He could see Voldemort, and he knew he was getting closer to his objective. Almost there. He approached the Dark Lord’s dying body without fear. Deep down he knew that Voldemort wouldn’t try anything, that it was safe.
He knelt down and looked into the face of the person- thing- that caused the wizarding world fear all those years. “I need that memory,” he whispered into Tom’s ear. “I need that memory now.”
Tom looked up at Harry with a look of utter repulsion on his face, yet at the same time there was fear and respect for the boy sitting right next to him.
Voldemort was shaking and growing paler, but he pulled out his wand and held it up to his temple, using his last bit of strength. Slowly, a silver rope attached to his wand appeared out of his head. Harry conjured a bottle and scooped up the memory. He placed it carefully in his pocket just as he saw the limp form of Tom Riddle go still, finally beaten by the boy he tried to kill so many times.
Harry pulled out his wand, and placed it on Voldemort’s head. He drew a lightning bolt on Tom’s head, leaving a scar. Harry bent down and kissed it slowly, a damnation on the soul of a body that caused so much pain in its lifetime.
The war was finally over.
Harry awoke to find his room dark. He sat up, and a shock of pain surged through him. The memories of last night flowed through his mind. The fighting that took place, seeing the shocked look on Ron’s face as he hit the ground dead, the spell that he cast on Voldemort, the memory he produced and the kiss all hit him like a stampede of furious dragons. His best friend was dead, along with many other Order members including Kingsley Shacklebolt, Arthur and Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks. The reality of this hit him, causing tears to form in his eyes. They had died nobly, fighting for a free world they would never get to live in.
Harry thumped back onto his bed, crying freely. He only stopped when his body ran out of tears, but he kept crying on the inside. Wiping his wet hands on his pants, he felt a lump in his jean pocket.
The memory.
Harry eased himself out of his bed, trying not to cause his body any more pain. He was either successful or his excitement overrode his pain, because he was able to get out of bed and walk over the his Pensieve, given to him as a seventeenth birthday present.
The inhabitants of the house were asleep, he could explore this memory on his own. He poured the silver liquid into the basin, causing it to smoke a little bit. He unwrapped the bandage from around his head, not wanting to have to be confined to it when he ventured into the basin. Keeping a firm grip with his hands on the side of the Pensieve, he lowered his head in.
He was falling, then he landed painfully on the floor of a small cottage, unknown by the owners of the place. He looked up to see a pretty red-headed woman playing with a baby with messy hair, and a man that had equally messy hair.
He was looking up at his parents.
James was lounging on the couch, his eyes closed and a content smile on his face. Lily and baby Harry were on the floor, playing a game with their hands. Harry lifted himself off the floor and eased his way towards his baby self.
It was amazing how much he looked like James, even at such a young age. Except for his eyes, which were the exact same shape and color as his mother’s. He saw Lily bounce Baby Harry up and down. Baby Harry giggled, and Harry’s heart gave a painful jerk when he saw Lily give his infant self a kiss on his nose. He saw Lily stroke his hair, he saw her beam at him, her eyes full of love.
And then he saw James leap off the couch.
“Lily,” James said, “take Harry and go! It’s him! Go! Run! I’ll hold him off.”
Lily grabbed Harry and stumbled from the room. The front door burst open, and there was a cackling of high-pitched laughter.
Harry heard his dad’s cry of outrage, but he turned and followed his mom. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a flash of green light, and he heard a cry of pain then a thump as a body hit the floor.
Harry had to run to keep up with Lily, who- despite the fact she had a baby on her hip- could run very fast. She ran into a nursery, and she placed baby Harry in his cot and stood in front of him, protecting him.
Harry could hear footsteps ascending the stairs, getting closer. Voldemort appeared in the doorway, and Lily screamed.
“Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside now,” said the hoarse voice of Voldemort.
“Not Harry... please, not Harry!” Lily said, crying.
“I won’t hurt you, just stand aside!”
“Not Harry... have mercy... have mercy,” Lily cried. Voldemort raised his wand. Green light danced throughout the room. Lily screamed, then dropped dead to the floor.
“Silly girl...” Voldemort laughed. He descended onto Harry and raised his wand high. “Avada Kedavra!” he yelled.
The last thing Harry saw before being yanked away was baby Harry giving a loud cry.
AN~ And so ends Memories of Time, making this my first ever finished chaptered fic. This chapter was really hard to write, and I got shivers in the middle of this.
I want to first off thank my beta, Danielle. Without her, this story would be no where.
Secondly, I want to thank my brother, Jake, for reading this and giving me constructive criticism.
Thirdly, I want to thank the wonderful mods that took their time to mod this story. I hope I didn’t waste your time!
And last- but most certainly not least- I really want to thank all my readers and reviewers. Your wonderful comments are what really kept me going, and I appreciate that. A horrible day can be turned upside down with just a good review.