Out of Hand by relativelypositive

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no money from the use of J.K. Rowling's characters.

Chapter 40

They were all in shock.

Pomfrey bustled between the teenagers, tutting and administering potions.

Hermione and Ginny were behind a curtain, and it was driving Draco crazy not being able to see her.

Dumbledore kept popping behind the curtain. No one was naked out here, and if Dumbledore was going back there then the girls weren't naked, either.

So he concluded that they were trying to piss him off.

His odd cousin Nymphadora was also behind the curtain, debriefing the girls.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was interrogating the boys. Draco wasn't paying any attention. As far as he was concerned, Harry could explain it all. He was, after all, the one that officially killed Voldemort.

Though no one would ever know for sure who actually killed him.

It could have been Hermione, or Blaise. Or Draco's mother.

Or a twin. Or Snape.

Or Draco himself.

It depended. Did he die from an Avada first or from the bullet that obliterated his skull?

"Who thought up this scheme?" Shacklebolt was addressing Potter directly, but the question was a far-flung net.

"Does it matter? We were successful. Voldemort is dead. Bellatrix Lestrange is dead."

"You conspired to murder two people. You entered a private residence and killed two people."

"What are you talking about? That is my residence! I counter that we killed two intruders in self-defense!" yelled Draco when he realized what Shacklebolt was trying to say.

"Fine. Mr. Malfoy, you tell me, step by step, how this happened. Tell me how six truant students and two troublemakers killed Voldemort and his most fervent follower."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Nice tits, Hermione!"

Hermione squeaked and grabbed the blanket to her chest. Draco was off the couch and finding their wayward clothing when Blaise strolled in without knocking.

"Hey! Privacy!" she yelled.

"No need," countered Blaise. "I've felt them already." He flopped down on a nearby couch and put his feet up.

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked in alarm. Draco could hear the anger mounting in her voice. "Must have happened when I wasn't looking!"

"You weren't even there, sweetheart."

"Blaise, leave her alone. Hermione, love, here's your shirt and your…"

"It's a bra, Draco. If you're touching it, you can say it," Blaise said.

Draco moved in front of Blaise both to get his attention and to let Hermione redress in relative privacy.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. The Dark Lord is being served breakfast in your dining room."

Hermione had ducked behind the couch to make sure Blaise didn't get another peek, but popped her head up at that statement.

"He eats? For some reason I never thought of him as doing normal things like brushing his teeth or putting on slippers."

"He's not really a person to you, then. Everyone eats, sleeps, and poops. Facts of life."

Hermione came around the couch and slipped her hand into Draco's. He wondered if she needed support, or just wanted to touch him.

"So it's time."

"Yeah. We leave in twenty minutes."

"Five to eat, five to shower, five to suit up, and five to powwow. That's doable," Hermione thought out loud.

Draco smiled. She was so no-nonsense. Sexy.

Their small group emerged from the library into a melee. Hermione made a beeline for the kitchen, but was redirected to the dining room. Someone had thoughtfully put out some food. Draco followed her, watched her grab a muffin and an orange juice. She left the room, presumably to multi-task elsewhere.

Draco sat by himself in the corner and ate his own apple and muffin. It would take him two minutes tops to soap up and dry himself with his wand. A quick Scourgify would take care of his clothing, and then he'd do whatever Hermione and Harry had planned for him to do.

And he would force three minutes into this tight schedule to make out with Hermione. Non-negotiable.

They had this idea that Voldemort would not be expecting a Muggle-style attack. As Hermione and Harry described different weapons and plans, Draco, Blaise, and the twins poked holes until they were as foolproof as they could be.

Unfortunately, there were so many things that had to happen in just the right way, or the whole thing would fall apart.

That's why, after everyone was fed, cleaned, and in their chosen battle gear, the twins distributed a vial of Felix Felicis to each of them.

"Drink up! Don't waste it! We sell this for fifty galleons a pop!"

They each grabbed a Headless Hat, the ultimate disguise, and ran to the Floo Room.

"I wish we had time to christen this in some way," said one twin.

"What's a better christening than taking out a psycho?" replied the other.

Draco entered with Potter and Ginny first. Next came Hermione and one of the twins. Draco held his breath that the wards would recognize her as a Malfoy.

He thanked the stars that she'd put on that ring when she came through the floo silently and in one piece. He snuck in a kiss while Blaise brought the other twin through.

The twins took up the right and the left sides. They were on shields and distractions. Blaise and Draco were next to them. They were on spells and hexes. Ginny was watching their backs, ready to either shield them all or attack. Hermione and Harry were together in the middle. In one hand they held their wands, but they were mostly for show on this mission.

Hermione's father and grandfather and Vernon Dursley had one thing in common: they enjoyed hunting.

Harry and Hermione had spent about forty minutes in her father's garage the day before practicing loading and firing the rifle and handgun her father kept. The rifle had been her grandfather's and Hermione didn't want to risk losing it, but they weren't about to go buy guns! Harry had taken all the ammunition his uncle had, as well, but not his gun. He still needed to live there, apparently, and his uncle would have left him in the street if he found out Harry stole from him.

Ammunition was replaceable.

They had discussed leaving the safeties on. If someone managed to Accio a gun, at least there was a decent chance that they wouldn't know how to use it at all, let alone take off the safety. Hopefully they wouldn't know Hermione had a gun at all.

Draco had seen Hermione practicing removing the gun from her jacket pocket before she realized it would just waste time. She could shoot through her jacket.

Potter didn't have that luxury, and had walked around for ten minutes that morning practicing different holds and postures for running.

Draco had felt fairly optimistic about the plan until he saw Potter drop the gun two times in less than a minute.

Now, as they advanced from the Floo to the foyer in a tight-knit group, that optimism re-emerged. Even though he didn't know a majority of them very well, Draco had a lot of confidence in their group. The twins and Ginny were resourceful and imaginative, Hermione was a brave genius, Harry was stupidly lucky, and Blaise was Blaise.

They were nearly silent as they advanced toward the dining room. They could hear Bellatrix half-laughing and half-shrieking about something.

"Do we wait for them to come to us? Bottle-neck them at the door to pick them off one by one?" whispered Blaise.

"No. We risk warning whoever else is in that room and giving them the chance to escape through the house elf's pantry," replied Draco just as quietly.

"Draco, blast open the door. The element of surprise will help."

"We should find out how many people are in there. Who's in there. What if Greg is in the way?"

"He's a Death Eater!" hissed Harry.

"He's Greg! He still has a stuffed dragon on this bed, for fuck's sake! There's no way he got marked because he wanted to!"

"He sleeps with a dragon? Do you not see the psychological issue there, Draco?" Hermione teased.

"Not the time, babe."

"I don't think the noise is coming from the dining room. I think it's coming from your father's study," advised Blaise.

"Maybe you should all drop your wands before I blast your bodies to pieces!"

To the right Draco saw Snape advancing on their group from the morning room. Draco took a chance and pulled off his hat.

Snape skidded to a halt in disbelief. "Draco! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Draco?" He saw his mother running behind Snape as quickly as her five-inch heels would allow.

"We have a plan. It will work. Are you against me? Against us?"

He watched Snape and his mother give each other searching looks. What was that?

"What is the plan?" Snape demanded.

"Like we'd tell you!" yelled Harry.

"Potter? Is that you? I assume that is Weasley and Granger with you then. Who are the others?"

"We're wasting time. Where is Voldemort?" demanded Harry.

"We were on our way to the drawing room. The Death Eaters have not been summoned. There is only my sister and your friend Gregory in the room," Draco's mother unexpectedly offered.

"Mother?"

"He wishes to see you dead. Disowned I could live with. Dead? I don't think so."

"Will you fight with us?"

"I shall not fight against you."

Maybe that was all he could ask for.

"Will you at least get Greg out of danger?"

She thought for a moment. "The Dark Lord has been trying to extract information from him. His methods have steadily grown brutal. I will do what I can for the boy. I should leave him to his fate. He attacked me."

"He was protecting me, Mother. You understand that."

She nodded in reluctant agreement.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.

"You are my students. I will do my best to protect you."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

Draco was shocked at how forward Hermione was being. Maybe it was the Felix Felicis.

Snape was trying to stare her down…but he couldn't see her head. Draco thought that had to be disconcerting.

A door opened at the end of the hall, and everyone turned in unison to see Bellatrix skipping out, followed by Greg being pulled on a metal chain leash. She was loudly humming a maniacal tune but stopped abruptly when she saw the group in the hall.

"Darling!" she called back into the room. "Were we expecting guests?"

She sidled towards the wall and waited for her Lord to join her. Her wand was already pointed at the group.

"My whore of a sister and her greasy lover! My disgraced nephew and…headless henchmen? I wish I had thought of that." She pursed her lips and nodded to herself. "It's not too late. You would probably be more useful without a head, you stubborn little shit," she addressed Greg with the swift kick of a lethally pointy boot.

Greg cowered back from the crazy lady. He'd obviously been tortured, as he was covered in bloody gashes and bruises.

Draco saw his mother and Snape come to the other side of the twin next to him. He wanted to smile. They had drawn their wands against his insane aunt.

To his great surprise, his mother was the first to shoot a spell. A powerful slicing spell severed Greg's chain.

"Cissy!" Bellatrix yelled in consternation. "That's my pet!" She stomped her foot and started alternating shooting hexes at Greg and at the group in the hallway.

The twins' shields held, and Draco's mother sent her sister a nasty stinging hex. It did not hit its mark, but allowed his mother time to reach Greg and crouch next to him in a defensive gesture while Bellatrix's shield was up.

She cradled his broken body behind her own shield and nodded to Draco.

Bellatrix shrieked in rage and started throwing more powerful hexes until behind her a black shrouded figure stepped into the hall.

Voldemort slid imperiously into sight as though he was king.

The plan was to not waste a second.

Draco and Blaise let loose a barrage of spells. They were joined by Snape. The twins kept up their shield until Voldemort raised one hand and sent a wave of destructive energy through the group. Days later Hermione would tell him it looked like an invisible bowling ball had knocked down their group as though they were bowling pins. It would be another four years before he found out what bowling was, but that didn't matter at the time. The effect was instantaneous. They needed to regroup, and fast!

"Insolent! You were to be my heir! My successor! Now—"

Harry cut Voldemort's tirade short as he finally shouldered the rifle and shot Bellatrix in the head.

Draco's mother shrieked and covered her eyes.

Voldemort pondered this new development for a moment, giving them all time to steady themselves.

"Beginner's luck?" Draco heard Hermione whisper to her best friend.

"Liquid luck, remember?" There was a violent tremor in Harry's voice, and Draco wondered if he would ever get over this.

They weren't done.

If Draco didn't know better, he'd think the Dark Lord tripled in size. He seemed to take up the entire hallway in his rage.

The powerful spells were nonverbal, so Draco didn't know how to counter them. He just kept throwing the most powerful spells he knew and hoped for the best.

He started hearing gunshots, and realized Hermione had started shooting, as well. She had insisted she'd be fine, that she could compartmentalize, but Draco wasn't sure. Time would tell.

One bullet struck home, and the back of Voldemort's skull exploded. While no one later doubted that he couldn't have survived that wound, there were several in attendance that swore he was already on his way down to the ground when it hit him.

Snape thought maybe his Avada had hit Voldemort first. Blaise thought his Reducto had hit the bastard's head instead of a bullet. Draco's mother claimed she had been sending hexes constantly in a panicked state and thought she could have killed him before the shot arrived.

Hermione was reasonably sure she had done it. The handgun had more bullets than the rifle, and she was sure Harry had stopped to reload.

Harry insisted he had shot the bullet that killed Voldemort. Draco was willing to let him claim the distinction and told Hermione to shut up.

Snape approached the bodies and nudged them each with his foot. He went to Draco's mother and gently helped her to stand. She approached her sister and sobbed. She looked back at Harry Potter not with the hatred Draco had expected, but with reluctant relief.

Draco felt only the relief.

Snape gently levitated Greg down the hallway and into the floo.

Hermione and Harry had put down the guns and were hugging silently.

Draco felt his mother sidle up to him. Was she going to try to comfort him? That would be a first. She turned his cheek gently toward her and looked into his eyes.

"Draco. Was this your only option?"

He decided nodding was his only response.

She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead onto his shoulder.

It was the most emotion he's seen from his mother his entire life.

And he didn't know what it meant.

XXXXXX

Hermione woke in the Hospital Wing in the middle of the night. She could see a faint light in Madam Pomfrey's desk area, but knew the aging mediwitch had retired hours ago. A seventh-year Ravenclaw that hoped to become a mediwitch was watching the ward overnight.

Hermione snuck from the "girl's" side to the "boy's" side. She stopped to check on Goyle first.

He still hadn't woken up. Madam Pomfrey surmised that Bellatrix had been using multiple Ennervates to keep him awake for the torture. She wouldn't have wanted him to miss anything.

Hermione held his hand for a moment, then moved on. The twins, not being students, had been released. She assumed they were at their handy apartment above the shop.

She looked Harry over. He claimed he wasn't hurt, but would he have told her?

Blaise would have been whining like a little bitch if he was hurt, so she skipped him altogether. She smirked. Blaise would appreciate that when she said it to him later. He wouldn't take it seriously. They had finally relaxed around each other.

"Draco," she whispered. If anyone else woke up it would ruin her plan.

He immediately opened his eyes.

"Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Same reason I didn't sleep last time I was here. That Vane girl still hasn't shown up. I figure she's waiting until our guards are down to attack."

Hermione wanted to tell him that wouldn't happen, but knew it could.

"Let's go to the Room of Requirement."

"You want to go to the room Pansy tried to imprison you in?"

"Pansy's an idiot. And it won't look like that anymore."

Hermione watched Draco silently slip to the ground and reach for her hand.

They slipped through the chilly hallways and dodged Mrs. Norris with ease. The Room of Requirement appeared after Hermione paced in front of it. She knew what she wanted.

"Now Draco," she announced, "I only want to sleep."

She was proud of herself. She managed not to crack a smile.

She ran through the door and whooped loudly as she sailed through the air and landed on a huge pillowy bed.

Draco looked on seriously as Hermione bounced a few times, then gave him her best sultry smile. He slowly approached the bed and Hermione got up on her knees to meet him.

As she went to reach for him, Draco took out his wand and pointed it at her head. The tingle on her scalp seemed stronger this time. Hermione saw her hair sailing past her eyes. She pushed it back as it got even longer. When it reached the approximate length it had been a week ago, it stopped growing.

She looked up to see his Slytherin smirk. "Time to fulfill a fantasy."

He asked the room for a desk and chair and bookcases surrounding. He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the desk. He ushered her into the seat and pulled multiple books from the shelves to set the scene.

Hermione smiled and waited. She had an inkling of where this was going.

When Draco was satisfied, he walked behind her where he was out of her line of sight.

She resisted the urge to turn around. His fantasy. Fine.

Hers would be next.

She only had to wait a few seconds.

Draco made a short run and hop that ended with his butt skidding to a halt on the desk next to her. He used his hands to push all the books out of the way as he reclined across the desk.

He whipped his head toward her and acted surprised to see her. "Oh! Sorry! Were you working here?"

Hermione giggled as she said, "Really? Your fantasy is interrupting my studies?"

"No." Draco answered seriously. "I just like to make you smile."

He sat up and pulled her up to stand in between his splayed legs.

"This is my fantasy."

He shoved his hands into her tangled hair and fisted it.

"You're beautiful." He kissed her.

He slid off the desk and lifted her so his mouth could still reach hers.

"And mine." He kissed her before she could protest.

He dropped her onto the bed and climbed over her. She liked the power she felt and the blush staining his cheeks.

"Hermione," he whispered as she silently asked the room to extinguish the lights.

She couldn't control her shiver and he pulled her closer. She wasn't cold. They tangled themselves up in each other.

Draco fell asleep first, and Hermione fought sleep for as long as she could.

He was beautiful, too. And hers.

A/N:

Le sigh. Happy and sad.

I literally wrote a chapter almost every day for the last month and a half. I had no idea where it was going to go. 90% of this story was spur-of-the-moment and I had to deal with where I left off the next day. It was more an exercise than a story. I'm glad so many people enjoyed it. I did.

I'm going to go read it now and look for flow problems. There may be small edits but nothing of the story will change.

I suppose this is the last time I'll be able to thank you all for a while! I know "favorites" mean different things to different people, but I am so honored to be on anyone's favorites list. And followers! I'll try harder next time to be a crafty, yet benevolent cult leader.

But those of you who take the time to write back? That is invaluable. Luck and love,

brighteyes2889, ASJS, KodeV, OneWhoTurns, love bleeds red, moriahhh, luminaDianae, Pregiera, Chester99, giada, Kat of a Different Color, and viola1701e.