Author's Note: The last Chapter, and the Epilogue, will be posted tomorrow afternoon/evening. (Depends when I'm home.)
So that means by tomorrow night this story will be over! I've got it all written; it's just a matter of pacing myself posting the Chapters. I wanna make sure they're read and whatnot... :)

Chapter 19 - War

The Great Hall was in utter chaos and confusion. Students were screaming, and hiding under tables, professors were yelling orders at each other, and sending curses at the Death Eaters all at once.

"Blimey, it's begun, then." Ron said, dumbly.

"I don't suppose now would be as good a time as any to run in the opposite direction, would it?" Ginny said, with a half-smile playing on her lips.

Draco turned to his friend to reprimand her. "Now is definitely not the time to be making jokes like that, Ginevra. We will fight the Death Eaters. We have no other choice, here."

The rest of the group gawked at the boy, not expecting to ever hear those words come out of his mouth. It had finally occurred to them that Draco Malfoy truly was on their side, whether they liked it or not.

"Malfoy's right, let's do this!" Harry cried, as he ran into the fray and stated shouting curses at the enemy.

The rest followed him blindly, and attempted to protect their fellow classmates and professors. There were as many as maybe forty Death Eaters amongst them, and half their number would be cut down in the next few minutes.

Ginny was standing close by to Harry, both fighting Death Eaters who were trying to kill or maim students around them. Draco was not far off, taking care of his fellow Slytherin, Blaise Zabini, who was being attacked from the front and behind.

Ron and Hermione were back-to-back sending curses at their assailants, and the rest of the Order members were spread out around the Hall, protecting the innocents.

Harry saw an object flying toward his head, and instinctively reached out to grab it. As his fist closed about the object Draco, Ginny who was nearest and had seen a Death Eater throw the projectile, screamed out in warning.

Harry was portkeyed to the Quidditch Pitch, but his companions would not find that out for another few moments.

In the meantime, Draco and Ginny pursued the Death Eater who had launched the portkey at Harry. Once they caught him, they trapped the man in magical ropes and Draco had his wand to the man's temple. "Speak, Death Eater." He pushed his wand harder into the man's head. "Where did that portkey take Harry?"

The Death Eater spat and refused to answer. Ginny threw a Bat-Bogey Hex at him, and repeated Draco's request. The man complied, and, within moments, they had informed the other Order members of Harry's whereabouts.

The Aurors and senior students were left to subdue the little remaining Death Eaters in the Great Hall as the Order of the Phoenix followed Harry to the Quidditch Pitch.

The Order apparated to the Pitch, not knowing what to expect. As they all appeared, they took in the sight of Harry Potter standing in front of Lord Voldemort prepared to fight until death. His death or Voldemort's. Maybe even both.

They quickly arranged themselves to fight the Death Eaters surrounding the two who wielded brother wands. They were surely outnumbered, but they would fight nonetheless.

Curses started flying and for the time being, Lord Voldemort was distracted from his fight with Harry. He hurried to shout orders at his henchmen, and paid close attention to the fighting going on around him. It was important to rid himself of the distraction the Order was making; he could not kill Harry Potter with his Death Eaters tied up with fighting. He needed them circled around him in protection to ensure that there was no interference in his plans of killing the Boy-Who-Would-Die. Harry quietly slipped away, hoping to get in on the action before fulfilling his destiny as Voldemort's marked opponent.

Hermione soon found herself under the Cruciatus curse, as she had been too distracted by Ron nearly being attacked to notice that there was a Death Eater behind her. Her screams pierced the night as Harry came running to her aid. Ron beat him to it. With a "Reducto" curse, Ron quickly removed the threat of the Death Eater spewing more curses that night. The man's body fell to the ground, missing a major body part. Hermione lay on the ground nearby still convulsing from the aftershock of the curse under which she had been.

The rest of the Order had some troubles, as well, but it was nothing they could not handle. That is not to say that they were to leave the night unscathed, though. It was a great fight for them all even to come out of the final battle alive, as the rest of the night would prove.

The Death Eaters were soon almost finished, and Voldemort took the opportunity to corner Harry away from the fighting. As the last Death Eaters fought for their lives, Harry was about to find out just how much he truly hated the Dark Lord and the evil he stood for.

In the midst of the action, Ginny found herself under the attention of none other than Lucius Malfoy. He had a look, that screamed trouble, plastered on his face. He advanced slowly, and knocked Ginny to the ground with a Cruciatus curse.

As Ginny screamed in pain on the ground, Draco lifted his head from his position a few paces away. He was caught up in a battle with two Death Eaters, and was unable to run to Ginny's aid at the moment.

Lucius let go of the curse he had on Ginny, and bent down to talk to the girl. "Do you think you can beat me, dear girl? You are sadly mistaken if that is the case."

Ginny spat in his face and hissed, "I'll beat you or I'll die trying!"

The elder Malfoy backhanded the girl across the face and stood up. "You are not worthy of my son, even in his base position as a disinherited heir. You are not worth the ground he walks upon; you are filth." He sneered as he spat out that last word. "I will not have my son attached to blood traitor of your standing. It is simply not done!"

Lucius Malfoy pulled out his wand and started to scream the killing curse when his only son tackled him to the ground.

"You will not touch a hair on her body!" Draco screamed, as he struggled for the upper hand with his father.

The two Malfoy's rolled around on the ground, Draco struggling to stay on top, and his father attempting to get him in a chokehold. At the last second, Lucius managed to push Draco off him, and point his wand at his son's chest.

Draco now stood between his close friend and his father, and was ready and willing to fight for Ginny's life, even if it meant taking down his father.

"Stand aside you fool. She must die for her actions." Lucius screamed.

Draco did not stand down, and answered his father with a steady and sure voice. "Never. You may be my father by blood, but you have no power over me. You haven't since the day you disinherited me. What gives you the right to decide my future and with whom I share it?"

Lucius stared at his defiant son, and hissed venomously. "Stand aside or you will pay for your insolence, boy! The muggle loving wretch must die!"

Draco stood his ground, and did nothing of the sort. "Over my dead body."

"Fool." With that, Lucius raised his wand and screamed the deadliest curse of all. A bright green light projected out of his wand and hit his son square in the chest. Ginny screamed as she had never screamed before.