A Love's Sacrifice Chapter 4, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter 4: A Love's Sacrifice

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione woke up with the smell of pancakes filling the air. She opened her eyes feeling more refreshed than ever before, feeling very much alive. She surveyed the surroundings of the bedroom and seeing the green and silver theme in the room reminded her where she was.

The thought of Draco made her smile. It had felt so wonderful sleeping in the comfort of his arms, snuggled up in comfortable, satin blankets. Last night, she felt like she was where she belonged.

She looked at the other side of the bed to see it already made up. A simple but elegant royal blue robe sat on the edge of the bed for her. Marveling at Draco's wonderful taste, she got out of bed and went to the adjoined bathroom to take a shower and get dressed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Breakfast was like everything else that morning for Hermione: wonderful. She was pleasantly surprised to find Draco cooking the Muggle way and even happier to discover that the food was delicious.

Hermione had never been in such high spirits before. For a moment, life seemed perfect to her. All through breakfast, she talked animatedly about a variety of subjects, only pausing to fill her mouth with some food from time to time.

Draco, who noticed the extreme change in her behavior, smiled. The enthusiasm in her voice and the way she immersed herself into every word she said reminded him of the Hogwarts days when she would go on and on about facts on a subject she had read in a book. It was nice to see her so carefree, so alive, and so interested in the world around her. Yesterday, the Hermione he saw was very much different.

But that was the thing. Draco knew by the sparkle in her eye as she spoke and the confident demeanor she was holding that something had changed within Hermione last night. Being with Draco had given her back something she had lost: hope. And just like everything she had felt or believed in had left along with her hope, they all returned with it just as strongly.

The Hermione Granger he knew was back, even if she hadn't realized it yet. Draco smirked a little, knowing full well that he had something to do with it, before paying attention to Hermione once more.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't until after breakfast that Hermione saw her wand glowing purple. The happiness on her face was quickly wiped off, replaced with a firm grimness.

With everything that had happened last night, Hermione had completely forgotten about the fact that the Order had been expecting her back an hour after she had left.

She cursed herself for being so foolish before refocusing on the matter at hand. The Order knew she was alive, that she was sure of. They had decided to cast a charm on all the Order members' wands so that the Order would know if a member was alive or dead if they had disappeared. Her wand glowing purple was indication to them that she was indeed alive.

They must have been worried sick when they heard of the attack at Diagon Alley, she thought to herself, her mind racing as it processed all this new information. For her own safety purposes, they would have had to wait three hours before attempting to contact her wand.

Hermione looked at her wand again. She guessed that it must have been glowing for some time now, so the Order must want to know more than whether she was alive. They must be trying to signal me to return to headquarters, she mused to herself, her forehead creased in concentration.

With this thought, Hermione made up her mind. She tucked her wand into an easily accessible pocket and was in the process of throwing her cloak on when Draco walked in.

"What's going on Hermione? Where are you going?" he asked, worry etched on his face at seeing Hermione looking so grim.

"The Order's been trying to contact me to see if I'm alright. I need to head back to headquarters. I have a feeling something urgent is happening." She said resolutely, her voice never once quavering.

Hermione stopped moving and looked at Draco.

"I have to leave Draco," she said quietly, almost wishing he wouldn't hear her.

Draco looked at her seriously as an inner battle took place in his mind. After a long minute of silence, he said,

"I'm coming with you." His voice was firm and had a finalizing tone to it.

"Draco, you can't be serious. You have to stay in hiding…" Hermione began, her rational mind speaking instead of her irrational heart.

"I don't care, Hermione. The Final Battle is in sight. I can sense it." His voice was strong and powerful but it immediately softened before he continued, "But more importantly Hermione, I don't want to lose you again. I've already made that mistake once. From now on, we stick together, even if it means…" his voice trailed off, but Hermione finished it.

"…the death of us." She gave him a small smile before running towards him and kissing him squarely on the lips.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asked him, her arms wrapped around his neck.

He smirked at her gesture, pecked her quickly on the lips, and nodded.

And so together, Draco and Hermione apparated to the Order of Pheonix Headquarters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing Hermione saw when she popped into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place was the unruly figure of Harry Potter, pacing back and forth in worry.

His head turned immediately at the popping sound and a wave of relief coursed through his body when he saw Hermione stranding there, looking as healthy and well as ever.

He quickly rushed up to her, talking her in a warm but friendly embrace. Draco's presence beside her was momentarily missed.

After letting go of her, Harry quickly began piling her with questions. "Where were you Hermione? Did the Death Eaters harm you in any way? Why didn't you come back yesterday? You haven o idea how worried I was…" Harry ran a hand through the mess on his head called hair as he tried to calm himself.

By now, Remus, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley had entered the room to find out what all the commotion was about. When they saw Hermione standing there, they all came over to her, giving her hugs and pats on the back to show their relief at seeing her in one piece.

"Where were you Hermione? We were so worried!" Tonks exclaimed, still feeling a bit anxious.

Remus came by Tonk's side. "What happened in Diagon Alley? How many Death Eaters were there?"

Hermione laughed. "One question at a time. If you all must know, I managed to get away from the Death Eaters but was extremely weak. Luckily, Draco here came along and took me to his underground flat. I decided it would be best to lay low and ended up spending the night there." She ended with a smile in Draco's directions, who was clearly surprised but impressed by the way she smoothly tweaked the end of her little story.

He smirked and Hermione blushed slightly before turning her attention to the four others in the room once more.

"So, what's the update? I'm assuming the constant glowing of my wand means that something important has come up."

This comment snapped everyone in the room out of their own thoughts and back to reality. All of them had either been shocked to see Draco so alive and well after two years or had been eyeing Hermione curiously when noticing the significant change in her attitude and behavior (this was mainly Tonks).

Harry was the one to break the silence. He sent a nod of acknowledgement towards Draco before speaking.

"As always, Hermione, you have it right. The Final Battle is near, very near. And Lupin says it's necessary to start planning if we want even a 1 chance of winning."

For Hermione, it was clear that the pessimism in the end was Harry's belief, not Lupin's.

Hermione, who was determined to change Harry's attitude, replied in a powerful voice. "Well let's get started now, shall we? I'm sure with all of our minds as well as Draco's, we can change that 1 into a 100 chance of winning."

Her eyes blazed with a fiery determination that took everyone, including Hermione herself, by surprise. Well, everyone but Draco. He just smiled knowingly at her.

It was at that moment that Hermione knew. The cheerful mood, the confidence, the determination, the optimism. They were all signs of one thing and one thing only: she had gotten her hope back.

Hermione couldn't have been happier. She suddenly felt an air of invincibility. And she knew just who to thank for this. She turned her head towards Draco, wishing she could hug him or kiss him, anything to let him know just how grateful she was.

Spending a night in the comfort of Draco's arms had seemed so improbable to Hermione that she couldn't even dream of such a thing. For it to become a reality had changed Hermione. It had made her realize there's always something to hope for, even when the future may seem bleak. She discovered that the power of the mind, the power of hope, is an incredible thing. It can change fate itself.

And that's what Hermione had full intent of doing. Changing fate and changing circumstances so the good side would win the war, so the Wizarding World will forever be free of Voldemort.

With this thought firmly wrapped around in her mind and driving her, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table, an entirely different woman from the previous day, and began to plan with those around her the demise of Lord Voldemort.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Only an hour passed and the plan was relatively complete. Harry, Hermione, and Draco were in the kitchen, making themselves some cups of hot chocolate to drink before they finished planning the remaining portion of their plan.

The adults, meanwhile, sat at the kitchen table in deep silence. Remus and Arthur looked positively dumbstruck, rendered absolutely speechless. Tonks' looked so amazed and shocked that one could not even put it to words. There on the table in front of them lay a brilliant, quite foolproof strategy that could potentially win them the war.

It felt like a miracle to the three of them. Ever since news arrived that the Final Battle was approaching, they had been deep in worry. Although Remus and Arthur had started working on a plan of their own, they didn't think that they would have a decent one set by the time the battle arrived. And even if they did, the three adults had hit the point where they seriously doubted their chances of winning anyway.

But the sight before them proved otherwise. They had just witnessed Hermione Granger come up with a plan that wasn't just decent, but absolutely astounding. It was a plan better than anything they could have come up with and it actually gave them a chance at being victorious. But all of this wasn't what shocked the three most. It was the fact that she was able to come up with such a plan primarily on her own in the span of a mere hour when it would have taken most of the greatest witches and wizards days. They weren't ones to underestimate Hermione's intelligence, but for her to work so quickly and brilliantly was mind-boggling.

They simply couldn't believe their eyes. They didn't understand how Hermione could still be so determined, so fiery, and so dedicated after everything she'd been through. Tonks most especially couldn't make anything out of it, not after the kind of state she had seen the poor girl in just yesterday.

The thing that was bothering the three adults most was just how she was able to do it. They didn't know how anyone could accomplish so much in such little time, especially in the circumstances they were facing now.

But then again, they didn't know the half of it. No one did. Except for Hermione and Draco, that is.

There was actually a lot Hermione and Draco knew that the group didn't, like their relationship. There was something going on between them, that much everyone knew for sure. But they couldn't figure out exactly what it was.

Harry was pondering this very topic in the back of his head as absentmindedly stirred his hot chocolate, his eyes on Hermione and Draco. They talked as if they were friends; no traces of their past enmity could by found. They even called each other by their first names with absolute ease. And all of this puzzled Harry. Last time he recalled, Hermione had shared an equal loathing for Malfoy as he had. There was definitely more here than what meets the eye.

While Harry was busily trying to decode the strange relationship between his best friend and former enemy, Hermione's mind was on far more serious matters: the end portion of their plan. Although the end part didn't involve nearly as many people, Hermione knew that the outcome would really decide the fate of the Wizarding World.

But the enormity of the battle wasn't what was bothering her most. It was the means that would decide it that had her feeling terribly upset. She knew someone was going to have to die, but would it be Voldemort or…Harry?

Hermione mentally scolded herself for pondering on the subject when she didn't need to. She didn't need to cry right now; if anything, she needed to be stronger than ever before. And at the moment, there was only one way to do that: concentrate on something else.

Hastily wiping her eyes that had watered up amidst her thoughts, Hermione focused her attention on making her hot chocolate as slowly as she could, hoping to avoid the issue as long as possible.

Draco, who knew Hermione far better than she gave him credit for, subtly moved down towards where she was standing at the counter with his cup, pretending to move there to get some marshmallows from the bag right next to her. Adding a few in, he focused on stirring his drink with one hand while the other one sneaked towards Hermione's. After making sure no one could see where his hand was, he returned his eyes on to his drink before slipping his hand into her own and giving it a comforting squeeze.

Hermione, who had been so busy staring at her hot chocolate as it swirled round and round in her cup, almost jumped when she felt his warm, smooth skin touch hers. She looked at him curiously to try and figure out what exactly he was aiming to do but Draco was looking as if nothing had happened. Ignoring her completely, he stirred his drink a little before picking it up and taking a sip. His attempt to act innocent failed, though, when a small smirk tugged at his lips as he put his cup down.

Hermione smiled, shaking her head in disbelief at the nerve the man beside her had. She wasn't one to underestimate Draco's abilities, but to toy with her when Harry was standing on the other side of the kitchen counter only a few feet away and probably looking at them was definitely not something she was expecting, not especially when considering the circumstances.

And not to her surprise, when Hermione quickly peeked a glance at Harry, she saw him looking in their direction, lost in his thoughts.

So did Harry see the interaction between the two of them? Not of all of it, no, but he saw a sufficient amount to further heighten his curiosity on what was going on between the two. Of course, he didn't see Hermione's hand entwined with Draco's because Malfoy had made it a deliberate point to hide that view, but it was impossible to miss his smirk and Hermione's smile and shake of the head.

Harry continued to mull over his thoughts until Hermione and Draco walked over to where he was standing to begin what would probably be a very uncomfortable conversation.

For a moment, they just stood there silently, waiting for someone to begin the dreaded topic. Hermione's eyes had taken a keen interest in the ground and she constantly fidgeted around, making it very clear how jumpy and anxious she was. Harry too was looking at his empty cup, tracing the rim with his finger around and around again. Draco watched the two and their actions with mild interest and worry.

Never having been very patient, Draco was quick to become exasperated and so cleared his throat to get their attention. Hermione jumped up and shot a mild glare at him for scaring her while Harry just looked up at him, a very passive look resting upon his face.

"So where did we leave off Hermione?" He spoke in a hushed tone, fully aware that the adults were sitting at the table not far off from where they were standing.

Hermione, who almost looked like she was trembling, took a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak. "We have taken care of…"

Before Hermione could continue, though, the door to the Headquarters was opened and in entered a limping Mundungus and a tired and grimy Alastor Moody.

Hermione let out a small sigh of relief at the unexpected delay, but her body was still a bit shaken up.

Remus and Arthur immediately stood up and helped the two newcomers to their chairs, while Tonks ran into the kitchen to bring them cups of hot chocolate to drink.

After Moody caught his breath, he finally spoke, "Mundungus and I have brought some good news." His normal eye was focused on Arthur and Remus, but the magical one was curiously watching Draco.

"The battle near King's Cross was a pretty big success for the Order. It was pretty clear that those bloody Death Eaters weren't expecting as many losses as they ended up having, so we're pretty certain there's been a minor setback in their plans. We've earned ourselves a bit more time than we thought we had before the Final Battle. That should give us more time to come up with a full battle plan," he finished, his normal eye moving down to the battle plan on the kitchen table while the magical one looking towards Draco, Harry, and Hermione as if it had just read their thoughts.

But Hermione wasn't paying attention to the eye at all. Her mind simply processed the fact that they didn't have to continue planning today, and that was really all she needed to hear.

When Harry turned back to them and asked, "Should we continue on with our planning or leave it for later?", Hermione only heard from "Should" to "planning" before she ran from the room and upstairs to her bedroom, her head in her hands to keep the tears from showing.

Harry, who had not realized just how upset Hermione was over the whole topic, immediately yelled, "Hermione, wait!" before making a start to run after her.

He didn't move at all, though, because Draco got a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Let her go, Potter," his voice soft and without malice, even now that Hermione was out of the room.

Harry turned to glare at Malfoy, every trace of thought of how Draco seemed so changed gone from his mind.

"What do you think you are doing, Malfoy? Hermione's upset. I have to go after her!" Harry said, his voice filled with frustration and worry, turning to face Malfoy.

"Trust me, Potter." Malfoy began, but was cut off with a small involuntary scoff that came out of Harry's mouth. Harry couldn't have stopped it if he had wanted to; it was just such a natural reaction.

Draco had to keep himself from sneering at Harry. Ooh, how that bloody boy boiled his blood.

"I didn't ask for the sound effects, Potter, thank you very much. If you didn't interrupt me, maybe what I was going to say would not have sounded so unbelievable to your ears either." Draco tried to keep himself calm, but a hint of anger could definitely be traced in his voice.

Instead of continuing on with the spat like he normally would have, Harry kept quiet and nodded to Draco to continue. After being rude when Malfoy was making such a conscious effort to be nice to him, he felt he owed him this much.

Knowing Harry's actions were as close as he was going to get to an apology, Malfoy took a deep breath before continuing, "When I said 'Trust me, Potter', I meant that I know Hermione well enough to know when she wants to be left alone. Don't ask me how I know because that's something you're not going to get out of me, but I just want to make it clear to you that I am not trying to purposely make her suffer or anything. It's just one of those few things that I have to come to know about her, and I can bet you my life that she needs to be alone more than anything else right now." Draco ended, quite out of breath and with a horrible feeling that he had been babbling a bit.

When Harry looked like he was about to protest, Draco stopped him by continuing, "I haven't returned here, hoping we can become chummy pals for life or anything. I'm not even hoping that you will come to like me. Hate me for all I care. Don't trust me in every other matter if you don't want to. But all I'm asking you to do is give me a chance when it involves Hermione and when we are around her. You may not like it, but you're going to have to face it. Hermione and I are friends." He paused, trying to keep himself from snorting at what an understatement that was, before clearing his throat and continuing,

"She does trust me, and even though I'm sure you're not going to want to hear this, you're going to have to trust me when it regards her and you're going to at least have to pretend to be okay with me around her, got that? She is so stressed out and upset as it is. You should've seen her when I found her yesterday. And even though she seems almost as good as new today, she's still fragile and I'm not going to do anything that will make her as broken as I saw her last night."

By the time Malfoy had uttered his last words, Harry was definitely surprised. Sure he had expected something decently kind, but boy did the words that actually came out of Malfoy's mouth blow Harry away.

He didn't want to say anything. In fact, he really didn't need to say anything. Draco Malfoy had just said it all, and knowing full well that he had. Not sparing even a moment longer, Malfoy smoothly exited the room, his robes swishing behind him as he left.

Harry simply stood there for a while, staring at the place where Draco Malfoy had been not long ago. There was something about him that got to Harry. Maybe it was his very sudden connection to Hermione, or maybe it was the rather passionate speech he had just given Harry in his own defense. Harry didn't know. All Harry knew at the moment was that there was a sort of silent, mutual understanding between him and Malfoy and along with this understanding had come a greater respect for the blond man than ever before.

It wasn't a respect that simply erased his previous hatred for the man or the fact that he was having trouble trusting him on anything, even in regard to Hermione. No, it really didn't change a thing about his past views. All this new respect did was make Harry willing to give Malfoy a chance. But as small as that may have seemed, it was enough.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day passed in relative silence. The adults had been busy out and about, trying to inform all the Order members of the plan thus far.

Harry spent the rest of the day thinking either about the upcoming battle or Hermione. Sometimes, he threw a glance at Hermione's bedroom door, longing to open it and comfort his friend who had been hiding in there and avoiding everybody all day.

After Draco's words replayed in his mind, though, he resisted the temptation. He not only wanted to keep the promise he made himself to give Draco a chance, but the more he thought about, the more Harry realized that anything he would say to Hermione to try to comfort her would probably only serve to upset her more.

Draco was in a similar dilemma. He spent the whole day in his room thinking about Hermione. He wanted to so badly go and hug her, comfort her, and tell her everything was going to be okay even though it wasn't.

But unlike Harry, who had finally managed to ease up and not worry so much about her because he knew she would come around, Draco spent the whole day pacing and worrying about her, although he only made these emotions visible in the privacy of his own room. Even though he managed to convince Harry about Hermione going to be okay, Draco clearly had not convinced himself.

By eleven that night, everybody had retired to their respective rooms for the night to try and get some sleep. Harry too went to sleep, although reluctantly because his worry about Hermione had returned by the end of the night. She had never come out of her room and didn't eat dinner, not even after Harry put a plate of food outside of her room door for her. Draco had managed to convince Harry that she would come around by the next morning, but he was still not at ease as he closed his eyes and let sleep overcome him.

As for Draco himself, he was the only one still awake. He made it appear as if he had gone to sleep, and then, when he was sure everyone else had gone to bed, he snuck out of his room and quietly made his way to the living room.

And sure enough, there he found Hermione curled up in an armchair as she gazed at the fire burning vibrantly in the hearth.

He leaned against the doorway, arms crossed across his chest, and watched her carefully.

Hermione didn't ever move a muscle. She sat there as still as a statue, looking absently into the fire.

But the blaze of the fire didn't seem to reach her eyes. It was as if her eyes had been shielded from reflecting what they saw. They seemed to be glazed over with a thin sheet of mist, presumably caused by the tears that had fallen not too long ago. It made her fiery chocolate brown eyes look foggy and emotionless, making it impossible to see what she was thinking or feeling.

Although Hermione seemed to be lost in thought, her senses were as acute and alert as ever. It didn't take her long to feel someone's presence in the room. She surprised Draco by quickly turning around and looking him straight in the eye. Her body, which had gone instinctively tense as she turned, relaxed a bit at seeing it was just him.

She kept watching him for only a moment, her eyes still undecipherable to Draco, before turning around and gazing into the fire once more.

Draco, who was carefully analyzing Hermione's each and every move, said nothing. Instead, he made his way towards the armchair right next to Hermione's and sat down, his eyes fixed on the back of her head.

They were both quiet for a minute, as if daring the other to speak first. When Hermione still refused to say anything, Draco gently placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to make her face him. He was a bit surprised to see a few tears spilling onto her cheeks.

Draco felt a pang of pity and guilt. For some reason, he felt like he was the cause of these tears. Kneeling in front of the chair in which she was sitting, Draco wiped each tear away, one by one, with his thumb. He looked her in the eyes in the moment before finally speaking.

"Hermione, you have to stop crying. There's so much we still have to do before the Final Battle arrives and we can't do any of it without you."

When Hermione suddenly stopped crying and her face become all hard and determined, Draco, who had stood up, realized that those tears were out of frustration and irritation at herself than out of sorrow.

Hermione got off her chair to stand up and meet Draco at eye level.

"Look, Hermione, I know this is hard for you…"

Before Draco could finish, Hermione cut him off. "Hard for me? You think this is hard for me? Boy is that a ridiculous understatement. Why don't you try excruciatingly painful? Because even though that doesn't even begin to describe just how difficult things are for me right now, it'll give you an idea of just how much this is hurting me."

Draco was about to protest but Hermione ignored him and continued.

"How would you feel, Draco? How would you feel if everyone was counting on you to come up with a plan that will win you a war even though the end of your plans includes the possible death of the best friend that you have stood by for over ten years? Explain that to me, Draco. How would you feel if you were in my place?

"Would you like to know how I feel right now? I hate my situation more than anything else in the world. How can they possibly expect me to create a plan that involves my best friend sacrificing his life in the process?

"And don't even dare start telling me all that nonsense about how everything is going to be okay and Harry'll pull through this because those are total lies and both you and I know that. You can try to hide the truth from me as long as you'd like but I'm not stupid, Draco. I very well know that Voldemort has been getting stronger day by day and not even Avada Kedavra can kill him."

By now, Hermione was red in the face and out of breath. Angry tears were spilling from her eyes as they blazed at Draco, as if daring him to say something in response.

And of course, Draco took on the dare.

"Do you think this is just about you? Well, wake up and smell the coffee, Hermione dear, because this goes way beyond just you. You ask me if I have any idea how hard this is for you? No, not really. But what I do know is that you need to get out of the little closed box you're living in right now. You're so busy thinking about the outcome of the battle and how it's going to affect you but have you taken the time to even consider what's going through Potter's head right now?" Draco's voice had this hard icyness to it.

The realization on her face told him his answer. Softening his tone and putting his hands gently on her arms, he continued,

"Hermione, I know this is hard for you. Sorry, correction. Excrutiatingly painful." he corrected himself, trying to coax out a small smile from Hermione's lips. "But Hermione, put yourself in Pott...Harry's place. You think he's stupid? I'm sure he's quite aware of the real situation of things, including the sacrifice he's going to have to make. For a minute, just forget about how it feels to know that you're going to have to devise a plan that includes the potential sacrifice of your best friend and just imagine how it must feel to be Harry. Imagine what it must feel like to know that you're going to have die before you've even really begun to live your life in order to save the whole Wizarding World."

Hermione looked at Draco, an overwhelming sadness and defeat filling up her eyes. "What am I supposed to do? How can I possibly help Harry when I'm a total mess myself. You don't get it Draco. I can't do this. The Order is asking too much from me this time. My courage and bravery can only go so far. I can only take so much before the situations cross the line. And making me come up with a plan where I'm going to lose one of the last few people left who know me and understand me better than myself is crossing that line. I can't do it, Draco. I just can't do it."

And with that, Hermione fell towards Draco, her face buried in his chest, and began to cry.

Draco quickly wrapped his arms around Hermione's shaking frame and let her sob into his chest. He couldn't provide any better support than that right now.

When Hermione's sobs had subsided to mere sniffles, Draco still had her tightly in his arms. Gently placing her hand on his chest, she pushed herself away just enough so that she could look him in the face properly.

"What are we going to do, Draco? How are we going to get rid of Voldemort when no known curse can kill him or affect him strongly enough so we can finish him off? Then, Harry will not only," Hermione choked for a moment, "die, but his sacrifice will go to waste. If he has to...die, then we need to win this war mainly for his sake." Hermione's voice had been reduced to a mere whisper.

Draco looked at her earnestly. "You're giving up hope too quickly, Hermione. There has to be a way to kill Voldemort. He's not immortal yet."

"Then tell me what the way is Draco. It can be anything, can be any measure, can be at any cost. We need to finish that man, that creature, off."

Draco's face looked determined. He stopped pacing and made his way over to the armchair where Hermione was sitting. Kneeling in front of it so they were face to face, he spoke. "Look, Hermione. I'm here now, and I;m going to find a way to end this no matter what. Just don't lose hope. We're going to need your hope if we ever want to pull through this."

"I won't lose hope, Draco. Not now. You standing here right beofre me is enough proof that miracles can happen."

Draco couldn't help but smile at her words. With someone like Hermione by his side, he knew anything was possible.

With that thought resting in his mind, Hermione sat in silence while Draco paced back and forth, both of them relentless wracking their brains for some kind of way to overcome the seemingly impossible.

With every passing monent of silence, an answer seemed even farther away. The more impossible a solution semed to b. No matter how Hermione tried, her hope was slowly beginning to waver and wilt away.

Just when Hermione thought it would be a lost cause, Draco finally broke the silence.

"There is a way, Hermione."

These words should have filled Hermione with joy, but the grim, dark edge in Draco's voice made her feel otherwise. As she took her eyes off the ground to look up at him, she noticed there was an eerie sort of aura that suddenly seemed to emanante from Draco, and Hermione knew there had to be some sort of a catch.

Hermione took her eyes off the ground to look up at him. "What is it?" Although her eyes were red and her face had fatigue written all over it, a determination resonated from her voice.

"There is a spell that you and I both found when we went on our only Order mission together. About two and a half years ago." he paused, waiting for the light bulb to flicker on in Hermione's head. Draco was about to continue speaking, when his eyes suddenly met hers. Although the two did not realize it, their pendants glowed brightly once again before they were whirled into yet another pensieve of memories.

Hermione and Draco were under an Invisibility Cloak, carefully trailing behind what seemed to be a very drunk and careless Death Eater. Although the two realized the threat they were about to impose on themselves, they knew this was really the only way they would be able to steal back the prophecies the Death Eaters had stolen from a top security vault at the Ministry of Magic.

Neither of them were exactly sure what the prophecies said, but the fact that Voldemort wanted the prophecies was reason enough for them to keep the prophecy scrolls away from him.

As they approached the entrance to the hideout, Hermione and Draco were suddenly very tense and careful. They moved in extremely small steps and in perfect unison so that no one would be able to tell that they were coming under the Invisibility Cloak. They need not have feared though because they were skillfully able to slip through the security wards they had set up by trailing extremely close behind to the drunk man in front of them.

Once they had gotten in, things were relatively easy. In their last battle, the Order had managed to catch a few Death Eaters, one of whom was stupid enough to carry around a full-out map of the interior of the main Death Eater hideout. Using that and a highly complicated tracking spell that had been placed on the ancient prophecy scrolls by the Ministry, Hermione and Draco spent barely any time locating the room where the scrolls were being kept.

As they reached the door of the room, Draco confirmed that no one was in the corridor so that Hermione could open the door without it looking suspicious.

Neither of them having said a word to each other since they had found the Death Eater that had helped them get in, Hermione was the first one to break the tense silence that had been grown between them with a very loud gasp.

Draco, who had been carefully closing the door at the time, instinctively cast a silencing spell on the room so no one from the outside could hear them and a locking spell on the door. Then, turning his head to see the room they had entered for the first time, he couldn't help but smirk and roll his eyes. No wonder Hermione had gasped and looked like she was ready to squeal with glee. They had ended up in a library.

Hermione was too engrossed in assessing the fairly large library the lay before her to even remember Draco's presenceo or their reason for coming there in the first place. It wasn't until Draco addressed her that she came back to her senses.

"You do remember why we are here, right Hermione? This probably isn't the best time for fantasizing about books. You can spend all the time that you'd like doing that at Hogwarts' library."

Hermione gave him a scornful look. "Draco, sometimes you are so dense, it's ridiculous. This isn't just an ordinary library. This," she said, pointing at the vast shelves of books that surrounded her, "is a library full of the rarest books ever written. I'm willing to bet that some of the books that can be found in this room cannot be found anywhere else. So, just imagine all the different kinds of spell incantations and potion instructions that are in this very room that no one in today's Wizarding society even knows about. Voldemort probably doesn't even realize just how much powerful knowledge he has sitting in this room, nor has he probably looked at most of these books. There is so much valuable information sitting on these shelves, so if I were you Draco, I'd think twice before making fun of my reaction to this place."

And with those final words, Hermione proudly strode toward the table located in the center of the room, knowing she had just won that round.

She was absolutely right. Hermione's sudden tirade in response to his simple comment had surprised him. Not only hadn't he been expecting such a reply from her, but he had never even considered looking at the library in the way that she had. After hearing what Hermione had to say, Draco had to admit that what she said made terrific sense and he couldn't help but admire her for her way of thinking.

Shaking his head in bafflement and defeat at being outspoken by the fiery Gryffindor yet again, Draco made his way to the table where Hermione was standing, a small smile resting on his lips.

The table was filled with masses of paper and other clutter, but Hermione's keen eye almost immediately detected the scrolls that they had come here looking for. Carefully taking them out from the pile of junk that they had been buried under, Hermione handed them to Draco.

Draco cast a Shrinking Spell on them so that they would fit in his pocket while Hermione took out tiny one inch scrolls from her pocket to hand to Draco. Remus and Arthur, who both knew what the prophecy scrolls contained, had created scrolls with false information for Hermione and Draco to replace the originals with. That way, Voldemort would hopefully be thrown off for some time.

As Draco carefully shrunk the originals and enlargened the fake ones, Hermione wandered over to a random shelf in the library. She hadn't meant to take any books from the shelves but her curiosity got the better of her when she spotted a book that had no title on its side. Carefully sliding it off the shelf, she peered at the front cover to see the title of the book. To her great surprise, the book cover had absolutely no words on it.

Having a feeling that this was no ordinary book, she called Draco over.

"Draco, come take a look at this."

Draco looked at her questioningly before coming by her side. Meanwhile, Hermione tried to take the book off the shelf, but the book, which had seemed fairly light moments ago suddenly weighed a ton, and Hermione felt her whole body drop with the book as she struggled to lift it.

Noticing this, Draco was quick to put one hand on the book to lift it up and wrapped his other arm around her waist, his hand on her hip, to help her regain her support.

Once that issue was solved, Hermione found herself looking at the book in astonishment.

"Draco, the book was seriously not that heavy when I first began taking it off the shelf. It's weight just suddenly changed."

"Remember, Hermione. You said these were rare books and rare books tend to do things that we cannot even begin to expect." His eyes were on the book, and he looked like he was thinking about something. "What possessed you to take this book off the shelf in the first place?"

"It doesn't have a title or any sort of other words on it, so I was just curious as to what may be in such a book."

Draco quickly glanced on the watch on his hand, before turning back to her. "Hermione, we can only stay here so long. The longer we stay, the greater the threat is of someone discovering us."

Hermione looked at the book longingly for a second, before looking back at Draco. "Please just give me a minute. I really want to know what's in this book."

Draco sighed before agreeing. "Okay, you can have your minute. But we can't stay much longer than that or else the Portkey in my pocket that we have to use to get back to the Order won't work and then we'll have to somehow use the Invisibility Cloak to get back, which will almost be impossible."

Hermione smiled at him in appreciation. "Thank you so much, Draco. You're the best!" she said, throwing her arm around his neck and giving him a tight hug. When she let go of him, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and tried to move away, but Draco was too fast for her. Taking up the opportunity, he grabbed her firmly by the waist, pulling her closer to him, and then kissed her, at first gently and then passionately.

Hermione, whose hands had started to make their way to his hair, reluctantly pulled herself away from him. "Not right now, Draco. Remember, look at the book and get out of here. That was the plan."

Draco smirked. "Well, I think that is a lousy plan. It should be kiss Draco, look at the book, and get out of here."

Hermione scowled and playfully punched him on the arm, which apparently was a bit too strong because he slightly winced in pain.

Hermione smiled innocently at this before taking the book, which had suddenly become light yet again, to the table. Draco followed closely behind her.

Hermione didn't even realize Draco was right beside her until she felt his hand on top of her as she slowly opened the cover of the book.

The tingling feeling of having his skin on hers must have sparked something, because suddenly, the book started flipping through the pages on its own. Hermione jumped back slightly, Draco grabbing her by the shoulders to keep her steady while his eyes stayed focused on the book that lay before him.

Neither of them said a word as the book continued to flip through its pages.

It was perhaps a minute before it just suddenly stopped. Hermione and Draco looked at each other before slowly inching closer to the book and peering at the page at which it stopped.

And on the title of the page before them was "Diligo Vitualamen" folled by a sub-heading that said "The Rare Killing Curse".

Hermione and Draco were shocked, to say the least. There was another killing curse out there that no one even knew about. But their shock didn't end there. Before they could read more, there was a sudden glowing that filled the room. Curious as to know where the glowing was coming from, Hermione looked up from the book and at Draco. She blinked her eyes in disbelief when she saw a shining silver glow emanating from Draco.

Draco, meanwhile, was watching her, the same exact disbelief on his face as he say a shining golden glow come off of Hermione.

Both of them just had to barely point at each other before they got the message. They quickly looked down at themselves to discover that they were indeed glowing.

What caught Hermione's eye, though, was the pendant that Draco had given her that was resting on her neck. It wasn't just shining a mere gold, but instead, the gold and silver glow seemed to have entwined around it to produce a very beautiful silver-golden glow. Quickly looking at the pendant around Draco's neck, she discovered that the same thing had happened to his.

To say Hermione was baffled and blown away would have been a horrible understatement. She didn't have a single clue as to what was going on and that partly frightened her.

Draco, who had sensed Hermione's insecurity, took her hand in his and gave it an assuring squeeze. She looked up at him, took a deep breath, and smiled.

Turning back to the mysterious book in front of her, Hermione read the first paragraph in a low whisper. "The Diligo Vitualamen curse is perhaps the most powerful curse in existence today. This killing curse gets its power not from one caster, but from two. The Diligo Vitualamen cannot be cast by any random two people, though. There must be an unbreakable bond between them that holds true even in the darkest of times. Although there have been many people in the past who have indeed been soulmates, the spell still refuses to work for nearly all of them. Not only must the casters be bonded, but their magic must be powerful so that when joined, it can become unbeatable. There has only been one case where this spell has worked correctly..."

Hermione quickly scanned the next few lines before continuing. "If this spell is cast by two people who are not bonded to one another, the results can be disasterous. Not only will the spell fail to work, but the two who attempt to cast it will either lose their magic or die. For those who have the bond but not the magical power, the spell will just simply refuse to work and drain a great deal of energy from the casters."

Hermione paused at this point to try and assess what Draco thought about all of this. In response, she only got a raised eyebrow and a slight look of disbelief.

Returning to the book once more, Hermione continued, "So how should two know people know if they are indeed able to cast this dark and powerful spell? They really can't know for sure. In the one time that the spell had worked, the casters said that a sign was sent to them, and after discovering the spell, they just knew deep down that it would work. We can assume that the sign must have been true because they were able to cast the spell successfully, but we were unable to confirm it because the two had mysteriously died shortly after."

Hermione looked up from the book, wide-eyed. "Do you think that the glowing..."

Draco looked at her assessively, before finishing her sentence. "...was our sign? Perhaps." He had intended to go on further but the words seemed to die in his throat as he realized the enormity of the discovery the two of them had just made.

Clearing his throat, he managed to speak. "What else does it say?"

"It just talks about how the spell supposedly works and the effects of it." Hermione said, as she began to read the rest of the page silently to herself. Draco came up behind her to read over her shoulder.

But as Hermione reached the end of the paragraph, her eyes widened and her body visibly tensed. She felt Draco do the same behind her. The result of casting the spell included...

Hermione shut her eyes tight to try and get out of the pensieve before the memory could go any further. Luckily, it had worked.

Opening them and letting out the breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding, Hermione looked at Draco to see him a bit shaken up by the memory too.

"You're sure this is the only way, Draco?" she asked, her voice quivering as she refused to meet his gaze.

"I can't think of any other possible way. I'm sorry, Hermione." Draco said, sorrow hiding behind his every syllable.

Ignoring his apology, Hermione asked, "What about Harry? I know the book had said the spell was unbeatable, but the book and the spell had been created before anyone had seen a wizard as powerful as Voldemort." Her eyes were still glued to the ground.

As hard as Draco tried to not let Hermione's distant actions bother him, it wasn't working very well. He could not even begin to imagine all the pain she must be feeling. As for himself, he was used to pain, and even more familiar with how to numb it. Worrying about Hermione was a good way to ignore his own feelings.

"You're right. If we want this spell to work for sure, Voldemort needs to be weakened prior to our casting it. Which means..."

"Harry is still going to have to pretty much sacrifice himself." Hermione finished for Draco, bitterness and spite in her voice.

Draco felt exasperated. "Hermione, I thought we've been over this."

"Just because we've been over it does not mean I'm fine with, Draco. How do you expect me to accept the fact that my closest friend is going to die just because we've discussed the possibility already? No matter what you say, I'm not going to be able to just deal with it, Draco. I'm just not."

Draco ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he paced back and forth. Finally figuring out what he wanted to say, he stopped and turned towards Hermione.

"How many times do I have to say this, Hermione? How do you think Harry is feeling at knowing that he is going to have to put a fight that he knows from the beginning he's going to lose? Just imagine how he feels at knowing that he will have to fight a guaranteed lost battle and let Voldemort kill him just so he can save the Wizarding World and the people in it. And the worst part will be that those people will not even be able to understand just how big of a sacrifice he is making. People forget he is human, Hermione.

"If it weren't for the Order members and people like you and me who know just how hard this is going to be for him, his sacrifice would be pretty much worthless. Oh sure he would save the Wizarding World and people will just add even more fame to his name, but they will never really look at Harry as a person, as a young man who has to give up his life and his dreams so that others can pursue their lives and dreams. And you of all people know that Harry has never wanted to be a name in the history books. He has always wanted to be seen as a regular person.

"So Hermione, when I say that we've been over this, I'm not telling you to accept the fact that your friend is going to die like you would a fact in a book. That would be plain wrong because Harry may be the Boy-Who-Lived but he is first and foremost a person and your friend. I am simply telling you that you need to start coping with it now, because as sorry as I am to say this, his death can't be prevented and you and I both know it. This is a sacrifice that has to be made in order to save the Wizarding World from Voldemort and his power."

If it weren't for the state Hermione was in, she would have been in awe at Draco's powerful words. She looked up to him, tears swimming in her eyes, and spoke in a choked voice.

"But, why him Draco? Why does he have to go through all of this? He doesn't deserve all of this. All of Harry's life, he's always thought about others before himself. You can't be telling me that he's going to die doing the same thing, thinking about others before himself. If that's the case, his whole life has pretty much become a sacrifice." Hermione put her head down to keep Draco from seeing the tears that were coming onto her cheeks.

Draco knelt by her, and gently lifting her chin up with one hand and wiping the tears off her face with the other, looked into her eyes and spoke. "I don't know why it had to be Harry, Hermione. But I do know that not all of his life was a sacrifice. I'm sure his friendship with you and the bond he shares with you is far from a sacrifice in his life. Through good times or bad, you've been there for him, Hermione. You haven't let him down even once. And now Hermione, I'm asking you to continue to do the same. Be there for Harry right now because he needs you to help pull through this. He may have had to sacrifice a lot in the past, but now it's your turn to sacrifice. You need to think about Harry before yourself. You need to stay strong for Harry even if it kills you because you are the greatest friend he could ever hope to have." He ended, slowly standing up from where he had been kneeling.

Hermione had wanted to protest, wanted to tell Draco that she was putting Harry before herself because she was thinking about his well-being instead of the impact the Diligo Vitualamen curse would have on her, but she didn't because she knew he was right. No matter what excuse she used, she knew Draco was absolutely right.

Draco, who had prepared himself from yet another retort from Hermione, was shocked when she suddenly got up and threw her arms around him in an embrace, crying out what she vowed would be her last tears.

Draco wrapped his arms around her frame in an intimate squeeze, holding her nice and close as she got rid of all the tears that had wanted to spill.

After a moment of standing there in that position, Hermione gently lifted her head off of Draco's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Thank you, Draco. I don't know what I'd do without you." She paused for a moment, before adding in those three fateful words. "I love you."

Draco, who had not moved as she was speaking gently pulled Hermione away from him at hearing these last three words so he could see her face. He smirked at her.

"I love you too, Hermione."

And before Hermione could become an emotional wreck of tears again, he kissed her passionately on the lips.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry was having trouble sleeping. He tossed and turned in his bed, moving from one position to the next in hopes of getting sleep, but it all ended in failure. His mind was just filled with too many worries and troubles for him to sleep. His situation in regards to Hermione and the coming battle which involved a horrible role for him had his stomach twisted in knots. Thinking about his potential, and very probable death was too much for him to handle so he simply tried to ignore it. But one thing or another kept bothering him.

Hoping that a glass of water would do the trick to refresh him and clear his mind, Harry slipped out of bed and down the stairs to the kitchen.

After drinking his water and washing the glass, Harry made his way back upstairs. Upon reaching the stairs, though, Harry heard two voices coming from the living room. Making his way to the doorway and pressing himself to the wall next to it, he quietly stood there, listening to Hermione and Draco's conversation.

""How many times do I have to say this, Hermione? How do you think Harry is feeling at knowing that he is going to have to put a fight that he knows from the beginning he's going to lose? Just imagine how he feels at knowing that he will have to fight a guaranteed lost battle and let Voldemort kill him just so he can save the Wizarding World and the people in it. And the worst part will be that those people will not even be able to understand just how big of a sacrifice he is making. People forget he is human, Hermione.

"I don't know why it had to be Harry, Hermione. But I do know that not all of his life was a sacrifice. I'm sure his friendship with you and the bond he shares with you is far from a sacrifice in his life. Through good times or bad, you've been there for him, Hermione. You haven't let him down even once. And now Hermione, I'm asking you to continue to do the same. Be there for Harry right now because he needs you to help pull through this. He may have had to sacrifice a lot in the past, but now it's your turn to sacrifice. You need to think about Harry before yourself. You need to stay strong for Harry even if it kills you because you are the greatest friend he could ever hope to have."

Harry was in absolute awe by the conversation he had just overheard. Slowly making his way up the stairs, his face was covered in utter disbelief.

He couldn't believe the words that had come out of Draco Malfoy's mouth. This was the Malfoy from his school years, the Malfoy who had hated Harry with every fiber of his body, and now, that very same boy stood in the living room downstairs in the form of a man and he was praising Harry, trying to understand him and his situation.

Harry had never really believed in miracles before, but after what he had just heard, he was sure that miracles could happen. Draco Malfoy was living proof of it.

And suddenly, his conversation with Draco earlier flashed vividly in his mind. Something about Draco had gotten to Harry that afternoon and formed a strong, well-founded respect for the blonde man. But now, it was a different respect that Harry held for Draco. It was the respect that did erase his previous hatred for the man and a respect that brought trust in him. Harry Potter had said that he was willing to give Malfoy a chance. And now, in Harry's eyes, Malfoy had proved his full potential. Harry was now ready to trust Malfoy even with his own life.

In regards to the relationship between Draco and Hermione, he still wasn't exactly sure what was going on between the two of them but he had a faint idea. And Harry had no complaints against the hidden understanding between them. He didn't know how, why, or anything else but his gut feeling told him that Draco was involved in bringing the old Hermione back. And for that, Harry felt eternally grateful to him because it was Hermione's optimistic attitude that was going to get them through this war.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the night before's conversation, everything was back to normal, or at least as normal as it could get. Hermione came down the next morning as if nothing strange had happened the day before, and everybody took her heed to do the same.

And so, with a somewhat forced smile on her face, Hermione tried spending as much time as she could with all the Order members, constantly trying to cheer them up and make them laugh. Unfortunately the situation behind this facade of happiness was pretty bad. There was a nearly unbearable pain stabbing at her heart as she looked into each of their faces because she knew these may be her last moments with these people. After all, none of them really knew what the Final Battle would have in store for them.

No one really understood what was causing Hermione to suddenly act so optimistic again and they realized it was probably better not to ponder over the why question. All they knew was that it was great to have someone optimistic and supportive in the dull house to keep them going. For periods of time, she was even able to make them forget about the impending battle.

Although anyone who saw Draco that next morning would have seen him as a solemn young man incapable of emotion, Draco was indeed happy to see Hermione making such a conscious effort to help the others out. He knew how much Hermione wished she could just join them in pondering over their miseries, but it was better for her to keep herself occupied with keeping the rest of them in fairly good spirits. That way she would have something to keep her mind off of the Final Battle and what was to entail on that fateful day.

Harry, meanwhile, wasn't as pleased with Hermione's actions. Don't get him wrong or anything, he was happy to see Hermione out and about, interacting with everyone, but for some reason, it seemed to be everyone but him. Sure, Hermione talked to him once a while and always sent him a reassuring smile but by the distance she otherwise kept from him, he could tell she was trying to subtly avoid him.

The worst part was that he knew why she was doing it. After overhearing last night's conversation, he knew exactly what was bothering her. So even though she managed to put a smile on her face and bring a smile to everyone else's, she still wasn't able to look Harry in the eye without feeling pain, overwhelming grief, and the need to break down, something Hermione had promised herself not to do anymore.

Harry knew he needed to talk to her, but finding the right time seemed to be an issue.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't until late that afternoon that an opportunity opened up for Harry. Everyone had gone off after lunch to do their own respective tasks, and whoever didn't have anything to do went to their rooms, including Hermione.

After giving her some time on her own, Harry quietly made his way to her door and carefully opened it to see what Hermione was doing.

Hermione, who still had not noticed Harry's presence in her room, had her back faced to the door as she looked out the window before her, lost in her thoughts. She was sitting on her bed calmly, her hands folded gently on her lap, and because she wasn't even moving at the moment, Harry thought she looked like one of those Muggle dolls that sat on the shelves of the toy stores all day.

Softly closing the door behind him, he made his way over to where Hermione was on the bed and sat down beside her.

It wasn't until she felt his weight add onto the bed that she realized his presence.

She let out a small gasp. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Harry. I didn't hear you come in. I was just going to come and see what you were doing."

Harry put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Hermione. Not a big deal."

She sent him a small smile before turning her head to look back outside the window again.

"So, what was it that you came here for?" she asked him, her head still turned away from him.

Tightening his grip on her shoulder ever so slightly, he spoke. "We need to talk." His voice no longer had the lightheartedness it had had only moments ago.

Although Harry didn't realize it, Hermione audibly gulped. Slowly and reluctantly turning her head to face him once more, she asked seemingly innocently, "About what, Harry?"

Harry analyzed her carefully for a moment, taking advantage of the first time Hermione had really looked him in the face since the previous day. Then in a quiet, but firm voice, he said, "Malfoy told me everything."

Hermione's voice died in her throat and she visibly paled. If Harry knew everything, this was not going to end well. "Ever..ything?" she managed to stutter out.

Harry just nodded slightly before getting up off the bed and walking over to the window to look out of it. His back still facing Hermione, he spoke.

"He didn't go into all of the details but told me a fair amount."

Hermione repeated after him again subconciously. "A fair amount."

Taking this as a question, Harry turned around to face her. "Well, he didn't go into all the information about the spell you guys are going to use after I...play my part... or why the two of you will be able to cast it. He just told me to trust him when he says it will work, and so I did. That was enough information for me." Harry's voice had wavered a bit as he spoke, but otherwise he was doing a very good job at staying calm.

Hermione sighed in relief while trying not to make it so conspicuous. She didn't want Harry to start asking unwanted questions. So he doesn't know about us or anything about the spell, were the comforting thoughts running through Hermione's head.

Knowing it would seem strange if she didn't respond, she asked as casually as possible, "So you know what the final part of the plan is?"

Turning back towards the window, Harry stood there in silence for a moment before speaking again. "I know what the final part of the plan is, my role in it, yours and Malfoy's role in it, the reason why you've been avoiding me..." he purposefully let his voice trail off.

Hermione almost felt her heart stop beating for a moment. She quickly got up off the bed and went to Harry's side. "Harry, I...you...", she began terribly, but Harry put his hand up to silence her.

He turned to face her. "I don't need an explanation, Hermione. It was my fault. I should've thought about the impact all of this was having on you. Ever since," here he paused, having difficulty with continuing, "Ron's death, our relationship hasn't been the same. We haven't been all that open with each other. And with that change, we forgot that we are supposed to be there for each other." Harry had both his hands on Hermione's shoulders, his face filled with distraught and grief.

"I'm sorry about all this Hermione, really I am. I wish just as much as you do that things wouldn't have to end this way." His willing voice had suddenly become defeated.

Hermione looked into Harry's green eyes and was crushed to see the pain that filled them. Draco had been right. She needed to be there for Harry. Seeing him in pain hurt her so much. Somehow her own pain had suddenly numbed and now she felt like she was taking in Harry's pain, suffering with him. Her eyes almost filled with tears at seeing him so broken.

Before Hermione could provide any solace or comfort, though, Harry had taken his hands off of her shoulder and had turned his back to her. Walking a few steps away from her, he looked up at the ceiling and contemplated for a second before speaking aloud.

"How are you supposed to deal with the fact of knowing that you are going to die?" he asked no one in particular, running his hands through his hair.

As his words hit Hermione's ears, her lip quivered as tears began to blur her vision. She ran up to Harry and spinning him around, took him in her embrace.

Resting his chin on the top of her head, he asked more quietly this time, tears running down his face, "How are you supposed to deal with that, Hermione? How?"

His words made the two of them cry even harder. Their only comfort being each other, they held one another in a tight embrace.

"How, Hermione? How?" his words died down to a barely audible whisper.

Hermione just shook her head slightly as it rested on Harry's shoulder. "I don't know Harry. I don't know." She whispered. And it was the truth. She didn't know because she had been asking herself that question too and had been longing for some kind of answer.

"But you know what Harry?" she continued. "No matter what is going to end up happening, it's all going to be okay."

And as Harry and Hermione both contemplated on these words, they realized just how true they were. No matter what fate had in store for them, in the end, everything was going to be fine. Even if it was at a cost. A cost of life.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was only a few days later that the Final Battle arrived and the Order was proud to say that they were well-prepared:

Hermione made her way through the Forbidden Forest where the battle was taking place with some difficulty, as there were many branches blocking her path. The only good thing was that she didn't have to fight off Death Eaters in this part of the forest. They were too busy dueling at the outskirts.

To be honest, Hermione had much to be happy about. Her plan had worked marvelously. They had been able to kill off many of the Death Eaters with very few losses on their side. Tonks, Lupin, and Mr. Weasley were doing a wonderful job in leading the other Order members into battle, so well that the Death Eaters were no longer outnumbering them. It was clear that the good side was winning.

But her happiness was short-lived when she thought about where she was headed. She was off looking for Harry. They were two hours into the battle and Draco and her needed to make it to Harry so they could finish off Voldemort when the time came.

Hermione continued to trudge silently, wrapping Harry's Invisibility Cloak tightly around her so she wouldn't be seen if she were to accidentally stumble upon Voldemort.

Less than five minutes later, Hermione did stumble upon somebody, but she was relieved to say that it was not Voldemort. She had instead bumped into the invisible figure of Draco Malfoy.

Draco took the hood of the cloak off when Hermione's fell off her head. His eyes were filled with a little bit of worry as they quickly inspected Hermione to see if she had been injured in any way. His grip on her shoulders relaxed and his face showed relief when he found that she was unharmed.

"You have good timing. Harry is beginning to run low on energy but he's holding out. He's been pretty successful in weakening Voldemort for us." While he said this, he poked his head out from behind the tree to where Voldemort and Harry were dueling.

He turned back to Hermione to see her watching him. He looked at her questioningly.

"It's just that…I can't believe this is the end of it. We're really going to do it, kill Voldemort, I mean."

Draco looked at her sympathetically, knowing how overwhelmed she must be feeling. "I know, Hermione. What Harry has to do is hard, but we have to do isn't going to be any easier. You and I know that and that's precisely why I didn't get into the details of the spell we have to perform." He paused to see Hermione look a bit pained but otherwise determined and calm.

"I know, Draco." Hermione began and was about to say more before Draco stopped her by kissing her.

Hermione let herself sink into Draco's arms, which now had a firm hold on her waist. It was nothing passionate, rather more for comfort.

Draco lingered a little before ending it. He took a step back from Hermione and took her hands in his.

"Are you ready?" he asked softly.

Hermione nodded. They both put the cloak over their faces before Draco took Hermione's hand in his so they wouldn't lose each other. With that, the two of them slowly inched their way closer and closer to where Harry and Voldemort were dueling.

They had found a perfect place to stand at the side as the two kept shooting curses at one another. They didn't stand there for too long but for Hermione, that little time felt like eternity. It took every bit of self-control to prevent herself from rushing to Harry's side every time he hit the ground.

Perhaps the worst part for Hermione was the fact that Harry knew she was there and yet she could do nothing. Hermione had used the same method that the Order had used when trying to contact her to let Harry know that Draco and her had arrived. Harry's wand had glowed green for a moment during the duel. Luckily, Voldemort was too caught up in trying to kill Harry to notice.

It was about five minutes after Hermione signaled Harry of their arrival that Harry dropped to the ground, feeling too weak to get up. And suddenly, Hermione felt like the five minutes were all too short. When Hermione saw the two fateful words about to come out of Voldemort's mouth, she whipped out her wand and was about to Stun him if it were not for Draco's fast reflexes. He grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Hermione, you can't do anything. The stun wouldn't affect him and it would only blow our cover. Harry has accepted this. There is nothing we can do but wait." He whispered to her.

Hermione almost felt like crying. She wanted to close her eyes or at least turn away, but she couldn't. Her body wouldn't let her move at all.

And then the words hit her ears. Avada Kedavra. She watched painfully as green light flashed and Harry's body was hit.

But Hermione didn't fail to hear Harry's last words before he died. "Finish him off Hermione. Remember, everything needs to be okay."

Seeing her best friend die right in front of her eyes and hearing his last words stimulated Hermione in a way she never thought possible. She felt a new level of anger and hatred toward Voldemort; her eyes blazed with such fire that her mere gaze could burn a tree.

Hermione and Draco took a last look at Harry's lifeless body before taking the hoods of the cloaks just off their faces so they could see each other. Voldemort was too busy trying to catch his breath and assess what just happened to see their movements in the corner.

Hermione and Draco nodded to each other before pulling off their Invisibility Cloaks all together and pointed their wands straight at Voldemort's chest.

The smirk and pure joy at seeing Harry dead was quickly replaced with utter shock. And before Voldemort could even react, the voices of Hermione and Draco could be heard saying in unison,

"Diligo Vitualamen!"

Suddenly, there was a jet of silver light coming out of Draco's wand and a jet of gold from Hermione's. The two colors entangled with one another, spinning faster and faster until they finally hit Voldemort straight in the chest, knocking him backwards and instantly ending his pathetic life.

But the spell's magic was not yet done. The wave of gold and silver light surrounded Hermione and Draco, constantly spinning around them.

Hermione looked at Draco, knowing full well what was about to happen: the result of the spell. He returned the look and smiled at her.

"I love you, Hermione."

"I love you too, Draco." She replied, her heart and mind feeling very much at ease. Voldemort was gone, she had fulfilled her promise to Viktor, Ron, and Harry, and she was with Draco. She was thoroughly content with her life. There was nothing left for her in this world. Now that everything was okay, it was time to move on.

They gave each other a nod before holding hands and closing their eyes as the light from the spell spun around them faster and faster until it created a blur of gold and silver around their two bodies. Their pendants flew from the center of their necks to the side, and the two halves were joined into a whole by the light, making a heart that shone a brilliant gold and silver, lighting up the sky for nearly a mile.

And then suddenly, everything was calm. The waves of light vanished, revealing the forms of Hermione and Draco on the ground, still and unmoving. Their faces had small smiles on them and they looked at peace. Their joined hands had slightly loosened and in their two palms sat the pendants that they had been wearing around their necks for so long.

But the pieces had not separated to two halves again after the spell had finished its work; the magic of the spell had connected them together. The heart was shining a beautiful, shimmering gold entwined with shimmering silver.

The glowing heart that sat in their hands spoke a thousand words. Hermione and Draco knew that this was where they were meant to be, together for all eternity.

The End

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey you guys! Here is the ending of this story. I really hope you enjoyed it because it was a great experience writing it. I'm sorry the last chapter came so late, but I pretty much rewrote this whole part so it took a while.

Please give me some feedback on what you thought. It took a lot of work to write so I'd really like to know what your guys thoughts on it were. It will help give me an idea of what my new story plan will be. Also, if you think this should also be in another genre other than romance, do let me know because I wasn't all that sure.

Before I end this little speech of mine, I'd like to take the time to specifically thank the following:

My Alert List People: AshBailey, potterhead0013

My Favorites List People: KKM and Linthilde

And I'd like to dedicate this ending most specifically to my two reviewers, Paige and k la sk8. Reviews really do brighten up my whole day and if they are not anonymous, I always reply to them. So hint hint, keep them coming. :)

Thanks for all your support through this whole process. It really means a lot. I hope I didn't disappoint.

Until next time:D

Aastha