Hello everyone! We have finally made it to the LAST CHAPTER! I never thought I'd see the day... Not this soon anyway. Before I let you all delve in for the last time of this segment, I would like to thank EVERYONE who has read ANY bit of this story, has reviewed, favorited me, or my story, or has it on alert. Thank you all for sticking with me this far! I will have a note at the end regarding what happens next. Without further delay, I do not own Harry Potter! I do however own Jessica Anderson, and my plot twists.

Sunday morning Jess woke up late. She sat in bed for a while, trying to pass the day, or as best she could. Around noon Hermione came over and suggested they go outside or to the library. "No thanks, I'm going to stay here." Jess replied while rolling over.

"Jess, you can't avoid what happened yesterday. It's done and over with."

"That's easy for you to say. You didn't lose half your friends yesterday!" Jess shouted while standing up. She grabbed a change of clothes and went into the bathroom. Ten minutes later she emerged and quickly grabbed her wand.

"Where are you going?" Came the motherly voice of Hermione."

"Out." Jess shut the door behind her.

"Jess wait!" The bushy haired girl ran after her. "Where are you going?"

"I told you, out."

"Out can mean a lot of places."

"You can figure it out then. Don't follow me." She stalked out of the common room, leaving a worried Hermione behind.

Jess walked outside, hardly a soul was out there. "Must be at lunch." She continued walking until she stood right outside the forbidden forest. The wind picked up and tossed her russet brown hair around. Taking a deep breath, Jess closed her eyes; a smile crept up on her face. Long had the woods been personified as a peaceful place to seek refuge. Also as a place where magic happens. A classic example of that was Jess' favorite playwright, William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She definitely bought into the first depiction of the woods. Back at home she had a small little wooded area behind her house. In the summers it had been a calming place to escape to. Right now, the forbidden forest looked more than welcoming. This was what she thought as she took her first step in. "I hope I don't get eaten by anything." She murmured to herself while taking another step in. Jess turned to look at the exit of the forest. "It's either turn back now or go further in." She stood there motionless for a moment while she thought. Her next step would determine her direction. Slowly Jess raised her foot and then planted it back on the ground, moving deeper into the forest. Her next few steps were quicker as she soon disappeared behind the trees.

Hermione decided to leave her alone for the next couple of hours, before starting to look for her. Her first stop was the library, where she searched every nook and cranny to no avail. Next she checked the owlery, then the astronomy tower. Hermione then went back to their room just in case she had come back. There was no sign of her. She sighed and checked Hagrid's, nothing. Finally Hermione Granger turned to her last resort, Draco Malfoy.

Draco was walking down the hall when he noticed Hermione coming towards him. His eyebrow rose in curiosity when she stopped in front of him. "To what do I owe the occasion?"

"I'm looking for Jess and I've checked everywhere. Have you seen her?"

"Afraid not, though I was hoping to. And you're sure you've checked everywhere?"

"Yes, Malfoy, the library, owlery, astronomy tower, Hagrid's Great Hall, Room of Requirement, all of the classrooms. Or is that not thorough enough for your liking?" She bit back sarcastically.

He looked a little surprised. "She's not in any of those places?"

"No."

"Hmm, I doubt she went to Hogsmeade."

"So do I. What to you suggest, Malfoy?"

He pawned off on her the book he was reading. "Return this to the library for me. I'm on it." Draco then quickly left down the hall.

Hermione blinked and looked down at the book now in her hands. "If only Ron and Harry had seen that side of him." She sighed and went to return his book.

Draco ran outside and scanned the area. "Granger said she wasn't at Hagrid's." He looked over at the Black Lake. "Not there either." Like it was a slap in the face, Draco looked ahead of him into the woods. "There we go, but why? Merlin I hate those bloody woods." He grumbled as he trudged into them.

Jess was sufficiently lost among the thick layer of trees. "Great, oh well it's quite the adventure." She looked to her right and saw the trees thinning slightly. "Hmm, that way." She started to walk over, thinking she was close to the exit. About a half hour walk later she came to a clearing. The grass was lush and green and felt like a soft pillow underneath her feet. Jess carefully removed her shoes it now being May, she wouldn't freeze. The grass felt cool in-between her toes as she walked around. Right in the middle of the clearing there was a decent sized pond of water. As her eyes scanned the pong a small gasp left her lips as she saw two magnificent creatures congregated around it. "Unicorn's." She whispered, barely audible.

There before her were two unicorns. The one was full grown, the other half its size. It looked like a mother and her foal. The mother was pure white while the foal was a blend of silver and gold. Jess noticed that the mother wasn't budging from the foal's side. She looked over to the foal to see thick silver blood around its left back leg. Jess silently approached, making herself look small and non-threatening. The mother turned around apprehensively and got ready to leave.

"No, don't leave. I won't hurt you." Jess said softly while holding out her hand. She stopped a few feet short of the pair, not wanting to encroach on their personal space. The mother stared her down, convinced she was going to hurt her foal. The foal on the other hand was like most children was naïve and approached her. Jess didn't move, letting him come to her. The foal nuzzled at her hand and Jess couldn't help but laugh. She petted the velvet soft nose of the foal with a wide smile. The foal whinnied in delight as the mother slowly approached. Jess bent down and looked at the foal's cut. "He must have run into something while trying to get away." She said to herself. "It's alright little one, I'll take care of it." Jess ripped off a piece of her sleeve and pointed her wand at it. "Aquamenti." A steady stream of water jetted out of her wand and dampened the fabric. She used the counter spell and then dabbed the cloth on the cut. Jess then tightly tied the cloth around his ankle. "There, good as new."

The foal pushed his snout into Jess' chest in appreciation. She laughed again and stroked his mane. "You're welcome." Jess looked over to the mother who in an instant liked her a hundred times better. She calmly approached Jess and bent her head so Jess could pet her. "It was no trouble." Jess murmured as she lightly petted the mother's nose. "You are beautiful. I wish I could be as beautiful as you." She whispered softly as she kissed the foal's neck. "And you'll be just as beautiful. I'm sure of it." Jess smiled and began walking around the clearing. "I wonder if Hagrid knows about this place. He probably does. I mean how could he not? I wish I would have found it earlier." The foal followed her around happily, his mother now feeling much more at ease. Jess turned around and smiled. "Looks like I've found a new friend." The foal butted its snout into her hand. She laughed lightly as she ran a hand down his back. "I'll definitely have to come back."

Draco meanwhile was having a difficult time finding Jess. He looked high and low in the dark forest but still found nothing. "Either she's out of the forest by now, or she hides very well." Draco stood still and thought of how he was going to decipher is she was there or not. He gripped his wand and raised his arm into the air. "Pericculum!" Red sparks shot off high into the air so that Jess would be able to see them.

She turned and noticed the red sparks. "Hermione probably sent Hagrid looking for me." She rolled her eyes. "Well then." Jess dug out her wand. She slowly petted the foal's neck. "Not don't run off on me." Slowly she raised her arm with wand in hand. "Pericculum!" The red sparks shot off into the air.

Draco looked overhead and faintly saw the sparks to his right. "She's still in here then. Why, I have no idea." Draco turned his bearings to the right and continued his trek.

Jess walked over to the pond and looked in. Little fish swam about happily in streaks of brown and red. "Fish? How did fish get in here?" She sat down and placed her feet into the water. A slight shiver crawled up her spine. "Still a bit chilly." She swung her feet around in the water, scaring the fish off from biting her toes.

"The trees are thinning out." Draco mused out loud as he followed the thinning trees. About ten minutes later he stood out at the edge of the clearing. "Huh, that's weird." He took a few more steps and noticed Jess' socks and shoes. "Ah, so she's here." Draco walked up to the edge of the pond behind Jess. He smirked as he crouched down behind her and covered her eyes.

Jess felt a cold hand slink around her eyes and cover them. A small gasp chocked out of her throat. "W-who's there?" She managed to say.

Draco didn't respond but placed a soft kiss on her neck. His hand came off her eyes and both arms slid down to gently rest on her shoulders. "I found you." He murmured before kissing the other side of her neck.

Her body instantly relaxed. Jess' head turned to face him. "Draco! I thought Hagrid would be the one looking for me."

"That big oaf has no idea you're out here. Granger-"

"Hermione." She corrected.

"Her-mi-one" he stressed every syllable, "told me she hadn't seen you in a while; and that she had checked all around for you. I being the concerned boyfriend I am decided to start looking for you."

"Oh I'm flattered." She rolled her eyes.

"You should be."

"Oh, shut up."

He feigned mock hurt. "That got me, right here." He motioned to his heart.

"You mean you have one?"

"You of all people should know I have one." He replied back testily.

Jess fully turned around. "I know you do, and it's as big as mine." She placed her hand on his cheek.

"Why are you so hard to stay mad at?" He asked, a smile starting to form on his face.

"I'm not sure." She shrugged and stood. "Look what I found." Jess motioned over to the unicorns, which were now a bit stand-offish, due to Draco's presence.

Draco looked over. "Unicorns." He rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"Only you could go into the forbidden forest and find unicorns. No, you could have easily run into a werewolf, troll, a vampire even but no, what do you find? Unicorns."

Jess couldn't help but break out into a fit of laughter. "That does sound a bit ridiculous doesn't?"

"Very."

"Stay here."

"Alright, where are you going?"

Jess walked over to the pair of unicorns. She smiled over at the foal and kissed his velvet nose. "I want you to meet someone." Jess led him over to Draco who remained still. "This is Draco, he's a friend of mine."

"Friend," he questioned.

"Boyfriend." She corrected. "Draco, hold out your hand."

Draco did as he was told and extended his long arm. The foal looked at it for a moment before gently nudging it. Draco slowly moved his hand to the top of the foal's head and petted him.

"See, he's not scary." Jess grinned and kissed Draco on the cheek. 'Unicorns are more prone to witches than wizards."

"I see."

"Look, his mother is relaxing a bit."

"Well at least one species doesn't deem me evil."

"Oh hush." Jess kissed him again before rolling up her pants to her knees. She walked over with the foal into the pond. "Coming Draco?"

"I don't want to get wet," he replied.

"Oh come on!"

"No."

"Draco" she whined.

He sighed and rolled up his pants and walked in. "Happy?"

"Yes, very." She grinned as she splashed him.

"Hey!" Draco smirked and splashed her back. The pair chased each other around. The foal neighed and followed them around. Draco's shirt was drenched, as he peeled it off and revealed his smooth, toned chest.

"Wow." Jess remarked as she looked at him.

"What?" One of his eyebrows was raised.

"I forgot how good you looked without a shirt on."

"How could you?"

She laughed, "It's been a long time." Jess walked over and flicked a drop of water off of a lock of his now slightly darker platinum blonde hair, due to the fact that it was wet.

"Mmm, yes it has." He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a deep kiss.

Even after being together for a few months, after kisses like that Jess slightly blushed. She looked up at Draco with a smile. "Now aren't you glad you came to find me?"

"I'm very glad I did."

"We should probably get going."

"Yeah before Gran- Hermione has a fit."

Jess kissed his cheek. "She'll probably be worried." Jess and Draco then said goodbye to the unicorns. Jess leaned her face against the foal's neck and whispered. "We'll come back someday." She turned to see Draco had his shirt back on and was using a drying spell. Jess did as well and the pair walked back to the castle.

The week went by uneventfully. Ron and Harry kept up being mad at Jess the entire week. After the first few days, the worst part of it was, Jess got used to it. She didn't even try to talk to either of them. Hermione was worried about her and wondered how long this could continue peacefully.

At the end of the school week, when Ron was nowhere in sight, Harry approached Jess. "Hey Jess." He had kept his distance in respect to Ron.

Jess turned and looked at him in shock. "Harry??"

He smiled weakly. "I'm sorry that I didn't talk to you sooner. I still plan on staying one of your best friends if you can forgive my absence over the last week."

"Of course Harry." She smiled wide, tears started to form in her eyes as she gave Harry a big hug. "Glad to have you back."

Harry smiled as well. He had missed her over the week. "I have some news about the horcruxes I'd like you two to hear." He looked at Jess and Hermione. They nodded and followed Harry down the hall.

That night Draco found a replacement seeker for the match against Hufflepuff the following day. Professor Snape wanted to talk with him about his progress. Draco know this would be more than a short meeting and decided he would fake being sick if need be. Not that he would be needed tomorrow. His team was more than equipped to beat Hufflepuff without him. He wasn't concerned in the slightest.

Saturday afternoon Draco spent with the potions professor. Mostly they discussed that the time was coming near, that Dumbledore was in his last couple weeks of living. Draco tried to convince him otherwise, he didn't want to betray jess. Smoothly, Snape convinced him that everything was going to be just fine. There was nothing to worry about. Draco only hoped he was right.

After the Slytherin's win against Hufflepuff, it was decided which two teams were the bottom two. The 23rd of May would be the third and fourth place match, Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff. The day after would determine the winner of the house cup, Gryffindor or Slytherin.

The 23rd came and the match was held in the early afternoon. Gryffindor students attended out of courtesy. Jess sat next to Rachel in the Ravenclaw section of the stands to help cheer them on. Hermione and Gunny joined her as well. Ron was off else ware and Harry was nowhere in sight.

"Sir, are you sure we should do this now?" Harry asked Dumbledore.

"Yes Harry I think now is the prime time to destroy the horcrux." They were outside the Hogwarts perimeters, close to Hogsmeade. "Are you ready Harry?"

"Yes, sir I am." With that Dumbledore had Harry grab tightly onto his arm and apparated else ware.

During the game Draco was in the Room of Requirement. He held a two sided coin in his hand. All he would have to do is give the Death Eaters the signal of when to come in. Then he could step aside, grab Jess and make sure she wasn't in danger and run away. So they could be together. Yes this sounded like a good plan. Draco stepped out of the Room of Requirement later on in the evening around dinner time. "I should have enough time to grab something to eat." He walked towards the Great Hall. A cold hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"Draco, it's time." Professor Snape replied cooly.

"Now sir?"

"Soon, come with me."

Draco followed him down to the dungeons. There they waited until Dumbledore's return. A few hours later Snape stood. "Signal for them, they follow me."

Draco touched the coin with his wand and one side of the coin changed. He then stood. "Sir, I want to make sure Jess is safe."

"We don't have time for that. Dumbledore will be back very soon."

"Sir I don't understand. I thought you were going to take care of this."

"No Draco, it's up to you. Quickly now, up to the roof." He gave Draco a strong shove out the door.

Draco ran to the roof, his legs heavy as lead. "How did I get suckered back into this?" What he worried most about was what Jess would think. He had told her, he wouldn't do it, but now he was forced to. He wouldn't actually do it though. Draco could easily pawn it off on an eager Death Eater. He would just need to make it seem to Voldemort that he did it and make known to Jess that he hadn't. He ran up the last staircase and emerged on the roof out of breath.

Dumbledore looked terrible, and much older than he usually did. He looked tired and worn, like an old grandpa who just wanted to rest in his rocking chair. The dark mark was a large green haze in the sky. Snape must have set it off, Draco mused quietly as he looked at the lonely professor. That was odd; someone else had to be there. He couldn't see Harry, stunned under his invisibility cloak. This all happened in a few seconds before Draco quickly shot off a spell. "Expelliarmus!" Dumbledore's wand flew out of his hand. He looked suspiciously at Dumbledore. "Who else is here?"

"A question I might ask you, or are you acting alone?" Dumbledore asked far too calmly.

Draco thought for a brief moment before answering quickly. "No, I've got backup. There are Death Eaters in your school tonight."

"Well, well, very well indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?"

"Yeah, right under your nose and you never realized!"

"Ingenious. Yet… forgive me… where are they now? You seem unsupported."

"They probably met some of your guards. They won't be long though. I went on ahead of them. I- I've got a job to do." Even now, Draco doubted his actions. Was he stalling or was he actually going to do it?

"Well, then you must get on and do it, my dear boy." Dumbledore replied softly. Draco pointed his wand but did nothing else. "Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."

"How do you know?" Draco asked at once. He got irritated by the patronizing look Dumbledore had. "You don't know what I'm capable of. You don't know what I've done." In truth he didn't. If he had, Dumbledore would have made sure he never was with Jess. After all Draco's persona was that of a heartless and cruel young adult. And he couldn't shake it off. Only one person had been able to shake it off and she wasn't there.

"You managed to introduce Death Easters into my school, which, I admit, I thought impossible… How did you do it?" But he got no answer from Draco. "Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone. What if your back up has been thwarted by my guard? As you have realized there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight too. And after all, you don't really need help… I have no wand at the moment… I cannot defend myself." Draco just stared at him. He didn't want to do it. "I see, you are afraid to act until they join you."

"I'm not afraid!" Draco yelled, Dumbledore didn't understand what he risked here. He risked the one thing in his life he could never live without again. "It's you who should be scared!"

"But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe… So tell me while we wait for your friends… how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it."

Draco didn't want to talk any small talk anymore. He dropped his arm to his side. "I can't do it" he murmured to himself as he went to turn.

"What was that, Draco?"

He gave him a look of disgust. Draco heard people coming and quickly raised his arm again. Death Eater's poured out onto the roof. The last of them was Snape. He said nothing and pushed Draco roughly out of the way. Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.

Dumbledore's voice pleaded with him softly. "Severus… Please…"

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Harry's scream of horror, from underneath his invisibility cloak never left him; silent and unmoving, he was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air. For a split second he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull in the sky, and then he fell slowly backward, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight. Snape grabbed the statue-still Draco and ran for it.

Jess was fighting down below with Hermione, Ron and a couple other students as well as their teachers, and members of the Order. She dodged left and right while casting off spells and curses. Two figures ran down from the staircase leading up to the roof. Jess and Hermione ran after them as they blocked spells coming their way. Harry quickly caught up to them and shot out ahead of them.

Snape pushed Draco on. "Get outside of the gates as fast as you can. Then we'll be safe."

Draco ran like he was told to. It felt like all he did throughout the years was run, and was getting sick of it. He looked behind his shoulders and saw a curse land just short of him and Snape.

"Don't look back" Snape ordered.

But he had to one last time. What he saw was the girl of his dreams along with Potter and Granger closing in on him. Jess looked shocked when she noticed who was with Snape. She stopped running and stood there, frozen to the ground below her. Their eyes locked, blue clashing against green one last time. Snape jerked him around as Harry shot off an unforgivable his way. The pair barely missed it and ran outside of the gat.

Jess' world crashed all around her. Her heart was crushed and mangled until it cried out in pain and anguish, tears of blood steadily rolling down her crumpled muscle of love and landing into a puddle of clumpy and thick crimson liquid. After all those times he told her that he was on her side, Draco had tricked her. After he told her that he hated what Voldemort stood for, he betrayed her. After telling her how much he loved her and how he always wanted to be with her, he lied to her. Jess fell to her knees in a heap as the tears started to fall down her face. The last thing she saw of her now crushed and dashed dreams disapparted out of her life right before her very own, blurry, eyes.

Hopefully this was a satisfying ending for everyone. I have a feleing i'm going to have a few people pissed at me... Well of course I couldn't have it end all happy pappy and mushy gushy! This is the first story! I need to have something interesting for you all to come back to in the NEXT one don't I? Yes that's right, as I have said int he past I am full underway in writing the sequel to this one. I sadly must say that I don't have anywhere near the amount written that I have for this one. This one is gonna be shorter folks... But that doesn't mean I'll write another one after it now does it? I'm not sure when I will be putting up the first chapters of the sequel, as I do need time after this one to regroup, figure out just what is going on and start writing some more. Which I have been doing already, so hopefully it won't be too far off in the future. I must say a big THANK YOU to all of you once more as I am very happy that so many of you have enjoyed this installment of the adventure! You truly are all amazing people. For now I must depart, until we neet again, ta!