"In My Life"
Chapter 10
Hermione rushed up the stairs. Her heart was pounding furiously from both running and anxiety. There was a closed door at the top of the staircase and Hermione sprinted towards it. She pushed the door's handle. It didn't budge. Panting, Hermione searched her pocket for her wand. Upon finding it, she muttered, "Alohomora." Nothing happened. "Damnit!" Hermione swore, pounding her fist on the door. She could still hear the cheerful voices of her fellow cast members through the door. Hermione put her head in her hands, thinking carefully. Lucius Malfoy almost certainly knew of her escape by now, as one of his servants would have noticed her absence. That meant that she was locked in a stairwell of the manor, alone, practically waiting to be caught by someone who would return her to captivity, undoubtedly without her wand. These thoughts did not cheer Hermione up, and she felt on the verge of tears. She gave the door another feeble push, but it was no use. She figured her only chance was either to go back down to the maze that was the dungeons, or go upstairs, where there was a small hope of a door being unlocked.
Hermione sighed before hurrying up the stairs. She didn't allow herself to think about anything except her next move, because if she did, she would realize how hopeless her situation was….
Draco didn't even realize what was happening. One moment, he was standing, his face a few inches from his father's, the next, he was on the cold floor, sporting a bloody lip. Lucius stood above him, his hands clutched in fists, and looking more insane by the second. Draco glared coldly up at his father, slowly rising to his feet.
"It is terrible enough that you had to ruin the reputation of this family with your consorting with muggles, but to lie to your own father…. You aren't the son I once thought you were." Lucius whispered his words fiercely without any apparent attempt to hide his anger.
Draco was angrier than he'd ever remembered being. His hatred towards his father had intensified during past few minutes. Draco wanted to shout, to scream at his father for acting like this was somehow his fault. But wasn't that always how it had been? Hadn't Lucius always twisted things to make it seem like someone else was always to blame? That was his way, and Draco hated that. "Disgracing the family name? You tell me that I'm ruining the Malfoys' high reputation, when this very night; you plan on killing over a hundred people? You can't talk to me about lying or disgrace when you've led innocent people into a trap to benefit you and that worthless bastard of a human being you call your master."
Once again Lucius swung his clenched fist towards Draco, but this time Draco was ready, and he ducked just in time. Lucius's fist hit the wall with tremendous force, and he ground his teeth together to keep from shouting at the pain. Draco knew he had gone too far now. He had stepped over a dangerous line, and he bolted. He sprinted down the dungeon corridor, not able to distinguish any words in his father's shouting. Draco ran through the dark, narrow passageways, subconsciously heading towards the South stairwell, which was the closest to where he currently was. Upon reaching the stairs, Draco paused for breath and heard the sounds of laughter and cheerfulness from the guests upstairs. He sighed, slowly ascending the first flight. He paused again when he heard a different sound above him; not the sound of the guests, but what sounded like hurried footsteps. He briefly wondered whether it was a servant making his rounds when he realized that a servant wouldn't be that rushed, nor would they be using this back stairwell which was only used by a few people. He listened to the footsteps again, and another thought crossed his mind; "Hermione?" Draco called up the stairs. The footsteps stopped.
Hermione continued her running up the stairs, hopeful that one door would be unlocked, or left open. However, when she came to the second floor, she realized that this door was locked as well. Hermione paused to catch her breath before hurrying up the next flight of stairs. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she heard her name being called. "Hermione?" someone was shouting up the stairs. It was Draco. Hermione froze.
Hermione flattened her body against the stairwell's dark wall, praying that Draco wouldn't come up the stairs and find her. She needed to get to where the other guests were, and being found and put back in a cell in the dungeons was the last thing she needed.
Draco listened intently, but whoever had been running up the stairs had stopped, and the only noises to be heard were coming from the first floor where the guests continued talking, unaware of what was happening. Draco tried calling up the stairs again, "Hermione? Is that you? Hermione, it's me, Draco. Are you there?"
Hermione stood completely still, listening to Draco's voice coming up the stairwell. She was tempted to reply, but memories of Draco's betrayal kept her from speaking. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wished so much that none of this was happening; that she had stayed in the U.S., that she had never met Draco or learned of his schemes. But no matter how much she wanted it to all go away, it wouldn't, and she had to deal with what was happening and save the innocent people below her. She heard Draco climbing up the stairs, no doubt coming to check who was responsible for the footsteps he had undoubtedly heard. She quickly decided on a plan and leapt from the shadows of the stairwell.
Draco ascended the stairs, determined to find the person whom he had heard moments before, whether it was Hermione or not. He was on the verge of giving up, having climbed several flights without seeing anyone, when Hermione appeared out of nowhere, her wand pointed at his chest. Draco jumped, startled by Hermione's sudden appearance. "Hermione, what are you doing? Why didn't you answer me?" Draco asked, looking up into Hermione's determined glare. Though it was dark, Draco could make out tears slipping down the sides of Hermione's face. "What's wrong?" He asked, moving one step closer to her.
Hermione shook her head, looking down at Draco, who was playing innocent a few steps below her. "What's wrong?" she whispered, her voice cold and angry. "You have the nerve to ask me what's wrong? What's right? That's the real question. I've been locked in your father's cold, disgusting dungeons for over a week, waiting for someone to come and rescue me. You, the only person I had been trusting, have betrayed me. My fellow, innocent cast members are downstairs waiting to be killed off, all because of some scheme you thought up! I'm stuck in this dark stairwell at the back of Malfoy Manor, a place I never thought I'd have to be. What's wrong? What the hell isn't?!" Hermione shouted at Draco, her wand hand shaking from her anger. She was now crying uncontrollably, and Draco looked up at her, confused about everything she was saying.
Draco tried to put everything together in his head, but nothing Hermione was saying made any sense. "You've been here for over a week? How? Why?" Hermione just glared at him.
"Of course I've been trapped here! Where else would I be? You and your father had me taken from my hotel room that day you told me about 'the plan.' You made it sound like you were dragged into it then; you just conveniently forgot to tell me it was your idea!" Hermione whispered fiercely, trying not to attract the attention of nearby servants with her screaming.
"My idea?" Draco was so confused; there were no words to describe it. Why did she think the plan was his idea? He had never told her anything of the sort. It had been Lucius's idea, the whole thing. Draco's eyes widened as realization hit. 'Of course!' he thought to himself. "Did my father tell you that? That it was my idea?" He asked Hermione, taking another step towards her.
Hermione faltered. Draco looked so confused by what she was saying. Was it possible that she was wrong, that Lucius had lied after all? Or was this just an act? "Your father told me everything." She said, stepping back when Draco stepped towards her. "That it was your idea, all of it…." Hermione paused, reflecting on exactly what Lucius Malfoy had told her. Over her time in the manor, she had somehow led herself to believe that Draco had betrayed her, but as she looked back on it, it really didn't make sense. Why would Draco have told her about the plan if he was going to make her be a part of it? Why get so personally involved with her? Why not stand back and wait until someone refused an invitation to the party, and intervene then? Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by a shout from the bottom of the stairs.
"Draco? Come down here now, boy! You'll pay for what you said!" Lucius shouted up the stairs. Draco turned away from Hermione to look down the stairs. Several floors below, Lucius Malfoy began to climb rapidly towards where Draco and Hermione were standing.
"Shit!" swore Draco, turning back to Hermione, who had disappeared up the stairs. He could hear her quick footsteps above him and he began running rapidly down the stairs to the second floor. When Draco reached the door to the second floor, Lucius Malfoy was hurrying up the last set of steps to the landing where Draco stood. Mere seconds before his father caught up to him, Draco muttered a password, opening the door and quickly slamming it behind him. "Sierte." Draco said, drawing out his wand once the door had closed. He wasted no time waiting for his father to break the simple locking spell Draco had cast on the stairway door.
Sprinting down the large corridor, Draco wondered where Hermione had gone, and whether she was still in the stairwell or if she had managed to escape before Lucius realized she was there. He came to a halt when he reached the grand stairwell, a huge area that led to all floors. This stairwell was the kind people thought of in old royal palaces; it was made mainly of marble, the designs in the banister were exquisite, and it was several meters in width. It was here that Draco thought about his options. He could either try to find Hermione and risk both him and Hermione getting caught by Lucius, or he could attempt to save all the guests before they drank the poisoned champagne they would be served when Lucius made his speech. Wishing the best of luck to Hermione, Draco began hurrying down to the first floor.
Hermione was rushing up the stairs as quietly as possible, aware of Lucius's shouting and swearing. Hermione finally reached the third floor, and hopefully her presence was not known to Lucius, who only a floor below her was still muttering spells and charms under his breath. Once again, Hermione pushed at the door leading into the manor, but it was locked as well. Hermione sighed, too tired and frustrated to continue. She listened to the voice of Draco's father below her. He had tried many different spells now, but none of them seemed to have an effect on the door. Finally, Lucius muttered "Abrando," and the door creaked open. Lucius shoved the door all the way open, storming down the hallway after Draco. When the door clicked closed once again, Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She slowly stood and pointed her wand at the lock on the door.
"Abrando." She muttered, and, to her relief and joy, the door opened. Hermione pushed on the handle and walked through the door. At last, she was out of that small, dark stairwell. Closing the door quietly behind her, Hermione set off down the rather small hallway, guessing where to go.