Summary: Based on the song Can't Let You Go By Fabolous ft. LiL mo. It takes place about five years after they graduate Hogwarts. Draco is cheating on Pansy with Hermione. He wants to divorce Pansy but obviously his father isn't about to let him marry a mud blood. It may seem like a draco/ pansy this chapter…but I'm telling you it will be d/hr in the end.
Pairings: D/hr…and maybe a little R/L.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or the characters. But I really really wish I owned Tom Felton.
Priah : Thanks for your review! I love your story Flames of Ecstasy. Yeah I just had to add conflict…hehe
KittyKat589: Thanks for your review!
Can't Let You Go
Chapter Five
For a minute, Draco stared blankly at Seamus. "My father… the death eaters…"
"Malfoy snap out of it! We have to get Hermione!" Draco nodded. He couldn't believe this. A million questions were racing through his head. He stood up and pulled on his ripped and tattered robes over his hospital robe.
" Do you have any idea where she is?" asked Seamus.
"If my father took her, she's at The Manor." he replied.
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Hermione woke up with a splitting headache. She was in a dark, cold dungeon. She shivered as she looked around. Then she noticed a hooded figure leaning against the wall.
"Where am I?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He said with a sneer almost identical to Draco's .
Hermione reached for her wand, to discover that it wasn't there.
"Looking for something?" she looked up to see him twirling her wand around his fingers.
"Why am I here?"
"You corrupted my son's mind, and for that you must pay!" He said while pulling out his wand. He pointed it at Hermione and yelled " Crucio!"
Hermione fell to the ground writhing in pain. She had never experienced anything more excruciating in her life . She silently prayed to let it end. Suddenly, the hooded figure ended the spell and Hermione sprawled out on the floor breathing shallow, rapid breaths.
"Get up, you filthy mud blood! You'll dirty my floors!" Hermione couldn't find the strength to move. He walked forward and pulled her up by her hair. She cried out in pain. Then she looked up into a pair of cold gray eyes, and she knew it was Lucius Malfoy.
" It's all your fault! My son would have never decided he didn't want to become a death eater! He would have never worked for the Ministry of Magic, when he knows that I'm working so hard to shut that place down. You poisoned his mind with your soiled, mud blood-ish ways, and now he's useless." She was about to shake her head, and tell him it wasn't true, when he put the curse on her again.
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Draco and Seamus had apparated to the Malfoy manor. To say that Draco lived in a large house would be an understatement. They ran through the foyer, while Draco was narrowing down the rooms where his father would most likely be holding Hermione prisoner. Then they heard someone screaming.
" That's Hermione! She's in the dungeons, follow me" Draco said, as he took off at an amazingly fast pace, with Seamus right behind him.
there were several dungeons in The Malfoy Manor. Some of them were filled with books, and research on the dark arts. Others were what Draco called "torture chambers". He could remember when his mother would comfort him , because he would wake up afraid of the noises he heard down there. Judging by the way Hermione was screaming, she was in one of those.
As they got closer to the dungeons Hermione's screams were getting louder. Draco and Seamus ran along the long corridor that led to the dungeons, they saw a group of death eaters.
"Damn it!" Draco said. He grabbed Seamus and pulled him into an empty room.
" Bloody hell…" Was all Seamus had to say.
"What the hell do I do now?" Draco demanded.
"Well, mate, it looks like we're going to have to take them out ourselves. For Hermione's sake, we've got to try."
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Hermione was on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. She felt as if she would shatter in a million pieces, she didn't know how much longer she could handle the pain. Tears were streaming down her face, and if she were able to form words she would've been begging Lucius for mercy. She had probably only been under the Cruciatus Curse for a few minutes, but it felt like hours of relentless torture. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was pulling on her hair, ready to rip it out. Finally he stopped, and Hermione lay on the floor, sobbing in pain. She was still shaking. She looked up to see Lucius standing over her.
" Stand up, wench!"
" I can't…" She replied weakly. Lucius did not take pity, and he kicked her in the ribs. She cried out as she felt one of them crack. Then lucius grabbed her up and smacked her hard across the face. Hermione fell back down. She pleaded silently for him to stop.
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"Petrificus Totalus!" And another death eater fell motionless. Three more were running towards him and Seamus.
"Impediamenta!" Seamus jinxed one, as Draco stupefied the other two. There weren't any others left standing. Draco couldn't hear Hermione anymore, and knowing his father that might not be a good sign.
"Come on, Seamus!" Draco said, breaking into a run again. The two of them raced down three more long corridors, three flights of steps, until they reached the entrance to the dungeons. Seamus reached out and yanked the door open. The chambers in the dungeon were almost pitch-black except for the last one, where light was coming from. Draco could hear Hermione's sobs.
'please let her be ok'
He ran straight for the chamber, not bothering to check if Seamus was still with him.
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Hermione could tell she was about to lose consciousness at any moment. Her vision was getting hazy, and her head was bleeding. Lucius was still beating her but at that point, she was too weak to form a response. She thought she heard pounding footsteps but she told herself they were only in her head. Then she heard a furious voice say
" Expellariamus!" Lucius was blasted against a wall, but he was not unconscious. Hermione looked up to see Draco holding the two wands, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face, and Seamus running over to her.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Lucius went stiff.
"Are you alright?" She just looked at him.
"Sorry, stupid question." He said as he lifted her gently into his arms.
" Get her out of here." Draco ordered.
" I'm not leaving you in hear with this deranged lunatic! He's the one that belongs at St. Mungo's!" Lucius gave him a cold glare.
" Seamus! Take the mud blood and get out!" Draco said, with a cold look in his eyes. Hermione knew that he was calling her a mud blood because of his father.
"
Father, what the hell do you think your doing?" Draco demanded and he released his father from the body bind.
"I was trying to get rid of this mud blood. Surely you wouldn't mind?" Draco smirked.
" Of course I wouldn't, but the Ministry would. We're already in loads of trouble as it is."
" Draco that' s not an excuse. You know I have the money to pay our way out of any situation. Why do you think I haven't ended up in Azkaban after all these years?"
"But I have a job there, now!"
"You know perfectly well the only reason I allowed you to take that job was so we could strengthen our alliance with fudge!" Lucius said, while stepping forward. Draco raised a wand to his chest.
"Father, how bout we do this: I'll take the mud blood back to St. Mungo's . They'll probably hold their questions until she's recovered."
"No! I want her dead!"
"Why?"
"She's a mud blood, isn't that reason enough?" Draco glared at Lucius.
"But there are plenty of other mud bloods in the Ministry! I don't see you trying to kill all of them!"
"Yes, but they're not the ones poisoning your mind! Ever since you've started working with the mud blood you haven't been so keen on becoming a death eater!" Lucius said, getting angrier at the minute.
" I was never keen on becoming a death eater! I couldn't care what happens to the mud blood!" Draco said, hoping his father wouldn't make him prove it.
" Then hand me my wand, son. You wouldn't mind if I killed her then?" Draco didn't know what to do so he decided to play along.
"Not in the slightest, father." and he handed the wand back to his father. Lucius aimed the wand on Hermione, while looking at Draco to see his reaction. Draco remained completely still. Hermione's heart was pounding painfully in her chest She didn't want to die, she was too young. Lucius turned his attention to Hermione.
"Avada-"
"Stupefy!" Draco yelled, and Lucius dropped to the floor. The three of them didn't say a word, and Draco apparated them to Hermione's flat.
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Hermione woke up on her couch in the living room. She was aching from head to toe. She looked over to see Draco and Seamus talking quietly in the kitchen.
"Draco, this isn't your fault! It's not like you knew this was going to happen!" Seamus was saying.
"It's all my fault! We could have lost her…"
"But we didn't!" Draco just shook his head and walked towards the living room. When he saw that she was awake he rushed over and knelt beside her. He took one of her hands in the both of his.
"How are you?" He asked in a concerned tone.
"Incredibly sore, I have a horrible headache." She replied.
"
Yeah, your in pretty bad shape. You've got plenty of bruises and a few cracked ribs."
"For once, I wish Madam Pomfray was here." Hermione said, trying to lighten the mood. Draco just grimaced.
"Do either of you know any healing spells?" Both Seamus and Draco shook there heads.
"Well, it looks like I'll have to heal the muggle way." She said with a sigh.
" And how do you do that?" asked Draco.
"Well, for my bruises, I'm just going to need some ice and Advil. For my ribs, you just have to let ribs heal by themselves. It'll be about a week before I can be up and about again. I suppose I'll have my mum come over and take care of me."
"Hermione, don't be ridiculous! I'm going to take care of you seeing as how it's my fault this happened in the first place!"
"It's not your fault!" Hermione and Seamus said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed. Then Hermione winced.
"Remind me not to laugh anymore, that seriously hurt."
"Draco, you shouldn't feel that you have to take care of me!"
"Hermione, I'm taking care of you, whether you like it or not!" He replied stubbornly. Seamus just laughed.
"Look Hermione, Draco's perfectly capable of taking care of you! And you know I'll always be around if you need me." Seamus said, and with a pop, he was gone.
Hermione knew that Draco had no clue what to do. She told him where in the kitchen to find the ice pack. He held it gently on her face, but she winced.
"Sorry…"
"No, it's ok." She said to reassure him. The two of them sat there for a while.
"Hey, do you want to watch television?" Hermione asked, knowing that Draco had no clue what she was talking about. He gave her a puzzled look.
"It's a muggle thing." Draco shrugged and said
" Well if it's as good as King Burger than I'm willing to try it." Hermione didn't even bother to correct him and say that it was Burger King.
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Draco sat, watching the television, totally mesmorized. Hermione had been pretty amused by his first reaction to it. How was he supposed to know that the people in the box couldn't see or hear him? Draco looked at Hermione and saw that her eyes were drooping.
" Are you tired?"
"No…I'm fine." She said with a yawn. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Come on, I'll carry you to your bed." He said, while lifting her up gently. He walked to a door and was about to pull it open when Hermione said
" That's the bathroom." with a giggle. Draco scowled at her. Hermione smirked.
"My bedroom's down the hall." Draco rolled his eyes and set off down the hall.
When he reached Hermione's bedroom, Draco paused to look around. It wasn't as girly as Pansy's, but it stilled looked nice. The walls were painted in a soft shade of blue, wiched matched the curtains on her canopy bed. He noticed that the comfoter and carpet were also the same shade. He looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What's with all the blue?" Hermione shrugged.
"I like it."
Once Draco had tucked Hermione in, he turned to leave but Hermione called him back.
"Where are you going?" She asked, sounding slightly panicked.
"The couch, surely you didn't think I'd be joining you?" He asked with a smirk.
"well…" Draco looked at her in shock
"Hermione you can't be serious!"
"Please, Draco, you can't leave me alone!" She said, tears spilling out of her eyes. She was looking at him with desperate, pleading eyes and he knew that he couldn't say no. Sighing softly, he climbed into bed beside her and pulled the covers over them both. Hermione snuggled close to him, and soon fell into a troubled sleep.
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Draco woke up with a start. Hermione was talking in her sleep.
"Stop! I didn't do anything wrong! Why do you keep hurting me?" She said, thrashing around under the covers. Draco reached over and shook her.
"Hermione! Wake up!" Her eyes flew open, and immediately began to fill with tears. Draco pulled her close, stroking her cheek and whispering comforting things in her ears. The same way his mother comforted him when he was younger, afraid of the screams coming from the dungeons. A few minutes later, Hermione calmed down.
"Thanks." She said. And then a pained expression flickered across her face.
" What's wrong?"
"My ribs, they hurt from moving around like that."
"Sorry." She gave him an odd look.
"What've you got to be sorry for?"
"I tried not to fall asleep, so I could wake you up if you were having nightmares."
"Draco, It's not your fault! Now could you get me some ice ? And some aspirin?" Draco gave her a questioning look. He knew that muggles used ice to heal things, but he didn't have a clue as to what asprin might be. Hermione sighed, and began to explain.
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" So, your telling me that muggles swallow these little round things?" Draco asked Hermione as he handed her the two pills with a glass of water. She rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Draco, It's perfectly normal."
"Yeah, for muggles maybe. A quick potion would work fine for me." He said while rolling his eyes. Hermione just shook her head and swallowed the Aspirin. It was because of situations like these, that Hermione felt Hogwarts should have made muggle studies a mandatory class. She yawned.
"Draco, what time is it?"
"It's four in the morning, you should go back to bed." She nodded and sank back in the pillows.
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When Hermione woke up fully rested Draco was coming in with a tray of breakfast.
"For you, Madame." Hermione giggled as he set the tray down on the bed. She looked at the plate to find her favorite food for breakfast: scrambled eggs and cheese. She looked up at him.
"How did you know this was my favorite food?"
"I didn't. It was the cheapest thing on the menu at the restraunt across the street." He said, with a careless grin.
"You used muggle money?" Draco smirked.
"My father carries all sorts of money, even muggle." Hermione raised an eyebrow. Her stomach growled and Draco laughed.
"Go ahead and eat."
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Draco couldn't believe it. He didn't understand how Hermione had gotten sick so fast. One minute she was thanking him for breakfast, and the next she was puking her bloody brains out. 'Stupid muggle food' He couldn't help but think. But when he put a hand to her head and was startled when he felt that it was burning hot. He didn't know what to do. He'd never taken care of anyone in his life, much less the muggle way, and he suspected Hermione was becoming slightly delirious so she wasn't much help. Draco knew only one person that he thought could take good care of Hermione, with a sigh he sat down to right the letter.
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Draco re-read the letter. He didn't want to come off as desperate. He was only doing this for Hermione. As a Malfoy, Draco didn't usually ask for help, especially from people he despised so much.
Dear Mrs. Weasly,
I don't usually ask people for help, but I'm afraid I really need it. Hermione has become really sick and I don't know what to do. She has a high fever and she's delirious. I would really appreciate it if you could come and take a look at her.
Sincerely,
Draco Malfoy
Draco rolled up the letter, and then realized he didn't have an owl with him. He would apparate there, but he didn't want Hermione to wake up alone. But by the way she was sleeping, it didn't look like she'd wake up for a while. He wrote down a note just incase, and left it on the pillow beside her head. Then he apparated to the burrow.
When Draco apparated to the front of the house, he had to try hard not to snort. It was just the way he'd imagined, small and shabby looking. But right now that wasn't important. He walked up the pathway and knocked on the door. When it opened he stood facing Ginny, the littlest Weasly. She stared at him in shock.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" She said in a curious tone.
" I need to speak with your mother, it's important." Ginny stepped back allowing him inside the house. He followed Ginny into the kitchen, where the Weasley's were seated around a table, eating dinner. Their converstation stopped abruptly when they looked up to see Draco standing there. There was an akward silence, and Draco watched as all of the Weasley's, excluding Molly, started to turn red with anger. Finally Ron spoke up.
"What do you want, Malfoy?"
" Mrs. Wealsey, I need your help, It's about Hermione." Ron jumped up.
" You know where she is? I 've been worried sick." Draco glared at him with discussed.
"You were worried? It sure seems like it when you were here stuffing yourself full of food, instead of looking for the missing member of the golden trio." He paused long enough to see Ron's face turning a deeper shade of red
"She was kidnapped, Weasly! How could you just sit around? Or did you not notice that Hermione was gone because you were too caught up with your girlfriend, lavender Brown?" Draco could feel his face turning red. He didn't understand why he was getting so angry. Ron leaped off his feet, ready to kill Draco but the twins held him back. It was Ron's turn to start shouting.
"Oh, so your trying to tell me that you care about Hermione! You've been calling her a mud blood since Hogwarts! It was your bloody father who took her in the first place, and you probably helped him do it! You two probably have her locked up in your bloody manor!" Draco glared at him.
"Why the hell would I be here, asking your mother for help, if I had her locked up somewhere! Yes, it was my father did kidnap her, but I got her out of the manor with no help from you! And where the hell is " The boy who lived"? I thought it was in his bloody job description to save people the death eaters and such, especially his best friends! Or maybe since he's killed Voldemort he thinks his job is done?"
"Sorry, I'm just a little stressed out." Draco said, surprised he was even apologizing. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He knew Ron was surprised too, by the way he was staring at him. Draco suddenly remembered why he was here and turned back to Mrs. Weasly.
"Mrs. Weasly-"
"Call me Molly, dear." She said with a warm smile.
"Molly, Hermione is really sick. She keeps throwing up, she has a high fever, and she's delirious. I don't know what to do."
"Don't worry,dear, I'll help you.
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When they got back to Hermione's flat she was still sleeping, but Draco could tell she was having another nightmare. Ron, who had insisted on coming, rushed to her side to comfort her while he and Mrs. Weasley stood in the doorway. He grabbed her hand. Her eyes snapped open.
"Hey Mione." He said, smiling at her.
"Where's Draco?" Ron frowned.
"It's alright, Mione I'm here." Ron said.
"No! I want to talk to Draco!" Draco went to the other side of the bed, and took her hand.
"It's alright, I'm here." He said. He hated to see her looking so frightened. Without really thinking about it, he bended down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled, and Ron glared at him.
" I asked Mrs. Weasly to come help me take care of you. You were getting pretty sick."
"How bad was I?" Draco smirked.
"You were delusional. You were talking about how you were madly in love with me." He watched Hermione blush.
"No I didn't! I would never say that!"
"Wait, it get's worse. Then you started picking out names for our children, and you even said you would name the boy Severus after Professor Snape, and the the girl Minerva after Professor Mcgonogall." When he saw the horrified look on her face he had to burst out laughing.
"You bloody prat! Your such a liar! Stop laughing, It's not funny!"
"Well, if you'd seen the look on your face!" She glared at him, and he smiled back innocently. Ron coughed, and Draco suddenly remembered that the weasley's were still in the room.
"Hermione dear, how are you feeling?"
"I'm still a little nauseous, and I think I still have a fever."
"Don't worry, I'll have you better in no time.
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Mrs. Weasly had fussed over Hermione. She was almost as bad as Madame Pomfray. Hermione had never ate as much soup, or drank as much tea in her life. At least she was aloud to have visitors. Ron and Draco had been keeping the bickering to a minimum, and she suspected it was for her sake. Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen, making a potion to help bring down Hermione's fever. She looked over at Ron, who had been looking suspiciously between Draco and herself for the past five minutes. Finally she couldn't take it anymore.
" What's wrong with you! Why do you keep staring at me and Draco like that?" Ron narrowed his eyes.
"What's going on between you and Malfoy?" He demanded. Draco rolled his eyes.
"We're friends."
"No, your more than friends! I can see the way he looks at you!"
"He doesn't look at me any different than you do, Ron!"
" There's something going on between the two of you, I know it!" Ron said, his ears turning red.
" Are you accusing me of lying? What more do I have to take from you people? First I'm tortured nearly to death by Draco's father." She stopped and gave Draco an apologetic glance. " And now one of my best friends is telling me he knows somethings going on when there isn't!" Hermione said, tears filling in her eyes.
"Look Weasel, your upsetting Hermione! Why don't you just leave?" Draco said, while glaring menacingly at Ron. Ron returned the glare and apparated out of her flat without even saying goodbye. Just then Mrs. Weasly came in with the potion. It was blue, and Hermione wasn't looking forward to taking it.
"Hear you go, Hermione." Hermione gulped down the potion and made a face.
"Where did Ron go?" Mrs Weasly asked with a confused look on her face.
"Um…Well, we sort of got into a fight." Hermione said, looking down.
"Don't worry about it, dear. Ron's just been so stressed with you being kidnapped and all. He just has trouble showing his real emotions."
"The stupid git has trouble keeping his trap shut, is more like it." Draco said before he could stop himself. He clapped a hand over his mouth and looked up at Mrs. Weasly. She just chuckled and asked Hermione if she needed help changing. Hermione said yes, and Draco left the room to give them privacy.
Draco was only standing outside for a few minutes when Hermione called him back in the room. He was shocked to see what Hermione was wearing. The only thing he'd seen her in was her wizard's robes, and her dress robes. Now she was wearing a snug fitting white tank top, with light blue shorts.
"Draco, Hermione's fever is down, so I'll be going home now. Don't be afraid to come back to The Burrow if you need me."
"Thanks a lot Mrs. Weasly." She smiled.
"No problem." And with a pop, she disapparated.
*
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Hermione didn't know what was wrong with Draco. He'd been looking at her funny since she'd changed her clothes. Did she really look that horrible?
"Draco, why are you looking at me like that? Do I really look that bad?" He blinked.
"No, your beautiful." He said, bringing his face closer to hers. She could feel his breath on hers, and she knew he was about to kiss her. She closed her eyes in anticipation.
A/N: look, another cliffy…haha… that's what you people get for not reviewing! I tried really hard to make this chapter longer… I'm pretty sure it is. Anyways, I'm sooo sorry I didn't update in a long time! I had finals, plus I had to read the Order of the Phoenix, (even though that only took me a day and a half.) I'm the world's worst procrastinator! Please please please review!!!