Chapter 53 - The Chosen One

Apparating three people had taken more out of Hermione than she'd thought, but then she hadn't accounted for the fact that she was exhausted after all of the near-death experiences and energy that she'd already spent during the prolonged Battle of Hogwarts. It was therefore with less grace and a very near splinching that she got herself, Draco, and Severus to the safe place she'd had in mind.

Of all places, she had chosen the dungeons below Hogwarts, right outside the Slytherin common room.

Barely stopping to take a breath, she summoned her patronus and sent Ron the message to meet them there.

Draco, meanwhile, was focused on keeping Severus apparated and moving him as little as possible to prevent Nagini's venom from spreading even faster. Realizing where Hermione had taken then, he spoke the password that would admit them to the common room.

"Hobgoblins."

The stones at the entrance moved aside as they had countless times before for Draco, and together the two Slytherins and one unfamiliar Gryffindor entered.

Even after seven years, this was in fact the first time that Hermione had ever entered the Slytherin common room, having been unable to disguise herself as Pansy Parkinson when the friends had taken Polyjuice Potion in their second year. To Draco, the surroundings of dark green and the dimly lit shadows and statues of serpents were familiar, and so he didn't hesitate in taking Severus over to the securest spot, setting him down upon one of the lush sofas.

"Maybe one of us should go check on Weasley..." he began, but Hermione cut him off.

"Didn't you just say earlier that we should never separate again, Draco?" she asked, shaking her head. "No, absolutely not. The last time we separated, I thought you'd—"

Draco stopped her, his face equally grim. "I thought the same thing about you, so don't remind me. What I meant was that I know you're also worrying about Weasley now, and Harry too, but we both need to stay focused if we're going to save Severus. If I look calm to you, I assure you I'm not, and that's why I'm saying that I'll go and check on him. We don't need to lose anyone today." He paused, remembering Crabbe and Goyle. For, though Hermione certainly had no reason to feel the loss of them, even though they'd betrayed him in the end, they had still been Draco's friends for years. "Anyone else, I mean."

Hermione nodded, understanding what he must be thinking of. "I know, Draco, but..." She bit her lip, lamenting for the thousandth time that she could only be in one place at once. It seemed that everywhere she turned, one of her friends needed her, one of them—

And then the message came, Voldemort's voice echoing all around the room—and all throughout Hogwarts.

Harry Potter, who had just gotten through Professor Severus Snape's memories, heard them just as he came out of the pensieve. He heard the message clearly, for it echoed everywhere and was impossible to avoid, halting all combat as the Dark Lord called back his death eaters.

And yet, even as others stood still, riveted in horror by the message and what Voldemort was asking for, Harry himself heard it as though from very far away.

He recalled the Prophecy perfectly: neither can live while the other survives.

But, as he'd just found out from Snape's memories, a truth that Dumbledore himself had known and yet kept hidden from Harry all this time...

...that unless Harry Potter did die, then Voldemort himself would live forever.

This entire time, they'd been wrong, Harry now knew. Nagini wasn't the final horcrux.

He was. The only horcrux that the Dark Lord had never intended to make.

And now the very monster who had killed his parents and haunted his life since the beginning, was coming to take him once and for all.

He killed Snape, so now the Elder Wand will answer to him, Harry thought—though the thought felt wrong, for some reason, he didn't have time to dwell on it. Now, even with Nagini and...me dead, it might still be impossible to kill him.

But one thing was certain: unless Harry gave up his life, thereby allowing the horcrux within him to die, then no one would even stand a chance.

He had to let Hermione, Ron, Draco, and the others know. He had to tell them what he had to do.

No.

No, he couldn't, Harry realized. If he told them, the first thing they'd try to do was stop him, insist that there was another way, try to go around it by finding loopholes in the prophecy. But, based on Snape's memories, Harry knew that it couldn't be anything else. Dumbledore himself had known it, had known that everything was leading up to this moment.

Harry swallowed. He had no choice.

Almost immediately after Voldemort's message ended and the death eaters had fallen back from their assault on Hogwarts, Ron apparated outside the Slytherin common room, Hermione's bag in tow. He brought it to her promptly, after which she dug inside and found the last of the antidote that Draco had brewed before. Not much had been left from when Draco had saved Harry's life, but it was all they had, so it had to be enough.

"Here!" Hermione exclaimed, handing Draco the vial.

Draco eyed it and then eased carefully over to his godfather's side, praying that it would be enough to save him.

Once Severus had been made to swallow what little there was, all they could do was wait. His breathing was shallow, but at least he was breathing. As long as they could keep him alive, no matter what the chances, all hope was not lost.

While they were waiting to see some sign, any sign of his condition changing, a stag came from around the corner.

Harry's patronus.

"Find the snake and kill it. He doesn't have it with him anymore," the stag communicated in Harry's voice. He sounded so certain that none of the three questioned that he knew what he was talking about. "Once it's dead, then kill him. You'll have to end it—together."

Hermione waited to hear more, but that was all the stag said before it vanished.

She exchanged looks with Draco, both of them looking alarmed.

"Bloody hell, what was all that about?" Ron muttered, though he looked too pale and shaken for it not to have affected him as well. They all knew what it meant:

Harry Potter was going to turn himself in to the Dark Lord—to be killed like a lamb at slaughter.

The Next Day

If they could have stopped him, it was undoubtable that they would have. Even though it meant putting themselves in danger, possibly leaving Severus Snape to die unguarded, and risking their very lives in the attempt, none of them would have hesitated.

Except no one knew where Harry Potter was, nor where he was going to meet his fate.

By the end of the day, no one could guess at whether he was alive or dead.

Draco, Hermione, and Ron had left their potions professor alone in the Slytherin common room, heavily protected by wards and hidden until they returned. Severus Snape's vitals had been sustained, a sure sign that he was healing from the effects of Nagini's venom. Hermione and Draco had watched over him all night in turns, while Ron had gone out to search for his family, see what he could do to help. Since he had found his mother and Ginny in the Great Hall, mourning over Fred, he hadn't left their side though, just sending Hermione a brief message of what had happened.

Hermione, though grief-stricken herself, had entered into a state of numbness with regards to pain. Over and over again, she reached for Draco's hand and simply held onto it, thanking Merlin, God, and everything else she could think of that she hadn't lost him. Nothing was over yet, but she knew that was the one thing she couldn't stand. The fact that he was by her side now, safe, was the only thing that kept her going.

Draco himself was equally resigned, though for a different reason. All of the death eaters had been pulled back from Hogwarts. That included his parents as well, surely, though Draco couldn't recall seeing them anywhere on the grounds beforehand. He tried not to let himself think the worst—that, either within or outside of Hogwarts, they were now dead. He didn't risk sending a patronus to his mother to find out though and, honestly, he couldn't have mustered up the emotions to summon one anyway. He kept his eyes glued to Severus, trying to avoid the thought that now his godfather was the only real family he had left.

His family. Bellatrix, his parents, Severus, and so many others. All of them were considered traitors in the Wizarding World, death eaters who would be hunted down and killed, either by Voldemort himself or by the Ministry, sooner or later. Draco had no idea who was winning this war, but he did know that it wouldn't turn out well for his family either way.

And he...he stood to lose everything either way.

Even Hermione, who for some reason was still by his side, after everything that had happened.

Looking at her when she fell into short stretches of sleep, Draco reaffirmed how he couldn't and wouldn't let go of her no matter what. She, the fearless, all-knowing, perfect Hermione Granger, had been losing her mind worrying over him. The relief in her eyes when she had first seen him alive spoke louder than words how she truly felt about him. There were no reserves, no hesitations, nothing to suggest that she held anything against him, either from the past or the present. She was his.

And though Draco knew he'd never be rid of the doubts, or the thought that he wasn't good enough for her, he wasn't going to send her away, not even for her own good.

She was his, and Merlin knew that he was totally and unreservedly hers.

Though, with the dawn of the new day, and the sight of Hagrid walking towards Hogwarts amidst a hoarde of death eaters, the seemingly lifeless body of Harry Potter in his arms, that will and love were about to be tested.

The Dark Lord entered the courtyard with undisguised joy, which was almost more terrifying than his anger once everyone present recognized the reason behind it. It was with no little amount of glee that Voldemort announced "Harry Potter is dead!", therefore proclaiming his victory. It was so eerie—that expression of childlike joy on a face so inhuman, that Draco felt a shudder of revulsion pass by him just as Voldemort offered all those still standing to surrender to his "mercy".

"Draco!"

Though not uttered loudly, Lucius Malfoy's voice rang over the entire courtyard, which was overhung with silence.

Draco glanced indifferently towards him, noting the evident relief on both his parents' faces that he was still alive, as well as the pleading they had as they reached out for him. Lucius gestured him frantically over, but Draco made no move to go.

"Ah! Draco!" When Voldemort himself stretched out his arms towards Draco, by instinct Draco took one step forward, but then felt Hermione grip his arm from behind. His hesitation at that point was noted by everyone present.

"Draco?" Voldemort asked in almost a whisper, his expression changing from assurance to sudden repulsed shock when Draco reached behind him and clasped Hermione's hand, drawing her forward to stand beside him.

Seeing the two holding hands together, and standing so closely, was a shock to everyone else present as well, apart from perhaps Luna and Neville. Everyone eyed the Slytherin and Gryffindor pair in awe, never having expected that they of all people would join together in such a way. Not everyone made the connection that they were together, romantically, but even so, to have Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy together was beyond comprehending.

"I won't join you now or ever again," Draco said in a loud, clear voice, drawing his strength from knowing that Hermione was beside him and not showing a hint of faltering. "I'm not one of you. I never was."

"Traitor!"

It was Bellatrix who screamed, her banshee-like wail jolting almost everyone present, even the supposedly-unconscious Harry.

Striding forward, she stood just a step behind Voldemort, her wand out and pointed at Draco. At an instant, Hermione drew her wand and had it pointed at the witch as well.

"You're a traitor to our family and our blood!" Bellatrix screamed undeterred, her wild eyes focused on Draco. And, it was no wonder—first her own sister, Andromeda, had been a "blood traitor", and now to see her nephew as well...it was too much.

"Together with little miss mudblood! And how DARE you betray our lord! Crucio!"

The speed of the mad witch was unparalleled when it came to cursing someone, so her spell hit true. However, right before it could hit Draco, Hermione planted herself in its path, hoping to block it. She underestimated Bellatrix's speed though, and instead took on the brunt of the spell, shrieking in unrestrained pain and falling to the ground in convulsions at what was probably Bellatrix's harshest recitation of the spell.

Draco was already in the middle of a spell to counteract his aunt, and would have been about to cast it, had not someone else disarmed Bellatrix first.

"Expelliarmus!"

Bellatrix gaped in wide-eyed shock as her wand flew out of her hand, right into the outstretched palm of...

...Narcissa.

Even Lucius stepped away from his wife as he took in what she had done, and Voldemort himself showed some surprise at her action. Narcissa was firm in her resolve though, and right before Bellatrix she took the dark witch's wand and snapped it in two.

"You'll not harm my son nor anyone else ever again!" Narcissa snapped, her own wand held out.

It was at this point that Voldemort took action. "Such a shame," he seemed to murmur, right a moment before he called out, "Avada—"

"NO!" Draco cast the nonverbal spell before he knew what he was doing, for if he'd had time to think about it, it certainly would have been a suicidal move to cast a spell at the Dark Lord.

Voldemort was ready for it though, and to him it was a mere distraction to block the spell. However, a distraction was all that Draco had needed to save his mother's life, and in the next moment Lucius had grabbed hold of his wife and apparated them both away.

It was so like his father to run, coward that he was, Draco thought, but for once he was glad. His parents were both traitors now, just like him, and there was no going back for any of them.

Voldemort seemed to think as much as well, and was just about to send a spell back Draco's way, if only someone else hadn't called out for him just then, someone whom everyone there had last expected to hear:

Harry Potter.

Except that Harry wasn't speaking to Voldemort, nor to anyone else. Instead, his wand drawn, he aimed a spell at Nagini, who was just as unsuspecting as everyone else there. His spell barely grazed the snake though, and already Harry had taken off from the courtyard, knowing that in the commotion, he'd be Voldemort's most likely target.

Seeing the Chosen One alive, many death eaters finally lost their nerve and started to apparate away, following Lucius and Narcissa's example.

Bellatrix herself was still enraged though, and grabbed a wand from the nearest body to her.

Fighting broke out anew, but everyone stayed clear of the Dark Lord, who went in pursuit of Harry.

Nagini, meanwhile, slithered forward in pursuit of Hermione and Draco, who had turned and fled back into the castle.

They had nothing on them to kill the snake with, having lost their previous weapons somewhere along the way. Draco's sheath, any basilisk poison, none of it. They were on their own.

Draco was a second away from risking Fiendfyre, nevermind that it might burn them all alive, when suddenly Neville Longbottom stepped out into Nagini's path, wielding the Sword of Gryffindor.

How he got it, Draco and Hermione never questions, but all that was certain was that he cut straight through the snake, dissolving her into fragments and killing the horcrux within.

Several yards away, both Voldemort and Harry felt the shudder of her death pass through them, the former knowing that now only he remained.

The confrontation between them was intense, but brief.

The end result was that Harry Potter disarmed, and thereby destroyed the Dark Lord. His body faded into ashes and darkness, leaving nothing behind.

And then, Voldemort was no more, and the Third Wizarding War finally drew to a close.

A/N: Okay, so this chapter is pretty much unreasonably and unforgivably late, and I have no idea whether or not I have any more people who will still be reading it, but regardless, I want to finish it.

In terms of explanations for the 5-month-long delay between posting this new chapter, all I can say is that it's been a hard and busy year for me. It was one thing after another and though I sat down to continue writing this story several times, in the hopes that it'd get my mind to a good, peaceful place, somehow I could never find the words to continue. I was going through some hardship, and since we're in the middle of the Battle of Hogwarts, the last thing I needed was to make my characters go through more hardship as well. Some of that is reflected in this chapter as well.

So, to my readers (if any of you are still out there and interested in picking this story up again), I deeply apologize for the over-long delay in posting, and hope it won't happen again. Positive hopes for the future, after all.

Ahem, and, once again, this was a challenging chapter to write, as there's so much from the original that I wanted to keep intact. In order to keep Harry's sacrifice, his conversation with Dumbledore in the afterlife(?), and pretty much everything from canon in its original form, I therefore just opted for a time skip to after Harry's sacrifice, when Voldemort himself finally steps foot in Hogwarts. I hope this decision is justifiable, since the focus of the story is meant to be Draco and Hermione, so even while it may seen that I'm keeping away from writing the main action, it's just to keep the focus on our lovers and keep the excellence of J.K. Rowling's original story intact.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please do leave a review, and of course follow and favourite if you haven't already.

Fingers crossed that the next update will be WAY sooner than this one was compared to the last chapter! .