Draco felt sick to the stomach when he realised the final destination for the Death Eaters was Hogwarts. He was initially horrified that The Dark Lord would even consider attacking the school with all those innocent children present, but then he thought about what he'd done to Lyra and reminded himself that Voldemort was inhuman. If he could inflict such pain on an innocent baby, then he would feel no compassion towards school aged children.
When Voldemort suddenly announced that Hogwarts had been evacuated, Draco was relieved but his relief didn't last long as The Dark Lord sent a group to ambush the train. The half hour the group were gone was agony for Draco, and he was disgusted when they returned with plenty of his former house mates in tow. Not only were his former friends with the dark, but plenty of younger children were with them. Draco was hoping that the younger children wouldn't be expected to fight, but lots of them had parents among the Death Eaters and it soon became clear that anyone who wanted to fight was going to, no matter their age.
As the Death Eaters got ready to leave for Hogwarts, Draco avoided acknowledging his former friends. Instead he let his mind wander to Hermione, and if she would be present at the battle. Part of him hoped that she would be as he was desperate to see her, but another part of him hoped that she was safely tucked away where no harm would befall her.
"Draco, we're ready," Lucius called, pulling his son out of his thoughts.
Without another word, Lucius grabbed hold of Draco and they apparated to Hogsmeade. Within minutes the village was overrun with Death Eaters, and Draco spotted several villagers peering out of their windows in terror. Fortunately for the residents of Hogsmeade, the Death Eaters had other business and Voldemort led the charge towards Hogwarts.
As they neared the castle, Draco spotted that the school was surrounded by a shimmering dome. The red sparks in the dome indicated the presence of magic, and Draco couldn't help but smile at the fact that the Order were prepared. At least those inside the castle would have warning of their approach as before they could enter the school grounds, the dark had to first break through the protection spells.
"Give it all you've got," Voldemort ordered with a low growl as he raised his wand and the Death Eaters around him did the same.
Voldemort had no idea how the Order had been prepared for their attack, and he was annoyed that the element of surprise was now lost to them. In other circumstances he would have looked closer at Draco, but he knew there was no way the young wizard could have forewarned the Order. Even if he did have a way to reach the Order, which Voldemort doubted, he hadn't known where they were going until after they'd left the manor. Besides, Voldemort had seen the look of horror on his face when he announced just where they were heading, so there was no way Draco had been the one to alert the Order to their arrival.
While the Death Eaters set about breaking down the protective spells around the castle, Draco kept his wand sheathed. If he was forced to, he would help, but he wasn't going to do anything to aid that dark unless he had no choice. Luckily for Draco he was pretty much left alone as Voldemort and his Death Eaters focused on gaining access to the castle. Finally after nearly forty minutes of the dark throwing everything they had at the light's magic, the dome began to splinter, and one final blast of dark magic from Voldemort's wand sent the wards crashing down.
"Let's go," Voldemort cried as he surged forward onto school grounds.
Even though he had no desire to fight, Draco ensured he was near the front of the group heading towards the castle. However, he stayed off to the side slightly and he was hoping to slip away from the Death Eaters at the first opportunity. Obviously he wasn't going to leave school grounds, and he was going to be pretty useless in helping the Order fight, but he wasn't going to stick around with the dark if he could help it.
As the castle came into view, Draco could see the Order gathered in the courtyard. Dumbledore was visible even from a distance, standing at the head of a hefty group of people ready to fight for their freedom. The closer they got to the Order, Draco began to scour the crowds for Hermione. While he spotted some other Professors alongside Dumbledore, and some Weasleys, he didn't see his girlfriend. Nor could he see any of her friends or Blaise and Theo.
"Stop," Voldemort ordered as the group reached the edge of the courtyard. "Dumbledore," he greeted with a polite incline of his head.
"Tom," Dumbledore replied. "Do you really want to do this?"
"You're expecting me to back off?" Voldemort chuckled. "This is the end, Dumbledore, surely you can see that."
"You're right Tom, it is the end," Dumbledore said softly. "This ends today."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Voldemort replied. "We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. Give us Potter and no-one else has to die today."
"If you want me, you're going to have to come and get me," Harry's voice called from near the back of the crowd.
Draco followed the sound of Harry's voice and finally spotted him standing on a wall beside the castle. Ron was standing at his right hand side and next to him stood Neville. However, Draco's focus was on Harry's left hand side as that was where Hermione was standing along with Blaise and Theo. The six teenagers all had their wands out, and there was fire in their eyes.
It seemed to take an age for Hermione to look his way, but finally she did and for Draco time froze as he gazed into Hermione's eyes. She was clearly ready to fight, but he could also see the sadness and heartbreak in her expression and he knew that he was partly to blame for some of the suffering she'd endured these last few months. He hadn't liked what he'd been forced to do, but he'd done it to save Lyra, then in the end it was all for nothing as Voldemort still snapped his daughter's ribbon. All Draco could hope now was that Dumbledore's protection spell on Lyra had worked and that his daughter was relatively safe somewhere.
Draco was still focused on Hermione when all hell suddenly broke loose and the two groups charged at each other. Within seconds Draco had lost sight of Hermione and he was gripped with terror that something would happen to her before he could find her. Even though he knew his magic would be of no use against the Death Eaters, Draco still pulled his wand out and began making his way to where he'd last seen Hermione.
With no mask and robes, Draco wasn't mistaken for a real enemy by the Order, although he was also guessing that they all knew he'd been forced onto the dark. However, a few of the Death Eaters weren't opposed to trying to get a dig in at Draco and he found himself hit by a couple of curses. Not able to strike back with magic, Draco lashed out with his fists and inflicted as much physical damage as he could. After breaking the nose of a Death Eater who'd lost his mask, word seemed to spread that Draco was still a threat and the attempts to engage him in battle seemed to falter.
Not that it was any easier to get across the courtyard and Draco was bleeding and frustrated as he finally reached the wall he'd seen Hermione and her friends standing on. Looking around he found no sign of Hermione and her friends, although everywhere he looked he could see the Order standing their ground against the Death Eaters. If anything, the Order looked to have more forces and Draco prayed that they came out on top.
With no sign of Hermione, Draco checked in case anyone nearby needed his help. Spotting Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan trying to dodge curses from the wand of Rabastan Lestrange, Draco picked up a rock and circling around behind Rabastan he lunged at the Death Eater, crashing the rock into his head. Rabastan went toppling to the ground, and even though he didn't get back up again, Draco didn't think he was dead.
"Thanks Malfoy," Dean gasped as he and Seamus tried to get their breath back.
"You're welcome," Draco replied. "Have either of you seen Hermione?"
"Not since the fighting began," Seamus replied.
"It's been too hard to keep track of anyone," Dean added. "But I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a tough one is Hermione."
"Yes, she is," Draco agreed as he left the two Gryffindors and once again went in search of his girlfriend.
Five minutes later he spotted Hermione expertly dealing with a masked Death Eater. He also spotted Ron closer to him, but his focus was on Hermione. Calling his girlfriend's name, Draco began to run towards his girlfriend. Hermione looked up at the sound of her name being called and a wide smile graced her face as she spotted Draco. However, seconds later her smile disappeared and a look of horror replaced it. At first Draco thought something had happened to her, but when she screamed his name, he realised he was the one in danger. Turning his head, Draco spotted Rodolphus smirking at him before something crashed into him from the side and he was sent sprawling to the floor in a heap.
Too far away to do anything, but close enough to see everything, Hermione's heart was in her mouth as she watched Ron leap into action and selflessly push Draco out of the way and save him from whatever curse Rodolphus had aimed at his back. Draco and Ron went crashing to the floor together and screaming their names, Hermione sprinted over to them.
"Draco, Ron," Hermione cried, reaching her boyfriend and best friend. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Draco answered, half lying under Ron who was a dead weight on top of him. "What happened?"
"Ron?" Hermione asked, shaking her friend. "Ron," she screamed when her friend's body slumped off Draco and rolled to the floor.
"Bloody hell," Draco gasped as he sat up and spotted Ron's lifeless body beside him. "What happened?"
"He saved you," Hermione whispered as tears began to roll down her cheeks as she checked Ron's pulse and found he had none. "Rodolphus was going to curse you. Ron pushed you out of the way."
"And got hit instead of me," Draco said softly, swallowing a lump in his throat at the thought of Ron giving his life for him. "I'm sorry."
"This isn't your fault," Hermione hissed, wiping at her tears and pulling her boyfriend into her arms. "Ron was a hero, he was doing the right thing."
"Then let's do the right thing for him and move him," Draco said. He wanted nothing more than to keep hold of Hermione, but he knew they were in danger where they were. "I'll carry him, you give us cover."
"Can you manage on your own?" Hermione asked.
"Yes," Draco replied as he cast a lightweight spell on Ron's body. Carefully he picked up the boy who'd once been his enemy and had now saved his life, and following Hermione's lead, headed towards the castle.
Inside the castle the battles were still raging but protection spells seemed to have been placed on the Great Hall as there was no violence in the room. In fact when Draco entered behind Hermione, he realised he was the only person in the room who bore the Dark Mark. Everyone else was associated with the Order and the room had clearly been turned into a make shift hospital wing.
"Ron," Molly wailed as she spotted Ron and came running over to them.
"I'm sorry Molly, he's gone," Hermione said gently as Draco placed Ron down on an empty bed.
"What happened?" Molly cried as she collapsed at her son's side.
"He saved my life," Draco replied in a hoarse voice. "He's a hero, Mrs Weasley. I'll never forget what he's done for me as long as I live."
"No-one will," Hermione said as she hugged Molly.
Leaving Molly to weep over her son, Hermione pulled Draco to one side before launching herself at him and wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"I've missed you so much," she sobbed.
"I've missed you too," Draco replied, shedding a few tears of his own as he was reunited with the love of his life. "How's Lyra?" he asked, lifting Hermione's head so he could see her face. "I couldn't stop him from snapping the ribbon. He wanted me to kill Mother, and I just couldn't do it."
"Lyra's fine," Hermione assured her boyfriend. "Dumbledore's protection spell worked and loads of other people added their protection. She's safe at Order headquarters. How are you?"
"Not great, but I'm alive," Draco replied honestly.
"And Narcissa?" Hermione asked.
"She's at home being guarded by Voldemort's damn snake," Draco said. "If I leave the battle, the snake will bite her and if she tries to run, the snake will bite her."
"Nagini's at the manor?" Hermione gasped.
"Yes, is that important?" Draco asked.
"Vitally," Hermione answered as she took hold of Draco's hand and dragged him over to the far corner of the Great Hall. Once she was sure no-one could overhear them, she quietly called for Tipsy.
"Master Draco, you're safe," Tipsy cried, throwing her small arms around Draco's legs.
"I am," Draco replied, patting the elf on her back.
"Is Lyra okay?" Hermione checked with the elf. Even though Madam Pomfrey and George were with Lyra, Hermione had asked Tipsy to also stay at Grimmauld Place with her daughter.
"Little Miss Lyra is still sleeping," Tipsy replied with a sad sigh. "But Mr George is with her. He's funny is Mr George."
"He is," Hermione agreed with a small smile. "Now I want you to do something very important for me Tipsy," she said to the elf as she pulled her basilisk fang from her pocket and held it out for the elf. "I want you to take this fang to Narcissa. Be careful and don't let the snake see or hear you. Tell Narcissa she needs to use the fang to kill the snake. We can't kill Voldemort until she does. Stay with her and the second the snake is dead, take Narcissa to Lyra and then come back and tell me. Can you do that, Tipsy?"
"Yes, Tipsy can do that," Tipsy replied with a determined nod of her head.
"Wait," Draco said, stopping the elf before she vanished. "The wards should prevent mother from leaving the manor."
"I know," Hermione replied with a nod. "If I thought we could have used Tipsy to get you and Narcissa out of there sooner, I would have done it months ago."
"So why do you think it's going to work now?" Draco asked.
"Because Voldemort and your father are here and they're distracted," Hermione explained. "I'm hoping and praying that Tipsy can get Narcissa out before they realise what's going on, but it was too risky to chance it when they were at the manor. We were lucky they never noticed Tipsy's visits as it was."
"Okay, but Tipsy you might have to really batter the wards to get through them with mother," Draco advised the self. "Use everything you have to get mother out of there."
"Yes, master Draco," Tipsy said with a solemn nod.
"Go," Hermione urged. "Tell Narcissa we love her and we have faith in her."
As Tipsy vanished, Hermione hoped she'd made the right decision in not going with the elf. Part of her wanted to go and help Narcissa, but she knew it would be easier for Tipsy to deliver her message if she was alone. Besides, she had every faith in Narcissa and she knew that Draco's mother could handle herself and was more than capable of destroying Nagini. She just hoped she could then leave with Tipsy if the little elf used every ounce of her powerful magic.
"What on earth if going on?" Draco asked in confusion, not sure what his girlfriend had just asked his mother to do.
"It's a long story, but basically part of Voldemort's soul is in Nagini," Hermione quickly explained. "We've destroyed his other pieces of soul, and this is the last one. Once it's destroyed, Voldemort is vulnerable again and he can be killed."
"So until the snake is killed, he's invincible?" Draco checked, not liking the sound of that at all.
"In a way," Hermione replied. "Don't worry about it, Draco, everything's in hand. Now come on, we need to find Harry. He needs to know about Ron, but he also needs to know about Nagini."
Taking hold of his girlfriend's hand, Draco accompanied Hermione back into the fray as they set out to find Harry and bring him up to date with what had so far being an eventful final battle.