"-she's a nightmare, honestly. I don't see how you can stand that bossy bookworm." Hermione ducked into the alcove as she heard Lavender coming around the corner. She peaked, there she saw her best friends with their girl friends, Harry with his arm slung casually over Ginny's shoulder and Ron doing the same with Lavender.
"Yeah, Harry. I mean I get she does your homework for you but the bint is barmy." Ginny giggled loudly, stroking Harry's chest. Hermione winced, she never did the boys home work, she would help them with it, check it over...but she never let them cheat!
"I..well.." Harry started stuttering and stared at Ginny's hand, an uncomfortable tight feeling in his chest.
"She has been acting weird these last few weeks, been a nightmare, just like you said Lav." Ron smiled goofily down at his buxom blonde girlfriend.
"You should just ditch her, what use is she?" Ginny said snidely as she rounded on Harry, pushing her body flush into his, making him blush and stammer.
"It's not like the beaver is ever around anymore, Ginny's right. What do you need her for?" Lavender smiled coyly, fluttering her eyelashes as Ron.
"You're so smart, Lav. You're right, she hasn't been around, she's pretty much ditched us anyway, right." Ron still had a goofy smile on his face as he looked down Lavenders top.
Hermione ducked out of the alcove, tears falling down her cheeks. If that's how they felt then so be it, she wouldn't force her company on them any longer. She had loved Harry for 6 years, she knew it would go no where. After all he was Harry Sodding Potter, what would he need with a bushy haired bookworm. She had started preparing for this eventuality for a long time. Ever since the couples started dating, she would hear the rumors, she would hear them talking loudly about her. Harry and Ron never said a word to discourage them. 6 months, they hadn't stuck up for her once.
She rushed to the girls dormitory as fast as she could to start packing her things. It wouldn't take long, she had a small beaded bag that would fit everything. Hermione started her plans at the end of 5th year, that's when this war got real for her. She knew at some point she would need to go on the run or maybe she would work with Harry on his mission. Either way, in that beaded bag had absolutely anything she may need for the next 2 years, including her entire library. She inherited the Black library from Sirius as well as quite a bit of money, a small cottage that was unplottable, and his treasured vinyl records.
After she finished packing she made her way to speak to the head master, she knew he was a Machiavellian but at least she knew she could squeeze him for answers. All she had to do was make it feel like it was his last chance to make amends, play on that tiny shred of conscious he had left. After many enlightening conversations with his brother Albeforth, Hermione learned quite a lot about her beloved headmaster. Things she tried to tell Harry but he wouldn't hear a word because he was the leader of the light and above reproach.
"Good evening headmaster, it seems we may have a little problem..." Hermione turned a small sad smile to ancient headmaster.
Three hours later, Hermione had an impressive addition to her library. Seeing as she wouldn't be around for his will reading, he went ahead and gave her his private library and notes she would need to hunt down these horcruxes. Apparently, he still intended to slowly dole out information to Harry throughout the year and send him out into the world on the great scavenger hunt of 1998. Hermione snorted, nope not happening. As she was making her way out of the castle she saw Malfoy looking disheveled and on the verge of tears. She sighed deeply, bleeding heart she was, she followed.
"Malfoy." Hermione whispered softly as she approached him slowly. He had his back to her and he was shaking with sobs.
"What do you want, Granger?" Drake growled but didn't turn around.
"You don't have to do this anymore." Hermione said slowly and stood beside him.
"What do you know?" Draco said snidely, splashing water on his face.
"I know you were offered up as sacrificial lamb to the slaughter because Riddle felt your father fucked up. I know he gave you a task you have no chance in hell of completing. I know he told you if you fail he will kill you or your family. I know he told you if you succeed you will be his favorite among all others...I also know, you know it's a lie." Hermione whispered and turned to face him. He looked so broken and vulnerable.
"But you know, I don't have a choice." Draco sobbed, staring into her eyes, begging someone to understand his plight.
"But you do, you may be marked like his cattle but you are worth more than that, don't you think?" Hermione asked, her head tilted to the side.
"Am I? I'm my fathers son." Malfoy sneered, his eye contact wavered slightly.
"I recall something about Malfoys don't beg, Malfoys don't bow to anyone, Malfoys get what they want." Hermione smiled warmly and placed her hand on his cheek. To her immense surprise he leaned into her touch.
"I don't want to do this." Malfoy whispered so softly she almost missed it.
"If you could fight him, would you?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Of course, I want him out of my home, out of my life." He stared at her incredulously.
"If someone offered you a way out right now, would you leave?" Hermione asked hesitantly. Almost immediately she panicked, 1 civil bloody conversation and she offers to hide him and let him on the top secret mission. She's obviously lost it.
"Now, as in. Grab my trunk, leave the grounds and gone?" Malfoy asked hesitantly.
"Yes, right now. A stranger tells you they have a way to beat him and need your help. Truly and honestly, would you do it?" Hermione met his eyes, chewing her bottom lip screaming in her head to stop this.
"Why are you doing this, Granger?" His eyes narrowed scrutinizing her. "Yeah, I would do it. I would take a wizards oath, I would do anything to be free."
"Meet me at the whomping willow if you want out. I'll bring you to my house and we can figure out what to do from there." Hermione held out her hand to him with bated breath. He took it eagerly before disappearing.
When they entered the shrieking shack the first thing they did was take wizards oaths, vowing to never betray the other, keep no secrets, and to be equal partners in their quests to destroy the being known as Tom Riddle. Then they scanned each other looking for any kind of hidden port keys or tracking spells. Hermione found she had a loyalty compulsion charm on her necklace as well as several tracking charms on her. Draco scoffed and immediately broke them telling her she needed to learn some slytherin traits if she wanted to live through this war.
If Draco had any second thoughts, he certainly never showed it. The next morning he left before the sun came up to empty his trust vault and make a trip to his home. He knew Riddle wouldn't be there so he quickly packed up his entire library, any spare wands, and had a quick talk with his mother telling her to get out and go to his Uncle Severus while she could. He refused to say anything, only that she would not see him for a long time but he needed to know she was safe while he was gone. He also had her free all his house elves and bonded with them again. Knowing Lucius and Riddle they would slaughter his nanny elf for kicks when they realized he left.
The cottage was a was a small three bedroom home in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields and forest, with a small pond behind the property. Hermione had already cast the fidelius charm, the only people who knew of the cottage were her, Draco, and Remus. She wanted her professor to have a safe place to go no matter what. The wards were very strong, Remus had helped her set them up, there was no way for anyone to detect there was even a cottage. Magic would not register because it was unplottable, she felt very safe. She even bonded with a house elf, Winky, just in case she had to do this mission alone.
Hermione was in the library when Draco returned, he looked exhausted as he dragged the trunk up to Hermione with a small smile. Inside was the entire Malfoy library and Hermione looked like Christmas had come early. The rest of the afternoon was spent making the room permanently bigger, no easy feat for a couple of sixth years. Hermione balked when she walked into the kitchen to find 35 house elves trying to find something to do. She pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to Draco with an arched brow but before she could say a word Winky popped up beside her begging for work.
"What the hell are we going to do with 36 house elves?!" Hermione exclaimed watching them all rush about polishing surfaces.
"I couldn't leave them." Draco shrugged nonchalantly and told them all to tend to the grounds and finish unpacking the library.
Hermione sighed and went to work on completing the paperwork on selling her parents practice. She would go in the morning to send them on a trip to Australia and maybe have a couple elves watch over the house and alert her if there was any intruders. Draco read through Hermione's notes and schedule she had set herself with a raised brow. No, this wouldn't work at all. He remembered her third year when she looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown everyday, they were partners and it wouldn't help if his partner was barmy.
Harry was not happy when he found his best friend gone along with his arch rival. He immediately grabbed Ron and stormed the headmasters office to find him sitting jovially sitting behind his desk, sucking on lemon drops. His eye twitched, two students missing and he didn't seem bothered at all. Before he could start a tirade the professor smiled that old grandfather smile and leaned forward.
"Miss. Granger is on mission for the order, Harry." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.
"What mission?" Harry growled.
"Alas, I do not know all the details. Only that she decided she would end this war alone because she no longer had any one to rely on." Dumbledore shrugged nonchalantly.
"She has us!" Ron roared jumping up from his seat.
"But does she?" Dumbledore asked with a small twinkle in his eye, effectively dismissing them.
The following months were filled with rumors of the slytherin prince and the Gryfindor princess running off together. Everything from a torrid love affair to a heinous kidnapping plot were muttered around the halls. Remus rushed into the cottage one evening because of said rumors and Hermione had to sit him down to tell him patiently why she left, not what she was doing. She and Draco agreed that if they told someone it would only be someone who could actually help. A heart broken werewolf was help to no one at this time.
Hermione and Draco worked quite well together, surprisingly. They were a very efficient team, already finding one horcrux in grimmauld place, a team of house elves had to hold down kreacher as he fought for the necklace. They spent hours in the morning pouring over books, trying to figure out what the other objects were. They realized that the diadem was in hogwarts because Draco had actually seen it while he was working on the cabinet. Figuring that it would be safe for now, they needed to locate the cup.
The afternoons were for exercise and dueling practice. They had quite a bit to teach each other and after months of grueling practice they were too evenly matched, no matter how much they tried to switch techniques. Draco would fly on off days while Hermione danced. It took quite a few weeks of constant badgering for her to relent on her strenuous schedule but she relented, admitting that she loved to sing and dance in private. Sometimes he watched her, never seeing looking so care free and happy.
It's took 2 solid months to get her on a broom. Draco had to use every bit of slytherin in his pale body to convince her it could be very beneficial to be able to fly well, not just be able to hold on and scream like a banshee. It's took 3 months for her get over her fear of heights and additional 2 months to become a proficient flier and actually find any joy in soaring through the sky.
All had been peaceful until they figured out where to find the next horcrux. Draco figured out that his Aunt Bella was keeping it in her vault. It was during a conversation about potions over dinner that it suddenly came to him, he couldn't believe how daft he had been. Hermione, Gryfindor at heart, wanted to barter with the goblins. Draco laughed at her for thinking that they would actually allow them to rob the vault just because they asked nicely.
"Your mother." Hermione hopped from her chair, her face alight with excitement.
"Really, Hermione. I thought we were past this." Draco said dryly.
"No, your mother can get into the vault!" Hermione cried hopping up and down with excitement.
"Except, my mother is in hiding because my father will lock her in the dungeons for abandoning him." Draco said patiently.
"You could atleast speak to her, goblins are known to be discreet, right?" Hermione huffed.
"No, we are not sending my mother into a dangerous situation and that is final." Draco stamped his foot petulantly and Hermione smiled thinking it was the most adorable thing she had ever seen.
Less than a week later his mother came to the cottage with the cup, smiling at her son. It really wasn't much of an argument, Draco asked if she could do it and the next morning she had the cup. Hermione left them alone to talk it had been nearly a year since he had last seen his mother. Draco talked to his mother about everything they had been studying for the last year, except the horcruxes, he told her about flying and having 35 houselves in the tiny cottage. He refused to say anything about Hermione, he would not give his mother that bone to chew on. His mother had been telling him for years that he should be nicer to the bookworm, that obviously he had feelings for her.
Apparently, she wasn't referring to his feelings of wanting to throttle her.
"The snake, it think it's the next one and last Harry." Hermione choked.
"When do you want to do this? We have to go to the school and get the diadem, we can destroy them all at once but we need Potter." Draco took her small hand in his and squeezed tightly.
"I don't want him to die..." Hermione whispered a tear rolling down her cheek. She had avoided even thinking of her two best friends for so long.
"Still love him?" Draco asked softly, only his eyes gave any emotion away.
"He broke my heart...I don't think I love him in that way but I feel like I'll always love him for being my best friend." Hermione sighed laying her head on his shoulder.
"We need him to die, I'm sorry but he has to die. We can arrange it all to happen at school, it's being run by Uncle Severus and he can buy us time." Draco murmured into her hair. It would all be over soon, maybe even tomorrow.
That was wishful thinking. It had taken an additional 6 weeks to reach out to the Ron and Harry and plan out their attack. Apparently, they were floundering without any direction since Dumbledores death. They had no luck in finding any horcruxes but got side tracked by raids and the mythical hallows. Ron was like a man possessed in his mission to find the elder wand, the idea of being unbeatable was more than he ever dreamed of. Harry sought the resurrection stone, losing sleep over the idea of being able to speak to his parents and Sirius again.
The night before their plan of attack Draco pulled Hermione into his room to go over last minute details. She would see them for the first time on the battle field, he needed to know she would be alright. He knew she was strong, even with their petty bickering, she never let it stand in the way of what truly mattered. They stared at each other for a long moment as he tried to get his mouth to move, say anything to end the silence, when it happened. She kissed him.
It was like a slow burn that took over his body and mulled over his brain. Nothing else mattered outside of that defining moment where finally had her. Years he had obsessed over the bushy haired bookworm and now she was in his arms. Then they were in bed and he was taking her, passionate and furious. All his fears and worries over the upcoming battle were pushed aside as he focused on burrowing into her, trying to make them one. Hours later he was still awake as she slept soundly by his side, he watched her. Memorizing every detail as if it would be the last time he ever saw her, which it very well might be.
"I love you, Hermione." He whispered softly into her hair as he drifted off to sleep.
The plan had gone off without a hitch, Snape summoned Voldemort with news that Harry had been spotted with in the castle. The horcruxes had been destroyed, only the snake and Harry now. Hermione paced furiously in the headmasters office, waiting anxiously to see Harry again. Draco had gone to help talk to the slytherins, ensure their loyalty or keep them away in the dungeons. Either way worked fine for her, she didn't particularly want to kill any classmates, didn't want to kill anyone but this was war.
"Hermione." She jerked and spun, her wand out and under the intruders chin in a matter if a moment.
"Harry" she breathed but didn't drop her wand. "What is Ron's emotional capacity?"
"A tea spoon." Harry cracked a small smile and lunged at her, holding her tightly and breathing in her scent. "Why did you leave me?"
"It seemed like that's what you wanted..." She stepped back quickly. "There's no time now, these are for you. So you can understand." Her voice cracked as she looked into his eyes. She hastily shoved a vial of memories into his hand.
"Understand what? Where have you been? Don't you understand how worried we have been?" Harry cried trying to close the distance between them.
"I just couldn't take it anymore, I had to do something. I couldn't sit around planning anymore. I'm sorry...I'll always love you." She hugged him tightly, whispering her platitudes in his ear before dashing from the office.
The fighting began shortly after, Hermione was the one to strike down Bellarrix Lestrange. She hit Dolohov with the same purple fire he unleashed on her in the department of mysteries. If Draco taught her one thing in dueling, it was that she should never shoot to stun when her opponents were out for her blood. She was faster and deadlier than any other order members, striking to maim and kill while her fellows were merely binding them or leaving them stunned. A disillusioned figure cleaned up their mess and killed them before they could be freed by their comrades. In the middle of all the fighting was Tom Riddle, battling 4 of the orders best.
"Tom!" Harry's voice rang loud and clear in the court yard. "It's time we end this!"
"Harry Potter...come to die?" With a flick of Toms wand, those he was dueling were thrown to the side.
"Like it began." Harry strode confidently towards him, throwing his arms wide.
"Avada Kedarvra." Voldemort hissed, hitting the boy who lived square in the chest. Gasps and murmurs spread throughout the frozen crowd. Hermione felt the tears fall on her cheeks as she stared at her best friends body. Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the hair, pulling her flush against their body.
"A gift my Lord." Dracos voice rang through the courtyard as he pulled her forward.
"Ah, Draco. My my, where have you been?" Voldemorts silky voice called out to him.
"Always working for you my lord. It was her that orchestrated everything, all the raids, the attacks. She is the brain of the Order and I knew I had to give her to you, my Lord." Draco simpered and bowed before the snakelike man, keeping a firm grip on Hermione.
"You bastard! I'll kill you." Hermione hissed venomously.
"Oh, she is a prize, Draco. A pity, if only her unfortunate birth I would mistake her for one worthy of a place in my court." Tom Riddle bent down so his face was in front of her own, he stroked her cheek, almost lovingly. Hermione spit in his face with a cruel smile.
"Do not disrespect your betters, mudblood!" Draco snarled and threw her to the side before getting down on one knee before Voldemort.
"Oh, Draco. I think, you may enjoy breaking her in." Voldemort chuckled as he turned his full attention on Draco, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I always knew you had more spine than your father, more cunning." As his attention was distracted, Hermione struck fast, pulling the blade from under her cloak. Before anyone could fathom what she was doing, Hermione lunged at nagini and lopped her head off him one solid strike.
"Seven down, Tommy boy." Hermione smirked, training her wand on Voldemort. "Will you put up more of a fight than those trinkets you left lying around?"
"You insolent little girl." Voldemort hissed, lunging at her with much more dexterity than could be believed.
He wrapped his hand around her throat, forcing her meet his red eyes. Inside he was panicking, there was no way she could know. As he was trying to break down the walls of her mind, there was a gasp amongst the crowd. He knew something was happening behind him but she kept him entrenched in her minds cape, not allowing him to withdraw.
Harry Potter stood shakily to see Voldemort holding Hermione off the ground by her throat with one hand. He willed his aching body to move towards them. So weak, he could barely lift his wand but as he pushed himself to his knees he saw Draco Malfoy strike. Draco grabbed the sword of Gryfindor and swung, decapitating the dark lord. Hermione crumbled to her knees, choking and messaging her neck, staring up at Draco with awe. She didn't even have a chance as Harry lunged at her, pinning her to the ground, smothering her face with kisses. Frozen, she lay there stiff as he tried kiss her mouth, her eyes trained on Draco.
The pleading look in her eyes killed the feelings of jealousy and inadequacies he harbored in himself. Draco shook himself from his stupor and yanked the raven haired boy off Hermione. Harry sputtered and stared at him incredulously as he pulled Hermione to her feet much more tenderly. He tried to examine her to any injuries only to find her crying.
"You did it." She whispered reverently, cupping his cheek in her hand.
"Yeah, I did." Draco smirked arrogantly, wrapping his arms around her to pull her close. "For you."
"I love you." She whispered before claiming his mouth.