The Final Battle

Sacrificing What He Loves Most...

After what seemed like an eternity, McGonagall and Snape reached the entrance to the castle again. Both had witnessed the effects of the joint Patroni, and though both didn't really know what to make of the strange spheres that had been levitated across the battlefield shortly afterwards, they had seen that it somehow helped in the fight against the werewolves. However, Snape was more than intrigued and could hardly wait for Dumbledore's explanation.

McGonagall on the other hand was, though being glad to be back in the castle again, still worried about Ron and Hermione. Truly, she and Snape could be glad that they had gotten back unharmed, but the two under aged wizards were still somewhere out there, alone if Remus and Sirius had not found them.

With a short greeting nod towards the Auror that still guarded the castle entrance, both Professors hurried into the Great Hall in search of the headmaster.

They found him standing together with Arthur Weasley, Hermes Wielding and Mad Eye Moody at the other end of the Great Hall which now truly fulfilled his purpose as an infirmary. Dumbledore glanced up when both hurried near, curiously taking in their discarded robes and dirty faces.

"Minerva, Severus. What happened?"

With a deep sigh, McGonagall gave him a short account of what they had witnessed out of the castle. With a frown she admitted that they had not been able to find Ron and Hermione, but Dumbledore gave her a short smile at that.

"As far as we know, Sirius and Remus are with them and they should be back here in no time. Now, why don't I tell you in the meantime what happened here while you were away? Thanks to two brilliant ideas from Alastor and Fillius, we were able to equalize things a little."

Both Professors nodded and Dumbledore quickly informed them about the joint Patroni and the silver spheres. Even Snape could not hide the fact that he was impressed by what Flitwick and Moody had done, no matter how hard he tried to keep an impassive face.

McGonagall sank into a chair with a sigh.

"As glad as I am to hear that Albus, but still the problem remains that Potter is not back in the castle yet, and we still don't know whether the Dark Lord will show up at all, or whether he'll just sit back and wait what his forces can manage here."

Dumbledore nodded and looked around in the room.

"I know Minerva. Though I'm not really worried whether Voldemort will make an appearance or not, but Sirius and Remus should be back with the children by now. Does anybody know where that map is?"

Everybody shook their heads, but then Arthur spoke.

"I had it over there on the table when I checked whether Ron and Hermione had been found by now."

He quickly got up and showed the old headmaster where he had used the piece of parchment some time ago. Both men bent over the map, shortly followed by a rather curious Snape. It took some moments for Dumbledore to find what he searched for, and when his eyes finally found the little dot that was marked 'Harry Potter', he drew in a sharp take of breath. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin weren't with him right now, and neither were Ron and Hermione. But nevertheless Harry was not alone. He was heading towards the Forbidden Forest together with another person. Dumbledore visibly blanched when he read the name of the person that was with Harry and so did Snape. Dumbledore quickly straightened, grabbed the map and started to hurry out of the hall.

"I have to go, there's no time left. Let's just hope that I still find them in time!"

With these words, the old wizard left the Great Hall and hurried out in search of Harry Potter. Snape turned back towards Minerva and tried to explain to her what the map had shown.

Arthur didn't seem to notice this. His eyes were still glued to the spot where the map had been lying some seconds ago. While Dumbledore had been busy searching for Harry, he himself had looked out for the whereabouts of his youngest son. He had been slightly surprised that neither Ron nor Hermione were still with Harry, but then he had found their location near Hagrid's hut. Remus was with them, and so was the by now infamous Peter Pettigrew, but that was not what had upset Arthur that much. There had been a fifth dot near Hagrid's hut, a dot that had been labelled 'Charlie Weasley'.

Forcing himself back into reality and pushing all questions aside for later, Arthur Weasley jumped off his chair and ran out of the Great Hall.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Charlie? Charlie, what's wrong?"

Ron's voice was breaking. Why did his brother threaten him with his wand? Didn't he recognize him?

"Charlie?"

Still, he received no answer. He simply couldn't understand what was going on here.

Behind him, he heard Remus make a desperate attempt to say something. Hermione bent down next to her Professor.

"You shouldn't try to speak, you need to see a doctor."
But Remus feverishly shook his head. He knew exactly what was going on with Charlie and he knew that Ron was in extreme danger, especially if he didn't know what was going on. Remus himself had seen those signs more often than he liked to remember. Desperately willing his vocal chords to work just for this one word, he croaked out.

"Imperious."

There, he had done it. He just hoped that Hermione would understand what he meant and warn Ron about it, otherwise he might do something Charlie would regard as a threat.

Hermione stared at him somewhat flabbergasted, but after some seconds understanding dawned on her face. She quickly jumped to her feet.

"Ron, Charlie is under Imperious."

Ron turned around and gave her a startled look, but Charlie's bellowing voice made him spin around again.

"I told you not to move!"

Inside of Charlie's head, a huge scale of contradicting thoughts fought for dominance. His orders were clear, he had to kill everybody who got in Pettigrew's way. But then why did he hesitate to kill that boy in front of him?

//Kill him! He's a threat! Kill him, the girl and the other man. Do it!\

Automatically, his right hand, the hand that held the wand, moved up again and he aimed the wand straight at the boy's heart. He would say the words, and then it would be over.

"Charlie? Charlie, you have to fight it."

Ron had overcome his initial shock and suddenly he realized what was going on here. Charlie was under the Imperious Curse and he was about to kill them. He needed to convince his brother to fight the curse.

"You don't want to do it Charlie, you have to fight the curse!"

As soon as the boy had started to speak, all of Charlie's determination had been wiped away. Why could he not have shut up, then all this would be over by now.

//Kill him. You know you have to. Just say the words and it will be over. Just say them, you know that you want it to be over. Say the words and it will all be over.\

"Charlie, I know that you don't want to do it. It seems the easiest way, but you don't want to do it. Fight it."

//Kill him! It won't be over until you do it. Kill him, what is it to you? Just two simple words. DO IT!\

"I know you can fight it Charlie, I know that you can throw the curse off! You don't want to kill me, don't listen to anything that tells you otherwise!"

//Don't listen to him! You know your orders. He's in the way, he is a threat, he has to be killed. Now do it! It's just two words. Avada...\

"Avada..."

"Charlie, don't! You have to fight the curse, or do you want to wake up and find out that you've killed your own brother? It would be the easiest way for now to follow your orders and kill me, but try to imagine what it would feel like when you finally have your senses back together! You don't want to kill me, I know that. I'm your brother, you want to protect me, not kill me! Fight it Charlie, I know that you can do it!"

Ron sounded desperate now.

Charlie hesitated. He knew that he wanted to just say the Killing Curse so that it was finally over. This pressure was driving him mad. But something still held him back, a nagging doubt that the boy had planted into his mind with his last words.

But the shrill voice inside of his mind started to scream unbearably now.

//Kill him! Just get over with it. It'll all be easier once you've done it! SAY IT! Avada Kedavra! Say it!"

"Avada..."

"Charlie, for Merlin's sake listen to me! You don't want to do that! I'm your brother! You love me, you don't want to kill me! I love you Charlie, you're my brother! Do you really want to kill me?"

//Yes you do!\

'Why?'

Where that question suddenly had come from, Charlie could not tell. But he knew that he didn't have an answer. Why should he kill the boy? Why should he kill his own brother? His brother? Merlin, what was he doing here? He was trying to kill Ron, his baby-brother!

Stunned by this realization, Charlie lowered his wand and sank to his knees. His wand fell from suddenly limp fingers and he couldn't help but starting to sob beyond any control.

Ron was by his side in an instant, he fell to his knees next to his older brother and took his shivering body into his arms.

"Shhh, it's okay Charlie. Nothing's happened. You threw it off, it's okay."

Hermione and Remus both let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding, but Remus' attention was quickly distracted when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Wormtail! They had completely forgotten about him ever since Charlie had turned up.

Still not trusting his own voice to say any incarnation at all, he grabbed the sleeve of Hermione's robe and tugged hard. As soon as he had Hermione's attention, he gestured towards his former friend, who desperately tried to crawl away. Hermione understood.

"Stupefy!"

Wormtail slumped down unmoving and Remus relaxed. Now they only needed to get back into the castle, he only hoped that Sirius and Harry had done the same. He just wanted to try and utter that thought despite his still aching throat when a new voice interrupted them.

"Charlie? Ron? Dear Merlin, what happened here?"

Looking up Remus saw the figure of Arthur Weasley hurrying towards them, a look of pure relief on his face. He quickly hurried over towards his two sons, who were still clinging tightly onto each other as if the other one would vanish if they let go. Arthur pulled both of them to their feet, then glance up and down his older son as if he wanted to make sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him. He shook his head for some moments, before he pulled Charlie into a tight embrace.

"Thanks Merlin that you're alive, we've been so worried. What happened?"

Hermione helped Remus to his feet and then addressed Arthur.

"Mr. Weasley, we should get back into the castle. Remus is hurt and we should bring Pettigrew to the Aurors."

Arthur nodded, desperately trying to push all his questions aside for later.

"Yes, you're right. Can you levitate Pettigrew, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded and muttered a levitation charm towards the unmoving form of the former Marauder.

"Remus, can you walk?"

Arthur stepped over towards the other man and looked at him with a concerned frown. Remus nodded.

"It's alright. Just can't really speak."

The croaking sound that replaced his normally firm and smooth voice even startled Remus. Arthur nodded.

"Okay then, let's get back!"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Sirius was still following Harry and James into the Forbidden Forest. Some minutes earlier, he had turned into Padfoot in order to hide his presence better. He didn't know what was going on here, but he was sure that James was actually dead. And if James was dead, then the person in front of Harry had to be someone, or something, completely else. But the fact that Harry seemed to trust that person enough to disobey every order he had been given concerning this evening bothered Sirius greatly.

'James' had now reached a clearing and slowed down his pace, and so did Harry. Sirius decided that it was better to remain in the shadows of the surrounding trees and wait for what was about to come. During the last couple of minutes, while he had been chasing his godson as Padfoot, his animal instincts had started running amok, and now that he had changed back into his human form, he found that a leaden lump of panic had formed in his stomach and the hand that held his wand was damp with sweat. Something was wrong here. Suddenly, he heard Harry's voice.

"Dad, what is this all about? Why did you bring me here? Where are we?"

James turned around to face his son and smiled down at him. He smiled just like Sirius remembered he did, but something was wrong with him, he just couldn't put his finger onto it.

"I brought you here so that you don't get hurt in the battle. You're too important. You have to meet Voldemort and you have to defeat him, that's why I brought you here."

"You said that before, but that's not what I wanted to know. And where's Mom? You said that she would be here as well."

Sirius drew in a sharp breath. Lily? Why would Lily be here as well? And why was 'James' avoiding to answer Harry's questions?
"Lily will be here soon, don't worry son. There is something we need to tell you before you face Voldemort once more. Something very important. But for now, why don't you come out of your hiding place and join us here, Sirius?"

Sirius' eyes widened. No way James could have seen him, neither on the run through the forest nor while he had been standing in the shadows. But James had turned around and now stared directly into the direction where Sirius was hiding, so there was no use in keeping his presence hidden anymore. He stepped out of the shadows and entered the clearing. Harry's eyes narrowed in anger, but before he could say anything, James made a step towards Sirius.

"Padfoot, long time no see. But maybe it's good that you are here."

Sirius realized that he had started shaking, very much like he had done when he had faced the Boggart in Remus' office. And James didn't look very different from the Boggart that had all of a sudden emerged from Remus' desk. The same stern face, the same lips that were put together in a tight line, the same cold sparkle in his eyes. The same hatred that looked out of these eyes. Sirius tried willing his hands to stop from shaking and readied himself for another round of what he had been facing in Remus' office. But then Sirius remembered Remus' words.

'That wasn't James who was standing there and that surely wasn't the way he would react to you if you met again.'

He hadn't believed those words then, not really, but now he believed them. The James he knew had never looked at him with such a coldness in his eyes, not even after the incident with Snape and the Willow. Disappointment - yes, hurt - yes, anger - oh yes, many times, but never and under no circumstances such a coldness and hate. James Potter wouldn't react like that, and whatever was standing in front of him now definitely wasn't James Potter.

"Who are you?"

Sirius was surprised at how firm his voice sounded. But the figure in front of him only laughed.

"What Padfoot, don't recognize an old friend? Your former best friend? My, if that was possible, I'd be even more disappointed now."

"James Potter is dead. Care to explain why you don't seem to be dead at all? Or why you don't seem to be a day older than you were when you died?"

"It's magic, Sirius."

Sirius drew in a deep breath and slowly counted to ten.

"Do not play stupid with me. I know that you cannot be James, and I want to know why you took my godson away from where he was supposed to stay and wait for Dumbledore."

James merely raised an eyebrow.

"Believe it or not, Sirius, I am James Potter. You were very observant in stating that I am supposed to be dead, thanks again for that, but to explain my presence here: I've been sent here in order to set some things right again. I'm not real the way you or Harry are real, but the fact remains that I am James Potter. Whether you like it or not."

Sirius only shook his head.

"No, you're not."

"What is going on here?"

Sirius immediately turned his head towards the source of the new voice and wasn't too surprised to find that it was Lily who had spoken. She stepped onto the clearing and immediately enveloped Harry in a tight hug.

"Didn't I tell you that we'd be there in time of need?"

Lily held Harry at arm's length and smiled at him while she gently pushed away some strands of hair from his forehead. Sirius was boiling inside and he clenched his teeth firmly together.

"Let go off my godson. Now."

Lily turned around and stared at Sirius in mock disbelief.

"Sirius. I didn't expect to see you here."

Her voice, very much like James', was distant and matter-of-factly. Not like Lily at all.

"Nor did I expect to see you here. Whoever you are, whatever you are. Because that much is for sure: you're not the James and Lily I knew. That's why I'm going to take my godson and leave now."

Sirius crossed the distance between himself and the three other figures on the clearing and tried to pull Harry away from his parents. But Harry quickly slapped his hand away.

"Let go of me Sirius. I'm going to stay with them."

Sirius shook his head.

"But...Harry, you can't. I have to bring you to Dumbledore and you know that. You can't face Voldemort alone."

"I am not alone, in case you haven't realized. I got my parents with me, and that will be enough."

Sirius still didn't understand what was going on, so he kept shaking his head and staring from Harry to James, then to Lily and back to Harry again.
"Harry, I know we've not been on best terms lately, but you have to believe me: those are not your parents. You have to come with me, it's not safe here."

"Oh, as if you had ever cared that my son was safe. He wasn't safe with the Dursleys, but you didn't care about that when you stupidly went after Peter on your own, did you?"

Slowly, Sirius turned around to face 'James'.

"And what, pray, would you know about this?"

James smirked.

"Harry told me everything. What do you think where he was during those ten days when all of you thought he was asleep?"

Sirius gaped openly.

"He was...with...Harry was...?"

"Oh yes, he was. All the time. And I think he never enjoyed himself as much as he did when he was home with us. Back home where he belonged. A home that you have taken away from him! Am I not right, Harry?"

Sirius didn't really dare to look at his godson, but what he heard next confirmed his worst fears.

"Yes Dad, you're right."

"Harry, I..."

"Sirius, I really don't want to hear it. I've already heard enough lame excuses from you, don't you think?"

"Harry, just for one more time trust me: those are not James and Lily! Please Harry, trust me! I know that something is wrong here!"

But Harry just shook his head and turned away from Sirius, burying his face in his mother's arms.

Sirius couldn't believe it. He knew that this wasn't real, he knew that this weren't James and Lily, but how on Earth could he make his godson believe that? If only Remus were here, his friend was far better in solving things like this.

He must have unconsciously turned his head when thinking about Remus, because James suddenly spoke again.

"There's no use in searching for help. Remus isn't here to pull you out again this time, he can't save you now."

"What?"

What did he do, read his mind?

And suddenly, Sirius understood.

This wasn't James, and it had not been James while Harry had been asleep. And the only explanation for that would be that somebody had been playing with Harry's mind. And the only one who had a connection to Harry was Voldemort himself. But if Voldemort had been playing around with Harry's mind, why then would he create images of his parents? And how?

Another thought struck him.

Harry's memories, that's how! Supposing that Voldemort had used Harry's mind and made him believe that his memories of James and Lily were real, then 'James' here would only know what Harry knew, wouldn't he? And that mean he had a chance to show Harry the truth.

"So, James", he flashed the other man a grin, "Prongs, old buddy, you got me convinced. You really are James Potter, sent back from the dead on a divine mission to set things right."

Sirius made a step forward and James shot him a very puzzled look. The change in Sirius' behaviour was too sudden and strange.

"And because you're really James, you surely can answer me some questions, don't you?"

"Why...what? Well, of course I should."

"When exactly did we get caught by Filch after sneaking off to Hogsmeade? You know, the time he gave us that major detention."

James seemed to think for a moment, but then grinned.

"Fifth year, shortly before Christmas."

Damn, so he had told Harry that story. Another try.

"What was the name of your first girlfriend?"

James appeared to be puzzled.

"Why, Lily of course!"

Sirius smiled.

"Oh no. You dated Jenny Russell for three months back in fifth year, long before you even thought about Lily. What did you do to me after you got to know that I showed Snape the passage to the Whomping Willow?"

James seemed to get confused.

"I...I shouted at you..."

"Wrong, you punched me so hard, you broke my nose and two of my ribs. When did your father die?"

Now James felt on firm ground again.

"During our sixth year!"

"Which month?"

"Oh, I don't remember - August maybe?"

"Wrong again. It was March, two days before your birthday. You said you'd never be able to really celebrate your birthday again and now you tell me that you've forgotten?"

Sirius turned away.

"Don't you see Harry? Voldemort's been playing around with your mind, this isn't James. This is your memory of James, what you know of him and nothing more. He's just the living image of a memory! We need to get away from here, please believe me!"

Harry stared from his father to Sirius and back again, trying to process what he had just witnessed. It could not be, could it? What Sirius had told him made sense, how else could his father not know so much he normally should know? But then his parents had lied to him. Harry shook his head. No, they had no reason to lie to him, why should they? Sirius, on the other hand, did have a couple of reasons and surely he only wanted to take away Harry's family for the second time. Again, he only wanted to convince him of the way he saw things, and he did that by making his parents look like frauds and liars.

But before he even had time to do or say something, a stinging pain in his scar made him collapse to his knees, his hands firmly clenched across his forehead.

"Harry!"

Sirius was by his side immediately, gently trying to pull away the hands.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

Before Harry could answer, another voice sounded through the chill night air.

"I think Mr. Potter decided that it's best to kneel before me."

Sirius looked up and immediately wished he had not done so. He should have known that this was a trap. Without them realizing it, Voldemort himself had apparated into the clearing.

"Harry Potter. Once again we meet. Though I got the distinct feeling that this will be the last time we'll face each other.

Oh, and you brought your escort again? I thought that he had proven himself quite useless the last time already."

"Leave him alone!"

Sirius had overcome his initial shock and now placed himself protectively between his godson and the Dark Lord. He knew fully well that no matter how good an Auror he might be, he was no match for Voldemort, but if the Dark Lord wanted to get to Harry, he would have to kill him first. And if his death bought them the time Dumbledore and the others needed to realize what was going on, then so be it.

But Voldemort only laughed.

"Do you really think that you can stand in my way to get Potter? Then you're even more foolish than I thought.

Crucio!"

Harry looked flabbergasted at his godfather, who fell onto the floor and screamed in pain and agony. Oblivious to everything around himself, he curled up into a ball and tried to ease his pain, but to no avail.

Harry didn't know what he should do, he was kneeling helplessly on the floor and watched the scene with wide eyes. He himself didn't feel any pain at all, that assured him for the moment that Voldemort didn't intend to kill Sirius. Not that it made much difference. Sure, he was angry with his godfather, but this?

Voldemort removed the curse from Sirius. Still not knowing what he should do, Harry watched as Sirius relaxed, part of his muscles still contracting in the aftermath of the curse. Blood was pouring out of the corner of his mouth, he must have bitten his tongue at some point during the ordeal.

Harry slowly got up from his knees and stared at the other people on the clearing.

His parents were looking at Sirius with absolutely no emotions whatsoever in their gazes, while Voldemort was grinning smugly.

"Now Potter, you didn't really think that he would be of any help for you against me, did you?"

Harry was still to stunned to say anything.

And then many things happened at once, far too fast for Harry to understand or even react to them.

Voldemort drew his wand again and pointed it once more at Sirius.

"Crucio!"

And this time, Harry felt the overwhelming pain as if the curse was aimed directly at him. It felt as if his intestines were on fire and his lungs were clenched by an iron fist. Breathing became more and more difficult with every second that passed by. Harry knew what this meant: Voldemort was about to kill Sirius.

Suddenly strong arms grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back to his feet. When had he sunk to his knees? Harry couldn't remember.

He felt his father pulling him into an embrace and all of a sudden the pain stopped. Confused, Harry turned around. Sirius was still lying on the forest floor, again curled up into a tight ball. If he was still screaming, then Harry didn't hear it. His father's arms seemed to shield him from both the sounds and the pain that had been cursing through him only moments ago. Then he heard his father whisper.

"Don't look if you don't want to. It'll be over soon. He's only getting what he earns for all the harm that he's done to you."

When Harry looked at his father, he saw a faint glow surrounding his body. It looked as if he was shimmering slightly blue against the dark of the forest. The glow seemed to stretch from his father towards his mother, covering her completely and from there - to Voldemort.

Harry gasped.

What was happening here?

And suddenly he understood.

Sirius had been right, he must have been. Voldemort had been playing with his mind and memories while he had been asleep, tricking him into the belief that these were really his parents. And then, tonight, he had conjured them, he had conjured Harry's imagination and memories into reality to lure him away from those who wanted to protect him. There was no other explanation, Sirius had been right. And that was why his father could not remember the things Sirius had asked him.

But what could he do? As soon as he let go of his father's embrace, he surely would feel the effects of the Cruciatus again, and then he would be unable to do anything to help his godfather.

Just as Harry was about to contemplate his choices, thinking what he could do to stop all this, he realized something else.

When he took a closer look at the Dark Lord, he realized that what he did seemed to be straining him. Voldemort's face had taken a tense expression, his lips were clenched together very tightly and the hand that held his wand was shaking ever so slightly. Holding up the images of his parents and the Cruciatus Curse at once must cost a lot of energy, even for Voldemort.

Suddenly he remembered what Dumbledore had told him, that evening in his office. It seemed ages away, but it had only been a couple of days, the night when he had told Harry about the spells to defeat Voldemort.

'The bigger problem is that in order to make the separation spell work, Voldemort must be weaker than he is. I'm afraid that he is far too strong to make that spell work.'

That had been their problem all along, the one thing they had not planned - how to weaken Voldemort. If Harry would just let him continue now, the Dark Lord would do that all by himself. And then Harry could cast the separation spell, and even if Dumbledore was not present to cast the second spell, at least Voldemort would be reduced to a spirit.

But if Harry let him continue, then Sirius...

Harry didn't allow himself to continue that thought. He didn't want Sirius to die, but neither could he think of another possibility to draw away strength from the Dark Lord, nor could he think of a way to help his godfather now. The moment when he could have acted had long passed. He could have left the clearing when Sirius had told him to do so, but he had refused. Now he could only wait for this to end and hope that Voldemort would be weak enough to cast the spell before...

Again Harry didn't allow himself to finish that thought, but this time because he had seen movement between the trees on his right side. Turning his head slightly to the right, not wanting to draw the attention from anybody else, he took a closer look.

His heart missed a beat.

Harry blinked and looked again, but the picture had not changed. Dumbledore stood there, and Harry had never been so relieved to see his old headmaster before. Dumbledore stood at the edge of the clearing, so far unnoticed by Voldemort, and took in the sight that lay before him.

Sirius was lying on the floor under the Curse form Voldemort, still writhing in pain. Harry was standing with his back to his father, James' hands crossed protectively across his chest and watched the scene just like James and Lily did.

Harry saw that Dumbledore held the Marauder's Map in his left hand and had his wand in a firm grip in the right. That at least explained how he had found them. Harry desperately waited for him to do something, to give him any sign to act, but Dumbledore didn't move an inch. Whether he was too shocked by what he saw or whether this was part of some plan Harry could not tell.

But surely Dumbledore had gone through the same line of thought that Harry had, because by now it was quite obvious that what Voldemort was doing cost him a lot of strength. His hand was shaking quite hard by now and a layer of sweat covered his face. His red eyes were reduced to mere slits and Harry thought that if he pressed his lips more firmly together, they'd vanish completely.

Voldemort must have realized as well that keeping up all this spells drew too much strength from him, because all of a sudden he removed the curse from Sirius. At least Harry hoped that he removed it for that reason and not because he had succeeded in killing Sirius.

Harry started to struggle against the firm grip that the image of his father still had on him, but James would not let him go.

"Let me go!"

James just shook his head.

"No I won't! It's not over yet."

With a grip so tight that it hurt, he turned Harry so that he faced Voldemort. The Dark Lord was panting, struggling to regain his breath and posture, but nevertheless he gave Harry a malicious grin.

"You should have listened to your precious godfather while he was still able to speak, Potter. It was hard enough to make you stay in the little dream world I prepared for you, and then you crossed my plans again and decided to leave before I had the chance to start my attack. But I guess that at least the doubt I planted in you was successful."

He looked down at the unmoving form of Sirius, and suddenly kicked him violently in the ribs. Sirius didn't move, but he let out a low moan.

Harry sighed. So at least Sirius was still alive!

"Oh, I wouldn't start celebrating, Potter. He won't have very much longer to live. That was the last uncertainty in my plan to get hold of you - whether he would be able to hold you off from coming to me. But the way it looks now, you were foolish enough to listen to your parents."

Voldemort still didn't seem to have noticed that Dumbledore had arrived at the clearing and suddenly Harry had an idea.

"These are not my parents! They are nothing but images, created by you!"

And with that, he spun around in the now lose grip 'James' had on him and did what he had vowed to himself never to do again only some months ago.

"Crucio!"

The image of James didn't seem to be affected by the curse at all, and this puzzled Harry. But after some short moments, the faint blue glow that he had seen minutes ago began to appear again and spread from 'James' to 'Lily' and then to Voldemort.

The Dark Lord shrieked in surprise and slowly sank to his knees. It worked! Harry could not believe his luck, it really worked. He didn't really know for how long he should hold up the curse, but surely for some moments longer. He didn't want to throw away the only chance they might get to finally destroy Voldemort just because he didn't hold up the curse for long enough.

Harry heard the blood rushing in his ears, all other sounds seemed to be blocked out. Suddenly, from far away as it seemed, Harry heard Dumbledore's voice.

"Harry, the spell! You have to cast it now!"

Harry removed the curse, looked up and frantically tried to remember what his headmaster was talking about. He realized that Dumbledore was running towards him but he couldn't see properly. He ran a hand across his eyes and realized that he was crying. When had he started crying?

"Harry, the spell! Now!"

Harry shook his head and got to his feet. Of course, the spell. The reason why he was here, how could he have forgotten? Voldemort was already on his knees again and struggled to get back to his feet. Harry closed his eyes for a moment and remembered the words Dumbledore had taught him. Trying to even his breathing, he focussed on what he was about to do. 'Summon every bit of magic in you and then just focus on the words. Focus on their meaning, the rest will come on its own.'

And so Harry did. He raised his wand, and with a voice he didn't really recognize to be his own, he shouted the incarnation.

"Corpus et anima miscui iniurius fui insociabilis et absindus aeternus!"

It felt as if a tornado was raging in his own body. Everything seemed to spin around him and inside of him, his muscles were contracting and relaxing again and all his cells seemed to heat up. The heat rose inside of him, wandered through his legs, his belly, his head and seemed to stream into his right arm, the arm that held Voldemort at wand point. A huge flash of bright white light shot out of his wand and raced towards the Dark Lord. Voldemort saw it coming, and as if he suddenly realized what was happening, as if he realized that Dumbledore had found a way to finally defeat him, his face twisted into a mask of pure agony and hatred. He opened his mouth to scream, but before a sound came out, the wave of light hit him and he fell to the ground.

Wind started to swirl around Voldemort's body, carrying leaves and small twigs into a cloud and Harry fell to the forest floor, unable to remain on his feet any longer.

The white light faded and the leaves settled again, falling to the floor in small circles as if they had merely fallen from a tree. Then Harry saw it.

At first, it was nothing more than a fluttering of air above the unmoving form of Voldemort. But soon, the air above his body became thicker and turned an ugly shade of dark grey and black. Slowly, a revolting dark cloud was forming, moving around as if it was a shapeless ghost, but unable to separate itself completely from the body.

Harry saw that Dumbledore made himself ready to cast the final spell, the spell to end Voldemort's existence.

And then something unexpected happened.

As if Voldemort's spirit was making one last attempt to strike, the dark cloud took a somewhat human form again and spread out an arm towards the still unmoving Sirius.

And then everything seemed to go in slow-motion.

Harry realized that Voldemort was summoning his last strength kill Sirius, and he also knew that Dumbledore was too focussed on casting the spell than to help. If he let that chance pass, they'd probably not get another one. So Harry had to do something to help Sirius. But what? Dumbledore had said that he would be magically drained after casting the spell, and drained was exactly what he felt like right now. He couldn't even get to his feet. He felt so tired and drained that all he could manage was rise his head to see what was happening.

For what he hoped would be the last time in his entire life, Harry heard the voice of Lord Voldemort.

"Avada..."

"No!"

With a huge physical effort, Harry rose to his knees and raised his wand. Frantically, he searched his mind for a spell, a hex, a charm, anything to stop Voldemort from killing Sirius. But nothing would come to his mind. Nothing.

"...Kedavra!"