A.N.://

Happy New Year :)
It took me entirely too long, I know. This chapter was a tough one for multiple reasons.
Anyways, I hope you're having fun.

TW.: I'm not gonna spoil you, but be warned. There is a lot going on.

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Draco's PoV.:

Warmth filled his mind, soothed it and made it numb.

For the first time in years, Draco felt calm and collected. It was a strange feeling to give into an order, to obey another's command, especially when there was no punishment, only peace.

" Don't move." What a simple command, how easy to follow. " Stay here. Stay safe." Harry's voice was a pleasant one. Soothing and non-threatening. That was all. Draco could breathe.

The silk sheets of his bed felt nice against his cold fingers, the fabric soft like silk, the red of the curtains in the dorm room a warm buzz against his blank mind. How rarely Draco took the time to appreciate the comfort of a nice blanket and a friendly voice. " I care about you." The voice said. " You don't have to do anything. Let me keep you safe."

It felt nice. Everything felt nice.

The Imperio had always felt nice.

Tick, tick , tick . A grandfather clock that some ancient Gryffindor student must have left in the dorm, told him the time but Draco did not care. Time was a constant, but it was irrelevant. He just had to wait and stay safe, stay protected, however long that voice inside him demanded it. Draco could sit here for hours, if that's what Harry wanted.

Harry .

Draco's mind felt so strangely clear. He'd never been able to hear his own voice without the anxious fog around it. ' Harry cursed me .'

Draco felt his calm bliss fade a bit. ' No, why would he do that ?' Yes, why would he? ' He cursed me!!!!' Was he talking to himself? Did it even matter when all Harry wanted was his safety? Harry wanted him protected. Everything was fine. Everything was perfect.

' Kreacher is dead .' His mind supplied. The picture had etched itself into his mind, the tiny creature trying to protect Theo before he was grabbed by giant claws and his head turned with a move so quick and sudden that the poor houself had no chance to survive it. His giant eyes had looked wide and grey as the life faded from it.

The mirror only allowed for visuals, but Draco had seen this happen too many times under Fenrir Greybacks hands to not know the quenching, sickening sound of a spine breaking.

" Don't think about the war, Draco. Stay calm. Stay here. Stay safe!" Harry's voice reminded him.

' Theo is dying.'

Draco didn't want to go back to reality. It sucked. Real life sucked. For once, he was fine. Everything was fine, as long as he did what he was told! 'Do what you're told, Draco.' Draco told himself. ' Don't you remember?' His mind, however, had other plans.

Remember what? Remember cold, icy nights, rooms full of dementors, dying muggles, tortured halfbreeds, torture, torture, and more torture?!

Harry, face swollen, his scar stretched all over his face, begging him, pleading him to lie. 'Don't recognize me!' his eyes seemed to say. It had been a cold day and Voldemort had been in a particular bad mood around that time. One mistake could cost him his life. It had depended on Draco. And only on him that his family may survive another day.
So had the wizarding world. Depending on him to say nothing when his tongue was already glued to his palate.

Harry's voice remained determined, yet soft, yet kind. " Forget about that. You weren't safe then; you are safe now!"

Draco closed his eyes, trying to shut out his own voice. Why should he doubt what Harry said? Harry cared for him. Harry loved him. Harry wanted him safe. Why should he disagree? Why should he bother with anything else? Harry was right. ' I'm safe ,' he told himself. 'I just need to be safe.'

It was so easy to give in.

The Imperius always made it so easy to give in...

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Neville's PoV:

Dobby dropped them off inside a small room at the manor. The manor was huge, so it wasn't unthinkable that there would be several rooms unused at a time. Although, to be fair, Neville had been quite anxious when the idea had first been posed, considering that they didn't know which rooms would be occupied by Death Eaters and which ones wouldn't be. Apparating right into the belly of the beast? Where they crazy?

But it turned out that the manor was so old a building that it had almost as many hidden places as Hogwarts. Well, perhaps not quite as many. But it stood to reason that there were rooms that the owners of the manor would never enter, such as the houself quarters. Perhaps there even were rooms they never knew existed. Additionally, Lucius Malfoy and Narzissa were both locked up in separate locations. Or had Voldemort let Nagini inspect the place?

It was a gamble, playing with Voldemort's paranoia and assuming how much he'd learned about this place, playing even with the question whether he would be here or not. But it seemed they were in luck, because no one was in this room to expect them.

The ceiling hung low over them, the ground was covered in ragged sheets, as if it were the only thing that the houselves were allowed to sleep on. No mattresses, no objects to call their own, nothing. If Nagini didn't have enough to eat, did they just bring more muggleborns and traitors, or did she snack on the elves from time to time?

"Mr. Longbottom." Dobby the houself tugged on Neville's arm. "Mr. Longbottom must be careful. The Death Eaters are on high alert."

Neville blinked, his grip around his wand tightening. "How do you know that?"

The houselves ears twitched. Almost bashful, he tilted his head. "Dobby can't tell. Mr. Longbottom has friends that Dobby wishes to protect. The less Mr. Longbottom knows, the better."

"What does that –" Dobby had disappeared in a puff.

Severus made a face at their surroundings and pulled the invisibility cloak from his face. The cloak and the room were necessary precautions, but it was clear that he disliked both of them. "Accepting help from houselves. I should have known this would be disgusting." He made a face at the smell.

It did, in fact, smell a little moldy here. Neville uncovered himself as well. "That's rich." Neville muttered. "Purebloods depend on houselves all the time. What you see isn't their fault, it's the result of years of slavery." In fact, where were the houselves?

Snape twitched a frown. "It's of no matter. We must be careful from now on." There was something in his gaze. "I think we should separate."

"Separate?" Neville stared at him. "I thought you were here to have my back."

"And I will." Snape said slowly and sourly. "But we need to act fast. Once you've killed the snake, the Death Eaters will be after us. Which means we don't have much time to get the prisoners out of the dungeons. If we DO get them out of the dungeons, the snake will be alerted and on guard. We can't do one thing after the other, we need to do both at once."

Neville stared at his teacher as if it were the first time he'd seen him. "But Dumbledore's plan –"

"Dumbledore's plan." Snape quoted him with a sound so dry and angered that Neville actually flinched. "Dumbledore's plans haven't been working very well lately, have they? Always too late, always promising things he cannot keep! People are disappearing. People have died . Draco Malfoy has accomplished more in the previous year than Dumbledore has in the past sixteen!"

Neville's brows shot to the ceiling.

"No." Snape snarled, although his anger was clearly not directed at Neville. "Dumbledore's plan be damned. If all we do is kill the snake, there are people, good people, who will be paying the price. And I won't allow that to happen."

In all honesty, Neville was speechless. After their previous, albeit rare, conversations, Neville had been certain that Snape had joined him out of obligation. He'd had some kind of deal with Dumbledore that had made him a loyal subject. According to Draco, there was even more to that. This time, Snape's madness seemed to be entirely his own. Not bound to anyone due to feelings, obligations or fear. Just his own.

Neville had taken Snape for someone calm and easily amused by other people's sorrow. This man, the one right before him who fought to keep his appearance straight; Neville had never met this person.

"I didn't take you for the type." Neville said, feeling very special for witnessing this historical moment.

Snape scoffed. "Spare me your empathy."

"It's not empathy." Neville muttered. He'd never feel empathetic for Snape and he wouldn't start with it now. "But I think you're right. We need to separate."

Snape's eyes snapped to him, his mouth curled into something sour, like he wanted to tell Neville that he didn't need his bloody approval. Neville knew that. He just didn't want to fight. Snape turned towards the door. "You take the cloak. I know enough charms to not be detected."

"Yes, Sir." Neville said and twirled the cloak around himself, while Snape muttered a disillusion charm on himself. Within a matter of seconds, the man had melted entirely into the background.

Snape opened the door and both men headed out.

Neville couldn't tell where Snape had disappeared to, perhaps he was still there, but he stopped anyway at the sight they were met with and was sure that Snape did too.

They had landed, somehow, inside a giant hall. It was almost like a festive hall, except far more chaotic. Tables had been thrown over, burn marks decorated the walls and vases had been broken on the floor. A chaotic flurry of women in all kinds of robes scurried around, searching for someone, or something.

"What the –" Neville breathed.

"Mrs. Skeeter?" Professor Snape's voice echoed to him from his left, voice monotone, yet surprised. Neville would have looked at Snape, had he known where he stood.

"We don't have time for this." Neville reasoned quietly. "Let's use the distraction while it lasts!"

"Well then." Snape paused. "Good luck, Longbottom."

"You too, professor." Professor Snape wished him good luck? The world must be ending!

For a moment, Neville wallowed in the misery that those words inflicted. Coming from Snape, the good luck sounded like a curse, rather than reassurance. Then he focused on his breathing.

Neville couldn't hear Snape's steps over the sound of arguing Skeeters, even as he tried to keep his own breath flat under the invisibility cloak. Yet he knew, he was alone now. Alone in Malfoy manor, trying to find a snake that would most definitely bite his head off.

Heart pounding loudly in his chest, Neville decided to take a proper look around. His eyes trailed over the groups of Skeeters who were arguing and fighting each other, inspecting foods or drinks and ultimately having a really bad time. Then his eyes caught on the sight just outside the window and his face blanched into pure horror.

Bibus Sanguin

It had taken one glance, one only, for him to recognize the small flower petals. Tiny suns surrounded them, keeping them warm, just how the books suggested treating them. 'Blood eaters' his mind supplied. These kind of herbs needed a nearly impossible supply of blood to keep growing, and these ones seemed well fed. To paint the picture even more brutally: there were people, corpses, littering the ground and bleeding out into the soil.

These plants were purely magical. They induced madness, and strength and created a blood thirst when consumed that would make you rip apart your own family. They called it the beast plant or the werewolf plant because it made people equally monstrous. Neville felt sick in an instant.

For that one single moment, Draco's face flickered into his mind as he reluctantly told Neville about the torture he had survived. Draco hadn't given him the full picture, Neville thought, his mind spinning and swirling as he tried not to imagine living here.

He shook his head. He didn't have time for this. He needed to find the snake and kill it while he had the chance. Neville's grip around the wand tightened, his left hand reached into his pocket to feel around for the handle of the sword. He grabbed it fiercely and marched on.

Where would Voldemort keep a snake?

Neville sneaked around the Death Eaters, praying that he wouldn't be noticed. How Harry had managed to do this in the past, he had no clue. It made his anxiety spike. But it also sharpened his focus on the task.

He wandered around for a while, opening closets and rooms, even glanced outside to see if the snake was feeding itself on corpses outside. Neville had considered it unlikely, since Nagini was said to prefer its victims half conscious.

Finally, Neville carefully reached out a hand to slowly open a door that presumably lead to the kitchen. He slipped inside, and took a look around. There were more Death Eaters inside. These ones, unturned. So far, he had remained undetected, since the strange transformation into Rita Skeeter kept everyone irratic and distracted.

One of the two Death Eaters inside, however, made him lose his breath, almost making him slip up. Bellatrix Lestrange. It shouldn't have shocked him as much as it did. Now, he stared at her, watched her angry frown so unfamiliar on her usually bright, mad, laughing face. Her right hand was curled around a dagger that she kept sticking into the kitchen counter.
The man next to her followed the movement warily.

Their arguing was kept in hush whispers, but it was clear that the two weren't very fond of each other.

And then, for a single moment, Neville considered... He could stay here and listen. He could gather information – or well, he could kill her. The blood pumping in his veins told him he could, told him he should . All these years of pain she had inflicted not only on his parents, on himself, but Draco's as well – he could avenge them all now. Right now, while she was unsuspecting and clueless of his presence. He could kill her.

But then the man beside her would possibly shout and alert everyone else and Neville's cover would be blown.

"I'm sure these blood traitors and mudbloods have influenced the boy! You should have killed him!" Neville caught only little of their conversation, but the sentence didn't make sense to him.

"A night with the dementors will teach him." The man responded in a low growl. "He's part of my pack. I'll treat him how I think is best."

"And you think the Dark Lord will just let you have your fun with your little pet. Greyback?"

"You're one to talk with your blood traitor sister."

"How DARE YOU!" Bellatrix raised the dagger to his throat, a wild look in her eyes.

Neville closed his eyes. He needed to focus on the snake. He needed to kill Nagini. That was what he had prepared for. That was what was needed to end the war, the suffering, Voldemort, altogether.

Another look around and Neville could conclude that the snake was not there. With a shuddering nod to himself, he turned on his heels to leave.

He was just about to walk through the door, when a sizzling sound reached his ears. Neville instinctively stepped back into the nearest wall. Just in time to watch Nagini herself slither through the kitchen door.

Nagini was much bigger than Neville had expected. Not as big as the stone basilisk he'd practiced with, but big enough to swallow a person with one gulp. Sleek, the snake slid her way inside the kitchen, a seemingly endless body following a head with giant, visible, venomous teeth.

Neville put his wand into his left hand and grabbed the handle of the sword with one hand, unsheathing it slowly. He let out a bit of breath. This was not good. This was his chance, but revealing himself in front of Bellatrix and another Death Eater? This was SO not good.

The snake paused, head twitching in his direction.

Neville startled.

"Nagini." Bellatrix said in a tone that sounded like she worshipped the snake, although there was jealousy in the same tone. Not that it was surprising, the fact that Bellatrix would be jealous of a pet snake.

The other Death Eater made a face. "Urgh. I better leave. I feel itchy." He didn't say why, but it was obvious that Greyback feared the snake, would feel like prey in front of her teeth. He did leave. Thankfully. But the snake remained, hovering and staring .

The snake was staring at Neville.

Neville paled. Could – could the snake... see him ?!

Before Neville could do anything, the snake hissed and snapped forward, right at where his head was. Neville managed to dodge. In an instant, he had to make a decision. If the snake could sense him through the invisibility cloak, then the cloak would only slow Neville down. He discarded it, cursing under his breath as he revealed his own form to Lestrange.

The moment of surprise gave him just enough time to parry the attack and dodge out of the way without being hexed.

"LONGBOTTOM!" Bellatrix surprise was coated in venomous delight.

Neville cursed under his breath, alarmed by the noise.

The snake hovered in front of him once more, as Neville grabbed his wand with the left hand this time. As he dodged another attack, by rolling over the kitchen island, he pointed it at Bellatrix: "Silencio!"

Quiet. She needed to be quiet!

He couldn't think of anything else. The Skeeters outside were loud, but even they would hear Bellatrix scream for help. He only had this choice. Either unarm her while she was unguarded, or face attacks that were half as impactful as she had to keep her mouth shut.

But all in all, Neville knew it was too late. Silent or not, Bellatrix was a powerful witch, she could likely kill him even with half her magic. Cursing, however, seemed not to be the first thing on her wily mind.

Her fingers reached for her forearm to expose the mark, and then she touched it, calling her master.

Shudders of fear, cold and icy ran over Neville's back.

Yet, she had just given Neville a moment, only a single moment. Her not hexing him meant that he was alive for a few more seconds and he would make them count!

At that moment, Nagini's giant teeth came entirely too close to Neville once more, snapping forward, this time targetting his neck. Neville raised the blade of his sword to block the teeth and had the snake biting on the sharp metal with a deep, crunching sound. A hissing whine had the snake exhale her pain, as blood flooded the blade. A second later, Neville would learn that Nagini's venom could not only be spit, it was acidic. Cursing, Neville ripped off the Gryffindor tie the venom had landed on and disposed of it on the ground.

He let go of the sword. He had not practiced for this .

"Shit shit shit!"

Bellatrix raised her wand at him.

"EXPILLIARMUS!" Neville yelled as quickly and quietly as he could. A wand, definitely not Bellatrix's own, bounced off the counter and to the ground, her eyes wide in surprise. Her knife also snapped from her other hand, now stuck in the elegant dark wood that decorated the wall behind her.

Not her wand? Neville didn't have time to put two and two together. He just knew that if the wand was a stolen one, or even that of a friend, then Bellatrix's power would be diminished by at least a few percentages.

All was not lost yet!

Still. The snake was still holding onto the sword between its teeth. Neville switched his wand from the left to right hand and directed it at the snake. It was stronger, faster and more dangerous than he had anticipated. And well... now it had a sword .

He needed help. And he needed help, now !

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Draco's PoV.:

Minutes passed. Hours, maybe. It was nice. Everything was nice and warm and safe. Why would Draco want any of this to stop? He could live like this. Forever and ever. Finally at home, finally sa-

' Don't you remember? ' His mind urged.

Remember what?

'Remember home.'
A wand against his throat, his head thrown against the nearest wall, Bellatrix' eyes boring deep into his. 'Imperio!' Helplessly, he had followed her every command, had lost all ability to disobey, to fight. Had watched himself grab prisoners by the neck and twist.

Harry's voice graced Draco's cheek, kindly, oh so kindly. " Forget about that. This is different. I'm different! "

Yes, he's different. Harry would never -

"Are you?"

Draco had opened his mouth and was surprised at his own bitter voice. Anger laced his tongue and flooded his veins with hot, hot rage. Saying it made it real. Saying it made it it clear and tangible.

Were it anyone else, Draco would later think, then he wouldn't have been so angry. But as he stretched his hands against the silky fabric of his bed, he felt the anger in him rising and burning through the curse. It surprised him, then. Later, Draco would wonder what had taken him so long.

" No, Draco! Stay safe!"

'Safe? I'm not moving. When was I ever safe when I was not moving?' The thought gave way to something else . ' Where are you? While I'm here, doing nothing, WHERE ARE YOU?!'

'How dare you!' Draco's eyes narrowed down to slits, pain resurfacing to the front of his mind like a migrane. Slowly, oh so slowly and oh so cruelly, he pushed himself through it, regaining a strength he didn't even know he'd had. Harry's hold on him was stronger, more tempting than any other Draco had ever attempted to fight.

" Draco!" Harry's voice was desperate, begging, pleading, stroking his hair as if to sooth him.

'I trusted you!' Against the hot, shaking anger, Draco's heart broke with the harsh realization that Harry Potter had cursed him. Hurt, sharp and burning, engulfed him, cut through the barrier Harry had put in front of Draco's emotions.

Harry's voice died down and disappeared.

For the very first time, Draco had cut through an Imperius and he couldn't even find it in himself to celebrate the victory. His hands flexed and clenched at his side, as the full extent of his anger was revealed to him.

A blinding rage made him jump to his feet. He grabbed his wand.

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Harry's PoV.:

The teachers in Hogwarts were busy. Harry could see them struggling about, trying to separate young students from older ones. The students who were best at Herbeology followed Professor Sprout out onto Hogwarts grounds, likely to go and gather the mandrake roots Neville had taken care of to weaponize them.

On the other side of the hall, Fred and George were handing out packages full of Pyrotechtrixes, Firecrackers, Peace Disturbers, Dungbombs and whatever else they had in store. Peeves was off somewhere, helping with the distribution, while Dumbledore was giving last-minute encouragements to the teachers.

Dressed entirely in ball dresses and costumes, the agitated members of the DA did their best to prepare themselves for the fight. Hermione and Ron were arguing somewhere in the back about how far they would go to defeat Death Eaters. Some of the younger years were shaking in fear, unable to handle the anticipation that this day had come.

McGonagall was scurrying about, trying to calm the students and hand out strengthening potions.

Harry noticed one major difference this time though. The Slytherins were not standing up against them. Although most of them remained in their own little corner, a massive amount of green tied students had moved over to calm down students of the other houses.

It was also quite a sight, to see how little of them remained. It was visible only now how diminished their numbers were. Harry was not too worried though, as they weren't going to fight at Hogwarts itself. At least not, if everything went according to plan.

Quite a few were hurrying about to help where they could, although there was little to be done before Dumbledore addressed them all with a sonoring voice.

"Be quiet," it thundered over their heads. "And be calm."

"What about the polyjuice potions?" Asked Hermione Granger. "Shouldn't they be distributed right now?" Pansy Parkinson stood beside her, nodding fiercely in fearful agreement.

A look washed over Dumbledore's eyes that was enough of an answer already. "I'm afraid, we do not have this advantage anymore."

It was the only explanation he offered, and it reminded Harry why he used to get so mad at their headmaster when he was still alive. Well, he was alive now.

"In a few moments, we will apparate to Malfoy manor grounds."

"Speaking of Malfoy, where is he?" Asked Blaise, voice raised and confused. "He should be here."

"Please, stay calm." Dumbledore said, not giving away his emotions. "Mr. Malfoy has his own mission to follow." He said, knowingly. Piercing blue eyes bored into Harry's own, almost accusingly. Dumbledore was lying to them. Harry clenched his fists as he bit his lip. He knew.

"Mr. Longbottom and Professor Snape have invaded Malfoy manor at this very moment, hoping to catch Voldemort by surprise to defeat the snake. We will follow them to strengthen their defenses. There are still prisoners in Malfoy manor, and it is our mission to release them."

Finally, silence weighted on them as Dumbledore directed them towards a group of older students. Harry felt guilty, knowing that he hadn't managed to convince the houselves to help them. He could order Kreacher around, but even combined, Kreacher and Dobby could only transport so many people from one place to another. His failure had the consequence that they couldn't apparate directly into the manor, and it meant that older students would now be in charge of getting students onto manor grounds outside the shields.

The original plan had entailed to take down one Death Eater after another, and exchange them with DA members. Silently, they would have gotten closer and closer to take over the manor. Now they had to prepare for a literal battlefield.

"The war begins." Dumbledore finally announced and he was the first to raise his wand, likely to take down the wardens inside the Great Hall, so they could apparate out of Hogwarts. A moment later, he was the first to disappear in a soft crack of the air.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment and steeled himself. He grabbed his wand tight. It was time. He took one last glance around the room, found only his allies and oldest friend looking at him for reassurance. He made his way over to Hermione, Ron and Pansy Parkinson.

Ron waved, as soon as he saw Harry. "Harry!" He exclaimed. "Will you take us to the manor?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Yes. I'll take you and Pansy first." He turned to Hermione. "I'll come back to get you. If something happens -"

"It won't." Hermione interrupted him and Harry nodded.

Then, Harry grabbed Ron and Pansy by the wrist and turned on his heels, as he had done so many times before.

After all these years, Harry still hated the feeling of apparating. It always felt like being pressed through a tunnel that was way too small for him, and he'd taken two people with him. A snap errupted around him as he looked up to find Malfoy manor looming over him. As dark and twisted as he remembered. A thunderstorm seemed to gather over their heads and cold wind gave them a disadvantage.

"Down!" Harry told Ron and Pansy and physically pushed them into the high grass that grew wildly around the garden.

It was quiet, even though he could hear occasional snapping sounds in the air as some of his fellow students arrived not far from them.

"Harry!" Ron said and held his breath. He raised his hand slightly, but he didn't really have to do that.

From the front gates of the manor, a small storm of caped individuals seemed to escape into the night.

"Dementors." Ron said, as if they weren't Harry's worst nightmare.

"Damn it." Harry muttered under his raging heartbeat. "You need your patronus. I'll go back to get Hermione."

"I don't think so!"

Harry turned around so fast that he thought he'd twist his own head right off. There was a wave of smoke surrounding the angry looking man who loomed over him. It seemed to turn sharper with every second, as his outlines cleaned up.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Draco's white blond hair tussled in the wind as he directed his wand at Harry's face. The spell hit Harry right in his face. Not only did his wand lift several feet in the air and land somewhere far away in the snowy grass, Harry himself was thrown several meters into a nearby tree.

Gasping for air, Harry slid down the bark, his head hurting from hitting the wood.

"Draco, what the-" Pansy nearly shrieked, but Harry knew it was futile.

The worst part was, Harry knew he deserved this.

"POTTTAH!" Draco yelled, starking through ankle high snow towards his boyfriend, so blind in his hot rage that he didn't register their surroundings, the enemy, or his own friends.

Before Harry could warn him, or beg him to let him explain, Draco's fist collided with his jaw, nearly knocking him out. Instead, it just cracked his glass and bend the metal frame.

Harry would have marveled at his strength, were ne not too shocked to think.

"Draco!" Pansy yelled, and got up out of her hiding spot to grab Draco by the arms before he could punch Harry again. She pulled at him, keeping his fuming presence away from Harry.

"What the hell?" Ron mumbled, anxiously turning to Malfoy manor. Shaking his head, the Weasley seemed to actually have his priorities in order, because he raised his wand at the dementors to cast his patronus.

Unfortunately, their combined chaos was loud enough to alert Death Eaters inside. "Intruders!" Someone yelled, loud enough for them to hear, although the high pitched voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"Welp." Another bob of red hair stuck out in the snow. "So much for our surprise attack." Said Fred Weasley from several feet away and nudged at his brother. "George, if you would. It's time for a good old distraction."

"As you wish, good Sir. I think Draco and Harry are having a bit of a lover's quarrel. Maybe we should give them some time to discuss things in private."

What George then held up, seemed to be a sign for several other students. They all held up the same giant firecracker in the form of a dragon, one by one holding them up to direct them at the manor.

From the manor, a small wave of Death Eaters poured out of the front gates, along with the Dementors.

"AAAACHTUNG!" Fred said, hand raised like a military officer.

"FIRE!" When his hand came down, the fireworks sent off, exploding with impressive precision at the feet of their enemies. With a deafening sound so loud, it had every bystander have to hold their ears for protection, the front wall of Malfoy manor came crashing down, right onto the first wave of the Skeeter army.

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Snape's PoV.:

Snape didn't know where Longbottom was anymore. That was, however, part of the plan. He didn't know where Nagini was, but he knew that Longbottom had a much better chance at defeating it than he did. Trusting that Longbottom would make it, Snape marched through the Malfoy living room like he owned it.

The Rita Skeeters remained unaware of his presence. Their situation had them panicked and irratic. They were checking the food, trying to track down the one responsible.

Someone was sabotaging the Death Eaters from within. But who?

This, Snape thought with a macabre sense of humor, THIS was what must have happened to his potion. The bug he'd seen – it was simple now to put two and two together. Rita Skeeter must have been an animagus. It certainly explained where she had kept getting her information from. It also meant that the bug that had flown into the cauldron had mercilessly drowned in the Polyjuice and fully dissolved in it.

Snape didn't know how to feel about that. She had, in a way, gotten what she'd deserved, ruining multiple parts of their plan by announcing it to the public and sabotaging their distraction plan. On the other, this meant she was dead and the Death Eaters had eaten her.

Macabre, Snape thought, but couldn't keep his mouth from curling into a small smile.

Snape managed to reach the entrance to the dungeon in no time. With a silent opening charm, the door clicked open, revealing the sea of dementors he had already suspected to wait for him. However, instead of staying down, they flew into his face, sensing his very presence before a white, glowing hare sent them back down.

Carefully walking down the steps into the darkness, Snape could make out shapes and faces in the dark.

Luna Lovegood knelt at the bottom of the stairs, feeding a barely conscious Theodore Nott and a freed Narzissa Malfoy with chocolate.

Snape stared. Luna Lovegood... was here ?

The Skeeters, his mind connected slowly.

It took Snape everything not to react and give himself away as he slowly closed the door behind him.

"You may reveal yourself, Professor." Luna Lovegood said, almost too kindly. Snape had never figured out how Lovegood did this. How she did anything, really.
You didn't ask Luna Lovegood how she knew things. She kept flowering up her potions, making entirely different ones, that somehow ended up mostly functional anyway. The enigma didn't even look in his direction.

Snape closed the door and unenchanted himself. "Mrs. Lovegood."

"Snape?" Theo whispered in a confused tone upon seeing him, sounding tired and half dead.

Before Snape knew it himself, he'd already rushed to his side. "He's alive." He said, not recognizing the relief in his own voice. "We thought he was dead."

"He was close. Quite a couple of times, really." Narzissa said from where she knelt, her voice unimpressed and accusing. "It's good to see you, Severus."

Snape couldn't voice the relief he felt at seeing Narzissa alive, and if he could have, his pride would have permitted him from doing so. She had dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks had fallen in, as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. The usually blond hair had grown out to her shoulder blades, the natural black color resurfacing. "Likewise." He clipped shortly.

"Professor." Lovegood said quietly. "He's weak. The dementors nearly got his soul. We need to get him out of here."

Snape stared at her. What had his life come to that he listened to students and their stupid ideas? He would suggest they call Dobby to get out of here, so he could return to help Longbottom with the snake, but that idea had multiple errors.

One, Dobby was needed to send more DA and Order members into the manor. It would take a long time, considering that they only had one houself at hand to take them through the barrier. And two, houselves weren't particularly good with dementors and the dungeons were full of them. He took a moment to consider what to do. Then, he simply nodded. "Narzissa, help Mrs. Lovegood carry Mr. Nott. I shall keep you protected."

Luna nodded and grabbed Theo under the arm with her free hand. Narzissa had more strength than her situation let assume, so she grabbed Theo by the other. "How do we get out of here?" Narzissa asked sternly, mistrusting, and madly eying Luna's wand. When had been the last time she'd gotten to hold one?

"There is a room for the serving staff that you can wait in."

"I know the one." Luna said. "Dobby brought me there too."

Snape's expression soured. Despite it all, he didn't like to admit in front of Narzissa that a houself had helped them enable this plan.

Narzissa seemed to be focusing on something else entirely though. "We need to check if someone else down here is alive. We can't leave them here."

"We don't have time for this!" Snape hissed.

"And why not?" Narzissa nearly belled at him.

Snape gritted his teeth. "Fine." He said and raised his wand. "Mrs. Lovegood, I need to take a look at the prisoners."

"Don't bother." Theo muttered, sounding more defeated than Snape liked. "They are either dead or soulless."

Snape frowned before following Luna's hare around the prison cells. With each glance it doomed on him that Theo was right. Some bodies lay pale and motionless on the cell floor, eyes as motionless as the rest of them, the other half staring madly against the walls, not even noticing his presence.

Narzissa pressed her lips together in a movement that resembled her son far too much for Snape's taste,

"Follow me." He hurried up the stairs, deciding to ignore the horrors they would leave behind.

"Wait." Luna said. "What about the dementors? Once we leave, my patronus won't keep them down here. The Death Eaters will know something happened and they'll come looking and know that we broke out their prisoners."

Snape turned to her, face drawn to a close. "We can use them as a distraction." He raised his wand elegantly over their heads. The familiar feeling of warm liquid ran over their skins, covering them up in translucent silver that merged with the background quietly and quickly.

Luna must made a move then, because the hare jumped into a sprint, rounding up the dementors and forcing them to flee upstairs and out of the dungeons. Pretty much immediately, the screaming outside began.

Then he called them to ascend the stairs behind him.

Snape cursed himself. Why hadn't he thought about this? They would need the hare to keep them protected from the the sickening cold. At least, he thought, or rather hoped, this would mean that the Skeeters would be too distracted to notice Neville.
Hopefully, Neville had already found the snake, or else their plan would go up in flames anyway.

Snape wished he could wave Luna and the others to follow but knew ultimately that they wouldn't be able to see it. "Towards the kitchen." He muttered because that's where they had originally landed. He spoke between an angry spout between two Skeeters who seemed distracted by something they saw out of the window.

"What on earth –" He heard Narzissa gasp at the sight of the blonde haired women shouting at each other.

"They look lovely, do they not?" Luna's chipper voice carried over to him.

Snape quietly snarled in her direction. "Do you even know how risky this was? Sometimes I must wonder how you ended up in Ravenclaw."

"Thank you, Professor."

Snape let out a deep breath through his nose, then quietly and slowly lead them through the living room, until –

There was an explosion.

A very loud, deafening explosion. Shrieking and out of pure instinct, Snape grabbed into the empty air beside him, only to put himself between the explosion and whoever he had grabbed. Stone and rumble flashed through the air as a body crashed violently through the kitchen wall and into the living room, where all those Skeeters were waiting.

"PROFESSOR!" The voice yelled and something metallic clattered to the ground.

"INTRUDERS!" One of the Skeeters yelled. It was, however, not someone who stood inside the living room, it came from the front door.

Blood rushed through Snape's veins at the sudden noises, the sudden numbness in his ears caused by the explosion.

"Neville!" Luna's voice said, her voice loud and full of concern, right beside Snape's ear. It was her he had reached for earlier.

The problem was – it was heard over all the noise. Multiple heads turned their way, not seeing anything but the dust on their invisible clothes. It gave Neville a moment and it ruined their own chances of moving through this room undetected. "Lovegood, FIGHT!" Snape ordered in a dooming voice and revealed their futile attempt at disguising themselves. He couldn't fight AND keep up their disguise!

Luna, Theo, Narzissa and Snape all appeared in the middle of the chaotic mess of enchanted Death Eaters. Snape still holding on to Luna, while dust settled in his hair and blood trailed down his neck.

"TRAITOR!" It was the first curse, but clearly not the last that was thrown his way. "KILL THEM!" Despite their sudden appearance, chaos divided the Death Eaters by a wide margin. A variety of Skeeters turned in their directions, while another was rushing outside to deal with the backup that must have arrived.

Snape couldn't be more grateful for the timing. With whatever had been spotted outside, they remained with five Death Eaters in the living room, while the Skeeters seemed to wonder who had given the order and whether it made sense to follow it.

Still. Five Death Eaters against Snape and Luna, since Neville seemed to struggle getting to his feet, while Theo and Narzissa remained unarmed were not very good odds.

Luna Lovegood wiggled her way out of Snape's protective hold and stood wild and determined behind him to cast a vast variety of protection spells against their enemies.

Problem was, they stood dead centre in the living room, and more Death Eaters were not too far. Theo yelped, as a spell from the right nearly hit him in his chest and he scrambled to Luna's feet, hiding behind her.

"DOWN!" Snape yelled at the unarmed prisoners and pushed Narzissa and Theo closer to the ground. He didn't have the time to make sure they stayed there, however. While Theo covered his head, whimpering under the onslaught of spells that Snape and Lovegood tried to avert, Narzissa Malfoy ripped herself from her position like a woman possessed, dodged one of the nearest attacks, elbowed the Death Eater in the side and physically unarmed them to grab their wand.

Snape had underestimated her rage. Before he knew it, he heard Narzissa screaming and yelling curses and hexes at the Skeeters. The head of the one she had unarmed grew by the second until Skeeter's head looked like a swollen ballon. Desperate and terrified, they reached for their throat, as if their lungs too were expanding and keeping them from bleeding. A moment later, the skin around the eyes ripped open and blood poured out of the head, before the head imploded with a sickening scream and the Death Eater went down. Dead.

It was the first time he ever thought it, Snape realized with a start, but at that moment she looked, her hair black and her expression turned into a snarl, ironically a lot like Sirius Black.

Everything was happening so quickly that Snape found himself dismissing the reason why Neville had flown through the kitchen wall to begin with too quickly. In the settling dust, a figure emerged, grin wide and threatening, while another monstrous appearance loomed not too far away from Neville, snout bleeding and eyes wide with madness.

A loud hiss errupted and distracted the Skeeters while Snape hit one of them with a dead center sectum sempra right in the chest . The Death Eater reached for their chest as the torso was slid open in deep gashes. The win was a shallow one, Snape thought as he watched through his peripheral how the snake slithered closer to Longbottom.

Where was the sword?

"NEVILLE!" Luna yelled, her wand raised at the bleeding snake but Nagini was faster.

Neville screamed as teeth dug into his outstretched arm. The boy had tried to shield himself with it on instinct. The snake held onto his arm, even as Luna blasted curses on her body.

They had no way to get between them. "LONGBOTTOM, THE SWORD!" Snape yelled, finding himself sounding stupid. He was the last person who needed to remind Longbottom of the sword, damn it!

And then, there she was, looming over Longbottom's poisoned body. Longbottom's eyes went wide in fear at Bellatrix' laugh.

What neither of them had accounted for, however, was Narzissa. She had not only heard Snape, she had also stood close enough to the sword to reach for it.

With a shriek, Draco's mother lifted the clinging sword of Gryffindor from the ground, blood splashing everywhere she swung it. Not at all weaponless, she hefted the sword high in the air, just in time for Neville to shake off the snake, if only for a moment.

Narzissa swung the sword down on the snake at the exact moment Bellatrix mouthed a silent spell in Neville's direction.

Both of them hit their target dead center. Nagini's head slid from her body in a splash of acidic blood. At the same time, the green light breaking from Bella's wand embedded itself into Neville Longbottom's chest.

His eyes widened as a blast of air escaped his lips, his mouth open in surprise. Something within him seemed to fade. His bleeding arm went limp while his head rolled to the side. His eyes unseeing and dark, smeared like glass with blood.

Snape forgot how to breathe.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Luna's voice broke through the ceiling, loud and shrill like a banshee as she fell to her knees beside him.

Bellatrix' laugh returned to her, loud and chirring. She opened her mouth to say something in that old amused tone of hers.

But before she could get there, everything went white as something shattered the foundations they stood on with blinding light and a dragon's roar.