Chapter 11
A death and a final battle
The moment Harry opened his eyes; he wished he was still asleep. The day would bring new horror into the life of Harry Potter. Death was knocking on his door.
The morning had been very cheerful and the afternoon too. The trio had noticed that Nicky was keeping herself isolated. They didn’t think too much of it. The dinner seemed to be the best. Everything was going lovely. It was the day after Christmas, so people had spirit in them.
That night the trio was in the common room playing a game with the other students. Ron and Hermione went to bed early that night. The whole common room was empty, so Harry went upstairs.
As Harry was at the last step, a note came into his hands. It read:
Meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest tonight at 9:30.
There was no name. The time was 9:00 right then, so Harry grabbed his wand and left. He didn’t notice the black cloaked figure in the common room as he left.
It was the dumbest thing Harry has ever done. He had no clue who the note was from. If only he had stayed in bed…
The cloaked figure followed him into the grounds. It was raining heavily, lighting light the sky and the wind howled. It was quite freighting.
He looked at his watch, it read 9:28. With two minutes to go, Harry ran to the Forbidden Forest and went into a path. The figure hid in the bushes.
It was now 9:30. A man came down the path. It had red eyes and others were following him. Harry realized who the man was and wished he wasn’t there. He wanted to run, but his feet felt like lead. The rain was soaking Harry and the coldness made him shiver.
“Harry. You came. I didn’t think you would. I thought that the boy-who-lived was supposed to be smart to outrun me all these years. Tonight, though, that all comes crashing down.” Voldemort said in front of him.
Harry looked at him at him and hated him. He also hated himself for falling into Voldemort’s trap. No one could save him now. “Crucio!” Voldemort yelled.
Harry fell to the ground screaming in pain. The cloaked figure jumped out. The wind blow off the hood and lighting light up the face of the figure. It was Nicky.
“Stop.” Nicky ordered.
“You think you can stop me?” Voldemort asked.
“I already stopped one bad wizard, so bring it on!” Nicky said with attitude.
The rain was drenching her hair so it was brown and you could see the wet wavy strands. Her hair stuck to face. “I’ll get you later. AVADA KEDAVRA!” Voldemort yelled at Harry.
Nicky knew her task and did it. She jumped in the path of the killing curse…and took it instead of Harry. She fell to the ground and the rain ran down her face. Nicole Ann Campbell was dead.
Harry dropped by her side and felt her hand. It was ice cold. Her hands were always so warm. The sent of lavender lingered for a moment and was gone. Harry couldn’t believe it. Nicky was truly dead.
Voldemort sent the dark mark up and advanced on Harry. “Sorry about your girlfriend. I only wanted you. Just hand yourself over and no one else gets hurt.” Voldemort said.
“Yeah right! As soon as you kill me, you’ll kill my friends.” Harry said.
Voldemort was tired of waiting. He was about to kill Harry when help came. Lupin had been taking a late night walk when he stumbled upon this mess. Lupin pulled out his wand and saw Peter. “So we meet again.” Lupin said.
Harry heard the quiver in Lupin’s voice. Lupin had never seen Voldemort before alone. “You two know each other?” Voldemort asked.
Lupin and Peter nodded. “So Peter, you haven’t been loyal after all?” Voldemort asked.
Peter shook his head furiously. “Kill them both. Leave Potter for me.” Voldemort said to a near death eater.
“Impedimenta!” Harry said pointing his wand to the death eater.
The death eater was knocked off his feet. Voldemort saw this and said, “Stupefy!”
Harry fell forward. Lupin helped him to his feet. They had stolen enough time for the Order of the Phoenix to come. “Crucio!” Voldemort said to Harry again.
The pain was more intense and Harry screamed louder. Lupin helped him to his feet, but Harry was in too much pain. Voldemort saw Dumbledore and was forced to retreat.
Once Voldemort and his death eaters were gone, they could only see one death. That was Nicky.
Harry was in pain and really didn’t want to tell him of another mistake that he made that got someone killed. Dumbledore, Lupin and Harry went into Dumbledore’s office and began to talk. It started with, “What happened Harry?”
Harry wanted to say, ‘I got a letter, was dumb enough to show up and then got someone else killed.’ But he said, “I got a letter in the common room and thought that it would be okay to go…” The rest just spilled out.
Harry just wanted to forget the whole thing and be left alone. Dumbledore had not pushed him and Lupin hadn’t either. “I could have gotten either of you killed. I can’t believe what I’ve done.” Harry said his eyes filled with tears.
“Harry. We all make mistakes. I’ve made a few. It’s okay. Life is like a puzzle. It seems like the pieces don’t fit and then we get some pieces along the way and end up with a beautiful puzzle.” Dumbledore said.
Harry felt like a little kid. He wanted someone anyone to hug him. Someone did. Hermione and Ron ran into the room and hugged Harry. “Are you okay?” Hermione asked.
Harry nodded. “Do you want to tell us about it?” Ron asked.
Harry said, “No. Not really. I just want you to know thanks all of you.”
The trio understood. They cried because they somehow knew each other’s thoughts in a way. Lupin and Dumbledore left. “Nicky’s dead.” Harry said through tears.
Hermione and Ron gasped. “Harry, what happened?” Hermione asked.
Harry told them everything. “Harry, how come you’re wet?” Ron asked.
“It was raining really bad.” Harry said.
“Come on Harry. You’re going to the hospital wing.” Hermione said.
“How many times do I go in one year on average?” Harry asked.
“A lot.” Ron said.
When they got down there Madam Pomfrey was having a fit. “Two unforgivable cures. I’ll show him a curse that Tom.” She muttered to herself.
She gave Harry a potion. Harry drank it. Hermione and Ron were watching carefully. Madam Pomfrey let Harry go after he drank his entire potion. “Goodbye Harry. Please be more careful.” She said.
“I’ll try.” Harry said smiling.
Hermione and Ron went up the stairs and Harry didn’t follow. “Are you coming?” Ron asked.
Harry didn’t answer, “Harry?” Hermione asked gently.
“Huh? Oh yeah.” Harry said.
He followed them into the common room. Ginny got up and went to Harry. “Are you okay?” She asked worried.
“Yes.” Harry said.
Ginny nodded. “That’s good.”
For the first time the trio couldn’t think of anything to say to each other. They sat down with Ginny and waited for the night to end. The people around them were talking. The rumors were wrong. Harry wanted them to stop.
The trio and Ginny waited. They weren’t sure what they were waiting for, they were just waiting.
A/N- This is a short chapter, but I couldn’t combine the next chapter. I will leave you to your misery. I am sorry. Nicky had to die. If you have a box of tissues, could I barrow them?