The Brightest Black

Narcissa blew a strand of hair out of her face and did a quick side step to avoid one spell while she raised her left arm and blocked another with the shield.

She didn't know how much longer she could do this.

She'd almost made it out of the dining room when someone - likely the Dark Lord - had thrown up an invisible wall over the entrance. She could break it down if she could focus on it, but that wasn't really an option when spells from almost two dozen wands kept flying at her.

And then there was that bloody snake.

She'd had to put her back to a wall to stop it from sneaking up on her. She didn't know what it was, but she would bet her life it had a deadly poison in its fangs. She ducked and felt bits of plaster hit the back of her neck.

Bloody hell, maybe she wouldn't survive this.

Maybe she really wouldn't have to wait long to see Lucius again. She was disappointed not to be able to get revenge, but at least Draco was safe and had strong enough ties to Hermione that there were now others that would do what they could to keep him alive. Maybe they would even retroactively get revenge for her.

BANG!

She threw herself to the side as the wall behind her exploded.

The entire room grew quiet and no spells flew for a moment as everyone cranes their heads to see through the smoke and dust.

That was a mistake.

Narcissa let out an almost maniacal laugh as almost a dozen spells flew out of the hall.

Each one hit their target.

She hurriedly rolled to her feet and began firing spells. She wasn't going to waste time seeing the identity of her rescuers. That could happen later. When she was safe and back with her son.

XXX

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the expressions of shock and cries of dismay from the Death Eaters as ten stunners dropped just as many of their number.

It was an easy spell to block, but only if you saw it coming.

She moved forwards, a step behind Harry as she fired more spells. She watched as Goyle screamed, giant, oozing boils covering his face.

A flash of silver caught her attention and she turned her head a bit to see a very haggard Narcissa Malfoy raise a gleaming silver shield to block a bright green spell.

Likely a killing curse.

She found her attention taken with the shield. She'd seen it before. It took a moment, but she remembered.

The pictures from her third year when Narcissa had offered her choice of ancient magical objects.

Hermione was very glad she hadn't taken the shield. It was quite possibly the only reason Draco’s mother had survived by herself here in the time it took for Hermione and her friends to arrive.

Something tugged on her wand, but she managed to hold onto it. She whirled around and saw her old Defense teacher - Gilderoy Lockhart - casting rather weak disarming spells in every direction.

He was earning quite a few glares from his own side. Hermione used the distraction to cast a full body bind on Crabbe. He landed on a chair so hard that it snapped under his weight.

She saw movement and noticed a gigantic snake weaving its way through the feet of the fighters.

It was heading right for Harry.

She saw red and leaped back into the fight, aiming an expulso at the thing.

She missed and the floor under the snake exploded, sending the nasty creature flying into the air where it became tangled in the chandelier.

"POTTER!" A high, cold voice hissed, cutting through the sound of spells firing and voices crying out spells.

A dark figure was striding towards Harry, wand drawn, Hermione tried to rush forwards, but was too far away.

Harry dropped screaming, his body wracked with pain.

Hermione felt it. She wanted to scream too, but she stamped it down.

She looked around quickly, and then sent another explosion spell at the beautifully painted ceiling. A small part of her winced at the destruction of something so priceless, but she’d do anything to try and keep Harry safe. Screams erupted as the second floor of the manor came crashing down on the Death Eaters.

Instantly she felt Harry's pain end.

But, before the dust had cleared it started again. She cast a bubble charm on her head and ran through the dust, homing in on Harry and his screams.

A heartbeat later she felt the air change. She hadn't even noticed the Malfoy wards, but she did notice their absence.

Almost two dozen wizards and witches popped into the room, wands drawn.

A figure in bright purple, with a long silver beard appeared between Harry and Voldemort. Effectively ending Harry's pain.

She had almost reached Harry when a voice spoke. A voice she knew as well as her own. After all, she'd heard it often enough in her nightmares.

"Hello, brat. Time to finish what I started."

She turned and looked into the wild, insane eyes of her parents' murderer.

Instantly all thoughts of Harry disappeared as her magic rushed forwards, demanding revenge. And, against her earlier promise, she let it take over.

Some things were worth losing control over.

XXX

Harry tried not to scream as pain wracked his body. He could feel Hermione coming, he just had to hold on for one more minute.

He thrashed and felt his leg hit something sharp. It cut through the pain from the spell, made him capable of opening his eyes.

He saw Voldemort standing over him, red eyes gleaming in triumph and then his view was blocked by robes of bright purple, covered in silver stars that danced before his eyes as the cruciatius spell was abruptly ended.

"Hello, Tom," Dumbledore said, his voice as pleasant as it ever was.

"Dumbledore," Voldemort spat, "here to rescue your little hero? If only I had known cleaning house would bring you out. I would have done it long ago."

"Tom, Tom, Tom, you really have that much faith in your abilities?"

Harry struggled to his feet, his muscles screamed at him, but he ignored them. This wasn't the first time he'd been in pain.

Something warm trickled down his leg and he looked down to see a sharp piece of metal from the chandelier lying nearby, coated in his blood.

"I think, old man, that you overestimate yourself!" A spell went flying from Voldemort's wand as he spoke.

Harry gasped as Dumbledore casually raised a broken piece of wood, blocking the spell.

He quickly sent something back, and Voldemort raised a quick spell.

A scream of rage washed through the room and Harry felt his link with Hermione blaze white hot. He turned to look and saw Hermione engaged in a duel with someone that had to be Bellatrix Lestrange. She looked too much like Aunt Andy to be anyone else. He began to move towards her but stopped when his attention was brought back to the two wizards dueling in front of him.

"You are growing slow," Voldemort hissed as he easily dodged a spell.

"I think not."

Harry watched as Voldemort's eyes widened in shock as his feet went out from under him.

Dumbledore had transfigured the floor into ice.

"The problem, Tom, is that you are predictable."

Voldemort screamed in rage and looked at Harry as he struggled to his feet.

Harry's eyes locked with those blazing red ones and then his world once again erupted into pain.

Someone was digging through his mind, grabbing memories and yanking on them. Dragging out every little moment of his life.

He screamed in rage and tried to push back, but his occlumency skills were no match.

He felt his mouth move and his voice came out, but he wasn't the one speaking.

"Freeze, old man. Or the boy dies."

"Tom, you are making a mistake."

Distantly, as if through a long tunnel, Harry heard numerous cracks of apparition around them

"My only mistake was caused by underestimating the power of prophecy. I will not make it again," Harry's mouth said.

"You are very blind, Tom, if you believe that is your only mistake."

"No, you are blind, old man."

Then, Harry saw it.

No, he didn't see it. He was it. Purple robes flickered in front of his eyes as he slid along the ground.

He felt his jaws open wide and then he darted forwards, his fangs dug into soft flesh as his master urged him on.

NO!

Harry screamed internally and yanked at himself. No! That wasn't him.

For a moment, he floundered, lost in a place that was not a place. He wasn't alone. He knew that. But he also knew he was the only real one there. The others were too small and terribly twisted. One of them was latched onto his leg, attempting to climb up it. He screamed as he felt the nothingness around his not-self help the creature by pulling him down, trying to make him forever lost.

Like the sun among the clouds he saw a gold and red strand appear before his out-stretched not-hand.

He grabbed at it, pulling as he felt the not-place drag at him. He reached out with his other not-hand and pulled harder. The small, terribly twisted creature holding onto his leg cried out and tightened its grip. Instantly he felt himself pulled backwards as the gold and red strand began to slip out of his grasp.

He shouted in frustration and fear as he began to kick his legs, attempting to force the nasty thing off of his not-leg.

The others were drawn by the commotion, they were coming towards him. He began to kick harder and felt the creature began to lose its hold. He redoubled his efforts and began to move his entire body around in sharp, jerking motions. It was all he could do to hold onto the strand.

And then, with one mighty heave to the side, the creature went flying off. It instantly latched onto another creature – the long skinny one.

Before he could see what they would do he turned his attention back to the strand and began climbing out of the dark not-place.

It felt like forever, and yet part of him knew it was no time at all before he was encased in warmth and back in his body. Back in the ruined remains of the Malfoy dining room.

Screams and spells erupted all around him. He saw Dumbledore standing frozen in shock as a massive snake slithered away from him and towards Voldemort.

"You are dead, old man. Finished."

"The snake," the dying headmaster gasped.

Voldemort laughed, "Indeed. Nagini is a queen of snakes. And I am the heir of Slytherin. What she does, I do."

Dumbledore raised his wand towards Voldemort. His entire body was shaking, but the hand held steady. But, before a spell could emerge his knees gave out and the wand flew out of his hand.

Once Dumbledore was down Voldemort turned his attention to Harry.

"I see, Potter, that you escaped your own mind. Perhaps you are stronger than I expected. But it is no matter, you are as dead as your precious Headmaster."

The world slowed down as Harry watched that pale hand aim a wand at him. He tried to move, but his muscles were sluggish from the torture, all of the adrenaline gone from his system after being in that odd, not-place.

His breath caught and his eyes widened as green light began to emerge.

A million images flashed before him. Padfoot, teaching him how to hold a broom. Moony, telling him stories of his parents. Hermione poking and prodding him, telling him that he would never be alone. Ron declaring that there was no way he was going after the philosopher's stone alone. And, there, Ginny, coming from the sky like a fiery angel. Rescuing him when he thought he was done for.

He thought of the pain rescuing him had brought on everyone. On how it had almost killed Hermione. On how Draco Malfoy had actually rescued her.

It was his fault he'd been captured by Crouch. His fault Hermione had almost died.

His fault Dumbledore had just died. Harry had been too slow to escape Voldemort's spells. Too slow to yank out of his mental grasp.

Panic and fear swept through his link with Hermione and he realized he had also left her facing Bellatrix alone.

Alone with the woman that haunted his sister's nightmares.

He dropped his wand and lowered his head.

Maybe, just maybe, everyone would be better off without him.

XXX

Hermione lost herself. Spells flew from her wand as words flew from her mouth. She laughed at the look of shock and dismay on Bellatrix's face. She heard herself say, "I stopped you as a babe. I'll kill you as an adult!"

She pushed forwards, driving her torturer away – cackling in delight as the witch fell backwards and dropped her wand.

Hermione raised her wand and opened her mouth to utter a particularly nasty spell she'd found in her Black Tome.

Bellatrix scrambled at her waist, and, before Hermione could utter a word, a knife appeared.

Not just a knife.

The knife.

Hermione froze, her muscles locked up and she began to hyperventilate.

Now Bellatrix laughed as she scrambled to her feet.

Memories and nightmares flashed before Hermione's eyes as she found herself frozen.

A part of her screamed out for help, but she was alone.

Panicking, she called up any memory she could. There, a dragon came flying out of the darkness. Its pale scales gleamed as fire flew from its mouth. Part of her melted and she began throwing lines out, searching, crying desperately in need.

Hermione dropped to her knees and let out a sob as Bellatrix rose above her. The knife clutched clearly in her elegant hand, her wand once more in the other.

She tried to scream, but no air came.

She felt light-headed, locked out of her own body.

And then, in a single heartbeat, everything came back.

For an instant she saw Harry grab one of her thrown lines and then he was gone and it was only Bellatrix above her. Bellatrix with murder and madness in her eyes. Hermione felt instantly sick as she realized she had likely looked the same a moment before.

Her stomach heaved and before she could even blink she was being violently ill on Bellatrix's feet.

The woman shrieked and stumbled backwards, forgetting to cast a spell. Hermione stamped down on her own physical misery and threw one of the only silent spells she could at the woman.

She didn't get a chance to see if the wand or knife left Bellatrix's hands. Her stomach roiled and her throat contracted as she fell forwards, vomiting once more.

A shriek of terror filled her ears as she dry heaved, but her eyes were squeezed tight; her body ignoring her commands.

By the time she got her body under control and looked up Bellatrix was gone, Narcissa was striding over. Her wand out and her shield covered in soot, but looking completely undamaged from the number of spells that had hit it.

Gone was the perfectly dressed and coiffed woman Hermione had known for years. In her place was someone that could be a reincarnation of Boudicca.

She felt very grateful that this woman was on her side.

"Hermione, are you hurt?"

Hermione shook her head, "No, just-just flashbacks. And, the Black magic, I lost control."

"Understandable. It's hard to maintain control. Now-"

She was cut off as a dozen aurors, led by Kingsley Shacklebolt, apparated into the dining room.

Hermione yanked herself to her feet and yelled, "NO!" as one auror pointed his wand at Narcissa.

He eyed her dubiously, but backed down and turned his attention to Crabbe Sr.

That was when the tide began to turn.

Several more Death Eaters followed Bellatrix and apparated out, though that idiot - Lockhart - kept throwing random and weak disarming spells everywhere.

Just as an actual wand flew his way she threw a stunning charm at him. He collapsed in a tangle of limbs and she began to look for another target when shouts of shock and rage filled the ruined room.

She turned and saw Albus Dumbledore, greatest wizard of all, and the only man Voldemort ever feared, fall unmoving to the ground.

And then she saw Harry. Kneeling on the ground by Voldemort's feet. Looking even worse than she had felt when she was in front of Bellatrix.

Panic filled her and she began to run, but she was too slow. Too tired from her previous ordeal. She screamed as Voldemort's wand pointed downwards at Harry.

And then she did something incredibly stupid.

She apparated.