Blood was shed, thousands of witches and wizards were killed. The war is a massacre, something that will live in everyone's mind and haunt them forever. Those who died, died with such bravery and goodness ― they are heroes.
Draco's shoulders heave as he watch his father gasping for his last breath. But he felt no remorse, no mercy, and no care ― Just like his father.
And he did not regret any single bit of what he did.
Lucius's eyes were about to pop out of his sucket, veins prominent on his neck and blood was spilling everywhere on the marbled floor, yet Draco remained ruthless. His eyes never left his father, and a smirk curled up his lips.
"You're a monster" He stated, licking his lips to moisten his self "And you gave birth to one ― This is the outcome"
With that, Lucius eyes shut, he took his last breath and finally ― he was dead. His body stopped writhing, the floor is now a bloodbath, his face screams horror. Draco didn't give a smidge of mercy.
All those years of torment and brainwashing, those thoughts he wired into his brain. He was scared of his own father, scared that he might raise a hand again, scared because he make him do things he didn't want to do. Forcing and guilt tripping him. And the abuse his own father does to his mother.
He had enough of it.
His eyes soon found Diana who's still laying on the ground, eyes fluttered shut and muscles unmoving. He Immediately bent down to her, his knees sunk down on the floor as he drop his wand, grabbing her body and pulling her up to his lap.
"Diana ― wake up, please. Diana" he mumbled to her ear, his voice was full of desperation. His heart was breaking apart and his word is crumbling. He wrapped his arms around her frail body, only noticing the scars and cuts on her face.
"Diana, wake up! Please, how do I― how do I do this? Just please open your eyes" he begged, tears streaming down his eyes yet Diana stayed frozen. Her body was cold, as if she was covered in ice.
He scanned her face. She was pale, paler than his hair and her lips were now a lighter shade than her usual color, her hair was sprawled around her face. She looks dead.
Draco wondered what Lucius had done to her, how she became like this. But he knew she wasn't dead, she can't be.
He took his wand then point it at an exposed area of her neck, he gulped, then he chanted a charm, over and over again.
A heat spread throughout Diana's body and she warmed up, her cold temperature shifted, she was slowly heating up. Draco's hand rubbed her arm while her head rested onto his lap, when he touched her ― she was no longer cold.
Soon enough, he saw her lips turning to it's normal shade, her skin turning to her natural colour and then... Her eyes finally fluttered open, instantly meeting his silver grey ones.
He chuckled, relief shooted his heart and he Immediately bent down, kissing her lips. Diana shivered under his touch, she brought up her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She felt his tears on her cheeks, he'd been crying.
"L- Lucius he― he put me in an ice curse, I couldn't feel anything ― I, I thought I was dead" Diana stuttered the moment he pulled away.
His heating charm just saved her. Her whole body was numb from the coldness within, and she's glad he found the perfect counter charm without even knowing.
"I killed him" Was Draco's response, he saw the look of shock planted across her face, until a faint smile broke her lips. "I was mad, I couldn't help it" he added.
At the corner of her eyes, she saw Lucius with blood spilling through his cloak and there were obvious gashes, his eyes were red and his neck was marked with veins indicating his tragic death. Blood spilled from his mouth and Diana's stomach churned seeing the marbled floor all gory.
"I'm glad you did" Diana replied, and with a swift movement, she felt his hand in the back of her thighs. Draco carried her in bridal style, her hands around his neck, he stood up then smiled triumphantly at her.
"I love you" then he crashed his lips against hers. Diana can taste the blood, yet she tasted his sweet lips also. While they share such a passionate kiss, Diana felt her surrounding twists, she took a glimpse and all she saw was greyness.
They were disapparating.
―
Draco pulled his lips from hers when he finally felt the cemented floor of the Great Hall. Then he placed Diana gingerly on her feet before roaming his eyes around the Hall.
His heart swelled with immense happiness.
They won.
Students, Professors and Aurors are now sitting and attending each other at the lengthy seats, some are drinking coffee while they heal their wounds.
He can see Slughorn drinking a mug of black coffee with his usual mirthful expression, he was having a chitchat with Seamus and Dean ― they have such pure grins.
On the left side, he can see Blaise with Lovegood, Pansy with Daphne, they were embracing each other so tightly as if they just confessed their love for each other.
Diana grinned, she felt sentimental ― a good way of sentimental feeling. She had lose all hope in the beginning, only now to find that they will eventually win. The lightness defeated the darkness.
She felt Draco's hands interlaced with hers, he intertwined their fingers and locked eyes. "We made it, we won" he mused, she can see the fascination in his eyes and a huge wave of amazement.
"We did" she answered, then her eyes shifted to the left side of the hall.
Her face fell. She saw all the dead bodies: Lavender Brown, Fred Weasley, Remus Lupin, Tonks, then Wayne Hopkins and his little sister ― Colin Creevey, Cedric Diggory, Parvati Patil and hundreds more, including Professors ― Snape.
Then her gaze went to the right side of the Hallway.
The glee she felt withered, her eyes wavered, knees weaken, blood pounding in her ears and around her chest.
She felt like she's going to have a cardiac arrest, soon enough tears streamed down her eyes and rolled to her cheeks.
Clarette layed lifeless on the ground, with Theo embracing her body, sobbing at crying out his whole heart while Axel soothes his back.
Next to her was Diana's brother Zach, and beside Zach was ― her mother and her father with a ragged duvet covering covering their body up to their shoulders. They layed eyes shut and muscles unmoving.
Her entire family layed on the cold ground ― lifeless.
She noticed their hands were interlocked and their eyes open, A huge wound is on her mother's forehead while her father had a hole in his arm. Then she eyed Zach, he was pale, eyes shut and full of scars. This took her by a storm, by a very awful storm.
Everything became dizzy for her due to the uncontrollable tears pouring from her eyes, her world shattered. She felt like she was stabbed a knife that pierced through her heart and to her back even.
Before she could even control her emotions, she hastily pulled away from Draco's grasp and run towards her brother, kneeling down in front of Zach's dead body and pulling his head onto her lap. Tears from her face dropped down to his brother's cheeks.
"No ― Zach, No. Why? Why you? Out of all people why you?" she broke out a sobbed earning everyone's attention.
She looked at her parents, despite them being abusive, their lives still mattered to her. She released her hands from Zach's head and leaned in to grasp her mother's hand, she broke out a painful cry. "Why all of you?" her hands were tremblings.
"Why all of my family? Why? Tell me this is a dream" Her face fell and her breathings became ragged. This was the nightmare she never expected.
"This can't be true ― Mom, I survived, Dad I killed my enemy" she spoke to them as if they can hear her. "Why is it when I can finally make you proud you died?"
Then she shifted her gaze to her brother, she can feel her nose getting wattery due to her mourns. "Zach. Zach, you didn't said you would die. You left me here, didn't you say when we were kids we'd always be together?"
She cried her heart out.
She kept her head bent down, her whole body quivered and her hair skin was rising.
"... Clarette I love you...." She heard Theodore said.
She tilted her head, then gingerly placed Zach's head onto the floor before standing up and moving in front of Theo and Clarette's frail lifeless body.
"Theo...." she called out, the brunnete boy lifted his head and his red puffy eyes met her. "Can I have some time with my sister?"
Thedore took a deep breath, stood right up then moved to the side. Diana quickly kneeled down in front of her bestfriend. She took both of her hands and gripped it tightly, sobbing at the sight of her. There was a lot of huge bites around Clarette's neck and shoulders, bites of the werewolf, Greyback.
"You ― you also promised me, you always wanted for us, You and Me to grow old together. How can we do that now? Y-You said on the first day we met you want us to be friends forever because you thought I was cool" Diana shutted her eyes, feeling all sorts of emotional pain and distress.
She remembered the memories she had with Clarette ― with Zach and with her parents. They were lucid, and very vivid in her mind, and they were beautiful memories:
"Can I sit here? Apparently not everyone in first years are friendly, they don't really want to share compartments with me" A blonde haired girl opened the sliding glass door, holding her huge trunk and a handful of chocolate frogs.
Diana smiled widely then patted the seat next to hers "Of course! I'd like to have a friend before we get to Hogwarts. I'm Diana July Laurier"
The blonde headed girl beamed then placed her trunk in the bench across from them, then sat next to Diana before handing out a chocolate frog to her "Hi Diana, I'm Clarette Amadora, My family calls me Claire but I prefer Clarette. Would you like some? I got loads of Chocolate Frog in my trunk"
Diana's mouth watered as she grabbed the sweet from Clarette's hand, she flashed her a mirthful smile. "Thanks, so uh ― what happened? You didn't seem to have a great encounter with other first years"
"Oh it was horrible. All of them made friends already and formed their own cliques before we could even go to Hogwarts and they don't want anymore people inside their circles" Clarette pouted, ripping the packaging of the chocolate frog.
"We can form our own clique, you and me, what do you say?" Diana suggested, and gave her a smirk. She had no friends either, and it'd be great if she had atleast one friend before they can go to Hogwarts and start their first year.
"You seem cool but I always think a friend group of three would be cool ― we should recruit one more"
"We'll decide on that if we get to Hogwarts. What house do think you'd get by the way?" Diana queried before letting the chocolate frog jump from her palm and to the closed glass window of the compartment.
"Watch the frog ― Dad is a hufflepuff, Mom is a Gryffindor, for me I don't know. I wish to be sorted into Slytherin, But I heard Ravenclaws are pretty cool, I don't know it doesn't matter to me really" Clarette Answered.
"I wish to be sorted into Ravenclaw. My whole family's been in Ravenclaw, my brother Zach ― he's probably in another compartment with his friends, he's in Ravenclaw too ― a prefect in fact"
"If we get sorted into Ravenclaw, I want us to be friends forever. You look cool I must admit, I've heard about the Lauriers, the lot of you are very smart." Clarette flushed.
Diana's eyes widen in shock and her focus no longer remains on the chocolate frog but instead to her new friend. "I'm far from cool, Clarette. But we can be friends, as long as you want to"
"I always want to grow old with a dearest friend" Clarette looked down on her chocolate frog that's wriggling to get out of her grip, then she shifted her eyes to Diana "Think we could do that?"
"We've just met but..." she trailed off "We could, I can tell we're going to be the bestest of friends"
―
"Diana! Diana! I got an 'O' on my Transfiguration! Oh my Merlin can you believe it?" Claretted barged in on their dorm and started leaping with a small piece of parchment between her hands.
Diana stood from her bed and jumped along with her, radiating the same energy and reciprocating the exact gleeful attitude. "I knew you can do it. McGonagall had always admire you and your passion with Transfiguration, your brilliance is off the roof ― that's my bestie"
They finally stopped bouncing and a laugh escaped their mouths.
"Couldn't have done it without your help. I'll definitely send you tons of presents over the summer ― as of now, we will roam around the castle to do our usual 'Boy Crush Haunting' " Clarette linked their arms and they left their dormitory to search for a new crush target.
―
"Zach, Where will you go after you graduate?" She said as they sat down on the grass of their garden, picking his favorite flowers.
Zach watched her and a smile spread across his face "Mom and Dad wants me to become a professional Quidditch player and I guess I'll try out for Appleby Arrows League"
"But you want to be a wandmaker" Diana responded, squinting her eyes as the sun became brighter.
"You know we can't afford to disobey and disagree with Mom and Dad" he said then chuckled "Or else they're going to beat us up again, but ― it's fine"
Diana hummed, then raised the Globe Thistle in the air "Why is this your favorite flower again?"
He took the Globe Thistle she was holding then admired it "Because it attracts bees and butterflies"
"Are you sure bout that? I don't see no yellow and black striped bumblebee and definitely no matured catterpilars around"
"There's a bumblebee!" Zach pointed behind her.
"Where?!" But when she turned her head around, Zach grabbed her and tickled her until tears brimmed her eyes.
"I'm gonna tell mom you snogged half the school body if you don't stop!"
"Do tell if you can" he continued to tickle her more.
―
The pain Trippled and almost unbearable. She was crestfallen.
She snap her eyes open as she felt two strongs arms held her shoulder and lifted her up, making her stood from her feet. She turned around and saw Axel and instantly she wrapped her frail arms around his torso and buried her face in his chest, crying nonstop.
"Why? Why did they all leave me? They didn't want me to die but they risked their lives instead, Axel bring them back please" she wetted his shirt, however Axel sighed and rubbed his hand up and down her back, comforting her.
"I'm sorry Diana ― I really am. If I can bring them back I would, but I can't. I wish I could"
Those words had her wailing, she can feel everyone's eyes bore into her, watching her with pitiful looks.
She pulled away from the Hug then gave Axel a faint smile "Atleast your safe" she faced the four dead bodies again, and her shattered heart, shattered even more.
"I can't handle this" She shook her head then left, passing by Draco who's hugging her mom, and ignoring everyone's sorrowful gazes.
"Diana ―" she heard Draco but she kept on walking, tears streamed down and her whole body trembled. She left the Great Hall.
Her feet meandered outside and she found herself sliding down against a cold rock wall, somewhere in the hundreds of corridors in Hogwarts.
Her arse hit the ground, and she brought up her knees, wrapping her arms around it and hiding her face. She let out the most painful scream she's been holding, then she lifted her face, sobbing her heart out.
Her chest was rising from the frustration, anxiousness, sadness and the loss she received.
Why Couldn't it be her? She was willing to die for the good, why does it has to be her bestfriend? Why her brother and why her entire family? She will gladly accept every torture her parents give just for them to be alive now.
All things seemed unworthy now. Diana snifled, and she saw a brick next to her ― she picked it up with her weak hand but strongly, she threw it at the rock wall across from her, causing it to break and the sound of it had Diana flinching.
She rubbed her hands on her pants, then wiped the tears off her eyes only for it to continuously spill down.
It was painful, to lose all family and to lose the people who was so dear to you ― she can't bare seeing Clarette, Zach, her father Landon, and her mother Thulia being covered up ― indicating their death.
"It should've been me. Not them" she buried her face in her palms when suddenly she was being lifted onto the ground by a pair of strong arms.
Her red puffy eyes met Draco's silver grey ones, and when their eyes locked, she cried even more. She nuzzled her head in the apex of his shoulder and neck as he carried her in bridal style.
"Darling I am so sorry" Draco apologized , trying to soothe her broken heart. "They were great people but you shouldn't wish it was you"
Diana jolted her head up and glared at him, she snifled then condemned "They were my everything Draco! Now who would I hold onto? They were also my Dragons" she sobbed, the pain can't seem to stop.
Draco started walking while carrying her, he kept on apologizing and mumbled words that he was glad she's safe and that when she's dead others would grieve for her, his heart shreds seeing her this broken and Crestfallen.
He took her inside the Great Hall again, and once they entered, everyone had their eyes on them. The children, the professors and Aurors are all compressed on the four lengthy chairs, stuffing food on their faces as if they were also students.
They were energizing themselves, and congratulating each other for their win against the dark forces.
Draco was about to carry her to his mother when Professor Mcgonagall came up to him ― to Diana rather.
"Miss Laurier, I am so sorry for your loss but do know ―" Professor Mcgonagall's face was filled with cuts and her lopsided hat was no longer in her head, she took out a small letter sealed with blue wax "That, you will inherit your family's golds"
Diana who was still in Draco's arm, weakly took the parchment from Minerva's hands and flashed her a faint smile.
The professor sighed and nod her head at her "I also want to congratulate you, you've achieved the first place, you're the top of the class before the war happened and you still are. You will have amazing job opportunities and again ― I am sorry for your loss, The Lauriers are a wonderful family"
And with that Mcgonagall left.
Diana rested her head onto Draco's chest, and she felt him walking again, she pocketed the letter, if it was a farewell letter then she can't read it, because she will break over and over again.
Draco continued carrying her somewhere in the Great Hall passing by the students eating on the lengthy rows of chairs.
He finally reached the slytherin row where her mom is sitting next to Blaise, Pansy and across from the downcasted Theo. Draco sat down with Diana on top of him, he never let go of her, never once let her feet touch the ground ― he needs to mend her, he needs to help her with her situation.
Diana clung her arms around his neck, and pressed her head harder onto his chest, feeling and hearing his heartbeat. She didn't dare speak, nor eat nor drink, she let the people chat and have a talk while they filled their stomachs.
She just grab onto Draco.
"Mom" she heard Draco speak, she shifted her eyes to Narcissa who is sitting right next to them, looking like a lovely dear even though she had a few cuts on her knuckles and her face was smeared with dirt.
"Yes dear ― oh is this the girl you've been meaning to introduce to me? Oh the Lauriers! You are Thulia and Landon's daughter I am very sorry for your loss ―"
"Mom, stop" Draco stated and Diana sighed in relief. She really wasn't in the mood to talk because her heart right now is shattered and shred into pieces.
"Mom, She'll be staying with us from now on"
Diana looked up to Draco with confusion, she wondered if his mother was fine with that "I don't want to leave my lover in their house alone" he added.
"Of course she can, She's very welcome to stay with us" she heard Narcissa beamed.
But ― she needs to do one thing first before she lives with the Malfoys.
In a faint voice she interrupted "I need to bury my family first, somewhere beautiful and memorable"