Chapter Twenty- Eight:
At first the Death Eaters didn't seem to notice them. Draco and Hermione knew that they looked like muggles, and if there was anyone Death Eaters loathed, it was muggles.
They tried to pull it off cool, and walk like nothing happened, to see if they could escape the Death Eaters.
They walked by, almost making it to the end of the street. To their luck, the Death Eaters were drunk and didn't really seem to notice them, or so they thought.
"Hey Crabbe, look it's ickly muggles. What are they doing in Hogsmeade?" asked one of the Death Eaters, addressing Vincent's father.
"I don't know, Goyle, I think we should teach them a lesson, you know make them dance a little." said Crabbe.
"I think I like your idea." Goyle said, giggling like mad.
Stupid laughter followed for a minute, and then silence fell on the Death Eaters.
"I think we shouldn't think too much." Crabbe said after looking thoughtful for a while.
"Why not, Crabbe?" asked Goyle.
"Because it makes my head hurt, and sometimes it feels like there are some sort of bugs flying around inside my head. Do you ever get that feeling Goyle?" asked Crabbe, looking at his friend, who looked like he was pondering over that question for a while.
"I guess you're right, we shouldn't think." said Goyle while cracking his knuckles.
"So, shall we party with the filthy muggles?" asked Crabbe, noticing Goyle was preparing for a fight.
"Amen." said Goyle and took his wand out of his pants pocket.
While Crabbe and Goyle were pondering over thinking, headaches and bugs in their heads, Hermione and Draco walked behind the bar, and hid there quietly.
"I see you're friend's parents are not too bright." said Hermione, sniggering.
"I never said they were. The apples didn't fall to far from the trees either." said Draco, reminiscing how bored he was during his days in Hogwarts, with no one intellectual to talk to.
"I pity you for what you must have been through." said Hermione, understanding his thoughts, and giving him a weak smile.
"Anyhow, we must escape. I think you should apparate first, and then once I know you're safe and sound, I'll apparate after you." whispered Draco.
"No way." said Hermione. "When I apparate it will make a loud pop, and you know it. The idiots will hear it and come fetch you. No way I'm leaving you here alone." Hermione added, determined.
"Herm.. Nicole, stop being stubborn, just apparate away already." Draco said getting angry and impatient.
"No way, I told you." said Hermione.
"I think, we should have some fun with them." she added with a mischievous smile on her face.
"What do you mean, have some fun with them? Do you honestly think they'll take us out for drinks or something of that sort?" asked Draco seriously.
"Not in that sense. Just watch." said Hermione as she silently cursed Crabbe with the leg binding curse.
She than pointed her wand at Goyle and whispered levicorpus, his body had instantly flipped upside down and he was hanging in mid air. Draco decided to join the fun and used his wand to undress them and left them with nothing on besides their undergarments. He then conjured some pink bunny outfits and dressed them with his wand.
Hermione started giggling and decided to give them rabbit teeth.
"What the hell is happening?" asked Crabbe, unable to move his legs.
"I think I'm hallucinating." said Goyle, looking down at the ground, the blood rushing to his head.
"Ok, let's leave before the curses wear out." said Draco grabbing Hermione by the elbow.
"No, not quite yet." said Hermione and pondered over a good curse.
"Petrificus totalus" whispered Hermione, pointing her wand at both Death Eaters. 'There, now they can't move.' she said to herself.
She then conjured some bogies and sent the bat bogies after the Death Eaters.
"I think we should do a few more, and then leave." said Hermione giggling. She was having a great time and didn't want to leave.
"Well, I think we should leave now. Nicole, those are Death Eaters, not puppets. Let's go while we're both safe." said Draco, who was worried about Hermione's life more than his own.
While Draco and Hermione were arguing about what they should do next, the curses Hermione paralyzed the Death Eaters with were wearing off, and they got their senses back.
The got up and saw themselves dressed in bunny cloths. At first they were puzzled, but they quickly remembered what just happened.
They pointed their wands and shouted an unforgivable curse.
Hermione was standing with her back to the Death Eaters, facing Draco, telling him how he should take it easy and have some fun.
All of a sudden, she felt excruciating pain ripping her insides out. It felt like her skin was torn apart from her body and every nerve that she had was ripped off by hand. It was pain she could not explain, or understand for that matter.
She screamed but she didn't realize it. She screamed louder than ever before. Yelling and twisting her arms with agony.
Draco was so pissed off when he saw Hermione getting hit with two cruciatus curses. He grabbed her in his arms and tried to sooth the pain away, failing miserably.
He shot curses in all directions, his intentions were to hit the Death Eaters and make them hurt like they hurt her.
He finally hit them with what he thought was a blasting curse, because they blasted away and hit a hard wall, smashing against it and falling to the ground senseless.
Draco then picked Hermione up from the floor. She seemed to faint from the horrible pain she experienced. Draco knew of this pain like nobody else. His father had used the cruciatus curse on him a couple of times, as a child and a teenager. It hurts like a bitch and could drive a person insane. He still wonders how he wasn't driven to insanity yet.
Draco held Hermione's body tight against his. He stroked her hair with his hands, seeing her innocent face, still troubled by the pain she felt.
"You'll be ok, I'll take care of you." he whispered into her ear and apparated away.
Draco landed in their living room, still holding onto Hermione's body tightly. He put her down on the sofa, and hurried into the kitchen to get a wet towel, and he pressed it against her face.
Little by little, using cold and wet towels, he got to get some sort of reaction from Hermione's fainted body.
He didn't bother doing anything else to wake her up because he knew it was useless.
When a cruciatus curse hits you hard, your body has to recover on it's own, and Draco knew it.
He would have taken her to St.Mungo's, but he couldn't just bring her in there. Questions would be asked ,and his disguise would come off in less than two hours. Hermione place a 12 hour charm on him, and the time was running out.
Draco didn't leave the living room that night. He stayed by Hermione, wiping her face and forehead every once in a while. He didn't sleep at all that night. The guilt he felt was taking over him. If only they would have apparated on time, none of this would have happened.
He kneeled against her body and started kissing her hands, praying for some sort of god to help him save her.
Every half hour, like on schedule, he pressed freshly wet towels on her fair face, still hoping for some sort of miracle.
The sun started rising, bringing some sort of light through the windows. Draco looked at the sun deep in thought.
She's been in this state for so long, if she doesn't wake up within the next few minutes, he knew he must do whatever it takes, and get her to St. Mungo's.