Disclaimer: Oh my gosh! I can't believe that Deathly Hallows is out! –grins like a maniac– Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter and co., because if I did, I wouldn't have been shocked when I found how many people died… -sobs-

Warning: Live without warning! To take the advice of Green Day, heh. This story contains slash guys, so if you don't like it, don't read it. Thanks!

A/N: Man, you guys wouldn't believe how much chocolate I ate just to write this chapter, lol. I'll call it comfort food… oow! Lol. Ok, a huge thanks to… Jet Black Feeling, Serpent91, JillEm, Cassandra Snake, Pure-Seduction, Tiggs1, amrawo, macaday me a nut, iheartbadboys.a.k., The Tainted Angel of Earth, DeathlyPhoenix, Jemma Blackwell, Weissgal35, and twighlightangel61090! I heart you guys so much! I'm sorry, once again, for the immensely long wait! Forgive me? –winks- Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

~Chapter Twenty-One: Green Marble~

Draco had never before been grateful to his Aunt Bellatrix for anything, but while dueling fiercely in the dungeons of the Manor, he took that back. Bellatrix had spent the whole summer holidays before his 6th year teaching him how to duel "properly" so that he could attack and defend. Amongst her meetings with Voldemort, of course. At the time Draco had hated his father for giving Bella this task, making him give up his break, but now… he was seeing its usefulness.

He ducked another curse and fired one back at his opponent, who was snarling quite unattractively. For a moment, the Death Eater nearly fell, and Draco used the time to glance over the area, to spot Harry. There he was, diving onto another Death Eater. Why on earth would he be doing that? Draco quickly focused his attention back on his opponent, who had righted himself and now audibly growling.

Leaping over a dazed Ron (who was sitting on the ground after a forceful shove), Draco sent a stunner to his snarling friend. He cheered inwardly when the Death Eater kneeled over in a faint next to Ron.

"Nice one," Ron gave him a grin as he shook his head to clear it and got to his feet. Draco nodded and slipped out of the main fray. He strained to see over the many bodies flinging around, strained to see Harry…

But he was gone. It was as if he had dissolved in a vat of Vanishing Potion. Draco slowly felt the rising flame of panic, the gripping sensation that made it difficult to breathe. Someone hurtled into him, and he was jerked out of his thoughts and back into the fight.

Draco aimed a hex at the Death Eater that had fallen into him. He missed though, and ran around a concrete pole to dodge the return spell.

"Good luck Draco," Ginny called out to him from his left. "I was just fighting her. She's really quick!"

He looked back at the Death Eater, and noticed that she was indeed female, due to her long black hair spinning wildly as she moved.

Hang on.

That hair was awfully familiar.

The way it spun… it was almost like his mother's when she had died…

Oh. It was his Aunt Bellatrix.

"Someone's taught you well, haven't they Draco," Bellatrix said. Draco could imagine her face twisting into a malicious smile, and he doubled his efforts to defeat her. She simply laughed, a high and harsh sound, and directed a curse at him.

"How's life in the light going for you? Have they got sick of you yet?"

Draco rolled his eyes, having been expecting her to start goading him.

"You know they'll never really trust you." Bellatrix skillfully dodged a hex from Draco and laughed again. "Why bother fighting for them if they are simply using you?"

"They're not using me!" Draco said loudly over the din, his fury getting the better of him. He tried to stun Bellatrix, but she easily ducked.

"What about Harry?" said Bellatrix snidely, a glimmer of triumph in her tone. Draco's heart turned as hard as the concrete floor and he froze for a second, before he was forced to crouch to avoid an Unforgivable curse. He said nothing.

"I don't think sleeping with the enemy will help you much."

Draco clenched his fists, grasping his wand so tightly he was amazed that it didn't turn to dust.

"Shut up." His voice was bitter, and should have shocked her – but Bellatrix just laughed again, an evil edge to it.

"It's amusing, to see you getting so upset about it. If your mother knew…" Bellatrix added, jumping over a writhing body on the ground.

"She'd be proud that I didn't turn out like my father!" Draco shouted at her, angry sparks shooting from his wand. He fired a Leg-Locking jinx. "She understood me! She didn't want me to be heartless like you!"

"Believe whatever makes you feel better," Bellatrix cackled shrilly. "Just don't come running to me, crying, when the Boy Who Fucked You has no more use for you – "

But Bellatrix had spent too much time taunting, and not enough time staying alert. Right then, with a well placed stunning spell, Draco silenced his aunt and watched her fall straight to the floor.

Oh yes, he was grateful to his Aunt Bellatrix – for teaching him to take advantage of other's weaknesses. Her weakness was not being able to resist taunting people.

Was she right though? Were they using Draco, for things like this? So that they could invade the Death Eater headquarters? Was… Harry using him?

Ginny came flying out of nowhere and pulled him down with her, as a curse whistled past his hair.

"Come on Draco, don't daydream! You can see Harry when this is all over," Ginny said with a ghost of a smirk, her hair splashed over her face. Draco nodded, and leapt up to hide in the shadows.

He was being utterly stupid. He and Harry had just solved their issues, they were great. Draco nearly snorted in amusement and disgust. Merlin, he was an insecure prat. Draco shook his head, and told himself off sternly. And with Harry firmly in mind, he jumped back into the fray… still glancing around, hoping for a glimpse of sparkling emerald eyes.

Thankfully, Draco didn't recognize any of the other Death Eaters. He nearly shuddered at the thought; the encounter with Bellatrix had been unpleasant enough. Well, he had refused to join them, so he couldn't really be surprised that a fair share of green light had been sent his way.

But then he came through the portrait door, and Draco had a feeling he'd be seeing a lot more green light.

He must have been elsewhere in the Manor, maybe somewhere with Voldemort. It didn't matter now though. What mattered was that he was here.

Lucius' icy and glaring eyes swept the fight to meet Draco's in an instant. The only sign that he had seen Draco was a slight incline of the head and a cruel, sneering curl of his lip.

Draco's reaction was, suffice to say, quite different. His chest was burning, churning with pure loathing, and he gritted his teeth tightly. Once again, he was gripping his wand so strongly that he wondered how long it would be before he needed a new one. There was no hope of coherent thought as he focused on the man separated from him by all the people… the man he used to call his father.

Pushing aside someone, Draco began walking forwards, his feet making up their own mind. He didn't take his eyes off Lucius. He was dimly aware of someone calling his name, but now that Draco thought about it, he couldn't really hear anything. Only a dull rushing sound suffocating his ears.

Lucius raised a slender eyebrow when he saw that Draco was coming towards him. Draco had an intense desire to see fear in those malicious eyes, but no such emotion surfaced. Lucius just put on his trademark smirk and looked at Draco as if to say 'How pathetic'. Draco's anger grew.

It took an eternity to reach Lucius. When Draco finally stood in front of Lucius, at the entrance of the dungeons, his brain started to work again. He was remembering his vow that he had made, on the morning of his mother's death being reported in the Prophet. He had vowed to get revenge on his father even if it cost him his life.

Draco's heart still told him that Lucius needed to be punished for the ruthless murder. However, he knew that getting revenge was not the right thing to do. It was something Harry had taught him, probably without realizing. Bad people got what was coming to them, in the end, so there was no need to seek revenge yourself. And besides, Draco had more reason to live now than ever.

"Lucius," Draco addressed him, his tone remarkably polite but colder than the dungeon air.

"Scum." The word fell from Lucius' lips easily, quietly. "You and your new found allies. Scum. Of course, I'm not entirely surprised that you fled to such people. I didn't expect any more from you. It's… amusing, to say the least."

Lucius fixed Draco with a superior gaze, which fuelled his temper. He tried to stay calm, but the arrogant face in front of him sort of shattered this attempt.

"You bastard," Draco hissed softly. He struggled to find the words. "I can't believe – you – I can't believe that you just left her there… didn't even move her… and now you have the nerve – calling my… my family scum… you are a bastard, and you are going to burn in hell with your old mate Voldemort!"

"If I was still your father, I would be ashamed of you!" Lucius' raised his voice louder. "Luckily, I left that road a long time ago. Now I simply pity your pathetic life!"

"Better being around people you love than worshiping a crazed, power-hungry fool!"

Lucius' eyes flashed, finally showing a morsel of the rage that Draco was feeling. He swiftly whipped out his wand and shot a red light towards Draco, who ducked – and the duel began.

This was the most physically demanding duel Draco had ever been a part of. He was constantly dodging curses, and forever sending them back – most of which only just missed them both.

"You won't be able to keep this up," Lucius' sneered after a few minutes. "You know that I was taught by the Dark Lord himself."

Draco bit his lip to keep himself quiet. He knew what his father was doing – he was trying to taunt him into such a rage that he got distracted… which was when Lucius would defeat him. No, this tactic would not work on Draco… he couldn't afford to lose any concentration.

Lucius didn't say anything for a while, so their battle went on. Once or twice Draco caught a glimpse of flaming red hair, which, oddly, gave him confidence. It meant that either Ginny or Ron was still ok anyway. There was no sign of Harry. Or Hermione either. Mostly though, Draco glued his eyes onto Lucius' face, watching his smirk grow.

"Don't try and hide your fatigue. Wouldn't you rather give in?" Lucius neatly leapt over a moaning-someone on the floor and landed with an arrogant flick of his wand. Draco side-stepped the green light and fought back harder, as an answer to Lucius' question.

"I presume you enjoy living off these people then," Lucius tried a minute later. "You enjoy depending on them. They'll ruin you," he warned Draco, although managing to sound uncaring. "I suppose you want to become a filthy blood-traitor like the Weasleys, associating with mudbloods and the like. Your worst fault, however," Lucius paused for effect while sliding clear of Draco's hex. "Is attaching yourself to the famous Harry Potter."

Draco took a deep breath, trying to remember how he had ignored Bellatrix's earlier slurs about Harry. However, all he could think of was Lucius' triumphant face, knowing that he had gotten to Draco.

"Oh yes, Bellatrix told me all about you and Harry," Lucius had adopted a sickly sweet tone. "In case you were wondering, she found out by having a nice chat with a relative who has a portrait in the dump you are living in. Seems they have a portrait in her house too. The perfect, little love story." Lucius laughed, the sound booming around the dungeons. A ringing in Draco's ears joined this.

"At first I thought she was mad; how could you sink so low? So I wondered why." Lucius smiled evilly, a dark sparkle in his eyes. "Do you want to know what I concluded?"

Draco forced a stunning spell back at Lucius and screwed up his free hand into a fist, so tightly that he could feel his nails making grooves in his palm.

"You only went over to the Golden Boy's side to survive. You think that he will triumph, and you'll survive the war." Lucius laughed lightly. "So sorry to disappoint… but there's no chance of that. The Dark Lord has immense power. Your famous, half-blood fool doesn't stand a chance. And therefore, neither do you."

"Harry is going to win. And you know how I know?" Draco yelled, not caring that his nails were beginning to pierce his skin. "Good always defeats evil. It's karma! So sorry to disappoint," Draco said with a trace of a smirk.

Lucius said nothing for several moments, but then a smile grew on his face. The effect was that he looked quite crazy.

"You are his enemy. How did you so eloquently phrase it… 'Good always defeats evil'. And as you say that the Boy-Who-Didn't-Die is good… well, you see, this obviously tells us that dear Harry will defeat you."

Draco felt ice slip into his stomach, and sent jinxes at Lucius with renewed anger. They were so close to the dungeons entrance now that Lucius was starting to step backwards through the portrait door.

"But if you feel so strongly about it… why don't you prove it? Come on, Draco. Come and show me how much he's worth to you." Lucius flashed him a last smirk before turning, running back up the corridor they had walked down to get to the dungeons. Draco didn't hesitate; he sprinted to the portrait door after Lucius.

'Bad people got what was coming to them, in the end…'

And Draco would most certainly be there to watch.

Harry could hear them – which wasn't surprising, as the stone echoed everything. He sped up, running around a great cage door which had broken off. Turning the corner, Harry saw the fight, the Order members, the Death Eaters…

A relieved smile slid onto his face when he saw Ron, currently in a battle with an extremely fat Death Eater. And there was Ginny's bright red hair, ducking behind a concrete pole. But… Harry scanned the crowd of people again. Where was Draco?

He made his way over to where Ron was, dodging stray jets of light. Ron succeeded in blasting his opponent halfway across the dungeon, and turned to Harry. His lips parted, but Harry could already read the question on his face.

"Don't worry, Hermione's gone back to headquarters. We found your dad and Remus." Ron smiled thankfully too, and let out a long breath.

"Thank Merlin they're alright." He looked at the people surrounding them. "I reckon we've done quite well. We've pegged them back, anyway, so now it's even numbers on both sides."

Harry nodded, but he hadn't really listened – he'd been wanting to ask something.

"Ron, where's Draco?"

Ron closed his mouth on an unformed word and frowned in thought, looking back at the crowd.

"Um… I haven't seen him for a while, actually. But hey," Ron quickly added when he saw Harry's face lose some colour. "I'm sure he's fine, he's small, he'll be in there somewhere," Ron jerked his head towards the fight. "Actually, the last time I saw him was when he was dueling Bellatrix Lestrange. But I just jumped over her before – she was totally knocked out. He must've moved on to fight someone else."

Harry chewed his lip hard, fighting to replace his terror with calm thoughts. Harry tried to smile at him, to thank him, but he was sure it was more of a grimace. Well, at least Draco hadn't met his downfall at the hands of the women who had killed his godfather…

He jumped slightly when Ron touched his shoulder.

"Don't assume the worst, Harry. Maybe Ginny'll know where he is." Harry nodded, and with a sense of great unease, he headed back into the battle, ducking between people, making his way over to Ginny.

"Ginny!" Harry shouted, unable to keep the edge of alarm out of his tone. "Have you seen Draco?"

Ginny couldn't answer straight away, because the one she was fighting had hit her with a force spell that sent her spinning towards someone else. She ducked behind a concrete slab and looked at him.

"Oh Harry," she said, looking rather helpless. "He… well, Lucius Malfoy arrived."

Harry stomach felt like there was a battle in there too, flipping horribly. He stumbled over a body that was bleeding severely… the blood forming a pool under his feet.

"I called out to him, but he couldn't hear me, or just didn't listen…" she looked behind Harry and stunned a Death Eater who had been sneaking up on him. "There was no way of getting over to him… I kept looking over to them, they were dueling for ages! But then, probably about ten or fifteen minutes ago, they… well, they left the dungeons. I don't know where they went, I just saw them running out and up the corridor we came through."

Ginny took a shuddering breath and desperately touched his shoulder, shaking him a little.

"Come on, Harry! We've got to –"

But the sentence died on her lips, for a bright light shone from just below Harry's chin… a blinding green light…

"Draco," Harry whispered. He pulled out the necklace with trembling fingers, staring at the shining dragon scales.

"Shit." And Harry left Ginny, sprinting to the portrait, to Draco.

Draco's lungs were ripping, protesting. However, he didn't stop running. Lucius was still visible – he was only a few metres ahead. He chased him all the way up the long corridor, until, rather abruptly, they reached the marble staircase. Lucius was already gracefully descending it, gliding over the marble stairs like a ghost. Draco stopped at the top and watched as Lucius walked into the middle of the Entrance Hall of the Malfoy Manor, and turned to face him.

"Doesn't this bring back fond memories Draco?" he sneered quietly, holding his wand lazily in front of him. Draco didn't speak. He started to walk down the marble staircase very slowly.

"But perhaps you have forgotten…" Draco took a few more steps. "Shall I enlighten you?" Still descending. "It was right here, in this exact spot that your mother was undoubtedly foolish." Draco could see the lines of malice etched into Lucius' face now. He kept walking down the stairs. "Your mother, you see, tried to save you." Draco's fingers curled tighter around his wand, the other hand now slightly less clenched. "I was about to kill you, being the defiant and pathetic boy you are… but she got in my way, so I ended up killing her instead. Foolish," Lucius sneered. Draco was eye level with him now, both of their strong gazes sharp on the other. "Think you remember now?"

"I remember," Draco said quietly, not blinking or looking away. "I remember how my mother loved me. I remember how she helped me get away from you and the Death Eaters. I remember how she died for me."

"It was in vain, Draco," Lucius drawled, drawing out his name. Draco reached the bottom of the stairs and took a few steps on the marble floor before stopping. Lucius now lowered his wand a fraction, to point directly at Draco's chest.

"Your mother died, but it did no one any good. I am going to kill you soon," Lucius paused to send Draco a malicious smirk. "You will be dead, like her, and she will have died in vain."

"So kill me," Draco suddenly said, with inspiration. He didn't know what made him say it. "Kill me if you don't care."

"But that would only be half my fun! No, first I have a final test for you…" Lucius murmured a curse, but it wasn't the killing curse…

Draco's mind went blank, as though he was listening to some lovely music that he'd got lost in. Where was he? Well, it didn't really matter… then Lucius' voice interrupted in his head.

"You're under my command now, boy. I want you to kill me."

Draco was so taken aback that for a moment, the happiness of the Imperious Curse dimmed. Why in Merlin's name would Lucius order Draco to kill him?

"Kill me, Draco. I know you are too weak to do it. Go on, prove me wrong. Kill me. Get revenge!"

Draco raised his wand, but another voice spoke.

"Don't do it Draco. I don't want you to become a murderer, and I know you don't want to be one either. Please don't avenge my death."

It was his mother. She was speaking to him! Giving his head a little shake, Draco decided he must be hearing things. He gripped his wand more firmly, pointed it at Lucius' heart.

"Draco! Listen to me. Please, don't kill your father. I know that he's scum, but I thought that Harry had taught you something… he'll get what he deserves, just not from you! Please!"

He could hear Lucius' voice now, yelling at him to do it, utter the killing curse… but the enormity of it all fell on Draco and he could see his mother in his mind. With a huge burst of strength, Draco wrenched his wand away to point at the ground, and Lucius had left his mind. The lovely music stopped playing, and his mother smiled and disappeared.

"So," Lucius was breathing deeply. "You couldn't do it. I hope you're happy."

And with a painstaking slowness, Lucius redirected his wand at Draco chest, smirked, and spoke.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry could barely draw enough breath to keep running, let alone yell out Draco's name, but amazingly, he managed to do both. Although he suspected his 'yell' was more of a gasp. He was full with fear; it wasn't enough to just run, he needed Draco, right now, he needed to hold him and keep him safe and know that he was ok – he needed him now.

He kept running up the corridor, his legs ready to fall off and his lungs shredding. Was Draco alright? The necklace continued to shine green, so bright that it blurred Harry's vision as he ran, the jewel bouncing around with his speed. He'd never sprinted so fast in his life. Surely if Draco was… dead… the necklace wouldn't be shining?

Thankfully, he had reached the top of the marble staircase. Draco! Harry could see Draco! He was just beyond the bottom of the great marble staircase, facing Lucius Malfoy. The sight of Draco alive was nearly enough to make Harry's knees lose feeling. He paused, coughing and trying to get some air into his lungs.

And then two deadly words were yelled into the Entrance Hall, sinister and poisonous.

Avada Kedavra.

Harry cried out as the Hall was splashed swiftly with green light. It was everywhere – it covered the marble staircase, the floor, the high ceiling… the light was so consuming that Harry couldn't even see Draco or Lucius anymore. He stumbled down the stairs while shielding his eyes with his forearm. Losing his footing, Harry fell onto his knees (not that they could hold him much longer anyway) and slid down further.

The light around him achieved such a high intensity that he thought he couldn't possibly hope to survive it, but then it vanished, as simply as someone flicking off a switch. Harry blinked and forced his eyes to overcome the temporary blindness. He focused on something beautiful: blonde hair splayed like an angel's halo… and then choked when he realized what he was seeing.

Harry was a few stairs from the bottom of the marble staircase. Weakly, he hauled himself down them and collapsed next to the person… Draco.

A faint glow of green still encircled Draco, reflecting onto the marble floor. He was lying there beautifully sprawled. His wand had rolled slightly out of his grasp, his fingers slack. Harry pushed himself up to lean over Draco, and gazed into the porcelain face. The unblemished skin was pale and Draco's lashes brushed the tops of his cheek bones.

Harry couldn't speak or think. He reached out with one hand, softly stroking Draco's jaw-line. He remembered how he had done that before, this afternoon, but then… Draco had been warm. Now he was cold.

Tracing his fingers across Draco's face, Harry reached his lips. They were perfectly set. He touched his own lips to Draco's, but Draco was unresponsive. He could feel nothing.

Someone was coming; he could hear their running footsteps. However, Harry didn't particularly care. Instead of looking up, he lowered himself down to curl into Draco's side. Draco's blonde hair tickled his face. Harry laid his head on Draco's shoulder, feeling tears trail from his face into Draco's cool neck.

-hides- Oh merlin, I am so sorry guys! It's killing me to end the chapter here, seriously it is! Oow, lol. I hope you liked it! There's only one more chapter to go now (unless my muse gets out of hand) and the journey is nearly over. –grins-

brionyjae xox