Draco
Hogwarts
May 2nd 1998
There was an eerie silence when the Dark Lord's voice finally faded into the night.
Draco found Granger, her arms wrapped tightly around her body, standing just out of his arm's reach. She analyzed the ground like it held the solution to their problem.
Weasley shook his head, like he was coming through a trance and faced Potter.
"Don't listen to him mate. We've got this."
Harry hardly acknowledged Weasley's pep talk. Looking back at Granger, Draco noticed a teardrop crash to the ground directly below her downturned face. He moved to her and reached out for her shoulder. Her tiny face gave him a tentative look before he pulled her into him and she buried her face into his chest.
"We need to go back into the castle," Harry mumbled as he moved the rock back onto the knot of the tree, disabling the Whomping Willow once more. He set off without waiting for others.
Bringing up the back, Draco walked with Hermione, keeping a sturdy hand on her back. He watched her intently as she stared blearily into the ground.
It concerned him; he could not tell why his witch was so disturbed. It could not just be the sound of the Dark Lord yet again speaking to the fighters in Hogwarts. Yes, Snape's murder undoubtably affected her, but it still did not add up in his mind; he knew there had to be something more.
"Granger," he kept his voice low as they walked. Her gaze darted wearily until it landed on his face. "What's wrong?"
She stifled a breath and bit back tears, shaking her head slowly.
"I don't want to say it out loud," she said miserably, looking ahead to Harry, then back at Draco, "but I think I may be right about something that I don't want to be right about."
There was an unnerving hush within the castle; only the sound of shuffling feet against stone floors and subdued voices could be heard in the distance. The faint sounds came from the Great Hall.
When they reached the de facto meeting place for the injured and dead, they stilled at the entryway. All except Weasley.
A huddled group of redheads stood at the center of the Great Hall, their faces turned down towards something on the ground, each of their shoulders bobbing with sobs. Weasley's body continued forward, like a moth drawn to light.
When Granger, still attached at Draco's, saw what Weasley had, she hurried forward to join the family who looked to be in mourning. Draco made to follow her, but Pansy stopped him.
"Don't," her voice was somber as she looked from the Weasleys back to Draco. "Most people here believe we are the enemy. It'll make it difficult for them to mourn."
He tracked Granger's movements, feeling deeply uneasy having her separated from him. He watched as she cried with Ginny, the latter sobbing violently into Hermione's shoulders.
There was movement to his side that distracted him. Potter twitched, like he would go to the Weasleys, but stilled, and stayed planted in the entryway. He looked like he physically could not move towards the wizarding family that had taken him in like a son.
"I need to go view these memories," Harry remarked to the two Slytherins who still stood by him. His voice caught in his throat. "Tell Hermione and Ron where I am."
Two wizards passed by the three, grabbing their attention. The two held a tiny, lifeless body between them. Draco recognized the corpse to be of the annoying, and very much under age Colin Creevy.
Something in Potter fractured, and to Draco, it looked like he may do something reckless. The Gryfindor's features continued morphed after seeing Creevy's dead body, giving him the pinched look of an insane man.
They did not come this far for Potter to fall apart, to have the Dark Lord win.
Draco grabbed Potter by the shoulders firmly, and gave the messy haired wizard a terse shake. For a moment, Potter's tortuous look was replaced by confusion.
"They did not die for you." Draco's fingers dug into his shoulders, desperate for him to see reason, to not do something foolish.
Harry looked around Draco's shoulders at all the bodies. Draco shook him again.
"Potter! They are fighting for a better world and you just happen to be the key. Do not do something stupid."
Pansy, standing to the side, looked distraught. Her focus kept switching between the scenes: a former bully desperately trying to provide moral support to his biggest foe, to the countless bodies, either motionless, or weeping, scattered within the Great Hall.
He and Potter locked into one another, and it was only when the flicker of insanity faded from his green eyes that Draco softened his posture and numbly dropped his hands from Potter's shoulders.
"I'm going to go look at these memories," Potter told them. When Draco looked doubtful, Harry shook his head. "Don't worry, I won't do anything rash."
With nothing else to say, Potter turned in the opposite direction and left Pansy and Draco on their own, standing just outside the Great Hall's entrance.
He assessed Pansy the moment a tear slid down her cheek. He patted her on the shoulder which shook her out of a momentary, emotional weakness. Her expression steadied.
"I'm going to go help with medical," Pansy told him, now seeming resolute. "We should not intrude on their mourning, but we can help with those injured."
Pansy marched off and Draco followed in her wake. The two approached a corner of the Great Hall which, from a distance, looked to be bustling with activity, yet produced no sound. Once closer, they passed an invisible barrier and were nearly driven back by the explosion of sound from within. Screams of agony and calls of action accosted their ears from every which way. Ahead, they saw Luna running up and down the line of the injured with Theo moving close by.
"Pansy, Draco!" Luna called, her voice missing the light it typically had. "I'm glad you're safe. Can you help?"
Without another word, the two Slytherins fanned out across the line of injured individuals.
Witches and wizards who had transfigured their robes to lime green, indicating they were trained healers of St. Mungos, appeared to be running the show. They ordered anyone who was able bodied to assist with what they couldn't.
Draco wasn't confident with healer charms. He never advanced his knowledge on the practice outside what was taught in their curriculum.
He noticed his patients recoil when he approached to help. At first, he assumed their distaste was due to his signature Malfoy blonde hair, and that he was still a threat to them. But, after casting two blood regeneration charms, then a bone setting one, his confidence grew, and he noticed they no longer looked wary. Despite his hesitancy with the subject matter, he willed himself to maintain authority, especially given that his bedside manner was rubbish and only panicked the injured more.
He couldn't tell how long it had been, but after some time, Draco found himself huddled by Pansy, Luna, and Theo, having done what they could for the people hurt.
Familiar, bushy hair came in and out of his eyeline, darting into the hallway just outside the Great Hall. Directly behind the flash of hair which was Granger was Weasley, chasing after her. Draco followed, only putting a hand up to stop Pansy and Theo from following him.
The hallway outside the Great Hall was deserted with the exception of the Golden Trio, and now Draco.
"Harry!" Hermione cried out, her voice ricocheting off the stone walls. Slowly, Potter turned around to face Granger and Weasley, his attention briefly flickering to Draco who stopped further out. Draco knew immediately something serious had changed.
Granger slowly approached Potter, closing the gap.
"Harry, where are you going?"
She said it like she already knew the answer.
"The forest," Potter answered; his voice flat.
A sob ripped through Granger's lips, the sound of it fracturing Draco's insides. His witch threw herself into Potter, hugging him tightly around the neck. Potter's body hardly reacted to her, other than placing a tentative hand on her shoulder after a second passed.
Weasley stepped forward, shoulders tense.
"You can't do that Harry!" Ron sputtered out, shaking his head. When Potter turned his gaze to the floor, Ron shouted, "You can't do this!"
Potter finally faced Weasley, but the voice that followed was detached. "Ron, it's the only way to finish him."
Granger stepped back from Potter, sniffling back tears at the same time straightening her shoulders, putting on the appearances of strength for Potter.
Draco himself was properly stunned; there was no reason he could imagine for Potter to give himself up. He also couldn't understand why Granger seemed to understand exactly why her friend planned to walk into his likely death.
Potter caught Draco staring in disbelief, and held his look. The Slytherin was still steps outside the group of three.
"Kill the snake," Potter directed mostly to Draco before his gaze turned back to Granger and Weasley, "and then kill Voldemort."
Weasley broke free from his stunned confusion to protest.
"Mate! What are you doing? Everyone who died did it to protect you. Now you're just going to go and let Voldemort finish the job?" Weasley's voice shook through his shouts. Potter could no longer look at him. Granger turned to their incensed friend.
"Ron, you don't understand. Harry has to," her voice trembled, and she choked out a sob. Draco took a step closer to her until he could rest his hand on her shoulder. Another sob rumbled, but she tried to stifle it. "He has to, it's the only way."
Weasley gave Granger a disgusted look. Draco took another step in, putting himself in the line of fire between Granger and Weasley. He would not have Weasley, no matter how distraught he was, make her feel worse about something she clearly understands better than any of them, with of course, the exception of Potter.
Tears fell across Weasley's cheek before he turned abruptly on his heel and walked away. Granger spun into Draco, a primal sob tearing through her and falling silent against his chest. Potter's shoulders fell, his head dipping once again.
Her breaths against his chest slowed. She gathered a deep intake of air, and turned back to Harry. Draco stayed close behind her.
She moved carefully to her friend and slowly went to hug Potter, likely, for the last time. "You are very brave Harry."
He watched as Potter's arms held Hermione, and his unkempt hair bounced as he nodded against her face.
Stepping back, his former foe looked at Draco, and gave a brief nod before turning his back to the two, walking in the opposite direction.
Before Potter disappeared, Draco saw a brief interaction between Potter and Longbottom before the Chosen One faded away.
The minute Harry was no longer visible, Hermione collapsed onto the cobblestone floor, gasping for breath as she held her arms around herself.
"Granger," he followed her down, reaching out to steady her as she crumbled to the floor. Her body was limp; he was able to gather her up and pull her into his lap.
Her arms snaked around him desperately, like a child needing a comfort item. She held him with all of her might as she screamed and cried into his chest.
They sat there for what could have been an hour. She laid in his protective grasp as he moved his hand over her head in soothing motions, hoping to bring her some peace. Over her head which rested just under his chin, he surveyed the destruction of the castle.
Hermione shifted, adjusting herself for the first time since she had crumpled in his arms. Her eyes were bleary and bloodshot, but a look of determination was building.
"We can't let Harry die in vain," she said almost to herself, her focus narrowing onto something in the distance.
He brushed a hand over the side of her face. He wanted to tell her Potter may not die, but he couldn't lie to her.
"You know why he went?"
"That connection between Harry and Voldemort," she began, taking a deep breath, "you were right to think that wasn't normal. It isn't." She paused, her eyes met Draco's. "Voldemort thought he created 7 horcruxes. But he actually created 8. Harry was his accidental final horocrux."
The color drained from Draco's face as he comprehended what he just heard.
"Potter is going to sacrifice himself?" he asked, voice tight. Hermione nodded.
"And that's why we have to keep fighting," she said, scrunching up her nose and steadying her stare.
Hermione stood, and Draco followed. They stayed there for a moment longer, facing one another, each doing their best to soak the other in before whatever happened next.
The tone from down the hallway changed. What was once low and subdued was now tittering with bouts of screams.
It was clear from her look she knew what the shift in atmosphere meant. She took off in the direction of the sounds, Draco hurrying to keep up.
A crowd had already formed in the courtyard. The two watched a spot in the near distance, but it wasn't until the blood curdling scream of Ginny Weasley rang out into the newly dawned day that they could confirm what had happened.
Hermione and Draco finally made it to the front line as Hagrid stepped forward, the half giant's face twisted in sorrow. That's when they saw what Hagrid was holding: the lifeless body of Harry Potter.
"Harry Potter is DEAD!" Voldemort jeered as he stepped out from behind Hagrid. "He was killed fleeing the castle, like the coward he is!"
"Liar!" Ron shouted back. Hermione and Draco looked to their left to see him several people down, his face contorted with rage and sadness.
Voldemort merely laughed and turned to his followers. "Of course a Weasley would believe such lies."
Draco scanned the crowd of Death Eaters across from them. Mixed among the laughing, delirious faces of Voldemort's followers was his mother, looking stoney, showing no expression whatsoever.
For a second, all he could focus on was his mother standing opposite of him. He was distracted enough to not notice the Dark Lord settling in front of where he stood. Once he realized it, he put a shoulder out in front of Hermione, angling her behind him.
"Draco?" It was faint, but Draco thought he could detect a trace of authentic sadness at his abandonment. "Why this is, disappointing."
Draco's attention was caught by movement within the line of Death Eaters. It was his mother, and she was taking long determined strides away from Voldemort's followers.
"Cissy!" Bellatrix bellowed out, stepping out towards her sister. "What do you think you're doing!"
"I'm fighting against you," Narcissa said without casting a look back to Bellatrix, continuing her walk towards Draco.
He was too fixated on his mother breaking from the Death Eaters to see Bellatrix's movement, but Hermione was vigilant. His witch had been watching carefully and acted quickly as green light erupted from Bellatrix's wand.
Hermione produced an immensely strong protego charm around Narcissa, so powerful it sent Narcissa tumbling forward. When the killing curse hit the shield, it dissolved like snow into a puddle.
Bellatrix's eyes went wide, darting around the line of witches and wizards to find who cast the spell. Finally she found Hermione whose wand was outstretched, chest heaving from the physical exertion of producing a spell powerful enough to block a killing curse.
"You filthy little mudblood…" Bellatrix spat out, making a face like she had taken a bite of a bad apple.
"Bella, enough!" Draco roared across the empty space dividing the two sides. "If you so much as look at Hermione, or lift a finger towards my mother again, I will kill you myself."
Bellatrix's eyebrows disappeared behind her feathered bangs in astonishment.
A low tut tut tut came from Voldemort.
"I see a mudblood has poisoned yet another pure-blood, a pity." Voldemort spoke sadly, inflecting a dramatic woeful tone to his delivery. "But for what young Draco? Harry Potter is dead. It's over!"
"It's not over!" Neville had stepped out from the crowd, his body angled halfway between Voldemort and the line of witches and wizards defending Hogwarts. "Harry is gone, but that doesn't mean the fight is over!"
"And who is this?" Voldemort cood, changing his focus to the new outspoken wizard in front of him.
Bellatrix scoffed at his side. "He's a Longbottom."
Voldemort shook his head. "All of these perfectly good pure bloods are going to waste on the losing side," Voldemort took a step towards Neville, but Neville didn't flinch. "You would be welcomed with open arms on our side Mr. Longbottom."
"Never!" The words ripped out of Neville's mouth. The crowd fighting for Hogwarts stirred, Neville's resistance sent and a ripple of energy throughout the masses.
Voldemort flicked his wrist towards the castle and turned back to Neville. "Well, if that's how you feel." In the distance, a small object flew towards them.
"I want to announce a new policy at Hogwarts," Voldemort turned to his followers, raising his arms up jovially. "Every student will be sorted into Slytherin! Any witch or wizard who fights this assignment, will be punished."
There was applause from the other side, but Draco noticed some hardened faces among the Dark Lord's supporters. Many of those torn looks were from parents of Slytherin students who now stood against their parents, having stayed behind to fight.
Voldemort flicked his wand towards Neville, seizing him in place. The Sorting Hat came to a wheezing stop atop Neville's head. There was a charged moment of silence, until the Sorting Hat erupted in flames.
Draco sensed Hermione at his side as she stepped out to do something, but at that same moment, a sudden movement of Death Eaters caught his attention. They were scattering away from Hagrid like a curse was placed on the spot they stood.
Hermione
Hogwarts
May 2nd
Mutterings Hermione could not make sense rippled through the crowd, followed by pops of apparating witches and wizards. It was all concentrated on the side of the Death Eaters.
"Potters alive"
"He's alive"
She was desperate to see what the crowd was talking about when a demure hand fell onto her shoulder.
It was Narcissa. The posh witch leaned down to Hermione and whispered. "Your friend survived."
A second later there was pandemonium. The Death Eaters who did not flee resumed firing off red and green curses haphazardly into the crowd.
A glint caught Hermione's eye and her attention was drawn back to Neville. He was no longer engulfed in flames. Instead his hand was pulling something out of the Sorting Hat; it was the Sword of Gryffindor.
With a powerful swipe, Neville took the head of Nagini clear off. The head of the great snake unceremoniously rolled into the fighting crowd.
More chaos ensued as those fighting for Hogwarts scattered and matched off against the Death Eaters who didn't flee, which was now a significantly smaller opposition than before.
She whipped her head over her shoulder, needing to find Draco. He was just a few paces away, his eyes already locking with hers. They both knew this was it, whatever happened next would be it. It would all be over.
Narcissa conjured a protego charm around the three just in time for a red curse to be absorbed by it. The elder witch turned to scold them.
"Focus!" She yelled, turning back around and aiming a curse at Yaxkley, who must have freed himself from the earlier binds. His attention was fixated on Narcissa, giving her a look of burning fury at the realization she had betrayed them as well.
Hermione and Draco turned back to the fight, each easily finding duels to participate in. After neutralizing her opponent, an old and not nimble Death Eater, Hermione sought out Draco. She found him battling two younger Death Eaters, and one older one, all at once.
"You're an embarrassment Malfoy!" The older one lashed out, shooting another curse at Draco which was deflected easily.
"I hardly believe taking social cues from you would be in my best interest, Nott," Draco retaliated all while producing a stunner incapacitating one of the younger Death Eaters. Another Death Eater, also wanting a shot at Malfoy, took the fallen one's place.
Hermione watched in horror, a scream stuck in the back of her throat, as she saw the moment where the older Death Eater, who she presumed to be Theo Nott Sr., smirked when Malfoy exposed his back to him. Nott Sr. cocked his arm back, a killing curse on the tip of his lips.
In the heartbeat before the spell was cast, Theo Nott Jr. stepped out of nowhere and fired a vicious binding curse at his father, disabling him completely.
Nott Sr. thrashed in his binds as his son stood over him.
"What do you think you're doing!" Nott Sr. screamed, sending spittle spraying out in rage. "You are a disappointment! Your mother would be…"
Theo cast a silencing spell on his father who went on screaming, but nothing came out.
"Mother would be proud," Theo said sadly before performing a stunning spell, knocking his father out.
Hermione's attention abruptly changed when a killing curse whizzed by her. Her head turned to find the source: Bellatrix.
"Mudblood!," Bellatrix growled loudly enough to rise over the commotion, her wand trained on Hermione.
Another killing curse shot from Bellatrix's wand, but Hermione was quick, and jumped away just in time. Bellatrix took another step towards her, readying another curse to kill, when the dark witch was nearly hit with a stunner.
Standing to the side of Hermione was Ginny Weasley, her eyes on fire, hair whipping back in a blaze.
Hermione took advantage of Bellatrix's distraction and fired her own stunning spell. Bellatrix swatted it away, regaining her focus.
Ginny and Hermione battled Bellatrix, working alongside one another, firing corresponding spells hoping to throw her off balance, but nothing worked. Bellatrix had a deranged focus to her, one they couldn't shake.
In quick succession, Bellatrix fired two killing curses. One nearly grazed Ginny's shoulder, and the other heading straight for Hermione's chest. At the last second, she felt her stomach pull back, like a hook had lurched her out of the way.
When she landed, she had toppled backwards into Draco's arms. He had pulled her away from the curse.
Hermione gave him a hard look over her shoulder, telling him she wanted to finish this with Bellatrix. He stepped forward with her.
"I'm fighting her too," he said, gripping his wand, narrowing his look on Bellatrix.
Before they could recommence, Narcissa stepped in front of them. To their right, Molly Weasley did the same in front of Ginny.
"Please," Narcissa said calmly to Draco and Hermione, angling herself towards Bellatrix, "she's my sister. Let me handle this."
"Two blood traitors," Bellatrix cackled, looking at Molly and Narcissa. Molly cast a hesitant look at Narcissa, before squaring up.
"You don't go after my daughter, you bitch." Molly cursed at Bellatrix, which only made the evil witch cackle more.
"Bella, lay down your wand." Narcissa said too smoothly for the circumstances. Bellatrix winced, then schooled her expression to appear resilient.
"Cissy, you disgust me!" Bellatrix screamed, spitting at the ground as she said it. The deranged look on Bellatrix's face continued to morph. At first it was all rage, but it was shifting into something sad and scared, like an animal who had been backed into a corner.
All three wands moved at once; Bellatrix cast a killing curse towards Narcissa and Narcissa cast an disarming spell towards Bellatrix, the two spells clashing against one another at the center. At the same time, Molly Weasley shot a killing curse, hitting Bellatrix straight in the chest.
Bellatrix's killing curse that intertwined with Narcissa's spell slowly faded. A sad look swept across the Malfoy matriarch's face as she lowered her wand.
An inhumane scream erupted in the distance, stilling everyone's movements. For a moment, Hermione was horrified to think there was yet another horcrux, but it was only Voldemort's reaction to seeing his closest confidant lying dead.
It surprised Hermione to think Voldemort's mangled soul could still feel pain from something like loss.
The dark wizard was unraveling; his head jerked quickly, taking stock of who was left, and his muscles all convulsed in, closing off his chest. He continued to fire uncontrolled, rageful spells in all directions.
Before Voldemort could move on Narcissa or Molly, Harry stepped out, stopping him in his path.
"It's over Tom," Harry called out across the clearing. The surrounding onlookers wordlessly formed a circle around them. "Lay down your wand. You can't win this fight."
Voldemort spat in Harry's direction. The snakelike wizard did his best to put forward a look of aloofness, like he still was in control, but it was becoming less believable by the second.
"We have destroyed all of your horcruxes," Harry went on, his wand level with Voldemort. Apprehension creased Voldemort's smooth brow.
"But there is something you don't know about Potter!" Voldemort's wand twisted joyously in his hand, looking to have picked up a second wind of energy. But Harry already knew what Voldemort's secret was.
"You don't have the Elder Wand, Tom," Harry announced, his voice sounding exhausted.
"I killed Snape just hours ago. He was the master of the Elder Wand after killing Dumbledore. So now I am the true owner of the most powerful wand of all!"
"You're wrong, Tom. You use fear and violence to get what you want, but something much stronger than fear was your demise."
Voldemort scoffed, "Are you going to tell me that love beat me, Potter?"
"It is love, Tom" Harry took a step towards Voldemort and the powerful wizard took a telling step back, betraying concern gracing his smoothed out features.
"My Mother's love saved me but what you didn't know, what you couldn't have known, was that someone loved my mother so much that in her death, he vowed to protect me."
Before Voldemort could retort, Harry went on.
"Severus Snape loved my mother more than life itself, and when you killed her, he vowed to Dumbledore to protect me."
"What does it matter Potter…I have the.."
"No you don't, Tom!" Harry shouted, his voice strained and impatient "Snape killed Dumbledore, but Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore first. I saw it!"
Hesitation burned through Voldemort slits.
"Even so — wand to wand I am much more powerful than you!" Voldemort ridiculed, leveling his wand yet again.
"But I have Draco Malfoy's wand now," Harry revealed and off to the side, Hermione gasped.
"And the reason why I have Draco's wand is because he gave it to me so he could save a muggle-born witch, one whom he loves." Harry called out, his voice growing weak. "Love is the reason why I have the Elder Wand right now Tom, and you don't."
"Lies!" Voldemort yelled, his head twitching.
"Please Tom, try to feel some remorse." Harry pleaded. Voldemort cocked his head. "Make yourself whole again, and try to feel remorse for what you…"
With a twitch of Voldemort's arm, Harry instantly fired out an expelliarmus, which collided in the center with Voldemort's killing curse.
The streams battled with one another, sending magical shrapnel outwards towards the crowd. Everyone who looked on watched with uneasy eyes.
The two wizards remained rigid in their stance, straining every bit of themselves to best the other.
Slowly, Hermione watched as the red of Harry's spell started to overtake Voldemort's. Bit by bit, the green of Voldemort's killing curse reduced, inching closer and closer to the Dark Wizard's wand.
When there was no green left, Voldemort's stare went blank. The Elder Wand in name alone fell away from his hand, clicking against the ground.
Bits of Voldemort took to the wind, like the charred ash of burnt firewood in a campfire after being swept up in a gust of wind.
He who must not be named fell to his knees, eyes already dead, and crumbled into a lifeless heap.
There was an eerie silence, not even shoes moving against stone could be heard. Hermione turned to Draco who was already watching her. It was done. Voldemort was no more.
All at once, an uproarious cheer rang from the crowd, loud enough to deafen one's senses.
It was pure celebration. Witches and wizards pulled each other into embraces, tears of joy streaming down cheeks from just about everyone.
Hermione took hold of Draco's hand before moving them through the crowd, shouldering anyone who got in her way. She needed to see Harry.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted out over a crowd closing in on their hero. On either side of him, two blazing red frocks were already positioned.
Hearing her voice, Harry peered over the crowd and caught the signature look of Hermione's bushy hair, and what he was now becoming used to, the signature shock of blonde from her boyfriend.
"Hermione!"
She was slowed by the pressing crowd, but she got to Harry, and threw her arms around him like she'd never let go.
"Harry, how are you not dead!" Hermione asked incredulously, feeling around his face and shoulders proving he was real. Draco stepped up behind Hermione, maintaining a serious face despite the celebration. Harry turned his attention to Draco.
"Your mother," Harry said, jarring Draco's focus. "After I woke from the killing curse, your mother was sent to check if I was alive. She lied and said I was dead."
Draco gave Harry a perplexed look before casting his eyes over the crowd, presumably seeking out his mother.
"They would have tried to kill me again if she didn't do what she did." Harry's expression was a mirror of Draco's serious demeanor. "I'd like to thank her, once there is a moment."
Draco nodded absentmindedly. Hermione watched her wizard's expression, so serious; always trying so hard to keep back those emotions of his. She couldn't help but reach up and take hold of his face.
"We did it," she whispered to him, her thumb moving against his jaw.. She could see the recognition ripple through him with each new moment.
He put his hands firmly around her waist, yanking her into him. A dazzling smile formed at his lips, and she basked in it.
"It's over," he beamed, motioning his shoulders down to her.
But before he could meet her lips on his own volition, she fiercely pulled him into her, positioning her smiling lips over his.
