Disclaimer: I own nothing, only the plot and the few characters that I make up from my mind. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling and the song belongs to Michelle Branch.
The same old heartbeat fills the emptiness I have inside
And I've heard that you can't fight love, so I won't complain
'Cause why would I stop the fire that keeps me going on?
-Michelle Branch 'I'd Rather Be In Love' from her album The Spirit Room (which totally rocks!)
A/N: Oh my goodness it's been a long time since I posted the last chapter huh? I'm very sorry you guys! I have been very busy with school, sports, and other things in my life. Plus I had like major writers block! Oh well I'm back and I hope you like chapter five of 'Coming Together'.
Voldemort's face came into better view, and he pressed his cold hand against her mouth to prevent her from screaming so hard that the back of her head dug into the jagged dungeon wall.
"Shut up you filthy little Mudblood," he hissed in her face. "Screaming will do you no good in this place. Everyone here could care less about you. And do you really want your friends coming here to find you dead? Not that it will matter much, you'll die along with them." Hermione stayed silent, her brown eyes filled with hate and fear and so many other emotions. Voldemort left her there, shackled to the wall still. Once she heard the cell door slam closed, she let a few tears fall down her cheeks, washing away some of the dirt on her face and leaving clean streaks in the middle of her cheeks.
The sun was just beginning to rise when Draco pulled his backpack on, holding his broomstick wondering how they could get Hermione back. Then it hit him. His father. He dropped his broom and shuffled through the desk in his room of the cabin for some parchment and a quill. Draco pulled out a clean piece of parchment and dipped the old looking quill into an ink bottle on the desk top and began to write.
Dear Father,
"Malfoy what are you doing? We have to leave, we need to get those other ingredients. Hermione's life is depending on it." Draco looked up at Ron's impatient blue eyes.
"I know an easier way to get Hermione back. You two still need to get the ingredients though, go on without me I'll owl you when I get word back from my father." Ron looked at Draco confused.
"Care to fill me in on what exactly you're doing?" Ron asked.
"You'll see, just go!" Draco shouted. Deflated, Ron left a few minutes later, and Draco continued to write, hoping his father would reply soon. He muttered a few choice words under his breath and tapped his wand to paperweight, successfully turning it into an owl. Draco tied the now finished letter to the owl's leg and sent it off in search of his father.
A large eagle owl swooped through the open window of Lucius Malfoy's office, landing in front of him on his desk. Lucius untied the string holding the letter to the owl's leg and unfolded the parchment.
Dear Father,
I have successfully decieved Dumbledore, Potter, and Weasley into believing that I am on their side. I have sent off Potter and Weasley, telling them that I know how to save Granger, but that they must get the other ingredients for a certain potion to find Voldemort. Owl me back a.s.a.p. letting me know where you are so I can fly there.
Lucius Malfoy smiled evilly, relieved that his son hadn't actually crossed over. He wrote back after a few moments of thought. It would be so much easier to get Potter to come for Granger if Draco said he needed help. The plan was perfect.
Draco's father's owl found him late that night. His father told him where to fly to and that Hermione was being kept in the dungeons there but unfortunately for Draco Voldemort was no longer there so he could just owl Harry and Ron and tell them where to come. Draco sighed, and grabbed his broom and backpack. He walked outside and hopped on his broom, rising up into the air and looked down at the darkened forest. His eyes scanned over the compass on his broom, making sure he was going the right way. This was going to take all night.
Draco's eyes were beginning to droop and he could almost see the sun over the horizon, when he caught sight of a stone castle with many towers looming in the near distance. It was nothing compared to Hogwarts but it was still quite large. He knew it had many enchantments on it so muggles couldn't find it, and it was well hidden from the spying eye, unless they were flying of course. Draco landed the broom easily in front of the castle, and walked up to the entrance. A single guard stood at his position in front of the gate, his dark eyes gazing down at Draco.
" Draco Malfoy?" Draco nodded. "Your father is waiting for you in his office. I'll escort you." The guard left his position and pushed open the gate and then the great oak doors, leading him up a few floors and into one of the towers until they came to a door at which the guard knocked.
"Come in." Draco heard his father's voice echo from inside. The guard opened the door for him and Draco walked in. "Ah, Draco," his father said smiling at him slightly. "Come sit. You have no idea how relieved I was that you hadn't turned over to the other side."
"Yes well-" Draco began to speak but his father cut him off.
"I have the perfect plan. You call for Potter and Weasley in a few days, once Lord Voldemort is free to come, and say that you and Granger need help escaping. It will be the perfect test for you to become a deatheater, how proud Lord Voldemort will be."
"Yes, that sounds like the perfect plan father." Draco lied. "I think I'm going to go find a room to sleep in, I'm quite tired from my journey." he lied once again. He had completely woken up once he landed in front of the castle.
"Yes, Yes go ahead the bedroom are on the fourth floor. I'm sure you can find it." Draco nodded and left the room he ran up a few flights of stairs and through his things in the first room he found then ran back down as far as the stairs went until it got eerily dark and the only lighting was lanterns on the walls every few meters. Draco made his way down the corridor until it veered left and far down he could see metal doors with one small bared window in each of them. He hastened down the hall, looking through the bars of each small window until he spied Hermione in the second to last cell.
"Alohmora," He whispered and the door unlocked. Draco pushed the heavy door open and caught a better glimpse of Hermione. She was shackled to the wall, her wrists were raw red and he could see blood that had run down her arms and dried there. Her face was dirty except for one streak down each cheek which was clean, indicating she had been crying. Her eyes widened when she saw him.
"Draco!" she cried
"Shh..." he urged her to be quiet. Draco reached down and unfastened the shackles holding around her ankles then unlatched the ones on her wrists. She slid down the wall halfway, and Draco caught her before she hit the ground. Hermione threw her arms around him, holding onto him tightly. Draco felt quite awkward for a moment, her arms strangling him in an embrace and his arms down at his sides. Slowly and cautiously he moved his arms around her also. He wondered how he could feel so cautious around Hermione and yet not so cautious with Voldemort.
"I knew you would come for me. Where's Harry and Ron?" She looked around over his shoulder.
"Hermione, they're not here. They can't come here...not yet at least." Draco had pulled away from her so that he could speak to her face to face. Her eyebrows furrowed and she cocked her head a bit. "I told my father that I tricked them so that I could find out their plans to destroy Voldemort. My father wants me to lure Harry here and help Voldemort kill him. Kind of like a test to become a death eater. But I haven't totally worked out my plan on how to stop any of this." He stopped, looking at her. Her expression serious but concerned at the same time. "So for right now you have to stay down here and the best thing for Harry and Ron is to stay far away from here." She opened her mouth the moment he said she had to stay down in the cell, but he cut her off. "They'll kill you if they find you anywhere else in the castle...do you want that?" Hermione shook her head slowly. "I didn't think so. I'll sneak you food, whenever I can...Everything will be fine. I promise."
"You know, I never thought I'd say this but...I trust you. I really do." Hermione said in a oddly strangled voice. Draco smiled slightly, trying to look very sure of his promise. He lips brushed her cheek for a millisecond, her reddened eyes looking up at him as he turned and left.
Hermione heard the cell door close and she moved close to the back wall. She sat down on the grimy floor, relieved to be freed from her vertical prison. With her knees now pulled up, just away from her chest, she rested her elbows on her knees and placed her face in her hands. Her head was throbbing as she ran both hands through her ratty hair.
"Please someone save us all." she whispered to no one.
Draco made his way up the dingy corridor toward the room he had thrown his things in. When he finally reached the room he lay down on his stomach in the bed, hands cradling his forehead. The little wheels in his head were turning full speed. Draco seriously hoped he could come up with a plan and 'save the day', as many people put it. He sighed rolling over and staring at the ceiling. 'Please let something work.' he pleaded silently, hoping God could hear him.
A/N: Ok yeah I know that chapter was kind of bad. At least I think so. And if you think so too I PROMISE it will get better in the next chapter so stick around. Before you kill me for not writing since like early August, I'm sorry. It's really not my fault...I just had NO time. Like I said before school just started (I did say that in the first A/N right? lol whatever) and I have a lot to do. Plus I have like a million after school activities. So, I can't promise the next chapter will be out by the end of September. But I really will try to get chapter six out by...hmm...October 20th? Don't flip out! Please?! I'm really sorry, I love to write and I hate when I don't have time but unfortunately I have to concentrate on other things first. Thanks for waiting for this chapter though, and I hope you just stay patient. My prayers go out to all of the people affected by the tragedies that occurred on September 11, 2001.
