On the Nature of Daylight

Chapter 25

I pulled inspiration from the book and the movie for a couple of scenes in this. I kind of combined them to flesh out this last chapter so disclaimer- I don't own anything to do with the Harry Potter books or movies.

Soundtrack- Andrew Belle's "The Enemy" and "Power" by Isak Danielson

Chapter 25

.

It all happened in less than two seconds.

Draco snarled as he grabbed Granger, pulling her hard against him, covering her body with his own. She clung onto his shoulders, nails digging into his flesh like claws. He reached out to grab the sheet from the bed, making sure it covered her body before throwing himself to his feet in a swift movement.

His wand was within reach, but it had been a while since he tested out his Seeker reflexes and he just hoped luck was on his side as he struck out for it. His fingers barely brushed against the dark handle when he was slammed back against one of the posts of the bed and felt a deep pain in the back of his head.

"Draco!"

Darkness.

Thick, black, and heavy.

He could hear something, very far away.... Granger. It was her voice, hauntingly echoing in his head as he tried to pull himself from the daze.

A different voice. Deeper, angry, and loud. Draco tried to find something to hold onto, but there was nothing here. Nothing but the darkness.

He had never been stunned before. Once his father had hit him so hard he fell over and heard a resounding thunk as his head bounced off of the floor. He had woken up with his mother screaming at his father, holding him to her chest. It was a close comparison to this.

But that was a long time ago and he wasn't a little boy anymore.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

He could barely make out the outline of Granger's messy curls and Weasley somewhere in front of her. He was holding up something, something small but tucked it back away in his robes before Draco could blink the bleariness from his eyes.

"Him?!" Weasley was shouting at her. Draco groaned in protest. "This is your someone?! HIM?!"

"Ron, don't!"

"Get out of the way, Hermione. I'm going to kill-"

"Stop! Stop! You don't understand!" Granger was pleading with Weasley and Draco fought against the weight pushing him back down into the darkness.

"Grang-" he breathed out. "Granger-"

Her hands were on his chest. Warm. Soft. He could smell cinnamon and vanilla and he followed it up towards her.

Big brown doe eyes were looking down at him.

"Granger," he croaked again.

"MOVE!"

Granger's head turned sharply over her shoulder, caramel curls messy and twirling with movement. "Ron, just listen to me!"

Draco blinked, trying to keep his eyes from closing again. Had Weasley stunned him non-verbally? He could barely turn a turtle into a teakettle without muttering the incantation under his breath. How had he been able to-

"Hermione, get away from him! He's got you under some kind of enchantment! He's probably dosed you with a love potion!"

"No, it's not what you think!"