Chapter 8
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my dog, Reggie, who died on Thursday at the age of 12. We had him put down because he couldn't even stand up anymore. I will always love him. This chapter may be a little sloppy because Cari is in America, so I'm writing and proof reading, and as most of you know, for the best possible result you can't do both. But unfortunately I haven't any choice in the matter. It's short, but I haven't been able to concentrate on the story much lately.
Hermione had no idea how they had managed to get themselves into this mess, she would have laughed at the irony of the situation, had it not been so dangerous to do so. Although, she had to admit, she didn't really mind being squished up against Draco like she was, they were in a cupboard, it had been a quick dash to safety before the death eaters had walked in the room. Although, she still hadn't quite gotten over the events that occurred not even an hour ago, she was relieved to find out that it hadn't really been Harry and Ron and they were still, most probably safe and sound with Sirius and Remus.
"It was an illusion," Draco had explained to her earlier, "a fake, nothing that happened in there was real, but trying to kill you, that was real enough." He looked at her with sincerity, "that's why I was calling to you, did you hear me?"
'Oh, my gosh,' the realisation hit her like a crane wrecking ball (A/n: I tried to be original), she had completely forgotten, "that creepy voice? That was you?"
"Thanks, Herm, nice to know you like the sound of my voice," he said with a smirk, "but seriously, I truly don't know if we are going to survive this and before anything, well, happens, I wanted to, um, tell you, you're a good person, Hermione, you really are." Draco never said a word after that, there had been some not so subtle noises on the other side of the door, he just indicated to the cupboard and they had been in there ever since. The Death Eaters had been sitting in that room for ages, goodness knows what they were doing, but it seemed they would be in there for a while longer.
After what felt like another half an hour, Draco whispered, "I can't take this anymore, I'd rather go out there and die now than rot in here for the rest of my miserable life." Hermione nodded, she was also thoroughly sick of sitting in there, and besides, her bum was numb and she needed to stretch her legs. Draco creaked the door open and peeped outside in to the empty room, he breathed a sigh of relief and let Hermione out too before shutting the cupboard again.
"Okay, well, now what?" Hermione voiced the question to Draco.
"Um, I suppose we better find a way out of here."
Hermione glanced around the room, it was set up like a muggle executive office, there was a desk with office stationery neatly placed on the top and a few pot plants around the room, all in all, she thought it was a lovely place to work. But they weren't here to work, without saying anything to Draco, Hermione walked over to the desk and started checking the contents of the draw. Top draw, nothing. Second draw, scissors, 'that could be useful,' she took them out but kept on searching. Third draw, letter opener, 'yes, perfect,' she removed that also and placed it next to the scissors. Bottom draw, locked, 'dammit, what now?' While she was busy with the desk draws, Draco had checked the door and the windows.
"Found anything?" he asked her, appearing at her side. She showed him the scissors and the letter opener.
"But the bottom draw is locked."
"So, we need a key. You check the desk again, feel all the linings, look for a small spot or a secret area. I'll check the pot plants and what not."
"Or we could just do this," Hermione whipped out her wand and before Draco could stop her, she whispered, "Accio key." A small key flew to her and she held out her hand.
"No! How could you be so stupid?," he said critically, "they'll have magic detectors, otherwise, I would have used it sooner."
Hermione paled, "sorry" she whispered.
"Apologise later, for now just concentrate on getting out of here."
Hermione opened the bottom drawer and searched through it.
"Bingo! Ohh yes! Check this out Draco! A gun and-"
"Come on!" He was standing at the window which was wide open with a rope tied to the desk leg. She didn't like the look of this, she was terribly scared of heights and a rope, hanging out the window of a room they were trying to escape from did not look at all promising.
"Draco did I ever tell you I was afraid of heights? Terribly, unbelievably and completely afraid of heights, which, by the way, is the reason I was never good at flying."
"You'll be fine. Come on, you go first."
"No! No, no, no, Draco, I can't, there's no way! Please Draco, please can you go first?" She looked at him desperately, begging him to understand.
"Okay, okay," he agreed hastily, he didn't think it was the best thing to do, 'what if she freezes half way down and I'm not above her to keep her going?' but he didn't have time to argue with her, "But we have to be quick."
Draco stepped out of the window and clung to the rope, he moved down slowly and beckoned Hermione to do the same, but it was too late. The door burst open and Lucius Malfoy stood in the room, he was alone, but the others wouldn't be far behind, she had a few seconds maybe. Hermione whipped out her wand, "Stupefy" she whispered and Lucius was instantly unconscious.
"Hermione! What's going on?" Draco called out to her from the window, he could not longer see inside the room. She rushed to the window and lent down to speak to Draco.
"Do you remember that night when we went for a walk?" she said to him, "and we raced to the lamp? I won and I left my options open as to what I wanted you to do, do you remember?"
"Yes, but I don't understand?"
"They wont be long," she said, referring to the Death Eaters she could now hear coming along the corridor. "This is what I want, Draco, I want you to leave. I want you to take this," she handed him a parcel, but he refused to take it, "Draco! Take it, take it now, I'll keep the gun, maybe I can get away, go back to Hogwarts and never look back, I'll be fine. Go, please."
She threw the parcel at him and slammed the window, before he could reply and only a split second before the Death Eaters arrived. The window was open just enough for the rope to fit though and Draco strained to hear what was going on inside, just to hear anything that might give him a clue as to where they might be taking Hermione, he wasn't going anywhere without her. But he heard nothing.
I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my dog, Reggie, who died on Thursday at the age of 12. We had him put down because he couldn't even stand up anymore. I will always love him. This chapter may be a little sloppy because Cari is in America, so I'm writing and proof reading, and as most of you know, for the best possible result you can't do both. But unfortunately I haven't any choice in the matter. It's short, but I haven't been able to concentrate on the story much lately.
Hermione had no idea how they had managed to get themselves into this mess, she would have laughed at the irony of the situation, had it not been so dangerous to do so. Although, she had to admit, she didn't really mind being squished up against Draco like she was, they were in a cupboard, it had been a quick dash to safety before the death eaters had walked in the room. Although, she still hadn't quite gotten over the events that occurred not even an hour ago, she was relieved to find out that it hadn't really been Harry and Ron and they were still, most probably safe and sound with Sirius and Remus.
"It was an illusion," Draco had explained to her earlier, "a fake, nothing that happened in there was real, but trying to kill you, that was real enough." He looked at her with sincerity, "that's why I was calling to you, did you hear me?"
'Oh, my gosh,' the realisation hit her like a crane wrecking ball (A/n: I tried to be original), she had completely forgotten, "that creepy voice? That was you?"
"Thanks, Herm, nice to know you like the sound of my voice," he said with a smirk, "but seriously, I truly don't know if we are going to survive this and before anything, well, happens, I wanted to, um, tell you, you're a good person, Hermione, you really are." Draco never said a word after that, there had been some not so subtle noises on the other side of the door, he just indicated to the cupboard and they had been in there ever since. The Death Eaters had been sitting in that room for ages, goodness knows what they were doing, but it seemed they would be in there for a while longer.
After what felt like another half an hour, Draco whispered, "I can't take this anymore, I'd rather go out there and die now than rot in here for the rest of my miserable life." Hermione nodded, she was also thoroughly sick of sitting in there, and besides, her bum was numb and she needed to stretch her legs. Draco creaked the door open and peeped outside in to the empty room, he breathed a sigh of relief and let Hermione out too before shutting the cupboard again.
"Okay, well, now what?" Hermione voiced the question to Draco.
"Um, I suppose we better find a way out of here."
Hermione glanced around the room, it was set up like a muggle executive office, there was a desk with office stationery neatly placed on the top and a few pot plants around the room, all in all, she thought it was a lovely place to work. But they weren't here to work, without saying anything to Draco, Hermione walked over to the desk and started checking the contents of the draw. Top draw, nothing. Second draw, scissors, 'that could be useful,' she took them out but kept on searching. Third draw, letter opener, 'yes, perfect,' she removed that also and placed it next to the scissors. Bottom draw, locked, 'dammit, what now?' While she was busy with the desk draws, Draco had checked the door and the windows.
"Found anything?" he asked her, appearing at her side. She showed him the scissors and the letter opener.
"But the bottom draw is locked."
"So, we need a key. You check the desk again, feel all the linings, look for a small spot or a secret area. I'll check the pot plants and what not."
"Or we could just do this," Hermione whipped out her wand and before Draco could stop her, she whispered, "Accio key." A small key flew to her and she held out her hand.
"No! How could you be so stupid?," he said critically, "they'll have magic detectors, otherwise, I would have used it sooner."
Hermione paled, "sorry" she whispered.
"Apologise later, for now just concentrate on getting out of here."
Hermione opened the bottom drawer and searched through it.
"Bingo! Ohh yes! Check this out Draco! A gun and-"
"Come on!" He was standing at the window which was wide open with a rope tied to the desk leg. She didn't like the look of this, she was terribly scared of heights and a rope, hanging out the window of a room they were trying to escape from did not look at all promising.
"Draco did I ever tell you I was afraid of heights? Terribly, unbelievably and completely afraid of heights, which, by the way, is the reason I was never good at flying."
"You'll be fine. Come on, you go first."
"No! No, no, no, Draco, I can't, there's no way! Please Draco, please can you go first?" She looked at him desperately, begging him to understand.
"Okay, okay," he agreed hastily, he didn't think it was the best thing to do, 'what if she freezes half way down and I'm not above her to keep her going?' but he didn't have time to argue with her, "But we have to be quick."
Draco stepped out of the window and clung to the rope, he moved down slowly and beckoned Hermione to do the same, but it was too late. The door burst open and Lucius Malfoy stood in the room, he was alone, but the others wouldn't be far behind, she had a few seconds maybe. Hermione whipped out her wand, "Stupefy" she whispered and Lucius was instantly unconscious.
"Hermione! What's going on?" Draco called out to her from the window, he could not longer see inside the room. She rushed to the window and lent down to speak to Draco.
"Do you remember that night when we went for a walk?" she said to him, "and we raced to the lamp? I won and I left my options open as to what I wanted you to do, do you remember?"
"Yes, but I don't understand?"
"They wont be long," she said, referring to the Death Eaters she could now hear coming along the corridor. "This is what I want, Draco, I want you to leave. I want you to take this," she handed him a parcel, but he refused to take it, "Draco! Take it, take it now, I'll keep the gun, maybe I can get away, go back to Hogwarts and never look back, I'll be fine. Go, please."
She threw the parcel at him and slammed the window, before he could reply and only a split second before the Death Eaters arrived. The window was open just enough for the rope to fit though and Draco strained to hear what was going on inside, just to hear anything that might give him a clue as to where they might be taking Hermione, he wasn't going anywhere without her. But he heard nothing.