Reposted: February 20, 2022

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Happy belated holidays! Have a chapter.

Summary: Tom continues his search for Harry.

Before Tom reached the hospital wing, multiple wizards leapt out and surrounded him. He managed to knock out two before his wand was wrenched out of his hand. Undeterred, Tom punched one of his attackers in the face, feeling their nose break under his knuckle. As they tried to staunch the bleeding, Tom retrieved his wand and had them bound in rope.

He continued to the hospital wing, only to come across another fight between the intruders and a cluster of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. Tom glimpsed the Patil sisters fighting side by side and four boys, three from from Ravenclaw, one from Gryffindor, were driving back several people who looked like they were regretting coming here.

Then someone let out a scream.

All fighting ceased for a moment as something very long and very large appeared at the other end of the corridor.

'Athanasia!' Tom exclaimed, grinning. 'How did you get out of the Chamber?'

"Me!" To Tom's astonishment, Sirius jumped out beside her. He was bleeding from a cut in his forehead, but his were bright. He bounded over to Tom's side. "I told her not to use her eyes. Don't want to kill any of the students by accident." He cast a sly glance at the gaping intruders. "But they won't know that."

'Perfect!' Tom hissed. 'Athanasia, you know what to do.'

'On it, Tomling!' Athanasia lunged forward and snapped up one of the intruders.

Lavender squealed and looked away as the wizard's cry was abruptly cut off.

"You!" Tom called to the nearest Ravenclaw. "Get your housemates out of here. It's gonna get ugly."

"On it!" The Ravenclaw grabbed one of his friends by the arm and began pulling him away. Seeing this, Hermione did the same with the Patil twins.

Tom hadn't been wrong; Athanasia was snapping up the intruders like they were twigs. No spell seemed to penetrate her hide, and when the intruders realized this, it was too late for them to run.

"Where are the others?" Tom demanded.

"Severus is at the hospital wing helping Madam Pomfrey, Remus is looking for injured students, I don't know where Harry is."

"Isn't he in the hospital wing?"

"He must've left right before I arrived."

"Shit." Fear churned in his stomach.

Sirius seemed to be struggling to remain calm. "But you know he's still alive, right?" he demanded. "You can feel him through the bond?"

Tom nodded. It was the only thing keeping him from completely losing it. He concentrated now, mentally reaching for Harry.

Sirius watched with bated breath.

Then Tom's eyes snapped open, alarmed.

"What is it?" Sirius grabbed his shoulders.

"I — I don't know. One moment, he's there, the next he's not." No. This couldn't be it... Not after all these years of waiting.

Then the voice came, echoing through the castle.

"Tom Riddle," boomed Albus Dumbledore, "I have with me your bonded."

"Harry!" Tom whispered hoarsely, gripping Sirius' arm.

"Come to the Shrieking Shack alone and no one else will be harmed. I will give you one hour."

"I know what you're going to say," Tom said as Sirius opened his mouth, "and it's not going to change anything."

Sirius closed his mouth with a sigh. "So what? You're going to give yourself up? He wants you both dead!"

"I know that!" Tom snapped. "But we're only two people, Sirius. We don't even know who's hurt or — or dead." He forced the word out.

Sirius looked like he was going to argue further, but Tom stalled him. "Let's go to the Great Hall."

They arrived and paused at the entrance.

Luna's words sounded in his head. "There had been bodies — so many bodies — lying in the Great Hall. I walked between them, trying to get a better look, but I couldn't recognize any of them. Not that it matters. They were dead anyway."

Walking forward now, Tom had an idea how she had felt when she had her vision. Clusters of people were huddled together, heads bowed. Tom spotted the Weasleys standing around...

"Fred," Tom whispered, recognizing him from even this distance. He watched Mrs. Weasley as she sobbed over her son's body for a moment, then wrenched his gaze away.

That had been a mistake, for his eyes landed on Colin Creevey. Nearby, Nymphadora Tonks was sitting next to the body of Mad-Eye Moody, staring into space as she took deep breaths. A Ravenclaw Tom recognized by face but not by name was surrounded by his housemates.

"Tom?" said Sirius.

Tom realized he was backing away. "I... excuse me." He turned and raced from the Great Hall.

He ran and ran until he reached an empty classroom and burst in, collapsing in a chair. All these people dead. Because they were helping him. Him! The person who (technically) became the most feared Dark Lord in the wizarding world. Did he really deserve this?

No, but Harry does. Tom lifted his head. He had to go. Dumbledore had not been directly fighting — because of course not; he relied on other people to carry out his dirty work — so this may be his only chance.

"Are you actually considering this?" Remus' voice sounded above him.

Tom jumped. He hadn't noticed Remus, Sirius, and Bella had come in. "Where's Barty and Sev?"

"Barty's taking Athanasia back to the Chamber and Severus is still helping Madam Pomfrey." Remus sat down next to him. Blood stained his front and he was holding his side, but he looked otherwise fine. "Look, Tom, I want Harry back just as much as you do. But we need to come with a plan."

"Can the house-elves get him?" Tom asked.

"Unfortunately not," Bella answered. "I already asked Kreacher to try to get in. He couldn't."

Tom swore and grabbed his hair. "We have less than an hour. What are we going to do?"

No one could think of an answer.

Without any warning, a terrible scream split the air. Tom felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach.

"Harry," Sirius rasped.

Remus covered his ears, his eyes squeezed shut. Bella rubbed his back, her eyes darting around the room anxiously.

"I have to go." Tom looked at their faces. "Alone."

Sirius and Bella exchanged anguished looks.

Another scream echoed throughout the room.

Harry lay gasping for breath, sweat pouring down his face. Above him, Dumbledore had his wand pointed at him, a victorious gleam in his eyes.

Behind him, Peter Pettigrew fiddled with the map. And on the floor on the other side of the room was Verity. She wasn't dead, but that didn't ease Harry's mind much.

"Well?" Dumbledore prompted, looking at Pettigrew.

"He's still not moving." He seemed to be avoiding Harry's gaze.

Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "I suppose another one will get the message across."

The spell left his lips and Harry was consumed with white-hot pain once more. It seemed to last for hours before leaving him. He shakily lifted his head and shot Dumbledore a glare full of hatred. "You really like that spell, don't you?"

Pettigrew's shoulders went stiff.

"Is Tom on the way?" Dumbledore asked.

"Y-yes." But Pettigrew still wasn't looking at the map. "What does he mean?"

"He tortured Remus," Harry rasped. "Why don't you tell him, Dumbledore, how you cast theCruciatus on him? Four times! Remus nearly died!"

Something between a sob and a gasp escaped Pettigrew's throat. His grip on the map slackened.

"Why do you care anyway, Peter?" Dumbledore asked. "They stopped caring about you years ago."

"Yes, because I got their friends — my friends killed!" Pettigrew's voice had gone shrill.

Dumbledore moved closer to him. "I asked you before if you were having second thoughts about helping me. You said no. Were you lying?"

Pettigrew cowered away, whimpering, the map slipping from his grasp completely. Harry caught a glimpse of Tom's name, rapidly approaching the Whomping Willow.

"Well, Peter? An answer."

More whimpers. Harry struggled to stand. His legs nearly gave way, but he managed to keep from collapsing again.

"Oh, no matter." Dumbledore turned away. "I have no more use for you anyway." He lifted his wand, aiming it at Harry.

In a flash, Pettigrew was standing between him and Harry, who gaped.

"Peter, what are you doing?"

"I — I can't let you do this."

"Move!" Dumbledore commanded.

Pettigrew was trembling so much Harry thought he'd topple over. Yet he remained standing.

Footsteps pounded outside.

"Very well." Dumbledore tightened his grip on his wand. "Avada kedavra!"

"No!" Harry yelled as the spell hurtled toward, not Peter, but Tom, who had just burst inside. He tried to run forward but was hampered by his injuries.

But Peter was fast. He had braced himself, but when Dumbledore turned the wand at the last second, he leapt forward. A second later, his body hit the floor.

Tom gasped as he stared down at him. But then he recovered and shot a bright blue light at Dumbledore, who retaliated by sending a jet of red light back. Tom ducked and rolled to the side where Harry lay.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Harry demanded.

"What the hell do you think?" Tom shot back.

Harry flinched as the chair near him exploded. "Getting us both killed!" he snapped, throwing one of the chair's legs at Dumbledore since he didn't have his wand. Dumbledore jerked his head sharply to one side to avoid getting hit. His grip on his wand slackened momentarily, but it was enough.

'Expelliarmus!' Tom hissed and his wand flew toward them in an arc.

Harry caught it, feeling its magic shoot through his body. "Well, hello to you again."

Dumbledore swore inwardly. Just as soon as the wand was in his hands, it was gone again. He pulled out his backup wand, but it was taken as well. Defenseless now, he blanched and began backing away.

"Maybe we can come to an agreement," he said feebly as they advanced on him.

"Sure thing," Harry said in an overly cheerful voice. "Maybe we can Crucio your arse. Let's see... four times to make up for Remus and three for me. How does that sound?"

If possible, Dumbledore went even paler. "It's illegal. Surely even you wouldn't risk going to Azkaban."

"Oh, you're one to talk about the legality of things," Tom snarled. "No, I'm just going to do this."

He made a complicated move with his wand, hissing multiple incantations that had Harry raise his eyebrows and Dumbledore scrambling for the exit.

Nothing seemed to happen at first. Then Dumbledore dropped to his knees, gasping and shaking all over like a leaf. No, he couldn't go out like this. Not at the hands of the two wizards he most loathed.

Boils started popping up on his skin, making him yelp and whimper. Fire seemed to be crawling through his veins. He began to groan, the sound gradually becoming a scream as the pain only intensified.

"Harry!" he gasped. "Please... your parents..."

"Would be throwing a century-long party in heaven," Harry interrupted. "Or longer."

Dumbledore's head dropped to his hands, which had nearly doubled in size from the boils and were now a sickly greenish-yellow. He didn't seem to have the strength to speak anymore. Harry's hand slipped in Tom's as their enemy jerked once more and was still.

"We did it," Harry whispered.

"Yes." Tom realized he was barely staying on his feet. "We need to get you to the hospital wing."

"Wait, don't forget Verity. She's still alive."

Tom went over and crouched down next to Verity. She seemed okay, so he cast Rennervate and her eyes flew open.

"Harry?" She looked around to take in the scene. "Oh no. Fred!" She burst into tears.

Harry looked sharply at Tom, who nodded solemnly. "I saw his body out in the Great Hall."

"I killed him!" Verity sobbed. "I didn't want to, but I couldn't stop myself!"

"No one will blame you," Harry said, picking up the Marauder's Map. "It's not your fault."

"But it is! If I had just thrown off that — that Imperius..."

"Verity... Verity!"

Verity jumped.

"We need to get out of here. Can you walk?"

Verity nodded.

"Come on, then."

Harry didn't look like he would be able to make it to even the door, so Tom just scooped him up and carried him.

All that was left were the two bodies near the entrance.

Unlike the previous chapter, this /was/ meant to be a cliffhanger. But then I changed my mind. Even the writer can get tired of those. You're welcome! (Unless you wanted a cliffhanger. Then whoops.)

This wasn't quite as grand as I had originally planned, but honestly, Dumbledore going down in what he'd probably think was not a grand heroic act is probably for the best. Better than going out via fart cloud.