Heaven Tastes Sweeter
Chapter Nineteen
Harry and Draco had been flying silently on their broomsticks for quite a while, both men were too distracted by their own thoughts to mind each other.
Because they were flying parallel, Draco could steal a quick glance at the Gryffindor. The Slytherin found that Harry's expression had not changed since the battle had started. He looked completely set in the mission ahead. He also looked restless, as if he couldn't wait to get the whole thing done with.
This made Draco realise that they weren't flying nearly as fast as their broomsticks could manage. Specially Harry's Firebolt could go much faster that their current, cruising speed.
"HEY, POTTER!" Draco shouted making Harry turn his head towards him.
"WHAT?" Harry shouted back.
Draco moved his broomstick to get a bit closer so they wouldn't have to shout.
"You don't have to hold back…my Nimbus 2001 can go as fast as you want…" Draco said still loudly but without having to force his voice.
"I'm fine this way…I don't want to rush things, besides, we may have company and I don't want to get surprised…" Harry replied, also lowering the tone of his voice.
"What do you mean?" Draco asked out of sheer curiosity.
"Dementors…I haven't seen any at Hogwarts, so I'm expecting them at the Ministry…" Harry said turning his head to look in front of him.
Draco stared at him for a bit and then turned to look ahead too.
"Malfoy…" Harry said keeping his gaze fixed ahead of him.
"Yes?" Draco asked.
"Why are you helping us?" Harry asked after a short pause.
Draco looked at him and then went back to stare forward.
"I thought I had explained clearly enough…" Draco finally replied.
"Yes, I know, Voldemort killed your father…but, try to understand me…not long ago you were a Death Eater…now, you want to kill Voldemort…and…well, the Draco I know would have tried to kill Voldemort himself…"
"The Draco you knew died along with his father…" Draco said interrupting him.
"Ah…okay…" Harry said clearly put off by the dark tone used by the Slytherin.
"I also have a good reason to want to get rid of him…" Draco added.
"What? Power?" Harry asked. Draco laughed and that confused Harry even more.
"No…that's one thing that interested me in the past…now…I want something else…" Draco said puzzlingly.
"And…that is?" Harry asked more curious that he himself was prepared to admit.
"A future…I want to have what my father wanted me to have. A better future. No one knew my father as well as I did. He had a very…odd way of showing it, but he always had mine and my mother's welfare at the top of his list…he did many mistakes in his life…so I wouldn't have to…I was lucky to have him. My mother said that all Father had in his mind was to provide us, the purebloods, with a better future. One where we wouldn't be threatened by the 'poisoning' of our lineage…but my father made a crucial mistake…he didn't realise that true purebloods are getting rarer…soon, there will be no more of us left…mind you, I still believe that we are the rightful users of magic but, I came to the conclusion that if we don't share that right, magic will disappear with us…so, that's why I'm fighting…to preserve the future of magic…"
Draco stopped talking and found that Harry was staring at him with an odd look in his eyes.
"What?" Draco asked half annoyed thinking that Potter was making fun of him.
"You've changed…" Harry commented.
"No…I've simply grown up…Potter, I was eleven when you met me…I was a spoilt little brat…and every idea I had came straight from my parents' mouth…I didn't know better…" Draco explained.
"Still, allow me to be astonished by this sudden change, your offer of help was very surprising…you know, if anyone had told me that I would be here, on my way to fight Voldemort with Draco Malfoy I would have told them to stop daydreaming…" Harry said.
"If I don't remember incorrectly, I offered you my help before…only that it wasn't accepted then…" Draco said.
"Yeah, I remember…" Harry said melancholically remembering those early years at Hogwarts. Many things had changed since then.
"Potter, if we win this war, what are you going to do?" Draco asked all the sudden.
"Wow…I don't know…I…I would like to become an auror I guess…and…well, I've been seeing someone and I'd like to see what happens between us…" Harry found himself confessing.
"Is that someone, Ginny Weasley?" Draco asked and, for a brief instant Harry could detect the old, devilish Draco coming back.
"Yes…" Harry said defensively.
"Good for you. I think you make a nice couple…" Draco said surprising Harry so much that he had to strengthen his grip on the broomstick to prevent from falling off it.
"How about you and Parkinson?" asked Harry as much to change topic as to hide his surprise.
"Well, as soon as we finish the NEWT's I would like to marry her…" Draco said nonchalantly.
"Marry? Draco you're seventeen…" Harry said totally shocked.
"I'll be eighteen by the time we take the NEWT's and father wasn't much older than I am when he married mother" Draco said self-confidently.
"Oh…okay…" Harry said still very shocked. He could not see himself marrying Ginny just yet…but again Ginny still had one more year at Hogwarts…and, after all, his own parents had married shortly after leaving Hogwarts, this realisation made Harry add, "I hope you and Pansy will be happy…"
"I will do all I can to make her happy, she deserves it" Draco said with a weird tone of voice, almost…almost tender.
Harry was to comment on it when he saw that they were obviously approaching the Ministry.
The whole place was a mess. There were aurors and Death Eaters all over the place and, just as Harry had predicted, dementors were guarding the area's perimeter. It didn't take long for them to notice the two flying wizards.
"Hold on Malfoy!" Harry shouted pulling his wand out and screaming with all his might:
EXPECTO PATRONUM!
Draco pulled his own wand and proceeded to formulate the same incantation pleased to see that this had produced a surprised look from the Gryffindor.
Their two Patronum, a stag and a snake, proceeded to block the incoming dementors.
Harry saw Draco's signal to fly through the hole that their Patronum had produced. The Gryffindor did so hoping the Slytherin would follow suit.
Holding the Patronum and flying the broomstick while keeping an eye on potential enemies proved to be even more difficult than Harry and Draco had dared to imagine so, by the time they finally reached the ground, both wizards were almost too exhausted to hop off their broomsticks.
Unfortunately, they just didn't have the time to become distracted so they had to swallow all the tiredness and get ready for the fight ahead and, it was essential that they made it to the Ministry's building because that's where, according to Malfoy, Voldemort would fear being attacked by Harry the most.
That was the part of the plan that Harry didn't understand. Why was it that Voldemort didn't fear Hogwarts the most? So far, Draco had been very secretive over this but the Slytherin had assured him that it was their best bet.
The part that Harry understood was that they had to be noticed only at the right moment, too early it would be a disaster since they'd be too far away from the target, too late, and Voldemort would not follow Harry into the trap they had prepared for him.
Draco had also told Harry that the Malfoys had something, maybe some sort of artefact, that would help them to finally get rid of Voldemort. Harry was most curious to find out what it was.
"Remember Potter…there will only be a small fraction of time…we cannot allow ourselves to waste time…" Draco said while the two of them were running to the Ministry's entrance.
Harry nodded while looking around him. How the muggle's Prime Minister would explain this mayhem was beyond him but, right now, he had other, much bigger problems to take care of.
Finally, they managed to make it to the building not having been seen, Harry knew, however, that it was now the time to come out and get some attention from the Death Eaters.
"Hey! I'm here! They one you're looking for! I'm Harry Potter!" Harry shouted.
Surprisingly, no one bothered to stop throwing curses and hexes at each other and Harry gave Draco a puzzled look.
"Oi! People! Harry Potter is here! Go and tell your Master!" Draco shouted as loud as he could.
Finally, the Death Eater closer to them, turned round and did a double take as if refusing to believe his own eyes.
"Er…RUN!" Draco said realising that it was then or never.
Harry didn't have to be told twice and started running as fast as he could following Draco to wherever the Slytherin was taking him. Only then, in the middle of that hysteria, it occurred to Harry that he was actually trusting blindly who, up to not long ago, was one of his biggest enemies.
'To late for second thoughts' Harry thought resignedly. Whatever Draco was preparing, Harry had to trust in him. He had no choice.
The sound of rushed steps behind them told both Harry and Draco that they were being followed but not by a great number of people, two or three at the most. With his heart threatening to escape through his throat, Harry realised where Draco was taking them.
The Registrars' Office.
And suddenly the whole thing started, very slowly, to make sense to him.
The Registrars' Office was where people got married and, one thing was for sure, there would be no negative vibes coming from that room. No pain, no suffering, no negative emotions. Only good things had happened there and, only love, the biggest power, the deepest emotion besides hatred, reigned there.
Finally, the whole plan started to be as clear as water to Harry. And finally he understood the whole point of training so hard with his Legilimency. Now, the only missing piece to complete the puzzle was the artefact that Draco had with him.
The two students made it to the room and managed to lock it behind them. They both knew that the lock wouldn't last for too long. They only had a couple of minutes, at the most, to prepare themselves.
Finally Draco pulled a piece of cloth from his bag. It had probably been a tiny blue blanket but, right now, its colour had faded and the fabric was so worn that it was just a piece of very old rug.
"What in the hell is that?" Harry asked fervently hoping that the cloth was not the famous artefact.
"This, Potter, is the only thing that connected Voldemort to his mother. This, was the blanket she used to cover him when he was a newborn baby. This is the only thing Voldemort has left from her…and, the most important thing is: he knows what this is. Father found it in the orphanage. When Voldemort found out, he ordered father to destroy it because it disturbed him to see it. Naturally, father never did so…we will use it to distract Voldemort so you can prepare yourself…" Draco said triumphantly.
For the first time in his life, Harry thought he actually had a good chance to beat the Dark Lord, that thought alone, and the happiness it caused, would have produced an enormous Patronus…
Harry had to cut that thought short for, as predicted, the door was literally blown away by a very powerful spell.
Lord Voldemort stood there, obviously too happy to have found Harry to actually realise where he was.
"Well, well…look at what we've got here!" he hissed as malignly as only Voldemort could manage, "and we also have the Malfoy brat…what a surprise…".
Harry thought he looked as pleased with himself as a snake which had just eaten a whole rat.
Draco looked positively terrified but, to his credit, he kept a steady voice while he said:
"Look at what I've got here!" the Slytherin said waving the tiny blanket in front of him. Voldemort looked petrified for one second.
That was the signal. Harry had to act fast. He started gathering all the positive emotions he had within himself. The place certainly helped since Harry could manage to imagine all the happy couples committing their love till the end of their days. Harry thought of his Ginny…and the love the two of them shared. A love young enough to be unspoiled. Then he thought of Hermione and of Ron, and how much they meant to him.
Harry then thought of every person who had helped him to become the person he was now. Sirius, Remus, the Weasleys, Professor Dumbledore, the members of the Order…and finally his parents. The love his parents had for him even making the ultimate sacrifice so he would survive.
With his heart full of all that love, Harry looked at Voldemort without really seeing him. Harry certainly didn't see the almost distraught look that had crossed, albeit briefly, Voldemort's face seeing that old piece of cloth.
Harry didn't hear Voldemort shouting the killing curse. Harry only heard himself speak softly the incantation he had rehearsed to the exhausting point.
Then, he felt his brain conveying all the positive thoughts, all the love, towards a temporarily distracted Voldemort.
Just as Draco had predicted, Voldemort didn't realise what it was coming till it was too late for him. The Dark Lord felt all the positive feelings as if they were his own and, for a brief instant, he was as vulnerable as a child.
Then it came the tricky bit, the one Draco had made him practice for so long. Still holding the concentration needed to keep the connection, Harry turned all the positive feelings into the deepest of hatred and with that horrible, sickening emotion filling his heart, Harry pointed his wand towards the Dark Lord and he spoke the worst of all three Unforgivables for the first time in his life.
AVADAKEDAVRA!
Just like that. Only twelve letters were needed to end it all.
As if waking up from a long, terrible nightmare, Harry managed to realise only two things.
Lord Voldemort was lying there, dead. His body was rapidly aging as if all the incantations put on it to stop its death had lost their effect. Harry watched with a mix of pleasure and horror, how the Dark Lord's body decomposed to become ash.
The Dark Lord had finally been defeated.
The other thing Harry realised was that Draco was nowhere to be seen. He turned round and found a black stain where the wooden floor had been burned. Then, slowly, Harry remembered the killing curse that Voldemort had spoken while Harry was performing the Legilimency. The realisation hit him far harder than he would have expected.
Draco Malfoy was dead.
"Harry! Harry where are you?" someone was shouting his name but, Harry couldn't bring himself to care. He felt totally numb. As if all the feelings he had felt had died with Draco and Voldemort.
"Harry! There you are! Oh my…Harry…have you...I mean…" Harry finally forced himself to look up. He then saw Molly Weasley standing in front of him. Behind her stood Tonks, Arthur Weasley and some of the aurors. One of the aurors, whose name Harry couldn't remember, said:
"Molly, I think the kid did it! All the Death Eaters are very confused now…they're no longer attacking!" he said cheerily.
"Harry…dear…you aren't hurt, are you?" Molly asked cautiously. The red haired woman refused to allow anyone to get any closer to him, as if she understood that Harry needed space.
"I don't know…he killed Malfoy…." Harry finally said with a dull voice.
"Malfoy? Do you mean Draco Malfoy?" Tonks asked getting only a nod from Harry as his answer, seeing this, Tonks added with a strangled whisper "Oh sweet Merlin! No…"
The young woman started crying.
Harry understood her pain…after all, Tonks was Draco's cousin...even if Tonks' relationship with her family wasn't the best, she must have felt something for her cousin. Then, something clicked inside Harry's brain.
"OH NO! PANSY!" Harry shouted.
"Who?" Arthur Weasley asked.
"She's Draco's fiancée…" Harry explained and everyone fell into an uncomfortable silence.
"Someone needs to go to Hogwarts to tell her then…" Molly said, ever the practical woman.
"I will…" Harry said and walking nearby the mount of ash that used to be Voldemort, picked up the Dark Lord's wand and after breaking it in half, Harry threw it as far away as he could. Then he started running to get outside, got on his broomstick and, ignoring everyone calling after him, took off heading towards Hogwarts.
To be continued…
A/N: Coming up…the last chapter guys! Don't kill me just yet…wait till the end of the fic!
Thanks again for the reviews and for the support you've been giving me!
Love you all, Sanae