This story will be coming to an end. Thank you for the support everyone has given me for my first foray into the fic world! I have begun a new story called Rise to Power. The first chapter is up now. Thank you everyone!

::Parseltongue::

"Speech"

Thoughts

I do not own.

Chapter 9

Several cracks were heard in the forbidden forest. The forest became silent, as if the residents knew what was about to happen. Several black cloaked figures smoothly began to move towards the edge of the forest, just inside the treeline. With a signal from the Dark Lord, the crowd of people lifted their wands and shot white light towards the castle. Bright sparks illuminated a dome of magic surrounding the castle. The death eaters continued to fire their spells at the dome, and it began to crack. Volley after volley of spells continued to work away at the dome. Students and teachers could be seen coming from the castles main door, pouring out into the courtyard, Dumbledore in the lead.

With a flash brighter than a bolt of lightning, the dome shattered into millions of tiny pieces. As the pieces fell, they fizzled and disintegrated.

The two groups of people stared in silence at each other for a few moments before Dumbledore spoke.

"Tom Riddle I know you are there. You don't have to do this. These people, these children, they don't deserve to die today. I know you have taken Harry Potter. Please return him to us and you can leave peacefully." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

Harry looked at the man beside him. So Dumbledore finally figured out I've been missing for over a week now. He thought to himself. ::Voldemort, don't give into his prodding. You know he only speaks this way to aggravate you into a fight.::

Jade green and blood red eyes met his own. ::Yes, I know. Though… we are here to pick a fight.::

Harry's eyes sparkled in amusement ::This is true. However before we do this…::

Harry couldn't bring himself to look at the man anymore. He was afraid of beginning this fight and never telling the man how he felt. He was afraid of telling him how he felt and getting hurt in the process. I can't believe I fell in love with my parents murderer. I can't believe in such a short time, I've changed this much. Was he even the same boy as he was before all this began? No, my life changed for the better the moment I received that letter from Gringotts. No regrets. No doubts. With determination, he turned to face the Dark Lord once more.

::Voldemort…:: Harry began, reaching up with one hand to cup the mans face. Harry searched for something, anything in that gaze that would tell him he wasn't the only one feeling this way.

Dumbledore - the bastard - of course interrupted them. "Tom, please. Don't do this to yourself. Lay down your wand and-"

"Oh for the love of Merlin, shut up old man!" Harry shouted.

Dumbledore's eyes went wide, surprise causing his mouth to fall open. Gasps could be heard through the students and teachers. "Harry? Is that you, my boy?"

"No, I'm Santa Clause. Of course it's me, you idiot. Who else would it be, Dumbles?" Harry said with sarcasm. "Now shush for a moment, I was speaking. It's rude to interrupt."

Looking back at one Tom Riddle, Voldemort, The Dark Lord, Harry conveyed his feelings with one look at the man. For one moment, Harry could see those same feelings aimed back at him and he had hope.

But now was not the time to explore those feelings… that could be done after they dealt with the old coot. The same old coot that was staring at Harry like he had a second head, and with the understanding that the empire he had so carefully crafted was crumbling before his eyes.

Dumbledore snapped, firing the first curse toward the couple. Chaos reigned. Colors, lights, yelling, and death invaded the area. As quickly as it started, it came to an end.

With a well placed AK from Harry himself, down Dumbles went. And then there was silence. The light looked at their fallen leader, and fell to their knees. They knew the only choices were to give up or die.

"Well that was a bit anticlimactic don't you think, love?" Voldemort said.

Harry looked slightly startled for a moment, but recovered quickly, "A bit, but nothing less than what he deserved, dearest."

As the Dark Lords followers rounded up the last of the light side, the two wizards looked into eachothers eyes and with a loud pop, went home.

I'm sorry my dears…. This is the end of this story. I know it was short and sweet, but it needed to close so more stories could be written. Ready for my next adventure? Check out my page and see what else strikes your fancy!

Much love, Rin.