A/N: Hello again my lovely readers! I am in an incredibly awesome mood because I just got an A on my stats midterm :D :D :D I'm only telling you this because...it put me in such a good mood I wrote almost all day today, and the next chapter should be up by...this weekend! But for now, enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I own an A on my Stats exam. Lol I am so happy about that...it is kind of sad - but I would be happier if I owned Harry Potter. But I don't.

Chapter Fourteen – Rescue

It was almost midnight as Draco collapsed on the floor in his bedroom. Dancing was a stupid mistake, and his body ached more than ever. He was stuck on the floor and did not have the strength to move. His internal pains had increased as well. It did not help that he overindulged at dinner and that seemed to worsen his aunt's curse. She seemingly forgot to remove it in all her excitement.

Draco heard a clock chime from outside. It was midnight. Draco heard sharp footsteps approaching his bedroom and his body stiffened. He reached for his wand heightening the pain in his muscles. His arm burned and a sharp pain is his side made his attempts useless, try as he may his body refused to take any more pain and his arm would not go the distance.

The door opened sending a rush of cold air at Draco, soothing his tender skin momentarily. His skin was raw and covered in scratches that were quickly becoming infected, but once the door had clicked shut the burning returned.

Severus looked down on him with surprised eyes, not expecting to find him there. His eyebrows shot up and almost disappeared into his greasy hair line. This would have looked comical if the situation was not so intense. Draco returned to his previous position and rested his head on the carpeted flooring.

"What are you doing?" Snape hissed, looking at him severely. He did not move from his place in the doorway.

"I'm playing quidditch, can't you tell?" Draco responded sarcastically. However, Severus did not look amused.

"What are you doing here?" He said, rephrasing the question slightly.

"If you haven't noticed I can't move very well," Draco grunted as he tried to reposition himself. Severus stepped forward and yanked him up by the arm. Draco cursed loudly and Severus shushed him, but looked concerned. Draco steadied himself and Severus let go of his arm. His anger quickly returned.

"If the Dark Lord realizes you are still here he will kill you," Severus hissed urgently.

"Well, the Dark Lord can wait," Draco snapped in response. Severus let out a strangled sigh, and then recomposed himself.

"Go now," he ordered and with a swish of his wand Draco's dress robes were replaced with the worn travel robes he had arrived in. He waved his wand again, this time in a more complicated motion, relieving Draco of the internal injuries caused by his dear aunt. Draco breathed for the first time without pain, well no pain in his lungs – a slight improvement, and followed Severus out the door.

Snape clapped him on the shoulder and wished him luck before he billowed away. Draco almost snorted at the theatrics of the past few hours, but he resisted the urge. Instead just rolled his eyes and continued on his way.

A sudden idea struck him and he made a quick turn into the next hallway. He found a peculiar looking statue. He found a latch on the base that opened into a small passage. Draco crawled through, closing the latch behind him.

The crawling caused an unbearable amount of pain, and the pain worsened when Draco hit his head against the opening of the tunnel. He felt blood drip down the side of his face and cloud his vision. He stumbled suddenly falling out of the small tunnel and into the hallway of the servant's quarters. His chest landed roughly on the stone floor. He felt the warmth of fresh blood, and a wave of nausea came over him. But got to his feet anyway, with his mouth clamped shut, and continued down the hall leading to the exit past the kitchen.

It was Hermione's turn for the night watch, and she was even more nervous than usual. She peeked into the tent; Harry and Ron were fast asleep. She hesitantly pulled out the blue prints she had come across two days before. Draco had been gone for almost a week, and Hermione barely ate nor slept since he had been captured.

It had been the most dreadful week she had ever spent. She was constantly arguing with Ron or ignoring him. Harry gave up trying to mediate and resorted to a sullen and withdrawn mood. Hermione knew he was angry with both of them for neglecting the Horcruxes, but she could not focus on anything except for rescuing Draco. She convinced herself that leaving him there to die was inhumane, and though part of her blamed Ron, she would never be able to forgive herself if he died because they abandoned him.

Hermione examined the blue prints carefully, mapping out her chosen route with her index finger. She had been planning her "rescue mission" ever since she found this, but she had not told Harry of her plans. She knew the likelihood of failure, and she was not willing to risk his life for her sake, especially since she knew it was Voldemort's headquarters. And he would only crush her hopes.

She looked around the tent thoroughly checking for any signs of danger. Once she was sure the tent was safe she moved from her position silently. She decided not to leave a note, in case she didn't make it back. She did not want them coming after her.

She added a few extra protective spells around the tent before apparating from the forest. She arrived just short of the Malfoy's property. Safely hidden in a cluster of trees, she peered around the branches and to her surprise saw no Death Eaters.

She darted out of the tress and onto the estate. She kept within the shadows, but was met with no challenges. She was surprised by the lack of protection around the Dark Lord's headquarters, until a large bang startled her. She looked to the source of the noise and saw a section of large windows lit. She heard laughter, then music commenced and black cloaks swirled across gracefully across the window. So they were celebrating, that was the reason for the lack of guards. Hermione couldn't help but wonder what brought on the festivities, and some small part of her brain tried to imagine their reaction to Harry's death. The thought made her sick.

Just as she thought she was safe she heard a set of hurried footsteps. She looked around panicking. She saw a patch of rosebushes near by and ran towards them and threw herself into them. Thorns pricked through her cloak and scratched her face and neck. She felt her hair pull and realized it was tangled in the bushes. She let out a ragged breath, but caught it quickly when she heard rough voices talking angrily. She watched the footsteps pass the edge of the property and disappear. She yanked her hair from the bush and hissed in pain.

She climbed out of the bush quietly, but very ungracefully. She tripped over her torn cloak and stumbled to the wall. She pressed herself against it and crept around the corner. She moved further along the wall finding the entrance she was looking for. It was a small archway leading into the servant quarters. She pressed her ear to the door for a moment before sneaking inside.

The door led to a deserted and tunnel-like hallway. She continued down the narrow path until she reached a fork in the hall she took the path that led away from the kitchens and into the servant's sleeping area. Hermione heard the sound of pots hitting a stone floor and looked over her shoulder nervously.

Her distraction caused her to bump into a person. A person with very fast reflexes and a surprisingly tight grip. Hermione gasped and her head snapped forward to face her captor. It was a boy, he couldn't be much older than Hermione. He had grimy looking skin that was stretched tightly over his cheekbones creating hollow indents where his cheeks should have been. He looked as startled as she did, and then a look of recognition crossed his face.

"You're Hermione Granger," he said in an anxious whisper.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked sharply.

"I've seen your picture in the Daily Prophet," he said unsurely, "I'm supposed to report you."

"Please don't," Hermione stuttered, trying to think of an escape. He seemed to think over her suggestion, but then a terrified look crossed his face. Something over her shoulder caught his attention, and then his expression changed and his grip tightened.

"I found her sneaking through the hallway," his voice became hard and he turned her around. Hermione inhaled sharply when she saw a blood covered Draco in front of them. Draco's eyes popped open, and his slack jaw stiffened. Hermione saw his hand reach for his wand and less than a second later her captor was on the floor.

Relief flooded through Hermione, and without thinking she flung herself at him. They crashed into the wall behind him, and Hermione recoiled quickly apologizing.

"What happened to you?" Hermione gasped, once they had moved away from each other, watching blood seep through his shirt on his chest and back.

"Death Eaters," he replied curtly, trying and failing to conceal his pain. Hermione's hand fluttered uselessly to his side. Their voiced roused the man on the floor. They both looked at him apprehensively. Draco pulled out his wand.

"Obliviate," he murmured. Hermione saw his eyes rolled back into his head, but he made no other movements. "Let's go," Draco said in an equally low murmur. Hermione looked around anxiously before following Draco back the way she came.

They were silent while they walked. All that could be heard was Draco's panting; he made sure he made no other sounds of discomfort. But Hermione could tell that he was severely injured, especially when he began to use the wall to support himself as they walked.

Once they reached the archway leading out of the manor Draco lost his balance on the single step landing on all fours. Hermione hurried down to help him, but he pushed her hands away.

"I'm fine," he snapped. Hermione moved back quickly, beginning to regret her decision to come alone. Draco was stubborn, and if he did not accept Hermione's help they were sure to get caught. Hermione grabbed his arm anyway, and tried to pull him up gently. He growled in pain and protest, but Hermione did not give in.

"Stop being so stubborn," she hissed, pulling more aggressively now, "You're going to get us both killed." Draco scowled in response but let her pull him across the grounds. He pulled her to a stop just before the boundary line.

"The protective shields are back up, it's impossible to keep it up while so many Death Eaters are entering, but it is sealed now."

"How do we get through," Hermione asked quietly, still observing the grounds carefully. Draco smirked at her, and Hermione was surprised he managed to act composed while he was so wounded. It seemed like he used all his strength to slash his wand right through the invisible barrier. There was a blue flash where his wand touched the barrier.

"Quickly," Draco said, now pulling Hermione. Just as they made it through the barrier the wand slash flicked blue again. Hermione apparated them back to the tent before anyone could notice they were even there. They were able to find the tent with little difficulty because Hermione had subtly marked the area the tent was set up in.

As soon as Hermione entered the tent there was an audible crash. Harry and Ron both stood up suddenly knocking over chairs as they did so.

"What did you do?" Harry choked out first, as Ron's face slowly turned purple.

Hermione opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"Him!" Ron yelled ending the momentary silence.

"Wow, what an intelligent exclamation," Draco snorted before attempting to climb to his bunk. He made it up the first step then paused, but he went unnoticed because the yelling had started.

"You put yourself in danger for a Death Eater!" Ron roared.

"We couldn't just leave him there," Hermione shrieked back.

"You shouldn't have gone by yourself," Harry added.

"Of course you would agree with him," Hermione shouted. Their argument was cut short when Draco fell off the ladder with a loud thud. They all looked at him simultaneously and more blood began to seep through his shirt.

"Bloody hell," Ron said in shock. Hermione pulled out her wand moving to his side. She attempted to slow the bleeding. It eventually stopped, but even through his shirt Hermione could tell that his skin was not healing properly.

Harry was kneeling next to her. "What's wrong with him?" He asked uncertainly.

"I don't know," Hermione answered.

"What are supposed to do with him," Ron asked looking at Draco's pale frame with revulsion. Hermione scowled at him.

"We have to heal him," Hermione answered, her eyes widening with new worries. She didn't have nearly enough supplies to help him.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Ron, I can't believe you," Hermione snapped, "We can't just let him die."

"He might not die," Ron protested.

"Well, we obviously can't keep traveling with him," Harry intervened.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Ron asked.

"Grimmauld Place."

A/N: No preview today, because I am giving you the full chapter so soon. Reviews are always welcome...and usually begged for (in general, not just by me) :D