A/N YAY! Second chapter in a day! This is a fight scene, starts mushy, but I needed to make up for my…mush deficiency over the last couple of chapters. And the chapter name has quite a bit to do with the chapter. Hehe, it's pretty funny…
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I have nothing for you to take, so don't sue!
Chapter 25: Dung and Destruction
Everybody found out about Lucius's knew sighting. And again, everybody sent death glares at Draco, but they're attempts were futile, because he now didn't care, but then again, did he ever? Draco also thought his father killed Fang, who else would want to? But the real question was why.
By doing a little investigating of his own, Harry found out from Hagrid, that late at night, Fang awoke and started barking like mad. It turns out, that, because of the good weather, Hagrid allowed Fang to sleep outside. Harry knew that Fang had grown out of his cowardice, and barked at anything suspicious. He assumed that Fang sensed Lucius, barked like mad, and not wanting to attract attention, he had done away with the nuisance. But, after all, this was only speculation.
Harry, Ron, Draco, and Hermione all told both Hagrid and Professor Dumbledore about their assumptions. Hagrid was infuriated at the killer, and vowed to avenge his lost pet. Dumbledore simply nodded, and thanked them for their knowledge, assumptions or not. He set the castle on higher alert, in case Lucius went hunting for things other than nosy dogs.
May flew by under the weight of homework, and escaped criminals. This however, didn't detain Hermione and Draco from their Head duties. On occasion, they would help out in different parts of the castle, assisting teachers, Filch (to their dismay), or other students. One Friday night had them cleaning Mooncalf dung in Hagrid's paddocks. "I don't see why you volunteered us to do this Hermione." Draco said disgusted.
"We should try and make the most out of the last month that we have here Draco. And after all that Hagrid's gone through, he deserves a night off." She said repeated for the third time in the last hour.
"This is servant stuff. This is the reason that we have house elves. They do the dirty work, so we don't have to!" he complained.
She ignored him and banished the nearest pile of dung with her wand. It melted into the ground, taking along its foul stench. She leaned against one of the paddock fences to wipe her sweaty forehead and drinking some water. Draco joined her and gazed up at the sky. "You know, we should do this more often." He said quietly.
She gagged on some water, and coughed repetitively. "Didn't you just say this was servant stuff? Why would you want to clean Mooncalf dung more often?" she asked.
He snorted, "Not cleaning! Stargazing. The view is nice, and it's quiet, perfectly romantic." He crooned as he snaked his hand around her waist.
She smiled, "Yeah it is. Too bad we have a pile of dung to attend to instead."
"Forget the dung for a moment Hermione." He whispered in her ear. He attacked her neck, nuzzling it, occasionally licking and sucking on the sensitive spot behind her ear.
"Just for a moment, then we need to work before Hagrid comes back." She said quietly, drowning in his kisses.
"He won't be back for a while. You know him, he's probably off getting drunk and by the time he comes back, he'll have a new dog to call Fang Junior." He murmured into her hair.
She laughed quietly. As his hands roamed her sides, and hers in his hair and neck, she heard a rustle of leaves. Waving it off as the summer breeze, she continued to enjoy Draco's kisses. Then a twig snapped and the swish of a cloak was heard. "Draco…" she whispered.
"Mm hmm?"
"No, stop. I heard something. A person."
He looked around and saw nothing, then moved to the other side of her neck, after saying, "It's just the wind. Relax, we're alone out here."
"It wasn't the wind. There is no wind. And the breeze isn't enough to snap a twig." She pulled out of his grasp and whispered "Lumos" lighting her wand.
He followed and they gazed around the paddock, towards the trees. "What do I see here? A Malfoy and a Mudblood. Draco I'm ashamed. Consorting with bad blood. Good thing I got here in time." A haunting voice reverberated amongst the trees. As it bounced off the trees, they didn't know where to look.
"Tsk, tsk. Draco, I must say you've lost your touch. You're going soft; you can't even find me. What if I did this?" the voice sent chills up their spines.
Hermione gagged and a strangled scream emanated from her throat. Draco spun around and saw Hermione hovering inches above the ground, her hands clawing at her neck. Her back was digging into the side of the fence. Not knowing what to do, Draco swung a fist at the air behind Hermione, but didn't hit anything. She was dropped to the ground, and was gasping for air, coughing and spluttering. He kneeled beside her, and sat her up. "Hermione! Are you OK? Say something."
Her eyes widened and she screamed, "Draco! Watch out!"
It was too late, a foot swung out from mid-air and struck Draco in the stomach. He fell back and his back collided with the fence post. He groaned and stood up. "Lucius! I know it's you! Show yourself!" he yelled.
"And you don't even give respect to your father. What have I raised you to be? A mudblood's lover? Very well then, consequences you must face." Lucius whipped an Invisibility Cloak from his shoulders and threw it to hang on the fence, all the way across the paddock. In the process, he drew his, or the stolen wand and roared, "Crucio!"
The beam of light hit Draco in the chest, and he collapsed, writhing in pain. Hermione screamed and her eyes flashed red, then black, then blue; anger and sadness together. "You bastard! Expelliarmus!" she screamed and Lucius's wand leapt from his hand into Hermione's.
"What a brave little girl. Gryffindor I assume? Well, that makes it worse for the both of you." Lucius snarled.
Draco shakily stood up and growled at Hermione, "Hermione, get out of here. This doesn't concern you. Go get Dumbledore."
She shook her head stubbornly, "No way I'm leaving you alone with…with…that!" she pointed at Lucius, "You need me here."
"Aww! How sweet! She's really going to risk her life for you son. Oh well, as the Muggle saying goes, whatever bursts your bubble." He shrugged and yelled "Crucio!" at Hermione. She fell to the ground and bit her lip trying not to scream as the billion hot knives pulsated her body. Her head felt like it would split open. She was about to scream when the pain stopped.
She looked up and saw Draco throwing fist after fist at his father. He would roar, "Don't. You. Ever. Touch. Her. AGAIN!" With each punch. His fists faltered and that gave Lucius enough time to throw Draco off of him and raise himself up.
"Here is where we must part ways son. You were to be such a fine heir, but you went soft. I can't have that in an heir. Say good bye to your mudblood. Actually, you won't have time for that. Avada—"
He was thrown backwards and into a particularly large dung pile. The weight of the dung seemed to keep him down, and struggling to get free of his foul prison. Draco looked at Hermione and saw her standing, arms outstretched above her head. She looked extremely evil. Her hair was black, red streaks running through, whipping the sides of her face, her eyes blazing red, like rubies, and her dirty brown robes were jet black, wavering around her calves. She was standing on her tiptoes, as if the slightest wind would raise her up.
She practically floated towards the shocked, and clearly scared Lucius Malfoy. "You evil, evil man." She hissed. The fear in his grey eyes was unpredictable coming from Lucius Malfoy. "Stupefy." Hermione muttered and pointed a hand at Lucius. The red light hit him and he was automatically stunned.
Draco ran over, and as soon as he came over, Hermione collapsed to the ground with a thud. He kneeled down and took Hermione in his arms. "Good. She only fainted. That probably did take a lot of energy from her." He thought and gathered her in his arms. He looked at Lucius and thought again, "Can't just leave him here." He pointed his wand at his stunned figure and muttered, "Mobilicorpus". Lucius floated up and Draco directed him back up to the castle.
When he got through the oak doors (with great difficulty, seeing as he was carrying the unconscious Hermione, and directing a floating man at the same time), he heard a familiar clicking of heels. He yelled out, "Professor Snape! Come here quick!"
Snape walked briskly up the dungeon stairs towards Draco's voice. When he got there, his jaw dropped. A dirty Draco Malfoy was carrying the unconscious Hermione, and floating in front of him was the stunned Lucius Malfoy! "Bloody hell! Mr. Malfoy! Take Ms. Granger to the Hospital Wing, and I'll bring Lucius to Dumbledore. We'll come by as soon as the Ministry knows we have Lucius." he said this all quickly and took Draco's wand, floating Lucius towards Dumbeldore's office.
~*~
In the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was arranging the potions in her office by alphabetical order when she heard the Wing door burst open. She strode out into the main room, reprimanding whoever disturbed the peace in the Hospital Wing, "What do you think you're doing! This is a—Miss Granger!" she screamed as she saw Hermione's unconscious figure in Draco's arms. "Put her on the bed there! Don't just stand there!" she screamed at Draco, grabbing a vial of some black potion from the counter.
Draco lay Hermione down and tucked the blankets over her. Madam Pomfrey pushed him out of the way, and he sat on a chair as the nurse put a cool towel on Hermione's forehead and put the black potion on her bedside table. She waggled a finger at Draco and threatened, "Now you see here. I don't want you to make a sound! You can stay, but keep quiet; this girl needs to wake up on her own, without any racket. Get it?"
He nodded in compliance and watched the sleeping figure that lay wrapped in the crisp white sheets, her hair still black, her face pale. As soon as the nurse went back to her office, he dragged his chair to her side and put a hand on hers, and said quietly, "You're going to be OK Hermione."
~ End of Chapter 25 ~
A/N: Yay, another hour of work, hot of the…hard drive! I know that was corny, but forgive me, it's 11 at night, and my mom's been telling me 2 get ready 4 bed for the past…10 minutes. Lol.
See, Lucius appeared. Just as promised! It's not over yet! I'd say about 3 or 4 more chapters should do it. And I think I have pretty much everything planned. So, now that you've read, REVIEW!
P.S. this was un-beta'd so there mite be a few mistakes.