Author's Note: So, thank you to everyone who read this story! I know I didn't tell everyone it was going to be short chapters-wise too, but oh well. I could have easily posted it as a oneshot, but I liked cutting it off at certain points...anyway, thans so much again! If you added this to your favorites, story alert list, reviewed, or did none of those things but still read this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and if could, I would send you all cookies. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Hermione felt as if the world was crumbling around her as she and Ron approached the other members of the Weasley family. They were crowded around three bodies: Fred, Tonks, and Remus. If she had the energy, she might cry. But she was too exhausted even to do that. She sank down onto her knees beside the body of Remus, staring at his face. It looked…peaceful. For some reason, she felt the bizarre urge to smile. At least he was somewhere safe now.

She felt a hand being placed on her shoulder, and she knew it was Malfoy. He squatted beside her, and she leaned against him tiredly.

"So many people-" she began, but he just hushed her and said, "I know."

They sat there together, and he began rocking them gently side-to-side, humming under his breath.

"What are you singing?"

"What? Oh, just something my mother used to sing to me at night before bed. I can stop if you want, I know I'm a terrible singer."

She moved her head to lay it against his chest, listening to the steady sound of his heart beat. She shook her head.

"You are a terrible singer," she agreed with him quietly. "But don't stop."

She screamed when she saw Harry's body, and all rational thought left her mind as a feeling of rage overtook her. She snarled, pushing her way through the crowd, intending to blast the snake apart and then rip Voldemort limb from limb with her bare hands-

"Don't be an idiot," someone growled in her ear, and she felt strong hands snake around her waist and yank her back. She looked behind her into the face of Malfoy, and his expression was filled with such anguish that it broke her heart.

She turned back toward the Death Eaters, and saw that Neville had broken forward and was yelling at Voldemort. She was vaguely aware that Malfoy's arm was still wrapped around her, and she let herself sink back into his warmth, enjoying the feeling of his body against hers and how safe it made her feel…

She felt him stiffen suddenly, and she twisted around to look up at his face. His gaze was locked on something near Voldemort, and she followed it until she saw what had captivated him.

His parents.

They were standing beside one another, looking disheveled and a little worse for wear, but they were alive. And they had seen Malfoy. They were staring at him with matching expressions of shock and relief, and she felt Malfoy's body twitch involuntarily behind her, almost as if he meant to go to them, and she grabbed his wrist tightly.

"Don't be an idiot," she hissed, and he looked down at her, but it did not look like he was really seeing her. His eyes looked distant and far-off, but slowly they cleared and she seemed to snap back into his focus. He set his jaw, then nodded. She turned back to watch Neville, then yelped, for he was wearing the Sorting Hat and it had caught on fire and he was screaming, and the next thing she knew he had pulled out the sword of Gryffindor and with one graceful swipe had chopped off Nagini's head.

Chaos reigned.

People were screaming and spells began firing, and somehow over the din she heard Hagrid yell "HARRY! WHERE'S HARRY?", and the house elves and centaurs were charging down the hillside and people were swarming into the castle to continue the battle.

She whipped her head around, searching for Malfoy and Ron, but she could not spot either of them, so she ran into the Great Hall. There were pairs of people dueling already, and she saw Bellatrix approaching Ginny and Luna, so she scrambled off to help them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Malfoy dueling Mulciber, and she felt her heart seize up in fear, but she really needed to concentrate…

Hermione could not accurately describe how she was feeling. The best she could do would be to say that she was experiencing the full spectrum of emotions. Relief, joy, sadness, hope, and everything in between. Harry had gone off to the Gryffindor Common Room to sleep, and while she briefly thought of joining him, she knew there was one more thing she had to do.

She walked into the Great Hall slowly, without hurry, because she knew that now they had all the time in the world. He was sitting with his parents, slightly apart from the rest of the group. His parents kept glancing around furtively, as if expecting at any moment for someone to come up and tell them they couldn't be there. Malfoy, however, looked quite at ease. He turned to her as she approached and smiled.

"Hermione," he said, by way of greeting, and she felt her heart warm at hearing him say her first name, so easily, so effortlessly, like he did it every day.

"Draco," she returned, smiling as she sat down beside him.

"You made it. It's a good thing I came, then. Who knows what would have happened to you without me."

"Yes," she replied, and then she leaned forward and kissed him.

She felt him smile against her mouth, and then he moved his lips over hers, slowly, sweetly. When they pulled apart, it was to Lucius Malfoy's look of disgust and Narcissa Malfoy's look of curiosity.

"I was going to go up to the Gryffindor Tower to try and get some sleep. Would you…come with me? I just…don't want to be alone."

He smirked down at her. "Granger, I never took you for the type."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I seriously do want to just sleep."

He sighed playfully. "Do I have a choice?"

She resisted the urge to smirk herself. "Of course."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her onto her feet. "I'm coming with you."

Lucius and Narcissa stared after them, too shocked to speak. Luna waltzed by, holding hands with Ron, and she watched Hermione and Draco leave the Hall with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"You know," she said dreamily, "they make quite a nice couple. I think perhaps one day they might get married."

Then she looked over at Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, and smiled at them serenely.

Narcissa looked over to the door her son had just walked out of, frowning slightly and thinking hard.

"She must be concentrating very hard on something," Luna whispered up into Ron's ear. "She hasn't even noticed that her husband has fainted."

La fin