A/N: I love you guys. I think I'm addicted to reviews, cause I keep posting chapters faster than I mean to just so I can read them! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Little people know, when
Little people fight, we
May look easy pickings
But we've got some bite!
So never kick a dog
Because he's just a pup
We'll fight like twenty armies
And we won't give up
So you'd better run for cover
When the pup grows...

"Where is Harry?" Hermione demanded, her voice growing shrill. Ron jumped to his feet looking around. He had also been in a state of shock and had assumed, like her, that Harry had followed them into the Great Hall.

"Dumbledore's office… he's probably using the Pensieve to look at Snape's memories… right?" Ron asked hopefully. That made sense. She nodded and she grabbed Draco's hand and the three of them took off at a sprint to the Headmaster's office. They leapt over fallen statues and pieces of ceiling and up stairs two at a time until they were at the stone gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. He was a bit worse for wear and as the staircase seemed to be stuck half-open they sprinted up without permission. Ron was the first to make it to the top and he threw himself through the door only to find the office empty. Even the portraits were empty. The cabinet that held the Pensieve was standing open and the stone basin was still out on the desk.

"Oh, god. He's gone. He's gone to the forest." She said with a quavering voice.

Draco spoke, "Longbottom and Wood and a few others went out to start bringing people in from outside and checking for any wounded still out there, they're moving all the... fallen… from outside and out of the Hall into one of the large classrooms right off the dining hall. They've been at it for a while actually."

"Let's get back downstairs, we'll find him, Hermione." Ron tried to sound reassuring, but she knew he was worried. They all knew that he was in the forest. She'd never forgive herself for forgetting about him.

Their return trip was much the same as the first: a dead sprint. Her mind was tormenting her with images of Harry facing down Voldmort. She shook her head to clear them, and chided herself to stay in the present; it was bad enough without trying to imagine the worst. As they slid into the entrance hall Voldemort's voice echoing throughout the castle and derailed their plans of finding Harry. They stood in shock until the voice subsided, then turned and bolted out the front door to see for themselves what Voldemort had said awaited them, the sound of the footsteps of every living person in the Great Hall thundered after them. At first Hermione paid attention only to getting down the steps without breaking her neck, in truth she was quite terrified to look up. When she did, her eyes were immediately drawn to Hagrid and the small, limp form that he held so tenderly. Her scream of denial ripped painfully out of her throat and she felt her knees give. If it hadn't been for Draco catching her, she'd have gone all the way to the ground for there in Hagrid's arms lay the lifeless body of her best friend and the savior of their world. Dead. Harry. No. It couldn't be. She was barely aware of other screams and yells as others crowded around her from the entrance of the school; all that she could comprehend was a single word and thought: No. Her mind would not accept that Harry was dead. She watched as Neville took the lead position in front of them. It occurred to her that that should probably be her. She should take over Harry's position now that he was… gone. She could hear the crowd shouting and screaming abuse at Voldemort, but it only registered as a dull whine and buzz to her ears. Her world was upside down, nothing was as it should be. Harry had sacrificed himself for nothing, he had to know what Voldemort was not going to stop killing if he eliminated the Boy Who Lived. Why had Harry done this? She watched dully as Voldemort ordered Hagrid to lay Harry on the ground at his feet. He then began to pace victoriously by Harry's body with Nagini's huge form curled in the grass nearby. Disgusted, her eyes drifted back to her best friend. Once she looked at him again she couldn't tear her eyes away from his still form. His clothes were still covered in Snape's blood. His glasses were crooked, his mouth slightly ajar. His left trainer untied. His jumper bunched up under his arms and a couple inches of stomach exposed. She wanted to go down and readjust it so that the chill night air wouldn't touch his skin. His hands were dirty. His eyes closed. He could be sleeping. Not dead. No. Please.

She refocused on the present to discover that Voldemort had become distracted by something in his own ranks. He was studying a group on the far left side of the courtyard. Hermione looked and saw what drew his attention. She shook her head, trying to force her mind to function. A group of twenty or more Death Eaters had curiously blank expressions on their faces. A face that spoke Confundus to her. She stood a little straighter trying to see over those in front of her, what was going here?

.

Draco's eyes were narrowed on the same thing Hermione's were. Had someone been Confunding Death Eaters? Voldemort was advancing on the group and he felt as if the ground shifted under his feet when his mother materialized in their midst. What the hell was she doing here? She was supposed to be safe, tucked away in the manor! She walked forward, her head held high, her eyes on his. She stepped away from the lines of fighters and was completely exposed, but her bearing was erect and regal as any royalty. She looked no older than twenty-five. Her skin was smooth, her blond hair- the same color and texture as his was braided tightly down her back. He noticed she was wearing tight black pants and knee-high boots. He rarely saw her in pants, it was odd. There were a few times in his life that Draco had truly appreciated how beautiful his mother was and this was one of those times. The woman was born to be a queen.

"Narcissa? What is the meaning of this?" Voldemort asked. She looked him directly in the eye, unusual for anyone to do, especially her. "You were to stay behind at Malfoy Manor, out of harm's way." He said, trying to get her to come to him. Then he noticed at the same time as Draco that Narcissa's arms were not empty. She was carrying a large collection of wands. Carrying them the way another woman might carry a bouquet of roses, he'd seen something with a muggle beauty queen carrying a bouquet in that fashion- cradled in her left elbow.

"I am come for my son." She said to Voldemort. Then she turned her away and stepped toward the crowd at the foot of the castle. He saw his mother flick the wand she held in her right hand- her own wand and her shield charm flew up, barely visible. Fear flooded him. Voldemort was not going to like this. Draco stepped through those in front of him and gripped his wand.

"Narcissa." Voldemort said in warning tone. "Might I remind you that you are carrying my heir? I forbid you to step any closer to the force that fights to kill us. If my heir is killed, I shall be most displeased."

Narcissa slowly turned her head back to look at him, her body language making it clear that she was not returning to him. "Do you think I would bear any child but my husband's? I'd die before I bore your bastard, half-blood spawn." Though her voice was calm and her face wore the trademark Malfoy mask, all could sense the underlying disdain.

Draco saw it coming and he knew that his mother's shield alone was not powerful enough to endure Voldemort's wrath. Apparently he was not the only one who saw the danger because at the same instant that he sent his Shield charm up between his mother and Voldemort, Hermione, Neville, Kingsley, McGonagall, and Mr. Weasley all sent theirs and Voldemort's curse deflected off of the layered shield and hit and killed Dolohov who was standing in the ranks.

Narcissa looked toward her saviors and inclined her head regally in thanks as she continued in her unhurried pace across the no-man's-land that was the courtyard. When she reached Draco, he pulled her by the arm and stepped back, putting several people between her and Voldemort. He looked down at her, somewhat in awe. It seemed that she had singled-handedly disarmed and rendered useless nearly a quarter of Voldemort's forces without spilling a single drop of blood. He was torn between anger that she put herself at risk and being insanely proud to be her son. She turned to Lee Jordan who was standing to their right and handed him all the wands.

"See that all are armed." Was all she said. She then turned back around and faced the Death Eaters without comment or change of facial expression. Lee quietly moved through the crowd and distributed wands to any who'd had theirs taken or broken.

Draco could see that Voldemort was livid and totally taken by surprise. No one had ever humiliated him like this. He could see his father's blond hair in the midst of the Death Eaters. He wondered what fate was about to befall him. Before Voldemort's thoughts could turn to Lucius, he heard Longbottom's voice tear through the air.

"See that Lord Voldemort? Even if we have lost Harry we're not done! You'll never be rid of us!" A resounding cheer went up from the remnants of Hogwarts' defenders.

"A tyrant always fears those whom he oppresses, because it's only a matter of time before they overthrow him. That time has come. Harry may have lead the way, but we will finish you." Neville sounded more Slytherin with his eerily calm voice and not the righteous Gryffindor anger he'd expected. The cheers were silenced suddenly by a vicious wave of Voldemort's wand. Longbottom may be brave, but he was stupid. Draco knew he was about to be made an example by Voldemort. Sure enough he advanced on him slowly.

"What is your name, son?" He asked in a falsely sweet voice.

"I'm no son of yours, but I'm Neville Longbottom." Neville said without a trace of fear.

"Longbottom? Are you not a pureblood, boy?" Voldemort asked.

"Doesn't matter either way. I'll never follow you." Draco had to give Longbottom credit: he had brass ones. He spoke to the Dark Lord as though he were merely talking with an unpleasant stranger. He was a bloody moron for doing it, but he had bollucks.

"Well, Neville Longbottom. You will be a demonstration to Potter's rebels as to what happens to those who continue to defy me." He threw his hand into the air and in a few seconds a rumpled black shape landed in his open hand. Voldemort flicked his wand at Neville and he froze, obviously stuck in a Body Bind Curse. Then he rammed what turned out to be the sorting hat onto Neville's head. Draco tuned out whatever bullshit Voldemort was spewing and studied Neville. What was about to happen? Seemingly in response to his unspoken question Voldemort looked back at Longbottom for a moment, looking slightly amused. Without any movement or word the Sorting Hat burst in to flame. Hermione screamed and Draco clutched at her as she lunged towards Longbottom, which would've been suicidal. There must be something they could do though; burning had to be the worst death. Before he could think much farther than that several things happened simultaneously. A cacophony of voices raised in battle cries echoed across the grounds and every person spun around and looked for the source. From his height he could see that nearly one hundred people were storming up from the gates and a small heard of centaurs raced up from the forest. Then he saw a burst of movement from Longbottom and he turned to see him break the body bind, whip the hat off his head. Voldemort was still looking at the newcomers, but Nagini had seen the movement. She raised her head and eyed him. He watched Longbottom but couldn't understand the reason for his determined expression. He watched him plunge his hand into the hat and pull out the Sword of fucking Gryffindor. No fucking way. Then with an impressively smooth stroke the sword whistled through the air and cut through the snake's neck, severing the head. Every eye in the courtyard followed the head as it catapulted through the air in seeming slow motion. As the head bounced gruesomely across the stones Voldemort's roar of rage filled the air and chilled the very marrow of his bones. Longbottom was blasted back with a powerful curse and landed with a bone-jarring thud on the steps. No fewer than fifteen shield charms erupted between Voldemort and Neville and several people scrambled forward to pull him to safety.

Before he could react to the knowledge that Voldemort was mortal for the first time in decades the fastest runners of the group coming up from the gates began to pour into the courtyard. The Death Eaters turned to meet the advancing force and began to back away, overwhelmed by the numbers, and then arrows began landing in their midst as the centaurs galloped in from the Forbidden Forest. He saw several of the black-clad figures Disapparate.

Such were the numbers of the new fighters and the centaurs that the Death Eaters were driven back towards the steps of the castle and the force there waiting for them. Draco and everyone around him immediately began firing spells at the Death Eaters caught between the two groups. After a few minutes of fighting the second group had pushed the Death Eaters so far into the courtyard he was no longer able to fire spells without risking hitting the home team. He backed up the steps, trying to gain a higher vantage point and discovered that most of the people around him had the same idea. Pushed along with the crowd he re-entered the castle. Over the sounds of the fighting he heard that oaf Hagrid start bellowing. "Where's Harry? Where's Harry?" Disgust rolled through him, had someone taken Potter's body? Wasn't killing the man enough?

.

Hermione watched Neville. She was frozen in fear while he was frozen by a spell. She was horrified by the flames engulfing his head. She couldn't stand and watch Neville burn, she took a step to go to his aid, but Draco's strong arm stopped her. She started to fight against him when they were all distracted by the yells of dozens of people storming up the path to the school. She saw Charlie leading the charge and her heart soared, maybe there was hope for them yet. Then Draco's gasp caught her attention and she instantly saw the source of his distraction and watched disbelieving as Nagini's head flew through the air. She stared at it numbly where it lay bloody on the ground. That was it. He was mortal. The shock kept her rooted in place. They actually stood a chance now. They had lost Harry, but Voldemort was as mortal as the rest of them now. She came crashing back to reality as Neville crashed against the steps and threw up her shield charm before Voldemort could do any more damage. Then she was swept up the steps with the tide of bodies being pushed by the advance of the second wave. There was so much commotion she wasn't even able to get a good look at anyone to see who she was being jostled by. Finally the bottleneck released into the wider space of the Entrance Hall and she ran across to the other side, out of the press of bodies to hopefully be able to better defend or attack, whichever the situation called for. Standing in the doorway to the Great Hall she shot Stunning spells at a Death Eater who was charging her and narrowly missed being hit herself by a curse she didn't recognize. She aimed again, taking a step back as he continued his charge. This time she hit him and as he tumbled he was trampled by the mass of people still pouring in the doors. She moved along the wall inside the Great Hall and watched the people swarm in. She picked off four Death Eaters the moment they crossed the threshold before they ever saw her, but she still had not seen the tall blond man she was looking for. As the hall filled a mane of wild black hair caught her attention and her vision filled with red. Bellatrix LeStrange. She owed this bitch. Hermione Granger, filled with fury, raced across the stone floor toward her target and fired her first Unforgiveable Curse. The Crucio glanced off of Bellatrix's left shoulder and caused the curse she was firing to miss its target, who Hermione belated realized was Ginny.

"Oh, the mudblood wants a second dose of Bellatrix does she?" She cackled madly and fired spell after spell at Hermione and Ginny. They were soon joined by Luna and all three young women were battling their hardest, but could not get a spell past the woman's guard. As Hermione aimed for another attack, Bellatrix hit her in the knee with something that brought instant, blinding pain. She immediately went down and grabbed at her leg. Her hand met torn denim and a knee that had already doubled in size. The skin was torn and bleeding and the bottom half of her leg seemed to be slightly rotated. Ginny stepped in front of her and attempted to shield her from further harm, when Mrs. Weasley came to their rescue in a blaze of glory.

Red hair flying almost as madly as Bellatrix's she deflected a curse that was aimed at Ginny and screamed, "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" and began dueling with a fury that startled and truthfully frightened Hermione. She had to get up, she was going to wind up tripping Molly lying here on the floor. She cast an Immobilizing charm on her leg and tried to stand when strong arms seized her under her arms. She immediately went on the attack and clawed at the hands in an instinctive action. Draco's voice in her ear made her stop her struggles and breathe a sigh of relief.

"Stop scratching me, woman! Let me get you out of the way!" He sounded angry, but she imagined he was just running on adrenaline and fear, just like she was. He helped her limp over to a table pushed up against the wall and she leaned against it for support. From here she could see the fights better. Directly across the hall she saw Narcissa Malfoy literally backed into a corner by Lucius. She grabbed Draco and spun him to face his parents. Lucius had his back to Narcissa and was attempting to protect her from several Death Eaters who seemed hell-bent on paying her back for her betrayal. She wasn't able to fight much because Lucius' large body was blocking her. Her face was still a mask of calm, but her eyes gave her away and Hermione knew she was terrified for the life of her baby. She shoved Draco in their direction.

"GO!" She demanded and he took off at a sprint, firing spells as much to distract the men from his mother as anything else. Her wide eyes took in the condition of the Great Hall, she saw with mounting hope that nearly all the Death Eaters were dead, missing, or in a losing fight. Bellatrix still fought Molly, though she was no longer laughing. Voldemort fought McGonagall, Flitwick, and Kingsley and the Malfoy family fought four, now three, men whom she did not recognize. She didn't see any other Death Eaters anywhere…. Had they fled when the tide turned and they had been out numbered? It was too much to hope. She saw Hagrid toss McNair against the stone wall like he weighed no more than a feather. Well, there was one she missed, but Hagrid got him anyway.

Her eyes swiveled as she stood, stuck by her immobilized and incredibly painful leg. She wanted to watch all the fights; the outcome of each would affect her life in a significant way. She saw Draco flinch as a spell grazed across his forehead and blood poured down his face. But Lucius sent a Killing Curse at the man and he fell, Draco got one with some spell- she couldn't tell from here -and together the Malfoy men brought the last one down under two powerful curses. With Draco safe her attention turned back to the other end of the hall and she could watch those fights at the same time because they were so close together. Her hands clapped over her mouth as Molly let out a roar the likes of which she had never heard and hit Bellatrix with a Killing Curse that sailed under her outstretched arm. Bellatrix fell spectacularly to the floor and did not move again. But Voldemort's roar at her fall put Molly's to shame and Hermione felt a blast like a small explosion ripple through the room and all three who were battling Voldemort were blasted back from the strength of his fury.

"Molly!" Hermione screamed, but it was too late, there was nothing she could do from there. She was too far away for her shield charm. Molly looked exhaustedly at Voldemort and her eyes widened in realization but her wand came up too late. Hermione wished she could close her eyes so she wouldn't have to witness the Weasley matriarch die, but her eyelids wouldn't cooperate. Voldemort raised his wand and made to slash it in Molly's direction when a huge, gleaming shield sprang to life between the pair. Voldemort's spell hit the shield and made a sound like a giant gong and Molly was safe on the other side. Everyone looked for the source of the shield and Hermione's heart leapt into her throat when Harry whipped off his invisibility cloak and stood bravely between his surrogate mother and Lord Voldemort.

The hall wall was full of shouts and screams that were quickly silenced in the shock of the situation. Hermione again found her thoughts fuzzy and she couldn't take in Harry's words. One word bounced around in her overwhelmed brain: alive. Suddenly Draco was at her side and he put a supportive arm around her waist and she was dimly grateful to take the weight off her injured leg. A silence so loud her ears rang filled the hall as Harry and Voldemort circled each other. She still couldn't bring herself to focus on their words; she could only take in Harry's whole form. Whole and for the most part undamaged. His shoe was still untied and he was covered in blood but she thought that very little of it was his. His glasses were straight now and his mouth set in a hard, yet confident smile. She recognized this face. Harry knew something. He had a plan and her fear lessened slightly as she realized this. Harry thought he was going to win. She gripped Draco's hand as the light from the dawn cascaded through the window and for one breathless second the hall was blinded by it and the strength of the two wizards' spells. When the light dimmed she could see the back of Harry's head and shoulders, standing tall….and Voldemort appeared to have fallen to the ground. She inhaled a sharp breath, was that it? Was it finished? Then those who could see let out whoops and cries of joy that splintered the silence. She lost Harry as the crowd advanced on him, but saw a saw Ron with his height and red hair visible and knew that he would take care of Harry if he needed it, she couldn't go anywhere at the moment.

She teetered as Draco shifted but he caught her up and lifted her clear off her feet and kissed her hard on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with everything she had. After a moment he pulled away. "It's done. It's over." He lowered her feet gently to the floor, still holding her tight against his chest and rested his cheek on her head. She wrapped her arms around his waist. She was slowly processing what had happened and as her adrenaline abated her injured leg was demanding attention.

"Ow." She winced and pulled out of his embrace a little.

"Draco, you need to get the girl to Madam Pomfrey, she's clearly injured." Narcissa commanded, walking up and looking down at her visibly mangled knee showing through her jeans.

"Yes, Mother." She could tell he was about to roll his eyes, but then looked down for himself. "For fuck's sake, Granger! Why didn't you say something?!" He ignored his mother reprimanding his language and hoisted her onto the table that she'd been leaning on. "Do not move. I'll be back as soon as I can find Pomfrey. If you've got pain-relieving potion in that bloody bag, drink some. Mother, please make sure she doesn't move." Without waiting for a response from either witch he strode away.

Hermione looked nervously up at the intimidating woman whose son she was currently sleeping with and whose sister had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. Could this get any more awkward? Fate, the prickly bastard, decided at that moment to throw Lucius into the mix.

"Cissa, I insist you accompany me to the manor this instant." He demanded walking up to her and completely ignoring Hermione, which was fine by her. Narcissa merely raised an eyebrow. Lucius looked as though he was at a complete loss for what to do.

"You are with child! You've just been in a battle! You need to be checked by a healer and then you need to rest." If Hermione wasn't sure, she'd have thought that Lucius… cared. "Cissa, surely you can see that we are not welcome here. We need to leave before they realize that we are still here."

She remained unmoved. "I will be ready to leave after I have spoken to my son. As he will not be ready to speak to anyone until the girl, that is to say- Ms. Granger, has been treated, I will wait with her." She sent Hermione a miniscule smile, with seemingly only a little difficulty. Lucius finally looked at Hermione and he gave her a once over, taking in her frizzy hair, smoke blackened and torn clothes and various cuts and scrapes. He curled his lip and turned back toward Narcissa.

"I will wait for you and Draco in the Entrance Hall." He spun on his heel and headed out of the door. Many eyes followed him on his way. They had not missed that he'd killed several Death Eaters during the fighting inside the Great Hall. It seemed that no one knew quite what to do with him.

An awkward silence fell between the women. "I'll be fine Mrs. Malfoy; you don't need to wait with me…"

"Don't be silly, child. I'm waiting on Draco." Narcissa answered immediately and Hermione felt the sting of insult, of course Narcissa was only waiting on Draco to return, it wasn't done on her behalf. Narcissa closed her eyes a moment. "Forgive me; I'm afraid my manners have taken temporary leave." She opened her eyes and sent Hermione another forced smile, "I didn't mean to insult you, Miss Granger. Now, Draco mentioned you had pain relieving potion? I think he was right that you should take some. That looks dreadfully painful."

Hermione was surprised at her abrupt change of mood but assumed this was Narcissa's version of the Malfoy mask. She did as instructed and swallowed the potion. She gave up supporting herself on her arms and just lay flat on the table, the potion in combination with the madness of the day made her head swim.

Draco finally returned with a very harassed looking Madam Pomfrey, apparently he'd badgered her until she'd caved and left whomever she was treating to come to Hermione's aid. She grumbled under her breath as she ran her wand in diagnostic tests over and around her knee.

"Well Miss Granger, there seems to be little residual magic, so you're lucky in that regard. However, the impact of the curse has wrought serious damage in your knee. It severed both major ligaments and several tendons as wells as causing some hairline fractures to your kneecap, femur, and tibia." She waved her wand towards the entrance and Hermione assumed she was Summoning something from the Hospital Wing. "I'm going to give you a potion to regenerate the soft tissues, but I'm afraid I haven't the Skelegrow to spare for your fractures, there are others with some terrible breaks that will need it. Sorry, dear." Hermione nodded that she understood. "Your leg will have to remain immobilized for forty-eight hours. You'll probably have trouble with it for several weeks." Her expression finally softened and she studied Hermione's face. "I'm sorry dear, I know it's painful." She held her hand out as a potion came flying in through the huge doors, caught it and handed it to Hermione. "Drink all of this. You did very well immobilizing it, use that spell for the next two days like I said and try to keep your weight off of it. Come see me in the morning and we'll check on your progress. I'd keep you in overnight if I had room, but the ward is filling up quickly. Now, there are many others in need of my help." She hurried off muttering about children having no business fighting a war.

Hermione smiled up at Draco, wondering what to do with herself now. She really wanted to talk to Harry.

"Draco, your father is waiting just outside; he'd like to speak with you before we return to the manor." He started to argue but Hermione nodded at him to let him know that she was fine. Honestly she thought she could go to sleep right here on this hard wooden table. The night had been exhausting and the night before hadn't been very restful either. He squeezed her hand and left with Narcissa.

A/N: I couldn't take Molly's line away from her, it may have been my favorite line out of the entire series. On a side note, can I just say that I love Narcissa? I've had so much fun writing her like this.