David Fishwick: I thought it was very much like Pansy, yeah XD going crazy against Voldemort while everyone around his like "Geez, did she really say that?!!". She thought Harry was dead, Voldemort could've killed her, she just didn't give a damn. And as an author I felt it was about damn time someone called Voldemort a coward because he's the biggest one in the whole HP universe XD

Jade2099: He had Pansy. At first I wanted it to be Hermione (this is why there was one "Hermione" there, I changed it... my mistake!), but after re-reading my chapter, I felt that it would be better with Pansy, because while Hermione is close enough to Draco to make him willing to sacrifice himself, I realised that Harry would probably not be desesperate enough to play that bluff about killing Bellatrix only for the sake of Hermione, but he would definitely do it for Pansy. And, since threatening Pansy's life would work for Draco just as well as threatening Hermione, I switched ^^

padfootsgrl79: Thank you very much! It's been in my head for a while now ^^'

Enilas: Thanks :D

Shubhs: Talk about pressure XD lol just kidding. Ending a story's always hard for me (that's why I have so many incomplete ones out there), I'm almost never perfectly satisfied with myself on that matter XD I just hope you will like what I have in mind!

sweet-tang-honney: Thanks a lot!

tfobmv18: Hehe, thank you very much :D

Advice: Go on YouTube and search for X Ray Dog - Acts of Courage. Do it now. Great. No proceed to reading this chapter :D

Chapter 24: Dumbledore's man

Spells were shouted, dodged and countered: Harry saw Hermione and Draco setting fire on a bunch of Inferi. In all this rage and violence, he was hugged extremely tightly.

"I thought you were... I... don't ever do that to me again," Pansy sobbed, as though there was nothing happening around them. "EVER!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - I had to play dead," he whispered to her. "It's all right, I'm all right, Pansy..."
"How the hell did you survive?"

She had taken his face between her hands and was staring at him as if she couldn't believe it.

"Do you believe in miracles?" he simply asked.
"No."
"Well I do," he replied. "I've got three in a row. First I survived the Avada Kedavra, then he asked Mrs. Malfoy, not anyone else, to check if I was dead, and then he asked Mr. Malfoy, not anyone else, to carry my body back in here."
"Draco's parents?"

Her eyes moved to the battlefield, searching for the famous blond trio. The three of them had been reunited, and were fighting side-by-side: Draco had taken back his wand, Narcissa had drawed hers, and Lucius had probably stolen one from a corpse. But, although dressed like Death Eater, neither Narcissa nor her husband were aiming their jinxes and hexes at the people of Hogwarts: they were shooting them at Voldemort's followers.

"Ok," she said. "Now I'm a believer."

Harry lifted Bellatrix's wand in the air, looking more determined and decided than ever.

"Let's go."

And they rushed back in the battle.

The fight was on for quite a moment when Harry's attention was caught by a familiar voice shouting, louder than anything else in the Entrance Hall, louder than people screaming in pain and fear and spells that were yelled:

"NOT MY SON, YOU BITCH!"

Harry blinked several times, dumbfounded: that voice was Narcissa's. Draco, what had happened to Draco to make his mother that angry? His eyes met with his friends: he was fine, but according to the look in his eyes and the destroyed armour next to him, he had just dodged a Killing Curse. Nevertheless, Narcissa had rushed towards her older sister, pushing and shoving away anyone that dared to stand between her and the one that had almost killed her only son.

Bellatrix laughed coldly, cruelly.

"Really, Cissy? Me, your own sister? You wouldn't dare-"

She turned gracefully, avoiding Narcissa's Avada Kedavra by half an inch. She raised an eyebrow, her face standing somewhere between surprise and amazement.

"You've gone way too far, Bella," she said with her most threatening voice. "Someone's got to stop you - and that'll be me."

Everyone fighting around moved further, giving more space to the Black sisters: nobody wanted to be caught by mistake either in the crazy Bellatrix's insanity, or the very angry Narcissa's rage to protect her child. But Bellatrix did not seem scared whatsoever, and waved her hand into the air like a knife: a cut appeared on Narcissa's pale cheek. It would take more than that to stop her young sister tonight, however, as she didn't even seem to notice and rushed at Bellatrix once again.

"GET AWAY!" Narcissa shouted at Lucius while casting a perfectly silencious Shield Charm. "She's mine! MINE! Crucio!"

Her husband simply smirked as Bellatrix avoided her favourite curse, nodded, and moved back. Narcissa was right: this was her fight.

Harry had never imagined that the distinguish, polish Narcissa could turn in such a furious creature when pushed too far: yes, he had seen her curse Uncle Vernon for a week only because he had insulted Mr. Malfoy, but she had done so with calm, poise, and her usual cold elegance. Now, her beautiful face was completely changed by the rage that had taken over her entire being, and she was displaying incredible duelling skills. But, then again... so was her sister.

"You'll never get me, Cissy," Bellatrix sneered, coutering a jinx with a flick of her wand. "I've always been better!"
"Don't Cissy me!" Narcissa simply replied with anger. "I dare you!"

Harry looked around a bit and realised that almost every battle had been interrupted, for everyone was staring at the sisters' impressive fight to death. Wait, did that mean that Voldemort had stopped fighting and had dropped his guard, too?

Yes!

He spotted him, in the middle of the place, looking at the duel with the utmost interest. Harry raised his wand in the air.

"Expelliarmus!" Narcissa yelled at this very moment, and the noise of a wand falling on the floor confirmed that she had indeed succeeded in Disarming Bellatrix.
"Now see if you can get me!" Bellatrix replied, laughting like a child having the best time of her life. "I dance, dance, turn and flip around, duck and jump, try to get me! I can't fight back anymore, let's see if you can win, Cissy!"

She laughed, hysterical, and she avoided her sister's spells one after another by inches. Harry could see her master smirking and nodding in appreciation. He was fascinated by the battle: now was the time to strike.

"Missed, missed - come on, give it your best, sis' - see if you can get m-"

Bellatrix's voice stopped at once: even Harry turned his eyes away from Voldemort to see what had finally made her swallow her words. The Death Eater's hand barely had the time to clutch on her stomach, her eyes barely had the time to widen as she, for one split second, had realised what had just happened to her. Her body felt slowly, gracefully on the floor, where it remained motionless. There was a moment of silence, only broken by Narcissa's heavy breathe.

Voldemort's best lieutenant had just lost her last battle.

Every student, teacher and Auror still standing in the Hall roared in joy, but even the power of their voices was not enough to overcome the strength of Voldemort's horrible scream:

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

There was a fury that could not be described by words in that shout: people around him were forced to back away, as though they had been pushed by an invisible magical force. To Harry's amazement, there was also pain in the Dark Lord's voice, a pain that no one could've expected from him.

Now's the best time.

He waved his wand in the air.

"Avada K-" he started, but he was pinned down on the dirty floor by the most unexpected person.
"No, don't do it!" the Gryffindor said, panting. "Don't!"
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Harry shouted in anger. "Get off me right now, Longbottom!"
"No, Harry, you can't do that!"

What the hell is he talking about? He knew that Longbottom guy was clumbsy, gauche, nervous, dreadful in every school subject except Herbology and timid, but he had no idea he was also out of his damn mind! Harry pointed Bellatrix's wand menancingly at Neville Longbottom's face.

"Look, if you're too coward to act then it's not my problem! Get off me right now, I'm angry enough at you to hex you, and I'm not joking!"
"But you can't do it right now, you can't kill him, you must wait!"
"Wait for what?! For the whole school to fall on our fucking heads?!! It must be done now before it's too late!"
"But it won't work!"
"It worked sixteen years ago. It works on everybody, Longbottom! It's the goddamn Killing Curse, what d'you reckon it's got that name for?!"
"But then Voldemort came back," Neville reminded him. "Do you want to kill him for good, or just win everybody a few years of peace? Have you never wondered how he had managed to survive that night when he tried to kill you and failed?"

Harry frowned. He had never thought of it a lot.

"I figured... I just thought the curse had only bounced back at him, therefore... making it weaker somehow..."
"No, it's not that, the curse was not weakened by the bounce. Listen, I can't explain right now, but Dumbledore gave me a mission before he died. I have one last thing to do tonight, and then Voldemort will be mortal again. But before that, nobody must try to kill him, or else he'll just come back again!"

For a while, Harry stared at Neville, wondering whether or not he should believe him. He finally nodded. Neville nodded in response, got on his feet, and rushed back into the battlefield.

Harry's hand clutched at his hair, and he felt some hot liquid going down his forehead.

Blood. He was bleeding, and he couldn't even tell what had happened to his head to cause it to bleed. He got on his feet again, looking around. The Malfoy were still fighting together: Narcissa would not let her son away from her, not even in the confusion of the battle. She would not risk to allow Voldemort to reach him. Hermione was cornered by the two Carrows, but she still seemed to handle herself pretty well in this two-on-one fierce duel.

Pansy, where was Pansy? His eyes couldn't find her. He felt an horrible twitch in his stomach. What if something had happened to her? Suddenly, he saw her, crawling away from Greyback. He could see her magic wand broken on the floor. No!

Voldemort screamed. Harry turned: the Dark Lord's arms were wrapped around his stomach, and he looked very much in pain.

"NOW!" a voice yelled over all the noises from the fights in the Hall.

Again, Harry's eyes moved: Neville Longbottom was holding a beautiful sword tainted with blood: it had probably beheaded the snake at his feet. He looked at the Slytherin right into the eyes.

"Do it now!" he said, sweating and out of breath. "NOW!"

Harry's blood turned to ice: behind him, Pansy was whimpering in fear, still trying to get away from Greyback. She was defenceless. But... so was Voldemort, in front of him. He was wide-opened: he would not get the chance to finish him so easily twice. Voldemort was at his mercy... but Pansy was at Greyback's mercy. He hesitated for a second. Should he kill the one who had been scaring them all for so long, or kill the one who was about to kill Pansy?

"What are you waiting for?" Neville yelled. "DO IT, FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!"

Harry gave him a sorry nod and ran towards Pansy and the infamous werewolf. He wanted to kill Voldemort, yes: but not at the cost of his girlfriend's life. Come to think of it... Voldemort's death would do him no good if he couldn't share this peace with the one he loved.

"You get away from her, you disgusting thing - AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The werewolf whined like a puppy when it was hit by the green light coming out from Harry's wand - or, to be more accurate, from Bellatrix's. Greyback's body fell on Pansy, who grimaced and pushed it away with all her strength.

"B-but," she said, looking up at Harry. "The... the Dark Lord-"
"Is under you on my priorities list," Harry replied firmly.

As he offered her his hand, a terrible scream came from behind him, a scream were both terrible pain and complete despair could be heard. Harry's head turned at once.

His eyes widened: Neville had decided to take the matter into his hands, and he had... he had impaled Voldemort with the precious sword he was holding few seconds ago when he had yelled at Harry. Red blood ran down the silver blade to the floor at incredible speed, and the terrible dark wizard fell on his knees, his trembling legs refusing to support him any longer.

"You're made of blood and flesh," Neville's low and shaking voice said. "Just like every one of us."

With the awful noise of flesh being cut, he pulled the beautiful sword out of Voldemort's body: the Dark Lord fell, motionless, right next to Bellatrix's body. There was a long silence, as though everybody expected Voldemort to get back on his feet. The heavy silence was broken by the metallic sound of the sword falling on the floor, but he remained motionless. The dark wizard seemed vanquished, but no one in the Hall wanted to celebrate too early.

Behind Harry, Pansy stood up.

"Is he... dead?" she risked.

Neville simply nodded.

"Dead, like anyone who receive a sword through the stomach," Hermione said, slowly walking towards Harry and Pansy.
"He won't... come back again, right?" Draco asked hesitantly.

It seemed to Harry that everyone was holding their breath, but he knew the answer before Neville spoke:

"No."

The whole place exploded out of excitment: Hermione jumped at Draco's neck to hug him tight, under Narcissa and Lucius's cold glare - though it seemed softer than Harry would've imagined -, and he kissed Pansy passionately. He could feel she was crying, but he knew these were tears of joy and relief. He held her tight and closed his eyes.

Everyone's life would finally be allowed to go on quietly.

End of the chapter: And voilà ;) only one chapter to go, then the story's over! :D