Author's Note: I'm actually starting another multi-chapter story. Crazy I know. I'm not exactly sure what pairing this is going to end up as so we'll be on the journey together. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters.

The night of the ultimate battle was dark and dreary and smoke billowed ominously all around. Hermione Granger was sure that time was running fast. It was running so fast that they had no time to catch their breath and life in that moment became nothing more than an endless play of hexes and curses, their lights flashing in a macabre display or color.

Then Hermione tripped and fell and time stood still. She felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest as she looked into the vacant emerald eyes of her best friend in the whole world. In the back of her mind she knew that the anguished scream that was ripped from her body would alert the Death Eaters to her position, but all thoughts of her own welfare dimly receded.

With a trembling hand she smoothed the hair from his face and closed his eyes. With tears falling from her eyes she kissed his forehead one last time and prepared to apparate with his body back to headquarters. Then in an instant a heavy black boot kicked her wand away, leaving her defenseless. She cursed herself for putting it down in the first place and looked up into the face of Draco Malfoy.

"What a touching display," he sneered.

"Go to hell Malfoy!"

The wizard's face contorted into a terrible mask of rage and he raised his wand. "Crucio!" Hermione valiantly fought to keep from showing the pain, but visceral need won out. The piercing scream she let out had Malfoy laughing cruelly. He swiftly lowered his wand and regarded her with hard eyes. "I'm going to enjoy this after all these years Mudblood."

As he raised his wand Hermione readied herself, refusing to turn from death. But her demise was not to come. A black robed figure was suddenly in front of her, wand raised.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The all too familiar green light was momentarily blinding and in the next instant Draco Malfoy was dead. Hermione waited in weightless anticipation for her savior to reveal himself. He turned to her and her breath caught in her throat.

"Zabini?"

He nodded slowly. "You need to go Granger.

She shook her head. "You… I need to…"

He strode over and took her face in his hands, forcing her to look into the fathomless depths of his dark eyes. "You're in shock Granger. You need to go; if Draco is here others can't be far behind."

The enormity of what he had done for her suddenly dawned. "Zabini, your best friend. I…"

He cut her off with a firm shake of his head. He briefly squeezed his eyes shut and when he opened them a single tear traced a path through the blood and grime on his cheek. "Take Potter and go Granger." He let her go abruptly and turned to Draco's body. When she didn't move he shouted. "Go!"

With one last look at the dark Slytherin she took hold of Harry and apparated to battle headquarters. Hermione had a moment to register the screams and sobs before she passed out cold.

What could have been days or hours later Hermione fought her way out of a fog. She came to and found Ginny and Molly Weasley sitting on either side of her bed. The moment she saw Hermione's eyes open Ginny was up and out of the room, calling for Madame Pomfrey. Hermione turned her head to look at Molly. "Where am I?" she asked hoarsely.

"You're at Hogwarts in one of the classrooms. They've been set up for extra hospital rooms. The war is over."

"We've won?"

Tears shone in the Weasely matriarch's eyes but she nodded. "Yes dear, we've won."

"Good, that's good."

"Yes. We've been so worried about you dear; you've been slipping in and out for three days now. Of course Harry has been just absolutely…"

Hermione's heart leapt to her throat. "Harry's alive?"

Molly looked a bit surprised by the outburst but nodded. "Yes dear, he's fine. He's a little banged up of course but doing as well as could be expected. He's down in the great hall now…"

Before Molly could finish the sentence Hermione was out of bed and running. She passed a confused Ginny and ignored Madame Pomfrey's shouts for her to get back in bed as she practically flew to the Great Hall. She skidded to a stop at the doors and looked frantically around. She finally caught sight of him leaning over Tonks and Lupin to peer at the paper and his name caught in her throat. The tears came hot and fast and she took a shuddering breath. She finally managed to rasp out his name over the lump in her throat.

He heard her immediately and turned with wide eyes.

"Hermione you shouldn't be out of bed."

She could only shake her head as a sob broke free and she ran to him as fast as her legs could take her. He caught her in his arms and held her shaking form tight as she sobbed against his chest.

"They didn't break the news gently did they?" he asked as he stoked her hair absently.

"I thought you were dead. I found you and you were so cold. You looked like you were already gone."

She broke off and he simply held her as she cried. Not used to such an emotional Hermione he hastily explained. "It was a spell. I looked dead, felt dead but I knew what was going on around me. I don't know who hit me with the spell but I knew when you were there. I couldn't move or say anything but I knew. I heard Malfoy and Zabini."

She nodded against his chest. "I was lucky Zabini was there to save me."

"You were. He's been working with the Order, we only just found out. He's fine."

Hermione took a moment to absorb the information then shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. Did we all make it?" Harry's long pause had worry creeping in. "Harry?"

When she looked up into his face she saw tears behind his glasses. He shook his head. "There were a lot of casualties. Seamus, Neville, Luna, Padma, Ron." His voice caught at the last.

"Ron?" she asked weakly. When he nodded she went limp in his arms, her sobs echoing through the hall. Harry sunk to the floor with Hermione in his arms and for the first time in three days let himself cry over the death of his other best friend.

At the table Tonks leaned into Lupin and brushed the tears from her eyes. "He's in love with her isn't he?"

Lupin nodded. "He is. I just don't think he knows it yet."

Some time later Hermione's sobs faded away and Harry lifted in her arms and carried her up to her bed. For hours she slept fitfully, half-waking up often. Every time she woke Harry was there. When she fully woke for the first time the room was pitch black.

"Harry?"

"I'm here." He squeezed her hand and lit the lamp next to the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been run over by a lorrie."

He brushed his thumb soothingly across the back of her hand. "Madame Pomfrey said you might. Would you like some of the potion she left?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful actually."

Harry let her go of her hand for a moment and measured out a dose of the potion. When Hermione finished with the apparently vile tasting liquid he set the bottle away. Not sure if she would appreciate the contact he let his hands rest on top of the blanket. He was relieved when she reached over and laced her fingers through his.

"Will you tell me what happened Harry?"

"I'll tell you as much as I can. After we all split up that night I went looking for Voldemort. It wasn't all that hard to get to him. He was so convinced of his victory that he practically left a trail of bread crumbs for me. I honestly don't remember a lot of what happened then. There were the usual traded insults, last ditch promises of what he could do for me if I came over to his side. Then things go a little blurry after that. I was so angry. The next clear thought I have is of looking down at his body. I was headed back to headquarters when I was hit by that spell. You came in right after that. Once you apparated us back you passed out. Everyone thought I was dead but it was Lupin who figured out that I was alive. Once I came to everything was pretty much finished. The others took care of the last of the Death Eaters, we made sure that Voldemort was dead and then we moved the injured to the school. We buried the dead the next day and we've been trying to start over."

As he finished the story Hermione raised their joined hands to rest against her cheek. "You did it Harry, you won."

He shook his head. "I'm not a hero Hermione, not really. We all won, not just me."

She nodded. "You're right, we all won, but it was you Harry. It was always you."

He couldn't think of anything even remotely dignified to say so he just smiled and shrugged. For a while they talked about the process of rebuilding everything that had been destroyed in the past years and healing everyone who had been injured. Hermione's voice became raspier by the minute and finally Harry reluctantly left to go and get her some tea.

When Harry got to the kitchens he had his usual discussion with Dobby and agreed to take Hermione some broth along with her tea. As he sat waiting for the tray he was startled by Ginny's sudden presence.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" she asked, pushing long red hair from her eyes.

"Hermione's awake; I'm waiting for some tea and broth."

Ginny nodded and took a seat as she told one of the elves what she needed. "I couldn't sleep. I can't stop thinking about Ron." When she looked up there were tears in her eyes.

"I can't either Gin. It's a blow to all of us."

"How's Hermione?"

"She's ok. She's upset of course, she didn't get to say goodbye after all."

They both went silent until Ginny broke the quiet suddenly. "We need to talk Harry."

He sighed. "Yeah we do."

"It's just, there's something I need to tell you, something I should have told you a long time ago. It was just that it never seemed like the right time with the war and everything."

"Ginny you're rambling, just tell me."

"I'm in love with Dean," she blurted out.

Much to her surprise Harry smiled. "I know Gin. I may be me, which means that I'm a bit clueless, but I'm not a complete prat. I've know about the two of you for a while."

"And you're not upset?"

"I was at first, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. You and I started when I was sixteen and we've both been through more than a lot since then. Now I'm twenty and we've been through a war. We've changed Gin, and I think Dean's right for you."

She smiled at him amazedly. "Harry Potter when did you get so wise?"

"I lived through a war; no one can live through a war and not change." Dobby appeared suddenly with his tray for Hermione and he thanked him as he took it. As he passed Ginny Harry laid a hand on her shoulder briefly. "Be happy Gin."

When Harry got back to Hermione's room her found her sound asleep. With a sigh he set the tray on the table and settled into the chair again for the night.