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A PERFECT MATCH

Chapter 21: Heroes

Dumbledore signalled Harry he wanted to talk to him. “Now, be careful Harry. Voldemort will assume you don’t have your wand and maybe he’ll try an Avada Kedavra on you, though, I don’t think he’ll be that transparent. Just remember, your only purpose is to keep him busy. Give Draco some time to find Severus. Hopefully Severus will be able to tell us whether Voldemort has taken the potion.”

Harry nodded. He hid his wand in his sleeve and went up to Malfoy. “Ready, Draco ?” The latter looked very pale and his eyes searched for Ginny. When their eyes met, he calmed down. He was doing this for her. Harry witnessed it and went to Hermione. “How long has this been going on ? No. Don’t tell me, I don’t even want to get into this. Honestly, nothing could ever surprise me after today !”

“Be careful Harry.” Hermione spoke in a little voice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll bring him back to you. And then you can do with him whatever you like, as long as I don’t have to know!” he tried to make her laugh, desperately needing some distraction as well.

They all went to Hogsmeade together. Harry took Draco by the hand and disapparated with him.

 

Dumbledore went over to Hermione, Ron and Bill. “Bill, I would like to ask you to go to the Mansion as well.” Following Bill’s nod he continued. “It’s vital Voldemort does not discover he is powerless before our attack. Therefore I would like you to perform his magic for him.” Hermione and Ron looked puzzled, but Bill seemed to know what Dumbledore was asking. He explained it to them. “I can make myself invisible. Actually, I’m quite good at it, even Alastor cannot detect me.” Hermione’s mouth dropped. “That’s fantastic !” Dumbledore hadn’t finished and looked at Hermione and Ron. “I know the both of you are very worried about what’s going on at the Mansion right now. If you want to, you can accompany Bill.” They both nodded eagerly. “Right. Hermione, I assign you the task of taking care of Severus. I know Draco will look for him, but if he is unconscious, they won’t be able to apparate here, since Draco does not know how. You will have to do it. Ron, you will let us know when the Death Eaters arrive. When they do, you apparate back here and we will send in the Aurors. Questions ?” The three of them shook their head. They all knew what to do and realised the importance of it. When they disapparated Dumbledore closed his eyes and mumbled a prayer, he didn’t know to which God, but he hoped at least one of them was listening !

 

Voldmort was still sitting in his chair when Draco and Harry came out of the forest. He jumped up, his wand ready to strike. Lucius Malfoy came running outside the house upon seeing his son.

“Draco ! Where on earth have you been ?”

Draco swallowed, this was the moment he had feared the most, it all depended now on whether he could fool them with his little act.

“You tell ME first how I got here ! I was walking into Hogsmeade and next thing I know, I’m standing in our forest.”

“We put a spell on you to bring you back here. Now, where did you say you were ?”

“I was at Hogwarts, waiting for Potter to show himself.” He said in his usual arrogant manner, then he turned to Voldemort and met his eyes. “I have brought you a present in honour of my initiation.” He had spoken calmly and Voldemort was so obsessed with Harry Potter that he didn’t question Draco’s sincerity, not even for a moment.

“Harry Potter. What a pleasant surprise.” The icy voice went straight to Harry’s stomach and he had to force himself not to twitch. Voldemort came closer and held his wand in front of him. “You will be my guest of honour tonight.” He laughed. “Together with your friend !” For a moment both Harry and Draco feared Voldemort had seen through them, before they realised he meant Snape. “You see Draco, I have a present for you as well.” He pointed at the motionless figure on the ground, outside the stone circle. “I wanted him for myself, but since you have pleased me I will give him to you. He will be your first killing as a Death Eater. What do you say about that ?” Draco forced a joyous expression on his face. “I would be delighted.” Voldemort went to sit down again. He kept looking at Harry, gesturing Draco to come and stand by his side. “Look Draco, now I will show you what the power of a Death Eater is like.” He raised his wand and aimed it at Harry. “CRUCIO!” he screamed.

At first, Harry was stunned by the absence of pain. Instantly realising Severus had been successful, he cringed and made a spectacle of himself trying to fake the pain of the Cruciatus curse. He fell down on his knees. Seeing the satisfaction on Voldemort’s face gave him proof his deception had succeeded. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice whispering from behind him.

“Harry, it’s Bill. Are you all right ? Did the curse affect you ?” Harry didn’t dare turn around  and just hissed “No, nothing, I’m ok.” 

“Fine, I will pass the message on. Be prepared for the arrival of the Death Eaters. Only a few moments later reinforcements will be here. Run for Draco and apparate with him to Hogsmeade. Then get back here. Good luck.” Bill moved back into the trees, where Hermione and Ron were hiding.

“What’s going on ?” Ron asked.

“It worked. Harry didn’t feel a thing. Now, I’m going to stand behind Voldemort, just in case he wants to do a bit of magic. Hermione, you can see where Severus is lying, yes ? Well, when the Aurors get here, go to him and drag him into the forest to apparate.” “Draco ?” she asked. “Harry will take care of him. Ron, when it looks like they’re all here, you return immediateley to Hogsmeade, will you ?”

“Of course.”

“Fine. Well, see you all back at Hogwarts then !” and he left.

 

The waiting seemed to take ages, when in fact only half an hour had passed when the Death Eaters came out of the forest where they had apparated. Ron counted more than twenty and Hermione spotted the former Slytherin-students. They were wearing a white robe and she noticed Lucius Malfoy giving one to Draco as well. The Death Eaters took their places in the circle, leaving no open spaces, while the novices stood in front of the altar. Voldemort levitated a book that was lying on the altar – in fact, Bill would be doing that -  and started to recite some latin text. Quickly, Ron disapparated and Hermione moved a little closer to the edge of the forest, ready to run towards the man she loved.

 

When Ron arrived at Hogsmeade, he immediately yelled: “It worked, he has no power, hundred’s of Death Eaters are there now !!!”

Dumbledore sighed in relief. “Alastor, Arthur, your people know what to do ?”

“Yes. You can all go now.” Alastor said to the Aurors standing behind him. He whispered something to Arthur Weasley and turned back to Dumbledore. “We will go as well. Maybe it’s best if you prepare to receive some casualties, just in case.” And then they disapparated.

 

Hermione could see some shadows emerging from the forest. She assumed it was the Aurors and noticed Harry had seen them as well. He was fumbling with his sleeve to take out his wand when Hermione saw an owl flying out of the forest, circling the altar. It was the sign to begin the attack. The Aurors had been surrounding the Death Eaters and were closing in on them. The Death Eaters looked at Voldemort in confusion. “Fools ! “ he screamed, “We have Potter and this will be the end of him !” Her raised his wand, aimed it at Harry and called out: “AVADA KEDAVRA !” But nothing happened.

Harry could see the shock on Voldemort’s face when he freezed in disbelief. His head turned towards Draco and he clawed his fingers round his neck, hissing: “You little backstabber, this is your doing.” Lucius came between them. “No master, Draco would never … “ He managed to loosen Draco from Voldemort’s grip and looked at his son. “Draco, prove to me this instant you are still my loyal son.” Lucius grabbed Harry and held him in front of Draco. “Kill him.” He said. Draco raised his wand, looked into Harry’s eyes, nodded and yelled: “EXPELLIARMUS!” aiming right at his father. Lucius yelped, his face twisted with rage. He reached out for Draco, but Harry had grabbed him and ran off with him towards the forest. Voldemort ran after them, calling out to nobody in particular: “Stop them !! Kill them !!” but no one heard him, since the Aurors had begun their attack and all wizards were engaged in duels.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Hermione hurried towards Severus. She took the time to examine him briefly. Relieved he was still breathing, she levitated him a few inches, saw the invisibility cloak lying underneath him and covered him with it. She was ready to transport him towards the forest when Voldemort blocked her way. Noticing Severus’ wand in his left hand, she needed to come up with a plan to fight him off and recover the wand. She couldn’t levitate Severus and fight Voldemort at the same time and he smiled viciously at her. “No, no, no. I will not let you run off with my prize.” He clenched his fist, ready to slam her in the face, but she was one step ahead of him and kicked him in the groin with all of her might.

She didn’t waste any more time,  took the wand and ran towards the forest. Before she apparated, she turned around and looked at the Malfoy garden for the last time. She would never forget what was taking place right in front of her very own eyes. Inside the ceremonial circle, dozens of wizards were fighting for their lives. She saw Bill Weasley getting the upper hand and smiled. Apparently Harry had returned and was now heading for Voldemort, who still hadn’t recovered from her mean kick. Curious whether Harry would kill the person that had caused him so much grief, she watched their encounter. He raised his wand and seemed to hesitate for a moment, then he aimed it straight at him. Hermione could not hear what he was saying, but saw ropes emerging from the wand, wrapping themselves around the powerless wizard. Relieved Harry didn’t use an unforgivable curse, she turned her back on the battlefield, held onto Severus and disapparated to Hogsmeade.

Dumbledore was anxious to hear some news. Only Ron and Draco had returned from the scene and they had left before the actual attack had begun. Hermione quickly filled him in on the latest developments and then escorted Severus back to Hogwarts where she took him immediately to the infirmary. Poppy Pomfrey was already on full alert and welcomed her first patient. Some of the elder students were called to assist the nurse with other possible casualties. Hermione took it upon herself to nurse Snape.

 

Late that night, it was over.

Thanks to the element of surprise, most Aurors came through without any major injuries. Only Snape’s condition seemed serious. Poppy had scanned him and concluded he had suffered some internal bleedings, together with some serious bruising. Only time would tell if he’d fully recover and he was still in a great deal of pain. Above all that, the whole ordeal had weakened him severely. Hermione tried to stay calm, believing in his recovery. She would do anything to get him back. Starting tomorrow, she was going to brew a potion that would relieve him from his remaining pain and get him back to full strength. Nothing she couldn’t handle !

Meanwhile, the students had been informed of this night’s events and were allowed to celebrate in their common rooms. The teachers, Alastor Moody and the Weasleys - including Ginny, sat together in Dumbledore’s office. “Right. Arthur, can you give us an update ?” Arthur Weasley scraped his throat. “Voldemort and his Death Eaters, together with the novices have been captured and are now incarcerated. They can rot in Azkaban until their trial comes up. Then we will decide what to do with them.”

They all looked at each other feeling a bit strange, finding it hard to believe the years of terror had finally come to an end. It all seemed so unreal !

Then Harry and Draco came bursting in, Harry catching his breath before he stumbled:

“Malfoy… Lucius Malfoy… can’t find him… he got away !”

 

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