The Key (A Draco Malfoy Love Story)

Chapter 53: Our Surrender

Amelia's P.O.V

This is it, this is where it all ends for us. Harry and I await death tonight, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Everything makes sense now, why I kept having those wierd bursts of rage when we were in hiding. Dumbledore knew about all of this, throughout our lives and he leaves it until now to let us know? And Snape, he wasn't the bad guy, Dumbledore planned his death with him, because he knew that Voldemort wouldn't trust him otherwise. I hadn't really thought about how I was going to die, but I wanted to get married, have kids, have grandchildren, and I wanted Draco to be there with me. That's never going to happen, because we're dying, today. At the hands of Voldemort, the man I grew up to know. The feeling is indescribable, knowing you're going to die. You see the world from a different light, and really appriciate what you have. After Harry and I are gone, it's up to Ron and Hermione to kill the snake, then there's only Voldemort left. The statement written on my ring still confuses me, and I don't understand what Dumbledore was trying to get at, I guess I never will.

The walk to the forest seemed like it took an eternity. But it took far less than that, maybe about ten minutes. Neither Harry nor I spoke as we journeyed through the castle corridors, as there was nothing we could say. No-one was there to disturb us, as they were still in the Great Hall. My mind was immediately drawn to the Weasley's, they had lost a son, a brother, a twin to the killing curse, sent by none other than Rookwood. Maybe, just maybe I'll see him again, once we're gone, that massive grin permenantly plastered on his face. I could never imagine, in the time I knew them, Fred and George being separated, yet they were, and at such a young age, only ninteen years old.

We were soon out of the castle grounds and were venturing into the mist inside the Forbidden Forest, the lace was crawling with beasts, monsters and scary sights, but they were the least of my worries. My feet crunched the leaves scattered around on the ground and the cold wind surrounded me. My hand was latched onto Harry's the whole time, which was my only means of comfort, knowing he was there with me. Despite all that was going on, my brain was not thinking about any of it, only Draco. How the last time I would ever see him was outside the Roon of Requirements. I promised him that I would stay safe, and I can certainly say that it was broken. I just pictured him in my mind, that boy, I loved him with all of my heart, and I always will, dead or alive.

My aching eyes averted iver to Harry, who had stopped in his tracks and was reaching around in his pockets, obviously trying to find something. I looked at him questionably while he pulled something from the fabric of his coat, making my face turn into a look of understanding. It was the golden snitch. The neat, curly writing still imprinted into the shiny metal, rather like my ring, which was still on my index finger.

"I'm ready to die." Harry muttered, bringing the snitch to his lips very briefly before pulling it back. My eyes widened in surprise as I watched the gold slowly open, revealing the inside of it, which was meant to be hollow, but this one wasn't. The tiny, square-based-pyramid shaped Resurrection Stone lay inside, where Dumbledore had hidden it. I watched in wonder while the small stone floated out of it's golden casing and into my hand, where I enclosed it in my loose fist. I glanced upwards to find four translucent people stood, four of which I knew, one I could only guess. The one I didn't know, I guessed was Sirius Black, mine and Harry's godfather, who died shortly before I was rescued. But there, directly in front of us, was Mum and Dad, their ghostly hands outstrectched to us. We quickly walked to them and reached out, only to find that our hands went straight through there's. Both of them were staring at us lovingly, with pride in their eyes.

"You've both been so brave, my loves." Mum whispered, her voice like soft silk.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked first.

"All of you." I continued, finally finding my voice as I looked from Mum, to Dad, then Remus, then Sirius.

"We never went away." Mum replied, giving us a smile. Harry then looked to Sirius, pulling me gently along with him, due to our attached hands.