Title: Being Strong

Author: HYPERdingdong39

Disclaimer: No. You should get the picture by now. I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER! Got it?

When Hermione woke she found herself in Draco's arms, at the astronomy tower. She couldn't help but smile as she watched him sleeping. He looked so innocent, and his face was completely relaxed, a significant contrast from his expression during the day.

She gasped as she watched a girl she knew slightly walk in.

"Hello. You are Hermione, right? I'm Ally," the girl said with a grin. "Dumbledore wants to talk to you and Malfoy."

Hermione nodded, and smiled back at her. "Thanks," she replied, nervously, but reassured by the girl who didn't seem to be fazed at all.

She woke up Draco, took his hand, and together they walked to Dumbledore's office. When they arrived, and said the password, they found Dumbledore sitting by himself, by the window, and staring at a heavy rain.

"Draco, Hermione, he's going to come today. There are more people coming. I'm going to wait for them to come before I explain," he said.

They nodded, and sat down on the ground against the wall, giving each other nervous looks. They both hadn't had a chance to get ready for the day, so Draco's blond hair was mussed, and he had a strange expression on his face.

Hermione's hair was flying all over the place, and she had dark circles around her eyes. She remembered Draco's vulnerability last night, and felt as if she was going to cry again, thinking of how hurt he had been.

"When is your father coming?" she asked him, softly and cautiously, not wanting him to be upset.

"Tomorrow. So I'll be able to fight. I suppose even my father didn't know when Voldemort was going to attack. None of the death eaters know where Voldemort went after the first fight."

Hermione didn't know what to say to this, so she just mumbled a quiet, "Oh."

They sat in silence for about three minutes before another girl came in. She didn't acknowledge Hermione, but glared at Draco, and sat down on the opposite side of the room. Her cold expression looked like a true Slytherin's.

"Hi. I'm Hermione. What is your name?" Hermione asked, feeling stupid, but feeling uncomfortable with the heavy silence.

"Larissa," she said coldly, showing that she had no reason to talk.

Hermione shrugged, and leaned back, closing her eyes, hoping that the rest of the people would come soon.

The door flew open with a bang 5 minutes later, and Ally came in, huffing.

"Hi everyone! Neville is coming, but he dropped all of his stuff down the stairs on the way," she said in a rush.

She sat down next to Hermione and grinned.

"So, how are you?" she asked kindly, but smiling reassuringly. She looked happy and content, but Hermione could tell by her eyes that she was worried as well.

"I'm fine," she said, trying to smile. She still couldn't believe they were gone. They were gone forever.

"Are you sure? I heard about Ron and Harry," she said, patting Hermione on the back.

Before Hermione could answer, Larissa spoke up. In a cold voice she said, "Oh yes. The Golden Trio. So, can't live without goody boy Harry Potter?"

She was going to say more, when Draco said, "Stuff it Larissa. We don't need you being cruel to Hermione, just because I went out with her instead of you."

Larissa glared back, her eyes shooting daggers at both Hermione and Draco.

Suddenly Neville walked in, blushing as he tripped over the leg of Dumbledore's desk. After he pulled himself up from the ground, he somehow managed to drop his bag, and this time the bottle of ink in it broke apart.

Dumbledore turned around, and got rid of it, with a simple spell, and moved closer to the students.

"I've chosen you. You five people are the strongest of Hogwarts. You are going to be the ones to fight Voldemort, while the rest of the students try to take down death eaters. This is your opportunity to show off your skills, and defeat the man who has caused so much pain. You can do it," he said, in his way of being right to the point.

Everybody was nodding solemnly except for Larissa, who was looking uncomfortable.

She's probably scared, Hermione thought. Voldemort isn't a simple person to defeat.

"Now, I have a plan," Dumbledore said, when they heard the first scream. Voldemort was here again. Dumbledore looked frightened. Of course he would. He was so weak now.

Each person took the hand of another person in the small force that would try to defeat Voldemort. Hermione couldn't help but notice that Larissa took the other side of Draco, and avoided holding hands with anyone else.

They walked out, linked, and prepared to try to bring down the greatest wizard in history.

Voldemort was outside, in the pouring rain. His face was frightening, and pure evil. Hermione shuddered, and Ally and Draco squeezed her hand reassuringly.

As they went outside, they let go of each others hands, and pulled out their wands, all in one fluid moment.

Then Larissa walked over and stood by Voldemort, smiling triumphantly at Hermione. They were all infuriated. No wonder she had looked so uncomfortable in Dumbledore's office.

The element of surprise greatly hindered the group, as Voldemort and Larissa stepped forward, and prepared to say the spells.

They had no idea what to do. They ran away, standing behind trees or large boulders, to help them block the spells, except for Ally. With a loud yell, she ran forward and pushed the two evil people backwards, surprising them, and making Larissa fall.

That gave time for Ally, Neville, Hermione, and Draco to step forward and stun Voldemort at the same time, freezing him.

"Should we kill him?" asked Ally nervously.

"Yes," said Hermione and Draco in one voice.

They had to kill him. After the grief he had caused them.

"He's dying, for Ron and Harry," she said firmly.

"He's dying, for the innocent lives, all of them," Draco said, and holding hands, Draco and Hermione stepped forward, and together, they killed the man.

They turned around and embraced each other, crying into each other's shoulders again. They knew that from that moment on, they would protect each other, till the end of the world.

A/N: Tell me whether this should be the last chapter or not... I'm going to have an epilogue for sure, but I don't know whether I should make this the last chapter or not!! Ok?? And sorry about the shortness.................. oh yeah... one more thing... about the last chapter... I said that only 1 person wanted to be in the story... but it was two... blushes

Cold-eyes-for-you: Thankyou!! So much!! I hope I got your character right... I wasn't sure if I understood what you wanted to be like... so I made you REALY evil... hahaha... but in my prologue if you want I can make you become nice... if you want...

Kristen: Thanks! I wanted constructive criticism!! I'll try not to skip ahead too much... I didn't realize I was doing it!

Sweetfrv: Yup! You were right!! Heehee! Thanks for the great review!

HPFanatic04: haha... you are seriously insane. But so am I! So we can be insane together!! Yup!! INSANE!! Together! 5 hours later Yup!! INSANE!! Together! Hehe

LynnPotterMalfoy: Thanks!! I love reviews!! Lol.... And you weren't in the story because I needed your name, personality, and whether you wanted to be good or evil. Sorry!

LilChocolateAngl: Of course we will! WE WILL CONQUER THE WORLD BY WRITING OUR HEADS OFF! Sry... dot dot dot... ... ... ... .. ... .. . . . And sorry I didn't put you in the chapter... I needed a name and personality and whether you wanted to be good or evil... sry!

Rurouni05: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Well.... I don't know what to say... but thanks... I guess... lol!

animelover08831: I don't know if that was a good or bad review!! But oh well... THANKS ANYWAY!!