A/N: I do not own Harry Potter only the brilliant J.K. Rowling does. I make this because of my undying love for Harry Potter not for money :))

Draco walks through the woods. He never wanted to be a Death Eater. If he'd had the strength to say no, the girl he loved might not have hated him so much. Yes, he was in love with one of the Golden Trio, Hermione. But, he was a coward and is now stuck wandering the woods, looking for members of the light. He hears a twig snap behind him. Hermione saw him when she was finishing up the spells to hide their camp. He was wearing a dark cloak but she could tell who it was by the hair that peaked out. She barely whispered his name in shock, "Draco?"Draco turned toward the voice, but he couldn't see any one. For a moment, it sounded like Hermione's voice. He shook his head. It was late; he really should go get some sleep. He turned and started walking again. He didn't look dangerous, he looked tired and weak. She called to him again, a little louder but not too loud for Harry to hear in the tent. "Draco." He spun around, now sure that he hadn't been imagining things. Still, he saw no one. He dropped to his knees, fists against his forehead. He looked skyward. "Why do I keep hearing her?" he screamed to the forest.

She wondered what he was talking about, she looked at the tent and Harry must of not heard cause he was still inside. She passed where the spell ended and got closer to him, sure he would be able to see her now, held her wand tightly. "Malfoy." she called his last name this time. He looked towards where the voice came from. This time, there was someone standing there; Hermione was standing there. He brought his fists to his eyes, pressing inward. "Why do I do this to myself?" he croaked out brokenly, "Why does my mind conjure up images of her? Why do I torture myself?!" "What are you talking about?" she got closer to him, she was horribly confused, why would Draco Malfoy be thinking of her? He looked to the figure, the fragment of his mind. He felt tears falling from his eyes, but he did not care. He was alone, alone with the images his mind created. "Why do I show myself what I cannot have? Why most I make her seem like her real, like she's here with me? She will never be with me, because I am a Death Eater, even though I didn't want to be." He buried his face in his hands and cried. Her jaw dropped, "Draco, it's me Hermione. I'm really here." she tried to convince him. He just shook his head. Of course this spectre would try to convince him she was real. She is a part of his mind, which was slowly making him insane. There had to be a way to stop the madness. Draco thought, and arrived at a solution. He lifted his wand to his neck.

"Draco, no!" she jumped onto him, his back landing on the forest ground. She took the wand from him as she sat on his stomach, keeping him down. Draco was confused. How could a figment of his imagination tackle him? It slowly started to dawn on him as he felt the weight pressing down on him: she really was here. "Hermione?" he breathed out. "Duh." she looked at him, breathing heavily, still holding onto his wand for dear life. His whole body went limp. "You're really here?" he asked, even though the answer obvious. He was about to laugh when pain shot through his arm, from the vile mark. He gasped in pain, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he passed out.

"Draco." she got off him and shook him, he didn't wake. She called Harry who at first said it was a bad idea but she insisted he wasn't a threat since she had his wand. Harry fixed the spells to conceal their camp as Hermione brought Draco to the tent and laid him on a cot. She tried shaking him awake again, "Draco."In his mind, Draco could feel the sickly presence of the Dark Lord. He threw up his shields, essentially sealing his mind in a lead-like box. He could hear the snaky laughter, the fake pleas for entrance, and the pains as his shields were probed. He just kept thinking 'no' over and over. The words slipped from his lips, as well. Harry rushed in, knowing what was happening and told Hermione what Voldemort was doing. She turned back to the blonde, "Draco, its Hermione. I'm right here okay." she took his hand, "If you can hear me wake up or squeeze my hand." Draco felt another presence in his box. It was so familiar. He hugged it to him, gaining strength from it. He was glad to not be alone; he could now hold out against the Dark Lord for as long as necessary. *In reality* Draco's hand tightened slightly on Hermione's

She let a small smile escape her lips, "Draco he can't hurt you anymore. Don't let him in. Only you can control yourself. I'm right here I won't go anywhere I promise. Just wake up, please." Draco felt the presence pulled on him, as if asking him to follow. Nervously, he did, even though he was scared to leave his box. As Draco reached for the presence, Draco was yanked out of his box and back to reality. He gasped looking around, trying to make sense of what he saw. She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Merlin you're alright." Harry watched them from afar, keeping a hold on Malfoy's wand just in case. The burning in his arm increased tenfold, and Draco was unable to hold in his scream. As he screamed, his right hand clutched at the forearm of his left. Hermione jumped back as he released her hand and clutched his arm where the mark was. She needed him to calm down, to stop screaming. She sat next to him, taking his head in her hands. "Draco, you're okay. Just breathe before you pass out again, then he has full reign on you." He felt tears fall from his eyes. Hermione's words barely registered in his mind, but they eventually sunk in. He clamped his mouth shut, swallowing his screams. He turned pleading eyes to Hermione. "Please," he forced out around clenched teeth, "please, make it stop." "I don't know how to Draco I'm sorry." she looked at him with watery eyes, feeling sorry for the poor blonde. Draco flicked his eyes between Hermione, Potter in the corner, and his forearm. With his right hand, Draco started to roll up his sleeve, revealing the horrid tattoo. It was pulsating, magic hovering above the skin. Draco looked to Potter, then back to Hermione. He stood a better chance of getting this from her than from Potter. "Hermione," he grit out, "bring me a knife."

"No." she shook her head, almost hysterical. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'best try Potter.' He looked over at Potter. "Will you give me a knife?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood and distract him from the pain. "You can trade places with Hermione, though I swear I will not harm either one of you." Hermione looked at Harry, "You aren't going to actually give him the knife are you? I might not be able to heal him. "She waited to see what her best friend would do. Potter looked down at Draco. Draco let his desperation show in his eyes. Potter nodded slightly then walked to Hermione. "Hermione," he said, "this is something he wants, no needs to do. Either stay over there," he paused to point to a chair in the corner, "or I will bind you there. Understand?" She let a tear roll down her cheek, and turned back to Draco, "If I can't fix this and you bleed to death I will bring you back and kill you myself understand?" she snarled at him. He nodded, sure she could do it. Draco looked to Potter. "If you would be so kind to hold it in the place? I would appreciate to not hit any major arteries because my arm jerked." He held out his left arm to Potter. He also held out his right hand. "And I'll need that knife."

Hermione whimpered and went to the corner of the room, taking her bag and bringing out a spell on wounds, just in case. She flipped through pages and tried not to listen. Potter handed Draco a medium sized sharp knife, then grabbed hold of Draco's forearm, one hand near the elbow, the other near the wrist. "Cheers Potter," he said as he held the knife to his skin. He pressed down, breaking the skin just above the mark. Draco bites his lip to stop from screaming; the cut magnified the pain even more. Hermione covered her eyes with the book, looking and looking. Petrified. Draco moved as quickly as he dared. He cut down a quarter of an inch, and then pulled the knife down his forearm, under the Dark Mark. Soon, Draco had reached the bottom of the tattoo. He then disconnected the strip from his body. He threw it to the floor by the cot and sent a wand less insidious at it. The flesh ignited immediately. For a second, the Dark Mark appeared in the flames, but then the flames were gone and so was the strip. Draco smiled the pain from the mark gone. "Done," he laughed giddy with excitement, happiness, and blood loss.

Hermione jumped from her seat with her bag in her hand; taking out a potion she poured a good amount on the open wound. It sizzled, but skin slowly seemed to grow back until it was red and raw, it would take time to heal but he would be okay. "You're an idiot, you know that?" she looked at him, relieved. Draco just continued to laugh. He was free. He was finally free. He smiled up at Hermione. "I'm free," he managed to say before dissolving into giggles. She rolled her eyes at him, and Harry walked away from them. Bring a glass of water to Malfoy. Draco gladly drank the glass down. His throat was sore from all the screaming. He locked his eyes with Potter's. He stuck out his hand. "Thank You Potter." Potter eyed the hand then shook it. "You're welcome," he replied. She shook her head at both of them, "Boys." she said simply. Draco smiled at her. Then he yawned. The amount of hours he'd spent awake was finally catching up with him. He blinked heavily, having trouble keeping his eyes open.

She looked at Draco, "Sleep now." she patted his shoulder gently. He looked up at the woman he loved. She had just helped him to save himself. Maybe a relationship was not a lost cause. Maybe they could make it work between them. But only if she agree to it. She had helped Draco to stand up against something, to not be a coward. He reached out a hand for her. "Stay with me?" he asked. She bit her lip, and looked at Harry, who just gave her a nod. Hermione closed the curtain that separated the cot from the rest of the tent, "Scoot over."He hastened to comply. He opened his arms to her, hoping she would accept the invitation. She smiled at him, and laid in his arms, facing him. Snuggling close to him, "Im not hurting your arm am I?" she asked. "No," he answered truthfully. She was an amazing healer. Draco rested his cheek on her hair, and felt peaceful sleep wash over him. "Goodnight Draco." she whispered, kissing him gently on the neck before cuddling back into him.

The End.

Hi readers,

This is my first attempt to write Dramione one-shot.

I never write any fanfics before so this is the first ship and I dedicate this to Draco & Hermione.

Please review and i do more :D

-Mia