HEY READERS! Apparently, my grammar is "atrocious" so I'll try to fix that. If u cant read my story, then feel free to flame. Some anon person sent me this review and I just wanted to let u (anon person) noe a few things. (plus I hav a couple of things I'm unclear abt). Thanks for ur constructive critiscim though. I'll brush up on the grammar.

I have no clue why me being female has anything to do with my story. I've been told I am female. I'm pretty sure I am. I don't have to check if I'm female. I was born a female..i'm still female…I'll pretty much always be a female…No plans to change being a FEMALE.. Glad you know I am FEMALE too..Lmao.so now you know..I am DEFINETLY female..

One more thing, I'm not "obviously american" I am CANADIAN…Slight difference there..we're up north a bit..(not to mention it is a different country)

remember ppl..don't take this fic too seriously..it is only a fanfic, not a huge story that I'll publish and after all, I'm just someone who likes to write.

Disclaimer: same as always, not mine

ON WITH THE STORY!….

CHAPTER 16- Hold On

Nothingness encircled the two girls as they were being thrown like a couple of leaves through the port-key.

Hermione hit the floor hard. Groaning, she labourously pushed herself up to her knees and stood up. She found Luna beside her and gently shook her.

"Luna..Luna are you alright?" Hermione asked.

Luna slowly got to her feet. She looked around, dazed.

"Yeah..I'll be fine," She replied.

Hermione quickly scanned their surroundings. It seemed as though they were still in Hogwarts. There were statues of famous witch and wizard scholars everywhere.

"This is odd.." Luna said.

"Yeah..You don't suppose the boys are here do you?.." Hermione asked.

Hermione wouldn't let herself believe Harry and Ron had died. There was no way Harry Potter would go down so easily. She had great faith in her friends. She knew them well enough to know that Ron and Harry would put up the biggest fight possible before they died.

"They're not gone." Luna said firmly.

Truth be told, Luna was trying to convince herself, more than trying to convince Hermione. Harry and Ron were especially strong, but they weren't invincible.

The two girls stealthily crept through the dark chamber. They had no idea where they were, and worst of all, Hermione couldn't drown out the ever stinging thought of having lost Harry so easily.

"Where are the girls?" Ron asked.

"If they are out, they'd better be looking for Nargles instead of us,"

Harry frowned as he unfurled the Marauder's map. His eyes frantically darted across the old parchment.

"Shit."

"They're gone aren't they?" Ron said grimly.

"Lets go..they'll need us."

They hurried towards the last spot they had seen the girls. Both boys knew Pettigrew was behind it all. They each made a silent vow. Not even a scrap of Pettigrew would live to see the light of day if Hermione or Luna suffered.

Harry should have known Hermione wouldn't keep her word and stay behind. She was so stubborn at times.

"You had better be alright Hermione." He muttered to himself.

" Nice of you to join me.." A voice surrounded the girls.

Luna and Hermione stopped dead in their tracks. Their hearts pounded a mile a minute. Fear swept over the two Gryffindors as they stood back to back. They dared not to show their fear. Hermione would personally kill Pettigrew if he had done something to Harry or Ron.

"Who is that?" Luna whispered.

"It's Pettigrew." Hermione murmured.

"So…Tell me dear girl, where is your dearest friend Harry Potter? Surely you must know.." Peter taunted through his amplified voice.

"Piss off Pettigrew!"

"I take it you don't,"

"You know bloody well where he is. Tell me, or I WILL kill you."Hermione snarled.

It was impossible to tell where Pettigrew was. His voice echoed through the chamber from all directions. He laughed.

"You know as well as I do that you don't have it in you to kill someone."

"I am QUITE capable of it, and make no mistake, I will do it."

"Come out and show your face you bloody coward.." Luna challenged.

Peter smirked. The Dark Lord would be pleased with him. Dark, cloaked figures came out of the darkness surrounding the two girls.

"I'll show my face alright..It was the last face your fellow friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley saw, and I intend to make it the last face you will ever see."

Fear gripped at Hermione and Luna's throats. Anguish and hate gathered and coursed through their bodies.

"LIAR!" Hermione screamed.

The girls cast every defensive spell they knew. They were greatly outnumbered, but if they did enough damage, it would at least buy them some time to find the boys. The death eaters suddenly lowered their wands and bowed. Another figure came out of the shadows and lowered his hood, revealing long blond hair and eyes that looked as though they took pleasure in seeing pain.

"Well, well, little mudblood..I'm going to have a lot of fun you now that the Great Harry Potter has been..how shall we say?..DEALT with.."

"He's not dead!" Luna shouted. An orange light flashed without warning and struck Luna, knocking her unconscious. Hermione gasped and bent down to check if Luna would be alright.

"Don't move."

Hermione felt a wand pushing at her throat, and it lifted her chin. Her breath quickened, and her hatred collected at her eyes. Lucius Malfoy leant in and hissed in Hermione's ear.

"She'll be with her beloved Potter and to your beloved Weasley soon..once she has served the Dark Lord's purposes.."

A light suddenly flickered bright in her mind. He thought Harry and Luna were together, and Ron and herself were a couple. The fact that Lucius Malfoy had false knowledge could prove to be useful in someway to her.

"Fuck you." Hermione snarled behind her gritted teeth.

Nothing could be more painful than a life without Harry and Ron. They were not dead. She wouldn't believe it until they brought her friends' limp body infront of her on a cold metal tray. For now, she had to be strong for herself and her friends. The death eaters closing in on her and Luna. This was going to be the fight of her life; for Luna's life, Ron's, her own, and most importantly, Harry's.

"Potter, I see you have..FOUND me again.." Pettigrew taunted.

Harry and Ron looked back at eachother for a second. It sounded as if Pettigrew had hundreds of copies of himself speaking in all directions.

Marble pillars surrounded the pair, as well as various statues of medieval wizards and witches. The statues stood proudly overlooking their secret chamber, yet as Harry and Ron scanned their faces, it seemed as though behind the statues' everlasting smiles, they were hiding something from the world. The rest of the chamber faded into darkness behind the statues. Intracate stone patterns decorated the ground, stretching over the seemingly never-ending space in and beyond the chamber. Blue torches were hung high at the tops of the many pillars and managed to provide just enough light to see the stone faces of the ancient wizards and witches.

"Get the hell out of hiding you bloody fat coward!" Ron yelled as he and Harry shot spells in all directions.

"Mind your manners boy..Don't you remember how much you loved PLAYING with me?"

Ron wrinkled his face in disgust.

" Bloody hell..PLAYING with him!" Ron said to himself.

"Its no use trying to kill me..There is no way to harm me here..by the way, I happened to have come across those two quite attractive young ladies you two boys blunder around with..yes yes..they seemed to think you had died..just..discintigrated right before their eyes,"

"What have you done with them you fucking bastard?" Harry demanded as he destroyed another statue with a spell.

His eyes were instantly set a blaze with a deadly, mutinous glimmer surging through emerald green. He sensed he was yet again going to lose control. It had happened many times before. It was like a drug. Physically, Harry Potter would be there, but that Harry Potter was not himself. He hated it. It took hold of everything. He would fade away from the waking world and be sent to some far off place he couldn't break out of. When the ordeal was over, he would not be able to remember what had happened. Harry couldn't tell friend from foe in his state of insanity, and he feared one day Hermione or Ron might get hurt.

"Oh would you like to see?…Alright then, take a look at the giant eye on the statue of Salazar Slytherin," Peter sneered.

Harry and Ron turned their attention to the statue. It's left eye opened and projected two, three-dimensional figures onto the floor infront of Harry and Ron. Chains wrapped their arms to a wall. A sudden pang of realization shot through the Griffindors as they saw Luna and Hermione coughing and sobbing.Their robes were torn at the ends, and their faces haunted Harry and Ron. Hopelessness and desperation circled both girls' eyes. They were weak and on the verge of death.

Harry longed to hold Hermione again; to take away her pain and inject it into himself. Her figure was right infront of him. It ripped him apart inside, watching her suffer. She seemed so close, and yet, she was so far.

"Are you willing to cooperate now mudblood?..Think about it, just do this one task for the Dark Lord, and you can walk out of here and return to your world,"

"I have no world. It's gone because you took it away." Harry heard Hermione say spitefully.

Her projected figure lay sprawled out on her stomach and he could see her fists clenching in anger and frustration. He desperately wanted to shout to the projection infront of him that he was still alive and he would always be there for her.

"You think Potter and Weasley are dead..I personally don't know. I'll be glad if Potter is though. He's another thing out of the way for the Dark Lord. Weasley is weak. Without Potter, he wouldn't survive. I wouldn't get my hopes up mudblood. Neither Potter or Weasley has made an appearance yet and chances are, that they are indeed deceased; you'll never see them again. So it is best that you go along and do your task. You can be with your beloved Weasley afterwards. All we need is for you to.."

Pettigrew cut off the projection.

Harry's frustration began to take over him. How could Pettigrew think that Hermione and Ron were together?

"Your little girlfriend Lovegood will soon be disposed of as well…"

Pettigrew's smug grin spread like the plague across his face. After years of scheming, he was finally going to bring the Golden boy to his knees.

Draco lay in bed, staring out his window. The sun would be setting soon, yet he still felt that the day was far from over.

As I stepped to the edge beyond the shadow of a doubt,

With my conscience beating

Like the pulse of a drum

That hammers on and on

Until I reach the break of day.

His father knew someone had set him free from the torchure chamber, and Draco prayed that he would never find out.

As the sun beats down on the halfway house

Has my conscience beating

The sound in my ear

The will to persevere

As I reach the break of day.

Draco had already thought over running away from Hogwarts. He had ran through countless scenarios of disappearing from the wizarding world. He pictured living as a muggle; he could change his appearance to make him look like someone else. Draco would no longer practice magic, but his wand would always be with him just in case. It was possible. If half the world was muggle, and they could survive for centuries without magic, so could he.

When you lost all hope and excuses And the cheapskates and the losers. Nothing's left, to cling onto,

You gotta Hold on,

Hold onto yourself.

After Dumbledore revealed Hermione had rescued him, he continuously thought of the danger he was putting her in if he stayed at school. His father was unsuccessful in torchuring Draco into joining the death eaters.

A cry of hope,

A plea for peace,

And my conscience beating

It's not what I want for,

Its all that I need,

To reach the break of day.

The dark lord's faith in Lucius Malfoy would now be greatly diminished and it was obvious that Lucius would be after blood. It wouldn't be the wisest thing to do but Draco felt that everyone would be better off if Draco Malfoy ceased to exist.

So I run to the edge,

Beyond the shadows of a doubt,

With my conscience bleeding.

Here lies the truth,

The lost treasures of my youth

As I hold on to the break of day.

He wasn't entirely sure that he could fake his death.When you lost all hope and excuses And the cheapskates and the losers.

He would most likely be able to fool a few students but somehow he thought Hermione would not believe he was gone. He tossed around the idea of telling her first, however, he didn't want to burden her by making her spread the word of his "death". He had come to a conclusion and decided not to breathe a word of his plan to anyone. The sooner he left the castle, the better. A few students would still be wandering the halls of Hogwarts at this hour. They took little notice of anything and the professors were all at meetings, thus making it the ideal time to carry out faking his death.

Nothing's left, to cling onto,

You gotta Hold on,

Hold onto yourself.

Draco took next to nothing with him. There was nothing of real sentimental value that he could not live without among his possesions. He sighed heavily. This wasn't going to be easy. He loved his mother and he would never see her again. She understood him. She alone had always seen the best in him. Draco was going to miss the castle as well. He had grown accustomed to Hogwarts. It was his home. He hated to admit it, but he was even going to miss the brawls he and the Weasley boy shared. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a school photo of Hermione. She always waved in it. Each time he looked upon the photo, she would reward him with her unchanging, warm smile.

"Good-bye Granger."

When you lost all hope and excuses

And the cheapskates and the losers.

He stuffed the picture back into his pocket. His wand was concealed under his robes as well as a good load of shrunken potion-making ingredients. He headed for the secret passage into Hogsmeade.

Draco had told Crabbe and Goyle to meet him there. He would lead them towards the Forbidden Forest where they would unknowingly be the witnesses to his death. While in the forest, Draco planned to hide around a bush and pretend to be attacked by a creature. Draco could easily bewitch the smaller trees to sway any direction he wanted. In addition, he had learnt how to transform his voice into any sound he desired. This would prove extremely useful for when he was going to live as a muggle.

He planned to stagger out of the bushes covered in blood and drop"dead"at Crabbe and Goyle's feet. Draco was certain that in a situation like that, his fellow Slytherin's would run off and save themselves. Afterall, what fool wouldn't?

Draco would escape by using a disillusionment charm. Once invisible, he could cut across the forest undetected, and follow the train tracks.

He took one last walk down the halls of Hogwarts. He stopped once; only to look out at the Quidditch pitch. Draco's eyes trailed over every hoop, and every stand. He wanted to burn it into his memory. The pitch was his favorite part of Hogwarts. Draco had always treasured every moment he had playing on the field. He would never play quidditch again.

Nothing's left, to cling onto,

You gotta Hold on,

That pitch held so many memories. He could spot the exact place where Weasley tried to make him regurgitate slugs. He gazed over at the place where the Weasley twins and Potter had jumped him. Draco couldn't stop the lop-sided grin that crept onto his face.

Hold onto yourself.

He finally reached the passage way and saw Crabbe and Goyle waiting for him.

Draco said nothing, but nodded at his goons.

Hold on,

The two boys followed Draco into Hogsmeade for the last time.

Hold onto yourself.

Well das it fo dis chap. The song in bold italics is a song called "Hold on" by Greenday, and its off of their older album called, "WARNING". Its got a harmonica playing in the backround, and it has a nice happy-ish tune to it. I'll update as soon as I can. I haven't updated in the past few months cuz my comp went crazy. Plz review, thx.