no I don't mean the time that brought you here, I mean the one that Bellatrix caused." Bob asked her.
"Er, she hit me with a cutting curse that severed my arm at the shoulder." Hermione answered, whilst looking in surprise at her arm. "How did it re-attach itself?" she asked.
"Yes she severed your arm and most of the left side of your body as well and it didn't reattach itself. The energy that the original arm and body parts contained was re-absorbed by your body matrix and used to grow a new one. The same would happen if you were decapitated. It would take longer but the end result would be the same. Even if your bodies were destroyed and blown apart, your life essence would grow new ones. You truly are immortal." He told the stunned pair. "Well you will be when you go back." He added.
"Come again?" Harry asked.
"Well that's part of the other answer I gave. You see here time is irrelevant, and whilst you are here with me, no time will pass on the planet you live on. You see you are still there, lying on the floor with the evil one celebrating his apparent victory; he's a really bad dancer by the way. But you touched the artefact before he hit you and it will change you, it will change you both."
"What artefact?" Hermione asked.
Bob grinned at them. "Look at your shoulders" he told them.
Both Harry and Hermione looked at their shoulders and shrugged. "Yeah, it's a shoulder, so what?" Harry asked.
Bob sighed and suddenly both were topless. Hermione shrieked and tried to cover up her ample breasts with her hands and blushed. "What are you doing?" she yelled.
"What? Ahhhh! No sorry, won't work with me, no sex hormones... no penis either for that matter, but I understand your emotion...I think." Bob replied totally unfazed by Hermione's nakedness. Hermione now found herself with a sleeveless jumper covering her and she sighed in relief.
"That better? Good, now look at each other's right shoulders." Bob told them.
Harry looked over at Hermione's right shoulder whilst she inspected his. Harry was surprised to see what looked like a small tattoo on her shoulder; it was that of a silver sword with a golden hilt.
"Excalibur! You have a tattoo of Excalibur on your shoulder!" Hermione told him.
"So do you, it's quite beautiful really in its detail."
"That's because it's not really a tattoo." Bob told them. "Excalibur has been in existence since before the birth of the universe and will still exist when the universe finally dies. It's not really a sword, but more of a type of energy, almost alive in some ways. It has existed in many forms throughout the eons. Merlin just formed it into the sword eons before the creation of your planet. Arthur thought it was just a sword and used it as such. Voldemort thought it was just a relic and he used it for his purpose. When you touched it; it recognised you as its rightful owner and it once more changed its form. It now resides in both of you as energy once more. This is what has made you truly immortal. You may even outlive the death of this universe and the creation of the next." He told them.
They pair were silent for a moment as they absorbed this knowledge. To be told that may outlive the universe took a little getting used to and even Bob seemed to realise that the pair needed a little time to come to terms with it.
"OOOkayy! Harry exclaimed. "Well that's a surprise...anything else you would like to spring upon us Bob?" he asked in a sarcastic tone that Bob totally and utterly missed.
"Well not really, apart from your powers will grow over time to accommodate your needs. At some point you both will achieve the ability to do away with your biological bodies and live as pure energy if you wish, but I wouldn't worry about that for ohh another million of your years or so."
Hermione looked at him with an astonished look before shaking her head and moving on. "So what now Bob?" she asked.
"Oh yes, Voldemort and that pesky demon. Yes you had better go back and deal with them. Once you have done that we will leave you for a while to recover and live for a bit before your next assignment."
"Assignment?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, there is plenty of work for you two to be getting along with. We may even need to give you code-names...let's see Emerald and Topaz? Nah silly idea. Let's just stick with Harry and Hermione, yes that will work...plenty to do, must get going..." He mused to himself as he began to fade away.
"Err Bob! How do we get back?" Harry asked the fading figure. Bob faded back into the room.
"Oh yes, silly me, let's see now." He waved his hand and Harry and Hermione felt themselves begin to fade from the room. The last thing they heard was Bob saying to them, "Thanks for the tea and pizza." before they vanished.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Voldemort was dancing a grotesque little dance within the clearing when he noticed the woman stood at the edge of the devastated clearing. She seemed totally unfazed by him and her attention was on the prone body of Harry Potter still lying on the ground with one of his hands outstretched. As Voldemort looked at her he stopped dancing and for some reason he looked over at Harry. As he gazed, his wand still held limply in his hand, the boy's body began to glow as did the remains of the sword that was still embedded in the large granite block. Slowly the blade vanished and re-appeared whole at the end of the item that was in Potters grasp.
"No! No that is not possible!" Voldemort whispered. As if being controlled by an outside force, Harry's body rolled over and he moved to lie on his back; the sword moving so it lay along the length of his body. It began to glow more brightly as did Harry's and Hermione's bodies. Silently the sword began to blur and seemingly to blend with Harry's body, before fading totally leaving Harry and Hermione glowing slightly before that also faded.
Nimue smiled a she watched the apotheosis of her life come to fruition in front of her. This was the reason she had existed, to see the holy sword become one with its masters. As she watched she saw Harry and Hermione begin to stir; their eyes fluttering open and limbs beginning to move.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Voldemort screamed.
"It is too late Tom Marvolo Riddle. You have lost and all those that follow you will pay the ultimate price for your foolishness." She told him.
"Who are you to profess to tell me such a lie? I am Lord Voldemort and it is my right to rule this land." Voldemort said his attention now switching to Nimue.
"You are nothing, you are no one, this land and all others reject you Lord of nothing." She told him enraging him further.
"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" he screamed as he threw the killing curse at the figure. Nimue watched calmly as the green light flew towards her and at the triumphant grin on Voldemort's face. This grin faded however when a figure calmly walked into the path of the light and allowed it to hit him full on.
"Hello Tom. Missed me?" Harry asked as the light faded leaving him unscathed. Tom gawped as Hermione moved to join him and stand calmly by his side.
"AVEDA KEDAVERA!" he yelled as he watched the light hit the pair once more with no effect. "AVEDA KEDAVERA" he tried again, this time crying the spell almost in an anguished voice.
Both spells impacted on Harry and Hermione but as before neither had any effect of the pair. Voldemort's eyes rose in surprise at the effect and once more tried other types of curses from Cutting curses to explosive curses.
Harry just raised his hand and an impenetrable shield sprung into place and absorbed the power of all the spells. Getting desperate Voldemort raised his wand and threw a Fiendfyre at the pair. The powerful flames rushed at Harry who in turn raised his hand and just caught the fire. He allowed it to play along his body, but it seemingly did not burn him. After a moment he banished the flames and calmly turned to the now desperate wizard.
"Sorry Tom, but that no longer works. It is time!" Harry calmly said. Tom had now fallen to his knees his head bowed as he realised that it was over, he had failed.
Harry and Hermione both morphed into beautiful dragons once more, Harry was his golden dragon; emerald eyes glowing in the sunlight and Hermione was a beautiful silver coloured dragon; her chocolate eyes staring at the small figure in front of them. They both took a deep breath and breathed out, their breath turning into golden and silver flames powered by the full of the power of love they felt for each other. The fire struck Voldemort and his body glowed bright white before turning to smoke and with a cry it began to dissipate in the wind. It was finally over, Tom Riddle – Lord Voldemort was finally dead – or was he? Unseen by either one of the dragons, a sliver of black smoke, a whisper of a form silently appeared and faded away.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Deep in the forests, stood the wooden shack. Within the shack was the horrendous figure of the creature that was known as Ron Weasley. It sat on a pile of human corpses and waited. It could feel the time was close and with anticipation it looked at the golden cup sat on the table and smiled to itself. It had tricked everyone, Voldemort, the Vampires and even the great Harry Potter.
Flashback
The room was silent for a few seconds before Harry noticed 'Ron' moving away from the group towards the small golden cup on the table.
"Ron, leave it!" he yelled at the moving demon. Ron stopped and smiled at him. "Harry Fucking Potter, still alive I see!" he taunted. Un-noticed the cup briefly glowed before it rattled and started to move towards the demons out-stretched hand.
"No!" Harry yelled and willed the sword of Gryffindor to his hand. With a huge throw, he threw the sword at the cup, it spun end over end towards the moving cup, slicing it in half as the sword flew. The cup burst into flames and a black smoke erupted from it accompanied by an agonised scream that faded into the air. One half of the cup continued its journey to Ron's hand and the other fell to the floor with a clang. Everyone stopped and looked at the quivering sword embedded deep into the stone wall, and at the half cup in the floor. Ron looked at the other half cup in his hand and growled a curse at it before throwing it to the floor. Unseen by anyone, Ron grinned to himself before looking at Harry.
End flashback
What no one had seen was the creature at the very last moment use its magic to swap the cup with a duplicate. All it took was a little black smoke and a theatrical scream to fool Potter and he managed to get away with one of Voldemort's little trinkets. Now all he had to do was wait, and waiting was what he was good at. As he sat he felt the Horcrux activate and begin to glow. Silently the smoky figure of Tom Riddle began to form in front of him, screaming in agony as his body died elsewhere. He was screaming because despite the remaining Horcrux his soul was finally dying. The power of Harry and Hermione's dragon breath was beginning the irrevocable process of dissolving his soul. The soul anchor was doing its best and trying to keeping his soul on this Earth but was fighting a losing battle. The other problem for Tom was that he was re-materialising in the presence of a Soul Vampire, a Soul Vampire who was grinning at him and with his mouth open. The dying re-animated soul of Voldemort barely had time to scream it's last before it, and all his knowledge and power was consumed by the demon who added all that knowledge and power to his own.
"Now Potter, now we can dance!" he growled, as this time Voldemort finally and totally died.
I.Y. I.Y. I.Y.
Voldemort's forces watched as the defeated headmistress threw down her wand in despair. As she did so the rest of the demoralised forces followed suit. Peter grinned as he felt the anticipation of what was to come. He would spare the children, they could be moulded to serve the new order but the adults would perish.
"A wise decision Headmistress, you do know that I cannot allow you to live don't you." He taunted. Minerva McGonagall nodded and raised her head in the last act of defiance as she awaited the killing blow that was sure to come. Her eyes closed she silently begged forgiveness for the suffering that she knew was about to happen. After a few seconds she became aware that no killing curse had hit her and the field had gone silent. Slowly one eye at a time she looked across the field of war at the opposing side.
Instead of seeing a grinning Peter Pettigrew, she saw every Death-Eater holding their arms in pain as their faces showed disbelief and pain.
"What is this?" Peter asked as he ripped away his sleeve to show the Dark-Mark glowing and writhing around on his arm. With a sudden cry one of the Death-Eaters screamed in total agony and collapsed to the floor. One by one the remaining Death Eaters screamed in pain before collapsing and lay on the floor twitching with the pain. Peter observed his forces collapse as he too felt the tremendous pain from his Dark Mark. Finally the pain became too much for him and he too felt himself black out. Soon all that was left of Voldemort's army upright were a few unmarked witches and wizards and two confused looking Trolls.
Minerva gaped in astonishment before summoning her wand and pointing it at the few remaining forces.
"Surrender!" she yelled.
The few remaining people watched as the army of light all summoned their wands and began to point them at them. With a frightened look the few who remained surrendered without a word, throwing down their wands to the ground.
Minerva summoned Peter's wand and it flew to her hand. With a crack she snapped it in half and this seemed to be the catalyst for the others and soon the unconscious Death Eaters were all bound and their wands snapped. Molly looked at Minerva with a surprised look. They had won! The army of light began to cheer and cry in relief.
Molly cried in relief as her family rushed to her, Ginny holding her and Bill, Fleur, Charlie and George along with her beloved husband laughed and pounded each other on their backs. That was until Ginny asked the question all were thinking but none dared to ask.
"What about Harry and Hermione?"