Chapter Twenty-Four “ The Prince’s Redemption
Voldemort and his Death Eaters were so caught off guard by the arrivals that time seemed suspended for a few moments. The Order and Harry’s fellow D.A. members didn’t waste a second; they were firing spells at the enemy before Harry had even caught his breath. Beside him, Luci had recovered quickly and was busy sending flashes of light into the huddle of hooded figures. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Malfoy inching backwards in an obvious attempt to keep out of harm’s way.
Coward, he thought to himself, though the Slytherin boy had put himself between Luci and Voldemort, and Harry found that he was grateful for that.
“Harry!” came a voice.
He turned to see Cho Chang, as beautiful as ever, standing to his left. He wondered what she was doing here. Did she still keep the Galleon at ready for such an occasion?
“You could participate, you know,” she reprimanded him breathlessly as she waved her wand to block a spell.
“Right,” he agreed, pulling himself from his own thoughts and moving towards the Death Eaters. One of them saw him coming and launched something at him. He dodged sideways and it barely missed him.
“Stupefy!” Harry threw, but the Death Eater shielded himself.
Harry attempted the spell again, but there was so much noise and chaos around him that he was having trouble concentrating, much less aiming.
Just as he was raising his wand to try again, something fell with a loud thud at Harry’s feet. He looked down to see Colin Creevey, unconscious.
“Expelliarmus!” the hooded enemy shot at Harry, who was too distracted to endeavor a block. His wand flew from his hand and the Death Eater advanced on him, cackling in victory. Harry backed away, his eyes darting from the masked face to Colin’s body and back again.
“Luci, get the children out of here!” Mrs. Weasley’s shout came, from somewhere in the room, but Harry couldn’t locate the source. Everything was happening so fast.
“Here!” someone said to him, tapping his shoulder and handing him his wand. It was Luna. He nodded his thanks, and before the Death Eater had noticed the return of the wand, Harry had managed, “Levicorpus,” and the opponent was hanging upside down from his ankle.
“Cute,” said Luci, who was passing by him, dragging Malfoy by the wrist. “Now gather your friends!”
“No way! I’m not leaving! This is my fight!”
Luci contemplated him for a moment. Then, she replied, “You can come back with me if you want, but we have to get them out of here!”
“Ron and Hermione won’t stay out of it either!”
“I don’t have time to argue with y“ watch out!” Luci shoved him aside and they both narrowly missed a collision with a yellow spark of light.
Somehow, she was unexpectedly in his arms, though he wasn’t sure how it had happened. She looked up at him, said, “Just help me get your friends to safety,” and pulled away, back towards Malfoy, who she began to lead from the room.
“What about Colin?” he called after her.
She glanced sympathetically back at him but didn’t answer. None of them were capable of carrying Colin, so Harry knew that they had to leave him. It suddenly hit him that it was important to keep his friends safe.
Luci had reentered the room and was now pulling other D.A. members out of the door, as well. Harry made his way around the room, dodging spells at he went, and assembling his friends.
“Get out of here!” Mrs. Weasley shrieked when she saw him.
“I’m trying, I’m trying!” he replied, ducking just in time and pulling Hermione down with him. The two of them were the last of the students to make it out the room.
“So the ‘D.A.’ is a bunch of underage kids?” Luci yelled at him when she saw them coming through the doorway.
“We’re not all underage!” exclaimed Cho.
“Who are you?” Luci asked, more out of curiosity than anger.
Cho tilted her head superciliously. “Harry’s ex-girlfriend. Who are you?”
Luci raised an eyebrow and then blinked. “Draco’s sister…”
“Ron! Your face!” gasped Neville, impeding any further questioning, to Harry’s relief.
“Yeah,” sighed Ron, touching his scars. “Had a little accident.”
“Never mind that,” said Cho, “look at Hermione’s hair!”
“Yes, that’s what’s important,” grumbled Ernie.
“Everyone!” snapped Luci. “Listen! I need to get all of you to a safe location. You shouldn’t even be here in the first place! What did half of you do “ Apparate illegally?”
“So what?” said Ginny, her face flushed with zeal. “I didn’t break the law for nothing; I want to fight!”
“Harry’s trained all of us,” Ernie cut in. “We know how to defend ourselves.”
“My Patronus is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack,” Luna agreed languorously.
Luci narrowed her eyes at Luna and then shook her head in bewilderment. “All I know is that the Order wants you out of that room, so I’m going to get you somewhere safe. I’m asking all of you not to fight me on this.”
She looked to Harry for support, so he contributed, “She’s right; let’s go.”
There were complaints, but everyone followed as Luci led the way through the room with the veil, and soon, they were in the circular space. Of course, once the door through which they had come had closed, their only option was to try the rotating doors one by one and see where it took them. They each began trying doorknobs.
After a few moments, Ron called, “Here!” as he barreled through one of the doors.
Hermione was right behind him, followed by Neville. Harry noticed that the room was entirely white from floor to ceiling, but when he stepped through the doorway, everything turned reddish and he succumbed to a dizzying warmth. He grinned lazily at Ron, who seemed to be emitting a relaxed buzzing sound.
Still dragging Malfoy by the wrist, Luci had followed Harry, but when she attempted to pull her brother in, it was as if an invisible barricade had appeared.
“Ow!” Malfoy whined.
Luci frowned and stepped back outside of the room, calling, “The rest of us can’t get in! It’s locked itself or something!”
Ginny, who stood behind Luci and Malfoy, sighed in frustration, huffed, “Let me try,” and strolled easily past both of them.
Luci shook her head in confusion and tried again. Once more, her body got into the room, but when she tried to pull Malfoy in, it was as if the door had sealed itself, and she bounced backwards again.
Seeing this, Hermione suggested languidly, “Luci, try coming in by yourself.”
“It’s so cozy,” coaxed Neville.
Luci turned and said something to Malfoy, and then she entered the room effortlessly. An expression of incomprehension shadowed her face.
“What is this place?”
“You have to be in love!” Hermione squealed proudly, the drowsiness fading instantly. “That’s how you get in! I knew it! This is the room that we couldn’t get into two years ago!”
Ernie hurried enthusiastically through the doorway, shrugging cheerfully when he received curious looks.
Harry caught Luci’s eye for a brief moment, but she pulled her gaze away, stomping out of the room. She was in love… with someone. The notion that it might not be him made the inside of Harry’s nose sting.
“We’ll be safe from Death Eaters in here for sure!” said Ron, enthusiastic considering his lethargy.
“Not all of us, and if we can’t all get in, none of us can stay here,” Harry declared, though he felt as if he could stay in this room forever.
“Agreed,” Ginny replied.
Everyone began to file out again, though it was a slow process, and Ron made no motion towards the door.
“Come on, Ron,” Hermione called, as he was now the only one remaining.
His eyes glazed with the effects of the room, he responded, “I’d rather not.”
Hermione shook her head, marched back into the room, and tried to lead Ron out of the doorway.
“Oh, all right,” he muttered.
As they joined the others outside of the strange room, Harry overheard Malfoy asking Luci, “That bloke in the States?” He grimaced and concluded, “Nauseating.”
“Not now, Draco,” she replied, and then continued, “OK, gang, we need to keep trying these ridiculous doors.”
This brief exchange between the siblings settled into a tiny knot in the back of Harry’s mind.
Everyone had gone back to tugging on doorknobs. Soon, Neville managed to pry open a door and called all of them in behind him. Harry recognized it as the room that led straight back to the Hall of Prophecies. The space was very narrow, with a long row of desks, and at the end, the crystal bell jar stood before a door, the door Harry knew would take them to the Hall if they went through it.
“Blimey,” said Ernie.
“This place again,” said Ron.
“You know this place?” Luci asked him.
“’Course,” replied Ron, “we were here two years back, right, Harry?”
Harry nodded and turned to Luci. “The room is safe.”
She pressed her lips together. “OK, all of you stay put, and someone will be back for you. If no one comes… well… then do your best to get out of here.” She gazed at Malfoy for a long moment, but she didn’t say anything else. Then she turned and started from the room, Harry following in her footsteps.
“What are you doing?” she asked, stopping in the doorway.
“I’m coming back with you.”
“Then they’ll all want to come back with me,” she said.
“So let them,” replied Harry. “We’re not kids, despite what you think. You have no idea what we’ve been through together. The whole lot of them, except your brother, know exactly what they’re doing.”
“Just because I wasn’t in your ridiculous little club doesn’t mean that I’m not prepared. I’ve had far better instruction than you could have provided, Potter.” Malfoy stood scowling, his arms crossed.
But all of the D.A. members were watching Harry and Luci, who both also ignored Malfoy, Luci instead glancing warily at the group and whispering, “I don’t think you’re a kid, Harry.”
“So?” he wanted to know.
She sighed, and then said loudly to the room, “Harry needs to come with me. Hermione, you’re in charge.”
A cloud of protests rose into the air, but Luci tugged Harry from the room and closed the door, leaving Malfoy and the D.A. behind.
“So we need to find the right room again,” she said, starting towards one of the doors.
“Don’t change the subject,” Harry snapped.
“There’s a subject?” she asked, pulling open the door of the Love Room again, and then slamming it shut in aggravation.
“You don’t think I can handle this fight,” accused Harry. “You think I’m some stupid kid who needs protecting!”
Luci’s back was to him, but her shoulders sagged. Then she whirled around and countered, “No, Molly asked me to get all of you out of there and I did what she asked, and I wanted you to stay with them because I don’t want anything to happen to you, but you insist on putting yourself in danger!” She hissed loudly. “God, you make me crazy!”
Before Harry could respond, she said, “The room, please,” just as Bellatrix had done, and the door revealed itself to her. She continued into the benched area, and Harry hurried in after her.
“I’ve always been in danger and I’ve always come out fine!” he countered, after failing to fully understand her comment that he made her crazy.
“Whatever, Harry, it’s your choice.”
She was walking determinedly around the top of the benches and Harry could hear battle sounds coming from the room towards which they were headed. The door was open and there were flashes of light illuminating the ceilings and walls.
“Voldemort is mine to kill!”
“You sound like you’re going hunting,” she threw over her shoulder.
“He murdered my parents! You know I have to do it!”
“I’d be the first person to seek revenge too, but“”
“This isn’t just about revenge, Luci!” he interrupted. “This is about saving the entire wizarding world, and the Muggle world too! And I have to do it!”
“Nothing’s written in stone.”
She was striding quickly, and Harry had yet to make it to her side. If she’d been closer, she would have seen his hesitation, the desire in his eyes to give the responsibility to someone else. She didn’t know about the end of the prophecy, the part that said Harry was the only one who could kill the Dark Lord. If not for that bit, yes, Harry thought he might be able to walk away. Finally, he replied, “Well, I’m deciding to do it.”
“So noble,” she sighed quietly, after a moment.
“Don’t patronize me!” fumed Harry, abruptly recognizing that she made him crazy too.
“I wouldn’t…” Luci began, and then stopped in her tracks. He caught up to her then and stopped too.
“I wouldn’t patronize you,” she continued. “I really do think you’re noble. And I know you’re still mad at me over… everything. But I do care about you. I just want you to make it out of this. I want all of us to get out of this, and then I can go home and you and Draco can write me uneventful letters abou“”
“You’re going home?” Harry cut her off.
“About nothing,” she finished, “and of course I’m going home. My whole life is there.”
He gaped at her for a moment. He wasn’t sure why he thought she’d stay, because it was true that her home was elsewhere. But the notion of her absence from his life filled him with a distinct heaviness.
“Who’s the bloke in the States?” he asked, slowly, purposefully. Then he found that he was dreading the answer, realizing that there may be someone, not something, who had been causing her to keep her distance all this time.
Luci didn’t respond at first, instead turning her gaze to the floor, but then she returned her eyes to his and said, “No one. Who’s the ex-girlfriend?”
Harry stepped closer to her and echoed, “No one.”
She inhaled sharply. “I need to get back in there. Can we do this later? Now is not the time for jealousy.”
“Do I have a reason to be jealous?”
She released a breath. “Harry, you know I “” Then she shook her head and went on, “His name is Josh. He’s a good friend and we’ve been writing and Draco… assumed, I guess. But it was never like that. He’s my Ron.” She grinned at this, and Harry reciprocated.
“You know,” Luci continued softly, “I believe that you can handle anything. I just don’t want you to have to.”
The energy was still crackling between them, even now, in the midst of a war going on merely yards away. Harry discovered that it was astonishingly difficult not to take hold of her and leave it all behind. He considered kissing her again, and just the thought sent electricity all through his body. Instead, he asked, “So this is because you’re worried about me?”
In response, she smiled in a sad sort of way.
“You’re no safer than I am.”
“Yes,” she agreed, “but I don’t matter.”
Harry frowned. “You do matter; you matter to me.”
“Stop that,” she objected. “We have to go in there and fight and you nee“”
A familiar growl erupted from the room. Luci’s eyes grew wide.
“What the hell was that?” she exclaimed, running to the doorway of the battle room and peeking in.
Harry came up behind her and his fears were realized.
“Greyback!” he gasped.
“A werewolf?” breathed Luci. “My god.”
“He’s the one who bit Lupin,” Harry said into the top of her head.
Against his chest, he felt her suck in a deep breath. His stomach danced.
He took a quick review of the room. Was that Dean Thomas? He was putting up quite a fight! Maybe he’d been late in responding to the Galleon’s summons… Two hooded figures were sprawled upon the floor, but Harry was looking to see if anyone had fallen on his side. Colin remained where he’d landed, and not much farther away, Harry’s eyes fell on another body “ Mrs. Weasley! Though Luci was warm against him, he felt his flesh go cold.
“And I can’t convince you to go back?” Luci pleaded, slicing through his thoughts.
“’Fraid not,” was his reply, but he had barely been able to force the words from this throat.
“Then you should know…” she had started, but Harry wasn’t listening. Greyback had been sparring with Tonks as they’d watched, and in an instant, had pounced upon her. Harry, instinctively and in a flash of temper, charged past Luci and into the room, though, behind him, he heard her shout, “HARRY, NO!”
“Abeo Proditio!” he commanded, and Greyback was immediately on his feet again, shaking his head and looking utterly befuddled. Then, the werewolf turned and attacked the nearest Death Eater - Lucius Malfoy. Harry made no attempt to stop the wolf, and neither did anyone else.
Lupin was tending after Tonks, who was out cold but seemed to have only sustained a minor injury. Harry continued past the pair of them towards Voldemort, who was standing in a corner of the room. He appeared relaxed and amused as he watched the goings-on. He didn’t raise his wand to protect his own or to assault his enemies. He just stood, leering and watching as Harry moved in his direction.
The strain in Harry’s gut was growing stronger, and he felt as if his nerves were frayed. It was as though every inch of his body was informing him that the moment was quickly approaching “ he was going to have to kill Voldemort. The sinister figure rose before him, and Harry was stumbling over and around bodies to get nearer.
“Not so fast, Potter!” a hooded man snarled, stepping in front of Harry and shoving him backwards. As he regained his balance, Harry saw out of the corner of his eye that Bill and Fleur were both attacking Greyback, and that Lucius Malfoy lay motionless at their feet, bleeding profusely all over the floor.
All of the sudden, Harry felt his feet leave the ground, and he was soaring backwards. Something warm gurgled up his throat as his back slammed into the wall. He slid to the floor, spluttering, and then he coughed, spitting the blood onto the marble. Before he could get to his feet again, the same Death Eater was coming towards him. Harry held up his wand, but couldn’t find words before his foe had shouted, “Crucio!”
Devastating agony engulfed Harry. He knew that he was screaming, but the pain was so intense that he couldn’t hear a thing. Then, it stopped as abruptly as it had begun.
Harry sat up to find that Luci was holding her wand over the Death Eater, who was now writhing in pain, just as Harry had been a moment before.
He dizzily got to his feet and yelled at Luci, “What are you doing?”
She wasn’t listening.
“Luci, stop!”
She glanced up at him, and all of the green had vanished from her eyes. They were a cold, stone gray. Harry felt his breath cease.
Then he shouted over the noise, “That’s an Unforgivable Curse!”
Luci turned her gaze away from him and didn’t respond.
“You’re an Auror!” he pleaded.
At that, she flicked her wand, muttering, “Stupefy,” just as another Death Eater was coming towards them.
“Relentless bastards!” she hissed, throwing what looked like a particularly vicious spell at the newly arriving Death Eater, who plummeted to the floor.
“Luci!” Harry screamed again.
He seized her by the shoulders and shook her firmly.
“You’re scaring me!”
She looked up into his eyes, and the fog seemed to clear from her vision, the glints of green slowly returning. Her expression softened. “Sorry, I don’t know wh“”
But suddenly, someone’s stray spell hit her square in the chest and she was launched away from Harry, landing on her back on the cold marble. He ran after her.
“Come back and fight, Potter!” he heard someone snarl. Multi-colored blazes of light jetted past him. Perhaps it hadn’t been a stray spell after all.
Harry was reassured to find Luci unharmed. He offered her a hand, pulling her to her feet. She was gasping for breath.
“Are you all right?” he asked her.
She didn’t answer this question. Instead, she said, “I lied.”
He looked at her inquisitively.
“I love you, Harry.”
He felt the words more than heard them, and Harry’s heart leapt. His eyes widened in astonishment.
She nodded resignedly. Then, without another word, she swiftly went back to firing curses at the Death Eaters that had advanced upon the two of them while they had been sidetracked.
Smiling wider than he really should have been, under the circumstances, Harry began throwing spells around the room. His heart aglow, he could barely concentrate. She felt the same way after all!
Then a flash of long black hair met his eyes. Cho! In fact, the entire D.A. had returned to the room and rejoined the fight. Harry tried to clear his head. Voldemort was still surveying the room from his protected corner, and most of the Death Eaters were still standing, enough of them to give the Hogwarts students more than they could handle. Malfoy was crouching over his father, an expression of dismay upon his face. Luci was…
Harry’s mouth fell open at what he saw. An older man, who was adorned in a Death Eaters robe but who wore no mask, was handing a large, sturdy sword over to Snape. Luci said something to the senior of the men and then began to duel with him. In the meanwhile, Snape was moving purposefully towards Nagini, Voldemort’s huge snake. The serpent was coiled near the middle of the room, far from her master’s side. Was Snape intending to protect the Horcrux?
Then, much to Harry’s shock, as Snape advanced on Nagini, he heard the Professor yell, “Sepelio!”
The snake made a spitting noise as Snape sliced her in two with the sword. A wisp of black cloud, accompanied by ample blood, erupted from the serpent and burst into a million tiny particles in front of Harry’s eyes.
“NOOO!” Voldemort roared, as he turned his eyes to these events, realizing what had happened. He moved quickly, almost as though he had Apparated, to where Nagini’s remains were smoldering peculiarly.
“NOW, POTTER!” commanded Snape. But Voldemort was too fast.
Snape went flying, and he hit the wall with a loud thud. Voldemort summoned the sword and sent it plunging into Snape’s abdomen. He howled in pain and slid into a crumpled mound upon the floor.
Harry seized his chance. Pointing his wand directly at Voldemort’s chest, he began to shout the spell.
But once again, the Dark Lord had been too swift. He had grabbed Luci, who had been standing a few feet from Snape, dueling with the old man. Voldemort held her in front of him, smiling menacingly.
“NO!” cried Harry, feeling as if his insides had just turned to ice.
Luci struggled in Voldemort’s grasp, but he only cackled at her futile attempt to escape. Her wand was still clutched tightly in her right hand, but her captor had pinned both of her arms to her sides. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her eyes wide with… surprise?… fear? Harry couldn’t tell.
Voldemort was looking victorious. “I think I will quite enjoy watching you watch her die.”
Harry was so terrified and infuriated that he couldn’t think straight. He closed his eyes, shutting in the blinding rage. How was he going to get out of this? It seemed that his luck had finally run out. More apoplectic than he could ever remember being, he tightened his fists and dug his fingernails into his palms.
When he glanced up again, Luci caught his gaze. “Just kill him.”
Harry thought his legs might give way. He shook his head at her.
“Please, Harry. Forget about me; you might not have another chance.”
Voldemort grinned wickedly. “Perhaps you should heed her words.”
“No,” Harry said firmly.
He was going to have to stall, so he looked directly into Voldemort’s cold eyes.
“You know, that was the last one.”
Voldemort blinked, briefly shadowing the red pupils. This refuted Harry’s belief that the Dark Lord had been peeking into his mind. He didn’t know about the Horcruxes. So how did he know about Harry’s feelings for Luci?
“Yep,” said Harry, as casually as he could manage, “all of the Horcruxes are destroyed. That was my last one, but thanks to Snape, who didn’t seem to be on your side, that one’s taken care of too. So I guess that makes you… mortal… doesn’t it?”
Voldemort was silent for a long time, while Harry stared fixedly, trying to appear confident and very satisfied with himself, when he was feeling utter helplessness. His scar was throbbing relentlessly again. Luci was no longer struggling, and she didn’t look scared. Harry couldn’t understand how, because he was petrified. Instead, she looked almost resolved.
Finally, the Dark Lord spoke. “When I choose, I can still see into your mind, Potter. It seems that you have defeated my Horcruxes, but you have not defeated me, and I find myself in the position of power. You were always weak. There are far too many people about whom you care deeply, and that puts you at a great disadvantage. This particular occasion, for instance…”
Voldemort began to slide his wand along Luci’s pale throat, carving it open slowly, the blood gurgling down onto her shirt. She moaned unbearably.
Then an idea struck Harry like a glorious bolt of lightning.
“Love is my power, not my weakness,” he snarled.
Then, pointing his wand at the pair of them, he shouted, “Sectumsempra!”
Luci’s skin was sliced open before Harry’s eyes, her crimson blood spilling everywhere. She was so small that she hadn’t provided much of a shield for Voldemort. She had gotten the brunt of the spell, but Voldemort’s skin was also hacked to pieces, though he shed no blood. Harry thought it was much like the time he’d used the spell against the Inferi.
Voldemort, writhing in pain, released Luci, who fell to the floor in a pitiful heap.
Harry held his wand steady, preparing himself to commit murder.
The Dark Lord straightened and laughed heartlessly. “Too weak to do what needs to be done, Potter? You should know that I am not.”
Then, Voldemort disappeared from the spot.
Harry lowered his wand in defeat, forgetting that the battle was still raging on all around him. An enemy must have taken advantage of his lack of defenses, because he felt a searing pain strike him in the back, and then he blacked out.