Fall of Shadows

[Izabella Riddle]

The sun is rising
The screams have gone
Too many have fallen
Few still stand tall
Is this the end of what we've begun

The ink black sky gave way to blood red as the sun began to rise after the fifth night of fighting since the newest bought of the war had broken out. The fighting had been going on and off for a long time every bought getting worse and worse. The names of the dead increasing with each battle.

Slowly as the night wore on teh light of spells lit those that fell and those that had made them fall. The flashes lighting up the valley with an unearthly light that one one fighting would ever forget in their dreams. As the sun first inched over the horizon the screams of those lying on the field died away casting doubt on the new day.

The fallen flash in the minds of those who saw them fall. The names of the sick, dying, and dead fueling the rage and wrath of both sides making them stronger. Family and friends, pitted against each other torn apart by hate, on both side are falling.

In the middle of the fray 11 people stand beneath the rising sun starring at each other. They all know that the time has come and they are ready for whatever might happen. It's the beginning of the last battle between the Dark Lord Voldemort and the Boy-Who-Lived Harry Potter.

Harry stands in front, his long time friend Hermione Granger on his left, on his right stands his love Draco Malfoy, standing in the place Ron Weasley would have if he hadn't been killed, behind him the last three members of the DA still standing Blaise Zabini standing between Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan.

Twenty feet away the Dark Lord stands with his right hand man Lucius Malfoy, his trusted servant Wormtail, and the last two remaining inner circle Death Eaters Bellatrix Lestrange and Gregory Goyle Sr.

Wands are held tightly as the duel begins. All those present know not to interfere anhd so they don't, to interfere would only secure a death sentence at the hands of Voldemort. So those watching the final battle gaze around the field looking for loved ones they know or believe dead.

Hermione lets out a sob clutching Draco's tightly when she sees Mrs. Weasley fall to her knees in front of the bodies of her youngest two children. Ron died the night before protecting Hermione and Ginny though minutes later Ginny had fallen hit with the killing curse from behind. Hermione feels sick remembering that now only three Weasley's remain, Molly, Charlie, and Percy.

Draco fells the tears roll down his face once again as he hears in his mind the scream of anguish heard around the field when his stepfather Severus Snape found his mother Narcissa dead among those that had fallen protecting the younger students of Hogwarts. The two had been married almost a year ago after his mother had divorced Lucius Malfoy when he was sent to Azkaban for being a Death Eater.

Dean felt his anger well as he remembers the death of his long time friend Neville Longbottom. He had died from blood loss late the night before trying to protect his wife Luna, she would be in St. Mungo's for months because of her injuries.

Blaise remembers the look of love on his dear Pansy's face when she died in his arms. Her death had been slow and painful after being stabbed by a poisoned dagger three days before her death. He will always remember her smile and the laughthat he always loved to hear.

Seamus shivers in the warm morning air remembering the shirll laugh of Voldemort's last night when he killed Dumbledore. The field had gone silent as Albus Dumbledore the greatest Hogwarts Headmaster ever had fallen to the ground the piercing laugh of the Dark Lord chilling the hope of the light before the fighting began again seconds later.

Harry throws spells as fast as he can at Voldemort. He uses his pain and the pain of those behind him to make his spells more powerful. Tears fall down his face for Lily and James Potter, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Cedric Diggory, Narcissa Snape, Pansy Parkinson, Tonks, and so many others that have fallen.

As the sun rose fully above the horizon bathing the valley in blood red light Voldemort fell. Everyone gave a single cheer as the Dark Lord was defeated, falling silent then taking in the dead laying around them. The dead were buried in a ceremony two days after the end of the war that had started 18 years before with the survival of one small boy.