Disclaimer: I do not own any of it...

A/N Beta'd by Mokoleena at livejournal.

A Debt to be Paid

By: MegTao

She hated him. From the very first day she met him, when he had sneered, looking down his pointy little nose at her, she had hated him. Every year that passed that hate grew stronger, there was no one else in the entire world who Hermione Granger hated more than Draco Malfoy.
The battle was intense, deadly spells were flying everywhere, and at the center of it all fought Harry Potter and the Dark Lord, Voldemort. This was the reason they were all here, the reason so many had died. Tonight they would discover whether their sacrifices had been in vain

Yes, she hated him with a passion, so why did she now find herself shielding him from her two best friends? Why did she not let them finish him off? After all Malfoy had done, did he not deserve to die? Voldemort was defeated, his so-called 'loyal' Death Eaters dead or captured, and here he was laying on the floor, bleeding. Defenseless. The last of those living who bore the Dark Mark.

Battling, even with wands, was tiring mentally and physically. 'If I live through this,' Hermione internally promised, 'I'll re-new my gym membership and actually exercise.' She fired off spells as fast as she could pronounce them, backing up as she went. Suddenly her back ran into someone else's. She twirled around, wand raised, and found herself staring face to face with Draco Malfoy.

"Let them have me," Draco spat, angrily wiping a trail of blood from his mouth, "I don't need your pity, protection, or help."

"You heard the snake," Ron growled, his raised wand pointed directly at Draco's heart, "let us have him."

"You look a bit out of your element, Mudblood," Draco sneered.

"Wrong as usual, Malfoy," Hermione growled, "This is my element."

She fired off a curse, just as she heard him mutter one of his own.

"No," Hermione's voice was quiet, but commanding.

Her friend's turned to her incredulously. Harry seemed to be holding his anger in check by sheer force of will alone. He had come a long way since his almost daily 'tantrums' as Ron and Hermione referred to Harry's random fits of shouting, or throwing things, or pouting. Though he was still known to pout from time to time.

"Go, both of you," Hermione ordered, meeting her friends' eyes.

"But 'Mione," Harry protested.

"Go!"

Hermione dove to avoid the curse Draco had unleashed, rolled sideways, and returned to her feet in one smooth motion. They were back where they had started again, standing face to face, wands aimed at each other's hearts.

"Not bad Granger," Draco complimented breathing heavily, "No one has ever survived so long in a duel against me."

"Is that because most of your victims didn't have wands at the time," she sneered, "or because you hit them from behind?"

Draco chuckled maliciously, "Sometimes both."

Hermione turned her attention to Draco who was trying to use the bed to help him stand. Two cracks behind Hermione told her Harry and Ron had Disparated. They had done what she wished; they had left her alone, with him.

"Why did you come back?" she demanded helping him into the bed.

He shoved her arms away and fell weakly onto the covers. His breathing was ragged and he was even paler than usual from blood loss. A slash ran from his cheekbone to chin and his right eye was black and swollen. He looked horrible, yet she found herself staring at him like some lovesick girl. Pathetic.

She had him disarmed and pinned against the cave wall. He could not run, could not hide. He was as good as dead but his face showed no emotion, not a trace of fear. He might as well already be dead.

"What are you waiting for, Granger," he rasped, "Finish me off. I know you want to, I can see it in your eyes."

"You knew we were watching Malfoy Manor," she continued concentrating on conjuring up a face cloth and a bucket of water instead of the young man, "So why did you come back?"

Sweat covered his face but he stared at her with cold gray eyes. Hermione found she could not meet that gaze and instead focused on her wrist movements as she effortlessly healed some of the smaller gashes that covered his body. She could feel his eyes on her and his silence was stifling.

"Is anything broken," she asked, meeting his eyes once more.

He just stared at her, his face revealing nothing.

"Can you cooperate with me here?"

He didn't even blink.

"You can stop trying to read my mind, Harry taught me Occulmency, and I'm considerably better at it than he is."

He continued to sit there as still as a statue, he barely even seemed to be breathing.

"Fine," she huffed, "act like a spoiled child."

"I don't enjoy killing people, Malfoy," she spat lowering her wand slightly, "Unlike you."

"How little you know," he whispered, then lunged directly at her.

She grabbed his hand, perhaps more roughly than she should have considering his condition, and began expertly feeling it for signs of injury. She moved up his wrist, which, she discovered, was sprained; so, with a flick of her wand, she healed it. She continued up his harm, to his shoulder and then repeated the procedure with his other arm. Next she gently probed his chest. He winced as she came across some fractured ribs; it was the first sign he had given her during the entire examination.

"So you are human," she muttered under her breath as she healed his ribs.

Hermione did not even have time to react, he moved faster than a viper striking at its prey. He pushed her to the ground landing on top of her just as a jet green bolt of energy flashed overhead, directly where she had been standing before. She stared at him, eyes wide. Emotions flashed across his face faster then she could discern before returning to his normal, sneering mask

He jumped to his feet, a look of disgust on his face.

"You saved my life," Hermione choked.

Draco paled, then turned on his heel and ran. Hermione didn't try to stop him.

"Granger," Draco began, "I hate you—"

"Believe me," Hermione dead-panned, "the feeling's mutual."

"And I'd rather die then have your help—" Draco continued pretending she had not even spoken.

"Sorry about your luck."

"Tomorrow I'll hate you twice as much as I do now—"

"I should hope so." Hermione's lips twitched upwards slightly.

"—And you saving my life doesn't change a thing."

"Oh, I must disagree on that," Hermione argued, suddenly serious, "Now we're even."

She swept out of the room without a second look. Draco didn't try and stop her.

"We'll never be even, Hermione," he whispered, an uncharacteristically soft smile gracing his lips, "I owe you more than you'll ever know."

A/N: Expect a lot of Harry Potter one-shots from me in the future. I've joined a Harry Potter sorting community at livejournal called Fawkes Reunion (pretty sure I put the link up on my profile) and you get points for your house by posting stories, so yes, much much writing...

Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! Reviews feed my happiness meter.

MegTao