The Metamorphmagus Who Won 1
Many of the Death Eaters were down. Harry could see Neville battling Bellatrix with Ginny at his side, and a few other Death Eaters remained standing, the battle ongoing.
Unfortunately, it wasn't entirely one-sided even if Harry had planned for the occasion. Remus had fallen to Bellatrix's Killing Curse and Moody was slain by Greyback, though he took the savage werewolf out in the process with a huge conjured silver spike.
"Diffindo!" Harry said, gesturing with his wand and sending a streak of red at a nearby Death Eater. He realized just as it sliced into their neck that it was one of the LeStrange brothers. He heard a cry of rage and turned to see Bellatrix lifting her wand, only to fall as Neville's Gouging Curse ripped through her heart and sent her topping in a spray of blood.
Moving forward, Harry cut down another Death Eater, and continued lashing out with spells, using a shield charm or dodging Killing Curses. He spotted a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye and saw Tonks surrounded by a knot of Death Eaters. Deftly waving his wand, Harry pumped a lot of power into his spell: "Diffindo!" The ribbon of red light streaked out and cut three of the men down at once. Reaching the woman, Harry called, "You all right, Tonks?"
"Better now. I wasn't sure how I'd manage to deal with all of these bastards at once. Now, I've got a good chance," she said, delving into the darker curses as she sent a trio of Bone-Breaker Curses at one of the men, shattering his shield and then his ribs, sending him twitching to the ground.
Harry chuckled, "Glad to help." He timed his spells with Tonks, sending a pair of Severing Charms at the legs of the Death Eater she attacked while he was distracted. The man fell to the ground screaming, missing one of his legs.
The man was silenced by a quick spell from Tonks. "We make a good team," she said lightly, even as she whirled to put up a magical shield to block a dark purple curse.
"We do," Harry agreed. For a brief moment, Harry wanted to flash her a smile in spite of the fact they were in the middle of a battle. Tonks took down the last of the nearby enemies, shattering his skull with another Bone-Breaker. However, Harry saw movement out of the corner of his eye and saw a white light streaking towards Tonks.
He recognized it as a powerful Sectumsempra curse. Snape's curse.
Harry knew he wouldn't be able to shield in time.
He threw himself into Tonks, pushing her out of the way of the spell. The good news was she wasn't hit, rolling deftly to her feet and turning towards Harry. The bad news was... Harry was hit. A spray of blood erupted from his body as a long, deep gash ran along his chest and caused him to fall to the ground with a pained cry.
"Harry! What the hell?" Tonks looked towards the source of the spell and released a spell chain, Bone-Breaker to Gouging Curse to Severing Charm. The Death Eater who released the spell fell twitching to the ground, and the auror spit. "Always wanted to do that to Lucius bloody Malfoy. Bastard. Harry, stay with me." She murmured a few healing spells, "Crap, why can't I heal you?"
"It was a Dark curse. Needs a counter-curse." Mind going back to the Potions book and when he saw Snape use the counter-curse, he muttered, "Vulnera Sanentur. Run the tip of your wand over the wound."
Murmuring the words, Tonks ran her wand along the deep gash. Slowly, it started to close, though Harry remained incredibly pale from lost blood. "That's doing it. What'd you do that for?" she asked, glancing around frantically.
Around them, small pockets of fighting could be seen. Neville and Ginny battling another Death Eater. Ron and Hermione fighting Macnair. "Had to. I couldn't shield fast enough, and didn't want it to hit you." He chuckled, "Hey, I got to be the hero for you, right?" He struggled to rise, "Have to get up. The snake is gone, but Voldemort hasn't shown himself yet. He's bound to with his forces nearly gone."
"Just stay with--" That's as far as the pink-haired auror got as a large explosion tore into the earth near them. Ron and Hermione went flying, Macnair falling to the ground screaming. Whirling her head, Tonks saw a familiar figure approach.
"Voldemort. This is familiar. Just like the graveyard. Too cowardly for a fair fight." Harry continued to struggle to rise, but the counter-curse didn't fully heal the injury, nor more importantly the blood loss.
"Brave talk. It doesn't look like you're in the best shape, does it?" Voldemort drawled. "Don't worry. I'll be killing you last. I want you to see your friends die, to know the price of standing up to Lord Voldemort."
"Geez." Tonks snorted, joining in the banter, "Talking about yourself in the third person. Aren't we arrogant?"
"Ah. The metamorphmagus. Bellatrix's darling mudblood niece." Voldemort chuckled, "Don't worry, girl. I won't kill you. You'll make a good toy for my men."
"Like hell," Tonks snarled. She'd had to deal with bastards like that quite often when younger. It was one reason she became interested in duelling. She snapped a trio of Bone-Breakers at Voldemort, only to see them batted aside. "And I'm a half-blood, you idiot."
"My. You actually have talent. Surprising for a half-blood with so much mud in her veins. I suppose I should test you, if only for amusement sake." Smirking, Voldemort began to attack, his spells coming so quickly his wand almost seemed to blur.
Tonks was good, very good. But she was still hard-pressed, going entirely on the defensive as she batted curses away with her wand, shielding from more while she dodged from others. She had no time to attack: this was Voldemort. Slowly she moved as she dodged, not wanting the curses to hit Harry.
Voldemort smirked at her, continuing to rain curses down upon her. Bone-Breakers. Entrail-Expelling Curses, Bone-Exploding Curses, Blood-Boiling Curses, and the occasional Torture Curse came at her. "My. I haven't seen someone last this long in quite some time," he observed condescendingly.
Tonks snarled, struggling to maintain her defences as she moved, having to dive out of the way of a trio of curses. "Yeah, well, you'll find I'm full of surprises." She risked an attack, sending a Bone-Exploding curse and paid the price: a Bone-Breaker clipped her right elbow, and she hissed. At least it didn't hit her wand arm.
"Tsk, tsk. You should have kept to the defence. Then perhaps you'd have survived long enough to run when someone else came to save you." Voldemort smirked. "Ah well, it was enjoyable."
By this time, Voldemort was facing away from Harry. Still unable to stand, Harry lifted his wand and murmured, "Praemium Os!" The dark purple spell streaked towards Voldemort, striking the man's leg.
With a loud crack, the bone shattered, shards of bone gouge out chunks of flesh in the man's leg. Voldemort whirled, forgetting Tonks in his rage, "Potter, I was going to wait, but now you will d--"
It was then that Tonks' nonverbal Blasting Curse struck his head, causing it to explode. Voldemort fell, his headless body lying upon the ground.
Done in by his own rage and arrogance.
All around them, cries of despair rose up, and the last few Death Eaters dropped their wands, lifting their hands in surrender.
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Harry lay in the hospital wing, resting. Madam Pomfrey had completed the healing of his chest, and he was now simply trying to relax. Unfortunately, he'd have a long, nasty-looking scar to show for his troubles. If he wasn't careful, he'd end up covered with the things.
Harry wished he could leave the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey insisted he stay as he had apparently lost a great deal of blood. It'd take time for the blood-replenishing potion to do its work.
At least Ron and Hermione were okay. He'd been worried about them, but they weren't in the infirmary so couldn't be too hurt.
The door to the infirmary slammed open, causing Harry to jump. In stalked Tonks, who walked up to him and sat down on the edge of his bed, "I don't know how you handle it," she said. "People won't leave me alone!"
Harry's lips curved into a smile, "What's wrong, Tonks? Not used to being famous?" He smirked, teasing, "Just wait till the newspapers arrive."
"Oh bloody hell," the girl said, her pink hair turning a deep red. "I don't want to think about it. Everyone's talking about how I defeated Voldemort. I told them how it was a team effort, but I don't know if they believed me."
Harry chuckled, "I don't know if I'd call it a team effort. You were defending me. I got a spell in, but you were the one who held him back and then blew the bastard's head off."
Tonks snorted, "Harry, you saved my life when you took that dark cutting curse for me. I'd have gotten killed if you hadn't distracted him and shattered his leg; that was a really nice Bone-Exploding curse, by the way. I definitely think it was a team effort."
Harry shrugged. Even now, he wasn't used to being given real compliments. "If you say so. I'm just glad you're all right. If I hadn't pushed you away, it'd have taken you in the back and probably severed your spine."
Tonks shuddered. You couldn't completely heal the damage from Dark curses; that's one reason they left such heavy scarring. If she'd been struck in the spine, she'd likely have been handicapped at best or paralyzed at worst. She liked being an auror. "Yeah, I especially thank you for preventing that. Though I am still upset you took the curse for me."
Harry shook his head, "You don't have to thank me. And I had to. I couldn't let it hit you." He paused, adding quietly, "You're my friend, Tonks." His cheeks were slightly flushed as he said this.
Tonks' eyebrow rose at his blush, and she smirked. She sensed blood -- metaphorically, of course. "Just a friend, Harry?" She leaned in, running a finger along his cheek, "Anything else you want to tell me?" It was nice to tease, to joke, after the stress of a battle.
"Tonks!" Harry pulled away, the light blush turning brighter. "What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. I see that blush. I've seen the way you looked at me in the past when you thought I wasn't watching." Tonks asked in a singsong, "Does Harry have a crush?"
Harry briefly wished the bed would shatter and the earth swallow him up. Blushing fiercely, he answered, "Tonks, stop it!" Something compelled him to add, "It's not a crush!"
"Oh, really? Is it more than a crush?" Tonks carolled, eyes twinkling.
She was about to say more when the door opened, and Professor Flitwick came in. "Ah, Miss Tonks. Acting Minister Shacklebolt wishes to speak to you."
Harry slumped in relief, even as Tonks turned in surprise, "Why does he wish to speak to me, sir?" she asked the diminutive professor.
"I assume it has to do with you killing Voldemort," Flitwick answered. "He's in, er, my office." He wasn't used to being Headmaster, yet.
Tonks sighed. "Again, it wasn't just me. I and Harry took him down together." Her voice held a touch of petulance. She was getting sick of people staring at her.
Harry could relate. Though at least she was famous for something she did.
Flitwick nodded his acceptance, "Well, he wants to speak to you, Miss Tonks."
"Yeah, yeah," Tonks said with a sigh. She said lightly to Harry, "Well, we'll have to continue this conversation later, Harry." Suddenly, she bent down and kissed his cheek, saying with a smirk as she rose, "See you, lover boy."
Harry closed his eyes, trying to ignore both her laughter and the huge blush on his face.
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Harry was allowed to leave the hospital wing the next day after Madam Pomfrey gave him a final examination. Making his way up a short set of stairs, he emerged into the castle's entryway.
After a moment, Harry turned to head into the great hall. Breakfast would be wonderful, and it was about that time. Entering the hall, he looked around, his gaze examining each table. The Slytherin table was sparsely populated; the only people there he recognized were Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis. The other tables had a fair number of people, including--
"Harry!" He found himself tackled by a brown-haired blur, "I was so worried, you were unconscious and there was a lot of blood. Ron and I wanted to go into the infirmary, but Madam Pomfrey said there were too many wounded and we could see you later."
"Relax, Hermione," Harry said, briefly slipping an arm around her waist to return the hug before stepping back. He still wasn't comfortable with a lot of physical contact. "I'm all right. I was hit with a dark cutting curse. But I'm fine. Tonks got the bleeding to stop quickly enough."
"What happened, exactly?" Hermione asked as they made their way to the Gryffindor table.
"The battle had gone pretty okay for us, and I was fighting the stragglers..." Harry began to tell the story, and Hermione listened.
At one point, she guessed, "You took the curse for her didn't you?" She sounded resigned.
"Yeah, well...Tonks is a friend." He continued to explain, ending with, "And then, I woke up in the healing wing, and Madam Pomfrey looked me over. She healed the rest of the gash, and gave me a blood-replenishing potion and told me to rest. She let me out this morning. I have a really thick scar, but I'm okay."
"You better be," Hermione said to him. "Ron lost a leg, but it wasn't a Dark curse so they'll be able to fix it, thank god."
"Wait, Ron lost his leg?" Harry's eyes opened wide.
"Yeah, Madame Pomfrey sent him to St Mungo's. She said that he's fine, though. But between the Skele-Gro and various regrowth potions, it'll take a week or so for the leg to grow back." She shook her head, "I was lucky, all I had was a shattered arm and leg. A bit of Skele-Gro and that was taken care of."
Harry shuddered, "Well, I'm glad that it wasn't a Dark curse. Tonks was upset at the idea of getting hit with that cutting curse, it would've hurt her enough that she couldn't be an auror anymore, and she loves her job."
"That'd be horrible. It'd be like me being unable to read," Hermione said with a joking shudder. "Or you being unable to fly a broom."
"Hey, I like to read too!" Harry protested, "I might not have taken the classes, but I read a whole lot, especially after getting entered into the stupid Tournament."
"I know," Hermione said dryly. "You roped me into helping test you on Arithmancy and Runes."
"I know! Part of me wishes I'd been able to take the classes, but Professors Babbling and Vector were unwilling to let me enter their classes during the OWL year." He shrugged, "I'm still planning on taking my OWLs and then NEWTs in them though." He grinned at Hermione, "I also plan on beating your scores."
"You wish!" Hermione said, swatting his arm with a smile.
"Probably," Harry admitted. "You know I'm better at doing stuff than theory. But I'll be happy when I get Outandings."
"Confident, are we?" Hermione asked dryly.
"You know me. I do my best work under pressure," Harry said with a smile.
"Yeah," Hermione muttered. "I remember when we were practising Banishing Charms for the Tournament and you threw me into a wall."
About to say more, both Harry and Hermione looked up as Professor-er, Headmaster Flitwick approached, "Mr Potter. Acting Minister Shacklebolt asked me to notify you that he needs you to be dressed properly tomorrow morning. He needs you at the ministry at ten in the morning."
"What's this in regards to?" asked Harry.
"He said it was going to be a press conference to tell people what happened during the Battle," Flitwick answered.
"Oh good, I can tease Tonks," Harry said, brightening. "That's almost worth having to go."
Hermione snorted. That was so Harry.
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The next morning, Harry made his way to Headmaster Flitwick's office. The gargoyle immediately let him in, and after Flitwick unlocked the floo, Harry announced, "Ministry of Magic, Minister's Office," and stepped through.
When he arrived in the Minister's Office, Harry staggered, rather happy that he didn't fall on his face like he so often did. "Ah, Harry," Shacklebolt said, nodding from behind his desk, "Welcome."
Sitting in a nearby chair was Tonks. "Wotcher, Harry," she greeted him.
"Hey, Kingsley, Tonks," Harry greeted them as he ran fingers through his hair. "What's all this involve, anyway? Headmaster Flitwick just said it was a press conference."
"Well, there's been a lot of rumours about the battle, with some rather strange stories popping up," Shacklebolt stated. "I figured it best to clear the ear before they gain traction."
"Stories?" wondered Harry.
"Yeah. Some worse than others. A few people tried to say you ran away, for instance," Shacklebolt said.
Tonks hit the arm of her chair, "Wait, what? I didn't hear that one. He took a bloody curse for me, who could say that?"
"My guess would be certain people who supported Voldemort secretly, hoping to chip away at his reputation in retaliation," Shacklebolt said with a sigh.
"I'm not surprised," Harry said after a moment. Both Shacklebolt and Tonks stared at him at how calm he sounded. "Wizards and witches are really prone to believe whatever rumour they hear. I had to deal with it at Hogwarts in my second, fourth, and fifth years especially," he said with a shrug.
"Aren't you upset?" Tonks asked in surprise.
"Oh, I am. I'd be furious if I weren't used to it. There's a reason I've been considering going muggle for a while after I graduated." Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure if I'll be able to now, the goblins are probably pissed at me."
"I saw something about that in some of the papers I was going over this morning. You broke into Gringotts, right?" Shacklebolt asked.
"Wait, what?" Tonks' hair turned white.
"I had to. One of the goblins agreed to help me in exchange for the Sword of Gryffindor. He betrayed me, though. One of the objects that was keeping Voldemort alive was in Bellatrix's vault," Harry noted.
Shacklebolt looked shocked, "An item that kept Voldemort alive? You don't mean a horcrux?"
"Horcrux?" Tonks asked.
Harry was surprised, blinking, "Now I'm a little upset at Dumbledore, he made it sound like I shouldn't tell anyone for fear of people knowing. Yeah. Voldemort made seven of them."
Shacklebolt swore under his breath, saying to Tonks, "I won't go into the exact process. But a horcrux is an object created through ritual in which the caster shatters their soul and places part of it in an object, which is called a horcrux. As long as the horcrux exists, they won't pass on, and can come back."
"Bloody hell. And one was in Gringotts?" Tonks asked.
"Yep." Harry shrugged, "I didn't know what to do, so when Griphook offered to help us for the Sword, I accepted. Then he betrayed us."
"I'll need memories," Shacklebolt said. "Where he agreed to help you, when you went into the vault, and of you destroying the horcrux. I'll make sure the goblins are handled."
"I appreciate it," Harry said. "That'll help. I am planning on buying a house in the muggle world to live in, I need access to my vault."
"Where are you planning on living?" Tonks wondered.
"I haven't decided yet. I want someplace in the countryside, with a fair amount of room. Someplace nice. With apparition and portkeys, I don't have to worry about travel," Harry said with a shrug.
"Huh, cool," Tonks said after a moment.
Brow raising slightly at the chatter, Shacklebolt rose to his feet. "We should go, it's almost time for the press conference. Let's get all of these rumours dispensed with.
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The next day, Harry opened the newspaper and saw the lead article.
LOVE ON THE BATTLEFIELD
Heroic Couple Defeats Voldemort!
By Rita Skeeter
Reading it, all he could do is sigh. "Damnit."