SHADOWS
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Summary: Hermione appears to Draco in Diagon Alley, telling him that Harry and Ron have been captured by death eaters and are trapped in Malfoy Manor. He agrees to help save them but why is Hermione staying in the shadows?
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For the first time in his life, Draco Malfoy was scared to go into Diagon Alley. The once lively marketplace filled with excited children and parents going crazy keeping track of their wayward kids was now populated by dozens of Death Eaters and Snatchers eager to torture and kill.
If it were up to him, he wouldn't even dream about setting foot in this place. But as is the norm for the past two years, he didn't have a choice. Bellatrix has ordered him to go out and restock the Manor's potions cabinet and he had to do it because he knew any sign of disobedience or failure and his deranged aunt would punish both him and his mother. That and he didn't need his aunt looking too closely at him or his activities.
So, with a resolved breath, he erected his occlumency shields and strolled into the marketplace looking every bit the evil death eater the world knew him as.
As expected, the Alley was practically deserted, everything was dark and depressing so much that he was scared dementors were around even though he knew it was impossible. Those twisted creepy versions of fairies were called by Voldemort to watch Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Weasley Burrow, and pretty much anywhere Potter might show up. Not wanting to stay in the dreary marketplace longer than he had to, Draco quickly found the Apothecary and gave his list of potion ingredients to the shop attendant. Normally, he would have selected each ingredient himself, making sure each one was the right quality he needed but considering how little he cared about the death eaters getting high-quality potions, he left the shop attendant to do the shopping instead.
While he waited for his list to be filled, Draco went and browsed the shelves. His personal potions cabinet was still fully stocked, still, it couldn't hurt to get a few extra ingredients since he was already here. As he looked around, he couldn't help but think about the only person he knew who would love shopping for potion ingredients as much as Professor Snape. See, unbeknownst to anyone, Draco had a girlfriend, one he loved with all his heart. One he vowed to marry at the end of the war. He befriended her way back when he was eleven right here in Diagon Alley and it was easily the best day of his life.
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Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor - 1991
A month before Hogwarts started another semester, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor was bursting with eager little kids wanting to try the magical flavors the shop was known for. Amidst the bouncing, happy children was a little blonde boy with a most put upon look on his handsome face.
Young Draco Malfoy loved the old man's ice cream and before today he's never had to… wait for it before. His parents would walk into the shop and Fortescue himself would come out and entertain them. But this time, his parents weren't there to demand the old man serve them. They were shopping for his school supplies when his father was called away to an emergency party thing at Nott Manor and his mother had to go with him. Dobby was left with him and Draco had immediately tasked the house-elf with finishing the rest of his list while he ate some ice cream.
Some crazed ice cream lover pushed him out of the way, almost sending him tumbling to the floor. Furious, Draco stood up to his full height (which at his age wasn't that great) and pushed past all the other kids to get the front. He was a Malfoy and Malfoys didn't wait in line.
He got to the front of the line and saw Fortescue dealing with a little girl with wild hair even bigger than Draco's whole head.
"What'll you have young lady?"
The little girl bit her lip looking back at the floating menu behind Fortescue's head.
"I don't know what to choose. I've never seen so many flavors in my life. I can just try one but oh what if mummy and daddy get angry? That's an awful lot of sugar and…"
The girl went into some tirade about sugar and teeth and trying something new. Draco felt his frustration mounting, he got abandoned by his parents, pushed around in line, dirt all over his new robes, and the one thing he wanted all this rotten morning was some stupid ice cream from this stupid shop and this stupid girl was holding up the line!
Not any more.
"Oh just pick one already!" He screamed and pushed ahead of the girl, "Fortescue, two scoops of the Lemondrop ice cream. One for me and one for her."
The shop owner looked shocked, but realizing he still ordered a scoop for the little girl, Fortescue accepted his money and quickly gave them the lemondrop ice cream. Draco was so frustrated he didn't even examine the ice cream, he just walked past the stupid people and sat on a recently vacated booth. To his frustration, the wild girl followed him. She stood beside him, eyes on the never-melting-ice-cream in her hand while her foot drew patterns on the floor.
"Thank you." She mumbled, "And I'm sorry for holding up the line, I've never tried this before. Do you umm, do you mind if I sit here?"
Draco looked her up and down, then deciding she wasn't dressed horribly, nodded at her to sit.
"Whatever. Just eat that slowly."
"Because of brain freeze?"
"No. Because that's my favorite and you should savor it."
As Draco started eating his ice cream, he almost missed the beaming smile she shot his way.
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Present Day
He couldn't suppress the smile on his face as he thought of their first meeting at Fortescue's. But the smile vanished when he remembered what happened to the ice cream parlor and its owner.
He had just left the apothecary when he heard a faint voice call out his name… his first name.
The voice called out to him again and this time Draco was able to recognize the voice. It was a voice he knew all too well no matter how many weeks had passed since he last saw her.
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Hermione's Grandparents' Old House - 1997
It was early morning, dawn was breaking, a time of hope and change. A time for peace and serenity. Yet, in her grandparents' old house in Sussex, Draco and Hermione remained in bed dreading the day ahead.
"How long?" He asked.
"I don't know."
He closed his eyes and held her closer to him as they lay on her bed. She just told him that she wouldn't be coming back to school in the coming year. Instead, she would be out there on a fool's errand with snatchers and death eaters hunting her. She would be out there risking her life and there was nothing he could do about it. He told himself it was for the best, the following year was the worst year for a muggleborn to be at Hogwarts, especially one as prominent as Hermione.
Logic didn't stop his heart from breaking at the prospect of not seeing her for an entire year… maybe even longer.
"Harry needs all the help he can get and we don't have a lot of leads on the Horcruxes." She explained and though he understood, has long ago reconciled the fact that stupid scarhead Potter was the key to stopping Voldemort, he couldn't help but hate the boy once more. He's in trouble and once again Hermione was left with no choice but to come to his rescue. And he knew her well enough to know she wouldn't hesitate to give up her life if it meant Potter would be safe.
She could die on this quest.
For that matter so could he. All it would take was one death eater getting curious of his mail or his outings and all will be over for him.
They could both die, but (and he couldn't believe he was thinking something so Dumbledore-ish) maybe telling her exactly how he felt would give them that little burst of optimism needed to stay alive.
"Hermione, I…"
"Don't say it." She stopped him, "Not until the war is over and Voldemort is gone. It'll give us something to look forward to."
…
"Okay."
OoOoO
Present Day
Turning as inconspicuously as possible, Draco went into the nearby alley where the voice came from.
"Granger?" He whispered into the dimly lit alley. He could barely make out the silhouette of a girl in the shadows and it took everything in him to keep himself still and not act rashly.
"Draco." Her voice was as soft as he remembered but there was something odd about it.
Gripping his wand tighter and pointing it at the silhouette, Draco asked his security question.
"Fifth year just after Easter break I got you mad and you gave me a muggle book as revenge. What was it?"
Despite the distance between them, and the minimal light on her, Draco could see the amusement just taking over her face. That alone, told him this was really Hermione Granger.
"The Shining by Stephen King." She snickered, "You were harping on about how unimaginative and boring muggles were so I gave it to you. You were so freaked out you didn't even finish the book."
Draco blushed at the reminder and even now about 18 months later, he could still hear Hermione's laugh when he threw the book across the room and then proceeded to avoid it like it was cursed. She didn't even get mad at him for his treatment of the book, too busy taking pictures of his disgruntled face instead. Pictures that were safely tucked away in a photo album in her grandparents' old house where no one will ever see them. Ever.
Satisfied that it was indeed Hermione Granger, he lowered his wand and tried to walk closer to her. It's been too long since he last held her and he'd be damned if he let this opportunity to be close to her pass him by.
"No, stop!" She screamed when she saw what he was doing. "You can't come any closer."
"What's wrong?" Draco frowned.
"There are death eaters around. If they see you with me, it could be dangerous."
At the reminder that they were surrounded by the enemy, Draco stopped.
"Then, what are you doing here?" He asked.
"I had to see you."
Warmth surged through him and he smiled for the first time in weeks at the love in her voice.
"I've missed you too Hermione but you can't risk your life like this again. You said it yourself, it's too dangerous."
"I know."
She sounded so defeated and broken that again it took all of Draco's willpower not to wrap his arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. That after all this was over, they could start over and be happy together.
"Does Potter and Weasley know you're here?"
"That's another reason I came here to see you." She said, switching from longing lover to kick-ass child soldier. "They were captured by snatchers and now they're trapped in Malfoy Manor's dungeons."
"What? How the bloody hell did they manage to get caught?!"
He would have asked why she wasn't with them but he was too furious that the bumbling duo couldn't even manage to stay away from snatchers despite all the protection the Order placed on them. He seriously had no idea how those two idiots could be the key to ending this war.
"Harry said You-Know-Who's name." Hermione said.
"Of course he did." He sighed. Why must the Chosen One be so stupid?
"Never mind that Draco, you have to save them. You're the only one who can get in and out of Malfoy Manor without triggering any alarms."
As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Hermione was right. As powerful as Voldemort was, he was still not a Malfoy and therefore wasn't attuned to the blood wards protecting the manor and wouldn't even notice Draco popping in. His parents could, but Draco knew his father wasn't as strong as he was after months in Azkaban and his mother would never tell on him.
"Alright but you owe me for this. I expect foot rubs and gross public displays of affection that will make Pothead and Weasel vomit regularly."
He held out his arm, ready to side-apparate Hermione but she remained where she was, hidden in the shadows.
"I can't go with you."
"What? Why not?"
"I – I have somewhere else I need to be."
She was lying. That much he knew, but before he could question her, she was shooing him away, reminding him that he needed to get Potter and Weasley out as soon as possible.
"I'll see you at your grandparents' old house after I save the Dense Duo. You better explain yourself there and tell me why you're lying."
He waited for her to tell him that yes, they will see each other after the Manor. That she'll tell him everything when they get there. That she wished he would stop giving her best friends insulting nicknames.
But she didn't say any of that.
Instead, she reached out with a hand so pale it almost glowed in the darkness of the shadows as if to touch him, and said the words they promised never to say to each other until after the war was over so they could have something to look forward to. So they would both do whatever it took to stay alive long enough to hear the other say the words.
Before he could say it back or ask her why she decided to say it now or kiss her senseless, she disappeared and he was left alone in the alley with her words replaying over and over again in his head and a horrible sense of dread settling in his stomach.
Ignoring the horrible feeling in his gut, he decided to question his witch later after he saved her two friends. With a flick of his wand, he turned and found himself in the dungeons of his ancestral home.
OoOoO
Shrieking Shack - 1995
Every time Draco went down this damned tunnel, he shot cleaning spells left, right, and center. And like every other time he's been here, nothing seemed to stick. It's like the damned tunnel refused to be cleaned, like a little boy who thought being covered in dirt and grime was awesome and being clean was some kind of awful punishment.
Once more, he swore to increase his search for an alternate passageway to get to Hogsmeade and then to the Shrieking Shack to see the one person who allowed him to be free. A few minutes later and he was wrapped in her arms in the grimy little place, savoring the little time they got together.
He had plans that night, they'd work on the Arithmancy homework together, maybe include Ancient Runes, but definitely spend most of the night making out like the dumb teenagers they were supposed to be. Apparently, she had a different plan. A hug and a quick kiss were all he got before she told him her insane plan for him to join Dumbledore's band of merry men as a double agent.
"They'll never trust me and frankly I don't trust any of them either."
"Doesn't matter because we need your help."
True enough, she's told him several times how ill-prepared and disconnected she thought the Order was, how they all seemed to not want to do anything even slightly underhanded to get an advantage or anything productive without Dumbledore's say-so. And Dumbledore never agreed to any plan that might be considered underhanded, the only exception being Professor Snape's espionage. He always claimed that to resort to such measures would make them no better than the death eaters. Hermione understood that. Of course, she didn't want to stoop to the death eaters' level either but this was war. If being slightly mischievous or sneaky was what it took to save innocent people or shorten the war, shouldn't it be worth a discussion at least? As long as they held true to their beliefs and didn't sacrifice their morality, she didn't see the harm in trying new tactics.
She's been ranting and raving about potential plans to help, cycling through each one to see which was more efficient. Something that Dumbledore won't dismiss out of hand.
Turns out, he was her big plan to save the Order and stop the big bad Death Eaters.
"I'm no hero Granger."
"That's good because heroes die and I rather like you alive. I just know that despite your protests, you want to help fight too."
Oh, how he hated when she was right. He may not be a hero, he may not want to be a hero, but he definitely wanted Voldemort and all his death eaters wiped from the earth. The way they polluted his home with their darkness gave him a glimpse of what the world would be like with them in charge and it wasn't pretty.
But joining the Order? Home to people he despised and who despised him? Was it worth it? Would he even be safe there?
"Just think of Harry and Ron's faces when they find out you're fighting for the light."
Well, when she put it like that…
"Where do I sign up?" He smirked.
OoOoO
Present Day
"Malfoy?"
Draco smirked when the Weasel spotted him. He could only imagine how embarrassing it would be for him that the big bad Slytherin would be saving his arse. Hermione was right, the look on Weasel's face was more than enough to make up for joining Dumbledore's Order.
"Miss me Weaselbee?"
"What are you doing here Malfoy?" The red-haired boy growled seeing his familiar smirk, his fingers paling with how hard he was gripping the bars on the cell. "Come to gloat?"
"Well in case it slipped your notice, I do live here." Draco grinned at him, "You're the one who shouldn't be here."
Ron growled some more and Draco internally cheered seeing the angry vein on Weasley's forehead getting ready to burst.
"He's here to save us." Luna Lovegood put a hand on the red head's arm, holding him back.
"For once, Loony's right." Draco smiled at the dotty blonde standing next to a bloodied-up Dean Thomas. "Cheer up Carrot Brain, I'm your Knight in Shining Armor."
He opened the cell door and looked at the prisoners. The six prisoners. This was bad for more than one reason. Firstly, this wouldn't be the simple in and out that he had prepared for. Six passengers meant three back and forth trips. Secondly, and most importantly six prisoners in his dungeon that he didn't know about meant that either someone has gotten extremely paranoid about information getting out, or… or someone was on to him. Either way, Draco knew he would not be coming back to the Manor. He'd get these prisoners out then stay with Hermione 'til the end of this war. He knew his mother would be fine, an army of house elves only loyal to Narcissa had ensured that.
Looking at the wandmaker leaning on the wall, Draco decided to get him first as he needed the most medical attention.
"Right," He said, "I'll take Ollivander first then come back for the rest of you."
Thomas came with Ollivander saying how he would take care of the old man. After leaving the two of them at Hermione's grandparents' old house, he called for Dobby and ordered the house elf to heal the two as best he could and to prepare a hot meal and rooms for the rest of the prisoners. Next, he came back for Potter and Weasley.
"Wonderboy, Sidekick you're next."
"We're not leaving without Hermione!" Said Weasley.
"Hermione's fine. I just saw her, she sent me here and she'll meet us at her grandparents' house."
His stomach churned as he remembered how Hermione acted the last time he saw her. But again, he ignored it, convinced that it was normal to feel awful when they were in the middle of a war.
Impatient and eager to see Hermione again once this was over, Draco apparated the bumbling duo mid-protest. He may or may not have taken immense satisfaction from that and the dry heaving they suffered after.
Nothing weird happened until he came back for Lovegood and the goblin. As soon as he got there, the blonde witch wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. Draco tensed at the contact and tried to push the younger witch away without hurting her but she clung to him like devil's snare.
"They surround you when something bad happens and cover you with the bad feelings. Daddy says hugs are their weakness." She said and then she started humming a hauntingly chilly tune.
Mercifully, Lovegood released him not long after that and he was able to apparate her and the goblin out of the manor.
OoOoO
Almost immediately upon their arrival, Weasley was on top of him demanding to know where Hermione was.
Draco scowled and pushed the other boy away from him, "I told you! She told me to come get you lot out of the dungeons before she left. She said she had somewhere else to be and that she'd meet us back here."
He ignored the ugly voice in his head telling him that Hermione never actually told him she would be at the house after he saved Potter and Weasley. He knew she'd be here. She had to because she knew he was expecting her.
"Hang on," Potter held back his hot-headed best friend who looked like he wanted to tackle Draco again. "When did Hermione tell you this?"
"Just before I rescued your ungrateful arse!"
Everyone in the room grew quiet all of a sudden, even Weasley stopped his angry threats, all of them staring at him like he just said the most unbelievable thing. Had Hermione lied to her friends about her whereabouts?
"What?" He asked.
"Where was this?" Potter's voice was so low Draco could barely hear him, but he did and he was more confused.
"At Diagon Alley while I was finishing at the Apothecary."
At that, the Weasel growled again and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
"What are you playing at?!" He demanded through the slight shake in his voice.
Draco looked around the room and found Potter looking white as a sheet, Thomas was beside him looking confused, and Lovegood looked almost sorry for him.
"Get your filthy hands off me!" He screamed, pushing Weasley away from him and stepping away from his classmates.
"Look," He said, "I don't know what Granger told you, but she was there. I don't care if you didn't know where she was or if she lied to you. And I don't care what happened that you lot got separated but…"
"We didn't get separated Malfoy." Potter interrupted him.
"What?"
"We've been together since we went on the run. She was with us when we got captured."
Draco frowned. What Potter was saying didn't make any sense. How could she have been with them the entire time when he saw her in Diagon Alley less than a minute before he went and played hero?
"Then she must've broken free and come to find me." He said. It was the only explanation he could find. Hermione was smart and powerful, surely she could outsmart a couple of lousy snatchers.
"Malfoy," Potter said, "The last time we saw her, she was with Bellatrix."
Something cold and dark and hopeless gripped his heart at that name. Bellatrix was a crazy sadistic witch and nobody has ever escaped a meeting with her without feeling the worst kinds of pain, at least. He knew this. He knew what it meant that Hermione was left alone with his Aunt.
And he knew what it meant that when he got to Malfoy Manor... there were no screams in the house.
Draco furiously shook his head refusing to follow that train of thought. His hand came up to clutch at his chest as if the action could drive away the unsettling feeling around it. It didn't matter what might have happened because it didn't change the fact that he still saw Hermione in Diagon Alley. He spoke to her. She even managed to boss him around a little bit, which meant she was okay!
And his heart would know if something happened to her.
Maybe she escaped and went back to the Order headquarters to get healed before coming to meet him. Or maybe she didn't and that was why she stayed in the shadows because she didn't want him to see how much pain she was in. Whatever the case, Hermione Granger was alright and safe.
She just had to be.
He didn't say anything to the group, instead pushing past them and locking himself in the room he shared with Hermione when they would come here. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was exhausted from all that happened in the past hour and a half and sleeping meant he didn't have to think about Hermione's weird behaviour and all the implications it came with.
OoOoO
Hermione's Grandparents' Old House - 1995
Over a week since it happened and Draco still couldn't believe he actually joined the Order of the Phoenix. His membership was a secret of course, only Hermione, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Shacklebolt, and Arthur Weasley knew but it was no less real. He signed his name on that enchanted paper and everything.
Still, joining that organization seemed more surreal to Draco than washing dirty laundry the muggle way. Especially since the stupid things actually calmed him.
After his membership was finalized, Hermione took Draco to her grandparents' old house in Sussex. They left it to her after they decided to move to a retirement village. She introduced him to electricity and computers, two things that made him seriously admit muggles may not be completely useless after all. Ofcourse, he made her promise never to tell anyone he changed his mind or that he actually liked doing the chores the muggle way.
"Draco, what are your plans when we win the war?" She asked as he took the dried clothes out of the dryer and loaded another batch of washed clothes.
"If we win."
"It's when. Now quit being a pessimist and answer the question."
He thought about it. To be honest, he's never let himself think that far ahead. He focused on the task at hand and refused to think of a happy future in case he jinxed it.
"I don't know. I suppose I'll take over the family business, clean it free of all the dark magic those death eaters spread all over it."
She hummed in response, helping him fold the dried clothes. He just stayed silent, knowing her well enough to know there were still more she wanted to say, he just had to be patient. It paid off after a while, though what she said still took him by surprise.
"Think your plans have room for a muggleborn wife?"
The machine whirred happily in the background, filling in the silence after Hermione's question. Or was it a proposal?
It felt like the silence stretched on and on, Draco staring dumbly at Hermione. Where seconds ago he was determined to ignore the big window to the future, now he couldn't help but look into it and see himself and Hermione exactly as they were now. In the laundry room, doing the laundry, a few years older and with matching gold bands on their fingers. Maybe even a precious cargo hidden inside her shirt.
"Draco?"
He should probably answer her. Just say something because she's starting to look really worried, either at his silence or his practically catatonic state.
The machine stopped and Draco's voice finally made an appearance.
"That was an awful proposal Granger." He said, "Still, I accept. We'll do it as soon as the noseless wonder falls, you could ask McGonagall to be our bonder."
She smiled, "I'm sure she'd love that. Ofcourse, Harry and Ron will be my Men of Honor."
His curled lip had nothing to do with the wet laundry he moved to the dryer. "Both of them? I thought it was supposed to be a Maid of Honor."
"It is, but Harry and Ron are my best friends. I can't just choose one of them."
"Or we could just run, the two of us, McGonagall as a bonder and your parents as witnesses?"
More folded clothes, more spinning in the dryer, and a gaping Hermione.
"Eloping? Don't you want a proper ceremony?"
"Though I wouldn't be opposed to a big ceremony. All I really want is to be tied to you for the rest of my life."
OoOoO
Present Day
It was around three in the morning when Draco woke up to someone calling his name.
Groggily, he sat up and opened his eyes to find Hermione Granger standing at the foot of his bed.
"Granger!" He exclaimed, her mere presence working better than coffee at waking up his spirit.
"I knew you were alright. Stupid Weasel wouldn't believe me." Draco smiled. She was okay and she was here and that meant everything was good.
"You got them out." She smiled, "I knew you would. You've always been good no matter how hard you try to deny it."
So many things he could say to that but he didn't because he didn't want to ruin the mood.
"Whatever you say. Now quit hiding over there and come sit here with me. I've missed you."
Hermione stepped away from him.
"Hermione?" Draco stood up to reach her but she stepped away again and he frowned.
"What's wrong?" He asked, "What happened to you? Potter said that you were with them when they got captured. How did you escape?"
For some reason, she started to sob as he asked her about her escape.
"Draco…" She reached out a hand to him but stopped before he could even touch her.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Draco was getting worried now. He didn't know what was wrong but obviously, she was not okay. He tried to step closer to her again to comfort her like he always did when she was upset, but again she retreated further into the shadows.
"Hermione tell me what's wrong. You're scaring me. Do you need a healer? Should I call Madam Pomfrey?"
"I'm sorry Draco." She cried, "I wanted to tell you but you looked so happy to see me and I couldn't do it."
He frowned at her words. He didn't know what was going on but Hermione was doing a tremendous job of scaring him.
"Whatever it is, you have to tell me now." He said, "I spent the last few hours imagining all sorts of crazy scenarios, imagining the worst possible thing when Potter told me what happened. I deserve to know the truth, whatever it is because honestly, it doesn't matter to me as long as you're alive and safe and here."
Tear-filled eyes met his own as Hermione said the words he dreaded to hear.
"Draco…I'm not."
He frowned, confused even as the ugly voice in his head got louder and louder as the seconds ticked by.
"I was with the boys when the snatchers came." She explained, "They took us to the manor and Bellatrix was there. She saw the Sword of Gryffindor in our bag and she asked us where we got it."
Slowly, his mind started connecting the dots. His aunt paying particular interest in anything or anyone never led to anything good and the worry he felt before turned into sheer unadulterated fear as Hermione continued her story.
"She sent the boys to the dungeons and left me behind. She tried to torture the information out of me."
"Hermione…" Draco tried to stop her, not sure if he wanted to hear the rest of her story, but she just plowed on.
"She used the cruciatus curse on me several times but I didn't break."
With each word she spoke, Draco's fear grew more and more until it was practically consuming him from the inside out. He was scared of how her story was going to end. He was scared of how cold the room has gotten as soon as she was there. He was scared of the way she stuck to the shadows as if afraid to be in the light.
He was scared of how it all added up because it formed one simple conclusion that he refused to accept.
"Then she got out a cursed blade and started cutting my arm. She was carving the world MUDBLOOD."
"STOP IT!"
"I tried to push her off. To summon what little wandless magic I could muster to get her away from me but nothing worked."
"I don't want to hear this anymore!" Draco shouted, "Just stop it!"
He fell to his knees, the weight of the conclusion he came up with was too much and he just wanted her to stop talking. Maybe if she didn't finish her story, nothing would happen. Maybe if the story doesn't end, Hermione would still be okay.
"She cut too deep while cutting the letter 'L'. She nicked an artery and I bled out on the floor."
"Don't say it. Please don't say it." Draco begged. He was crying now. He didn't want to hear it. He couldn't. He didn't know what he'd do if she said it.
Hermione knelt on the floor in front of him and again reached out as if to touch him as tears poured down her pale cheeks.
"I died Draco."
"No!" Draco screamed, the pain and grief in his voice, so clear that it was enough to cut a hole through Hermione's dead heart.
"No! That can't be true. You are not dead!" He protested, "Dead people don't talk. They don't cry and they don't look as real as you do right now. So you are not dead!"
He looked right at her. His broken, grieving heart desperate to find a way to prove that she was still alive. Because she had to be alive. She couldn't be dead, not now. Not after everything. Not when they were so close to finishing the war and getting the future they deserved. Not after she broke their promise and told him she loved him.
Draco Malfoy glared at her, his eyes brimming with tears as he did the only thing he knew that could prove she was alive. Heart in his throat, Draco reached out to cup his beloved's cheeks so he could kiss her and prove that she was alive.
His hands shot out, shaky and steady at the same time. He knew what would happen, he's done it countless times before. He's caressed her cheeks many times before when she was distracted, held it a few more times right before he kissed her, even poked it whenever he was feeling particularly playful.
He would do that again. Feel her soft cheek against his hand. Her warm breath on his wrist.
He would feel it all again and prove to everyone that she was alive. That she was okay.
His hand was a hairsbreadth away from her cheek, he could feel how cold she was but he ignored it and moved to caress his lover's cheek.
…
…
…
Then his hand passed through her as if she wasn't there.
"No." He sobbed and tried again. He stepped forward to hug her but again he just passed through her. He fell to the floor, arms wrapped tightly around himself as if it was the only thing holding him together. He fell to the floor and his heart shattered within his chest. He fell to the floor and screamed to the heavens, alerting everyone to the pain and anguish he felt at that moment.
He fell to the floor and let the pain, the grief, the anger, and the hopelessness that lay in the shadows consume him. He didn't fight it. Why would he?
Hermione Granger was dead.
END