His Secret

Avada Kedavra

The room froze. The thud of Harry's body hitting the floor seemed to last a millennia. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed.

And then everything happened. There was a scream, a scream so piercing you could almost see it. And then you could see it. A dark cloud filled the room, a hurricane of grief, all echoing from the small body of a young girl. Lord Voldemort attempted to fight but his wand was lost, He, along with the Death Eaters and Vernon were forced away from Harry's body, forced away from the source of the pain. And in that moment those struggling against the bonds broke free and they forced themselves forwards, hexes and curses flew. The shock, fear and grief was replaced with one motive, to reclaim their home.

Lord Voldemort laughed, he had killed the boy. Potter was dead. The Boy Who Died. He threw curses as he laughed, unaware of the reinforcements now pouring into the office, making a circle around the shell of the Potter boy.

Then the castle joined the fight. To the students, access to the danger was blocked, to the Death Eaters, the statues and ghosts were deadly.

Voldemort's forces were overwhelmed, the Order of the Phoenix were doing their duty. Yet the Dark Lord fought forward in a delirium, unaware of his quickly depleting forces. Dumbledore threw the final curse, calling upon the castles magic as reinforcement he drew enough power within him to expel the Dark Lord, still laughing, from the castle. As he apparated, he departed with the eerie words "I will be back Dumbledore. You no longer have your Chosen One."

And he was gone. The black winds died down immediately. There was hollow shock left in the room. For a moment the world was still, calm, perhaps even peace. Then Sirius broke forward from his rank, murmuring his godsons name as he fell to his knees besides him.

Dumbledore was already muttering spells, heightening the wards of the castle from his seat, joined by members of the Order, together bringing sanctity back to the school.

Harry's body, lifted gently by Sirius' arms, was frail everything about it was fragile, there was nothing but his empty shell of broken skin. Tears streamed down his friend's faces as they joined Sirius, kneeling, as if hoping to bring some of their own life back into him. Hoping against hope that something, anything, could bring him back.

Annie to the side. She watched, clenching her fists to hold in the hurricane that erupted as saw her best friend fall down because of the mean man's green light. She didn't understand. He couldn't be dead, not just from a light, but it all did look very realistic.

In the corner, stood Draco. He had been told to stay as Snape had fled, joining the Dark Lord. He shivered looking at the dead body of his arch-enemy. He almost snorted at the ridiculousness of it. A fifteen year old with an arch-enemy. Then he stopped, this stupid, childish rivalry had lead to his death. He was responsible.

Sirius looked up at Dumbledore who stepped over to Harry, lowering himself down with Fred's support and started murmuring healing spells, watching the Harry's torn skin sew itself back together. Sirius choked on his tears, "Why?"

And Dumbledore said softly, "We'll give you your privacy," nodding towards Harry's body as he slowly withdrew with the rest of the Order.

And when all the strange people with wooden sticks and flashing lights and billowing robes had left, that's when Annie saw it. She saw the feeble rise of Harry's chest.