Chapter Ten
A Malfoy Through and Through
In their blackest of robes Draco waited with Hermione outside of an abandoned toy store in Knockturn Alley. Whoever had the idea of putting a toy store in such a place had to have been liable for insanity.
Knockturn Alley was the opposite of Diagon Alley. It was dark, hidden from the sun with its cramped streets, the shadows of shop windows displaying shrunken heads and chopped hands. The people that loomed there were either hiding their face or talking to themselves. Hermione absolutely detested it, but it was the only meeting place Draco would agree upon. That was because there were more Death Eaters there to take his side if something happened - not that it would. Nothing would go wrong, she knew, and she took a strange sort of pleasure that Draco was not comfortable either. He would never trust other Death Eaters. He was one; he knew there was nothing trust-worthy in them.
She didn't like the idea of Bill Weasley coming there, but it was a better idea than Mr. Weasley or Ron as Harry and Ron insisted. She couldn't bear to think of anything happening to any of them, but Bill was an adept fighter, he was tougher.
"I could have met him myself in Diagon Alley," she whispered to Draco. It wasn't the first time that day that it came out of her mouth.
"Not alone." It wasn't the first time had had said that to her either.
"I'm not in danger there. It's better there than here, sulking around like a criminal."
At that statement he moved his body over hers, his lips to her temple. "Like a Death Eater?"
"Drake... I..." She wanted him to move, memories of her bedroom flooding back, but she wanted him closer to her. It was always that way, the desire to close the distance between them.
Draco accepted that as defeat. "If I had my way, you wouldn't go."
"You're used to that, aren't you," she asked heatedly. "Mum and dad always letting you get your way. It's about time -"
"Shut up, Herms." He drew her hood further down her forehead, hiding her from view. The Malfoys were notorious, and they were not to be approached that day. They had to hide. "You are my sister. What do you expect?"
"I'll be safe."
He touched her hip, inhaled her cinnamon and parchment scent. "I love you."
She wondered in which way he meant it. "I love you too." She wondered in which way she meant it.
His lips brushed her cheek. "Don't leave."
"They need me."
"I need you as much as they do."
She didn't want to think that was true. If it made her decision all that much harder. Only... She had to leave. It was the only way to protect her family, even from themselves. She could only hope that it wouldn't leave her as an orphan, without her brother, without any family what-so-ever.
It was a chance she had to take. The sanctity of their world depended on Harry. He was her best friend; she had to help him.
She had said goodbye to her parents that morning. Her father lost his tough exterior, his gaunt features worsen with fear as he hugged her goodbye. On her back she could feel his hands shake. It instilled fear in her too.
Her mother cried those rare tears. She tried to smooth Hermione's hair as she had done so many times before. She kissed her and held her.
It wasn't enough. She wanted more time with them, a few more minutes - a few more years. She wanted to step back in time and be that little girl again, to play with her brother in the expansive garden, to watch her mother contemplate which frock to wear that day, to see her father peering over papers in his study as she passed by, to watch her parents dance sweetly at Christmastime in front of the lit tree.
She didn't know if she could bear to say goodbye to Draco, but then in the space between his shoulder and ear Hermione saw a bulky man in an emerald cloak. There was a strand of red hair over his scarred face, and her heart leapt. Without thinking, she sidestepped her brother to approach the Weasley.
"Bill," she called in undertone to him, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. Weasley's were not welcome in Knockturn Alley anymore than they were welcome in Death Eater meetings. They were muggle lovers, they betrayed their Pure lineage.
He glanced at Draco. "What is the first thing you said to me?"
He worried Draco would deliver someone else? If it could happen to Moody, it could happen to anyone. "That slice is for Charlie."
He grinned. "And I said you reminded me of mom. That pie was good." He hugged her. "It's nice to see you again, Hermione."
Roughly and quickly he nodded to Draco. "I'll take it from here." He hooked his arm with Hermione's.
"Not so fast." Draco stood straighter, making it apparent that he was in charge. "I want your word that she'll be safe."
"Drake -"
Bill excused. "No, it's alright. He is your brother. By some happenstance." He muttered the last part, but Draco clearly heard it and glared. "I promise, all of us will watch after Hermione. She will not be harmed while she is in our care." He worded it carefully, knowing full well that while Hermione was with Harry, there was no guaranteeing her safety.
Draco wasn't assuaged in the least, but he gave a curt nod and started to walk the way he and Hermione had come.
Hermione freed herself from Bill (although he tried to keep a firm grip on her) and ran after him. She threw herself at his waist, bunching the back of his cloak in her hands. She took in his scent, the feel of him, memorizing it for all the days she would be without it.
Suddenly, all the years they spent apart were cruel. The anger was wasted. All the memories they could have been making slipped down the neck of a hourglass. Their time was up.
"I do love you," she wept. He had to know. It did not matter what choice she made, he had to know that she loved him and always would. It was the most important thing in the world right then, that he had no doubts of her feelings.
He held her head against his chest, as if attempting to press her into his heart. "Promise you'll come back.."
"Promise you won't get killed."
Neither could promise the other. Their situation was more real than it ever had been. He saw the hourglass too.
He buried his face in her wild hair. "Don't forget who you are."
She smiled past her tears and looked up at him. "A Malfoy through and through."
One last look, and she left, his hurt visage stamped in her memory forever, more vivid than any of her knowledge of her spell work.
Hermione didn't know if she'd ever see her family again.
