Break Me || Harry Potter

Chapter 101 - Match

Dumbledore's funeral was a dull, dreary thing. I kept to the back, a black jacket wrapped around my arms. Wind tore across the clearing the school had gathered in. I had popped the collar of my jacket up around my neck to preserve warmth.

I didn't speak to anyone during the funeral. In fact, I was the last to emerge into the clearing and the first one to slink back into the shadows of the castle.

It was nearing dark when I found Harry standing alone in the astronomy tower. His head was lowered, his shoulders tense. I watched him for a moment from the shadows before stepping into the dying light of the setting sun.

Harry turned when I stepped up beside him, but he didn't say anything. I bit my lip.

"I have the locket, if you want to see it," I said quietly. Harry's head lifted, his emerald eyes brightening.

"You do?" his voice was weak, tired. I nodded, blowing a strand of hair out of my eyes as I reached into my pocket. Chains clinked, and then the weight of the heavy locket was in my hand. Harry reached for it, his fingers wrapping around the metal. He struggled for a moment to open it, but when he did, I felt a rock settle into my stomach.

No magic came rushing out, no roar of evil wizardry. Instead, a tiny, delicately folded piece of paper was tucked into the velvet lined innard of the locket. Harry's fingers trembled as he pulled at the paper, handing the locket back to me as he unfolded it.

To the Dark Lord,

I know I will be long dead before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B.

I felt the weight of the author's words pushing down on me after Harry finished reading it out loud. They pushed down so hard that I felt my shoulders aching. This person, this hero, had defied Voldemort and figured out his secret, and yet nobody had known because he had been killed. I longed to know who R.A.B. was.

I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.

Right then and there, I made a promise to this quiet hero.

He will be mortal once he meets us. He won't stand a chance.

"Who's R.A.B.?" Harry asked quietly. I blinked away from the paper and stared into the dying sun.

"I have no idea," I breathed. Harry looked down at the paper again.

"So it's a fake," Harry said defeatedly. I looked down, closing my eyes for a moment. All that struggle, wasted.

"Yes," I said, forcing iron into my words and I lifted my head and straightened my shoulders. Harry looked like he was going to collapse.

"So Dumbledore weakened himself, got himself killed, all for nothing," he said bitterly. I turned to face him, my hands reaching for him.

"Harry, listen to me," I said. His emerald eyes reluctantly met mine. "It was not for nothing – we can still do this. You said that two have already been destroyed... We can find the others, and wipe him off this earth." I looked Harry straight in the eye.

"How?" Harry said, pain and despair dripping off his words. I took a deep breath.

"I'm not going to come back to Hogwarts next year," I said with a steady voice. Harry's head whipped up, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"What? What are you talking about?" he breathed. I lifted my chin and gazed out at the lake.

"I don't need to be here. I don't need the education. I can use the last year of my life for good. I'll go out, find the bloody things, destroy them, and be back in time for all of us to face him together. We'll end this, once and for all." I kept my face strong and positive. Harry was still staring at me, his eyes wide as he tried to calculate it all.

"Wait... We can – I can go with you, we –" he stuttered, trying to contemplate what I was proposing.

"Harry, I know that I can't stop you if you want to come, but I want you to know that I will do this for you," I explained.

"We can go together. Ron and Hermione, I'm sure they would want to to – "

"We want to what?"

I turned to see the other half of our family approaching.

Harry glanced at me before turning to Ron and Hermione. I gave him a supporting smile.

"This one's a fake. Someone stole the real one who knows how long ago. Saige and I, we're going to try and track down the others... We were wondering if you'd come with us," Harry said quietly. Hermione took the piece of paper out of Harry's hand, reading it over quickly. Her eyes narrowed.

"It will take long... We have no idea where to even start," she muttered. I leaned my elbows against the railing, watching Ron and Hermione think about what we were proposing. Ron met my gaze.

"If you're going, we're coming with you. At least I am. Don't wanna sit in this hellhole for another year if you guys are gonna be off hunting dark magic," Ron said with a lighthearted tone. I felt a smile spreading across my face. Hermione glanced between the three of us before turning to Harry and nodding.

"We're with you, no matter what," she said with a smile. I grinned, letting the light breeze blow my hair back. I felt warmth spreading across my face, through my body, into my toes. I felt my magic flaring, pulsing, coming alive with power and hope.

Harry turned back to me, the first smile I'd seen since before the cave spreading across his face. He seemed to loose ten years of age. For a moment, I was looking at the small boy I had seen in the train compartment all those years ago, his oversized shirt reaching past his knees and his glasses held together with dirty sticky tape. Hope had returned to Harry Potter.

For once, I was glad that this wasn't about me. I was glad that I wasn't the one being pitied, being pampered. I was literally alive with thankfulness that I had gotten through the year without another extremely traumatizing experience. Yes, I had been beaten and pushed beyond my limit once again, but honestly, I've taken worse.

This year, it was about the fight we are going to face. Its about preparing for the struggle that we have yet to go through. It's about pulling up as much hope and energy and will to survive as we can, harvesting it before it gets spent in battle. This year was about becoming strong enough to survive whatever Voldemort and his Death Eaters throw at us.

And now, looking at everything that has happened to all of us, I think we're getting close to becoming that match. 

look! another update! (i literally feel so bad im trying to make up hahahha) 

so this is pretty much the end of book 6, which means onto the deathly hallows! i cannot believe this! anyways, the next chapter will probably jump right into the first few scenes in the deathly hallows, so be prepared for a time jump! 

and once again, thank you thank you thank you for all your support! l

with love,

syd