Shield you 🥀
for the Fairy Tale AU you inspired @avendell because your work brings so much beauty and emotion. And because he can’t die. He just can’t. ***
There is a lull in the fighting around them, and Hermione knows they have to move. Crowded in against Draco’s chest, she strained her ears for any other noise from the battel around them. They had been ambushed. Betrayed. What should’ve been so easy had become complicated in an instant. Draco had clutched her to his chest, crushing her smaller form with his much larger one has various weapons had clashed around them. Draco let a low groan above her, and Hermione knew they needed to move before one of them was hurt. She looked to the trees. They were so close to cover.
“We’ve got to go,” she hissed against his chest. Nodding, Draco moved his arm, releasing her from the vice grip he had held her with. Glancing around him, Hermione indicated towards the trees. “Let’s go.”
Draco nodded and pushed her forward but didn’t follow. “I’ll catch up.”
There was something in his voice, in his tone that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She turned to him then. His body barely visible in the first lights of dawn. “Malfoy, we’ve gotta go.”
“You go,” he responded, his body sagging suddenly. That's when she saw it - the blood trickling from his mouth, the large hilt of a sword now visible above his shoulder. “I don’t think I’m gonna make it.”
Hermione’s eyes widened as he collapsed. His shoulder taking the brunt of his weight as he fell. She rushed to his side. Fear and uncertainty radiating from her. The wound was deep and she has no idea when he was hit. How long had he been bleeding out? His skin was cold and clammy beneath her touch, and she could feel the hands of death stepping forward to claim him. "You die when I say you can die, Malfoy. And not a moment sooner."
"I'm not sure that's how that works, Granger," coughed Draco. Hermione hastily wiped the blood from his mouth. "Just promise me one thing before I die."
"No. You're not dying. I won't let you."
"Promise me you'll stay out of trouble." He chuckled, knowing that's not even possible. His laugh turned into a pained cough as Hermione continued to wipe away the blood unaware of the tears falling from her eyes. "Promise me."
"I-I promise." She pushed the visor from his helmet back, desperate to see his face more clearly.
He smirked before coughing again. There was more blood now, and he struggled to breathe. Death was close. They could both feel it now. His eyes found hers in the soft light, and he lifted a gloved hand to touch her face. "You were always my favorite, you know."
"I know,” she replied, clinging to his hand. She pressed her face against his palm, marveling as she always did at the size difference.
He wheezes, and she shifted, trying to cradle his head throw his helmet. She begged him not to leave her. "We're not done. We have to finish the mission."
"You have to do the rest alone. I'm-I'm sorry, Granger. I-" he wheezed and winced in pain. His breath was coming in short pants now.
Blaise rushed to them, his body weaving in and around obstacles. "Draco, we've gotta move." Spotting the hilt of the sword, and the blood coming from his best friend, Blaise fell to his knees. "No. No. No. No. No. No.” The single word poured from his lips as he reached for his friend. “ Mate, what've you done?" he asked. He pulled his hands back, unsure where it was safe to touch him. He looked to his friend and Captain. The questions went unspoken in his eyes.
Draco’s eyes are steadier than his voice when he spoke, "Take her Blaise. Make her finish."
"I'm not leaving you," stated Hermione.
Draco looked past her, past her shaking shoulders to his second in command. If he gave the order, Blaise would have to follow it. The code dictated it. "Take her, Blaise. Finish the mission. Promise me."
Blaise wiped at the tears rolling down his face. There was no time to mourn. "I promise,” he replied, placing a fist across his chest to his heart. “It will be done.”
Nodding at him and Draco shifted to Hermione. She had to leave. She had to be safe. She was the only one that could complete the mission given to them now. “Go, Granger.”
"We've gotta go, Granger," said Blaise, a hint of urgency in his voice.
"We can't leave him!” argued Hermione. “I can save him."
To their left, a hound bayed, and Blaise’s body stiffened. They were gaining on them. "There isn't time!" He stood and looked around. He couldn’t carry them both. It wasn’t possible. Meeting Draco’s eyes, he gave the other man a nod. It wasn’t the goodbye he deserved or the rite he was due, but it was all he could give him in the moment. "I'm sorry."
Blaise grabbed Hermione, lifting her slight form as easily as a child’s, and tossed her over his shoulder. Her screams ringing in his ears as he started to run towards the clearing.
"No!" screamed Hermione. "Put me down! I can save him! We have to go back! I can save him! NO!”
Draco watched them leave, willing himself to keep his eyes open until they make it to the treeline. To cover. He's done all he can. His eyes drifted skyward and he took his last breath.
He’d done all he could. She was safe. For now.
*****
Pain. That's the first thing he registered. Pain and lilacs. Lilacs and ash. And that metallic taste of blood in his mouth. There was a peace that swept over him in those final moments when he saw her disappear into the woods. He could no longer hear her cries and screams at Blaise, but he knew she didn't stop. Blaise would hate him for putting him in that position, but his best friend would understand. He'd have to.
Regret filled his mind. He'd failed. Again. Failed to save her. Failed to protect her. Failed to tell her the truth.
"What truth?"
Draco’s eyes snapped open, and he stared at her. Granger. She was so petite. So strong. So determined. No one had ever been as beautiful to him as her, with her wild hair and freckles.
"What truth?" She asked again. Her voice as demanding as always.
"That I loved you."
Whatever answer she expected, it was obvious to him that wasn’t it. He loved to catch her off-guard. Turn her neat and orderly life upside down with his presence. The way she did his. He smirked. "What you didn't know that?"
"No." The word was a whisper and he smirked to see her so confused by his confession. At least he could have this, he thought. In this place in between. He had imagined the afterlife would be different, but of course, he'd be tortured by her presence here. Of course, he'd be brave enough to tell her he loved her when he was dead.
She stepped forward, her small face filling his vision. She was paler than normal, her freckles standing out against her skin more than usual. "You're not dead."
Her words rang in his ears. "You left me," he replied. "I watched you leave."
"You really think Blaise could make me do anything I didn't want to?" She raised a brow at him. "Please." Turning back to the table beside him, she fussed with a few vials.
Draco cast his eyes around the room. He tried to understand where they were. The space was unfamiliar to him. It was void of decoration and distinguishing marks. He noted warmth from a fire and a chair sitting beside it. He could picture her sitting there, a book in her hand - trying to understand and sort out their next steps. It was so familiar and so painful.
His gaze drifted back to her. He noted that she was no longer wearing her traveling cloak and dressed as a page but was dressed only in a chemise and a loose corset. Hardly appropriate given their statuses.
"I died, Hermione."
She paused, and he realized with a start what he'd done.
"So you do know my name," she hummed, turning towards him. He felt his cheeks heat. "Drink this."
She lifted his head and placed a vial to his lips. He drank the liquid, his nose wrinkling at the foul taste.
"Tell me how you saved me." It wasn't a question. He needed to know what she did, how it was possible. He had questions and needed answers. If he was truly alive, as she said, then he needed to know how. He had felt the cold hands of death, gripping him. It was impossible.
"Later," she replied. Her fingers traced his cheek, and his vision swam slightly.
"You drugged me."
She shrugged one shoulder as her eyes met his. "You need to rest."
He blinked his eyes as his vision doubled. The scent of lilacs, of her, filled his nose as the pain eased. "Rest, Draco."
He struggled to keep his eyes open as his body grew heavy. "Tell me."
Hermione leaned closer, her mouth grazing the shell of his ear as she spoke. "Magic."
❤️
