As Astrid sobbed into her hand an uneasy feeling filled her. Hermione covered her ears, also sensing the strange feeling inside her.
"You have thought valiantly, but in vain.... I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat... in their absence dispose of your dead with dignity..."
The voice of Voldemort filled their heads, as if he was whispering from inside them.
"Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you... on this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour. Join me in the Forbidden Forrest... and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me."
Astrids body trembled at the Dark Lords words. His threat was very real, she knew it first-hand. He would kill everyone in the castle to get to Harry. Astrid reached up to Severus' face and softly closed his eyes. She closed her own for a moment and thought back to how he had so rudely awakened her from her slumber just hours ago... and now he was dead.
Pushing herself to her feet, she unsteadily joined the golden trio outside the boathouse. Hermione wrapped a comforting arm around the professors back. She didn't understand the sorrow she felt for Snape, unable to comprehend why the young professor was so heartbroken at the monster's death. Hermione wondered if Astrid had succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome, or had simply been driven mad by him.
"Let's head back to the castle." Ron said with a deep sigh.
"I need to go to that pensieve." Harry told them with a nod.
And the four of them set off up the stone stairs to the courtyard, Astrid's legs trembling with each step.
When they arrived at the courtyard, they were shocked to find it eerily empty. A huge contrast the chaos that had filled it just minutes prior. The death eaters, spiders and giants had vanished, leaving only rubble and smears of blood on the stone ground in their wake.
Entering Hogwarts, they were greeted with death and pain.
Death was everywhere. Lines of bodies covered with sheets filled the Great Hall.
The four of them made their way down the lines nervously, scared of who's corpse they would find. Perhaps a friend, or a family member?
For Ron that was very much his reality when he spotted the pale, unmoving face of his brother Fred on the floor of the Great Hall. Molly poured herself over him, sobbing at the loss of her son. Ron approached in disbelief. George pulled him into hysterical embrace before realising his younger brother, and allowing him to drop to his knees besides Fred.
Astrid stood helplessly next to Hermione, unsure what to do or say.
Then on the floor, not too far away. Astrid spotted others that she knew....
Bringing her hand to her mouth she gasped.
"Tonks!" Astrid cried, rushing over to her friend's pale, cold body. She dropped to the floor like a stone, and held Tonks hand in her own, squeezing it. Her husband, Remus, lay next to her, equally unmoving. Astrid shook her head, no, no this could not be!
Harry hovered behind Astrid, frozen. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heels and headed out of the Great Hall.
Astrid spied him over her shoulder, and dropping Tonks' hand called after him.
"Harry!"
______________
Harry entered the headmaster's office, slamming the door behind him. Without hesitation he headed straight for the cupboard containing the pensieve, and carefully tossed it towards the headmaster's desk where it floated carefully through the air before coming to a halt. Harry climbed the stairs and reaching into his jacket, poured Severus' tears out of the vial and into the bowl. He dipped his head into the pensieve, submerging himself into its icy waters.
A grassy hill. A daisy. A red-haired girl. Freak! You're a freak Lilly! A boy with dark hair. A giant bare tree. Gryffindor! Just like your father. Lazy. Arrogant. Books falling. Boys shoving. A couple kissing, dancing. Professor Trelawny, a prophecy. Voldemort. Severus! No don't kill me. The prophecy did not refer to a woman! It spoke of a boy, born at the end of July! It's her son, he intends to hunt them down now, to kill them! Anything. A broken house. A crying baby. Mama loves you. Dada loves you. Harry be safe, be strong. Avada Kedavra! A blood curdling scream. You said you would keep her safe! The boy survives! The Dark Lord will return. He will be in terrible danger. He has her eyes. If you truly loved her. No one can know. The sorting hat. Clapping. Severus at Hogwarts. A spiral staircase. Arrogant! My father was a great man! Your father was a swine! James Potter, dead. Lifeless. I will contain the curse to your hand, for the time being it will spread Albus. Astrid. Everly. We both know Lord Voldemort has ordered the Malfoy boy to murder me! Draco. Vanishing cabinet. Severus and Draco. Should he fail, presume the Dark Lord will turn to you. You must be the one to kill me Severus, it is the only way. Only then will he trust you completely. A finger to hushed lips. A flash of green. Dumbledore falling. Everly's cries. There will come a time when Harry Potter must be told something. But you must wait until Voldemort is at his most vulnerable. Must be told what? A yellow wardrobe. A flash of green. Harry himself. A small owl. There's a reason Harry can speak with snakes. There's a reason he can look into Voldemort's mind. A part of Voldemort lives inside him. White eyes. So, when the time comes the boy must die. Yes. Yes. He must die. Severus drops to his knees. A red-haired woman. Lifeless. Dead. A baby in a crib. Harry. A baby in Astrids arms. Everly. You've been raising him like a pig for slaughter. Expecto Patronum. A silver doe. Strangled cries. After all this time? Always. Voldemort himself must do it. That is essential.
Harry pulled back out of the pensieve, deep breaths filling his chest. Eyes wide he took himself to sit on the stone stairs, his legs trembling under the weight of what he just learnt. His chest heaved as he thought, as he regretted.
The sound of the door opening and closing drew his eyes up, and there in the office he met the red eyes of Astrid Moody.
"Did you know? That he was good?" Harry choked out, in realisation of why Astrid had felt so deeply for the man, had sobbed so hard for his death.
"Yes." Astrid sobbed. "He did everything for you Harry, to help you."
"You should have told me-" Harry said standing.
"I couldn't!" Astrid wailed.
"I could have saved him, if I'd only known!" Harry yelled. Astrid clenched at her stomach, an overwhelming feeling of guilt and sorrow filling her. Crouching she heaved, emptying the contents of her stomach yet again as she sobbed wildly. Harry looked on sadly, with regretful eyes, he hadn't meant to make her ill with grief.
"Professor Moody," he said softly, crouching beside her he patted her back. "Astrid, I'm sorry."
"Never mind it Harry, what is it you wish to do?" Astrid asked, wiping at her mouth with the sleeve of her cardigan. It was no longer white, now a shade of muddy grey and brown smeared with crimson.
"I have to go to the Forrest." Harry told her, standing. He offered a hand and pulled Astrid to her feet.
"I'll go with you." Astrid offered, but Harry shook his head no.
"I have to do this alone. I have to die... alone." He told her as he made for the door, but Astrid gripped his wrist.
"No, you don't Harry. Please let me go with you, you don't have to do this alone."
"The Dark Lord will curse you down, he will kill you." Harry warned her.
"No, he won't."
______________
Astrid walked with harry through the desecrated courtyard, making their way in silence to the Forbidden Forrest. The sun tried to rise over the distant hills as the two made their way through the trees.
"Are you sure this will work?" Harry whispered, swallowing.
"I don't know, hopefully. How do I kill the snake again?" Astrid asked, her breaths growing heavier.
"With this." Harry told her, handing over the basilisk fang. She took it in her hands, shuddering at the thought of the size of the snake it came from.
"My father told me stories about this." Astrid hummed as she pocketed the tooth in her cardigan.
Suddenly Harry came to a halt. Astrid looked over her shoulder and watched as the boy pulled a gold object from his jacket. A snitch.
"I'm ready to die." He said breathily, before pressing the snitch to his mouth. Astrid furrowed her brows, confused at the boys' actions, until to her surprise, she saw the snitch open up like machinery and reveal something to the boy-who-lived.
"What is it?" Astrid asked as she watched a tiny stone float out of the snitch.
"The resurrection stone." Harry sighed as he grasped it in his hands. He closed his eyes for a second, and when he looked up, he was met with everyone he had lost. His mother held out her hand to him, he tried to take it but their hands could not meet. Like a ghost she passed through him.
"What is it, Harry?" Astrid asked worriedly, unable to see what he could see.
"It's.... my parents... Sirius, Remus... your father." Harry whispered. Astrid looked about, but she could not see her father. Her eyes darted through the trees, desperately searching.
"Why are you here?" Harry asked an invisible force. Astrid looked to where Harrys eyes lay, and she realised the people he mentioned, they were only visible to him.
"Does... Does it hurt?" Harry asked, looking to his right. "Dying?" The boy nodded silently, as he looked about. Astrid wondered who he asked.
"I'm sorry, I never wanted any of you to die for me." Harry said sadly as he looked about the circle.
"And, Remus, your son?" Harry said sadly. He nodded as an invisible force gave him answer. Astrid just watched with sad eyes, wishing she could see what Harry saw, wishing she could see her father.
"Astrid." Harry addressed her now, she turned to him with red teary eyes. "Mad-eye, Alastor, sorry... he's proud of you."
Tears fell from Astrids eyes now, wetting her freckled cheeks once again as she nodded, her lip trembling.
"Thank you, Harry." She told the boy as she grasped her heart. Oh, how it hurt, pounding hard and fast in her chest like it wanted to jump out of her chest and do laps of the forest.
"You'll stay with me?" Harry asked. "And he won't be able to see you?" There was a pause whilst Harry awaited his answer. "Stay close to me?" The boy finally asked, before dropping the resurrection stone to the forest floor.
Astrid slowly approached the boy as he stared down at the little black rock that glinted in the rays of the shining sun. She clasped a hand to his shoulder.
"Are you ready?" She asked with a sniffle.
"As I'll ever be."
______________
Astrid pushed Harry forward through the roots of the large trees, her hand shoving him forward as she pressed her wand into his back. Harry stumbled over a fallen branch, regaining himself he pressed forward, with Astrid's wand now at the base of his neck. They stepped into a clearing, and there at the other side of stood the Dark Lord, his back to them both.
Bellatrix stood nearby, her mouth agape with shock and disbelief. Astrid pushed Harry forward, pressing her wand into his back. Her eyes darted around the treeline of the clearing, and there she spotted Lucius, his eyes wide at the sight of her. Narcissa stood nearby, her face too, blazoned with shock.
Voldemort turned slowly towards Astrid and Harry, a trembling smile playing on his lips.
"Astrid! No! How could you!" Hagrid yelled from his rope binds, his face furious. Astrid ignored Hagrid and pushed Harry to his knees on the forest floor.
"Quiet!" A death eater hushed the half giant, as all eyes fell on the Dark Lord.
"Imagine my surprise..." Voldemorts wheezy hiss started as he analysed the young woman before him, her wand pressed to Harry's neck firmly, she had a rebellious glint in her eye. "That it is you... Astrid... who has finally brought me my prize." Voldemort waved her forward towards him, and hesitantly her feet followed his order, her no longer white trainers cracking amongst the twigs and foliage of the forest floor as she stepped closer to the Dark Lord.
"You have done... what my death eaters could not." Voldemort told her, earning a few sneers from the black clad followers behind the Dark Lord. Lucius watched nervously as Voldemort held his arms out to the young woman.
Astrid looked at his open arms with worry, was it a trick? Her eyes darted around for the snake, Nagini. But she wasn't anywhere to be seen. Hesitantly Astrid stepped forward and accepted the Dark Lords embrace, allowing him to bring her into a gentle, awkward hug.
"Well done my dear, you have done me proud." The Dark Lord hissed into her ear. She closed her eyes, a tear dropping down her freckled cheek as she pictured him killing Severus in her mind. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as her hands trembled. He pushed her back from the embrace, and gripped her chin in his free hand. Lucius went to move towards the scene, anxious of what was coming next. But the Dark Lord held up his wand hand in Lucius' direction.
"Uh-ah, Lucius, you stay right there." Voldemort hissed without taking his eyes off the young woman. His fingers bore into her skin, she felt as if she was burning under his touch. Lucius froze in his spot and watched as the dark lord pushed Astrid's waves behind her shoulder with the elder wand.
"Even though you foolishly turned down my offer.... I will still grant you your reward Astrid..." The Dark Lord hummed, as he brought the tip of his wand from Astrid's shoulder, trailing it over her collarbone and down her chest to her heart.
"As I promised, I free you from your blood curse." The Dark Lord hissed, casting a spell against the girl's chest, a flash of yellow light emitted from Astrid's skin, and with a pained scream she dropped to the floor, clutching her chest. Lucius ignored the Dark Lords order to stay, and jumped down from the giant tree roots and rushed to Astrids side, pulling her into his chest he cradled her there, pushing waves of blonde from her face. She was silent, unmoving, and not breathing. Her hand lay on her chest delicately.
"Astrid?" Lucius choked out, caressing her cheek. Voldemort watched with a sneer as he walked away from the couple and towards Harry. Astrid suddenly took a sharp breath, her eyes fluttering open. She took in her surroundings. The forest floor, the rising sun, the face of Lucius Malfoy above her with a worried expression.
"Oh my darling." Lucius sighed, uncaring that she had broken their engagement not even day before, he was so relieved to see her alive he bent down and pressed a hard kiss on her lips. A kiss that she returned weakly. "Your heart, is it well? Are you free of the curse?" Lucius asked breathily as he cupped her face. Astrid's brain was elsewhere, not even thinking of her own affliction, she was worried about the boy.
"Harry Potter... the boy who lived... come to die..." Voldemort addressed the teenage boy as he strode closer to him. Astrid pushed herself up in Lucius' arms, trying to lay her eyes on Harry. Lucius tried to hold her to him, not wanting to let her go. She pushed on his chest and as she escaped his hold, sitting up, a flash of green emitted from Voldemort's wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"