Her world swam in a blur of heat, cold, and aching silence.
Pain pressed against every inch of her body — sharp, raw, endless. But beneath the pain, something else stirred.
A touch.
Familiar. Warm. Safe.
Arms around her, strong and trembling. The scent she knew better than her own — something clean, like rain and cedar.
Draco.
Her eyes fluttered open, lids so heavy it felt like lifting stone. She caught the faintest glimpse — his face hovering close, his pale hair tangled, his grey eyes burning with something she'd never seen in them before.
Fear.
"Draco…" Her voice came out cracked, a thread of sound.
His arms tightened around her, careful but desperate. "I've got you. I've got you, love. You're safe now."
She wanted to smile. Wanted to tell him she never doubted him — that no chain, no curse, no monster could keep him from her.
But her lips barely moved.
She felt herself lifted — her body pressed to his chest, his heartbeat hammering beneath her ear. Every movement sent sparks of agony through her, but she clung to him anyway.
He pressed his forehead to hers, his whisper raw. "Always."
The word echoed inside her — louder than the dark magic, louder than the screams in her memory, louder than Lucius Malfoy's threats.
Always.
Dimly, she heard Harry's voice. Firm. Protective. Comforting.
"We'll get her to St. Mungo's."
Another hand — Harry's — brushed lightly against her arm, casting diagnostic charms. She felt the warmth of his magic, familiar and kind.
They were here.
They came for her.
She wasn't alone.
Hermione tried to lift her head. "Mia…"
Draco pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. "She's safe. She's waiting for you." His jaw clenched. "I'll never let anyone touch either of you again."
Hermione's eyes stung with tears that she couldn't quite shed. Not yet. The storm inside her was too raw, the weight of everything crashing down all at once.
But she managed to squeeze his sleeve, her fingers closing weakly over his robe. "I… knew you'd come."
His face crumpled — for a single, unguarded second — before he pressed a soft kiss to her temple.
"And I always will."
As Draco carried her out of that cursed cellar, past the rubble of battle, past the fallen Death Eaters, past the father he'd stood against — Hermione closed her eyes and let herself rest against him.
She'd fought. She'd survived.
And the man she loved… had torn down his past for her.
For them.