Hits and Misses

"Alone, I walk beside myself

Alone, you put me on your shelf

Alone, with my insanity

Alone, no one to blame but me"

"What do you think he was trying to tell us?"

"Who?" Ron asked curiously.

"Dumbledore. What could each of the victims possibly have in common?"Harry inquired.

"Well, I figured it was just against all the boys not in the Slytherin House, but ever since..." he paused, "well, I don't know anymore."

"I don't think it's that simple."

"Then what do you think?"

"Well, just figure this out. Why do you think none of the Slytherins haven't disappeared?"

"Because they're a bunch of stupid, ugly-"

"Ron. Seriously, we should've figured this out earlier! Think harder."

The red-headed Gryffindor considered the situation for a moment. What could the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw Houses all have that the Slytherin House didn't have?

"Well let's see, they're jealous because we have intelligence, loyalty, courage, skills, looks-"

"I'm serious, Ron."

"Alright, alright. So what is it?"

"Take Seamus, for example. Remember his background? He told me one time his father was a muggle, which makes him a muggleborn."

Ron nodded slowly in agreement, which urged Harry to continue on.

"Dean also told me that he's a muggleborn, but I heard somewhere that his biological father left his family in order to protect them from the Death Eaters."

Ron's eyes widened in shock. "What happened to him?"

"He got killed when he refused to join them."

"I never knew that," Ron said softly, "But what about the two Gryffindor brothers, Colin and Dennis?"

"I don't know much about them, but I heard that their father is a muggle milkman."

"So all of the victims are muggleborns, including those people who were from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw House?"

"I think so."

"But who could be doing this?"

Harry slightly touched the scar on his forehead. "Who else?"

"But it hasn't been hurting lately."

"I know, that's what's weird. If he has his powers back or is even close to me, I should know by now, and the whole disappearing thing wouldn't be such a surprise. But nothing happened."

"Not even a bit of pain?"

"No. No warning at all."

"But why's that?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's still very weak, and far away from me, but then that would mean someone else would be doing all of this."

"Yeah, someone else could be doing his dirtywork!"

"But the question is, who?"

"Well, whoever it is must be powerful as well to be planning and doing all this. It could be one of the Death Eaters."

"Yeah, we just have to figure out which one."

----

Draco knew it, but he was hoping it won't come true. He wished it didn't have to come to this.

"So exactly what is my task?"

"Even though it may appear otherwise, she is a weak person. Everything close to her is precious – her friends, family, and," Lucius's eyes narrowed, "special interests. Take those away from her, and she will be broken with absolutely no hope within her. This is merely an experiment as to how far one can go until they reach the limit where their sanity is gone; they seemed to be dead, yet they are still alive; until they are trapped within themselves, their own world, and cannot get out no matter what."

When Lucius finished, Draco's full attention was on what his father had just informed him. This experimentation – he had never heard of before, and it seemed very dangerous to him.

"How am I exactly going to be doing that, Father?"

"You do not have to worry about that right now, dear boy. Just get acquainted and we'll talk later," Lucius ordered.

"Yes, Father."

"And remember one thing."

"Yes?"

"Do not disappoint me."

"I won't."

Draco headed inside the dim room; his nervousness was increasing with each and every step. How in Merlin's name can he pull this off? He felt so caught in the middle of his father's expectations, and his own wants and desires that it sickened him. This was his life; shouldn't he deserve his own path?

He walked towards the figure, who was sitting with her head between her legs in the corner, and took a deep breath. He recognized the familiar frizzy brown hair and Gryffindor robes, and wanted so much to hold her and get her out to safety. But he had to get through with this; after all, his father was watching him from the doorway.

He noticed how she was visibly trembling, possibly afraid that someone would take her life away from her. What could he say to her, if she was in such a state? He had nothing in mind, and instead cleared his throat, and waited to see if it had any effect. However, she didn't face him, and he knew that his father was getting impatient with every passing minute.

"W-what do y-you want?" she asked first, breaking the silence between them.

Draco tried to respond but nothing came out of his mouth. He didn't know what to say since he didn't know the answer to her question and remained quiet, which only increased the tension in the room. When she realized that he wouldn't reply, she looked up at her captor. Draco gasped inwardly as he observed how her once calm and pretty face, was now full of tears and dirt. It took all of his power and strength not to attack his father right there and then for what he had done to Hermione, but he had to get on with his job.

"W-who are y-you?" she timidly whispered, which could be barely heard.

It was a shock to Draco that she didn't recognize him, but then again Lucius may have used some sort of spell to cause her to be like this. It could, however, save Draco a lot of misery since he wouldn't have to explain to her why he was here.

"That's none of your business."

"Why am I here? Can you at least explain why?"

"You ask too many questions for your own good," Draco responded, trying to put an end to her questions.

"I want to go. Please let me go, I beg of you!" she cried out, her hands reaching for his.

He wanted to hold those hands of hers more than anything in the world, but it wouldn't be possible since he was being watched.

"Don't touch me, you dirty Mudblood. I don't need your filth on me," he tried to say coldly, without breaking down.

She immediately retreated her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. He regretted what he said, but there was nothing he can do to comfort her.

"Stop that noisy racket," Draco demanded, hoping that she would stop crying, but she didn't. It only saddened him more to see her extremely upset, especially when he was the one who caused it. "I said stop it!"

"No!" she defied.

He turned around and saw Lucius standing firmly in the doorway. He knew his father expected him to do something, but he just didn't have the heart to. He turned back to the individual before him, and weakly raised his hand.

I'm so sorry, Hermione. I'm really sorry, I hope you can forgive me one day, Draco kept repeatedly thinking in his head.

He closed his eyes and slowly, but forcefully, swung his hand and slapped her face. He heard her gasped and stopped crying almost instantly.

"If I tell you to do something, you do it. Understand?"

She nodded sadly to his words.

"Good. I'll leave you here with your self-pity until I know what to do with you. Remember, don't try doing anything funny because I'll know."

With his words still lingering in the air, he left her presence and headed towards the door, where his father was. He could tell Lucius was satisfied of his actions, but he on the other hand, was beating himself up for actually doing them.

He just had to save her from this mess. No matter what.

----

It has been at least a few weeks since Draco had found Hermione, and he was still wondering trying to perfect his plan on how to let her escape out of the house without his father ever knowing. During the last few days, he had memorized the route to Hermione's room, and also the spells that were required to open the series of doors.

However, the most complicated spell he had to remember was the one for the door with the golden snakes. He had learned, after pressuring his father several times, that it was actually a family spell that was passed down from generation to generation. When Draco's ancestors had first owned the Malfoy Manor, they had used that special room for concealing their most prized possessions. They had created a complex spell that only allowed members of the Malfoy family to enter the room, so that any intruders would not be able go in. It was very powerful as it blocked all sorts of spells that a trespasser would use, but it was also very secretive since only certain members of the family knew about it. It wasn't until the reign of Voldemort that the spell had made its way to the ears of the rest of the family, and instead of possessing treasures and riches, the room was then cleared to be used in a much more dark way. Death Eaters would meet there for plans on how to expand the Dark Lord's powers, and would sometimes hold prisoners captive in the very same place. It was a shame since the room was once so very golden and valuable, but now it has lost its worth and used for less than humane purposes.

Draco was pacing around in his room, trying to figure out an escape route. During his visits to Hermione, he had tried to calm her down and give her vague messages to tell her that everything will be alright and he'll be there to save her. But he doubted that she actually clued in to what he was saying because she seemed to be in hysterics every time he was near her or even when he tried to talk to her.

If he in fact, successfully retrieves her from her room, there was also the issue of having her escape unseen from Lucius. Draco knew that the only times his father would be oblivious to his surroundings would be when he had business to take care of, or when he had meetings with important people. Right now, Draco was certain that his father was in his office with his doors locked and closed to show that he didn't want to be disturbed. He had only seen his mother a few times around the house, but didn't bother to question her on her wanderings. She wasn't as powerful or as persuasive as his father, so he didn't need to worry about her finding out about his plans. Even if he was caught by Narcissa helping his father's prisoner escape, he would just make up some excuse, and she would believe him. After all, she always did.

He decided that right now would be the perfect moment to go according to his plans. He would go down to where Hermione was imprisoned, and get her before his father catches him. Since the Manor has a few abandoned rooms that still have working fireplaces, he would use one of those and transport both of them to another place by Floo Powder. If that was successful, he would think of another plan later.

He headed out of his own room, and down to the area where his father had first showed him. He muttered the first spell and went through a series of rooms that were designed to confuse any person who did not memorize the exact route towards their desired location. Thankfully, he had gone through this enough times that he would even be able to do it blind-folded. When he had finally reached the last door, he was extremely nervous and tensed as to what's to come. Thoughts of failure came to his mind, but he shook them away.

"I'm doing this for Hermione," Draco kept repeating to himself as he reached for his wand that was in his pockets.

He then muttered the Malfoy spell and touched the doorknob with his wand. He was filled with anxiety since he didn't know whether he said it right or not, even though he tried to commit it into his memory. After waiting impatiently for a few more seconds, he noticed two golden snakes slithering out of the knob in opposite ways and outlining the door until they collided with one another. This caused the door to burst the marvelous colours of gold and green, which could make anyone watch in awe. The door finally unlocked itself, and Draco slowly made his way into the room, frantically searching for any sign of Hermione.

Lying in the opposite corner was the one he was looking for. It seemed as if she was probably sleeping, but he couldn't be too sure since the room was a bit dark for him to see. He went over to Hermione, and whispered her name several times in an attempt to try and wake her up.

"Hermione, it's me, Draco. Wake up, please, I came to get you and take you far away from here where you'll be safe. Just wake up please, Hermione," he said softly, shaking her shoulder a bit to get her attention. After a few tries, he finally managed to wake her up from her sleep.

"Hmm?" she wearily asked.

"Finally, you're awake," he replied, as he took his wand back out. "I've been planning an escape for a while, and right now is the perfect time. Lumos."

Once his wand was fully illuminated, one could clearly see Draco's face changing from optimism and hope, to horror and despair, in a matter of seconds.

"Wait, you're not Hermione."