Draco woke up, unsure of how much later it had been. He had been almost positive that his father had killed him, along with Hermione, but found that they were both tied to two chairs that were set side by side, Hermione still gagged.

"Hermione" he whispered as he tried to turn his head towards hers. She lifted it slightly, a look of pain crossed within her eyes. The moment she saw that Draco was indeed alive, her eyes filled with panic as a figure moved sharply behind them.

The cave started to shake and quiver, as if an earthquake was approaching at a rapid speed, causing the figure to stumble across and hit their head piercingly on a rock that had taken the liberty into falling on top of his head at that precise moment.

Watching the figure fall into an unconscious state, Draco took his chance and moved his hands along the rope that was bound around his wrists to see if he had any chance of freeing himself.

After a few moments of moving his hands back and forth he managed to free one of them and quickly untied the ropes from around his wrists.

Assuming the unconscious figure was his father, he walked over and kicked him hard in the ribs, hearing a loud crack. He rummaged through the mans robes to find three wands, one he recognized instantly as his own, and the others he guessed were Hermione's and the other mans.

It was then that the hood of the cloak moved to reveal that this man was not Draco's father at all, but a fellow Death Eater, one of the ones he had seen in Hogsmeade.

Draco backed up quickly as he heard the muffled cries and pleas from Hermione to get the ropes off of her.

After he had successfully untied her she threw herself in his arms and began to sob into his chest. After a few minutes of staying like this she finally pulled away from him.

Reality had finally come back to her as she looked over to where the unconscious Death Eater lay.

"Did you see where my father went, Hermione?" Draco asked urgently.

She shook her head, tears still flowing softly down her cheeks. "After he attacked you he knocked me out with some kind of spell" Hermione said softly as Draco handed her her wand back to her.

"We're going to have to be careful" he said to her quietly, cupping her cheek in a comforting way.

She leaned into his calloused hand and nodded her head slowly, maintaining a tight grip on her wand.

They walked silently down the narrow passage of the cave until they could see the light of the entrance ahead of them, and sped up.

They reached the end and stood in silence for a moment, looking down below them, noticing how high they were up from the ground.

It was then that Draco heard the cold, cruel voice of his father.

"Did you honestly think you could get away so easily?" he hissed, stepping out of the shadows.

His eyes burned into Draco's as he took a step forward, leading Draco to the edge of the cliff.

"You'd never get away with this" Draco said, blocking Hermione out of his view.

"Oh really?" Lucius said, reaching for his wand, but Draco had a hold of his first, and the spell out of his mouth before Lucius could comprehend.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco yelled as Lucius' wand flew out of his hand. Hermione picked it up and threw it over the side of the cliff.

Lucius began to panic slightly as he lost his balance and fell against the rocky cave. Pointing his wand at him, Draco ushered him so he was standing just at the edge of the cliff.

"I never would have believed anyone if they told me I would be dating Hermione Granger, or end up killing my father, but I guess that's what happens" Draco said, walking closer to his father, his wand held firmly in his hand.

"Now Draco, surely you don't want to do this. Why would you kill your dear old father?" Lucius said in a hoarse whisper.

"Because it was meant to be" Draco growled. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" Draco shouted as his father tumbled over the side of the cliff, landing in a mangled heap somewhere at the bottom.

Hermione was trembling, fear surging through her body. Draco turned to her. "Are you alright?" he asked her softly. She nodded. "Ready to go back to the school?" he asked. She nodded once more, this time a little more vigorously.

Once they reached the bottom of the cliff they walked through the darkened Hogsmeade back toward the Hogwarts grounds. Draco took hold of Hermiones hand thinking slightly to himself.

This was the end. The end of his father, but not only was it the end, it was also a new beginning that was in store for he and Hermione as they walked hand-in-hand towards Hogwarts.