Chosen?

Chapter 22: Splinched

Draco’s words echoed in my ear, “Why Lily, you’re the Chosen One.” My dad had been the Chosen One, and he was bloody brilliant at it. The most powerful wizard I’ve ever met, but he was still humble. I, on the other hand, was not as powerful, not as old, and definitely not as great as he was. 

I looked down at Draco, “thank you,” I paused, “For everything… the help, the encouragement,” I said. Draco looked like a much weaker and older version of his son. His son, the being I was absolutely and totally in love with. “Scorpius,” I added, “he’s safe,” I said softly.

Draco looked up at me, a small smile formed on his lips, “Thank you, Lily,” he said. “Lily, if I don’t see him again, tell him how proud I was of him. How much he meant to both his mother and me.” I smiled and nodded. “You must go, Lily. Go, save the world.”

The world. The entire world full of wizards, witches, muggles, squibs, and fantastic beasts rested in my hands. I nodded and without enough concentration, apparated to the courtyard of Azkaban. 

I felt my side being pulled in two, ripping in two. I wanted to scream, to cry, to beg for help, but I couldn’t. I was forced through the tight rubber tube called apparition leaving a large piece of my skin behind. My feet landed hard on the ground as I stumbled, colliding face first with the stone cold floor. 

I looked up to see that my wand had rolled away from me when I fell. I pushed myself off of the ground, my right side burning hot with a horrible stinging sensation. I crawled over to my wand and grabbed it making sure my grip was tight as I stumbled to my feet. I felt my shirt become soaked in a warm liquid, instinctively, I grabbed my side with my left hand, my wand still in my right. 

Just as my vision came into focus, Voldemort apparated a few feet in front of me. I saw a group of figures emerge from behind him, all of which were in identical black robes, their faces masked. On the outside wall of the courtyard, I saw a group of people running. They stopped and starred at my side. Feeling self-conscious, I too looked down at my side. Blood covered my shirt and dripped down onto my jeans as I looked down at my side the pain my mind had been trying to block out cane into a sharp focus. My side was searing, burning, aching with pain. I pushed the thought of it out of my mind as I lifted my eyes up to look at the people who stayed quiet and far away from the center of the courtyard. I saw my mum, dad, Albus, James, and Teddy all with worried looks plastered to their faces.

But wait, if my family was here, that meant that Scorpius stayed behind to send him his Patronus. My thoughts were filled with horrible scenarios of what might have happened to Scorpius. I saw Scorpius’s distant figure running up to the rest of my immediate family. He looked down at my side and tried to run to me, but was held back by Teddy and James.

I turned my attention back to Voldemort now, he was gazing at me with a loathsome expression with made my hatred for him even more putrid. “I see, I have once again been fooled,” he stated, his voice was a soft whisper but was loud enough to fill a Quidditch pitch.

Voldemort sneered. “You’ll pay for this, Potter,” he said through his ugly sneer as he raised his wand, “Avada Kedavra!” he shouted. A green stream of light flung from his wand and made a connection with my defensive charm. 

On direct impact of out wand streams connection, he seemed to lose power. He had almost fed off of my dad since part of his soul was inside of him, but he instead seemed to weaken for his connection with me. I closed my eyes and whispered, “Protego,” as a large blue-tinted shield formed around me at the point where our wand streams connected. My side was burning, but I kept my focus locked on the very powerful dark wizard in front of me. 

My wand stream gained momentum against his, slowly, the blue light became deflecting his killing curse back onto himself. Voldemort was inches away from being hit by his own curse. I used everything I had left to push my wand stream completely over his.