What Could Go Wrong?
Chapter 1 – The Task
Disclaimer – This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary – Draco is delighted when he is given the most easiest job in the world; kidnap Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's girlfriend. Draco's done kidnapping before. This shouldn't be much harder, right? What could go wrong?
The Plan was simple. Fool proof. Draco almost laughed when he was told what he had to do. Almost.
Voldemort, on the other hand, was very serious about the matter.
"If you do this wrong, Draco, you'll feel pain like nothing you could ever imagine," Voldemort had threatened him.
"Yes, my Lord. I understand," Draco had said, bowing his head slightly before leaving the room. Once on the other side of the door and well out of ear shot, Draco had to laugh.
It was the easiest job Voldemort had ever given him, though a very vital step in the operation. Draco couldn't believe he was getting paid to babysit. That's how ridiculous the plan sounded to him. It was going to be easy.
All he had to do was kidnap Potters precious girlfriend, Granger, and hold her hostage. He'd done kidnappings before. They were easy. No complications. Nothing. All he had to do was make sure that Granger didn't escape. What could go wrong?
Hermione Granger was well-known in the Wizarding World for a number of reasons.
One of the most obvious, was that she was dating the famous Auror, Harry Potter.
Another was due to the fact that she, too was an Auror, and very valuable to the Ministry of Magic, having put many Death Eaters in Azkaban.
She was disliked by very few, and those few who did happen to dislike her were either envious, a Death Eater or Lord Voldemort himself. Hermione didn't care for such people.
Today there would be a big ceremony. A ceremony to celebrate Harry and Hermione's one year anniversary of joining the Ministry. Of course Harry would be "star of the show" so to speak, but this didn't bother Hermione.
It wasn't Harry's fault his parents were brutally murdered by Voldemort and he got famous for it. Hermione hadn't blamed him for that since she had met him. And she wasn't about to start.
The Ministry, of course, expected an attack of some sort to occur. Nowadays, you weren't safe leaving your house at night, alone or not. So everyone was ready for attack. Harry and Hermione, especially, had been given special training.
They had been taught everything from what to do if they were caught to disposing of said threat or obstruction in the quickest and simplist ways possible. So it had been quite an exausting month or so before this ceremony for Harry and Hermione.
Hermione lived in a small apartment right near the Ministry and, prior to finding out there was to be a ceremony, was about to leave her apartment and move in with Harry. So now they were forced to leave it another few weeks or so.
And though they did not know it yet, it would be a lot longer than a few weeks before Hermione moved in with him.
"Shit!" Hermione swore as she dropped her lipstick. It bounced on the bathroom tiles and rolled towards the door. Hermione span around. She didn't drop her lipstick just for the sake of it. She had heard something. Before the tube of lipstick had hit the ground, her wand was in her hand, ready.
She had heard a soft thump, muffled by the carpet, followed by a swishing sound. Hermione held her breath and strained her ears, trying to hear what was there. She concentrated really hard. She could sense someone else in her apartment. She could hear sounds that weren't supposed to be there in an empty apartment.
Soft breathing, swishing of a cloak, muffled footsteps.
Hermione felt her breath get caught in her chest. Sure, she had expected some kind of attack for the ceremony, but not beforehand.
Slowly and quietly, Hermione edged across the bathroom wall and opened the door a crack. She could see straight into her lounge room.
Empty.
She opened the door another crack. Still she could see nothing out of the ordinary.
She opened the door silently, all the way this time, and peered out into the hallway.
And still she saw nothing. But she could still hear the faint breathing, and sense the prescence of another in her apartment.
She took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway, her wand out in front of her. Edging along the wall, she peered into the kitchen.
Empty.
She kept going until she reached her bedroom and looked inside.
Empty.
Hermione let out a sigh of relief just as she was grabbed from behind. A hand was clasped over her mouth and another grabbed her around the waist. Her wand was knocked out of her hands and it clattered and rolled along the wooden floorboards.
"Surprise," a voice hissed in her ear. Hermione felt her whole body tense up and her heart beat quicken.
Stay calm, she told herself. Remember your training. And she did.
Hermione slowly bent her whole body forwards. Her attacker still had their grip on her. Very quickly, she brought her head back up. She heard the crunch of their nose and a shout of pain, and smiled triumphantly. Their grip loosened and Hermione was able to break free. She grabbed her wand up off the ground and span around.
"Stupef-" Hermione stopped suddenly and almost dropped her wand. For the person in front of her was not a Death Eater. The person in front of her was Harry Potter.
"Harry?" Hermione exclaimed increduously, putting her wand down. Harry was holding a bloodied nose. He smiled meekly at Hermione.
"Well I didn't expect you to greet your boyfriend like this," Harry complained, wiping blood off his face.
"Well I didn't expect my boyfriend to come into my apartment and scare the shit out of me! I thought you were a Death Eater! What the hell were you doing?" Hermione asked.
"I was just coming to see you before the ceremony. And I wanted to test you. See what you would do under an attack. And obviously-" Harry explained, pointing to his broken and bloodied nose, "-you are fine on your own." Hermione smiled at him.
"Of course I am. I didn't spend a whole month training for things like this for nothing. How's your nose?" Hermione asked, concerned and walked forward towards him. Harry took a nervous step backwards. Hermione stopped in her tracks and laughed.
"Harry! I'm not going to attack you," Hermione said with a smile. Harry didn't move. He didn't make a sound. His brow was creased and his eyes were boring a hole into the wall as if he were listening for something.
"Harry-"
"Hermione, watch out!" Harry yelled, digging his hands into his robes. As Hermione began to spin around she was grabbed forcefully from behind. Harry's hand reached out to grab hers but she was roughly pulled backwards. She felt a wand jab the side of her neck and all struggle ceased immediately. Harry took a few tentative steps backwards until-
"Hold it, Potter," came the drawling voice of the person holding Hermione. They both recognised it straight away.
"Malfoy?!" Harry exclaimed, his wand lowering in surprise. Hermione glanced down and back as much as she could without moving her head. And, just as Hermione had thought, he was wearing black, Death Eater robes. Hermione could see his white mask with those cruel grey eyes taunting her in her minds eye...
"Harry, don't put down your wan-"
"Stupefy!" Malfoy cried, moving his wand away from Hermione's neck, and pointing it at Harry instead. Harry wasn't ready. His wand had slipped from his grasp; he couldn't use that. So he improvised.
With his Seeker reflexes, he snatched up a vase from the table next to his and threw it towards the beam of red light shooting towards him. The vase shattered instantly, mere milliseconds after it left his hands.
He grabbed his wand off the ground as Malfoy threw another curse at him. It missed, but only by just. Harry could smell burning hair, but didn't have time to check himself before another curse was hurled towards him. He ducked and rolled into Hermione's living room. Jumping to his feet, he leaned up against the wall, breathing heavily.
He strained his ears, listening for a sound ... any sound. But for now, there was only a chilling silence. He slowly edged around the corner and peeked down the corridor.
Empty.
Harry felt a pit of dread forming in his stomach. Number one rule in his Auror training: always be away of the enemies position. And he had just lost the enemy.
"Shit," he muttered quietly under his breath. He grasped his wand in his right hand and began slowly walking down the corridor.
"Malfoy!" Harry called out, keeping his back on one wall as he edges towards a doorway. He peeked his head into Hermione's bedroom. But it was empty.
"Just let her go, Malfoy," Harry said, continuing to the next door; the bathroom. "It's not worth you going to Azkaban for." Harry didn't bothering mentioning that he could arrest or kill Draco on the spot if he wanted to, just for being a Death Eater - but he was quite sure Malfoy was aware. Bathroom empty too. Harry was beginning to grow tired of this little game of Hide and Seek. He dropped his guard. Not a very wise move.
The moment Harry stepped into the doorway of the kitchen he regretted it. A curse was immediately hurled at him, hitting him on the left foot. Harry cried out in pain and collapsed on the floor, clutching his ankle. His wand rolled noisily along the kitchen floor, stopping as it hit the fridge. Malfoy was over him in seconds, still holding a trembling and wailing Hermione.
"What have you done to him?!" Hermione shrieked, trying to pull away from Draco in her desperate attempt to reach Harry. But Draco's grip did not weaken.
"Put him out of action for a little while," he sneered at Hermione, then to Harry, "By the time you're walking on that, Potter, we'll me long gone." Harry growled in pain and reached feebly for his wand.
"Accio wand!" Draco cried and Harry's wand came soaring into his hands. He smirked and twirled the wand teasingly between his fingers.
"My, my, Potter. Well at least you've found your place; at my feet!" Draco laughed cruelly. Hermione cringed and struggled again to get away. Draco shoved Harry's wand carelessly into his robes and grabbed Hermione again. He traced his wand threateningly across Hermione's neck. She stiffened and ceased all struggle immediately, focusing hard on not swallowing. Harry looked up at her hopelessly. She was terrified and there he was lying on the floor of Hermione's kitchen, unable to do a thing to help her.
"Let go of her Malfoy," Harry demanded, setting a cold stare on Draco. Draco took a couple of small steps forwards.
"You should know, Potter," his voice growing louder and more menacing with each word he spoke, which were in unison with his footsteps, "Not to speak like that to your superiors!" Draco brought his knee up, straight into Harry's face. Hermione heard the bones in his nose snap for the second time that day and winced as Harry cried out in pain. Hermione reached out for him but was pulled violently backwards by Draco's strong arms.
"No! Let go of me! Get off!" Hermione screamed, thrashing wildly. Draco ignored every one of her protests as he dragged her over to the kitchen bench. He grabbed a wooden spoon from the drawer and pointed his wand at it, muttering a few well-chosen words. The spoon glowed brightly for a moment before turning back into a seemingly normal kitchen impliment. He then quickly thrust the object into Hermione's hands, placing his roughly on top of hers. The scream had barely escaped her lips before she let the familiar violent tug of the port key, as it took her and Malfoy miles across the country.