Out of Hand by relativelypositive

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I make no money from the use of J.K. Rowling's characters.

Chapter 29

Hermione and her friends were on the precarious staircase leading down from the owlery when the first spell was cast. Hermione didn't know what it was, but she saw the destruction. A section of the stairs in front of their group was blasted away in seconds, but that didn't stop them.

They all went with the momentum and jumped.

George used a cushioning charm on the ground and the group took minimal time recovering. Harry and Hermione shielded the group as they ran for Hogwarts, where Hermione could see students gathering at the windows and doorways.

Blasting a part of the castle away was not subtle. It reeked of desperation. Was Lucius Malfoy that desperate to stop her from marrying his son?

Hermione knew it was Lucius Malfoy. It had to be. When she saw the direction the owl was flying her stomach dropped. Never in her life had she made such a careless mistake.

"Maybe we should get you to the Headmaster's office, Hermione. I can still look for Malfoy and bring him as soon as I can." Hermione could hear the worry in Harry's voice.

Professors Snape and Flitwick were at the door when they got there, and Hermione saw Ron right behind them.

"Now can I get you to safety? Or do you need to run some more errands?" Snape impatiently asked.

"I still haven't found Draco, so no." She knew she was being stubborn, and disrespectful, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"He was just here with his mom," Gregory Goyle supplied from the doorway into the Great Hall.

"What is she doing back here?"

"Wanted to take him home. He said no. She stunned him. I stunned her. Felt bad about it. She was always nice to me."

Goyle had stunned Mrs. Malfoy? She looked around. You'd think an unconscious woman lying on the ground would be fairly obvious.

"Where are they now?"

"Dunno. Fight broke out in the Great Hall and we all ran for cover. When I came back out they were both gone."

"Fight in the Great Hall?" Hermione had noticed yelling, but there were no spells or hexes being thrown.

"Yeah. Pretty much stopped when the boom happened. Everybody ran to the windows to see you lot running back here. Didn't see who was attacking you, though. Came from the woods."

"Granger!" Hermione turned to see Draco coming out of the Great Hall, Blaise on his heels. They were covered in muck that looked like turkey dinner. The closer they got, the more certain she was that they were covered in food.

Hermione couldn't ignore the relief she felt at seeing his face. Last week she would have been looking at him with disinterest or even contempt, and definitely disgust at the mess they were making.

Now she just wanted to hug him.

"Ugh, Scourgify!" Hermione took care of that problem as soon as they were close enough.

"Tit for tat, Granger." He pulled out his wand and Hermione tried not to flinch when he aimed it at her head. "Capillus Auctus Caput."

"What did you say about her tits?" Blaise asked, clearly interested.

"Shut up!" yelled Ron, barely keeping himself from physically attacking the Slytherins in front of their head of house.

Hermione felt a tingle rush over her scalp. Feeling your hair growing was creepy. She felt disproportionately grateful to Draco. She never realized she had learned to like her crazy hair until it was gone.

The parallels were not lost on her.

When her hair stopped growing it was only a cap on her head, but she didn't care. She hugged Draco tightly, and everyone around them tried to look somewhere else. Public displays were rarely acceptable, and this was the second one for this couple today.

"Someone had to take pity on you," Draco whispered into her new hair.

She quickly pushed herself away.

"You could have done that hours ago!" she accused, smacking him on the shoulder.

He smirked. "I thought you were cute."

"You did not. You liked seeing me humiliated."

"I liked seeing how brave you were today."

He was giving her a look that Hermione had never seen before. She thought she knew what it was. Anticipation.

What was he waiting for?

"Touching. Now how about we keep you two alive. Did anyone see who was firing those Reductos?" Snape was all business, peering out the doorway in little spurts, as though expecting to have someone throw a hex at him if he stood there too long.

Maybe that would happen. The rubble from the staircase was right there for everyone to see. Someone had fired that spell. Were they lying in wait, or were they already in the castle?

"Professor Flitwick, what's happening in the Great Hall?" Hermione asked, hearing renewed fighting.

"Some students decided they didn't like that the protestors were being excused from classes. They called it a big slumber party and that it wasn't fair to the rest of the students. We have seen some students join the protest purely so they could get out of class. I don't think they quite get the concept. They showed up with games and refreshments. Then…the food fight."

"Food fight?"

"Yes, but that only lasted until that spell took down the stairs. Apparently they only fight against each other until there is a reason to fight together. Now they're bickering, but mostly watching out the windows or, as you can tell, spying on you."

She could see students gathered in the hallway, straining to hear what their group was saying.

"What are you all still doing here? Must I lead you around like toddlers? Go to the Headmaster's office! Now!" Snape pointed, but still the students didn't budge.

"Where's Mrs. Malfoy?" George asked.

Hermione had forgotten about her. How could she forget? How could Draco forget?

"Chained up in the dungeon," said Blaise.

Everyone, including Professor Snape, stared at Blaise in shock.

"What? I used a cushioning charm. She's unconscious. She'll be fine. Pissed, but fine."

"She'll make you pay for that," warned Professor Snape.

"Nah. She'll think it was Greg. She knows he stunned her. She'll be more mad at him."

"Shit," said Greg.

"Vince offered to keep an eye on the situation. He'll keep her out of the way until she either comes to her senses or can be taken away."

"We really have a dungeon?" asked Ron.

"You don't want to find out," replied Greg.

"This is the last time I tell you before I leave you here to get killed. Go to the Headmaster's office!" Snape's exasperation was alarming.

"Jeez, okay!" said Blaise. "You don't have to tell us twice!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What is this?" Professor McGonagall was obviously perplexed.

"What?" Granger asked.

"I was expecting three, four at the most! How did your group turn into eight?"

Draco looked around. He kind of wondered why the Weasleys were here.

"And you two!" she addressed George and Fred. "You don't even attend this school any longer. Why are you here?"

"Business opportunity."

"Pardon?"

"Hey, we're not the only non-students here. Why pick on us?"

"Stop wasting time. Get Granger into the floo," ordered Snape.

"Where am I going?" Granger asked warily.

"To safety. Don't argue."

"Is everyone coming along?"

"I don't think there's enough room."

"What, are you going to stash me in the closet?"

"No, but it's not exactly large."

"Okay…who here has angered a Malfoy in the last couple days?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Hermione, Draco, Blaise, and Greg raised their hands.

Draco took a few steps towards Ron and Ron quickly raised his hand.

Draco smirked. Ron had, indeed, pissed off a Malfoy.

George and Fred looked at each other, then raised their hands.

"Who did you piss off?" questioned Ron.

"Malfoy," they answered in unison.

"Which one?"

The looked at each other and answered, "Malfoy."

"But which one?" Ron pressed.

"Shut up, Ron! It doesn't matter! We all go," declared Hermione.

Snape and McGonagall looked at each other.

"We need a new location. Alert the Headmaster."

Draco found it odd that Dumbledore was not in his office. This was the second time today he had come here to find it without its occupant.

"Where is Dumbledore?" he asked.

"The Hospital Wing. Trying to avoid some nasty PR," McGonagall replied.

"Oh, Skeeter." Draco had forgotten about her.

"Can you hear that?" Greg asked. "It sounds like a siren!"

Everyone stopped talking to listen intently.

"We know that sound! It's a Weasley Wail!" said Fred.

"Ginny!" Ron ran to the doorway and was down the staircase before anyone else realized what was happening.

Granger started to follow him, but Draco grabbed her arm.

"He can get her. We have to figure out where we can hide."

"Hide? No, I will not hide." She backed down a little when Draco gave her a disbelieving look. "We will call this a tactical retreat."

"Semantics. My father will kill you the moment he sees you. My mother came to get me out of his way."

"Your father is not the one we're worried about," Professor Snape said, re-entering with Dumbledore.

The small office was now cramped with too many bodies and Draco was getting antsy.

"The Dark Lord is very angry." Snape continued. "The Death Eaters have been summoned. We must get you to safety."

"Why would he care about my engagement?" Draco was baffled.

"He has always planned for you to be his successor. If you do not become a Death Eater and instead turn to the opposition, it will be a blow to both his ego and his cause. He will not let that go."

"Turn to the opposition?"

"The Order of the Phoenix."

"I know who they are! Why would anyone think I'd join them?"

A/N:

I'm not going full-on war. I just couldn't ignore it all anymore. I needed a bigger threat to go where we're going.

Plus, as an AU fic, I believe I can do as I please.

Would you all hate me forever if I left it on a cliffhanger and called it the end of part one of a trilogy or something and took a month off?

Be nice. Today's my birthday.

Thank you for reviewing!

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