The courtyard was eerily silent, except for Ginny's screams. The sight of Harry's lifeless body in Hagrid's arms cemented the fact that he had won. He did it.
Draco stood next to me, quivering slightly from the cold and from the same feeling of dread that I had. My arm was burning which surely meant that his was too and I noticed his hand absentmindedly hold it, as we looked out at Voldemort, who was laughing along with Bellatrix without a care in the world.
"Come forward and join us....or die." His words snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Draco." A small voice came from the other side, and I looked to see Lucius Malfoy holding a hand out to his son, beckoning him towards him.
I looked up at Draco. Every emotion in his face told me that the last thing he wanted to do was go over to Voldemort's side. His grey were eyes had lost their sparkle, and his skin was pale, covered in scratches bruises. My hand found his and our fingers intertwined. He held onto me tightly, like I was the only thing keeping him upright, and my thumb ran over his hand, sending him a signal of comfort.
"Draco, come." His mother's soft voice was heard calling to him, calling her son over to him and that's what made Draco begin to move.
"Draco, you don't have to do this. You have a choice."
"I don't think I do Belle." His voice was small, barely a whisper.
"I'll come with you." I went to step forward, our hands still intertwined, but he pulled me back.
"No. I'm not letting you drag yourself into my mess this time. This is my fight, not yours. I love you."
He dropped my hand and it fell back to my side, defeated.
I watched the boy I loved more than anything in the world walk away from me, to the opposite side. I watched the dark lord embrace him warmly, after being so eager to kill him just hours ago. I watched as he held hands with his mother, as he faced the Hogwarts side, his eyes not leaving mine for a second. I watched, as Neville pulled the sword out of the sorting hat and Harry, who was very much alive, fell to the floor. I watched as Draco ran across the courtyard, throwing his wand to Harry. I watched as he turned to look at me one last time before I yelled "GO. Draco, Go!"
I watched the boy I love walk away from it all, hand in hand with his mother, not knowing when or if I'd ever see him again.
I watched as Harry defeated the dark lord, with Draco's wand. I watched as the war ended, and people began to celebrate. I waited for him to come back, to come back to me. But he didn't.
~
We stood, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I, on the stone bridge looking out at the castle. Most of it's walls were in ruins, but work had already been made to rebuild it. It wouldn't be long before it looked like nothing had ever happened here, but the scars on our hearts and our bodies would tell us otherwise.
"Here Tori, the elder wand, it's yours." Harry held out the wand to me, but I didn't take it.
"No it's not. It's yours. I don't want it."
"Neither do I. Together?"
I nodded, and we took one end of the wand each, and snapped it clean in half. Taking one half each, we threw the wand over the bridge, and watched as it fell to the very bottom.
"Well what now?" Ron asked.
"Now we grieve. We rebuild ourselves and then, who knows. It's over, we won" Hermione said.
"Doesn't feel like we won." I choked out, and everyone nodded, we'd all lost people we loved tonight, neither side won this war.
"Hey, he'll come back to you. Or I'll go to that bloody manor and drag him back here by his stupid hair." Ron said, and I let out a small laugh.
My life with Draco flashed before my eyes. Seeing him for the very first time across the hall, how he waited for me for years, how he always defended my name, always protected me and always put me first. The way he touched me, the way he looked at me, my shattered heart ached for him. Even though we'd been pulled apart more times than I can count, this time felt more real, more permanent.
I don't know what will happen from here, or whether I will ever see the boy I love ever again, but one thing I do know, and that was that his heart will always and forever be mine.