1 Chapter 13

Draco shivered as the biting cold swept through him. He asked himself again why he was doing this, and came up with the same answer as usual. It wasn't for him; it was for the rest of the wizarding world. It was to pay back the world for some of the things his father had done. He looked around him. Everyone else was looking gloomy, as if they knew they were just about to die. Christian and Harry were sitting in silence, holding hands and staring into space. Sirius was pacing, and all the others he knew were standing in a huddle. He could see other wizards he didn't know, who he presumed were just there to fight, who weren't special like they were. The only person who wasn't looking gloomy was Hermione, who was standing on her own, looking oddly triumphant. Draco smiled bitterly. Trust her to revel in this.

Suddenly, Draco heard a strange thumping noise, getting steadily louder. He looked out over the 'battlefield' and paled at what he saw. The thumping noise was being created by hundreds of Death Eaters, marching slowly towards them. Draco took control.

"Up, everybody up!" he shouted. "Get in line, you know where you're supposed to be!" Everyone around him looked at him in surprise, then did what they were told. In a few moments, everyone was standing in line, wands at the ready. The Death Eaters were getting closer. A few owls were perched in the trees above, ready to send letters to families informing them of the deaths of their relatives when the deaths started. Draco saw Harry swallow, and had to turn away. Instead, he focused on the approaching Death Eaters. Now they were close enough to see the masks on each Death Eater's face, all uniformly chilling. Draco felt his heart speed up.

"Charge!" shouted someone from down the line, and everyone moved forwards. Immediately, lines of green light sped out from the Death Eaters' wands. Draco saw someone near him crumple and fall down, and concentrated all his anger.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted, pointing his wand at the nearest Death Eater, who fell over backwards, his mask still keeping the same lack of expression. He heard a cry from somewhere near him, and despite himself, looked over to see what had happened.

Harry was kneeling over Christian, who was lying limp and lifeless on the floor. He rushed over, and with the help of Harry, dragged him backwards out of the line of fire. Harry was crying helplessly, muttering 'no, no,' over and over again.

"Harry!" he said, urgently. "Harry!" Harry looked up, his eyes filled with tears and his arms around Christian. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Christian was a wonderful person." Standing up, he beckoned Hermione over, who rushed to Harry's side. With one last look at Christian, Draco moved off to send an owl.