DRACO POV

Over the next several days, we argued about how we'd get into Hogwarts. As everyone bickered, I just watched. I knew that it didn't matter since anything could go wrong at any time.

Harry said that we should wing it. I agreed. "We don't know what's going to happen," I said. "It's better to just go with it."

"No," said Hermione. "We need a set plan."

"When have one of our plans actually worked?" asked Harry, talking to Hermione in particular.

"Well—," she started.

Liana cut her off. "If we were to come up with some sort of plan, what would happen if something or someone went wrong and threw the whole plan off track? Then what would we do?"

Ron spoke up. "I think the lady's got a point," he said. "None of our 'plans' have ever worked anyway. We might as well just wing it."

"Exactly," said Harry. "So when should we leave? We should probably leave as soon as possible. How about tomorrow night?"

We agreed, finally. I was exhausted with all of this planning. As I lay down in bed that evening, I thought about my mother. I missed her. I wondered what she was doing. I knew that she was worried about me. I knew my father was worried too, but I refused to miss him. It was his fault that I was on the run. I wondered why he became a Death Eater in the first place. He was a coward. At least, now he was.

I thought about my future. If we didn't defeat Him, the future looked bleak. Perhaps I'd leave the country again and take Liana with me. But what if she didn't want to go?

If we did defeat Him, the future looked just right. I'd marry Liana, give her children, and live in a nice house. If I had a son, I'd make sure to be the perfect father to him. I'd never put his life in danger—not like my father did. And if I had a daughter, I'd love her and give her the world, if I could. Liana, I would love and cherish forever. I would tell her that she is beautiful every day and how lucky I am to have her.

When my eyes fluttered open, Liana's green eyes scared the living life out of me. "What the hell?" I gasped.

She smiled and said, "We're about to leave. Harry told me to wake you up. Get dressed. Bill and Fleur have just gone to bed."

Now that I had regained my focus, I pulled her down on the bed next to me and kissed her. "You're beautiful," I said. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Draco," she whispered against my ear, sending butterflies through my stomach. "I'll be downstairs," she said, standing up. She bent down to kiss my cheek before leaving the room, closing the door shut behind her.

I quickly got dressed and hurried downstairs, slipping the engagement ring into my pocket beforehand. My friends were waiting for me with solemn looks plastered across their faces. "This is it," said Harry. "Are you two sure you want to do this? We might not be able to come back here after tonight."

Liana looked at me and smiled, automatically making me smile as well. "Yes," I said. "I'm positive."

"Okay," said Harry. "I don't know what will be waiting for us when we get to Hogsmeade, so make sure you can get to your wands." I felt mine in the pocket of my pants as everyone else did. We linked hands. "Ready?" Just a second later, it seemed as though I was being squeezed through a tube. I recalled the very first time I Apparated with my father. I believe that I fainted.

Wherever we were, an alarm sounded. "Damn," I said. "They must've been expecting us to come here." Harry looked around for someplace to hide. People would start coming out of their shops and houses at any moment. "Over there," I said, pointing to what looked like the Hog's Head Inn. There was a wall that we could hide behind.

Quickly, we hid before we were spotted. It got very cold, as if the world was made of ice. Dementors were coming closer to us. I could see the hood of one. We heard the murmurs of Death Eaters, also searching for us. "They gotta be around here somewhere," a voice said in the distance.

"Expecto patronum!" whispered Harry sending the Dementors hurling in the opposite direction. I knew that it gave us away and that we'd probably end up being caught. This was it, I thought.

I heard the door of the seemingly abandoned inn open from behind me. "In here," said a man's voice. Noticing our hesitation, he added, "Quickly!" We did as he said, pouring into the man's house.

"Wasn't that Dumbledore's brother?" asked Hermione.

"I've seen him in the Prophet before. He certainly does look a great deal like him," said Liana.

"Quiet!" Harry hissed, trying to listen to what Aberforth was saying to the Death Eaters outside. The Death Eaters were arguing with him that the Patronus was a stag. I gasped. That was Harry's patronus. Everyone knew that. We were done for now.

"Stag? It was a goat, you idiot!" argued the man who'd let us into his home.

"All right, we made a mistake. Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient!" A moment later, the man returned to the dark room that we were currently standing in. He switched on a lamp, light filling the room.

We were standing in a parlor with a sofa and a few armchairs. There was a portrait of a girl who looked about our age, probably younger. Harry turned to face the man. "Are you Aberforth?"

He nodded, no emotion showing in his wrinkled face. "Would you like some tea or coffee?" Aberforth asked.

"Okay," we said in unison. He told us to sit down, so we did. Liana and I sat in armchairs next to each other closest to the fireplace. It was spring, but it still got rather chilly at night. A moment later, he brought us mugs of peppermint tea. Liana and I drank in silence while the others got enveloped in a story that Aberforth was telling them about the girl in the portrait, Ariana Dumbledore.

"Draco," said Liana. "Thank you."

"What for?" I asked, taking a sip of the warm tea.

"For taking care of me," she replied. "I'm glad that I decided to go with you that night, back at Hogwarts. I know that it hasn't been easy for either of us, but it's been worth it."

I smiled. "You're welcome," I said. "I'd never put you in harm's way. You know that, right?"

She nodded. "I just hope that we can all survive this battle. We still have a few more horcruxes to destroy. Then it will all be over."

"We'll all get through this. If it's the last thing I do, we will rid the world of Him," I said, reaching over to take her hand in mine. I gave it a light squeeze. As I did, the portrait swung open. Neville appeared, with Dean and Luna.

"Luna!" squealed Liana, who ran over to hug her. "How did you get here?" Luna smiled and started to tell her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Neville, referring to me. I assumed that Dean hadn't gotten a chance to fill him in on everything that had happened the past year or so.

I shook my head. "Trust me," I said. "It's a really long story. But to keep it short, Liana and I are helping to destroy Him." As I pulled up my sleeve, he flinched. "I was one of them, but I left. And here I am."

Neville's face turned slightly red. He turned to Harry. "How do you know that he won't betray you? How can we trust him?"

"Neville," I said reassuringly, "as much as you might loathe me, you have to know that He is looking for me as well. He'll kill me if he gets the chance. I want Him dead before he gets that chance. You do understand that, don't you?"

Neville nodded and gave me a small smile. "Come on, we'd better get going," he said, motioning for us to follow him through the portrait hole. We thanked and said goodbye to Aberforth before following Neville.

We walked a while until we walked up a steep flight of stairs, leading to a door. I heard someone say, "Lightning has struck! I repeat, lightning has struck!" as we got closer. Neville pushed the door open, where I saw several of my former classmates standing around in front of us. We stepped down into the room, filled with cots and blankets and pillows and Gryffindor and Ravenclaw banners.

LIANA POV

The first person that I saw when I stepped down into the room was Seamus. His eyes widened when he saw me. He rushed over to me, pushing everyone out of the way. He stared at me for a long time before he actually hugged me. "You're alive," he whispered. I looked over at Draco, who was helping Harry explain what was going on and what they needed to find. "I've missed you so much."

I smiled, then it faded when I looked more closely at his face. He was all beaten and bruised. "What happened to your face?"

"It's the Carrows. They'll punish anybody who doesn't do things their way. That's why we've been hiding in here. It's the one place where they can't get to us," he said.

"I'm sorry, Seamus," I said softly, looking down at the ground.

"Why did you leave?" he asked. "Where the hell have you been the past year?"

"It's complicated," I replied.

"And I suspect that you were with Malfoy the whole time," he said. "Is that right?"

I nodded. "I'll explain things later, okay? I promise."

"I never stopped thinking about you," he said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I thought you might have been dead. Do you have any idea what that did to me? I'm really sorry for everything that I've ever done to you, but what you've done was even crueler."

"Seamus," I started, but he was already gone. I sat down on one of the cots and put my head in my hands. I felt someone sit down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

I looked up to see my cousin, Bella. I hugged her tightly, crying on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry," I said.

"It's okay," she said. "We're all going to be okay. I promise." Then Draco appeared in front of me, sitting on the floor.

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking my hand.

I shook my head. "No," I said, "but I will be."

"We're going to try to find the," he said, looking at Isabella, "things. You can stay here if you want to. I'll find you later."

"I'll stay," I replied. "Good luck." He gave me a kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the crowd. I saw Seamus standing next to Dean, probably talking about me. When he saw me looking at him, he shook his head and turned the other way.

I felt horrible. I had been the one to destroy him. Bella told me that Seamus had been a mess, but I had no idea how bad it must've hurt him. Maybe worse that I'd hurt Draco. I felt like such a terrible person. I wanted to crawl under a rock and cry there.

I didn't love Seamus anymore, but that didn't mean that I didn't care about him. I wanted him to be happy. I didn't want him to be sad. I was the source of his sadness. I'd ruined everything, as usual. Seamus was happy that I was alive, but that didn't stop him from hating what I did to him. I made him go mad. The fault was my own.

It was as if I took a blade and shoved it right through his heart. Seamus' heart had been broken a long time, all because of me. I broke his heart when I didn't give him another chance. I broke his heart when I was with Draco. And I broke his heart when I disappeared with him. And I was still breaking his heart because every time he looked at me, those images flashed through his mind, breaking his heart all over again.

This chapter was so emotional for me! I literally started crying :(

But anyway, I'll try to update as soon as possible.

Review! And follow so that you'll be alerted when I update! And feel free to PM me. I don't bite ;)

Now I think I'll watch Vampire Diaries :)