Chapter Forty-Three:
(A/N. Hey everyone! Here is the most awaited chapter! I'm sorry it's short, I've been having trouble pulling these final chapters out of my head so bear with me! BTW after this story is over (I know it's sad! I'm going to miss it!) I'm going to be starting a Draco/Ginny story. I know many of you are hesitant to read a story about such a couple but PLEASE try it out! K? Well I wont hold you off any longer! Enjoy!)
Hermione's eyes were squeezed shut. She couldn't bear to look up and see Draco's dead body. Couldn't stand to see his beautiful eyes, always so filled with so many emotions, blank and glazed. Their beauty lost for eternity, and it was all her fault. If she hadn't said anything he wouldn't have hesitated and his father wouldn't have had the opportunity to use the Avada Kedavra spell. It was impossible for anyone to have survived that spell. She lay still, soon she would be dead too. Lucius would turn away from his son's cooling body and blast her with the same spell. She wasn't scared, she just wished she could explain to Ron and Harry that she didn't hate them, that they were still her best friends. To tell her parents how much she loved them and to tell Draco…oh Draco…A deep silence filled the air, nothing stirred. The roaring in her ears didn't let Hermione hear anything else. She took a deep breath preparing for the worse. She opened her eyes, and gasped. Indeed there was a silver-haired blond lying on the cold stones, the eyes as blank as she had predicted them to be, but it wasn't Draco. It was Lucius.
"But how?" Hermione asked, her soft voice echoing in the large room. She glanced around and as her eyes fell on the far wall, her hand flew to her mouth. Draco lay crumpled at the bottom of the wall where he had obviously been flung. She raced over to him and knelt at his side, her hand flying to his throat where she felt the reassuring beat of his pulse with a sigh. She dropped her hand back but in doing so it brushed against his ring and she yelped at the unexpected pain. She glanced down and saw that the beautiful emerald was glowing brightly as if with an inner radiance and was giving off a fierce heat.
"Just in case." Hermione said and gave a small half smile. Her ring must have deflected the spell. "Draco?" Hermione said softly and she shook him gently. "Draco, wake up." Suddenly she heard a noise and she whirled around, her wand pointed toward the sound. She smiled as she recognized the brunet.
"Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry said comfortingly. Hermione smiled tiredly and she ran a hand threw her hair.
"Yeah, Harry." She said and slowly stood up. Harry stepped forward and embraced her tightly.
"Dumbledore and some of the other teachers are upstairs dealing with the Death Eaters. I found the passage to get down here by accident. Is Voldemort…"Harry asked trailing off suggestively.
"Dead? Yeah. Lucius Malfoy is dead too." Hermione said her eyes graved. He glanced over her shoulder and worry filled his face.
"Is Draco…" Once again Harry trailed off his eyes pained. Hermione shook her head emphatically.
"No, he's just unconscious." She said a smile breaking across her beautiful face. Harry nodded, the worry leaving his bright green eyes.
"That's good." Harry responded returnimg her smile. "Listen Hermione, about before…"
"No, Harry. Now isn't the time to talk about it." Hermione said quickly and Harry nodded.
"I understand."
"Thank you, Harry."
"What are friends for?" He grinned and Hermione hugged him once more. A low moan from behind them made them both turn. Hermione ran over to Draco's side.
"Draco?" She whispered fretfully. His eyelids fluttered until he forced them open and stared up at her confusion written all over his face. "Draco?" She asked again and he shook his head.
"Who are you?"
