This is it ... *sighs* I miss writing this already.
* * * *
A muffled scream reached Snape's ears as he jogged up the dirt road and toward the front door of the house. He could feel a shift in the air around them and he paused, cocking his head to listen for another scream. Lupin pushed open the front door and they stood in the threshold, almost waiting for something to happen before they made their own move.
"They're already doing something," Snape growled furiously, entering the house. "I can feel it and I heard Glory scream from outside. We can't waste any more time standing here like fools."
"Where are they?" Lupin asked, following Snape inside and staring around the house. It wasn't large, but three different doorways led to other rooms in the house and stairs to their left led to the upper floor. "They could have her anywhere and by the time we're finished searching she could be dead."
Snape cocked his head again, then yelled, "There! There! I heard her scream from in there."
With his wand out and ready, Lupin sprinted across the living room of the tiny house and put his hand on the doorknob. "What'll we do?" he asked suddenly, when Snape caught up to him.
"You'll know what to do, if anything," he growled, pushing Lupin aside and grabbing hold of the doorknob. "Are you really ready?"
Lupin nodded, looking very serious. "I'm ready."
Snape drew in a breath and pushed open the heavy door.
* * * *
Lucius had to raise one hand to shield his eyes from the glare when Voldemort touched Glory. The light was so bright that it filled the room, causing the Death Eaters to move around in confusion, not following exactly what was happening. Lucius took advantage of their distraction and rose to his feet, standing behind his own son and debating suddenly what he was going to do. To hurt Draco would be nearly impossible, but he would have to do it to save Glory.
A pained scream pierced the thick air in the room and Lucius made his decision in that moment. His son, or Glory and the world. With his hand balled into a fist, Lucius slammed it down onto Draco's back and the boy fell. His wand clattered across the floor and he tried to grab for it, but Lucius was quicker and he wrapped his thin fingers around the long piece of wood.
"You shouldn't have done it," he whispered, then turned back toward the blinding light. He couldn't see anything beyond a foot in front of his face and he had to fight blindly across the room, groping the walls to make sure he was still on the right path toward Glory.
"Lucius, get off me," a voice growled and he squinted to see Lupin and Snape standing in the doorway of the room.
"He has Glory," Lucius said quickly. "He'll kill her and everyone else unless we do something."
Snape's eyes narrowed and Lucius growled deep in his throat. "This isn't the time to be playing games, Severus. If you don't trust me, then save her yourself. But if I leave it up to you and you don't do it, I swear I'll kill you."
Snape looked taken aback, but he plunged into the room, pushing through the few Death Eaters who remained standing. There was nothing in front of them but the light, no Glory, no Voldemort, just the light that had blinded them all. He groped through it, hoping to come in contact with some human form, but there was nothing there.
"They're gone," he growled.
Lupin frowned. "No, they're right there. Can't you see them?"
Snape turned back and squinted into the glare and found that he could see the dim outlines of two people before him. Another scream ripped from Glory's mouth and Snape winced, then moved forward and tried to grasp Voldemort's hand and tear it from her body. Still, he could not find a solid form in the light.
"I can't get to her," he said loudly, motioning for Lupin. His voice barely carried over the sound of rushing wind in the room. "I can see her and I can hear her, but I can't get to her."
Lupin pushed through the Death Eaters, followed closely by Lucius and tried to pull Glory away. His hands came down on empty air and he was unable to grab her shoulders. He tried again, this time wrapping his arms around her waist, but there was nothing there for him to hold on to.
"No," Lucius said so softly that they barely heard him under the noise of the room. "You can't have come this far to be unable to stop it." He stepped forward and grabbed for Glory, but his hand passed through her as if she wasn't even there. "No, dammit," he growled, waving his hands furiously in the air before him.
"Lucius, stop," Lupin demanded, pushing him away. "We'll find a way."
"When? Tomorrow? It won't do us any good tomorrow," Lucius said.
Silence filled the room at that instant, the wind around them slowing and then dying down altogether. The light faded slowly, leaving the stunned Death Eaters to stare at their Lord and the woman they thought would deliver them all from a tainted world. They expected to see him flexing his hands with the newfound power, Glory dead in his grasp, her eyes unseeing and blank. They expected him to unleash her power over the world.
Instead, Glory stood with her hands clamped around Voldemort's wrist, forcing his hand to stay in contact with her body. He was shaking, his face drawn and pale as though all the blood had been drained from his body. Glory wore a look of fury, her body trembling as well as she reversed the flow of power.
"Glory, don't do it," Lucius said. "You'll kill yourself."
She didn't seem to hear him as energy flowed down Voldemort's arm and was absorbed into her skin. His victims came with the energy, screams of pain were heard as the power was transferred and Lucius could make out the occasional face in the haze and smoke that entered Glory's body.
"We have to stop her," Lucius said, grabbing Lupin's arm. "That's too much for her body."
Snape shook his head and held Lucius back. "She knows what she's doing. Just wait."
At last, after watching Glory take in all of Voldemort's power, she let go of him and he crumpled to the ground. His chest heaved with exertion and he began to tremble once more as he realized how weak he was. She had drained him of everything that he had worked so hard to gain.
"Do something," he hissed angrily, staring up at Daphne. His wand was lying halfway across the room and he knew he couldn't be able to reach it on time, but that didn't mean his followers couldn't protect him.
Daphne moved toward Glory, but Glory raised a hand and Daphne stopped her in her tracks. Glory's eyes glowed, her pupils dilated and the irises a blazing orange colour that Lucius had never seen before. It looked as if someone had taken all the colours eyes could possibly be and had thrown them into one.
"We are not impressed, Voldemort," she said, speaking for the first time since the power transfer. Her voice resonated through the room, a bizarre chorus of all the men and women whose power she now held inside her body. Her own voice would be in there somewhere, buried under the Potions Master, the former werewolf, and, of course, her own personal demon who had ended up falling in love with her.
"You think far too highly of yourself," she continued, the different voices rising with separate and strange inflections. The dialects were all different, Lucius realized with a start. Voldemort had killed from all over the world and the voices represented that.
"Riding the world of . . . what do you call them?"
"Mudbloods," Voldemort wheezed.
Lupin made a sudden movement then to hold back a group of Death Eater's at the door and Glory turned to him, smiling softly.
"Thank you, our dearest friend and saviour, but I can handle them. Do not strain yourself when you have been through so much already." She waved her hand across the room, trapping the Death Eater's in their positions.
Lupin found himself smiling fondly at Glory, despite the fact that she was now a many souled entity. She was still in there, still prominent over every other soul inside of her.
"You," she said sharply, turning back to Voldemort, "have pushed and pushed and we have allowed it. We have been unable to do anything about it, we have been unable to stop you from using the power you have unfairly taken from us. Now we will see how dark and powerful this Dark Lord truly is."
Glory flicked her fingers at Voldemort's wand and it came sailing across the room to her. She turned it around and held it out to him. He stared at her from the floor, a frown crossing his pale face.
"Take it," she said, still holding it out. "We will see who remains standing at the end of a simple duel."
"You're offering me the chance to kill you," he said.
Glory smiled. "Still so sure of yourself, are you?"
Voldemort stood on shaking legs. "I have my own power."
She blinked at him, her orange eyes glowing happily. "Are you sure, Voldemort, that you did not lose your own powers long ago?"
Instead of answering, he pointed his wand at her and wheezed out, "Crucio."
Glory's body absorbed the curse and she did not take so much as a step backward. Another smile stole across her face at this and she waited patiently as Voldemort struggled to accept what had happened.
"You won't win," he promised.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh no?"
"No," he hissed. "Avada Kedavra."
Glory stumbled backward, but the curse couldn't even knock her over. She straightened, still smiling and cocked her head at the Dark Lord.
"Are you quite finished?" she asked. "We would like to get on with it."
"No, I-"
"For all you've killed, for all you've taken from the innocents, for everything you've done," she said fiercely, interrupting him. "For all you've stolen, I will return it unto you." Her blazing eyes met his and she stretched her hands toward him.
"Avada Kedavra."
The power of a thousand men rushed from her outstretched hands, barrelling through Voldemort's body. He screamed and was pushed back against the wall as the energy and power pummelled him, leaving him as nothing more than a shred of what he had once been. He collapsed to the ground, the breath gone from him forever.
Glory fell to the ground in a heap on the other side of the room, breathing heavily into her arms. The Death Eaters remained unable to move and Lucius watched in wonder as they struggled to leave the room. Remnants of Glory's power remained there, holding them in place until the Ministry could arrive and take them away to Askaban.
"Dumbledore will have notified the Ministry of where we are," Snape said, leaning over Glory. "Someone will come for them soon."
Glory raised her head slightly and managed to nod. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "I can't move . . . so weak."
Lucius knelt down to her level and gently rubbed her back. "It's okay. We'll get you out of here."
"Draco?" she mumbled into her arms.
Lucius's eyes went to his son, who was being held in a sitting position near the wall.
"He's over there," Lupin said softly.
Glory turned her head so that she could see him, then sighed sadly. "Will he go to Azkaban?"
Snape glanced at Lucius, then nodded. "Yes, he'll have to."
Glory closed her eyes. "So sorry," she mumbled. "He shouldn't have been involved."
Lucius stared at his son for a long moment, then turned away when he found he could see nothing but hatred behind Draco's eyes. The boy gave up so much and it was all for nothing.
"Let's go," Lupin murmured, leaning down and helping Glory to her feet. With one arm around her waist he led her to the door where they waited for Snape and Lucius to join them. Behind them, the Death Eaters tried to escape the magic that was holding there but it was no use, nothing they did could tear them out of the space they were frozen in.
"Sorry it had to end this way, Daphne," Glory said softly, staring at the woman who had once been her best friend. "I just never though that you . . . you of all people."
Daphne just glared at Glory, refusing to even acknowledge that she was being spoken to.
"Come on," Lucius murmured, standing at Glory's other side and helping her through the door. "I don't know exactly what happened in there, but I do know you saved the world."
Lupin caught Snape's eye and smiled slightly. "Lot of good we were, rushing in here to save the day."
"You're here," Glory mumbled. "That's what matters."
They walked toward the front door, Lucius and Lupin supporting Glory on either side as she stumbled through the house.
"I have just one question," Snape said as they arrived at the door. "Is there any part of the . . . energy left inside of you now?"
Glory raised her head slightly to look at him and she shook her head. "Nothing. It's all gone."
"That's good, isn't it?" Lupin asked. "That means you won't have to ever worry about it again, right?"
Glory nodded slowly and managed a weak smile. "Right. It's gone and I'm . . . I'm free of it, I guess. Free to do anything I want." She glanced at the ring on her finger and pushed her smile further. "Anything."
* * * *
End
Notes: I was going to include the wedding, but I thought that'd end up being waaaaay too corny, so I didn't. I hope it satisfies just the same.
* * * *
A muffled scream reached Snape's ears as he jogged up the dirt road and toward the front door of the house. He could feel a shift in the air around them and he paused, cocking his head to listen for another scream. Lupin pushed open the front door and they stood in the threshold, almost waiting for something to happen before they made their own move.
"They're already doing something," Snape growled furiously, entering the house. "I can feel it and I heard Glory scream from outside. We can't waste any more time standing here like fools."
"Where are they?" Lupin asked, following Snape inside and staring around the house. It wasn't large, but three different doorways led to other rooms in the house and stairs to their left led to the upper floor. "They could have her anywhere and by the time we're finished searching she could be dead."
Snape cocked his head again, then yelled, "There! There! I heard her scream from in there."
With his wand out and ready, Lupin sprinted across the living room of the tiny house and put his hand on the doorknob. "What'll we do?" he asked suddenly, when Snape caught up to him.
"You'll know what to do, if anything," he growled, pushing Lupin aside and grabbing hold of the doorknob. "Are you really ready?"
Lupin nodded, looking very serious. "I'm ready."
Snape drew in a breath and pushed open the heavy door.
* * * *
Lucius had to raise one hand to shield his eyes from the glare when Voldemort touched Glory. The light was so bright that it filled the room, causing the Death Eaters to move around in confusion, not following exactly what was happening. Lucius took advantage of their distraction and rose to his feet, standing behind his own son and debating suddenly what he was going to do. To hurt Draco would be nearly impossible, but he would have to do it to save Glory.
A pained scream pierced the thick air in the room and Lucius made his decision in that moment. His son, or Glory and the world. With his hand balled into a fist, Lucius slammed it down onto Draco's back and the boy fell. His wand clattered across the floor and he tried to grab for it, but Lucius was quicker and he wrapped his thin fingers around the long piece of wood.
"You shouldn't have done it," he whispered, then turned back toward the blinding light. He couldn't see anything beyond a foot in front of his face and he had to fight blindly across the room, groping the walls to make sure he was still on the right path toward Glory.
"Lucius, get off me," a voice growled and he squinted to see Lupin and Snape standing in the doorway of the room.
"He has Glory," Lucius said quickly. "He'll kill her and everyone else unless we do something."
Snape's eyes narrowed and Lucius growled deep in his throat. "This isn't the time to be playing games, Severus. If you don't trust me, then save her yourself. But if I leave it up to you and you don't do it, I swear I'll kill you."
Snape looked taken aback, but he plunged into the room, pushing through the few Death Eaters who remained standing. There was nothing in front of them but the light, no Glory, no Voldemort, just the light that had blinded them all. He groped through it, hoping to come in contact with some human form, but there was nothing there.
"They're gone," he growled.
Lupin frowned. "No, they're right there. Can't you see them?"
Snape turned back and squinted into the glare and found that he could see the dim outlines of two people before him. Another scream ripped from Glory's mouth and Snape winced, then moved forward and tried to grasp Voldemort's hand and tear it from her body. Still, he could not find a solid form in the light.
"I can't get to her," he said loudly, motioning for Lupin. His voice barely carried over the sound of rushing wind in the room. "I can see her and I can hear her, but I can't get to her."
Lupin pushed through the Death Eaters, followed closely by Lucius and tried to pull Glory away. His hands came down on empty air and he was unable to grab her shoulders. He tried again, this time wrapping his arms around her waist, but there was nothing there for him to hold on to.
"No," Lucius said so softly that they barely heard him under the noise of the room. "You can't have come this far to be unable to stop it." He stepped forward and grabbed for Glory, but his hand passed through her as if she wasn't even there. "No, dammit," he growled, waving his hands furiously in the air before him.
"Lucius, stop," Lupin demanded, pushing him away. "We'll find a way."
"When? Tomorrow? It won't do us any good tomorrow," Lucius said.
Silence filled the room at that instant, the wind around them slowing and then dying down altogether. The light faded slowly, leaving the stunned Death Eaters to stare at their Lord and the woman they thought would deliver them all from a tainted world. They expected to see him flexing his hands with the newfound power, Glory dead in his grasp, her eyes unseeing and blank. They expected him to unleash her power over the world.
Instead, Glory stood with her hands clamped around Voldemort's wrist, forcing his hand to stay in contact with her body. He was shaking, his face drawn and pale as though all the blood had been drained from his body. Glory wore a look of fury, her body trembling as well as she reversed the flow of power.
"Glory, don't do it," Lucius said. "You'll kill yourself."
She didn't seem to hear him as energy flowed down Voldemort's arm and was absorbed into her skin. His victims came with the energy, screams of pain were heard as the power was transferred and Lucius could make out the occasional face in the haze and smoke that entered Glory's body.
"We have to stop her," Lucius said, grabbing Lupin's arm. "That's too much for her body."
Snape shook his head and held Lucius back. "She knows what she's doing. Just wait."
At last, after watching Glory take in all of Voldemort's power, she let go of him and he crumpled to the ground. His chest heaved with exertion and he began to tremble once more as he realized how weak he was. She had drained him of everything that he had worked so hard to gain.
"Do something," he hissed angrily, staring up at Daphne. His wand was lying halfway across the room and he knew he couldn't be able to reach it on time, but that didn't mean his followers couldn't protect him.
Daphne moved toward Glory, but Glory raised a hand and Daphne stopped her in her tracks. Glory's eyes glowed, her pupils dilated and the irises a blazing orange colour that Lucius had never seen before. It looked as if someone had taken all the colours eyes could possibly be and had thrown them into one.
"We are not impressed, Voldemort," she said, speaking for the first time since the power transfer. Her voice resonated through the room, a bizarre chorus of all the men and women whose power she now held inside her body. Her own voice would be in there somewhere, buried under the Potions Master, the former werewolf, and, of course, her own personal demon who had ended up falling in love with her.
"You think far too highly of yourself," she continued, the different voices rising with separate and strange inflections. The dialects were all different, Lucius realized with a start. Voldemort had killed from all over the world and the voices represented that.
"Riding the world of . . . what do you call them?"
"Mudbloods," Voldemort wheezed.
Lupin made a sudden movement then to hold back a group of Death Eater's at the door and Glory turned to him, smiling softly.
"Thank you, our dearest friend and saviour, but I can handle them. Do not strain yourself when you have been through so much already." She waved her hand across the room, trapping the Death Eater's in their positions.
Lupin found himself smiling fondly at Glory, despite the fact that she was now a many souled entity. She was still in there, still prominent over every other soul inside of her.
"You," she said sharply, turning back to Voldemort, "have pushed and pushed and we have allowed it. We have been unable to do anything about it, we have been unable to stop you from using the power you have unfairly taken from us. Now we will see how dark and powerful this Dark Lord truly is."
Glory flicked her fingers at Voldemort's wand and it came sailing across the room to her. She turned it around and held it out to him. He stared at her from the floor, a frown crossing his pale face.
"Take it," she said, still holding it out. "We will see who remains standing at the end of a simple duel."
"You're offering me the chance to kill you," he said.
Glory smiled. "Still so sure of yourself, are you?"
Voldemort stood on shaking legs. "I have my own power."
She blinked at him, her orange eyes glowing happily. "Are you sure, Voldemort, that you did not lose your own powers long ago?"
Instead of answering, he pointed his wand at her and wheezed out, "Crucio."
Glory's body absorbed the curse and she did not take so much as a step backward. Another smile stole across her face at this and she waited patiently as Voldemort struggled to accept what had happened.
"You won't win," he promised.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh no?"
"No," he hissed. "Avada Kedavra."
Glory stumbled backward, but the curse couldn't even knock her over. She straightened, still smiling and cocked her head at the Dark Lord.
"Are you quite finished?" she asked. "We would like to get on with it."
"No, I-"
"For all you've killed, for all you've taken from the innocents, for everything you've done," she said fiercely, interrupting him. "For all you've stolen, I will return it unto you." Her blazing eyes met his and she stretched her hands toward him.
"Avada Kedavra."
The power of a thousand men rushed from her outstretched hands, barrelling through Voldemort's body. He screamed and was pushed back against the wall as the energy and power pummelled him, leaving him as nothing more than a shred of what he had once been. He collapsed to the ground, the breath gone from him forever.
Glory fell to the ground in a heap on the other side of the room, breathing heavily into her arms. The Death Eaters remained unable to move and Lucius watched in wonder as they struggled to leave the room. Remnants of Glory's power remained there, holding them in place until the Ministry could arrive and take them away to Askaban.
"Dumbledore will have notified the Ministry of where we are," Snape said, leaning over Glory. "Someone will come for them soon."
Glory raised her head slightly and managed to nod. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "I can't move . . . so weak."
Lucius knelt down to her level and gently rubbed her back. "It's okay. We'll get you out of here."
"Draco?" she mumbled into her arms.
Lucius's eyes went to his son, who was being held in a sitting position near the wall.
"He's over there," Lupin said softly.
Glory turned her head so that she could see him, then sighed sadly. "Will he go to Azkaban?"
Snape glanced at Lucius, then nodded. "Yes, he'll have to."
Glory closed her eyes. "So sorry," she mumbled. "He shouldn't have been involved."
Lucius stared at his son for a long moment, then turned away when he found he could see nothing but hatred behind Draco's eyes. The boy gave up so much and it was all for nothing.
"Let's go," Lupin murmured, leaning down and helping Glory to her feet. With one arm around her waist he led her to the door where they waited for Snape and Lucius to join them. Behind them, the Death Eaters tried to escape the magic that was holding there but it was no use, nothing they did could tear them out of the space they were frozen in.
"Sorry it had to end this way, Daphne," Glory said softly, staring at the woman who had once been her best friend. "I just never though that you . . . you of all people."
Daphne just glared at Glory, refusing to even acknowledge that she was being spoken to.
"Come on," Lucius murmured, standing at Glory's other side and helping her through the door. "I don't know exactly what happened in there, but I do know you saved the world."
Lupin caught Snape's eye and smiled slightly. "Lot of good we were, rushing in here to save the day."
"You're here," Glory mumbled. "That's what matters."
They walked toward the front door, Lucius and Lupin supporting Glory on either side as she stumbled through the house.
"I have just one question," Snape said as they arrived at the door. "Is there any part of the . . . energy left inside of you now?"
Glory raised her head slightly to look at him and she shook her head. "Nothing. It's all gone."
"That's good, isn't it?" Lupin asked. "That means you won't have to ever worry about it again, right?"
Glory nodded slowly and managed a weak smile. "Right. It's gone and I'm . . . I'm free of it, I guess. Free to do anything I want." She glanced at the ring on her finger and pushed her smile further. "Anything."
* * * *
End
Notes: I was going to include the wedding, but I thought that'd end up being waaaaay too corny, so I didn't. I hope it satisfies just the same.