A/N: Hello everyone! This is my first story on here so I hope you guys like it :)
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns HP and I am not JK Rowling
You Are My Sunshine
It was a burst of blue, a flicker of blonde, and a scream that blended into the chaos surrounding the once majestic castle. A girl, too small, too young, too thin for battle stares wide eyed at the masked Death Eater standing in front of her, his wand raised and ready. Her eyes fill with unshed tears, as they drift briefly to the man sprawled on the ground next to her, his body limp and helpless, his robes torn and stained.
Bile rises in her throat as the grip on her wand tightens. The jets of light, the smell of blood, and the tortured screams fade into the background of her vengeance fuelled haze. Her brown eyes flash with pure hatred as she casts her first—but definitely not her last—unforgivable curse of the night.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Her scream seems to echo across the courtyard, as he drops to the ground in a heap—dead. Quick. Painless.
Much more than the evil piece of scum deserves.
"Granger," The man lying helplessly on the blood splattered courtyard says quietly, his voice is resigned and pathetically weak and she's at his side in a heartbeat, leaning over his tall frame, assessing the damage. He was a far cry from the haughty, arrogant Head Boy from their school days—his pale blonde hair was now dark with grime and the light from his mercurial eyes was dimming fast.
The first thing she notices is the blood. The scent of it fills her nose and is so pungent that it coats her tongue and burns her eyes. He shouldn't have saved her, they were enemies in every sense of the word yet here he was—bloody and bleeding on the ground—all because of her incompetence on the battlefield. Why?
He sees the question in her warm brown eyes before she even speaks.
"Ever the bookworm, even on the battlefield," He croaks, minutely shaking his head. "Drag me over to that covered zone so I could die in peace, would you?" His arm shakes with effort as he raises it toward an area secluded behind a few rocks.
Die.
His words knock her out of her daze and she shakes her head resolutely, the tears she'd been keeping at bay finally spilling out. She brandishes her wand and levitates him toward a small hidden alcove, firing non verbal spells at anyone who got in her way.
It's been four years since the last time they had seen each other, their last night in the Head's dorms. Their shaky friendship that year was one thing she'd always remember, the one thing that made her believe there was good in him. This couldn't possibly be the last time they would ever have a conversation could it?
She lowers him onto the floor of the small space, laying his head against the wall; he feels her tears drip onto his neck as she leans over him, her matted, filthy curls brushing against his chin. The witch takes a deep breath to steady herself, raising her head to look at him, her eyes gleaming with fierce determination while his shone with sadness and something else that she couldn't quite place.
"I can fix you!" She whispers desperately, dragging her wand along his wounds. "Snape works for the Order, he told us—he taught us how to heal this damn it!" Her hands start to shake with frustration as she mutters the counter-curse repeatedly, as if it was a prayer.
"It…won't…work…" The blood loss was starting to get to him, his grey eyes unfocused and delirious as his voice came out in a barely understandable slur. "Modified curse…no cure…"
He knew he was going to die—the Death Eaters had been given orders to only cast spells that could kill.
She grabs the small beaded bag from her sock and grabs desperately for a potion, his hazy eyes watching her movements. Her small hand resurfaces with a potion in hand—blood replenishing potion. Her fingers part his lips as she tips the phial into his mouth, forcing him to swallow.
"I can save you, Malfoy!" She sobs, her mutterings getting more frantic and unintelligible; she takes of her sweatshirt, leaving her in a cotton tee, and rips it up to wrap around his torso as a makeshift bandage. The tears and grime make markings on her face as she stares at him staring at her. "You're so stupid," She chokes out as her hand comes up to weakly bang him on the knee. "Why did you do that? You're such a sodding idiot!" Hermione buries her head into his shoulder, careful not to press on any of his wounds.
Even though he was the one bleeding out on the grounds of their former school, his heart clenched at the sight of the strong witch breaking down.
"I know, love, you've been telling me that since seventh year."
He could feel her hot tears soaking his robes, the swaths of cloth she had wrapped around him doing very little to stop the blood flow. He was going to die and he knew it, this was his only chance to tell her what he's wanted to say since their shaky truce in the Head's dorms.
"I love you" Draco finally blurts out in a weak sort of whisper. The sobbing witch stiffens beside him and he hears her breath hitch almost imperceptively. "I know—I know you don't love me back but Merlin I love you." Her face lifts from his shoulder, her eyes glassy as she strokes his cheek, kneeling by his side.
"Mal—Draco I—"
It was the first time she's used his given name in four years.
"Let me—GAH! Let me…finish," He gasps out as he pushes himself up from the wall, Hermione immediately rushes to push him back down but he waves her away like he's done so many times before. How could he love her?
"I was already on the way to becoming a Death Eater and I was happy!" He growls weakly. "But then you come jumping into my life with your dirty blood and your muggle songs and your stupid infatuation with him. I couldn't help but…fall." The last sentence comes out in such a vulnerable whisper as he lowers his head into his hands. "Every conversation we had felt like a betrayal to my future as your enemy but it was the only time I was ever truly happy."
A stab of guilt pierces her as she looks at the makeshift bandages stained crimson with his blood. She didn't love him, she couldn't love him, her heart already belonged to someone else but—she no longer hated him—she hasn't hated him for quite a while if you think about it. He sacrificed himself for her, he was a Death Eater, and she was an Auror but he jumped in front of a curse he knew he'd die from. No, she didn't love him—but a piece of her heart would always belong to the boy in the common room who always made her smile.
"Sing to me." His voice is quiet and childlike, and her heart clenches in her chest. "Sing that awful muggle song you used to hum in our common room all the damn time."
His blonde hair and pale face shine in the moonlight, a stark contrast to his dark black robes and deep red bandages. His eyelids start to droop from exhaustion and she knows he only has a few precious minutes left of life. I'm so sorry, Draco.
She leans on the wall and lies next to him, pulling away his hands away from his face. She grips one cold hand and she feels him use his strength to clasp around hers tightly, as if he never wanted to let go.
Memories flit through her mind like a film reel and forgotten feelings resurface. They had been friends for a while, if only that had lasted—she had known since the start that they would join opposite sides once they graduated but what if she had tried harder, pushed harder, to get him to join them-would that have changed things? What if, what if, what if.
Her voice cracks as they stare at each other, both of their eyes filled with tears.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine"
"You want me to make a truce with you?! You're joking right?"
"I want our work done efficiently too, Granger."
"Alright," She says after a beat of silence. "deal."
"Deal?"
"Yes, Malfoy, let's make a truce."
"tut tut, Hermione, it's Draco now."
"You make me happy, when skies are grey"
"Did you just throw a mudball at me?"
The slight upturn of his lips betray his expression of anger as they stare at each other, both soaking wet from the rain.
"So what if I did?"
"Oh it's on now, Hermione"
His grip on her hand was weakening as his eyes started to flutter shut. Her voice was starting to come out in sobs instead of sentences, the melody of the music barely there.
"You'll never know dear, how much I love you"
"What do you even see in him? He's just a glorified idiot! And honestly, I'm much more attractive"
"Conceited are we?"
"No, just confident"
He puffs out his chest and she giggles. Since when did she start bloody giggling?
"Well then maybe I should just start liking you instead!"
"Yeah haha, that'd be funny…"
"Please don't take my sunshine…away."
"Well, this is goodbye then…"
"I guess it is."
Her arms wrap around his waist and a noise of surprise makes its way out of his mouth, "I'll miss you, Draco."
She releases her grip and turns away to catch up with her friends, leaving him to stare longingly at her retreating figure.
"I love you, Hermione Granger."
A/N: Sooo…how was it? This was an AU where Dumbledore wasn't killed during their sixth year and the war dragged on as Harry and the gang had a (semi) normal final two years. As for the 'him' who Hermione loves...well I left him ambiguous so you guys can decide on who you want him to be (leave your theories in the reviews?). Don't forget to rate and review! x