"You have a choice, Harry Potter," began Voldemort in a loud voice, "You can either come out and fight me or you can throw your wand away in surrender and I will not hurt your friends." The whole Weasley family was being held in house arrest at The Burrow. Voldemort and his Death Eaters were surrounding the house, under orders that if anyone attempts to exit, they will be killed on the spot. “You have three seconds to decide before I kill someone... one... two... three... AVADA KEDAVRA!” There was a flash of green light and Harry Potter woke with a start. His scar was throbbing so painfully that he felt dizzy. He had fallen asleep on a kitchen chair at number 12 Grimmauld Place where he was holed up for the last six months, only leaving when he had a lead to destroy a Horcrux. Harry stood up quickly, knocking the table to the floor. It was the first time his scar had hurt since Sirius died. Can this be a trap? It can’t be. Why would Voldemort set a trap for Harry to appear at the Burrow? If it were just an attempt to get Harry, Voldemort would invent a more dangerous meeting place. But if Voldemort and his Death Eaters were at the Burrow right now... Harry shuddered. He didn’t see who the Killing Curse hit. He decided to go straight to The Burrow and check it out, but he would apparate right into the dining room - manners be damned. He hoped he would find all the Weasleys sitting by the table and enjoying their Christmas meal, as It was Christmas eve and the entire Weasly family, along with Hermione, were supposed to be celebrating together. Harry was invited too, of course, but he refused to attend for fear of putting the family in danger. Unfortunately when Harry apparated to the Burrow, he found that this precaution was unnecessary. For the Weasly family were in a state of confusion and terror, and Harry could clearly hear Voldemort’s magnified voice coming from outside. “...I know you are not afraid for yourself. You have proven during our last clash that you can fight almost as well as I can. But if you value your friends, you will surrender.” Harry looked around the room trying to see who was missing. Who did Voldemort aim that curse at? He didn’t remember seeing anyone outside in his dream. In the total panic, it took a while for everyone to notice who just appeared in the middle of the dining room. “Should ve send a message to 'Arry?” asked Fleur in a squeaky voice. “Are you crazy?” asked George. “that’s exactly what you-know-who wants,” said Fred. “But he vill kill us all!” screamed Fleur. “We can’t fight him the way Harry can,” said Bill stroking Fleur’s hair trying to calm her, “but we will have to try.” “Don’t fight him," said Harry. The room suddenly became silent. Everyone was staring at Harry in shock. “You never should have gotten into this mess in the first place,” Harry stated. Before anyone realized what he was doing, he placed his wand neatly on the table and walked to the door, but just as he reached for the doorknob, Ron flew to him and threw him backwards. “What the heck do you think you’re doing, Harry?” he yelled. The next second, Hermione and Ginny were by their side. Harry regained his balance and reached again for the knob looking at Ron with a hard, cold expression, as if challenging Ron to try and stop him. Ron reached quickly for his wand and yelled, "Petrificus Totalus," Harry dodged the spell, but both Hermione and Ginny had already taken their wands out. Harry dashed to the table quickly, grabbed his wand, and performed a powerful spell that immobilized everyone in the room. “Harry, don’t” shrieked Hermione, “we only have one you-know-what left to destroy before you can do it! One more and your path is clear to do Nagini and Voldemort! Please, Harry, do you realize what you are doing?!" “It’s you who has to stay alive, Harry, not Hermione, not me, not anyone else in this room. Please don’t go out now. Or at least not without your wand!” Ron begged. “Think, Harry,” pleaded Hermione, throwing all caution to the winds, “Think about the prophecy. Do you want him to exist forever? Just to save eleven people? Think how many other people will die because of this. You know you’re the only one who can finish him.” Harry could feel the shock of the whole family behind him. None of them ever knew for a fact that Harry was actually the chosen one. Harry turned to look at everyone in the room. “Look,” he said steadily, “I’m terribly sorry it has to happen this way, but I really don’t give a damn about what happens to other people if I don't vanquish voldemort. I never asked to be the Chosen One. But you never knew the risk of choosing to be my friends. Voldemort never bothered to kill you last time, and he would never have done so this time if not for me. You heard Voldemort. If I surrender, he will leave you alone. Good bye.” Before anyone can say anything Harry was out the door waving his wand free hands at Voldemort. “Here I am, Voldemort, just like you hoped. No wand” At the sight of Harry approaching, Voldemort and his Death Eaters laughed. “Master always knows!” Harry heard Bellatrix’s triumphant yell, “You used his weakness to love.” “Yes, Bellatrix," said Voldemort dismissively, "So did you receive that messege I placed in your brain, Harry? Isn't it nice to be so connected to Lord Voldemort, that we can communicate so easily? Do you love those people, Harry Potter? Were you worried when you saw me kill that fox? Do you not want to see them killed?” Voldemort pointed his wand at the house and Harry cringed. “Reducto,” yelled Voldemort, and the house around the Weasley Family was blown to dust. “Oho!” laughed Bellatrix, “Look, they are immobilized. What was the matter Potter, they wouldn’t let you go?” “Maybe they didn’t believe that I wouldn’t harm them,” said Voldemort softly, “Do you take my word for it, Harry?” “Of course, Voldemort,” chuckled Harry, “I hardly believe you would make the same mistake twice.” “What mistake?” asked Voldemort getting caught off guard by Harry’s manner. “The mistake you made sixteen years ago. They are all now protected the same way I was, then, by love. You wouldn't dare try to hurt any of them them now, or were you planning to turn into vapor again? I remember you describing to your Death Eaters three years ago how painful that was.” “Crucio,” yelled Voldemort his face contorted with anger. Harry felt as if every part of his body was screaming in pain, and then it stopped. “Tell me, Harry, what did Dumbledore tell you about the prophecy?” “Nothing,” said Harry too quickly. “You are lying to me Harry, you should know better than to lie to Lord Voldemort. You know the prophecy, and I want you to tell it to me word for word.” “I can’t remember it word for word,” said Harry. “Crucio,” yelled Voldemort again filling Harry’s body and mind with unbearable pain. “So did your memory improve?” asked Voldemort. “Does the Prophecy matter now?” panted Harry, not wanting to cause the Waesley Family to be any more traumatized then they already looked. “You will tell me the Prophecy Harry Potter, I have tortured information out of people who were given powerful Memory Charms. Do you think I can't torture you into revealing something your worthless mind is hardly able to conceal even without pain?” “Ok,” Harry said, feeling that letting the Weasleys listen to the prophecy is less frightening than making them watch their friend being tortured to death. He was surprised to see that the pain really did cause him to remember it word for word. “The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to the people who thrice defied him. Born as the seventh month dies” Harry realized that Voldemort was reciting the prophecy together with him. “You know the prophecy yourself, why do you need me to tell it to you?” asked Harry, hoping Voldemort will think that this was the entire Prophecy. “I only know it up till here. Go on.” said Voldemort. “And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal-” “What does that mean?” interrupted Voldemort. “Dumbledore said it means that you transferred all your powers to me, marking me as your equal.” said Harry quietly. “Go on,” said Voldemort “And he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.” “What power?” asked Voldemort looking wary. “The power of love,” said Harry simply. “Love?” repeated Voldemort, starting to smile, “isn’t that the reason you are now about to die? Standing here in front of your enemy wandless, defenseless? Is that what Dumbledore calls power?” Harry waited for Voldemort to finish cackling in his high cruel laughter. “Either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives,” continued Harry when the laughter subsided. “Which means one of us has got to kill the other in the end. So go ahead and kill me,” said Harry, afraid that Voldemort is going to make him reveal more information about the Horcruxes. “I’m sure you have many more important things to do.” “Are you ready to die Harry Potter?” asked Voldemort slowly advancing towards Harry, and hitting him with a spell that felt like a punch in the stomach, making Harry fall to his knees. “You, who knew this whole time that you had the kind of powers that others would give anything to have. Powers equal to Lord Voldemort. You are willing to give all that up for those worthless people standing behind you?” “You wouldn’t understand it,” breathed Harry, the pain in his stomach making it hard for him to talk. “You know what, Harry Potter?” said Voldemort reaching for Harry’s scalp and picking him up by his hair, “I’m not sure I want to kill you right away. Not while you posess such great powers. I do respect these as being my powers, even if they were accidently given to a fool of a child who won’t appreciate or know how to use them. “I think I will take you with me to my headquarters where I will beat all of that power out of you. I will break you first. and while we’re already there, I might want to get some more information from you as I torture you into madness. Do you think you have felt pain so far? You will be begging for death before I’m finished with you.” Voldemort was holding Harry up in the air by his hair facing him, and as Harry was shorter than Voldemort, his feet were dangling off the ground. The pain in his scalp was causing his eyes to tear, which Voldemort took as a sign of weakness. “Oh, look at you, you’re crying,” said Voldemort in a mock sympathetic tone as he put Harry back on his feet, “Are you that afraid? Don’t cry, Harry Potter,” taunted Voldemort while patting his shoulders in mock comfort. “Why don’t you say good bye to your friends and we will get going.” Harry was afraid to face them, but he didn’t know what else to do so he turned to them. “I’m sorry,” he said gently. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was apologizing for, but he knew he was causing them unbearable pain. Then he turned and walked with Voldemort side by side, showing no desire to escape. With his back straight and head held high, he wasn’t going to show signs of fear. He did not want his friends to see him suffer.