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See Previous Chapters Here
Title: Harry Potter and the Seven Soldiers, chapters 16 & 17 of 17
Author: kanedax
Fandom: Harry Potterverse
Rating: R for violence
Spoilers: Harry Potter 1-6, previous chapters (see above)
Summary: The prophecy is fulfilled
Notes: These are the final two chapters of the series. At this point I'm planning on going back sometime down the line to write a few chapters build-up to what you've just read, and I might come back later to write some more. As usual, I don't own Harry Potter or JK Rowling. Once more, if you are aware of any good Harry Potter fanfic sights that this story would fit comfortably into, let me know in the comments section.
Chapter 16
The Seventh Soul
Ginny Weasley had always heard the old saying about things going in slow motion.
She had never believed it herself. When she was in the Ministry, fighting Death Eaters, things seemed to move far too fast. The same during the first Battle of Hogwarts, and that was even with the Felix Felicis flowing through her system.
But as her mind swam back to the surface after being smacked by Voldemort’s spell, she learned that, sometimes, things do move far too slowly.
She raised her head in time to see Harry run to the battlement. He looked over the edge, then looked back up again.
She was able to bring herself to her hands and knees. Her vision was still blurry, but it was still clear enough to see Voldemort’s look of triumph, his wand raised to Harry’s back.
Turn around, Harry!, Ginny screamed, but her body was too weak to even say it. As she got to her hands and knees, she could only look on in horror as a jet of green energy flew from Voldemort’s wand.
Harry stood rigid as the bolt hit him, like a jolt of electricity had passed through him. His wand fell from his hand and over the edge. He fell to his knees; his glasses shattered against the battlement as his face fell forward and slid to the ground, limp and lifeless.
Then she could finally feel the scream coming from her mouth.
“HARRY!!!”
She heard Voldemort speak through the buzzing in her ears. Saying something about being the one to survive. She didn’t care. All she saw was the beast that murdered the only man she ever loved. Her throat tightened, tears of rage fell from her eyes. She stood up.
Movement to her side. Out of her peripheral vision she saw her brother Ron rise with her and fire with his wand. She picked her wand up from beside her and, without thought, fought back.
The Dark Lord would have none of it. Laughing maniacally, he easily deflected all shots. She saw him turn to Ron and release the horrible green energy.
He flew backwards, rolling across the stone.
She screamed and ran at Voldemort.
She saw the tip of his wand, and more green.
She tried to deflect it, but failed.
Hermione tried to scream when Ron and Ginny fell, but a large, sweaty hand covered her mouth, muffling her voice.
“Hold tight,” Viktor whispered in her ear, “And be prepared. This might hurt a bit.”
She grabbed tight of the broomstick, Viktor’s arms acting as a safety harness. He crouched low, and pushed the broom forward.
The broom accelerated faster than Hermione had ever dreamt possible. Voldemort was gloating over the body of Harry, his back to them. He didn’t hear the pair zoom in behind him until Viktor spun the broom at the last second, broadsiding Voldemort with his massive body. The broom shattered, launching Hermione across the stone floor. She slammed into the battlement, the back of her head connecting with the wall. Viktor followed close behind.
This attack seemed to have finally taken a chunk out of Tom Riddle’s hide. He struggled to his feet, blood running down the side of his face. As he attempted to straighten himself, he lurched forward. His hand moved down to his stomach, where a fragment of broomstick was bloodily embedded.
Voldemort chuckled darkly. “Nice move, Champion,” he sneered. “Too bad it wasn’t enough.”
His raised his wand, still clutched in his free hand. Hermione and Viktor instinctively went for their wands. Instead, they only found kindling, their wands broken by the impact.
“Awww,” Voldemort pouted, “no wand, so sad.”
This is it, Hermione thought. I’m sorry, Ron. I’m sorry, Harry. I couldn’t finish him for you.
Her eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable.
And that’s when she heard a moan coming from the bodies.
"Whatever Dumbledore ordered you to do,” Molly Weasley continued, “It’s probably a lot more important than any of us. I’d wager a guess and say that Dumbledore gave his life for it.
“So don’t throw it away just to protect a few adults.”
“Harry, come on!” Hermione yelled from behind them. Harry turned to see her floating outside the window on her Firebolt. Ginny was also next to her on her own broom, but her face reflected the same shade of doubt as her brother’s. Pig and Hedwig fluttered around the pair.
He turned to Ron. “Your mother’s right,” he yelled.
Ron stood firm. Staring into his mother's eyes, he finally shook his head and ran to his dresser. Opening the third drawer, he pulled out another small gem and shoved it into his pocket.
Before Harry could ask, two flashes of light erupted from downstairs. Seconds later, Arthur ran into the room.
“Lupin’s down,” he told Molly, “Nymphadora’s trying to hold them off.” He turned to the two boys. “Go, now!”
Not thinking about anything else, Harry jumped on his broom and followed Hermione and Ginny as they flew into the night’s sky. He turned to see Ron following behind.
Molly looked at Arthur. She had never been so proud of him as she was right now.
They turned to leave the bedroom only to find their way blocked. Lord Voldemort stood in the doorway, his red eyes glowing.
“Get out of my way,” he ordered.
“Never,” Molly said.
Voldemort pointed his wand at the window, where he could still see the brooms flying away.
“Avada Kedavara!"
“No!” Molly and Arthur yelled as one, moving in front of Voldemort. The green light engulfed the pair, and they fell to the ground and the children flew from Voldemort’s sight.
Ginny Weasley rose to her knees. Her eyes locked on Voldemort, who had turned away from Viktor and Hermione and now stood with his wand down, a look of pure fear in his face.
She didn’t hear Ron move to rise up with her. She barely felt the prickling, burning sensation on her forehead.
All she felt was rage.
She sprung.
“You killed Harry!” she screamed, launching full-speed into Voldemort’s midsection. He fell backwards, and as she landed on top she drove the broom fragment deeper into him.
He screamed in agony, but the pain from the stab wound was nothing compared to what he felt as Ginny pressed her hands against his neck. He felt a familiar burning sensation, one he hadn’t felt since… since…
Since the night Potter killed Quirrell, he thought.
No, he tried to scream if his throat hadn’t been burned away by Ginny’s touch. Not again. This can’t be happening again!
He tried to take in the lighting-bolt shaped scar pm Ginny’s forehead, but became blind when Ron Weasley came from behind his sister, the same look of anger and pain on his face, and tried to slam Voldemort’s head into the ground.
Voldemort felt nothing by the time of impact, his head nothing but a pile of lifeless ashes.
The burning trailed down his body, until soon there was nothing left of Tom Marvolo Riddle, the Dark Lord Voldemort, but a pile of clothing and a broken broom handle.
Even after the end, Ginny continued to blindly beat the piles of char, screaming and crying out “Murderer! Murderer!”
Ron eventually fell backwards shivering, as his body finally allowed itself to absorb the scene.
It wasn’t until Bill Weasley ran from the hallway and grabbed Ginny that she stopped the attack. She broke free from him, and ran to Harry, holding his lifeless body and sobbing into his shoulder.
Viktor stood shakily, leaning wearily against the battlement. He reached his hand down, but Hermione was already gone, moving slowly to her Ron.
The tattoos faded from the arms of the Death Eaters below. The Inferi fell to the ground, and the remaining Dementors flew into the night, free of their bondage.
Dumbledore’s Army celebrated victory, their cheers echoing through Hogsmeade.
Through it all, the four remaining members of the Seven Soldiers, along with the Champion from Durmstrang, remained on the Tower for quite some time.
Chapter 17
The Chosen One
The road was empty that summer afternoon. It was the time of day when people were gathering together for a late-afternoon picnic, to sit on a hill and watch the sun go down on another perfect day.
No one was on the path to see two owls glide down from the sky into Godric’s Hollow. One was a solemn white, the other a fluttering gray.
No one was there when, seconds later, the two owls were followed into the graveyard by three darkly dressed figures.
No one was there to hear one of them speak.
“He’s over here.”
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione Weasley walked down the path towards two gravestones.
The first one bore two names.
JAMES POTTER
DEVOTED HUSBAND
LOVING FATHER
1959-1981
LILY EVANS POTTER
DEVOTED WIFE
LOVING MOTHER
1959-1981
The three laid a single flower on each of their graves, and then turned to the one that was most important to them. It was a simple stone, with an owl and a lion’s head etched into it.
Below the pictures, these words:
HARRY JAMES POTTER
BELOVED SON
TRUE FRIEND
1980-1997
“Hello, Harry,” Hermione said quietly, kneeling and laying the bouquet on Harry’s grave. She kissed the headstone and stood back.
“How you doing, Harry?” Ron mumbled. After things had settled down, Kingsley and the Ministry had found a cure for Ron’s Mutatio curse, which was easier to crack after its caster had died. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.
“Thought you might wanna see this,” he said, his voice cracking. “They made a wizard card of you. Packaged it with Chocolate Frogs, and everything. Cool, huh?”
Hesitantly, he leaned the card against the gravestone, and then stood back.
Ginny turned to Hermione and Ron. “Do you two mind if I have a minute alone with him?”
Ron nodded, kissing his sister on her forehead, then he and Hermione walked a few yards down the path.
“Hi, Harry,” Ginny said. “I miss you.”
She lay her bouquet down next to Hermione’s.
“I know you don’t like flowers, but, well, tradition’s tradition, I guess.
“Thought you might want to know what’s been going on since, you know, since you left. Ron and Hermione got married; you probably saw the ring on her finger when she got here. They’re really happy together, especially now that Ron can say that she loves her back. And she just found out they’re expecting in a few months, so that’s good. They haven’t picked out a name yet, but they have a few good choices…”
She looked down the path at her brother and sister-in-law, who had moved down to pay their respects at Neville Longbottom’s grave. She turned back to Harry.
“I’m going back to school,” Ginny continued. “To be an Auror. Even though Voldemort’s gone, they’re still needed. There’s always someone or something that needs to be fought.
“They’ve re-opened Hogwarts in a limited capacity. Fleur and Gabrielle are trying to convince me to transfer to Beauxbatons, but I just couldn’t leave. The houses aren’t divided up anymore, since there’s not enough space to keep them separate, and not enough students returning to fill four houses, anyway. There really isn’t a headmaster, per se, and they had to replace a lot of the professors. Flitwick’s still around, he was off visiting family. And Firenze and Trelawney were both so isolated from the rest of the school that they barely knew anything happened, so they’re both back. Hermione’s trying to get a job as the new Arithmancy professor, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to get it.
“Oh, and Kingsley’s still going to be our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,” she said excitedly. “So that’s another curse that’s been broken.
“I already met the new Potions professor. You’ll really like him, he’s…”
She trailed off, her voice choking up. She tried to find the courage to continue.
“I really miss you,” she said simply. “It’s been difficult, going through these past few months without you here. There have been a lot of funerals. Too many to count. And George is in St Mungo’s after the Dementor attack. They’re still trying to figure out a way to cure a Dementor’s Kiss.
“But, mostly,” she said, tears beginning to form, “I just miss having you with me. I missed it when you had gone off with Ron and Hermione, but I knew that you would be coming back. But, now, that you’re gone forever…”
She covered her face with her hands, sobbing. She ran her hand across her forehead, feeling the lightning-bolt scar that she and her brother shared.
“I wish I could have married you, like you asked me to that day in the Dursley’s back yard. I’ll never forget that, you looked so happy and at peace before we went inside, and you called to me, and asked…”
She stood up and kissed the gravestone.
“I’ll always love you, Harry Potter,” she said. “I’ll be back soon. I promise.”
Slowly, she walked away to join her family. Arm in arm, they left the graveyard and returned to the Burrow to celebrate the birthday of The Boy Who Lived.