Disclaimer: Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling

Hi, Sorry as usual. The good news is, only one more chapter and the epilogue to do. Hopefully this weekend! Warning for Character death

O

O

Prologue

It was the largest collection he had ever seen, even the one at Hogwarts - where he had first been lured by the seduction of the dark arts - paled in comparison. Shelves, one after another, row upon row, stack upon stack - never in his life had he seen so many. Books, the only thing he had ever trusted, the great giver of knowledge. It was here, he knew, that he would find the answer he sought. In this place that had for so long been kept from him, he would find the key to his survival.

At the end of the very last row he came to a small black door, nearly hidden but for the painted over, but chipped, bronze of the lock under the knob. He slid in the skeleton key and it caught as it turned, a slight jiggle and the catch worked free, a loud click echoing off the wooden floors. With a solemn reverence, he pushed the door open. The scent - a moldy-mildew- old glue and paper scent of very old books arose in the air to meet him and he smiled as he entered the room. This was the ultimate restricted section - The Ministry of Magic's Banned Book Depository. Books that had spells over them so they could not be destroyed. Burn them, and they would rise out of the flames. Bury them and they would jump out of the ground. Everything had been tried over the years, Water burial with weights, sealing in cement blocks, feet deep in the ground, spells, curse breakers, even reformed dark wizards had failed to lift the spells that kept these books alive. Yes, alive, for there was life in these books. It was even rumored that there was a spell that could bring the dead back to life, but the Dark Lord couldn't have cared less about that. His interest was in assuring that the alive stayed that way, and in finding a way to heal the damage of a Horcrux gone wrong.

After long thought, he realized that his mistake had been in trying to turn the Ministry of Magic into a Horcrux. He should have considered that it's builders would have protected it. Considering what could have happened, what had happened to him in the past, he was lucky that he hadn't been completely destroyed. Certainly though, if there were spells to cause such damage, there must be spells to heal the damage as well.

Voldemort stood in the middle of the neatly ordered room, turning in a slow circle, wondering where to start. He noticed that the shelves had markers, so he took a closer look. Each section had been properly labeled, making it easy for one to find exactly what they wanted. He wondered, in an offhand sort of way, if he was really the first Minister to come here searching for information. Thinking back on Fudge and Scrimegour, he had a feeling he wasn't.

He scanned the rows until he came to a section titled "Dark Curse and Spell Backfire Damage" then pulled several books from the shelf. Hours later, near sunrise, he had worked his way nearly to the end of the section with nothing to show for it. He was about to flip the book closed when his eyes skimmed over the word Horcrux. As he had begun to suspect over the last couple of hours, there was no permanent fix, but there was a temporary one. One that he could make due with until the rebellion was dealt with. He pulled his wand, reciting the incantation over the cracks on his body, and feeling relief as the skin knitted tightly back together. By the time he finished, he felt better than he had since the day he attempted the Horcrux. He flipped the book closed, then rose to return it to the shelf.

He slid it into place, then turned back up the row of books, his wand held aloft while he took in the titles out of mild curiosity. He stopped abruptly, the small beam of light frozen on the title 'Blood Bonds.'

Very slowly, he pulled the book from the shelf, then slid into the closest chair, a cautiously hopeful expression on his face. He hadn't been this excited by learning something new since his days at Hogwarts.

Since he had learned how to kill.

0

Rise of the Phoenix

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Honorable

0

Since Harry and Draco's announcement, a strange energy had been floating over the camp. He told them that they would be going to Hogwarts just before dawn the day after next, but didn't burden them with the information that training was useless. It was a difficult decision, one that they felt they had a right to know. Before the announcement, he and Draco filled the others in on the contents of the two memories, and the prophecy revealing that the defeat of Voldemort rested on the shoulders of one of them making the proper decision when the moment came. To Harry's surprise, it was Hermione that said it was best not to tell the rebels, to let them go ahead and train. To tell them would diminish hope, and they might turn on the two of them and try to force them to stay behind. At last, Harry fully understood the burden of the secrets Dumbledore had carried, and that perhaps, his anger hadn't been as justified as he thought.

Now, with hours rather than days separating them from zero hour, the training area had gone silent. Dark had fallen over the mountains, a subtle thunderstorm lighting the sky with brilliant light. None were worried about the storm or how it may effect their plans; in fact, it almost felt it was meant to be. The perfect backdrop for the end. What ended was yet to be seen, but in one way or another, this would be resolved. In the next twelve hours, they would either be free, or they would be dead.

There would be no surrender.

The rebels had taken to their tents to share the final moments in silence with the ones they loved. In one, the smallest tent of the many, a single candle burned on an old beaten dresser; the occupants of that tent wrapped tightly spooned around one another. They lay in silence, yet deep in thought. Trying to block out the memories of that night, and the horrors they had suffered in the three years since. They had promised one another no tears, no omens of bad luck brought on by rehashing the past or attempting to control the fate of one if the other was lost. George was determined that they would both come out of it alive; unless things turned, unless they had no other choice. Neither would be a prisoner again.

So they lay, quiet and still as the moments ticked away, Luna absently tracing the D on George's hand where it lay, fingers twined with hers, on the pillow near her cheek. She was losing the battle to not think about what had passed, and what was coming. The longer she lay there, the harder they pressed in on her. She needed to distract herself, and she needed to do it soon; before the fear set in.

"What are you thinking about?" She spoke softly, her voice a slight whisper over their joined hands.

"The storm," George tightened his arms around her

"It's going to make things more difficult, isn't it?"

She felt him shrug before he spoke. "Could be, I don't know. That's not what I was thinking about though."

She turned to face him and the expression on his face caught her off guard. His eyes were misty and far off, the way they looked when they spoke about their future.

"What about the storm then?"

"I was fantasizing …" He grinned as a blush rose on Luna's cheeks. "Not that kind of fantasy; dirty minded woman!"

Luna looked up at him sheepishly, her cheeks as red as rose petals. "What kind of fantasizing then?"

"You know when you wake up to a thunderstorm? The sky all grayish-yellow, heavy rain pounding on the ceiling, and thunder … so loud it shakes the foundation?" He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles, just under the D. "It's all warm and cozy, so much so that you hope the storm doesn't stop for a long time, just so you can stay that way."

"I love waking up that way." Luna smiled, remembering how, when she was a child, if she woke to a thunderstorm she would run to her parents room and jump into their bed. Their arms would wrap around her, squashing her between them as she burrowed deeper and deeper under the blankets with each rumble from the sky.

"Me too." He chuckled and kissed her hand again, right over the D this time. "I was just imagining how amazing it would be to wake up like that with you, but it wasn't just us, our child was there too - a little girl who looked just like you."

Luna's throat clenched tightly. Now that George had said the words, she could see the picture he had painted with his words. She closed her eyes, and with the thunder over head it was almost like she …they, were there. There was only one thing missing.

"I think I'd like a little boy better, a devilish little red headed child with a beautiful laugh, and eyes filled with mischief…like you."

"I'm going to give that to you, all of it, every last bit." George pulled her close again, nuzzling his nose in her hair while he tried desperately to swallow the rising panic. There were only a couple hours left before they would join the rebels to make the journey to Hogwarts. These could be his final moments…their final moments. He didn't want them defiled with fear, particularly if the next time they woke, they woke alone with nothing to hold but memories.

"I'm going to marry you." He tilted her face to his. "A month from tomorrow. We'll do it in the orchard at the burrow, the fall leaves will peaking by then."

Luna put her arms tightly around him, pulling him close, then buried her face against his chest. Under her cheek, she could feel the deep scars left from the sectumsempra that had nearly killed him the night they rescued Harry and Draco from Bathilda Bagshot's cellar. They were a reminder, like the scar that still tingled on her ankle from her splinching weeks before. Collectively, they had already cheated death three times. How much longer could their luck hold out? But she couldn't say that out loud; she didn't dare show her growing fear, not now when the time was so close. Instead, she did the only thing she could.

"I'll be there." She said "I promise, I'll be there."

Then, she hoped with all her heart, that her promise wouldn't be broken.

Harry and Draco sat with Ron, Hermione and Bill, the marauders map on the table in front of them. They made idle conversation, nothing new was planned, no last minute changes were needed. This final meeting was a distraction and nothing more. They knew they were being unfair, surely Ron and Hermione wanted some time alone, Pansy with Draco too. By now, she and Ginny would be pacing the big tent, maybe even fuming about the meeting taking so long. No, he didn't dare hold them here any longer, yet he couldn't find the strength to break the meeting.

"Harry, enough already." Ron was at the end of his patience. Funny, he would have though Hermione the one to put his blathering to a stop. "We've been over this a hundred times."

He rose from the table and took Hermione's hand.

"Ron, maybe we should…" But she didn't try to stop him from pulling her out into the night.

"Two hours." Bill looked at his watch. He didn't have anyone to spend the time with, but he knew where he would go. The same place the other's had spend a good chunk of the afternoon. "If you two don't go see Ginny and Pansy now you'll be dead before you get anywhere near Voldemort." He nodded, then disappeared through the flap into the darkness.

Harry nearly shuddered, he knew Ginny's temper well. A full grown tiger, that's what she was. Just like her mother, but worse. Still, he smoothed the map over the table again, then pointed out a key area.

"We need to be sure this is well covered, if it isn't…"

"He's right Harry." Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder, then slid away from the table.

Harry nodded, then folded the map and patted it with his hand, remembering the day Fred and George gave it to him so he could sneak into Hogsmeade. He'd had such small, insignificant, problems back then, yet it had felt like the end of the world. Now he was facing what really might be the end of the world…his world at least.

"Go on, I just want to…" He grabbed for the map again but Draco pulled it out of his hands and lay it back on the table. Harry nodded and rose from his seat, haltingly making his way to the flap on the tent.

"How odd," He spoke absently, just making conversation really. "To think this place will likely be empty by this time tomorrow...one way or another."

"How in the hell did we get here Harry?" Draco stopped, his face tilted up to the sky. "You and I, we were enemies for so long; seven years. Now, we are walking into what may be our death as allies. More than allies, more like…"

"Brothers," Harry finished "I never would have survived the last three years without you Draco. I would have gone mad, maybe stolen Voldemort's wand and turned it on myself. I've never thanked you, I'm sorry for that."

"That goes for me too." Draco lowered his head and then began towards the tent again. "We saved each others sanity. I can't say that I enjoyed being locked up, but, it had it's moments. The look on Voldemorts face, when he realized we were bonding, particularly after he cut me…" He trailed off, a wide grin on his face.

Harry grinned back "The food could have been better."

"…It's odd isn't it?" Ginny's voice reached them from inside the tent "To think of everything we have gone through, have yet to go through, and here we are going through it together."

Pansy laughed. Their shadows on the side of the tent showed that they were sitting close together, their heads together as they usually were when they were having a serious discussion. Though they couldn't see it, both Harry and Draco knew they had their pinkies interlocked.

"I want you to know Pansy, aside from Harry and my family, if I had to give my life to save someone…"

"GINNY!" Pansy's voice went high and squeaky "Stop talking like that! You're not going to die!"

"Shush, I'm not planning on it." Ginny sighed deeply "I don't want to die, but we can't say for sure that won't happen. Anyone of us could die at any moment tonight. If I am going to die, it's going to be on my terms, and if I have any say about it, it's going to be in the act of saving someone else. If it's not Harry or one of my brothers, I'd want it to be you or Draco. I would be proud to die for you."

"Ginny…"

"You're part of my family now."

"Me too." Pansy's voice was shaking "I'd be proud to die for you too!"

In the shadows, Harry and Draco could see the two women embrace, sniffles replacing their conversation. Harry had to choke down the lump in his throat and next to him, Draco seemed to be doing the same thing.

"That goes for both of us." Harry whispered softly "I'd be proud to die for you."

Draco had to turn away, he didn't want Harry to see his tears.

"For you too."

The rebels stood just outside the gates to Hogwarts; the time had come at last. In an hour or two, three at most, this would all be over. It was exhilarating and freighting, a feeling like drinking two gallons of coffee and then sitting in a really scary horror movie. But this was no movie, this was their lives.

"Do you see any dementors?" Draco asked, sidling up close to Harry so he could be heard over the thunder. The downpour had turned to sprinkles, yet the storm clouds remained, lightning and thunder in tact, promising more storm to come.

"Not a single one." Harry nodded to the ground "There's no dead grass or anything, I don't think there has been a dementor here in ages."

"Voldemort's arrogant, right?" Neville spoke from Harry's other side "He probably thinks he has the school under control, no need for extra security."

"Let's hope you're right."

"Does everyone know where they are supposed to be now?" Harry pulled out the map, searching for the location of Yaxley and the Carrows. They were the major targets, they were the ones they needed to get Voldemort where they wanted him.

"Yes," General nods of agreement met his eyes when he looked up from the map.

"The Carrow's are on the fifth and sixth floor, one near the entrance to the staircases, the other near the Runes classroom." Bile rose in his throat when he found Yaxley. How dare he! How dare he take over Minerva McGonagall's office when he wasn't fit to lick the bottoms of her shoes!

"Yaxley is on second, in…" Despite himself, he gagged. "In Professor McGonagall's office. Make sure they have time to send a warning to Voldemort before you take them, we need them to draw him here."

There was a nod of agreement, then, George, Bill, Ron, Hermione, Knott and Neville peeled off with the majority of the rebels. Surely, that should be enough to overwhelm Yaxley and the Carrows.

Hermione leapt into Harry's arms. "Be careful Harry!"

"You too." Harry hugged her tightly and grinned over at Ron. "And don't kill them, we need them to get Voldemort."

Ron grinned back "I'll try not too."

Harry watched them vanish into the darkness, then he turned to the others.

"The rest of you need to secure the tunnels, make sure the only way Voldemort can get in is the entrance courtyard, where we will be waiting."

Pansy, Ginny, and Luna nodded, along with a group thirty strong.

"And be careful, promise?" He meant it for everyone, but his eyes were on Ginny.

Ginny bristled at his warning. They had been given tasks far from the center of the battle by design, and they knew it. With a nod and a toss of her head, Ginny took Pansy and Luna by the arms and walked into the darkness, following of the others.

"Now all we can do is get to the courtyard and wait." Harry sighed, turning off the path to the short cut that was so familiar. "I hate this, the two of us sitting in the courtyard with our guard …"He nodded to the remaining ten rebels and Hagrid, who walked behind them "While the others are fighting."

"I know," Draco sighed, his eyes on the seventh floor, where Pansy and Ginny would be guarding the passage to Hogsmeade through the one eyed witch. "They're safer than us really. Why would Voldemort go after them when it is us he wants and we are right out in the open?"

They came to a cropping of trees with heavy foliage. Draco gingerly pulled the foliage apart, checking for traps before proceeding. He nodded over his shoulder for Harry and the rest to follow. The path was slick with mud, their shoes were saturated with it. By the time they reached the stone circle, the sprinkles had begun to increase, bringing back the promise of more storm activity.

"Do you think it's safe to use the short cuts?" Draco asked, thinking of the safest way to get to the entrance, a tapestry just off the clock tower that lead to a hidden staircase, and from there to the Great Hall. Harry pulled out the marauders map.

"I don't see anyone in there, or around the entrance, but for all we know they could have…"

The explosion cut off his words just before they were thrown backwards onto the wet stones of the clock tower.

George couldn't stop thinking about her, even though he knew she had been deliberately placed as far away from the battle as possible. On the seventh floor, on the opposite side of the castle from the entrance courtyard. But he knew what had him so afraid. She was on the seventh floor, just a hallway away from the room of requirement. The spot where…

"Someone's coming!" Hermione whispered, pulling her wand and pointing at the corner of the intervening wall. She caught the reflection in the window. "It's one of the Carrow's"

"Petrificus Totalis!" The Carrow sister fell flat on her back, causing a loud thud that made Ron laugh.

"Shut up Ron." George kicked him lightly "The last thing we need is you …"

The world exploded over their heads.

Ginny and Pansy looked at one another in horror. Just a corner away…and they had just been there seconds before!

"We have to run!" Ginny yelled, grabbing onto Pansy's arm and shuddering when she recognized the Room of Requirement as they ran past. The spot where Fred…

"Ginny!" Pansy screamed tugging on her arm.

Ginny felt herself tossed roughly to the ground before she sank into a world of blackness.

"Ginny!" Harry screamed as he ran up the stairs of the clock tower, Draco close on his heels calling Pansy's name. Around them, they could feel the castle shaking. They had walked straight into a trap, and it was his fault. Just like three years ago…it was his fault.

They reached the seventh floor, running madly and dashing around corners, climbing over debris and broken suits of armor. It felt like three years before, too much, too much like the night they watched friends die. Too much, too much, too much…

Draco wasn't sure why he had the ability to move. He was scared, more scared than he had even been in his life and a part of him wanted to run into a classroom and cower under a desk…like he had three years before. But he couldn't do that. Pansy was up here somewhere, with the smoke, with the fire and debris.

"Damn it!" Harry cussed, stopping so fast that Draco ran into his back. "It's blocked, it will take ages to move all this rock!"

Draco looked around wildly, trying to find a way straight through the huge pill of shattered rocks and mortar.

"The stairs…" Draco nodded "You take that one, I'll take this one, see if one of them brings us out on the other side."

Without a word, Harry nodded and ran off.

"Luna!"

His voice was raw from screaming. He had given up on yelling some time ago. She was here somewhere, hidden in the rubble, one of the others had seen her just seconds before the explosion. He continued down the hallway, up ahead there was a huge pile of rubble and he knew he would never get through it, he turned around and lit his wand, moving it side to side on the floor. Even with the added light, he nearly tripped over her foot where it stuck out from under a suit of armor.

"Luna!" George fell to his knees, shoving the heavy armor aside. "Luna…"

He turned her over gently, brushing her hair from her face. A line of blood had run from her mouth and down her neck and he wiped it away with his sleeve.

"Luna, Luna…"

He said her name over and over, waiting for a response that didn't come.

Draco wheeled around a corner, relieved to see that he was in an area he hadn't searched yet. It felt like he had been running in circles for hours upon hours. He had heard Harry nearby several times, calling out, alternating Ginny's name with Pansy and Luna. They had to be here, they had covered almost the entire seventh floor and because they had to go around several times, a fair chunk of the sixth as well.

"Pansy!" he called "Ginny!" Louder, and louder, the panic now firmly embedded into his voice.

"Pansy, please answer me…" He said lamely, turning again to canvas the other side. That's when he saw the small bit of black hair, just peeking out of a large pile of brick.

"Shit," He whispered, approaching the pile. He dug through it, more and more frantic with each piece of debris removed revealed another part of Pansy Parkinson. There was movement and he felt his heart surge, but it was short lived. There was another under the rubble, and he didn't have to see to know who it was.

"Ginny…" Brick and rock flew in every direction, he gave no consideration to where it might land, or on whom it might land, until he was able to reach in and pull them out of the pile. Ginny was out first and with shaking hands he felt for a pulse, a deep sigh of relief came when he felt it, strong and steady on her neck. He looked back towards Pansy, Ginny's removal having made clear why he couldn't pull them out before. Pansy had shoved Ginny to the floor and protected her with her own body.

He felt a flash of pride a moment before the ominous feeling came to him. His hand shook wildly while he reached for the pulse spot on her neck.

He felt nothing.

Obviously he was off, her position was awkward, difficult to reach. Once he got her all the way out of the rubble… He pulled desperately, like a man gone mad. Sweat broke out on his brow as he worked to free her from the pile. When she finally pulled free, he fell backwards on the floor, pulling her into his lap. Now, he would check again, and this time he would feel her heart beat, throbbing against his fingers.

But he didn't, he moved to try the point at her neck and his eyes were drawn to her face, to her eyes - wide open, frozen in a blank stare at the ceiling above.

"No…" He shook his head, refusing to believe…to even consider that she was… "No!"

He pulled her closer, then lay his head on her chest to listen…his ear found only silence.

"No…" He moaned, the sound like a wounded animal who had been left to die a long and painful death. "Oh God. Pansy…No…."

The sounds coming from him were feral, guttural. He was worse than a wounded animal - he was an animal that had been butchered while still alive. Awake and aware while his insides were torn from his body. Shattered, splintered, utterly destroyed. He had no life without Pansy Parkinson. They were going to be married around Christmas and she wanted children right away, lot's and lots of children, boys like him, girls like her. She couldn't be … no, she couldn't be…

He buried his face in her chest as the sobs began to rock his body, the shaking like an earthquake, a tsunami, a hurricane and a tornado…all at once.

"Pansy…Pansy please, don't …don't leave me. I need you! I need you so badly. I can't live with out you."

For a moment, before the door closed, he saw their children, running on the lush greens of Malfoy Manor, calling to them…

'Mummy…Daddy. Mummy…Daddy.'

The door slammed shut, and he realized, his dream was dead. Their dreams. As dead as the girl he held in his arms - the girl he had loved for so long. He opened his eyes, and in the corner of his glance, he saw Ginny Weasley, still and prone on the floor. She was alive, while Pansy…

"Draco…"

He looked up, expecting to see Harry, or one of the others. Yet he saw no one.

"How sad…how terribly sad. To lose the one you love, have loved, for so long. A senseless death, so much waste. Such horrifying waste…to give her life for a blood traitor of all things.'

Draco's heart squeezed tightly in his chest. Hadn't he said it enough times himself? Ginny was a Weasley, and the Weasley's were all blood traitors. But…Ginny was…

"Harry Potter's woman. Haven't you lost enough because of Harry Potter? Because of him your parents are dead, and now your beloved woman. Why shouldn't Harry Potter lose his woman too?"

Draco's throat clenched shut. It wasn't right, it wasn't fair. Why should Harry Potter get everything, when he had lost all he ever loved?

"Kill her Draco, kill her, no one even has to know, they'll think it was the explosion…"

"The explosion…" The explosion killed Pansy when she pushed Ginny Weasley to the ground and covered Ginny's body with her own.

"Kill her Draco! Kill her now! Before someone comes!"

"Kill her…?

"Kill the one responsible for Pansy Parkinsons death! Avenge her! Do it now!"

Draco lay Pansy gently on the floor, then rose to his feet and pulled his wand...then pointed it at Ginny Weasley.

0

0

Chapter 26 Preview

The climactic battle continues

Voldemort increases his efforts to get Draco to kill Ginny - the only way to break the blood bond.

And the Battle concludes! Who will win; only one things for sure, there will be no surrender.