a/n: Yeah, so they're back in the cave finally!

Love Never Fails

1 Cor. 3

Chapter 31: The Final Battle

A sudden idea occurred to Charlie and he screwed up his face to concentrate on a spell he hadn't performed in a long time and had never done non-verbally. He made a little curly cue motion with his wand. Three dragonflies sprang into existence. His heart was beating wildy but he kept his eyes cast forward, obedient to the demands of Martin to not even look at Madeline.

Presently, he heard Martin speak. He evidently thought the dragonflies were only inadvertently cast and he laughed. "Ha! Insects. Original, yet useless." He tipped his fedora back rakishly and came up beside Madeline and put an arm around her possessively.

She looked up into Martin's face. Her eyes were clear now and she said, "Hello" and blinked innocently at him.

A wicked smile curled the edges of Martin's lips.

"Bah!" she yelled, kicking Martin's knees out from under him as she shoved him forward into the lake. She let out a loud laugh which sounded like springtime to Charlie's ears. He spun around and looked at her. "Well, come on then," she said, "Save me." Martin was sputtering in the water.

Charlie yelled, "Grapnel!" and a grappling hook with rope shot out of his wand and wedged itself into the cave ceiling. He wrapped his free arm around Madeline's waist. Martin laid a hand on the edge of the lake, and coughing, raised his wand. Madeline was just about to stomp on his hand when she was lifted into the air as they swung to the other side of the lake. They landed hard but still standing. A ball of green fire shot past.

"Eek!" yelled Madeline. "What was with the-" She was interrupted as Charlie turned to cast a fireball at his opponent. "-dragonflies?" she finished as he grabbed her hand.

"Lumos," said Charlie to cause his wand tip to glow to light the way. He pulled her along the passage. "That was our special thing."

"What are you talking a-" Her words were cut off as a loud boom shook the cave and a shower of rocks came down on their heads.

"That was the first spell I ever performed for you," he said.

She coughed from the dust. "Oh, you were being sentimental-" Another boom nearly knocked her off her feet as they made their way down the tunnel. "I thought you had gone mad." She laughed as she coughed.

There was an echoing reverberation which caused more rocks to rain down and the vibration grew louder and more intense. Charlie shot a shield charm above their heads. The rocks rolled off as if it were an invisible umbrella. However, he could no longer light the way, so their going was slower.

"I wasn't just being sentimental. Watch your step here," he said as they climbed over a boulder. "It was to remind you how much you mean to me so you'd follow me. You weren't meant to fight with Martin."

"I didn't, uh," she paused as she tripped. "I didn't really fight him. Hey, wait! You know this guy?" She stopped walking and had to shout over the din. "Did you set this whole thing up?!?!"

"No, of course not! Come on!" He pulled her along the passage. The shower of rocks stopped, so he dismissed the magical shield. Ahead they could see the opening of the cave, but when they reached it, there was an iron gate barring the exit.

Madeline looked down the side tunnel. "What's down that way?" Charlie yanked her back just as a blurry shape snarled and bolted out of the side passage. He caught the whole brunt of it and fell onto the stone floor.

He shouted, "Impedimenta," at it and then twisted around toward the gate. "Alohomora!" he shouted, from the floor. The gate swung open with ease. "Get out!" he yelled as he was again blasted by the blurry form. But Madeline wouldn't leave without Charlie. She grabbed his arm and started trying to drag him to the gate, but her effort was futile. He groaned as he clawed at the ground for a hold, "Madeline, just go!"

"Not bloody likely!" she shouted as she leapt over him and threw herself in the path of the force. She was thrown violently against the wall and then forward and was beginning to be dragged down the side passage. Charlie got hold of her hand and finally managed to grab her under the arms and cursing, he used all his strength to pull her from the grip of the force and out of the gate. They both fell, exhausted, onto the grass. The night air cooled the sweat on Charlie's neck and face. He realized how quiet it was and looked toward the gate, but it was gone. Indeed, the cave opening wasn't even there, just a solid wall of rock on the side of the hill.

Charlie sat up and looked down at Madeline. "Are you all right?" he asked, still panting.

She sat up slowly. "I think so." She turned to look at him. "Charlie, you're bleeding!"

"It's ok. Nothing serious," he said, brushing her hair back from her face. He sighed with relief and pulled her into his arms.

They embraced tightly for some time. Then he felt her shaking. He drew back slightly to look at her face, but she wasn't crying, as he had assumed. She was laughing.

The End

a/n: It's the end of "Dragons Fly" but I might publish some funny out-takes that my daughter and I wrote when we were just kidding around. And I have a couple of other ideas for small one shot stories. Somebody asked if I was going to write about Moody's death. Eek! I don't know when I'll be able to do that. :( Waaa!

Thank you very much for reading. Wow, you stuck it out to the end. Neato:-)

Why are you still reading? I said "The End."

Oh, so you want to know how the wedding turned out?

It was very simple yet nice.

Did they live happily ever after?

Pretty much. They had a little pain and heart ache too. That's life.

Any further questions?

Ok, then.

Cue the closing music.

"Dragons make very nice pets"

(by Roonil Wazlib)

p.s.

Martin did pony up the butterbeer and dandelion wine. He sneaked and left it on their porch before he skipped town. It turns out, he was wanted by The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures for a number of crimes such as the illegal sale and trafficking of dangerous and rare magical creatures and their parts and also wanted by The Department of Mysteries for "undisclosed crimes of a sensitive nature," whatever the heck that means.