Chapter 38 I Would Die For You
Last Chapter: 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.
Draco was in a foul mood today. Last night's conversation with Hermione kept running through his head and he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. He had thought that everything was going to finally be the way it was supposed to be with them. The way was clear for them to be together or so he had assumed. He had never imagined that she wouldn't jump at the chance. She doesn't believe in me any more. Her words kept reverberating in his head. You only love me when it's easy, and life isn't always easy. Can I trust you not to leave me again if things became difficult? I want you to love me no matter what hardships we face.
Is that really true? He had spent most of the night and this morning pondering her words and what they implied. He tried to see their relationship from her perspective. He thought about what she had experienced and how she must have construed his actions. Being truthful with himself was difficult; he was too used to avoiding blame. However, he had to admit that she had been right again. He had not done anything since she had come home to show her that he did truly want to be with her. She had always supported him and he had let her down again.
He contemplated what he should do because he was determined to have her. He was going to show her that he did love her. His Slytherin mind began to come up with plans. He was going to woo her with all the romance that she had never gotten from him. The dance yesterday had made him see that he had never done any of the things for her that he would have normally done for a witch that he was interested in. She deserved candle lit dinners, flowers and sweet nothings. Though she wasn't one who was interested in money and fancy gifts, he would get her books and simple things that she would like...
Fuck. What am I thinking? I'm doing it again. I'm still lying to myself! He knew in his heart that Hermione wouldn't be swayed by any of those tactics. He knew what she wanted from him. She wanted him to fight for her, to prove that he valued her. She wanted him to show her that he was willing to risk losing something, anything, for her. He had never had to give up anything for her love and she did not believe that he would ever be willing to take a risk. At the very least, she wanted him to stand up to his father and tell him that being with her was important.
Without his realizing it, his feet had carried him to his father's study. He stared at the door for a good five minutes before making the decision to talk to Lucius. He knocked on the door and entered at his father's bidding. Lucius was sitting at his desk dealing with some correspondence. Draco looked at the man who had influenced his decisions and controlled his actions for most of his life.
"Father? I need to talk to you."
"What is it, Draco?" Lucius said putting down his quill and giving his son his full attention.
"It's about Hermione."
"There is nothing to discuss. I don't have anything to say about her," Lucius said closing the subject. He picked up his quill and was going to begin writing again, but Draco stalked over to the desk and snatched it from his father's hand. He threw it across room where it hit an accent chair leaving a smear of ink.
"Why won't you ever listen to me?" Draco demanded. "Whenever I have something important that you don't want to hear about, you dismiss me like a child. I'm a man now, damn it. I have the fucking scars from the war to prove it."
Lucius lifted his eyebrow and sat back in his chair resting his elbows on its arms and steepling his fingers together. His upper class accent was very pronounced when he drawled, "I assume you're done with your little tantrum, Draco? If you are, have a seat and I'll listen. Say what you need to say."
Draco threw himself ungracefully into one of the chairs facing his father. He ran one hand through his hair and said without preamble, "I know mother told you that I plan to recognize my daughter." At his father's curt nod he continued, "Yesterday, I told Hermione that I intended to divorce Daphne and wanted to marry her when it was final."
Lucius' face froze. His eyes darkened in anger, but he said in an emotionless voice, "So now you've informed me. When will these events take place?"
"They won't yet. She turned me down!"
The older wizard looked at him askance and answered, "I find that hard to believe. Why would she turn down a Malfoy?"
"Merlin, don't use that fucking condescending tone when talking about her. That's why. She thinks that I'll never take her side and defend her against people like you. She's been right up until now, but not any more. I'm going to be with her and I don't care what you say about it!"
"If you do this, you'll no longer be my son," Lucius threatened. "I'll cut you off without a cent."
"She suspected that would be your reaction if you knew. She said she'd support us with the money from her books. She never cared about my inheritance." Draco smiled to himself at the memory of her determination. He looked at his father and the smile faded, "Why are you so set against her? I know she's a muggleborn, but you don't even know her."
"I don't need to know her! Am I supposed to be filled with joy that you want to dilute the Malfoy bloodlines that have been kept pure for all these generations? Muggles are like locusts taking over the entire world and destroying our way of life. You are throwing away our heritage on one of them," he declared.
"Open your eyes! That attitude should have ended with Voldemort. We fought a war so blood status wouldn't mean so much." Draco said quoting Hermione's words from so long ago. "Hermione is smarter and more powerful than any pureblood witch I've ever come across. You've seen her fight. That has to count for something."
Lucius couldn't deny the truth of his words, but still stubbornly insisted, "She isn't one of us and will never be. It's the way it has always been and the way it's supposed to be."
"Damn you. Nothing I say will change your mind. Will it?" Draco asked sadly. "I always used to look up to you. I did every single thing that you ever wanted hoping for your approval. I took in your prejudices and made them my own. You have no idea of the things that I did in school because I wanted to be just like you. The things I did to Hermione."
His father just looked at him and said, "At least you've already sired a proper heir with Daphne. Do what you want, just don't expec-"
Lucius broke off suddenly when his son's expression suddenly twisted. Draco tensed in his seat feeling a sense of overwhelming horror. He gripped the arms of his chair and closed his eyes looking inward. Hermoine! He knew that it was her. He felt her magic flicker painfully through the bond. I've got to find her!
"Draco? What is it?" Lucius asked confused. He had never been told about the coven and didn't understand what was happening to Draco. He looked around for a threat and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Draco jumped up up and hurried out of the room ignoring his father's words. Lucius stood and followed after him demanding, "Where are you going? What are you doing?"
Draco paid no attention to his father's questions. He waved him off and went to the fireplace in the entryway. He threw some Floo powder into it and called for Hermione's house. He cursed loudly when he found her connection closed. He tried twice more with the same results. Damn it! She always kept it open when she was home. Only the coven had unrestricted access. His anxiety increased.
He was going to floo Harry when the fireplace flashed with an incoming call. He was not remotely surprised when he saw the head of the very wizard that he had been about to contact. The worry that he was feeling was reflected on Harry's features.
"Draco, you're all right," the green eyed man said relieved that one more person was accounted for. "Did you feel it? Neville is here, but we haven't heard from the others."
"It's Hermione," Draco said shortly. His face was strained with anxiety. Harry nodded, not questioning how his friend knew. He assumed it was because the gray eyed man did have an extra connection to Hermione. "Do you know where she is, Harry?"
Harry quickly conferred with his wife, who told him that Hermione and Emmie had a lunch date with Flint at his apartment. He turned back to Draco in the Floo and said, "She's supposed to be at Marcus Flint's place."
Draco nodded, his concern for her overriding his initial jealousy. He ordered his bond mate anxiously, "Disconnect Harry. I'll go over to Marcus' home right now."
Harry disagreed immediately, "No. Wait for me. I'll come through and we'll go together." He looked over his shoulder and called, "Ginny. Nev. Find Ron and Luna. Meet us at the Manor."
Harry stepped through the fireplace and appeared in the foyer of Malfoy Manor. He gripped Draco's arm and they felt their bond strengthen at the contact calming them both a bit. Draco nodded at him gratefully and turned back to the Floo. He threw in a handful of powder and requested, "Marcus Flint's residence." The Floo indicated that the connection was closed.
"What is going on?" demanded Lucius, not knowing what the conversations and actions between the men meant. By this time, Narcissa had come into the entryway drawn by the commotion. She added her own quieter query. The two others ignored them both.
"Do you know where he lives?" Harry asked Draco. "You're friends."
Draco shook his head while saying, "I've never been there. We usually just hang out at the Ministry or grab stuff to eat at a restaurant."
"We'll call the office," Harry decided. "Whoever is on can look it up for us." He grabbed some powder from the container on the mantle, but again the Floo flashed before an outgoing call could be made. He hoped it was the rest of the coven coming through. It was someone else.
Severus Snape came out of the fireplace carrying a sobbing Emmie who was covered blood. Everyone stared for a second and then Narcissa screamed. Draco went to his old potions professor and pulled Emmie out of his arms. She clung to her favorite man while he soothed her and looked for the source of the blood.
"Unkie Dway, " she cried piteously to him still sobbing. "Mum mum."
"I know princess. We'll find her for you."
"It's not hers, Draco. I checked and physically she's fine," Snape assured his godson.
Draco held his daughter closer, rocking her and murmuring endearments to her softly. She stopped crying and leaned against him limply. His eyes sought Severus' thanking him for bringing her, but also begging for news of Hermione.
The fireplace activated again and Minerva McGonagall entered next. She went directly to Draco and Emmie. She put her hand on Emmie's back gently rubbing circles. Emmie turned her head to look at her tearfully. "Gwamma. Mum mum?"
"It'll be all right dear child," she said stroking her hair and back softly.
"What happened, Snape? Where's Hermione?" Harry demanded.
"I don't where Hermione is. I found Emmie in my quarters when I returned from lunch. The necklace she wore was a password activated portkey. Hermione was worried that someone might harm Emmie," he replied his eyes darting to Lucius and away. "She and I are the only ones who knew the activator, so she was the only one who could have sent Emmie."
Draco had seen the glance and a deep anger filled him. He very slowly unwrapped Emmie's arms from around his neck and carefully passed the exhausted child to Minerva. Before anyone knew what he was about, he had sprung across the hallway and shoved his father into the wall. His hands wrapped around the older wizard's neck and squeezed while banging Lucius' head against the wall.
"Did you do this? Where is she, you bastard? What did you do to Hermione?" Draco screamed at the man who had sired him.
It took both Harry and Snape to pull him off. Neville had suddenly appeared from the fireplace during the chaos. He jumped to help Harry bodily restrain Draco against the opposite wall. Ginny, Luna, and Ron came out of the fireplace in quick succession and instinctively crowded around the blond putting their hands on him, their touch visibly calming his rage.
Lucius had slid down the wall and was sitting on the floor dazed. No one gave him any sympathy. Narcissa stared at him and whispered, "How could you? You promised." He looked at her and shook his head in denial.
Seeing that the others in the coven had Draco under control, Harry again stepped up to the fireplace.
The auror quickly connected to Tonks' home. He told the Head of the Aurors, "Hermione is missing, probably injured. Can you get some teams together? I'll need you here at Malfoy Manor immediately with Marcus Flint's address." Glaring at Lucius Malfoy, he added, "Bring some Veritaserum."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Within fifteen minutes of the call, two teams of Aurors converged on Marcus Flint's flat. Three more teams surrounded the building strategically. Since they were in the wizarding world, there was no need for subtlety. Tonks had attempted to keep Draco off of the teams saying that he was too close to the situation.
"Bugger that!" he had screamed at his cousin in front of Harry and Ron. "We're all too close to the situation. It's Hermione, for Merlin's sake! Take my badge if you want, but you can't stop me from searching for her." The last was said with the arrogance that was a trademark of the Malfoys as much as the color of their eyes and hair.
She was going to reprimand him sharply, but she saw the fear behind the words. Instead she told him calmly, "As your supervisor, I should tell you that I fucking will take it if you ever talk to me like that again. However, as your cousin and Hermione's friend I understand your need to act. I'll let you be a part of the team, but no more of these outbursts. If you can't act like a professional, then I'll put you under lock and key. That goes for all three of you. You can't help her if you don't have a clear head." She had glared at all of them and they had nodded.
Draco, Harry, and another auror, Connors, burst through the front door of Flint's flat. There was no response from inside. They swept through the entryway finding it empty, though there were smears of blood on the wooden floor and a spray mark on one wall. Harry and Connors ducked into the two bedrooms immediately off of the hallway on the right side. Ron was with two other aurors entering the apartment through the back entrance in the kitchen.
"Clear," Draco heard yelled from various rooms around the flat.
He turned left into the living room following the trail of blood in dread. He immediately saw Marcus laying on his side on the floor. Hermione was nowhere in sight. "Living room," he called rushing to crouch by the fallen man.
"Oh bugger, Marcus," he said as he realized that there was no help for his friend. "Who did this to you?"
The others ran into the room and skidded to a stop. At Draco's negative head shake, Harry said softly, "I'm sorry mate." He knew the blond had genuinely liked Flint despite the man's recent interest in Hermione. "Do you want me to look him over instead of you?"
"No," Draco replied. "I'll do it. He's ...was...oh crap." He shook his head again, this time at a loss for words. Harry put his hand on Draco's shoulder.
"Let me do it," he said. "You help Ron. Hermione still needs us and you might miss something in the state you're in."
Draco nodded in agreement seeing the wisdom of Harry's words. He stood and turned away as Harry shifted the body onto it's back. The two aurors from Ron's team went to start searching the rest of the flat for clues, while Connors left to notify Tonks and the outside teams of what they'd found.
"Fuck it all," Ron suddenly swore from a few feet away. He looked angry and scared at the same time. He was holding two short lengths of wood. Draco felt the blood drain away from his face as he recognized the pieces as Hermione's wand.
"Guys, come see this," Harry said from behind him. When they looked to him, he indicated the floor next to Flint's body. The wizard had lost so much blood that not all of it was completely dry yet. At first, Draco and Ron didn't know what they were supposed to be seeing.
Harry pointed to a particular area in the mess. When they realized what it said, Draco's silver eyes turned to ice.
"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hermione came back to consciousness slowly. She opened her eyes trying to make sense of where she was. She tried to move and immediately found out that she couldn't. She was laying on her back with her arms bound together and stretched above her head. They were attached to the headboard of the bed that she was on. Turning her head she thought that she might be in a basement if the dampness and concrete walls were an indication. Aside from the bed that she was on, a chair was the only other piece of furniture in the room. There were two doors leading from the room and no windows. The only source of light in the room was a mage light positioned on the ceiling in the middle of the room.
Her head still throbbed a bit as she took stock of her of her own condition. She realized with dawning horror that there was a soreness between her legs and a stickiness that should not have been there. Her neck and chest were also tender, as though they had been bruised. She looked down at herself seeing that her shirt was open and that her bra had been sliced in half so that each cup was hanging along the sides of her torso. Her chest and breasts did indeed have red splotches, teeth marks and scratches all over them. Her tights and panties were missing and her skirt was hiked up around her waist. From the condition of her body, she knew what must have happened. She thanked Merlin that she couldn't actually remember any of it.
The door opened and Theodore Nott strolled in and sat on the chair. He looked her body up and down assessing its condition before settling his gaze on her face. She looked at him with disgust. "Did you do this to me?" she asked him in a voice much scratchier than normal.
"No. I can't take credit for it, Granger. Blaise was a little impatient. He just couldn't wait for the spell to wear off. It's probably lucky for you, though. He's kind of a sick fuck when it comes to sex. No pun intended. He always was." She shuddered at the amusement in his voice.
"Why are you doing this to me? What do you want?" she asked him.
"Actually, I don't need anything from you. What could you possibly have that I would want? It's Malfoy that I want dead. You're just the bait," he said scathingly.
"What? Why do you want to kill Draco. I thought you were good friends once."
"That was before he stole from me."
"Why would he steal from you?" she rasped out.
"After my father was unfairly sent to Azkaban, I lost our fortune. I was supposed to marry Daphne, but her father wouldn't honor the contract because I didn't have the bride price. She's been mine since we were fourteen! Then Draco swooped in and took her."
"Your father killed my parents because of what your actions, you bastard."
He reached over and slapped her casually. "Watch your mouth when talking to your betters, Granger. That's why they had to die. What do a couple of muggles matter?" he asked rhetorically. "I'm a Nott. I'm not supposed to be begging for money, yet I'm reduced to living off of Blaise's charity when I'm twice the wizard he is. That's going to change soon, too."
Hermione looked at him without speaking. Nott had a fanatical light in his eyes. Clearly this was something that he had been thinking of for a long time. He wanted to tell her so that he could have someone to gloat over.
"I needed a way to kill Malfoy that everyone would accept. He's not one to accidentally poison himself or get into a street fight. He's too calculating for most of the scenarios that I thought of. When Daphne told me how much he wanted the child, I knew I could exploit that. We were going to us it to lure Draco here under my terms. No one would doubt that he'd go to rescue his heir," Nott said enthusiastically. He paused for a moment before adding in a disgruntled voice, "Then he had to tell her that he wants a divorce and full custody."
"But you want that. Now you can marry her," Hermione said not understanding.
"I want Daphne and his money. If he divorces her and gets the babe, his fortune will be out of reach. Even if we kill him then, Lucius won't give the kid back to Daphne. Whoever has the money has the power," Nott told her. "Draco needs to die while they're still married, then Daphne will have control of the Malfoy heir and all the benefits that come with it. After an appropriate amount of time, it won't be questioned when she turns to an old school friend, me, for comfort. Then I'll have exactly what I deserve."
He looked at her contemplatively for a moment before continuing, "We had to our change plans and kill him before he can dissolve the marriage. Daphne says that he loves you enough to come for you. So we used you instead. We'll find out tonight if he thinks you're worth it. If you're not, we can always try for your bastard now that I know who she is."
Hermione didn't know how Daphne could know anything about Draco and her, but she let it pass. She was more concerned with the threat to Emmie. She told Nott, "You'll never get away with this. If you murder us, they'll never stop searching for you. Do you think the aurors or even Lucius Malfoy would do nothing?"
"That, my dear mudblood, is why the plan is sheer genius. They will find the kidnapper. Draco will come to the rescue, but alas, he'll be too late to save you. In the ensuing duel with your killer, he'll die too. Of course the killer will have been mortally wounded and won't survive either. It'll be a terrible tragedy, but once they find his body everything will be tied up quite nicely."
"Zabini," Hermione whispered understanding his plan. "You're going to kill him too, and place all the blame on him. I thought he was your partner." She had nothing but hatred for her rapist, but still couldn't believe the duplicity of Nott.
"He shouldn't be anything but my lackey." Nott said with disdain. "Everyone called him "the quiet Slytherin" at school and thought he was so deep. He didn't say much because he's psychotic. He was watching girls and picturing how he could torture them. I've seen him do it to some muggles."
"You're both disgusting," she answered earning another slap from him.
"You know, you don't have a bad body for a mudblood," Nott told her. "I suppose it would serve Draco right if I did have a go at you, since he's touched my woman," he contemplated with a dark look. He reached out to run one hand up her bare thigh. She tried to twist away from him, but he trapped her leg in a suddenly painful grip. "I don't think so, though; I wouldn't soil myself with you. Besides, I can do better than Blaise's sloppy seconds."
Hermione looked at him in repugnance. They heard footsteps approaching and Nott said one last thing to her, "I wonder how long you'll last. Blaise can be quite... inventive."
The door opened to reveal Zabini. He looked at Hermione with an unholy look of anticipation on his face. She cringed knowing she was helpless against him.
"Ah, Blaise, my friend," Nott greeted him. "Did you make a copy of that letter like I asked you to? Good work. Now we'll have Malfoy right where we want him. Everything will work out the way we planned."
"Zabini," Hermione cried. "Don't listen to him. He's just using yo-"
"Silencio!"
Hermione looked in horror at Theodore Nott as her voice stopped mid-word. He just gave her a bland look. He rose from his seat and made his way to the door. He smiled jovially at the other wizard and said, "Well, I'll let you get to your fun, Blaise. Leave the silencing spell on. We wouldn't want the neighbors getting curious." Giving Hermione one last appraising look, he walked out the door.
Zabini grinned at her in a predatory way. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at her. He put one knee on the bed and announced, "I'm glad you're awake now, Granger. You weren't that much fun before. Now we can really play. Crucio."
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was already eight o'clock, but no one in the Manor was even thinking about sleep, except for Emmie who was already curled up in Luna's lap. Narcissa was sitting next to the two on a couch wringing her hands with worry. She had helped Luna clean up her granddaughter, but didn't know what to do now. They were all in the library, which had been turned into a control center of sorts. The others in the room were looking over the papers that Tonks had brought over about Blaise Zabini's life after he had left Hogwarts. There was only a pitiful amount of information.
Lucius was in his study avoiding everyone else in his home. Though his innocence in this particular matter had been proved with the Veritaserum that Tonks had administered, they had still been disgusted by the prejudiced words that he had spilled about Hermione and Emmie. If not for the promise that he had made to Narcissa, he had admitted that he would probably have found some way of getting rid of those he considered threats to the family. No one wanted to have anything to do with him right now.
Since mid-afternoon all of the coven members had been receiving flashes of pain indicating that magic was being used to hurt Hermione. She had explained weeks ago that the bond only passed along strong magical and emotional occurrences, not physical ones. They were also getting echoes of her feelings of terror and despair. They were all tense and edgy, but were unsure if it was just because of the situation or because their feelings were being magnified and reflected by the others.
Daphne looked at her watch and walked into the room. She ignored almost everyone, though she did throw a look of loathing at the sleeping girl. Luna noticed the glance. Her normally genial face glared at Daphne while she put her hand on her wand in warning. Daphne sniffed and turned away. She approached her husband where he was standing by himself a short distance from the others.
Draco looked and felt like hell. He had been going nearly insane imagining what was happening to Hermione. Every time he felt a flicker of her distress, he would flinch and his eyes would look shattered. He was haggard with worry and Daphne had never seen him with this much emotion on his face.
"I need to talk to you in my suite, Draco," she told him.
"Not now Daphne," he said distractedly. "There's too much going on."
"If you care about this baby, you'll come talk to me right now," she said cleverly. She knew it was the one thing that would get his attention.
He looked at her stomach and his eyes filled with the soft look that appeared whenever he thought of his children. "All right, but make it quick," he said.
He followed her from the room and up the stairs. When they reached her private quarters Daphne closed the door and turned to him. She didn't say anything for a few minutes. The witch looked at her watch repeatedly and seemed to be waiting for something.
"What's this all about, Daphne?" Draco asked impatiently. "You haven't had a healer's visit since last week, so what do you want to tell me about the baby? Even you have to realize what's happening is too important for you to be wasting my time."
Instead of answering his questions, she responded with one of her own, "Do you really love Granger?"
"What?" he asked disconcerted, not expecting that from her. He looked at her face and saw that she had a strange look of satisfaction in her eyes. Things seemed to make more sense to him now. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "What do you know about this?" he snarled. "Where's Hermione?"
"Let me go or you'll never see her again."
Draco dropped his hands clenching them into fists. He demanded in a low voice, "Tell me what you know, you bitch!"
"Would you trade your life for hers?" she asked him looking intently at his face.
"What?" he exclaimed for the second time.
She looked at her watch again. "Decide now. I have a timeset portkey to where she is. It's going to leave in two minutes. If you're willing to give your life in place of hers, Zabini will obliviate her and let her go. I'll tell you which item it is, if you give me your wand."
Draco looked wildly around the room. Daphne liked knick-knacks and there were small items on every available horizontal surface. There was no way he could tell which one of them was a portkey.
"I'll make you tell me where she is," he said stepping closer to her.
She smiled mockingly and cradled her belly. "No, you won't. Even if you could bring yourself to injure me while I'm carrying this child, it would do you no good. I don't know where they are." She looked at her watch again. "You have forty-five seconds. If it shows up without you, he'll kill her. Whose life will you choose?"
Draco knew he did not have enough time to alert anyone else in the house about this situation and force Daphne to reveal the true portkey to him. If he surrendered his wand, he would have virtually no chance to defend himself against the enemy he was sure to find wherever he was transported to. He thought of Hermione and last night's conversation. He realized that he was not going to have to fight for her; he was going to have to die for her.
He chose. Without a word, Draco handed Daphne his wand.
"The fan on the coffee table."
He strode over to and grabbed it without hesitating. He looked at her one last time and said pleadingly, "The baby?"
She looked in triumph at the man she hoped to never see again and said, "Don't worry. I won't let any harm come to my child."
The portkey flashed and Draco disappeared. She used her own wand to transfigure his into a small wooden statue. Humming, she placed it among the other bits and pieces on a bookshelf flanking the fireplace. Picking up the letter that Theo had made Blaise write, she went downstairs to put on a performance for the rest of the people in the house.