So many things happened at once.

The snake was dead, Harry wasn't, and Draco was coming back to me.

It was like a switch, one flick and the darkness had lifted, and all I could see was light - bright and dazzling and full of hope and joy.

It was so blindingly beautiful that I hadn't even noticed when it was switched off again.

Draco was skidding across no man's land, dodging hexes and avoiding curses. He had given up his means of protection, and if he could just reach me, then he'll be alright, because I would look after him, I would protect him forever.

He was just twenty feet away when he was stopped in his tracks by a green light issuing from Bellatrix's wand.

Time seemed to stand still as his eyes met mine, widening ever so slightly as the curse hit his back, his mouth widening into a silent 'Oh!' before he crumpled to the ground.

A scream stuck in my throat and white lights flashed before my eyes, blinding my vision. The whole world and my life seemed to tip and then rotate three hundred and sixty degrees.

But then he was okay because he was getting up again, and the white lights lifted as he slowly straightened up and brushed himself down.

My heart raced as he lifted his face to look at me, his smile-not-a-smirk twitching warmly at his lips causing his twinkling grey eyes to crinkle at the corners.

Come on, I wanted to yell. Come here and let me love you and protect you.

He moved towards me, his strides slow and steady as he walked confidently and calmly through the battlefield, jets of lights seeming to pass right through him as his laughing eyes never left mine.

I felt myself being pulled into the screaming crowd racing towards the castle, but I didn't want to go in... not before Draco reached me.

But there were too many of them, and I found myself being swallowed up amongst the bodies against my will, Draco disappearing from view.

"Draco!" I screamed, panic tearing at me as I was pulled along with the tide. "Draco!"

"It's okay," came an ethereal voice next to me, as a hand slipped into mine. It was Luna, and she was smiling down sadly at me. "We need to get you inside, Hermione."

"Not without Draco," I implored, trying to look back for him amongst the chaos. But there were too many bodies. "He's unprotected."

"He'll want you to be safe." Luna persisted, pulling me towards the castle.

Didn't she understand? I couldn't leave him. I just couldn't.

But she was surprisingly strong, and I was shockingly weak, the stress and exhaustion rendering me drained of all fight.

So into the castle we went, where Harry ended up battling it out with Voldemort using Draco's wand. I knew I should be supporting him, but I was too busy looking around the sea of anxious faces for Draco.

Did he make it into the castle? And if so, where was he?

I barely noticed when Harry blasted Voldemort dead, barely listened as the cheers went up around me.

I managed to free myself from Luna's grip and pushed my way through the excited crowd, only to find myself coming face to face with Ron.

"'Mione, I've been so worried," he said, grabbing my shoulders before I could push past him, his eyes searching my face in concern. "Are you okay? No- that's a silly question. Of course you're not. I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I'm always here for you."

I shrugged him off, frowning. "I'll be okay once I get to Draco. I just need to be with him."

Ron opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped and instead pulled me into a maddeningly tight hug, crushing me against him.

I closed my eyes and felt a lump form in my throat as I allowed Ron to comfort me. But I couldn't stay there, I needed to find Draco, and so I moved out of his embrace, ignoring his cries to come back as I walked away.

Feeling a kind of detachment from all the people celebrating around me, I pushed on through, not stopping until I found myself in the Entrance Hall where, to my relief, a familiar white-blond haired Slytherin stood alone in the centre, his lips tugging into a smile the moment he saw me.

"Draco-" I breathed, stepping hesitantly towards him.

"Hey, you," he said, the familiar drawl of his tone making me helplessly smile. "So... Potter did it, huh?"

I halted in front of him, tears in my eyes as I nodded. "Not without you, he couldn't have done it if you hadn't given him your wand."

Draco shrugged, as though it were no big deal. "A hero's got to do what a hero's got to do."

"You are-" I paused as my voice broke, taking a moment to suck in a shaking breath. "You really are a hero, Draco."

His eyes twinkled sadly as he shoved his hands in his trouser pockets, making no attempt to close the space between us.

"I'm glad you got the memories back," he murmured softly, his tone wistful, "I'm glad you'll still have them."

"Me too," I whispered, my voice wobbling dangerously. "We had some good ones, didn't we?"

"Very good."

Loud cheers echoed from the Great Hall, a chorus of 'For he's a jolly good fellow!'

"You should go and join them." Draco said, glancing dolefully over my shoulder. "It's your victory too. You're free now, Hermione."

"I don't want to," I trembled, tears threatening to spill over as the ache in my chest started to become unbearable. "Please... just a little longer."

More cheers. A voice calling my name.

"Go to them, Hermione."

But I didn't move, and for the first time I realised that unlike the rest of us, Draco was no longer covered in cuts and bruises: his skin unblemished and clean, hair soft and shiny, suit uncrumpled and crisp.

He looked like an angel.

"I love you, Draco." I said as the tears finally spilled over and rolled freely down my face.

"And I love you too, Hermione," he murmured as he moved towards me, slowly closing the gap and dipping his head so that his lips hovered just above my own. "I love you both."

I closed my eyes as I felt the tickle of his words on my lips, my heart breaking into tiny pieces.

Hurried footsteps raced in behind me.

"Merlin, Hermione, what are you doing out here all on your own?"

My eyes flew open, and I whirled around on the spot to see Harry marching through the threshold and Ron following just behind.

I looked back at the empty space in front of me, wiping my damp face with my sleeve as I did so, which was pointless because the tears just kept on flowing.

"Oh, Hermione."

I felt an arm go around me, and I twisted around to greet Harry's embrace, sobbing hard against his chest as he held me.

Ron quietly suggested we go for a walk, and I numbly allowed them to usher me out into the grounds, keeping my eyes averted from the dead that lay on the ground, not wanting to see, not wanting to make it real.

It was only when we stopped on the bridge, looking out over the lake did I finally acknowledge what had happened.

"Here," Harry said, pulling from his pocket a long black pointed stick which I recognised at once to be Draco's. "He'd have wanted you to have it."

With trembling fingers, I reached out and took it, my breath hitching in my throat as it vibrated under my touch. I closed my eyes and pressed it against my breaking heart, shaking in grief at my loss.

For Draco never did get up again when he was hit by the Killing Curse. Killed by his own aunt as he crossed no man's land after his act of bravery - dying a hero, sacrificing his life so that I and thousands of others could have a future worth living.

"We'll get you through this, 'mione," Ron murmured, pulling an arm around me. "You're not alone. You're never alone."

I cried against him as Harry joined in on the hug, sandwiching me between them, each of them trying to help me carry my grief.

And there we stood, the three of us, the Golden Trio, forever bound together through childhood and trauma.

And, if we'd looked out across the lake, we would have seen a little furry head bobbing above the water, watching us before he ducked back down beneath the surface and swam away, leaving nothing but ripples behind him.

A shimmering, white otter, moving onto pastures new.

*****