A/N: I have 100 reviews! Ooot! And just in time for the ending!
"This is the end- beautiful friend- the end…"
Chapter 37- Maps
Harry wanted nothing more than to kill Marc.
He didn't often feel so murderous, but the sight of Marc kissing his- their Hermione was making his blood boil as he, Draco, Ron, and Ginny flew over the house; each on their respective brooms, wands at the ready, each equipped with bevy of "magical weapons".
His fear of her leaving them, and going back to Marc became real once more; and he had to force it away as he watched Hermione push Marc off of her, and swing a punch at his face. The Frenchman barely blocked it, and used his brute force to push Hermione back a meter; only for the two to begin dueling.
He didn't know if Ron or Ginny could feel his wrath at the sight below them as they flew above the ward to attack Marc's followers. Harry did notice, however, the bright, angry red that reached Draco's face, and the feeling of the heat that left him as his robes were set on fire.
Harry could have rolled his eyes if he wasn't positive he was about to spontaneously combust himself.
"Merlin's testies!" Ginny exclaimed as she flew ahead, avoiding Draco's magical burst in the process, though her eyes were set ahead of her as she flew over the ward and toward the mob.
When one wizard noticed Ginny, he broke away from his magic on the ward, and sent a series of spells from his wand, which the red-head dodged with ease before she aimed her wand and sent a "feindfyre" at the group. The fire whipped out at great speed, landing near the end of the line of henchmen, between a witch and the ward, and it ran along the barrier setting men and women on fire in the process.
This caused them all to break away from their work, the ward's magic glowing bright red and closing in a matter of seconds at the sudden lack of ward destroying spells.
Harry shook his head in disbelief at both Weasleys; Ginny's aim with her "feindfyre" mixed with the strength of Ron's wards, made him kick himself for not letting them in on this earlier. Maybe Ron was right; maybe Harry had lost sight of a few things, because he shouldn't have been so selfish to think that he, Draco, and Hermione could do this alone.
He had been, in fact, thinking with his dick.
He didn't deserve Ron's friendship at this point, and he decided he wouldn't ask for it back as he had originally planned.
As the people below tried in vain to put themselves out, Ron flew overhead and dropped a box of instant darkness powder over them; some dissaparated, whilst still on fire, all heading south as they fled; some literally crashing and burning as the flames consumed them.
Some of those who were still on the ground were screaming as they died, and the few who hadn't been hit with Ginny's fire were scrambling from the smoke and looking around wildly as the Weasley woman sent a second "fiendfyre"; ignoring as Harry's property began to catch and burn.
Hey… it was kill or be killed, and, plus, Ginny was his ex. She had some kind of… unspoken right..?... to set his shite on fire!
Harry's quick eyes flicked back to Hermione, and he saw that she had fully engaged Marc at this point, and Harry grabbed Draco's sleeve to direct the blonde's attention to the two within the ward, both of them shaking their heads in annoyance at the sight.
Hermione was supposed to distract Marc, though the fact that he had somehow made it through the ward worried Harry… and gave him an idea.
Without a moment's warning to his comrades, Harry casted a shield charm and he darted in the direction of Hermione. Within a matter of seconds he watched as Marc noticed his advance, raised his hand to cast a green spell that bounced off of Harry's shield, and landed far too close to Hermione, before Harry reached out and scooped the witch up by the waist.
He flew them beyond the ward as he pulled her up onto the broom in front of him, and she clung to the broom as her uncertainty caused her lose her balance for just a moment before Harry wrapped his arms around her shoulders to reach for the bit of broom just beyond her hands, and turned them to look down at the mayhem below.
Ginny had sent an uncountable amount of feindfyres at the dwindling mob; sending the counter curse whenever she felt a section had done its job. Harry was so glad to be out of that relationship all of a sudden.
While he watched Ginny for the few seconds that he did, he hardly understood what happened when Hermione lifted her hand to send a non-verbal Avada at the blur of an apparating wizard; her reflexes just fast enough to hit the man before he attempted to fly into them and knock them off of their broom.
"You have to let me kill him! Take me back down!" Hermione yelled as she turned to Harry, the person she just killed plummeting to the ground. The wind from their elevation beginning to whip about loudly; and Harry stared at her for a just few seconds- because he knew any longer was too long- and he nodded as he said,
"Then we're both going." He didn't wait for her answer as he turned back to Marc; the man standing still in the middle of the back yard with his large arms crossed over his chest and a pleased smirk on his lips. Harry didn't know why he looked so pleased, because he was trapped in there unless he wanted to kill himself trying to get out!
He must have known something they didn't; and the expression was so close to Draco's, Harry realized why… she found Marc… attractive?
Harry pushed that shite away, as well as the thought to be angry with Draco's attractiveness, and he flew down at Marc; pleased when out of the corner of his eye he saw Draco doing that same; hand raised and his eyes set on the Frenchman.
Hermione raised her own hand, and Harry made sure to fly directly at Marc as the witch yelled, "Confringo!"
The spell hit a barrier that wasn't there a moment before, and Harry was barely able to slow down a bit before he, Hermione, and even Draco, flew right into Marc's shield; the force knocking them all off their mounts and into different directions to land in the grass with loud "thumps".
()()()()()
Hermione's heartbeat was steady, her breathing was coming in calm, concentrated breaths; though her head pounded from the contact it made with the ground.
The Earth had come up and punched her in the side of the head; trying to knock her out. But it took a lot more than that to bring Hermione Granger down because she'd been kicked in the head a number of times. With these thoughts, she focused her mind into believing that she was back in Thailand, training with Tanet; she was not allowed to give in or beg mercy if she hit the mat and her vision went black.
She had to get back up.
As she rose, some seconds after hitting the ground, one of her eyes closed as she concentrated on looking over to Marc, who already had Draco and Harry petrified where they'd landed. His back had been to her as he faced Draco, and when he'd turned around to face her, he looked shocked as he watched his "petrificus" be deflected by a flick of Hermione's wrist; which had almost been too slow as she felt the air move as the spell whizzed past her.
She felt like vomiting, she felt like grabbing her head which throbbed, but she couldn't stop now. Marc had her lovers at the brink of succumbing to his will, and she was not going to watch him kill them. She would rather fall off a broom (which she would no longer fear after this), than watch her nightmares come to fruition.
Hermione had told Harry and Draco she loved them; she hadn't said it again since, though she'd meant it. She loved Marc as well, but she could tell that her husband was slipping. His eyes- which had filled with love for her during that kiss she tried to kill him for- held a distorted form of hate.
She couldn't tell what he was… who he was at that moment.
Marc? Le Don?
She was sure that even he didn't know as he stared at her now, his eyes being the only telling sign on him; his back straight and his fingers locked together, resting in front him as he stood at ease; his jaw set in a natural, relaxed position; his lips holding no sneer, or smile; his shoulders relaxed…
Until he raised his hand and Hermione watched as his magic flared, and Marc set a ward of his own within Ron's; encompassing the four of them while leaving his followers, Ron, and Ginny to watch. The two Weasleys had returned to the safety of the ward once they realized that Marc had incapacitated Harry and Draco, and they'd watched as Marc put up his ward to keep them out, calling to Ron,
"I will be with you momentarily, Mr. Weasley, and uh- Miss Weasley." Marc called over his shoulder after a quick glance back at them, as if they had an appointment, or something. "First I have to deal with my wife."
"Bugger yourself, Frenchie!" Ginny yelled. "She left your arse! Or did you not get the memo?!" Hermione wanted to yell at Ginny, instead she yelled to Ron,
"Run, Ron! I can do this now that he's in here!" Hermione said, the loudness of her voice causing her head to grow a heartbeat. When Marc raised his hand toward them, his palm facing over his shoulder, he sent a bright red curse in Ginny's direction; luckily, she was on a broom.
Hermione hated to think it now, but Ginny's foot work needed help if she was going to keep fighting.
Flying, however…
The Weasleys left after Ginny sent a killing curse that deflected off of Marc's shield. But, it wasn't to leave them behind. The siblings, who'd been running schemes together for years and years, began to weave in and out of outer ward, sending and dodging curses; taking refuge for a few seconds within the protected space from time to time, only to pop back out again to send a "petrificus" or two.
In the same moment they decided to trudge on, Hermione did too; willing herself to focus as much as she was allowed; feeling her magic surge once more and she lifted her hand and began to send spell after spell as she advanced the few meters towards Marc.
He deftly blocked them with a wave his hand, sending the spells and hexes and curses flying off to hit the wall; bouncing around within the ward dangerously; barely missing her lovers from their spots within Marc's ward.
Upon noticing this, Hermione stopped her assault on her husband, barely dodging her own "crucio" as it flew back at her.
"Give up, Hermione!" Marc said to her, his voice loud and serious. The injuries he'd sustained from the ward he'd slipped through were still affecting him, she knew it. She knew it in his pointed, stationary spot; she also knew it the tone of his voice. It was- ragged…
He looked drained...
He looked ragged…
She had noticed this when she had first gone to meet him, face to face, that he didn't look… like himself. His usually clean shaven face was scruffy with a short beard, his usually short hair a bit shaggy; but this didn't take away from his handsome features as much as the dark circles, the paler than usual skin and the sallowness in his cheeks.
Not only did he look mixed up in his eyes, but his features contradicted themselves; immaculately dressed, his long hair pushed back yet not slicked, his beard, his wild eyes, his assured, confident stance…
Hermione didn't know how to take this version of him; the further cracked version of her husband that Robel had tried to tell her about.
Hermione set her intention, refusing to let Marc distract her any further as she moved with a series of side steps she'd practiced in her home dojo in Thailand.
She flicked her wrist quickly to send shield to protect both Draco and Harry, and she turned back to Marc to send a shield dropping spell, and the an "expulso", a "confringo", "crucio", "avada kedavra"; she sent a disintegration curse, the conjunctivitis curse, a body bind, another "Avada", another "confringo". She eventually started throwing everything she could think at him, working harder and harder to think, concentrate, dodge, and block all at the same time as he stared at her; palm open and mouth closed as he sent spell after spell in return…
All while standing in his one spot; a look of both boredom and slight amusement in his crazy eyes.
Hermione was not reminded of the first time she dueled with Marc, nor was she reminded of any other duel they'd had afterward. This was an entirely different animal; the teeth were bared, and the claws were sharp, and the roars of their magic became an overbearing orchestra of impending doom as the spells of many different colors flew past her; Marc deflecting the ones aimed at him.
In what now seemed like another life, she had watched him send deadly spells like this at their "hits" and he had done the same with her. At that time it would have been beyond her imagination that they would ever use them on each other. After their first duel, subsequent duels were for practice, for skill building, for her to grow her use of nonverbal or wandless magic. There had been love in those duels.
When she sent a "sectumsempra", she watched as Marc brought his hand out in front of him to block, and then down and up, a new spell leaving his hands. Hermione had enough time to register that she had to move before the spell hit her in the hip; her legs clapping shut, forcing her to fall backwards. She barely made it to her back before she was hit with what she knew to be the Cruciatus curse.
It had been a long time, but it isn't a feeling that you would mistake for anything else.
The last time it had been used on her… she couldn't recall… Was that a mercy that it had been wiped? It didn't make this time any less painful.
Screams of agony left her lips faster than she could process that it was her that was making the horrible noises. Her body attempting to jerk against the body bind; the spasms in her muscles rippling through her as she was forced to lie still, the pain growing with every second that Marc held the Unforgivable on her.
She didn't know how long it lasted, she didn't notice that Marc had walked up to her, her eyes shut from the pain that she wished she could control. She wished she could fight him more; she begged with her screams to be let go from the torture, her mind so dulled with pain that the thought of being released was almost too strong to hear her determination.
But, even in her body's fits of unbearable pain, she still had the urge to rise and fight the second he let her go from the curses; both seeming to let up at one time, forcing air into her lungs and brain as she gasped from the shock of being somewhat free of pain.
Her Gryffindor was showing, even in her darkest hour… like it always had… like it was right now.
When he finally let her go, she slumped into the grass; willing her mind and her body to hold on- to hold on to Harry and Draco. She forced her eyes open, and turned her jerking neck to find the two men who still lie motionless.
She did not know if they were still body bound, or if Marc had killed them; or even both.
Hermione groaned, and she fought the urge to vomit as she moved first her arms, and then shaking legs to come up on all fours. She couldn't move from that point, and she looked up to see Marc looking down at her; his eyes void of all emotion- all hints of humanity had left him…
She now knew exactly who she was looking at…
"You know-"Le Don began, "I've waited a long time to do this. Some would say three years isn't long- but it was an eternity to me." Hermione didn't want to hear this; she didn't want his monologue. She wanted him dead, and she wanted this over; but she was a little too weak still. So- she asked,
"What- did you do- to Tanet and Malai?" She was stalling him to regain her strength; while trying to get the answer she knew was coming from him. She had to hear it from him… she wanted to hear him admit that he'd killed innocent people that she loved, just so that she could give him a taste of what Robel got.
-"Breathe, little otter." Hermione listened to Tanet's life-long mantra for the trillionth time as she closed her eyes, and began to meditate her hatred away…-
"Do you really want to know?" Marc asked. 'Do I..?' she thought, before yelling,
"Yes! Tell me what you did- you fucking coward!"
Marc bent down, and Hermione tried to move away from him, but only succeeded in falling and rolling over onto her back. He quickly grabbed her shoulders, and Hermione did her best to struggle against him.
Even in his weakened state he overpowered her, and held her down onto her back, taking both of her wrists in one of his hands and holding them above her head. He moved his torso over her legs, and held her face in his free hand.
She balked against him; hating the feeling of his touching her the way he did, hating the tender touch on her face, and the tight grip of her wrists… hating how it made her feel weak.
"Hermione! Hold still!" He yelled down at her, and she froze as she recognized the sound of his softened voice, looking up at his green eyes… 'Not like Harry's.' She thought, her brain, obviously, still fuzzy.
Hermione flinched as Marc's hand lifted off of her chin, and waved his hand over her face, his lips uttering a spell she couldn't hear even in their closeness.
It felt like a literal switch had gone off in her mind, the organ jumping as the memories began to flow…
-She was asleep on her mat when she heard the loud boom outside of her open window; the noise so loud that it woke her and the village mutts. Their barking was alarming in the warm Thai air, and the canine chorus mixed in the night, had Hermione's heart pounding a million kms an hour.
She didn't have to think twice on what had made the noise- it came from the sudden appearance of a very dramatic wizard. She felt in the dark for the lose floorboard near her head, and she moved so she could grab it, and then she made for the door to her room.
The plan was for her to check out the front window by the door, and when she did, she saw that no one was outside. She did however, see a large tree branch that lay on the other side of the road, the end frayed and splintered. She finally exhaled the breath she'd been holding, and she pulled away from the window, relieved.
Hermione looked down at her wand, and she stared at it for a long moment as she weighed it, felt it, let it roll a short distance back and forth upon her palm. It'd been so long…
Turning to go back to bed, Hermione ran into a wall that had suddenly appeared behind her. With a squeal, she was forced back against the window from her ricochet, where hands and body came out to pin her to the cool glass.
She opened her eyes and looked into a set of all too familiar green ones… Ones void of any emotion.
Before she could scream, Marc's hand was over her mouth, his large hard body pushing into her with such force she was afraid the glass behind her would break as he held her still with his weight. Their eyes never left each other's, and even with Hermione's beating heart, the feeling of her life flashing before eyes, she couldn't stop staring at him!
His eyes were so- blank!
She realized then that she was looking at Le Don.
Her chest began to heave, and her eyes were still wide with terror; and even with the terrifying reunion, he didn't say a word. He just stared at her, and the eyes of Le Don faded away, and they were replaced by the same loving gaze Marc used to fix on her- every morning, every night, every day of their time spent together.
His hand slowly left her mouth, his fingers dragging over her lips and pulling the bottom one down in their journey. His large hand trailed over her chin, down her throat, trailing down to rest over her heart. He left it there, and Hermione stared, silently, as she watched the heartless fuck before her do his best at conveying that he- still- loved her!
"Hermione-"he whispered, his deep voice reverberating in her chest,"I- I…"
"Petrificus totalus!" Hermione felt her limbs slam closed, and she was glad that Marc was still so close, because he kept her propped up at Robel's curse.
Her eyes flashed to the dark skinned Chadian wizard, whom she hadn't noticed enter from the kitchen behind Marc. The fear that had begun to die at the trance that Marc had had on her returned at Robel's scowl and her heart began to pound through her entire body.
"Come on, Marc." Robel said, his French sounding menacing in the darkness of the house. "Eli is setting fire to the house." Le Don was back when the green eyes of the man against her moved from Robel back to Hermione, and he kept eye contact with her as he asked,
"And the couple?"
"They've been taken care of," came Robel's reply. Hermione felt tears fall from her eyes, and her sealed mouth let out a sob. 'No!' Hermione thought. 'Please, not again!'
Marc looked at her, a sneer pulling his lips as he growled, "Say goodbye, Hermione."
She felt her body being pulled, and in an instant she was in her clearing, the one she used for training, and Marc threw her down onto the wet ground. The spikey underbrush dug into her skin, and she screamed in protest at the feeling. Her eyes were still filled with tears as she looked up at Marc through the darkness; her heart still pounding in her ears as she heard Robel and Eli join them in their secluded part of Thailand.
"You won't remember this- unless I let you. And by the time that happens, it will be too late." Marc's voice settled in her mind, just before she felt the "crucio". –
Hermione came back from the memory, her brain pounding as the information surged and sunk in, her newly unlocked knowledge pulling a cry from her lips. She pushed him away from her, and she scooted back, new tears in her eyes, shrieking,
"Why didn't you leave me alone?! Why did you do this?!" Marc stood, and glared down her.
"Because I love you! Everything I did from the moment I met you was because I love you! The second I heard your voice, I knew I had to have you, Hermione. You were all I ever thought about, from that day- and every day since…"
"You were going to kill my parents, Marc! You let Robel kill my parents, Marc! What did you expect me to do?! Stay with you?!" She screamed.
"We did it to keep you safe!" He bellowed.
"Did you kill Tanet and Malai to keep me safe?! Did you want to kill Harry and Draco to keep me safe?!" She screamed up at him. Marc sneered at her, saying,
"No! I did those things because you hurt me! I've- I've never loved anyone like I still love you Hermione! I wanted to keep you safe, and with me! I-"his voice cracked, as did his features; softening as he tried to convey his heart-ache. "I waited for you to come home. All I have wanted was for you to come home… I – just wanted you with me." Hermione noticed the movement from the corner of her eye, and she looked just long enough to see that Draco had regained consciousness, and he sat up enough to raise his wand to Marc. Marc noticed her glance, and he turned in time to deflect Draco's yelled, "Sectumsempra!"…
…Only for it to hit Hermione in the shoulder…
Hermione's body was in pain once more, crumbling as she felt her skin open up. In her state of shock, all she could do was cry as she felt the blood begin to leave her body; and in its absence she began to feel cold, and tremble; her body already too weak to handle the fatigue from being the victim of a crucio, only made worse by Snape's curse.
"Hermione!" She heard the two voices, one Marc's and one Draco's, in her mind's state of panic. She looked up to Marc, for he had fallen to his knees beside her when she fell, and she grabbed his hand in just enough time to stop him from sending another spell at Draco; the Frenchman turning to look at the other blonde over his shoulder.
"Marc!" She croaked pleadingly. "I will go with you… I- I forgive you. I know Alain set you up! I know you did it to save me, because you love me. I love you, Marc. I know you love me… Swear to stop killing the people I love!" She was shaking; she was fucking cold!
"I swear it, my love. I swear it," Marc said to her, his eyes filled with an unmistakable amount of truth and conviction.
She knew he meant it; and she could forgive him like she had forgiven him time and time again. He was her husband, and she would always forgive him in the worst of times.
"I want to go home," Hermione croaked, the tears filling her eyes, as she began to bawl; her mind racing, thoughts and memories moving through her brain faster than she could comprehend them all.
Thoughts of the good days with Marc took her once more at the feeling of his large hand brushing her face before he waved his hand; slowing the blood that flowed from Hermione's body and into the grass. She only knew it flowed because she could see it... everywhere…
Marc nodded, and he waved his hand; the blood turning from silt to heated life as if slipped back into her cuts. And when she felt the wounds begin to close, she sat up to put her arms around Marc's neck, and she dissaparated them far away.
()()()()()
Draco stared, wide eyed at the blood soaked spot that that remained where Hermione and Marc had been only seconds before. He was in pain; stunned, fearful, and heartbroken. He'd heard every word of what the witch he loved had said to the madman before they'd left together.
As he sat there, hunched over the unconscious form of Harry Potter, the man he'd grown to respect and love as much as the witch, he let sobs wrack his body as what had happened sank into his mind.
He hardly noticed that Ginny and Ron had managed to body bind the twenty or so of Marc's henchmen that remained alive, and that Aurors from both the English and French Ministries were beginning to apparate beyond the ward; Ron having successfully informed Minerva, who undoubtedly ran for Shacklebolt.
But Draco paid them no mind as he cried for his decrepit past, and his ever-forsaken fucking future! He cried for his childhood, his parents, the war, its victims. He cried for his heart break, something he'd had the pleasure of never having to feel on this scale, and he wept for his part in everything that had happened up until that point; and for the fact that he had let it all happen.
He'd helped it transpire by not being able to cut himself off from Hermione, or Harry, any longer. He made himself susceptible, and vulnerable, and he wept in anger as he realized he'd made a mistake in trusting her to stay with them…
He sobbed louder as the words Hermione had said to Marc hit him in the heart, and he waved his hand to release the unconscious man from his body bind, before leaning over to grab onto the front of shirt to shake him. 'She left us!' He wanted to scream at Harry, 'For Marc!'
"Harry!" Draco actually yelled, grabbing the front of his shirt to shake him harder as seconds ticked by. "Wake up! Wake up, you tosser!"
The man before him lay unconscious for a few seconds more, before Draco reached into his robes and he pulled out a revival potion, uncorking it and setting it to Harry's slightly cracked lips. He watched as the man came to, blinking up at Draco with bright green eyes; his glasses had been knocked away in his fall, and he squinted at Draco before attempting to sit up stiffly.
"Where is she?" Harry croaked. "What happened, Draco? Where's Hermione?" Draco held his breath, knowing his breathing would make his tears return. When his chest was filled with unbearable pain, from both lack of oxygen and his heart shattering, he exhaled a sob so loud that it caused Harry to sit up, despite the pain that had kept him previously floored.
"Is she dead!?" Harry screamed, looking wildly through the crowds of people and squinting.
"No." Draco managed. Harry grabbed his trembling shoulders with equally quaking hands, and asked,
"Did he take her?" Draco nodded, and before Harry could respond, he croaked,
"She took him away," Harry looked confused, "She said- that she knew Lemieux set him up, and that Robel killed her parents, and that she forgave him! That bastard did horrible things, and she forgave him!" Draco watched through teary eyes as Harry's face set into shock.
She'd forgiven Marc- just like she'd forgiven him.
He continued, "She said she still loved him, and that she wanted to go home- and she dissaparated with him."
"She-! She's coming back, Draco! Don't fret, please." Harry ignored the people who came through the ward toward them, and he kissed Draco on the cheek, saying, "She's coming back. She took him away as a ploy. You'll see."
Draco wanted to believe him. Draco wanted to be as optimistic as his lover… and best friend. He wanted to think that his words were true, but Hermione had sounded more sincere in her profession of her love for Marc than she had with him or Harry.
How could he tell Harry this? Would he understand?
Draco made eye contact with Harry, and passed the image of what he saw transpire between the Vedettes into the dark-haired man's mind; and the blonde watched as his face fell, along with a tears.
Her words played over and over in their heads; Draco shaking his as he tried to block them out. Harry wrapped Draco in his arms and he let himself be held by the man as they cried together in the grass, the early morning sun beating on their dark robes… the officials closing in with blanket-toting Healers, and potions, and questions in tow.
They ignored them as they clung to each other, like one would cling to their last glimpse of life, their gut-wrenching sobs mixing with the sounds of the mayhem and disorder of the scene.
A/N: Finn!
A/N: Lol! Lol! JK! JK! There's an epilogue still to come…
(Maps- Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Made off
Don't stray
My kind's your kind
I'll stay the same
Pack up
Don't stray
Oh say say say
Oh say say say
Wait, they don't love you like I love you
Wait, they don't love you like I love you
Maps
Wait, they don't love you like I love you