Midnight Velvet

Midnight Velvet

Ch 2 - The Memory

This simple statement stirred long ago memories within Harry and Ron- they knew exactly to what moment the stranger referred. Both of them had tried to suppress what had occurred that night, and both were unable to forget.

"What do you mean you were there? That's impossible- I mean, how could you have been there?" Harry asserted, his voice rising with each word. All Ron could do was stare at the man with a blank look on his face. The strange man grinned; the same hint of a smirk, that had long ago matured, lingered on his face.

"I shall show you; perhaps you need a little reminder of what I did for Hermione. Allow me to take both of you back ten years ago- to the night that Lord Voldemort was defeated for the final time."

Harry and Ron looked at each other, bewildered. How was it possible for this man to know anything about that night? There were only four remaining of the six people who had been there, who had seen what happened. Did he too see what happened; was he spying on them; and if he had, why didn't he help? They could do nothing but stare at this man- this man who claimed to know.

He lifted his wand, before Harry or Ron could move for either of his own, the man mumbled a curse under his breath. Suddenly, before they could say another word, Harry and Ron heard a familiar rushing sound in their ears, as if they were flying very fast through the air. Harry recognized this feeling; he had felt it before- they were being sucked into another person's memory. (Similar to a pensive, but the person would not need to carry the bowl with them at all times.)

The room that the three landed in was very dark, but even without any lighting they knew instantly where they were and what was about to take place. They knew that they had been there before, ten years ago- just like the stranger said. They knew that they would never forget what happened in this room that night.

Harry, being the first to gain his voice back asked: "Who are you?"

The stranger ignored Harry's question as he motioned for them to be quiet and take note of what was happening in the room.

There were six people total: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and his son, Draco. All of them were frozen in time: unmovable statues that spoke only with their eyes. Harry and Ron could see the younger versions of themselves on one side of the room, accompanied by Hermione; the others were facing them on the other side- both parties looked ready to kill. The look on each person's face was that of loathing for those opposite them. The glares were the only part of the scene that was alive, communicating one thing: pure hatred. With a simple wand movement from the stranger, the scene burst into life.

Hermione was screaming to Lord Voldemort: "I alone know the truth this prophecy holds: it contains within it the secret that could render you immortal! Without this prophecy, you can never know what could possibly keep you alive forever."

Voldemort looked at her and snarled: "What do you mean by that, you wretched Mudblood; I know the thing that can cause me to be immortal-" his voice lowered as he turned his head slowly to face Harry: "To destroy him! - He is the only thing that stands in my way of ruling our kind, forever."

Hermione raised the prophecy in one hand and shouted: "You have never heard the secret of this prophecy. It is not the one you know- this prophecy holds the key to your future! It alone can tell you an easier way to live forever; a simpler way, and I alone can give it to you. Now what are you going to do about that? Let the others go and take me- I am the only one you need now."

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione with questioning eyes. What did she mean, take her? She had never told them about any prophecy that had existed about her and Voldemort. When did she discover it, and why was she bringing it up all of the sudden, especially with out telling them first? They had everything planned out, or as much as could be planned with Voldemort lurking around.

Lord Voldemort, Lucius, and Draco looked at her with surprised glances. No one, not even Voldemort himself, had an inkling that there was another prophecy. How could they know, the only prophecy that mattered had broken years ago, and they all knew what it had held. Without warning, Lucius, being as quick as he was, muttered a glass breaking spell on the prophecy, forgetting that they have been protected by a charm preventing any spell aimed at releasing its contents. The spell bounced around the room, barely missing Voldemort's face, and singeing Draco's robes.

Hermione taunted the three with a look that seemed to ask, "and what was that supposed to accomplish?" Then, she turned to run in the opposite direction. But, just as she managed to make it to a chair, Lucius stunned her, stopping her dead in her tracks. As her unconscious body fell, the glass orb slipped out of her hand, crashing to the floor and shattering - the only true way the orb could be broken. With dread and anticipation, the occupants of the room silently faced the shattered jar, as the ghostly figure of Professor Trelawney, floated above it, and spoke:

"The female friend, a Muggle born is she-
Of he who kills the evil, so to live-
Instead of good, good's friend may die instead,
So that the evil can forever be."

The figure disappeared in a wisp of smoke, its words dying away. Harry and Ron looked horrified.

Everyone's eyes widened with understanding as they contemplated what was just revealed. Lucius, grinning, raised his wand and faced the stunned statue of Hermione.

"So that's your precious secret, you filthy little Mudblood! Kill you, the female friend, and Voldemort lives; kill you, and not Potter, so Voldemort can be immortal. Well if that's the way you want it, girl, then so be it!"

Harry screamed, Lucius raised his wand and shouted, "Avada-" but before he could finish his curse, a jet of green light was released, not from his own wand, but from his son's. Draco, without muttering a sound, had just produced the killing curse, - his father fell to the floor: dead.

Lord Voldemort, who had remained rather quiet during this entire exchange, turned to Draco, his eyes narrowed into slits, hatred pouring out from him, and said: "Now you know that you should not have done that, Draco. I am very disappointed at what you have done here tonight. Your own father lies dead by your hand, and I have lost one of my best servants. You will pay, boy- you will pay for this!"

Voldemort's voice became louder and louder as he spoke, spit flying from his mouth as he said those last words. His hand coiled into a fist around his wand, and he raised it, slowly, to point it at Draco. "You are a traitor just as your father was! He betrayed me after my fall from grace, and you have betrayed me now, killing your own father to save a filthy, wretched, Mudblood. Well, you will soon join the others who have crossed me in the past. Any last words, you foolish boy- any last words before you see your father again? I trust he will not be too happy with you."

Draco, who was still in shock by what had just occurred, finally gathered his words. He stood defiantly in his place and said to Voldemort, in a hushed voice, growing louder as he spoke: "Yes I saved her, how could I not. My father was just as evil as you, and I see now that I have been wrong all along, wanting to be like him, wanting to follow in his footsteps. Well, I see now, that it is you who I hate. It is not you I have betrayed, Voldemort, but they, (as he motioned to Ron, Harry and Hermione). I hate you, and I hate him, he who now lies dead at my feet, yes by my hand. I am not sorry for what has happened, I did nothing wrong!"

Draco turned to face Harry and Ron, knowing now what had to occur, all three looked at each other with the air of silent understanding. Then without speaking another word, all three blocked Hermione and screamed together, facing Voldemort: "Avada-Kedavra!"

Alone, the spell would not have been strong enough, even though all three possessed extraordinary powers individually. However, when enemies join together to face a larger threat, it forms a bond that cannot be broken, even by the most powerful magic; a bond stronger than all of Voldemort's evil and hate; a bond of love and friendship- one that can accomplish more than Voldemort could ever hope to fight off, no matter how hard he tried.

A green light brighter than anything they could imagine came from their wands and struck Voldemort with such a force that it knocked him backwards on the floor. He began to convulse as he was lifted off his feet, into the air. He rose higher and higher, a scream louder than anything they had ever heard came from his shaking figure. His body began to disfigure, it was contorting into the shape of a snake, twisting, coiling and uncoiling, as the scream grew louder. Then the giant snake opened its mouth and started sucking the air from the room, and from their lungs. But their spell had been too powerful, the snake started to disintegrate, forming a giant cloud of dust. The scream ceased, the room was thrust into silence. The dust wavered in the air. Then without warning, another huge flash of blinding green light emanated from the cloud, setting fire to the dust, and throwing the three back towards the far wall, knocking them out. The next thing that they saw was there, on the floor, Lucius's body, stiff, and cold. The spot where Voldemort had last stood was burned, and imprinted there was the symbol of the Phoenix, an icon of good, and the final proof that the war had ended; Voldemort was dead.

After a few moments, Draco looked over and saw Hermione, slumped in the chair. He picked her up, and gently carried her to the couch on the other side of the room. After he spread her out before him, he muttered the counter curse to wake her up. As she opened her eyes, Hermione noticed a strange look on his face: a look of, was it affection. No, this wasn't possible; it was Malfoy, after all.

He looked away from her now, and spoke to Ron and Harry: "Guys, I think she will be ok, I have to leave, I can't stay here a minute longer."

And with one final, longing glance at Hermione, Draco strolled out of the room: never to return again.

Ron and Harry rushed over to Hermione, with nothing but looks of concern and confusion on their faces. They were shocked with the way that Draco had taken care of Hermione, and with everything that had just happened. They tried to describe everything to Hermione, about how Draco had turned at the last second to save her by killing his father, about how they had all joined together to deal the final death blow to Voldemort, and how, in the end, Voldemort had finally been defeated.

End of chapter......