Chapter 17- The Duel

~*~ We are nearing the end of this saga (*sniff* my first fan fic *sniff*) but there are still a few things that need to be sorted out. Lucius Malfoy for one! Anyway here is chapter 17, I hope you all like!

~*~

Draco appeared suddenly in his room at Hogwarts. He had created the spot next to his bed in his fifth year so he could apparate and disapparate at will. It was the only place in the Hogwarts grounds where you could do such a thing and he was very proud of himself for breaking through Dumbledore's magic. However there was no time to stand and gloat, as soon as his feet touched the ground he was off, racing through the common room scattering Slytherin pupils as he went. He had just reached the top of the stairs to Dumbledore's office when the door was thrown open and the headmaster was there. Draco was obviously a little apprehensive at seeing him again even though he knew now that their last encounter had been an illusion. All his fears were laid to rest, however, as Dumbledore smiled a smile of pure relief.

"Headmaster, I…" Draco began but he was cut off.

"I know, I know. Where is she now?"

Draco's respite stopped abruptly and he was overwhelmed by a sense of panic.

"She's still with them, Dumbledore we have to stop the death eaters. Hermione and I have done the preliminaries needed to apparate together and so we thought…"

Dumbledore stopped him short once again.

"You save Hermione and I'll deal with the death eaters."

"Right!" Draco turned to go back to his dormitory but Dumbledore stopped him.

"Mr Malfoy, you surely didn't think yours was the only appartaion place in Hogwarts, did you?" His eyes twinkled.

Draco almost blushed. 'Of course Dumbledore would have a means of apparition too!' he scolded himself.

They went into Dumbledore's office and Draco suddenly felt very nervous. 'Merlin, I hope Hermione is okay. If she's not…' he didn't finish the thought because he knew there was no way he was going to live without her. Dumbledore laid his hand on Draco's shoulder and although the Slytherin shrugged it off embarrassedly he really was pleased the headmaster seemed to know what he was going through.

***

There was a shocked silence after Hermione's statement broken eventually by Lucius.

"What do you mean, mudblood girl?" he said putting one foot into the ring.

Hermione's eyes suddenly filled with a blood lust and she lunged at the death eater. She was about to reach him when he realised what was going on and pulled his foot back outside the circle hurriedly. Hermione shook her head, she was slightly perturbed at the level of hatred she had felt and she doubted that all of it was due to the curse.

"I'll get her!" Goyle yelled out stupidly. He grabbed his wand, aimed it at Hermione and yelled "Crucio!". Hermione screamed and ducked but there was no need as the spell seemed to bounce off when it hit the edge of the circle. Hermione looked up confused and saw that the entire congregation was staring at her in astonishment.

"What did you do?" Lucius yelled.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders as she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. "When did you put a protection spell on the ring?" Lucius continued screaming at her. Hermione looked at him and laughed.

"Poor Lucius!" she choked "You can't come in the ring because I will kill you and you can't send spells through the ring because there is some sort of shield. Looks like two underage wizards have defeated you!" she threw back her head and let the pure and beautiful sound of her laughter flood the arena. Lucius looked defeated for a minute then he too laughed.

"Stupid girl. I'll just release the curse!" and with that he placed his hands over his eyes and yelled "Reverso Hypnto! Reverso Hypnto!"

There were two loud pops to Hermione's left and she stopped her nigh hysterical laughing to look around. She almost burst into tears (AN I said almost!) when she saw Draco and Dumbledore standing nest to her. The curse had been lifted just in time! Draco saw her flushed face and the tears in her eyes from her laughing and grabbed her hands.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry. I thought the protection spell I put on would work; I never would have left you alone if I thought it wouldn't. What did they do to you?"

"That was your protection spell? How did you do it? Never mind, I'm fine Draco. They didn't do anything to me, though they tried!" she added shooting Lucius a triumphant look. However, Lucius didn't see it because his eyes were fixed on Dumbledore.

"Ah Dumbledore, so nice to see you! I would stay and chat but I have something to sort out with my son first."

"Don't be ridiculous, Lucius, you know I'm not going to let you near the boy." Dumbledore thundered.

Draco let go of Hermione's hands and stepped forward.

"No headmaster let us duel. I must finish this once and for all…"

***

Hermione shook her head when Dumbledore looked at her.

"He's going to do it." She told him. "Don't try and stop him, it won't work." Draco looked over at her, gratitude shining in his eyes. She ran over and hugged him fiercely. "Don't you dare get hurt, Draco." She whispered into his ear. "Don't you dare!" Draco gave her a quick squeeze and whispered:

"Anything for you, Hermione." Before releasing her and giving her a slight push towards Dumbledore. She strode back to Dumbledore with her head held high and together they walked towards the surrounding death eaters. Dumbledore smiled a very deceiving smile at them and with a quick flick of his wand murmured:

"Petrificus totalus." Every single member of the audience went still and the headmaster smiled in satisfaction. "That should keep them quiet for the time being, don't you agree Miss Granger?" Hermione nodded but kept her eyes fixed on Draco and Lucius who were circling each other warily.

"Why doesn't Lucius just curse him?" she asked Dumbledore, confused.

"I took the liberty of evening up the odds." He smiled producing the older Malfoy's wand. Hermione grinned and gave him a quick hug.

"Thankyou." She whispered before turning back to the rotating figures. She could see Lucius's lips moving but she couldn't hear what he was saying. Suddenly Draco screamed:

"NO!" in a voice full of pain and despair then he leapt towards his father. There was a sudden flash of bright green light and Hermione stumbled back as a force of some sort smacked into her. When her vision cleared she saw two figures crumpled on the ground, 'God' she whispered, 'No'. Hermione tried to run to them but Dumbledore was holding her back.

"Let me go!" she screamed, fighting him, "Let me go to him. Draco! DRACO…!"

***

~*~ Blimey, another cliffie. Oops, I really didn't think it was going to be one! Never mind you are all getting used to it by now, aren't you?! My thankyous are as follows:

 JudgeDP: Hermione hasn't cried for about 3 chapters. Yay! There weren't really any games as such but it was a cool thing for her to say so I added it! Thankyou for constantly reviewing!

Icy Stormz: You were right, it was supposed to happen. I haven't really updated that fast but it is quite fast for me! Here is another chapter which I hope you will enjoy. Thankyou.

Blue: I'm so happy you loved it and that you want to know what happens. Thankyou thankyou thankyou!

Wengardia: Thankyou, here is more.

Ilovesqual: Just a question do you mean Squall Leonhart out of ff8?! I love that game! Your review was so stupendously nice! I'm always worried that my story gets a little boring so thankyou saying it didn't get so. I'm so flattered that you stayed up late finishing my story. Thankyou so very much!

I lick chicken fingers: I like your name and your review, it made me laugh. I have kind of hurried and this is the end result, I hope you enjoy!

Madame Padfoot: Firstly I would like to say that I am loving your story 'Love, life and quidditch' and can you please put up chapter 24 soon?! Secondly I would like to thank you for reviewing (obviously!) Don't we all love Draco when he is fluffy?! Thankyou.

Lav: Well I don't think I want to be responsible for your death so I will write more! The plan isn't particularly good but it seemed to have worked! Thanks for reviewing so nicely!

Calypso in love: Thankyou so much for your opinion. I think you might have convinced me but I'll just have to see how the story turns out. I love Ron to pieces too and that's why I want him in my story! I hope you liked this chapter and that it also wasn't too confusing.

Smirk!!!: Thank you very much, you fantastic person! So many compliments in one review! I'm fairly sure my next story will be D/Hr and thankyou so much for your view. I felt so happy after reading our review and your name reminded me of Draco!

Rory: The real games are Draco vs. Lucius. I hope you like that idea. No need to wait any more, thankyou so much for reviewing, you are really great!

The New Kid: Thankyou so much for saying so! And I will keep writing!

CCMontgomery: I can't have one of my reviewers go crazy now can I?! I think this chapter took four days so I didn't get it up in time for your few days. Sorry! I hope you like anyway, thankyou!

Blackroseangel69: Thankyou very much and here is more!

Hazeleyez: No need to thank me, I thank YOU remember?! Yes I know the routine and I'm trying to stick to it! Sir!

Gaille: hey ferret! This chapter took not too long to get up so I hope you didn't have to gnaw anything with impatience! Thankyou Allison, you are great.

G*ness: and I REALLY love you! Thankyou so much for your reviews. You can never have too much fluff, hey?!

Harry-potter-fanfic-writer: it was great to have your opinion so thankyou very much. I love those types of stories too so I would really like to try my hand at it! Thankyou again.

Mia Sizemore (Draco's one and only) : I'm so happy you liked it and it was so nice of you to review twice! I will continue, but only because you asked so nicely! So if you are Draco's one and only where does that leave poor Hermione?! Thankyou for reviews (have I already said that?!)

And that is all for now people but my plea for help still stands as to what should be in my next story and by now you probably already know that: REVIEWS ARE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!!! Thankyou and have a nice day!