Unbreakable
By patronsaintof
Disclaimer: No, still, not mine.
Author's Note: There was some mix up with the chapter numbers… if anyone noticed? I fixed that. It was the result of writing Chapter Three and deciding that I wanted to add chapters before it, and so on.
Chapter Seven
Cataclysm
A loud pounding woke Ron Weasley from his troubled sleep. He sat up abruptly, looking warily in the direction of the front room. A week before, he had moved from the Burrow, to a small apartment near Harry. Few visitors had come to see him besides his family and Harry. The pounding became more urgent and Ron sought out the wand that lay on his bedside table. Cautiously, he made his way through the open door of his bedroom into the room.
"Ronald Weasley open this door now!" The shrill shriek he recognized as his sister's came through the heavy wood. Frowning, Ron sped up, throwing the door open. His sister was standing there, wide eyed and trembling. Behind her stood Harry and several other members of the Order.
"What's happened?" Ron demanded, stepping aside so they could enter. Ginny opened her mouth but then shook her head quickly, waving a hand behind her at Harry.
"We've got a reliable tip about Hermione's whereabouts. It came in several days ago and we didn't want to tell you until we knew for sure it checked out." Harry said in a rush, his face pale. He looked sick. Ron felt as though he had been hit in the chest heavily.
"You've found her?" He breathed.
"We believe so. We've assembled a group to get her tonight." Harry explained. Ron's heart began beating faster. He nodded his head over and over.
"Yes. Yes, we'll get her back tonight."
A loud crash sounded outside of the room Draco Malfoy and Isabelle Dubois were sleeping in. Isabelle immediately jolted upright, her eyes wide. Draco rose at a more leisurely pace, but when they both heard shouting outside their door, they were on their feet in an instant, their wands in their hands. Draco reached the door first and turned to Isabelle saying, "Stay behind me. I know you're more than capable of protecting yourself, but please?" She nodded in response.
When they entered the hall the first thing they saw was a lifeless body lying some ten feet to their left, but it was someone neither of them recognized. Draco glanced at Isabelle to see her holding a hand to her chest, a shocked look on her face. "The Order?" She whispered. There was a small flash of something across Draco's face, but she didn't notice it, and he managed to hide it quickly.
"Check on Hermione." He said firmly before walking briskly in the direction of the shouting. It took him several minutes to reach the origin, and when he did he found more than one of the guards unconscious. Spells were being shouted and shot in every direction and he ducked behind the wall to avoid behind hit, but not before seeing Harry Potter. Cursing, Draco risked being hit and dodged from behind the wall shooting a curse in Harry's general, but not very well aimed, direction. Harry pivoted and pointed his wand at Draco, then with a grim face, turned it on someone else.
Breathing heavily, Draco stayed where he was, certain that he would be safe from fired spells in his current position. He was, however, wrong. Not paying attention, he hadn't seen Ron Weasley notice him, aim his wand and hit him with a disarming spell. Draco's wand flew from his hand, and he turned to face Ron warily. Ron's face was contorted with rage and he was saying something, but Draco couldn't hear him. Harry suddenly stood beside Ron, touching his arm, and drawing his attention away from Draco. In that time, Draco dove for his wand and took off down the hall he was in, but stopped short when he heard the room suddenly go quiet.
Turning around quickly, Draco almost lost his balance, but managed to stay on his feet. His surprise stopped his stride when he saw Hermione Granger standing with a wand held limply in her hand. Ron seemed beside himself, tears streaming down his face. The other members of the Order were staring at her with relief written on their faces. Draco's eyes were glued on Hermione. He was the only one who noticed what was wrong. The few remaining Death Eaters and guards had fled the room, and it was only the Order members and Draco watching as Hermione stepped forward slowly.
Her wand rose and with a smile that confused everyone in the room but Draco, she yelled, "Avada Kedavra!" keeping her wand aimed directly at Ron's chest. The flash of green light hurt Draco's eyes but in that instant, he scrambled for his wand, aiming it at Harry and yelling, "Expelliarmus," at the same instant that Hermione did, her wand aimed at another of the Order members. There were only four in the room, and the remaining standing member was Ginny Weasley whose eyes glinted with a violent rage.
Hermione pointed her wand at Ginny almost lazily, her smile widening. "Come to save me?" She asked, her voice full of mirth. Ginny moved toward Hermione her hands clenched in fists, glaring at her murderously. Harry seemed too shocked to do anything, and the other Order member was kneeling beside Ron's body. Draco watched them in silence. Hermione glanced at him, her wand still trained on Ginny. "Will you check on her, now?" she asked. Draco narrowed his eyes. Without a word he walked stiffly past Hermione and the others, making his way to the room that the real Hermione Granger was sure to be found.
Hermione was asleep when he arrived, sleeping somewhat peacefully it seemed. He was careful not to make noise as he sat at the desk. He stared at the wood, his mind racing. Everything had gone incredibly wrong. When he had gone to Harry with the information of where Hermione was being kept, it was supposed to be an easy thing. The guards were supposed to have been elsewhere, and Draco had removed the spells on the room personally. Isabelle and he were supposed to come out unharmed, and yes, it did look as though that was the case, but no one was supposed to die. Or in any case, no one from the Order was supposed to die. Ron Weasley, especially, was not supposed to die.
It had taken careful planning on Draco's part to arrange all of this. He had spent weeks figuring out a way to infiltrate Snape's new home while at the same time playing the part of dutiful servant and boyfriend. Feeling sick to his stomach, Draco swallowed hard. He glanced at Hermione, shaking his head. Well aware of the fact that she and Ron had been an item, he felt something inside of him twitch. The door opening interrupted his thoughts and he turned to find a second Hermione standing in the doorway, her face dark with anger.
"We have a traitor amongst us, Draco. I am determined to find out whom." She spat out. Draco breathed a sigh of relief, but didn't let that relief show on his face. "I left them with their friend, telling them they had ten minutes to remove him and themselves. Their wands will be owled to them in three days." She said, throwing four wands onto the floor.
"That was kind of you." Draco said blandly. Hermione shot him an irritated look.
"Yes, well, I already killed one of them. You know how I feel about death." She said in an agitated voice. Her eyes were locked on the sleeping Hermione. "Get her up. We're leaving Germany tonight."
Hermione was being roughly dragged out of her room. The men wore masks and large hooded black robes. At first she fought them, but eventually gave in. They did not speak to her. Hermione was led through the house and out into the cold air. The shock of the sudden temperature change caused her to gasp. Instantly she began shivering and inwardly cursed the men for not having grabbed a jacket for her to wear. They continued to usher her forward until quite suddenly Hermione felt a jerking sensation in the pit of her stomach and felt sick. Everything around her seemed to blur and fade, so she closed her eyes tightly, until she lost her balance and pitched forward.
She landed on a hard surface on her hands and knees but was pulled up again, roughly. She opened her eyes quickly, still feeling nauseous. She was now outside of a formidable looking large home. It was dark inside, and battered looking on the outside. The whole look was quite terrifying to Hermione. She was pulled forward, through the yard and through the front door. Once inside, she was shoved forward instead of pulled while one man led her down a dark hallway. They climbed a set of stairs and continued down a second hall before stopping in front of a door that appeared to be dark green. It was hard to tell in the dim light from a man's wand behind her that illuminated their way.
Hermione stood dumbly before the door until she was shoved again. She touched the handle with a shaking hand and turned it, pushing the door open. She was shoved forward again, and the door was slammed shut behind her. In the darkness, Hermione fumbled around until she found what felt like a bed. Shaking, she climbed onto it and sat there waiting. The amount of time that passed seemed like hours to Hermione, but it was really only fifteen minutes. The door opened surprising her and she jumped. Instantly the room was brightly lit. She blinked against the sudden brightness.
Standing in the doorway was Draco Malfoy. Hermione watched him apprehensively. He stepped inside the door and closed it behind him. She noticed that he was carrying what seemed to be some form of clothing in his left hand. He tossed it at the bed and it landed near her. Glancing down she realized it was a sweater. Her fingers trembled as she grasped it and slid it on. Her eyes never left Draco. He seemed nervous.
"I just wanted to tell you before you heard from anyone else here that your friends attempted to rescue you tonight." His voice was low. Hermione's eyes widened.
"Are they alright?" she asked hurriedly, her body leaning forward. Draco stared into her eyes for a moment before looking away. She felt a crushing blow, as she knew the answer. "Who?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Ron Weasley."
Hermione blinked at the tears that swelled in her eyes. A hand rose to her face, covering her mouth and her nose. She shook her head in disbelief. "No, no, no that's not possible." She was saying. Draco watched her carefully, saying nothing. She stared at him, her eyes begging him to say he was lying. A sob left her, and her entire body began to shake. She bent forward, until she was nearly lying on the bed and cried. When she felt the bed move slightly at the weight of another sitting beside her, and when she felt strong arms pulling her back into a sitting position, she instinctively sank into the embrace. Instantly however she pulled rapidly back.
"Don't touch me! Get away from me!" She screamed. Scrambling away from him, Hermione fell off the bed. Rising to her feet, she continued to scream. Draco rose to his feet as well and left the room, glancing back to see her crying, her arms wrapped around herself in some small semblance of self comfort. His heart went out to her. He had not meant for everything to go so wrong.
The sound of Ginny sobbing filled the Burrow. Harry stood beside her, tears streaming down his face. Molly Weasley was uncharacteristically quiet, her face white. Her husband, Arthur was seated to her right on the couch, his face buried in his hands as he sobbed quietly. Molly made a strangled sound, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. She looked at Harry almost pleadingly. Tears began to fall onto her cheeks and then she broke down and was sobbing just as loudly as her daughter. Arthur lifted his head and wrapped his arms around her. They clung to one another as they wept.
Harry placed a comforting hand on Ginny's arm but didn't keep it there for long. He squeezed his eyes shut as his body shuddered. Needing air, he turned on his heel and left the house. He stood outside gasping for air. The coldness of it burned his lungs but he seemed to relish in it. He was crying hard now, almost as hard as Ginny. The door opened behind him, but he was crying too hard to turn and see whom it was. Small arms touched him, turning him. Ginny stood there, her eyes red, her face wet, her entire demeanor crushed. "Harry… that wasn't her. It couldn't have been." She whispered, her eyes holding a haunted look. Harry reached for her, embracing her tightly.
"I know. I know." He murmured into her hair. They cried together, both over the death of the man they loved dearly, and for the fact that he died thinking the one person he loved most in the world had killed him.
