Chapter 25

Hermione hated waiting. Patience was one thing, like when she was waiting to go away to Hogwarts, or to be able to read her first book by herself. But waiting when the result could be bad, terrified her. She had never let anyone know that about her; not when she had lost her first tooth, and definitely not the time where she freaked out before receiving her OWLs the previous summer. She viewed it as a weakness, and she hated of anyone thinking anything less of her. It was one of the reasons why she pushed herself so hard in school, because she didn't want anyone to find a reason for her not to be there.

But out of all the waiting she had ever done in her life, this was probably the worst it had ever been. She had been one of the last to arrive. Harry was seated beside her, as Ron huddled over his brother's bedside. In the flight, George had his ear hexed off by dark magic. And that scared Hermione far too much. Because George losing an ear meant that injuries were sustainable in the journey. And like George's lost ear, it could be permanent.

She wiped away a tear as she shook at the thought. She knew that they weren't invulnerable to death; they had just lost Dumbledore after all. But if George's ear had been lost, then what about the people who hadn't yet made it to the Burrow? What about Draco?

Before she could continue to worry anymore about him, there was a flash of light in the backyard. Her heart began pounding in her chest as she ran out to see if it was Draco and Bill. She exited the house to see Bill. He had few scrapes, but a couple of cuts here and there. Her eyes scanned the yard for Draco, but as they landed on the body in Bill's arms, she felt her heart stop.

Was he, could he, be dead? She fell to the ground and began to shake uncontrollably. No, there had to be another explanation. She knew rationally, he couldn't be dead. Logically speaking, it made no sense for him to have been killed in the battle. If Draco had died, then how had Bill managed to bring him back to the house?

"Oh Merlin! Bill, what happened? Is Draco alright?" Remus demanded as he saw the eldest Weasley child.

"He was attacked by a Death Eater," Bill said as he rushed Draco inside and placed him on another couch. Almost immediately, Molly pushed through the gathering crowd and began to examine Draco.

"What spell did they use?" Molly asked her son.

"I, I don't know. I couldn't hear," Bill said shakily.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Hermione demanded him. "And why is no one doing anything? Why isn't anyone helping him? He's going to die! Oh Merlin, he's going to die, isn't he?" Hermione began babbling.

Harry placed an arm on her shoulder. "Hermione, you should come with me," he said directly to her.

"What? No! Harry, he's so badly injured and I could help! How could you possibly say I leave? I need to stay!" she all but shouted.

"Hermione, there's nothing you can do. You're going into shock, and you won't be able to do very much for him if you do," Harry said gently. "Come with me away from here, and we can help with other things.

She wanted to argue. She wanted to kick and scream like an infant until she got her way. But she knew he was right, as much as it pained her to admit. She would do no good standing over him as she watched the life slip out of him. So she allowed one of her oldest friends to guide her away from Draco. As she left the room, she watched Molly, Remus, and the other Order members bend over Draco's limp body. She could only pray that he would be alright.

Harry seated her down in the kitchen as he poured her a cup of tea.

"Drink," he said simply as he handed her the cup. When she was hesitant to take it, he gave her a pointed look.

She took the cup from him, and took a sip. She stared out at the wall in front of her, trying hard not to think about the boy in the next room. She hadn't even noticed she was crying until a few tear drops fell on the table in front of her.

"He'll be okay, Hermione," Harry said after a while.

"How can you know that, Harry?" she sobbed. "How can you know any of us will be okay?"

He made his way over to her side of the table and sat beside her. He placed his arm around her and brought her into a tight embrace as he let her cry out her tears.

"Because I have faith," he said simply. "This is a war, and there will be losses on both sides. But trust me when I say that Draco will not be one of them, Hermione. Hell, he's become too much a part of our lives that I fear we may never be able to get rid of him, even if we ever wanted too."

She laughed through her tears. "He's really one of us now, isn't he?"

"He was even before he knew it," Harry said as he tightened the grasp on her.

"And he'll be for a long time," a voice said from the door. Both Harry and Hermione looked up to see Ron standing there. But instead of the annoyed look he usually wore when he talked about Draco, he had an amused expression painted on to his face.

Ron sat on the other side of her, and placed his hand over hers. "Trust me, 'Mione, he's not going anywhere."

"I see someone's converted to Team Draco," Harry said with a smirk.

"What? No! I mean he's a decent guy, I'll admit," Ron said grudgingly. "But I don't have to like him!" he added quickly.

She let out another laugh as she watched her two friends jest back and forth, as she re-realized why she loved both of them so much. They had so much compassion when they wanted to, and were definitely the greatest friends anyone could have.

"Thank you," she said sincerely to both of them. "You two are so wonderful, and I don't know what I would do if I'd never met the two of you."

"You'd probably be in less danger, and wouldn't be missing your final year of education," Harry said somberly.

"Harry!" Hermione said in shock. He looked up at her with alarm at her tone. "How could you say such a thing? Would you really trade everything we have been through together, for me living a different life? And before your hero-complex kicks in, think about this; I'm a muggleborn, in case you haven't noticed. So I'm not exactly safe anyways," she said as she looked firmly into his eyes.

She knew how much he hated endangering other people, but one of these days he would learn that it was not his fault a psychopath had decided to make him a target as a child. One of these days, he would learn that he had friends who could care less about endangering their lives to help him, and help bring down that smug hypocritical bastard.

"My family's a bunch of blood traitors," Ron offered. "So we're not exactly the safest lot either."

Harry gave them both a weak smile. "Well that's what friends are for, I guess."

Hermione took her turn to wrap her arms in a tight embrace over Harry's shoulders. "And we're with you until the very end, Harry."

"Always," Ron added as he gave Harry a smile, before Hermione pulled him into the hug.

"Uhmp," Harry said, in a muffled tone. "Guys…can't….breathe…"

Hermione took a quick second to appreciate the moment between the three of them, before ending the hug.

"Seriously, the two of you are awful sometimes," Harry grumbled, as he struggle to hide the smile creeping into his face.

Hermione bumped shoulders with him as she flashed him a smile, and Ron let out a hefty laugh.

She sat back with her two friends as she talked to them both. She wasn't sure how many hours had passed as the three of them talked about anything and everything. But every so often, she still found her mind slipping back to the boy in the other room. The room had been silenced so she could not even hear what any one was saying about it. All she knew was that they were doing everything and anything possible. So she continued to sit and talk to Ron and Harry about meaningless and light topics, as she did the thing she hated most, she waited.

"I can't believe that Moody's gone," a male voice spoke.

"I can't believe that that rat, Mundungus left him to die. Wait, scratch that, I actually can believe he would do such a thing. He's such a coward," another boy said furiously.

"When I find him, I swear I'm going to kill him," the first boy replied.

"He didn't want to be there, and he was scared. He did what anyone in his place would have done," The girl defended.

"No, anyone of us would have stayed. Anyone of us would have died!" The second boy said.

"Don't say things like that! We've already lost so much, I can't lose either of you too," the girl said again.

There was a pause before one of them let out a sigh.

"He's been out for a while. Do you think he's alright? They said that the major damage had been fixed, but what if something went wrong? What if that's why he's not up yet?" the girl worried, as she stroked his face.

"Mrs. Weasley said he would be out for a couple of hours. Just wait for a little while longer, and he should be up."

Draco felt himself slowly slip back into the world of the living as he listened to the voices around him. He enjoyed the feeling of Hermione's warm hand on his face, but knew that it was time for him to get up. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

"Morning," he said groggily. Almost immediately, they jumped as the Golden Trio's eyes landed on his conscious self.

Glancing briefly at the clock, he saw that it was the early hours of the morning. The trio were in their pyjamas, but from their tired faces, Draco guessed that they hadn't had much sleep. As he sat up, he noticed that he was covered in bandages, and quickly remembered that his own father had hexed him. Of course, his father hadn't known it was him at the time, but that didn't put him in any less pain.

Next thing he knew, Hermione had launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and began to sob softly.

"You stupid, careless, reckless, person," she cried out as she held him tightly. "Do you have any idea how much you worried me? I thought you died."

He wrapped his arms around her petite body. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

"I thought you died, Draco!" she repeated.

Unsure of what to do, he began to stroke her hair. He noticed both Harry and Ron watching the two of them with amusement. Harry elbowed Ron, and silently the two of them left the room.

Draco loosened his grip on her, so he could look at her. Her eyes were puffy and her face tearstained. He used his hand to gently wipe away her tears. He tucked a strand of curls behind her ear and cupped his hand around her cheek. She was looking down away from him, and it nearly killed him to see so much pain in her eyes.

"Hey, look at me," he said softly. When she didn't look up, he used his hand to gently raise her face until his eyes met hers. "Hermione, I'm alright, I promise. I am so sorry that I worried you so much, and I never meant to. If I knew how much pain it would have put you through, I would have tried even harder not to get hurt. But I'm here now, and I'm fine. And that's all that matters. I'm safe, we both are."

She nodded and struggled to put a smile on her face.

"You have no idea how scared I was. Seeing your body, so limp and lifeless, it was horrible. I began to wonder what would happen if you never woke up, and what I would do without you. Merlin, Draco it was absolutely awful. It made me worry about all the things I never said to you, and then how I may never be able to tell you. And I like you so much, to the point where I may even love you, even though I still barely know you. I know how stupid that sounds, trust me, but I-" she rambled before getting cut off.

Draco pressed his lips against hers without a second thought. He nearly exploded the moment she said she had feelings for him, and the only thing he could think of was how badly he wanted her, and how he wanted her now.

She seemed surprised at first, but she didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Her lips were soft and tender; full of innocence and sweetness. There were no words to describe the rush of emotions he was feeling.

As they finally pulled apart, he searched her face for any signs of regret or disgust. When he saw none he said, "I like you too, Hermione. I care so much for you, so much more than I though was possible."

"Ron, you can't just go back in there randomly! You should be knocking," Ginny scolded her brother as the he entered the room. He stopped suddenly as he saw Hermione wrapped up in Draco's arms.

"What if you interrupt- oh!" Ginny said with a squeal as she saw the two of them together. She flashed Hermione a knowing smile before glaring at her brother. "Come on Ron, we should leave," she said pointedly.

"You go without me. I have something I need to say to Hermione and Malfoy," Ron said with an undistinguishable tone.

"Ron," Ginny said warningly.

"I'll be there in a moment, Gin, promise," he said, without taking his eyes off the two of them.

Ginny hesitated before she left the room.

"Ron-" Hermione started, trying to explain.

Weasley held up a hand, "I don't want to hear it, nor do I think I'm entitled to hear it. Hermione, I care for you, but I also respect you and your choices. If he is what you want, then you don't need to defend yourself. But if he hurts you, then I will kill him, and so will Harry, Ginny, and every other Weasley."

Hermione smiled at him. Weasley had grown up so much over the past couple months, and Draco knew she was proud of him.

"Thank you, Ron," She said genuinely.

He nodded at her, before look at the two of them. "Keep in mind that there is still a war going on. Things change and people get lost. So if you want whatever you two have to work, you're going to have to fight for it," Ron said wisely before turning to leave the room.

Draco looked to Hermione, "When did he become so smart?" he asked, as he raised his eyebrows.

Hermione hit him playfully, "He's always been pretty smart," she defended. When Draco gave her a look, she sighed before replying, "I guess pretty recently. But on a brighter note, I think he just approved of us," she said with a smile.

"Us?" Draco asked her curiously.

She got flustered, and turned slightly red. "Oh! Sorry, I just assumed, with the kiss, I uh-"

He cut her off before she could get any more red. "I didn't mean it like that Hermione. I just like hearing you say it," he said as he kissed her fingers.

She smacked his chest lightly again, but quickly recoiled as he winced in pain. "Oh Draco, I'm sorry!" she squealed as he raised a hand to his chest.

"It's okay, just a bit sore."

"I probably should go before I injure you any more than you already are. Besides, it's late. You should get some sleep," she said as she stood up.

"Hermione, wait!" he called out for her, as he grabbed her wrist.

"What?" she asked, as she turned to face him again.

He pulled her body in near his, as he placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Goodnight," he said with a smile.

"Goodnight," she said back, breathlessly, before walking out the door soundlessly. He pressed his fingers to her lips and could still feel her on them.

As he watched her leave, he closed his eyes and felt himself get pulled back into the deep slumber.

"Lucius, what are we going to do?" Narcissa asked her husband. They were still in the library, but were no closer to having her son back.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? What if he's hurt? Oh Merlin, I'm his mother. I should have known he wasn't dead. What kind of parent am I?" she cried out softly.

She felt her husband place his hand on her shoulder. "Cissa, he's going to be alright. But we don't know what's happening. We don't know if he joined up with the Order by choice, or if he's being forced. So we can't do a single thing until we know more."

"And what happens until then? I'm sorry, Lucius, but once I get my son back, I refuse to let him serve that, that thing any longer. Did you see his expression when he found out Draco was dead? He was smug! That bastard was smug that my poor son was dead! And if you wish to serve him still, then I'm leaving you Lucius. I've had enough of that man ruling my life."

"And you think I haven't? But Narcissa, think of this logically. We can't just go barging down the Order's door and demand our son back. If the Dark Lord doesn't even know where they are, how could we possibly find out? We need to play our hand wisely. And if we're lucky, we can all get out of this unscathed."

"And then what, Lucius?" Narcissa demanded her husband. "Even if we make it out of this, I don't know if things will ever be the same between the two of us. We've been so separate for so long, how can we put everything behind us?"

"Because I love you Narcissa, and I promise to make everything right. But for now we have to wait."

Narcissa nodded. "Okay."