Chapter forty five; The Battle of Hogwarts, Part Five

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At the age of fourteen a psychopath tried to kill her.

At the age of fifteen her life was flipped on its head.

At the age of sixteen she lost her father.

At the age of seventeen she lost herself.

Now, at the grand age of eighteen, she had lost the fight.

It felt weird to be opening her eyes again. Yet there she was, doing just that. Everything around Olivia was white, there was no escaping it, and it was almost blinding to her. Sitting up slowly, she looked around whilst frowning in confusion, how in the hell did she get here? She looked down to her arm and pushed the fabric upwards out of curiosity.

The sight caused her to gasp.

It was as if everything was how it was before, there was no darkening in her veins, her skin was a normal colour and the scar was almost non-existent. It was perplexing and she really didn't understand what was doing on. 

Looking around herself was even more confusing, "What the hell?"

It wasn't just a plain white room, it was a place and it looked an awful lot like Kings Cross Station in London.

Standing up slowly she took the time to look around, recognising the platforms surrounding her in which Muggles would take the train into or out of London. She looked over to where platform nine and three-quarters was located, in the wall between nine and ten, and narrowed her eyes for a closer look.

The wall seemed to have a soft golden glow to it, like the sun was shining on that particular spot and nothing else. Amongst the white she was engulfed in, the golden stood out by a mile and it coaxed her along.

With little hesitation in her steps, Olivia started to walk towards the golden glow. At first for every step she took it felt as if her destination was moving three steps away but eventually she neared it.

She had to go up the platform she had woken up on to make her way over to nine and three-quarters but and when she neared the wall everything inside her was screaming at her to inch that little bit further. It was almost as if the golden light cast a spell on her, she was transfixed with it and it seemed like it was the only way to go to get out of wherever she had been trapped in.

She slowed herself down walking the last five meters or so where it dawned upon her that she didn't really know what to do when she reached the wall. Her instinct told her to lift her hand to the wall and touch the gold light to see what happened. It wasn't until she was an arms length away from the magical barrier inside the wall did she stop again.

Her eyes were wide and transfixed and slowly her left arm rose from her side to reach out towards the gold painted on the wall.

It was a sign. It had to be, there was no doubting it that it was some sort of direction into where she needed to go or where she needed to be.

Her steady fingertips lifted to brush against the stone bricks but instead of meeting the harsh texture like she'd expected, her hand disappeared into the wall.

Olivia's brows knitted together as she withdrew her hand and looked intricately down at her palm. There was no change to her hand like she had originally expected and glanced up at the wall again.

'It's a barrier.' She told herself, 'To take me to where I need to be.'

It was a clever idea that some place in her mind had taken her to platform nine and three quarters. It was where her journey as a witch had begun and maybe it was were it was going to end? Was this the barrier she had to cross in order for her to pass on? Was it the only thing standing between her and her father? Her mother, Remus, Tonks, Fred, Alexis, even Cedric?

It was a daunting thought that she would literally be stepping into the unknown but it was a risk she had to take.

With a deep breath, she lifted her arm again to push through the barrier and exhaled when she pushed her entire arm into the wall.. and then she crossed through the barrier fully.

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Narcissa Malfoy was mortified seeing her sons girlfriend and once enemy lying on the grass motionless. Despite the fact they had both come as a sacrifice it wasn't right for them to have lost their lives so young. She was horrified and her thoughts drifted to Draco. There was so many times Narcissa had seen her son at breaking point, on the verge of tipping over the edge, but he had never once lost himself completely.

Although she didn't have to be his mother to know that Olivia's death really would be the end of her son, emotionally and mentally. The girl was and always would be Draco's lifeline, she was always the one to bring him back, keep him sane, give him a reason to fight — whatever the reason, now she was gone Narcissa feared the worst.

It didn't bother her that 'her Lord' had fallen to the floor after ending Harry Potter. She didn't rush to his side like her older sister did, only to be pushed away, all she cared about was finding out if the two teenagers were really dead. Had Voldemort actually won this war?

Mindlessly, Narcissa's feet carried her forwards and away from her husband while she wandered further into the clearing and towards the two teens.

Harry had been the one she reached first and slowly she bent down to the boys side. With his back facing the Dark Lord and the rest of his followers her trembling hand reached out to the boys neck where she felt for a pulse.

Under her fingers, she could feel the pulse in Harry's neck, bringing her eyes to widen. She called to her son under her breath in surprise.

"Is he dead?" Her older sister voiced desperately, "Are they dead?"

Narcissa ignored her sisters persistence and stood up to step round Harry to reach Olivia. The sight was horrific and the mother silently thanked the fact that Draco hadn't been present for this.

Her left sleeve was still pushed all the way up and blood covered her and the grass underneath her. By undoing his curse, Voldemort reopened the wound he had created some two years ago. If Olivia were to die of something, it would be the loss of blood.

With the hope of her still being alive, Narcissa wanted to somehow apply pressure to the exposed wound — or to at least cover it to stop the quick blood flow.

She remembered what her son had told her when he returned from his sixth year in the Christmas Holidays, the curse stopped Olivia's heart when it reached it for the first time.

Would it stop her heart when it was reversed?

Resisting the urge to cry, the older witch lowered herself to the ground for the second time and kneeled next to Olivia's head. Very slowly she reached out to the side of her neck, brushing her matted waves away to find the area.

She rested her fingers there for what felt like an eternity but eventually she felt a very faint pulsation under her fingers. Narcissa held her fingers there for a little while longer while counting. She reached the seventh second when she felt the next pulse.

It was there.

Her heart was beating but she was barely hanging on.

Just as she went to stand to deliver the verdict to the Dark Lord Olivia's left hand caught her attention. The bracelet she had wore since the age of eleven sat there, not a single drop of blood covering the clasp yet it stained her skin around it. But the most intriguing thing was her left hand balled up into a tight fist, as if she was holding onto something.

Narcissa stood up and turned to face those around her, her comrades and her master and swallowed. Her face was hard, hiding any indication that both teens were alive well as she spoke, "Dead."

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Olivia lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the glaring sun. The nice heat warmed her and she squinted to look around.

The blue lake, the trees, the mountains and the castle was overly familiar to her and she recognised herself to be standing on the shoreline of The Black Lake. A soft breeze kissed the bare parts of her skin and she closed her eyes to savour the surreal feeling.

Everything about this experience seemed somewhat real and confusion raced through her at a fast pace. The barrier was supposed to take her to the other side, was it not?

"You look confused, my darling."

Goosebumps coated Olivia's arms hearing the voice and she turned around to find it's owner slowly. It was familiar, yet she hadn't ever heard it out loud before. The only time she'd ever heard it was in her head, when she was fighting for control.

The person stood directly opposite her caused her to become somewhat dizzy as the air pooled out of her lungs. There was no way, and yet the resemblance was uncanny.

Her words choked her up, "You-you—"

A soft smile eased across her lips, "I know."

Still overwhelmed, Olivia stuttered, "You-you're me!"

She chuckled, "Technically you're me. I was born first."

Olivia's words were barley heard compared to the woman opposite her, "Olivianna."

"In the flesh." She grinned, the same blue eyes as her own twinkling in the light. While she physically looked the same as Olivia, she had this older look to her. She seemed to be that little bit older, in her mid-twenties possibly and Olivia wondered if that was what she would've grown to look like. Nevertheless, she wore an all white, knee-length dress that contrasted against her black hair and with wore no shoes.

"But you—the barrier was supposed to take me to the other side. I was ready—"

"—You are far from ready my dear, and even so with that in your hand you never would've been able to cross."

Her brows furrowed in confusion, "With what in my—?" Opening her left palm she saw a small golden cube sat there in the centre and although she had never physically seen it before she recognised it instantly, "The Resurrection Stone."

Olivianna nodded once, "Your friend gave it to you just before you fell unconscious and he sacrificed himself."

"Harry—?" She echoed, "Why would Harry give me this?"

"You and Hermione weren't the only ones to hear how I really died."

If it were possible, Olivia's eyes would've fallen out of her mouth. How was she familiar with Hermione?

"Y-you know Hermione?"

Her carbon copy smiled at her softly, "You think I haven't been watching over you?" She asked her.

Olivia shook her head, "No, no, no- it's just that.."

Olivianna ventured towards Olivia seeing how distressed she was becoming. The situation was getting to her and she wrapped her arm around her shoulders in order to guide her forwards, "It's alright, take you time."

Olivia continued to shake her head in sheer uncertainty, "I don't know what's going on anymore." She stuttered out after several attempts at stringing a sentence together.

"Then allow me to explain." She offered as they walked in line with each other, "Your friend, Harry, recovered memories from an ex-Hogwarts Professor and he viewed them shortly before his death—"

Her eyes widened, "—Harry's dead?!"

"No, not yet anyways, he woke shortly before you did."

"He was there too?

Olivianna nodded, "In the memories he retained there was speak of how the one you are fighting against could be defeated. They knew that I used my power and that of The Resurrection Stone to bring back my soul mate, Arran, and they thought you could use it to pull yourself back."

"Pull myself back?" Olivia repeated, "What-what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore already knew that you had to have your curse removed at the hands of Voldemort and they knew the chances of survival stood slim. Harry was a Horcrux himself and in order for that to be removed he would have to be destroyed, or killed, like you would any other Horcrux — so should Harry not survive you could always return by using your power and The Resurrection Stone to defeat Voldemort."

Olivia blinked for several seconds while the information processed in her mind. It was a lot to comprehend at once but eventually her head wrapped round it and she exhaled nervously, "That's a lot of pressure, for me to face Voldemort alone, I'm not sure if I can do that myself."

Olivianna looked at her with a quirked brow, "Your not now underestimating yourself after all this time are you?"

Overwhelmed, Olivia stopped and looked out to the lake while sighing. She glanced back at Olivianna, "I can do that?" She asked, "Use the stone to get myself back to the living world?"

Olivianna nodded.

"Just myself?"

The older woman paused before looking away herself, "I shouldn't be telling you this."

"You're going to tell me regardless." Olivia pointed out, "I can see it on your face."

With a small chuckle, she looked to Olivia again, "You can, with a great deal of power and effort, resurrect those in Limbo."

"Limbo?" She asked, "What's Limbo?"

"Limbo is a place for people who have died and haven't yet found peace." She told her, "They can be there for various reasons. If a person has just died they can spend between three and four days in Limbo before they pass, others stay to watch the ones they left behind. Anyone you have in Limbo can be brought back."

Olivia's eyes widened, "You mean—"

"—No." She cut off with a pointed expression, "It takes a great deal of effort to bring back one person Olivia, and besides that person must be in Limbo."

"Who's in Limbo?" She asked, "Besides Remus, Tonks, Fred and Alexis."

"Your mother and father."

Her breath hitched in her throat, "Can I bring back all six?"

Olivianna hesitated, "I wouldn't—"

"Can I bring back all six?"

She sighed defeatedly, "It is possible, but, using too much of your power can kill you Olivia and your body is already extremely weak."

"But I can do it?"

"I feel even if I tell you no you'll do it anyway." She sighed, "It is possible but you need to put yourself first when you return, you need to be healed."

"I promise." Olivia said quickly, "Whatever it takes." When Olivianna nodded she spoke again, "How do I bring them back?"

"Oh, that's the easiest part." She said, "You just have to imagine them alive as your crossing."

Olivia nodded and looked around herself before turning back, "What about Harry? If he's experiencing the same as me won't he have the choice? Is he going back, too?"

"You already know the answer to that, darling."

She nodded slowly, "How do I get back?"

Olivianna smiled and gestured out to the lake with her hand, "You follow your heart."

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This is inedited and I am very tired so there will be mistakes somewhere, so apologies for that.

We're nearing the end now and the final chapter is so close! The entire series will be released by the end of the holidays and from there I can start to work on Charlie and Alissa's story!