Bad Blood: A Dramione Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Nine

After a moment of catching our breath, he whispers, "Are you alright?" His icy blue eyes look into mine. For the first time since all of this started happening, I feel like everything is going to be okay. As long as I'm with him.

"I'm good. Never better," I answer, and I absentmindedly begin to smile. "I thought I would never see you again."

"I wouldn't let that happen." He smiles, his classic smirk. We sit up, and he suddenly wraps me in his arms. We hug tightly for a solid two minutes. Water falls from his face and down my arms, and I'm not sure if its raindrops or tears.

"I've missed you. So much." He says, his voice muffled by how tightly he's holding on to me. I nod my head. This moment makes it all worth it. All of the pain and suffering of Azkaban, everything that happened beforehand... it has all led up to this, and in this moment, I wouldn't want things to have been any other way. Sometimes things have to fall apart to fall back together. And now, we're together again, stronger and better than ever; that's all that matters.

He pulls away from the hug, kisses me on the forehead, and puts his hand in mine.  He looks me up and down.

"I'm sorry," I say, looking at the floor, "I can't even imagine how awful I look."

"Don't you realize just how hard I've fought to see that face of yours? Hermione, you've never looked more beautiful." A single tear falls from his eyes. I smile and wipe it away, stroking the side of his face. Before I know it, we're both leaning in for a kiss. The long-awaited kiss. But just as our lips touch, a cold atmosphere like I've never known sweeps over the room. The rain outside begins to fall harder, and Draco jerks backward.

"Oh, my God, this is all my fault. This is because of me. No, no, no!" He scrambles to his feet, and I follow suit.

"Draco, calm down. What's wrong?" I grab his shoulders and pull him into another hug, but this time, he is inconsolable.

"I shouldn't have wasted time. We should be gone by now! I tried so hard-" He cries, but he is interrupted by the sound of the prison bars fiercely shaking.

"What is it, Draco? Tell me!" I beg.

And with four words, an unparalleled fear is instilled in me, and it feels as if every ounce of blood rushes out of my body: "They're coming for you." Draco says it with such pain, such horror. 

Before I can respond, he picks me up and says, "I'm going to hoist you up, and you're going to climb out of that window. Get in the boat and sail until you find land and just Apparate somewhere safe."

"No, Draco! I'm not going without you!"

"You have to. You have so much to live for. You're the brightest witch of your age, and you have so much going for you. I don't have anything going for me. Without you, I am nothing. A Dementor's Kiss is the only one I deserve. Just go. You have to!" His voice cracks on the last sentence. He has remained so strong for so long; but he's giving up now, and there is nothing I can do to stop him.

I kiss him. With everything that I am, I put my lips against his. This kiss is fueled by every time that I sat in this dreary cell thinking of him. Every time something tried to tear us apart. Every time he said he loved me. Every time he's come to my rescue, literally and figuratively. All of our memories are poured into a single moment, and our love for each other becomes more palpable than it ever has been before.

The prison bars hit the floor, and we pull apart. The Dementors glide into the room.

"I love you," I whisper to Draco, "forever."

"Forever." He promises.

He only has a moment to hoist me up. After a bit of work, I'm sitting in the window, watching helplessly as two Dementors grab each of his wrists and drag him out of the room. He doesn't try to fight against them. When he sees that I'm still in the window, he mouths "Go!"

With one last look at him, I drop onto the sand outside. Think, Hermione. Think, I say to myself. You've got to come up with something. It can't end like this.

I wander around the perimeter of Azkaban, looking for the boat Draco was talking about. There has to be something in there that could help.  Once I find the boat, I climb inside and look around, desperately hoping to find something useful. I get down on my hands and knees, feeling the floor of the boat to see if there are any secret compartments. To my surprise, my hand comes across something. When I pick it up, I realize that it is Draco's wand. This is quite possibly the best thing that I could find; magic is prohibited here, but the wand isn't completely useless. Almost every curse can be broken if you try hard enough.

I hop out of the boat, and I immediately start running when my feet hit the sand. I've got to get to Draco. I'm so close to saving him, but time is so close to running out.

I come to a sudden stop. The Dementors are right around the corner, with their backs to me. Draco is lying on the ground, visibly shaking. It's about to happen. It can't wait any longer. I turn the corner and point the wand at them.

"Expecto Patronum!" I say, just quiet enough as to where they can't hear me. Nothing happens. I try again, just a tad louder this time. Once again, not even a spark is conjured. The Dementors begin to get closer to Draco. My heart is pounding out of my chest.

"Expecto Patronum!" I yell it this time, holding the wand firmly. A small, blue spark appears, but vanishes. I can hear the Dementors breathing in, and a dark blue streak comes from Draco's face. I muster up every ounce of strength within me. This has to work. I can't lose him again.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A swirling pattern of blue emerges from the end of the wand, and a shape begins to form. My Patronus is usually an otter, but it seems to have changed;  a white ferret emerges and bolts toward the Dementors. Once they feel the presence of the Patronus, they scatter, heading back inside of the prison. I run to Draco and collapse onto the sand beside him.

"Draco!" I exclaim, running my fingers through his hair, "Draco, are you okay?" His skin is much paler than usual, and his eyes are closed. I stroke the side of his face, and his skin is cold beneath my hand. He doesn't respond. What if I was too late?

"Please wake up, Draco. You promised me forever." A tear falls from my face and lands on his shoulder. I lay my head on his chest, softly crying. I can hear his heart pounding, which should be comforting, but you can have a heartbeat and have no soul. All that's left to do is wait, and get out of Azkaban as quickly as possible.

I pick Draco up, which is remarkable considering I haven't eaten in days so I have barely any strength. We reach the boat and I carefully lay him down across the floor. To my surprise, once I push the boat off of the shore, it begins to navigate itself.

The rain has finally stopped, leaving the ocean unusually calm. As the boat propels itself through the water, I lay down beside Draco, holding him in my arms. I don't know if he will wake up or not, and I don't know if he will be himself if he does wake up. But I do know one thing: we've fought hard for each other, and if that counts for anything, then everything will be okay.