Hey, guys! Here it is! The epic chapter! The final part of the Battle of Hogwarts! I hope you enjoy!
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Chapter Thirty-five
"Wake up, Draco," a familiar voice whispered, a hand shaking my shoulder.
My first thought was that it was You-Know-Who come to torture me again. I violently grabbed the hand and raised my wand, curses I could use against him racing through my mind.
"Calm down. It's just me," Hermione said, her image coming into focus as I fully woke up. "We need to go. Voldemort's out in the courtyard." Granger got up and walked out of the Great Hall, joining the river of students and staff that were fit to stand.
I took a breath to calm my thudding heart before getting to my feet and following the others out into the light of the rising sun. We were greeted by an unwelcome army of black-clad Death Eaters, Hagrid's distinctive form following close behind the Dark Lord with a body in his arms.
"Who is that Hagrid's carrying?" Ginny demanded, ahead of the group. "Neville who is it?"
"Harry Potter," Voldemort hissed in answer, "is dead."
"No! No!" Ginny wailed, running forward. Her father caught her hand and held her back, pulling her into his arms.
"Silence!" the Dark Lord shouted as he swiped his wand towards us, a blast of energy cutting through all of us. "Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead."
Potter's dead? That couldn't be. Harry can't be dead. He was the "Chosen One" as the papers so eloquently put it, so there was no way that he could be dead.
"From this day forth," You-Know-Who breathed, putting a hand to his chest, "you put your faith in me."
No one spoke on either side. My neighbours' breathing grew so laboured it was audible.
Voldemort chuckled darkly as he turned to his Death Eaters. "Harry Potter is dead!" The army laughed openly at the fact.
Harry couldn't be dead. I looked to Hagrid and scanned the body he held, pleading to find any sign of life, but I couldn't find anything from this distance. His skin was pale, there were cuts along his hands, and I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.
But I refused to believe that he was dead. Not our-my-last hope.
"And now is the time to declare yourself," You-Know-Who announced, his arms spread wide as he turned back to us. "Come forward and join us. Or die."
No one moved. A nervous energy flowed through all of us. The silence was more deafening than the falling and burning stone of the night before.
"Draco," Lucius' thick voice called.
The sound of his voice ignited a fire inside of me that I hadn't felt for even Voldemort. I glared at him as openly as I could as several pairs of eyes turned to me.
"Draco," he repeated, reaching out for me.
I planted my feet, determined to stay exactly where I was. But my breathing shook with nerves.
My mother had made me do anything she wanted after I came out of that cellar. I looked everywhere except my mother, terrified that she could do the same now.
"Draco," she called, my nerves instantly calming. My gaze unwillingly locked onto her as I strained to see passed her.
"Come," she said.
I tore my eyes from her, looking around for anything to help me. I caught Hermione's gaze. She shook her head and mouthed, "No."
I shut my eyes against Mother's order, but the Dark Lord's sudden words made me open them again. "Ah. Well done, Draco. Well done."
I froze where I was. How did I end up here? I was supposed to be with the others.
Voldemort's cold, thin arms wrapped around my frozen form in a loose embrace. My skin crawled at his touch, and he couldn't let me go quick enough.
Mother's hand extended towards me, and it pulled me forward until she could put her arm around me, Lucius placing his hand on my shoulder. The icy calm that was holding me captive extended out of Mother's arm, overtaking me.
What was wrong with me?
I stopped where I was, preventing us from going further into the collection of Death Eaters and turned around, facing the people I just left. My mother's and Lucius' hands let go of me when I stopped, the calm instantly leaving me, but I was too surrounded to go back now.
Neville limped forward, a tattered piece of fabric clenched in his fist. The others hovering in the castle doorway shifted their weight from one foot to the other glancing back and forth from Neville to each other.
"Well, I must say I hoped for better," Voldemort mocked, earning a laugh from the Death Eaters. "And who might you be, young man?"
"Neville Longbottom," he muttered, the large, crimson cut on the side of his head glinting in the rising sun light.
The Death Eaters chuckled at the name, and Bellatrix laughed loudly, her tongue grazing her teeth.
"Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks," the Dark Lord assured.
"I'd like to say something," Neville interrupted struggling to maintain his balance.
You-Know-Who froze in place, his long-fingered hand repeatedly clenching as he tensed. "Well, Neville, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say."
"It doesn't matter that Harry's gone," he said, making my heart jump in surprise.
"Stand down, Neville," Seamus ordered.
"People die every day!" Neville retorted firmly, turning his shoulder to the Death Eaters. "Friends. Family. Yeah. We lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us. In here." He put his hand to his chest. "So's Fred. And Remus. Tonks. All of them. They didn't die in vain." He stopped for a moment, turning back to the Voldemort. "But you will. 'Cause you're wrong." His voice was rose with each word, and the Dark Lord laughed brokenly at his statement. "Harry's heart did beat for us. For all of us! This is not over!"
Neville thrust his hand into the fabric he held and ripped out a gleaming sword.
Effortful grunting sounded in the corner of the courtyard as something impacted the ground. I turned to look only gasp in shock.
Harry Potter himself stood alive and well, his wand held at the ready. "Confringo!" he shouted, throwing a blast of fire at Voldemort's dangerous pet snake. The spell bounced off of the creature's hide and hit a wall of the courtyard, sending a spray of sparks and stone towards me.
Several Death Eaters and I ducked to avoid the stone, and my mother covered me. The Death Eaters milled around in confusion, each shouting questions to the other of how Potter could be alive. Voldemort seemed to have finally lost it as he yelled at the top of his lungs, throwing spell after spell at the retreating Harry. Several Death Eaters took off in clouds of black smoke either streaming towards the school or fleeing in any other direction.
"No!" Bellatrix shouted towards the sky. "No, come back!" She turned towards my parents and I. "Lucius! Come back! Come back and fight!"
Lucius glanced towards my mother as we both got back to our feet. Mother took my hand, that same unnatural calm extending from her touch. She led me through the confusion of the fleeing and fighting Death Eaters and took me over the stone bridge that led to the school.
This was wrong. Why was I letting her take me away from a place I didn't want to leave? A place that I shouldn't leave. Not while there were still explosions and screams.
"No," I muttered.
"It's alright, Draco," Mother comforted, placing her other hand on my arm just above my Dark Mark. "We don't have to fight anymore."
Her words were calming, but I forced their effect away. "No!" I shouted, ripping my hand from her grasp.
"We are leaving, Draco," Lucius ordered.
"Yeah. You are," I refused. "I'm staying."
"Draco," my mother began as she reached out for me.
I took a step back, remaining out of her grasp. "I told you before. I never believed in what the Da-in what Voldemort was doing. I'm done with him. I'm done with you." I looked pointedly at my former father. "And I'm done fighting on the wrong side."
My mother opened her mouth to say something, but before she could get a single drug-filled word out, I raised her wand and Disapparated, reappearing in the courtyard. No one was there firing spells and each other. The fighting had moved inside.
I ran through the doors and was instantly hit with a stunning spell. The force of the spell threw me to the floor, knocking the wind out of me. My head spun, and my vision swam briefly until an unfamiliar Death Eater stood over me.
"Always knew you were a blood traitor," he said, raising his wand. "Avada-"
A flash of green light cut him off, dropping him to the floor. I forced myself up from the ground slightly and found the source of the Killing Curse. "Get a move on, Mister Malfoy!" McGonagall shouted, turning around and blocking another spell.
I didn't waste time and scrambled to my feet. I ran down the a hall until I found George Weasley, Dean and Seamus fending off a group of five Death Eaters that were advancing closer and closer to the unmoving group of three. The Gryffindors were firing off spell after spell and blocking twice as many.
I glanced up on a hunch and found that the floor above was missing large sections of stone and several more boulders were hanging on by a thread. I raised my wand and took aim at the precarious ceiling and waited until the Death Eaters were right underneath it. "Babarda!"
The stones came crashing down on top of the Death Eaters, crushing all five of them instantly.
The three Gryffindors jumped and spun around to face me. They seemed surprised more than anything else.
"Thought you went with them," Seamus said.
"I'm a teenager," I responded. "And teenagers never listen to their parents."
George smirked and ran passed me. "Come on!" he shouted.
Dean, Seamus and I followed after him, running straight into the heat of the battle. Death Eaters were casting powerful Curses at staff as aged as Slughorn and at students as youthful as third years.
A Death Eater woman threw a spell at a Slytherin girl who didn't manage to block in time. The spell threw her off her feet, blood seeping through her robes as she crashed into the stone floor.
I sent a Killing Curse streaming towards the Death Eater, hitting her dead on. I didn't pause to watch her fall and ran towards the student. She held her wounded and bleeding side, squeezing her eyes against the pain.
I grabbed her shoulders, lifted her up and leaned her against the wall into better light. The movement got her to open her eyes, and I instantly recognized her in the new lighting. "Pansy?"
Her eyes went wide with surprise. "Draco? Crabbe and Goyle told me you were Death Eater." Pansy gasped and groaned, her hand flying to her side.
"I'm going to have to lift your shirt up," I warned, not waiting for permission.
I grabbed the hem of her school jumper and gently pushed it up, revealing her wound. A deep and bleeding gash had slashed through her torso.
A hot and blinding pain shot through my shoulder. I cried out and dropped my wand, grabbing my shoulder. I brought my hand around and stared at the blood smeared along my fingertips.
"Malfoy!" Dean shouted, appearing at my side. "You okay?"
"Yeah!" I yelled back as Dean blocked an oncoming spell. "I can heal her, but I need cover."
The Gryffindor nodded and got to his feet, forming a shield around the three of us.
I reclaimed my wand and refocused on Pansy's still bleeding wound.
"Y-your shoulder," she stuttered.
"It's fine," I dismissed through clenched teeth. "Vulnera Sanentur."
My wand glowed a gentle blue as I waved it over Pansy's wound. The running blood retreated back into her cut, and the skin knit back together until it formed a pale, thin scar along her torso.
Pansy sighed as the pain apparently ebbed and looked down at her scar. "Where'd you learn to do that?"
I stood and offered her my hand in answer. She took it, and I helped her up. Pansy readied her wand, giving me a prepared nod and a hardened expression.
"You two good?" Dean shouted, grunting in the effort of keeping his shield up under the bombardment of spells.
"Yeah," I answered.
Dean lowered the shield and I instantly threw a Killing Curse towards a Death Eater who tried to catch Dean from the side. The Death Eater collapsed to the floor, and his neighbor glared at me with an enraged growl.
"Never thought I'd say it, but thanks, Malfoy," Dean shouted, blocking another spell.
I smirked at the comment as I blocked another spell.
An amplified roar reached my ears, and I turned to see the Death Eater who glared at me charging over his dead companion. He threw spell after spell at me in an endless stream that I could only block. They came at me so fast that there wasn't a single opening to do anything else.
The force of each spell hitting my shield sent me backwards an inch at a time, and the force got harder and harder to resist as the Death Eater got closer.
"Reducto!" the Death Eater shouted as loudly as his voice could possibly go.
The force of the spell blew through my shield and hit me in the stomach. The shield managed to neutralize the effect of the spell, but the impact was enough to push me to the ground and rip the air from my lungs.
I forced myself to lift my head in time to see the Death Eater raise his wand again. I instinctively rolled to the side, dodging the Killing Curse he sent me. The Curse impacted the ground, cracking the stone.
The Death Eater roared again and renewed his aim on me. I rolled back to dodge another Curse. The Death Eater stomped his foot on my aching torso as soon as I stopped moving. He pressed into my harder and harder, jabbing his wand into my throat. "Blood traitor," he growled.
The Death Eater was blasted off of me as he opened his mouth. George appeared above me, his wand outstretched. He sent another spell towards the Death Eater before leaning down to me and offering his hand. I took it without question, and he pulled me up.
"Thanks," I said.
George only nodded in answer and ran down a destroyed hall, firing spells down an adjacent corridor.
Pansy and Seamus backed up towards me, their wands spraying spells of all colours towards a wall of advancing Death Eaters.
"There's too many!" Seamus shouted as he blocked another Killing Curse.
I took advantage of his cover and returned the Curse to the Death Eater, throwing her the ground. That was another enemy down, but it hardly made a dent in the army ahead of us.
"Only if we take them all head on," I offered. "We need to trap them somehow. Take them all out at once."
"How do we do that?" Pansy yelled, dodging a spell and ducking a spray of stone and dust.
"This place is falling apart," I answered as I blocked a Curse, trapping its energy in the shield and pushing it back towards the Death Eater, "and we can use that to our advantage. They hate me. I might be able to draw them away and get them in a more vulnerable position. You to can collapse a wall or part of the ceiling or something. It was the first thing I did when I came back."
"And it worked?" Seamus demanded, dispatching another Death Eater.
"Took out five of them at once," I said, shielding Pansy as she stunned another Death Eater.
"But if we split up, they might break off into smaller groups and chase all three of us," Pansy cautioned.
"It's a risk we'll have to take. We're sitting ducks if we stay here," I reminded.
"I don't need Pansy's help to make something blow up," Seamus said as he shielded another spell and threw its energy back at the Death Eater who sent it. "If you two go together, more of them will follow you than me."
"We're close to the Great Hall, and last I saw it, it looked pretty pretty unstable. Let's do it there," I suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Seamus agreed, already breaking away from Pansy and me. "You two take the direct route, and I'll come in from the side!"
"Let's go!" Pansy shouted as she ran off towards the Great Hall and blocked a spell as she went.
I followed after her, ducking and dodging spells. It was all coming at me too fast. Spells and debris were flying in every direction. I had to watch both ahead of me and my feet to skirt mountains of collapsed stone before I ran straight into them.
I risked a glance behind me. The Death Eaters were catching up to us sooner than I had anticipated. I threw a Reducto spell over my throbbing shoulder then picked up the pace, closing the distance between Pansy and I. A deafening boom drowned out the shots of spells and screams and showered Pansy and me with pebbles and dust.
The doors of the Great Hall came into view as the dust from my spell cleared. Pansy and I stopped, and I turned to greet the Death Eaters that we led away. They closed in on us rapidly and stopped a meter or two away.
"Why are you defending them?" one of them said. "You're one of us. You have the Mark."
I didn't know how long Seamus needed, but I figured that he could work it out on his own. Stalling for time would work best. "I might have a Mark, but that doesn't mean I'm with you."
An intense explosion rumbled above us, sparks bursting from the cracked stone. The fissures spread speedily, smaller stones already pelting the ground.
Pansy and I swiftly backed towards the Great Hall, taking shelter behind one of its open doors as a thundering tumble of rocks poured from the ceiling and buried the Death Eaters.
I raised my wand to protect us from the raining debris, but my head spun before I could raise a shield. My shoulder throbbed and my vision blurred. The world tipped, sending me into the wall.
"Draco!" someone shouted, shaking my still bleeding shoulder and sending sharp pains through my entire body. "Get up! It's Seamus!"
My eyes snapped open, and I found Pansy standing above me, pulling my arm.
"Seamus got caught in the blast!" she shouted, dragging me to my feet.
I struggled to steady myself, and I had to hold on to Pansy for support.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah. Just get me to Seamus," I answered.
Pansy took my hand and led me through the battle, protecting me with shields as she pulled me along. She brought me to a pile of rubble and pulled me down to the floor. "He's in there."
My vision spun again, and I shook my head to clear the fogged mind. "Cover me while I get him out and see what healing I can do."
Pansy nodded as she blocked another spell. She turned from me and defended my back.
I found a crack in the pile of wood and stone and put my ear to it. "Seamus!" I yelled. "You okay?"
"Yeah," came a strained voice. "I've got a shield up, but I don't know how long I can hold it."
The stone pile buckled, sinking in at the top. Seamus cried out and then yelled, "I'm okay! Just getting hard!"
"Hang on! I'll get the stone off you!" I said then stood back up.
I raised my wand, forcing my vision to steady. I levitated stones from the top of the pile and moved them several meters away and letting them drop.
Pansy yelled behind me, making me jump and turn my head. Pansy was on the floor, her eyes closed and two Death Eaters advancing on me.
I lifted more of the boulders off of Seamus' shield and launched them towards the Death Eaters. They blocked the oncoming stone, but I didn't let up. I took boulder after boulder off of Seamus and sent them careening towards the Death Eaters. They struggled with my bombardment until one failed to block in time. The stone hit him in the head and pushed him into his companion. I took advantage of their prone position and levitated the last stone, dropping it on top of them both.
I didn't stop to process the blood pooling out from underneath the rocks and turned back to where Seamus was. He was laying down on his back, his eyes closed and a bleeding cut on the side of his head.
I ran to him and knelt by his side, shaking him awake. "Seamus?" He groaned and squeezed his eyes shut even more, raising his hand to his head. "You need to wake up," I ordered.
I hadn't read why, but I knew that you sleeping was the worst thing to do if you had a concussion, and based on his head wound, Seamus most likely did.
Seamus blinked his eyes and looked up at me. "Where'd the rocks go?"
At least he remembered what happened. That was a good sign. "I moved them," I explained. "Any pain?"
"Just my head."
I hovered the tip of my wand over his wound and recited Terego and Episkey, cleaning and partially healing the wound. It wasn't the best healing job, but it was what I could do.
"I'm gonna sit you up, okay?" I said.
Seamus nodded, and I reached under his shoulders and pulled him up. I dragged him a few feet towards a wall of rubble and leaned him up against it.
"You good?" I asked, kneeling beside him.
Seamus nodded again, and I stood back up, turning to where Pansy fell. I started towards her only to have my head spin and my feet stumble. I slipped on the loose pebbles and fell down beside Seamus. My eyes were suddenly heavy, and exhaustion burrowed deep into my bones.
"Forget about me. Are you okay?" Seamus asked.
"I'm fine," I mumbled, grabbing the wall of rubble behind me and using it to force myself up.
My shoulder throbbed with each heartbeat, and blood dripped over my Mark and down my hand, leaving a trail behind me as I stumbled over to Pansy.
I kneeled down at her side and shook her shoulder. "Pansy?"
She groaned and grabbed my hand, sitting up with a gasp.
Her sudden movement threw me off balance, but I managed to catch myself with my bloodied arm. I hissed and sat down as quickly as I could to get the weight off of my hurt shoulder.
"What happened?" Pansy wondered.
"I don't know," I said, though it sounded more like a slur. "You screamed and fell down. Anything hurt?"
"You mean besides everything? No. Not really."
"They must've stunned you then," I suggested.
"Why?"
"I don't know. 'Cause you're a Slytherin?" I gestured to the crest on her school jumper.
"Or you were the one they wanted," she countered.
"Hey!" Seamus called. "You guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Pansy shouted back.
"Wait," I said, hushing her.
I listened for a minute but heard nothing. There were no screams or warcries. No booming explosions or bangs from spells. I looked around and found no Death Eaters charging towards us. It was like they all disappeared into thin air.
Seamus appeared beside us and dangled his feet off of the edge of the pile of rubble. "I think it's over."
The Battle has ended. Voldemort is destroyed, and all that's left for the films is the 19 Years Later epilogue. But there are still 15 chapters left in the story...Hmmmm...
See you soon for chapter 36!