Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 18

The man on the back of my teacher's head was Voldemort and he was hideous. It took all of my power to not run away from this horrid face that was speaking to me. My scar was burning so much that I could hardly think.

"See what I have become?" Voldemort said. "I'm hardy even a person now...I have to share someone else's body just to survive. Unicorn blood is the only thing that can strengthen me at the moment, which faithful Quirrell here has allowed me to do. Once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to have a body of my own. All you have to do hand me that stone that you have in your pocket, Harry."

He knew. Voldemort had somehow known that my brother now held the only thing that could bring him back. Harry stumbled backwards, this angered Voldemort.

"Don't be an idiot, Potter!" the face yelled. "Just give me the stone! You don't want to have the same fate as your parents, do you? The died begging for mercy-"

"LIAR!" Harry yelled.

"Ah, bravery, I see," Voldemort said in a mocking tone. "Your parents were brave too. They put up a good fight, but lost in the end. Your mother died trying to protect you both, you wouldn't want that to be in vain, would you Harry?"

"They didn't lose, Voldemort," I said. "You died too, remember?"

Voldemort's face turned to my own, fury being the only emotion that I could read.

"If I was really dead, then how am I here now you silly girl!" he snarled.

"I don't know if you noticed," I snarled back. "But you're on the back of someone's face, you're pathetic."

"I'm pathetic?" Voldemort growled. "We'll see about that! SEIZE THEM!"

Quirrell lunged for us both, throwing us against a nearby wall. My head hit the wall hard and I felt a little dazed.

"GET THE BOY FIRST! HE HAS THE STONE!" Voldemort yelled.

Then Quirrell ran over to Harry and began to choke him. Then something happened that made Quirrell scream in agony and back away from my brother. I looked at his hands, which appeared to be badly burnt.

"I can't touch him Master!" Quirrell yelled.

"Then kill him, you fool!" Voldemort ordered.

Quirrell reached for his wand and pointed it at Harry, but as soon as he went to say something, I ran over to him. I grabbed him by the face, which burned on contact.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he yelled in pain.

My scar was now burning even worse and I was started to lose my vision because of the intense pain that I had. I ran at Quirrell again and grabbed onto his arm. Quirrell screamed even louder as Harry joined in with grabbing him and making him burn with our very touch. I didn't understand why this was happening, but it seemed to be working.

"KILL THEM!" I heard Voldemort yelling at Quirrell.

Then, I felt myself drift off. Everything suddenly went black and the pain of my scar went away. I thought for a moment that I had finally died because of the pain. Or maybe Quirrell had finally killed me without realizing it. I hope that Harry was okay...

I opened my eyes and saw someone standing in front of me. It was Dumbledore.

I sat up quickly, my head spinning with thoughts about what had just happened. Nothing made sense. How did I make it to the Hospital Wing? Where was the Stone? What happened to Quirrell? What happened to Voldemort? Did he return? Why was Dumbledore here?

"Good afternoon, Emily," Dumbledore smiled at me. "Ah, I see that your brother is waking up too."

I looked over next to me and saw Harry lying in a bed that was only a few feet away from me. His eyes blinked and he suddenly sat up, much like I had, and reached for his glasses.

"Where's the Stone?" Harry looked around.

"Professor, it was Quirrell!" I said. "Did he get the Stone?"

"Is Voldemort back?" Harry asked.

"Calm down both of you," Dumbledore said calmly. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does?" I asked.

Dumbledore seemed to ignore my question and looked around the room for a moment. I then noticed all sorts of candy and gifts that were lying around the room.

"From your friends and admirers," Dumbledore smiled at us. "What happened between Professor Quirrell and the two of you in the dungeons was a complete secret...so, naturally, the entire school knows."

Then I noticed something odd sitting in the corner of the room.

"Is that a...toilet seat?" I asked.

"Indeed," Dumbledore said, sounding amused. "I believe Misters Fred and George Weasley sent you that..."

"How long have we been here?" Harry asked.

"Three days...I believe that Miss Granger and Mister Weasley will be pleased to hear that you two have recovered...they have been worrying Madam Pomfrey," Dumbledore smiled.

"But sir..." I began, but was stopped when Dumbldore put a hand up.

"I arrived in time to stop Quirrell from taking the Stone from Harry," Dumbledore said. "Although, I believe that the two of you were taking care of that matter quite well..."

"So you were the one pulling me off of him..." Harry said.

"I thought that I would be too late," Dumbledore frowned. "I do apologize Emily, I was unable to grab you before you fell..."

"It's fine," I said. "So what's going to happen with the Stone now?"

"It's going to be destroyed."

"What?" Harry asked.

"What about Nicolas Flamel and his wife, won't they die?" I asked.

"You two know about Nicolas?" Dumbledore asked, sounding quite pleased.

We nodded, thinking back to all the research that we had to do on him for all that time.

"They will have enough Elixir to last them for a little while longer," Dumbledore said. "They've had a long life, they are ready to move on."

Then Dumbledore looked around at all the assortment of candy, appearing to be reading the labels.

"So...does that mean that Vo-I mean You-Know-Who-" Harry started.

"Call him Voldemort, Harry," he smiled. "Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir," Harry said. "Does that mean that Voldemort is still out there?"

Dumbledore nodded slowly, looking slightly distressed about this.

"He's going to keep trying to come back, isn't he?" I asked.

"I believe so," Dumbledore said. "As you saw down in the dungeons, he doesn't have much sympathy for others. He left Quirrell to die there. The two of you have only delayed his return, but if we are able to continue delaying this, then I believe that he may not return."

Harry and I nodded, knowing now that Voldemort won't stop without a fight. This could go on for a long time.

"Voldemort said that he killed my mom because she tried to stop him from killing us, why did he want to kill us in the first place?" Harry asked.

"That...is a complicated question," Dumbledore said. "I am sorry to tell that I can not tell you that right now. I do not believe that you are quite ready yet."

We stayed silent for a moment, and then I asked him something.

"Why couldn't Quirrell touch us?"

"You're mother died protected the two of you," Dumbledore explained. "Love is something that Voldemort will never be able to understand and because he is filled with so much hatred, your mother's love protects you two from him."

We both nodded, but this wasn't the last of our questions.

"Do you know who sent the invisibility cloak to us?" Harry asked.

"That was me," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Your father left it with me and I figured that the two of you might find it quite useful. You're father used to use it to sneak into the kitchen after hours..."

"There's something else..." Harry said. "Quirrell said that Snape hates me because he hated my dad...is that true?"

"The two of them did detest each other very much," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Then why does he treat Emily any differently?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled and looked out of the window.

"Professor Snape is a very curious person," he said while smiling, then he looked at me. "Perhaps it is because he doesn't see your father in you, Emily. Perhaps he sees someone else..."

"So...one more thing," Harry said. "How is it that the mirror gave me the Stone?"

"Ah," Dumbledore smiled. "The Stone only comes to a person that has a desire to have it, but not to use it. This is why Quirrell and Voldemort could not reach it."

Then he turned his attention to a box of Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans box.

"I was unfortunate to come across a vomit flavored one when I was young," he commented. "I think I might be safe with this one though..."

Dumbledore picked up a golden-brown bean and put it into his mouth and chocked it back.

"Alas!" he said. "Ear wax!"

"The whole school is talking about it!" Ron said when we came out of the hospital wing later that day.

"So, what really happened?" Hermione asked.

Then, Harry and I told them everything as we walked through the hallways of the school.

"Well, I guess that it's not over then..." Ron said.

"Yeah, I guess not," I told him.

When we arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait, everyone went into the common room except me. I told them that I would meet up with them later and I just wanted to walk around for a little while.

I walked through the corridors alone for a little while, not talking to anyone despite the looks I was getting from everyone. I saw Neville standing in the hallway and he smiled over at me, apparently understanding why we had to stop him the night before. I smiled back, but decided to keep moving on.

It was getting late when and most of the castle was off to bed. I just kept on walking, just thinking about what was going to happen in the future. Voldemort was going to try to come back, he wouldn't stop at anything. I wasn't sure how long it would take for him to come back, but no one else did either. When he did come back, I knew that he would go after Harry and me. I still wasn't sure why Voldemort was after the two of us in the first place, but I knew that I would have to be ready.

"What did I tell you about roaming the halls, Miss Potter?" a voice came from behind me.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to see Snape standing behind me. He walked over to me and I could almost see a hint of a smile on his face.

He continued to walk on and I walked beside him.

"You knew all along, didn't you?" I asked him after a while.

"That Quirrell couldn't be trusted?" he said. "I made some assumptions..."

"I guess that it should have been obvious..." I said.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Well, normal people don't talk to their turbans..."

He looked down at me and for the first time I saw a real smile go on his face as he looked forward.

"He was trying to frame you, you know?" I said.

"I figured that..." Snape said. "I know that your brother believed that it was me..."

So he did hear them talking that day, apparently he didn't want to comment on it at the time.

"I knew that it wasn't you," I said.

He remained silent, lost in thought apparently. We made our way up the stairs and in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower. We didn't say anything really until we reached the Fat Lady who was busy talking to another painting. I said the password to the painting, who nodded and opened up the door.

"Goodnight, Professor Snape," I smiled at him as I held the painting open.

"Goodnight, Miss Potter," he smiled back.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said at the end of the year feast the next night. "I hope that all of you have learned something this year, now you can go home for the summer break and empty them for next year!"

Everyone looked up at the headmaster, listening to every word he said.

"Now, the House Cup!" he smiled. "I believe as the points now stand, Gryffindor is in last place 312 points, Hufflepuff in third with 352, Ravenclaw with 426, and Slytherin with 522."

Slytherin cheered.

"However, I have a few extra points to give to people," Dumbledore smiled at all of us. "First to Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess, I award Gryffindor fifty points!"

Everyone cheered and Ron went red in the face.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the logic that she was able to use even when she was stuck, I give Gryffindor fifty points!"

Gryffindor cheered even louder and Hermione had a big smile on her face.

"And third, and fourth, to Mister Harry Potter for pure nerve and outstanding courage and Miss Emily Potter for her logic with potions, bravery, and her ability to see the truth that lies within people, I award fifty points to each of them!"

At this point, Gryffindor house was cheering so loudly, I couldn't hear anything else. At the teacher's table, I saw Dumbledore give me a wink and I almost think that I saw Snape give me a small smile, though I might have been mistaken.

"We're even with Slytherin!" I heard several people saying frantically.

"And finally to Mister Neville Longbottom," Dumbledore said, everyone going silent. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends - I award him ten points!"

The entire room, aside from Slytherin, was cheering. The colors that flew above us, once having green on them, now became the Gryffindor colors-we had won!"

"Promise that you'll write everyday!" Hermione told me as we go off of the train.

"Sure," I laughed, knowing that I probably wouldn't.

Hermione ran over to Harry and me and gave us a big hug, telling us that she would miss us. Ron hugged me and told Harry that he would write. When I saw Neville get off the train and go over to his gran, I ran over to him.

"You must be Emily Potter," Ms. Longbottom said smiling.

I nodded and smiled at her.

"Neville's told me all about you in his letters, I just didn't think he would ever stop-"

"GRAN!" Neville stopped her, going deeply red in the face.

I laughed and hugged him goodbye and waved to Ms. Longbottom.

When Harry and I walked just outside of Kings Cross Station, we saw the Dursleys waiting for us. I took one look back and smiled.

I couldn't wait to go back.

Thank you so much for reading my story - it means a lot to me that people have stuck with this story until the end. Tell me what you think of this chapter and the story overall. I'm going to be starting the next book tomorrow, I hope. Hope that you'll read it too!

-GryffindorGirl347