Salem stepped before the Weasley woman had the chance to. Each of the twins took her hands to help her stand on the table. Bellatrix laughed at the sight of the girl standing before the Weasleys.

"Come to play like Mummy did?" Bellatrix mocked her as Salem glared her way, "Wheres your wand?"

"Don't need one." Salem stated through her glare as she watched the evil woman grin with her nearly black teeth, "You stay away from them."

Bellatrix aimed her wand at Salem within half a second. Ginny yelled her friends name, but Salem was smart, she saw it coming. Throwing her hands up she pushed the force of Bellatrixs wand away from them.

"You stay away from my family." Salem threatened as Bellatrix struggled against the hold of Salem's power, "All of them!"

"Emilia would be so disappointed in you." Bella giggled as her hands shook as Salem began to push the force toward her harder. Salem's eyes darkened more then they usually were, her hands also shaking for the amount of force she was using.

"No." Salem stated as she took a deep breath, "She wouldn't."

And with a yell for Molly, the Weasley woman casted her wand toward Bellatrix while Salem used her power to throw the killing zap hard at the woman who froze and misted away with one last final throw between Salem's power and Molly's wand.

The Slughorn girl collapsed off the table as the twins caught her quickly, George looked down at her,"Quite the tumble you took there."

"Surprised you could hear it with one ear." Salem said as her eyes got tired when the two set her down. Fred ruffled her hair with a thankful smile.

"Salem." Ginny gushed as she wrapped her in a tight hug that Molly joined in on as Fred and George did the same.

And for once Salem didn't feel as though her family was only her poor grandfather who could barley look at her without think about his daughter, for once Salem wasn't just Emilia Slughorn daughter, for once she felt just okay to just be her... she felt okay to call them her family.

"Salem, are you okay?" Harry asked as the war ended, finding the girl standing on the broken and beaten down bridge. Salem turned at the sound of his voice, running over, ripped dress and all, as she wrapped him in a tight, bone crushing hug.

"I'm so proud of you, so proud." Salem spoke to Harry in a whisper as she held him ever so close to her, his own blood from his head smudging onto her, but Salem hadn't cared one bit.

"No." Harry spoke as the two pulled away, his broken glasses staring at her, "I'm proud of you."

Salem smiled sadly as she hugged him again before a clear of another throat was heard. Looking up Salem found Ron and Hermione standing near by. Salem laughed as she hugged the two at once, "Bout' time this happened, was close to casting a love spell on the two of you just to avoid the tension."

"You wouldn't know how to." Ron joked as Salem laughed and pushed his shoulder.

"It works in odd ways, doesn't it?" Hermione asked as she squeezed Ron's hand as she stared at Salem, "Love."

"In the oddest of ways possible." Salem answered as her mind immediately went to Draco, "He's gonna be so mad at me."

"He's always mad." Ron spoke with a shrug before Salem saw the faint boyish smile form on his pale pink lips, "But less of a gint with you."

Salem laughed as she nodded in agreement while Hermione looked over to see Harry standing on the edge of the broke bridge, "Why didn't it work for him? The Elder Wand?"

"It answered to somebody else." Harry informed them as his light eyes stared at the three through his cracked glasses, "When he killed Snape he thought the wand would become his. But the thing is, the wand never belonged to Snape... it was Draco who disarmed Dumbledore in the Astronomy tower. From that moment on, the wand answered to him."

Salem's heart tightened as she listen to Harry's words, she'd do absolutely anything to see the white haired boy right now, right now when she was in a daze of tiredness but a bit of relief.

"Until the other night when I disarmed Draco at Malfoy Manor, then he threw it to be on the grounds without knowing it didn't answer to him anymore, because he had Salem's wand who she put in his power so she could use her mother's." Harry spoke, going over the story as Salem nodded her head in agreement.

"So that means..." Ron trialed off as he nodded toward the wand.

"It's mine." Harry said as he twirled the wand in his hand.

"What should we do with it?" Ron asked as Salem lit up at his words.

"We should make sea monsters or raid the muggle world." Salem said as she cheered, Ron laughing at her words as he went to add in.

"Salem, Ron, no! It's Harry's wand, of course." Hermione stated as she scolded the two who gave her a similar look of defense.

"I'm just saying, that's the Elder wand, the most powerful wand in the world." Ron pointed out with a knowing look, "With that we'd be invincible."

"Maybe we can get rid of all the expired milk, Harry." Salem pointed out as she watched the soft smile form on his face at her mention of the expired milk, one of the first things the two said to each other over a year ago, how their story blossomed.

"Without expired milk I wouldn't have fought for you, and you wouldn't have fought for me, and we would have ever got through this, Salem." Harry said to her as he looked down, breaking the wand in half as Salem flinched painfully.

"Merlin, that even hurt me a bit." she said while putting a hand on her heart, "Snapping my heart while you're at it, are you, Potter?"

Harry shook his head at her with a faint smile as he turned and chunked the pieces of the wand off into the distance. Salem sighed as she rubbed his back when he joined them as his use duo stared off as well.

"Oh, bloody hell." Ron said as he stared off into the distance when he turned to speak to Harry. Salem frowned her eyes in confusion as she turned her head and looked where he was directing his attention.

"Told you he'd come back for her." Hermione said with a knowing look on her face while Draco Malfoy walked down the broken bridge, his white hair a mess on his head as his hands shoved into his black suit.

Salem's eyed watered as she took off down the bridge, not being able to wait till he got to her. Draco sighed in relief when he saw her, running as well as he met her in the middle. Their arms went around each other so naturally as they stumbled at the impact, holding the other as close as they could.

"I thought you were dead." Draco said as he held her tightly, so close he could feel her heartbeat against his. A odd feeling but one that was the most comfortable at a time like this, telling him she was alive with her heart beat, his against hers to show they were one, how their hearts only beated for the other, how two hearts beat as one.

"I'm not dead, i'm here, i'm right here." Salem said as she cradled his face, her own emotions leaking from her eyes as she pushed her forehead onto his, "I love you so much, i'm so sorry."

He didn't answer her with words, more so with actions as his freezing hands held her face so sternly within his hold, pressing his lips against her bloody ones in a kiss like no other, one that was a way of saying...

Forever.

•

kylie speaks

shit.
i'm crying so hard
the next chapter
is the 19
year time jump
and the final
chapter.
i'm seriously
gonna sob again
wth.