Author's Note: Hello all. Sorry for the longer update time, it's a busy time at work and I desperately need a holiday of some kind. If you hadn't realised this already, we are indeed up to the Battle of Hogwarts! Much action ahead. As always, JKR is a fizzing whizbee!

….

The evening was darkening, casting an ominous red haze over the horizon that made Hogsmeade seem more desolate, nestled half in the shadows of the surrounding mountains. Draco's skin was crawling unpleasantly as he followed behind a couple of Death Eaters as they made their way through the mains street, kicking on doors every now and then to harass people. He had managed to draw their attention away from the Hog's Head surprisingly easily; they weren't the brightest members of the fold. All he had needed to say was that he had already checked that building, and they just grunted in acceptance and walked on. Idiots.

Luckily they didn't seem to want to pay much attention to him, wrapped up in their own petty squabbles with each other. That meant his mind could shift away to think about what Hermione was doing right now. He thought that their confrontation with Potter and Weasley had been fairly tense, but it also could have been a lot worse. In fact, in the end Potter had seemed almost willing to listen to his friend and begin to accept what she had to say about Draco being on their side. It would certainly help them if she had his support in translating messages back and forth. And Potter clearly respected and trusted Hermione. Of course, that had been before Draco planted a big kiss on her. That had probably set them back a few steps. He didn't really give a shit what Weasley thought. As long as the ginger didn't try to muscle in on his territory he would just ignore him. Though he wouldn't deny the petty, almost childlike flutter of glee he felt at the look of sheer outrage on the other's boy's face when he had kissed Hermione. He was quite happy to let the moron stew in his anger for as long as he could.

Draco was also incredibly happy that Blaise had gone with them. He knew that his friend would look out for her no matter what. And he couldn't help but be incredibly moved by Blaise's determination to help the Slytherins. No one really thought about them as ever needing help. In fact, most people would probably just accuse them of being Death Eaters if it came down to a fight. They had always been the most misunderstood of all the houses.

Enough time had passed that he was starting to feel quite uneasy. He didn't know what the golden trio was doing inside the castle that was clearly so important, but he hoped that they were keeping a low profile. Draco hated that she was right in the path of danger, fighting at Potter's side. She was his muggleborn best friend; to think that she wouldn't be targeted would be naïve.

At that moment the three of them – Draco and the two lower ranked Death Eaters – all cringed in pain as the sting of a summoning flared up their arm, the burn beginning in the skull shaped centre of the dark mark. The two men cursed loudly, shattering the eerie peace of the village.

"I swear if we get sent on any more useless bloody errands chasing the fucking Potter kid I'm going to eat my own arm off."

"I'm with you, this little shit needs to burn and die already. Just to give us a break."

Draco rolled his eyes at the two men, tired of their whining. But it was interesting to hear that there were voices of dissent among the ranks. Clearly many of them felt it was beneath them to hunt down one annoying kid when they felt they had better things to be conquering. They were probably hoping to pillage their way through Wizarding England, and instead they get posted to finding a teenage boy who hadn't even finished school. Draco wondered curiously whether it could have any impact on the coming conflict if there were others out there, doubting their loyalty to the cause. Of course guys like these were all scum when it came down to it, but if they were wavering in their confidence towards the Dark Lord, then that could only act in his favour. It helped that half of them were brainless morons.

"So what did he say you should do if Potter appears?" he asked casually as they walked towards an apparition point, since Hogsmeade had been warded to stop people from disapparating. They'd been able to get in earlier, but no one could get out. It was basically a trap. Draco figured he might as well use this time to try and get some information. The smellier of the two men snorted and huffed out a wheezing laugh in response.

"We're supposed to hold onto the little bugger. No one's allowed to kill him," the man broke out into a sweaty toothed sneer, spitting on the ground in front of them, "Bullshit. If I see him or his little friends I'm going to fry them."

"You'll be punished. Probably killed," Draco said dryly, not really caring for the man's life as such, just trying to make the guy more wary in case he did run into the trio. The man looked nervously over at him.

"Come on. Killing Potter? I'd be honoured above everyone."

Draco actually laughed out loud then.

"You're delusional."

"Huh?"

"He'd slaughter you," he said with a shrug.

"Seriously?"

Draco nodded, striding on ahead of them and smiling to himself as he heard the two of them whispering madly together, their heads close as they discussed whether he was telling them the truth. Maybe both of them would think twice now before hurling unforgiveables at Potter, Weasley and Hermione.

They finally climbed the hill to an apparition point and Draco spun around and vanished with a crack, wanting nothing more than to leave the two foul men behind him. He arrived at a clearing in the forest that lay outside the grounds of Hogwarts, which eventually blended into and became the forbidden forest beyond the castle wards. He sauntered towards the group of black robed figures standing around in groups, milling about and talking in low voices. There was no sign of the Dark Lord. Draco caught sight of his father's blonde head and immediately turned the other way, trying to cross to another group. But it was too late. His father spotted him and strode over, slapping a hand on his shoulder and frowning up at him. Draco was savagely pleased that he was now taller and more imposing that Lucius. It helped him stare the older man down and not be cowed by his disapproval.

"You're late," Lucius murmured, "Where have you been?"

Draco sighed.

"I was in Hogsmeade. We had to travel a fair way. As if it matters, since he's not here yet."

Lucius hissed a little, glaring at him.

"Don't be so blasé, Draco. You've barely been around lately. Don't think I haven't noticed your lack of support."

Draco shook his head, having to grind his teeth together to stop himself from saying all the things that were boiling inside him wanting to bubble over.

"Don't worry, father, I am going to be out there fighting for what's right in the end. Don't underestimate my commitment to what I believe in."

Of course Lucius missed the hidden meaning behind his words. He just scowled more darkly, and gave Draco that expression of disgust that he had become numb to as a child. It had stopped hurting him long ago.

"Just make sure that you're willing to die for the cause."

Draco smiled, thinking of Hermione sitting on his couch, reading a book and biting her lip as she concentrated, her legs tucked underneath her and her toes wiggling against his thigh.

"Oh I am," he promised with quiet assurance, giving his father a twisted grin before walking away. He felt Lucius burn holes through his back with his glare, but he didn't give a shit. He hoped his father lived long enough to figure out that he was double crossing them and working on the Order's side. Or that he was going to be "shacking up", as Blaise put it, with the famous Gryffindor muggleborn. He'd love to see the dumbfounded, horrified expression on the older man's face. It would almost pay him back for the childhood that he had filled with his spite and prejudice.

Draco decided to mingle a bit, wandering around and chatting to as many high-ranking Death Eaters as he could to try and glean some information. It seemed like they were there for hours just waiting as the sun gradually dipped down below the horizon and the landscape was plunged into darkness. But surprisingly few of the wizards or witches there knew what was going on. Finally there was an electric ripple of light and a whooshing sound as the Dark Lord appeared in the clearing. His robes were crusted with a thin layer of dirt, and he seemed almost haggard. His eyes were wider than their usual slits, and were a deep red colour as if he had been awake for days. To be honest, he looked like he belonged in a loony bin – well, more than usual. His expression was thunderous, lost in his own world of crazed thoughts. Draco shivered a bit and drew on his occlumency walls more tightly, focusing everything on keeping them smooth and intact so as not to arouse any suspicion.

Voldemort looked around at the large group of Death Eaters, probably about forty or fifty of them, and finally gave a monstrous smile of his cold, cruel lips. Draco had no idea how a smile could look so terrifying, but he was instantly chilled to his core. The Death Eaters nervously shuffled towards him, forming a sort of misshapen circle. Most were merely holding their masks by their sides, their identities revealed to the world until the real battle started.

"My friends…" he hissed, and although his voice was soft, it was heard by everyone as clear as shattering glass as it echoed around the looming trees above them, "Many of you are here today not knowing why I have called you all together, while some of you have your suspicions I am sure. At this very moment, Harry Potter is inside the castle," the Death Eaters made low murmurs of disgust and shuffled their feet when they heard the name, "The Carrows have warned me that he is calling the Order to him, and they have found some way into Hogwarts that evades our security."

There was another wave of mutters, as many questioned each other quietly on how all these people could have gotten past them. They were supposed to be guarding the area after all.

"I should punish you for your incompetence," the Dark Lord spat, "But there is no time. Tonight is the night we end this. We are going to claim what is rightfully ours from these traitors and filth. Tonight we take the castle, kill Harry Potter and become immortal."

His little speech seemed to rally everyone up, as there was a raucous burst of jeering and applause that reached an unsettling crescendo before Voldemort held up his hands once more for silence.

"Your loyalty will be rewarded at last, my humble servants. This castle represents the pitiful resistance of Albus Dumbledore, whose corpse lies desiccating in his tomb," more jeers and hisses came from the crowd at the mention of Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord smiled indulgently at them, "and soon their precious hero, the Chosen One Potter will be rotting in there with him."

The agitated cheering that began then, like a fever of sadistic excitement spreading over the group, was deafening. Draco clapped his hands together loudly to follow suit, but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth to say anything or make a sound in case he was sick. The odds were looking pretty bleak. There were a lot of very violent, highly trained wizards and witches here, and up against the smattering of Order members and inexperienced students in the castle, this was starting to look bad.

As the rabble-rousing noise started to fade, there was another whoosh of air similar to earlier, and the black-cloaked figure of Severus Snape appeared. He looked a bit ruffled, but his eyes still swept around the crowd and spotted Draco there. His face remained expressionless, but Draco could tell that he had understood the message loud and clear just from his presence alone, that he was here to help, to fight as a double agent too.

"Ah, Severusss," Voldemort watched his spy approach a dangerous look that was halfway between a threat and a smile, "What news from the castle?"

Snape appeared a touch apprehensive as he stood before the Dark Lord. Draco noticed that the dark man was watched with awe by some of the surrounding followers, but with suspicion by a select few, particularly Bellatrix, who looked like she was about the breath fire on him. But Draco was sure that the man's anxiety was not apparent to most of them.

"My Lord," Snape began, dropping quickly to one knee, his voice deep and confident despite the circumstances. He waited for Voldemort to gesture at him with one bony hand before he rose to his feet again and continued talking. "The boy is indeed at Hogwarts. He has infiltrated the castle through a secret passage of some kind, and is now searching for something in the north tower."

At those last few words, Voldemort hissed, and his snake-like nostrils flared a bit in a terrible expression of rage. Draco shuddered. It seemed Hermione had been right about him now knowing or realising whatever secret mission it was they were on. He had never looked more insane than he did right now.

"And how is it, my faithful follower, that you come here to me now without the boy? Did you not think to bring him to me?" His tone was extremely cold, his words crisp, and Draco could see the subtle signs of his godfather cringing in preparation for his punishment.

"My Lord…he was being protected by the other professors. I tried to get information out of Minerva McGonagall, but she attacked me. It seems they are readying themselves to fight. I only just made it out of a window near Ravenclaw Tower so that I could return to you with this information."

Voldemort's eyes narrowed at his spy, and Draco felt a wave of revulsion as he saw something move slowly from behind the luminous folds of his robes. It was the snake Nagini. She slithered out indolently across the grass, passing in a circle once around Snape and returning to her master. Draco fucking hated that snake. She was creepy enough to make him almost wish he'd never been a Slytherin, and that was pretty hard to accomplish. Voldemort looked down at her with a tremulous smile that stretched his face unnaturally and patted the top of her head.

"It is time," he murmured so quietly that the words were nearly blown away by the wind, but the silence in the circle was so deafening he was still audible to all. He raised his voice then, speaking out in a higher pitch, "I have already spoken a message to those inside the castle. They have ignored my instruction to release Potter to us. Time is almost up. Come. Let us destroy them."

The yell of excitement reverberated around the crowd again, growing louder as the group started to move off through the forest. They were making their way towards the wards of the castle. As they did, Draco moved forwards with them at a slow pace, keeping up as part of the group, but not jumping to the front or rushing ahead like some of the sycophants. Somehow he and Snape managed to casually find their way next to each other, and they exchanged a quick glance of concern before they directed their eyes ahead of them again. After a hard trek through the forest, the big black iron gates of the school materialised out of the misty darkness. The hulking stone figures on either side of the gate rumbled and shook the ground beneath them in warning as they approached, which caused the frontrunners to start to inch forward cautiously.

"Let's break it down!" A voice yelled from the back, and at once the spells started to fly at the gates, fracturing the magic bit by bit. Draco flicked a few spells of his own, and next to him he saw Snape do the same, but neither of them were putting much force behind it. The air was filled with the cracking of magic against the barrier on the gates. It was like a violent thunderstorm that reverberated around the valley and up towards the castle. With no one around them paying attention, or even able to hear them, Snape shuffled a step closer so that they were side by side.

"Is she in there?" the dour potions professor asked out the side of his mouth. Draco turned his head towards him slightly to respond in a quiet voice.

"Yes. So is Blaise. He went in to help the Slytherins."

He saw Snape's chest rise and fall once heavily in a sigh of relief.

"Thank Merlin. I wasn't sure what would happen to them."

It was getting close to midnight, and the Death Eaters were well on their way to breaking through the wards. That gate wouldn't last much longer, despite Hogwarts's powerful defences.

"Draco, I need you to do something for me."

He was so surprised by his godfather's quiet, urgent voice that he actually spun to face him. With spells flying past them and lighting up the night sky like festival fireworks, he could clearly make out Snape's pleading look.

"What is it?" he asked with wide eyes.

"If you see Potter tonight… it's vital that he find me. I have something I need to give him."

Draco looked surreptitiously around him, checking to see if anyone was listening. But of course Snape would never risk this if he weren't certain. Sure enough no one was paying them any attention.

"Um…of course. Yes, of course I will," he said in a soft, reassuring voice. Snape just stared at him for a few moments, checking that he was being sincere, then he nodded and turned back to the situation at hand and Draco did the same. The gate in front of them was now alight with magic, ready to crack open and expose an entrance into the grounds beyond. Even the toughest wards couldn't withstand a force as potent as this. He couldn't help but notice that Voldemort himself was nowhere to be seen. He obviously felt it was beneath him to join the pawns on the battlefield.

As the shattering of the gate pierced the night, Draco took a deep breath and slipped his Death Eater mask reluctantly over his face. It was time. He hurriedly reached into his pocket and drew out the galleon that Hermione had given him. Clenching it in his fist, he thought his message a few times to be certain, and then unfurled his fingers to read it, to make sure it had worked.

We're coming.

….

From the moment the battle started, it was chaos. The first thing that had met the Death Eaters when they broke through the gate had been the shrill wailing of mandrake roots, and venomous tentacula vines bending the earth and ripping up the path. They were forced to scatter and spread out, making them weaker than if they'd held together as one unstoppable force. Draco didn't doubt that Professor Sprout was chuckling in her jovial way somewhere, watching the damage her precious plants caused.

Once they made their way closer to the castle itself, there were other obstacles to face. There were traps laid out on every bridge and entranceway, suits of armour charmed to defend, and even the foundations of the castle itself were reacting in a powerful way to the invasion. The castle knew it was under attack from a force that was dark and treacherous, and it was fighting to protect its students.

After a lot of ducking and weaving, Draco finally made it up and into one of the wings under the south tower. It had helped that he wasn't held up by skirmishes or fighting with anyone. He was trying to be as incognito as possible, staying out of sight and even using a disillusionment charm every now and then, since his magic wasn't being used up by hexes or spells.

His thoughts turned briefly to Tilly, and he hoped the little elf had followed his instructions. Before they had left the cottage he had told her to keep communicating with some of the elves in the kitchens at Hogwarts just in case he needed help getting Hermione out of there, or if either of them got hurt. Tilly had taken her task very seriously, and since she did actually have a few friends among those elves, it had been a fairly good idea just in case either of them were injured too badly to keep going.

As he ran through the castle, Draco saw a few familiar faces fighting. There was Remus Lupin, their defence professor from third year, fighting alongside Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. Hagrid was running around with his pink umbrella, followed by a lumbering giant that was destroying more of the castle itself than the enemy. He even saw one or two of his friends cowering in the midst of the mess. Obviously ones who had not made it out in the evacuation. Hermione had sent him a message in response saying that they were getting out the younger students, and he hoped that this included all four houses, and not just the Gryffindors.

Draco soldiered on until he managed to wind his way up a few staircases and down a long passage towards the north tower. Snape had told the Dark Lord that he had last seen Potter near Ravenclaw tower, so that was where Draco would start looking. He was determined to find Hermione. Until he was summoned back to Voldemort's side and could be useful once more, he would do everything in his power to protect her. He was perfectly happy to just hang around in the shadows or around corners, casting frequent shielding charms at her from a distance if necessary. As long as he knew that she was okay. He just had to try and make sure that he didn't blow his cover.

When Draco emerged into a small foyer near the base of the winding staircase of the Ravenclaw tower, he was hit by a brutal sensory wave of battle. The air was hot from spells flying around, as there were a few different duels going on. He recognised a couple of the people fighting for the Order who were ministry of magic workers, aurors probably, from when he used to go with his father. But all the Death Eaters were still cloaked and hidden. Draco retched a bit as he registered the smell of something putrid. He looked down towards his right hand side and saw a body lying there mangled, one whole side of their face a grotesque mask of burning flesh, and their limbs covered in scorch marks. He recognised the hex used as a specialty of a few of the more aggressive fighters among Voldemort's ranks who liked to use fire spells. He stumbled back a bit, tapping his wand hastily on his head to strengthen his disillusionment charm. The air was torn apart by screams from both sides, the heart wrenching kind of screams that haunted his nightmares from watching victims tortured by Bellatrix. Like Hermione. He shook his head and cast a few shield charms on the aurors who were struggling the most, ducking around the fight to a nearby corridor. It was a little quieter here, so he relaxed his charm just a bit, since it was a drain on his power.

"DRACO!"

He spun around at once, wand raised stiff in his hand and a spell on his lips. He was already enunciating the hex when he saw the wavy hair and wide brown eyes of Blaise running towards him. He let out a rasping breath in relief.

"Blaise, thank Merlin."

His friend reached him quickly, placing his hands on his shoulders and checking him over. They inspected each other hurriedly for injuries and both slumped a bit into a more relaxed pose when they saw none.

"Fuck me," Blaise said, panting and stepping away to wipe the back of his hand over his sweaty forehead, "This is so fucking intense. I feel like I haven't seen you in days, but it's only been a few hours."

"I never… I didn't realise it would be like this," Draco stammered, his mind's eye still picturing that gruesome body charred and lying in the room behind them.

"Neither did I. I should have left with the bloody Slytherins."

"Why didn't you?"

Blaise frowned for a very brief moment and then looked at him with a tired but still mischievous smirk.

"What… and let you do all the heroic stuff by yourself? No way."

Draco chuckled. Then they both winced and ducked as a blast sounded somewhere to their right, making the castle walls tremble angrily in response. A shower of dust cascaded down on top of them. They shuffled to the side into an alcove, catching their breath.

"So where's Hermione?" he asked quietly but urgently, "What happened after I left?"

Blaise smiled again, his cheeky demeanour at odds with the sounds and smells of war that was so pervasive it was like a blanket smothering them.

"You certainly dropped a bombshell, didn't you? You could have just shaken her hand, but no, you had to go in for the big kiss right in front of pissy Potter and Wank-too-much Weasley."

Draco smiled as well at the names.

"Well I wouldn't have wanted you to miss out on some entertainment."

"And I am very much indebted to you. It was like a dream come true seeing Weasley's face turn a shade darker than his hair. The moment we were in the tunnel and the entrance was sealed behind us, he started yelling abuse at her, calling her a traitor and you a murdering psychopath. You know…the usual."

"That fucking bastard-" Draco growled, hating the thought that he had caused Hermione any grief, all for the sake of his petty moment of triumph in front of the ginger menace.

"Don't worry," Blaise placated him, "Your witch is not to be messed with. She fired a fairly unusual spell at him which you might remember with some fondness."

"Oh?"

"Let's just say by the time we got out of that passage, the slug population in there had tripled."

Draco couldn't stop himself from bursting out with a harsh laugh. The memory of Weasley choking on slugs as they spilled out of his mouth was a source of constant delight and amusement. To think that Hermione had cast it on him in retribution for his foul words only made him love it more. It was like she was accepting him not only for who he was now, but also for the nasty little boy who had called her a mudblood for the very first time when they were only twelve.

"She's brilliant," he said with fierce pride in his voice.

"She's scary. But Potter on the other hand," Blaise continued, his smile turning a little evil as he watched Draco for his reaction, "he seems to think that you are one of the bravest people he's ever known."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. I just don't understand these Gryffindory types. They trust every bloody person who comes their way. I'm surprised he doesn't just walk out there and present You-Know-Who with a bouquet of fucking lilacs and make peace."

"He must have finally gone mad from the pressure," Draco snorted. Blaise nodded in agreement.

"Once Hermione had explained your little rescue in more detail, he was determined to think of you as some kind of saint."

"Well as long as he doesn't try to name one of his children after me, then I think I can live with that."

Blaise let out a loud guffaw.

"But Michael Draco Potter has such a nice ring to it."

"Oh shut up."

Another blast shook the walls, and they both had to grip the stonework next to them to keep steady on their feet.

"So where is she now?"

"Can't you just contact her on your little coin?"

Draco clenched his fist fearfully, feeling the metal of the galleon heat in the palm of his hand, still sitting there from when he had used it earlier.

"I tried a few moments before you found me, but she didn't answer."

Blaise sighed and shrugged.

"Okay… well there was something about basilisks and destroying stuff. And then going to find a room of hidden things. It was all pretty much gibberish to me."

Draco blinked and then looked at his best friend with narrowed eyes.

Room of hidden things…

His brows shot up and he pushed himself away from the wall with a triumphant smile.

"The Room of Requirement!" he announced, slipping the coin back into his pocket, and retrieving his wand.

"The what?"

"It's a moving room where…Never mind. I know where they're going."

Blaise just shrugged in agreement, gesturing for him to lead the way. Draco was filled with a nervous energy again that felt a lot like adrenalin. Even though his knees were shaking he had a firm grip on his wand as he held it out in front of him. Cautiously he entered the hallway again; glad to see it much emptier now. He took a moment to get his bearings, before the two Slytherin boys set off at a hurried pace towards the Room of Requirement and Hermione.

….

Thanks for reading. No Hermione in this chapter, but don't worry – she'll be back very very soon. I love and appreciate all your reviews. Please keep it up.