A/N: I know I'm late. Don't be mad at me. Please review!
Hermione smirked triumphantly at Antonin Dolohov, as he levitated her chair outside onto the ledge just outside the cave. Even though she was still tied to the chair and couldn't move an inch, she had finally left that alcove behind and was out in the open air. Bellatrix had refused to let 'that wench' reside in the cave and so, without the option of locking Hermione in the alcove, the four of them had been forced to accept the inevitable. Hermione still hadn't figured out what the Death Eaters were hiding from her and how they'd figured her whereabouts so quickly. She had looked like a boy, for Merlin's sake!
New predicament taken in stride, Hermione began to plan out another myriad of ways to escape. Her hopes had been crushed; however, by the fact that she was watched 24/7 by at least one of the Death Eaters at a time.
"You're not so smart now, little girl" Antonin taunted, letting out a hollow laugh at Hermione's sneer. "That doesn't scare me"
Hermione turned away. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him.
He passed her a badly cleaned bowl, in which a boiled egg rolled around.
Being outside, Hermione now knew the difference between night and day and had successfully counted three days since her shift to the the rocky ledge. Every morning, Antonin would bring her a breakfast of some sort, taunting her with joy.
Hermione took the bowl from him and peeled the egg swiftly, her dreary eyes scanning the rocky hills around them.
"Looking for your friends, are you?" Antonin asked, a smirk playing on his lips. "Have they arrived yet? Come to save the damsel in distress?"
Hermione clenched her teeth, but didn't say a thing, her eyes darting around the hillside. Just one hint…one hint that they were coming for her. She knew they would. They had to.
"They won't come. They were never your friends, haven't you got that yet?" He used that awfully patronising voice that Hermione despised. She felt like hexing it off his tongue, but, alas, loss of wand impeded her somewhat. He cackled joyfully at her clenched jaw. "You haven't realised it, yet, have you?" He laughed harder.
"My friends will come for me" Hermione growled through her teeth, trying and failing to jump out of her seat in anger, instead the chair fell over with Hermione in it, almost toppling her over the cave ledge. Tears pricking her eyes, she caught herself just in time. Dolohov reluctantly helped her up.
Lucius Malfoy came rushing out of the cave.
"Are you really that irresponsible?" Lucius roared at the dark-haired man. Dolohov clamped his mouth shut in fury.
Bellatrix came rushing out after Lucius, howling with rage and almost kicking Hermione over the edge herself. "She could've been killed!" Her arms flailed wildly at the convicted Death Eater and dragged him back inside the cave. Lucius followed, his arms swinging comically by his sides.
It took Hermione a few minutes to realise what had just happened.
Then it dawned upon her: she was alone.
—-
"Today's the day!" Draco announced triumphantly, brandishing a small piece of parchment in Blaise's face as he shook the Italian by awake.
Jumping up in fright, it took Blaise a few moments to figure out exactly what had happened "Har har, very funny" he harrumphed, snuggling back down into the covers, but making no move to fall back to sleep. "You think it will work?" He asked after a moment of pin drop silence, as if continuing a long drawn conversation.
Draco turned to his friend, his face set out in a grim expression of determination. "Of course. I know my Aunt must be there. She mentioned it to me very clearly" He seemed to be comforting himself just as much as he was Blaise.
"I hope you're right" the Italian admitted, swallowing a lump in his throat. Even though, he wasn't as fond of Hermione as Draco was, Blaise still loved her tremendously. She had that sort of personality that he felt drawn into. He was sure that Draco felt the same way, only romantically. Hermione was really one of a kind. He heaved a sigh of loss. They'd even commenced their French lesson, even though Hermione had spent most of it dictating how similar French and Italian were. Blaise smiled with reminiscence, Hermione's voice echoing through his head: 'They are both Romance languages, you see? It means that they are both derived from Latin origins'. Blaise had obviously known about the similarities between French and Italian, but he'd let Hermione explain it all to him; she seemed to love teaching so much. He wondered if she'd like to teach when she left school, even though her mind was meant for worthier purposes. He'd ask her, when they rescued her, that is if they managed the ordeal.
"There is no reason to believe that things won't work out" Draco argued confidently, startling Blaise out of memory lane.
"Other than, of course, four Death Eaters, a vague memory, our shoddy spellwork-"
"Shoddy!" Draco interrupted, looking scandalised. "I can asure you-"
"That was at least six months ago, mate" Blaise explained "We haven't practiced since"
Draco frowned in understanding for a second before glaring at his friend "Way to ruin a joyful morning"
"This morning was never meant to be joyful" Blaise pointed out.
Conversation had to cease at that moment as Madam Pomfrey let herself through the bordering curtains around the five friends and setting down five individual breakfast trays near each patient, waking them up as she did so. She gave Draco his morning checkup, as well, humming casually all the while. Blaise shot a bemused look at Draco.
"Wake the others up, when you're ready" she instructed before leaving them alone once more.
"Someone's in a good mood today" Blaise chuckled.
Draco didn't reply, but simply stared at his breakfast tray solemnly.
Blaise was about to comment when he realised what had captured his friend's attention.
On his plate, next to the glass of 'highly nutritious' milk lay a golden-brown, sumptuous looking croissant. Now, to the outside eye, it would seem that these two teenage boys were staring avidly at a croissant, most probably because it looked so appetising. The problem with this theory, though, was that at that moment a wave of sorrow washed over the pair and sorrow usually didn't accompany a delicious croissant, unless someone else happened to be eating it. No, it wasn't exactly the croissant test that had captured their attention, but the fact that it was French and all French had a distinct arrow pointing to it that read in big, bold letters 'Hermione Granger'.
Draco gulped, not touching the croissant, but digging into the toast, dripping with butter.
"Mmmm…breakfast" Harry hummed delightfully, reaching over and grabbing his own tray. He didn't even pause at the sight of the croissant, but stuffed one end into his mouth, chewing with vigour.
Ginny rolled her eyes at him "At least you're better than Ronald" she muttered, Reaching for her own tray and taking a sip of the milk.
Theo smiled at Ginny before giving everyone a significant glance "It's today isn't it? We're all ready"
"We are" Draco agreed, nodding.
"So?" Theo asked. "When do we leave?"
"Dumbledore can't know we're gone" Pansy interjected, looking worried. She didn't have any plans on getting expelled before graduation.
"He won't, Pans" Blaise reminded the girl "I checked. He's got an appointment with the Minister in about another forty-five minutes and by the time he's back, Hermione will be safe and sound"
"If everything works out well" Harry added, pessimistically.
"Which it will!" Ginny said sternly at the boy, who nodded immediately. "Of course"
—
Pansy clung onto Blaise's arm, her sharp, manicured nails cutting into his skin.
"Pansy!" He whispered sternly to her, looking pointedly at his constricted hand "You're cutting my blood flow off"
"Oh, sorry" Pansy apologised, looking flustered and shifting her deathly grip to her wand instead. Blaise stared in surprise at the girl. Never had he heard Pansy Parkinson apologise in such an unbecoming manner.
"Everyone know what to do?" Ginny asked once more, loud enough so hey could all hear her. They were in Hogsmeade, without permission and they all knew the amount of trouble they might be in if they were caught. They were right now hurrying as inconspicuously through the alleyway of shops as they could, having changed out of their school clothes and altering their appearances as was necessary. Ginny had insisted upon changing the colour of Draco and Harry's hair as they were so noticeable, in her opinion. Draco had a messy head of dark brown hair and Harry had an unusually neat head of a dull shade of red. Ginny altered her hair as well, inadvertently turning it into such a mimicry of Hermione's bushy mane that Draco couldn't look her straight in the eye for at least an hour after the incident. Pansy had taken charge of her, Blaise and Theo, not altering their hair much but their facial features. Theo now had a small moustache and a pair of bushy eyebrows to match; Pansy had promised him that she knew they counter curse of by heart and performed it many times before he allowed her wand anywhere near his face. Blaise was much the same, although wasn't quite as dramatic, especially as his change wasn't as drastic. Pansy had only changed the shape of his nose and lips, leaving the rest to stay, almost blushing when she announced the fact. But, of course, Parkinson's don't blush for boys.
"There's nothing much to know" Draco argued, pretending to consider entering Honeydukes before continuing onwards "We grab Hermione and go"
Pansy rolled her eyes in exasperation. "We've had this conversation before Draco" she said with finality "What if the Death Eaters are right there? They wouldn't let us just grab her and go. We don't even know whether Hermione is-"
"Don't say it!" Draco's eyes flashed dangerously, a hint of desperation swirling through them, predicting what Pansy would say. Ginny placed her hand on his shoulder, though, urging him to listen to Pansy. He did, albeit reluctantly.
"-being contained inside the cave or outside the cave! Merlin, we don't even know what the cave looks like! We are stupid" She shook her head and continued at a faster pace. They were heading towards a hidden alcove from, which they could apparate from.
"I know what the cave looks like, Pansy" Draco growled, his temper rising "And, like you said, we've been over this before"
"Maybe we should just live in the moment for now" Harry suggested, but then at Ginny's glare continued "By keeping in the girl's plan in place of course"
Theo laughed, surprising them all "Gryffindor recklessness, Potter. How apt!"
"Might I point out that this Gryffindor recklessness saved your life!"
Theo looked like he was about to say something, stepping in front of the other five and blocking Harry's ash forward, probably to create a scene
"We need to work as a team!" Ginny cut in before Theo could as much as take a step forward. Draco looked like he was about to say something. "Hermione always liked teamwork." Ginny continued. That shut him up. He nodded mutely.
Ginny looked to the others. "We should go with the plan, but, yes, recklessness does help.
It happened to be just then that they spotted the alcove wedged between the Hogs Head and this other, desolate and lonely-looking store, with a frog's head attached to the door knocker. They slid into the alcove and huddled around Draco all trying to hold onto either arm.
Draco wasn't even in the mood to joke about the awkward position they apparated in. His stomach was churning and he felt that he could throw up any minute.
He could remember the exact time his aunt had told him about the cave. It was just before the was thrown into Azkaban after Voldemort's downfall and he had been utterly scared of her, listening to every word she said and analysing each syllable, afraid that any one of them could be hinting at his premature murder. Those had been dark times. For this certain conversation, Bellatrix had dragged him into an empty classroom and proceeded to explain in detail about "a cave of old", she'd called it before telling him in a sullen, threatening voice "In that cave, either your worst nightmares or your dizziest daydreams will take place. It's your choice, Draco. Which one do you want?". The unhinged woman had then swung herself out of the room and left the door hanging wide open, causing Draco to jump up and close it swiftly. That was all he could remember of the memory and, according to Ginny that was more than enough evidence to not rely on to not trust it.
"Someone could have implanted that memory in your mind" Harry had noted with agreement, not looking anyone in the eye and shuffling consciously.
Draco felt someone place a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.
It was Theo.
"It'll be alright, mate. Trust in yourself"
Draco nodded appreciatively and the next thing he knew they were spinning in a wild circle before they came to a sudden halt.
They weren't standing in sight of any kind of cave. Instead they were standing in a crevice of a cliff with nothing but a large expanse of water beneath them. Pansy gasped with fright and scrambled as far away from the edge as she could.
"This doesn't look like a cave" Harry frowned accusatorially, staring at the bleak landscape of the sorry sea splashing harmlessly against the rocks.
"Of course not, you idiot!" Draco snapped "I apparated us near the area, not right outside it!" He then began to survey the cliff around them in a professional manner, but most of them could see right through him.
All of a sudden, out from the sullen silence, a loud crash and a gasp was heard from somewhere beneath them. Then a very familiar voice began to echo through the hills.
"Are you really that irresponsible?" Lucius Malfoy roared and Draco never felt more relieved to hear his father's voice. He was about to say so, when a screech made his veins boil with anger. "She could have been killed!" How dare she even pretend to care about what came of Hermione. All she had eyes for was her precious Lord. He sneered.
"Well, we found her" Ginny breathed, the voices of the Death Eater's scaring her more than anything else on that escapade.
There was silence before slowly and carefully Harry nodded, edging towards the cliff's edge.
Ginny gasped and grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"
"We need to be able to see her" Harry pointed out.
"We're going to have to levitate ourselves down" Theo declared after mulling over the idea.
"That seems like the only way" Pansy agreed.
"But what if we land on the Death Eaters or something?" Blaise asked, looking horrified at the thought.
"We'll be careful" Draco said shortly, moving to stand beside Harry and after a few tantalising moments brandishing his wand in the air in a perfect SWISH and FLICK. Flitwick would be proud.
Then- everyone seemed to be holding their breaths- Draco flew a few centimetres into the air. He waved his wand again and he flew forwards.
Pansy stifled a scream.
"It's alright" Draco assured them all. "I'll grab her an due back in a jiffy"
"If you think we're letting you go there alone-" Blaise threatened, copying Draco's movements without a pause, his former fear having evaporated at the thought of Hermione.
"You're absolutely wrong" Pansy declared, pridefully following the two of them.
The other three stayed still.
"You go down, we'll come right after" Harry assured them with a nod, as he and Theo assisted Ginny.
Draco nodded, swishing his wand and directing himself downwards. Soon, he could see Hermione, strapped to a chair and precariously near to the edge of the ledge, which happened to be situated-
"Right outside the cave" Draco breathed.
"This is perfect" Pansy agreed, almost stealing in delight and relief.
The three of them directed themselves so they were hovering near the opening to the cave, so that if any of the Death Eaters glanced outside, they wouldn't notice the familiar faces.
Resettling upon her chair, Hermione began to work at the ropes binding her by the hands, pushing and pulling, attempting to loosen the shackles. Nothing seemed to work. Bellatrix must've done it, Hermione thought savagely, sighing in impatience.
"Hermione"
Hermione's eyes widened. It couldn't be him.
"Hermione"
She was certainly gong mad.
But, maybe, just maybe…
Hermione slowly shuffled around in her chair, fearful for her sanity.
"Oh my God" she breathed, as Draco, Blaise and Pansy levitated themselves precariously onto the rock face. "I thought you guys weren't coming"
"Dumbledore wouldn't let us" Draco explained, hurrying over and beginning the precarious task of untying her ropes. They wouldn't budge.
"And something changed in three days?" Hermione asked, with disbelief, a smile permanently fixed onto her features now that Dra…her friends were back.
Blaise shook his head at the couple, brandishing his wand with a smirk "You do remember that you're a wizard right?" He reminded Draco, untying the ropes around Hermione with a casual flick of his right hand. Hermione laughed, glad to be back, and absolutely bemused at the sheepish expression on Draco's face.
Pansy coughed obviously "You do realise where we are, right?"
"Right" Hermione nodded, suddenly frowning as she looked to the cave opening. The Death Eaters were still roaring with rage. Then she realised something was off. "Where are the others?"
"We's apparated on this mountain a few feet above you. They're helping Ginny do the levitating charm correctly, so she won't fall" Pansy explained. Hermione smiled at the news. That was comforting, at the least.
"We should get going" Blaise mused "We've got only a few minutes before those lunatics realise that you're still outside." He turned to Hermione "Have you side along apparated before?"
"I don't have a wand" she admitted.
That was a problem. You couldn't side-along apparate without a wand. It just didn't work.
"Do you know where it is?" Draco asked.
"You're not seriously-" Pansy began.
"Have you got any other ideas?" Draco challenged. Pansy shook her head solemnly.
"It should be on the liquor table" Hermione replied.
Draco nodded, ready to enter the cave. Blaise stopped him.
"We need a distraction" Blaise pointed out "It won't be possible without a distraction"
Draco sighed in defeat.
"I'll do it" Hermione offered. "I'll scream and they'll all come rushing out"
"But how will we get them away from you again?" Draco asked, in panic.
"That doesn't mat-"
"Yes, it does"
"We'll make another diversion" Pansy offered halfheartedly and Draco had to admit- that was the best they could do.
Casting a disillusionment charm upon themselves, Blaise, Draco and Pansy retreated into the corners. Hermione shrieked theatrically, having loosely tied herself back to the chair. The shriek was long, drawn out and highly realistic. The Death Eater's all rushed out of the cave entrance. Hermione watched Draco slip inside. Unfortunately, it hadn't been only the Death Eaters who had heard her. Harry, Ginny and Theo had come racing from above at her cries. Thankfully, they were situated behind the Death Eaters, but they still could…
"What's wrong?" Bellatrix snarled, scanning Hermione up and down.
"It was a bee" Hermione lied, acting traumatised and utterly flustered.
It seemed to work, because Rodolphus actually scanned his surroundings for the offending bee. Hermione watched as Blaise and Pansy ushered for their three exposed friends, who instantly cast a disillusionment charm upon themselves as well and moved so they could land. "Doesn't seem to be here anymore"
"Well, we can't have her sitting out here, if she'd going to constantly scream about itty bitty bees, can we?" Bellatrix demanded. "We'll have to send her back inside
"I'm not going back there" Hermione said sternly. Lucius gave Bellatrix a look and the madwoman sighed in frustration. "And I don't want you guys watching me all the time" Hermione added, a look of determination in her eyes. From behind Antonin's back, she noticed Draco sneak back out of the cave, her wand clutched in his hand.
"Not have a chaperone!" Bellatrix exclaimed in a half-whisper.
"Yeah, because I don't like men leering at me all the time" Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"Then I'll watch you" Bellatrix offered, her face growing redder by the minute.
"I like my privacy" Hermione continued, glancing to make sure that the others were still there, hidden from sight. She was treading into dangerous waters.
Bellatrix fumed, attempting to lunge towards Hermione ,but Lucius and Rodolphus caught her by the arms and towed her away back into the cave, where a shouting match began to escalate.
Now it was only Antonin left. Not Hermione's first choice, but it'd have to do. He wouldn't leave her, she knew that.
"Back to us again, Riddle" Dolohov began conversationally, shoving his hands into his grime stuffed pockets. Hermione winced, but nodded quickly, making a show of looking around with a casual gaze, as if enjoying the weather, which was unusually cool for a December. Hermione had often wondered whether they were in a different country. After exactly five seconds, Pansy gave her a signal from behind Dolohov's back and Hermione began her theatrics. Thinking back on it, it was very realistic. The moment she had gasped, her hand over her mouth, Dolohov turned around, not even questioning Hermione, who easily grabbed her wand from Draco and stupefied the guy.
"Losing his touch" Theo mused, aiming an 'incarcerous' at Dolohov before the other three Death Eaters clamoured to see what all the commotion was about.
Instantly, the seven friends grouped together, clinging onto each other as they apparated back outside the school.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" And an angry squawk was the last thing they heard before being sucked through to Hogsmeade.