Harry awoke with a throbbing headache.

What in the fuck had happened to him?

His hand immediately found the back of his skull, which was bleeding slightly. Fuck. His eyelids opened to reveal a world that was blurry, blending like water colors that kept changing position.

He blinked, shaking his head and attempting to ground himself. Whatever had happened, it surely wasn't good.

After rubbing his eyes excessively with the back of his palms, the world began to come into focus. He was in a... classroom? His wand was next to him. He was against a wall.

FUCK. Pansy. The Astronomy Tower. Draco. Death Eaters. Lucius Malfoy. He stood up with rapid haste but instantly found himself hugging the wall for support. As he attempted to move forward, his head rattled and ached and his vision kept leaving and coming back into focus.

Eventually, he found the door and entered the hallway of the 7th floor. Cloaking himself, he headed to the astronomy tower.

They were outnumbered, but the Death Eaters fought expertly and continued to hold their place against Dumbledore's Army and the others.

Draco was dueling with an individual he presumed to be Crabbe's father. The voice was husky and sounded familiar. He tried not to think about who he was fighting, but what he was fighting against.

He didn't notice another masked man take interest in him. Like a predator, he stalked Draco slowly before sending a near deadly curse his way. The only one who wasn't completely preoccupied was Dobby, who placed himself between the burst of light and his former commander.

"Not Mr. Malfoy, sir! You must NEVER hurt Mr. Malfoy!" The house elf scolded the brute man before using his own powerful magic to bring the curse to a stop mid-air. He then snapped, and the light diminished completely.

Draco defeated his enemy and turned to Dobby with a smile. "Thank you so much, friend. You quite possibly saved my life."

Dobby's eyes were huge and glossy with appreciative tears. He bowed before disapparating to pounce upon another member of Voldemort's army.

Lucius Malfoy overpowered both Snape Dumbledore before directing his attention to one individual in particular. Now that his tattered robes drug the floor behind him, he had one goal in mind. Draco Malfoy would pay. He would end his son, if it was the last thing he did tonight.

Harry's vision resolved almost completely to its former state when approximately a quarter of his journey remained. He kept himself veiled, thoroughly invisible and contained.

Once he considered himself almost totally revitalized, his gallop turned into a sprint that led him to the base of the astronomy tower. He could hear the commotion, spells being fired and bodies thrown chaotically. He only hoped his side was winning. And that a certain someone was wholly okay.

A piercing shriek caught the attention of everyone in the Great Hall. All heads turned to a first year Ravenclaw whose index finger was pointing above them. The rest of the students craned their necks to see what had caused such a reaction. Some froze. Some screamed. Some hid their faces.

Hovering in the center of the enchanted ceiling was none other than the smokey fog of the Dark Mark.

McGonnagall's hand clasped tightly over her mouth. It seemed that the worst was upon them.

"Settle down! Settle down now!" She attempted to regain control of the crowd of now raveling students, who fell silent at her command.

"I assure you that the safest place to be is in fact where you are. None of you are to move." A few suspicious glances landed on the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables, who were both missing a handful of members.

McGonnagall's eyes rested on each vacant seat, and pieces began to fit into ideas. Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy she knew to be with the Head Master. But the others?

Ronald Weasley... Hermione Granger... Neville Longbottom...Ginny Weasley... the Finnigan and Thomas boys... oh, no. She knew that their absence could only mean one thing. As worried as the professor and head of house was for their safety, she couldn't help but beam proudly.

She knew that they would stop at nothing to save the school.

Pansy wasn't prepared to face her father. She had made quite possibly the greatest and most impacting decision of her life just a few moments ago, but the fallout was something she was unprepared for.

When she found herself separated from Draco and dueling an unknown Death Eater, her confidence was unwavering. She'd switched alliances, like so many others recently, and it felt fucking great. Like she'd finally made her own way. Like she didn't belong to her father or to Draco or to anyone. She could live her own life, cross the beaten path, and succeed. She was Pansy Fucking Parkinson, and no one could defeat her.

Her spell work was superior. She wasn't beneath using dark magic to further her own agenda, and she'd picked up a few tricks along the way from daddy dearest. It wasn't long before her masked enemy found himself bleeding on the floor. She was sure he wouldn't die; the spell wasn't powerful enough. But it sure as hell would leave him incapacitated for the time being.

She smiled internally, impressed by her win. Until an authoritative voice caused her to freeze in her tracks.

"You've betrayed us. You're no better than the Malfoy boy, Pansy. And you deserve no better."

She turned to face her father, whose wand was pointed solidly in her direction. Pansy stole a sharp inspiration, attempting to grasp her assertiveness in the presence of the man who had torn her down for most of her life.

The fear of being held at wandpoint crept from the crown of her head into the tips of her toes. She gulped, joining eyes with her opponent. The man she'd done everything for, given everything to.

And then, in a flash, the memory of his words echoed through her skull in a rapid montage: "The Dark Lord's purpose comes before everything, even the ones we love." And that's when she realized that she meant absolutely nothing to him.

It didn't matter how much she'd fought for his approval. She'd finished the impossible, allowed Voldemort into Dumbledore's safe haven. And still, she was at the receiving end of his wrath.

She suddenly understood why Draco had rebelled. It all came booming into an epiphany that she would never let go. Potter was right. Dumbledore was right. Blaise was right. Draco... was right.

Courage bloomed from her core and spread like a warmth throughout her body. She began to raise her wand in retaliation, but she was too late. Her father was already mouthing the spell that would become her end.

Neville's face hit the floor in a bloody mess after being thrown forcefully by a curse that he hadn't seen coming.

He groaned, fully aware of his broken nose and the bruising that had already begun to form on his right temple. He began to push himself upward but fell unsuccessfully as the curse still worked against his motor skills.

"Neville!" Hermione ran towards the boy worriedly. Ron continued to fight confidently, handling himself quite well (to his own amazement).

She stooped beside him, evaluating his condition and casting an "episkey" once she noticed his injury.

Neville scrunched his face in response, breaking into a grin as Hermione helped him stand. "Thank you! It feels much better now."

Hermione smiled before both of them ducked an overhead spell. Neville spun to resume his battle while Hermione's head snapped up to witness a situation she had no chance of saving.

Before her was Pansy Parkinson with an expression of determination and bravery that Hermione had never seen from her. Across a redeemed Pansy was the man Hermione had come to know as Cassius Parkinson with his wand aimed directly at his daughter's heart. Pansy was lifting her wand. She was going to try to defend herself. Hermione shrieked, fully aware that her father was reacting faster.

"NO! PANSY!" She cried helplessly as Cassius Parkinson began mouthing the words "Avada Kedavra." There was nothing Hermione could do.

Pansy braced herself for the inevitable. There was no shield charm strong enough to block a killing curse; she was aware of this. Her wand was raised but no spell was faster than her father's. She subconsciously shut her eyes and prayed it would be painless.

The Unforgivable Curse was a few syllables away from ending her life. He'd already begun to speak the words, voice dripping with poison as toxic as the spell itself. Time moved sluggishly, dragging on in an eternity that Pansy wished would hurry itself along.

The next few words that Pansy could distinguish were not the ones she was expecting. The voices were not her father's but belonged familiarly to her comrades.

She made out the voice of Hermione Granger, screaming her own name. The second voice sounded much closer, but she couldn't seem to figure out who it belonged to. The closest male to her was Seamus Finnigan, whose focus was nowhere near her. No, this was someone else.

"Expelliarmus!" The words spoken by this mystery individual were the ones that saved her life.

Her jaw dropped when she opened her eyes to see her father utterly disarmed, wand nowhere to be found. She instantly took it upon herself to disable him, stunning him with a power she had never realized existed within her being.

He was thrown backward several meters, losing consciousness against the unforgiving stone of the floor.

She glanced around to thank her savior, unable to quite place the voice she'd heard. He had vanished, though she quickly realized that she'd never seen him to begin with. As she hurried along to her next encounter, a somewhat of an epiphany struck her in a sudden fashion.

It was quite impossible, but she was sure of it. The voice that had saved her skin was Harry Potter's.

"YOU."

Draco pivoted abruptly to witness the man before him: Long, Platinum hair much like his own draping against burnt robes that adorned an irate physique. Lucius Malfoy's lungs were heaving, anger suffocating him from the inside out. His shoulders were slumped exhaustedly but his wand was held ever steady at its target.

Those ravenous, crazy eyes covered Draco's skin in goose pimples. He'd never seen his father like this. There was no poise remaining, no stoic apathy. His once stone expression had turned into a passionate and wild look of insanity.

"Stupefy!" Draco cried, but Lucius's newfound desire for revenge made him all but invincible. He wordlessly blocked the spell. Draco stepped backward.

Lucius stalked forward frightfully, unaware of anyone but himself, his son, and his vendetta.

"Immobulus! Petrificus totalus! Locomotor Mortis!" Draco's attempts were futile. Lucius blocked them all effortlessly and continued forward robotically.

"Duro! Incendio! Incarcerous!" Sparks were flying hopelessly from the end of the hawthorn, creating a friction that sent electrical energy whizzing in the air between them.

Lucius came to a halt, huffing profusely with one goal in mind. Draco's eyes were wide with fear and anticipation. His legs were frozen, a helpless target for his father to indulge upon.

Draco knew he didn't have it in him to kill his father. He could hardly cast an Unforgivable, let alone embrace the rage it would take to successfully end a life.

His father, on the other hand, was dripping with anger so harsh that Draco took an additional step backward. Pansy had already saved him once. He knew he'd run out of chances.

Lucius Malfoy straightened suddenly, lips pulling into a malicious grin.

"Any last words, Draco?" He chuckled frenziedly, wand held in place.

Draco gulped, his own wand still forward but lacking any additional spellwork. He didn't dare lower it, even if it served him no good to wield it.

He inspired deeply, brow narrowing in newfound determination. He may have lost everything in this moment, but he didn't have to lose his dignity.

"Yeah. Fuck you, Father."

Lucius's ravenous grin incontinently morphed into an offended and flabbergasted frown. He hadn't been expecting Draco's defiance to present itself quite so boldly.

Draco smirked at his father's unexpected change in manner, knowing he'd blind-sighted him. He'd lived most of his life indebting himself to this man; he didn't have to die that way.

He relaxed at this acceptance. He didn't flinch when his father collected all of his rage into one instant moment, directing everything that had led up to it thus far in the direction of his son.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A green light emerged from the tip of Lucius Malfoy's wand and streaked across the air blindingly.

It cast an eerie glow about the room and caused many of the others from both sides to stop and observe the happenings before them.

It became all too evident what was happening. Hermione screamed. Ron's jaw hung helplessly.

Seamus and Dean were huddled together with looks of disbelief plastered across their own expressions. Hannah's hand was clasped tightly over her mouth. Susan had buried her head in Macmillan's shirt.

Ginny was frozen to the spot. Luna cast a shield charm around her just in case. Cho began to sob, and Neville shrieked.

Several Death Eaters cackled and cheered. Snape's expression contorted into an incapable and regretful frown. Both he and Dumbledore took the distracted opportunity to incapacitate a multitude of enemies.

Pansy, Blaise, and Narcissa rushed forward in a foolish attempt to try and save him. They were unfortunately much too slow and never had a chance.

Dobby and the House elves stood wide eyed, unable to do much else. Even House elf magic couldn't withstand an Unforgivable. It seemed as if this was really the end.

Draco had rescued Harry and his friends so many times in each nightmare that had morphed into a pleasant dream while Harry slept. And here, in a frigid reality, there was no one to save him.

Maybe Dumbledore was wrong, and love meant jack shit when it came to facing Voldemort's reality. Or maybe, he wasn't.

The bright lime light inched through the air as each microsecond passed. Draco refused to blink. It squirmed forward like a snake whose venom was out to paralyze its victim and rob it's life.

It continued forward for what seemed like forever... when suddenly, it transformed into a bright white light that had everyone in the room shielding their eyes. It hadn't yet reached Draco, hovering about a meter ahead of him. A wind seemed to flow outward from the spell, brushing Draco's hair away from his face and anticipatory countenance.

The light resonated from the center of the curse, growing blindingly and illuminating the entire room. Draco squinted but refused to look away. What in the fuck was happening?

Lucius stared confusedly, wondering why the hell Draco was still standing.

A silence enveloped the room as the light seemed to explode, emanating from the center of the curse outward. It burst throughout the room with an unspoken energy that rippled in waves and vibrations that each bystander could feel.

A sharp breeze rustled the robes of everyone present, most of which had stopped to observe what was happening. And then, the light diminished. And it was dark again, albeit the silver cast of the moonlight that shaded the tower.

Draco stood unharmed. He didn't dare breathe, let alone move a muscle. All was motionless, frozen with the present moment. His focus shifted to the space between himself and his father, where the curse had diminished. That's when he saw them.

A pair of round glasses with damaged frames lying askew a few feet in front of him.

His pupils dilated in a sudden and abrupt understanding of what had just happened. Oh my god, the curse hadn't failed... it'd missed its fucking target. And suddenly Draco was on the floor, crawling forward and patting in front of him until he came across an invisible but solid presence.

He hastily removed Harry's invisibility cloak only to see the boy lying completely motionless in a heap before him.

His eyes were shut, mouth rested closed into a relaxed line. His body was limp against the surface of the floor.

It was as if someone had kicked Draco square in the gut without mercy. His breath had been knocked clear from his chest, and he suddenly found himself gasping for air. His hands were trembling as they reached forward to caress the boy before him. His fingers trailed down pale cheeks in disbelief. He ran his hands along his chest and refused to believe that it wasn't rising. He was sleeping. The curse had put him to sleep, that was all. He was Harry Fucking Potter, the Goddamn Boy Who Lived and he refused to believe...

He was audibly gasping now and could feel everyone's eyes boring into him. Somehow, they weren't there. To Draco, the room was empty. It was him, and Harry, and oh my god... Harry...

He found himself scooping his lifeless body into his arms, cradling him like a child who needed redemption. His head was tucked into the fold of Draco's arm, hanging limply as long fingers brushed raven black hair from his face.

"Shh, Harry, it's ok. It's ok, Harry." Draco realized that he was rocking the boy, slouching forward and backward like a lullaby that ensured he was only sleeping.

Hermione found tears streaking her face. Ron's eyes were glassy but firm. No one dared to move, as if by preserving the moment, they could preserve his life.

And then, Harry didn't respond to Draco's woos. And Draco began to sob.

"Harry, you Goddamn prat, why the fuck would you do this? I need you. I fucking love you. You can't. Do this." He was hunched over him now, Harry's face tucked into the space between Draco's neck and shoulder. Never had he felt such an emptiness settle within his soul.

"Harry... Harry... please, Harry... I love you..." he was choking on his own tears, rounds of sobs lodging in his throat. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't fucking move, he couldn't think...

He cried. And he fucking cried. And Harry didn't move, no matter how vulnerable he became. The end had inevitably occurred. And Draco couldn't fucking think.

So he continued to sob.

"Oh, no... fuck..." Lucius Malfoy regrettably stumbled upon his words as Draco hovered over Harry's deceased corpse.

He had done the Unforgivable himself. He had broken the Dark Lord's command. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear at what the fuck he'd just done.

His wand was held loosely by his side. He watched his son cling to the boy in disbelief. There was no coming back from this.

He backed away slowly, attempting to move inconspicuously as he neared the edge of the tower. His next plan was to make a run for it before the Dark Lord took it upon himself to end his own life.

He took a few more steps and attempted briskly to turn and run, only to stumble face first into Dumbledore, Snape, and Dobby. With a snap of Dobby's fingers, Lucius was face first on the ground. Snape took it upon himself to paralyze the man while Dumbledore conjured and fastened extremely powerful magical handcuffs around his wrists and hands. He struggled to break free to no avail, gritting his teeth in wild determination. Snape's paralyzation charm was too much to fight against.

At the sight of their leader arrested, the remaining Death Eaters began having apparent second thoughts. Some backed away slowly; others turned to run.

Anger fumed like wildfire through each individual of Dumbledore's Army. Neville fired curses at several men who tried to flee, halting them abruptly and allowing Dumbledore and Snape to fasten their hands and feet.

Hermione and Ron passionately incapacitated four more men who were attempting to leave unnoticed.

Cassius Parkinson was edging toward the stair case when Pansy noticed the look of fear upon his face. This was her goddamned chance.

She lifted her wand without hesitation and fired an immobulus. His eyes widened as the charm lit the air between them with an iridescent blue.

"Pansy!" He fell backwards, unable to move. "Revive me! I am your father. I've been here for you since birth. How can you betray me?"

Pansy strolled toward him and squatted until she was nearly face level with the man. "Because, Dad, some things are more important than the ones we love."

She cocked her head shrewdly and rose, gesturing to Snape and Dumbledore.

"We've got one over here, boys."

"You think this is over, you brat!?" Dumbledore fastened the cuffs around her father. "This is never over! When the Dark Lord reigns, you will be the first he'll want dead!"

Pansy shrugged. "See you, then." And she walked away as Snape paralyzed the man.