Right in Front of You
Chapter 6
"She left? What do you mean, she left? Now you've done it! The Dark Lord will have our hides for this," Narcissa yelled at Draco.
"She disapparated! There was nothing I could do!" Draco sat down on the living room couch.
"You could have done plenty! You could have attacked her! You could have alongside apparated with her! Do you have any idea where she went?" Narcissa slowly calmed down.
"No." There was a loud pop, and a tall man with a green robe apparated into the room. (Guess who?)
"Where is my daughter? You told me she was hurt… fell off a broom. Young Draco caught her a food from the ground. Good work. Now, where is she?"
"Not here," Narcissa whispered after she and Draco bowed to their master.
"Not here? Whatever do you mean?" Voldemort's smile faded.
"Young Draco here seems to recall that she went to the Order's headquarters."
"Yes, I remember her going there… Then she broke my connection. Strong witch, she is. But, I thought she came back here." Voldemort told them.
"No," Draco whispered. "Please, don't punish me, my lord," he pleaded. "She is the brightest witch our age. She… she told them that you knew about their headquarters. Then… she disapparated."
"She what? Is she okay? Did she get there whole?" Voldemort's face grew red with anger.
"Please… Master… there was nothing I could do…" Draco pleaded. There was a poping sound, and Hermione fell on top of Draco on the couch.
"Ooops," Hermione said. "Missed my mark. Meant to apparate onto that chair," she told them and pointed to the armchair next to the fire.
"Hermione!" Draco exclaimed.
"Where were you?" Voldemort asked her, half fuming.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Hermione replied. She could feel him try to get into her brain, but she fought him. Hermione's head still on Draco's lap. She shut her eyes, and concentrated on her target, him. Accidentally, she sent him a burst of wind, that knocked Voldemort off his feet.
"What the…?" Voldemort's face full of surprise. He hadn't counted on an invisible curse.
"Beauty, I call it," Hermione looked up into Draco's face. "What the…?" she scrambled up, only to fall because of her leg. Of course, Draco's speed after catching snitches all his life let him catch her around her waist. "Get off me, Malfoy, caz I swear…"
"Are you sure?" Draco asked her.
"Let go, Ferret Boy," Hermione ordered.
"Okay then," Draco let go, and Hermione fell forward. Instead of hitting the ground, Hermione caught herself, and leaned against an invisible wall.
"DRACO!" Narcissa exclaimed.
"What?" Draco replied.
"You dropped her!" Narcissa raged.
"She ordered me to. You said that I couldn't disobey an order," Draco responded.
"I'm going, okay? See ya later," Hermione said, and disapparated.
"How much trouble have you had with her?" Voldemort asked Narcissa.
"Hey Harry! I didn't expect you to be at Ginny's place," Hermione greeted them.
"You never told us where you were staying, Hermione," Ron stated. "Harry told us that your parents died, but he couldn't tell us where you were staying."
"I'm staying… in Diagon Alley," Hermione lied. "At… the Leaky Cauldron."
"You can come here, you know that?" Ron invited her.
"Yeah, I know… It's just… I need to be near the ministry."
"Oh," Ron said, clearly disappointed.
Hermione, hearing this, quickly told him, "But once we figure all of this out, maybe I can stay."
"My parents already have agreed that they are going to try and adopt you," Ron gleefully told her.
"I wouldn't trouble them," Hermione whispered. "They already have too many mouths to feed."
"Don't worry about that," Ron was so happy that he was nearly jumping up and down.
"Ron, you can barely buy school books! Plus, you wouldn't want to after you found out…" she stopped midsentence, realizing the truth of her words, and a tear fell down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," Ron made to wipe away her tears, but she pushed him away.
"I… I have to go…" Hermione's voice faded, and she disapparated.
