A/N: A lot happens in this part, it's more eerie and scary then the others. Besides that, I really don't have much to say. Thanks to everyone who reviewed...it was nice to hear from you. If you keep reviewing I'll keep writing *pouts* Please? Oh yeah, and don't despair yet because romance is coming in like, 2 parts. I'm just afraid to write any... so in advance, don't scream at me because something happens with Hermione and...*fill in a name* Because everything can change and...On with the story...
Ron sat pressed against the back wall of the cupboard, his knees drawn tightly up to his chest. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at it. Sweat mixed with streaks of blood coated his fingers. He felt wretched.
He also felt something else...well, besides the biting pains all through him. He'd felt it a few other times, but not to the extremities that he now felt it. It was as if it was pouring through his veins and coursing throughout him.
He didn't like the way it felt, this fear.
Draco lay sprawled on the ground, Hermione on top of him, her hands at his neck, mumbling furiously. "That's the most ridiculous, far fetched, impossible..." she said menacingly.
Draco shook his head and said, "Nothing's impossible."
"What did you do to Ron?"
"Me?" echoed Draco, "I didn't do anything to your dolt of a boyfriend. I can't control what you dream, Hermione."
"For the last time, I'm not dreaming!" She said loudly.
"You are."
Hermione tightened her grip on his robes. Draco grinned at her, "Is this supposed to be threatening? Because really, I'm rather enjoying it..."
Hermione furiously let go of him, letting his head slam into the ground. She stood up, towering over him and said quietly, "Give me proof."
Draco raised an eyebrow and said, "the book. It's a dream book."
Hermione glowered at him.
He sighed and continued, "Muggles use them to record dreams. In our world, they suit the same purpose. Only they allow you to relive your nightmares, any time you want."
"Dark magic?" said Hermione numbly.
"The darkest," said Draco with a faint sneer.
"I don't recall having this dream," said Hermione.
"So? You don't always remember your dreams."
Hermione shook this off and said quickly, "Why have you been carting this book around with you?"
Draco fidgeted. "It's important. My father needed me."
"Needed you?" Hermione repeated faintly.
"Shut up. I don't feel like talking about this anymore," said Draco stiffly, getting unsteadily to his feet.
"Of all the people to be stuck with..." said Hermione.
"You're stuck with me," said Draco promptly, "Lucky."
Hermione glowered fiercely and they lapsed into silence. Later, Hermione realized that she'd been trudging along for hours, but her feet seemed to move by themselves. How could she be dreaming? She felt aware and awake. Still, dreams could be awfully realistic at times.
"Draco?" she said softly.
"Yeah?"
"Where are we going?"
"I believe we're going to save your boyfriend," he replied pointedly.
"Ron's not my boyfriend, and that's not what I meant," Hermione snapped. "What's our destination?"
Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Hermione, I don't any more about this then you do." He paused and a smug grin lit his features, "Well, maybe a bit more."
"Draco, you actually have a faint idea of what's going on. I, on the other hand, have none. So don't give me that rubbish."
Draco bit his lip, "Last chance," he said sullenly.
"Huh?"
"This is it. Hermione, we're going to be in trouble if we don't go back now," his face was masked and blank.
"I'm not walking away and leaving Ron to cope. He's my friend, and that means that I have to find him. And you're coming with me."
"Of course I'm coming with you," Draco said dully. "Hermione?"
"What?" said Hermione hurriedly.
"Y'know you have something I've always wanted."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "What's that? A nightgown?"
Draco sniggered, "Nope," he said, running a hand through his sleek hair. "Devotion."
"How could you let this happen?"
Ron pressed his ear against the door, straining to hear more.
"I-I..." This was new voice, tremulous but firm.
"Just fix it." the first voice again, cold and slightly amused.
"Of course, I'm so sorry...please, believe me, I never knew..."
"Really? Then don't just fix it, make it as though it never was." There was the swishing of a cloak, and the tapping of footsteps leading steadily away. Ron heard the second voice give a soft growl, and then there was a sharp knock on the door.
He could hear someone fumbling with the latch. The door swung open. Ron had just enough time to recognize the face before him before he was thrust up by the collar and thrown against the wall.
Lucius Malfoy glared viciously at him.
"Why are you here?" he hissed.
"I really like being hit on the head, blacking out, and being locked in cupboards, that's why!" Ron spat viciously.
"Watch your tongue, boy," Lucius said softly.
"Do you think I want to be here?" Ron tried to get up but realized that his body wasn't quite up to supporting his weight.
"You're one of the Weasley's." It was a statement, not a question.
"Right, I am, what of it? Am I here so that you can beat the crap out of me? Because it's not going to do you any good!"
"I am not here for that reason. You are here by mistake." The man's voice was cool and steady, but Ron could see that he was shaking under his hooded cloak.
"Mistakes happen," said Ron coldly. "You've made loads of them."
"No, boy, you're the one who's a mistake. And mistakes don't happen to me."
"Are you telling me Draco wasn't a mistake?" said Ron in spite of himself.
"Don't talk that way to me!" Lucius snarled.
Ron heaved a great breath and then said, "I'll talk to you however the hell I want to..." But he was cut short as Lucius lowered his hood and said lightly.
"I just told you mistakes don't happen to me. You are a mistake. You were not supposed to be here."
Ron blanched.
"Therefore, I have to get rid of my mistake. Make it as though it never happened..."
"Ron!" Hermione hissed suddenly, stopping dead in her tracks.
"Could you stop talking about Weasley for a split second?" snapped Draco.
"No, I mean, yes, but..." Hermione gasped, "Something's wrong. I don't know what, but something..."
"How would you know?" said Draco, voicing exactly what she'd been wondering.
"I'm not sure..." she looked at him and then said softly, "It's my dream, isn't it?"
Draco nodded, "You should know what's happening."
"That's it, then. We have to get to Ron," Hermione quickened her pace.
"Why?" Said Draco.
"Look at this," she said swiftly, bending down. She brushed a rather large puddle with the tip of her finger, and red swirled out in all directions. Draco looked at her blankly.
"Blood," whispered Hermione.
"Are you alright?" said Draco, gripping her hand nervously.
Hermione instinctively withdrew from his hold. "I'm fine. But Ron's not."
Draco sighed, "I'm going as fast as I can. Considering that we have no real destination, speeding up won't do us any good."
"I know..." Hermione sighed hopelessly. She sank onto the cool grass and lay down on her back. "Look at that..." she said pointing at the sky.
Draco lay down next to her, pointedly avoiding any water that might ruin his clothing, "What?"
"You mean you didn't notice? There's no stars."
"There's never any stars, Hermione. Not for me," he said absently.
"What d'you mean?" Hermione whispered, propping herself up and facing him. Draco looked weary and even paler then usual.
"How can you have stars if you have nothing to wish for?"
Looming ominously in the distance, blocking out both the sky and ground stood the castle. Hermione felt a pang of fear jolt her, just from laying eyes on it. The air smelled cold and tangy, as a night smells just before a shower of rain.
"What's that?" she asked Draco.
He shook his head and said quietly, "I believe that's where we're headed."
"Brilliant," Hermione said croakily.
"It'll be a long trek from here," sighed Draco.
"I've been here before," she said.
"What's inside?" Draco said sullenly, his eyes flickering for a moment.
Hermione paused, "I don't know. I've never actually been inside."
Draco yawned, "D'you think we might get some rest?"
Hermione scowled, "No."
"I need my beauty sleep," he said promptly.
"You sure do," Hermione giggled, ducking out of the way as he made to push her.
"Hermione..."
"Huh?" she said. Draco looked as if all color had been drained from his body.
"What are you playing at?" he said softly. Hermione followed his eyes down to her feet. Her stomach leapt to her throat. She was standing on water.
Red water.
"Playing at?" she echoed, "I'm not playing at anything, Draco Malfoy. I don't know...Can you do it?"
Draco shrugged and stepped forward. Immediately, he was up to his waist in water, looking very cross indeed. "Guess not," he said crisply.
"This is too weird," Hermione muttered, grasping him by the hand and pulling him out. She whipped out her wand and whispered, "Solidify," pointing at Draco's feet.
"Now you can walk with me," she said smugly. Draco grinned at he stepped on a puddle and it turned to ice beneath his feet with a sharp crack. The moment he stepped off, he could see the reflection of the sky back on water.
"It's not red where you walk," Hermione scowled.
"Guess you're just special," Draco grinned.
"I'd rather not see blood wherever I touch. You're welcome to it."
"You don't know that it's blood," Draco said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"It sure seems like it. Red reminds me of blood, and it makes me uneasy, anyhow," replied Hermione.
"Well, you're still special for other reasons," Draco said coolly.
Hermione felt herself blushing, and prayed that Draco couldn't see well in the dark.
"Do you know what I went through for this?"
Ron could feel his insides squirming. He couldn't tell if it was fear, or pain, or if it was just the way you felt with a full body bind on you. All seemed likely at the moment.
"It wasn't meant to happen, but we can use it to our benefit," Lucius didn't sound quite so strong and defiant now, Ron thought smugly.
"How?"
Lucius whimpered, "We don't n-need to k-kill him yet. We can use him to our advantage. I'm sure he knows..." his voice trailed off.
"It would have been simpler without him."
"Yes, of course, but this may work out all the same..." Lucius was now pacing the length of the room.
"Take the spell off. We'll get information from the boy and then kill him."
Ron felt his stomach clench.
Lucius sauntered over and pointed his wand at Ron's chest, "Yes, my Lord."
"Do you horse back ride ever?" Hermione said groggily, flicking a wisp of hair out of her eyes.
"Horses are really lovely," said Draco, yawning loudly.
"I think there are some around here," Hermione said with a shrug. "Hear the hoofbeats? I keep hearing them..."
"No, I told you that before. I'm tired," he muttered, slumping onto the ground.
"Only a bit more, Draco. Come on..."
"I need a horse," Draco grinned at her.
"You need sleep," Hermione mumbled.
Draco shook his head, "If I had a horse, then I could ride it all over the world, leaving anything else far behind me."
"Why would you wanna do that?" Hermione questioned.
"To get away from everything," he replied.
"Like...?"
"Everything. I can't think of one thing that I wouldn't want to get away from. My father, my Mum, school, life...There's not much that I actually enjoy. If you don't count making other people's lives miserable."
"You're good at that," Hermione murmured, scowling at him.
"Guess so," Draco said, getting back up.
"I do hear hooves, though. I heard them before Ron disappeared as well. That was when I..." she trailed off, searching for the right words, "I woke up."
Draco shook his head, "I don't know how that's possible."
"Me either. I was in my bed, I could see Lavender and Parvati..." she coughed and then whispered, "But they couldn't see me. And I couldn't move."
Draco grimaced, "Let's go find Weasley."
"Right," Hermione muttered.
Soon enough, there was no ground, only water. Draco constantly flinched when walking, and continuously stopped moving entirely, but Hermione was a different matter. As she walked, she felt as if an invisible hand was pulling her forward and pushing her onwards. It didn't scare her, actually, she found it to be quite the opposite. She wanted to go with it, she wanted it to lead her to her destination. If Draco found anything odd about her behavior, he didn't let on. Rather, he was quite silent and seemed to be focusing on where he stepped. Walking on water gave him a sense of power...but it was also scary. The air seemed to be growing forever colder as they neared the castle.
Draco watched as his every word lingered in the frigid air and then faded. "Hermione," he said, panting, "Can we just rest a moment?"
Hermione felt a surge of power shooting through her body. It was as if her body was not hers, but only a shell that barred her from the outside world. She didn't even glance at him. She wanted to get to that castle. Now.
"Just for a minute," Draco said in a pleading tone. His neat hair was matted to his head, and his skin was tinged pink from the cold.
"No," said Hermione, her voice oddly transparent. "Ron will be grateful."
Draco sighed, "He'd better be more then grateful. I want him groveling at my feet when this is over."
"Malfoy, you'd better go," Hermione said grimly.
"Go?" Draco repeated absently. "I'm not going anywhere. And what's with this Malfoy crap all of a sudden?"
"I need to do this alone," she insisted. Still, Draco couldn't help but notice that her voice sounded strained.
"You can't, Hermione. I'm not letting you go in there alone."
Hermione whipped out her wand in one, sleek, movement. "You'd better go, Malfoy. I'm going there alone. That means without you."
Draco glared at her. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Now go..." Hermione tightened her grip on the wand.
Draco grimaced, "Fine, I'll go. But if you need my help, Hermione, just think. Got that?" He paused for effect, "Think." Then he sprinted away.
Hermione felt a jolt in her chest, as if she'd just been zapped with electricity. She wanted to yell to Draco, to tell him to come back, but when she opened her mouth she said simply, "Finally, now I can finish my work."
Panting, Hermione's felt her hands heaving her onto solid land. Red water...blood, said a voice deep in her chest...was pooling out from the island that the castle towered upon. She pulled herself onto the bank and heaved open the door. Almost immediately, all sound died away. It was pitch black within, as if the moon had been blocked out.
Hermione took one more step forward. She felt her head spinning and throbbing. What was happening? Where was Draco? She didn't like being alone in this situation...
Hooves pounded in her ears. "Damn," Hermione whispered, taking an unsteady step backwards. Every bit of sense she had flew from her at that moment, leaving her with but one thought. Get into the castle.
The pounding was growing louder. It was as if one thousand dementors were surrounding her from all sides, cornering her and sucking in the air she breathed with their low, rattling breaths. She cringed, a sob threatening to escape her lips. With her last ounce of strength, she dragged her feet forward and set herself inside the castle.
She was jolted back as something gripped her by the neck. Her breath left her.
"Do you know what this?" Lucius said in a deadly voice, wafting the scent of a glass vile toward Ron. Ron could feel his heart beating against his chest.
"Truth potion," Ron whispered, his knuckles white against the floor.
"Take some," Lucius growled placing it directly under Ron's nose. He could feel his throat choking up.
Ron furiously shook his head, "Get that away from me!" he snarled.
"I think not," Lucius replied coolly, setting the bottle down.
"I'm not scared of either of you!" Ron spat, well aware that his every word was trembling.
"Take care of him, Lucius. I have other business to attend to." There was the swish of a cloak, and only Ron and Lucius remained. Ron shuddered involuntarily.
Lucius immediately regained his composure and said softly, "You will be taking this in a few moments. And then we'll know..." he trailed off, a demonic glint dancing in his cold eyes. "But first, I want you to see..."
"See?" said Ron sharply, his face taut and absent of all emotion save fear.
"Mmmm..." said Lucius, nodding absently. "Look from this window..."
Lucius waved his wand and Ron felt his body being stiffened again. He felt as if ropes were being coiled all about him, so tightly, far too tightly...he had to gasp for his breath. Then, his body was being lifted into the air, and steadily he raised up and up and up...
Now he could see outside. He was just floating there, unable to blink or look away. All he could do was gaze out of the window. The cracks and cobwebs coating it had no affect on his view. It was like watching a play unfold. He didn't see where this was going. Then a movement stirred below. The water coated ground rippled in one steady movement. Ron felt a sharp pain jerk his chest. "Hermione..."
Hermione could feel the steadfast grip on her neck, but she couldn't see who actually had her. It was as if her eyes had been glued shut, and no matter how much she struggled she couldn't see. She was being dragged backwards, her body floating along with her. It was a very strange feeling.
Suddenly, she came to a halt. Her eyes snapped open.
The air was colder here, and there was a thin line of mist carpeting everything. The ground was still watery, but it was thicker here, and more silvery in color. She turned around and let out a piercing shriek, before breaking into a run. Her breath was cut off and she began to choke as she was dragged back by her neck, the same invisible force coaxing her.
Trapped.
Her first impression was that of a ghost, that had somehow gone awry. But it wasn't the pearlescent white that a ghost was. Rather, it was a clammy gray. There was no face, only a bleak oval where one should have been, and the body was nothing more the a black streak, hovering above the ground. In all its emptiness and lack of features, it still managed to fill her with fear. She also felt a sadness through her, and then a spurt of joy trilling through her veins. Then an emptiness, and then pure surprise. She couldn't explain the sudden changes in her emotions, and they made her sick with unease.
"What the hell are you?" she gasped. The air around her suddenly turned icy. It was so cold that Hermione felt the need to move slightly, just to keep herself from being frozen in place. She felt miserable and lifeless, nothing was right anymore, nothing would ever be right again! If she could have one wish at that moment, it would be to lay down and die.
Well, no wonder.
In all her time as a witch, Hermione had never felt the panic seizing her that she felt right now. Dementors were crowding about her by the hundreds. Their hands protruding slightly from under their filthy cloaks. Around them, were creatures to which she'd never seen the likes. They had hooves that were curled into claws at the end, and red, fiery eyes, dotted with pure white. They looked like horses for the most part, but their bodies were made of shadow. That explained the pounding, she thought weakly. A wave of nausea rolled over her. The ghostly creature that had pulled her from the castle sank into the silvern ground. Two dementors glided over to her, wrapping their filthy, skeletal hands around her wrists.
"Let go of me!" Hermione screamed, her voice piercing the silence around her. Her strength was failing, leaving her...she just didn't have the will to fight back. Wherever they took her, surely it couldn't be worse then this...could it?
"Somebody, anybody, help me, help me," Hermione whispered. She didn't have enough feeling in her to cry. Maybe that was a good thing... "If only...something...maybe...just once..." her head slumped onto her chest, it was all too much...
That was when the window above her shattered.
A/N: Don't you just love cliff hangers? Next time: Hermione enters the castle, Draco and Ron have a fight (what else is new?) Ron and Hermione are locked up together, and someone shows up on the scene who you probably expected by now, it was really insinuated already...