When Draco found himself facing another night in Azkaban, he started to worry just how bad the battle at Hogwarts had been.  He knew there was no way everyone had gotten out unharmed but had it been worse than he'd initially thought?  Just how many people had died?  He'd been one of the first escorted to Azkaban so he supposed it wasn't too unrealistic to think something could have happened after he'd been taken away.  That thought, however, was not reassuring.  Certainly, the others would have said something about a second attack happening.  Bragging was a born Death Eater trait after all.

As they had last night, the Death Eaters shouted and shrieked when the Azkaban guards walked through the hall.  Draco remained in his corner even when Mulciber taunted him for several minutes.  It was no use entertaining a madman when he would soon be leaving.

Rather than die down partway through the night like the first time, the shouts continued until early in the morning.  Draco managed to doze off at quieter times, but when he wasn't awoken by Mulciber banging on the cell doors, he was woken up by flashes of a nightmare.  When his breakfast porridge arrived, he gave up on sleep altogether.

"These bastards won't defeat us!"  Yaxley yelled from down the hall.

Draco rolled his eyes and sniffed his porridge.  One of the Lestrange brothers told Yaxley to shut up, he didn't know much of anything anyway.  Draco was lucky when it worked for a few minutes and the prison resumed a much more normal level of noise.

He had only taken a couple of bites from his porridge but already decided he was done when there was noise from down the hall.  He couldn't understand what was being yelled, but the yelling got louder and more aggressive as more Death Eaters shot to the doors of their cells.

As the guards got closer, the yelling got louder.  Draco could make out what was being yelled now and he frowned at the foul language.  Someone had to be with the guards to inspire such crude commentary from the prisoners.

"I'll fuck every hole in you when I'm out, Mudblood!"  Mulciber screamed.

Draco shot to his feet.  Mudblood.  It was Hermione.  These bastards were yelling at Hermione.

As Draco found his way to the edge of his cell, he could see the guards down the hall.  They slammed batons against the cells to force prisoners back, but it wasn't doing much from what Draco could see.  Even the magic in the cell doors was hardly keeping the Death Eaters from trying to lunge into the hallway.  Mulciber was shaking as the magic shot from the cell doors into his arms as he pressed against it.

"Come to entertain us, bitch?"  Dolohov yelled from across the hall.

Draco sent him a scathing glare and his father raised an eyebrow at him.  He didn't care.

The guards stopped in front of his cell and immobilised Mulciber before moving the cell door back.  Draco just stared as the guards parted in front of him and he was faced with Hermione smiling at him.

"No funny business, Malfoy,"  one of the guards said with a glare.  Draco nodded at him and stepped forward to stand beside Hermione.

As the guards surrounded them both and they were escorted out of the prison, Hermione reached out and grabbed his hand tightly.  She stared straight ahead blankly, but every now and then her grip on his hand would tighten and Draco would hear what had just been shouted at them clearer than the other garbled threats.  Most were disgusting and directed at Hermione, but Draco could tell when they spotted him alongside her because the insults changed direction.

"Blood traitor!  Your family will die ashamed of you!"

Draco didn't even flinch.  It was more the things they yelled at Hermione that had his blood boiling and his eyes narrowing on the door so far ahead.  Why had he been put in the cell furthest down the hall?  Had the Azkaban prison halls always been this long?

"Auntie Bella will skin you alive, boy,"  a familiar voice shrieked.

Draco's attention was torn from the door ahead as he turned to look at his Aunt Bella.  He stopped in his tracks as he locked eyes on her and noticed not for the first time how truly insane she appeared.

"I'll skin you alive then let you watch as I ruin your little toy!"

Draco's free hand clenched and he felt Hermione's reach around his arm.  He'd taken a step towards Bellatrix's cell without thinking and the guards hadn't even tried to stop him.  It was Hermione who pulled him back into the safety of the guarded circle and forced him to continue the rest of the way to the exit.

As soon as they had passed through all the prison wards and they were no longer surrounded by Azkaban guards, Hermione threw herself at Draco and hugged him tightly.  One guard eyed them both, but after Draco glared him down, he looked away.

As badly as Draco wanted to keep Hermione wrapped up in his arms and safely away from the Death Eaters and werewolves nearby, he knew they needed to separate so he could get everything settled and leave.

It was lucky Hermione had Kingsley on her side because none of the Azkaban guards seemed excited about letting him leave and made sure they both knew it.  When he'd finally gotten his wand back and changed into his own robes, Hermione was radiating with irritation and it was all Draco could do to walk out the prison doors without snapping.

When the door slammed shut behind them, Draco realised just how well the surrounding area matched the prison.  It was dark and dreary, but he also didn't know what time it was so he supposed it could be evening.  Standing outside with the cold breeze swirling around them reminded Draco just where they were and he was suddenly in a bit of a hurry to apparate away.

He didn't ask Hermione where she'd been planning on taking him.  In fact, he probably should have checked to make sure he didn't need to talk to the new Minister or the Wizenmagot before apparating home.  As soon as he and Hermione were standing in front of Malfoy Manor, though, the thought crossed his mind.

"I'm sorry,"  he said, releasing her hand.  "I probably should have asked before bringing you here."

"I figured it's where you'd go first,"  Hermione told him.  Draco glanced up at the tall doors before looking back at Hermione when she said,  "I already talked to Kingsley and he'll wait until tomorrow for you to visit.  Of course, there are some strings attached to your release from Azkaban, but I figured—"

And just like that, she was rambling and Draco couldn't help but smile.  He knew there would be caveats and things he'd need to guarantee in order to secure his freedom from Azkaban, but they didn't matter as he watched Hermione talk about all the work that still needed to be done and why she'd been unable to ask him first if the terms of his release were alright with him.

"—understand why I wouldn't want to visit more than necessary but—"

"I love you,"  Draco said.

Hermione promptly cut herself off mid-sentence and looked at him.  He reached for her and laced his fingers through hers before pulling her to his chest.  He brought one hand up to cup her cheek as he smiled down at her.

"Everything about you, I just—I love you,"  he said softly.

Slowly, Hermione smiled back at him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I love you too,"  she said quietly, pulling him ever so slightly closer.

Draco didn't need any more of a hint and leaned down to kiss her.  It had been several days, over a week in fact, since he'd last kissed her, and then there had been the threat of death.  Now, with the Dark Lord gone and only the Wizenmagot's requests to face, things seemed so much simpler.  At least, they did until his mother opened the front door and walked out to see them kissing, promptly forcing them apart in an attempt to recover their dignity.  It didn't matter when, not even a minute later, Draco was hugging his mother for the first time in a long time and the Manor didn't reek of Death Eaters and Dark Magic.

The End