Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter Franchise or its characters. All characters used are the property of their respective owners.

Warning: This story is an alternative Universe to the events including and following the Battle in the Department of Mysteries. The full story of how Harry & Co. arrived at this point will be explored in a few chapters.

Rated M for violence and language.

Harry Potter & the Dance Macabre

Prologue

The Ministry of Magic, G.B.

The Department of Mysteries – Death Chamber

18 June 1996

The members of Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix fled into the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries beneath the Ministry of Magic. Tom Riddle the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters, were in close pursuit behind. The teens and their adult allies had already scored a couple of wins with the deaths of Walden McNair and Antonin Dolohov earlier in the fight. But they were all battered, bloodied, and running low on Magical energy. The group of eleven wizards and witches spread themselves over the chamber as Neville Longbottom and George Weasley pushed the doors to the room closed. They knew it wouldn't hold back their pursuers, but it might buy them a few seconds rest.

Harry Potter's eyes travelled across his companions, Neville Longbottom had large gash across his cheek and around his chest, the blood was beginning to seep into his clothes. Standing next to him Ginny and Luna were only winded having stayed hidden for most of the fight casting curses and hexes when they thought they could get away with it, even if just to cause a distraction. The blasting hex Harry had cast to shatter the prophecy orbs they had hidden behind had torn their clothes to shreds, but the cuts they received would be fixed quickly.

Fred and George, who had taken up positions between Ginny and Hermione were worse off having thrown themselves into the fray mostly to protect Harry as he examined the prophecy orb. The team who flew from Hogwarts had met up with Fred and George in the Alley that led to the Ministry before they snuck their way into the Ministry. The earlier battle had almost torn Fred's left arm off due to the combination of a bone-breaking and cutting hex that hit him off consecutive casts by Walden McNair, the only thing that stopped McNair from following up was a correctly cast Reducto aimed at the man's head. Blood from the shards of glass that had rained down on them when Harry had fired his blasting hex into the prophecy orbs left George low on strength and almost out of magical energy.

Harry's eyes moved from his companions to the chamber itself. They'd line themselves up standing between the door and the Veil. Given the damage they'd already sustained at the hands of their enemy, Harry knew they needed a different plan of attack. Eyeing off the pillars that circled the chamber, Harry sprung into action. "Fred, George, Susan, Daphne, and Ginny take flanking positions behind those pillars. They'll offer you some protection and a little rest. The rest of us will buy you time to recover, but we're relying on you to back us up. Remember the Death Eaters are only a distraction, our real target is Riddle."

"Harry, shouldn't we be trying to find a way out?" Ron yelled.

Harry turned an angry eye on his friend. "Do you see a way out of here, Ron?" Harry asked, indicating their surroundings with his hands. "The only ones I see are through that door or through the veil. We have two options, fight or die."

Hermione walked up beside Harry taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently. Harry took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts before speaking again. "Sorry, Ron, I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"Don't worry mate, it was a stupid question. You're right let's takedown mouldy pants," Ron replied with a smile even while his eyes lingered on the way Hermione maintained a death grip on Harry's hand.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron readied themselves for battle as Sirius stood on one side and Remus on the other. Remus took the last moments before the fight to slap Harry on the back. The teen turned to his ex-professor, who had a smile on his face. "You're definitely James and Lily's son. Whatever happens, know they would be proud of you."

Harry glanced over at his Godfather who grinned back at him. Hermione and Ron gave small nods of agreement before turning back to the door, which was now shaking with magical energy.

Moments later the door exploded off its hinges, and Tom Riddle and his remaining Death Eaters entered the Death Chamber flanked by Rodolphus Lestrange and Lucius Malfoy. The snake-like features of Riddle made it difficult to read his face, but even than the five could tell he was smiling. "Harry Potter, I suppose I should thank you. Tonight it has been quite educational. I've learnt who amongst my inner circle is truly capable in battle and who is not."

Harry's eyes did a sweep of the Death Eaters behind Riddle. Aside from McNair and Dolohov, their numbers had diminished by another three people. Crabbe Senior, Goyle Senior and Corbin Yaxley were all missing, and Harry presumed, dead. "If you're looking for suggestions for who to fire for this mess you should probably start at the top."

"Amusing, if prophecy didn't foretell your death at my hands, I might give you over to Bellatrix to play with. What say you to that dear Bellatrix?" Riddle asked, placing his hand on her shoulder. Bellatrix Lestrange wore a wicked smile licking her lips, staring a hole through Harry. Hermione walked up, wrapping her arms around Harry's, her hand snaking its way into his again. Bellatrix laughed. "Oh, how sweet, the little mudblood is staking her claim on the little Potty man."

Ron frowned glaring at the two before turning his attention back to Bellatrix. "Shut up you stupid bitch, you don't know what you're talking about!"

"Ron!" Ginny cried out from behind her cover.

"Bombarda!" Bellatrix screamed, casting a cursing hex over the heads of the five in front of the Death Eaters towards a pillar above the veil. The resulting explosion brought down the support and threw copious amounts of dust into the air, which the Order and Army members used to their advantage as they began their counter-attack.

First to fall was Bellatrix who was hit with four consecutive Stupefy stunning charms. Her husband Rodolphus and brother in law Rabastan were drawn into a confrontation with Sirius. The two men swapped positions after every spell to keep Sirius off balance. Years of Auror training returned to the front of Sirius's mind as he danced around the hexes and curses thrown at him. His opponents had only been out of Azkaban less than a year, and it showed. Where once they were two of the most feared men in magical Britain now, they were depleted husks hoping for scraps of their master's table.

Ron and Hermione were facing off against Mulciber and Peter Pettigrew while Fred and George Weasley provided support from above. The two men split their efforts while Mulciber focused on the two in front of them. Pettigrew threw blasting hexes in the direction of the twins. Mulciber sneered at Ron. "Your family is full of Pure Blood traitors, I guess it's not a surprise that you'd consort with a mudblood girl. Did your parents ever tell you I murdered your Uncles? I think after this is over I'll pay a visit to your Mum and Dad and put the rest of you mongrels out of your misery."

"Stay away from my family! REDUCTO!" Ron screamed as he cursed Mulciber, sadly, the curse bounced off the older man's shield as he continued to sneer at the red head.

"Incendio!" Pettigrew yelled, aiming his wand at Hermione only for Harry to push his friend out of the way and take the full force of the spell. It was only seconds before the flames reached Harry's skin, causing the fifteen-year-old to scream in pain. Regaining her feet, Hermione pointed her wand at Mulciber. "REDUCTO!"

Hermione's curse had the desired effect as the man she'd pointed her wand at exploded into small pieces beside his partner in crime. This distracted Pettigrew enough that the blasting hex he was casting was redirected into the ground in front of Ron blasting him with large pieces of shrapnel, one of which hit Ron in the side of the head, knocking him unconscious. Hermione doused the flames that had engulfed Harry's clothes. Despite the screams of pain from Harry, the wounds on his skin turned out to be relatively minor. As soon as she was sure he was ok, Hermione gave Harry a hefty slap to the face.

"That was for jumping in front of a curse for me, now go find Ginny, idiot."

Harry jumped to his feet, and instead of going to find Ginny as ordered, he dived at Pettigrew, punching him at least three times in the face before he was satisfied, he was unconscious. Firing off a couple of stunning charms in the direction of Sirius and Remus's battles Harry hurried up the to the lip of the bowl where the pillar had fallen. Riddle who had been content up until this moment to watch his Death Eaters do the work, saw his opportunity and acted. "EXPULSO!"

The blue ball of energy expelled from Riddle's wand hung in the air for a few moments before detonating. The few moments pause gave Harry time to throw himself forward towards Ginny, who had been trying to pull herself to her feet even though one of her legs was apparently broken. The head wound told Harry that the young woman was severely concussed and wasn't truly aware of their situation. This would have mattered a great deal more to Harry had the Expulso curse not detonated a few seconds after he reached Ginny, the concussive nature of the explosion threw them both clear with Harry managing to turn his body enough to shield Ginny from the blast as they hit the wall behind them.

"GINNY! HARRY!" Luna Lovegood screamed, crawling over to the pair as Ginny rolled away from Harry, barely conscious. Harry tried to pull himself up into a sitting position with his left arm but found himself with a face full of dirt, screaming in pain as Ginny had landed hard on it breaking two bones in his arm and a rib. Placing his wand between his teeth, Harry tore off several strips of his ruined shirt and with Luna's help tied them around his wrist and slung it over his neck. Harry exchanged a quick look with Luna that told him all he needed to know about the way he looked. Harry smiled. "What are the wrack-spurts telling you?"

Luna glanced across the battlefield to Riddle who had enervated Bellatrix Lestrange and was currently applying a Cruciatus curse on her for falling to Stupefy charms cast by children. Turning back to Harry, Luna had only one answer. "Kick his ass."

On the other side of the chamber, Remus Lupin battled Lucius Malfoy who was using his wand almost as a whip to cut into Remus. "When this is over Lupin I will happily present your broken body to your half-blood lover, I will allow her to cry over your dead body and the body of that boy before I hand her over to my son. I've heard a Metamorphous can be a delightful bedroom companion, given the proper training."

Remus Lupin's eyes took on a yellow hue as he pushed back against Lucius Malfoy's attacks. Remus may have had to scrounge for food and live rough when his own money ran out, but he knew what it was to fight. Lucius Malfoy had spent over ten years attending Ministry parties and profiting off those he'd stepped on, on his way up the social ladder. Lucius let his duelling talents escape him. Lupin was playing a waiting game, and like any good werewolf, he would sink his teeth into his victim when the moment was right.

Riddle revived Bellatrix and threw her still shaking body into the pit with orders to redeem herself. A deranged smile crossed Bella's lips as she saw a ripe opportunity in front of her eyes. Scrambling up onto the platform that held the veil Bellatrix pointed to the floor between herself and her husband, brother-in-law, and cousin. Before any of the three could stop her Bella cast. "BOMBARDA!"

Given that Bellatrix was still recovering from a Cruciatus curse cast only a few minutes before, the amount of magic she pumped into the curse was more than she'd planned. The two Lestrange brothers and Sirius Black were thrown into the air and were rapidly falling towards the veil.

Harry who had been running towards the veil to help Sirius anyway slid to a halt and focused on his Godfather, hoping the charm Hermione taught him really worked. "CARPE RETRACTUM SIRIUS BLACK!"

A supernatural rope shot out of Harry's wand and wrapped itself around Sirius's wrist. As if connected to a reel Sirius was pulled clear of the veil seconds before the Lestrange brothers fell through. Unfortunately, Harry, in his haste, had forgotten that Carpe Retractum would pull the target back towards the caster. For the second time that day, he found someone landing on top of him. The only downside was that this time it wasn't a red-headed girl, it was his shaggy Godfather. Sirius Black grabbed his godson by the head and kissed him on the forehead taking several deep breathes. "You're a bloody legend pup, a few more seconds and I would have been dead."

Tom Riddle was distracted from the sight of two of his top lieutenants falling through the veil by the screams of agony emitted by Bellatrix. The screams lasted a few seconds before the pain in her head overwhelmed the woman, and she fell unconscious.

The battle between Remus and Malfoy paused briefly to watch Bellatrix's wayward spell hit the veil platform and send three men into the air. As soon as Harry shouted his spell, Remus's eyes were back on Lucius Malfoy, but Lucius already had his eyes on Remus, and a sucker punch landed the ex-professor on his ass. Lucius Malfoy hovered over his victim, a sadistic glint in his blue eyes. Raising his wand high into the air, Malfoy began to cast. "Avada…"

Before Malfoy could complete the incantation, he was hit from several directions by stinging hexes, cast by Hermione Granger and Susan Bones. Lucius roared with anger as he turned to attack his nearest assailant. But before he could move forward even two steps, a piercing curse shot from Remus Lupin's wand severing Malfoy's spine and piercing his brain before exploding out of his head. With blood spurting from the top of his head, the dead body of Lucius Malfoy crumpled into a heap on the floor.

In Wiltshire, Narcissa Malfoy was experiencing a dose of what Bellatrix Lestrange had suffered only a couple of minutes earlier. Falling out of her chair, Narcissa grasped her head for several seconds before the pain finally passed. Recovering to a sitting position, Narcissa looked around the alien room as the memories of her life came flooding back. This almost caused Lady Malfoy to vomit while at the same time cursing the names of her husband, father, mother, and aunt. After climbing to her feet and taking a moment to steady herself, Narcissa flew from the room, for the first time in many years her mind was clear, and she was using it to her fullest advantage.

Harry smiled through the pain of having someone lying on top of him. Giving his Godfather a one-armed hug as the older man rolled away, allowing his godson to get up. Rising to his feet, Harry turned to the last man standing. The man that had haunted his nightmares since he was two years old, the man who had plagued Great Britain for over two generations of wizards. Picking his wand off the ground, Harry Potter walked forward and climbed onto the remains of the platform that led to the veil.

"Hello Tom, I think it's time we ended this."

Voldemort stepped forward onto the platform, stopping just short of the crater Bellatrix's spell had caused. "Harry Potter, I'm disappointed. No sweeping proclamations, no vows on the lives of your parents that you will kill me this night?"

"I've run out of words to say to you, Tom. My parents were the last in a long line of parents that you and your band of thugs tortured and murdered. We've been inside each other's heads all year, we probably know each other better than anyone we've ever met. You're a husk, filled with hate and contempt for both the people who serve and the people who oppose you. You won't be satisfied until they're all dead or bowing at your feet. The worst part is you don't really care which. EXPELLIARMUS!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldemort screamed, casting the sickly green incantation that had murdered Harry's parents fifteen years ago at the last surviving member of House Potter.

The red disarming spell and the green incantation of death collided in the middle of the platform. In an identical performance from twelve months before Harry and Voldemort were drawn into a golden sphere as the brother wands spell interacted by creating a connection between them. The two battled for control, with Voldemort clearly having the upper hand as the fight through the DoM and the injuries Harry had sustained was rapidly causing his magic to falter.

Forced to a knee by the power of Voldemort's magic, the dark mage stalked his weakened prey with a wicked grin on his deformed lips. Harry slid back on his knees towards the veil as Voldemort pushed his advantage. The glowing golden sphere filled Harry's vision as Voldemort tried to push him back the final few centimetres through the veil. Harry dived deep into himself trying to find all the warm and happy memories that kept him steady even on the nights where all he could hear was his mother's dying screams, and a sickly green tinge overwhelmed his vision.

'Damn it, Harry, you're a Gryffindor, you were sorted into the House of the Brave for a reason. You're a lion, act like it!' Harry admonished himself as he tried to push the sphere back towards Voldemort. Suddenly he felt a weight drop against his leg. Looking down, he realised it was the Sword of Gryffindor as a voice filled his head. 'Quickly, my boy, use the sword, you already know how to DO IT!'

Dropping his wand, Harry scooped up the sword with his now free hand. Harry thrust it forward into the chest of Voldemort. Blood dribbled from the self-proclaimed Dark Lord as Harry drove home his advantage, throwing all his weight behind the sword to thrust the blade through Voldemort's body to the hilt. With their faces millimetres apart, Harry spoke. "That has to kill you…"

Not waiting for an answer or an opportunity for a dying Voldemort to reply Harry threw his weight back, pulling the goblin made Basilisk Venom infused blade out of Voldemort's chest. Swinging the sword in a three sixty-degree rotation, Harry decapitated the now kneeling Dark Lord sending his head bouncing along the ground beside the platform before it rolled to a stop in front of a still unconscious Ron Weasley.

As the headless body of Lord Voldemort toppled off the platform to the ground, Harry Potter crumpled to the ground falling onto his back as Aurors, Amelia Bones, Dolores Umbridge, Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, Andromeda Tonks, and Albus Dumbledore poured into the room. Harry could only laugh as friends and enemies crowded around him.

Unbeknown to those gathered in the Death Chamber, the severed head of Tom Riddle was secreting a black ooze. Once it had collected in a puddle on the ground, it slid towards the nearest warm body it could find, Ron Weasley.

To Be Continued…

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