Stuck with Me [Harry Potter]

Chapter 16 - The War Has Come to an End

Courtyard filled with rubble, the remaining Hogwarts students stood on the stone in the morning daylight, watching Lord Voldemort walk up to them with his posse, along with Hagrid, who was carrying someone very limp in his arms.

Luna's heart sank as she focused her eyes on the body in Hagrid's arms.

"Who's Hagrid holding in his arms?" Ginny demanded, shoving passed people. "Hagrid, who is that?"

"I have killed Harry Potter!" Lord Voldemort shouted.

"NO!" Ginny screamed, and someone had to hold her back. "No!"

Luna felt tears come to her eyes as she looked at Harry's lifeless form, her heart hurting for the loss of one of her very good friends. Her head became fuzzy, and her body ached everywhere from the battle.

"Come and join me!" Lord Voldemort said in a slithering voice. "Come, join so we can have more forces to take on the wizarding world! You will have infinite power!"

A great silence overcame the courtyard. No one wanted to join the being who had made everyone's life, even the wizarding world, a living hell.

"Draco!" someone suddenly said, and Luna's heart jumped. Who said his name? Luna moved through people so she could get a better look since she was on the shorter side. She saw Lucius Malfoy's hand extended. "Come, Draco," Lucius called again.

Luna, as well as everyone else, looked in the direction Draco's father who had his arm extended, and her pulse rose when she spotted Draco standing on the rubble, a frown on his face.

"Draco," his father hissed.

All eyes were on him as Draco stepped down and walked to his father, and his mother put an arm around him and turned him away from the crowd. Luna took a step, wanting to go to him, but she stopped herself. Draco and his mother turned around. His eyes darted to exactly where Luna was. His eyes widened.

Luna took another step forward, and Draco definitely noticed. He took a step in her direction but couldn't go farther due to his mother's hold. Luna noticed the look of longing in his blue eyes. It took all the rest of the strength in her to not run to him. What would happen if she did that?

"Harry is gone," someone said, and Luna looked to see Neville Longbottom standing in front of the Dark Lord, "but we will still fight! We will defeat you once and for all, and you will do no harm to the wizarding world no more!"

Lord Voldemort laughed, but immediately ceased when Neville suddenly pulled a magnificent sword out of the sorting hat, and Harry jumped out of Hagrid's arms. Several people gasped, and Lord Voldemort shouted in disdain and shot curses at him but missed. Luna covered her mouth as this went on, utterly shocked that her friend was pretending to be dead this whole time.

Luna ran, along with all the other students who scattered in all directions as Harry and the Dark Lord fought. Luna hid behind a stone pillar and watched in amazement the one-on-one battle between Harry and Lord Voldemort.

Luna's eyes darted around. Draco was nowhere to be seen.

~ ~ ~

"Congratulations, Neville. That was amazing."

"Thanks, Luna. I didn't know I had it in me."

"Sometimes we are stronger than we originally think ourselves to be."

"Yeah..." He held onto the handle of the Gryffindor sword, with which he destroyed the last horcrux that killed Lord Voldemort—the snake Nagini.

Luna sat next to Neville in the Great Hall as others around them were talking together, healing each other and crying for their dead. Luna's gaze lingered on the Weasley family who lost Fred, and another group around Tonks and Lupin. Luna felt her heart pinch. She would miss those friends of hers dearly, as well as others like Collin Creevey and Lavender Brown.