Where Will You Go
Chapter 8 - You Can't Escape
By Celestial
Where Will You Go
Chapter 8 - You Can't Escape
By Celestial
But where will you go?
With no one left to save you from yourself
You can’t escape
You can’t escape
Lucius and the other high ranking Death Eaters sat in front of their goblets. Pansy and Draco looked on eagerly as they drank, unknowing that in moments, they would be dead. Voldemort had begun his concentration to get into Harry’s brain, and started to mutter curses as the Death Eaters grew frenzied. Draco and Pansy slipped into the crowd unnoticed, and began to mutter "Stupefy" over and over. Bodies fell to the floor, only to be caught under their frenetic cohorts. Draco glanced at the table where his father was sitting.
Lucius gripped the table hard, confusion etched in his features. The others at the table wailed and fell to the ground. Draco felt the world dissolve, and saw only his father. The noise of the chanting Death Eaters and Voldemort’s spells and the horrendous scene was gone, and Draco watched Lucius silently battle the poison which took hold. His questioning eyes met Draco’s, and the boy tried not to cry as his father’s strong frame shuddered before collapsing behind the table.
As much as he hated him, Draco felt lost and betrayed by his father’s death. I’ve killed my own father, he thought gravely, I am just as bad as any of them. Suddenly, the world came back into view. The remaining Death Eaters had begun to realize what was happening. Pansy shouted spells, hurtling curses in every direction. Draco followed suit, and the mob of Death Eaters angrily attacked the two traitors. By then, it was too late for them.
Draco searched over the crowd for signs of Voldemort. He was by Hermione’s rock, chanting spells that Draco was sure would destroy Potter. With only a few conscious Death Eaters left, Draco fought his way to Voldemort.
The cold slits that were the Dark Lord’s eyes opened, and he glared at Draco as if the boy were scum. Draco felt a cold shiver run through him. Voldemort smiled nastily at him, and broke from his curses against Harry.
"So," he hissed, "you’ve come to protect your little Potter. Very brave, young Malfoy. But Potter’s own parents couldn’t protect him, and they were more powerful than you. But I feel you will be even more fun to kill. Did you know you would have been the one to overthrow me? You and your little Gryffindor friend. It was prophesied, you know. But now that The-Boy-Who-Lived is about to become The-Boy-Who’s-Six-Feet-Under…it looks like I’ll be overthrowing the both of you."
Draco’s heart pounded in his chest, as he thought of a million spells to try to fix the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione rise up from her position on the rock. The rest of the Death Eaters lay either dead or unconscious on the floor of the forest, and Draco heard an agonized cry from Pansy, whose Polyjuice had worn off and was changing back into the youngest male Weasley.
Ron joined Draco, wand at the ready. Hermione also joined the group, tears pricking at her eyes while she pictured Harry in place of Draco, as usual, and maybe, never again. The trio and the Dark Lord stared each other down for a few minutes, before Ron and Hermione attacked, shouting "Crucio!" and "Stupefy!", respectively. Voldemort laughed as he blocked both spells.
"There is no power in your Crucio spell, Weasley. There is no real hate behind it. But I can show you how it’s done…"
"NOOOO!!!" Hermione cried, as Ron’s body twisted into the air. He screamed in pain. Hermione threw herself desperately at Voldemort, contacting with his ribs. A crack echoed over the cries of Ron, writhing in pain on the floor. Voldemort howled, one of his ribs definitely broken. Angrily, he grabbed Hermione’s wand, "Avad-"
He was cut off by Draco’s cry of "Expelliamus!" Both wands fell to the floor, and the Dark Lord settled on knocking Hermione’s head into a rock with his hand. Blood splurted from the gash in her head. Ron was still squiring on the floor, whimpering, giving in to the pain. It was just Draco and Voldemort now.
The boy felt a surge of electricity run through him. Voldemort had stolen his father from him all those years ago. He was the cause of Draco’s fucked up childhood. He was the one who called Lucius away when young Draco wanted to play with his father. He was the reason Lucius disowned his son. He had ruined the Malfoy’s marriage, he had caused Narcissa to weaken, he had made Lucius violent. Draco’s anger surged inside of him.
"CRUCIO!!!!!!!!!!!"
Voldemort was thrown back against the ground, and Draco looked on in shock as the wizard once known as Tom screamed, a high-pitched, inhuman noise. Ron remained silent on the floor, curled in a ball battling the aftereffects of the Crucitatus Curse, while the wizard who hit him fought off his own. Voldemort finally broke the curse, and tried weakly to Stupefy Draco, but the boy hit him once again. "IMPERIO!" He made Voldemort lay on the floor. The Dark Lord twitched ever so slightly as he tried to battle Draco’s second powerful curse.
Suddenly, the blonde heard Harry’s voice in his head. "Now…kill him now…kill him now. Do it…kill him…Avada Kedavra!!!!" A flash of green light followed, and Draco’s body hit the ground, blackness veiling his eyes.
Dumbledore sat up, an unexpected feeling of joy rising in his chest. It felt as if the weight of the world had been removed from his shoulders. Harry Potter’s pained expression, which he had worn for the past five hours, suddenly relaxed, and a look of calm complacency took its place. The headmaster closed his eyes, hoping a sign would come as to what had happened.
Hermione and Ron stared at the two bodies on the floor. Both were too afraid to verify whether or not the killing curse had worked. Hermione reached out first, and felt for Voldemort’s pulse. She gasped.
There was none. He was finally dead. They had killed Tom Marvolo Riddle, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Voldemort, the Dark Lord. No, not "they", Draco did. "Draco!" Hermione cried.
She felt for his pulse, but could not find one. Tears came to her eyes. This boy had given his life to save Harry, and all this time she had suspected him of foul play. Ron put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Suddenly, Draco began to cough, and his eyes sprang open, leaving a bewildered expression on his face.
"You’re alive!" Hermione yelped. She hugged the confused blonde close, and Ron grabbed him up as soon as she let go, patting him on the back and hugging him as if they were brothers. Draco looked around, completely baffled by his surroundings.
"What…what happened?"
Hermione explained the story. How Voldemort was seconds away from killing him, how suddenly Harry’s voice screamed Avada Kedavra through Draco, how Voldemort was finally gone forever. Draco sat on the large rock, stunned. "We won."
"Come on Draco," Hermione said as she put his arm around her and Ron’s shoulders, "Let’s go home."