The Green Man and the Goddess

The Green Man and the Goddess, Chapter Fifteen
By ArrA. Draco and I spent the whole day and the next learning and practicing spells in our defence. Finally we got to the point where we could practice no more and we lay down, side by side and rested for awhile.

Finally, thirty minutes before midnight of the second day, Halloween, Dumbledore called us to his office and gestured us to sit.

"Voldemort will attack tonight," he told us confidently. "He can do this because on Samhain, which is today, the Spirit World is so close to ours that ghosts can pass through... and Voldemort is practically a ghost, so at exactly midnight, he can pass into the spirit world and then pass back into ours... into the Chamber of the Goddess. You must be there to greet him," Dumbledore insisted, looking at the two of us seriously. In unison we nodded our heads in agreement and Dumbledore quickly climbed to his feet. "Go, go right away," he told us and Draco and I quickly agreed and left Dumbledore's office and headed towards the Chamber of the Goddess.

When we arrived at the dungeon, I quickly found the entrance towards the tunnel that we had used so long ago with Ron and Hermione as company. I remembered the way off by heart and although I knew I could possibly die tonight, like my Grandmother had years before, I was hardly frightened.

The tunnel hadn't changed much. Still the only thing I could hear other than the footsteps of Draco and I were the drops of water hitting the ground and the sound of Draco's crow headed cane which he took everywhere with him those days. It echoed through the tunnel, giving a sense of life to our surroundings of dark, hard rock. Absentmindedly, Draco's fingers entwined with me and we continued down the tunnel.

We twisted and turned down the tunnel, hoping that we would make it before midnight. I realized that we had cut it rather close to the time of Voldemort's arrival so I tugged on Draco's wrist to make him walk quicker and he speed up, the sound of the cane becoming more frequent, making me wish to run away from the noise.

Finally we arrived. It was before midnight, seven minutes and twenty-two seconds to be exact and I quickly approached the box that stored its power and took it off its pedestal. There was still some power left in it and I felt as the leftover strength flowed into me, boosting my confidence about the upcoming ordeal.

Time ticked on and soon it was five minutes till midnight, then two and then one. Draco's arm encircled my waist as we waited and I could feel him slightly shacking behind me. He was definitely not as confident as me and I felt as if some of the energy I had worked up drained from my body.

Ten seconds left, nine, eight, seven, six -Draco reached for the pendant around his neck that he never took off-, five, four, three, two, one!

Suddenly there was a flash of brilliant light and Lord Voldemort stood there, eyeing both Draco and I suspiciously. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Draco's staff had transformed to a form and he was now coated in some sort of armor. I sighed quietly, a sigh of relief, and faced Voldemort.

"Tom Riddle," I said in a neutral voice, "we meet again."

Voldemort lifted an eyebrow. His face was scared and damaged, a hideous sight, and he didn't have much of an eyebrow and absolutely no hair but he was a terrifying sight. "Aw, this little girl is the Goddess?" he asked, laughing at me. "You've sent a little red-head, a Weasley I presume, and a Malfoy? A Malfoy who wears my mark?" Voldemort almost dissolved in laugher but kept his cool before turning to Draco. "You dare defy me boy? Do you have any idea what the Mark does to people?" Voldemort asked with a hideous smile on his face.

Draco nodded nervously, stepping closer to me, narrowing the gap between himself and Voldemort, trying to prove he wasn't scared. "Yes, I know what it is and what it does but for every curse is a counter curse..." he left the comment hanging in the air, hoping Voldemort would not understand.

"You poor, misguided boy. Lucius obviously did a horrible job of raising you. Did he not teach you that you should not associate with Weasley filth," Voldemort looked pointedly at me. "I killed your grandparents you know, Miss Weasley."

I felt a tear sting her eye and I clutched my wand in my hand tightly, getting a good grip.

Suddenly I heard an ear piercing scream and Draco was running at Voldemort, sword raised. Voldemort laughed and whispered an incantation, his eyes looking hardly at Draco. But nothing happened and Draco charged on and Voldemort swore, looking visibly deterred. He reached for his wand and pulled it out and screamed, "Frappez!" just as Draco's sword sunk into the Dark Lord's side.

Both men cried out at the same time and Draco went flying against the wall, after being hit by Voldemort's spell and Tom Riddle staggered back, glaring as he clutched his side.

He pointed his sword at his side then and murmured a spell, healing the wound that Draco gave him and I took a step back, shuddering. I had never met anyone with such power. A minute ago Voldemort had been pain but now it was gone.

"Aw, Miss Weasley, frightened yet?"

I took a deep breath and pointed my wand at Voldemort, glaring at the evil man. "I will not let you come back to power, I will not!" I screamed and pointed my wand at him, yelling, "Crucio!"

The spell hit Tom in the arm and he barely showed any pain before straightening up and smiling at her. He had no teeth left and his gums were rotting, I shuddered at the sight of them and stepped back in disgust. Voldemort used the opportunity to strike out and he stupefied Draco who was left lying in the corner unconscious.

I cried out and was about to run to him when I remembered that Voldemort was still there. Turning around I stood to meet the Dark Lord's eyes just as he threw another curse.

Bonds rapped around my body and she restrained to the ground. I felt like I could not escape from the ground and cried out desperately. Voldemort just laughed and approached me slowly, relishing at my frantic look that I gave him and short, scared glances that I shot to my unconscious lover.

Voldemort finally stopped to stand right above me and he stood there for a minute, just standing there, starring down at me as I looked up at him in return with terrified eyes. "Miss Weasley, it is time for you to die like your Grandmother, but this time the power of the Goddess will not be coming back." Slowly he bent towards her, his arms spread out, reaching for my body... finally they touched me and I screamed in pain as Tom Riddle started to try and pull my power, my essence from my body and I shut my eyes, willing myself to be somewhere else.

Suddenly the world crashed away and the pain dissipated and I slowly opened my eyes. Around me stood hundreds of beautiful woman, all watching down on me with pitying eyes.

"Stand up my child," one woman kindly told me and I recognized her instantly as the Goddess, although I had never met her before. I gasped in shock and admiration and stood up on shacking legs to greet the woman who had sacrificed so much for my world.

"Mother, I am so glad to finally meet you," I told her, sincerity in a light voice before it changed to a darker tone, "unfortunately it has not come at a good time. You must send me back. I need to defeat Voldemort! He might have even killed Draco by now!"

The Goddess reached over and put a calming hand on my shoulder. "Calm down Virginia, calm your nerves. Unfortunately you cannot kill him on your own," at these words my face fell but the Mother continued, "but each incarnation of the Goddess still has power left and we will help you. We will help you destroy Voldemort for good. The experience will make you stronger, for once Voldemort is gone, the world is not empty of evil." I nodded my understanding before the Goddess continued, "But you do not have to go back. You can stay here with us if you really do not think you are capable of the coming task..." she left the sentence hanging.

I quickly nodded my head and answered, "I think I am capable. I'm not going to leave the people who I care about in that world, venerable to people such as Voldemort and whoever comes after him."

The line of past Goddesses nodded their approval and the Mother took my hand and on the other side I felt someone else take her other hand. Looking in the other direction I saw an old woman whom I could only recognize from photographs. Jemma Weasley nodded encouragingly and I nodded back, smiling at my great grandmother.

A hum surrounded the women as they all stood a circle, hands linked together and soon the hum turned to a vibration and then the vibration gained power, lifting stone off the floor as it hovered in the air. I opened her eyes, watching as the lifted off the air.

Below me, I saw Voldemort, suspended over my body, trying to suck out my energy and for the first time I realized I had left my body, and my power had left with me.

The Goddesses hovered against Voldemort and he looked up to see their presence and screamed. He tried to reach for his wand but it disintegrated the moment he touched it and he started to rise from the ground. Screaming, he slowly started to break to pieces, screaming an ear piercing scream that could probably be heard in the Common Room.

Sweat slide down my face as I struggled to destroy Voldemort with the rest of the Goddesses. It was beginning to get more and more difficult to hang onto the Mother and Jemma's hand but I hung on for my life. Across the circle I could see other Goddesses getting tired and I knew that if one were to let go, they would not be able to destroy Lord Voldemort.

Suddenly the Mother cried out, "One more shot of power!" and every woman in the circle groaned in pain and concentrated. I shut my eyes and willed all the energy I had left in my body to surface and slowly I felt as it left my body and flew towards Voldemort.

Suddenly there was an ear piercing scream and I opened my eyes to see Voldemort start to break apart entirely... and suddenly he was gone, just like that.

I looked appreciatively at the Mother who smiled back at me weakly and I realized just how weak the rest of the women were.

Suddenly I felt a sucking noise and then I passed out.

* * *

Hours later I woke to voices talking above me, murmurs that I could not make out the words of. Slowly my eyes opened to see Draco's anxious face above me and Ron and Hermione sitting across from us, looking worried.

"Is he dead?" I finally whispered after several minutes of silence.

Draco nodded and reached his arms around me. "You did it Gin, you destroyed him."

I looked up at Draco, love echoing my eyes and answered, "It wasn't just me. The Mother, the first Goddess, came to me and she and the rest of the re-incarnations helped me. I could not have defeated him on my own."

Draco looked down at me and just smiled. "Then I would thank them if I could..." he replied.

"I don't think you could," I said, interrupting. "They seemed very weak after the fight, weaker than me. I'm afraid that we can find no help from them if something were to arise."

Ron laughed behind us and replied, "Voldemort's gone! Who else could there be?"

I looked sadly at Draco and he didn't need to ask. He knew there were others out there, just as capable as Voldemort to bring back such terror. "The Mother told me that not all evil is gone, Ron. Voldemort might be gone... but who knows the future?"

The End.

Author's Notes

Thanks for the wonderful beta job Corky!

And many, many thanks to those who reviewed on the way, including... MersSong (I'm sorry it took so long. At the moment I'm coming up with a few ideas for the sequel.), SlytherinPrincess821 (well I'm glad someone likes Jades... glad you liked it.), Akara (sorry I took so long, but at least I posted the ending!), lizzard (it's finally done, so the wait is over!), azriona (well, there is a sequel and Draco and Ginny will be together in it! But I'm not sure through whose point of view I want to write from yet. And yes, the bus was evil.), J.M roaring (thanks!!), DulinNightingale (glad you like it and it's now finished!)

Anyways, I've actually come up with a few ideas for the sequel, but the thing is that I'm writing about 6 other fics at the moment (2 D/Gs, 1 M/K, a Nightworld one (LJ Smith) and 2 orignals.) I'm going away for the next five weeks, starting Friday and I'm hoping to finish my orignals while I'm gone but I don't really feel like bring any of the others with me. So ya, it might be a bit of a wait for the sequel but I will do it!!