— t w o —
devastation

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                    Hermione was devastated as she muttered spells after spells, protecting the area they were now in.

"Protego Totalum. Cave Inimicum. Salvio Hexia. Repello Muggletum." Hermione muttered those familiar spells. Charms that been carved into her brain and having to use them once again only brought a low feeling of dread to her stomach.

Hermione had a back-up plan, just incase the plan to defeat Voldemort fails. She had told the other two of the golden trio that they were to report to the cold forest where they had found the sword of Gryffindor — Forest of Dean, incase anything goes wrong. It was just a precaution and Hermione thought that it wouldn't have been necessary until now. So, she had apparated herself and Luna here. She had a feeling that the war was far from over. She had that feeling from the beginning. And, she was always right.

Malfoy's brave attempt to harm the dark lord popped up in her mind. It was very brave of him. No one could easily stand up to him. Even Hermione felt frightened sometimes and the thought of standing up to him, up close, face to face, knowing you might die was a scary thought. He had done an action that was against the death eaters. Against the dark lord. Against his parents, his family.

"Muffliato." She muttered, still protecting the area they were currently in. She had no idea what was happening there, in Hogwarts but it's too late to go back there now. Malfoy got splinched during the apparition. His leg got splinched and he had fainted. Luna was currently healing him with all the necessary potions Hermione had in her sack. A brief five minutes had gone by and Hermione looked back at the tent that was set up.

She sighed, worrying for Harry and Ron, contemplating if she should go back and grab those two herself? What if something had gone wrong? Has Nagini, the last hocrux, been killed? Did Voldemort find out about Harry's allegiance to the Elder wand? What is going on? A ton of questions ran through Hermione's mind and she wanted to scream in desperation— having none of them answered.

Suddenly, the wind whished behind her and Harry appeared out of nowhere. Hermione's eyes widened and she held her hand out, realising that he couldn't see her behind the protective barrier. She reached out, grabbing a frantic looking Harry Potter into the protective shell and he looked frightened, as his face paled even more at Hermione's confusion. There was a sense of something shadowing Harry's face— the look he had when he had gotten out after seeing Snape's memory in the Pensieve. It was terrifying.

"Hermione. Why did you go?" He asked, his voice sounded shaky as he breathed heavily, eyes looking like he was about to cry. He looked like as if he had just seen something really traumatising.

"What happened?" Hermione asked quietly, holding his shoulders to calm him down, feeling partly relieved that he is alright and feeling partly scared for the red-haired Weasley who has still not appeared.

"He went away. I thought he would fight back." Harry said, his eyes tearing up all of a sudden as he kneeled down on the layer of snow, looking hopeless. As the sentence slowly registered in Hermione's mind, the silent sniffling from Harry made a chill run down her spine.

The Dark Lord went away— that's a show of cowardice even for The Dark Lord. He must have had no choice. Do or Die must have been the only option for him. Hermione didn't know what to feel, knowing that The Dark Lord has weakened gives her satisfaction but learning that the war is far from over and Voldemort isn't gone fills her with despair.

The brunette looked down to see Harry seeming very shattered and despondent, like the world had fallen apart. Hermione realised that something else had happened and her hands started trembling in fear. "Harry. What happened?"

"I tried." He let out a sob, "I t-tried so h-hard." His words came out in short breaths. Hermione clutched Harry's shoulder in comfort and terror, a feeling she should be used to by now but still always new and frightening. Her eyes and heart filled with trepidation and dread.

"Harry." She paused. "You are scaring me." Hermione said, feeling anxiety and worry fill her body.

"He's gone." Harry muttered, panting out of breath, as a tear trickled down his eye. Terror clutched her heart. Mostly fear of something horrible happening to someone she loved. Harry looked up, his eyes watery and red. Hermione feared the worst, already knowing what was coming as her own eyes started filling with tears, hands fisting Harry's shirt as she shook her head as a sign of 'no'. She inhaled a heavy breath and looked at the sniffling man.

"R-Ron. Ron..." He dragged his words and that was enough for him to break down completely.

Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. "No!" Hermione yelled, her throat choking up. "Harry. Are you sure?" Hermione asked, her voice cracking and wavered at the end. She already knew the answer to the question. Harry's cries became louder as he buried his face into Hermione's shoulder. "I'm sorry." Harry mumbled as he mourned with pain. Hermione realised what he was saying and felt like something had pierced hard through her heart, a feeling of shock and devastation.

Tears spilled out of her eyes as she collapsed, a raw cry of pain left her mouth and Harry immediately hugged her tighter, trying to comfort her as she cried her heart out. Her best friend, her companion, her clueless funny boyfriend is now gone. Ron Weasley is gone. She didn't want to say dead. She couldn't even thinking of his name and death in the same sentence. He was an innocent man full of light and he was gone. Her heart twisted in pain at the thought of living without him. Harry rubbed Hermione's back, comforting her and Hermione cried even more, anger filling her insides. She wanted revenge. She wanted to shout. She wanted to cry out and ask why they took Ron away from her.

She heard twigs moving behind her and realised that Luna was standing there. She must have heard the whole conversation because she was now kneeling down beside a weak Hermione, rubbing her back. Silent tears spilled out of Harry's eyes as he comforted his heartbroken best friend, worrying for his own half, Ginny.

"He died a fiercely loyal man." Luna said, smiling sadly, her eyes strong and watery as well.

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Draco watched the three silently from the tent. He himself was heartbroken and hearing the news of the famous weasel dying just made him feel more guilty than ever. He had always hated The King Weasel. He was a pureblood mess with no manners. But, that didn't mean he wanted him to die. Draco had just woken up when he saw St. Potter standing there, looking frantic and panicky.

He watched as Granger collapsed, crying her heart out for the dead weasel.

Draco felt a pang in his chest as he recalled the moment his father had died. He quickly blocked it out and hardened his face, masking himself again. There is no use thinking of it now, he's gone. That's it. Move on. Releasing a loud sigh, he tried to stand up with his splinched leg. It looked horrible. There was a thin white towel tightly wrapped around it. He realised that they must have put healing spells on it, because there was not much pain.

He stood up, feeling a slight sting before he straightened up, pulling his pulled-up pants down and walked. He stood behind the three, contemplating whether or not to break the silence. The sound of Granger's raw cries sent shivers down his spine, his heart twisting over and over again with guilt. He shook his head, clearing the thoughts and pressed his lips into a thin line. He thought of his own Best Friend Vincent Crabbe dying in the flames. He never cried for him. Should he? He felt sad but that's it, his cold hardened heart refused to feel anything more.

Draco walked forward, reaching the three. Suddenly, as if detecting his presence, Granger stood up, turning around, her eyes red and puffy. She wiped away her tears furiously and looked down at Draco's leg. Hermione walked away silently into the tent without uttering a word. Draco looked down at the crying Potter. Normally, he would have laughed, made fun of his face, and throw an insult. But, Draco had manners and he knew when not to knock down a man.

Draco sighed.

His mind drifted to The Red Headed Weasel King. He felt a little sad that the Weasley Family had faced two losses in the war. He had never seen Granger cry before. He had always thought of her as a strong, bright wizard. Seeing her cry was a big shock to him, and he felt guilty because he was partly at fault.

"Are you going back?" Lovegood asked and St. Potter looked up, his eyes teary as well, before he straightened up, and wiped his tears away furiously. Harry pocketed his wand. He looked expectantly at Draco for his reply.

Draco didn't know what to reply to that. He didn't want to say yes and he didn't want to say no either. Thoughts circled his mind before he sighed. "No." He paused, before quickly adding, "You need me. But, if you want me to go away, I can." Draco said, feeling slightly frustrated.

Lovegood seemed calm. "You are welcome to stay here by all means."

Draco didn't know what to say or what to feel. He knew that if he went back, he would be dead in an instant. The dark lord would be furious with him and might probably be sending out his loyal death-eaters in a search for him. He felt worried at the thought of his mother.

Is she still alive?

Draco shook his head, clearing those bad thoughts away.

"Thanks." Harry muttered beside him and Draco refused to look at him, due to his anger. "For standing up to him."

Draco didn't reply as he hardened his face once again before scoffing. "I didn't do it for you Potter." Draco bit back harshly, not able to control the urge. He felt angry at Potter for backing out. For being weak. For being completely emotional at times like this.

Potter brushed it off, not feeling any hurt or any emotion. For him, it was just the usual bickering. And, Potter didn't have the energy to fight back.

"I know." Potter said, pushing his glasses up his nose, before walking away and Draco couldn't help but feel bothered and angry.

"You had the chance to kill him." Draco started off, his voice low and lethal that it made Potter stop in his tracks to turn around and look at him.

"What?" Potter asked, raising his eyebrow a little at the sudden statement.

"You had the chance to end him. To end this war. Instead, here you are, crying over the loss of your fucking Best Friend." Draco spat harshly, disgust and disrespect dripping from his words.

"Voldemort was gone before I could attack hi—"

"I'm sure you could have followed him Potter." Draco scoffed harshly, his voice rising a little.

"You don't know how it feels to see the people you love die." Harry shot back, anger getting the best of him. He took a step near Draco who was towering him. Normally, he wouldn't reply. He would just walk away. But, his best friend had died and Voldemort was still alive and breathing. Harry was feeling too fucked up and messy inside.

Oh, Saint Potter was wrong. Draco knew how it felt. Draco hardened his face once again as he glared into Potter's eyes. "Believe me Potter. I know. But, you still had the chance. Why do you think I tried to harm him? Because I still had fucking hope!"

"Malfoy." Potter spitted angrily. His ears tingling red with rage. "You should have thought of that before. It's too late for hope now."

Draco felt angry at the words that left Potter's mouth. It was true, but he didn't have to rub it in. Especially when he was his arch-nemesis. But, the thought of Potter giving up was too much for him. He can't give up. Draco wouldn't let him give up. Grabbing his wand up in a blur of blind fury, he was about to yell a stinging hex to knock some sense into Saint Potter. Potter had grabbed his wand up too, pointing it at Malfoy. But, both of their wands were grabbed swiftly by Luna who simply smiled disappointedly at them.

"I don't think your father," She narrowed her eyes at Draco. "Or your bestfriend." She turned to give a pointed look at Harry. "Will be proud of you two having a fight over this when there are much bigger wars and fights going on out there."

Lovegood's words seemed to relax them down immediately. Draco sneered, feeling angry but calmed himself down. Draco glared at Harry before looking at the wands in Luna's hands.

"That's my wand, Potter." Malfoy spat, grabbing the wand that Harry had forcefully taken away from him in Malfoy Manor. Finally, having his wand back, Draco was satisfied. He felt his wand, stroking his thumb softly against the wood that brought old memories back. Sending one last glance towards Potter, he walked away, leaving him with the spare wand that he had used.

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Voldemort caught dancing with Nagini, 1997.

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