You Raise Me Up

Karen - Ouch! That hurt! Hmm...I saw nothing wrong with putting old Moldy Wart's ghost in. I mean...it makes sense if you think about it. WHat did Voldemort fear above all else. He feared death. If there was a way to 'escape' it, then he would have taken it. I never understood why JK didn't address that. He was not very happy when he died. He was extremely unstable, and therefore very likely to become a ghost. I'm sorry you feel that way about it, though.

Everyone else - Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews. Now, as promised, heeeeeeer's Johnny! Or Draco...Lucius....Severus....oh cracker jacks! Here's the gang!
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Despite being severely outnumbered, the New Army was well-trained and ruthless. What Harry thought would be a quick fight was immediately turning into an all-out battle. There were casualties on both side. Most of the deaths so far were on Harry’s side, as the majority of the people in the temple didn’t know one end of the killing curse from another.

Draco was using his Final Death spell as often as he could. But being a powerful spell, it was difficult to cast multiple times. Hermione had led a group of the women into a prayer room out of the main part of the temple. Bellatrix didn’t like that one bit, and wanted to fight. But after a bit of coaxing from Narcissa and Hermione, she grudgingly followed the women.

Percy, much to many people’s surprise, stayed to fight. He wasn’t afraid of a little fighting. He was a Gryffindor after all. Draco looked over at one point to see him fighting two of the New Soldiers at one time. Harry finally fought a path to Percy.

“Minister!” he cried, using a Knockback Jinx to throw one of the Soldiers away from Percy. “You need to get out of here!”

“Why?” Percy asked, throwing another hex.

“Because… We need you alive, Minister. Not dead because of some bloody ghost’s idea of vengeance. Despite being a real ass sometimes, you’re a decent Minister.” He said, throwing off two curses at once.

“Well thanks, Potter, but I want to fight.” Percy said. He hissed out an incantation, and a purple jet of magic burst from the tip of his wand and wrapped around one of the Soldier’s ankles, and completely pulled his legs out from under him. The man landed with a sickening thud, his head striking the end of a pew as he went down.

“Minister, please, just get out of here. The Aurors fear for your safety. It would put us all at ease if you’d go help protect the women. They are in a prayer room off to the back of the temple.” Harry said, grabbing Percy’s arm. Percy looked Harry in the eyes.

“Fine, Potter. I’ll go protect the women-folk. But if sounds ugly out here, I’m coming back!” He hissed, and took off towards the back of the temple, throwing random hexes and jinxes to clear the Soldiers from his path.

He found his way to the back of the temple, checking doors to find where the women were. He encountered a few stray guests, hiding to stay away from the fighting, but the women were in the very last room. He opened the door, and immediately had to hit the floor to dodge several jinxes.

“Merlin’s bloody white beard!” he yelped, throwing his hands over his head.

“Minister!” he heard Hermione say, and felt hands on his arm. “Are you okay?” she asked. He stood up, rubbing his chin from where it smacked against the floor.

“Never better.” He said. Hermione practically dragged him into the room, and shut the door. She then silently cursed the priests for not allowing locks on the doors. But the logical part of her scolded her for her thoughts. Why would priests need locks on a prayer room anyway? but she stuffed the logical part of her brain away, and turned to Percy.

“What are you doing in here?” she asked. He brushed off the front of his robes.

“Potter thought it would be a good idea for me to come and look after the women. Thought they could use the help of a strapping man.” He said, puffing out his chest slightly.

“Where is he?” snipped Bellatrix, causing laughter from the women. Percy frowned at her. She was sitting on the floor, reclining against some cloaks and coats to keep off of her feet. “What’s the casualty count, Minister? Any idea?” she asked.

“Casualties on both sides, mainly ours. The stupid poofs actually know what the fuck they’re doing. The people here aren’t trained for battle. They’re dropping like flies. I wanted to stay and fight, but I got put away like a child.” He said, leaning against the wall.

“They have Severus, Lucius, Draco, the Weasleys, and Potter. They aren’t too bad off.” Bellatrix said. “There are Aurors as well.” She added as an afterthought.

“There are about a hundred of those damned idiots out there, and five hundred guests, a good percentage of which are in this room right now. This is not good odds!” he said, running his hands over his face.

Bellatrix winced lightly, and rested her hands on her stomach. “Stop kicking mummy, it’s not nice…” she murmured. Luna stepped from the crowd of women, her wand drawn.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I say any women who are not currently expecting or have children at home should follow me to help the men. They’re lost without us.” She said. Percy sighed, but then nodded.

“They need help. If any women are willing to come with us, then I’ll lead you out there to help. Volunteers?” he said. Out of the approximately two hundred women, about seventy-five of them stepped forward. Percy nodded, a grim look on his face.

“Let’s go.” He said. He opened the door, and led the women back towards the main temple.

Before them was a bloodbath. It was hard to tell who was on which side, as they were all in formal attire. But Percy’s surprise reinforcements gave the Light side a boost in morale. Percy was quite surprised to see the women fighting dirty. He nearly laughed when one ‘lady’ used the stiletto spike of her shoe to blind one of the junior Death Eaters in one eye. He was promptly stunned by another woman, and kicked aside.

Harry came out of nowhere, and punched Percy in the arm. “This isn’t what I had in mind when I said ‘protect the women.’” He said. Percy shrugged, and Disarmed a passing Death Eater before Stunning him.

“Yeah….Luna Lovegood had the bright idea to lead reinforcements out here. Can’t really argue with her. They came on their own, and I still want to fight!” he said. Harry rolled his eyes, and stomped the hand of a wounded Death Eater who was trying to reach out for his discarded wand.

“Well, they seem to be helping quite a bit.” Harry said, and winced when another woman stomped a particularly tender spot of one of the Death Eaters with her high-heel boots.

Percy fought hard to keep the scales tilted towards the Light. At one point, though, he found himself cornered in the temple, three Death Eaters closing in on him. He raised his wand in defense, and one of the men Disarmed him quickly. His wand fell just beyond their feet, and he looked at the fallen wand, and then at the three Death Eaters despairingly close to him. Another raised his wand.

“Crucio!” he hissed. Percy felt pain throughout his body. His muscles stiffened, and his nerves caught fire. He felt as if his bones were breaking. His vision blurred, and he vaguely registered the sharp pain of his knees striking the floor. He felt the familiar release of a scream building at the back of his throat. But he wouldn’t cry out. He bit down on his tongue to keep himself from screeching in agony. He tasted blood, and curled in on himself, his arms wrapping around him. He bit down harder on his tongue, and the blood began to drip from his mouth. He shook from head to toe. He couldn’t hold it back much longer. The pain was indescribable. Just before he screwed his eyes shut, he saw a flash of green. He felt no more pain.

He knew it was over. He knew he was dead. The sweet release of death. But feeling started coming back, and he could feel the dull aftershock of the torturous curse. He opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. He felt hands on arms, lifting him up. He saw a two blurs of pale yellow, and a blob of black. Someone put his glasses on his face, and he stared into the eyes of Lucius, Severus, and Draco. They didn’t look too concerned, but he was too out of it to really register that.

“You are one lucky bastard.” Lucius said, pressing Percy’s wand into his hand. “One of the others had the Killing Curse on the tip of his tongue when we shot them down…” he said.

“You…saved…my life. Why…?” he asked, looking up at Lucius, who was presently supporting his left side.

“Seemed like fun at the time….” Drawled Severus, at his right.

“That hurt like a bitch….” Percy said, his voice soft.

“Yeah, it usually does…” Draco piped up from in front of them.

“Minister…you are presently weighing us down. There are people who need help fighting…can you stand?” Lucius said. He and Severus eased away from Percy, leaving him on his own. He stood on his own two feet, and looked at them.

“You have saved my life. If we make it out of here today, I’ll reward you for this.” He said, his strength returning somewhat.

He parted ways with the three, still half-heartedly throwing off curses. He glanced around, searching for somewhere to be. He saw several Aurors fighting off some of the Death Eaters, and left them be. He watched in dismay as another member of the Light side fell in death, his blood boiling when that blasted silvery specter laughed coldly. He felt the anger in his veins as the man who killed the poor fellow threw back his head and laughed as well. He pointed his wand at the Death Eater, his hand gripping it so tightly that his knuckles were white. If they didn’t start killing people, and not just Disarming, they were going to lose this battle. Desperately, angrily, he thought of an incantation.

“Avada Kedavra!” he hissed, and the jet of green light flew from the tip of his wand. It struck the laughing Death Eater square in the chest. He was illuminated in the green light, and then thrown to the floor, dead. Voldemort’s piercing red eyes found Percy’s blue ones, and they seemed to stare at each other.

“Well, well, Minister. You have successfully cast the killing curse. How does that make you feel?” he asked, gliding closer to Percy.

“Pretty damned good, you fucking Poltergeist!” he snapped. He wracked his brain for a way to stop that stupid ghost. If he could somehow take Him out of the picture, maybe those lucky bastards would fall. There was a spell somewhere that would put a ghost in stasis….particularly useful for the malevolent spirit. If he could only remember the incantation….fuck!

“Phantasma Conglaciatus!” he finally hissed, his wand pointed at the taunting spirit. A look of horror crossed across Voldemort’s transparent face, and his ghostly body stiffened as if under the Petrificus Totalus spell. His arms froze at his side, and his legs froze out straight, his feet barely visible under his voluminous ghostly robes. He floated downward, barely hovering over the ground.

The silence that ensued was almost deafening. The Death Eaters looked in confusion as their Lord was incapacitated. He had been calling the shots, and now they were a bit confused. But they recovered, now trying to save their own asses. They started throwing spells in desperation. Percy seemed frozen in shock. He had actually done something right….wow.

The Light quickly took the lead in the fighting, casting curses that were more severe in their attempts to end this stupid battle. Percy joined the fight again, his spirit boosted by his success. He became a bit careless in his zeal to fight, and didn’t notice one of the Death Eaters coming at him in desperation. Lucius, however, who happened to be standing near him as he fought, did, and cursed aloud.

“He needs to watch his back.” He said, fighting his way closer. The Death Eater raised his wand at Percy’s back. “Minister! Look out!” Lucius cried. Percy turned in time to hear the incantation. He tried to move quickly out of the way. The curse struck his side, leaving a deep gash just above his hip. Percy cried out in agony, and hit the floor. A killing curse from Lucius’ wand took care of the Death Eater.

Percy clutched his side, watching in horror as blood gushed from between his fingers. He opened his mouth to say something, and blood dripped from his mouth. He felt blood pounding in his ears, impairing his hearing. He heard voices around him, and felt hands on him. His vision began to blur slowly, and blackness closed in. He shut his eyes.

Lucius cursed again. Percy wasn’t dead yet, but if he didn’t get help he sure as hell would be. Lucius knew that they had to get out of that temple if there was going to be any hope for any of the wounded. By that time, there were only a few left fighting. The Light had circled around them, and were slowly killing them off. He watched with smug satisfaction as the rest surrendered, throwing down their wands in defeat.

Severus ran to Lucius’ side. “Lucius!” he hissed. Lucius turned to Severus, whose pale face seemed even paler.

“Lucius…Draco’s been hit….he’s asking for you.”
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Whoo! This is longer than usual, but I tried not to leave you hanging too much. Please review if the notion hits you. Try not to flame...they make my room smell like smoke...and I have sensitive lungs. -_^

Other than that, I love you all, and your reviews keep me going, and make the plot bunnies happy. SOmetimes they even reproduce...