It was dark, rainy and gloomy outside of the castle. The atmosphere surely matching how we all felt.

And it was all because of him.

A sick, pleased expression on his face as he and his army approached Hogwarts once again. This time without their wands drawn.

Though, my attention was hardly on Voldemort. But, instead, on Hagrid and the body he was clutching against his chest; limp and lifeless in his arms.

I knew it was Harry. I knew it was, and yet, hearing him say it out loud, confirming it, was too much.

"Harry Potter... is dead!"

"No!" I cried out, pulling my wand out and throwing whatever curse I could first think of. Though, the motion didn't even faze him as he blocked it. And before I had the chance to do it again, Draco placed a hand on my shoulder to hold me back.

When Voldemort realised it was me who sent it, a sick smile formed on his deformed face, and I could feel a shiver run down my spine before he spoke, eyes entirely on me.

"I told you so, Y/n Potter. Don't you remember?" He said, and I swallowed heavily as I remembered his words in the manor that day.

"Once your whole world crumbles in front of you, you will remember this moment and wish you took the chance you were just given. But it'll be too late then, Y/n Potter."

My breath picked up at the memory, and tears pricked in my eyes as a result of remembering it. Was he saying I could've prevented this?

The courtyard quickly filled up, everyone who had survived the battle accumulating in it as Voldemort addressed them.

"Harry Potter is dead," He repeated, and I felt that burning desire to curse him once again. As my gaze trailed around the crowd, they caught Neville's, though, and I decided I'd live by what I had told him that day.

All Voldemort wanted was a reaction. So, I simply wouldn't give it to him.

"From this day forth, you put your faith in me." He turned around to face his own followers, raising his hands in celebration as he practically cheered, "Harry Potter is dead!"

They all laughed. And I felt it again.

"Now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us, or die."

It was silent. Completely silent with nothing but the rustling of the wind in the trees before Wren's voice broke that silence.

"Fuck off," She hissed, though Luna quickly put an arm on her shoulder in hopes it would keep her from making another decision as stupid as this one.

Though, before Voldemort had the chance to say anything, Lucius Malfoy broke the silences with the words I had feared the most.

"Draco!" He shouted across the field, desperation in his voice as he called for his son to join them. He repeated his name once more, this time merely a whisper as a pleading look spread across his face.

Draco's body went rigid as everyone's eyes fell on him and, therefore, on me by default.

"Draco, come," His mother said softly, Lucius holding his hand out to him. And it was then that I felt Draco's eyes on me before I turned my head to look up at him.

I didn't want him to see the tears in my eyes at first, but maybe it was just what he needed to see to make the right decision.

"Draco, please," I whispered, searching for his hand with mine and squeezing it tightly as soon as I found it. "Don't do this."

His eyes were glassy just like mine were, brows knitted together tightly, and his face distorted in light pain.

His gaze trailed over to his family once more, swallowing thickly before looking back at me.

He took a deep breath and squeezed my hand back just slightly.

A motion that made me exhale forcefully in relief, and I couldn't help the single tear escaping my eye as they searched the crowd for nothing, in particular, not missing the distraught look in Narcissa's eyes.

I got stuck on Neville's gaze, though. And I knew the inquiring look he was giving me all too well. He looked determined, and all it took was a slight nod from me to have him step forward, limping.

I didn't know what he was doing, but I knew, whatever it was, he needed to do it. For himself. For his own peace of mind.

"Well, I must say I hoped for better," Voldemort muttered in amusement, not missing the opportunity to have his eyes dart over to Draco and me. "And who might you be, young man?"

"Neville Longbottom," He answered, the rest of the Death Eaters laughing. Bellatrix laughing especially loud. "Well, Neville, I'm sure we can find a place for you in our ranks—"

"—I'd like to say something."

Voldemort had a hard time not hexing Neville right on the spot as the words left his mouth, but he managed to get himself under control before he said, "Well, Neville, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say."

"Doesn't matter that Harry is gone—"

"—Stand down, Neville!" It was Seamus who interrupted him, probably thinking of his friend's well being when he did so. But Neville didn't let him interrupt his words.

"People die every day!" He retorted. "Friends, Family..." His eyes trailed over to me, and I gave him an encouraging nod, tears still in my eyes. "Yeah, we lost Harry tonight. But he's still with us. In here." His hand raised to reach for his heart as he looked around the crowd. "So is Remus... Tonks, all of them," He shook his head at the memory of them. "They didn't die in vain!"

Slowly, he turned back around to face Voldemort, the latter with a wide smile on his face at the words. "But you will!" Neville roared. "'Cause you're wrong. Harry's heart did beat for us! For all of us! It's not over!"

As he shouted the last words, the question of why he carried the sorting hat with him answered itself as he pulled out a long, silver sword from it.

Though, it wasn't the strangest thing that happened at that moment.

Suddenly, and out of nowhere, my own brother's dead body fell out of Hagrid's arms, getting up with a groan as alive as ever.

A sob of relieve escaped my lips as they twitched into a smile portraying sheer and utter confusion. My heart was about to beat out of my chest at the least expected turn of events.

Draco seemed to be able to adjust to the new piece of information quicker than I did and acted accordingly as his hand slipped out of mine before he ran off.

"Potter!" He shouted, my brother's head snapping in his direction before he caught the wand Draco threw at him.

"Confringo!" was the first spell that left his lips in hopes the snake by Voldemort's side would explode like the spell suggested. But it didn't, of course. Instead, it knocked out a whole group of Death Eaters standing behind it.

Quicker than ever, Harry found cover behind some columns and ran for dear life as Voldemort fired spell, after spell, after spell at him. I didn't have much time to watch them further as the fighting broke out once more.

The Death Eaters who didn't flee the scene were running towards the entrance we had been backing up towards, too.

Draco and I shielding the students behind us from the oncoming spells as we pushed them further into the castle. Though, seeing as I was preoccupied with my shield on this side, I couldn't do anything but watch as Neville was forcefully hit with a spell so powerful he flew back several feet, surely falling unconscious.

My face distorted in horror, though I quickly focused on my task at hand until we had safely escorted the students behind us into Hogwarts.

"We have to kill the snake!" Harry shouted over the noise, sending me a determined look I mirrored.

We could still do it. 

We could still kill him.

"The sword! Get the sword of Gryffindor!" He instructed, his head nodding in the direction of the Great Hall. I assumed the sword of Gryffindor was the one Neville pulled out of the hat earlier and decided I'd need to find him if I wanted to find the sword.

We both ran off in opposite directions; Harry up the stairs while I headed for the great hall turned battlefield.

Wren was backed up against a wall, the hand holding her wand magically forced against it, too, as the Death eater in front of her aimed for her heart with a content smile on his lips.

Her eyes were narrowed tightly, not a hint of fear or regret in them as she spat forceful enough for it to hit his cheek.

Eyes widening, my wand already lifting to send my own spell his way, he was already forcefully pushed to his right before I even did anything.

I saw Luna quickly rushing towards her girlfriend, shaking her head lightly before grabbing her by the arm to get her away from the wall.

Just in time, my eyes diverted off the two to see the jet of green light fly my way, and I jumped to my right just in time for it to miss me and instead hit one of their own standing close behind me.

My own shoulder cushioned my fall, and I groaned loudly as I tried to sit back up. Though, when I opened my eyes — that had closed all on their own when I fell — they landed right on Neville.

He looked almost peaceful; passed out right here in between the midst of battle.

"Neville!" I shook his shoulders harshly, whisper-shouting his name in hopes it would somehow have him regain consciousness. "Neville!" I repeated once more.

My hand moved to slap his cheeks lightly; left and right, left and right, with an ever-increasing speed. And when not even that helped, and he was still passed out, I resorted to the last thing I could think of.

"Aguamenti," I quickly muttered, pouring a jet of water right over the poor boy's face. At least it seemed to do the trick.

As his head shot up, and he tried his best to sit up, too, I, myself, took my attention off of him to assess the situation around me.

Just like I had earlier, I quickly cast a shimmering purple shield around us, the spell that was heading our way simply evaporating once it reached the force field.

It disappeared as soon as I thought of a different spell, muttering it in my head and watching the young woman fly backwards several feet with a shriek.

By the time my attention was back on Neville, he looked a considerate amount less hazy.

"There's something I have to do," He mumbled, his eyes on something behind me, rather than on me. When my gaze followed his, it fell on the shiny, metallic object I was here for in the first place.

My eyes darted back and forth between him and the sword, watching as he got up a little too quickly, swaying slightly when he went to grab it. I nodded slowly, thinking about what he was implying.

"Yes, yes," The words escaped my mouth as I was deep in thought, though I did mean them. "You go kill that thing, yeah?"

Neville's eyes locked with mine then, and his lips twitched into a faint smile.

"Thank you, Y/n," He said, turning around and leaving me right there.

And while I did rush after him, it was merely because I needed to leave in the same direction as he did, ready to run up the stairs until I had found Harry.

I had already turned to my left, my eyes on the wide staircase, when I heard a dull noise from behind me. Nobody else seemed to hear it, and nobody else saw what I just laid my eyes on.

I didn't think I moved faster before in my life as I ran out into the courtyard, watching Harry's red spell fight for dominance with Voldemort's green one.

Was this what Dumbledore was talking about?

Was this when light magic would fail Harry Potter? It sure seemed like it as the green gradually took over the red, getting closer and closer to my brother.

The first spell I fired still mid-run hardly even made it to where they were standing, and I increased my speed once more as I sprinted towards them even faster now.

Though, before I reached my brother, something happened that made them drop both of their spells, the bright light they had created where their jets met dying out at once.

"Harry!" I shouted, taking the opportunity that the short silence provided.

He turned his head quickly at the sound of my voice, eyes wide before his brows furrowed in worry and confusion alike. All I did was gesture towards Voldemort, begging him not to let my being here distract him, of all things.

I was only there to help, not get him killed.

And he listened, turning back around at the same time as I arrived right by his side.

And when Voldemort raised his wand again, and Harry did, too; so did I. The curse rolling off my tongue sounding strange yet oddly familiar.

"Avada Kedavra!"

I watched as the green and red of Harry's and my spell merged into one, forming a blinding white light almost twice the size of Voldemort's as they connected in the middle.

This time, though, it wasn't a close call. It wasn't unforeseeable who would win this one. Not like it was before.

My eyes were narrowed tightly together, a silent scream forcing itself out of my body as my face contorted in both concentration and determination.

And when the connection between our wands broke, the white and green light dying out with it, it was almost a reflex in itself when I caught the object flying our way.

I only noticed it was his wand once it was in my hand; the elder wand.

Though, that's not what killed him. This merely disarmed the wizard.

What gave him the final kick was the purple roar of a sort of shielding spell uncontrollably rolling off my body. But instead of shielding, it quite literally destroyed everything in its path towards Voldemort.

It had him forcefully slam into a half-broken column, and I was not quite sure whether the loud crack was the stone of it or his skull.

And then, as if nothing happened, the air seemingly swallowed the left-over purple hue lingering in it as I stumbled back a few steps, out of breath and feeling like my whole body was one big bruise.

My eyes snapped up to the scene unfolding before us, both of our gazes glued to it.

I watched Voldemort cave in on himself, watching in disbelieve what was happening to his body as it simply evaporated.

✧·ﾟ: *✧·ﾟ:*✧

"No, I'm telling you, you should've seen McGonagall's face," I huffed, rolling my eyes in amusement before they took in my surroundings.

It was weird having the sun shine onto Hogwarts. Though, everything else was destroyed, at least it made its way back here unharmed. It's been months since it last peeked through the dark clouds hanging over the castle.

But now that those were gone, nothing was stopping the pleasant spring sun from shining right into our faces as we walked along the long bridge leading over the black lake.

"She apologised?" Draco wondered absentmindedly, his eyes scanning the destruction around him just like mine had and just like Wren's were.

"Like a hundred times," I shrugged, shaking my head slightly at the memory.

"And in true Slytherin fashion, she didn't accept, of course," Wren chimed in, nudging my shoulder with hers in a mocking manner.

"Well, I ought to accept at some point, but—"

"—Take your time with it, I say," Draco smiled innocently. "She could never stand me..."

"Who could ever really stand you, Malfoy?" Wren murmured, amusement lacing her voice before a muffled "Ouch!" escaped her mouth.

Head turning to look at Draco, I watched him slyly prop his arm over my shoulder, trying his absolute best to keep the satisfied smile off his lips as if he didn't just hit her head behind my back.

Before I could jokingly moan about their childish behaviour, it was my brother's voice that caught my attention, instead.

We saw other people were walking along the bridge just like we were when we first decided on it, but we didn't know they were Ron, Hermione and Harry.

Maybe we would've picked a different spot then. Or maybe, we wouldn't have.

"—The wand never belonged to Snape. It was Draco who disarmed Dumbledore that night in the astronomy tower. From that moment on, the wand answered to him. Until the other night when I disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor."

The three of them were so caught up in what Harry was saying; I doubt they even noticed us approaching.

I felt Draco tense slightly at the mention of his name, though he quickly replaced that body language with his usual dismissive one as he perked his ears to listen in, instead.

"So, that means—" Ron said, a face of disbelieve as he looked back and forth between Harry and the elder wand in his hand.

And I would've looked the same if it wasn't something in his story that threw me off just slightly.

"—It's mine," Harry shrugged, and that was when I cleared my throat, their attention finally on the three of us.

"Just that it's not, really. Is it?" I said nonchalantly, an eyebrow quirked as I lazily walked close enough towards my brother to take it out of his hand. He didn't resist, though watched me closely, anyway.

My eyes snapped over to Ron, who subconsciously took a step forward as soon as I reached for it. But Hermione held him back with a scolding look on her face.

My eyes dragged over to Draco, then. The blonde watching me just as closely as the rest of them.

"Well, he gave you his wand willingly, didn't he?" I asked rhetorically, continuing without waiting for his answer. "You didn't take it from Draco... he gave it to you— under my instruction, sure... but that doesn't change anything."

And with that, I placed the wand in Draco's hand, watching him as his brows furrowed tightly, not moving an inch.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, of course," I added slyly, shrugging as I turned back to face the three of them, all of them looking rather dumbfounded at the words.

Hermione was the first to speak up, shaking her head slightly before her eyes darted back and forth between Harry and me.

"No, you're right," She cleared up, and Harry's head shot in her direction before his eyes narrowed in on Draco's. His own attention snapped off the wand and onto Harry as soon as he noticed.

"Don't look at me like that, Potter," Draco huffed, a teasing smirk forming on his lips as he pocketed the wand into his dirty, ripped black suit. "I'm not going to use it. Simply keep it safe; like a collectable," He shrugged carelessly, and Wren couldn't help the snort she let out at their faces.

Ron was about to protest loudly, I could tell. But Harry quickly cut him off as he jumped off the broken railing back onto the bridge.

"No, she's right," He agreed truthfully, his eyes not leaving Draco's as he stepped closer towards us until there was only about a foot still between the two boys.

For a moment, I was scared he was about to take a swing at him, but Harry's demeanour told me otherwise.

"I trust you'll take good care of... them, Malfoy," His eyes darted over to me for a mere second, though the motion was enough to let Draco understand what he meant.

And he, himself, gave me a quick look as if to confirm.

"Always." 

A/N: Oof. 

Epilogue tomorrow, February 20, 2021.

Bitch I am so emotional idek what to think or say LOL  

Stan Wren Inkwood, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Draco Malfoy I guess, huh

Special announcement on my Instagram seselinamae (at the same time as the Epilogue) tomorrow that you do not want to miss- I PROMISE YOU! I'll be going live tomorrow at 8 pm GMT+1, 11 am PST, 2 pm ET time to talk about it further and celebrate the end of an absolute elite era with all of you :) 

I love you all so much, and I hope this chapter didn't disappoint in any way, shape or form hehe

For one last time, see you tomorrow. <3