As The World Falls Down

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. I did not write any of the lyrics at the beginning of the chapter. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

MAJOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILERS

Summary: Lucius Malfoy has lost everything. He only has the young witch who comes to his aid, but will happen when he remembers who he is, and more importantly, who she is?

A/N: I didn't post this chapter earlier because I wasn't sure if I liked it. I realized I can write love scenes and dramatic moments, but I have a hard time with 'action scenes' I don't think they are my thing. Let me know what you guys think with a honest review! Thank you for all your reviews so far.

ONE MORE WARNING: MAJOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILERS. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

Chapter 9 – The End Will Come

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And so they say, the end will come for us
And so the world, slows down to let us off
Just hang it up and let it go, accept it if I must
But I don't believe, I don't believe that the end will come for us
No I won't believe the end will come for us

The End Will Come – Elton John

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"The important thing is to stay invisible. We don't want them to know we are here," Hermione explained as they stepped away from the group of trees on the edge of the Malfoy property.

"Who was that man?" Lucius asked as he walked by her side.

"Severus Snape. He use to be a Professor at Hogwarts. He has been a Deatheater almost as long as you, but he switched sides and worked as a spy for Dumbledore until…" her voice trailed off.

"Until what?" Lucius prompted.

"Until he betrayed us. But I believe there is more to the story than we know," she explained. "There's your manor."

Lucius stopped walking to look up at the massive mansion sitting ahead of them. "I must be really rich…" he breathed, turning to look at Hermione.

"Come on…" she said, starting forward again.

"I heard this Snape tell you I was dead," Lucius said.

"I don't understand what happened yet, but you must have made Voldemort very mad," Hermione said.

"Hermione, about the…." He stopped when she held her hand up.

"Not now. I need to focus on getting Harry and the others," she said.

Lucius sighed but didn't say anything else. He watched the young woman march on, her chin held high and her hands steady. He realized just how courageous and smart this girl was.

They quickly reached the backdoor Severus had spoke of. Hermione pulled her wand out and glanced around the side of the building. "I don't see anyone. Keep an eye open behind me while I open the lock," she whispered.

Lucius watched her blast the lock of the door. "I wonder where my wand is," he said softly.

"Come on," she said, tugging his sleeve. "Pro… Snape said he would have the guards distracted for a short amount of time, and your Polyjuice potion will only last an hour."

Hermione looked around the darkened room. She could make out the chairs at the servant's table and the door behind them that must lead to the servant's staircase.

"This way," she whispered, tugging open the door.

Lucius followed the young witch up the dark staircase. She stopped at the top door and turned the knob.

Stepping out into the hallway, Lucius was able to look around his home for the first time. The hallway had extravagant carpet running down the center of it. The walls were covered with portraits of people with the same white-blonde hair that he had. He stopped to look at the portrait of an older man. Could this man be his father?

Hermione paused and looked back at him. "Are you okay?"

Lucius turned to her. "Fine. Sorry. Which room are they in?"

She pointed to the door Severus had spoken of. "I believe this one."

Lucius looked at the door for a moment. "Lets go," he said, stepping forward.

Hermione reached out and grabbed his arm. "Wait! You don't know what is in there for sure, we must be careful. I have the wand, I will go first, and then you follow me."

"Maybe I should go first," Lucius said, "There might be a Deatheater in there."

"If there is my wand will take him out long before your strength does," Hermione said, pointing her wand at the doorknob.

Once the door was unlocked, Hermione kicked it slightly with her foot and looked into the room. A fire was burning in the large fireplace against the wall she could see from her point-of-view. She looked around the edge of the door, but saw nobody.

Lucius stepped in behind her, looking around. "Come on….," he whispered, stepping further in the room.

"REMUS!" a female voice squealed. At the sound of the voice, Hermione threw the door the rest of the way open. Harry, Ginny and Ron were standing against the back wall. Their hands were tied to bars above their heads, but they looked otherwise unhurt.

"Are you guys alright?" Hermione asked, rushing towards them.

"Yes, thank Merlin you are here." Ginny said. "We were in the dungeon Hermione, but then one of the Deatheaters came down and got us, he moved us to this nice room and lit the fire. He actually apologized for chaining us back up. I think it was Snape, but Harry keeps saying that it wasn't."

Hermione turned to look at her best friend, whose eyes had darkened as soon as Ginny spoke. "Harry, I'll explain later, but it was Snape. He told us how to get you."

"YOU TRUSTED HIM?" Harry bellowed. "It was probably a trap. He's probably going to be in here any second to get you two also."

"Harry, please, I have never endangered us, believe in me, please?" Hermione pleaded.

Harry sighed. "Remus, do you believe Snape is helping us?"

Lucius looked at Harry, his eyebrows raised. "I…."

"Harry, not now. We need to get you guys out of here, we will talk about this later," Hermione said, raising her wand to blast off Ron's chains first.

"Merlin Hermione, I am so glad to see you," Ron said, rubbing his wrists.

She quickly blasted Harry's chains off, looking her friend in the eyes. "I would never do anything that would hurt any of my friends or the order, you know that Harry. You need to give Snape a chance, he is telling the truth."

Harry studied her eyes before reaching for her and drawing her close. "I am glad to see you Hermione."

"Can somebody let me out?" Ginny said, rattling the chains holding her arms up.

"Oh!" Hermione quickly blasted Ginny's chains off. "I'm sorry Gin."

Ginny quickly hugged her before turning and hugging Lucius. "Thank you for coming Remus."

Hermione couldn't help but grin at the expression on Lucius' face. "We need to go guys, we are running out of time."

"How do we get out?" Ron asked.

"I guess the same way we came in, the back stairs," Hermione replied, stepping out into the hallway.

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"Where are you going Goyle?" Severus hissed from behind his mask.

"For a walk, is that alright with you?" Goyle replied from around the side of the manor.

"We are supposed to be guarding the front, get back here!" Severus replied.

"I'll guard where I want to guard." Goyle mumbled, continuing around the building.

Severus sighed, he couldn't go after the man, it would make his involvement in their escape to obvious. He just hoped the witch had completed her task by now.

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"This way," Hermione said, leading everyone down the servant's staircase again. She had to get them at least back to the trees; Lucius only had another five minutes under the Polyjuice.

She paused at the bottom of the staircase. "Where are your wands?" she asked, looking at Ron.

"I don't know. They took them from us right away," Ron explained.

"This place is so big, who knows where they put them, if they are even here," Ginny said, her voice ringing with panic.

"We will have to worry about that later, we need to get out of here. Hermione is right, if Snape is helping us, we are on a time limit, and if he is setting us up then we need to move fast," Harry said, moving forward.

"Since you have no wands we need to hurry. The time Snape promised me is about up. Once we get outside, run as fast as you can towards the back clump of trees, that is where we came in at, so it's a safe place to Apparate from," Hermione explained.

"Ready?" Harry asked, looking over at Ginny.

She nodded slowly. "Let's go."

Ron reached over and opened the door, and the five of them took off at a sprint out the back door.

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Goyle heard the bang of the door hitting the back of the house before he saw the figures running across the lawn. "SEVERUS!" he bellowed as he pulled his wand out. "THEY ARE ESCAPING!"

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Severus Snape jumped up as soon as he heard Goyle yell. He grabbed his wand and took off around the side of the manor. He had to slow Goyle down.

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"THEY ARE ESCAPING!" Hermione heard someone yelling. She watched Harry pulling Ginny across the yard with Ron right behind them. She didn't see where Lucius was, but she assumed he was behind her or off to her side.

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Goyle couldn't hit Potter. The boy was running too fast, he was almost to the edge of the property line with the little redhead. He changed his aim; the mudblood was running slower than the rest of her friends and he had a clear shot.

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Severus rounded the corner in time to see Goyle swing his wand around on Hermione. He bit his tongue to keep from calling out a warning.

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"THEY ARE ESCAPING!" Lucius heard a man call out. He slowed down and looked behind him. A man dressed in black robes with a strange mask on was standing off to the side, his wand raised towards Harry.

Before he could call out a warning, the man turned his wand from Harry and aimed at Hermione.

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Severus knew he wasn't going to have a choice now. He had to interfere before Hermione was hit. He started forward but stopped again when he noticed the werewolf running straight towards the girl.

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Lucius ran, without worrying about were the man in dark robes was, or were the rest of the group was. He heard a voice call out "Avada…." But didn't here the rest as he lunged for Hermione, knocking her to the ground.

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Harry, Ginny and Ron all stopped at once, the "Avada" ringing out across the lawn. They turned just in time to see the shot of green light coming from a dark shadow and Remus jumping on Hermione, knocking her to the ground.

"Hermione!" Harry called out.

Ron reached out and grabbed Harry's arm, stopping him from running back out. "Remus got her in time. Come on!"

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Hermione didn't have time to hear the killing curse being called out as she was knocked to the ground. She looked up in shock to see Remus… no, Lucius…. Laying over her, a look of shock on his face as well.

When she saw the jet of green light shoot over their heads, she realized what had happened.

"Hermione!" she heard Harry calling from somewhere off in the distance.

"Come on!" Lucius said, scooping her up as he stood. He quickly turned for the trees once more.

"I'm okay, I can run," she gasped, trying to catch her air.

"We are almost there, I've got you." Lucius replied calmly.

"I am glad you insisted on coming with me," she said.

Lucius didn't reply as they reached the group of trees. He quickly set her down, grabbing her shoulders to steady her. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, we need to go now," she said, looking over at Harry. "Ready?"

Harry nodded before grabbing Ginny and disappearing with a pop. Ron quickly followed. Hermione turned to Lucius, "The Polyjuice potion will be wearing off any second." She stated before taking his hand and apparating them away from Malfoy manor.