225 followers is insanity
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Hermione woke up at Seamus's side. The light from the window was streaming in, hitting Dean's empty bed. The sight of the neatly made sheets sent a dagger through her heart.
He should be here.
She glanced over at Seamus. He was still fast asleep. His face was peaceful, with his mouth parted ever so slightly. She sighed. He only ever looked like this when he was asleep. Content. Unafraid.
Happy.
She glanced out the window and realized it must be getting late. The sun was higher than it should've been. She ought to get back to her own room.
No one needed to see her with Seamus. That was private.
She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake him up. He only muttered under his breath and rolled over, his happy face out of sight. She put on her clothes from the previous night, which had been thrown haphazardly across the room.
Once she got all the pieces, she headed to the door. After struggling with the knob for several moments, she realized it was locked.
She frowned. Had she locked the door the previous night after coming in? How had she done that? She didn't have her wand on her…
Then she remembered. She had used wandless magic, effortlessly closing, locking and silencing the room. With just a wave of her hand and an errant thought, she had managed to do something that should not have been possible.
She had never done wandless magic before.
Taking a step back from the door, she tried to understand where her newfound power had come from. Almost immediately, the willow tree on her arm began to tingle again. She glanced at it. It had changed colours again: black to bronze.
She turned back to the door and held out her right hand. She waved it in front of the lock and focused. A moment later she tried the doorknob.
Locked.
She frowned, when her mark began to tingle again. Hesitantly, she lifted her left hand and waved it in front of the door. The moment she did, a rush of energy went through her arm, making her unsteady on her feet.
The door clicked open.
Shock filled her veins. It worked.
She forced herself out the door, closing it quietly behind her. Placing her forehead on the wood panels, she took several steadying breaths.
"Why didn't you tell us?" a voice asked, startling her from her reverie.
She spun around to see Harry, leaning on the banister and watching her. She gaped in shock for several moments, before casting her eyes downward.
"Tell you about what?" she whispered, rubbing the mark on her arm errantly.
Harry gestured to the closed door behind her. "Seamus. Why didn't you tell us you were seeing him?"
His tone irked her. "Why didn't you tell me that you and Ron had been discussing Horcruxes?"
He paused. "We didn't want to hurt you."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Consider your mission a failure then."
She walked towards the stairs, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead of her.
"Hermione, come on," Harry said, reaching out and grabbing her arm as she passed.
Without warning, a spark of energy went from her heart down to her arm. Harry flinched back, cursing, and shaking his hand.
She had burned him.
"What the bloody hell did you do that for?" he demanded, cradling his burnt hand against his chest.
She stood still. "I didn't do it," she whispered, glancing down at her mark.
It was black again.
Harry followed her gaze. "It was your mark, wasn't it?"
His tone was accusatory.
She held out her hand and took a step back. "Don't come near me. I don't know what'll happen." Her skin was buzzing. Every part of her body felt like the end of a live wire.
Harry took a hesitant step forward. "You're not going to hurt me."
She shook her head. "Of course not, but I keep doing things I shouldn't be able to do. It did wandless magic last night. And today."
"It?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.
"Me," she whispered. She looked up at him. "So I guess Lupin was right about the power thing."
Above them, she heard footsteps walking on the stairs. She looked up. Fred was heading down, eyeing them both strangely.
"Why are you both up?" the twin asked, eyes flashing between them both, question marks dancing behind his irises.
"Hermione wasn't in Ginny's room," Harry responded.
She shot him a look. "But you, apparently, were."
He flushed. "Don't change the subject,"
After a moment, Fred rolled his eyes. "I have patrols this morning. I'm doing Diagon Alley. Either of you losers want to join?"
"I'll come," Hermione said, immediately.
Harry tensed. "Are you sure that's the best idea?"
She turned to look at him. "I thought you said I was vital to the Order and their missions."
Harry's mouth fell open.
She smirked. "Come on, Fred. I'll disguise you."
"What was up with you and Boy Wonder this morning?" Fred asked, once they made it to Diagon Alley. The air was tense. Half the shops were closed, and any remaining shoppers skittered by as quickly as they could.
Fred and Hermione were in their typical disguises. He had gone blonde, shrunk a foot and a half, and changed his facial features. She was raven-haired and taller by a good few inches. It didn't cease to surprise her how good they had gotten on glamours over the years.
They were on a typical patrol mission. It was their job as Order Members to watch over populated areas for signs of attacks. They tried to disappear into their surroundings. In this case, that meant staying in a secluded and dark alleyway just off the main shopping district.
"What do you mean?" she asked, feigning ignorance. She itched at the mark on her arm, which had started prickling again.
He gave her a look. "You know what I mean. The two of you were nearly at each other's throats when I popped in. Was it because of Seamus?"
"What?" she asked, surprised. Then she shook her head. "No, we started fighting last night. That was part of the reason I went to Seamus in the first place."
"What were you fighting about?" he asked.
She nearly snarled her answer. "I'm sure you'll know by next week."
He didn't respond.
Hermione gazed out the alleyway at the shopping district. The cobblestoned streets that had once enthralled her were nothing more than dirt and dust. No one repaired anything that was likely to get blown up in the next battle.
Her eyes drifted to the shop across from where they were standing. It had been boarded up for several years now. Ollivander's Wands, once a proud establishment, was now nothing but a reminder of the times in which the old man had helped scare eleven year-olds.
She had seen him. She had nearly saved him. But he was still trapped in that damn dungeon beneath Malfoy Manor, wasting away.
That was the hardest part of being in the Order, she reckoned. Sometimes, like with Blaise, she could be content in the knowledge that their actions had saved a life. And then sometimes, their actions couldn't do anything. And that burned more than she would ever say aloud.
She inched towards the alleyway exit and glanced down the strip. The mark in her arm had increased from a prickle to a full out burn. It wasn't painful yet, but it did set her off.
"Can you feel that?" she asked Fred, raising an eyebrow. She couldn't explain exactly how she knew, but it felt like a prophecy.
Something wasn't quite right. Something was about to go horribly wrong.
Before he could answer, she heard the explosion.
Her left hand raised of its own accord and cast a shield charm at their enclave's entrance, preventing any of the debris from hitting her or Fred. She coughed in the cloud of dust, and tried to focus despite the screams that overwhelmed her hearing and fire that overwhelmed her sight.
"It's Ollivander's!" She shouted at Fred. Indeed, it had been the old wandmaker's that had exploded. She turned to see her comrade coughing as well. She reached out and grabbed his arm.
"Come on, we need to check for survivors," she coughed out, pulling him along. They burst through her shield charm and into the chaos of Diagon Alley. What shoppers remained were screaming and running like mad. Shops were closing on every side of her. In front of her, the wand shop burned like an red inferno.
She rushed towards the blaze.
"Hermione!" Fred cried, not even bothering to hide anymore. He pulled her back. "You'll get yourself killed."
"We need to check for people," She answered, pulling against his grip.
"The place has been abandoned for years, you know that," he reminded her, letting her arm fall.
She shook her head. She couldn't explain it. She just…she just knew.
"There's someone in there."
She didn't look back before rushing into the burning building.
The smoke engulfed her immediately. Casting a Bubblehead charm, she continued her trek, ignoring the shouts of Fred from behind her.
Ducking under the fallen bookcases of wands, she continued deeper into the burning labyrinth. Why had they attacked Ollivander's? She wondered, briefly. They knew no one would be here. They were the ones who had kidnapped the owner.
Her gut instinct told her to keep going, but something felt off about the entire situation. Could it just be to scare people? Destroy the remaining wands that had been left over?
She was trying to figure that out when she first heard them.
"Drop the traitor here!" a voice shouted from somewhere in front of her.
"Good fucking riddance," another replied.
There was a familiar pop of Apparition.
She had been right. There was someone here.
She snuck forward, avoiding anything that was on fire. When she made it to the back of the store, she saw him.
"Oh Merlin," she whispered.
The shape that was crumpled before her could hardly even be classified as human anymore. So beaten and broken that blood oozed from every inch of the body. She saw cuts and burns on what seemed to be nothing more than a hunk of meat. However, there was one distinguishing feature.
A halo of white-blond hair that she would have recognized anywhere.
"Gods, Malfoy," she whispered, making her way towards him.
She hadn't seen the Slytherin in years. Or at least that she knew of. Death Eaters wore masks in battle. She hadn't laid eyes on the slimy prick since the night he tried to kill Dumbledore. Since then, she had only heard his name in passing, in a long list of Death Eaters that they were trying to defeat.
She stopped dead in her tracks. Death Eater.
The crumpled, beaten, inhuman form before her, at his roots, was her enemy. This was not someone for her to save, or rescue. This was a man she was trying to defeat.
She hesitated, a cascade of thoughts racing through her mind, spinning, changing, until one broke out supreme.
He was still a man.
Malfoy moaned at her feet, and her decision was made. She leaned forward and whispered very softly.
"I'm going to get you out of here," she muttered. He only groaned in response. She reached down and took his arms. With one hand, she draped them over her shoulder. With the other, she took his legs. After a moment adjusting, she lifted him up in the way that Muggle Firefighters did.
Ironic, given their circumstances.
She couldn't risk apparating with Malfoy in this state. Who knew if he would splinch himself? She turned back to the inferno. There was only one way.
She started forward.
Ducking under bookshelves, and stepping over wand boxes, she made her way through the burning shop. Every moment was a step closer to freedom. She sent prayers to the Gods above her to allow her to complete this mission.
No sooner had she sent the prayers upwards, she was out of the building.
The second she made it to clear air, she collapsed, Malfoy falling on top of her.
"Hermione!" a voice shouted. She ignored it.
"Come on, Malfoy," she whispered, forcing herself onto her feet. "We're almost there."
She carried him away from the burning building. Ahead of her, she saw Fred, Lupin, Ron, Arthur, and Tonks rushing towards her. Mad Eye and Seamus were turned to the sides, in a defensive position.
"Hermione, what are…is that Malfoy?!"
"He's nearly dead," she answered. "Come on, help me with him."
"You could've been killed!" Ron shouted. "What, for some Death Eater?"
She started stuttering in response. "I couldn't…I couldn't leave him there!"
"He's a fucking Death Eater, Hermione!"
A shout from within the building came back to her, memory breaking through the smoke.
"No he's not," she whispered. She looked up, blinking rapidly. "They called him a traitor!"
The others froze at her words, open mouths demonstrating sheer impossibility.
After several strained moments, Tonks was first to react.
"There's only one way to know for sure," she muttered, rushing forward. She grabbed Malfoy's left arm, and twisted it, causing the man to howl in pain.
Tonks gasped. "Get him back to Headquarters."
"What?!" Ron cried, outraged, face as red as his hair.
Tonks looked to the sky nervously. "We need to get out of here. Clean up the fire. Hermione, come on!"
Hermione apparated away without a second thought.
She landed in the kitchen, where the rest of the Order was waiting patiently.
"Help me!" she shouted, buckling under Malfoy's weight.
Molly was the first to react. She cleared the kitchen table. Hermione lowered the man she hated gently onto its surface. He coughed blood in her face.
"Call Pomfrey," she muttered, wiping her face off with the sleeve of her robe. Molly turned on her heel and rushed from the room.
Tonks appeared a second later at her side. She saw Malfoy immediately.
"Is someone going for help?" she demanded.
Hermione nodded, numb. Her eyes couldn't leave the battered form of her childhood enemy.
Harry took a step forward. "Who is that?"
"Malfoy," she muttered in response.
The reaction was instantaneous. "WHAT?!"
Tonks shook her head. "No, Harry. He turned traitor on them."
Harry was shaking. "That's not fucking possible. Draco Malfoy would never turn from his beloved Lord."
"Calm down," Hermione snapped at him, her eyes still on the Slytherin. "They tortured him, beat him, and dropped him in a burning building."
"How can you be sure?" Harry demanded. His face was red with rage. "This could all be a set-up. You just risked everything for a trick!"
Tonks intervened on her behalf. "This is not a trick, Harry. Look at him."
"I see nothing but a Death Eater."
Hermione burst. "I couldn't just leave him there!"
"Why bloody not?" Harry screamed, losing it. "He would have done that if the roles were reversed!"
"But I am not him," she stated. "I am a fighter for the light, and for life. All life."
"He tried to kill Dumbledore," Harry said. He was trembling.
"Shut up, Harry," Tonks stated, exasperation evident. He turned to her in shock. Walking up around the table to Malfoy's other side, she lifted his left arm.
He screamed in pain.
"Look!" she demanded. Hermione leaned forward.
There, on his forearm, was the Dark Mark. She didn't know why she expected anything else.
However, it was distorted by two thick, red, lines cut into his skin in the shape of an X.
Tonks threw his arm down. "He's been branded, twice. Once as a Death Eater, once as a deserter. He's out."
Hermione's arms shifted to the groaning body of Draco Malfoy.
Branded.
"Are you alright?" a voice asked her.
It was later that day. Pomfrey had whisked Malfoy into one of the empty rooms and spent the afternoon mending his injuries. According to her, much of the damage was superficial. He would heal within the week.
Hermione was sitting alone by the fireplace. Someone had wrapped a blanket around her and given her a mug of tea. She was clutching it close to her breast. A fair amount of time had passed since then, and the liquid in the mug was now cold.
Fred stood above her, his hair singed from this morning's adventures.
"I don't know," she replied, staring into the flames.
He sighed and sat down next to her. "You should not have gone into that building."
"There was someone in there," she reminded him.
"Yeah, Draco fucking Malfoy. Not the noblest cause to nearly kill yourself for."
"I didn't die."
Fred gave her a look. "Did you see that building, Hermione? It was burning, top to bottom. You should not have even made it to Malfoy, let alone gotten him out. When you got out, you were glowing bright blue. Did you cast a shield?"
Hermione shook her head slowly. "I didn't do a damn thing."
"Gods, Mione," Fred breathed. "You should've died."
She glanced down at where her left arm was under the blanket. For a moment, her eyes seemed to go out of focus.
The bloodline must survive a voice sounded in her head.
"And I don't trust this whole Malfoy is a traitor business," Fred continued, without noticing Hermione's disinterest. "It all seems… off."
"His mark had been cut," she said, lifelessly.
"Anyone can take a knife and make some scratches," he said. "You can't tell me that you honestly think Draco Malfoy has pranced over to the light side?"
"I don't," she replied stoutly. "But I think the rules of the Dark Side are different than ours. He might've been branded for failing a mission, or refusing to do something. We won't know until we know. We can't be making assumptions before then."
"You can't be thinking like this."
"Why not?" she shot back. "The only thing we know for sure is that they cut up his mark and left him to die. I'm interested as to why."
"It's Draco Malfoy," Fred reminded her. "He's a slimy, evil git."
"I know," she said. "He's terrible and awful and there aren't words for how much I hate him."
"But you saved him."
"He's a human being," she whispered. "And deserves to…"
Fred gaped. "Do not tell me that you believe Death Eaters should be entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of fucking happiness."
"That's not what I was going to say," she responded. "I was going to say he deserves to not be burned alive while another human being stood and watched. I couldn't just let him die."
"Why not?" Fred demanded. "You should hear Harry and Ron downstairs. Seamus too. They can't understand your decision."
"They don't need to," she muttered. "Because, no matter how much they fucking hate it, I still saved Draco Malfoy's life tonight. Even though I hate Draco Malfoy."
"I don't understand you," Fred said thoughtfully.
She laughed dryly. "It's not that hard to follow my logic. Think of it like this: we're on the light side because we care about equality and human life, right?"
"Right."
She turned her gaze back to the fire. "If I only saved the people I loved, that wouldn't be caring about human life. That would be caring about my life and those in it. That's selfish, not good. Being good does not mean saving your friends and family. It means saving as many as you can. A life is a human life."
"Dumbledore once said that every human life is worth the same and worth saving. I will save those I can. I do not have the authority to stand at the scales of justice and condemn someone to death based on their deeds or my knowledge of them. I don't have that power. Doing anything but saving those I can would be doing a disservice to our side, Fred. That's why I saved Draco Malfoy. Because he's a human being, albeit a git of one. I save human beings."
There was silence after her speech. There was silence for a while, as the two of them stared at the flickering flames, and considered everything she had just said.
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