This must be the end. This must be where the world slips away and he's brought to his eternal reward half a heartbeat later. His limbs are cold and heavy and numb, and if the last thing he feels is her teeth in his throat -- if this is mercy--

Harry's heart begins to race. His eyes shoot open: he knows that shock of adrenaline, but he's never felt this -- this scream in every last fiber of his body. Something is -- warring in him.

His fingers curl and scrabble against the ground; now he fights for breath, and a frightened moan builds where Kate holds him.