Chapter 37 To Save You
Last Chapter: "But where does that leave us now?" Draco asked her as his plans seemed to be crumbling around him. "I don't know yet," she said honestly. "I have to think about it. I do know you're going to have to convince me that you want me, and not just because I happen to be Emmie's mum and now it's convenient to acknowledge me. Otherwise I'd never feel that you value me or our relationship. I won't stop you from legitimizing Emmie, you've earned that." Hermione's brown eyes gazed into Draco's silver ones resolutely. "You haven't earned me."
"Lunch was wonderful, Marcus," Hermione told the dark haired wizard. They were sitting in the living room of his flat, which was located on a side street not far from the Ministry of Magic. It was comfortable and not at all ostentatious, though it clearly was the home of a bachelor. Hermione liked it immensely as it seemed just like Marcus: straightforward and manly.
Marcus, Hermione and Emmie were having quiet moment after their meal. Their next plan was to take Emmie to a park and then have some desert at a cafe afterward if she wasn't too tired. The little girl was sitting on the floor where Marcus had placed her when he carried her in from the kitchen. She was happily playing with some toys that he had thoughtfully provided for her. Marcus had nervously explained that he didn't want her to be bored when she came over with her mother. He had added. while looking seriously into Hermione's eyes, that he hoped it would be a common occurrence.
The two adults were sitting on the couch quite content with the present situation. They were in no rush to head out and were chatting cozily while keeping an eye on the little girl. It was almost a picture perfect domestic scene.
"I'm so glad that you came over today, Hermione," Marcus told her. "I really enjoy spending time with you."
The witch next to him replied, "I'm really glad we came. It was sweet of you to make us lunch and buy those toys for Emmie."
"It wasn't a problem. She's such a great little kid. I don't have much experience being around anyone that young, but it's much easier than I thought to keep her amused," he said with an amazed look on his face. Hermione smiled at his enthusiasm.
They watched the small girl bang a chubby toy wand on a magic box that produced a bubble every time it was tapped. Emmie laughed cheerfully whenever one appeared for her to pop with the stick in her hand.
"Well you certainly made her day. You picked some definite winners," Hermione commented. She turned to look at him and realized that his face was now only centimeters from hers.
Marcus reached out one large hand and gently placed it on her cheek. The both flicked a quick glance at the blond child. When they saw that she was engrossed in her toys completely ignoring them, Marcus gently leaned in and pressed his lips against Hermione's smiling mouth. The kiss wasn't long or deep, but it held a sweet promise that could grow into something more if it was allowed to bloom.
The wizard pulled back and told her, " You are an absolutely fantastic woman Hermione Granger. I'd like to see you exclusively if that's all right. I know this is fast, but I'm really beginning to fall for you." At her stunned expression he continued, "I seriously think this could go somewhere. "
"Oh Marcus, I don't know what to say. I wasn't expecting this," she said softly. "I like you very much also, but things are a little complicated right now." She shrugged a little helplessly as she thought about Draco and yesterday's conversation.
"I don't want to push you or rush you into anything," he said, then plunged on bravely. "Is it because of Emmie? I know you're a package deal. I really like her and I think she even likes me too. I'd always try to be good to her."
"I can tell she likes you already," Hermione told him with a smile, "but her father just told me yesterday that he wants to officially recognize her. He's also interested in a reconciliation with me."
Marcus took both of her hands in his and looked at her solemnly. He asked, "Is that what you want? Do you want to be with him? I'll step aside if that's what you need me to do, but I don't think that you're indifferent to me."
Hermione looked at him apologetically and said, "I do like you very much, but I don't know what's going to happen with him yet. To be truthful, I still have have some unresolved feelings for him. It's not fair for me to commit to you until I've figured out where I stand with him."
"Can I ask you something? Is Draco Emmie's father?" he said hesitantly. "She really does look like a Malfoy and because of her age, I figured that you must have been pregnant with her during your seventh year. It's...oh, never mind, it's none of my business." He looked away from Hermione at the little girl in question. She happily waved at him with her wand.
"No, it's all right, Marcus. We're trying to be honest here and she really does look like him. Yes, Draco is her father. We had such a terrible history; you were there for part of it. We couldn't tell anyone when we started seeing each other secretly while we were both Heads. It's a long story." Hermione just shook her head not able to explain it better.
"Did you know that Draco and I are friends?" he said. When Hermione looked up at him startled he continued, "No, he never told me about you. We haven't actually gotten together in a few weeks, but we met up again at the Ministry last year. We're friendly there and get together for lunch every now and then."
"I had no idea," she said faintly, wondering if things could be any stranger. Both Marcus and Draco wanted to have a relationship with her and now she finds out that they're friends.
"I know he's married, Hermione. I would offer you better than that," he told her earnestly. "You're worth more than what Draco can give you."
Hermione was floored by what he was saying; this conversation was completely surreal. Every word that was coming out of Marcus' mouth was exactly what Hermione had been hoping to hear from Draco. The contrast between their actions was very evident to her.
"He's divorcing Daphne," Hermione told him and he let out a soft exhalation of amazement.
"He must be serious. Purebloods almost never get divorced," Marcus admitted. "I think Draco is a pretty good guy, but I know he's got a lot of baggage that he's carrying around. I know you have things to figure out with him, but to be honest I still think you and I can have something really great together." He reached up to smooth a strand of her hair out of her face. "Normally, I wouldn't go after a friend's girl, but you're not really together. I won't ask for exclusivity yet, but I want to be with you. Just give me a chance to give him some competition. You know I don't care that you're muggleborn."
She stared at him incredulously after he said that last sentence. "How did you know?" she asked him.
"What else could it be?" he said as he looked at her with a keen understanding. "You forgot that I was raised in the same circles that he was. You're powerful, intelligent, loving, and sexy as hell. Any wizard would want you...except those raised to believe that blood purity was more important than anything else."
Marcus released her hands and gathered her into a hug. He didn't say anything else but just held her close for a little while. When he pulled back a bit to look into her brown eyes, she saw that his eyes held compassion and caring. Smiling gently at her, he dipped his head and gave her another slow sweet kiss.
The doorbell ringing interrupted the intimate moment.
"Just give me a chance," he repeated, cupping her cheek again. When she looked at him in consideration and gave a small nod, his face broke into a huge smile. "Let me just see who that is, then we'll take this little girl for some ice cream," he said jubilantly.
Marcus took his hand off of her cheek and leaned forward to ruffle Emmie's hair. Then he got up and walked through the doorway towards the entryway. Emmie had heard the magic words "ice cream" and followed the wizard into the hallway babbling to herself. Hermione sat where she was and thought about what had just happened. Marcus understood everything. I would be stupid not to give him a chance. He really is a good man.
Hermione heard the door open and the rumble of a strange voice. Then Marcus' voice said in surprise, "Of course I remember you, but what are you doing here? It's been years since-"
"Sectumsempra," the other voice yelled.
Marcus gave a strangled cry of pain. Hermione jumped up and drew her wand, heading across the room towards the doorway. "Emmie!" she cried frantically.
Marcus suddenly staggered in through the living room doorway. He had Emmie under his left arm as if he'd just scooped her up as quickly as he could. She was crying pitifully. His other arm was clutching his middle. His khaki shirt was soaked with blood from the deep slices that ran diagonally across his torso. She could see his intestines glistening through his hand.
"Run, Hermione," he said falling to his knees and pushing Emmie towards her. His ashen face was filled with pain and suffering. He could barely keep to his knees.
"Oh God, Marcus," she cried out in horror as a figure stepped into the living room behind him. "Petrificus Totalus-Incarcerous," she spellsang drawing the forms with her wand and pointing at the man who had come in. Her quick mind still worked perfectly, even if her magic was weak. She staggered as the spells left her, but was relieved when the intruder fell over and was bound with ropes. Her head pounded from the expended blast of magic and her vision went gray for a moment.
A sudden increase in the volume of Emmie's cries snapped her back to her senses. She looked up to see that Marcus had fallen completely to the ground and was barely moving. A second wizard stood over him holding Emmie up with an arm around her chest. She was now pushing against the man straining to get away from him. Her cries were tinged with terror. He had his wand pushing against her side.
"Hello, Granger. It's been a long time," said Theodore Nott as if there wasn't a man dying at his feet. "I see you're still as fast as you used to be."
"Nott," demanded Hermione feeling nauseous, "let my daughter go."
"So this is the mysterious Emmie that Blaise heard you talking about," he said as he glanced at his fallen companion. Then he looked at the face of the child he was holding for the first time. Shocked recognition, then a cunning expression crossed his face as he took in her features. "Holy hell," he breathed. "This is Malfoy's brat. Shut up with that racket!" he said harshly, giving Emmie a hard shake. This only made her scream more hysterically.
"Please Nott! She's just a child. Don't hurt her," she pleaded. "Marcus needs a healer too."
"He'll keep. Give me your wand, Granger, and I'll let you hold the kid. Just shut her the hell up!" he ordered her.
Hermione didn't argue. Her wand was her only means of defense but that didn't matter. She had to get Emmie away from him. She walked closer to him and held her wand out. He snatched it and literally just dropped Emmie. Hermione scrambled to catch her before she hit the ground. She pulled the traumatized little girl against her chest tightly. Stepping backwards shakily, she checked Emmie quickly. She was relieved to see that the blood covering the toddler wasn't actually hers. Marcus! She looked frantically at him but he wasn't moving at all.
"Shhh, baby. It's going to be all right," she told Emmie. The little girl was clutching Hermione's neck in a death grip and loudly wailing still. Her mother rocked her and the girl's cries finally lowered to gasping, hiccuppy sobs.
She heard a crack and looked up to see that Nott had broken her wand in two. He gave her an evil smile as he tossed the pieces to the ground. "Oh it'll be all right, but not for you. Blaise has been wanting to see you for a long time."
Hermione's head was still throbbing, but she forced her mind to think clearly. Her priority was to save Emmie. Nott was watching her too closely for her to do anything and he had his wand pointed directly at them. She was going to have to time things exactly. Spellsinging just those two spells had weakened her considerably. She was struggling to keep herself together. Concentrate damn it, for Emmie!
Nott seemed satisfied that she was helpless for the moment. He pointed his wand away from her to magically remove the ropes and body bind from Zabini. As soon as he was free, he turned to Hermione with anger in his eyes.
"I'm going to hurt you, mudblood," Blaise said menacingly as he stepped towards her.
Hermione backed up with Emmie in her arms, trying to maneuver Zabini between her and Nott's wand. She waited until the moment Zabini was crossing in front of Nott blocking them from his view for a few crucial seconds. She acted without hesitation. Twisting her body, she shoved Emmie behind her and clearly said, "Baseball glove." The necklace with the griffin, heart, and dragon pendants glowed for a couple of seconds around Emmie's neck.
Zabini cleared Nott's line of sight. The latter recognized the glow and yelled, "No!" He lunged forward.
It was too late. The necklace flashed and the little girl disappeared as the activated portkey carried her away. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Her baby was safe. She let the weariness from casting the earlier spells wash over her. She swayed a bit and didn't have the energy to evade Zabini any longer.
"What did you do?" Nott screamed at her. Zabini had reached her at this point. He grabbed her arms in a bruising grip and pulled her up against him when she stumbled. He dragged her back over to the other man and held her facing Nott.
"Where did she go?" Theodore demanded.
"You'll never get her now," she told him. Nott narrowed his eyes at her and hit her across the face. Her head snapped back hitting Blaise's chest, since she couldn't dodge the blow with him holding her in place. Her head swam sickeningly.
"Fucking bitch," Nott spat. "We still have you. You'd better pray that Malfoy comes for you."
Hermione looked at Marcus and couldn't tell if he was still alive. "Please, Marcus needs a healer," she begged.
"Too bad. You'd better worry about yourself instead of him," he answered coldly. He went to the door, opened it cautiously and looked into the hallway.
Zabini took that opportunity to run his hand lewdly down the front of Hermione's body. When she tried to pull away from him, he smacked her viciously and grabbed her jaw in a punishing grip. She cried out in pain.
"Save that for later, Blaise. Let's go. Bring the mudblood."
They stepped into the hall to clear the wards that had proved useless in protecting the occupants of the flat. In an instant, the two wizards had apparated themselves and their captive to their destination. Hermione had only a moment to see her surroundings before a spell hit her and she lost consciousness. The entire attack hadn't even taken a quarter of an hour.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Severus Snape was heading back to his quarters from lunch in the Great Hall. He was looking forward to reading a new book that had arrived for him yesterday while he was at the Weasley wedding. He had been too tired to start it last night and planned on spending a quiet afternoon with a good glass of firewhiskey and his new tome. He walked into his quarters and his heart almost stopped when he saw the small blood covered body laying on the floor of his study. Her eyes were closed and she seemed too still.
"Emmie," he cried rushing over to pick up the child. He was relieved when her eyes opened and she immediately started crying. Her blue jumper was stained in blood all along the right side, arm, and back. That side of her face also had dried smears of the stuff on it and her fair hair was matted from blood around her right ear. He cast a quick diagnostic spell which showed that she was uninjured. However, his worry wasn't alleviated because that much blood had to have come from someone, and he realized that the most likely person was Emmie's mother.
He knew that Hermione must have activated Emmie's emergency portkey. They were the only two that knew what it really was. She had taken the idea from the portkeys that had been used on the captured Deatheaters during the final battle. She had approached Severus for help, when she knew her spell casting abilities were still too unreliable for her to make the transportation device by herself. He had turned the bracelet Hermione had given him into a necklace for Emmie. Then he had charmed it into a portkey that could be activated with the phrase that she had chosen.
He cradled Emmie closer and quickly went to the Floo. First he called Minerva's office, telling her that there was an emergency and she needed to come immediately. The Headmistress gasped when she stepped from his fireplace and saw the crying blood covered child in his arms.
"She's fine, Minerva, just scared and a little shocked. Something must have happened to Hermione. I'm going to take her to Draco. Follow me through," he told her tersely. He grabbed more Floo powder and said, "Malfoy Manor."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry was in the living room at Grimmauld Place looking over some papers that he had to bring in to work the next day. Ginny was in the kitchen putting together something for them to eat for lunch. Harry suddenly got the feeling that something was very very wrong. He felt a feeling of horror that he just knew wasn't his own. Pain flared in his head, but it wasn't from his scar. That hadn't pained him since Voldemort had died. He heard a loud crash from the kitchen and went running towards the sound.
"Gin," he called as he entered the room. "Are you all right?"
Ginny was doubled over by the table with one hand gripping the back of a chair for support. The other one was covering her mouth. Her eyes were wide with distress. On the floor was a tray, broken plates, assorted cutlery and spilled food. The mess was the obvious source of the noise he had heard. She slowly straightened up when the horrible feelings faded away. Though she couldn't get them out of her mind.
"Did you feel that?" she asked anxiously. "What was it?"
"Not what, Gin, who," he said grimly. "Someone in the coven is feeling this. We have to find the others."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Neville was with Dahlia in the conservatory of his mansion. He was painstakingly transplanting some of his beloved plants into new containers. She walked to the other side of the room to gather a couple more empty pots for him to fill. When she turned back, she was startled to see that her fiancé was staring off into space with a look of apprehension on his face. His body was rigid and his eyes had a pinched look as if he were experiencing something quite painful. He snapped out of it fairly quickly, but still maintained an anxious expression.
"What is it, Nev?" she asked him in concern.
"I'm not sure," he answered in a worried voice. "Something is wrong with the coven. I have to find out what it is."
"Go sweetheart," she told him. "I'll tell your grandmother that you were called away."
He looked at her gratefully as they went into the main part of the house together. Dahlia had been totally supportive when he had originally told her about the coven bond, but she hadn't felt the need to join. She had said that while she liked his friends very much, she only wanted to be tied that tightly to him. He gave her a quick kiss before flooing to Grimmauld Place.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ron and Luna were still in bed in the their tower house near Ottery St. Catchpole since it was only the day after their wedding. They were between bouts of lovemaking and were just cuddling together. They weren't going to be taking a wedding trip until a later date as Luna still had the university term to finish. They really didn't mind though, since having a place to themselves was enough of a treat.
Unexpectedly a feeling of dread washed through Ron followed by a sharp flash of pain behind his eyes. He shook his head to clear it, not quite understanding what he was feeling. He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was happening. He looked at his new wife and saw that she had put her hands on the sides of her face and was pressing her fingers against her temples. Luna had tears running down her cheeks and was looking at him with a look of distress.
"One of the others is in trouble," she whispered to him. He understood immediately that she was speaking of the coven.
They both got out of bed and started dressing hastily. The pain had disappeared but left behind a feeling of anxiousness that couldn't be ignored. Now that they knew something was wrong with one of their own, they were compelled to find out what was happening.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Merlin, the pain! Marcus had never felt anything even close to this level of torment. He could barely think past the agony coursing through his body. He was fading in and out of consciousness, but there was something important that he was trying to remember. He tried to stay awake.
"Please, Marcus needs a healer," he heard a feminine voice pleading.
"Too bad. You'd better worry about yourself instead of him," answered someone else.
It hurts so much. He heard the sound of a blow and heard a woman cry out. That's Hermione! Oh Merlin, don't let them hurt her too. He tried to get up to do something, but his body wouldn't respond to his commands.
"Save that for later, Blaise. Let's go."
Hearing the name, Marcus remembered what had happened. He had been surprised to see the ex-Slytherin at his door, but not alarmed. Though they hadn't kept in touch after Zabini was expelled, he had not expected to be attacked in his home by his old school mate.
"Bring the mudblood."
No. Don't take Hermione. He tried to protest, but all that came out was a weak moan. By the time Marcus forced his eyes open, there was no one left in the room with him.
They're gone. He took her. No one will know who has her, he thought in anguish.
The effort it took to move caused excruciating pain to shoot through his entire being. Marcus concentrated on dragging his arm away from his body. That little movement caused him to groan in anguish. Every bit of his will was focused on leaving his message. I have to help her. He used the last of his strength to write the name of his killer and Hermione's kidnapper in his own blood on the floor.
Zabini
His task completed, Marcus closed his eyes and finally allowed himself to rest. The last thing he saw in his mind before the darkness took him was her face smiling at him. Hermione.