May 1st, 1998- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until midnight." –Voldemort's Ultimatum
"Find the snake." Said Harry, rushing out of the Great Hall.
"Harry!" Hermione ran after him. "Where are you going!"
He stopped. "Room of Requirement, I've got to find the diadem! Find the snake!-"
"WELL, DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GRAB HIM ALREADY!" a frazzled Pansy Parkinson shouted.
Draco, who was still hidden underneath the Invisibility Cloak, appeared to the scene, his wand out.
"Draco!" Pansy shrieked. "What are you doing he-"
"Go to hell." He threw the cloak to Harry.
"Draco, what the bloody hell d'you think you're doing?!" screamed Slytherins from the corner of the room.
Professor McGonagall, who was still recovering from the shock of both the Golden Trio, and Draco Malfoy's appearances, gathered herself together. "Mr. Filch!" her voice rang out over the heads of her students. "Would you please, lead Ms. Parkinson, along with the rest of Slytherin house, down to the dungeons?"
Gregory Goyle pushed his way into the front of the crowd, his wand raised high over his head. "Ha! I still have my wand!"
The rest of the Slytherins watched him, a few of them attempting to grab it from his pudgy hands.
"Expelliarmus!" A shaky, almost nervous, voice cried out.
Every Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin turned to look at Neville Longbottom, who caught Goyle's wand deftly with one hand.
McGonagall gave Neville one of her rare smiles. "Now, Mr. Filch. Would you..."
Filch, who had been picking at the many grey hairs on his chin, perked up. "Yes, yes, ma'am!" he shouted gleefully, gesturing for the dejected Slytherins to follow him.
"All underage students, must evacuate immediately through the portrait hole in the Room of Requirement." She directed.
An uproar rose from the Gryffindor table, Ginny Weasley shouting loudly, "You knew about that?!"
The headmistress nodded and gave a sort of smirk. "That still does exclude you from the evacuation, Ms. Weasley. I'm sure your mother and father will be waiting at the station. We've ordered the train to stop at Hogsmeade for all underage."
Ginny stood up furiously. "But that's ridiculous! I want to fight!"
Suddenly, Hermione spoke. "But, Harry! He's in the Room of Hidden Things! You won't be able to access the Room of Requirement unless he comes out!" She threw a fleeting look at Ginny, who fled from the Great Hall eagerly.
"GINNY, GET BACK HERE!" Ron bellowed, running after her.
"Ms. Weasley!" McGonagall shouted, to no avail. "Ms. Granger, would you please see to it, that Mr. Potter finds his way out of the Room of Requirement?"
"No, need." A deep voice murmured by the entryway. "We saw him leave as soon as we left the Hog's Head." Kingsley indicated the crowd of Order members behind him.
She clutched at her heart frightfully. "How did you arrive here without notice?"
"It was me!" a voice piped up from behind Kingsley. "Ginny gave me one of your D.A. coins." Tonks beamed at Neville, who nudged Luna with a grin.
"Nymphadora, I told you to get back in there!" another voice shouted. Everyone turned to see the irate figure of Remus Lupin stalk up to the group. "Uh-oh..."
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" she shuddered, her hair turning a ghastly shade of orange.
He ignored her, dragging her back to the Room of Requirement. "I can't lose you again! Don't you understand..."
His voice trailed off, as they both went out of sight.
"Well." Said McGonagall, obviously flustered. "Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Granger, would you mind escorting the under-aged students to the Room of Requirement? Unless, of course..."
Draco looked around at the large group of first-fourth years, most of them apparently joined together, squirming fearfully. Most of the fifth and sixth years, however, seemed to blend in quite tenaciously with the seventh. He felt Hermione pull him away. "Well, come on then!" He called. The smaller students followed him swiftly out the door. Hermione lingered for a moment, watching. She smiled to herself as she saw Neville blushingly press a chaste kiss to Luna's lips, before he ushered her away to the group; the rest of Order of the Phoenix moving to join Professor McGonagall in the defense of the school.
May 2nd, 1998- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry- Midnight
"You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste. Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured. I speak now, Harry Potter, Directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."
"Harry!" Hermione shouted. "You can't do this!"
Harry looked at her wearily, and Ron watched him, a hand on his shoulder. Draco was nowhere to be found.
"I'm not going to the Forbidden Forest, Hermione." He said finally.
"Thank good-!" she started, pulling him into a fierce hug.
"But I will have to. Eventually. Right now, I need to go to Dumbledore's office; the Pensieve. Snape..."
And then Ron embraced him too, all of them clutching at each other as if it were the last.
Because this time, just this once...It might be.
Author's Note- Dear, dear, readers. I'm sorry to say that...*tear*...This was the last chapter! Runaway Redemption is over. I still cannot quite believe it...I hope you all enjoyed this story, and I am so very grateful for your support and guidance in this past month. Goodbye. :(
Despite the fact that's it's reached the last.
I commend you all for sticking with me.
And reading consistently.
Sending me nice comments.
Following a young fetus-story, that has now, I hoped grown into a...teenager?
Lol I have no idea where this is going.
But, seriously...
Thank you for being there...
Until the very end.
:'(
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LOL JK No, there's one more chapter. D'you really think I would leave you all hanging like that? Especially since this chapter didn't have any Dramione action whatsoever, and was pretty much a filler. Hahaha. I really hoped I tricked you all. But, it would have been even better to see your faces in that reaction... :D Oh, by the way, of course I don't own those little Voldemort speech tidbits. I would have thought the quotations and italics would have been enough, but then I realized I do that all the time, so I just wanted to make sure! So yeah. One more chapter. I already have it planned out, but bear with me if I spend an extra day editing and perfecting it. I want it to be the best ending that I, Mrs. Handsome, can produce. So...bye?