Not All that Glitters is Gold

Draco stumbled over his feet as blood rushed to his ears. The sound of his heart pounding against his chest was deafening. He could hardly see with the sting of fresh warm tears against his eyes. He nearly collapsed at the hearth in the large dining room, ignoring the silence of the House-Elves. Wilky held onto a large table cloth and just stared. Her large tennis ball sized eyes darted from other House-Elves and Draco again.

He looked around, holding onto the hearth for support. Where was the damn floo powder? Draco's hands numbly felt around, knocking portraits and expensive items to the floor. His hand grazed a quill and his eyes widened. Falling to his knees, Draco grabbed it and pulled the back of a portrait that showed him as a twelve year old on the back of a broom soaring through the air. He scribbled something and folded it into a small square. His eyes squinted as he thought, trying to think, trying to clear his mind of the events that occurred.

He felt something tug at his pant leg and looked down. Wilky stood there with a beautiful black bowl that held the floo powder. He leaned down and grabbed a handful, feeling Wilky give his legs a slight push into the hearth. He dropped the note on the ground and held his hand out to stop him from falling. Draco threw the powder down and was barely able to whisper Snape's name before he felt himself being thrown into a whirl wind roller coaster. He landed in Snape's house and fell to his knees.

"Draco?" Snape's voice echoed but it was some how muffled.

"I need you." He managed to croak out, feeling Snape's hands around his arms, pulling him to his feet. "That...that bastard...Hermione..."

His words weren't making sense. All he could see was the blood pouring out of the corner of her mouth. Her wide brown eyes staring up at him, pleading for help, pleading to...make it end. He fought back another row of tears and tried to straighten himself up. Not for him, but for her.

"I'm a bloody fucking prat," He groaned as Snape rolled him onto a chair. "I took advantage of her. Let my head do the thinking and not my..."

Oh bloody hell. He was getting sentimental. He was a bonafide douchebag. A sadistic fiend who didn't deserve an ounce of love in the world. What had he become? Sure he was an ass when he was younger, but now at eighteen what were his goals? To torture those who couldn't fend for themselves? To fight a losing battle? To watch all those he went to school with die because they fought for what they believed in? What did he believe in?

Draco cleared his head as best as he could and looked at Snape. "Hermione is in trouble."

Snape's eyes widened and in a flash they were back at the Malfoy Manor. He dragged the numb Draco through the halls until they reached Lucius' quarters. Draco stood by the door as Snape billowed in and went straight to the girl he had defaced, humiliated, beaten and fallen in love with.

She looked pale and spacey. He wanted to hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be alright, but he knew it wasn't. His eyes darted around the room and he found that his father, that bastard, was missing. Probably went to soil himself for doing such a thing to such a beautiful creature.

Wilky was in the room, patting Hermione's head with a damp cloth. She scurried away when Snape sat on the bed and pulled his wand out. He examined her quietly, tisking under his breath and shaking his head.

"Draco." He heard his father's voice behind him, but he didn't want to turn.

He gripped onto the trim of the doorway and growled inwardly. His father put his hand on his shoulder and spun him around. He tilted his head back and pulled him into the hallway, shutting his bedroom door.

"Son, listen." Lucius said quietly, giving him a little shake until Draco looked at him, "What happened was..."

"Save it, father," Draco snapped, glaring daggers at him, "Once Hermione's healed I'm taking her and going to mother's."

Lucius' jaw clenched and unclenched. "She will not be going anywhere."

Tilting his head up, Draco took a step foward and bumped chests with Lucius. His eyes were filled with anguish, hate, and the need to stab his father in the chest with his wand and make him bleed all over his floor.

"What are you going to do to make her stay here?" He said, calmly but his wand hand was twitching, "I do remember you promising her to me."

Lucius' nostrils flared as his eyes widened and his eyebrows disappeared into his hair line. He grinned at that moment. Following Draco's raised eyebrow, he heard Hermione's scream echo through the door.

Bombarding the door, Draco's eyes widened in horror as Bellatrix, Fenrir, and the Carrows stood in the room. Snape among them. His eyes hadn't left Hermione. She was laying against the bed in Draco's old robes, drenched in blood but her color was back. That was until Bellatric crucio'd her. That's when she let out another scream and arched her back in pain.

Draco attempted to lunge forward and protect her but he felt his father's firm grasp on his shoulder. He whispered so quietly that no one but Draco could hear.

"It had to be done, my son. Before she tore this family apart." He attempted to reason with him. HE ATTEMPTED TO REASON WITH HIM.

That bloody bastard was trying to make sense of this situation by getting rid of the one thing they both loved. The one thing, the one PERSON, he wanted more than the world itself. He knew his father had done it to spare them both years of unadulterated hatred, hatred he already had for his father, but he couldn't let it be done. Draco pulled his wand out and pointed it at Bellatrix.

"What is the meaning of this," He demanded, moving ever so slowly to Hermione, "This is my pet. You have no right to.."

"Silence you insufferable git!" Amycus shrieked, pulling his own mangled black wand out and pointing it at him. "Your father said you've been acting strange. The Dark Lord has given us permission to relieve her of your company."

Draco's eyes widened and his grasp on his wand tightened. He looked back at his father, who stared at him with indifference. Fenrir moved to pick Hermione up, but Draco stepped between them.

"You are not taking her," he growled, a primal growl that sent Fenrir's eyes wide.

"Draco, darling." Bellatrix cooed, holding her hands out to him like a lovable aunt. She was hardly lovable. "We all know how you don't want to lose your play thing but the Dark Lord.."

"The Dark Lord can suck my balls," Draco snapped, glaring at Bellatrix as her once calm face twisted into something straight out of a horror film.

"Why you ---" She growled, turning her wand on Draco.

"Bellatrix," Lucius said, finally speaking throughout this whole ordeal, "Now you understand why she must be taken away. Re-gift her to some one else."

Fenrir's grin grew wider at the prospect but Draco didn't budge. He held his wand out and looked at Snape, who had his hand to his chin, assessing the situation. He seemed to nod only slightly at him just as Bellatrix raised her wand.

"Move you silly boy," she snarled, "Cru--"

Draco braced himself, he wouldn't leave. Not when Hermione was at stake. The room went black and he thought he had closed his eyes but he hadn't. There was an explosion of darkness that caused everyone to look around.

"Now, Malfoy." He felt Snape's warm breath against him.

There were shouts at the lower landing and one was unmistakingly Harry Potter's. The room exploded with shouts from Fenrir, Bellatrix and the Carrows. Draco took this time to lean over the bed and grab Hermione in his arms. He felt Snape hold onto his arm and lead him past his father, who was trying to light the room by shouting lumos over and over.

Hermione rolled against his chest as both ran down the hall. The portraits shouted at the Death Eaters that they were escaping but just as they got to the bottom landing, Draco skidded to a halt. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, BilL Weasley, Fleur Delacour, several other Order Members and, to his surprise, Viktor Krum. All holding their wands out at them. He looked at Snape, who crossed the threshold and joined their side. He turned on his heel and looked down at Draco, just as Hermione's eyes fluttered and she moaned against his chest.

There was another explosion, rupture, and dust fell on top of them as Death Eaters appeared all around them. Their wands out as well. Draco had a split decision to make as Lucius came clamoring down the stairs. He pulled his wand out, causing Ron to turn his wand on him, but crossed the threshold between them and turned on his father, pointing it at him with narrowed eyes.

Lucius gripped onto the railing with wide eyes, darting between Draco and Hermione. He growled and pulled his wand out, "YOU SONNOFA..." Another explosion and then darkness.