Understanding

Harry Potter and all of his affiliates belong to JK Rowling, all song titles and lyrics belong to Evanescence, and GrrArrg belongs to me, but I let Zephyr borrow her sometimes 'cause she whines that I lay claim to her entirely too often.

Sorry for the delay in posting- had to meet new Regional Manager and subsequently piss her off... Hope the next update won't take as long (bet you will, too! *evil laughter*)

Understanding
Chapter Twenty-Four:
My Last Breath

****Hold on to me, love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight
I know you hear me
I can taste it in your tears
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight
Closing your eyes to disappear
You pray your dreams will leave you here
But still you wake and know the truth
No one's there
Say goodnight
Don't be afraid
Calling me, calling me as you fade to black
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light, it ends here tonight****

If there's one thing Draco Malfoy should have learned by that time, it was that dentists' daughters have strong teeth.

Still savoring the taste of his blood on my tongue, I welcomed the hand which had clamped so desperately and so violently over my mouth. Draco's eyes darted in every direction, though one hand still held me fast to the tree. I promised if I survived I would thank Severus- no one made Draco nervous the way Severus did, and Draco's nerves subsequently distracted him so thoroughly that he never noticed my lips part under his fingers. With a stealth that made me feel like a very lame James Bond, I bit down hard on his fleshy palm, enjoying the warm coppery liquid spurting in my mouth with an almost vampiric euphoria.

"Bitch!" Draco yelled before he could control himself, reelawayaway from me and cradling his injured hand. In the not-so-far-off distance I heard Severus' worried, almost frantic answering cry.

"Severus!" I yelled. Draco was still nursing his boo-boo, and so I took the opportunity to make a break for it.

Severus was in earshot! My Severus! My screwed-up, two-faced, depressing Severus! He was here, and he was going to resuce me!

Unfortunately, with a badly injured ankle "making a break for it" consisted of hobbling like an old woman. An athletic old woman- I'll give you that- but an old woman nonetheless. Of course it also didn't help matters that Draco had regained his concentration and I had not noticed.

Whirling back toward me, Draco's eyes caught mine for the briefest second before my eyes were filled by stars.

Seriously.

The bastard had kicked my legs out from under me and now literally all I could see was the stars.

Moving to stand over me, Draco cocked his head like a dog who had heard the promise of a treat in his master's voice. Smirking dangerously at me, he placed a heavy, muddy boot on my chest to hold me down.

"Now, Mudblood. Did you really think you could get afromfrom me?" For a moment I stared at him blankly, wishing furiously that I'd paid more attention when Harry was in his wrestling phase and that I'd paid less attention to dialogue and plot and more to the fight scenes on television and in movies.

But thinking more on it, I came to realize I had a distinct advantage over Draco. Physically, I could fight him for a while and hold my own, but without a wand I stood no chance of defeating him. But mentally...

Don't get me wrong, Draco Malfoy was in no way stupid. But for an un-stupid person he sure did a lot of dumb shit. Like believing my terrible acting. I mean, every single time...

Count along with me, Draco. "Hi, you killed my parents and are holding me hostage, but I'd really like suck your dick?"

The word "duh" comes to mind.

Slowly, I broke eye contact with him and rolled my head back to stare at the stars. He was silent for a few minutes as I felt a very determined look of confusion pass over my face. Then, for no logical reason, I began to giggle.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Mudblood?" Draco demanded violently, stomping harder on my chest. For a moment my breath caught from the pain, but I was soon giggling again, harder this time. In a concentrated effort, I unfocused my eyes and turned back to him.

"I'm naming all the stars," I began dreamily. "But I've named them all the same thing, and there's a terrible confusion." Soon after that, my laughter became real at tefudefuddled look on his face. But after about a half minute of my almost maniacal laughter, Draco leaned down closer to me, utter usiousion etched on his every feature.

"Did you hit your-"

I assumed he was goiong for "head" at the end of that sentence, but he never finished. A kick to the face will generally shut someone up. Especially when less than a minute before that someone thought you were crazy.

Getting to my feet as quickly as I could I made a decision that I may not have been the smartest, but in my view, it was the best. I knew Severus was out there. I knew he was trying to find me, and I also knew that alone there was almost nothing I could possibly do to beat Draco. In that instant, with Draco bleeding from his mouth, hand, and, I can only assume, his nether regions, I decided I was going to stand and fight. I could make enough noise to to lead Severus to us, and then I'd just let Severus clean up my messy Draco. I mean, I hate to brag, but I had a feeling that, though I couldn't kill him, I couake ake Draco worse for the wear.

"Hey, ferret boy!" I yelled. Draco whipped wildly around to face off against me. He was spitting and snarling, looking more like a feral animal than a person.

Well, at least then the "ferret" reference would make sense. Though I've never seen a feral ferret.

"Oh, you want a fight, do you? I will fuck you up, Granger! I will make you wish you never met me!" He charged at me then, spearing me and knocking me flat on my back on the hard ground. His breath was hot against my face in the cold October night, and it made me faintly nauseous. I screwed up my face, concentrated all my strength, and with an apologetic shrug I responded while simultaneously kneeing him in his already tender member.

"Too late. Already wish I never met you."

As my assailant moaned and whimpered and staggered around with his hands in a postion that reminded me of either a Michael Jackson or Britney Spears music video, I sprang to my feet.

Which, again, is not the smartest thing to do on an ankle I now suspected was broken.

I hobbled a bit, but stood my ground, squaring off in a fighting stance and waiting for the next attack. I knew he would be coming at me again, and I wanted to be prepar It It would do me no good to be dead when Severus came to save me. Defeat the purpose, actually.

I was getting impatient for Draco to make his move when I heard them behind me. Footsteps. I knew exactly who they belonged to, but I made no move to react to them. Draco was still crouched next to the tree, crying and moaning and rubbing at himself in what seemed to be a very suggestive way. A few seconds later I smelled him. My Severus, my black knight, I smelled his potions ingredients and soap and (yes, contrary to popular belief) shampoo. It took every ounce of strength in me not to turn around and run into his arms, but I knew he'd seen enough to know what I was playing at. I wanted so badly to lean into the warmth that I felt so close behind me then, but I stayed strong and held my position, and just as the blond bitch looked up at me, I heard two very angry voices shout at the same time.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Accio Wand!"

Draco's wand flew out of his hand and into the waiting palm of Dumbledore. For a moment I watched Draco's amazed face.

The poor little bitch looked like he couldn't believe he was about to be bested by Snape and Dumbledore. If I hadn't been so hurt, horny, and angry (in that order too), I may have felt sorry for him.

Who am I kidding? No I wouldn't. Aside from killing my friends and my parents, he was very mean to House Elves.

"Hermione," Severus whispered behind me, and I turned and dove into his arms. I wish I could do justice to the emotions I felt at that moment, but I know anything I write will onlytrittrite and ordinary. But I can tell you that it was one of the best moments of my life.

Severus' arms wrapped around me tight as I felt him begin to kiss the top of my mud-encrusted head. I had begun to cry, but no one would have known as my head was buried so far in his robes, smelling him, feeling him, and thanking God for him. Severus was back, and he was whispering sweet words and apologies into my hair. He was running his hands up and down my back and kissing up my neck feverishly as though I might disappear at any moment. Euphoric, I gazed into his tear-filled eyes.

"Are... are you hurt?" he managed to sputter. Though the concern in his voice was genuine, his roaming hands let me know that at least on some level he primitively, animalistically, instinctively, posessively wanted nothing more than to take me there and then in front of Draco Malfoy and Dumbledore- our two biggest detractors, though they had tried to stop our love with very different intensities.

"I'm fine," I answered. "Well, not really fine, but I'm alright. My ankle's pretty messed up, but other than that..." My voice was barely more than an awe-struck whisper, but I noticed that Dumbledore was looking away almost abashedly. With another glance into my knight's eyes, I smiled.

"I love you, Severus."

"Oh, Hermione," he moaned as he captured my lips in the sweetest, most intense, most honest kiss I'd ever experienced. I could feel him beg my forgiveness in every movement of his lips and tongue, and I forgave him readily.

"Well, isn't that sweet?" came the nasty drawl from across the way. Severus and I broke apart immediately, but it was Dumbledore who responded.

"The game is over, Draco. You have been disarmed, and Severus and I both have our wands. You cannot win. You will not win."

A sick grin burst out across Draco's face, and I got the distrinct impression that the worst was yet to come.

"Oh, you're right, old man. You have my wand. I have nothing. Oh, wait! That's not entirely true." Draco began to saunter toward us, cocky arrogance practically oozing from his pores. To their credits, Dumbledore never flinched or moved an inch, and the only movement Severus made to pto put his arm around me posessively. I, the brave Gryffindor, moved closer to my boyfriend and hoped for the earth to just swallow Malfoy whole. There was something about his expression, his walk. He was not through with us.

"Do you remember this, old man?" asked Draco as he pulled a long sharp dagger out of his pocket, smiling sadistically.

"I remember, Draco," Dumbledore began calmly. "But if I remember correctly, and, as I am standing here at this moment I think I do, your last attempt at murder ended badly. I am a very powerful wizard and despite my appearance, I could defeat you in a physical fight if it came to blows. Severus could also. There is no point in brandishing that thing anywhere near either of us."

During Dumbledore's speech, Draco had moved closer to our group and was now so close I could have touched him had I wanted. But I didn't want to. Something about him now was freaking me out. He was mad, almost demonic, and he was now coming close to as frightening as my dream of him had been. I knew something was coming. It had to be, but neither Dumbledore nor Severus moved. Maybe they knew something I didn't or maybe they truly believed they could take Draco in a fight, but I didn't believe anything of the sort.

Draco eyed me once again, but neither of my saviors seemed to notice. With a sly smile he discreetly blew me a kiss and moved his gaze back to Dumbledore.

"You are right, old man. I couldn't defeat either of you- at least in a normal state of mind. But I suppose I'm depending on you... well... ONE of you to lose your head, thus giving me the opportunity to kill the bastard who killed my father."

"And how exactly do you expect to put me off my game, Draco?" Severus snarled, moving away from me and closer to him in a threatening manner. Draco only smiled at him with the look of a condescending, patronizing parent.

"Like this," Draco responded before plunging his dagger deep into my chest.

*******************
"Severus."

I watched in horror as the red stain began to flow across Hermione's chest and her eyes rolled back in her head. She had squeaked out my name as she fell to the ground, and all at once my heart broke and shattered into a million pieces. After all this time, after all that we'd been through, she was going to leave me. It wasn't her fault as I had predicted, but she was leaving me, and the pain was so much more than I could bear. Albus had flown to her side, cradling her head and casting every healing spell he could think of, but I watched the scene before me as if attached to my very spot.

Hermione.

Draco was standing opposite me, laughing maniacally and smirking.

I wanted to hurt him.

I wanted to kill him.

I wanted him to pay.

But at the moment, I was rooted in my spot, watching the love of my life die in the arms of Albus Dumbledore. It was so surreal- I refused to believe it was real. My Hermione, my brave Gryffindor Hermione who had survived a face to face showdown with Voldemort and his most fearsome Death Eaters. It was utterly unfair that this stupid little bastard of a boy could completely defeat the strongest person I knew. It was unfair that he was taking her from me. I felt like a petulant child, but it was just so, so unfair. I can't say how long I stood there watching them, but after what seemed like an eternity, I heard a tiny voice from the pile of flesh that bore little resemblance to my strong, determined Hermione.

"Severus?"

Her tiny, broken voice was the only thing, it seemed, that could move me, and I raced to her side. Dawn was breaking and casting a pinkish light over Hermione's pale features. It was then that I noticed the bruises and cuts and scrapes and bites along her face and neck. Her eyes were sunken and closed, but as I moved a strand of hair off her face, she opened them slowly. Her lips were dry and cracked, almost bleeding, and she licked at them as though the movement caused her great pain. Her eyes locked with mine, and I gently took her hand.

"It'll be alright, Hermione. Everything is going to be fine." She made a weak attempt at a smile, but even then I knew she didn't believe me. Taking her hand and rubbing as gently as I could, I spoke again.

"I love you, Hermione. Everything will be fine, you'll see." Tears began to roll down her cheeks, and she squeezed my hand with all the strength she could muster.

"Oh, come on, Snape! I haven't got all day to kill you! Come and fight me and die like you're supposed to. Besides, don't your kind die if exposed to sunlight?"

Draco's taunting was causing every muscle in my body to tense and my blood to boil, but I could not leave the side of my beautiful lover. In that moment, I made a pact with every deity that would listen that I would reform my entire life if she would only live. I would be nicer to students, I would make a conscious effort to show her how much I loved her and stop running out on her at every chance. I promised to be a good person- a promise I would not make for just anyone. I loved her, and I realized then that I simply would not survive if she didn't.

"Snape! I can stab her again if the whole dying thing is taking too long for you!"

Hermione then clenched my hand and looked deep into my eyes, completely earnest, if a bit unfocused.

"Fight him. Severus, kill him."

With that, Hermione's head dropped into Albus' lap, her eyes once again rolling back in her head, and I was finally moved to action. With one final glance at Hermione and Albus who was still trying desperately to heal her, I let out a long, centering breath, turning toward the cowardly boy who couldn't even fight fair and kill me instead. I hated him with a violent passion and was sure by the time I was done, he would be very sure of that fact. I knew I was snarling, and I was glad. For once, it was going to pay off to be Snape the bastard. Every fiber of my being hated the boy, and every inch of my skin ached to feel my own hands choking the life out of him.

Draco Malfoy was going to pay.

Draco Malfoy was going to hurt.

Draco Malfoy was going to die.

*********************A/N********************
The "naming all the stars" line is from an episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in the second season. Don't know which, but it was said by my favorite character so far, Drusilla, who is fucking insane and is played by the excellent Juliet Landau. Joss Whedon owns all of the Buffyverse. And I haven't seen the whole series, so don't ruin anything for me. Just been addicted to the DVDs and can only afford 3 seasons at the moment.

Yeah, I know. You all hate me- figured as much.

Chapter 25 is coming soon, but it will probably depend on how many reviews I get as to how soon I get inspired to write it. Got you now, don't I?

Thanks:

Zephyr: I can't believe the whole time Grr was gone we never got to talk about her! =) Writing as fast as I can, and sadly, am neglecting your stories, but as soon as I can, I will read and review- I PROMISE!

spaz141: Thanks! I'm glad you think I've written the action well because I was a little scared it would read like a shopping list of bad stuff... Glad you liked it, and hope you like what's to come!

Deb: You know, that running after having my dick bit in half is something I didn't really research, but I guess it probably was adrenaline- that's a good answer for everything! You rock, and I look forward to your reviews more than you can know! Oh, yeah- the black knight thing. I was watching "The Music Man" a lot last week and I love the song "My White Knight" about how the main character doesn't expect a super-hero, just "someone to love me." And, as white's not really Sev's color, I thought I'd turn it around a bit. I'm glad so many people liked it, 'cause I think the whole knight thing is a really powerful statement. Well, at least to me it is, but hey, I still believe in unicorns!

deblovesdragon: 'Sup? Thanks for the review, I'll pass it along to Dumbledork. That made my day, by the way. Silly things are my kryptonite...

PinkTribeChick: Thanks! Glad you could review, but I know I was like super-poster there for a while. Not anymore, though unfortunately!

GrrArrg: Yes, I know that I'm toxic. Glad you're back, glad you liked it (you liked it, right? uldnuldn't live with myself if you didn't!), etc... Oh, yeah. Did I say I'm glad you're back? Love you and your reviews- keep 'em coming! =)