A/N: Your reviews are so wonderful! And although I've gotten to reply to the signed ones and show you my appreciation, I'd like to give a special thanks to Tawny, who made me feel like this story was truly worth writing.

Thank you for the inspiration, everyone!

Chapter Sixteen

In another part of Hogwarts, a team of Aurors was standing anxiously and apprehensively in front of a very large door, in the middle of a long corridor. Williamson, the Auror Harry had spoken with about the Dementors, was standing in front of them all. Their wands were raised and ready. And although many of these Aurors were doubtful and unsure of everything Williamson had revealed to them, they had decided that at the very least, the theory was worth testing out. And if the Dementors did indeed reside in all the passages leading into Hogwarts, then this was their best shot at actually capturing them. And after long months of accomplishing and learning nothing, this was a welcome tactic.

Williamson addressed them all. "Alright, now according to Potter and Draco Malfoy, these Dementors have probably been hiding out in here for a while. Malfoy thinks that the Dementors will attack using all the passages into Hogwarts. Be cautious of any movement on this side of the door."

The grim-faced Aurors nodded their heads in unison. Williamson had the Marauder's Map stashed in his pocket and only used it furtively, so Harry's strange artifact wouldn't be taken to be something Dark or confiscated. Other teams were stationed throughout the castle, in all the locations indicated by the Map. Dawlish was leading another team of several Aurors in front of the witch statue Harry had pointed out.

The team in front of the Room of Requirement had waited an hour or so, but hadn't seen any signs of the Dementors. Presently, however, thin tendrils of fog were beginning to crawl out from under the Room of Requirement door.

"I don't believe this!" One of the Aurors gasped, pointing his wand at the mist.

Williamson narrowed his eyes and clutched his wand tightly. "I suppose Malfoy was right. They are indeed planning to attack."

Several minutes later, the entire corridor had filled with fog and suddenly, scratching noises came from the door to the Room of Requirement. The Aurors stood tensely, their wands raised and happy memories forming in their minds.

"Attack only when I call for it!" Williamson called out.

The scratching noises increased and coldness engulfed the corridor, flowing like water from beneath the door. Frost began forming at the cracks between the door and the hinges, as well as upon the handles.

"Get ready—" Williamson said rigidly.

And then, with the power of sudden attack, the door burst open and Dementors began streaming out into the hallway, their ragged cloaks billowing out behind them as they flew forward. Their wide mouths began sucking at anything in sight, hungry for life. They streamed out in packs, dozens of them stumbling out, one over the other, until—

"Now!" Williamson cried out.

And the corridor was only filled with the cries of Expecto Patronum!

Harry opened his eyes slowly, first one and then the other. He heard a sharp intake of breath above him. His vision was blurry and all he could see was the splotch of blond above him, as well as a blinding light pointing into his face. He opened his eyes wider, but his vision didn't improve. The figure hovering over him moved slightly.

Something thin and wiry was thrust over Harry's face and Harry heard Malfoy's voice:

"Put them on and you'll see better. I'd forgotten how much you rely on those ugly things."

Harry was then aware of where he was. The cold ground under him was particularly hard and he was shivering. It was dark in the Chamber and the only light was the wand tip Malfoy was pointing in Harry's face. Harry moved his right hand to his face and adjusted the glasses Malfoy had thrown at him. His vision instantly became clear.

The first thing he saw was Malfoy's pale and pinched face staring at him. He seemed anxious and troubled as he examined Harry.

"I suppose you seem fine," he finally said. "I guess I administered it right in time."

Harry pushed Malfoy's wand out of his face and sat up, as his senses and memories returned. He looked around him, suddenly panicked and afraid that their poison hadn't worked and perhaps Ron's soul had been taken after all.

As he stood, Harry saw that the fog had dissipated slightly. The Dementors were gone but it was still as dark and cold as ever. He looked over and saw Ron still lying unconscious on the floor. The sight caused panic to swallow him up again.

"How is he?" Harry asked urgently. "Did they get to him?"

Malfoy shook his head. "No, we drove the Dementors away, as expected—"

Harry didn't wait for a statement beyond that one. He dropped down next to Ron and realized that though Ron hadn't been Kissed, his face was becoming paler and paler. The aftereffects of the poison and the Dementor's Kiss were still bitter on his tongue, but Harry had greater problems to consider. They had to get Ron to the Infirmary.

"We need to get out of here." Harry said decisively. "We need to get him to Madam Pomfrey. I only hope they didn't already take out his soul before we'd gotten here."

Malfoy nodded. "This should help."

He wordlessly placed a Weightlessness Charm on Ron and the two were able to drag him into a standing position. Malfoy pointed his lit wand in front of them so they could see through the fading fog and the darkness, while Harry dragged Ron's limp form through the Chamber passages, ambling back the way they'd first come.

Now that Harry's immediate concern over Ron's welfare had passed, he glanced at Malfoy as they walked. "So what happened with the Dementors? Where did they all disappear?"

"The Dementor Kissed you, as we expected it would," Malfoy said as he walked by Harry, his face pinched with worry. "But the poison didn't seem to take any effect at first. I had a timer on me and was counting down the ten minutes. You had passed out just after five minutes and the Dementors were still on you. I was worried the poison wouldn't work."

Harry huffed slightly as he carried Ron's form. "Well, obviously it worked if I'm still here."

"Yes, at about nine minutes after you took the poison, the Dementor was finally pulling out your soul, but instead of what you'd expect to see—the white little sphere that contains your entire entity—a black sphere emerged instead, which the Dementor swallowed up." Malfoy glanced into the dark shadows of the Chamber. "It screamed out and realized it had been tricked. It tried to go after me and Weasley, but it started disintegrating before it could even get close. Its entire body became flaky and turned into dust and it dropped to the ground, dying."

Harry listened quietly, then asked, "What happened to the other two Dementors?"

"Well, firstly—you were right. There were at least another dozen Dementors in the Chamber. They streamed out of the Chamber's caverns at hearing the Dementor die. They rounded on Weasley and me and I wasn't sure what to do. But it seemed like the mere sight of the dead Dementor put the nail in the coffin. The rest of the Dementors turned and began rushing out of the Chamber—"

"Out? Where?" Harry was astounded by this.

"I think they went back out to the Hogwarts grounds, through the passage they used to bring Weasley here. They're not in the Chamber anymore."

Harry was thunderstruck. He could hardly believe that killing one Dementor had resulted in scaring the rest of them off. He supposed they weren't stupid enough to hang around after one of them had been killed for the first time. They had probably considered themselves invincible, and now that one was defeated, the rest only feared the same fate.

Harry glanced back at Malfoy. "Then what happened? You said I was almost out of time when the Dementor finally Kissed me. I suppose you administered the antidote in time?"

Malfoy stared back at him and smiled slightly. "Well, obviously. I probably got you to drink that liquid in the last ten seconds that you had to live." His expression darkened. "It really was quite a risk. Another minute and you would've died."

"Then it's a good thing you were around to make sure that didn't happen." Harry looked at him seriously as well. "Thank you, Malfoy."

Malfoy glanced into the dark shadows of the Chamber. "Then I suppose my life debt was repaid. You saved me from the Fiendfyre in seventh year. And I saved you from a poison you willingly ingested."

Harry had never realized that Malfoy had considered that a life debt, but he supposed Malfoy would've died if he hadn't gotten him out of the Room of Requirement in time.

After trekking through the passages for a while, they finally neared the doorway of metal snakes that had required Harry to speak in Parseltongue.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Malfoy asked. "Coming into the Chamber wasn't difficult but getting out—"

"I think we'll do what the basilisk did while he terrorized Hogwarts," Harry said, huffing, both from the aftereffects of his ordeal, and from dragging the slightly less heavy Ron through the passages. "We'll use the pipes."

Malfoy turned and gave him a disgusted look. "Pipes? We're going to crawl through the plumbing until we find some toilet or bathroom from Hogwarts?"

Harry smiled. "That's exactly what we're going to do."

"How primitive," Malfoy muttered. "And I thought this is why we invented magic."

After Harry hissed at the metal door, it swung open and they were again in the debris-covered passageway that preceded the Chamber. He looked around it for a moment, able to see well since the fog had dissipated here the most.

"I think that's a good place to start," Harry said as he wandered to one side of the passageway that had a pipe leading into the wall and looked less steep than the one from Myrtle's bathroom, so they would be better able to crawl through it.

"Since it was your brilliant idea, you can go in first," Malfoy crossed his arms as he neared the pipe Harry was eyeing.

Harry had gone through much worse things than having to crawl through bathroom pipes. So he readily clambered into the cement pipe, hauling Ron with him, and began crawling forward slowly and laboriously. After he had gone several feet, he heard Malfoy scoff and follow after him.

Their trek through the pipe must have taken at least half an hour, while the descent into the Chamber had probably only taken a minute. Harry had betwitched parts of the pipe to reform and create slight indentations, so he could climb upward, placing his hands in the indentations to get better grip of the steep pipe. Crawling behind him, Malfoy was cursing under his breath every several minutes. But Harry could hardly have expected otherwise from a Malfoy, so he ignored him. His primary motivation for crawling through the pipes was to get Ron to the Infirmary as soon as possible. Ron's face was becoming paler by the minute.

Finally, Harry saw the end of their trek and the entrance to the pipe, leaking light into the crevice. With renewed strength, Harry hauled himself upward and pulled himself and Ron out of the pipe.

As he stood up and stepped onto a wet, cobblestone floor, he noted that he was in some type of bathroom. Since most bathrooms looked alike, he wasn't sure in what part of the castle they'd arrived. Harry walked forward, still holding the less-weighty Ron by his side to make sure he didn't fall.

Behind him, Malfoy crawled out of the pipe, cursing and dusting himself off.

"Now where are we?" he asked sullenly.

"I think we'll only find out if we get out of this bathroom," Harry stated, as he walked awkwardly toward the entrance of the bathroom.

Malfoy stepped next to Harry and helped him carry Ron as they ambled out of the bathroom.

The first sign of where they were was the immediate sight of the giant doors to the Great Hall, just to their right. Harry smiled and walked forward.

"Everyone should still be in the Great Hall, since McGonagall had put them in there for the night. We should be able to find Madame Pomfrey without too much trouble."

They walked toward the Great Hall and as they neared it, Malfoy ceased helping Harry with Ron and stepped forward to open the great doors.

The entire Hall was dark and silent. It was probably early morning by now and of course, everyone was asleep. But by opening the wide doors, they had created a disturbance and from a corner of the room, a shadow began striding toward Harry and Malfoy.

As it neared, Harry recognized it as McGonagall, who looked incredibly upset, surprised, and apprehensive.

"Potter, Malfoy—what in heaven's name are you doing here at this hour?" she demanded. But then, at the sight of Ron's body hanging over Harry, she stopped and her eyes widened in shock. "You've found him?"

Harry nodded. "There's a lot to explain, Professor. Ron's alive, but I don't know if his soul is still intact. We need to get him to the Infirmary, quickly."

McGonagall nodded, pursing her lips. "I can't believe this. One of the Aurors told me the two of you were going into the Chamber of Secrets to look for Weasley. But I didn't believe it. I thought you were only wasting your time."

Harry smiled. "I think this entire situation is coming to a close. The Dementors now know they can be killed."

This caused McGonagall to stare in even more shock. "But how—"

Her question was interrupted by loud and hurried footsteps outside the Great Hall, striding purposefully toward them. Harry turned to see one of the Aurors, grim-faced and tired from performing so many Patronuses, walking toward them.

"Headmistress," he addressed McGonagall, not even looking at Harry and Malfoy, and Ron's form hanging off the two. "You must open the doors to the castle at once. The Dementors have broken into the castle through all the other passages and our Aurors are driving them down to the first floor. They will have to be expelled out of the castle, but you've locked all the doors—"

McGonagall didn't seem as though she could handle any more revelations in one night. "The Dementors are all in the castle?" she only asked hollowly.

Harry could see that the most imperative thing at the moment was to get the Dementors out of Hogwarts. "Yes, Professor. You must open the doors to drive them away. They'll only stay inside the castle if you don't."

"Very well," was all she said, as she turned toward the sleeping Great Hall and strode in an unknown direction.

The Auror that had warned her finally caught sight of Harry, Malfoy, and Ron. His eyes widened incredibly and he stepped forward to examine them better.

"Is he alive?" he asked.

"Yes, but we don't know if his soul has been taken out or not. I suppose he lost consciousness after the Dementors brought him to the Chamber," said Harry.

The Auror inquired about what occurred, and Harry and Malfoy explained the details to him. The more they talked, the more curious, sleeping eyes opened throughout the Great Hall, and students bundled in their sleeping bags awoke to listen to the ordeal Harry and Malfoy had gone through. Some of them did not simply pretend to listen, and stepped out of their sleeping bags and neared the four figures. Many of them were surprised at the sight of Ron Weasley, whom Harry and Malfoy had laid down on one of the sleeping bags.

Finally, McGonagall returned with several other professors in tow, including Argus Filch, who eyed Malfoy, Harry, and the Auror with confusion and distrust. They strode toward the giant castle doors and began opening them. The sound of metal upon metal filled the halls, as the creaking doors were unlocked and left wide open. The jarring sound of this action awoke the rest of the sleeping Great Hall. Students were wide awake and alert, and many of them had gathered near the entrance to the Hall and examined the situation. They stared at Ron's still form in shock and dismay. They looked up at Harry, Malfoy, and the Auror with shining eyes, not understanding what had happened, but knowing that Ron had somehow been found. Rumors of his disappearance had spread throughout the Hall despite the professors' attempts to hush them.

Suddenly, as Harry watched the great staircases that led down to the first floor, he saw dozens and dozens of dark, hooded creatures descending toward them. At the sight of this great horde of Dementors, the students screamed and many of them backed up and stumbled back into the Great Hall. The professors that had just opened the great castle doors backed into the hallways and stood back. The Dementors did not even attempt to linger and steal any of the many souls gathered by the Great Hall. They rushed out the door, flying into the cold night air, and not turning back.

The sight was truly incredible. The entire school was gathered on the first floor and watched as a stream of cloaked, dark Dementors rushed out of the castle, their great ranks flooding out like a great river. They did not pause and did not linger. Their sole purpose was to escape the fate that had become the Dementor in the Chamber of Secrets.

The students had ceased shouting in panic and were now quietly watching as the entire horde left the castle. The Dementors disappeared into the Forbidden Forrest, but Harry had the feeling that they wouldn't be returning to Hogwarts for some time. Not when the Potions Master had the poison that could wipe them all out. If they valued their survival, they would not return.

After all the Dementors had gone out, McGonagall and the other professors closed the doors once more, locking them up again for extra measure.

Suddenly, students gasped all around the Great Hall and Harry turned to see what had caused that reaction.

He saw Ron's still form on the sleeping bag suddenly roll over as Ron stretched and opened his eyes.

Caught in the gaze of dozens of students, Ron's eyes immediately widened and he gasped.

"What—what's going on here?" he asked in confusion.

Harry's face broke into a brilliant smile as he wove through the crowd of students and dropped down next to the conscious Ron. Before Ron could do or say anything, Harry hugged him.

"Harry, what happened? Why are we in the Great Hall? Last I remember…" but he trailed off, as though not remembering what he last remembered.

Harry released him and gave him another bright smile. "You were brought into the Chamber of Secrets by the Dementors you went to look for. Malfoy and I went into the Chamber, and using that poison we'd made, we killed one of the Dementors. The rest of the ones in the Chamber streamed out of the castle."

By now, the entire Hall was quietly listening to these revelations.

Though Harry realized that everyone was now listening in, he continued explaining what had occurred in the Chamber. He described the realizations he, Malfoy, and Williamson had made outside Myrtle's bathroom, the ordeal that had ensued in the Chamber, and their success in driving away the Dementors, at least from that part of the castle. Finally, Harry shed light on why these events had been occurring, and why only the Slytherin girls had been attacked, and how the Dementors now could be stopped.

Ron absorbed this all in silence and shock. "Bloody hell. Sounds like I missed all the good parts."

Harry laughed, glad more than anything that Ron was back, and that his soul hadn't been taken after all.

The students gathered around them had broken into whisperings and hushed conversations. One of the Gryffindor students approached Malfoy and looked at him questioningly and doubtfully.

"Did you really create a potion that can kill Dementors?" he asked.

Malfoy glanced down at the student and crossed his arms. "Yes."

"Blimey," the student said in wonder. "My mum told me that wasn't possible. There was no way to kill a Dementor other than to use a Patronus to shield yourself from it."

"Well, you can tell your mum that now it's possible. I've done it and I have the potion right here to prove it." Malfoy brought out the tiny vial of black sludge, still sounding defensive. Malfoy was obviously not used to being regarded as anything other than a callous, reformed Slytherin Death Eater.

The gathered students stared at him in awe, examining the little vial. Realizing that the students were genuinely regarding him with respect, Malfoy's closed expression loosened slightly and he smiled.

"It's actually not as simple as it looks," Malfoy stated. "The inner workings are quite complicated."

"Will you tell us how you've done it?" the same Gryffindor asked, his face shining with curiosity and excitement, forgetting that this was the Potions Master that made his students stay after class and look for Potions ingredients and chop them up for detention.

Malfoy suddenly smirked. "If you're willing to try a little harder in Potions, I don't see why you shouldn't be rewarded with learning how I've created this potion."

Harry watched as the students, Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws alike, stared at Malfoy with newfound respect. The Slytherins smiled amongst themselves, probably glad that other Houses were finally beginning to take them seriously.

Ron glanced at Harry and raised his eyebrows. "I guess the git actually pulled through. So the potion you've been working on actually killed the Dementor?"

Harry nodded, glad to have Ron back. "Yes. Malfoy may be a lot of things, but he's certainly a good potion-maker."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Well, I suppose he's got to be good at something, if nothing else."

Not in the mood to argue, Harry simply stood up and examined the Great Hall, which was filled with students and professors alike that were caught in inspiring and happy conversations, glad that the great, dark shadow of the Dementors was finally out of sight.

Ron stood by Harry and said, "Some mission this was, huh? I'd better get a great paycheck after risking my life out here for five months."

Harry smiled.

"One thing's for sure. I don't want to have to produce another Patronus for a while."

The next day, Harry and Malfoy sat in Harry's sleeping quarters and talked over the events of the last few days. Earlier that morning, Harry had gone into the Chamber again with Madam Pomfrey and several Mediwizards from St. Mungo's to fetch the two unfortunate victims of the Dementors—Hestia Baddock and Tracey Higgs. Although Harry hadn't spotted Tracey when he and Malfoy had gone into the Chamber, they found her with relative ease, with the same hollow expression on her face as Hestia. Harry had looked away as the Mediwizards picked up the two girls and left for St. Mungo's. It was apparent that the only thing that could still be done for them was proper burial.

Harry had contacted Hermione through the Floo network earlier that day as well, after she'd spoken with Ron and found out all the horrors of the previous night's events. Hermione gushed with happiness that Harry was alright and was immensely impressed with the way Malfoy's potion and antidote had worked. In fact, she was quite curious about it, after finding out that it had worked, and wanted to know its exact details.

Harry was now lying on his four-poster bed and reading a front-page article from the Daily Prophet, which had a giant picture of Malfoy, Harry, and the rest of the Auror team plastered over a lengthy article describing the Aurors' triumph in solving the Dementor case at Hogwarts, using a potion that Malfoy had created. Though the article made several references to the bravery and skill of the Aurors in defeating the Dementors, it also raised points on Malfoy's role in fighting off the dark creatures.

Malfoy sat at the edge of Harry's bed and glanced out the window while Harry read. He had already absorbed the entire article and Harry supposed that though Malfoy wasn't showing it, he was immensely pleased to be recognized by the Wizarding world for something other than being a Death Eater.

After another minute, Harry folded up the paper and placed it on his nightstand.

"I can't believe it's over," he stated as he placed his arms under the back of his head as he lay and stared at the top of the four-poster bed. "It feels like I've been here for so long, that I can't head back to the real world."

Malfoy glanced at him, his face pensive. "I suppose now I'll have nothing to do in my spare afternoons after you leave. No dangerous situations to get myself into by going into freezing lakes or getting bitten by snakes." He smirked. "That's a lot to miss."

Harry smiled. "At least now you've gotten some respect from the other Houses."

Malfoy sighed. "While that's true, I don't think the rivalry between Slytherin and everyone else will go away this easily, despite the end of the attacks and Whitby getting sacked. There's still a lot of poison to be dealt with at Hogwarts. This was just a good start."

Harry sat up at hearing the tone in Malfoy's voice. "Malfoy, you've done so much for this school in the past few months. Give it time. Only that will erase your Death Eater status from everyone's minds."

Malfoy said nothing as he continued to stare out the window.

"What will you do with the Felix Felicis?" Harry suddenly asked, remembering their unfinished potion in Malfoy's storage room.

At that, Malfoy smiled slightly and glanced at Harry. "After these last few months, I think I could do with having a perfect day. Don't you?"

Harry smiled and leaned forward across the bed. "I don't think you'll need the Felix Felicis to do that."

Malfoy sensed the forward gesture in Harry's eyes. He turned and stared as Harry gave him an equally direct look. They both knew that a lot was still left to figure out about the relationship they had developed. Malfoy was stuck at Hogwarts as Potions Master. Harry was an Auror—and he would involve himself in many more dangerous situations after leaving Hogwarts. But for the moment, those considerations were left for another time. For now, there was a present to deal with.

Malfoy leaned forward across the bed and placed one hand on Harry's shoulder and stared deeply at him.

Harry didn't hesitate this time.

He wrapped his arms around Malfoy's neck, bringing him forward, as Malfoy crawled over the bed, pushing Harry back into the bedpost as he did so. The rather hungry, intense look Malfoy gave him made Harry's face heat up and his lips part. There was no longer any reservation between them. Their shared experiences had forged a friendship that spilled with relative ease into something more.

Malfoy pressed his body into Harry's, straddling him, and elicited a deeper blush from the latter. Their faces were inches from each other. Harry could count the rays of gray that radiated from Malfoy's dilated pupils. Harry reached up and tentatively, carefully, pressed his lips to Malfoy's neck, and slowly kissed down to the sensitive curve between neck and shoulder.

Malfoy shuddered.

And when Malfoy's lips parted, face flushed, Harry weaved his fingers through Malfoy's carefully-tended hair, and brought his face level to his own again.

And for the second time in two days, Harry pressed his lips to Malfoy's parted ones, this time eagerly, unreservedly, and with wild abandon.

Harry found that after years of animosity and rivalry—after Kissing a Dementor, kissing Malfoy wasn't so bad. In fact, it provided him with memories that would forever overshadow his callous past.

And that, Harry realized, he wouldn't trade for the world.

A/N: Okay, so I'm really hesitant about that last romantic scene. Miss Crookshanks was kind enough to beta these last few chapters and suggested that I add a little more romance toward the end, so this emerged. I just hope it's not... sudden, or overly deviant from the rest of the story.

Anyway! Thank you so much to all my readers! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it! Although it's finally over, I would still love to know what you think, so please review!