Twelve days and counting until I get my hands on Halo 3!
I don't own Harry Potter. That privilege belongs to J. K. Rowling. I do own any OC's that pop up though.
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Harry groaned in discomfort. The last thing he remembered, he was getting his ass handed to him by a Riddle-possessed Hermione, then destroying the Horcrux, and finally being at the epicenter of yet another explosion. Wait a minute.... Harry opened his eyes to see himself in an unfamiliar room, torturing a Death Eater. His gaze flickered downwards, and he saw a pale, bony hand that was not his own holding a familiar yew wand. Ah, damn it. I'm in Voldemort's head again. Sighing in defeat, Harry decided to "sit back" and wait for the show to end.
The dark lord Voldemort was most unpleased. He was no closer to locating Harry Potter, his alliance with the vampires was going nowhere, and to top it all off, the vampires found it amusing to feed on several of his junior Death Eaters. With no one else around to torture, Voldemort decided to cast his Cruciatus on the messenger before him. He had held the curse for almost fifteen minutes when he felt a familiar presence tickling the back of his mind. He released the curse and sent away his minion, before retreating to his quarters and locking the door.
"So Harry, you've decided to walk into my mind uninvited once again, have you?" Voldemort asked the empty room.
Something like that, Harry responded neutrally. It was so comfortable in here that I couldn't resist coming back. You might want to put some furniture in here, though, I can hear myself echoing in here. You might want to hire a maid too; this place is filthy! Voldemort scowled angrily as Harry insulted his intelligence.
"I know what you are, Potter, so I won't make the mistake of trying to attack you mentally like last time, and I know that you do not have the strength to attack me head-on and succeed," Voldemort said triumphantly.
Yeah, unfortunately, Harry "sighed" mentally. Suddenly, the young vampire was struck with an idea. However, I can make your life living hell for two weeks, he continued smugly. This caught Voldemort off guard.
"What do you mean?" the snake-like man asked, genuinely confused.
You'll find out, Harry informed him cryptically. Ten million bottles of beer on the wall, ten million bottles of beer, he began singing tunelessly, take one down, pass it around, ten million bottles of beer on the wall.
"What are you doing?" Voldemort asked dryly. Harry didn't respond, instead continuing to sing that inane song...and sing...and sing. For days, Harry sung without end: during meals, during meetings, during trips to the loo. Voldemort eventually had to barricade himself within his quarters again and have his meals brought to him via house elf. He could not even sleep because of Harry's continual singing. After a week of absolutely no peace, Voldemort finally snapped.
"What do I need to do to stop that infernal singing?!" Voldemort shouted angrily. The lack of sleep was taking its toll on him, as large dark circles were developing under his eyes, and growing larger by the day.
Well, if you could be so kind as to kill your pet snake, and maybe yourself as well, that'd be great, Harry said, stopping his singing for the first time all week. Voldemort gritted his teeth at Harry's ridiculous demands. There was no way that he would agree to that!
"You must be out of your mind if you think I would ever agree to those demands, Potter," Voldemort spat angrily.
Maybe, Harry agreed mentally. But I'm stuck in here for another week, and if I'm lucky, I'll drag you down into insanity with me. Now where was I? Oh yeah, seven-thousand-twenty-four bottles of beer on the wall... Harry resumed singing. Voldemort's roar of rage would send a chill down the spines of all Death Eaters who heard it.
After two weeks of singing practically nonstop, Harry felt himself drifting out of Voldemort's body and back into his own. But when he opened his eyes again, he remembered that his hunger had taken over his body, and he was merely a powerless observer. With an animalistic growl, Harry's body sat up and looked around the room. Looking to his left, Harry's eyes fell on Hermione, who was similarly scanning the room. With a feral snarl, the two vampires pounced at each other, viciously biting and scratching at each other in an attempt to satiate their hunger.
Dobby sighed quietly to himself. Even though he was technically employed at Hogwarts, in his mind, his master was Harry Potter, the wizard who freed him from the Malfoys. He was ordered to watch Harry Potter and his friend, but there were other guests that needed to be attended to. As Dobby brought sandwiches and tea to Remus and Tonks, a loud snarling was heard from upstairs, followed by several crashes. Dobby quickly set the tray of food down on Remus' lap before disappearing with a crack, unaware that the werewolf and metamorphagus that he had just served were rushing up the stairs themselves.
When Dobby appeared in the master bedroom, he saw the two vampires wrestling violently with each other, swiping and snapping at each other, smashing furniture as they threw each other across the room. Remembering his orders, Dobby sealed the door shut so that they could not escape and harm anyone else before Disapparating to a Muggle farm, where he grabbed two large pigs and popped back to 12 Grimmauld Place. After depositing his payload, the house elf left the room before the vampires decided to turn their attentions to him.
Hermione had managed to pin Harry down on the floor and was bending down to plunge her fangs into his throat when a crack attracted their attention. They both looked to the direction of the sound to see a pair of large pigs, sniffing around confusedly. Their feud with each other quickly forgotten, the two vampires lunged forward and buried their fangs into the necks of the pigs, ignorant of the animals' squeals of pain. The vampires sighed contently as the viscous, sweet liquid pumped out of the pigs' arteries and slid smoothly down their throats. As they fed, their bestial instincts diminished and they found themselves able to control themselves once more.
His hunger abated for now, Harry threw the pig carcass aside and leaned back, sighing tiredly. He looked to his side to see Hermione wrapping her arms around her knees, pig blood smeared on her face, staring vacantly at the wall. Harry wordlessly crawled over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close. For hours, they simply sat together, neither saying a word.
"Sorry about kicking you in the face," Harry said softly, the dried blood on his face cracking from the movement. Hermione chuckled softly.
"Sorry about kicking you in the crotch," she replied.
"You better be sorry, it really hurt," Harry admonished lightly. "Come on, we'd better get cleaned
up," he continued, pulling himself and Hermione up from the floor. Harry walked to the door and tried to turn the
knob, but it wouldn't turn. He rattled the doorknob briefly, but it still wouldn't budge. Sighing, the two
vampires decided to worry about the door later and simply Apparated out of the room, startling the two people that were
sitting down in front of the door.
"What happened in there?" Remus asked as he stood up, helping his struggling wife to her feet.
"We had a...scuffle," Harry said evasively. Remus looked at the blood staining Harry's face and shirt with a raised eyebrow, then at Hermione. Waving his wand to wash away the blood, Harry handed them back their wands.
"As long as you two are okay," Remus said. "We tried getting in earlier, but I think Dobby locked the door, because our unlocking spells didn't work," he continued, gesturing at the sealed door.
"So that's why we couldn't get out," Harry said, glaring at the offending door.
"I'm going to go clean up the mess," Hermione said, Apparating back into the bedroom.
"And I am going to go have a few words with Albus," Harry added darkly as he walked away, leaving Remus and Tonks alone.
"And I have to go to the loo," Tonks said awkwardly, walking around her husband to find a bathroom, leaving Remus alone in the hallway.
Harry walked into the empty office where he stored the photo of Albus Dumbledore and pulled it out of the drawer where it was hidden.
"Okay, I give up, how was I supposed to destroy the Horcruxes?" Harry asked crossly, sitting down in
a chair and crossing his arms. "And I just woke up from a coma, so you better give me straight answers,
Albus," he continued. The photo of Dumbledore sighed at Harry's impatience.
"Harry, there are some things that you must discover for yourself," he said cryptically. This seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Harry stood up and threw his chair into a wall with a crash.
"Enough with the riddles, Dumbledore!" Harry shouted, lapsing into calling his former headmaster by his surname again. "I got all three of the Founders' items in a couple of days, one of which was by post, mind you, and yet I spent most of the past month and a half in a coma because I don't seem to be destroying them the way I'm supposed to. And in that month, people are still dying out there, so I ask again, how was I supposed to destroy them?" he fumed, his infamous temper rising to the surface again. Dumbledore did not answer, nor did he maintain eye contact with Harry. "Is it Gryffindor's sword?" Harry asked. Dumbledore's silence all but confirmed the answer for Harry. "Any reason why you didn't bring this up when I grabbed your photo?" he asked in a forced calm.
"You didn't ask," Dumbledore said simply, still avoiding Harry's gaze. Harry raised his hands above his head in frustration.
"`I didn't ask,'" Harry repeated in exasperation. "Damn it, Dumbledore, for something this important, I shouldn't have to ask!" Sighing irritably, Harry looked at the time on his watch. "Four twenty-five," he muttered to himself. "I'll be back," he told Dumbledore before Disapparating from the room.
Harry found himself back in the Hogwarts Headmaster's office, but it was different from when he was last there. The room seemed so much larger now that all of Dumbledore's various contraptions had been disposed of, leaving a decidedly bare room. Harry looked up at the shelves above him and saw the case that held the sword of Godric Gryffindor. He also saw that the case was empty. Growling in frustration, Harry Apparated back to the office in 12 Grimmauld Place where the Dumbledore's photo was awaiting him.
"Where is the sword?" Harry asked through clenched teeth.
"I don't know," Dumbledore said honestly, finally making eye contact with Harry. Harry narrowed his eyes at the small photo suspiciously.
"But you know who does," Harry stated evenly. When Dumbledore did not answer, Harry sighed tiredly. "I think I know who it is too," he said dully before placing the photo back in its drawer and leaving the room. He walked back to the still closed door to the master bedroom and knocked on the door. "How's the cleaning going?" Harry asked through the door.
"Almost done," Hermione's muffled voice replied from the other side of the door. Several seconds later, the door swung open to show Hermione and a newly cleaned room. "I asked Dobby to unlock it," she said, answering Harry's unanswered question. "What do you want?"
"Apparently, I was supposed to grab the sword of Gryffindor and use that to destroy the Horcruxes, but Dumbledore neglected to inform me," Harry said sourly, crossing his arms.
"Back on a last name basis?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"I'm not very happy with him right now," Harry grumbled. "When I popped over to Hogwarts, the sword wasn't there, so I asked Dumbledore where it was. He said he didn't know, but he seemed to know who does. Considering the amount of faith that he seems to place in that man, I'm thinking that that `someone' is Snape. Is the Wizard's Oath you made him take a couple of weeks ago still in effect?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, it should be," Hermione confirmed. "Why, are you planning for another interrogation?"
"Yup," Harry said simply before stepping out of the doorway, allowing Hermione to exit before they both Apparated into the room where Snape was being held. Apparently, Dobby had allowed a few basic luxuries, such as a bedpan, and the ability to be able to move, as the former Slytherin head of house was no longer bound to a chair.
"Come to interrogate me again, Potter?" Snape sneered.
"Yep," Harry said as he and Hermione transfigured pillows into chairs again. "You see, we're in need of a certain sword, and we have reason to believe that you know where it is. Care to tell us?"
"Where's Draco?" Snape asked, ignoring Harry's question.
"Draco is in a separate room. Now answer the damn question," Harry said firmly. Snape simply snorted and crossed his arms defiantly.
"I won't answer your questions unless I am allowed to see Draco," the greasy man said with a tone of finality. Sighing in frustration, Harry stood up and walked to the far end of the room, Hermione behind him.
"I thought the Oath was supposed to make him tell the truth," Harry whispered.
"It does," Hermione whispered in response, "but it doesn't stop him from refusing to answer us. Harry, I know how much you hate the two, but what he's asking for isn't much. It would probably be easier on all of us if you just complied with his demand," she suggested softly. Sighing in defeat, Harry nodded his head minutely.
"Dobby," Harry said, summoning the small house elf.
"Master Harry Potter Sir calls for Dobby?" he said excitedly. Rolling his eyes at being called "master," Harry looked down at the house elf.
"Dobby, could you bring Draco Malfoy in here with us, please?" Harry asked with a sour look on his face. Dobby's ears drooped, and he nodded reluctantly. Without a word, Dobby disappeared, only to reappear seconds later with a protesting Draco Malfoy in tow.
"...Get off of me, you filthy vermin!" Malfoy yelled at Dobby. Then the blonde-haired former Slytherin looked around in confusion. When he laid his eyes on Harry and Hermione, he let out a high-pitched scream. "Vampires!" he shrieked, running towards the door and rattled the doorknob in vain trying to escape.
"Okay, I've brought Malfoy here," Harry said, ignoring Malfoy's fearful whimpers as he continued his attempts to escape, "now tell me, where is Gryffindor's sword?" Snape inhaled and exhaled deeply several times before uncrossing his arms and turning to face his former students.
"I can't tell you exactly, but I can take you there," he said simply. Harry considered what Snape had said for several moments before sighing and motioning for the older man to stand up.
"All right, let's go," he said, before asking Dobby to unlock the door. As soon as the enchantment had been lifted, Malfoy dashed towards the door, but Hermione grabbed him by the collar of his robes and pulled him back. After conjuring a pair of manacles and locking Snape's hands behind his back, the three of them walked out of 12 Grimmauld Place, leaving Malfoy alone in the newly locked room.
Once Harry and Hermione had escorted Snape past the extent of the anti-apparation wards, Snape closed his eyes and concentrated on their destination. With a crack, the three of them disappeared from the streets of London and found themselves standing in front of a large lake in the middle of a forest, the smooth surface of the water reflecting the pale moonlight.
"There's only a charm placed on the area to negate any bubble-head charms and a colony of grindylows guarding the sword," Snape informed his captors without prompting.
"I'll get it," Hermione said automatically. When Harry opened his mouth to protest, she held up a hand to silence him. "You destroyed the last two Horcruxes, the least I can do is this," Hermione said as she shrugged off her robe and kicked off her shoes. "Wish me luck," she said as she waded into the chilly water. Once she had waded deep enough that the water level had reached her waist, she dove down into the depths.
Four minutes later, she still had not surfaced, and Harry was pacing nervously.
"Oh, will you sit down," Snape snapped testily at Harry. "She's a vampire Potter, she can't drown."
"Shut it Snivellus," Harry spat, continually pacing back and forth until he had formed a shallow trench in the gravel. Almost a minute later, Hermione breached the surface, the glittering sword of Godric Gryffindor in hand.
"Sorry it took me so long," Hermione gasped as she dragged herself onto shore, her wet clothes weighing her down. "I ran into a school of grindylows and had to fight them off without my wand. I'm fine," she added flippantly when Harry opened his mouth to ask if she was alright. Setting the sword down and grabbing her wand out of her robe, Hermione cast a drying charm on herself before sitting down to put her shoes back on.
After Hermione had finished redressing herself, the three figures Apparated back to the street in front of 12 Grimmauld Place before walking in the front door and taking Snape back to his room.
"Wait, after taking you to the sword, I'm still stuck in that infernal room?" Snape asked incredulously as Harry and Hermione escorted him upstairs.
"Yes," Harry replied shortly. "Despite that, you are still a prisoner, and I don't see that changing anytime soon." After releasing Snape's hands and throwing him back inside his room, Harry and Hermione walked back into the room where the cup and locket Horcruxes had been destroyed with their newly acquired sword. Setting the sword down onto the table, Harry Apparated to the Chamber of Secrets and returned with Ravenclaw's diadem, the last of the material Horcruxes.
"Together?" Harry asked, holding out the sword to Hermione. After considering for a moment, Hermione wrapped her hand around Harry's, and together they brought the blade tip down on the center jewel of the Horcrux. With a horrific screech that sounded like metal scraping against metal, the tip of the sword slowly penetrated the large sapphire adorning the diadem. As the Horcrux shuddered, Harry and Hermione gripped the sword with both hands to keep the sword steady. Soon, a wisp of green and black smoke started drifting out of the crystal, giving an unearthly scream before disappearing. After several minutes of trying to keep the sword in contact with the diadem, any magical resistance they were fighting disappeared, and their combined strength sent them sprawling onto the table and the sword and diadem flying into the wall. When it impacted, the diadem broke and fell to the ground in two equal pieces, the jewel split cleanly in half. And the best thing was there was no coma-inducing explosion accompanying it.
"We did it," Hermione gasped, not really believing it. "We actually did it!" She reached over and pulled Harry into a hug. Sharing her excitement, Harry instinctively kissed Hermione on the cheek as she held him in her embrace.
"Only Nagini and Voldemort himself to go," Harry whispered, not quite believing it himself. When Hermione pulled away, Harry looked at his watch. Six forty-five, it read; the sun would be rising soon. "Tomorrow night," Harry whispered triumphantly. "Voldemort's reign of terror ends tomorrow night."
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Whew! Eight pages! I think this is my longest chapter yet for this fic!
Only a couple more chapters until the end of Voldemort. I've got something else to throw at them afterwards, though, so this story will extend a bit longer than that.
Don't forget to read and review!
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