A/N: I know people want to kill me for not updating...well I do have a reaon you know xD. My pc crashed a couple of weeks after I published the last chapter and backup of the next chapters I already typed is nonexistent...I simply can't be bothered to tupe out a full 5-chapters of work from scratch. It was really depressing so I stopped.
But then I decided that I should finish what I started and went on writing stuff on paper first. I shouldn't have dismissed this practice in the first place; technology can't be trusted.
Anyway without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy this and stick with the story until the very end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Draco...but it doesn't stop me from wanting him.
Chapter 9: Capture
It was dark, but the stars never looked any brighter as Draco opened his eyes and coughed out the remaining water lodged in his throat, gasping and wheezing as his disoriented state of mind slowly reverted back to normal. He sat up and held his wand, grasping the wooden weapon in relief when he found it lying a few inches from him. He stood up, mouthing a quick drying spell, beginning to remember what he was doing there in the first place.
"Hermione!" He cried, moving frantically back to the lake. He plunged back in, swimming to where he thought they were before they got attacked, letting his wand's light illuminate any dark corner he could reach. He surfaced for air after a minute, panting, doing the bubble-head charm before plunging again. With every second that passed, his panic rose, dreading what happened bit by bit. He tried pushing any unworthy thoughts away as he swam deeper, praying with all his might that Hermione was safe.
The sight of her beaded bag on the lake's floor sent a chill down his spine.
Hermione opened her eyes, blinking as the room's light hurt her vision momentarily, helping her adjust to the dim dancing of torches. She sat up and looked around, seeing that she was lying on what seemed to be a stone floor inside a dungeon of sorts, the blazing torches around her profoundly cold. She stood up, wracking her brains for a semblance of recollection, and eventually, remembering the things that led to this predicament. She cautiously moved to the far end of the place, reaching a barred door and; pushing at it while muttering a wandless, unlocking spell. She was met with no luck.
"That's pretty pathetic of us if it were that easy to escape here, isn't it?" A chilling voice reached her ears, coming from outside the door, "I suggest you save your strength for that."
"Who are you?" Hermione asked, fighting to keep her voice steady,"Where am I?"
"Ah, they told me you were the bright one. Not surprising that you'd have a lot of questions; always hungry for knowledge." The man drawled on, his icy, baritone making Hermione's hair stand on end, "I suppose there's no harm in telling you, love. You're inside the Malfoy Manor." He said, punctuating the last word with a soft tap on the door's metal frame, "Nice place, isn't it?"
'Malfoy Manor?' She thought, biting her lip; this isn't good, "You haven't answered my first question." She said, aiming to keep the guy talking as she thought of a plan to get out of there, wondering if Draco is alright.
"Who I am isn't important. I think what you want to know is why you are still alive." Hermione could practically hear the smirk in his voice, but he was right; she is part of the Golden Trio, surely they should be torturing vital information from her then and there. So why were they keeping her alive?
"All in good time, sweetheart." The man said, his voice reverberating around the hollow cellar, answering her unvoiced question. Before Hermione could reply, she heard footsteps walking away, leaving her in silence.
The moon cast an eerie glow on the grounds he once called home. Hogwarts shone in the far distance, the twinkling lights on the many windows of the castle reminded him of everything he'd been through until today. He clutched the beaded purse on his hands and sat on the grass, not minding the chilly breeze that permeated through his soaked clothes. He felt so numb, so out of breath as the soft grass swayed around him, his mind running amuck with dreadful thoughts. Thoughts centred around a certain, brown-eyed witch.
"Granger." He mouthed, a tinge of warmth spreading from his tongue to his fingertips at the mere mention of her name. Draco glanced at the purse, then to his wand and decided to peruse the small satchel. Her abductors were no men, his Patronus barely saving himself from their advances as he recalled the clammy, deathly fingers of the Dementors. He tipped the bag upside down, shaking all the contents out, his eyes wide with amazement.
Out fell a dozen books, phials and vials of potions and ingredients, bouncin off the grass, rolling a few feet before stopping around him. The small patch of tarpaulin that Draco recognized as the magical tent and a bundle of clothes followed suit. The last items that tumbled out were Hermione's wand and thd shard of mirror they used to contact Harry. The blonde's eyes widened as he picked up the wand, his pulse quickening at the thought of her wandless. 'Where is she? Is she still...'
He shook himself mid-thought as he hastily charmed the objects back inside, securing the pouch before examining the small mirror that he refrained from returning. Hermione is okay, he forced himself to think, figuring her brains would probably save her from where she is now. But he can not help the feeling of dread that filled the pits of his stomach as he turned the mirror over and over, willing for someone to answer. He hated to think that he needed Saint Potter's help to save Hermione, but her life is at stake; he is going to get all the help he can get.
The mirror rippled at last, and, sure enough, Harry Potter's gaunt face appeared. He looked worn, exhausted; like he was fighting a horde of Hippogriffs on his own. Draco waited for Harry to speak, running a hand through his wet locks to ease them out of his eyes.
"Malfoy? W-where's Hermione?" Harry began, his voice raspy, "Is she alright?"
"No, they took her." Draco said, forcing the words through gritted teeth, "We went to the lake to get Ravenclaw's thing but we were attacked by Dementors. She was gone when I woke up."
"She what?!" Harry hissed, and Draco could fill him crumble. He watched as Harry shook his head in disbelief, then in horror then anger as he shouted at the blonde, "You were supposed to keep her safe! And how do I know you're not in on this?"
"I wouldn't be here asking your bloody help if I am, now would I?" Draco replied with equal intensity, "I wouldn't have escaped with her when the Death Eaters attacked her tent in that fucking forest; I would have abandoned her, just as you and Weasel did."
"We never abandoned her!" The image of Harry's face shook as his hands did, "We would never.."
"Yeah? Keep telling yourself that, Potter, and while you're at it, why don't you have some fucking scones and sit around in your safehouse while Granger's gone somewhere hell knows!" He was ready to throw the mirror away; Harry Potter be damned, he will save Hermione on his own if he had to.
"Wait!" A collective smile escaped her lips, their anger and frustration evaporating into gnawing fear, "Do you know where they might have taken her? And how did they find you in the first place?"
"I don't know how they found us, but I might know where they took her." He stopped for a moment, deep in thought; he felt like he was missing sometuing, but he can't point out what, "So, are you coming or what?"
"Wht do you mean?"
"Are you deaf? I remember asking you to come help me." Draco said, running a hand through his hair once more. Harry frowned, adjusting his glasses, "We can't do this alone, Malfoy, don't be obtuse. Where are you?" He aaid, putting the mirror down to, what Draco assumed, get ready. The Slytherin was ready to blow but he knew Harry ws right, it was the reason he contacted him in the first place. Harry came back, looking determined, his green eyes directly boring onto Draco's silver ones aa the blonde began to speak, "The Lake, hurry."
Hermione have tried every unlocking and banishing wandless spell she knew, but the door remained an impassive wall of steel, as if mocking her. She knew long before that the cellar was covered with dark and powerful magic, but she can't help but try. Defeated, she slumped at the floor, sighing heavily and looking around. If she is in the Malfoy Manor, it only meant that she is at the cellar below the drawing room, where Bellatrix Lestrange carved the offending words on her forearm. Hermione shivered at the thought of facing the crazy witch again, but she knew that it was inevitable. As the torches inside the dungeon winked at her lazily, she wondered if Draco is safe, cursing under her breath for not sensing the danger before him. His Patronus saved his skin, that's for sure, vaguely remembering the Dementors cowering aay from him as they took her with them, powerless in their clammy hands. She rummaged around her waist, frowning at the absence of her beaded purse and ighed, clutching at her head with both hands.
No Dobby to save her now.
Just as she was, once again, mourning the loss of that particularly faithful, house-elf, she heard a popping sound from above her head and briefly thought that it was Dobby. She looked up, and saw a floating piece of parchment, scrambling on her feet to snatch at it. Her grip tightened, almos boring holes on the piece with her fingers as she read, a lump forming on her throat.
'We're coming to get you back, Hermione.
Hang in there
-Harry'
"No! Then that means..." They will be marching straight inside Malfoy Manor. Hermione was sure that they've gone completely bonkers and knew who might have told them the possibility of her being here. Frantically, she searched for something to use to write on the note, wishing she could break a certain Malfoy's bones at that time, upturning her pockets in hopes of finding anything but it was useless; she always stored her things inside the beaded bag since she didn't count on losing it with all her carefully placed enchantments. The Evanesco charm seemed to be two-way as she thought, the parchment slowly fading and she only had time to splinter off a small piece of wood from the torch above her, burn it a bit before putting it out and scrawling haphazardly with the charcoaled end before it popped away.
If someone told Draco Malfoy years ago that he would be joining forces with Harry 'Boy-Who-Just-Won't-Die' Potter, and Ron 'Poor-as-a-Rat' Weasley, to save Hermione 'Know-it-All' Granger and not to mention, fall in love with a muggleborn, he would have laughed and maybe throw a flask of pumpkin juice on them. As it is, he found himself running a hand through his hair, minutes ticking by after they sent a letter, and the gnawing dread in his stomach expanding into a churning void.
"How would you even know that it reached her?" He asked Harry, although his silvery eyes kept on staring daggers at Ron. He howled for an hour about trusting a Malfoy before Drago impatiently put a silencing charm on him, leaving him mum for an hour, with Harry surprisingly not bothering to undo it.
"We don't." Harry's short answer came, checking his watch, "We don't until it comes back and we see Hermione's writing on it or something. Since she didn't have her wand, I charmed the letter to go back after a few minutes. We just have to wait a bit longer." He finished, pushing his glasses up his nos. Draco groaned, lying on the grass with an infuriated sigh, "Why can't you just take my word for it? The could be doing things to her right now while we sit here and do nothing. If I'd have known you bumbling idiots would just stand by and write her letters, I would have went alone." He snarled, getting up and preparing to apparate. A loud pop rooted him on the spot, his wand raised as a piece of parchment appeared in front of him. He recovered quickly, snatching the parchment before Harry and Ron could, reading the words with a snort, "At least she got that right. Any more objections?"
Harry retrieved the archment from him, smirking at the blackeed scrawl before passing it on to Ron:
'You idiots.'
"Come on then."
Malfoy Manor stood at the outskirts of a prominent town of Wiltshire, overlooking picturesque, rolling hills, and endless plains of rosebushes. The once, magnifcent facade now looked like an abandoned ghost-house, the path leading to the main gate overruled by unkempt bushes., Harry could have sworn he even saw a gnome or two. Draco put up a hand to make them stop, a few meters away from the cobbled path that lead to the vicinity of the Manor and faced them with a grim look on his face, "There are going to be wards all over the place so naturally we can't just waltz in usin the main gate. Lucky for you, though, I know another way."
"Just tll us or lead the way, Malfoy, quit your yapping." Ron said, at last free from the silencing charm after Harry undid it before they apparated to the Manor.
"Shut up Weasley, listen; the other entrance requires someone to be outside to prevent the passage from closing. Father built it as a smuggle path for his..artifacts." Draco begn, his face scrunching in disgust, "We also have to use thatas a way out, sine after your little accident with that house-elf, security's been tighter and all other entraces should be closed off."
"Well hen you stay while we rescue her–"
"The wrds will detec anyone without Malfoy blood unless a Malfoy authorized him or her to come in." He continues, effectively cutting off Ron's protest. The silence that followed aas deafening and it put Draco to near impatience. After a couple of minutes and a grunt from Draco, Hary sighed, rubbing at his temples, "I'll do it. You two go get Hermione." He said, surprising both Ron and Draco. Then and there, Draco's respect for Harry shot up a bit. He knew Potter was only considering to e left behind for the sake of halting the argument, and that he understood the importance of the precious minutes they let slipaway, and for that he is grateful. He gave the bespectacled boy a nod, crossing his arms over his chest, "No complaints here"
"Go on Ron, it wouldn't be so bad." Harry said, looking pointedy at his best friend, "Just make sure he wouldn't do anything stupid."
"Right." Draco answered before Ron could, earning an angry glare from the red-head. Ron finally sighed, shrugging before nodding at Harry, "Alright. We'll be back with Hermione. Count on it."
End of chapter
Alright, before you guys burn me on a stake I want to take this oportunity to say thank you to those who waited for this update for a long time. This time I'm doing triple backups and I will be damned if that is not enough.
Thank you so much for reading and I know not much happened yet. Rest assured, I'm getting there and you guys will love it soon
Till next chap!~
-Silverlining
