SURPRISE! I was going to go to bed but then this happened :P Thanks to LovelyAshes and boothaddict77 for the reviews - you guys are really quick off the mark :P please don't be shy to share your opinions, feedback is always appreciated. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Branches snapped across Draco's arms. Leaves whipped across his cheek, and as he hurtled past a pine tree its long, sharp needles scratched across his face. He felt the skin under his eye break and warm blood began to ooze down his cheek.

He had no idea where he was. Once he'd got back to the castle and told the Aurors everything he'd found out, they'd thanked him and sent him back to the Slytherin Common Room. He'd been told in no uncertain terms – and Habernathy had smirked all the time he was saying it – that he was a civilian and should stay inside the castle. Draco had nodded and smiled, and the second the Aurors had headed into the forest he had snuck out of the Slytherin dorms and followed them inside. He'd heard the explosions and seen the lights of curses flashing, but he'd seen nothing else but branches and the shadowy shapes of creatures moving in the forest gloom.

There was a stitch flaring in his side. He staggered over to the base of an enormous yew tree and leaned against it, gasping for breath.

He had to get it together.

It was no good just running round the forest like some idiot Gryffindor, charging in blindly with no real plan. He had to stop and think, or he'd only get himself into trouble. If he was going to be useful to Hermione, he had to calm himself down and come up with a plan.

Something rustled in the leaves. He squinted into the darkness, but saw nothing. He rested his forehead against the scaly bark of the yew tree and forced himself to ignore the creeping, whispering forest.

Hermione was in the forest. He could hear the Aurors fighting off in the distance, but they were too far away for him to hear their voices. If they were fighting Greyback, did that mean that Hermione was safe? Draco knew that if he was an Auror, he wouldn't have even thought about drawing his wand until he was absolutely sure that Hermione was well out of harm's way – but he wasn't an Auror, that twitchy idiot Habernathy was, and Draco wouldn't trust him with his own life, let alone Hermione's. He didn't know where they were – it had taken hours of blindly wandering in the forest to even find Greyback and Hermione in the first place – and he had no idea where he was now.

Something rustled over his shoulder and Draco whirled around. He saw nothing, but something was brushing over the leaves just beyond the edges of his vision. An old fear stirred within him as he remembered a hooded figure from years before, its mouth dripping with silver blood…

He forced his knees to stop shaking. What he needed to do was to find Hermione; he could figure out the rest of his plan from there. He straightened up, squared his shoulders and yelled the last spell he'd only mastered fifteen minutes before his NEWT Charms practical:

"Expecto Patronum!"

An enormous, four-legged silver creature erupted from the end of his wand. Draco recognised it immediately as it settled down before him, and had to suppress a groan at the sight of its huge, furry body. He shook his head, ignoring the embarrassment creeping into his cheeks, and remembered what Hermione had told him. She had said quite clearly that Patronuses could be used to deliver messages…

"Tell Hermione Granger that…that it's going to be all right."

Draco's Patronus bounded off into the darkness, and he went hurtling after it.

"It's going to be all right."

The silver Patronus spoke the words in the middle of the forest and faded instantly, disappearing in a wisp of pearly smoke. Draco blinked, straining his eyes in the darkness. The forest seemed infinitely darker without it, and now he could barely see a thing.

"Hermione?"

There was a moment of silence. Then, something rustled amongst the leaves and his heart began to race.

"D-Draco? Is that you?"

He stretched out his hand into the blackness. At once, warm, slim fingers grabbed his hand. He felt Hermione's arms wrap around his shoulders as she buried her head in his chest, and soon his arms were around her and his hand was smoothing down her wild hair. She shuddered into his shoulder, too afraid to cry, and even though they were lost in the forest and Greyback was still out there, somehow Draco felt a little safer.

"Hey, hey," he murmured, "it's all right. I'm here."

She was shaking like a leaf in the wind, trembling against him so violently that he couldn't hold her still. She said nothing, but he felt her hands clutch at the back of his shirt, crumpling it up in her clenched fists. Something rustled in the darkness behind them and he felt her flinch against his chest.

"Come on," he said, stroking her hair, "let's go back."

She nodded into his shoulder and slowly – reluctantly, he thought, and a little thrill ran right through him – she let go. Her hand found his in the darkness and squeezed it tightly, and even though the feeling was slowly ebbing out of his fingertips he couldn't make himself let her go. As quietly as he could, he cast the Point-Me spell, and the two of them headed west, where the castle stood waiting for them. They picked their way across the forest floor, clutching each other's hands as their feet snagged on exposed roots and flinching at the sounds of centaurs' hooves, or something dark and nameless slithering across the leaves. Inch by inch, the lights of the castle grew closer, the canopy of leaves over their heads grew thinner and soon the smooth, silver-green lawns of Hogwarts became visible through the fringe of trees.

Hermione broke into a run, pulling him along with her. She turned back to look at him and her face froze.

That was all the warning he had before something slammed into his back.

Draco went flying, falling face-first into the dirt and hitting the ground with a thud. Pain flared all along his stomach, the ground tore open his cheek and his wand flew out of his hand. Greyback's huge, hairy hands clamped around his neck and hauled him upright, lifting him right off the ground. Greyback raised him up to his snarling face, and Draco felt the werewolf's long, jagged nails dig into his neck as he began to squeeze.

"You betrayed me," he growled, "you little snake."

Draco gasped for breath but Greyback's hands were clenched tight around his throat. Lights were beginning to pop at the corner of his eyes. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a dry, scratching whimper, and Greyback only laughed.

"Put him down."

Greyback turned. His grip loosened the merest fraction and Draco felt air flood into his lungs in a rush. Hermione was standing in front of them, holding Draco's fallen wand and pointing it right at Greyback's face. Her mouth was set into a hard line and her eyes were burning; he'd never seen someone look so furious.

Greyback grinned. "You found your voice then, girlie."

She took a step towards him. "I said, put him down."

Greyback squeezed Draco's throat, still grinning at Hermione, and pain began popping all through Draco's skull. The edges of his vision began to turn black and out of the corner of his eye he saw Hermione's face whiten.

"Make me," growled Greyback.

Hermione smirked.

"Expelliarmus!"

At once, Draco flew out of Greyback's iron grip as though he had been pulled free. He crashed into the ground, air flooding into his lungs, and looked up just in time to see Greyback's furious, twisted face.

"Why you little –"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Greyback's arms and legs snapped to his sides. His mouth closed, his spine stiffened, and he keeled over onto the forest floor with a deafening crash. With one more wave of Draco's wand, Hermione wrapped the werewolf in ropes and chains, and then she sprinted over to where Draco lay on the ground. She skidded to a halt and fell to her knees as his vision began to fade. She clutched at his hand, pleading with him, but all he could do was try to force a smile as the world around him drifted into blackness.