Fic: The Battle of Hogwarts (the Harry/Ginny reshuffle) by Lyras
To: jtav
Title: The Battle of Hogwarts (the Harry/Ginny reshuffle)
Author: lyras
Pairing: Harry/Ginny (background mentions of other canon pairings)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~4,000
Summary: AU: Cedric survived the graveyard scene in GOF to back up Harry's story about Voldemort's return. This has interesting permutations for the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort.
Author/Artist's Notes:jtav requested a "what if x never happened AU", and mentioned that she loved Cedric. So I took my starting point from the idea that Cedric didn't die in the graveyard scene in GoF. Because he backed up Harry's story about Voldemort's return, the wizarding establishment, including the Ministry of Magic, accepted the idea much more quickly than in canon, which meant that the Ministry was better prepared to deal with Voldemort and the Death Eaters...at least for a while. Dumbledore was murdered, as he was in canon, and Minerva McGonagall became headmistress at the beginning of Harry's seventh year. Meanwhile, the DA refined and developed into a strong fighting force under the leadership of Harry, Ginny and Neville. Those members who are still at school maintain close links with those who have left.
jtav, I really hope you enjoy this! I loved Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but I had great fun re-imagining it in this story. Thank you so much to magglenagall for beta-reading and untangling my muddles in a very short timeframe. Any remaining inconsistencies and errors are my own.
The castle held its breath. Harry and Ginny stood to the left of the main doors, Ron and Hermione behind them. Neville, Luna, Seamus and Dean occupied similar positions on the right. Between them were Kingsley, Cedric, Tonks and the rest of the Aurors who had escaped from the Ministry of Magic, plus the professors, and everyone else who had poured in to help defend the castle.
A hundred wands were poised to strike. Outside, the beat of footsteps grew louder.
Harry glanced at Ginny. She had tied her hair into a ponytail, and her determined features were clearly visible in the dim lantern-light.
She caught his gaze and smiled. "Ready?" she whispered.
He nodded. Oh, was he ready. He'd been waiting for this moment for three years - if not his entire life.
"On my word," Kingsley said quietly as the steps in the courtyard halted. "Go!" He flung the doors wide and dashed out into the darkness, followed by his Aurors, the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army.
One hour earlier
As Professor McGonagall rose, silence spread outward from the staff table until it reached the ends of the House tables. She cleared her throat.
"Fifteen minutes ago, I received word that the Ministry of Magic had fallen to Voldemort's supporters. Minister Rufus Scrimgeour is dead." She held up a hand to quell the uproar that broke out. "Listen, please! Firstly, I realise that many of you have friends and relatives working at the Ministry. At the moment, I have no information about anyone's safety, but I would like to remind you that it is Saturday. The building would have been mostly empty."
There was more chatter, quieter this time. Harry looked at Ginny, who said through pinched lips, "You know who I bet was there?"
He frowned, and Ron, sitting across the table, interjected, "Percy."
She nodded. "He's always there."
"Quiet!" snapped McGonagall. "We have no time to waste. I'm also informed that Voldemort is likely to come to Hogwarts very soon." The hall filled with gasps and several people screamed, but the headmistress did not falter. "It seems he has business here."
Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione, and concentrated on looking blank. He had a good idea what that business might be - or rather, two good ideas. Was Voldemort coming for him, or for the Ravenclaw Horcrux? If it was the latter, he was in for a disappointment; they had found and destroyed it with the sword of Gryffindor only that morning. But if Voldemort was coming for him...
He had told no one about the deepest secret that had emerged from the pensieve Dumbledore had bequeathed to him. If anyone knew, they would tell him to ignore it, and that wasn't possible. Of those who might have helped, Dumbledore was dead, and Snape was holed up somewhere, trapped in his own machinations. Besides, Harry was the one who had to die. Nobody else would do.
Ginny squeezed his hand and he squeezed back gratefully. Whatever was coming, he wouldn't face it alone.
"Now, we don't have much time," McGonagall continued. "This may only be a rumour, but I won't take risks with children under my care. Prefects, please take all those who are underage to the entrance hall. From there, they will be evacuated to Hogsmeade via a secret route. Anyone who is of age..." She broke off as several figures stumbled into the room, led by Kingsley Shacklebolt.
The uproar was instant. People ran from every table to greet the newcomers; a sobbing Hannah Abbott dashed past Harry towards a middle-aged man who must have been her father, while Ernie Macmillan strode over to shake Cedric Diggory's hand heartily. Ginny's fingers dug into Harry's hand, and when he followed her gaze, he found Percy standing a little way behind Kingsley, wiping blood out of his eyes.
"He's OK, then," he offered, but Ginny ignored him, her eyes fixed on her brother.
When he saw them, he hurried over. "Ron." They shook hands sombrely. For a moment, Harry thought Percy was going to jump over the table and hug Ginny, but instead he just wobbled a little where he stood, then bent and kissed her cheek. "Ginny. It's so good to see you both."
"Glad you made it out," Ginny said, adding fiercely: "You would be there, wouldn't you!"
"I had work to do." Percy dabbed at his temple with a handkerchief, smearing the blood still further. "Listen, on my way here I stopped off at home to warn Mum and Dad." He hesitated. "I think the Death Eaters might have got there first."
Ron and Ginny swore in unison.
"I know it looks bad," Percy said, "but it could be worse. There was a bit of a mess, but no blood, and no...no bodies. So they're alive and in one piece. That's the important thing." With his urgent frown and wonky glasses, he looked quite fierce, for once.
"Did you check on the others?" Ginny's voice was strangled.
He shook his head. "I sent messages, but Kingsley told everyone to regroup here as soon as we could. I put that in the message, too. If the twins and Bill are all right, they'll be here soon."
"Quiet, everybody!" Professor McGonagall's voice echoed around the room, amplified by her wand. As silence fell, she continued. "Auror Shacklebolt informs me that if we do have to fight tonight, we won't do it alone. The bulk of the Aurors will support us, as will many others. Messages have been sent out, and anyone who wishes to contact friends or family may do so. There are many allies who will fight for what is right against Voldemort." She laid a steadying hand on the table in front of her. "As I said, we will shortly evacuate all underage students. Those who are of age may choose to go, or to remain here."
Someone whooped at the Hufflepuff table; Harry looked across to see Ernie nodding in satisfaction.
"Don't make your decision lightly," McGonagall said, her voice rich with emotion. "If Voldemort does come here tonight, there will be bloodshed. Blood has already been shed today. I don't want anyone to think that this will just be a bit of fun, or to stay because they're afraid of looking cowardly. We are at war. Prefects, lead off, please."
The next hour was full of confusion. Students, professors and Ministry of Magic staff assembled in the entrance hall. While the crush became more bearable when the younger students were led off towards the statue of the one-eyed witch, the numbers of those who remained were constantly augmented by supporters entering through the front door. Remus arrived and ran to hug Tonks. Fred, George, Bill and Fleur marched inside, their hands full of joke shop products. Severus Snape created a sensation when he stalked through the entrance and, ignoring the hundred-odd wands trained on him, marched up to Professor McGonagall and declared his loyalty. Meanwhile, Harry became embroiled in the argument that he had dreaded with Ginny.
"Ginny, you're underage. This could be dangerous." They were standing in a space left by one of the suits of armour that Professor McGonagall had Summoned to defend the castle; it provided a small island of calm amid the turmoil.
"You know what's dangerous, Harry? Telling me I can't help my friends because it might be dangerous." Ginny's voice shook with fury, but tears glimmered in her eyes. "I'll be seventeen in a few months, and I was fourteen when we fought the Death Eaters at the Ministry. Tell me that wasn't dangerous."
Harry had no idea how to reply. They hadn't been boyfriend and girlfriend at the Ministry of Magic, but he suspected that pointing this out would not go down well.
Ginny took his hand. "I'm in this as deep as anyone. My parents are missing, and Merlin knows where they've gone or why. You're here. Five of my brothers are here. There is no way I'm going to go off and wait somewhere safe - which won't be safe for long if things go badly here - to find out what happens to you all."
He pulled her close, burying his face in her neck and drinking in her scent. "If anything happens to you, I...I don't know what I'll do."
"Yeah, well the same goes for you," she muttered. "And I'd love to tell you, no heroics, but I know what you're like." She pulled away to look into his face. "That's why I love you, so I suppose I've no right to complain."
He loved her so much then that his heart felt as if it might burst. But there was the pensieve and what it had told him, and suddenly, he couldn't bear for her not to know, not to be prepared. "Ginny..."
She kissed him fiercely. "Don't. I can see from your face that you are planning on some heroics. Don't tell me, because I'll only be tempted to talk you out of whatever they are."
He hugged her. "Then I won't," he said slowly. "But listen, there's something you should know. In case - well, just in case."
"Go on." She looked strained, as if waiting for a blow.
"You know that snake that Voldemort always has with him?"
She nodded. "Not likely to forget it, am I?" She wasn't. Two years ago, Nagini had bitten George during a raid and he'd almost died. The previous summer, the Order of the Phoenix had clashed with Death Eaters on the night of Dumbledore's death, and Nagini's attack on Bill had left him with permanent scars.
"It's got to die. We've got to kill it, whatever else happens. Even if I ki-I mean, even if Voldemort dies and it looks as if everything's okay...the snake has to die, too."
"Okay," Ginny began. "But-"
"Hey." Ron jogged their arms and came to a halt beside them. "I appreciate that you're madly in love, and everything, but this is not the moment. They'll be here any time now." He did a double-take and glared at Ginny. "And you should be heading down that passage to Hogsmeade right now."
"Yeah?" snapped Ginny. "Well, it's too late - they've all gone."
Ron glanced at Harry. "We know where the passage starts. We should take her there."
Ginny opened her mouth, but Harry forestalled her. "I think she should stay if she wants. It's too late now, anyway."
Ron rolled his eyes. "If Mum asks later, I did not know you were here, okay?"
"Fine by me," Ginny said.
The courtyard dissolved into chaos the instant that the two armies met. Voldemort had not only brought wizards to fight on his behalf: several giants led the charge, shaking the earth beneath their feet and scattering entire groups of opponents with every step. They were backed up by a horde of Acromantulae that had screaming defenders backing into the people behind them. For a moment, it looked as if all might be lost immediately.
Voldemort's hiding behind this lot with his friends, as usual, Harry thought angrily, looking for a route between the nearest giant's feet. Then Neville ran forward with a group of DA members and began pitching ropes towards the giant's head.
"Bring it down!" he yelled as several ropes lassoed the giant. "Bring it down before it gets too close to the castle." The giant strained against the ropes, and twenty students pulled with all their weight. Harry dashed to help, adding his weight to a rope held by Lavender.
The giant trembled, but was still unbelievably heavy. Trying to uproot a tree by pulling at its branches must feel a little like this, Harry thought as he hauled on the rope. Perhaps Neville had the same notion, because he passed his rope over to Ginny and Dean and made for the monster's feet, aiming hexes as he ran. With a roar, the giant thundered from one foot to the other, narrowly missing Neville. Several cracks opened up in the ground, but the giant was still on his feet. Then Neville raised his wand once more. "Tarantallegra!" he bawled, and the incantation was echoed by others in the vicinity. Neville turned towards those who were holding the ropes. "Pull!"
They pulled for all they were worth as the giant lumbered into a dance and slowly, too slowly, collapsed. Harry and the rest sprinted out of the way as it thundered to the ground, sending aftershocks through the courtyard and even farther afield. Twenty Stupefying Charms hit the giant between the eyes. His huge pupils rolled back, and he stopped struggling.
Harry left the others securing the ropes; on the other side of the courtyard, another group of students wrestled with a second giant, while closer at hand, Kingsley and his Aurors were fighting the Acromantulae with fire. As Harry watched, Hagrid shoved his way through the crowd.
"Don' hurt them!" he yelled. "They don' know any better." He dashed through the flames into the mess of huge black legs and was lost to view.
"Hagrid!" shouted Harry, but his voice could not penetrate the din. He turned away, reminding himself that, until Aragog's death, Hagrid had been on good terms with the spiders. He would have to trust that the rapport still held.
He was unaware of the Death Eater bearing down on him until red light shot past his elbow and the man collapsed with a groan, right behind him. Ron seized his arm.
"We can't keep this up for long," he gasped, pointedly not looking at the huge spiders that were still far too near for comfort. "Got to get to Voldemort and his real supporters."
Harry nodded and looked around, thankful for the visibility provided by the moonlight and the glow from the fires. The two armies were fighting in earnest now: he glimpsed Cedric engaging two masked men and halted in case he needed a hand. But Cedric dealt with them effortlessly and turned to hunt for more opponents.
At the edge of the forest, a tall, thin figure was outlined against another fire. Harry set off at a jog, darting between duellers and pausing occasionally to cast jinxes or shield a fellow fighter.
Voldemort was surrounded by Bellatrix Lestrange and all three Malfoys. They raised their wands - the Malfoys half-heartedly, but they did it nevertheless - as Harry slowed to a walk, but Voldemort smiled and waved them aside. Nagini was coiled over his shoulders like an obscene reflection of her master's snakelike features.
"How kind of you to join me, Harry. Have you had a change of heart, perhaps?"
"No." Harry's voice cracked, and he swallowed. "I'll never join you, you know that."
"Master," Bellatrix said breathlessly, "oh, let me kill him for you, my lord."
Voldemort waved her back. "Not this time, Bella. I shall have that pleasure myself."
Harry thought again of what he had learned in the pensieve, and then of Ginny, somewhere behind him, fighting with the rest. Perhaps, if he did this well, it could be a kind of bargain for her safety?
It doesn't work like that, he reminded himself, and held his wand down by his side while Voldemort raised his. He pictured Ginny's smile, the way her eyes sparkled when she was angry and softened when she smiled at him. He pictured her as he'd first seen her, running after the train, her long hair flying behind her, and remembered her running towards him with that fierce joy in her eyes the first time they'd kissed.
The world turned green.
He was sprawled over a gravestone, and around him was nothing but swirling grey mist. For a horrible moment, he thought he was back in Riddle's graveyard. Then the mist cleared to reveal a woman with long, red hair, green eyes and a dusting of freckles across her nose. Her smile held so much tenderness and longing that he ached.
"You've done so well," she said, "really well, Harry. You've been so brave." She looked as if she could never see enough of him, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, but held back. If she wasn't real, he didn't want to know yet.
As he raised himself onto his elbows, other gravestones loomed out of the mist, and he realised that he was in the graveyard at Godric's Hollow, where his parents and the Peverells were buried.
"You were fantastic, Harry," another voice said, and part of the mist solidified into his father. His hair was as messy as Harry's own, and a warm grin dominated his expression.
"So, I did it?" Harry asked. "Voldemort killed me - I mean, the horcrux that was me?"
"You did it," his father said. "Harry, the courage it must have taken...we're so proud."
"I knew you could do it," called someone else. Sirius jogged out of the mist to join the others. He looked like the laughing youth who had been his dad's best man, his handsome face unlined by bitterness, and he wore his shabby clothes with a thoughtless elegance.
"Sirius...I'm sorry," Harry said, and stopped, unsure how to go on. It had been his fault that Sirius had died in the Department of Mysteries, although no one had ever taxed him for it. "I wish..."
"No apologies," ordered Sirius. "I made my own choices, and we're past all that now. None of it matters."
"So...am I dead?" Harry asked. He hadn't expected death to feel quite so uncomfortably like a rough gravestone digging into his bones.
His mother frowned. "I'm not sure." She glanced at the others, who nodded. "I think...I think perhaps you can choose. You can go back, if you want. Or you can go on, with us."
"Will it hurt?"
"Dying?" his father asked, "or living?" He smiled tenderly. "I think both of them will hurt, but in different ways."
Harry closed his eyes and lay back against the gravestone. Close at hand, a woman screamed his name.
"Harry!"
"Oh, look!" Bellatrix's voice scraped against his eardrums. "My lord, it's the Weasley girl. The girlfriend."
That had been Ginny calling his name: she was here; she was in danger. Harry tried to open his eyes, but for a moment, every part of him seemed to be glued in place.
"No, Bella." It was Voldemort's voice. "Let her admire her hapless hero; let her hear how he begged for mercy before he died."
"I don't believe you." Harry's eyes were still closed, but he could see Ginny clearly in his mind's eye, and she had never looked more beautiful to him. "Harry's brave - a hundred times braver than you." Her last word was filled with venom enough to rival a basilisk.
"Perhaps you're right," Voldemort said, sounding amused. "But you see now, don't you, where bravery gets you?"
There was a gasp, and Harry managed to crack open one eye. Ginny was on her knees before Voldemort, clutching her wrist. Her wand lay on the ground a few feet away - too far away.
"I'd rather be dead than pathetic like you," she said, not quite disguising the tremble in her voice. Bellatrix shrieked, and a gash opened across Ginny's throat, barely missing her jugular. Blood oozed from the wound, black in the firelight.
"Enough, Bella," said Voldemort sharply. "I want to look at this one." He stepped forward and circled Ginny, never taking his eyes from her. She stared scornfully ahead, but shuddered when he touched her with a long, thin finger.
"Oh, yes," he said, his voice like silken steel. "I've heard of you, Ginny Weasley. And you've met me before, haven't you?"
Anger finally overcame inertia; Harry bunched his fist around his wand and forced himself to lie still. Betraying himself now would do no one any good.
Slowly, Ginny raised her head to look up at him. "I met a seventeen-year-old megalomaniac," she said, "and you don't seem to have matured much since then...except, your body hasn't aged well, has it?" Voldemort flinched as she reached for his face, ignoring Nagini as if she wasn't there. "Look at you. You don't look human at all. Was it worth it?"
He backed away. "Of course it was worth it, you stupid girl! I'm immortal! Even my prophesied killer couldn't take that away." He turned towards Harry, who snapped his eyes shut and tried not to breathe.
"Yeah." Ginny's voice still trembled, but her words were distinct. "I heard you spent the best part of fifteen years as some kind of shadowy...thing. Must've been fun, being alive without a body."
"Quiet," hissed Voldemort. "You bore me."
"Why? Because I don't pander to you, like everyone else around here?" She paused, and Harry squinted one eye open again. "I have to say, Tom, your supporters don't age well, either."
Bellatrix gave a shriek of fury, but stayed back in response to Voldemort's signal. Ginny looked at the Malfoys, who were conferring quietly a few feet away.
"How's it going, Malfoy? Had a good year?"
Father and son stared at her, and she tossed her ponytail. "I meant you, Draco, obviously. Have you had to kill anyone else, yet, or has Snape always been around to do your dirty work?"
"I...I..." Malfoy looked at his parents, as if hoping for instructions.
"My lord," put in Lucius Malfoy, "speaking of Severus, perhaps I should fetch him. He would wish to be here in the hour of your triumph."
Voldemort waved this away. "Severus is no longer among us."
The Malfoys gaped at one another. Then Lucius stepped forward. "Do you...forgive me for my lack of understanding, my lord, but do you mean that Severus is dead?"
"He had outlived his usefulness, and I had begun to doubt his loyalty," said Voldemort coolly. "But enough of this." He looked down at Ginny, and this time the snake around his shoulders seemed to look with him. As she gazed back, her body went limp and Harry, horrified, recognised the signs of the Imperius Curse.
"You're no use to me alive," Voldemort said, "so I shall make an example of your death. Nagini, you may feast."
The snake slithered to the ground and halted directly in front of Ginny. Harry's eyes opened wide with horror as Nagini leaned back and opened her jaw wide in preparation for a strike. Ginny did not move; she gave no sign that she even saw Nagini.
"Ginny!" Harry yelled and launched himself upright. As Voldemort, Bellatrix and the Malfoys turned to stare at him, Ginny finally moved. Something long, thin and pale glittered in her hand an instant before she stabbed it deep into the point between Nagini's eyes.
The snake howled, an almost human sound that it should never have been able to voice, and fell writhing onto the grass. The basilisk tooth was thrown clear, but its work had obviously been done. After diving for her wand, Ginny staggered to her feet, and Harry ran to embrace her.
"You're amazing," he whispered, and turned to Voldemort, who still seemed to be transfixed by Nagini's death throes. "Another one gone," he said, and Voldemort looked up. Harry shrugged. "The diary and the ring. The cup and the locket - you know we got those, I suppose. The diadem, too, and now Nagini." He swallowed. Ginny's hand was still warm in his. "And me. Not having a very good night, are you?"
"You underestimate me," Voldemort croaked, "if you think those were the only means at my disposal." He held out his wand for Harry's inspection.
Harry's heart filled with fury at the thought of Dumbledore's desecrated tomb. "You mean the Deathly Hallows? Yeah, I heard about those, as well. You're not the only one with a long family lineage." Harry pointed his wand towards the three Malfoys, who were edging away towards the forest, Narcissa's arm firmly around her son's shoulders. "Expelliarmus!"
Draco yelled in shock as his wand flew to join the one already in Harry's hand. They stared at one another.
"If you want to know where Snape is," Harry called to the Malfoys, "look over there." He gestured towards the castle. "Fighting for Dumbledore's Army. Tom just didn't want you to know about his defection."
The noise of the fighting was coming closer, and out of the corner of his eye, Harry could make out a new force approaching from the direction of the main gate. He hoped they were friendly, but there wasn't time to find out. The sky was paling as the night waned, and this needed to end now.
"My lord!" Bellatrix called impatiently, but Voldemort did not respond, too busy looking from Draco to Harry and back again.
"Have you worked it out yet?"
"Hey!" Ginny lunged past Harry, deflecting green light that had been arrowing towards him from Bellatrix's wand. Before he had time to react, she spun away and sent a jinx towards the other woman.
Harry forced himself to address Voldemort again. "Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before he was murdered. Come on, he's so useless, that's got to be the only reason you were keeping him around, along with his pathetic parents." The Malfoys were no longer listening, he noticed; Narcissa was gesticulating in the direction of the forest, and her menfolk were gazing around as if wondering what to do. Harry stared at Voldemort, doing his best to ignore Ginny's grunts of effort as she duelled with Bellatrix. She'd already proved that she could look after herself; he had to trust her.
"I just disarmed Malfoy." In the corner of his vision, the two Malfoy men turned towards the battle, hesitated, and headed for the forest. After shooing them away, Narcissa remained where she was, apparently intent on her sister. "So where does that leave the Elder Wand, now that you've plundered Dumbledore's tomb for it?" Harry didn't try to keep the scorn from his voice.
"I have the wand - I am its master," declared Voldemort, and held it out as if to prove his point.
"Yeah?" Harry clenched his fists. He still wasn't certain if his logic was correct, and he was pretty certain that if he died this time, he would stay dead. He thought of Cedric, who had been saved from death by Wormtail's incompetence in the graveyard at Little Hangleton - incompetence for which Wormtail had later paid with his own death. He thought of his parents, murdered for a prophecy, and of Neville's parents, lost forever because of Voldemort's paranoia. He sent out a silent prayer to all those who had suffered and died because of Tom Riddle. "Let's see, shall we?" He pointed his two wands at the one in Voldemort's hand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled, just as Voldemort opened his mouth.
Silver light exploded against green at the midpoint between the wands, bursting into gold flames that erupted into the sky like the rising sun. Voldemort's wand arced over the light, a thin, dark shadow in the dawn, and flew to meet its new master.
The golden fire surrounded Voldemort, who collapsed onto the grass and lay still. The Elder Wand would not kill Harry, but it had no qualms about false masters.
"Crucio!" shrieked Bellatrix and Harry dived for cover - but she had not aimed for him; had not even, perhaps, noticed that her master was dead. Ginny yelled in agony and fell to the ground.
"Finite incantatem," called Harry desperately, and Ginny crawled onto her knees just as Bellatrix screamed. She had caught sight of Voldemort's body, blackened, crumpled and smaller than it had looked in life.
"Impedimenta," Ginny shouted at her, and hesitated. She glanced at Harry and then back at Bellatrix, who was weeping where she lay, prevented by Ginny's jinx from getting any closer to the man she had worshipped for so long. "Avada-"
"No!" Narcissa Malfoy stepped in front of her sister and gestured towards the castle, where the shouts and screams had taken on a different tone. "It's over," she said.
The battle was indeed over. Harry reached for Ginny's hand as the Acromantulae rippled past and back into the forest, huge legs clacking as they ran. Behind them, those who had fought to defend Hogwarts from Voldemort's forces were charging towards the forest, led by Ron and Hermione. In the distance, several prone - and hopefully well-secured - giants were visible.
A second group approached from the gate, and Harry's heart lifted as he made out Arthur and Molly Weasley among them.
Lucius Malfoy ran from the cover of the trees (Harry hoped viciously that he and Draco had been given a good scare by the Acromantulae) and crouched alongside his wife, who was attempting to coax Bellatrix to her feet. It didn't look as if they were going anywhere just yet, so Harry and Ginny faced the oncoming crowd and waited.
"You didn't tell me you were going to die," Ginny said out of the corner of her mouth.
"I wasn't sure I'd have to," Harry answered.
She squeezed his hand hard. "Next time, whether you're sure or not, I want to know, okay? I know I said I didn't, but I've changed my mind. I don't want any more frights like that. No more secrets."
He pulled her in for a hard hug. "No more secrets."
Then the others were on them: first Ron and Hermione; then Neville, Luna and the rest of Dumbledore's Army. Hagrid wept happy tears over them, apparently oblivious to the welts that covered his body, the results of his attempt to pacify the Acromantulae. People thumped Harry on the back and kissed his cheek, and the air was filled with roars of delight and cries of relief. The sun that had been heralded by the golden fire of clashing wands broke over the horizon, filling the grounds of Hogwarts with warmth and light.
Mrs Weasley hugged them both tightly; her hair was wild and her robes torn, but she looked uninjured. Nearby, an equally dishevelled Mr Weasley was shaking hands with Percy.
"How did you escape?" Ginny yelled over the din.
Molly shook her head fiercely and explained; Harry couldn't catch it all, but gathered something about an Auror named Dawlish and the Imperius Curse.
Through all the greetings, kisses and hugs, he and Ginny held fast to each other's hands, sneaking glances at one another whenever they could. Finally, they had a moment to themselves, and Harry leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Do you want a bit of peace and quiet?"
"Yes," she answered fervently.
Wordlessly, he pulled out his invisibility cloak, which had survived so much and so long, and draped it over them. As he turned to find a way through the crowd, he caught sight of Luna, staring at the spot where they'd just been. She smiled and waved, and only the fact that she was looking in slightly the wrong direction reassured him that she couldn't see them.
Holding Ginny tightly, he pulled her through a gap between Kingsley and Cedric, and out towards the open ground near the lake. There would be time - a lifetime - to talk to everyone else later. Right now, the only person he wanted was the one in his arms, and he intended to keep her there for as long as he could.
Title: The Battle of Hogwarts (the Harry/Ginny reshuffle)
Author: lyras
Pairing: Harry/Ginny (background mentions of other canon pairings)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~4,000
Summary: AU: Cedric survived the graveyard scene in GOF to back up Harry's story about Voldemort's return. This has interesting permutations for the final showdown between Harry and Voldemort.
Author/Artist's Notes:jtav requested a "what if x never happened AU", and mentioned that she loved Cedric. So I took my starting point from the idea that Cedric didn't die in the graveyard scene in GoF. Because he backed up Harry's story about Voldemort's return, the wizarding establishment, including the Ministry of Magic, accepted the idea much more quickly than in canon, which meant that the Ministry was better prepared to deal with Voldemort and the Death Eaters...at least for a while. Dumbledore was murdered, as he was in canon, and Minerva McGonagall became headmistress at the beginning of Harry's seventh year. Meanwhile, the DA refined and developed into a strong fighting force under the leadership of Harry, Ginny and Neville. Those members who are still at school maintain close links with those who have left.
jtav, I really hope you enjoy this! I loved Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but I had great fun re-imagining it in this story. Thank you so much to magglenagall for beta-reading and untangling my muddles in a very short timeframe. Any remaining inconsistencies and errors are my own.
The castle held its breath. Harry and Ginny stood to the left of the main doors, Ron and Hermione behind them. Neville, Luna, Seamus and Dean occupied similar positions on the right. Between them were Kingsley, Cedric, Tonks and the rest of the Aurors who had escaped from the Ministry of Magic, plus the professors, and everyone else who had poured in to help defend the castle.
A hundred wands were poised to strike. Outside, the beat of footsteps grew louder.
Harry glanced at Ginny. She had tied her hair into a ponytail, and her determined features were clearly visible in the dim lantern-light.
She caught his gaze and smiled. "Ready?" she whispered.
He nodded. Oh, was he ready. He'd been waiting for this moment for three years - if not his entire life.
"On my word," Kingsley said quietly as the steps in the courtyard halted. "Go!" He flung the doors wide and dashed out into the darkness, followed by his Aurors, the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army.
One hour earlier
As Professor McGonagall rose, silence spread outward from the staff table until it reached the ends of the House tables. She cleared her throat.
"Fifteen minutes ago, I received word that the Ministry of Magic had fallen to Voldemort's supporters. Minister Rufus Scrimgeour is dead." She held up a hand to quell the uproar that broke out. "Listen, please! Firstly, I realise that many of you have friends and relatives working at the Ministry. At the moment, I have no information about anyone's safety, but I would like to remind you that it is Saturday. The building would have been mostly empty."
There was more chatter, quieter this time. Harry looked at Ginny, who said through pinched lips, "You know who I bet was there?"
He frowned, and Ron, sitting across the table, interjected, "Percy."
She nodded. "He's always there."
"Quiet!" snapped McGonagall. "We have no time to waste. I'm also informed that Voldemort is likely to come to Hogwarts very soon." The hall filled with gasps and several people screamed, but the headmistress did not falter. "It seems he has business here."
Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione, and concentrated on looking blank. He had a good idea what that business might be - or rather, two good ideas. Was Voldemort coming for him, or for the Ravenclaw Horcrux? If it was the latter, he was in for a disappointment; they had found and destroyed it with the sword of Gryffindor only that morning. But if Voldemort was coming for him...
He had told no one about the deepest secret that had emerged from the pensieve Dumbledore had bequeathed to him. If anyone knew, they would tell him to ignore it, and that wasn't possible. Of those who might have helped, Dumbledore was dead, and Snape was holed up somewhere, trapped in his own machinations. Besides, Harry was the one who had to die. Nobody else would do.
Ginny squeezed his hand and he squeezed back gratefully. Whatever was coming, he wouldn't face it alone.
"Now, we don't have much time," McGonagall continued. "This may only be a rumour, but I won't take risks with children under my care. Prefects, please take all those who are underage to the entrance hall. From there, they will be evacuated to Hogsmeade via a secret route. Anyone who is of age..." She broke off as several figures stumbled into the room, led by Kingsley Shacklebolt.
The uproar was instant. People ran from every table to greet the newcomers; a sobbing Hannah Abbott dashed past Harry towards a middle-aged man who must have been her father, while Ernie Macmillan strode over to shake Cedric Diggory's hand heartily. Ginny's fingers dug into Harry's hand, and when he followed her gaze, he found Percy standing a little way behind Kingsley, wiping blood out of his eyes.
"He's OK, then," he offered, but Ginny ignored him, her eyes fixed on her brother.
When he saw them, he hurried over. "Ron." They shook hands sombrely. For a moment, Harry thought Percy was going to jump over the table and hug Ginny, but instead he just wobbled a little where he stood, then bent and kissed her cheek. "Ginny. It's so good to see you both."
"Glad you made it out," Ginny said, adding fiercely: "You would be there, wouldn't you!"
"I had work to do." Percy dabbed at his temple with a handkerchief, smearing the blood still further. "Listen, on my way here I stopped off at home to warn Mum and Dad." He hesitated. "I think the Death Eaters might have got there first."
Ron and Ginny swore in unison.
"I know it looks bad," Percy said, "but it could be worse. There was a bit of a mess, but no blood, and no...no bodies. So they're alive and in one piece. That's the important thing." With his urgent frown and wonky glasses, he looked quite fierce, for once.
"Did you check on the others?" Ginny's voice was strangled.
He shook his head. "I sent messages, but Kingsley told everyone to regroup here as soon as we could. I put that in the message, too. If the twins and Bill are all right, they'll be here soon."
"Quiet, everybody!" Professor McGonagall's voice echoed around the room, amplified by her wand. As silence fell, she continued. "Auror Shacklebolt informs me that if we do have to fight tonight, we won't do it alone. The bulk of the Aurors will support us, as will many others. Messages have been sent out, and anyone who wishes to contact friends or family may do so. There are many allies who will fight for what is right against Voldemort." She laid a steadying hand on the table in front of her. "As I said, we will shortly evacuate all underage students. Those who are of age may choose to go, or to remain here."
Someone whooped at the Hufflepuff table; Harry looked across to see Ernie nodding in satisfaction.
"Don't make your decision lightly," McGonagall said, her voice rich with emotion. "If Voldemort does come here tonight, there will be bloodshed. Blood has already been shed today. I don't want anyone to think that this will just be a bit of fun, or to stay because they're afraid of looking cowardly. We are at war. Prefects, lead off, please."
The next hour was full of confusion. Students, professors and Ministry of Magic staff assembled in the entrance hall. While the crush became more bearable when the younger students were led off towards the statue of the one-eyed witch, the numbers of those who remained were constantly augmented by supporters entering through the front door. Remus arrived and ran to hug Tonks. Fred, George, Bill and Fleur marched inside, their hands full of joke shop products. Severus Snape created a sensation when he stalked through the entrance and, ignoring the hundred-odd wands trained on him, marched up to Professor McGonagall and declared his loyalty. Meanwhile, Harry became embroiled in the argument that he had dreaded with Ginny.
"Ginny, you're underage. This could be dangerous." They were standing in a space left by one of the suits of armour that Professor McGonagall had Summoned to defend the castle; it provided a small island of calm amid the turmoil.
"You know what's dangerous, Harry? Telling me I can't help my friends because it might be dangerous." Ginny's voice shook with fury, but tears glimmered in her eyes. "I'll be seventeen in a few months, and I was fourteen when we fought the Death Eaters at the Ministry. Tell me that wasn't dangerous."
Harry had no idea how to reply. They hadn't been boyfriend and girlfriend at the Ministry of Magic, but he suspected that pointing this out would not go down well.
Ginny took his hand. "I'm in this as deep as anyone. My parents are missing, and Merlin knows where they've gone or why. You're here. Five of my brothers are here. There is no way I'm going to go off and wait somewhere safe - which won't be safe for long if things go badly here - to find out what happens to you all."
He pulled her close, burying his face in her neck and drinking in her scent. "If anything happens to you, I...I don't know what I'll do."
"Yeah, well the same goes for you," she muttered. "And I'd love to tell you, no heroics, but I know what you're like." She pulled away to look into his face. "That's why I love you, so I suppose I've no right to complain."
He loved her so much then that his heart felt as if it might burst. But there was the pensieve and what it had told him, and suddenly, he couldn't bear for her not to know, not to be prepared. "Ginny..."
She kissed him fiercely. "Don't. I can see from your face that you are planning on some heroics. Don't tell me, because I'll only be tempted to talk you out of whatever they are."
He hugged her. "Then I won't," he said slowly. "But listen, there's something you should know. In case - well, just in case."
"Go on." She looked strained, as if waiting for a blow.
"You know that snake that Voldemort always has with him?"
She nodded. "Not likely to forget it, am I?" She wasn't. Two years ago, Nagini had bitten George during a raid and he'd almost died. The previous summer, the Order of the Phoenix had clashed with Death Eaters on the night of Dumbledore's death, and Nagini's attack on Bill had left him with permanent scars.
"It's got to die. We've got to kill it, whatever else happens. Even if I ki-I mean, even if Voldemort dies and it looks as if everything's okay...the snake has to die, too."
"Okay," Ginny began. "But-"
"Hey." Ron jogged their arms and came to a halt beside them. "I appreciate that you're madly in love, and everything, but this is not the moment. They'll be here any time now." He did a double-take and glared at Ginny. "And you should be heading down that passage to Hogsmeade right now."
"Yeah?" snapped Ginny. "Well, it's too late - they've all gone."
Ron glanced at Harry. "We know where the passage starts. We should take her there."
Ginny opened her mouth, but Harry forestalled her. "I think she should stay if she wants. It's too late now, anyway."
Ron rolled his eyes. "If Mum asks later, I did not know you were here, okay?"
"Fine by me," Ginny said.
The courtyard dissolved into chaos the instant that the two armies met. Voldemort had not only brought wizards to fight on his behalf: several giants led the charge, shaking the earth beneath their feet and scattering entire groups of opponents with every step. They were backed up by a horde of Acromantulae that had screaming defenders backing into the people behind them. For a moment, it looked as if all might be lost immediately.
Voldemort's hiding behind this lot with his friends, as usual, Harry thought angrily, looking for a route between the nearest giant's feet. Then Neville ran forward with a group of DA members and began pitching ropes towards the giant's head.
"Bring it down!" he yelled as several ropes lassoed the giant. "Bring it down before it gets too close to the castle." The giant strained against the ropes, and twenty students pulled with all their weight. Harry dashed to help, adding his weight to a rope held by Lavender.
The giant trembled, but was still unbelievably heavy. Trying to uproot a tree by pulling at its branches must feel a little like this, Harry thought as he hauled on the rope. Perhaps Neville had the same notion, because he passed his rope over to Ginny and Dean and made for the monster's feet, aiming hexes as he ran. With a roar, the giant thundered from one foot to the other, narrowly missing Neville. Several cracks opened up in the ground, but the giant was still on his feet. Then Neville raised his wand once more. "Tarantallegra!" he bawled, and the incantation was echoed by others in the vicinity. Neville turned towards those who were holding the ropes. "Pull!"
They pulled for all they were worth as the giant lumbered into a dance and slowly, too slowly, collapsed. Harry and the rest sprinted out of the way as it thundered to the ground, sending aftershocks through the courtyard and even farther afield. Twenty Stupefying Charms hit the giant between the eyes. His huge pupils rolled back, and he stopped struggling.
Harry left the others securing the ropes; on the other side of the courtyard, another group of students wrestled with a second giant, while closer at hand, Kingsley and his Aurors were fighting the Acromantulae with fire. As Harry watched, Hagrid shoved his way through the crowd.
"Don' hurt them!" he yelled. "They don' know any better." He dashed through the flames into the mess of huge black legs and was lost to view.
"Hagrid!" shouted Harry, but his voice could not penetrate the din. He turned away, reminding himself that, until Aragog's death, Hagrid had been on good terms with the spiders. He would have to trust that the rapport still held.
He was unaware of the Death Eater bearing down on him until red light shot past his elbow and the man collapsed with a groan, right behind him. Ron seized his arm.
"We can't keep this up for long," he gasped, pointedly not looking at the huge spiders that were still far too near for comfort. "Got to get to Voldemort and his real supporters."
Harry nodded and looked around, thankful for the visibility provided by the moonlight and the glow from the fires. The two armies were fighting in earnest now: he glimpsed Cedric engaging two masked men and halted in case he needed a hand. But Cedric dealt with them effortlessly and turned to hunt for more opponents.
At the edge of the forest, a tall, thin figure was outlined against another fire. Harry set off at a jog, darting between duellers and pausing occasionally to cast jinxes or shield a fellow fighter.
Voldemort was surrounded by Bellatrix Lestrange and all three Malfoys. They raised their wands - the Malfoys half-heartedly, but they did it nevertheless - as Harry slowed to a walk, but Voldemort smiled and waved them aside. Nagini was coiled over his shoulders like an obscene reflection of her master's snakelike features.
"How kind of you to join me, Harry. Have you had a change of heart, perhaps?"
"No." Harry's voice cracked, and he swallowed. "I'll never join you, you know that."
"Master," Bellatrix said breathlessly, "oh, let me kill him for you, my lord."
Voldemort waved her back. "Not this time, Bella. I shall have that pleasure myself."
Harry thought again of what he had learned in the pensieve, and then of Ginny, somewhere behind him, fighting with the rest. Perhaps, if he did this well, it could be a kind of bargain for her safety?
It doesn't work like that, he reminded himself, and held his wand down by his side while Voldemort raised his. He pictured Ginny's smile, the way her eyes sparkled when she was angry and softened when she smiled at him. He pictured her as he'd first seen her, running after the train, her long hair flying behind her, and remembered her running towards him with that fierce joy in her eyes the first time they'd kissed.
The world turned green.
He was sprawled over a gravestone, and around him was nothing but swirling grey mist. For a horrible moment, he thought he was back in Riddle's graveyard. Then the mist cleared to reveal a woman with long, red hair, green eyes and a dusting of freckles across her nose. Her smile held so much tenderness and longing that he ached.
"You've done so well," she said, "really well, Harry. You've been so brave." She looked as if she could never see enough of him, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, but held back. If she wasn't real, he didn't want to know yet.
As he raised himself onto his elbows, other gravestones loomed out of the mist, and he realised that he was in the graveyard at Godric's Hollow, where his parents and the Peverells were buried.
"You were fantastic, Harry," another voice said, and part of the mist solidified into his father. His hair was as messy as Harry's own, and a warm grin dominated his expression.
"So, I did it?" Harry asked. "Voldemort killed me - I mean, the horcrux that was me?"
"You did it," his father said. "Harry, the courage it must have taken...we're so proud."
"I knew you could do it," called someone else. Sirius jogged out of the mist to join the others. He looked like the laughing youth who had been his dad's best man, his handsome face unlined by bitterness, and he wore his shabby clothes with a thoughtless elegance.
"Sirius...I'm sorry," Harry said, and stopped, unsure how to go on. It had been his fault that Sirius had died in the Department of Mysteries, although no one had ever taxed him for it. "I wish..."
"No apologies," ordered Sirius. "I made my own choices, and we're past all that now. None of it matters."
"So...am I dead?" Harry asked. He hadn't expected death to feel quite so uncomfortably like a rough gravestone digging into his bones.
His mother frowned. "I'm not sure." She glanced at the others, who nodded. "I think...I think perhaps you can choose. You can go back, if you want. Or you can go on, with us."
"Will it hurt?"
"Dying?" his father asked, "or living?" He smiled tenderly. "I think both of them will hurt, but in different ways."
Harry closed his eyes and lay back against the gravestone. Close at hand, a woman screamed his name.
"Harry!"
"Oh, look!" Bellatrix's voice scraped against his eardrums. "My lord, it's the Weasley girl. The girlfriend."
That had been Ginny calling his name: she was here; she was in danger. Harry tried to open his eyes, but for a moment, every part of him seemed to be glued in place.
"No, Bella." It was Voldemort's voice. "Let her admire her hapless hero; let her hear how he begged for mercy before he died."
"I don't believe you." Harry's eyes were still closed, but he could see Ginny clearly in his mind's eye, and she had never looked more beautiful to him. "Harry's brave - a hundred times braver than you." Her last word was filled with venom enough to rival a basilisk.
"Perhaps you're right," Voldemort said, sounding amused. "But you see now, don't you, where bravery gets you?"
There was a gasp, and Harry managed to crack open one eye. Ginny was on her knees before Voldemort, clutching her wrist. Her wand lay on the ground a few feet away - too far away.
"I'd rather be dead than pathetic like you," she said, not quite disguising the tremble in her voice. Bellatrix shrieked, and a gash opened across Ginny's throat, barely missing her jugular. Blood oozed from the wound, black in the firelight.
"Enough, Bella," said Voldemort sharply. "I want to look at this one." He stepped forward and circled Ginny, never taking his eyes from her. She stared scornfully ahead, but shuddered when he touched her with a long, thin finger.
"Oh, yes," he said, his voice like silken steel. "I've heard of you, Ginny Weasley. And you've met me before, haven't you?"
Anger finally overcame inertia; Harry bunched his fist around his wand and forced himself to lie still. Betraying himself now would do no one any good.
Slowly, Ginny raised her head to look up at him. "I met a seventeen-year-old megalomaniac," she said, "and you don't seem to have matured much since then...except, your body hasn't aged well, has it?" Voldemort flinched as she reached for his face, ignoring Nagini as if she wasn't there. "Look at you. You don't look human at all. Was it worth it?"
He backed away. "Of course it was worth it, you stupid girl! I'm immortal! Even my prophesied killer couldn't take that away." He turned towards Harry, who snapped his eyes shut and tried not to breathe.
"Yeah." Ginny's voice still trembled, but her words were distinct. "I heard you spent the best part of fifteen years as some kind of shadowy...thing. Must've been fun, being alive without a body."
"Quiet," hissed Voldemort. "You bore me."
"Why? Because I don't pander to you, like everyone else around here?" She paused, and Harry squinted one eye open again. "I have to say, Tom, your supporters don't age well, either."
Bellatrix gave a shriek of fury, but stayed back in response to Voldemort's signal. Ginny looked at the Malfoys, who were conferring quietly a few feet away.
"How's it going, Malfoy? Had a good year?"
Father and son stared at her, and she tossed her ponytail. "I meant you, Draco, obviously. Have you had to kill anyone else, yet, or has Snape always been around to do your dirty work?"
"I...I..." Malfoy looked at his parents, as if hoping for instructions.
"My lord," put in Lucius Malfoy, "speaking of Severus, perhaps I should fetch him. He would wish to be here in the hour of your triumph."
Voldemort waved this away. "Severus is no longer among us."
The Malfoys gaped at one another. Then Lucius stepped forward. "Do you...forgive me for my lack of understanding, my lord, but do you mean that Severus is dead?"
"He had outlived his usefulness, and I had begun to doubt his loyalty," said Voldemort coolly. "But enough of this." He looked down at Ginny, and this time the snake around his shoulders seemed to look with him. As she gazed back, her body went limp and Harry, horrified, recognised the signs of the Imperius Curse.
"You're no use to me alive," Voldemort said, "so I shall make an example of your death. Nagini, you may feast."
The snake slithered to the ground and halted directly in front of Ginny. Harry's eyes opened wide with horror as Nagini leaned back and opened her jaw wide in preparation for a strike. Ginny did not move; she gave no sign that she even saw Nagini.
"Ginny!" Harry yelled and launched himself upright. As Voldemort, Bellatrix and the Malfoys turned to stare at him, Ginny finally moved. Something long, thin and pale glittered in her hand an instant before she stabbed it deep into the point between Nagini's eyes.
The snake howled, an almost human sound that it should never have been able to voice, and fell writhing onto the grass. The basilisk tooth was thrown clear, but its work had obviously been done. After diving for her wand, Ginny staggered to her feet, and Harry ran to embrace her.
"You're amazing," he whispered, and turned to Voldemort, who still seemed to be transfixed by Nagini's death throes. "Another one gone," he said, and Voldemort looked up. Harry shrugged. "The diary and the ring. The cup and the locket - you know we got those, I suppose. The diadem, too, and now Nagini." He swallowed. Ginny's hand was still warm in his. "And me. Not having a very good night, are you?"
"You underestimate me," Voldemort croaked, "if you think those were the only means at my disposal." He held out his wand for Harry's inspection.
Harry's heart filled with fury at the thought of Dumbledore's desecrated tomb. "You mean the Deathly Hallows? Yeah, I heard about those, as well. You're not the only one with a long family lineage." Harry pointed his wand towards the three Malfoys, who were edging away towards the forest, Narcissa's arm firmly around her son's shoulders. "Expelliarmus!"
Draco yelled in shock as his wand flew to join the one already in Harry's hand. They stared at one another.
"If you want to know where Snape is," Harry called to the Malfoys, "look over there." He gestured towards the castle. "Fighting for Dumbledore's Army. Tom just didn't want you to know about his defection."
The noise of the fighting was coming closer, and out of the corner of his eye, Harry could make out a new force approaching from the direction of the main gate. He hoped they were friendly, but there wasn't time to find out. The sky was paling as the night waned, and this needed to end now.
"My lord!" Bellatrix called impatiently, but Voldemort did not respond, too busy looking from Draco to Harry and back again.
"Have you worked it out yet?"
"Hey!" Ginny lunged past Harry, deflecting green light that had been arrowing towards him from Bellatrix's wand. Before he had time to react, she spun away and sent a jinx towards the other woman.
Harry forced himself to address Voldemort again. "Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore before he was murdered. Come on, he's so useless, that's got to be the only reason you were keeping him around, along with his pathetic parents." The Malfoys were no longer listening, he noticed; Narcissa was gesticulating in the direction of the forest, and her menfolk were gazing around as if wondering what to do. Harry stared at Voldemort, doing his best to ignore Ginny's grunts of effort as she duelled with Bellatrix. She'd already proved that she could look after herself; he had to trust her.
"I just disarmed Malfoy." In the corner of his vision, the two Malfoy men turned towards the battle, hesitated, and headed for the forest. After shooing them away, Narcissa remained where she was, apparently intent on her sister. "So where does that leave the Elder Wand, now that you've plundered Dumbledore's tomb for it?" Harry didn't try to keep the scorn from his voice.
"I have the wand - I am its master," declared Voldemort, and held it out as if to prove his point.
"Yeah?" Harry clenched his fists. He still wasn't certain if his logic was correct, and he was pretty certain that if he died this time, he would stay dead. He thought of Cedric, who had been saved from death by Wormtail's incompetence in the graveyard at Little Hangleton - incompetence for which Wormtail had later paid with his own death. He thought of his parents, murdered for a prophecy, and of Neville's parents, lost forever because of Voldemort's paranoia. He sent out a silent prayer to all those who had suffered and died because of Tom Riddle. "Let's see, shall we?" He pointed his two wands at the one in Voldemort's hand. "Expelliarmus!" he yelled, just as Voldemort opened his mouth.
Silver light exploded against green at the midpoint between the wands, bursting into gold flames that erupted into the sky like the rising sun. Voldemort's wand arced over the light, a thin, dark shadow in the dawn, and flew to meet its new master.
The golden fire surrounded Voldemort, who collapsed onto the grass and lay still. The Elder Wand would not kill Harry, but it had no qualms about false masters.
"Crucio!" shrieked Bellatrix and Harry dived for cover - but she had not aimed for him; had not even, perhaps, noticed that her master was dead. Ginny yelled in agony and fell to the ground.
"Finite incantatem," called Harry desperately, and Ginny crawled onto her knees just as Bellatrix screamed. She had caught sight of Voldemort's body, blackened, crumpled and smaller than it had looked in life.
"Impedimenta," Ginny shouted at her, and hesitated. She glanced at Harry and then back at Bellatrix, who was weeping where she lay, prevented by Ginny's jinx from getting any closer to the man she had worshipped for so long. "Avada-"
"No!" Narcissa Malfoy stepped in front of her sister and gestured towards the castle, where the shouts and screams had taken on a different tone. "It's over," she said.
The battle was indeed over. Harry reached for Ginny's hand as the Acromantulae rippled past and back into the forest, huge legs clacking as they ran. Behind them, those who had fought to defend Hogwarts from Voldemort's forces were charging towards the forest, led by Ron and Hermione. In the distance, several prone - and hopefully well-secured - giants were visible.
A second group approached from the gate, and Harry's heart lifted as he made out Arthur and Molly Weasley among them.
Lucius Malfoy ran from the cover of the trees (Harry hoped viciously that he and Draco had been given a good scare by the Acromantulae) and crouched alongside his wife, who was attempting to coax Bellatrix to her feet. It didn't look as if they were going anywhere just yet, so Harry and Ginny faced the oncoming crowd and waited.
"You didn't tell me you were going to die," Ginny said out of the corner of her mouth.
"I wasn't sure I'd have to," Harry answered.
She squeezed his hand hard. "Next time, whether you're sure or not, I want to know, okay? I know I said I didn't, but I've changed my mind. I don't want any more frights like that. No more secrets."
He pulled her in for a hard hug. "No more secrets."
Then the others were on them: first Ron and Hermione; then Neville, Luna and the rest of Dumbledore's Army. Hagrid wept happy tears over them, apparently oblivious to the welts that covered his body, the results of his attempt to pacify the Acromantulae. People thumped Harry on the back and kissed his cheek, and the air was filled with roars of delight and cries of relief. The sun that had been heralded by the golden fire of clashing wands broke over the horizon, filling the grounds of Hogwarts with warmth and light.
Mrs Weasley hugged them both tightly; her hair was wild and her robes torn, but she looked uninjured. Nearby, an equally dishevelled Mr Weasley was shaking hands with Percy.
"How did you escape?" Ginny yelled over the din.
Molly shook her head fiercely and explained; Harry couldn't catch it all, but gathered something about an Auror named Dawlish and the Imperius Curse.
Through all the greetings, kisses and hugs, he and Ginny held fast to each other's hands, sneaking glances at one another whenever they could. Finally, they had a moment to themselves, and Harry leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Do you want a bit of peace and quiet?"
"Yes," she answered fervently.
Wordlessly, he pulled out his invisibility cloak, which had survived so much and so long, and draped it over them. As he turned to find a way through the crowd, he caught sight of Luna, staring at the spot where they'd just been. She smiled and waved, and only the fact that she was looking in slightly the wrong direction reassured him that she couldn't see them.
Holding Ginny tightly, he pulled her through a gap between Kingsley and Cedric, and out towards the open ground near the lake. There would be time - a lifetime - to talk to everyone else later. Right now, the only person he wanted was the one in his arms, and he intended to keep her there for as long as he could.