A/N: I don't own the characters or the story.
The battle ended.
Harry was dead.
It can't end like this, Draco thought. He tried to think what he could do to fix this. He didn't want to have spent years suffering as a Slytherin just to see everyone he cared about either dead or under the rule of Voldemort.
"Draco, come here son," Lucius said across the courtyard.
The Death Eaters has assembled on the far side, and Voldemort asked for everyone to come join him. Of course Lucius had wanted his son to join him, but Draco knew that his father just wanted him close to protect him from whatever might come next.
I need to stay close to Voldemort, Draco thought to himself. As he walked slowly towards his parents, he glanced at Harry's body in Hagrid's arms. What happened in the forest? Did you really die and now there is only one Horcrux left? He watched Nagini slither near Voldemort and wondered how he could kill her when he had nothing to do it with.
Draco blocked all his thoughts as Voldemort brought him into an awkward hug. Now was not the right time to try and strangle the life out of this maniac, and he knew that he had to play the part of the loyal Death Eater, there was no one else that could bring Voldemort down, and Draco knew that he had to do it from the inside.
Neville stepped forward, and that surprised Draco. Neville had become a leader in the past few years and Draco was quite proud of what Neville had been able to do, but watching him, bloody and beaten, reciting a speech, Merlin help him, what would that prove?
The other Death Eaters laughed as Voldemort put Neville in a Body-Bind Curse, and placed the Sorting Hat on his head. When the Dark Lord set it aflame, Draco took a step forward without thinking, and felt his father's strong hands holding him back. He knew he shouldn't do anything, and stay in character, but every man has his limits.
Then, in a wink, Hagrid was shouting about Harry and the fighting was starting again. Some Death Eaters were fighting, some fled. Lucius pulled his wife and son from the fray and made a quiet retreat away from the new skirmish.
"Harry is alive," Narcissa said.
"What?" Draco asked. "How do you know?"
"In the forest. The Dark Lord hit him with the Killing Curse and asked me to check and make sure he was dead. I felt Harry's heart beating, asked if you were still alive, and he said yes. I lied to the Dark Lord. I've become quite good at it."
Draco stopped on the edge of the grassy rise that lead away from Hogwarts and stared at his mother.
"Did you think we truly wanted him," Narcissa pointed at Voldemort, her face twisted in disgust, "to win?"
"I think it prudent to remain here," Lucius said, removing them to the safety offered by a convenient boulder.
Draco watched in rapt attention. Neville beheading Nagini and Harry and Voldemort facing off alone. There were just the two of them now, and Harry seemed to be confident, and winning. Could he really win?
It ended quieter than Draco expected. Voldemort just died. The Malfoys walked back onto the Hogwarts grounds to join the survivors and await their fate. Lucius spoke of how they would eventually be pulled in front of the Wizengamot, and there, and only there, would they explain that they had secretly been working for the other side all along. Narcissa's actions in the forest would certainly be enough to convince them of their innocence.
Draco paid little attention to his father as he walked into the ruins. Hogwarts was destroyed. There didn't seem to be a wall that was unscathed, or a window unbroken. The Great Hall was transferred into an infirmary treating the wounded, and storing the dead. Draco saw Lavender Brown, his cousin Nymphadora Tonks and her husband Remus Lupin, laid out on the floor. The Weasleys were gathered around Fred, and quietly mourning him. Draco's heart sunk as he watched the Weasleys staring at their fallen child. He saw Harry standing near Ginny, and, to his horror, Hermione holding Ron's hand. Bloody Hell, Draco thought.
Draco sat on the balcony of the rented vacation villa, reading the Daily Prophet, and ignoring the fantastic view of the rocky Corsican coastline and the warm Mediterranean beyond. For the week that he'd been in Corsica, things had gone downhill ever since he arrived.
Initially, he thought that when Pansy turned twenty, it was as good a time as any to deal with that damn bond. He'd spent years holding her off, and now that the war was a memory and their classmates were all pairing up, he figured he needed to do the deed. For her birthday, he rented a villa in Corsica, where he was sure that no one would find them together, and used an international Portkey to get them there without any press knowing. While the Prophet had spent an inordinate amount of time celebrating the Golden Trio on the front page, the editorial section was full of anti-pureblood rants from readers. Draco couldn't step foot outside the Manor without someone taking his picture or asking him to tell the real story of his family's inquisition and subsequent release. In reality, the inquisition hadn't been much, and his father was right, the role Narcissa played in saving Harry in the forest saved them all. Harry's testimony ensured their release. Under the guise of burying the hatchet, Draco asked Harry to have a drink with him, and was told in no uncertain terms that although Harry spared his family, there was no way that he, Ron, or Hermione would ever have any communication with Draco again. After that he was rudderless, not knowing what to do next, or how to get Hermione to talk to him. It was the week of sulking around the Manor that drove him to Corsica.
"Are you reading that paper again?" Pansy said from the balcony doorway behind him.
Draco put the Prophet down on the table next to his coffee and turned to face Pansy. She posed in the doorway with one hand resting on the doorframe above her, and the other on her hip. The long, golden silk robe that she purchased at the French boutique in the village was a perfect complement to the tan she had been developing over their stay. Her tiny, black string bikini offset her short, black bob hairstyle, and as Draco knew, hid some amazing tan lines underneath. The morning sunlight provided dramatic bands of light across her shapely legs and the curve of her body. She was stunning, and Draco felt guilty for having no romantic feelings for her at all.
Since their arrival, Draco and Pansy had been little more than friends with benefits. They had eaten well, spent time on the beach, gone sailing, and broken the bond that tied Pansy to Draco. Draco wordlessly accepted Pansy's advances as she launched herself at him during their first evening alone. He had no idea what would happen. His father had said that the bond required consummation only, and Draco hoped that meant that when the spell had been created, pre-marital sex was not an option and once they had sex it would just go away. Luckily, that is exactly what happened. As Pansy rolled off his naked body in post-coital bliss, she shook her head, like shaking off a disturbing thought, and said, "Oh."
Draco stood and pulled out a chair for Pansy. "Good morning," he said as she came and sat next to him. "You look stunning, by the way. Would you like some coffee?"
"Yes, please," Pansy said as she picked up the Prophet from the table. She looked at the front page for a moment then said, "So they're engaged?"
"I guess so," Draco answered.
"Draco, I don't know what to say about everything. I…" Pansy started as she reached for Draco's hand as he finished pouring her coffee. "You've been so patient with me, and that whole bond thing. I'm sorry that I was under that spell for so long and…"
Draco looked into her eyes, which had started to well up, and smiled. "Pans, you are wonderful, beautiful, smart and rich." That made Pansy laugh. "You are going to make someone very happy for a very long time. You just need to get out there and find him. I'm glad that we broke that spell, and now that you are free, you need to get out there and find the right man. I'm the one that should be apologizing, we should have done it sooner, but it just didn't feel right."
"You did the right thing, Draco," Pansy said. "I was a right bitch in school, and if you had broken this bond any sooner, who knows what would have happened. I might have shagged every bloke in school. Merlin help me, I do enjoy it." Pansy smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. "At least I finally found something I'm good at."
"To finding that your true calling is sex," Draco said as he held his coffee up to toast her.
They'd spent the past few days talking. Talking about sex, love, finding other partners because they wouldn't work as a couple. Draco had no longing for anyone other than Hermione, a fact that wasn't lost on Pansy, and after an afternoon of tears, she realized that she didn't want Draco either. He had been her focus since childhood, and now that she was free of the spell that bound them together, she wanted to move on. Her latest thought was looking for a rich Muggle. He wouldn't know her past, and they could be free to travel the world and get far away from Hogwarts and London. She thought she might go to America for a while.
"So it looks like you're going down to the beach," Draco said after the House-elf, Winky brought them some fresh baked bread to have with their coffee.
"Yes," Pansy answered. "It is our last day after all."
"Going to try going topless?"
Pansy wrinkled up her nose at Draco. "Are you kidding me? I don't want to get these girls burned. I have big plans to show them off to eligible bachelors when we get back to civilization!" she laughed.
"I'm going to miss you, you know that?" Draco said.
"You too." Pansy answered. After a moment, Pansy held up the front page of the Prophet again. "You should at least talk to her, you know."
Draco looked at the front page, a laughing Ron and Hermione at their engagement party with Harry and Ginny looking on. "Maybe," Draco answered as his heart broke just a little more.
Draco sat nervously at the garden café in Russell Square. Hermione had finally agreed to meet him after the dozens of owls sent to convince her. It was a very public place, and close to where she was studying at a Muggle university. She was obviously anxious about meeting him alone, and agreed to one cup of coffee between classes. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans, in order to fit in with the Muggles around him, and to try not to wear anything black, he wanted her to see him in a new light- literally and figuratively.
He saw her walking across the park and looking in his general direction. Draco's heart leapt into his throat as he made the effort to stand casually, and make a slight wave. He saw Hermione steel her expression and continue towards him without any gesture.
"What do you want Malfoy?" Hermione asked gruffly as she took the seat at the café table he offered to her.
"Hello to you too," Draco responded. "I wanted to talk."
"What in the world could we have to talk about?" Hermione asked. When the waiter came over to take her order, she waved him away.
So much for pleasant conversation, Draco thought. "Well, I wanted to congratulate you on your engagement, and to apologize to you."
"Thank you," Hermione answered stiffly, "and apologize for what?'
"Your arm?"
Hermione extended her arm, revealing no scar at all. Draco looked at the unblemished arm, and then at Hermione. She shook her head slightly, and pulling her hand out of her hand bag, where Draco realized that she must have been clutching her wand the whole time, she discreetly passed it over her other arm, and an ugly, red scar appeared. Mudblood.
"Oh, you mean this," Hermione asked.
Draco looked into her eyes as his own filled with tears. "I am so sorry. I tried to stop her."
"Well, thank you for that," Hermione said dismissively as she looked away.
"I mean it. I never got the chance to tell you, I put her under the Imperio Curse to get her to stop at just giving you a scar. She wanted to kill you." Draco's façade was beginning to break. He wanted to be calm and confident, now he was pleading.
"Really?" Hermione looked at Draco to see tears running down his cheeks. "Draco," Hermione said, "Why did you cover for us when we were captured? You knew it was us, but you said nothing. Why?"
Draco looked at Hermione. He had been protecting her and Harry for years. Sacrificed everything for them, including, it seemed, his sanity. Why stop now? Draco thought. Hermione was beautiful, safe, happy, and about to get married to a man she loved. Who was he to try and steal her away now? Did he have a chance to win her over or was it too late? Should he remain distant in order to break this cycle that they were in? He might never know, or maybe he would get hit by a bus crossing the street today, and wake up as a ten-year-old again.
He wiped his eyes and cheeks calmly with his napkin. He took a deep breath, and decided not to tell her his story. "I am not the awful person you think I am. I never wanted you to be hurt, and I wanted Harry to beat that bastard. I really just want you to be happy and make sure that you were. Hermione, I'm sorry for the way I treated you and Harry in school."
"Hermione? Since when did you start using my first name, Draco?'
Draco sat silently. He didn't know what to do next; this plan had failed miserably and the saddest part was the realization that he had to continue sacrificing himself. "This was a bad idea. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." Hermione was happier without him, and he should have left her alone. His heart broke just a little more.
"You were a real prick in school, you know that?" Hermione asked with a smile.
"You ended up ok, though, didn't you?"
Hermione frowned. "I guess so, yes."
"Then that is all that matters," Draco said flatly. He looked at his vintage Patek Phillipe watch and then looked up at Hermione. "Well, I guess you should be getting back to class."
Hermione's shoulders fell. She was reminded of the conversation that she and Draco had in the Library years ago. She felt the same thing then. He liked her, but wouldn't let himself. She thought that it must be that he couldn't get over his pureblood bigotry. "Malfoy, that was very…weird," she said as she stood and pulled her bag over her shoulder. "I would say 'see you later', but I get the feeling that I won't, will I?"
"I imagine not. I am sorry to have wasted your time. Again, I wish you all the best," Draco said as he stood up from the table.
Hermione waited for him to extend his hand, or something, but he just stood there. "What are you going to do now, Draco?" she asked.
"I have no idea," Draco said. He remained standing at the table watching her until she turned out of sight.
"You want what?" Narcissa asked incredulously.
"Just find me someone. I don't care. I'm tired of waiting around. How hard can it be for you and your friends to find someone? The attributes I want are, clean, pleasant, trim, rich, and pureblood. Someone I can grow old with that will not annoy me. Surely that can't be too hard?" Draco finished the glass of firewhisky and stood up from the leather wingback chair he had been sitting in while he had this discussion with his mother. It had been a week since he had the failed meeting with Hermione, and he had come to the realization that he needed to keep going, stay as far away from her as he could, and try to see if he could make it to the end, whatever that was. If he ended up on the floor as a child again, he didn't know what he would do.
"What about Pansy?" his mother asked.
"She's moved on," Draco answered as he placed his highball glass on the ornate table next to his father's liquor supply. He'd been trying several brands over the last month and found that they all did the job of masking his sorrow quite well. He wondered if his mother knew that he had enough to tranquilize a Hippogriff today.
"Draco, do you think this is wise?" his mother asked.
Draco looked at his mother and paused. Here was another opportunity to tell his story, but he couldn't. This was a burden that he needed to bear, and he couldn't' slip up. "Mother, how did you and father get together?'
"Well, our families knew each other, and we spent time together at school, and eventually fell in love."
"There you go, that 's what I am looking for," Draco lied. "I know that you have my best interests at heart, and I trust you to find someone appropriate. I thought that you might enjoy it, was I wrong? I guess I could go to clubs and find someone to be your daughter-in-law. Would that be better?"
"Don't be so dramatic, Draco," his mother said. "I will invite Astoria Greengrass and her mother to the Manor for tea. We can start there."
"Sounds great," Draco said as he left the room. He didn't care; he would just take the first one.