Long time no see! It's been so long since I've updated and I apologize a million times, but I just couldn't get the inspiration to continue this. However, I think I've got enough will power to see this story on to the end. This will not be the last chapter - I am planning on at least one more after this. Yes there will be a sequel because there's just so much that's going to happen and I can't put it all into one fan fiction. Besides I really don't want to make this story extremely long. Please write reviews! :D They keep me going, just be nice. I'm very open to constructive criticism, just don't be rude about it. I got some semi-hate on this story before and I felt like I should explain some things. (I wrote my own long review, hoping I cleared up any confusion.) This is NOT my first fan fiction - it's just the first one I ever posted. I have been writing for a while, I have just never felt comfortable posting anything until now. ANYWAY, please feel free to write reviews because I would really like to continue this series. Thank you to everyone who stuck with this story - it's greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I promise, I will try to update more frequently. ENJOY! 3

Chapter 27 – The End of a Beginning

We're finally heading back to the Capitol – back to where we were when we first started this thing. Only it's just Harry and me. The Healers have managed to fix both of us up pretty well. The scratches on my neck are hardly visible – just faded scars. But they told me those will disappear over time. My hand is all better and I managed to get some food down to get my strength back. As for Harry… let's just say no one is happy with me. Snape hasn't said anything about it since I left to bring him back and shockingly no one in the hovercraft mentioned it either. They're probably all too disappointed to even look me in the eye, anyway. But Harry is alive… and I know the Capitol isn't going to let this go easily.

After the hovercraft lands on the roof of the building, Snape and Umbridge lead us into the elevator to take us inside. I refused to leave the hovercraft until I showered – which gives Juniper less to worry about since the reason why we're actually coming back to the Capitol rather than going home is to do our last interview. And lastly to meet with the president… my father. My fists ball up at just the thought of seeing his face again.

No one is saying anything when we get in the elevator and it's a long ride down. I sigh to add some noise in here and lean against the crystal wall, twirling my snake ring around my finger to keep me busy. Only the sight of the thing makes me think of Pansy and I stop to look at it better. But I'm not upset. Actually the sight of this ring makes me smile just thinking about her. But my smile drops when I lift my head to see everyone's faces. Snape looks more dead than usual, but Umbridge is kind of scaring me. She never looks this down – never. Do they know something I don't? I don't like this. Even Harry looks uncomfortable. He shifts his way over to me, pressing his side to mine. I really messed up by sneaking my wand in that arena. But Harry is alive so I shouldn't care right? But I do.

Finally the elevator doors open and Snape grabs my arm for me to follow him. Umbridge takes Harry and leads him a different direction. We're meeting with our stylists, now, I know it. As Harry leaves he gives me a worried glance from over his shoulder and I feel my stomach turn to ice. What the hell do I say in my interview to cover up what I did? I have to at least convince the Capitol that I did it for a good reason. That I loved him? That I couldn't bear to lose him? Those are both true, but how do I cover up the fact that I had my wand with me all the way from the beginning. Everyone will think this was all planned and now that I think about it, it does make sense. To be honest, I don't even know why I brought my wand in with me. I felt protected I guess – just the fact that I had it. I need to think of something or this mess could get both Harry and me executed and the last thing I ever wanted was to get Harry in trouble. It's not his fault… I'm the one who brought him back, so if anything I should be the one who gets tormented by the Capitol. I know I have to end this – put a stop to what they're doing, but how? Especially with my father involved. And just because he is my dad, does not mean he'll spare my life.

I'm lost in so much thought that I even forget I'm still walking side by side with Snape. I should say something – anything. I need answers. What will happen to me now? What will happen to Harry?

I look up at Snape but he doesn't even shift his eyes over to me. But he looks tense, I can see it in his shoulders. "Snape…" I say softly. Still nothing. Finally, he stops in front of a door. He reaches a hand out to open it, but pulls back. He looks at me. I swallow hard and try to hold his gaze. But I look away, to ashamed to face him or any other human being.

"Why did you have to bring that boy back?" He says, shaking his head as he says so.

"Why?" I repeat. Now I look up at him. "Because I love him, that's why. I thought you knew what this would cause, why are you-"

"You don't know what they're planning, Draco. What you did was probably the worst thing this Capitol could face."

"Good." I wince at the harshness of my tone. Yikes. That'll cost me. I try to reach for the handle on the door, only for Snape to grab my wrist and strain it in his grasp. His hands are clammy and I try to pull away at the feel of it.

"Ow! Snape-"

"You have no idea the damage you caused, Malfoy."

"I don't care – I already told you. All I care about is keeping Harry alive."

He lets me go and I rub my wrist to let him know he hurt me. He backs off. "If I were you… I'd think keeping that boy alive should be the least of your problems." Then he walks away. I watch him disappear in the blackness of the hallway. His robes blend right into the walls and soon it becomes difficult to see him. So I turn my attention to the door in front of me and turn the knob. Juniper is standing there with Sasha around her neck. My heart leaps at the sight of her. She looks happy to see me, but all at the same time she has the same worried look as Snape.

"Draco." She says, kind of chocked up.

I go over to her and she wraps her arms around me tight, squeezing the air out of my lungs. But I don't care. I missed her so much that I embrace her with the same kind of feeling. Sasha coils around both our shoulders, pulling us closer and hissing in my ear.

I hear Juniper laugh and she finally pulls away, allowing Sasha to switch onto my shoulders. Juniper's eyes meet mine and can I tell she was crying. She smiles again and pushes my hair out of my eyes. I've decided to make the "bad boy" look permanent and purposely messed it up after my shower. "You kept the look?"

I nod and turn red with a smile. "I think it fits me." I say, trying to flash a smirk, but despite the consequences, I can't smile.

Her eyes water up and she pulls me into another hug, "Draco… I don't care what they think – I'm so proud of you."

Now my eyes are tearing. I hold the back of her shirt to keep myself together. "I missed you." I say softly, trying to keep my voice steady.

She gently places her hand on the back of my head. "I missed you too, Draco. I'm so glad you're okay." She pulls me back and grazes her hand over the light scars on my neck. "Does this hurt?"

"Not anymore. You'll be able to cover them up for the interview, right?"

"Of course. Follow me, we'll get you ready." She leads me out of the room and down the hall. I never thought I'd walk down these halls again – let alone set my eyes on the Slytherin Common room replica. She leads me upstairs where I found my DRAGON suit for my first interview.

Sasha nuzzles her head against my cheek and I gently rub my finger in between her eyes as I walk on over to the bed. I lower my arm to it so she can slide off.

"So that Harry Potter boy…" Juniper says as she shuts the door. Hanging behind the door is a long plastic bag, which I'm guessing whatever is underneath it is what I'll be wearing for the interview. She takes it off the hanger and turns to face me. "He's quite a catch. You know, the audience has been going crazy whenever you two were together in the arena."

I smile just at the thought of Harry. I brush my hand through my hair with slight embarrassment over the suddenly hot flush of my face. "Really?"

Juniper starts to pull the bag off the hanger. As it rolls up, I catch a glimpse of what's underneath and it looks similar to what I wore the first time. I can tell by the red flames on the cuffs of the pants. But as the bag climbs up higher I see no indication of the DRAGON insignia on the back. And there is none. This is a completely different suite. Although the color scheme did not change – it's still black-red with flames on the sleeve and leg cuffs.

"You're very lucky, Draco. I know love when I see it, and that boy's heart revolves around you."

"I know. That's why I brought him back." I sigh and look down. "But I just don't know… why do I feel like I only put him in more danger?"

"Draco." I look up at her. "Don't regret what you did. Even though people are against it, you did the right thing."

"But if he gets hurt again-"

"He won't. Don't think like this. You gave that boy's life back! You wouldn't have done it if you didn't love him."

My eyes shift away.

"That was your plan the whole time wasn't it?" My heart jumps and I look up her. I knew it. People do think this was all planned. On instinct I grab my right arm even though there's nothing under the sleeve anymore. "You brought your wand in because you knew he would die didn't you?"

I don't know what to do. Maybe it really was my own secret plan. Did I know this would happen? Now that I'm thinking about it, it makes sense. So I just say the first thing I can think of, "I had to have a plan. But even still, I tried to keep him alive." I shake my head. "I just… I feel like this is wrong… What if I really don't know what I'm doing?"

She tilts her head, "Do you?"

"I…" My voice is breaking. "I don't know anymore… I need help… what if more people die because of this!? Because of me! I've already screwed up more times than I could count. I'm just a mess…"

She grabs my hands and locks my eyes with hers, "Draco, listen to me. You got so many people on your side – more people then you know – trust me. You're not alone."

"But I am-"

"No! Stop it. Don't say that, Draco. You've went through so much to get where you are right now. And Harry will always be by your side." She holds up my left arm, digging her thumb into the mark. "This mark is part of you, just like Harry's scar is a part of him. It may have bad meaning behind it, but just because it's part of you doesn't mean that's who you are. You're doing something no Death Eater ever did. You're making a stand. You're standing up to your father and this is something everyone will honor you for."

I swallow hard, "I know what I need to do to finish this… I know exactly what I need to do."

"What's that?"

I take a breath and try to compile the words in my head. It has finally come to me. This – I know – is what needs to be done to finish this. I open my mouth to speak. "I need to kill my father."

"Draco…"

"I know the spell. I can do it this time."

"He's your father!"

"He's a monster! If he knew this was wrong he wouldn't be doing it. I couldn't kill Dumbledore, but I have enough hatred to kill my dad."

She pulls back in shock. "That's what it is? Hatred? Draco, that has nothing to do with it. You know the feeling you get after taking an innocent life. He's still human."

"I'm not doing it for myself and I don't care about what I feel anymore. I saw shit in that arena that I'll never erase from my memory. I stuck an axe in my best friend's face! I witnessed the first person I ever knew I loved have her heart ripped out in front of me. I was forced to kill a Mudblood and saw Goyle's guts pile out of his stomach! And I watched Harry give his life for mine. There's no way I'm making anyone else go through what I went through in those past few weeks. To end this – to end it for good, Lucius Malfoy needs to die. And I'm going to be the one to kill him." She doesn't take her eyes off of mine, and I can hint a bit of fear in them. "That man is no father to me. What he's doing is wrong and you know it too… You know this is the only way."

She sighs and backs away. "I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Draco. Living with a murder on your hands is something you'll never run away from."

"I'm already living with more than just one murder…"

She looks away from me and continues to take the bag off my suit. It looks slightly different then when I first wore it. The shoulders are spiked outward and freckled with… fire. Like little sparks of red ash. I tilt my head. "Is that fire real?"

"No. It's only meant to look real." Her voice is dull. I know she doesn't approve with my plan, but she's still sticking by me. That's good enough. "But everyone will think it is so don't say anything." She winks and sets the suit on the bed and leaves the room so that I can change. Sasha follows her with a hiss.

"And, Draco." I turn to her and she's already at the door, ready to walk out. "If you're going to kill your father… I'd suggest planning this out very carefully. Because for all we know he could be plotting to kill you." This doesn't surprise me one bit. If I'm having thoughts about killing my father he's definitely having thoughts about killing his only son.

"Well…" I begin, "I knew it wouldn't be easy."

After I get dressed I walk on over to the mirror beside the window and just look myself over. My eyes trail down my out-spiked and fire-sparked shoulders and down to the black and red suit that hugs around my waist. Something shines in the mirror right beside my hand, but it's not the printed reflection of the flames on the cuffs of my sleeves. It's the snake ring. I take my eyes off of my refection and look down at my real hand. The artificial flecks of fire reflecting off of my shoulders seem to spark the ring, turning the silver into a tint of red. I twirl the ring back and forth on my finger with a soft sigh. Suddenly, I hear the door creek open behind me and I pick my head up to the mirror and lowering my hand back down to my side.

Behind me I see Juniper reappearing with Sasha around her shoulders. I don't talk to her. Instead I turn my eyes away from her reflection. Am I having doubts with the thought of murdering my father? Absolutely not. I'm just afraid of the fight I'm going to have to put up in order to go through with this plan. I know more people will die and that's something I can't help. But I can still try to prevent it.

Juniper grabs my shoulders from behind and I look back up into the reflection at her touch. She moves a hand in front of me and brushes away a stray lock of blond hair that was falling into my eye.

"No red dye?" I ask softly.

She shakes her head. "I want this interview to be more about you and Harry. Not so much the look."

"So I'm guessing Sasha won't be with me either?" I look at the snake around her shoulder, but Sasha just sticks her tongue out at me. Juniper shakes her head.

I say nothing and look back down at the ring. Images of Pansy start flashing through my mind. But none of them are good. I see her laying, chest cut open with Goyle leaning over her, heart in hand. Now I see her in the hovercraft when I went to get Harry back. I shut my eyes at the thought of her. I keep forgetting she's gone. Like I'll go down to that interview just like the first time and she'll be there. I even feel like she'll be there when I get home, arms stretched out, wrapping me in one of her big hugs.

"Draco?" Juniper gets in front of me, but I don't look up at her. Instead I just stare at the ring on my finger. "I miss her."

She tilts my head up and I try so hard not to let the tears fall. "I know…" She says calmly, and puts her hand over the ring, shielding it from sight. "We need to go." I nod and watch her as she heads to the door. But my eyes catch my refection again. Something about myself seems… different. When I look into this mirror, I don't see that scared and terrified boy anymore. I look different – I feel different. Not scared or terrified. Yes… I am afraid. But there's something else that over powers the fear I'm feeling. I think of Pansy again and my hand instinctively goes to the ring. It's courage. I feel brave and I've never felt like this before. I can do this. I can end this. And I'll do everything in my power to finish it for good.

Juniper leads me down to the same stage as my first – and what I thought was last – interview. There's hardly anyone backstage – only Snape and Umbridge. I get a shiver down my spine. Last time we were here this room was full of tributes. Now there's just me. I'm guessing Harry is on the other side. Snape probably has a "dramatic" plan to have us meet up on the stage. And he does not look happy – he never looks happy.

Juniper stops walking once I'm standing beside Snape. "This is where I take my leave. I'll be right in the front, Draco." I wonder if she can tell that I'm not all that nervous. I just nod and rub Sasha's head before she turns to leave. The roar of the crowd is getting louder with the amounts of people that keep pouring in. Gildroy isn't on stage yet, but knowing him, he'll make a dramatic entrance as well.

Snape grabs my arm roughly, but I don't think it's intentional. Something is still offbeat about him, so I don't complain.

"Listen to me." His eyes are dead set on that stage.

Uh, oh… this can't be good. I was waiting for a pep talk from him, but I never really thought about what he might say.

"They're not happy with you, Draco. Not one bit."

I try to force back a laugh. Well, duh, I snuck my wand into the arena, breaking probably one of the biggest – if not – the biggest rule. "They wanted to see Goyle tear me apart that's why. Are they just pissed because I didn't die? Because Goyle didn't give them the show he promised?"

Snape shoots me a look and it's this sudden moment I realize the real damage I've done. My face goes straight – whipping away any humor I had. I've never seen Snape look so austere. What did I do?

"This isn't a joke!" His voice is soft but to me it rattles my bones with a chill. I swallow hard and look straight at the stage. "What do I do? They hate me don't they?"

"Your father is fumed. And let me just say the third annual Games will be like nothing you've ever seen."

I shoot my eyes up at him. I want to tell him there won't be a third annual Games, because I'm putting an end to this, but I don't. I just glare up at him, "I thought you were on my side!"

"I…. I am… But-"

The crowd starts screaming and Gildroy get to the stage with a spotlight shining on him. Now I'm started to shake with anxiety. What the hell do I do now!?

"They're going to start searching the Tributes. They won't give them their jackets until they get to their stylists. That's all I can tell you. If I say anymore I could be..."

"Killed…" I conclude. He shuts his eyes in agreement. I know they're more he's not telling me. I guess I'll have to figure out for myself.

"Snape… what do I do? What do I do about my dad… about Harry…"

He turns to face me, "You put on the biggest show you can imagine. Make them believe that you couldn't last a second without this boy around you if you didn't do something." He pauses and looks out to the stage where Gildroy is bowing to the audience. "Tell them you would have killed yourself if you didn't do something. That a single moment in your life without Potter would have killed you anyway."

I can see Harry on the other side now. He's talking to McGonagall – his mentor – or rather she's talking to him. He's wearing a snow white suite – nothing but white. And he's looking right at me, but he looks stern and stiff. Is McGonagall telling him everything Snape is telling me? I try to force him a smile but my lips don't work.

"When Gildroy calls you two out, run to him." Snape says. I just nod. Anything – I'll do anything to keep the suspicion down.

"Snape?" I say as Lockheart begins to talk about the Games, anticipating the audience for our appearance. Snape doesn't answer, but I know he heard me. "What about my wand?" Before my surgery they confiscated it, but I have no idea where it is now.

"Your father has it."

"Harry and Draco to the stage!" At Lockheart's announcement, I feel my heart drop to my stomach.