His Girl by greenflowerpot

Chapter 13

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @greenflowerpot ON A03!!

Potter fell to the ground, gasping and shaking, and Draco resisted the urge to break the man's leg. He would need him as strong as possible if they were to be on the same side. Draco turned to Hermione and lifted her body carefully up off the ground.

She felt unexpectedly small in his arms.

Draco focused his attention on conjuring a bed for her, gently rested her on it and covered the whole thing in a shimmering, protective bubble. He pushed down the tide of grief that twisted in his chest, the all-encompassing agony of seeing her unmoving. He picked up her hand, ran a thumb over her palm. There was not a single thing he would not do to bring her back.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll take care of this."

Draco let himself stand there for a moment longer. When he turned around his face was a cold mask once more. The sight of Potter still triggered barely contained rage but Draco pushed it down with Occlumency as he had done with his grief. Emotions would not help right now.

"This can't go wrong," he said. "Tell me what we need to do."

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To Potter's credit, he really did seem to know what he was talking about.

"Voldemort has pushed the bounds of Dark Magic to an extent never done before," he said. "But even he alone can't raise the dead. The Resurrection Stone, similarly, can't do it all by itself. But when Voldemort uses his blood as an amplifier to the Stone, the gap is bridged. That's how he brought Lestrange back."

"How do you know for sure?"

"There is a spy in your camp," Potter replied. "A big one."

"Who could possibly know this much?"

"Snape is our double agent."

Draco was shocked into silence. Snape advised Voldemort closely on magical theory—not a trivial position considering how much of Voldemort's power came from experimental spells and transformations that no sane wizard would attempt. Snape was dearly trusted by the regime, had helped Draco break curses on more than a few occasions. Part of him felt betrayed but then he remembered that he himself was now plotting to kill the Dark Lord. Perhaps Snape had a good reason too.

"The process is actually straightforward," Potter continued. "Voldemort cuts his hand and then holds the bloody stone, turning it three times like in the stories. Except with the blood on it, the stone works fully. Not temporary and not just a mirage."

"Why doesn't he use it more often if it's that easy?" Draco asked.

"I said straightforward, not easy. Using the Stone like that is incredibly draining, can even be fatal if the bearer isn't powerful enough."

"And you're sure using just his blood will work?"

"Yes, that's always the case with any blood magic. But there is one big catch," Potter said. "Anyone's blood will lose its magic if separated from a living host for long enough. You need to get back here and use the Stone on Hermione within minutes of us killing Voldemort. There's a charm we can use on the blood that will show us an exact counter, but Snape says it's usually between six and ten minutes."

"Fine," Draco said through gritted teeth. This was sounding more and more difficult, but the odds of success were frankly not relevant. He simply had to get it done. "In that case, we need to kill Voldemort last, after we get the Stone."

"Do you know where in the castle he would keep it?" Potter asked.

"Probably the Green Tower," Draco said. "It's where he keeps his most valuable artifacts. I can get us into the castle without an issue, but once he realizes we're stealing from him all bets are off."