Author's Note: Ah…I'm sorry guys I've kinda lost interest in this story, forgive me! I know it's a sin to lose interest at the major climax of the story, but don't worry I'll finish it for you guys anyway =] Maybe I'll regain my interest back soon hopefully haha, more reviews would help *hint HINT* LOL enjoy~
Acceptance
Chapter 38
Hogwarts under Siege
Streaks of dark figures continuously rocketed towards the castle, leaving smoky black trails behind, and they were increasing in numbers. Hell, since when were there so many death eaters?
"Harry, we have to go," Draco said, tugging at my sleeve. I looked at him as if he were the innocent little three year old, pulling my arm to take him out for some ice cream. Smiling slightly, I nodded, taking his hand and sprinting down the corridor. As we ran, my tendency to space out hit me again. Well, I was still running, but my mind was elsewhere. I wondered…what's going to happen after this? Will Draco and I get to be together? Shit…are we even going to survive…? Honestly, the death eaters' sudden arrival took us all by surprise. Sure, we knew they'd come sooner or later but still…
"Wait, Harry, what exactly are we supposed to do?" Draco questioned, halting abruptly. I shook myself 'awake', and pondered over the question. He had a point. Dumbledore never mentioned what we were supposed to do. Everyone else in Hogwarts seemed to have been given a position of some sort and probably knew where they were supposed to go and what they were supposed to do. Yeah, destroy the death eaters DUH, I knew that. But Draco and I had a more important task; we were supposed to kill Voldemort. How the hell were we supposed to fight him anyway? Where were we supposed to fight him? Dumbledore never told us ANYTHING! He just left us here, expecting us to know what to do apparently.
"Um…I really don't know, Dray. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll figure something out."
"Damn that old coot! He didn't give us any instructions! How the fuck are we supposed to know what to do?"
"No idea," I muttered, glancing around nervously. Somewhere below us, I could hear howls of maniacal laughter and the shouting of all sorts of spells. They were already engaged in battle, but what about us? Were we supposed to… Then I suddenly realized something. "But we're not gonna stick around here any longer to find out, come on!" I declared with determination and pulled Draco along as we ran towards a familiar hallway.
"The Room of Requirement?" Draco asked, looking around as if he'd never been to the room before. "Yup," I grinned. "Good old Voldy is gonna find us sooner or later. You're his target, so even if he has to scan the whole castle looking for you, I'm sure he'll make that extra effort. He'll find us here, don't worry."
"So, we're gonna just…let him…come to us?"
"Well yeah, why bother looking for someone who's gonna find you anyway?"
"But why here- Ohhhh…"
"Aha, bet you got your answer, didn't you. This is our territory, Voldemort won't stand a chance against us!"
Subconsciously I had reached my hand over to ruffle his hair. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I pulled back. "Now's not the time, Harry. Now's not the time…" I kept trying to remind myself of what my priorities were. Of course, Draco was my priority, but not in THAT way…yet…Now I was just his battle partner, his 'friend', and I was going to protect him and fight by his side no matter what.
Draco seemed to have shied away from my touch as well. I couldn't blame him, this was absolutely no time and place to get all mushy. I noticed him fidgeting with his fingers, as if he wanted to say something but wasn't sure whether he should.
"Dray?"
"Um…Harry, I have been thinking… And there's something you should really know."
"What is it?"
"I…"
"You know, you can tell me anything if you want…"
"Truth is… I-"
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The sudden explosion was nearer to us than ever and we were thrown off our feet by the unusually great force. I opened my eyes, finding myself lying on the hard ground. Draco was a few inches away from me. Phew…
"Harry Potter…" A low voice was heard, sending a weird sensation down my spine. There was a misty cloud of dust everywhere after the explosion through the walls, and I couldn't make out any human figure at all, but I was sure he was near…so very near… Then again, of course I couldn't see any human figure; he was most certainly no human. He was a monster…A monster who sought to murder the boy I loved.
Finally, the mist had somewhat cleared and Draco and I were back on our feet, standing face to face with the Dark Lord himself. The aura around him was intimidating, and the atmosphere overall was as tense as ever. Draco stepped back slightly behind me, trembling. He was terrified, but trying not to show it. At that moment I really wanted to give him a comforting hug and tell him not to be scared, that I would protect him from the bad, bad man. But I didn't.
"Fancy seeing you here, Harry Potter, I was wondering where you were, you weren't fighting my deatheaters down there."
"Why should I waste my time on those dumb fucks…"
"Touchy, touchy. Well, I shouldn't be wasting my time wasting yours. I'm here for young Malfoy over there. Hello, Draco. Long time no see."
"…"
Voldemort's lips curled into a menacing smile as he took a step forward, with Draco taking another step back. "Oh, is the young Malfoy afraid?" The bald man was inching closer, and I sensed trouble afoot. No way in hell would I let him lay a single finger on the Slytherin. On instinct, I lifted my arms to shield Draco, keeping him safely behind me. "You touch him and you'll wish you'd never been born," were the words which escaped my lips. I wasn't really sure what came over me when I did that, all I knew was that I was bent on protecting Draco and I wanted to keep Voldemort as far away from him as possible.
The dark lord stared at the scene before him and laughed at us in a mocking way. "Harry Potter, since when were you and the Malfoy boy ever this close? What are you, his boyfriend?"
Before I could find an answer, Draco took me by surprise when he said firmly, "that's none of your concern, baldy." What could this mean…? At that moment I couldn't help but wonder once again whether he remembered…
"You insolent little shit…" Voldemort snarled. Now we'd done it; we pissed him off. Honestly, we had indeed wasted a lot of time, it was about time the ultimate showdown began. "Get ready, Draco," I whispered, lowering my arms so that I could get my wand out. He shot me a look of determination and did the same. Without warning, Voldemort shot the cruciatus curse in our direction, causing both of us to jump away from each other as the spell zoomed between us.
Realizing the distance between us, I immediately ran back to Draco. We took one of our battle stances and began one of the routines we practiced. We weren't going to use our secret method juuuuust yet. Voldemort warded off our attacks impressively, just as expected. But to his dismay, we were doing the same with his spells. The bald man gritted his teeth in frustration, shouting out the killing curse every second he could. Draco and I had decided on our first goal; intimidate Voldemort by blocking off all his spells, making him lose some confidence.
True enough, the dark lord was beginning to feel intimidated as to how he couldn't seem to hit his enemies. These two…kids… Who were they to stand up against him? How did they manage to block everything without breaking a sweat or even looking fearful of the death that awaited them within the luminous green curse?
On the contrary, Draco and I weren't exactly fearless or anything. We were freaking terrified. I was almost going to pee my pants, but that was going to be both embarrassing and absolutely uncalled for. I didn't know about Draco, but I was certain that I was giving myself a mental pat on the back each time I came close to the killing curse but didn't die. Yay me.
"AAAAARRRGGGHHH! THAT'S IT!" Voldemort cried out in exasperation. Then, he swooped forward for a close-up attack, which took Draco and I by surprise again. I felt his sharp fingernails dig into my back, shoving me apart from the Slytherin. My face met the concrete ground and it hurt like hell. Struggling to get up, I craned my neck and twisted my body around, only to take in a terrible sight…
Voldemort had lifted Draco up by the neck, clearly strangling him. Draco was trying to pry himself free, but to no avail. He was coughing pitifully and his eyes looked at me pleadingly, yearning for me to do something. He knew that he could just be killed any minute now that he was vulnerable. Voldemort smirked as he lifted his wand to the cracking ceiling. What the hell was he…then it hit me…
"Wait…Wait…! What are you going to do with him! STOP!"
"I could do it, you know, right now. It would be easy."
"Don't you dare kill him!"
"Oh, his time's not up yet. And why would I let YOU be the last one he sees before he shuts those beautiful silver eyes of his forever? Now, if you don't mind, Harry, I'm going to make his death a private one. Heh, looks like the face he remembers at the very end of his life will be that of the man who murders him. Me! Lord Voldemort!"
With that, the dark lord shot a destructive spell at the ceiling, causing huge pieces of concrete to fall to the ground. The rock-like structures were falling dangerously close to me and I had to back away in order to not get hit, and I was aware that every step I took backwards was taking me further away from Draco. I knew I was going to regret it later if I failed to fulfill my task, but at that point of time, what could I do? Run towards the enemy, defenseless against the falling rocks which could kill me instantly if they hit me?
"HARRY!" Draco cried, still struggling. I could see him squirming about in Voldemort's grasp as the rocks continued to fall. "Don't let him take me!"
"Don't worry, Draco! I'll come for you!"
Voldemort gave a dramatic sigh and walked away into the other side of the room. "Farewell, Harry Potter," I heard his voice among the thundering crashes of the rocks. Slowly, the mountain of rocks got higher and higher until eventually I could see nothing but a huge pile of rubble. How could I get across now…?
Draco…I had left Draco with the man who was going to kill him…what had I done? If only I had the balls to rush through the falling rocks, maybe I wouldn't have gotten hit. Who knows? But damn…what am I going to do now…?
Draco…please…Don't die… Wait for me…I'll think of something…I'll save you…
…
Somehow…