AN: The name of the game is procrastination. That's what I've been doing. I wrote this all today, after posting ten days ago. This is what procrastination gets you kids, a back ache, and poor vision squints at the computer screen
Disclaimer: Once upon a time there lived a girl. This girl was a prodigy. She was an amazingly talented writer. She wrote a series called Harry Potter. She has been on the best selling list, in the top three spots, since releasing the first book in 1997. She got a movie deal, and is now the richest woman in England. Richer then the queen. This girl was me. Then I woke up.
Reviewers: You're reviews mean so much to me! I read them and they make me soooo Happy! You guys really make my day!
Oni Tenchie: Okay! tackelhugs
Geekofyerdreams: Luv ya to! And I am not your slave! is aghast I'm only Tom's slave…sex slave that is…or is he MY sex slave? Hm…doesn't matter…either way I get what I want
Mintytoothpick: Thanks luv
Soul-Dead-Dragon: It's the style maaaaan Jive with it
Haystack8190: Your wish is my command. Here it is oh master
Allayne: Oh I will most definitely think up some new torture-er…story…yes that's it…story. Thanks sweetie. But death threats are surprisingly inspirational. Although I'm happy you didn't decide to threaten me! I get enough of that from Draco-in-the-closet
The-sexy-flower: Oh come! Just admit it! You know you read the story just for the conversations at the end! (That's okay though! That's my favorite part to write)
Dershana: You'll be happy to know that I have received enough death threats…er…reviews to make me write an epilogue.
Malleana: No…Voldemort is a lot of things…but he's not a pedophile…although I do enjoy a Tom/Hermione, Tom/Ginny story…but that's different isn't it?
Sailor PPearl: Arise good knight PPearl! And read! And review of course!
Asiangrl91: here ya go!
Dracos-DAMNsexy27: I don't' know but cliffies are horrible to read but addictive to write
Kelsey Malfoy xox: giggles Why thank you! I feel so appreciated. Some one who gets my warped sense of humor! tackelhugs
Sk8erpunkGCpnay: Everyone loves my disclaimers. Oh good so everything did come together nicely? That's wonderful! You better update you Harry Potter fics or I'll KEEEEEEEEEEEEEELL you!!!
DarkAngelB: Jesus Sally! I reviewed your goddamn story now stop threatening to with hold reviews! I'd never forgive you…well maybe I would but you'd have to GIVE me something…hehe. I know Voldemort is so…evil! Although I suppose that's why he's the villain eh?
Awwww: This time it was ten days! Although I'm writing this at eleven forty at night so if I don't update with in the next twenty minuets it'll be eleven days. Alright! Party in hell it is! I'll bring the cola.
Teralyn: Well I most certainly not want anyone to have to see THAT….just kidding…kind of…no really I'm kidding….or am I? I am honestly…yah…okay well here it is!
Ecentpatrick: haha I love your name! Yes I do want reviews. I'm a desperate woman! A woman on the edge! If I don't get my reviews I'll SNAP…just kidding…heh…Well here's the next chapter and I to think that D/Hr PAIRINGS ROCK!!!!!
Chapter Thirteen: Endings
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.
Louis L'Amour
Draco turned slowly towards the voice
Still supporting Hermione's weight, he looked straight into Voldemort's cold crimson eyes
Draco felt Hermione go rigid and squeezed her hip reassuringly
This may be the end
But he was going to face it with his chin held high and the woman he loved at his side
No fear
He tightened his grip on his wand
XOXOXOXOX
Hermione was on the verge of a full blown panic attack…and death
Not now
It couldn't happen now
The final battle couldn't be NOW
With no back up
And her without her wand
She winced as she squared her stance, trying to take most of her weight off Draco
Her body screamed in agony, thousands of knives slicing, stabbing
Pins being stabbed viciously into every available piece of skin
She relented and allowed herself to lean on Draco
And even if she had her wand she wouldn't be able to do much
The after effects of the Crucatius curse were just as potent and formidable as the Crucatius it's self
Breathing was agony
She couldn't even stand on her own
It took all of her will and Draco to keep her upright
She groaned
How were they going to fight Voldemort like this?
Draco couldn't beat Voldemort on his own
Definitely not while holding her up
And she was completely useless
A burden
Oh why NOW of all times?
Why not in seventh year when Harry and Ron and Dumbledore had all been alive?
Why not before Neville, Ginny, and Seamus had been captured?
Before Snape had been discovered, and they had lost all their inside information
Before the Order had been found out and the members picked off, one by one
Why now?
When it was only her and Draco
An invalid and a Death Eater
Going up against Voldemort himself
And then Hermione did something completely un-Hermione like
She stopped thinking
And accepted
Yes the final battle was now
Yes Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore were dead
Yes it was only her and Draco
Yes they were fighting Voldemort
But it all boiled down to one thing; him, or them
Hermione stuck her chin out and prepared herself for the battle to end all battles
The only battle that really mattered
XOXOXOXO
"Draco" Voldemort hissed "you have betrayed me and your brothers."
Draco stayed silent, his icy eyes glimmering with defiance
Voldemort's eyes flashed malovently
He did not take well to having his servants disobey
"You do know what happens to traitors don't you Draco?" Voldemort said
Draco did not acknowledge the statement but tightened his grip on his wand
The smooth wood somehow comforting in this dire situation
"You will recall Severus Snape" Voldemort's words cracked like a whip (AN: Whip it! Whip it good! Eep! I'm sorry I couldn't resist ::cowers:: )
Draco shivered involuntarily
Yes he could remember with vivid clarity his potion professor's end
How could he forget when he himself, when the beast still had control, had participated in Snape's demise?
How could he forget when the screams echoed through his dreams along with flashes?
Glimmers of the atrocities committed
He could most definitely recall
But he would not back down
"Yes I remember Severus. He was a good man. He did the right thing. I only hope that I can be half the man he was tonight. "Draco said quietly (AN: ACK!!!! CORNY!!!! FOEGIVE ME!!!...I blame sleep deprivation)
Voldemort's lip curled in disgust "That's a disgustingly Gryffindor like sentiment if I ever heard one"
Hermione's spine went ram rod strait
That bastard
He said it like it was a bad thing
But before Hermione could voice her opinions Voldemort spoke again
"Your father would be ashamed of you"
Draco's eyes flashed
"Lucius was never a father to me. No father would force a son to live a life exactly the same as his, knowing that it would be miserable, excruciating, pointless. No father would force a son to serve a hypocritical bastard like you!" (AN: Them are fighting words Draco m'boy…battle scene, take one and….ACTION)
Voldemort's eyes hardened and his lip curled up into a pronounced snarl
"You would do well to watch your words boy. I do not deal with impudence kindly" And with that Voldemort raised his wand, pointing it directly at Draco's heart
"You should be cowering in fear, praying for my forgiveness. Groveling" Voldemort sibilated "Perhaps if you do so now, I may forgive you"
But by the inflection of Voldemort's voice Draco knew that even if he handed Hermione over on a silver platter, groveled, prayed for mercy, danced the rumba naked(AN: I would kill SO many people to see that), whatever
Voldemort would never forgive him
And would kill him with out blinking
There was no backing out
Not now
This was it
And Draco answered Voldemort's challenge with a sneer "Never" he enunciated clearly
And with that Draco raised his wand, so that it was pointing directly at Voldemort
Voldemort smiled nastily and before Draco could do anything Voldemort hissed " Impedimenta" Draco prepared himself for the impact but it never came, hearing a scream, he turned his head sharply in time to see Hermione fly backwards into the wall, and as he turned to go to her, the cold voice of Voldemort said "Imperio"
And Draco felt, once again, the sensation that left his mind wonderfully blank, wiped of all thoughts, it was as if he were floating, dreaming…beg…beg for forgiveness…get down on your knees and kiss my robes…
But Draco was used to the Imperio, as most Death Eaters were and a voice in the back of his voice said, clearly, distinctly "I will not" it said "I will never bow or cower before you again…"
Just get down on your knee…
I won't do it, never again…
Just get down on your knees…
"NO!" and as these words left Draco's mouth the dream like state was lifted from him suddenly, but with out hesitating, Draco raised his wand and pointed it at Voldemort
"Stupefy!" Draco bellowed, at the same time that Voldemort whispered "Protego"
The jet of red light that shot out of the end of Draco's wand bounced off Voldemort's shield spell and hit the wall of the entry hall with a crackling hiss
"Stupefy Draco?" Voldemort said in a cold sibilant voice "I expected more from a Malfoy. You're not trying to kill me. You really have become soft. And that will be your end. "
Draco didn't answer and instead made a slashing motion with his wand, sending a wave of purple flame at Voldemort
Voldemort couldn't dodge in time, so instead he turned to the side to keep the flames from hitting him in the stomach, and the flames sliced across his side
Voldemort inhaled sharply and stared down at the rip in his black robes side, and the blood, the same color as his eyes, that dripped from the laceration to the floor
He couldn't comprehend how a mere mortal, and a follower at that, could cause him pain
Voldemort looked up and met Draco's cold eyes
And Draco shuddered despite himself
Those crimson eyes were glowing with a hate ten times stronger than ever he had ever seen
Although Draco would never know that the hate that filled those eyes when they regarded Hermione were hundreds of times more potent
When Draco had hurt Voldemort, that's when Voldemort had begun to consider him a threat.
It was no longer a game for Voldemort
Which put Draco in a considerably larger amount of danger
XOXOXOXO
Hermione's eyes fluttered open
She immediately shut them again
It felt as if someone was hammering an iron spike through her temples
She opened her eyes and feeling her back pressed hard against the wall behind her, she walked her hands up it, to regain her feet
She stood there leaning heavily against the wall of the entry hall and watched as Draco fought for his life
XOXOXO
"Avada Kedavra" Draco had been expecting the killing curse
Ever since he saw that look in Voldemort's eyes
And with reflexes born of Quiddittch training, Draco threw himself sideways, dodging the blast of green light, although just barely
Hermione stifled a scream as she watched the eerie green light stream past Draco
But she couldn't do anything to help him
She could only stand here and wring her hands nervously
Be okay Draco…oh god please be okay
She sighed with relief as she saw Draco roll to his feet
"DELETRIUS!" Draco screamed
The disintegrating spell shot past Voldemort's head, missing narrowly and hitting the wall behind him
Voldemort shot streams of silver light, closely resembling arrows that whizzed so close to Draco's head that he was forced to duck. The silver light left smoldering craters in the wall behind him
"Impedimenta!" cried Voldemort
Draco went sprawling across the hall, and his wand went skidding across the hall to rest against the wall behind Hermione's foot, but her eyes were glued to the scene in front of her, and she didn't notice the slim piece of wood that was their salvation.
Then, before Draco could regain his feet Voldemort hit him with the incarcerous curse.
The ropes snaked up around Draco, binding his arms tightly to his sides, snapping his legs together and immobilizing him as effectively as petrificus totalus
Draco could only watch as Voldemort approached him, his wand raised, and a twisted smile gracing his gaunt face
"I'll teach you what it means to disobey the Dark Lord" Voldemort hissed "Crucio!"
Draco writhed in agony
He had experienced this curse many hundreds of times
But you never got used to it
It always felt just like the first time
You couldn't prepare yourself for it
Couldn't brace yourself
You could only accept
His bones were on fire
It felt as if his head were about to burst
He screamed, a long agonizing note that chilled Hermione to the bone
But she could only watch in horror
She couldn't move from where she was braced against the wall
She couldn't do anything
But then Draco's screams died as he slipped into unconsciousness, still bound, and twitching in pain
Voldemort raised his wand and "Avada-" Hermione cut him off
"NO!" she screamed
Voldemort looked at her in disgust and then turned away, back towards Draco, Not seeing the red glow that began to seep from her pores, surrounding her with an eerie glow
Once again he raised his wand, ignoring Hermione's cries "Avada Kedavra" Voldemort cried triumphantly
The end of his wand erupted in a green blast that shot towards Draco
"I said NO!" Hermione screamed, anguished
A pulse of red shot from her heart towards Draco
Forming a wall in front of his prone body
The killing curse struck the crimson shield, and a gong like noise reverberated through the hall, the red and green energies crackled and hissed as they fought for dominance.
Slowly the crimson grew, overwhelming the acid green of Voldemort's spell
The killing curse evaporated with a snap
Voldemort turned on Hermione angrily his wand raised
Hermione collapsed onto the floor, slumping ungracefully as her legs gave way
She was dimly aware of Voldemort approaching, but her attention was focused on something resting near her hand
Why…it looked like a wand!
But that couldn't be Hermione assured herself
She must be hallucinating
Why would a wand be laying here in the middle of the entry hall?
Hermione struggled to think through the pain induced fog enshrouding her brain
Unless…
Her eyes snapped past Voldemort towards Draco who was lying unconscious in the middle of the hall
He had no wand
By now Voldemort was mere feet from her
Hermione's hand inched towards the wand and she grasped it, the smooth wood of the wand unfamiliar, foreign
She hadn't held a wand since she had been captured
And it wasn't hers
It was Draco's
She could only pray that the wand would recognize her as a friend, as someone who loved its owner, and wanted to help
Her eyes flew frantically around the barren hall, trying to find something, anything that could help her
Her eyes found the ceiling and that something she had been searching for
Her lips curled up into a catlike smile
Perfect
She waited until Voldemort was upon her, his wand raised, his lip curled
And then she struck
Moving with an agility that shocked even her she rolled to the side, and came up on her feet
Pointing the wand she held grasped in her hand she mirrored the slashing motion Draco had made earlier
Recalling vividly the first time she had seen it
The first time she had felt its effects
That day in the Department of mysteries
Purple flames shot out of the end of Draco's wand and sliced Voldemort across the stomach
Not pausing she cried "Impedimenta" Sending him flying several feet up into the air, he landed in the middle of the hall with a sickening crunch
Hermione's eyes glinted with a predatory light
Moving as quickly as she was able she pointed her wand towards the ceiling and shouted "REDUCTO" The blast of light left her wand and hit the ceiling above the hanging chandelier
Perfect
Her aim always had been good
The plaster surrounding the chandelier cracked, and then exploded, showering her with bits of drywall
The golden monstrosity that had hung in Hogwarts for centuries came plummeting down, landing with a deafening crash
Right on top of Voldemort
Not sparing the pile of rubble a second glance Hermione limped over towards Draco
Kneeling by his side she muttered "Enervate"
Draco's eyes opened immediately
The crucatius having apparently no after affects
You could never lessen the pain of the Crucatius
But some things you got used to
Such as the after effects
Piercing blue eyes met Hermione's own, and then looked over her shoulder towards where the garganteuous chandelier was lying
"Good job" he muttered "Quick untie me"
Hermione tossed her ginger hair over her shoulder and pointed his wand at his bindings
But before she could say anything the chandelier was blown sky high, flying at least fifty feet up into the air and landing with a crash at the foot of the stairs, the arms of the chandelier twisting, and breaking off as the abused limbs hit solid marble once again
Voldemort stood in the middle of the hall, his sides bleeding and his dark robes billowing around his legs from the wind, caused by the spell he had just cast, still whipping through the hall way.
"You foolish little girl! Did you really think THAT could stop me" Voldemort raged, his crimson eyes flashing with fury
Hermione scrambled to her feet, her arms and legs leaden with exhaustion
Voldemort raised his wand and screamed "Avada Kedavra"
Hermione threw herself sideways, avoiding the blast of green light that raised the hair on her arms as it rushed past, swallowing a cry as her right arm smashed into the cold marble of the floor with an audible crunch
Trying to pick herself up off the floor, Hermione braced bother her hands on the floor and tried to rise up, her right arms buckled and collapsed
Voldemort once again raised his wand "Avada Kedavra" He screamed, enraged
Hermione rolled to the left, once again just narrowly avoiding the spell, this time it rushed past her, brushing along the ends of her hair, singing them
Cradling her useless right arm to her chest Hermione regained her feet
XOXOXOXOX
Draco watched helplessly from where he was bound on the floor
He nearly cried out as Hermione avoided the first killing curse
And whimpered as the blast of green brushed past her the second time, hitting her hair
He watched as she regained her feet, as careful as a drunk
Her right arm was hugged in close to her chest
He could see from here that it was broken
She had only her left hand, and his wand to fight
With the after effects of the Crucatius still humming through her
…he was surprised she could still stand
He couldn't help the rage
That should be him out their fighting Voldemort
Not her
She was going to get hurt
And he had vowed to never let that happen
But he watched Hermione's movements closely
And new exactly what she was going to do as clearly as if he had planned it himself
No…they weren't out of the running quite yet
Voldemort you stupid bastard, he thought, she's going to kick your ass
XOXOXOXOXOX
Hermione thanked Merlin that she had practiced all the wand movements she learned with both her right, and her left hand
She had practiced so if a situation like the she was in now ever arose,
She'd be ready
Raising her left arm, so that it was level with her chest and pointed at a spot directly behind Voldemort she shouted "WADDIWASI!"
The grotesquely oversized chandelier hovered a few feet off the ground and then shot towards Voldemort's unprotected back
Mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do,
She watched as the chandelier knocked Voldemort off his feet
Raising her wand and pointing it at Voldemort's figure as he struggled to rise she said calmly, enunciating each syllable clearly "Avada Kedavra"
The blast of green light erupted from the wand tip and hit Voldemort square in the chest
Not turning to see how he fell Hermione turned and limped towards Draco, her right arm still cradled against her chest
She skidded to a halt and fell to her knees next to Draco "Finite Incantum" she said quietly
The bonds around Draco loosened and fell away
Rising up on his knees, he ripped the cords that were still hanging limply around him off and enveloped Hermione in a hug
Wrapping her good arm around his neck and her bad arm resting delicately on his back, she rested her head into the curve of his shoulder
And she began to cry
Her small, frail body shook with the force of her sobs
Draco rocked her slowly, back and forth, rubbing her back in small circular motions as he would a child
Over her should her studied the spread eagle form of Voldemort
His crimson eyes were open, and blissfully empty
He was dead
Hermione had done what hundreds of wizards had tried to do, and never even come close to
She had destroyed the dark lord
Draco shut his eyes and held Hermione closer
It was over
They had finished it
And now…
"Lets go home Hermione" he whispered quietly after her sobs dwindled and died
Rising up from his kneeling position, he hoisted Hermione to her feet
Turning their back on their past they headed towards the immense doors of the Great Hall, and their future
AN: Well…by popular request there will be an epilogue…soooo…I don't' know whether or not this counts as the last chapter or not. I was going to end it here but then I was threatened and I want a nice happily ever after with a happy couple and a couple of kids as much as you guys do. So I figured why the hell not?
I have a nice ending speech written but I'll save it till the next chapter…try and contain your excitement
Draco: I thought you said it was OVER
OA: Well…they threatened me
Hermione: I'll threaten you, you no good B-
OA: Now now children play nice…it's just one more chapter…and you get you're happily ever after
Draco: snorts the only happily ever after I'll ever get is when you DIE
Hermione: I agree with him for once
OA: See you DO love each other
Hermione/Draco: advance slowly on cowering author and then force feed her MacDonald's until she promises she'll never do anything involving them ever again. They then let OA go
OA: I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIED runs away screaming
Draco: AVADA KEDAVRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OA dies
OA: Damn it! I wish you'd stop doing that! It really does hurt quite a bit cracks neck Anyways. Please review. I want to know what you thought of the battle scene.
