Giving Up Isn't an Option

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I only own the plot and characters that obviously don't belong to the books. 'Uncle Snape' is Slytherin Girl's idea and I have permission to use it,

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Previously:

"She cant be bloody serious! And you sure as hell better not actually be considering any of this" he cried at Draco.

Draco just continued to pace, mulling over everything in his head. He didn't know what he wanted to do, let alone what he was going to do.

The others finished the letter and all had similar reactions. Everyone seemed to have just gone over the part at the beginning. All except Justin. It was what had stood out to him. Not the fact that she asked them to just turn away and move on.

"Draco, what do you know? What does she mean that she knows you know how to get her back here?" he questioned, approaching Draco slowly.

This stopped Draco in his tracks. He turned to them, each waiting for an answer. His eyes showed hurt and concern and worry and love and many other things, but nothing was revealed about what he was thinking.

"What she means is that a long time ago I figured something out. I figured out just what she needed in her life. And while we were part of it, we weren't the whole picture and still aren't. There's something missing and I bet that not one of you can say what it is. I didn't even want to believe it when I figured it out, but she's known all along. She also knew that, once I had figured it out, that it would be one of the hardest things I've ever done. It may sound stupid to you, should I choose to tell you what I know. But you don't understand what I went thorough because of this. And I don't know if I can do it again. She knows exactly what's going to take place, yet she hasn't let on in way what it is. Like she said, the future isn't hers to change and she wont even leave a hint as to what's going to happen. The worse thing is though, she's right. I do have doubts and I don't know what I want to do. Her life is quite literally in my hands and for once, I'm at a loss" Draco took a breath, trying to bring his racing heart back to normal.

"Malfoy, this should be a no brainier. You do what ever you have to to save that girl and I wont be forced to murder you myself" Ginny was seething. She couldn't believe that he even had to think about any of this.

"Ginny, you don't know what your asking! Like I said, that should I choose to ever tell you, you'll all think that it's stupid and pointless, but I went through hell with everything that took place and I found out a lot more then the rest of you. I know more then you would ever wish to find out and its all information that I to this day, wish I never would've figured out" Draco yelled.

"Listen, Draco, we need her. I don't care what she asked us all to do. She's why we're all here today and she's the reason that we're actually able to speak civilly to each other. We need to find her while we can" Justin stayed calm while he spoke to Draco, not wanting to get him too upset again.

"I know, I know" Draco exhaled. He knew he had to do it. He couldn't turn back now, not when he had gotten so far and so close. What he was most terrified of was what was to come. His one, true fear, though there were many others, was the future. He couldn't control it and all he could think of was that with each choice he made, he might have just ruined what should be his life.

Was she worth this though? Was she worth going through all this?

~*~*~*~*~

Hermione glanced around the room he had left her in. It had black walls and the bed was covered in black linens. The wood of the furniture was dark and blended nicely with the rest of the room. In any normal situation, this would feel like home to her. But right now it just felt like a black hole in the world and she couldn't escape it.

She didn't know if Draco would do what he needed to do to save her. Only he knew what they needed. But what she did know was the outcome should he choose to reveal it all to the others.

She prayed that they would listen to her and just leave her but in the deepest corner of her heart she knew that they wouldn't. She had seen what would happen should the others choose to come and get her, and she didn't like it. It would destroy them all and she didn't want to see them go through that again.

This was the first time that she had ever attempted to change the future. She knew that she shouldn't have, but she had to try. She had to try and protect these people no matter how much she claimed to hate them. In truth, she had never really hated them, she just didn't want to be around them anymore. Didn't want to cause any more pain.

She pushed her sleeves up to her elbows and her eyes caught the skull there. She had had it for such a short time and she was regretting it so. She didn't want it, yet at the same time she did. It proved to the world that she wasn't this perfect human being. She knew that most didn't believe that anyway, but this just killed any doubts that any had.

She was glad that she hadn't had time to see her Uncle or sister. She wasn't sure it she could deal with her Uncle right now. She had gone and done the one thing that he had tried to protect her from. She had literally sold herself to the devil and there was nothing she could do about it now.

Hermione collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling, just waiting. Waiting for the inevitable. Hoping that what she had seen wouldn't take place, but knowing that it would no matter how hard she tried to stop it. Sure, she could try and change her part but if everything else played out like it should then she couldn't prevent any of it. She had to go with it no matter what would take place and it was killing her with each passing second.

~&~&~&~&~

Draco looked around the room at the others. He knew that they wanted him to do it. That they wanted him to face what he didn't want to. He would have to come face to face with a past that he had prayed would stay where it should. In the past.

If Blaise or Justin had been in this position, surely they would do the same thing, even if it mean risking Hermione's life. That's what he tried to tell himself anyway. He knew that it wasn't true. They would do anything for that girl, without hesitation. So why was it just so damn hard for him? Why couldn't he just go and confront something that he had tried to avoid and protect Hermione from?

"Draco, whatever it is. Please just do it" Padma broke his train of thought. She hadn't spoken yet and just hearing her voice so full of worry hurt Draco. "Please Draco. Ginny had to drag me here, but now that I'm here I cant leave until I know that she's safe at home. Please, just do whatever you have to"

"Padma I. . ."

"Malfoy, she's right. Come one, please just get what you need so that we can save her. I don't care if its our past come back to haunt us. I don't care if its what we tried so desperately to save her from. I don't care. . ." Justin broke off as he saw the look on Draco's face. It suddenly hit him. "That's what it is isn't it? That's why you don't know if you want too. Not only would it be the past back to haunt us, it would be a betrayal of her trust. It would be going against something that she so specifically asked"

Draco closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, nodding at Justin. How he had figured it out, Draco never guessed but Justin had figured out exactly what was needed yet he wasn't running to go get it himself.

"Malfoy, you know what you have to do. I'm not going to do it for you and neither will anyone else. Its your decision to make but let me just put this thought in your mind. Either you can risk never seeing her again or you can risk having her mad at you for the rest of her life and you can go on knowing that she's home safe"

Draco weighed the two in his mind. Hermione dead or Hermione mad?

"Ok" he turned for the door and started to leave when he heard the others following him. "No you guys. I have to do this on my own. I cant very well do that if your all with me now can I?"

The froze in their tracks. Two things were going through their minds. A) Would he actually do this and B) if he left, would he come back?

"I have to do this. I know what we need and if I have to stop to explain it to you we'll waste more precious time that could be used to save her. Just left me go and do what I need to go. I promise to come back as soon as I can. It'll all depend on how long the convincing will take"

With that he turned and took off at a run. He ran until he was out of the Hogwarts gates so he could apparate. With the blink of an eye he was gone.

~&~&~&~&~

"Justin, what does he need to do?" Ginny demanded the minute Draco took off.

Justin sat and explained in full what he had figured out.

"That's it?" Padma asked.

"You don't understand how hard this is for him. You girls have had a little more time to get used to it then Draco did" Blaise told them.

"I know, but will he actually go through with it?" Ginny questioned, letting what she had just heard sink in.

"Sweetie, if Draco loves that girl as much as I believe he does, then there's no doubt in my mind that he'll go through with this"

~&~&~&~&~

Draco appeared in an attic he had never seen, in a house he had never been in. He knew he was in the right place though. The feeling he got when he appeared told him this was it.

He headed for the door and down the flights of stairs, towards the voices that floated up.

"No sign yet?" the voice sounded like it belonged to an older man and Draco knew it well. He hadn't heard it for years, but he knew who it belonged to

"I'm sorry, no. We cant find her anywhere"

The man sighed. "Alright, keep us posted"

"I will. I promise the minute I know anything you'll be the first to know"

"Thanks" and then it went silent.

Draco rounded the corner and just before coming into sight looked in to see the room full of worried faces. He didn't want to do this, yet he owed it to Hermione.

"What are we going to do? We need to find her!" Draco heard a voice form outside this room. Taking this as his cue, he stepped into this room

"What if I told you I knew how to find her?" he asked as everyone turned to face him.

"What the hell do you think your doing in this house?" Ron yelled.

"I'm here for help" Draco answered, making sure to keep his anger in check while he was in the presence of the Weasley's.

"Why would we want to help a Death Eater like you Malfoy?" Harry snarled.

"Because its your only chance to get Hermione back"

"What did you do to her?" Ron hollered, trying to lunge at him but Fred and George held him back.

"Wait, lets hear him out" Fred said. "He might have something valuable to say"

"I do. Just please, I know you have no reason to trust me but you have reason to trust Ginny and Padma. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a good reason and you know that. I've hated you guys ever since we started school and what you guys did to Hermione made me want to kill you but she needs you guys now. We all need you guys. Without you two we may never see her again"

"Why should we trust you Malfoy? Its not like you're the most trustworthy guy and what if this is all just a trick?" Harry asked warily.

"I know you don't have any reason to trust me and if this is a trick then I give you full permission to kill me. But please, we need your help. For Hermione"

Harry looked at Ron. "He's right you know. We have no other choice but to trust him right now. If we don't we may never have the pleasure of seeing her. The charcoal eyes, black hair, everything. I don't care what she told us to do. I love her way too much to let her die"

"I know Harry, I just don't know if I want to trust him. He's hurt her in the past. He's hurt many in the past. He's a fucking deatheater. How the hell are we supposed to trust someone like him?"

"With a little faith" Harry turned back to Draco, "I don't trust you Malfoy, but I believe you. I can tell that you still care about her or you wouldn't be here. One thing that you and I always had in common was we never did anything we didn't want to unless it had a damn good reason"

Draco just nodded his head. He wouldn't say anything until he knew that they were both coming. It wouldn't work unless they were both there.

"Ok Malfoy. I don't trust you, but I trust Harry's instincts. If he believes you then I'll put my trust in him" Ron glared at him, just to prove that he still hated him no matter what he did.

"Thank you" was all he said before turning up the stairs and gesturing for the others to follow.

When he walked through the door he paused, waiting for them to catch up. "Ok, we're going to Hogwarts"

With nothing more said, the three apparated to outsides the Hogwarts gates, where Draco led them to the others.

~*~*~*~*~

Hermione looked up to the sound of the door opening.

"Fuck, what the hell do you want?" she growled

"Just to see if your comfortable" his voice rang with fake innocence.

"I'm fine, now leave"

"Sorry sweet. Cant do that yet. I have to make sure that your fine before I can go and it doesn't sound like it to me" he smirked as he watched her eyes dancing with fire.

"How do you sleep at night?" she snarled

"Simple, I close my eyes and let the natural world do the rest"

"That's not what I meant you jackass. I mean, how can you sleep knowing that your going to kill me, an old friend and probably kill so many others that did nothing but help you"

"Oh, that. Well, it's simple you see. You get used to it over time. I lived in the shadow of the Golden Trio for years only for the power to shift to The Six. Yet, again, I lived in the shadow. I was the annoying, clumsy one that everyone took pity over. Well, not anymore. You will finally get to see the real me. Not the sweet little boy who just messed up everything"

"I did nothing but help you all those years. That's all any of us did. It wasn't our fault that you lived in our shadows. Many people didn't, but you never made the effort to get out on your own. You were comfortable in the life that you lead. Admit it. You never wanted to get out of your comfort zone and take a chance"

"That's not true" he roared. He started coming closer to her, rage present in every move he made. "I tried time and time again. But no one ever paid attention to me. No one ever paid attention to the clumsy one except for he messed up"

The back of his hand connected with her cheek on the final word. It had strength behind it, but she still held her ground.

"That's not true and you know it. We all loved you. You never did anything to change your lifestyle because you were afraid of the outcome"

He backhanded her again, this time with enough force to send her flying into the wall behind her.

"I told you not to cross me. Maybe next time you wont" he spat.

The last thing she was his back as he walked out the door. She heard the door slam and then blacked out, the words Please, don't come escaping her lips.

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Have you guys figured out who he is yet?

Two Chapters in one weekend! Come on, you cant hate me for that!

And I know that Harry and Ron thing was kind of stupid, but I needed them back in the story. I mean, I've basically gotten rid of them in all my writing, I need them in one of them some where. But you'll soon see why I promise!! For all those that love Harry and Ron you should be happy, for all those who liked the fact that I'd gotten rid of them, I promise that their return it justified!!

I NEED REVIEWS! The more I get, the more likely you are to have a chapter by the end of this week!

As always Email updates are available

Hope y'all enjoyed,

L&H Pure Mudblood