Song: Savin' Me – Nickleback. LISTEN TO IT WHILE READING THIS CHAPTER AND THE CHAPTER WILL SEEM ENTERNALLY BETTER THAN IT ACTUALLY IS XD
Recommended: Read on ½. Dark is optional.
Letting Go – Chapter 7
By yukiandzero
Malfoy shut his eyes, waiting for the pain to come. He knew what it felt like, but he was still never prepared.
But when the blood curdling scream came, it was not his own.
Malfoy opened his eyes arubtly whipped his head around to see Granger on the ground, instead of himself.
"Look at that! What a weak, weak mud blood she is. Maybe I should just... end it all for her." Bellatrix's face morphed from a wild grin into a glare on the last five words.
"No!" Cried Ron and Ginny simultaneously. Ron rushed over and tried to hex Bellatrix but another Death Eater flicked his wand, causing Ron to fly about 10 metres across the hall and land with a painful thud.
Next was Ginny's turn. Ginny wasn't as brash as Ron and cried out "Deprimo!" towards Bellatrix who neatly dodged the spell, still concentrating on the curse she was subjecting to Hermione.
The floor behind Bellatrix that was hit by Ginny's spell was crushed and fractured into oblivion. Fenrir Greyback leapt at Ginny, engaging her in battle. Luna and Neville rushed over to her aid.
Malfoy stared at Bellatrix in anger.
"You can still back out now, boy. Kill the mud blood. Rid this world of one less defect." Bellatrix cackled. "If not, I'll do it for you."
Hermione continued to writhe, but she had stopped screaming. Her face was pale, contorted with pain.
Malfoy aimed his wand at her, his eyes cold and narrowed.
"That's a good boy, go on. Just say the two words you know you want to."
Hermione couldn't see anything that was going on, she could only feel what felt like thousands of sharp, hot, knives stabbing into her body over and over again. Her face, her arms, her stomach, everywhere.
And Draco knew what it felt like, so he turned to his fellow Death Eater. Before she could run away or deflect the spell, he flicked his wand towards her, causing her muscles to close up. She fell to the ground, her face frozen in pure anger and loathing.
"Weasel, get up!"
Ron groaned and picked himself up off the ground, clutching his arm.
"Episkey" Draco said, aiming his wand at Ron's arm. "Now come over here and get Granger." He yelled, watching as the Weasel rushed over to his friend. With Malfoy's surprising help, he managed to pick the pale and unconscious Hermione up and carry her.
"We have to get to the astronomy tower before Snape does!" Malfoy said to Ron.
"Why do we have to go to the Astronomy tower?" Ron questioned, although still hesitant about talking to the blonde Slytherin.
"The plan was to cast a Dark Mark over the castle to lure Dumbledore into the castle, through the astronomy tower. I was supposed to... go there and..."
"Kill him." Ron finished bluntly.
"...then wait for the other Death Eaters. But now that I've betrayed them, Snape is supposed to finish my... deed... for me. No doubt he's nearly there already."
Ron began to panic.
"We have to hurry! If not... that murderer!" Ron cried, obviously pained.
The group had nearly reached the astronomy tower, when Hermione started to groan.
"Put me... down." She murmured wearily to Ron, who looked at her in concern. He then looked at Malfoy with a questioning look.
"We have to hurry if you want to save your precious headmaster. Plus, she won't be strong enough to walk on her own."
"How do you know?" Ron glared.
"I- I just do." Malfoy replied, his riposte glare not quite meeting them in the eyes.
"Put m-me down." Hermione insisted, a little louder this time.
Malfoy ignored her and continued towards the astronomy tower. Ron muttered an apology to Hermione before he too followed Malfoy.
They began to climb the lengthy staircase towards the tower, but Ron gave out.
"I can't climb these stairs and carry 'Mione." He said, ashamed.
Malfoy's face pictured the height of annoyance. Ron gently lowered Hermione to her feet. Although she was stumbling, she managed to stay on her feet.
"Stay here." Malfoy ordered.
Just as she tried to protest, they heard a voice at the top of the tower. A voice saying something no one wanted to hear. Hermione's blood ran cold. No, she was imagining things. Dreaming, dreaming, dreami-
"Avada kedavra!"
Despite her weak state, Hermione tried to run up the stairs. She mustered all the energy she could, half crawling half running, before a pair of arms grabbed her by the waist.
"W-what are you doing?" She yelled, tears running down her face. It was all her fault.
"You can't go up there." Malfoy said quietly.
She ignored him and pushed his arms off her. If she hurried...
Suddenly a figure came rushing down the stairs and nearly knocked them over.
"Harry!" Ron cried. There were tears in Harry's eyes, but the rest of him bristled with rage. He barely noticed even Malfoy's presence,
"H-he's... Dumbledore is..." Harry shut his eyes momentarily, before rushing down the steps, past them.
Hermione tried to rush after him, but a hand grabbed her wrist.
"You'll only fall over if you try running that fast downstairs..." Malfoy said.
Ron looked at Hermione, then down the stairs. Walking over to her, he put one of her arms over his shoulders.
Malfoy, albeit reluctantly, did the same and they helped her down the stairs.
Once at the bottom, they could do nothing to stop Hermione running out to the grounds after Harry to stop Snape, except follow after her to help.
Hermione ran faster than she'd ever run before, the damp grass soaking into her jeans. The air outside was cold, and the sky was bordering on rain. She produced a small light from the end of her wand so she didn't trip over.
"DON'T CALL ME A COWARD!"
Hermione's head whipped around. That was Snape's voice. She needed to get to the source of the sound.
All of a sudden, the air around her grew tight.
"Why hello again, mud blood." A voice sneered. Hermione spun around to see Bellatrix had apparated behind her.
"I am quite sure the Lord with enjoy his knew gift." She mused evilly.
The words didn't take long to register before Hermione's eyes widened in horror.
It also didn't take long for Bellatrix to come up behind Hermione and grab her in a head lock, sparking some very nauseous memory's of 5th year.
Just as Bellatrix was about to apparate away, Draco and Ron had caught up.
"You let her go you filthy old hag!" Ron yelled, furious.
"I don't think so. Catch me if you can!" She cackled.
That cackle was the last thing Hermione heard as she was suddenly wrenched into a turbulent spin, almost making her sick.
That cold cackle had reminded Hermione of the witches in the muggle fairy-tales that her parents used to read her as a kid...
She sure was going to miss her parents.
Harry lost it. He had just spent over an hour kneeling next Dumbledore's body, and his face was a crumpled mess of tears.
He was sitting in the infirmary, with the rest of them. Ron, Ginny, Bill, Tonks, Lupin, Luna, Neville, Fleur... Malfoy...
Harry lost it because he had just been told that his best friend of six years has been taken by a Death Eater.
If anyone tried to talk to him, he would snap. He sat on a bed in the farthest corner of the wing, his head in his arms. Although tears brimmed his eyes, he was past shedding them. Way past it.
Was there anything worse that could go on in his life?
He heard footsteps approaching his bed, so he lifted his head to greet the person with a dark and moody glare.
It was Malfoy.
"What do you want?" Harry sneered. He wasn't so much angry at Malfoy as he was angry at the world.
"I'm going to go back to the Death Eaters."
Harry was silent for a while... "And here I almost believed you'd grown a conscience." He scowled.
"You prat, I'm going back to get your little mud blood friend." Malfoy said, returning the scowl.
Harry was dumbfounded. "W-why?" He stammered.
"Professor McGonagall has... Well, m-my mother left the Malfoy manor. Professor McGonagall has promised to hide her from the Dark Lord."
"So..." Harry implored.
"So I decided that I should help your stupid friend, since she was the one who promised to help my family in the first place." He replied quietly.
Harry was silent again, before rising from the bed.
"Thank you, Malfoy."
Harry was sincere. This meant more to him that anything, as he was sure the protection of his family meant more to Malfoy than anything.
"I promise that if you ever need anything..." He trailed off.
"I don't need your help Potter, seriously." Malfoy replied, before walking off.
And despite everything, Harry smiled.
A/N: You have no idea how annoying this chapter was, and I still don't like it. I mean, I was listening to Savin' Me the WHOLE time I wrote this, and it seemed epic. But then I read it back without the song and it seemed shit, hence the note at the beginning lol.
New chapters daily, as you have noticed. Lucky I have a cold and cant go to school *wink wink*. No seriously, I actually have a cold this time. First time though, lol. You'd think that being put up two years in school, being two years younger than everyone else and having to graduate next year might make me a bit more determined in school... but no.
Oh by the way, Please REVIEW! 3
