“But I'm feeling right where I belong
With you tonight
Like being in love
Can feel for the first time”
Lyrics to “First Time” by Lifehouse
Disclaimer: I own none of this. It all belongs to J.K. R. Thank you for letting my mind wander…
Chapter Eighteen- Sacrifice
Harry stuffed his hand in his pocket to pull out his wand, but Chris was faster as his wand was on Malfoy before Harry had even registered what was happening. Malfoy seemed to be amused.
“Well, thank you, Kelly. You have been so helpful to me.” Harry’s jaw dropped in realization. Everything had been an elaborate ruse all along. Kelly’s wand was now pointed at Chris, whose wand was fixed on Malfoy, who was curiously deciding where he wanted to point his own. Making up his mind, Malfoy directed his wand in the path of Sarah, who still sat on her bed. Harry had now decided to join the fight and he pointed his at Kelly. Sarah looked around in amazement. She thought it looked like something out of a bad movie that she had seen when she was younger. Nevertheless, fear tightened its grip around her and she didn’t dare speak a word.
Chris’ eyes softened, but his focus remained on Malfoy. Utterly shocked at Kelly’s deception, he shook his head in shame.
“How could you do this to us?” he said, barely above a whisper. It was not meant for others to hear, but Harry sensed a hint of hurt in his voice.
“I didn’t want to, Chris. I swear,” Kelly replied.
“Aw, isn’t this a touching scene?” Malfoy added maliciously.
“What do you want, Malfoy?” Harry demanded and Malfoy grinned a horrible smirk.
“Potter, it’s obvious what I want. I want my servants back.”
“Sarah was never a Death Eater!”
“Ah, yes, well, I’m sure we could change that,” Malfoy said. Then, addressing Sarah, he added, “Join me, Sarah, and we won’t go after Potter anymore.”
“Don’t listen to him, he’s lying,” Harry pleaded.
“I’m not lying, right Kelly?” Hearing her name, Kelly looked at Malfoy. She and Chris were clearly arguing, despite the situation unfolding around them.
“No, he’s telling the truth. I promise,” Kelly agreed. Chris glared at her.
“A likely story from a Death Eater who doesn’t even know where her own allegiances lie. Make up your mind, Kelly. You either tell the truth or you deceive. There’s no middle,” Chris spat.
“But, I have duties toward both sides!”
“Kelly, why did you become a Death Eater?” Harry asked, hoping to distract everyone until he came up with a plan. A tear fell from Kelly’s eye and she turned her head in shame.
“I”I guess I just fell into darkness years ago. I sought revenge on the Ministry. My family was starving”” she choked at this point and then continued, “my youngest sister died from a terrible sickness. My mother was suffering and when my father begged for help, the Ministry turned their heads the other way, acting as if nothing was happening. I ran off and joined Voldemort, despairing for my family. I know they’re all long dead now. I’ve always regretted leaving and joining. My darkest hour…”
“Okay, thanks for that distraction, Potter. Now I must punish Christopher for his insubordination,” Malfoy sneered and he pointed his wand away from Sarah and at Christopher, who in spite of himself had lowered his own during Kelly’s story.
“Sectumsempra!” Malfoy shouted. Everything happened very quickly after that. Sarah screamed and Harry shot off a disarming spell at Malfoy. Kelly, filled with the sorrow of her pitiful life and her betrayal toward the man who she loved, pushed Chris out of the way at the last second. The spell hit her directly on her stomach, pushing her to the hospital floor. Chris and Harry rounded on Malfoy, blind with fury as Sarah scrambled up and over to Kelly. She was writhing in pain and Sarah could see deep lacerations forming all over the woman’s body. Blood was everywhere.
Meanwhile, Malfoy was being pressed into the corner of the room by a furious Chris and an equally livid Harry. Malfoy pressed his luck more.
“Next time tell your girlfriend to stay out of the way, and maybe she won’t get hurt. You two have more in common than you thought. Isn’t that right, Potter?” Harry ignored him, but it became harder and harder. “Did you know that I actually felt the life leaving her as I was beating her, Potter? The feeling was great””
Malfoy never got to finish his sentence because a fist collided with his face, hard. His lips twitched into a smile and Harry hit him again. He knew that Ginny had been beaten and tortured. He knew that Malfoy had been the main force behind it. He hadn’t told anyone before that Malfoy had been the one to ultimately kill Ginny. Even her family didn’t know because he had refused to give details to anyone. He punched Malfoy a third time.
“Those were for Ginny,” he spat and then punched him again. “That was for Ginny’s death.” Again he punched him as Chris watched Harry release his anger. “For the Weasleys and this one’s for Dumbledore.” Harry’s knuckles began to bleed fiercely, but he forced one more punch on the vile creature. “And that was for the thought of harming Sarah.”
Harry stepped back and looked at what he had done. Malfoy still wore a stupid grin on his bloody face. Harry then said, “Incarcerous!” Ropes flowed out of Harry wand and bound Malfoy. Amazingly, Harry looked around and saw that throughout all the commotion, there were no Healers in the room. He caught sight of Kelly and swore. One look at Sarah told him that she was not holding up well with all the blood. Immediately he sent Sarah to get a Healer and he knelt next to Kelly, on the other side of Chris. Having only seen the effects of this spell once before, Harry searched his mind for solutions. Kelly had lost so much blood already and Harry worried for her life.
Chris’ face was pale and he took Kelly’s hand, leaning down close to her face. Her breathing was slight and the light was leaving her eyes. Thankfully, the Healer Michelle burst into the room followed closely by Sarah. Michelle took one sight of Kelly in and shouted for help instantly. As more Healers entered, Harry was pushed away while they worked. He ran a hand through his hair.
“Sarah, are you alright?” He asked, turning around. His eyes flooded with horror for the second time that hour when he saw Malfoy’s bloody face next to hers. His left arm was wrapped around her and something in his right hand glinted near her throat. Recognition found its way onto Harry’s face. Malfoy was holding a knife to Sarah’s throat and it was obviously also used to cut through the ropes that had restrained him. Harry was almost shaking with anger.
“Potter, you will pay,” Malfoy panted. He was badly hurt and Harry guessed that it was taking most of his energy to hold Sarah like he was. Harry took a second to look at Sarah and he noticed that her eyes were closed and he saw the slightest signs of serenity in her expression. She was not afraid.
Malfoy was inching his way toward the door very slowly. Harry was quite aware of Malfoy’s need for open space when he was fighting. He had learned this through the years of dueling with him and found that Malfoy weakened much faster in enclosed spaces. No, he was determined not to give Malfoy the upper hand. Harry soon found that he couldn’t get a clear shot at Malfoy, however, while Sarah remained his shield. All of a sudden, Sarah opened her eyes and winked at a very confused Harry. Quickly, Sarah picked up her foot and smashed down hard on an unsuspecting Malfoy’s. In his surprise, Malfoy’s grip must have loosened on Sarah and she escaped to the comfort of Harry’s open arms. The reunion was brief because Malfoy had run out through the door, and Harry followed at his heels. Harry caught up with him just as he reached the stairway.
“Running away as always, Malfoy? Things never change,” Harry stated as Malfoy opened the door. They ran through the doorway and finally, Harry lunged forward and knocked Malfoy off his feet. There was a scuffle for a few moments and then unexpectedly they both found themselves falling over the short railing of the stairway. Harry grabbed the ledge of the stairs by the fingertips of his right hand. Malfoy had managed to hold onto Harry’s left arm.
“Harry! Don’t let go of me!” Malfoy’s frantic voice filled the hallways of stairs. Sweat broke out over Harry’s brow as he concentrated fiercely. Malfoy had sounded like a small child who had just gotten into deep trouble. Harry fought the feeling of physical pain.
“Malfoy…I can’t pull both of us up…I’m slipping…” Harry muttered down to Malfoy. He chanced a glance down to him and saw a look on Malfoy’s bloody face that he had never seen before. Malfoy was frightened and helpless.
“Can you swing onto the ledge below?” Harry gasped desperately.
“I don’t think I could make it…it’s too far!”
Harry swore loudly. He knew that he couldn’t hold up much longer although he had gotten a better grip on the ledge. His shoulders were aching terribly from the weight he was holding.
“Harry?” Malfoy said hesitantly. Harry nodded his head and Malfoy continued. “Could you tell Kelly that I didn’t mean to hurt her? And…and apologize to everyone else as well?”
“I”I don’t understand…”
“Just do it! And I’m also sorry for what I did to you, too, and for Ginny…”
“What are you talking about? I still don’t…” Harry tried to comprehend what Malfoy was doing, but between his concentration and his own fear, his brain seemed to be working slower.
“Harry, I’m letting go. I don’t deserve to be saved.”
Very quickly, Malfoy released his grip of Harry’s arm and started to fall. Harry was faster, though, and he grabbed Malfoy’s hand in a final attempt to save the man who had brought him so much pain. He wasn’t sure why he did it, but Harry knew somehow that this was not the way that a person should die. He felt a sharp pain explode in his left shoulder, as if someone had stabbed him with a knife. With sudden realization, Harry remembered that this was the shoulder that he had injured previously and now it probably would never heal completely.
“Let me go. I don’t want to live,” Malfoy whispered as he pulled Harry’s hand off his own. Harry couldn’t hold him any longer, anyway. The pain in his shoulder was too great and he felt Malfoy let go completely. He closed his eyes as Malfoy fell down the height of four stories. At last, a terrible sound drifted up the stairwell that filled Harry’s ears. He tried to block it out but he knew that he would always remember the dull thud of Malfoy’s body hitting the ground. With his left arm hanging uselessly by his side, Harry searched for a way up. Then he heard shouting; someone must have noticed the fallen body of the Death Eater. Footsteps were drawing closer to him and then hands were pulling him up. He cringed when someone pulled on his shoulder, but he was finally pulled over the railing and onto the stairs again.
“Sir, are you alright?”
Harry didn’t recognize the man as he sped by him down to the ground floor, where Malfoy’s body was positioned strangely. Pushing the gathering crowd of people out of the way, Harry knelt next to the motionless body of his recent enemy. Checking for vital signs, he found none and realized that Malfoy was dead. The thought that he wouldn’t have to worry anymore about the threat that Malfoy imposed never crossed his mind. It was true that they had never been friends, but Harry had still known him for a very long time. And Malfoy had sacrificed himself for Harry after all. Malfoy’s death did mean that Ginny’s memory could finally rest well in Harry’s mind, knowing that Malfoy deserved every bit of the death he received. Yet, Harry felt a slight pang of pity for the blond-haired man before him. He sighed heavily and closed Malfoy’s eyes which looked mysteriously peaceful as if thankful that the end had come.
Standing up, he addressed the crowd, “Someone, go upstairs to the Fourth Floor and find a man named Christopher Stanley. Someone else, find a Healer and contact the Ministry’s Auror’s Office. Everyone else, please clear the scene.”
Harry spotted two people moving in different directions quickly and then the rest of the crowd dispersing. Mutterings like “That’s a Death Eater, that is” or “Harry Potter’s done it again” reached Harry’s ears and he just shook his head. It wasn’t long before he saw Chris sprinting down the stairs toward him. Chris was covered in Kelly’s blood and Harry had the inkling that she wasn’t doing so well. Harry moved swiftly to meet up with him.
“Harry, what the hell is going on?” Chris demanded.
“Malfoy’s dead,” said Harry.
“Oh…wait, what?”
“He…fell over the railing. I couldn’t…I tried to stop him.”
“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about him anymore. Although I would have liked to kill him myself, but it looks like you’ve saved me a lot of work. Is it inappropriate to say ‘good work?’”
“Maybe just a little,” Harry replied. “How’s Kelly?” Chris’ face became grim.
“She’s not doing so good, Harry. That spell was really strong. I’ve never seen it before, have you?” Chris asked. Harry was surprised that he hadn’t seen it because Chris was a Death Eater and ‘Sectumsempra’ is definitely Dark Magic.
“I’ve seen it once,” he muttered, not wanting to get into the story.
“Do you know the counter curse?”
“No…I don’t remember hearing it,” answered Harry, wishing for the first time in his life that he had paid more attention to Snape in his sixth year at Hogwarts.
“Hopefully, the Healers will think of something. Hermione’s in there now seeing if she can remember anything helpful. She remembers that curse from a while ago she said.”
“I’m sure they’ll find something, Chris. It didn’t look that difficult to heal when I saw it. She might have some slight scarring, but if they move quickly enough, it shouldn’t be bad,” said Harry.
“I hope so. Anyway, Sarah’s doing okay. She’s a little shaken up, but nothing major. You should probably find her so that she’ll stop worrying about you. You know how women can be”they never quit thinking about almost everything.”
Harry laughed and he walked with Chris back up to the Fourth Floor. He would let the Aurors deal with Malfoy and he knew that the lightness in his heart was from the death of his old foe. Ginny’s death was finally avenged, Sarah didn’t have to worry anymore, and Chris could be free from Malfoy’s wrath. He wasn’t sure what it was, but Harry felt more of a connection with Chris now. They made their way to Sarah’s room and found her sitting up on the bed, reading the same book as she was earlier. When Harry walked in, she jumped up and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Oh, Harry! I was so worried!” she exclaimed. Harry embraced her with his right arm, wincing as he tried to move his left one. He kissed her forehead and then pulled away. He asked her where they took Kelly.
“They went down the hall I think, maybe to the emergency room.”
“Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said as he walked swiftly out the door and down the hallway. First he needed to find Kelly and see if he could help in any way and then he needed to find a Healer for himself. He wasn’t paying attention to where he was going when he bumped into Hermione.
“Harry! Are you alright?” Hermione asked him.
“I’ll be fine. Is Kelly okay?”
“I think she’s going to make it. We’ve stopped the bleeding and the lacerations seem to be mending now. You look absolutely horrible, Harry. What happened?”
“Malfoy’s dead. I’ve just got something wrong with my shoulder that needs to be looked at. Could you help me find a Healer?” Harry explained.
“That won’t be necessary. I found you,” a voice that Harry recognized to be the Healer Michelle’s said. She led Harry and Hermione to an empty room where she told him to sit on the bed. He did so and she inspected his shoulder. She gripped it firmly and then started talking to him.
“You and your friends have habits of getting hurt a lot, huh?”
“Well, yeah, I guess trouble follows us. You know how”ouch!” Harry cried. As he was speaking, a sharp pain had exploded in his shoulder. A grin spread across Michelle’s face at his reaction. She peeled off her gloves and Harry realized that he gained mobility back in his arm.
“You dislocated your shoulder. I used to have a habit of doing that when I was younger so I recognized it immediately. It was easily fixed as long as you were distracted. That didn’t hurt much, now did it?”
“You’re kidding, it hurt like hell! Warn a person next time you do that!” Harry hissed, still rubbing his shoulder. “Thanks, though,” he then added sheepishly.
“You’re welcome. Please try to stay healthy for a while, Mr. Potter.”
“Call me Harry,” he said.
“Alright, then, Harry. I need to go. You know how it is being busy and such,” Michelle stated as she waved goodbye to Harry and Hermione. Ron entered the room and he asked Harry how he was doing. Harry explained what had happened between he and Malfoy on the stairs and realized that he had forgotten to pass Malfoy’s message on to Sarah and Chris.
“Well, at least he can’t hurt anyone anymore,” Hermione said. Ron nodded.
“Ridding the world of evil one Death Eater at a time. Good work, mate.”
“Yeah, I guess so. It would be easier, though, if he was evil right up to the end. He didn’t have to apologize for everything. I guess he deserved what he got, but I still can’t shake the feeling that he was just poorly influenced, not purely evil like Voldemort.”
“Harry, are you feeling sorry for Malfoy?” Ron asked incredulously.
“No, we should be happy. Come on, let’s go check on Kelly. I need to ask her about where her loyalties lie, but she did save Chris so I think I’ll give her a chance. Maybe she’s misunderstood.”
Ron and Hermione didn’t know what to think; Harry never trusted Death Eaters, but maybe Malfoy’s death changed him a little. They didn’t question him as they followed. Hermione pointed the way to her room and when they arrived, they found that Chris and Sarah were already there.
“How is she?” Harry asked.
“She’s doing better. The Healers are fairly certain that she’ll live but there’s still a chance that she may not,” Sarah explained. Harry walked over to the side of the bed and saw that Kelly was covered in bandages. She looked peaceful as she slept and Harry was startled when her eyes opened. She smiled and looked around. Then, after spotting Chris, she asked him if he was okay. Chris laughed and told her that he was fine and that all she had to was worry about herself at the moment.
“Oh, I’m a mess!” Kelly exclaimed. Harry gave her a hard look.
“Kelly, did you lead Malfoy here?”
“I swear I didn’t want to! But he already knew where Sarah was anyway and I think he probably followed me when I left. I suspected and I didn’t say anything because I thought it might be good to have back up, you know, in case I was attacked. You caught him, I’m sure. And I’ll probably end up in Azkaban for helping on the attack…”
“Actually, Malfoy’s dead and you might even avoid prison. We’ll see,” said Harry. Then the six of them started chatting amicably about the day’s events. After a while, Michelle came in and told Kelly that she was going to be alright, but that she might suffer from some scarring.
They talked about what they would do now that Malfoy was no longer a threat and Harry suggested that they all go to Massachusetts for a nice vacation. Ron and Hermione, however, wanted to go back to enjoying their honeymoon and they would be Apparating back in just a few hours. As soon as Kelly and Sarah recovered, they would go with Chris and Harry back to Massachusetts to settle affairs and to catch up on some long overdue rest and relaxation. Everyone, even Harry was looking forward to going back to the States. Of course, they would have to take some time to straighten everything out with the Ministry before leaving but Harry doubted that they would look lightly on his influence. After all, he had saved the world and he was usually right when it came to matters of good and evil. Looking at the friends gathered around her, Sarah suddenly felt that she and Harry needed to be alone for a while and talk about recent events in their relationship. She pulled him out of the room and back into hers which was two doors down the hallway. They both sat on the bed and Sarah took Harry’s hands in her smaller ones.
“We should talk,” she said.
“I know.”
“Our argument earlier was…well…less than desirable. If Kelly hadn’t shown up, I don’t think I could have tolerated the consequences. You know I haven’t had many friends so I’m not really good at this. And maybe it’s because I don’t know how to deal with confrontation but I don’t think we handled that too well.”
“I know what you mean. I overreacted a little and maybe in the future I’ll learn how to be better,” Harry promised.
“Me too, but until then I think we should make up,” she suggested and winked. Harry, catching the hint, leaned in to share a kiss. It was sure nice, Sarah thought, not to worry about anything. To be held in safe and loving arms, she knew, was a feeling that couldn’t be beaten and she wanted nothing more than to be where she was at that moment.
“I love you, Harry,” she whispered to him, laying her head on his shoulder.
“I love you more,” he said surely and Sarah’s heart melted with joy.
When It Seems Like All Is Lost by KateH
Chapter Notes: Here's Chapter Eighteen! A quick update this time. A huge thanks to my friend Sean for betaing for me. I'm currently hard at work on the final chapter of this story *wipes away tear.* I hope you all will enjoy this chapter and the last one. As always, thanks for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think!