“What are we doing here, Harry?” asked Ron, as he looked around at his surroundings; Hogsmeade Village was back to how it had been the night Ginny was taken. The Three Broomsticks’ window was repaired, and the village looked as sleepy as ever.
“Can’t Apparate inside the school.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot,” said Ron sheepishly, his ears going ever so slightly pink - not that you could tell in the dusk light which the two friends stood in. “We could have Apparated a bit closer though.”
“We could of.”
“Then why didn’t we?”
“I thought you’d enjoy the walk,” Harry said sarcastically. “Okay, listen. If Malfoy is on top of the Astronomy Tower then he can probably see most of the school grounds and the surrounding area, it’s safer to appear here, and make the rest of the journey under the cloak,” Harry said, withdrawing the invisibility cloak from his pocket with a flourish.
“Oh, right,” replied Ron, he had a grim expression o n his face. “Do you think Malfoy is up there?”
“Pettigrew says so.”
“Yeah, but…”
“No buts, Ron. No one, not even slime like Pettigrew who have sustained their life by lying, can resist Veritaserum. Now let’s get a move on. I need to get to Ginny.”
“She’s my sister, Harry. I want to get to her as well.”
Harry did not reply, he merely turned and began running towards Hogwarts, Ron running behind him.
“Harry…the cloak…need…put it on,” Ron panted as Harry and he ran through a puddle of mud, which splashed up and dirtied his robes.
Harry stopped running, and turned to face Ron, with a somewhat sheepish expression on his face he looked down at the cloak that he still held in his hand. “Good point, Ron,” he said, as he flung the cloak around his shoulders. Ron hurried towards him and ducked under the cloak; it was a tight fit, but they managed to stay well hidden.
Running was now impossible since the cloak barely covered Harry and Ron; it flapped around their ankles if they moved above walking pace. As a result the short walk towards Hogwarts took far longer than Harry would have cared for, as every moment he spent on the journey towards the school was another moment that Ginny was left alone with Malfoy, and that, Harry thought, could not be a good thing.
Eventually Harry and Ron reached the gates of Hogwarts. The journey from Hogsmeade had been cold, wet, and silent. Harry and Ron walked towards the Entrance Hall of the school, and once they were safely inside they both emerged from the now sopping wet cloak. Harry sighed and wrung it out, splashing the cold stone floor with water as he did so.
“It’s freezing out there,” said Ron, shivering as he spoke.
Harry did not reply, the time for talking was over. He stuffed the cloak back into his pocket and turned, not saying a word to Ron. He began to walk towards the Astronomy Tower.
“Harry?” Ron said tentatively.
“What?” said Harry, stopping in his tracks but not turning around, he merely tilted his head to one side.
“Wait for me,” said Ron, as he moved to stand beside Harry.
“Ron, you’re not coming with me,” Harry answered. “I need you to find Hermione, Remus, McGonagall - anybody who can help us. Malfoy can’t escape this time.”
“No, Harry, you’re going to need my help on this.”
“He’ll kill her if he even suspects I’m not alone. I’m not risking it.”
“She’s my sister, Harry!”
“And she’s my world, Ron!” Harry shouted, causing a couple of old wizards who were wandering amongst the empty picture frames to jump and squeal ever so slightly.
That last remark from Harry seemed to hit the right spot, as Ron nodded his head slowly. “Okay, Harry, you get your way. I’ll find help, and we’ll get to the Astronomy Tower.”
Harry nodded and started to walk again, when Ron’s voice stopped him once again, “Harry?”
“What, Ron!? We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Make sure she’s okay.”
Harry turned to face Ron, and nodded his head, before he turned and walked towards the Astronomy Tower, leaving Ron standing alone in the Entrance Hall, watching him until he was out of sight, before Ron also turned and headed towards the Headmistress’ office.
Harry broke into a run as he neared the Astronomy Tower. The tower’s huge outline was silhouetted against the darkening sky, the top of the tower was not even visible from the ground, the rain, which was now pelting down, clouded Harry’s vision, causing him to stop and wipe the excess moisture from his glasses.
Harry stood outside the massive oak door which led into the Astronomy Tower, he paused before he pushed it open; he had to get himself prepared. Harry knew full well that Ginny could already be dead - Malfoy might have tortured her beyond all repair, and he would surely do the same to Harry if he gave him the chance. Malfoy could not have that chance.
The spiral staircase that Harry now climbed seemed to go on forever, its hard, stone steps sending chills through Harry’s feet every time he stepped upon one of them. The grey walls seemed to encroach upon him as Harry climbed the stairs; he fought off the dizziness that came with climbing a spiral staircase of this height.
Finally, after it seemed like he had been climbing forever, Harry came to the end of the staircase. All that was keeping him from Ginny, and unfortunately Malfoy as well, was the door that stood before him. He closed his eyes, he tightened his grip on his wand, his eyes snapped open, and Harry pushed the door open.
The wind rushed Harry as he stepped through the doorway; he had to steady himself else he would surely have been blown backwards down the staircase. The rain was coming down much harder than it had been before Harry began to climb the tower - it stung his face, countless drops fell upon his skin, each one felt like a pinprick. Harry lowered his head and walked forwards, he could see the blurry form of two figures, one standing tall, the other kneeling on the floor.
The figures grew bigger as Harry neared them, he could hear the sound of crying; the kneeling figure was crying, and it cut through Harry, he knew that cry. It was Ginny.
She’s alive, Harry thought.
The two figures became clear as Harry came to a halt in front of them. Malfoy was standing over Ginny, his wand pointing down at her. Harry noticed he had another wand tucked into his robes; it was the wand that Harry had given Ginny for Christmas. Malfoy’s pale face contorted into a maniacal smile as he saw Harry, his dead eyes gave the slightest sparkle of life, as they narrowed into pure hatred. Malfoy raised his wand from Ginny and pointed it at Harry, as he did so he lashed his foot out at Ginny, kicking her right in her face; she fell to the floor, crying louder.
Harry felt his own anger rising up inside him as he saw Malfoy. His hand tightened around his wand, which was now pointing at Malfoy. However, Harry felt sick when he shifted his gaze from Malfoy to the crying heap that was Ginny; her face was a bloody mess, various cuts and bruises adorned her skin where her robes had been ripped away, she looked as though she could break in half at any minute. She gave a small cough, bringing up blood as she did so.
“Ginny,” Harry said, as he kept his wand trained on Malfoy.
“Harry…” she said feebly, every word a strain on her battered frame.
“Get up, Weasel!” hissed Malfoy, as he bent down and dragged Ginny to her feet. Like a coward, Malfoy stood behind her, his wand digging into her neck; Ginny winced at he twisted the wand, digging it further in.
Harry started toward Ginny, his wand still trained on Malfoy.
Malfoy gave his wand a quick jab. “Ah, ah, ah, Potter. Not so fast. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to the Weasel, would you?”
Harry stopped where he was. “Lower your wand,” Malfoy demanded.
Harry slowly lowered his wand. A triumphant smile crossed Malfoy’s face as he continued to twist his wand into Ginny’s neck. “Well, well, well, Potter, once again we find ourselves up here, and once again you’re unable to attack, only this time, you don’t have that old fool Dumbledore to keep you safe.”
Anger boiled in Harry’s veins. “Don’t you talk about Dumbledore, you couldn’t kill him, you didn’t have it in you!”
Malfoy gave a cold, hard laugh. “You think so, Potter? Or could it just be that I wanted to test Snape’s loyalty. I knew the other Death Eaters suspected him, and I wanted to see whether or not he could go through with fulfilling his vow. Obviously he valued his own life above Dumbledore’s.”
Harry did not reply; he simply paced back and forth, seething, helpless, he needed an opening, he needed a slip up from Malfoy.
“Stand still, Potter!” roared Malfoy.
Harry stopped pacing and looked past Ginny, who was now silent, but gritting her teeth in pain as the tip of Malfoy’s wand continued to twist into her neck, and into the cold eyes of Draco Malfoy. “Why are you doing this Malfoy? Voldemort is dead. We won. You picked the wrong side, deal with it.”
“Don’t you talk to me like that, Potter. I’m the one holding your little girlfriend here, remember that. Now, you ask why I’m doing this? I’ll tell you why, because I just plain do not like you, Potter, I have never liked you, and you sending me to Azkaban was the last straw. Who on earth do you think you are? You’re nobody Potter, you’re nothing!” Malfoy yelled, letting his guard drop for a second.
Harry used the momentary distraction to whip his wand back up he pointed it at the spot where Malfoy’s head had just been. Malfoy had seen this coming however, and had ducked behind Ginny, forcing her forward between him and Harry’s wand.
“Drop it, Potter,” he snarled, “or your little girlfriend here takes a flight off of the tower,” Malfoy threatened, his usual maniacal smile returning to his face.
Harry did not lower his wand; he was calling Malfoy’s bluff.
Malfoy’s smile widened. “Cold, Potter, very cold. But as you wish,” and he waved his wand, lifting Ginny from the floor, with another flick, he sent her flying over the edge of the tower.
“No!” shouted Harry, and he waved his own wand, Ginny hung suspended in midair before Malfoy waved his wand again, which caused Ginny to fly back into his grasp, once again, his wand was jabbing into her neck.
“Hmmm…well, I see that that won’t work,” growled Malfoy, his eyes flashing with anger again. “But how about this?” Malfoy removed his wand from Ginny’s neck, and held it again her face, he mumbled something Harry could not quite hear, and began to draw his wand down Ginny’s face, blood began to seep from the trail that Malfoy was tracing upon Ginny’s face. “Drop it, Potter, or I’ll just keep going,” Malfoy hissed, as he drew his wand over the bridge of Ginny’s nose.
Harry hesitated, if he lowered his wand he would surely be killed, but on the other hand, he could not stand to see Ginny dead. Reaching the only logical conclusion, he dropped his wand, it landed with a rattle of the hard, stone floor of the Astronomy Tower roof.
“Perfect,” smirked Malfoy, and he threw Ginny hard to the floor; she banged her head hard on the stone floor. Malfoy turned back to face Harry, bringing up wand in a sweeping upwards arc as he did so, “SECTUMSEMPRA!” he bellowed.
Harry felt a white hot pain sear through him, and he stumbled backwards as his eyes clouded with blood, he felt like his chest had been sliced open, he blinked the blood out of his eyes long enough to see the gaping wound on his chest, his hands were stained crimson.
Harry lurched forward, slumping to his knees, he felt dizzy; the blood leaving his body was taking his strength with it. He heard Ginny screaming his name in the background; her screams were drowned out by Malfoy, who was standing over Harry with his wand raised, as Harry slowly fell forward; he tried to stretch him arms out in front of him to stop himself falling flat on his face, his arms would not work though, he did not have the energy left.
”Everte Statum!” bellowed Malfoy, making a jabbing gesture with his wand.
The blast of the invisible spell smashed right into Harry’s chest, causing him to be blasted backwards, the force of the spell sent him crashing through the solid stone battlements that stood on top of the tower, dust and debris littered the roof as Harry’s limp form fell out of sight.
“Harry!” cried Ginny as she watched him fall, he could not die, he just could not. He would appear back on top of the tower at any minute. He had to.
Malfoy was laughing as he watched Harry fall. Ginny saw Harry’s wand lying a few feet from her, if she could get to it, then maybe she could jinx Malfoy long enough to allow her to escape. She inched towards it, wincing in pain as she crawled across the cold stone floor, the rain continued to pelt down upon her. Inch by inch, she neared the wand, the dried blood on her face pulled at her skin as she winced, she stretched out her arm, her fingers scrabbled at the wand.
“Drop it.”
Ginny froze and looked up in horror, standing behind her, with a sneer on his face was Malfoy. His wand was pointed at Ginny.
Ginny drew her hand away from the wand; she had been so close to it. Now there was no hope, she would surely be killed. Not even the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs was enough to save her as Malfoy raised his wand. ”Avada Kedav…”.
”Expelliarmus!” came another voice.
Malfoy’s wand flew from he hand, and the wand that he held in his robes, Ginny’s wand, shot from his robes and landed with a rattle next to Ginny; she reached out and snatched it up before she turned to look at the door; standing in the doorway, wands outstretched, were Ron, Hermione, and Lupin.
“Ginny!” shouted Ron, abandoning all pretence and rushing towards his sister.
“Ron! No!” yelled Lupin.
Too late did Ron see Malfoy shoot a fist towards him. Ron winced as Malfoy’s fist connected with his jaw, before he knew what was happening, Malfoy had stolen his wand from him and had it jammed up under his throat. Ron snarled as he smelt Malfoy’s stale breath and heard him growl into his ear.
“Not so hot without Potter, are you, Weasley? Well, maybe you take a look over the edge of this tower. I think you’ll be surprised.”
Malfoy flicked Ron’s wand, “Accio!” He hissed. His own wand, which was lying several feet away from him sprung into his grasp.
Hermione and Lupin both had their wands trained on Malfoy. Ginny had used the distraction to use her own wand to heal her wounds, she was still sore, but at least she was alive. She got to her feet and brandished her wand at Malfoy, who sneered as he saw her.
“Well, well, the littlest Weasel has some guts after all,” he smirked, before whispering in Ron’s ear once again, “How does it feel, Weasley? Knowing your little sister is better than you?”
“Bugger off, Malfoy,” Ron muttered, choking slightly as Malfoy tightened his arm around his neck.
“Tut, tut. That’s not very nice at all. I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
“Let him go, Malfoy! It’s over. You’ve lost!” said Hermione, a determined look on her face as she took a step closer to Malfoy.
“You shut your mouth, Mudblood! I don’t take orders from you! I don’t take orders from anyone!”
Malfoy waved his own wand, and Ron shot from his grasp like a bullet from a gun, he crashed into Hermione and the two of them went sailing into the wall. Ginny ran towards them while Lupin dodged a stunning spell shot by Malfoy, he shot his wand back up, but Malfoy was gone, a distant figure on a broomstick flew through the air, hurtling away from the Tower.
“He’s gone,” Lupin said sadly. “Ginny, where is Harry?”
Ginny stood up from the tangled mess that was Ron and Hermione, “Oh my god, Harry! Remus, you stay here and look after these two, I’ve got to go find Harry!”
“Ginny, what…”
But Ginny was already gone; she had bolted towards the door, and began sprinting down the staircase.
He can’t have gone. He can’t have gone. He can’t have gone, she told herself, as she ran down the spiral staircase.
She emerged at the bottom of the staircase and ran towards the spot where Harry had fallen.
Please let him be okay. I can’t lose him! It’s not fair! Ginny thought as she approached the spot she was looking for.
Lying in front of her was Harry; she cried out loud and knelt down beside him. Harry was in a bad way - he was battered, bloodied and broken.
But he was alive.
Just.
His eyes were wide open, but the warmth that shone from them was missing, replaced by fear. It was plain to see, Harry Potter was terrified.
“Oh my god, Harry.” She felt the warmth of her tears as they fell down her face; she tasted their salty flavour as they rolled onto her lips. “Harry…please. You can’t leave me!”
“Ginny?” said a voice behind her. Ginny spun around and saw the figures of Colin Creevy and Luna Lovegood walking towards her.
“Luna, Colin, go and fetch Madam Pomfrey!”
“Ginny, what?”
“Go! Now! Go!” she bellowed at them.
Neither of them asked any further questions, they turned away from Ginny and broke into a sprint, running as fast as they could towards the hospital wing.
Ginny watched them leave and turned back to Harry; his breathing was getting shallower by the minute, his green eyes, usually so full of life, were taking on a greyish tinge, they were still fixed firmly upon Ginny, but they were beginning to close. Ginny cried even louder as she saw his eyes close completely. Madam Pomfrey would not make it in time. Ginny blinked back tears as she held Harry close to her, her mind raced, there must be something she could do.
Then it hit her. The notebook. The spell. Something she hoped never to have to use.
Ginny allowed herself a brief moment of hope; it had to work. She laid Harry back on the ground; his chest still moved up and down, but only just. She drew her wand and pointed it at the love of her life.
“A…A…” The words would not come.
Relax, Ginny. You can do it, a voice inside her head told her, Harry’s voice.
She steadied herself, and pointed her wand again. “AMOR VIGORATUS!” she bellowed, she closed her eyes, she could not even bear to watch as a white light emanated from the end of her wand, surrounding Harry, lifting his broken body from the floor. The light penetrated his body; another jet of light of white light branched off of the main beam, and surrounded Ginny. Ginny struggled to stay conscious as the light penetrated her body, her wand was shaking uncontrollably, and her strength was rapidly draining from her body.
“Harry!” she yelled, as darkness began to take over her. With her last ounce of strength, she reached for his hand, his fingers closing around hers as she slipped into darkness.
A/N - Well, well, well, we're nearing the end now, next Chapter soon.