A/N: Thank you to Bree and SheekMartin for betaing this chapter for me and putting up with my nonsense.
CW: There is a bit of violence against an animal in this chapter, but it's not a good animal? I am not sure if that makes it better, but I wanted to give people a head's up because I would want one. Also DEATH. But, you kind of had to expect that one right?
Soundtrack- "Bloodsport '15" by Raleigh Ritchie
TWENTY THREE
.
"Do you have a plan?" Draco asked as he and Potter came to the edge of the forest.
"This is the plan," Potter answered in a monotone voice. He clearly did not want to talk.
Too bad.
Draco wasn't one of his little cowardly friends, he wasn't going to just do whatever Potter wanted because he had that ugly scar on his forehead. Draco had scars too, and he hadn't forgotten who had given them to him.
"Let me guess, a heroic fight to the death?"
Potter slipped his invisibility cloak off and tucked it back into his pocket. "Something like that."
"Please don't tell me you're going to try and use Expelliarmus on him again," Draco drawled.
"Stop talking to me, Malfoy."
Draco rolled his eyes, but continued on.
The forest was quiet in a heavy, eerie kind of way and Draco remembered why he hated this place for so long. After his completely age-inappropriate trip here as punishment in first year, Draco had eagerly avoided it until his fourth. Quidditch was canceled and flying was the only time he felt… that he didn't feel. Up in the sky, when it was just him and the sun, Draco finally felt like he could breathe easy.
And he didn't want his seeker skills to get rusty with a year off from matches while Potter soaked up more fame and glory in the Twatwizard Tournament so Draco had started taking his broom out over the forest. Diving into the canopy, darting in and around branches and trees, Draco had honed his skills.
Not that it mattered, not anymore. Flying and Quidditch were luxuries Draco couldn't afford even if the Malfoy vaults had still been full. It wasn't as if they were destitute, there would be plenty left for… He looked down at his signet ring. If he died in this fucking war, everything would go to Granger and while he didn't think she'd leave his mother on the street, it wouldn't be the life she was used to.
That is, if he was ever able to find her and bring her back home.
Would she even want to come back?
Ironic, that he and his father had the same plan for the people they loved, yet never included the other one in it.
Maybe he really was his father's son after all, doomed to follow the same path as the last two generations of Malfoys. He was doing as the Dark Lord had commanded and was bringing Potter to him after all, each step carrying them closer and closer to their respective fates.
"Hey, give me a minute." Potter turned and started walking into the gloom of the trees.
Draco went after him. "You might be used to other people doing whatever you say because you're the 'Special Sparkly One' or whatever the fuck they call you, but we have somewhere to be, Potter."
Potter rounded on him. "You might be used to other people putting up with your shit, but Hermione's not here to save your ass this time, Malfoy, so when I say give me a minute, you give me a minute." His green eyes flashed bright and Draco looked away quickly, rubbing his mark as it ached.
Draco didn't follow Potter this time and instead he twirled his wand in his hands, sighed loudly, then kicked at a root until it broke.
Potter was taking more than a minute, but… fuck it. Let him have it. He was either about to die or save the world so if he needed to puke his guts out or scream at the stars or… Hell, Draco wouldn't blame him if he just walked off and never came back. He would do the same thing if it wasn't for the pretty little witch waiting for him back at the castle.
He hoped she was still waiting for him.
The sooner this was over, the sooner he could get back to her. Draco was about to go after Potter, when he walked back out of the dark trees, his face no longer tense, but a odd calmness surrounded him.
"Okay," he said, his voice even and steady. "Let's go."
.
Hermione thanked Professor McGonagall, a little disappointed that she hadn't had been able to tell Hermione any more about breaking dark curses than she already knew, but at least she could say that she tried and Hermione mentally checked off a box in her ever growing list of things she had to do.
She pulled Draco's coat around her and sighed. No, it was more than a sigh, more like an extended exhale of exhaustion. Maybe she'd ask Professor Slughorn next. He had talked to a young Tom Riddle about horcruxes so maybe he could give her some information on them as well. Another thing to add to the to-do list. When she was finally done with it, she was going to let Draco carry her to whatever surface was closest and let him check off anything he wanted on his to-do list.
Hermione started giggling. She couldn't stop, it was as if someone had cast a cheering charm on her, only… she didn't feel cheered, she didn't feel much of anything except worn out from being up for almost 24 hours and doing all of the things she had packed into that time.
Good Godric, she was tired. There had to be a better word than tired, Hermione thought as she started moving through the crowd. Fatigued. Weary. Haggard.
She started to smile again as she thought of how Grawp always called Hagrid that. Hagrid… Hermione looked around. Where was he?
She turned to ask Harry, but… found him missing too.
Suddenly her exhaustion evaporated and the lion in her chest stood up, growling. Something was wrong. Something was…
Hermione looked for Draco. It was normally easy to find him due to his height and hair, but nothing was coming to her. He wasn't with Blaise and the wounded, or Seamus, Aberforth, and Dean who were halfway through a bottle of fire whisky. Silently Hermione said a thank you to the enchanted night sky above her for that before looking for him again.
She pushed her way through a group of people and back towards the head of the Great Hall where the dead were lined up. No Draco.
Of course not. He wouldn't be near…
Hermione's eyes went wide as fear wrapped a cold hand around her throat.
The whole Weasley family was still gathered around Fred's body, all but one.
Ron was missing too.
.
Draco felt a shiver run down his spine as he fell in beside Potter again. The temperature was dropping. He looked up, but the dark boughs blocked the stars above him, and even though he couldn't see it, Draco could feel it. Dawn was approaching.
"Where are you taking her?" Potter's question caught him off guard, but by his saddened tone he knew Potter was talking about Granger.
Draco worked his jaw. "Somewhere safe."
He could feel Potter's eyes on him, but Draco didn't meet them. The less Potter knew, the better. If this went south, the Dark Lord could very well plunder his mind, or have Snape do it since he outsourced his torture now. Draco wondered if all the times the Dark Lord had called on him to torture people for him it was because he wasn't strong enough to do it himself… Would the Dark Lord even be strong enough to duel Potter?
Scarhead was certainly ready. He seemed resigned to this choice, clutching his wand in his hand. It was Granger's wand. Draco still didn't like seeing something of hers being touched by someone else, but… that wand didn't really seem like hers anymore. He supposed Potter must have won it over.
It was strange, feeling how the cores changed allegiances.
His own felt different now that he had been sharing it with Granger and the image of her casting fiendfyre with his dark hawthorn gave Draco a sense of pride. He always liked watching her use his wand, and it seemed that it liked it too.
He reached down to the holster on his thigh and found it… empty. Draco stopped walking. His hands darted to his pockets, eyes scouring down his body as he tried to see it sticking out of somewhere, but his wand was…
"FUCK!" Draco shouted.
Potter spun around. "What's wrong?"
Draco ran his hands over himself again. Knowing it wasn't on him, but unable to stop looking for it. How could he have been so fucking stupid? How could he have lost his goddamn wand?!
"I'm unarmed," he muttered, hands starting to shake a little, remembering the last time he had it in his hand and he stuck it into the pocket of… shit. "I don't have my wand."
"What?"
"Hermione has it," Draco snapped, wanting to take some of his frustration out. "It was in my coat and I gave it to her."
Potter just stared at him, face blank in shock.
"Don't fucking look at me like that. It's been a bit of a busy night for the rest of us and we don't get to call timeouts like you do."
Potter blinked. "You called her Hermione."
Shit.
Wait, was that a bad thing? That Potter heard him?
Yes. No.
Sort of.
It didn't fucking matter.
Draco straightened his back. "We need to keep going."
"You're going to walk into Voldemort's camp without a wand?"
Draco smirked at Potter's stunned face. "They're not going to attack me. Especially not when they see who I've brought to dinner."
Potter's eyes darted over Draco, and he had the vague sense that Potter was checking for other weapons.
High above their heads, the first bird began to whistle out a song.
Draco raised his brows expectantly. "What, you thought I was doing this out of the goodness of my pureblood heart?"
Potter frowned. "I thought you were doing this for Hermione."
That shut him up. Draco exhaled, clenched his jaw, and started walking again. They were close now.
"It is for her," he muttered after a few long moments. Potter, for the first fucking time ever, didn't seem to have anything to say. But Draco didn't want to be alone in his head right now. It was cold and empty and… the white walls seemed to be bearing down on him the farther they got in the forest. "What was she like?" Draco asked. "Last year, after I… left."
Potter took his time answering, looking off to the side and almost… smiling. Draco glanced over, but there was nothing and no one in that direction. Weird fucking Gryffindors, smiling for no fucking reason.
The expression fell from Potter's face. "She was quiet. She didn't talk much and spent even more time than usual reading, which for Hermione is—"
"Yeah." Draco blew out a breath, lifting the white hair from his forehead for a moment.
"I tried to talk to her, but she just closed up," Potter added.
Draco didn't have to wonder what that was like. He was plagued by too many images of Granger curled up as small as possible on the bed, on the floor, by his desk. He had changed his mind. He didn't want to hear this anymore.
"She cried when she thought we weren't listening," Potter went on, either unaware or uncaring that Draco was highly uncomfortable now. "I don't think she ever stopped caring about you and I think… that made it harder for her."
"Stop." Draco had meant for it to come out as a growl or at least a snap, but instead it was rough and ragged, torn from his tightening throat.
Potter pulled on his arm, turning Draco to face him. "Don't do that to her again."
"I'm not leaving—"
"Don't break her heart," Potter said darkly, dangerously. "She's forgiven you, which is more than you deserve, Malfoy. So whatever you've told her, to get her to do that," he leaned in close and Draco saw the resolution in every line on his face, "don't let it be a lie."
There were half a dozen things Draco wanted to rattle off in Potter's face. That he didn't know shit about Granger, not really. That Draco didn't need relationship advice from an orphan no one had ever loved. That Draco hadn't been lying, and yes, bringing Potter to the Dark Lord would assure that Draco wasn't marked for death come the morning, but no that's not why he brought him out here.
He brought Potter here because…
Because…
Because he was scared shitless that if he fucked up again Granger wouldn't forgive him this time and not having her, that was… Draco's lids fluttered and he swallowed dryly. That wasn't going to happen. He saw what a life with Granger under the Dark Lord would be. Granger would be locked away and in turn, would lock him out of her heart. She'd be in his clutches, but never in his arms.
That's not what he wanted. Not anymore. Now that he knew how it could be, really be, with her, there was no choice, and really, never had been.
Not that he wanted one.
Draco only wanted her.
He knew he didn't deserve her, not after what he had put her through, but Draco was a selfish fuck and he hadn't come this far, hadn't done all that shit, not to get exactly what he wanted.
"Then don't die, Potter," Draco grumbled.
"What?" Potter stopped midstep.
Draco turned to face him. "So you can explain to her why I brought you out here. This is all your fault, Chosen One." He waved his arm around, pointing back at the direction of the school. "You've got to explain to her that this was your idea and I only came out here to help you."
Potter just stared at him for a moment then moved around Draco to start walking again. "You can tell her yourself, Malfoy. She trusts you."
Draco stared at Potter's back, not entirely sure what to make of that, but feeling a little… pleased about it.
Potter spun around. "And tell her…" he let out a low breath. "Tell her thanks, for all her help." Draco noticed the circles under Potter's eyes looked a darker shade of bruised than they normally did and he seemed like he was swaying a little as he stood there. "I couldn't have done this without her."
Maybe it was time they started moving again. Draco took a couple of steps, slowing his stride to make it easier for Potter to keep up.
"Yeah," Draco muttered. "Neither could I."
.
Hermione paused as she reached the grounds, looking around for some clue as to which way Draco and Harry might have gone. Were they together? She knew why Harry would go, but Draco? Hermione couldn't imagine him leaving her behind unless…
Her mind spun with a million different questions, but she knew that she already had her were together, but whether Draco had followed Harry or led him out was the one thing she couldn't quite decide on. Draco would do anything to keep her at his side, but did that include leading Harry to his death?
But he promised! Hermione's throat felt tight and she fought against the swell of emotions rising up in her. Yes, Draco had promised he wouldn't kill or cause Harry's death, but Draco had broken every promise he'd ever made her.
Yet she couldn't help but think that there was something she was missing, like a page torn from the last chapter of a book.
Hermione shrugged Draco's coat further onto her shoulders and started out across the grounds. Was it foolish to come out here without a wand? Yes. Was it madness to think she would be able to find them in the dark? Of course. Was it insanity to think she would be able to stop either one of them from doing whatever their stupid boy brains had convinced them was the right thing to do? Absolutely.
It didn't matter, she had to try. She'd never forgive herself if she didn't try. So Hermione plucked up her Gryffindor courage and headed out into the darkened grounds of Hogwarts. The most direct route to the forbidden forest was by Hagrid's hut. It would make sense they would have gone that way in order to get under the cover of the trees as quickly as possible. Harry did have his invisibility cloak, but she hardly thought both Draco and Harry could fit under it.
Half of Draco's legs would still be visible and she doubted he would ever let himself close enough to rub elbows with Harry. The thought would have made her laugh if it wasn't her best friend and her… boyfriend who were missing the middle of a war. Hermione tried to organize her brain, pushing more and more things into the towering piles at the back of her head.
She was jogging over the expanse of open ground when she saw something painfully bright out of the corner of her eye.
For a brief moment she thought it was the rising run, but when a wide swath of flames licked up at the night sky Hermione recognized the unnatural movement. It was fiendfyre, and lots of it.
Biting her lip and unable to stop her curiosity from getting the better of her, after all, maybe Harry and Draco had gone to help? Unlikely on Draco's part, but she couldn't take the risk of not investigating here before braving the forest alone.
It didn't take long for the stench to hit her and when it did Hermione stopped running, choking on the foul smell that she had breathed in. She covered her mouth with the back of her arm, trying to rid herself of it. As she breathed in, Hermione was hit with the strong scent of crisp mint and creamy parchment. She closed her eyes for a moment and her lip throbbed as her heart beat a little faster. She wished Draco was here, his arms around her, whispering heavily in her ear that… that…
Hermione wasn't sure what she wanted Draco to say to her right now. That she was wrong. That he would never hurt her. That he was here, with her, and it would be just the two of them soon, just like it should always have been.
But it wasn't. Hermione was alone and as much as she'd like to stay hidden behind her eyelids, she had things to do.
Hermione opened her eyes, squinting against the searing flames, barely making out the long shadows of people moving coming into focus against the blinding light of the fire.
"MORE! Get them all!" A familiar voice called out and Hermione coughed as a wave of smoke passed by her on a slow breeze. A shadow moved through the smoke, turned, and headed towards her. "Hermione?"
She held up a hand in greeting while coughing heavily into the other. The fit finally subsided as Ron came to a stop in front of her.
"What are you…" His voice trailed off as his gaze fell to the black coat swamping her. Ron's expression hardened and she felt the magical fire behind him blaze hotter. "He's here?"
Hermione squared her shoulders, but still felt small inside Draco's oversized coat. "You haven't seen him, have you?"
Ron's brows lowered and he pointed a finger back to the fire. "If I had, he'd be on that pile with the rest of them."
It was then that Hermione noticed exactly what was burning—bodies. Dozens of them, some still moving, writhing with the flames that were melting the flesh and charring the bones, leaving only the metal masks to fall into the embers below.
"Oh God," Hermione whispered. They were Death Eaters, the enemy, but still… The barbarity of what was happening to them was almost too much for her to take. She looked away, horrorstruck, and found Ron's blue eyes, the reflection of the light dancing in them and making them look like blue flames.
Ron… Ron would do that to Draco too, if he had the chance. He'd said it to Draco and now had told her. She still didn't like that Draco had left Ron behind, but she had to shield her eyes from the brightness of the burning bodies and when she closed them she could see Draco there, his face distorted, but his hand reaching out to her. For her.
Hermione took a step back from Ron.
"Where is he?" Ron gripped his wand. "Hermione, where is Malfoy?"
"I don't know," she said quietly, suddenly feeling very cold as Ron stepped in between her and the heat from the fire. "Really, I don't know where he is." She wasn't lying, but Ron didn't trust her anymore. He matched her steps, for every one she took backwards, he took one forward.
"You're wearing his bloody coat!"
Hermione tucked her hands into the pockets and something cool brushed along her fingers. Draco's wand… She had Draco's wand. Her fingers grazed over the hilt. It made her feel a little better, having this piece of Draco within reach, but also it gave her a strange sense of surety.
Hermione shook a few tawny curls back. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I know where he is."
"You're lying," Ron spat. "You're lying to me for him."
She had half a mind to pull the hawthorne out and jinx Ron for that. "No, I'm not," Hermione said, annoyed. "That's why I'm out here. I'm looking for him. He and Harry are both missing."
Ron stopped moving. "Harry?" His red brows furrowed, the skin around them edged in white while the rest of his face reddened. "Good Godric, Hermione! How many of your friends does he have to try and kill before you wake up and see that he's not on our side?! Seriously, how thick are you?!"
The lion in her chest roared, filling it with heat strong enough to combat the fiendfyre flames behind Ron. Her expression must have reflected it because Ron shook his head.
"If he does something to Harry because of you—"
"He won't!"
"It will be your fault."
The words rocked through her, shocking her. The wind shifted, blowing a few fallen curls into her face and taking the smell of burning bodies from her. The collar of the coat blew up, shielding her face and for a moment she could smell the creamy parchment of Draco surrounding her.
Parchment… so easily torn, so easily burned. Which would be worse? Draco burning or… having him ripped from her. Forever.
She wasn't going to let either of those things happen. Not while she could still fight. Hermione raised her chin and her fist closed around the handle of the wand. She felt it respond to her, wanting her to use it. "You're wrong, Ronald."
Ron shook his head. "Not about him, Hermione. I just hope you realize that before it's too late."
Hermione had enough. She didn't want to hear Ron's skewed perceptions, didn't want to see the bodies burning, didn't want to be here when Draco was somewhere out there. Hopefully, not leading Harry to his death.
Was there some truth to what Ron was saying?
There was only one way to find out. But when Hermione turned to start back towards the forbidden forest, she saw the red light of dawn streaking across the sky.
And right below it, rising up from the top of the trees was a large skull with a snake slithering out of its mouth.
Ron looked at the school behind them and she saw his shoulders tense as he saw the dark mark in the sky. He didn't even turn back to her, instead he shouted at the others helping him burn the bodies. "They're coming!" he shouted, his voice strangely reminding her of both his brother Percy and his mother at the same time. "Get back to the castle!"
The Death Eaters were coming, did that mean… Was Harry… Goodness she wished Draco was here with her right now.
Ron turned back to her. "Are you coming?"
Hermione pulled out Draco's wand and followed him back up to the school.
.
Draco leaned against the trunk of a tree and watched Potter just stand there with his eyes closed and his arms at his sides, about to walk out of the cover of the trees and into the presence of the Dark Lord.
This was his plan? Really? It reeked of Gryffindor martyrdom.
He wanted to get this over with. The sooner Potter killed himself, the sooner Draco could move onto the next part of his plan, which included him and Granger and no one fucking else.
His mark buzzed and burned under his skin. Normally when the mark was active it was blindingly painful, but Draco barely felt it. He was pretty sure that wasn't a good sign, but he wasn't going to worry about that right now. If it wasn't hurting him, then great, one less thing for him to worry about.
He had been following the call of his mark for a while now, guiding him back to his master like a lost dog and once Draco had realized where the Dark Lord had made his camp, he felt sick, his insides coiling up in revulsion and disgust.
It was the clearing across from the Lake, the one Draco had flown Granger to and… Another wave of nausea rolled through him, thinking about Death Eater boots trampling the mossy ground that he had first felt the stuttered fluttering of his heart when he watched her coming from his tongue and knew, knew, that something had changed.
That no amount of fucking Granger would ever get Hermione out of his head.
And the Dark Lord had taken that small, private space over, leaving only the memory of daylight streaming down through the branches and dancing across Granger's face.
The clearing might have been defiled, but Draco would keep the memory safe, locking it up behind white marble walls in his mind where nothing and no one could touch it.
He could hear them through the trees, the Dark Lord and his army. Draco's nerves were humming anxiously. He hated waiting here for whatever Potter was doing to be done.
Maybe he was making his peace. Maybe he had fallen asleep.
Draco could feel the tired pull of his own muscles. He leaned harder against the tree, feeling the rough bark bite into his arm through his shirt. His coat would have been thick enough to stop the uncomfortableness, but Draco was strangely thankful for the sharp prick of pain. It was keeping him alert.
Dawn was just under the horizon.
Draco pushed off from the tree. "Potter."
"I know," he said quietly, eyes still closed. Draco waited, expecting him to do something. Anything. But Potter just stayed there. "You'll stay with me?"
Draco looked around. The way Potter said it, the soft soft, the kind tone, made Draco question if Potter was talking to him. But they were alone here, in the dark wood.
Draco shifted his weight. "Not that you have any reason to trust me but I promised Granger she could stay until you were… gone. I'm not going to fuck it up now."
Potter opened his eyes. He was calm, in a I'm-about-to-die-and-I'm-okay-with-it kind of way. It made Draco uneasy. He didn't want to die; he wanted to live. Wanted to spend the rest of his life with the one person he cared about making it to morning alive.
"At least I won't have to listen to you talk much longer," Potter sighed. Draco twisted his mouth into a cruel smirk and held out his hand. Potter looked down at it, glasses slipping down his nose a little. "I don't want to hold hands, Malfoy."
Draco snorted. "Your wand, Scarhead." Potter's eyes shot up to his. "How's it going to look if I am wandless and my prisoner is still armed?"
Potter hesitated, then pulled out Granger's wand and handed it to Draco, handle first. "Are you going to give it back?" His distant tone let Draco know Potter wasn't talking about himself.
Draco's hand closed around the grip, feeling slightly better and slightly… worse having Granger's vinewood wand in his palm. Yeah, he'd give it back to her.
Once he knew she wouldn't use it on him.
Draco ran his fingers over the twisted vines, noting for the first time the small bumps and grooves that were tiny thorns sticking out every few inches. It felt different this time, and he could sense the magic in it coiling when he turned it on Potter.
"Incarcerous."
Potter grunted as the ropes bound his hands, pulling his shoulders back and making him stumble a little. Draco expected him to say something, to complain, but Potter just shifted his feet, working to balance himself without the use of his arms.
Draco prodded him in the back. "Get moving."
They entered the clearing and Draco pulled himself up to his full height. No more slouching, no more sulking, he had returned to his Master victorious. He should be proud.
"My Lord," Draco had to stop himself from cringing; he sounded just like his father. "I swore that I would hunt Potter down for you." He pushed him forward and Potter stumbled, barely staying upright. "As promised," Draco drawled, "here he is."
He was rewarded with shocked gasps and furious whispers from his fellow Death Eaters. Bellatrix stared at him, her dark eyes bulging from under her heavy lashes. Draco flashed her a sardonic smile then let his face fall back into cool impassivity as he met the Dark Lord's crimson gaze. He found it dry and muted, heavy lines that had never been there before were now cutting through the pale skin.
The Dark Lord looked more dead than alive.
Draco dropped his head, staring down at Granger's wand in his hand. Would she ever want to touch it again, knowing that it had done this to her best friend? He could only hope she would believe him when he told her the truth.
He glanced up to see the Dark Lord gazing curiously at Potter who was staring right back. It seemed they were having some sort of private conversation which made Draco begin to feel nervous. If the Dark Lord cracked into Potter's skull, he'd see the real reason Draco brought him here.
Draco searched the ranks of Death Eaters for Snape, but didn't see his godfather among them. He was never far from his Master's side these days and Snape was the one who had told Draco how important it was that Potter face the Dark Lord, so where the fuck was he?
"Harry Potter," the Dark Lord hissed, his voice thin and worn. "The boy who lived."
"Going to try and kill me again?" Potter said and Draco was a little surprised by the anger in his tone. "Think the seventh time's the charm?"
The Dark Lord's slash of a mouth turned down.
"Insolence!" Bellatrix cawed, straining forward, but not moving any closer. "How dare you speak to Lord Voldemort like that?!"
"Bella." The Dark Lord held up one long finger in warning and Bellatrix shrunk back as if he had turned his wand on her. "I admit, Harry Potter has been able to run and hide from me before," he went on, and eyes the color of dried blood locked on Potter. "But I was right in placing my faith in Draco. He promised me the boy and has delivered. Well done. Lord Voldemort will reward you above all others for your loyalty."
Draco dipped his head again, throwing a smirk at Bellatrix who had turned a foul shade of green in her disgust.
"Thank you, my Lord."
"Unbind him."
"My Lord?"
The Dark Lord repeated the command, this time inside Draco's head. "Unbind him!"
Draco waved Granger's wand and the ropes fell from Potter's wrists.
"Anything you wish to say?" The Dark Lord sounded curious, as if he was truly interested in Potter's last words.
"Neither can live while the other survives," Potter quoted. "But I have lived. I've lived, and loved, and had friends and family. My life may have been short, but at least I had one. You'll never have any of that. I'm not scared to die, but you'll spend the rest of your life terrified that someone will find a way to end it." His voice rose louder and Potter looked better than he had in months. He looked strong. He looked… alive. "So do it! Kill me like you did my parents. You'll still never know what being alive feels like."
The Dark Lord's eyes flared bright red and then he shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Potter fell to the forest floor.
And so did the Dark Lord.
Bellatrix shrieked and ran forward to him, but all Draco could do was stand there and look at the dead boy at his feet.
His arm gave an involuntary jerk and red sparks shot out of the wand, narrowly missing Potter's scarred head.
They were dead. They were both dead. Snape had been right, they had killed each other. It was… it was over. He couldn't believe it. Draco felt held in suspension, staring down at Potter who was… dead. He thought… Even though shrewdness and practicality had told him that Potter wasn't making it out of here, still he believed that… that… that this wouldn't happen.
Bellatrix was wailing, kneeling by the Dark Lord's body when he snapped, "I do not require assistance!"
Draco's heart kicked into high speed, thundering as the Dark Lord slowly rose up, looking frightfully around at his Death Eaters.
Oh fuck. He was alive. Lord Voldemort hadn't died and Draco had… He looked back down at Potter's body.
Draco had done exactly what he promised Granger he wouldn't. She was never going to forgive him for this. He had tried, he had tried to save them all and he had… failed.
"The boy… Is he dead?" The words were slow and slithering and he barely registered them as actually spoken.
Draco felt his heart cracking in his chest. It was breaking apart, all the little pieces slicing into him like frozen glass. Granger. He had lost Granger. The white walls in his head shook, threatening to come down and stone him to death.
"Tell me! Is the boy dead?!"
Without thinking, without feeling, Draco kicked out, landing his black boot against Potter's abdomen. He didn't react. The only thing that happened was Potter's invisibility cloak fell out onto the rotten leaves.
"Yes, Master."
"Make sure."
None of this felt real and Draco leaned into that thought as he pointed the vinewood wand. The curse slithered out of him, bright red light striking out at the body.
Draco remembered quite well how it felt to crucio Theo to death. He remembered when the life slid out of him and it was just the body jerking from the curse. No matter how much Draco drank, he could never quite forget that feeling.
It was not what he felt right then.
Draco nearly dropped Granger's wand in surprise. There was life inside the body again, he could feel the moment the heart began to beat as his curse coiled around it.
Potter was alive.
Instantly Draco recalled the curse, pulling it into his own arm, grinding his teeth together until he thought they would break to keep it going just long enough so no one would suspect Potter was in there. Potter's body still jumped, but when Draco finally ended the curse it lay still again.
He couldn't feel it, not even the ache of his mark burning under the skin. Draco looked down at his arm.
"Nothing…"
"You see?!" The Dark Lord shouted out. "Potter is dead by my hand!"
Death Eaters roared, celebrating their Master's victory, but were drowned out as Draco's heart thumped in his ears.
Every plan Draco had ever come up with had failed and to be honest he didn't have a plan at all right now. But he did have a promise to a girl—his girl. And he was not going to fail her.
The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed into slits and he raised his wand up over his head. The skull and snake shot into the sky, illuminated by a rising red sun.
Draco looked back down at the body, no, at Potter. Because somehow, someway, he was fucking alive. Again.
The war would continue and they would go on, killing and dying until there was no one left. Hermione would never leave, not now and not if Potter was just going to come back after every time he died. Maybe he really was the Chosen One after all, but Granger had made her choice. Him. Draco. No one else.
He flexed his arm, a bit of a numb, warm feeling coming back to it as the black brand moved rapidly against his veins where his blood was pumping sluggishly as the nerves came back to life.
One last chance and Draco wasn't about to waste it. Potter could use his to defeat the Dark Lord or get himself blown up, Draco didn't give a shit. He got what he wanted, and this time, he was going to keep it.
He knelt down beside Potter and swiped up the cloak.
"My deal with Granger was until your death," he murmured under his breath. Potter's eyes swiveled under his lids. "You died," Draco growled. "She's mine."
.
Hermione moved as fast as she could in the crowd. Years of rushing from class to class and maneuvering around meandering students in the corridors in order to have enough time to set out her books, quills, and parchment before class began served her well now. She slid in between groups of students, professors, and… goodness, the entire Puddlemere United quidditch team.
"Why, Miss Granger!" Horace Slughorm called out as she expertly navigated her way past his portly stomach. "Is Harry with you?" he asked, looking around expectantly.
Hermione opened her mouth to answer, but found it too dry with nerves in order to do so. She shut it and shook her head, ducking away through the mass of people making their way through the entrance hall and out into the courtyard.
She had long since lost Ron, but right now finding him wasn't a priority. It wasn't even in her top five things that needed to be done on the ever running list in her mind.
Too bad the list kept changing and rearranging itself every two minutes to adjust to whatever she was hyperfixing on at that moment. Through all of that mess and all of this chaos, somehow, Draco kept shoving his way to the top.
Hermione finally made it outside and started pushing people out of her way in her effort to get to the front.
And to whatever, or whoever, waited for her there.
Her steps were light, almost as if she didn't trust the earth underneath her feet not to open up and swallow her whole. The sun had risen, breaking through the clouds to cast long rays of pink, yellow, orange, and gold across the sky. The smoke and dust still circulating in the air gave it all an opalescent sheen that muted what would have been a riot of color into dull, tired shades.
Below the defeated sunrise was a line of Death Eaters marching towards the castle. Hermione was careful not to trip over the rubble and debris scattered around the courtyard and picked up Draco's coat to keep it from snagging on anything. She balled it in her fists as she scanned the line of Death Eaters, not sure if she was hoping to see Draco's face among their numbers or not.
But what she couldn't help but notice was the large form of Hagrid walking out in front of the Death Eaters, carrying… carrying…
No…
Hermione felt like her heart was giving out at the sight of Harry limp in Hagrid's arms. Her throat closed so tight it hurt and her vision blurred with tears. Draco's coat fell from her hands, the black wool pooling at her feet. She wanted to sink into it.
"NO!" Professor McGonagall called out, her voice strong, yet weak at the same time. Hermione saw her streaming forward before Kinglsey Shaklebolt reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back into the relative safety of the Hogwarts defenders line.
"Harry Potter," Voldemort announced, his pet snake coiling itself at his feet, "is dead!"
Cheers went up amongst the Death Eaters, a few shot off dark marks that hung in the air before the sun's white light turned them into smoky wisps.
Hermione felt the words rock through her. She had known this was a possibility, but knowing it and seeing it were two very different things. Harry's glasses were broken and perched crookedly on his nose. Tears streamed down from her eyes and turned cold before they reached her chin.
Voldemort continued, but Hermione could barely hear it over the ringing in her ears. How did it happen? Was Harry scared? Was he alone?
No… Her tears stopped. Harry hadn't been alone, he had been with Draco. Draco, who promised her that he wouldn't hurt Harry, wouldn't do anything to cause his death.
Then, Draco must have led him straight to it.
Hermione finally looked away from Harry's body, searching along the line of Death Eaters for a white blond hair that stood above the rest. She couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it. The truth was right in front of her, but the facts didn't line up.
Draco had said all of the things he had done had been for her so why would he do the one thing that she had asked him not to? She felt uneasy about it all, like she was reading a translation that wasn't quite correct.
She was missing something.
Either way, she needed to find Draco and she needed to find him now.
Hermione moved through the crowd again, making her way to the edge to try and see into the depths of the Death Eater lines. Maybe Draco was somewhere back there, maybe he had his mask on. Maybe he was looking for her right now too.
Of course he was. Draco wouldn't let her out of his sight if he could help it so he was certainly searching for her the same as she was looking for him. Draco wasn't going to let her get away from him, not now that he finally got everything that he had wanted.
"Just you and me. Like it should be."
"It'll be better once he's gone."
"I'd do something stupid to keep you with me."
Hermione bit her lip. Had this been his plan all along? This was what he had always wanted, to take her away and keep her all for himself. Draco had done terrible things to get to her before, could he have done this too?
After all, Draco had just left Ron for dead less than twenty four hours ago. He had told her that he wanted Ron dead, that he hoped he would be killed. And Ron had shared the same sentiments with her about Draco. There was no love lost between them, but… things were different with Harry!
Draco had let Harry go in the woods when he could have handed him over to Voldemort. He could have ended the war months ago with one small choice, but instead had killed Theo because…
Because of her.
Because he loved her and she, stupidly, loved him back. She thought showing him how things could be between them had started to make a difference, that maybe Draco realized there was another way, another world, in which they could actually be together.
But Draco had never cared about the world, only her.
For a few painful seconds Hermione felt like her heart was breaking. At least it was still beating, unlike Harry's and in that moment Hermione swore she would use every single second until it stopped to fight against the person who had killed him.
If Draco had broken his promise, she could break hers too. Even if a weak part of her wanted nothing more than to sink into Draco's arms and let him tell her that… that all the terrible things she was thinking weren't real. That he would never have hurt Harry because that would mean hurting her. She wanted to believe he wouldn't do that.
But hoping wouldn't change the truth and it wouldn't bring Harry back either. Hermione gripped the hawthorn wand in her hand and took a shaking breath. Harry might be gone, but she wasn't going anywhere until this war was over.
There was just Nagini and Voldemort now. She watched him walk out in front of his loyal followers, pontificating about the nobility of his cause and regretting the magical blood shed. Hermione felt her anger heat inside her, pumping her so-called dirty blood rushing into her head. She didn't need to pluck up her courage this time, she was ready to fight. She wanted to fight. She wanted—
Something brushed behind her and before Hermione could turn, a large hand clamped over her mouth. At the same time a strong arm encircled her, pinning her wand arm against her side as it pulled her back against something solid. A thin veil appeared in front of her and Hermione knew at once she was underneath an invisibility cloak.
A low, relieved breath ruffled a few of the dried curls by her face and Hermione was engulfed in the crisp scent of mint.
"Hello, Sweetheart."
Hermione struggled, fighting against Draco's hold, but his arm only tightened around her and he yanked her firmly back against himself. He kept his head bent low, mouth at her ear, in order to keep their feet hidden under the cloak, but it didn't matter. No one had even spared her disappearance a thought because Neville was limping forward, walking out to meet Voldemort.
"Harry did die!" Neville cried out and Hermione's heart gave a painful thump hearing the words. "But he died for us!"
"You think you can stop me? The prophecy is fulfilled; the only one who could kill me is dead!" Voldemort let out a high laugh. "You, boy, are no one."
Draco's soft chuckle in her ear at her efforts to push him off only made Hermione try harder. "This isn't the time or place for you to be rubbing your ass on me like that, but don't worry, pet, it will be. Just as soon as we get out of here." His lips dragged along the shell of her ear.
Better a broken promise than a broken heart, and best of all, a broken rib. Hermione jerked her elbow back, making it collide sharply into Draco's side. She heard a soft grunt of pain and then his hand slid down from her mouth to her throat, fingers digging in and squeezing hard enough that her breathing became labored.
"That was our deal, Granger," Draco whispered darkly. "You fight until Potter dies. And I played my part, right up until the end."
"Played your part?" Hermione whispered hoarsely.
Draco ran his nose up the side of her face. "The dutiful boyfriend. Now it's time to play yours, Sweetheart."
She struggled against him again and while his arm around her middle cinched harder, the one at her throat loosened enough for her to ask, "And that is?"
Draco's fingers curled, clawing at her torn shirt and lifting it just a bit so that his skin touched hers. "Mine," he growled. "All mine. No one else's."
He was pulling her backwards, Hermione tried to dig her heels into the ground but slipped on his oversized coat and fell back against him.
"That's more like it. Be a good girl now and don't fight me."
Hermione's eyes burned with steaming, angry tears. She wanted to be with Draco more than anything, but not like this. Hermione looked back at the courtyard and could barely make out Neville holding something… Good Godric, was that a sword?! She felt Draco pause and tense behind her and then…
Someone cried out, "Look! It's Harry!"
Hermione gasped. Harry was on his feet and running!
He was alive!
Hermione let out a screaming cry of joy and triumph. Harry was alive! He was tearing towards Voldemort who looked upon him in terror.
"To me! To me! Protect your Lord!" Voldemort ordered and Death Eaters swarmed around him as the Order and Dumbledore's army rushed forward.
She saw Ron leading the charge and all she could think of was that they had one more chance to destroy Voldemort. One more chance to win.
"Fucking hell!" Draco snarled. Hermione had moved so quickly he was grabbing at her, trying to hold onto her and keep her with him.
"Let GO!"
"Like hell!" He yanked her back, almost knocking the air from her lungs with the force in which he pulled her into his chest.
His hand snaked its way up to her throat again, but Hermione was ready and pulled her chin down just in time to latch her teeth over the first knuckle of his hand.
Draco roared out in pain as she bit down and reared back, pulling the cloak off the both of them. "You sneaky little—"
Hermione turned to run, but before she could even fully lift her foot from the ground, Draco grabbed onto her ponytail with his uninjured hand. She felt like her scalp was on fire for a moment as he pulled her back by her hair. He grabbed her wrist, twisting it behind her back and pinning the hawthorn wand in her hand between their bodies.
"If you think you can leave me now, then you're not the brightest bitch of your age or whatever the fuck they call you."
Hermione ground her teeth together. "I'm still smarter than you!" she spat and cast a non-verbal knockback jinx. It hit them both equally and Hermione was flung forward as Draco was shoved back from her.
Her hands hit the ground, broken stone cutting into her skin, but Hermione kept a tight grip on her wand. It had almost been ripped from her as Draco's great black coat was pulled from her shoulders.
She glanced over her shoulder to see the coat still gripped in Draco's fist. He threw it to the ground, eyes turning as hard as iron and for just a moment, she felt a heavy push on the front of her brain and she felt his presence pushing down on her mental image of Harry, alive and running.
"Don't you dare," Draco growled.
"Don't leave me again," his voice echoed in her head.
The sound of that word nearly broke her resolve, but she wasn't going to break her promise. She told Harry she wouldn't leave him and if this was the end, then… then she hoped Draco would be by her side. Fighting. For them.
"Please…"
Hermione bit her lip and tasted Draco's blood on it and then, she swallowed. If she wanted to be with Draco, to try and make this actually work, despite everything, then this was what she had to do.
Hermione scrambled to her feet and ran into the fray, firing curses ahead of her.
.
That fucking—
"Granger!"
Draco pushed himself up, boots scraping across the rubble strewn ground before he had even straightened up completely. He tore through the empty space, chasing Granger into the battle that had broken out.
Furious didn't even begin to cover how he was feeling. There wasn't a word strong enough for this bitter, corrosive feeling spreading through his chest. He watched Granger disappear behind as a blaze of green light blinded him, cutting cleanly through the space between them.
Draco cursed.
Loud.
His chest burned for a second, then turned cold as the muscles seized and his scars pulled tight, feeling like they were cutting into him again.
When he tried to fill his lungs again, they emptied immediately, not even holding the air in long enough for him to gain anything from it. Draco's chest burned, the scars felt like they were searing into him, cutting deeper than ever before.
When he caught Granger, not if, but when, he was going to make that cunt pay.
She promised him. She fucking promised him that she would leave and now she was running from him again.
That filthy little liar!
Draco felt like he had run headfirst into a wall as the realization hit him. Is this how Granger—Hermione—felt every time he had… let her down? Lied to her and betrayed her trust?
Fuck.
She wouldn't have run from him if he hadn't given her a reason to in the first place. Maybe she would have even waited in the woods for him yesterday morning like she was fucking supposed to if he hadn't broken every promise he made to her.
Fuck.
Draco slowed, his throat burning as he sucked in and huffed out air too fast. He spun around, looking for Granger and the sudden change made him dizzy. He needed to breathe.
He needed her.
"GRANGER!" Draco shouted, but his voice was swallowed up by the sounds of battle; curses streaking, stone crumbling, and people screaming.
A giant fucking spider was heading towards a Hufflepuff Draco recognized from his year. Finch… something. He'd never bothered to learn the guy's name because… he was a Mudblood.
Draco slashed Granger's wand through the air and four of the spider's legs went flying. It gave a sickening shriek, the remaining legs curling up as the bug rolled onto its back, unable to flip itself over.
The Hufflepuff looked around for his savior and when he saw Draco standing there, he fired a hex in his direction.
Draco blocked it, sending it pivoting towards the twitching spider and sneered as he pushed on frantically searching for Granger.
His blood was rushing through his veins, heart beating so hard it hurt. He felt his mark moving, but it didn't ache as much as it normally did. Either the Dark Lord was too weak to properly call them or…
Draco tried not to think about what Blaise had told him, months ago, about the damaged nerves. He tried not to think about how many times he had taken his wand to his arm since then either.
Looking down at the twisting snake a thought occurred to Draco.
If his master was calling him, then he needed protection. There was only one person he was afraid of now—the boy who just wouldn't fucking die.
And where the Chosen One was, Granger wouldn't be far behind.
Draco flexed his arm, hoping to feel… something.
It didn't matter. Everything would be fine once he had Granger again.
"Don't worry, Sweetheart," Draco whispered under his breath and headed deeper into the battle. "I'm coming for you."
.
Finally, for the first time in her life, Hermione's overthinking was paying off. She moved through the chaos, firing off spells and blocking curses before the light had even left the caster's wand. All her training, all her studying, all her hard work had been building to this and Hermione was in her element.
She had the battlefield mapped out in her mind, knowing where friends and foes were. She jumped in to help Padma when a Death Eater began to bear down on her. A well timed Bombarda had him crashing backwards into the side of the castle. She didn't know if he was alive or dead, but didn't have time to check. Hermione only shouted to burn the body before sprinting away, searching for Harry in the melee.
But she couldn't help but look around hoping to catch a glimpse of blond hair as well as black. She knew Draco wouldn't be far behind her. It was another reason Hermione kept moving. Along with trying to find Harry and lend him her support, Hermione was trying to dodge those strong arms enclosing around her again. Even if a small part of her wanted to feel them and hear his deep, commanding voice in her ear again.
There would be time for that later.
Hopefully.
If they won, no… when they won, because win they would. Harry was alive, despite Draco's best efforts. Or… maybe because of them? She really didn't know anymore.
All Hermione knew was she had to keep fighting.
Casting a conjunctivitis curse at a giant, Hermione ducked underneath his foot as the giant roared and smashed his fists into an archway, causing it to cave in.
People screamed as the stone came crumbling down and she saw Ginny pulling Luna, who was watching the giant rage with a mild interest, out of the way.
The giant's great steel shod shoe came crashing down on a Snatcher. The bottom half of his body disappeared under the giant's foot and the Snatcher's protesting scream was cut short as blood erupted out of his mouth, nose, and eyes.
Hermione closed her eyes, wincing, but only for a moment. Her mind was already telling her where to turn, what to block, and when to run. There was a small line of Death Eaters, dueling the more advanced members of the Order. In many ways, they seemed to be evenly matched, so Hermione rushed towards them, hoping to tip the scales.
Professor McGonagall's wand was moving so quickly through the air, she looked like she was conducting a symphony only she could hear. Mr Weasley's spells were so powerful, that even when they hit shield charms, they pushed his opponent back half a dozen feet, if not knocking them down entirely. Aberforth was casting curses Hermione had never even seen before and Hermione thought might have been his own inventions. She made a mental note to ask him the incantations after the battle.
Hermione added her support to the Order and soon the Death Eaters had broken, running, hiding, and disapparating. She had hoped that Voldemort would have been somewhere behind them, maybe even Harry fighting against him, but when she rushed forward, it was only more skirmishes.
Automatically, she looked for Draco, hoping to see him, standing a head taller than anyone else. She wasn't sure if she was nervous or relieved that she couldn't find him. Honestly, she wasn't sure what side Draco would be fighting on.
She wasn't sure that she wouldn't dive straight into his arms if she saw him again.
Even though she had run away from him, Hermione fought herself on each step. She wanted to be here, helping Harry, but… she wanted Draco too. Maybe she should have asked him what really happened. If she had, he might have fought beside her. Or he might have knocked her out and thrown her under the cloak and hauled her off somewhere where it was just the two of them.
Oh my.
She couldn't think about that or about him anymore. Not until the war was over. Won, Hermione reminded herself. She didn't let herself get distracted by thoughts about Draco. She needed to focus, but in a cruel twist of fate, her overactive mind wouldn't stop thinking about him now.
If he wasn't here, where was he? Was he hurt? Was he… hurting other people? Draco's eyes flashed in her mind, as hard as granite, but right before his expression darkened he had looked…
"Don't leave me again… Please."
Hermione took a deep breath and raised her chin, pushing Draco's pleading into the back of her brain. She had a war to fight, and it wasn't the one between her head and her heart. Anyway, she knew which would win in the end. Hermione had made her choice, weeks ago, while she was bleeding on the floor of Malfoy Manor.
And Draco had made his. She knew whatever he had done, he had done because he loved her. And that's why she was doing this too.
For Draco.
For Harry.
And for herself too.
.
Draco dodged what he could, but the chaos felt like it was closing in on him. He'd fallen over a dead body and twisted his knee when it hit a broken wing of a stone gargoyle he was pretty sure had once been sitting on the north tower. What the fuck was it doing down here?
Nothing made sense. Granger was gone and he couldn't seem to complete any other thought before rounding back to this one.
Blood trickled down his leg, but Draco kept moving forward. She had to be around here somewhere. Glancing down at his mark, he let the snake guide him through the melee. It wasn't much, but it was his only lead on Granger.
He'd gone after less before.
It was impossible to get his bearings with so much going on around him and Draco wanted to run, flee from the disarray of broken lines, screams of curses, and groaning bodies that were starting to move again.
Oh shit.
His chest tightened, a cold fist gripped his heart, and Draco used all the air in his lungs to shout "GRANGER!" one more time before he started to choke on the smoke swirling around the courtyard.
He stopped, just for a moment to catch his breath and heard a familiar hiss, followed by a bellowing voice.
"Gerroff me, you stinking serpent!"
Hagrid was struggling with the Dark Lord's giant snake, trying to pull her from his body. But Nagini was coiling fast, wrapping her large body around his shoulders and neck, squeezing tighter until the roars died in Hagrid's open mouth as he fought for air.
The lack of oxygen didn't stop him though and Draco clenched his jaw as he heard bones breaking wherever the half-giant's hands tore at the snake. Draco wasn't sure when exactly he had started moving towards the pair, but his boots hit the ground deliberately, bringing him closer with every heavy thud.
But he was moving too slow. His knee shot cold pangs of pain up his leg every time he put weight on it and Draco soon found himself slowing.
The snake was too tightly coiled around Hagrid's massive body for Draco to be able to cast anything from afar. He didn't want to miss and hit the wrong one.
The wrong one? What was he going to do once he reached them? Which one was he going to attack?
Draco suddenly thought about the guard in the Ministry. The one he had sent the not-very-venomous snake after. The guard was alive, probably, but at the very least in St. Mungo's after his ordeal, and Draco… Draco was here, running towards another snake.
Because even though he didn't want to admit it, deep down he knew which one he was after.
Draco was almost stunned by the fact that now, Hagrid—Dumbledore's idiot oaf, wasn't the one he was charging towards. What in Salazar's name was happening to him?
But, before he could try and figure out exactly when his mind had changed, Draco had to dodge one curse and cast a protective shield around himself to stop another. This battle was out of control and the sooner he could find Granger, the sooner he could get the fuck out of here and to somewhere where he could breathe.
Fuck this shit.
He was almost there when Hagrid gripped the snake and Draco heard the snap of bones and scales. The snake answered with a harsh hiss and coiled tighter.
Hagrid's face was purple beneath his black beard, mouth still open, but no sound was coming out. All he did was stumble forward a few feet, and then he fell. Draco slid to a stop, heart pounding and lungs solid. Hagrid wasn't moving.
Draco stopped moving too. His leg throbbed as he stood there, breathing heavily, trying to maintain his grasp on the little bit of control he still had over himself. Everything else was too much, too fast, and it threatened to break down the fragile white marble walls in his mind.
Nagini hissed again as she started to unwind, slithering her broken length from around the body.
Another body.
Everyone was dying.
Everyone but him—the Dark Lord. He wouldn't die until all his fucking horcruxes were gone.
And there was one right in front of Draco.
He raised the vinewood wand over his head and let his fiendfyre dragon fly.
.
Hermione covered her mouth with the back of her hand, coughing as the smoke cleared. The air was still filled with the smell of burning hair and Godric… cooked meat. She gagged, pulling herself together just in time to send another stunning spell at a dark body running through the haze.
People ran, humans ran. Those… things, they didn't. They stumbled, they crawled, they kept coming, until the flames found them.
Voldemort had called his Death Eaters to him and as the Order battled them, they fell, only to rise again in service of their master.
She tried not to picture Draco like this, tried to keep the image of him with only half a face, the other side smooth, white bone, out of her mind.
But before she sent curling whips of flames out, Hermione made sure she could see their faces. Or hair. Or height and build. Anything to tell her that it wasn't him.
Wasn't her Draco.
She didn't let herself think about what she would do if she did see him among the inferi. Instead, she let her Gryffindor spirit and the lion roaring in her chest guide her. Instinct and hours of training took over and Hermione found herself pushing the line of dead back.
They were getting closer. They were winning.
There, through the wafting smoke, she could see Voldemort, spinning around frantically as he called Death Eaters to his defense.
Harry faced him, holding the sword of Gryffindor with both his hands. When a curse flew at him, he brought the sword up, deflecting it and sending it back into the half-formed line of Death Eaters.
Hermione could see blood on the sword along with a few inferi missing arms or legs, struggling to still answer their master's call.
She lifted her chin, straightened her arms, and… Goodness, spread her legs. Once she was grounded, Hermione sent streams of flames spinning towards the inferi, driving a few of them back and charring the ones that were closest to Harry. He nodded to her, green eyes as bright as emeralds, and then pushed on, fighting to get closer to the center of the fight where Voldemort was hiding behind his followers..
Letting out the breath she hadn't known she was holding, Hermione quickly sucked in another. A weight felt like it had been lifted off of her, but her work wasn't done yet. Voldemort still had supporters keeping him protected. No one could even get close enough to wound him.
But then, Voldemort gave a furious cry, baring his teeth as he forced his wand, the elder wand into the air, churning air and calling down clouds from the sky. But what could have made him turn his attention from the battle? Then Hermione saw it, in the smoke heavy sky, was a dragon made of white flame.
Even though she had never seen him cast it, Hermione knew that was Draco's fiendfyre. It… looked like him; a long, aquiline face with smoking grey eyes and strong legs whose bulging muscles made Hermione shiver. The dragon rose up, beating its wings and sending waves of scorching air down on the people below.
It was a sight, terrible to behold, but it was what the fiendfyre dragon had in its claws that made Hermione gasp.
Nagini, the last horcrux, was twisting and hissing, trying to strike out at the dragon but only burning herself as she did. Her body twisted, but the more it moved, the more it burned.
Voldemort was gathering the smoke and ash, trying to smother the white flame dragon, but it swooped low, arching its neck down to close its jaws around the neck of the snake. Its flesh burned and the fangs dripped poison that evaporated right off of them and curdled in noxious steam until the head fell from the still twisting body and landed at Voldemort's feet.
Smoke wafted out of the snake's open mouth, making it look like a poor substitute for the beast that just slew it.
Voldemort's wrath was quick and deadly. He pushed forward, outside his circle of Death Eaters and aimed his wand at the first person he encountered—Minerva McGonagall.
She stood tall and proud, her lined face set with determination. That was, until the arcing green light hit her in the chest, making her stumble back one step, two steps, and then she collapsed onto the ground.
Hermione wanted to scream, wanted to cry, but the words died in her throat. It was Harry's voice that filled the air. "You COWARD! Fight me! ME!"
"Oh I will, but first, you will see everyone you love… die." Spinning around to address his servants, Voldemort snarled, "Finish them."
There would be no more mercy and could be no more mistakes. Hermione fought the urge to go to McGonagall's body and to mourn her favorite teacher, but that is what they were expecting and hoping for. Hermione wasn't going to make this easy for them. She pushed the sharp pain back into the messy pile in the back of her head and focused on the task at hand.
Professor McGonagall would have wanted it this way.
Hermione was fighting harder than she ever had before. Her mind spun faster than she was able to keep up, but Draco's wand jumped to attention, obeying her as easily as her own ever had. She struck down one Death Eater with a stunning curse and sent a second crashing back into a fallen stone pillar.
Hermione was just about to head towards Harry when she felt something latch onto her leg. When she looked down the pale hand of an inferius had her ankle in its clutches. She shot a severing charm at the hand and kicked it off of her, chills creeping over her skin from where it had touched her.
At least it wasn't someone she recognized. At least it wasn't someone she had spent six years in classes with.
At least it wasn't Draco.
Pulling herself together, Hermione plunged on, trying to get to Harry. He didn't have a wand and while he was fending off the Death Eaters with his sword, he wasn't making much progress towards Voldemort.
The longer the battle raged, the more people died.
That's what Voldemort was counting on. He was going to let the Order and his Death Eaters tear themselves apart because he knew that his second army would rise and there wouldn't be enough left of the resistance to fight them.
No.
She wasn't going to let that happen.
Not to her friends and certainly not to Draco.
Hermione fought her way closer to Harry, sending spells flying at the Death Eaters between him and Voldemort. And she wasn't the only one pushing harder. Padma was whipping her wand around, her long black braid twisting in the air and let loose a stream of curses at a group of Snatchers who were trying to flee. Tear trails cut though the ash on her face, but her dark eyes were gleaming sharply as obsidian.
Percy Weasley had caught up with Rookwood, the Death Eater he had chased off of Fred's body, and was dueling him while berating him about poor work performance at the Ministry.
"And you never, NEVER, replied to any memos on time! How hard is it to send back a simple 'yes'?! HOW HARD, ROOKWOOD?!" Percy flourished his wand and Rookwood went down.
Hermione dodged a stray spell and ran into the thick leg of a giant. Her mouth fell open as she looked up to see only a few broken teeth as the giant roared down at her. She raised her wand, but a herd of hippogriffs descended on the giant, tearing at his smashed face and slashing at him until the giant retreated, blood and bits of hair falling heavily onto the ground as the hippogriffs chased after him.
In the wake of the giant's thundering footsteps, Hermione could hear shrieking laughter. Bellatrix was dueling a handful of people and she was enjoying it. The witch was just toying with the people in front of her and Hermione's stomach flipped when she saw that one of those people was Ron.
Face red and shoulders tight, he fought aggressively against Bellatrix. Ron had spent more time than any of them practicing and it was clear that all those hours were paying off.
"Not bad for a boy whose balls haven't even dropped yet!" Bellatrix cackled, but Ron wasn't phased. He didn't waste time trading biting comments with her, that wasn't his style. Ron was a man of action and he let his wand respond for him.
Hermione saw his lips move, his arm lifting the curved wand high, and flinched when the sick green light shot from the end of it, hitting Bellatrix and stopping her manic laughter.
She looked shocked for just a moment, and then she fell face-down into the dust and ash.
The battle seemed to pause and a few Death Eaters shrinked back from the front, as if the death of Bellatrix had marked a turning point. If someone as strong as Bellatrix could be killed, any of them could be killed and they were able to see first hand what they turned into when they died.
Fires burned in random spots around the courtyard and charred remains were scattered alongside bits of Hogwarts. Hermione looked around, starting to worry that there hadn't been any sign of Draco. She knew he wouldn't have fled without her, but she couldn't find any evidence that he was still… here. She refused to consider the alternative.
With the Death Eater line thinned out, Harry started to close in on Voldemort, talking as he got closer.
The other duels started to die out as anyone still standing crowded around, knowing the final fight was approaching.
Harry was talking about Snape; that it was Snape's patronus, a doe, that he saw in the woods. That Snape had always loved his mother, Lily, and had been working against Voldemort since before the end of the first war.
Goodness. Draco had told them Snape was still working to help the Order, but Hermione could hardly believe the details of what Harry must have learned from Snape's memories.
"You say you are the master of the elder wand, but tell me this, is it working for you?" Harry asked. "Does it bend to your will the way you imagined it would? Or is it right now, fighting against you, fighting to get back in the hand of its rightful owner?"
"I care not that Severus Snape was a spy. He is dead and it was I who killed him. That is all that matters. The wand is mine!"
Harry's dark hair ruffled in the wind and Hermione could clearly see the determined look on his face, one she had seen many times.
"It's not, Tom," Harry said calmly. "Because it was never Snape's. I was there that night, on the astronomy tower. I was there when Dumbledore died."
Hermione felt shock strike her so hard that she felt every other though fall to the wayside.
Oh God… No… Not…
Voldemort looked unnerved by what Harry said, his upper lip curling back and red eyes narrowing dangerously.
Hermione felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck prickle, she glanced back, but no one was there. When she turned back around, she caught Harry's eye as he glanced her way.
He had stopped walking and held the sword of Gryffindor put in front of him. "The elder wand took a new master that night."
Hermione's heart skipped a beat, stuttered to start, then skipped another, leaving her lightheaded when Harry said, "Draco Malfoy."
.
Fuck this shit.
Fuck these people.
Fuck this war.
He'd killed the goddamn snake and thought it might buy him some goodwill with the bloody Order, but nooo.
Draco had been spotted by fucking Cho Chang of all people who led her group of girls right at him.
He wasn't really concerned until Chang sent a stinging jinx at his groin, and Draco had to jump back to avoid what was sure to be a most uncomfortable sensation.
He guessed she was still holding onto some resentment that he never talked to her after they hooked up at the end of fifth year. She had needed a rebound and he had wanted to forget that Granger had made better marks on her O.W.L.s than he had.
"Get him!" Chang shouted and Draco, outnumbered five to one, retreated. He dodged what he could and blocked the rest as he ran, limping and cursing his knee with every other step.
He was almost back where he started and no closer to finding Granger who was more likely to run from him than to him at this point. Which made the discovery of Potter's invisibility cloak lying on the ground where he left it a stroke of luck Draco thought had long run out.
Granger couldn't run from him if she couldn't see him.
In fact, it made moving through the battle a lot easier than it had before, as long as he hunched over so his boots didn't show too much.
He moved relatively quickly now, unimpeded and headed in the direction of the Dark Lord and Potter. If Granger wasn't there by now, she would be and as soon as she did, Draco was going to take her and get out of this hellhole. Granger would come willingly, either by her choice or his imperius curse.
If she was breaking her promises, he would break his too.
Everyone was so entranced by Potter and the Dark Lord's lover's spat that no one even noticed the strange empty space moving through the crowd, but Draco had spotted her. Granger's tousled curls were a mess and all he wanted to do was run his fingers through them.
He almost did, but then she turned as if she knew he was there. Draco froze. Then Granger turned back around, leaving her back undefended.
He was just about to grab her when he heard his name.
"Draco Malfoy."
It was Granger's sharp gasp that shocked him back into reality.
Voldemort was staring at the wand in his hand and the last few lines of the conversation caught up in Draco's head. The elder wand… It was… his?
Everyone was looking around for him, whispering his name over and over and Draco felt sickeningly exposed and half expected people to see right through the thin layer of the invisibility cloak.
If it was real and if it was his, he would be able to do anything he wanted. The power that wand held was legendary.
If he wanted, he could simply walk up there and take it, and with it, everything he had ever wanted. He would be unstoppable.
If he wanted…
But what he really wanted was standing right in front of him, biting down on her lip and looking worried as her big doe eyes searched the crowd for him.
What a good girl.
Draco was almost smiling when the Dark Lord started to laugh. "Draco Malfoy? He is a loyal servant of mine. Come forward, Draco! Your master requires your service."
There was a deadly glint in his red eyes as Draco watched him scan the mass of people. There was only one service the Dark Lord would require of him now and Draco's nerves seized at the thought of it.
And what would come after.
Granger was covering her mouth with her hand to stop herself from crying out. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, tell her it was alright, but one false move now could cost him his life.
"At least," Potter went on with a triumphant look on his face like he'd just caught the snitch. "It was his until a few weeks ago. When he gave it away."
Draco's body turned to stone.
Voldemort's face dropped.
Potter smiled, as if he had been waiting for this moment. "I saw it happen. You have been too blind to see that your own Death Eaters don't believe in you! Draco Malfoy was willing to give up his wand, for the woman he loves—Hermione Granger."
The wand belongs to… Granger? Oh God, no…
Not his girl.
Not Hermione.
Anyone but her.
Now it was her name on everyone's lips. Granger stood motionless, but some of the people around her took a few steps back, making her stand out in the crowd.
The rising sun lit the air around Potter, creating a long shadow that stretched from where he stood to Voldemort, who looked truly shaken for the first time as Potter closed in on him.
"Dumbledore always said that love was the strongest force in this world, even stronger than death, and the elder wand only submits to strength. Since it wasn't won or stolen this time, it was given to her in love and I don't think anything less than that will make it change masters, or more correctly—mistresses, again," Potter went on. "Hermione Granger is, and will always be, the owner of the elder wand."
Voldemort's head turned in their direction and his crimson colored eyes landed right on Granger.
"A Mudblood?" he asked in a hushed voice and Draco felt something scaly twist in him. The Dark Lord looked her over and Draco wanted to carve those eyes out as he surveyed Granger. "If I cannot take the wand…" He raised it up, level with her chest. "I'll take the girl."
Granger began to slide forward, arms pinned to her sides and shoes digging into the rubble to try and slow herself, but Voldemort pulled her on.
Fuck this.
Draco was in front of her in a few quick strides, blocking the spell and stopping Granger from getting an inch closer to that flat faced fuck.
Draco pulled off the invisibility cloak, standing tall, between Hermione and Lord Voldemort.
"You can't have her." Draco reached back, wrapping an arm protectively around her as he raised her vinewood wand against the man he had once called master. "She's mine."
.
A/N: I cannot express how much I appreciate the support and love I have gotten from all of you, dear readers. Seriously, seeing the messages and comments about how much you love this story and that you're willing to stick with it (and me) while I write and update it are just amazing. I am just constantly overwhelmed by the love and I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart so much for that. I have had some changes in my life recently and have been able to write more so I am hoping that I will be able to get a chapter out once a month! Looks like we will have probably 26 chapters and maybe an epilogue so, you've got me through the summer (or winter, for my lovelies on the other side of the globe).
All my love,
Xx, Ik.