Chapter 22
Behind the darkness of the veil, he had been waiting for his chance. He was holding on to memories, new and old. With a happy smile and overwhelming feelings of joy, knowing today would be the day, he waited.
Of course he had been waiting like this everyday for about a year and a half now. He couldn't walk, couldn't blink, couldn't feel. All that was there was his mind. He wasn't even sure if his body was still intact. But he knew he could get out...and he would.
He looked at the veil as a person, a prison guard almost. If he annoyed it long enough, eventually it would give up and let him free. Day by day, he reached out, all the spells and curses he knew having little effect. But he could feel the veil weakening.
He knew all about the veil. In fact, it had been one of his favorite inventions. He, James, and Remus had created it right before the death of Lily and James.
It's purpose was to swallow all evil. A more permanent prison. Azkaban, he knew it had kinks to work out. The number one kink being it was part of the government. Which meant that should you be sent there, you were most likely found guilty by a jury of some sort. Which means you could be innocent all along and just framed for the murder.
So they made the veil. It ONLY swallowed inhumanity, more simply defined as evilness. It rejected anyone with a good heart.
But then why did it swallow him?
Because he wasn't all human. He was an animagus which meant that the veil could get confused. And it did. It couldn't tell what he was and so it took him anyway.
The way he had created it, he made sure there was no possible way of escaping. Now he needed to figure it out.
He assumed that his key would be to focus on the good in him and forget about the animal instincts he often had.
He dreamt of nothing but James, Lily, Remus, and Harry. His friends from the Order and all the kind people who helped him so many times after breaking out of Azkaban.
And day by day the resistance wore down. The veil seemed to get weaker and weaker, as if giving in.
So one day it happened. He could feel again. His hands, his legs, his face.
He could smell. The horrible smell of old men and women who get sponge baths daily...the hospital smell.
And he could hear. "I have to see him! He's the only family I've got left! Let me see him!"
He could see. Harry was being held back by several of the nurses.
He groaned as he tried to sit up in his bed. The nurses turned to take care of him and Harry practically jumped on the bed next to him. He was very glad to be back.
The next two days, Hermione continued her fighting with Voldemort. Their arguments always wound up with her writhing in pain as he used the cruciatus curse time after time.
Every time they fought, Draco was locked in his room. Apparently, his father knew he would get in the Dark Lords way and he couldn't have that.
Night after night, Hermione and Draco sat up in her room, Draco tending to her wounds and Hermione crying herself to sleep, her only comfort held in his touch.
"I'd kill him if I could," he whispered to her every night. "Don't worry though. Potter's on the way. It's only a matter of time."
But time was not on Hermione's side. Every second she spent with her father brought back all her summer memories. It was not good for her psyche.
She woke up one morning, feeling very sore and very grumpy. Draco was seated next to her with a sneer on his face. "What's got you so angry?" she asked him with curiosity.
"Lucius came in this morning."
"What happened?"
"He said we'd be taking our prep courses today."
"What's a prep course?"
"There's two different prep courses, depending on what your parents think you need more of. You see, getting the dark mark requires certain things. One is that you'll have the right attitude once you become a Death Eater. You need to have certain mannerisms and such. The second course teaches tolerance of pain. The Dark Mark can hurt like nothing we've ever felt before apparently and so they teach you how to take it like a Death Eater would."
"Well you and I both know that that course is out of the question. Our parents have been giving that course to us for a while now." She was so right, too. If it wasn't Voldemort, it was Riley. Draco and she could take it.
"So pureblood, Death Eater proper etiquette is the obvious choice. That means that Aunt Bella will be teaching."
"Bellatrix Lestrange?"
"That's my aunt."
"She'll be teaching us?"
"She's one of his favorites. My mum and dad usually teach the course to new members but since I'm their son, Voldemort said he'd best get Bella to teach."
She sat in silence for a moment. "Wonderful." Sarcasm was always pleasant first thing in the morning.
-
"Rule number one to being a death eater: Always obey your Lords every command. He will never steer you wrong." Hermione raised her hand. "Yes?" Bellatrix asked.
"Well what if he IS wrong? Pretend that he commands that we attack the ministry, and though we know that they would be expecting that, we go anyway. They're ready for us and we fail the mission. So why would we follow a stupid Lord?"
"First of all, we never attack the obvious places. The Dark Lord is much more creative than that."
"But..."
"SECONDLY, I don't want anymore hypothetical situations. You're scenario is impossible. DON'T annoy me again. Now...the next thing you need to know is all the dark arts magic that you possess right in your little wand." Hermione's hand raised once more. "Yes, Ms. Riddle?"
"My name is Hermione. Thank you very much. And I was wandering about wandless magic. You spoke about using wands but what about the magic we possess in our minds. It's true that magic comes from the person, not the wand, right?"
"Well...yes. That's true..."
"So a wand is totally unnecessary, correct?"
"Well no, most people need it to..."
"But those who are powerful and strong minded don't need it. It's just a beginners tool, yes?"
"Um...no...yes...no, I mean..."
"My dad doesn't need it. My mum doesn't need it. I know that sometimes, I don't need it, so in all honesty, a wand only serves the purpose of false confidence. Right?"
"Ms. Hermione, stop your questioning this instant."
Draco choked back a laugh and his aunt shot him an evil glare. "Don't laugh, Draco. You think this kind of behavior will be tolerated by the Dark Lord?"
"I for one KNOW he would never tolerate this," Hermione declared. "But then again, I really didn't give a flying fuck what he will or will not tolerate. He can kiss my arse..."
The door flew open. "I send you to get lessons on proper etiquette and this is how you spend your time?" her father asked in annoyance.
"I was merely asking questions," she replied. "It's not my fault that your servant is too incompetent to answer."
"You were intentionally trying to make her frustrated, Hermione."
"What are you going to do about it? You and I both know that the Crucio's have still yet to affect me."
"Maybe I should try a more painful method of punishment?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity, happily awaiting her response.
"Whatever you think will work," she told him, glaring him down. "I'm more than willing to try anything once."
"What about serving me?"
"Maybe I should choose my words more carefully."
"Mr. Riddle, if I may interfere," Draco said in a nervous voice. "I'd just like to say that I don't think the cruciatus curse is any good for Hermione."
"Oh really?" he asked with an inquisitive tone.
"Yes."
"And how do you suppose I discipline my daughter?"
"Lines."
Everyone chuckled slightly. "You want me to have her sit in a dark room and write lines for hours on end."
"Fifteen minutes ought to do." He got no response. "Twenty sound better?" Still Voldemort looked at him with a blank expression. "Twenty five is my final offer."
"You shouldn't have egged him on like that."
In Draco's bedroom, Hermione took care of the lashes on his back. Her father had been offended by the casual joking manner that he spoke to him in. And so he was whipped for his insolence.
"You know I can handle whatever he throws at me," she said to Draco. "You don't need to fight my battles for me.'
"I can take it."
She laughed. "I know. I just don't like you taking his crap for me."
"It's alright. Really. I'm just glad you've not been hurt."
She smiled at him. "Actually..."
"What? What do you mean 'actually'?"
"I mean he told me to join him for a midnight snack."
"That doesn't sound bad," Draco said hopefully.
"In the dungeon," Hermione added.
"Oh." They both went quiet.
"You were very brave back there," she said to him, breaking the silence. "I haven't seen such bravery in a while. I was highly impressed."
"I was just defending my woman."
"Your woman? YOUR woman?"
"Yes. MY woman!"
"Too possessive, I think."
"You can't change my possessiveness."
"I don't like that very much. It seems to me that you grew up very spoiled in every way. Toys, women, anything you wanted, you got."
"Until I hit a certain age, yes."
"Don't expect me to give you everything you want just because your parents used to."
"I wouldn't dare." They fell asleep in actual good moods that evening for the first time in a while.
"If we attack from the back entrance during their ceremony, it can pretty much be guaranteed that they won't even know we're there until we get to the dungeons," Remus said with confidence.
"But what if Draco was just luring us there? What if they're ready for us?" Snape said in nervousness. "Malfoy's are very good actors when they want to be. How do we know that they're not tricking us into a trap?"
"Not everyone is evil like you'd like to believe, Snivelus," Sirius Black responded. "Just because the older Malfoy is evil doesn't mean the younger one is. You have a terrible way of believing children to be the same person as their parents. Why do you do that? Clearly, Harry was never James but you took out all your hate for James on poor Harry. Why?"
"This isn't the time, Sirius," Dumbledore said. "We need to focus. Severus is just making sure we're aware of all the possibilities."
"I say we attack the night after Christmas. They won't expect it then," Remus said once again with a strong feeling.
"But that's no good!" Harry and Ron screamed out.
"Hermione gets her mark on Christmas Eve!" Harry shouted. "I don't want her to get the Dark Mark before we attack. She can't get the mark!"
"I understand," Remus said, "But attacking on Christmas Eve could be a very stupid idea. Attacking BEFORE Christmas Eve could also be bad too. They'd be expecting us."
"But that means we're leaving Hermione all on her own. She'll be forced to get the dark mark. Malfoy told me that Voldemort is using the Cruciatus on her. And NONE of that will change your mind?"
"You think too much with you emotions, boy," Snape snarled. "You have to think overall. She'll live through the Dark Mark but if we attack at a bad timing, many could lose their lives. Think, child!"
"Don't talk down to him, Snivelus!" Sirius said. "Is this how you've been wile I was gone? How dare you!"
"He's using his heart, not his head. You think that's intelligent?"
"I think he's thinking heroically. I think he's thinking like a true hero and that means the world to me."
"You always were a fool, Black."
"Maybe if you hadn't had such an attitude we would have been a little nicer to you."
"Maybe you shouldn't have been such foul scums in the first place."
"You antagonized us!"
"You deserved it! Walking around like you owned the place from day one."
"It's called confidence. We had it. You didn't."
They both started yelling back and forth and soon Remus joined the fight. Many voices began shouting and soon it became too much.
"Please, calm down everyone," Dumbledore said, hushing them all. "We need to decide a plan of action. I think it's best to..."
"Excuse me, sir?" Ron piped up.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?"
"Um...well...I just thought you'd like to know that...well...um..."
"What is it boy?" Snape growled. "We haven't got all day."
"Harry's gone to save Hermione."
A/N...And the suspense will kill you! I hope you loved it. Enjoy.
