AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey guys, how have you all been? It's been a long while! This fic is dedicated to my beta, KatnissIsTheLove as her late birthday present, I hope you like it, Sarah! As for the rest of you, I promise I'll update my other fic soon! I was inspired by Coldplay's Fix You, it's not a song fic, but I highly recommend that you listen to that song while reading. Enjoy, and please review to let me know your thoughts! :)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all its characters belong to JK Rowling, I am making no profit from the writing of this.

Details: Mostly HBP canon, but some parts are changed.

Draco shivered as the cold drafty air circulated on top of the Astronomy Tower. His wand hand shook ever so slightly, and he bit down on his lip harshly and steeled himself. If he couldn't even stand strong then how could he even complete the task in front of him?

Namely: Dumbledore.

"Draco. Years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. Please let me help you," the old man standing just a few feet away from him wheezed.

At the mention of the word 'help', he scoffed. How do you help someone under the threat of the Dark Lord?

"I don't want your help. Don't you understand, I have to do this. I have to kill you, or he's gonna kill me!" He nearly choked on his words in fear, but took a deep breath to stop his tongue from thickening in his mouth.

He took a step forward, arm still straight out, as if to remind himself that the task he was assigned could not be backed out of.

Dumbledore tried one more time. "Draco, you are not a murderer."

To which he responded, "How do you know what I am? I've done things that would shock you."

He swallowed his nerves down, but that only gave him butterflies. He heard footsteps coming, probably Bellatrix and some other high rank Death Eaters. He didn't want to be caught in this awkward situation, standing here and staring at old Dumbly, so he opened his mouth and prepared to say those two words that would end the life of his headmaster forever.

"Avada Ked-" He was interrupted by a bone chilling scream. Definitely not Bellatrix.

"Headmaster! Draco what in Merlin's name are you doing?" It was Hermione Granger.

Granger, having assessed the situation fairly quickly despite her shock, ran and placed herself before Dumbledore, right at the tip of his wand. He saw the betrayal in her eyes and closed his own steel gray ones briefly, the pain shooting right to his heart.

"Miss Granger, move aside, you shouldn't-"

"Why are you here Granger? You shouldn't be." His voice was cold, and he saw Granger shake her head in disbelief.

"I was looking for Harry. He was last seen here with Dumbledore." She answered him in a tone that matched his, making him wonder if the past weeks spent holding her close to him at night, kissing her when he wanted to and putting up with those two morons she called friends were totally erased from her memory.

"Malfoy." Oh. They were back to last name basis again. But he'd called her that first and besides, he deserved it for lying to her.

When he didn't look at her, she tried again.

"Draco. Look at me." Her voice was softer than he'd ever heard it, reminding him of the times they'd spent staying up all night bickering with each other. He reluctantly dragged his eyes toward her, afraid to hear what she had to say to him.

"Put down your wand. Can you do that? We'll help you, I promise." Her words were full of hope and a part of him wanted to obey, as if he'd been Imperioed.

"I'm sorry Hermione. I can't."

"You're better than this! Draco please listen to me, I love you. Please don't do this." She was sobbing now, tears streaming freely down her face, as if she was about to lose something very dear to her.

Him, he realized.

The three of them heard footsteps. All thoughts of dropping his wand vanished from his head as he glanced wildly at the stairway. Bellatrix, she'd murder Granger in cold blood.

"Granger, you have to get out of here. Bellatrix, she'll kill you."

"No, give me your wand first, Malfoy!" He huffed in frustration. Why was she such a stubborn witch at the worst times? There wasn't time. Bellatrix would be here soon and once she saw Granger-

Seeing as she wasn't likely to give in any time soon, he pretended to lower his wand. Her guard dropped just a little, and he Petrified her, before casting an Incarcerous at Dumbledore to keep him there.

He ran and grabbed her before she could fall to the ground and pressed his lips to her forehead, closing his eyes.

"I love you too Hermione. Please stay safe." The footsteps grew louder and it spurred him into action.

He grabbed Granger by the waist, hoisting her over his shoulder and hurried to the hidden space beneath the entire floor he'd just been standing on. Draco bumped into a solid figure, and impatiently moved Granger out of his line of sight to see what, or who, rather, that was blocking his way.

Potter.

He thrust Granger into his arms and his eyes met the raven haired boy's. His eyes didn't exactly hold forgiveness, but at least they held understanding and a grudging respect.

Draco took a step back, and hurried back to where Dumbledore stood restrained, trying to rid the image of Potter's green eyes boring into him with respect instead of loathing. He was about to kill Dumbledore, and Potter knew that.

Didn't he?

"Well, well. What do we have here? Well done Draco." Bellatrix slithered behind him, her mouth pressed to his ear.

Her words didn't register in his brain at all.

He stared straight ahead into the gray haired wizard's eyes, but Dumbledore's gaze was slightly different than from before Hermione came. It was now filled with approval in the face of death.

Draco resisted the urge to cry. Two people had changed their opinions of him, just because he'd saved Hermione. He loved her, there shouldn't and wasn't any other reason to it. But he'd never get to clarify that now.

"Do it Draco, now!" Her voice screeched and broke him.

"Avada Kedavra!" A flash of green light erupted from his wand and when it cleared, Dumbledore was gone.

The Death Eaters behind him cheered while Bellatrix cackled. They moved off toward the stairway as one, but Draco paused to look between the rafters.

Hermione was looking back at him, Potter had somehow silently lifted the spell off her. She reached a hand toward him, but when Bellatrix's cackling grew louder instead of softer, he gave an imperceptible shake of his head and hurried down the stairway without a glance back.

He didn't leave anything behind in the Astronomy Tower that night. Nothing but his heart.

No one could fix him now.