Disclaimer: Tom Felton's hot!
As they ran towards the burning city, Ron slowed down. He turned to Hermione's frightened face and grabbed her.
"Hermione look at me! Look at me!" Terrified, she looked into his icy blue eyes. He took her face in his eyes. "Take this," he said, shoving a smooth black stone in her hands. "Count to five and when you get there, get Malfoy. Tell him what's going on." Hermione shook her head, tears falling as screams filled her ears.
"I'm staying with you."
"NO!" he yelled, pulling her behind a tree as a building near by exploded. Ron held her to his chest as she screamed, sobbing as debris flew every where. Ron made her look at him.
"Hermione, please. You have to do this... for me..." he whispered. She closed her eyes, nodding. Ron brushed his lips across hers, trying to give her some sense of security before pulling away from her completely. Hermione bit her lip.
"One... two... three... four...five..." Ron watched as she disappeared, then turend towards the carnage.
"Someone help!" Hermione sobbed, shivering in the grand foyer of Malfoy Mansion. Hermione looked around, going through all the rooms.
"Someone please!" she screamed.
"What?!" Came the voice of Draco Malfoy. He came down the awesome stairway, wearing nothing but sweatpants. Hermione tried to stand tall, but continued to sob. Draco frowned and moved over to her, grabbing her arms, shaking her.
"What are you doing here, Granger?" Hermione continued to cry.
"Hogsmeade... it's under attack! Ron said to come here..." Draco's eyes grew.
"Tori.. is she ok?" Hermione shrugged pitifully.
"I don't know..." Draco's eyes grew dark with anger and he shoved her to the side, storming out of the room. Hermione fell to the ground, a wreck. Draco appeared a minute later, grabbing her wrist.
"Come on!" With a loud crack, the two disappeared.
"Well, well, well... If it isn't the man of the hour. Like what I did with the place?" Draco showed no emotion as he faced the wretch, standing in the middle of what was left of Hogsmeade. Though the buildings were still standing, some were either in flames or had large holes in them. Hermione clung to his arm, shaking violently as they entered the square.
"Nice to see you too, Parkinson. Though, I must say I'm surprised. I thought you were much more practical than this..." Pansy Parkinson sneered at him, stepping away from two men.
"I would have made my presense known at the Gala, but I couldn't wait that long..." Draco shrugged.
"Am I that irresistable?" he asked with a smirk. Pansy's lips curled.
"I used to think so, but you've let your ego get the best of you. Just because you can have any whore in England, doesn't mean you should," she replied, motioning to Hermione. Draco ignored the remark, not wanting to waste his time with silly insults.
"Don't waste my time, Parkinson. If you want to say something, say it. Don't waste your time telling me about information I already know," he stated cooly, ignoring Hermione's plea for him to be silent. Pansy smiled. Not a pleasant sight.
"Ok, Draco. We'll play it your way. Lorten... what's behind door number one?" she asked, not taking her black eyes off of Draco. One of the men moved to one of the buildings and opened the door. Hermione gasped and watched as Harry and Ginny were dragged out, both struggling to be free. Pansy motioned for the other man to continue. The man smiled and opened his door.
"RON!" Hermione screamed as the redhead was dragged out, lashing out at his captors as he was placed on the other side of Pansy. Draco stiffened as Tori was also brought out, crying silently as her eyes met Draco's. Draco tore his eyes away from her, anger bubbling up inside as complete loathing for Pansy consumed him. Pansy smirked.
"Your true loves... or the Savior of the wizarding world..." Pansy offered. Draco remained silent. "So what do you say, Draco?" she sneered, motioning to the forementioned choices. He could hear Hermione whimper beside him, her grip on his arm tightening. Then something caught his eye. A large black owl circled the sky, diving back into the woods. Draco looked over to Ron, catching his gaze. Ron nodded slightly. Draco then turned back to Pansy, smiling.
"You know I don't like being offered choices... I don't do well with being told what to do..." Pansy shrugged.
"This isn't for you... it's for the mudblood."
"What about the Mudblood?" Draco asked, gently pushing Hermione behind him as he carefully fingered his wand. Pansy waved her hand absently.
"She ruined everything... If it hadn't been for that whore... well... I would have had more than I do now..." Draco stuck out his lip mockingly, glaring at her. Pansy however, wasn't smiling. She motioned for one of the men to get Ron. He was pulled to her, her wand digging into his throat.
"I'll kill him," she whispered.
"NO!" Hermione screamed, running out. Draco tried to stop her, but was to late. There was a flash of light, a scream and then Hermione's body hit the ground.
"HERMIONE!" Ron and Harry screamed. Ginny broke out into sobs, watching as Hermione lay there motionless. Draco looked down at the body in surprise, then anger.
"To bad..." Pansy whispered, grinning. Draco raised his wand and red sparks shot out. Pansy screamed. Suddenly the place was surrounded by at least fifty hooded figures, wands trained on Pansy and her cronies. Draco glared at her.
"You shouldn't mess with me, Pansy... You know that..." Pansy's face grew wild with anger and she reached out and grabbed the nearest captive. Tori. She grinned, holding her wand to the muggle's neck.
"I win... you may have lost a child the last time, but I'll make sure you loose more than that this time..." Draco took a step forward.
"Don't do it, Pansy..." he warned, his eyes glinting with rage. But Pansy wasn't listening. She began to back up, dragging Tori with her. Suddenly she screamed out in pain, her body withering in pain. Tori dropped to the floor, dragging herself away from the shrieking woman. Draco held up his hand, strolling over to the woman and looking down at her. He shook his head in disgust.
"I told you not to..." She looked up at him with fear.
"Mercy," she begged. Draco looked upon her with no mercy.
"I gave you mercy... " Pansy reached out for his leg. Draco raised his wand, eyes emotionless as he pointed it at her.
"Avada Kedavra," he whispered. Pansy went still. Draco crouched down, touching her face gently.
"You were such a pretty thing..." he murmured.
"Draco," came the weak voice he knew so well. Draco looked up to see Tori staring at the body, eyes wide. Draco went over to her, helping her up. He pulled her face up to look at him, holding her close.
"Are you ok?" Tori looked into his eyes and nodded. Draco nodded, looking around, his eyes finding Ron's. Some how, in that moment, there was a quiet understanding. Both of them had more in common than they would ever admit. Ron gave him a nod and Draco held up his hand, signalling to his men. They took hold of Pansy's men, leaving her on the ground. Then, they were all gone, leaving only the survivors. As people emerged from the buildings and the Weasley's ran around, holding each other in relief, they watched as Ron crawled over to Hermione's limp form.
"Hermione," he whispered, tears running down his face. He couldn't loose her again. He just couldn't. He held her in his arms, trying to feel for a pulse or any sign of breathing.
"Hermione please... don't go..." he cried, holding her close.
"I'm not going anywhere..." Ron pulled away to see her chocolate eyes gazing up at her. She smiled, touching his face.
"Hey..." she whispered. Ron let out a cry of joy and hugged her close. She pulled herself up, looking up at him. Her eyes glazed over, her fingers running over his features.
"You've got dirt on your nose..." she murmured. Ron's eyes widened.
"What?" She grinned.
"I told you not to come after me..." Ron looked shell-shocked. Hermione let out a laugh and pulled him close, her lips touching his.
"You still have dirt on your nose," she said, giggling. Ron broke out into a grin, pulling her flush up against him, not caring who saw. Their lips met in a heated rush, both of them letting go of ten years of fighting. Ten years of pent up aggression and lust, that the moment consumed them, both lost in this new world of passion. For a second they both stopped and smiled at each other with their lips still touching, they could feel the other smiling. Ron ran a finger down the side of her neck and then turned his head to run kisses down the line his finger had just followed, while using the hand on her back to push her closer.
Fred and George were about to say something to the snogging couple on the ground when Angelina slapped both of them across the head.
"Don't you dare... they've finally gotten together. If you two do anything to embarrass them, I'll make sure that neither of you have children," she hissed.
Ginny couldn't help but look away as Ron and Hermione lost themselves in their euphoria. She jumped slightly as a hand rested on her shoulder. She turned to see Harry giving her an odd look.
"What?" she asked. Harry sighed.
"Nothing..." Ginny couldn't believe it. Could he have reverted back to this so fast? After that night, could he really be so bold as to pretend it never happened? Ginny looked down at her hands, then started to walk away when he stopped her.
"Wait," he said. She turned to him expectantly.
"What?" Harry pulled her close to him, his lips next to her ear as he held her.
"I don't want to be just Harry Potter anymore." Ginny turned her head to him, their lips only a fraction apart.
"What do you want to be?" He leaned in, kissing her face, eyes, cheeks, forhead, chin, anywhere but her lips.
"In my seventh year, you told me that, to get what he wanted, a man had to conquer his fears..." he whispered. "Well... I'm not afraid anymore..." Ginny could feel tears fill her eyes, as he kissed her again and again, never touching her lips.
"I'm not afraid either..."
A/N: I hope you liked it. I thought it was a bit rushed, but that's just me...
Reader of Canon FF: Don't worry. I use terms like that all the time!
sarah-keyko: Well, tell them that Draco and Tori will have one final curtain in the next chapter! I promise!
Coconut Girl: I don't know what it is... Am I getting to soft... I'm writing happy endings all over the place!
Tinker Ramone: Neither did I!
Wesker888: DING Ding! Ding! Great JoB!!!
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