Authors Note: Sorry for the delay. I hope this lovely long chapter makes up for it slightly. This is only really Half of one day (unlike previous chapters where it has been an entire day) as this half reached the 10,000 word limit I decided it might be best to break it into two.
Chapter
21 – A Cultural Experience (Part 1)
Saturday 8th of August
Hermione awoke to soft voices coming from the sitting room. It took a moment for her to place what it was – the muggle news. She climbed out of bed and moved to the doorway joining her bedroom with her sitting room and looked out. Sure enough, there was Draco sitting on the couch, cuddled under the blanked that served as his bedding, absorbed in the morning news.
She watched him for a moment in absolute fascination. A pure blooded wizard, sitting comfortably in a muggle home, watching the muggle news. It still seemed slightly surreal to her – especially since that pure blooded wizard was Draco MALFOY.
He stretched both arms above his head and caught sight of her standing in the doorway.
"Finally" he said arrogantly.
"I seem to recall you not wanting to get out of bed early on a Saturday either" she replied tensely to his tone.
"I don't" he agreed "But I thought that on the eve of such an important.." he hesitated and then screwed his face up "Mission – it would be best to see whether there has been any dark activity".
"And has there?" she asked moving into the room and taking a seat on the end of the couch in front of the TV.
"Things here and there that could be Death Eater activities – but also possibly just really stupid Muggles", the last was said with a sarcastic twist to his lips that Hermione had come to know throughout years of Hogwarts schooling.
"Oh?" she asked pretending to ignore the sarcasm and disdain for her kind that was streaming from him.
"Someone died after falling off a building" he said
"It happens" she responded unsure whether that was all he was referring to.
"I don't know how anyone falls off a building?" he asked turning to look at her.
"It seems to happen more often than you think" she countered.
"So you don't think its Death Eaters throwing them off?" he asked. She hesitated.
"Them?" she asked picking up on his use of a plural.
"Oh? Didn't I mention that? There's been a number of them, the authorities are beginning to think it's a little suspicious" he announced.
"Who?" she asked suddenly intrigued.
"A member of the Labor party – whatever that is – he sounded fairly important in muggle circles though.." he stopped when he noticed Hermione gasp.
"What? Who is he?" he asked clearly unsure what the significance was.
"The Labor party is currently ruling in parliament" she said in response.
"What is Parliament?" he asked looking completely puzzled.
"Oh my" she breathed quietly "Who else?"
"Some high up minister of a church – not sure of his name – Bishop something or other and a guard from Buckingham palace. They said there has been 8 more, however their names had yet to be released"
"Oh my goodness" said Hermione quietly "So they've attacked the Royals, the parliament, the church and then some civilians. Whoever it is, is trying to show that no one is safe"
"I thought so too" he agreed sobrely.
"But why make them look like they've fallen off buildings?" she wondered
"Classic Death Eater ploy. The impact normally hides that fact that the person was dead before they fell" said Draco grimly.
"Oh" replied Hermione feeling sick to her stomach "And why haven't we heard anything about this before now?"
"They said that they were unsure of any link between each one, but now they have solid evidence that the same person is behind all the attacks"
"How?" asked Hermione.
"Something called DNA?" he responded.
"DNA is like a signature, everyone has a different DNA and its imprint is in every single one of our cells. Muggles use it all the time for cases like this" she said absently still watching the news as they showed the taped off scene in one of the streets of London.
She looked over at Draco when he didn't respond he was looking at her strangely.
"Muggles" he said in approval, almost mimicking how Arthur Weasley spoke of them when he discovered something new they had invented.
The door opened at that moment and Leigh poked his head in.
"Morning" he said as he made his way to the couch and settled in "What are you doing?"
"Watching the news" answered Hermione and he nodded.
"Anything interesting?" he asked and they filled him in about the case that Draco had seen. He seemed fairly concerned that Wizards would take to harming people who couldn't defend themselves with magic. Draco laughed sardonically and said that for Death Eaters, it was almost a sport.
Once the rest of the news had finished and nothing of any further significance had come to light, the three of them headed down stairs for breakfast.
--
At Breakfast the five members of the Granger household discussed the latest case on the news that had Hermione and Draco so worried.
"I had heard people around the office discussing that yesterday. One of the Solicitors in Criminal investigations knew one of the victims" said David after taking a long sip of coffee.
"Do you know who he was?" asked Draco interestedly.
"I haven't asked around all that much, but I did hear Eric say that he was involved in one of the large robotics Companies – Bleeding edge type development"
"Robots?" asked Draco in disbelief.
"Maybe, Robotics control a lot of things as well as actual Robots"
"What on earth would the Death Eaters want with Robots?" asked Leigh looking puzzled.
"Your guess is as good as mine" agreed David.
"Whatever it is, you can bet your last dollar, it won't be for the good of muggle kind" said Draco darkly.
A few minutes of silence ensured before Georgina interrupted brightly, obviously trying to change the subject.
"So Honey, You never did tell us which subjects you chose yesterday at School"
Leigh looked up from his plate of Bacon and eggs in curiosity and even David looked over the top of his coffee cup in anticipation of the answer.
"Oh, um.. just Business and English and legal studies.. those type of things" said Hermione feeling a little flustered, truth be told she hadn't thought about that form since she had dropped it in the box yesterday.
"Have you made any further decisions on attending? I'm having coffee with Jill Simmonds today, and I'm sure she would love to help get the process started" Georgina replied, mentioning the mistress of admissions of St. James, a friend of her mother's since College.
"Mu-um" whined Hermione petulantly.
"I know I know. Its your decision and you have until the 1st of September to make it, I just thought I'd ask" she answered quickly when she looked at Hermione's face.
"OK" agreed Hermione.
"So have you thought about it?" asked Georgina after a slight pause.
Hermione sighed. Her mother was not going to drop this easily "Of course I've thought about it. It's a very hard decision to make though. I like St. James, but I also like Hogwarts. They're both so different that its hard to compare the two.. apples and oranges"
David nodded in agreement and then returned his gaze to the paper in front of him. Georgina obviously wanted to continue the discussion, but when Hermione pulled a paper towards her she relented and let the topic drop, instead turning to Draco and enquiring about his plans for next year. Hermione smiled when she heard Draco choke on his sip of coffee.
Hermione felt a brief warmth at her neck and absently held the silver medallion on her necklace between two of her fingers as she read. A moment later the doorbell rang and she jumped realising that her wards had triggered and she hadn't even noticed.
Cursing herself she ran, followed by Draco, to the front door and peered out.
There on the doorstep was Tonks, with her familiar vibrant pink hair and mischievious smile.
"I can see you two!" she called cheekily as they looked out at her and they both sighed in relief and hurried to open the door.
"Tonks! What are you doing here?" exclaimed Hermione.
"I came to update you on the Harry situation" said Tonks stepping into the house and following the teens through to the breakfast table.
"Nymphadora!" greeted Georgina cheerily as Tonks walked into the room. David waved towards a chair for her, and Sophia arrived with a steaming pot of coffee, and in short order, Tonks was settled comfortably at the table with a hot drink.
"What brings you here today?" asked David after she'd placed her coffee back on the table.
Tonks sighed and rolled her eyes before beginning to speak "I tried one last ditch effort this morning to convince Harry not to go. I've been trying not to push him too hard, because I don't want him to get suspiscious of me or anything, but this morning I thought it was time to try a little harder. He didn't go for it"
Hermione sighed as if she knew that would happen.
"So I had to pretend that I didn't know what he's planning – as are the rest of the order even though Dung has been keeping us all apprised of what is being planned, but I relayed your message again and told him that Voldemort knows about it. He got angry at me and told me to stop listening to you, Hermione"
"I never really expected him to give up" agreed Hermione.
"Me either" said Draco "He's as hard headed as… well I don't know what"
"Do you have any further information for us?" asked Hermione after a moment.
"I haven't heard much more than I've already passed on. Dung has been working with McGonagall to build a contingency plan, but the rest of us have only really been told to be at Headquarters tonight. I don't think anyone even knows that it's the National Gallery where we'll be sent – I've kept that nice and quiet and haven't let on that I know about it"
"Good idea" agreed Draco "You'd only need Potter to get wind of that and he'd be against you as well"
"Well.. I can't say that he's not already" said Tonks looking guilty for a moment "I happened to mention to Molly yesterday, in Harry's hearing, How brave Hermione had been in capturing that death eater on Thursday night, Molly wholeheartedly agreed and we were discussing how mature and responsible the war has made the next generation of wizards and witches, when Harry burst into the room saying that you were anything but mature and responsible in running off chasing Death Eaters on your own"
Hermione stared in shock at Tonks. She knew Harry was having trouble dealing with the people around him being in danger all of the time, but really he was taking this a tad too far.
"He was in a right fit about it all. Says that you should let the order deal with these things – Mature responsible wizards, and not run around using hairbrained plans" at which Draco snorted loudly into his coffee cup "to Capture death eaters".
"How dare he accuse me of using hairbrained plans! Its HIS plans that were hairbrained and never worked! And he dares to call my Logical Plans Hairbrained! The amount of times I've saved his –"
"Hermione!" called Georgina
"Sorry Ass! I can't begin to –"
"Hermione!" said Georgina again
"Count how many times I've pulled his scrawny-"
"Hermione!!" exclaimed Georgina, pulling Hermione up short.
"What!" Exclaimed Hermione in frustration at her mother.
"We know all this" Georgina said softly "You're the logical, Intelligent part of the machine, we know. But you have to ignore him, there is nothing you can do about it. There are always going to be people who will want to protect you even when you don't need or want protection. All you can do, is grin and bear it, and in the mean time, you go off and save their.. " she paused "Sorry asses, once again"
Tonks plonked her empty coffee cup on the table with a thud.
"Wonderful Coffee, but really must run. I don't want Harry to wonder where I've gotten to"
Hermione saw tonks out while the remainder of the family continued to discuss Harry and the trip to the National Gallery.
"So the Order is fully aware" said Georgina as Hermione returned to the table.
"That means that Harry should be safe enough-" began David.
"I wouldn't say that" said Draco looking up from the spoon he'd been playing with "As much as I'd hate to admit it, The Order are … They're too good.. the deatheaters use hexes and curses that the Order probably wouldn't even know existed"
"So what do you recommend is the solution?" asked David
"We still have to go. I've grown up surrounded by these spells, I can recognise them and disarm them without significant danger to myself, however if someone who has never seen one before started playing with them, I don't know what the results might be"
David nodded in understanding.
"If Potter were to venture into the hall tonight and I haven't been through to clear it out, I highly doubt he'd come out alive" said Draco darkly.
With those dark worries infusing their thoughts, the five of them finished up their breakfast and made their way out of the room in a depressed, thoughtful silence. The hallways that had come to ring with teenaged chatter and laughter were silent as they all made their way to their own rooms to get ready for the day.
----
Hermione had showered and dressed and was just brushing her hair when she heard the boys footsteps on the wooden floors outside her room. They were talking in low voices and she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she was sure they were discussing the poor muggles that had been thrown off random buildings around the City.
"Hermione?" called Leigh as they both walked into the sitting room, as if it were theirs. She had come to get used to this over the past few weeks, most times, it really did seem like all of them owned this room – it was no longer just hers – it was where they all retired to when they needed a rest, some time alone or to plan their next activity.
"Yes?" she called poking her head around the door.
"We just heard from your dad on his way out" began Draco but he was looking towards Leigh, obviously hoping Leigh would take over. When he made no effort to, Draco sighed and continued "He said they've found another body".
Hermione dropped the brush on the dresser and hurried out to the sitting room "Who?" she asked anxiously.
"The Curator of the National Gallery" said Draco tonelessly.
"No! When?"
"They've just reported it. Said that people saw him fall from the top of a building just after 7:30 this morning"
"In daylight?" she asked in disbelief.
"They're getting confident" said Leigh worriedly
"Or desperate" disagreed Draco.
"Yes. I think they're getting desperate" agreed Hermione.
"But why the Curator?" asked Leigh
"They're trying to send a message – and if I don't miss my guess, the intended recipient is Potter" said Draco and Hermione had to marvel at his insight. It sounded logical – touch people that Harry would have grown up thinking untouchable. It would scare him to begin with, and perhaps make his own courage waiver when the time came to face the Death Eaters.
"It's a scare campaign" agreed Hermione.
"So what do we do?" asked Leigh
"What can we do?" asked Hermione dissolutely
"Well, firstly we'll save Potter's butt in the Museum this afternoon, then we'll start on the Death Eater campaign. One thing at a time" said Draco sinking heavily into his usual spot on the couch.
"Is the Gallery closed?" asked Hermione suddenly thinking that it might be a crime scene.
"No, this time they got inventive and threw the Curator off of a 22 Storey building in the central business District. Obviously they didn't see any fun in throwing him off the top of the three storey Art Gallery roof – wouldn't do enough damage"
"Oh" said Hermione feeling ill again.
At that moment Hermione felt the necklace under her clothes heat so that it almost burnt her skin. She looked at the boys in alarm "Someone has just crossed the wards, or by the feel of my necklace, more than one someone" she said feeling a tinge of fear creep up on her. When Tonks arrived the wards only warmed a little, and when the random delivery men and women who entered and left the property every day came and went it stayed completely cold. It seemed to warm in proportion to a visitors magical ability. Whomever had just entered was extremely powerful.
Draco had his wand out almost as fast as Hermione, and through years of practicing and honing his skills, he had performed the analysis spells long before she could. "Front Gate" he bit out as he led the three of them towards the stairs to the lower floors.
They bundled up one face above the other at the lounge room window as they had done a week ago when Tonks had first appeared and cautiously peeked out.
"Pavarti and Vicky" she said with a sense of relief noticing the familiar silouette of her dorm mate and the noticeably taller Vicky next to her.
"Pavarti! She must be incredibly strong Magically! I never knew!" said Hermione in disbelief.
"Why do you say that?" asked Draco Dubiously.
"The pendant almost burnt me" said Hermione pulling the Silver crest out of from under her t-shirt and checking to see that it hadn't left a mark on her skin.
"Branded by the Malfoy Crest, you would have loved THAT" said Draco gleefully.
"Oi. So would have you" she said darkly. He fell into silence abruptly, but she could see a grin breaking through his expression every now and then.
"Uh Guys, sorry to break up the your little brother-sister bickering thing, but we have guests" said Leigh looking between the smug Draco and Hermione who was still rubbing her neck through the layers of cloth now covering the pendant again.
The three of them made their way into the foyer just as Pavarti and Vicky rang the doorbell.
Hermione opened the door for them and invited the two of them in.
"Did we plan for you to come over here today?" asked Hermione of the two girls as they followed Leigh and Draco up the stairs towards "their" sitting room.
"No No. I remembered we said we'd meet for lunch today, but I convinced Vicky to take me into the city" said Pavarti looking goggle eyed around the house "We thought that you were on our way so we'd drop in and see if you wanted to come"
"Wow!" Exclaimed Pavarti as she stepped into the sitting room. Draco and Leigh both strode over to their normal seats on the couch and looked back as the others hesitated.
Pavarti and Vicky sat cross-legged on the floor and Hermione plopped down between the boys in Her usual spot.
"So, we're heading in to town" said Pavarti "We thought You guys might like to come"
"Well.. " said Hermione looking to Leigh before responding "We're heading in to the National Gallery later"
"Are you?" asked Pavarti "What for?"
"er... There's an exhibit that we want to see"
"Duh. Which one?" responded Pavarti looking keenly interested. Hermione felt tension rising in her, she hadn't counted on this.
"The umm.. the Portland Vase" said Hermione wondering at how tense she felt revealing that.
"I'd love to see that! Can we come too?" asked Vicky.
Hermione shared a worried look with Draco and then sighed.
"We're not going in until late though, its open tonight until 10" said Draco.
"That will work out well then, we'll shop today and then head in to the National Gallery later" said Pavarti excitedly.
At 5pm, after hours of shopping and lunch in Oxford street, the five of them stood outside the national gallery looking up at the tall stone pillars at the entrance.
"Are we going in? or are we going to stand out here all night?" asked Pavarti looking apprehensively at Hermione, Draco and Leigh who were all hesitating about going in.
"Pavarti, Are you sure you want to come in?" said Hermione looking to where her friend was standing.
"Why?" she asked suddenly looking worried.
"Well, Its just that.. there may be Death Eaters in there" said Draco sarcastically from beside Leigh.
"What!?" Exclaimed Pavarti looking between Draco and Hermione.
"We're not sure.. but you see there's a possibility that there will be some lurking around" agreed Hermione.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" she asked stunned.
"Well its been kind of a secret. In case you haven't noticed, I've been trying to talk you out of coming all afternoon"
"I have noticed" agreed Pavarti looking worriedly up at the imposing building.
"I really think you should go home" said Draco looking over at the dark skinned girl as she looked up at the building hesitantly.
"Don't you think I can handle it Malfoy?" she asked rounding on him.
"Come on. You're a Gryffindor. All Bravery and no Brains" he said insultingly.
"So is Hermione" argued Pavarti.
"Pavarti, We honestly don't know what we'll find in there. It might be best if you go home" agreed Hermione.
"No" she stated suddenly.
"Neither of you think I can do this" she argued "I was in Dumbledore's army! And I've worked really hard on my spells over the holidays. I'm as strong as either of you"
"Pavarti, Its not about strength" said Hermione trying to placate her friend.
"It sure as hell is" bit out Draco "and no you're not strong enough"
"You think I don't know what I'm getting myself in for? Is that it?" she asked and when Draco tipped his head in her direction she continued "I know alright. Our Aunt Abhilasha was murdered by Death Eaters 3 months ago for being a 'Muggle lover'. I've been practicing for this. Any Death Eater I meet will regret the day their mother ever laid eyes on their father" she said fiercely and in that moment, Hermione saw true strength in her friend.
"Very Well" agreed Draco after appraising Pavarti for a moment "I believe you may be strong enough"
A pleased smile spread over Pavarti's features.
"But you are still not coming" Draco said a moment later.
"Yes she is" argued Hermione turning to face the blonde.
"Do you want to get her killed?" asked Draco stubbornly looking Hermione in the eye commandingly.
"Do you want to know who you're starting to sound like?" she asked and he raised one eyebrow "Harry".
"I do not sound like Potter" he argued.
"Yes you do. All of this, you can't come for your own good – starting to sound familiar?"
Draco huffed and stared at the building for a few moments in silence.
"Okay" he agreed suddenly. He turned to Pavarti and nodded to her. Her smile bloomed again in pride. A second later, after a quick glance around the square, he vanished under the invisibility cloak.
"Leigh, you keep Vicky close" said Hermione adapting plans as they began to walk up the steps.
"Pavarti, your first job is to protect Leigh and Vicky, worry about Draco or I secondly, Okay?"
"Okay" she agreed.
They walked through the grand doorway and Hermione felt the warmth from the sun disappear as if a wave of cold had washed over her.
"Can you kill?" asked Draco coldly from somewhere to Hermione's left. Hermione and Pavarti both shivered at his tone as they walked passed the little concierge desk in the front entrance.
"No" said Hermione straight away, Pavarti hesitated "If I have to" she answered. Hermione looked at her friend with new eyes.
"Granger, I don't want you doing anything stupid then. Stay close to me and keep an eye out for anyone you think may be familiar. Chances are there are death eater spies in the building.
"Patil, If I tell you to kill, can you kill?" he asked. Pavarti swallowed nervously.
"Probably not" She agreed.
"Right, I'll have to do it then" he answered striding along off to their left.
"Hermione has my wand, so she can't cast anything, You'll have to keep an eye on her in case she gets into trouble" said Draco a moment later to Pavarti. Pavarti looked startled and Hermione explained that Draco's wand was probably being monitored by the Death eaters. Pavarti suddenly looked a little ill, realising that of the five of them she was the only one armed and not under an invisibility cloak.
They walked for another 15 minutes before they reached the hall of antiquities and entered to see the Portland vase sitting proudly on a pedestal in the middle of the room.
"There it is" said Pavarti in awe "The Portland vase"
"It also contains a part of Voldemort's soul" said Hermione quietly to which Pavarti looked at her wide eyed.
"But it's a muggle artefact" said Pavarti in a strangled voice.
"Yes and Voldemort is part muggle - His father's side" said Hermione
"No!' exclaimed Pavarti loudly, causing a few of the nearby muggles to turn and look at her.
"Its true" confirmed Draco's voice quietly from beside them.
"How did YOU find out?" asked Hermione in disbelief.
"Overheard a conversation when I was a kid" said Draco "Lucky to be here really, if anyone knew that I know that little tidbit….."
Hermione took a deep breath and looked around at the muggles filtering around the hall.
"Pavarti, Take Vicky and circle that way, don't act on anything, just take note of any hexes or jinxes" she directed and Pavarti and Vicky began walking around the hall in one direction.
"Leigh, You come with me. Draco?" she asked. There was no response. She imagined he had wandered off by now.
"Ok, lets go" she said to Leigh and they began to circle the opposite way around the hall.
They'd been investigating every shelf and artefact for perhaps 10 minutes when Hermione's head whipped around at the sound of an all too familiar voice telling people to get out of his way.
The familiar platinum blonde hair stood out from a mile away and the aristocratic bearing of the individual in question named them immediately. Lucius Malfoy.
"Oh shit" said Hermione under her breath. Leigh looked at her in alarm. She had been using a few choice curse words in extreme situations recently, but it was still odd to hear Hermione swearing.
"What?" he asked quietly matching her tone.
"That's Draco's Dad" she said trying to subtly point with her head.
"And he's one of .. them?" asked Leigh worriedly.
"Oh boy yes, he's one of them" she agreed.
"uh oh" said Leigh.
"What?" asked Hermione worriedly.
"He's coming this way" he said urgently.
"Perhaps he hasn't seen us" she said.
"Maybe" Leigh agreed
"Do something" she exclaimed
"Like what?" he asked.
Without a further thought she stepped into him and pressed her body to his and began to kiss him passionately.
Leigh took a moment to respond, but after a few seconds she was in pure heaven. He pulled her closer still and wrapped both arms around her back, putting every thought out of her head.
For seconds they continued to kiss slowly, and then Leigh pressed his tongue to her lips, forcing the kiss to deepen. She arched back slightly against his arm to allow a better angle and fell into pure bliss. In that instant the world outside of the two of them ceased to exist.
"Miss Granger" said a derisive arrogant voice from right behind them. Hermione jumped and turned in a hurry, having until that moment, completely forgotten the reason she had kissed Leigh in the first place.
"I would recommend doing something about that telltale hair if you plan to avoid my notice in the future" he said with his usual arrogant smirk.
"Mis-mister Malfoy" stumbled Hermione snapping back into reality "What are you doing here?"
"I would ask the same of you" he queried coldly eying her with disdain.
"I-I saw the advertisement in the paper for the Portland vase and decided to come and view it" she said feeling slightly panicky. She couldn't see Pavarti anywhere, and she didn't exactly know where Draco was. She didn't hold her own wand – Draco had hers – and she couldn't use his for fear of the ministry – what was she to do?
"I see" he began to slip his wand from his sleeve. Hermione began to feel Leigh tense beside her – she didn't know what he would do if Lucius actually drew the wand, but it would be best if none of them found out.
"Mister Malfoy, Not around the muggles!" she said desperately looking significantly around the room at the number of muggles present.
He looked at her for a few seconds and then allowed the wand to slip back out of sight.
"Very well" he agreed coldly "But, I suggest that you leave"
"Why? It is, as far as I know, still a free country, and I came here to see the vase, which I still have not viewed" she argued stubbornly.
"Miss Granger. Get out of my sight" he said Venemously. Hermione felt intimidated by the tone, but weeks of living with Draco had given her some insight, he was afraid of something, perhaps that she would discover his purpose for being here?
"What ARE you doing here Mister Malfoy?" she asked again piercing him with her now unwavering gaze.
"What?" He argued caught off guard at the rather abrupt change in topic.
"What are you doing here? This is a Muggle Gallery, a place without magic. I would imagine that you would feel tainted to be in such a place" she argued coldly and she could feel the waves of anger wash over her as his expression changed to one of threat, nevertheless she continued on "Perhaps it is you who should Leave Mr. Malfoy. You should know better than anyone, that YOU are the one who does not fit in here".
"If only you knew what was in this room Mudblood" he stated coldly to her .
She stiffened noticeably at the insult and drew herself up "I resent being called a Mudblood in a Muggle building, and how dare you insinuate that I am so naïve as to be unfamiliar with the currents within the magical world to believe that you would be here for any other reason than some type of dark magic"
He actually laughed at that statement. During the distraction Hermione felt an invisible touch on her shoulder and noticed that Pavarti was crouched beside a statue directly behind Lucius. Thankfully her friends had arrived.
She lifted her head to continue the argument but noticed again that Lucius was looking at her strangely.
"What are you wearing?" he asked abruptly stepping forward and reaching towards her throat. Hermione had a moment of panic and tried in vain to fight him off, but he tugged sharply at the necklace around her throat and it came off in his hand.
She felt a moment of dread as he drew it up towards him "Could this be a wizard's crest? So the mudblood has a boyfriend, How sweet" he stated swinging the necklace on his fingers "No guesses as to who, Potter I assume?"
A moment later he swung the crest into his hand and peered closely at it. "Malfoy!" he all but screamed as he looked down at the silver symbol on his palm.
"Where did you get this?" He demanded stepping towards her threateningly "I don't believe this" he gasped standing almost nose to nose with her.
"I uh, I picked it up off the ground one day" she said shaking slightly under the man's intimidating glare.
"Tell me the TRUTH!" he all but bellowed.
"I found it in a junk shop!" she exclaimed
"I don't believe you" he stated coldly stepping back slightly as he noticed the surrounding muggles eyeing them suspiciously.
Hermione saw the tip of his wand protruding from his sleeve again and in an instant it was in his hand and pressed close between them. Where were Pavarti and Draco and Leigh? She really needed them at the moment – even just as a distraction.
"My-My boyfriend gave it to me!" she blurted hurriedly and Lucius Malfoy reeled back in shock.
"No" he breathed in despair "No"
Now that Hermione was free from his intimidating glare she gathered herself and looked for her friends, Leigh was gesturing for her at the doorway frantically and she took one look at the man in front of her and decided to take her chances "I was only joking" she stated and she sped past him and out into the corridor. Two steps past the door she was reefed backwards, almost falling on her butt, and pulled tightly against a muscular chest, a filmy fabric passing instantly over her head.
"I hope you know what you've done" muttered Draco's voice close to her ear.
Trying to control her breathing Hermione noticed that her friends were all hidden throughout the hall and before another moment passed Lucius Malfoy charged into the hall like a wounded bull. His face was red, his breathing was rasping and his eyes had an angry glint to them. Looking both directions in a hurry, he stormed off down the hallway in the direction of the Main Foyer and Hermione felt herself take a deep calming breath for the first time since he had appeared in the Hall of Antiquities.
Once the angry man had vanished around the corner the invisibility cloak was pulled off of her and she turned to find an incredibly indignant Draco.
"Do you know what you've done?" he asked angrily.
"What? What else could I have done?" She asked
"I don't know! But you virtually handed my location to him" he said suddenly deflating.
"I didn't. He doesn't know where you are" she argued.
"A few logical thoughts and he'll work it out" Draco stated.
"Well it can't be helped now. Lets finish what we came for and get out of here" she said glancing back towards the vase. He place was emptying quickly of muggles and within moments it was only the five of them left in the hall.
"Vicky, You stay just inside the doorway and alert us if you see my Father coming back" said Draco pointing to a niche just near the door.
"Ok" she agreed and folded herself down into the opening.
"Can I have my wand back?" asked Hermione drawing a rather shaky breath.
"No" argued Draco
"Why not?" she asked
"Because I need it" he stated.
"No more than I do" she argued.
After several minutes of bickering, Draco reluctantly handed over the wand and disappeared back under the invisibility cloak.
They made their way forward towards the vase slowly scanning the area for jinxes and curses as they went.
"There's something wrong" said Draco grimly from beside Hermione. Leigh and Hermione both looked in the direction of his voice in worry.
"Why is that?" asked Leigh wondering.
"I can't sense anything amiss" agreed Hermione.
"That's precisely the problem" said Draco quietly "There's nothing to be found. Are you SURE that this is the right place?"
"Well we had confirmation in the form of your father, in case you've forgotten" said Hermione sarcastically.
"Then why is there nothing here? Not even a tripping hex"
"I don't know. Perhaps the order-" trailed off Hermione not really believing that order would have been through and cleared the place of hexes without it alerting Voldemort.
"I highly doubt it" said Draco as if reading her thoughts.
"Hermione! The Blonde man's coming back" cried Vicky form her place near the doorway.
Hermione nodded and sent Vicky and Leigh to hide behind a solid display case at the back of the hall, with instructions to stay out of the way. She realised that without the distraction and advantage of the extra muggles in the room, she'd be in more danger than ever.
She squeezed herself down next to Pavarti beside a statue as Lucius strode into the room commandingly.
Beside him was a little man in a concierge outfit and they were talking.
"They haven't left sir, I've been keeping an eye out for them" he squeaked immaturely as the point of Lucius wand come to rest between the man's eyes.
"If I find you've lied to me, your life will not be worth living" snarled Lucius angrily.
"Honestly sir! They must still be in here" he squeaked in fear. Lucius removed the tip of his wand and pushed the smaller man away from him as if he was contaminating the air.
"Right" agreed Lucius looking around the room once again "And you are sure there were just the four of them? Two girls and two boys?"
"Yes sir, most positive" he agreed looking worriedly over at the man holding his wand out in front of him.
"Very well. Return to your post. Alert me if any further visitors arrive that match the faces in that book of yours" he said without looking at the smaller man, who scurried out in a hurry, obviously running back to the concierge desk.
Lucius walked the length of the hall looking under tables and behind statues and she held her breath as he walked passed the location where Pavarti and her were hiding, however moments later he neared the display case behind which Leigh and Vicky were hiding unarmed.
On an impulse to protect her friends, Hermione leaped to her feet and ventured out from the relatively safety of her hiding place.
"Looking for me?" she called evenly.
Lucius spun on his heel and looked heatedly at Hermione as she stood confidently, wand leisurely held in her left hand.
He hesitated only a second longer before sending a magnified stunner directly at her. Easily blocking the spell with a flick of her wand she laughed.
"Is that the best you can do, a cold heartless death eater, and all he can conjure are stunners?" she teased.
"Where are you friends?" he asked smoothly, stalking towards her. Hermione continued to side step as she'd been taught in Dumbledore;s army, until the two of them were circling in the middle of the hall.
"That's for me to know and you to find out" said Hermione gaily.
"I've had enough of your childish games Mudblood. You will begin answering my questions or you will regret it when you become my prisoner"
"Who says that I'll ever become your prisoner?" argued Hermione, deflecting another spell that came sailing her way.
"Don't try my patience" he replied stepping again and sending a bright red unrecognisable spell towards her. She deflected it back to him, causing him to jump sharply sideways.
"Who gave you that necklace?" he shouted as he sent another bright red spell hurtling towards her.
"As I said, I found it" she replied deflecting and sending a spell of her own in return, causing him to shield.
"Then you do not know where my son is?" he demanded sending another spell flying towards her.
"Not right at this moment" she answered truthfully.
"Then you have seen him" said Lucius deflecting another one of her spells.
"At school. June 3rd if I recall, when he tried to kill the headmaster" she answered sending another spell expertly toward him.
"And since?" he demanded deflecting her own spell back on her. She stepped sideways nimbly and reacted with a stunner of her own.
"Why are you here?" she asked suddenly changing the topic.
"So you won't answer my question mudblood" said Lucius with an evil glint in his eye.
"No I have not seen him since, Now answer my question" she answered back, step, deflect, cast. It was becoming a pattern.
"No" he responded sending a mauve looking spell her direction. She deflected it easily and watched as it sailed off towards a priceless antique and fizzled before it arrived.
Hermione noticed that they had completed a full circle and a half from where they were originally standing and was happy to note that Pavarti had taken the opportunity of being presented Lucius unprotected back, to stand and prepare to cast a spell.
"Why not?" asked Hermione keeping his attention.
"A worthless mudblood such as yourself is not entitled to ask information of a pure blood such as myself" he said arrogantly. Step, cast, Deflect.
Hermione laughed "Your dark lord has strange ideals for someone who was born to a muggle father himself"
Lucius drew himself up in indignation and began to bluster, colour growing in his cheeks and a barely controlled anger shining in his eyes.
"Now Pavarti!" cried Hermione and a well aimed stunner hit Lucius directly between the shoulder blades.
"Well done!" called Hermione as Lucius dropped to the floor.
Pavarti climbed out from behind the display case and looked over her handiwork, tying the limp body neatly in ropes and then relieving the numb fingers of their wand.
A small gasp drew Hermione's attention "Oh my" said Pavarti looking around the room with wide eyes "I think you should see this Hermione".
Hermione took the wand from Pavarti's outstretched hand and looked around the room, suddenly it was lit up with lattices and traces of magic of every type and colour – there were spells everywhere! Obviously tied only to this single wand.
"Draco" she asked into the empty space. A second later he appeared from under the invisibility cloak and looked at her, he looked a little sheepish.
"Sorry, I couldn't get a clear shot at him for the first lap and by the time I got organised Pavarti was there anyway" he answered.
"I wasn't expecting you to do anything! You can't use your wand anyway!" exclaimed Hermione.
"For him, I would have made an exception" said Draco pushing his polished shoe sharply into Lucius side.
"You would have bought dozens of death eaters down on us" said Hermione in exasperation. Draco just shrugged and looked poisonously down at his father.
"So what was the commotion about?" he asked bringing them back to the original topic. Vicky and Leigh had also emerged from their hiding places by now and were looking curiously at Pavarti as she once again looked around the room with wide eyes.
"Take a look at this" said Hermione plucking the wand from Pavarti's grip and handing it over. Draco breathed in a gasp as he took in the multicoloured and multilayered spells around the room.
"My God" he breathed as he spun slowly "Its going to take hours to undo all of these"
"I know" agreed Hermione "No wonder we couldn't see them though. They must be keyed to your fathers wand"
"That's true" agreed Draco "Lets just hope that he's the only one that worked at the protections here then"
"OK, You guys keep an eye out, and I'll start on the spells, I recognise most of them already" he said flipping the invisibility cloak back over his shoulders.
Hermione, Vicky, Leigh and Pavarti sat quietly in the middle of the room as they heard Draco making his way around the room removing spell after spell with varied results – sometimes only a flash of vibrant light, and other times bangs or smoke and flames.
The clock was sliding quickly towards 8pm and Hermione was beginning to worry that they would be found before they could complete the cleansing.
"Almost done" said Draco uncovering himself for a minute and taking a deep breath. He looked down on the face of the still prone form of Lucius and in a fit of pique drew back his foot and planted a solid kick to his side. With a satisfied smile he placed his own wand in his fathers fingers and then disappeared again under the cloak.
"What was that about?" asked Pavarti looking in confusion at the place where Draco had disappeared.
"Its actually quite a good idea" said Hermione in admiration "I never even thought of it".
"What?" asked Leigh
"Well, now Draco can use Lucius wand for as long as he wants tonight and no one from the ministry will track him, but as soon as Lucius uses Draco's wand, he'll draw dozens of death eaters. Lets hope they cast first and ask questions later" said Hermione with a small smile.
"One more" came Draco's grim voice from the other side of the room "One of my father's favourites"
Vicky tilted her head slightly and tensed "There's people coming" she said worriedly. Hermione listened intently for a moment and picked out a few men's voices.
"Draco?" she called
"here" replied the disembodied voice from near the vase.
"Are you done?" she asked.
"No. Not yet. Distract them – I can't stop now!" he exclaimed.
"You two get back behind that display case" exclaimed Hermione worriedly to Leigh and Vicky "Pavarti, You're with me"
The two of them stood side by side between Draco and the entry to the hall and prepared themselves.
As the four men in National Gallery uniforms entered the main hall Hermione heard Pavarti cast a wide area shield. Hermione marvelled at the ease with which the girl did it, it was one of the spells that no one but the strongest of wizards could ever pull off.
"Expelliamus" called one of the wizards loudly shooting a disarming hex at them, the spell deflected silently of Pavarti's shield and headed straight back at the caster, sending his wand clattering to the floor metres away from him. As he scrambled to pick up his wand, his colleagues began to look at the girls more seriously.
A series of stunners were cast at them, and then a few more alarming hexes, all of which were successfully deflected back towards the caster, sending each of the national gallery staff jumping and ducking as the spells came their way.
Eventually tiring of the deflections one of the guards decided there was obviously only one course of action remaining and yelled "Crucio!".
The red spell came whizzing towards them at alarming speeds, and both girls grabbed the other and dropped heavily to the floor as it flew through the space where they had stood a moment before.
"Oh shit" said Pavarti worriedly looking up at the smugly grinning Death Eater.
At that moment a large explosion occurred over beside the Portland vase. Hermione, along with everyone else in the room looked over and was surprised at the amount of smoke billowing around. She made to move towards the area, but Draco strode out of it – or at least his soot covered outline did.
"Done" he said proudly, covered from head to food in black soot, even his hair was the colour of Harry's.
"Are you alright?" asked Pavarti hesitantly.
"Nothing a good shower won't fix" he agreed taking a position next to them and disappearing once again under the invisibility cloak.
A stunned murmur of "Draco Malfoy" could be heard amongst the Gallery staff.
A series of sharp pops alerted everyone in the room to incoming apparition. Everyone tensed wondering which side would soon be receiving aid. With a sigh of relief Hermione saw the all too familiar face of Professor McGonagall arrive and look around in surprise.
"Miss Granger! Miss Patil!" she exclaimed in startled surprise.
"Not now professor!" exclaimed Pavarti suddenly deflecting a spell aimed at the professor's head.
Professor McGongall turned from the two girls and looked at the National Gallery staff. Behind her were Arthur Weasley, Mad-eye moody and Nymphadora Tonks.
"We will discuss this later" she said abruptly and quickly sent spells hurtling towards the four guards.
As the four order members and Hermione and Pavarti worked together to deflect the guards spells and cast their own, Mad-Eye was yelling questions over the ruckus. His most pressing concern was how on earth two teenager girls could ever manage to overcome Lucius Malfoy.
"Just Lucky I guess" panted Hermione as she jumped out of the way of a sickly looking yellow curse.
"Your lucky alright" growled Mad-eye angrily.
The sound of further pops stopped the fight for a few seconds as both sides looked toward the side from which the sound emanated. A dozen new death eaters had apparated in.
"Get the kids to safety" yelled Mad-eye "And make sure you collar the one under the invisibility cloak"
Professor McGonagall looked startled again at that and looked around the room as if trying to see Draco under the invisibility cloak. Finally sighing she tapped a brooch from her dress and handed it to Hermione "Its your task to get all your group out of here safely" she said pressing the brooch into Hermione's hand.
"But professor! They outnumber you 4 to 1" she exclaimed
"There's reinforcements on the way" replied the professor and as if to prove her right, another round of apparition pops were heard close together and around another dozen order members apparated in and joined the fray.
With a sharp shove in the direction of Leigh and Vicky, McGonagall sent her on her way. As her and Pavarti made their way around the duelling crowd of wizards, spells of all colours flew past them on all sides. They had to keep as much of an eye out for out of control spells as they did for the ones that were actually being aimed at them.
Hermione felt a sharp pain in her upper arm and looked down to notice a bleeding gash forming in her skin. Looking up in the direction that the spell must have come from, she locked eyes with a revived Lucius Malfoy.
The look he sent her was pure violence and Hermione stopped abruptly, caught like a deer in headlights.
"Keep moving" yelled Pavarti at Hermione, ducking another spell and sending another wide area shield out. Hermione marvelled at her, she must be exhausted by now and still she was able to keep creating those magnificent shields. With a small shake, Hermione stepped forward and continued towards the relative safety of the display case, sending stunners and expelliarmus spells towards Lucius the entire way, to keep him from having time to attack her again. After what felt like hours of shielding each other and alternating casting spells, Hermione and Pavarti arrived at the Display case and ducked down out of the line of fire. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hermione asked Leigh where Draco was.
"He was here a moment ago, then he said there was something that he had to do" said Leigh in worry.
"Oh no" whispered Vicky looking around the side of the display case. The other three joined her and Hermione felt her heart fall to her stomach. Draco was standing not four feet from his father, wand at the ready and a look of death in his eyes.
"I knew you were here somewhere" snarled Lucius.
"Just like I knew you'd be involved in this somehow" agreed Draco.
"The Dark lord will be immensely pleased with me when I present him with you. He was sorely disappointed when you vanished" said Lucius, almost conversationally.
"I'm sure" replied Draco. Apart from the wands that were restlessly flipping backwards and forwards in both men's hands, and the spells flying about them, they could have been having a leisurely conversation in a park.
"So, tell me, How long did you last before you ran to the Mudblood?" asked Lucius.
"What makes you think I ran to the Mudblood?" replied Draco, ducking elegantly as a purple spell whistled past his ear.
"She was wearing the Malfoy Family crest!" exclaimed Lucius, suddenly losing his poise.
"So?" asked Draco indifferently.
"I never thought you'd sink as low as falling for a mudblood" he snarled.
"Who says I fell for her?" asked Draco
"She was wearing the crest!" he exclaimed again.
"So?"
"Did you give it to her?"
"Maybe, Maybe not" replied draco with a shrug.
Lucius sighed and looked at his son quizzically "If you didn't run to her, where did you go?"
"To someone I trust" said Draco scathingly "Someone who I knew wouldn't let me down like you did"
"Who!" bellowed Lucius "You have no one such as that in your life! You're a Malfoy! We trust no one!"
"Was" said Draco and when Lucius looked at Draco in confusion he clarified "I was a Malfoy. And you WERE my father. Not any longer"
Then without even changing his stance or his even unemotional tone of voice, he lifted his wand and said clearly "Stupify"
Lucius Malfoy slumped to the ground unconscious for the second time that day. Tying the unconscious man up again, he vanished back under the invisibility cloak and proceeded back to where the four teenagers were awaiting him anxiously.
"You idiot!" exclaimed Hermione when he slid down to sit on the floor beside them all.
"Hermione! Language!" said Draco tiredly with a small smile on his face.
"Why?" she asked angrily.
"It had to be done" he replied simply "It had to be done for me to be free of him. I'm no longer a Malfoy. I'm no longer Lucius Malfoy's son. From now on, I'm just Draco".
"All well and good, but the fighting is getting a bit violent out there, You shouldn't have been out there!" Exclaimed Hermione "What if something had happened?"
"Granger, I've been trained in these situations since I was 10, do you really think that I was in any danger at all out there?":
"Only from you father" she almost shouted.
"He's no longer my father" stated draco and then he closed his eyes abruptly.
"Should we maybe try and use that Portkey Hermione?" asked Pavarti.
Peering around the side of the display case Hermione sighed. The fighting was getting rather violent, there were many people on both sides bleeding from savage curses and a few people bound and petrified sitting behind the Orders lines. Hermione was happy to note that a similar thing wasn't happening on the opposing side.
"Yes, High time to be out of here" agreed Draco. Hermione unfolded her hand from around the brooch Professor McGonagall had given her and the five of them touched a finger to it – Vicky and Leigh somewhat hesitantly.
With a sickening lurch and a pull behind their navels, the five of them vanished just as an explosive hex hit the display case they had been hiding behind.
Moments later, they landed in an unceremonious pile on a cold hard stone floor.
Leigh was the first to notice their surroundings "Where on earth are we?" he asked in disbelief.
Draco extracted himself from the pile and looked around at the room they were in.
"Hogwarts. We're at Hogwarts" he answered.
--- To be Continued ---
Authors Note: I hope I did justice to the National Gallery scenes and Lucifer, I mean Lucius, Malfoy.. In my head it looks fantastic - kind of like a movie, but getting it from there to the story is the issue, I'm sorry if my poor writing skills didn't do it justice. Anyways, as always, Feedback and Reviews are appreciated.
Next chapter - One of the "Granger" kids falls unexplainably unconscious, guest appearances by Nearly Headless Nick, Remus Lupin, Arthur Weasley and Severus Snape and there's another confrontation with Harry.. Oh Yay!