Chapter 29
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world obviously belongs to JK Rowling and not me. Obviously.
… … … …
The snow continued to gently fall in Godric's Hollow on that frosty Christmas Eve night. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were examining the ruins of the Potter's cottage in Godric's Hollow, while in a dark alley facing them stood a couple with a big decision to make. Leila took Draco's hand in her mittened hand and gazed up into his eyes with her beautiful emerald eyes. Draco tried to look away, but there was something about her eyes that always drew him in. He was quick to notice that her eyes were close to tears, which made his heart ache. He hadn't anticipated Leila asking him to go with her. This wasn't part of his plan. He wasn't concerned about himself. His plan was only to keep Leila safe by returning her to her brother, never even considering that this could be his own chance to start anew.
"What if I don't make the right choice? You know I don't make the right choices," Draco hissed.
"If you could go back to the Astronomy Tower that night, would you choose differently?" Leila asked.
"You know that I would," Draco answered.
"Then here's your chance," Leila responded.
"But what if…" Draco began.
"Draco, we're always going to have our what-if's in our lives; it's just about choosing the ones we know we can live with," Leila interrupted.
"Leila, just go with your brother," Draco pleaded.
"Not without you," Leila said sternly.
"You know that Scar Head and I hate each other," Draco groaned.
"You could start by losing the immature name calling," Leila pointed out.
Draco looked over to where Leila's brother stood with the Mudblood Granger. Fleeing would mean betraying everything he had known to be true. He would be conspiring with Undesirable Number One, not to mention a Mudblood; but he knew Leila wanted to go with them. He couldn't force Leila to go back to the Dark Lord. Hell, he didn't even really want to go back to the Dark Lord. The only reason the Dark Lord kept him around was because he was part of the plan to bring down Potter; but truth was, things had gotten worse since the Dark Lord's return. The only bright spot in his life since the Dark Lord's return was Leila, who clearly was not now nor would she ever be a follower of the supposed noble cause.
He looked back to Leila whose stunningly beautiful emerald eyes met his. As clichéd as it sounded, she meant everything to him. These past few months, she had become his family. Sure, they bickered and had opposing opinions at times; but he always knew where he stood with her. His father on the other hand, he had no idea what the man expected of him. Whatever the man's expectations were, he would probably never live up to them. But now he was at a crossroads; a crossroad where he wasn't doomed to follow in his father's footsteps. His father was only a shell of a man, something that he found pathetic. He would never end up like him, he refused. But if he didn't want to end up like him, he needed to do this. Not only because it was what was best for Leila but what was best for him. He only hoped that Potter wouldn't kill him within minutes.
"Draco?" Leila whispered.
"I hope your brother doesn't kill me," Draco responded.
"You mean…" Leila began.
"Let's go get this over with; we need to get out of here before the Death Eaters show up," Draco interrupted.
Leila squealed slightly and flung her arms around Draco's neck. He held her tightly and exhaled deeply hoping that this was the right choice. He was used to making the wrong ones, so if this was the right choice it didn't feel like it. Leila gently pecked his lips before releasing her grip around his neck. She made sure that her beaded bag was carefully swung around her neck as she pocketed her wand. Draco wasn't about to take any chances. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of one of Potter's hexes, besides, just in case this was some sort of trap, he needed to be able to protect Leila. With his wand in hand he reached for Leila's hand with his other and they walked through the freshly fallen snow toward. When they got into the open, Leila released Draco's hand and took off in a sprint toward her brother. Harry must have had a suspicion he was being followed, because he quickly turned around and without a word, disarmed Draco. Draco's wand flew into a pile of freshly fallen snow between them as he cursed under his breath. As Leila ran closer to her brother, he kept his wand aimed at her and walked closer to her while Draco fumbled to find his own wand and Hermione stood back by the Potter's cottage ruins. Leila stopped within feet of Harry and raised her hands in defense.
"Harry, it's me," Leila whispered.
"Then answer me this. What's our birthday tradition?" Harry asked.
"I get a running start, jump on you while you're still asleep, and I don't get off until you tell me 'happy birthday' back," Leila easily answered.
"Last year in the cave, what did we find?" Harry continued.
"We did run into some inferi, but I assume you're referring to the locket in the basin of poison which turned out not to be a…" Leila began before turning back to look at Draco to whisper the last word. "Horcruxes."
Harry blinked at her a few times, as if he was processing what she was trying to say before he enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. As he hugged his sister like he was never going to let go of her, he saw Draco on his hands and knees digging in the snow pile for his wand. Harry released his wand arm and aimed his wand at Draco. Leila gently pushed her brother's arm down and looked him in the eyes.
"Where's Ron?" Leila asked.
"Not now. What's he doing here?" Harry hissed.
"Draco's the reason I'm even here," Leila whispered.
"He's the reason you were even kidnapped in the first place," Harry said heatedly.
"Harry, he's made his mistakes but—" Leila began.
"Enough mistakes for me to never trust him," Harry spat.
Harry summoned Draco's wand and it flew into his other hand. From his hands and knees, Draco tuned to face Harry who firmly grasped his wand. Draco slowly stood up and dusted the snow from his trousers, while Harry left his aim at the blonde. Harry pushed Leila behind him and into Hermione's arms who instantly wrapped her arms around her good friend. Harry walked closer to the Slytherin prince with his wand still pointed at him. Draco stood perfectly still, with no expression on his face. Leila tried to run to the boy she loved, but Hermione held her back. She instantly looked to Hermione, whose own eyes were focused on Harry walking toward Draco.
"Malfoy," Harry spat.
"Potter," Draco drawled.
"How far behind you are the rest of them?" Harry questioned.
"Depends when they found out Leila and I are missing; if they even have yet," Draco shrugged.
"Why should I believe you?" Harry hissed.
"You know what; you have Leila back so I'll just be leaving. My wand please," Draco responded.
"There's no way in hell I'm giving you your wand back," Harry snapped.
"I brought you what you wanted; now be reasonable and return the favor. I'm not going to tell him that I found you," Draco said.
"Why'd you bring Leila here," Harry questioned.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," Draco sneered.
"Seeing as I'm the one with the wand, you sure as hell do," Harry sneered right back.
"Draco, just tell him the truth," Leila shouted.
"Leila, I've done what I came here to do. You're safe with your brother," Draco called to her.
Leila slipped out of Hermione's grasp and ran toward her brother and Draco.
"Leila, stay back," Harry commanded.
"Harry, you're making a mistake. He wants out," Leila retorted.
"You can't honestly believe him," Harry scoffed.
"Draco, just tell him," Leila begged.
"We both know he won't believe me, Draco groaned.
"He's got a point there," Harry agreed.
"Harry, just trust me on this," Leila pleaded.
"After everything he's done, you're lucky I'm even being this civil to him," Harry hissed.
"Everything I've done? You're not exactly the saint they picture you to be, Potter," Draco argued.
"Stop! All of you, we're not going to solve anything this way," Hermione shouted.
Leila, Draco, and Harry all turned around to face Hermione. The witch still stood back by the memorial with her hands balled in fists before marching forward to the scene with her wand hanging at her side. She held out her hand for Harry to give her his wand; but instead he grumbled and returned the wand to his pocket. She then looked between Harry and Draco and slightly narrowed her eyes.
"There's got to be a better solution than—" Hermione began.
"Please, enlighten us, Granger," Draco drawled.
"You," Hermione began with her finger pointed at Draco. "Need to stop being so Malfoy-like, you're currently at our disposal and if you want to come out of this unscathed you'd better be coming up with some proof."
"I've got nothing other than my word, which clearly isn't going to work on The Chosen One over there," Draco scoffed.
"Start by telling us how you found us. It clearly isn't a coincidence that we're all here tonight," Hermione said as her grip around her wand tightened.
"Nothing gets past you, Granger," Draco said sarcastically.
"Don't give me a reason to have Harry hex you," Hermione shot back. "Now answer the question."
"Draco, please. I'll admit I'm curious about this as well," Leila said.
"Fine, Phineas Nigellus' portrait in Leila's room at the Manor said something about you heading for Godric's Hollow. You really should watch what you say in earshot of him unless you want Snape and others to know your location," Draco explained.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here," Harry hissed.
"Unless you'd prefer your sister to remain captive by the Dark Lord and be getting married to me tomorrow, I'd say this is the better alternative," Draco hissed back.
"I'd say it sounds like a dream come true for you," Harry scoffed.
"For Merlin's sake Potter, what do you need to hear from me? Do you need me to apologize for all the crap I've given you in the past? Because I'm not going to do it. Quite honestly, you deserved most of it. What I can tell you is that I'm sick of playing the Dark Lord's pawn. That's all I am to him and I refuse to play someone's pawn only to become as pathetic as my father. But after giving it more thought, I'm an idiot for even thinking that somehow joining you could ever change that," Draco responded.
Draco shook his head before he turned around and began to walk away. Leila moved to run after him, but Harry grabbed hold tightly of her arm. Her emerald eyes flashed as they met her brother's own emerald eyes. Her heart ached. She couldn't just let Draco get away that easily. Sometimes, she needed to fight for what she wanted, even if it meant fighting her own brother.
"We can't just let him walk away. He sacrificed everything for me. I can't let him sign his own death sentence," Leila cried.
"He's a Death Eater, Leila. He'll be fine going back to his master," Harry tried to reason.
"He's going to die. The only reason he's alive is because of me. I mean he was tortured for that night. If I had succeeded…" Leila began.
"What night? Succeeded with what?" Harry asked.
"I tried to drown myself; but Draco he saved me. The Dark Lord however didn't see it that way. He saw it as Draco nearly failing his mission and needing to be punished. Without me, Draco's a dead man walking," Leila explained.
"What do you mean you tried to drown yourself?" Harry hissed.
"Did you even hear the rest of what I said?" Leila asked.
"I heard that my little sister tried to kill herself. Look what he's done to you!" Harry argued
"He didn't have anything to do with it. In fact, he's the only one that continually had my back. Even Ginny thought I'd betrayed you and turned her back on me for a while. Draco on the other hand has been looking out for me the entire time. He saved me. The least we could do is get him away from a life he doesn't want," Leila responded.
"He's got you so messed up that you clearly can't even…" Harry began.
"Harry, Leila's right. Draco needs to come with us," Hermione interrupted.
"How can you say that? I know there's no way you trust him," Harry responded.
"Whatever Malfoy's intentions are, You Know Who will torture him for information on us before he kills him. Do you really want to risk everything we've done so far?" Hermione reasoned.
"Damnit, Hermione. We can't afford to have him with us. What if he's sneaking information about us to him while he's with us?" Harry asked.
"You've heard of the saying keep your friends close but your enemies closer. One of us can keep an eye on him. We'll make it work," Hermione said.
"I'll do us one better," Harry grumbled.
Harry walked away in the same direction as Draco, who couldn't have gotten very far without his wand. Leila turned to Hermione and hugged her dear friend. Tears formed in Leila's eyes as she embraced Hermione. This moment, the whole thing including her brother, seemed like something that was even taboo to dream about. Yet, here she was with them thanks to Draco. The girls walked to the memorial to the Potter's. For a few moments, Leila silently examined all the messages in honor of her parents or words of encouragement to her and Harry. But even these couldn't distract her thoughts from Draco.
"Do you think we should go after them?" Leila asked.
"They need to sort this out. If they really are on the same side like you say they are, they have some work to do," Hermione responded.
"I hope you're right," Leila muttered.
"Me too," Hermione sighed.
"Why are you doing this?" Leila asked.
"Harry admitted it last year, even if he doesn't want to be reminded of it, but you changed Malfoy. I can clearly see that he's not the same guy from last year or even the years before that. Now, while he wasn't exactly cordial with me, not once did the word Mudblood come out of his mouth. I'm not saying that I trust him, but I'm not saying that I distrust and loathe him as much as I have in the past," Hermione explained.
"So then what are you saying?" Leila asked.
"I think in this situation, I need more time before I pass judgment on Malfoy, for your sake and his," Hermione answered.
"Thank you," Leila whispered.
"But don't for one second think that I'm not wondering whether he's going to betray us or not," Hermione responded.
"I think we've solved that problem," Harry spoke.
Leila and Hermione turned to find Draco and Harry standing side by side. Both boys looked very uncomfortable standing beside each other; but Leila looked at them imploringly. Hermione shifted uncomfortably as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Well?" Leila asked.
"An Unbreakable Vow," Harry responded.
"Absolutely not!" Leila shrieked.
"Harry, are you mad?" Hermione furthered.
"Before you ladies go getting your knickers in a twist, know that I agreed to it," Draco interrupted.
"You what?" Leila questioned.
"You even said that I need to give your brother a reason to trust me and right now this is all we have," Draco said.
"But—but you could die!" Leila hissed.
"Unbreakable Vows are dangerous because they're often not worded properly. I figure between you, me, and Granger we could probably come up with something sensible," Draco explained.
"I don't like this," Hermione said.
"Hermione, what other choice do we have? Unless you have some Veritiserum in that bloody bag of yours," Harry asked.
"You know that I don't," Hermione muttered.
"So, then the way forward is clear," Draco added.
"There isn't another choice?" Leila asked.
"No," Harry and Draco said simultaneously.
Hermione groaned as Leila stepped forward and tightly clung to Draco. Draco wrapped his arm around Leila's waist until he noticed Harry glaring at him. So then he gently removed his arm from around Leila looked up to his face. When she noticed Harry, she released Draco and took a few steps away as she blushed furiously.
"Unbreakable Vows aren't a subject that I have much knowledge in. I mean, I have somewhat of a theoretical knowledge but not enough that I'd feel comfortable performing it," Hermione said breaking the silence.
"I've only seen one performed once," Leila said.
"When?" Harry questioned.
"Flint made Bole promise that he wouldn't snitch about something or another the year Flint repeated," Leila shrugged.
"So then you have more experience between you and Hermione," Harry responded.
"Only, I haven't used magic for months and just got my wand back tonight. I can't do it," Leila added.
"Leila, you need to be the bonder," Draco said.
"What if I mess up?" Leila questioned.
"We're always going to have our what-if's, remember?" Draco said, slightly smirking.
"You can't use my words against me," Leila hissed.
"I trust you and I'm pretty sure your brother does too. Not to mention that you have more experience with Unbreakable Vows. You're the better choice," Draco reasoned.
"Barely," Leila muttered.
"Leila, Malfoy's right," Harry interrupted.
"Did you just say what I think you said?" Leila asked slightly confused.
"You heard what I said," Harry said rolling his eyes.
"Hermione?" Leila asked.
"I agree with Harry and Malfoy," Hermione sighed.
"Of course the first bit of magic I do when I get my wand back would be an Unbreakable Vow," Leila mumbled.
"So it's settled then," Harry said.
Harry, Hermione, Draco, and Leila stood silent for a few moments before they prepared themselves for the task ahead. While this wasn't the best option, it was the only option that was reasonable to the group. However, Leila still wondered how Harry got Draco to agree to an Unbreakable Vow. She knew that she was going to have to talk to one of them in private if she was ever to figure it out. So, it was there in front of the memorial to the Potters that they four of them became one team. Leila pulled her wand out of her pocket as Harry and Draco eyed each other up before joining right hands. Hermione stood a few steps back, concern clearly written across her face; but even she knew that this was the only way. Leila pressed the tip of her wand on Draco and Harry's joined right hands when strands of liquid fire appeared as she took a step back. Leila looked to Hermione for support who simply nodded, before she continued with the oaths.
"Will you, Draco Malfoy, promise to never intentionally divulge information that could jeopardize mission to the Dark Lord himself?"
"I will,"
"And will you promise to never intentionally divulge information that could jeopardize our mission to those loyal to the Dark Lord?"
"I will."
"Will you promise to never intentionally jeopardize anyone involved in this mission?"
"I will."
The liquid flames burned brighter until Leila then lowered her wand. Harry and Draco quickly released hands as both of them awkwardly reached for Leila. Noticing the other reaching for Leila, both boys took a step away and it was Hermione who walked toward Leila. Slightly exhausted from her fist of magic in months, Leila leaned heavily against Hermione. In the corner of her eye, Leila saw a hooded figure hobbling toward them. The figure seemed to look between the group and the ruins of the Potter cottage.
"I think we have company," Leila whispered.
Instantly, the others looked toward the figure coming toward them. The figure suddenly stopped and beckoned them. The group looked amongst themselves, trying to figure out what to do without words. After a few more attempts to beckon them, Harry took a step toward the figure. Suddenly, Draco's hand jutted out and grabbed Harry's arm.
"Malfoy," Harry hissed.
"We need to get out of here," Draco hissed back.
"She knew we'd be here. Dumbledore must have said…" Harry began.
"Something about this doesn't feel right. We should leave," Draco interrupted.
"Why are you setting us up for a trap?" Harry hissed.
"If I was, I'd be dead by now Potter," Draco hissed back.
"This is what I came here for, I'm not backing down now," Harry responded before turning once more to the figure. "Are you Bathilda?"
The figure stood still and nodded her head. She then urged them to come closer toward her once more. Shoving Draco's hand off his arm, Harry began to walk closer to Bathilda. Once Harry had taken a few steps, the woman instantly turned around and began walking the way she had come. Harry continued to follow the woman, while Hermione, Leila, and Draco exchanged glances. They then began to follow behind Harry. Leila removed her weight from Hermione and leaned against Draco instead.
"Don't say I didn't warn him," Draco muttered.
They followed Harry and the woman through the powdery snow until the woman suddenly turned in at a gate. Harry stood just outside the gate waiting for them to catch up, before proceeding to follow Bathilda. The woman fumbled with her keys as they made their way up the path. When she finally opened the door, she took a step back to allow them to enter. Leila still held onto Draco as they crossed the threshold, but her nose immediately crinkled at the smell. Unsure of whether it was Bathilda or her house, she looked at Draco who was attempting to keep himself from vomiting. Once inside the house, they looked around at the dusty and disheveled place. Leila could hardly imagine someone living in such disarray; but Bathilda was awfully old. Harry repeated Bathilda's name once more to receive another nod. She then shuffled past them nearly knocking Hermione over as she walked into another room.
"Potter," Draco said.
"Not now, Malfoy," Harry snapped.
"Harry, even I'm not sure about this," breathed Hermione.
"Look at the size of her. I'd say between the four of us, we could easily overpower her," Harry said.
"Something's not right about her," Leila commented.
"Didn't you here Muriel at the wedding? She called her 'gaga.' I know I should have said something earlier, but I think…" Harry began.
Bathilda called for them to come into the next room. Hermione jumped and clutched Harry's arm while Draco looked around the room with a scowl on his face.
"What was that?" Draco questioned.
"It's okay," Harry said.
With Hermione still clutching Harry's arm he led them into the sitting room. Leila and Draco followed closely behind. Bathilda was attempting to light some candles, but the place was still very dark. Draco protectively wrapped an arm around Leila as the smell in the place seemed to be getting worse. This room was even dustier than the last. Harry offered to light the candle which Bathilda was struggling to light. As Harry lit the candles, Draco leaned his mouth down to Leila's ear.
"I know your brother has no reason to trust me, but something about this isn't right," Draco whispered.
"It has to be something important, otherwise Hermione wouldn't be going along with this," Leila reasoned.
"I think I'd be a little more at ease about this whole thing if he'd just give me my wand back," Draco muttered.
Leila moved closer to Draco as Harry looked around the room at the woman's pictures. Suddenly, Harry picked one of the frames up and pointed his wand at it to clean it. When the picture was clean, Harry examined it and a quizzical look overtook his face.
"Miss Bagshot, who is this man?" Harry asked.
Bathilda ignored him and Hermione moved close to Harry. Harry explained that the man in this picture was a thief, but Hermione turned to the elderly woman.
"Miss Bagshot, why did you ask us to come with you? Was there something you wanted to tell us?" Hermione asked.
The woman seemed to ignore Hermione's question, but she took a few steps closer to Harry. Harry leaned in closer to the woman, who jerked her head before looking back into the hall they had come through.
"You want us to leave?" Harry asked.
The woman pointed to Harry and then to the ceiling. She slowly reached for a candle and carried away toward the hall. Harry looked at the small group before nodding after Bathilda.
"Harry," Leila hissed.
"She wants me to go upstairs with her," Harry answered.
"Well then let's go," Hermione responded.
The girls took stepped closer to Harry, but Bathilda suddenly stopped and looked only to Harry. She shook her head and once again pointed between her, Harry, and the ceiling.
"She wants me to go alone," Harry said.
"Why?" Leila asked.
"Dunno, maybe Dumbledore told her to give the sword to me, and only me?" Harry suggested.
"What's so important about a sword?" Draco asked.
"Harry, we tried to steal the sword, but Snape caught us. It's not at Hogwarts anymore," Leila said ignoring Draco.
"Snape had a fake. Dumbledore must have hidden the real one and we need to find it. It…" Harry began but quickly stopped. He looked to Draco and shook his head.
"What the hell am I missing?" Draco questioned.
"Leila, the Sword of Gryffindor can destroy you-know-what's," Harry said lowly.
"But how?" Leila questioned.
"Just let me get it from her and I'll explain later," Harry said.
Leila nodded her head in agreement as Bathilda began to walk up the stairs. Harry was only a few stairs up, when Harry suddenly turned around. He dug in his pocket and pulled out Draco's wand. Draco held out his hands and Harry tossed the wand to him. The former Slytherin seeker easily caught the wand and left it drawn at his side. Draco then looked to Harry.
"Just in case you're right about this, you need to protect the girls, both of them," Harry said.
Draco nodded his head as Harry followed Bathilda up the stairs. Hermione began to look around Bathilda's pile of junk and Leila joined her in looking. Draco simply stood near the bottom of the stairs as if he was expecting something to happen. Leila pointed her wand at several photographs to clean them. One picture caught her eye, Bathilda appeared to be with a young couple and their two children. Leila instantly grabbed it to examine it more closely. So in what seemed like another life, she had met Bathilda before. She must have been fond of the Potter family in order to keep a picture of them on her mantle. Leila turned to show Hermione, but Hermione was occupied by a book. Some things never change. Draco sniffed several more times before he began looking around the room.
"What is that rancid smell?" Draco hissed.
"Maybe she's just old and can't keep house anymore," Leila suggested.
"It's more than just a messy house," Draco responded.
With his wand drawn, Draco began searching for the smell. Hermione and Leila looked to each other before following after him. Draco had stepped into the kitchen and was instantly attacked by flies. He performed a Lumos spell with his wand, which revealed blood spatters over the kitchen. His eyes widened when he saw a marking in the blood spatter.
"Shit," Draco grumbled.
Draco quickly tuned on his heel and ran into Hermione and Leila. The three of them were knocked to the floor in where Leila stuck her hand in something sticky.
"What is this?" Leila asked.
"We need to get your brother and get the hell out of here," Draco hissed.
Hermione raised her wand which revealed the blood spatter Draco had spotted only moments before. In Hermione's wand's light, Leila could see the blood covering her white mittens. She gasped and scrambled to get back on her feet when several thuds came from upstairs.
"Harry," Leila gasped.
"Dolohov has been here. That's his mark in the blood. He likes to leave his signature, so whoever Potter's with isn't Bagshot," Draco growled.
Draco finished helping Leila up and then made sure that Hermione was on her feet, before the three of them ran for the stairs. A fight could easily be heard going on upstairs. Whoever was fighting Harry, was obviously fighting dirty. A loud crash came from upstairs, which caused Leila's heart to thud as she pressed herself to reach her brother in time. She led the group going up the stairs. She finally had her brother back and she wasn't about to lose him now. Leila looked through the first door but found the room dark and empty. She then ran to the next room where Harry lay scrambling on the floor. A giant snake lunged toward her brother, but she shot a stunning spell at the snake. The snake flew backwards and landed heavily on the old floorboards, causing it to crash through the floor and onto the bottom floor. Leila ran to her brother who was holding his arm in pain. Draco walked by with his wand pointed at the hole in the floor as he quickly made his way over to Leila, who was holding her brother. As Hermione ran past the hole where the snake had fallen through, she quickly grabbed Harry's wand.
"Harry, are you all right?" Leila asked.
"He's coming. You Know Who's coming," Harry groaned in pain.
Suddenly, the snake lunged back toward them. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand while Leila clung tightly to Draco's arm. Hermione shot a blasting curse at the snake which hit the wardrobe causing pieces of wood and glass to shatter over them. Leila felt a shard of glass cut at her cheek but Draco quickly placed himself in between her and the flying shards. The snake hissed once more and Draco groaned in pain, but Leila still tightly clung to his arm. Hermione's hand yanked at her wand arm and suddenly they were apparating. Leila didn't open her eyes as they traveled and her ears were in pain, but when it was all over she landed in a thud to the ground on crunchy leaves that were lightly dusted in snow. She groaned and forced herself into a sitting position. Draco was doubled over in pain while Hermione rushed over to Harry with her wand giving her light. He lay limp on the ground.
"He's passed out," Hermione said.
Draco groaned and Leila's eyes instantly turned toward him. Leila pulled out her wand and performed a Lumos charm so she could better see in the dark. She looked to Hermione before standing up and slowly walking over to Draco because her head was till spinning. She bent down to where he practically lay in the leaves. Blood trickled down his face from a large gash on his forehead along with several other large scrapes which had cut through his suit coat. Leila set her wand down on the ground and helped him out of his suit coat so that she could better examine his wounds.
"I'm fine, go check on your brother," Draco said.
"Hermione's taking care of him. Right now you need me," Leila responded.
Leila pulled off her bloody mittens and moved to unbutton Draco's shirt. When his shirt was completely off, Draco chuckled slightly.
"Can't say that this was how I imagined you taking my shirt off for the first time."
"You're a pervert for even thinking of that," Leila chuckled back.
"You're telling me that you never thought about it?" Draco asked.
"That's for me to know and you to never find out," Leila whispered.
"Bloody tease," Draco mumbled.
"Hermione, do you have any Dittany?" Leila called out.
"It's in my bag," Hermione called back.
Hermione threw her bag at Leila, which she caught. She opened it and performed a summoning charm so that the Dittany flew out of the bag. Leila unstoppered the bottle and began to pour the liquid on Draco's wounds on his arms. Draco cringed as they began to heal; but Leila forced him to lie back so that she could get at the larger wound on his forehead. She commanded him to close his eyes as she began to pour the liquid on his forehead. After a few stoppers of the liquid, the wounds on Draco's forehead were closed. After a few moments, Draco sat up and looked into Leila's eyes. Leila wanted to say something to him, but Hermione interrupted the moment.
"I'll get started on the protective enchantments. You two can set up the tent," Hermione said.
Draco put his torn and bloody clothes back on, before he and Leila worked together to set up the tent. He moved rather slowly and often winced if he made a wrong move, but never once did he complain about his wounds. When the tent was finally set up, Hermione was back from setting up the enchantments. She hovered Harry onto one of the bottom bunks as Leila and Draco walked inside. Hermione took one look at Draco before she retreated for another section of the tent. He sighed and walked over to another set of bunks and sat on the lower one. Hermione called for Leila, so Leila gently placed a kiss on Draco's cheek before following the sound of Hermione's voice. She walked in to find Hermione digging through a dresser of clothes.
"Malfoy can't keep wearing those bloody clothes and we still have some of Ron's things that should fit him," Hermione sniffled.
"Hermione, where is Ron?" Leila asked.
"Not now, please. Just grab Malfoy some clothes and then both of you get some sleep. I'll keep watch," Hermione said.
"Hermione," Leila sighed.
"Leila, please? We can catch up later," Hermione sighed.
Hermione then left the tent and set up watch outside with book she had grabbed. Leila grabbed a blue sweater, figuring he could keep his trousers on for right now, and walked back out to meet him. She found Draco leaning with his elbows propped on his knees and his head in his hands. She could tell that he was thinking things over; wondering if he had made the right choice. Leila handed him the sweater which he hesitantly grabbed.
"It's Ron's, but it should fit," Leila said.
Leila could tell that Draco wasn't too pleased to be wearing Ron's hand-me-downs, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled off his shirt and pulled the sweater on. Leila smiled at him. It was funny how a simple change in clothes could change a person. Draco stood up and enveloped Leila in his arms. She practically collapsed in his arms crying. Everything that she had been holding in was now flowing out. She had been scared for so long, and even though she was probably in more danger than she had been before, she had never felt safer. She was safe in Draco's arms with her brother and dear friend nearby.
"We made it," Leila whispered.
"Yeah, we did," Draco responded.
"I love you," Leila sniffled.
"I love you too," Draco whispered.
Draco pushed several stay hairs out of Leila's face before he gently kissed her. He held Leila in his arms for several minutes before Leila suggested that they get some sleep. Leaning down once more, Draco placed one more kiss on Leila's lips before they broke apart for the night. Draco took the bottom bunk he had been sitting on, while Leila took the bunk above Harry's bed. Leila snuggled in close to her pillow and breathed a sigh of relief. While the situation wasn't exactly ideal, it was better than what she had ever even hoped for. A comfortable sleep soon over took her and she peacefully slept through most of the night.
