Meet Me In The Broom Cupboard

Chapter Eleven: Seventh Year, The Battle of Hogwarts (pt.1)

Hermione raced up the Grand Staircase, ignoring the burning sensation in her lungs, firing stunning spells at the Death Eaters behind her as she went. She was trying to get back to Harry with the Basilisk fangs and was certain he was headed for the Room of Requirement but getting up to the seventh floor was proving a hard task. She had already lost Ron, who was helping Neville and Seamus at the bottom of the stairs, and now she had two more Death Eaters trailing her.

'Stupefy!' She yelled, throwing the spell behind her as she urged her body forwards. She hit the one in front who in turn fell into the one behind and they went tumbling down the stairs. She ran faster and harder than she ever had before until she reached the seventh floor. She tucked herself into an alcove to catch her breath and check for Harry when a hand touched her shoulder from behind. She whipped her wand out and turned to fire a spell, only to find a pair of grey eyes looking at her with relief.

'Draco.' She gasped, jumping into his arms as they wrapped around her waist and she buried herself into his neck. 'I didn't know if I'd ever see you again.'

'I could say the same about you.' He whispered into her hair. 'No time for reunions now though, Potter's just gone into the Room of Requirement and he may need our help.'

'What?' Hermione said, pulling back to make sure she heard him correctly. 'Our help? Are you sure about this, what if He finds out?'

'My main focus is helping you right now.' Draco said, pushing her hair away from her face. 'And you need to help Potter. Therefore, I am also helping Potter. Let's go.'

Before Hermione could ask any more questions Draco had grabbed her hand and pulled her to the wall. They paced three times and were welcomed by a familiar door.

'Malfoy!' A voice shouted from the other end of the corridor. Hermione turned to see a tall boy running over to them, stopping in front of them and bending over as he caught his breath.

'Zabini, make it quick.' Draco said.

'It's Crabbe. Not a fan of the new plan.' Blaise said, still breathless as he pointed to Hermione and Draco. 'We should go in before he gets here.'

'Stay by the door.' Draco said to Blaise as they stepped into the room. 'Keep him at bay as long as possible.'

Blaise saluted Draco and pulled his wand from his back pocket in preparation. Hermione pulled Draco along, shouting Harry's name as they went.

'Over here.' He called back a moment later. He was very taken aback to see Draco with Hermione but didn't have the heart, or time, to question it.

'Harry, I've got them.' Hermione said, reaching into her bag with her free hand.

'We need to find the diadem first.' Harry replied, running a hand through his hair. He glanced at Draco, still trying to figure out what he was doing here and if he could be trusted. Before anything else could be said between the three of them, shouts erupted near the door.

'I bet that's Crabbe, the git.' Draco hissed. 'You look for the diadem and I'll help Blaise keep Crabbe at bay.'

Hermione nodded, giving his hand a squeeze before letting him run off to help Blaise. Harry and Hermione began searching and soon after Draco had left them, Ron came running over.

'Fire!' He shouted, breathing heavily.

'Ron, what are you talking about?' Hermione asked.

'Fire!' He shouted again, grabbing her and Harry by the hand and leading them back towards the door. Hermione barely had time to cast a shielding charm as a wall of fire erupted in front of them, forcing them to turn back the way they came.

'Here!' Harry shouted, grabbing two brooms from a pile of assorted junk and throwing one to Ron. Hermione jumped on the back of Harry's broom and they were soon flying over the fire towards the exit.

'Harry, what about Malfoy?' Hermione suddenly shouted in his ear. He muttered a few curse words and shouted to Ron to turn around.

'If we die for them Harry, I'm going to kill you!' Ron shouted back before turning to follow.

They found Draco and Blaise atop a pile of antique furniture, surrounded by flames, and as they got closer they could see that Draco was holding something.

'Harry, he found it.' Hermione sighed in relief. She leant over the side of the broom and held her hand out for Draco to take, smiling when his strong grip entwined with hers and she pulled him onto the back of the broom. He slipped his arms around her waist and mumbled a thank you in her ear, resting his head against her back, exhausted.

Harry raced them out of the room, making sure that Ron and Blaise were close behind, and they all tumbled to the floor as the flames towered behind them. Blaise yelled and pointed his wand at the door and they all watched the fire rise up, hunting for them, before it disappeared behind the wooden door that promptly vanished into the wall.

They all lay on the floor for a moment, catching their breath, before Ron spoke. 'Can someone tell me why we haven't cursed Malfoy yet?'

'Well, Weasel... OW!' Draco drawled, only to be hit in the shoulder by Hermione with the use of "Weasel". 'Okay, fine, Weasley! Blaise and I are here to help you three on your quest for Horcruxes, we thought you could use some Dark Wizards.'

As he was speaking Draco pulled the diadem out of his suit pocket and placed it on Hermione's head with a smile, satisfied that it looked good on top of her head. She smiled back with a roll of her eyes before taking it in her hands, inspecting it once, and destroying it with the basilisk fang.

She gasped when she saw the Dark Magic rise out of it and seep through the air towards her, but a strong and familiar body covered her own to protect her from the cloud of black smoke that leaked out.

'I've got you.' Draco whispered in her ear and didn't let her go until the smoke disappeared in a small explosion.

'Hermione?' Ron asked, looking over at her and Draco. Hermione nodded and, for a moment, she thought Ron looked upset but he soon brushed it off.

What the other three didn't know in that moment was the conversation that happened between Ron and Hermione in the Chamber of Secrets not long ago. After they had destroyed the cup, Ron had tried to kiss her and she held him back. He asked her if there was something he did wrong, did he ruin any chance with her somehow? She'd said no and explained that there was someone else who she'd been seeing and was still trying to get over losing. Ron left it at that, thinking he'd died in the war and she was still mourning him, resigning himself to questioning her later about who it was.

When Ron saw Hermione and Draco together, it all made sense.

'We have to go, we have to find the snake.' Harry said to Ron and Hermione only, but all five of them were running down the stairs towards the Great Hall.

'The shrieking shack.' Draco said to Hermione as they ran. 'The Dark Lord - He's in the shrieking shack... the snake will be with him.'

'Are you sure?' She asked, throwing a stunning spell over her shoulder.

'Positive.' Draco said, casting a shield around the two of them to protect them from a cascade of rubble.

When they reached the front doors of the castle, Hermione told Harry what Draco said and they turned to go towards the Whomping Willow, but Draco pulled Hermione closer.

'I can't go with you.' Draco whispered, looking into her eyes. 'If He sees me with you three, He'll kill my parents while I watch. I need you to stay safe without me there.'

'I will.' She nodded, ignoring Harry's insistence that they get a move on. 'When the war is over...'

Draco gave her a tight smile and finished her sentence for her before she ran off. 'I'll meet you in the broom cupboard.'