A/n- Thanks to Lildaani, Kitematsu, magic2007, ginnyginny, The Princess Wolf, Dwindlingcandle, Markitdownb4itsstruck, doornumberthree, and elspethana who all reviewed the last chapter!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter ain't mine.
Summary: The great battle. Oh, and did Grimmauld Place ever have a piano? Well, it has a small one, just because I said so (don't worry, it's not random- well, maybe now it is, but it won't be).
The Other Side of Fate
Popping sounds, like an immeasurable number of firecrackers, erupted all around the group crouched upon the floor. A mass of hooded figures poured in through the open doorway, nearly a dozen Apparating in the sitting room and the adjacent Kitchen.
With a sudden jerking movement, Harry grabbed Hermione's shoulders and pulled her down and towards his chest. A red jet of sparks whizzed by where her head had been, burning a half-moon shaped scar in the cloth near Draco's ear.
Malfoy's head whipped around to avoid the spell; flattening himself out against the sofa, his chest constricting from fear; the pain and the sudden onset of adrenaline making his head spin and the world tilt dangerously.
He could smell the burning cloth.
"Expeliarmus!"
The Deatheater who had shot the curse flew back and cracked against the fireplace, crumpling into a heap on the floor.
Draco didn't want to look up. Through a groggy haze he tried to make since of what was going on, tried to get to Hermione.
"There he is!" A women screeched; her cry echoing around the strange acoustics of the house.
Another jet; green this time, came from the upstairs landing. In a burst of light a mass of white flew down the staircase and out the front door, through the legs of the nine or so Deatheaters.
The confusion was massive.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing around the couch, dodging and sending spells in every direction. Cursing, Malfoy crouched behind them- being without a wand- wishing he could fight.
He felt very helpless and alone; as if he were a muggle in the middle of Diagon Ally.
Perhaps he could, he thought- twisting out of the range of another spell, quickly try and Spello Tape the wand. A sick feeling squashed the idea as he remembered Wesley's shabby spell work second year…
"Boys!? Hermione?!" Draco could hear Mr. Weasley yell, her voice sounding so far away…
Lupin ran half way down the staircase and stunned another hooded figure who had entered through the doorway.
"Molly! Kingsley!" He yelled. "They're in the street!" Lupin sent another spell and hit three more Deatheaters.
Jumping over the latter part of the spiraling banister he landed right in front of a rather lanky hooded man.
A jet of sparks erupted into the man's hood from Lupin's wand tip. Screaming, the man fell over and Remus pushed him out of the way.
Seconds later, Molly, Arthur, Tonks, and the twins appeared, sending hexes bouncing off the walls, shattering vases, and cracking the plaster walls.
The house shook, dust raining down from the ancient cracks. Draco could see the specks of gray in Potter's hair.
Leaving the rest of his family inside, Arthur ran to join Remus in the lane. Kingsley followed.
A great smash, large wall plate, made of what looked suspiciously like solid gold, fell from its flimsy peg and smacked on top of one of the hooded men's head. Ron's spell had apparently gone a slight awry.
"Whoops." He murmured, another curse barely missing him.
"Mum?!" A scared voice sounded from upstairs. Scared, but determined.
"Ginny!" Molly screamed as she dueled a large bulky man. "Stay put!"
"But mum!" The voice was high pitched and frantic but was cut off as a too-thin women was sent through the hall cabinet by a rushing mass of pink.
"Wotcher, Harry!" Tonks yelled, jumping onto the couch's cushions and cursing a man who had raised his wand. The figure fell over. "Don't worry about this lot; we've called rest of the Order at the Ministry and a few others!" She was grinning mad, a powerhouse of energy, as she whirled around to duel another man.
Draco registered faintly that the white shapes must have been a viable herd of patronus charms.
Malfoy skirted around the table and was nearly killed when an Avada Kedavra curse whooshed right by his ear. The light made him jump and yank his head sideways away from it. He could smell it, the slow burn of the energy.
Hermione yelled, inaudible.
The women who had meant to kill Draco was suddenly picked up off her feet as she sailed through the front window; screaming as the glass shattered.
Fred grimaced.
"Didn't mean to do that, did we George?"
"Course not, Fred! What you said we go see what kind of fun dad's having?"
"I quite agree. Come on!"
The two stunned a few figures on the street before jumping out of the broken window to join Arthur and Kingsley.
"Bloody Hell!" Ron suddenly screamed as one of the rather large Deatheaters threw down his wand and out of pure anger had grabbed the red head and currently was holding him in what looked like a very malformed choke hold.
Skidding to a stop after the killing curse had nearly hit him, Draco turned around sharply, planting his feet out wide. The sharp one-eighty nearly sent him to the ground. He looked like a sprinted who had just bolted from the starting lines.
Quick decisions.
The man's wand lay forgotten on the ground.
He could reach it.
But Weasley!
Malfoy sped forward and bent his own legs down so he skidded to the ground. His pale hand wrapped around the man's wand and he pointed it up at the Deatheaters' back. He yelled the first spell that came to mind.
"Incendio!"
A burst of flame erupted on the man's back and Ron was dropped, gasping, to the floor. The Deatheater howled and tripped backwards, his hood falling over.
Malfoy's stomach dropped out from under him
Goyle's father.
The man screamed, arms flailing.
"Malfoy!" Harry yelled over the commotion.
Draco, frozen where he knelt, unsure of what to do; his mind numb.
"Goddamnit Malfoy, move!"
The man who was on fire was quickly falling backwards, stumbling. Malfoy dove out of the way; narrowly missing being pinned down. The wand he had acquired dropped to the floor.
Goyle senior, in his flailing around, grasped back his wand.
The others were fighting. Draco had no wand.
The man was still on fire.
Malfoy couldn't cast the Aguamente charm.
"Merlin! Mer- Bloody Hell! Potter! Weasley!" He called frantically.
But before the others could react, the bulky man pulled his wand up. Draco flinched away, covering his eyes with his arm - as if that would stifle any curse. The wand burst red and Malfoy felt a whoosh of air.
The man's hand, now engulfed in flame, dropped to the floor.
Malfoy slowly turned.
"Aguamente!" Hermione screeched. The fire was out. The man was dead.
"He…" Draco felt sick swirling in his stomach. Goyle's father… he took his own- "N-no." Malfoy moaned softly.
"Get up! Get up!" Tonks shouted at him.
They were still fighting; although most of the Deatheaters had been stunned, tied up, knocked unconscious, or killed.
Draco sprang to his feet, ran to the doorway.
Were they going to win?
A pop made him pause. He had run into a Deatheater.
All background noise faded slowly away…
"Urk-" Draco's blood ran cold. From within the hallway, no one could see him. He was dead.
The thin man looked down at him and pushed something into Malfoy's hand. Draco trembled. Turning his palm up he saw a wand resting there. Something about it was familiar…
His heart wrenched.
His mother's wand.
"UH-" He gasped. Snapping his head up he looked into the black hood of the unknown Deatheater. The man's eyes flickered behind a greasy curtain of black hair, down his long hooked nose.
The figure Disapparated.
Suddenly; someone cried out in the front yard.
"Get back!" Mr. Weasley yelled. "Go into the house! Hurry!"
Fred came bounding in through the doorway; Malfoy followed him.
"More of them!" He shouted. Blood was tricking down from his forehead, his lower left arm stuck out at an odd angle.
Draco rushed to the broken window. Clutching the jagged pane, he felt a bite of horror.
Outside, nearly twenty or so new figures popped into view. The tall one, the one who had given Draco a wand, was leading them closer and closer to Number Twelve.
In reckless ambition, the second in command Deatheater, the one striding next to the tallest- ripped back his hood and cloak. His shadowed hand whipped back, the garment bellowing in the wind. The figure's hand unclenched, the cloth twisting and twirling over the heads behind him.
"Blaise."
The mercury colored mask dripped slowly off the boy's face as he raised his wand. His bloodthirsty grin flashed dangerously in the pre-dawn.
Draco's stomach lurched as he saw the bodies of a handful of muglges scattered about the pavement.
It was unnerving how the other Deatheaters upon the sidewalk had paused as well, watching this procession of young blood. It was the other Slytherins who followed the tall figure and Blaise.
Draco glanced behind him. He knew this new group wouldn't be the last.
Obviously, the first wave was the weakest, Voldemort knew their ranks would be annihilated against the Order's wands. Blaise and the Slytherin's presence was the second group. If they were to also fall, the Dark Lord and his most trusted few would surely follow.
There was a sudden pop; Kingsley Shacklebolt- who was framed by Number Twelve's doorway- made a strangled kind of noise.
Part way down the front steps, three women and four men had Apperated. The only witches and wizards to have answered the Order's patronus.
Suddenly Blaise's hand whipped out.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Hesia!" Kingsley barked.
The wand clutched in Malfoy's hand shook as he watched.
The women hit by Blaise's spell crumpled to the ground. The other six Ministry members reacted quickly. They dodged and stunned a few of the older Deatheaters before retreating into the house.
"What's going on?!" One of the men yelled as a spell shattered the door frame; they retreated further into the room.
"We sent for help!"
"We've got some trouble of our own; the Deatheaters are in the Ministry!"
Molly Weasley sucked in her breath sharply; hissing.
"We'll hold them off mum! You and Dad go to the Ministry!"
"No, Ron."
"Hermione?"
"We have to escape." She explained. "Harry, agree with me. Draco?"
Harry said something inaudible, but Malfoy wasn't listening, he was still frozen against the window. The Slytherins were arranging themselves with the other Deatheaters around the house in an immense semi-circle.
"Draco?" Hermione took a step towards him.
Blaise's eyes flashed up. The cold gaze met Malfoy's gray one.
The boy raised his wand. Draco saw his lips move soundlessly, as if it were in slow motion.
"Get back!" Draco suddenly yelled. One of the Deatheaters, the one from when Ron had dropped the plate on him, had gotten up, was staggering close to the fireplace. No one took notice. "Get down!" Malfoy screamed as he crushed Hermione to him, as he braised his legs and threw the both of them sideways.
A crash that shook the whole house slammed into the wall with the broken window. The spell Blaise had sent towards Draco hit the side of the building and had blown it apart.
A section of plaster, bigger then Malfoy's head, hit the groggy Deatheater with so much force that he was crushed into the opposite wall by it. Another portion fell outwards onto the steps and the planter box, shattered into hunks onto the pavement. The part with the window bowed inward but did not crumble; it leaned dangerously on the small black piano that had been covered with such a delicate sheen of dust.
Malfoy felt something heavy on his back. Someone- Lupin- rushed to pull the pair out from under a large chunk of the front wall. Draco groaned.
There was another flash of light; something bright white, large, with clip-clopping hooves, that clattered through the open gash in Number Twelve's structure.
Everyone swiveled to see Ginny at the top of the stairs.
"Get back!" Arthur yelled.
"No!"
"Ginny!" Harry yelled.
There was a torrent of noise as the Deatheaters started attacking. Malfoy pulled Hermione behind the couch.
"Are you all right?" He said frantically, his hands running all over her body to check for wounds. "Speak!"
"Draco-"
Harry sent a spell through the absent wall and stunned one of the Slytherins. Quickly, following suit, Draco stood and blasted a powerful hex through the air. His bottled up frustration and energy reflected in the spell's strength. It hit a cloaked figure and sent him sailing back nearly seven feet.
"Take Ginny and go." Malfoy said in earnest, bending to shake Hermione's shoulders. "Get out of here!" The confusion on her face grew as she noticed the wand in his hand. A second later, her face was set.
"I can't."
"You have to."
A spell shredded what remained of the china hutch. Glass shattered like rain and glitter through the air.
Malfoy felt a paper-cut like pain on his face but he ignored it; Hermione's head safely in the crook of his arm.
He pulled back.
"You must go; if anything happens to you, I'll die. I will."
"I can't."
Malfoy looked at her. Amidst the skirmish he saw the truth and loyalty in her eyes. Swiftly, he kissed her lips hard, forcibly.
"I love you."
"I love you, Draco."
"Look!" Ginny gasped in horrified delight.
Even the Deatheaters, the ones who were on the lawn and in the house, turned. Back admits the trees across the street, figures emerged.
Malfoy stood, disbelieving.
Ginny pumped her fist in the air.
A spell struck out from the new group and hit the nearest Slytherin Deatheater square in the face. From the darkness more Hogwarts students materialized. Now the Deatheaters turned their attention to this new foe.
More spells.
Neville dodged one of the spells and Stupefied an enemy.
Luna, Neville, Cho… so many others.
Dumbledor's Army.
Ginny had called Dumbledor's Army.
Malfoy cried out, a strange sound. Behind a pair of Hufflepuff girls he didn't know were five faces he clearly recognized.
Pansy, Millicent, Tracy, Daphne.
Goyle.
Another strangled cry escaped Draco's lips.
He was alive.
Alive!
A quick debate between the now flanked Deatheaters swiftly took place. Risk a group of classmates who's numbers rivaled their own, or a house filled with less then half that?
They took the house and stormed Number Twelve.
"Ready!" Lupin called as they surged the broken wall.
Everyone's wands were out.
"Expeliarmus!" Harry cried.
"Stupefy!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Reducto!"
Dumbledor's Army ran forward.
Confusion.
Malfoy sent curse after curse through the thick and tensioned. He felt blood trickling down his face.
Fatigue.
Draco saw the frightened face of Theodore Nott fall before him just as he was about to attack. Goyle winked at him, his wand up.
Draco grinned back.
They were going to have a long, long talk as soon as this madness was over.
Pansy flung herself, her fragile body, into the fray, trying to disarm another Deatheater. Goyle's attention snapped to her and he dove after.
Crack. Crack. Crack. A flurry of noise.
Adrian Puecy and Draco began to duel; Malfoy's back against the couch. A killing curse whipped by Malfoy's ear, hitting the stairwell.
"Blood Bastard." Puecy sneered as he deflected Draco's curse.
"Killer." Was all Draco said.
Puecy stiffened. "Reducto!" He shrilled.
"Stupefy!" Draco screamed at the same time.
Puecy's spell hit Malfoy in the chest and he flew back onto the couch, his mother's wand flying out of his hand. Adrian fell into a heap on the floor. The table next to the armchair wobbled and fell over.
His head swam.
"Harry!" Someone shrieked in distress.
Faintly, Malfoy registered it was Ginny.
"Harry!" She cried a second time.
Someone laughed.
"Gi-"
"He can't save you now, you filthy little bitch."
Blaise.
Weakly, Draco twisted around and heaved himself up a bit.
Zabini was towering over the tiny Weasley girl, Ginny sprawled on the first few steps of the staircase. She was defenseless.
"No." Malfoy croaked.
He had no wand. Where was his wand?! Ginny!
The dark haired boy raised his wand over his head. The fear in the girl's eyes was so absolute, so calculated.
Desperately, Draco fumbled for something- anything!
The upended table next to the couch... Malfoy's hand closed around the solid silver ashtray.
Blaise's chest heaved.
"Cruci-"
Chucking the silver weight as hard as he could, Draco let it fly towards Zabini.
It crashed into the side of Blaise's head. The boy stumbled and fell over onto the floor, unconscious.
Malfoy watched in silent disbelief as the ashtray clattered onto the hardwood, upturned. It whirled and rattled around and around, coming to a shuttering stop next to Blaise's head.
Screaming, Ginny clutched her head. Tracy ran to her and pulled her away from the fray. The girl grasped onto the other's arm, sobbing.
Malfoy's attention was distracted as he glanced up the stairs.
Lupin.
Lupin was hurling curses as Severus Snape, the man's cloak having dislodged itself from around his neck. From the looks of it, Snape was having a hard time keeping up, Remus' fury was so precise.
Snape's wand was suddenly gone.
Draco's throat was constricted.
"You son of a bitch, you traitor!" Lupin was screaming, his wand pointed. Snape's face was dead set, not calm, but stone like. "I'll kill you!" Snape said nothing. Lupin's fury seemed to grow. "FINE!"
Malfoy lurched.
Snape.
He had saved Draco from Voldemort. He had released Goyle from his prison. He had given Draco his mother's wand.
Traitor he may be… but not to the Order.
"NO!" Malfoy screamed. Lupin paused, looking frantically around. He and Draco locked eyes. "Don't! He didn't! He's not- not-" Snape was glaring at him, livid. "He's not one of them!"
A spell from behind Draco forced him flatten against the ground, it was so powerful. A great whoosh seemed to soak up the sound from the rest of the fight.
The spell hit Snape and he flew back into the wall of the stairwell, shattering the vase that perched there.
Malfoy turned around, slowly, deathly so.
Framed by the green flames from within the lit hearth of Number Twelve's fireplace was Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Lord Voldemort. Slowly, the Dark Lord lowered his wand.
The other Deatheaters were still at the Ministry, yes, but these three had come at last.
And they had come to put an end to it all…
A/n- So actually, I decided to split this chapter into two parts. It ended so nicely here.
So really, instead of two more chapters, NOW there are three more chapters left.
(I didn't want to have this be like 19 pages; it would loose its poignancy.)
So, I'm continuing to write, not taking a break this time. The new chapter may be up as early as Monday, maybe Sunday if I'm lucky and I write fast/well.
Please review, this chapter was very arduous!