Hey guys! How's it going? School's almost out, and I'm finding EVERY excuse to get out of P.E. It's just too close to the end of the year. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Hey, if you want, maybe check out my Loki fanfic, Stand Still Juliet? Here's the link to the prologue if you want to check it out: s/10350884/1/Stand-Still-Juliet

Anyway, on to the fic!

Chapter 03-2

Imminent

One night, very close to the end of the year, I couldn't sleep for some reason. I was going to see if Daphne was awake, but then I had realized she'd left earlier for a job interview in Diagon Alley. I was freezing, so I crept out of bed to go down to the fireplace in the common room. I was surprised to find that Draco was sitting there on the couch, picking at a place on his fingernail. I tiptoed around the couch, and Draco saw me. He scooted over so I could sit by him. I did.

"Why up so late?" he asked me.

"Couldn't sleep," I answered.

"Same," he said.

Neither of us said anything for a while. Suddenly, though, a question popped into my head.

"Why do you like it so much?"

"Like what so much?"

"The Room of Requirement."

"Well," Draco began, and then took a huge breath, letting it out slowly, "I don't know, it kind of gives me a place where I can be me, no matter what anyone else thinks. I can be alone, and I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not, or someone that people think I am. I mean, everyone expects me to be this tough, mean kid because my father and mother work for the Dark Lord. But sometimes I just feel like I'm... Not."

I waited a second, chewing on this. I looked at Draco for a second. His eyes reflected the fire dancing in the fireplace.

"Do you have to pretend when I'm with you?" I asked.

There was a pause before he answered.

"Sometimes. But I haven't been tonight."

"Well, I have to say, I like the real Draco much better than the Draco who acts tough. I like the real you."

Draco smiled and exhaled slightly.

Silence for a while.

"By the way, I'm not going," I said.

"Going where?"

"I'm not leaving, like I said I was. I mean, this is your last year, and I wanna spend time with you before you leave."

Draco said nothing, but after a second, he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him, hugging me tightly. When I turned my head to look up at him, I was surprised to find that his eyes were filled with tears.

I immediately shifted to sit cross-legged in front of him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, the concern in my voice quite evident.

"You're not safe here," Draco whispered.

"What do you mean?"

Draco paused. As he opened his mouth to answer me, though, a voice resounded through the common room.

"Would all students please come to the Great Hall... Immediately," Snape's voice resounded in the common room.

Draco and I got up. Suddenly, Draco grabbed my shoulders, pulled me in, and kissed me. It was short and sweet. He pulled away and looked me in the eye.

"I love you," Draco said, with such intensity that I was sure I was melting.

"I love you too," I whispered.

Then we left, out of the common room doors, side by side.

When we all got into the Great Hall, Snape made this huge speech about how Harry Potter was sighted in Hogsmeade. I tuned it out immediately, having nothing to do with it. Plus, I was tired.

All of a sudden, someone stepped out into the middle of the Great Hall. From the back, it was hard to tell who it was, but Flora, who was right in front of me, turned around and whispered, "It's Harry Potter!"

Harry Potter? How-

Suddenly, the doors of the Great Hall swung open behind me, and I saw a small crowd of people, one of whom was Ginny Weasley, who was in my year and in my Care of Magical Creatures class.

"Despite your exhaustive efforts, you still seem to have a bit of a security problem, Headmaster," Harry said, "Tell them how it happened that night. Tell then how you looked him in the eye, a man who trusted you, and killed him. Tell them!"

So Snape had killed Dumbledore.

Professor Snape raised his wand to Harry, and Harry did the same.

But then Professor McGonagall stepped in front of Harry, raising her wand to Snape.

The tension was so thick none of us moved.

Then a series of red lights shot out of McGonagall's wand, and Snape backed away, blocking the spells. After a few seconds of this, Snape disappeared in a black fog and smashed through the window.

Professor McGonagall flicked her wand, and the whole Great Hall lit up. Students cheered.

Suddenly, though, Harry fell to the ground. The room got quiet. Then a girl in her first or second year covered her ears and started to scream loudly.

Then, a loud hissing voice resounded in my ears. I covered my ears, and as I looked around, I discovered that it was in everyone else's ears too.

"I know some of you are prepared to fight. Some of you may even think to fight is wise. I do not like to spill magical blood. But there is a way out.

"Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched. GIve me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Dead silence in the Great Hall.

Then I heard the voice of Pansy Parkinson.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Someone grab him!"

After she said this, all of the people who had walked in earlier were at Harry's side, protecting him.

About the same time, Argus Filch ran in, yelling, "Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!"

"They are supposed to be out of bed, you blathering idiot!" Professor McGonagall said.

"Oh," Filch replied shortly.

"Mr. Filch, would you please escort Miss Parkinson and the rest of Slytherin house out of the Great Hall, please." Professor McGongall said.

"Where exactly will I be leading them to, ma'am?"

"The dungeons should do."

Filch motioned to all of us, and we followed. Flora grabbed my hand and held it tightly. Hestia was on the other side of Flora, holding on to her other hand.

"You know what's coming, right?" Hestia said, "Since Harry Potter is back at Hogwarts, the Dark Lord will surely come here to try and kill him. And he's gonna tear apart this whole castle trying to find him."

Neither Flora or I said anything because we knew Hestia was right.

Okay, okay, I know it's really really cannon, but I wanted it to be mainly cannon at least so it would give another side to the Battle of Hogwarts, from someone who's sorta torn in their allegiance. Anywho, thanks for reading!