AN: Okay, got stuck on a bit of writer's block back there… got over it, thank god. But waitaminute, is it a bit too much to ask for reviews? *sad sigh* Here's the greatest bout of angst ever.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Just borrowing them for a little fun. Other citations will be made where necessary.

Dedicated to: CharmedHpfanatic, who can't stand angst, so this goes to her, and to Catherine, who "eep"-ed out loud when I told her this part of the story. And last, but not least, to Mr. Sixtoes, my inspiration so far.

Chapter Ten: The Sealer of the Gate

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming

Or the moment of truth in your lies

When everything feels like the movies

Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive

- Iris, Googoo Dolls

Hermione shut her eyes and listened to the sound of the world crumbling to pieces around her. It sounded like someone breathing, she thought numbly. Like ragged, harsh gasps. It occurred to her that someone was breathing in short gasps… Draco.

He stood behind her, looking pale, small, weak and afraid in the prison robes of thick gray material. He looked almost indefinite, like Hermione could reach out with one trembling finger, touch his pale cheek, and shatter him into a thousand shards, irreparably broken.

The Minister of Magic, Romelio Fudge, raised his wand and without ceremony, signed the parchment in front of him, sealing Draco's, and Hermione's fate forever.

Hermione opened her eyes, and felt the world crumble away once more.

~*~

Voices… above her… whispering, in hushed tones.

"She can't…. emotionally unstable."

"She must… law… rules."

"Wait for her."

Another voice, so heartbreakingly familiar. "Hermione."

She blinked. And the voices increased tenfold.

"She's awake."

"Get the prisoner ready. Lock the bonds."

"Is the cell ready?"

The voice came again, waking her, making her sit up and reach out to a young man who wasn't there. "Hermione… wake up."

"Draco." she whispered, and the sound of her voice was harsh to her own ears.

Someone gripped her, and she opened her eyes blearily.

"Miss Malfoy… you fainted." It was Mad-Eye Moody, and he looked slightly worried. "I… I'm fine." Hermione stood up shakily, but the events that happened before she fainted rushed back, and her knees went weak.

"Draco? Where's Draco?!" she shrieked hysterically. Moody pointed towards a holding room, and tried to placate her. "We cannot officially… incarcerate the criminal yet…" Hermione paled. "Don't call him that!" she grabbed Moody's hand imploringly, but he shook his grizzled head and finished his sentence.

"We cannot officially incarcerate the criminal yet. We need you for that."

Hermione gasped, and the tears flowed down her face. "No, I can't… you can't… why?" she breathed. Moody looked almost sorry for her. "The trial ended officially. Draco Malfoy should be in Azkaban by… three in the afternoon, or the Killing Curse is performed." Hermione swallowed back her scream.

"What time is it?" she asked in a dry whisper. Moody stared at the sundial on the front lawn. "You have thirty minutes, Miss Malfoy."

~*~

Thirty minutes… is that so hard? Thirty minutes… and the walk to the cell takes only five minutes, Hermione… A voice floated through her head, sweet and cajoling.

"But why me?"

"The warrant stated that the closest in terms of family must be the official Gate-Sealer."

"My husband… he's my husband… I can't."

"You can't… but you must. You must."

"No… please, don't make me. And he's innocent! He's innocent!"

"Maybe he is, and maybe he isn't. But this you know for sure. He dies in thirty minutes, whether innocent or not."

"Please… don't."

"Azkaban. Seal the Gates. Imprison him. Now."

Hermione blinked. Her tears were dry, and she was on her feet. Unsteadily, she walked over to the room where Draco was bound. She lifted her Auror's badge, the badge she was so proud of, and the door flew open, revealing two guards armed with two wands each, and Draco.

Draco. So handsome, so pale… so fragile. He stared at her with eyes of broken starlight, wondering what to say. The eloquent Draco, who got by with his words of charm and wit, was for once, speechless.

"Hermione…" and he smiled, so weakly.

"Draco… please. Don't make this any harder than it's supposed to be. Its either this, or death. Please understand…" Hermione closed her eyes, unbelieving at her own lies, and turned away, beckoning to the guards.

They followed, casting Draco along on magical bindings that rendered him mute and without physical strength for the next twenty-four hours.

Hermione walked on, and she reached the gates of Azkaban. A breath, a sigh, and a slump of the shoulders. She raised her wand to open the gates, then stopped.

She turned around, to Draco, whose head was bowed, seemingly accepting his fate.

"I want you to know… that this is hardest day of my life." she whispered. His head remained bowed, and his eyes remained hidden in shadow. "I want you to know, that I still love you, and I always will… forever, whether you're in Azkaban, or a free man." her voice choked up, and the guards looked on blandly.

"I want you to know that there's hope. And that's what matters." she reached out, and took his hand. Draco looked up, and in his eyes burned a fire unlike any Hermione had ever seem before. Without a word, he drew her close for a last kiss.

Hermione closed her eyes against the blinding beauty of it all, the heartbreaking simplicity of her husband's last goodbye. The only way he could say farewell with the Muting Charm sealing his lips. She closed her eyes against the breaking of her heart, against the painful thought that nagged at her, telling her that it was like some sappy movie. She closed her eyes against the salt tears on her face, hers and Draco's, mixing in some bitter cocktail of emotion.

She wanted this forever, the warmth of his mouth against hers, his hands pressed gently against her back, his heart beating against hers… but the guards pulled them apart, and even movie moments end, in their own sweet time.

His eyes met hers, and in them, she read everything she needed to know. This man was innocent. But there was no way to prove that.

The gates of Azkaban swung open, and they walked in, to the cacaphony of moans from the pitiful creatures that were once people.

Draco's new cellmates.

~*~

She was numb once more. The kiss seemed to have been sealed deep inside of her, into her Soul-Keeper, which, interestingly enough, had turned bright orange-red, the color of determination.

Draco stood inside the cell, still bound, eyes downcast again, listening helplessly as Moody and Hermione intoned the Gate-Sealing Spell, the spell that would keep him locked in that cell for as long as they intended it to be. In this case… forever.

Finally, one last whispered word, and one blinding flash of light, and the Gate was Sealed. And so was Draco's fate.

Moody clapped a hand on Hermione's shoulder, and gruffly told her that he'd be walking on ahead.

However, the greater magic had canceled out the effect of the Muting Charm, and as Hermione turned to go, her face blank and impassive, Draco opened his mouth.

~*~

Every step she took, away from the cell where her beloved was lying, bewildered and miserable, seemed like an entire marathon. Her demeanor was calm and collected, yet inside, a scream of rage and pained hysteria was clawing it's way out.

She took in a shuddering breath, and Hermione's vision began to blur, and the dementors turned their blank hoods towards her, sensing the pain and weakness in the human being. Behind her came a weak voice, and she slowly turned around. She didn't want this. She didn't want to have to face her husband again… after what she just did to him… sealing his fate, an utter disgrace.


Draco was grasping the bars and looking at her, and he was smiling. Smiling weakly, yes, but it was a smile of bewildered benevolence, an innocent smile that reache dinto the depths of your soul and squeezed your heart, that choked up your throat and filled your eyes with tears.

"Hermione, darling... what is this? This is all a silly joke, isn't it? You're going to leave me here to stew for a few hours, then come marching back in like the G.I. Jane you are," Hermione's eyes filled with fresh tears. "and laugh with me. Darling, this is all some kind of joke... You know that. Come on, let me out, I'm freezing."

He fixed her with his gaze, through silvery gray eyes filled with tears. "It's all a joke. I'm right. I'm always right. True?" His lips tried to curve upwards again, he feebly tried to make the Draco shine through, yet the dementors were beginning to affect him, and the night screaming had begun.

"Please let me out, now, 'Mione. It's cold in here. Come on, and we can go eat dinner."

The promises of a home now broken, the last confused clutchings at a life he could never have again. He was scrabbling on to what was once there, dazed by this injustice and humiliation.

Hermione faced him, the grief spilling out through her tears. "Draco," she choked "It's no joke, and it's no lie. You're not going to stay there for a few hours... darling... it's going to be…" her voice dropped to an anguished whisper. "…much, much longer than that. I have to go, and..." she reached out towards him, but the dementors moved closer, and the frigid cold swept through her.

"Draco, please believe me... I love you."

And unable to bear the misery any longer, she turned and fled, trying to ignore his wistful words, calling to her... "Hermione, please! I love you… don't… leave me."

~*~

And the gates slammed shut behind her.

She crumpled to the ground, the tears choking her, half-blind with the pain and the realization of what she had just done. She had just killed her husband. She had just betrayed him and everything they had believed in.

She screamed, then, a scream of remorse, and guilt and suffering. A scream begging for forgiveness, for release, and for Draco.

"Draco!"

~*~

She vaguely remembered someone rushing to her side, gathering her up in his arms, and shouting angrily for someone to "get help". She remembered reaching out for Draco, and finding someone else there instead, someone so familiar, and then again, maybe not.

A stranger in her best friend's body. Someone… not Draco…

And then there was blackness. Sweet, blessed black.