Disclaimer: Its ALLLLL Rowling!! 'cept the story, thats mine:)
Author's Note: So its been ages since I last updated! Sooo sorry! Well, I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter, things are really starting to heat up!
Chapter10: Back to the Future
Gaping mouths and wide eyes greeted them as they stepped out onto the garden terrace. The color rose in Hermione's cheeks; she wasn't usually the center of attention and the sudden spark of interest made her stomach churn. She side-glanced at Max as they made there way through a crowd of secretive whispers. He seemed unfazed by the attention, firmly guiding her towards an empty table at the edge of the dance floor.
"Why do I get the feeling you do this a lot?" she asked slyly as he pulled out a chair for her.
Max smiled. "Is it that obvious?"
Hermione only had time to grin back before a petite blonde form bounced over excitedly. The young Slytherin dragged her older date grudgingly along behind her.
"Hi!" She said brightly. Max looked incredulously over at his younger sister. The bubbly greeting was definitely not a usual occurrence.
Hermione looked up and dropped her eyes quickly. She had not forgotten the intimate meeting she and Draco had shared once before in the hall closet. From the aversion of his own eyes, she could tell that he hadn't either. An awkward silence hung in the air. Eva and Max watched feebly as both their mother and father tried determinedly to ignore eachother. In her attempts to overlook Draco, Hermione caught a glimpse of the golden red number Eva was wearing. In that same moment realization dawned on Max and he hurriedly pulled the younger Slytherin away from the table.
"We'll be right back!" he called, leading a squirming Eva back into the castle.
"What the hell!?" she managed to stammer as she pushed away from her brother. "What was that all about, huh?"
"Eva! How could you!! That dress? THE dress?! Why did you bring it? Why did you where it?!"
Eva stood frozen in place, hazel eyes wide open in shock. Max had never been this mad at her before and here he stood fuming, hands balled into white knuckled fists at his sides, stern gray eyes piercing her, searching for an answer.
"I…" she faltered. "I didn't…but…It's just a dress! I mean…" she looked frantically around her as if searching for the answer she didn't have herself. "I could've gotten it anywhere!"
"You know better than I the story behind that dress! Hell, she was the one who made it look exactly like that!" he pointed furiously at the dress. "They can't know who we are or what we're doing here! We may not be able to fix what's been done in our time! Do you WANT mom and dad to hate each other forever!?"
Her eyes began to sting and a hard lump was forming at the back of her throat, Eva couldn't help the tears that were bubbling to the surface. Of course she didn't want her parents to hate each other, the though of it only made the tears come faster. She stared helplessly at her brother, tears streaming in little tricklets down her shimmering cheeks.
A loud yell made her nearly jump out of her skin; she and Max raced for the doors only to find them sealed magically shut.
--
Hermione watched in silent apprehension as Max pulled his struggling sister back up the front steps and through the large oak doors of the castle entrance, leaving her temporarily in the company of the one Slytherin she'd wanted to avoid. He made no move to walk away, nor did step closer; he just stood there uncharacteristically quiet and cautious. The moments of silence dragged on until he finally spoke.
"Granger…" he nodded slightly, acknowledging her presence for the first time.
"Malfoy." She responded curtly.
Another moment or two of silence followed.
"I see you've stepped out without your insanely annoying body guards tonight." He couldn't help making the sneering remark, though it didn't have the same biting effect as his usual insults. Part of him wanted to be civil, to tell her how she'd dominated his thoughts, but his pride stood defiantly in the way.
"Oh shove off, M—" her sentence was cutoff by a wailing battle cry just two tables to their left.
The air filled with screams and jets of green and red as streams of hooded figures stormed in from all directions. Hermione instinctively reached for her wand only to be reminded that she had not thought to bring it with her. Hardly one to panic, she grabbed for her glass and shattered it over the closest death eater's head, brandishing the jagged end at the next who was fast approaching.
Draco stood for a moment stunned, with the connections his family had with the Dark Lord, he thought his parents would have warned him. A jet of red sparks narrowly grazed his ear, jerking him out of his thoughts. Thinking quickly, he elbowed and fought his way through the panic-stricken crowd now clambering to force open the great oak doors, until he had a clear view of the scene that was unraveling.
Hermione stood, bloody-jagged glass raised, poised and ready to fight. Three death eaters were already moaning at her feet, deep gashes visible through their torn, blood-soaked cloaks. The circle of advancing death eaters stopped and a shrill laugh filled the air causing the hysterical crowd to fall into silence.
Bellatrix Lestrange walked coolly out from behind her troops, sporting a manic grin. She strutted forward, no hood and mark extremely visible against the pale white skin of her left forearm.
"Well, well, look what we have here. Little miss golden child thinks she can beat us with a bit of broken glass."
A snigger escaped the group surrounding the two women, causing Hermione to shudder involuntarily.
"Oh well now, is she scared of the big bad death eaters now?" Bellatrix mocked in a sickly sweet tone.
Hermione did her best to keep herself steady as Bellatrix advanced slowly.
Draco caught a glimpse of both Potter and Weasly struggling under magical bonds placed upon them and wondered briefly why they hadn't been killed if they had been captured so easily, before turning his attention back to the hoard of death eaters now gathered around Hermione and his aunt. He felt the unsettling urge to jump out and attack, help her, but again his damned pride held him in place.
Hermione jabbed but Bellatrix was faster grabbing hold of her thin wrist. With another manic smile, Bellatrix guided the shattered tip of the glass to her own arm. The edge dug into the porcelain-like skin and crimson blood followed the trail from shoulder elbow. Hermione watched in horror as the gash grew longer and longer.
"You can't hurt me little one." Bellatrix whispered menacingly, dagger like eyes gazing fiercely into Hermione's horrified ones. "You've no idea what pain is. But don't worry; I'll fix that very soon."
She loosened her grip on the younger witch and with a quick flick of her wand bound her so she couldn't move. The wound along her right arm bled furiously, but she seemed unperturbed. Draco fought back his pride and jumped from the crowd of terrified students, pushing his way roughly through the circle of hooded death eaters.
"What's going on!?" he demanded as coolly as possible, without making eye contact with the struggling girl on the ground behind him.
Bellatrix grinned evilly again.
"One day you will thank me, nephew"
With a swift movement one of the death eaters scooped Hermione's struggling body up, knocked her out. They disappeared in a cloud of acid green smoke.
Draco stood there, frozen in both shock and disbelief. What did she mean? How would he thank her?
As quickly as the hooded figures had disappeared, the ropes that bound Harry and Ron vanished and the great oak entrance to the castle swung open violently. Teachers rushed out to calm everyone and asses the situation. Max and Eva pushed their way through the sea of students towards the spot where they had left Draco and Hermione.
Draco stood there alone.
"NO, NO, NO!" Eva shrieked, collapsing into her brothers arms, and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Where is she?!" Max stammered. "Dad, where is she?"
The question slipped out unconsciously, but it was enough to draw Draco's immediate attention.
"What? What'd you call me?"
"I mean—" Max tried to start, but Eva cut him off.
" Dad! He called you Dad!" tears were still streaming. "Because that's what you are, our dad!"
She turned desperately to Max.
"We were supposed to fix! Why couldn't we stop them!?"
Max looked up at the stunned look on his father's face as he tried to console his sister. Any attempt they had made at trying to keep their identities hidden was useless now. They just had to find a way back to their own time before something happened to their mother.
"Look, I know this a lot to take in right now, but we really need your help… and your trust."
Draco stared at them, utterly speechless. This couldn't be real, couldn't be true, they were lying, playing some insane head game with him.
"I have to go…" He turned to leave but Eva's voice stopped him.
"I can prove it!" Draco stopped mid-step and turned back to look at the two.
Eva pulled at a silver chain around her neck that Draco had never noticed before. At the end was a small pendant, a silver snake wrapped around a bright emerald heart. He nearly gasped and tugged furiously at his own necklace as if checking that it was still there. An identical silver-green pendant fell into his own hand.
"You told me this was the last bit of your family you had left. Grandma gave it to you on your eleventh birthday, and you gave it to me on mine."
They both looked up at their father again as he scrutinized the tiny pendant, searching for any dissimilarity. They were exactly alike, and, as far as he knew, a Malfoy would never own something that could be found just anywhere. Draco took in a sharp breath.
"I…how?" He resigned.
Max immediately delved into the details.
"…and that's why we need you now. We need to find a way back to our time again. To stop it, or our family," he paused. "…we might not ever exist."
Draco checked his surroundings before responding.
"Follow me."
--
Hermione awoke in complete darkness lying upon a damp dungeon floor. Her hands and feet were still bound tightly together; the rope was digging unrelentingly into her skin. The shimmering dress she had so carefully pieced together was nearly in rags. Slowly she pushed herself up, leaning against the jagged stone wall to calm her ragged breath.
The last thing she remembered was his face. His eyes pleading forgiveness as he did nothing to help her. That alone had shocked her into submission.
Her head ached, throbbing which each little movement she made. Her eyes would not adjust to the dark abyss that seemed to have swallowed her. She felt around behind her, stifling a scream when something small and furry scurried past her fingertips. A small piece of the wall jutted out as a sharp edge and she proceeded to drag the rope bonds on her wrist across it. She sat there for what seemed like forever working the rope until, at last, the finally threads snapped.
Hermione cautiously lifted her aching wrists and winced as she felt gashes the ropes had left. She let out a long low breath and began to explore her black surroundings.
The cell was actually very small. Eight stone bricks long and six wide. The strength she needed to pull herself to her feet had not yet returned so she turned to the tedious task of untying the ropes around her ankles. There was no use working on a way to get out of here if she couldn't even stand up. Silently, she vowed that the fear, now slowly creeping up through her, would not take over.
Oh the drama haha! Hope you enjoyed it! And hopefully, by some kind of miracle I can get the next chapter up by summer! Review, review, review!! : )