A/N: Pointed Tooth Fairy here, very sorry about the lateness, but I've had a heck of a lot of work to do in the past few months…I really don't know what else to say, except sorry.
Chapter12 God Bless The Devil"…Vertisarium will be administered…"
Fudge, however, never had the chance to finish his severe-sounding reading, for at that moment he found that a rather powerful silencing spell had been placed upon him, hampering his attempt to appear intimidating. A look of outrage and confusion flitted across his face, and he spun around rapidly, only to find himself staring down the sharp end of a wand held by…. Professor Dumbledore?
Indeed, the ancient wizard was brandishing his wand straight at the Minister of Magic, with a look on his face that was both defeated and furious. When he spoke, his voice was low and menacing, with no hind of grandfatherly sparkle.
"I'm afraid, Cornelius, that you have vastly overstepped your bounds in prosecuting a minor, especially one that attends my school." And with that, both he and Severus Snape promptly stunned the astonished ministry officials, in the process creating a rather foul smelling purple haze that caused all unwanted spectators to flee. Dumbledore turned to Draco, and was briefly concerned that he was losing his aim, and had stunned the boy, too.
However, it seemed that Draco was merely shell-shocked, and came to his senses after a gentle tap on his head from Dumbledore's wand.
"Ow!" Draco rubbed what he was sure was about to become an unsightly bump on the crown of his head. "What was that for?" He asked the headmaster in an accusatory tone.
"What was what?" Came the reply. "Now, listen to me carefully. The Ministry if Magic will be arriving after they start to wander what's taking so long for their prisoner to be retrieved-" Draco realized with a start that it was he that Dumbledore was talking about, that he had actually become an outlaw, and the seriousness of his situation finally began to dawn on him-"and so you will need to hide, and hide fast. There is a place in Hogwarts that few have heard of, I believe you came across it last year on a little quest for an ex-professor here…"
As Draco was making his way to the Room of Requirement, Albus Dumbledore turned towards the leader of the Wizarding world.
"Time to wake up, old friend." He murmered---NOTE TO BETA: do you know the name of a reawakening charm?----.
"Wha…wha's 'appening?" Cornelius Fudge groaned as he sat up, looking around blearily. "Where's the murderer? And why's everyone asleep? Dumbledore, what the Devil is going on here?" He turned towards the amused wizard.
"Well, Cornelius, it appears that you underestimated your own prisoner. He must have stunned us all, and then run off. However, he did not manage to knock me out, as I have an exceptionally hard head. If you would kindly awaken these nice men, I will show you the way he ran. I did not wish to follow him at the time; for fear that it wasn't…following regulations, as you might say. You understand of course." A glare was all he received in answer, and a grumbling Minister of Magic turned towards his officials and began rapidly shooting out reviving spells. Not before kicking a few of them to vent frustration, of course. After all men were fully awake and aware, Dumbledore addressed them with a devious glint in his eyes.
"Now, if you would all follow me, I believe I know where Mr. Malfoy has headed. Seeing that he isn't the brightest of boys, it is only logical that he will have headed straight towards the comfort and familiarity of the Slytherin common room-" at this point a few aurors snorted at the thought of the Slytherin common rooms being comforting, causing Fudge to shoot them a "don't mess with me glare-"and so it would be prudent for you all to just follow me. Form a straight line, and don't mess around, and I'm sure you will have your prisoner by the end of the hour. This way, please."
Now, you can call him crazy, but Cornelius Fudge was certain that, as he was leading them down a very gloomy and dim lit staircase, Albus Dumbledore was skipping on every other step.
Draco Malfoy was bored. And scared. And hungry. And tired. And lonely. And just about every other unpleasant thing that it was possible for a teenager in love (not to mention serious trouble) to feel. As he paced the room for the 156th (or was it 57th?) time, he was relieved to here a knock from the other side of the room. Completely disregarding common sense, and ecstatic that someone had come to keep him company, he raced over towards the door, and flung it open to reveal a gaping Malfoy. Wasting no time, she pushed past him into the shadowy room, shaking her head in irritation.
"Honestly, Draco, where is your common sense? For all you know, I could have been the Minister of Magic, here to stun you and bring you straight to Azkaban!"
"Well, yeah, I suppose." Draco retorted. "But, obviously, you're not. So it's ok, then."
"No, it is bloody well not 'ok!'" Hermione sobbed. "I was so worried about you when Professor Snape told me what was going on, I practically sprinted over here! You are a stupid, thoughtless, irresponsible boy, and I am hopelessly in love with you!" And with that, she threw herself into Draco's arms.
Draco, naturally, had absolutely no idea what was going on. In fact, he couldn't think of much else other than 'I'm holding Hermione.' He did his best to comfort her, seeing as he didn't even know why she was crying, and before long her lips were covering his and he was pressed up against a very conveniently placed bed that seemed to spring up out of nowhere. Not that he was complaining, or anything. Gaining confidence, he parted his lips, causing Hermione to follow suit. He flicked his tongue softly into her mouth, causing a deep moan that traveled straight to…uh-oh.
"Hermione…" he panted. "Herm- oh, god, Hermione." He reluctantly broke of the kiss, gazing at her with half-open eyes. She stared back at him with an almost hungry look in her eyes, something that he had never seen before, and that, quite frankly, scared him to death.
"Yes, love?" She purred. Draco stammered for a moment, before regaining his train of thought.
"Do you want…? I mean are you sure…" He gulped, seeing her nod slightly, a slow smile spreading across her face.
"It's just that I, well, I've never, exactly…." He trailed off, unsure of how to finish. Hermione placated him with a soft kiss.
"Shh, love. I haven't either. Don't worry, I trust you. I love you, Draco." Draco felt like his heart would burst straight though his shirt.
"Oh, god, Hermione, I love you so much." He reached down and picked up her small frame in his arms, kissing her wildly, before laying her down on the bed. Hermione smiled up at him, one hand tangled in his hair, the other reaching slowly up his shirt, encouraging him further. Draco carefully placed himself on top of her, hands touching, caressing everyplace he could reach; his breath coming in short, rapid bursts. He briefly raised himself up on his arms, to look down at the girl, no, the woman lying beneath him, and saw her looking at him as if he was the only person alive in the world. And he knew, he just knew, that no matter what happened he would always have this one moment, and this one night. And the only thing that mattered was his love for Hermione, everyone else be dammed. And he would find away out of this awful mess, run away with Hermione, and for once in his life, he could actually feel alive.
And, for a few hours at least, that was what he believed. Then the whole world fell apart.
He was startled awake by either the birds or the curse. He heard the birds first. Hermione was nestled against him, her tangled brown hair tickling his arms. Her eyes fluttered open when she felt him move.
"Listen, Hermione," he said, extatic at the ridiculous perfection of it, "They're nightingales! They're singing for us!"
Hermione Granger-Malfoy sat bolt upright. "Those aren't nightingales! They're morning doves! Oh my God! Oh my Lord! We've gotta get out of here!" She leapt off the bed, dragging a sheet with her as though concerned with her modesty, than she froze.
The portal to the Room of Requirement shuddered as if someone had beaten it with a fist. A muffled cry of "Curse the devil!" drifted through the heavy wood. Hermione giggled, nervous and jittery and all sorts of things a good-girl should feel on a morning like this.
"God bless the devil," she whispered, kissing Draco chastely on the forehead before picking her clothes off the floor and dressing.
Outside, no more curses or any other indication of Cornelius Agustus Fudge were made.
A/N: wooo….I updated. I rock. Look for the next chapter from Zvezdana, which should be up sometime in the next month or two. If you hadn't already guessed, we don't exactly have weekly updates. And Ronfan, if you're out there, CONTACT ZVEZDANA! I e-mailed you the chapter for beta-ing, but I don't know if it arrived, or what. We need to hear from you.