Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Harry Potter. Which is a shame, because it'd have gone Harmony if I did…
A/N: An idea I had just after reading DH to make right things after the crapilogue. Hope you'll like the story, and please if you read, review, thanks.
This is the fixed version, as there was a passage that could create confusion about Harry being reunited with Lily after his death. I didn't mean Lily his daughter but his mother. So, I changed the sentence to make it clearer.
After The Night, Sun Shines
Chapter Four: Fighting
Harry kept looking at the little piece of parchment in shock. They had got his wife and daughter, and wanted him to go alone in their hideout.
It was a veiled request to go there and surrender to them so they may kill him. And then, they would kill Ginny, Lily, and all his friends.
He had been so stupid to think that with such a menacing group at large he could entrust the safety of his family to others, when it should have been himself who should have looked after them. He never even alerted them of the peril, like Ron had done with Hermione.
He had been all but a good husband in that situation, and now he could not even move.
Luna must have sensed his blaming of himself, because she softly touched his hand.
"It's not your fault, Harry" she said, trying to regain her usual composure so that she could comfort him. He nodded, unconvinced, and Luna knew who could help him.
Sighing, she left, leaving him alone.
It was just few minutes, but it could have been hours, before his door opened again. He had not moved, his eyes still staring blankly at his desk, when he felt someone hugging him and a mass of brown hair tickling his face.
"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry" Hermione whispered soothingly to him. "But you must be strong for them, you know that, right?"
Harry knew he was safe in her arms, and let all the disappointment he felt toward himself be released in the form of tears. He let them fall, and Hermione could only keep holding him, whispering soothing words, her own heart breaking at his pain. She wished she could help him, not knowing that her mere presence meant to him more than she ever imagined.
Minutes later, he collected himself, and Hermione noticed for the first time the piece of parchment on his desk. She read it.
"You're going, right?" she said, knowing him all too well.
He nodded.
Hermione sighed, and nodded too. "Take Ron with you" she said, and he knew it was not a suggestion, it was more of an order.
"No" he stubbornly said. "If everything goes bad…I don't want you to remain alone. Ron can defend you and the kids if the need comes, he's a great Auror, and…" but he was silenced by a finger on his lips.
"I can defend myself and my kids, Harry" she said, and he saw in her eyes she was serious about this. She was not starting a fight because it was the last thing he needed but he could see him underestimating her duelling abilities was not appreciated.
"I know" he said, an hint of a smile coming to his lips. If he had learned something at Hogwarts, it was that he didn't want to be on the business end of Hermione's wand.
She softened too. "Take Ron with you. And other Aurors too"
"They said to go alone" Harry pointed out.
"I know. But it's a trap" she reasoned, and Harry sincerely laughed.
She looked at him as he had suddenly gone mental.
"Hermione, I bloody well know it's a trap!" he said, still smiling and shaking his head. Here he was, Head of the Aurors, and she thought he couldn't recognize a trap!
She realized the absurdity of that all, and laughed softly too.
"I will take Ron with me, and Aurors too. But not in the open. No, they will be concealed under Invisibility Cloaks and with charms, and they won't intervene if not needed" he seriously said then. He appreciated how Hermione had managed to lift his spirits even in such a dire moment, it meant the world to him because he needed just that to be able to effectively plan a rescue mission.
She nodded, and left so that he could work on the operation. Out of his office, she leaned on the wall, closing her eyes. She could still feel the heartbreak at Harry's lost expression when she entered that same room, she had never seen his so empty. But then, just few words with her refilled him, and his green eyes, those orbs she had always felt drawn to, flared again with determination, and strength. She knew that if someone could save Ginny and Lily, it was him. And then, she remembered the sound of his laughter, so sudden, but so sincere, and the feeling of warmth that engulfed her own heart at that.
As soon as she was out of the room, Harry dashed to Ron's office through the door connecting their offices.
"Blimey" his best mate said, rubbing his neck, after he had explained him the situation.
"So, will you come with me?" he asked. He knew his friend would not desert him anymore, but still he gave him the chance to back away.
"Of course I'm coming, Harry!" Ron said. "It's my sister and my niece we are talking about after all!"
The two nodded at each other, then Harry laid a map on the table. "They said to go to Slytherin's Nest. It's the equivalent of Godric's Hollow, but for Salazar Slytherin. He was born there, and there he resided for most of his life" Harry explained.
"The village's small, it won't be difficult to find them, if they are as large a group as we have been told they are" he continued. Ron nodded, taking notes. "As for how we get there, I was thinking about Portkeys. We can set many of them, and it's safer than Floo to an unknown village. Remember that only me should be visible"
The two of them went over some other details concerning the plan, then Ron made copies of the notes he had taken, to be given to whoever was going to come with them, and they left the office to go and collect all the most experienced Aurors.
As they were reuniting the group in the briefing room, Teddy came running.
"Harry!" he said, out of breath. "I just heard. I want to come too"
"No" Harry said. "You've just joined the ranks, you've not the necessary experience"
"Come on, Harry, this is bullshit" Teddy insisted, and everyone gasped. No one had ever been disrespectful of Head Auror Potter in front of others without getting punished.
The two men looked at each other in the eyes. "If a group is trying to bring Voldemort's ideas up again, I want to fight" Teddy said then, and Harry remembered himself saying almost the same thing years and years ago when he found out about the Order of the Phoenix.
Finally, he sighed, and nodded. Teddy grinned, and Harry smiled back wistfully. He saw so much of Remus in him, day after day…
"But, Auror Lupin, you'll have to serve night shifts for two weeks for being disrespectful of your superior" Harry added, looking at the boy sternly, letting him know his outburst hadn't gone unnoticed, nor it was appreciated.
The group then entered the room, where Harry explained the plan. Three solid hours after the kidnapping had been discovered, they were ready to go.
One after one the Portkeys they had set activated, and they were whisked away from the Ministry and into a dark landscape. All the Aurors but Harry were covered in Invisibility Cloaks and with Disillusionment Charms over themselves. All of them had a second wand hid in their robes, just in case they were Disarmed.
As they advanced through the streets of the village, they looked right and left for clues as to where the Voldemort's Avengers would be waiting for Harry. They came up to a battered house, large enough to contain lots of people. Harry just had a feeling Ginny and Lily would be there. You can call it sixth sense, or whatever, but he just knew that was the building.
As they approached it, no one noticed a raven crow fly from a nearby tree and into a window on the back on the house. Or, better, no one paid it much attention. After all, it was just a bird disturbed by their presence, right?
Stopping just for a moment to collect his thoughts and focus better, Harry closed his eyes and sighed.
"We're here with you mate" Ron whispered from his right. Harry nodded and broke through the door.
So it began. He was faced with at least fifty people, all wands pointed toward him.
"So nice of you to join us before it was due, Potter" Van Grauteren welcomed him with his soft, yet dangerously menacing voice, twirling his wand into his hand.
"But, I was in the impression to have told you to come alone" he added then, his grey eyes flaring with anger, and with a flick of his wand, all of Harry's fellow Aurors were exposed. Harry wondered how could have he thought it was going to be that easy to trick their opponents, but there was no time to dwell on that.
He looked around the room and saw Ginny and Lily, who were bound to a wall thanks to chains placed on their wrists and ankles.
As all the Aurors took out their wands, the tension in the room intensified ten folds. Teddy, who was the most nervous of them all, involuntarily fired an hex at the closest Avenger, and that set the battle in motion.
As Harry ran to try and break his wife and daughter free from the chains, he was blocked by Rostrom, who stepped in his path.
"Crucio!" the man cried, but Harry managed to dodge the curse.
"Expelliarmus!" he cried then, and suddenly he remembered Remus' words from before he started the Horcrux hunt, "Don't let Expelliarmus become your signature" his former Defense professor had counselled him. It seemed the Disarming Spell was still his first choice, even after all these years.
Rostrom deflected it easily, and then started circling Harry for an hole in his defense.
Ron was duelling two of the bad guys, and he had his hands pretty full at the moment, so he could not help him.
The Aurors were less in number, their hope had been to take the Avengers by surprise, but it had backfired. Now, they were all fighting valiantly, but struggling to remain alive more than attacking.
Van Grauteren sneered once he managed to kill his opponent in duel, and turned toward Harry.
"This is punishment for not respecting my orders, Potter" he said. Then he aimed his wand at Ginny, and Harry could see the green light of the Killing Curse travel from the man's wand tip to her chest in barely few seconds, then her limp form hung to the wall by the chains.
His heart was tore apart at the sight, but more than that at the fact that Lily had to witness her mother being killed. The little girl had her eyes fixated on her mother's form, calling her through tears, as Ginny would not respond.
The distraction of the event caused Harry to lose focus on the duel he was conducting. His ears barely heard the incantation leave Rostrom's mouth.
"Sectumsempra!"
He knew that curse, and he sure enough didn't want to be on the receiving end of it, so he automatically collapsed to the floor, avoiding the light of the spell that barely grazed his arm, causing a deep gash to be opened there. Luckily, it was not his wand arm.
As he was falling, the words came to his mouth as a reflex, "Petrificus Totalis" and Rostrom fell limp on the ground. He couldn't cast the Shield Charm quickly enough as his wand was still casting the Sectumsempra curse.
The battle was in full swing now, and Van Grauteren could not kill Lily as it was in his plans because he was attacked by Teddy and a fellow Auror. They kept firing curses at the man, and he could just defend himself.
However, even if he was occupied and Rostrom was down, there was another bloodthirsty, dangerous, ruthless member of the group still going.
Velvet McGish had just killed another of the Aurors, and pointed her wand at the little girl held captive at the wall on the opposite side of the room.
"Crucio!" she cried, and Lily writhed in pain, crying. Harry's heart broke again, and he swept away the two Avengers that were duelling him, blasting them away with Reducto. He needed to protect his little girl, no matter what.
He then advanced toward the black haired woman, but it was too late. She was aware of the danger, and cast the Killing Curse before he could reach her. Harry stopped in his tracks and watched in horror as the light approached his little girl, and prayed, if there was a God, to be taken in her place.
"Take me, not Lily. Take me and keep her safe" he prayed, closing his eyes. He would have got in the path of the curse, if he could, but he was too far, and he couldn't make it. He jumped all the same, trying.
His heart plummeted when he saw the green light breeze past him, merely inches from his head, and he closed his eyes. His baby girl was going to die, and it was all his fault. He couldn't protect her like he had sworn he would do.
Then he heard her voice.
"Uncle Ron!" she cried, and Harry turned to see that his best friend had managed to shield her, at the cost of his own life.
"How touching" McGish sneered, and Van Grauteren laughed coldly too. But they had stepped too far.
From Harry's body raw magic was emitted in waves. He started opening a path from himself to the woman, but Teddy got there first.
"You bitch" he growled.
"So, the kid's come to play" she mocked him, but he was not troubled by her remark. He instead assaulted her with every spell he knew, and a couple of his fellow Aurors looked in awe at the boy. They never expected him to be already this good in duel with dark wizards.
Velvet was at a loss too. She had never lost a duel, and yet this boy was pushing her to her limits.
In the end, he Disarmed her, and stunned her.
Harry then turned his attention on the leader, and got to him in no time. Everyone else in his path never stood a chance, and so it was soon just the two of them. The other Aurors, although suffering some losses, had neutralized the remaining Avengers.
"So, Potter. We duel" Vincent snarled.
"That we do" Harry replied, and attacked first. "Sectumsempra!" he cried.
Vincent managed to avoid the spell, and fought back. "Crucio!"
Harry was hit by the curse, but he had learned to sustain pain through his years at the Dursley. Who knew it would come handy to be beaten so roughly by his cousin and uncle for ten years, he ironically mused.
Then, he attacked again, trying to transfigure the man. As enraged as he was, he would not stoop so low as to actually kill. But Vincent had no remorse in doing that.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Harry closed his eyes, wishing death to take him. He knew he would be reunited with Ginny and his parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore and although the thought of leaving Albus and James alone was sad, he knew he would be with loved ones there.
But then, he would be leaving Hermione alone with Rose, Hugo and his two kids if he died, he reasoned. He couldn't leave her alone through that. He wouldn't.
So, he snapped his eyes open, and saw Van Grauteren sneering, savouring his victory. He saw the green light mere inches from him, and just then, his wand hand moved of its own accord, and a white wall erupted in front of him, engulfing the curse.
Shock reverberated on the faces of all present, and his opponent had not the reflexes quick enough to fight again when he saw that. Harry's Disarming Spell knocked Van Grauteren off his feet and against a wall, where he hit his head and fell unconscious.
Once he was secured with magical ropes by one of the Aurors, Harry let himself fall to his knees, and let the tears fall.
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