Hermione didn't know what to do. She wanted to jump up and run to her parents. At the same time, she wanted to hit Lucius Malfoy with all her might. Besides all that, she was still terribly afraid that something could go wrong. And she had the distinct feeling that Severus was in trouble.
She watched anxiously as Lucius drank the potion, and hoped it would work.
"Well," Lucius said. He smiled slightly. "I guess we can start. I'm sure Draco won't mind."
He walked over to her parents and raised his wand.
'The moment of truth,' Hermione thought. She was incredibly tense. Seeing Colin's straight shoulder's, Ginny's frozen expression and Ron's worried eyes, Hermione knew that they were as anxious as she herself.
"Let's start with something… hurtful," Lucius said, obviously thinking it very funny. Ron only smiled Pansy's broad, false smile and watched.
They were all waiting.
Lucius pointed the wand at her mother. Hermione bit her lip so hard that she drew blood. "Crucio," he said. Her mother had closed her eyes in anticipation, but now she slowly opened them again. She looked surprised. Lucius looked surprised, too. He raised an eyebrow and repeated the curse.
Nothing happened.
Lucius tried to cast several spells, and not one was effective. He turned around to Pansy. "What is happening?"
Pansy smiled again, this time it seemed like a genuine smile. "Well, Lucius, darling. I think you are a bit too gullible." Ron approached him, still smiling. "I actually thought it would be much harder to get you to drink the potion. I already feared I'd have to drink another batch of this stuff." He took a small vial with the muddy Polyjuice Potion out of his pocket and put it on the table.
"You are not Pansy," Lucius said. He glanced around the room in sudden realisation. "It was all a trap."
Ron nodded. He took out his wand. "And now you are in for a snog with a Dementor."
"There are not Dementors at Azkaban. Not anymore." Lucius straightened his shoulders, his old arrogance and confidence back in place. "You can't do that. You're just kids. I'll be gone before the Ministry officials are here. I'll just Apparate away. I thought you should know that." He laughed. "You can't keep me."
"If you think so," Ron said. Pansy's blond hair was beginning to turn red, and she had more freckles than a few minutes ago. "But we never said we were going to alert the Ministry. Or Azkaban."
"Try to Apparate, Malfoy," Colin said, "you won't be able to." He now stood next to Ron, his wand pointing at Malfoy's throat. "Untie the Grangers, Ron," he added to Ron, who bent down and started untying her mum.
"Oh no, you won't," Lucius whispered. He launched himself at Ron, who had now turned back into his own self. Lucius' fist hit him square in the face, and a sickening cracking noise could be heard.
Hermione was shocked. Not only at the sight of Ron's unconscious form on the ground next to her parents, but also at the fact that Lucius Malfoy could actually hit someone physically. And with such force. She'd never pictured him as someone who'd get his hands dirty in an actual fight. She'd thought that without magic he'd be nothing. She was wrong.
Ron was unconscious, and Lucius wasted no time on him. He turned to her father, and started hitting him in the face. Hermione felt the tears on her face, and her vision blurred. She couldn't think straight.
Feverishly, she tried to get rid of the ropes. He hands were only loosely tied, but she found it hard to get free. She struggled to pull free, and only looked up once. Colin was screaming now, and he had thrown himself at Lucius. It would have been ridiculous – a forty year old man, in a grey suit and equally grey robes, and a seventeen year old boy in jeans and a red pullover, fighting like two kindergarten boys. But she couldn't see anything funny. This was deadly serious.
The fight continued, and finally after several minutes – it seemed like an eternity – she got her hands free.
+~*#
Severus watched Potter go down to his knees.
Pansy lifted the curse, and he saw his chance coming. He approached her, but
she must have known he would do that. She turned to him.
"I wouldn't do that, Professor," she said. Severus couldn't help but
feel guilty. She was his responsibility. He hadn't done enough. There must have
been something, anything to prevent her downfall.
And as clearly as he saw that, he knew that it was too late now. She was beyond redemption. It made him sad.
"Pansy, you can stop this." He knew she couldn't. She had no perspective. All she could do was hope Lucius would succeed, and she with him.
Pansy smiled. She'd obviously come to the same conclusions. "Don't you see?" she said. "I have already stopped. I have stopped to torture Potter. Pathetic, isn't he?" She turned back to Potter, but was still talking to him. "I have to go now, Professor. I think you understand that I can't let you stop me." She sighed. "Goodbye." She raised her wand at Potter.
+~*#
Ginny watched everything from a distance – a physical as well as an emotional distance. She felt strange. She had no real use, but she was there. She took part, without being noticed.
Ron was waking up again, holding his head. Hermione was running over to her parents, and together she and Ron began untying them. Colin was still fighting with Lucius Malfoy, and he was doing better than she'd expected. She wondered briefly why he didn't use magic, but then her gaze fell upon something lying on the ground beneath Lucius' feet. It was Colin's wand, broken to pieces.
Somehow, all sound had vanished. She couldn't hear. All she could see was this group of people. Although the room was so huge, all the action happened in one corner. And she was not there.
It was just as always – the terrible trio, the three friends. Only this time, Harry wasn't there.
Harry!
Draco should have been back by now. With Harry, and Professor Snape. Where were they?
She began to worry. Harry!
Glancing over to the "action corner", she realized that she couldn't do anything for them. She couldn't help them. But she could go and see what had happened to Harry.
+~*#
"Wingardentus Leviosa," Pansy called. Potter shot up in the air. He screamed loudly, and Severus was left to decide. He could either go after Pansy, who approached the house, or he could safe Potter – again.
Severus sighed. It wasn't really a hard decision to make. He couldn't let Potter die. Raising his wand, he shot a few slowing spells and then conjured a net to stop Potter's fall.
Of course, by the time Potter was back safely on the ground, Pansy had vanished.
+~*#
Draco paused. He'd just entered the kitchen when he heard it. Lucius wanted to cast a curse.
He just hoped that his father had drunk the potion.
After a few seconds, he was convinced. He didn't hear Granger's parents scream. But he did hear his father's voice, and he knew Lucius was annoyed. So the potion worked. But then again, when Severus Snape brewed a potion, it was bound to work. Draco'd never heard of a potion brewed by Severus Snape that hadn't worked.
Well, that left him to alert the two waiting outside. He crossed the kitchen, opened the door – and came face to face with Pansy Parkinson.
+~*#
Pansy turned around. Pathetic, really pathetic. Professor Snape was not only a traitor, but a pathetic traitor. Running to save Potter's pathetic life. She shook her head. Pathetic. That was all it was.
She opened the backdoor (that presumably led into the kitchen) and looked into the face of an surprised looking Draco.
"Draco," she said. So he was in this pathetic game. A traitor as well. Not only to his father, but also to Slytherin House. "Helping Gryffindors, are we?" she said, and before he could react, she raised her wand and stunned him. She wanted to hurt him a little more, but from the next room came a noise that sounded suspiciously like a fight.
She had to help Lucius. With a last kick in Draco's ribcage, she let go of him and stepped over him in to the house. It was an ordinary muggle kitchen – and absolutely of no importance at the moment.
She crossed the room in a few seconds and
pushed the door open. What she saw was… nothing she'd ever seen before.
Lucius Malfoy and one of the Creevey brothers were in the middle of a fist
fight. Lucius' normally perfect appearance was dishevelled. He looked sweaty
and… ordinary. Like a muggle. His grey cloak lay in a crumpled heap on the
floor. There were buttons missing from his expensive suit, and his left sleeve
was torn apart. Creevey looked not much better. His pullover was torn at the
collar, and his red face indicated that Lucius had tried to strangle him – unfortunately
without success. A bloody nose rivalled a black eye. But he was still fighting
back forcefully.
With a quick glance she made sure that no one had noticed her. The mudblood and Weasley were trying to untie the mudblood's parents. Obviously they couldn't do it magically because they were struggling to get the ropes off by hand.
Pansy raised her wand, pointing it at Granger. The mudblood would go down first.
+~*#
"Enervate!"
Potter opened his eyes. He looked disoriented and dishevelled. "What happened?" he asked, and felt his forehead. "Ouch!"
"Miss Parkinson decided to join the party. But unfortunately, you couldn't let me deal with it but had to interfere. She hit you with the Cruciatus, and after that with a Levitation Spell. A powerful alteration of the Wingardium Leviosa. It catapults the target so high into the air that the impact when it comes back to earth will certainly kill it." Severus examined Harry's head shortly. "Get up. It's just a little bump on the head. You'll live. What worries me more is the fact that Pansy got into the house while I was busy making sure you'd survive the fall."
"I…" Harry started but Severus cut him off.
"I don't want to hear it." He turned around. "Come on now," he said, and walked towards the house. He heard the Potter boy follow. "Get your wand out, silly boy." The rustling of Potter's clothing indicated that for once he did as he was told. "And be careful."
A second later, he stopped dead. Potter walked right into him. He scowled. Potter apologized and tried to see why he had stopped.
It was Draco, lying on the Grangers' kitchen floor, in a small puddle of blood. Severus bent down to check for a pulse. He was relieved to find a slow, steady pulse. "He's alive. He must've met Pansy on her way in. She just stunned him, but I think he hit his head."
"Is he going to be alright?" Harry bent down as well, helping Severus to examine the head wound. It was worse than it looked. "Yes," Severus replied. "He's fine. Head wounds always bleed a lot." He raised his wand once again and muttered: "Enervate!"
Draco's eyelids fluttered, and finally he opened his eyes. "Pansy is in the house, the real Pansy," he whispered. "My head hurts," he added.
Severus smirked. "Then, Mr Malfoy, I suggest that you don't hit the floor with your head next time…"
He turned to Potter. "Potter, you and Malfoy stay here. I'll check on the others."
"But sir, I -"
"This is not a matter of discussion," Severus cut him off. "You and Malfoy have both suffered from head injures tonight. It wouldn't be wise to go and fight like this. You are more likely to hinder us than help us." He turned to Draco. "I take it Lucius had drunk the potion?"
Draco nodded, and then made a face because of the pain this simple gesture caused. "Yes. I was going to tell you to be quiet; Father had heard something. And then I heard the noise from the living room, and thought I should get you in here. But then Pansy came and stunned me."
Severus nodded and stood up. "Try to get a message to Dumbledore. Tell him we are ready." And then he went to the living room.
+~*#
Pansy never got to say the incantation that should've killed the mudblood. Suddenly, she found herself lying on the ground, and Ginny Weasley was all over her, hitting her.
Somehow, she lost her wand. The grinning face of Ginny Weasley was all she could see, until a wand came into sight as well.
"Sleep tight, bitch," Ginny murmured. "Stupefy!"
The world went black.
+~*#
Hermione didn't know when or how, but at some point she'd finally got her mother's hands free. Together they'd untied her feet, and then helped Ron, who shot worried glances to Colin and Malfoy – although she was quite sure he wasn't worried about Malfoy.
They'd just managed to untie her father as well, when the door burst open once more and a deep voice bellowed: "Everyone STOP!" And every movement stopped.
Lucius Malfoy and Colin Creevey stopped in mid-punch and slowly disentangled themselves from each other.
Hermione looked up. It was Severus. He'd used a Sonorus Charm to amplify the volume of his voice, and he looked every bit like an angel. Well, except that he had dark hair, was dressed in dark robes and wasn't an angel at all. He also didn't look like one, not really, but she thought that he definitely had potential. Or maybe she was going hysterically insane.
She looked around. Definitely the last option. She was hysterical. She felt like laughing, but couldn't do it. It was as if the muscles that were needed to laugh had been removed from her body, leaving only the ones to cry.
She sat down on the floor next to her mum and started to cry.
+~*#
Ron couldn't believe how fast everything had happened after Lucius had drunk the potion.
One moment they were fighting, and then, the next moment, the house was buzzing with all kinds of people. There were Ministry officials as well as teachers and Aurors.
He looked over to the kitchen. There was the temporary counsel room. All he could see was the hem of Professor Dumbledore's purple robe and Snape's black robe. But he knew that a bunch of Aurors and Azkaban guards was in there, too. He sighed. He'd hoped that they would be able to carry on with their plan and have Lucius Malfoy kissed by a Dementor. But it didn't seem to work like this. The Dementors had been removed from Azkaban, and the Dementor's Kiss was no longer a legal sentence.
Pansy and Malfoy were lying in a corner, tied up and still unconscious.
He saw his little sister sitting by Harry's side on the sofa. Harry was all right. A mediwizard had checked him.
On Ginny's other side, Draco Malfoy got his head mended by another mediwizard.
And Hermione was sitting in between her parents on the floor. They hadn't wanted to stand up and leave the comfort of their newfound togetherness – although he'd seen Hermione glance over to the kitchen (and a certain Potion's Master, he suspected) quite often.
The only one who was missing was Colin. Ron checked his watch. It had been twenty minutes.
The Ministry officials hadn't been happy about their little scheme. So now they wanted to question each of them individually, and they had started with Colin.
Ron wasn't sure why, but he was worried about Colin. He knew that there was nothing to worry about, but he was. He kept checking his watch. Twenty-two minutes. What were they doing in there for so long?
He saw the way Ginny hold Harry's hand – as if to make sure he was there. He saw the way Hermione looked over to the kitchen – as if she wanted to make Snape come to her by will, so needing and longing. And he wondered if he probably looked at the door that led to the "interrogation room" (it was Mr Granger's office) with the same expression on his face.
And he knew he didn't care. That moment he knew. He knew clearer than ever before that he wanted to be with Colin.
And then suddenly the door to the makeshift interrogation room opened and the ministry official stepped out, Colin behind him. Automatically, his eyes searched Ron's, and he nodded slightly. Ron was relieved. So Colin was all right.
"Next please," the man said and glanced at his clipboard. "Harry Potter."
Harry stood up, and winked as he passed Ron.
"So…" Colin said down beside Ron. His knee lightly brushed against Ron's as he sat down, and Ron felt suddenly dizzy. He couldn't say anything.
"I…er, they wanted to know what we did," Colin said. "He was asking all kinds of questions, and asked what I had to do with it and if Dumbledore had –"
Colin couldn't go on. He suddenly found himself pulled closed to Ron, and then everything that wasn't Ron's lips disappeared.
Ron didn't care if everyone saw them. Hell, he didn't even care that Malfoy saw them. All that mattered was that they were back together, in their own bodies. Ever since that awkward kiss when Ron had been in Pansy's body he wanted to do it right. So he did.
+~*#
"Let me sum it up," the man – she couldn't remember his name – said. He was an investigator for the ministry who now stood in front of the fireplace and checked his notes.
Hermione sighed. They'd all told the story at least twice. Severus assuringly squeezed her hand and leaned over. "He won't be able to keep us much longer," he whispered, and she sighed once again, this time with relief. She leaned her head against his leg and watched the others.
Her parents were sitting on the sofa, next to Harry, Ginny and Ron. Colin stood behind Ron. Draco was sitting in the armchair opposite her, obviously bored. She was curled up in the second armchair, with Severus sitting on the armrest.
"Lucius Malfoy kidnapped you two –" he pointed at Mr and Mrs Granger, who nodded, "-and sent you a note."
Hermione nodded. "He wanted me to come here so that he could kill me."
"But you didn't. You went to Professor Snape." The man looked sceptical.
She nodded again. "Of course I went to my fiancé for help." Why couldn't this guy just let it rest? They'd already explained everything. He knew perfectly well that Severus was her fiancé, and would be her husband in three weeks time.
"Well, and you-" he pointed at Ron "-came up with this truly insane plan to stop Lucius Malfoy?"
Ron nodded. "Yes. I had to do a potions project last year. And I knew that Lucius was dangerous." He was interrupted by the man. "Because he kidnapped you last Christmas?"
Ron rolled his eyes. "That's right. However, I knew that Lucius was far more skilled in magic than an of us, except Professor Snape. But Professor Snape couldn't get in here because it would endanger Hermione's parents."
"The muggles," the investigator said. Ron ignored him.
"We had to find a way to make Lucius harmless. And then I remembered the potion. I'd read about it in the Dark Chronicles. It's called Extingua, and it takes away all magical ability of the person who drinks it. But to make Lucius drink it, we had to find a way to come close to him." Ron stood up. He seemed nervous.
"Pansy Parkinson was his… lover. She'd been with him, helping him to kidnap Hermione at Christmas. She was his… well, she was his whore. She would do anything for him, and he obviously wasn't immune to her… 'charm'. So I drank Polyjuice Potion and pretended to be her. Malfoy, I mean Draco, just pretended to be back at his father's side, and he brought Ginny and Colin along. Ginny pretended to be some kind of Draco's love slave, while Colin was supposed to be under the Imperius Curse. Lucius didn't suspect a thing. When we went upstairs to bring Hermione's parents down, I made sure he didn't hurt them, while the others were supposed to prepare the drinks."
"And all that time Potter and Snape were outside?"
"Yes, we were," Harry said. "We were supposed to wait outside and watch the house. Draco was supposed to get up once Lucius drank the potion."
"But Pansy came back?"
"Yes," Severus said. "She had been sent to Brazil, but she escaped and was back in Britain. She attacked us, and we defended ourselves. Unfortunately she was able to enter the house, where she stunned Draco." Draco nodded. "That's right," he confirmed.
"Well, I got Lucius to drink the potion," Ron continued. "And then he tried to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione's parents. It didn't work. Then he realized it was a trap, and knocked me unconscious."
"And what did everyone else do?"
"I fought Lucius," Colin said.
"I tried to untie my parents," Hermione added.
"And I wanted to get the others," Ginny said.
The man focussed on Colin. "Why did you fight Lucius Malfoy with your fists?"
"Because he broke my wand," Colin said. "And I couldn't let him hurt anyone."
"And then Pansy came in, and she didn't see me," Ginny said. "She just raised his wand when I tackled her. I took her wand and stunned her. And then everything was over. Professor Snape came in and stunned Malfoy. And soon after that Professor Dumbledore appeared with you and all the Aurors."
"Explain again what you would have done to Lucius," the man demanded.
"Creevey's mother works at the Ministry. She helped to dispose the Dementors. We knew where they were kept, and we planned to Apparate Lucius there, and leave him in their company. They would have kissed him," Severus said. He stood up.
"You know that this is highly illegal," the man said.
"You know how much I don't care," Severus replied. "This 'interview' is now over. We will return to Hogwarts immediately, and you will not stop us."
"I could arrest you all for planning a crime. And maybe I will do so…" the man said, smiling.
Severus smiled, too. Hermione couldn't help thinking that Severus was much better at this. He looked scary, whereas the investigator just looked idiotic. She almost had to laugh at the thought that she was actually proud of Severus looking scary.
"I don't think so, Wilbur," Severus' voice was low and menacing. "You cannot charge us with that. And if you do, I will sue." Severus took out a black book. "This is all I need. A detailed description of how Lucius Malfoy could escape the high security prison that's supposed to be so safe. How he attacked Hogwarts students and several muggles. How you let him get away with it. How you didn't react. How you send Pansy Parkinson off to Brazil – ignoring our request for a more… secure method of keeping her from Lucius." He took a step towards Wilbur. "But maybe I'll just give it to the Daily Planet. I hear Rita Skeeter is a talented writer. And she wouldn't even have to change that much to create a scandal…"
Wilbur's smile had long faded. He nodded. "The investigation is closed. Lucius Malfoy is accused of all points mentioned above, and he will not be able to escape again. I'll make sure of that. Pansy Parkinson is wanted for several crimes in South America. She won't be seeing the sun for some time, too."
"Good." Severus turned around and took a silver box out of his pocket. "We'll take a Portkey back to Hogwarts. Come on, make sure you all touch it."
A few seconds later, Hermione felt the familiar jerk behind her navel, and she held on to Severus.
A/N: I know, I know. And I'm really sorry that it took me so long to write this. And it isn't even longer than the other ones. I'm sorry.
But you see, I had the outline to this chapter for quite some time until I realized it wouldn't work. So I had to redo it. And then, last Monday, my grandmother died. It wasn't that much a shock (she'd been ill for some time), but still it wasn't nice. So I had other things on my mind.
But then, this morning, I suddenly wanted to write. So I did. This is what came of it. I hope you like it.
I wanted to thank you again. Just one review can make my day, so you know what to do…
One question: Do you want to see anything special in the epilogue? I don't plan on writing the wedding scene (I would suck, believe me), so I wanted to do graduation instead. But still, if there is anything you'd want to see (or that needs further explanation), just tell me and I'll try to get it in.
Disclaimer: Hp belongs to JKR. The Dark Chronicles are mentioned in BtVS, episode "Amends", I think.
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