Say Goodbye, Tom

Thank you once again to those of you who have taken the time to read this story and review it. I appreciate your words of encouragement.

All canon characters belong to JKR. My bank account isn't getting any bigger because of it.

A big thank you to June for all of her help and suggestions.

Chapter 17 – Say goodbye, Tom

Voldemort felt a cold stream of liquid hit the center of his forehead. He jerked back as he wiped the fluid from his face.

Severus immediately took several steps back.

"Severus, what have you done to yourself?" asked Voldemort, amused.

"If I were you, I would be worrying about what I've done to you." Severus smirked.

"Do you think that anything you have in your little Muggle toy will do anything to me?" hissed the Dark Lord. He lunged at Severus but stopped abruptly.

Severus looked on. He continued to back up slowly as he dropped the pistol.

Voldemort touched his forehead where Severus had hit him with the liquid. His skin felt like it was moving.

"What did you do!" yelled Voldemort.

Harry, who'd been knocked out previously, immediately sat up. He screamed. It felt as though his scar were being ripped open.

"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Hermione.

"It's like a vise in my head. Like something..." Harry began to breathe heavily. "Something is being pulled from me."

More Aurors began arriving as well as members of the Order. There were at least one hundred Death Eaters in the large ballroom, all of them too busy fighting Aurors to realize that Lucius was not helping Voldemort, and that Harry was now conscious. Arthur, Remus and Ron concentrated on stunning every Death Eater they came across. Tonks worked alongside Mad-Eye Moody and Shacklebolt.

Harry stood shakily. Severus ran to his side then.

"He's getting weaker. It's up to you now, Harry. You can either kill him or let him just..." Severus looked back at the swaying Voldemort. "...Fade away."

The walls of the room began to tremble. Behind the altar, Lucius held Ginny in his arms. He'd taken his wand and whispered into her ear.

"Ennervate."

Ginny's eyes finally fluttered open. She looked at Lucius' worried eyes.

"Lucius," his name rolled softly from her lips. "Hold me, don't let me go."

"I'm here, Ginny, and I've got you now." Lucius held her closely and looked around the altar. He needed to get her away from the estate. Something was happening. He felt the floor beneath him shaking; he feared that the entire structure was going to fall on top of them at any moment. He cast a Disillusionment Charm on them both and walked along the edge of the room. There were several moments when he had to stop to avoid getting them both killed.

Harry stood in front of Voldemort, who seemed to be withering away before their eyes. Voldemort was dragging himself up the steps, his eyes never leaving Harry's.

"I can't tell you how long I've waited for this day to come," said Harry.

Voldemort chuckled.

"Poor little Harry. Lost your mummy and daddy so long ago." As he spoke, Vodemort began to change. His appearance was slowly turning back to the person he used to be. Tom Riddle. "How long do you think you can play the sympathy card, eh, Harry?"

Harry stopped his advance and stared into his adversary's eyes.

"I hate you, Harry. I have killed you so many times in my dreams. I have tortured you, maimed you; I have taken you to the farthest depths of hell and back only to begin all over again when next I closed my eyes to dream."

Harry spread his arms.

"Well, here I am, then. Kill me now." Harry smiled wickedly, "You can't and you know it. That potion Snape hit you with is tearing your entire body structure apart." Harry crouched down on one knee.

Tom began to struggle for air. "You think you've suffered? You cannot imagine the demons I have had to struggle with in my life. Taunting me, taking bits and pieces of my soul every time I closed my eyes."

"And what have these demons of yours looked like, Tom?" Harry stood then raised his wand and pointed it at Tom's head.

Cold brown eyes looked into Harry's.

"They looked like you, Harry Potter. They looked like you."

"Avada Kedavra!" yelled Harry. A flash of green light illuminated from his wand and engulfed Tom's entire body. At that moment the room shook violently and the missing ceiling was restored, only to begin crumbling. Harry stood mesmerized as the body of his mortal enemy began to implode.

He felt a hand grab him by the arm, and he turned to see Albus' face.

"Harry, we must go now!" Albus pulled Harry along with him, as he took hold of Severus' hand. Severus held on to Hermione, and they all began running towards the door.

Outside there was already a crowd of Aurors holding all of the Death Eaters that had been in the mansion within an enchanted circle to keep them from escaping. The Aurors had evacuated their prisoners when they realized the house was falling.

Arthur and Ron paced, frantically looking toward the front doors of the house to see if they saw any sign of Ginny and Lucius. After several agonizing minutes they saw Lucius emerge with Ginny cradled in his arms.

"Lucius!" Arthur called and waved.

Lucius immediately ran to Arthur. He gently set Ginny down on the ground and wrapped his cloak around her.

"She's a bit shaken up, but she's fine," said Lucius. "Voldemort didn't complete the last spell, so her magical powers are safe. She should go to St. Mungos, just in case."

"Thank the gods." Arthur hugged his daughter, then looked at her rescuer. "Thank you, Lucius."

Ron stepped forward and extended his hand towards Lucius.

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I had no right."

Lucius nodded and accepted his handshake.

"They're still in there!" yelled Tonks from behind them. "Albus, Harry, Severus and Hermione are still inside. The house is falling."

Lucius looked at the crumbling Riddle Mansion. He ran towards the doors.

"Lucius!" Ginny saw Lucius running back to the house. "Daddy, stop him."

"I can't, Ginny." Arthur held Ginny back from running. The house was in a dangerous state; it wasn't safe for anyone to enter. He only hoped that Lucius would get to the others in time.

Lucius went inside. There were floorboards and debris falling all over him. He ran back into the ballroom, but didn't realize that as he went through the archway Albus, Harry, Severus and Hermione were coming out from the back part of the house. They had found a way out from the back of the ballroom. As they ran outside, they barely missed a large beam falling on them.

They ran towards the group of Order members and noticed immediately Lucius was missing.

"Where is Lucius?" asked Severus.

"He went back inside for you," said Ron.

Severus turned and ran as fast as he could back into the house.

"No!" Hermione tried to run after him but was grabbed by Harry. "Harry, let me go, please," she sobbed.

"Hermione, it's too dangerous," said Harry as he held her struggling six-year-old body. "There's nothing you can do."

Severus ran into the house. He went back towards the ballroom. The entire structure was going to come down any second.

"Lucius!" He called. "Lucius, are you here?" From behind a large wood beam he saw Lucius' blond mane. He ran towards it and saw Lucius struggling to get free. The beam had fallen on him, and Lucius had no wand.

"Are you all right?" asked Severus.

"Severus, get out of here!" yelled Lucius. "This is all coming down, please go!"

"I'm not leaving you here." Severus tried to push the beam off of Lucius, but as a six-year-old he didn't have the strength. He took his wand out, but again, his magic wasn't strong enough to move the beam. He threw the wand on the floor in disgust. "Dammit! What good is this!"

"Severus, it's no use. I can't move. I'm stuck here. You have to go." Lucius sighed and looked around him. He looked at the altar and saw the ever-growing vortex of energy beginning to suck everything into it. The altar was supposed to drain Ginny's magical powers and then transfer them to Voldemort; without Ginny, the altar simply began draining everything. If Lucius and Severus didn't get away soon, their powers as well as they themselves would be gone.

Severus pushed against the beam until his little arms were shaking.

"Lucius, you're the only family I've ever had." Severus felt the sting of tears in his eyes. "You're my brother, I'm not going to let you die here, at least not alone." Severus fell to his knees. Thoughts of Hermione filling his mind. How he would have loved to make her his wife. To have children with her someday. He loved her, that much he could finally admit to himself, but now it was too late.

"Wait," Lucius said. "I think my wand fell down in that crevice. Can you reach it?" He noticed Severus' hesitation. "Don't worry, I just saw Nagini go into that energy hole just before you ran in here."

Severus began to crawl into a small hole between the beam that was holding Lucius in and a hole in the floor. He was relieved to find out he wouldn't be leaving this world in the pit of the big snakes stomach. After a few very long seconds he came back up with Lucius' wand in his hand. He grabbed his own and put it in his coat. Then he handed Lucius his wand.

Lucius easily moved the beam, then stood and picked Severus up.

"Hold on my friend, let's hope we can Apparate out of here." With a loud pop they disappeared, and not a moment too soon.

Outside the crowd looked on in horror. The mansion that was once the home of the Riddle family was being sucked into a black hole of energy.

Hermione ran towards the hole but was pushed back by the explosion when it closed.

"NO!" cried Hermione.

Ginny walked towards Hermione and fell to her knees as she looked on in disbelief.

"It can't be," said Ginny softly. "He...can't be gone." Ginny fainted and fell to the ground.

Everyone stood motionless. No one believed what they had just seen.

Lucius and Severus Apparated to the spot where they were when they initially arrived. They saw the implosion from where they stood.

Severus saw Hermione running toward the deflating hole. He saw her fall to the ground and begin to cry. He didn't know how far or how fast he ran, but he found himself by her side at last. He took hold of her shoulders and tried to lift her towards him.

"He's gone, Harry," Hermione cried.

"What are you on about, you silly girl?" asked Severus.

Hermione's head jerked up and she smiled.

"Severus!" she threw herself on him so hard he fell on his back. Hermione straddled him and began pouring kisses all over his face. "Oh Severus! I was so afraid," she kissed his forehead, then his eyes, then his nose. "I thought you were dead! Don't you ever scare me like that again! I love you so much, I love you, I love you." She stopped kissing him when she didn't feel him respond, and looked at his face.

He smiled. "I love you too, although I will most probably spend the rest of my life at St. Mungo's for therapy after this."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This isn't over yet. I've got maybe another two chapters to go I think. I hope you all enjoyed this one.

On a side note: Some of you might be wondering why Lucius didn't just take Severus wand to move the beam on top of him.

I don't believe its as easy as using another persons wand. In Sorcerer's Stone Harry tried a few wands with disastrous results, until his wand found him. If it were a matter of people being able to borrow another's wand then why didn't Ron just borrow someone else's wand in Transfiguration class in Prisoner of Azkaban?

Minerva told him to replace it. The wand is an extension of the user, and I believe its part of him/her. I don't one person's wand would work properly for anyone else.

That's my thinking on it and that's why I wrote it that way.