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Another Marauder’s Sacrifice | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: None Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 32 Summary: The night of Halloween 1981 was when everything changed, when a good man laid down his life to save a child. Now years later the Potters return to the world they had left. For Harry Potter and his family this is only the beginning... Hitcount: Story Total: 27553; Chapter Total: 2103 |
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Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter Another Marauder’s Sacrifice Chapter 2: War A low beeping noise sounded through the house as Lily quickly rushed down the stairs, throwing her jacket on over herself as she entered the cellar. At the back where there had once been a mountain of dark artefacts and other assorted items now lay the familiar sight of the floating cylinder and rotating orange arrow. It was pointing north, and she had a feeling that she knew exactly where. Ever since Sirius had inherited the Headship of the Black Family and the house that came with it, they had made sure it was completely cleared of everything dangerous. The Blacks were known for their dark magic and the house absolutely reeked of it. One of the things they had found when they moved in was a locket in the possession of the Black’s family House-elf called Kreacher. After Sirius ordered him to tell them where he got it, they soon discovered that it was Sirius’ brother Regulus Black that had not only betrayed Voldemort but also managed to bring the locket to Grimmauld Place. According to Regulus it had been the Voldemort’s greatest secret… Needless to say, Lily had thrown herself into researching what it was and with the Black Family Library right there for her to look through it didn’t take her long to discover its secrets. It was a Horcrux”a container for a piece of Voldemort’s soul”and as long as it existed then the Dark Lord would never truly die. It had taken time, but Lily had created an artefact to locate any other Horcruxes that Voldemort created and Sirius destroyed the Locket with Fiendfyre of all things since it seemed to be the only thing that worked. Using the Locator Beacon she had created, James and Sirius began hunting down the remaining Horcruxes one by one. One they had found in an old shack in Little Hangleton and had to ask Albus Dumbledore’s help in retrieving it. It was a ring with another was found in a vault at Gringotts belonging to Bellatrix Lestrange, a known Death Eater sentenced to Azkaban Prison. Sirius took great pleasure in dissolving her marriage contract and seizing the contents of her vault. James and Lily nearly had a heart attack when in 1993 their eldest son Harry Potter disappeared one day only to be found by Dumbledore at Hogwarts. The Locator Beacon had somehow sent Harry to some kind of dark underground complex that Dumbledore later explained was the fabled Chamber of Secrets. Fawkes had felt him suddenly appear inside Hogwarts and flamed down into the chamber. Together with the Sorting Hat they had killed the monster inside the chamber, destroyed another Horcrux and saved the girl that it was trying to consume. It had been Harry’s first real interaction with the monster that would one day become Voldemort… Now the Locator Beacon was picking up another of the accursed things… “Another one…” Lily trailed off as she examined the artefact. “Lily?” James asked from the doorway. “…We’re going to Hogwarts,” she told him. “Right now.” “Why Hogwarts?” James blinked in surprise. “Call it a hunch,” Lily replied as she walked past him. Their eldest son had appeared at the stairs… “Mum? Dad? What’s going on?” Harry asked them. “Is it another one?” “Harry,” Lily smiled and pulled him into a hug. “Yes, there’s one up north so we’re going to go and find it.” “I’m coming with you,” Harry said clearly. “No, you’re not kiddo,” Sirius spoke up from behind them. “I’m not a kid anymore,” the Boy-Who-Lived said back. “No, you’re not,” James agreed with a nod. “You’re of age now but Rose and Evan aren’t. It’ll be dangerous”there’s no doubt about that”but if you come with us and the worst should happen, who will be there for them? You’re needed here son…” “…Damn it,” Harry gritted out and nodded. “Okay.” “…James, Sirius, let’s go,” Lily spoke up as she walked past her son. A few moments later they had left the house and disappeared with a pop… -- The first thing they noticed upon arriving at the gates of Hogwarts was the wards were up at full power and Dumbledore was standing there waiting for them. He looked grim as he saw them approach, their wands in hand expecting the worst. Behind him was Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of the school and their former Head of House. The night was starting to set in when they crossed onto the school grounds and stood before them. “What are you all doing here?” McGonagall asked the question. “We’ve found another one,” Lily answered as she looked over at the Headmaster. “Take a look,” she said as she handed the Locator Beacon over to Dumbledore. He examined it for a moment before nodding and point it at the castle, its orange arrow changing direction slightly. “Yes, I believe you are right,” he agreed. “We must make haste.” Just then he felt more than saw a brief impact against the wards over the castle and looked off into the distance. Though it was dark he could see movement, though it was still a fair bit away, but he knew this presence well. There was no doubt, Voldemort was coming, and he was bringing his army of darkness with him. There wasn’t much time. Especially if the Dark Lord suspected that they had been hunting down his Horcruxes and destroying them. “Minerva, would you kindly send a message to the rest of the Order and the Ministry. It seems we are about to have company,” Dumbledore suggested. “James, Lily, Sirius, find the Horcrux and destroy it. I will lead the defences and stop Voldemort here. Go, quickly now.” “I’ll see to it,” McGonagall confirmed. “…Good luck Professor,” James said finally as they turned and ran towards the castle. Albus only prayed that he could buy them time… -- True to her word Professor McGonagall found the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, infamous Auror Alaster ‘Mad-Eye’ Moody who then contacted both the Order and the Ministry. By the time they arrived Voldemort’s servants”his Death Eaters”and creatures descended upon the castle. The wards”powerful though they were”could only take so much punishment before they fell. After being almost constantly bombarded by spells from the Death Eaters for almost an hour to seemingly little effect Voldemort himself stepped up and unleashed a blast of pure magic at the castle. The wards fell soon after and the army of darkness swarmed in like a legion of the damned. Thankfully the defenders had not been idle and had set up defences to hopefully withstand the attack. Reinforcements from the Ministry and the Order soon arrived to bolster the defences. Inside the castle itself James, Lily and Sirius reached a door that they were pretty sure had never been there when they’d attended school here. They entered through it and found themselves inside a large room that seemed filled with an assortment of artefacts. “What is this place?” Sirius asked in wonder. “It looks like Hogwarts still has a few secrets left we didn’t find out about after all,” James commented. “…This way,” Lily spoke up as she guided them deeper into the room. They made their way through the seemingly never-ending piles of artefacts and soon found themselves turning a corner. Their wands came up as they came face to face with three Death Eaters, each of which the recognized easily. One was Peter Pettigrew, an old friend turned traitor and who had sold them out to Voldemort back in 1981. The second was Fenrir Greyback, leader of the werewolves and the monster who turned their friend Remus Lupin into one of them. The last was Severus Snape, Lily’s childhood friend and the man who effectively set her son up to die. “Lily…” Severus trailed off in surprise only to stare in shock as the man he hated above all”James Potter”stepped between them. “Potter,” he spat the name as if it were a curse. “You’re supposed to be dead.” “Stupefy!” Sirius called out as he threw a stunning spell at the Death Eaters. Greyback laughed as he deflected the spell and threw a barrage of brownish curses back, each one setting fire to the bookcases behind them. James threw himself to the side, to avoid a curse from Snape as Sirius backed off and took cover. Peter tried to flee rather than face his former friends whom he betrayed but was hit in the back by a Reductor curse from James before he could take cover. Snape on the other hand had escaped out of another door that had materialized near them, but Lily was right behind him, her wand held tightly in her hand. As Greyback continued to hurl curses at James and Sirius, they quickly ducked behind an overturned set of desks. “Lily’s gone after Snape!” James yelled over the sound of cracks as more and more of their surroundings broke apart. “We need to find that Horcrux now!” “Where’s the Beacon?!” Sirius yelled as he pointed his wand at the desks they were using as cover. “Right here!” James shouted as he held up the Locator Beacon. Lily had dropped it before taking off after Snape and he had grabbed it. “It’s pointing to somewhere behind Greyback!” “Get ready to run for it!” Sirius called out as he unleashed strongest spell. “Fiendfyre!” A torrent of fire and death sprang forth forcing him to drop his wand. Greyback was surprised as the flames engulfed him and started to spread at an alarming rate. James and Sirius didn’t stick around and wait, instead throwing themselves through the doorway and closing it behind them. The Horcrux”a Diadem once belong to Rowena Ravenclaw”was consumed and its soul fragment destroyed in a matter of seconds along with everything else in the Room of Requirement. Elsewhere in the castle Severus Snape ran like his life depended on it, unable to face the woman he ‘loved’ and still in shock over seeing the hated James Potter alive. He was certain that his accursed childhood bully was killed in Godric’s Hollow back in 1981 but somehow he was there and so was Lily. He still remembered the day that he called Lily a Mudblood and threw his lot in with the Death Eaters. He wanted her for himself”he always had”but the next thing he knew she was in the arms of the one person he hated the most, James Potter. He was overjoyed when he found out that Voldemort had killed Potter and Lily survived because then he could finally have her all to himself. It would have been even better if Potter’s spawn had perished too but that had apparently been too much to ask. Only James Potter was alive… Impossible… “Depulso! ” he heard the familiar voice call out from behind him. A second later he had to throw himself to the side as several large chunks of debris smashed down on the ground where he’d been standing. Lily was there, her wand raised and glowing a fiery red. Her green eyes were ablaze with fury as she stalked towards him, a curse on her tongue. “Where are you going Sev? Aren’t you happy to see me?” “Lily I…” Snape trailed off unsure what to say. “I know what you did Sev,” Lily told him. “It took some digging, but we found out from Aberforth that you were the one who told Voldemort the prophecy and set us up to be murdered. What? Did you think if Voldemort killed my husband and son that I would be yours?” “That’s not what I-” he started to deny even though he knew her words were spot on. “Don’t lie to me,” Lily almost growled at him. “Because of you Remus died to protect my son, because of you we’ve spent the last nineteen years in hiding, and now you’re going to pay for it.” “Protego!” Snape quickly cast a shield spell. “Incendio,” Lily uttered as flames shot forth from her wand. The flames struck the ground where Snape stood, striking the small almost completely unnoticeable runes carved into the debris. The small amount of blood she had splattered on it caused it to pulse once and then spring up, engulfing the Potions Master’s body. He screamed as James and Sirius appeared from the end of the corridor. The last thing he saw as his body was burned to a crisp was the sight of James wrapping his arms around Lily and holding her close while Sirius laughed. -- Back at Grimmauld Place, Harry sat on the couch with his brother staring at the fireplace as the worry he felt started to mount the longer his parents and Sirius were away. Little Theodora Black was playing on the floor with her toys since being a four-year-old she didn’t really understand where her father and their parents had gone. He should have gone with them, after all that was why he was here. Right? The prophecy”ramblings of an old fraud though they were”clearly said that it would all come down to him or Voldemort. But Voldemort wouldn’t stay dead until after all of his Horcruxes were destroyed and that’s why they needed to be found first. “Are mum and dad going to be okay?” Evan asked the question. “I’m sure they’re fine,” Rose answered from beside the doorway. Just as he was about to say something, the sudden feeling of what he could only describe as vertigo hit him. His vision swam for a moment as the living room he sat in disappeared. A second later his vision returned, and he found that he couldn’t move. He was outside in what looked like a courtyard, his wand in his hand and was in the midst of trading spells with an very familiar old man. “You will not win here tonight, Tom,” Dumbledore spoke clearly from across the courtyard. “Reinforcements are on their way.” “Do not call me that,” Harry felt himself sneer. “Bring all of the fools if you must, it will not make any difference to me.” Again they clashed, throwing spell after spell at each other, each more deadly than the last. Around them other witches and wizards were duelling as metal statues with sword and shields fought all manner of dark creatures. Harry saw it all, felt it all, and yet he knew it wasn’t him that was there. Eventually he managed to break through Dumbledore’s guard and wrenched the old man’s wand out of his hand. Dumbledore fell to his knees, injured but alive and watched as he caught the wand. “Tom…you…” Dumbledore trailed off as he stared. “My servants will withdraw for now so you can recover your dead with dignity,” he spoke clearly as his forces started to fall back. “Bring me Harry Potter, or I will personally kill every last man, woman and child in Hogwarts. You have one hour,” he declared before turning away and started walking to where his forces were regrouping. “Come Nagini.” No… Suddenly Harry felt himself return to normal and looked around frantically. He was back in the living room at Grimmauld Place and his siblings were both there looking at him worriedly. Even little Theodora was looking at him worriedly. He checked himself over and found that he was back in his own body, thankfully. That was horrible, listening and watching through that thing’s eyes and ears. How could that happen though? His scar maybe? But how could it be? It’s not like it was somehow connected to Voldemort… No way… That was impossible… A sudden weight settled on his stomach as he stood up sharply and he tried to breathe. The Locator Beacon used the destroyed remains of the Locket Horcrux to track down the others even though it no longer had a soul fragment inside it. So, by that logic any Horcrux would naturally be able to connect and locate others like it. Harry knew he wasn’t a Seer so visions like what he just experienced couldn’t happen, but he was a Parselmouth which he’d gotten from his scar. On top of that a couple years ago he’d had a vision of Voldemort’s snake too, His Scar was a Horcrux… And so was the snake he’d bet… “Bro, are you okay?” Evan asked looking at her older brother worriedly. “…We need to go to Hogwarts now,” Harry told them as he held out his hands. “Come on.” Confused but unwilling to let him go alone, they all grabbed his hands and they all disappeared with a pop. Harry silently thanked his father for the lessons on Apparation as they reappeared in the courtyard he’d seen in his vision. Voldemort and his followers were long gone but some of the defenders were still there combing the debris for survivors as well as recovering the bodies of those that had already died. He heard Rose gasp at the sight as he looked around, spotting a number of people disappearing into a large building at the other side of the courtyard. It didn’t take them long to enter it and they soon found themselves a large hall that had been effectively turned into a makeshift hospital. “Are you sure that you’re okay Fred?” a familiar girl with red hair asked from the side. Harry blinked in surprise as he recognized her, though she was admittedly a bit older and dare he say more beautiful than he remembered from his misadventures in the Chamber of Secrets. “I’m fine Ginny,” spoke a boy with red hair and a bandage covering his head. “It’s just a scratch.” “Just don’t overdo it,” she told him. Other people with red hair appeared around them and started talking amongst themselves with the adults fretting over their children. It was enough for Harry to come to a decision… He couldn’t let them all die… “Excuse me,” Harry said as he stepped towards them. “Yes dear?” asked Molly Weasley. “What is it?” “Can you please look after my family?” Harry asked her. “There’s something I have to take care of, and I’d rather not leave them on their own.” “Of course dear,” Molly nodded in agreement. “Much too young to be tangled up in this mess.” “Thank you,” Harry said before turning to his family. “Rose, Evan, I want you to stay here, okay? I have to go and do something.” “Do you have to go?” Evan asked the question. “Yeah, what about mum and dad?” Rose inquired further. “I’m sure that they’re here somewhere,” Harry responded as he hugged them for what he felt would be the last time. “I love you both,” he said before walking away. “We love you too,” Rose whispered after him. They would believe in him until the end… Harry walked through the school grounds, now covered by his family’s infamous invisibility cloak, and descended towards the Forbidden Forest where he could fell Voldemort was residing. On the way he spotted a pair of familiar faces walking in the opposite direction and recognized them immediately as his parents. They looked injured and exhausted but still relatively healthy. “Come on James,” Lily said as she half-dragged her husband towards the Great Hall. “We’re almost there.” “Just…need…to…catch …my…breath…” James heaved in response. Harry watched as they passed him and disappeared into the castle, the last of his reservations leaving him. He was scared of what was to come but, in the end, what he was about to do would keep his family safe. He could run away but at this point he was sick of running. That had been his life story since before he was even born. Stay hidden, run away, disappear, and stay away. It was time to end this… He reached the clearing and saw him for the first time properly. Voldemort, the monster that had been after him since before he was born all because of a prophecy that said Harry could defeat him. While it was true that Harry could defeat him, there was no way for him to do so without dying himself first so that the Horcrux in his scar could be destroyed. Harry bitterly glared up at the monster whose eyes suddenly shone in triumph, as if he had finally achieved his greatest desire. “Harry Potter…the Boy-Who-Lived…have you come to die?” Voldemort uttered. “Avada Kedevra!” The last thing he saw was a flash of green light… A second later his eyes snapped open and all he saw was white. He was on a beach of all things and could hear splashing noises as if a stone was striking the water. Turning around he saw a man standing not too far away, skipping stones across the water again and again. Confused, Harry stood up and nearly fell over when he tripped over something. Looking down he saw what looked like a small, mutilated Voldemort lying in the sand beside him, obviously in pain. “I wouldn’t worry about that thing,” the man spoke up. “It’s beyond saving at this point.” “You’re Remus Lupin,” Harry said as approached him. “I recognize you from the pictures.” “It’s been a long time Harry,” Remus smiled sadly. “Though I wished it was longer.” “…I’m dead then huh?” Harry mused. “Not quite,” Remus answered. “When Voldemort’s killing curse hit you, it also hit that thing over there,” he said as he gestured at the mutilated Voldemort. “If you want to, you can go back.” “Go back?” Harry questioned. “To what? Voldemort has an army and he’s strong enough to beat Dumbledore! What can I do?” “You can beat him,” Remus said with a smile as he pulled the boy into a hug. “Everyone believes in you, me included.” “…Why?” Harry asked the question. “Because when it comes down to it, you will always do what’s right instead of what’s easy,” Remus answered simply. “It was something Dumbledore used to tell me about the nature of people’s choices.” It would be so easy to just move on and let someone else deal with Voldemort. He was tempted”sweet Merlin he was tempted”but in the end he knew that Remus was right. Harry could never imagine himself taking a step back and letting someone else deal with his problems. Voldemort had come after him, brought an army to wage war and threatened everything. After all these years hiding in the Muggle World, he wanted to experience the Wizarding World. And for that Voldemort had to go… “I’m going back.” -- The moment that Lily Potter stepped into the Great Hall she knew something was wrong, she could feel it. It was as if someone had ripped her heart out and crushed it. Thankfully James was there to catch her before she fell over, and she shakily sat down on a bench. Sirius followed in after them and took a seat on the bench beside her. She took a deep breath before she caught a flash of red in the corner of her eye and turned to look. She recognized the Weasleys straight away however standing near them were two other redheads, ones she knew were not Weasleys. “Rose! Evan! What are you doing here?!” Lily yelled startling everyone around her. “Mum! Dad!” the two children ran over and hugged them. “Harry brought us.” “Harry?” James asked suddenly going pale. “Where’s Harry?” Footsteps started to echo from outside and Lily took off running. “Sirius! Keep the kids safe!” she yelled as she ran. She stepped out into the courtyard as the familiar form of the Dark Lord strode forward, his army at his back and a large figure beside him covered in chains. It was Hagrid standing there with tears streaking down his face as he held a body in his arms, one that Lily and James recognized. “Harry Potter is dead!” Voldemort declared to them all. “No!” Lily screamed as she raised her wand. “Silence!” Voldemort exclaimed as he wandlessly knocked her back. “Or you shall share his fate.” “Monster!” James snarled in anger as he helped Lily stand back up. “He was caught trying to flee, abandoning you all to save himself,” Voldemort proclaimed to them all. “The prophecy is fulfilled, and you have lost, old man. Surrender and I shall be merciful.” Albus Dumbledore stepped forth slowly, his body still recovering from his wounds from his last duel. He clutched his old wand”his original wand”and sighed deeply. Despite his age and the loss of the Elder Wand, he was still a formidable wizard. With the prophecy fulfilled”though it wasn’t the outcome he desired”Voldemort could now be killed by anyone who could get a lucky spell in. “It’s not over yet Tom,” Dumbledore told him. “Even in the darkest of times there shines a light.” A sudden jolt of movement caught everyone’s attention as the body in Hagrid’s hands suddenly moved on its own. Harry Potter threw himself out of Hagrid’s arms and shot to his feet. He reached into his pocket and took out his wand. Voldemort could only stare in shock for a moment as did his army and those precious seconds cost them. That brief time allowed Harry’s magic to latch onto Nagini and pulled it towards him. “Accio Nagini!” Harry called out as his free hand reached into the mokeskin pouch on his hip. In one swift motion he reached in with his free hand and pulled a familiar blade with rubies embedded in it. The Sword of Gryffindor”imbued with the venom of the Basilisk he slew five years ago”cut clean through Nagini’s head in one swing. Voldemort hissed on rage at the sight and brought his wand up. “Expelliarmus!” “Avada Kedevra!” The two spells collided in mid-air and clashed, locking against each other in crimson and emerald light. Shockwaves pulsed out, obliterating a pair of Death Eaters that were too closed to the Dark Lord. Dozens of Death Eaters fled, choosing to Apparate away rather than face the Boy-Who-Wouldn’t-Die or their Master who looked like he might actually lose against him. The defenders including James and Lily quickly brough their wands up and started throwing spells at the unsettled army of darkness, taking advantage of the confusion as much as they possibly could. On one side of the battlefield Bellatrix Lestrange tried to curse Ginny in the back as the latter fought alongside her friend Hermione Granger against the slippery Lucius Malfoy. Between the two of them they were quickly able to overwhelm him and leave him crippled on the ground. Bellatrix’s curse was deflected by a vengeful Molly Weasley whom proceeded to shatter her body with a well-placed return spell. “It’s over Tom Riddle!” Harry yelled as beam started to ‘shake’ and crack the ground around them. “No! I am immortal!” Voldemort roared back. “I will not be beaten by a mere child!” It was too late; the magic connected the two exploded outwards and knocked them both to the ground. The blast sent their wands spinning into the air and clattering to the ground in front of them. Harry was the first to recover and he quickly lunged for his wand. He grasped it tightly as he threw all of his magic into one single spell. Voldemort didn’t have time to rise before the most powerful spell Harry knew hit him dead center in the chest. “Fulmen Maxima!” Lightning flashed and thunder sounded across the battlefield as Voldemort’s body was struck by a dozen thunderbolts in a matter of seconds. His body”held together with dark magic and blood”fell apart and what remained of soul appeared to dissolve into nothingness. Finally, the lightning strikes stopped, and everything fell silent. Harry Potter stood for a moment before walking forward and picking up the Elder Wand. He raised it high and then fell back onto his bum. A split second later was when the cheers sprang up from around him… |
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