Crystal369 - Wow, such compliments, thank you very much. You make me feel
good. Writer's block for three years? Sheesh, I think it's time to kill it.
Here use this : Killus my Writereth Blocketh!
Angel of Flames - Oh, it's very easy to leave stories at a cliffhanger like that, in fact, it's somewhat fun, because everyone seems to panic!
New Hope - Fall in love really quick? Well, it's not gonna happen yet, but I'll let you in on a secret. . . (It's coming soon, REALLY soon.)
ILUVRONWEASLEY - Alright, thanks for reviewing, and to make the ellipsis (. . .) you have to put spaces between the dots. Some of my other pieces (and I think part of this story) had ellipsis that got edited to one. Ugh.
I Give It All to Mr. Black - Holy cheese! Such a long review. Let's see what I can say in return. . . About the rushed romance, that really bothered me when I read other stories, because it is so unrealistic. Hermione doesn't become beautiful, it would never happen, she would never change her look for no reason, and Draco doesn't become a gorgeous hunk that falls in love with Hermione's 'Chocolate eyes of passion'. That makes me sick.
About the cliché things, I tried to steer clear of some of the major ones, but as Good Charlotte has pointed out, 'everything is cliché cliché cliché' in my story. I thought I did a good job, but some of them are hard to ignore. Yes, the moonstone will tie in, and all of your questions will (I hope) make sense soon. Thank you for the long review.
Wutever - Thankie thankie.
Dreaming One - Alright, I'm sorry about that, but I was trying to get the chapter out and everything. I hope this is more to your liking.
Wandless - Wow! I turned you into a Hr/D reader? That's a real compliment, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. I can't believe I got this many reviews. Maybe I'll make more on the Harry/Ron/Hermione thing, but no guarantees.
Freakyfairy - YES, another cliffie! Ha! Here's more of the fic, that you NEED.
Mudpie - Oh, wow, thank you so much. Enjoy.
Silver Phoenix - Thanks, and I hope you really enjoy this.
Lynseyax Heparedds - Lol! Thank you Jade, I appreciate the compliments, Lynseyax, I know you were going to say nice things so, thank you Lynseyax. Jade, Lynseyax, please get along. :Þ Both of you, enjoy.
Da-lil-one114 - Ooh! I got you into it all over again? Nifty!
aZn-BaYbEe - I will! Don't worry!
Kelzery - LOL, yes, you did end up with one of the worst cliffhangers, didn't you? Oh well, here's more of the story, please enjoy it!
M.J. Kobayashi - Yes, it shall. Please read this chapter and be happy!
Rotae - Yes, yes I am. I am evil.
ShadowRogue - Enjoy PotC and please enjoy this chapter as well!
Darkmoon of Shadows - I am sorry that I couldn't post before I left, but I am back and writing REALLY fast to catch up.
Cloudy Crystals - Thanks, I try to make this interesting, but it is hard. Yes, Lucius was an ice cube, Hermione will address this as well.
Slytherinanglel922 - I slept fine leaving you at a cliffie, and I know you'll come back for more! Lol.
Artemis MoonClaw - Scary? You haven't seen anything happening yet - it will get a little worse before it gets better, like always.
Willowfairy - Yes, I agree, uh-ho.
Blueamber - It's a little late for a chapter tomorrow, huh? Well, here's the chapter now, okay?
Soldier of Mercy - Oh, alright, that makes sense. I lived through my 2nd degree test, and I am happy. I think Draco has already done something foolish. Time to hope and pray. . .
Clichet - Thanks for putting me on your favorites list. It really makes me feel good and special, and I like that. Hope you don't take me off the list when you read this chapter though.
~The Simon Cowell of Fanfiction.net~ - Well, maybe I didn't build on it enough, but he has been going through a lot, now, hasn't he? And he knows what his father is trying to do, wouldn't that be a lot of stress?
Ickle Ronnikins Girlie!!! - Lol, there's no need to write in all caps. Your questions shall be answered as soon as you read!
Accuracy Counts - Alright, thanks.
-
Kay, so this is the chappy, sorry it took so long, I have been so busy it isn't funny, but here is the chapter, so please enjoy it, alright?
---
Chapter 27
Hermione stared at the scene that was unfolding in front of her, and angry thoughts began to cascade through her mind, bubbling like an angry stream and frothing over all of her rational trains of thought. She wasn't particularly angry with any one person, just the group and happenings as a whole.
It was going to end up just like the stupid, bloody movies, and the hero always dies in the movie along with the evil, and then everyone else wallows in selfish and conceited self pity, and Hermione decided that she didn't want this to end like the movies, but she had no idea what she was supposed to do, seeing as she was frozen to the spot, whether by magic or nerves she didn't know.
The group of men that were in the room all appeared to be following Lucius's every order and command, and since Lucius and his son appeared to be having a rather complex and angry glaring contest, the rest of the men were all standing there like the morons they undoubtedly were.
Speaking of Lucius, wasn't he a block of ice the last time that she had met with him? How was it that he could move and be so, so - alive? Wasn't he a solid block of absolutely frozen ice? And if he was, like she was so sure that he had been, then how was it that he was here, right now, threatening to do something to her?
Hermione glared at everything in the room from the purple curtains to the numerous men in front of her. Someone was going to die, she knew it, and something dramatic was going to happen, she was going to get hurt, Draco was going to nearly die trying to save her, and then her life was going to be torn apart. She already knew how her life was going to turn out.
"Son, move." Lucius said angrily, and Draco actually looked as though he were seriously contemplating moving aside, but then seemed to think better of it and moved back, standing in front of his father with a dangerous look of determination crossing across his every feature.
It was almost frightening to look at the ugly looks on his face that he was throwing toward his own father. How could someone show that much hate toward one of the people that had given him life?
"I said, move aside." His father said, once again, trying to stress his point to his son, yet the request (or order, depending on how you looked at it) seemed to fall upon deaf ears, and Draco didn't appear to want to listen to anything that he was saying. He looked as though he were planning to defy his father until the bitter end, and Hermione hoped that it wasn't to save her, but she found the whole situation strangely romantic, something about it intrigued her, and she was beginning to feel guilty about the fact that she was almost enjoying the scene that was playing out in front of her.
She didn't like to think that she might have been the reason that these two family members were arguing and contemplating what appeared to be the others' deaths, and if not death, simply horrific pain.
If she hadn't interfered, then they would still have gotten along, wouldn't they? Neither one of them would have been in this situation if it hadn't been for her, and she couldn't help but feel guilty for things that she had no control over whatsoever.
Hermione hated to feel responsible for something that she couldn't control, but her womanly instincts were kicking in and she could see that every feature in Lucius's face appeared to be contorted into horrible rage and he appeared to want to kill his son, which wasn't a good sign.
She wasn't in the mood to watch someone die, it was bad enough knowing that they were likely to die, but she didn't know if she could stand to actually see someone die right before her eyes. It might be too painful for her to have to endure.
"It's been too long, Father." Draco said, and Hermione's brain locked up, maybe because she didn't understand what was happening, or maybe it was because everything seemed to be blurring together into one enormous and confusing happening and she no longer could comprehend or understand what was going on around her. She was forced to watch as it happened without understanding.
"I'll deal with you later, Draco. Stand aside and let me finish my business. The sooner you step down, the less your punishment will hurt, and don't think I will forget. You will get your punishment, one that you have deserved for many years." Lucius didn't even appear to want to look at his son, which showed very little of the 'fatherly love' that Hermione had always assumed everyone had.
It was at that moment that her eyes decided to start watering from the loss of her father. Not now. Definitely not now. She couldn't cry now, they would think she was afraid, and that was the last thing that she wanted them to think. She would never show fear, no matter how afraid she was.
Despite her fierce orders, the tears still began leaking out of her eyes and she tried to move to hide them, but realized - just in time, I might add - that this would attract their attention, and resigned herself to trying to hide the tears by not moving at all and letting the main focus of the room be on Draco.
It was just like him too, entering with such a showy flourish, the attention would all be turned to him. This was what he wanted - all he was here for was the attention, because she knew that he didn't give a monkey's tail about her or her 'pitiful life', as he was bound to say, so the knife clutched it Lucius's hand would slice her throat and everyone would be happy as clams, except for Hermione, who would be dead.
Her breath caught in her chest as she thought about the knife. She had been here before, and the blood on it had been blue, then it had turned red as it had hurdled across the room. Blood was blue before it had oxygen, and when it touched the oxygen it turned red. It would be HER blood that was on the knife, HER blood turning from blue to red as it flew across the room, away from her dead body.
She was going to die. She was going to die. She repeated to herself over and over again, trying to get used to this idea, but not making it very far. All she could think of that made it feel alright was the fact that she would get to see her father. But what would her mother do? Her poor mother. She would -
Hermione was instantly jerked from her thoughts as she heard a small explosion and she looked up in time to see one of the men behind Lucius catch fire and turn to ash. He didn't even have time to scream before the flames had engulfed him.
Hermione shuddered involuntarily as she watched the ashes and bones fall to the ground, and everyone seemed to be staring at the ashes without a single breath or noise floating through the room. What had happened?
She glanced over at the wall, which was smoking, and it appeared that the fire had shot from that. That didn't make sense. Walls don't shoot fire. They - they just don't do it. Something was different about these walls, and had it been any other time, she would have realized how completely and utterly stupid this sounded, even if it was only thought mentally. It was still stupid.
One of the men leaned against the wall, and it shot fire again, narrowly missing Lucius (much to Hermione's immediate and immense dismay and disappointment) and colliding with the opposite wall. Fire shooting and walls shooting the fire. This wasn't logical, heck, it wasn't even cliché. It was just confusing beyond all reason and then some. Something was wrong.
She must have read something about this before. Her thirst for knowledge had to be able to help her now; it just had to because it had never let her down before. She needed to think of something that would help her mind tie everything together, but so far, she was getting nowhere. Everything was swirling and mixing up into her eyes and mind, and it was getting on her nerves.
"I-" Hermione was cut off by the splitting pain of something both large and heavy being smashed against her head, and the last thing Hermione remembered was the look of utter horror and dislike that Draco was delivering his own father and the look of hatred that coursed through his father's features.
~+~
Hermione's eyes fluttered open, but she promptly squinted, making it look like she hadn't awoken. She didn't need them to know she was awake seeing as she was lucky enough to not be dead as it was.
It seemed that fire had stopped erupting from the walls, but that was not for certain. Ten men stood, all wearing the god-awful purple cloaks that swirled around their ankles with every move they made, and it was all that Hermione could do to keep herself from snorting. That was just like a Malfoy.
Draco had a large cut across his cheek that was bleeding, but he didn't even appear to notice the cut. He was deeply engrossed in a wizard's duel with his father, and all of the men standing behind Lucius were standing there stupidly. Lucius yelled something incomprehensible at them and they moved into action.
She was roughly jerked up and fought the impulse to stiffen, scream or make any movements that would show she wasn't still out cold. As long as they thought she were unconscious then she should be considerably safe.
She was about to continue watching the happenings in front of her when she felt something cool and thin press against her throat and with every gulp of air that she took it seemed to press tighter to her throat.
She didn't need to see the hilt nor the hand by her neck to know that the knife was being pressed against her throat, nor did she particularly want the memories of stories she had read to float to the surface, reminding her that the knife could kill her in one, fatal strike.
"Step down or the girl dies." Lucius said, and for one, fleeting moment hope had surged inside of Hermione, her hope had told her that someone would save her and she wouldn't need to worry about dying, but Draco crushed her thoughts.
"She is of no importance to me." Draco said in cold, harsh, even tones and Hermione's last bubble of hope faded away into the nothingness of her unconscious mind and was substituted by the weighing rock of misery. She was going to die.
"Then why do you insist on defying me at every turn? Why can't you learn your proper place?" Lucius barely whispered, but his words seemed to echo through the room, and more so through the very souls and bones of every person in the room, causing a few people to shudder, and Hermione had to forcefully remind herself that she was supposed to be unconscious.
"My place is wherever I decide to be." Draco said, and there are no words to describe the look of pure hate and venom that became instantly etched across Lucius's face. He looked like he would not stop short of killing his son, even if he were his only heir.
Lucius appeared to be completely beyond caring what happened to this boy, no longer wanting him to be his son, in front of him. He nodded to the man holding Hermione hostage, and she felt a searing pain across her throat. He had slashed it. She was dying, the blade cut in further. . . she was losing thoughts and life. . .
Hermione felt an odd sensation and she could feel her soul slipping away from her body, as though she were simply shedding a layer of clothing, but she knew that she was dead now. She was heading somewhere, but she had no idea where.
She was going, going, and then she felt herself stopping. She looked around and saw that there was a man near her, he looked oddly familiar, something was different about this man. She had the feeling that she shouldn't be able to see this man, but he was here in front of her, and she could see him.
"'Mione." He said, and her heard, or whatever she had now that she was dead, stopped and she couldn't think. This was her father. Her father was here and she would be with him again. She had a father back.
"'Mione, you need to listen to me."
Hermione nodded happily.
"I have all the time in the world."
"Never forget to," Hermione felt herself moving backward, away from her father. That was wrong, she needed to be with her father, she HAD to be with her father, this was cruel and unusual punishment and she didn't like it one, single bit. In fact, she hated it.
It was as though someone were pulling her backward, she could almost feel someone's hand closed around her arm and she reached out for her father and she needed to go back to her father.
"Appreciate everything-" whatever was at the end of his sentence, Hermione didn't know, but she felt herself coming back to life. She was getting warmer and she felt her chest heaving up and down. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what was going on right now.
Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she looked around. Everyone in the room seemed astounded that she was there, and even she was shocked. Why wasn't she dead? She was absolutely sure that she had been dead, because she had felt the knife pierce through her skin. It wasn't as though she weren't happy to be alive, but she was confused to say the least.
She couldn't hear at first, but she saw Draco say something to his father, and his father glared at him, more angry than he had been before, which was hard to believe, seeing as he had seemed as angry as he could get before.
"Stand aside, you stupid, worthless, filth." He spat angrily and Hermione wouldn't have been shocked if he had actually and literally spit at Draco's feet, but he didn't. Hermione noted the immense cold tones and the way he didn't even use his own son's name.
That was probably what was the worst blow to Draco and his already damaged and killed ego, and that was probably what set him off. She had never seen him lose his cool, but he did just then, and right in front of his father.
It looked like Draco decided that he couldn't take it anymore. It appeared as though he wanted to give his father his come-uppance for every, single thing that he had done to him through his entire childhood.
Hermione could only imagine what he had done to Draco over the years, seeing as she had only seen one of the, most likely, many horrible memories that Draco lived with his entire life. She could almost relate with his immense dislike just because of the single memory that she had witnessed.
"I'm not worthless, you're the one that's worthless. You strut down the halls in your expensive robes with your goons flanking you and you make me want to be sick. You always gloat about your money, and your looks, and your perfect life. I would like to hex you every time I lay eyes on you."
It was all Hermione could do to keep from doing something that she would regret later. She had said the exact same thing to him earlier in the year, but she never expected her words to come back and be used on someone else. So maybe he did hear more than she gave him credit for.
Lucius's nose wrinkled and he yelled something at his comrades, who sprang into action, just like the last times he had yelled at them, and Hermione still couldn't understand what they were saying, which unnerved her for some reason.
Next thing Hermione knew, the knife wasn't on her neck anymore and it was in Lucius's hand. Time seemed to stand still as she watched what happened next, and it wasn't until later that she realized she wasn't breathing.
Lucius's hand seemed to clench on the knife as though making a decision, and the determination in his eyes scared Hermione. She didn't mind pretending to be unconscious now that the knife wasn't at her neck, and she watched what was happening and she could remember it with shocking clarity.
Lucius bounded forward, and she could almost feel the heat and anger radiating off of him, and she had no time to even breathe let alone scream a single warning to Draco as his father lunged at him with a knife, which Hermione was sure by now, was not a normal knife, because his father could have killed him with a simple curse and been done with it, but he was using the knife. Something was special about it.
Hermione didn't even have enough presence of mind to screw her eyes shut as she watched the knife penetrate Draco's skin and sink into his chest. It seemed to be a delayed reaction, but it may have just been the way her mind was processing things, but Draco's scream of pain and anguish and probably anger filled the room, and it was right then that the room began to look more like how it had been when she had been in there before.
The knife inside of Draco was in the exact spot that the knife she had seen before had seemed to be 'hovering', and she was sure now that the blood on it would be blue until it came out, but she didn't consciously make this connection.
She didn't remember wrenching herself out of the man's grasp, nor did she remember taking the steps that brought her across the room, but she was suddenly somehow right next to Draco, staring down at him and his gushing wound. His eyes were glossy - just like the kitten's eyes had in the dream/memory. But the kitten had . . . the kitten had been . . . dead. . .
Hermione forced this thought down, and she heard utter chaos erupting behind her. Lucius was beginning one of the most complicated spells that were known to ancient magicians.
Hermione happened to glance at the ceiling, and when she did, her stomach seemed to drop out and she felt her heart skip a beat. There were ancient marks etched into the ceiling, which meant that there was a very ancient spell on the room. More ancient than anything in this castle should have been.
The marks were complicated, and from what Hermione could tell, it was a warding and shielding charm, and any spells that were cast within the room were sure to be deadly. They would kill everyone. Did Lucius know that? Surely he wouldn't want to risk his own well being to kill her and his son, right?
Draco was slowly bleeding to death, Lucius was close to killing everyone in the room, and Hermione had nothing. She had no idea what she was going to do, and she needed to know - right now.
Hermione yanked the knife out of Draco and threw it over her shoulder, trying to think of what she was going to do. She needed to shield herself and Draco before Lucius's spell hit, or they were all dead, and that would mean that there was nothing left for her to think of or look forward to.
She reached out into her pocket and felt something cold. She fingered it for a few seconds and she still didn't know what it was. What was in her hand?
Her heart skipped another beat.
The moonstone.
It was a powerful magical aid, and she knew that she only had one chance to do this because if she messed up there wouldn't be enough time to try to redo what she had done.
She threw the moonstone in the air, and she froze. She had no idea what she was going to do now. She had no idea at all. She had always assumed that she would just "know" when it was time to do whatever she had to do, but now it was time and she still didn't know what to do.
"Oh god, please work." Was all she could think, and if she had been paying any attention to anything else whatsoever, she would have heard someone else muttering something, but she wasn't paying attention and she didn't notice.
Lucius's spell exploded and the symbols in the ceiling glowed red hot, and Hermione tried to close her eyes and not allow herself to watch, btu she found that it was as though she had to, and she couldn't look back.
Every man was engulfed in a blue flame and they simply disappeared, leaving Hermione to wonder what really happened to them.
~+~
What do I still have unanswered? Tell me please.
R/R!!!
--Saquoia--
Angel of Flames - Oh, it's very easy to leave stories at a cliffhanger like that, in fact, it's somewhat fun, because everyone seems to panic!
New Hope - Fall in love really quick? Well, it's not gonna happen yet, but I'll let you in on a secret. . . (It's coming soon, REALLY soon.)
ILUVRONWEASLEY - Alright, thanks for reviewing, and to make the ellipsis (. . .) you have to put spaces between the dots. Some of my other pieces (and I think part of this story) had ellipsis that got edited to one. Ugh.
I Give It All to Mr. Black - Holy cheese! Such a long review. Let's see what I can say in return. . . About the rushed romance, that really bothered me when I read other stories, because it is so unrealistic. Hermione doesn't become beautiful, it would never happen, she would never change her look for no reason, and Draco doesn't become a gorgeous hunk that falls in love with Hermione's 'Chocolate eyes of passion'. That makes me sick.
About the cliché things, I tried to steer clear of some of the major ones, but as Good Charlotte has pointed out, 'everything is cliché cliché cliché' in my story. I thought I did a good job, but some of them are hard to ignore. Yes, the moonstone will tie in, and all of your questions will (I hope) make sense soon. Thank you for the long review.
Wutever - Thankie thankie.
Dreaming One - Alright, I'm sorry about that, but I was trying to get the chapter out and everything. I hope this is more to your liking.
Wandless - Wow! I turned you into a Hr/D reader? That's a real compliment, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. I can't believe I got this many reviews. Maybe I'll make more on the Harry/Ron/Hermione thing, but no guarantees.
Freakyfairy - YES, another cliffie! Ha! Here's more of the fic, that you NEED.
Mudpie - Oh, wow, thank you so much. Enjoy.
Silver Phoenix - Thanks, and I hope you really enjoy this.
Lynseyax Heparedds - Lol! Thank you Jade, I appreciate the compliments, Lynseyax, I know you were going to say nice things so, thank you Lynseyax. Jade, Lynseyax, please get along. :Þ Both of you, enjoy.
Da-lil-one114 - Ooh! I got you into it all over again? Nifty!
aZn-BaYbEe - I will! Don't worry!
Kelzery - LOL, yes, you did end up with one of the worst cliffhangers, didn't you? Oh well, here's more of the story, please enjoy it!
M.J. Kobayashi - Yes, it shall. Please read this chapter and be happy!
Rotae - Yes, yes I am. I am evil.
ShadowRogue - Enjoy PotC and please enjoy this chapter as well!
Darkmoon of Shadows - I am sorry that I couldn't post before I left, but I am back and writing REALLY fast to catch up.
Cloudy Crystals - Thanks, I try to make this interesting, but it is hard. Yes, Lucius was an ice cube, Hermione will address this as well.
Slytherinanglel922 - I slept fine leaving you at a cliffie, and I know you'll come back for more! Lol.
Artemis MoonClaw - Scary? You haven't seen anything happening yet - it will get a little worse before it gets better, like always.
Willowfairy - Yes, I agree, uh-ho.
Blueamber - It's a little late for a chapter tomorrow, huh? Well, here's the chapter now, okay?
Soldier of Mercy - Oh, alright, that makes sense. I lived through my 2nd degree test, and I am happy. I think Draco has already done something foolish. Time to hope and pray. . .
Clichet - Thanks for putting me on your favorites list. It really makes me feel good and special, and I like that. Hope you don't take me off the list when you read this chapter though.
~The Simon Cowell of Fanfiction.net~ - Well, maybe I didn't build on it enough, but he has been going through a lot, now, hasn't he? And he knows what his father is trying to do, wouldn't that be a lot of stress?
Ickle Ronnikins Girlie!!! - Lol, there's no need to write in all caps. Your questions shall be answered as soon as you read!
Accuracy Counts - Alright, thanks.
-
Kay, so this is the chappy, sorry it took so long, I have been so busy it isn't funny, but here is the chapter, so please enjoy it, alright?
---
Chapter 27
Hermione stared at the scene that was unfolding in front of her, and angry thoughts began to cascade through her mind, bubbling like an angry stream and frothing over all of her rational trains of thought. She wasn't particularly angry with any one person, just the group and happenings as a whole.
It was going to end up just like the stupid, bloody movies, and the hero always dies in the movie along with the evil, and then everyone else wallows in selfish and conceited self pity, and Hermione decided that she didn't want this to end like the movies, but she had no idea what she was supposed to do, seeing as she was frozen to the spot, whether by magic or nerves she didn't know.
The group of men that were in the room all appeared to be following Lucius's every order and command, and since Lucius and his son appeared to be having a rather complex and angry glaring contest, the rest of the men were all standing there like the morons they undoubtedly were.
Speaking of Lucius, wasn't he a block of ice the last time that she had met with him? How was it that he could move and be so, so - alive? Wasn't he a solid block of absolutely frozen ice? And if he was, like she was so sure that he had been, then how was it that he was here, right now, threatening to do something to her?
Hermione glared at everything in the room from the purple curtains to the numerous men in front of her. Someone was going to die, she knew it, and something dramatic was going to happen, she was going to get hurt, Draco was going to nearly die trying to save her, and then her life was going to be torn apart. She already knew how her life was going to turn out.
"Son, move." Lucius said angrily, and Draco actually looked as though he were seriously contemplating moving aside, but then seemed to think better of it and moved back, standing in front of his father with a dangerous look of determination crossing across his every feature.
It was almost frightening to look at the ugly looks on his face that he was throwing toward his own father. How could someone show that much hate toward one of the people that had given him life?
"I said, move aside." His father said, once again, trying to stress his point to his son, yet the request (or order, depending on how you looked at it) seemed to fall upon deaf ears, and Draco didn't appear to want to listen to anything that he was saying. He looked as though he were planning to defy his father until the bitter end, and Hermione hoped that it wasn't to save her, but she found the whole situation strangely romantic, something about it intrigued her, and she was beginning to feel guilty about the fact that she was almost enjoying the scene that was playing out in front of her.
She didn't like to think that she might have been the reason that these two family members were arguing and contemplating what appeared to be the others' deaths, and if not death, simply horrific pain.
If she hadn't interfered, then they would still have gotten along, wouldn't they? Neither one of them would have been in this situation if it hadn't been for her, and she couldn't help but feel guilty for things that she had no control over whatsoever.
Hermione hated to feel responsible for something that she couldn't control, but her womanly instincts were kicking in and she could see that every feature in Lucius's face appeared to be contorted into horrible rage and he appeared to want to kill his son, which wasn't a good sign.
She wasn't in the mood to watch someone die, it was bad enough knowing that they were likely to die, but she didn't know if she could stand to actually see someone die right before her eyes. It might be too painful for her to have to endure.
"It's been too long, Father." Draco said, and Hermione's brain locked up, maybe because she didn't understand what was happening, or maybe it was because everything seemed to be blurring together into one enormous and confusing happening and she no longer could comprehend or understand what was going on around her. She was forced to watch as it happened without understanding.
"I'll deal with you later, Draco. Stand aside and let me finish my business. The sooner you step down, the less your punishment will hurt, and don't think I will forget. You will get your punishment, one that you have deserved for many years." Lucius didn't even appear to want to look at his son, which showed very little of the 'fatherly love' that Hermione had always assumed everyone had.
It was at that moment that her eyes decided to start watering from the loss of her father. Not now. Definitely not now. She couldn't cry now, they would think she was afraid, and that was the last thing that she wanted them to think. She would never show fear, no matter how afraid she was.
Despite her fierce orders, the tears still began leaking out of her eyes and she tried to move to hide them, but realized - just in time, I might add - that this would attract their attention, and resigned herself to trying to hide the tears by not moving at all and letting the main focus of the room be on Draco.
It was just like him too, entering with such a showy flourish, the attention would all be turned to him. This was what he wanted - all he was here for was the attention, because she knew that he didn't give a monkey's tail about her or her 'pitiful life', as he was bound to say, so the knife clutched it Lucius's hand would slice her throat and everyone would be happy as clams, except for Hermione, who would be dead.
Her breath caught in her chest as she thought about the knife. She had been here before, and the blood on it had been blue, then it had turned red as it had hurdled across the room. Blood was blue before it had oxygen, and when it touched the oxygen it turned red. It would be HER blood that was on the knife, HER blood turning from blue to red as it flew across the room, away from her dead body.
She was going to die. She was going to die. She repeated to herself over and over again, trying to get used to this idea, but not making it very far. All she could think of that made it feel alright was the fact that she would get to see her father. But what would her mother do? Her poor mother. She would -
Hermione was instantly jerked from her thoughts as she heard a small explosion and she looked up in time to see one of the men behind Lucius catch fire and turn to ash. He didn't even have time to scream before the flames had engulfed him.
Hermione shuddered involuntarily as she watched the ashes and bones fall to the ground, and everyone seemed to be staring at the ashes without a single breath or noise floating through the room. What had happened?
She glanced over at the wall, which was smoking, and it appeared that the fire had shot from that. That didn't make sense. Walls don't shoot fire. They - they just don't do it. Something was different about these walls, and had it been any other time, she would have realized how completely and utterly stupid this sounded, even if it was only thought mentally. It was still stupid.
One of the men leaned against the wall, and it shot fire again, narrowly missing Lucius (much to Hermione's immediate and immense dismay and disappointment) and colliding with the opposite wall. Fire shooting and walls shooting the fire. This wasn't logical, heck, it wasn't even cliché. It was just confusing beyond all reason and then some. Something was wrong.
She must have read something about this before. Her thirst for knowledge had to be able to help her now; it just had to because it had never let her down before. She needed to think of something that would help her mind tie everything together, but so far, she was getting nowhere. Everything was swirling and mixing up into her eyes and mind, and it was getting on her nerves.
"I-" Hermione was cut off by the splitting pain of something both large and heavy being smashed against her head, and the last thing Hermione remembered was the look of utter horror and dislike that Draco was delivering his own father and the look of hatred that coursed through his father's features.
~+~
Hermione's eyes fluttered open, but she promptly squinted, making it look like she hadn't awoken. She didn't need them to know she was awake seeing as she was lucky enough to not be dead as it was.
It seemed that fire had stopped erupting from the walls, but that was not for certain. Ten men stood, all wearing the god-awful purple cloaks that swirled around their ankles with every move they made, and it was all that Hermione could do to keep herself from snorting. That was just like a Malfoy.
Draco had a large cut across his cheek that was bleeding, but he didn't even appear to notice the cut. He was deeply engrossed in a wizard's duel with his father, and all of the men standing behind Lucius were standing there stupidly. Lucius yelled something incomprehensible at them and they moved into action.
She was roughly jerked up and fought the impulse to stiffen, scream or make any movements that would show she wasn't still out cold. As long as they thought she were unconscious then she should be considerably safe.
She was about to continue watching the happenings in front of her when she felt something cool and thin press against her throat and with every gulp of air that she took it seemed to press tighter to her throat.
She didn't need to see the hilt nor the hand by her neck to know that the knife was being pressed against her throat, nor did she particularly want the memories of stories she had read to float to the surface, reminding her that the knife could kill her in one, fatal strike.
"Step down or the girl dies." Lucius said, and for one, fleeting moment hope had surged inside of Hermione, her hope had told her that someone would save her and she wouldn't need to worry about dying, but Draco crushed her thoughts.
"She is of no importance to me." Draco said in cold, harsh, even tones and Hermione's last bubble of hope faded away into the nothingness of her unconscious mind and was substituted by the weighing rock of misery. She was going to die.
"Then why do you insist on defying me at every turn? Why can't you learn your proper place?" Lucius barely whispered, but his words seemed to echo through the room, and more so through the very souls and bones of every person in the room, causing a few people to shudder, and Hermione had to forcefully remind herself that she was supposed to be unconscious.
"My place is wherever I decide to be." Draco said, and there are no words to describe the look of pure hate and venom that became instantly etched across Lucius's face. He looked like he would not stop short of killing his son, even if he were his only heir.
Lucius appeared to be completely beyond caring what happened to this boy, no longer wanting him to be his son, in front of him. He nodded to the man holding Hermione hostage, and she felt a searing pain across her throat. He had slashed it. She was dying, the blade cut in further. . . she was losing thoughts and life. . .
Hermione felt an odd sensation and she could feel her soul slipping away from her body, as though she were simply shedding a layer of clothing, but she knew that she was dead now. She was heading somewhere, but she had no idea where.
She was going, going, and then she felt herself stopping. She looked around and saw that there was a man near her, he looked oddly familiar, something was different about this man. She had the feeling that she shouldn't be able to see this man, but he was here in front of her, and she could see him.
"'Mione." He said, and her heard, or whatever she had now that she was dead, stopped and she couldn't think. This was her father. Her father was here and she would be with him again. She had a father back.
"'Mione, you need to listen to me."
Hermione nodded happily.
"I have all the time in the world."
"Never forget to," Hermione felt herself moving backward, away from her father. That was wrong, she needed to be with her father, she HAD to be with her father, this was cruel and unusual punishment and she didn't like it one, single bit. In fact, she hated it.
It was as though someone were pulling her backward, she could almost feel someone's hand closed around her arm and she reached out for her father and she needed to go back to her father.
"Appreciate everything-" whatever was at the end of his sentence, Hermione didn't know, but she felt herself coming back to life. She was getting warmer and she felt her chest heaving up and down. Something was wrong, but she had no idea what was going on right now.
Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she looked around. Everyone in the room seemed astounded that she was there, and even she was shocked. Why wasn't she dead? She was absolutely sure that she had been dead, because she had felt the knife pierce through her skin. It wasn't as though she weren't happy to be alive, but she was confused to say the least.
She couldn't hear at first, but she saw Draco say something to his father, and his father glared at him, more angry than he had been before, which was hard to believe, seeing as he had seemed as angry as he could get before.
"Stand aside, you stupid, worthless, filth." He spat angrily and Hermione wouldn't have been shocked if he had actually and literally spit at Draco's feet, but he didn't. Hermione noted the immense cold tones and the way he didn't even use his own son's name.
That was probably what was the worst blow to Draco and his already damaged and killed ego, and that was probably what set him off. She had never seen him lose his cool, but he did just then, and right in front of his father.
It looked like Draco decided that he couldn't take it anymore. It appeared as though he wanted to give his father his come-uppance for every, single thing that he had done to him through his entire childhood.
Hermione could only imagine what he had done to Draco over the years, seeing as she had only seen one of the, most likely, many horrible memories that Draco lived with his entire life. She could almost relate with his immense dislike just because of the single memory that she had witnessed.
"I'm not worthless, you're the one that's worthless. You strut down the halls in your expensive robes with your goons flanking you and you make me want to be sick. You always gloat about your money, and your looks, and your perfect life. I would like to hex you every time I lay eyes on you."
It was all Hermione could do to keep from doing something that she would regret later. She had said the exact same thing to him earlier in the year, but she never expected her words to come back and be used on someone else. So maybe he did hear more than she gave him credit for.
Lucius's nose wrinkled and he yelled something at his comrades, who sprang into action, just like the last times he had yelled at them, and Hermione still couldn't understand what they were saying, which unnerved her for some reason.
Next thing Hermione knew, the knife wasn't on her neck anymore and it was in Lucius's hand. Time seemed to stand still as she watched what happened next, and it wasn't until later that she realized she wasn't breathing.
Lucius's hand seemed to clench on the knife as though making a decision, and the determination in his eyes scared Hermione. She didn't mind pretending to be unconscious now that the knife wasn't at her neck, and she watched what was happening and she could remember it with shocking clarity.
Lucius bounded forward, and she could almost feel the heat and anger radiating off of him, and she had no time to even breathe let alone scream a single warning to Draco as his father lunged at him with a knife, which Hermione was sure by now, was not a normal knife, because his father could have killed him with a simple curse and been done with it, but he was using the knife. Something was special about it.
Hermione didn't even have enough presence of mind to screw her eyes shut as she watched the knife penetrate Draco's skin and sink into his chest. It seemed to be a delayed reaction, but it may have just been the way her mind was processing things, but Draco's scream of pain and anguish and probably anger filled the room, and it was right then that the room began to look more like how it had been when she had been in there before.
The knife inside of Draco was in the exact spot that the knife she had seen before had seemed to be 'hovering', and she was sure now that the blood on it would be blue until it came out, but she didn't consciously make this connection.
She didn't remember wrenching herself out of the man's grasp, nor did she remember taking the steps that brought her across the room, but she was suddenly somehow right next to Draco, staring down at him and his gushing wound. His eyes were glossy - just like the kitten's eyes had in the dream/memory. But the kitten had . . . the kitten had been . . . dead. . .
Hermione forced this thought down, and she heard utter chaos erupting behind her. Lucius was beginning one of the most complicated spells that were known to ancient magicians.
Hermione happened to glance at the ceiling, and when she did, her stomach seemed to drop out and she felt her heart skip a beat. There were ancient marks etched into the ceiling, which meant that there was a very ancient spell on the room. More ancient than anything in this castle should have been.
The marks were complicated, and from what Hermione could tell, it was a warding and shielding charm, and any spells that were cast within the room were sure to be deadly. They would kill everyone. Did Lucius know that? Surely he wouldn't want to risk his own well being to kill her and his son, right?
Draco was slowly bleeding to death, Lucius was close to killing everyone in the room, and Hermione had nothing. She had no idea what she was going to do, and she needed to know - right now.
Hermione yanked the knife out of Draco and threw it over her shoulder, trying to think of what she was going to do. She needed to shield herself and Draco before Lucius's spell hit, or they were all dead, and that would mean that there was nothing left for her to think of or look forward to.
She reached out into her pocket and felt something cold. She fingered it for a few seconds and she still didn't know what it was. What was in her hand?
Her heart skipped another beat.
The moonstone.
It was a powerful magical aid, and she knew that she only had one chance to do this because if she messed up there wouldn't be enough time to try to redo what she had done.
She threw the moonstone in the air, and she froze. She had no idea what she was going to do now. She had no idea at all. She had always assumed that she would just "know" when it was time to do whatever she had to do, but now it was time and she still didn't know what to do.
"Oh god, please work." Was all she could think, and if she had been paying any attention to anything else whatsoever, she would have heard someone else muttering something, but she wasn't paying attention and she didn't notice.
Lucius's spell exploded and the symbols in the ceiling glowed red hot, and Hermione tried to close her eyes and not allow herself to watch, btu she found that it was as though she had to, and she couldn't look back.
Every man was engulfed in a blue flame and they simply disappeared, leaving Hermione to wonder what really happened to them.
~+~
What do I still have unanswered? Tell me please.
R/R!!!
--Saquoia--