One Life for Another

Hermione was woken early in the morning by a sickening feel of cold and misery which surrounded her. It was thick and smothering, giving her the sensation of being unable to breathe. In recent days she had worked on extending her reach, but it seemed her subconscious had embraced her role far more readily than her conscious mind had managed. Sitting up abruptly, she looked over by the fire and saw Draco holding his arm tightly and clenching his jaws in pain. The black mark that marred his otherwise smooth arm writhed with magic, the serpent slithering and inflicting pain in response to it's master's call.

"It's starting, isn't it?" she asked him softly.

He looked up at her with an empty expression in his eyes, as though he was preparing himself for what was to come. "Yes," he answered simply. "We have hours, maybe... but there will be battle before the day is over."

She nodded. She knew it too, and there really wasn't any point denying it. Fixing some tea she began to open herself up further to the magic, surprising herself at how long of a reach she'd managed. She could feel the dark magic, like it was bubbling under the surface and just waiting to break through. Voldemort was likely doing something to strengthen himself before attacking. She wanted so badly to just cut it off. The thrill of it would have made her day, but it wouldn't have gone beyond that. It wasn't the plan, and she didn't want her hatred of him to screw this up.

There were small things she could do to help though, and she took Draco's left arm in her hands and concentrated quietly. The flow of magic was distinct. It was tied to the darkness she felt but not dark magic in full. It didn't need to be dark for her to use her gift though, and soon the muscles in his arm were relaxing as the pain faded. "The block should hold even after you leave," she told him softly, "and he shouldn't have any way of realizing it's been done."

Trying to get her mind of what more she wanted to do against Voldemort, and if for no other reason than so she couldn't subconsciously do it, Hermione took out Nimue's notes and once again began reviewing them.

x-x-x-x-x

All too soon the weasel patronus of Arthur Weasley came soaring into the room. Draco came to stand behind her and began massaging and kissing her neck softly. "I have to go, cariad. It will all be over soon enough."

"Can't you stay with me?" Hermione asked quietly, twisting her head around to look up at his eyes. "As my protector, shouldn't you be staying anyway?"

It was a good excuse, Draco had to admit. Still, there were things he couldn't ignore in order to stay with her. "No, I can't," he said. "I want to badly, and as Galahad I might. But I've done a lot of things in this life that weren't right, and this is my chance to make up for them. I need this, Hermione."

She stood quickly and faced him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her head against him. "Alright," she answered, "if you have to. I don't have to like it, but I do understand."

Draco brought his hand up to her face and raised her chin so that she looked him in the eyes. He said nothing else in response, merely bent his head to close the distance and kissed her urgently. He didn't plan on letting anything happen to him during the battle, but he wanted to give her something to remember while she was alone and working her magic as Lady of the Lake. Her lips parted in acceptance, allowing him to deepen the kiss, and his hands gripped her body tightly.

He lifted her body and set it on the table behind her, grinding himself into her as a promise for later. Soon they both were feeling out of breath and close to forgetting the events going on around them, the need for each of them in the battle that was close at hand. Catching sight of Draco's Dark Mark served as a painful reminder of the fact and he finally pulled back. Kneeling in front of her, he kissed Hermione's stomach as his goodbye to their daughter, then took Hermione's hand in his and gently kissed the knuckles.

Silently his lips formed the words 'I love you, cariad,' as if sound would ruin the moment. With that he turned and walked gracefully out, not allowing himself to look back but instead focusing on his later return.

She let her hands fall to her stomach, and stared at the knuckles he'd kissed with such sweetness. She didn't watch him leave, instead choosing to be confident that he would return unharmed.

x-x-x-x-x

The patronus' of several Order members alerted her when battle began in earnest. Settling down in a comfortable chair, Hermione opened herself up for the second time in the day to the magic that surrounded her. In filled her, not quite like air or light, but as something that could saturate everything and be destroyed by nothing. For the most part it was clear and soothing, like a perfect summer day that didn't have to end.

Mentally she reached out, willing herself to feel the magic further and further away. It was like a drug, the more she sensed the more she wanted to fill her senses with. Finally she felt what she was searching for and concentrated on it. The feeling repulsed her, but she held on to it regardless. The Dementors she had encountered at Hogwarts had been miserable to experience, but they had been at a distance. Holding on to the flow of dark magic, almost as if it were passing through her, was ten times worse. It made her feel slightly claustrophobic, among other things that she really did not want to think about.

Hermione's initial plan, and the one that had been agreed on, was that she would wait until Harry had fought Voldemort and the horcrux within him had been destroyed before cutting off the flow. Any sooner and it would ruin the advantage, leaving Voldemort with the knowledge of what was happening and what spells he was limited to in his attack. Still, there was the chance of a lot of lives being lost in the meantime while dark magic was flowing and Hermione was doing nothing to stop it. She understood why Draco had felt the need to go, but the knowledge of his being in danger didn't help her in the slightest with her resolve. Add to that Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville, and all of her other friends and her resolve wavered. She didn't lose all control, but she did interrupt the flow in places. A spell weakened here, a hex thrown off course there. The Death Eater's would be none the wiser, assuming it was just the stress of battle throwing off their concentration, and Hermione would be able to rest easy knowing she'd worked throughout the entire battle to protect her friends.

Time passed slowly, and it became not a problem of worry but of mere boredom. Not that she didn't worry, but it was no longer the worry that tempted her to further action. How much longer could things go on?

Finally Draco's raven patronus soared into the room, telling her that Harry was waking and now was the time. She breathed a sigh of relief getting the message from Draco. It meant he was safe, at least for the moment. Concentrating once more on the magic she felt, Hermione began to block all the dark magic being drawn on. It was not unlike casting a Patronus charm. She took all of her happy memories, and all those she wished for the future, and used that happiness to form the block. Once done she found it a simple matter to keep the block strong, grinning cheerfully when she felt a person that could only be Voldemort struggling harder and harder to break through.

It was then, finally governing magic when it was truly needed, that Hermione finally felt herself to be a Lady of the Lake. She embraced it fully, and knew that Nimue would be proud.

---

Okay, major apologies for taking so long on this chapter. It was a mix of things becoming more difficult to write as the story comes closer to an end and some personal stuff that's just been killing my inspiration lately.

Gryffindor_Slytherin - He could still go to the summons, but it takes a ridiculous amount of skill with Occlumency to hide things from Voldemort. Draco isn't the Occlumens that Snape is so I have a hard time picturing him pulling it off adequately. He could block people from his thoughts, yes, but I don't think he could do what Snape does by allowing enough to show through that no deception is suspected. This way there is still a possibility that the Death Eaters will assume Draco is too injured or cowardly to show, where actually allowing his thoughts to be seen by Voldemort would blow everything included the new Lady of the Lake's identity.