Disclaimer: No matter how hard I wish I did, I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: I had to rewrite this chapter like 3 times because I couldn't decide how much I wanted to include. I ended up including more than I anticipated because otherwise it was too short and there wasn't enough plot development. So instead of being really short, it ended up rather long.Anyway I hope you all enjoy it. But first, to thank all the awesome people who reviewed chapter 15! I'm sorry I didn't write personal messages to everyone, but it was either write to everyone and delay the update, or update faster, so I hope you all agree with the choice I made.
Zuvalupa, Fire Angel, Karma Chameleon, LizMo721, Anonymous-139, torn to pieces, jesska-14, Sunflower18, Hermione Weasley192 – Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews! I hope you like this chapter!
SharkAttak – Wow, I'm speechless. Thank you so much, I'm thrilled that you think my fic is really that good. I you like this chapter just as much!
Sayaku-chan – I know what you mean about asking what happens, even though you don't really want to be told. I've always felt that the anticipation is half the fun anyway :o) I'm definitely glad to hear that your sanity is still in tact!
elektra30 – oops, thanks for catching that, I think after I finish the fic I'm gonna go back and fix all my typo's and mistakes like that then repost it, so thanks for helping me catch the small errors. I'm not exactly sure how the imperius curse works, so with the way I've tried to write it, the person who is being cursed has the ability to fight back if their will-power is strong enough, that's why Draco fights hardest around Hermione, she gives him the strength to do what he isn not strong enough to do on his own.
Chapter 16: It's Over
Once he had retreated to the solitude of his own room, Draco's anger disappeared rather quickly. Without Hermione to spark the rebellion within him, there was nothing to occupy his mind, and therefore nothing to muddle his thoughts. Yet welling deep within him, like a volcano slowly building to the point of explosion, there was an intense anger. With Hermione out of sight the voice may have become silent, but it was not done raging. Draco's will-power was gradually building up strength; the real Draco wanted to fight the curse that was upon him. The real Draco knew that he had to overpower the Dark Lord's curse, but finding the strength almost impossibly difficult. His will-power was undoubtedly strongest when Hermione was around, but it was not yet strong enough to win the battle.
Draco, whose conscience was unaware of the real him lurking deep down in his soul, slept soundly with the blissfully disturbing emptiness that the curse provided. He awoke the next morning with barely a thought of what had happened with Hermione the night before. He did recall that they had fought, and the voice which was controlling him didn't give a damn about Hermione, so Draco didn't attempt to wake her up before he left for breakfast.
Hermione had chosen to sleep in the Gryffindor girls' dormitory that night. Her old bed was still empty in her old dorm, so she slept there. She spoke with her old roommates a little before she went to sleep, even though she was not at all keen to talk. She was still fuming over the fight with Draco when she finally fell asleep.
She seemed to have gone over her fight with Draco continuously in her sleep and she did not like the feeling it had left her with when she woke up. Guilt. 'Honestly,' she thought to herself, 'so what if I saw something in his eyes, it was probably just his anger with me for confronting him like I did. He was right, he didn't even really do anything to deserve me going off on him the way I did.' She sighed dejectedly. Normally when they fought, Hermione was able to place at least some of the blame on Draco. This time however, she knew it was all her fault. She was not looking forward to apologizing to him because he had been right; she hated admitting that she was wrong.
With a heavy sigh, she forced herself out of bed. In the common room, all the Gryffindors were talking in loud excited tones; it took Hermione a moment to remember that there was a quidditch game today. Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw, if Gryffindor won, they would be competing against Slytherin in the running for the quidditch cup.
Hermione tried to bypass everyone without being seen, but Ginny caught her before she could maneuver her way through the crowd. "Hermione where are you going?" We're all just about to head down to breakfast."
"I'll meet you guys there," Hermione practically had to shout to be heard over all the excitement. "I want to get changed into some clean clothes first." Ginny nodded, and Hermione shoved her way through the crowd, then out the portrait until she was finally able to breathe in the hall.
She could feel her nerves tighten with every step she took. 'Please don't be mad, please don't be mad,' she kept repeating to herself. It seemed to take much longer than usual to reach the Founders portrait, but when she did, she stopped to take a deep breath.
"Looks like someone finally found her way home," joked the painting of Godric. He and Rowena were sitting in their chairs, Godric was smiling, but Rowena looked concerned.
"That sounded like some fight you two had last night," said Rowena.
Hermione immediately felt the heat rush to her cheeks, "you could hear us huh?"
"It was rather difficult not to," laughed Godric heartily.
"I just hope that Draco accepts my apology. I'm kind of afraid to face him at the moment," admitted Hermione shyly.
"Well, you don't need to worry about that right now," said Rowena, "he left about five minutes ago."
"He did?" Hermione couldn't decide whether she should be relieved or disappointed, "did he seem upset?"
"Not particularly," mused Godric, "although it is rather difficult to tell with Slytherins isn't it?" he added, clearly not only thinking about Draco.
Hermione let out a hollow laugh, "well thank you, but I really must be going now. Your two houses will be competing against each other in quidditch today."
"Really!" the two founders shouted excitedly.
Hermione said the password, and then chuckled softly and listened to the founders' debate over which of their houses would win as their voices faded along with the closing of the portrait. She didn't bother to check Draco's room, instead she just went straight to her room to quickly wash up and get changed.
Ten minutes later, Hermione was one hallway away from the Great Hall when she heard the doors open and a set of solitary footsteps moving briskly through the empty hall. She could hear a male voice; he seemed to be muttering something to himself. Hermione chose to remain hidden in the hallway until the person passed. She watched from the shadows as Blaise Zabini passed by, he was reading a piece of parchment, and apparently talking to himself in response to whatever the parchment said. "Finally," she heard him mutter excitedly, "now to make sure the preparations are set."
Hermione frowned. She did not like the sound of what he had said, nor the manner in which he had said it one bit. It sounded like he and whoever the letter writer was were plotting something. 'But,' she reminded herself, 'even if that creep Zabini is planning something, that doesn't mean that Draco has anything to do with it.'
She slowly emerged from the hallway into the Entrance Hall and spared a quick backward glance in the direction that Zabini had gone. She would have continued pondering what she had heard, but once she opened the doors to the Great Hall, all of her thoughts were drowned out by the thunderous commotion that blasted over her. Once she sat down, even she began to feel the excitement of the impending quidditch match seeping into her. She had no doubt that Gryffindor would win, but it was always exciting to see Harry and Ron play.
Soon, the Gryffindor team left amidst thunderous applause from the Gryffindor table and an equally loud chorus of boos from the Slytherins (including, to Hermione's annoyance, Draco). When the Ravenclaw team left, the Slytherin boos turned to cheers, since the Slytherins had already beaten Ravenclaw, they were rooting for them to beat Gryffindor.
Shortly after the two teams left, the mob of students trampled down to the quidditch stands, everyone was eager for an exciting game. Hermione seated herself in between Ginny and Lavender, and then directed her eyes to center of the pitch, anxiously awaiting the teams' arrival. Ravenclaw came out first. They were greeted by raucous cheers from the Slytherins and Ravenclaws, polite applause from the Hufflepuffs, and stony silence from the Gryffindors. The cheers were not quite as loud for the Gryffindors, mostly due to the fact that the Slytherins were so keen on making their boos and taunts heard.
All through breakfast, Draco had felt an inexplicable feeling of anticipation that had nothing to do wit the quidditch match. The voice in his head seemed to be looking forward to something much bigger and more important that some silly quidditch game.
Draco was walking down to the pitch along with the rest of the crowd when a hand grabbed him roughly, and caused him to stumble backward, "what gives?" he spat as he whipped around to face the person responsible. He found himself face to face with Blaise.
The other students kept moving passed them. Blaise was looking excitedly at Draco, "today's the day," he whispered.
"The day for what?" asked Draco, completely stumped, but excited nonetheless.
"Come on, and I'll remind you," whispered Blaise maliciously. He led Draco into the dungeons. There was literally no one inside the castle as everyone was tromping outside to watch the quidditch game.
"What's this all about?" Draco asked as they entered the empty common room.
"After the quidditch match, you will lead the mu . . . you will lead Granger to the edge of the forest," Blaise had almost said 'the mudblood' but he stopped himself. He didn't want to risk provoking Draco to rebel again, not when they were this close to finishing the plot. Blaise continued giving Draco instruction, "there will be a portkey waiting for you at the edge of the forest by the greenhouses, you'll know it when you see it. You and Granger will take the portkey to its destination, and then, we will be finished with this," Blaise finished with relish.
The majority of Draco's brain agreed with what Blaise was saying. The cold voice in his head was telling him to do the same thing. The voice was ordering Draco so strongly that there was little room for Draco's mind to rebel.
The match was invigorating, but the Gryffindors were relying on Harry to catch the snitch because Gryffindor was behind by 40 points. Both teams were playing exceptionally, but despite Ron's improved ability at being a keeper, the Ravenclaw chasers were simply too good at faking him out. So they managed to get passed him several times. The Ravenclaw seeker had attempted the Wronski Feint once already to deceive Harry, but Harry's sharp eyes were not to be fooled.
After over half an hour of play, the Gryffindors were getting anxious. But the snitch had yet to make an appearance, and the match was beginning to get rough. No quidditch matches were ever as blatantly violent as those between Slytherin and Gryffindor, but this one was getting awfully close. Several players would be nursing serious bruises when the match was over.
Finally, after nearly an hour of play, Harry spotted the tiny golden snitch. The Ravenclaw seeker spotted it as well, but his broom could never rival the speed of Harry's Firebolt. Everyone held their breath as Harry skillfully wove his way around the other players and bludgers. The snitch changed direction, now it was heading upwards. Harry followed and with a burst of speed, and caught it tightly in his fist.
The Ravenclaws and Slytherins groaned, but their disappointment was drowned out by the booming cheers from the scarlet and gold supporters. Hermione joined the rest of the Gryffindors as they cheered and flooded the field to congratulate Harry and the rest of the team. She beamed at Harry and Ron, and then gave both of them congratulatory hugs.
"Party in common room!" someone shouted, and the mob of Gryffindors began to move towards the castle, still talking and cheering excitedly. Hermione was never one to be in the center of the excitement, so she strayed towards the back of the crowd. She followed them into the castle, but once she was in the entrance hall, someone called her name, causing her to stop. She saw Draco leaning against the wall by the entrance to the dungeons.
"Hi," she said cautiously. She was suddenly reminded of the huge fight they had had the night before. Deciding not to beat around the bush, she spoke up, "Draco, I wanted to apologize for last night. You were right; I had no reason to blow up at you like that." She paused, "I'm sorry."
To her relief, Draco smiled. But his smile did not quite reach his eyes, which seemed completely expressionless. Not cold exactly, just lacking in emotion. "I forgive you," he said smoothly, causing Hermione to smile. Draco pushed himself off of the wall, and strode towards her.
Hermione maintained her smile, but remained rather wary of his actions. She was again feeling that something was not right, though she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Was it just her, or had Draco accepted her apology a little too easily? It wasn't like him to be that forgiving or easy to deal with. She looked up at him standing in front of her. "Was there something you wanted?" she asked, "because I have a celebration to get to."
Draco rolled his eyes, "actually there is." He smirked mischievously, "come with me." He grabbed her wrist and started to lead her back outside.
"Draco!" she protested lightly, "can't this wait for some other time, I want to go to the party."
Draco turned back and kissed her, he only backed away slightly to speak, "this won't take long, I promise."
Hermione could feel his hot enticing breath against her lips as he spoke. Her curiosity quickly got the better of her. "Well, I suppose I could spare a few minutes then," she agreed.
Draco smiled, and began quickly leading her across the grounds towards the greenhouses.
The party had been going on in the Gryffindor common room for a good 20 minutes before Ron noticed that someone was missing, "Hey Harry!" he called over all the din, "have you seen Hermione?"
"Umm, no, I haven't," answered Harry, shouting above the noise. "Maybe she went to her common room."
"Do you really think she'd skip out on the party to go there?" asked Ron.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged.
"I'm gonna go get her to come down for a while, she should be enjoying the party too," decided Ron.
Harry shrugged again, and then turned to talk to some of the other Gryffindors, while Ron maneuvered his way through the crowded common room to the portrait door. He jogged down to the Founders portrait. "Hi," he said to the founders when he got there.
"Did we win!" asked Godric excitedly.
"What? Oh, err yeah, we beat them by 110 points," answered Ron.
"Yes!" cheered Godric.
But Ron frowned; surely Hermione would have told them the outcome of the match if she had been by. "Umm, you haven't by any chance seen Hermione have you?" he asked.
"No," answered Helga, "we haven't seen her or Draco since breakfast."
Ron's eyes went wide, "thank you for your help," he muttered to the founders. He ran back to the Gryffindor common room to get Harry. Something wasn't right, Hermione was somewhere with that snake. But last night she hadn't even wanted to be in the same room as him, so what was going on?
Ron barged into the common room, and dragged Harry into the corner. "Harry, where's the map?"
"What? Why?" asked Harry with confusion.
"She's somewhere with Malfoy, I'm sure of it, I just want to know where cause neither of them have been to the common room since breakfast," answered Ron.
Harry started, then without a word, he led Ron up to their dormitory to get the marauders map. Harry rummaged through his trunk and pulled it out. He put the tip of his wand to it, and whispered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." He held the map open for both him and Ron to scan. His eyes instantly went to the heads common room, the library, and the dungeons, but he didn't see her or Malfoy anywhere, "Do you see them?" asked Harry, thinking that he just missed them somewhere.
"No, I was hoping you did," answered Ron with trepidation.
The boys scanned the map thoroughly for a couple more minutes until they finally determined that neither Hermione nor Malfoy were anywhere to be found on the Hogwarts grounds. Harry dropped the map, but Ron continued looking at it, but as soon as Harry had stopped concentrating to intently on searching, he realized that his scar had begun burning slightly again. He raised his hand to it, Hermione and Malfoy were missing, and it was too much to hope that the burning had nothing to do with their disappearance. "We've got to go tell Dumbledore," he said suddenly.
"Yeah," breathed Ron, looking worried.
Harry pocketed the map and the two boys raced out of the dormitory.
"Blaise! Blaise! Pansy! I told you they left already!" Crabbe said harshly to Goyle, who was scanning the dungeons for Blaise and or Pansy.
Crabbe and Goyle had been searching the Dungeons for Blaise and Pansy for 20 minutes already, ever since the quidditch game ended.
"He's going to kill us if we're late!" warned Goyle.
"I know that you moron," shouted Crabbe with annoyance as they passed professor Snape's office.
Snape heard the last two calls of the two gorilla-like Slytherins as they passed. "Crabbe! Goyle!" he barked at them. The two stopped and entered his office.
"Professor? What are you doing here?" asked Crabbe.
"Yeah, aren't you going to the ceremony?" asked Goyle stupidly.
Professor Snape furrowed his brow slightly; he decided to play along to find out what was going on. "Of course, I just have a few things to finish up here first," he said silkily, "are you both looking forward to it?" he asked, hoping the two would be stupid enough to give him some valuable information.
He was in luck, "Of course professor," answered Crabbe excitedly, "aren't you happy that Lucius is finally going to kill that annoying mudblood?"
Professor Snape kept his shock inside, so as not to give anything away. "It is terribly exciting," he drawled, "remind me, when and where does this glorious event take place?"
"It's starting any minute professor at the initiation grounds, so we better go. See you there!" said Crabbe as he rushed Goyle out of the room.
"Draco where are we going?" asked Hermione as he led her towards the edge of the forest. The grounds were now deserted and Hermione couldn't imagine what Draco was so eager to show her, but the further he led her away from the castle, the greater the sense of foreboding stirring in her stomach grew, and she began to struggle against him. But despite her hesitation and noises of protest, he gripped her tighter and pulled her harder. They finally stopped at the edge of the forest by the greenhouses. Draco began searching for something on the ground, but he didn't let go of Hermione's wrist. He pulled her arm rather roughly as he continued his search. His grip had grown surprisingly tight, so tight in fact that it was beginning to hurt. "Draco let go, you're hurting me," Hermione whimpered, she was actually scared with the way he was behaving now. No matter how angry he had ever gotten with her, he had never physically hurt her.
"Shut up," ordered Draco. But the voice that spoke was not the Draco Hermione knew. The Draco that spoke had a harsh voice that was as cold as ice.
Hermione froze, "Draco stop! I want to go back in!" there was a definite plea in her voice now.
Inside his head, the real Draco tried to rebel. It shouted orders to let Hermione go, but Lord Voldemort's commands were so powerful that Draco didn't even stand a chance. Finally Draco found what he had been commanded to look for, "aha!" he cried as he made to pick it up.
Hermione looked around him to see what it was, and what she saw made her heart stop. It was a scrap of parchment . . . a scrap of parchment with the symbol of the Dark Mark clearly printed on it in red ink. Hermione didn't even have time to run, for as soon as his fingers touched the parchment, the two of them were wrenched off their feet and sent hurtling through the air. Hermione felt as if her arm was going to be pulled out of its socket, but Draco's grip was unrelenting.
Finally, after traveling what much have been hundreds of miles, they landed with a thud in the center of a large clearing, surrounded by a forest of dense trees. The sky was quickly growing dark as the sun set; it was just about touching the tops of the trees. Draco still hadn't let got of Hermione's arm, so he pulled her roughly off the ground into a standing position. Hermione whimpered at the shooting pains in her arm, and looked around the clearing. She couldn't see anything beyond the trees, and she felt completely trapped. Draco finally let go of her arm, and she bolted a safe distance away so he could not grab her again. She massaged her wrist gently; she was hurt to see that a deep purple bruise had already begun to form. She could see a perfect outline of where Draco's fingers had been wrapped around so tightly her. "Take me back now!" she demanded. Her voice thankfully was steady and strong, so it did not betray any of the fear that she felt inside.
"Leaving so soon? But the party hasn't even begun," said a drawling voice Hermione had not heard in nearly a year, yet was still only too familiar with. Hermione whipped around to face the speaker and instinctively drew her wand, sure enough, she found herself face to face with Lucius Malfoy. He was stalking towards her with an evil glint in his eye and a cruel smirk on his face. Even when he was fully in the clearing, he was still mostly in shadow, because by now the sun had sunk below the tops of the trees. Hermione was breathing heavily, and she was backing away from Lucius when he spoke again, "we can't have you leave now; you're our guest of honor." There were several low chuckles following Lucius' words and Hermione looked around to see that more masked figures had stepped out of the forest, surrounding her and Draco in a circle.
She didn't know who to face, and she did her best to hide her fear. But the Death Eaters were closing in on her, and they seemed to sense her fear. She kept whipping around; she didn't like having Death Eaters all around her. She glanced desperately at Draco, but he seemed completely oblivious to everything, as if he truly didn't care. Her gaze lingered on him for a split second too long, for while she was still, two Death Eaters seized her tightly, and dragged her to the circle. Hermione screamed, and thrashed about in an attempt to escape, but the Death Eaters who held her were massive, and she could not remove herself from their grasp. Instead her struggling and cries only served to amuse the Death Eaters, their sniggers were like taunts. She was trapped. A muggle-born in a ring of Death Eaters, she didn't stop her struggle even though she knew it was hopeless. She was not going to give up and she was not going to give in to them without a fight. Across the circle, one man stepped forward and aimed his wand at her. Hermione could see his pale, nearly white hands, and his long spidery fingers around the wand. Hermione gasped, this was no Death Eater, this was Lord Voldemort himself, she struggled even harder, awaiting her own death.
Draco watched as the Death Eaters grabbed Hermione. Something inside him jolted, "stop them!" the real Draco demanded. "Do something! Do not let them hurt her!" Draco actually did step to obey the voice before the Dark Lord's voice ordered him to remain still, Draco brought his hands to his head trying to clear his mind and decide which voice to listen to.
Voldemort chucked, his wand was still pointed at Hermione, "silencio" he whispered coldly.
Hermione's cries of struggle went dead, and out of surprise, she stopped fighting. 'Why didn't he kill me?' she thought with fear.
Voldemort chuckled again, and as if he could read her mind, he spoke in an icy snakelike voice, "Have no fear, my dear mudblood, you shall die. But before you do, we will leave you with no doubt in your mind that no one escapes the power of Lord Voldemort."
Hermione stared at Voldemort, but his attention had turned to someone else, Draco. She too looked at Draco, she had actually forgotten to continue struggling, she didn't want to believe that anything was going to happen to Draco, were they going to kill him first? Or maybe they would just torture him then kill her. She was rather frightened at the sight of Draco, his eyes were closed, and his face was scrunched up as if he were in pain.
"Draco Malfoy!" bellowed Voldemort. "come here and stand before Lord Voldemort."
Instantly Draco's own voice was once again silenced, Draco's head snapped to attention and he obeyed Voldemort's command.
Hermione was shouting at Draco to stop, but her pleas were still rendered silent by the silencio charm that had been cast on her. She was leaning forward, as if hoping she would be able to run to him and stop him from obeying so willingly.
Voldemort continued speaking, "Now, repeat after me. I, Draco Malfoy, pledge to Lord Voldemort my lifetime of service."
Hermione's eyes went wide, and she thrashed about even more, silent screams of protest issuing from her mouth as Draco monotonously recited Voldemort's words.
Voldemort continued, "and as a Death Eaters I pledge to help cleanse the world of all whose blood is not pure."
Draco again repeated Voldemort's words without even a flinch. Hermione felt a tear fall down her cheek. She was desperate to stop him, but it was too late. He had taken the pledge, he was becoming a Death Eater.
Professor Snape waited until the footsteps of Crabbe and Goyle had completely faded; he then rushed out of his office. His cloak billowed out behind him all the way through the castle until he reached the gargoyle statue. He muttered the password, and cursed their staircase for not moving up faster. He did not bother to knock on the door, instead he charged directly in, "Headmaster!" he cried urgently.
"Yes Sevreus?" asked professor Dumbledore, he stood. The urgency in Snape's tone concerned him, for Snape never lost his cool.
Snape opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Harry and Ron, bursting into the office, both out of breath. Professor McGonagall was following them, looking very confused. "I'm sorry Albus, but Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley said they had an emergency!"
"It's Hermione!" cried Ron in between breaths, "she's missing somewhere with Malfoy, they're not anywhere on the grounds!"
Professor Dumbledore gave them a penetrating gaze, but before he spoke, Snape interrupted. "That is what I came to speak with you about professor. I have just been informed that there is some sort of ceremony going on possibly right now, from what I was told, Miss Granger's life is in danger."
Dumbledore's eyes flashed, professor McGonagall gasped, and Harry and Ron stood dumbstruck. "Do you know where they are Severus?"
"Yes," answered Snape.
Dumbledore conjured an old shoe out of thin air with his wand, "Severus, please have this transport us to the appropriate location, with any luck we will make it in time. Minerva, you will stay here in charge of the school." Professor McGonagall nodded.
"We're coming too!" demanded Harry, stepping bravely forward.
Professor Dumbledore gave both Harry and Ron one of his penetrating looks, and seemed to feel that too much time would be wasted by attempting to restrain them. "Very well," he replied. "Severus, is it ready?"
"Yes Headmaster," answered Snape.
"Everyone, grab a hold."
The four men grabbed onto the old shoe, and in an instant felt as if a large hook was pulling them by their navel through the air. They crashed up against each other as they traveled what seemed to be a very long way. Harry was thankful that he wasn't standing next to Snape; he didn't like the thought of crashing up against him. Finally they landed unceremoniously in a small wooded area there bodies each thudded loudly on the ground. As soon as they landed, they heard it, the painful screams of a young woman coupled with the sound of a man bellowing the most unforgivable curse of all. "Hermione!" Harry and Ron whispered in shock together.
Lord Voldemort smiled an evil snakelike grin, "kneel down, and present your left forearm."
Draco dropped to his knees, and raised the left sleeve of his robe. But he paused. The rebellious voice in the back of his mind was back. It was shouting at him to stand, shouting at him to walk away, to fight rather than to give in. In a daze, Draco slowly lifted his arm to the Dark Lord anyway. But even as he did so, he was concentrating more and more on the voice telling him to stop.
Voldemort inched his wand towards Draco's arm, but before he touched it, the silence of the night was broken,
"DRACO STOP! DON'T DO IT!" Hermione had finally regained the use of her voice. Voldemort glared at her, and Draco turned to her, and stood up.
'Hermione,' he thought. 'I have to save Hermione.
Voldemort could was enraged by Draco's actions. He was not about to let Draco fight the curse. It outraged him, the fact that some pathetic filthy mudblood had so much power over a pure-blood. She had power a man who should have been a very powerful wizard, one who in Voldemorts mind belonged amongst his followers, a man over whom only Voldemort should have had control. In one swift motion, Voldemort forced his wand upon Draco's left arm. The pain was sudden and excruciating but Draco did not scream. The pain had distracted him and taken his attention away from the voice telling him to fight. Now all he could hear was the icy voice telling him this is what he must do. Draco felt as if his arm was being pierced by thousands of tiny needles, all of which were on fire with the heat of the sun. The pain consumed him entirely, and against his will, he dropped to his knees, clutching his newly branded arm. The Mark itself was horribly ugly, the skull and serpent seemed to rise from beneath Draco's skin. It was as if the disgusting tattoo was made of Draco's own blood. But unlike blood, the Mark could not be washed away, and Draco's blood never burned black when it was touched like the Mark did.
As if they were from another world, Draco heard the cheers of the Death Eaters surrounding him. Yet amidst the clatter, he heard another sort of cry, a cry of agony and defeat. That was the sound to which Draco's head turned. Her cries seemed to resonate within his skull, but he didn't know what to do about them. The voice inside him was shouting at the top of it's lungs to go to her, and confusion was overwhelming Draco. He could not decide which voice to listen to. The icy voice was much louder, but this other voice seemed to be making much more sense. Draco found that he had a strong, yet inexplicable desire to follow the weaker voice. This decision seemed to make the voice grow louder and more determined.
"DRACO!" Hermione cried. "How could you!"
In a whirl of confusion Draco could see the salty tears pouring down her cheeks. But why was she crying, he was only doing what he was supposed to. What was so wrong? From deep inside Draco felt the drive to comfort her, to hold her, to wipe away her tears and assure her that everything would be alright.
Hermione was unable to control her desperate sobs, she didn't care. Draco had just betrayed not only her, but himself as well, she knew she was going to die, and she didn't care anymore, so she just let the tears fall.
"Shut up mudblood!" roared the all too familiar voice of Lucius Malfoy from beneath his black hood.
The attention of the entire circle turned to the sobbing girl and the Death Eater who was preparing to torture her. A good long torture before death was the sort of sport Death Eaters loved, and they were thirsting for her pain. With their attention occupied elsewhere, no one noticed that their newest member had shot to attention at the sound of the word mudblood. Draco's eyes were flashing. What had once been the weaker voice inside him was now easily loud enough to rival the icy voice that had once been dominating him. He cringed angrily at the word mudblood. He looked over at Hermione, seeing her clearly for the first time all night. He saw her hopeless tears falling into small puddles at her knees. A part of him knew that the scene was not right.
Draco saw his father aiming his wand at Hermione, Draco's brow furrowed, and his own hand, guided by his own self within him, absentmindedly reached for his own wand inside his pocket. The next moments passed in a blur for most everyone. So many things happened all at once that no one was quite sure what to make of anything. Hermione shot her head up and glared loathingly directly into Draco's eyes. But they only met for a brief second, for it was then that Lucius bellowed "CRUCIO!"
Hermione's eyes closed in immense pain, so she did not see Draco's reaction. It was as if a jolt of lightning shot through him, he blinked a few times, and glowered at Lucius. Before he even realized that he had regained control of himself, he aimed his wand at Lucius' heart and for the first time in his life, he roared "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
As he was shouting the words, there was a series of loud thuds, and mass panic ensued. Spells were flying everywhere, as the Death Eaters scattered around to figure out what was happening. Voldemort, who was not prepared for a duel quickly assessed the situation "GET OUT!" he ordered before dissaparating just in time to prevent being hit by one of Dumbledore's spells.
The Death Eaters began dissapparating away immediately after their Master . . . well not all of them. Draco seemed to be frozen, he wand still pointing directly at Lucius' dead body, which was seemingly unharmed except for the look of mild shock on his face. Hermione was lying on her stomach not to far from Lucius' body. She was breathing, even from a distance Draco could tell that, and it brought him immense relief to know that she was alright. He lowered his wand and made to comfort her, when someone stopped him by grabbing his robes. "Draco move!" shouted Pansy. "Come on!" she tried to force him to move, but he remained frozen in his place. He was still attempting to process everything that had happened; he couldn't recall what he had done before he had regained control of his conscience.
Distantly he heard footsteps running towards him, "Draco get out!" cried Pansy one last time.
"STUPIFY!" shouted Ron. Pansy dissapparated before the spell could reach her, but Draco, who had not moved an inch, was hit full force with the stunning spell.
Once Draco was stunned, the chaos cleared. Professor Snape, who had been lurking completely in shadow, walked to the center of the clearing and hovered over Draco, but did not attempt to revive him. Professor Dumbledore, Harry and Ron tended to Hermione. Luckily, Lucius' cruciatus curse hadn't lasted that long, so she awoke within a few short moments. When they saw her eyelids flutter open, Harry and Ron both breathed a huge sigh of relief. The moment Hermione saw them clearly; she launched herself at them sobbing. The two boys quickly overcame the surprise at her actions, and they both held her and whispered words of comfort to her.
Once her sobs subsided, and Dumbledore was sure that she was alright (physically at least), Dumbledore stood, "Now I must go revive Mr. Malfoy," he began walking to where Draco's stunned body lay.
Hermione's first thought was concern for Draco. But when she looked upon his body, her mind recalled all that had happened that night. Two words came to her mind loud and clear 'Death Eater'. She saw Dumbledore draw his wand and direct the tip towards Draco. Hermione shot up and shrieked, "No professor don't! He's a Death Eater!"
Dumbledore stopped and turned towards Hermione with a slight look of skepticism. "Miss Granger?"
Hermione began to breathe in and out so hard that she nearly caused herself to hyperventilate. Tears of anger began trickling down her face as she spoke, "that's what they were doing here. I saw him take the pledge, I saw Lord Voldemort brand him. They were going to Mark him, and then kill me. Just look at his arm." Hermione's tears had stopped, as if she were emotionally dried up; she was glowering at Draco with a look of complete revulsion. Every word she spoke was dripping with hate.
Snape bent down and slid up Draco's left sleeve. Even he gasped in shock. There it was, the foul blood red symbol of the Dark Mark. Hermione nearly vomited at the sight of the snake barring its teeth and protruding from the skulls mouth like a grotesque tongue.
Right before their eyes, the Mark turned from blood red to black, it stood out terribly against Draco's pale skin. At the same moment, Snape winced and grabbed his left forearm, and Harry's hand shot up to his scar as he cringed with sudden pain.
"Headmaster?" Snape asked, he needn't state his question, Dumbledore knew what he was asking.
Dumbledore nodded, and with a pop, Snape dissaperated. No one asked where he was going; they all knew he was going to the Death Eater gathering. Once Snape was gone, Dumbledore stared down at Draco, apparently thinking hard. Harry was watching him intently, doing his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. Hermione couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the revolting mark on Draco's arm no matter how much she wanted to. Ron meanwhile had his arm around Hermione's waist and was gazing at her worriedly.
After a moment, Dumbledore raised his wand and shot a silvery thing in the shape of a bird out into the night. No one spoke; the Earth itself seemed unnaturally still and silent. Even the faint breeze failed to make a sound as it brushed gently passed them. All eyes were staring at Draco. Everyone stood motionless, as if they were waiting for something to happen. To Hermione it was all one horrible nightmare, she couldn't speak, she couldn't cry, she couldn't feel. There was suddenly a huge void in her heart, like a black hole that was sucking her dry of all emotion. It was a space that she felt could never be filled again.
After a while, she found that she could no longer look at him. The sight was beginning to bring a feeling of such intense and deep sadness that she couldn't even begin to describe it. But still no tears fell; it was as if she didn't even have the energy to cry. She hated him, oh how she hated him and all he had ever put her through. He had stolen her heart, taken her on an emotional roller coaster, and now he had left her with a shattered heart . . . again.
She tore her eyes away from Draco, and wrenched herself from Ron's grasp. Without a word, she turned her back on the group and walked away. Once she was a considerable distance from them, she dropped down and sat with her knees to her chest. The boys and Dumbledore watched her, expecting to hear her cry. They were terribly disturbed when they heard nothing. Harry and Ron looked at each other, their expressions were silently asking each other if they should go comfort her, or if they should leave her be.
Before they could decide, there was a loud pop and Kingsley Shacklebolt apparated next to Dumbledore. "You sent for me Albus?" he asked, looking questioningly at the three students in front of him. His back was to Draco, so he did not notice him; he did however notice Lucius' dead body lying face up in the dirt. "My God!" what happened?" he asked in shock.
"There was an initiation tonight," Dumbledore answered solemnly.
"There are new Death Eaters?" Kinsley clarified.
"Just one, he's right behind you," Dumbledore gestured to Draco's body.
Kingsley turned and gasped, "he's not . . ."
"No, just stunned," answered Dumbledore.
"But I thought we all agreed that he was safe," said Kingsley.
"We did, but you can see the Mark, and Miss Granger was witness to the initiation." Dumbledore paused, "Draco Malfoy is a Death Eater."
While Kingsley and Dumbledore spoke, Ron walked cautiously over to Hermione. Harry followed close behind, neither spoke as they sat next to her; neither knew exactly what to say. Ron began rubbing her back, but she seemed to take no notice. She was staring off into oblivion; her eyes were not even glassy. Her friends had never seen her so devoid of emotion as she was right then. To them, seeing her react like that was by far the most surprising and frightening thing they had experienced all night.
Harry leaned over and tried to catch Hermione's eye, "Hermione?" No response. "Hermione are you okay?" Still nothing. Harry and Ron glanced at each other behind Hermione's back.
"Hermione, come on, it's just us, we're here for you," whispered Ron soothingly. After a few moments where the only sounds were those of Dumbledore and Kingsley discussing something in low voices. Ron made another brave attempt at getting her to speak, "Hermione please say something."
In a motion as fast as lightning Hermione shoved herself off the ground and glared venomously at Ron, her eyes were flashing dangerously, "what the fuck do you want me to say!"
Harry and Ron were so shocked at her sudden raging outburst that they just looked blankly at her with their mouths agape.
"Come on!" she continued ranting, "tell me! What! Do you want me to say that I'm fine? That's I'll be alright? That things will be better with time?" Hermione paused to suck in a breath. "Well I'm not fine, and I don't think I'll ever be alright ever again! Now are you happy!" Hermione turned and stormed further away from them. They watched her with pained expressions as she paced back and forth, unable to calm herself. It killed them to see one of their best friends in such pain. But deep down they both knew that there was nothing they could do or say to help her, not yet at least.
Dumbledore approached Harry and Ron stoically, "come," he said softly, "it is time you three return to the school."
Harry looked from Dumbledore to Draco," what's going to happen to him?"
Hermione, even from her position apart from the group, heard the question. She looked backward, her gaze shifting between Dumbledore and Draco, awaiting the answer.
"Kingsley is taking him in tonight. There will be a trial, but from now until he is sentenced, he will remain in Azkaban."
Harry watched silently as Kinsley magically bound Draco with tight cords. Once Draco was tied up tight, Kingsley pointed his wand at him and muttered "ennervate."
Draco moaned as he woke up again. Hermione returned to where the group was, and then she, Harry, and Ron glared at Draco. Before he had even been able to gather his surroundings, he realized that he was tied up, "hey!" he shouted, thrashing about in an attempt to escape, "what the hell is going on!" he demanded as he looked around wildly. To his surprise, his eyes found no Death Eaters; instead he saw professor Dumbledore, some other adult wizard, Potter, Weasley, and Hermione. 'But why is she looking at me so angrily?' he wondered. Even before Kingsley spoke, Draco's brain began to put the pieces together. He was branded and caught; they all thought he was really a Death Eater . . . 'she thinks I'm a Death Eater," he realized dejectedly.
"Draco Malfoy," said Kingsley in a loud and stern voice, "you are under arrest for being a Death Eater. You are hereby sentenced to imprisonment in Azkaban until your trial, at which time your case will be reviewed by the Wizengamot."
The words had little meaning to Draco as he stared at Hermione. 'She just has to believe me!' he thought desperately. But his desperate stare only served to harden her cruel glare at him. He shook his head, "no!" he cried. "Hermione! It wasn't me! They put me under the imperius curse! I swear it was never me, I am not a Death Eater!"
Hermione balled her fists, and her eyes glistened with rage. Draco's desperate pleas were falling upon deaf ears, for she refused to listen to him any longer. Dumbledore put his hand gently on her shoulder to guide her away, but she brushed it away and charged towards Draco. She restrained herself from hitting him only she was repulse by the thought of touching him. "You," she said through clenched teeth. "I saw you take the oath, I was watching the whole time screaming at you not to do it. But I saw you!" She looked directly into Draco's eyes, but the hatred she felt for him blinded her to the sincerity and vulnerability that his eyes were disclosing to her. If she had not been so blinded by hate, she would have seen the swirling emotions that had been absent from his eyes for so long. Yet she continued her rant, never once breaking eye contact, not even to blink, "you are foul, dirty, loathsome, disgusting, and pathetic. You are a worthless traitor and you deserve whatever punishment you get!" She stomped back to Harry and Ron, both of whom were glaring at Malfoy with unmatched hatred. Once she returned to them, Ron pulled Hermione into a hug. She did not return the gesture, but she didn't push away either.
Draco took everything she said without a sound or even a flinch. What had he expected? Sympathy? Forgiveness? She had no reason to believe him, there was no evidence other than his word, and his word was as good as dirt at the moment. He watched as she stormed away, leaving him forever. He watched as Weasley wrapped his lanky arms around her, comforting her, Draco felt a violent stirring of jealousy in his chest at the sight, but there was nothing he could do about it. Draco hung his head and closed his eyes. It was all over.
A/N: Just so we're all clear, even though the title of this chapter is 'It's Over' this fanfic is far from over. I just wanted to clarify so no one was under the false impression that this was the end, cause it's not. :o)
This was one of the chapters I have been looking forward to writing for a while now, so I hope everyone thinks it was successful. I know it may have been confusing to read because there was so much happening all at once, so I hope everyone was able to follow everything that happened. As always reviews are greatly appreciated, I just love the feedback from everyone!