Chapter 23
Hermione snuck into the corner of the library where she had taken to meeting Draco regularly. It had been just over a week since they had gotten together, after her confrontation of him, and Hermione couldn't describe how euphoric she felt. How did one describe the feeling of being snogged senseless with a bloke who made her heart race every time she saw him? How did she describe the way her stomach fluttered when they were having a heated discussion on the subjects that they were learning, like the limits Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration and if the principles could be extended further beyond what they were being taught?
It was how more often than not she found herself in his lap, as since she had stopped resisting the urge to snog him, she had been a lot freer with her actions, despite the fact that he probably was her first serious relationship. It was hard with Viktor, as when he was in England, he was busy pursuing the Triwizard Tournament, and after that he had returned home to Bulgaria. And long distances relationships were particularly hard for a teenage witch when they barely had a basis of a relationship.
But with Draco, it felt natural, like he understood a part of her that even her close friends had issues understanding. They didn't get that she felt at home with her books, or that there was a solace in having some time alone, which didn't mean she was avoiding them.
Of course Ron still was under the impression that she was a jealous bint, and Harry was just happy to stay out of it. Not that she blamed him, because she knew that her fights with Ron weren't exactly the most pleasant thing to be a part of, but every now and then she couldn't help but wish he would take her side for once, instead of his, like he usually did. She got it, Ron was like his brother, and his family provided love and nurture for him. But she was his friend as well, and she would be lying if she said she didn't wish he tried to understand her point of view every now and then.
"You're early," Draco said, smiling as he entered the area, before putting up the wards on the corner so that the other students wouldn't see them. It was one thing to be seen studying together, but another thing to be caught snogging. They could play off studying, but it was hard to play off having their hands all over each other.
They didn't say it, but the both knew just how risky it was for both of them if they were to get caught. The last thing they needed was for word to get out to Voldemort that his youngest Death Eater was dating Harry Potter's muggleborn best friend. It was hardly an ideal situation, so secrecy was paramount.
"I missed you," she said softly, as she walked over and wrapped her arms around him.
He grinned at her, before dropping his head and placing a kiss on her lips.
"I missed you too," he murmured, "It was hard to pretend in class that I didn't want to even look at you when all I wanted to do was take you in my arms and place a kiss on your lips."
She grinned brightly as she stroked his face.
She stepped away as he placed his book bag down beside hers and grabbed his quills and books.
"So I disagree with Professor Flitwick's argument on the Human-presence-revealing Spell. I do not believe he was correct that an Animagus would be undetected by this charm," Draco said softly as he slipped his hand through hers. "Though they are in an animal form, they still have their magical core, which is unique to the witch or wizard. Shouldn't the spell be able to detect them?"
Hermione grinned at the argument, "I agree with him. While the wizard or witch is still human in their mind, their physical characteristics become one with the animal. Their magical core is not gone, but the wizard or witch is unable to cast spells as well, thus suggesting this impacts their magical core."
He looked thoughtful at that, "I hadn't considered that argument," he nodded, "Looks like you win this round, Granger."
"What's my reward?" she asked, giving him a smile.
He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers once more, and she closed her eyes as she allowed herself to melt into him.
"I suppose that'll do," she said in nonchalance despite the hint of a smile lingering on her face.
"I'm glad," he laughed as he stroked her face tenderly.
She grinned at him, and a part of her felt guilty, knowing that in a few hours she would have to return to her friends and pretend that she hadn't just spent the evening with the boy they detested more than anything. Would either of them understand if she told them the truth? That she cared for him, and that he wasn't the monster they believed him to be? Would either of them care about the fact that he was different, or would they be so blinded by their anger that they didn't care enough to try and find out the truth?
She knew Ron would fly off the handle. He had reacted as such to finding out that she was with Viktor, what would he do if he ever found out that she was dating the boy who his family had a longstanding rivalry with? It wouldn't be pleasant, that much was for sure. And Hermione wasn't sure she wanted him to know.
But Harry, she felt guilty about. Harry had been like her brother for years, and here she was sneaking around with Draco when Harry was so certain he was up to no good. To be fair, it wasn't as if Hermione didn't know that, but a part of her didn't care. The Draco she had come to know over the last couple months wasn't a Death Eater by choice. She knew he didn't want to be doing any of this, and only was because he had no choice.
She didn't know what the future of her relationship with Draco would bring, be it tragedy or a happily ever after, but she knew that she enjoyed spending time with him, and that she wanted to pursue their relationship and see where it went.
"Has he said anything?" Draco asked as Harry came out of the interrogation room where Rodolphus was. There was no doubt that he somehow found a way to warn whoever it was he was working with, or he wouldn't have sent off the skull. Which meant that someone else had Hermione in their captive and now that they had been warned, they would most likely be moving towards a location that Rodolphus couldn't reveal to them. Somewhere Rodolphus didn't even know about.
He felt his heart sink at that thought, even if they got Rodolphus to break about where they had been, what good was that to them now of where they were at the moment. It wasn't as if they would still be there. Rodolphus wanted them to complete the ritual, with or without him.
In all the years he had known his uncle, he never suspected that he would be loyal to bring back Voldemort that badly. He believed in the cause, that much was for sure, but he never was as ardent a soldier Bellatrix or his own father. He never was one to sacrifice himself, not when Bellatrix wasn't pushing him into it. Sure, he loved the torturing and the chaos, but his loyalty to Voldemort was never as strong as the others.
But his loyalty had never wavered when it came to his wife. Despite her obvious infatuation with the Dark Lord, Rodolphus adored his wife. He went to Azkaban for her, and followed her into battle. He would go to the ends of the earth for her, even if it meant losing himself, just to get her back.
And with that, horror and realization struck him all at once. It never was Voldemort that they wanted to bring back, as the Auror department had begun to suspect upon his capture. It had sent the office into a mild panic as the effects of the war were still fresh in all of their minds. They all still remembered the pain and loss, the suffering and war that Voldemort had brought down on all of them. They all remembered it all too well, and none of them wanted for Rodolphus to succeed. But that wasn't who Rodolphus wanted back. No, he wanted to bring back Bellatrix Lestrange, his insane wife, and he wanted to use Hermione to do so.
Draco felt his blood boil as he approached the interrogation room, where Rodolphus was. Harry had insisted he stay away from the room, due to his personal connection to the case, not wanting to allow anything that would happen which would make the prosecution more difficult. But Draco needed to confirm his theory, he needed to know if he was right about the true reason they were casting the spell to bring back someone for the dead.
From what Harry had told them, the laws of nature would not allow for Voldemort to come back, not after he cheated death for so many years, prolonging his life through means that were less than savoury. And magic would not allow for him to come back and once again upset the natural balance of life.
But Bellatrix was different, she was insane, and a ruthless woman, but she hadn't tried to live forever, at least she hadn't succeeded in it. She was gone, and despite the potion and spell being completely theoretical, there was a chance it would work.
And even if it didn't, he knew that they would still kill Hermione in the hopes that it would. They would hurt her if it meant bringing her back.
He barged into the room, startling Harry, while Rodolphus looked up at him with a simple grin.
"Ah, Nephew," Rodolphus leered, "I was wondering how long it would take you to make your appearance known."
"You shouldn't be here, Draco," Harry murmured to him, as he stood and tried to turn Draco around.
"I'll leave," Draco promised, "I just need to ask him one thing, and I'll leave afterwards."
Harry looked torn, but nodded ultimately and Draco sat across from the man.
"You don't want to bring back Voldemort, do you?" he asked the man, whom he couldn't even begin to consider as family. How could he think the man as such when he and his wife had hurt so many people, mercilessly, for fun and for their own sick amusement? How could he even consider them related, when they had hurt him every time he was deemed weak, or when his mother seemed unloyal? How could he when his 'uncle' held Hermione captive?
"You want to bring back Bellatrix," Draco finished, looking up at the man, who grinned for the first time since Draco entered the room.
"Looks like someone's finally figured it out," Rodolphus sneered, "Took you lot long enough. I swear if I was asked another question about why I wanted to bring back Voldemort, then I was going to hex someone senseless. I was a Death Eater as a means to an end. And now, I want to choose a different path to achieve my goals. The Dark Lord always was just a means to an end, to create a perfect world for us. But he failed when he got obsessed with a child. A dirty half-blood, the both of them."
"Why her?" Harry asked, looking stunned, "Why Bellatrix? Surely you can achieve your goals without her."
"If you have to ask, you're even more dimwitted than I thought, Potter," Rodolphus said, holding his head higher than the boy. "I guess it was true that Granger was the only reason you stayed alive as long as you did. Merlin know you should have died on countless occasions."
"You love her," Draco shook his head, "Even with her obsession with Voldemort, you loved her. And now you want to bring her back to achieve whatever insane world you believe she'll help you achieve. Even if you brought her back, you never would. The world is different than it was back then. No one would stand by you, not after the cost of the last war. You'd both be arrested and spend your lives in Azkaban."
"I managed to evade you lot for this long, hadn't I?" Rodolphus sneered, "What makes you think that if you didn't catch me with a trap you would have found me otherwise? You didn't even know who was responsible in kidnapping your little girlfriend until I was caught. Face it, Draco, if it weren't for that trap, we would have brought her back together, and your girlfriend would be long dead."
"Who?" Draco asked, slightly desperately, "Who's helping you?"
"That would be telling," Rodolphus grinned, "And I don't quite feel like it, despite how badly I want to wipe that arrogant smirk off your face. No, I want you to find out for yourself."
"Why Hermione?" Harry asked, a little unsure of the answer, "Why did you specifically target her? Why not anyone else? Was it because Bellatrix hated her and it would have been the ultimate vengeance? To kill a muggleborn to save a pureblood?"
"It's because of me, isn't it?" Draco paled, as the sudden realization hit him all at once, "You chose her as a sacrifice because of me. Because I love her, and we're together. By getting rid of her you believe I'll end up with a pureblood and not dirty the family blood line. That's why you went for her, isn't it?"
"You're both right," Rodophus smirked, "I would have used the Weasley whore if I could have, but her blood was already a separate component of the spell, to be used because she cast the spell in the end which stole her from me. And Bellatrix hated no one more than that mudblood, for what she did during the war. And if she out that the two of you were together, well let's just say I'm doing her a mercy in killing her the way I am."
"You're disgusting," Draco said, as he stood up. "Harry, we've passed the exceeded time limit of which he confesses naturally. And as this is a state of emergency, the protocol dictates that we use veritasium on the prisoner to get the time sensitive information."
"I'll get a vial," Harry said grimly, as he stood up, and the two of them exited the room. Draco just hoped that by time they found out what they needed to know, it wouldn't be too late.
Hermione groaned to herself as she felt her eyes open once more. She looked around the room, having been knocked out shortly after Lucius had begun to finalize the potion from the loss of blood, and she was unsurprised to realize she had no idea where they were now.
From what she could tell, Rodolphus had been caught, and they had to move, but to where she had no idea.
She no longer was bound, and she wondered if in the chaos, Lucius had forgotten some of the spells on her. For there were ropes that held her, but unlike last time, there wasn't a binding curse on her which prevented her from moving. She slowly began to undo the ropes on her wrist, and just as she felt them begin to loosen, the door opened.
She froze, as Lucius entered, not wanting him to be aware of the fact that she was freeing herself. She needed to be careful about how she proceeded, or Lucius would know something was up and she would find herself bound even tighter than she was the first time.
"It was most unfortunate that we had to move," Lucius said as he looked upon her face. "I was rather hoping that we would finish casting the spell soon, given the fact that at the peak of the full moon it would have been the most potent. But that doesn't mean it will not still work otherwise. Her skin was repairing before, and I do believe it will work at a different time, such as the peak of the morning when the sun is just about to set and the moonlight begins to glow. So do not fear, we will cast it soon enough. Even if my idiot son does succeed in breaking Rodolphus, he'll never find out where we have gone."
"Why?" she asked him, "Why don't you want your son to be happy? He'll never forgive you if you go through with this. If you kill me, it's over for you. You'll never have a relationship after this. He won't want anything to do with you."
"Perhaps," Lucius shook his head, "But at the same time you'll be out of the picture. He'll fall in love again, and with a little assistance, he'll fall in love with someone worthy. After all, love isn't crucial for a marriage. He just needs someone who shares the same values as we do."
He turned then, and she hurried to undo the ropes around her wrists, as she knew she needed to get out of there before he began to cast the spell once more. She needed to be strong if she were going to get out of here, and as soon as her wrists were free, she closed her eyes. She needed to gather all the energy she had if she were to succeed. She felt her magic flowing through her body, and at the exact moment it was at its peak, she began to channel it.
"Stupefy!" she said, causing Lucius to turn around quickly. However her magic had begun to flow out of her body, casting the spell at her captor and knocking him out cold.
She loosened the ropes that were binding her feet and ran out the door of the house. She didn't know where she was, surrounded only by an endless field, but she felt her magic recharge. She was free. She closed her eyes, and thought of Draco, of Rose, and of home. She thought of them, and she apparated. She was finally going home.