Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 86 - Fallen Warrior

"Elizabeth?" I heard someone call in the distance. "Elizabeth, can you hear me?"

My eyes slowly fluttered open. I was laying on a couch in an odd room covered in old paintings and thick drapes. I raised myself up on my elbows but felt my heart pounding in my head. Then I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see my father looking down at me.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes," I said unconvincingly. "Yes, I think so."

"Thank goodness," he said with a relieved sigh. "The Death Eater stupefied you and then I don't know what they did but the broom fell apart. I barely had enough time to cast the Slowing Charm on both of us before we hit the ground."

I looked down at myself and recognized my own arms: the Polyjuice had worn out. Harry's loose clothes were covered in dirt and blood, but that did not matter to me.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We made it to the safe house," my dad said. "Here —" he handed me a small mirror, "Hold on to this. It's the Portkey — it should take us to the Burrow in a minute or so."

I held onto the Portkey tightly, desperately hoping everyone else was safe and unharmed and before I knew it everything around me began to spin uncontrollably. The next thing I knew I was laying down on the grass. I slowly stood up and smiled slightly in relief when I saw the familiar shape of The Burrow in front of me. There was a commotion inside and suddenly a few people came rushing out of the house. Everything was a blur but for Harry rushing toward me.

"Harry!" I said in relief.

"Elizabeth!" He cried before engulfing me in a tight hug.

I pulled away and saw Remus and Ginny looking at us. Remus suddenly leapt onto my dad and pointed his wand at him.

"What are you doing?" I shouted, but Harry held me in place.

"What was the one thing Evie made us swear we would never do?" Remus asked.

"That we would never let whatever problems we had get in the way of raising Elizabeth," my dad said with a deep sigh.

I frowned and looked from my dad to him, wondering what on earth all that was about.

"We've been betrayed," Remus said in answer to my silent question. " I had to make sure he wasn't an impostor. Voldemort knew Harry was being moved tonight and the only people who could have told him were directly involved in the plan. "

"We saw him," I said.

"Who?"

"Voldemort."

Harry looked at me with wide eyes.

"What?" he said.

"Yeah, he — he could fly," I said. "He tried to kill me, but the curse missed me and then he just disappeared. . . . It took me a while to realize that he must have known where you were and that's why he just left," I told Harry, who was looking at me intently.

"Yeah, he did know where I was," he said simply.

I squeezed his hand, but frowned when I saw the look in his eyes. "What is it? Are you alright?"

He gulped. "Hedwig's gone," his voice cracked.

"Oh, Harry," I said before pulling him toward me, my hand running through his hair. "I'm so sorry."

He squeezed me more tightly, his head buried in the crook of my neck.

"Where are the others?" my dad asked.