DRACO POV

Part of me wanted to go back into that classroom to make sure that Liana was staying put. But there was nowhere for her to go. She was without a wand and there were no windows for her to try to crawl out of. I felt much better knowing that but Liana was . . . well, Liana. And she was just as stubborn as I was. If she had locked me in a room, wandless and helpless, I'd probably be doing my best to find a way out. But I couldn't worry about it now. There was nowhere for her to go. She was safe, thanks to Seamus and I.

Seamus wasn't half bad. Even though I didn't really like the fact that he was still very much in love with Liana, I didn't think that he was a bad person. As we walked through the castle to defend Hogwarts, Seamus stopped walking.

"I'm sorry," he said.

I furrowed my brow, puzzled. "What for?"

"For loving her," he said.

I sighed. "You can't help who you love," I said quietly.

Seamus shrugged his shoulders. "I know. It's just . . . hard for me. She was my first love . . . and I ruined everything with one mistake," he explained. "Just do me a favor."

I raised my eyebrows. "What's that?"

"Take care of her," he said, smiling a sad sort of smile. "I can tell that you make her happy. Just don't make the same mistake that I did. She's been hurt enough already . . . by me."

"I will," I answered.

"When this is all over, I want to make things right with her. I need . . . closure. I just want to be her friend, at least."

I nodded, returning his smile. "I think that it will be good . . . for both of you."

He pat me on the shoulder. "Ya know . . . you're not half bad, Malfoy."

I smiled to myself, glad that I had been accepted despite all of the terrible things I'd done. I'd been mean before—evil, even. No, I thought. Not evil. Voldemort is evil. But I'd been forgiven. And for that I was proud of myself and how far I'd come.

Seamus and I continued onward, toward the battle that raged ahead.

LIANA POV

I climbed and I climbed. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I was able to see better. The climb was far. It seemed like I'd been climbing for an eternity. After a while, I started to see some light.

I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled myself up. Now, I was in a hallway. But nothing looked very familiar as I walked down the narrow passage. Booming sounds echoed through the corridor, probably coming from outside or from within the castle itself. The walls were not very thick, I guessed, as I began to hear slightly muffled voices.

"You can't go!"

"I have to. It's the only way."

"You don't have to do this, mate."

"I do. Don't try to stop me. Please."

Then it was silent.

I knew those voices anywhere. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were near, but I didn't know where. I had no idea where I was in the castle. I wasn't even sure how to get out—if there was a way out.

I kept going; there was only one way to go. After walking a little further, I came to a tiny door. I pushed it open and crawled through the opening.

I knew where I was after looking around. The Room of Requirement was right around the corner. After hearing footsteps, I decided to follow the echo. I hurried down the hall and ran toward Ron and Hermione.

"Where have you been?" asked Hermione.

"Where's Harry?" I asked, ignoring the question.

Hermione and Ron both exchanged solemn glances before telling me that Harry had gone off to give himself up to Voldemort. Before I had a chance to protest, Hermione told me that Harry had already made up his mind and that he was doing it for them, for all of them.

"So that's it, then?" I asked. "He's just going to give up? He's going to let himself be murdered? Voldemort will still be walking around free to do as he pleases. He'll kill and kill until there's no one left. Then we'll all have fought in this war for nothing. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to sit around and wait for that to happen!"

Then I took off and ran, with Hermione and Ron calling out for me.

DRACO POV

Seamus and I were trying to save as many lives as we could. People were being killed, left and right. Many Death Eaters had been killed already, but there were plenty that had more experience than we did. And they didn't care that they were killing. That was probably our main weakness: hesitation to kill. I'd gotten over that, but Seamus hadn't. I'd saved his ass quite a few times since we walked into battle.

"Pull yourself together!" I shouted, after we'd ducked behind a chunk of debris that had come crashing down. "You're going to need to hurt, maybe even kill people. If you want to stay alive, you're going to have to do it without having to think twice about it!"

As I yelled at him, I saw a flash of green light headed our way. But it was too late. It hit Seamus right in the back and his eyes dulled right before me. His lifeless body collapsed, in a similar way that Jennifer's had, onto the cold, hard ground. My eyes widened and I looked up to find Pansy, with a huge grin on her face.

My blood boiled and my wand was pointed at her in less than a second. She laughed. "What are you going to do with that, Draco? Kill me? You don't have the heart to do it. Look at you," she taunted. "Pathetic. When will you learn?"

"You've pissed me off for the last time," I said angrily. I acted quickly, before she could open her mouth with a smart-ass remark. "Petrificus Totalus!" Her body binded together, leaving her helpless and unable to move or do much of anything. I was done with her. I'd been done for a long time.

I looked down at Seamus' body a few feet away. Why him and not me? Didn't Pansy want me dead? The last few things I'd said to him was an angry lecture. I felt terrible. He didn't deserve to die. Despite our rough patch, Seamus was a good person.

All of the people out there dying in the war were good people. The Weasleys, Luna Lovegood . . . It made me sad and angry to realize that. After it was all over—if we ended it—we would have to bury all of these people. I didn't want to have to do that.

I grabbed Pansy's legs and dragged her into the castle after I took her wand and put it in my pocket. The spell would wear off soon, but I was going to lock her up somewhere.

"Draco!"

I looked up to find Liana running toward me. My lips parted in shock and in horror, too. "What the hell are you doing? How did you get out?" I demanded. "I thought I told you to stay there. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just . . . I couldn't stay there and not know what was happening out here. Fred's just been killed. Remus and Tonks too. And Harry's gone off to give himself up to Voldemort."

"What?" I exclaimed. She nodded. It was true.

"No," I said. "He can't do that. Someone has to stop him."

"Where's Seamus?" she asked. "Is he all right?"

I didn't say anything. I had no idea where to begin. Looking into her eyes, I told her what she needed to know. Liana bit her lip, trying to hold back tears. "I'm so sorry," I said. "Pansy snuck up on us. There was nothing I could do."

She sniffed. "Are you going to kill her?"

"For now, I'm going to lock her up. I'll figure out what to do with her later," I said. I took Pansy's wand out of my pocket and handed it to her. "Take it. I don't need you walking around without a weapon."

Liana took the wand from me and held it. "What now?"

"First, let's lock her in a closet or something," I said.

"I'm going to go outside," she said. "I'll catch up."

Her mind was made up before I could say that I didn't want her out there. Before my lips parted to speak, she had already disappeared around the corner.

LIANA POV

"No," I whispered. "No."

I found Seamus' body behind some debris. His eyes were closed and when I touched his hand, it still felt warm. His body would be cold soon and I didn't want to be there when it happened.

I began to cry, tear streaming down my face. I didn't care about the battle going on around me. All I cared about was Seamus. I never wanted him to die. I'd been so cruel to him, broken his heart several times. But none of it mattered now. He was gone forever. Just like Fred. Just like Remus, Just like Tonks. Just like everyone else whose lifeless bodies littered the courtyard . . .

I sobbed and sobbed next to my former boyfriend. Memories of him began flooding my mind as tears blurred my vision. I began to cry out, not caring who heard, not caring if someone found and killed me. Draco would be heartbroken, but at least it would hurt less than this. It would be quick, painless. I wondered if Seamus saw it coming, his death. Did his life flash before his eyes? What was his final thought? No. It hurt too much to think about.

My heart throbbed. The pain was unbearable. I'd lost so many people. Both my parents, some friends . . . Soon, there wouldn't be anyone left. Soon, there would be nothing left.

It was over. We were losing. Hope was futile. So many lives lost. My tears would never stop falling. Soon, Harry's life would be among those lost. It had to stop. I no longer had the will to fight. I was weak, in pain. I just wanted it all to be over, whether we won or we lost. I didn't care anymore.