Harry soon became aware of how tightly he was squeezing Ginny’s hand, but did not loosen his grip. He just could not draw his eyes away from the awful view.
“Harry, we need to go,” said Ginny, softly.
He nodded slowly and turned around. He noticed a glistening tear rolling silently down Hermione’s cheek as she clung to Ron.
“We can’t waste any more time,” said Harry. “Come on.”
They walked across the lawn to where there was what looked like a gravel driveway, and followed this until it petered out into a narrow lane, overhung by trees. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were walking a little in front of everyone else so that no one could hear their whispered conversation.
“Do you know where we’re going?” hissed Hermione.
“Not exactly,” replied Harry, “but the village was below us and we’re going down, so…”
He expected Hermione to scold him for being so badly prepared, but she didn’t seem to have anything to say.
“Why don’t we go into the woods for more cover?” whispered Ron, gesturing to the trees lining the lane.
Harry nodded and they swerved off into the forest, where the light was even dimmer than the lane. They picked their way through the vegetation, catching their clothes on brambles and bushes as they went, until: “Shh!” Everyone halted abruptly. The distant scream of a woman, followed by a muffled bang and a flash of green light bursting through the branches overhead. Harry held his wand a little tighter and saw Ginny look up to the crimson-lit sky, which was littered with ash and debris from the fire. Harry looked at her and she at him: a simple nod and they carried on struggling through the trees, until they began to choke from the smoke.
Eventually, the light got brighter, until they emerged from the trees to find themselves in a narrow, cobbled street, the buildings consumed by a roaring blaze which leapt and flailed up into the dark sky. The group huddled closer together and proceeded down the rubble-strewn road, the heat from either side pressing into them with blinding force. Then, as Harry led the way, he thought he saw something dark move through the night up ahead of them. As he looked closer, shadowy shapes appeared, seemingly from thin air, and, as they approached, and the light from the burning houses darted over them, it became apparent that they were the silhouettes of people.
“Not people,” said Ginny’s voice, “bodies…”
They were advancing, becoming clearer, until there was a sudden explosion in a nearby house and the subsequent light hit their faces; gaunt and staring. At first, Harry noticed nothing but their wide, gaping mouths, where the jaw had gone slack and the chin had dropped down, lazily. Half-rotted cloth hung off them and long, matted hair drifted wispily around their drawn faces, the pale skin stretched tightly over jutting bones. There were five, ten, twenty of them, all wandering slowly but purposefully towards the frozen DA.
Harry’s hand clenched around Ginny’s as he raised his wand.
“STUPEFY!” cried several voices behind them, and Harry saw that Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna all had determined looks on their faces and were pointing their wands at the Inferi, four of which fell to the ground, rigidly.
Others followed suit, then more, until bodies were dropping like flies all around them, temporarily lifeless once more.
“Let’s split up and do the whole village,” Harry shouted over the rumble of the flames, and small groups began to peel away from the larger one.
Harry, with a surge of pride, continued to advance up the street with Ginny, Ron and Hermione by his side. They battled through yet more of the attackers, until they reached a dark alleyway and darted down it past the backs of more burning houses. A low, wooden gate blocked the end of the path and Harry unbolted it so that they could all pile through.
They seemed to be in a clearing of land, strangely dark with the absence of flames. Harry couldn’t see more than five feet in front of him, but he knew that they were not alone. Faint, rasping gasps could be hear from a little way away, getting louder as Harry and the others crept across the overgrown grass.
“Harry, watch out!” hissed Ginny, stopping Harry just before he fell into a black, rectangular pit. A pit… headed by a gravestone…
“Lumos!” said Harry, turning the beam of light onto the moss-covered marble and bending down to dusted some of the dirt away so that he could read the engraving:
1955-1981
and
Lily Potter
1956-1981
Loving parents and dear friends
May their souls rest in peace
Rest in peace… rest, peace? Harry shone the light down into the grave, but there was nothing there except mud and stones.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and let Ginny pull him away from the pit. Everyone was very quiet as they walked slowly past it, but Harry’s ears were deafened by the questions in his head “ questions that were horrifying to even consider. His heart was a lump in his throat and his scar was throbbing painfully, but nothing hurt as much as the image in his mind: his mother and father, their souls gone, their bodies acting under Voldemort’s command, completely unaware of the destruction they were causing “
Ginny tensed slightly as Harry thought of this; he had to focus on the task at hand, he had to lead the others into battle “
Now all their wands were lit and the shapes of more graves were appearing from the gloom, every one unceremoniously emptied, many gravestones felled. The four teenagers found a path through the graveyard and began to follow it, while the rasping breath continued close by. Harry thought he saw something move behind a tree up in front of them, and yelled: “STUPEFY!”. A stiff body fell to the ground and there was a terrible crack as its bones broke.
They came to the gate at the other end of the path leaving the looming figure of the towering church behind them and crossing the lane that they found themselves on. It was all deadly silent, until:
“I see them.”
Harry’s head snapped down to the ground, where he saw a huge snake slithering towards him.
“Bring them to me,” said another voice, and Harry felt his legs begin to follow the snake up a drive to his right.
“Harry!” shouted Ron, but it was no good, as now his legs were following too, as were the others’.
Harry fought with all his might to be released from the enchantment, but to no avail. He couldn’t stop walking until he reached the top of the drive, where there was nothing but grass. No house, no garden, apparently no people. Then, all of a sudden, his head burst into pain and all he could hear was a dreadful screaming…
“Please no, take me, kill me instead “ “ Harry’s head was burning, sure to explode at any second “ “Please… have mercy… have mercy…” but he couldn’t reach her… he couldn’t save her…
Finally, thankfully, it ended, and Harry found himself on his knees, pulling at the grass. He opened his eyes and saw, as if it would never die, a beautiful, white lily. As he looked at it, he understood: this was where his mother had died “ right here “ and his father only a few feet away “
“You guessed right,” said a cold voice. “And now, it’s your turn.”
A/N: Well, that's it. The penultimate chapter. Woah, that's weird. Sorry for the shortness, but its really leading onto the next chapter, which I shall warn you now may be a little scary. If you're waiting with baited breath for that last chapter, I recommend that you read the prologue again: it's very short and would help you to totally understand what I've done in the last chapter. It's almost all over! Thanks for reading - please review. hattiepotter xxx