Right before the spells were used, "Incarcerous!" was screamed, and Harry looked up at the peculiarity of the spell usage.

Harry's eyes were wide with shock as he saw Voldemort and five of his death eater's bound together with a rope. Before Harry had fully registered that Seamus was the one holding his wand out and pointing it at the group, Seamus had yelled another quick spell, "Expelliarmus!" and he saw six wands fly away from the grasp of the death eaters and Voldemort.

When Harry registered everything in his head he had to commend Seamus' bravery, if even for his foolishness.

Voldemort stared intently at Seamus, who was visibly shaking, but before Voldemort could speak, Seamus had pointed his wand at Harry and yelled out, "Alohamora!"

The chains holding Harry to the wall fell free, and he quickly took out his wand from his pocket and pointed it directly at Voldemort, who looked down at him with angry eyes.

"And you honestly think that I would be so unprepared, Potter?" mocked the Dark Lord. Without any strange movement, the binds Seamus bound them up with earlier and the wands the death eater traitor had taken, flew out of Seamus's hands and returned to their original owners. Minus Seamus's which had flew into Voldermot's grasp.

After the return of the wands to the death eaters, all wands pointed to Harry.

"But this battle is between you and me, Potter. Now, you shall die and I shall win."

Harry said nothing but glare at Voldemort as an idea crossed the Dark Lord's mind and the thin line for lips Voldemort had were curved into a smile.

Without another movement, Seamus had been thrown against the wall and it was clear that he was under Crucio.

Voldemort smiled at the reaction that caused on Harry's face, "He shall pay for betraying me, Potter, and I can do much worst than Crucio."

Harry couldn't take it any more when a basilisk emerged from nowhere and wrapped itself around Seamus. "Stupi-" started Harry, but the basilisk wrapped itself around Seamus tighter, suffocating the Death Eater traitor. Before Seamus could suffocate to death though, the basilisk looked into Seamus' eyes, and Seamus looked back.

Voldemort had kept his eye on Harry the whole time to see the reaction that caused his rival. Priding himself, Voldemort spoke. "Potter, that must have been a painful death for Finnigin. I can make that happen to the others in the room, you know. They will all die, and you shall watch."

"NO!" shouted Harry, "Your fight is with me, Voldemort - not with them."

One of Voldemort's eyes rose slightly. "And why should I do that? Make it easier on you?"

"Then you're just a coward."

"Coward? Do you know to whom you are speaking?"

"Yes; the coward who needs to weaken his enemy to fight. Why not just face me alone and get this over with?"

"But it is far more entertaining to watch you swivel in your pain."

"Fine, then continue. But know this; even though I'll be watching and I'll be weakened, the fight was not fair. You may win, but after I am gone, you can never take back the fact that you did not win the title fairly."

"And what makes you think I care about winning fairly or not?"

"Do you think the wizarding world will still cower under you if they find out that the only way their Lord had won had not been as an equal?"

"This is getting ridiculous, Potter. You should already be screaming in pain at this very moment."

"Then let the battle begin, Voldemort."

The Dark Lord gripped his wand a bit tighter.

"CRUCIO!"

Harry froze.

The words had not been spoken from his lips, yet he felt no pain at the moment. Perhaps it was his ability to be able to throw off the curses. But by someone with as much power as Voldemort, this should not have been the case.

Everyone froze as Voldemort easily fought off the curse and looked as his second traitor.

"Fentson, did you honestly think that you could hold a curse on me?"

But Harry knew what to do. Without stalling, he had quickly taken advantage of the distraction, "AVADA KADAVRA!" he shouted, and green light exploded through the room. The last thing Harry saw before he fell into darkness, were red eyes.

"-how is he?"

"Not good."

"Will he make it?"

"I really cannot tell at the moment. It is too soon for anything."

"How about the others?"

"Mr. Finnigin did not make it. Neither did Audrey Fentson."

"Seamus?"

"Yes, Mr. Finnigin is gone. I'm sorry, Ms. Weasley."

"Why would he have not made it?"

"It wouldn't look it, but I guess the answers will be given if any of them make it. Now out you go, Ms. Weasley. You too, Ms. Lovegood. It would not do well for them if their rest is interrupted."

Then there was silence and darkness once more.

"How are they, Madam Pomfrey?"

"Their conditions do not look well, Headmaster. I'm afraid not one of them has shown any progress. There is no way for us to detect if there is even mind left in their bodies. But there is still life, Headmaster. There is still hope."

"Yes, you are right; there will always be hope."

Then there was darkness.

"I am afraid we lost Mr. Thomas last night, Professor McGonagall."

There was silence, then evidence that someone had blown their nose. "It's alright," replied the professor with a muffled voice, "I just hope we lose no more."

"So do I, Professor."

"Headmaster?"

"Yes?"

"So, is it true?"

"Yes, it is true; He Who Must Not Be Named is now He Who Is No More."

Then there was silence, soon followed by darkness.

"Headmaster, Mr. Zabini has awakened."

"Is he well enough, Madam Pomfrey? For me to take a look at, I mean?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid. He has only been able to open his eyes, but there is life in there, Professor. It won't be much longer."

"No, it won't be."

"But I'm afraid Ms. Brown's condition is fading quickly."

"Is there any way to keep her around?"

"Not unless we send her to St. Mungo's where she can receive the proper treatment."

"Very right, as always, Madam Pomfrey. If any of the others' condition takes a turn for the worse, send them to St. Mungo's immediately."

"Yes, Headmaster."

Then there was silence, and darkness.

"What is the update, Madam Pomfrey?"

"Many of them have started to improve. As before, Mr. Zabini and Mr. Weasley's conditions are improving. They have been able to make sounds to request what they want. Ms. Parkinson has awakened, and so has Ms. Granger, but they were in the state the other two were in. Professor Snape has been drifting in and out. If anything, I'm afraid his body is not as young as the others, so it may just take some time."

"And Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy?"

There was a sigh, "Nothing has changed with those two. I am afraid if it takes any longer, it may be the end for them."

"Do not give up hope, Madam. Remember, there is always hope."

Then there was darkness.

"How is-"

"Same condition, Headmaster."

"Nothing has changed?"

"Nothing."

Then there was darkness.

"-ever get better?"

"I'm afraid I have no answer for you, Ms. Weasley."

"Pansy and the others have gotten better. Why haven't-"

"Ms. Weasley, please, I honestly have no idea. This is entirely out of my hands. We can only hope and keep hoping that one day-"

"They will, Madam Pomfrey."

"Keep hoping."

Then there was darkness.

"It is as if he is refusing to get better, Headmaster."

"So it seems that he is just waiting for the other."

"Yes, but why? Why not just come back to us? He has the strength to."

"I am afraid this goes deeper than even I have come to experience. I have seen many in my life time. And I have experienced a great deal as well. But nothing like this. This, I am afraid, is something I will never understand."

And then there was darkness.

"Let them wait, Headmaster."

"Why? What is it that you know, Mr. Weasley, that we do not?"

"I cannot tell you what extent of love they have, but I know it will pull him back. And when it does, they will both be better. Just keep waiting and keep hoping."

"You are a good friend to him, Mr. Weasley."

"Perhaps not good enough, or I would have known, and I would have helped."

"There was no way for you to help him, Mr. Weasley."

"I would have if I knew. And if I knew, then I could have."

"Come along, Mr. Weasley. Spring break is over, and you still have not had much time to rest yourself."

"Actually, with Hermione and Lavender in Azkaban, I have had a lot of time to myself."

"Yes, I can see that. And how is Mr. Zabini?"

"Blaise is fine. He and Pansy were planning something with UT. We've got a party planned for them when they get better."

"You are very hopeful, Mr. Weasley."

"Yes, and I will never stop hoping."

Then there was silence, and then darkness.

"Harry, Draco, It's us, Pansy, Blaise, and Ron. Ginny and Luna would have come too, but they have been missing too many DA meetings as it is. Anyway, here we are again. I have no idea how many times we've done this. Anyway, we've heard news from Azkaban. Hermione could not take it anymore, and it was all over the news. She's died, soulless because she was given the kiss before she went in. I'm sorry Harry, we can never be the trio again, but then I guess there was no way for that to happen after she betrayed you - us - all of us."

There was silence.

"Oh, Harry, Draco, won't you both please come back to us? It will be the end of school in a month and a half. We will stay with you for as long as it takes, but it would be so much better to just get a response. Please, come back to us."

Ron was sobbing and his words were choked. There was also evidence that the other two in the room were crying as well.

'Was it worth it?'

'It is always worth it.'

'But it would be so much easier to just let go. Then we could be on the other side.'

'There will be a time and place for that. But right now, I think we should return.'

'No, not yet. I'm not ready to return yet.'

'Then we will wait.'

'Together.'

Then there was darkness

"School's over, you guys. And you still haven't come back. NEWTS are over, and we didn't have to take them. Remember the article I told you two about where there was a law passed years ago about risking your life and not having to take any OWLS or NEWTS? Well, that's why we didn't have to take them."

There was a pause, "It's not as fun without the two of you."

There was another pause, "A lot of stuff happened, of course, but it would be more fun if you two came back to us. It's quite boring without the two of you, actually."

There was a light chuckle before, "You missed when Neville asked Terry out. Remember Terry? Terry Boot? Well, it was funny, because Zacharias was going out with Terry at the time, and Neville didn't know. Zack was in the other room, and he was so angry when he heard, he stormed out while he pointed his wand threateningly at Neville. Then for some reason, Zach backed down and raised his eyebrow. Neville had turned a bright red colour, and then it was all over. Zach suddenly whispered something in Neville's ear which made him turn even redder, and the three of them went off somewhere. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, there."

There was a longer silence. "Harry, please come back. Draco, too. Everyone's leaving, except for me, Blaise, and Pansy, of course. Ginny had to go home, or else mum would worry too much. They all wanted to visit, but Dumbledore told them it was better to wait. Anyway, please come back. School's over. You can both come out. And- and I will never call you ferret again. And you can even call me weasel. I won't mind. I promise. Just-just come back. And bring Harry with you. Please?"

There was a choke of breath and no more words were made as there was a rustle of robes and the room felt a little bit emptier as Ron left.

Then there was darkness.

"Well, Draco, what have you done to yourself this time?" said a drawl.

"You are lucky the ministry had that law, or else you would have to relearn all of this year's potions to pass the NEWTS when you get out. It was incredibly difficult this year. Not many students received their NEWTS."

There was a pause. "All the death eaters have been rounded up. Actually, the curse went through the dark mark and whoever had it, well, they suffered quite a bit of damage. Not many made it. I did, of course, and so did your father. But he is in Azkaban, and I think it is for the best that he stays there. You know, the ministry is waiting for you two to wake before they give out the Order of Merlin's we were all promised. Well, Seamus' was already given at his funeral, but that was a long time ago - after the ministry got a hold of our story, and Seamus was proven traitor-free. They are still holding Fentson's. Even I do not know what to make of that. She was a Death Eater, yes, but she also gave Harry the time to… Gave Harry the time..."

Another long pause was made, and, "A lot of people miss the two of you, you know. There was an enormous amount of owls, and they still come. We had to read a lot of them, and eat a lot of the sweets that came along with some. Well, the others ate them; I do not indulge myself in such childishness."

There was a long moment of silence, and it was thought that the potion master was not going to go on, but after a very long time, he finally did. "Remember those times? This reminds me of those times. When it was just the three of us. No one else, and we would just - we would be happy. That was not something that came very easily to me. And it just feels as though - as though it has been far too long since I have been happy. Come back, both of you, and prove to me that I am wrong. Prove to me that I can be happy again. Just come back.

"I still have the pictures, you know. I look at them every now and then, just to see, for old times sake. You both really did look good in muggle suits. France must have been beautiful. It's made me think - if the two of you do not come back, then I truly have nothing left, do I?

"Give me back the will to wake up every morning. Give me the chance to wake again. Come back. Please?"

Then there was darkness.

'Do you think it's time now?'

'Yes, I think it is time now.'

'Then it's final.'

'Yes. It's final.'

'There's no turning back Harry.'

'No turning back.'

'Alright then, see you on the other side Harry.'

'See you on the other side Draco.'

The End