FYI this chapter isn't very fun.
Dumbledore died on Friday. None of them were there, of course, but from what Madam Pomfrey told them, it had been peaceful. On Wednesday, Dumbledore had instructed Snape to lift the block on the curse in his hand and had been confined to the hospital wing, dosed up on pain potions until he'd slipped away. Harry had gone to see him on Thursday, at Dumbledore's request, and Dumbledore had smiled at him and bequeathed him his wand. Harry had protested — who was he to Dumbledore anyway? — but Dumbledore had insisted.
"Take it," he had said. "And promise me that you will use it in the final battle against Voldemort."
"But sir—"
"—Promise me, Harry," he'd said, a strange intensity in his stare. Faced with that, what was Harry to do?
"I promise."
Professor McGonagall announced Dumbledore's passing at lunch. She stood in front of his usual chair at the high table and called for silence using a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes firecracker that burned in the shape of a phoenix. Harry thought it was rather fitting.
"It is with a heavy heart," she said once the hall had quieted. "That I must announce the passing of my dear friend, Professor Albus Dumbledore." Her voice was shaking slightly, but it carried throughout the entire hall nonetheless. No one said anything. Harry reached out and took Draco's hand, caring not a whit if anyone saw them. He was more sad than he had expected to be, given that he'd known it was coming.
"Professor Dumbledore was widely known as one of the greatest wizards of our time, but I knew him best as my friend." McGonagall paused here and she brought her hand up and held her closed fist over her mouth as she fought to compose herself. "There will be time to mourn him — and mourn him we will — but we don't have that luxury right now. Instead, we must prepare for the coming fight. When you spoke to your head of house this week about your allegiance in the war against Voldemort, they will have given you instructions on what to do should there be an attack at the school." She looked around at the students, her eyes sad. "Regretfully I just inform you, that with Dumbledore gone, an attack is coming." Whispers broke out across the hall. "I know that you have observed the various, ah, improvements we have made to the castle throughout the week," McGonagall continued.
"I love the swamp," someone yelled from the Hufflepuff table. McGonagall turned her head towards the Hufflepuffs, the smallest of smiles on her face.
"Quite," she said. Then she clapped her hands together. "Well, now is the time when they will be of use. Right then. Hop to it. Younger students, please report to the girls' bathroom on the second floor. Fifth and sixth year prefects will supervise your entry into the Chamber of Secrets, along with Professor Binns and the rest of the Hogwarts ghosts. Those of you who are of age, please follow the instructions that were given to you by your head of house. "
Harry looked at Draco and Draco looked at Harry.
"I guess this is it," Harry said.
"Fuck," was all Draco had to say.
"Did you want me to activate the repairs on the cabinet?" Hermione asked, all business. "Or did you want to do it?"
"I'll do it," Draco said. "Then I'll go through to Borgin and Burke's and let the Death Eaters know it's working. And that Dumbledore is dead." His tone was dull. Harry squeezed his hand briefly and Draco looked up and caught his eye. He pressed his lips together in what could have been a smile if it hadn't been so humorless.
"It's going to be ok," Harry said. "We have a plan."
"I just—" Draco started to say. He cut himself off, frowning and biting his lower lip. After a moment, he continued, "I don't want to lose you." Harry wanted to promise that that wouldn't happen. But he couldn't. Harry of all people knew that things could go wrong. Instead, he decided, fuck it, and leaned over and kissed Draco hard on the mouth.
"I know," he said, once he pulled away. "I love you too." Harry heard a small gasp behind him and he turned his head to see a small Hufflepuff girl staring at him with eyes the size of saucers. "Yeah," he said. "I love him. Deal with it."
"Harry," Hermione said reproachfully. But the small Hufflepuff just continued to stare at him, her lips slowly curving into a smile.
"Oh my god," she breathed. "That's so cute." Harry flushed and Draco rolled his eyes.
"He only likes me because I'm good in bed," Draco said. The girl's eyes went, if anything, wider, while Harry turned to glare at Draco because the girl couldn't have been much older than twelve. But now that Harry had kissed him once, it was like the dam had been broken, and Draco leaned in and kissed the glare right off of Harry's face.
By the end of lunch, it was all the entire school could talk about. Well, that and the impending invasion of the school. But one topic was more fun than the other.
…
"I want you to wear this," Harry said to Draco several hours later. Draco was getting ready to go to the Room of Requirement and repair the vanishing cabinet.
"What is it?" Draco asked as Harry passed over the protective amulet Dumbledore had given him.
"Dumbledore said it would protect me."
"Then you should wear it," Draco protested, trying to push it back towards Harry.
"No, please, Draco," Harry said. "I can't lose you. I've lost too many people."
"And I can't lose you either," Draco snapped. He gripped Harry's arm tightly as if this might stop Harry from giving him the charm. But Harry was insistent.
"Please, Draco," he said. He stared at Draco until finally, he relented with a small bow of his head.
"Fine." Harry dropped the amulet into Draco's hand, and Draco reached up and clasped the chain of it around his neck.
"Thank you." Harry leaned in and kissed him. Draco pulled him close and held him there. They looked at each other for a long moment before Harry passed Draco the invisibility cloak. "Don't forget this." Draco couldn't be seen once he'd led the Death Eaters through to the Room of Requirement, and it was the fastest way to disappear.
"Right, yes." Draco nodded once and stuffed the cloak into his bag.
"Good luck." Harry kissed him again and then Draco was gone.
It was only after the door closed behind him that Harry realized he hadn't said he loved him one last time. He hoped he would have another chance to. But now wasn't the time to be worrying about that. Now he had to get into his position, which was in one of the corridors near the Room of Requirement, which he would run out of when Voldemort himself showed up. The the plan was that he would lead Voldemort to a secluded area while the others dealt with the Death Eaters.
Ron had seemed confident in everyone's ability to outrun the Dark Lord and his followers, using the various hidden passageways and other hiding spots to their advantage. They'd run through the route several times the day before with Professor Snape acting as Voldemort — him being the most knowledgable about the Dark Lord's physical abilities — and each time it had gone off without a hitch.
And yet, Harry worried. How could he not? These were his friends.
He looked down at Dumbledore's wand. He wasn't sure why the headmaster had given it to him, or why he'd been so insistent that Harry take it. But Dumbledore had looked so desperate that Harry felt obligated to use it. That had been Dumbledore's dying wish, after all. But before he left the room, he tucked his own wand into his pocket as well. It had saved him before. There was always chance it could again. And at the end of the day, it was his wand.
…
Ron hefted the Sword of Gryffindor in his hands. He was going to get that snake if it killed him. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that.
He'd felt almost cheated when Blaise had suggested the four of them destroy the diadem together. Relieved, of course, but also a bit cheated. Because Ron knew he could take out a horcrux on his own. Or, at least, he was pretty sure he could. And now he was going to. Unless Pansy beat him to it.
The two of them were waiting in a hidden alcove outside of the Room of Requirement, ready to strike as soon as they saw Nagini. Pansy had a basilisk fang in each hand and her wand tucked into the bun she'd swept her hair up into. If anyone had asked, Ron would have said she looked incredibly sexy. But he probably would have said that most days of the year.
Now wasn't the time to think about how attractive he found his girlfriend, however, because they were in the middle of a battle. There was a near constant stream of Death Eaters exiting the Room of Requirement, going in all directions, lead on by the various students who'd been tasked with spreading them out around the castle so that they would be easier to overpower.
Ron wasn't sure how the battle itself was going. He kept hearing booming noises from around the castle, but he wasn't sure what they meant. For all he knew, they were Fred and George's fireworks. He hoped that's what he was hearing, but he was decently sure he'd heard the clatter of stones falling too, so it seemed more likely that someone was sending powerful spells into the walls.
Then, as Ron watched, Lord Voldemort himself walked out of the Room, his black robes rippling behind him. Ron's breath caught in his throat. He'd known fear — he'd watched his best friend risk his life multiple times — but somehow this was even more terrifying than any of those times had been.
Voldemort was barefoot, and walking slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. Ron felt Pansy shift against him and he leaned down and pressed a silent kiss to her cheek. He felt her nod against his cheek, reassuring him. And still, Ron held his breath as Voldemort stalked past. He didn't let it out again until he'd passed out of sight.
He was so on edge that he almost missed it when one of the Death Eaters held open the door to the Room in order to let Nagini slither out. As it was, the snake made her way past their hiding spot before either of them moved. Pansy elbowed him out of the way and pushed her way out from behind the tapestry, stunning the nearest Death Eater before they had time to react, leaving Ron still hidden, frozen to the spot.
Nagini turned around and stared at Pansy, hissing something that neither of them understood. Pansy frowned and Nagini cocked her head to the side, hissing again. Ron stood, frozen, still in the hiding spot for a long moment. But then Nagini started to move towards Pansy and he found his courage.
"Aah," he yelled as he burst forth. He ran with the sword held aloft above his head and when he reached the snake, he struck without hesitation.
It was harder than he would have expected. He was not sure what he had expected, but the impact jarred his arms as the blade cut through both flesh and bone of the snake. It was such a shock that he dropped the sword. It clattered to the floor, along with the snake's head which rolled a couple of times before coming to a stop in front of Pansy. She made a face as she looked down at it and kicked at it with the heel of her shoe.
"Ew," she said. "But well done."
The jubilation was short lived, however, as another stream of Death Eaters started making its way out of the Room of Requirement. Ron looked at Pansy and she nodded once.
"Give 'em hell," he said, scooping up the sword. Then he ran one direction while Pansy ran the other, shooting spells over her shoulder as she went.
…
He should have expected it, but Harry was still surprised when Lucius Malfoy appeared in the corridor he was in. Harry knew that there'd been a breakout at Azkaban, but even that knowledge hadn't prepared him to see Draco's dad, haggard, with knotted, dirty hair, brandishing a wand at him.
Harry froze, unsure of what to do. Because while Lucius was a Death Eater, he was also Draco's father and Draco cared about him. He was even more surprised, therefore, when Draco appeared a moment later, pulling the invisibility cloak off of himself even as he burst out from behind the tapestry that hid a secret passageway into the corridor.
"Draco." Lucius had clearly not expected to see his son inside the castle. His eyes went wide and it made him look, if anything, even more emaciated, emphasizing the circles under his eyes that were so dark they looked like bruises.
"Father." Draco inclined his head.
"What are you doing here?" Lucius asked.
"Uh," Draco stammered. Harry turned his head to look at him and that's when he heard,
"Expelliarmus." Harry felt Dumbledore's wand fly out of his hand as Lucius Malfoy's spell hit him.
"Get him, Draco," Lucius said, catching Dumbledore's wand. He gestured towards Harry. "Go on." Draco's face twisted in pain as he instead turned his wand on his father.
"Expelliarmus," Draco said, echoing him. Lucius's jaw went slack as the two wands he was holding — his and Dumbledore's — flew out of his hands. Draco caught them both and then added, "Stupefy." Red light shot from his wand and Lucius crumpled, his expression still one of bewilderment.
Harry hurried over to Draco who was staring at his wand as though it had performed the stunning spell of its own accord. He pulled Draco close in a hug.
"Thank you."
"Um."
"That was very brave," he whispered. Draco stiffened in his arms and shook his head.
"No, it wasn't." But Harry just stroked the back of his head and kissed his cheek.
"I love you," he said, squeezing Draco close, glad that he'd found a chance to say it. Just in case.
"I love you too." Draco pressed a quick kiss to his lips and then turned to the prone form of his father. "I'm going to go hide him, so he won't get hurt." Harry nodded. Draco performed a quick levitation spell and then turned back to Harry. He tried to push Dumbledore's wand back into his hands, but Harry shook his head.
"Keep it. I feel more comfortable with my own." Draco frowned for a moment before shrugging and pocketing it. Harry held the tapestry to the side while Draco floated his father into the passageway it concealed.
"Good luck," Draco said. "See you on the other side." Then Harry dropped the tapestry again and he was lost to view.
…
Hermione and Blaise were on the fourth floor, running helter skelter with four Death Eaters on their tails. Hermione's plan was to run to the corridor that contained the swamp, and then dash to the side in the hopes that the Death Eaters would run right into it, not knowing it was there. But they still had a couple of corridors to go before that point.
"Crucio," came a voice from behind them and suddenly Hermione's body felt as though it were on fire. She fell, hard, on the floor, but she didn't register that pain on top of the rest of the fire spreading through her body. A scream ripped itself from her throat and she yelled as she never had before. She was dimly aware of Blaise beside her, but she couldn't see what he was doing. Whatever it was, it must have worked, because a moment later the pain abated.
Hermione let herself lay on the floor for a second — just one — before she pushed herself up and faced the three remaining Death Eaters. The fourth was crumpled against a wall, unconscious.
"Oh," Bellatrix said. "What do we have here?" Her curly black hair was not contained by her hood, but rather streamed out and down her side, making her recognizable even with her mask on. "I know you. You're that mudblood bitch. The one who's friends with Potter." For reasons unknown to Hermione, Bellatrix reached up and pulled her mask off. She smiled at them, her eyes wide and teeth dirty. "Where is the boy?"
"Nowhere you're going to find him," Hermione shot back. She actually had no idea where Harry was. She was pretty sure he was in a corridor on the sixth floor, but she couldn't be sure. Bellatrix raised her wand so quickly that Hermione barely had time to react.
"Avada—"
"—Protego!" she screamed, even while Blaise shot a well placed bombarda at the wall. The windows shattered inward and they took off running again while the Death Eaters were momentarily distracted. They made it to the swamp corridor and Blaise helped swing them both into the alcove to the side, even as Hermione's momentum tried to take her into the swamp. They were rewarded a moment later when the three Death Eaters ran around the corner and fell in, head first with a squelch.
"Who's the muddy one now?" Hermione asked before instantly regretting it. She should have thought of a better line, but it was out there now. "Expelliarmus." Three muddy sticks flew out of the swamp and Hermione caught them, turning her nose up slightly as the mud splattered her robes.
"Incarcerous," Blaise said, tying the Death Eaters, Bellatrix included, together. Then he looked around. He wasn't quite sure what to do now that they'd captured them. He felt a tug at the wand Hermione had handed him and realized that one of the Death Eaters was attempting to wandlessly summon it back. He tightened his grip on it and scowled at them before shooting another set of ropes at them.
"Let us go, mudblood scum," Bellatrix snarled and Blaise rolled his eyes at her. As if that would work.
"No, cousin, I think not," came a voice from the other end of the corridor. Blaise and Hermione looked up to see an auror in full battle regalia coming towards them. Hermione recognized her, though she wasn't sure Blaise did, so she leaned over and whispered,
"That's Nymphadora Tonks."
"I know her from the Order meetings," Blaise whispered back and it was all Hermione could do not to slap a hand to her forehead. Of course Blaise knew who Tonks was.
"I wonder when they arrived." According to the plan, the Order couldn't start arriving until word had been sent that there were Death Eaters in the castle. Colin must have sounded the alarm.
"Dunno," Blaise said. "But I'm glad they are."
…
"It's just you and me, Tom," Harry said. It was true. He and Voldemort were alone in a corridor on the sixth floor. Behind Harry was a dead end. Ron's scheme had worked — Voldemort had followed Harry as he'd run through the castle, ignoring the rest of the students. And now here they were, just the two of them.
It was time. It was the fight Harry had been preparing for his entire life. He felt oddly calm, even as he stared into Voldemort's red, slitted eyes. No matter what happened, it would all be over soon.
Harry hoped that the others had taken care of the snake by this point — no one had gotten word to him about Nagini, but he had faith that Ron and Pansy would stop at nothing. He felt a moment's pity for Nagini, but she had tied her life to Voldemort, so there was only so much sympathy he could feel.
"I think I shall enjoy this," Voldemort said, a cruel smile twisting his already ugly face. "Avada Kedavra." Green light shot from the end of his wand. Harry threw up the strongest shield charm that he could and the light bounced way, shattering his shield. Harry stumbled. The spell had taken more out of him than he'd anticipated.
"Impressive," Voldemort said, taking a step closer. "You must really be something if your shield can deflect a killing curse."
"What? Can't yours?" Harry taunted.
"You insolent wretch." Voldemort took several steps towards him. Harry took several steps back. Voldemort snarled and raised his wand again, firing off another killing curse. Harry ducked and it hit the wall behind him, which exploded in a spray of rock and dust. He barely had time to move before Voldemort shot off another curse. This time it hit a torch and sent embers spewing down on top of Harry. One particularly large one burned a hole into his sleeve, and Harry felt the piece of cinder sear its way down his arm, leaving a stinging burn behind. Before Harry had time to react, Voldemort yelled,
"Avada Kadavra," again.
And then it was like time itself had slowed down. There was green light coming towards him but there was nothing he could but watch it as it reached him. This was it. This was the end. He had failed.
Harry dimly heard a yell of,
"No!" before the jet of light vanished, sucked into some unseen oblivion. Voldemort frowned at Harry and lowered his wand. He stared at it with a look of confusion on his face.
"Is this more twin core nonsense?" Voldemort asked. "I don't understand. This is a new wand."
But Harry wasn't listening. With a sickening jolt, he realized what must have happened. He dropped to a crouch and began scrabbling around on the floor before him. After a moment, he felt the smooth material of the invisibility cloak and quickly pulled it away. Draco was sprawled on top of part of it, one leg trapped under him at an unnatural angle. His eyes were wide and unseeing.
Harry's legs gave out and he slid sideways onto the floor next to Draco. Without thinking, he reached over and pulled Draco's lifeless torso onto his lap and began smoothing down his soft, blond hair. It was only then that he realized he was repeating the word "No," over and over.
How could this have happened? Draco was wearing the protective necklace Dumbledore had given him. It was supposed to have kept him safe. How could he be dead? Harry couldn't think. His mind was filled with panicked static.
Voldemort was still staring at him, though now his face was twisted in derision.
"What's this?" he asked. "The Malfoy boy? He gave his life for you? But he was the one who let us in." Voldemort clicked his tongue. "No matter. He's dead now. And you will be shortly."
"Fuck off," Harry said absently, pulling Draco farther up his lap so that he could cradle him. He pressed a kiss to Draco's cheek. He was still warm.
If Harry just closed his eyes, he could pretend Draco was still alive, still with him.
He could pretend that things hadn't just entirely gone to shit.
He could pretend that they were back in the Room of Requirement curled up together on the couch.
"As touching as this is," Voldemort said, cutting into Harry's thoughts. "I think it's about time I ended you once and for all."
"Do it," Harry said, not looking up. He kept staring at Draco instead, as if staring into his lifeless eyes would change what had happened. "I don't care. I'll go willingly." He was numb. What difference would it make if he died now? Draco had gone and with him had gone all Harry's future joy. He clutched Draco to him and didn't even flinch when he heard the words,
"Avada Kadavra," again. And then everything went black.
It's not over. I promise.
I'll do my best to get the next chapter out soon!