The Horrors of War
By: FayeValentine00
Chapter 20
Harry went through the entire first level of the house without finding a single soul. He was certain that he was being watched but getting to Hermione was his only concern. Once he knew that she was safe then he'd be able to deal with everything else. Until that time, he was resigned to feeling frantic.
In the very last room on the ground level, Harry saw something odd on the floor. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was a door that led to some kind of basement. Common sense told him that by going down into the hole, he would be walking right into Voldemort's grasp but Harry didn't have a choice. He adjusted his grip on his wand, took a deep breath and climbed down the ladder.
At the base of the ladder, Harry found himself at the end of a long, dark hallway. The only light came from a room about 100 feet away. Slowly, he walked towards the light wondering what he was going to find when he rounded that last corner. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and his hands were trembling so badly that he was shocked to still be grasping his wand at all.
He rounded the corner and immediately found what he'd been looking for. Hermione was sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room. Her arms were bound behind her and her feet were tied to the chair legs but other then that, she looked unharmed. Her eyes were focused toward the ground and although she was trying to hide it, Harry could see the tension in her body. She was afraid.
Just thinking of what Voldemort and his minions may have put Hermione through in the last few hours made Harry's blood boil. He'd sworn to himself that he would protect her and, in that, he had failed but the results were not what Voldemort would be expecting. The final straw had broken the camel's back. The battle had begun.
"Hermione!"
Her head snapped up and the moment that her brown eyes met his green ones, a large smile spread across her face. He could see some of the tension leave her body immediately as she yelled out the first thing that'd come to her mind.
"Harry! I knew you'd come."
Thinking only of freeing her, Harry took a step forward but stopped the moment Hermione yelled out, "Stop! Don't come any closer! It's a trap!"
He came to a halt so quickly that he nearly fell into the room but, thankfully, he was able to stabilize himself. "A trap?" He looked around the seemingly wide open room that held nothing but Hermione, the chair that she was sitting on, a small table and a glass of water. "What kind of trap?"
"I'm not sure," she answered, looking frustrated at her sudden lack of knowledge. "I just know that something isn't right. Don't come any closer."
"But… What am I supposed to do, just leave you here?"
"You must! You have to go find Voldemort." She'd opened her mouth to say more but stopped when they both heard a loud pop and Voldemort appeared in the middle of the room, directly between Harry and Hermione.
"Harry Potter. You really are so very, very predictable," he spoke in an almost bored tone, his wand held tightly in his hand.
That's how the two men stood in silence for a long time. Eye to eye, wands pointed directly at the others hearts, fury burning in their eyes and hate growing in their souls. So many emotions began to well in Harry as he thought of all the people that this "man" had taken from Harry. Every person who'd ever meant a damn to him had been killed except for Hermione but now he held her at his mercy as well.
"Let Hermione Go," Harry spoke slowly through clenched teeth.
"I don't think so, Potter. Imagine my surprise when one of my followers came to me with an article in The Daily Prophet talking about famous Harry Potter's new girlfriend," he said, spitting out Harry's name as if it were a curse.
"Leave her out of this!" Every muscle in Harry body was trembling with rage. "This is between you and me. She has nothing to do with this!"
"Oh, but she does. You see, Harry, seventeen years ago, you nearly cost me everything. It took me all this time to come back to my rightful place as the most feared wizard in the world. I think it's only fitting that you should face the same pain that I did," Voldemort spoke calmly as a smile spread across his lips.
"You'll have to kill me first," Harry countered in a cold tone that surprised even him because it was at that very moment he realized how his father must have felt the night that he'd sacrificed his life for his family.
Over the years, Harry had heard many people talk about being willing to die for another person but the true weight of those words suddenly feel upon him. Being able to sacrifice yourself for a person you love means truly that. You'll no longer be in a place where you can be happy with the person being saved. You'll only ever have the peace of mind that your loved one will be able to live in peace, even in your absence. It meant never seeing, touching or feeling that person again. It meant giving up every selfish though in your head. It meant that you placed that person's life and happiness above your own.
As the words came from Harry's mouth, he knew that he meant it all. He was willing to die if it meant giving Hermione even one more moment of happiness in her life. She meant that much to him and he felt that she deserved that type of sacrifice if it came down to it.
"So brave, Harry. Just like your father was … such a fool," Voldemort spat while stepping closer to Harry, his wand not wavering once.
"Don't you ever speak of my father!" Harry's rage was beginning to surface. Try as he might to hold it in, he couldn't.
"What is it with your family and Mudbloods?" Voldemort asked with a sickening grin as he nodded towards Hermione. "Really, with all of your potential, you still consort with them."
Suddenly Harry realized what Voldemort was trying to do and much to his surprise, he realized that the tactics were working. He'd been trying to get Harry angry, waiting for him to make a mistake. Waiting for his moment to end it all and take his place as the greatest dark wizard to ever live.
Harry realized that he had to do something. He had to reverse the chain of events before things had gone too far. He had to stall Voldemort until he could think of something else.
"Well that is certainly the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" Harry asked with a sneer that was surprisingly reminiscent of Draco. "Last I checked, you were a Mudblood."
An unearthly sound came out of Voldemort that was a bizarre mixture of wild fury and mild amusement. "Shut your mouth, Potter!… Wait, I think I'll shut it for you." Without missing a beat, Voldemort set off a curse that Harry narrowly missed. "Avada Kedavra!"
While dogging, Harry managed to get a bit closer to Hermione but not quiet close enough because Voldemort was still blocking his path.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
Harry's youth seemed to give him a slight edge in the speed category because his curse hit, sending Voldemort backwards and slamming into the wall about 10 feet away from Hermione. Knowing this might be the only chance he'd have to free her, he ran straight to her side. There was no dramatic movie-style kiss, no hug, and not even a simple thank you. He simply muttered a spell to release her bindings before turning around to find Voldemort's wand right in his face.
"No more talking, Potter. It's time we end this now! Avada Kedavra!"
A split second before the spell was completed; Hermione threw her entire body at Harry, knocking them both to the ground unceremoniously. He actually felt the curse pass their heads as it narrowly missed it's target.
He heard Voldemort curse under his breath with obvious annoyance, which seemed to make Harry feel even angrier. It wasn't until he felt Hermione's body lift off of his that he realized that his nemesis had picked her up by her hair and had his wand pointed straight at her face. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion after that.
Harry could see Hermione's expression of sheer anger, determination, and hatred as she looked into the face of the man who threatened her life. There was no more fear showing. It was as if she had turned off that part of her emotions. She, too, had seen people she loved be murdered by Voldemort but, most of all, she'd seen the way this man has tried to ruin every aspect of Harry's life. The time for being a sympathetic, law-abiding citizen of the wizarding world was over. This battle was personal to everyone.
"What a brave little Mudblood we have here. Trying to save the life of the man you love," he muttered in a dry tone as if he was bored of seeing her already. "Since you're so eager to die, I guess I'll just have to help you on your way."
He flung Hermione out about 10 feet in front of him and immediately said the words that Harry had been dreading ever since he learned that she'd been kidnapped. "Goodbye Mudblood … Avada Kedavra."
Using all his strength, Harry threw himself at Hermione. Just as the spell left Voldemort's wand, Harry found his target. He took the full blast of Voldemort's curse in the back and a blinding green light filled the room. The only sound to be heard was Hermione's scream as she watched Harry receive the most horrible of all curses.
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Obviously, this is not the end. I will update again soon but I just want to take a minute to thank everyone that has read along with my story for all 20 chapters so far. We only have a few more chapters to go (2 or 3) so all of your reviews and support have really meant the world to me. I thank you all more then you will ever know.
Muddgutts - one of my reviewers from FanFiction.net has made some beautiful fan art for this fic. I will post the links with the final chapter. He also put Jessica in his fic so check it out. It is sooooo great. LOL
Nevermore - Made a wonderful cover for my story, which will also be posted with my final chapter.
If anyone else has fan art or anything for this story, I would LOVE to see it. I think that fan art and fan fics are the biggest compliment that any writer could receive. ^_^
One question for everyone … Should I write a sequel? Let me know. I would really like to know what you want.
Thanks Again,
Sarah *FayeValentine00*