Thank you guys for your patience with me while so much has been going on.

So, so much love goes out to my incredible alpha/beta team, shestoolazytogin and RESimon. I love you both more than words can express.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Hermione woke in the middle of the night to find herself still lying on the kitchen floor. The night was still dark, but what light the bright moonlight gave showed her the outline of where Draco lay beside her. His arms were wrapped around her tightly, half of his form holding her up from lying completely against the hard wooden floor. His eyes were slitted open and he was watching her carefully.

She reached out and ran her thumb under his eye. "You haven't slept," she said softly.

"Are you alright?" he asked, ignoring her statement.

She gave him a soft nod as her fingers trailed up his face, tracing along the dried blood that crusted along his hairline. "You didn't heal yourself either," she said, watching a muscle in his eye jump as she pressed a tender spot.

His hand pressed against her rib cage, and she found herself mirroring his pained cringe. "Still hurts, then." His voice was flat.

"What happened?" she asked, watching him roll up her shirt to expose her rib cage. The skin was tender as he pressed on it and she winced again.

"You were hit," he said, sliding his wand in gentle movements across the area. "Several times. The curse is healed but the discoloration will last for a bit."

Hermione nodded, watching him roll back down her shirt. He vanished his own shirt a moment later, and she watched him press his wand into his own bruised ribcage, hearing the snap of his bones mending under the spell he muttered. Her hand traced after where the bruising slowly faded, feeling every ridge of tight muscle under warm skin as her hand explored him.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry."

He watched her quietly for a moment before nodding, the movement was nearly imperceptible in the darkness.

"I didn't mean—" She swallowed thickly, thinking of the spells that had lit up the air in the night around them, forcing herself to fold away the memories before worse ones could assault her, too. "I never intended to put us in danger. I just— I just needed to breathe, and it was the first place I thought of—"

"You saved him," Draco said, cutting her off.

Hermione exhaled, remembering the wizard with the kindly face, the burning pharmacy...

"Not all of them, though," she said softly.

"The Snatchers would have killed them all if we hadn't been there," he said. "They might have taken one or two to the Manor, at most. Death is preferable." There was a faraway look in his eyes, speaking to the trauma that he kept so carefully hidden away. "We can't save everyone, Granger. This is war."

Hermione nodded, folding away the pain of the memory of the burning pharmacy into the deepest recesses of her mind as she reminded herself of what they fought for — who they fought for.

She pressed closer into him. She couldn't place when he'd become more pliant to her touch, but now the way he seemed to soften under her fingers was evident. He was lying on his back, his face turned toward her as he spoke. He was still looking at some faraway place beyond her, and she found herself trailing a finger up the slope of his neck and along his sharp jaw.

He started to sit up when she pressed a hand to his chest. "Draco…" she said, searching his eyes. The clouds chose that moment to part, allowing a brighter beam of moonlight to illuminate the question in his eyes. "I just— I want to…"

The words died on her lips the longer he looked at her. She lifted a hand to stroke his cheek, feeling the stubble that had begun to grow there. She leaned forward slowly, her eyes not leaving his until she pressed her lips against his. She slid her arms around his neck, her lips moving slowly against his unmoving ones until slowly, tentatively, he opened his mouth and granted her entrance.

She closed her arms around his neck until she was pressed flush against his body, wondering how the sense of utter completion she felt in that moment only seemed to come from him.

She let her mental walls drop slightly, feeling the moment her thoughts reached him when he surged forward suddenly, devouring her as hungrily as she was him. This— this unidentifiable magnitude of something she couldn't place that was somehow everything at once kept her clinging to him, desperate for something, for him—

I need you, she said without speaking, clinging harder to him as she felt the emotion consuming her. I need you. I need you. I need you.

He crushed her body closer to his in response, devouring as much of her as she did him.

X

Hermione's eyes opened the moment she felt Draco shift. She watched as he left the room abruptly, still naked, one hand worrying through his platinum locks as he went. She slid out of the bed and followed him silently, watching as he went to the desk and rifled through the pages of intricately detailed plans they'd made for breaking into Gringotts.

She walked up behind him as he sat down, frowning slightly. She'd been witness to every line of stress that had appeared on his features during their isolation, and she knew that she was watching another one start to form.

"Draco," she said hesitantly, waiting for him to try and send her off.

When he spoke, however, the protest in his voice was weak. "We have time before we have to go," he said, eyes still scanning the pages rapidly, "get some more rest."

Hermione shook her head before pausing mid-movement when she remembered he couldn't see the gesture. She watched his tensed shoulders for a hesitant moment before she placed her hands on his shoulders. When he did not reject her, she let them run lower, brushing over his chest down to his abdomen. She felt him shiver under her touch, muscles clenching slightly as her hands roamed before relaxing under her touch. She wrapped her arms tighter around him, pressing her equally naked skin into his back until her cheek brushed his. She held him until his fingers unclenched, letting the notes fall to the desktop in front of him.

"We'll be alright," she murmured into the skin of his neck.

She felt the rumble of his voice through every inch of his skin she touched when he spoke. "And if there isn't one there?" His voice was gruff with tension.

She tilted her head and used a gentle hand to coax him to look at her. "Then we'll keep searching," she said, forcing down the curl of tension in her chest as she thought of what could happen if they didn't. "But you know her. I know you're certain one is in there. Don't let your doubt cloud you."

His eyes searched hers and she looked back at him steadily, feigning all of the confidence she could. He gave her a slow nod, and before she could lose her nerve — or the opportunity — she leaned forward and kissed him softly. She let her lips linger on his a moment longer than she dared, waiting for him to reject her or pull away first.

He did neither.

X

The sun shone brightly above where they landed in the alleyway they'd carefully picked, the view of the busy street barred only by the stacks of crates and barrels of ale that the tavern beside them stored there. Hermione pinched at her blonde braid, her mouth twisting at the sight of the fine blonde strands caught between dainty, pink-tipped fingers.

She looked up to find Draco smirking at her and she scowled back at him, reaching up and securing his cloak with more force than was strictly necessary.

"Testy, are we, Granger?" he drawled.

"It's still Malfoy," she shot back.

Despite the shadow of his hood covering most of his face, she could still see his smirk. "Shall we, dearest cousin?" he said, gesturing toward the opening of the alleyway.

Hermione shot him another glare before turning to look toward the alley's entrance. Even now, she could see a steady stream of Diagon Alley patrons walking past. Her throat went dry as she watched the witches and wizards pass by, trying to recall the last time she'd been here casually. It felt like a lifetime ago. Perhaps it had been.

Draco's hand on her side interrupted her thoughts, and Hermione looked up to see his jaw tense, feeling his hand equally so on her side.

She turned to him and ran her foreign, overly delicate fingers along his cheeks. "We'll be alright," she promised. She pulled her hands away before he could catch the tremble in them and shoved them in the pockets of her cloak.

He nodded at her. "Let's go."

Her body followed his command before she could will it to do so, stepping towards the mouth of the alleyway until she could ignore the nearness of the open street no more. Her heart lurched as she stepped onto the cobblestone, a wave of nausea rising as they neared the crowd—

She felt Draco's warm, firm hand on the small of her back as he fell into step beside her. "Breathe," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

They melted into the crowd, and Hermione quickly realized that their drawn down hoods would garner them no attention. The patrons that floated through the street all moved with focused haste, their steps hurried and hoods pulled low as they passed. The foreboding that lingered in the air curled around the people that walked through the streets, siphoning away the peacefulness and replacing it with a suffocating melancholy.

The snowy-white building of Gringotts loomed ahead of them, a steady wave of patrons filtering out of the burnished bronze doors. Her heart thrummed loudly in her chest the closer they got to the white marble steps she had once upon a time walked up without a second thought.

"Come along now…" A witch said as she ushered her children down the steps past Draco and Hermione, giving them nary a glance. For a brief moment, Hermione's heart panged as she recalled Mrs. Weasley calling to them in a similar fashion before she folded away the memories, locking them in the deepest recesses of her mind.

Draco slowed his steps slightly, pressing two fingers into the small of her back. Her hand tightened instantly around the wand in her pocket, the thrum of her heart growing louder as she caught sight of the two Wizard guards stationed at the entrance, golden probes gleaming in the sunlight as they scanned each patron.

Another tap on her back. Twice this time. In front of her, it meant. They were rapidly drawing closer to the entrance, buffered only by three elegantly dressed witches lined up before them. The fur trim of the robes of the woman before her slid up the steps behind her in a train, its collar stretching high enough to brush her blonde chignon.

Another tap — now. Hermione's fingers twisted in a quick motion at the same time that Draco did the same beside her, masking his movement with a cough. The woman's train moved ever so slightly, catching under the hem of her heel just as a soft gust of winter air breezed past.

"Oh—!" The woman exclaimed as she stumbled, just enough so that she grabbed at the sleeve of the wizard before her who had his probity probe raised high.

The wizard caught the witch, huffing a gruff reprimand as her companions fluttered about her. The second wizard guard paused to dispel the commotion just as Hermione muttered confundus. She heard Draco whisper the spell at the patron behind her just after he said it to the second wizard, while Hermione feigned surprise at the woman's accident and helped her straighten herself. The three women left in an agitated huff, grumbling at the wizard guards while the two men blinked at each other. Hermione and Draco started to slip past when a guard seized her arm.

Hermione froze, her heart thrumming so hard she thought it would burst out of her chest. She started to turn toward him, expecting to see his probe raised high, gleaming in the sky before he waved it over her. Her hand was tight around her wand as she calculated their odds of escape — low, too low—

She turned to see the wizard guard gripping her upper arm tightly, blinking at her.

"What?" Draco snapped at the wizard. He seized Hermione's other arm, jerking her away from the man. "She hardly needs to be demeaned twice." His face was still hooded in shadow, but his voice dripped with a familiar pureblood haughtiness.

Draco pressed her forward without another word, leaving the wizard blinking rapidly as he turned to the next person in line.

Hermione felt her breath leave her body in a low shudder that left her entire figure trembling. Draco's hand splayed wider on her back, rubbing it gently. Then he was pressing her forward, beyond the doors and through the entrance hall. Past the final set doors, and they were stepping into the sprawling marble hall. Her transfigured heels clacked along the floor as they made their way past the rows of goblins. The closest empty teller was at the end of the long hall, and she kept her hood low and her eyes trained lower as she focused on the swirl of her dark robes around her shoes. Draco's warmth radiated beside her, and she resisted the urge to lean into him as they moved.

Finally, they stopped in front of an aged goblin. The goblin peered at them over the spectacles perched low on his nose. "How may I be of service?" he asked.

"I would like to access my family vault," Draco said, his head tilted high despite the hood that shadowed his face. Slowly, he slid back the hood just enough that his pale features showed. He wore an impatient scowl, his lips twisting even more disdainfully as he brandished his wand and held it out casually before him.

Hermione tried to keep her breaths steady while her heart fluttered madly as tendrils of panic curled up her spine.

The goblin's brow raised minutely. "Mr. Malfoy," the goblin said as he thumbed through the ledger. "You have not accessed the vault in quite some time—"

" —and I fail to see how that affects my request," Draco said smoothly.

Draco let out an irritated tsk, making the goblin pause where he had been raising his quill, ready to inscribe the visit in the ledger before him.

"I request the same...discretion you have granted my father in the past," Draco said. "I assume this shouldn't be a problem?" he said, looking pointedly at the ledger before him.

Hermione's heart caught in her throat as the goblin paused, peering intently at Draco. Draco stared back defiantly, the glint in his grey eyes visible despite the hood he'd re-lowered.

"Of course," the goblin enunciated slowly, carefully putting the quill down.

His eyes slid to Hermione, and her chest tightened. "May I see your wand, Madam?"

Hermione forced an aloof expression as Draco tilted back her hood slightly, showing her delicate features and white-blonde hair before replacing it. "That won't be necessary," he said. "She is my cousin from abroad and is my guest. She comes with me - your approval is not a requirement."

Draco's voice rang with an air of dismissive finality, and a short silence fell.

"Very well," the goblin said, his voice tight. "Right this way."

And they were through.

Still, Hermione's heartbeat did not slow as they followed the goblin down a passageway, nor when their cart was zipping down, down, down into the depths of the bank. It was only when she felt Draco's fingers surreptitiously catch hers that she looked up at him. He gave her a short nod and squeezed her hand.

Hermione looked up and froze. Draco had told her about the dragon that guarded the high-security vaults, but it was another thing to see it before her. Its immense form was curled in a low crouch on the ground at the center of the circular chamber as they coasted towards it. Its unnaturally pale and almost flake-like scales undulated in a rhythm, the deep cuts and scars around its body expanding and shuttering in the same pattern. There was a low hum that vibrated the stone around them, and Hermione realized that the beast was slumbering. The cart slid around where the dragon slumbered, the low hums its body made almost drowning out the sound of the cart rolling past.

Hermione listened to the distant sounds of faraway carts rumbling along the tracks, the sounds echoing lowly in the caves. They were far enough below ground in the damp darkness that a sense of unease trickled down her spine. She knew the vault she'd been granted access to by marriage lay somewhere in this chamber, guarded for generations by this beast for families that barely blinked at the cruelty the creature had clearly endured. It felt like a reminder of how much she truly didn't belong, and she felt a lump rising in her throat as she was reminded of all the things that could go horribly wrong.

The goblin cleared its throat, interrupting her thoughts. "Once we've reached the vault, you may, of course, take as much time as needed, Mr. Malfoy. I will wait outside at your leisure—"

"Imperio," Hermione's soft spell spilled out of her lips with ease.

Instantly, the goblin went lax, his eyes glassy and unseeing.

"You will take us to the Lestrange vault," she said carefully. The cart started to slow as the goblin acquiesced, the wheels screeching against the track as he braked.

She met Draco's eyes and he nodded at her. She searched his eyes for a moment and started to nod back when the cart lurched to a stop and Draco caught her from jerking forward. He helped her out of the cart after the dazed goblin who moved mechanically towards the door.

She swallowed and squeezed Draco's hand. "If the alarms go off—"

"They won't." His face was devoid of emotion, yet she knew that fear lurked somewhere in the depths of his hardened gaze. "I know my aunt," he reminded her lowly. "She wouldn't have thought to rescind my access to the vault. We'll get in."

The goblin had unlocked the vault and was easing it open slowly, his small body dwarfed by the massive door. The masses of glittering galleons and trinkets within was overwhelming, the piles towering from floor to ceiling.

Hermione's palms felt slick as she stepped behind Draco. Her panic rose with every step he took toward the threshold. If he was wrong, if Bellatrix had rescinded his access, then—

He stepped through.

Hermione's chest tightened as she waited for the alarms, for the slumbering beast beside them to awaken.

Nothing happened.

She let out the breath she'd been holding, a hand flying to her chest as she struggled to steady her breathing.

He gestured for her to enter behind him. "Touch nothing," he said, repeating the words he'd said to her time and time again that morning, a glint of fear lingering in his expression. "You're my wife. It's alright."

Hermione swallowed and nodded as she stepped inside, recalling the curses he'd told her Bellatrix had placed on the contents, along with the ones she'd considered. "Is it up there, then?" Hermione said, nodding toward where he was looking up at the far wall.

"On the shelf," he said.

Hermione saw it immediately. A glittering necklace made of onyx and blood-red diamonds, glittering brightly despite the low light of the sconces that burned on the walls. It hung out of a golden cup that appeared remarkably nondescript compared to the necklace's beauty.

"And you're certain that's it?" Hermione asked, an image of Bellatrix's crazed eyes as she gleefully kicked Dumbledore's corpse flashing through her mind. The necklace glittered with an almost morbid beauty that sent a shiver down her spine.

Draco nodded. "She was...possessive, over it. More unhinged than usual in how she fretted over it. She never—"

Draco cut off as the ground rumbled as the dragon let out a snore, the vibration causing the items in the vault to tremble. As if in slow motion, Hermione watched, horrified, as a single coin from the pile nearest Draco rolled off the pile, its trail interrupted by Draco's foot. The coin made barely a plink as it fell to the ground. Hermione's breath caught and her wide eyes met Draco's.

An instant later, the room burst into chaos.

The coin multiplied, so quickly that a pile started to flow around their feet. Hermione stumbled backward, her heels skidding as she frantically tried to distinguish what was real and what was not. "Draco!" she cried, trying to reach out for him.

Her elbow bumped into something, and suits of gleaming armour started to multiply around her, overwhelming her in a sea of silver. She grunted as she tried to fight her way out, each touch replicating the objects that drowned her tenfold. They burned her skin as the pile consumed her, drowning her in a sea of riches. "Draco!" she cried again, trying vainly to clear a path.

Draco's hand suddenly slammed down on hers, dragging her out of the pile. He waded desperately through the pile, dragging her out of the vault as it began the fill rapidly with replicated coins and trinkets.

"Are you—"

"I'm okay," she said breathlessly. Hermione did not hesitate to pull out her wand, pointing it at the chaotic scene as the incantation for their backup plan formed on her lips.

Draco beat her to it.

A flaming dragon burst out of his wand, devouring everything in sight as it tore through the vault. Inside the vault, she heard screams that were eerily human-like, the wails so grating that she had to force herself not to drop her wand and clamp her hands over her ears. Hermione screamed the counter curse as Draco's next spell slammed the vault door shut with a resounding boom.

They ran toward the cart, the ground vibrating as the beast beside them started to stir. "Take us back!" she screamed at the goblin, her spell jerking him into action.

They sped through the winding caves at top speed, the wind whipping their robes around them as they all but flew toward the surface. Both Hermione and Draco had their wands at the ready, and Hermione tried to force down the lump of dread that rose in her throat the higher they ascended.

She looked at Draco, taking in his tensed stance as the low light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter the closer they coasted towards it. If they'd raised an alarm— if there were guards waiting for them—

His eyes met hers as the thought arose, her fear seeping through her mental shields. He reached out and took her hand, holding it tightly. The warmth of his skin radiated through her, and her eyes did not stray from him even as he focused back ahead of them. She'd pledged her life for this war long ago, knowing that what it stood for was so much greater than herself. But now— now, as she looked at Draco, his platinum hair gleaming in the low light, a hardened look on his face from the war he'd be thrust into from birth.

She needed to survive this. For him. He needed to know a life beyond the prejudices he'd been born into, a life where—

The cart screeched to a stop.

No one waited for them. Hermione's shoulders tightened as she waited for an ambush from the shadows, for a volley of spells hurled at them from every direction. They stood there for another tense moment, wands poised at the ready. Hermione listened for a noise, an indication of an alert— and instead she heard nothing but the low sounds of daily business at Gringotts filtering through the door ahead.

She blinked in surprise and turned to see Draco obliviating the goblin. He turned to her as he finished, his jaw tight. "They'll notice the mass depletion of— everything," he said, eyes sharp as he scanned the area. "I was authorized to enter, but it won't take long for them to notice the disappearance. Hurry."

And then the disoriented goblin was blinking wildly before ushering them out in a daze as they hurried off, Hermione no longer caring about the noise of her heels clicking rapidly as they moved. Then they were through the silver doors, gliding past entering patrons, then through the gleaming bronze entrance—

They'd made it. Hermione sucked in gulps of cool air as they stepped past the guards, hoods drawn as they hurried toward the nearest Apparition point. His hand was tight on hers as they moved. Warm, alive. Hermione's heart fluttered as they drew nearer, so close to when she would be able to breathe again.

As they were halfway down the steps, a multitude of pops of Apparition sounded in the streets.

Snatchers.

Snatchers, with all of their wands aimed at the people who moved about before Gringotts. Hermione suppressed a scream as the air filled with heat and light, spells flying and hitting screaming people as they scattered. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she charged forward blindly, the half dozen steps they had left feeling miles away. Her shield burst into a shower of sparks as it was hit from every direction. A curse slammed into her side and she cried out, stumbling forward. Another spell hit her leg, and she felt the bone snap. Her hand slipped from Draco's as she screamed out in agony, falling forward.

Strong arms caught her around her middle, and she caught only a brief glance of the horror twisting Draco's features before stone exploded beside them. Spells shot through the cloud of dust, their cover quickly dissipating. Draco pressed her closer into his body and she suppressed the urge to scream out in pain, watching his bloodied hands clutch his wand hard.

A moment later, they were gone.

X

Hermione bit her lip until it bled as she fought any more moans of pain from escaping. A wispy blue magical film encased the leg as Draco worked, knitting back the bones painfully with practiced movements of his fingers as he manipulated wisps of the film. She'd taken only one potion, refusing the deplete their already dwindling stores any more. Despite the pain clouding her mind, Hermione watched Draco work carefully, her brows knitted in concern. He'd barely taken time to heal several broken fingers on one hand and the gash in his side before he'd set to working on her leg with his good hand. He'd been at it for hours, and Hermione could see sweat gathering on his brow from how long he'd held his position.

"Draco," she called.

He tensed before he looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Stop," she said softly, looking down at his hands.

His lips flattened. "I'm not finished."

Hermione sighed, giving him a small smile. "I know enough now to know that you can stop where you are. You're trying to accelerate the healing process. I'll be okay."

She gently pulled her fingers through his hair, wishing she could smooth away the tension on his face. "Are you alright?" She moved her hands down his arm, probing at the still-puckered surface of the gash that he'd healed earlier. "I know it still hurts," she said. "The Snatchers—"

"—run regular raids on public spaces. It was a risk I didn't account for."

"Draco," she tried feebly to pull him closer, barred by the awkward level at which her leg was hoisted. "We couldn't have known."

Draco's mouth was still set in a hard, tense line as he looked off into the distance. She probed gently at his thoughts, finding them as shuttered as ever. "Please talk to me," she said.

"We don't know how many more there are." His rigid posture remained unchanged.

Hermione fell silent. Even now, the screams they'd heard as they'd burned the vault's contents echoed in her head, replaying in a sickening cacophony. "We don't," she answered.

He raised his eyes to meet hers, and for once she could read the exact emotions reflected in them. Determination. Resignation.

Fear.

She knew the same emotions were reflected in her own eyes as she looked back at him. There was one place that they could no longer ignore, could no longer delay searching.

Malfoy Manor.

As always, for updates on my writing progress or just to chat with me, you can check my tumblr (blankfishxx), my Facebook (Blank Fish), or join my Discord server: (remove all *'s, of course): h*t*tps*:*/*discord*.g*g/*GH6N7Sn.

Also, my open invite to bombard shestoolazytologin with PMs and asks stands. Xoxo, love you Evi. ;D