Chapter Twenty Five
The Phoenixes Return
Harry barely inverted his body, bowing and sneering as Voldemort did the same. He knew everyone behind him was waiting for the fight; each person holding their breath. Voldemort cast the Killing Curse at the same moment Harry cast his own jinx. Their wands connected and Harry tore the connection away. They circled each other, each waiting for the next to make a move.
“Do you honestly think you can win, Harry?” Voldemort hissed in his snakelike voice.
Harry said nothing and smiled defiantly at him. They cast hexes and curses alike each time connecting and ripping away. Once or twice the onlookers heard the phoenix’s song, each gasping at the strength and joy they felt.
Voldemort broke the connection and howled in frustration. Utilizing his distraction Ginny rushed forward clasping Harry’s hand and lighting a ring of fire around Voldemort. Harry breathed deeply, grateful for the brief break.
“I can only hold him for a few seconds at a time,” Ginny whispered, the flames vanishing.
Harry nodded as she stepped back and Voldemort threw a few more hexes at Harry. Harry stumbled over a branch as he side-stepped another lethal curse, and was hit by the Imperious.
“Look at the girl.” Harry heard.
He stood with eyes glazing, turning his back to Voldemort and gazed at Ginny.
“Tell her she’s worthless. I will kill her just because she meant something to you. Tell her how worthless she is,” the snakelike voice hissed again.
Harry looked at Ginny’s loving, beautiful face, in that instant he knew no bounds between their love. He smiled as she winked at him and stepped forward. Harry said nothing and fought the curse off. He took Ginny’s right hand in his, transferring their wands to their left hands and stood together.
“Incarcerous!” Harry yelled.
“Inflamare!” Ginny bellowed in the same moment.
Flames again erupted around Voldemort and everyone heard him yell out again in frustration. Ginny turned to Harry and began to whisper quickly.
“Vedere attraverso i mie occhi!” Ginny muttered.
Instantly, Harry could see through the flames and watched as Voldemort was struggling out of the ropes binding him.
“Reducto!” Harry shouted, just as Voldemort came out of the dissipating flames.
An unhuman sound tore from Voldemort’s body as it fell to the ground, lifeless and soulless. Harry cautiously stepped up to it and kicked the body, waiting for a reaction from the shell that housed his enemy. When nothing happened, he splintered Voldemort’s wand under his foot and turned back to his family.
Harry could hear nothing despite the sight of his friends cheering and congratulating him. He felt his body get heavier and sank to his knees. Vaguely, he recognized Ron, who lifted him to his feet again and together they stumbled into the centre of the crowd. People were patting him on the back and shaking his hand. He felt like he would vomit at any moment and screamed.
Again he fell to the ground, writhing in agony as his scar erupted in a new pain. Once more he felt himself being lifted and steadied, but now he heard a voice. A voice called out from the crowd and he focused.
“Ron!” Ginny screeched, as the crowd turned from Harry to stare at her.
“Ginny, can’t you see something’s wrong with Harry!?” Ron shot back vehemently at her distraction.
“Do you trust me?” Ginny bellowed again, running forward and snatching his hand away from Harry.
“What’s going on, Ginny?” Ron asked, turning to look at his best friend.
“That’s not just Harry,” she whispered.
And it was true; Harry’s famous eyes were no longer their vivid emerald green. His left eye dazzled as it always had, but his right eye turn from a sickly brown to a glowing red. Voldemort’s fragmented soul had taken up residence in Harry’s body.
She watched Harry’s face as the souls battled. “Step away!” she ordered to the crowd, who moved only inches away from them.
Pulling a knife from her pocket, she sliced a thin cut down Harry’s right palm and mimicked the action on her own right hand.
“Sangue del mio sangue, io lego le nostre anime.” Ginny chanted.
A blistering white light emanated from their clasped hands. Harry and Voldemort cried out in torturous pain. Ginny smirked as Harry and Voldemort began to pant.
“What have you done!” Harry’s voice hissed.
“I have bound my soul to Harry’s, Tom,” Ginny answered simply.
“Ginny,” she knew it was Harry this time, “why?”
She smiled at him, letting their rings dig into their skin, tightening her grip on him. “By binding my soul with yours, Tom has to overcome your soul and mine to win. Focus on me Harry. Look to your beings of strength. They will push him deep into the Horcrux and trap him.”
Harry knew she was right. He felt like he had tunnel vision. Voldemort watched the real Ginny as she connected their bloody hands, making sure that their rings stayed in contact. Harry let his mind go blank. He saw Ginny in his mind. She was smiling at him. He saw his mother emerge from the darkness and heard Voldemort howl distantly. Sirius and James came forward wrestling like children. Molly came into his vision next, holding Arthur’s hand. Ron and Hermione danced before his mind’s eye and he felt Voldemort recede.
In that instant, Ginny flipped the knife still in her left hand. She cut into the thin flesh on Harry’s forehead. A thin half-moon shaped piece of flesh tore away from his skin and he wailed in pain. He saw nothing but blood and felt Ginny cover the scarred skin with their clasped hands. The pain faded and everything went white.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He heard voices. Harry waved a hand in front of his face trying to see through the blinding light. The voices spoke only for a second and left him puzzled.
“I saw Verona in the Mirror of Erised, but I like socks too,” A sage voice called out to him.
“Tell Mr. Crabass I will come to him the next time a full moon rises on All Hallow’s Eve. I will bring him home,” a woman’s kind voice whispered.
“My sweet son, I love you,” Harry choked as he heard his mother.
“You know I love you, and I love her too,” Harry laughed and felt his father smile.
“Take care of her for me, and tell her mother I’m glad she owes me a galleon,” Harry gasped at Arthur’s voice.
“Redhead, it had to be a redhead,” Sirius growled playfully.
“Tell her I’m so proud and to take care of her father, she knows where the Schnapps is,” Harry nodded, knowing he had been given a gift and felt himself pulling away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Someone was wiping a wet cloth on his cheeks. He felt safe, but tired and desperately tried to fall back asleep. He grumbled as the cold fabric touched his face again and blinked into Roni’s smiling face.
“Welcome back, hero,” she whispered and moved out of the way.
Harry choked back an overwhelming emotion as Aunt Petunia took his place and held his hand firmly in hers. She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek as he grew more conscious of his surroundings.
“What’s happened?” He croaked.
“You have been out of it for nearly a day. It’s almost midnight,” Petunia whispered to him.
Harry struggled to remember why he was knocked out, finally sitting up sharply as he realized that Voldemort had fallen.
“Where is everyone? Who was hurt? Where is Ginny?!” Harry demanded harshly.
Hagar and Dudley came around the curtain to sit with him and helped Petunia fill in the details.
“Last night,” Aunt Petunia began, “you faced Him. Remus and Bill Weasley killed the other werewolf, but only after Bill was bitten again. Bill attacked Remus and nearly killed him. Somehow, Molly and Tonks got them away from the battle and returned to you safely.”
Hagar took a deep breath as she jumped into the conversation. “Moody and Kingsley died. Kingsley fought most of the battle, but didn’t make it. Remus returned early this morning and is barely alive. Susan has been up all night trying to stabilize Draco’s condition. The Healers suspect that on some level, Lucius Malfoy must have loved his son. That is the only explanation as to why his Killing Curse failed to murder Draco and rebounded on him. Susan is distraught.”
Dudley cleared his throat to tell him the rest and Harry couldn’t help but feel that they had decided who would tell what before he awoke. “Most everyone else who is hurt or dying was hurt from the explosion that destroyed the scar. I don’t really understand it, but Roni said that when Ginny cut the scar away from your head, it destroyed apart of Him. That caused a magical pulse that threw everyone around you into the air.”
Harry took a breath to try to make sense of this information. He knew there were people still hurt and dying. Bill had been mauled again by Greyback, but how was Fleur? Remus was dying, but how was Tonks? Questions leapt through his mind.
“Roni,” Harry coughed as he tried to pull himself out of his cot, “I need to see them.”
Roni just nodded and helped him walk gingerly to visit his friends. They twisted down the path so Harry could go to each cot. Tonks was heaving heavy sobs on Remus’ shoulder. He looked pale and weak. Harry felt certain if he touch Remus’ hand it would be cold.
Molly sat next to Mr. Granger on an empty cot. They stared sombrely and watched Ron push Hermione’s curls away from her face. Harry nearly collapsed at the sight of Hermione near death in that bed. Ron looked up at him as Roni and Dudley pulled him to his feet again.
“She loves us both, remember,” Ron chuckled grimly, pulling her hand to his lips.
Just beyond them Susan leaned on Draco, snoozing lightly on his good arm. She stood up to help Roni with Harry but he shook his head. Susan leaned up to kiss him lightly on the cheek, “See I told you he wasn’t such a bad guy.”
Harry smiled at her as she returned to her perch beside Draco, actually hoping the blond would survive, if only for Susan’s sake. As Roni led him further down the path, he gasped as he saw Fred lay dying under the critical watch of George and Verity. Harry turned to Roni and begged her to go to him, but she shook her head defiantly.
“He knows I need to be with you right now,” Roni smiled and pulled him further down the walk.
Luna leaned over Neville. The ribbon was still tied around her petite neck. She looked like a goddess hovering over a wounded bird. An odd smile shaped her mouth and she whispered soft things to Neville. She let Harry pass by without so much as a glance at him.
Harry tore his eyes away from Luna and let his eyes fall to the ground. He had seen Charlie sitting rigidly at the foot of a bed not far away from Neville. Ginny was curled up like a child. She looked like she was asleep; ready to wake at any moment, but Harry knew that wasn’t the case.
“Charlie,” Harry whispered as Roni deposited him in the bed beside Ginny. “What happened?”
Charlie grunted, clearing his throat. “When she tore your scar away, all we saw was white light. We went flying. Hermione flew into the Whomping Willow. Fred and Neville snapped several vertebrae in their spines when they landed. It took us too long to recover ourselves and get to them. I had a broken leg and couldn’t walk. Ron crawled to Hermione and nearly lost his eye. Once we got back, the damage had been done. Roni and Susan fixed up the majority of us, but now all we can do is wait…” he finished trailing off.
“What about,” Harry gulped, “Ginny?”
“She drained her magical stores so severely that she may never wake up. Her colour is better, but with Mum sitting with Mr. Granger, I didn’t want her to think we abandoned her,” Charlie explained.
Harry turned to Ginny and kissed her forehead. He waited for a moment, silently praying for some reaction, and getting none. He propped his head up in his left hand and ran his fingers down her arm. He smiled as he felt her fingers open and close around his, clicking their rings together.
Her eyes began to flutter and Harry whispered excitedly, “Ginny, love, wake up!”
Ginny’s eyes shot open as she heard the distant cry of a phoenix. Harry smiled as he realized the flock was returning. She clutched Harry’s hand as Voerlute flew to her and nuzzled into their joined hands. Ginny whispered something to the bird and Harry gasped as it took flight again, singing beautifully.
Gasps and shrieks filled the room as birds appeared in bursts of fire. Voerlute perched herself on Molly’s arm, singing as her siblings picked out their owners. Mercutio swept past Mr. Granger and landed gently on Hermione’s stomach. Fawkes flew directly to Susan and stared at Draco critically. Sol landed at the end of Remus’ bed. The bird tried to inch up to his face, but Tonks was still clutching him.
Pharaoh flew gracefully to Luna and cuddled into her neck, while Jove perched himself on George’s knee and stared at Fred. As if waiting for some instruction, Ginny called out to them.
“Well, go on,” she smiled as they chirped in understanding.
The birds leaned over Harry’s friends each crying soft tears onto hands and faces. Draco was the first to respond. He started coughing madly, hacking and wheezing; Susan pulled him into a sitting position. She smiled wearily when his eyes blinked open and he caressed her face with his right hand.
Fred was next. The bird only shed a few tears before Fred choked in a deep breath. George instantly began to do a jig with Verity and Roni let herself be pulled into bed. Harry heard her laugh as George and Verity conjured a screen so she and Fred could have some, “private time.”
Charlie helped Ginny and Harry move back down the path so they could examine their friends. Neville was apparently awake because he was kissing Luna with heated fervour. Harry laughed when they rolled off the bed and didn’t even notice. Ginny giggled quietly beside him and held his hand tightly as they moved to watch Remus.
Sol was idly preening his feathers, perched on Remus’ knee. Tonks had once again thrown herself bodily across him. While she continued to sob heavily, Remus raised a weak hand to pat her gently on the back. Harry smiled when Remus weakly waved at him. Ginny tried to control herself, but fell into Charlie, laughing madly when Remus pinched Tonks’ bum. Tonks squealed in protest but Charlie conjured a private screen for them when he heard her protests muffle.
They finally moved to Hermione. Her eyes were still closed but she looked infinitely better. Harry sat next to Ron and Ginny moved to sit across from them. With Hermione sandwiched between the three, they sat waiting to see her come back.
“It didn’t work,” Ron mumbled darkly, earning him a snap from Mercutio.
The bird ruffled his feathers indignantly and called out to Hermione. While the bird sang, the friends watched Hermione’s face. Slowly a small smile crept onto her face. She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes. She suddenly became aware that Ron was hugging her. Her father and Molly were yelling out and jumping up and down. Harry pushed Ron away to get in a kiss and a quick hug before Ron wormed his way back into her arms.
Molly smiled as she saw the couples and friends laugh and celebrate together. She quietly gathered her things and moved from the hospital wing. She had to report to Minerva. She had to find Fleur and Bill. When she thought of all the things that would happen in the next few months she suddenly felt exhausted. They would have to tally the dead. They would send the few remaining Death Eaters to Azkaban. She worried what would happen to young Malfoy. He saved Susan in the battle, but he was still a Death Eater. So much was left to do. Harry and Ron would be going into Auror training and Ginny had another year left at Hogwarts. Yes, it seemed like there was a whole lot more living they had left to do, but at least they could now live without fear.
The End
**Thank you so much for reading**
peskypetunia
Harry Potter and the Legend of Infinity by peskypetunia
Chapter Notes: Wow so this is really it folks. I can't believe this is finally the end. I love each and everyone of my readers and reviewers here. I hope that many of you will continue to enjoy my tales on SIYE as well as the wonderful authors here at mugglenet. Please keep in contact, I will be enjoying the wonderful stories here from time to time as well. Please Review!