Voices Beyond the Veil - 7

Voldemort blasted the two of them with a barrage of curses as each boy tried to shield the other. Finally, Ron grunted in pain when a curse hit its mark. Harry shoved him toward another boulder.

"You already knew about the diary," Harry said, panting as Ron slumped, unconscious, behind the rock. "That was the first one." He fired a powerful Stunner that Voldemort blocked, but for the first time, his shield flickered.

Voldemort's eyes widened, and he paused before taking a step back.

What had Hermione said? Concentrate on the love he felt for them? Professor Dumbledore said it was his unknown power, and it did appear to strengthen his Curses.

"The diary, yes. My sources tell me that you destroyed it in order to save your little girlfriend. I believe she's over there," Voldemort said, blasting away the rock hiding Ginny.

Ginny shrieked and scrambled out of the way. Voldemort followed her with his wand, repeatedly firing spell after spell. Ginny kept dodging and firing back uselessly, and Harry could see she was growing weary. His own spells did nothing to deflect Voldemort's wrath. He appeared to grow stronger, as if feeding off Ginny's fear and Harry's desperation.

"Not her," Harry growled, a great rage blooming within his heart. He fired a Cutting Curse that tore into Voldemort's side, drawing first blood. The voices behind the Veil grew louder, and the room brightened slightly.

Voldemort stopped, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at the blood seeping through his robes. Drawing his lips back and baring his teeth, he quickly fired a rapid series of spells toward Harry – like a wire short-circuiting on the ground.

Harry hissed in pain as a Curse sliced into his arm, reopening the wound Hermione had treated for him. Blood gushed from the deep cut and flowed down his arm, slackening his hand. Glancing down briefly, he was certain he could see a white hint of bone showing.

"I also know exactly how you're managing to shield your pathetic mind from me," Voldemort snarled, aiming his wand and destroying the boulder shielding Draco. The boy froze, his eyes round before he leaped to his feet and tried to run. "Extispex."

Draco collapsed, shrieking in horror as blood rapidly spread across his abdomen and his insides began being expelled through a gaping wound. Draco's horrible screams filled the cavernous room until Hermione, apparently unable to take it any more, cast a spell of her own.

"Petrificus Totalis," she shouted.

Draco's body stopped writhing and remained motionless on the floor, his entrails piled in front of him. Harry felt the last link between his mind and Draco's snap.

Voldemort turned his attention to Hermione. "Crucio," he shouted, and Hermione dropped to the ground, screaming in agony.

Gritting his teeth, Harry fired a Reductor Curse that blasted Voldemort off his feet, ending his attack on Hermione. Harry continued his rapid volley with Voldemort and the room was alight with spells hitting the walls. From the corner of his eye, he saw Ginny pull Hermione behind a large boulder.

"That's for my parents," Harry snarled, hitting Voldemort with a Cutting Curse, "and that one's for Sirius."

Each time he aimed a spell, Harry put the name of a victim to it. The room in which they were standing brightened each time, and with a shock, Harry realized the light was coming from the Veil. The voices were loud and overlapping, and he didn't understand how the others couldn't hear them.

Voldemort appeared slightly alarmed by the light and sound, and distressed by Harry's success in hitting his mark. Harry thought it must have been a long time since Tom Riddle had endured the pain of being Cursed. Harry lost his train of thought as a painful Stinging Hex struck his thigh.