Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Cannot Save You Now	By : tigrelilje Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 15706 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter fandom nor do I make any money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Just the vampires.
Warnings: Violence and gore
A/N: Only took 3 years… 4 years?... to agonize my way through this chapter… I can’t tell you how many times I just deleted entire sections and started over again.
Special acknowledgement to those who periodically sent me PMs and provided some subtle encouragement. Thank you for reminding me that I had people waiting on me to finish this adventure.
Also, I obviously had to re-read this story before completing this chapter and the rest of the story. Sorry I did not clarify earlier that I have been writing this with the assumption that Dumbledore still destroyed the ring before the beginning of their sixth year, though he was not fatally injured.
Chapter 26
Tristan stared out at the woods surrounding his manor with Remus at his side. He could feel every trace of his humanity leaving him as he prepared to fight the enemy he knew was closing in on him and his people.
Rogues.
There was no mistaking their corrupted scent or the glowing red eyes that were starting to become visible within the forest. If Jasper really was the leader of the rogues, as Tristan was beginning to suspect, he didn’t understand why they would be attacking now when Harry wasn’t even here to use against Tristan. A dark foreboding washed over Tristan at those thoughts as his people started to stream out of the manor in response to the threat closing in on them. He glanced at the man next to him and saw his determination to join the fight. He hoped no harm came to him for the sake of his Son and, perhaps, he was fond of the man, too.
All was quiet and in the next instant dozens of rogues, more than Tristan thought possible to be in one place, were charging them at lightning fast speeds. With a snarl, Tristan sprinted forward at a faster rate than Remus could maintain in his human form and decapitated the first rogue he came into contact with, not even bothering to use magic. It was a little hard to think rationally when he was in this state. His mind was hyper focused on his enemy while at the same time unable to concentrate and remember what was happening around him. Everything was a blur of movement and violence as he danced a bloody path through the invaders.
Tristan scanned the area for his next victim when he saw one of his own people cut down by an enemy rogue. It took Tristan a moment to realize that he actually recognized the rogue. Damian, the traitorous scum that escaped from his manor. He had wondered if the vampire had gone to Jasper and his speculations were now confirmed. Mind made up, he approached Damian at such speeds that the other vampire only had time to widen his eyes as he turned to the new threat before his head was rolling away from him, eyes still widened in surprise and fear. No mercy for an enemy.
Even if he had once called them a friend.
Tristan was startled when a bright white light shot towards him but relaxed when he realized it was a Patronus and not a dangerous spell. His relief quickly fled when he realized it was Harry’s Patronus.
“ Voldemort is attacking Hogwarts! ”
Harry didn’t elaborate, Tristan knew his Son was requesting support. Tristan caught Remus’ eye nearby, the werewolf looking in concern at him after recognizing Harry’s Patronus. As Tristan surveyed the carnage that had become his yard, he felt a blinding rage take him. These rogues were keeping him from helping his Son! He needed to destroy them quickly. As he realized that this was a distraction from the battle he was really interested in, another chilling thought occurred to him.
Where was Jasper?
With a roar of anger that spurred his people on to new heights of brutality, Tristan began to unleash his powerful and ancient magic, utterly decimating the rogues around him. Those of his people that could use magic began to tap into their own powers while fighting, pulling back from that edge of insane bloodlust that could take any of them at any time and turn them into a creature like the rogues they were fighting.
The rogues’ numbers were severely depleted, though they continued to fight. Tristan carelessly punched his hand through the chest of one vampire, ripping out his heart while flicking a shredding curse in the direction of another. Both vampires were dead before they hit the ground. While Tristan flicked his hand to rid it of excessive blood, he froze as he saw his brother across the battlefield ripping his way through his people who hesitated when they saw his twin. Their hesitancy caused their death, not that many could have matched him or his brother in strength.
Snarling in rage, Tristan started fighting his way through the chaos surrounding him towards Jasper. The few rogues left in his path tried to escape his rage but he killed them before they scrambled too far.
He was still one hundred feet from Jasper when his brother looked up and caught his eye, smirking cruelly before he disappeared. Cursing, Tristan surveyed the battle around him, taking note that the last of the rogues were being ended as he watched. Confident that his people could handle the rest, he took off into the forest in the direction he thought Jasper may have gone.
He caught his brother’s trail and followed it until it abruptly disappeared right outside his Anti-Apparition wards. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his adrenaline and frustration before turning around to sprint back to his manor. He couldn’t just leave his people without any explanation after their battle. He had already been here too long since Harry’s Patronus came, but he also had a duty to his people.
He burst back into the middle of the carnage that was his yard before issuing orders to the nearest vampires.
From Tristan’s manor, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy watched the fierce battle come to a close. Both were pale and shaken. Vampires were dangerous, far more so than they had ever realized.
Watching Tristan battle had made Lucius truly realize how lucky he was to be under the protection of the ancient creature, as reluctant as it was. Voldemort didn’t hold a candle to the power of Tristan. Had the vampires ever wanted to dominate wizards, Lucius was sure they could without much trouble. He had also found a new uneasy appreciation for Remus, who he had never believed to be a true concern, too fearful of his lycanthropy to ever embrace it and be a threat.
However, his greatest concern right now was the appearance of what he assumed was Harry’s Patronus during the battle. With his wife at his side, they headed to the edge of the Anti-Apparition wards surrounding the property and were only moments behind Tristan as the vampire leader Disapparated to Hogwarts as they avoided Remus trying to stop them from following.
Severus watched with a convincing air of calm while the Dark Lord worked to dismantle the wards around Hogwarts. He was not supposed to be here, in full Death Eater regalia, easily mistaken as an enemy by the side he truly fought for. He couldn’t just disappear until the Dark Lord, and specifically Bellatrix, were too distracted to notice him. She had never trusted him and he did not appreciate her uncannily observant eye on him at the moment.
He hoped his Patronus reached Harry in enough time to form some level of counterattack. He positively burned watching the weaker Death Eaters storm Hogwarts while he could do no more than calmly watch them. It was hard to maintain his calm while he imagined all the horrible things that could happen to the children he reluctantly taught each day.
He was brought out of his morbid daydreams by the Lestranges surging forward as the wards wore down to their last few threads. Severus cursed under his breath and pursued them as discreetly as possible. He couldn’t help Harry with his burden but maybe he could relieve some of the burden if he was cautious. Unfortunately this almost immediately became impossible as his three quarries went in different directions with Bellatrix breaking off from her husband and brother-in-law to cause her own brand of mayhem. After hesitating, Severus decided to pursue quantity over quality and followed the brothers.
Hoping the chaos of battle would cover his actions, Severus quickly Disillusioned himself and took aim at the brothers’ backs as they entered the fray. He needed to end them both quickly before they got too far into the crowd and made it impossible for Severus to hit them instead of their victims. He hoped the added bonus of the spells coming from behind them would take them by surprise enough to allow him a swift victory.
“Sectumsempra! ”
He barely murmured the incantation of his own, personal cutting curse but the force of his intent made it just as powerful as ever. It sliced towards the brothers’ backs. Years of paranoia and raids must have gifted them with a sixth sense because both brothers whipped around right before the curse struck them. Rabastan only had time for his eyes to widen before the curse caught him in the chest and part of his throat. Rodolphus was luckier and managed to avoid most of the spell, only taking a cut to his arm as he violently flung himself out of the way. His wild eyes darted to his brother next to him, dead or soon to be, before searching out their attacker with Severus’ name snarled from his lips. Clearly, he recognized the Potions Master’s signature move.
Sparing only a moment to mourn his unlucky break, Severus immediately engaged with Rodolphus before he could recover and regain his feet. Unfortunately, Rodolphus wasn’t one of Voldemort’s top Death Eaters for nothing and he still managed to deflect most of Severus’ curses as he got his wits about him. Severus may have been Disillusioned but that didn’t stop Rodolphus from flinging curses wildly in his direction with abandon, something Severus wasn’t willing to do and chance hurting one of the students or Order members that were scattered about.
Severus grimaced at his predicament but before he could get too flustered, Tonks noticed Rodolphus’ distraction from behind and quickly focused her attention on him, sending a flurry of spells at his back. Severus was sure they wouldn’t kill Rodolphus, but it was enough of a distraction for Severus to land a fatal hit with another Sectumsempra . He wished Bellatrix could see her fallen husband and know she was right about him all along.
Severus quickly retreated to the outskirts of the chaos and tried to spot Voldemort’s most ardently loyal supporter. His breath caught when he spied his own son engaged with the insane woman. His hand clenched violently around his wand before he got himself under control and let out a tense breath. Harry could handle her, Severus was more than sure. He would keep to the sidelines and curse as many Death Eaters as he could now that he had taken out two of the most problematic ones.
He would just have to trust in his son to prevail.
Neville grimaced as he lay flattened on the broom he had decided to use to speed up his search for Nagini. This was possibly one of the most foolish things he had ever done. His skills with a broom had not increased over the years from his disastrous flying lesson in first year. He was pretty sure the only reason he hadn’t instantly crashed this broom was because he was so focused on his duty to find Nagini that he wasn’t allowing himself to think about his fear of flying.
Ciaran was wrapped tightly around his left forearm, with his head resting on Neville’s tightly clenched hand. He may not be able to understand his snakely companion but Neville had a feeling that he was equally as uncomfortable with flying as Neville was. Certainly, he didn’t need to grip his left arm so tightly.
Before he had set out, Harry had coated Neville with some strong Scent-Masking and Silencing charms. As an afterthought, he’d also shot a Notice-Me-Not Charm at the Gryffindor. Looking for Nagini was dangerous, but Neville was determined to do his part in this fight. He hoped Harry’s spells would give him an edge in the coming fight, because he was sure there would be one. Just ahead, the edge of the Forbidden Forest, his destination, was steadily coming closer.
Neville took a deep breath and forced himself to relax as he slowly flew into the forest. Ciaran’s head perked up a little bit now that they had reached their destination. Neville weaved, very slowly, in and out of the trees. He generally knew where the wards to the school ended and hoped Nagini would be located somewhere along them within the forest.
Suddenly, Ciaran tightened his grip on Neville’s arm and thrust his head out quickly to the left. Neville’s heart rate picked up against his will and his hands abruptly felt much too sweaty to have a tight grip on the broom. Ciaran had picked up Nagini’s scent and was directing him to her. With every instinct in his body prickling and telling him to turn in the opposite direction, Neville grimly guided his broom to the left and cautiously scanned every inch of the forest that he could see.
They flew at a snail’s pace for a few minutes, Neville barely daring to breathe. His heartbeat was thumping in his ears, though he tried in vain to calm it. This was the moment of truth. Whether he would be able to help his friend and avenge his parents.
The back of his neck prickled and Neville felt a shiver of animalistic dread run down his spine. His anxiety caused him to momentarily lose control of his slow pace and shoot forward a few feet quickly. His loss of control saved his life.
With a silent yell, a force struck the back of his broom just missing him and sent Neville on a crash course with a nearby tree. He struck the tree with a painful thud and fell to the ground. Slightly dazed with a profusely bleeding gash at his temple, but with excessive amounts of adrenaline coursing through his veins, Neville regained his footing in record time and whirled around just as his attacker was getting ready to launch herself at him again.
Before Nagini could move toward him, however, Neville saw a black streak hit her in the side, distracting her. Neville quickly fumbled with the sword of Gryffindor at his belt while Ciaran bought him a few moments. He finally released the sword right as Nagini got a lucky shot at Ciaran and threw him into a tree.
Neville focused on the massive snake now lunging at him. Some unknown instinct that he didn’t know he possessed must have made an appearance, because as he swung the sword much faster than he thought possible, he caught Nagini in her gaping mouth and the snake’s own momentum caused her to be split in half from head to tail.
In morbid slow motion, Neville watched the two halves of the snake fall to the ground around him as he stood in shock. He jumped violently when a haunting shriek filled the forest and watched in horrified satisfaction when a dark cloud fled the dead snake’s body and dispersed into tiny wisps.
His adrenaline was still pumping and he could hardly believe it was already over. A slight movement in his peripheral vision made him spin around, ready to fight again, before he realized it was only Ciaran struggling to move. Neville dashed to the side of his friend’s familiar.
“Ciaran, are you okay?” Neville asked, gently touching the snake. He got a slow nod in response. Hoping the snake was just dazed, he carefully lifted him to wrap around his shoulders. Neville turned around to the body of Nagini and grimaced before levitating her to trail in his wake.
His part was complete. The Dark Lord had no more Horcruxes to keep him safe. Harry could end it once and for all now.
Fred and George were scrutinizing the hump of the one eyed witch statue on the third floor corridor, barely twitching a muscle. They had taken a gamble and gone alone to search for Pettigrew instead of bringing others with them as Harry had suggested.
Harry .
They couldn’t believe he was alive, in a manner of speaking. In fact, the whole situation felt a bit surreal. However, for now they would concentrate on their task to make Wormtail pay for betraying his fellow Marauders.
The twins hadn’t really come to a plan until they saw Peter slowly making his way down the secret passageway leading to the one eyed witch statue. Thankfully, he was only accompanied by four other Death Eaters and no one they recognized. They hoped that meant they were some of the dregs of Voldemort’s ranks.
The Death Eaters still had a large distance to travel through the tight passage and Fred and George made the most of their time preparing. They were outnumbered and so were going to have to use the element of surprise. There was the added difficulty of timing the traps so they wouldn’t go off before all of the Death Eaters had exited the passage. If they went off at the first sign of movement, then the rest of the Death Eaters would turn right back around and escape.
“Are you thinking….”
“...what I’m thinking?”
The twins grimaced at each other, knowing they had both come to the same undesirable conclusion. They were going to have to stay close at hand to trigger the traps themselves once all of their targets had arrived. On the bright side, manually triggered traps were much harder to detect since the magic stayed inert until activated.
The highest concern was making sure that their traps took out Wormtail right away. His animagus form was too easy to lose sight of and he was their main target. With determined, but slightly evil, grins, they set about turning the entire corridor and adjacent hallways into a domino effect cascade of violent booby traps. They figured if they overwhelmed the enemy right off the bat and left no room for escape they had the best chance of coming out on top with minimal damage. They felt a sliver of unease but pushed it aside to concentrate on their task.
Twenty minutes later, the twins were hidden in an alcove under Disillusionment Charms, Silencing Charms, and scent masking charms; barely breathing and staring raptly at the hump of the statue. The map showed that the Death Eaters were at the base of the secret passageway…
When the hump moved, Fred and George tensed painfully as they watched a small rat slip through and descend to the floor. No one else emerged. The rat paused before slowly creeping around the edges of the hallway and looking down the other hallways. Wormtail was clearly scouting the area for the coast to be clear. Apparently satisfied, the rat scurried back toward the statue and transformed back into his too-rat-like human form. The twins breathed a silent sigh of relief to see he was once again a large target before adrenaline hit their system as they watched the Death Eaters emerge from the statue.
By some previously discussed strategy, the Death Eaters began to slink toward the main staircases, in the opposite direction of the twins’ hiding place as they had hoped. George tightened his hand on Fred’s arm as their foes moved far enough away from the statue for their plan to begin. The twins silently thanked their many hours of research into obscure spells and magic in their quest to become the best pranksters as they set their plan in motion.
Fred and George simultaneously released a small shot of raw magic into a set of runes near them that were connected to other runes in the hallways branching off this one.
The Death Eaters froze for a moment, hearing the sounds of voices coming from all directions, not realizing they were only hearing an illusion. The twins used their distraction to leave their hiding spaces to quickly come up behind the Death Eaters. Perhaps due to spending many years in the form of a prey animal, Wormtail whipped around right before the twins reached them. His eyes widened comically as he noticed the telltale distortion of the air caused by Disillusionment Charms and started to raise his wand.
Before he could, George hit him with a Petrificus Totalus just as Fred released one of their Portable Swamps in an effort to trap the Death Eaters. As he activated it, both twins dropped to the ground, allowing themselves to be submerged in their own prank. As they knew which spells allowed for escape and the continued ability to breathe, they quickly crawled their way to the edge of the swamp down one of the side hallways.
While the twins were escaping, the Death Eaters were given no chance to analyze their situation before a multitude of other spells were activated. Once the twins had activated their illusion runes, the rest of the spells they had set around the area became active. Some animated suits of armor took their chance to shoot arrows at the Death Eaters. Two were caught unawares and dropped into the swamp with gurgling cries as they died from their wounds and suffocated beneath the swamp. The other two Death Eaters avoided the arrows by sheer luck since they were currently attempting to dodge the spells the twins had set up around the room that were targeting them as they were stuck in the swamp. It may not have been the most awe-inspiring feat of magic, but it was effective against an enemy caught unawares.
Fred and George emerged from the swamp in time to see one of the remaining Death Eaters conjure a shield in panic to avoid more arrows coming toward him and decapitate the paralyzed Wormtail who was slowly sinking below the swamp’s surface. The twins froze in horror at the gory display.
The second Death Eater saw them and took their moment of shocked surprise to unleash a cutting curse at them while the shielded Death Eater met his untimely end with an axe from behind, courtesy of one of the suits of armor.
George cried out when the cutting curse hit his side and Fred snarled in rage as he sent an overpowered Bombarda at the last remaining Death Eater. His anger must have fueled the spell more than he expected because in the next moment, the last Death Eater fell into the swamp with a bloody mess where his head had been. Fred only had a moment to feel disgusted over what he had done before he was snapped out of it by the pained moans of his twin.
Turning his back on the macabre scene, he cast a lightening charm on his brother before hefting him into his arms and sprinting away down the hall.
“Come on, Georgie, Harry will be proud. Now, let’s get you to Madam Pomfrey.”
Dumbledore was left in shock as he watched Harry race out of the hallway to confront Voldemort.
“ Now you don’t need to think of a clever way to kill me. ”
He closed his eyes in pain for a moment, understanding that he would never be forgiven. When the castle shuddered again, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and sent off a Patronus to the Head of the DMLE at the Ministry, hoping their Aurors would arrive in time. With that done, he poured as much magic as he could into the wards so they would hold a bit longer.
By the time he exited through the front doors, the lawn of Hogwarts already looked like a battle ground. Bodies were strewn about without a care and he was dismayed to see more Order members than he liked in that category. He observed as his people threw stunners and other harmless spells at their much deadlier enemy. The only exception were his members of the Order that were also Aurors. However, even they were influenced by the regulations of their careers.
Dumbledore observed the chaos all around him and couldn’t help but feel as though it were all his fault. Every member of the Order that fell. His fault for leading them to this. Every Death Eater that fell. His fault for allowing Tom to influence them. Harry, fighting even though he had already died at the hands of his caretakers. His fault for leaving him with the muggles. And Tom himself. His fault for never stepping in when he was still just a boy. His fault that so many had suffered over the years due to one unwanted and unloved boy who was never given a chance.
With a sigh of regret, Dumbledore shed his desire for second chances, for peaceful negotiations, and settled into his most hated persona. Warrior.
This time, though, he would be saving those who chose to follow him. He would not be the one wrapped up in the ultimate fight. He would save who he could and leave Tom to Harry. Perhaps he could take a step towards redemption today.
Draco and Theo were roughly heading in the direction of Severus’ quarters to hide until the end of the confrontation, deciding the Slytherin common rooms weren’t a place they wanted to be currently.
Draco was lost in his own thoughts. He had been hesitant to commit to being a vampire after learning that some vampire mate’s stayed human. He had not considered how that would cause their vampire to react. Now he was feeling the repercussions of his decision, being kept out of the fight that his mate was in. Draco didn’t regret his decision to stay human but he did regret that the current situation was throwing his decision in his face.
Draco was sure he would eventually consent to the change but currently he hadn’t felt ready to make it. Now he was forced to admit his reluctance was stopping him from acting as he wished. He wanted to be there for Harry and protect his mate as much as he knew his mate desired to protect him. As Severus’ quarters came into view, Draco made a split second decision that he hoped he wouldn’t regret later.
Theo spoke the password and stepped into the living quarters of his godfather while Draco stepped back. Before Theo could react, Draco spoke the password that would seal the quarters from all attempts to enter until his godfather came back to disable his wards. With a momentary flash of guilt, Draco turned around and sprinted back toward the main entrance of the castle. He wasn’t going to join the fight and compromise Harry’s concentration and safety, but he would be damned if he didn’t at least try to watch and be there for his mate from a distance. Hopefully Theo wouldn’t be too mad at him.
As Draco drew nearer to the Entrance Hall, he slowed down to proceed with a modicum of caution. His mad sprint had inadvertently caused his adrenaline to spike. He took a slow, calming breath but it quickly became clear that his body was not in the mood to listen to his calming attempts.
He slunk toward the main door, which had been left open a crack, to spy on the mayhem outside. He flinched at his first glimpse of bodies strewn about the lawn. He would never be able to look at Hogwarts the same way again.
He was confused as he watched Hermione crying over a body with red hair while Blaise stood behind her on alert, protecting her back while she fell apart. Was that Ron or another Weasley? How had that come about? He wanted to help his new friend but knew he needed to stay hidden. His eyes were drawn to Dumbledore, weaving between different battles to rescue his Order members and students alike before they could be killed by their deadly opponents. His eyes frantically scanned the chaos for his mate and finally found him prowling forward to engage his aunt, Bellatrix, in battle. Draco’s eyes widened in horror, unconsciously taking a step forward.
The skin on the back of Draco’s neck prickled, forcing him to whip around as his instincts took over. He only had time for his eyes to widen in horror before he was grabbed roughly and dragged away.
“Ickle baby Potter, are you ready to join my dear cousin?”
Harry glared fiercely at the witch opposite him as she burst into demented giggles. She was proving to be more wily than he had expected. His superior speed should have overwhelmed her easily, though it appeared her insanity was giving her an unexpected edge. Bellatrix fought without any consideration for her own safety and it made her a terrifying and powerful opponent. He silently thanked any powers that may be that she was content to be a follower rather than a Dark Lady. If it weren’t for the fact that she was less powerful than Voldemort, Harry suspected she would be a far deadlier opponent than their current Dark Lord.
Harry had not abandoned his knife, still hoping he could conserve his magical strength for when Voldemort made an appearance. He was currently using a strange mix of magical and physical strength to overwhelm his opponent. The physical aspects of his assault were proving to be a weakness for Bellatrix, though not enough of one for him to be able to rely solely on it.
Harry wanted to make her pay for the death of his godfather, Sirius. However, he had to acknowledge that the current situation wasn’t going to allow him to take his time with revenge. It was hard to reign in his bloodlust but thinking of the safety of his mate helped control his more animalistic rage.
He reveled in her scream of rage as he clipped her with a more gruesome version of the cutting curse that also made the victim feel a jolt similar to a Cruciatus Curse for a moment. In her moment of distraction, Harry noticed two things simultaneously.
One, Voldemort had finally appeared on the battlefield.
Two, Neville was emerging from the Forbidden Forest with the remains of Nagini floating behind him.
Unfortunately, Voldemort noticed Neville only a moment after Harry did. His face contorted into blind hatred and fear and Harry knew he needed to end Bellatrix now at any cost before he lost another friend.
In a burst of speed and magic, Harry flew toward Bellatrix while she was distracted by her master’s enraged magic. Her eyes widened in panic and she attempted to thrust her wand at him right as Harry slit her throat with his dagger and followed it up with a powerful hit on the back of her head to knock her out. He wouldn’t put it past her to still unleash a deadly spell while dying from blood loss. As she crumpled, Harry caught her body and drank as much of the blood pouring out of her throat as he could to replenish his strength before racing to meet Voldemort. He really could have done without her psychotic rage that was being transferred through his empathy while he touched her. Hopefully, he could control those emotions quickly. He grimaced a little to himself. He was definitely going to have a borderline blood addiction like some pathetic rogue by the end of this battle.
Before Voldemort had a chance to concentrate on blasting Neville, Harry crashed into his side. Only Voldemort’s supernatural ritual enhanced reflexes kicking in at the last moment prevented Harry from slashing his head off. Voldemort whipped around with a snarl, a long gash running down his neck and part of his shoulder, showing Harry’s trajectory. Harry had crouched low and dug into the ground with his feet and dagger-occupied hand to control his landing. Which was for the best since he immediately had to leap into the air as a concentrated blast of raw magic shot toward him from Voldemort’s wand.
As he landed, he and Voldemort took a moment to assess each other. Harry watched Voldement’s eyes widen slightly as he took in Harry’s rather bloody and disheveled appearance. He was sure he looked positively demonic and feral, not a look Voldemort would be used to seeing on him. Harry smirked a little despite himself as Voldemort’s face transformed into a sneer.
“Harry Potter,” he snarled quietly, “aren’t you a sight as the beacon for the Light?”
Harry rolled his eyes. Beacon for the Light? Those days were long gone.
“Hardly,” Harry said condescendingly, slowly lowering into a crouch, “my decision to confront you has nothing to do with my role as the Boy-Who-Lived.”
Before he had finished speaking, Harry was already preparing to fire an Entrail Expelling Curse at Voldemort wordlessly. Of course Voldemort was ready, but at least the pointless talking was over. Harry wanted this done and over with. No more stalling. No more draws. This would be the final confrontation no matter what happened, he was determined to see this through.
He even had something to live for now.
With thoughts of Draco and his Father fueling him, Harry mostly abandoned conventional wizarding spells and fighting techniques. He was more like a whirlwind of motion and violence. He did his best to keep in close range of Voldemort, slashing with his dagger as often as he unleashed magic from his wand, careful not to cast near Voldemort’s own wand. His magic was mostly just raw and untamed. He did not want a Priori Incantatem incident right now. His savagery seemed to be affecting Voldemort because the Dark Lord’s spells were changing to raw blasts of power with only the occasional Avada Kedavra thrown into the mix.
This final battle was going to end up being a test of raw strength and endurance.
Tristan appeared on the outskirts of Hogsmeade, quickly dismissing the chaos around him. He heard two cracks of Apparition near him and whipped around to see Draco’s parents. He ignored them and sprinted to the gates of Hogwarts at vampiric speeds. Or what was left of the gates of Hogwarts.
As he ran through the dilapidated structure onto the grounds of the ancient school, he saw his Son engaging with his, now hopefully, mortal enemy. An icy fear gripped his heart but before he could make a move to help him, his preternatural senses alerted him of danger and he ducked just in time to avoid a blow from his estranged twin brother. Snarling, he focused all his attention on the threat and prayed his Son would cope without him.
“Tristan,” Jasper hissed, looking more deranged than Tristan had ever seen him. He felt a moment of sorrow that his brother was so far gone. But only a moment. Their paths had taken them in such different directions that they could barely be more than strangers at this point. Tristan preferred to remember the brother he once had and regard this current monster as little more than a wild animal that needed to be put down.
Without a word Tristan jumped at Jasper, determined to end his miserable existence.
Harry watched in a kind of awed slow motion as his moment to end his battle presented itself. Voldemort stumbled after Harry blasted the ground at his feet. The Dark Lord, despite being a fearsome opponent with terrifying amounts of magic at his disposal, was wearing down faster than Harry. With his heart in his throat, Harry dashed forward and thrust his hand into Voldemort’s chest right before the Dark Lord regained his footing. Time seemed to still as they stared at each other wide eyed and Harry did his best to overcome the crippling terror he was feeling that wasn’t his own.
Then Harry grinned savagely.
“Goodbye Tom!”
He ripped his hand out of Voldemort’s chest, heart clenched in his fist. The most feared Dark Lord stared at his own heart before falling to the ground, dead.
The Death Eaters didn’t last for more than a few moments after that, their Dark Marks reacting violently to the death of their creator. Harry watched as the remaining Dark forces were quickly subdued, filled with a sense of disbelief. Was it really over?
A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he felt his heart strangle him again, this time in terror. He watched as a rogue vampire grinned at him as he drew his hand back, poised to strike.
Right into Draco’s chest from behind.
His eyes met Draco’s, both of their eyes huge with fear, regret, terror. He would never get there in time to save his mate. The vampire’s hand struck as Harry was paralyzed with horror.
A crack filled the air, almost drowning out Harry’s horrified screams.
Tristan faltered as he felt his Son’s heart break and panic through their bond. Jasper gleefully pounced in his moment of weakness, laughing maniacally. And Tristan suddenly realized it was all a set up, like a sickly reenactment of their own past. But Tristan didn’t have a mate for Jasper to kill and so his Son suffered in his place.
It was all to make him suffer.
Instead of allowing their bond to overwhelm him, Tristan shut out everything except his impotent rage. Jasper momentarily froze in shock and that was all Tristan needed.
He lashed out with his hand, magic reacting to his desire, and watched as Jasper’s head fell to the ground with an expression of surprise permanently etched in its face.
Tristan turned away and dashed to his Son without a glance back at the stranger who was once his brother.
Harry was frantically checking Draco’s vitals, hoping he had been able to begin his transition to a vampire before it was too late.
Dumbledore, in a last act of heroism, had used his privilege as Headmaster to Apparate within the grounds and place himself directly between the rogue vampire and Draco. He had taken the majority of the attack, dying instantly, but not completely stopping the vampire’s hand from impacting Draco as well. But it was enough to prevent Draco from dying instantly.
Harry was aware of Draco’s parents standing to his side, but not interfering with his attempt to turn their sole heir into a vampire. He hoped they wouldn’t pull away from their son if he became a vampire, not that their desire had crossed Harry’s mind while he was attempting to save his mate.
Moments later, he felt his Father come up behind him as he felt Draco’s pulse stop completely. Harry started to hyperventilate. He had been too late. He couldn’t breathe. He felt hands land on his shoulders and shake him but he could barely process it. He felt a brush against his ear followed by harsh murmuring.
“Harry! Calm yourself! Draco will be fine, he won’t wake up immediately. We have to leave now, if you don’t want to be caught up with the Aurors or Ministry!”
Tristan’s voice broke him out of his panic and he looked down at his precious mate, looking like a fallen angel covered in blood. His Father was right. He just had to be patient.
Voldemort was defeated and Harry Potter would disappear with him once and for all.
A/N: Epilogue coming… yes, I promise it really is! Already written, just needs some editing and polishing!
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