Chapter Nine—Pulling Teeth

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, any of the characters in the book, or anything else related to the book.

A/N: ARGH! It's finals week, sorry for the long wait—but it's almost the summer and the summer means MORE writing time! I'm so excited, aren't you?

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Christmas break. Holiday vacation. A whole month without Hogwarts. A whole month with Draco Malfoy. Harry was simply annoyed that his, his, girlfriend had accepted this. It was not very acceptable in Harry's head, yet Hermione found it bearable. Not only were they on talking terms, Draco had ceased the insults and cheap shots and resorted to silence and sulking. Harry assumed Draco was just as disappointed that they were staying with the Weaselys over the break as he was.

"Harry," she whined. Hermione gave him a hopeful look, "We're going to be late."

"It's not going to leave without us, Hermione. Calm down. Plus, it was your idea to wait for him."

"Oh, well, I guess we'll just wait then." She shrugged sarcastically and turned the other way, pretending to be looking for Draco.

"Hello," Draco greeted as he approached, "Sorry for the delay, my suitcase was having some trouble."

Harry just nodded and Hermione smiled weakly. They walked towards the train and boarded slowly. "Are you actually sitting with us?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Draco spat, "Since the whole Voldemort thing, I'm not actually friendly with my old acquaintances. They're working for their parents anyway, probably about to turn me in the minute I turn my back."

"Do you have to sit in our compartment?" Harry questioned, grabbing Hermione's hand and entwining their fingers.

"No. But I will, seeing that it bothers you so much." He snorted, fixing his bangs slowly. He sat down across from Harry and Hermione, eyeing them aggressively before twisting his lips into a disgusted snarl and turning to listen in on Ginny and Ron's conversation. The whole ride continued with Malfoy giving Hermione looks and Harry defensively growling back until the train halted with a squeal and everyone began to gather their bags.

While Harry was reaching for his luggage, a very macho Draco came up behind Hermione and helped her with her bags, sending a triumphant glare towards the back of Harry's head.

"Thank you, Draco." Hermione murmured, leaving the compartment in haste. When they were finally off and searching for Ron's parents, Harry and Draco stopped with the death glares and began to mind their own business.

"Harry, Ron, Ginny, over here!" a shout echoed across the crowd. Parents and their offspring bustled around, saying their farewells for the holidays and fetching their family members. The group made their way towards the Weaselys, making sure to stay together, but Draco was searching for someone else, someone he was positive would be here. He started to walk at a faster pace towards Mrs. Weasely, the rest dragging behind. He would not risk his safety in this situation, he knew his father would be lurking about somewhere.



But because of the horrid crowd, he lost track of his destination and he had split from the rest of the group. He searched all the heads for Hermione's and when he spotted it he began pushing through. When he arrived behind her there was a crack and a collective gasp from the crowd. Lucius Malfoy and two fellow Death Eaters stood, side by side. It was in this moment that Draco attempted to regain control of his senses, but his grip on the handle of his luggage eased until it slipped onto the floor.

"I'll get that, son." Mr. Malfoy said as he reached down to pick up the bag, but Draco beat him to it, backing away slightly. The space between them was shortly diminished as his father grabbed the collar of his shirt and brushed it against Draco's neck with a clenched fist. "Where do you think you are going?"

Draco didn't dare answer the question; the rhetorical question. He felt his father's fist slowly pull away from the cloth, leaving his collar rippled from the effects of his strength. Draco strained to appear nonchalant and confident, but the repeated cries from Hermione made it so hard.

"Draco!" she bellowed, walking towards him. Harry held out his arm and stopped her from moving forward. She pried his hands from her waist and began to charge at Draco. "Draco!" she continued to shout, unaware if he could hear her. But every time she called his name he wished her to be gone; to be safe. She was wanted just as much as he, she needed to leave. And he held up his hand in her direction and said:

"Go back, Hermione. I won't have you getting in the way." But his heart broke as he uttered the syllables, he knew she could never be in the way. "This is between my father and me, only Malfoy business, nothing to do with little mudbloods like you."

He saw the slight sting in her eyes as she landed at his side, but he felt in his impulses that she would not back down. His words were never powerful enough to break her; never. Hermione grabbed a hold of his hand and attempted to pull him away, but his feet remained grounded.

"Let go of him, Miss Granger, or we will be forced to take you also. And we all know how rewarding that would be. It isn't exactly frowned upon to kill two birds with one stone in our circle. I believe both of you will score the three of us some well needed points with the boss." He approached the pair, grasping Draco's wrist with frail and boney fingers.

"I'll go, father. Just leave the little mudblood here. I don't want her to take the journey with us, she'll be too much of a pain."

"Since when is it your decision?" he shouted, the crowd was still in motion, pushing Draco and Hermione around as they passed. "Since when do you dictate what orders I complete and which I ignore?"

"Never." Draco muttered, stealing a sideways glance at Hermione. Lonely strands of her bangs that missed her pony tail lay limp in front of her eyes. The fact that she was ignoring them so gracefully made him want to push them behind her ears.

But in one swift moment Draco decided what he needed to do. He pushed Hermione back into the crowd of people in which she immediately disappeared and thrust himself towards the Death Eaters. The crowd was thinning now and he heard the echoing of the remaining footsteps. The vibrant shouting of his name flew against the stone, but as it shrunk with time he realized Hermione had indeed left.

"So you're coming, I see?" Lucius drawled, clenching his jaw. Veins popped out from beneath the flesh in his frustration. "That easily? I always assumed that Malfoys were more determined to get their way."



"But who says that going with you is not my way, Father? I do believe it will be a great honor to come with you, to do a mission of sorts."

"Ah, son. Well, we best be off. Your first mission starts now." Lucius dug his fingers into Draco's shoulder and apparated away with his son.

"Hermione, it'll be fine!" Harry exclaimed, becoming more and more agitated as time went on. They were sitting at the table in the Burrow, Hermione anxiously tapping her foot and squeezing her fingers. "He probably just had to speak with his dad or something, he'll be here soon. Plus, I've got something we can do in the meantime." He smiled and whispered into her ear, twiddling the stray strands of hair in his finger tips. As much as the offer appealed to Hermione, the thought of Draco in the hands of Death Eaters still strangled her heart with an unmerciful rope.

"He's not coming back. We need to find him, Harry. We need to get him back before they can develop a plan." She stood up, pushing back the chair, yet keeping her hand fully entwined with Harry's. She saw a wave of anger wash over him before he ignored it, pulling her body to his. Through his eyes she could see every gear in the world working at once, all attempting to comfort her. She was trying to appreciate how much he cared.

"Knowing them, they already have one. A decent one, at that."

"But I can tell: he's gone." She was persistent and annoyed. How Harry could brush off her distress was very aggravating. Straining herself to remain composed she continued, "We need to get a search party on him. I know he's with relatives, but they're dangerous. They're bound to hurt him and—"

"We'll find him. I promise. Mrs. Weasely is arranging for us to stay at headquarters instead, that way we can house more people. But in the meantime I wanted to talk to you about something." He smiled softly and took her hand in his. "I'm really glad you agreed to date me, Hermione. It means the world. And I know it usually doesn't happen this fast, but I wanted you to know, since this is getting so messy and dangerous, that I love you."

And then there was a silence—the first silence of such weight since they had met—that dampened the air until Hermione used her voice, shaking with sympathy. "I love you too, Harry," she grinned, releasing her hand from his before she began to speak again.