Author's Note: I originally had this horridly written final battle. I don't want that anymore. I cannot write battle scenes. It's a fact. So, I am going to cheat through this. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 9: The End of Evil
Cordelia shot straight up in her bed. Suddenly, she felt dark power enveloping the castle. She threw on her robes and ran out of the room to get to Harry. She barreled into the seventh year boys' dormitory to find that he had already awakened and was getting ready to run and get her. "We should go to Dumbledore." Cordelia suggested. Harry was already a step ahead of her and had his trusty invisibility cloak.
"Just in case we run into anybody before we get to his office." Cordelia nodded and the two disappeared as he wrapped it around them. "Ron?" The red head had been watching, wondering what he should do.
"Yes, Harry?"
"I want you to wake everyone in the Griffindor tower and make sure that everyone is aware of the danger. Protect the younger students." With that Harry and Cordelia swiftly exited through the portrait hole. They made it to the statue that lead to Dumbledore's office to find the wizard there already. They threw off the cloak.
"Did you feel it too?" Cordelia asked the Headmaster. Before he could answer, an eruption of yelling erupted down the hall.
"Harry, Cordelia I want you to go to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw dormitories and wake everyone. I have a feeling that Slytherin won't need the warning." Without another word spoken the two ran off to do their task.
"I'll take Ravenclaw and you get Hufflepuff." Cordelia ordered. As Harry went to turn down the appropriate corridor, she shouted something else. "Be careful, Harry!"
Meanwhile…
Draco heard the voice of his lover shout to Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort had given him the task of rounding up both Harry and Cordelia. He had some unfinished business with both of these youths. Draco's hands were shaking. He didn't dare go against his orders, but it brought pain to think that he'd have to hand the love of his life over to the hands of someone who wouldn't only kill her, but would torture her too. Figuring that they were off to warn the students, Draco knew that she was going to either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. He chose Ravenclaw and set swiftly on his path.
Voldemort knew that Lucius Malfoy's son had a soft spot for Cordelia Jacobs. It was much like the soft spot that Osiris Jacobs had for Isabella O'Leary. To make sure that the little Malfoy completed his task, he sent Lucius to track the progress. That meant that Lucius wasn't far away from his son.
Cordelia stepped away from the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. They were all awake and ready to fight if need be. She looked up from the floor directly down the hall to see Draco. This was her worst nightmare come true. They both seemed to be frozen in their respected places on the floor. Then she took a quick right and ran down the corridor, which consequently ended with the entrance to a large, empty room. She ran into it hoping that there was going to be another way to exit this room. There wasn't. Draco had chased her down the corridor and now trapped her into this room. Lucius wasn't far behind.
"Draco, you don't want to do this." She thought that she would try to talk him down. She saw the hesitance in his eyes. "I love you."
"Don't say that." He stepped further into the room and drew his wand. "It's just going to make this harder." Tears started to form in his eyes.
"So, you have chosen your side. I'm sorry it isn't mine, but you know that I won't just surrender. You will have to fight me Draco and I am more powerful than you. I will kill you if I have to." Tears were streaming down her face. Suddenly she noticed the looming figure of Lucius in the doorway. "This is all your fault!" She screamed at Lucius. "I want nothing more than your death." With just those words, she pushed her bare hand in his direction and he flew up in the air and back down.
Draco ran to his father. "Are you all right, father?" But he was already dead. "Father?" There was no movement. "You killed him." Draco was in shock, but angry. He may not have been his father's number one fan, but that didn't mean he wanted him dead. "You'll pay for that." He drew his wand again. "Expelliarmus!" (A/N Is that how it's spelled?) This caused Cordelia to fly back against the wall, but she wasn't armed to begin with. She was doing magic without a wand.
"Draco, don't make me hurt you." She was still sitting on the floor. He stood there unwavering, so she took her hands and held them before her, causing her body to lift off of the ground and making Draco unable to move. "I told you Draco. Please don't make me do this. Please don't make me relive my mother's greatest mistake."
"I can't return without you and Harry. It's either you kill me or the Dark Lord does." He was still angry with her for killing his father, but he also realized that he still loved her greatly. He realized that he wanted to die by her hands and not those of Voldemort's. She would be gentle to him.
"What if you ran?" She was looking for any excuse to not kill him.
"I couldn't possibly escape the wrath of Lord Voldemort."
"You could if you had my power."
"I can't just nonchalantly take your power." What exactly was she thinking? Was the stress of this situation affecting her that much?
"I can give you a piece. In the O'Leary line, we have gained the ability to hide ourselves. In the Jacobs line, we have gained the ability to transfer power. I can give you that gift and you can be free." She deep blue eyes were pleading with him.
"What does that mean for us?"
"When the darkness lifts and once you have really realized what goodness is and what love is, you will return the power to me. It's an ancient magic. All I have to do is bind those conditions into a symbol and it will be bound for all eternity."
Draco nodded and she performed the task causing a bright blue light to fill the room. Her ring glowed, as it became the symbol. Then it dimmed down. "I am not going to be naive and think that you'll be back soon. I can feel the darkness subsiding, but you still have a lot to learn. I just hope that you learn it before it's too late." With that he disappeared. This bit of magic she just executed weakened Cordelia, but she knew that she needed to help the others.
However, it was a losing battle. Fatigue overtook her entire body and she fell into a deep sleep in the room. She came to a week later in the hospital wing. In the bed next to her, was the sleeping form of Harry Potter. Ron and Hermione had taken the chairs between the two beds. Cordelia reached over and touched Ron's arm.
"What the!?!?" Ron screamed causing Hermione to jump. Both looked over to the cause of the scare. Cordelia watched in confusion.
"Didn't mean to frighten you, Ron." She smiled feebly and tried to sit up. Her mind was still trying to separate her dreams from reality.
"No problem. We didn't think either of you would ever wake up." Ron stole a glance over in Harry's direction. Noticing this, Cordelia looked to the other bed. Harry was sleeping with an odd kind of peace to him. It didn't seem natural.
"What happened?" Cordelia asked.
"It's a long story." Hermione started.
"I've all the time in the world right now. Guys, I really need to know what's real and what I what I dreamt. Right now, I can't separate the two."
The tale that came afterward was something of a surprise to her. Harry and Voldemort had faced off, matching each other spell to spell. Cordelia was inwardly impressed with her friend. No one really knew what happened, except for Harry, Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore. Dumbledore had assured everyone that the Dark Lord's reign had ended. Harry had endured a lot and fallen into a deep sleep. Everyone was told that when the time was right, he would awaken.
"What happened to the Death Eaters?"
Ron was the first to reply. "The ones that didn't die, were sent to Azkaban to face trial."
"They found Lucius Malfoy in the same room they found you." Hermione piped in. "He was close to death. Right now, he is sitting in Azkaban. They don't know what happened to Draco." Hermione searched her friend's eyes and rather than seeing devastation, she saw hope.
"That's good. I hope he changes for the better." Her mind went back to her dreams. The part where her parents came to her probably didn't happen then. However, no one would actually know. It was so vivid.
Cordelia was lying on the floor as consciousness slipped away. Another strange blue light flooded the room and two other people joined her. They came and kneeled by her. Oddly comforted by their presence, she tried to talk to them. However, she couldn't. Instead, they spoke to her.
"You have made me proud, my beautiful daughter. You have done something I couldn't." The woman said. "You let the man you loved live. You gave him a chance."
Cordelia smiled at the realization that her parents had come to her. Then the one she assumed was her father bent down and kissed her forehead. He seemed much different from his pictures.
"Thanks to you, I have been freed from the darkness. I wish happiness for you. The end of evil is happening right as we speak. We will see you much later. Goodbye."
With that, her parents disappeared with the same blue light and she fell into deep sleep.
A month had passed before Harry had woken up. He stayed in the hospital wing at Hogwarts, while all the students went home for the summer. Ron and Hermione even had to go home. So, when he woke up, Cordelia was the only one at his side. She was fiddling with the silver band on her finger. She seemed very different.
Author's Note: All right. Now on to the last chapter.