"You Only Live Twice"

by Dorthey Star

Chapter Twelve: The Rescue

                Adelaide woke Hermione up early the next morning.

                "It is time to get ready Miss Granger," she said tonelessly and not looking her in the eye.

                "Get ready for what, Adelaide?" Hermione asked as she stood up.

                "The ceremony. The Master wishes for you to wear this," Adelaide said, handing Hermione a bundle of white cloth. She helped her into what turned out to be a while toga. She pulled Hermione's hair up into a bunch of twists and curls.

                "It's time," she said quietly, looking Hermione in the eye finally.

***

                Draco and Narcissa were the first ones awake. They silently woke the others up.

                "Do we have a plan?" Ron asked.

                "Harry, do you have your Invisibility Cloak?" Narcissa asked.

                "Yeah," Harry said, pulling it out of his bag.

                "All right, here's the plan. Harry, Ginny, and Ron will go under Harry's Cloak. Draco and I will go under his cloak. Once we find Hermione, we will fight whoever we have to to save her. Then I will fly to the edge of the Apparating boundaries, Apparate to Hogsmeade, walk to Hogwarts, and get Dumbledore. I will lead the way," she said. They all nodded and got under the two cloaks. Narcissa walked slowly up the walk.

                The house was beautiful. It was rose colored stone with white stone around the doors and windows. There was a large rose garden on either side of the front door. Narcissa opened the front door and Harry, who was in the back, closed it. She lead the way towards the stairs and walked up it.

                "Where are we going, Mother?" Draco whispered.

                "To Amelia's room. Knowing Lucius, that's where he'd put her," Narcissa said bitterly. It was still painful for her to think about Amelia. The walked silently down one hallway until they reached the door at the end of it. They opened the door. The room was empty. There was a stack of parchment on the desk along with a bottle of ink and a quill. Narcissa and Draco picked up the one paper which was left on the desk.

                To Whomever Finds This,

                                 A young girl's life is at stake. Please, find the main dining room and try to save this poor girl. She doesn't deserve to have her soul sucked out.

                A.C.

                "Adelaide...She's trying to save Hermione," Narcissa.

                "Adelaide? Who's she?" Draco asked as they left the room and headed to the main dining room.

                "She was your nurse when you were younger. You used to call her Addy," Narcissa said. At that moment, they reached the main dining room. They quietly crept in. Harry, Ginny, and Ron were already in there, their cloak taken off. Lucius was standing by them, his wand pointed at them. Just in time to save them from certain death, Adelaide walked into the room, leading in a very pale Hermione. Narcissa grabbed his arm to keep Draco from rushing towards her. Hermione placed her unseeing eyes on Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

                "Ahhhh, Hermione, come this way," Lucius said in a fake pleasant voice. Hermione came towards him. Draco could see that she was fighting a war in her eyes. Suddenly she stopped.

                "I WON'T!" She screamed.

                "You will," Lucius said calmly.

                "I WON'T" She sobbed, but already she was walking forward.

                "DON'T" Harry called out and at once he was on the floor, writhing in pain.

                "Don't interfere, Potter," Lucius said. Hermione had reached the table by this time. Lucius summoned Adelaide to come forward. She did so, with no expression on her face. Adelaide helped Hermione into a laying position on the table. Hermione closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to see the fate that was coming for her.

                "Bring the Dementor in, Adelaide," Lucius said, eagerness glinting in his eyes. Hermione took a sharp intake of breath, but said or did nothing. Ginny began to wimper and Harry absentmindedly pulled her closer to him.

                "When the dementor comes in, do the counter curse, Draco," Narcissa whispered to her son. He nodded and got his wand ready. At that moment, the dementor came in. Draco pictured his best memory, which was when Hermione had told him that she loved him even though she knew that he was Draco and not Will.

                "Expecto Patronum!" He yelled, pointing his wand at the dementor and throwing the cloak off of him, but keeping it on his mother. A huge dragon came out of the tip of his wand and blew silvery flames at it. The dementor hurried away and out of the room. Lucius rounded on Draco.

                "You miserable brat!" he said, pulling out his wand, "We'll settle this here and now."

                "No," Draco said, "We'll settle it in a fencing match." He looked at Hermione out of the corner of his eye. She was still on the table with her eyes closed.

                "Fencing it is." Lucius said and Adelaide took two swords off the wall. She handed each of them one and stood back. Lucius made the first move, Draco barely blocked it. Lucius swiped a second time and this time Draco felt the cold metal of the sword make contact with his skin. He ignored it. He swung his sword at his father, who easily deflected it. And so it went on for half an hour. Draco would attack and Lucius, looking bored, would block it. Finally Draco was able to cut Lucius. he slashed him in his stomach. Lucius looked surprised, then slumped to the ground, loosing consciousness. Harry, Ginny, and Ron, now knowing that it was safe, ran towards Hermione. Draco sank down against the wall. I'm going to die, he thought, but the thought didn't scare him. I'm going to died, but Hermione is going to live a long and happy life. That's enough for me. He looked up and saw her smiling at her Gryffindor friends. Draco closed his eyes, wanting to take that picture with him to the grave.

                "How did you do it?" Hermione whispered, "How did you save me?" They explained everything, Harry and Ron conveniently leaving Draco's part out.

                "We thought we'd be too late," Ron said, hugging her.

                "But how did you find the Malfoy's summer house?" Hermione asked, shaking her head.

                "Malfoy brought us," Ginny said, glaring disapprovingly at the boys. They looked at the ground sheepishly.

                "Draco's here?" she said hopefully in a quiet voice. Ginny nodded and pointed at the wall where Draco was sitting. Hermione gasped and hurried over to where he was.

                Draco felt a cool hand on his forehead and he heard his shirt sleeve being torn. Gentle lips pressed against his forehead.

                "Thank you, Draco," a soft voice whispered in his ear.

***

Disclaimer: Everyone except Adelaide and Amelia belong to JKR. Adelaide and Amelia belong to me, but you're welcome to use them if you promise to put Draco in leather. 0_0 *drools* Anyways. *blinks*

Author's Note: If I stick to schedule, there are only three chapters left. Please review.