On the Way to the End - Dramione

Chapter 21

Hermione looked down at the sword of Gryffindor in her hands. Clad in Draco's blood, she let it fall to the floor and turned back to the man beside her. Hermione was covered in blood, so was he, so was the couch and everything else around them. She thought back to not so long ago when she had his blood on her and tended to him on that very couch. 

This was all a horrible nightmare and she just wanted to wake up. Sobs overtook her once more and she wished she could go back in time and change it all. But not even magic could reverse death. Hermione knew the moment the sword went into his body he was done. The basilisk venom would have coursed through his veins and within moments it would be over. 

And now it was. 

Through her tears, she didn't even notice the silvery stag galloping towards her and she jumped when she heard Harry's voice. "We won, Hermione. It's over. We'll be back soon." Was all the Patronus said and within another moment the deer faded away. 

She was relieved. Very relieved. Draco's death ended this war and for that, she would forever be grateful to him. But even if he hadn't died, she would have been grateful. He had shown her a kind of mercy she had never known from the boy. His kindness in his own weird way was something she'd always remember. 

She just wished she could reminisce with him. 

Hermione had experienced a lot of death in the war, but none that had affected her like this. She wondered what it was she felt for him, it was too new and scary to really pinpoint what it could have been. It was a rush of emotion and caring for one another that she could only guess could have led to love. 

That was a scary thought, love. Draco Malfoy and love. Hermione would have laughed if she hadn't been so upset.  But in her opinion, that's exactly what it could have been. And she decided that's what hurt the most. 

Potential had been ripped away from them. Draco had just turned nineteen. He had a whole life ahead of him. Who knows what they could have been, but they had something. And never knowing what it could be, what he could be or do in his life, crushed her. 

But they won. She turned to Draco and put a hand on his face, "you hear that? We won." Hermione prayed that somehow he knew. That his death wasn't for nothing. She felt more sobs overcome her and she put her head against his chest. 

She missed his warmth, even though he was always cold. She missed his unreadable expressions that she was just starting to understand. Hermione hadn't gotten very many, but she missed his hugs. She missed the bolt of electricity she got through her body every time they touched. She missed waking up near him and not having nightmares for a while.

She missed the comfort of his presence beside her. 

Hermione clutched onto the fabric of his shirt and she wished it could all be over. She muttered apologies through her tears, they slowly subsided and she listened to the silence. But it wasn't silent. She felt her heartbeat pounding through her ears in her head.

But it was dim and irregular. She wondered if the grief was having an effect on her heart as well now. Well, of course, it did, but even more so than she had realized. That's when it hit her. 

It wasn't her heartbeat. 

Hermione sat upright and stared at Draco, her eyes wide in disbelief. There was only one explanation. The grief had gone to her brain. She was losing it and she was going to have to be checked into St. Mungos. 

With shaking hands, Hermione leaned down once again, pressing her ear against Draco's chest. This couldn't be possible. It was faint, not steady at all, but his heart was still beating. He was not dead. The Horcrux inside him clearly was, which meant that his heart had to have stopped. But it started again. The only way that could be possible is the same way Harry survived Voldemort's attack as a baby. But there was no time to think about that now. 

"Draco?" She whispered. 

He was alive. Barely. But he was. There was potential. A chance. So Hermione held onto it for dear life. She sprung to her feet and ran to the kitchen, grabbing potions among Draco's supply. Her hands were shaking and her vision blurred from tears, but she pushed on. 

The Gryffindor grabbed a blood replenishing potion and ran back to the living room. She poured it into Draco's mouth before starting some healing spells. When the boys returned she would have to get them to get Pheonix tears from Fawkes- who was now being cared for by McGonagall since Dumbledore's death.

"You're going to be okay," Hermione whispered. Of course, she wasn't sure if it was true, but she needed the encouragement to herself if nothing else. She had become a very skilled healer from the war. And she was not going to let him die. 

Hermione wasn't fully sure how this had managed to happen. But she'd take it. She had a chance to bring him back. Harry's mother had fought off a killing curse for Harry with her love. But Hermione wasn't sure how this one worked. It was a sword covered in venom strong enough to destroy a Horcrux, not a spell. 

But now was not the time to question fate. 

There was a rush of air and two of the three boys were back. Hermione turned and looked at them, "where's Blaise?" she asked. 

"No, yay! We did it?" Ron asked, but quickly quieted at the sight of Draco's blood everywhere. 

"He didn't want to see... well this." Harry furrowed his eyebrows at the sight and his previous happiness from winning the war dimed a bit. 

"Well, you should get him-"

 "What? Why?... Hermione, what are you doing?" Harry questioned as she continued her spellwork. 

"His heart started after the Horcrux died." She rambled out, Harry's eyes widened. 

"How? Like me when-" 

"That's my best guess, but Harry, the poison from the Basilisk is still in his system. I need Pheonix tears from Fawkes." Hermione was going a mile a minute. Harry had seen her like this before. 

He knew they could celebrate later because they had a very small window before Malfoy was too far gone to the venom. "I'll go ask McGonagall, they're heading to reclaim Hogwarts." Harry told Hermione, "come on Ron." 

Ron nodded, "good luck Mione." He spared her a final glance before turning to Harry. 

Hermione continued her work and prayed they'd come back quick enough. Draco was clearly unconscious, but there was a chance he'd wake up. Somehow, they were given one more chance. 

And she wasn't about to waste it.