"Harry, no!" Hermione shouted as the raven haired boy raced forward, his wand high in the air, an Unforgivable curse on his lips. The Dark Lord laughed at Harry's show of courage, a hollow sound that reverberated through the great hall of Hogwarts. Hermione felt tears stream down her cheeks. They were hot tears of hate and anger and loss. Her classmates lay dead at her feet, Ron sputtering as blood boiled from his lungs to spring forth from his lips. It stained Hermione's dirty white shirt as she held him to her. Her brown eyes flicked to the few left standing, fighting off the swarming Death Eaters.
Neville Longbottom was holding his own against two, curses and jinxes flying left and right. Members of the Order were battling as if there were no tomorrow. And truth be told, if they didn't win, there wouldn't be a tomorrow. Lupin and Tonks were working together to bring down a large hulking wizard that had been throwing curses willy nilly. Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall were ducking behind a table, the latter leaping up and throwing a jinx towards a witch running towards Harry. Harry Potter was staring down Voldemort, circling, both waiting for the other to strike. To lash out, to kill the other. The time of the prophesy was at hand.
The eating tables had been turned over, random wizards and witches, either good or bad, ducking behind them to dodge the opposing sides attacks. A shrill scream rose as Bellatrix Lestrange fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Hermione ducked, a curse flying over her head. This insanity reminded her of the night Dumbledore had died. Except that she wasn't MIA. Nor was Draco Malfoy on the opposing side.
At the thought of the blonde boy she sought him out, searching the swaying, screaming mass. The bloody battle. The fight of the century. She found him fighting like a cornered animal on the far side of the hall.
His usually perfect hair was ruffled and his robe was open, torn at the shoulder, hanging off his frame like a curtain. His perfect, white teeth bared in a snarl as he circled with the Death Eater, both stepping cautiously over bodies around them. Hermione's heart leapt to her throat as the Death Eater lunged forward uttering an Unforgivable and she nearly ran forward, a curse of her own on her lips.
"Hermione?" Someone whispered to her from the shadows.
"Who's there?" She asked, turning quickly to search the dark corridor. Her prefect duties had her patrolling the halls because of last years events. She narrowed her eyes, her wand held tightly in her hand. "Come out, show yourself." She surprised herself at the steadiness of her voice.
But the speaker remained in shadow. His, she assumed from the tone of the voice, breath was ragged and heavy. Briefly Hermione wondered if they were hurt.
"Hermione..." The voice once more spoke, softer than previously. It was a kind of whine, and it reminded her of someone she knew. Someone from a time when she was much more carefree.
"What? Are you hurt? Who are you and why are you out of the dorms at this hour of the night?"
"Hermione... he's coming... he knows... how..." A soft thud alerted Hermione of the location of the perpetrator and she raced forward, her foot knocking against a hand before she'd found the entire body.
"Lumos." She whispered, her wand lighting the corridor. A loud gasp accompanied the action and Hermione's heart stopped. A bloody Draco Malfoy was laying on the ground at her feet.
Hermione's eyes flicked towards Harry and Voldemort.They were still circling each other like fighting dogs. Never before had Hermione seen Harry's green eyes blaze like they were now. Nor had she ever been as frightened for his life as she was now.
The green eyed boy's hand twitched just enough that Voldemort finally slipped up, letting loose an Avada Kedavra. The green light flew from the tip of the wand, making the great hall dimly glow green itself. As Harry dodged, shrill, eerie laughter was heard from the dying Bellatrix.
"POTTER! The time is now! DIE!"
Everyone stopped at those words, jinxes and curses not thrown anymore. People stopped to watch the Boy Who Lived and He Who Must Not Be Named begin their fight to end all fights. The fight that would determine the path of the world as they knew it. The fight between a boy and his mortal fear.
Their twin wands began shooting sparks as they both dodged each others curses. Harry got the upper hand briefly as Voldemort dodged one of his jinxes and slipped on a pool of blood. The immortal man dropped his wand as he reached out to catch himself so as not to smash his head open on the stone floor. Harry tried to Accio Voldemort's wand, but the nearly soulless wizard was quick and he grabbed it as it flew by his head.
Hermione sat quietly in her chair, her hands clasped together in her lap. Ron sat to her left, looking rather disgruntled, and Draco sat to her right. McGonagall in front of them all. They sat in silence, waiting for the fourth person of their party. The clock in Professor McGonagall's office, previously Headmaster Dumbledore's residence, ticked loudly and the portraits all sat in the same silence as the flesh and blood occupants.
The staircase was rising, and Hermione saw Draco stiffen at the sound. Her lips twitched a bit at the corners, happy to know that finally the one they'd waited for had come.
"Well, it took you long enough Mister Potter." McGonagall sniffed and stood up, her large poofed chair scuffed against the worn oriental rug as she pushed it back.
Hermione twisted in her chair to get a look at her missing in action friend. He'd really done it, not coming back to Hogwarts for his seventh year. And it'd been dull and dreary without the raven haired mischief maker. Of course even Hermione with her shades of friendship firmly in place couldn't mistake the numerous fresh scars covering the tanned skin on Harry. He seemed hardened too. His face was thin and gaunt, his body lean and clothed in old, tattered muggle clothing.
Harry's scarily handsome face twisted into one of revulsion as his green eyes landed on Draco. "What is he doing here?"
"Harry..." Hermione whispered as she stepped forward, tears in her eyes at the site of her old friend. She took a shuddering breath and raced forward, taking the young man into her arms. "Oh Harry!" She tightened her arms around his shoulders, holding him close.
The boy stood stock still, not returning her embrace as she continued to hold him close, her cheek pressed against his own scarred and stubbled one. Her hands gripped at his shirt and her eyebrows drew together. Harry smelled like blood. And death. His hardened body wasn't responding to her touch like his younger more boyish body had. She suddenly missed his loving arms wrapped around her. But that Harry was obviously gone. Hopefully not dead. Just gone away while he did those terrible things he had to, to find the Horcruxes.
"Hermione... Let everyone have a turn why don't you?" Ron whined from behind her and she snuffled, pulling away from Harry to let Ron have a go at hugging his best friend. And Draco Malfoy watched from his chair, a scowl of contempt on his face as he watched the happy reunion.
"HARRY!" A Death Eater screeched, racing forward, the immobile crowd jumping and gasping in surprise as she lurched in front of the boy who was destined to kill Voldemort. She took the curse flying from Harry's wand straight to her thin chest, screaming in pain and falling dead at Voldemort's feet.
The Dark Lord snarled at Harry, the sound coming out as more of a hiss as he kicked the body out of his way. Hermione gasped and held Ron's head to her stomach. The red head's body already growing cold. Again Harry flung a curse, Voldemort dodging it and throwing a curse of his own.
Hermione groaned as Harry yelped, his body convulsing as Voldemort's Cruciatus hit. She could hear her friend's teeth chatter as a scream ripped from his throat. Pain became palpable and everyone froze as they stared at the red arc of pure energy that caused Harry's body to bend in odd angles, his face scrunching up in horrific ways.
Another scream from Harry had Hermione standing up and racing towards him, not really grasping what she was doing. It was just an instinct. Protect the ones she cared for. Harry, one of her dearest friends, was in need of help. She had to protect him.
"Hermione..."
"Yes Malfoy?" Hermione set her quill down and looked up at the blonde ex-Slytherin. He looked tired and weary. Drained. Apparently he and Harry had just finished talking about Voldemort again. So Hermione waited for what he wanted to say before speaking.
Draco sat down, his hands clasping together as he set them on the table top. Hermione chanced a glance at those hands, noting the frail bone structure and perfectly clipped nails. Draco was staring at her when she looked back up and Hermione had the decency to blush. Silence prevailed for a few moments and Hermione's hand was reaching for the quill again when Draco cleared his throat. She glanced up at him, meeting his silver grey eyes with her own bright brown ones.
"Hermione... its coming. Soon... we'll..." A small frown turned the corners of his lips down and Hermione waited for him to continue, her fingers pinching the small quill. "We're going to need everyone... everyone here in the castle ready for battle. Voldemort... he'll be coming here. Now that Dumbledore is gone, he's amassed a gathering and Potter and I suspect that he'll come here to attack. After all, this is where he believes Harry resides." Draco licked his lips, his pink tongue brushing his cherry lips and Hermione's eyes followed its path.
"Yes Malfoy..." She whispered. Over the weeks she'd grown accustom to the little rendevous that they'd been having. Draco telling her the information that he and Harry discussed behind closed doors with McGonagall.
Draco leaned forward, adjusting himself in his seat. Hermione's eyes traveled along his face, following the sharp angles. She smiled as he looked back up at her. "Hermione... Since we're all going to die anyway, why don't you call me Draco?" He asked, his eyes shining with something that looked a bit like remorse.
Hermione smiled softly, her own eyes misting over with tears. She really didn't want to die. She'd only ever been kissed by one boy, had crushes on two, and never actually been able to say she loved any of them. "Yes Draco." Her voice was so soft, she was sure that the boy had missed it. But in the empty section of the library, her words found their way to his ears and he smiled at her. Timidly at first, and then it grew into something out of her wildest dreams. It was the first real smile she'd ever seen on him, and it surpassed every definition of beauty.
"No!" Was the only thing that alerted Hermione before Draco bolted forward, throwing himself between Harry and the Dark Lord. Harry's body fell limp to the stone floor of the great hall as Draco took the curse straight to the chest, his silver eyes rolling backwards and his mouth opening wide as a scream rose from his depths and steeped the hall in agony.
Hermione froze, halfway across the hall as Draco saved Harry. Her own mouth opened to scream, her body starting to run forward again, but she was stopped as a Death Eater petrified her. She fell to the ground, entirely immobile as the fight resumed around her. She was forced to stare, watching as Draco screamed and writhed and gasped with pain. She felt tears fall from her eyes and drip to the hard stone she lay upon.
Harry moved a bit, his body regaining its control of his shuddering muscles. Hermione could see him moving, regaining control out of the corner or her eye, but her sight remained focused on Draco. Voldemort was shouting at him, calling him a traitor, a good-for-nothing. And suddenly the red arc of power stopped and Draco slumped to the ground, gasping for breath and Hermione hoped that the Dark Lord was done with him, ready to take on Harry and die. But Voldemort hadn't seemed to notice Harry swaying to his feet, his snake like eyes trained on the traitor in front of him.
Voldemort began to hiss, his pointed teeth bared and his eyes blazing as he pointed his wand towards Draco. The boy's body slowly rose into the air his eyes opening wide as his body was squeezed, the sound of his bones breaking drifting over the cacophony of the battle going on around her motionless form. The tears began to leak faster and faster, Hermione's eyes burning as she could only watch as blood spurted from Draco's mouth, his body crumpling under the strain Voldemort's spell cast upon him.
"Draco..."
"Yes Hermione?" Draco turned away from the mirror he faced. He stood looking at her, his silver grey eyes hiding a sadness that Hermione could only guess at.
"Draco... what... what are you fighting for? I mean... you could be a Death Eater and-"
"And die for a wizard I care nothing for? Die for a cause not my own?" Draco smiled, his face looking so sad, so lonely. Hermione frowned, her eyes flicking over that angular face. And she didn't move as Draco walked towards her, his head tilted to the side a bit.
As Draco's hand cupped her cheek, and he came to stand so close to her she could feel his body heat, Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "I'm afraid Draco."
"I am also, Hermione."
"Why?"
"Cause I might lose everything."
Hermione felt her throat constrict as she stared into Draco's eyes, so much like stars that she thought he must be ethereal. And as he pressed his lips against her's softly, she didn't pull away. After all, she didn't hate him, she didn't know if she'd be alive tomorrow or the next day. She was living day to day because that was all she had. And as Draco sobbed against her lips, she pulled away and held him close. Both of them content to just hold each other, not caring about past happenings. For tomorrow was just a dream, and today was all they had.
Hermione almost didn't notice that she wasn't petrified anymore, for the wizard who'd done so to her was now laying dead in a puddle of his own blood. Tonks laying on top of him, unmoving. She blinked once, twice, and stood up. Hermione gripped her wand tightly in her hand as the battle raged. Shouts from the dying and curses from the ones still fighting on filled her ears and Hermione snapped out of her daze as Lupin jumped over a body in front of her, a Death Eater hot on his trail, his wand springing forth jinxes and curses of all different colors. Hermione flicked her wand at him, sending him flying through the air to collide with the wall.
Quickly turning on her heel, Hermione raced off to help Neville and Lupin and Mad Eye Moody finish off the last of the Death Eaters. She paused briefly as a wail of pain came from where Harry and Voldemort fought, but after a quick glace back, she continued on, Unforgivable curses on her lips as she dove into battle.
It was like a dance, an intricate movement of bodies as they dodged and bunched and rolled. Curses flying, jinxes hexing. Screams of pain were the music and it was entrancing as people fell down, writhing in pain. Hermione gasped and jumped away as she stepped on someone's face, looking down to see Ginny Weasley staring up at her with a blank expression, her nose squashed from Hermione's foot.
And suddenly it was over as the last Death Eater fell down squealing. As quickly as it had begun the battle was over. Hermione turned on the blood covered floor to stare at Harry who was slumped over the body of Voldemort. Eerie laughter flooded the hall as Harry threw his head back, insane laughter falling from his mouth. Hermione shuddered and Neville, his bleeding face twisted with fear, called to the irrational hero.
"It's done! He's dead! Rejoice you fools! You feebleminded leaderless sheep!" Harry leapt to his feet, glaring at them. "I'm no longer weighted with your burdens! Jump, scream, shout for joy cause Harry Potter has killed Voldemort!"
"Harry!" Hermione called as the raven haired boy stalked out of the hall. She looked at Lupin who was folded over Tonks' body. She grimaced, her own eyes misting over as they flicked to the crumpled body of Draco Malfoy. Slowly, ever so slowly, she walked over to him. And as she got closer, she realized that he wasn't dead. Not yet.
A sob escaped Hermione's lips as she knelt down next to Draco's broken body. She gently picked him up, he felt like a rag doll, his head unable to be supported by the broken bones of his neck. And as she cradled his head in her arms, Draco gurgled, blood dripping from the corners of his lips and staining her shirt.
"Oh, Draco..." She groaned. Her hands went through his silken blonde hair, the ends sticky and matted with blood. His lips twitched a bit as his eyes slipped shut. She leaned down and placed a kiss on each of his eyelids. "I could've loved you..." And something inside Hermione broke silently as Draco's body went completely limp in her arms. She sobbed softly, her lips pressed against his forehead.
A loud wail of anguish, sounding uncannily like the howl of a heartbroken animal, flooded the hall and Hermione turned her head to look out over the tomb that once was a place of laughter. A place of happiness and good times. She took a deep breath through her nose, the tangy, bitter smell of blood filling her senses as she looked around. Neville was standing with his head bowed, tears dripping from his chin and nose to fall onto the blood covered ground. Mad Eye Moody was tending to McGonagall, and Lupin was holding Tonks' body, howling with anguish and loss.
"Hermione..."
"Yes Draco?"
"I will protect you."
Hermione laughed, although it sounded even hollow to her own ears. "Will you now?"
"Yes." Draco looked at her, his face solemn, and his voice stead fast. "I will protect you and Harry."
Hermione's eyebrows drew together as she stared back. Here was the boy that she thought she'd hate forever. The one that made her life living hell for six years of her time at Hogwarts, and yet now he was saying he'd protect her. Against unthinkable odds. "Why?"
"Because Hermione. I want to. I think I love you."
Hermione stared at him, her mouth hanging open. "Why?"
"Cause, I've never had anyone to love before. And I'd like to know what that was like before I died."
"Draco..." Hermione looked away, her hand coming up to wipe away her tears.
And a few hours later, hell broke lose on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Order of the Phoenix had won. Harry Potter was the hero everyone knew he was. The prophesy was fulfilled. And yet no one was happy. The losses to that bloody battle and the many before filled the papers the next day. Page after page of names and pictures. Hermione stood before the caskets of her friends, reaching out to touch each one as she passed by them. She felt guilty, to have lived and so many died. But as Harry told her time and time again, it was good fortune and fate that they had lived. She didn't know why fate would keep her alive and take away people like Ron, Ginny, Tonks, Hagrid, Katie Bell, Susan Bones, Lavander Brown, Buckbeak, Cho Chang, Collin and Dennis Creevy, Percy Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Draco Malfoy. And many, many more.
The world seemed a drab and dreary place as Hermione walked the streets of Diagon Alley. But the people she saw walking up and down the streets made her smile. After all, it was a new day, and a new life.