They decided to make it in two weeks. It was enough to ready himself, Harry said, and Hermione had burst into tears. Harry was to meet Voldemort head-on in the Great Hall, and Hermione was to inform Draco of this at their next meeting so he could let it slip to the Dark Lord. By then, Hermione had revealed to Harry that Draco Malfoy was their spy. He had blown up at first, but then took it well and told her to thank him. This was all just so surreal.
Hermione walked into the Shrieking Shack, feeling slightly dazed. For the first time, Draco was not in there first, and she realised that she was early, also for the first time. Again, surreal.
Draco entered a minute or two after her, and looked surprised to see her. "Well, aren't you early," he noted. "How are you?"
Hermione shook her head. "Terrible. Harry is going to die." Might as well tell the world, now.
Draco's eyes widened. "W-what?"
"Harry Potter is going to die." She was numb now, from the inside out. She accepted it, she did; there was no other way for the devil himself to die.
"B-but he can't! He's got to finish what he's carried out!"
Hermione shook her head. "No. He was the leader. We elect another, and we can go on without him." Oh Merlin, it hurt so bad to say that. She didn't believe it, really.
"You can't really believe that," Draco said in disbelief. He'd read her mind. "You don't believe that! Why's he got to die?"
"I can't tell you. Just listen. I need you to tell the Dark Lord that we're going to move Harry to Hogwarts. It'll seem mental to him, but I know that he'll go there anyway just to get to Harry."
"Hermione—"
"Do it." Her strong voice held no room for arguing, and he could see the determination written all over her face.
Draco paused, his face morphed into one of disbelief, horror, and confusion. "I want to know why."
"Do it, Draco. I need you to do this for me."
"I've been spying this whole bloody time for you! Don't tell me I need to do a damn thing more!" he yelled. "Why is this happening? Your side is supposed to win!"
"Shut up, shut up! We are going to win! We just need Harry to be gone to do it!"
"But why? I don't understand! Enlighten me, Hermione!"
"No! Stop asking these stupid questions and just please do what I say! Please!" The desperation in her voice hit him hard. What the bloody hell was going on? "Please, Draco. Do it for me. You've done all this for me, just do one thing more." Her brown eyes were tearing, and he felt his heart lurch for her.
"Fine," he said. The Dark Lord would have found out anyway. He seemed to be getting more suspicious that Draco hadn't found anything good recently. "I'll do it."
Hermione closed her eyes to steady herself. "Good. Thank you." She took a deep, shaky breath. "Thank you. That's all."
She turned to go when Draco suddenly stopped her. When she turned, she saw his pale face looking tortured. "Kiss me," he said, and she complied. When was she going to be able to kiss him again?
They kissed desperately, and Draco pulled away, feeling himself get emotional. The torturous conflict in his body made his eyes well up. A tear dropped before he could stop it, and a torrent began. Hermione stared at him in shock, but was quick to cup his cheeks and ask, "What's wrong?"
Draco shook his head, trying to stifle his sobs. "I want to tell you so bad, but I can't."
Hermione's eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What? What is it? Tell me. You know you can tell me anything."
Draco shook his head, his breathing laboured. "I can't. They'll kill me. Kill me and my family." Another sob broke out, and Draco bit his lip. "I'm trapped, Hermione, I'm trapped," he whispered, desperate for her to understand, and Hermione could only hold him, her face betraying her feelings. She was alarmed.
"Shh, Draco, it'll be all right. Don't worry. This war will be over soon. Don't worry. Shh. Calm down." The soothing tone her voice took did calm his body, though not his thoughts. He loved her. He loved her.
Draco kissed her again before pulling away and wiping his face. "Thank you, Hermione." He couldn't do it. He couldn't break her heart. Not now, especially. "I want you to win." That was probably the only real truth he had ever told her. "I love you." And that.
Hermione nodded, feeling her heart surge. She was never so sure that she loved him than she did now. Ron was her past; he would always be a part of her, but Draco—oh, Draco—he would be her future. Even in these dark times. Hermione contemplated these thoughts as she Apparated back to the Burrow.
Harry met her outside, and Hermione held back her tears. She always wanted to cry when she saw him now. "Did you tell him?" Harry asked quietly. She nodded.
"He had the strangest reaction, too. He started crying."
Harry frowned. "That is strange."
"I would cry too, though," Hermione said, looking out at the horizon absently. Harry suddenly pulled her into a hug.
"I love you, Hermione, you know that?"
Hermione nodded, clutching him tight. She allowed the tears to fall.
"I know Harry. I love you too."
They embraced for awhile, until both felt their tears subside. Harry pulled back and wiped his grass green eyes—eyes Hermione would never see again—and tried a smile. "I'd better go see Ginny," he said, and Hermione nodded.
"Make a lasting memory for her," she said, and he just grinned half-heartedly before disappearing inside.
Hermione took a deep breath, feeling worn out emotionally. Dealing with the death of your best friend was the hardest thing to do, especially if you knew beforehand and there was no way you could prevent it. It made her feel so…useless.
A/U: Two chapters and then it's over! And how exciting these last two chapters are going to be, for me at least. Well, please review and tell me if I have any errors, grammatical, language-wise; it'd be rather embarrassing to show the whole world my story with errors, so please help me to fix it up if need be! Thank you, and don't forget to review! :)