CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

The Second Death

Instead of continuing to Dumbledore's office, the four of them backtracked outside to meet the others. Thankfully, Luna was with them. Apparently, she had meant to take a nap and accidentally slept through the whole Quidditch Match. Ginny had found her stumbling through the hallway still trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

Harry directed all of them into groups again, sending Fred and George down into the kitchens and other groups to search the castle. He still had not seen any members of the Order or Malfoy inside. He decided to take Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in his group to do a quick search the Great Hall.

"Where did your parents go?" Harry questioned Ginny. "I thought they were coming with the second group."

"Cho said that they went inside and told all of them to stay out of the castle. But nobody's seen them, either."

If there was a battle going on inside this castle, it had to be some place discreet. Some place they hadn't checked yet. But where?

As they approached the Great Hall, Harry could easily make out Lucius's voice. It was as angry and violent as the night at the café in London.

"This is preposterous," he said. "Why keep us, the strongest, out of the battle up here, with you," he snarled, gesturing across the room. "I have no desire to baby-sit."

"It's Draco," Ginny whispered.

Sure enough, as Harry peered in the Great Hall, decorated in Ravenclaw celebration décor, he could see Malfoy's oily pale hair and beady eyes. He was wearing the same dark cape that his father wore. So now he was a full-fledged Death Eater.

"I'm afraid you have that backwards, father," Draco said. "The Dark Lord had commanded me to watch over the two of you. The two traitors."

Snape appeared next to Lucius, looking furious. "What are you saying, Draco?"

"I'm saying that he knows what both of you did. He knows that you, my dear professor Snape, have been nothing more than a double-spy for Dumbledore. You are a traitor. And you, father, after your mishap with those Muggles in London, are nothing but a liability in his plans. I was supposed to wait for Lestrange to get here before I took care of both of you, but it appears that I will have to do it myself!"

Snape and Lucius laughed. "Don't be foolish, boy. You would never do such a thing."

"Oh, wouldn't I father?" he replied. "Wasn't it you who showed me how to be a man, to take the life of that Muggle woman who bore children of our blood? Our ancient bloodline that had been pure for centuries until you decided to taint it?"

Lucius stopped laughing. "What do you think you're going to do, Draco? Do you think you are going to kill me? Curse me?"

"Yes, perhaps I'll start with a good unforgivable. Crucio!" Draco cried, pointing his wand at his father.

Lucius quickly got out of the way. Snape, not wanting to stay around to watch, ran out of the Great Hall with his wand in hand. Clearly, this was one fight he did not want to be a part of.

Without speaking an incantation, Lucius fired a spell back at his son, who ducked behind a table. The spell just missed him. Draco stayed hidden. Lucius approached Draco, who was still huddled on the floor.

"It's time you learned your lesson, boy. Let it be the last thing you learn before you die!" Once again, he sent a spell flying towards Draco, who once again managed to evade it. Then he scrambled out the other side of the table, knocking over a bench, but hissed the deadly incantation before his father could even turn to face him.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Green sparks flew from Draco's wand and hit his father directly in the back. Hermione gasped and Ginny let out a tiny scream as Lucius fell flat on his back, his eyes still open, dead. Ginny quickly covered her mouth, but it was too late. Draco had heard something. He turned to the entrance and was headed straight towards them.

Harry stepped out from the shadows, his wand outstretched.

"Potter, how nice of you to join us." He glanced at his father's dead body. "Well, I suppose it's just me now. Tell me, did you enjoy watching him die as much as I did? Or are you too good to even appreciate the death of an enemy?"

Harry did not even dignify his question with a response. "Why did you do it, Malfoy?" he asked. "You killed your own flesh and blood. I thought that blood was the most important thing to you."

Draco scoffed. "My father's blood was tainted long ago by the mother of your Muggle girlfriend. No, the Dark Lord would not take him back after what he did in London. He was far too reckless."

"So you work for him now, do you Draco? You live only to serve Voldemort?"

He laughed. "I live only to serve the name of Malfoy."

Harry gestured to the arm where the Death Eaters had their tattoos. Draco's was burning brightly—he could see it poking out from beneath his cloak. "I know what you are, Malfoy. I know that you needed to bribe your way in to the Dark Lord's inner circle, just as you needed to bribe your way onto the Quidditch Team."

"Let's not reminisce about childhood memories, Potter. Besides, what would you know of my trade?"

"I know that you were going to use Kreacher," Harry said. "And when your father broke out of Azkaban his servitude returned to Lucius. So instead you had to give the Dark Lord something else."

Draco appeared to be sweating bullets. "How do you know…?" he began. "No matter. What I used got me in. I am now a Death Eater. The only Malfoy true to the Dark Lord."

"Clearly," Harry said dryly. "But what on earth could you give Voldemort that would let him make such a foolish mistake?"

Draco laughed. "You mean you don't know? How ironic!" He continued to chuckle. It echoed through the Great Hall, reverberating off the walls. "Oh, Potter. Perhaps you should ask your precious Potions Master what he has taught me this year. After all, he is the traitor who saved your life."

"What are you talking about?" Harry spat. Draco was not reacting in the way Harry expected him to. "Laugh all you want, Malfoy. With Dumbledore and the Order here, there is no way you'll get out of this. You'll be going to Azkaban for sure."

"For what?" he asked. He covered the Dark Mark on his arm with his sleeve. "For killing a known Death Eater? A man on the run from Azkaban himself? A man responsible for the death of four innocent Muggles only weeks ago? No, the Ministry will not be sending me to Azkaban. If anything, they will be thanking me."

He was right. As far as the Ministry and Fudge were concerned, Draco would be a hero for killing his father.

"It was self-defense, after all," Draco continued. "You saw for yourself, Potter. It was either him or me."

"You won't get away with this, Malfoy," Harry said.

"I believe I already have." He motioned to the stage. "Kreacher, you belong to me now. Get me out of here."

"As you wish, Master." Kreacher, the wretched old house-elf, crept out from the shadows. With a few mere hand gestures and some words Harry didn't understand, Malfoy and his house-elf disappeared from the Great Hall.

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny rushed to meet Harry. "How did he do that?" Ginny questioned.

"Anyone can get just about anywhere with a house-elf," Hermione said sadly.

"But where did he go?"

Harry shrugged. "Damned if I know."

Ron had been inspecting Lucius Malfoy's body as though he expected him to come back to life at any moment. "I… I can't believe he's really dead. I can't believe Malfoy killed his own father. I didn't know the stupid git had it in him."

"Harry!" Angelina and Alicia burst into the Great Hall, sprinting at full speed. "Harry, they're in the kitchens! Everybody!" Angelina said breathlessly.

Harry nodded. "Let's go."

They followed their two former housemates out of the Great Hall and ran to the portrait of the fruit. The entrance was already unblocked. Harry could hear shouting as he raced down the stairs.

The first person he saw was Hagrid battling with Macnair. Harry suspected he had a personal beef with the executioner every since he tried to kill Buckbeak in his third year. Tonks was there as herself instead of Professor Leurre and was exchanging spells and harsh words with Bellatrix Lestrange, who did not appear to be bothered by the fact that her husband was no where in sight. Remus was locked in a similar battle with Rabastan Lestrange and seemed to be winning.

Molly was helping a limping Arthur move away from Goyle and Crabbe, fathers of the same dumb and dumber who were at the Quidditch Pitch, sitting in the Slytherin stands. Fred and George stepped in and continued the battle, allowing their parents to seek safety behind a line of cabinets.

Familiar faces were all around Harry. The kitchen was in complete chaos. All of Dumbledore's Army was there, and they seemed to match if not surpass the Order's numbers. There were more Death Eaters than he had ever seen. Many of them he did not recognize. However, he knew exactly which one he wanted to go after first.

Harry took a step toward Tonks and Bellatrix when Luna suddenly rushed towards him. "Harry!" she cried. "It's Neville!"

He quickly followed her to the back of the kitchen, to where the cages were for Remus and Eva. Neville was crumpled in a heap on the cold cement floor.

Harry ran into the cage with Hermione and Ginny at his heels. "What happened?" Hermione asked, frantically checking for a pulse. She rolled his body over and gasped at the deep gash in his head. He was knocked out cold but still breathing.

"Who did this?" Harry spat.

Luna shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest."

Ginny studied Luna closely. "Luna, are you all right?"

Harry thought for one horrifying moment that Luna had cracked under the pressure of battle. Her eyes were large and round and the corners of her mouth were twisted into a half-smile, half-grimace.

"You'll pay for what you did to him!" she exploded. Using her wand, she commanded the door on the cage to shut. The heavy iron lock on it clicked into place, locking the four of them inside.

"Luna, what are you doing?" Ginny cried. She reached out and tried to shake the bars. "Get us out of here! You'll get us all killed!"

"Death would be too kind for you. I want all of you to suffer for what you did to my brother!" She laughed maniacally.

"It's the Imperiuscurse," Hermione said. "Someone is controlling her. Ron! Ron!" she shouted. "Ro…" She squealed as Luna pointed her wand at her and her mouth seemed to be glued shut instantly.

But it was already too late. Ron came over to the cage. "How did you guys get stuck in there?"

"Look out!" Ginny said. "Luna's being controlled by someone else!"

Ron looked at Luna, who instantly muttered an incantation. He lunged for the cage door and narrowly missed the binding spell.

"Who is it?" Ron questioned as he threw open the door. "Who's got control over her?"

"It must be Lestrange," Harry replied, thinking of Rodolphus's impaled body. It was his brother. He must have cursed Luna when she was on her way to the Quidditch Pitch. Harry quickly ran out of the cage. "You three restrain Luna. I'll help Remus with Lestrange."

"It is you who will be restrained for your final meeting with the Dark Lord!" Luna hissed. She said the binding incantation and pointed her wand at Harry.

Harry hit the floor and dodged the spell, but instead it hit Fred across the kitchen. Fred dropped his wand as his wrists were pulled tightly behind his back. Vulnerable, he fell to his knees.

It was then that Goyle raised his wand. "Incendio!"

Fred screamed and writhed in pain as sparks flew from Goyle's wand. George fell to his brother's side but the damage had already been done. Charlie rushed over from somewhere and managed to drag Fred's scorched body out of the way. Ginny and Hermione had already tackled Luna to floor and bound her magically. Hermione had Luna's wand tucked safely in her pocket.

Harry and Ron rushed to George's aid and the three of them, at all the same time, yelled, "Stupefy!" Crabbe and Goyle were both knocked backward into the wall with such force that they were out cold in an instant.

The Weasleys, including Molly and Arthur, circled around Fred, who had passed out from the burning pain. Mrs. Weasley was crying.

Harry was furious. Nobody hurt the people he loved—his true family—and got away with it. He marched over to where Remus was still fighting Rabastan. There was blood streaming from his nose and Harry had the eerie sensation it was because his mind was in two places at once. Harry wanted to make him burn the way Goyle had burned Fred. However, he could see what Remus was thinking as he pointed his wand at Lestrange.

"Stupefy!"

Rabastanfell backwards and hit his head on the cement floor with a loud crack. Remus was breathing heavily—he finally had a moment to catch his breath.

"Where's Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, Harry," Remus said, panting. "He said he was going to alert the Ministry." He glanced at Tonks as she continued battling with Bellatrix. "I don't know where Dumbledore is." He took off in the direction of Tonks's fight.

Where is Dumbledore? Henry thought. Something was still very wrong. As something slimy on the back staircase caught his eye, he couldn't help wondering something else.

Where is Voldemort?