With Darkness There'll Be Light

Fourteen - Light Shines Through

It was slow motion as Voldemort ducked out of the way of the streaming jets of light. Lightning struck the ground all over the place, rumbling at people's feet. Curses flew in every direction, some of which were quite absurd. Fred or George Weasley (it was hard to tell which one through all the clutter of dead bodies) had gotten a little overzealous and cursed a Death Eater to have a very odd, yet fashionable looking, hat atop his bald head. If the situation had not been so severe, there would have been a lot of laughing at this image.

As the Dark Lord dived, he flew into Hermione, knocking her over. Seamus did not let go of her hand even as Voldemort roughly shoved her aside and pulled his own wand from her pocket.

Voldemort jumped up, his wand pointed at her as she cowered on the ground, trembling.

"Say your last words," he growled, his voice barely audible over all the shouts of agony and screams of spells. A Death Eater fell, dead, beside her and she skirted away from it, dropping Seamus' hand.

Seamus, busy in combat with three Death Eaters, didn't have time to notice. But Draco, who had been keeping close watch on his own battles as well as Hermione's, did. He rushed to her side and everything else in the room failed to exist.

"Draco," she whimpered as Voldemort stepped closer and pressed the wand tight against her throat. He stepped back, ready to perform the worst of the Unforgivables.

Voldemort's eyes flashed with malevolence, as he hissed his next words, "Avada-----"

Draco leaped into the air and dove on top of Hermione's cowering body.

"---Kedavra."

He landed with a thud on top of her and she squirmed beneath him, "DRACO!"

Harry, a few feet away, rushed over. "DRACO!" He yelled, going down onto his knees in order to help Hermione turn Draco over. Draco's eyes were closed tight, his hand clenched around his wand, his mouth set in a stony frown.

May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be your journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun

Harry turned his head upwards to be met with a wand in his face. His eyes were misty, but filled with anger. He swiftly kicked his leg out, knocking Voldemort down into a pile of his own robes which billowed beneath him. Hermione began sobbing over Draco's lifeless body. Ron, Seamus, Fred and George continued to knock Death Eaters down with various curses and also made good use of their knives…which proved to be very useful to killing more than one Death Eater at once, therefore making the numbers quite even in retrospect.

Harry quickly stood up, towering over Voldemort's crumpled form. He pulled his wand from his bony fingers and put his foot on Voldemort's slowly rising chest.

"Do YOU have any last words?" Harry asked, his face contorted in hatred.

"You're not going to kill me, Harry," Voldemort said, sounding throttled.

"Why?" Harry demanded flatly, "Because you're my father?"

"No, stupid boy," Voldemort replied, coughing slightly as Harry pressed his foot tight against Voldemort's throat. "Because you are not like me."

"You're right about that," agreed Harry, "But you've just killed one of my best friends…and I'm not about to let you get away with it." Harry paused for dramatic effect, "Oh, and you killed my Mum and Dad---"

"You do hold grudges don't you," stated Voldemort dully.

Harry glared at him, "Because of you I had to live with the worst Muggles known to humanity…I was locked in a cupboard until I was eleven! And, for God's sake, Draco was locked in a dungeon until he was that old. I can't even begin to list all the trouble you've caused everyone! Do you even KNOW!? Do you even CARE?!"

"No," Voldemort responded, severely, "I do not care."

Harry's green eyes became suddenly and decidedly darker, "Wrong answer," he hissed, barely audible.


Voldemort shook his head slightly, his red eyes still gleaming with unmistakable malice, "You won't kill me, Potter. You don't have it in you," he spit callously.

"I don't?" Harry asked, his tone of voice not changing one bit. "A nice little wager would be splendid…but I simply haven't the time. So, why don't we just see what I have in me, shall we?"

He pressed the wand harder against Voldemort's chest and opened his mouth to say the words that had been sitting on his tongue forever. Then, suddenly, with a jerky movement, he pulled a long knife from his belt and plunged it into Voldemort's chest. Black liquid splattered all over the place, drenching Harry and the freezing stone floor.

Harry took Voldemort's wand in both his hands and snapped it maliciously against his knee. He heard a satisfying crack and then cast it aside just as Voldemort's body disappeared in a puff of very murky gray smoke which enveloped Hermione and Draco's body like a blanket before slowly fading from existence.

Mornie utúlie (darkness has come)
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantie (darkness has fallen)
A promise lives within you now

He turned around to see Hermione whimpering against Draco's chest. "He saved me, Harry!" She wailed, her voice sounded haunted and aggrieved. Harry dropped down beside her just as the clatter around them died away.

There were only two Death Eaters left, both of which were quite bloodied up already. Seamus was laying on the ground some feet away, clutching at his arm which had been hacked at by some sort of odd limb slashing curse which he would fix as soon as the pain subsided; Ron was mopping up his sweaty forehead, and wiping away the blood that was falling from his broken nose and split lip; Fred and George were finishing off the Death Eaters, both breathing very hard.

"We have to get out of here," muttered Harry, his hand on Hermione's shoulder. "We need to get Ginny to a hospital…" his voice broke off as he watched Hermione rock back and forth in anguish. "I'm sure there are more Death Eaters on the way…and probably some Dementors."

"He---he----he---died----to---save---me!" She blubbered, in between heart wrenching sobs. Harry pulled her into a tight embrace. She yelled at Harry's thick robe, "Why did he do that!? I was ready to die! I didn't care!"

"He loved you," said Harry simply, patting her hair awkwardly, "There doesn't need to be another reason."

Two heavy thumps announced that Fred and George were finally done in their respective battles. They rushed to Harry and Hermione while Seamus and Ron crawled distressingly over.


"Is he dead?" Fred asked, his voice quiet and sad.

Harry started to nod, but noticed Draco's body on the ground between the group. His chest was rising so very slowly that it was hardly noticeable. "Oh my, God," Harry whispered, pulling Hermione away from him so she'd look. "Hermione, he's alive."

Hermione's tears subsided slightly as she peered through her fingers at Draco's body. He was undoubtedly breathing.

"How? How…how in the hell did he---? Didn't he get Avada Kedavra'd!?" Ron hollered, very confused as he ripped his sleeve and applied the piece of fabric to his nose in order to stop the blood flow. Fred took care of Seamus' hacked limb with a complex healing spell that his mother had taught him at an early age.

Draco's breathing got progressively more steady as if he were coming slowly back to the land of the living.

Harry gaped at him, just as everyone else did. "I don't have any idea what's going on," he said softly, his hands slipping away from Hermione. She had stopped crying and was now waiting with a blank look on her face.


Seamus was leaning against the wall, panting madly with large tears spilling from his eyes. He was beyond consolable, not that anyone noticed. He was crying for his best friend…and he was crying for himself. Seamus never wanted to be a murderer. He had obviously picked the wrong profession.

A low moaning emitted from the corner of the room and Fred dashed to his little sister's side. "GINNY!" He yelled, dropping down beside her.

Ginny opened her eyes just slightly, "Fred…George?"

"Fred," he affirmed, before turning to the huddled group, "George! Ron! Ginny's okay!"

Ron and George's attention snapped away from Draco as they rushed to their sister's side. The Weasleys proceeded to have a little reunion in which Fred performed some sort of spell on Ginny to strengthen her and heal the gashes in her back.

Ginny was not conscious for very long, she blacked out only after five minutes. Hermione watched everything with an impassive expression on her face.

"Harry," moaned Ron urgently, "Harry, we have to get out of here."

"I know, but I don't know what to do about Draco."

"Leave him," Ron insisted, helping Fred to pick their sister up. Ron cast a dark look around the room. "I'm taking her outside where the wireless will work again. I'm going to call for backup…and some medi-wizards."

Harry waved him away absently and the Weasleys departed, praying they knew the way out.

"I don't think he's truly dead, Potter," muttered Draco, his eyes still closed.


Hermione stared down at him, unable to move. She'd stopped breathing, but hadn't noticed.

"What?" Harry asked, "What are you talking about?"

"You killed his body…but his spirit is probably wandering around right now, looking for a host." Draco winced as he tried to move his right arm. "DAMMIT."

"Draco----" Harry murmured in astonishment, "How are you alive?"

"What a wonderful question, Potter. Let me pretend this agonizing pain is gone and I shall tell you the entire story." Draco tried to shift his position on the hard floor, but groaned in pain again.

"Well, you seem okay to me," replied Harry bleakly, "Back to your old sarcastic self."

Hermione's lip was trembling and she was shivering, "Draco…" Her voice trailed off as she bit her bottom lip, unsure of what to say.

His eyes fully opened and he looked up at her. He was still emotionless, and he said nothing to her. His eyes held hers for a few moments, but his attention drifted slowly back to Harry. "I didn't die because he didn't want to kill me."

"He certainly seemed to want to kill you before," Harry retorted, helping Draco to lean against the wall behind them. Hermione was biting her fingers feverously, which was odd considering she had perfectly magically manicured nails and never bit them before now.

Seamus moved over several feet and then stepped towards Harry, "I'm going outside…" He waved his hand around listlessly, "I have to…I have to get out of here."

Harry nodded, "We'll be out as soon as I can get Hermione to conjure a stretcher…I can't remember the spell."

"Very unlike you, Potter," Draco commented. "As I was saying," he glanced at Hermione, "Anytime with that stretcher, Granger."

She jumped back in alarm and then waved Gemma's wand above him, muttering something they couldn't hear. Seconds later Draco was suspended in mid air on a very sturdy looking stretcher. She desperately wanted to discard the wand of the fallen Death Eater, but then she would have been left to her own devices, which frightened her more than Voldemort's cold, red eyes.

Harry put his hand on the side of the stretcher and pulled it towards the opening in the stone where the door had been blasted away. Hermione followed along behind them, slowly. She moved with indolence and a look of vagueness on her face.

"He didn't want to kill you." Harry said, steering the stretcher away from the wall it seemed to want to collide with.

"No," replied Draco, "I heard his voice in my head…mental telepathy. Did you know he had that ability? Most Slytherins do, of course, though they don't realize it until they are at least eighteen…by Slytherins, I mean a descendent of Salazar, not just students in the house…anyway," he waved his hand dismissively, "He was asking me if I was in love with…with…Granger, and I didn't reply because I don't have that ability yet. But…he seemed to know what I was going to do, even though I had no idea I was going to do it."

"You mean jump in front of the curse," stated Harry evenly.

"Yeah," Draco said, and shrugged. "I don't now HOW he knew…I didn't even know until I landed that I had done that. So, to make a long story short ("Too late," muttered Harry) I got hit with the curse, but he obviously hadn't put all his heart and soul into it for I didn't die. I was only knocked out. He didn't want to kill me, as I said before."

"Most people do want to kill you," Harry said unequivocally, "Why wouldn't the Dark Lord of all that is evil, want to?"

Draco chortled, sounding like his old self, "I figured you'd have had that bit figured out…was I wrong about your intellect?"

Harry looked at him blankly and muttered, "Watch your step," to a very silent Hermione as they ascended the stairs he'd managed to find in the dark passageway. He had a feeling his feet knew where he was going, even though he, himself, didn't. "I don't have a clue what you are going on about."


Draco put a very cold hand onto Harry's forearm and Harry stopped dead in his tracks, nearly making Hermione (who was not paying any attention) ram into the stretcher and fall down the flight of steps they'd just conquered. Draco stared at him, trying to figure out if he was telling the truth.

"Harry," Draco's voice was so quiet and sincere that Hermione's head shot up and she stared at the back of his head in surprise, "I'm Slytherin's heir."

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A/N: Because of the rewrite, I haven't put any author's notes in the chapters….but this chapter needs one. First of all, thanks very much to all of you who reviewed. I appreciate every single one of you and without sounding like a very fake Britney Spears when she's thanking fans….just, thanks. LOL.

Answers to all the questions plaguing your (and my) mind are coming up.