Draco stayed by Aurora's side as she slipped in and out of consciousness, the sounds of the battle sounding far off in the distance above them.

He prayed his mother was okay. And he prayed Blaise had kept himself out of harms way.

The little house elf busied himself making tea in his little kitchenette, offering up plates of food which Draco kept declining. Eating was the last thing he felt like doing.

"Miss Rory will be better after rest," the house elf squeaked. "And she can get back to that precious child of hers."

"Rory?" Draco said, shocked at the use of the name her brother had used to call her.

"That's what she told us to call her, master Malfoy," the cheery house elf smiled. "Always had a lovely smile for us, even when it was clear her heart was hurting inside."

Draco closed his eyes. He knew he had been the reason for so much of her heartache over the years. He squeezed her hand and kissed the top of her head, wishing he could take away the years of pain she had suffered.

"Err... you can call me Draco," he said, eyeing the house elf warily. He wasn't used to chatting to servants like this. But he had made a decision to start being a better person. He wanted to be a good example to his children; he wanted to start taking a leaf out of Aurora's book.

"Draco! Very good, sir!" The house elf squeaked excitedly. "Chalky is very pleased to make your acquaintance!"

"You live here?" Draco said, knowing he was stating the obvious but felt he needed desperately to fill the silence; the sounds of the battle making him feel sick with fear.

"Yes, Draco, sir!" Chalky squeaked, "Snape very good to me, very good indeed!"

Draco felt something stir in him as his thoughts turned to his old Potions master. There had always been something about Snape that he had suspected was more light than dark.

He briefly wondered where Snape was now and whose side he was fighting on.

"Draco,"

Draco turned to the voice immediately, cupping his hand to his beautiful wife's face.

"Aurora, shhhh, it's okay, rest," he murmured softly in her ear. He didn't want her to suffer this anymore. She had gone through too much. All he wanted to do was protect her from any more pain and horror.

Something was being nudged against his head and he looked up to see Chalky pushing a cup at him.

"Apple juice, Draco, sir," he squeaked. "It'll help her."

Thanking him, Draco took the cup and propped Aurora up as he pressed it gently to her lips.

"Draco, we need to help," she gasped after taking a few sips. "We need to-"

"No!" Draco said sharply. "You need to stay down here and get better."

"Draco is correct, Rory," Chalky piped up, "with plenty of rest-"

But Chalky was cut off from the loud booming sound of Voldemort. They all looked up in fear as his voice reverberated against the walls.

Draco quickly rose off the floor and sat on the bed with Aurora, clinging her to him as they listened with a mounting terror to hear what Voldemort's next move was.

The battle had ceased. But it wasn't over. He wanted Potter to meet him in the forest.

"We need to go and help," Aurora said again as she went to move off the bed. But Draco tightened his hold on her, preventing her from going anywhere.

"No!" He hissed. "Aurora, please, you're safe down here!"

"Didn't you hear what he said?" She cried, "Dispose of the dead. Treat your injured. I can't just sit down here knowing that there are people up there that need our help."

Draco closed his eyes, trying to summon patience. He had to remind himself that Aurora's compassion was one of the reasons he loved her.

"Please, Aurora, don't you see? You are one of the ones that need tending to."

And he didn't say it out loud but he was afraid of what was going to happen next. Afraid of being forced apart from Aurora yet again. He realised their future was literally in the hands of Potter and it made him feel sick.

He held her tightly to him as her body started wracking in great big shuddering sobs. Chalky watched them curiously, averting his large bulbous eyes bashfully as Draco looked up.

"Miss Rory and master Draco can stay at Chalky's for as long as they need." He said quietly, respectfully. "It is not safe up there. Not with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named alive."

A sudden thought occurred to Draco as he stared at this funny creature before him. A thought that offered him hope for Aurora.

"Chalky, you can Apparate in and out of Hogwarts can't you?" He said, his heart fluttering at the thought of saving his wife. "You can take Aurora with you, take her away from here, back to our little girl."

Aurora suddenly looked up, wiping the tears from her face, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving you, Draco. I'm not going anywhere without you!"

But before Draco could argue, he clocked the regretful look the house-elf gave him and it made him lose all hope again.

"Sadly Chalky cannot. That's why Chalky is last house-elf in Hogwarts." He said morosely, his little chest rising and falling as he gave a great sorrowful sigh. "Chalky has no magic."

"You mean you're a Squib?" Draco asked, not being able to hide the automatic curl of his upper lip. He quickly dropped it, remembering his vow to be a better person.

"Chalky was a bad house-elf. M-My last master beat all magic out. Chalky would be dead house-elf, but Chalky was saved. Chalky owes his life to Professor Snape."

"Snape rescued you?" Aurora asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Chalky nodded furiously, causing his large ears to flap. "Took me from the Lestrange household and brought me here."

Damn, thought Draco. All this time it had appeared that Snape was one of the 'good' ones after all. And he realised that he too owed Snape his life. Because if it hadn't been for Chalky then he and Aurora would quite possibly be dead by now.

The three of them went silent, each lost in their own thoughts about Severus Snape.

Draco stayed on the bed with Aurora curled up on his lap, stroking her hair as she closed her eyes again. He was relieved she had given up on trying to leave the safe sanctuary of the room.

After a while there was still no sound. Draco wondered if Potter's hour was up and whether he had indeed gone to face Voldemort in the forest.

And it wasn't until they heard the horrific words reverberate all around them, did Draco reluctantly agree that they must go up and face what was to come.

"Harry Potter is dead."