This one is a shorter chapter, but it was just way too long when I kept it with the previous chapter, so you get two back-to-back instead! Enjoy!

Song Inspiration: Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden

Chapter 29

At her words, nearly every person that had come from the Room of Requirement stepped forward to block Potter from anyone who might agree with Pansy that their best bet was to hand him over. Draco, deciding that the time for hiding was over, moved right to the front of the group, shielding Potter with his own body.

The looks of shock and disbelief from his housemates would have been comical had all of their lives not just been threatened by the Dark Lord himself.

"Right, thank you for that Miss Parkinson," McGonagall said brusquely before stepping up to the younger witch. You and your housemates might be safest from You-Know-Who's wrath somewhere else. Perhaps in the dungeons."

At Draco's appearance, however, many of his classmates and fellow children of Death Eaters had realized that they could no longer ride the fence. Draco felt certain that many of them would choose the side of light if they were given the opportunity. As the underage students all filed from the Great Hall, he made his way over to McGonagall, Hermione at his side.

"Excuse me, Professor?" he said politely, waiting until the fearsome witch turned her bespectacled gaze upon him. "I think that you might find that some of the older Slytherins would be willing to fight with us, and defy the Dark Lord, if they were given the chance to do so."

He stood still, taking care not to fidget as she peered at him intently. He watched as her eyes flickered down to where his hand and Hermione's were joined, and she smiled.

"Welcome to the war, Mr Malfoy. I'm glad you found something worth fighting for."

He said nothing, simply nodded and watched as the Professor made her way over to his housemates – his friends.

"I know that many of you have family fighting on You-Know-Who's side, but you do not have to follow in their footsteps if you choose not to. You are more than welcome to stay and help us defend this school, if you so wish."

Hermione, Draco, and McGonagall watched as no one moved for a moment. Then some of them started stirring. Blaise, Theo, and Daphne stepped forward. After a second's hesitation, Millicent Bulstrode stepped up to join them as well. And no one was more shocked than Draco when Pansy stepped forward to join them all, as well.

Hermione looked at Draco, a smile on her face, before she stepped away to join Potter and Weasley, leaving Draco to coordinate the plans as the liaison to the Slytherins.

"Hey, mate," Theo said, walking forward until he was close enough to clap Draco firmly on the shoulder. "What are we doing, exactly?"

"We're defying our parents' expectations and throwing off the shackles of a madman. Are you all sure you're up for the consequences of that?"

"Hell yes," Blaise interjected, and the three girls that stood beside him nodded in agreement. "A world under him is not what we were told it would be, and I don't want any part of it."

"Do you think," Pansy began, nervously looking at the group behind Draco that still watched her mistrustingly, "that they'll actually let me fight with them?"

Draco shrugged.

"They're letting me," he said simply, and that was that. His band of Slytherins moved over to where Potter, Weasley, and Hermione stood planning.

Hermione nodded in acceptance of Harry's plan. He would help McGonagall get everyone in place while she, Ron, and Draco would go to the Chamber of Secrets to get some of the Basilisk fangs that they hoped were still inside. The sword was long gone, stolen by Griphook in the Lestrange Vault, and Hermione still refused to entertain the notion of using Fiendfyre to destroy the Dark objects; it was simply too risky - too unpredictable.

The three left everyone else in the Great Hall as they made their way quickly to the toilets that were haunted by Moaning Myrtle, the place where Draco had nearly been killed by Harry Potter himself a little over a year ago.

After a jarring trip down the pipes and into the chamber below that was covered in small animal bones and molted serpent skin, the three of them stood before an ornate door that was decorated with ornate snakes. Weasley emitted a strangled sort of hissing sound and the door opened with a loud clang.

"What?" Weasley asked Hermione, a crooked smile on his face at her look of utter stupefaction. "Harry talks in his sleep sometimes."

They walked into the Chamber and Draco looked up at the ridiculously massive statue of Salazar Slytherin before letting out a startled scoff.

"Bloody egoistic maniac," he mumbled under his breath, eliciting a chuckle from Hermione on his right side.

The massive skeleton that sat at Slytherin's feet made Draco's breath catch in his throat.

"Um," he said, leaning over to whisper in Hermione's ear, "did Potter really kill that thing?"

She just looked at him and quirked an eyebrow before smirking. She walked up to the skeleton and carefully tugged loose several of the fangs. Draco stood back, but Weasley motioned him forward, a solemn look on his face.

"I think," he said seriously, "that you need to destroy the cup."

"Why in Circe's name would you think that Weasley?" Draco asked, nervous but trying to hide the knee-jerk reaction.

"Because you're the one that pulled the cup from the vault. I just… I feel like it has to be you."

Hermione looked anxious at her friend's words but nodded in agreement, and Draco knew that he was fucked. Oh, well. Nothing for it but to do it.

He waited until Hermione had pulled the cup from her bag and placed it on the damp stone floor, then took one of the lethal fangs from her hand. He stared at the cup for a moment, mesmerized by something that seemed to glint and shine just under the surface. Realizing that it was the Dark Magic's defense mechanism, he slammed his Occlumency shields in place to protect his mind from its influence, then drove the dagger down into the center of the badger that adorned the face of the cup.

A roar echoed in the chamber around them, then a thick cloud of black smoke arose from the center, taking on the shape of a person. A tall, handsome man with pale skin, dark eyes, and jet-black hair looked down on him. Although the appearance should have been that of a stranger, something in the cruel twist of his lips and the sinister glint in his eyes was familiar to Draco, and he stumbled away from the apparition of a young Dark Lord.

The cloud that bore the Dark Lord's face swirled around him, rising further and further into the air, before it swooped down on Draco. He was consumed by the thick black cloud and his panicked scream rent the air before he was enveloped in the darkness.

Just when he was certain that this was it, that these would be his final moments, a figure swept through the dense smoke. He watched as Hermione raced forward and kicked the cup away, sending it hurtling into the water at his house founder's feet and taking the mirage of the Dark Lord with it into the depths.

So, I'm thinking it's going to be about 3 chapters left until the end. Might end up being more if they get too long, but we are definitely nearing the end of this one.

Thank you so much to all of the people who have been reading, and a huge thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed. It makes my day every time I get a notification about a new follower, favorite, or especially a review, and I can't wait to get to the finish line with all of you!

sbz