40

They were lying face down on the ground. The smell of the forest filled their nostrils and the ground was cold against their skin. They relished the feeling of the mossy ground beneath their hands. Harry resisted the temptation to move, despite the pain of the bridge of his glasses, knocked askew by the fall, digging into his face. Kathryn ached, the spot where the killing curse had hit felt like the bruise of an iron clad punch. They had expected cheers of triumph but instead all they heard was concerned muttering. Opening her eye a fraction, she saw Bellatrix Lestrange kneeling anxiously beside Voldemort. Apparently, he had fallen when they had, and they had all returned. Closing her eyes tight again, Kathryn waited to see what happened next.

Lucius stood behind Voldemort, along with the other Death Eaters, willing himself not to lose control. She had fallen, lifeless, next to her brother and had not moved again. He thought the pain would make his heart shatter. He had always treasured a hope that she would survive, that somehow, she would be able to come back to him. It now seemed that this was not to be so. He wanted to go to her, to cradle her in his arms, but he knew that such a movement would cost him his life. He finally understood what she had said about nobility, all that while ago. Nobility could not be measured by blood or family, but by actions.

"Are they dead?" Voldemort asked as they heard him get to his feet. Harry could feel their concentrated gaze on them and was careful not to move a muscle, despite the fact that his heart beat so fast in his chest.

"Examine them. Tell me whether they are dead." Voldemort ordered some unseen Death Eater. For the first time, they heard uncertainty in his voice. Kathryn could tell that he suspected that something had not gone to plan as he did not wish to approach them. All she could do was remain still as someone advanced across the clearing. Whoever it was seemed to first inspect Harry before coming to kneel next to her. A finger pulled back an eyelid to give her a glimpse of a familiar mane of blond hair. A very familiar hand crept beneath her burned top to find her heart beating fast and strong beneath it.

"Do you trust me?" the whisper was barely audible but it meant everything to her.

"Yes." She breathed back, not even allowing her lips to move. The hand remained there for a moment longer before it was withdrawn and the person stood up.

"They are dead!" Lucius Malfoy cried to the onlookers. Harry could barely contain his shock. Why had Lucius Malfoy, of all people, done such a thing?

Now they shouted; crying their triumph up to the star-laden sky. They saw bursts of green and silver light behind their eyelids as they celebrated.

"You see!" Voldemort cried. "Harry and Kathryn Potter are dead by my hand! No one can threaten me now! Watch! Crucio!" Kathryn could do nothing as Harry was hit and all Harry could do was feign death. Yet the pain he had expected did not come. He was thrown a couple of times in the air but he remained floppy and lifeless. Kathryn had the same experience; the jeering and laughing from the crowd sickening her to the stomach. It was disgusting that they derived pleasure from such an act. She could hear Hagrid's loud sobs in the background and wished that there was a way to convey that they were alright. Lucius could barely watch as she was so ill treated, yet he forced himself to laugh so as not to cause suspicion.

"Now," Voldemort spoke again, "to the castle. To show them what has become of their heroes, of those on whom they depended so much. Who shall drag the bodies? No, wait…" there was more laughter and, after a few moments, they felt the ground tremble.

"Carry them," Voldemort's voice was dripping with cruel delight, "They will be nice and visible in your arms, will they not? Pick up your little friends, Hagrid. And the glasses, do not forget those, they must be recognisable. Their defeat must be seen."

Harry and Kathryn's glasses, which had fallen off when their supposed corpses were humiliated, were roughly shoved onto their faces. The next set of hands to touch them, although giant, were infinitely gentle. They could feel Hagrid's heaving sobs as he lifted them and great tears splashed down. No matter how much they wished, they could not tell Hagrid that they were alright, that all was not yet lost.

"Move." Voldemort said coldly, and Hagrid began to move off through the trees. As they were so close in Hagrid's arms, Kathryn managed to give Harry's hand the briefest of squeezes to tell him that she was alive. Harry, filled with hope, squeezed back. The Death Eaters around them crowed their triumph as Hagrid sobbed and no one bothered to verify that no pulse beat in the necks of Harry and Kathryn Potter.

"BANE!" Hagrid's bellow nearly made them open their eyes. "Happy now, are yeh, ye cowardly bunch o' nags? Are yeh happy they're d-dead…" Hagrid could not continue, but instead broke down in a fresh wave of sobbing. They kept on walking, some of the Death Eaters calling insults at the centaurs as they moved on. A little later, both Harry and Kathryn could tell that they had reached the edge of the forest as the air was fresh and clear once again.

"Stop." Hagrid must have been forced to obey Voldemort's order as he lurched to a halt and waited obediently. Someone passed close by and they knew it was Voldemort, for he made so little sound as he walked, he might have been a snake moving across the fallen leaves. Seconds later, he spoke, his magically magnified voice filling their eardrums.

"Harry and Kathryn Potter are dead. They were killed as they ran away, trying to save themselves while your ready yourselves to die for them. We bring you their bodies as proof of their defeat."

"The battle is won. You have lost half your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you and the children who lived are finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle, now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live, and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

Threw was silence across the grounds and from the castle. The pair of them did not dare breathe for fear that Voldemort would see.

"Come." Their macabre procession moved on, Harry opening his eyes wide enough to make out Voldemort walking in front of them with Nagini draped over his shoulders. All Hagrid could do was sob.

"Oh Harry…Kathryn…"

"Stop." The Death Eaters and Hagrid all came to a halt and Harry and Kathryn heard them spreading out in a line facing the open front doors of the school. Harry and Kathryn could both see a reddish glow from behind their eyelids, which meant that light was streaming forth from the Entrance Hall. Any moment, the people for whom they had tried to die would see them, lying apparently dead, in Hagrid's arms.

"NO!" the scream which issued from in front of them was more terrible than anything they could've imagined, partially because they had never thought that Professor McGonagall could make such a sound. The Death Eaters revelled in the despair they caused; Bellatrix's cackle distinctly audible. Squinting again for a single second, they could see the survivors coming out onto the front steps, to face their vanquishers, and to see proof of Harry and Kathryn's death. They saw Voldemort standing in front of them, stroking Nagini's head with a single white finger and hastily shut their eyes.

"No!"

"No!"

"Harry! Kathryn!" Ron, Ginny and Hermione's screams were worse than McGonagall's and they wanted nothing more than to cry back, but they forced themselves to remain silent. Their cries acted as a trigger, the crowd of survivors taking up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at the Death Eaters until a more powerful cry filled the night.

"SILENCE!" yelled Voldemort, there was a bang, and silence was forced upon them all. "It is over! Set them down, Hagrid, at my feet, where they belong." Though the voice that spoke was full of hate, they were lowered onto the grass with infinite care.

"You see?" said Voldemort triumphantly, striding back and forth right beside where they lay. "Harry and Kathryn Potter are dead! Do you understand now? They were nothing but a boy and girl who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for them!" Lucius thought his heart would split in two at these words. He knew that she was brave, he had put that to the test, and what these children, as his master put it, had done tonight had been courage beyond measure.

"They beat you!" Ron yelled defiantly and the charm broke; the screaming and shouting beginning again until they were silenced by a second, more powerful bang.

"They were killed while trying to sneak out of the grounds," from their prone position they could hear how much he relished telling the lie, "killed while trying to save themselves. They ran like cowards and left you here to die. " There was a scuffle and a shout from the crowd, followed by a bang, a flash of light and a grunt of pain. Opening her eyes an infinitesimal amount, Kathryn saw that someone had broken free and charged at Voldemort. The figure fell to the ground, disarmed, and Voldemort threw aside the challenger's wand and laughed a high, mirthless laugh.

"And who is this?" he asked in his snakelike hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?" Bellatrix cackled manically.

"It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord!" she cackled. "The son of the Aurors."

"Ah, yes," mused Voldemort, looking down at Neville who was struggling back to his feet, wandless and facing Voldemort, standing in the no-man's-land between the fearful survivors and the triumphant Death Eaters. "But you are a Pure-blood, aren't you?" Voldemort asked Neville, who stood facing him, his empty hands curled in fists.

"So what if I am?" Neville declared loudly, shrugging his shoulders casually.

"You show strength and bravery, and you come of noble stock. You will make a very valuable addition to my followers. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."

"They were from the noblest stock of all." Neville's voice shook with conviction and sadness, pointing a finger at the bodies on the ground. "And I'll join you when hell freezes over," he finished defiantly, making Harry and Kathryn wish they could smile, "Dumbledore's Army!" he cried, and there was an answering cheer from the crowd which Voldemort's silencing charms were seemingly unable to affect.

"Very well," Voldemort's voice held more danger in its silky, calm tones than was contained in the killing curse, "if that is your choice, Longbottom, on your head be it." his wand slashed through the air and, with excitement in their eyes, the Death Eaters waited for the killing blow.

Watching through their eyelashes, Harry and Kathryn heard one of the castle windows shatter and a lumpy, misshapen object flew into Voldemort's outstretched hand. In the half light that came from the windows of the Entrance Hall, they could see the Sorting Hat in Voldemort's white hand.

"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts," he declared, "there will be no more houses. The emblem, shield and colour of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone."

He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, and forced the Sorting Hat onto his head until it covered his eyes. There were movements from several people amongst the crowd and, as one; the Death Eaters raised their wands, keeping the fighters of Hogwarts at bay.

"Neville here is now going to demonstrate what happens to those reckless enough to oppose me." Voldemort explained with a cruel smile. With a flick of his wand, the Sorting Hat burst into flames.

Screams split the dawn and Neville was aflame, rooted to the spot and unable to move. They could not bear it any longer, they had to act.

Then several things happened at once.

There was a great thundering of footsteps and Grawp lumbered around the side of the castle and yelled, "HAGGER!" Voldemort's giants immediately charged Grawp like bull elephants, making the ground tremble.

There as uproar from the distant boundary of the school and what sounded like hundreds of people came pelting towards the castle, uttering loud war cries. Then came hooves and the twang of bows, and arrows were suddenly falling amongst the Death Eaters, who broke ranks and scattered. Harry and Kathryn, seizing the moment of chaos, whipped their invisibility cloaks out and swung them over themselves as Neville, too, moved.

In one swift, fluid motion, Neville broke free of the Body-Bind curse that Voldemort had laid upon him. The flaming hat fell off his head and he drew from its depths something silver with a glittering, rubied handle.

The slash of the blade could not be heard over the pandemonium, yet it seemed to draw everyone's eye. With a single stroke, Neville sliced off the great snake's head and everyone watched as it spun high in the air; its glittering eyes suddenly empty of life. Voldemort's mouth was open in a scream that no one could hear as Nagini's body thudded to the ground at his feet.

Hidden beneath his invisibility cloak, Harry cast a shield charm between Neville and Voldemort before the latter could raise his wand. Kathryn, meanwhile, whipped her wand out from beneath her armour and deflected a curse that was heading straight for Lucius. Over the din, one voice sounded louder than any other.

"HARRY!" Hagrid yelled over the cries of students and Death Eaters alike. "KATHRYN! WHERE'S HARRY AND KATHRYN?"

Kathryn did not stop as she ran through the battle, avoiding curses and arrows as she neared her target. Steps away from him, Kathryn opened the cloak and flung it over the one person who, at that point, mattered to her more than anything. No one cared enough to notice that Lucius Malfoy was there one moment, and gone the next.

Before he could say anything, she dragged him away from the thick of the battle, everyone too busy to notice the two pairs of feet that stuck out of the bottom of the cloak as he was taller than her. Once she stopped running, he turned to look at her, his eyes drinking in her face; flushed and so full of life. She was bruised and bloodied, yes, but very much alive.

"I thought you were dead." He finally managed to say, his voice cracking slightly. In response, she kissed him, flinging her arms around his neck and clinging on as if she would never let go.

"So did I." She whispered in his ear. "Although the next time I might not be so lucky." She added as they finally separated.

"Then be careful." He told her sternly, kissing her again.

"You too." With a fleeting smile, she pulled the invisibility cloak off him and disappeared back into the fray.

Chaos reigned. The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters and everyone was fleeing the giants blundering feet. Out of the air, great winged creatures flew around the heads of Voldemort's giants; Buckbeak and Thestrals scratching at their eyes whilst Grawp pummelled them. Wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike, were now being forced back into the castle. Kathryn had found Harry, noticing the spot from where jinxes were suddenly appearing from thin air, and they were doing their utmost to protect those who had so valiantly fought for them.

Hidden under their cloaks, they were buffeted into the Entrance Hall where they found Voldemort, firing off spells and screaming orders to his Death Eaters. They cast more shield charms and his would be victims, Seamus and Hannah, darted past him and into the Great Hall where the battle continued to rage. They were overcoming the Death Eaters, that was for certain, but it was not over yet.

Voldemort was in the middle of it all, shrieking and smiting all within reach, but they could not get off a clear shot. They saw Fred, George and Lee Jordan flooring Yaxley, whilst Dolohov was felled by Flitwick. They saw Lupin and Sirius bringing down Fenrir Greyback, Aberforth stunning Rookwood and Tonks and Luna taking out Rabastan Lestrange. Ron was engaged in an impressive duel with Draco Malfoy, who was duelling with a stolen wand, finally getting him back for every time he had made some snide comment about his family.

Voldemort was now duelling McGonagall, Dumbledore and Kingsley at the same time, pure hatred boiling in his pale face as they ducked and parried; skilfully avoiding his curses yet unable to hit him at the same time. Bellatrix was still fighting; duelling three people at once like her master. Her expression was one of utter lunacy as she cried curse after curse at anything that moved. Ginny, Hermione, and Neville were making a good effort of it but Bellatrix was more than equal to them. Harry's attention was diverted by a killing curse that flew so close to Ginny that it missed her by about an inch.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Mrs Weasley's cry echoed across the hall as she ran, throwing her cloak off, towards Bellatrix. Bellatrix screeched with glee as she spun to face her new opponent.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" she pushed Hermione, Neville and Ginny out of the way and, with a swipe of her wand, began to duel. They watched with terror and elation as Molly Weasley's wand slashed and twirled and Bellatrix's smile turned to a snarl. Jets of light flew from both wands and the floor became hot and cracked; both women were fighting to kill.

"What will happen to your children when I kill you?" Bellatrix taunted, as mad as her master, darting wildly as Molly's curses flew at her. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Fabian and Gideon?"

"You-will-never-hurt-our-family-again!" screamed Mrs Weasley. Bellatrix laughed an exhilarated, demented laugh, and Harry and Kathryn knew what was going to happen.

Molly's curse soared, flaming red and deadly, beneath Bellatrix's outstretched arm and hit her squarely on the chest, directly over her heart. Bellatrix's manic smile froze and her eyes seemed to bulge. For the tiniest moment, she knew what had happened, and then she fell. The surrounding crowd roared and Voldemort screamed.

McGonagall, Kingsley and Dumbledore were all blasted backwards as Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last, best, lieutenant exploded like a bomb. He raised his wand and directed it at Molly Weasley.

"PROTEGO!" Harry and Kathryn roared simultaneously, throwing themselves between Mrs Weasley and Voldemort, finally throwing off their invisibility cloaks.

The yells of shock, the cheers and the screams of 'Harry!' 'Kathryn' and 'THEY'RE ALIVE!' were stifled at once. The crowd was afraid and silence abruptly fell as they watched the three people that now began to circle each other.

"We don't want anyone to help!" Harry yelled, not taking his focus off Voldemort.

"It has to be like this!" Kathryn went on. "It has to be us!"

"They don't mean that," Voldemort hissed. "That isn't how it works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield this time?"

"Nobody!" Harry replied defiantly. "There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and us."

"Neither can live while the other survives and one is about to become dearly, wonderfully, departed." Kathryn finished.

"One?" Voldemort jeered. "You have only survived by accident and because it was Dumbledore pulling the strings."

"Accident?" Harry cried. "Accident when our mother died to save us?" they were still moving in a circle, paying no attention. "Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard?"

"Was it accident that we didn't defend ourselves tonight," Kathryn asked, "and that we still survived, and that we returned to fight?"

"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort, but he still did not attack. "Accident and chance and the fact that you crouched and snivelled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for you!"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight," Harry said as they circled, "you won't be able to kill anyone again." Voldemort simply looked confused.

"Don't you get it?" Kathryn asked. "We were ready to die to protect these people from you!"

"But you did not!"

"We meant to!" Kathryn shot back viciously.

"And that's what did it." Harry finished. "We've done what our mother did. They're protected from you. You can torture them but none of the spells you cast are permanent. You can't touch them."

"You don't learn form your mistakes, Riddle," Kathryn used his given name for the first time, relishing the fury it brought to his eyes, "do you?"

"You dare!"

"Yes I dare!" Kathryn yelled back "We dare! We know things you don't, Tom Riddle. We know lots of important things you don't."

"Is it love?" he asked mockingly. "Dumbledore's favourite solution, love, which he claims conquers death. Love did not stop me stamping out your Mudblood mother like the vermin she was."

"Love for my Mudblood mother was what lost you your most faithful servant!" Kathryn yelled back; her voice was filled with burning rage, yet also calm and measured.

"What madness is this?" said Voldemort, his red eyes not wavering from theirs.

"Severus Snape was never yours." Harry said calmly. "Snape was Dumbledore's; Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting our mother."

"You never realised it, did you?" Kathryn went on, working carefully to keep her mind shielded against his fiery glare. "His Patronus was a doe, the same as our mother's. He loved her nearly all his life and you took her from him, you took her even though he asked you to spare her life."

"He desired her, that was all," Voldemort sneered, "he soon agreed that there were worthier women of purer blood that he could have."

"Of course he said that, but you have never had his allegiance since."

"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort, who had followed every word with rapt attention. "It matters not whether Snape was Dumbledore's or not. I crushed him like I crushed your mother, just like I shall crush you!"

"No you didn't." Kathryn shook her head. "If I am not mistaken, Severus Snape still lives. You didn't think that the daughter of Lily Potter would have the compassion to save the man that, although he was cruel to her, had loved her mother. I saw that he deserved the chance to see the destruction of the pathetic excuse for a man who destroyed the only person he has every truly loved."

"A lie!" Voldemort screamed. "I saw him die!"

"You didn't wait long enough!" Kathryn roared back.

"It is of little matter, I have the power to defeat you!" he twirled the wand in his hands, the wand he had stolen form Dumbledore's tomb.

"No you don't, you are not master of the wand."

"I killed Severus Snape, who last defeated Dumbledore, the wand is mine to control. I hold the wand."

"It isn't holding it that matters." Harry shook his head, knowing that the moment was seconds away. "The wand recognised a new master long ago, one that was not Severus Snape."

"Draco Malfoy removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will," Harry said, "before Snape got to him. Draco Malfoy was the master of the wand."

"I shall attend to him later then," Voldemort shrugged, "it is of little importance."

"But you're too late." Kathryn said with a gleeful smile. "We overpowered Draco earlier. We took his wand from him."

"It all comes down to this," Harry went on, "does the wand in your hand know its last master was disarmed?"

"Because if it does," Kathryn finished, "we are the true masters of the Elder Wand." Voldemort did not move, his eyes flashed with anger and his voice screamed out its curse. Holding hands, Harry and Kathryn raised their wands and yelled their best hope to the heavens.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

The bang when the two spells met was like a cannon blast and golden flames erupted at the dead centre of the circle. They saw the Elder Wand fly high across the star-spangled ceiling of the Great Hall, towards the masters it would not kill, to those who had come to take full possession of it. With the dexterity which made him such a good seeker, Harry caught the wand and there was a deafening bang.

There was a moment of stillness as Voldemort's eyes widened in horror. For a split-second, Voldemort's red eyes met Kathryn's, and she felt him invade her mind.

"Oh, we have been bad…" Voldemort's voice trailed off.

A shockwave, more powerful than a swing from one of the giants' clubs spread out through the circle they had created in the middle of the hall, as Voldemort's spell backfired upon him. He hit the floor with a mundane finality whilst Harry and Kathryn were blasted backwards. Harry hit the wall with a crunch before falling to the floor, out cold. Kathryn flew with a crash through the only remaining window and out into the grounds, going a lot further than Harry because there was no wall to stop her flight. She only came to a halt when she smashed into a piece of rubble that one of the giants had knocked off the ramparts.

The silence in the hall was deafening as everyone tried to take in what had happened. No one noticed, in the following commotion, that Lucius Malfoy slunk out of the hall from where he had been stood at the very back. As soon as it was safe, he sprinted out into the grounds, in search of the girl who had been flung through the window like a rag doll.

He found her very worryingly motionless on the grass, sprawled over a large block of stone that looked like it had once belonged to the battlements. He could hear shouts and cheers coming from the Great Hall and all he could think of was escape; but he was not leaving without her. Moving as quietly as possible, he gingerly lifted her up into his arms and, thanks to the usual defensive charms being momentarily disabled, disapparated with a crack.