The only sounds in the room were Granger's sobs as she leaned against the door that Potter had just closed in her face.
Hearing her in her grief brought to mind Draco Malfoy's own sadness that he had been fighting back ever since she had told him it was over. It wasn't an all-encompassing sadness like hers was at losing Potter, but more of a dull ache that he had grown familiar to over the past two years.
When she had appeared at his door, Draco he knew what she was going to say before she spoke the words. There was this determined look on her face that he remembered being so irritated by back at Hogwarts. She wasted no time in telling him that despite whatever similarities they had, she loved Potter and the kiss between them had been an absolute mistake, and nothing more. She looked completely ready to fight it out if need be, but there was no need. He had stepped close to her and asked her if she was certain, and without any hesitation, she answered that she was. That was when Potter and his lot burst in.
In the ensuing confrontation, Draco had only said one thing, because he knew that nothing he or Granger said was going to make a difference. The minute that she admitted to him what had happened, nothing he said would alter Potter's mind. It didn't matter that she had come there to stop things with Draco; all Potter could see was them kissing.
So why the bloody hell did he let us go? Draco wondered to himself. He had half expected Potter to lunge into some kind of attack on him, but the bitter resignation with which Potter met the whole situation was a surprise. But not near as surprising as his letting them go.
Draco was not used to receiving any kind of sympathy from anyone, and that it should come from Potter at a time like this was completely beyond his realm of understanding.
It was of course, unfortunate that Potter's sympathy was wasted, he thought as moved to pick up his wand. With or without Granger, it appeared that his whole reason for being here in the first place was fast approaching the house, and he would not miss it.
Granger, finally pulling herself together, noticed his movement and asked, in a broken voice, "What are you doing? You're not actually going to do what he says, are you? We have to fight!"
Draco shot her a dirty look. "Of course we have to fight. I always thought you were cleverer than that, Granger. Do you have your wand?"
She nodded, and he noticed that a new strength seemed to come over her. Giving her something to do and fight for was seemingly all she needed. With unusual clarity, Draco knew that she was going to fight to the death to get back to Potter.
"Let's put an end to all this," he said and opened the door into the hallway.
The house was mostly quiet, except for the sounds of a few people still making their way to the front door to join the fray. As they reached the house's main stairwell and started to rush down, they could see eruptions of multi-coloured light from the front windows and the sound of curses being screamed.
Draco fought the urge to rush out and join the main battle and led Granger back to the kitchen.
"What are we doing, Draco? The battle's started out there," she said, pointing with her wand back the way they had just came.
"Exactly," Draco answered. "If we can get behind the Death Eaters we can trap them between two groups."
She nodded in understanding and they passed through the back door into the night. As they did, Draco thought with a grim sarcasm, At least we're doing what Potter asked.
The wind had picked up and was moaning as it passed through the ground's trees and grasses. It was difficult to see anything clearly in the backyard, because a mist from the lake had blown in, obscuring everything.
He was about to move around the house when he thought he heard something. He motioned for Granger to be silent, and they both tried to listen over the howling of the wind.
Suddenly, shadows appeared in the mist, heading right for where they were standing. Draco couldn't make out anything specific about them, but all it took was the huge black cloaks they were wearing to tell him who they were. The fire of revenge for everything that had been done to his family rushed through him and he shot a blood-red curse at the one closest too him, hitting him dead on and sending him spinning off into the night.
He heard a deep voice call out "Attack!" and lights and curses flashed all around them.
He was dimly aware of Granger leaping to the right, but he had his mind on one thing only, and dodged a curse that flew at him and sent his own back, hitting whoever had attacked him.
The fight was like a lightning storm, as the two of them fought against the Death Eaters. Draco was rolling away from a curse while he caught sight of Granger deflect one that was sent her way and quickly firing back. He had been right; she was fighting with a determination that clearly said she there would be no stopping her from getting what she wanted.
Another curse missed him by mere feet and exploded into the ground next to him, causing him to leap back and fire in the direction the curse came from. His red beam of light was deflected and it flew back into the lake, causing a red explosion of water when it hit.
He heard a sound behind him and whirled to see a Death Eater who had been trying to sneak up behind him, and with no time to think, punched the figure in the face, sending it slumping to the ground.
The sound of someone yelling out the killing curse rang out, and Draco dove out of the way as the spell just missed him and crashed into the house, creating a jagged hole in the kitchen. Draco leapt to his feet and sent a counter curse to the source and heard the scream as his enemy was hit.
There was another explosion to his right, as someone else's spell took out a piece of the house. He turned to see Granger rolling to her feet and she shot a blue curse in at a Death Eater who was running towards her. He dropped to the ground like a stone, Stupefied.
Draco wasn't sure how long they'd been fighting, but as he dispatched another opponent, he realized that a quiet was seeping over the scene. He looked around and saw only the mist and only Granger standing in the mist.
Was that all of them? he wondered.
"You all right?" he called out to Granger, who answered in the affirmative.
Something doesn't feel right, he thought. He hadn't counted the number of Death Eaters before he began to fight, and he reckoned that between the two of them, they had taken down a good number. And yet, it didn't feel like they'd got them all.
The hair on the back of his neck suddenly rose, and acting purely on instinct, he dove away from the spot he was standing on as a powerful, venom-yellow curse sent the ground flying into the air.
He landed and rolled to his feet to find himself facing a tall Death Eater. His hood had been thrown back, and Draco stared into the merciless silver eyes of a cruel face, with a hairline scar and lanky brown hair.
The Death Eater stared at him for a moment, before breaking into a grin.
"Malfoy, is it? I was hoping I'd be the one to find you," he said with a laugh that sent ice down Draco's back. "It's sort of a new tradition I'm working on, see; killing people in the Malfoy family."
Draco felt his blood turn to flame as he stared at the man.
"That's right, Malfoy. I'm the one who brought down your loony mother when she tried to stop the Dark Lord. Put up quite a fight, she did, but those who know they're going to die usually do," he grinned at the look of rage on Draco's face. "She went out screaming your name, boy."
And Draco snapped. He let the feelings of rage that he'd been dealing with these past months take over completely, and fired a curse as red as his lust for revenge. The other deflected it and returned fire, but Draco was already moving out of the way, firing again. This time the man leapt out of the way while sending a spell at him, just missing Draco as he moved.
They dueled with such ferocity that after several moments, the ground around was nothing but smoldering craters. Months of living off of nothing but revenge were starting to slow Draco down, while his enemy, clearly experienced in battle, was holding steady.
In a desperate attempt to gain an edge, instead of moving away from the Death Eater as he fired a spell, Draco charged right for him. He managed to deflect two spells that were sent his way, and was just about to fire a counter-curse when the Death Eater aimed a spell not at him, but at the ground before him, causing it to explode and sending Draco into the air.
For the briefest of moments he had the feeling of being weightless before he crashed back into the ground, his wand still firmly clutched in his hand. He heard something snap, and a bolt of pain ripped up his right leg. Debris rained down on him, and he did his best to shield his face as the flaming pieces of earth cut and burned his body.
He was faintly aware of Granger's voice calling his name as he lay on the ground, but that was quickly forgotten as the sound of footsteps drew closer to him, and he found himself looking up at the man who had a hand in taking everything from him.
The man pointed his ash-black wand at Draco and said with a smirk, "Give your mum my regards, won't you?"
Using what was left of all the hatred he had as a catalyst for motion, Draco attempted to roll away, so the spell didn't hit him at its full force, though it hit him hard enough that he screamed in pain and rage.
Before the other could react, Draco raised his wand and shouted, "ADAVA KEDAVA!" and hit the man straight on. For a moment, there was look of complete surprise on the man's face as his silver eyes clouded over and he slumped to the ground.
A surge of victory washed through and Draco and ignoring the screaming pain he was in, managed to pull himself weakly to his feet and look down at the motionless body of his enemy.
I've done it, he thought, feeling relief for the first time that he could remember, and then, giving himself up to his wounds, he collapsed to the ground.
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