Finding Harry and McGonagall was not as difficult as Hermione had first feared. She'd thought to check Gryffindor Tower first before Draco suggested the Great Hall. Seeing them both standing at the far end of the hall with several students gathered had been both surprising and expected if she were honest.

The crowd of students surrounding them was thick, but with Draco at her back, the students parted easily and let them through quickly. As soon as Hermione had sidled in beside Harry, the crowd clustered in once more and she ignored the way Draco scowled at them all.

"Have you got a plan yet?" she asked, looking from Professor McGonagall to Harry and back.

"Sort of," Harry replied. He looked warily at her and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "We've only fifteen minutes before the Death Eaters start attacking but if the last Horcruxes aren't destroyed, it's useless trying to fight."

"We think we've destroyed the diadem," Hermione told him, briefly explaining that Pucey had set Fiendfyre in the one location Hermione was certain it would be. "Fiendfyre has been known to destroy magical items in the past, so I think we can assume it's been taken care of. The only Horcrux left is the snake."

"That we know of," Ron offered.

"Yes, thank you, Ronald," Hermione said, not too pleased with the thought that there could be more Horcruxes they didn't know about. "We really could use that."

"Mr. Potter has offered to go to He Who Must Not Be Named," McGonagall said, startling Hermione so much she jumped when she turned to look at her. Beside the professor, Harry was pointedly avoiding her gaze.

"Harry!" she gasped. She reached for his hand and Harry sheepishly looked up at her. "He'll kill you for sure," she told him.

"If I can get close to him, I can kill Nagini," he replied, squeezing her hand gently. "He's likely to be careless if I just walk up. You can kill him once the snake is dead."

Hermione shook her head and held onto his hand tighter. Her eyes watered a bit at the thought of Harry walking to his death but she tried not to think about it.

"We'll find another way to kill Nagini," she told him, already trying to think of other possibilities. "Perhaps when he attacks, he'll come down and then we can hunt down the snake while the others—"

"No, Hermione," Harry said softly, interrupting her train of thought. "He won't let Nagini anywhere near the battle. He knows we've been hunting the Horcruxes; this is our only chance."

Around them, the Great Hall was silent. Ron was staring blankly at Harry while Hermione tried very hard not to start crying. If she did, she was sure she wouldn't stop and if they really were about to fight Voldemort's army, she knew she couldn't let her emotions distract her. Anything could be a distraction and in battle, distractions meant death.

"You promise you'll come back alive?" she whispered. Harry nodded once before letting go of her hand and glancing at Ron.

"I'll see you after," he said. Ron nodded but pulled Harry in for a hug before he could try and slip away. Hermione threw herself at him next, locking her arms around his shoulders and pretending that she wasn't possibly saying goodbye to her best friend.

"Do be careful, Harry," she murmured. Harry hugged her back just as tightly before slipping away from her and walking with McGonagall out of the Great Hall.

Everyone in the room watched them go. Even when the doors shut behind them, no one moved for several seconds.

"We should get ready for an attack," Draco told her. His hand wrapped around her wrist and slowly, she turned away from the doors of the Great Hall to look at him. "No matter what happens when Potter goes, the Dark Lord's army will attack the school and we need to be prepared."

Hermione didn't even want to think about fighting in a battle at the moment, but she knew she needed to be prepared for it. However, she couldn't think of what to do next for the life of her. Even with everyone in the room looking towards them for a command, her mind remained blank as she tried very hard not to imagine Harry's body lying on the ground in front of Voldemort.

"What do we do?" Ron asked, his voice echoing through the eerily silent Hall.

It took Hermione a second or two to realise he wasn't talking to her. Instead, he was looking directly at Draco, awaiting the first command just like he would had he asked Harry. A small smile crept onto Hermione's face as she realised the rest of the students seemed just as eager to hear what Draco suggested. As he glanced down at her and squeezed her hand gently, she wondered if he was as surprised as she was.

Rather than ask if they were prepared to follow his orders, Draco nodded once at Ron then glanced over the student body and asked, "Who has experience dueling?"

After that, everything blurred together as Hermione quickly began dividing students up based on what she'd seen in the DA. Time seemed to both speed up and slow down as Hermione ensured everyone was prepared in just a few minutes. By the time she had a moment to breathe, she realised Harry hadn't returned yet. Before she could think about what that could mean, Draco was at her side faster than she could blink.

He grabbed hold of her hand and immediately pulled her to his side, looking warily over the heads of the students waiting. He was tense and Hermione would have asked him what was wrong, but something hit the roof of the Great Hall and echoed so loudly she lost all train of thought.

As if he'd known it was coming, Draco pulled her to his side and curled over her. Dust rained down around them and if Hermione could move, she probably would have opened her mouth to scream. The castle continued to shake and the roof began to cave in as all around them, students ran for cover. Hermione attempted to pull away from Draco, but his arms were locked around her and his eyes were silver.

"Draco, we have to move," she said, twisting so she could look up at him. She cupped his face and flinched as something crashed behind her. "If we don't move, we're going to get killed."

"They're waiting out there," he growled, his grip on her tightening.

"I know, but we can't stay here," she told him. Draco frowned and looked around the room. A second later, he had her by the arm and was racing across the Great Hall.

Hermione struggled to keep up with him, ducking as debris fell from the ceiling and attempting to cast shield charms over them.

Even once they left the Great Hall, they weren't safe. All around them, the walls were shaking and Hermione could feel the magic in them struggling. She yanked on Draco's hand and pulled him to stand under a door frame just as the ceiling in front of them caved in. They both coughed at the dust and Draco pulled Hermione under his arm in an attempt to pull her further away from the danger around them.

Just as abruptly as it began, the shaking ended. Neither of them moved from the door frame, waiting for another attack and remaining tense when none came.

"The Dark Lord is coming closer," Draco muttered, pulling her even closer. Hermione didn't care that she could hardly move. She clutched his robes tightly and tried to breathe normally as she felt panic welling up inside of her. "This was just to unsettle us. They haven't started their attack yet."

"Can you tell if he has Nagini?" Hermione asked desperately. "Is the snake alive?"

Draco went silent for several long seconds and Hermione held her breath.

"I can't tell," he said softly, looking down at her. Hermione tried not to look disappointed at the answer, but Draco seemed to see it anyway. "We need to kill it before Potter can kill the Dark Lord though, right?"

Hermione nodded. Something down the hall crashed to the ground and she jumped, clutching onto Draco's robes as his arm around her tightened.

"We should find it," Draco told her, peering down the hall. Hermione's eyes widened, surprised he'd even suggest it. She'd been prepared to argue her way into hunting down the Horcrux, but Draco had offered the idea himself. "It's just going to get worse the longer he lives. I'd rather see him die before you have the chance to get yourself killed," he said, scowling slightly at her. "Promise you won't do something stupid if I let you hunt the fucking thing?"

"I promise," Hermione swore immediately.

Draco slowly let her go and when she was eventually free, she slipped out from under his arm and pulled him down the hall. She hurried outside to the courtyard with her wand up as she looked around for Death Eaters. There were none in sight despite the earlier attack on the castle, but she didn't put her guard down. She stepped around the corner and looked up toward the Quidditch Pitch, stopping abruptly at the sight before her. Draco's chest hit her back and his arm wrapped around her as they both looked up the hill to see a swarm of Death Eaters staring back at them and Harry's body hovering in front of Voldemort himself.