Disclaimer: Merely borrowing J.K. Rowling's lovely characters.

Warning: Story contains mild levels of non-consensual sex due to deceit involved, not advisable for those who are against fiction containing such themes.

Thirteen Hours

Chapter 1

There was blood everywhere. Screams of fury, screams of anguish mingled to form the chilling sound of tragedy; the sound of war. Just mere minutes ago, bright flashes of light had filled the atmosphere, white, red, green, all with the intent to weaken, cripple, kill.

And then there was silence.

The numbers had steadily dwindled. Half, quarter, eighth, to none. Witches and wizards have fallen like toy soldiers, but this was no game.

War does not determine who's right, it determines who's left. He thought grimly as he stepped out from behind the dense bushes that had kept him hidden from view. He shook the flakes of snow off his platinum blond hair. Some would call him a coward for not fighting. But he had seen the culminations of those who chose to fight and he decided that he had better things to do with his life. He needed to keep going, needed to keep moving or he would freeze to death. He shivered in the cold and wound his coat tighter around his lean body.

A movement caught his eye. He tensed and tightened his grip around his wand.

He heard a soft whimper, a whimper of pain. It was no threat to him. He relaxed a little and edged closer to the source.

He gasped as he saw the pool of blood flowing profusely from the head of the fallen witch. He broke into a run towards it.

She was struggling to get up, to move, to stay alive.

'Stop moving!' He commanded.

She seemed to become more anxious at the sound of his voice.

He knelt down beside her and gently restrained her. 'Stop moving,' he repeated in a softer tone. 'I'm here to help.'

She let out an audible sigh of relief and slumped her body against him. She was far too weak to manage on her own. She was shivering so hard in the cold. She tried to say something, but stringing a sentence proved to be too onerous a task for her.

'H… h… ead h… h… urts,' She breathed.

'Hang in there, hang in there,' He tried to soothed her. He was never good at this comforting thing.

He hurriedly removed his outer coat, then his robes, and tugged his shirt over his head. He pointed his wand to his shirt and transfigured it into long strips of bandage.

'C… c… an't s… see a… t… thing,' She continued on, talking to him as if her life depended on it.

'It's okay, hang in there. You're not alone,' He raised her head slightly to lay it over the bandages.

Her hair, matted with blood, fell over to reveal her deathly pale face. It was pale enough to rival his. 'Granger?' He said incredulously. His heart gave a start.

She seemed not to hear him, not to see him, for he was sure that if she had seen who it was tending to her, she would have mustered all her strength to shove him away.

Instead she was blabbering incoherently now. He could only make out a few words. 'C… c…old… P… p… ain… E… e…ars r… ring..ing…' She was chanting them over and over again.

'Granger, Granger! Hang in there. You'll be alright, I'm here. You'll be fine,' He worked quickly. Using his wand to clean her wounds and then charming the bandages to wrap securely around her head to keep the blood from flowing any more. She had already lost too much blood.

He covered himself with his robes and wrapped her with his coat. He was cold, but she was colder. She was shivering and her lips had turn a shade of purple. He lifted her up into both of his arms and cradled her close to him. Her voice was attenuating now.

'Talk to me, Granger! You must not sleep,' He urged her. He knew that with a head injury like hers, she may never wake up again if she fell asleep.

'Wake up, wake up! Open your eyes, look at me,' He pressed on, his strides were long and fast now, he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of danger.

'R… ron… Ron,' she called out. He frowned. Better than nothing. He thought.

Her voice, though weak, held more urgency now as she continued to call out to the boy her heart still beats for.

They broke out of the forest and he saw lights coming from a small hut. One side of it had been blown away. He paused, listening out for any sounds of threat. Cold, harsh silence echoed back. The place reeked of the immediate aftermath of the war. But it gave him the assurance that no one would be returning anytime soon.

The door to the hut had been torn away from its hinges and through it, he could see that it had been ransacked and vacant. A bed lay broken in pieces at a corner; there was no mattress on it. A table stood in the middle of the hut, almost filling the entire space, two of its legs were splintered. He hoisted Hermione up as she was slipping out from his grasp. He cursed the anti-apparition wards around Hogwarts and stepped through the doorway. The place was no manor, but it would have to do. They would at least have a shelter over their heads.

He laid some blankets he had found in the corner of the hut and placed Hermione on it. He then proceeded to circle the hut, setting up wards around it.

He placed a disillusionment charm and as a safety measure, he pointed his wand and turned off the lights. Satisfied, he collapsed against the wall beside Hermione and inhaled deeply. She had stopped speaking now but he could hear her breaths growing steadily thanks to the warmth enveloping her.

He decided to let her rest for a short while, while he caught his breath. He would wake her up in five minutes. Just five minutes…

She woke him up instead. He grabbed his wand, 'lumos!' Sunlight was creeping in through the windows. He must have fallen asleep!

'Ron! Ron!' She was thrashing about wildly beside him.

He drew her close to him in a tight embrace and comforted her. 'Granger! It's alright, you're safe. You're safe.'

This gesture did little to soothe her. In fact, it agitated her. She could feel his mouth moving but she could neither hear nor see him.

'Ron! My ears, my ears. Turn on the lights, turn on the lights! Please!' She pleaded hysterically.

Draco pointed his wand to the lamp above them and ignited it. 'There, there, I've turned on the lights. We're okay, you're safe. No one can get you now.'

'Ron, Ron? Is that you? Turn on the lights please, please, please,' her pleadings were persistent and her voice was an octave higher now.

At this, Draco gripped her by her shoulders and held her out at arm's length. Her eyes were wild and unfocused. He shook her. 'Look at me, Granger. The lights are on, look at me!'

However, she seemed to not be able to hear him. She continued screaming, tears were streaming down her cheeks now, tears of frustration.

Fear gripped him as realisation hit him. Something was very wrong.

'Granger, can you hear me? Granger!'

No response.

'Good heavens, Granger. Granger, please!'

She continued struggling in his firm grasp.

He slapped her. She stiffened momentarily then fell back against the wall defeated.

'Granger, Hermione. Please…' He pleaded for her to hear him. Her eyes were wide open in fear, but they were unfocused. She could not see.

'I… I can't see. I can't see you. I can't hear you. Ron… It's all dark, I can't see,' she wept.

Draco drew her close to him and hugged her tight, her back to his chest. She was sobbing now, shaking uncontrollably against him.

'Ron… Don't leave me, please.' She said softly now, fatigue taking over once more. 'Don't leave me alone.' She mumbled.

Draco sighed and hugged her tighter. 'Never,' he whispered.

A/N: One more chapter to go! The next one will be twice the length. I've already finished the entire story. So no worries about me boycotting it!