Chapter 10: The Locked Room
As soon as Hermione stepped through the door, she realized why it all looked so familiar to her. She was standing in the Death Chamber and there, right at the end of the room, mounted up on a platform was the Veil. She glanced around the room and saw Harry, Ron and the others dueling with the Death Eaters. It was all too familiar of a sight. Neville (who had been in another group when they left Headquarters) was battling Bellatrix Lestrange, who had her hood down and her mask off, and they were throwing curses back and forth as quickly as possible. She crept down through the theater-like room, moving as if she were in a trance state. She saw Ron fighting against a masked predator who seemed to be winning the fight. She watched as a red stream left the Death Eater's wand and struck Ron in the chest. Ron screamed out in agony and collapsed to the ground, writhing and screaming. She could only assume he'd been hit with a 'Crucio'. She whipped out her own wand and threw a curse right back at the Death Eater who had struck Ron, distracting the Death Eater's attention and forcing the curse to be lifted from him. Ron stumbled back to his feet and smiled a thank you to Hermione. Hermione directed her eyes around the room again, this time focusing on the one person that she was most concerned about: Draco. He was dueling with another Death Eater, down near the veil. The events of the last battle in this room came flooding back to Hermione as she watched them dueling closer to the Veil. She had still been unconscious during the battle in this room but she'd heard the tale relived so many times it was like a placed memory to her. She inched closer towards the two duelers when suddenly Draco struck down his opponent and turned towards her direction, giving her a soft smile. She smiled back but as she did, Draco's face suddenly contorted into one of terror and began moving swiftly towards her. Once again she felt an overwhelming sense of deja-vu when suddenly a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind, one of the hands grabbing her wand and throwing it. She was spun around harshly and was face to face with her assailant….and looking into a pair of steel eyes she realized instantly who it was: Lucius Malfoy. She screamed in terror as her dream flashed back into her memory from the night before. She knew what was coming but she wasn't ready to die.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? The filthy little Mudblood who thought she could have what she didn't deserve. Did you honestly believe that my pureblood son would ever really have feelings for a disgusting thing like yourself? Well I do hope that you enjoyed your time with someone so superior because it's now cost you your life. Say goodbye, Mudblood…Avada Ked..", Lucius spoke, raising her wand but was interrupted by another speaking the same curse. Just as Lucius was about to strike his wand down, killing Hermione, a jet of green shot out from beside Hermione and struck Lucius directly in the chest. His look was one of sheer surprise as his grasp fell from her arm and he collapsed into a heap…dead. Hermione collapsed to her knees, shaking, knowing that she had been seconds away from being killed. She had never been so terrified in her life as she stared at Lucius' cold dead body in front of her. She felt another hand on her shoulder and almost screamed. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her as she realized that Draco was now kneeling beside her.
"Did…did….was…was that…you?" she stuttered, still shaking badly, not taking her eyes off of Lucius' lifeless form. Draco nodded silently. "Why? Why did you kill your own father Draco?"
"Because he was going to kill you 'Mione. I couldn't let that happen. Had we known beforehand that they had broken out of Azkaban I would have insisted that you stay behind." He kissed her forehead and helped her to her feet. All around them the Order members were defeating their opponents until the last couple of Death Eaters remained and they ran from the room. She glanced into the corner where Neville had been battling Bellatrix and saw Neville stand emotionless over her ragged figure on the ground. She smiled a weak smile…Neville had finally gotten the revenge on her for the torture she'd caused his family. Suddenly she remembered that Voldemort was supposed to have been here but she didn't recall seeing him anywhere when she entered the room. She snapped up and looked around for Harry…she found him kneeling and out of breath near the Veil at the edge of the room.
"Harry! Where is he? Where is Voldemort?" she asked, jumping over things and darting down to where Harry was.
When she reached him, he stood up and looked at her curiously. "I dunno Hermione…I guess he didn't come. Just sent his lackies to do the job like he did with the prophecy."
"But remember, even then he still showed up later. Come one, we need to get out of here before he finds you! You are in no condition to be facing him right now." she grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him up the stairs and out the door.
They were just about to the door when Harry finally overpowered her and stopped.
"Hermione, what if he's already gotten to the room? This was probably just a distraction, you know. I have to find him. You know that as well as I do, Hermione. Remember the prophecy?" Harry spoke to her, trying to clear her mind and get her to understand. She stared into his emerald eyes for a moment and nodded.
"Well then, if we're going lets go already.", she replied as they exited the room together, quickly followed by the others.
Draco watched Hermione and Harry walk hand in hand, wands out. He'd never seen either of them so determined. Harry kept mentioning something about a prophecy. Draco was certain that this was the prophecy that Lucius had been arrested for trying to steal for Voldemort at the end of fifth year. He stayed a small distance from Harry and Hermione as they cautiously made their way through the various rooms in search of that locked door. He felt the pendant around his neck start to warm and he realized that Hermione was terrified. She was absolutely terrified of what was possibly going to happen and as he realized this he looked at the two friends in front of him and saw them tighten their grips on each others hands. He felt his heart weakening at the sight and suddenly he saw Hermione glance back at him worriedly.
The group turned down another corridor, an unfamiliar one. It was long and dark with very little light to show the way. There didn't seem to be any end to this corridor and no doors on either side of it. 'This has got to be the way', Harry thought to himself, letting go of Hermione's hand (which he'd just realized he was still holding) and motioning the group forward cautiously. After about a 10 minute walk down the deserted corridor, they finally saw a door about 50 feet in front of them. Harry raced forward and lunged for the doorknob only to find it locked. He threw a few unlocking spells at the door but nothing seemed to work. Suddenly an idea struck him. He remembered the letter he had received from Dumbledore (at the same time that Hermione and Draco had received theirs) telling Harry about the connection between Draco and Hermione and how it could be a great help to the cause. Harry wondered for a moment if that "connection" could also somehow increase their power together. If not, oh well…at least it would be worth a try right?
"Hermione, come here.", Harry whispered beckoning Hermione to him. He leaned in close to whisper to her. "Do you think that maybe you and Malfoy could try to open it?"
"Um what good is that going to do Harry? You've already tried every unlocking spell you can think of." Hermione replied, slightly confused as to why Harry would be asking them to try the same thing that he'd already been unsuccessful in doing.
"True but perhaps, possibly, that "connection" thing that you all have might help you tap into each others powers. I just mean, hey it's worth a try right?" Harry gave a small smile of hope. Hermione pondered the idea for a moment and nodded.
"Okay you go stand guard with the others, Harry and Draco and I will see if we can somehow figure a way to open this door." Harry walked back to the others to talk to them about strategies and whatnot in case they did get the door opened. Hermione walked over to Draco and told him of the idea. They grasped hands and went in front of the locked door, their wands raised. They both concentrated, trying to figure out how to combine their powers. Pointing their wands and the doorknob, they tried every unlocking spell that either of them had ever learned but still nothing. Exasperated, but still holding Draco's hand, Hermione reached forward and grabbed the doorknob. As soon as her fingers wrapped around it, she heard a small unlocking type sound but it still wouldn't budge. She let go of Draco's hand and used both hands to try and force it open, each time continuing to hear a small sound, like a lock unlocking itself. 'Dammit!' Hermione thought to herself, frustrated, 'I swear I heard something when I touched it. But why wont it open?' She leaned against the door and lost herself in concentration, trying desperately to think of something.
"Oh I think I get it!", she suddenly exclaimed. "Draco, grab the doorknob. Oh don't give me that look just humor me alright?" Draco was eyeing her curiously but did as she said. Her hand was still on the doorknob and the moment his hand slid over hers and touched the metal of the knob itself, the door sprang open. They jumped back in surprise, they're eyes wide.
"Um, Harry?" She said, not taking her eyes off the room the was now spread out in front of her. Harry turned around and saw Draco and Hermione standing in front of a now open door. The rest of the group quickly joined them inside the room, everyone glancing around in a mixture of awe and curiosity.
The room was gigantic, probably the biggest room in the entire Department of Mysteries. The walls were filled with objects framed in glass boxes or surrounded by magical protection fields. There were all sorts of things from goblets to swords and everything in between. Upon closer examination of one sword in particular, Hermione saw a name plate in front of it that said "Caliburn". She gasped in awe. That sword, from what she had known, was supposedly pure myth…just a legend. But no, there it was right in front of her own eyes. (A/N: Caliburn is the Latin name for Excalibur, King Arthur's sword). All around the room, other legendary objects were placed up by the walls. 'They must be studying the magical properties of them or something' Hermione thought to herself, still looking around in awe. Her eyes continued to dart around the room, coming to a rest on the back wall. She realized that there was a small gap in the wall and that there was a soft blue light emitting from the gap. Grabbing Harry, she went to see what the glow was coming from. When the reached the back wall they found that the gap was in fact large enough to fit a person so Harry and Hermione entered the room one at a time.
There in the very center of the back room was a tablet, made out of, what looked like, granite. It seemed to be the tablet that was emitting the blue glow. Both stopped and just stared, seemingly captivated by it. They took a few steps when suddenly they realized that they were not the only ones in the locked room anymore. A scream sounded from the main room behind them and there were a few crashes. Spinning around and dashing back to the other room, Hermione and Harry saw the intruder. Hermione gasped as she saw their worst fear. Lord Voldemort was now there and walking slowly towards herself and Harry.
"Well, well. I must give you a proper thank you for allowing me access to this room. Sometime you must tell me how you managed to get through the door when even I couldn't penetrate it." Lord Voldemort's red eyes moved around the room. He turned as soon as he saw Draco. "I see I have found myself a traitor." He moved towards where Draco was standing, looking more scared than anyone had ever seen him look before. Voldemort grabbed Draco's left arm and wretched it upwards, exposing the dark mark on his forearm. "It appears that you have forgotten what this mark means, young Mr. Malfoy. I am sure that your father was very ashamed to hear of this."
"Lucius is dead. I killed his sorry ass." Draco screamed back at Voldemort, wrenching his arm from his clammy grip. As soon as the words were comprehended in the Dark Lord's mind, his evil smirk left his face and he struck Draco, knocking him into a nearby bookshelf, unconscious.
"I will deal with you later." He spat on Draco as he turned his attention back to Harry and Hermione standing in front of the gap to the back room. He made his way the rest of the way across the large room to stand in front of the two. He quickly immobilized Harry and looked over to Hermione. He lifted his bony finger up and slid it over her cheek watching her flinch under his touch.
"You are definitely tasty. I would pay to have someone like you working for me but unfortunately you are nothing but a filthy Mudblood and a nothing to no one." He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up off the floor. "I could kill you right now, but why bother? It'll be more fun to watch you suffer as all those you hold dear die off one by one." With that he threw her across the room. She crashed into another case, falling forward from the force of the collision, her face smacking painfully into the cement floor and the back of her head bleeding profusely from the impact against the shelves. As soon as his back was turned, as he was throwing Hermione across the room, he was hit in the back by a spell that made him stagger a bit but wasn't really strong enough to do much else. He turned back towards the gap and saw Harry standing there pointing his wand at his chest.
"I think it's time we ended this….Tom." Harry said, not fidgeting a millimeter from his spot. "Seriously, it's getting old already." The use of Voldemort's real name gained him a Crucio and found Harry reeling in agony for a moment.
"Oh young Potter. The time will come for your removal. I've never seen one quite so eager to die. However, now is not the time. I am only here for the tablet and now that you and your friends have so kindly enabled me passage to. Thanks again by the way."
Voldemort moved his hand slightly, magically forcing Harry aside just like the others, and walking through the gap to the back room. The remaining members dashed forward following Voldemort to the back room and pointing their wands at him and simultaneously shouting Impedimenta! Voldemort froze for a moment, his hands on the glowing tablet. But before any of the members could reach him, the spell wore off and he picked up the tablet from it's resting place and turning to face the remaining members who were all staring at him with a slight bit of shock on their faces from the little effect their joint spell had on him.
"Well I must say it's been fun children but I must be off now." Voldemort replied. Suddenly there was a loud POP and he was gone…with the magical tablet.
The group rushed back into the main chamber to check on their fallen friends. Harry was already trying to get to his feet, not being thrown far enough to do any actual damage. Across the room, Draco was also coming to and trying to climb back to his feet. When he finally got to a standing position, he looked around the room. Someone seemed to be missing.
"Hey, where's Hermione? Ow." Draco asked, feeling a sudden tension relaying into him from the pendant hanging on his chest. He suddenly remembered what the letter said about the pendants…they could sense when the other was in peril. His eyes scanned the room again frantically, finally falling on a limp form sprawled on the ground a few feet behind him. 'Oh my god.' he thought to himself, rushing over to the form and kneeling down beside her where Jeremy Donovan was already kneeling, using his wand to try and heal her a bit so they could transport her back to Hogwarts where Madam Pomfrey could tend to her injuries. Draco watched as Jeremy stopped the bleeding on the backside of her head and then decided it was alright to try and roll her over. Her caramel colored locks fell dramatically over the side of her face and upon pushing the hair gently away, Draco noticed that the entire side of her face was beginning to bruise, seemingly from where her face hit the cement floor.
"Oh god." Draco whispered, trying to force the tears that were swelling up behind his eyes from the sight of her broken body. "Please be alright. We've got to get her to Madam Pomfrey. Come on, lets go….NOW!" Draco demanded jumping to his feet, allowing Jeremy to slide his arms beneath Hermione, lifting her limp body into the air. Normally they could have simply levitated her but they had to apparate back to the Hogwarts gates, which required contact with the person. One by one, each of the members apparated with a POP, appearing moments later in front of the huge iron gates of Hogwarts. They all began there ascent up the pathway to the front doors, Draco and Jeremy, still holding Hermione tightly, in the lead.