The Battle of the Highest (Dramione)

Chapter 15: Third Clue

*DRACO*

Hermione started ignoring everyone again, except me. She keeps saying that we need to prepare and train, even if we don't know what we are up against. I always catch her in the library, looking for spell books and anything that can help us, or she's in the prefect's house locked up in her room, and if she is out in the common room she won't reply when I try talking to her.

"Hermione, just take a break on this," I say.

"No, Draco," she says sternly. "We can't afford to lose precious time to figure out what's coming towards us."

"How can we?"

"How can we what?"

"How can we figure this out when we have nothing to build from?" I ask. As soon as I say it the door swings open and in walks McGonagall.

"Good evening," she says. "I know that it is late, but I figured you two would want to take a look at this right away." She walks in and hands me a box.

The black box.

Hermione rushes over, brushing the top of the box. "You fixed it?" she asks astonishingly.

"Yes, Miss Granger. The box has been swept of Dark Magic. Feel free to look inside and inspect it anyway you'd like. Please know that I do not want you two discussing what the clue says or means." After saying her "goodnight"s, McGonagall strides out of the room. Hermione slides the box out of my hands and opens it carefully, and she sits on the couch. I sit down beside her. Inside I see, is a small piece of parchment folded in half. Hermione pulls it out and opens it slowly. Her eyes skim it then she throws it back in the box and slams the lid shut.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Read it," she says quickly. I open the lid and take the parchment out and read it.


You will be her end.


You will be her end? What is that supposed to mean? I know it's a different clue than Hermione's, because mine says "you will be her end". I put the parchment back in the box. Hermione stands up.

"Where you going?" I ask.

"To my room," she says. "I...I might stay in there for a while." She walks into her room quickly and shuts the door, and I hear it lock. I sigh. What she read on the parchment must've been awful. I follow suit, walking into my room. I pull on some sweatpants and take off my shirt. Before I settle down I walk over to Hermione's door that meets the restroom.

*HERMIONE*

I hear a knock on the door that leads into the bathroom. I stand up quickly and walk over to it in my pajama shorts and tank top. I lean against it.

"Hermione?" says Draco's muffled voice through the door.

"Yeah?"

"Just know...that whatever you read on that parchment...I don't care what happens. I'd rather you live than me, and if I have to die to save you then I will."

He pauses for a moment.

"Okay," he says. "I love you."

Tears start to stream down my face as I hear his footsteps echo on the tile floor in the bathroom and I wait until his door clicks shut. I walk back to my bed and curl into a ball, trying to fall asleep over the pain.







The next morning I wake up and walk out of my room, welcomed back the daily breakfast that we started getting at the beginning of the tournament. I see the box sitting on the counter, and I pass by trying to ignore it and I grab a bagel sit in one of the arm chairs. I finish it in about a minute and sit in the chair, hugging my legs to my chest. After I couple minutes, Draco walks in. I stare down at the flames of the fire.

"Morning," Draco yawns.

"What did you say to me, last night before we went to bed?" I ask, ignoring his greeting, and continue to stare at the fire.

"I...told you that I'd rather you live than me."

"No, after that."

"That I'd protect you?"

I shake my head. I turn to look at him as he realizes what he said. I stand up and walk into his arms.

"I said...I love you. I love you, Hermione."

I hug him tightly, knowing that soon I'll have to let go. "I love you too," I say quietly.

Draco pulls me into a kiss, growing deeper with our love by the second. He pulls me onto the couch with me on top of him. I feel the tears start to come down my cheeks again as I think about losing him and I pull away.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asks.

"I'm just...I'm just freaked out about the parchment from last night. I just don't want to lose you, and I want both of us to live this battle, but apparently someone else doesn't want us to and-"

"Why would someone purposely try to separate us?"

"No, don't you see? It's the Ministry! The Battle of the Highest, everything! It's all part of their plan, whether they realize what they're doing or not. They're going to pull us apart purposely in the end and...there's nothing we can do about it."

"Come here," Draco says, and he pulls me into his arms. "We can do this."

I turn my head and kiss him softly. "I don't know," I say uncertainly. Draco pulls my face to his and our lips meet. Draco pushes me back so I'm the one laying down and he crawls over me, making his way to my lips, then starts kissing down my neck. He pulls upward on the bottom of my tank top, and I sit up so he can pull it off. He kisses down my stomach, then starts pulling down my pants, and then throws them down on the floor with my shirt, starting to make a small pile (Draco had already come into the room with no shirt on). He comes back up to give me a hard kiss, and I wrap my legs around his waist, and he picks me up and carries me to his room. I fall onto the emerald green bed, and Draco crawls onto the bed and starts kissing the inside of my legs, and I bite my lip. I sit up and pull on his belt (Draco gets dressed early; he's dressed only in jeans) to pull him closer, and I start to undo the buckle blindly as I'm pulled into a hard kiss again.