Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 37: The Final Battle

"Evacuation will begin immediately..."

"Now? We have to leave now? But my stuff..."

"Come on, this way!"

The shuffling of hundreds of feet filled the Great Hall and bounced off the walls. Students shrieked, cried, yelled, and shoved their way out of the hall. The Slytherins were being filed out of the Hall, lead by Professor Slughorn. Draco followed the crowd until they reached the Entrance Hall, at which point he snuck off to the seventh floor. He paced and paced in front of the room, but nothing happened. Finally, he headed down to the kitchens, where he found Crabbe and Goyle stuffing their robes with sweets. He grabbed them both by their collars and dragged them up to the tapestry.

"Disillusion yourselves," Draco commanded in a low voice. Glaring darkly at him, Crabbe and Goyle obeyed. Draco did the same, tapping his forehead with his wand. "Wait for my signal."

They waited there for a good part of an hour, when finally a crowd came rushing out of the room. Draco cleared his throat to alert Crabbe and Goyle. They waited until the coast was clear and then stood in front of the wall. Nothing.

"We'll have to wait a bit longer," Draco murmured.

"Malfoy, what are we doing?" Goyle whispered back.

"Waiting for Potter."

Sure enough, within twenty minutes, Potter, Weasley, and Granger showed up. Draco almost passed out at the sight of her. The three of them ran into the room, then ran out again with the Weasley girl. Draco's eyes narrowed when he saw the way Ron looked at Hermione. He hadn't waited so long for this.

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle waited until Harry had conjured the door, and then dove into the room after the trio. Draco formulated his plan as he heard Harry's screams about a diadem. He took the charm off of himself and turned to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Find that diadem."

They separated. Draco raced around the corner and down, down, down the aisles and aisles of shelves. He scanned the every shelf, searching for the diadem. He had to get it before Potter did. He knew what it was now. He knew what Hermione had been off doing. He knew about the Horcruxes. It had only take him a moment to realize it when he saw the basilisk fangs in Hermione's arms. HE wanted to take Voldemort down too. And Hermione should have known that as well as anyone. It wasn't as though he had been at Hogwarts the whole time, in this very room. He could have found it. Anger bubbled up in his chest. He was done pining after Hermione. Nothing he had done meant anything to her. None of it. And now she was with Weasley anyway. Draco threw things off the shelves and ran straight into Hermione.

"Draco..." She breathed. "I..."

Draco spat on the ground, the taste of bile rising up again in his throat. "Leave me the hell alone," he muttered. He continued running down the aisle, not looking back. Soon he found himself in front of Potter. His anger rose to his ears.

"That's my wand."

"Finders keepers."

Draco was about to lunge for Potter when Crabbe showed up next to him. "Gonna kill him Malfoy? Or are you too scared?" Crabbe cackled, his eyes flashing.

"Don't kill him! We're not supposed to!" Draco didn't care if he died tonight, but if Potter did...Draco had heard the prophecy. The Dark Lord would never be finished.

Crabbe continued laughing as Goyle, Weasley, and Hermione joined them. Crabbe was ready to kill. Spell after spell streamed out of his wand as the rest of them dove for safety. Draco kept screaming for Crabbe to stop, but he wouldn't listen. Soon the room was full of fire. Draco could hear Hermione screaming. Draco didn't move. He lay there in a pile of rubbish, feeling the heat wash over him. He just felt like giving up. He'd had a lovely time. Had a childhood. A father and a mother.

A mother.

Draco stood up and screamed for help. He needed to get out. He grabbed onto Potter's broomstick and soared out of the room. Tears streamed down his face as he saw Crabbe's body lying in a pile of ashes. He screamed. He felt himself fall off of the broom in the corridor. He rolled into the wall. He couldn't go on. But he had to. He rushed down the corridor, trying to get the Death Eaters to let him through. His mind still whirring, he got to the fourth floor when he was punched in the nose. Potter, no guess. Everything was a mess in his head. He felt as though he were underwater. He just needed to get to Hogsmeade...

Draco woke up with a bruise on his forehead and a sore arm. He was sprawled out on the floor of the Charms room. His wand was gone. He rose slowly and staggered out of the room. His head nearly split open at the noise. He continued down to the Entrance Hall, then remembered something else. He raced back up the seventh floor and tried to get the room to open. It wouldn't. in fact the wall had been blasted open. But Draco could barely comprehend what was happening. He ran to the Owlery to send a message to his parents, but all the owls were gone. Draco slumped to the floor. He felt blood trickle down his neck. This was it. He blacked out.

"Get up!" It was a Death Eater. "Get up, Malfoy!" Draco stared up at the man, a dead look in his eyes. "Get up!" He pulled Draco up and shoved a wand in his hand. They went to the Great Hall.

"It's over," the Death Eater declared. Draco saw his parents sitting at a corner of the Slytherin table. He raced over to his mother and threw his arms around her. He felt her tears soaking his shoulder. Lucius sat stiffly beside Narcissa. He nodded at Draco. They sat there for a while, happily reunited. Then a thought occurred to Draco. He turned to his mother.

"So...are you staying?" He asked her pointedly.

"What do you mean?" Narcissa responded, bewildered.

"Are you staying in Britain?"

Narcissa frowned. "Of course...aren't you?"

"No."

"But Draco..."

"I'm getting the hell out of here. I don't need to go to Azkaban for something that wasn't my fault. I'm leaving."

"Draco..."

"And unless you come with me, you won't know where I am. I'm going into hiding."

"Draco!" Lucius slapped Draco across the face. Draco got up.

"You can stay with him, or you can leave this all behind, Mother."

Narcissa looked between the two Malfoys.

"I can't..."

Draco let out a deep breath. "Goodbye, Mother," he said sadly. He gave her a hug. He knew it was abrupt, but he couldn't stay any longer. He merely glanced at his father and then slowly walked out of the Great Hall. He walked out onto the bridge, where he saw Hermione gazing out on the ravine. One final idea came to him.

Draco pulled the notebook out of his pocket. He walked right up next to Hermione, and when she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, he dropped the notebook into the ravine. He didn't look at her when she cried out, and instead turned away from her and continued down the bridge. He didn't look back.

He was never coming back.

A/N: Please leave a review! I promise this isn't the end! There is more to come!