The Veil of Memories

Chapter 25

Hero, God, and Sacrifice

The wizard who had once been Tom Marvolo Riddle looked down at the instruments carefully. His exceptional memory enabled him to recall exactly what Grindelwald had written about maintaining the balance of magical energy inside the pentrax frame and measuring the precise moment to conjure the nexus. Based on what he had calculated, and assuming that Wormtail and Nott were maintaining the instruments properly on their side, Voldemort estimated that there were at most forty minutes remaining until the arc returned. Once that time arrived, Voldemort would have approximately four minutes to conjure the nexus and connect it to the gateway before the arc moved away again. Voldemort looked down at the palm of Draco Malfoy to find that it was glistening with sweat. Perhaps the unconscious, animal parts of the boy's mind were still active. But no that couldn't be, Voldemort reminded himself. His soul had been utterly destroyed. It was Voldemort's own fear that was seeping through his palms even though he knew he could not afford to be afraid. He took one last look at the instruments and then stepped back. He had to calm himself. Too much -

A sudden noise issued from the hallway outside. It would have been imperceptible to the hearing of most ordinary wizards, but the Dark Lord was not an ordinary wizard; moreover, he knew from long experience that he had heard an abortive cry for help, a cry that had been quickly stifled. And with that cry, there was a presence, a presence that was very practiced in concealing its mind from the still not completely recovered Legilimency of Lord Voldemort, but whose fleeting eagerness had been revealed in a moment of struggle.

"Montague!" Voldemort cried out, startling both Wormtail and Nott. "Montague! Is that you? Report!"

There was only silence.

"Avery! Avery, are you there? What is - "

Voldemort stopped. The door to the mezzanine from the passageway outside slowly opened and a single masked Death Eater entered the control area.

"I am here, my Lord," it said. "Bole has not returned. Montague went to look for him."

"I gave orders that at least two Death Eaters were to remain on guard outside this entrance at all times! Has your thick mind not comprehended the importance of securing this control area above all else?"

The Death Eater bowed. "My apologies, Lord. It was Montague who insisted - "

"I don't want to hear any more excuses. Get him back here at once!"

"As you wish, my Lord."

Voldemort turned his back on the Death Eater and returned to the controls. The moment he had done so, however, he could sense the feeling of eagerness again here with him. Right in this -

"Avada Ke - "

"Expelliarmus!" Voldemort cried out, swinging quickly back around.

The Death Eater's outstretched wand flew out of his hand and down into the chasm below.

Wormtail and Nott looked quickly up from their instruments and stared at the Death Eater.

"Don't stand there!" barked Voldemort. "Seize him!"

Wormtail and Nott marched quickly over to the traitor. He tried to dodge them and succeeded momentarily, but they managed to grab hold of his elbows. They then took out their wands and shoved them hard into his side, but they had to struggle to hold on as their captive continued to resist.

"Hold him still!"

Voldemort slowly approached his prisoner, his steps measured and patient, but a look of hunger in his eyes. Finally, he reached up toward his face. The traitor flinched and resisted but Voldemort still managed to pull off his mask.

"Well, well, how nice of you to drop in and visit us, Severus."

Snape spat into Voldemort's face, then yelped as Nott and Wormtail twisted his arms painfully behind his back.

Voldemort slowly, almost nonchalantly wiped the spittle away from his face. "What have you done with my Death Eaters, Severus? Tell me, what have you done with them?"

Snape smiled maliciously. "I think you'll find them rotting in hell, and you can join them."

Voldemort looked closely at Snape for another moment. He felt his once loyal servant open his mind to him. The images of his Death Eaters brutally falling one by one at Snape's hand filled his head. And before he had finished, Snape made sure that he knew exactly how pleasure he'd felt in killing them.

"I would let you stay to watch what you pretended to long for all these years, Severus," said Voldemort finally, forcing his voice to remain calm, "but then I don't really think you deserve it, do you? I regret that I'm much too close to the completion of our plans to leave this chamber, but my loyal servants here will take care of you. Take care to kill him at a distance and seal him up once you've finished," he said to Wormtail and Nott. "We have only a few minutes until the chamber becomes sensitive to soul loss, even from the outside."

Greedy smiles formed on the faces of Wormtail and Nott. They grabbed Snape and pulled him out into the passageway. The final servant of Albus Dumbledore continued to struggle against them but to no avail.

***

Ron managed to scourgify Hermione who, in turn, managed to leave Sister Owens in the care of her fellow nuns. He didn't need to ask what had happened. It had been pretty obvious.

Hermione herself, however, seemed to have spent little time grieving for whomever it was that hadn't made it back. She was quickly engaged in a business-like conversation with Dean and Lavender.

"He was very insistent you stayed here," Dean explained. "He mentioned you specifically."

"I bet he did," said Hermione coolly. "How long did he want us to wait for him?"

"An hour," Dean replied, "and then we were to get the Muggles out of here."

"And how long has it been so far?"

"I dunno. About a half an hour maybe."

"Too long," said Hermione decisively. She looked across to see that the evening sun had now dipped down below the hill on the far side of the lake. "Voldemort said that his plans would be finished before sun had gone down. And then later on he said we were only hours away. We've got to act!"

"Hermione, he told you to stay here!" protested Lavender. "You can't just - "

Hermione rounded on her. "I wasn't asking you to come along!" she snapped. "But he needs help, whether he thinks he does or not." She looked across at Ron. "Are you coming?"

Ron nodded. "I'm still not letting you out of my sight."

Hermione put her hand on his shoulder and briefly smiled, then motioned her head toward the opening back into the chamber.

"But you haven't even got proper wands!" Lavender protested again.

"They're good enough for a few spells!" Hermione retorted. "We haven't any choice!"

She turned around with Ron to walk down the winding steps again but the two Gryffindors found their path blocked by several of the nuns. Sister Lewis seemed to have taken charge and she stepped forward.

"Just a minute, Miss Granger!" she said icily. "I don't understand what is going on here or what has happened to us. But Headmaster Snape is still in charge and he ordered you to stay put. You are still a student at St. Brutus's School and I am still a teacher. I feel duty bound to carry out his instructions while he is absent!"

Sister Lewis's words were followed by a series of sanctimonious nods from the other nuns.

Hermione looked across at the nuns for a moment, then took out her wand and held it toward them. She was closely followed by Ron. The self-satisfied expressions on the faces of the nuns began to fade slightly but they continued to hold their ground.

"Do you know what this is?" Hermione asked bitingly, indicating her wand.

"It is - it is - it is some kind of - of thing," said Sister Lewis nervously. "It is - is," she swallowed. "It is a wand and you - " she looked up at Hermione as though unable to restrain herself any longer. "You - you are a witch! You are both witches!" she declared, looking back and forth between Hermione and Ron, her eyes bulging.

"Well, actually, I'm - " Ron began, but he was quickly interrupted by Hermione.

"That's right!" she declared. "The bushy hair should have given it away long ago. And my favorite pastime is turning nuns into big fat toads, not that it requires much effort. So I suggest you move out of my way because I am just in the mood!"

"Yeah!" added Ron, trying his best to look as mean as possible.

The nuns let out a collective gasp of fright. Hermione continued to walk past them, her wand still out, and an expression on her face that left little doubt she would carry through on her threat. The nuns at the back of the group had to fight to keep their balance as the ones in front nearly stepped on them in their rush to retreat. They could only watch as Hermione and Ron disappeared through the trap door and down the winding staircase back into Voldemort's base.

***

Harry flattened himself against a thick artery of the structure, his chest pounding hard. Snape. So Hermione must have gotten away; she must have gotten them out of the school. But now. For a moment, Harry had felt very hopeful. He had never been so glad to see the loathsome Potions Master his whole life. Snape would save them, he had believed; he would defeat the Dark Lord and stop his plans. Then they would all leave together and Ginny could stop climbing; she would be safe and all this would be over. But mere minutes later, as Harry had watched the whole horrible exchange play out, he knew that it wasn't to be.

Still, it sounded like Snape had gotten rid of the remaining Death Eaters and now Wormtail and Nott had left the control area, albeit temporarily. It was just Voldemort on his own now.

Just Voldemort, Harry sighed to himself. He still had no idea how he was going to stop the Dark Lord. The prophecy might as well have been a death warrant for him. He watched Voldemort bend his head down and concentrate all of his efforts on the instrumentation again. Harry's scar hadn't bothered him at all, even when he'd stood right across from Voldemort in the cell. Somehow their link was not active, just like Voldemort's link with Ginny had been severed when Dumbledore had performed the banishment spell in the original room. Still, Harry thought, he would have to muster all of the meager Occlumency skills that Snape had tried to teach him his fifth year. Voldemort could detect any mind if it was close enough to him.

Harry was about to move out of his hiding place when, for the umpteenth time, he cast a glance upward at Ginny. She was still climbing and she was right: she was very good at it. She was high above him now but there was still even further for her to go before she reached the top. The structure seemed thicker at its highest points, the inverse of a tree, presumably because the gateway formed its source. But Harry also suspected that the surface of the structure wasn't as hard nearer the top. It looked much smoother and slippery; perhaps some of it was even still liquefied. How was she going to climb over it without falling?

Harry forced himself to put Ginny out of his mind. His fear would only make Voldemort aware of his presence much sooner. He slowly crept out of his hiding place and ambled further along toward the control area, but he had only walked one or two steps when he looked back up at the structure to see Ginny struggling to find a foothold on a very steep, narrow swath of material, all the while trying to shield herself from Voldemort's line of sight.

Harry took one anxious look at her, then back to Voldemort, then back to her again. He paused and let out a long sigh.

"No," he whispered aloud to himself. "No, I can't do this. I'm not a hero. I just promised her I would never leave her again and I don't care what she thinks. I'm never going to."

Harry turned and moved back down the level artery of structure he had just been climbing across. He stopped briefly as it curved upward at a sharp angle and searched for a foothold. Then he stepped up onto an upward spiraling arm of the structure. Quickly and with little regard for his own personal safety, he began to climb after Ginny.

***

Ron and Hermione crept cautiously down through the narrow passageway under the lake, wands out and their eyes peeled for signs of anyone other than themselves. So far they had met with only eerie silence.

"Good job with those Muggles back there," whispered Ron. "You nearly had me convinced!"

"Thanks," Hermione whispered back. "I had myself convinced, too."

They continued to creep along until they reached the small room that had once housed the entrance to the vortex. Ron was about to walk inside but Hermione grabbed onto his arm and nudged him in the direction of the dimly lit passageway that led down toward Voldemort's cavern. Ron gulped but nodded and they slowly began to walk on in that direction. Ron had only moved forward a few steps when he felt his foot hit something soft but firm. Hermione quickly grabbed him to keep him from falling over it.

"What - oh, goddess!" he declared as he looked down properly and saw the dark-cloaked body of a Death Eater. "He - he must be - " he started. "He must have had one awful hex put on him. Look!"

Hermione followed Ron's outstretched hand. Squinting, she could just make out in the very dim light that there were several Death Eaters lying on the ground motionless, all across the passageway in front of them. Hermione knelt down and touched her hand to the side of the Death Eater's neck.

"Quite a hex indeed," she said softly. "He's dead."

"What?" Ron whispered.

Hermione nodded.

"But who - " he stopped to look at Hermione. "Bloody hell - Snape! No wonder he didn't want us coming down here with him."

Hermione nodded again and let out a deep breath. "No wonder it's so quiet," she said. She crouched down and picked up the wand that had fallen by the Death Eater's side. "It's not very polite but I suppose he won't be needing this. Come on."

Ron and Hermione continued to walk deeper through the winding passageways, pausing only for Ron to collect his own serviceable wand from another of the fallen Death Eaters. The further they walked, the brighter the light became and the more clearly they could see the bodies piled up along the corridor walls, but there was still no sign of Snape or anyone else left alive.

"Look at this," said Ron, motioning at a heap in the corner of one wall. "This isn't a Death Eater."

Hermione walked over to see what he was looking at. It was a body like the others, but this one was small and green with whispers of white hair growing out from beneath its ears.

Hermione gasped. "It looks - it looks like Kreacher," she said.

"I bet it is Kreacher," said Ron. "And good riddance."

Hermione stared dumbly down at the expired house-elf.

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for him?" said Ron.

"Well, he was only following orders."

"I doubt he was - " Ron said, but then stopped talking as Hermione froze and placed a sudden hand on his shoulder. "What is it?" he whispered, almost inaudibly.

Hermione leaned very close to his ear. "There's someone in there," she said. "Behind that wall. Not moving." She pointed at a very small recess in the side of the wall opposite them that was shielded by shadows.

"How can you see - "

Hermione put her finger to her lips. They both walked very cautiously forward to the entrance of the recess. As they neared it, Ron could just about make out a large, plump shape sitting against the wall in the shadows unmoving. It didn't look quite like a Death Eater. Ignoring Ron's tug on her arm, Hermione continued to walk forward until she was inside the recess. Ron closely followed her, ducking his head down to avoid hitting it against the low ceiling.

They were standing almost toe to toe with the hunched down figure now. The recess was much darker than the corridor behind and they still couldn't see its face.

"Reveal yourself!" said Hermione suddenly.

There was no response.

"Lumos Minimus," she declared.

A very faint light formed at the end of her wand, enough to reveal the face of Dolores Umbridge. Her eyes were open but she was staring straight ahead and it didn't seem she could see them.

"She's - she's still breathing," whispered Ron, looking closely at Umbridge. "I don't understand."

"She's been kissed by a dementor," said Hermione. "Malfoy said he was going to do it but, oh, but, oh, Ron, it's so horrible!" She let out a small sob.

"If anyone deserved it, though, she did."

But Hermione shook her head vigorously, her bushy hair flying in tangles all over her face. "No one deserves that, Ron. No one."

"Yeah, right, well, we've got to get on, Hermione."

"I know, I know, I - "

Hermione and Ron both stopped and froze. They had both just heard a sound, a low moaning sound, issuing from somewhere very nearby. They looked around to try and locate its source when they heard it again.

"It's coming from behind that wall!" whispered Hermione, pointing her wand at the far end of the recess.

Ron reached over and touched the wall.

"It looks like this wall's been opened and then sealed back up again!" he said.

"Get back!" said Hermione suddenly.

"What - what are you - "

But Ron obeyed. Hermione pointed her wand at the opening.

"Dissectum!" she said.

The wall dissolved into a pile of rubble. Coughing as the small recess filled with dust from the small explosion, Hermione and Ron moved forward and squeezed themselves through the opening to find themselves in an alcove, slightly larger than the recess but still very small. Lying against the far wall of the alcove, and illuminated by the light of Hermione's wand, was the familiar figure of their former Potions Master.

"Professor Snape!" cried Hermione. "Lumos."

The small cell-like alcove lit up more brightly. They could now see that Snape's robes were ripped and disheveled and that one of his hands was chained to an iron handcuff which hung from the wall at the back. His eyes also seemed unaware and unfocused like Umbridge's but as they stepped closer, he moved his head slowly toward them and his eyes sparkled with a hint of recognition.

"Well, well, well," he said lazily, almost as though he was in a drunken stupor. "If it isn't the forces of Gryffindor justice coming to save the day. I didn't really think you'd do as I told you."

A thin trickle of blood escaped from Snape's mouth and wound its way down his chin as he spoke.

"Professor, we're going to get you out of here," Hermione declared. She aimed her wand at the point where the chain holding the handcuff met the wall. "Keep still."

"I would save your energies, Miss Granger," drawled Snape, "such as they are. There's nothing you can do to save me now."

Hermione shook her head. "Don't talk like that. We're going to get you - "

But she was forced to stop. Snape broke into a violent cough. More blood and what looked like pieces of lung and something else fell out of his throat and onto the ground.

"You don't have to look at me like that," he mumbled, after he was finished. "They - they burned the Dark Mark into my internal organs. The Dark - the Dark Lord's special punishment for those who betray him. But don't bother to worry, it didn't hurt nearly as much as they wanted it to. I - I - " Snape's head fell back. His eyes began to close.

Hermione leaned closer to him. "Professor Snape, please! We'll get you out of here right away! We'll get you to a healer. We - "

Snape's eyes opened again.

"A touching sentiment from the smartest mudblood I ever taught," he managed to say, "but predictably misguided. I am dying, Miss Granger."

Hermione felt tears prick her eyes. She started to sob.

"Come now," drawled Snape. "Where's the witch who wanted to hex me into pieces? You should be delighted."

Hermione shook her head again, tears running freely down her cheeks.

"There's no time - " said Snape, more blood running down his face and his eyes slowing closing. "There's no time for - "

His eyes suddenly opened wide. With a surprisingly burst of energy, he grabbed hold of Hermione's arm.

"Listen to me!" he said fiercely. "Listen carefully, both of you!" He looked up at Ron. "It's up to you now! You're the only ones who can stop him. You have to - you have to - " Snape's eyes faltered but he forced them open again. "There are two Death Eaters left with Voldemort inside the chamber. His plan is at - at a delicate stage. You have to k - kill one of them. Their soul loss will destroy the - the - destroy the Dark Lord's plans. Not Voldemort," he added quickly, squeezing Hermione's shoulder more tightly. "His soul is fix - fixed. Do you understand?"

Both Ron and Hermione nodded.

"Good."

A half-smile broke over Snape's face. His head fell back at an angle and his eyes closed slowly for the last time.

Hermione buried her face in her hands and her body began to shake with sobs.

Ron, who had been watching the whole exchange unfold in a shocked and numb way, now crouched to the ground and put his arms around Hermione's shoulders.

"H-h-h-e-e r-r-risked-d his life a-all th-those y-years f-f-for the O-O-Order," Hermione sobbed, "a - and n - n - now they - th-they s-still - " Hermione broke off and wiped her sleeve across her face. "Oh, R-Ron, h-he said we never kn-knew him and w-w-we n-never d-d-d-did. M-M-Maybe no one d-did; h-he just d-d-died like that - a - alone, all - all alone."

Hermione began to sob more loudly and buried her face into Ron's chest. He stared in disbelief at Snape's body for a moment, running his fingers through Hermione's hair. Then he took hold of her chin and motioned her face toward his.

"Hermione, I know. I know. But please listen to me, we've got to go on. Harry and Ginny are still down here somewhere!"

Hermione looked up at him for a moment, the tears still running down her cheeks, then she nodded. Ron awkwardly helped her to her feet. They were about to turn and walk out of the alcove when Hermione twisted back to look at Snape again.

"We - we can't just l-leave him like that!" she protested, with a spring of fresh sobs.

"Hermione, we'll come back for him later; we've got to keep going!"

Hermione looked at Snape again for a moment in hesitation but then she nodded again. They had barely turned their heads away from Snape's body when a sudden loud flash of something white whizzed out from the recess and hurtled past them down the corridor at lightning speed.

"What the bloody hell was that?" said Ron.

The floor suddenly rumbled and shook. Ron tried to hold onto Hermione but both of them lost their balance and fell to the ground.

***

Voldemort's fingers worked fast over the controls, his eyes widening in mounting horror.

"What happened?" he demanded. "I told you to seal him in!"

He looked to see Wormtail and Nott struggling to hold onto the walls for balance. Both of them looked back nervously at Voldemort and both seemed at a loss for words.

"Nott, the shields for the doors, quickly! Seal the doors!"

Struggling to stay upright as the cavern floor continued to rock under his feet, Nott made his way clumsily to an odd-looking stone potrubance near the door. With effort, he pushed it to one side then fell to the floor as a crackle of magical energy spread out from the point he had touched and blanketed the entire cavern. More rumbling sounds could be heard as the remaining openings around them were slowly sealed off.

***

Harry grabbed quickly onto a trunk of the structure for support as it suddenly rocked all around him, but the surface was too smooth. He tried to rest his foot on a piece of structure jutting out just below him but it cracked and fell under his weight. Clenching his teeth, Harry tried to dig his nails onto the smooth surface underneath him but he couldn't stop his quick slide down. His back hit hard against a curving branch below him and then he tumbled out into space.

***

"Harry!"

Ginny gasped as she watched Harry slide down and then tumble freely through the air. She tried to hold her wand out in front of her to stop his fall but the whole cavern was shaking so hard she couldn't even begin to aim. After what was probably only two or three of the longest seconds of Ginny's life, Harry tumbled stomach first over a sturdier looking branch and managed to grab his arms around it. Ginny watched with relief as he slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, although she could see he was still in obvious pain.

"Just don't follow me, Harry," she whispered, knowing full well he was too far down to hear her. "You mustn't; you've got to - "

Ginny gasped again. There was another sickening lurch. She began to slide down the branch she'd been climbing. She tucked her left arm around it and steadied herself but her right hand lurched quickly out into space and she lost her grip on her wand. She could only watch as it ricocheted haphazardly down through the structure below and finally disappeared completely from view into the depths of the cavern.

Ginny held on fast to the branch as the cavern continued to rock. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one of the Death Eaters making his way to the wall and turning some sort of control. A blue light shot out around the room and an instant later, all of the outer entrances were sealed off. The rumbling abruptly stopped.

But the damage had already been done.

Ginny looked for a moment deep down into the cavern where her wand had dropped and then across at Harry who was starting to climb toward her again. She was suddenly very glad he was too far away to see the look on her face.

She looked up again at the gateway. The veil was fluttering faster now and the ground resumed its low rumbling beneath her. Whatever it was that had caused the cavern to shake, it hadn't seemed to stop Voldemort's plans.

She took a deep breath, righted herself on the branch, and then slowly stood up. She winced briefly as she felt a stabbing pain surge through her still bandaged knee but she forced herself to shake it off. She looked up and found another foothold, then continued to climb.

***

"What's that sound?" asked Ron, slowly getting to his feet.

"I don't - " Hermione started. "Oh, no!" she suddenly cried. Without warning, she began to sprint down the corridors in the direction they'd been walking very slowly, the direction of the light that was now fading very fast.

"Wait!" cried Ron, running to keep up. "Hermione, not so fast! There might still be - "

"Don't you see?" Hermione replied, not looking back. "They're sealing off the cavern! If we don't get there fast, there'll be - "

Hermione stopped talking. They had reached another sort of recess. Beyond it, Ron could see a thin sliver of light that was rapidly closing. Hermione leapt toward the opening and tried to jam it open with her foot but (and to Ron's relief) it closed before she could reach it.

"Alohomora!"

Nothing happened.

"Dissectum!"

A red light shot out from Hermione's wand but before it could reach the smooth cement wall that had closed the opening, it seemed to strike an invisible barrier and dissipate; the opening remained shut.

"What's going on?" Ron demanded. "Hermione - "

Hermione let out a sigh and swung her head back to face him.

"This was the entrance to the cavern - that's where Voldemort is. And now he's shut it. Now no one can stop him."

***

Voldemort's hands moved over the instruments again. The build-up in the magical surge inhibitor seemed to stabilizing. The needle showing the energy level of the pentrax frame had stopped flickering madly and had begun to slowly creep upward once again in time with the return of the arc. All that was left was to stop this boy's stupid heart from pounding so fast. The toxic adrenalin that was coursing through the Dark Lord's body was unfamiliar and unwelcome and did nothing to clear his mind. He forced himself to calm again: he had conquered Malfoy's soul; he could conquer his body as well.

He had just begun to feel his breathing slow when Wormtail moved into his line of sight. He seemed to be groveling again. Voldemort felt his impatience rise.

"I - I'm sorry, my Lord." He fidgeted nervously with his hands. "We did - we did seal the cavern over Snape once we'd tortured him just as you told us to. I c - can't think how - "

"I do not need your excuses, Wormtail," Voldemort replied with forced patience. "We have only minutes left now. I only need you to - "

He stopped suddenly and looked out toward the cavern. There was something moving. Something that looked exactly like.... No - no, it couldn't be.

***

The rumbling finally stopped. Harry forced himself upright, wincing as a sharp pain spread like a fire down his back. He also felt something dig painfully into his thigh. He reached down and removed the two ends of the now broken wand Wormtail had given him and stuck them back into his pocket, even though he knew the wand was now useless. Slowly, he got to his feet and began to climb again.

His next thought was for Ginny. He looked up and found that she hadn't fallen, though she was dangling precariously from one arm. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when she straightened herself, although his heart sank when he saw her start to climb again. He was much further away from her now but that wasn't going to stop him. He quickened his pace to follow her.

It was only when his attentions had fully returned to the climb that Harry noticed that his fall had left him wide out in the open. He looked quickly across to the control area. Voldemort seemed deep in conversation with Wormtail but then Harry thought he saw him stare straight out toward him. He quickly ducked behind a thick branch and began to climb cautiously up the side facing away from the control area, hoping that he hadn't been seen.

***

"What was that?" Voldemort demanded.

"I - I - " Wormtail turned toward the chamber. "I - don't know what - "

"POTTER!" Voldemort cried out suddenly as a telltale mop of jet black hair emerged from behind part of the structure for another brief moment. "POTTER IS HERE! Potter is still alive! But how - Wormtail, you - WORMTAIL!!!"

Voldemort whipped his head around sensing only too late the anxious anticipation he had mistaken all along for cowardice and fear. Wormtail had taken his wand out of his cloak. His eyes swimming with a ferocity of deceit, he aimed it quickly at Nott. At the last moment, the Death Eater turned around to face his attacker, a look of complete surprise on his face, but he was far too slow to defend himself.

"ADAVA KEDAVRA!" cried Wormtail.

"CEASTUM!"

With lightning reflexes, Voldemort's own wand was out and aimed at Nott. The two spells collided and slammed into Nott's shoulder hitting him hard and flipping him backward over the control area. A split second later Voldemort's wand was aimed at Wormtail.

"Expelliarmus!"

Wormtail flew back against the base of the control panel. His wand collided sharply against the wall behind him and bounced back off it. The force of its flight carried it over the edge of the mezzanine and down into the cavern below.

Voldemort felt the anger and rage rise through the pounding blood of the Slytherin boy as he began to advance on Wormtail. Gone was the sniveling traitor's resolve, replaced once again by pitiful whimpering. And this only made Voldemort much more angry.

"My - my Lord - " croaked Wormtail. "I - I - "

"CRUCIO!"

Wormtail screamed out in agony.

"CRUCIO!" Voldemort bellowed again, even louder.

The screaming grew.

"CRUCIO!" Voldemort cried out a third time, his throat red and hoarse.

This time Wormtail stopped screaming altogether. He began to cough and choke. He writhed on the floor for a moment longer and then passed out completely.

Voldemort continued to advance toward him. Every nerve in his being told him what he had to do next. What had done so many times to so many wizards and never desired so much as he did now. He raised his wand again. The curse that would end this whimpering, traitorous, pathetic life once and for all danced on his lips, but then, with a grueling effort of willpower, Voldemort forced his wand to his side.

He wanted to kill Wormtail but he couldn't. If he struck him down, his soul would devastate the pentrax frame and end everything he had worked for, just as Wormtail had hoped his Killing Curse would release Nott's soul to do the same damage.

Nott.

Voldemort rushed over frantically to the other side of the floor. The Death Eater was motionless. He anxiously touched the side of his face and sighed in relief when he found that Nott's heart was still beating.

"I shall avenge you, Nott," Voldemort hissed. "I shall avenge you, the last of my Death Eaters. History will record you fighting at the side of the greatest sorcerer who ever lived at the moment of his triumph. He did not stop us and he will not stop us!"

Voldemort got to his feet and returned to the controls. Everything was still in order. He glanced quickly out toward the structure again. It seemed that Potter had disappeared. He dared not risk striking him for fear he would fall and his soul would be unleashed. Still, it did not matter. There was nothing Potter could do now. He could never climb up to the gateway in time, if indeed that was his aim. Only minutes remained now. All that was required was for Voldemort to conjure the nexus at the correct moment. And even though every wizard left alive seemed against him, Voldemort knew there was none who could stop him now.

***

Ron and Hermione returned, panting and full of sweat, to the original small alcove where they had watched the entrances close. Hermione had led them both on a fast-paced chase around all of the openings she could think of - up and down stairs, back and forth around passageways, but all to no avail - every entrance of every sort had been shut and no charms of any sort could open them back up again. Finally, his legs feeling like they were encased in iron, Ron collapsed to the ground. Hermione looked as though she was about to protest, but then collapsed down next to him.

"I - I wish," she said panting. "If I can only just - if I could - "

Ron put an arm on her shoulder.

"Hermione, if you can't think of a way in there, there isn't one, believe me."

Hermione looked back and gave him a weak smile. "I'm sure if - if I could just - "

Ron ran his hands down to her hands and pulled her toward him.

"You can't, Hermione. There's nothing we can do. We just have to hope, that's all. We didn't find Harry and Ginny either. Maybe they've - maybe they've found something - or maybe - well, we can hope, I suppose."

Hermione moved closer to Ron and ran her fingers gently down the sides of his arms.

"Just like you used to hope Snape wouldn't notice you'd copied my paper?"

"Yeah, well, sometimes he didn't."

Hermione smiled weakly again.

"Oh, Ron," she said. "What was it you were going to give me anyway?"

Ron suddenly realized his bag was still tied to his back. It had been there all this time - all through their visit to St. Brutus's, all through their sprints down the many passageways of this hellish labyrinth. He reached back, about to unhook it, but then stopped.

"Well," he said sighing. "I suppose it doesn't matter anyway now. If someone can stop Voldemort, then I'll have the chance to give it to you again. If not, well - " Ron swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "I - I can't really think of anyone else I'd rather sit waiting for the end of the world than you. That's all it was ever about anyway."

If Hermione found Ron's words strange, she didn't show it. Her eyes filling with tears again, she reached out and tenderly wound her arms around Ron's back. As she did so, his own arms closed gently around the fragile warmth of her body.

"I love you, angel," he said.

"I love you, too, silly," Hermione sobbed.

Ron felt a sudden peace descend in his heart. Voldemort and his Death Eaters might have wanted to live forever but he only wanted to spend the last precious moments of his ephemeral existence with the person he truly loved. And now it seemed he would get his wish.

The rumbling sound continued to grow beneath them but neither Hermione nor Ron noticed. They just continued to hold onto each other. One way or another, it was all going to be over soon.

***

Voldemort tried to remain patient but the hand that was clenched around his wand was still dripping with sweat. He felt his new body begin to tremble with anticipation as the twin needles measuring the pentrax energy build-up and the arc's return moved in beautiful harmony toward their most extreme point. Finally, the needle measuring the arc dipped completely over the top. There was a crackling noise and the dial lit up in a yellow light. Malfoy felt himself start to tense as the pentrax energy needle continued to climb until it, too, finally reached its apex.

His moment had finally arrived. The moment that would be remembered by the ever-lasting generations of a people finally freed from the cruel bondage of death, a race of immortals that would hold him up as the god of all of their gods.

A burst of hideous laughter erupted unbidden from Voldemort's chest. He raised his wand high, forcing himself to concentrate. He would form the nexus and aim precisely at the center point of the upper beam in the stone archway, just as he had in the Department of Mysteries when he'd transported the veil to its final home.

"Dàsachd Tri-oisinneach!"

Voldemort's triumphant cry echoed around the five sides of the chamber just as the orange triangle erupted from his wand like a blistering fire. He let it hover in the air for a moment, then guided it up toward the gateway. He allowed it to gather energy from the pentrax and coalesce into a single powerful beam, the beam that would end once and for all the -

Voldemort suddenly stopped and lowered his wand. The nexus began to lose energy and then finally disappeared. He did not have a clear shot toward the gateway. Standing on a ridge in front of the stone archway, her red hair lit like a burning bush from the light of the structure around her, was Ginny Weasley.

A sudden feeling of dread and panic began to build up inside Voldemort, rising just as uninvited as the giddy laughter that had preceded it. There was only a four minute window and at least a minute of that had passed now. He had to conjure the nexus soon or the arc would move away again.

"Ginny!" he called out, an unwelcome note of hysteria in his voice. "We've been playing a long and complicated game, you and I. We need to end this game, Ginny. You need to step away from the gateway."

No response.

"Ginny!" Voldemort called out again, his voice rising. "You don't want to talk to me, Ginny? You were all full of words before. Why the sudden change? I thought we were friends, you and I. That's what you told me, wasn't it? You aren't going to betray me, are you, Ginny?"

Still no response.

"Are you angry because of what I did to you, Ginny? I only gave you what you secretly wanted. I know you know that even if you don't want to admit it. Don't forget: I read your mind through our link; I know your thoughts. Of course, you didn't want to tell Harry, but we understand each other, don't we?"

Silence.

"You think I want to hurt you, Ginny, don't you? You think I'm going to kill Harry; you think I'm going to kill your friends and your family. But you're wrong, Ginny. Dumbledore lied to you. You know he lied to you; I can feel your disappointment with him, Ginny. Don't struggle against it. I only killed because I had to. And what do those deaths mean now? They'll all come back to life, Ginny. I can make them. And none of us will ever die again. Do you want to stop that, Ginny? Do you really want to be the one who stops that?"

But still Ginny said nothing. She just continued to stand in front of the gateway, blocking Voldemort's path. Nor was there anywhere he could move to take a clear shot behind her. She was standing up against the veil and he was far on the other side of the chamber. And time was running out. To think that this girl - this girl he had once toyed with so easily, this girl who had no weapons, this girl who was too stupid to move and save her own life - to think that she could somehow end everything for which generations of dark wizards had labored. It was unthinkable; it was unspeakable. Voldemort began to feel his rage build up inside of him again quite easily, the rage that had gone unsatisfied when he hadn't been able to kill Wormtail, the rage which now threatened to unleash itself against this monstrous child.

The rage he wasn't at all sure he could keep under control any longer.

"You sorry, miserable, horrid little brat!" he bellowed. "Did you think you could stand your filthy little blood traitor body in my way and stop me! Is that what you imagined? Did you really believe that a puny, sorry thing like you could stop the Dark Lord? DID YOU? ANSWER ME!!!"

But there was no answer.

"CRUCIO!"

***

With a grunt of pain, Harry hoisted himself desperately onto the main branch just above him. He was less than ten meters below Ginny now and about twenty meters to her left. But as he heard the anger bleeding out of Voldemort's voice, ten meters seemed like ten miles. His back continued to spasm in pain but he ignored it again. He only had one thought. He had to reach Ginny. Gods, he just had to. He couldn't let Voldemort hurt her.

Harry didn't want to look toward Ginny but he couldn't tear his eyes away either. She screamed out in agony as Voldemort's curse struck her just below her shoulder. Harry felt sure she would fall off the slippery dais where she was standing, the very spot where the liquefied structure flowed out into a ridge before dipping its viscous entrails down into the cavern. Yet she managed to hold onto the ridge with her hands even as the lower half of her body threatened to collapse under Voldemort's curse.

"At last, she speaks!" cried Voldemort shrilly. "But that's not good enough, I'm afraid, Ginny! I - need - you - to - LISTEN!"

Harry quickly made his way up the final tower to a short platform parallel to the ridge. After that, a thin branch would connect him straight across. He only hoped it would hold. He didn't have much other choice.

"CRUCIO!!!!" Voldemort bellowed again.

Harry winced as Ginny shrieked again. He watched as her face screwed up and tears of pain ran down her cheeks but she continued to catch hold of the ridge. She was on her knees now, though, and, looking back, Harry could see that Voldemort had raised his wand to conjure the nexus. But the next moment, Ginny awkwardly rose to her feet yet again and he was once again forced to lower his wand. Harry didn't need any outward sign to tell him how displeased the Dark Lord was now, but if he could climb just a little faster, then it wouldn't matter. He was almost at the platform now. Just a few more strides and he would reach it.

"Will nothing break you?" Voldemort cried out fanatically. "Perhaps you are death itself. But death cannot stop the likes of me! I - CONTROL - DEATH!"

With a final heave, Harry reached the top of the platform. He was less than fifteen meters away from Ginny now. Fifteen level meters.

And so Harry began to run toward Ginny, over a thin platform he was not certain could hold the lightest of footsteps, much less his heavy strides. But Harry didn't care about that. He didn't care about the gateway either. He just wanted to get Ginny out of the way.

"I CONTROL EVERYTHING IN EXISTENCE!" Voldemort shrieked, completely beside himself. "AND JUST AS I CAN GIVE LIFE SO CAN I TAKE - IT - AWAY!"

Harry was only meters away now. Ginny stood straight in front of him. He could just about reach out his arms and -

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry leapt into the air.

Ginny turned to him and smiled.

A green light shot out from Voldemort's wand.

Harry landed on top of Ginny and both of them fell hard to the ground. He looked at her numbly. A smile was still written on her face but Harry knew that it wasn't her looking back up at him. A thousandth of a second earlier and he would have tackled her to safety. Perhaps the curse would have even hit him. But that was not what had happened. He had seen what had happened. The green light had struck her just like it had struck his mother. Ginny was dead.

Voldemort raised his wand again.

"Dàsachd Tri-"

A loud explosion reverberated throughout the cavern followed by a series of sharp cracking noises. Harry looked up to see fissures developing in the flawless walls surrounding them. Suddenly, the ridge on which he and Ginny were lying began to buckle and then pitch at a sharp angle. Harry desperately reached out and grabbed onto the brittle edge, pinning Ginny's body underneath him. He looked across to see Voldemort hunched over his controls, trying to use his wand to stabilize what had just been unleashed. And as he looked up, Harry saw something else as well. A bright light shining in the cavern just above him. It seemed to gather in strength and intensity then, like a Snitch released at the beginning of a Quidditch match, it suddenly began to move in rapid circles around the enormous space. It bounded away from several walls, digging large holes and searing wide cracks. Voldemort ducked as it accelerated into his control center, setting off another loud explosion and a crackle of magical energy that erupted around the cavern like a fireworks display. The steel mezzanine area began to buckle and twist at an angle. Voldemort seized onto the control platform and managed to stop himself from falling off but he couldn't prevent the unconscious bodies of Wormtail and Nott from sliding down the surface and away into the chasm below.

Harry heard another loud cracking noise behind him and swung around to see that the wire holding the stone archway was beginning to come loose from the ceiling. The gateway started to swing back and forth like a pendulum, the veil still fluttering madly from an unseen wind. Finally, there was an enormous rushing noise and the ball of white energy whooshed right over Harry's head and rushed straight into the veil, then disappeared.

"No!" cried Harry suddenly. "NO!"

With a final burst of strength, Harry positioned Ginny's body in front of him and pushed them both up to an awkward standing position. The thick pathway that had connected the ridge to the veil was now reduced to a thin, brittle branch but it was still passable. Without hesitation, Harry picked Ginny up in his arms and ran quickly toward the gateway. The pathway splintered and cracked with each bounding stride he took but Harry only ran faster. He watched as the stone archway swung slowly back toward the pathway. Clutching Ginny tightly against him, he leapt through the air. With a final snapping, cracking sound the pathway disappeared beneath his feet. A split-second later, the cool fabric of the veil enveloped both of them.

And neither emerged from the other side.