MAY BE THE LAST CHAPTER! AHH! I don't know yet, but

I'll tell y'all when it's over and done with. ENJOY! (PS, I got

a beta!)

It all happened so fast that, when later questioned, Harry doubted that he would recall the exact course of events. The instant the blinding yellow light exploded from the end of his wand she found herself rotating, still wrapped in Harry's arms.

He was too shocked to fight her and alarmed that Malfoy had recovered so swiftly. But Hermione was a woman of action, as well as contemplation, and in the span of three seconds she took Harry's position and found the spell hitting her directly between the shoulders. She gasped audibly, this was the last sound to reach her ears before she plummeted into deep darkness. Her chest was thrown into a violent spasm before her body collapsed, almost gracefully to the ground, her mane of wild brown hair fluttering in the air before her corpse rigidly meet the floor.

Neither Harry nor Malfoy spoke, as though shell-shocked by her sudden sacrifice. Malfoy was the first, however, to drop to the floor after her and reach towards her throat. Harry did not react with the kindness at the sight of Malfoy touching Hermione.

"GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF OF HER!" he roared, his voice ricocheting off every angle in the hallway, echoing louder and louder with each reverberation. Malfoy ignored him completely and checked her pulse briefly. His fingers lingered and his face, which remained impassive, though his skin paled considerably. He touched her face, desperately, tracing her lips with his index finger.

"What did you do to her?" Harry's voice was low and almost gravelly, as though the great restraint he was showing attempting to break him down into tears.

Malfoy seemed hesitant, but replied nonetheless. "Lentus Mortalitas… lingering death. It's a non-verbal spell that-" There was a hitch in his voice that he could not effectively conceal. Harry could not simply leave it at that.

"What? It does what?" he snapped, his eyes never leaving Hermione's ivory face. She did not look asleep…her expression revealed something deeper, more sinister. Death? But he was Harry Potter; he would not accept death when it came.

"It will take a while to take full effect. It's…a more painful means of death." Malfoy seemed weak and stared down at his lost love in disbelief.

"A cure, there must be a cure," Harry muttered, sweeping his two arms beneath Hermione and hoisting her to the air, not bothering to use his wand.

Malfoy looked skeptical, yet he was willing to attempt anything that might save her. "I don't know how. The spell was created to destroy and…" He blinked and Harry was quite sure that he saw a tear lingering in his eye. It disappeared as quickly as it was noticed as Malfoy walked briskly in the halls.

"I'm taking her to Dumbledore," Harry called after the retreating figure of his arch nemesis, unsheathing his wand for protection as he stampeded in the opposite direction.

"Your Dumbledore knows nothing of her condition. You know this as well as I, Potter," He was bluffing wildly, not sure whether or not Harry would take the

bait.

"I'll be the one to determine that," Harry said.

"Suppose not," thought Malfoy.

Malfoy shut his eyes tightly and inhaled, readying himself before speaking. "I would never hurt her. Not in a thousand years." Harry whirled around, his green eyes reflecting his rage.

"You just did," He replied tersely, looking down at Hermione cautiously. "You did this to her and I'll be damned if I let you do anything more," He snarled, continuing down the hallway.

As though it would help, he called after him. "I was aiming for you, Potter! She is the one who took your place."

Harry was, unsurprisingly, unaffected by Malfoy's statement. "When, oh when, Malfoy, are you going to learn to take responsibility for your own actions? When are you going to stop blaming everything else for what you are lacking and what you do? If she dies, Malfoy, you can rest assured that I'll make you beg for death." He called back, something uncharacteristic dwelling in his voice…loathing.

Malfoy unwisely called back. "Then we will be even. I promised the same to you when you killed the junior Weasel." Harry froze mid step.

"That was an accident," He replied, thought the hatred was gone from his voice, replaced with something much more satisfying: fear.

"And, seeing as I already had a falling out, you used me as a scapegoat. I did not realize this until our beloved Hermione accused me of the crime." Harry turned to face him.

"We don't have time to get nostalgic, Malfoy. It was a mistake, a tragic mistake. There was a battle and the two of you were fighting and I missed…" He swallowed hard, readjusting Hermione's position choicely.

"Yes, yes." Malfoy sounded bored and tired of their conversation. "It was dark and you aimed a killing curse in my direction, though I am quite sure that Aurors are forbidden from using those when not in combat with a victim-"

"Criminal," Harry revised coldly.

"I was fighting her and you felt that it would be the noble thing to do, ending my life." Harry looked pointedly terrified.

"You would have killed her. I was trying to save

Ginny."

"No, you were attempting to avenge a wrong, not save the poor Miss Weasley. You were spiteful, enraged that Hermione had dared fall in love with me before you. You have to live with the fact hat I was her first choice; that you were only second best." Harry extended his wand-arm shakily, eyes wild. Malfoy did not seem deterred.

"You close your foul mouth, Malfoy. I would never hurt Ginny…purposefully." He added hastily. "You used her as a shield."

Malfoy nearly laughed at the accusation. "We were fighting, she took a step left to avoid a Furnuculus curse I aimed her way and she stepped right into the Avada Kedavra. Quite ironic, really, that the most deadly hex invented resembles the childish chant that Muggles use, 'abra kedabra'? When Hermione forced me to sit through that torturous cartoon, Cinderella, I took notice of that." He commented abstractly.

"She loves me, too, Malfoy. And I'm not about to let her die. And that was a damned good movie." Harry responded through gritted teeth, though he did not move.

"Let me attempt to heal her and I won't betray the secret that you have held for years and is most likely eating away at your shimmering pure soul," He stated sarcastically. "Your Dumbledore cannot heal her and if she dies your secret won't be a secret any longer," He threatened, his gray eyes lingering on her pale and

emotionless face.

"I didn't mean that to happen. I loved Ginny. Not the way she wanted, but I loved her nonetheless. You should be dead." He approached Malfoy nonetheless, Hermione still limp in his arms.

"Hermione would understand. She would realize that it was all incidental. It doesn't mean anything. She would understand." Harry still walked towards Malfoy, as though in a trance.

"But Ron wouldn't…Ron hates you more than I do, for killing his sister, betraying us, though it was not so wholly unexpected." Harry inched his way across the hallway, his eyes wide, skin ashen.

Tears streamed down his face for the first time, and his voice seemed hoarse. "But she loved you, even after what you did. She always loved you, but she would understand why it has to happen." Malfoy's eyes widened slightly, showing his shock and surprise.

Harry muttered the two words that Malfoy was loath to hear. He fell to the floor, his body enveloped in a green glow, his eyes still open and glassed-over when his heart stopped beating, "That's why no one will care that I killed you."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Her eyes opened three days later, though the light was nearly painful to witness after days of darkness. His face seemed so close, yet too far to touch. His

pale scar, his green eyes. And she knew what he had done.

"Hermione…" He called out to her, sounding as though he were miles and miles away. She lifted one shaking hand up and smiled slightly, though the expression did not reach her eyes. She knew that Dumbledore had cured her. That she was safe, out of Hogwarts, a place that at one time was a sanctuary, though only three days before it was a prison.

"I understand." She told him, looking up at him in earnest. "I understand why you had to do it." Harry nodded stiffly before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"But she doesn't understand," thought Harry. He hoped that she never would. She would just have to live with the lie, the beautiful lie that, in the end, it came to a duel where Malfoy lost. She trusted him. Her loyalty in him had never faltered, even after Sirius, she still trusted him.

And now it was over. It was really, actually, over. No, Voldemort fled in fear. Now there were two wizards who warranted his utmost fear and, regrettably, respect. Dumbledore accepted his explanation, but there was something foreign in his eyes, something that was a rarity to behold. Doubt. He knew the truth without Harry saying it aloud, the real reason behind Draco Malfoy's death: Jealousy.

Old hostilities always die-hard. Harry rarely forgave those who betrayed him or merited his hate and Malfoy was on that rather short list. Was is the imperative word here, dear readers.

Harry knew that he could never be Hermione's first love, first anything, other than husband. He resented Malfoy for taking that from him, though Hermione was, for once, completely unawares.

Ron did not question it when Harry reenacted the idle report, believing every word and actually smacking him on the back several times in congratulation, repeating the sentiment 'good show'.

Perhaps things were not so hopeless as they had originally presumed. Maybe they could win. Maybe, eventually, it would be over, Voldemort gone, the Wizarding world restored. But for now Harry was quite content, despite the fact that he was concealing two hideous secrets, both of which only held one other person...and he was now dead.

Maybe there would be a happy ending. Maybe it would end in death. Whatever the fates had in store, Harry, Ron and Hermione were blissfully ignorant. They planned to enjoy and cherish every moment they had together.

They never knew which one might be their last.

THE END! Wow, that was painful to write. Mind you, I didn't plan on killing Malfoy, I actually planned on offing Hermione with the lingering death and then I came up with the whole Ginny twist. Don't really care all that much if people don't like it; I think that it's rather realistic and I like it so...TOUGH! Heehee, tell me what you think. Flames respected, though good reviews liked much more.

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH TO MY BETA, JadedNihilist A.K.A. Lauri.

Brian: Um, Lauri...chocolate is NOT a food group.

Lauri: Piff Says youuuuuu!