Choices

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! This chapter was originally supposed to be two chapters, but I decided to make it one long one to make up for the long time between updates and the shortness of the other chapters.



Just as a warning, this chapter contains violence and character death.

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Chapter 13: Halloween in Hogsmeade



Hermione’s two weeks of detention were nearly finished. As happy as she was to not be punished anymore, she was rather unhappy about the fact that she wouldn’t be able to have as much time with Lucius. It was a Monday morning and she had walked into her common room to see Draco and Elkara sitting together on the sofa talking excitedly about something.



“Hey, what’s going on?” Hermione asked her two friends.



Draco grinned up at her and said, “The first Hogsmeade weekend is this weekend. Are you planning on asking someone to go with you?”



“Draco, you know the only person I want to go with me is the only person I can’t ask,” Hermione sighed, her frustration getting the better of her.



“Why don’t you meet him in the Shrieking Shack?” Draco asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. The movement looked unnatural on his aristocratic features and made Hermione laugh.



“You’re a total pervert, Malfoy,” she admonished jokingly.



“You wouldn’t have me any other way,” he grinned at her.



Hermione rolled her eyes and muttered, “It’s a damn shame that you figured that out.”



El, who had been watching the interaction, wondered how to people who had hated each other for six years could become such good friends in two months. She mentally shrugged and put it down to the emotional elasticity of the young. She herself was only seventeen, but because of what she was and the memories she’d kept from previous incarnations, she sometimes felt much older. She often wondered what life would be like if she was just a normal teenager, and if she didn’t have the weight of the world resting on her shoulders. In that, she felt a kinship with Harry. The two teens were more alike than they cared to admit. The fate of their world, and even the Muggle world, rested on them. She knew they had to start preparing soon, but part of her was loathe to do it, because it meant admitting to herself and the rest of the world that the Final Battle was looming much closer than anyone would be comfortable with.



“El, El, are you with us?” Hermione asked, snapping her fingers in front of the girl’s face.



El snapped back to reality and looked at Hermione sheepishly. “Sorry, I spaced out for a minute.”



“Anything you’d like to talk about?” Draco asked gently.



“Nah. Let’s just go to breakfast,” El answered, her stomach growling in agreement.



Hermione and Draco giggled and the three left for breakfast. Draco left first, to keep up the façade that they weren’t friends. Hermione and El left a couple of minutes later talking about where they’d like to go first in Hogsmeade. The first thing they noticed was a beaming Harry and a laughing Ginny. They sat down at the table and asked what the joke was.



Ginny, still laughing, explained what happened. “Harry wasn’t doing anything about asking Hannah out, so I decided to help him out.”



“How?” Hermione asked, slightly dreading the answer.



“I tripped just as we were walking past the Hufflepuff table and we just happened to be right behind Hannah when it happened. She turned around to help him up,” here Ginny had to stop because she was laughing so hard.



“And she fell on top of me,” Harry said, still grinning like a fool.



“Then what happened?” El asked.



“Then it got really good,” Ginny said, still chuckling. “She kissed him. Then, our brilliant Harry decided that his best course of action was to jerk away from her so hard that he smacked his head on the floor. Which, of course, resulted in him seeing stars.”



“I nearly passed out it hurt so bad,” Harry interjected. “Once I recovered from the pain I realized what I’d done, so I kissed her. Then she asked me to go to Hogsmeade with her this weekend.”



El and Hermione were laughing about the way things turned out. Life could never be normal for Harry.



“What about Ron’s ‘situation’?” El asked.



“So far no progress,” Ginny answered.



Just then Ron walked into to the Great Hall. He ignored his friends and walked right up to the Ravenclaw table. He leaned over Rachel Woodward and whispered something in her ear. The girl whipped her head around looking startled. They watched as Ron said something else, and his ears turned bright red. Rachel smiled brilliantly at him and nodded her head vigorously. Ron beamed at the girl, waved goodbye to her and made his way over to his friends.



“I think we’ve just made progress,” Hermione said with a soft smile as Ron walked toward them.



Ron sat at the Gryffindor table and grinned broadly at his friends. He loaded his plate with food, looking happier than he had in a long time. His friends watched him with identical smiles. The group of friends tucked into their breakfast and ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

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As the week progressed the group friends spent their spare time talking about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend, wondering exactly what they were going to do since that Saturday was also Halloween. They decided that they would by costumes and have a small party in Draco and Hermione’s common room.



By Friday the entire school was abuzz with talk of the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend and the Halloween Feast that would be held afterward. Hermione wasn’t sure if she wanted to skip the Feast or not. She was thinking about asking Lucius if he wanted to have a private dinner with her in her common room during the Feast.



I’ll ask him after class she decided. Her resolve set, she slung her book bag over her shoulder and headed to Defence with Harry, Ron, and Elkara walking with her.



Class went by without incident, something Hermione was thankful for, and class was over before anyone realized that the hour and a half had passed. Hermione hung back, indicating to Harry and Ron that they should walk El back to the Heads’ common room. She hesitantly walked up to Professor Malfoy’s desk. She started a bit when the door slammed shut behind her.



Lucius looked up from the stack of papers on his desk and smiled when he saw that it was Hermione who had stayed back. His smile widened as he asked, “Hermione, what can I do for you?”



Hermione fidgeted slightly, flushing a pale pink that Lucius thought was incredibly cute. She cleared her throat and said, “Lucius, I was wondering if you might, possibly, want to have dinner with me in my common room tomorrow night?”



“I’d love to Hermione,” he spoke softly, hardly daring to believe that she was serious. Sure they had snogged a few times, but, as she’d not hinted otherwise, he thought that was all she’d wanted from him.



Hermione released a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She stuttered out, “Y-you would?”



“Yes, I would,” He said, trying to not laugh at the obvious look of relief on her face.



Her face broke into a wide grin and she threw herself into his lap. “Oh thank Merlin! I thought you were going to say no.”



He wrapped his arms around her waist, saying, “I could never say no to you, Hermione.”



Hermione lowered her lips to his in a soft kiss. Without warning, the door was thrown open and the dark form of Severus Snape strode into the room.



In a rare show of humour, Snape threw hand over his eyes and yelled, “My eyes!”



Lucius smirked at his long-time friend and said, “My dear Severus, to what do I owe the pleasure?”



“Not in front of the girl,” Snape answered, suddenly serious.



“I need to get back to my common anyway,” Hermione said standing up and smoothing her skirt.



“Miss Granger,” Snape said, reaching out to lay a hand on her arm, “be careful.”



Hermione understood that this was not a threat and nodded at him, saying, “I will, Sir, thank you.”



She left the room, wondering if he was telling her to be careful of her relationship with Lucius or something else. He was probably warning her about the relationship with Lucius. She shrugged off the sense of foreboding that was telling her he was trying, in his own way, to warn her about some danger.



When she got back to her common room she saw Harry, Ron, and Draco having a rather loud, and, in her opinion, rather fake argument in the hall in front of the portrait. She ran up to the boys wondering what was going on with her boys. She understood when she saw Pansy Parkinson standing behind and to the left of Draco.



“Stop this at once!” Hermione cried, putting herself in the middle of the three boys. “Ron, Harry, wait for me inside.”



Once the boys were inside, she turned on Draco, “What the hell is your problem, Malfoy? Can’t you leave my friends alone for five minutes?”



“They assaulted me in my own common room, Granger,” Draco snapped back, telling her with his eyes that he’d explain the situation in full later.



“Whatever, Malfoy,” Hermione snapped back. She walked into the common room, slamming the portrait behind her.



Harry, Ron, and El were sitting on the sofa waiting for her so they could explain what happened. They told her that the four of them had been sitting in the common room chatting when Pansy had shown up. When Draco realized who it was tapping at the portrait he started yelling like he’d been surprised to find Harry and Ron there. The ‘argument’ had moved to the hall and was purely to make Pansy believe that Draco still hated them, as the blond boy didn’t know where she stood in the war.



“It’s kind of sad, really,” El said. “He’s so in love with her, and he doesn’t even know which side she’s on.”



Hermione nodded her agreement, asking, “Why doesn’t he just ask her? If she says she supports Voldemort, he can just Obliviate her. It’s not a very moral thing to do, but it would it work.”



Harry looked at her in surprise. He couldn’t believe that his straight-laced best friend had suggested something so wrong, not to mention illegal. He wondered where this side of Hermione had come from. His train of thought was interrupted by a rather loud growl from Ron’s stomach.



“Merlin, Ron, are you always hungry?” Harry asked.



“Yes,” Ron answered, earning him laughter from both of the girls.



“It’s almost time for dinner. We may as well make our way down there now,” Hermione said, always the voice of logic and reason.



The other three agreed and they left for dinner. They were intercepted by Professor Malfoy halfway there.



“Will you four please come to my office for a moment?” he asked.



“Of course, Professor,” Hermione agreed for the group and they followed the blond man to his office.



Once they were settled in the office, Lucius made no pretense about why he had asked them there.



“I know the four of you are friends with Draco,” he stated bluntly, “and I’m okay with that. In fact, it serves my purposes quite well.”



Hermione watched his eyes, the only part of his face that ever revealed any of his emotions unless he chose otherwise. He was obviously frightened and upset about something.



“What is it, Professor?” Hermione asked gently.



“I’ve been informed that Voldemort wants Draco. He plans to abduct him sometime before Yule. This is my punishment for deserting him,” Lucius’ voice cracked as he thought about the possibility of losing his son. It was the only sign of weakness that he showed, but it was enough for the boys.



“We’ll look after him, Sir,” Harry said.



Ron nodded, saying, “We won’t let anything happen to him, Sir. I know Draco and I haven’t always been friends, but we are now, and that makes him family.”



Hermione stared at Ron, wondering when he’d managed to become an adult. She broke off her thoughts when Lucius grabbed her hands, “And you, my Hermione, you must be careful as well. They don’t know about us yet, but they will find out and when they do they will want to get you more than they will want Draco.”



“What’s he talking about, Hermione?” Harry asked; though he had a sinking feeling that he already knew.



“Lucius and I are in a relationship of sorts, Harry,” she answered, staring him in the eye as if daring him to say something negative about it.



“It’s about time,” Ron muttered.



She glared at him and demanded to know what he meant by that.



“I just meant that it’s about time you admitted it. I suspected, but I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong,” the redhead answered.



Hermione was astounded, Ron was becoming more of an adult everyday and she hadn’t even noticed.



“You’re not mad at me for not telling you?” she asked.



Ron shook his head, saying, “I figured you’d tell us when you were ready. I may have been an immature git in the past, Hermione, but we all have to grow up sometime. Being calm about this is, I guess, my way of paying you back for all the time you’ve spent being patient with me.”



“Harry, what about you?” Hermione asked.



The raven-haired boy shook his head. “I’m not mad, Hermione. I’m a little hurt that you didn’t trust us enough to tell us, but I can understand why you didn’t.”



The three friends shared a hug. The emotion on their faces let the other two in the room know that the Golden Trio had an unbreakable bond that not even the Dark Lord himself could touch. It was too much for Elkara, who fled the room in search of Ginny. The other three quickly ran after her, not willing to abandon their duty for even a second.



The trio finally found Elkara in the Great Hall, her arms around Ginny’s waist and her face buried in the other girl’s hair. They sat down at the table, envying the tenderness Ginny used in dealing with El’s currently unstable emotions and wishing they had someone that would treat them that way.



“What happened to you guys?” Ginny asked, concern evident in her voice.



“We had a meeting with Professor Malfoy, and El couldn’t handle all the emotion in the room,” Ron answered, purposely being vague.



“You’ll explain later, right?” Ginny asked.



“Of course we will, Gin,” Harry answered.



After dinner, the group of teens walked to the Heads’ common room, where Ginny was given the full story of what happened in Professor Malfoy’s office. She quickly agreed to help them protect the Malfoy heir, as she too had become friends with him.



“They’ll probably make an attempt tomorrow in Hogsmeade,” Ginny said, thinking out loud.



Hermione picked up the girls train of thought and said, “Because he’s been pretty much ostracized by the other Slytherins since his father’s defection.”



“So the Death Eaters will expect him to be alone in Hogsmeade,” Ron finished.



Harry made a split second decision. “We need some VeritaSerum and the DA.”



Hermione ran to her room and grabbed her coin. She quickly called the DA to the Heads’ common room and sent up a silent prayer that they would answer. El, thinking quickly, Accioed a bottle of VeritaSerum from Professor Snape’s store closet. Within minutes of Hermione sending out the call there was a knock on the portrait. She opened it quickly, letting Dean, Seamus, and Neville inside. Over the course of the next twenty minutes more and more members of the DA trickled into the Heads’ common room. They even noticed a few people who hadn’t been in the original DA coming in. Rachel came with Padma Patil, flashing a dazzling smile at Ron and taking a seat on the floor.



Once everyone had arrived, Harry stood up in front of the group. “Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Before we begin, I have to ask if any you have any objections to taking VeritaSerum. The subject that I have to discuss with you is extremely sensitive and I have to make sure I have your absolute loyalty in this.”



There were no objections, and one by one the assembled teens were dosed with VeritaSerum. When it was done, Harry looked on the group with pride. He knew in his heart that none of them would betray him or what they’d been called for.



“Thank you all. Now, is everyone here willing to swear absolute silence about what I’m going to discuss with you?” Harry asked.



As one, they answered yes.



“Good, good. Are all of you loyal to the side of the light?”



Again, the group answered yes.



“Would you be willing to protect someone that may not have been very nice to you over the last few years?” He knew this would be the part he would have the most trouble with.



“Who?” called a voice from the back of the room.



“Draco Malfoy,” Harry answered.



There was an instant uproar from the crowd.



“Please let me explain,” Harry said loudly so he could be heard.



Slowly the group quieted down. When peace was restored, Harry explained the situation to them, leaving out Hermione’s involvement with the elder Malfoy. When he finished explaining, Harry asked if there were any questions. Apparently he had explained it well enough because the only question was ‘What do you want us to do?’



Harry smiled at the group before explaining what he had in mind. They would go to Hogsmeade as planned, but they would keep a constant lookout. At the first sign of something amiss, the person that spotted it was to send up red sparks with their wand. Something of an elite guard would be near Draco at all times. The student or students nearest the edge of the village would run back to the school for help.



“Remember, though, this is only a just in case type thing. We’re not sure if it’s going to happen tomorrow. All we know for sure is that they are after Draco and that they want him before Yule,” Harry reminded the DA before thanking them for their time and dismissing them. He asked Luna and Neville to stay behind.



“You two fought with me in the Department of Mysteries, I would be honored if you’d be part of Draco’s personal guard,” Harry informed them.



The two beamed with pleasure and quickly agreed. Harry hugged them both before sending them back to their common rooms.



“Come on, mate. We need to be getting back to the Tower, too,” Ron said slinging his arm around Harry’s shoulder.



They said goodnight to Elkara, Hermione, and Ginny and left with the promise of seeing the girls bright and early. El and Ginny wandered off to El’s room, and Hermione eventually went to her own room, wondering why Draco wasn’t back from where ever it was that he had gone with Pansy. She eventually fell into a nightmare filled sleep.

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The next morning, Hermione walked out into the common room and found Draco dozing on the sofa. Upon closer inspection, she noticed that he had a split lip and a small bruise on his forehead. She shook him gently to wake him up.



He opened his eyes slowly and smiled at Hermione. The smile quickly turned into a grimace because of the pain in his busted lip.



“It was totally worth it,” he said, gesturing to his lip.



Hermione frowned at him and asked him what happened.



“Pansy and I spent a little too much time in the Room of Requirement and had to run to make it back before curfew,” he explained, with a small smile.



Hermione smiled back at him, happy that he was happy. She healed his lip and the bruise on his forehead, then asked how he’d managed to get the injuries.



“I tripped as we were running down a flight stairs,” he answered.



“Draco, do you know which side Pansy’s on?” Hermione asked gently.



Draco gave her a broad smile and said, “Our side. As soon as I found out, I asked her to marry me.”



“What did she say?” the brunette asked, already knowing the answer.



“She said yes,” Draco nearly shouted in his excitement.



“Congratulations, Draco,” Hermione said.



“Why are we congratulating Draco?” Ginny asked, walking out of Elkara’s room and rubbing her sleep filled eyes.



Draco jumped up off the couch and grabbed Ginny around the waist. Dancing her around the room, he said, “Pansy’s on our side, and after graduation we’re getting married.”



Hermione smiled at the blond’s antics. He must have been really excited to forget to be a Malfoy about his engagement.



“Draco, as much as I love you, if you don’t take your hands off my girlfriend I will hex you into oblivion,” El said as she entered the room. “By the way, congrats about Pansy.”



Draco unhanded Ginny and swooped Elkara into a hug. He gushed, “I’m so happy, El. You really have no idea how happy she made me last night.”



“I think I might have an idea,” El said, smiling at the boy.



“Harry and Ron are waiting for us,” Hermione announced. “Draco, bring Pansy here after so we can talk to her a bit.”



“I will. Have fun in Hogsmeade,” Draco answered, shooing them out the door.



The three girls made their way down to the Great Hall where they were met by the boys. Sitting down for breakfast, the teens discussed some of their milder plans for the day, such as where they planned to go. Harry was taking Hannah to Madam Puddifoot’s, Ron and Rachel were going to Quality Quidditch Supplies, Ginny needed a new quill so she and El were going to go to Scrivenshaft’s, and Hermione was going to the bookstore. They planned to meet in the Three Broomsticks for lunch, provided that their previous planning had been an unnecessary precaution, of course. They couldn’t leave until Draco left, so they sat around waiting for him. They were eventually joined by Neville, Luna, Rachel, and Hannah.



“Why do I see non-Gryffindors at the Gryffindor table?” Snape asked, stalking up to them.



“There is no rule saying that students can’t sit at other tables,” Hermione answered.



Hermione was the only one that heard him mutter, “Why do I even bother?” as he stalked away from them.



She smirked as she glanced up at the Head Table and caught Lucius’ eye. He smirked back at her, proud that he’d started to rub off on her a little bit.



“’Mione, he’s here,” Ron whispered in her ear.



She nodded to indicate that she’d heard and went back to eating her breakfast. She ate slowly, not sure how long it would take Draco to finish eating. She was surprised to see that he finished rather quickly and practically ran out of the Great Hall, a giggling Pansy in tow.



The group of teens at the Gryffindor table rose as one and followed the blond. This action did not go unnoticed by Lucius and Severus, who both smiled at the thought of the teens protecting a Slytherin. For here, finally, was the start of the interhouse unity that the school had strived for since the time of the founders.



Meanwhile, on the road to Hogsmeade, the rather large group of teenagers spoke and laughed loudly enough to alert a certain blond to their presence, which was the goal. They wanted Draco to know that whatever happened, he wouldn’t be alone. Elkara doubted that Draco was aware of the plot against him.



They had barely set foot in the village when they red sparks fly into the air from the vicinity of the Three Broomsticks. Harry immediately went into leader mode.



“Ginny send your Patronus to the school. Once you’ve done that, you, Hermione, El, and Luna start gathering up the younger years and get them back to school. Ron, you, Neville, and I are going to find Draco. Hermione, if you find Pansy before we do, get her back to school safely. Draco will kill us if anything happens to her.”



Ginny sent her Patronus to the school, then set off in search of younger years. She found a group of third year Slytherins huddled together in an alley near Honeyduke’s; they didn’t understand what was happening. She calmly led them to the road back to the school and told them to run back as if Dementors were after them. Surprisingly enough, they obeyed without question. She continued this way for what felt like hours, leading groups of students to the road back to the school. She passed Hermione and El, who were leading a group of Gryffindors. The fight hadn’t reached them yet, and they hoped that they’d have time to get all of the younger years out before they had to join the fray. She heard loud bangs and shouting up the road, and knew the fight was spreading. She cursed silently. There was no way to get all of the younger students out in time. With a quick prayer to whatever deity might be listening, Ginny ran up the road to join the fight.



Hermione saw her friend run passed her; knowing what was happening, she grabbed El and they both ran after the redhead. The first thing she noticed when she reached the main area of the fight was the Death Eaters standing in a tight circle around a group of people. Hermione didn’t need to see passed them to know that her friends were in the middle of that circle. Without stopping to think about the consequences, Hermione stunned the nearest Death Eater. The circle of Death Eaters stood shocked for a second before jumping into action. That second was all the time Hermione needed to see who it was that was surrounded. She saw Harry, Ron, and Draco, who was crying and holding a limp Pansy in his arms. She immediately whirled into action, cursing every Death Eater that she could. She noticed her friends doing the same.



She cried when she saw Ginny hit in the chest with a cutting curse and fall to the ground. She kept cursing Death Eaters as she ran to her friend. She knelt next to Ginny and felt for her pulse, never stopping her cursing of the Death Eaters that greatly outnumbered her and her friends. She was relieved to find Ginny’s pulse and that her friend was still breathing. She stood up and aimed at the Death Eater that had cast the curse at Ginny. She nonverbally cast SectumSempra at him. She smiled in grim satisfaction as he fell to the ground.



“Hermione, we need some help here,” She heard Harry call.



“Coming, Muffin,” she called back, not understanding why this fight wasn’t effecting her the way the fight at the Ministry had. She reminded herself frighteningly of Bellatrix LeStrange.



She ran back into the thick of the fight, dodging and casting curses as she went. She made it to Harry’s side unharmed. She had time to register that both Harry and Ron were bleeding profusely and that Draco had all but collapsed in on himself. The blond was still cradling Pansy and weeping. She also saw his lips moving. All thought of her friends was pushed out of her mind as she had to dodge a poorly aimed killing curse. She looked at the Death Eater who had cast, feeling her rage build. Without thinking of the consequences, she cast the Cruciatus Curse on him and watched in satisfaction as he fell to the ground screaming and writhing in agony. She almost immediately felt sick. Who was this person that was taking pleasure in other people’s pain?



“Hermione, get Draco out of here,” Harry yelled in her ear.



She nodded and went over to the boy. She finally heard the words he was saying. “It’s all my fault, Pansy. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. “



“Draco, let me help you,” she said, touching the boys arm.



He met her eyes, and said, “No, Hermione. I’m going to die here, with Pansy, the way it should be.”



Hermione saw the utter despair in his eyes at that moment and she knew that she’d have to do some quick thinking and she prayed that luck would be on her side. She felt for Pansy’s pulse. It took awhile for her to find it, but find it she did. It was weak, but it was there.



“She’s still alive, Draco, but barely. You have to get her back to school now,” Hermione told him quietly, so only he could hear.



Hope bloomed in silver eyes. “She’s alive?”



“Yes, but not for long if you don’t get moving. I’ll protect you as you go.”



True to her word, Hermione guarded Draco through the village. They had nearly reached the road out of the village when they were suddenly set upon by no less than five Death Eaters.



“Isn’t this precious, the Mudblood has taken a shine to Malfoy,” one of them sneered.



“Screw you,” Hermione spat back, not having the patience to think of something more clever.



“I thought you said she was smart, Severus,” another one said.



Snape was there? That meant he had to have been the one to warn Lucius about the plot against Draco. Hermione prayed that the man would let them out of this alive.



“Say goodbye, Mudblood,” one of the Death Eaters said, raising his wand.



Hermione froze as she heard him form the killing curse. She was knocked backward just as the curse shot out of the assassin’s wand. Her saviour took the curse in the back and collapsed on top of her. Draco finally sprung into action. He dropped Pansy to the ground as gently as he could and started firing curses at the Death Eaters. He noticed that only four remained standing. The fifth was now nothing more than a lifeless shell. In his rage, he took out the remaining Death Eaters in a matter of minutes. He lifted the lifeless form off of Hermione and helped her to her feet.



“He died for me,” was the only thing she could manage to say, and she repeated it every few seconds as she helped Draco bind the unconscious Death Eaters. When the task was finished, she lifted the dead man’s mask, not surprised to see the face of Severus Snape.



“Come on, Hermione. We can’t leave him here. We need to get him somewhere safe,” Draco said softly. Though he knew the man was dead, Draco still wanted to protect his godfather.



Hermione conjured two stretchers. She told Draco to go without her, that she had to get back to Harry and Ron. The blond nodded, telling her to go. Hermione ran back to the last place she’d seen her boys and nearly fell over at what she saw. All of the students that had been at the emergency DA meeting were standing in a loose circle around a group of Death Eaters with all of their wands trained inward. Ginny, who was still bleeding from the wound on her chest, was being supported by Elkara, who was bleeding from both arms and a cut on her face. Hermione surveyed the damage done to her friends and acquaintances. Most of Harry’s wounds had stopped bleeding, but still looked pretty bad. Ron was bleeding heavily from a wound on his back. Rachel and Hannah had identical gashes across their foreheads. Parvati, Padma and Lavender had scrapes and bruises all over their faces and arms. Hermione closed her eyes, not wanting to see anymore. Then she forced them open again, she hadn’t seen Neville or Luna amongst the bruised and battered group.



“Harry, where are Neville and Luna?” Hermione asked.



Without taking his eyes or wand off the group in front of him, Harry answered, “Neville got hit with a SectumSempra and Luna took him to Madam Pomfrey. Where’s Draco?”



“Attending to Pansy and Professor Snape,” Hermione answered, not allowing the tears to come yet.



“Snape?” Harry asked.



“He died for me, Harry,” she whispered.



Harry’s wand wavered for a moment; it was the only outward indication that the news had affected him. Without warning, a voice from behind Hermione screamed an unknown curse. Then there was the telltale crack of apparition, and Hermione knew no more. Harry caught her before she hit the ground.

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A/N: Review and tell me what you think. Please don’t flame me for killing off Snape. I have a very good reason for it, I promise.