I only own the plot and OCs
"Are they all gone?" asked Harry, his voice sounding hopeless even to him.
"Everyone has been cleared out of Hogwarts except for the ones that are fighting," replied Hermione quietly.
"How many do we have?"
"A bit over one hundred."
"Outnumbered?"
"Five to one," replied Jake, "if you count the strength of the trolls, giants and werewolves in human increments." Harry gave a sigh.
"This is impossible," he finally said, running a hand through his raven hair. "We can't win this."
"It'll be hard," admitted Hermione. "But it's not impossible."
"How many can you take?"
"At a time? About fifteen, I guess," replied Hermione, "maybe twenty."
"Damn," muttered Ron. "Remind me not to piss you off."
"We seem to so that on a daily basis," said Ginny wryly, "but you never seem to listen."
"Is everyone expecting to see you guys?"
"Well," replied Draco, "we had to give a demonstration earlier so that nobody was surprised. So, I imagine that only the people that skipped it will be shocked to see our powers."
"That's good at least."
"See?" said Ginny softly. "It's not completely hopeless."
"No, it's just nearly hopeless."
"So Jake," said Ron with a grin, "if Mione can take twenty with half the training, does that mean that you can take forty?"
He merely received a sardonic smile from Jake.
"There's no way we can win!" exclaimed Cho Chang, who had come back to fight, despite the fact that she thought of it as suicide.
"Nobody here has even been in a battle," said Collin Creevy, "with the exception of a few."
"Why do we even bother?" pondered Dean.
"Because we have no choice," replied Hermione, who had overheard the conversation. "Do you know what they would do if we didn't even fight? Draco, why don't you enlighten them?"
"First," he began, "they hunt you down."
"And then they kill us. Yes, I understand."
"No, first they hunt you down. Then, they hunt down your family, friends and those that you most care about. If you're lucky, they torture and kill them before your eyes. If they're feeling particularly bored, that is.
"More likely though, they place you under the imperius curse and make you kill them yourself. But you don't get to die after that. They keep you alive, so that you can live with your guilt and self-loathing. Then, when they have no longer have any use for you, if you're lucky, they'll kill you then.
"Of course, if you're muggle born, it would be much worse. Not only would they make you kill those that are closest to you, but before that, they torture you and force you to kill 'your own kind.' That is why we're fighting. Do you still think we shouldn't even bother?"
Silence greeted his words until they began to walk away. Then, Cho's voice rang above the silence of the crowded room.
"What right do you have to preach to us? Because you're the precious elementals? Get off your pedestal, will you? You two are cowards, hiding behind your raw power. I'll bet that if it came to you or us, you'd be long gone, leaving us to fend for ourselves. What makes you think that you can go around criticizing us for not wanting to so readily die?!"
"Because," replied Draco calmly, "I know first hand what my father did for 'fun.' And guess what? I'll bet that he's not the only one that enjoyed killing innocent people."
"And I suggest you reevaluate your thought pattern Chang," added Hermione, her tone icy. "I would gladly give my life for anyone fighting against Voldemort."
"That's easy to say." Hermione stepped closer.
"It's easy to do too Chang," she whispered. "Especially when you're already dying. Precious or not, my life is already forfeit."
"What the bloody hell are you talking about Granger?"
"Actually, it's Malfoy now," she corrected. "But yes, it's true. I've got a brain tumor and am going to die. So you see, I don't see the point in saving myself if it means sacrificing someone else."
"Mione," said Draco desperately, begging her to stop. "Please, not today." Hermione nodded and allowed Draco to lead her away, leaving Cho Chang in shocked silence.
"You know Draco, the three of us should go somewhere after this," said Hermione as they walked toward Jake, who was uncharacteristically silent and pensive as he played with the tip of one of his black blades. "As a reward for making it through the brutal end, we should go somewhere."
"You want to go somewhere with that insufferable, eavesdropping know-it-all? Are you mad?!"
"I dunno; it must be an elemental thing. Or maybe he's done something freaky with my mind. Otherwise, I'm not so certain that I'd want to go anywhere with him."
"I heard that!" they heard from Jake as he set his blade beside its twin and closed the remaining distance between them. "So, where are we going?"
"Somewhere nice," replied Hermione.
"And not too cold, I hope," added Jake, looking pointedly at Draco, who had a certain fondness for the cold.
"Wait," said Draco, "is this like a vacation?"
"Oh, I like that Hermione," said Jake, replying to what could only have been a thought.
"Do you really? I've always wanted to go there."
"It's supposed to be really beautiful."
"Of course, if it isn't quite up to our standards, you could always change the scenery, Jake."
"And Draco could make us a lake."
"Brilliant!"
"I take it we've decided?" asked Draco. "That's wonderful! But really, I think I would like to know where exactly I'm making a do have laws in some places."
"Why, Ireland, or course," replied Hermione as if it should have been common sense.
"Ireland," pondered Draco. "I like it."
"It's going to start soon," said Ron, breaking the silence that had passed over his family.
"If you have anything to say to anyone," said Ginny, "you should say it now."
"Like who?" Ginny glanced to where Hermione sat with Jake and Draco. Ron followed her gaze and shook his head.
"I've given her up. There's no way that I can even begin to compete with that." He motioned toward them. "You see the way she looks at him. Besides, I'm not terrible enough to break up a marriage."
"You'll find someone, Ron."
"Only if I survive."
"You will," she replied. Then, in a lighter tone, "if you don't, you'll hear from me. I'll go to Hell and dragyou back if I have to."
"Hell? Gin, you wound me. I've been an angel!"
"Maybe a fallen one," she scoffed.
"I'm a saint!"
"You're no such thing, and don't even tryto convince me otherwise. You're a devil, and you know it!"
"Ron?" said a voice new to the conversation. Though it was nervous instead of mocking and humerous.
"Luna?" said Ginny in surprise.
"May I borrow your brother for just a moment, Ginny?" The red-head indicated that she didn't mind, and Ron stood and left the company of his sister to follow Luna.
"Yes?"
"Well, tonight's the battle and I didn't want to have any regrets. I mean, I could die-or worse youcould die-and I just wanted to tell you something. I mean, I wanted to let you know that…well you see, the batty blue bilandra's are out today, which means that anyone that likes someone should confess, or else they might be cursed with wart-footed hogies."
"Wart-footed whats?"
"So what I'm trying to say Ron is that now is the perfect time to tell you that I like you." A silence followed as Ron was still trying to figure out just what a bilandra was and how a hogie, what ever that was, could be so bad until he realized just what Luna had said, strange beings aside.
"You don't have to give me an answer now," she said quickly. "I just wanted you to know. I didn't want to have any regrets. Though I did see a flitting wakalu, so I thought it best to wait until sun set." She glanced nervously at the ground and turned to leave, uttering a quick and quiet, "bye."
"Wait," said Ron, catching her wrist and pulling her to him. "I'll give you my answer. I mean, I know I'm really dense, and I really don't get half the things that other people thing are common sense. Sometimes my temper gets ahead of my mind and I say really stupid things. I know that I've only just given up my feelings for Hermione, and you can hate me for this, but hearing your confession made me really happy.
"I'm not going to say that I love you. I mean maybe-well, that sounds really bad. But what I'm trying to say is that maybe, in time, I could learn to. Love you, I mean. If you'll have me." Luna smiled and nodded, allowing Ron to pull her to him as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
"The willow gasping hallowbards were right," she murmured to herself.
"I've no idea what those are," said Ron. "But I do believe that I've just made the best decision that I've made all year."
They stood outside in silence as the cool spring air whistled around them, waiting for the onslaught of Voldemort's forces. Draco clasped Hermione's hand firmly in his and Hermione knew that others would be doing the same, just in case one of them didn't make it. She could see Ginny desperately clinging to Harry, her usual strong demeanor vanquished for the time being. And for the slightest moment, she felt pity for the couple. Then she remembered that with them, it had never been about what Voldemort would do next. It hadn't been about how Harry could so easily die when he was forced to face the darkest wizard of time because the two of them lived blissfully in the present. They were happy.
"Are you ready?" asked Hermione as a slight drizzle began.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Rain!" they heard someone exclaim peevishly from behind. It was Lavander. "Why does it have to rain!?" Draco turned back and spoke with an apologetic grimace.
"Sorry," he said, receiving a grin from Hermione. "That'd be my fault."
"They're here," said Jake suddenly.
"I know," said Hermione. "They're packed so closely together that I can tell by the way they restrict the flow of the wind."
"That many of them, huh?" asked Draco as the dark mark exploded into the sky in a blaze of white.
"Remember why we fight," said Jake, his dark blades glinting in the moon light. His voice was soft, but Hermione could hear him clearly. "We fight because we can. Don't forget that there's more at stake than the people gathered here. The muggles can't fight, so we have to fight for them."
"Here we go," said Hermione, allowing a chill wind to pick up, whipping rain into their faces. Everyone remained still and if they were afraid, they hid it well.
"Don't be afraid to kill," said Jake. "Every one of them has come here with that exact intention. If you show them compassion, they will make you regret it." Hermione nodded and lifted herself in the air, closing her eyes for only a moment and she let out a long sigh as the first jet of blue shot out from the death eaters. Then, her eyes opened again as she began shouting curses at the many hooded figured.
Time passed slowly, draining her energy until she was forced to land beside Draco.
"You okay?" he asked as they fought back to back.
"Tired," she replied, realizing that they were once again surrounded.
"I've got this one," said Draco, forming a large, thick circle of ice around them and letting it drop on the unsuspecting death eaters.
Allowing the ice to melt, he brushed his fingers gently along Hermione's face before flying to where Ginny was having trouble fending off five death eaters.
Distracted by Draco's sudden assistance, the remaining three were cursed easily by Ginny.
"Draco, I haven't seen Harry in awhile," she said, her voice painc stricken. "What if somethings happened to him? What if-"
"He's fine, Gin. I just saw him not five minutes ago." Ginny's features calmed until she was startled by Ron's voice shout a stunning spell from behind, a death eater falling to the ground beside her.
"You two should be more careful," said Ron with a grin. "This bugger here," he kicked the cloaked figure for extra emphasis, "was trying to sneak up on you."
"Will do," said Draco before going to Hermione's side once again. "Still holding up?"
"Yeah," she replied shortly as she punched a death eater in the face, following with a swift kick. Draco couldn't help but laugh at her physical attack.
"The muggle way, right?"
"Hell yeah!" she exclaimed, sending an elbow into the stomach of another attacker. "It's got more of a personal feel to it. Like how much I bloody. Hate. These. Guys," she said between punches. She caught a brief glance of Melissa before she disappeared once again.
"I see her," said Draco.
"Me too."
"Where is she going?"
"To Jake," replied Hermione without hesitation.
His senses picked up someone that he couldn't see and he knew, even surrounded as he was, that it was her.
"I know you're here Mel," he said quietly. "You might as well show yourself." He raised one of his blades to his side, at seemingly nothing. Suddenly, Mel appeared at the end of it, not even an inch from the point.
"So you found me," she said.
"I always could. I see you still know my reach."
"Of course I do. You've been my sparring partner for years. But tell me Jake, could you have actually done it? Could you really kill me?"
"I can try," he replied, slashing out at Melissa, who easily leapt out of the way.
"Leave us," she demanded, the hooded figures hastening to follow her order. They all knew who their Lord's favourite was. Jake then tossed her one of his twin blades; Melissa caught it easily.
"Use it," he said. "You'll need to."
"So I will. You should've joined me when you had the chance, Jake," she said, walking circles around him. "It would've saved you a lot of grief."
"I would never join the ranks of Voldemort. Not even for you."
"I don't want to kill you," she mused. "You know that." She laughed softly. "In fact, I'm not even certain that I could. You were always the one person that mattered. The only one that I needed. I wonder why."
"Melissa," said Jake softly, closing his eyes and shaking his head. He didn't want to hear this, not on the verge of battle with the one person he had ever truly come to love.
"But I have no choice now," she finally said. "So lets pretend that we've never met-that we're just strangers on the battlefield." And with that, she leapt at him, gracefully avoiding spikes of earth while sending fire at Jake.
They fought each other with grace in a series of complex, flexible movements, avoiding the attacks of the each other and blocking the others blows until finally. They were at knife point with each other, both of them evenly matched, panting hard from their continued efforts.
"Can you do it Jake?" she asked. "Can you kill me? I don't mind, if it's you."
"Mel, you know I can't."
"I'm glad." She smiled, drawing the blade from his neck. "Watch over the other two for me, will you?"
"Mel, what're you-?" He stopped short when he saw the blackness of his blade poised just above the bare skin of her stomach. "Mel, don't!" But it was already too late, for she had already pierced her flesh, driving the blade deep into herself, forming what Jake knew to be a lethal wound.
He stood, paralyzed by the sorrow he felt as tears formed and fell unheeded to the ground. Mel fell into him, her hot blood pouring out, staining his clothes a deep crimson.
"Mel," he whispered, his voice cracking.
"Shh," he heard, she voice barely audible. "I'm glad I met you. You gave me what I've always wanted. I'm sorry, Jake."
"Shh, don't say anything. I'm going to save you Mel, and you can come with us." he brought his hand up to her wound, but she brought it back down with her own hand, lacing her fingers Jake's.
"It all seems so stupid," she said quietly, "all this war and death. I wish I had met you sooner. That way, I could've told you before. I'm so slow, aren't I? I was so preoccupied that I'd never realized it until just recently. I love you Jake. I'm so sorry I didn't realize it sooner. Maybe we could've…been…happy."
He couldn't stop his tears as he felt her grip loosen and her spirit leave her. Barricading himself in a shield of earth, he lay Melissa on the soft ground and withdrew the blade, falling to his knees beside her. Placing a hand on her open wound, he tried to summon the magic that would bring her back, but it was useless. She was gone, forever lost to him.
"Come back," he cried, bloodied dagger still clutched in his hand. "Melissa, come back to me. You can't leave me. I need you." He knew she couldn't, but still, he cried out to her. He couldn't save her anymore. She was gone.
He stood shakily, banishing his shield and walked away from Melissa's body, a glint of determination and fury in his eyes as he allowed the earth to form around her body once again. He wouldn't allow her to be sullied by evil's forces anymore. Slowly, he turned to face the death eaters that had gathered before him, his grip on his blades eagerly tightening.
They had stolen Melissa's life and now, he was going to steal each and every one of theirs.
"Did you feel it?" asked Hermione.
"Melissa's dead," replied Draco. Hermione nodded sorrowfully.
"Troll!" they heard Harry shout from just up ahead. Hermione could see him clearly, fighting beside Ginny. Then she saw it, the cave troll that Harry hadn't seen.
"Ginny!" shouted Hermione in terror at the very moment that he best friend was sent crashing through the air, sent flying by the troll's heavy spiked bat. Hermione's eyes searched wildly for any sign of movement from Ginny. There was none.
She looked to Draco and pure horror filled her eyes as she sat the jet of green light hit him squarely in the chest, his shocked expression freezing on his face.
"No!" she screamed as he fell, the rain coming to an eerie stop. "No! Draco!"
She fell beside him, her knees no longer able to support her. "Draco," she whispered. "Draco, get up. Get up!" He didn't move.
"No, Draco, you can't leave me," se sobbed. "Not now, not like this. You promised!" He gave no reply and she let her grief consume her as she huddled over his body, broken sobs echoing around her.
She felt an unbearable power from within her. It was too much to bear, as was her grief. She resigned herself to it.
She was so alone, sitting there beside the man that she had loved so much. Never before had she felt this empty; this afraid. All she wanted was for it to stop hurting. She wanted him back. She wanted to be protected from ever having to feel this pain again.
The power that had been building from within released itself in one painful surge, distracting her for only a moment before she sought solace in the knowledge that she would soon join him.
Draco.
It was her last thought before being thrown out of her reverie by a shove, a blinding light and at last, to her own escape.
Darkness.
"Ron!" he heard from behind. "Ron!" He turned to see Cho Chang making her way towards him, sending curses at death eaters that thwarted her path to him.
"Chang?" he asked in confusion.
"Ron, its Hermione. Something's really, really wrong."
"Where?"
She pointed toward a flickering blue dome shaped area and Ron know immediately that something was indeed, very wrong. He ran as quickly as he could to where Cho had indicated and he saw Hermione in the midst of the area.
"Mione," he breathed, reaching out to the edge of it, only to draw his hand back in pain.
"It's her barrier," he heard. He turned his head the slightest bit to see Jake, soaked in blood. "It's perfect. I've only seen it once before. It's almost impenetrable."
"How?"
He shrugged. "She's lost herself. She can't control her powers anymore. It's what I was afraid of. At this rate, she'll die."
A look of shock washed over Ron's face and he turned back to Hermione, a look of determination set on his features as he stepped closer.
"No she won't," he finally said, "because I'm going to save her."
He stepped into the barrier, shouting out in pain but never stopping. He went on, reaching a hand out to her. Finally, his hand came into contact with her just the slightest bit as he stumbled the remaining distance to her.
He saw a flash of blinding white before being thrown away from her and he was sent into darkness.
She opened her eyes slowly, her head still pounding. She didn't even know why. All that she could think about was him. Did he make it? Was he hurt?
"Ginny," she heard and relief flooded her senses. "Oh God Ginny, I thought you were dead. I saw you get hit, and then you went flying and then you didn't get up and you weren't moving."
"Shh," she said quietly. "I'm alright Harry. I'm alive, miraculously." He hugged her close to him.
"It was Jake," he finally said. "If it weren't for Jake, you wouldn't have made it."
"Where is he?" Harry's eyes darkened for a moment before he nodded his head off to the side. Ginny followed his gaze and saw a form on the ground, silhouetted in the first light of dawn.
"Is he okay?"
"You'll understand when you get there," he replied, then, after some hesitation, "he's a mess." Ginny nodded and stood, walking slowly toward the grief shadowed Jake.
She reached him and she instantly realized it. It was written everywhere in the scene before her-the way that he couldn't bring himself to stand and leave her. It was shown by the look in his eyes, broken and confused, the look of horror on his face as he stared blankly at the blade that had killed her-his blade.
He loved her, and she was dead
Ginny stepped closer, her heart aching for him. Nobody should have to lose the one they love.
"Jake," she murmured quietly, not knowing what else she could say. What was there to say?
Finally, his eyes met hers, silently pleading with her to answer his question. Why had this happened?
"I don't know, Jake," she said with a sigh, sitting beside him.
"I somehow always thought that she'd be with me," he said. "That somehow we could make it work. I thought we had plenty of time. I don't know what to do with myself anymore."
It was the first time since Ginny had met him that she had seen him like this, and she knew from what Hermione had told her that Jake had always been cheerful and controlled. But now, everything was so different. It seemed so wrong.He was so close to breaking. He had lost the one person that he really, truly needed, and it was tearing him up inside.
"I loved her," he admitted, then he laughed through his tears. "I still do."
And then, Ginny realized what it was that she had to do. He had to tell her. He hadn't gotten the chance and it was eating him alive. He needed for her to know.
"Do you want to tell her?"
"More than anything," he replied, burying his head in his hands, then, as he realized what she was thinking, "no Ginny, you can't."
"I would."
"But it hurts you!"
"Jake," she said, silently waiting for him to see reason. "Listen Jake, you saved my life. It's the least I can do." Then, after a slight pause, "you need this Jake. It's okay."
"Is it really?" he asked, defeated. She nodded and placed a hand on Melissa's brow before he had a chance to object again.
Again, her body went rigid; though this time she only winced in pain. Jake was silent as Ginny spoke with Melissa's spirit and he watched for any signs of movement from the red-head.
When Ginny returned, Jake caught her as she slumped in exhaustion, and he wrapped his arms around her, warming her freezing body. Once she recovered, she spoke.
"She knows," was the first thing she said. "She said that you're a terrible actor, despite what you think. She's sorry she couldn't hear it from you, though."
"Thank you." He said it with a sincerity that Ginny had never heard before.
"One more thing," she said. "She says that you should go on that trip you were planning, but don't get too cocky when you attract a few stares at the airport. You're not nearly as dashing as you think you are."
Jake couldn't help laughing at Mel's wry sense of humour. He looked down to her once again, his features taking on a more solemn look as he traced his fingers softly along her face. Then, he picked up her body, thanked Ginny once again and carried her slowly back to the castle. Nobody commented that he was bringing the traitor to their dead; they could all see the anguish and loss in his hollow blue eyes.
A/N: So let me start with a big huge I'M SO SORRY! When I first started posting this story on this site, I completely thought I finished. Apparently, I didn't and instead left you all on a huge cliffy, while the story was done for years. I'm horrible. Hopefully you can all forgive me as I will post the rest of the story right now!
Next: so Melissa is dead, which makes me sad. I really was a big fan of that Jake/Mel pairing. I just love tragic endings, I suppose. After this, there are only two more chapters.