Draco had known something would go wrong. There was really no plan and he'd just made it up as he spoke, but it had been more thought out than their other option so they'd all gone with it. He'd figured someone would get shot down and he'd figured something would go wrong when he tried to cast the killing curse, but he'd hoped to Merlin the thing that went wrong wouldn't involve Hermione standing before the Dark Lord.

What surprised him the most was that none of the Death Eaters moved in on them. They stayed far back and let the Dark Lord loom over them, his wand outstretched with Potter's body floating upright beside him.

Draco felt sick just looking at him, hovering beside the Dark Lord like a toy doll, and wondered how long the image would haunt his dreams. Potter's glasses were cracked and his scar was cracked open and bleeding even though the blood didn't drip down his face. His eyes were closed, though, and his body looked frozen in time, stiff, instead of limp and beginning to decay. Curious, Draco focused his heightened hearing on Potter's body and his lips twitched when he heard blood still flowing through his veins and his heart still beating. He wasn't dead.

As the Dark Lord took a step toward them, Draco became acutely aware of the fact his wand had fallen from his hand when they'd hit the ground. He could see it from where he was lying, but it was too far out of reach. Accio-ing it was out of the question as the Death Eaters would kill him before it had reached his fingers.

In front of him, Hermione attempted to sit up and his arm around her tightened. She twisted slightly then gasped as her eyes landed on Harry's body in front of them. Draco almost pulled her back down to his chest, but he spotted her wand lying where she'd been laying and he knew he needed to grab it. Slowly, acting as though he was just trying to sit up, Draco grabbed Hermione's wand and stuffed it up the sleeve of his robe. No one attacked them and he knew the wand hadn't been spotted.

"Draco Malfoy," the Dark Lord murmured, looking over them both. His eyes stopped on Hermione and he grinned in a way that had Draco's wolf snarling. If Draco hadn't been so worried about what any sudden movement would cause, he would have grabbed Hermione and pulled her away from him. "You've brought us Potter's Mudblood, a toy to play with. Is she a gift for my loyal followers?"

Draco snarled at him and pulled Hermione to his chest. One of her hands reached up to grab one of his that was wrapped around her tightly and the Dark Lord hummed.

"Your Aunt told me what happened at the Manor," he hissed, narrowing his eyes and glaring at him. "You would have been a great soldier, but you've undermined my rule and now you must pay."

Draco was dragged to his feet as Voldemort raised his wand. He willed Hermione's wand to stay hidden and he felt it stay securely in the holster he'd kept his in. Beside him, Hermione was raised as well and Draco felt his wolf panic and try to break through the spell holding him above the ground.

"Can't let disobedient children keep their pathetic toys," Voldemort sneered, pulling Hermione forward and far from Draco's reach. "I believe Greyback laid his claim to this one anyway."

As if he'd been summoned at his name, Greyback slinked forward from the crowd and prowled toward Hermione with clear intent. Draco snarled at him and Greyback paused, turning to smirk at Draco as he reached for Hermione. The instant Greyback touched Hermione, Draco felt his wolf take over. He struggled against Voldemort's spell, keeping his eyes on Greyback the entire time.

A curse hit his back, but he barely felt it as he watched one of Greyback's hands slip down Hermione's waist and reach around the inside of her thigh. His other arm wrapped around her shoulders so that even without a spell holding her still, she wouldn't have been able to move. Greyback's hand moved from her shoulder to grab her chest and Hermione cried out in pain.

Draco saw red as he broke free of Voldemort's spell on him and raised Hermione's wand at Voldemort first. As badly as he wanted to split Greyback in half right then and there, he knew he couldn't give up the chance to kill the Dark Lord.

Screams surrounded him as Voldemort shrieked and the jet of green light shot straight through him. With a snarl, Draco turned to Greyback and immobilised him before sending a curse strong enough to sever even Greyback's head from his body. Hermione stumbled forward as she was released from both Voldemort's spell and Greyback's prying hands. Faster than she could blink, Draco had wrapped one arm around her and grabbed Potter's stiff body. He apparated them all far from the swarm of Death Eaters and collapsed as soon as they landed safely in the forest behind Hagrid's hut.

"Draco!" Hermione gasped, dropping to his side and pulling her wand from his hand.

He struggled to breathe, his ears ringing, and watched with glassy eyes as Hermione moved quickly above him.

He was vaguely aware of a sharp pain coursing through his body and what felt like fire consuming him from the inside. Hermione was casting spell after spell on him and Draco couldn't help but shift uncomfortably as he felt his bones move and his body twist under him. Something flashed to his left and he shied away from it, but Hermione quickly calmed him, showing him a familiar satchel and saying something about having left it in the castle. Whatever was so important about a satchel, he couldn't figure out at the moment.

Hermione's lips moved and he heard what sounded like her voice, but he couldn't make out the words. A second later, she was dumping several potions down his throat and glaring at him until he swallowed them. They all tasted strange, but as they settled into his system and Hermione rummaged around some more in her bag, Draco could feel the burning disappear and the sharp pain slowly fade.

He blinked and his ears stopped ringing. When he blinked again, Hermione had tears in her eyes and was holding his hand tightly. His body ached and he coughed when he tried to take a deep breath, but the way Hermione threw herself down to hug him made both of those things okay for a second.

"You passed out and I was so worried," she said, her voice breaking. Her shoulders shook and her arms tightened around him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, remembering the way she'd cried out in pain under Greyback's hold. Merlin, he hadn't even bothered to make sure the bastard was fully dead. He wasn't even sure if he'd managed to kill Voldemort. With growing panic, he tried to sit up as he said, "Greyback—"

"You killed him," Hermione told him. She helped him sit up, kneeling beside him and keeping one arm wrapped around him the entire time. "I had to scourgify myself since I got covered in his blood. He's definitely dead, Draco."

"Good," he growled, pulling Hermione onto his lap so he could hold her closer. "He died too quickly."

"There wasn't time for anything else," Hermione replied. She brushed his hair from his face and laid her head on his chest. "You were hit with so many curses, Draco. If it weren't for the fact you're a werewolf now, you would be dead."

Draco tightened his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her temple. He remembered the way he'd felt immediately after apparating and compared to how he felt now, Hermione had to have worked miracles. Whatever she'd done had stopped the curses from killing him and that deserved more recognition than she was bound to get.

"You should consider a career as a healer, Granger," he murmured, pressing his head to her hair and inhaling deeply. She smelled faintly of Greyback and his wolf snarled, but he knew he could easily get rid of the scent with a very strong scourgify.

A loud shriek from down the hill had Draco curling around Hermione protectively and glaring toward the sound. Something rumbled and he saw part of the castle explode in flames. For a moment, he could see Death Eaters battling students and wondered why Hermione hadn't rushed down to join the fight.

Hermione followed his gaze toward the castle and grimaced as another wall caved in.

"You killed him," she murmured. Draco looked down at her to see her already looking up at him. "Voldemort is—yes, I'm going to say his name now, don't give me that look," she said, giving him a look that told him not to argue. "He's dead. As soon as word of it spread, the dark creatures retreated into the Forbidden Forest and the Death Eaters are just killing to kill."

"How can you be sure?" he asked. They'd apparated before Voldemort's body had hit the ground. There was no telling if the curse had actually killed him this time or just made him vanish like the last time he'd been hit with it.

"Ron watched it from above," Hermione explained. Her eyes flickered to where Potter was lying before quickly darting away. "He found us after to make sure we were all okay, but now he's heading up the DA's attack. I told him I'd stay with you until you were stable."

"Potter isn't dead," Draco said. Hermione's eyes shot wide open as she looked from him to Potter. "I can hear his heart beating. Whatever happened to him, he isn't dead."

"Are you sure?" Hermione breathed, staring at Potter as if just by looking at him, he'd spring back to his feet.

"Almost positive," Draco replied. He shifted under Hermione and his whole body groaned in protest. He didn't even make it to his knees before he was in too much pain to continue and Hermione gently helped him lie back down.

She looked over him worriedly, but Draco assured her he was alright.

"Check over Potter," he told her instead. Hermione nodded, picked up her wand, and hurried over to where Draco had dropped Potter after apparating.

He watched as Hermione ran a series of tests, gasping and murmuring to herself as she worked. With his enhanced hearing, Draco could understand everything she said and smiled to himself when she came to a solution. She whispered a spell and held her breath.

Sputtering and coughing, Potter came back to life. He sprawled out on his back, gasping for air even as Hermione hugged him tightly.

"I thought you were dead!" she cried, forcing Harry to sit up so she could hug him properly. Harry wheezed slightly, but hugged Hermione in return. When she finally let him go, he glanced over at Draco and smiled.

"I think your Mum saved my life," he said. Both Hermione and Draco frowned in confusion.

"What happened, Harry?" Hermione asked, digging in her bag for a Pepper Up potion and handing it to him.

"Voldemort killed me is the short story," he said. Hermione glared at him and Harry chuckled even as she told him it wasn't funny.

Harry went on to explain how he'd killed Nagini the second he saw her. He wasn't sure how'd he'd known to do it, but somehow he'd summoned the sword of Gryffindor and sent it sailing into the snake's head. As expected, Voldemort had been furious and killed him before Nagini had fully faded.

"I was definitely dead 'cause I saw Dumbledore," Harry said quietly, running a hand through his hair. "We talked for what felt like hours before I woke back up in the forest. Narcissa—Your mum—" Harry said, nodding at Draco, "—was the one who I woke up to. She asked if you were safe and I told her you were. She petrified me before I could do anything else and told Voldemort I was dead."

Hermione and Draco just stared at him. Harry had been petrified beside Voldemort for hours and he'd never noticed. Not only that, but Hermione found herself becoming increasingly impressed by Narcissa Malfoy as she realised it could not possibly have been that easy to lie to the most powerful dark wizard of the century.

"Since I told her you're alright," Harry said, glancing at Draco, "Maybe don't go find your mum while you look like shit."

Draco scowled at him and slowly sat up, grimacing as he did. Hermione moved from Potter's side to help him and Draco wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Since you're both alright enough to look after each other, I'm going down to help the others," Hermione told them quietly. Draco and Harry both looked at her and immediately began to argue. She interrupted them both to say, "I'm going and that's final!"

"Then we're coming too," Harry told her. Hermione glared at him.

"Absolutely not," she refused, shaking her head. "Draco's just been hit with more spells than I can count and you sound like a muggle who has whooping cough. You'll both stay here until I send for you."

"I'm fine," both of them said at the same time. Hermione sighed exasperatedly and looked between them.

"The battle looks like it's almost over," Draco said, flinching as part of the ground blasted down by the castle. "You won't do any good running around on foot as it is."

"I'll do more good there than up here," she argued, daring him to disagree. Draco and Harry shared a look and an idea formed in Draco's head faster than he could speak.

"I'll make you a deal," he informed her, looking away from Potter and back down at Hermione. "If you say no, you stay here, understand?"

"Fine," Hermione agreed, glancing warily between him and Potter. "What's the deal?"