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Chapter 37: I Do It For You

"Your father fell in love, and obviously got your mother impregnated." Lucius circled Snape and I as we stood very still. I knew if Mr. Malfoy started any trouble, Snape would help. He always had a back up plan for life. I could tell.

That and I had nothing else keeping my hope alive.

Now standing to the side, which was in front of me, Lucius pressed on with his speech. "So your greedy and selfish father decided to steal the equivalent of three million dollars from my account at Gringott's. Most of my sickles, galleons, and knuts were stolen. Your parents moved to America where your mother had you. I searched high and low for their asses, and even sent some special spies to help me. Once your parents were settled in, Hagrid started to visit your Mum again, which gave away where you lived. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to obtain my money. It was hidden somewhere... And somehow found its way back into Gringott's. I'm blaming Hagrid for this."

I was having so much trouble absorbing everything. My eyes swelled up. Snape found a subtle way to reach for my lowered hand to hold onto it for comfort.

"I couldn't get the money," Concluded Lucius, "So I killed your parents. I imagine you already know how they died, for I read that in your journal as well. Not the new journal you made this year, but another one you had last year. Yes, I stole your most private posession. I vowed one day to find and kill you as well. I could have killed you at the same time as your parents, but I thought that you living with no parents was rough enough until I felt it necessary to take action. And you were so hard to catch. I tried to stop you so many times..."

Snape finally shouted, "Enough, Lucius! She doesn't need this torture!"

"Pipe down, old man. I'm not finished yet." Raising his wand, Lucius pointed it first at Sev, and then at me, "I've more to tell."

He still had my wand. Dirty bastard kept it by his side. If only I could get to it, then Snape and I would outnumber the loser. No, I wouldn't let all these no truisms distract me from the present. Whatever my parents did is in the past, and I know they would want me to remember them for the good, not bad. I know they would want me to focus and survive through the darkness, not give up with pain. Hell, my arm stopped bleeding three minutes ago, and that was a shitload of blood loss. But I was still standing.

Lucius raised his eyebrows for a second, "I thought knocking you off of your broom on Halloween would cause more than amnesia."

"You? You did that?" I wanted to stab him in the chest.

"Yes, my dear, I did that. Every problem you've had since you stepped foot in that Hogwarts doorway...That was all me. Now," He stepped closer to me as I clung on tightly to Sev's hand, "enough chit chat."

"Lucius, you are insane..." Snape spoke loudly.

I took the silence as a chance to grab my wand. Off I ran, towards Lucius, who used magic to knock me back onto the ground. Damn me and my stupid actions before thoughts. With the rain and thunder involved, I couldn't think clearly, or clearly think. The darkness devoured us in the gardens. I thought for sure the plants would come alive and eat me whole. And Lucius didn't seem to care. All I knew was that the atmosphere was too calm for everything said tonight. I prepared myself for anything.

"Please, Lucius, you can have the money. I don't want it. Just don't hurt me." Begging was never really a solid plan, but there wasn't anything I could do. I began crawling backwards, towards Sev, and tried not to stagger while standing up.

Snape approached Lucius, "Just give her the damned wand back and get the hell out of here. There's no need for any of this."

"Hmm... I guess it's about time we duel, Severus. What do you say? If I win, I get to do as I wish with that scum of human. If you win, I will leave after she gets me my money. Fair game?" A glimmer of hope rose into the air. Maybe Lucius wouldn't harm anyone after all.

"Fine," Snape agreed and rose his arm in the air with his wand ready.

At once, Lucius yelled and his wand shot out a yellow beam of light towards Sev. Blocking it, Snape used his wand to cast a protective charm that only lasted through one more spell. As the duel went on, I spotted my wand in Lucius' pocket. I had to conjure up some plan to grab it.

Out of nowhere, Draco's voice boomed, "Father, leave her alone!"

"Stop fighting this instant!" Hermione's voice came in afterwards.

Lucius, after casting another spell, stated, "I shouldn't have disposed of Peeves so early. Very well then, I will have to call on another accomplice. Geo! Geo!"

A dark brown house elf appeared beside Lucius, with an evil smirk on his face.

"Take care of the extras while I finish off Snape." Again, the blue eyes glittered and shimmered with vengance.

Geo, the house elf, ran towards Mione and Draco. I felt helpless and lost. I didn't know what to do without my wand. I was never much of a fighter. Glancing towards my friends, I realized Hermione and Draco were trying to use their own wands for defensive purposes. The elf seemed to be unaffected by the spells. Before I could run to the rescue, though my strength dwindled down, Geo snapped his fingers and used his magic as a weapon. Hermione was frozen in spot, and Draco was tossed to his father's side, but also frozen in place. Geo glanced at me and snapped his fingers. He disappeared and reappeared by Lucius once more. Now that my friends were helpless, I had no idea what to do.

"Ahh!" The sound of agony came from Snape as he was hit by Lucius' magic. I rushed by his side and saw that my wand was gone.

Lucius noticed my looking and declared, "Oh, so you're trying to find your wand? Sorry, Geo took it. You must feel pretty helpless by now."

Cackling, Geo waved my wand around. He pointed at me, laughing some more, and then broke my wand in half.

"You asshole!" I yelled with my non-wounded hand forming a fist.

"How dreadfully sorry I am, but you mustn't fret. I'm just going to finish Severus off and then you and I can have a long chat." I knew he was talking to me, but I didn't want to hear it. Malice enveloped the night, presenting itself as a storm that would neither die nor strengthen. We were stuck in the middle..In the center of an explosion.

"Maranda," Sev stared into my eyes with a gaze of worry, "Just run. Run to Albus. Hermione and Draco will tell you what happened after, but you must trust me and run."

Stepping towards me, Lucius asked, "Are you two telling secrets over here? Nonsense, you must share with the class."

Snape pointed his wand at Hermione and quickly shouted, "Infernus Reverso!" He was about to shout the same for Draco, but Lucius grabbed his wand.

Struggling to keep his wand in hand, Snape eyeballed Lucius' grip. His wand was falling out of his hold. I grabbed it, ready to take it and run, but Lucius pushed me onto the ground. This gave Sev enough room to break free from the struggle and use the spell on Draco. Hermione recovered from the frozen spell and ran to my side.

"Silly girl! Get out of here! Take Draco and Maranda with you!" Sev ordered us as though we were his pupils.

I would not move. I gazed at Draco who slowly gained strength back. He and Hermione congregated a few feet in front of the garden's door. It had just hit me how odd it was that no one heard or saw any of us out here. But then again, Filch was a lazy son-of-a, and probably never came down here at night.

My feet wouldn't move. My head swivelled around to see what was holding me back. Geo was nearby, laughing loudly at me. The horrid pain in my wounds came back as the air became colder. Lightning struck, signifying the remainder of the storm preparing to harm us all.

"Lucius Malfoy, you're such a jerk! If I could, I would kill you right now." My words meant nothing as Lucius continued to duel with Sev.

Finally, Mr. Malfoy took my speaking as an invite to talk, "Enough of this silliness. I'm done with you both!"

Walking over to us, Geo snapped his fingers. Now Sev was stuck in place as well. Looking past Lucius, I spotted Draco and Hermione frozen again. Snape held his wand, but lowered his hand. My hand was almost touching his, and I could feel Snape's pinky flicking my finger. It was a signal to take his wand. But how? How could I do something so courageous without getting caught. With Lucius watching us like hawks, and the ugly house elf sneering, I had no chance of taking it.

"What's the matter, Lucius?" Snape began to egg Malfoy on, "did you forget your plans on getting revenge?"

He shook his head, "Geo, let them free. I want this to be worth it. Oh, and bring the brats over here too."

Snape flicked my finger again, this time harder. He knew I could get away with something... Geo stood in front of me and snapped his fingers. My feet were mobile. I moved my hand closer to Snape's and took his wand while Geo was busy reversing another spell. I moved the wand so it was hidden behind my arm and grip. Intelligently, I switched the wand around so the tip was against my arm. This way, I could whip it out and have it immediately point at Lucius. Of course, I had no clue what I was doing.

Taking Hermione and Draco one at a time, Geo brought them over to be situated by Sev. Geo started to walk across towards my favorite oak tree. Once he started to cross me, I stuck my leg out just enough, and he soon tripped and fell with a loud thud. Snape shot a shocked look at me. He instantlyreached out and took my broken wand out of the elf's pocket. Lucius had been tending to my friends, making sure they were really frozen. When he noticed Snape moving, he drew out his wand again.

Sev pointed my wand at Lucius and scowled, "I know it's broken, but it can still be used."

"You are going mad, Severus. How many butterbeers have you had today? What makes you think you can use a broken wand against me?" Folding his arms, Lucius returned the scowl.

"Enough to know..." Sev sideglanced at me. This was it... I had his wand and it was almost time to use it..

But what spell do I use?

Lucius questioned him, "Enough to know what?"

Incendio? Set him on fire?

"Hmm," Sev milked his words even more, "Enough to know ... Enough to know... You don't have to worry about what it is I know."

Shaking his head, Geo helped himself to get back up. He shot me an evil glance. I couldn't wait any longer...

I quickly whipped the wand out from behind my arm and yelled, "Lethargus!" Geo dropped to the ground, unconcious...In a coma.

"Ferme..." Lucius point his wand directly at Severus' chest, "Ferme Neco!"

A bolt of red shot out from Lucius' black wand. I panicked. I jumped in front of Sev and screamed.

The red bolt hit me in the back as I landed in Snape's arms. I pulled myself up and face Sev. His eyes widened. His mouth was open, and he was shouting something. My hearing was slowly fading. My eyesight was becoming fuzzy. I stared into Snape's eyes and could have sworn I saw tears. I forced myself to turn around and face Lucius one on one. I felt weak. Snape's wand fell from my grasp.

I could make out a sly grin on Lucius' face as he bolted towards the owl cage.

Sev picked up the wand. I fell to my knees and shook my head violently to get some sense back into it. My eyes could not see any longer. I felt blind, but my hearing was heightened for a moment. I could hear yelling from both lucius and Sev. My love was in agony yet again, and I couldn't do anything about it. Lucius laughed loudly and mumbled. I was starting to lose my hearing again. I fell to the ground from weakness, feeling a hand flop onto my cheek. It was cold.

Pain surged through my trembling body. And then a shock of electricity rolled from the tips of my toes to the top of my head. The cold hand still rested motionless on my cheek. I heard nothing. I saw nothing.

My world is fading. Am I...