Chapter 33

All for one

"You won't kill him," Hermione said. "Leo may have done, but you're not that stupid."

Liam grinned at her. "Problem with that theory Hermione is that if we don't kill you both, then we are both going to prison at the very least."

"Why are you doing this?! Draco trusted you!"

Draco tried to make a sound but Liam seemed to have him so tightly around the throat that it came out as a gurgle. Hermione could see he was in pain, his arm trapped at a weird angle.

"Yeah, he did." Liam seemed totally unphased by any of this. So cool and calm it was terrifying. "But I've looked after him – he wouldn't have this place and all his cash if it wasn't for me!"

Draco moved again, making a gagging sound but Liam ignored him.

"He's looked after you!" Hermione glared at him.

"I suppose he has," Liam agreed. "This isn't personal. I just want out of working for someone else. Watching them make their fortune and worse than that, having to count if for them!"

"You're willing to murder us for that! Are you mad? If you hurt us, you won't be working for anyone ever again. There is no way you'll get away with it!"

Liam laughed. "Dragons are such unpredictable creatures though, aren't they?"

Hermione gaped at him and didn't respond because she knew she didn't really have an answer to that. They could kill them both and easily make it look like the dragons had done it. Leo was rising to his feet, groaning loudly, holding his face.

"Grab her!" Liam instructed, pulling Draco further back.

"I can't see!" Leo groaned again, bending over.

Liam made a growling noise. "I don't care – just bloody help me. It was your idea to get your useless cousin involved and he's dropped us right in it!"

Leo was half bending over, kicking at leaves, still gasping. "He only had to get the blood."

Hermione's brain was struggling to take everything in – were they talking about Toby? Toby was Leo's cousin? How did she not know that? She glanced over at Draco, wondering what had happened to his wand but she couldn't see it. He was still struggling but Liam had him tightly trapped and Hermione knew he couldn't fight with only one arm.

His expression suddenly caught her attention – his eyes were flashing at her, looking at Leo then back at her. She followed his gaze and then looked back at him. He lowered his eyes to the ground then back to Leo and it suddenly hit her. Leo had lost his wand! As he fell to the ground in pain, he must have dropped it and now he couldn't find it as he was struggling to see.

Liam was still shouting instructions at Leo, getting more and more frustrated and Hermione knew she had to get his wand and she had to get it right now. Without trying to keep up any pretence, she pushed Leo roughly out of the way and he fell onto his knees again, groaning. Her eyes scoured the floor but it was covered in stones and leaves and she couldn't see his wand.

She heard a scuffle behind her and spun round to see Draco wrestling himself free of Liam, crying out in pain but kicking out at Liam who had stumbled backwards.

She needed that wand right now! She got on her knees and began feeling around, under the leaves, ignoring the pain of the stones digging into her legs.

"Hermione!"

She heard Draco's voice but didn't look over. She needed the wand!

"Hermione!" Draco's voice again and she allowed herself a quick glance over at him. He was also on his knees, his damaged arm held close to his chest, the other one waving over to the left. "By the tree…."

Hermione turned back to where he had indicated and spotted Leo's wand on the ground. She went to stand up but was stopped midway as a blinding light seemed to light up the whole area, the ground vibrating. She stumbled forward, landing on her knees again, crying out in pain. Her head hit the floor hard and she groaned, stunned for a moment. She tried to lift her head but couldn't.

She could see Liam standing now, his wand in the air, his face looking slightly manic. He was staring down at Draco who was now prostrate on the floor. Hermione could see Draco's face; it was facing her and the sight of it filled her with wild terror. His mouth was hanging open, his lips looked grey. His eyes stared unseeingly, open but staring. He wasn't moving. Hermione felt her stomach heave, her heart clenching, her breath coming in gaps. She hadn't seen the spell Liam had used but the brightness of it, the vibration she had felt…she was sure Draco was dead.

She wanted to just lie here and let everything fade into oblivion. Even if she reached Leo's wand, what was the point? There were two of them and one of her. To beat them she would need every ounce of her strength and resolve and she knew that in the moment Liam had aimed his spell at Draco, she had lost any fight she had.

Liam was over by Leo, dragging him to standing, leaning him against a tree and talking to him quietly but urgently. Hermione pushed herself into a crawling position and with a supreme effort she moved one leg, then the other. She didn't care now but she knew that Draco would want her to stop these men who had betrayed him. She heard herself sobbing but pushed forward, Leo's wand nearly in her grasp.

"I don't think so." Liam's voice was close and she raised her head to find him standing over her, his wand aimed at her head. "I take no pleasure from this, Hermione. This wasn't about you but I have no choice."

Hermione knew this was the end but she wouldn't just let it happen. If she was going to die, then she would do so fighting for Draco. She found the will to push herself to standing and as she did so, she saw Liam mouth a spell, his wand flashing. She ducked away just in time but her feet slipped on the wet ground and she stumbled forward, the world swaying, not sure she could stay upright.

Then there was another brighter flash of light, she heard someone crying out and she waited to feel the pain as the second spell hit her, but it didn't happen. The sky flashed again almost immediately, the ground shaking and she was flung against a tree just about managing to stay on her feet. She turned to look at her assailants, holding the trunk of the tree for support and gaped at the scene in front of her.

Both Liam and Leo were prostrate on the floor, Leo on his back by a tree and Liam face down in the leaves, his arms outstretched. Both were completely motionless and Hermione stared at them, her brain struggling to keep up with what had happened.

"Are you okay?"

She turned towards the voice and saw a dark haired, petite woman coming towards her.

"Hermione?" The woman knew her name? She looked familiar but Hermione's scrambled brain couldn't work out why. "Are you alright?" the woman was looking at her anxiously.

Hermione nodded mutely, then took a deep breath. She would not act like this; she would not be weak. She would need to be strong and she needed to start that right now.

"I'm not hurt," she managed to croak. The women looked at her concerned.

"You should sit down," she said, gently touching Hermione's arm

"Draco!" Hermione's voice came out full strength this time. She waved her arm at him on the floor. "We need to see if we can help Draco!" She took a step forward but the woman was already ahead of her, sprinting across to him.

Hermione stumbled over to them. The woman had turned Draco over and she had his head on her knees.

"Draco?" her rescuer was gently shaking him. Her voice urgent. "Draco?! Can you hear me?"

Hermione fell to the floor, feeling like she was in a dream. He couldn't be dead. She couldn't deal with him being dead.

"Draco?" Hermione reached out and touched his arm, grasping his limp hand. "Please, Draco…."

The woman pushed Draco onto Hermione's knees awkwardly and raised her wand, pointing it a him.

"No! What are you doing?" Hermione leant over him protectively.

"I'm trying to save him!"

Hermione hesitated for a second then moved back. She didn't know who this was but she was trying to help and she needed her.

"Rennervate!" The woman aimed the spell at Draco but he didn't move. "Finite Incantatem!" She aimed another spell and Hermione suddenly felt Draco move his fingers that were still grasped in her own.

"He moved!" She yelled at the women, who's eyes widened. Hermione leapt to her feet the fog gone from her brain. She ran to Leo's wand and grabbed it, running back over to Draco.

"We need to do the spell again, together," she instructed her ally who nodded.

They raised their wands together and Hermione gave a nod.

"Rennervate!"

"Rennervate!"

Draco took a huge shuddering breath, his chest lifting, his legs shaking.

"Draco!" the women bent towards him but he was gasping, his breath sounding rough and shallow. He coughed and started to struggle, grabbing at his throat.

Hermione raised her wand again and took aim. "Anapneo!"

Draco stopped struggling and collapsed back onto the floor. His eyes flickered open but he didn't speak.

"Draco?"

He was staring at Hermione and the women who had helped save his life. He coughed and rolled over, vomiting violently into the grass. They both watched him as he gasped, pushing himself to his knees. After a few seconds, still in a crouching position, he turned to the dark-haired women who was watching him anxiously.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, his voice a low croak.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked but she didn't care who she was. She'd helped her save Draco and that was all she cared about.

The women leant back, brushing off her knees. She opened her mouth to speak when they all heard a noise behind them and turned, grabbing their wands.

Luca was standing at the edge of the clearing, staring over at the scene, his wand raised, his breath gasping. Hermione watched a look come over his face as he saw who was there, his eyes locked to the mysterious women who was now facing him.

"Mother? What are you doing here?"