Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.
“Harry,” Ginny whispered, giving the dark-haired man a slight shake. “Harry, wake up.” She grimaced as yet another contraction hit her. As she grabbed her husband’s arm in an attempt to fight off the waves of pain, Ginny decided she was at her wits end. It was time for Harry to get up.
Rather than waste her time on yelling, Ginny waited for the pain to pass before getting out of bed. She tried not to look at the wet spot on the bed as she grabbed her wand off the bedside table. Pointing her wand at her husband, Ginny muttered a spell. Seconds later, Harry Potter woke up spluttering in surprise at his abrupt return to wakefulness. Harry was out of bed in an instant, his wand in hand and prepared to fight off his attacker. Looking around his darkened bedroom in confusion, Harry finally came to his senses when he spotted Ginny on the other side of the room, stifling her laughter.
“What?” He asked in indignation. “Why’d you wake me up? And why’d you have to dump freezing cold water all over me?”
“Because you wouldn’t get up when I tried to be nice,” Ginny answered with a grin, before doubling over with pain as she experienced another contraction.
Harry was at her side in an instant. Putting his arm around her, he asked in concern, “Are you alright? Is it the baby?”
“What kind of question is that?” Ginny asked, clutching his arm. “Of course it’s the baby! Why else would I have woken you up in the middle of the night! I’m in labor, you idiot!”
“Right,” Harry said, ignoring the insult. “We’ve got to get you to the hospital.” Harry helped Ginny out of the bedroom and down the hall of their small house into the living room. He left her standing in front of the fireplace, as he ran frantically about the house searching for anything they might need. Harry’s hands were shaking with nerves as he hurried back to Ginny a few minutes later carrying a small satchel that was laden down with clothes and other things he thought she might want.
After arriving at St. Mungo’s and seeing Ginny being taken off to the maternity ward, Harry contacted Ron and Hermione, the rest of the Weasley clan, and a few of their friends from the Order, telling them that Ginny was about to give birth to their first son. Harry was glad that his friends came as soon as they could, but that didn’t keep him from being scared out of his wits. As he paced the corridor outside of the room Ginny had been taken into, he decided that he would rather face Voldemort with his bare hands than be forced to sit out in the hall while his wife was in that other room, in pain. Never mind that she’d threatened to castrate him if she came anywhere near her. He simply couldn’t stand to see her suffer, and by the looks on Ron and Hermione’s faces, they too looked as if they were dying to rush to Ginny’s side.
Harry and Ginny had finally started dating in his seventh year, and had continued their relationship after he joined the Aurors. He asked the beautiful red-head to marry him about a month after her graduation from Hogwarts, after Ron convinced him that he’d regret it if he didn’t take the risk. Voldemort was still at large and growing in power, meaning that Ginny, as Harry’s wife, would be a target for the Death Eaters. Despite that, she said yes and they had a small ceremony six months later, with most of the Order in attendance.
Hermione, Ginny’s Maid of Honor, had been delighted to take the opportunity at their wedding reception to announce that she and Ron would be getting married soon as well. Ginny might have been offended that Hermione had stolen her thunder, so to speak, but by the time the announcement was made, she had consumed quite a bit of wine and was more than a little drunk. In fact, she’d been so drunk that night that she’d forgotten all about the wedding. Therefore, it came as quite a shock when she woke up the next morning with Harry naked in bed beside her. It took quite a while to convince the poor confused, and very hung over young woman that they were in fact married.
Three years later, at Harry’s twenty-third birthday party, Ginny announced that she was one month pregnant. Everyone in the room sat in shock for a few minutes before Ginny was set upon by her entire family as well as their other friends, each of them offering congratulations to the future parents. Or rather, most of them offered her their congratulations. Ron, Hermione, and Neville revived Harry in order to assure him of the good news. He’d fainted with shock upon hearing his wife’s announcement.
They’d never really talked about having children. Harry had sort of assumed that they would at least wait until after the war was over, and Voldemort was dead and gone before extending the family. Ginny, on the other hand, believed that there was no time like the present. After all, she reasoned, the war was nowhere near to ending. She knew that there was a very good chance that one or both of them could die before the war’s end. She also knew that all of their friends were in the Order, and all of them had started families. Parvati and Neville had twin girls, and had a set of triplets on the way. Seamus and Lavender also had their own baby boy, and Angelina had just given birth to her and Fred’s third son. Even Hermione and Ron were trying to have children. Ginny convinced Harry that there was no reason for them to put their lives on hold, especially if no one else was.
Now, nearly eight months later, Harry was both terrified and excited. He’d finally accepted that there was a risk his family would be in danger, and knew that though the risk to any of his children would more than likely be greater than the risk to his friends’ families, he would do whatever it took to look after them. A part of him was still ambivalent about raising a family in the middle of the war “ especially since he was the one Voldemort most wanted to kill. However, he knew that Ginny was right. Letting Voldemort and the Death Eaters keep them from having a family would be akin to letting them win, something Harry was loathe to do. Despite that thought, Harry nearly fainted with shock when he heard the sound of a baby wailing coming from Ginny’s room.
Ron stood up and clapped Harry on the shoulder saying, “Congratulations mate. You’re a dad.”
Mrs. Weasely pulled Harry into a tight hug after practically shoving her youngest son out of the way. She started sobbing hysterically about her first grandchild, and hugged Harry to her even tighter. Mrs. Weasely’s grip on Harry was so strong that he couldn’t breathe. Just as Harry felt something begin to pop, Mr. Weasely came to his rescue by attempting to prize his wife off of the younger man.
“Come on, Molly. Let Harry breathe,” Mr. Weasely said encouragingly to her. However, Mrs. Weasley seemed reluctant to release him.
“Mum, come on, you’ve got to let Harry go,” George said as he and Fred joined their father. “Ginny’ll want him to see their little demon-child, you know, and she won’t be very happy if you’ve suffocated her husband.”
Finally, Mrs. Weasely released her death grip on Harry, only to turn on George. Seeing the prankster stagger under the weight of his mother’s sobbing embrace was enough to make Harry forgive him for the ‘demon-child’ comment. He did his best to keep his hands from shaking as he entered the delivery room.
Opening the door, Harry saw Ginny, her red hair splayed across a fluffy white pillow lying in her hospital bed on the opposite side of the small room. She was holding a little bundle of blue blankets, and Harry could just see a tiny hand sticking out, grasping Ginny’s finger firmly. The new mother looked up as Harry crossed the room and smiled tiredly. She held the baby up for Harry to see. “Isn’t he beautiful, Harry? Our son.” Ginny said, her entire being filled with pride.
“He’s perfect,” Harry said in awe. He couldn’t believe that this was his son, the child that he and Ginny had created together. Harry suddenly had an understanding of what his own father must have felt when he’d been born. His own parents had been younger even than he and Ginny when he was born, and they’d already taken on the responsibility of fighting Voldemort, even when there was no one with the strength to defeat him. And yet, they’d gotten married and started a family in the face of all that. It was astounding, but Harry knew with sudden clarity as he reached out to touch his son’s forehead that Ginny was right. It was worth the risk, if raising a family in the middle of a war meant not putting his life on hold and that he would get to see his son grow up.
Ginny smiled up at him as their son reached out to grasp his father’s thumb. “Want to hold him?” She asked, gesturing for him to take the boy.
“Can I?” Harry asked, suddenly concerned that he would drop the child.
“Of course,” Ginny said with a small laugh. She showed him how to hold his arms, and then gently placed their son in Harry’s arms. The look on his face when he held his son for the first time was priceless.
“Wow,” he breathed. “Our son. I’m a dad,” Harry said, his eyes widening as if he’d only just grasped that fact.
“Yes, Harry, you’re a dad and I’m a mum,” Ginny said with a small grin. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s about time we decided on a name for him. We can hardly call him ‘Kid’, now can we?”
“Guess not,” Harry said. “Did you have anything in mind? I have to confess that I haven’t really given it much thought “ I was too nervous at the idea of becoming a parent to actually think about naming the kid.”
“Well I know it’s not very original,” Ginny said. “But I was thinking we could name him after my dad and Sirius. I would say name him after your dad but, well, you’re named after him, so that seems sort of redundant to me.”
“Sounds good,” Harry answered with a smile. He couldn’t take his eyes off his son. “Should it be Sirius Arthur Potter? Or Arthur Sirius?”
“I think Sirius Arthur Potter has a nice ring to it, don’t you?” Ginny asked, happily watching her husband as he glowed with fatherly pride over their son.
“Yeah, it does.” Harry said. He looked down at his infant son, who was now staring cross-eyed at his own tiny hand. “How do you like that? Sirius sound like a good name to you, kid?” He asked as he held the boy up close to his face.
Ginny laughed as their son “ Sirius “ responded by grabbing onto Harry’s ear, and then pulling firmly on it with a scream of delight. “I think he likes it,” She said through her laughter.
One Year Later
The months after the birth of Ginny and Harry’s son were filled with attacks. Barely a day passed without reports of killings, not just in Britain, but also in North and South America, Australia, Germany, Bulgaria, Russia, and many other of the most magically powerful nations in the world. The Order, which was headed by Remus Lupin after Dumbledore’s death just after Ron’s wedding nearly three years ago, had spies on practically every continent.
Harry had gone up against Voldemort numerous times, but each battle had ended in a stalemate. However, Hermione had just brought back some rather valuable information from her last mission to America that she hoped might help bring about the end of the war at last. As soon as she’d notified Remus and Ron of her return, the three of them had contacted the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. Or rather, they’d contacted everyone who was in Britain and not in St. Mungo’s.
None of their members had survived the war thus far unscathed. Lavender and Seamus had lost all of their children to the attacks, and Angelina was now a permanent resident of St. Mungo’s. She’d suffered the same treatment Neville’s parents had all those years ago, and was now sharing their ward. Fred visited her everyday, never having given up the hope that she would recover despite the fact that she’d barely even acknowledged his presence for nearly a year. Parvati had been killed protecting her Muggle neighbors from over a dozen Death Eaters while Neville was at work for the Ministry. By the time the Aurors had arrived, three homes had been decimated and Parvati was in dying. She’d died in Ron’s arms before they could get her to the hospital.
Hermione tried not to think of all the things she and her friends had suffered over the years, knowing that what she was about to suggest could result in all of their deaths. It could also result in ending Voldemort’s reign of terror, so she knew that everyone in the room with her would be willing to take the risk. Remus stood as everyone took their seats around the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
“Now that everyone’s here, I think it’s best if we get right to the point,” He said, and the twenty other people in the room turned their attention to him. “Hermione has given me a bit of intelligence concerning Voldemort’s whereabouts and force strength that could allow us to defeat him once and for all,” Remus stated matter-of-factly. He paused a moment to let that sink in before gesturing for Hermione to present what she’d found out.
Essentially, Voldemort’s forces were much weaker than they’d previously thought. Most of the werewolves and vampires who’d once fought for him were either dead or had returned to the Light, having realized that Voldemort was making them his slaves. With the exception of the Dementors, most of the other Dark Creatures were now refusing to fight for his side. Voldemort was still recruiting Death Eaters, but the loss of his army of Dark Creatures was huge blow to the Dark Lord. This, they’d been able to find out from their double agents. However, none of their agents had ever managed to get into Voldemort’s inner circle of elite Death Eaters. Because none of them were close to him, they were never able to uncover his hideout, or how many guards he had with him wherever he was.
However, Hermione had managed to do just that. Her mission to America had been to make contact with one of their spies within the Death Eater cell they knew to be located in the United States. The spy, a young woman named Livianna Galespy, had been out of communication with the Order for many months, and it was feared that she had been captured. So difficult was it to get decent spies that Remus had decided to try and find her rather than attempt to place someone else in their enemy’s midst. Because Hermione had spent several months after her graduation from Hogwarts as an exchange student at a university in the States, she had a few American friends that she’d kept in touch with over the years. Those contacts, along with her knowledge of America made her the best person to send on the mission, much to Ron’s displeasure.
Hermione had spent three months in America, making her way through the country and following any clues she could find regarding Livianna. Her search had ended in Seattle, where she learned that Livianna had been neither captured nor killed. She was in perfect health, and the reason she had not reported to the Order was that she’d been promoted in effect. Livianna Galespy was now the head of the American Death Eater cell, meaning that she was a part of Voldemort’s inner circle. Fortunately, Livianna still supported the Order. The only problem was that she could no longer disappear for periods of time without other Death Eaters noticing. She told once she’d been found Hermione that over the past few months she’d been operating under the hope that the Order would send someone to check on her, instead of assuming that she was dead. The woman had compiled several important reports for the Order, but had never been able to send them without risking the letters being intercepted. Hermione was thankful that the information hadn’t been uncovered by the Death Eaters. Otherwise, they might never get the opportunity to take down the Dark Lord.
The reports Livianna had given Hermione contained the exact location of Voldemort’s headquarters, along with how many Death Eaters were likely to be posted there. He was currently holding court so to speak in a small fortress his Death Eaters had constructed in a large forest in northern Scotland that was known to be home to many Dark Creatures. It was uncertain whether these creatures supported Voldemort, but Harry thought the fact that they’d let him set up camp in their forest a good indication that they might. Despite this, it was clear that they might never get a better opportunity to conquer Voldemort. In preparation for an attack, Remus had already sent several scouts to the area a few days ago, hoping that they might be able to discover the layout of the fortress. That very morning, a detailed map of the area had arrived at Grimmauld Place from one of the men sent to Scotland. More importantly, they also now knew what sort of spells and enchantments were protecting the hideout, as well as how to counteract them.
Once Hermione finished with her report, Harry spoke up. “Well. It sounds like we’ve got all we need for an attack. So what’s our plan?”
At this, Hermione turned the meeting back over to Remus, who detailed the plan of attack he’d come up with. It was dangerous. In order for the plan to succeed, they would have to use almost all of their members, and would certainly need support from the Ministry’s Aurors. If they failed, there would be no possibility of another attempt. However, Remus’ plan was clearly the one with the best chance of success. Therefore, the Order agreed that they would follow through with it. It would take two days to prepare for the attack, and then most of them would go to Scotland.
As the meeting was called to an end, Harry stood up and asked Ginny to wait a few moments. He was glad that she wouldn’t be going “ she was one month pregnant with their second child, and therefore would be staying behind along with her mother and a few others who weren’t in attendance. Harry saw Ron and Hermione preparing to leave, and he moved towards them saying, “Good job, Hermione. Now we might be able to end this whole mess.”
“Thank you Harry,” Hermione said with a weary nod. “It was hard work finding Livianna, but definitely worth it if this works out.”
“Yeah,” Harry said then glanced at Ron. “Listen Hermione, do you mind if I talk with Ron in private for a moment? There’s something I wanted to discuss with him.”
“That’s fine,” she replied. “I wanted to have a word with Ginny anyway.”
Harry and Ron watched Hermione silently for a moment before Ron turned back to face Harry. “What is it?” He asked in concern. “What did you want to tell me? Is something wrong with Sirius the baby?”
“No, everything’s fine with Sirius and there haven’t been any problems with Ginny’s pregnancy, thankfully,” Harry said as he looked back at his wife. “But they are what I wanted to talk to you about. Can we go upstairs? I don’t want Ginny to hear this.”
“Okay,” Ron said warily before he followed Harry out of the kitchen and up the stairs. They walked all through the old house that had once belonged to a family full of Voldemort’s supporters before finally stopping in the study. “Now what’s this all about, Harry?” Ron asked. “You’re not being yourself.”
“I wanted to ask you a favor. I’m sure you’d do it even if I didn’t ask, but I wanted to anyway,” Harry said.
When Harry didn’t elaborate, Ron sighed impatiently.
“Well?” He prompted. “What do you want me to do?”
Harry took a moment to look around the room before answering. Memories of the time he’d spent his beloved Godfather in this horrible house washed over him. He remembered something Sirius had said to him about his father before he (Sirius) died. Rather than responding to Ron’s question, Harry said, “Did you know that the reason my dad asked Sirius to be my Godfather was the prophecy made about me?”
“No,” Ron answered, his confusion obvious. “So?”
“Sirius told me that just after they found out about the prophecy, my dad spoke to him about me and mum,” Harry said, remembering what Sirius had said. “Dad told him that if anything happened to him, he wanted Sirius to look after me and mum. He knew that he would be a target for the Death Eaters, and he made Sirius promise that if anything happened to him, he would take care of us, make sure that mum always had someone to make her laugh and that I had a father figure.”
Harry paused, then turned back to face his best friend, who clearly knew what was coming. By the look on Ron’s face, he didn’t like what he suspected Harry was about to say. Still, he kept quiet, waiting for Harry to continue. After a moment, he did.
“Now I want to ask you to do the same thing,” Harry said. “I know Ginny can take care of herself, but I just want to know that she won’t be alone when this is all over. If something happens to me “ if I die, regardless of whether I beat Voldemort or not, I want you and Hermione to look after her and the kids.”
“Harry, nothing’s going to happen,” Ron interrupted. He looked as though he was trying to convince himself of this as much as Harry.
But Harry was determined to finish what he’d started. “Ron, you can’t know that. If something should happen, I want you to be the one that Sirius and our baby look to for help. I know it’s a big thing to ask, but you’re my best friend. You know me better than anyone, even Ginny. Who better than you and Hermione to tell my kids all about our ‘adventures’ at school? Besides that, I wouldn’t trust anyone else to teach them Quidditch,” Harry said with a laugh that had very little mirth in it.
“Right,” Ron said. “Listen, Harry. You’re my best friend and Ginny’s my sister “ there’s no way I’d leave her alone or abandon you’re kids if something should happen to you. I’ll do anything you ask me to, and you know it. Weaselys don’t leave their friends and family hanging out to dry. But I’m telling you “ you’ve come out of all the other battles with Voldemort alright; there’s no reason to think anything will be different this time around.”
“I know you don’t think anything will happen, and I’d like to believe that too,” Harry said as he walked the length of the room towards a dusty window that looked out the grimy street below. “But if something does go wrong “ if I die “ I want you to promise me that you’ll make sure they’re taken care of.”
When Harry turned back around to look at Ron, his face carried an expression of such desperation that Ron knew he couldn’t continue to argue. He sighed, but nodded his agreement. “Okay. I promise, Harry.”
Harry smiled slightly and moved back to his friend. As he shook Ron’s hand, he said, “Thank you, Ron. I can’t tell you what that means to me.”
Ron nodded in reply and said, “But you should know, Harry. If something does happen, I’ll never be able to forgive you.”
Two Days Later
"Okay, everyone. It's time, so let’s get in there," Harry whispered to his team. He, Ron, Hermione and Remus were each leading four separate groups of Order members and Aurors alike into the fortress. The plan was relatively simple - they were going to sneak in and isolate any Death Eaters they found before moving on in search of Voldemort himself. Everyone under Harry's command nodded and followed him into the fortress.
Several hours later, what remained of the teams regrouped at the center of the fort, before moving on the upper levels where they believed the Dark Lord to be. After going up several flights of stairs, Harry spotted three Death Eaters heading in their direction. He was surprised that more people hadn’t come from the top floors to help stop the attack. He only hoped that it wasn’t a trap.
Many of their people had been killed since the start of the battle, but Harry was relieved to see that most to senior members of the Order were still relatively uninjured. He could see Ron and Hermione dueling with a group of Death Eaters he recognized from past attacks a few yards away from him. Harry was glad that nothing had happened to them thus far. He didn’t know if he could have made it through the past few years if he hadn’t had them and Ginny by his side.
Suddenly, the expansive corridor they were in was filled with a loud low humming sound. The walls began to shake, as if they were experiencing an earthquake when a blinding flash of white light engulfed the entire building. Harry closed his eyes against the burning light, and the second he opened them he saw Voldemort, resplendent in flowing black velvet robes, standing a few feet from him. The Dark Lord apparently hadn’t noticed him yet, and so was entertaining himself by alternately placing the Cruciatus and Avada Kedavra curses on various members of the Order. Harry saw Voldemort turn towards Remus, who seemed to be taking great pleasure in dueling both Peter Pettigrew and Bellatrix Lestrange at the same time. Thanks to Remus’ preoccupation with the two people he and Harry both hated nearly as much as they hated Voldemort, he had yet to notice that he was the Dark Lord’s next target.
Harry dispatched the Death Eater he’d been dueling by quickly punching him as hard as he could in the face, completely taking the man unawares. He jumped towards the werewolf yelling, “Remus! He’s behind you! Get down!”
Without even bothering to acknowledge Harry’s instruction, Remus leapt towards Bellatrix and Wormtail and forced both of them to the ground. He managed to angle it so that both Death Eaters hit their heads on a nearby table, knocking them out. After quickly making sure that they were unconscious, Remus rolled out of Voldemort’s path, narrowly avoiding a jet of green light sent his way. He got off a curse that just barely missed Voldemort before scrambling up the passage and out of Harry’s way. The time had finally come for Harry to confront his nemesis once and for all. Remus wished he could help the younger man fight him, but knew this wasn’t his fight. It was Harry who had to kill the tyrant, and Remus knew there was nothing he or anyone else could do to help aside from making sure that none of the Death Eaters interfered with the duel.
And what a duel it was. Both wizards fired curse after curse at each other, and both just as adeptly dodging or blocking the spells. They completely blocked out the distractions of the other fights going on around them, each concentrating solely on the one person they’d been trying to destroy for years. After what seemed like hours one of Harry’s stunning spells hit one of Voldemort’s Killing Curses in midair, creating the same effect they’d seen so many years ago at Voldemort’s rebirth. A thin golden thread connected their wands, before branching out and forming a small hub around the two wizards. Harry vaguely noticed that though this drew the attention of Death Eaters and Order members alike, no one tried to aid either of them. Most likely, everyone had expected this to happen again, and they all knew that there was nothing they could do to affect the outcome of the battle now.
Harry was glad that this time, he knew exactly what to do. Ignoring the sounds of his friends fighting all around him, Harry concentrated as hard as he could on forcing the tiny beads of white light that had formed back towards Voldemort’s wand. His wand hummed as he felt Voldemort trying to do the same, and he saw with no small amount of horror that Voldemort was succeeding. Come on, Harry thought to himself. If I could do it back then, I know I can do it again. Before he could complete the thought, the corridor was filled with Phoenix song, which was again emanating from the string of golden light between the two wizards. Encouraged by the familiar sound, Harry put every last particle of his considerable magical power into forcing those beads back towards Voldemort. After a few seconds, he was gratified to see the pearls of light slow to a stop before going in the reverse direction, just as they’d done the first time. Voldemort’s face drained of what little color it had when he saw that happen. Once again, it was Voldemort’s wand that was shaking, and it was Voldemort who now looked as if he was putting everything he had into stopping those bits of light. Again he failed.
Shrieks of pain filled the air, before a figure began to blossom out of the wand. Harry recognized the wizened old man immediately. It was Professor Dumbledore. The smoky figure of the most respected and revered wizard in over a century fell to the ground in an ignominious heap, before straightening and turning to Harry. “Congratulations, Harry,” he said in a whisper that seemed both intimate and far away at the same time. “You have done well to come this far. Do not give up hope now. More will follow. I shall tell you what to do when the time comes. You will not be able to run as you did last time.”
Harry could only nod in response, as he struggled to keep his hold on his wand. He looked back at Voldemort in time to see the form of his former Potions Master blossoming out of the wand. When Snape’s ghost-like shape fell to the ground beside Dumbledore, he merely looked at Harry before turning silently to join the dead Headmaster in circling the man who’d killed them both. More figures appeared as minutes passed, some he recognized but many he didn’t. Harry knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer, but Dumbledore had yet to tell him what to do. Finally, as the figure of Alastor Moody fell out of the wand, Dumbledore spoke to Harry once again.
“Harry,” he whispered in his deep, echoing voice. “There is an ancient spell you must perform. Now that you have called all of us forth, you will be able to achieve the needed effects. Repeat the words Rectum Disappellum continuously. You will also need to focus on destroying Voldemort. It seems simple, but believe me Harry, it is not. However, you do not need to worry about what else must be done, for we shall take care of that. Good luck.” With that, Dumbledore returned to his previous occupation, attempting to distract Voldemort.
Harry bellowed the phrase Dumbledore had given him over and over, doing as he had been told and concentrating on killing Voldemort. He watched in shock as a large, three headed snake formed out of his own wand, and turned to him for directions. Not even pausing to think, Harry told the snake in Parseltongue, “Kill him. Kill the Dark Lord.”
He watched in fascination as the snake slithered off towards Voldemort. The figures had long since stopped coming out of his wand, yet the connection between the two remained. Dumbledore, Snape, Moody, and the others surrounded the Dark Lord and the snake as Voldemort tried to break the connection and escape. He screamed in pain as all three of the snake’s heads pierced his body at the same time, each of them releasing a deadly poison. Harry fought to keep the connection strong as the snakes conjured out of his own magic attacked Voldemort over and over. Dumbledore and the other smoky figures blocked Voldemort from escaping, and it seemed as if their overwhelming presence, along with the continued attacks from the snake was sapping his strength.
Finally, after one last bite from the snake, Voldemort gave one last shriek of pain and defiance. Suddenly, his body seemed to slow with some strange inner light. Then, just as suddenly as that light had appeared, it began to expand, filling the hub of golden light with incredible pressure. Harry began to feel as if his body was caving in from the pressure when Voldemort’s body exploded with such force that it shook the very foundations of the fortress.
After the attack
Immediately after Voldemort’s downfall, the building he’d been hiding out in began to collapse. The wards were down, allowing everyone to apparate to safety, or so they thought. As soon as Ron had reappeared at the meeting place he’d noticed one thing. Harry was not among them. Fearing the worst, Ron turned towards the nearest Order member, which happened to be Bill and asked, “Where’s Harry!”
“Don’t know,” Bill said, his face filled with concern as he looked back towards the building they’d just evacuated. It was beginning to crumble as they spoke, and Ron had the ominous feeling that his friend was still inside. Not even pausing to think, he apparated back into the building, hoping that he wouldn’t appear right under some falling beam.
Fortunately, Ron reappeared in a relatively secure section of the fortress. He ran back up the stairs, heading for the corridor he’d last seen Harry in and began to search. It wasn’t long before he spotted his friend’s body lying on the ground at the end of the corridor, covered in rubble. As Ron ran to him, he hoped that Harry was only unconscious. Ron went pale at the sight that met his eyes when he reached the other man.
Harry was a very bloody mess. His entire body seemed to be covered in long deep gashes and enormous bruises, but that wasn’t what worried Ron the most. He wasn’t breathing. Ron checked his friend’s pulse, and was terrified when he couldn’t feel it. “Come on, Harry,” Ron breathed as he did whatever he could think of to save his best friend’s life. “Come on! Wake up, damn it! You can’t die on me now; you’ve only just beaten Voldemort! Come on Harry, come on!”
As Ron paused in his ministrations, he felt something happen to Harry’s body. It began to shake violently, as if he were having some sort of fit. Then, as suddenly as the shaking had started, it stopped. Harry’s body was still for a moment, before his chest seemed to inflate slightly. Ron looked at Harry’s face, and was both amazed and relieved to see his friend’s emerald green eyes staring back at him.
“Thank Merlin,” Ron breathed before reaching down to pick Harry up. Harry looked as if he wanted to protest, but couldn’t find the strength. “The building’s collapsing. I’ve got to get you out of here, mate.”
Harry nodded. Just before Ron apparated them out, however, he found his voice. “Something almost happened, didn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Ron said, smiling slightly. “You’re lucky it didn’t, though. Because I’d have killed you if it had.”