Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hello to Story Alert reader: PintoNess and Twilight2929. You're great!

There was a sound like a knocking and Gale looked up, Neville following her gaze to the portrait of Arianna Dumbledore, who was smiling at them. She waved, pointing at Neville before pointing behind her. Neville looked back to Gale with a grin. "I think I know what this means. I'll be back everyone!" he called to the rest.

Neville climbed through the portrait hole and Gale looked to 'the rest'. Two weeks had passed since Seamus and Michael had shown up and no the room was practically full (though she was sure it would expand if more people decided to come live). Now, the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tapestries hung along side Gryffindor, little hammocks in different colors spread across the room. If Gale had been amazed by Hogwarts when she first arrived she certainly was now.

Still. . . .

She couldn't help but remember the time she had come in here before and the room had held nothing more than a small couch and a fire place. . . . Cozy she had called it and it had made her wary but, she kind of wished she had chosen to spend time in there with –

Merlin, did she actually miss Draco?

Over her time spent in here, she had thought about him often, hoped he was okay, hoped that he hadn't done anything stupid . . . just plain hoped because hope was really the only thing she had left nowadays.

A few months ago (had such a short amount of time really gone by? It felt as if it had been ages), she had told him she loved him and that much was true. She was still hurt by his deception but . . . not so much so. She couldn't shake the feeling that if Albus had wanted to escape, being the powerful wizard that he had been, he could have. . . . But he didn't. He stood there and he let Snape kill him.

Aberforth always said that Albus was constantly planning, plotting. . . . Could he have deceived even her? What was the real reason he had wanted her to attend Hogwarts? Was it because he knew he was going to die?

Gale heard a rustle that signified the return of Neville from the portrait hole. She looked to the grandfather clock, not realizing how much time had passed while she thought. Neville climbed through, a wider grin lighting his features. "I told you! I told you they'd come!"

Gale stood at the back of the crowd as everyone surged forward.

"Harry!"

"Harry's back!"

"It's Ron!"

"Hermione!"

A smile came to Gale's face and as soon as the crowd was clear she rushed forward into Harry's arms.

"Gale!" he shouted in surprise before he hugged her back. Ron grabbed her next and then Hermione.

"We were so worried!" Hermione told her.

"The papers said Ark is here," Ron explained. "Neville's told us a lot about what's been going on. Are you alright?"

Gale nodded enthusiastically and Neville stepped forward. "Ark has tried everything but Gale's strong. We've all been keeping her safe."

"So what's the plan Harry?" Seamus asked, interrupting their moment.

Gale watched the worried expressions on her friend's faces as the others asked for information, saving the school. Of course she knew what was going on and, not that she wasn't happy to see them, but she could tell that this was it.

She needed to swallow her fear of Jasper Ark now. . . . Before it was too late.

I wasn't sure where to start looking.

The school was in uproar now that the Slytherins had left and students and teachers running around, fighting. They didn't even notice me.

I sat up from my slump against the wall. Goyle was still unconscious and I didn't even have a wand to bring him too. I looked back to the Room, the smoke still evident. Crabbe and I may have never been close but, for lack of a better word, he had still been a friend.

Quickly, I stood, moving Goyle into a more comfortable position before I ran out into the main hall. Bodies were strewn around. I couldn't tell if they had been friend or foe though I didn't really know what I was any more.

Where was Gale?

She hadn't been with Potter when we had been in the Room of Requirement.

Searching the floor, I grabbed an abandoned wand and actually felt a bit of remorse for whoever had been the owner.

I had to find Gale before someone else did.

Gale was running, her wand in her hand.

"Where are you going Gale?" Ark spoke from behind her, his voice low and menacing. He had managed to get her to an empty part of the castle, a part where she had never been before. She was lost . . . and alone with Ark.

"Gale. . . ."

"Gale."

Gale found herself as a little girl again, running.

Trapped.

This game of Cat and Mouse that was his favorite game.

He'd set her lose, tell her to run. He gave her ten seconds to get as far as she could. And run she did.

But he always caught her.

She was always beaten.

She always lost.

Gale stopped running.

She was tired. She had been running for years now, from everyone and everything.

This needed to stop.

Now.

Slowly she turned to Jasper Ark. He grinned, teeth still yellow, he still looked as if he had just gotten away from Azkaban. "This is different."

Gale's hand tightened around her wand, sparks flying out of the end. She slid one foot, raising her wand over her head. Ark's grin widened and he followed suit. "I'll finally get to end the Dumbledores."

He lunged forward, and Gale waved her wand, blocking his spell, glaring at him. She was not just some girl. She was Gale Dumbledore, the last female of the Dumbledore House. She came from greats!

He would not kill her.

And so they fought, their spells blasting against walls but missing the other by the inch. Ark's insanity was slipping, Gale saw. His spells were becoming wild as he became more and more unhinged. Not that he hadn't been crazy before but the control he had had over it was disintegrating.

But then he struck out. His spell hit her in her stomach. Gale's body spun as she was flung through the air, her arm cracking as she hit the cold stone ground hard.

She sat up painfully, facing Ark as he moved towards her. "Finally. I've been waiting for this moment for forever."

"Too bad it's not going to happen. Reducto!" Ark barely had a time to turn before he was blasted off his feet. He slammed into the wall, falling to the ground.

I ran forward, stuffing the wand into my pocket. Gale's eyes were widening with tears as I pulled her into my arms. "Merlin I've been looking all over this damn school for you. Are you alright?"

Gale nodded and I moved to pull her to her feet. "I'm going to get you out of here. I need to get you help."

We started to walk but then I heard a noise behind me. I stopped momentarily before I moved Gale behind me, reaching for my wand but I was flung away from her, hitting the wall.

My vision was blackening in and out, my head was pounding. Gale ducked in front of me, hands on my face. I felt one of her hands reach around to the back of my head and when she pulled it away, it was red.

Blood.

Ark appeared behind her, grinning maliciously. He spoke, his voice slightly distorted. "Kill her . . . kill you. . . ."

He grabbed Gale by her hair, pulling her away from me. Every time I tried to blink the stars out of my eyes, she was farther away.

"D –"

I had failed her.

"D –"

I hadn't protected her like I was supposed to.

"Dra –"

Ark was going to kill her.

"Draco!"

It only made sense to Gale that the first word out of her mouth would be his name. She needed him so badly right now that she could barely stand it and not just because she was going to die but because he was in so much pain and she wanted to make sure he was okay.

Tears burned her eyes as she saw Draco weakly reach for her.

They were both going to die.

Ark forced her to her feet, his hand moving from her hair to her throat as he pressed her against the wall. His wand pressed to her chest. His breathing was frantic and he angrily pressed his lips against her forehead. "Goodbye Gale."

"Avada Kedavra."

Ark hand slipped from her throat, the surprise on his face evident as he fell to the ground dead. Gale stared down at his lifeless form before she fell to her knees, emotionally, mentally, and physically drained.

Draco limped over, kneeling in front of her. He was still bleeding but he reached forward, putting his hands on her face. "Gale?"

Her body shook and she sobbed against him, gripping onto the front of his shirt. All that fear and despair finally spilled over and she couldn't stop shaking. Draco held on for a moment before he spoke again. "Are you alright?"

Gale nodded. "Y-yes."

He smiled at her. "You found your voice."

Gale laughed slightly, taking a deep breath. "We – need – get – back."

Draco nodded, leaning forward to pull Gale to her feet again. "Hopefully this will be enough to get your friends off my case," he mumbled as she slipped her good arm around his waist to help him walk.

Gale laughed again, leaning her head against his shoulder.

She had faced her fears.

They had made it.

A/N: I hope you guys liked it :-D One more chapter! Thanks everyone!