Let Me Help You

DracoxHermione

Rated NC-17

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Let Me Help You

Chapter 22

Draco hissed as the Dark Mark on his arm burned, the burn letting him know that the Death Eaters were being summoned. Grabbing his forearm he held it tightly, his grey eyes squeezed shut as he willed the pain to stop. He felt a gentle hand run through his platinum blond hair and he looked up at his mother who was giving him a small smile, her smile soothing him as she silently told him that it would be over soon and he would be alright. And pretty soon, the burning subsided and all that was left was a slight itching feeling on his forearm.

Narcissa ruffled his hair slightly and asked, "Feeling better now?"

"Yes, thank you," Draco replied before moving from where he was seated up the stairs. He stopped by the room that Hermione had stayed in and looked inside, his mind instantly filling in all of the things that Hermione had had in there that belonged to her. It had been just a few days since she had left, but he missed her terribly. He understood why she left and had always known it was a possibility, but he still wished that she hadn't left him. He missed his girlfriend terribly and couldn't help but worry over her, wherever she was at the moment.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears and he turned to see his mother appearing at the top of the stairs and walking over to him. She looked into the room before looking at her son's melancholy expression. With a sad smile she said, "You miss her."

Nodding Draco replied, "Very much. I'm not angry at her for leaving to go back to the cause she has been fighting for years for. I just…I just wish I wasn't having these thoughts of doubt, about whether she really loves me or not."

"I'm sure she loves you Draco, I don't doubt that. But from what both you and Severus have told me about her, Miss Granger isn't one to start something and not finish it. So if anything she felt she probably needed to finish the fight against the Dark Lord that she started. Though I will admit I'm honestly surprised that she stayed away from it this long."

Draco nodded and was about to speak again when the Dark Mark began to burn once more, the pain shooting through his arm and making him hiss in pain once again. Rolling up his sleeve he looked at it and noticed that it was practically a burning red now instead of its usual black. He gave his mother a bewildered expression before asking, "What does this mean?"

Narcissa shook her head answering, "I don't know. I've never seen Lucius or Severus' do this before."

Before more could be said a silvery blue doe Patronus pranced through the wall towards them and began to speak, Severus' voice emitting from it.

Draco, Narcissa, it's time. Potter, Granger, and Weasley have shown back up and the Dark Lord is waiting to infiltrate Hogwarts as we speak by breaking down the wards surrounding it. I'm not sure we have much time, but I can guarantee there will be bloodshed and carnage. Draco, if you want to see Miss. Granger once again in case of the inevitable, then please do come and help us fight. Narcissa, I don't know if I will make it tonight but do know that if perhaps I do not, I love you and I wish we had more time.

Narcissa's icy blue eyes widened and began to well up with tears, but she blinked them away. Draco on the other hand stood frozen as he stared at the doe, watching as his godfather's Patronus faded away as he took in what had been said. Hermione was back at Hogwarts and the Dark Lord was there ready to fight. The war was coming to a head and Hermione was going to be in the midst of it all surrounded by Death Eaters, Snatchers, werewolves, and who knew what else. He needed to get to her, he needed to get to Hermione.

Looking at his mother he said, "Mother, I'm going to Hogwarts."

Narcissa stared at her son momentarily before nodding and saying, "Let's go."

The two of them hurried back down the stairs and out of the door of their safe house, their wands held tightly in their hands. Once they exited the wards, they Disapparated on the spot on the way to Hogwarts castle.

Hermione ducked and dodged spells and curses that were thrown at her, Harry, and Ron. She panted as she ran through the castle, throwing spells at Death Eaters and Snatchers. She and Ron were on their way to the Chamber of Secrets to get a Basilisk fang from its skeleton so that they could destroy the Horcrux in Hufflepuff's cup. Harry separated himself so that he could try and find Ravenclaw's diadem.

Before long she and Ron had entered the passageway that led to the Chamber, coming upon the large snake skin and the door with snakes. Hermione watched as Ron stepped up to it and recited something in Parseltongue. She blinked in surprise as he stepped back and the door began to open. Ron looked at her with a proud smile and said, "Harry talks in his sleep. Haven't you noticed?"

The brunette gave the redhead a strange look before answering, "No, of course not. Why would I?"

Ron gave her a sheepish smile as the door swung open, allowing them to step through. Hermione cringed at the large statue of Salazar Slytherin as they walked down the pathway before staring in awe at the Basilisk skeleton. Ron walked over to it and took a fang from it before walking back over to Hermione and handed it to her. He looked at her and said, "Ladies first."

Hermione sighed and took the fang before bending down where Ron had placed the cup. Harry and told her that the Horcruxes fight back and feed on a person's fears and insecurities. She could only imagine what it would possibly say to her. Biting her lip she took a deep breath before stabbing the fang down into the cup. Black smoke erupted from it and all of the water surrounding them began to rumble and rise up. Hermione and Ron quickly stood and began to back up as the smoke began to twist and shape itself until it finally took on the forms of Harry, Ron, her parents, and Draco. She knew instantly that it was going to attack her.

"You think we've just forgiven you for abandoning us?!" the Horcrux Harry yelled at her.

"We'll never forgive you for leaving us for that damn wretched ferret!" Horcrux Ron yelled at her.

The Horcrux version of her parents looked at her with disdain before what was supposed to be her mother said, "You left us. You didn't even return to us. You've abandoned us as well and for what? A boy?"

"Thanks to you we're dead and it's your entire fault," her Horcrux father said.

And finally the Horcrux Draco said, "I loved you and you left me behind. I thought you loved me, but it's obvious that you don't. Don't think that I'll ever want to see you again. You promised to stay by my side, but those were just empty words. You really are nothing but a filthy little Mudblood."

Hermione felt tears stream down her face as she stared at the figments, all of them playing on some part of her fears and guilt that she had been experiencing for ten months and the past few days. It wasn't until she heard Ron call her name did she remember she needed to finish destroying the Horcrux. Ignoring the yells from the figments she tightened her grip on the fang and ran for the cup, dropping to her knees and stabbing it once more. The figments disappeared and the smoke separated and dove into the rumbling water. The water formed the face of Voldemort as it roared and rose high above her. Ron ran towards her and grabbed her, quickly running away from it as the water chased them before splashing down on them as the Horcrux finally died.

The two of them stood there for a moment as the water surrounding them moved across the floor, Hufflepuff's destroyed cup lying feet in front of them. The red haired male looked to the side at his friend to see if she was alright and was surprised at the distraught expression on her face. What the Horcrux had said to her must have really affected her for her to look like that. Cautiously he raised a hand and placed it on her shoulder before softly calling her name.

The brunette looked up at him with tears in her eyes and whispered in question, "Am I bad person? Do you really think what the Horcrux said is true?"

Shaking his head Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione and answered, "Of course not. We all feel guilty about some decisions we make, but that doesn't mean we are bad people."

Hermione cried into Ron's shoulder for a moment, the boy rubbing her back soothingly before she calmed herself and said pulling away, "Come on, we have to find Harry."

The two of them turned and ran back through the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets to head back up to the battle, intent on finding Harry. He was sure to know they destroyed the Horcrux already, and now they only had two more to go.

Draco Apparated in an array of running students and was able to grab both Crabbe and Goyle before pulling them away. Turning them to face him he asked, "Where's Potter?"

"Draco!" Goyle cried, surprised at seeing his friend after so long of not doing so.

"Potter, where is he?" Draco asked again. He knew if they could find Potter, he could find Hermione.

Crabbe shrugged and answered, "No idea, but let's get in on some of this fighting. We can help eliminate some of the blood traitors and Mudbloods. Hey, you can finally do away with Mudblood Granger. That'll be one less pain in the arse we have to deal with."

A dark look appeared on Draco's face, the expression making both Crabbe and Goyle freeze. Before they could do anything Draco threw a hard punch at the hefty boy, a resound crack heard among the shouting around them. Crabbe yelled out in pain as he fell down, his hand cradling his bloody nose. He looked up at the furious blond in shock and confusion while Goyle slightly sidestepped away from Draco in case the wizard deciding to punch him as well.

Draco looked at both of them before saying, "We find Potter, now."

Harry looked at the diadem as it spoke to him, taking in its beauty while also resisting its whispering. It was a shame such a lovely object was defiled by Dark magic and had to be destroyed. But the sooner he did, the closer he was to defeating Voldemort. Just as he was about to grab it a curse hit just right above his head.

Ducking he threw a spell from the direction the curse came from and quickly moved to find cover. After a moment with his wand poised to blast another spell a familiar voice called out, "Potter!"

Recognizing it as Malfoy he slowly stepped out from where he was hiding and asked, "What do you want, Malfoy? Don't you have somewhere you need to be hiding?"

Draco made no move to reply to that, his grey eyes looking around the Room of Requirement, obviously in search of something or someone. When he still didn't answer Harry realized what it was he was probably discreetly looking for. It had to be Hermione and he figured she was with him. He had to admit he was surprised the blond showed up, if only to find Hermione. Deciding to be cryptic in the presence of Crabbe and Goyle he said, "It's not here, at least not yet. But I can't promise you'll find it here."

The blond looked at his rival for a moment and was about to say something when a spell was suddenly thrown at him. He ducked in time to see Weasley and Hermione coming their way, Weasley being the one to have made the spell. Crabbe retaliated by shouting the Killing Curse, nearly hitting Hermione much to Draco, Harry, and Ron's horror. Hermione luckily was able to block it as the two hefty boys ran, Ron following after them and yelling about how dare they try to kill his best friend. Draco took that time to move towards Hermione and wrap his arms around her, holding her tightly against him with her head buried in her chest.

"Merlin, I've missed you," Draco said softly before pulling away and looking his love over. Other than the minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises marring her she seemed to be fine. Even so he still asked, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Hermione smiled up at him before cupping his face in her hands and pressing her lips against his in a sweet, loving kiss. After the kiss she answered, "I'm fine, and I'm happy to see you. I know you're probably upset with me for leaving, but I had to."

Draco hugged the brunette close to him once again and replied, "Of course not, I understand why. I was just lonely without you. I'll admit, I was beginning to doubt whether you really loved me or not."

"Don't ever think that. I love you more than I can possibly express and I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. And no matter how this war ends, I will always love you."

The two of them smiled at each other lovingly before pressing their lips together in another kiss. However the moment was ruined when Harry cleared his throat and said, "I hate to interrupt you two, but we're in the middle of a war here. Can't this wait?"

Before either of them could reply Ron's screams reached their ears and they all looked to see him running quickly towards them as he yelled, "Crabbe used bloody Fiendfyre! He's burning up the bloody place!"

As soon as he said those words, a large flame burst over the high piles of forgotten objects. Green, grey, and brown eyes widened before Harry, Draco, and Hermione took off running after Ron to try and reach the exit. However Draco stopped when he remembered his two idiot friends were still back there with the Fiendfyre. Seeing a stack of broomsticks, he grabbed one and hopped on before flying back to rescue Crabbe and Goyle. He ignored Potter and Hermione yelling after him as he searched for the two hefty boys. He saw them climbing a high pile of furniture and flew towards them. Reaching them he yelled for them to hold on. Knowing he would only be able to get one at a time he had to hurry. Stretching out a hand he grabbed Goyle and slung him onto his broomstick. A 'whooshing' sound caught his ear through the sound of the roaring flames and he saw Potter and Weasley on brooms as well, Hermione on a broom with Weasley. Potter reached a hand out to save Crabbe, but Crabbe's foot slipped and he ended up falling into the Fiendfyre, the flames swallowing him up.

Though he was shocked and slightly traumatized at seeing his friend die, he didn't have time to dwell on it. The six of them flew for the exit of the Room of Requirement, flying quickly to beat the fast flames. Just as they neared the doors Harry called out, "Now Hermione!"

Hermione, who had grabbed Ravenclaw's diadem before getting on the broomstick with Ron, took it and threw it behind her into the moving flames, then took her wand and blasted a pathway through the flames in front of them for them to completely escape. They all could hear the Horcrux screaming as it died right before they flew out of the doors of the Room of Requirement and the doors slammed shut behind them. Stopping and dismounting the brooms Harry said, "The snake, it's the last one I'm sure."

"But it's with Voldemort! How are we going to close enough to kill it?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, but we've got to try."

Draco was silent for a moment before saying, "We can try to find Severus. Maybe he knows how."

Harry scoffed and replied, "Right, like that greasy git will help us. He murdered Dumbledore, so he can't be trusted."

"Harry, it's worth a shot. Besides, Professor Snape isn't as bad as you think," Hermione said giving her best friend a meaningful look.

Harry and Ron looked at each other before nodding and saying, "Fine, let's find him."

Draco could barely contain himself as he listened to his godfather get attacked by Voldemort's horrid snake. Hermione was holding tightly to his hand, but he couldn't stop shaking. Once the attack seemed to be over and the sound of Voldemort Disapparating was heard, he was the first one of them to rush into the boathouse towards Severus. A sob escaped his throat as he took in the state of the man that was like a father to him. Quickly placing his hands on the cuts on his neck he said through his tears, "Don't worry, Uncle Sev. You're going to be alright, you'll see."

Severus looked at his godson in pain as a tear fell from his eye. However they were rather silvery and cloudy, the tear being memories. Struggling to speak he said, "Take them…take them please!"

Hermione quickly handed Harry a vial before Harry caught the memories. Just as he was about to stand back up, Severus grabbed him and made him look at him. After a while he softly said, "You have your mother's eyes. You have Lily's eyes."

As his grip on Harry loosened he looked at Draco and said as a real tear fell from his eyes, "Tell Narcissa I'm sorry."

"Sev," Draco said, but knew calling him was in vain as he saw the light in the black eyes fade until they were completely dull and lifeless. Severus was gone right in front of him and all Draco could do at the moment was cry, the action surprising Harry and Ron somewhat while Hermione wrapped her arms around her boyfriend, holding him close as he grieved the man that was like a real father to him.

With tears in her own eyes as she shared Draco's pain, she turned towards Harry and said, "Go look at those memories. He wouldn't have given them to you if they weren't important."

Harry nodded before leaving the boathouse, Ron going after him. Hermione watched them leave before returning to comforting Draco as best she could. However she knew that it would be impossible to help him through Severus' death in the midst of this war. She could only hope it would end soon.

Finally, finally, it was all over! Harry had done it! He had defeated Voldemort, right after surviving the Killing Curse for a second time. Everyone was cheering and rejoicing at their victory while surviving Aurors were rounding up the last few Death Eaters and Snatchers that had survived the war.

Hermione looked around at all of the debris and carnage as she took a deep breath. It was all finally over. Now she could try and put her life back together again and she and Draco could—Draco! He was considered a Death Eater and had the Dark Mark on his arm. That meant he was fair game for the Aurors to capture, even if he did help them to win the war.

Running to where the Aurors had gathered the captured Death Eaters and Snatchers she saw one of them having their wand aimed at Draco, Draco's wand in his other hand. Moving to stand in front of her lover she yelled, "Stop!"

"Hermione, what are you doing?" Kingsley asked in confusion. "He's a Death Eater, we have to arrest him."

"No! No, he's not! He helped us fight Voldemort!"

"Hermione, he helped Death Eaters break into Hogwarts as well as curse Katie Bell and poisoned me!" Ron said.

The brunette turned towards him and said, "Ron, I explained to you already that he was forced to do those things! Voldemort forced him to try and murder Dumbledore; you and Katie were just unfortunate victims!"

"But that doesn't change the fact that he's a Death Eater!"

Hermione could see Ron's mind wasn't going to change, knowing he was going to forever hold a grudge against her boyfriend. She looked at Harry pleadingly saying, "Harry, tell them."

Harry was conflicted about what to do, but he finally shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Hermione, but he has to go on trial for his crimes."

"No!" she cried as Kingsley quickly bound Draco.

Draco looked at her and gave a sad smile before saying, "I'll be alright, I promise. Just please, find my mother and make sure she's alright."

Hermione nodded as she blinked the tears in her eyes away, though some of them still fell. She watched as Kingsley and the rest of the Aurors Disapparated away with her lover and the other Snatchers and Death Eaters. The brunette wiped her tears away as a hand fell on her shoulder. Turning her head she looked at Harry who gave her a small, somewhat sad smile as he said, "If it's any consolation, I'll speak on behalf of him at his trial."

Nodding Hermione wiped her face of tears again before turning and walking away, deciding to find Narcissa to inform her of what all had happened.

Author's Note: This story is definitely wrapping up now. It'll probably be another two or three chapters before it's finally over. Also, my poll is closed now and the votes are in. The winner of the plot for my future Severus/Hermione story is Ministry Arranged Marriage. Thank you to all that participated in the poll, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! XOXO, SehunsBae37.