Defiance Against Darkness
"They'll be near the atrium," Hermione gasped, pushing herself faster. "If I know Draco, he'll want to be as close to Nagini as possible without alerting Voldemort."
The adrenaline coursed through her veins, her senses sharpened to a razor's edge. They were almost there. They had to be.
And then she saw them—a pair of dark figures, crouched in the shadows just beyond the archway that led into the atrium. Draco and Theo, tense and ready, their expressions hard and set with grim determination. They were whispering furiously to each other, the words too low to catch, but Hermione didn't need to hear them to know what they were saying.
This was it. The final stand.
"Draco!" she hissed, skidding to a halt as she and Ginny burst into the narrow alcove.
Draco whipped around, his eyes widening in shock and then narrowing in fury. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he snarled, stepping forward so quickly that Hermione took a step back in surprise.
"I could say the same thing about you," she replied, putting her hands on her hips.
His face was pale and drawn, his hair wild and unkempt, and there was a madness in his eyes that made her heart clench painfully.
"You were supposed to stay back, Hermione!" he spat, his voice low and dangerous. "This is a suicide mission. Do you understand that?We'renot coming back. You need toleave—right now!"
"No!" Hermione shouted, her voice shaking with anger and desperation. "No, I'm not leaving, Draco! I'mnotgoing to sit back and watch you throw your life away! We're going to kill that bloody snake, and thenwe—all of us—are getting out of here!"
Draco's face twisted in rage, his eyes flashing. "You're delusional!" he hissed. "There is no 'getting out,' Hermione! You think this is some fairy tale? That we'll kill the snake and then waltz off into the sunset?" His voice cracked, raw and broken. "We'regoing to die.I'mgoing to die, and I'm not letting you—"
"Shut up!" she screamed, grabbing the front of his robes and yanking him forward. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that I shut you out, I know it was selfish of me and I'll regret it for the rest of my life, but you listen to me, Draco Malfoy. We areallgetting out of here, do you hear me? We're going to kill that snake, and then you're going to come back with me. You, Theo, me—we're getting our happily ever after, damn it! I amnotgoing to let you give up on yourself! Not now, not ever!"
For a moment, Draco just stared at her, his chest heaving, his eyes wild and desperate. There was a glimpse of something in his expression, the familiarness that she always saw when they bickered and stood their ground against each other. Then, slowly, his shoulders slumped, the fight draining out of him. He looked away, his expression twisted with pain.
"Hermione, please," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "Don't make me watch you die."
She reached up, cupping his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I'm not going to die," she whispered fiercely. "And neither are you. I promise. I love you more than you could ever know Draco Malfoy"
But before he could respond, a loud shout echoed behind them, shattering the fragile silence. They turned, just in time to see Ginny and Theo locked in a heated argument, their faces inches apart, their wands drawn.
"You'reinsane, Theo!" Ginny spat, her voice trembling with rage. "You can't just—justthrowyourself at him! You'll die, and what for? To be some kind of martyr?"
Theo's face was white with anger. "Ihaveto do this, Ginny! Don't you see? I have to make it right! I—Iowethe Order that much!"
"You don't owe anyoneanything!" Ginny shouted, her eyes flashing. "You're not a pawn, Theo! You're aperson! You have a life, you have people who—whocareabout you! And you think we'll just stand by and let you—"
"If it means stopping him, then yes!" Theo yelled, his voice raw. "If it means ending this—if it means a chance at peace—then I'mwillingto die!"
"Well, I'mnot!" Ginny screamed back. "I'm not willing to lose anyone else! So you're going to stop this self-sacrificing crap, and we're going to do thistogether, do you hear me?Together!"
Theo's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, the fire in his eyes flickering, wavering. For a moment, it looked like he was going to argue again, but then he glanced at Ginny's face—the anguish, the desperation—and something in him seemed to crumble.
"Together," he whispered, his shoulders sagging. "Fine. Together."
Hermione let out a shaky breath, relief washing over her in a dizzying wave. She turned back to Draco, her heart pounding.
"We'll do this," she murmured, her gaze fierce. "But we do ittogether. All four of us."
Draco stared at her, his expression torn, conflicted. And then, slowly, he nodded.
"Together," he echoed quietly.
It was eerily quiet, the only sound the faint hiss of Nagini's tail as the massive serpent coiled at the foot of Voldemort's throne. Voldemort himself stood at the far end of the room, his back to them, his pale hands clasped behind him.
This was it. Their last chance.
"Now!" Hermione shouted, and all hell broke loose.
Curses flew in every direction, bright flashes of light cutting through the darkness. Ginny lunged forward, her wand raised, sending a torrent of hexes hurtling toward the snake. Theo darted to the side, drawing Voldemort's attention with a barrage of stunning spells. Draco was a blur of motion, his wand flicking rapidly as he cast spell after spell, driving back the Death Eaters that had appeared from the shadows.
And Hermione—Hermione ran straight for Nagini.
The snake reared back, hissing angrily, but Hermione didn't falter. She could see the glittering scales, the red, slit-pupil eyes, the gleaming fangs dripping with venom. She could hear Voldemort's enraged shout, feel the crackle of dark magic in the air—
But she didn't stop.
With a scream, she leapt forward, her knife flashing in the dim light—
She missed, scurrying back slashing her knife back and forth, Nagini bit Hermione's hand and hermione gasped in pain but it didn't stop her, she twisted around so she was on her back she maneuvered around so her body was underneath the snake, before the snake could unhinge its jaw Hermione stabbed up
driving it straight into Nagini's throat.
The snake convulsed, a terrible, ear-splitting shriek tearing through the air as it writhed and thrashed. Blood sprayed everywhere, hot and slick, but Hermione didn't let go. She drove the blade deeper, twisting it savagely, until the snake's struggles weakened, until its massive body went limp and still.
Nagini was dead.
"Hermione,move!" Draco shouted, his voice sharp with panic. She barely had time to register his words before he was there, grabbing her arm and yanking her back as a burst of green light seared through the air where she'd been standing.
Voldemort's scream echoed through the atrium, high and shrill and full of rage.
"No!" he howled, his eyes wild, his face twisted in fury. "You—you dare—!"
But before he could finish, a roar of voices erupted from the far end of the room, and a flood of Death Eaters burst through the doors, surging toward them like a dark tide.
Hope you liked the little reference to where this all started!
Draco whipped around, his eyes widening in shock and then narrowing in fury. "What the fuck are you doing here?" he snarled, stepping forward so quickly that Hermione took a step back in surprise.
"I could say the same thing about you," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. - Chapter 51
"What the fuck are you doing here" Malfoy hissed, his stance was meant to make him look taller, which was unnecessary considering Hermione had to crane her neck up to maintain eye contact.
"I could say the same thing about you," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. " - Chapter 3