A/N It'sssssssss back! Wow guys I'm so sorry about the mega wait. I've had mock exams (yes I'm that old) and it's been very hectic recently. So, sorry about the incredibly long wait. Shout out to Raven That Flies At Night and IHP for reviewing. A warm welcome to IHP who's just joined the story, hope you've enjoyed it so far, and I enjoyed hearing your thoughts - just hope you don't hate me too much for writing this chapter. So we have only a few chapters left now, I estimate 3? I'll try to get them written as soon as possible but as I say I am quite busy at the moment. Hope you enjoy! (Apologies in advance!)
Chapter 42 - Neville
Draco looked around numbly, having ascended onto the courtyard, staring around for something... or maybe someone. Quite what it was he couldn't remember. "He'll be near the Dark Lord," Pansy shouted above the screams. Who will be? He tried to think hard. "Just get the tears to Potter. That's what he said. Come on! You're slower than a flobberworm!" Pansy yelled, grabbing Draco by the wrist and hurling him through the spell lit darkness. Potter. Harry Potter. Tears. Him. Snape. He racked his brain trying to uncover his memories, but it was all a foggy blur. Snape... dead. Of course, the tears. Get them to Potter, that's what Snape had wanted. Potter was to take the tears to the pensive and Draco... Draco was to help Potter win. The war.
Instantaneously, Draco found his brain had clicked into action and he looked feverishly around for Potter. He was faced with a sea of bodies, some faces masked with metal and some faces masked with terror. Identities hidden. And no Potter. "There!" Pansy said loud enough for Draco to hear and she pulled him through a horde of people. He stared around in panic, eyes lost and confused.
"Pansy DUCK!" Draco yelled suddenly as an acromantula the size of a bull came scuttling over towards them. He dragged her to the left and shot the first spell he could think of at the spider, which instantly stopped dead and fell into a heap on the rubble. Pansy nodded in gratitude and continued to weave through the many cloaked figures blocking their path.
And then there were two people between them and Harry, and Draco could see the sheer aggression on Harry's face as he stunned one of the people Draco himself had dined with, and it scared him ever so slightly. "Potter!" Draco yelled through a parched voice. Harry turned and the blond boy saw Hermione and the weasel behind him.
"Malfoy what -?" Harry began but Draco had staggered to a halt in front of them, doing his best to look cool and... and then he dropped the facade.
"Snape's dead," he said out loud to the silence. Of course, it wasn't silent at all. There was a war raging all around them but in their little bubble they seemed to have created a void of nothingness. Complete silence. Harry sighed a long, low whistle. Hermione bit her lip. No one really knew what to say. This wasn't the time for acknowledging the dead. Ron suddenly said so, making it clear that they were in the middle of a war. "He gave me this," Draco interrupted, speaking solely to Harry. "He gave me this and told me to take it to you and that you needed to bring it to the pensive," Draco said steadily, grief nestled in the pit of his stomach.
"What. Now?" Harry asked, confusion reflected in his glasses along with the flames beyond them.
"Yes, now. He said it was important. Here," and he took the vial out of his robe pocket and handed it to Harry.
"It was his dying wish," Pansy added quietly, making eye contact with Harry, who sighed and pocketed the vial.
Harry took a deep breath and then looked around and began in a firm voice, "Okay, I'm going to go up to McGonagall's office. Whilst I'm up there, I want you to kill the -"
"Oh come off it Harry, we're not letting you go up there alone! It's bedlam in there!" Hermione exclaimed angrily.
"She's right," Ginny said, whom Draco hadn't noticed until now. "You three go and we'll find the snake."
"But it's too danger- "
"Oh shut up," Ron moaned, grabbing Harry's upper arm and dragging him out of the bubble. Hermione quickly locked her apologetic eyes with Draco's before running after them. Draco opened his mouth to object - but they were already gone. "She'll be back you know," Pansy murmured to Draco's pale, unlistening face. And then the noise returned to full level and Draco had to strain his ears to hear Ginny yelling fiercely, "Come on! We've got to kill the snake!"
They began to run towards the school through the crowd of people and over the piles of ash and rubble, eyes on Voldemort who was blocking the entrance. Draco saw the Gryffindor trio ahead of them and then, to his amusement, Fluffy had bounded out of nowhere and had began trying to viciously attack Voldemort. The crowd parted in a terrified scramble. Then Draco's new found amusement turned slowly into cold horror. The trio, Draco observed, had split. Harry was running towards a sizeable hole in the crumbling castle wall, the weasel was nowhere to be seen and Hermione... where was Hermione? "Fucking hell," Draco muttered before detaching himself from Ginny and Pansy and hurling himself into the mob of people. "You had one job Potter!" He yelled in fury.
"Draco STOP!" He heard Pansy shout from behind him but he didn't stop. He ran on and on, searching for the mane of curls he knew so well. He heard a loud bark and a yowl and had to duck as the huge form of the three headed dog was blasted over his head. From behind him he heard screams and a dog groan, but he didn't turn around. He passed people he knew on both sides but didn't intervene with anything. He needed to find Hermione. He knew it was a terrible idea to let them - and then he saw her. And... "Get your filthy claws off of her!" Draco roared, thrusting his wand out in front of him and aiming it at the man who'd regressed into something more animalistic and menacing than a wolf. "Crucio!" Draco roared lividly, shooting a jet of light from the end of his wand at Fenrir, who let go of Hermione and fell back on all fours, dodging the vicious sparks. He growled loudly as Hermione staggered backwards and raised her wand furiously. "Patrificus Totalus!" She tried to yell but the werewolf had flung himself at Draco, fangs bared, lunging at his neck. "DRACO!" Hermione screamed a blood curdling scream and threw herself at the wolflike creature, trying to rip him off the vulnerable child. Draco cried out in pain, a shriek of terror and agony. His mouth opened wide, his eyes widening to the size of tennis balls as he tried to shove the beast off. "Get off him you monster!" Hermione screamed, digging her fingers into his robes and wrenching him back with all her might - but it wasn't enough. "Draco! Oh heavens DRACO!" A woman screamed but the noise hadn't escaped Hermione's mouth. "Narcissa NO!" A further voice shouted. Hermione looked around briefly and saw a tall blonde woman with streaks of blood staining her robes and matted into her hair running towards them, cloak billowing behind her, wand drawn. Her eyes looked full of fear and fury and she lunged over a fallen corpse towards the two children and the beast of a man. "STUPIFEY!" The older woman screamed, shooting a jet of red light towards the werewolf who whipped around and sprang across the rubble causing the spell to crash into the castle wall with such force that it left the wall smoking slightly. Fenrir skidded on the uneven ground, digging his claws into the stone, panting.
"Mother?" Draco croaked from the floor, looking up wearily to see his mother, whose face was full of aggression and hate.
"Stay away from my family," Narcissa growled at Fenrir, who snarled back. Draco smiled deliriously, realising that his mother actually gave half a shit about him. His eyes traveled over to Hermione who was unharmed and he grinned wearily before his head fell back against the rubble with a sickening smack, blood pooling around his head, slowly staining his platinum hair a deep crimson. Hermione turned and dashed over to him, muttering, "No, no Draco stay with me," as she collapsed by his side.
"Draco," Narcissa breathed, dropping down onto her knees and turning her son over to see his face. Forty two, tiny little teeth marks had punctured Draco's perfectly pale skin on his neck and a thick mass of blood was oozing out of each one. "Shh, it's going to be alright, just hold on," Narcissa whispered as a thin beam of light escaped her wand and encased Draco's neck, pulling the blood back into the wounds and slowly healing them up. That didn't heal the sickening dread settling in the pit of the females' stomachs though. Draco's eyes flickered open weakly and he locked eye contact with his mother.
Then, all of a sudden Fenrir lunged himself at Narcissa and Hermione screamed, pulling Draco lamely out of the way as the werewolf began trying to snap and bite at the older woman. The healing process stopped, the blood began oozing out again and Narcissa had to hold back the beast with all her energy, blood staining her fingers and wrists a sickly red. "Narcissa!" Barked a loud, frightened male voice from their right. Fenrir looked up, startled and annoyed, staring at the tall blond figure before him. "Never took you for a traitor Lucius," growled the beast for the first time.
"Get away from my wife," spat Lucius, platinum locks tangled and knotted, sweat drenching his face and a cold look about him.
"Lucius, what do you think you are doing?" A voice hissed from behind him. Lucius froze, unable to turn around. Fenrir' lip curled slightly at the edges giving him a wolffish grin. "I said, Lucius, what do you think you are doing?" The cold voice hissed with a definite edge to his speech. Lucius turned and stood, face to face with Voldemort. "My Lord," Lucius tried timidly, but then faltered. Narcissa took a deep intake of breath, Hermione cowered slightly, Draco eyed his father murderously. The snake hissed lightly from the creature's side. "Well?" Asked Voldemort. No one moved, not even Fenrir, who was now eyeing Narcissa greedily. "Well?!" Voldemort said impatiently, baring his teeth at Lucius.
"I -" Lucius began but a figure had suddenly darted behind them. Neville, sorting hat in one hand, something glinting in the other, had just leapt into view. "Neville do it!" Called Ginny's voice from somewhere beyond Neville, "Do it now!" Hermione suddenly recognised the other thing Neville was clutching to be the sword of Gryffindor. The sword... her eyes suddenly widened and she braced herself as Neville lunged for the snake, sword raised. Draco looked at the scene in front of him, grinning slightly. Voldemort turned suddenly, eyes widening in horror as Neville brought the sword down onto the snake, slicing off its head with a brief, sweeping movement.
A terrible screaming noise filled the air. Fenrir lunged at Narcissa, Lucius turned and fired a jet of green light at the werewolf and Voldemort staggered backwards, screaming, watching his snake disintegrate into an inky black mist, a look of torture, fury and despair plastered over his face. Fenrir was blasted back against the castle wall, green light engulfing him, unmistakably dead. Without thinking, Hermione heaved Draco up under the arms and scooped him into her arms, staggering under his weight and running as fast as she could away from Voldemort. Neville and Ginny followed, leaving Narcissa and Lucius to scarper off into the sea of bodies and bright light.
"Hermione, Hermione you need to stop," Neville panted, "Hermione!" Hermione staggered to a halt and looked around fleetingly before registering that her surroundings were clear of violence. She gently placed Draco on the ground and held her wand to his neck, repeating the steps Narcissa had performed. Neville watched as Ginny skidded into sight, panting. "Geez you -" and then she fell silent, registering the bite mark on Draco's neck. "Hermione he's been bit," Ginny whispered in horror. No one responded, Hermione fighting back the tears which were now free to fall in the aftermath. "Hermione -"
"I know!" Hermione shouted in retort, sniffing frustratedly.
"But he could turn -"
"Ginny shut up!" Hermione choked, fully aware that Draco was regaining strength and was now looking up at her with a disorientated, disappointed expression. Disappointed? Why the hell was he disappointed? A silence engulfed them as thick as the smoke billowing around the castle.
No one knew what to say. Finally, Draco broke the deadly silence. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. Hermione nearly laughed, a morbid deranged laugh that unsettled her company.
"Why the hell are you sorry?"
"Because I - you shouldn't have to deal with me if I'm... Hermione if I turn... I'll turn into a monster."
"You won't turn!"
"Hermione listen -"
"NO!" Hermione screamed and stood up furiously.
"Hermione calm down -" Neville tried but Hermione was beyond calming down. She whirled around on the spot, livid with Fenrir for biting Draco, livid that her boyfriend could turn into a werewolf. A hand gripped her shoulder and she tried to shake it off but it stayed, gripping her slightly. She turned and saw Draco, standing by her side, an apologetic look in his eye. "I understand... if you don't want to... you know, be with me if I do turn -" Draco trailed off, pain seeping through his voice. Hermione stared at him, her anger melting away and forming pity. "Of course I'll still be with you you idiot, we'll get through this together," Hermione reassured him. It was still too much to take in. He'd nearly died, Lucius had gone against Voldemort, his mother was a traitor, the snake was dead. The snake was dead. "Neville you killed the snake!" Hermione gasped and before Neville could react she'd flung her arms around him ecstatically. Ginny grinned broadly at Neville, feeling elated for the first time during the war. "You were amazing," the red headed girl told Neville once Hermione had let go.
"Truly," Draco nodded from behind Hermione, making Neville's heart swell with pride.
"I can't believe it," murmured Hermione. Then it hit her. "They're all destroyed! That's it! We can kill him!"
"You sure?" Neville asked with baited breath.
"Almost positive," Hermione nodded, then added, "I need to tell Harry!"
"Oh no you don't," Draco interrupted, holding her back, "I've lost you enough times today, I don't need -"
"Mate let her go, she can do this," Neville said and Draco looked at him surprised. Even Neville's ears had gone a little pink. Since when had they been mates?
"Mates?" said Draco, questioning the word aloud.
"Mates," Neville said firmly. Ginny and Hermione smirked. Draco nodded at Neville and then turned to Hermione.
"Don't get yourself killed or I swear I'll kill Potter," Draco said steadily, straightening his collar to cover up his bite marks.
"What's Harry got to do with it?" Hermione laughed.
"He's the reason you're running off! Now go, before some sense gets knocked into me," Draco told her firmly and Hermione nodded before setting off at a light jog towards the front doors.
.
Hermione reached the third with no interceptions. She'd taken the secret passage through the tapestry to avoid the grand staircase which she knew would be bedlam. Surprisingly, the corridor was empty. Broken stone pillars were shattered across the floor, portraits smoking and splintered with their inhabitants missing. Hermione assumed that they'd all met up in a larger portrait somewhere and were trying to stay up to date on the events.
She passed the portrait of the waterfall and faltered. Spero. Hope in Latin. She bit her lip. That's all they could afford in a war like this. Hope and god damn luck. Then she heard voices. Thinking fast, she threw herself behind a tapestry that lead to the second floor corridor and waited with baited breath. Who could possibly just be walking around during a war? Trying very hard not to move the tapestry, she peered through a hole between the threads and she saw the backs of two hooded figures, wands raised and turned to each other in deep conversation. "I'm telling you the kid went this way!" She heard one of them hiss. Augustus Rookwood - she was sure of it. Once they were out of sight, she set off again, hoping she was far enough from those death eaters.
At last, she reached the stone gargoyle guarding the head mistress's office and uttered, "Ubi concordia, ibi victoria." And the gargoyle sprang to the side, allowing her passage to the spiral staircase. Where there is unity, there is victory. Never had the password made more sense than now.
Clambering over the last step, she pushed the door open and tumbled through the doorway to run headlong into Harry. "Hermione what -?" Harry began as he stepped back. Hermione looked around, lost and trying to remember what was going on. The portrait of Dumbledore, she noticed, was missing. Her eyes settled on the empty square of space on the wall and Harry turned to see what she was looking at. "Yeah, he's been moved. No idea where though," Harry admitted. Ron stepped out into view and saw Hermione.
"Hermione! What you doing up here?" He asked, concerned yet looking awfully lost. Hermione turned her attention back to the boys.
"Snake. Neville. Neville destroyed the snake," she breathed.
It seemed to take Harry and Ron an age to get the absurd reality into their heads. This somewhat irritated Hermione and she pulled the pair of them by the scruffs of their collars down the stone steps. Eventually, Ron managed, "Neville killed the snake? How?"
"Well," Hermione began as they descended down the corridor, "V-Voldemort was standing nearby and Neville just came charging into view with the sword of Gry -"
"Hold up," Ron interrupted, "We gave that to Griphook to get into Bellatrix's vault! How -?"
"I don't know okay, but he... he was also holding the sorting hat... Harry didn't you pull the sword out of the hat?"
"Yeah," Harry replied distantly, "Yeah in second year."
"So he chopped the snake's head off to keep it simple," Hermione smiled. Neither Harry nor Ron returned the gesture. Hermione chewed the inside of her cheek impatiently. "What's with it with you two, you look like someone's just died - which I mean... ugh that's besides the point. What I mean is..." Hermione tried to say, feebly digging herself out of a hole.
"Weird news first or bad news?" Harry asked grimly, interrupting Hermione's feeble queries.
"Um..." Hermione stuttered to a halt, "weird?"
"Snape was in love with my mum," Harry said bluntly. Hermione stopped in her tracks and tried dearly to hold back a wave of laughter. This was obviously somehow a serious topic. Harry shook his head and continued to walk causing Hermione to jog to catch up.
"And bad?" Hermione chuckled, but stopped at the look on their faces.
"I... we were wrong," Harry said quietly as they turned the corner. The colour drained from Hermione's countenance.
"Wrong, what do you mean wrong? Are there more horcruxes are there no horcurxes was Snape on their side was -"
"I have to die, Hermione," Harry said quietly from behind her. Hermione spun around. Harry had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at a point past what the eye could see. Hermione desperately searched for a hint of comedy in her goofy friends' faces but found none. "What do you mean... die?" She chuckled nervously.
"Only one can live -"
"Whilst the other survives I know but why do you have to die?! The idea was to kill Voldemort you idiot!" Hermione shouted, her voice cracking slightly as confused tears welled in her old eyes.
"There was one more horcrux. The night my parents died. Voldemort transferred a part of him into me. That's why I can talk parseltongue. Thats why I can hear him and see and feel his thoughts. That's why... I'm a horcrux," Harry's words cut through the air like the sword of Gryffindor itself - yet this time it was covered in a dark, black secretion. Death.
"I tried to tell him..." Ron said in a barely audible tone, "Tried to tell him he can't just turn himself in."
"Harry no there must be another way!" Hermione cried. The three of them stood there, trying to ignore the inevitable.
"There is none. I... I'm going to him now. The snake's dead. All you need to do is kill him when I'm... when the horcrux is... you know... come on, let's do it," Harry ended in a final, defeated tone, marching off into the danse macabre.
Before he got there however, they all paused for a further time. Voices. No. Screams! They ran to the end of the corridor as one and turned the corner so sharply they almost collided with the three redheads on the other side. "YOU BASTARD! YOU FUCKING BASTARD I'LL KILL YOU I'LL -" Fred was yelling at a death eater Hermione recognised as Augustus Rookwood. Rookwood was smiling manically, baring his yellowing teeth at the three redheads: Fred, George and Percy, the latter two clinging onto Fred's arms to stop himself from hurling himself at the enemy. "SHE WAS JUST PREGNANT YOU DAMNED MONSTER!" Fred screamed, tears streaming down his broken face. Hermione felt a sickening jolt begin in the pit of her stomach escalating to her throat. Peering around the three Weasleys and looking behind Rookwood to see who Fred was grieving over she saw two bodies, two dead bodies who were holding hands, sprawled across the floor. "TONKS!" Hermione screamed, trying to run forward but Ron and Harry had both dashed out from their safe spot behind a pillar to stop her. A moments silence, then, "Potter," growled the death eater as Ron and Harry both clutched onto Hermione's arms, pulling her back. The older Weasleys turned to look at the trio through confused and lost sockets before Rookwood hissed, "The Dark Lord wants you alive, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you got caught in the cross fire." Hermione couldn't tear her eyes away from Tonks' lifeless body strewn across the burning floor behind Rookwood, Lupin's hand clasped firmly in her limp clutch. Eyes lifeless. And then a hand slipped away from her arm and a streak of black hair dashed past her. "Harry NO!" Ron bellowed.
"YOU COWARD!" Harry roared at Rookwood sending curses at the man who now laughed a high, cold, mirthless laugh.
"I'm intrigued to know what makes me a coward boy," spat Rookwood.
"You people killed my parents! You killed Sirius! You killed Dumbledore! Lupin was my dad's best friend! You killed him in cold blood! I -" They all watched as words failed him, watched as the pain radiated out of him like an inferno. "EXPELLIARMUS!" Yelled Harry just as Rookwood raised his wand. He deflected the spell and laughed again.
"You think your pathetic spells can affect me? Yes, I did kill the werewolf. I watched him as he and his little whore clung to each other like lost children. It amused me, how childlike a teacher can act."
"FUCK YOU!" Fred yelled, wrenching himself free of Percy and George and flinging himself past Harry with intentions to hurt.
BANG! A lightning fork had just shot out of Rookwood's wand and splintered into the ceiling, creating a gigantic crack down the walls and into the floor. "Fred, NOO!" Yelled Percy as a the air exploded like a bomb shell and a large chunk of stone was blasted from the ceiling towards Fred. Fred looked up, as if in slow motion, to see the colossal chunk of rock crashing down towards him. Harry's eyes widened, his feet rooted to the spot. George bellowed something but his feet wouldn't seem to move. Ron's eyes widened in panic as he yelled "FRED MOVE!" Hermione's mouth opened and a scream escaped her. A streak of red whipped past Harry just as he dived backwards, away from the rockfall. Percy, who had betrayed his family and sided with the ministry, Percy, who had turned his back on his family when they'd needed him most, Percy, who had believed Cornelius Fudge instead of Harry, Dumbledore and the rest of his family, had just ran into the fire line of falling rock. Fred felt hands grab him and pull him away from the descending rock, felt himself being thrown back to the others. He looked around and heard an earth quaking THUD. The chunk of ceiling had hit the floor sending cracks the size of pythons streaking out away from it and under the rock lay the battered body of his brother.
For an eternity long split second, Fred stared into Percy's eyes which were filled not with terror, but a smug contentment. A noise escaped his bloody mouth and Fred dashed towards him, straining his ears whilst the rest of them stood frozen with shock. "I'm - S-Sorry," Percy whispered desperately, "for... being a jerk... I -" and then his eyes clouded over, wide yet unseeing, and his head drooped. Blood trickled from his shock of red hair, leaving a line of red from his temple town his cheek to pool below him.
"NOOOO!" Someone had screamed. Hermione and Harry simply stood there, watching the chaos unfold. Ron had torn his way up the corridor with George within seconds, yelling incoherent words, screaming and crying, skidding to their knees by Percy's half hidden body. They didn't know what to say, what to do. So they watched, silent tears trickling down their cheeks as the blood trickled down Percy's cheeks. The grey rock stood threateningly, covering all of Percy's body apart from his face. His glasses lay mere centimetres away from his broken nose, blood smeared across the lenses. George was trying to tug him out from under the stone, Fred, shaking like a frozen puppy, was clinging onto Ron in a tight hug, never wanting to let go, too full of mixed emotions to think straight.
At last, Fred, blood oozing from a cut on his temple, pulled George away from Percy's body, looking at him through bloodshot eyes. George stood alone and lost for a second before collapsing into Fred's arms. They stood in a tight embrace for at least a minute, Ron's head resting on their shoulders as they grieved in an unspoken silence. Harry gripped Hermione's hand from the end of the corridor in shock, and wished for it to be over. And then remembered. Remembered what he needed to do. But first his best friend needed him.
The trio broke apart, all three boys still sniffling. The stench of blood began to fill their nostrils as George stared past the rock where Tonks and Remus still lay, undisturbed and peaceful. "Rookwood," he uttered before running around the rock and darting up the corridor, loathing and aggression coursing through his veins. "ROOKWOOD I'LL KILL YOU!" He yelled, voice echoing off of the scorched walls. Fred followed suit, passing Tonks' and Remus' bodies at a sprint, not looking back. Ron collapsed to the floor, too drained to stop them. Harry followed him down, kneeling by his side. "Do something," Ron choked vulnerably. Those two words broke Harry. Hermione dropped down to kneel with them and grieved with her two friends in silence. "Please, I... I never told him... I never told him I forgive him. I - Who's gonna tell Mum an' Dad?" Ron choked through a constricted throat, a fresh wave of tears washing over his stinging cheeks. Harry wrapped an arm around Ron's shaking body and Hermione put a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly.
.
They managed to make it back down to the entrance hall without seeing anybody. All three of them were covered in dirt, dust and cuts but most of all blood. The red substance stained their palms their faces their clothes as they traipsed down empty corridors and passageways in a melancholic silence. No one knew what to say. Hermione thought back to her first encounters with Percy, 'First years follow me,' he'd said. It'd been a long time since she'd been a first year. So much had changed. And yet, and yet it only felt like yesterday that she'd been a first year with no threat on her blood status or life - unless you counted that time with the troll, but... they walked on and she wondered just how much had changed. And then she remembered Draco. Fenrir had bit him. He could be a werewolf. A stale tear slipped down her cheek. How many people would she know who wouldn't live past today to tell their future children and grandchildren their tales of being a student at Hogwarts. How many people would die before the war would finally be over.
Shock is a funny thing. Stage one of grief a person goes through: denial. They didn't know what to do. He was dead. But he couldn't be dead. He just couldn't - but he was. Stage two: anger. "Ron, Ron slow down," Hermione voiced quietly, "Ron!"
"I'm gonna kill 'em. All of 'em. I'm going to bloody -"
"Ron!" Harry and Hermione both yelled, causing Ron to turn around, furious. Stage three: bargaining.
"I could've done something! I could've stopped it! If I'd killed him earlier this would never have happened!"
"Ron you need to calm down -" Harry began.
"No! Your parents are dead! They died when you were a baby! You have no family!"
"Ron -!"
"You take that back!"
"No!"
There was a long pause. Then the shaking started again, and Ron broke down.
The crying was pitiful to watch. "I'm sorry," he choked to Harry, whose heart ached for him. He felt partly responsible for some reason. Stage four: depression.
Ron didn't say another word as they set off again. Silent tears trailed down his cheeks leaving glistening tracks of hopelessness where they went. Harry knew what he had to do. Knew how to end the war and put a stop to all the deaths.
Half way down the marble staircase, they saw a terrifying sight. The oak door had just been blown apart and dozens of acromantula had just scuttled in sending people running in all directions, screaming. "Now what?!" Hermione yelled, trying to look for an escape route. The spiders advanced on them, ripping their way through to the staircase so they could plough through the castle. "CHARGE! Charge desks charge!" McGonagall's voice boomed from somewhere as a thousand desks and chairs stampeded out of a nearby corridor and splintered as they hit the many fury legs of the beasts. One of the spiders had reached the stairs and had descended upon the three of them who had to fight tooth and nail to get out of there. "NO! Leave 'em alone!" Hagrid roared as he came charging down the staircase causing the trio to flatten themselves against the banister. Pink umbrella brandished and sending gold sparks in all directions, the gamekeeper was hurtling down the steps with Fang at his side, charging directly at the horde of acromantula. "HAGRID, NO!" Harry yelled, not wanting to lose another friend tonight, desperate to get through the tangle of bodies to pull Hagrid back. Grawp heard Hagrid's cry from outside and had blundered over to the trashed door in seconds, grabbing spiders by the legs and flinging them behind his shoulder.
"Leave 'em! Go!" Hagrid yelled and then he seemed to be consumed by the black mass of legs and hair.
"HAGRID!" Harry roared, jumping the last few steps and nearly tripping over a table as he tried to catch a glimpse of Hagrid. He heard Fang yelp out somewhere and heard Hagrid's angry shouts but they died away into the distance as the spiders retreated at a gallop back into the grounds. "HAGGER!" Grawp yelled as he blundered off after the swarm of retreating black, flailing his arms as he went, "Hagger!" Harry ran outside after Hagrid's and Grawp, the cool air whipping his sweaty face, and searched in vain for Hagrid, furious tears welling in his eyes when all he saw was the giant and a flock of legs and hair.
.
"Ima look for Theo!" Pansy called after Draco's receding figure as she ran off into the din.
"See you!" Draco yelled back, then turned to Blaise. "You alright?"
"Course I am mate," Blaise grunted, rolling his eyes. They walked in silence, taking in the actions around them. Blaise wasn't a fool; he'd noticed the sweat and worry rolling down Draco's face since Hermione had vanished. But he didn't fully understand why he was in such a state. "Draco mate -" he began but Draco ignored him. Blaise looked around before starting again, "Draco -"
"What?" Draco asked, turning to his best friend.
"What's on your mind? Or as one of my mother's boyfriends used to say, penny for your thoughts?" Blaise asked, causing Draco to eye him as if he were a kind of mutated illusion. "It means what's up!" Blaise snapped after a second.
"I know what it means," growled Draco, "Hermione says it sometimes. Didn't expect you to... well..." he trailed off. "Nothing. Unless you count that Hermione's on a suicide mission -"
"That's not it. I've seen you stress about her. This is different," Blaise urged. Draco rolled his eyes. Why could he read him so well? He used to be unreadable; a closed book. Ever since he started opening up to Hermione... "Well?" Blaise asked again, a little softer in expression. Draco sighed angrily and pulled down his collar to reveal the hurriedly healed wounds on his neck. Forty two tiny puncture wounds were still visible on his skin, clearly visible without the collar shielding them. He felt as vulnerable as when he'd been cursed with the curse of twenty one days although Hermione had been able to heal that. What if he turned into a monster?
Blaise let out a long, low whistle. "Fenrir?" He asked. Draco nodded. "Damn. Why don't you see Lupin after all this. I'm sure he'd help you sort this out. Don't worry man, it's gonna be fine. Just focus on now and we can worry about you on the next full moon. Okay?"
"Yeah... I suppose..." Draco groaned, covering his bite marks up again.
"Don't worry mate, once all this is over, drinks on me at the Hog's Head. All of us yeah?"
"Yeah," Draco agreed uneasily.
Suddenly a stampede of acromantula came charging past them, Grawp the giant following yelling something incoherent. Draco looked to where they'd come from and saw Harry, panic stricken and screaming. Draco snapped into action. Where there was Harry there was Hermione. "Draco - man not again!" Blaise yelled indignantly as Draco bolted towards the castle but the crowds around him thickened, blocking his path. "MOVE!" He yelled, trying to push and curse his way through. And then, miraculously, the crowd parted. Draco squinted for a masked face had just walked through the parting, wand drawn and bearing down on him like an angry wolf. He felt a prickling sensation on his neck and shifted uncomfortably, wand drawn. "So," the voice hissed and Draco detected the fury in it. He also detected the owner of the voice and the familiar flick of the wrist and length of platinum hair. His hair. Yet - not his. "Father," Draco greeted civilly, eying his father with a mixture of fear and loathing. Yes, he had just saved his life by killing Fenrir but he was sure there was a catch. "You've made a traitor of me boy," Lucius spat through the mask, the air he breathed out a white mist in the cold, spring air.
"Thank you, for saving me," Draco said evenly, trying his best to keep the anger out of his voice. That sent his father over the edge.
"You think I was saving you?! I was saving your mother who was protecting your sorry excuse of a life. You were defending the mudblood! You had every right to die -"
"Don't you dare call her that!" Draco growled furiously.
"You make me sick, boy."
"At least my mother has some sense, some humanity left in her to protect her son! She even helped Hermione, did you know that? She gave her food whilst you were holding her hostage!"
"Liar!"
"Ask her yourself!"
"Your mother would never betray me, she's my wife! She's no blood traitor!"
"Oh keep telling yourself that, father," Draco sneered.
"You're no son of mine!" Lucius roared.
"Then why did you kill Greyback?"
"CRUCIO!" Lucius screamed furiously, staring daggers at his grown son, despising what his boy had grown to become. Draco hadn't expected this. Desperately keeping his mouth shut, he shook as he tried to stay standing, refusing to show defeat. "Ex - expelli -" but the word didn't come out. Instead he simply shook, glaring back at his father, the father who had caused nothing but misery in his life. The father who he used to aspire to be. The father who had assaulted his girlfriend. He shuddered violently and felt the cold ring against his bare chest before he lunged himself at his father, knocking his wand out of his hand. The curse lifted and the pair of Malfoys clawed and kicked at each other on the floor, yelling incoherent words at each other. "Get off of me you wretched bastard!" The older man growled, sparks shooting from his wand into the sky.
"You hurt me, you hurt her, you hurt mum, you -" Draco spat, punching his father with every breath he took.
"I never hurt your mother!"
"YOU LOCKED HER IN A CELL! You locked her up whilst you let the Dark Lord torture me! You locked her up whilst you disowned me! Quite why she loves you is beyond me!" Draco yelled, livid.
"She needed to be -"
"Out the way, of course she did. I'll tell you something, father, most husbands don't go around locking their wives up. They love them and make them feel like the most important things in the world -"
"Grow up boy, you're life isn't a fairytale nor is anyone else's. Some people live in the real world. And some things just have to be sacrificed."
"Like my mother?!"
"Like love!" And with that Lucius threw Draco of of him and raised his wand. Draco looked down, realising with a sickening feeling that he didn't have his wand. "Looking for this?" His father hissed, holding up his son's wand. Draco stood and stared from his wand to Lucius, who was shielded from humanity by his mask.
They stood in a very uneasy silence. Draco stared at his father with loathing eyes, trying to determine what his old man was going to do. Lucius flicked his wrist slightly and drew his arm very straight. Then he whispered, very quietly, "I'm going to kill you, boy. Better no heir than you contaminating the family name." That hurt. Hurt like a stab in the gut. Was purity really that much more important to Lucius than family. Draco sighed inwardly. Who was he kidding, of course it was. He could just imagine his father's sick, twisted smile behind the mask, preparing to say the two words.
Just as Draco was sure he was about to say them, a female skidded to a halt right in front of Draco's wandless form. "Narcissa!?" Lucius roared impatiently. Draco could see him mother's rigid stance and could imagine the hopefully cold look planted on her face. "Get the hell away from my son," breathed Narcissa angrily. Lucius blinked. Slowly, as if in shock, he removed his mask and stared at his wife. Draco was sure he could see a trace of hurt in his father's eyes but that hurt had instantly turned into hate. "You fool," he purred. A jet of blue light instantly escaped Narcissa's wand but Lucius was quick to deflect it. He stared at his wife, startled that she'd make a move against him. "Now Cissy -" another shot of blue light and Lucius deflected it a further time, amazed. "So be it," he spat.
They began to duel, Narcissa constantly shielding Draco from view. "Narcissa this is ridiculous!" Lucius roared but Narcissa had lost her tether.
"I'm fed up of being controlled by you Lucius -"
"Controlled?!"
"Yes controlled! You brought that monster into our house in attempts to redeem yourself after failing in the department of mysteries! It's your fault that Draco is a death eater! It's your fault that our son resents us. He should be loved by his parents not tortured! You're nothing to me! You used to be but now - now I resent you!" Narcissa yelled. That clearly sent a blow home for Lucius. He paused and Narcissa struck him with a spell so powerful that he collided into a heap of rubble. A dribble of blood appeared from his ear and slithered down his neck. Narcissa gasped. Draco stepped out from behind his mother and looked at the deranged heap of robes and limbs and knew - knew that something terrible had just happened. "Lucius?" Narcissa questioned, walking cautiously towards the body. She stopped and stared at her husband, gazed into his open, unseeing eyes, and gasped, clutching her throat. "Oh my, oh my goodness. Oh heavens. Oh Merlin what have I done?!" And Draco had to run towards her to catch her as she collapsed to the ground, shaking as an uncontrollable wave of emotion and tears hit her. "Oh good heavens what have I done?!" She wept and Draco lowered her to a sitting position on the ground before straightening up to look at his father. He roughly retrieved his wand and pulled back his sleeve to check his pulse, feeling sick to the bone.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Seconds passed and still... nothing. He was gone. He fell to his knees, an odd emotion sweeping over him. He wasn't sad. He wasn't angry. He wasn't happy. He felt no emotion but then again he felt something. Like there was a hole in his chest and nothing to fill it with.
"Mother," he began after a while. "Mum!" Narcissa looked at him through foggy eyes. "You - you did the right thing."
"He's dead, Draco. I killed -"
"You were saving me. He was already gone. He was gone the day the Dark Lord rose to power. He's been gone for a while mother. But now he can't hurt anyone. We're safe now. Please, please don't cry - he's not worth it. He - we've got to help the others. Please mother."
"It's my fault! Merlin it's all my -"
"Mother!" Draco said loudly and gripped Narcissa's face, turning it towards his. "Now's not the time. We need to go. I'm - I'm sorry." He would've said, 'sorry for your loss' but that really wasn't very fitting as she hadn't lost anyone but a controlling jerk. Instead he stood up and offered his mother his hand. She took it. He pulled her in for a hug. Then he set off towards the castle, an emptiness overfilling his head.
.
"Stupifey!" Pansy screamed shrilly and blasted a masked figure backwards, crashing against the cobblestone below them. If Potter succeeded then she wouldn't have to get the mark and this terrible world would cease to exist. If Potter failed however, the Dark Lord would hunt her down for betraying the death eaters and she'd be on the run for her life with no money or caring family. She shuddered at the thought and stormed on through the blurred figures all around her, trying to find a familiar face.
She heard a scream and nearly didn't bother turning around; her ears had gotten used to the constant high pitched wails. However she did turn around and her eyes briefly focused on a tuft of brown hair before it fell to the ground. "Theo," muttered Pansy before tearing across the courtyard after her fallen friend. "THEO?!" She yelled, straining her ears for any kind of answer. She watched as the young adult lifted his head ever so slightly.
" - sure your father would be glad I've disposed of you -" she heard a masked wizard say with a bored expression as he strode towards Theo, his heavy foot falls leaving poofs of dust behind him. She paused slightly. She recognised the wizard, the bulky figure, the mask, the way his sleeves didn't quite meet the ends of his arms. The older wizard opened his mouth and spoke dryly, "Avada-"
"Expelliarmus!" Pansy shrieked, not quite disarming the older man but certainly mildly surprising him.
"Pansy," the man grunted in acknowledgment, his eyes hardening behind the mask.
"Don't do this, don't kill him father," Pansy begged. She hated her father, despised him. It took a lot for her to physically beg in front of him let alone to him.
"Get out of the way you silly girl, I'm starting to believe young Bellatrix about you being a blood traitor," he chuckled. Pansy's glare hardened and she didn't move. She'd positioned herself directly in front of Theo, not daring to move in case he attacked him. Her father's grin dropped like a stone. "You are fighting on our side, aren't you," he added with a trace of doubt. Pansy exploded. How could he be so oblivious to her life?!
"No, father, I most certainly am not fighting on your side. I am fighting against your side. I'm fighting with my friends against you, against you monstrous people! I'm fighting with Harry Potter who will defeat the Dark Lord and all of you will have to go into hiding, and if I see you or hear of you then I'll be sending you to Azkaban myself!" She screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him. Theo cowered behind her, stunned. He'd gotten to his knees and was observing the situation, wand in hand and ready. Mr Parkinson's entire countenance fell away and was replaced with a look of pure evil which made Pansy feel sick to the stomach.
"Move," he spat through grotty teeth. Pansy could smell the alcohol irradiating off of him, almost taste it on the tip of her tongue. "Get out the fucking way Pansy!" He roared. Pansy quivered slightly but didn't move. She was so used to his threats and drunken voice it made her sick. This time though, unlike any time at home, she raised her wand. Mr Parkinson stared at it, astonished. "I said move," he grunted.
"No," Pansy uttered feebly. She heard Theo stagger to his feet behind her just as her father cast a curse drunkenly at her which she easily avoided. "Incendio," he grunted, causing Pansy to shriek briefly as her robes ignited. But of course, she already had experience in being on fire. She'd made sure of that during that fateful potions lesson. She quickly put out the fire using water from her wand and looked around feverishly for her father. He was standing mere paces away, wand trained on a weak looking Theo. "Avada Kerdavra," he smirked into the silence. Theo saw the curse, registered it but couldn't move. He stood there motionless as Pansy screamed a terrible scream. "THEO NO!" She burst out, diving in front of the jet of light, pulling Theo down onto the ground with her. The curse ricocheted off and hit a death eater who collapsed to the floor, motionless. Mr Parkinson stood, utterly speechless. "Patrificus Totalus!" Pansy choked from the ground and the spell hit her stunned father, who fell backwards as rigid as a board.
Moments later she realised she was lying on top of Theo and grinned down at him. Theo however, looked at her in utter shock. "No need to look that surprised, I'm sure you've had girls on top of you before," Pansy smirked.
Theo looked at her ludicrously for a moment before saying, as though it were obvious, "You just saved my life." Now it was Pansy's turn to blush.
"Well, um yeah," she said a little more awkwardly than she'd have hoped, "That's what you tend to do in battles." Theo rolled out from underneath her and stood up, collecting himself both physically and mentally. He then turned back to Pansy, who'd followed him to his feet and gave her what quite possible was the worlds most awkward but most genuine hug. Pansy was taken deeply aback to say the least. "Woah... I did not take you for some kind of hugger Theo, what's gotten into you?" Pansy asked to break the awkwardness of the situation.
"You're a bloody legend, you know that right?" He asked her smiling. The crimson deepened in Pansy's cheeks and the grinned broadly.
"If we weren't in the middle of a battle then I'd say we should totally make out," Pansy laughed at the lucidity of the situation.
"Fuck the battle we could die at any minute," Theo responded lowly and began to kiss her heatedly.
.
By the time Draco'd left his mother, Harry was out of sight. He ducked as Charlie and his dragon swooped low over him, making it harder to see where everyone was. He was honestly really tired and wanted nothing more than to snuggle down in his warm bed in the Head dorms, preferably next to Hermione although he hadn't yet slept with her, something he very much planned on doing if - once they got out of here. The screams and shouts around him had all merged into one which meant it was a surprise when he felt an unexpected stab of pain in his back. He turned around sharply but before he knew what was happening he'd been disarmed for a further time that evening. A masked figure was laughing at him in glee and Draco couldn't for the life of him figure out who he was - but he soon realised that this wasn't the problem. This person, whoever he was, had his wand and he, Draco, was completely defenceless. He began to panic. He couldn't die. Not here. Not now. He was too young! "Shouldn't have switched sides Malfoy," the person said. They sounded young, too young.
"Who are you?" Draco asked, not being able to hold his curiosity any longer.
"Funny you should ask, I don't expect you to remember me. Seems like you'll go to the grave with an unanswered question. It's no less than you deserve," the figure spat.
"Whoever you are, look you don't have to do this!" Draco began desperately earning himself a cold laugh from his opponent.
"I know I don't. But I want to. Rid the world of blood traitors and mudbloods, what more could us purebloods want?"
He would've begged. But he just couldn't bring himself to sink that low. Damn his pride. This was it. He could just imagine his tomb stone (if he were so lucky as to get one) 'Here lies Draco Malfoy, dead due to self pride'. He lunged at the person, trying to get his wand back but the figure raised his wand threateningly. Draco staggered backwards and took back what he'd thought earlier. Now, he'd never felt so alone and vulnerable. Screw what he thought earlier, this was an all new low. "Are you ready to die Malfoy?" The person asked.
"Why," Draco wondered, "Do people insist on dragging out these deaths. It's like they're trying to procrastinate!"
"Avada -"
"STOP!" He let out a high pitched cry. Now that death was finally looking him dead in the face, now that he was faced head on with dying he knew he didn't want this, knew he had to escape this. Someone heard. A tall, lean figure with long, tangled and unkept locks of filthy hair. The figure turned and saw Draco and a mixed expression crossed his face: something between horror and nonchalance. Draco and this figure made eye contact. The other figure meanwhile, the one trying to kill him, considered Draco closely, enjoying his vulnerable state. "Interesting," they mused before raising their wand again.
"No!" Draco cried, looking desperately at the figure with long hair who bit his lip before shaking his head and abandoning his current duel to run towards Draco. The masked figure smirked and a jet of light escaped his wand just as the man with tangled hair leapt in front of Draco. Their eyes met for a millisecond. The man passed Draco his wand in mid leap. The light engulfed the man. And then he fell into a heap on the floor. Draco stood, shocked. "Avada KEDAVERA!" The boy roared furiously using the man's wand, sending a jet of green light towards the masked figure, the look of confusion still plastered across his now dead face. Draco looked down at his feet and held back tears as he stared into the dark eyes of the man who'd tried so hard to protect him. "I - I warned you," the voice of the dying man wheezed before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his heavy breathing stopped. And they were Scabior's last words. Draco fell to the floor, broken, weak and exhausted, crying for the end of the world, and everything went black.
A/N I genuinely found this so emotional to write and really hope I got the emotion through the words. What do we think? Did I fool any of you? Course I wasn't going to do that to Fred. What do we think about the brief Pansy/Theo? I tried to subtly hint it at some point in the book but it's really a minor thing so we don't need to go into that. And Scabior! Noooooo! Why did I do that to myself :-(. Hope the Lucius/Narcissa duel wasn't too far fetched and I hope that the chapter was good, not too busy or boring. And what do we thinks going to happen to Draco's bite mark? I'd love to hear your reviews as I wasn't too sure on this long awaited chapter but if you don't have time then that's fine. See you all soon with another chapter!