Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Chapter Twelve: Flight or Fight
"The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, dazed; Potter had been tossed into a wall."
"What?" Hendrix furrowed her brow. "That doesn't make any sense."
Hermione smiled ruefully. "You're telling me. I was one moment away from grabbing my wand and freedom and then the next…floor."
-.-
A fine ringing in her ears brought her swimming back into consciousness. Her vision slowly refocused onto the slatted wooden ceiling above, the floor trembling beneath her. A dull roar crescendoed around her, the screams of people accompanying it.
Hermione brought her hand to her aching head, wincing at the pressure. What the hell just happened?
A groan not her own startled her.
She rolled gingerly onto her side and felt her eyes widen at sight before her. Harry was crumpled against a far wall; his legs limp straight in from of him and his head lolling towards his chest. His wand was nowhere in sight. She felt the tension in her chest ease at his unconsciousness.
She glanced over her shoulder at a feminine sob. She sneered at Ginny's sprawled form. The girl was awake but dazed, her eyes blinking wildly as she tried to regain her bearings.
Hermione shakily pushed herself to her feet, grabbing her abandoned wand. With a flick of her wrist, she tightly bound both of their bodies with invisible ropes, earning a confused whimper from Ginny.
Ignoring the girl, she swept the room, her gaze falling on Harry's prone and bound body. She lifted her wand, with the intention of cursing him.
He had done this. He had threatened her and her child.
He deserved this.
He was the reason she would become a killer.
She felt both her resolve and wand waver. "Fuck." She hissed, dropping her wand.
She couldn't do it; she couldn't kill him.
She wasn't a murderer.
With a final glance at Harry, she backed out into the hallway, stumbling over the unsteady floor. She used her hands against the walls to brace herself as she was jostled from side to side, feeling like she was in a continuous, rolling earthquake. The sounds of a battle raged on around her, the yelled voices and curses rising from the bottom floors. With renewed motivation, she forced herself faster, sidestepping fallen portraits and debris littering the floor as she made her way to the upper level.
She stopped at the top of the stairs, scanning each side of the quiet hallway for threats. It was eerily still, the muffled sounds of battle drifting lazily up from the stairs. She hesitantly shifted her weight to her right when she heard footsteps coming up the staircase from behind her.
"Damn it." She cursed underneath her breath as she ran across the landing to hide behind a statue; she absently noted that it was of Tecmessa Black, an ancient matriarch of the family. She died rescuing her child from a righteous Roman mob.
How fitting.
"I'm telling you, I saw someone run up here."
Hermione crouched lower as the footsteps stopped at the landing and a scratchy voice broke the silence. She did not recognize it.
"Dominic, I trust your sight about as far as I can throw you." Another man sneered.
"Listen, Rowlands, the Dark Lord commanded that we don't let anyone escape. I'm just following orders. Or would you rather be punished by the Dark Lord?"
So it was the Death Eaters who had attacked. Was this her rescue party?
"Of course not, you idiot; I just know that we've already cleared this floor—round up each and every last one of them up here. No one got past us on the lower floor; there was no one there."
Hermione rolled her eyes; evidently these two geniuses were as thorough as Crabbe and Goyle if they missed her bedroom with the Great Harry Potter trussed up like a Christmas Day ham.
"Fine, fine. It's clear up here anyways."
She held her breath as the two Death Eater's footsteps echoed down the staircase.
Once she could no longer hear them, she sighed in silent relief, pressing her forehead against the cool marble statue.
"Hiding isn't a flattering trait for an Order Member." Hermione gasped at the feminine voice. She peeked from behind the statue to find a robed Death Eater on the landing.
"Pansy?" She gasped out disbelievingly.
"Recognize me, do you?" Pansy taunted as she removed her mask. "Why don't you stop playing hide and seek and come out from behind there, huh?" Her lips twitched into a sneer. "I didn't know Order members were cowards."
Hermione was practically vibrating with adrenaline and her body was screaming at her to run. She cautiously stepped away from safety of the statue, her wand held loosely at her side.
She almost smirked as Pansy's jaw dropped.
"Hermione?" She shook her head as if to clear her vision. "Are you alright?" She asked, taking a step towards her before she froze. She cocked her head to the side, bright blue eyes narrowed. It seemed as if she was scanning her, thinking the situation through. She slowly raised her wand.
"How do I know you're Hermione?"
"I haven't run screaming into battle yet, have I?" Hermione let out a stressed sigh, still shaking. "How do I know you're the real Pansy Parkinson for that matter?"
"Well, I haven't cursed or attacked you yet, so I suppose that's a good sign…" She trailed off, pursing her lips. Hermione could only manage to raise an eyebrow.
After a moment, Pansy lowered her wand and offered her a tentative but genuine smile.
"You're Hermione."
A sound between a laugh and a sob escaped Hermione as she felt her strength leave her. She nodded tearfully as she sank to her knees, trying to breathe in between sobs. She never thought she would ever feel so relieved to see Pansy Parkinson but there was a first time for everything.
Pansy rushed to her side, dropping to the carpet beside her. She wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "You're ok, Hermione. We're here to rescue you."
Hermione nodded, her gasps for breath coming quicker as the stress and fear of the evening washed over her. She leaned into the other girl's body, taking the comfort she was offering.
Pansy warily kept an eye on the hall as she smoothed back Hermione's hair.
"It's alright, it's alright. You're safe now."
"Damn it! Hold them back!"
Hermione and Pansy spun at the yell, the beginnings of a duel a floor below startling them.
Pansy pulled them to their feet, still keeping her arm wrapped around the other girl.
"That was Dominic's voice." She hissed, tugging Hermione away from the landing. "That means they've been compromised. Dumb shits."
Hermione toddled behind Pansy, glancing over her shoulder as the sounds of the fight escalated. "What does that mean?"
Exasperated, Pansy yanked Hermione around a corner. "What that means is some Order members found them and are now attacking our forces. We have to get out of here. Quickly."
Hermione instantly knew who had found them. "It's Harry."
"Shit."
Hermione could not agree more.
Pansy stopped abruptly in front of a plain door before pulling them into the empty bedroom, warding the door behind them. She let go of Hermione's hand and rushed to the far corner of the room, tapping her wand randomly at the wood paneling as she went.
"What on earth are you doing?"
Pansy spared Hermione a withering glare, never stopping her search. "Potter doesn't know the only Black family member to have lived in this home. A-hah!" She cried out in success as her wand passed over a hollow in the wood. She tapped her wand in a triangle pattern three times over the peeling whitewashed panel.
The neglected wood seemed to shiver and take on a liquid quality, pulsing and undulating as Pansy took a step away. It quivered momentarily, as if trying to decide if it was solid or not, before a door-sized portion of the wall disappeared and revealed a hidden staircase.
Hermione gaped.
Pansy grinned. "See what a little faith—"
"I saw them go in here!"
Hermione gasped at Harry's voice. She spun, facing the closed door.
Pansy paled. She reached out and grabbed Hermione by the wrist. "Come on!" She pulled Hermione as they stumbled towards the secret passageway.
The witches raced up the spiral staircase just as the bedroom door crashed open. Hermione tried to keep the mind-numbing fear from her taking over her body. "Pansy," she gasped out. "Where are we going? They're going to find us!" She clung to other girl's hand, tightening her grasp as new, heavier footsteps joined their own.
"We're almost there. Keep moving." She ordered, her heels clacking loudly against the wooden stairs.
Hermione nodded to herself, keeping one step behind Pansy. She tried to ignore the echoing thumps that loomed behind them and trusted that Pansy had a plan. Hopefully that plan included their escape.
"Stupefy!"
Hermione screamed as the red jet struck the wall left of her head. Without slowing, Pansy sent back her own stunner, hoping it would at least slow them down.
"We've got to hurry." She gasped out.
Both girls raced onto the next floor. They paused for a moment to catch the breaths.
"Hermione," Pansy called, gesturing to the threshold they just passed. "Brace your hands against the door frame and think 'wards.' Don't look at me like that, just do it!" She pulled her wand up, aiming it at the open staircase as the sounds of Harry and his followers drew nearer.
Despite being terrified at the thought of being so vulnerable and exposed, Hermione had no choice but to trust Pansy. She had to do this; she had to do this for her baby. The alternative was unthinkable.
She bit her lower lip and hesitantly reached out to the wooden frame. Her hands convulsed the instant she made contact. It felt as if electricity surged through her arms; as if the walls of the house itself were swelling with the feeling. Her breath hitched in her throat as the floor trembled with the pounding footsteps below. Please work, she whispered desperately into her mind.
Wards.
Warmth travelled from the tips of her fingers and down to her toes, encircling her in a cocoon of invisible light. Hermione bathed in it, shivering as the raw power flowed into her veins. It was ancient magic; that much she could tell. It felt like Dark Magic, seductive and forbidden. However, the black coldness that should normally accompany it was strangely missing. Instead the magic seemed to fuse with her very soul, causing her to arch her back as her feet lifted off the ground.
She vaguely heard Pansy cry out for her as the power raised her higher into the air. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as the magic easily pierced the defenses of her mind and bombarded her with hundreds of images.
A red-headed witch cradled an infant in her arms.
Flash!
A man and women dressed in ancient Roman clothing ascending marble thrones hand in hand.
Flash!
A dark-haired woman charging into a mob to rescue the child being stoned.
Flash!
Three sisters, a brunette, a redhead and a blonde, solemnly watching their parents disown and cast out a dark haired boy. "You are no family of ours!" The boy turned to face his cousins before running from their home and into the night.
Flash!
The same sisters were outside, the older brunette stood before the redhead, screaming at her as rain pelted the field around them. "How dare you betray our family! You are no better than a bloodtraitor!" Hermione could not tell if there were tears on the older sister's face or if it was the rain.
"I love him!" The redhead sobbed.
The brunette sneered. "You are not my sister!"
The blonde stood behind her eldest sister, her eyes filled with sadness and shame.
Flash!
The blonde turned on her sisters, shoving them both away from each other. "Stop this! We are family; the same blood. Our blood will never change!"
Hermione sobbed, tears streaming from her closed eyes. The warmth slowly expanded, growing around her before it exploded, shooting up towards the ceiling, spreading out to the walls and swallowing the room in a white mist. It crawled slowly, snaking around both witches. Pansy gasped at the feeling, shaking as she was enveloped in the sensation.
"Hermione?" She cried out, uncertainty creeping into her voice. This was not what she had expected.
She warily glanced back at the open threshold where Hermione was suspended midair. She could hear Potter and his group clearing the last bend of the spiral.
"Come on, Hermione. Whatever you're doing up there, finish it now!"
As if on cue, blinding, white light burst from Hermione's body, shrouding the entire room in it. Pansy fell to her knees, covering her face. She heard Potter's arrival as they too came in contact with the light, crying out it surprise and fear.
The light intensified, causing the room to shake as a shriek of power filled the room.
Pansy realized it came from Hermione.
The light swirled around her, gaining speed and strength. The vortex produced a wind that violently whipped around their bodies. Pansy shut her eyes as the scream and wind crescendoed.
As suddenly as the light began, it collected in a whoosh of energy and disappeared back into Hermione's body.
The witch remained suspended in midair a moment more before she slowly descended back to the ground. Pansy lifted her head cautiously and gaped at the display, her wand loosely pointed at the stunned Order members.
Hermione sighed as her feet made contact with the floorboards, her arms falling limply at her side. The visions she had seen…She shook her head as if to clear the residual "fuzziness" of her mind…She recognized some of them…Tecmessa…Sirius…Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa Black…What on earth had she just experienced?
She opened her eyes and let out a muffled gasp as she came face to face with Harry, his expression contorted by fury. His eyes blazed as his mouth moved in silent shouts. She stumbled backwards into the slowly standing Pansy, knocking the other witch's wand away. Pansy steadied her friend with one arm before passing Hermione her fallen wand.
"Are you alright?" She whispered shakily.
Hermione nodded, unsure if she could speak. Her throat was raw, as if she had swallowed broken glass. The mist remained, drifting in small clouds around the room. The silence unnerved her; all she could hear was hers and Pansy's breaths.
Both girls watched quietly as the Order members renewed their efforts to force their way past the threshold, their obvious shouts of anger and frustration completely silenced by the barrier that kept them away.
Hermione cried out as her stomach suddenly throbbed. She pressed her hands over her belly, turning her gaze to the taller witch next to her. "What the hell was that?" Her voice was gravelly and hoarse.
Pansy pursed her lips in concern as she pressed her hand gently to Hermione's stomach. She waited for a moment for the pulse. Pansy smirked when she felt it. "Blood rites." She turned back to Potter's group and stuck her tongue out at them, laughing as their curses bounced harmlessly off of the barrier.
Hermione's eyes widened in comprehension. "Blood rites? Ancient blood magic?" She flinched as her stomach pulsed again. "You had me tie my baby to ancient magic that could kill it and me both?"
Pansy rolled her eyes, tucking her wand into her robe pocket. "Well it worked, didn't it? It's keeping the merry blood-thirsty crew out there and keeping us nice and safe in here, isn't it? At least for the moment…" She turned her back on the doorway and began inspecting the room. "In any case," she continued, pushing back the dusty, velvet curtains from the only window in the room, peering out into the night through the dirty lead glass, "this proves you really are pregnant with Draco's child."
Hermione spun around, her brow furrowed. "What?"
Pansy shrugged nonchalantly. "The blood magic will only work for someone with Black blood. Your child is one fourth Black, ergo…" She made a sweeping gesture with her hand. "You enacted the wards of the Ancient House of Black. The way it was explained to me didn't include that impressive little light show you gave but the wards will prevent the spells of those you deem dangerous to you or the baby from passing that barrier. " She pointed to the angry crowd standing on the landing. "It's not foolproof but it should keep us safe long enough."
Hermione regarded the group warily, nodding absently. "Long enough?" She asked in a small voice, her eyes never leaving her former friends.
"Blaise is on his way." Pansy announced, walking back up to the other witch. "They were waiting for us to enact the wards; that's their signal."
"They?"
Pansy nodded with a smile. "Yes, 'they.' Blaise and Draco are coming to the rescue."
Hermione smiled brightly and pulled Pansy into a quick hug, squeezing the poor Slytherin tightly. "Oh thank Merlin."
"Hormones…." Pansy rolled her eyes but returned the hug nonetheless. "And here I was thinking you had come to like my company."
Hermione smiled, wiping her moistening eyes. "Thank you, Pansy. I mean it."
-.-
"You were on the verge of being rescued."
"Yes, I was. You have no idea the absolute elation and utter relief I felt at that moment." Hermione looked down at the hands in her lap, a small smile on her lips. "I was going to be free."
Hendrix regarded her silently. She was thin, almost fragile looking. As she noted earlier, the Dark Queen was fidgety, playing with her long hair during particularly difficult memories or clenching her fist when she spoke of her enemies. She kept aware of her surroundings, flinching unconsciously at every foreign sound in the room. Everything about her appearance and file screamed a prisoner suffering from years in Azkaban.
However, beneath the years of incarceration and solitude, Hermione displayed a ferocity she had never encountered in her patients. She was direct and lucid, not raving or paranoid; she yearned for freedom but she did not beg for it; she was calculating and determined.
All in all, Hermione Malfoy was not as she should be.
"Don't hurt yourself thinking, Hendrix."
Alexandra jumped at the mocking voice. She met Hermione's smirk with a nervous smile.
"How do you—"
"Know?" Hermione exhaled a brief and delicate laugh. "Brightest witch of my age, remember?"
-.-
"How much longer can that ward hold?"
Pansy shrugged, eyeing the weakening barrier as it was barraged by different spells. "Hopefully long enough." She cringed as it shuddered again.
Hermione stood, sighing in frustration. "I can't just sit here watching them!"
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. The orders are to wait here."
"Dramatic? Harry fucking Potter is standing just on the other side of that threshold and wants to kill me! I hardly think I am being dramatic."
"You need to breathe, Hermione," Pansy soothed, placing a hand on her arm. "This added stress is not good for us or the baby."
Hermione shook her off and instead wrapped her arms around herself. "I can feel it weakening, Pansy; inside."
"What do you mean?"
"Every spell, I feel it. Especially his." She motioned back towards the ward. "His almost make it through." She squeezed her eyes shut as she doubled over in pain.
Pansy cried out, rushing to her side.
"It's not going to hold," she repeated, gritting her teeth. "This house is his. The wards will break."
Alarmed, Pansy cursed, pulling the other witch up and away from the thinning barrier. "Fuck, you're right." She pushed Hermione behind her and took up a fighting stance, her wand pointed at their enemies.
"When they come through, you stay behind me. Hide if you must. Do you understand?"
Hermione nodded, wincing again as her stomach throbbed. "Pansy, the pain is getting worse. I think they're almost through."
Both witches whipped around to face the barrier.
The ward shimmered dangerously, shifting from clear to blue and back again. Hermione gasped, clutching her stomach as it vibrated, corresponding with the ward. She watched in horror as it seized up, holding utterly still before shattering. It disintegrated into a fine dust as a red jet pierced the room, striking the wall behind her. She screamed, ducking behind Pansy who quickly shot off her own offensive spells.
Hermione pulled out her wand and cast a shield spell around her and Pansy as the room was filled with shouted curses and bright, colorful lights. Pansy dueled the group of four Order members skillfully, dodging vicious jinxes from Ginny and half-hearted attacks from her brother. Harry's rage was palatable as his spells aimed at Hermione were deftly intercepted by the Death Eater.
Hermione tried to help her protector but every time she attempted an offensive spell, Pansy would knock her wand away with her free hand.
"Just keep the shield spell up. Concentrate on that." She ordered breathlessly before sending a stunning spell at Neville, knocking him clear across the room to crumple against the wall, unconscious.
Hermione did as she was told and focused on maintaining her protective spell. Her hands shook as sweat beaded along her hairline.
She had never had such a difficult time with a spell as she was now. It was taking all of her energy just to remain standing.
She kept her eyes trained on Harry, fear coursing through her veins like venom, seizing her heart every time he attacked. He was feral, like a wild wolf, his green eyes practically glowing in rage. A smirk spread across his lips.
You will not escape!
Hermione gasped at the invading voice in her mind, pulling her wand away. And that was all of the distraction they needed.
"Now!" Harry roared.
Pansy screamed in shock as Ginny and Ron turned all of their efforts onto her alone, their spells now only deflected by her own parries. She planted her feet and gnashed her teeth at the effort.
"Hermione!" She ground out, reaching blindly for the witch who was no longer behind her.
Somewhere during the renewed assault, Hermione had become separated from her protector.
She started wide-eyed in horror as Harry advanced on her. She backed up slowly, her wand hanging uselessly at her side.
No…
She couldn't move.
Her throat tightened painfully.
She couldn't cry out.
Her body was screaming at her to run. To fight. To do something.
But she was frozen.
She now understood people who were paralyzed by fear.
"Hermione!" Pansy screamed from across the room, pinned down by her two opponents. She attempted to side step Ron but was stuck in the shoulder and knocked off her feet by a stunning spell from Ginny.
"You should have listened to me, Hermione." She flinched at Harry's voice, shutting her eyes as her back met the wall. "None of this would have had to have happen." She whimpered, turning her face away from him.
"Please, Harry, please. Don't do this." She begged. Her grip on her wand weakened slowly as tears welled behind her closed eyes.
Her wand clattered loudly against the wood floor.
Harry paused in his pursuit, taking in the pathetic form of his friend; defenseless and terrified.
He hesitated a moment more before he raised his wand. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Crucio!"
Hermione screamed when the spell hit.
She collapsed to the floor, curling in onto herself as the spell wracked her body. Angry, blood red pain bloomed behind her eyelids as she convulsed uncontrollably. Her hands spasmed into fists, her nails biting into her palms, drawing rivulets of blood.
She had never known such pain.
She shrieked as the spell traveled from her extremities and centralized on her core; her stomach.
She gasped painfully for breaths as her lungs burned for oxygen. She rolled to her side to abate the pain. Instead, it ignited more.
"Please!" She managed between sobs of pain. She was not begging for her own life. She was begging for her child's.
And he didn't care.
"Just a bit longer…"She heard him mutter to himself.
And in that moment, Hermione knew true hate.
"NO!" She screamed as she forced her eyes open and reached around for her wand. She struggled under the force of the spell, shaking violently as she crawled slowly across the floor. She dug her nails into the floorboards to pull herself, ignoring the pain.
She had to get to her wand.
She stretched out her quaking fingers, breaths away from the piece of wood.
She absently recognized the familiar scene she was in again.
"Sorry, Hermione." Harry's boot filled her vision as he kicked away her wand.
Hermione shrieked in frustration, slamming her hand against the floor.
He bent down to her level, maintaining the Dark curse. He reached out with his free hand and gently brushed away the hair in her face. Hermione tried to glare at him.
"It's for the best, Hermione." He whispered.
She shook her head violently, gnashing her teeth. ".you." She bit out, flinching away from his touch.
He frowned. He straightened himself to his feet and turned his attention away from her. "Ron! Kill Parkinson if you must."
That moment of inattention was all she needed.
She drew from strength she didn't know she had and kicked her leg out, striking Harry in the shin. Potter cried out in surprise, breaking his concentration.
The Crucio lifted.
Hermione sighed as the pain abated, a sob escaping her throat. She opened her eyes and met green eyes hard as slate. She cringed as she steeled herself for round two.
"Stupefy!"
Hermione watched in complete shock as Harry was stuck by an angry red jet of magic and was thrown back against the wall, much like Neville had. She rolled onto her side in time to see a cadre of black robed and masked wizards filling the room, attacking Ginny and Ron. She wondered if Pansy had survived…
"Hermione!"
She hadn't realized she had closed her eyes. When she opened them, she found herself staring into Blaise's hysterically worried face. Hermione had an urge to laugh. Instead, she managed a trembling and relieved smile.
"Hi Blaise." Her voice was raspy and strained, her throat rubbed raw from her screams of pain.
Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly into a protective embrace. She tiredly leaned her head against his shoulder. Though she wanted nothing more than to succumb to the abyss of unconsciousness, she managed to keep her eyes open long enough to see the other Death Eaters easily subdue the Weasley siblings.
"Pansy?" She asked quietly as Blaise moved them away from the group. Her eyes drifted closed.
She could feel him shake his head. "Don't worry about that. We're getting you out now."
Before she could respond she felt the familiar sensation of side-along Apparation as the room disappeared before her eyes.
-.-
"Blasie, you've returned."
Hermione felt her mind swim lazily back to consciousness, the soft, female voice slicing through her mind. She was still in Blaise's arms, the rocking motion of his steps almost lulling her back into the darkness.
Was that Pansy?
She moaned softly, opening her eyes slightly. The sight before her shocked her.
Narcissa Malfoy stood next to an unlit fireplace a few feet from her. She quickly made her way to their side and inspected both wizards for injuries. She frowned at Blaise.
"Blasie, dear, you can barely stand. Bring her here. Lucius, take Miss Granger from him."
She felt fear seize her heart as Lucius Malfoy stood elegantly from his seat and drifted lazily to his wife's side before her. Hermione tightened her grip on Blaise's robe, whimpering softly. Lucius rolled his eyes at her reaction.
Naricssa shot her husband a glare before turning back and brushing Hermione's bangs from her face soothingly.
"It's alright, Miss Granger, you're safe now." She nodded at her husband.
Wordlessly, Lucius slipped his arms beneath Blasie's shaking ones and pulled her easily into his. Tension flooded her body and remained completely stiff in his arms. For his part, he seemed to mostly ignore her and instead turned back to look at his wife.
"Set her on the couch there." Narcissa motioned to the plush, Victorian settee. Once making sure she was placed safely there she turned her attention back to the tired wizard in her parlor.
"Won't you stay? You need to rest, dear." She gently placed her hand on Blaise's arm. He looked like he desperately wanted to take her up on her offer but instead he shook his head.
"I have to get back. Draco is still there and I need to see to Pansy."
Narcissa nodded understandingly and offered him an encouraging smile. "Go then. Don't worry about her," she looked over her shoulder at the young witch who was cautiously eyeing her husband who stood next to the couch. He looked mildly annoyed to be under such scrutiny.
Narcissa smiled. "We'll take care of her now."
Blaise nodded. He turned his attention to his charge. "You're safe now, Hermione." Her honey brown eyes snapped to his, a "yeah right!" look in their depths. "They'll protect you." He waved tiredly at her, gifting her with a small smile.
"I'll see you soon."
Taking a deep breath, he disappeared with a Pop! leaving Hermione suddenly very alone with Lord and Lady Malfoy, pureblooded wizards and Draco's parents.
Oh, this would be interesting.
