Dark Pasts { A Harry Potter Story }

Chapter 114 - The Seventh Horcrux

Ron and Hermione had climbed out of the tunnel and now stood beside me. The three of us silently watched a Harry remained at Snape's side. Still shocked and uneasy from what we had just seen, I did not know what to do or say to him. But suddenly a cold voice spoke so close to us that I jumped, fearing the worst, but it was still only the four of us around Snape's body. I realized then that Voldemort was speaking to everyone in Hogwarts as he had done earlier, and did my best to stay on my feet as his snake-like voice reverberated in my head.

"You have fought valiantly," he said. "Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery.

"Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me,you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every dropof magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreatimmediately.

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treatyour injured.

Ron, Hermione and I exchanged a look, nervously waiting for what he would say next. Then my eyes landed on Harry as he stood up.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour,you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter,and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

I let out a quivering breath and shook my head.

"Don't listen to him," Ron said.

"It'll be all right," Hermione said. "Let's — let's get back to the castle, if he's gone to the forest we'll need to think of a new plan —"

The two looked to me then, as though hoping I would have the right words to ease Harry, but I did not speak, for deep inside me, I knew. I knew that if Harry had already made his decision, there was nothing even I could say to change his mind. All I could do was hope.

Silently, we made our way back through the tunnel and toward the castle. It was eerily quiet, and no one remained in the courtyard or in the entrance hall.

"Where is everyone?" Hermione whispered.

Ron led the way to the Great Hall and we stopped in the doorway. The House tables were gone and the room was crowded with survivors standing in small groups around their injured friends and relatives.

The dead lay in a row in the middle of the Hall. Mr. Weasley was holding onto Mrs. Weasley as they looked upon the ground. Though I could not see who it was they were looking at, I felt my heart tighten in my chest. Bill, Fleur, Ginny, Percy, Fred and George were standing beside them. Then I saw my father slowly walking toward me and I let out a deep breath.

"Dad!" I said in a relieved voice, but his red cheeks and deep frown told me that something terrible had happened.

And that is when I saw who they were all crying for. The room seemed to shrink around me as I shook my head, gasping for breath.

"No," I breathed out in a shaking voice as I made my way to the place where Remus and Tonks' bodies had been placed. Everyone moved out of the way slightly to allow me to kneel in front of them. A terrible sob escaped my lips before I could stop myself and I screamed. Then I felt someone grab me and pull me toward them forcefully. It was Harry.

"Liz," he whispered in my ear through his own hiccuping breath. "Liz, it's alright . . . "

I wriggled out of his embrace and turned around as I stood up, unable to bear the sight of their bodies any longer. How could they be dead . . . they had just had a son . . .

Then my eyes wandered to the numerous people around me mourning their own friends and relatives, and another surge of anger boiled inside me.

"I'll kill the one who did this," I said aloud, though it was mostly to myself. "They didn't deserve to — "

I felt a gentle hand on my back and slowly turned to see Hermione, her own eyes filled with tears.

"Where's Harry?" I asked suddenly, panic rising inside me.

"He said something about Snape and the Pensieve — " she shrugged.

She moved in to hug me and I felt Ron come up from behind me and wrap his arms around us both. We stayed like this for a moment, then I backed away, a determined look on my face.

"I have to help," I said as I glanced around the Great Hall.

I let go of them and moved around the room, stopping in front of a young boy who was sitting all alone in a corner.

"Are you hurt?" I asked softly.

He looked up to me and I grimaced as I saw a deep cut on his arm. I quickly opened my bag and grabbed my essence of dittany.

"Here," I said and began to pour some on his wound, which immediately began to heal as the liquid came into contact with it.

"Thank you," he said in a low voice.

"My dear," a voice sounded behind me.

I turned around to see Madam Pomfrey smiling weakly at me. "Come with me, I will need assistance for this," she said, and I felt a small surge of relief go through me as I realized she thought I could be useful.

I don't know how long I spent running around the Hall administering different doses of various potions to many people, but it eased my mind greatly to focus on something other than the hole I felt inside.

I was just finishing wrapping a girl's arm in a bandage when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure staring at me from outside the hall. I slowly looked up and saw that it was Harry. He took a step back when he saw that I was looking back at him. Fearing the worse, I immediately ran up to him and threw myself in his arms. But instead of engulfing me in a hug, he pulled away, and I saw a battle raging inside him through his eyes.

"Elizabeth," he said in a low voice.

"Where are you going?" I asked in a whisper, though I already knew the answer.

"I'm going to the forest."

My eyes filled with tears and I shook my head.

"Harry — "

"There's a reason I can hear them," he said suddenly and I frowned, "the Horcruxes."

I looked at him intently and gulped. Why couldn't I have been wrong . . . .

"I think I've known for a while," he said. "And I think you have, too."

Unable to stop myself, I let the tears stream down my face as I shook my head again. I tried to open my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a strangled sob. Harry closed the gap between us and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I felt his body shiver against mine as we both cried. But then he pulled away and placed both his hands on either side of my face.

"I'll go with you."

He shook his head.

"I told Ron and Hermione — and Neville, too — to kill the snake," he said. "Help them, if you can."

I stayed silent.

"I'm so . . . glad that we got to spend these last months together," he said as more tears spilled from my eyes. "But now I've got to do this. For everyone here . . . for you, Elizabeth."

He rested his forehead against mine and sighed.

"I love you," I said in a strangled voice, my hands digging into his chest tightly.

"And I," he said, "love you, more than anything."

I closed my eyes and felt his lips softly kiss mine. Then I felt him slowly move away, but I kept my eyes close, for I knew I could not bear to watch him leave. I began to shiver uncontrollably and when I opened my eyes, I was alone in the entrance hall.

He was gone.