We all met Teddy the day before we had agreed to break into Gringott's Bank. Teddy was sweet, small, and so loveable; he drove away all of our anxieties as we took turns holding him. Draco held him briefly, after being bribed by Tonks and Fleur. He was uncomfortable with babies, never having a sibling or any family friends with children to bring around.

Watching him now, holding Teddy in his arms, was the most attractive thing I had ever seen. He looked comfortable and happy as he beamed at the baby tugging on his pointer finger. He shook him in his arms gently and smiled at him when he cooed. When he handed Teddy back to Tonks, he sat next to me and I couldn't stop myself from telling him just how cute he was with the blue bundle in his arms. He laughed and nervously told me not to get any ideas, then pulled me to his bedroom and held me in his arms for a long, silent while.

He knew what we were planning to do tomorrow, and I knew he was worried about me. I didn't press the matter, when we had spoken about it in detail we both ended up very upset with one another. I just let him hold me and rub my back as his thoughts ran through his mind. Eventually, he looked at me with sad, tired eyes and made me promise to come home to him. I did, and kissed him softly. He returned my kiss, deepening it and making it feel angry.

The angry kiss quickly turned to angry sex, Draco didn't look at me the entire time. Afterwards, we got dressed in silence and fell asleep with our backs to one another. I woke before he did and eased myself out from under the covers, meeting Harry and Ron in the common room. We took our potions and apparated to Diagon Alley with Griphook, carrying out our plan successfully. It was awfully flawed, but successful nonetheless, and when we returned home we were thrilled to be able to be there safely with another horcrux in tow.

Fleur had dinner waiting for us when we arrived, and we hungrily dug in after the long day we had just experienced. I didn't see Draco all evening, and decided not to bother him until he was ready to speak with me. I knew he was angry at the way we went about getting the horcrux today, but I didn't care. We had done it and made it home safely. It was an accomplishment in all aspects, and we only had two horcrux's left to destroy. The end of this war was finally in sight and it felt as if a huge weight was lifted off everyone's shoulders as we made our way up to bed that night.

I dug through my belongings and decided to read Hogwarts: A History again before turning in for the night. Harry knew the last horcrux was at the school, he just didn't know what he was looking for or where to begin. I thought if anything could help me, it would be my favorite text on the place itself.

I made it through a few hundred pages, lightly skimming, before I felt my eyes become heavy. I set the book to the side of my bed and nestled myself down in the cool sheets. It seemed like the bed was much bigger and a lot less warm without another body beside me. Although I was incredibly tired, I couldn't seem to sleep by myself for more than an hour at a time without waking up with a start. After the third abrupt awakening, I gave up and crept to Draco's room, throwing all of my pride and caution to the wind as I eased his door open and slowly snuck myself down into his bed beside him.

I watched him for a moment, wondering if he would be angry when he woke up. Before I could change my mind and scurry back to my bed, his arms encircled me and he opened his eyes just enough to see me beside him.

He smiled, "I was wondering if you'd come tonight."

I released a pent up breath, "I thought you were angry with me."

He kissed my forehead, "I could never be angry with you over something like this," he pulled me closer to him, "I'm sorry I was so selfish. I just don't want to ever lose you, Hermione."

I couldn't help but smile, even though I could feel warm prickly tears behind my eyes, "Oh, Draco," I kissed his stubbly chin, "I understand. I'm sorry I worried you."

He opened his eyes again to look at me, "Why are you crying?"

I shook my head, not able to hold back the tears anymore, "I don't know," he kissed my cheeks, stopping some of the tears as they fell, "you mean so much to me. I…"

He smiled and kissed my lips gently, "I know," he smiled and settled his head on top of mine, "you don't have to say it."

I stared blankly at his chest for a while, pondering what I was about to say and how he what had been on the tip of my tongue. He was holding me close to him and I could feel his heartrate steady with his breathing. He was asleep again, his breathing enough to lull me back to a warm, peaceful place I hadn't been able to find earlier. I drifted into sleep and didn't stir again with his arms wrapped tightly around me.

The following day, Harry told the house what the plan was over breakfast. He elaborated that we would have to go back to Hogwarts, explaining his vision and his plan. It was a terrible one, even for him, as it included apparating to Hogsmead and not much after that. Draco was furious at his reluctance to back down and wait another day or two before going about doing something half-assed, which Harry didn't appreciate.

Breakfast was tense and filled with angry jabs and sideways insults, but Harry eventually got his way, claiming that he would do it with or without the help of the others. Everyone eventually agreed to follow his plan back to the school, hoping everything would work out in the long run. Draco and I went to his bedroom after breakfast to talk about what Harry was planning.

I knew it was hard for Draco, but he held back his temper the entire time we talked about what we were going to do. He wanted to keep me safe, but wasn't going to ask me to hold back. He promised he would be by my side every step of the way, but agreed to not get himself hurt or killed in the process. He came up with the idea of going down into the Chamber of Secrets for Basilisk fangs to destroy the horcrux's and even threw out a few ideas of what the last horcrux could be, besides Voldemort's snake Nagini.

When we had finally stopped fighting without anger, he pulled me into his lap and kissed me gently. I urged him to talk to Harry about his ideas and he agreed with me, holding onto me for dear life as we went down into the sitting area to speak with him and Ron about what we had been discussing. We had decided the last horcrux was the lost diadem of Ravenclaw, and it was most likely in the Room of Requirement.

The entire time he was speaking with Harry and Ron, he refused to let go of my hand. He was that way the rest of the time we spent in the house and even when we returned to the school until the battle picked up and he we were forced to separate. If I wasn't 100% sure of his fear of losing me before then, I was afterwards. He made it perfectly clear to me that he didn't want to let me go now, or ever, especially when the barrier to the castle was being taken down.

He pulled me into his arms, cupping my face with his hands, "Hermione," he kissed me quickly as the battle began around us, "I will find you when this is over," another kiss, "I promise," another kiss, "I love you, Hermione Jean Granger," another kiss, longer this time, "I love you."

I looked at him, puzzled for a moment, "I love you, too, Draco," I kissed him quickly, "I really love you."

He kissed my forehead, nose, then lips before squeezing my hands and running down the corridor, the opposite direction I was headed. I couldn't get his words out of my head, and as the battle raged on around me, the only thoughts helping me stay alive were those of Draco's testament of love. I had to live through this and I had to find him when it was over. I had to see him, kiss him, touch him, make love to him again. I had to tell him again just how much I loved him, without the sounds of battle going on around us.

After hours of battle waging on around us, everything seemed to calm in a drastic halt as the piercing sound of Voldemort's voice echoed through the castle. He announced the death of Harry Potter, and before I knew what I was doing, my feet were moving me to the great hall. I was running, faster than I ever thought possible, I couldn't feel my body, I was just running. I ran until I met a crowd of people and I pushed my way past them until I was standing next to Ron, watching him hold back a crying Ginny.

As soon as I registered that Hagrid was carrying Harry's limp body, he moved, and he was gone. Spells were flying again, Harry was alive and he was moving. Everything was blurring around me as I was searching for Draco. I was worried for Harry, but I knew he had to finish this himself. I couldn't see Draco, my blurred vision was masked with tears, I sank to my knees, pleading with myself that this all turned out alright.

I saw the death eater with his wand aimed at me, I looked right into his cold, empty eyes as he cast the unforgivable curse on me and I just stood there. I didn't move, I didn't blink, I didn't know what was happening until I heard Ron cast a protego behind me and pull me behind the castle walls with him. I could hear his muffled voice yelling at me from my side, but I couldn't make out his words. I could hear him screaming at me, asking me what the hell I was thinking just standing there in the middle of the battle without my wand at the ready.

Before Ron could finish his tirade, Harry and Voldemort appeared in front of us again. Everything stopped, my vision tunneled on the two in front of us. I could feel the crowd gathering behind me again, Ginny and Ron at my sides. I watched as the curses were cast and the red and green lights met in the middle of the wands of Harry and Voldemort. I watched and trembled as everything moved in slow motion, unable to do anything but hope for a miracle.

As slowly as it seemed to be moving, it was over very quickly. I felt myself breathe for the first time since we arrived at the castle, the air was clear and moved into my lungs with ease. Voldemort was dead and gone; Harry was alive; this war was over.

All the death eaters disappeared except for one, who stood idly by his wife as he searched through the crowd. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy seemed to be staring straight at me. I focused my eyes on them both, wondering what they were still doing here and why they were staring at me.

Narcissa stepped forward, "Draco, come."

My breath caught in my throat at the sound of his name and the realization they weren't staring at me; they were staring behind me. I was just about to turn around when I felt his arm slink around my waist and grip my hip.

Lucius stepped ahead of Narcissa, anger apparent on his face, "Son, you will do as your mother says."

Draco's grip tightened, "I'm not your son."

Narcissa looked like she was ready to crumple into a heap of tears on the concrete floor, but before emotion could take her over, Lucius grabbed her arm and they disappeared with a pop.

I turned to Draco, his jaw was clenched and his eyes were set forward, eyeing where his parents had just been. I touched his cheek lightly, feeling his muscles relax under my palm. He pulled me into him and kissed my forehead, causing many around us to gasp and stare at us with wide eyes.

Professor Mcgonagall ushered the majority of the student body inside, leaving Harry, Ron, Ginny, Draco, and I alone outside. As soon as the crowd was gone, Draco shrunk to the floor and pulled me with him. He was staring blankly at the cold ground, rubbing his hand up and down my back.

I started to speak, but he cut me off, "I'm sorry," silent tears fell from his eyes, "I'm so sorry."

I shook my head and tried to protest, but Draco looked at Ron and spoke again, "You saved her. I couldn't get to her in time and you saved her. Thank you."

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I realized what Draco was apologizing for. Ron, Harry, and Ginny all sat down around us in unison, patting Draco on the back and offering words of comfort for both of us. We sat and cried for a while, until Professor Mcgonagall came and requested we join the rest of the students inside. We did so silently, taking warm mugs of hot chocolate and paying our respects to the fallen heroes of the war.

Draco waved for me to move on without him after we stopped by the bodies of Lupin and Tonks. He stood there, seemingly emotionless, until he felt like nobody was watching him, then he conjured up a bouquet of flowers and removed a picture of Teddy from his pocket. He placed them gently in Tonks' hands before wiping a few tears away and moving on to the next stretcher.

As the day progressed on, the castle was beginning to be repaired and many different wizarding organizations were called in to help clear out the bodies and repair the damages done during the fight. We all pitched in the best we could, until we were forced to leave by Mcgonagall and many others.

We all walked through the gates leading off the Hogwarts grounds and then apparated back to the Burrow. With the following weeks, we would unwind and help return Hogwarts to its previous state of glory. I would find my parents and restore their memories, introduce them to Draco, and decide that I did want to go back and finish my last year of school.

The summer would be amazing, with a much more relaxed atmosphere that Draco and I thoroughly enjoyed. He would tell me he loved me again, he would agree to finish school with me, he would become a staple in Teddy's life, and his dark mark would disappear completely. He would be free, and we would be together, happily ever after.