Chrysalis
Inspiration: Saving Private Ryan
Must Haves: Wartime setting
Theme: Courage
Granger's magic pulls Draco from the tunnel before any traps can eviscerate him.
"Where does this lead, Malfoy?" She peers into the black passage.
He fights the Body-Bind enough to say, "Hollow oak. Forbidden Forest."
Her lip curls in disgust and she releases him, letting him drop to the floor. "Running away?"
He could tell her the truth. Wherever the Dark Lord waits during this last hour before the battle resumes, Lucius and Narcissa wait with him, and if Draco dies today, he wants to die with them. He could tell her he knows he's on the wrong side of this war, that he's trapped and scared, but their exchange is overlaid by the memory of how she writhed under his aunt's wand. Her screams echoed off the walls of his home and in his ears, and Draco figures he has lost the privilege of confiding in her, if he ever had it.
Instead he says, "We can't all be heroes. Someone has to be the villain of the piece."
Her contempt deepens, and she does something complex and wordless with her wand to seal the tunnel—something Draco's certain he couldn't break even if his mother's wand hadn't been destroyed.
She hesitates, and he sees a familiar expression cross her face. It's the expression he saw as Bellatrix raised her wand for another Cruciatus: fear, exhaustion, and the brittle edge of despair.
"Have you seen Harry?"
"Not since before." He doesn't have to say it was before the Dark Lord's ultimatum. In war, everything is before or after one horror or another. It dawns on him why she's asking. "Potter isn't going to give himself up. He's not that stupid."
Her anxiety morphs into anger in an instant. "You think it's stupid to be brave enough to sacrifice yourself for others, no matter what the cost?" Her voice rises. "What do you know? You've never done a brave thing in your life!"
I tried, he wants to say, but he's embarrassed by his sorry attempt to help her and her friends at the Manor. He wants to tell her he's not the same boy he used to be. The Dark Lord is mad and evil. Pureblood pride is an empty lie. Granger is incredible, fearsome, more powerful than Draco will ever be, and it's all right for her to be so. The chrysalis of accepting these thoughts takes all the courage he possesses. She's right. He's never been brave.
He slumps against the wall. "Don't worry. Potter always wins. Typical Gryffindor."
She lifts her chin at that, and Draco knows she will fight to the end, even if Potter is never seen again. Typical Gryffindor, indeed. He doesn't know what impulse leads him to take her hand or why she lets him.
"Good luck, Granger. Stay safe." He squeezes her hand, wishing he had a fraction of her strength.
She looks down at their clasped hands for a moment before she says, "Same to you, Malfoy."
And squeezes back.