Missing
Two weeks passed by quickly. Hermione's days were full of homework, Head Girl duties, dance plans and spending time with Draco and Amy and Blaise. The teachers had been piling on homework and Hermione had little or no time to have fun everyday. Today Hermione had a Prefect's meeting after lunch. Her morning was filled with Arithmancy and Charms. Then after the Prefect meeting Hermione had Arithmancy. After that she had the rest of the day to do homework and spend time with her friends before Draco and herself had to do their nightly rounds.
Hermione was now sitting in the library alone and getting ready to put her books away to get to the Prefect meeting. Sighing she threw her books into her bag not really wanting to go. Exiting the library she heard someone yelling her name. Turning around she saw Seamus Finnigan running down the corridor towards her.
"Hey Hermione." he greeted starting to walk with her.
"Hey Seamus." Hermione smiled.
"So what you been up to lately?" he asked.
"Nothing much."
"Oh, well you should know that not all Gryffindors hate you." Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"Well there's me and Dean and, I think, Neville and um..."
"I get it." Hermione reassured him, softly.
Seamus nodded. "You should come back and sit with the Gryffindors. Some of us do miss you, you know."
Hermione laughed. "I don't think Draco wants to sit with all the Gryffindors."
"No I suppose not." Seamus said thoughtfully. "But you could probably get him to come over anyway."
Hermione doubted this though because Draco could be very stubborn when he wanted to be.
"Oh shit, sorry Seamus I gotta go before I'm late, See you later." Hermione began a fast walk away to the Prefect's Lounge.
When she entered most people were there and standing around talking and comparing their progress with others. Hermione noticed that Draco was missing from the group.
Draco's POV
Draco was walking down the steps, whistling no tune in particular. He was headed to the Prefect meeting but he had a good fifteen minutes so he wasn't worried. He was in a deserted corridor and he felt uneasy walking alone for some reason. Draco heard footsteps behind and whipping around, he searched for the noise. He however saw nothing behind him. Thinking it was just his imagination Draco kept walking. A door slammed to the left of him and Draco jumped nearly five feet in the air. Now Draco was scared and he began walking very fast down the corridor but when he was at the end a pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him into a classroom.
Draco was thrown roughly to the ground and he felt a foot being placed on his chest.
"Now, now Crabbe, let him up." a voice Draco recognized like he recognized day from night, said coyly from the darkness.
The foot was removed from his chest but then he was pulled to his feet and shoved against the wall with a wand in his throat. Draco's head pounded but he fought to keep consciousness and he saw a pair of cold grey eyes in front of his face. The man he had grown to hate in his past years was now at a vantage point and Draco was terrified.
"Well, well, well, Draco aren't you happy to see your old man again." Lucius Malfoy's voice had become even more snake-like than Draco remembered.
"Why would I be happy to see a piece of filth like you." Draco snarled, forcefully.
"You have made a mistake, my dear boy." Lucius Malfoy removed his wand from Draco's throat but instead pointed it at his heart. "But don't worry all will be forgiven as soon as you are punished."
"I didn't make a mistake." Draco snapped peevishly. "I did what was right something you would never have the balls to do."
"Crucio!" Lucius roared and Draco for the millionth time in his life felt white hot pain sear through his body.
"Stupid boy, did you really think you could just turn your back on your whole family." Lucius grabbed Draco by the collar and slammed him back against the wall.
"Tonks." he whispered raspily "She isn't some worthless bitch like you."
"Ah, Nymphadora Tonks." Lucius pondered mockingly. "Nope no one in the family named that."
"Go to hell!" Draco snapped.
Lucius seemed to have no more patience. "Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, deal with him, I have more important things to deal with." Lucius strode over to the fire. Then he stopped and turned around, walking back to Draco. "And by the way Draco, I suggest that whatever you and that mudblood have, stops, or someone or maybe even three people could get very badly injured." Lucius smirked and turned away.
Draco's mouth went dry at the thought of Hermione and her babies' safety. "Don't you dare touch, Hermione." Draco croaked at his father's back.
Lucius didn't answer but instead roared with laughter before he flooed away. Draco didn't have much time to ponder on Hermione's safety because moments later he was being hit with multiple curses.
Hermione's POV
Hermione was now quite nervous. Draco hadn't shown up for the prefect meeting and he hadn't been at the Heads common room. Hermione had checked everywhere she could think of but he was nowhere to be found. Hermione dashed down the steps into the Entrance Hall and out the front doors. Looking around, hastily, Hermione ran to where Amy and Blaise were now gazing out on the lake. They looked up when they saw her coming towards them.
"What is it, Hermione?" Amy asked as she approached.
"It's Draco." Blaise jumped up pulling Amy with him.
"What's wrong with Draco?" Blaise asked darkly.
"He's missing." tears were now filling Hermione's eyes.
"Where did you see him last." Blaise was now walking very fast to the castle.
"At lunch he disappeared after that." Hermione was walking in place with him.
"Okay, let's split up and search the castle." Blaise stopped in the Entrance Hall. "I'll take the dungeons and first and second floor, Amy you do the third through fifth and Hermione the rest." Blaise ran off into the dungeons.
Amy gave Hermione and odd and scared look before running to the steps. Hermione went up a set of steps opposite of Amy and went to a portrait of three threstals grazing in a forest clearing.
Hermione pushed it open to reveal a narrow staircase. Hurrying up them she found herself on the sixth floor. Racking through the floor in twenty minutes Hermione found no sign of Draco. Now more worried than ever, Hermione could feel tears flowing down her cheeks. She was going down a corridor when she heard a small groan coming from a room. If the corridor hadn't been deserted Hermione wouldn't have heard it. Rushing into the room she saw a figure at the other side of the room.
"Draco." she breathed, dashing to the figures side.
She dropped to her knees beside him and turned him onto his back. Blood was coming down form a cut in the top of his head. Draco's platinum blonde hair was now soaked red. His Slytherin robes were drenched with sweat. His eyes were closed and his lips parted ever so slightly. Hermione felt his wrist for a pulse and found one but it was faint.
"Hermione, where are you?" Hermione heard Blaise in the corridor.
"I'm in here Blaise," Hermione called. "Draco's with me."
Blaise and Amy appeared at the door and Blaise bounded over and fell to his best friend's side. "Is there a pulse." he muttered.
"Yeah, but it's faint." Hermione had even more tears coming down her face.
"Don't worry, Hermione, he'll be okay, calm yourself down." Blaise instructed pulling out his wand.
"Locomotor body." Blaise said quietly and Draco's body floated up a few feet off the ground. "Come on let's get him to the Hospital Wing."
Hermione and Amy followed Blaise and Draco's floating body down the corridors. People gasped and panic seemed to follow them Soon they found themselves surrounded by Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Hermione was now walking next to Draco, trying to ignore everybody around them. When they got to the Hospital Wing they entered, leaving all the other people to press their noses on the door.
"Oh my, oh my." Madame Promfrey was frantically bustling around for bandages and potions. "There you go." she said to herself as she dribbled some potion into Draco's mouth.
"Ah well he's lucky there isn't too much damage and he'll be out of here tonight." Madame Promfrey was now wrapping his head in bandages. "Now, I suggest you all get to your classes and don't you worry about Mr.Malfoy he'll be just fine."
When the three of them had left they were bombarded by people wanting to know if Draco would be okay. Blaise put an arm around both Amy and Hermione while leading them out of the crowd. Most of the people understood that they wanted to be alone but some were still clinging to the trio. For the rest of the day they sat in the Heads common room ignoring all the knocks from people at the suit of armor.
Later that Night
Hermione was sitting on the couch in front of the fire, wondering when Draco would come back from the Hospital Wing. She whipped around when she hard the suit of armor creak open.
"Draco." Hermione breathed for the second time that day.
Jumping off the couch Hermione ran over and threw her arms around Draco's body. Draco however did not return the embrace. Hermione pulled away and looked up into his eyes. They didn't have the same warmth they once held but now a more pained sorrowful look.
"What, what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"Look Hermione what I said before, with Weasley you should jsut forget it okay." Hermione drew back confused but he continued. "We shouldn't be like that, it just wasn't meant to be." Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes but she didn't cry. "It's for your own good, Hermione, I promise." Draco moved closer puller her into a hug.
"You.. You can't." Hermione choked, holding his shirt in a death grip.
"Your not safe." he told her, his hands caressing her face softly.
"No...I don't care." Hermione let the tears fall down her cheeks.
"I do." he kissed her lips softly and turned away, walking towards his tower.
Tears were now flowing freely down Hermione's face as she watched Draco walk away from her. Before she could stop herself she let a loud sob and ran into her tower.
Draco's POV
It pained Draco to see Hermione go through so much pain but he had to do it. He loved Hermione too much to let her be hurt by that cruel and ruthless man who dared to even think of Hermione. He sighed as a tear came down his cheek, whilst he walked into his own tower.