Unofficial Portkey Archive

And here we are for the exciting final battle! There will be two chapters left after this one, and then we're done with this story. For now though, enjoy!

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Chapter 24: The Final Justice

The blood was pounding in Harry's ears as he flew through the deserted corridors towards his destination, oblivious to all else around him. He didn't see the Hogwarts ghosts peer out at him from their hiding places inside suits of armor, he didn't see Peeves watch him curiously while writing 'Voldemort has moldy shorts' in blue paint on one of the walls, and he certainly didn't see that the door to the Room of Requirement was slightly ajar as he sprinted past it.

Everything was a blur as Harry ran up the last set of stairs three at a time, finally reaching the door leading to the terrace on the top. Not wasting a moment, he threw it open and dashed outside, noticing that the ramparts and many stones from the floor had been destroyed from the blast that Voldemort sent at Snape.

"Took you long enough, Potter," said Voldemort, the dark blue of the sky showing signs of the sun starting to rise.

"Where's Hermione?" spat Harry, wand pointed at his foe.

"The mudblood?" asked Voldemort. "Why, she's right here."

He snapped his fingers and Harry heard a shriek from above. He looked up to see Hermione falling towards the stone, and quickly sent a jet of gray light at her, which enveloped her body and slowed her descent, landing with a soft thud.

"Pity," said Voldemort. "I so would have liked to see her splat."

"Is this all you're capable of, Tom?" asked Harry, helping Hermione to her feet. "Resorting to childish and tactically weak measures now that you've lost your supporters?"

"I haven't lost all of them, Potter," smiled Voldemort, looking over Harry's shoulder.

Harry turned around just in time to see Lucius cast a full-body bind, and was in no position to evade it. The spell struck him and he felt his body go rigid, Hermione's eyes filled with fear.

"Potter, Potter, Potter," grinned Voldemort, as Lucius grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her over next to the Dark Lord. "Time and time again you prove your idiocy. It doesn't matter how much you have prepared, how much you've trained, or how much you've planned. I will always be victorious."

Harry nearly opened his mouth to retort, and then suddenly became aware that he had the ability to open his mouth. Wondering what was going on, and thankful that his wand was still gripped tightly in his hand, he lay silent, waiting for his opportunity.

"I have waited for this moment for seventeen years, Harry Potter," said Voldemort, raising his wand. "Avada - "

"Reducto!" bellowed a voice from behind Harry. He quickly took his chance and fired a stunner at Voldemort, but it was easily dodged as the curse the unknown person cast struck Lucius in the gut and blasted him backwards onto the stone floor.

Voldemort quickly waved his wand and unleashed a ball of fire at the door leading back downstairs, which exploded on impact and decimated the wood and stone it touched. Quickly, Harry scampered to his feet, wand trained on his enemy.

"Hmm," said Tom frowning, appraising the situation. Lucius was lying in a pool of his own blood, barely conscious, and lying underneath the wreckage the fireball had caused, was Draco. "People seem to keep getting in the way of me killing you."

"Must be prophecy," said Harry sarcastically.

"Touche," said Voldemort, walking over to the younger Malfoy. "And just where did you come from?"

"I've been hiding in the castle all along," spat Draco. "Right under your very nose."

Harry quietly edged over to where Hermione was standing, embracing her protectively as Voldemort and Draco had their words.

"Really?" asked Voldemort curiously. "How exciting."

"Yeah," replied Draco. "Guess you never found out about the Room of Requirement when you were here. You were too busy trying to kill the mudbloods for yourself."

"Yes, I was," nodded Voldemort. "And?"

"Er..."

"I didn't think you'd have anything else to say," said Voldemort, raising his wand. "Die."

There was a flash and a cloud of smoke as he brought his wand down upon Draco, but no spell emerged from the tip of it. Harry recognised the smoke as the result of some sort of flash bomb Fred and George had been working on, and when it cleared, Draco was nowhere to be found.

"Ungrateful brat," coughed Voldemort. Harry watched in astonishment as his nemesis walked over to Lucius and shook his head.

"My lord," said Lucius weakly, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. "Please. Help me."

"Lucius, my slippery friend, what would you have me do?" sighed Voldemort. "You completely, utterly failed in raising your only son to serve me, and as a result, that -" he pointed at Harry, " - is still alive. You have failed me too many times, Lucius."

"Please, my lord..." begged the elder Malfoy, but it was all for naught.

"Avada Kedavra."

The green light quickly sped from the tip of Voldemort's wand, and caught Lucius in the chest, his soul speeding from his body just as quickly.

"Now then," said Voldemort, turning around to face Harry and Hermione. "Back to business."

"Your business is with me," said Harry. "Not her."

"On the contrary, Potter, she is your true weakness," smiled Voldemort. "Just having her here makes you worried for her safety."

There was truth in Voldemort's words, both Harry and Hermione knew it.

"So what's your weakness, Tom?" asked Harry. "Underestimating your enemy?"

"I have no weaknesses," replied Voldemort, advancing on them. "I am the perfect man."

"And yet you would harm those who are innocent?" asked Harry. "Sounds far from perfect to me."

"Imperfect people, such as the filth who is clinging to you are not innocent," said Riddle. "They are parasites who leech off the pure and glorious powers of the strong."

"You're a half-blood, you know," Harry pointed out. "Maybe you're just angry that your muggle father left your mum, after he realised she had seduced him with a love potion."

"How do you know about that?" asked Voldemort, anger flaring in his eyes.

"I know a lot more than that," smiled Harry. "I also know that your mother was a squib in the eyes of your uncle and your grandfather, even though she was somewhat decent at magic."

Voldemort was now positively trembling with rage, although his red eyes did not leave Harry's.

"Personally?" asked Harry. "I think you just needed a hug when you were younger."

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" bellowed Voldemort, sending an unfamiliar yellow spell at Harry and Hermione. Harry quickly pushed Hermione out of the way, but anticipating this, Voldemort leveled his wand at her and once again she flew into his grasp.

"Let go of me you feculence," said Hermione, trying to wrench out of his grip.

"I know what that means, you stupid bint," said Voldemort, striking her in the face with the back of his hand.

"Don't you dare hit her," spat Harry.

"I'll do whatever I want to her," smiled Voldemort, lifting his wand to her neck. "I can torture her, I can kill her..." an expression came over his face that suggested he just had a really good idea. "I can even make her want me."

Harry watched in revulsion as Voldemort flicked his wand at her and muttered, "Imperio." Her eyes glazed over and she leaned into his body as if to comfort him.

"Can't kill me if she's in the way," grinned Riddle.

'C'mon, beat it Hermione,' urged Harry silently. He could see the conflict in her eyes, the battle between her mind and Voldemort's. Suddenly, the glaze disappeared and she reached up and slammed her fist straight into her attacker's face.

"You impure slut," said Voldemort, reaching out and closing his hand around her throat.

Harry promptly fired a disarming curse at Riddle, but to his horror his enemy lifted his wand, and with a flick the curse seemed to impact on an invisible shield surrounding him and Hermione, dissipating into nothingness.

"Temper, Potter," said Voldemort, flicking his wand again. A bolt of red energy, much like the one that he had used against Snape shot out at Harry and struck him in the chest.

A searing pain overcame him, both in his body and his scar. Harry collapsed to one knee as the sensation of being burned alive overtook him, and he struggled to keep his eyes open. Vaguely, he could hear Hermione screaming his name, but was in too much pain to lift his gaze to her. The three black runes on the bracelet began to glow, but since it was hidden by the sleeve of his robes, went unnoticed.

"And now Potter," said Voldemort, Harry hearing the voice clearly as if he was right next to the speaker. "You shall watch the mudblood die, right before I finish you."

Harry forced his gaze upward, tears from the blinding pain blurring his vision. He barely saw Hermione's body go rigid, her eyes wide, and her mouth open slightly in an expression of mixed surprise and pain as her feet left the ground.

"No..." whispered Harry, as he felt the metallic taste of blood on his tongue.

"Too little, too late," cackled Voldemort, flicking his wand around, making Hermione's body react to his movements, as if conducting some twisted orchestra. "Crucio."

Hermione's scream pierced Harry's mind, his thoughts once blurry and jumbled now clear and focused. Summoning all his energy, he forced his hand to clutch the pendant around his chest, which was surprisingly cool despite the fire Harry felt about his body.

"I will NOT. LET. YOU. HURT. HER!" he roared, the energy from the pendant flaring up and streaking towards its target, impacting on Hermione's body in bolts of silver light. Harry collapsed to the ground, spent of energy, as Hermione fell unconscious to the ground next to Voldemort, the curse upon her broken.

"Again, you thwart me," sighed Voldemort, walking towards him. Harry lay on his stomach, all his strength gone from him as a warm raindrop landed on the back of his neck. He saw Voldemort crouch down next to him and pull the pendant from around his neck. Fear momentarily overtook Harry, until he saw a clean crack in the middle of the gem, all its sparkle and aura gone. "Eternium. To think you had such a treasure and used it to save the mudblood instead of killing me, you truly are a fool."

Harry could only muster up a weak chuckle as Voldemort threw the broken pendant on the ground beside him and stood up, taking Harry's wand from his hand as he did so.

"You now have no means of stopping me from killing her, or you, for that matter," said Riddle. Harry inwardly sighed and closed his eyes, realising the accuracy of Voldemort's statement. He was pondering to himself how he had lost, when suddenly the strength in his muscles returned to him, the lingering pain disappearing along with the fatigue the battle had tolled on him.

"I'm not done yet," said Harry, taking his feet unsteadily, drawing the Sword of Gryffindor from the sheath on his belt.

"Even after all of that, you still have the strength to face me?" asked Voldemort, turning around. "Very well, Potter. I shall make your death that much worse then. Avada Kedavra."

Harry lifted the sword and let the spell strike it, the green energy glancing off into the night sky as it did so.

"A battle of arms it is, then," said Riddle, transforming his own wand into a sword.

Harry didn't wait for another monologue, he charged at his foe gripping his blade tightly, swinging it in a wide arc as Voldemort easily parried the attack.

"How unproductive," lamented Voldemort.

"You're not one to talk," said Harry. "I did kill your most 'honorable ancestor' after all."

"Salazzar?" asked Voldemort curiously. "So that's what those idiotic beasts were hiding in the forest."

"You seem to be well informed," said Harry as the loud clang of their two blades glancing off each other sounded in the predawn light.

"In my business one should be," replied Voldemort. "And if you killed him, that means you also have something else I should know about."

The next strike forced Harry to close his stance with a block, and Voldemort reached out and tore the right sleeve of Harry's cloak, revealing the bracelet.

"So Lucius was telling the truth," smiled Voldemort, dancing back as Harry took a long swing at him.

"I suppose he was," replied Harry, resetting his stance.

"But that means you don't know how to use it either," smiled Voldemort, rushing forward.

"And what makes you say that?" asked Harry, blocking his enemy's strike.

"I would already be dead if you did," replied Voldemort.

That sentence made Harry pause for a moment, wondering how he could possibly activate the bracelet, and the brief lapse in his actions was enough for Voldemort to dart forward and cut through the robes on Harry's left arm, and the skin that they covered.

Harry drew back in pain, clutching his arm as blood poured down it and fell in large drops onto the stone, red as the eastern sky.

"In such pain, will you be able to fight me to your fullest?" asked Voldemort, holding out his sword.

Harry knew inwardly that he probably wouldn't be able to. The pain was very distracting and he could no longer use his left hand if he needed to. The slight tinge of fear didn't escape Voldemort, and he let out a loud laugh. Neither he nor Harry saw the red runes on the bracelet glow slightly.

"I do admit, such undistinguished means of dueling do bore me," said Voldemort. "I think I shall end this now."

With a loud crack he vanished.

Harry frantically spun around, looking for any sign of his enemy, when suddenly he found himself in a headlock from his rear, with a sword pointed at his throat.

"I thought you couldn't apparate inside Hogwarts grounds," choked Harry.

"That was no apparition, just a clever means of disguise and a loud noise to make you think I had apparated," replied Voldemort. "The battle is over. When the books of history are telling this story, they will say, 'thus perished Harry Potter'."

Voldemort moved to plunge the sword into Harry's throat, but there was a loud, shrill cry from above, and both looked up to see Fawkes speeding down at them in a flurry of red and gold feathers.

Voldemort was forced to duck to avoid the bird's attack, and Harry used the momentary distraction to get away.

"Bloody phoenix!" yelled Voldemort, firing a killing curse at Fawkes that missed by several meters.

"Tom Riddle!" yelled a voice from far above them. Harry and Voldemort both looked up into the cloudless light blue sky, but were greeted with nothing.

"Who goes there?!" yelled Voldemort.

"If I have said it once, I have said it a million times!" roared the voice. "I will NOT let you harm Harry Potter!"

A loud cry of a phoenix sounded from all sides though it was not from Fawkes. Suddenly, a great white phoenix rose from below the edge of the tower, large as an albatross, and swung a great wing at Voldemort, knocking him to the ground.

"Impossible," he muttered, regaining a standing position. "You're supposed to be dead, Dumbledore!"

"Am I not?" asked the great white bird, circling above their heads. "I wasn't aware that I was still alive."

Harry was filled with courage and hope at the sight of his once-deceased mentor, even in his present form. He was about to remark to himself how amazing the phoenix was, when a slight tingling on his right arm caught his attention. Looking down, he saw the three blue runes of hope glowing, along with the other six that were also pulsing with energy. Quickly, he put his arm behind his back so that Voldemort wouldn't notice.

"Of course Snape didn't kill you," spat Voldemort. "Cast some fake curse and instead you did some magic to turn yourself into that."

"No, I can assure that Severus did kill me," replied Dumbledore. "But contrary to what you think, I am aware that there are things far worse than death."

"There is nothing worse than death!" yelled Voldemort.

"Perhaps not for you," replied Dumbledore. "But you'll know soon enough."

"What?" asked Voldemort, and turned to see Harry standing looking at him. Giving a tremendous roar, he flew forward, and Harry barely had time to block his strike.

A flurry of attacks rained down upon him, the silver steel of Voldemort's blade flying with a tremendous amount of ferocity that Harry was having trouble concentrating on trying to counterattack.

'You don't need to, Harry,' said Dumbledore's voice inside his head. 'You just need to activate the bracelet.'

'How do I do that?' asked Harry urgently, barely avoiding another swing.

'Just fill the last emotion,' replied Dumbledore.

'Light...' thought Harry. 'I need light.'

And suddenly it dawned on Harry.

Literally.

The sun peaked over the top of the eastern mountains, casting its warm glow upon them. Harry quickly darted away from Voldemort, who was disoriented from the light, and turned the bracelet about his wrist so that the last three runes were directly in the sunlight.

Instantly all twelve runes turned golden, glowing with the brightness of the justice the completed circle represented. And Harry knew what he had to do.

"Tom Riddle!" he yelled, turning to meet his enemy. Voldemort saw him holding his arm above his head and took a step back. "You look scared."

Voldemort said nothing, only bared his teeth in anger.

"And the history books shall say, 'thus perished Tom Riddle'."

And Harry closed his eyes, and thought of all the injustices and atrocities that Voldemort had directly or indirectly committed. His parents...

"Please, take me...not Harry," begged Lily.

Neville's parents...

"We'll have fun with you two," laughed Bellatrix as Frank and Alice Longbottom huddled together in the corner of the alley they were in.

Sirius' imprisonment...

"No, no, my liege," smiled Wormtail. "They think the secret keeper is Black. We'll be able to frame him for it for sure!"

And the countless other senseless murders that had taken place since his rise to power. Looking at Voldemort he smiled, pointed at him with his right hand, and thought of the one last thing he needed to finish the job.

"I love you Harry," smiled Hermione. "And I always will."

Twelve great flashes of golden light erupted from the runes on the bracelet and instantly converged on Voldemort's body. His scream echoed throughout the dawn, and a moment later it ceased, a smoldering body the only remains of his wickedness. Harry walked over to where Voldemort had dropped his wand and picked it up, sheathing the Sword of Gryffindor as he did so.

"You did well, Harry," said Dumbledore from above him.

"Thank you, sir," nodded Harry.

"Fawkes and I must attend to your friends, no doubt there are some who could certainly use our healing powers after that battle of yours."

"Of course," smiled Harry. "Wait...that wasn't a raindrop I felt earlier...was it?"

"That was Fawkes' impeccable aim," replied Dumbledore with a hint of mirth in his voice.

"Thank you," smiled Harry at the smaller, red bird, which chirped in response to him.

"We'll be waiting for you," said Dumbledore.

And with that, he and Fawkes swooped off towards the forest far below.

From a little ways off, Hermione's eyes opened slightly. Harry smiled and walked over, kneeling down once he was beside her.

"Is it over?" she asked.

"It's over," replied Harry with a grin. "We did it."

"Oh thank god," she said, throwing herself into his embrace.

"Are you alright?" asked Harry, holding her tightly. Hermione nodded, unable to form any words. "I'm glad. I thought for a moment that he -"

Hermione looked up at him when he didn't finish the sentence.

"Harry?"

"AUGHHHHHHHHHHH!" screamed Harry, rolling over onto his side.

An immense pain was pulsing in his head, as if trying to explode his very brain.

"Harry!" shrieked Hermione, as he curled up into a fetal position and began rocking back and forth.

'So you destroyed my horcruxes, did you?' asked Voldemort in Harry's head. 'You missed one.'

'We got them all,' ground out Harry, tears streaming down his cheeks from the pain.

'Fool,' replied Voldemort. 'The snake was merely my pet...my companion. You, on the other hand, are something else entirely.'

'How did this happen?' asked Harry, nearly blacking out from the pain while Hermione could only watch helplessly, not knowing what was going on.

'That night at Godric's Hollow, I did not expect to turn you into a horcrux, but I did, involuntarily, when I killed your mother,' replied Voldemort. 'I had already set the process up to happen when I killed you, but when the curse rebounded onto me, all the preparation set itself off, and a portion of my soul was transferred to you. How very ironic.'

Harry screamed in agony again as the pain intensified.

'How does it feel to hold my presence, Potter?' asked Voldemort. 'You should be honored.'

And Harry realised there was only one thing he could do. Taking his wand, he placed the tip of it to his temple.

'You don't have the balls.'

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he cried.

"Harry...no..." she sobbed, knowing what he was about to do.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

And everything went black.

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This week, I have a little quote from a VERY good James Bond movie that I think is appropriate for this chapter.

The difference between insanity and ingenious is measured only by success.

I know the chapter was short, but it turned out the way I wanted it to. And I'm sorry for the evil cliffy...easily the worst of the story. Fear not though! There's more. And I hope to see you all again in two weeks for it!

Oh, and on a side note, back in October I got off my lazy ass and finally took the SATs...my lowest score was in writing. Go figure. ;)