A/N: Hang on, here we go...Thanks as usual to Lady Starlight for her hard work, suggestions and occasionally tears.
Chapter 57: The End of the Circle
*******************Ministry of Magic*********************
Remus Lupin looked around at the DA members and his fiancée, standing with their wands pointed down a dark hole leading eight stories underground where an army of inhuman zombies waited to rend their flesh and most likely eat them. Not even a typical day for a Lycan or Auror, or a Professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, which he currently held the titles to all of the above. He held an open pocket mirror in one hand still showing the interior of the Atrium, and slowly raised his wand to touch it, when with a rush of color and a fall of wind, a disparate pair grew from nothing and were flung to the ground.
Wands pointed at the heads of the newcomers instantly, then fell away, most of them, anyway as the identity of the pair was realized. "What are you two doing here?" Tonks nearly snarled, as Ginny pushed herself to her feet.
Ginny took a breath, and glared at the currently black-haired witch, "My father is in there, I am going in," she snapped, drawing her wand and taking a step towards Tonks.
Tonks took a breath, and opened her mouth to snap back, but shut up at Remus' hand on her arm, "And you, Mr. Black?" he asked.
Draco looked down at Ginny as she pulled loose a band that held her hair in a tail, re-gathered it and pulled it back through, re-restraining it from where it had come loose. He frowned slightly, "I'm with her." Several incredulous looks shot his way, "I don't want get cut off for the rest of my life, do I?"
Lupin nodded, and did not comment, even though several of the DA sniggered behind their hands, "Very well. Remember to concentrate on funneling yourself through the hole in the wards caused by the call box; you don't want to splinch yourself. And watch your targets." Lupin tapped the surface of his mirror with his wand, and far below, things happened.
A pair of Death Eaters warily approached the downed and open call box, their wands at the ready and frowned in confusion as they found the box empty. One jumped back as a small round ball, almost like someone's eye spun and focused on him. Behind and around them, soft groaning moans came from the Inferi that constantly pushed at stairs upward, or piled on each other in the broken lift shafts trying to get up at the defenders still fighting above. A constant stream of reinforcements boiled up from the lower levels headed to the fight.
Suddenly a loud, cracking POP sounded and tiny ports opened on top of the silver disc and miniscule rockets flashed out, detonating near the high, vaulted ceiling of the Atrium. The few human Death Eaters watched as the fireworks came to life, spelling words: "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, #93 Diagon Alley, London and coming soon to Hogsmeade, is proud to present...your doom...Goodbye." Their eyes grew huge as a fine mist rushed out of the disc, rapidly filling even the vast chamber; the mist reached the still flaming words...
Nine stories up, on street level, the ground trembled as a wave of fire propagated through the entire Atrium level of the Ministry of Magic, killing every living thing, vaporizing scores of Inferi and shattering almost everything else. The flames died away almost instantly and the DA appeared as one, flickering into existence with a series of repetitive CRACKs and POPs. A handful of Death Eaters, peeking up from the lower floors, fell away, collapsing back down the stairs to the lowest levels as Neville, Seamus and Parvati sent a wave of spellfire at them. Neville waved the rest forward to entrance to the lower levels as more Death Eaters and Inferi boiled up, at them.
Far above, Arthur Weasley, his head bleeding from a scalp wound that he had suffered beating back the last attack to almost break through their lines, looked up suddenly, after he picked himself off the floor, as a small pocket mirror buzzed. He opened it, his eyes wide, "Arthur," Remus' voice yelled out of the mirror. In it Arthur could see Remus surrounded by seven or eight young school-age wizards and witches, all of them sending flickers of spellfire back at invisible targets, or shielding Remus and themselves from spells shot at them from the tops of the broad staircases down. "We have the Atrium, Arthur," Remus went on hurriedly, "get your people down here now, we won't be able to hold this forever."
Arthur nodded and motioned to several aides, all of whom were looking shocked, they headed off at a sprint to coordinate the break-out. Arthur looked back down, "How is Hogwarts, Remus?"
"No time, Arthur," Lupin shot back. Lupin paused as an Inferi exploded from three Reductors and flicked his wand, sending a jet of fire out of the sight of his mirror towards some target. "Get them back," Remus snapped, and Arthur watched as several young students, were pulled into the vision of the mirror, all of them with gashes on their torsos or extremities, that he had seen too much of this day in the fight against the Inferi. The students vanished in Apparitions up, and Lupin looked back into the mirror. "We have to go, Arthur, we can't hold this forever."
Arthur nodded to the image, "We are coming now." Arthur closed the mirror and flicked his wand around his office, watching as documents destroyed themselves or vanished to other places. He waved his wand at several framed photographs on his desk, causing them to shrink to the size of postage stamps, before he pocketed them. He turned towards the couch, at the tall figure seated there, seemingly exhausted from the fighting he had been leading since sometime yesterday, "Let's go, Kingsley." The tall man didn't move and Arthur felt a sudden sinking sensation as he walked over and touched the man on the shoulder.
The Auror slid to the seat of the couch, and Arthur groaned. "Damnit, Shack..." he said very softly. "You should have..." Arthur reached down to the ground and picked up someone's abandoned cloak, maybe even his own and spread it out on top of the Auror, covering his face. "Godspeed my, friend," Arthur whispered and straightened. He walked to the door, and stood at the entrance looking back at his office for a long moment, he cleared his throat, and said in a strong voice, as he flicked his wand in the air, "Sonorous," he waited as throughout the Ministry, in corridors abandoned or filled with Wizards or Inferi alike, his voice boomed, "THIS IS MINISTER WEASLEY, CODE BLACK, EVACUATE TO THE ATRIUM, NOW..." His voice faded away as he canceled the charm then looked back to his office.
He turned and touched a small, normally unobtrusive half-orb on the wall next to his door, it started to glow a bright red and pulsed slowly, "Arthur Weasley, Minister of Magic, Authorization 5583412 Beta ...Keepaway..." He spun on his heel and left the room, closing the door firmly. He slipped his wand into a small hole exactly the size of a wand and gave it a half turn. With a tired look at the four Aurors waiting in the waiting room, "Let's go gentlemen."
"Sir, what about Shacklebolt?"
"He's not joining us, I am afraid." Behind them, a soft thump came from the sealed office as the air in the room ignited, vaporizing the room down to the shielded walls.
Far below, Remus glanced over as Parvati caught a steel hoop that came back stained with blood and flicked it dry, before rehanging it on her belt. He looked at Neville, "Get..." Remus' words were cut off, as at some unknown signal, the Death Eaters and Inferi, both those below in the ninth and tenth levels and those caught between the defenders above and the Atrium toehold charged as one. Neville spun to the attack from below, sending out a wave of fire at the wall of zombies. He dodged to the right as a curse shot from behind them, and shot back a Reductor, exploding the wall behind them.
A loud shout of outrage came from a hoarse throat and Neville spun and gulped heavily as Ginny crumpled, blood staining the side of her shirt. Draco spun, firing a steady stream of Reductors, shattering Inferi, who then came at him in pieces. A silver jet raced in from an angle and clipped his leg, sending him tumbling to the ground. "PAR," Neville snapped, moving over, covering the fallen pair. Parvati, flicked her wand at the pair, and with an effort that caused sweat to bead on her brow, levitated them both, at speed to the area outside of the wards. Tonks slapped a Portkey on them and they vanished, any nicety with wounded gone, further injuries from Portkey stress could be fixed, maybe, getting eaten could not.
"WOLFIE," Tonks screamed, gesturing towards the stairways up, the only means for those still here to reach the Apparation zones and Floos to escape. They were still filled with Inferi. Remus started to wave forward a charge, a desperate attempt to clear them, when with a loud WHOOF, a wave of flashfire roared down them, tossing DA members to their bums, and increasing the charred smell in the air. Seconds later, the first Auror, leading frightened Ministry Workers, clerks, secretaries, those who for whatever reason had been here when the Inferi boiled up from underground, appeared at the head of the stairs, herding them towards the escape routes. CRACK after CRACK went off, fighting the whoosh of Floo fires as the Ministry finally started to evacuate.
Lupin gave Tonks a worried look as Neville led the entire remaining DA at the lower staircases, sending down an unbroken wave of Spellfire down the stairs, lighting the entire room in a rainbow hue. Vastly overstressed wands began to smoke and char, Parvati's shattered with a loud POP, as it finally failed, and she slipped partially behind Neville, her chakram more of a hindrance than anything at the moment. "Where the hell is Arthur?" Remus yelled across to Tonks as the stream died away, and the last of the Aurors joined the DA at the stairs.
Several more wands failed as Inferi continued to swarm upwards, bolstered by an occasional Death Eater. Remus waved the fighters with dead wands back, and they vanished as they reached the departure zone. "God damn it," Remus said as he watched Seamus' wand catch fire. Seamus tossed it to the ground, and smothered the flames with his boot before he picked it up and slipped the still-smoking piece of birch into his pocket. "I'm going after him..."
Just as Remus started to move, finally Arthur Weasley slipped from the stairway leading upward, his four Auror escort looking around nervously. Arthur hurried up to Remus, "Sorry, Remus, we had to make sure that no one was left behind...we also set a few surprises for these blokes..." Arthur started back towards the departure zone and Remus pushed him along. "What about Hogwarts, Remus?"
"NOW, NEVILLE," Remus roared, and Neville, reached into a pouch and flung one of the smaller versions of the Happy Barbeque and Inferi Remover, down the stairs over the heads of the Inferi. Neville sprinted back as several of the Inferi stared at the flat package in their midst. Remus grabbed Arthur, nodded and vanished.
A second later, the entire, still mostly standing group was above ground, back in the trash-strewn alley. Tonks walked to the edge of the hole leading down, "REDUCTO!" A plasma bolt roared out and exploded, collapsing the tunnel. She set a small, pulsing crystal down next to the smoking rubble, and glued it there with a Sticking Charm. Tonks pointed her wand at the crystal, "APPARECIUM DIFFINIDO..." A glowing bubble snapped into being in the air, covering the small hole in the Ministry wards. A moment went by; then...CRACK.
A fine red mist floated down as a pair of Death Eaters tested the Shearing Ward.
She nodded grimly, any color long gone from her face and slowly walked over to Lupin, Neville and Parvati, who along with Arthur, were standing, leaning against the trash bin. "Hogwarts, Remus," Arthur said shortly, his voice softened, "and how are my..."
Lupin looked at Tonks, she bit her lip and turned away, as Neville took Parvati's hand and slowly led her away. She buried her face in his shoulder as he stopped, and her shoulders began to hitch, as his face buried itself in the top of her hair. "When was the last you heard of events, Arthur?" Lupin asked quietly as Tonks walked back up to him, and leaned against him.
"Yesterday afternoon," Arthur's voice cracked slightly.
"Yesterday, afternoon, while Harry was away with most of the seventh year DA, destroying the last of Voldemort's Horcruxes, besides his Familiar," Arthur's face went white as he finally understood what Harry had been up to, "Voldemort attacked and took Hogwarts and Hogsmeade...Harry retook Hogwarts from him this morning, but the cost...was high."
"Ho...how, high?"
"Very...he had giants, trolls, and the Dementors sitting outside to trap us, and maybe four-five hundred Death Eaters in the castle with him...Harry snuck the DA back into the castle and freed all the students that weren't at Hogsmeade for the day, and then, they started to take it back...Arthur, Dumbledore's back."
"WHAT!"
"We don't know either, but Harry trusts him, so we do too. Anyway, Dumbledore dueled Tom while Harry lead the DA in ambushing Death Eaters around the castle, then Harry took the rest after Tom...Him and Hermione have been dueling Voldemort since six this morning..."
"And you aren't there helping them?" Arthur snapped.
Lupin raised his hand, and shrugged helplessly, "We can't keep up, they started out in the Great Hall, destroyed that, continued onto the lawn, fought there and proceeded to wreck Hogsmeade the rest of the way. Voldemort ran from there and they chased him to Diagon Alley, it's pretty damaged as well. We don't know where they are now."
Arthur took a long, deep breath as his face lost all color, suddenly as and took off his glasses; he covered his face with his free hand as tears bloomed in his eyes. He took a deep breath and stared, unseeing at the brick wall of the alley. "Remus...how did my son die?"
"How did you?" Tonks whispered.
"You didn't mention him with Harry and Hermione," Arthur replied, his voice tortured, "he wouldn't have left them." He slowly slipped his glasses back on his soot-blackened face, covering dull blue eyes. "Please, Remus..."
"We don't know for sure," Lupin admitted quietly, he watched over Arthur's shoulder as one of the DA vanished with a soft CRACK on the way to St. Mungo's. "We think that he...and Luna got cut off, with a force of Death Eaters coming in to reinforce Tom against Harry and Hermione. It appears that they held them, until they couldn't, then dropped the corridor on themselves..." Arthur looked up and caught his eyes, pleading him to go on, "Fred and George were both injured in the fighting with Voldemort, before it became two on one...Ginny was here, but she got hit and she's at St. Mungo's...Bill is fine, he's with Albus at the castle, Molly and Fleur are at Kings' Cross with the children that were evacuated."
"Very well," Arthur said, and his voice seemed to be dragged from deep within him. "Remus Lupin, on my personal Authority as Minister of Magic, you are hereby appointed Chief Auror." Tonks' jaw dropped slightly, as Arthur turned to her, "Nymphadora Tonks...you're his second." She just nodded as Arthur looked around at the exhausted, shattered remains of the DA and the Auror corps, "Your orders are as following...First, secure Hogwarts and Kings' Cross. Second, you are immediately to find out, what is happening with Voldemort, and be ready to throw everything we have remaining at him, if Harry and Hermione fail..." Arthur carefully did not state that Harry and Hermione would most likely be dead if that were to come to pass, not that anyone needed to hear it."
"And you, sir?"
"I am going to Kings' Cross," he replied with the air of one walking to his execution, "for what it is worth, you may consider myself and my security detail part of the force securing the children there."
"Yes, sir," Remus replied softly, and as he said the words, tried and failed to think of any time he had meant them more.
*********************Hogwarts, Heads' Common Room******************
Crookshanks looked up suddenly at some unheard signal and vanished into motion, his prisoner forgotten as something much more important flashed back into existence in his mind. He vanished out the tiny cat door as it appeared for him and vanished once again.
Behind him, the rat stirred and slowly looked up, sniffing the air for the scent of Crookshanks, or possibly even more dangerous for him, Hedwig. Finding neither, he quickly moved towards the fireplace, and slipped out a tiny crack next to the hearth, one he had found almost twenty years prior when the last generation of Potters had inhabited the same suite.
*****************************Hogwarts****************************
4:45 pm.
Harry shimmered into existence on the torn and smoking lawn of the castle, followed almost immediately by Hermione. He spun towards the castle, and dove to his right, grabbing Hermione and tucking her against his chest in mid-air. He half-rolled, taking the impact on his back as they landed behind a dense pile of broken stone, where the outer courtyard had been shattered hours and hours ago. Water sprayed straight up in the air from the broken fountain, quickly re-drenching the pair as they vanished backwards thirty feet and spun into invisibility.
Harry looked to the side, and made an invisible gesture towards Hermione. She nodded, even though he could not see it, and spread out to the left, as Harry circled off to his right, moving towards the battle raging once more on the lawn.
"You are weak, Albus," Voldemort sneered, watching as the elder wizard pushed himself back to his feet with the aid of his staff. Dumbledore panted slightly as he looked back at Tom with undisguised loathing, amiability washed away in the fires still burning in his school. He had not yet recovered, fully, from his return, nor the fighting, nor the holding of the Wards against the Dementors, even though he could already feel himself recovering from the exertion. "CRUCIO," a yellow beam tore towards Dumbledore, he took a breath and spun away, and the beam shot into the depths of the forest. He staggered as he landed, his knee buckling for a moment, and Voldemort quickly spun and hit him with another Cruciatus, causing the wizard to grunt loudly, before he straightened, throwing it off with an effort of will that left him shaking.
"Where are you precious students, Potter and his whore, Albus?" Voldemort moved slowly towards Dumbledore, his wand held in an odd, twisted grip.
Dumbledore looked up, and ice-blue eyes twinkled behind cracked, half-lenses. "You have never understood loyalty, and honor, and trust, Tom..."
"Weak, pitiful things," Voldemort replied, "they are the refuges of those who refuse true power." He raised his wand, turning his wrist slightly, "And now, Albus, I must bid you goodbye, it has been...entertaining...AVADA KEDAVRA." The green beam ripped from his wand, tearing towards Dumbledore. It reached halfway between them, and shattered on a chunk of stone that swooped in from the side, and detonated with a wave of energy and threw Voldemort back and sent Dumbledore sliding along the ground to slam against a pile of shattered stone.
Immediately, out of nowhere, a rain of spells crashed down on Voldemort. A rain of fire smashed at him from the heavens, followed by a small back sphere that detonated, sucking all around it into itself and vanishing. Harry spun to Dumbledore as Hermione spun a shield out of chunks of rubble. Voldemort screamed in rage as his spellfire shattered on Hermione's cover. The rocks suddenly fell to the ground, and his spells shot through the gap to hit only air.
Harry and Hermione reappeared in the midst of Gryffindor Tower, and Hermione absently batted away a dozen wands that pointed at them. They clattered against the wall, as Remus looked at them, shocked. "Take care of him," Harry snapped before he and Hermione vanished again.
Remus helped Dumbledore to his feet, and Dumbledore took a breath, "Get the rest of the defenders out of their way, Remus, they will only get in their way. I have delayed him, now I must rest for a moment...I miscalculated my friend, I did not let myself have enough recovery time."
"But we can help them, I can get the remainder of my Aurors here in minutes," Lupin sputtered, even as his eyes slipped towards a few new flecks of blood on the stone floor where Harry had just stood, "They are dying, Albus."
"They must do this, Remus." Dumbledore replied as he accepted a glass of water from Tonks, who looked at Remus with her lower lip trembling. She slid in next to him, and buried her face in his shoulder for a moment. Across the room, Neville sat on a chair, staring tiredly across the room. He forced himself to his feet, blinking rapidly and looked over at Dumbledore.
"We can take him on, Professor, he came back here, he's hurt, surely he can't take us all on?" Neville said, his oddly vacant eyes glittering with emotion.
"No, I am afraid that our task is different, it is up to us to guard their flank, to keep any from striking them down in a moment of distraction, and to be ready in case they fail," Dumbledore looked towards the portrait hole, as he took a potion that Remus handed him, downing it quickly, and straightening his robes. "I need you to finish sweeping the castle, and take prisoner any Death Eaters you might encounter," he said, looking at Neville. He took a breath as he read something in Neville's eyes, "Take them alive, Mr. Longbottom."
"Why sir? Why, they wouldn't give us that chance, they started this," his eyes flared to life, he looked over as Parvati moved next to him, she took his hand, lacing her fingers through his as her other hand found the chakram on her belt. She reached over, touching one of the general-purpose wands that the school kept for emergencies, that she had claimed from the armory to replace her own destroyed one until she could have a new one made. Neville looked at her, and swallowed, "They killed Ron and Luna, Ernie, Hannah, Dean...they killed our bloody fiancée, and you want us to be merciful, to give those bastards quarter?"
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom, that is exactly what I expect," Dumbledore said softly. The only other non-students in the room, Remus and Tonks looked worried as the DA members started to grip wands, and looked darkly at their Headmaster. "It is what they would have wanted and you know that, Neville," he said firmly, but softly, his eyes pleading.
Neville sighed and dropped his head for a moment, "Yes, sir," he said, and the tension in the room evaporated. "I will give them a chance to surrender...but only one, and I won't put anyone else at risk to take them alive, sir."
"Very well, Neville," Dumbledore agreed, and watched as Neville led the DA from the room, a ragtag group that had fought for almost a day, both here and at London, seeing their numbers dwindling and their best and brightest cut down in front of them and his heart fell to the bottom of his stomach. The portrait hole closed on the last of them, the lone Slytherin to remain both standing and fighting on the side of the light, Daphne Greenegrass.
"I thought we were going to have a mutiny there, Albus," Remus remarked softly.
"We almost did, my friend," Dumbledore replied, "I do not think that there are many, if any Death Eaters still lurking about, except Tom," as if the words were a trigger, the castle shook, and Dumbledore sprang into motion, "Follow me," he said and led Remus and Tonks from the Gryffindor common room, towards the lower floors.
"Wotcher, where are we going?" Tonks said breathlessly as she fought to keep up with Dumbledore, who seemed to be moving at an inhuman speed.
"To make sure, none do get through to help Tom," he replied, "None of us may be still in a condition to help them, but I am more than sure that the three of us are up to Tom's dogs," Dumbledore's eyes glowed faintly, as he turned to Remus as they moved, "And yes, Remus, I do not expect many to be captured alive by Mr. Longbottom and his group, but I had to make the effort, and I know that Neville will try, he gave me his word...Tom's minions will learn the difference between a pack of jackals and a pride of lions, I do believe." He paused, looking at Tonks, "Nymphadora, I have a different task for you," she nodded, "I need you to personally take command of Poppy's security, she is an excellent Healer, and her Defense skills are adequate...but the less distractions she has, the better, I believe she is currently in the Hospital Wing along with Roger. I believe they are tending to the remainder of the wounded here." Tonks nodded, grabbed Lupin and kissed him quickly, before vanishing down a secret passage.
Far below, somewhere on the grounds of the castle, a dark game of cat and mouse was continuing, with the prize being only the fate of the world. Three presences flickered and vanished as spellfire ripped across the lawn of the school, gradually getting closer and closer to the half-collapsed main entrance to the school. Harry blocked a Reductor, sending it straight up into the sky as Hermione darted forward at inhuman speed, and struck at Voldemort, her daggers sent sparks raining down as Voldemort, parried, barely, with his staff-length wand and sword. She caught a smash with the staff with both of her blades and leaned back, going almost horizontal as his black blade swept through the space her torso had been in.
She continued the tumble backwards, rolling away as Harry sent a jagged line of lightning racing past her, Voldemort flicked his wand and it broke around him, like water against a pier. He sneered as he sent jagged shards of stone hammering into Harry's side, causing him to drop to the ground with a loud grunt. Harry gestured and the stone hail changed to a fine mist, soaking him further, but causing no further harm. Harry rolled to the side, behind a miraculously unburned bush and vanished; leaving behind a few bright red drops behind.
He reappeared, and flicked the sword, a wave of bright yellow smashed into Voldemort, sending him crashing into the stone walls of the outer keep. A sizzling black stain darkened the walls of the castle as Hermione pointed her wand at either side of Voldemort, transfiguring the shattered bits of gravel into a storm of diamond-hard, tiny yellow birds, which raced to attack the Dark Lord. He fired a wave of Reductors, destroying untold numbers, but still more raced to attack him. With a burst of unnatural speed, he darted to the entrance, and waved his hand. A shimmering, blackish barrier appeared, blocking the entrance and causing the hail of birds to spend themselves uselessly.
Birds? Harry muttered as he dove to one side of the entrance as Hermione dove to the other.
I thought of that variation ages ago, Ginny was pissing me off, Hermione explained, and I hadn't had a chance to try it. She bit her lower lip, and frowned as she tasted the coppery taste of blood. She spat it out and took a breath as several spells shot out from the doorway, probing for them.
Harry looked across at Hermione, then motioned at the door and left, she nodded, We can Apparate here, at least for a little while still, and he can't...let's drive him somewhere where he doesn't have room to move.
Hermione pulled back a touch, looking up at the castle, The Astronomy Tower, it's isolated and higher than anything else...we can trap him on that if we can drive him there.
Ironic, Harry replied, but it's probably our best bet. Harry looked over at her; He can't conjure a broom or something?
No, Hermione replied after a moment's consideration, and a pair of green spells that shot past, exploding somewhere out on the grounds. She and Harry pointed their wands around the corner, and fired back, shattering even more of the already damaged Great Staircase, Even Voldemort can't conjure a enchanted object, you can only enchant a real object...now he might have one shrunk on him or something...
Harry took a breath and vanished, reappearing at the base of the stairs looking up. A silver beam ripped from his wand, missing Voldemort by just an inch or so, a curiously weak spell shot back at Harry, as Harry moved to the side, moving out of the way as Hermione appeared to the side and sent a orange curse towards Riddle, causing the stones to fade away as he slipped to the side. Something's wrong, Harry muttered. He moved slightly, moving his back out from a touch of cover.
A dark shadow detached from the shadows behind Harry, stepping out of the rubble from the collapsed passage to the Great Hall. A dark wand slipped out of a sleeve...
A soft skittering of claws echoed down the hall, as Harry spun, his eyes going wide as he detected the presence, too late, and a tiny, ragged shape let from a stone block, SHIFTING, to a stocky, balding man...a spiraling black curse snapped from Voldemort's wand, hitting Wormtail in mid-leap, and outlining his shape in a orange nimbus. Wormtail hit the ground, shaking and shuddering as he slid into the walls.
Voldemort screamed his rage as he sent a wave of random curses at Harry and Hermione, pushing them back as he barreled past them, running deeper into the castle. Harry looked at Hermione as they moved closer to the small, shaking body. "I...I am so...sorry, Harry..." Wormtail coughed, blood spewing from his lips. He died in the next moment as a particularly harsh tremor snapped his neck with a soft crack.
"Thank you, Peter," Harry whispered, and grabbed Hermione's hand pulling her into motion, pursuing Voldemort, even as she wiped away tears that she did not quite know why she was shedding.
Where is he going? Harry asked silently as the two of them bounded up the broken stairs to the second floor, Harry slid to a corner, and waited as Hermione nodded before leapfrogging forward, moving down the corridor fifty yards before waving his wife forward.
I dunno, Hermione muttered, her faintly glowing eyes scanning the corridor, There isn't really anything on this floor, some classrooms, the entrance to Dumbledore's office, but he couldn't break those wards before we caught up...Her eyes widened, The Chamber...
Harry and Hermione vanished between breaths, reappearing in Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, their weapons sweeping the empty bathroom. Harry slipped to the door as Hermione slid to her knees next to the closed entrance to the Chamber. She bent close to the base, looking carefully at a thin wire leading to a dull silver box, He's not been here, Harry, we beat him here.
They stepped into the hall; vanishing and pulling themselves close, waiting. Hermione quickly dug in a small pouch attached to her hip and tossed a flat, silver disc down the hall, letting it rest next to the base of the wall. Soft, quick footsteps came from down the hall, and a dark presence filled them. Harry gripped his wand, his knuckles tightening invisibly...Voldemort stepped around the corner, looked back where he had come from...Harry slashed his wand downward and ducked, curling into a ball as Hermione's tossed disk, a smaller version of the same device that Tonks had used at the Ministry detonated, this time without the warning that the Twins had put in the other. A wave of rolling yellow-white fire ripped down the corridor, the product of moonstone and brimstone mixed in a dragonblood base, and the castle shook.
Small stones rained down as the flames cleared, and Harry quickly moved to the other side of the corridor, already shooting as Voldemort was revealed, his robes half charred away, his left arm seemingly only partially functional and a steady drip of black blood seeping from above his left eye. He shot a Kedavra at Harry, who was already dodging, moving out of the way, as Hermione smashed a suit of armor at Voldemort, knocking him from his feet and sending him back.
Voldemort turned and leapt up a set of nearby stairs, running up them, until he reached the fourth floor landing and spun back, his wand sending a constant stream of Reductors at the suddenly mobile army of armor that was marching up the stairs at him. He motioned his wand to one side, at another line of suits lining the walls and sent a sparkle of light at them, to turn the tables on Harry's troops. He screamed in rage as nothing happened.
"What's wrong, Tom?" Harry called, mockingly, "did you really think that the castle would let you turn herself against us?" Behind Voldemort, unnoticed the corridors shifted silently, a new staircase appeared leading up.
"I will raze it for that, and raise my new fortress on its bones," Riddle spat, he spun as he detected Hermione and fired off a Cutting Curse, missing her, mostly, as she dove to the side. Harry's Banishing Charm hit him a beat later, smashing him face first into the wall next to the new stairs. Voldemort pushed himself to his feet, scampering up the stairs towards the sixth floor. The stairs immediately vanished as he reached the landing, moving away with incredible swiftness compared to their normal lazy movements.
Harry watched him go as he summoned Hermione across the hall, pulling her into him and rolling behind sheltering stone for a moment. Her face was pale, but she had already stopped the bleeding from her newest wound. She looked up towards the upper floors, I think the castle is herding him towards the tower for us.
I've known she was alive since I was eleven, Harry muttered, I don't think most of them ever realize how alive she really is. He vanished, reappearing two more floors up, and his eyes widened as he realized that the only way off this floor, was now a spiral set of stairs leading up, towards the same spot that he had declared his goal. Harry dodged out of cover, sending a turquoise wave towards Voldemort that froze the entire corridor solid, freezing the hem of his robes as he darted onto the staircase, not realizing where he was going, not having walked these corridors in person for almost fifty years. Got you, Harry whispered very silently.
Hermione appeared next to him, squeezed his hand for just an instant, and vanished, a small POP indicating her exhaustion, more readily than any words. Harry snapped away, reappearing on the windblown roof. He looked across, already knowing Hermione was to his right, and found Voldemort standing, facing them at the other side. Harry spun, and sent a Reductor down the stairs, they collapsed instantly, and he turned back. "It's over, Tom." Harry said, as he took a step forward and to the side, "It ends here."
The late afternoon sun haloed Voldemort as it hung at the edge of the guardian mountains beyond, cutting through the smoke surrounding the tower from the burning pitch. Hermione coughed slightly as the smoke wafted across her, it cleared with a gesture and she slowly summoned a ball of plasma in her left hand, it hissed and growled as she bounced it slightly, waiting.
"An interesting quandary, Harry," Voldemort replied, transferring his wand to his damaged hand and drawing the dark blade he hand conjured earlier to counter Harry's. "You have trapped yourself and your wife here, Harry, you are wounded, tired, I can feel you weakening by the instant as your blood flows to the ground."
Harry smiled slightly, as Hermione glanced over to him, her lips quirked, "Yes, Tom, you are in trouble when you say it like that..."
"INSOLENT MUDBLOOD!" Voldemort roared and a sinusoidal sparkling wave tore towards Hermione. She dodged out of the way, and it followed her, twisting like a snake to strike at her. She rolled under another strike and it hit the floor, exploding and tossing her back against the battlements. She pushed up; as Harry darted in, the sword crashing against Voldemort's hard enough to crash him back a step.
Harry rolled backwards under a return strike, staggering slightly as his leg shuddered under him. Harry batted away a red curse, and flicked his wand at Voldemort's feet, the stone heaved up, tossing him from his feet.
Voldemort snarled and stabbed his wand at Harry, Harry grunted as a cone of icy spears shot at him, and at least a dozen slipped past his weakened shields, hammering his left side. Hermione gestured from the ground and a wall of flame appeared next to Harry, she took a breath and SHIFTED, a blazing arrow of fire shot across the top of the tower, sending Voldemort flying and almost tumbling off the edge of the tower.
She transformed back, panting as Voldemort pushed himself back to his feet, and flung his blade at her. It glanced off a quickly raised blade, and sliced into her leg, before flying back to the Dark Lord's hand. She hobbled backwards, twirling her fingers and watching as the stone under Voldemort changed to a depthless black pool. He fell into it with a splash as she rolled to the side, sheltering behind a quickly raised wall of stone.
Harry attacked again, his leg trailing slightly as Voldemort banished himself out of Hermione's pool, a line of lighting ripped from his free hand. Voldemort staggered and Harry drove the sword into the stone, a wave rippled along the top of the tower as if the roof was water instead of stone, Voldemort hopped sideways and shot a wave of force back at Harry tossing him ten feet in the air and slamming him down on the flagstones.
Harry coughed up blood as he rolled across the top of the tower, fighting to his knees. Hermione growled and rolled around her cover, both of her daggers in her hands, and a yellow wave slammed into her, throwing her back to crash against the battlements on the far side of the tower. She shakily pushed back up, as Harry and Voldemort raised their wands to each other and a curtain of spellfire lit the roof.
Harry quickly landed a Cutting Curse, and took a Bludgeoning Charm; Harry staggered back, his wand lowering slightly...
"HARRY!" Hermione screamed, watching as Harry crumpled, falling to his knees as a chartreuse beam skittered past his shields, and hammered across his legs, breaking them with a CRACK that she could hear all the way across the top of the tower. Voldemort looked over at her scream and chortled, he flicked his wand at her, and she tried to dodge, and failed as the nimbus of a yellow beam shot across and seared her nerves to her very soul.
The pain from the Cruciatus, she had long ago lost count of how many she and Harry had taken, and knew somehow that only her link with Harry was keeping her sane at this moment, was unimportant as she watched Harry push himself back to his feet. Her eyes filled with tears as she could feel the grating of bone on shattered bone as Harry forced magic into his legs, willing himself up right again.
Voldemort laughed, as Hermione's arms faltered, sending her crashing back down to the ground. He looked over as Harry wavered on his feet, blood staining his clothes, "I have won, Potter...it is not too late, you can still join me...I will even let you keep your Mudblood pet, she has proven useful, I will admit."
Harry looked over at Hermione as she forced herself back to her knees. She held his eyes and nodded, smiling faintly, just for him, I love you, Harry, she whispered.
In magic, as in many things, words were important, they were the basis of focus for incantations, brought forth potions, and if used properly, held power in and of themselves in their own rights, and sometimes, just sometimes, that power was indescribable.
Voldemort turned, his speed incredible, but yet still as slow as the flow of molasses in the deepest winter as Harry took a breath and MOVED. Shimmering emerald eyes left behind a faintly glowing trail of light as the Sword of Gryffindor lit with a searing white light, as Harry spun, his blade crashed against Voldemort's own, conjured blade. It held for the briefest instant, before the dark blade shattered as if of glass, letting pass Harry's, which crashed into Voldemort's other arm, severing it in a spray of blood and sending his wand arm, still with his wand, falling away. A dark, horrible scream echoed in Harry's head as he continued the spin, the blade coming up...
Voldemort's head, fixed in a silent riticus, tumbled away, falling over the edge of the tower as Harry collapsed into his spin, his scar exploding into fire, falling to the ground and sprawling at the base of the battlements. Voldemort's headless corpse stood for an instant longer, held up by some dark magic as a dark cloud started to seep from the severed neck, a pair of glowing crimson orbs peering out. It seemed to turn towards Harry, the eyes locking onto Harry's scar... Hermione took a breath and shoved at the air; a wave of force ripped from her hands, knocking Voldemort's body from the tower.
She collapsed as well, just as a wave of green fire lit the sky, hammering into her and Harry on top of the tower, enough, if they had not already been collapsed to the deck, to sweep them to their deaths as well. An eerie silence fell, filled only by the sound of her own labored breathing and her racing heart. She saw the world fade away for an instant, before it slowly reappeared. Hermione blinked away blood from her eye as she tried to focus, to call her magic to her...and failed... Harry... she called, and her heart seemed to stop as she heard nothing in return.
Hermione looked around, breathing heavily as she pushed herself onto hands and knees with trembling arms. Distantly she heard the metallic tink as her hand brushed one of her daggers lying next to her and sent it skittering off. She felt her life slipping away, as she moved, slowly, desperately towards the other side of the top of the tower. Her vision darkened and narrowed, becoming a long black tunnel as she looked to the crumpled form lying at the very edge of the precipice.
Her hands and knees grated as they rubbed against the raw stone, but she didn't feel it, or much of anything, as she reached Harry, and collapsed next to him. She pushed up slightly and crawled up enough to hover over him. Harry, she moaned, shaking him. He didn't move. She looked down, barely seeing anything but the spreading pool of blood under them both, HARRY! WAKE UP, HARRY!...please, not, oh, God, please...come on, Baby, please... Hermione felt tears start to stream, as she shook him, with almost the last of her strength, and collapsed on top of him, her head falling to rest under his.
Mione, a soft, weak voice echoed in her thoughts, and she somehow managed to find enough energy to prop herself up enough to meet exhausted emerald orbs. One of Harry's eyes was bloodshot, the white almost entirely red. Hermione bit her lip, brushing blood off of his forehead. I'm tired, Hermione...
She kissed his forehead, her lips tasting their mixed blood as she brushed the corner of his scar. Her head drooped to fall to his shoulder. I know, Harry, me too, she whispered as with the last of her energy she found his hand with hers and weaved their fingers together.
Did we do it? Harry breathed, his eyes slipping closed once again. Beyond them, the Sun had finally, fully set behind the mountains, rending the torn lawns of the school into shadow. Flames licked the sky, from the burning Quidditch Pitch, Greenhouses and Hagrid's abandoned hut. Is it over, Hermione?
Yeah, Baby, it is, Hermione felt herself becoming weaker, unless he can function with no head, no soul, and can fly...without a wand or broom. She closed her eyes, as she felt Harry pass out, and followed him. She went limp, and both of them lay utterly still, the only sound; the soft drip of blood into a pool under them, from the fingertips of her unoccupied hand.
A/N: You didn't think I would let it end there, did you?