Draco sighed in relief when he realised the Weasley boy wasn't dead after all. He could tell Rosie really cared about him. He hovered behind her not wanting to interrupt, but also not wanting to stay too far away from her.

"Jesus, Fred! I thought you were dead!" Rosie laughed in relief.

"Ow," Fred grimaced as he tried to sit up. Draco noticed he still had a lot of blood pouring out of his head.

"We'll need to get that looked at," Percy said as he and George helped him to his feet.

"Don't fuss, I just look like the rest of you now." Fred looked around grinning. He had a point, Draco thought, as his eyes skimmed the rest of their faces. Everyone was covered in blood, cuts, bruises and dirt.

Rosie stood up and turned, reaching out to Draco. He snaked his arm around her waist, kissing the top of her head.

All of sudden, a body flew past the hole blown into the side of the school and curses flew in at them from the darkness, hitting the wall behind their heads.

"Get down!" Potter yelled. Draco didn't need telling twice and threw Rosie to the floor, shielding her as much as he could with his own body, as more curses flew in above their heads.

Granger let out a blood curdling scream, and Draco dared lift his head to see what was going on. He saw it straight away - a monstrous spider the size of a small car was trying to climb through the huge hole in the wall.

Rosie, beneath him started shaking. He clambered off of her. And he saw the horror on her face as she looked at the spider's legs frantically trying to enter.

He helped her to her feet as Potter and Weasley shouted curses with their wands. They managed to blow the spider back out into the darkness, its legs jerking horribly.

"It brought friends!" Potter shouted. And sure enough, more spiders started crawling up the side of the castle and trying to clamber in through the hole.

"Rosie - use your wand!" Draco cried desperately to Rosie, feeling utterly useless without his. But she just stood frozen in terror, seemingly unable to see anything but the giant hairy monsters.

Thinking quick, Draco grabbed her wand from her hand and started firing Stunning spells towards the advancing spiders.

Draco breathed when the last spider had dropped from view, but the relief was not meant to last and more curses came soaring over their heads, so close he felt the force of them blowing his hair.

"Let's move, NOW!" He yelled, grabbing Rosie and pushing her ahead of him down to the end of the remainder of the corridor.

The golden trio had seemingly disappeared and Draco saw the other Weasley brothers helping Fred over the rubble at the other end. All Draco wanted to do was get Rosie to safety.

They tripped and fell over fallen stone and wood, constantly keeping their heads bowed in case of flying curses.

They turned a corner into another corridor, full of dust and falling masonry. Many people were running backwards and forwards, Death Eaters duelling with the castles inhabitants. Draco looked left and right, Rosie's wand still gripped in his hand, trying to work out the safest route.

"Draco," Rosie whispered, helplessly. He pulled her to him close, feeling her tired body lean wearily into his.

"It's OK, Rosie. I'll get us out of here." He was saying this but he didn't know how, or where they were to go.

Making a decision, he pulled Rosie left down the corridor, keeping her body tightly to his and the wand poised in front of them. The screams and shouts around them were deafening, and the loud bangs constantly making Rosie twitch in fear.

Somehow, they managed to make it to the staircase at the end. Draco pulled Rosie hurriedly down. When they reached the bottom, they almost tripped over a body that was strewn, lifelessly on the bottom step. It was only a young boy.

Rosie screamed. She fell to her knees and scooped up the boy, cradling his head in her lap. She started crying, almost hysterically.

"Rosie," Draco said gently, kneeling down besides her. "Rosie, there's nothing we can do for him."

She looked at him, and Draco's heart clenched as he saw tear tracks streaking the dust and smoke that coated her face, her once fierce blue eyes now full of fear and grief.

"C-Colin was just a harmless boy," she sobbed, her body shaking in despair.

Draco looked back down at the boy. He recognised him now. Colin Creevey. The boy who had followed Potter around with his camera. A sudden feeling of hopelessness and misery hit Draco with such force that he felt momentarily winded.

"Come on, Rosie," he said, trying to find the strength he no longer felt he had. "We need to move, we're not safe here."

And as if to prove his point, a loud explosion came from the top of the staircase, the steps crumbling away slightly, causing an avalanche of dust to cascade down upon them.

Coughing, Draco stood up, gently coaxing Colin's body from Rosie's lap, and lifting him into his own arms.

"We'll move him somewhere safer, out of the way." He explained, as he looked around for a spot.

He spied a niche near the wall where a suit of armour had once stood and carefully placed his body in that, making sure it was well hidden.

He hurried back to Rosie, who remained at the bottom of the staircase, motionless, in a state of shock. He took her hands, helping her to her feet and wrapped his arms around her, trying to offer her the little strength he had left.

"We've got to keep moving, Rosie," he murmured urgently in her ear. "Do you understand? We've got to get somewhere safe."

She nodded mutely, her eyes hauntingly blank. With Rosie's wand held firmly in his grip, Draco took her hand and began leading her along the destroyed corridor. Screams still rent the air, as the building shook with every explosion. Draco's heart was in his throat, he didn't see how they would ever survive this. But he had to try, for Rosie.

Death Eaters came into view, duelling up ahead, and Draco watched in dismay as a Killing Curse took another innocent life. He stopped, turning on the spot to lead them the other way instead, but there were yet more Death Eaters attacking the other end.

Draco didn't think he had the strength to duel, not with Rosie to protect too. He had to think fast, before Death Eaters made their way towards them.

And then he recognised the corridor they were standing in. He remembered it had had a tapestry with a hidden alcove behind it. If he could find it, he could hide himself and Rosie in there. They might have a chance of staying safe, just as long as the castle didn't fall down onto their heads. It was probably safer than going outside to face all the beasts that waited to attack anyway.

Looking desperately up and down, relief washed over him as he spotted the tapestry a little further up. He tugged Rosie's hand, urging her onwards until they eventually reached it.

"In here, Rosie, quick," he said, lifting the tapestry slightly and tucking her down underneath it. He followed her in as they crouched in the low, compact alcove behind it, letting the tapestry drop, concealing them.

They positioned themselves side by side against the wall, Draco wrapping his arm tightly around Rosie. He noticed she was trembling violently all over and struggling to draw breath.

"It's OK, Rosie," he soothed, trying to sound as calm as possible. "Just breathe. Breathe with me, Rosie,"

Draco inhaled and exhaled with her as they sat behind the tapestry. Eventually, her breathing slowly returned to normal and he could feel her shaking subside a little.

He pulled her to him, letting her head rest on his shoulder, and they sat there in silence, listening to the sounds of the battle going on all around them.

"I want to live in a cottage." She murmured quietly after a while. Draco tensed.

"Just like Bill and Fleur's," she continued, not seeming to notice his silence. "That was a nice cottage, wasn't it? Peaceful."

Draco choked. She was talking about the future. He could not think of the future. He could not dare to be that hopeful. All he could do was be in the now and make sure Rosie was safe. Even if they managed to survive this battle, there was no knowing what would happen next. Voldemort would kill him for sure, that was certain. The idea of being able to have a normal future with Rosie was impossible to him. He never allowed himself to think about it, to even consider the possibility of it, otherwise it would be too unbearable to carry on living.

More screams and bangs filled the air, shaking the ground beneath them. He gripped his arm tighter around her and buried his face in her hair.

"That sounds nice." He whispered, as a single, lonely tear rolled down his cheek.

***