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CHAPTER THREE

MALFOY MANOR

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Hermione stared at Sirius, dumbstruck. It hadn't even been twelve hours since she had left Draco and now…

"What about Draco?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't wait too long after I saw Dementors coming that way."

"You…" Hermione broke off. Well, it wasn't Sirius' fault. He had had too many close encounters with Dementors and was really scared of them – not that he would ever admit it, of course.

She went to her room and a few minutes later, returned in her robes, a small satchel of potion-vials in a pocket with Protection Charms and her wand ready in her hand.

"Where are you going?" asked Sirius, stepping in front of her.

"To help a friend," she answered, not looking at him.

"Look here, Hermione," said Sirius, his voice commanding, "I am sorry for being such a mean git. But please listen to me – don't go."

"Won't you have helped Remus if he was in such trouble?" asked Hermione, trying to get around him. However, he restrained her by putting a hand on her arm.

"That's different. This is… we can't even be sure that he really is on our side, Hermione. Please, listen to me. Don't go!"

"I would trust Draco with my life!" said Hermione hotly and wrenching her arm away from him, pushed past him out of the apartment.

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation, Sirius pulled down his hood and went after her.

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It was so eerily quiet that for a moment Hermione doubted what Sirius had told her. The Malfoy Manor seemed to be the same as it had been when she had last visited it. There wasn't even a feeling of fear that usually indicated the presence of Dementors.

She might as well test for their presence.

However, before she could say the incantation, a shadow fell near her and a hand was clamped on her mouth and another had snaked around her waist. She felt herself being pulled towards the bushes and struggled against it. But the person seemed to be very strong and managed to get her into the hiding in spite of her protests.

"Stay still, you silly girl!"

She could recognize the hissing voice anywhere, plus he was the only person who had ever called her a "… silly girl."

Severus Snape.

She stopped struggling against him and allowed herself to be quietly led away towards wherever it was he was leading her.

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"What's going on, Professor?"

"Draco – he had almost been Kissed by Dementors," said Snape, his voice shaking with anger. "And I have more than one reason to believe that it was an inside job. Someone from the Manor is involved in this. Contrary to what we believed, the Manor seems to be inhabited by more persons than Draco."

"Where's Draco? Is he all right?" asked Hermione.

"You take care of that. I will go up to the Manor and see what is going on there."

"You – alone? That's too dangerous, sir!"

"You do as you are told, girl!" said Snape irritably.

"But…"

"Look, we don't have time for a tête-à-tête, so just do as I tell you to! Draco is in the dungeon downwards from here. When he is good enough to move take him to your place. Inform Dumbledore. And be careful!"

"Wait!"

But Snape did not heed to her and giving her a threatening look, pulled on his hood and went back towards the Manor.

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Draco finally opened his eyes and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. He had never been a good tolerant of Dementors' powers.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, it's me. Are you all right?"

"Black… he's in trouble, Hermione."

"What?"

"They came searching for him. They were not alone. There was someone else with them. I don't know who. They were following Black. The Dementors got out of control and decided that they were going to come after me. But someone is after Black."

Hermione absorbed this new information with rising trepidation.

"But… wait a minute… what if he followed me here?" Hermione was somehow sure that he would. In spite of being so nasty, he would

"Then find him and get him out! I'll help you…"

"No, you're too weak. You need to get away from this place if Dementors are still here. Though… I don't think I felt then when I came here."

"No? Who found me, then?"

"I think Snape did."

"Where's Severus?"

"He went towards the Manor. He said…"

But before Hermione could complete her sentence, Draco had struggled to his feet. "Come on, Hermione, we have to search for Severus and Black. Both are utter fools!"

"Draco…"

"DO YOU WANT THEM DEAD OR WORSE – KISSED BY DEMENTORS?" Draco glared at her.

Taking a deep breath to prevent herself from yelling back, Hermione led the way outside towards the Manor, wand out in front of her.

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"Nothing! I can feel nothing. What about you?" whispered Draco, leaning against a wall, trying to catch his breath.

"It is so strange. Are you sure they were Dementors – real Dementors? And not just… Boggarts or something?"

Draco looked scandalized. "Boggarts? Don't be stupid, Hermione! And those things don't change into Dementors for me."

"We have searched the grounds but the doors leading inside are heavily warded. Where were you when the Dementors attacked?"

"In the study on the ground-floor."

"Why can't we get in then?"

"Hermione, I have no idea."

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After many unsuccessful attempts to get inside the Manor, the two decided that the best course of action now would be to contact Dumbledore.

Hermione first went to her own apartment to check if Sirius had come back there. Everything was exactly as she had left it sans Sirius.

Next, both went to Hogwarts.

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Hermione couldn't remember seeing Dumbledore so grave before – and worried. He immediately contacted the Ministry and the Order was called together for an urgent meeting.

Hermione persuaded Dumbledore not to mention her – she was, as yet, not ready to face the accusing looks of her once-friends. She didn't know she would ever be. No one could have imagined that a time would come when Draco Malfoy would be more trusted in the Order than Hermione Granger was.

After recounting what her account of happenings to Dumbledore, she went back to her apartment.

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She moved about listlessly for some time, having neither the heart nor the mind to do anything. It hurt her that she and Sirius had fought just before… this happened. She was extremely worried about him. Some instinct deep inside told her that he was in great trouble – she desperately wished that it was just her overactive imagination.

Exhausting herself after ceaseless pacing of her room, she threw herself on the bed, thinking. There was something wrong with the whole thing. No lingering presence of Dementors… the locked doors… someone who wanted Sirius dead…

Well, that does it, she thought irritably.

Putting on her Invisibility Cloak, she disapparated.

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"Bill?"

"Hermione?"

"Yes, it's me."

Bill moved aside to let her in. Once inside, Hermione took off the Cloak.

"Hermione, what are you doing here – at this time of night? What's happened?"

Hermione fell down wearily in a chair. "The disappearances, Bill."

"Snape and Sirius? What about it?"

"I have been thinking… it was something that Snape said before he went inside."

"Go on."

"He said he had more than one reason to believe that this was an inside job – when Draco was injured, you know. I think he went inside the Manor, then, but did not come back. And then, Sirius, too…"

"What do you mean?"

"There is somebody or something inside that Manor that's causing all this."

"Begin at the beginning," said Bill.

"Sirius was suspicious of Draco. He followed him to the Manor and he was there when the Manor was attacked. In fact, he was the one to tell me what had happened. I went there and found Snape. He left me to tend to Draco. When Draco woke up, he told me that someone was there who was ordering the Dementors. Someone who was behind Sirius…"

"Your conclusions?"

"This person is in the Malfoy Manor. I think that he went inside after attacking Draco. Though Draco says that they were looking for Sirius, but I think that attack on Draco was not out of plan. However, the problem is, no matter what we try, we can't go in that house."

Bill stared for some time at the fainting glow of the fire in the hearth. "Okay, first thing is to tell Dumbledore…"

"I…I had thought that you and I…"

"No, Hermione," interrupted Bill, "this is too dangerous. You do know who the person in that Manor might be, don't you?"

Hermione nodded, swallowing hard.

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They stood before the Malfoy Manor – Hermione, Bill, Draco, Remus, Moody and Dumbledore.

"There is definitely Dark Arts in this," said Moody, as he tried to break down the door.

"If it is him," said Bill, "then don't you think that he would want us to come in?"

"Not if Dumbledore is here," said Remus, glancing at the Hogwarts Headmaster, whose face was impassive.

"Professor, I think it is high time we used Dark Arts," said Hermione, struggling to keep the nervousness she felt out of her voice.

While Remus, Bill and Draco looked apprehensively at her, Moody nodded. "What the girl says makes sense, Dumbledore."

"Well," said the ancient wizard, "let it be so then."

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After quarter of an hour, Dumbledore and Moody, who alone in the company were well-versed in the Dark Arts, managed to break through the wards.

"That was very, very powerful," said Moody.

"Which would mean that Voldemort is here?" asked Hermione.

"Indeed. Now we search the house in two groups. Draco, Bill, you two come with me. Remus and Hermione, you will go with Alastor."

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Hermione edged slightly closer to Remus. She was beginning to feel the presence of Dementors. Her heart was beating faster and faster as they went down the corridor which seemed to have spare bedrooms on either side.

"There are no Dementors here," said Moody.

"But I can feel them so… close."

Remus put something in Hermione's hand. She looked down to find a piece of chocolate. She smiled her thanks to him.

"They must have gone away not long before we came."

"Can you see anybody else around?"

"No, nothing. But there are forms of magic which may escape my eye. There are ways to evade all forms of magic – even the magical eye."

They searched through the rooms with little result. There were no flames in the torches lining the corridor and Moody suggested that they put 'Cat-Eye Charm' on themselves rather than use the Flame or Lighting Charm.

It was quite eerie although there was hardly anything moving.

Maybe that is what is so eerie, thought Hermione.

There were so many possibilities of hidden doors and recesses that it took them a long time to finish up with that part of the corridor. Eventually, they decided to separate and take a room each.

Hermione stood in front of the mahogany door and tried some detecting charms on it. Nothing.

She slowly pushed open the door and entered the room quietly. She repressed her urge to light some candles and torches and set to search through the room.

It was a comparatively sparer room, with just one chair and a bureau besides the queen-sized bed. Hermione noticed that it did not have any windows, quite unlike all the other rooms. In any case, she decided to begin from the door – or what looked like a door near the bureau.

It could be a walk-in closet – just that, thought Hermione, trying to calm herself. The lingering effect of the Dementors was still disconcerting her.

Just as she reached for the doorknob, she heard a muffled scream and a dull 'thud'.

Heart racing, she spun around, wand outstretched in front of her in queering hands.

"Remus? Alastor?" she called out. Her voice sounded hoarse – almost as if a Dementor was closing in on her…

Gasping, she turned… No, no, no! No Dementors. Calm down!

She moved towards the room Remus had taken.

"Remus, are you in there? Remus, where are you?"

The door to that room was closed.

"Alohomora!"

Nothing.

"Remus?" she cried out, desperately.

"Scared, girl?"

A tearful scream escaped Hermione as she spun around to see a tall figure advancing towards her.

"S-Stop! I said… stop!"

Her hand was shaking so violently that the wand slipped out of her grasp.

A mirthless, malevolent laugh filled her ears. She wondered if her heart would burst. It was beating so fast!

"Poor, poor little wretched witch. Don't you know that you shouldn't interfere with powerful people's works?"

Cat-eye Charm was still on her. As the figure pulled back its hood, Hermione gasped. "Sirius!"

But he did not seem to have heard her as he closed in upon her. Hermione shrunk back against the door.

"Sirius?" she repeated again, trying to search for some sign of recognition in those deep, black eyes. She could find none.

Was he determinedly ignoring her? He never did… he hurt her, he slighted her, he suspected her, he made her feel mad and lonely, he was rude to her, but he saved her… he never truly ignored her, was never actually indifferent towards her.

And somehow, she did not want to believe that this was Sirius. He was not. Sirius worried about her. He did not injure her. And he was… so… beast-like.

"You'll pay! You'll pay for being such a bitch and harming the plans of the Dark Lord."

No, it wasn't Sirius! No way!

He pulled out his wand and pointed it to her neck. "Goodbye, li-…"

Hermione closed her eyes and let out an ear-piercing scream.

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And then… it was vague, but she could hear it…

"HERMIONE! OH MERLIN, HERMIONE, WAKE UP!"

With great effort, she opened her eyes.

"Remus?"

"It's me, all right!"

"What… what happened? Where's Sirius?"

"Sirius? You mean to say you found him?"

Hermione strained her memory as she looked around. She was huddled in front of the closed door.

"I don't know… I mean he was here…" she looked around, there must be some sign of him here.

"That was no Black, lassie," said Moody gruffly, "it was a Boggart. Remus and I had moved on further when we heard you scream."

"A Boggart? Just that?" Though he had scared her out of her wits, Hermione was devastated to find that Sirius had not been there. Well, at least it meant that he was not some absolutely appalling and hateful creature. It was a bittersweet joy.

"And now, I suggest that we move on. Stay with us!"

As Hermione followed Remus and Moody, she could not help feeling ashamed. She had been outdone by a simple Boggart! Oh Merlin! How very humiliating!

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It was just a faint light. She wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't bent down to retie her shoe-lace.

Remus and Alastor were searching some other place. She decided to investigate this. She was still angry with herself for being scared by a Boggart and wanted to prove that she wasn't such a coward after all.

She quickly performed some basic charms, but finding all results negative, she moved inside.

Lying on the floor, not far away, was Sirius, unconscious and with a strange rainbow-coloured aura surrounding him.

Her face breaking into a smile, in spite of al dangers, Hermione ran and knelt down by him.

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"Hermione?"

"It's me," she said softly, her fingers clasping his as she helped him up.

As she had performed the healing spells on him, the aura had faded away. Now that he was wide awake, it was no more.

"You can't stay here, Hermione, you have to go away," he said weakly.

"But, Sirius…"

"Listen to me, Hermione, please. Voldemort is here and he wants Harry. Tell Harry not to come here. He hasn't, has he?"

"Sirius! Harry is…"

"Not dead. That's the secret, isn't it? He's alive. Right?"

Sirius was smiling.

"No," replied Hermione, "that's not the secret."

"Voldemort has the same blood as Harry. That creates a special bond between them. Voldemort will die if he kills Harry, since Voldemort has taken Harry's blood. But if Voldemort dies, nothing will happen to Harry. He told me. He knows that Harry is alive. I am just bait."

Hermione's mind was racing. Oh Merlin! He believed the conclusions only Voldemort was meant to believe.

"No, Sirius. It's not like that. Please, come with me."

"No. I will destroy Voldemort. This is all I am living for – to protect Harry. I can kill Voldemort. Just make sure that Harry is safe."

Hermione's grip on his fingers tightened. "Sirius! Try to understand. You don't even have your wand!"

"Keep Harry safe, Hermione."

Hermione's heart seemed to break as she saw the hopeful look on Sirius' face. At that moment, she hated Harry and Bill. Because of that stupid promise, she won't be able to tell Sirius how wrong he was. That things had changed. That everything was now different.

"Sirius, no. Please, come with us."

"Us?"

"Remus, Alastor, Dumbledore, Bill and Draco are here, too. We are also searching for Snape."

"What happened to him?"

"He was captured, too."

"I don't know about that. Who cares about him anyway? Voldemort knows where his loyalties lie and I'll be surprised if he hasn't killed Snivellus already."

Hermione looked angrily at him. "I hope Snape is alive so that we can save him. And you are helping us search."

"Listen to me, Hermione…"

"No, you listen to me, Sirius Black. HARRY IS DEAD! Forget what Voldemort told you. He's dead. Harry's no more. There's no secret which you ought to be hopeful about."

And then she fell down, tears welling up in her eyes. Why? Why had she to scream it out? Why didn't Sirius understand it? Why was he making things difficult?

She looked up to see that he was staring down at her, shocked.

She got up and hugged him. "Please, Sirius, believe me."

He stood motionless. As if he was realising for the first time that his godson was no more.

"Mudblood Granger, is it? A very efficient secret-keeper. But you are going to tell it to me – I'll make you, in fact."

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Author's Note: In response to niccc's comment This is a repost. However, I had been unable to post this story beyond this chapter due to certain reasons and it had got deleted. But since it has now been completed, I thought I might as well put it up here.

Hearty thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story. You make my day!

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