The sun completed it's digestion of the skull that hovered in the clouds above, and any remnant of the dark lord vanished with it eternally.
In the newly liberated brightness of the afternoon, bodies could be seen strewn in varying levels of completeness across the Hogwarts courtyard and viaduct. Limbs and chunks of flesh scattered randomly around the gory setting along with unbelievable volumes of rubble and debris belonging once to the stunning castle.
Smoke continued to plume from untended to fires, blinding the survivors and forcing them to choke on the ashen element as they staggered around the disturbing setting in shock of what had just occurred. The shrill cries of several very wounded individuals echoed off of the hard surfaces sickeningly, prompting those more fortunate to run to their aid.
The young Veela witch had single-handedly obliterated the entire Death Eater army by transforming the courtyard into a fiery oven, charring and cooking alive only those she deemed necessary. Piles of ash lay in wake of what was once living creatures. The resistance and the French army had been subjected to a terrifying experience of being enveloped completely by black flames, luckily unharmed but left emotionally distraught. The battle had ended in a startling flash, and most were still dazed and tripping on objects.
Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy sat crying emphatically next to their son's body as the smoke curled away. Narcissa had his hand in hers, rocking back and forth and practically screaming an ear splitting, gruesome wail that could have passed for a hag trying to lure muggles into a dark forest.
Beside the handsome boy lay the Veela girl with rivers of white hair all around her from where she had collapsed mere feet away.
Minerva McGonagall shoved her way through the weeping Order members and French military that had clustered closely around the noisy display. With her wand outstretched she blithered harshly under her shaky breath at them to separate.
Harry stood beside Lucius twisting the elder wand in his fingers with a bloodied face. He could hardly see through his extraordinarily damaged spectacles, but he knew enough based on the colors of their hair and the agonized cries of Narcissa. "I'm sorry, that we couldn't save them," he offered the Malfoy's in a strangled voice. Ron shifted next to him with silent tears falling to the ground at the tragic scene.
When McGonagall reached the forefront of the gathering she paused in horror. Hermione had dropped beside Madeleine to inspect her state. "Come back to us Madeleine, don't let it win!" She shook the girl's shoulders desperately as her tears ran down her cheeks and dropped onto the comatose girl's charred dress.
McGonagall swiftly knelt beside Hermione and ran her hand over the girl's cheek, "This one - she's still alive. She's in some sort of trance. We need to get her to St. Mungo's immediately for evaluation."
The girl indeed was alive. In an uncanny and eerie display, she was laying on her back with wide, unblinking eyes, staring up at the blackened sky above as rain hit her in the face. Hermione peered closer at her eyes, which had gone so black one could not tell the difference between the pupil and the color surrounding it. She appeared seriously demonic as she lay there still as stone, taking in shallow breaths.
In her hand, her Chestnut wand was cracked entirely up the middle and her fingers were blackened by the destruction of the powerful item. "She's being consumed by the poisoned Veela magic. She warned us this might happen," Hermione explained through sympathetic sobs.
McGonagall ran her quivering fingers over the girl's body, "I'm afraid miss Granger may be correct. We will just have to see what the healers can do."
Narcissa stopped choking on tears and her hand shot out like lightning to grab Madeleine's arm possessively, "No! You cannot take her. She belongs with us. They cannot be separated." Both women exchanged stern glances, McGonagall darting her eyes back and forth between the two young bodies before her in obvious outrage.
She pointed at Draco with deep concern ebbing onto her face, "Is-is he alive?"
Narcissa didn't move her strict eyes from the professor nor remove her grasp on the girl. She spoke through barred teeth, "Yes, only barely."
"Impossible!" Ron blurted, stepping forward in disbelief, "He was hit by the killing curse. We all saw it." He pointed his finger down at Draco who was pulled up into Narcissa's lap with his eyes shut. Several people leaned around to peer closer at the situation in equal confusion.
"They cannot be separated," Narcissa repeated darkly, "We will deal personally with their care." Lucius was knelt next to her, his pallid face contorting in horror at the state of his son's wellness.
A large blast could be seen in the fabric of his shirt where the curse had hit his clothing in the center of his chest. It radiated outwards from the point of impact, and fragments of dark green, glowing rock could be seen on his clothing through the charred openings. Just faintly, he was indeed breathing in his mother's arms. She plucked at the curious rocks and put them away in her pocket.
McGonagall suddenly sharpened her gaze threateningly, "These two are war hero's. Their sacrifices were penultimate - they deserve proper and attentive care, in an actual medical wing." Her eyes dropped to the two with sadness and respect. She gestured to Madeleine, "And this one... well I would be hard pressed not to keep her under serious surveillance. She may come back as a force of evil."
Narcissa didn't budge on her stance, "We have retained Albert Hallewell. They will receive the best care affordable. We are willing to take our risks with Madeleine in our home."
McGonagall was clearly flustered as she considered her inevitable defeat on the topic. Hermione however, was not so easy to dismiss, "You can't! Madeleine needs to be monitored. She could be dangerous!"
Narcissa leaned forward with a lethal and piercing gaze at the young witch, "Enough! We are leaving and we are taking our family members. Both of them." Lucius had slowly removed his wand from his robes and was holding it at half mast, threatening to point it at the two females clinging to their daughter in-law.
Reluctantly, Hermione and McGonagall removed their holds, and in a flash the Malfoy's had brazenly disapparated to their iconic Manor.
They moved both Madeleine and Draco to their own bedrooms on the fourth and fifth floors, and called for help immediately. Dr. Hallewell, a professional of the highest standards, arrived without hesitation and started with Draco.
He cast diagnostics in a frenzy, reading through the information provided in the air before him as Narcissa pet her son's matted, long icy hair. His breathing was slight and rattling, and the wheezing noise made everyone in the room sick. The expression on his pretty face was deeply twisted in whatever tormented dream he lay trapped inside.
Hallewell sighed heavily, rubbing at his eye, "He is on the brink of death, most of his organs are attempting to shut down as we speak." He paused to withdraw his wand from his briefcase and cast more healing spells.
The doctor continued in detail, "He is now the second survivor of such a curse in the entire wizarding history, so I don't have any precedent to go off of for his care. He may be paralyzed when he wakes, and the pain will be indescribable, but I believe we can bring him back up to a full recovery. It will of course, take months. And the scar on his chest - there is nothing that we can do about that. For now, he is stabilized." He let the prognosis sink in, flicking his eyes between the two Malfoy's as they processed.
Narcissa's shoulders finally released their tension, "And the girl. You must evaluate her now." With uncertainty and weariness they left Draco's room and shut the door quietly. They walked up the stairs to Madeleine's bedroom, and Narcissa stopped to unlock the door with an oversized skeleton key.
As soon as the door swung open, an electric, hair raising fear slammed all three. Deep dread flooded everyone in the hallway, and Narcissa halted, frozen on the spot in the door frame.
"Narcissa, to what do we owe this retched-" Lucius had been drawling from behind the doctor when Narcissa hushed him under her breath.
She lit her wand in the darkness of the room and pointed it with a violently shaking hand towards the wall of windows at the far side. She swung it to the left and hovered it on the bed.
They had only just left her there, with candles lit and a fire blazing. Now the room was pitch black and freezing cold. In her bed the girl had not moved an inch.
They moved cautiously into the room and relit a few of the candles. Narcissa had her hand over her mouth in the now dim lighting as she circled the post of the bed and peered down at the petite French girl in her white, plush comforter. She looked like a tiny angel - finally her eyes had closed and she'd gone off into a deep slumber. Although on the outside she was adorable, the energy seeping from her, however, told of an entirely different character within.
The doctor albeit similarly terrified by the vortex of wicked magic hanging in the air like radio static, adjusted his eye glasses with a wobbly hand as yet another candle blew out of it's own accord, "She is in an unknown stage of her Veela chrysalis. It has not been witnessed for hundreds of years. I wouldn't dare interrupt her now, but not to worry, it is not typically physically altering. She will inevitably sleep for a long time, and this is not to say she won't wake up generally the same girl. Generally - I speak that with caution, naturally. There will be changes to her emotional personality, but we cannot predict these."
When they were back in the hall Narcissa locked the door again and shoved the key into her pocket. Whatever the personality changes were, she was willing to risk it for the sake of her son. She had seen the way his heart had desired only one girl in the entire world, and she would provide them with the opportunity to reconnect in the aftermath of the war, even if it meant keeping a poisoned Veela locked up in the house during her demonic transformation.
Additionally, the girl had saved their lives, and a debt was owed. Perhaps there would be a means to repair the damage to her soul when she did wake.
"She stays," Narcissa glared at Lucius who slowly lowered his piercing blue eyes to the carpet.
"Very well," he said quietly, "Let us hope for your own well-being that she does not turn out to be some form of monster when she wakes. I have only ever wanted what was best for my son. If it is the girl, then so be it. But mark my words - this is your little project, and I will not clean up this mess if it becomes one." He swiftly made his way down the hallway in an arrogant and frustrated stride.
When the doctor had also left Narcissa reached into her pocket to retrieve the curious pieces of glowing green stone that had been found within her son's clothing. She turned the fragments over in her manicured fingers, finally realizing how he had survived the killing curse.
The rock, was a moonstone.
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Author's Note: If you have made it this far, then you have deeply honored me. Thank you for reading both novels right until the end! Please feel free to leave a review so I know what you liked and what you didn't like.