The Battle

"It's time." Snape said by way of greeting. "I recommend that you wake him now and say your goodbyes because the Dark Lord is moving fast in this direction." said the onyx eyed man more calmly then he surely felt.

"How did he find out where we were?" Harry asked as he gently maneuvered Draco so he was lying more comfortable.

"I don't know. It most probably is from a student who is a Death Eater. There are rumors going around you know." Snape pointed out.

"Yeah I know." Harry said quietly. "I just wish they could wait a while longer."

"I know you do." Snape agreed with a nod. "Draco will be safe here with Granger, Weasley and Gin."

Harry nodded.

"Can you give us a minute?"

Snape inclined his head and walked out of the living room to leave Harry and Draco alone.

Harry gently shook Draco awake. As soon as the blonde saw his face and sad eyes he knew what had happened. He shook his head violently, trying to deny the truth. Harry's hands came up and gently stopped his movements, cradling his face in his hands and smiling softly at him.

"No." Draco moaned and tried to start to shake his head again but Harry's hands kept him from it.

"Yes, Draco." he said softly while mentally cursing Draco's ability to read him.

"You can't go." Draco said, desperately trying to hold back tears.

Harry kissed him then. Urgently and roughly. Draco responded to it as tears started to slide down his cheeks. Harry held him so tightly and suddenly, for the first time in almost six months, Draco wished they weren't having a baby as his big stomach got in the way all the time. Keeping him from feeling Harry completely.

One of Harry's hands snaked down from his cheek and rested on the swell of his stomach and Draco cried harder, kissed him deeper.

"I have to go." Harry gasped as they pulled away from each other.

"No, Harry, please! Stay with me." he begged, resting his forehead against Harry's and taking his hands in his own smaller ones, holding as tight as he could without hurting him. He really didn't want to let him go.

"I can't, you know that. What would our child think of me if I didn't fight?" he asked gently.

"That you valued your family more than a stupid fight!" Draco cried.

Harry swallowed thickly. He didn't want to go, but he had to. His throat was now burning with tears that threatened to burst forth like Draco's had. He held them down though. He had to be strong for Draco.

"Dragon, baby, don't cry." he whispered gently.

"What am I suppose to do, Harry? Answer me that, Angel, and then I won't cry." Draco said, furiously wiping tears from his face.

Harry gently helped him with the end of his sleeve.

"You don't have to, because you know I'll be back." Harry said with a small smile.

"I don't know that! You might die out there!" Draco cried, remembering his dream.

"I won't." Harry promised him and kissed him softly.

He got off the sofa but Draco remained, still crying. Harry kissed him one last time before walking over to the door Snape had exited from before.

"Harry!" Draco suddenly cried when his hand was on the doorknob.

Harry turned to him and smiled softly at him.

"I love you." the blonde whispered.

"I love you too, Dragon." Harry smiled and disappeared out the door.

Draco broke down in tears again.

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It wasn't fair that he had to do this. He might never meet his child, his mate might die before he even had the baby and all of this because of a crazy madman. He knew what he had to do, but that didn't make it any less hard.

He went into the kitchen where everybody was assembled. Snape had Ginny in his lap. She was in much the same state that Draco was in. Red-eyed and crying, refusing to let go of Snape's robes. Hermione and Ron were looking at them with sympathy while clinging to each other.

"'Mione?" he asked quietly. She turned her eyes on him. "Could you...?" his voice broke and he gestured towards the room Draco was in. "He's upset." he said quietly.

"Of course, Harry." she said, standing up and walking over to him. "He'll be safe. We'll look after him." she said as she passed him. He only nodded in response.

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Draco barely looked away from the fireplace as Hermione walked into the room. She was making another attempt to comfort him, he was sure.

Harry and Severus had been gone for what felt like days, though Draco thought it must only be hours. Hermione had come in to comfort him shortly after Harry had left him. He hadn't even acknowledged her existence at the time. She had told him that Harry would come home soon and in a few days they would be holding their child in their arms. He didn't need to worry. Harry could take care of himself.

As much as Draco hated to admit it, he wasn't sure Harry could. He was still so young as a vampire, much like Draco himself was, and hadn't learned to control every power he had. They couldn't even sense other vampires yet. Not those who didn't want to be found anyway. Older vampires, like Severus, could though. But unlike really old vampires it took some time for Severus to find vampires that tried to hide their identities.

Hermione sat beside him on the couch and gently caressed his cheek. He didn't respond. She sighed in frustration.

"You and Ginny could spend some time together. You act the same so maybe you can comfort each other." she sighed and got up from the couch again.

"It's a mate thing, Granger. You should know this." he said quietly, not taking his eyes from the flames.

"I don't know, so why don't you enlighten me?" she asked a bit sharply.

Draco looked down at his stomach and didn't say anything. His hands slid in under his shirt and crossed defensively over his child. If he moved his hands and closed his eyes he could almost imagine it was Harry's hands and not his own.

"Are you going to tell me or not?" she asked softer this time.

"It feels empty." he said simply and sadly just as she was about to walk out.

"What?" she asked confused.

"Our heart. It feels empty. A sub isn't supposed to be separated from his or her Dom for the first year. It's so the bond can stabilize and become stronger. That's one of the reasons why I didn't like to have classes away from Harry." he explained softly.

"What happens if you are separated during the first year?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'll be quite clingy again if Harry comes back. Doesn't matter if he bites me or not, I'll be afraid he'll leave me again." Draco said.

"Your child?"

"He misses his daddy." Draco smiled crookedly. "He's going to try and kick himself out once he realizes Harry isn't here anymore."

"Realize?" Hermione asked skeptically.

"Yes. Not consciously of course, but he'll know something's missing. Did you know Harry use to lie on my stomach and listen to his heartbeat?" The girl shook her head. "Well, he did and the baby could sense him, hear him, as well. He'll miss his presence just as much as I will."

"You seem sure that it's a boy." Hermione stated and smiled when she saw Draco's hands slide affectionately over his big belly under his shirt.

"Yes, and he'll be a seer as well." Draco mumbled.

"A seer? How do you know!" she exclaimed.

"From time to time I tap into his powers when I'm asleep and I see things. Thing that haven't happened yet. Last night I saw..." Draco's voice broke and he shook his head to try and force back tears. "I saw Harry. And Voldemort. At the Final Battle." he choked out.

"What happened?" Hermione asked quietly. Maybe he would feel better after talking about it?

"Voldemort cast the Killing Curse at Harry and he died. Then Harry woke me up and I didn't see anything else. I was hysterical. It seemed so real. Almost touchable. Harry kept saying it was just a dream. 'It was just a dream, Draco. Don't worry. It was just a dream'." The blonde choked again.

Hermione's jaw fell to the floor and she stared at Draco. Their child, Draco's and Harry's child was going to be a seer. She couldn't believe it! Then something that Trelawney had once said popped up in her head.

"You do know that the future isn't written yet? Every thing we do affects it so it's very possible that Harry will come out of this alive." she said.

Draco looked up at her and gave her a half smile.

"Maybe." he agreed.

He would make sure Harry came back. He had seen the place where the Battle would take place. It wasn't far from Godric's Hollow, you could see the clearing from the nursery that was attached to Harry's and his bedroom. It wasn't far, he could make it.

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Harry was standing in front of Voldemort with his wand at the ready. Voldemort was sneering at him but Harry just calmly met his gaze, not flinching once. Inside, however, he was wishing he was still in Godric's Hollow with Draco. If he turned he could still see the house, although it was only he and Snape that could really see it. The old wards that made the house unplotable were still there and the only reason why Voldemort knew where it was, was Wormtail. He was still the Secret Keeper. Why hadn't they thought of that!

"Well, well Potter. I never thought we actually would get here. I thought that maybe Lucius would kill you before I got to you. It would be a pity wouldn't it?" the Dark Lord sneered at him.

"Yes it would Tom." Harry answered and rolled his eyes at Voldemort's slowness. Why didn't they just fight? Why did he insist that they talk?

"Very well then. Say hello to your parents for me." Voldemort said and raised his wand.

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Draco pushed his way through the fighting Death Eaters and Order Members on in the clearing towards the middle, moving towards the middle where Harry and Voldemort. They were firing curses at each other but not very bad ones, they weren't deadly although some of them hurt quite a bit. Slashing curses, cutting jinxes and the Dark Lord shot some curses that Draco didn't know.

As he got close enough for the two men to hear him if he screamed, he saw Harry fall to his knees after a particularly bad cutting curse called Sectumsempra. Thank God vampires healed fast or Harry might have bled to death. And as Harry still was on his knees, Voldemort started to say the killing curse.

"NO!" Draco screamed.

The ones who were fighting near him stopped mid motion and Voldemort turned his gaze from Harry to Draco.

Harry cast a glace behind himself and saw his sub there. He gritted his teeth. Why hadn't Draco stayed at the house? But hey, maybe he could take advantage of Draco's appearance anyway. Voldemort was focused on the blonde behind him and didn't really pay any attention to Harry. The raven haired boy shook his head lightly at his foolishness. No wonder he had been defeated by a one year old. He let himself get distracted far too easily.

Slowly so as to not get any attention back on himself, Harry raised his wand and aimed it at Voldemort's heart.

"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled and green light shot from his wand towards the Dark Lord before Tom could react.

The pale body of Tom Marvolo Riddle fell to the ground with a dull thud. Harry was hurting after the last spell Voldemort had shot at him but he had to make sure Draco was okay. He turned slowly and immediately had his arms full of a frightened vampire sub. He tried to calm him with soft whispers and caresses but it was hard when your chest hurt so much that you rather bend over and try and breathe through it.

"It's over, love." he mumbled reassuringly to his blonde sub.

"No, not yet." Snape said from somewhere beside them.

Harry turned back towards Voldemort's body and saw a black mist rise from it. Slowly it began to take to form a body. But this was much bigger then Tom's had been. It looked down on Harry and Draco with disgust, through the holes in the mist that were his eyes. Harry tried to shield Draco with his body while slowly backing them towards the trees.

"Your child could have been great! He could have been my next vessel!" the mist said in anger.

Its voice was hollow and low. Much like Voldemort's had been, but without the hissing. It floated towards them on an imaginary wind and Harry backed Draco further away. He couldn't let this thing get his child and mate. He just couldn't.

"You won't be allowed to keep it anyway! If the Ministry doesn't take it from you then Dumbledore will! You are fools for trusting him!" it roared as it advanced on them.

"He might be and old manipulative coot, but Dumbledore is a great man!" Harry snarled at the mist.

How was he supposed to fight this? How do you fight mist? Air?

But before Harry could really think of an answer to these questions the mist got angrier. It roared in anger and with a strong wind from behind, it swooped down towards them.

Instinctively Harry got his wings out to protect Draco. His blonde love was holding onto his back as tight as he dared, but suddenly he was pulled away roughly by someone. Who ever it was, Harry was going to thank them later. The mist had to much speed to slow down or change direction and was coming directly at Harry, who stood his ground.

"Harry!" Draco screamed when the black mist collided with his mate.

Harry fell to the ground. To the world he looked dead, but Draco knew better. He tried to get away from the strong arms holding him to be able to get to his mate's fallen form but the arms tightened and held him where he was.

"Let me go! He's alive! We can't just leave him! Let me go!" he screamed in despair as tears started to make their way down his cheeks.

"Shh, young one. He'll be alright. Your mate has a strong spirit." the man who was holding him said.

Draco let his legs give out and he slid to the ground, crying. The man who had held him put his hand on his shoulder to make sure he didn't try and get to Harry. It wasn't fair, in Draco's opinion. Why wasn't he allowed near his mate? His Dom?

"You will see in a few seconds, young one." the man said from above him, like he had read his mind.

Draco looked up at the man. He was tall, strong and totally vampiric. He had long black hair and his eyes held thousands of years within them. Draco guessed he sat at the council, but what could the council want them?

He turned his eyes back to Harry when he heard a sound from him. He was shaking. His eyes were open but only the whites were seen. Draco once again tried to get to him but was held back by the older vampire, and Snape's stern glare.

"Let's move him to the house, shall we? I'm sure he will be more comfortable in his own bed than out here on the ground." Snape said and cast a levitating spell on Harry's convulsing body.