Disclaimer: obviously not mine. Why would it be on a fan fiction site?

Chapter twenty-one

Hermione apparated into a dark alleyway outside a fast-food joint. Checking carefully to see if anyone had seen her, she ditched her travelling cloak and began wandering down the street in search of the blonde boy.

Her immediate thought was to check the club that they had gone to but then she realised that someone as smart as Draco Malfoy would not want to be found, there for going to a strange bar.

It wasn't Hermione who found Draco… it was Draco who found Hermione.

She had been walking for no more than ten minutes when a black Porsche pulled up along side her. The blackened glass vanished magically and Hermione found herself face to face with her target.

"Looking for me?" he asked gently… he looked drunk off his face… Hermione could smell the gin on his breath…

"Maybe" she said, peering at him closely, wonder exactly how much he'd had to drink.

"Jump in"

"Would you like me to drive?"

"What for?"

"Because you're pissed"

"No I'm not" he stared at her with unfocused eyes then suddenly grinned. "So are you in or not?"

Not wanting to lose him again, Hermione ran around to the other side of the car and slid into the passengers seat.

Malfoy took his foot off the brake and flung the car back onto the road. Hermione grabbed the edge of her seat for support.

"You really have to stop doing this" Hermione said when he finally got the car going in a straight line, though a little faster than she liked.

"Doing what?"

"Running away. It's very selfish. You have a family you know… a mother who is worried sick, and not to mention your daughter…"

"Selfish? You think it's selfish?"

"Yes I do… it has to stop"

"Hermione, I have been out looking for him for five days in a row. I know he's still around and I'm not going to rest until I've caught him."

"Your father?"

"Who else?"

"Then what's with the drinking? Everyone at home thinks you're depressed"

Malfoy glanced over at her wearily and the car swerved slightly.

"I am depressed. But only a little. I'm more scared than depressed…" the car swerved again.

"Pull over" Hermione said suddenly. "Pull over right now. I'm driving the rest of the way"

"Fine" Malfoy gave the wheel a harsh tug and pulled off the road. But before he could get right over massive flood lights flashed over them, blinding them both. A huge truck, clearly on the wrong side of the road, loomed up on them. Draco grabbed Hermione's arm as the truck ploughed into them, sending them flying fifty metres back up the highway.

The car crushed around them. Hermione felt something sharp gash her leg but she didn't scream. Her voice was caught in her throat. Something came down on her head and she flung her arms up to block the shards of glass from the smashed windows.

It seemed like an eternity, but their totalled car finally came to a halt.

Hermione turned slightly to look at Malfoy. He was bent over the steering wheel, gasping for breath.

"Are you ok?" they asked each other simultaneously. The front of the car suddenly burst into flames.

"Over the back, get over the back" Draco gasped as black smoke filled the car. Hermione crawled painfully over into the back seat and opened the only door in the car that was still intact enough to open. Draco was right behind her. Once out in the open, Hermione tried to walk away but a sharp pain drove up her leg, causing it to collapse. Draco caught her with one arm. His other one was broken. Other cars were pulling up and people were everywhere, watching the scene in horror.

"It's going to explode!" some one yelled as the whole car was consumed by the hungry flames. Both victims looked back in horror at the car and the truck, still attached to the car. Hermione gasped.

It was an oil tanker.

The truck driver jumped out of his cab and came running over to the injured couple. Before he could make it, though, the car exploded. The driver ducked and shot off in the other direction.

"Come on" Hermione said. She and Draco turned and made their way slowly towards the watching crowd.

The tanker exploded… but instead of killing everyone, it froze. Literally. It was like watching an action film then pressing pause. It was simply a massive fireball hanging, frozen, in midair.

Hermione's jaw dropped and she looked around. The muggles were frozen as well, all with looks of horror upon their faces.

Suddenly a ring of fire shot up around the couple. Both Hermione and Draco reached instinctively for their wands.

"So there's a girl…" Lucius Malfoy stepped through the flames with several other death eaters flanking him. "A Gryffindor girl at that… tell me, Draco, why would you be with a Gryffindor girl if there wasn't a child?"

"You fucking…" Draco brandished his wand.

"Crucio!" Hermione beat him to it. The curse hit Lucius Square in the chest and he screamed in pain, though didn't fall.

His crony death eaters sprang into action, firing curses and spells at Hermione. Miraculously none of them hit their target.

"Stay away from us or god help me, I'll kill your sorry ass" Hermione screamed wildly.

"Your in no position to be threatening me, girl" Lucius snarled as the death eaters formed a circle around them.

Hermione fell silent, her brain taking over once more as she tried to figure out a way out of this mess.

"Now…" Lucius said idly, taking a step towards them. "We did originally come to speak to Draco but seeing as we found the mother…" Lucius stopped in front of Draco. Father and son stared at each other; Lucius' eyes filled with a sickening malice, Draco's filled with such a terrifying hate that Lucius was first to break the gaze. "I think we can just take her with us"

"Take me where?" Hermione asked, using one of Harry's favourite tactics: stalling. Draco, on the other hand, seemed so furious with his father that he was unable to speak.

"That's not for you to know… now if we can just get you out of here before Dumbledore arrives…" Lucius spoke more to himself than anyone.

Draco stepped in front of her.

"You wont touch her"

"Move aside, Son" Lucius said darkly, aiming his want at the younger mans heart. "Give her to us and I wont have to kill you"

"Apparate" Hermione whispered, mentally slapping herself for not thinking of it earlier. Both teens turned sharply but, instead of flying through the heavy darkness of apparition, they found themselves staring at the leering death eaters who had once stood behind them.

"Uh oh"

"Do you think we'd let you get away that easily?" Lucius laughed loudly. "Well if you won't come, you'll both have to die..." he gestured to the frozen explosion. The death eaters around them stepped through the flames and apparated. The muggles unfroze and so did the explosion.

Malfoy and Hermione were instantly consumed but flames but, instead of burning to death, they found that the flames licked coolly at their skin.

"What's going on?" Malfoy asked. Hermione pointed to a small group of dark figures hurrying towards them. The closest had a wand out.

"Are you two ok?" asked a man wearing a white coat when he reached them.

"I think so" Hermione could feel the pain in her leg coming back.

"Well we have to get you two home and healed before those death eaters come back"

"What about the muggles?" Hermione asked as the healers surrounded her and Draco.

"They'll be fine. Now hold on…"

A few minutes later they landed on the steps of the Malfoy manor. Hermione's leg completely collapsed and she had to be supported by two healers up the stairs into the manor.

Narcissa, Charlie and Gabrielle came rushing out of the parlour. Narcissa uttered a soft scream and came running over to her son.

"Mrs Malfoy. We need some beds"

"Of course, of course… what happened?" Narcissa led then upstairs to a spare bedroom with two beds.

"I'll explain later" the main healer said, helping Hermione onto a bed and examining the long gash on her calf.

"It doesn't seem to be infected," he said, tapping it gently with his wand. The wound healed over. He then proceeded to mend a fractured bone in her hand and the bruises on her face. When he'd finished he gave her a potion to help deal with the shock that he assured would come. After that he summoned his other healers, Narcissa, Charlie and Gabrielle out of the room to discuss the situation.

"Something's not right" Hermione said when she and Draco were alone.

"I know what you mean," he answered with a frown. "My father left way to voluntarily. I thought he'd hang around until he'd done some damage… or at least watched to see if we died in the explosion…"

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "He's up to something… we'll have to be more careful"

"You're not skipping out on me then?" Draco asked hopefully.

"No, not this time"

Narcissa came charging back into the room.

"You were drinking driving! You irresponsible…"

"The truck hit us, Narcissa" Hermione explained quietly. "It was in the wrong, not us"

"That doesn't excuse that fact that he's out getting drunk every night and…"

"Mum" Draco cut in suddenly "where's Shia?"

"In her room, why?"

"Can you please get her? Right now"

Narcissa looked like she wanted to argue but the expression on Draco's face was set.

She returned a few minutes later with the baby and handed her to her father.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight" he whispered to her. "Ever"

Ring them bells, ring them loud
Let them ring here and now
Just reach out and ring the Bells of Freedom
When your world's crashing down
Like you're lost every round
Stand your ground
And ring the Bells of Freedom

Well guys… I'm kinda running out of ideas for this story….I have one or two chapters left with the Chaise/Draco showdown but after that I'm stumped I don't want to end this story yet so I think after that happens I might have to skip forward five years into the future or something… any ideas?