Author's Note: I am proud of this fan-fiction that at 3,364 words is my longest ever. And I feel it is my best. None of this could be possible without my Beta Bethany. Thanks again! One-shot, will not be continued.
Disclaimer: None of the characters mentioned belong to me. The quote isn't mine either. The one thing that is original is the plot.
Warnings: Mentions of several character deaths (not described), a character death in the end (described), one-sided Dramione (plays a big part), and evilness. Nothing should be upsetting.
Where the Angels Roam
Love means more when life is hard
And choices lead to sacrifice,
And every passion has its price
In duties paid and windows barred.
Nicholas Gordon.
She still saw beauty in the world around her. So many people dead, yet she still looked into the sky and breathed in the fresh air. Her spirits were never to be broken; she decided that the moment she took on the fact that no matter what she would be involved in the war.
When she looks into the sky she is sure that her parents are there, dancing on clouds, their hearts fulfilled in the perfect days of Heaven. She was never very religious, but she always thought that there was a place of afterlife. The thought of your spirit finally having the perfection it always wanted made her grin with delight as a young girl. Now, she still likes to smile and think of what it must be like.
She imagines Harry with his parents and Sirius; Remus hasn't reached Heaven yet, he is still waiting for the final day that they will kill him. She often hears him in the next room talking to himself; she does it too. They have been locked up for a month and already there has been a full moon. She had to listen to his heartbreaking transformation, the lonely howls, and the whimpering from the pain of transforming.
Ron must be with his parents and his brothers. Ginny doesn't know why they kept her alive. She wanted them to kill her when Harry fell. They laughed at her pitiful cries and tossed her into a room to the other side of hers. Ginny doesn't talk much, but whenever a man comes to visit Ginny screams. It's blood curdling and painful to listen to but the men keep doing whatever it is they do. She has a good feeling what they do, but she'd rather not think that people are that evil.
The former Hogwarts staff must be teaching to their hearts' content in the Heaven she thinks that they make their own. Luna must be living her weirdest dreams. So many people are dead, but she still has her hope that maybe Voldemort will see what he is doing and stop. Even through her hope, she knows deep down that it is impossible.
Draco, tall and pale, always visits her on Fridays. He likes to sit in the corner and watch her as she goes about her night. Occasionally he'll ask her questions, but mostly he just watches with a cynical look on his face, but a smirk firmly in place. Tonight he is anything but quiet.
"Why do you not give in?" he asked with contempt. His face looked heavy and angered. It was instantly obvious that his lord was not happy with him. She looked at him curiously, trying to pull details from his moody presence. For a response she simply shrugged her shoulders as she picked a pebble to play with. "Your intelligence is fading, you're growing weaker by the day, and yet every night that I visit you still seem to be in a world where you are free. Now, answer me again correctly, mudblood."
"If you must know Malfoy, I still think that there is good in the world, despite what you and your fellow Death Eaters want me to think," she said resentfully, still eyeing him with curiosity. "I made a promise to myself once that I'd never give up my soul to evil even when the worst came to the worst."
He took note to the hollowed sound of her voice and the frail body stature. She was slowly dying from being malnourished, yet she was as independent and stubborn as ever.
"You'd rather die young and tortured than die at the end of a long and rich life?" His question startled her - never in the weeks she had been here had he asked her this. His face had been stony and angry before, now there was just the slight hint of worry. She brushed the detail away knowing that it was impossible for Malfoy to care about anyone but himself.
"Yes, Malfoy, it seems I haven't made myself clear to you. I'm perfectly content on dying right now and not giving into evil," she stated slowly, her voice laced with a poisonous tone. "Besides, I'd never consider being on the same side as Voldemort and his Death Eaters, if that's what you are suggesting me to think about."
"You are a stubborn mudblood; besides, I'd never want you to be on the side of the Death Eaters, don't flatter yourself," he spat just as venomously. Still he sat despite their exchanged words watching her curiously.
"Why are you still here, ferret?" she asked, adding the 'ferret' on the end of her sentence defiantly. His eyes narrowed in at her, he clenched his knuckles until they turned white, and his face reddened with anger.
"No one calls me that any more."
"Did I get to you, you filthy disgusting waste of a man?" And with her last question came a "Crucio!". He held the spell long and waited until he saw her resistant tears surface on her eyes to let it go. But when he saw the tears a strange feeling came about in him, for the first real time in his life he felt sorry for something he had done.
He contemplated the feeling of remorse he had felt not but an hour ago, it was strange, why would he feel sorry for a disgusting, useless mudblood.
"Has she changed her mind?" asked a cold voice. Immediately Draco knew that it was Voldemort.
"No, my Lord, she is as stubborn as ever," Draco said softly knowing that Voldemort was probably displeased with him. Voldemort had given him the mission of swaying her mind; he had said that she would be a useful for their side and that in completing the task he would make Draco his right hand man. The idea was so tempting, making a former Gryffindor into what she had always fought against and the reward left his mind wanting. But it was so damned difficult.
"Are you not up to the task, boy?" Voldemort asked angrily as he worked his bony fingers around his wand, pulling it slowly out of his cloak.
"My Lord I am, please believe that I am," a scared Draco muttered out.
"You have until tomorrow, or it'll be Pucey's job to handle," Voldemort said, easing his wand back into his pocket and slowly backing out of the room Draco stayed. The idea of Adrian Pucey taking his task made Draco sick to think of what would happen to Granger under his watch.
Pucey was in charge of the Weasley girl, Ginevra. He told tales of what he would do to her nightly. From what Draco had heard Pucey had done many things to the young red headed girl. His most favorite thing to do was to rape her; he didn't do it often but whenever he did she put up a good fight to the end. On those nights even Draco could hear the screams from his room on he other side of the manor in which Voldemort, fellow Death Eaters, prisoners, and he resided. He once asked Pucey why he raped her so few times. Adrian thought for a moment before replying that he let her get her strength up before going again so she would be in good fighting condition.
But what worried Draco was that Pucey seemed to have an odd fascination with the mudblood; he had always had one even when he was in his last years at Hogwarts with her in the first few years. He would surely use the task that would soon be his if Draco didn't complete it by tomorrow to his advantage. And this disturbed Draco that he was even worrying about her.
Hermione sat in the corner staring out the barred windows that kept her from the outside, wondering why the Death Eaters needed her of all people. Although Malfoy hadn't admitted it, she could tell that was what his sole intentions were last night. The thought had never crossed her mind that the reason they kept her alive was to join and help them, and frankly she didn't like to think about being a traitor to the Order, at least the ones who were still alive somewhere.
A loud noise made her look towards her door to see it open and a very dishevelled Draco Malfoy standing in the door, a tray of food in his hands. It was strange to see him this early and on a Saturday.
"Don't act so surprised Granger," he said putting the food down next to her. "Eat. You are sickeningly thin and frankly I can't be bothered looking at you in that state – it's disgusting."
"Thanks Malfoy," she continued cautiously while taking a bite of her food, "but why are you really here? I know this is just about my health."
"Well, you are right about that, I came to warn you about Adrian Pucey."
"Why are you warning me about him?" she asked curiously. She took another bite of her food, savoring it.
"He will be in charge of you tomorrow for good if you don't take the opportunity Voldemort is going to offer you," he said casually.
"I told you Malfoy, I'm not joining the Death Eaters," said Hermione, her plate of food half gone.
"Pucey will enjoy having you in his charge, you do hear your little friend next door to you on certain nights don't you?"
"What are you saying?" she asked, a tinge of fear becoming apparent in her voice.
"I'm saying that he is for some reason obsessed with you and with the power he will soon have over you he will be able to do what he pleases with you. And his tactics are purely physical, no mentally challenging discussions for you after today."
"Why do you care?" she asked him out of the blue her plate of food finished with. The question left him wordless and all he could do in response was to leave the room without a word or a look back at her.
Months passed and not once had he heard her scream like Ginny had done so often. At first he thought that Pucey placed silencing charms on the room, but when he asked Adrian stared at him with a weird expression before just saying that she never screamed; he also said that she hardly fought. He did however say that she was great fun, which for some odd reason angered Draco. Draco decided he'd visit her again for the first time since his warning.
Hermione sat in her familiar corner of her dusty room, wondering how Remus was doing in Heaven. In the past couple of months the transformations had stopped making her wonder if he had died from the treatment of him at the hands of Death Eaters and the monthly pains he suffered. Her suspicions were proven true when she heard a girl crying in the room that used to belong to Remus. It was Parvati crying, Hermione found out soon after. She had been in hiding with her family in her parent's home land of India when Death Eaters found them and killed every one of them except her.
They whispered to each other through little slits of openings that connected their rooms once Hermione found out who was crying. Parvati told stories of what it was like the few blissful months she had been free of worry and Hermione told stories of her strange encounters with Malfoy. Parvati also told Hermione of what it had been like to watch the death of her beloved twin, Padma. Soon after, Parvati began to sob uncontrollably, making tears prick into Hermione's own eyes.
In the corner where she sat, she also thought of poor Ginny and how she was holding up in her own little room. The screams were becoming less frequent and this worried Hermione, making her think that Ginny had given up all hope. Hermione had no way to communicate due to the fact that their rooms had no sort of connection to each others as Hermione's and Parvati's.
When Hermione glanced out of her small window she noticed the sky darkening slightly for a rainstorm. The smell of rain soon hit her nostrils, filling her with anticipation. A small, lazy smile formed on Hermione's lips as her thoughts wandered to a day she and Ron had shared after their sixth year at the burrow. But that was well over a year ago and it was difficult to remember.
Slowly the door opened. She expected Pucey to be on the other side of the door but was given a surprise by Draco Malfoy, a man she hadn't seen in months, standing much like he had the last visit he gave her. A tray of food yet again in his hands, this time he was less dishevelled.
"Why are you visiting me?" she asked curiously.
"I wanted to visit with you for old times' sake," he replied as if it was something he always did.
"Really - aren't you done here? You aren't in charge of me anymore."
"I just thought I'd see you and make sure you were finally willing to convert to the winning side," he said, casually setting the food down beside her.
"No, I don't want to become a traitor," she said as she began to eat, and there was a hint of sadness to her voice as she continued, "Besides, why do you think I'd give up now when I faced down Pucey so many times?"
"You are just as stubborn as the moment you first came here," he said slowly taking her all in. It was at that moment he truly realized why he had come to visit her; he had fallen in love with her bravery and with her. He wanted to slap himself for thinking of being in love with her but he couldn't, because it was the truth.
"Yes, I am, because I believe that one day good will overcome this treacherous world we now live in," she whispered hoarsely as tears brimmed her eyes.
"Well, Granger, I must be going," he said as he walked towards the door, knowing that Adrian Pucey would be down here soon for one of his nightly visits.
"Malfoy?" she asked him before he left the room fully; when he turned around to face her she simply said, "Thanks."
He couldn't stop thinking of her and the pain she was suffering at this very minute under the hands of Adrian Pucey. His heart ached thinking that his love was never to be returned and that he would have to keep it locked so tightly within himself. It wasn't as though she was beautiful, in truth she was pretty but months of never showering had made her look wild. It was her mind he admired. She had suffered so much in a year and yet she still was as stubborn as ever, never once thinking of being a traitor to her dead friends.
He decided the moment he reached his bedroom that he would visit her more often now.
"Granger, do you enjoy my visits?" he asked her curiously as he took a seat beside her on the dirty ground. This was his fifth visit this week.
"Strangely, yes, Malfoy," she replied after much thought.
"Why is that?" he asked, feeling smug.
"Because for some odd reason I have a feeling about you, I think you are slightly different to the other Death Eaters."
"Parvati?" she asked softly after Pucey left after his nightly visit. Tonight he didn't do much, except slap her around.
"Yes, Hermione," Parvati responded, her voice hoarse.
"I just wanted to make sure you were still there," she whispered with a small smile, realizing how stupid that sounded.
"I am, don't worry; I'm modeling myself after you, stubborn to the end."
Hermione let out a laugh as she bid her good night.
"Malfoy, is Ginny still alive?" she asked hopefully. She had been meaning to ask him this since his first visit.
"No, she died a few weeks ago," he replied, noticing how her face fell drastically.
"How'd she die?" she asked with tears falling down her cheeks.
"She was malnourished."
"Malfoy, can you do me a favor?" she asked as she pushed her food away from her as if it was poisonous.
"What?"
"Take Parvati food as often as you can," she said simply, tears still falling from her eyes.
"Pucey?" Hermione asked as her door opened quickly. It was about the time of night that Pucey usually visited her.
"No, Granger, it's me," Malfoy replied in a hasty voice.
"What are you doing down here so late at night?" she asked, not bothering to hide her concern and her curiosity. In the moonlight she could see his eyes heavy with worry and his hair rumpled.
"Well," he began, "today I found out something. And I couldn't let it happen so I murdered a fellow Death Eater."
"What did you find out?" she demanded. "And who did you kill?"
"It's of no importance right now," he replied, brushing off her questions.
"Yes, it is," she said her voice no longer showing concern for him.
"I killed Pucey but I can't tell you why," he said, giving in so he wouldn't make her angry.
"Pucey?" she repeated after him questioningly.
"Yes, Pucey, and they are going to find him any minute now," he continued, "and I'm going to die at the hands of the Dark Lord all because of you."
"Me?" she asked no one in particular leaving the question in the air. Malfoy slowly nodded in response. "Malfoy, do you love me?"
"Unfortunately, yes, and I've tried so hard not to," he revealed to her slowly. He began to pace the floor in worry for himself.
"Malfoy," she began softly, "I don't love you, and I doubt I ever will."
"I know that," he responded just as softly as he began to pull his wand out of his front pocket. "Please, just let me kiss you just once."
"Just this once, then I want you to forget your feelings for me," she said with tears starting to form in her eyes. He leaned down and placed a soft, innocent kiss on her lips.
"I hate to do this to you Granger," he said as he put himself back into form. He slowly pointed his wand at her. A single tear fell down his cheek at the thought of what he had to do.
"Well, then tell Parvati to be strong and never give up hope," she said as she looked away into the light of the moon so as to not to see what was about to happen to her. She gave one last smile at the thought of finally being in Heaven with the ones she loved; the action threw Draco Malfoy off for just one second, but only a second.
"I do love you Granger, but I can't see you live like this anymore," he continued softly, "Avada Kedavra."
She died instantaneously, falling into a crumpled heap on the cold, hard floor. The sight of the woman he loved dead only because of him made him finally cry openly. He fell to the floor and let his emotions take over him.
"So, Draco, the mudblood is dead?" Voldemort asked, demanding to know the truth about why Hermione and Adrian were both dead.
"Yes, my Lord," he replied quietly, his head bowed deep.
"Why is it that you killed both Adrian Pucey and the mudblood?" Voldemort questioned with his grip on his wand becoming tighter.
"I overheard Pucey in her room discussing curious things with the mudblood; he was helping her with a plan to escape," Draco lied. He knew Voldemort was a skilled Legilimens, but in his months as a Death Eater Draco had mastered Occlumency. As soon as Draco was dismissed from the room he smirked in delight at the thought that he had just passed the first step into overthrowing Voldemort and taking over the wizarding world as the new Dark Lord.