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—
The next three days passed by uncomfortably quickly.
Mr. Granger had heeded Draco's warning.
The wealthy man had packed what he could of his family's valuables into three trunks to carry, wherever they were going.
At great risk, Draco had sent a dissolving letter to Mr. Granger directly the day before the attack detailing a few final instructions for the family to follow so that their survival may be insured.
Draco had informed Mr. Granger that the assault would take place at twilight.
A few hours prior, on that terrible day, Mr. Granger sat on his mansion's stone balcony with his wife and his daughter seated next to him while they all looked out over the grounds of their beautiful estate.
"I was born here, Father." Hermione said quietly as she clutched Mr. Granger's hand in her own, "I don't want to leave."
"I was married here, darling." Hermione's mother, Mrs. Granger, chimed in as she flashed her daughter a bittersweet smile, then looked over at her husband as she seconded, "I don't want to leave either."
Mr. Granger's chest rose and fell as he let out a heavy sigh.
One hand held his daughter's and one hand held his wife's as he looked back and forth between them both and said with a deep sadness evident in his chocolate brown eyes, "You both know that the only matter I prioritize over your happiness is your safety. My businesses have enough success, perhaps we'll go away for a year or two and rebuild our estate, even someplace entirely new if we must!"
Mr. Granger was trying to stay positive and speak words of encouragement to his deeply discouraged family.
He spoke truthfully, Hermione and Mrs. Granger knew that, but the kind words that fell from Mr. Granger's lips didn't stop the mournful, frightened tears that flowed down mother and daughter's cheeks.
—
Draco was glad that Lord Voldemort had agreed to let him complete his raid on the Grangers with only two assistants.
The less Death Eaters there were around Lord Malfoy, the easier it would be to execute his clever plan.
Draco was also rather pleased that Lord Voldemort had been so impressed by his willingness to step up and serve that he had allowed Draco himself to select which two individuals he wanted to bring along.
That had been a fabulously simple choice for the alpha.
Draco selected his childhood acquaintances, Crabbe and Goyle.
Both of Draco's peers who stood beside him to apparate to the Granger estate that evening were delightfully dull and undeniably unquestioning.
Crabbe and Goyle's accounts of the evening's events would be seen as truthful and trustworthy because of the loyalty their fathers had always shown to Voldemort.
Crabbe and Goyle themselves looked up quite a bit to Draco, therefore he was certain that they would have no trouble believing him when he told them that he had murdered the Grangers.
"Ready?" Draco asked as he looked at his two accomplices.
"Ready." Crabbe answered.
"Ready." Goyle grunted.
Together, the trio raised their wands and apparated to the Granger estate.
—-
The night was clear and cool as Draco and his accomplices approached the formidable manor.
As they drew closer to the house, Draco glanced upwards and noticed that all of the windows were illuminated by candlelight.
He was pleased that Mr. Granger appeared to have taken the advice he had sent.
As dense as Crabbe and Goyle were, Draco still had to make their intended crime appear to be a surprise to their victims.
Lord Malfoy and his men walked up the stone steps to the intricate front door of the Granger estate.
A single burst of light from the tip of Draco's wand forced their way in, blowing the mansion's beautiful, carved door wide open.
Two of the Granger maids had been in the parlor waiting and as the ill-intended group came rushing into the house, they screamed and ran away, exactly as planned.
Draco knew the servants would be escaping out of the back of the house, even Mathilda, the prestigious family's most valued maid.
He also knew that Crabbe and Goyle would be far too interested in ransacking the manor to chase after the servants who fled screaming from them.
Not to mention too lazy…...Draco's assistants for the evening were not known for displaying admirable work ethics or much enthusiasm for physical exercise, which would be required for them to chase after the Granger butlers and maids.
"You two take over down here!" Draco shouted as Crabbe smirked widely while he happily began to break every vase and destroy every piece of furniture they could find.
"What about you?" Goyle called out to Draco as the Malfoy heir slyly began to make his way up the grand, winding staircase.
"I'm going upstairs to look for the Mudblood!" Draco shouted, "Remember, if you find any of the Grangers, leave them for me! I want to be the one who casts the killing blows!"
Crabbe continued on his way and Goyle merely nodded at Draco before he set to work with Crabbe, slicing through a beautiful strip of wallpaper with the swirling line of light that issued from his own wand's tip.
Draco stomped up the stairs and took a moment to cause a cacophonous commotion by kicking open the doors to rooms that he already knew were empty.
As he heard Crabbe and Goyle continue along their destructive path downstairs, he smirked to himself when he approached Lady Granger's room.
Lord Malfoy listened to the sound of splitting wood and breaking glass before he took a breath, turned the knob, and opened the door to save his darling.
—-
As soon as Draco stepped inside Lady Granger's bedchamber, he found Mr. and Mrs. Granger standing by the window with their arms tightly wrapped around their only child.
All three members of the Granger family wore grim expressions on their faces as Draco nodded at them.
"You've really come, then?" Mr. Granger asked in solemn acceptance.
"We have, yes." Draco nodded.
He tried not to look at the disgust on Lady Granger's face as she stared at him with her amber eyes full of watery tears, as if she blamed him for the entire situation.
"...But you three don't need to worry." Draco continued as he reassured the frightened family while one particularly loud crash echoed from downstairs, "I've kept my word….I'm here to save you."
Mr. Granger's wife dabbed the wetness away from her face with a handkerchief until Draco nodded at her daughter and said, "Your necklace, Lady Granger. You and your parents will want to open its hidden compartment now."
Hermione's look of disgust faded as she remembered what the alpha had told her about the trinket he had given her a very brief three days ago.
As Lady Granger reached down into the space between her breasts and retrieved the necklace, it made Lord Malfoy smile to see that she was wearing it.
She didn't have to wear it, she could have merely kept it accessible.
Draco silently wondered if she had worn the jewelry since he had gifted it to her, he wondered if she thought it was beautiful, or if she wore it because she…
Footsteps came pounding up the stairs suddenly.
Draco whirled around towards the direction of the noise until he turned back hastily to face the Grangers as he hissed, "Now! GO! Quickly!"
Lady Granger gasped and quickly pulled her wand from the side pocket of her dress.
Draco used his own wand to shoot flaming balls of magic at the fluffy curtains that hung around the sides of Lady Granger's bedroom, sending the entire area up into flames.
Lady Granger opened the pendant of her necklace with her wand, took her parents' hands and touched the center of her pendant just before the first section of flaming draperies came down in their direction.
Draco had cleverly disguised a Portkey in that dazzling necklace.
Craftily, discreetly, successfully.
It had been a success, the way Hermione and her parents escaped the scene of flaming destruction just as Crabbe and Goyle came bounding into the room.
It was a success, the way Draco bragged to them both about burying the Grangers under the scorching curtains that came billowing down in the second between the Grangers' departure and Crabbe and Goyle's arrival.
Although the Granger mansion was left to burn in the fires that Draco. Crabbe, and Goyle had started, as the trio escaped the manor, the evening itself was very much a true success.
The servants had fled to safety, unharmed.
Mr. and Mrs. Granger, and of course, Draco's treasure, their lovely daughter, were presumed dead.
As Hermione and her family completed their journey and found themselves dumped unceremoniously in a desolate part of a far away forest, Draco went to proudly deliver his report of the evening to his superiors, who sat, perched and waiting on him like vultures in his own home.
Lady Granger was safe, that was all that really mattered.