Story: Moira
Chapter Forty Eight: The Battle of The Burrow

Bright orange flames rose everywhere around The Burrow as jets of lights attempted to penetrate the safety charm. Bill and Mr Weasley ran into the living room with wands in their hands, the other Weasleys hot on their heels.

"What's happening?" Ron squeaked.

"They are trying to bring down the shield," Harry said involuntarily before he could stop himself. The words which followed next was merely breathed out. "Bellatrix."

Collective gasps were heard from behind him. Harry knew it was time to take charge.

"Remus! Take Teddy and get away before the Eaters get in!" Remus started to argue but with a glare from Harry, he shut his mouth and nodded reluctantly. "Bill, Arthur! Make sure you keep your guard up! Sirius, Regulus, help them! Charlie, I want you to Apparate Astoria to her house! Or use a portkey! Ron, Draco and Percy, cover the front and the twins will cover the rear! Molly, please take Hermione and Ginny to a –"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Ginny started to argue.

The others looked at each other before leaving to obey Harry's orders. This left Harry and Ginny alone. He looked at her fiercely, his eyes conveying his feelings but she shook her head firmly.

"I don't want you to get hurt, okay?" Harry asked as a loud bang resonated somewhere outside. The startled tweet of birds was heard.

"Neither do I want you to get hurt, Harry! I can at least protect you! I have been trained since childhood for this and I want to honour Master one last time!"

The crack of Apparition alerted Harry and before he could answer her, the door of the house was blasted into pieces. He ran through the pieces of wood and dust to the front. His wand pointed at the cackling figure.

"Ah –!" she exclaimed as her dark eyes bore into his. "Very dishonored to see that our Young Master is in the house of the Blood Traitors."

"Very nice to meet you too, Bella," Harry replied back with a smug smile. "Had fun without the 'love of your life'?"

"You dare insult the Dark Lord?!"

"Yes, I dare, Bella. Do you dare to challenge me?" Harry retorted as he blocked the entrance to The Burrow with a transfigured wooden wall.

And that was the start of the battle; Bellatrix fired the nasty and deadliest green curse and Harry knew that he was fighting to kill.

Dodging each of her curses with ease, he walked towards her, twirling his wand in his hand. "Is that all you have got?"

"Obviously not, Potter! Start firing!" Bellatrix shrieked. Harry conjured a huge waterfall in front of him which absorbed all the curses thrown at him by a bunch of latent Death Eaters. He protected himself just in time from the splash of water. An array of Eaters were washed away to the orchard as he faced Bellatrix with raised eyebrows.

"You fools!" Bellatrix shouted.

Several events happened at the same time. The wooden wall broke into several pieces behind him as another spell fire started. Three thick shields formed in front of Harry as he shot curses after curses to maim seriously. He could make out, with the style and elegance of movements, that Sirius was on his right.

Spells of various colours shot at him as he shouted his next command at Molly's shriek of terror. "GET THE BACK DOOR! PROTECT IT WITH FIDELUS! FRED, GEORGE, MOLLY AND HERMIOME! GO!"

The quartet ran to the back door as Draco cursed a Death Eater and Ron stunned another. Ginny was sending hexes at the closest Eaters and Neville and Luna were stunning the others.

Harry was facing two Death Eaters at once: Fenrir Greyback and Antonin Dolohov. It was hard to inflict spell damage on Fenrir as he was a werewolf so Harry aimed the jelly legs jinx at Dolohov and got rid of him.

He and Greyback circled each other. As expected, the werewolf pounced on him but he managed to dodge at the last second. He sent four stunners in succession at him and he finally fell down stunned.

"Behind you! Harry!" Ginny shouted to him and he turned back just in time to see an orange curse flying towards him: the cutting curse. He bent down and boomed. "Avada Kedavra!" It was the last thing Dolohov saw.

Harry smirked at his ugly face. In that moment, three simultaneous and familiar shrieks were heard.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Ginny!"

Harry turned just in time to witness, in horror, as Ginny fell down to the ground; limp and unmoving. His world seemed to shatter around him and Bellatrix's evil cackles resonated within his pair of ears.

"Good riddance, Weasley!" Bellatrix bellowed, mocking Harry and the Weasleys. "What will you do now, itty bitty Potter? Did your world just cave in?"

Then it happened; after centuries of not witnessing the Power of Destruction, it was most easily forgotten or not even known in the first place.

The ground shook as the weather changed in a split second. Dark clouds covered the otherwise bright skies and rumbles of thunder was heard as lightning flashed in the dark wisps. A rough wind blew the leaves on the cracking ground. In the centre of what seemed like a tornado was the Wizard of Destruction, black aura swirling overwhelmingly around him. When he opened his eyes, they left everyone scared: they were bloodshot red.

"H-Harry?" Sirius squeaked out as the fighting around them seized in a second to witness the bizarre event happening in front of their eyes. Harry disregarded his godfather's call as he strode to Ginny's body and fell down onto his knees.

He gently touched her hand and looked deep into her brown eyes which stared unblinkingly ahead. A single tear rolled down his cheek. As soon as the drop of misery touched the ground, it cracked into several regions, separating people.

"Ginny. . . My Ginny. . . You killed my Ginny! Protego Diabolica!" He got up in a swift movement and a blue fire arose from the ground beneath their feet, surrounding Harry and Ginny. He hissed threateningly. "You will not near her!"

Several movements took place simultaneously. Greyback woke up; Neville summoned the sword of Gryffindor; Molly swiped her wand at the nearest Death Eaters; Bill and Charlie erected shields to protect their loved ones; Arthur and Sirius fought Senior Nott as their sons, Percy and Ron fought Theodore Nott; the twins were setting off prank products at the weaker Eaters; Luna was fighting Pettigrew and Pius; Draco was shouting at his parents for their sudden disloyalty; Hermione was sobbing but sending jinxes at those who neared Ginny.

Harry, on the other hand, was trying to get his magic under control but was failing miserably. The feeling of emptiness was rapidly settling down in his stomach and the beast inside him was clawing at his insides to torture Bellatrix.

The swish of a sword was heard and Harry witnessed Neville slashing Fenrir's arm off. Several bodies fell down with loud thumps; whether friends or foes, he did not know.

Harry's eyes widened at Bellatrix who was now fighting Molly. He ran forward, his wand pointed frighteningly at her.

"Crucio!" he shouted as a thunder rolled around from somewhere beyond. The red beam left his wand and hit the dark haired witch who writhed in unbearable pain on the ground. "YOU–WILL–DIE–BELLATRIX!"

Bellatrix cackled as the pain stopped. "Y-you think so, you n-nasty tra-traitor?"

Thunder rolled around just five feet away and several Eaters and Harry's allies jumped out of the way to escape the nature's or rather, Harry's wrath.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry shouted and with a flash of green light, Bellatrix's cackles were muted for an eternity. The Death Eaters exchanged looks but that was all they could do as Harry started firing the killing curse in succession at each and every one of them. The luckiest ones Apparated away as their cohorts fell. Only four standing people of the Dark were left when Harry was finished and he looked at each of them with hatred in his eyes.

Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were holding on to each other, shivering a little bit. Theodore Nott looked apprehensive and Pettigrew was stumbling over his own words.

"YOU!" Harry boomed at Pettigrew who flinched visibly. "You gave away my parents, didn't you?"

"Harry. . . I'm sure y-your p-parents wo-wouldn't wan-want you t-to ki-kill me," the balding man tried to defend himself. Harry snorted loudly.

"Truly, Wormtail. That was exactly what I expected from you: cowardice. Avada Kedavra!" And Pettigrew fell down, limp and dead. Harry's eyes settled at the Malfoys but it was Draco who confronted them.

"I trusted you. . . And this is how you repay my trust? B-by k-killing Ginny? I-I never expected you, Mother, to do such a shameful task. I can't believe that I am an orphan now. . ." Draco whispered the last part, his voice filled with grief. Hermione fell to the ground in a fit of sobs and Luna hugged her.

"I–" Lucius started but Draco cut him off.

"I don't need any explanation, Father! I'd rather witness Harry kill you than see you anymore!"

"We were not here to fight!" Narcissa shouted and everyone fell silent. "We were here to protect you, Draco. And Ron and Harry. We could not a-alert you as Bella was keeping a watch on us. . . Ron, Harry. . . You both know, more than anyone else, that I truly considered you as my sons. . ." Narcissa said and Harry could see the truth in her eyes. She was, after all, the only person close to a mother to him since the start and Harry hung his head in shame. "If you wi-wish to kill us, we are ready. Go ahead, Harry."

Harry sighed and shook his head as he looked at Draco. Without even saying a word, Draco ran to his parents and hugged them. Harry turned away from family reunion to meet the eyes of his former best friend. At that moment, he knew he had to break the truth.

"Theo, I am sorry but I couldn't let Riddle live when he was killing everyone every single day. I just couldn't –"

"What are you looking at?" Nott asked. "If you think I'll change, then you are. . . right," Nott replied and smiled at him for the first time in many years. "I understood as much as that when I saw you murdering off people's heads for killing Weasley. I can understand that you loved her and I can also understand that. . . Riddle was wrong. Anyways, I have got no home seeing you just killed my parents."

Ron left his family's side to hug his former best friend as Draco and Harry joined the brotherly hug as well. They broke apart and smiled at each other.

"You can always stay with us, dear," Mrs Weasley spoke out in a shaky voice. Her voice brought Harry back to the harsh reality which was far beyond repairing friendships and family reunions; he had lost the one girl he loved dearly.

When the realization hit him, a sharp and hoarse cry sent an incoherent message to the darkening skies above.

Action-filled and melancholic chapter. How did you like it?

P.S. Yeek it's Dan's birthday tomorrow!!

Your thoughts on this chapter? Comment!

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x