Chapter 32

Old faces

Without waiting for a signal from Draco, without thinking at all, Hermione stepped out of her hiding place and faced the two people in front of her. Toby spun round to look at her.

"Hermione – what are you doing here?"

Hermione raised her hand and pointed. "What is HE doing here?"

Leo was staring at Hermione, his eyes wide in his face. "Hermione!"

Hermione took a step closer to him. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Leo, who Hermione vaguely noticed looked dishevelled and pale, turned his gaze to Toby. "You haven't been careful!"

"I had no choice, she saw me take the blood," Toby sounded whiny and pathetic and Hermione felt a jolt of anger at his lack of backbone.

"Everyone has a choice, Toby," she pointed out, her voice low but firm.

"Oh, here we go," Leo gave a sharp laugh. "Hermione Granger and her 'holier than thou' preaching. Good to see nothing has changed."

Hermione turned back to him; her eyes narrowed. "Oh, here we go," she repeated. "Leo Green and his 'the rules don't apply to me' attitude. Even if breaking the rules hurts someone else."

Leo shook his head. "I haven't got time for this," he turned to Toby. "Give me the rest of the samples," he waved his hand impatiently but Toby just stared at him. "Get a bloody grip, Toby! Give me the samples now!" He leant over the low fence trying to reach the rest of the samples but Toby took a step backwards, holding them away from him.

Hermione suddenly realised that her hands were empty and her throat went dry. Where was her wand?! She'd had it when she was waiting in the trees just a few minutes ago. She tried to keep her face neutral but she felt slightly sick. She had stepped out to challenge these two totally unarmed. She took a breath and looked towards Toby. "Drop the samples, Toby. You know this is over now."

Toby looked terrified and Hermione wanted to shake him for being so ridiculous. How could she have actually liked him? She saw a small movement at the corner of her vison and knew it was Draco. She hoped he held his nerve and didn't reveal his presence until he was really needed, because his sudden appearance was going to be their best weapon. Her not having her wand was a problem but thank Merlin Draco was here! She trusted him to wait until the right time to do anything.

"Why don't you stop giving instructions, Hermione. For once, you're not in charge!" Leo's voice broke into her thoughts and she turned towards him to see him aiming his wand at her.

"Or else?" Hermione didn't feel as brave as she sounded but some inner instinct, one she had had to use a long time ago, had kicked in. "You know you can't hurt me – that would make things way too complicated."

"Problem is, I can't NOT hurt you," Leo said, his voice cool. "Because you have a big mouth and now you know too much."

Hermione caught another movement from the trees but forced herself to not glance towards it.

"I don't take well to threats, Leo," Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Have the grace to know when it's time to admit defeat."

Leo laughed again. "I can't do that." He turned to Toby. "Give me the samples now, Toby. We need to deal with this situation."

Toby was staring at Leo in horror. "What do you mean, deal with the situation?"

Leo snapped; his voice raised. "GIVE ME THE SAMPLES."

Toby seemed to freeze on the spot. He took a couple of steps backward, clutching the pouch of tubes to his chest. Hermione was about to speak but he suddenly dropped the tubes, turned on his heel and ran, disappearing into the trees. Leo jumped the fence in one easy movement and snatched up the pouch.

"For Merlin's sake! He's bloody well smashed them all! I'm going to kill him!" Leo threw the pouch forcefully against a tree and Hermione flinched at his show of anger. She'd never seen him like this, he was so placid normally.

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione allowed herself a glance towards the trees. Did Draco realise she didn't have her wand? He was doing the right thing waiting, using the element of surprise and hopefully getting Leo to talk but he was basing all his decisions on the fact she had a wand to defend herself! There was no way to signal him so all she could do now was stall Leo until Draco realised she needed help.

"Why do you think?" Leo ran his hand through his already messy hair. "Got to support bloody Malfoy's brats somehow, haven't I?"

Hermione flinched again at his terminology. "Money?! You're doing this for money?"

Leo stepped really close to her and she held her nerve, fighting the urge to move away. "Yes, Hermione, money! We don't all get to live on a glamorous wildlife reserve and be paid extortionate amounts of money for producing mediocre pieces of art!" Hermione could feel his breath on her face, he was that close.

"I know how much you sell your artwork for," she said, ignoring his personal attack. "Don't try and tell me you can't live a pretty swanky life!"

Leo sniffed. "How much did you get for the Dragon commission? I was up for that – I should have got that. You didn't know how to hold a bloody brush until I showed you! How can you have got that commission over me? I knew about it before anyone else. With Toby putting in a good word for me, I was nailed on to get it." He looked her up and down. "I guess I couldn't exactly use my charms to get Malfoy to give me the work though, could I?"

Hermione couldn't believe this was the same person she used to spend all her time with, someone she used to love. He was so bitter.

"You had an affair with Draco's wife! How could you even think you'd get the commission?! How do you know Toby?" Hermione asked.

"Bloody Toby!" Leo turned away from her.

"Why is he helping you? What do you have over him?"

"He's not innocent, Hermione! He was stealing the blood before I even knew you could sell the stuff."

Hermione frowned, trying to understand what had happened but it didn't make sense.

"Come with me now and I'll speak up for you, try and help." She knew this was a lie, she had no intention of doing what she was offering.

"That would be nice and tidy for you, wouldn't it?" Leo looked her up and down. "You always were a control freak." He was looking up at the trees, his face flushed, his hands on his hips and she knew it was now or never.

"Draco!" she yelled at the top of her voice.

Everything happened quickly. She saw Leo glance around, obviously wondering why she was yelling Draco's name. She saw Draco rush out from the trees but with her attention away from him, Leo had stepped behind her, grabbed her and held his wand to her throat.

She saw Draco stop in his tracks and shook her head. "No, don't stop, he won't hurt me!"

She felt Leo dig his wand sharply into her neck and gasped at the pain. "I already told you, Hermione. I HAVE to hurt you and now him too," Leo spat the word 'him' out as it if tasted like poison.

Draco had his wand aimed directly at Leo but Hermione knew he was holding it in his left hand, having to use this because of his injury. She hoped Leo didn't notice but to her it looked so unnatural.

"There are two of us and one of you," Draco spoke quietly, his voice calm. "Put the wand down!"

Leo poked the wand hard against Hermione's neck, making her gasp again. "Hermione thinks I won't hurt her but I have to kill you both. There isn't any other choice now."

"It's one thing to steal some dragon blood, quite another to murder someone," Draco pointed out. "Don't be an idiot."

Hermione still wasn't sure if Draco realised that she had lost her wand and there was no way she could think of to convey this to him. On the surface it appeared that they had the advantage but she was wandless and Draco was using the wrong hand so the advantage was minimal. She needed to do something to break the deadlock so that Draco could take a better aim at him. She'd tried to use her wand with her left hand once and she was useless. She hoped Draco was better with his!

"You know how long I was having sex with your wife before you even had a clue?" Leo was being vindictive. "I think that makes you the idiot."

Hermione hope that Draco would keep his cool and not rise to Leo's bait.

"Does Eva know you have no money? Is she in on this?" Draco did well, ignoring Leo's words and speaking slowly and calmly.

Hermione looked around as much as she could without moving her head, hoping Draco could keep Leo talking while she thought of a plan. There was a hefty stone a small distance from her feet. She stretched her leg out slowly, trying to judge the distance. Would she be able to reach down, grab it and then swing it at Leo before he discharged a spell? She doubted it but there didn't seem to be anything else. She felt a wave of panic wash over her – this was serious, Leo was obviously desperate, unhinged and any second now he could make good on his threat and attempt to kill them both.

She stretched her leg a little more, hoping he didn't notice and felt something dig into her hip. Something that felt like a stick. Her paint brush! In her pocket! If she had enough movement, she was sure she could grab it. Could she twist enough to have sufficient force behind it to actually hurt Leo? She glanced up at him. A paint brush shoved hard into the eye socket had to hurt, didn't it?

"So, how are we going to break this stalemate?" Draco was saying. "You kill Hermione, I have a straight shot at you and you die."

"You're willing to risk her? Willing for her to die to test your theory?" Leo asked, glibly. "I know you won't do that because you care about her too much."

"She's just being working on a commission for me, you're barking up the wrong tree there," Draco shook his head.

"No, I'm not," Leo gave a smirk. "I live with your children, remember? I've heard what they've been saying about you both. You're infatuated. You're in love with her."

If it wasn't for the situation they were in, Hermione would have very much liked to hear more of this conversation but she knew it was time to act. She reached into her pocket, grabbed the paintbrush, which thankfully was brush side down, twisting it as much as she could, thrusting her elbow into Leo's ribs as she did so. He gave a little groan and tried to tighten his grip on her but she had the momentum and she swung her arm again, aiming for his eyes. Her first shot missed, hitting him on his cheek but it must have hurt because his grip loosened and he cried out, giving her the opportunity to swing again, this time hitting the target.

For a moment, Leo stood still, seemingly frozen before he let out a yelp, letting go of her and desperately covering his eye, bending over in pain. She took a few steps away from him, allowing Draco a clear shot. After what must have only been a second or two but seemed like much longer, nothing had happened and she spun around, wondering why Draco was hesitating, when she'd given him the perfect opportunity.

"Sorry, Hermione," Liam said, grinning. He had Draco by the throat, his wand pressed to his temple. Draco's face conveyed his sheer frustration and annoyance at himself for letting Liam sneak up on him. His eyes were sorrowful and Hermione felt a lump form in her throat. "Good move! Knew the paintbrushes would come in useful for something other than painting those bloody monsters one day," Liam continued. Hermione presumed he meant the dragons. She felt numb with shock at this latest development. Just how many of Draco's staff had been betraying him? Liam was still talking. "I have to warn you however, that if you move another muscle, even an inch, then loverboy is dead. This isn't an idol threat, I'm not a pathetic bloody loser like him," he nodded his head towards Leo, who was still bent over, holding his head, gasping in pain. "If you try anything, then Malfoy dies."