The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 110: It All Ends Now

*CW: Extreme Violence & Character Deaths*

If it was any other day, I would've found amusement in Posmey's words. Like yes... You should've been fighting in my name! I fed you throughout my fifth-year, and overall, I was just this amazing, perfect being with no flaws. But that was no longer the case because I haven't thought about myself like that since Cedric's death. And now, after everything I found out, I couldn't bring myself to be grateful that someone even thought to fight proudly in my name.

For fuck's sake, I was still a traitor to all of them... On both sides really.

But at this point in the war, it didn't matter what side a person was on. If they weren't wearing the infamous deatheater mask, they were considered to be on the side of the order. Voldemort's forces had become so small, even smaller than the order's, which said something considering they had the most deaths in the first battle. Regardless, I knew what I was fighting for, even if it costed my life, which it might've. All I really wanted was for a place to hide for the rest of the war given that I was starting to succumb to my injuries, but everything in me knew that wasn't possible.

Recollecting myself, I gathered the strength to run into the school, aiming for the Great Hall, where I knew the battle would've been. Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I needed to find Harry and battle him in front of all these people. I was almost sure that he would've attacked me first, and once he did... Everyone would know the truth. But until then, I had to partake in the fight.

Several deatheaters charged at me the second I ran into the Great Hall. Thankfully, my old powers were somewhat reactivated due to the torturing and my almost-death experience. By only tilting my head or flicking a mere finger, the perpetrators quickly met their deaths, allowing me to walk through the Great Hall with ease. Usually, I would've felt at least some guilt killing a bunch of people... But I didn't... Because these were the same people that killed Fred, Remus, and Tonks.

"Ms. Riddle..." an approaching deatheater spat with her wand drawn, "Long time no see, eh-"

CRACK

Another deatheater, a man, raised his wand behind me, "AVADA KEDAV-"

SNAP

Both deatheaters fell to the ground, blood spilling from their cold, blue lips. Once again, I felt no remorse looking at the two cloaked individuals. I knew most of the higher-ups in Voldemort's ranks and memorized the faces from my "training sessions". That was where I recognized the woman from. She was the one that was very adamant about the water-torture techniques, always begging Antonin Dolohov to use them on me when I wasn't "behaving" or "improving". I didn't know who the man was. I didn't see his face before I snapped his neck in half, considering he tried to attack me from behind.

An ominous laughter echoed through the Great Hall, causing the hairs on my arms to stick up as chills overtook my body. Immediately, I knew that the laughter stemmed from Bellatrix Lestrange, and that she was standing mere steps behind me. Like many of Voldemort's higher-ups, she was trained in wordless magic, meaning that she was probably about to strike.

I turned around, whipping out my wand, "Protego."

And just as I thought, the green light emerging from Bellatrix's wand hit the protection shield. Two more seconds and the curse would've hit my back, knocking me cold. Now that I knew the truth, it was obvious that Bellatrix knew the whole "immortal" clause was false. In reality, Bellatrix has been trying to dispose of me since the day we met at the Ministry of Magic; maybe even before that when I was still in her care. She's been trying to eliminate her biggest regret all this time... That regret being me, but truly... She didn't have the morals to go through with it.