Midnight Duel.

KatelynXM- Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters, those belong to J.K Rowling and her distributers and publishers etc. I am not making any money from this.
Warning: Spoilers for all the books. This will also be a one shot, in that their will be no more chapters, if you have any questions please ask and I will be happy to answer them. This is my second ever fic, and the first one that is serious, so please no flames.



The Midnight Duel.

That Which is Lost.






All was quiet in the little village of Hogsmeade. Far within the surrounding mountains the forest was calm. An autumn fog hung low in the air, slowly churning between the trees as if to serve as an omen for the events that were soon to take place. It was here, in a small round clearing deep within the haunting chorus of the night, that he waited. Merely a shadow against the trees, he stood unmoving. His eyes searching the surrounding gloom from beneath his death-eater hood and mask. His right hand was clenched tightly around his wand, which he kept concealed under his long cloak.
For at least a half-hour there was nothing, no sign of anyone or anything as the night grew colder and the moon rose higher into the sky, bathing the scene in it’s eerie glow. Then, from somewhere just beyond the trees that stood on the opposite side of the clearing, somewhere from amidst the darkness, he heard a crack like a gunshot. As a few scared birds flew up from the trees and into the star-filled night, he also heard the soft crunch of footsteps on dried leaves, and the gentle swish of robes.
From a gap in the trees a figure stepped out into the clearing. Moonlight illuminated the wizards long black robes and hood, but kept his face hidden in shadow. His arms lay straight along his sides, fingers hanging loosely, showing that they held no wand. The strange wizard did not fool the death-eater in the slightest though, and he maintained a firm grip on his wand. Suddenly the unknown wizard spoke, his voice echoing through the night.
“It has been a long time, Severus.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Severus answered, his voice as cold as the wind that ripped through the grass below them, “because I don’t know who you are.”
“You and I both know that isn’t true, because surely the Severus I knew wouldn’t come out here all by himself in the middle of the night to talk to a stranger, would he?”
The voice that came from under the strange wizard’s hood was odd. It was cold and rough, but sounded calculated and suppressed. As he talked, Severus saw that a small rod of wood had appeared suddenly between the wizard’s right thumb and index finger.

“A lot of different people, know me to be a lot of different things.” He replied solemnly. He then used his free arm to slowly pull down his hood and mask, and untie the neck of his cloak. All the while, keeping his eyes on the shadowed face of the robed wizard, in case he attacked, or just in case he shifted so that the moonlight would reveal his identity.
As Severus’s death-eater uniform lay forgotten on the ground behind him, the figure of a twenty-three year old man stood against the trees. His face was long and pallid, his hair short and unkempt, lying lank against his face. He was undoubtably young in body, but his cold, black eyes revealed the mind and soul of someone who may have been much older, someone who had seen and felt more than his age implied.
“But you,” he said with a sneer as he raised his wand, “May know me only as your murderer.”
He waved his wand and out shot a jet of green light, but the robed wizard had already moved back into the forests cover. Severus heard a rushing sound that told him that the wizard was behind him. He turned quickly on the spot but was too late, the robed wizard raised his wand in a high arc and the ground beneath Severus’s feet began to shake. He fell forward onto one knee and with a quick flick of his wand the ground became still again, but the unknown wizard had already moved back into his original position across the clearing behind Severus, using one of the trees as a shield.
“Imperio!” The wizard yelled.
Being on his knees with his back to the wizard, Severus had no time to stand and produce a shield charm, so he instead rolled over on the ground to avoid it. He then used this momentum to quickly stand.
“Imperio!” The robed wizard yelled again, his voice filled with something Severus couldn’t recognize. He produced a shield just in time to deflect the curse, but he force of it still knocked him backwards into a tree. Using it’s support he pointed his wand at his opponent and cried “Avada Kedavra!”
The killing curse blasted into the tree the robed wizard was hiding behind and it fell to the ground, smoldering. The robed wizard now stood in front of it, his wand was raised to his head and uttering something Severus couldn’t hear. Suddenly four more robed wizards appeared from behind him, each one an exact duplicate of him. They were faded at first but soon became solid as all five wizards took off in different directions, hiding in the darkness’s cover.
Severus stood, waiting - he knew that the copies were most probably created by the complicated separmollis charm, and could perform powerful magic by themselves. Their weakness was that they instantly disappeared when hit with even the most simple of spells.
He moved slowly into the middle of the clearing, a plan forming in his mind. The sound of running feet all around him told him that they had changed positions in the forest, and that he wouldn’t be able to find the original. He stood ready as they all walked slowly into the clearing, forming a circle around him. Only one managed to raise their wand before he had cried, “Sectumsempra!”
As the whip-like curse caused the first one it hit to disappear, he turned swiftly, maintaining his concentration so that the curse followed in an arc, hitting everyone of them and causing them to disappear. The only one that remained was the last, the original, lying on the ground with a broken wand, blood flowing from the open wound across their torso.


“I shall make this quick.” Severus said. “I have business to do for the Dark Lord in the Hog’s Head tomorrow, and it would help if I had a good nights rest beforehand.” But before he could perform the killing curse the wizard shouted.
“Severus, please!” The voice was no longer cold and suppressed, but pleading and rushed, and much to Severus’s disbelief, unmistakably female. In his shock, he did not quite register that she had begun to stand, one arm wrapped around her stomach, the other clutching the front of his robes and shaking.
“Please come back Severus, back to us,” she added softly. “Back to me.”
Realization swept over him and his heart suddenly felt as though it would burst if it continued to beat. His hand shook as the grip around his wand loosened, but he didn’t care.
“Is that why you tried to put me under the Imperius curse, to force me to leave Lord Voldemort, so you could force me into hiding?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her hand now releasing him and laying on his chest. “ I know this isn’t who you are, I know this isn’t what you want!”
His eyes began to grow cold, even though his heart began to ache, surely she could feel it, her hand was resting right next to it.
“ You do know what I want, but that isn’t it.” He tried to keep his face unreadable, he didn’t want her to know that he still, he still..........
“So are you here tonight for me, or is it so you can protect him?” He asked, he expression shadowed. Her face was still hidden, but he could see a tiny reflection of light on her cheek, where a tear had begun to fall.
“We can never be together Severus, I’m married-” she said, her voice soft as she removed her hand from his chest.
“It has been a long time.” He said so softly she must not have heard, because she continued on.
“ I have a, a .........” A long pause, and then “Severus-” But he cut her off, it didn’t matter, he knew her answer.
“Him then, I see..” His voice was vindictive but couldn’t hide the emotion that contorted his face. He no longer was staring intently into her eyes that he couldn’t see but knew were there, instead looking down onto the ground, where her robes swayed gently in the cool breeze. He now understood why she had hidden her identity from him.
“I am going to remain with the Dark Lord, that is were my loyalties lye. I suggest you try not to interfere further.” He was quickly regaining his old composure, his eyes were once again cold, and his mouth unmoving as her arms fell limply to her sides in defeat. A long silence passed, in which they both stood still, thinking about the decisions they where about to make.
Both their wands lay forgotten on the ground, and Severus knew, although he couldn’t quite understand why, that this was the last time they would ever see each other again.
In a few minutes, what felt like an eternity had passed. A strong gust of wind picked up, chilling his insides and causing both their breaths to mist. Then, without a word she turned to disapparate. As she did, the wind caught her hood, so that as she turned he could see a single tassel of dark red hair, and the glint of tears against green eyes. In that instant, she had gone, and in that instant, she had not seen him reach out for her.