Ok, I have to say this. Looking back, this is my least favorite chapter. Just bear through it, and there will be better things to come, promise!

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Chapter 18

Hermione reached over and grabbed a piece of parchment from the desk. She grabbed a quill and scribbled a note:

Harry and Ron,

Gone home. No big emergency; don't worry. I need to talk to you tomorrow, Harry. I assume you'll be at the Burrow for tonight? I will meet you two there tomorrow afternoon.

-Hermione

She folded the note carefully into a paper airplane and bewitched it to fly to her friends.

She opened the door and flung the plane down the hall, where it went merrily on its way.

Sticking her head back in the doorway, she said to Draco, "Come on. We need to get to the Quidditch storage room."

"Why?" Draco asked, still sitting in the chair.

"Because we need to fly off grounds, then apparate out of here."

"We?"

"Yes, we. Where else would you go? We don't want an overzealous wizard to try tracking you down at home. You're coming with me, and we'll figure out how to get you through your trial safely. Now get up."

Draco continued to stare at her. He finally stood up and walked over. He shut the door, and pushed her up against it. He stood with one arm on either side of her head, trapping her.

"Thank you, Hermione." He whispered, and pushed himself against her, hugging her against the door. "I'm sorry to put this all on you…I just don't think I could stand being there. I was frightened…I'm sorry I'm so pathetic."

His head was buried in her hair, his breath on her ear. He sounded close to tears. "I'm so glad your safe. Because I was such a coward…I made the wrong choice, didn't I? I should have gone with you. I should have been there to try and protect you. And in the end, even though I made that choice, you're still here to stand up for me. It's more than I should expect."

She put her arms around him, holding him tightly. She shut her eyes and breathed in his scent. It had only been weeks, but she had missed his warmth…even though she had tried to focus on the important tasks at hand. She had forced herself not to think about how worried she was about him, but every once in a while she would think "Is he being tortured right now, because Voldemort found out he helped me?" or "Is he dead, lost for the death eaters cause in some battle?"

She felt the tears come unwillingly, and her body shuddered with her tears.

Draco laughed through his own tears. He pulled her back a bit, his hands on her face, holding her like she was something precious. "What are you crying about? Ridiculous."

She smiled too through her tears, finding it hard to do both simultaneously. "I'm glad your safe, too." She was able to make her mouth say.

Draco nodded and pulled away from her, wiping his eyes quickly on a sleeve. "Stupid. We should get going, like you said."

She nodded, wiping at her own face. But new tears took their place. It wasn't just Draco she was crying for. All the stress of this year had piled up, and she found that once she let go she just couldn't reel it back in again.

"Hey, hey, calm down." Draco said, holding her shoulders and trying to comfort her. He used his sleeve to wipe at her face, too. The sleeve came away dirty. Great, on top of it all she probably was a mess from the crumbling walls, the intense battles, and, of course, from flying on a dragon. She cried a bit harder.

Draco looked lost. "What is it? Are you ok?"

"I'm. Sob. Fine. Sob. Its just…sob. So many things, all at once. I need a bath, I'm tired, I lost people I cared about, and now I could lose you to Azkaban? I need a break…sniff…"

"Shhh…" Draco shushed, his voice loosing its usual sharp edge and becoming soothing. He held her for a while as she cried. When she found she didn't have any tears left, he pulled away. "Let's go." He said. "We'll get you home, and you can get some rest."

Leaning heavily on Draco, she nodded. He led her out the door and to an exit around the back of the castle, near the Quidditch field.

The bodies had been cleared out here, Hermione was relieved to see. Her head spun at the thought of seeing another dead body right now.

Draco rummaged in the back in the Slytherin storage locker, while Hermione waited on the bench in the Slytherin locker room. She hugged her arms to herself. She deserved a small breakdown after all that she'd been through. She was just happy Draco was helping her home, because she did not want Harry or Ron seeing her like this.

Draco came out with an old broom, holding it with a look of disgust on his face. "Whatever. It will at least get us to the front gate. Old ugly thing."

It was amazing that Draco had gone from the one who was frightened to the one taking charge in such a short span of time. It was like something clicked once Hermione started to cry…

The ride to Hogwarts gate was short, but reminded Hermione of the trip to the cabin…

"Ok, it's your turn." Draco said as they landed. This time Hermione didn't fall on her face.

Hermione snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

"Were here, and I don't know where we're going."

"Right. Ok." She grabbed his hand. Very easily she brought them both to her living room.

She plopped down on her familiar, puffy brown couch and stared around her. Home. She was home. She thought she might never be back here.

"Where is your family?" Draco asked, walking around the room. When Hermione had sent her parents away and erased their memories, she had also taken down all the pictures of the three of them together. The room looked somewhat bare without them.

"I got them out of the way of all this…they don't remember me, for now, and are out of the country."

Draco looked over from the black television to her. He nodded. "Sounds reasonable." He sat down beside her. "But tough. You're a rather brave person, you know?"

Hermione leaned into him, and let out a long breath, trying to relax. She felt tense, still keyed up.

Draco put a hand across her shoulders, and Hermione slipped down so she was lying across the couch, her head in his lap. After some time his hand on her shoulder moved to her hair, and he stroked it slowly. It felt nice…comfortable and warm.

"You know, your hair is actually very soft."

"Hmm? Actually? Like you expected it to not be?" Hermione asked in a sleepy voice, yawning.

Draco chuckled. "Sorry. I guess I didn't used to see you as being as beautiful as I do now. Nevermind. Just sleep."

And she did.