Chapter Twenty One

He sneered at Hermione when he noticed the look of recognition cross her face.

"Yea, Granger, me. Bring the bitch in here." He looked from Hermione to the Dark Mass member holding her awkwardly. The man carried her to the room with the fireplace and dropped her onto a chair and began binding her with rope from his wand. She attempted to get up and struggle, but her broken leg felt as though it was on fire and she let out a small shriek. This only made Blaise sneer turn into an evil grin as he strode over to her and pushed her back down onto the small wooden seat.

Blaise looked at the hand that touched Hermione, and he looked disgusted. He took out a little bottle of hand sanitizer from his pants pocket and squirted some into his palm and rubbed his hands together. "Filthy mudblood. Don't try to leave, Granger. After your boyfriend, Saint Potter, gets back I'll kill you then him. Lucius might have failed, but if I'm honest, I wasn't really counting on him to succeed." Hermione gave him a look and he scoffed.

"I don't care to explain to you how I became the leader of this beautiful little group, but I will assure you," He looked her in the eyes, his face draining of any humor, "I had to kill a lot of people to get here. You aren't the first, you won't be the last, but you will be one of the most satisfying." He flicked out his wand, pointed it at Hermione's throat and closed the distance between them. "I think I'll start by cutting right here." Hermione turned and spat in Blaise's face. He acted instinctively and tossed the chair that bound her across the room and into a mirror. Hermione and the chair landed sideways on the broken glass.

"How dare you!" He yelled as Hermione struggled to keep focus of his face. "You'll pay for your disrespect, mudblood!" He raised his wand again to point at Hermione.

"Blaise? Enough! What are you doing?" His voice, usually warm when speaking to her, was full of confusion and hatred. Draco had arrived, Harry on his heels, wand already pointed at Blaise's back. Harry had a bruise on the side of his head while Draco was sporting a fresh black eye and a bleeding lip.

"Draco! By Merlin's wrinkly-" Draco cut him off.

"Blaise, what are you doing? Are you apart of this?"

"Ah, never were that bright were you Malfoy? I run this!" He spread his arms wide showcasing his followers and their camp. Hermione noticed now that it was four of the Dark Mass against just Harry and Draco. It was an unfair fight, and she needed to figure out how to get them the upper hand. She struggled to find a piece of glass with the hand closest to the floor. Though her arms were bound behind the chair, she could still cut the rope and find a way to help Draco and Harry.

"And you, my old friend, you're running with Saint Potter and his filthy mutt of a pal?" He jabbed an elbow at Hermione, making her freeze her efforts for a moment.

"That gorgeous woman is my girlfriend, Blaise. Mind your tongue." His voice was harsh and his wand was now out and raised at Blaise as well.

"So, this is where we stand now? Always knew you were a coward, Malfoy. Didn't know you were this much of one though." Blaise didn't move his wand from pointing at Hermione's throat. It was the only leverage he had. Or so, he thought.

"Potter saved us both that night. How can you not be grateful?" Draco was either ignoring Blaise's insults or attempting to distract him, Hermione couldn't tell which.

"I am grateful. So much so, in fact that I want to repay him by finishing the job Voldemort couldn't. You should of let me die when you had the chance, Potter." Blaise's eyes flashed something sinister and Harry took his chance.

"Expelliarmus!" One of the thugs wands flew from his hand and landed in Harry's, and with that the duel began. Spells, hexes and curses shot across the small room and Hermione frantically began cutting away at her bonds.

"Crucio!" The curse left Blaise's lips and a dark cry came from the blonde man. He fell to the floor and shook violently. Harry had incapacitated the second member leaving only one left, and he wasn't doing well. The bump to the head was finally taking its toll and Hermione was praying her hands would move faster. She was almost free when she heard the first word:

"Avada-" Blaise's wand was pointed at Draco who was still crumpled on the cold floor. Hermione felt a jolt of fear and adrenaline course through her and she leaped onto her damaged leg and yelled out her disarming spell before Blaise could finish the forbidden curse. His wand flew to her hand and she turned it on Blaise, throwing him into the wall and knocking him out. She then pointed to his cohort and bound him tightly with thick black vines. He crashed to the floor, unable to move.

In the mix of the commotion Hermione hadn't realized she had disarmed Blaise without a wand of her own; she'd done it with only her hands and mind. It didn't matter though; Draco was safe. Pain crashed into her as her subconscious remembered the broken limb and she collapsed to the floor with a yell.

Draco had collected himself, though he was still shaking slightly. He whispered a 'thank you' into Hermione's ear and picked her up into his arms. The pain took over then and everything went dark.

Waking in the hospital wing was becoming a tradition that Hermione was starting to tire of. Her left leg had been put in a make shift cast and her right arm had been bandaged as well. She felt a burn come from it, but didn't remember injuring it at first. The image of laying on the glass raced through her head and the full effects of what happened took over.

I have to get out of this bed. Where is Draco?

She began to untangle herself from the white sheets when she noticed her arm was being pulled back with a sharp stab. There was an IV sticking out with an upside down glass bottle of Skele-gro attached to it. She was reaching to take it out when a hand grabbed hers.

"Ms. Granger, you need to rest. Your leg has been broken in two places, you've got three broken ribs and you lost a lot of blood through that lovely cut on your arm. You'll need this whole bottle to heal your wounds. You will stay in bed." Madam Pomfrey emphasized the word will and gave a stern look that made Hermione sit back but not give up on finding her love.

"Where is he? I need to see him." She asked.

"Mr. Malfoy? He's in the bed two down from you with his own Skele-gro. His ribs were crushed. Mr. Potter is in the bed over there." She pointed to a pulled curtain adjacent to Hermione. "He's got a concussion, but both of them should be fine." Hermione remembered the Cruciatis Curse being used on Draco and cringed. She didn't think that Blaise was powerful enough to break bones with a forbidden curse; she made a note not to underestimate his evil again.

"They're also asleep, so you will have to wait to speak with them. However, Headmistress McGonagall would like to thank and update you all. She will be down around dinner time."

Thank them, not me. I helped Harry, like always. If I hadn't gotten taken, they wouldn't be hurt.

She took one last look around and felt miserable. She hurt all over and felt responsible for them all being here, now.

When McGonagall was on her way, Harry and Draco's curtains were opened and Hermione could finally see the damage the Dark Mass had inflicted on them. The right side of Harry's face was bruised and swollen and his lip had a deep cut in it. He smiled at Hermione, then winced because it hurt. Draco was shirtless with a beige bandage wrapped around his abdomen. Hermione could see bruising peeking out from the top and bottom of the bandage and she felt tears coming. He looked at her with confusion on his face. She pointed to the bandage and the left side of his mouth cocked up into a small smirk.

"My love, if it wasn't for you, I would be dead." He was trying to keep the pain out of his voice, and it worked for the most part.

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be hurt in the first place." She replied.

"Hermione," Harry chimed in now, "your quick thinking is what saved both of our lives." He motioned to he and Draco and Hermione gave an indignant snort. "I'm serious, Hermione. When I was knocked out, your quickness got me out of there. You put me on my broom, you saved my life. You put yourself in danger to help a friend. You were willing to die for me, for our community. Hermione, I owe you."

"We all do." McGonagall had quietly entered the wing and the three of them turned to her.

"Headmistress, I-?" Hermione started, but the Headmistress silenced her with a hand.

"Ms. Granger, hearing the nights events and having captured the self proclaimed 'Master' of the Dark Mass instead of killing him, I have to commend you and thank you for your quick thinking and swift action. Because Zambini was captured and not killed we can now question him before the Dementors administer their kiss. Further more, due to their leader being arrested, the rest of the Dark Mass has surrendered; this means lives were spared instead of lost. Hermione, that is because of you." Hermione felt her face flush. "And, of course Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy fought valiantly as well. We will not forget that." She smiled.

"How many lives were lost, Headmistress?" Harry spoke and McGonagall's expression changed almost instantly.

"20, from what we've counted so far. That's just on our side, though. There will me more I expect. Not as many as last time, and Azkaban will be filled to the brim this go round." Hermione felt a pit in her stomach and she could tell Harry felt the same thing. Draco already looked as if he was in pain, so she couldn't read his expression entirely.

McGonagall told them all to get rest and that tomorrow, when everything was cleaned up and all of the dead were accounted for, there would be a large feast. Then they were all free to go home on the train the next morning.

When she left, Madam Pomfrey went with her to tend to the other injured who hadn't made their way to the stark white infirmary yet. Draco took this opportunity to gingerly get out of his bed and snuggle up next to Hermione in his. He laid his head on his shoulder and they slept that way until the next day.

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