A/N: So I don't think I'm good at writing fight scenes but oh well. Took me awhile, sorry.
The tunnel was darker and danker than Harry remembered. The group had found Fred and George amidst the rubble of their shop. George had a gash on his forehead which Hermione quickly healed. The boys were supposed to apparate back to Grimmuld Place but after much demanding and fighting they were allowed to join the group. Before the now larger group set out, Fred and George took a few things from the shop which they assured would be "most advantageous to the cause".
Now they walked stealthily through the tunnel. Even the use of a lumos was too risky so instead Harry blindly groped through the thick blackness. They all held hands to keep track of one another; they probably looked like a bunch of school kids on a day trip. When they finally reached the end Harry was actually quite surprised that nothing had happened to them.
"We're here?" Harry could practically see the puzzlement on Lupin's face.
"I'm just as surprised as you." He mumbled to the older man before carefully lifting himself out of the tunnel. "This has to be a trap. Voldemort wouldn't have overlooked something like this." Harry looked at the statue of the One-eyed Witch. The group all climbed out of the tunnel and joined around Harry.
"Where is everyone?" Ron whispered to Harry. He shook his head slowly in confusion. Hogwarts was so empty and everything was eerily quiet. Suddenly the statue jumped to life grabbing Harry around the neck. Harry felt a familiar tugging at his navel.
"Ppp-port-key" Harry choked out.
"Grab on now!" Lupin screamed and everyone's hand shot out to touch the statue.
"Ooomf!" Harry was dropped harshly to the ground as the statue returned to its formerly inanimate form. Lupin did a head count.
"Where's Neville? I'm only counting ten." Neville stood up dusting off his pants embarrassedly.
"Never could quite get a hang of the landing part." Everyone looked around to see where the witch had taken them. The grass was slippery from recent rain and the sky was already a hazy gray as the rising sun tried to peek through. There were headstones all around them.
"Where are we?" Hermione asked kneeling down to look at a headstone. Her fingers traced the letters in deep concentration.
"It's a cemetery." Everyone ignored Ron's obvious comment.
"Godric's Hollow." Lupin whispered reverently. The older members of the group slightly bowed their heads for a moment as Harry stood there amazed.
"My parents are buried here?" his voice almost cracked under the weight of the question. Everyone was silent and Hermione's heart broke all over again for Harry. She looked up from the gravestone to see hooded figures quietly approaching.
"Uh guys. It was a trap." All emotions were pushed aside as everyone got their wands ready. They were being encircled by death eaters.
"Look who finally made it. It's the famous Harry Potter and his band of miscreants."
"Miscreants? That hurts coming from a backstabbing, lowlife like yourself, Severus." Harry spit out in a voice filled with so much hatred Hermione couldn't even recognize it. A blue light shot out of Snape's wand and hit the statue just above Harry's head.
"We didn't come here to chat." Soon hexes and curses were flying through the air like bludgers. Whizzing by Harry's ears and exploding the objects behind him. Everything was such a blur. He could sense Ron standing next to him throwing curses like a quaffle. He felt a hand against his shoulder.
"You guys keep boxing me in!" Hermione cried out as she pushed to be aligned with them. Harry hadn't even realized he had been doing that, but whenever she had made a move to get out from behind Ron or him, they had moved to block her. It must have been some kind of subconscious defense.
"Petrificus Totalus"
"That's it? That's the best you can do?" Ron asked indignantly as Snape threw another lackluster spell their way. Something moving behind Snape's shoulder caught Harry's eye. He could make out a larger group of darkened figures beginning to make their way towards the battle.
"Uh, Lupin, we have more company." Remus looked in the general direction Harry was pointing for a second before throwing another curse. He laughed triumphantly.
"Those are ours Harry." It took a moment for the statement to sink in before he understood the meaning of Lupin's words. A small army of fifty maybe sixty was joining them pulling the number between order members and death eaters much closer together. He smiled even under the circumstances. It made him feel like he was fighting for something, that they had a true cause, that they could…win.
"Crucio!" Harry heard a familiar feminine voice icily shout the curse. He knew that voice. Bellatrix. This was his fight. He pushed past Ron, Hermione, and Lupin to get a better shot at Ms. LeStrange. As soon as she saw him he could see the faint shadows of her malicious smile under her hood. "So we meet again Mr. Pot-ahh!"
A glowing orange light shot out of Harry's wand sending her back five feet. She landed harshly against a headstone.
"You remember me!" She cried out delightedly. "Crucio!"
"Protego!" He said it so forcefully it sent the crucio flying back towards her. She was caught off guard and wreathed in pain. Harry turned around to find that the Order had spread out and was each fighting their own battles.
He looked around searching for him. He had to be here somewhere, but where would he be? Lupin was busy in duel with a large vicious-looking wizard. Harry performed a quick banishing charm which sent the Death Eater back a good twenty meters.
"Where are my parents buried?!" He called over the din of all the cursing and hexing.
Lupin pointed to a hill more than a quidditch pitch away. Harry looked around to see how the rest of the group was holding up. Tonks, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley were fighting off their offenders expertly; Neville, Luna, and Ginny were a bit bruised but they seemed to be competent and holding off the weaker death eaters quite nicely. Fred and George were handling themselves expertly, turning death eaters pink and purple with their Pretty and Polite Party Poppers before they blasted them with some new concoction which had the death eaters vanishing into clouds of brownish sparkling smoke.
And then there was Hermione and Ron fighting side by side taking on some of the more dangerous death eaters. Hermione had a large bleeding gash on her shoulder while Ron sported a busted lip. He also saw bodies on the ground, still and pale. Some were death eaters, but others were from the Order. This was a war. There were going to be casualties, he just never thought about it.
"Levicorpus!" and suddenly the whole scene was turned upside down…or rather Harry was. He found himself face to face with Lucius Malfoy. "Well, well, well, isn't this a delightful surprise." His silvery white hair wisped in the slight breeze.
"Liberacorpus" Harry dropped with an unceremonious thud at the feet of Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Lucius kicked him hard in the ribs.
"I always knew you were one of them. You filthy-" He spat at Severus.
"Let's not get into name calling now Lucius. Remember your dignity." Harry began to tentatively push himself off the ground, or at least away from the two hot tempered wizards. Lucius drew a sword from the inside of his cloak and pressed it against Harry's chest. The tip pierced his skin and Harry winced, trying not to move any further.
"I could kill you now and I'd be a hero." He muttered pressing the blade further against his chest. Snape swiftly drew his wand and pointed it at Malfoy's neck.
"Don't move another inch." Lucius stared Snape down, visibly sizing him up and debating whether or not Snape was capable of doing anything to him. He playfully began to shove the sword further against Harry's chest.
"Avada Kedavra!" The all too familiar green light momentarily blinded Harry as he saw a hand reach down to pick him up.
"I believe I have repaid my debt-"
"Avada Kedavra!" Snape fell to his knees, already dead. Behind him stood Bellatrix LeStrange. She stepped over Snape's body with a malicious look in her eye.
"If only your Godfather were here to see you now." That was it. That was all she had to say. Now he meant business.
"Sectumsempra!" Bellatrix fell to her knees as her smug look turned into shock.
"That was for my Godfather." He looked down at her pathetic body, "I hope you burn." And he left her there, bleeding and helpless.
Harry turned once again to the distant hill. He began to make his way back towards it when a brilliant yellow light caught his attention. He looked over just in time to see Ginny fall lifelessly to the ground. He ran over to her just as Hermione got there. They each knelt down on either side of her.
"She's alive." Hermione said frantically. Harry ran his hand nervously through his hair. "I'll watch her, just go." She sounded so lost and scared and sad. She had more bruises and more cuts. Harry looked at her. Meaning to tell her something; he needed to tell her something. The look in her eyes made him want to stay. "I've got this; just go Harry." She was pleading with him, he had to go now, or she wouldn't let him. He contemplated telling her. "Go!" She nearly choked out. He got up with a curt nod of understanding, hoping she knew everything he wanted her to know, and he ran.
He got to the top of the hill with a fire in his eyes. He was ready. It all came down to this, and he was out for blood.
The others down below him looked up from their duels for a second or two at a time watching the lone figure on the hill.
From Harry's elevated view of the graveyard below it looked like a rainbow was constantly exploding and killing people. He looked away as his eyes rested on the two gravestones.
A headstone blew up behind Hermione and showered her in rubble. Ron ran next to her grabbing her arm to support his friend and he tossed a hex at her assailant.
"You okay?" She nodded her head as they each turned back to their own duels.
Lily Evans Potter Harry ran his fingers over the letters reverently as he stood between the two stones. He sensed rather than heard the footsteps coming up behind him. White knuckling the headstones to push himself to his feet he turned around to be face to face with Voldemort.
"I've been waiting for this day." He said in a near inhuman tone.
"Not as much as I have."
Hermione's breath hitched as she saw Harry's silhouette joined by another hunched and decrepit form.
"Ooomf!" Ron knocked her harshly to the ground.
"You're gonna get yourself killed!" He yelled angrily at her carelessness. His eyes softened and he touched her shoulder gingerly. "He can handle it." He pulled her up quickly.
His eyes never left his as they each pulled out their wands-challenging the other. They brought their wands in front of their faces and swished them down in the formal wizard salute. They circled each other.
Tonks was blasted back onto a headstone.
"Nymphadora!" Lupin called frantically. "Come on, stay with me!" He cradled her bleeding head in his hands. "You can't leave me now! Come on Nymphadora. I need you." He sensed something very wrong. The hairs on his neck stood on end as he peeked over the headstone. There crouched Fenrir Greyback.
Without warning, Harry was blasted back three meters. He quickly jumped back up sending a stream of fire towards Voldemort. The half-human snarled as the flames licked and singed his skin. He quickly extinguished the fire.
"Hey isn't that our Scabbers?" Fred asked as they saw Peter Pettigrew in all his grimy glory. "Expelliarmus!"
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." George clearly called as Wormtail turned the most putrid shade of yellow. "I don't know what Ron was talking about; this spell works just fine." The twins walked closer to him with matching malicious grins.
He could see it all so clearly. His father was pleading him to stop. He could hear himself crying in the other room. His father tried to stop him, tried to save his family, but it was useless. A green light flashed before his eyes and Harry found himself lying on the ground with Voldemort standing over him.
"I save that memory for rainy days. I sure hope you enjoyed." Harry's hand clutched into a white knuckled fist as he simply, but rather harshly, punched Voldemort in the stomach, sending him flailing backwards some feet.
"Relashio!" He called the first spell that came to mind which sent flames rather than mere sparks flying from his wand as a wall of heat blew Voldemort back even further. Flushing his chalk-white skin.
"Protego!" The red jet of light bounced harmlessly off the shield as Ginny let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Neville, I think you saved my life." The awkward boy smiled quickly before turning to help the others.
Harry was thrown back against the headstones and he absentmindedly thanked his lucky starts for the unbreakable charm and the temporary sticking charm Hermione had put on his glasses.
"You can never kill me." Harry dug into his pocket and threw the locket at him.
"Yes, I can." He took the moment of Voldemort's shock to cast. "Expelliarmus!" but instead of taking his wand, Voldemort still clutched it tightly in his hand.
"Silly boy, you know you are not stronger than I." He smiled taking a step closer to him. "Crucio!" Searing white-hot pain shot all throughout his body. He writhed and screamed. His mind only called out to make it stop, do anything, just make it stop!
Over all the shouting and blasting she could hear him. It was a sick twist of fate that she couldn't even hear her own thoughts but she could hear him… in pain. He was screaming, probably under a crucio or some other spell her mind couldn't possibly even imagine. She and Ron connected eyes. He heard too. All promises aside, they began to make their way to the hill where their best friend was in trouble. They had followed him for seven years, they weren't going to stop now.
He was on the ground, he could distantly, so distantly, feel the wet grass on his face. The burrow. His bones felt like they were being ground up to bits. Flying. A glint of gold. The buzzing of a snitch's wings. Pins were being stuck into ever pore of his body. The taste of a chocolate frog. His hair was being plucked out one by one. The rough itch of his Christmas sweater. His body convulsed in pain and he could hear Voldemort distantly laughing at him. Ron's red hair. Eyelashes against his cheek. A hand inside his. The pain didn't matter so much anymore it was more like a dull ache. Wizard chess. Lips on his forehead. He dragged himself to his feet, still in a stupor. Voldemort's laughing had ceased. Sirius riding Buckbeak. His parents in the mirror of Erised. He could feel his hands clench as his eyes met Voldemort's. Hogsmeade. The Three Broomsticks. A hand on his chest. Arms around his stomach. Chocolate brown eyes.
He could feel his magic surging within him, coursing through him like a second life force. It was glowing bright white in his hands. Lips against his.
"Avada Kedavra!" The green jet flew towards Harry just as he released his magic. It sprung from him readily and plowed towards Voldemort before knocking him to the ground with a force stronger than the Hogwarts Express.
Hermione watched as Voldemort fell lifelessly to the ground. She barely had the chance to smile before she saw Harry fall just seconds afterwards.
"Harry!" She screamed as she and Ron ran even faster to their fallen friend. The white light that had come from Harry was now spreading out over the entire cemetery. She and Ron were the first ones hit by it. It plowed them to the ground.
As she fell she absently wondered if it was going to rain.
Please tell me what you think!