My sincerest apologies everyone! My computer is still dead. I was also at my grandpa's almost all week and he lives in the land of no wi-fi and no 4G or 3G. So sorry!
Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I'm glad everyone seems to approve of Fred living. Almost to 300 (I didn't expect 100 let alone 300).
Also over 200 follows and 100 favorites! Thank you so much!
Can I add that I start band camp next week! I don't know what that will do to updates.
If I can suggest that you listen to the song Hallelujah. Personally I listen to the version by Rufus Wainwright. I know, those of you that know this song are going 'what are you going to do?'
Sorry...
"Are you alright?" I asked Draco?
"Fine," He muttered. "I almost died like a bloody Gryffindor."
I laughed.
"We need to get to the Shrieking Shack!" Harry reminded us.
"We'll watch over the newest Gryffindor recruit," George smiled, looking at Draco who was still frozen in shock that he had done something so Gryffindor.
"Slytherin," My boyfriend managed to insist.
"Hermione!" Ron called.
I planted one last kiss on Draco's forehead before running after the boys.
"Kill," Voldemort hissed to his snake.
Harry stifled a whimper as the snake struck Snape repeatedly, then Nagini and Voldemort disappeared. We ran into the Shrieking Shack.
"Professor!" Harry cried, kneeling next to our former potions master.
Blood dripped from an open wound on his throat as he looked weakly up at us.
"Take them," Snape murmured, gesturing to his tears.
I handed Harry a flask.
"Miss Granger... I let go of the one woman I- I loved for power. Don't let D- Draco make the same mistake," he gasped.
"Professor please! We can-," Harry started.
"The pensieve Potter. T- take them."
"Professor!"
"You... you have your mother's... eyes."
Ron wrapped his arms around Harry while I stared at the man I thought I'd known in shock. Snape loved a woman once, and he had lost it. No wonder he acted so bitter all the time.
"You have fought valiantly."
Voldemort's voice send shudders through us, as it projected across the entire school grounds.
"Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste, so I therefore order my death eaters to retreat for one hour. In that time, Harry Potter must come to me in the Forbidden Forest. Harry, you have let your friends die for you rather than face me yourself. Come to me and I will let your friends live. Should you not we will kill every man, woman, and child who stands between is. You have one hour."
"Where is everyone?" Ron asked as we walked through the courtyard.
"Great Hall, probably," I muttered.
Harry stared at the rubble that littered the ground, still clutching the vial tightly.
The Great Hall was in ruins. The enchanted ceiling no longer reflected the sky, and the remains of statues lay crumbling. Bodies were laid carefully around. Some moved, others didn't.
"Ron, there's your family," Harry pointed to the group of red heads. "I'm going to the pensieve,"
He walked away.
"Hermione!"
Draco plowed into me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I felt hundreds of eyes on us.
"Draco! Are you all right?" I gasped, returning his hug.
"Yeah. Are you? You're covered in blood."
"It's not mine. Um... Snape is dead," I whispered to him.
He tensed for a moment, then sighed.
"Can I kiss you?" He murmured into my ear.
"Yes please."
Draco pressed his lips against mine. It was quick, but not too quick. Just the right amount of time, given the circumstances.
Fred whistled, George laughed, at least four people fainted.
We stepped away and made our way towards the Weasleys.
"Draco! Thank you so much!" Mrs Weasley swept my boyfriend into a hug.
He made a face at me over her shoulder and I laughed. I was pleasantly surprised when Ron also gave Draco a tight hug.
"Welcome to the family," Mr. Weasley smiled.
George cried into Draco's shoulder for several minutes, imagining what would have happened had Fred died.
Bill finally hugged him and Charlie followed suit. Percy looked him up and down before extending a hand. Draco shook it, smiling happily.
"Malfoy?" Ginny asked me.
I smiled at her, "Yep."
"Okay then," She stepped up to the blond. "If you ever hurt Hermione, you will wish you were dead."
To his everlasting credit he didn't even flinch, just stared down at the red head.
"I would never hurt Hermione. Not again," He gazed into my eyes as he spoke.
"Great!" Ginny threw her arms around him and Draco patted her back awkwardly.
His eyes pleaded with me to remove him from the uncomfortable situation. I only grinned. His eyes continued to get wider.
"Ron, Draco, we should go wait for Harry," I whispered so only they could hear.
They followed me. I sat on the steps outside the Great Hall. Draco wrapped an arm around my waist and Ron plopped down next to us. We sat in silence, since no words could possibly express the sorrow we felt. As hard as we tried to ignore them, we had all seen Remus and Tonks laying hand in hand on the ground, dead.
"What's bothering you Hermione?" Draco shattered the silence with his gentle words.
"It's just something Snape said," I answered.
"What did he say?"
"Well, he said he chose power over the woman he loved and he told me not to let you make that same mistake," I murmured. "That's what your mum meant in that note isn't it?"
"Yeah," He sighed.
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed.
I jumped to my feet meeting the gaze of the saddest man I had ever seen.
"I'm going to the forest."
"Potter! You can't!" Draco shouted.
"I- I think you've know this for a long time Hermione and Ron. There's a reason I can talk to snakes, a reason I can hear the horcruxes!" Harry choked on his words.
"Because you are one," I whispered.
"It will only be destroyed if I go willingly and if Voldemort himself does it."
I threw my arms around him.
"Tell her... Tell Ginny."
He gave Ron a tight hug before doing the same to Draco.
"You aren't all that bad," Draco muttered and Harry tried to smile.
He said something to Draco, probably warning him not to hurt me.
"Kill the snake, guys. Then it's just him."
"Who is that!? Hermione! Who is it that Hagrid's carrying?" Ginny started to run towards the approaching death eaters but Draco caught her around the waist.
"Silence silly girl!" Voldemort hissed.
By now everyone fighting on our side had reached us. The two armies faced each other. I could feel a silencing spell descending on us.
"Harry Potter is dead!"
The army across from us laughed. Bellatrix held up a wand that I recognized as the wand Harry had been using. The snap seemed to echo around the silent courtyard.
"Now the time has come to declare yourselves! Join us or die!" Voldemort continued.
No one moved and I gripped Draco's hand harder.
"Draco!"
It was his father. I looked up at him and he shook his head. He wasn't going to go for his father.
"Draco! Come home," A gentle voice pleaded.
He inhaled sharply. I looked from Narcissa Malfoy to Draco then Harry's lifeless body in Hagrid's arms. Then I felt the hand I was holding began to pull away.
"Draco, I already lost Harry. I can't lose you too," I whispered, panicked.
He turned to me, his gaze once again shielded and cold. Then he sneered at me and yanked his hand away. I shut my eyes unable to watch him cross to Voldemort.
"You promised!" I screamed.
He stopped halfway there and turned to me. I stepped to the front of the crowd.
"You promised you wouldn't hurt me! You promised and this is so much worse than anything you ever did to me! Please!" I sobbed.
"Go on Draco, tell the mudblood you don't care about her!" Bellatrix shrieked.
Draco met my eyes and I couldn't see past his icy exterior.
"Did you actually think I cared for you? That I could possibly be in love with a filthy little mudblood like you?" He snarled. "All I wanted to do was break you, and crush your soul."
I gasped and felt tears streaming down my face. This was what the horcrux had said to me. This was my deepest fear.
"Obviously it worked," He laughed cruelly.
Then he turned and walked to the death eaters. I stopped watching and disappeared into the crowd.
"You had a second chance. I guess you blew that too," Blaise yelled to the blond Slytherin.
He didn't even turn around.
I collapsed onto the ground. I had loved him and now he had broken my heart. If I was broken before it was nothing compared to this.
"I loved you Draco Malfoy," I whispered to myself. "I love you."
Sorry about Remus and Tonks, I just felt that I should let that part of the story remain. I liked the scene with Remus in the woods after he died so... sorry. And sorry about that.
Yeah. Please review. I'm going to go cry now. Have a good night.