When Twins Strike Back | Draco Malfoy [3]

Chapter 22 ~ Something Worth Fighting For

Here is the final chapter of When Twins Strike Back. Enjoy!

Umbridge was fired as headmistress, so Dumbledore got his job back. Lucius Malfoy was arrested and sent to Azkaban. At least I knew my summer wouldn't be as horrible as it was in the past. Now people were starting to question whether or not Fudge would keep his job. But at least the only thing that mattered was that now people knew the truth. Voldemort had returned.

I was packing up all my stuff in my trunk. When I was done, I headed downstairs. Sure enough, Harry was on the couch with a sad look on his face.

He looked up and saw me. "Hey."

"Hi," I greeted him. "You ready to leave?"

"I'm never ready to leave."

"Same here."

"Lucius was arrested."

"I know."

It was silent for a moment. Then without knowing, Harry came up to me and pulled me in for a hug. He silently cried in my shoulder as I held him.

"Stop, Harry. I'll start crying if you don't stop."

"I'm sorry, Max," his voice cracked. "I'm so sorry for everything that I did to you this year."

"I know, Harry," I whispered in his ear. "I know."

*******

"I know how you feel, you two."

"No, you don't," Harry said to Dumbledore. We were in his office. He wanted to talk to us. And of course, last night's events came up. "It's our fault."

"No, the fault is mine," he said. "I knew it was a matter of time before Voldemort made the connection between you two. I thought by distancing myself from you two, as I have done all year, he'd be less tempted, and therefore, you might be more protected."

We were silent for a second. Then I spoke up. "The prophecy said: 'Neither can live while the other survives.' It means that me and Harry or Voldemort will die in the end."

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.

"For the same reason you two tried to save Sirius. The same reason your friends saved you two. The same reason Malfoy saved you all those times. After all these years, after all you two have suffered, I didn't want to cause either of you anymore pain. I cared too much about you."

"When will you tell me the reason I live with Malfoy?" I changed the subject.

"Sooner than you think," he replied.

As we left Dumbledore's office, we saw Luna putting up posters on the way to the feast.

"How come you're not at the feast?" Harry asked her.

"Lost all my possessions. Apparently, people have been hiding them," she replied with her dreamy voice.

"That's awful," I said.

"Oh, it's all good fun. But as it is the last night, I really do need them back."

"Do you want any help finding them?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I'm good. I'm sorry about your godfather." She grabbed our hands and smiled weakly.

"Are you sure you don't want any help looking?" Harry asked this time.

"That's all right. My mum always said that the things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end." We found her shoes dangling from the wall. "If not always in the way we expect. I think I'll just go have some pudding." With that, she skipped her way down to the Great Hall.