Progress
The next morning Luna was still off with Hermione, understandably, and Malfoy kept giving her looks from across the room, which she studiously ignored. What Hermione found most annoying was that Ginny noticed the tension between herself and both Luna and Malfoy, but, when the red head cornered her friend her priority was to find out what had happened with the blond Slytherin.
"So, give up the goss?" Ginny asked in a hushed whisper, a small smile playing at her lips.
"There is none!" Hermione whispered back furiously, looking back at the doorway as if one of the others would suddenly walk in.
"Nobody's going to walk in. Nobody's going to even care," Ginny told her friend seriously. "Now, what happened?"
Hermione sighed dramatically. "Nothing,"
Before Ginny could argue, she opened her mouth to add: "We talked. He tried to comfort me, and surprisingly it worked. And that's it,"
"Okay. I'll believe that. Do you realise now that what he said just might be true?"
Hermione looked up at her friend, uncertainty clouding her eyes. "Yeah," The whispered word rushed through her lips and she bit her lip the moment it ended, but Ginny saw the emotion in her eyes.
"He's not going to hurt you," Ginny told her, putting a small hand on her friend's. She smiled and left Hermione to her thoughts.
Later, Blaise and Seamus went out under the pretence of getting more food. Really, the two men had wanted to find news of Ernie. What they discovered shocked neither of them, but it was still hard to break the news to the girls that Ernie had died at St Mungo's soon after they had dropped him off. There had been nothing the Healers could do.
Hannah wept all afternoon, Parvati, Padma, Susan, Ginny and Hermione cuddled round her. None of them had dry eyes and it broke the boys' hearts to see them so hurt.
Luna had, after kissing Hannah's forehead and telling her to let it out, disappeared back to continue last night's work. It didn't take long for Draco to find and join her. This time, when night fell, Hermione didn't appear and tell them to go to bed. They continued well into the night, working by the light of the moon and finally collapsed, exhausted, on the outside of the circle of sleeping students at two am.
Ginny and Seamus on guard threw them cloaks and they settled easily, drifting into sleep quickly. Ginny and Seamus were themselves settled into a cloak, whispering quietly so as not to wake anyone.
"You trust Blaise, right?" Ginny asked suddenly, tentatively.
"Gin, you trust him. You've been with him a bloody long time already and I trust you and your judgement implicitly. So, yes, I trust Blaise," the Irishman replied.
Ginny sighed. "Good. I'm always worried someone might turn on him, y'know, especially with Draco here, too. After all, there's actually a real reason to distrust Draco, even though we shouldn't, but Blaise may simply get caught in the crossfire,"
"You think so little of your friends and classmates?" Seamus asked.
Ginny's head snapped up. "No! I'm just worried about Blaise. At least everyone else knows they can rely on each other. I just don't want our group to start causing friction with each other,"
"Couldn't it be Blaise to cause that friction?"
"He wouldn't do that. He's fed up of the fighting. You don't know him like I do. He's been through so much and what he wants is just to get along,"
"You're good for him," Seamus whispered.
"I maintain the good in him," Ginny replied. "He was neutral before I met him, and now he wants nothing more than to fight side by side with Harry to defeat the darkest wizard of all time,"
"I'm glad you're happy,"
"I don't know what happy is any more, Seamus," Ginny blinked. "But I know I feel more content that I have Blaise and Hermione here. I may have lost my family, but I dream of another. That's what keeps me going,"
She stopped suddenly, her boyfriend's arms suddenly hugging her small frame to his.
"I love you," Blaise whispered in her ear. Ginny closed her eyes and leaned back, and both men could see her cheeks glisten as she sobbed her grief silently.
There was movement and Hermione shuffled over to the three. "I'll take over for you, Gin, go get some sleep,"
Ginny nodded. "Thank you for being here, Hermione. You don't know what this means to me,"
"I can imagine it feels something akin to how grateful I am to you," Hermione smiled softly.
She took Ginny's place in the cloak with Seamus, curling into the warmth of Seamus' body.
"How are you, Seamus?"
"Tired," Seamus grinned sombrely.
"I know the feeling,"
"How are things with Malfoy?"
Hermione glanced up at him in the darkness. She could see nothing but his silhouette and ascertained by his voice that the question was safe. Questioning but not accusing.
"Confusing," she replied honestly.
"If you don't mind my asking, what happened?" Seamus ploughed on with his curiosity.
Hermione sighed. "I don't even know. He found me after the fight where Dumbledore died, and he was just staring at me for ages, not pulling his wand despite the fact I never wavered with mine. We seemed to be alone in our own little world on the third floor, and suddenly he strode towards me. I was too shocked to stun him, but he stunned me first anyway. He told me he loved me,"
"Wow," Seamus breathed.
Hermione bit her lip. "I didn't know what to do, but Snape came running in and pulled him away before I even knew what to think. It didn't seem real. And how was I supposed to believe Malfoy, of all people, was in love with me?"
"You weren't?" Seamus suggested.
Hermione looked at him again. She sighed. "I would have completely disregarded it, but… But it was the way he said it, the look on his face, the fact that his defences, his barriers were all but gone. It made me think the guy had never been more honest. And then I considered that he was just trying to mess with my mind, so I tried to forget about it,"
"Did it work?"
"No," she laughed shortly. "I didn't know if I believed him, but I know I believed the way I felt. I wanted it to be true. I don't know what's wrong with me,"
"Everybody wants to be loved,"
"But it was more than that. I wanted Malfoyto love me. I hadn't even entertained the thought before, but it was as if as soon as he said it, it acted as a catalyst. Then I couldn't work out whether it was actually how I felt, a spell or just the thought of having Malfoy wrapped round my little finger, y'know?"
She felt Seamus nod. "And all the time I was fighting for my life, I felt as if I was fighting for Malfoy too. Fighting for a future I wanted to have, with him. I still don't understand why. And I don't understand how he could even love me. I'm still a firm believer in that you can't fall in love with someone until you know them in a relationshippy way and have spent long enough together to honestly say you love them. Neither of which applies to mine and Malfoy's relationship,"
Seamus listened to Hermione pour her heart out and, in a way, he understood. In a world where nothing was certain, it was understandable that boundaries would be crossed, lines would blur and the impossible would become the most likely consequence.
"And then I came here and I saw him and nothing became clear then either. Although I'm more inclined to believe he is attracted to me and it's not just a ploy. But as to how and why, I have no idea,"
"Have you bothered to ask"?
Hermione paused. "Well, no. The only interaction we've had is the short conversation we had when I first arrived, where he promised he'd made me feel again, and the other night where he said everything he did was to repay me for being such a bastard the last few years,"
"So you've clarified that he does indeed like you, in some way, but you haven't bothered to clarify where it came from? Surely that would clear a lot of things up. If he doesn't know, then it's less likely to be genuine. If he can tell you why or even when, then I think he's being as honest as he can with you. He took a big risk telling you how he felt. He opened up to you. Imagine how hard it is for friends to tell you they like you. Remember how long it took you and Ron to admit your feelings. Then factor in the fact Malfoy was nowhere close to being your friend and he grew up being Lucius Malfoy's son. I suspect that being in that household was hardly encouraging towards wearing your heart on your sleeve,"
"But those points, in turn, could be evidence that this is all one big joke,"
"What would Malfoy gain through that, Hermione?"
"I don't know," she sighed heavily.
"Think about it," Seamus told her, standing and going to wake Terry for his shift. The sun was slowly rising, casting shadows on the rest of the sleeping party. It was relatively late, considering the time of year, but the inhabitants of the small house slept on. Hermione pondered over what Seamus had said. She still didn't know what to think, but concluded that part of her hesitation was due to Ron. He was gone and she had never loved him in that way, but he had still been her best friend and to fall in love with Malfoy would be… a betrayal? That she couldn't love her best friend but fell in love with their mutual foe?
Her thoughts were interrupted by Terry, who looked like he had had very little sleep. It seemed he and Hannah had taken the previous day's news the hardest, but, while Hannah accepted the group's comfort, Terry rejected any sympathy extended to him and instead attempted to distance himself from the group, as if that would save him from more pain.
After receiving no response to her greeting, Hermione shuffled to the kitchen in order to prepare breakfast for the remaining members. Although they had been able to withdraw a fair amount of money, Hermione was still hesitant in spending recklessly. She did not know if and when they would be able to withdraw more, especially if they lost the two affluent Slytherins, Blaise and Theo, the least wanted of the group. The exception was Draco, who had probably become equally as wanted by the Death Eaters as both Harry and Hermione.
It was when the smell of frying food came wafting into the room that the others began to stir. Luna came to find Hermione to clear the air between them. She did so in a matter of fact way, but Hermione accepted it nonetheless and the two girls hugged.
"You understand, don't you?" Luna asked her quietly.
"Of course I do, Luna. I was just tired and stressed and frustrated. I worry about all of us. I didn't want you to suffer at any point because you're overworking yourself now. But I do understand why you felt compelled to act as you did, and I'm sorry for the way I acted,"
Luna went off, an apple in one hand and a faint smile on her face. She disappeared back into the library, where she was followed by the rest of the girls, bar Hermione and Ginny. They sat together holding hands, thinking, until Hermione interrupted the loud silence by reciting the recipe for the Polyjuice potion.
"It's going to be almost December by the time we can enter the bank," she reaffirmed. "This had better be worth it,"
"Any effort is worth it, Hermione,"
From then on, Hermione, Ginny and Draco, with a little help from Padma, threw themselves into making sure the Polyjuice potion went perfectly.
They had already made sure that Snape had all the ingredients, and in the third week everything had been added but the lacewing flies and the shredded boomslang skin. Hermione had been worried that Snape was getting low on fluxweed when it came time to add the ingredient, but was relieved when sixteen scruples made their way into the potion without a problem. Blaise had commented at the time that he hoped Snape hadn't labelled any of the ingredients incorrectly, but Hermione, despite her dislike of her former professor, assured them that the man was a great potions master and would not have done something so stupid in his own lab.
A discussion had then commenced over whether he had had a system by which he understood which labels were which without allowing any intruders in his lab to also understand, but, by the time they had finished arguing, Hermione, Padma and Draco had unanimously agreed the ingredients were right and added the vast majority. Nothing had happened that Hermione didn't recognise from her previous experience and she was satisfied that all was well. All that was left after the boomslang skin and lacewing flies was the Extract of The-Transfigured-Being-To-Be, which Hermione had considered to be relatively easy to get, in comparison to their being able to get close enough to a stranger in order to procure hair unnoticed in the first place.
It was two days before the Polyjuice was ready that the teenagers began to plan who was going to the bank and how they were going to attain an extract of the transfigured being to be. The majority of the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins had no desire to go, but an argument then broke out as to whether Luna, Michael or Seamus was a better choice.
"I fought at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries!" Luna was yelling.
"And I'm a year ahead of you, and a bloke!" Seamus counteracted.
"I've always had better grades than you," Michael shouted over both his opponents.
Ginny and Hermione shared a glance. "You can all come,"
"The more the merrier,"
"The more there is to die," Terry muttered darkly.
Hermione cast Terry a glance but said nothing. It was obvious he was still hurting from the death of his girlfriend and she had no idea how best to comfort him. They had never been close.
"Seamus can be the brawn, Michael the brains and Luna can join us in ruthless seduction," Ginny said trying to ease the tension. She got a snort from a couple of the others and it seemed to work as everybody settled down to practice more defensive spells. Even in three short weeks they had come far with their battle skills, Hermione, Ginny and Draco helping them to better learn stances and quick movements. Michael and Padma had both been able to cast a few non-verbal spells, which is more than anyone could have hoped for.
"I don't feel comfortable with you three girls going," Blaise voiced.
"Blaise, honey," Ginny said sweetly. "We all fought against Death Eaters without any adult help, I think we can handle this,"
Blaise shook his head. "I just want you to be safe,"
"Blaise, in a world like this we can't afford to be selfish," Ginny said softly. "I know you want me to be safe, but I need to do this because it's the entire wizarding world's best shot at having a future. When it's all over, I promise then we can be selfish,"
"I need you, Red," Blaise whispered.
"I need you, too, Blaise," Ginny replied, tears filling her eyes. "We've both lost so much, and that's why I need to do this. There's no point in keeping safe now because it's never going to end unless we do something. I'm sorry I have to keep leaving you, but it's all for a good cause. And I promise I will always come back to you,"
"Don't make promises you can't keep,"
"I'm not. Because if I die, I will always be in here," She pressed her palm against his heart.
The others watched the couple hug in silence. They all had tears in their eyes, and Terry burst out in uncontrollable sobs. Hannah, Padma and Parvati attempted to comfort him and this time he allowed himself to be consoled. It had hit them all a little close to home, but they knew that Ginny was right.
Two days later saw Luna, Ginny, Hermione, Seamus and Michael outside the Leaky Cauldron. The plan so far was to take any strands of hair they could as they passed through the room. Their plan was risky, especially because then they had to enter the bank and pass by the goblins accompanied by what seemed to be Bellatrix Lestrange using these guises. Not for the first time, Hermione felt fear and doubt settle in her stomach.
Draco had given Ginny Bellatrix's hair before they left and she clutched it tightly in her pocket as she made her way to the back. The other four would follow her one by one, and she was grateful for the abundance of oversized cloaks which enabled them to remain largely hidden from view.
The others eventually joined her and they all took a gulp of the Polyjuice potion, their features immediately contorting to various shapes and colours. The end result was satisfying enough, as everyone had managed to snag a hair from someone who wasn't a total hag. Hermione didn't think it was the time to joke about her cat hair experience, and the five made their way towards the bank.
Ginny felt largely unnerved walking down Diagon Alley as Bellatrix Lestrange. She wanted nothing more than to hide away, but that would look completely out of place for the woman she was impersonating. Seeing Hermione near her, she whispered:
"Do you think this will work?"
"I haven't a clue," Hermione whispered back, a nervous croak finishing her sentence.
'Confidence boosted,' Ginny thought sarcastically. 'At least we have the perfect excuse for why I have four bodyguards,"
She entered the bank and saw her companions enter behind her but maintained a distance and appeared to be eyeing the small crowd in the bank. Striding to a goblin, Ginny attempted to clear her throat before she reached him.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," the old creature said, a half smirk, half grimace on his face.
"My vault," Ginny demanded as best she could.
"Wand?" the goblin asked.
"You know full well my wand was stolen!" Ginny screeched.
"Then what are we to do?" the goblin grinned nastily.
"I need access to my vault today. Now. The Dark Lord's orders," Ginny stated authoritatively.
"We do not answer to your 'Dark Lord'," the goblin sneered.
"Perhaps you should," Ginny said coldly. "Your status would improve,"
"We care not for status amongst human-kind!" the goblin hissed. The venom in his voice almost made Ginny recoil. Instead she fixed her features into a bored expression.
"Maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement,"
"What kind of arrangement?" the goblin asked suspiciously.
"Perhaps your species would like one of its goblin made items back?" Ginny asked, completely lost as to whether she had said the right thing and hoping Bellatrix had some available.
Evidently, she had, as the goblin's eyes lit up. "Ah, Mrs Lestrange, we may find ourselves with a deal," he purred.
She stared haughtily at him. "Get on with it then!" she ordered.
She was immediately ushered to a cart, before she turned and indicated the four standing across the foyer.
"They accompany me," she stated airily. "Since my wand was stolen, I have taken no risks and as such have escorts,"
The goblin made to argue so Ginny said desperately "You may take anything from my vault which I do not today require,"
The goblin, suspicious of the sudden niceness, if that's what you could call of it, of Bellatrix Lestrange didn't care to comment. The cart was soon filled and immediately Luna set about casting Imperio on the goblin. Her friends may have been more worried about her state of mind had they not needed her sudden coldness to make this work.
They travelled in silence until they reached Bellatrix's vault in the heart of Gringotts. Luna ordered the goblin to open the vault for them and they stared in awe at the contents. Luna kept the goblin busy outside as the others entered the vault cautiously.
Hermione had anticipated other anti-theft charms, and she was proved right when one item cloned as soon as Seamus had picked it up.
"Stop!" she told them. "Look for anything pertaining to what we need. We don't want to risk being drowned in gold," She added afterward, "I never thought I would say such a sentence,"
Michael eventually spotted a gold cup which looked like it could be Helga Hufflepuff's chalice and, on Hermione's affirmation, attempted to Accio it. Unsurprisingly, the spell didn't work.
"I suppose I'll have to climb for it then," Ginny muttered.
"Should have brought a broom," Seamus grinned.
"Next time," Ginny replied with a smile, before eyeing the climb in front of her. "Catch me if I fall?"
Unused to the limbs she was currently sporting, Ginny's climb was slow but she eventually reached the cup. She had touched many objects along the way and the room was flooding with cloned objects so she did what Hermione had suggested should this situation occur; practise her Quidditch skills and throw the chalice to Hermione at the door. Hermione caught it with ease and Michael and Seamus were on hand to give Ginny the help to plough through the many items separating her, and now them, from the door.
"Did you spot anything else goblin made?" Ginny asked puffing when she was halfway to the door.
"Err, that shield?" Hermione suggested, pointing at an object in front of Ginny.
"Great!" Ginny said enthusiastically, swinging it up in front of her on her way past. She, Seamus and Michael finally made it to the door and told Luna to tell the goblin he had chosen the shield. His eyes were still bleary and Ginny felt sorry for him, but they were pretty much on the home stretch. They piled back into the cart and the goblin took them back up to the foyer.
Ginny, as Bellatrix, thrust the shield at him after Luna had subtly removed the spell. "Here, your chosen piece,"
She immediately strode away, not giving him a chance to respond. He narrowed his eyes at her, but looked at the shield and was satisfied that, whatever was wrong with Bellatrix Lestrange, it was none of his business.
This time Ginny and the others hurried down Diagon Alley, Ginny having whipped her cloak over her head so as not to be recognised as either herself or Bellatrix. They reached the Leaky Cauldron safely and Hermione quipped that the next time they needed money it'd be safer for them all to hide out in the bank.
Ginny muffled a giggle before the five friends apparated out to a location nearby Snape's house. They waited several minutes in case anybody had been tracking them before sighing in relief and making their way back to the house.
Even walking through the town was depressing as the houses were all boarded up and grimy, and streetlights equally as cracked and broken. They reached Spinner's End, where the majority of the houses were abandoned, and quietly made their way to Snape's residence. Padma was keeping watch and alerted the others to their return, resulting in Blaise rushing out to gather his girlfriend in a tight hug. The Polyjuice potion had worn off and Seamus held up the chalice in victory.
Draco sent Hermione a small smile when she caught his eye and she felt her lips quirk before she hurriedly looked away. There was too much going on for her to decipher her feelings for the blond Slytherin.
"Great! We've got news, too," Parvati squealed, her face void of the tears that had marred her face since Lavender's demise.
"Good and bad," her twin added.
Everybody hushed and it was down to Blaise to say "Boot left. He said too many people were dying and he didn't want to be a part of it anymore,"
"I suppose asking if you tried to stop him is a bit of a silly question," Ginny chewed her lip.
"We did," Hannah spoke up. "But I think his grief for Mandy is just too much. He wouldn't listen to anything,"
"We even tried to bodily restrain him, but he pulled his wand on us," Blaise explained. "In the end, we had to let him go,"
"He knows where we are if he wants to come back," Susan said quietly.
"Poor Terry," Hermione murmured.
"He's not the only one suffering, Hermione," Ginny reminded her. Hermione watched as her friend was pulled into another tight hug by her boyfriend, tears already forming in her eyes.
"It's been a long day for you," Padma said softly. "How about Han, Parvati and I get a start on making dinner, whilst Sue and Blaise fill you in on our other news?" Excitement filled her voice and Hermione wondered what it could possibly be, looking as confused as both Luna and Seamus.
Michael had disappeared, presumably to mourn the departure of Terry, and his friends let him go, knowing that everybody needed to grieve in their own time and in their own way.
"So, what is it?" Ginny asked curiously.
Susan just grinned and retrieved a yellowed parchment from the table, waving it at them. "We got a letter from Harry!"
Ginny and Luna gasped in shock, where Hermione stood there gaping, not quite willing to believe what she had just heard.
"What did he say?" Seamus asked eagerly.
"It was addressed to Red, but we opened it anyway. Who wouldn't recognise Hegwig, eh?" Blaise replied. It was only then that Hermione noticed the owl perched on the curtain rail and she gave a small smile.
"He wants to know where we are," Susan added.
Ginny bit her lip. "What do we tell him? If it's intercepted, we're going to be sitting ducks, and Snape could get into trouble,"
"Why not the Half Blood Prince?" Hermione suggested, briefly explaining the origins of the term.
"That might work," Luna said thoughtfully. "Are you sure no one else knows?"
"Snape gave himself the name, I doubt many others know about it,"
"I can tell you it's never circled the Death Eaters," Draco drawled from the background.
"It's settled then," Ginny said cheerfully. "Give me that parchment,"
She quickly wrote a reply and stroked Hedwig's head tenderly before tying the note to the owl. "Back to Harry, as fast as you can, old girl," Ginny said softly.
Hedwig flew off, giving a small hoot.
"Can I dare to believe it's true?" Hermione breathed.
"Can any of us?" Ginny replied rhetorically.
"What's a world without hope?" Luna asked, a familiar spark, small but still there, now evident in her eyes.
"I hate to break up your Hufflepuff moment, but Theo, Blaise and I would really appreciate it if you stopped putting Potter on a pedestal," Draco interrupted moodily.
Theo and Blaise immediately tried to look innocent, but Ginny smirked at her boyfriend anyway. "There's no need to be jealous of Harry, sweetheart. I did far more with Michael than I ever did Harry,"
She winked at Luna and Hermione as Blaise clenched his fist, glaring at his girlfriend's teasing tone.
"There are some things, Red, I don't need to know,"
"Just trying to allay your irrational fears," Ginny replied airily.
"Your innocence doesn't fool me one minute,"
"Care to take advantage then?" Ginny asked seductively, and Hermione tried not to blush as Ginny dragged her boyfriend out of the room. Luna seemed oblivious to it all, Seamus looked amused, Susan was grinning, Theo looked like he might be sick and Draco was gazing after them thoughtfully.
"Well," Theo stuttered. "I'll go see if there's any help needed in the kitchen,"
"Me too!" Susan said hurriedly, glancing at Seamus. He caught her eye and gave her a wink.
"If you don't mind, I shall accompany you to the kitchen, my lady," he said cheerily, making Susan grin and accept his arm. Theo rolled his eyes again and stalked off, muttering about bloody lovesick couples.
Luna was now gazing out the window and Draco was staring at her, making Hermione shift uncomfortably.
"Did you want something?" she asked eventually.
"No," he replied, causing Luna to smirk. She had remained only to witness another awkward moment between the two teenagers.
"Could you stop staring then?" Hermione asked snappily.
"No," he replied again.
"Take a picture then! It'll last longer," she grouched, turning away from him. Luna hid her smile as she continued to watch the scene via the reflection from the window.
"If you're offering?"
Hermione huffed and left the room without bothering to reply.
"You know, there are better ways to ascertain how she feels," Luna stated once Hermione was long out of earshot.
"I knew you were eavesdropping," Draco muttered.
"Hardly," Luna scoffed. "You knew I was here,"
Draco looked at her thoughtfully. "You stayed to give me advice, didn't you?"
"Maybe," Luna smirked.
"What if I don't need your help?"
"I'd say the wrackspurts are clouding your judgement,"
Draco rolled his eyes. "What advice would you give?"
"Talk to her. Have a conversation. There's no better way to get inside her head than to get her to know the real you. If your declaration of love wasn't enough, proving it to her will drive her crazy, and she'll need to work out how she feels, too,"
"How do you know about that?"
She tapped her nose. "Secrets," With that, she left the room and Draco couldn't figure out whether she'd left him more confused or relieved.
Nevertheless, he sought out Hermione and apologised for staring at her. She just looked at him and prepared to walk away, but he caught her arm.
"Why is it so hard for you to give me a chance?"
She pulled her arm from his grip but stayed where she was. "A chance as what?" she replied eventually.
"Anything!"
"I… I'm trying to work out how I feel. I want you to like me, but I don't know why. And… And I feel like I'm betraying Ron,"
Draco flinched at the name.
"I feel bad that I couldn't love my best friend in the way he wanted, but I'm falling for a boy I've hated for six years," she finished.
"You're… Falling for me?" Draco asked tentatively.
Hermione nodded. "It goes against all reason, but I can't seem to help it,"
"You know, Potter's parents hated each other for the first six years they were at school together. And his mother couldn't love Severus in the way he wanted, despite their being friends before Hogwarts,"
"Eerie. How do you know this?"
"Severus told me after we went on the run. He told me in the hopes he could influence me not to turn into my father,"
Hermione smiled slightly. "Little did he know you had already declared your love for me,"
"Little did he know," Draco agreed.
They stared at each other silently and Hermione licked her lips subconsciously. After what seemed like hours Draco finally reached for her, pulling her into his embrace. She looked up at him through her lashes and he leaned down to press his lips to hers. She sighed into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and he clung to her tightly before they ended the sweet kiss.
Hermione opened her eyes and smiled, seeing Draco smiling genuinely back at her. He leaned down against to kiss her more passionately, but a cry from Ginny tore them apart.
"Harry! He's here!"
Hermione flushed with excitement, but didn't forget Draco as she clutched his hand in hers.
"I don't know where this is going to go, but I'm happy to do this if you are," she said quietly. He squeezed her hand and she took this to mean he felt the same, and they walked together to the sitting room.
Harry was stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by the others. He looked tired and dishevelled but cheery and he was proudly displaying Slytherin's locket.
"Hermione!" He saw her and ran over to her, pulling her to him in one of the tightest hugs she'd ever experienced, making her let go of Draco, and she hugged him back fiercely. "I've missed you!"
"I missed you, too," she said, tears freely running down her cheeks. Once the hug ended she reached for Draco again, and Harry turned to him extending a hand.
"Welcome to the light side," Harry said neutrally, but he beamed as Draco took his hand without hesitation.
"My pleasure, Potter,"
Harry nodded at him before going off to talk to Theo and Blaise, who Ginny was insisting he meet properly, as she considered Harry more of a brother now, and, with the loss of her own family, Harry and Hermione were the closest she had to siblings and she desperately wanted Blaise to be integrated into her new family.
Dinner was eventually served and for once the atmosphere was light. They had blacked out all the windows in order to have candles lit when it was dark outside in order to properly celebrate what seemed to be the best turn of events. Even Michael had cheered up slightly, and they had all toasted those they had lost. Harry looked especially sad when he was informed of Colin, Lavender and Ernie's deaths and he resolved to avenge them, like every other person to fall before Voldemort.
They had all moved back into the sitting room, not quite ready to settle down for bed when Harry cleared his throat. Everyone's attention turned to him and he held their gaze evenly.
"As I'm sure Hermione has informed you, I have been searching for Horcruxes; four more, to be precise. I currently have in my possession Slytherin's locket. Unfortunately, it came at a price. Mundungus Fletcher was killed not long after he helped me to retrieve the locket and I had a narrow escape. However, it seems luck is on all our sides as I stand here today,"
"We recovered Hufflepuff's chalice from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault," Ginny piped up, and Harry looked shocked.
"It's a long story," Blaise said, pointing towards Hermione. "But it couldn't have been done without the Brightest Witch of her Age, and Draco,"
"We'll fill you in later," Hermione said, blushing.
Harry laughed before he turned serious again. "I have more," He made sure to have everyone's attention before continuing. "I'm not sure if you heard, but Bellatrix's wand was stolen. That was me," he stated rather proudly.
"That's what enabled us to get into Gringotts!" Seamus shouted excitedly.
"Yeah, thanks for that," Ginny added. "We couldn't have done it without you,"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Glad I could help. I was going to kill her, or at least severely maim her, but my cover was blown as soon as she realised the wand was gone and I had to get out of there,"
"Just what we need. My aunt even more angry and mental than normal," Draco muttered, and Harry had the decency to look sheepish.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time…"
"Don't worry about it. I would have done the same,"
Just as everyone was beginning to get fidgety, Harry cried out: "Wait! There's one more thing,"
Everyone stopped and looked at him once again as he reached into his bag and, with a flourish, pulled out the sword of Gryffindor.