All Things Must Come to an End

PROLOGUE

Standing in the center of a darkened room of an old, runt-down building, Lord Voldemort awaits silently for the news. His servant, a long slithering snake, slithers inside. Voldemort starts speaking to it in Parseltongue.

"Is my army ready?" Voldemort asks in a cold voice.

"Almost, Master," the snake replies. "Some extra material is needed for the weapons, so your servants are gathering them from other parts of the world."

"Excellent," whispers Voldemort, a twisted smile forms on his mouth. "This is exactly what I need to destroy Harry Potter once and for all."

"You mean a war?" asks the snake.

Voldemort nods. "Yes - a war between my followers and everyone who is not worthy of being a wizard." He pauses. "That girl Potter hangs around with is a Mudblood. She shall be the first to go!" He laughs cold-heartedly at this thought. The thought of killing people.

"Master? How will you warn the Ministry of Magic about this war?" the snake asks suddenly, interrupting Voldemort's laugh.

Voldemort thinks for a little while. Finally, he replies, "I will murder a Muggle-born, and leave a note of warning with the body."

"But who will you kill, Master?"

There is a long pause before Voldemort speaks again.

"Hermione Granger."

* * * *

Meanwhile, the seventeen-year-old wizard, Harry Potter, is getting ready to leave for his final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His trunk is all packed, with books, his wand, Invisibility Cloak, and Quidditch equipment. His snowy, white messenger owl, Hedwig, is locked in her cage. Harry is standing in front of his bedroom mirror, fixing his Hogwarts robes. He straightens out the gold Head Boy badge pinned to his robes, and stares at himself in the mirror.

"Harry, I hope you are ready to go!" Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather, calls up to him. Harry has been living with Sirius since the beginning of the summer, when Sirius was finally released from Azkaban, the wizard prison, and proven innocent of the crime he had committed when Harry was a baby. Sirius had escaped recently from the prison, but after he was found, he was brought back.

Now Sirius was proven innocent and was able to adopt Harry, which is exactly what he did.

After Harry looks at himself with satisfactory in the mirror, he hurries down the stairs where Sirius is waiting for him at the bottom. "What took you so long to get ready?" Sirius asks him, with a suspicious glance.

Harry shrugs. "I was just looking at myself in the mirror," he admits.

Sirius grins. "Well, you look fine, Harry. Now come into the kitchen for some breakfast so we can get going to Platform 9 ¾." As they are walking into the kitchen, Sirius adds, "Oh, and a letter from your girlfriend, Cho, just arrived by Owl Post." He smirks devilishly at this.

Sirius liked to tease Harry about having a girlfriend. Cho Chang was a year older than Harry, so she had graduated from Hogwarts a year before him. But they were constantly sending letters to each oter. Last year, they would sneak around the huge castle late at night so they could snog one another. Over the summer, Harry must have written at least a dozen letters to Cho - about one every day.

Harry would miss the secret snogging late at night this year.

After he finishes breakfast, Harry and Sirius gathers up his things and using Floo-Powder (Harry's least favorite way to travel in the wizard world) they leave for Platform 9 ¾.

* * * *

Elsewhere at the Malfoy Manor, Draco is in a rush to get ready. He is late to catch the Hogwarts Express Train. Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, has just been given word by Owl Post about the war Voldemort is plotting against all Muggle-born loving wizards and witches.

As a Death Eater, Lucius follows all of Voldemort's orders - good or not. Draco knows about the coming war, but Lucius tells him not to utter a word about it in school. "Remember Draco, do not tell anyone!" The words keep on repeating inside Draco's head, as he dresses into his Hogwarts robes. Draco is a Slytherin prefect student, so he adds the Prefect badge for a final touch. He should have been Head Boy, but Potter had received that honor instead.

Only because Dumbledore likes him the best, thinks Draco with a sneer of jealousy. Draco always thought Harry Potter was Hogwarts's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore's, favorite student. And he definitely acted that way - there was no denying it. How Dumbledore always seemed to let Potter get away with everything. How Dumbledore always gave the school special feasts in honor of Potter and his good deeds. How he always gave Gryffindor House extra points because of Potter.

"It's always about Potter," mutters Draco under his breath in disgust. "Even Voldemort started this damn war because he wants to murder Potter..."

Well, this year I'll definitely show them! This year when Voldemort attacks, we'll see just who gets the last laugh! Dumbledore was always an old fool, anyway...

When Draco goes downstairs, he finds his parents standing in the hall. "Draco, there's something we need to tell you," Lucius says in a stern voice.

"What is it, Dad?" Draco asks, curious.

Lucius clears his throat. "Voldemort has come up with a way to get the Ministry of Magic to know about the war."

"Really, how?"

"He's decided to have a Mudblood murdered, and leave a note with her body."

"Oh. Well, who is he planning to kill, Dad?"

"Hermione Granger."

* * * *

Draco stares at his parents. Hermione Granger?! Potter's friend?! He can't believe it, but Lucius insists that it's true. Draco never liked Granger, but with all honesty, he never would wish death upon her.

She was really quite harmless, actually.

Sure, she was a know-it-all brainiac, but Draco, well actually kind of liked her now that he thought of it. Draco has noticed that over the school years, Granger has actually grown into a beautiful young woman. But from what Draco heard, Granger was dating the red-headed Ron Weasley, who was Potter's other best friend.

"Are you angered by that, Draco? You look kind of shocked," Lucius asks him suddenly, interrupting him. Draco blinks his eyes and quickly closes his opened mouth.

Staring up at his father, he replies, "Um, no, Sir. I don't care for that Granger. She's Potter's friend after all."

But he has a sick feeling in his stomach. And his head starts to spin.

Lucius smiles. "Good. Now hurry up and get ready so we can leave for the train."

After Draco eats breakfast and finishes packing, the Malfoys head out to King's Cross Station, where Draco will soon join his classmates for their final year.