Summary- It's been four years since Voldemort was defeated. Three years since Lucius Malfoy escaped from Azkaban and disappeared. Two years since the remaining Death Eaters started acting out under the command of a new Lord. The highest ranking Aurors in the ministry are Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley both work at St. Mungo's as Healers, along with Draco's fiancée, an American witch named Erin Bell. These six unlikely people became best friends, brought together by unlikely circumstances and hardships. One day after Draco and his fiancée get into a fight, Erin is captured by the Death Eaters to lure Draco into a trap. Draco, Harry and Ron are sent to rescue her and Draco watches as Erin is murdered in front of his eyes, and in the battle to escape, Ron is also killed. Hermione and Draco turn to one another for comfort, but will it turn into something more? Rated M for violence, language and sexual content in later chapters! DM/HG, GW/HP… Read and Review!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER! Or "Not Alone" by Darren Criss :)
"I've seen you crying, you feel like it's hopeless. I'll always do my best to make you see… baby you're not alone."
{ expecto patronum }
Not Alone
Chapter One
Draco Malfoy paced his apartment. Curse that Witch and her temper! She was just as stubborn as he was. It had been two days since he had heard from his fiancée, after the row they had he had given her space. Usually she would come back within a few hours, but it had been two days. He was worried sick about her and she couldn't even owl him back to let him know that she was fine! He growled low in his throat and grabbed his cloak off of the back of his chair, throwing it over his shoulder. If she didn't want to come to him, that was fine. He would go to her! With a loud 'crack!' he disapperated and landed quietly on her front porch. He was about to knock on the door when it swung open of its own accord. Suddenly cautious, he pulled out his wand and stepped gently over the threshold. For the last two years the Death Eaters had been acting up and him, Harry and Ron had been following their movements, trying to figure out who their leader was and what their goal was. So far they had come up with nothing; they hadn't even been able to capture any of them yet. They were slippery bastards and it seemed that their new leader was much more cunning than Voldemort ever was. The hallway was untouched, but when he passed by the living room, he stopped dead in his tracks. It was in complete disarray. The couch cushions were torn to shreds and the wooden table had been blasted apart. It seemed like there had been a duel, right there in his fiancée's living room. His eyes darted around the living room, taking in all the damage when he saw a folded piece of paper in the middle of the room. He strode forward and unfolded the parchment, his eyes scanning over the words. What he read made his blood run cold.
Dear Draco,
We have your little half-blood bitch. What? Did you think we wouldn't find out about her? Pity. This would have been so much easier if you had just decided to come back to us when we asked you, but you had to be difficult, claiming that you had changed your ways and that you wanted nothing to do with us any longer. Don't you wish you had come back to us now? If you want to rescue your little damsel in distress, you'll have to come retrieve her from Malfoy Manor. Oh yes, we know how much you hate it here. If you're not here by Saturday night, we will kill her. Off you go now, little blood traitor. The clock is ticking.
Tick tock, tick tock.
He stared at the words on the parchment, not really seeing, for a few moments more before he rushed to his fiancée's fire place, grabbed a fist full of floo powder, and threw it into the flames. He stepped into the warm green flames and called out, "Ministry of Magic!" before he started spinning past fire places. It only took a few minutes before his feet landed in a fire place at the Ministry and he dashed towards the lifts, pushing people out of the way. He made his way to the Auror office, where his two best friends are sitting idly, waiting for a new mission. Breathing heavily, he slammed the letter onto the desk in front of them and they looked up, startled.
"Draco, what-" Harry began.
"Erin's been kidnapped by the Death Eaters," Draco managed to spit out.
Harry and Ron's eyes widened at the news and they snatched the letter off of the table, each taking a turn to read it. When they finished, they handed the letter back to Draco. Without words, the three former Hogwarts students locked eyes and made their way towards the head Auror's office. Draco rapped on the door and pushed it open without waiting for an answer. Oliver Wood looked up at his three best Aurors in surprise. Usually they would never barge into his office like this, not unless it was something important.
"Malfoy, Potter, Weasley," Oliver nodded in each of their directions, "What can I help you with?"
"It's Erin," Draco said, "She's been kidnapped and taken to Malfoy Manor. I have to rescue her. If I don't, they'll kill her."
Oliver sighed, running his hands through his hair. He knew that stopping Draco would be pointless, "Take Potter and Weasley with you."
Draco nodded quickly before he sprinted out of the room, Harry and Ron following behind him. When they were outside of the ministry, no words needed to be spoken. They knew what they had to do and how they had to do it. Once the Death Eaters started to act up, they had made a plan in case someone they loved was kidnapped. It was now time to put that plan into action. They knew where they needed to go and disapperated on the spot, ending up in the front lawn of Malfoy Manor. The lawn and the gardens were over-growing, signs that the house had been abandoned years ago, but Draco knew that they were in there. He could feel it. They pulled their wands out and cautiously made their way to the front door. Draco knew this was a trap, knew that nothing would happen until they were inside the house, but he couldn't help glancing at his surroundings nervously. Harry was about to reach the door when it opened on its own accord, just like Erin's door had. They crossed into the house and the door slammed shut behind them. There was dust over everything and cobwebs hung in the corners. It was even creepier now than it had been before. They walked a little further into the house before lights sprang up around them, leading them towards the same room that Hermione had been tortured in. Her screams echoed in his mind and he shook his head, clearing his thoughts.
"Ah, Draco, so glad you could join us, and with Weasley and Potter as well? Lucky us."
Draco spun quickly, his wand held out in front of him, but Death Eaters poured out of the rooms around them. He didn't hear the curses that were fired in their direction; he just remembered hearing Ron and Harry hit the ground before his world went black. He didn't know how long it had been when he finally woke up, but he groaned as the bright light burned his eyes and he blinked rapidly. Ron was to his left, Harry to his right, and they were all bound to chairs, wandless, of course. He heard soft whimpers coming from the ground and he looked around until he saw Erin, bloody and bruised, on the floor. He cried out her name and she looked up at him as he struggled to get out of the ropes that bound him to the chair.
"Now, now, Draco," a voice hissed and he looked up to see Theo standing in front of him, "You know it's useless to get out of that chair. Don't bother trying."
"If you hurt her I'll-" Draco snarled.
"You'll what? Kill me?" Theo laughed softly, "I don't think so, Draco. I'm the one in control now."
Draco watched as Theo turned towards Erin and raised his wand, "Crucio."
Erin's screams filled the room and Draco struggled against his bonds and he realized he was cursing. It got to the point where he couldn't tell his screams apart from Erin's. They just seemed to blend together. The curse seemed to last for an eternity until Theo finally ended it and Erin lay panting on the ground. Theo turned towards Draco and smirked. Draco glared at Theo and continued to struggle, the ropes digging into his flesh. He could feel the blood running down his fingers, but he didn't care. He had to save Erin.
"Let her go," Draco growled at Theo.
"Oh, I don't think so," Theo tsked and walked around Draco, leaning down to whisper in his ear, "You betrayed us, Draco. You're going to watch her suffer and then you're going to watch her die. Crucio!"
Erin started screaming again, begging for the pain to stop, begging for death and Draco was screaming at Theo. He could hear Harry and Ron trying to calm him down, but he could see nothing past his fiancée's pain. It went on for hours and soon Draco's voice was hoarse. They would all pay for what they were doing to her. He would kill them all. Erin's wide, blue eyes were pleading with him to end it, he could see her defeat and he found himself wanting to rip Theo's heart from his chest. He grabbed the ring that was around his finger and sent a message to Oliver Wood, asking for backup. It was obvious that they needed help. Theo was circling Erin slowly, thinking of another way to torture her. She bled from various cuts all over her body and she trembled as tears fell silently from her eyes. It was after Erin had reached up and held onto her necklace tightly, and Draco's necklace burned his skin, that there was a loud echo in the hall as the front doors burst open. Theo looked slightly panicked for a moment before he lifted his wand and Erin's eyes locked onto Draco's.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Draco didn't even hear himself scream. He stared into Erin's wide, lifeless eyes, praying that she would somehow wake up. That this was just a sick dream and everything would be okay. He felt the ropes around his wrists and ankles disappear and he ran to her side, cradling her to his chest. He was nothing without her. She had helped him deal with the pain, with the guilt. He had been able to forgive himself, all because of her, and now she was gone. She was never coming back. An anguished cry tore itself from his lips as he buried his face into the crook of her neck, his cheeks wet with tears. He barely felt Harry trying to tug him to his feet, barely noticed when his wand was shoved back into his pocket. He didn't remember standing up with Erin cradled gently in his arms, or the jets of green and red that flashed around him. He only remembered running. It was Ron Weasley's voice that brought him out of his stupor.
"Draco, damnit!" Ron shouted, "Get out of your head! We need you!"
Draco mentally shook himself and with one arm still holding Erin, he pulled his wand out with the other and began firing curses at Death Eaters. He had no idea how many Aurors had shown up to help with their little rescue mission and frankly he didn't care. Erin was dead. His reason for being was gone. He was empty. They rounded a corner and stumbled into a Death Eater. Cursing, Draco lifted his wand to fire a curse but he was distracted and the Death Eater was faster. A jet of green light was headed towards him and it seemed like everything was in slow motion. Maybe he was meant to die with Erin. Yes, that was it; there is no use in fighting. His wand lowered just slightly and before Harry could utter a shield charm, Ron had pushed Draco out of the way and the curse hit him in the chest. Draco could only stare at Ron's limp form as an enraged Harry shouted out a killing curse that hit the Death Eater in the face. Why had the stupid Weasel pushed him away? Why did he take the curse for him? Harry was speaking to him, but it was blurred, he couldn't understand what Harry was saying to him. Yet Harry was hauling Ron over his shoulder and pulling Draco away from the fallen Death Eater. Once they were outside, Harry grabbed onto Draco and they disapperated.
Later, Draco would remember that the curse Ron had saved him from wasn't the killing curse, but a curse his dear Aunt Bella had created. It left gashes all over the victim's body and yet they were impossible to heal, they would just split open again and the victim would die of blood loss in a few hours. He would remember landing at St. Mungo's, screaming for someone to help them. He would remember Hermione and Ginny rushing towards them and watching them both fall to their knees at the sight of Ron. He would remember Hermione's anguished cries as she tried in vain to heal her husband and her silence after his death.
But he was Draco Malfoy, and he was selfish. The only thing his mind could focus on was Erin and her glassy, lifeless eyes, as he stared at his necklace where her last words were etched into the silver band that was meant to be his wedding ring.
I love you, Draco.
And now she was dead.
{ expecto patronum }
Author's Note:
So I know that Draco's character is a little OOC, but it's been four years since the final battle at Hogwarts and a lot has changed! He will go back to being the cold hearted Draco for a little bit after this chapter, but I wanted to show this side of him first. Please review and let me know what you think! I'll have chapter two up as fast as I can! But, reviews would help motivate me to write it a lot faster! :D
