It took several seconds for Harry's words to sink into everyone's brains. Hermione's hand covered her mouth to keep from gasping, while Malfoy looked on with a detesting sneer.
"So…that's who you are; you're related to the great Voldemort himself, is that it?" Lucius asked.
Cassandra smirked, and the orb in her hand glowed brighter.
"That is correct. Voldemort was my grandfather. My mother was conceived during a short relationship between Tom Riddle and another woman. The relationship did not last long, but it lasted long enough for her to be born. My mother died when I was baby, but she left me a diary telling me everyone about where I had come from. When I was adopted by wizards, I became aware that I had great power. Then, when I had heard that Voldemort had been revived, I wished to meet my grandfather in person. When I heard that Harry Potter had destroyed him, I became fascinated by him. How could a boy defeat such a powerful wizard? As soon as I heard that my foster parents were being transferred to London, everything fell into place."
"So, what exactly do you want, Cassandra?" Harry asked with hard eyes.
"Thank you for asking, Harry. Originally, I came here for you, my dear; I wanted you more than anything else in the world. I wanted the wizard that had shown such power as to destroy my grandfather. Then, I saw that you were involved with that bushy-haired, little bitch…" Cassandra pointed directly at Hermione.
"…and it made me furious. She doesn't deserve to be near you, Harry; her magic barely even scratches the surface of what you and I possess. I could destroy her with a snap of my fingers, but I'm giving you one last chance. Will you be mine?" she asked with a sweet voice.
"No, he won't!" Hermione answered for him. Harry looked at her with a surprised but amused expression; she was seriously pissed. Hermione sent a deadly glare towards the blonde and squared her shoulders.
"Cassandra, you talk too much, but I guess that's all you can do. After all, Harry has barely noticed you the entire year hasn't he? I can see why you want him though."
Hermione turned and made Harry blush at the hungry look she was giving him. Oh yeah, she was acting like a bitch, but her patience was at an end. Turning back towards Cassandra, she smirked confidently.
"You underestimate me, Cassandra; I'm not such a helpless, little girl. Besides, I have a part of Harry that you could never own."
"And what would that be?" the blonde replied angrily.
"His heart. Not to mention the fact that I've also spent many a night in Harry's bed."
Now, that really got to Cassandra!
"You what?" she growled, and Hermione went in for the kill.
"Don't look so surprised? We've been lovers long before you showed up; nothing will break us apart - not Voldemort and not you!"
Harry smiled at her words; she was truly amazing. He'd been hoping that their training had built up her confidence, and he had been right.
"Hermione…you sure about this?" he asked.
"Yes, this is my fight, Harry; yours is with them," and she pointed to Malfoy and the Death Eaters.
"All right, Herm, but be careful."
"Same goes for you."
Harry regretfully left her side and went to face Lucius.
"Malfoy, don't you ever get tired of losing?" Harry growled as he faced the group of Death Eaters.
"Potter, you won by mere chance last time; you surprised me but nothing more. Now that I've seen you in action, I know exactly how to fight you."
'He doesn't know everything,' Harry said silently.
"Malfoy, you couldn't beat Harry on his worst day," a familiar redhead shouted.
The young wizard turned to see Ron, Lavender, Dumbledore, Sirius, and Remus approaching him.
"Ron…what are you…"
"Ah come on, pal, you didn't think I'd let you have all the fun this time, did you?" his best friend chuckled.
"He's right; we're gonna help you this time," Lavender said firmly, "and I foresee that we're gonna kick some serious butt!"
"You are not alone in this fight, Harry," Dumbledore said with a slight smile.
"Absolutely, James would never forgive me if I didn't help you out," Sirius chuckled.
Harry smiled warmly at his friends and turned back to his opponent. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, and it was almost like he flipped a switch inside himself. He changed from a kind, young man into a battle-hardened wizard. His green eyes locked onto Lucius Malfoy and nearly bored a hole through his brain.
"All right, Malfoy, let's finish this…once and for all!" and he raised his wand.
"I couldn't agree more, and as I promised so long ago, you are going to meet the same, sticky end as your parents," and he drew his wand out of his staff.
"I'll handle Draco," Ron stated and walked over in front of his worst enemy.
"Weasley, how good of you come. Do you really think that you can match wands with me? Do you how pathetic you are?" he sneered.
"We'll just see, won't we. As the saying goes, it's time to put your money where your mouth is!"
Draco and the Death Eaters spread out to surround Ron and the others, leaving Harry and Lucius by themselves.
Meanwhile, Cassandra and Hermione were readying themselves for battle. Hermione clutched her wand tightly, and her mind went into hyperspeed.
'You can do this, Hermione.'
Cassandra launched her first spell, and the fight was underway!
Hermione barely had enough time to cast a barrier before a hoard of fiery arrows reached her. They deflected off her shield and evaporated into the air. She countered by casting a wind spell that pushed Cassandra back on her heels.
"Hmm, impressive power, Mudblood, but nothing compared to me."
"I'm just warming up, Cassandra."
"Well then, let's continue."
"Expelliarmus!"
Hermione threw her disarming charm, but Cassandra levitated up into the air and avoided it. She countered with her own charm, and Hermione was suddenly face down on the ground.
"Uh…what have you done to me?" she groaned, and Cassandra laughed.
"You stupid girl, you should know; I just magnified your body weight by ten times; you are completely helpless!"
The blonde landed back on the ground and pointed her wand at the earth. The ground rumbled below her, and a large chunk of rock appeared in front of her.
"Sorry, bookworm, but this was just too easy!" and she flung the boulder towards Hermione.
She struggled to move her wand, but her limbs felt like lead weights. No, the only way to escape was to cast a charm without her wand. Concentrating her thoughts, she focused her mind.
"Dispel Terminus!"
Her body returned to normal, and she just missed the boulder as she rolled to the side. She slowly got up and wiped a small trail of blood off her lip.
"It won't be that easy, Cassandra," she spat.
"Hmmph, perhaps you do have some talent after all."
Hermione just glared at her.
Nearby, Harry and Lucius' duel was well underway. The two traded blow for blow and charm for charm. It looked like their previous duel from last year, but Lucius' expression was much more serious.
"Take this!" and the ground exploded below Harry.
The young wizard was thrown back, but righted himself in midair, and countered with the exact same spell. Lucius rose into the air as well, and their duel was suddenly airborne. Their spells collided one after the other, but they always cancelled each other out.
Harry fired a miniature cyclone at his opponent, but Lucius dispersed it off into thin air.
"Looks like we're about even," Harry chuckled.
"Hmmph, indeed, but why don't we dispense with the child's play and get down to business," Lucius snickered.
"I couldn't agree more!"
They cast their spells, and the sky lit up as their duel continued.
Ron and Draco stared each other down as they circled one another.
"Don't worry, Weasley, I won't hurt you too much. So why don't we cut to the chase; you don't stand a chance!"
"Yak…yak…yak…do something else for once, will ya?"
"How about this? Terranos Enwraptor."
Underneath Ron's feet, huge vines burst out of the ground and wrapped around his body. Ron fought to break free, but his physical strength just wasn't enough.
"Struggle all you want, Weasley, but you won't escape those vines; now, it's time to finish you off."
Lavender saw what happened to Ron, and her heart clenched in terror. She watched as Draco raised his wand and aimed for her beloved.
"Ron!" she gasped and ran towards him.
Malfoy heard her scream and turned his head. He smiled evilly and aimed his spell for Lavender instead of Ron.
"Leave her alone!" the redhead shouted as he saw Malfoy's plan.
"Lavender, look out!" but it was too late.
"Crucio!"
Lavender dropped to the ground writhing in pain. It felt like razors were cutting her apart from the inside out, and she screamed in agony.
"Malfoy!" Ron growled and tugged violently at his restraints. He managed to free his right arm and aimed his wand at Draco.
"She had that coming I'm afraid; women shouldn't butt in where they're not wanted."
"You bastard, I'm going to make you pay!"
"What can you do in your current state, Weasley? As I said, you're truly pathetic; all you've been is Potter's lackey. I'm going to put you out of your misery."
Malfoy raised his wand, and bolts of lightning spark at the end of it.
Ron gulped loudly; he needed a plan… now! Then an idea came to him; he'd seen Harry pull it off so why couldn't he? It wasn't that hard, and it would take Draco completely off guard.
"Do your worst, you son of a bitch!"
"Ramusorte!"
The lightning flashed out of Malfoy's wand, and it headed straight for Ron. The redhead had a single second to act.
"Mirago!" he chanted softly and touched one of the vines. Since the attack would hit the vines just before him, he concentrated his spell there.
"Goodbye, Weasley!" Malfoy laughed.
The lightning struck, but it made an unexpected u-turn and reflected back towards Draco. The blonde, young man screamed as he was hit with his own attack, and it sent several thousand volts of electricity through his body.
Ron smiled at his handiwork; his reflection spell had worked. While Malfoy was clearly out of it, he quickly followed up.
"Stupefy!"
Draco hit ground twitching from the electric shock, and Ron cast a full binding spell to put him out of commission.
Since Malfoy was rendered unconscious, the vines surrounding Ron fell off and dropped to the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief and ran over to check on Lavender.
"Lavender!" he pleaded as he reached her battered from. Cradling her body in his arms, he pressed her against his chest.
"Please…please wake up…I need you," he said with tears in his eyes.
Slowly, her eyes opened, and she saw his kind face.
"Hey loverboy, did I miss anything?" she choked out. Ron immediately kissed her and clutched her body closer.
Lavender moaned in slight pain, but she heartily returned his kiss. Ron leaned back and stared in her beautiful, blue eyes.
"I thought I'd almost lost you. Oh gosh…Lavender…I love you."
The words poured out from his heart, and her smile widened.
"I know, Ron, I love you too."
He kissed her once again and didn't let go for a long time.
Harry and Lucius had really picked up the pace and were throwing high-powered spells one after the other. Harry dodged an incoming meteor shower that Lucius flung at him, but he knew that he just couldn't play defense all day. He could end this quickly if he used the phoenix inside him, but he needed to save that just in case. He had to admit that Lucius had improved since last year; he was being completely serious in this fight. However, Harry had more tricks than the phoenix, and the one he was thinking of would do quite nicely. In fact, he was going to enjoy it.
Lucius returned to the ground as Harry dodged the last falling stone and growled in frustration. Dammit, why couldn't he defeat this annoying brat? Very well, if he had to use his most powerful spell, then so be it.
Raising his wand, Lucius chanted the words silently, and wind swirled around the tip of his wand. In his left hand, a fireball appeared, and he lowered both his arms in front of his chest. Bringing his hand and wand together, the wind and fire merged into a glowing orb. From the sky above, lightning came down and joined the other elements within the sphere. At his feet, earth rose up and merged into the glowing ball.
Harry watched with utter fascination as Lucius prepared his attack. He could tell the older man wasn't messing around because he was gritting his teeth from the strain. Yes, this would be the perfect time to try his idea; Lucius wouldn't be able to react after he cast that spell.
"Now, Potter, taste my most powerful spell…Elementante Aradicto!"
A large, multi-colored beam exploded outward from Lucius Malfoy and aimed directly for Harry Potter.
'That's it…just a little closer…a little closer…'
Harry pretended to erect a barrier to protect himself, and Malfoy just laughed.
"No barrier can save you this time, boy!"
Harry cast one anyway, and the massive spell slammed into it. It gave him the split second he needed; Harry disapparated just as the spell exploded.
"Ha…ha…ha…at last…the great Harry Potter is dead!"
Lucius was breathing heavy from using that spell, but he'd finally put an end to that annoying young man.
All of a sudden, Harry appeared directly in front of him, and his eyes widened his utter horror. Harry wasn't going to use magic. Instead, he was going to do something he'd wanted to do for six years.
With everything he had, Harry slammed his fist into Malfoy's stomach, and the dark wizard gasped as he coughed raggedly. Harry followed up with a vicious, right cross that knocked Lucius flat on his ass.
"Expelliarmus!" and Malfoy's wand flew out of his hand.
"Petrificas Totales," and his body dropped to the ground motionless.
Harry smiled slightly. He had to admit; that had felt damn good! However, he had to go check on his friends…and more importantly, Hermione!
Ron scooped Lavender up into his arms just as he saw Harry running towards him.
"Ron, you two all right?"
"Yeah, Harry, we're okay. Weak, but fine."
"What about Dumbledore…and Sirius?"
"Not to worry, Harry," Sirius stated as he, Dumbledore, and Remus approached them.
"Those Death Eaters were barely a challenge."
"Indeed, it was quite simple," Dumbledore added.
"We left them petrified up against a tree; that'll hold them for a while," Remus finished.
"I'm glad that all of you are okay," Harry said in relief.
"Don't worry about us, pal, go check on Hermione; she needs you!" Ron ordered.
"Yeah, I'll see you soon."
Hermione was at her limit. Her body was tired, and her limbs were heavy. She'd gotten careless, and she'd taken a flying rock directly in the left ribs. When Lucius had screamed that he'd killed Harry, she immediately looked over to check if it was true. As a result, she probably had several cracked if not broken ribs right now. She staggered back as Cassandra stalked towards her.
"I've got to hand it to you, Mudblood, you've lasted a lot longer that I thought you would, considering I've been using the Orb of Slytherin the entire duel," she laughed.
"You cheating bitch, you would've lost without that thing," Hermione spat.
"You may be right, but I don't care how I win so long as I do."
"I won't lose to you."
"You have no choice…Expelliarmus!"
Hermione was thrown onto her back, and she cried out in pain as her bruised ribs hit the ground first. She struggled to get up, but her body was bruised and beaten. She could barely move her fingers much less her arms.
"Hermione!" a familiar voice called. She saw Harry racing towards her, and her heart swelled with hope.
"Ah, he's coming to save you, but he'll be too late," Cassandra seethed. She pointed her wand directly at Hermione and smiled evilly.
"Join your parents, Mudblood…Avada Kedavra!"
Hermione couldn't even scream as she heard those deadly words, and she futilely raised her hands out front to protect her. The billow of green smoke hit, but it stopped in its tracks.
"What is this?" Cassandra demanded, "Why aren't you dying?"
Hermione couldn't believe she was alive, but then, she saw her hands glowing. More specifically, the rings on her left and right hand were glowing; the same two rings that Harry had given her. The two stones were practically resonating with one another. A wave of magical energy pulsed out from the two gems and threw Cassandra back onto the ground.
"What have you done, Mudblood?"
Hermione honestly didn't know.
The energy did not dissipate but instead hovered in front of Hermione, and suddenly, letters were spelled out in midair. Their message was a single phrase:
'None shall harm you while love is around.'
Hermione's eyes were filled with tears as she realized that Harry had protected her; actually, his love had protected her.
Harry felt his heart shatter when he saw the spell that Cassandra cast on Hermione, but it reformed itself when he saw her protected by the two rings he'd given her. He'd had half that phrase engraved on the inside of each ring, and he'd poured all of his love into those two, simple bands. They had protected his love.
"Hermione!" he gasped as he finally reached her. She hugged him desperately as the glowing letters faded off into nothingness.
"How…how could this happen?" Cassandra hissed as she staggered to her feet.
"How did that nosy, little bookworm survive the deadliest curse of all?"
Harry pressed Hermione against his chest and stroked her hair.
"You just don't understand, do you, Cassandra? Our love protected Hermione; our love wouldn't allow you to kill her! The same reason why Voldemort couldn't kill me; my mother's love protected me!"
"That's absurd; nothing can defeat the power that I hold."
She raised the orb, and magic began to spill out of the sphere. It surrounded Cassandra, and she began laughing.
"I will destroy the both of you at once; you will both die by my hand - just as her parents did!"
Harry smirked and lifted Hermione into his arms.
"I've got news for you, Cassandra, Hermione's parents are very much alive. That house you saw destroyed was nothing but an illusion created by me."
"You lying, bastard, I watched that house turn into an inferno; they were burned alive!"
"What you saw was exactly what I wanted you to see," Harry replied. His smile grew, and he clutched Hermione to his chest.
"Sweetheart, are you all right?" She nuzzled her cheek against his chest.
"I'm fine, Harry, just finish her!"
"Cassandra…allow me to introduce you to what you saw that day…"
"And what is that?" she asked with an arrogant drawl.
"It was the very last thing Voldemort saw before he died."
Harry closed his eyes and unleashed his true power.
The confident smile that adorned Cassandra's face disappeared in an instant as she saw a giant firebird surround and engulf Harry and Hermione.
"What in the hell is that?"
"PHOENIX RISE!" Harry shouted, and the mighty bird let out a shriek as its master summoned it.
"Cassandra…" Harry growled with fire blazing in his eyes.
"…This ends here!"
Author's Notes: All right, the battle chapter is finally up. Man, this took a long time to write. I'm glad the way it turn out though. I know you guys hate cliffhangers, but I needed to break it off here. I hope you guys liked the multiple duels this time; I'd never done that before. Also, I haven't had too much response from my request last time. Again, I'm looking for people to do fanart for me for this trilogy. If you would like to draw something for me, please let me know.