Chapter 23- Facing Voldemort

The night was filled with horrific screams as the terror that had suddenly rained down upon their majestic evening began to approach. Students were crying and running in every direction frantically trying to flee the attack. The Dementors had been driven away, but they now faced a new threat. Death eaters! How were they able to get past the wards?

The battle began before anyone knew what to do. Stunning and defensive spells were shot in every which direction, and the night was filled with brilliant colors of light that were emitted from the dueling wands. They watched as red, yellow, and green bolts of light shot through the air as each spell was recited.  Draco knew that this situation would only get worse before it could get better. He looked over at his boyfriend. Harry was in a great deal of pain, and currently had his hands pressed tightly against his forehead trying to block out the endless throbbing.

Draco watched in shock as he saw Voldemort and his followers materialize from thin air.  They weren't wearing any invisibility cloaks, so they must have used a vanishing spell. They were draped in black robes, and everyone but Voldemort had their faces shielded behind their trademark masks.  The ominous group stalked toward the six friends seemingly unconcerned about the drama going on all around them.

Draco moved instinctively closer to Harry, and could feel the small boy's frame trembling. Harry was still whimpering from the pain that was exuding from his scar because the Dark Lord was near. Draco then noticed that Ron had stepped in front of them protectively. His tall stature all but obscured their view of their attackers.

"So Harry Potter, we meet again," said Voldemort as he gave a wicked cackle. With a wave of his wand, Voldemort cast Ron's body aside so that he could see Harry properly. Ron hit the ground a short distance away.

Draco looked around at the battle field wondering if all hope was lost. The rest of the death eaters had already managed to stun some of the adults supervising the affair, and they were quickly advancing on the others. Apparently, none of the adults had seen Voldemort, or if they had, they were to busy dueling with the death eaters to do much about it.  Not knowing what else to do, Draco issued the only order he could think of to his new friends, "Run!"

Ginny and Neville grabbed each other's hands and made a run for it, but they hadn't gotten very far when their bodies fell to the ground as they are both hit with petrificus totalus spell. Oddly enough, they were still holding hands in their statue like state.

Ron and Hermione desperately tried to disarm the death eaters that were approaching them, but they were quickly placed in a full body bind.  They slowly sank to their knees and fell to the ground, anxiously trying to resist the invisible bonds that were clenching around their bodies.

Draco tried to protect Harry from the death eaters by using a disarming spell, but he was knocked off his feet by a blow to the back of his head. He felt himself being punched and kicked a few times by an unseen attacker, and he felt himself grasped roughly from behind.  One of the death eaters had seized both of his arms in a manner in which he was rendered helpless. Both arms were cruelly twisted up behind his back. He struggled desperately for several minutes to get loose, but to no avail. The man holding the blond haired boy was much stronger than him and was now forcing him to his knees. Draco was sure that he had bumped into the man's death eater mask during the struggle, and wondered if it had been dislodged from his head. Craning his neck to see who had captured him, he gasped in shock to see that it was none other than Lucius Malfoy, his very own father.

"I am very disappointed in you, Draco," he scolded. "You could have joined us and been on the winning side. Instead you decided to befriend our enemy. Why?" he asked angrily.

"Because I hate you father. I don't want to be anything like you. LET ME GO!" With Draco no longer by his side, Harry had fallen to the ground again. He could see that Harry was still in a lot of pain, and that Voldemort was approaching him now that his protectors had been cast aside.  The Dark Lord's remaining followers quickly joined the others in the fierce battle.

"You will die for your betrayal Draco!" screamed his father in his ear as he increased his grip on his arms. "But first you will watch your friend suffer!"

Voldemort approached the fallen boy and lifted Harry's face to meet his own. Harry opened his eyes wide at the horrific snake like face before him. His red eyes were peering deeply into his emerald green ones. Voldemort looked stronger than ever before to Draco, and he truly wondered if anything would be able to stop him now.

"Don't let him get to you Harry? Fight him!" Draco screamed. He was terrified to think what would happen if the Dark Lord probed his mind, or tried to possess him completely. Voldemort's piercing gaze did not waver for several moments. Then closing his eyes, he shook his head in fury.

"I see that you have been learning occlumency. Very clever, boy! But you are still no match for me!" The ugly man again tried to peer into his mind, but Harry shut his eyes tight.  Eye contact was important when trying to control the mind.

Opening his eyes once again, Harry screamed, "EXPELLIARMUS!" as he pulled out his wand.

Voldemort was knocked back slightly, but otherwise appeared unharmed.  He began laughing evilly at the attempt Harry had made at defending himself.

"Did you honestly think that a simple disarming spell would have any affect on me? What are they teaching you these days?" he laughed again mocking the small boy.

Harry struggled to stand up, and stood his ground.  "Our professors teach us plenty, but most importantly they teach us what's right from wrong. That is a lesson that you have failed miserably, Tom."

"How dare you call me by that name, insolent boy!"

"I will say and do as I please, Tom! You don't control me like you do your death eaters."

"We'll see about that," the man said smiling darkly. Harry said nothing in response, but stared at him defiantly. Draco was proud of how strong he was for standing up to the Dark Lord like that, but he was worried that this arrogant display would only get him killed.

"I have already begun to corrupt your young mind, how much more do you think it will take to break you completely?"

"Shut up. Dumbledore will never allow that to happen!"

"Do you see Dumbledore any where around now? He is no where to be found. Do you know why? Hmmm…? Because you are a tool my dear boy. A weapon! He is using you to get at me because of that blasted prophecy. He honestly believes that this pale, scrawny kid before me is going to be my ultimate destruction," he said with disdain.

Draco watched as Harry clenched his fists tightly, not knowing what to say in response. He desperately wished he could go stand by his side, but his father had now forcefully pinned him to the ground. 

"Wasn't it I who led you to the Department of Mysteries? You foolishly believed that your mutt of a godfather was being tortured there, all because of a silly dream."

A small tear trickled down Harry's pale face as the memories of what happened last year came flooding back.

"Did you enjoy watching your godfather Sirius die? Hmmm? Because all of your friends are going to suffer the same fate," Voldemort said in a most hateful voice.

Draco recognized the horror on Harry's face as he realized that this was a living nightmare coming true from him. Harry was more afraid that his friends would come to harm because of him than anything else.

"Please don't hurt them. I will do whatever you want," pleaded Harry.

"Oh, I will kill them, my dear boy, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.  But first you and I are going to have a little fun."

"CRUICO!" said Voldemort pointing his wand directly at Harry's chest. He fell to the ground as his small body arched and writhed in agony.

"No, stop! STOP!" screamed Draco, struggling against the hold his father had on him.

"There is nothing you can do for him, Draco. Don't be a fool!" said his father striking his son roughly on his right shoulder. Pain radiated from his shoulder and down his chest and back as he continued to protest.

Voldemort ceased the spell, and Harry's lifeless body lied motionless on the ground. He looked over at Draco furiously for interrupting his source of pleasure. "You should have followed your father in his footsteps, young Malfoy. You might have been capable of truly great things with your father by your side. But instead you chose to be a pauper and defend this useless boy before me."

"Harry is not useless. He is a very powerful wizard, and he is going to be the one to bring your downfall!" screamed Draco.

This comment obviously struck a chord within the Dark Lord. His lips curled up in a sneer. "Lucius, I think your son needs to be taught a lesson."

"Yes, he does my lord," said Lucius. "CRUCIO!" Draco's hands grasped at the ground as his own father began to mercilessly torture his own son. It was pain unlike Draco had ever known. His entire body was on fire and if felt that he was being ripped and torn apart. Was he the one screaming like that? He couldn't tell, but the sound was awful. The pain seemed to last for an endless amount of time. Just when Draco thought that he couldn't take it anymore, the torture stopped. He lied there pretending to be unconscious listening for any sound that would indicate what was happening. Sometimes playing possum has its advantages.

His body trembled ever so slightly as his body began to react to the after affects of being under the cruciatus curse for so long. He suddenly became aware that Harry was being tortured over and over again. He felt his heart break at the agonizing screams coming from his boyfriend's frail body. He wished that he could go comfort him, but he had to be careful in his rescue attempt. Timing was essential.

Opening one eye so that it was barely open a slit, he saw that his father had turned his back on him and was looking at something in the distance. Glancing in the same direction, Draco realized that what had caused his father to focus his attention away from his traitorous son. It appeared that reinforcements that had been sent into battle by Dumbledore. They were running down the path throwing spells as they went to deflect the death eaters in their way.  Draco was relieved to see Dumbledore amongst the rescuers, but things still looked quite grim. There were more death eaters than there are members of the order fighting in this battle.  Voldemort's numbers had grown significantly since the last time Draco attended a death eater meeting. Thankfully, some of the townspeople had begun to appear from their hiding places and were now joining in the fight.

"My lord, we have a problem," said Draco's father.

"Take care of it then, Lucius," said Voldemort angrily. "My work here is not done."

His father turned back to the unfortunate situation and began to stalk toward this new line of defense. Before he could get very far, Draco stunned his own father from behind. The spell hit him squarely in the back and Lucius flew threw the air. He landed face down onto the ground, his platinum blond hair obscuring his face.

Draco rolled onto his stomach and began to crawl towards Harry. Although his body was resisting moving any further, he forged ahead, determined to save his true love. Voldemort was momentarily distracted by the battle going on around him, and hadn't seen his movements yet.  A short, balding man ran up the Dark Lord.  Draco recognized him to be the one they call Pettigrew, or Wormtail. He apparently had some urgent information.

"My Lord, we do not have much time. We may need to retreat…"

Draco ignored the rest of their conversation as he crawled closer and closer to Harry's unconscious form on the ground. Glancing at the bodies around him, he could see that Ron and Hermione were lying near one another, watching him in absolute fright.  There was not a lot of time for him to maneuver, and he had to think about the situation carefully. He could try to break them out of the body binds, but it would mean jeopardizing his precarious position. He felt badly about temporarily abandoning them, but he decided that it was best to reach Harry first. He was what was most important right now.

Draco noted that Harry was breathing really shallowly as he lifted his tortured body from the now cold ground.  Harry's head rested gently on his left shoulder. He was still so light, that with all the adrenaline pumping through Draco's veins, carrying him seemed almost effortless. He slowly began to back away, hoping that the members of the order would reach them in time.  They were still battling with the death eaters. There was no way that he or Harry could defend themselves properly against Voldemort right now. They were both so weak from being under the cruciatus.

Voldemort turned back to his victims, sensing that his time here was indeed drawing near. He would need to make a hasty retreat if he was to survive.  He saw that Draco had gathered Harry in his arms and was trying to flee to safety.  This enraged the Dark Lord greatly.

Everything that happened in the next moment seemed to happen in slow motion. Draco had anticipated Voldemort's reaction and was ready to protect his boyfriend at all costs. He saw that the Dark Lord had already raised his wand, so Draco did as well, making sure that he never let go of Harry in the process. At the exact same instant, the wizards uttered the two most powerful spells into the darkness of the night.

"AVADA KEDAVRA."

"SOLARA AMICUS."

An intense green light shot out the end of Voldemort's wand, just as a pure white light enveloped Draco and Harry's bodies. The two boys clung together as they slowly fell to the ground.

Draco observed the unusual scene as the deadly green light was somehow absorbed by the pure white. A color change took place, and soon their bodies were enveloped by swirling colors of orange and yellow. The spinning colors began to pulsate faster and faster until suddenly, the orange and yellow light burst forth from the two boys with a violent explosion. A giant shockwave radiated from the flash, and everyone within a hundred yard radius was knocked off of their feet by the sheer blast, including Voldemort.

Draco's last thought before he succumbed to the numbing darkness was, "I love you, Harry."

A/N: What did you think? It wasn't my longest chapter, but I think it was pretty good.  Don't worry you will learn more about how the death eaters breached the wards in the next chapter.

Many thanks to all my reviewers!

emerald girl – Harry/Draco slash rules!

wanderingwolf – Draco more of a bad boy?…. definitely a possibility. Yes, I already know about the Quidditch thing.

Immortal Memories – the man is OLD, it is always a possibility that his age is finally catching up to him. I know my story is a bit of a stretch, but this is my first fic ever!

Pyrefly- I am getting a little burnt out too. I just want to end this damn story already.

SoulSister- Thanks!

Catmint – you are the only one that I know of that picked up on that dream. Very clever!

bonnie girl- sorry that I offended you, but I doubt that Dumbledore is as perfect as everyone thinks he is. Barty Crouch Jr. was the one who put Harry's name in the goblet of fire. If he could override the cup to spit of 4 names instead of 3, don't you think the ever powerful Dumbledore could have done something to stop the whole shin dig. The book never states what would happen if they don't compete. I hardly think that they would die, or that the earth would crumble. Besides, this is just a fan fic, and I said slight AU. And yes I know about the whole Quidditch thing. Thanks for the review. ^_^

MalfoySnogger-  umm…. Are you sure you wrote me the right review? Harry doesn't join Voldemort, and he has already met Malfoy.

Rowenna- this fic will probably be 28 chapters or so. Lupin knows exactly who Harry and his friends are in the crowd. He followed them all the way from the castle. He is watching them from a distance, but had to leave to fight off the dementors before they got any closer. Lupin already knows about their relationship, although I never came out and stated it. Sorry….my bad.

 
I Forget- I laughed so hard when I read your review. It still makes me chuckle. Oh, and thanks for the chocolate. It was yummy.

Megami Riley- thanks so much. Keep on reading!

Dragnofbadfaith- thanks for the long review. They are always fun to read.

Lampshadesrgreat-  I update almost every day.

Spidermonkey-Demon- WOW…chills..really? YEA! *dances in a happy circle* I can't believe I was able to get a reaction like that. Cool!

 
Kayin-No-Kaze- I hate reading cliffies too, but man they are fun to write!

Milkyweed- sorry about the cliffhanger, I hope this chapter made up for it. Thank you for your comment about "Dumbledore could have been blinded by his determination to show Voldemort that they weren't scared of him and that they would live their life as normally as possible." Everyone else seems to be bashing me for making the old man seem incompetent.