Chapter Two

Thoughtless Rescues

Hermione began to shiver violently from fear.

Even larger than the Norwegian Ridgeback, the Basilisk Hermione saw before her was breathtakingly frightening. Voldemort had hidden in the cave the most dangerous creature in the entire world to protect his Horcrux. A Horcrux which slipped through their hands once again.

There was pure chaos around her. She heard screams from all around, even from the other side of the cave. Hermione strained to see Lucius Malfoy's stunned face. This was something even he hadn't expected. The Basilisk swayed its head side to side, screeching loudly up at the dark ceiling. All of a sudden, it turned its great yellow eyes on the tiny humans running away.

With a great crash, it brought down its large beak on the other side of the cave near the werewolves. Emitting an echoing cry, the Basilisk struggled to bring its tail up through the congealed waters upon which a few werewolves were standing. Its tail finally broke through, sending Amycus and the werewolves down to the depths, where the Inferi were hungrily waiting for them. It swayed its head against the rocks, dragging great boulders down to fall upon both sides of the lake. Hermione knew then that the basilisk was destroying the cave, killing itself and anyone else within it.

Heart racing wildly, Hermione turned away, following the rest of the Order out the archway. She swerved between great masses of crashing rocks. Clouds of dust billowed around her, blinding her path. She heard a blood curdling scream. Ginny fell just ahead of her, her feet crumpling. Hermione ran to Ginny, pulling her up and hurriedly dragging her limp form to the archway. It was just her and Ginny now; everyone else was safe. Harry must have already Apparated back to Order Headquarters. All she had to do was make it through the archway. Just then, her eye caught a familiar flash of red hair ahead of her, and she sighed with relief.

"RON!" Hermione yelled and he turned, ashen, to face her. Ron grabbed Ginny from Hermione and with great ease picked her up, running for the archway. Hermione followed on his coattails when suddenly her feet slipped. Looking down, she saw, through the haze of dust, the sheen of the locket. Gripping the locket chain in a vice, she set her gaze straight on the arch. Almost there, she thought to herself, as if she knew she might not make it through. Just a little further, run, Hermione, run—

Before she even saw what happened, she felt it. A great wet, prickly mass caught her by the stomach, pulling her back. It was the tail of the Basilisk—and she was caught. Before she knew it, she was flying away from the arch, the dark mass of gleaming water below her. I can't fall in the water, not with the werewolves! Suddenly, she saw the rocky ledge below her, and she was slammed through the wall, falling in so deep she could barely see the green, glimmering light from the cave. Her head seared with pain and her back ached uncomfortably. Some voice pulled her out of unconsciousness; someone was calling her.

"HERMIONE! NO!" Ron's hoarse, desperate voice echoed around the cave. Hermione got up on unsteady legs and crawled through the rubble to his voice. She thought she saw him beyond the arch before the ceiling collapsed all around it, closing the passageway forever.

Stunned, Hermione stood, watching the ceiling crumble into the water. Leaning against a rock, she murmured Ron's name in a choked sob. She looked down for the first time, the bloodied bodies of werewolves scattered under the piles of rubble. She felt pity for them, and thought of helping them.

Suddenly, she heard Lucius Malfoy's cold voice, desperately yelling, "Draco! Where are you?" Lucius was inches away from her. It would be better to get killed by him, Hermione thought, than by the Inferi in the water. She stumbled towards his desperate voice and saw him from behind; his gleaming white hair shone in the wandlight.

Lucius turned around, hearing her footsteps, the cloud of dust blinding him. "Draco!" he cried hopefully, running to her, grabbing her by the arm. "There you are! We should—" He stopped. He knew. For a moment Hermione wished she were Draco so she could feel what it would be like to bring that much joy to a Death Eater's face, to someone who hated her with fury unmatched.

"You—you filthy little—" Lucius raised his wand wrathfully, wrenching his hands away from her, sickened that he'd touched her.

It was then that Hermione saw another familiar flash of white-gold hair, struggling against the Basilisk. Maybe it was the small, worried touch Lucius gave her, maybe Draco's struggling reminded her of her first year as she was attacked by the vicious Troll. Whatever it was, she felt a strange need to help Draco, knowing that not even a Death Eater deserved to die for Voldemort's cold-blooded plans.

She struggled, looking around desperately for something that might help. Lucius had run to Draco, shooting great, whizzing green curses at the smooth snakeskin, which sent the spells bouncing around the room. Draco gripped his arm, shrinking back in pain, but shot thick ropes from his wand to bind the beast. The Basilisk was pecking at him with its large beak, and Draco swerved, jumping out of the way narrowly.

Hermione had to save him, no matter what he had done before. He didn't deserve to die just yet. Lucius' spells are useless, she thought, scouring her brain. Suddenly, it came to her. Praying to Minerva, she ran to the nearest boulder, which was nearly her size, and closed her eyes in concentration as she transfigured it. "Gallus Conjurus!"

Then, she heard it: the fierce, joyous cock-crow piercing the room. She opened her eyes to see a life-size rooster in place of the boulder, beckoning the dawn in an unending, hopeful voice almost as beautiful as the Phoenix Lament. Hermione turned around smiling, and she thought she saw the ghost of a smile on Draco's face. Suddenly, the great crying Basilisk was silent. In one magnificent swoop, the Basilisk crashed under water, slowing arching back gracefully into the dark depths. A giant tsunami wave was slowly growing above Hermione, a wall of dark, ever-growing water. She suddenly heard the rush of footsteps, a yell, and she turned to see Lucius running to a fissure in the wall, probably where the Death Eaters had originally entered. He was screaming for Draco, but she couldn't see Draco anywhere.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the great snake tail of the Basilisk rose above the water, striking the ceiling above it. A thunderous avalanche shuddered around her, rocks closing after Lucius and sealing the only escape she had out of the cave. All around she was trapped. The wall of dark water was slowly breaking and a shower of pebbles rained on her. The last thing she felt before being swept up by the massive current was a pair of strong arms that could have only belonged to Draco, grabbing her by the elbow, shielding her from the terrible avalanche above.

The powerful wave created by the falling Basilisk swept over them, crushing the pair against the wall before pulling them into the depths of the lake.

The dark, stormy water was icy, and Hermione felt suffocated by pure fear. She kicked around, hands and feet flailing as she struggled to break to the surface, but couldn't. The surge was pushing them down to the dark depths of the lake. She could see the great oily film of Basilisk venom, shimmering here and there in the water, turning many shades of luminescent green. The cadavers of the Inferi floated idly around her, brushing coldly against her skin but this time there was something different. They seemed dead. Unmoving, they were just as lifeless as the bodies of the bloodied werewolves that were caught up in the current.

Draco's strong arms still gripped her, and she struggled to hold on to something.

She was drowning.

Hermione reached for his arm but instead she smacked his face and bashed him in the chest, almost drowning him as she struggled to the surface. What was she doing? It was as if instinct took over, and she didn't care if he drowned if she could live. As she flailed her arms about, she saw through the murky green water great, crimson bursts of blood effloresce from his face where she had struck him. His arms were flagging, and he began to drift lifelessly into the depths. .

He was still alive, no thanks to her. And she couldn't leave him. Desperately, she looked about for her wand. She grabbed Draco by the wrist, and pointed her wand up to the surface, summoning all her energy to raise them up. A sudden burst of water issued from her wand, pulling both of them along.

Her head broke the surface. She gasped wildly, blinking the stinging water out of her eyes. Her loud breathing echoed around the silent cave.

She pulled Draco's heavy body up; he was still unconscious and a steady trickle of blood ran down his nose. The water was calm and Hermione gulped down the fear as she suddenly remembered that the powerful form of the Basilisk was curled up right beneath her. She kicked her legs hard, wading to the lake shore. Almost there, she told herself, as her muscles ached from the weight. Swim a little bit more, Hermione—

It was pitch dark. She couldn't reach for her wand, but she could see flecks of light around the black, wet walls nearby.

Her struggling feet slammed against stone and she breathed a sigh of relief. She first raised Draco's heavy body up, pushing him up on the flat pebble ground. Her muscles were sore and a part of her just wanted to float on the water, not wanting to get on land. But she willed herself, and heaved herself up, falling roughly beside Draco on her stomach. She felt heavier than she had ever felt in her life. Her robes were soggy and the pebbles were a welcome warmth compared to the water. She could feel the cold locket pressing up against her throat. It gave her a strange feeling, almost of sad despair.

She looked drowsily over at Draco, hoping he wasn't dead, if for the only reason that she'd die of fear if she was all alone in this cave. She lifted her heavy, wet hand and flung it on his face to check his breathing. He groaned slightly against the weight of her hand and she could feel his soft, warm breaths against her fingers.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.

The sluggish weight of sleep overcame her. Before she fainted, she raised herself up lethargically to realize that she had never seen this part of the cave before. In fact, the familiar misty, green glow of the middle of the lake was gone. Not even the walled-in archway, or the avalanched entrance of the Death Eaters was there.

It was as if they were miles away from where she had first entered with Harry and Ron a few hours ago. She thought of them longingly for a moment before falling into a dead faint.