Never Say Never

Chapter 26 – The Escapade Part II

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except Daniela and Marc Lestrange, and the plot.

Continued from last chapter…

Draco's POV

We stiffened against the wall as we heard the hissing sounds get louder and Hermione glanced at me fearfully. Where was Potter's damn Invisibility Cloak when we actually needed it?! I pursed my lips and stepped out into the corridor where the snake was coming towards us.

"What are you going to do, Draco?!" whispered Hermione in a panicked voice. I ignored her and looked at the snake, willing myself to call on my 'power'. Potter wasn't the only who could speak to snakes.

Don't come any closer, snake. Who sent you, and what is your name?

The snake looked back at me, its red eyes gleaming and its forked tongue flicking out of its mouth mockingly. But it obeyed me and stopped coming closer to us. I heard Hermione's gasp of surprise, but I still refused to break eye contact with the snake.+

My Master sent me, Heir of Voldemort, the Master. My name is Nagini. I will not hurt you.

Somehow that name stirred something in my memory, and I stared blankly at the snake for a few moments before realizing that this was the snake that Father had told me about, the one that returned Voldemort to power two years ago.

"What is it saying, Draco?" asked Hermione, looking torn between impressed and afraid.

"Relax, it won't hurt us. Just wait, I'll ask some more questions."

Why did He send you?

He just wanted me to keep an eye on you.

Can you let us pass?

Why?

We are going somewhere.

If a snake had eyebrows, I swear to god that this one would be raising them at the moment. It was giving me that Look and it had the nerve to slide slowly closer to us.

I will not let anyone pass unless I know where and why you are going. Those were my orders.

Well, will you let us pass if I tell you that we were just heading to my room and we were planning on staying there for the night?

There was the Look again. It hissed once again, bulbous eyes flashing, and seemed to be contemplating what I had just said. I took this moment to project a thought to Hermione.

'Get ready to perform more Wandless Magic. I'm pretty sure that Nagini won't be letting us get past her.'

'You know its name?!' That was Hermione's reply and she rolled her eyes as I nodded. Then Nagini spoke again.

I will not let you pass, Heir of Voldemort.

Very well then, could you please take a message to the Dark Lord for me? Tell him I'll be here waiting for Him to explain what He really wants to do with us.

How do I know that you will not move the moment I leave?

You have my word.

Nagini hissed once and her eyes flashed dangerously, but to my immense relief, slithered out of view. I hadn't thought that it would be that easy to get rid of her…but I guess snakes can be simpletons too.

"Oh Draco! Thank god it's gone." Hermione exclaimed and she grasped my arm tightly. I smiled down at her, but the moment was short lived when I realized that we had only a little time to make a getaway.

"Cmon, we have to get out of here." I said hurriedly, pulling her along to where I had seen the Death Eaters first go into the passageway. Now that the Disillusionment charm was off, I could see where the door of the passageway started, but the fact was that it still required a wand to open it.

"What are you doing? We're running out of time. The snake might be back anytime." Hermione said warningly. Then her eyes widened in shock as she looked back to the place we had just come from. I followed her gaze and jumped when I saw what she was looking at.

"Oh shit." I muttered. There was a mass of slithering, scaly bodies coming towards us, their eyes all fixed on us. But they were still quite a distance away.

"Draco, do something!" Hermione frantically whispered.

"Er…we need a wand to be able to get through this door." I said stupidly, my mind numbed by the oncoming snakes.

"Didn't you say we needed to perform more Wandless Magic?! Just do the Alohomora charm again!" she pointed out, rolling her eyes at me.

"Alohomora."

The door slid open and it revealed the same dark passageway as I had travelled down this afternoon.

"Lets go!" I said quickly, dragging Hermione in, and feeling completely relieved as again, we were saved from being devoured by snakes. The door had shut behind us and again there was that sense of safety, but I knew that it wouldn't last. Voldemort would have to be after us now.

"I can't see anything." Hermione said despairingly.

"Don't worry, just take my hand. I'll lead you. I've been down here before." I reassured her, and her slim hand found its way into mine.

We set off, I wanted to go as fast as we could, because it was only a matter of time before Voldemort found us, and if we could get out of the estate before He found us, then we'd have so much more chance of surviving. I was pretty sure that He'd be pretty angry by now.

"Ow." Hermione had tripped over something and I felt her fall lightly behind me. She didn't get up.

"What's wrong?" I asked, seeing her outline against the darkness. Her eyes were shining, and she seemed to be biting her lip.

"It hurts." She whimpered clutching what seemed to be her knee. I reached out and tried to find where her forehead was, and I smoothed her hair back from her face comfortingly.

"Can you still walk?"

"I hope so…"

God, she seemed so fragile right now, I mean she'd just been through a lot. She had found out that she was Disillusioned, she had met her real parents…and then sent them back to Azkaban. She had had to make a decision, a hard one, and then she had performed Wandless Magic. And all that happened after she had collapsed out near the summerhouse, which was where we were heading right now. Gee isn't life ironic?!

"Hey…don't cry…we're almost there. Just a little more and we'll be out of here." I said soothingly. I placed my arms around her sobbing body, and folded my arms around her. Her body continued to tremble with almost silent sobs, and I felt her lean against my chest.

"I'm sorry about this…its just that…what I just did has caught up with me. I think I was in a state of shock after meeting my parents, and then all that stuff with the snakes sort of took away the shock. And now its back, and the reality is sinking in. I'm never going to see my parents again." She explained in a hoarse voice. I just continued to hold her, and I placed a light kiss on her brow.

"It's alright. I understand, you don't have to tell me." I assured her, and I felt her relax, and her sobbing start to stop.

"Ok, I think its time that we go." She said softly. I could almost see her smile as I refused to let go of her. But then, a searing pain on my palm that I knew Hermione felt as well ruined the moment. Although I couldn't see it, I knew that the Black Star was burning blood red again. He was coming.

"We've got to run. Can you do it?" I asked concernedly, ignoring the pain.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." She replied, urging me to go.

So we ran the last part of the way, through the twists and turns until we arrived at a dead end; the summerhouse wall. We were nearly out of breath, and I took a moment to steady myself.

"Are you ready?" I asked Hermione, she didn't say anything, but I felt her nod in the darkness.

So I slid the door open and I saw that everything was the same as I had left it about an hour ago, all the instruments were still there…except there was something different about it.

Two red eyes flashed on the other side of the summerhouse. In the dim moonlight streaming in through cracks in the dark curtains I could make out a flat nose and thin lips twisted in a cruel smile.

Voldemort.

Well it wasn't as if I was expecting anything less from Him. I knew that in the end He would be there to block our way out, but I had still clung stubbornly to a shred of hope that maybe He would turn a blind eye and let us pass.

Hermione stepped in after me, and I saw her stare defiantly at Voldemort. She wasn't afraid at all. I probably would've been like that too except I had noticed one very big problem. He had a wand…we didn't. Lord Voldemort, the most powerful sorcerer of our time after Dumbledore still used a wand to amplify His magic.

"My two dear Heirs! How pleasant it is to see you both here." He greeted us mockingly. That smile never left His face…the same way Dumbledore's serene one never left his either.

We didn't reply, and just continued to stand motionless, glaring at the sorcerer who had made us who we were today. It was He that moved first, letting His hand elegantly sweep through the air, making all the instruments and furniture in the room disappear. Now there was nothing standing between Him and us.

"I must say, you two have made quite a brave attempt to get here. First you've taken the Disillusionment charm off yourselves, a smart move. Then you sent Nagini back to me, banking on the fact that you had some time to get away. But what you didn't know was that Nagini was with reinforcements…" He said still smiling.

"We escaped anyway." Hermione said bluntly.

"You did indeed. Now, shall we duel?" Voldemort asked unexpectedly. Both of us started with surprise.

"But a wizard's duel requires wands, and a second doesn't it?" I replied with a question.

"I am not a wizard, but a sorcerer, so the usual rules don't apply for me. But I have a wand, and you have a second so we'll say that we're even, shall we?" Voldemort answered slyly. I opened my mouth to protest, but Hermione cut me off.

"Just let it be. There's two of us. We will defeat him, have faith Draco." She whispered encouragingly. I nodded, and turned back to Voldemort.

Before I could even react, He had hit me with the Cruciatus curse and I crumpled in a heap to the ground writhing in pain. God…all I was conscious of was complete agony, though I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out. I was reminded over and over again of how I was disciplined as a young boy in the same way.

"Draco!" I could faintly hear Hermione cry out. Immediately the curse was lifted. Voldemort advanced, and I could now feel the Black Star continuing to burn. Then Hermione went down next to me, and I watched helplessly as she convulsed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, and then, I saw blood begin to glisten on her lips as she too tried to fight the urge to scream.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I shouted looking directly at Voldemort's wand. Unfortunately, it didn't really do much, except lift the wand about half a metre up into the air before coming down again, which enabled Voldemort to grasp it once again.

But it did do a lot in the sense that it released Hermione from her pain, and let down Voldemort's guard, because coincidentally at that moment Snape came through the passageway with our wands and shouted out to us.

"Hermione!" He shouted, throwing her wand over to where she lay on the ground, and we watched, in anticipation as the wand soared towards us…

And landed in the outstretched palm of the Dark Lord who sneered at Hermione as He snapped it cleanly in half.

"No!" she screamed out in grief, "No…"

"Oh, but it is only what you deserve, my heir who seeks to defy me." He said sweetly, coming down to eye level with Hermione, before slapping her soundly on the cheek. She flinched, but her eyes continued to show hatred, which Voldemort realized, was dangerous for Him.

On the other hand, as He was preoccupied with Hermione and her defiance, I was motioning for Snape to throw me my wand but perhaps it was by some weird humour that the gods decided that that was the moment Voldemort would turn and Stun Snape making him drop my wand, and fall glassy-eyed to the ground.

"Damn." I muttered under my breath.

"My heirs, this is hardly what I would call a good fight. I didn't breed you two for nothing…you are both meant to be the great warriors of your time – brave, fearless, skilled, loyal…those were the things I made you to be. Even without your wands I would expect it to be easy for you both to overpower me." He said mockingly. We said nothing, as we were both temporarily immobile, due to the draining side effects of the Cruciatus curse.

"Well perhaps I was wrong to create you two…perhaps this was one of my failed experiments. But I am certain now that it is the end for you both." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. He seemed even bored as He watched us through the glittering rubies that He had for eyes.

All was silent for awhile as His declaration hung in the air…the tension was tangible, and I looked at Hermione to see what she was doing. After all, she was the only one who could really bring down the Dark Lord…The One. And all the hope I could possibly have was riding on her shoulders.

She was still glaring at Voldemort, and it seemed as though they hadn't broken eye contact for quite awhile. Minutes passed, but neither of them seemed to be backing down. Then, she narrowed her eyes even more, and spoke in an icy tone.

"You're wrong." She snarled, breaking the eerie silence and Voldemort's eyes widened, and He seemed to falter under her deadly glare. Suddenly He seemed to have come to realize something, and His wand slipped out of His hands.

"Crucio." Hermione spat out angrily, and she seemed to radiate a sort of power as she stood up, looking down on Voldemort who was writhing on the ground His cries of pain echoing through the empty summerhouse. I watched on completely awed.

"That was for the wizards and Muggles that you ever tortured." She said calmly, taking off the curse for a split second. He stilled.

"Crucio."

Now again He was on the floor His screams louder than before, and I was marveling at how powerful Hermione really was. She took a step closer to where He was. Then dead silence came as she took the curse off again.

"That was for Harry."

"Crucio."

The same scene replayed before my eyes, but this time when she took the curse off, she was openly crying.

"That was for all the families you ever tore apart." She whispered.

And then that deep hatred and loathing came into her eyes again and I could swear that they were black. She had a Dark aura surrounding her as she uttered the final words –

"Avada Kedavra."

To be Continued…

Hey everyone,

So sorry for the long long long wait…I had writers block =P I know, this was an er…'exciting' chapter and I should've had it up like a month ago…sorry again guys. Well I have also been working on a new story, which will be up like straight after this one finishes… [im planning on making this a 30 chapter story, so it'll be over pretty soon… =(]

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I hope that this chapter wasn't too bad…and stay tuned for the next chapter, I promise that it'll be good…hopefully. =P

I'm too tired to answer reviews, but I'll answer them next chapter ok?

Happy reading,

psychohart