End

by Luinthoron

I never thought it would end like this...

I'm standing over the Dark Lord's, Voldemort's dead body. I killed him. I killed him. I, Draco Malfoy.

It was all so easy when I first started school. I knew who were my friends and who my enemies. I had learned it all since I was so very young. I never thought my dad could be wrong, never gave the other side a chance. Even before Voldemort came back I was sure we would finally win someday. And, of course, I believed we were doing the right thing.

It all changed in my sixth year. I was finally offered a place amongst the Death Eaters - a dream come true for me at that time. Or so I thought until I heard what I had to do. My mission was to kill Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was right then - I was no killer. I'm still not one, even though Voldemort's corpse proves the opposite. Not in the way he meant. Had Harry been there in my place, he probably could've done it. He always had more strength in him. Had our places been switched, Voldemort would have won. But I could not do it. I've fought in this war and killed in battles. I've killed many people I've known for years. But not like that, in cold blood.

Harry always hated me until then and I had given him enough reason to. Letting Death Eaters into the school only made things worse. Escaping with Snape even more so. Severus Snape - the murderer of Dumbledore. But soon enough we would all be standing on the same side.

Harry left school that year, starting the search for Voldemort's remaining Horcruxes. Ans for us. By the time he found us, he already knew the location of one of them and had confirmed the destruction of the locket that had partially cost Dumbledore's life.

But by that time lots of things had changed for me. Snape had made me an offer and I had accepted it. We both knew I could not return to Voldemort after failing my mission. So I hid with him and he taught me everything he knew. About Voldemort, about Dumbledore, about the war. I learned that it was Dumbledore who asked Snape to kill him. It was hard to understand at first, but the old man did this to save me. Now it was my time to repay his trust and I eagerly learned everything I could.

It took some time to make Harry understand all this, though. Weasley, I mean Ron, wanted to kill me the moment he saw me, but luckily the wards stunned the three of them before. Yes, Hermione too was with them. And she was the one who finally helped me to explain everything. I was always somewhat jealous of her intelligence, but now it saved my life. And Snape's too.

The first thing I did after that was to bring my mum to Harry's house. Her safety had never left my mind in the months I was hiding from both sides. And after that, the hunt was on.

With Snape's help, the five of us - me, Harry, Hermione and Ron were also joined by Ginny Weasley - found the remaining Horcruxes. But like Dumbledore, Harry suffered greatly to destroy them. And while Snape did his best to help him, he did not survive the last one - Nagini.

In school I had always thought the day Harry died would be a happy one for me. How wrong I was again. That cold day in March was one of the worst in my life. He really had become my best friend in the few months together. I had never had friends like that before. Snape was different, and Weasley... Well, I still have sometimes trouble calling him Ron. But Harry was my first real friend.

It took us a whole month to prepare the final attack that would decide the fate of the whole world. Exactly one month after Harry died, the Order came together for the last time. It was time.

The battle was fierce. Many died on both sides, and without Harry we were not as strong as we could have been. Even Snape died on the front lines. But we knew we had to do this. Harry had died to give us the chance. And when I saw Voldemort, I knew what I had to do.

I've never had a duel this hard. Without Snape's training I wouldn't have lasted a minute. It might have been pure luck that I survived and Voldemort fell. And I can tell he was quite surprised in the last seconds when he realized there was nothing left to hold him in life anymore. His rage was unmistakeable before he finally took his last breath. It was over. It is over.

I never thought I would be the "hero". That's what they say. But I know it was Harry who really did it. It was Harry who destroyed the Horcruxes. Without him, all this would be for nothing, even though there was no happy end for him...