1Chapter 21, son: Coincidental Running Ins

Warning: This chapter contains many spoilers of the 6th book. If you haven't read it yet, this chapter will make no sense to you, and probably neither will the rest of the story.

Last Chapter:

Lucius Malfoy stood anxiously before the doors of his Lord.

'How am I to carry through with this.'

He remembered the scene he saw in the forest through his flash vision. Hermione and Draco, kissing. Breaking off. Smiling. A happy smile. A satisfied couple. Beauty. Promise.

Hope.

He took a deep breath, and regained his composure.

He pushed open the door.

And there sat his Lord, calm and collected. As though nothing was going wrong in his plan.

-x-

Voldemort sat at his desk, shifting through the many papers residing there.

"Yes, Lucius?" There was a sickening lilt to his voice. Lucius knew his Lord better than anyone else alive. The Dark Lord could be the most pleasant man alive until you pissed him off. But once he found a reason you angered him, he would not stop until he reached a fight between the two of you that ended in death. A nice enough man, but terrifying all the same.

The one person...or thing alive that you hated to hate. So pleasant. So deadly. So powerful.

"My lord...I-I was wondering...if killing Draco wa-was the only way to...end this."

For the first time in his life, Lucius sounded nervous.

"Oh...Oh my yes!" A crazed look came over Voldemort's eyes. "He disobeyed direct orders, Lucius. He married my daughter without asking my permission. He refused to kill our number one enemy of the moment. (A/N SPOILER OF 6TH BOOK! SKIP TO NEXT BOLD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET!) And this isn't the first time he's done this, Lucius, or have you forgotten how he refused to kill Dumbledore? Poor Severus had to do it for him...it did quite a number to the man, if you remember...he hasn't been able to eat properly since.'

'(OFFICIALLY SAFE) He is unfaithful, Lucius, and we can't have that, now, can we? He is dangerous to our cause by refusing to follow DIRECT ORDERS!"

Spit began to fly from Voldemort's mouth as he took off into one of his famous rages. The kind of rages where a person could get killed if they weren't careful. He was screaming at the top of his lungs.

"HE WILL BE THE DEATH OF US ALL, LUCIUS, POWERFUL OR NOT! NOTHING YOU CAN SAY WILL CHANGE THE FACT THAT YOUR SON IS A TREACHEROUS PIECE OF FILTH NOT WORTH LIVING ON OUR PLANET. HE IS NO BETTER THAN THAT OF A HOUSE ELF, AND IF YOU AREN'T WITH ME ON THIS, YOU'RE AGAINST ME! I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU, BUT I WILL."

-x-

Arthur charge in full force to the worst possible place on earth for him to be at this moment. He put his shoulders full force against the door, and barged right on in.

Into Malfoy Manor. Into the Death Eater's Headquarters.

(CONTAINS SPOILER)He was their number one enemy, and here he was. Right in their hallway. Wearing the ring that was Voldemort's last remaining Horcrux.

He quickly cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself so that he would blend into his surroundings. He prayed it would be enough, but he had to do this for himself and, more importantly, for Hermione. He had to protect her and Draco's hope-filled union.

He had to protect her. He knew that by killing Voldemort, he would cause the Death Eater's to lose their leader. This would cause chaos amongst them, and they would need to elect a new leader, one not nearly as powerful as Voldemort had been. And he would be easy to defeat, causing the cycle to repeat over and over, until The Malfoy's and Arthur could find enough people to fight the whole Death Eater army. With Hermione on his side, and Draco to boot, he knew that it was quite possible that they could rebuild the good in the world that had been lost. The sun could shine again, and the world would smile upon them whether the muggles knew why they were smiling or not.

(THIS PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A 6TH BOOK SPOILER)Either that, or Voldemort would kill him. And with Arthur would also die the secret of where Draco and Hermione actually were. When Hermione heard of Arthur's death (which she would...Arthur left her and Draco a note on the kitchen table explaining what was going on...it would glow green if he lived and red if he died), he knew she would take over what he wanted to start. She would hate Voldemort all the more, wanting to kill him and with all of her power, probably succeeding. Add into the equation Draco, who would protect Hermione no matter what, and Voldemort would go down. Hermione knew about the last Horcrux. Upon his death, if that were to happen, the ring would have been destroyed already, for that was Arthur's first plan of action.

The ring had to be destroyed in the presence of Voldemort, or else it would exist forever. And so Arthur would destroy it right before Voldemort's very eyes.

(CONTAINS SPOILER) With the Horcrux gone, Voldemort was only human and could easily be destroyed.

He tried to get a bearing on his surroundings, but the manor was simply too big. That was when he heard the yelling. It was coming from a door far down the hall on his right, and so he ran fleet footed to it, and threw open the door. There stood Voldemort in a full rage against Lucius Malfoy.

-x-

The two that had already been in the room stared open mouthed at their new, gasping visitor. Voldemort was the first to realize who it was, and he whipped out his wand.

But he was stopped when he saw the ring on Arthur's finger. His eyes opened wide, and so did his mouth for the second time in 5 seconds. Arthur grinned smugly.

"Hello." Arthur said coyly.

He threw the ring in the air, and blew it up before their very eyes.

"Were you looking for me?" He was still grinning.

"I-I...Lucius, get him!" And to Arthur's immense surprise, Lucius refused.

"I won't...I can't let you kill my son!" He walked over to stand next to Arthur, who actually greeted him quite warmly, considering what had just taken place.

"You FOOLS!" Voldemort boomed. "Do you think that by merely standing together against me that you will survive? Kill me? That was the way your idiot friends died, Weasley, and it is how you, too, will die."

However, as Voldemort raised his wand, Arthur did, too. And they both said in unison,

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

And it was much to Voldemort's surprise when Arthur did not die, but their wands connected. Beads of light went back and forth across the one gold beam.

"Potter's wand." Voldemort hissed, realization in his eyes.

"I thought it more appropriate." Arthur replied venomously. "Lucius, if you are truly with me, kill him! Kill him now, or your son will die! You don't have to like me, but please...obey me this once! Your son's life is at stake, as well as ours and...your son's new wife." Arthur was shocked that this news did not surprise Lucius, but fueled him more. He pointed his wand toward Lord Voldemort.

"See you later, asshole. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The booming sound his voice made was enough to shake the world it seemed.

One minute the room was filled with golden light and the next, Lord Voldemort lie dead.