A/N: Only 1 or two chapters to go after this one! And with this being three or more years in the making, it's about time lol. Procrastinators unite!... tomorrow! XD Enjoy "Confrontations"!
Chapter 25- Confrontations
"Calm down, Hermione. It's just me!" Draco said as he caught Hermione's shoulders and squeezed, causing her echoing scream to cease. Hermione stared at Draco in surprise for a moment before she quickly moved further into his arms, hugging him as tight as she could, as if the world were ending.
"There, that's my Hermione. I've missed you! Are you okay?" Draco asked quietly into her hair as they embraced.
"I'm better now." Hermione said as she looked up into Draco's eyes. "I thought you were with your father."
"I was, but he gave me leave, deeming my performances with Pansy suitable. I am so sorry, Hermione. Lucius made me sleep with Pansy, thinking I would make her be with child to restart his Pureblood race. I never wanted to. It was the only way to insure that you stay safe and away from my father." Draco rambled until Hermione placed her index finger on his lips to quiet him.
"It's alright, Draco. I understand you did only what you felt was right. That is part of the reason I escaped was so that I could rescue you. Not the other way around." Hermione chuckled from under her drawn hood.
"You forgive me for sleeping with Pansy?"
"There is no reason to need to be forgiven. All is forgotten! I love you, Draco, and I know that you wouldn't be able to make Pansy with child, so I had nothing to worry about."
Draco gaped. "I will have you know that I am very virile and potent when unprotected." Draco said, slightly offended.
"Of that I have no doubt."
"Then why did you say what you did?"
"I said it because Pansy is unable to conceive."
"How do you know?"
"The Hogwarts Rumor Mill operators: Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil."
"And you truly believe them?"
"Pansy has been bragging about who she has been sleeping with since fifth year. She isn't pregnant yet because she obviously smart enough to think to wear condoms with her 'One-Night Stands'."
Draco moved his right hand from their embrace to cup Hermione's cheek, rubbing it softly with his thumb. Hermione leaned into the contact. "You truly forgive me?"
"Beyond a shadow of a doubt." Hermione whispered as she closed her eyes and kissed his palm, causing Draco to smile warmly. Bending down, Draco's lips searched for a long-missed kiss. As their lips met, they both heard a soft snort, causing them to break apart and look at each other in alarm. Hermione looked up at Draco, who was looking over her head towards where the sound had come from, his eyes wide in barely harnessed fear and rage.
"I was afraid of this." Said Lucius as he and Pansy emerged from one of the many shadowed corners of the dark corridor. Pansy's face a mask of fury and hatred directed towards the couple. Draco grabbed Hermione by the shoulders and pushed her behind him so as to be a human shield for her.
"Is this true, Pansy?" Lucius asked the girl standing next to him.
Pansy looked at Lucius, her mask quickly changing from hatred and rage to soul chilling fear. Nodding dumbly, Lucius sighed dramatically.
"Avada Kedavra." Lucius drawled, pointing his wand at the girl. Draco and Hermione watched as Pansy's eyes grew wide and her mouth opened in a horrified, silent scream. They stared as their former classmate fell to the ground, her eyes forever sightless.
Hermione's hand shot to her mouth to catch a gasp when Draco turned to hug her. They may not have gotten along, but no one should have their lives taken away with out just cause. Hermione began to cry softly into Draco's shoulder.
"What a pity. She was an excellent pawn. Now she is just fallen from the grace that comes with being a Pureblood." Lucius gave a dramatic sigh looking away from Pansy's body. "Ah, well, on to the next willing pureblood female." Lucius looked at Draco shielding Hermione from Lucius and Pansy's body.
"Ah, and here we have the epitome of a Pureblood, fallen from grace. Mating with a Mudblood. Draco, you have truly sunken as low as you can go. It's just lucky for you that things are not unsalvageable. Just a few quick curses and everything will be as it should be." Lucius said smugly.
Draco tightened his arms that were wrapped protectively around Hermione and looked at his father square in the eye, bringing himself up to his full height. "Don't even think of using me for your quest for Pureblood dominance and superiority. You may as well kill me now."
"Now, now Draco. Where would be the fun in that? I need you to fulfill your purpose. You knew all along that everything would result to this."
"You are a nut job, Lucius Malfoy!" Hermione shouted when she was finally able to find her voice.
"The Mudblood dares to raise her voice to me?" Lucius said as he raised his voice in volume to match his growing anger. "I am superior to you. You will kneel before me!" As he uttered the words, he flicked his wand and Draco watched as Hermione got uneasily to her knees in an unmistakable kneeling position.
"Looks like your Mudblood lover isn't as strong of mind as everyone thought." Lucius said as he looked at his son. "You will kneel before your father and Lord. You will obey me!" Draco could feel a confusing compulsion to do what he commanded reverberating back and forth from one side of his skull to another. He was shocked when he felt his knees begin to bend.
"I am not your obedient slave. I will not be a pawn. You cannot make me do anything against my will. IT'S MY WILL ALONE, BEGONE!" Draco shouted as he rose from his half-kneeling position and flung himself at the older wizard.
Lucius was taken aback with his pathetic heir broke himself free from his compulsion and launched himself at him with a shout. Recovering from the shock, he quickly cast Protego, causing Draco to bounce backwards.
"It would seem that you have learned something at that school of yours." Lucius commented as he watched Draco scramble to his feet, casting a cursory look at Hermione before turning back to his father.
"Release her." Draco demanded as he cast his father an icy stare.
"No. I rather like her subservient like this."
"I said, release her, NOW!" Draco roared as his wand emitted green and silver sparks.
Though he controlled his emotions, Lucius Malfoy was surprised yet again by his son. Never in his eighteen years of life, had Draco stood up to him with such power, conviction, and compassion. It was all to protect the Mudblood. Had he ever been this protective of Narcissa? He thought for a moment. No, most of the time he was married was spent running the Malfoy Enterprises and serving his Lord. Eyeing his son, Lucius asked himself if he would act the same way towards Narcissa as Draco was towards Granger if he were given another chance.
"No." was his reply to both Draco's command and his own personal question.
"Barvada Maxima!"
Draco watched Lucius fly backward off his feet and into the stone wall which was ten feet behind him. When his father struck the wall, Draco spun around and knelt next to Hermione, whom was still in the same position that Lucius had left her in before.
Draco raised his hands to grab her shoulders and shake her, but something that was niggling in the back of his head, a memory trying to struggle to the surface, told him that doing so would do no good. Instead, he placed both hands gently on her temples and gently held her head then leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. He put all his focus into helping Hermione beat Lucius's enchantment as he began murmuring:
"You are not his obedient slave. You will not be his pawn or victim. He cannot make you do anything against your will. You are stronger than this. YOUR WILL IS YOUR OWN!"
Upon finishing, Draco looked down at Hermione's face, his hands still on her temples, and smiled when he saw brown, startled eyes looking back at him.
"Dr…Draco? What happened?" Hermione asked shakily when Draco enveloped her in a warm hug.
"My father learned some kind of new compulsion that required no spell. I think it was from Druidry or something."
"That does sound like it might be Druidry. Does your family descend from Druids?"
"Not that I know of unfortunately. Lucius must have read about such spells or talents from one of the books in our library."
"Ooh! You have a library? How big is it? Is it bigger than the library at Hogwarts? May I see it? What kind of books are…"
"Hermione, dear, I really don't think that now is the best time to be asking these questions, do you?" When she shook her head, he continued. "What say you we keep going, away from him?"
When Draco looked at Hermione for her answer, the bottom of his stomach dropped out at the increasing look of fear as Hermione gazed over his shoulder behind him.
"Why don't you just stay right there? There's no need to hurry." Lucius said casually from behind Draco.
"Hermione," Draco whispered in her ear, "I love you. Now, RUN!"
Hermione turned as one with Draco as the last part of his sentence reverberated off the wall and took off down the hall, placing as much space between them and the mad man behind them as they could. As they turned down another corridor, Hermione had to slow down.
"What's wrong, Hermione? We can't really afford to pause now. We don't know where my father is. He could be right around the corner." Draco said worriedly as Hermione bent over, gasping for air.
"I'm sorry, Draco. I can't run anymore. It's dangerous to the babies for me to be running in the first place. We have to slow down, please." Hermione said between large, labored intakes of air.
"Then I will just have to carry you." Draco smiled then placed his right arm below Hermione's knees and his left hand behind her back and picked her up with eases, despite her added weight. Hermione wrapped her right arm around his neck and her left arm around her babies as Draco continued on. They went up two more corridors before they stopped again.
"When will you stop running, Draco? You know that I will always find you no matter where hide, no matter how far you run." A voice echoed up the corridor from where they had just come from. Draco turned around with Hermione cradled in his arms, to face his father.
"If it means Hermione is safe from you, I would run from you for all eternity, from one end of the planet to another." Draco spat, placing Hermione on her feet again, his eyes never leaving his father.
Lucius sighed and shook his head. "What use to me are you if you always fight me? You have too much of your mother's spirit. I guess this leaves me no choice." Finishing his sentence, he drew his ebony wand from inside his cane. Draco drew his own wand in response.
"Hermione, you must hide. Protect our family." Draco commanded pointing her away from him and his father.
Crouching behind cover, Hermione peaked around the corner and watched as Draco and his father exchanged few words then commenced in a fierce battle of agility and skill. Hermione watched in fascination as Draco began quickly gaining the upper hand on his father. No doubt due to his agility from Quidditch training. Her eyes grew wide as she watched them circle each other like lion alpha males over territory, Lucius placing himself in front of where Hermione was taking cover.
"You've gotten better in your dueling, Draco. You finally have something truly valuable from that school in your brain." Lucius panted, robes disheveled and sweat pouring down his temples and face, a cut on his cheek bleeding fiercely.
"This is the end, father. I'm going to rid this world of you. You've been corrupting it for too long and I will not allow you to make it so any longer. My children will not be influenced by you in any way; I will make sure of it." Draco said, also panting slightly with blood trickling from his lower lip.
"Oh, I don't think so, son. While you may be younger and faster than I, I am older and have a vastly larger armament of spells and curses to use against my foe." Lucius said smugly, wiping the sweat and blood from his face with his robes. Draco readied for another round of battle, causing Lucius to laugh darkly. "Such a foolish child."
Draco tensed as he watched his father flick his wand and send "Crucio" at him faster than he could react to block it. He let out a strangled moan, refusing to give Lucius the gratification of causing him pain, and fell to the floor as the curse turned all of Draco's nerve endings to fire. Hermione screamed and rose from her cover and pointed her wand at Lucius' back, fully intent on using the Killing Curse on the evil being.
"I wouldn't if I were you, little Mudblood." Lucius said quietly without turning to face her. "I don't believe you have it in you."
Hermione hesitated, suddenly doubtful. She looked past the elder Malfoy to the younger man on the floor who was no longer writhing and moaning in pain, at least for now. Then she turned back to the elder who was now turned towards her.
"Expelliamus!" Hermione felt her borrowed wand escape her hand and go flying.
"You are now defenseless, whore. Prepare to die, taking the abomination within your lush body with you." Lucius said, pointing his wand at her heart.
Hermione looked around frantically for a weapon of any kind, finding Draco's dagger lying on the floor and a decoration sword on a wall. Hermione lunged for the ancient looking sword and the dagger on the ground just in time to miss a curse sent by Lucius. She grabbed the sword in her left hand, the dagger in her right and turned to face Lucius as he slithered towards her, his evil intent glowing brightly from his eyes.
"Do you honestly think a little sword and tooth pick will be anything to me?"
"Although it may be shriveled, black and cold, you do have a heart and a human weakness." Hermione spat as she maintained a comfortable distance from the evil man.
"Those are biting words, Miss Granger."
"That's Malfoy now." Hermione said proudly, causing an ugly and disgusted look to form on Lucius' features.
"For that, I will make your suffering last and it will be oh so sweet." Lucius growled as he raised his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"
Hermione dodged the spell as she began charging, swinging the swords as she went. Getting closer to him, her inexperience with sword play caused her not to pay as much attention as she should have to her feet. When Hermione tripped, Lucius took the opportunity to knock the dagger from her right hand as she began to fall. Before coming in contact with the floor, Hermione felt Lucius' arm wrapping around her, just below her breasts, and lifting her up as his other hand wrapped around her sword arm and straightened, bringing the slim sword to her carotid artery.
Lucius turned them both around and came face to face with a doubled-over Draco, whose wand was aimed at the man holding a sword to his wife.
"Put your wand down, Draco. The skin of a human needs less than a pound of pressure to break. I could so easily slit her throat, but I have an inkling that was I to do that, I would lose you to my cause."
"Anything you do to either of us, regardless, I will not help you."
"Pity, I guess I'll just kill her then."
Draco watched, frozen in horror, as Lucius began sliding the sword across Hermione's throat. Thinking fast, he shouted, "Accio Dagger!"
Draco caught his father by surprise when the small dagger flashed from the floor and shot to his hand. Draco took aim.
"What the…?" Lucius said as Draco threw the dagger by the blade, end over end towards his father. As Lucius began to raise his wand, Hermione knew she only had a split second. She pushed the sword from her body and knocked Lucius' wand from his hand and dropped to the floor and watched bejeweled dagger impale itself in Lucius Malfoy's own throat.
Draco moved next to Hermione, picking up her discarded wand, and pulled her to him as they both watched Lucius stagger around with disbelief all over his face before he crumbled to the ground, his blood pooling about him. His chest rose once, fell, rose, then fell; never to rise again.
Draco looked at Hermione with a smile on his face. "It's all over now, my love. We are safe to live our lives now."
Hermione looked at Draco and smiled. "Yes we are. We can…"
Draco watched as Hermione's face changed from smiling to confusion in a split second. When she looked down to the ground between them, Draco became worried.
"What is wrong, love?" Draco asked, holding her at arms length, looking at her from head to toe. Confusion was also written all over his face.
"Draco?" Hermione said shakily, her hand shooting from his bicep to the side of her stomach.
"What? What is it?" Draco said as his voice cracked.
"Where are our mums?"
"Still in the dungeon I suppose, why? Is something the matter?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure, but I think my water just broke…"
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A/N: Chapter 25 done and edited ^_^ I hope you all liked it. Chapter 26 up soon, I promise!