Sorry for the wait! I was too busy working on a Dramione fanfiction challenge for dhr100 at livejournal. It also took me a while to plan out the current plot to make it more understandable (trust me; it was confusing for me as well). I'm surprised to see that some of you even reviewed my DracoPansy oneshot! Anyway, Draco tells the story here, and this chapter is short because I couldn't think of anything better... Thank you for the reviews as always and here we go!
Intense straining inflicted upon my arm as I tried my hardest to keep Hermione from falling. From where we were floating, the moonlight shone upon her face and it was slowly turning red. Her hand grew suddenly slick and she was slipping from my grip. She tried multiple times to swing her other hand foward to mount the broom once more, but it was no use. Each and every attempt led to worse as our fingers were barely clinging onto one another.
"Draco," her voice crackled. "I can-t –"
One of her fingers trembled and it was as simple as that – faster than I could have expected, than I could even imagine to happen. I experienced a shock so huge it seemed to root me to the spot.
Her body plummeted down; screaming.
"NO! HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"
Potter and Weaselette seemed to zoom back into view, along with that Weasley and Longbottom – all of the brooms sped downward towards Hermione, trying to catch her. The broom I was flying had a sudden decrease in speed due to its broken front, but I forced myself to continue. I couldn't let Hermione die. Not here, with Death Eaters roaming around.
Rough wind blowing against my face caused my eyes to water which came with constant squinting. I held on to my broom tightly, not wanting to lose track of where Hermione's body and the other brooms were.
But it all happened too fast – another series of shooting green lights sprung from the bottom, each and every one of them missing Hermione and the other brooms, including mine. It was all merely luck, and something was telling me that one of us wouldn't be so fortunate if we didn't cut to the chase. Oh Merlin, where was Hermione?
"POTTER!" I called out, still evading the jets of blinding light. "Where's Hermione? Can you see her!"
No one responded. From the amount of noise launching from the explosions and beams of the Avada Kedavra, I could barely hear my own voice myself. Shit, why did it have to be Hermione falling down? Why couldn't have been me instead? It was a sickening thought that I didn't act quick enough for Hermione to save my life for giving up her own – I had to rescue her, and now.
"HARRY!" The familiar voice of Weasley roared from somewhere below me. "HARRY! GINNY!"
When several streams of light seemed to fade away, I noticed that Potter and Weaselette's broom didn't seem as far from me as it seemed. They were hovering in mid-air as they waited for the lights to fade, in order to take view upon Weasley and Longbottom. Hermione...there was no visible clue of her body anywhere.
"What is it!" Potter yelled, slowly making his way down. I followed, keeping a reasonable distance from that filthy blood traitor of a girl.
"We've got her!" Longbottom called out, taking a deep breath afterwards.
And the moment he spoke those words, the moment I knew Hermione was okay – I sped the broom downward, not caring if I was dangerously being blinded by the lights. In no time, I was balanced right next to Weasley's broom, and there she was, hanging off the edge, coughing.
"Hermione!" I screamed, not waiting for another moment. I flew right next to Weasley's broom so that I carefully but speedily transferred her weak body onto my broom. Weasley and Longbottom flew to the top of the sky afterwards, and I followed them shortly. I placed Hermione on the back and she didn't need to ask as she rested her head on my back and wrapped her hands around my waist.
"...Draco," she said in a strained whisper.
"Don't talk, stay quiet," I ordered. "We'll be safe. It'll all be over soon."
"...You promise?" Hermione asked, her voice crackling and she coughed once more.
"I promise."
As we ascended higher and higher to the point that the trees of the Forbidden Forest looked like blotches of black ink, the Death Eater's curses seemed to temporarily flee as they awaited our next encounter with an area of range. We all flew steadily and no one seemed to be speaking, so I broke the silence desperately.
"Potter, where exactly do you plan on taking us?" I questioned him with authority ringing everywhere.
"Wherever its safe, Malfoy," Potter replied thouhgtlessly. I wanted to tell him that he had no right to speak to me in a such a way, but now was not the time. Hermione was the number one concern that stuck on the edge of my mind right now.
"Let's go back to Hogsmeade," Weaselette suggested. As much as I hate cooperating with a blood traitor like her, I had to agree. If the Death Eaters were somewhere locally below us, awaiting to shoot their lights – if we went to Hogsmeade we might have some time to think. And besides, Hermione needed some rest before we had to keep the life and energy back in us again.
Weasley and Longbottom decided to lead the way as they made a sharp turn around. Fog seemed to finally arrive and even more odd clouds started appear, as they annoyingly acted as obstacles which interfered with clear sight. The wind became more gentle but harshly colder as I could feel Hermione burrowing her face in between my neck and shoulder.
"...You okay back there, Hermione?" I asked, my voice barely breaking the boundary of a whisper.
There was no response. I could only turn my head around slightly, but not enough to look upon her face. She was still clinging onto my waist, but I didn't feel any of her arms or fingers move an inch.
"Hermione?" I repeated, a little louder.
She didn't start talking, but instead I felt a slight, unusually soft vibration on my shoulder. I leaned my head closer to hear what was happening. Hermione was...snoring a little? Asleep? I chuckled slightly at the thought and at the sound of it then continued to fly, leaving her alone to dream whatever she wanted to dream.
Even more clouds began to form in the empty, silent sky. They began to grow irritating, but from where we were hovering I could still see faint outlines of Poter and Weasley's brooms. Hermione tossed and turned her head every now and then, but I knew she was all right, slumbering safely.
"Since when did it get so cloudy?" I heard Weaselette, from a couple of feet in front of us, say.
I rolled my eyes and sighed with disgust.
"What are you, bloody blind? It's been there!" I pointed out, growing sick and tired of Weaselette's pointless remarks and questions. She, of course, completely ignored my question and I heard her scoff a bit. Waving one of my hands to brush some interfering bits of cloud away, it seemed to die down a little bit.
"Damn, I can't see anything," Potter spat. I saw several flashes of Weaselette waving some fog away, only turning out to be slightly successful. Weasley and Longbottom seemed to be in front of them, as we all grew completely silent in the long and soundless journey through the clouds. It began to grow colder and the weather bitter, but it wasn't too much for me to handle.
I felt something on my back nudge a little. Hermione was moving.
"...Draco?" she grumbled, rubbing some sleep out of her eyes. Unfortunately, she was still tired no matter what she did.
"What is it?" as I asked her, it took her a while to sit up straight and after several yawns and sniffling. "Your leg...is it still sprained?"
"No, it's fine now," Hermione pointed out as she swung it cheerfully. She removed her hands from around my waist and instead placed each of her hands on its corresponding shoulder. Her chin dug into the lower back of my neck harmlessly and I could feel her breathing against my skin. Throughout that point Hermione was awake, although I can still detect the hint of sleepiness in her, especially in her eye region.
"Where are we, Draco?" she asked, looking around at the misty surroundings.
"I have no idea, but Potter and them plan that we make way to Hogsmeade. But with all these bloody clouds..."
I could feel Hermione's eyes dart from one place to another, her head turning, looking for an opening. Several times now she sighed with failure, but she didn't plan to quit easily, for I knew that she had a persistent spirit.
"There, Draco!" she tapped my shoulder and turned my head to my left where a small, cloudless patch of sky floated. "Over there!"
I didn't waste a second as I turned my broom and it sped out of the hole, the cold air leaving our faces instantly. Hermione brought herself closer to my back for the both of us were getting rather cold, even if we were out of the clouds. Potter, Weaselette, Weasley and Longbottom we still somewhat stuck in the collection of clouds, and they were taking forever to come out.
"You know you promised to get me out of this," Hermione insisted playfully, laughing at the end.
"I know. And I will." I turned around to glance at her face rather quickly, when something zipped in front of us.
Potter, Weaselette, Weasley and Longbottom were finally here, hovering in front of us. Weaselette's face possessed an unhealthy shade of green and Longbottom was on the verge of dozing off to sleep. Imbeciles.
"Where were you guys?" Hermione peeked from behind my shoulder, leaning foward.
"We sort of got lost," Weasley shrugged, in feeble attempt. "'Mione, is your leg all right? You scared me with that fall."
"...Yeah, it's fine," she said happily. "Sorry about that."
From behind Potter,Weaselette's face turned from dizzy to frightened, and she looked as if she were petrified. Her eyes were widely open and her mouth was shaking, hesitating to speak. Potter turned around and turned to face her.
"Ginny, what's wrong?"
Weaselettte, still shaking, pointed out to the distance in front of us. All of our heads turned to see what she was directing us at.
There, hovering over Hogsmeade village, the familiar glowing green skull with its serpent tongue seemed as if it were glaring at us straight to the faces. From the very sight of it, Weaselette let out a muffled scream and Hermione jolted upward.
"The Dark Mark," Hermione said in a strained whisper. "Someone got murdered..."
"Must have happened after the Death Eaters went after us," Weasley groaned.
"Come on!" Weaselette ordered, as Potter's broom sped straight ahead of us and into the villages. Weasley and Longbottom followed, and I didn't have to wait to do the same either. Hermione was shaking and breathing heavily, and she was growing more frightened by the second.
"Don't worry, Hermione," I said again.
From ahead of us, I saw Weaselette's head turn around with such speed.
"Hurry up, you two!"
"Exactly what do you plan to do once we get there?" I asked angrily, for her persistent, dim-witted demands were really getting on my nerves and they refused to let go. Couldn't she just shut up?
"I have a hunch," Weaselette said, with an unusually calm voice. "I just hope I'm wrong."
In no time, our feet touched the ground exactly in front of The Three Broomsticks. The streets were completely deserted and there was no sound except for the wind and some doors swaying back and forth in the wind. It felt relieving for us to finally set foot to Earth, but from the looks on everyone's faces I knew that this feeling shouldn't last long, especially when I fixed my eyes on Hermione.
After Weasley and Longbottom seemed to have a non-verbal quarrel about who should be the one to open the door, Hermione finally stepped up and pushed it open herself. Afterwards she hurried over to my side and held on to my sleeve.
Once we were all inside, all was dark. The candles' lights were all diminished, the curtains covered a nearby window. I could make out several outlines of tables and chairs, but it was no good to walk around if thedarkness was as advanced as this. Hermione closed the door behind us.
We walked foward with caution.
"Ow, Ronald!" Hermione gasped.
"S-sorry," he apologized hurriedly. "I think I just tripped on something..."
"...Hold on," Weaselette's perky voice piped up and she made her way to the window, pulling the curtains and allowing the moonlight to illuminate the room and our surroundings.
Weasley moved aside and everyone's eyes landed straight onto the ground. Several gasps of shock came while Hermione and Weaselette let out ear-piercing screams.
Madame Rosmerta's lifeless body was sprawled on the floor, her eyes and mouth still wide open as if she was still screaming. Her skin was an unhealthy pale color and her wand, a few inches away from her hand, was snapped in two. She was laying there, and from the empty look in her eyes it seemed that she was even staring at us.
Hermione began to cry as she turned away from the sight immediately, burying my face into my chest. Weaselette hurried over to Potter and did her own fair share of loud sobbing.
"...Why," Hermione sniffled. "Why did this have to happen..."
She brought her head closer and my shirt was getting slightly soaked from her tears, but I let her stay there for her comfort. She was troubled and that's the last thing I would choose to see, so I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to ease her pain.
"...S-she helped us," Weaselette moaned, sobbing harder onto Potter's shoulder. "And...she...s-she didn't deserve this!"
And from that moment I knew that the next encounter I had with my Father will be the last. This might have not been my father's doing, but from what he had done to me and Hermione, he was not going to continue. He had to be stopped somehow, and if I was the one that had to, so be it.
...And that's all for now. :) It wasn't very satisfying for me.I hope you enjoyed it and please review – I know there are some people out there that just read it and wait for the next update due to the amount of story alerts I have – but hey, doesn't everyone want some feedback and lovely reviews? Anyway, when I will next update I have no clue, the updates will becoming slower and slower now...urgh.
But if you do want to see all my drabbles and oneshots for the dhr100 community at livejournal, please proceed to livejournal dot com slash community slash dhr100 . My username is 'roannaweenie'. :)
Keep thinking and before you know it, there will be another update, lol.