Draco pulled his wand out, but he didn't know what to do. A man that looked like Severus Snape was yelling at him, telling him to go downstairs, and Voldemort was telling him to go downstairs, but he was still torn, despite the simplicity. It was the same command. The only thing that was holding him there was one question. Should he fight? Making a split decision, he darted out the door, past the other man that looked like Severus. Much to his surprise, the man let him go. He had to get downstairs to warn Harry. He had no idea that he just stepped into the room he had left only seconds ago.
"You will pay for this!" Voldemort screamed.
He gave a harsh gesture toward the Death Eaters in the room and fighting ensued. Spells were flying everywhere. At that point, Moody and Kingsley came in the door, and Tonks. They joined in the fighting. Harry kept just inside the doorway, careful to avoid detection. He had his wand safely in his pocket, but it wasn't out. If he was going to do this, it was going to have to be willingly. He knew that. He wasn't clear on how letting Voldemort kill him was supposed to help bring peace, but he trusted Severus and Dumbledore both and he knew neither of them would tell him he had to die if it wasn't true.
Alaina diverted spell after spell coming her way. Voldemort was angry at her, and he was concentrating all of his strength on bringing her down. Sirius and Lupin were busy dueling three Death Eaters each. Plus, there were more coming at them. Moody and Kingsley both had their hands full, and Bellatrix was fighting Sirius and Tonks at the same time. She saw this and held out her hand. She clenched her fist in mid-air and they dropped to their knees where they stood, crying out in agony.
"Where did you get that power?" Voldemort questioned her.
"I was born with it," she spat. "I came here to use it on you." She turned her hand to him and he slammed her with a spell. It must have been a stunning spell, because she was knocked backwards. She hit the wall with a thud. It shocked her, at first, but then she got back up. She threw spell after spell at him. He dodged them easily.
"You will never beat me."
"Wanna bet?" Angry, she concentrated on him as hard as she could.
Voldemort's eyes rounded as he felt pain start to creep into his body. "Stop this!"
"No. This is what it feels like when you use the Torture Curse on people. Let's see how you like it."
Harry wanted to close his eyes. He didn't like the sight before him. He didn't like to see all the fighting. He had to a choice to make. He had come up here to give himself up, to let Voldemort kill him, so it would all finally be over. He had never seen his mother so angry or heard so much contempt in her voice. It was time for him to come out of his hiding place. It was time to end it all. He glanced over at the two other Severus clones fighting. He knew that they had to be Sirius and Lupin, because Ron and Hermione would not be that skilled in dueling, especially not Ron. He gulped. Then he looked over on the other side of the room. Bellatrix had moved on and was concentrating on Tonks now. It was all the young witch could do to hold her off.
Alaina had Voldemort on the ropes, but she was so busy focusing her energy on him that she didn't notice that Lucius had broken away from the others. His wand was out and he had it aimed at her. He opened his mouth to say the curse. Alaina was as good as dead in his eyes. He rared back, and prepared to take her life. Nothing would give him more pleasure. He didn't count on what was about to happen next.
Two more Severus clones came into the dining room. One the way Draco had gone down and one right in the doorway, where Harry stood. As a matter of fact, he startled Harry when he spoke.
"Alaina!"
She turned her head. She wasn't sure who it was until he rushed forward. He pulled out his wand and sent a stunning spell toward Lucius in a hurry. Startled, he didn't have enough time to react and hit the floor. Alaina gasped. She hadn't seen him. It was just the distraction Voldemort needed. He got up from the floor and stood. He would not allow her to get away with doing him that way, with treating him as if he was nothing. She had to pay. He raised his wand.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Severus turned, his face frozen with horror. He was only a few steps away from her, but there was no way he could make it in time. She turned in the direction the spell had come from, but she was frozen in her place. There was only one way she could be saved. He saw the opportunity and he took it.
Harry dove at her and pushed her out of the way. Alaina fell to the floor with a thud. Everything happened so fast. Sirius and Lupin both shouted for him to move, to get out of the way, but he didn't hear them. He didn't want to. Dumbledore, who had came in the door from the basement, continued to duel the Death Eaters in front of him. He knew what Harry was doing. All that would be left for him to do would be to destroy that diary, which Tonks was holding onto at the moment. Moody had taken over Bellatrix and was holding is own against her. Hermione and Ron were standing by, with the Sword of Gryffindor, to destroy it. Dumbledore had instructed them how. All of it would be over soon.
"Harry!" Alaina cried. "Move! Harry, move!"
Severus grabbed her when she tried to scramble toward him. "No, Alaina."
"What are you doing?" The polyjuice potion was finally melting away. She nearly looked like herself again. "What are you doing? Let me go."
"This was his choice," he said softly.
She glared at him angrily, tears rolling down her cheeks. She knew Severus had told him. She knew that Harry had to know what he was doing. He was so much braver than she could have been. She would have had to try and fight.
The curse hit Harry square in the chest. He didn't put up a fight, or even try to. He fell to the floor with a dull thud, his glasses still in tact. The moment he hit the floor though, something happened to Voldemort too. Bellatrix, who was dueling Moody at the moment it happened, screamed out when he fell to the floor too.
"I never saw that one coming," Sirius muttered.
Bellatrix ran to his side. All fighting in the room ceased for the time being.
Dumbledore, who was back to his old self again, allowed a small smile to creep up on his lips. It was just as he'd suspected. He quietly slipped from the room. The next step had to be taken. Just one more thing had to happen and Voldemort's reign of terror would be over again. This time, it would be for good.
No one seemed to know that he was missing. The Death Eaters were in shock. Lupin and Sirius crossed the room to Harry, tears in both their eyes.
"NO!" Alaina screamed.
Severus tried to hold her, to comfort her, but she wriggled free of his grasp. All she could see was her little boy lying dead on the floor. She crawled over to him and gathered him up in her arms. She squeezed him tightly. Tears and cries of anguish escaped her body. Severus could barely stand to hear her sobs. He knew that this was partly his fault. He never should have told him. He put his arms around Alaina and held her. She didn't try to get away from him this time. She just sobbed.
Sirius and Lupin bent down beside of them. Tears poured from their eyes too.
"You will all pay for this," Bellatrix hissed. "All of you!" She stood.
To her surprise, so did Severus. "You will not harm my wife or her friends."
She threw a spell, and suddenly the room came alive with magic again. Severus dueled her with expert skill. Sirius and Lupin sprang back into action too, saving their tears for another time. Instead, they channeled their grief into dueling.
On the floor, Voldemort moaned. He had no idea what had happened. Usually, when he killed someone, they felt the effects of the blast. Not him. But Harry Potter had always been different. He knew that. He slowly sat up. He could see that the battle was still raging on, but he didn't care. He only cared about knowing one thing: was Harry dead or not? He glanced over at Alaina on the floor and knew that the boy was definitely dead. He had finally succeeded. The only wizard, who could stop him, was dead now. He rose from the floor with his wand tightly in his hand. He stood just in time for Bellatrix to burst in front of his very eyes. She was dead.
Voldemort glared at Severus. "You will pay, Snape!"
Everyone in the room stared in the direction the voice had come from. Severus looked too, and was horrified to see Voldemort standing there. He was suddenly fine. He had been knocked out when he killed Harry. He raised his wand.
"No, Voldemort," he sneered. "It is you who will pay. You killed my son!"
The two of them began to duel. Severus knew Voldemort was strong, but he had no idea just how strong until he was hit with a spell. It knocked him back a few feet, but he caught himself against the wall. No matter what, he musn't let the man hit him with the Killing Curse. He had to live. For Alaina and for Harry. Even though he knew his death was coming, he felt the need to avenge him.
On the floor, Alaina dragged herself and Harry out of the way. She kept an eye on the fight, weighing in where she could, with her power to cause pain, but she didn't dare leave him. She stared down at his pale face and wondered how someone so young could be so brave. He had jumped in front of a curse he knew would kill him to save her. She felt so guilty, it was hard for her to choke back the emotion.
Downstairs, Hermione and Ron had the diary open and both were sitting in front of it. Tonks had given it to them the moment Dumbledore came running down the stairs, joining them as soon as he left the battle. Tonks was able to escape once Bellatrix had left her alone, thankfully with the diary still in tact. Draco was standing there watching them. He hadn't even gone to the basement at all. He wasn't going to kill Harry. Instead, he had lead a few Death Eaters that had just arrived right into the foyer, where Kingsley and the Weasleys were waiting in case they were needed. They had taken them down effortlessly. Then, seeing what was about to happen, Draco had wanted to stay and witness it. Ron and Hermione informed him that Harry was already free. That's when Dumbledore told them what had happened upstairs.
"Is it really true?" Hermione asked. "Harry's dead?"
Draco stared at her. He felt sorry for her. She knew they were close. Ron too. And Harry had just started to understand him too.
"I'm afraid so," Dumbledore told them. "He was very brave. He jumped in front of a curse that was about to kill Alaina."
"So what good is stabbing this book with the sword going to do?" Ron demanded. First he had lost his sister to Voldemort and now his best friend. He was saddened and angry, but he was trying his best not to show the sadness. It was okay for him to be angry. At least, that's how it worked out in his head.
"Hopefully, it will humanize Voldemort." Dumbledore rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It may even kill him. There was a reason he was keeping it magically protected."
"I hope it kills him."
"Ron!" Hermione scolded.
"He killed Harry!"
"I know. It's just...distasteful to wish someone would die. No matter how horrid they are." She sighed. "Let's talk about Harry later. We'll remember him like the hero he is. I mean...was." She nearly choked on that last word, still not able to believe that her best friend, the young man she had recently thought was so much more that, was really dead.
Ron nodded. There would be plenty of time to honor Harry later. She was right about that.
Hermione raised the sword over her head. Ron placed a hand on top of hers on the sword. He wanted to be a part of this too. She looked up to Dumbledore for the okay. When he silently gave her permission, she and Ron brought the sword down hard into the middle of the diary. They took a step back as the pages started to spew something black all over the place. It was a sort of liquid of some kind. Almost like blood.
"What's happening?" Tonks asked Dumbledore.
He stared at the diary. "I'm not sure. I've never dealt with this sort of dark magic before. I have no idea what's happening. All I know is the fragment of soul in that diary is being destroyed. Once it's gone, Voldemort will be human again."
"Which means that he can be killed," she reasoned.
"Exactly."
"We can finally be rid of his evil."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other. They had done it for Harry. To be rid of Voldemort for good, is all any of them had ever wanted. They just hoped that it would work the way they wanted it to. They had no idea that what they had just done, was going to change their lives forever.