Will You Ever Return to Me?

Chapter 5.

June 2003, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Harry had almost finished grading the students' exams when Ginny burst into his office, looking like an angry tiger.

"That... that... jerk!" she managed.

"Ginny, what's wrong?"

"He--Raymond--went back to that stalker!"

"What?" Harry demanded. "To Tamara?"

Ginny nodded. "I saw them kiss. He claimed she pushed herself on him after I confronted him, but I didn't see him push back. And he apparently never told me they'd been meeting for a while--and he had a really stupid excuse for why."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"He told me she came to him and complained someone was stalking her. He said she offered to leave him alone forever if he helped her get rid of the stalkers. He said he did, stunning two of them while the third escaped

Harry dropped his pencil. "No..."

"Harry--what--"

"He really did that?"
"I suppose so..."

"Damn, damn, damn. He couldn't have known, of course, but..."

"Harry? You're babbling."

"No. Tamara wasn't being stalked, she was being surveilled by the MLEA."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Because she's an agent of one of Hund's top lieutenants--Helen Gertrude. They hoped to find Gertrude herself by monitoring her moves."

Ginny sat down. "Are you sure?"

"I was the one who saw them together. I followed Gertrude and tried to capture her, but she escaped. But I told Hermione about it. She works--well, sort of--for a Muggle government agency that has connections with the Department of Magic."

"Just great," Ginny whispered. "She went back to Hund?"

"Or Gertrude, more likely. Somehow, I doubt Tamara came up with the idea by herself. This smells like a Gertrude operation."

"Is she that important?" Ginny asked.

"Gertrude is thought to have led a number of these riots in person, and she was the one impersonating you under Polyjuice Potion."

"How do you know that?"

"She told me, while we fought. I tried to kill her after that."

"Harry... my god..."

"I don't think Wilkins was in any way involved. Gertrude has tricked a lot of people. You should--no, probably I should tell him that myself. If you want me to, of course."

Ginny was about to reply when Harry yelped as something burned in his back pocket. He took out a small ivory carving of gargoyle--except the gargoyle's wings turned a bloody red color.

Shocked, Ginny pulled out an identical figurine of her own--except its wings were white like the rest of it.

"Why--"

"I told Clarence you're a traitor, remember? Well, we'll deal with everything later--if we have to. I'm going to Salem."

"I'm coming with you," Ginny said.

"No, you--"

"Not this time, Harry. Not again. Unless you didn't think at all about what I told you. Was Stone right?"

"Stone... Ginny, Stone never existed. He's as fake as Cade Wilson or David Smith. Joseph Stone is an alias of Alan Hund."

"What?! No... it can't--"

"It is. Hermione told me. He worked with them for a while and was caught."

"My god... he used me. He used us all... why?"

"I don't know. I can try to think about it later, but right now, Diana Clarence needs my help.

"And if it wasn't for a misunderstanding--on your part, by the way--she would have asked me to do the same. Clarence was my friend a lot longer than she was yours. I'm going."

"I can leave right now--"

"First, I know how to make Portkeys, too; second, you won't."

"Come on," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go."

They landed at Salem, next to the school grounds behind the forest where the school buildings were. The Dark Mark hovered over them.

"Damn," Harry said.

"That doesn't mean they've already killed someone."

"Not yet."

"Hey!" a female voice shouted at them. "Show your tokens!"

Ginny reached for her Gargoyle statue, but Harry pushed her arm down. "Show yours!" he demanded.

The woman stepped out, wand at the ready. "Together," she said. "One, two, three--"

All of them took out the statues. The woman's, like Harry, had blood-red wings.

"Where are they?" Harry asked.

"Hello to you, too," the woman said. "I'm Pat Horner."

"Harry Potter," Harry said, without thinking.

Pat Horner's eyes went wide, and Harry realized it was too late to correct his mistake. He prepared to stun her. "Look, I'm not going to tell my life's story while people are dying. Let's go." He and Ginny ran towards the school, and Pat Horner followed.

"I work for the Department of Magic," she said when she caught up to them. "I should arrest you."

"You'll regret it if you try," Ginny said.

"I said I should. If Clarence trusts you, so do I. Watch--"

Harry had spotted it already and threw up a shield charm. Three glowing hot objects shattered in mid-air and dropped a shower of sparks on the ground.

Four small trolls brandishing clubs stepped out from behind trees. They swung the clubs towards Harry, and the same type of glowing objects detached from the club tips and sped at him. Harry caught them, but two more trolls stepped out before he could launch a spell in response. "Gin--"

Ginny was gone from his side. Harry looked around to make sure she wasn't hurt, then threw up the shield again to stop the next barrage of hot projectiles. One got through, and Harry had to jump up to avoid getting his legs seared.

Then came a bright flash, as if night suddenly turned to day. When Harry looked up, the trolls all dropped their clubs and were clutching at their eyes. "Stupefy!" Harry shouted, aiming at the nearest troll. The creature fell, and Harry aimed at the next one, but it was down already. Ginny nodded at him, and sent out her own Stunner. Harry did the same, taking down one of the remaining trolls, and noted that yet another one was lying on the ground. Pat Horner, he thought.

By the time the last troll recovered from the blinding enough to pick up his club, three wands were aimed square at his head. "Stu--" Ginny began.

"Wait," Harry said. "How many of you are here?"

"Thirty," the troll said.

"Any more on this path?" He pointed at the rarely-used path towards the school.

"Two more, right after the creek crossing."

"Stupefy!" Harry said, and ran down the path.

"Hey!" Pat Horner shouted as she ran after him. "We could have--"

"We're here to stop the Death Eaters, not clear the forest of trolls," Ginny said. "Auror?" she asked Pat as they followed Harry.

"Not quite. MCIS. It fits, right?"

"The 'interrogate-and-find-out-what's going on' thing? Yeah... Hold on, where are those trolls?"

Harry motioned at them from the other side of the creek. "I Stunned them," he said. "Turned into a hawk, flew over the creek, and hit them from behind. Let's go."

Two men stood guard at the school entrance. Harry and Ginny caught them by surprise, Stunned them, and attempted to rush in.

Inferi began appearing out of the ground all around them. They were weak--fire spells kept them at bay without much effort. Death Eaters are scraping the bottom of the barrel, Harry thought without much glee. Then he realized that their purpose was to delay rather than defeat him--and that they were succeeding admirably at it.

Pat Horner also realized that. "I'll hold them off!" she shouted. "Go! You're better at this than me!"

Ginny and Harry nodded and ran up into the school behind Pat Horner's cover.

A duel was taking place on the central staircase. "Ennervate!" someone was shouting. "Ennervate!"

"Stupefy!" another voice yelled. Harry glanced. Four older girls were facing six adults. Two more attackers were clambering up. A body lay among the students' legs, motionless.

"Just give up... girls," a man in a Death Eater hood said. "You're--"

"Stupefy!" Harry and Ginny fired off their spells at the same time, and two attackers, including the speaking Death Eater, fell. "Serpensortia!" he shouted. Three snakes burst out of his wand. Two landed on the Death Eaters' faces, the other on an attacker's arm. "Strangle them," Harry ordered in Parseltongue.

"Lubrio!" Ginny yelled, and the last three attackers slipped and tumbled down the stairs,where the students, having recovered from shock, Stunned them.

The Death Eaters with snakes around their necks were unconscious by now. Harry recalled the snakes, cast the full body-bind on the attackers and vanished the serpents.

The four girls gasped at him in horror. "What--"

"Yes, I'm a Parselmouth," Harry said annoyingly. "No, I'm not evil."

"He's not evil... mostly," Ginny said. She leaned down to the body of a girl lying on the ground.

"Is--"

"Dead," another student said. "I don't know what spell it--"

"There's more of them!" another girl shouted. "They're going to the dormitories--"

"Harry, I'll take charge of the students, and clear the school. Find Hund and Bellatrix."

"But--"

"Just go. This is all a distraction, you know that. Hund is key." She pulled him in and kissed him. "I love you."

A Death Eater appeared at the top of the stairs. "Avada--"

"Stupefy!" Harry hit him, but as he fell, a woman took his place. He recognized her as Alecto. "Stupefy!"

He missed, and Alecto ran off. Harry threw a glance in Ginny's direction--she was in the lead of the four students, brandishing her wand and running towards the dormitories. Harry followed Alecto.

He didn't see her, or anyone else, in the corridors. OK, he berated himself, think. What could Hund want here?

If I get to the top of the hill, and see the school from above, I may get a rough idea where the troubles are.

He headed for the teachers' lounge. The closet inside was a secret passage into the large oak on top of the hill. It was possible that Hund didn't know about it.

Several bodies lay about in the lounge. Harry didn't take time to notice if they were Stunned, Petrified, or dead. He headed into the closet.

As soon as he came out of the tree, something pulled him up, swung him around, and pinned him to the ground with irresistible force. Someone wearing boots approached and stepped on his right hand, crushing his fingers. Harry felt his bones break and bit down to keep silent. But after a few moments, he could no longer resist, and let go of his wans. The booted foot kicked it away beyond his reach. Harry looked up.

It was Bellatrix.

"We meet again, Potter. But trust me, this time will be the last," she said.

XXX

Harry looked around. A large cauldron, with a roaring fire underneath, stood in the center of the clearing, guarded by Alecto. Across from him, Diana Clarence and Melissa Lyman lay on the ground, pinned down by two giants. Harry assumed he was in the same state. Bellatrix walked around, smirking.

"Do you really think a half-blood like you could defeat--"

"He's a half-blood too!" Harry yelled. "Or did you miss that--"

Bellatrix didn't reply, because Hund had landed his broomstick next to her. "Well?" she asked.

"Bellatrix, I always keep my promises. Even if he fails--"

"How dare you--"

Hund shook his head. "Bellatrix... one way or another, Potter won't be able to do anything to stop me." He tossed something to her. She caught it, and looked skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. And now, I must go--"

"You won't stay and witness--"

"Voldemort and myself have never seen eye to eye. I'm not as powerful as him, but... Alecto, kindly tell him that I can call on numerous allies here in America, and that he better stick to Britain. Live and let live. He can have it, he can have Europe--but America is mine. It'd be better for both of us if we don't fight each other. Even if one of us wins in the end, the Muggles and Muggle-lovers will use the weakened state of the victor to undo all we have worked for." He walked around the cauldron a few times. "Diana Clarence," he said, facing the Salem Headmistress. "You are the best teacher I've ever had... and I've heard that you would say I was the best student you've ever had. I believe such a coincidence... should be immortalized. Made sure it always remains the same. Now, I will not have any more teachers, since,"--he laughed-- "I'm now a teacher myself. So, all that this condition requires is that you don't have any more students. Avada Kedavra!"

Hund looked at Lyman. "It's a pity you didn't marry me when you had the chance, Melissa. You wouldn't be in this predicament if you did." He bowed gracefully to Bellatrix and Alecto. "I've other business to attend to, ladies. Say hi to Tom for me." He vanished silently.

"Alecto!" Bellatrix ordered. The other woman approached Harry and put a knife to his crushed hand, collecting a few drops of blood in a vial.

Bellatrix took the object Hund gave her. "Bone of the father," she said, "unknowingly given, you will revive your son." The dust sprinkled into the cauldron.

She took the knife from Alecto. "Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will restore your master." With that, she sliced off a finger on her left hand and let it fall in.

Harry knew... this time, Voldemort would not take a chance by dueling him. Nor was there a Portkey to get him away. "No..." he whispered.

Bellatrix heard him and laughed. "Aww, afraid of the big bad Dark Lord? Soul of your person, loyally carried, you will remake your body."

"Stupefy!" someone cried. Bellatrix managed to throw up a shield to stop the Stunner. She raised her wand. "Avada--"

Someone ran into the clearing and pushed Bellatrix from behind, right into the cauldron.

Harry winced. He was sure the person meant well, but it only brought the resurrection closer to--

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will resurrect your foe--" Alecto quickly said, and tossed the vial of Harry's blood into the cauldron before falling to a Stunner from above.

The vial tumbled through the air as Harry watched it. Right as it was about to disappear, a hand grabbed it. Harry followed it. Ginny, sitting on a broomstick and holding the vial, was beaming at him.

"Now!" Luna's voice shouted, and Harry watched two strange objects hit the giants' faces. Clouds of purplish gas burst around them, and the giants began to fall down...

"Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!" Harry felt himself yanked out of the giant's hands, and landed next to the cauldron.

"Harry!" the person who pushed Bellatrix in helped him up. It was Neville. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah..."

Ginny stepped up. "Let me see," she took his injured hand and waved her wand over it. The pain stopped. "This was a close call, wasn't it?" she asked. "It's your blood, right?" She held up the vial.

Harry nodded. He looked at the cauldron and his scar was hit with a burst of pain. "Voldemort is still in there. I think it might take all of us--"

"Right," Ginny said, as she, Luna, Neville, Pat Horner, several other people, and the Salem girls surrounded the cauldron. Harry picked up his wand and walked over to Melissa Lyman.

"Miss Lyman?" he whispered, seeing her crouch over the dead body of her Headmistress. "Miss Lyman?"

"I--" she cried, "--don't--believe--"

"Miss Lyman, we've got to finish it once and for all, otherwise, she'd have died for nothing."

"Miss Lyman--" Pat got on the other side of her, "--you've got to--"

"No... I can't..."

"Come on, Miss Lyman." They lifted her up and dragged her over into the circle. "I'm sorry, but we need you." Harry pushed her wand into her hand. They aimed at the cauldron.

"Vanishing charms, on three. One. Two. Three. Evanesco!"

Each wand released a spell, and they hit the water. A column of black smoke and soot rose out of it and floated down, burning through the stone, melting down the cauldron, putting out the fire, and seeping into the ground. The grass where it did so wilted and died, and everyone sprang away from the area.

Harry breathed, and rubbed his scar. "If this is any indication... he's gone. And Bellatrix was the last Horcrux, so it's over." He frowned. "Chances are, nothing will grow on this spot for years--maybe for centuries." He looked around. "Thank you. All of you. I--"

"Come on, Harry," Ginny said. "We still have--"

"We've got to tell Ron and Hermione what happened here," Harry said. "Hund's about to launch something, and it'd be better to confront him together."

"Harry..." Neville said, suddenly sounding very awkward.

"You've got to check on the kids, right?"

"Huh?" Harry said before realizing what was going on. "Go," he said. "You've done more than enough--and I even forgot you had--kids, plural?"

Neville nodded. "Twins. Alice and Poseidon."

Harry knew Luna well enough not to comment. Instead, he turned around for a final look, focusing on the giants that now lay on the ground. "How did you knock them out, anyway?"

"Dungbombs loaded with sleeping gas. A very concentrated form of sleeping gas. On a human, a dose like that would knock him out for days," Luna said. "Ginny... Harry... go." She pointed at Pat Horner, who was busy organizing the remaining people. "It's in good hands."

"Right. How did--"

"You said to contact you through here. We tried. But even when we couldn't, she wrote back and told us to visit, since she wanted to tell us in person. We were worried, Harry. Just--"

"I'm sorry. Neville, are you sure, you--"

"It's fine. Just... don't run out on us again."

Harry sighed. "I won't have any reason to, will I? Not after Hund's gone... But that has yet to happen, and if we don't do something about it, it won't. Ginny--"

Ginny hugged Neville, then Luna, then walked up and shook Pat Horner's hand. "Good luck," she said.

"You too," she replied.

Harry picked up a rock. "Portus. June," he said, "isn't the best time to go to Vegas."