The Forging of the Bonds

Chapter 34. The Final Battle.

Two weeks passed like a blur, and at one point, Elizabeth breached the subject of resuming their 'historical studies', as they termed them. Mike agreed, and asked Professor Potter about this. Potter smiled. "How about tonight, Mr. Weasley?"

He looked at Elizabeth, who nodded.

"All right."

At seven o'clock, they entered the classroom. "Good evening," Potter said, closing a thick volume and getting out the Pensieve. "But before we begin, I need to provide you with a bit of background information."

"I have a question," Mike said.

"Go ahead."

"You must have heard Kate two weeks ago, when--"

Potter chuckled. "It was kind of hard to miss."

"Well, it happened after I mentioned Bellatrix Lestrange's name--"

"Ahh," Potter said. "You remember that day when we visited the memorial. Among the names I showed you were Frank and Alice Longbottom, and Sirius Black. The Longbottoms, I told you, spent the rest of their lives in St. Mungo's, insane. That's what Lestrange was sent to Azkaban for in the first place."

"Oh," was all Elizabeth could say.

"I suspect that Neville and Hannah took Kate on visits before Frank and Alice died... which would be seven years ago. If you saw these people even once, you'd never forget it--or forgive those responsible." He paused, letting that sink in.

"A few months after Voldemort returned, he used the still-free Death Eaters and Dark creatures to break Azkaban open and release his followers--including Lestrange. That summer, he attempted to use me to get a prophecy, stored in the Department of Mysteries, concerning him and myself. Lestrange was part of that team. Sirius Black, my godfather, went to save me, and Bellatrix killed him."

"Her own cousin?"

"Voldemort killed his father and grandparents." Potter shrugged. "Blood does not always run that thick.

"And while we're talking about Sirius, here's the background I wanted to mention. I never knew about my godfather when I was growing up because Sirius had been sent to Azkaban shortly after Voldemort attacked me. All evidence pointed to him killing twelve Muggles and a wizard named Peter Pettigrew.

"Sirius," Potter said, "was innocent. The murder was carried out by Pettigrew, who framed Sirius. Pettigrew spent the next twelve years in hiding.

"Then Sirius escaped. As far as I know, that remains the only Azkaban escape made with no outside assistance.

"Sirius convinced one of his old school friends of his innocence, and together, they cornered Pettigrew. They would have killed him, but I convinced them not to--and because Pettigrew had led Voldemort to my parents, they felt I had the right to decide his fate. I let him live.

"Pettigrew was held prisoner, but escaped. He sought out Voldemort, and they conceived a plan to return him to his body--which succeeded. Pettigrew spent the rest of his life at Voldemort's side. You'll see him in the memory I'll show you. By the way, Pettigrew bore the nickname Wormtail.

"The second person you'll see is Severus Snape. He used to teach Potions at Hogwarts and was head of Slytherin house. He hated me, because I greatly resembled my father, whom he hated while he was at school. At the end of my sixth year, he killed then-Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. From then on, like the rest of the Death Eaters, he was a fugitive.

"And now," he said, approaching the Pensieve, "it's time to meet those rather unpleasant characters."

They were back in St. Mungo's. Elizabeth looked around and saw Potter sitting in a chair,

staring into the distance. Malfoy paced back and forth.

A small figure appeared in the doorway. Potter immediately jumped up. "Ginny!" he yelled.

The woman was obviously a Weasley, with long, flaming red hair and a freckled face. Potter embraced his wife.

"What's he doing here?" she suddenly demanded, turning to Elizabeth's father. She approached him menacingly. Potter held on to her, suddenly looking very intent. But then, Ginny grabbed her father's shirt and yanked it. And the familiar motion of a Portkey took them.

"Not again," Elizabeth heard Potter mutter. Then a loud thump indicated their arrival.

An enormous fire was burning on a sandy beach.

Six people were lying in piles next to it. Her father, Potter, and Potter's wife, tangled up, and... Elizabeth checked if she was seeing right... no, she was.

The second pile consisted of a tall, red-haired man, and a heavily pregnant, bushy-haired woman. Mike's parents. But what shocked her was that the third person in that pile was also Potter's wife.

"Your aunt wasn't a twin, was she?" she asked Mike, who shook his head.

Then a third Ginny stepped into the light. She was followed by a short, stocky man with dirty white hair and a grin. The man was aiming his wand at Ginny.

"Polyjuice Potion," Mike's father said.

The two fake Ginnys disentangled themselves and stood at either side of the real one. "Take more potion, you idiots," Wormtail ordered. The two fake Ginnys got flasks out from under their robes and took a few gulps each.

A second figure, tall, sallow, with greasy black hair, appeared. "Snape," Potter said.

Snape ignored him, instead raising his wand, lifting all three Ginnys into the air. He put them down after a few spins--obviously to make it difficult for Potter and his friends to know which one was real.

Only at this point did Elizabeth notice that Potter, her father, and Mike's parents were in the same positions as when they had arrived, except for the movements the two fake Ginnys had caused as they untangled themselves. The pose her father, in particular, was stuck with, was rather unnatural. All three Ginnys were now kneeling in front of the fire, but she couldn't determine if one of them was also bound--all were still.

"Do you like this?" Wormtail sneered.

"You just said the words, Wormtail," Snape told him icily. "As if you could make the Teleretin Solution."

"Harry!" Mike's mother yelled. "It's the Lightbinder!"

"Silence!" Snape roared. "Indeed. Very... ironic for the Dark Lord to use something like this."

"What the hell is Voldemort's scheme this time?" Potter demanded.

Snape ignored him again. "When I suggested to you to make other friends than Crabbe or Goyle, this is not what I had in mind, Draco."

"Friends? Us?" Ron Weasley said incredulously.

"What does the Lightbinder do?" Potter asked.

"It binds all people's limbs in the area it lights up," Hermione supplied.

"Silence!" Snape roared again. "The Dark Lord wishes to perform a... special ceremony, which is why you were brought here."

"I am honored," Potter said. "Why don't you keep me and let the others go?"

"Harry!" Ron yelled. "You--"

"This time, it's not just you we need... but there are some... spares," he hissed, "among you."

"Hermione!" Potter yelled. "Did you say the Lightbinder binds only people's limbs?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, several things happened at once. Potter and Mike's parents vanished, replaced by a black panther, a brown bear, and a gray ostrich. The animals leaped out of the way of curses Snape and Pettigrew sent towards them. Two Ginnys attempted to hold down a third one, who turned into a hawk. Her father, still bound, apparently couldn't believe his eyes.

Potter, as a panther, leaped at the two fake Ginnys, slicing their faces apart with sharp claws. The real Ginny flew off.

Hermione, in ostrich form, ran to the edge of the water and transformed back into a human. She drew her wand, cast a spell, and an enormous wave rose up out of the ocean and crashed onto the beach, immediately putting out the fire. Her father rolled away and leaped up, wand at the ready.

Mike's father knocked Pettigrew down with his massive bear body, and returned to human form. "Accio!" he said, and something flew off Pettigrew towards him. He caught it. "Ginny--"

The hawk landed, and turned into Ginny, who took her wand from her brother.

Elizabeth's father dueled one of the fake Ginnys. "That's for my wife," the Polyjuiced Death Eater snarled, sending a green bolt her father dodged.

Mike's mother exchanged spells with Snape. "Granger," the Death Eater said. "The parrot--" He was knocked down as a curse from the witch got through his shield.

She panted--apparently the spell had taken a lot out of her. Elizabeth's father continued his fight with one Polyjuiced Ginny, while the real one took on the other.

"Get up, Wormtail," Snape hissed. Pettigrew whimpered. Potter and Mike's father approached them, wands raised, covering Hermione.

"He told you to get up," another voice, cold and high, said.

"Stay back," Potter ordered. "Hello, Tom."

Voldemort's reply was a Killing Curse. Potter dodged and threw his own spell at the Dark Lord.

A bond of gold light joined the two wands. Potter tightly held on.

"Not this time, Potter." Voldemort broke the connection.

Elizabeth looked elsewhere. Mike's father had apparently had the full body-bind cast upon him; his wife kept all her focus on Snape once more. Her father and Ginny finally subdued the two Polyjuiced Death Eaters and were standing over them.

"Crucio," Snape said, knocking Hermione down. Elizabeth shivered. If a pregnant woman was tortured like that, it often caused problems for both her and the baby. She looked at Mike, whose face was almost white.

Both Ginny and her father ran towards Hermione, but they were too far away. But at this point, Wormtail, still lying on the ground, raised his wand and pointed it at Snape.

"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled.

Even before the green bolt hit Snape, another one was on the way, cast by Voldemort. Wormtail fell a fraction of a second after the other Death Eater. But this cost the Dark Lord. Potter managed to make the wands connect once again.

"Finite Incantatem," Elizabeth's father said, lifting the bind off Mike's father. Ron immediately ran up to help his wife.

"For God's sake, Ron, get her out of here!" Potter shouted. Privately, Elizabeth had to agree. Hermione looked almost as bad as her mother had when her father and Potter found her.

Mike's parents Apparated away. Potter kept pushing the wand connection with Voldemort.

Ginny ran towards him. "Ginny, don't!" Potter yelled.

But his wife ignored him. Instead, she lifted her wand.

"Portalmus!" she yelled.

A ball of white light surrounded Voldemort, who screamed something unintelligible. Potter, exhausted, dropped to the ground, nearly collapsing.

"Enjoying yourself, Tom?" Ginny taunted the Dark Lord. The white light bubble shrank. "That spell can be resisted, of course... unfortunately for you, you need a complete soul for that."

At that, Potter jumped up. "Ginny, no!"

The white bubble flashed red for a moment, and something knocked Ginny down.

"Oh, no..." Potter whispered. "No! NOT GINNY! Expelliarmus!"

Ginny's wand flew out of her hand as she was raising it. She looked different than before. Cruel. Her eyes appeared to glow.

Potter grabbed her, and she tried to wrestle away. But he held even tighter, forced their mouths together, and kissed her. "Fight him, Ginny," he whispered before resuming the kiss.

Suddenly, Ginny slumped in Potter's arms, bringing them both to the ground. "He's... gone?" she whispered.

"Gone," Harry replied. He touched his scar. "Doesn't hurt anymore."

"I love you," she whispered before her eyes closed.

"I love you too, Ginny," Potter said. "Draco!" he shouted. "I'm not strong enough to Apparate! Get us to St. Mungo's!"

Her father nodded, grabbed both of them, and Disapparated. Left behind was a burned out body of Voldemort, and four Death Eaters--two bound, and two dead.

The Pensieve reverted. Potter looked much older than he was, and didn't even appear to notice them. "I'm sorry, Ginny," he whispered.

"Sir?" Elizabeth touched him on the shoulder.

"Oh?" Potter returned to his usual self. "Sorry about that, Miss Malfoy. I got caught up."

"I under--"

"No." Potter rose and turned to them. "You don't understand. For your sakes, I hope you never do."

There was no point in arguing. For some time, the room was quiet.

Mike interrupted. "My parents never told me they were Animagi," he said.

"They didn't register till after the war--we thought it was stupid to tip Voldemort off. And I doubt they use it much nowadays. For one thing--" and Potter cracked a smile for the first time since they entered the Pensieve "--your mother never liked her form. Her reaction to finding out what it was, and I quote, 'I've never, and will never, hide my head in the sand!' Which is true enough. But we know little of how Animagus forms are determined. The sample size is too small. People usually think the animal fits the personality, and while it's true sometimes, surprises happen. Your parents often said that Ginny and I got each other's forms by mistake." Potter had gone gray again.

He turned to Elizabeth. "Your mother had given birth to you, and died, before we got back."

Elizabeth nodded, shaking. Despite knowing this already, seeing what her father was doing at the time brought a new awareness for some reason. Mike gently grasped her shoulders, steadying her.

"Who was the last person to see her alive?" she asked.

"Hannah Longbottom," Potter replied. "Would you like to--"

"I'll think about it."

Potter nodded, but didn't comment. "The story with Ginny is a bit more complex," he said. "When we Apparated to St. Mungo's, she was still alive, and apparently unhurt, despite Voldemort's possession.

"The Soulbinder spell is difficult to do, and takes a lot of power," he said. "That was one reason Voldemort chose, as a last chance of survival, to possess Ginny, as opposed to your father or myself. At that moment, she was the weakest of the three."

"There were other reasons?" Mike asked.

"Yes. He had already possessed her when she was only eleven. That left her doubly vulnerable."

"My parents never told me about that."

"I understand." Potter then continued. "Voldemort didn't understand love, and was vulnerable to it. It was her love for me that enabled her, even in her weakened state, to resist. That alone wasn't enough, but I added my strength... and we managed to purge Voldemort--permanently.

"Never underestimate the power of love," Potter said.

"But then," Elizabeth said, confused, "what happened? Why did--"

"The first time Ginny was possessed, I destroyed the object Voldemort used to do it. The energy Voldemort sapped from her returned to her body, and she awoke, unhurt--physically, that is."

"This time, there was no such object. Voldemort's soul gradually dissipated... and so did the life force he took from Ginny. It wasn't complete... but it was enough. It sapped part of me, too, but I was lucky--or maybe not. No matter what I or the Healers tried... she simply didn't have enough strength to recover." He lowered his head again. Elizabeth didn't need to ask if Potter missed his wife.

"Sir," Mike said, "you didn't want to relive these events. So why--"

"Why did I show them to you?"

Mike nodded.

"Good question. Because there will someday be another war, and I wanted to impress the realities of it. And to do my best to delay it as much as possible."

"How does this help?" Elizabeth asked.

"Pansy and Ginny died that day. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, it's as simple as that. They were not weak, or incompetent, or stupid, or bad people who 'deserved' it. It could have been your father--" he turned to Mike "--or your parents, or myself, or a number of other people. I don't like to play the what if game, because we simply don't know what could happen if things turned out differently."

He paused. "Abstractly, we all recognize the reality of war. Sometimes we need to fight. Sometimes we have to die. And sometimes--" he scrutinized both of them very carefully "--we have to kill. But the moment we begin to see anything noble and glorious in that, we've assured ourselves another war in the future.

"I think we should wait at least a month for our next session--it deals with more stuff that, as you put it," he told Mike, "I don't want to relive." He sighed. "Goodnight."

They left the classroom. "Oh, Dad," Elizabeth whispered.

"What?" Mike asked.

"My father. He always regretted not being at my mother's side when she died."

"Oh. I'm sorry--"

"You weren't even born. What? You weren't. Your birthday is what, one day after mine?"

"If the time is right--if you were born during that battle--it's a day and a half."

"Good, Weasley. Your ego would be even bigger than it already is if you turned out to be older than me."

"Hey--"

"You walked right into that one. All right. Potter said the next time will be our last. That sounds nice. We do have a task to prepare for."

"Speaking of which, have you--"

"Oh, all right. It'll start more rumors, of course, but--"

"Do you care?"

"No, of course not."

"Then it's settled."

"Now, one moment, Weasley. I didn't--"

"But I thought--"

She shook her head. "Too easy, Weasley." She kissed him. "Goodnight, honey," she whispered before heading into the Slytherin common room.

"Goodnight," Mike said, and smiled despite the fact that no one, and certainly not Elizabeth, heard him.