(Hey all, I've gotten some messages that people are having a hard time reviewing this chapter. I deleted it and reuploaded it, hope that fixes whatever the bug is)
Original A/N:
Happy weekend, two updates in two days!
TSP hit 850 favourites last chapter, thank you all so much :)
Also, some people have been asking how long I think TSP will be. At this point, I'm guessing 55-60 chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
It happened so quickly. She barely had a moment to think.
Voices were shouting outside the tent, low voices – snarling. The voices of hunters.
Harry and Ron seemed frozen, no idea what to do. The latter stared at her, jaw dropped, face white as a sheet. His lips were moving, but she couldn't hear him. She could barely make out the message he was frantically mouthing at her.
All she could read was 'I'm sorry'.
The rustling outside the tent grew louder.
"Oi! Come out and face us, or we'll curse you to bits!" a voice shouted.
Hermione blinked, the threat forcing her to movement. Almost as if she were bewitched, her brain went into autopilot – doing all she could in that moment to protect herself and her friends.
She lifted her wand arm and shot a spell at Harry without second thought. Her friend gasped in response, doubling over. After a second, he raised his head to look at her.
His disfigured head – shielding any obvious sign that this was the Chosen One
Once again, she lifted her wand, her mind frantically cycling through memories. She needed one, something powerful for this moment, that would dissipate the fear coursing through her veins. Something that was override the terror overtaking her – send her backwards into fields of happiness, powerful enough for her message.
The answer was obvious.
Closing her eyes, she remembered him, before the reveal, before the chaos. Before her world has descended into darkness once again after a brief comet of light.
The one moment they had truly had together.
An otter burst from the end of her wand.
The little mist creature frolicked around her feet for a moment, before looking up at her. Its eyes pulled the words from her lips.
"Snatchers. All three of us. Send help."
Her Patronus nodded its understanding, and the light it gave disappeared.
Just in time for the tent to explode above her head, throwing her, Ron and Harry to the ground.
He felt the air change and somehow knew what was going to happen before it did – the gift of prophecy bestowed on him by Morganna Le Fay.
Jumping to his feet, he looked around frantically.
"Mate?" Blaise asked, eyebrow cocked. His friend hadn't noticed anything. Hadn't felt the world shift.
Confirming for Draco what he already knew.
Through the small window in the room, a flash of white light burst in. Blaise stumbled back, shouting a string of curse words that Draco barely heard. His eyes were focused on the glow in front of him, which quickly corporealized at his feet.
An otter.
The small animal Patronus opened its mouth to speak, and even though he knew whose voice it was going to be, it still sent shockwaves through his system.
"Snatchers. All three of us. Send help."
With its warning delivered, Hermione's Patronus disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving him, an overwhelming feeling of despair, and Blaise's astonished expression alone in the room.
His childhood friend looked at him silently for a moment, before finally summarizing the whole situation.
"Fuck."
Draco looked back at him, heart pounding.
"We need to get downstairs, now."
Hermione stumbled forward, a snatcher's hand forcing her head down. She couldn't see where they were taking her. Harry and Ron were next to her, both at the hands of different members of the gang.
They had been pulled out of the rubble of the tent by their hair. The group of snatchers had appraised them for a moment, before deciding to take them back to the Death Eater Headquarters. She could barely hear them, as they muttered to each other behind masks.
She hadn't been able to recognize any of them.
She hadn't been able to do anything.
The snatchers had grabbed their wands, did a quick sweep of the burning tent, and quickly apparated them all away.
Looking back on it later, she wondered why she hadn't just cursed the gang to pieces. She had proven that she could do wandless magic, right? Wasn't she supposed to be the most powerful witch of their lifetimes?
But yet, she felt powerless.
Maybe it was because a snatcher each had a wand to Ron and Harry's necks. Maybe it was because she knew that the latter's disfigured face would only last a little while. Or maybe it was because she knew, prayed, hoped that help would be on the way soon.
Regardless, she let herself be pushed forward by the snatcher until she suddenly fell to her knees. She caught herself with her palms, scrapping against the gravel walkway.
"We're here," one of the snatchers said – the leader, maybe? "Welcome to hell."
Hermione glanced up at the engraved gate leading up towards…
Fate really was a son of a bitch.
"Lupin!" Draco shouted, forcing his way into the kitchen, Blaise on his heels.
The de facto leader of the Order of the Phoenix looked up from the table where he was studying something. A map? Documents? Draco didn't really give a damn either way, not when she was on the line.
"What the hell," Lupin started, jumping out of his chair and pointing his wand at Draco. He opened his mouth to object, but that's when Draco remembered.
Right. He forgot he was a prisoner.
"How'd you get out?" one of the Weasley twins asked. Draco only now noticed that there were other people in the room. The twins. Lupin. Mad-Eye. Kingsley.
"I let him out," Blaise said, panting behind him.
"Zabini, you bastard," Mad-Eye muttered.
"There's something more important going on," Blaise said. "Just trust me for a second."
"You lost any chance of that, Zabini," another voice said. Sharp. Angry.
Draco shifted his glance for a moment before his stomach dropped.
What the bloody fuck was Finnigan doing back here?
As if he could hear his question, Finnigan snarled back at him. "We're having a meeting, Malfoy. Not that it's any of your business."
Lupin narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing down here?"
"I got a message," Draco said. His old professor must've been able to hear the sheer panic in his voice.
It wasn't as if he could hide it.
"What happened?" Lupin's wand dropped an inch.
"I was talking to Draco," Blaise started, walking forward to his side. "And a Patronus messaged appeared through the window."
The room went silent.
"From who?" Finnigan asked, the anger gone. Now, Draco heard the panic in his own voice reflected in the Gryffindor's.
"Hermione," Draco answered, not caring how his voice cracked on her name.
"What did it say?" Kinglsey asked, frowning, his low tenor filing the space.
Draco opened his mouth to speak, but when nothing came out, Blaise stepped up.
"Snatchers. They caught the three of them."
Any blood in Lupin's face drained out, leaving a ghost of the man standing there a moment before.
"You're kidding," he deadpanned, as shock, fear, and anger appeared on the faces of the other people in the room.
Draco shook his head. "She asked for help."
Lupin stared at him for a moment, before reaching down to the papers he had been examining just moments before. Picking them up, he tossed them down the table, where they fluttered down to rest in front of Draco.
It had been a report, after all.
The title read Snatchers bringing all captured to Death Eater Headquarters for cross-examination.
Draco closed his eyes as he felt his stomach drop again.
"Is this a cruel joke?" Lupin asked.
Draco shook his head, looking up at his old professor. "I know you can't trust me on much but trust me on this. Trust me on her."
He heard Finnigan scoff but didn't shift his gaze from Lupin. After a moment, the latter nodded at him.
"Do you know where the Death Eater Headquarters is?" Lupin asked him.
Draco nodded.
Of course, he did.
Hermione wondered briefly if fate had ordained that she would die at a Malfoy Manor. She couldn't see any other reason why she would be brought to his namesake's properties so often, in such terrible circumstances, over and over.
As the captured group and the snatchers crossed the threshold into the house, Hermione let her thoughts wander to him for a moment. The man that she had finally admitted, if only through a nod, that she cared for more than she ever should have. How many times had he walked where she was walking now? For years, his feet had walked this path. The path now leading her into the depths of hell.
She hoped with everything she had that he had gotten her message.
Would he come?
The second the question popped into her mind; she felt a strange sense of calm take her over. She didn't have faith in many things.
But for some reason, she had faith in this.
The snatchers pushed her, Ron, and Harry forward.
Waiting for them in the drawing room was exactly who she expected. How long had it been since she had been here last? A few weeks?
Or a few centuries?
She heard the doors slam behind her, trapping them.
"What do you have for us today, Scabior?" asked the bored voice of one Lucius Malfoy. Hermione glanced up quickly, knowing it was only moments before they were identified.
Why hadn't she hidden her own face?
The elder Malfoy was turned away from the group, leaning over a table and examining something. At the same table sat one other man. Before she had a chance to figure out who it was, the figure looked up.
A pair of black eyes met hers. Deep, black eyes that she had forgotten existed.
"Lucius," drawled the man's voice. A voice she hadn't heard in years. Not since before the Astronomy Tower. "It may just be your lucky day."
Lucius glanced over at the man at the table before turning to see who had arrived. His silver eyes widened.
"Snape, I think you may be correct about that."
"So, Hermione is at Malfoy Manor? Again?"
Ignoring the pure fury in Finnigan's voice, Draco nodded. Lupin was pacing back and forth.
"Not just Hermione," he said. "All of them. Ron. Harry."
Blaise swore. "Got the whole package. The saviour, his best friend, and a Le Fay."
"How long do you reckon until they call the Dark Lord?" Fred asked. Draco could see the other man's hand shaking.
Lupin shook his head. "Hours. Less. I'm not sure."
"How could they even get caught?" Finnigan asked suddenly. "I mean, it's Hermione. There's no way they just walked into a trap."
Mad-Eye spoke up. "There's been rumours lately that they put a Taboo on the Dark Lord's name. It was one of the things we were talking about today."
"Consider your rumours confirmed then," said Blaise. "If the Taboo is recent, then that lot wouldn't have known about it before they left for their mission. They say it all the goddamn time."
Draco shook his head. "That has to be it. Hermione would never let those two idiots just fall into a trap. It must've been a mistake."
"How come they need help, though?" asked another voice. Draco hadn't even realized Longbottom was here.
"What are you on, Neville?" Finnigan snapped.
"No, I mean, with Hermione's new power source and all," he replied. "Couldn't she have just zapped them out or something?"
Blaise shook his head. "She's still learning how to control her powers, and there's no way she would just leave Harry and Ron there without help."
"Regardless," Lupin continued. "We know they're at Malfoy Manor, probably an hour out from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named showing up."
"Harry and Hermione in one go," Finnigan breathed. "I'll be surprised if he's not there within a half hour."
Draco remembered a moment from months prior when he had first learned about Hermione's heritage. When Voldemort's eyes had blazed with venom while Draco had chuckled at the idea of calling her a princess.
"That is what she is," he had hissed.
Draco felt ice cold.
"I'd be surprised if we have fifteen minutes."
"Miss Le Fay!" Lucius exclaimed, a smirk spreading across his face. He turned quickly, his black robes billowing behind him. "What an unexpected surprise."
She ignored him. Her eyes were still trained on her old potions master, sitting at the table. Severus Snape looked the same as how he appeared in her memories. His skin was sallow, his eyes gaunt, his hair hanging lifelessly around his face.
He watched her right back, his eyes trained on hers as hers were on his. When was the last time she had genuinely seen him, she wondered briefly? She tried to pinpoint it but couldn't think of anything beyond one of her DADA classes near the end of sixth year. Before he had murdered Dumbledore.
The murder that launched the war.
She saw his lips purse, tightening into a line as they continued to watch each other. For a moment, for a ghost of a shadow of a second, she thought she saw a flash of warning flit across his face.
When she blinked again, it was gone.
"Miss Le Fay," Lucius continued, drawing her attention back to him. "You should have let us know you were coming; I would have set up some elf wine for you."
She snarled in response.
He only chuckled, before his eyes moved to the boys.
"And what's this?" Lucius asked, his voice piqued in interest. "Who do we have here?"
"You son of a bitch, Malfoy," Ron growled, pulling away slightly from the snatcher who still had him at wand point.
"It's been too long, Mr. Weasley," Lucius drawled, before his eyes landed on the final member of the group.
"And who might this be?" the elder Malfoy asked, his voice nearly a whisper, but echoing across all the walls.
Hermione saw Snape close his eyes and let out a breath.
Lucius walked forward, slowly, deliberately, like a panther ready to strike. He lifted his wand to Harry's disfigured face. Using his wand, he moved the fringe of Harry's hair up slightly to reveal his forehead.
Even with her handiwork, the mark of lightning branded across him was obvious.
"My, my, my, Mr. Potter," Lucius breathed out, his wand arm shaking. "We meet again."
"So, when are we leaving?" Draco burst out, looking around at the assembled Order members. "If we've only got fifteen minutes then we have to leave now."
"Now, wait one moment Mr. Malfoy," Lupin said, leaning over the table and glancing at the documents again. "We need to think, make a plan…"
"What plan?" Draco snapped. "We know that Potter, Weasley, and Hermione…" his voice cracked again on her name.
"Hold the fuck up, Malfoy," Finnigan interrupted, taking a few steps towards him, knuckles clenched. "We do not know anything. You're still a prisoner here, you aren't coming on a goddamn mission."
"Now is not the time for jealousy, Finnigan," Draco snarled. "Hermione contacted me, she wanted me to help her, and you best bloody believe that I'm not going to stay on the sidelines when my goddamn Other's, or whatever you want to call her, life is on the line."
"Now, Malfoy," Kingsley said, his voice still low and calming. "Seamus has a point. You are still a prisoner in this building…"
"Who gives a shit!" Draco shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "You can lock me up again, beat me, tie me up, torture me, whatever you bloody choose, after we save her. I know that you all don't trust me, and that I haven't really given you a reason to…"
"Haven't given a reason at all," Fred said, arms crossed.
"Okay, I get it," Draco said, his voice cracking again. "You all hate me, want to burn me at the stake, whatever. But goddammit, I will light myself on fire for you, if you just let me fucking save her."
"She doesn't need you to save her," Finnigan said, slamming his hands on the table.
"She needs me to protect her," Draco hissed. "Isn't that my duty now? Her protector?"
There was silence for moment.
"Draco's right," Blaise said, taking a step towards the group, eyes darting towards him for a moment. "I get that he was a double agent, and all, and that he's not exactly famed for his loyalty…"
"Fuck off, Blaise," Draco muttered.
"But," he continued, ignoring the side comment. "You all know as well as I would that he'd off himself before he let something happen to Hermione. We all saw it with our own eyes."
There was another moment of silence as the group considered what Blaise had said.
"I say we let him come," Fred interrupted. Finnigan turned towards the Weasley twin and opened his mouth as if to argue, but the twin raised a hand. "We all know that he's going to do everything in his power to try and save Hermione, and honestly, standing around arguing about it is wasting precious time that we don't have. Harry's time. Ron's time."
"Hermione's time," Draco whispered, eyes trained on Lupin. His old professor appraised him a moment. Draco could practically see the cogs in his brain spinning.
After what felt like an eternity, he nodded.
The relief Draco felt however, was short lived, as another sinking feeling rushed through him.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, and Hermione Le Fay," Lucius said, looking at all of them. "What a treat this is."
"We got Potter?" One of the snatchers said, voice barely concealing his excitement. "Harry Potter?"
Lucius nodded, looking thoughtfully at the group. The snatcher gave a cheer.
"Well, Malfoy, we gave you the jackpot. Time to pay up."
"You'll get your money, Scabior," Snape's voice drawled from the table. Hermione flinched. It was as if the man had walked straight out of a memory.
"You know us, Scabior," Lucius said lazily. "Generous."
Hermione watched this Scabior step forward from his place beside Ron towards Lucius, as if expecting payment. Seeing a slight opportunity, Ron broke free from the gang, making a wild lunge at the snatcher holding their wands.
She watched in horror as he wrestled his own wand from the other man's hand, before raising it towards Lucius.
"Now, Mr. Weasley," Lucius said, smirking. "You should know better than that by now."
Hermione suddenly felt a pressure point at her neck, as Malfoy's wand pressed into her.
He raised an eyebrow at Ron. "Would you like to drop that wand now."
Ron was shaking. "You wouldn't curse your precious pureblood princess."
"Would you like to bet?" Lucius asked, pressing the wand deeper until she felt the skin split. She cried out.
Ron looked at her, horrified.
She saw the apology in his eyes as his wand clattered to the floor.
"That's better," Lucius smiled. "Now, perhaps if we could all act civilized for a moment, then we could discuss our present situation."
"Our present situation demands payment," Scabior said, his voice filled with impatience.
"You'll get your payment, Scabior," Lucius snapped. "But right now, you would be wise to leave."
There was an outburst from the snatchers.
"Now Malfoy," the leader said, his voice barely holding back his anger. "That's not the deal we have…"
"How's this for a deal," Lucius said, his eyes glancing over to the other man for a half second. "You leave now, and you get to keep your life."
"Malfoy, you snake…"
"Get out," Snape snapped, now standing from the table and walking towards the group. "This is no longer any of your concern."
"Fuck you, Snape," the man called Scabior snapped. "You can't just not pay for services rendered…"
His voice cut off suddenly. Snape's wand was raised.
"I said get out," the other man said, voice low. Deadly.
The voice of a murderer.
Hermione watched as the snatchers faltered, losing their ranks. Scabior stepped back, his mouth opening and closing without sound.
Snape flicked his wand towards the door. They opened of their own accord.
"Now."
The snatchers dropped their wands and quickly scattered. In a few seconds, they were gone, the doors were closed, and Snape's eyes were on Hermione's again.
She couldn't read them, but they were screaming at her.
"Now, my dear friends," Lucius continued, smiling at them. "Where were we?"
"Fuck you, Malfoy," Harry burst out.
"Now, Mr. Potter," Lucius said, frowning. "I would have thought your parents raised you with better manners than that."
Hermione flinched, and she watched Harry's eyes flare open.
"So, it seems that the group of us must come to a conclusion of some sort."
Hermione raised an eyebrow and watched as Snape's eyes flicked quickly to Lucius.
The other man didn't notice.
"Now," Lucius said, pacing in front of them, as he rolled up his left sleeve, revealing his Dark Mark. He ran a finger up it. "I could simply summon the Dark Lord here and now."
"Why don't you, then?" Ron snapped. "We aren't playing games with you, ferret."
"Your reference to my bastard son is unfortunate, Mr. Weasley," Lucius replied. His eyes flicked to Hermione. "However, perhaps not inappropriate."
"Leave him out of this, Malfoy," she said, her voice stronger than she felt.
Lucius tilted his head towards her. "As the Lady requests."
Snape stiffened. The other Death Eater didn't notice.
"So, you haven't called your so-called master yet," Harry interjected, standing up straight. Courage was washing off him in waves.
Stupid, Gryffindor courage.
"No, I have not," Lucius said, glancing between them. "Because I believe that the three of us can come to a peaceable agreement."
Ron scoffed. "Like we'd ever make a deal with you."
"Well, lucky for you, Mr. Weasley," Lucius continued. "I have no interest in making deals with blood traitors."
His eyes landed on Hermione.
"This is a deal for us to make, Miss Le Fay."
"I'm doing anything for you, Malfoy," she hissed, trying to stop the shaking in her knees.
"Not for me," he said. His eyes flashed to Ron and Harry. "For them."
She understood before he completed the sentence.
"I offered you a deal once," Lucius said, his silver eyes trained on her. They were so familiar, but cold. Hard. Nothing like the eyes she knew. "Your friends leave, safe and sound. You stay. I am prepared to offer you this deal again."
Hermione knew it was coming, but it didn't shock her any less.
"What?" Harry gasped, out, his eyes jumping between her and Malfoy. His face was beginning to return to normal. "Hermione, no, you can't."
Lucius ignored him; his eyes were focused on her. It was unnerving. "Yes, you can, Miss Le Fay. This is a different situation from last time. Last time you had the numbers for a fight. This time, you don't. This time, I can call the Dark Lord in an instant. Wouldn't that just please him, to have Harry Potter handed to him on a silver platter?"
"I would never go down without a fight," Harry snarled, almost causing Hermione to roll her eyes.
"Well, Mr. Potter," Lucius said, actually rolling his eyes. "Not everything is about you. And despite your apparent obsession with self-sacrifice, you are not the one with the power. You are not the most important person in this room.
"Which leads us, Miss Le Fay, back to you," he continued, taking a step towards her. She felt frozen in place. "You know the deal. You stay, willingly. They go, safe."
"Hermione would never stay with you," Ron shouted, but Hermione wasn't paying attention. She was staring at the only person in the room who hadn't spoken during this conversation.
Her old potions master was staring back at her, his expression unreadable. However, his eyes bored into her with no attempt at feigning indifference.
Suddenly, a familiar, drawling voice filled her mind.
Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.
If she wasn't frozen with fear, she would have flinched. As her once professor invaded her mind to recite the prophecy, she understood.
She understood what Snape was trying to make clear to her.
To make her choice clear.
There was no choice at all, was there?
Save Harry or save nobody.
"Well, Miss Le Fay," Lucius continued, unaware of the momentous communication between his fellow Death Eater and Hermione. "It's your choice. You all die. Or you stay."
"Hermione," Harry whispered, inching towards her. "You can't do this."
But she wasn't listening to him.
She was still staring at Snape.
Lupin stared around at everyone in the room. "We need the full team for this one. Every hand on deck."
The Order members were nodding vigorously, standing up, preparing themselves, huddling around Lupin as he began to explain strategy, lines of attack.
Draco was staring blankly forward, unable to hear anything the other man was saying. Waves of distress were washing over him, his knees nearly buckling under pressure.
"Draco?" Blaise whispered. "Are you alright?"
He opened his mouth to try and answer, to try and explain in language the feeling that was taking over his body and soul. However, before he even had a chance to try, the fireplace in the kitchen exploded in green flames.
Everyone jumped, turning towards it as two figures crashed out onto the floor.
Draco knew before anyone else.
Potter and Weasley pulled themselves up. The latter man was hysterically, fighting with Potter as the Boy-Who-Lived pulled him forward, face stony, ignoring his screaming and sobbing friend.
In Potter's hand were three wands.
Draco recognized one immediately.
Vine.
"Harry!" Lupin exclaimed, stumbling forward towards the younger man. "Ron! You're here, how are you here? We got Hermione's message…"
"We got out," Potter said, his voice emotionless. "They let us leave." Weasley was still sobbing, words incomprehensible.
"They let you leave?" Lupin asked, astonishment taking over his features. "How? Why?"
Potter looked around the room, ignoring his old professor, those green eyes searching for something.
Finally, they met Draco's.
And for the first time in his entire life, Draco Malfoy completely understood Harry Potter.
"Hermione gave herself up," the other man said. He sounded lifeless.
Draco felt lifeless.
Lupin gasped, and Draco heard various other exclamations of shock, disbelief, upset, and anger from the other Order Members.
"She didn't," Lupin whispered.
Draco stared forward, his eyes trained on Potter's, and he heard his own voice answer.
"Of course, she did."
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