He has to die.
Only now has he truly accepted that.
So, he got up, got the invisibility cloak out of his pocket and put it over himself, knowing very well it hid him completely.
He breathed in and out slowly, and then walked out of the principal's office.
While Harry walked, no one was near (for a short period of time) he thought about a lot of stuff, while keeping his mind closed so Voldemort wouldn't be able to find out about the fact that Harry is a horcrux.
Harry thought about, how Dumbledore betrayed him by not telling him he was a horcrux while he still lived, but the fact that it was part of a bigger plan excuses it ("no it doesn't," Harry bitterly thought "but whatever").
How he failed what he promised Dumbledore. The snake is still alive. Nagini isn't dead, and is still close to Voldemort.
Harry was sentenced for "slaughter". Harry was sentenced to get "slaughtered" by Voldemort himself for a long time now. For over a year Dumbledore and Snape knew. But in actuality, his fate was made clear sixteen years ago...
It felt like Hermione and Ron were far away, so far that they could be in a completely different country... He felt like he said goodbye to them so long ago. He felt like it wasn't even a proper goodbye, especially becuase they're never about to meet again. Or atleast Harry isn't going to be able to meet them again, becuase by the time they'll see him again, he's going to be dead.
While in his automatic thoughts he almost bumped into Neville.
Harry looked around and saw Neville, Oliver Wood, and Colin Creevey as well. When he saw Colin it felt like another dull hit in his stomach.
"I'll take carry him, Neville" Oliver said, as he put Colin over his shoulders and carried him to the Great Hall.
Neville leaned against the door frame. He looked like an old man. And then he went downstairs and to take more bodies that were just corpses now.
Harry looked towards the entrance to the Great Hall. People were walking around, some were crying, some were trying to calm the crying people down, some were drinking, most of them were kneeling near the dead. But he didn't see anyone he knows, he feared that he would see Ginny or Hermione or Ron or anyone from the Weasley's. But with a quiet relieved sigh he didn't see any hint of them, he didn't even see Luna.
He looked away quickly, becuase he knows that the longer he would stay, the harder it would be for him to look away.
He walked into the dark. It was almost morning and it was still really dark outside, as if the skies and nature itself knew that "the boy who lived" is going to die today.
Harry walked and stopped near Neville who was about to take another corpse to the Great Hall.
"Neville."
"Bloody hell Harry! I almost got a heart attack!"
Harry suddenly put down his invisibility cloak, it was just a sudden, quick idea, it was born out of the want for total sureness.
"Where are you going?" Neville asked, "alone?" He's clearly suspicious.
"It's part of a plan," Harry said, "I must do something. Listen Neville-"
"You're not about to go and give up, Harry! Right?" Neville said, surprised and scared.
"No, of course not..." Harry lied without any problem, "this is different. But I'll probably be gone for some time." He said, looked away for a while and then looked back at Neville, "Neville, do you know Voldemort's snake? You know..." Harry said, trying to sound as calm as possible "he has a huge snake... he calls it Nagini.."
"Yeah, I heard about it... what does it have to do with anything?"
"It must die. Ron and Hermione know about it, but in case they wouldn't be..."
The thought got him to stop, he wasn't able to speak for a while, but he quickly calmed down. This is very important. The horcrux in the snake needs to be destroyed, as well as in himself. That's why he's going to the forest at all. So the horcrux in him will get destroyed.
"Just in case if they were..." Harry said with as much calmness as he could "busy... and if you had the chance..."
"...To kill the snake?" Neville finished the sentence
"Kill the snake" Harry agreed.
"Alright, Harry. I hope you're fine."
"I am, thanks, Neville."
Harry tried to leave but Neville stopped him gently.
"We're going to keep fighting, you know that, right, Harry?"
"Yes, I..." he couldn't finish the sentence, they are going to keep fighting, but he isn't. He's going to the forest to die.
It didn't seem like Neville noticed nor minded Harry's silence, he just patted Harry's shoulder and left to get more corpses.
Harry put the cloak over himself again, and noticed someone near a corpse with someone . With an uncomfortable feeling he realized it was one of the Weasley's, and not just any Weasley, it was Ginny, he was very near her. The other person with which Ginny is comforting the person.
"It's fine, it's alright." Ginny said in a comforting and calming voice "I'll get you inside."
"But I want to go home," the girl whispered, her voice is making it very clear that she's close to crying "I don't want to fight anymore!"
"I know" Ginny said calmly yet her voice was breaking "don't worry."
But this was home! Or atleast for Harry it was. A lot of people found home at Hogwarts, Voldemort, Snape and a lot of other abandoned and lonely boys and girls did.
Harry noticed that Ginny's now kneeling next to the grieving girl, Harry forced himself to look away and leave. He has to go to the Forbidden Forest to go and die after all.
Hagrid's hut was getting closer and closer. It was near the Forbidden Forest, as it always was. It was dark in the hut... Harry remembered all of the times he and his friends visited Hagrid and had such a good time with him... he didn't even hear Fang, Hagrid's pet dog.
As Harry walked and was getting closer and closer to the Forbidden Forest he kept remembering.
*The time when hundreds of dementors attack Harry and Sirius. And how he mistakingly thought that his father somehow came back from the dead and conjured the patronus in a form of stag, only for him to later realise that he actually saw himself cast the patronus. *
He couldn't not shake anymore. It's not as easy as everyone thinks to die. The knowledge that now is the last time he can smell the grass, the air and a lot of other things... it's very hard to comprehend.
The long game has ended, and he knows it. So, he took the old Golden Snitch out of his pocket and breathed in and out hardly.
"I'm ready to die now" he whispered almost inaudibly. So he pressed the Snitch against his lips, and now it finally opened.
He took the Snitch away from his mouth and casted "Lumos" with Draco's wand.
When he looked closer he saw a black stone. He saw that something is carved in to the stone, a second later he realized it's the symbol of the Deathly Hallows.
He understood everything he needed to understand, without thinking, becuase he's going to join them soon.
He took the stone, closed his eyes and turned the stone three times in his palm..
He knew what happened, he knew that the people he called, the people he wants to see, are coming, becuase he hears their quiet footsteps.
He opened his eyes and looked around.
They weren't ghosts but they weren't real people either. They were more like the part of soul that was made physical through Riddle's diary in his second year. All of them were looking at him, with smiles full of love.
When he looked around he saw James and Lilly Potter, his parents, but he also saw Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
James was the same height as Harry, wearing the clothes he died in (which seems to be a trend with dead people), with his hair unkept.
Sirius ran in elegantly, but he looked younger then the way he looked while alive... maybe it's becuase the way he looked while alive made him look older then he actually was?
Even Lupin looked younger.
Lilly had the widest smile, she looked like she would hug Harry if she could.
All of them looked happy, both with the memories they have of Hogwarts but also becuase they're with Harry again.
"You were so brave" one of them broke the quiet first.
Harry couldn't speak, he was too overwhelmed with grief and happiness of seeing his loved ones (who are dead now) be and talk to him to be able to speak.
"You're almost there, so close" James spoke, his voice soft, but also comforting. "We're so.... so proud of you..."
"Does it hurt?" Harry suddenly spoke quietly.
The first person who seemed to get it was Sirius, "Dying? Not at all, it's quicker then falling asleep."
"And he would want it to be quick. He wants it to end" Lupin said.
"I didn't want any of you to die" he said those words unintentionally but he didn't even take them back, so he was just looking from one person to the other "none of you, I'm so sorry" he was especially talking to Lupin, "so short after your son was born... Remus I'm so sorry..."
"I feel sorry too..." Lupin spoke "I'm so sorry that I'll never know him... but he'll know why I died, why both of his parents died, and I hope he'll understand. I tried to create a better world, a world in which he would be happy and live a good life."
The air was ice cold. He knew that none of them are going to tell him to go, it was his own decision after all.
"Will you stay with me?" Harry asked with small hope.
"Until the very end" James promised.
"They won't see you?" Harry asked.
"We're a part of you," Sirius explained "nobody else sees us."
Harry looked at his mom, "Be with me" he pleaded quietly and started walking, still under the invisibility cloak.
He walked through the Forbidden Forest which were like invisible patronuses to him.
Harry held the invisibility cloak tightly becuase he didn't want to risk it coming off. He was going deeper and deeper into the forest, even though he had no idea where Voldemort is even waiting.
He was able to put one feet over the other only thanks to James, Lilly, Lupin and Sirius.
His mind and body were strangely separated, all of the part of his body, hands, feet, arms, everything, felt like it was moving on its own. He could also uncomfortably feel the horcrux in him. He pretty much always felt like there was something in him that wasn't his, but until today he was taking it with a light weight. Until today he didn't know what it meant, and he always just took it that it was just a weird feeling that he sometimes has. But now he knows it's not just a feeling, it's not just something silly nor unimportant, it's a horcrux, a part of Voldemort's soul that's living inside him. It's disturbing to think about... Just how much of his actions and emotions were caused or just amplified by the horcrux in him?
He was shot out of his thoughts and abruptly stopped when he heard two people talking in whispers. Everyone stopped, his mom and dad listened with Harry.
"Someone's there," Dolohov started. "With an invisibility cloak. Do you think it could be...?"
Both Dolohov and Yaxley looked around, obviously not seeing anyone.
"I definitely heard something" Yaxley told "do you think it was some type of animal?"
"Could be, Hagrid took care of anything here." Dolohov said while looking around.
Then Yaxley looked at his watch.
"The time's almost up. Potter had an hour and he's not coming.
"He was so sure he'd come! He won't be happy."
"We should come back," Yaxley offered "and see what plans he has now..."
They turned around and started walking.
And so Harry started following them, becuase he knows they are going to return to Voldemort now.
He looked to his side, his mom and dad smiled, to make him be able to do what he needs to do.
So, Harry continued following Dolohov and Yaxley to Voldemort, still under the invisibility cloak.
They were walking only for a few minutes until they arrived. This is the place where he and Ron met Aragog and Aragog's family for the first time. He almost died here becuase of Aragog, now he's definitively going to get killed here by Voldemort himself.
In the middle a fire was set, around it was a quiet group of people. Some still had masks on, but most of them didn't. Between all of the people Harry recognized some of them; Voldemort, Fenrir Greyback, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.
All of the eyes were staring at Voldemort, who looked like he was praying, but through the connection Harry has with him, he could clearly feel that Voldemort is gaining more and more impatient the longer he waited for Harry to come.
Harry also noticed that Voldemort's snake, Nagini, is still in the magical cage, in which she was hiding.
When Dolohov and Yaxley joined the circle Voldemort looked up.
"There's no sign of him, my Lord," Dolohov said.
Voldemort's facial expression didn't change, but Harry can feel that he's gained even more irritated and disappointed.
"My Lord..." Bellatrix started. She was sitting closest to her Lord, her face was a little bloody but otherwise she was unharmed.
She went quiet, becuase Voldemort raised his palm to silence her. She was looking at him as if he were a god, the holiest person to ever exist, a pure truth in a single person.
"I thought he'll come," Voldemort spoke with a high and yet calm and complete voice, but Harry knows that couldn't be further from the truth. "I waited for him to come."
Everyone went completely quiet. It seemed like that everyone was just as scared as Harry himself is right now. Harry's heart was pounding so hard and so fast it seemed like it was trying to escape the cage it was trapped in. Harry took the invisibility cloak off, folded it and put inside his pocket. Nobody seemed to notice him yet. He also put the wand into his pocket, he didn't want to, want to fight back.
"I was probably, wrong... mistaken"
"You weren't wrong" Harry said as loudly as he could, and he was trying his best to stay calm and to shake as little as possible.
He didn't want it to sound scared. He barely even noticed that he dropped the Resurrection Stone, but he did notice that the dead loved ones of his had disappeared.
Voldemort turned around and looked him directly in the eyes. Harry can clearly feel his surprise and excitement, but to everyone else, Voldemort is just surprised.
There were only the two of them.
But, the illusion faded away quickly as the giants made loud noises and Death Eaters stood up, some screamed, some gasped and a few of them even laughed. Harry could even hear one of them whisper to the other "wow, Potter really gave up!"
And then, suddenly someone yelled out behind him: "HARRY! NO!"
Harry looked around, and just now he noticed Hagrid tied to the tree. He was still desperately trying to free himself, now even more desperately that Harry came here.
"NO! NO! HARRY WHY ARE YOU-?"
"QUIET!" Rowle yelled out and he waved his wand and silenced Hagrid with a spell.
Bellatrix jumped out of excitement and she looked at Voldemort, she obviously can't wait to see Voldemort kill Harry.
The only thing that was alive and was moving right now, was the snake. Everyone else was just staying still, some were excited, some looked as if the fact that Harry came was a relief to them, but some ( for example Hagrid) looked like that by just looking at Harry they are pleading him to flee.
Voldemort tilted his head, he looked like an ugly child who was thinking of what game to play.
Harry can feel the wand in his pocket, but he's fighting every single fibre of his being so he wouldn't pull out the wand.
Voldemort and Harry are still staring at eachother.
Voldemort's mouth without lips curled into an unhappy grin.
But Harry knows better, Harry can still clearly feel Voldemort's feelings after all. He knows that Voldemort isn't unhappy, he isn't upset.
He's quite the exact opposite, he's happy and excited, his excitement is sickening but also so child-like.
But he's also disappointed, both in Harry and himself. He's disappointed that Harry didn't come to him sooner. But he's also disappointed in himself, Harry isn't sure why this is so...
He can feel that Voldemort is very excited, and he's trying his best to not show it, even now (especially now) he wants to look as frightening and as powerful as possible.
"Harry Potter..." Voldemort spoke, very quietly, but because everyone's so quiet, anticipating and waiting and watching both Voldemort and Harry. Everyone is waiting to see Harry die.
"The Boy Who Lived..." Voldemort is speaking very slowly, with a pause after every single word.
Bellatrix is excitedly looking from Voldemort to Harry.
Voldemort raised the Elder Wand, which his stole from Dumbledore's grave one night.
Voldemort pointed the wand at Harry.
"Come to die." Voldemort finally finished his sentence.
Some people looked away, while most of them kept staring.
Harry let out his last breath when he heard Voldemort yell out: **"AVADA KEDAVRA!" **
The green light of the killing curse hit him immediately and then everything was gone.
**********************************
Suddenly, Harry opened his eyes and saw a white light. He stood up and walked towards it, he can feel that it's welcoing him ... But he suddenly felt like something dragged him backwards.
And then Harry opened his eyes and sat up ... this feels different, yet so familiar. But... perhaps the most worrisome thing right now, is that he doesn't feel dead at all!
He then looked around and gasped.