Chapter 21: The Battle of Hogwarts
Emma began back towards the hallway where she had left Draco. She had only taken a few steps within the castle when she heard an explosive noise. Pieces of the shield around the castle began falling in. She took a few more steps before an even more explosive noise erupted. She looked up to see the shield disappearing. She took a few more steps forward and suddenly the wall behind her exploded. She threw up a shield to protect herself from flying debris, then broke into a sprint down the hallway.
Another portion of the wall exploded in front of her, and he ran to a balcony overlooking the wood that led into the Forbidden Forest. The Snatcher army was running across the bridge, following Neville, as it suddenly began exploding. Neville was just far enough ahead that he managed to make it. Emma ran along another hallway and up another staircase, with walls exploding and shrapnel flying everywhere, up more stairs, through another corridor, and now even some spells flew past her head, until she finally came back to the hallway where she had left Draco.
She found that he was gone. The etchings on the door into the Room of Requirements were glowing. It wasn’t the way that they usually did; they were glowing yellow instead of brown. She closed her eyes and thought I need to find Draco.
The doors swung open again and she stepped inside. It was a mistake. She found herself face to face with a wall of fire. She jumped back and pointed her wand at it. Her heart sank; if Draco really was in there, he was dead.
Suddenly, two large objects whizzed past her head, followed shortly by a third. The doors of the room slammed shut.
Emma turned to find Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Blaise coughing on the floor.
“What the hell happened!” Emma exclaimed. She grabbed Draco and pulled him to his feet, dusting off his clothes and patting down his hair. He had soot and burns on his hands from climbing up the stack of chairs and other discarded furniture.
“Are you okay?” she asked, holding onto his arms. “Are you hurt at all?”
“No, no I'm fine,” he told her, taking her face in his hands.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yeah I’m…. Wait… where is Crabbe?” he asked, turning to Harry.
“Dead,” spit Ron. “You should be too!”
Emma shifted Draco behind her and took a step back.
“Emma, you were right,” said Harry. “You were right about the Horcrux being in the school.”
“You have the other ones?” she asked. “How many have you gotten and which ones?” she asked.
Harry seemed suspicious for a few moments, but then began listing them off.
“I got Tom Riddle’s diary a long time ago. Then there was Gaunt’s ring, but that’s destroyed, too. We got Slytherin’s locket…”
“Hermione and I got the cup,” Ron interjected.
“Yeah, Hufflepuff’s cup,” Harry said, then looked down at the diadem. It was tarred and he went to hand it to Hermione, but it began vibrating and broke apart in his hands.
“Fiendfyre!” Hermione and Emma exclaimed at the same time.
“What?”
“Fiendfyre,” Hermione repeated. “It’s cursed fire. It’s one of the ways to destroy Horcruxes, but it’s extremely dangerous and I would never try it myself.”
“What happened?” asked Emma.
“Crabbe cast a spell, I guess the one that makes Feindfyre,” said Draco. “The Carrows taught us some spells like that, really dark magic that you're never ever supposed to use. But Crabbe wasn’t paying attention when they taught the countercurse…”
“Got himself killed,” Ron said. “Got what was coming to him.”
Emma glared at Ron, and then turned to Harry.
“So you only have one left to go,” Emma said. “Nagini, his snake.”
“How are we supposed to get close enough to kill that thing?” asked Ron.
“You can't,” said Emma. “I can. But you have to make sure that you will be able to kill Voldemort shortly after.”
“We have nothing to kill her with anyway,” Harry said.
“What happened to the sword?” asked Emma.
“We gave it to a goblin in exchange for Hufflepuff’s cup.”
“What goblin?” asked Draco.
“What's it to you?” Ron demanded.
“Ron, calm down,” said Hermione. “They're trying to help us.”
“There was a goblin that was killed at my home. His name was Griphook. He… he had a sword with him. I went to pick it up when the Dark Lord left, but it had disappeared.”
“Griphook is dead?” asked Harry. “He had the sword.”
“It’s a long silver sword, ruby in the end?” asked Draco.
“Yes,” said Hermione. “That was the sword.”
“It presents itself to those who need it,” said Harry. “So when we really need it, it will appear.”
“I hope so,” Ron muttered.
“We have to go,” Emma said quietly to Draco.
Emma looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione. She looked at Harry again and their eyes locked.
“You know what you have to do,” she said.
Harry nodded.
Emma took Draco by the hand and they began running together.
“The fighting is going on now,” Emma said as they ran. “We have to keep out of towers and in interior corridors. The castle is under full attack.”
He and Emma made it to the top of the rotating staircases and began down them when she heard screaming from the corridor outside of the great hall.
“They’ve broken through,” Emma said. She drew her wand as she stepped off the stairs.
“Do we really have to fight?” asked Draco.
Emma turned to him. There was something so troubled in his eyes.
“I tried to curse Harry but I just couldn’t do it,” Draco said. “I can't hurt people, Emma. It’s not as easy as it seems. I used to tease people, I used to be so mean, I—I mean, I even made Neville break his arm when we were in our first year—but I can't use magic to hurt people. I just can't.”
“I know,” she said softly. “I’ve seen you try to curse people before. I’ve seen how you struggle to harm people.”
“Ever since—”
There was a sudden sound behind them, and Emma wheeled around to see her father, who had just Apparated.
“Meet me in the boathouse in fifteen minutes,” he said.
“Of course,” said Emma.
Snape Disapparated again and left Emma and Draco standing there. The front doors suddenly burst open with a resounding crash.
“Wands ready?” she asked him. “Just protect yourself. You don’t have to hurt anyone.”
“Okay,” he said, taking a deep breath. His hand was shaking, but he still managed to raise his wand.
They took off down the stairs, sending Stunning spells at anyone who tried to send spells at them. Out in the courtyard, there were trolls and a seemingly endless army of Snatchers. They dodged spells, sent spells back, and Emma used a spell to restrain a troll in chains. They were almost to the stairs when a large Death Eater cornered them.
“Hiya,” he growled.
“We’re Death Eaters,” Emma said.
“Don’t lie,” he growled, “I saw you two sending spells at other Death Eaters.”
He tried to touch Emma but Draco put his wand to the Death Eater’s throat.
“Don’t touch my wife!” he yelled. “Stupefy!”
The Death Eater fell to the ground, stunned. Emma grabbed Draco’s hand and began down the stairs.
“Thank you for that,” Emma said as they continued down the steps.
“Yeah don’t mention it,” said Draco.
“It’s been fifteen minutes. We have to get down those steps.”
They finally made it into the room. Snape and Voldemort were already talking when Emma and Draco walked in.
“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,” Voldemort said. “So glad you could join us.”
Emma went to stand next to her father, glancing suspiciously at Voldemort.
“Father,” she said quietly.
He nodded to her. Emma glanced at him again. He never just nodded at her. He always said her name back when she greeted him.
“So, as I was saying, I have a problem, Severus.”
“My Lord?”
Voldemort raised his wand and held it delicately out in front of him.
“My problem, Severus, is that my wand will not work for me.”
There was a long silence in which Emma studied her father’s face. She thought his expression was a bit off. She looked at Draco as well, who was cowering as close to the door as he could get.
“My—my Lord?” said Snape blankly. “I do not understand. You have performed extraordinary magic with that wand. Why do you say it does not work?”
“I have performed my usual magic, nothing extraordinary. Of course, I am extraordinary, but this wand… no. It has not revealed any special power for me, none of the wonders it promised. There is no difference between this wand and my original wand purchased at Ollivander’s years ago.”
Emma glanced around. The room wasn’t anything special, just a solemn little boathouse. But as she looked at one of the glass windowed walls, she could see three figures moving on the other side. She panicked for Harry’s safety at first, but realized that she was the only one who could see them from her angle.
“I believe you may know why I called you in from the battle.”
“No my Lord. I beg you let me return to said battle. Please let me return, and find Potter for you.”
“You sound like Lucius.”
Draco tensed up at the mention of his father.
“Neither of you understand,” continued Voldemort. “Potter does not need finding. He will come to me. I know his weakness. His one great flaw. He will see others dying for him, knowing that it is for him that they fall, and he will want to stop it at any cost. Harry will come to me.”
“Let me bring him to you, my Lord.”
“But it is to you who I wished to speak, Severus. Not Harry Potter. You have been a good follower. You have been valuable. Very valuable.”
“My Lord…”
“Severus, my concern at the moment is not locating Potter. It is what will happen when I finally do. Why does my wand fail when directed at Potter?”
“I—I cannot answer that my Lord.”
“Oh, but you can. You killed Dumbledore. You control the Elder wand.”
Emma stood next to her father, keeping a suspicious eye on Voldemort. Her heart was pounding in her throat now. He had figured it out.
“My Lord…”
“It cannot be any other way, Severus. I must master the wand. While you live, the Elder Wand cannot truly be mine.”
“My Lord,” Emma began, stepping forward. Draco grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her back.
“Goodbye, Severus.”
Snape’s eyes grew wide. Emma tensed up. Voldemort flicked his wand and blood appeared on Snape’s collar. Emma stared at him, waiting for a response… and then he stumbled and fell back.
“Nagini, kill.”
“NO!”
Emma screamed as the snake repetitively launched itself at her father. He was shoved up against the wall the first time and each consecutive time the snake struck him he hit the wall hard with a resounding thud. To the others, the sound of the attack was drown out by Emma’s screaming. They could see, however, the blood splattering across the windows as the snake slashed its teeth into Snape’s neck. The snake finally recoiled, and Voldemort Apparated when the deed was done.
Harry and the others rushed into the room where Emma was still on her knees, silent now. She had her hands over her mouth, tears falling down her face.
“Dad,” Emma said, finally unfrozen.
She stumbled to her feet and rushed to his side. She knew she had to stop the bleeding. His breathing was erratic. Emma could hear the blood in his throat gurgling with each breath he took. She tried to find something she was wearing to staunch the external bleeding, but she had lost her scarf already. She just used her hand and pressed it firmly against his neck. He closed his eyes, as it obviously made the pain worse.
Harry rushed to his side as well. He could see the blood spreading across Snape’s shirt. Emma fumbled for a wand but couldn’t find hers. In the meantime, Harry had noticed silvery tears falling from Snape’s eyes. They weren’t normal; they were more silver than clear. Harry was trying to figure out what they were when Snape spoke.
“Take it,” he rasped, waving his hand weakly. “Take them.”
“What?”
“Just take them!”
“Oh! Hermione, I need a container,” Harry commanded quickly. “A vial, a flask, something.”
Hermione fished around in the beaded bag until she came across a small vial. Harry held it to Snape’s face and collected his memories.
“Look at me,” he said to Harry.
Emma already knew why Snape wanted Harry to look him in the eyes; Harry had the same eyes as Lily. Emma was still searching for a wand, trying to find something, anything, that could possibly save her father. Draco had drawn near now, and Snape grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him close.
“Take care of her,” he said. “She was my daughter, and I did a poor job of taking care of her. You married her; now it’s your job to take care of her. Do a better job of being her husband than I did being her father.”
“I promise I will take care of Emma,” Draco said.
“Did he say… married?” Ron murmured to Hermione. She nodded.
“Dad, don’t say that. I'm going to save you,” Emma reassured him.
The tears brimming in her eyes spilt over and fell down her face. She held her father’s hand and stroked his hair, and he put his hand on her face. He was trembling, and Emma put her hand over his to steady it. The tears in his eyes began again, but they weren’t memories this time. They were real tears.
“I love you, Emexyinia.”
Emma’s chin quivered and she had to work hard to form words.
“I love you, too, dad,” she said.
At that moment, Snape let out a final sigh and something within the depths of the darker set of eyes left, leaving them blank and staring into Emma’s tearful blue ones.
“Dad,” she whispered.
“He’s gone, Emma,” Draco said softly. “He’s gone.”
Emma began to sob. There was a feeling so empty within her that she couldn’t make her mind function in a logical way. She put her head on her father’s chest and sobbed, holding onto his body.
Her very worst nightmare had come true.