For after a long wait, I have finally grown the courage to continue this. I'm sorry, yet again, for a longer wait. To tell you guys the truth, I'm losing my plot, I don't know how to write this chapter; I'm still not good enough :(. Ufg, especially when I try to read my previous chapters! Ugh, I suck as heck whyyyy :/.

Oh, guys, an early apology if this chapter is suckish.

As to the plot, I think I will stick to the movie ones, but will still apply a few or a lot of changes.

Chapter 46 The Fire Serpent

Before anybody could ever let the thought of war to sink in, they found themselves silent and deadly still, mustering up the courage to fight for what they knew was right. Everything was chaos, Luna can't believe that the once so beautiful castle, her home, was tearing itself fast and painfully.

"Thank you Luna" her friend, Harry Potter, said. She found herself silent, a few steps away from where he is. Instead of responding, she only smiled. She cannot cry, no. She knows that Harry could do it. But something aches in her heart, the reality of it all made them grow earlier than how they should be. War is and will always be equaled to death and bloody scenarios. The boy who lived is the one who will save them. Such bravery and selflessness, yet, in the end, the hero would always be a part of the blame of the many lives being wasted.

"Good luck Harry" She held her wand in hand, too tight for her own good, ready to shoot spells and avoid some if necessary. "Thank you Luna, for being brave." Her smile widened, making him know that she believes in him. That is, and will always be her role, the one who believes in Harry Potter. She hopes that in her simple faith, she can make him braver, and that, she can help him win this.

"I have learned a lot when you were not around-" Crabbe stated, a proud smirk on his face.

"Wait, you have actually learned something? I am proud of you mate!" Draco sneaked in without making him finish his sentence. The boy in question pouted, and Blaise and Goyle only laughed in response.

They continued their way, Blaise and Draco at the front. At some point, Crabbe tightened his hand to his wand, a pissed off expression on his face. Not pleased with how his friend treated him. As soon as his family learned about Draco's dark mark, his father had became more expectant, pushing him and poking him with how the Malfoy boy had toughen up and he should do the same. Draco is his friend, he knows that. But as he took the chance to feel what was it like to be powerful, there would always come the time when he feels bloodlust. He craves and craves, as if he will never be satisfied. He longed for power and admiration, and the only thing he could have that is if the dark lord would win, and if he had a take from it. He glanced towards the men around him, immediately having them as sort of a threat with the diadem. And somehow, he embraced the power and lust, letting it take over.

But the men didn't notice the change of aura their friend had, they only continued to search through thick piles of dirt and shelves, trying to find a tiara; also known as Ravenclaw's diadem.

"Is that what we're looking for?" Goyle squinted his eyes to the lower corner of a trophy filled shelf. He thought he saw a glint of light reflecting through a sticking end of a metal. He turned his eyes to Draco, trying to find a sign of approval; a habit he has ever since their first year in Hogwarts. Draco furrowed his eyebrows back at him and nodded.

Goyle pulled the metal out from it's narrowed place, slowly revealing a tiara underneath all of it's dusts. The three men exchanged glances, and one by one they made their way to the discovered diadem.

"Is this it?" Goyle gave Draco the tiara

"I think so, yes" and Draco raised it up to eyes level, turning his wrist repeatedly to add reflections of light throughout the gems. He whisked his eyes to his right, waiting for Potter to show up and just do his work. He has a plan, a mindset that he made up when they entered the room. But unfortunately, judging by the lack of agreeing towards Potter's part, he is not so sure of the brilliance of his plan anymore.

"Look mate, I know that stuff is pretty amusing but what is actually the point of tilting it back and forth?"

"Erm, to... inspect if it is actually a horcrux Blaise" the look he gave his annoying friend made the man shut his mouth. Blaise gave him one cryptic look and decided to just get along with it. Draco spied to the other two, eyeing them at the corner of his eyes. Goyle was preoccupied with spying for intruders; clutching his wand with tight grip, while the other, Crabbe, was glaring at him suspiciously.

"Whatever you say Malfoy"

Draco swallowed a lump in his throat, irritated by Potter and somehow, nervous by Crabbe. He felt a big wave of change towards the lad in question. He had seen the desperation in his eyes, one that Draco had before Luna and Clementine. It was too familiar that it had taken him aback. To yearn for love and reassurance is a never ending battle, and he had almost let the self pity take over. And now, he silently prays that he would be wrong with his friend.

"There's Potter!" He had almost let the diadem fall from his grasp, but luckily, his muscles went automatic, and tightened their grip on it. Potter with fangs on hand, Granger, and Weasley are standing side by side opposite them, only a meter apart, and to Draco's delight, they were glaring at him with stage actors' fake anger; well, he was not sure on Weasley's part though.

"Should we kill him? The Dark lord wants him dead anyway!" Crabbe raised his wand and pointed it to the trio, but mostly to Potter, and at some point, lingered to Granger. Draco halted him off with a flick of his hand, and a bob of his head. With a puff of disapproving breath, Crabbe lowered the wand and stepped back.

"No, it seems as if we just showed mercy to him. Let him live until he would finally meet the dark lord. Then, let's watch him die painfully. Weasley would cry-" He stepped closer to them, twirling his wand for added effects. The redhead scoffed at him, anger radiating from his body and he grinned in response.

Then he took another wide step. Earning him some clenched fists and only an inch remaining for him and Potter.

"-And this is my favorite of them all. Granger would mourn. Feeling her heart break for the lost love. After all of these time, I'm surprised you haven't shagged Potter's brain off. Now, it's too late for that doesn't it?" Granger glanced to Potter, hardening her stare as she fought the sentiment to show. Behind him, he heard some sniggering, the trustworthy sounds that his friends had thrusted upon him. Upon, all of these years of tormenting Potter with these people, he found himself getting sentimental. But he needs to do this, even if it causes him to betray everything he had been scolded about.

"Unless-" he let the tiara slide from the safety of his fingers, it's tips making sounds of clicking noises as it collided to the ground.

Everything went still, he can feel the shock radiating from his surroundings. But he kept his gaze to the tiara, trying to think about what and would probably happen next.

"What are you doing Malfoy? Stupif-"

"Expelliarmus!" And with that, as if a spell had been lifted, everything went to chaotic. He turned around, not bothering to look at how Potter thrusted the fang to the tiara but turned to glare maliciously at Crabbe.

"What have you done Malfoy?" Crabbe shouted, his hand that was on his wand was dangerously tight and the nerves were showing.

"I have to do what is right Crabbe"

"You're being a coward, and to think that I have always wanted to be like you"

"I'm afraid you already are Crabbe. You have become my old self" Draco lowered his wand and glared at his friend. Automatically, as if not trusting what the angered Crabbe could do, Goyle and Blaise raised theirs and pointed the tips of their wands at the angry lad.

"You are all fools! Such traitors!"

"Crabbe, this is Goyle!-" Goyle, who has been Crabbe's bestfiend ever since, grabbed the lad's elbow and squeezed it's chubby flesh. "-Please stop! Crabbe please listen to me, please!"

Crabbe shoved him off with a forced blow, making Goyle tumble back. With a frown of his eyebrows and darkness in his eyes, he lifted his hand gently and held it aloft. "Hope you like fire" with those four words fell from his mouth, Draco immediately recognized what he would be summoning.

"Run, now!" he shouted raw from his throat. Everybody started running wildly, reacting to their impulse, not bothering to look back. Immediately, the trio, being infront of him, would no doubt have a percent of possibility to make it out alive.

Infact, they need to keep Potter alive anyway. Draco turned to look at his two friends at his back, and with a groan, he pushed Blaise and Goyle infront of him so they could run faster.

Draco sighed, slowing down as he felt the heat of the room to risen. With a brave face on, he bothered to turn, witnessing a big fire that was shaped as a serpent. Below the big figure, was Crabbe's , running towards them as if he was knocked some senses on. Immediately, Draco whined and actually stopped, decided to do the stupidest thing called bravery.

"Malfoy?" To his surprise, or not really, the king of all that stupidity, called him as if concerned. He thrown his head back and heaved, laughing humorlessly to the slightly far figure of Harry Potter. And then, as if the king of this stupidity had released his kindness to the smoke filled air, Goyle and Blaise stopped too, seemingly infected.

"You go on Potter"

"No-"

"Stop being a bloody stupid idiot and go. Luna would never forgive me if something happened to the three of you!"

"But-"

"This is the first time I would look like a hero, don't be selfish Potter! For Merlin's sake, go!" With a curt nod, a smile from Granger, and a frown from Weasley, the trio continued to run from it all.

"Bloody hell Malfoy, that was... nice" Blaise gripped Draco's shoulder, showing how shocked he was and surprisingly, he rolled his eyes. "Shut it Zabini, you and Goyle stopped too"

"Should we.. hug?" Zabini suggested, opening his arms widely as he fought the scared tears from falling from his eyes.

"Erm, no-" Draco eyed the fire serpent and wiped his forehead, clearing the sweat as it trickles down to sting his eyes.

"We would be safe up to that pile of trash! The incarnation would stop at some time now so we can wait there!" The trio didn't need any reassurance, and all began to run fast to the mountain build of various medals and other materials.

Once reaching on the middle, Draco turned his head below, seeing Crabbe helplessly trying to climb the rough materials with an injured leg sliding along with his body. He turned to the the serpent and lowered his hand to his friend. Crabbe furrowed his eyebrows to Draco, a heavy look drawn upon his face. Draco turned his eyes back to the curse, gliding up and down freely with wild and fast movement. Although the serpent was shaped and morphed because of the fire, it's eyes seem to be in a realistic detail. And they were casted right at them.

"Grab on to it you oaf!" He gulped down roughly, his body twitching with unhidden nervousness.

Crabbe took his hand, tears flowing freely down to his chubby cheeks. Draco nodded, flexing his muscles and attempted to pull the plump lad up. "You can't do this Malfoy" the man below shouted hoarsely, swatting Draco's hands away to his but the man in question tightened his grip forcefully. "No, don't be stupid! We won't let you" If Draco didn't lost the will to think about his pride, he would have noticed the tears that were on his face, clinging to a small miracle that his cynical mind miraculously believed.

He felt Zabini's hand on his other hand, clutching to him and helping him pull for what it's worth. On his side came Goyle, fishing helplessly for Crabbe's other limb. They all pulled him and Crabbe managed to help them by kicking his available foot to force himself up.

Upon the pile of various materials that Draco and Blaise's stood on, they seem to sense the weight on what the lads were holding and decided to fall down. The two friends, along with Crabbe glided a few levels away from their precipice; up to where Goyle stood. The heat had became worse, along with how close the serpent was to them. Just a few shelves away came the serpent with it's ocean waves liked movement. It became slow, as if giving them much time to hide, but in reality, they all knew there is only a thirty percent chance of making it out alive.

Draco and Blaise climbed up to the top again. Once on the top, they pressed their hands for Crabbe to take. The lad turned his head behind himself, the face of the serpent a meter away from his face. Blaise jumped from his place, a visible expression of worry written all over his features. When he landed to Crabbe's level, he pulled the lad carelessly at his back; his legs wobbled with the lack of strength for carrying Crabbe.

Draco jumped down to them, slinging Crabbe's arm to loop on his neck and support Blaise.

They climbed helplessly up to the precipice, using their curved fingers to crawl, praying for the materials to stick together. Goyle was waiting for them at the top, kneeling down to watch for the serpent. They would have to admit, they might've made Goyle come down for Crabbe due to his much more bigger size than Draco and Blaise, but the two were far more flexible and faster. And so selfishness be damned, they might not be like the Gryffindor house, but loyalty means alot to the Slytherins.

For the third layer of the climbing, the two friends felt their shoulders collapsing and fatigue overpowering their senses. The smoke entered through their nostrils, slipping right to their lungs and held possessively on to them.

"It's coming" Goyle panicked, pushing himself down as hard as how he can get. But unfortunately, they were still out if reach. "It's-" there were tears pouring down his face, his eyes transfixed to the serpent that was an inch close to Crabbe's injured foot.

Crabbe turned his face to the two, a sad smile on his face. He sighed from between his lips, letting go of the strained muscles and adrenaline rush from his body, and went limp.

"Let go" he said

"What, no you can't. Don't be stupid!" Draco grabbed on to Crabbe's arm, squeezing it as he showed disagreement.

"I have to, Malfoy. This is the only right thing I would possibly do, and I want that. I have caused this not knowing the consequences. I won't forgive myself if something-.I-.. I cherish all of you" Crabbe attempted to give a sad smile, the sorrow appearing inside his orbs. One by one, he let a tear fall as he made eye contact to the three that he has called friends. "You're being dramatic Crabbe, we.. cherish you too mate. We do." Zabini choked back a sob and Crabbe made it as a signal. He writhed his arms away from the two, and came tumbling down towards the fire.

Draco looked away as soon as Crabbe landed on the ground. Behind his closed lids, there was a source of light against them, and soon, there were torturous screams coming from their fallen friend.

He stared blankly to his dirt filled palms, absent mindedly letting Crabbe's screams in and to plant to the inner cores of his heart. The lad below kept on screaming in agony, dying from a slow death. The fire around him strangles him as if a man being chocked. Slowly but painfully. And to Draco's horror, he can't do anything but to watch and let the tears fall down. He inhaled the smoke and coughed violently, feeling as if he was the one to blame for what had happened.

He wasn't aware of when Blaise approached him, but then,Zabini was next to him, grabbing his shoulder and trembling violently. He swore he felt him release a sob. But nobody cared, everything went still. All that can be heard was Goyle's loud cries, Zabini's strangled sob, and Draco's silence.

Because Vincent Crabbe, a companion, was dead. And to Draco's experiences, nothing could ever bring the dead back.

Review? Hope you liked it Xx. Sorry for the mistakes :).