Chapter Thirteen:

The Heir to the Throne

Hermione woke up first. It was still early. Draco was sleeping peacefully, and she tried her best not to disturb him. Pulling on her red silk robe, she slipped into her own room and dug through her trunk. Finally she pulled out her laptop. She had figured out over the summer how to access the wizarding world web. Piecing together things that Evelyn had said in conversation, Hermione had come up with a theory. The problem was, she didn't know how to prove it. She hadn't told Draco, because she didn't want to get him all nervous if she ended up being wrong. She typed quickly, doing a search on the Malfoy family. She waited impatiently for the search to be completed. When the results had been listed, she clicked on one site with a family tree. The Malfoy family went back for generations, and it even proved their relation to Salazar Slytherin, but it didn't help her search at all. With her last hope, the internet, failing her, she went back into Draco's room. She sat down in his desk chair and put her head in her hands. As she scanned the books on the desk shelves, she paused at one in particular. The silver lettering on the spine read, The Legacy of Lucius Malfoy. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. Who would want to waste their time reading a book about one of the most evil men in the world? As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she yanked the book off of the shelf and went back into her room. The book opened with a key, which was not provided. She examined the lock and a thought struck her. Quietly she slipped back into Draco's room and took the ring she gave him for Christmas off of his dresser. She wanted to shout out loud when the ring unlocked the book. Eagerly she opened to the first page. After the first few pages, she was bored. She scanned through almost half of it when suddenly her eyes froze on a page.

"Oh my god." She whispered, ripping the page out of the book. She turned around and started to run into Draco's room, but a sudden cold feeling blanketed her and everything went dark. She turned around and saw her room. Confused, she started walking towards it, but she collided with an invisible surface. Glass... she thought, fear suddenly clawing at her mind. I'm in a mirror.

When Draco woke up alone, he rubbed his eyes and sat up. He figured Hermione was already in the common room. He was disappointed that he couldn't secretly prepare their last breakfast in Hogwarts. Then he noticed the parchment taped to the door. He squinted at it and walked over to the door.

Dear Draco,

I went to the Gryffindor tower to make amends with Ron. It may take awhile, so I'll see you at graduation. I love you.

Love,

Hermione

He frowned in disappointment. He had wanted to share their last morning at Hogwarts together. But he knew how much it meant to her to have her best friends at her wedding, so he understood why she needed to go. Breakfast arrived and he ate alone. After breakfast, he decided to go down to find Professor Snape. He wanted to thank him for recommending him to his colleagues. On his way down the stairs, he spotted Evelyn and Pansy talking in a corner. He narrowed his eyes and strained his ears to hear what they were saying. Evelyn caught sight of him and she smiled sweetly in his direction. He almost stumbled over himself in surprise. Pansy gave him a smile as well, before she resumed talking to Evelyn. He had the strangest feeling that they were up to something. When Draco reached the dungeons, Snape was no where in sight. Slightly disappointed, Draco decided to write him a letter instead. When he reached his room, he noticed that his books were leaning. Curiously, he inspected the shelf. He went through them and was puzzled to find The Legacy of Lucius Malfoy missing. He searched his entire room and found no trace of the book. He had never opened it. He couldn't figure out how. It was a waste of space, but he had accidentally packed it this year. Following a hunch, he opened the door to Hermione's room. The book was lying open on her bed. He stared at it in confusion. How did she figure out how to open it? He wondered, approaching the book suspiciously. Something metal fell out of the cover, and he picked it up. The ring Hermione gave me opens this damn book? His head spun in utter confusion. He ran his fingers along the frayed edge of a page that was missing. Did Hermione take it? And why? Reading only a few pages of the book, he couldn't fathom why she would want to rip out a page from such a dull book. By now his head hurt from all of his unanswered questions. Sighing, he went into the bathroom to take a shower.

"You're losing it, mate." He muttered to himself.

Draco left the dormitory with a nauseous feeling in his stomach. There was still no sight or word from Hermione, and it was time for the graduating year to report to the Quidditch field. He was starting to worry about her. He didn't think it would take this long for her to straighten things out with Ron. Not realizing what he was doing, he headed towards the Gryffindor tower. He arrived just as he saw Potter and Weasley exiting.

"Potter! Weasley! Where is she?" He asked. His heart sank when they gave him a blank stare.

"What do you mean where is she? Are you talking about Hermione?" Potter asked, his eyes suddenly sharp and alert.

"She wasn't here this morning?" Draco asked, but he already knew the answer.

"I thought she was in your bed this morning." Weasley muttered, not bothering to hide his anger. Draco wisely chose to ignore him.

"Why did you think that she would be here?" Potter ignored Weasley as well. Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out the note from Hermione.

"This was on my bedroom door this morning." He paused letting them read it. Potter glanced up at Draco suspiciously.

"Is this some sort of joke?"

"Potter, does it look like I'm joking?"

"Well, where do you think she is?"

"I don't-" Draco began, but stopped short when he saw Evelyn and Pansy wandering down to the Quidditch field. Potter followed his gaze, confused.

"They know?" He asked, puzzled. Draco groaned.

"Don't just stand there, Potter! Let's go!"

"Go where?"

"Just follow me." Draco bolted towards the stairs, Potter on his heels. They ran all the way down to the entrance hall where Draco stopped to catch his breath.

"What's the plan?" Potter asked, breathlessly.

"I'm going to find Hermione. You stall the ceremony."

"Why? Shouldn't we just tell Dumbledore?"

"Do you ever tell Dumbledore before you rush off to save the day? Just do it, Potter. What ever punishment Dumbledore would give Evelyn wouldn't be good enough." Potter reluctantly agreed.

"You know where she is?" He asked, uncertainly.

"No. But I have an idea. Get stalling, Potter." Draco commanded and ran towards the dungeons. Snape was still absent from his office, but it was better that way. Draco grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and tossed it into the fire.

"Malfoy Manor." He shouted, and he was whisked away to his home. Every room was dark as he searched the entire upstairs. He got to the last room in the hallway. It was never used. Never opened. The door handle was rusted, but it creaked open when Draco tried it. The room was white, and all the furniture was covered in white sheets. Except for a full length mirror that stood in the middle of the room. Fear danced up his spine as he stepped towards the mirror. When he looked into the reflecting glass, his heart paused. Staring back at him was Hermione. When she caught sight of him, she screamed at him, trying to get him to leave, but he couldn't hear her. Draco heard a noise behind him and he whipped around.

"It took you all morning to realize that she was gone?" Evelyn smirked at him. Draco felt his hands balling up into fists.

"Let her go."

"I can't do that, Draco. You want to know why I can't?" She paused, waiting for him to reply. He just stared her down with as much hatred as he could muster. "You gave her that engagement ring."

"You're not making any sense, Evelyn." She grinned unpleasantly and walked over to the mirror which held Hermione prison.

"That's right. I managed to capture the mudblood before she had a chance to tell you anything. Good. That makes this a lot more fun." Draco looked around, trying to find something to smash the mirror with. Evelyn followed his eyes and chuckled.

"I thought you were supposed to be smart." Draco glared at her, and she sighed. "Let's see if she knows what you're doing wrong." Evelyn pulled out her wand and muttered the counter course to the Silencing Charm. Draco felt his heart wrench when he heard her frightened voice.

"Don't smash the mirror, Draco! If you break it, you'll kill me!" She cried frantically. Evelyn chuckled and shook her head.

"A mudblood has superior knowledge to a pureblood? How sad."

"Why did you take her?" Draco demanded.

"I thought I already explained this. You're going to marry her. I can't just let her live." Draco felt his head start to hurt again with unanswered questions. Then he turned to Hermione.

"Why did you take my father's book?"

"I was looking for something. She has it!" Hermione pointed at the paper in Evelyn's hand. Draco noticed it for the first time, and remembered the frayed edge in the book. He narrowed his eyes at it and stepped towards Evelyn. Her violet eyes glittered dangerously.

"The answer was under your nose the entire time, and you never saw it."

"I couldn't open it!"

"She gave you the key, didn't she?"

"I didn't know it was the key. Neither did she."

"That's why I thought my plan was fool proof. She wasn't supposed to find out."

"You're psychotic." Draco whispered in disbelief.

"There's a reason for my madness. Believe me."

"Then what is it? You've kept me in suspense here for the past twenty minutes. Why do you want us dead?"

"Because she's-" Hermione started to cry out, but Evelyn pointed her wand at the mirror, menacingly.

"I can shatter it with one word, mudblood. Don't make me do it."

"You're going to do it anyway!" Hermione spat, tears streaming down her cheeks. Draco tried to reach to her, but the dividing glass stopped him. Frustrated that he couldn't comfort Hermione, he glared at Evelyn.

"Tell me why you want us dead, Evelyn." Draco demanded. Evelyn sighed and sat down on one of the covered couches.

"Do you know where we are, Draco? Do you know what room this is?" Draco glanced around at the furniture.

"An extra bedroom."

"My mother used to sleep in this very room. You see that crib? That's where I slept."

"So your mother got pregnant, didn't have a husband to support her, and worked for my father to support you?"

"Not exactly, Draco. You see the father of her child was supporting her, in a more secretive fashion. He didn't support her for long after he found out that her child was a girl. He gave her a week to find another job."

"Generous of him." Evelyn shot him a fierce look before continuing.

"A few months later, the same man who fathered her child had another child with his wife. This child was a boy, so they kept him and raised him. Do you know what this child's name was?" She paused, watching Draco's face. He kept a stoic expression, even though he was feeling sick. "Draco Malfoy."

"You're my half sister."

"And because I am your half sister, I am entitled to the Malfoy fortune. That is, if all the legal heirs have passed away. Azkaban took away your father for me. I helped your mother along a little bit-" Draco felt a sudden burning hatred spill into his blood.

"You murdered my mother?"

"She was miserable anyway."

"You fucking bitch!" Draco bellowed, grabbing her by the shoulders and shoving her against a wall. Sparks shot out of the tip of her wand and grazed the side of the mirror. Hermione screamed, thinking that she was about to die. Draco released Evelyn at once and turned around to make sure Hermione was all right.

"So the mudblood read your father's book. The story of that affair was explained. My name and birth date recorded. She found it and was on her way to tell you when she walked into the mirror. Lucky I got there in time. If she had found you first, I might not have been able to capture her. And now I get to destroy you both at the same time. Or maybe I'll kill you first so the mudblood can watch you die."

"We're not married yet. She doesn't have to be killed."

"Well now she has to be killed because she knows too much."

"Cast a memory charm and let her go."

"Draco, stop it. If you're going to die, then I'm going to die as well." Hermione insisted, her voice breaking. Draco wanted to plead with her, but he knew she wouldn't listen to him.

"You might have a point, Draco. Maybe I should let the mudblood go free."

"Let her go, and I'm yours to kill."

"I think I'll kill you before I let her go. I want her to have one last horrible memory before I wipe the slate clean."

"I need to know that you'll be true to your word. I need to know that when you're done killing me, you let her go."

"You have my word, Draco."

"I can't trust your word, Evelyn. You've deceived me before." Draco continued, buying time. He didn't know for how much longer he could stall. It wouldn't be smart to just reach for his wand in a quick motion. Evelyn would shoot him down before he could say anything. So very slowly, as he dragged their conversation out, his right hand slipped into his robes. When he finally found the wand in his cloak pocket, he prepared himself for his sudden attack. Evelyn was still going on and on about how it didn't matter that he couldn't trust her, that he had to take her word for it since she was in control. In the time it took to blink, Draco had whipped out his wand.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" He shouted, and Evelyn's wand flew out of her hand. It fell to the ground several feet away from both of them. The blast knocked Evelyn over the back of the couch and onto the floor. Draco dove to the floor to retrieve her wand.

"What's the incantation?" He demanded, pointing his wand and her when she had gotten to her feet. She smirked at him.

"Go ahead, Draco. Kill me. If you do, you'll never know how to get her out of the mirror. You'll be married to a reflection for the rest of your life. And your child will live in a mirror for their entire life as well." Draco's hardened expression froze and softened.

"My child?"

"I was going to tell you, Draco, but I didn't get the chance." Hermione suddenly spoke up. Draco felt unexpectedly happier.

"When did you find out?"

"I did a quick test yesterday." Evelyn started to advance on Draco while he was distracted with Hermione, but Draco was too quick for her.

"Nice try. Tell me the incantation." Draco demanded. Evelyn laughed unpleasantly.

"Like I said. I'm not going to tell you. So you can just kill me, and force your little mudblood bride to live the rest of her life in a mirror with your own child." Then Draco thought of it. He kept his eyes on Evelyn as he spoke to Hermione.

"I'm going to look in the library." Then he raised his wand quickly. "Petrificus totalus." He muttered. Evelyn went rigid and fell to the floor.

"Please hurry, Draco. We can miss the graduation ceremony." Hermione called after him. He grinned at her devotion to school, even when it was over. Draco flung open the doors to the library and rushed to the dictionary of counter curses. He flipped to the index and ran his finger down the page until he saw mirrors, page 1129. He practically ripped the book apart to find page 1129. When he finally found the page, a shrill scream pierced the air. Draco ripped out the paragraph on mirrors and dashed out into the hallway. As he neared the room where Hermione and Evelyn were, he heard the most sickening sound in the entire world. Shattering glass. Draco increased his speed, but he slowed down when he reached the door frame. Evelyn was standing over the smashed mirror, small cuts all over her arms. Draco felt devastation before anger. But when anger finally did possess him, he lunged at Evelyn. His momentum forced both of them into the windows, and more glass shattered. When Draco hit the ground with a nauseating thud, all he could think about was getting up and going back upstairs. Evelyn was no longer thinking. She had hit the ground head first, and was killed on impact. Pain shot up his spine and exploded in his head when he attempted to sit up. The physical pain didn't even hold a candle to the emotional pain that ripped through him. She can't be dead. She couldn't have died. He forced himself to think positive thoughts as he dragged himself to his feet. He felt like he was walking on two broken legs, but he staggered towards the mansion regardless. Stumbling up the stairs, tears started to fill his eyes. As he came closer to the white room, tear drops fell and hit the cold stone floor. He collapsed to the floor next to the broken shards of glass. He saw only his face in each and every piece. Thinking that if he pieced it together, she'd come back, he started trying to fit pieces together. Ten minutes later, he was finding it pointless. The glass from the mirror mixed with the glass from the windows, and it was hard to differentiate. Sensing that his Hermione was never coming back, Draco went to his room and gathered some Floo Powder.

"Severus Snape's office at Hogwarts." He choked out. When he hit the dungeon floors, Snape was seated at his desk. Upon seeing Draco falling out of the fire, he jumped to his feet and helped Draco stand.

"What happened, Draco? Where were you?" Draco couldn't find the voice to speak. Sobs interrupted his words, and finally he gave up. "The ceremony begins in five minutes, you need to get cleaned up. And where is Miss Granger?" Just the mention of her name, and Draco broke down into sobs. Sensing that something was terribly wrong, Snape escorted Draco to the hospital wing and went off in search of Professor Dumbledore immediately. The headmaster was talking to McGonagall when he approached, smiling pleasantly.

"Headmaster, we have a situation."

"What is it, Severus? Have our Head students found time in their busy schedules to come to their graduation ceremony?"

"Something is wrong, headmaster. Draco just came spilling out of my fireplace, cut up and disheveled. I tried to ask him what had happened, but he couldn't speak. When I mentioned Hermione, he almost went into hysterics."

"Where is he now?" Dumbledore asked, suddenly serious.

"I took him to the hospital wing."

"What about Hermione? Where is she?"

"I don't know, headmaster. She didn't come back with him, and he couldn't say anything about her."

"Perhaps when he's feeling better he'll be able to tell us what happened." Dumbledore stood up and started walking towards the castle. "Minerva, inform the students that their graduation ceremony has been delayed momentarily." Professor McGonagall nodded and went to the crowd of seventh year students. Dumbledore and Snape walked back up to the castle in silence. When they reached the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey was trying to calm down an extremely distraught Draco Malfoy.

"Headmaster, he won't calm down! I've been trying to give him a sedative for the past ten minutes." Dumbledore approached Draco, who was sobbing so uncontrollably, he seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Draco, please stay still while Madam Pomfrey attends to your wounds."

"No! She's still out there! I know it! We have to go find her!"

"Draco, calm down. Who is still out there?"

"She's out there! It's all my fault! I took too long!" Draco shouted in frustration, knocking over a hospital bed. Dumbledore exchanged looks with Snape.

"I don't like to do this, but it appears to be necessary. Severus?" Dumbledore nodded at Draco, and Snape pulled out his wand.

"Stupefy." He muttered, and Draco went still. Snape helped Madam Pomfrey lift Draco onto a hospital bed. Madam Pomfrey injected the sedative, and they waited for the Stunning Spell to wear off. When Draco finally came around, he looked around quickly.

"Is she here?"

"Is who here, Draco?"

"Is Hermione here?" The professors all exchanged glances, and Draco made an attempt to sit up. "Please tell me that she's here." He looked expectantly at each professor in turn. Dumbledore was the first to speak.

"Draco, what happened?"

"There's no time, professor. We have to find her."

"Where would she be, Draco?" Draco ran his hand through his hair, tears threatening his eyes again.

"She could be anywhere. But she can't be-" Draco stopped, his face paled. Snape and Dumbledore looked worriedly at each other.

"Is Hermione in danger?"

"I don't know, professor! I don't know where she is." Snape summoned up the courage to ask the question that no one else would ask.

"Is she dead?"

"No! She can't be dead! She has to be alive somewhere!" Draco shouted, as though trying to convince himself. Then his head dropped into his hands and he sobbed. Dumbledore took Snape aside.

"Get in touch with the ministry. Find out where Draco had come from when he used the Floo powder. Once that has been done, go there and search for Hermione. Keep the rest of us updated. I want to talk to Draco to see if he can tell us anything." Dumbledore ordered. Snape nodded and left the hospital. Dumbledore turned back to the unstable wreck that used to be Draco Malfoy. It seemed as though he had abandoned thought. Madam Pomfrey seemed unsure of what to do.

"Poppy, fetch Draco some chocolate and butter beer." Dumbledore smiled pleasantly at her, and the Mediwitch left.

"Now, Draco. Tell me what happened."

"We need to find her."

"Professor Snape is out looking for her right now, Draco. You just need to tell me what happened so we know where to start looking."

"Malfoy Manor...she took her there."

"Who?" Draco's eyes turned hard as steel and twice as cold. Dumbledore watched the anger burning through him, powerful fury that he had never seen before.

"Evelyn Channings. She killed her." Draco stared out the window, tears accumulating in his eyes.

"Evelyn Channings killed Hermione?"

"She trapped Hermione in a mirror and shattered it." Draco shifted his gaze to look at the headmaster. "Then I killed her."