The Girl Who Lived (Draco Malfoy x OC)

The Mundane Finality

February 5th 1998

Harper and Narcissa landed on the ground floor of the Grand Staircase before the chaos spilled in from the courtyard. They'd apparated with such momentum that she nearly tumbled over. Narcissa held her wrist tight, fear clinging onto a pillar. They spun around back-to-back, scouting the area.

"Did he follow us?" Narcissa asked.

"Doesn't matter, it's the snake! We've got to kill the snake first!"

Narcissa didn't question it, just nodded fervently and breathed a sound of agreement.

It was like an earthquake had taken Hogwarts and Harper could only imagine the giants had spurred once again. She could hear battle cries through the castle as the battle evolved, it even sounded like a horde of horses- no, centaurs- joined. She vaguely recalled Hagrid screaming to Bane in anger as he carried her body from the forest.

Soon they were joined by Order members and Death Eater's fighting in the skies. They flew across in orbs of energy, packs of corporeal patronuses rushing after them. The castle shook and Harper could feel the reverberations trembling up her legs, stomach and arms. It was invigorating to feel everything, to hear everything and see. She had thought death would take her, she had believed she'd never stand in Hogwarts again, but here she was. The horcrux within her was destroyed, but the girl was alive.

Spare stone and dust crumbled from the quaking ceiling, it clogged her nose and dried her throat. She stumbled back, hitting elbows with Narcissa who looked at her over her shoulder. There was something inspiring and motivating about being back-to-back with her. Harper wasn't tendentious, she knew what Draco's mother would be capable of and was comforted to be in her company. She also couldn't smother the flutter of affection she felt knowing her loves mother saved her and was now putting her life on the line in her defence. She briefly wondered if Draco would be happy or angry about this situation.

And Draco... There were no words to express the self-reproach eating away at her while she tried to ignore the way she'd left him outside the Forbidden Forest. The way she had to feign her death to safely escape Voldemort's clutches. She couldn't imagine what she put him through and it destroyed her to think about and listen to her loved ones cry as she rested in Hagrid's arms. Even Hagrid's tears had been suffocating as they splashed over her face, literally. She was lucky she didn't break into coughs on the journey back to Hogwarts.

Narcissa and Harper were soon surrounded by waves of people, fighting to remain back-to-back with each other. Together, they shot jinxes and curses at any Death Eater they could see, their struck bodies then trampled by the passing crowd. She noticed Charlie Weasley outrunning a befuddled Slughorn and Seamus Finnegan speeding after the flock charging the Great Hall. A crack in the air distracted her from an approaching Death Eater and she was lucky it was Kreacher apparrating to her side. He zapped the robed felon before it could strike her and beamed thankfully at him.

Then it was the three of them; Kreacher, Narcissa and Harper unified in a back-to-back triangle casting spell after spell in defence of their lives. More house elves joined the fight from the kitchens, hacking and stabbing at the dark wizards ankles and shins, their tiny faces alive with malice. A great clatter of hooves assaulted the entrance and the centaurs knocked the doors off its hinges. Death Eaters were folding under the sheer weight of spells, arrows from centaurs, being stabbed in the leg by elves. The ones who were simply attempting to escape were victims to the oncoming horde.

Just as Harper blocked the flash of a red spell, her body was seized and her lips captured by another's. She would have immediately recoiled and punched them, but the familiarity was uncanny and desperately welcome after their last encounter. She melted into his hold, uncaring of the mayhem around them as a surge of intensity made her cling to him. The only solid thing in a dizzy swaying world. It was as if everything went quiet, like the moment of silence between lightning and thunder.