A/N: Thanks to everyone who left a review. I always love hearing your thoughts! Some more action in this one. As always, review = love.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Quote by J K Rowling.
She couldn't breathe.
For a moment, she'd been able to see the edge of the flames and the beginning of the smoke. Now...now it was all just a swirl of fire.
She scrambled for a moment before a thought finally came to her. She murmured a spell and soon her head cleared and she found she could take a full breath without her lungs screaming in protest.
Modified bubble head charm.
She could have nearly laughed at the thought, but now wasn't the time.
She kept on blindly trying to head in the direction she recalled Draco had been. She was rewarded for her efforts when she eventually made him out dragging a still bound Goyle and scavenging through a mount of junk seemingly in search of something.
She ran toward him just as he dropped onto his knees bent over and coughing.
"Hey. Stay with me." She said as she slid before him and hastily cast the spell. He gasped, his head dropping onto her shoulder as he coughed in an attempt to clear whatever smoke was still staining his lungs.
"What were you looking for?" She said.
"Brooms. We need brooms to fly out of here." He managed, "Had one. Gave it to Potter."
"And they're looking for more too?"
He nodded, coughing again.
Well, at least that explained their absence.
She pulled them up to their feet and had just managed to levitate Goyle when Draco shoved her in front of him and swept her up in his arms.
"Draco!" She yelled out before she felt a figure collide with them, and she was transferred into another set of arms.
She screamed.
"Grab on 'Mione, just swing yourself over and sit on the broom. Stop fighting me."
She blinked, Ron's blue eyes darting from her to the room around her.
She relaxed and did as he asked
"Draco. We have to go back for -"
Ron steered the broom to the left rounding back. "Harry's got him." He shouted above the roar of the fire.
The fiendfyre.
"Ron. The diadem. We need to toss it into the fire."
The rest of her speech died in her throat as she saw Draco toss Goyle up to Harry, who was hovering above him.
She watched then as Harry tossed something back to Draco, who grabbed it and jumped back into the air, a broom growing in his hands as he came to hover beside Harry.
Ron brought them close so that they made for a makeshift triangle.
"The fire can destroy the diadem." She called out.
Harry's eyes widened and he scrambled for a moment before pulling it out, readying to toss it.
"Wait!" Draco shouted, "Not before we're in the clear. We don't know what it'll do."
They nodded, the boys turning the brooms toward the exit when a scream that made her blood run cold rang out above the roar of the flames.
Instinctively she tightened her grip against the broom handle. Draco shouted something she couldn't make out before swerving on the broom and heading straight back into the flames.
She shouted after him, and she made out Ron cursing behind her as he and Harry both darted after him.
"The fucker's going to get us killed for that piece of scum." Ron muttered.
She bit her tongue from offering back a scathing retort. She was too worried.
About getting out of here before the smoke consumed them.
About Draco.
Ron stopped them abruptly. She blinked, and her eyes found a horrifying scene before her.
Draco was half holding half fighting a screaming Crabbe.
"I can help you Vin!" She heard Draco shout.
Crabbe shouted something, punching and pulling the broom to swing out from beneath them. Draco, seemingly anticipating it, managed to keep his legs tight around it half hanging on and half off as he kept his grip on Crabbe.
"I won't be a traitor. I won't be a prisoner." Crabbe screamed jolting once more.
"No! Draco." She yelled just as Crabbe managed to free himself from Draco's grip, screaming as he fell straight into the fire beneath them.
Draco seemed to go limp for a minute, in shock as his own grip seemed to slip on the broom.
"Draco." She screamed out, her vision momentarily blinded as Ron flew them away from a growing flame.
At her voice, he seemed to stiffen, swinging himself back to sit right on the broom. Then, as though in agreement, she felt Ron steer the broom around with Draco following close behind.
She couldn't really say how long it took them to finally make it to the end of the room and fly through the door, Harry tossing the diadem behind him just as the door shut on the room.
She couldn't say she really even registered anything except her feet hitting the ground and running straight into Draco's arms not minding the thick smell of smoke or the heaviness of his weight as he went nearly limp in her arms.
"He's dead." Draco murmured low enough for only her to hear, "He's dead. He's dead. He's dead."
She didn't say anything, not sure if she could manage any sort of sympathy for Vincent Crabbe after all he'd managed to do to them. But Draco...Draco had memories of Crabbe from before now, before Hogwarts. He had known someone else.
She couldn't offer him verbal comfort, so she simply tightened her grip in response, letting him shake and gasp in her arms as he worked to slowly pull himself together and catch his breath.
They stood like that without interruption when Draco seemed to finally stand straighter, hugging her tight to his chest before he let go and stepped toward where Goyle was laying flat on the floor frozen before them.
With a flick of his wrist, Draco cancelled the spell, pulling his wand out as Goyle managed to drag himself up to sit.
"You don't want to fight Greg." Draco said lowly, his voice scratching against his throat as he painfully forced out his words. "You never did."
She watched as Goyle, eyes wide and clearly frightened, dragged himself up to stand and face Draco.
The two seemed caught in some sort of silent conversation before Goyle nodded stiffly.
Draco was staring him down with such anger behind his eyes, air thick from magic she instinctively knew was his. His gaze was heavy and it made her think that somewhere along the way, he'd slipped into Goyle's mind already planting seeds to force his point across.
She should have felt some sort of indignation at the action, at the violation of Goyle's mind, maybe even unease at the way Draco could topple mental barriers and exert his influence without breaking a sweat.
She didn't.
Even if Draco influenced Goyle, he would be doing so to save the other's life. It was more than what she would have done in the situation.
"They're sending the children through the tunnels to escape." Draco said, still struggling to speak against the tightness of his airways. He didn't continue, but his message was clear enough.
Goyle looked grateful for a moment tilting his head in a nod before turning on his heel and running down the hall.
She turned back to Draco who looked lost for a moment and without a word walked toward him and let her arm curl around his waist as she pulled herself close to his side.
She saw Harry open his mouth to speak when a silvery horse shot down the hall straight at him vanishing almost immediately as it collided with Harry.
He blinked and turned to the rest of them.
"They're all in the Great Hall."
Draco shuddered as he stifled another wheeze. He could feel Hermione watching him sharply looking for any sign that she should interfere.
He was barely managing to get half a breathless of air into his lungs, and he didn't dare stop for a moment to fully try or bring out any medicine.
They had to get to the Great Hall without first running into any unwanted company, because even if Snape was technically in charge here, he couldn't help them.
Not without exposing himself, and that could not happen.
He put a hand to his chest, slowly letting it drop to his side as he wordlessly cast a minor healing spell to close the cuts at his side.
He'd give Crabbe some credit. The bastard had always been good at cutting hexes.
This version certainly packed a punch. To properly heal it, he needed time and a lot more magic than he was willing to spend at the moment.
They rounded a corner, pausing just long enough for him to close his eyes and force a full breath into his throat.
And remember.
Crabbe may have not been the best of friends, but he had had his moments. He'd covered for him more times than he could count, without prompting...without questions about why he looked like he hadn't slept in days.
Why sometimes he woke up screaming, even before he had a more recent reason to do so.
A decade and all he had to show for it was another scar on his side and another memory to haunt him at night.
Good gods, couldn't that asshole have listened once more instead of deciding to be a corrupted rebel.
He blinked his eyes open.
They were close to the hall now. He could see the doors at the end of this corridor.
He pushed himself off the wall before he froze, the hairs at the nape of his head standing straight.
He lingered behind as he watched Potter and Weasley dart forward toward the door before pausing and looking back at him in question.
He tilted his head slightly, hoping they would understand not to speak.
Keep going. Slowly.
He tightened his fist at the drain he felt at sending the message out.
Potter kept his head down, slowing his pace.
Weasley not far behind.
Hermione though..she kept to his side.
He held his breath for a second, waiting, murmuring a few spells under his breath before he swerved to his side, nearly hitting the wall as he darted back and blindly reached out into the air.
He allowed himself a smirk when he felt his arm wrap around a body.
Another spell, and the invisibility charm broke.
He tightened his grip around the man's throat, sending a shock to him so that he fell to his knees.
"Hello Amycus." He said, digging his wand right beneath the other's chin.
He stunned him when he felt Amycus begin to struggle under his grasp.
His eyes briefly swept the area, and he caught Hermione's gaze for a moment.
Be ready.
"Alecto." He called out, "Come out. I'm in a mood, and I wouldn't want your darling brother to bear the brunt of it."
He caught the barest hint of movement to his right, and as though reading his thoughts, Hermione immediately turned and sent out a stunner and a second spell in quick succession.
A shriek echoed and immediately Potter and Weasley were at Hermione's side surrounding a prone and bound Alecto Carrow.
He let out a breath shoving Amycus to the ground and stepping on his hand to loosen his grip from his wand, sticking it into the holster he had at his side.
"Gods how I hate you all." He muttered before flicking his wand and tying up Carrow.
He turned to the others and with a thin smile he spoke. "Well I guess we're bringing them a present."
When they entered the Great Hall, they were surrounded by instant chaos. Hermione scarcely knew where to look.
There were still hundreds of students filling the room looking every bit ready to fight, and members of the Order were interspersed between them trying to establish some sort of organization to the madness. Then…
Well, one look at the two Carrows and two things happened at once.
First, the students, at the sight of the Death Eaters tied up, began to cheer. This was immediately followed up by both a horde of professors and members of the Order immediately rushing towards them firing out questions and taking the Carrows away.
No doubt to detain them somewhere else.
"How in Merlin did you three manage to get inside the castle without detection and capture these two?" Remus said, McGonagall at his side.
"Neville led us in." Ron said with a shrug of his shoulders as though the whole ordeal hadn't nearly cost them their lives not once but twice.
She bit her lip to keep from snorting. It was such a Ron thing to do.
"And then we were heading here when Draco…" She trailed off, stiffening as she realized he was no longer standing beside her. She looked around frantically searching for his blonde head when she found it.
Draco was standing before the Slytherin students, his arms at his sides with his wand nowhere in sight.
It seemed others had noticed the standoff as well as the hum of voices that had been chattering around them seemed to fade to silence. Each holding their breaths to see if the so called Slytherin Prince was going to be re-accepted by his people.
Quietly she inched closer and out the corner of her eyes she saw Sirius, having not bothered to glamour his appearance, do the same.
She hoped that Sirius wouldn't draw attention to himself. They hardly needed that on top of everything else going on.
Her gaze flickered back toward Draco, who still hadn't moved an inch watching as a few figures stepped forward from the mass of students behind them.
She recognized Blaise and Theo. Blaise, seemingly the more bold of the two, walked to Draco and extending a hand in front of him mouthed something she couldn't quite make out.
The corner of Draco's mouth quirked up and the two reached out and gripped the other's forearm in some sort of greeting.
She walked close enough to hear as Draco repeated the gesture with Theo.
He turned then staring out at the rest of his Slytherin housemates, letting out a breath. He was going to speak, and she wondered where on earth would he begin. His supposed death and disappearance, or would he simply explain what was about to happen to all of them, hoping it would be enough to force some to turn sides?
"I don't know how many of you would even still listen to me now." He began, "But I'd like to think all of you are at least curious enough to hear what I have to say."
He turned, sweeping his gaze the mass of students.
"I'm not going to ask you to fight. I know many of you don't want to because you're afraid of just who might be behind the mask if you manage to make it across the battlefield. I would never ask that of anyone. It wouldn't be right."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd as each person in the room held their breath waiting for what else Draco would say.
"But I also know that most of you, beneath that cool and collected exterior and guarded thoughts, want to fight. I know that even more of you are content to just say the right things if it gives you chance to get out on that field and run toward the other side."
"You were on the other side. What do you care what we do now?"
She couldn't make out where the voice had come from. If Draco could either, he didn't show it. He pursed his lips together as he thought for a moment.
"You're right." Draco finally spoke, "I've seen both sides, and I'm the only one who can tell you about what life would be like if the Dark Lord won."
"He doesn't care about you." he continued, "He doesn't care about any of you. You are his pieces to move across the board, and with him you'll live life wondering if during his next bout of anger you'll take your last breath.
He doesn't care about your family legacy, and he has wielded blood purity as a tool to manipulate his supporters. It all doesn't matter to him."
Draco took a breath, closing his eyes for a moment before he opened them and seemed to focus on one particular student in the crowd.
"I am a Malfoy, and I am a Black." Draco said fiercely, "And I am no one's servant. This so called Dark Lord doesn't even have the pedigree to polish my silverware. I will not live my life waiting for when he decides to murder me, and I refuse to fall for the lie that all blood doesn't bleed red."
He shuddered, his voice dropping as he finished speaking. "The world I want, the traditions I value, are not on the other side." He took a breath, "I have played the game, and now I must change it."
She saw recognition amongst the other Slytherins, a few even mouthing the phrase back to Draco. Across the room, Sirius was doing his very best to hide his own pride beneath a blank expression.
"Leave if you don't think you can fight on this side, but at least bring out your personal potion stashes and leave it for the Infirmary." Draco said with a smirk, "At least 10 of you have a decent one stashed in that loose glass on the right wall by the mermaid window."
A few shuffled their feet sheepishly at that, and the tension that had been hanging in the air seemed to dissipate at Draco's quip.
It was overwhelmingly obvious that the majority of Slytherins had re-accepted Draco as one of their own. With that, she could only hope that they had managed to shift the odds a little more in their favor.
There was starting to be a method to the madness so to speak. McGonagall and a few other members of the Order had gone to activate the ancient protections around the castle, and even more had gone to secure the tunnels that students were still being evacuated out of.
Pomfrey had been scuttling between the Infirmary and the Great Hall, setting up small posts and assigning any students that were halfway decent at healing charms to man one of the posts.
Most were Slytherins.
It gave him a sense of satisfaction that he'd managed to reach some of them and prompt a halfway change of heart. Of course there were also those loyal to him that would stay and actually fight.
Though, for now, they were still guiding children out.
He sighed in frustration at having to sit still.
After his rather long monologue, he'd been nearly ambushed by both his friends, his father, and Hermione.
It wasn't long before one of them noticed that blood was seeping through the side of his shirt.
He smirked as he recalled Hermione's clear frustration with him.
"Idiot. Just waiting to bleed out in between his bleeding speeches and-" She'd muttered before running for Pomfrey. He'd found it quite endearing, and his heart swelled, as it always did, when she confirmed that she did in fact care for him.
Love him.
Merlin.
It was a dangerous and electrifying thought that he would have to fully confront when all of this was over, because he was sure that he would never be able to give her up.
He'd told her as much, and if they survived the night, he'd be reminding her of that fact.
He let out a breath, wincing at the harshness of his throat that was still sore and scorched from the fire in the Room of Requirement.
They'd been in Hogwarts for 2 hours now, and the time was approaching 4 in the morning. He wondered if it would still be night before the fighting broke out, or if they'd meet Voldemort at daybreak.
Both were rather poetic in their own way.
He scanned the room, keeping the compress Pomfrey had given him at his side. He had another few minutes before he would be allowed to move, but until then he had been charged with making sure that Potter stayed within the Great Hall.
They'd all agreed that getting the basilisk fangs was a priority. Now though, with all of them suddenly surrounded by watchful eyes, it was virtually impossible for all of them to sneak away.
In the end, it was better if Potter stayed within the hall. He was the Order's primary focus, and with the castle gearing up for an attack and Voldemort on his way. it would be better if he weren't out in the open available for any sympathizer to snatch up and hand over to the other side.
So, Ron and Hermione had gone to the chamber, and he'd scarcely been able to keep his mind clear since then.
"You look like you're about ready to bolt."
He straightened at the voice, watching out of the corner of his eye as Blaise took a seat beside him.
"You know how impatient I can be." He said keeping his eyes trained on Potter, who was now talking with Sirius at the opposite side of the hall.
Blaise followed his gaze. "You know it's uncanny really." He cleared his throat, "How much you resemble each other."
He turned briefly back to face his friend, a brow raised.
"It's Sirius Black, isn't it?" Blaise questioned.
He recognized the look on Blaise's face instantly. Any other time, he might have entertained the other's suspicious, but now was not the time. He was going to pick the battles he fought today, and a verbal sparring match with Zabini did not seem like a good use of his energy or time.
Besides, the information was still dangerous knowledge. If Blaise were captured…
He quickly pushed the thought from his mind.
"We are related you know." He finally said, removing the compress from his side and placing it beside him.
Blaise hummed in response, recognizing his answer for what it was.
A dismissal.
"I'm surprised you're as calm as you are with your girlfriend out and about."
He resisted the urge to wince, wondering how far Blaise was willing to push for a reaction from him.
"I know where she's going." He answered evenly.
Blaise smirked, "And with Weasel no less."
He shook his head. "Goddammit Blaise, I'm dying here waiting is that what you want to know?" He hissed out of the corner of his mouth, focusing on keeping the rest of his body language neutral and relaxed.
Blaise's smirk widened, though his eyes grew soft for a moment.
"Just making sure you're still in there. That you aren't getting lost in your mind and forgetting."
"I couldn't even if I wanted."
Blaise nodded, his smirk turning into a crooked smile as he tilted his head to the side just enough for him tor him to recognize the gesture.
His eyes followed in that direction, and he nearly collapsed in relief at the sight of Hermione's dark curls coming into view.
He stood quickly.
She turned then, as though sensing his eyes on her. She caught his gaze, smiling as she rushed to him.
She swung her arms to wrap around his neck, forcing him to bend down and bury his face in the crook of her own neck. Without a single thought, he wrapped her up in his own arms to pull her even closer.
"We got them." She whispered into his ear before pulling away, her expression showing no signs of what had just transpired.
He felt strangely proud at her unique display of sneakiness.
"You were gone forever." he murmured barely moving his lips as he kept an arm around her waist.
"We stopped by the kitchens. We recruited the elves." she answered in reply.
He nearly laughed out loud at her look of satisfaction, but settled for a rather restrained smile and gripping her tight to his side.
He looked above the top of her head, nodding at Weasley who had joined Potter in walking over to them.
The pair had just about reached them when the castle shook beneath their feet. Potter's face twisted in pain as a hand came up to his forehead.
He felt his own gut twist and even the scar at his arm throbbed. He knew, instinctively, what was coming.
A loud hiss echoed through the hall, and somehow, he knew the sound was audible all across the castle grounds.
"I know that you are preparing to fight. Your efforts are futile."
Draco shivered at the voice. He felt Hermione stiffen in his arms as the noise around them hushed.
"You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood. Give me Harry Potter, and they shall not be harmed. Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter and you will be rewarded. You have until daybreak."
