"Where's Draco?" Hermione nudged Ron.
"Dunno...shouldn't we be more worried about Harry?"
There was a silence. And then a loud crack reverberated loudly in Ron's ears, as he felt the pain ringing in his cheek. "What the bloody hell was that for?!" he demanded.
She stared at him for a moment, and then shook her head in disgust. "I'm going to find Draco."
Ron groaned regrettably. "Hermione, wait! I didn't mean it-"
"You never mean it Ron, do you?" There was a tear threatening to escape by now, and she hid her face with her sleeve, sobbing silently. "I'm going!"
"'Mione, we have to stick together!" he threw his hands up in surrender, hoping she'd come around.
"Alone."
And with that, Hermione disappeared around the corridor, her sights set on Draco Malfoy.
She didn't dare call his name, for she was sure the word would get to the Death-Eaters reluctant to retreat. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, as she entered the Great Hall, now arranged as a sort of public infirmary for the wounded, and memorial for the slaughtered.
With each step, her fears lightened their grip considerably off her chest, yet every innocent carcass stopped her in her tracks. She paused for a moment, noticing the Weasleys off in a corner, Mrs. Weasley's head resting on her husband's shoulder as she wept.
'It's okay...it's perfectly alright...they're just waiting for Ron...they're waiting for Ron...' She told herself, as she inched towards them, suppressing the abysmal thoughts that forced their way into her mind. Finally, they noticed her. "Mrs. Weasley!" she started. "Ron's alri..."
And then she saw George, look up at her with tears in his eyes, blood streaming down his face. He was clutching a body. 'No...no...no!...it...it can't...'
And then Ginny was in her arms, refusing to look in the unseeing eyes of her brother, wallowing in the pits of grief, yet relieved to see yet another familiar face. "Harry? Is he..." her voice resembled a dying rose petal in its fragility.
And then she turned around to see the horror in Ron's eyes as he encountered the loss of Fred, his face as pale as a sheet of parchment. It didn't matter that he had been an absolute prat earlier. He was forgiven. What else could Hermione do? But she thought to herself what Harry must have went through, seeing all of the loved and departed simply strewn about that way. The guilt that Lord Voldemort tapped into easily, with the simple threat that sent Harry over the edge.
"Hermione?"
She was brought back to the Great Hall once more, the morbid thoughts pushed away again. Ginny was staring at her, decidedly brushing away the tears from her face.
"Did Harry...?" Ginny couldn't finish, the idea of Harry returning to the Forbidden Forest striking her like a clenched fist. And Hermione couldn't bring herself to contradict her, to admit that Harry did indeed head to the Forbidden Forest at Voldemort's request. She wiped away one of her own tears, and nodded.
"Hermione!" she was shaking her head furiously. "Are you sure?"
"I have to go, Ginny."
"Where are you going?"
Hermione gulped, remembering the real reason for her arrival at the Great Hall, and feeling awfully guilty about it. "To find Draco." She took a step forward.
"What d'you-!" Ginny started, taking a step back and bumping right into Ron, who was crying silently, his ginger hair matted to his sweaty forehead. "Ron!"
He embraced her fiercely, their tears mingling together in a wretched dance of bereavement.
Hermione began to walk away, trying not to think about the look in George's eyes, or tenderness of Ginny's voice, the tears running down Ron's face...
She looked down at her feet as she walked, refusing to steal a glance at the small cots scattered around, in fear of another death; another departed.
"Hermione?" a voice echoed to the left of her, and she heard fast footsteps down a corridor. "Hermione?!"
Looking up, her heart flooded with relief, despite the pain of previous events. "Draco! Where the hell have you been?"
He disregarded the words coming out of her mouth, for about the millionth time. "Hermione. I've been looking for you, everywhere!"
"Listen, Harry went to the forest." This time the words were whispered carefully.
Draco looked puzzled. "What do you mean? Potter, couldn't have..."
"We don't have time for discussion, I just wanted to make sure you knew! Where've you been?"
"Looking for my mother, but I couldn't find her, so I went after you? Anyways, the point is-"
She wrapped her arms around him swiftly, burrowing her head into the crook of his neck. Taken aback, he petted her hair awkwardly. "What's happened?" He didn't get an answer, and she instead sobbed silently into him. Draco sighed. "Well, if we both survive..." She broke away angrily. "Don't you dare say that!"
He smirked. "I was actually going to say, that if we do, maybe you'd want to...I don't know...do something together? It'd be nice to not have to be on the run all the time...Either way, I'm shocked. I mean, I didn't know you'd be so clingy...I know you can't resist me, but still, I suppose I'm flattered." He leaned forward, his nose barely skimming her forehead.
Hermione rolled her eyes for a moment, and then tapped her foot expectantly, one arm still wrapped around him. "Well?"
The smirk again. "Well, what?"
"Well, aren't you going to kiss me?"
The blush that arose in her cheeks did not go by unnoticed. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist this."
"I totally can't resist an unearthly pale, blond creature that tends to cry in bathrooms with the company of a moaning ghost." she said dryly, attempting to disentangle her arm from his.
His face suddenly became serious. "It won't matter if we're both dead."
Hermione frowned, Fred's unmoving face appearing suddenly in her mind. She pushed it away. "We're going to be fine. We just need to kill the snake, like Harry said."
He frowned as well, the look on her face filling him with remorse. "Here's to survival." Draco said instead, pushing up her cheek with his finger. She sucked in a deep breath. He smiled, leaning in to barely touch her lips with his.
"You have something on your nose." He whispered smugly, his breath warming her face slightly, expecting her to avert her eyes and indulge in embarrassing conversation. It was infuriating, quite infuriating for Hermione.
She sighed. "You have three seconds."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "Three seconds? For what, might I ask, Miss. Granger?"
"One." She started, leaning closer ever so slightly.
"Two. Three." He finished, an air of competence about it.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" She grabbed him by the neck, capturing his lips with hers demandingly, with a strangled cry. Surprised, Draco kissed indolently, his hands slowly moving to her waist. Her fingers progressed towards his hair, ruffling it fondly, and they travelled once again to his neck, and then rested his cheek.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON?!"
Breaking apart guiltily, they turned around, Hermione keen enough to pull her wand out of her pocket. Yet no one was there. Draco watched her amusedly, still breathing quite roughly himself, and wondering how she could remain composed enough to act quickly.
She walked tentatively into the Great Hall, Draco following behind her, his hand resting protectively on her shoulder.
There were only the silent bodies, and those nursing the wounded left behind. Everyone else seemed to graduate towards the courtyard, their wands in hand.
"NO!" Ginny's horrifying scream struck them both still.
Draco turned once to see Hermione's reaction, to stop the tears before they began to flow. But, Hermione ran.
"Hermione, no!" Draco grabbed her wrist, dragging her back forcibly.
"Come forth, to the side of triumph and power. Come forth, and I shall spare the lives of you and your families. I, the Dark Lord, am most merciful...Who might this be?"
With painstaking, but sure steps, Neville Longbottom limped over, his face set in a determined stare.
"Neville, no!" Ginny yelled. Her father was holding her back by the shoulders, a lone tear running down his own face. The crowd of Hogwarts students, teachers, and Order members wore ominous, hopeless faces.
Hermione wanting to hold her, hold Draco, hold...hold anything. She felt as if she could not feel anymore. She held Draco's hand, and he squeezed it. There was no need for words.
She couldn't remember what happened next. But she did hear, "I'll join you when hell freezes over!" erupt from Neville's lips, and she watched Neville crash into the pillars, with a flick of Voldemort's wand, his own lips twisted in displeasure.
And then she could see Harry disappear from Hagrid's arms for a moment, Hagrid gasping loudly as Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak over himself, Voldemort clueless to the whole phenomenon.
But nothing went by unnoticed, and the crowd cheered relentlessly, Voldemort silencing them immediately and looking around for the source of the commotion. His eyes landed on Ginny for a moment, and then shifted to Hermione, who didn't give him a second thought. Instead, her own eyes followed Harry, who tried his best not to knock over random items or run into anyone.
"Draco Malfoy."
His cold words cut through her like the sharpest of knives, the most unforgiving of curses.
"Draco, no!"
It was Narcissa's voice now. She looked worn and disheveled, her blonde hair stringy, and her black cloak ripped at places. There was a pleading tone in her voice, and she rushed forward.
Voldemort need not look. Narcissa was pushed to the ground, with less than a twitch of his long, white fingers.
"Dead, I see?"
It took a while to register with Hermione. But she felt Draco's fingers, which were intertwined tightly with hers, loosen. She felt him inch away from her. She watched him walk forward. She wanted to scream, shout, grab him and run. But she felt as though she couldn't move. Every bone, every muscle in her body went numb.
"How's the afterlife?" Voldemort asked nonchalantly, fingering the Elder Wand, Nagini at his bared heels.
Draco didn't answer. He knew what was coming. There was no need for unnecessary conversation. He'd planned this in his mind. The ultimate form of redemption. The last of the grey had vanished.
"Draco!" The words flew from her mouth finally. This couldn't, this couldn't be happening...
And then he fell, a horrible scream uttering from his rosy lips; his mother's wand still encased in his pale, bruised hands. And then Hermione was on her knees, shaking him violently, as though he were only in a deep slumber...he'd wake up eventually. And then she too collapsed against his body, her head resting against a heart that would no longer beat.
Author's Note- I hope you understand, that this had to happen. I honestly don't know what to say. Yes, this is the last chapter. Um...I hope you know that I cried when I wrote that last bit...envisioning it. Please don't hate me. Just know, that everything I said in that last author's note, I meant. I really do appreciate you all. There will be a sequel, as some of you guessed. If you can tap into the Hermione side of yourself, perhaps you can guess what the sequel entails. I'll post another "chapter" explaining what I'm doing with the sequel and other author-y stuff later. Goodbye, my dear friends. ;(