Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter. They are the property of J. K. Rowling.
Harry and Voldemort stared one another down, each trying to look for hesitation in their opponent's eyes. A cruel smile crossed the dark wizard's lips, and he laughed sadistically.
"I've got to hand it to you, Harry Potter, you have exceeded my expectations. I was just planning to kill you and be done with it, but now…now, I'll be able to enjoy it."
"I'm at your service, Tom." Voldemort's eyes turned bloody red.
"Don't you dare call me that name!"
"Why not? It's your true name. If you're ashamed of it, that's your problem!"
"You're too cocky, my boy, it will be your undoing." Harry shook his head, and his eyes took on a hint of sadness.
"Know something, in a way, I pity you, Voldemort." That got a rise out of the Dark Lord.
"You what? Pity me? What kind of nonsense are you speaking?"
"I feel sorry that your father abandoned you; I feel sorry that he treated you so badly; and I feel sorry that he rejected you as his son. No child should be subjected to that," Harry answered.
"Well aren't you the amateur psychiatrist? Is that supposed to make me feel all warm inside?"
"No, I'm just saying that I sympathize with what happened you. That's why I don't hate you - even though you killed my parents."
"What the hell are you doing?" Voldemort growled, sounding quite flustered.
"I'm trying to tell you that even if I have to kill you, I won't hate you."
"You're pathetic, Potter, I'd expected more from you. Yet here you are with your words of sympathy. Give me a break. You're kindness is what makes you weak. Your parents were weak, and they paid the price for it. I especially liked how loud your mother screamed; it was a rarity indeed."
"Don't you dare talk about her!" Harry said angrily.
"Temper…temper…what happened to not hating me? You're a hypocrite, Potter, all humans are. They act kind and compassionate to one another, but what they really care about is themselves? All humankind is greedy and selfish; it's in our nature to be that way."
"It's sad that you believe that, Voldemort, but I guess that's all you know. I, on the other hand, believe that humanity is generous and kind. Only when we let ourselves be influenced by evil, do we become evil."
"Ah, and where does evil come from, Harry Potter?"
"All of us have negative feelings or emotions, but that's why we have friends and loved ones to help us through the dark times. You, however, have pushed everyone away and made them believe that you are all-powerful and cannot be stopped."
"How true, boy, I am untouchable. You should know that by now."
"We shall see about that. I see now that Tom Riddle is dead, and all that remains is Lord Voldemort."
"For once, Harry, we agree on something."
"Perhaps, but it just reminds me that I'm not killing a human being; I'm killing a monster."
"Not if I kill you first!"
"Take your best shot, but remember what happened last time we fought. Our wands won't work on one another."
"True, but I don't need a wand to kill you." Voldemort raised his hand and directed it at the ground.
"Terranes Exploda!"
Harry just barely rolled out of the way before the ground beneath him exploded upwards. Voldemort recast the spell, and Harry jumped back and forth dodging the attacks as they came.
"You're quite agile, Harry Potter, but you can't runaway forever."
A smile came across the dark wizard's face. The boy was playing right into his hands. He continued pelting Harry with the exploding spells and waited for the young man to come back towards him.
"My turn, Voldemort…Wingardium Leviosa!"
"Oh, how threatening," he laughed as Harry levitated him off the ground.
"Cyclonus!"
Voldemort suddenly understood, but it was too late. The tornado hit him full on, and he was thrown onto his back. By lifting him off the ground, Harry had achieved maximum contact with his spell. But that was not the end of the fight by a long shot.
"Clever, Harry Potter, very clever," Voldemort laughed as he picked himself up, "but now this fight is mine."
"Hey!" Before Harry could move, a giant snake wrapped around him. He tried to break free, but the snake only tightened its grip on him.
"Ha…ha…ha…well done, Nagini, he looks tasty doesn't he." The giant snake thrust out its tongue and hissed at its victim.
"You may be clever, Harry, but you're also ignorant. My attacks were merely a distraction so that Nagini could capture you, and it worked to perfection."
Harry suddenly felt very cold, and he felt like his blood was turning to ice.
"Ah, are you cold? Nagini's skin is quite special. She can freeze any object in a shell of ice. That way, if she only eats half of her catch, it won't spoil before she can finish it," Voldemort laughed.
"Professor Dumbledore, we have to help him!" Hermione nearly shouted. When she saw that massive snake wrap around Harry, her heart had nearly stopped.
"She's right, we can't leave Harry out there helpless like that!" Ron said angrily.
"They may be right, Albus, the boy cannot fight alone," Professor Lupin stated.
"Damn Voldemort, he just had to bring his pet snake!" Moody growled, and his magical eye twitched.
"Snake…snake…that's it!" Hermione gasped.
"What's it?" Ron asked confused.
"Harry can talk to snakes. Remember back in second year, he talked to the big snake that was going to eat Seamus and Neville. Why can't he talk to this one and tell it to let him go?"
"That's quite an idea, Hermione," Sirius stated, "and it just might work."
"We need to tell him!"
"Hold it, young lady!" McGonagall grabbed her arm, "You're not going anywhere."
"Let go of me, Harry needs me!" Hermione ripped her arm out of her teacher's grasp and ran towards her lover.
"Come back Hermione!" Ron shouted.
"Damn that girl!" Dumbledore followed after her with Lupin and Sirius hot on his heels.
Meanwhile, Harry felt like he'd been sitting in a freezer for the last ten hours. His robes had icicles hanging off them, and his sweat had caused frost to form on his skin.
"Soon, Harry Potter, you'll be nothing but a big icecube," Voldemort laughed.
"Errrrr…I won't be beaten by a cheater like you," Harry spat at him, and his breath came out as a puff of smoke.
"Harry!" a familiar voice called as she ran up. The young man forced his neck to turn and saw Hermione running towards him with Dumbledore, Sirius, and Lupin just behind her.
"Hermione…no…stay back!" But she didn't listen to him.
"Harry, talk to it…tell it to let you go. You can talk to snakes…remember?" Hermione screamed out of breath.
'Of course, I forgot! I can speak Parseltongue!' Harry said to himself. Gazing down at the big snake, he looked it right in the eyes.
"Release me at once." His voice came out as a series of hisses, and the snake seemed rather confused. It loosened its grip and stopped freezing him.
"No Nagini!" Voldemort shouted, "Do not listen to him, he is trying to trick you. Kill him now!" The snake quickly followed his orders.
"Ahhhhh!!!" Harry shouted as the coils tightened around him again.
"Harry!" Hermione cried and ran to him. "Let him go!" she shouted at the snake.
The serpent turned its head towards her and lashed out. Hermione was just saved from being bitten by Sirius who pulled her back.
"Away with you all!" Voldemort shouted and blasted them a good twenty feet away.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted as he saw her fly through the air and land hard on the unforgiving ground. He felt a fiery rage beginning to burn inside his heart, and his eyes fixed on Voldemort.
"You bastard!" he growled. The dark wizard merely sneered happily.
"Ah, she's special to you…is she? Well too bad that you won't be around to see her much longer. Nagini, finish him now!"
The snake crushed Harry in its coils, and he cried out in pain. He could feel his bones creaking from the tremendous pressure, and his skin was ice-cold from the freezing effect of her scales.
Hermione and the others had managed to get back up, and they saw Harry writhing in pain under the snake's torture.
"Harry, no! Fight it!" Hermione shouted, and tears came to her eyes.
"Ah, so you care for him do you?" Hermione could feel a pair of crimson eyes upon her, and she turned to see Voldemort gazing at her intently.
"Tell me, my dear, does it hurt you to watch him die? Well don't worry, you'll be next!" he laughed. Sirius quickly stepped in front of Hermione to act as a shield.
Harry had heard every word, and it had pushed his fury to the breaking point. There was no way in hell that Voldemort was going to lay a finger on Hermione. The ground began to shake beneath him, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
"INNNNNN…FERRRRRR…NASSSSSS!!!"
A giant fireball erupted around Harry's body, and the snake wailed in agony as the fire tore through its skin. It recoiled from around his body and was thrown in Voldemort's direction as the spell exploded around Harry.
Hermione screamed in horror when she saw his body engulfed in flames, and the tears poured down her cheeks.
"I'm not done yet, Voldemort."
From within the fireball, they could all see a familiar shape; it was Harry. The young man lowered his wand, and the fire went out. The charred remains of the massive snake lay scorched at the feet of his enemy, and the Dark Lord looked quite amazed at what he had just seen. Harry's eyes never left him, and they continued to burn with raw fury.
"You're not touching, my girl, you bastard."
"Well…well…well, you're just full of surprises aren't you, Potter." The wizard's eyes darted between Harry and Hermione, and an evil plan formulated in his mind.
"So, Harry Potter, she's yours is she? Why didn't you tell me?"
Voldemort laughed sadistically and raised his wand. Harry quickly raised his and readied himself for an attack.
"As much as I would love to just kill you right now, I'd prefer to see you suffer first…"
"Blackest of all magic…darkest of all night…consume that which is his…and destroy all that is bright…SOUL EATER!!!"
A black mist formed at the end of Voldemort's wand, and a stream of black energy surged towards Hermione.
"Look out!"
Hermione watched in horror as the attack came at her. At the last instant however, Sirius pushed her out of the way. He screamed as the spell hit his chest, and he wailed in agony as he felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside out.
"Sirius!" Harry shouted and ran for him.
His godfather dropped to his knees, and his body was contorting in pain as the spell continued to torture him.
"What have you done?" Harry growled, glaring at Voldemort.
"Ah, have you never seen a Soul Eater performed before? As it's name says, the spell literally drains the life energy out of a person - slowly and painfully. Too bad, it was intended for that stupid girl, but I guess Black will have to do."
"You son of a…" Remus said angrily. Dumbledore quickly approached Sirius' squirming body and knelt down next to him. There was a large black spot on his chest, and it was getting larger at it drained his life away.
"Don't even think about it, Albus, there's no counterspell to save him. You'll just have to sit there and watch him die."
"Voldemort, this is beneath even you," the headmaster of Hogwarts snapped and placed his hands on Sirius' head.
Closing his eyes, Dumbledore concentrated all of his power and knowledge. His hands glowed slightly, and before long, sweat was appearing on his brow.
"Professor?" Harry gasped as he saw the strain that the old man was putting on himself.
"Do not touch him!" Remus ordered. "You'll only break his concentration."
The tar-like burn on Sirius' chest began to get smaller and smaller, and it soon disappeared all together. Dumbledore collapsed face first on to the ground.
"What happened to him?" Hermione asked in horror.
"I…I'm not quite sure…" Remus stated, "…but I think that Professor Dumbledore cancelled out the spell. The Soul Eater sucks up a person's entire life force, but I believe that Albus gave it some of his own to stop it from draining Sirius. However, it may very well have killed him in the process."
"No, it can't be!" Harry cried.
"The stubborn, old fool, he never knew when to leave well enough alone, but oh well, that's just one more thorn out of my side," Voldemort laughed.
Harry turned towards him with hate burning in his eyes.
"You just made me mad!"
"I'm so scared of you, boy."
"Harry…" a choppy voice stuttered. It was Dumbledore's voice, and the young man quickly went to his mentor's side.
"Professor, stay still." The old man's eyes opened slightly, and he cracked a small smile.
"Harry…listen to me, you must unleash your true power. Only then, will you be able to defeat Voldemort."
"But sir, I don't know how. What am I supposed to do?"
"Look within yourself, my boy, the knowledge is there. Now trust yourself." Those were Dumbledore's final words before he lapsed into unconsciousness.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Rising to his feet, the young man raised his head, and his green eyes fixed on his mortal enemy. Pulling off his shredded robe, Harry tossed it to the ground and walked over to Hermione.
"Hermione, take this," he stated and handed her his wand.
"Harry, what are you doing?"
"Listen carefully, if Voldemort's attacks you, cast a spell on him - any spell. My wand and his came from the same phoenix; they cannot affect one another. That will give you a defense mechanism."
"But what about you?" Harry's eyes narrowed, and his head turned to face the dark wizard.
"I'll be just fine. Professor Lupin, take Hermione, Sirius, and Professor Dumbledore back inside Hogwarts," he stated.
"We won't leave you out here alone," his girlfriend said defiantly.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted at her. His tone was commanding, but it wasn't cruel. "Do as I say and leave!"
"Listen to him, Hermione, he knows what he's doing," Remus stated.
"Don't you dare get killed on me, Potter!" she said with a smile.
"Not a chance, now go!"
With some help from Hermione, Remus levitated Sirius and Dumbledore's bodies into the air and guided them back towards the main gate.
"Did I say anyone could leave?" a voice interjected.
Hermione suddenly lifted off the ground, and her arms and legs flailed about as she tried to get her bearings back. Harry's head snapped around to see Voldemort smiling cruelly.
"Release her now!"
"Now, why would I do that? It was a big mistake to show me your weakness, Harry Potter. You will watch her die right now!"
Voldemort spun Hermione around in the air twisting and spinning her around until she was almost green. Lowering his wand, he slammed the young woman into the ground, and she cried out as several of her ribs broke from the impact.
Harry was at her side in an instant, and he rolled her over. Blood was trailing out of her mouth, and he knew that she had to have severe internal injuries.
"Not bad, but she didn't bounce very well did she?" Voldemort's sadistic laughter permeated the air, and it made Harry's skin crawl.
"I guess I'll just have to keep trying then," the dark wizard raised his wand and pointed it at Hermione. Harry made a dash for his wand, but it was too late.
"Crucio!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!" Hermione wailed in pure agony.
It felt like her skin was on fire, and her bones were cracking into small pieces. Every muscle in her body convulsed with pain, and she screamed to high heaven. Her cries echoed in Harry's ears, and he clenched his fists in frustration and anger.
'Dammit, what do I do?' he shouted at himself.
'Call upon your power,' a silent voice answered him.
"What was that?" Harry said out loud.
'Listen son, you have the strength to beat Voldemort; all you must do is ask for it,' the voice answered.
Harry swore that he recognized the voice, but from where…
'Your father is right, Harry, now is the time to unleash your true magic,' another voice stated - this one female. Suddenly, the young wizard understood.
'Mother…father…is that you?'
'Yes son, it is us. We knew what Gemstar did to you that day when you were a child, and what it meant for you. You carry a sleeping power within you; now just bring it out.'
"But I don't know how?"
"What are you babbling about, boy?" Voldemort hissed.
'Listen to your heart, Harry, and trust it to give you the words,' his parents said in unison.
Hermione's cries continued to ring in Harry's ears, and the young man rose to his feet once again - his eyes burning with rage and righteous anger.
"Let her go, Voldemort, or die where you stand!" Harry roared.
"You never learn, Potter, there is nothing that you can do to stop me!"
The dark lord recast his spell on Hermione, and she cried out as her pain intensified. That was the last straw. Harry would take no more! Quieting his fury, he could hear soft words being whispered in the back of his mind. It was like something was writing a spell directly into his memory. Then Harry realized, it was Gemstar; she was giving him the spell. Her spirit was giving him the spell to unlock his power.
"Voldemort, I have only one thing to say to you."
"And what is that, Harry Potter?" The young man's eyes looked directly at the dark wizard, and a smirk crossed his lips.
"Bird of fire…hear my plight…come to me upon this night…draw your power from light…" Harry extended his hands skyward.
"…and within my hands…your power ignite…PHOENIX!!!"
What happened next would be remembered at Hogwarts for ages to come. Fire blazed in Harry Potter's eyes, and you could hear a roar like a tiger's as his power erupted. For the first time, a look of fear crossed the face of Lord Voldemort.
"No…it…it can't be!"