Don't own, don't make profit, it's all J.K.'s.

AN: It gets worse.

There was a darkness over Hogwarts. All the lights in the school seemed to be out, along the hallways and narrow corridors, especially, and in the dark Ginny and Ron couldn't see a damned thing. They could only hear as who they assumed must be Draco exited the Room of Requirement and headed away under a black cloud.

A black cloud…

"Ron, of course!" Ginny whispered excitedly beneath the invisibility cloak. Ron glanced down at her.

"What?"

"That's it, he's used some of those smoke bombs-"

"Nothing we can do about them, is there," Ron grumbled as they felt their way forward, slowly following the sounds of Draco and whatever entourage must be with him.

"Where are you leading us?" Ginny hissed and Ron stopped.

"After him!"

"No, Ron, we have to alert the DA again. We have to distribute the Felix. There's other things we have to do first-"

"Bloody hell," Ron swore, but he relented and they turned back towards their dorm, towards light and familiarity one last time.

Up in her lonely room, away from everything, Hermione thought she might go crazy. She couldn't hear anything up here, couldn't see anything from her window-

"My coin!" she suddenly gasped and dashed as quickly as she could over to her trunk, where she dug the coin from its depths. Of course, why hadn't she thought to use it to keep track of things tonight? And what did it say, now…

"Oh, hell," she whispered and sat back hard on her rear. It listed the time, but that was in five minutes, there was no way she'd make it there in that short a span. And the place…the hall leading away from the Room of Requirement. But surely, that wasn't the best they could do. Surely they could be more specific about where the action was. Damn it, how she longed for pagers at a time like this! Awkwardly getting up from the floor, she hurried back over to the window and gazed out it again. From here she could just see the very edge of the Astronomy tower. But with the sky so dark, not even a moon out…

And if there wasn't a moon out, what was that strange glow coming from above the tower?

A sudden noise reached her ears and Hermione leaned her head out of the narrow window in time to see the windows along one side of a castle wall explode outward. She pulled back inside quickly, her heart racing, her breath coming too fast. Shaking, she leaned against the wall. And now she could hear more noises. Was that a scream?

Oh, no. That was bad. That was very, very bad. If she could hear things all the way up in her room…

"Draco," she breathed and one hand crept to her belly again, then over her heart. So, Harry's instincts were right, and it had been tonight he chose to act. But Dumbledore had known that would happen. They'd had a plan in place for months, for a confrontation just like this one. She knew that, now. So why was she still so terrified?

He'd asked her to trust him, and she had. But now, Harry wanted her to trust him. Whom did she listen to? Heart pounding, she slid down against the wall to sit, legs stretched before her, face pinched and pale.

She waited, and two more screams sounded.

Another explosion, and then the coin clutched tightly in her hand burned hot. Hermione uncurled her fist and looked down at it curiously.

Astronomy tower, it now read.

She got up again.

Draco stared down his wand at the old man just feet away from him, knowing he was crying, hating himself for it, but knowing he couldn't help it. This was his goodbye to the old devil, this act of malice, pretending like he actually wanted him dead? He gripped his wand tighter.

"You don't understand, he'll kill me! My entire family!"

"Draco, it doesn't have to be this way. I can offer you protection. The Order can go to your mother tonight, take her in-"

"Please," Draco begged, breaking finally. "I don't want to do this. I can't-"

"Draco…" Dumbledore said, his voice warning him to stick to the plan. Don't give in now, his wise, crazy old eyes said. You've seen things through this far. You'll make it through one more terrible night.

"No, I won't," he breathed.

Dumbledore looked very much as though he wanted to respond, but then it truly was too late, and Bellatrix was beside him, coaxing him, mocking him all at once.

"Do it," she breathed in his ear. "Do it! You have him, make him beg for mercy!"

He didn't say a word, just continued to stare, grief stricken at the man before him as he felt his insane aunt put her hands on his shoulders, actually rub them, as if to give him a fucking pep talk. As if she cared. She'd just as soon see himself dead, too.

His aim wavered.

Draco knew Dumbledore was talking to Bellatrix, attempting to converse with her, but their words flowed right through him like smoke. He couldn't hear anything except a great rushing in his ears, the sound of adrenaline pumping in his system, keeping him standing just then, he was certain. Otherwise he was in great danger of collapsing from sheer terror. He'd never done anything so foolish in his entire life-

Wait, scratch that. He'd taken the Dark Mark in the first place, hadn't he. Tightening his grip on his wand, he swallowed hard and both wished very hard that the night would draw to a close soon and at the same time hoping it never would. Because then, at least, Dumbledore would be alive, even if it was a miserable half existence at the end of someone else's wand. Fuck his cursed hand and all. They needed him here, regardless of whatever bloody terminal illness he thought he had-

Snape was suddenly at his side, putting a hand on his arm, meeting his eyes as he flicked them up quickly to the other man.

"Draco."

"No helping him, Severus! This is his task!" Bellatrix screeched and Draco stared hard at Dumbledore as the two powers on either side of him engaged in their verbal battle.

I can't do this, he screamed at the other man, knowing he understood, knowing he could see it in his mind clearly. The old codger saw everything.

He didn't respond, but finally tore his eyes away from Draco to look at Snape and say one word. One plea.

"Severus."

Draco saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head just in time to see his professor's mouth shape the words, see the green light shoot from the end of his wand. But even though he snapped his eyes back to Dumbledore, saw him falling, he was frozen and could say nothing. Could do nothing.

So, it was over. Just like that. He was crying openly now, he knew, but he couldn't stop, and though Bellatrix was now cursing Snape for delivering the killing blow, she was laughing ecstatically. He felt Snape's arms about his shoulders, spurring him forward, down the stairs of the tower, back into the hallway, where they were suddenly engaged in battle again. But there was no rest for himself or Snape, no. The older wizard simply continued to hurry him away from the scene of confusion and smoke and screams.

Hermione, beat his heart and he prayed to whatever gods were out there that she was safe. She'd known of the final plan, had known that he would let Death Eaters in the school, but she hadn't known that Snape had to kill Dumbledore. Or maybe she had, she was smarter than any of them thought, they were always underestimating her, no matter how brilliant they admitted she was…either way, it was going to be a shock to them all, and to her especially. And after she'd been his these last two months. It had been so lovely, too, when he wasn't contemplating his dismal future as 'Death Eater until further notice'. Yes, she would suffer from the shock.

He should know, since he was suffering from it right now.

He felt Snape pull him around to a hard halt and smack his shoulder, his cheeks, give him a shake.

"Wake up, boy!" he hissed and Draco blinked stupidly at him. "We have to leave, now," Severus tried again and still only got that blank, tear-stained stare for reply.

Behind them, the sounds of battle grew closer as the other Death Eaters present started to catch up.

"Draco!" Snape shouted finally and Draco blinked again, drew his brows together.

"Go?" he said. "We have to…we have to go," he repeated. "Professor, the headmaster-"

"Is dead," Snape said curtly. "Now hurry!"

Draco realized his feet were moving of their own accord.

"I can't believe-"

"Dumbledore is dead!" Bellatrix sang as she danced past them, shooting curses behind her as she went. "Dead, dead, dead!"

"-he's dead," Draco whispered.

"Believe it!" Snape shouted again. "Now hurry, boy! They are coming for us!"

And then they were outside, scattering across the courtyard and down the hillside.

Right, coming for them, because he was now officially a bad guy until further notice. Until Potter got it together and killed Voldemort. And Hermione was no longer his, not really. Not with a separation like this…he paused, suddenly scared out of his wits.

"Draco-" Snape began to roar again and he pulled back.

"Hermione," Draco said, looking up at his mentor, his only protector now.

"Is safe here-"

"No, I heard her," Draco said, panic starting to bubble in his chest. "Just now, here. I heard her."

"We have to go."

"Hermione-"

And then it came again, the sound of her voice, echoing in the walls of the courtyard above them. She was shouting spells, disarming grown Death Eaters as best she could. Someone went down and he turned back, called her name, though he knew he should just listen to Snape and keep running.

She answered back, closer than he'd thought, and he searched for her in the light from the fires Bellatrix had been setting.

"Draco?"

"Hermione!" he gasped and ran to her side like some simpering romance novel wizard. "What are you doing-"

"Draco!" came the high-pitched, crazed voice of his aunt. "Severus, what have you done with our boy?"

Draco ignored her, went on. "Hermione, it's not safe here. You need to leave. I have to leave-"

"Draco-ooo!" came the cry again. He winced, but Hermione merely wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and tottered against him some before straightening up.

"Go. I understand," she said, and he rather thought she looked like a goddess just then, hair wild, stomach round and glorious, eyes flashing to meet the challenge, despite her internal terror.

"Draco," she insisted when he didn't move, "I'll be fine. I have your protection, remember."

He gave her a look that said he'd worry anyway, and that he loved her and was sorry, and then he was backing away and running again.

Hermione pressed a hand to her chest where her heart hurt terribly now and reminded herself that she was in the thick of battle. There was no time to waste. She turned back to the fray.

Draco reached his aunt in time to keep her from getting involved with the battle behind them again.

"Here I am," he called. "Just caught up- let's get out of here, please-"

"You're no fun," she pouted at him before drawing him to her side with an arm about his shoulders. She stopped mid-movement and her eyes narrowed. "Or maybe you are fun," she whispered, her voice colder than he'd ever heard it. "Just not the kind I approve of."

He stared at her hard even as he attempted to move them forward.

"Aunt-"

"Crucio! Crucio!"

The curse was out of her mouth before he saw it coming and he whirled about quickly to see what had caught her eye, what good Order member she was intent on having it out with. He was sick of this, of the pain, the anguish, he just wanted this night to end-

And he saw Hermione on the paving stones of the courtyard, motionless.

His heart contracted in his chest, his breath stopped altogether, and he turned back to his aunt, a woman he'd lived in terror of for so many years, intent on doing…something. Anything.

She was already dancing away from him, laughing gleefully once more, singing her evil song about Dumbledore. Already moving on.

"Draco!" Snape's voice reached his ears and he stood there, still as death, until the older man reached him. "Draco, come, we must go! Potter will only give me so long a respite-"

"Hermione is-" was as far as Draco got before his throat closed off again.

Snape looked behind him to where a group of figures was already gathering around a lump to one side of the courtyard. He paled and took Draco by the shoulder nonetheless.

"We must go," he repeated. "It is crucial-"

"Fuck crucial!" Draco cried. "I don't care! I can't do this, I can't leave her-"

"You can and you will!" Snape roared at him. "You cannot do anything for her! Leave her to those who can and do your part as you knew you would have to, no matter what!" He drew a deep breath. "It is what she would want," he finished, his voice softer, but no less dangerous.

Draco stared up at him angrily, face contorted, crying for what felt like the tenth time that night. Then he helplessly followed the other man away from the scene, casting one last, dismal glance over his shoulder.

He was certain she would never be his again.