Hey guys! Here's a new chapter for ya! I think these last two updates have come a little faster or am I just making that up? Anyway, I'm off of school for the next month (YES!) and I should be able to get a lot of writing done. Now, I'm not sure about this chapter so bear with me. Okay, here we go!

I was standing at the bridge, Neville was on my right and Seamus on my left. We had spent the last half an hour rigging the bridge blow up perfectly when we got enough Death Eaters on it. The three of us decided that, now that there was a force field surrounding the school, we should leave the bridge in tact until the time was right. Once the Death Eaters stormed it, all we had to do was send sparks to the fuse and-boda bing, boda boom-the bridge would go down, hopefully taking a large number of our enemies down with it.

Neville volunteered to stay behind and be the one who lights the fuse.

"Are you sure?" I asked, knowing that he was staying behind by himself with the possibility of great danger. "If you miss the fuse then-"

"Don't worry about me, Allie. I'll be fine. Now get out of here and do whatever it is that you have to do." Nevile gave my shoulder a slight shove as he turned around to watch the bridge before him.

I stayed put for a moment, wondering when Neville had changed from a dorky herbology enthusiast into a pretty kick ass guy who wasn't afraid to stand up to the creepiest mofu's that lived. This new Neville was really cool and I can't help but regret not hanging out with him more when I had the chance to. In fact, as I watch Seamus walk away from us and back into the thick of it all, I realized that there were a lot of people I wished I has spent more time with.

Seamus, Neville, Dean, Luna, the Weasley's, heck even Ginny.

Then there were the obvious ones: Hermione, Red, Harry, Jacob…my parents and my family…Cedric…Dumbledore.

I knew that if I had bothered to let Dumbledore in more, let him into my soul even though he seemed to know it better that I did, then I would have known what to do long ago and, perhaps, I would not be in this predicament, perhaps we all wouldn't be.

But, instead of being with all these amazing people I wasted my time feeling sorry for my damn vampire self and caring too much about people who didn't give two fucks about me unless it was for selfish reasons.

Damn Draco.

Damn him for taking those last months with Dumbledore away from me. Damn him for making me think there was something worth redeeming in him. Damn him for not being able to kill me, only make me into more of a monster than before. Damn him for being such a good liar and making me believe that he was my friend. And damn him for being nice to me that first day in potions during our fourth year.

And then, of course, I could not forget to damn myself.

Damn me for being such a stupid bloodsucking crybaby. Poor me, poor Allie Cullen. Damn me for caring about what the hell is going to happen to me. Damn me for even thinking about myself when the fate of the entire wizarding world hangs in the balance. Damn me for caring about Draco Malfoy and putting him before the greater good. Damn me for being so ignorant and blind. Damn me for loving someone who I knew I would never allow myself to be around.

Damn the both of us straight to Hell for the mess that we have created.

"Allie?" Neville's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I looked back at him to see concern shadowing his eyes. "You better get going before this whole thing starts getting worse."

I smiled over at Neville before nodding, running over to him, and giving him a hug. "You take care of yourself, Neville."

I pulled back and saw that he was blushing, like always, when I gave him a hug. He smiled down at me, semi-embarrassed. "Yeah, you too, Allie."

And that was that. He pushed me away from the bridge and back towards the school where I regrouped with McGonigall and the rest of the teachers and the Order. I skidded to a stop in the courtyard outside the castle and noticed that everyone was looking up. My eyes went upwards too to see that there were hundreds of sparks-spells-coming towards the force field and putting small dents and tears in it that I think only my vampire eyes had caught on to at that time.

I felt a presence next to me and I didn't even need to look over to know that it was Jacob.

"They're out there, kid." He finally said.

From the corner of my eye, I could see that his eyes were still directed upwards too.

"Who's out there?" I asked.

"Both of them. Greyback…Voldemort…the ones who ruined our lives. The ones who ended your family's lives. They are out there waiting for us and we are in here waiting for them." I finally looked over at him but he couldn't look at me at that time. He just continued staring at the distance where I assumed he thought our enemies were. "Seventeen years I have waited for this moment and I'm going to finish him tonight, kid. Tonight Greyback is going to pay for what he has done."

I smiled sadly as I linked my hand with his; there were tears of anger in his eyes but I wasn't going to say anything about it, knowing he wouldn't want them to. "They are both going to pay, Jake. For not only my family, but for Harry's and Lupin and Bill Weasley and everyone else whose lives they tore apart."

My guardian finally looked down at me and nodded.

I gave his hand a little squeeze as I watched him try to stay under control. I knew how much he wanted this revenge, not just for me but for himself too. "Hey, Jake, I don't think I've ever told you this…I think we have been too focused on me for the past seventeen years and that's not really fair…but I'm sorry for your loss, too." Jacob tilted his head at me, confused. "She was your best friend before she was my mom, Jake. You lost her too and I'm so sorry that it happened to you. After everything you went through-you know, with her and my dad-you deserved to have her as a friend and in your life and she was taken from you. It wasn't fair."

Jake smiled down at me and shook his head. "Aww, kid. Don't feel sorry for me. Bella might have left me but at least she left me with you. It's crazy how sometimes you remind me so much of her. I know I've always told you that it's your dad that you take after but it's time like these, when you are apologizing for things you have no control over, that Bella comes out in you. Your mother's not gone all the way, squirt, not while you are around."

Jake had never told me that about my mother, that I sometimes reminded him of her, and it was really special that he said that. But, then, I heard that last sentence-that my mother would be around as long as I was-and felt as my heart sank. Because I wasn't going to be around, not for long, and that scared me, for Jake.

It was his turn then to be swallowed up in one of my hugs, which was strange because I was never a hugger until I realized that I was never going to see these people again and I needed to hug them while I could. I squeezed Jake, trying to get every ounce out of that hug that I possibly could, before I looked up at him. "You're going to be okay, Jake. You'll get through this and become stronger because of it."

He frowned and pulled me away from him so he could get a good look at me. Jake was so quiet now that I could hear the shouts and screams coming from those around us as they readied themselves for the battle that was just outside our door.

"What are you talking about, kid?" His voice was rough and low, like he knew what I was going to say before the words even came out of my mouth.

I hadn't planned on telling Jake what I was going to do because, well, let's be honest there was no way that he would let me go if he thought that I was going off to die, but now that he was staring at me like that, I knew I had to give him some kind of warning that this was the last time he would see me.

I sighed. "I'm just saying that you can handle your own in whatever life throws at you. Just remember that you cannot live off Chinese takeout and pizza, Jake. I know we have tried in the past but you always end up getting sick or something, so just eat a fruit or vegetable every once in a while. And remember that you have to separate the color into lights and darks when you are doing laundry...you always ruined my shirts when you were in charge of the wash." I paused, smiling. "And remember to take sometime for your self every one and a while. Find a nice girl and have a life, Jake, okay?"

He pursed his lips. "Allie, what are you talking about? Where is this coming from?"

Just then, I heard my name being called from a distance off. I turned to see Harry running towards us, waving an arm so we could see him. He came to a rest next to me and took deep, panting breaths. "Hey, I found it. We have to go now."

I nodded at him before looking back at Jake and shaking my head. "Sorry, Jake. We have to go."

Harry nodded to Jake, a sign of greeting, before taking my hand and running back towards the castle.

"Allie! What is going on!" Jake's voice sounded panicked as he took off after us at a run. Just then, Lupin came up to stop him. He whispered something that I couldn't detect that seemed to calm Jake a little.

I had never been more thankful to Lupin than at that moment; he knew what we were doing and he knew that Jacob couldn't be there.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we pushed our way through the massive crowds of students running in every which way inside the school.

"The Room of Requirement. It's the diadem that we are after." He explained.

"The what? A crown, right?" I asked.

He nodded, keeping his concentration on where we were going. Harry kept me close, knowing that, until we made it to the upper levels of the castle, we ran the risk of being separated very easily.

We finally made it in front of the Room of Requirement and Harry stared at it, willing the brick wall to become a door. Finally, a door did appear and we walked through to see a room I really wished I had seen again.

It was the room that Draco spent most of last year in, where the vanishing cabinet resided. It was where I kissed Draco and it was here where I let him get to me. I hated this place.

Harry walked in and waited for me to join him. I could see him scrunch his eyebrows at me in confusion. "Are you coming, love? What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath. "This is where…Draco had the vanishing cabinet…this is where I confronted him. It just brings back a lot of bad memories."

Harry stepped back out and entwined his fingers with mine. "Because you care for him?" He asked softly.

So this was it, I guess, we were discussing Draco truly for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Harry, I'm not going to lie to you when I say that some part of me cares for Draco. I don't love him anymore or even like him as a friend, but I care about his well being. I feel…I don't know, responsible for him in a way. And I hate it, Harry. I really do. Knowing that I feeling something, anything, for him makes me sick." I paused and looked over at him. "I'm sorry to bring this up now…We never really discussed it in depth since we got back together. You don't deserve to have this dumped on you now." I looked down and bit my lip, before starting to walk towards the door. But Harry stopped me by tugging me back with the hand that he was still holding.

"Hey," He said quietly as I still looked down at my black Converse sneakers. I felt his fingers go under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "If we don't discuss this now then we might not have the change again, right?" I nodded. "I understand, Allie, believe me, I do…I've tried not to but I understand that there is always going to be something there between you and Draco. I'm not saying you love him or anything, just that you do have the connection, like you said. Now, I've excepted it and I think it's time you did too…because I know you and I trust you and I love you just as much as I know you love me." He paused, starting to walk. I fell into step next to him as we entered the Room of Requirement. "And while we are on the subject I think we should talk about Ginny."

I shook my head. "Harry, you don't have to explain that-"

"Yeah, I do." He cut me off. "I saw the way you went ridged when she walked into the room tonight and I know that it still worries you that I have feelings for her." He stopped to look at me with his amazing green eyes. "And the truth is you never had to worry about her. Ginny's amazing, you know, but she's not you. No one could ever replace you to me. This, us, is forever. No matter what happens tonight. Do you understand me?" He placed a hand on my check and began to stroke it.

I smiled up at him, feeling as if that was exactly what I needed to hear at that moment. "I understand you. Always and forever."

He nodded, placed a kiss on my forehead, and then we began to walk again. "Now, where would you be if you were the lost crown of Ravenclaw?"

The question no sooner came out of his mouth that the both of us began to hear the same hissing sound that I assumed was Parseltongue. "If I were the lost crown of Ravenclaw, I'd assume I'd be with the weird snake sounds that seem to be attached to all of the other Horocruxes."

Harry and I went silent, listening closely as we walked past pile upon pile of crap and old junk. Finally, we stopped in front of a little dresser, one that I had passed by many times on my way to the vanishing cabinet and to Draco. Harry cleared the contents off the top as I began to rummage through the bottom drawers.

"I got it." He said.

I stood to see that he was holding a lovely silver crown-tasteful, not obnoxious like I was imagining it to be-with blue gems encrusted in it.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be." I said, taking the thing from him and studying it further.

"Well, well."

The voice sent a chill down my spine and I knew instantly who it was. I looked up to see Draco standing there, flanked by Goyle and Blasie.

"What are the two of you doing here?"

"You were saying, love?" Harry said, giving me a look as placed his hand on his wand pocket.

"Sorry, I always do that." Oh, what a jinx I was!

"Draco, don't do this." I spoke up, know that his wand was poised and ready to attack. The boy was unstable now and that knowledge scared me.

The boy's eyes flinted to mine for a second before they returned to Harry. It seemed as if he were trying to completely shut me out now, like I wasn't there or like he didn't want me to be. After our little confrontation at Malfoy Manor, if I were Draco I'd like to forget the fact that I kicked his ass too.

"You have something of mine, Potter." Draco explained. "I'd like it back."

I couldn't think of what he was referring to at first but then I looked over at Harry and realized that he was carrying Draco's wand, the one he had stolen from him when we were at Malfoy Manor. Harry had been using it since we escaped and his wand had broken.

"What's wrong with the one you have?" Harry asked.

"It's my mother's." Draco told him. "It's power to be sure, but it's not the same…it doesn't quite understand me. You know what I mean?" The boy's voice was low, I realized, the way it had been since our sixth year at Hogwarts. Draco's voice used to hold some sort of emotion-most of the time anger or even jesting tone with me-but now it was dead, as I assumed the rest of his soul to be.

Harry looked over at me for a second before returning his eyes to Draco. "Why didn't you tell her?" He paused. "Bellatrix. I realize that you couldn't have lied for Allie, considering it was hard to mistake her for anyone else, but you knew it was me. So why didn't you say anything?"

Draco began shaking slightly then as he took in what Harry had asked him and began to digest it. From next to him, Goyle came up and started to whisper in his ear.

"Go on, Draco, don't be a prat. Kill them." He hissed.

"Oh, shut up, Goyle." I practically shouted, grabbing my wand stealthily from the back pocket of my jeans and holding it close to my side, reading to fire a spell if I had to. I knew that Draco was mulling over what Harry had said and I really wanted him to gain some perspective and actually think about his actions. He protected Harry and he had to understand why he did it.

"You shut up, mudblood." He spat back at me.

"Oooh, good comeback. Got any more? Perhaps something about me being a vampire? Or maybe even a good blonde joke? I haven't heard any of those in a long while." I took a step forward but Harry grabbed the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

"Quiet, the pair of you!" Draco yelled.

"It was because of Allie, wasn't it?" Harry said calmly, bringing all of us back to silence. "You love her, Draco, and you wanted me to be safe for her."

"Potter-" Draco started, only to be cut off by Harry again.

"You walk away now and you won't betray that love, Draco. Help us and you might even gain some of her respect back."

"Harry-" I grabbed his hand, wondering what in the hell he thought he was doing, and attempting to make him stop this. It was dangerous, what he was doing. Bringing me up in front of Draco was like bringing up Obama at a dinner party full of Republicans; nothing good was going to come of it. "Don't."

"Help us, Draco." Harry tried one last time.

Draco's eyes flinted over to me and his expression softened slightly.

"Do it, Draco! Kill them!" Goyle's words were poison and Draco's expression hardened again. His eyes narrowed and turned dark and cold.

I knew we were screwed.

"Expelliarmus!"

Hermione came out of the middle of nowhere just then, robbing Draco of his wand as she, followed by Red, came towards us. Things got pretty dicey then.

Curses were cast from both sides-us, using disarming spells, while the others were using…well, let's just say less friendly ones- but the battle had only raged for a few seconds when the spark of a spell hit my hand, causing me to throw the diadem into the air and then crash into the top of a pile of junk. "Dammit!"

Almost as fast as it had started, the sparks stopped flying from both directions. One last spell flew past Hermione, before the three Slytherins ran in the opposite direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Red running past me and towards the retreating backs of the three men. His wand was raised and he had a crazed look in his eye.

"That's my girlfriend, you numpties!"

I looked over at Hermione who only smiled shyly. "Hell yeah, girl!" I winked at her before turning my gaze to Harry. "I'll get Ron, you guys get the diadem and we'll meet you back here."

They both nodded and began climbing while I turned and raced down the aisles of discarded items. I came to a fork in the road and decided to take the left aisle, which, thankfully, turned out to be a good thing because I found Ron there with the three Slytherin's backed into a corner.

I skidded to a stop in front of him and tried blocking him from unfriendly fire.

"Leave him alone!" I yelled as shot an expelliarmous spell at the three, managing to hit Bliase and leaving only Goyle with a wand now.

Blaise and Draco decided it was best to stop fighting but Goyle had a crazed look in his eye that really concerned me. "You think you are going to get out of here, vampire? Let's see how you fare with this on your tail."

He muttered something under his breath that caused Draco to screamed in protest and try to separate him from his wand; but it was no use because Goyle was almost twice Draco's size.

A second later, a stream of flames was coming my way. I pushed Ron to the side and threw myself down with him as the flames missed us and hit a pile of stuff behind.

"Not so tough now, are we, Cullen? Go ahead and crack another joke! I dare you!" He shouted at me as the fire continued to spout from the tip of his wand.

"You idiot! Now the whole room is going to go up!" I shouted, deciding to just let him win his little battle of wits, before standing and pulling Ron up too. With one last look at Draco, I started to run, carting Red with me. We were running only for a few seconds before I heard Ron start screaming bloody murder.

"Ron, shut up!" He was freaking out. He couldn't be freaking out. Because if he was freaking out about the fire that meant I sure as hell should be freaking out about the fire. A flash of fiery piles of bodies crossed my vision but I didn't stop running...I just couldn't.

We turned around one more corner and Harry and Hermione came into view.

We ran passed them, with me grabbing Harry's hand and Red grabbing Hermione's in the process. "Goyle set the whole bloody place on fire!" Ron managed to fill them in between his shrieks of terror.

"Allie-" Harry started, knowing my fear of the blaze behind us.

"I'm fine! Run!" Another flash crossed my vision of the night Harry and I were stuck in that ring of fire and the terror I felt when I thought we were going do die there.

No, Allie, don't think about it. Just run!

The flames were gaining on us, consuming everything in their path and turning it into an inferno. We kept running, trying to escape it and I honestly wasn't sure if we would. All of a sudden, Harry dropped my hand and turned to look at the growing fire.

"Harry!" I yelled, skidding to a stop.

"Allie, keep going!" He shouted as he turned back to join me. He grabbed my hand firmly and started running at top speed. We turned another corner and I heard a scream from far off, wandering if it were Draco and if he were in the middle of dying. If he wasn't dead yet, he would be soon…we all would be.

Harry and I followed Ron and Hermione down another aisle and turned left only to find that the way was blocked with fire. We turned again only to see that that way was blocked too; we were trapped, as the flames grew larger and closer.

I could feel the burning sensation on my face and all over my body earning a slick layer of sweat to appear on my skin and dampen my hair. I grabbed on to Harry's sleeve when I realized we were pretty much at the end of the line. He pushed me back towards Ron and Hermione as he went a little closer and cast a silent spell that caused water to stream out of his wand, blocking the onslaught of flames momentarily.

Just then, I felt something poke my back and spun to see that Ron had a broom held out to me. I took hold of it and mounted-without thinking about the whole flying part of this plan-just as Ron threw one over to Harry. He and Hermione shared one and within seconds we pushed off the ground and began soaring over the flames that now took hold of the spot we had previously been standing in.

We turned, heading for the doors, that were barely visible in the smoke that was now so strong it stung my eyes and made it hard to see where I was going.

"Come on! This way!" Ron yelled as he sped up his and Hermione's broom.

We were about halfway there when I heard another scream and turned my head just in time to see Goyle fall to his death and Draco and Bliase stare on in horror. The two were now at the top of a high junk pile and waiting there, trapped, as the flames grew higher and higher to consume them. My eyes drifted to Harry who was already looking this way and I shook my head. "I have to," was all I had to say.

He nodded. "I know."

I looked over to Ron. "We can't leave them!"

"You're joking, right?" He screamed back at me before I quickly made a U-turn and headed in the direction of the two Slytherins.

Almost at once, Harry was on my right and a second later, Red flew up next to me. "I swear, Allie, if we die for them, I am going to kill you!"

I smiled. "Duly noted, Red!"

I sped up and leaned forward, outstretching my right hand so I was ready for Draco to take it. The blonde boy saw me coming and had his hand ready to grab mine. Not very gracefully, I took his arm and swung him around to sit behind me on the broom. I turned to see that Harry had successfully gotten Blaise onto his broom, as well.

Only seconds later, the pile the two had previously been huddled on top of was aflame and nothing was left…just smoke and the inferno beneath.

"Thank you," I heard Draco whisper as we raced towards the doors.

"Don't thank me yet." I countered as the doors came closer, but so did the flames.

The flames were growing not only around the room but also up, filling in every open space with smoke that burnt our lungs and eyes. If we made it to the door it was going to be a close call, I knew that. We were almost there now.

Twenty-five feet.

Fifteen.

Five.

Just then, the flames grew up in front of us, blocking our only exit. That is, until Hermione raised her wand and shot the same spell that Harry had which gave us a small opening. One by one, we piled through the gap in the flames and raced out of the door, falling from the air as we reached the hallway. Our broom hit the opposite wall of the Room of Requirement and Draco and I fell in a heap, a tangle of limbs, on the floor.

I think we were both momentarily dazed as we watched Harry put down the diadem and Ron hand him a basilisk fang.

"Stab it, Harry!" Red cried.

Harry didn't hesitate to follow Ron's instructions. He raised the fang up high and stabbed it straight into the gem of the crown.

The thing shrieked just like the locket did, admitting a large amount of smoke in the process. Once Harry's hand was clear of it, Ron kicked it into the blazing inferno that was the Room of Requirement right before a smoke figure-Voldemort's face, was it?-roared in anger and the doors shut once and for all.

Draco was now standing and helping me to my feet, both of our eyes were still glued to the was where the Room of Requirement was. I pulled my loose hair back from my eyes and then finally looked at the soot and sweat covered Slytherin who looked back at me with an intense gaze.

"Thank you, Allie." He whispered again as he took my hand and squeezed it.

I looked at him for a second before taking my hand back and crossing my arms over my chest defensively. Never again was my guard going to be down in front of that man. "Get out of here. I may have saved your life but that doesn't change anything between us. I'm still me and you're still you. We're enemies now, Draco."

He looked at me a second, sputtering to get words out before Blaise was there tugging on Draco's jacket sleeve. He started walking backwards with his friend. "We're not enemies, Allie. At least, I'm not your enemy…not anymore." He smiled and then the two were gone, disappearing around a corner.

"Allie? Where did they go?" Hermione asked as she came over to me and put an arm around my shoulder.

I paused, staring at that spot and realizing that that was the last time I was ever going to see Draco Malfoy. I looked over at Hermione and smiled. "Far away from here if they know what's good for them. Now we only have, what, one horocrux left? We have to get that snake."

"Agreed, but where is it? It's going to be with Voldemort, right? How are we going to get to it without him getting to us?" Ron asked.

"Well, when I stabbed the diadem…I saw him again. He's in the Shrieking Shack, thinking that it's safe for the snake there. Maybe if we wait long enough he'll leave her unprotected." Harry interjected.

"It's worth a shot. Lead the way." I smiled over at him and he nodded.

Spinning on his heels and running down the corridor, he led us on yet another mission on this impossibly long night.

But when we raced down several flights of stairs and came to the foyer, the battle that was raging completely took me by surprise. I grabbed Harry's hand as I looked at the destruct, death, carnage, and most importantly, the blood.

Tons of blood.

Buckets of blood.

Blood everywhere.

Sweet, metallic blood that made my mouth water and my eyes go a crimson read.

I looked over at Harry and shook my head, knowing that this was going to be a longer, more impossible night that I originally thought.

I hope you liked it and please tell me what you think if you feel inspired to! Like I said, I'm not sure about this one but I'll let you guys be the final judge of it. Thanks for reading!