Chapter 15
Mid day, May 2nd, 1998,
Hogwarts.
Al was on the outside of the group hug. He couldn't accept that it was over. He had to at least try something. He snuck off away from the others. He pulled the Marauder's Map and invisibility cloak out of Jamie's pocket with ease and he snuck off, draping the cloak over his neck and shoulders. He muttered the keywords and searched for the name 'Harry Potter' on the map. He spotted it by the edge of the map, right before the edge of the forest. If Al ran, he could probably reach him just in time before he died, but that would leave him with no time to do the saving part of the plan.
The first idea that came to Al was apparition. Of course that wouldn't work. He had read Hogwarts:A History. He knew of the ancient protection spells cast on the school to prevent intruders. But they required a lot of magical energy to be diverted to them to keep them strong. Sometimes if you poked through in the right way, you could squeeze through the barriers and apparate short distances. He had a lot of time on his hand when he was at Hogwarts. If everyone here was just casting about a million spells during the battle, then the shields should be weakened and it would be easier for Al to poke through. It was worth a shot at least.
Destination, Deliberation,Determination,
To his surprise, it worked. He landed right on top of Harry, knocking him over in the process. He said a quick sorry and helped him up.
"Al, what are you doing here?" Harry asked irritably
"Look, you can't go in there." Al explained quickly "You'll die, this time for real."
"But we replaced the others of us. Things will change for the future" Harry muttered frantically
"That's why I'm going to do this." Al's face was grim and he said a silent apology "Pertrificus Totalus" he muttered. Herry's body went rigid and fell over. Al took his square glasses off his face and replaced them with Harry's circular ones. Al threw the one of the cloak's over his body to hide him from view, then disappeared into the forest.
'Be dad.' Al thought 'You can do this. Die the hero's death.'
*******
"HARRY POTTER IS DEAD!"
The call rang out around the courtyard and into the damaged walls of the castle. Anyone who was able, shuffled out to see what was going on. Lily was torn between running up the front to beg her father back to life, and hanging back to not accept what she was being told. The only way she got up was being dragged by Jamie. Where was Al?
"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you would all fight and die for him. I bring you his body as proof he is gone.
"The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you greatly, and the Boy Who Lived is gone. The war is won and anyone who continues to resist, be it man, woman, or child, will die quite a painful death, as will every member of their family. Come now and kneel to me, you will live, as will your familia. Join me in the new world we will build together."
Lily's breath hitched in her throat. Harry was lifeless and still in Hagrid's arms. His skin- pale, his glasses- perched messily on his nose, his chest- not daring to rise or fall. No signs of life evident anywhere on the boy's body. Lily had to hold herself from crying out to him. The man who would grow to raise her. She loved him with all her heart. He had read her stories before bed, comforted her when she had nightmares, taught her how to tie her shoes. All mundane things that she missed so dearly, even if he hadn't been gone all that long. She hadn't seen her, of age, father in what felt like a week to her, and now she never would again.
Hagrid kept sobbing Harry's name. He stumbled along as the Death Eaters forced him to move forward. The last few able people shuffled out of the castle. A loud cry of "NO!" escaped from non other than professor Minerva Mcgonagall. Bellatrix laughed, she gloried in her old professor's despair. Voldemort stoked the snake that wrapped over his shoulders and neck. It was now free of the cage that had caused so much trouble for the golden trio.
"Come," Voldemort spoke again, this time to Hagrid. He shuffled forward and Voldemort ordered him to put the body on some rubble that had fallen and had formed a type of pedestal, the perfect size for the dead body of a fallen hero.
In her mind, Ginny begged for him to move. Just an inch. The twitch of a finger, a simple blink, any sign of life to say he's alive. He can't be dead again. He just can't.
"No!" she cried out involuntarily
"No!" a similar cry came from Luna
"Harry! HARRY!" Hermione was the last to call out before Voldemort called out again
"SILENCE!" he ordered "It is over! Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing but a spoiled little boy who relied on the generosity and sacrifice of others."
"He beat you!" yelled Ron, the tense silence broke with the spectators now yelling profanities and other explisives. (spl?) A loud band silences them.
"He was killed while trying to escape the castle grounds." Voldemort continued. There was a hint of glee in the lie he told "killed while trying to run away so you would all fight his battle for-" Neville ran forward and casted a nameless spell in the Dark Lord's direction. Voldemort disarmed him with ease and Neville hit the pavement. "Who's this?" he asked with a hint of amusement "Who has insisted on volunteering to show what happens to someone fighting a losing battle?"
Bellatrix gave out a gleeful giggle.
"That's Neville Longbottom my lord. The boy who has been giving the Carrows so much trouble! The son of the Aurors, remember?"
"Yes, I remember." Voldemort mused, dangerously calm. Neville struggled to get back to his feet "But you are a pure blood, are you not?"
"So what if I am" Neville spat, his hands curled into fists.
"You show promise, spirit, and bravery, and you come from a noble background. You will make a valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over" said Neville "Dumbledore's Army!" he yelled it like a war cry, backed by the supporting yells of the crowd behind him.
"Very well," Voldemort said. He seemed, almost, disappointed "Back to the original plan of your head on a post."
Something flew through the air and dropped into Neville's hands. Some recognized it as the Sorting Hat.Others thought it was a misshaped bird.
"There will be no more sorting." Voldemort spoke "The crest, the houses, will all be of my most noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. That will suffice for everyone, will it not, Neville Longbottom."
Neville stood rigid. He glared daggers into the Dark Lord.
All this talking made Lily anxious. She longed to run up to Harry and hug him. The only thing stopping her was Jamie holding her in a tight embrace, seemingly reading her thoughts. She kept her eyes glued on the pedestal that held her teenaged father's body. She saw something move, He was alive! Something moving was a sign of life. She broke free from Jamie and ran to him before anyone had anytime to react.
With strong emotion, Lily's powers tended to erupt, spurring in sporadic ways that no one could predict, not even her. This time, it seemed that a large shield charm erupted from within her. It formed a dome around her and the pedestal. It was semi-transparent with a slight purple tint. Lily looked into his eyes and saw it wasn't her father lying dead before her. She screamed. She was only ready to see one person dead tonight. Though she wasn't particularly happy to see her father dead, she wasn't even going to think about it being Albus that was stone cold and never going to wake.
(A/N: I am sorry this is so late, I promised it to you yesterday but I do have some excuses for you if you'll hear them. My family sprung a spontaneous boxing day brunch on me and I was at family's house for most of the day, then this was really hard for me to write, I wrote it about three time, not happy with any of it. I think it's a bit better now but I'm still not 100% happy with it. I will say that I did use some wording straight from the book. I DO NOT CLAIM IT AS MY OWN. I did paraphrase in some places but it is a lot from the book. I don't know when I can update again, because I am going over to a friend's house tomorrow for a Harry Potter movie marathon so I will be unavailable for about 19 hours. So sorry again! -Jul)