Disclaimer – Just to refresh your memories – I'm not J.K. Rowling, not even under a pseudonym, and I don't own her characters or plot devices, like all of those nifty spells. I'm also not making any money doing this, but I am having a very good time.

21 – Dissolving

"No, Draco. You got your way with the Auror Office, and I was very good, wasn't I? But now? Now, it's time for some fun." Bellatrix's polyjuice had worn off. Draco found himself missing the calmer appearance of the dead auror's face. His aunt's eyes were bright as she scanned the empty halls, hungry for victims. "We need to bring some toys back to the Dark Lord, and just because we raise a little ruckus in the Ministry doesn't mean they'll know we got in upstairs."

"Fine. Let's at least go to a different floor. The less they know we've been on this floor the better."

Bellatrix rolled her eyes, but didn't protest any more as they entered the elevator. Draco rolled his shoulders, trying to release the tension in his neck. He could just leave her to it, but this probably counted as his mission, so if anything went wrong he'd be the one punished. The thought caused his stomach to tighten. Not to mention that failing to show the expected level of bloodlust was, in and of itself, suspicious.

Bellatrix's hand wavered over the elevator buttons. "Hmm, how about . . . Level 4 . . . the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?" She read the title aloud in a high sing-song voice. "Maybe we can find something interesting there – have centaur steaks for dinner."

Draco suppressed a shudder. How could anyone enjoy fear and pain as much as she did? He ignored her, but his hand lay lightly on his wand. He'd seen how quickly she turned on her own sister. It wouldn't take much for her to turn on him too.

"Coming with me?" she asked as she skipped onto the 4th floor.

He didn't answer, but followed her out of the elevator.

She turned to him and scolded him, waving a long finger in his face. "Remember, terror is part of our job. They need to fear us. So . . . I figure it's playtime until we've got too many to carry or he calls us back."

"There don't seem to be many victims about tonight," Draco observed. That was good as it would minimize the mayhem, but bad for whomever the unlucky few were who were in the building.

"Shh. Listen. I hear something. Let's go look." There was no plausible reason not to follow her, at least none their demented leader would understand. They had just taken a few steps when they heard voices approaching from the hall leading to the Division of Wizarding Records. Draco pressed himself up against one wall, while Bellatrix took the other and they prepared to ambush whoever came around the corner.

Just as their victims were about to come into range Draco heard, "Slow down, Greyback, the moon's not full yet."

It was tempting to blast away, but Draco lowered his wand, as did Bellatrix, with a grimace of exaggerated annoyance. "Antonin," she whispered just as he came around the corner.

"Bloody hell!" Draco laughed at the Russian's startled exclamation. "No time to chat," Fenrir snarled as he continued down the hall. "Places to go."

"See anyone on this floor?" Bellatrix asked.

"No, but we've been busy. Special mission." He smirked as he walked away, clearly enjoying the fact that the Dark Lord hadn't told either of them about his job.

"Your special dog is getting away." Draco hadn't noticed it before, but Bellatrix seemed to have at least as much disdain for Dolohov and the werewolf as he did. Maybe she just hated the suggestion that the Dark Lord was favoring them. Bellatrix's robes billowed as she turned to hurry down the corridor.

Fenrir was already on the elevator. "Hurry up," he called. "I know she's up there."

"How is it you think you already know what floor she's on?" Antonin answered.

"She chose the 4th floor. Her scent is fresh, right here."

Draco had to follow his aunt. He couldn't let anyone know that he was suddenly having difficulty getting a decent lungful of air. Why was she here? He'd sent her the warning. Had she just ignored him? Why did she always have to be so insanely reckless? Should he try to warn her again? What would he say? She hadn't listened before. She wouldn't listen now. The best he could hope for was that she'd stay hidden, stay out of sight until they were gone.

A half hour later he was about to lose his mind. The long empty halls were endless. He couldn't stop trying to hear what was happening upstairs, which was, obviously, impossible. He tried to distract himself by pondering the next step of their deception with the codes, but he couldn't think of anything. They needed to somehow plant the key to the code and if it was too easy to get it that would be too suspicious. Hermione had been unable to stop bouncing in her chair when she told him Muggle war stories. Apparently, she'd long been fascinated by the Muggle spy world. Putting her ideas into practice in the wizarding world was going to be tricky. For one thing, Muggles didn't have to worry about legilimency. Maybe Granger was already safe back at headquarters sketching out ideas. Or maybe Fenrir had already flung her over his shoulder and was carrying her off to his lair . . . .

Bellatrix turned and stomped down yet another hallway. For the first time Draco could remember he was hoping to feel the burn of his mark, hoping they'd be pulled back to the dreary cave. He was going spare worrying about what was going on upstairs. He'd suggested going up to get the others and leave since there was obviously no one here. They'd gotten fantastic stuff from the Auror Office. That'd make the Dark Lord happy enough, but Bellatrix was sure she'd heard something again on this floor. Then he heard the slam of a distant door and the murmur of voices.

"Yes!" hissed Bellatrix, "I knew there was someone here. Sounds like a bunch of them too."

Draco just nodded at her, griping his wand. He'd have to bring one back himself. With just the two of them it'd be too conspicuous if he didn't.

Once again they prepared an ambush. This time the approaching voices were obviously a mix of wizards and goblins. They must've had some sort of meeting.

Bellatrix shot him a gleeful smile and he leered one back at her. He couldn't let her get suspicious. At least a battle would distract him from his worries about Granger.

He and his aunt shot stunning spells at nearly the same time. They crossed each other in the center of the hall and goblins began to fall. It was too easy as the goblins had no wands and the wizards with them were caught off guard. In only a few moments there were a half dozen unconscious goblins and a couple of wizards out also. Bellatrix was distracted as she duelled two elderly wizards. Draco ducked into a recessed doorway, then summoned one of the goblin's bodies. He disillusioned the unconscious goblin, then paused to catch his breath.

A movement down the empty hall way caught his eye – Nappy!

What could Nappy possibly be doing here? The elf was wide-eyed and terrified as Bellatrix and the wizards continued to shoot spells at each other, but Nappy gestured frantically for Draco. Her hands were filthy.

"What?" Draco mouthed. Nappy shook her head rapidly and vanished. With a slight "pop," which could barely be heard over the snarling and cursing of the battling wizards, she reappeared beside him in the doorway, where she pressed herself back against the wall so the others couldn't see her. She was shaking so much that he feared her eyeballs would come loose.

"Master! Nappy is sorry. Miss is needing 'help me,' lots of help me."

Draco usually had no trouble interpreting house elf-speak, but at the moment he was flummoxed. Then he realized that it wasn't dirt on her hands. It was blood. He looked intently at his elf as she repeated again and again "Miss is needing 'help me.'" He wasn't sure of the specifics, but he knew who 'Miss' was and she must be seriously hurt.

"Where is she?" he whispered, his mind already spinning. How could he get out of here?

"Cottage. Is bad."

He nodded. "Nappy, take this goblin. I'll meet you there." His aunt would be puzzled, maybe even angry, when she couldn't find him, but he'd claim he'd left to go deliver the first of the goblins. Nappy had already vanished. Draco grabbed another unconscious goblin and reached into his pocket for his own portkey home.

As soon as he landed, he felt his foot slip and almost fell to the ground, ungracefully grabbing Nappy's head to steady himself. He looked down to see that the slippery substance was blood. It was all over. Face down in the middle of it was Hermione, her wild curls matted to her head. His stomach lurched. The air was thick with the smell of her blood. He steadied himself. He needed to get to work.

"Nappy, take the goblins. Tie them up and put them somewhere out of the way." He could send Nappy back to the Ministry to let him know what was going on there, so that he could make sure that his cover story fit, but he needed her more here.

"Can you clean her and put her in some clean clothes?" While Nappy tended to Hermione he cast several quick 'scourgifies' on the room. As he'd expected, Nappy had her lying blood free on the sofa and wearing some of his pajamas transfigured to fit her faster than he ever could have. He took a deep breath. Maybe this situation was manageable.

He began to check her injuries. She had cuts all over her, some bleeding badly. Now that she was cleaner he could see that her skin was dangerously white, her lips turning blue. One cheek was already purpling with a bruise. He just needed to heal her injuries one at a time. The biggest problem was her blood loss. It was obvious from the amount of blood he'd seen that she'd lost quite a bit.

"Episkey." He healed the first cut which ran along her cheek. He gently turned her head then - "episkey" - healed a slice down her neck. She'd worked on him for hours, but he didn't have that kind of time. He could be summoned at any moment. "Episkey." He healed another wound, this one on her shoulder.

She moaned slightly and he glanced up at her face. With horror, he realized that the cut he'd healed there had already reopened. What was this spell? It had to be some sort of dark curse.

"Master? Nappy is healing cuts and is not stay healed. Cuts come back." Of course. If it'd been simple to heal her, Nappy would've done it. He fought down the panic threatening to overwhelm him.

If this was a dark curse, he'd just have to figure out what it was. He could do this – if he didn't run out of time.

He took a deep breath and concentrated on summoning some books from upstairs. They flew down the hall to him. He grabbed the first one and tore it open - "Dark Death: Slow and Painful or Quick and Brutal, Killing Spells Your Mother Never Told You About." This was one of Severus's books. Hopefully, the antidotes would be there – either in the text or Severus's notes. He glanced down the Table of Contents, but it was too long. There were too many unfamiliar spells. There was no time.

"Hermione?" If he could get her conscious again, then she could tell him what the spell had been. He shook her gently, but her head lolled from side to side. Nothing. Her skin was so cold. Was that from the blood loss? How much blood had she lost?

"Ennervate."

Her eyes popped open and she gasped. "Oh, ow, what . . . ." Her breathing was harsh and obviously pained. She gave a faint moan, then her eyes rolled back in her head and she was out again.

"No." This was bad. She was barely hanging on. He needed to get her to stay awake, but she was clearly in no shape to tell him anything. What if - maybe he could rouse her just long enough do legilimency. He hesitated. He hated to wake her when she was so obviously in pain, but he was fast running out of other options. He sat down and pulled her head into his lap, the blood seeping onto his robes.

"Ennervate." This time as soon as her eyes opened he was ready. He went in. He didn't need to look very long before he heard it: "Crudus sensim!" Of course, it had been Dolohov. Strange – he didn't seem to recognize her. Surely, he knew what Harry Potter's closest friends looked like.

Draco grabbed Severus's book and searched for the name, then almost laughed out loud when he found it. He flipped the page, found the chapter. There it was – it meant "bleed slowly." The illustration was gruesome. With horror he realized that the bruise on her face was probably one of many bruises all over her body. The cuts weren't just external, they were internal too.

This was meant to kill her slowly. The question was how slowly.

Severus's notes filled the margin. Was it there? Please. Yes – that must be it, must be the counter spell - "sanare sensim." He wasted no time and cast the spell. He saw a soft golden light cover her body, then it seemed to seep into her wounds, and then . . . nothing. The cuts remained, the bruises didn't change. It hadn't worked.

He gripped his face harshly with both hands. Now what? His breath was coming in shallow pants. She was going to die. He'd done his best and it wasn't enough. "No, no, no." It took him a moment to realize that was his own voice. She couldn't die. He needed her.

"Master?" Nappy's voice was a whisper. She was at his side. She took a handkerchief and gently wiped his face. Only then did he realize that it had been wet with his tears. "Master is not give up."

"Nappy – she needs a healer. She needs to get to St. Mungo's, but I don't think she's strong enough to . . . ." He'd try one more thing. Maybe there would be a miracle. Maybe it would work.

"Nappy, get me the blood replenishing potion. Quickly." There wasn't enough. It wouldn't be enough.

He closed his eyes tightly. He had to think of something. Why didn't the counterspell work? Nappy was right. He couldn't give up. Maybe there was something in Severus's notes to explain what he was doing wrong.

Just then he felt it – his arm was burning. "No, no, no!" He only had two minutes. His eyes were wide now. He stared at her face, wishing she were conscious, wishing she could help him, wishing this wouldn't be the last time that he'd see her lovely face. He frowned – her face – the cut was gone! The spell was working! It was just slow.

"Nappy!" The elf was already there. "I have to go. You need to take Miss to St. Mungo's. Can you . . . change your appearance? I don't want anyone there to recognize you."

Even as he finished explaining, Nappy's face was already shifting. She looked older, her features sharper, sort of a female version of Kreacher.

"Is Miss strong enough to apparate?"

"I don't know." He poured the blood replenishing potion into her mouth and spelled her to swallow it, but as he'd known, there was barely any left. It wasn't enough.

She opened her eyes. "Draco? I don't feel good. My head hurts."

"I know. Nappy's going to take you to St. Mungo's."

She gripped tightly onto his arm. "No. No. I'll splinch. Don't send me." This wasn't good. He needed her to let go before the pull came. He looked desperately at Nappy, who came over to take her, but she just held onto Draco's arm more feverishly. He started to pull her off. He didn't want to hurt her, but . . . . He had an idea.

"Accio Amorita!" The fresh potion flew into his hand. "Hermione, here – take this. It'll make you feel better. It'll make you strong enough to apparate." She nodded, and loosened her grip to take the potion. He quickly jumped up and stepped away from her. He had no idea how the potion would affect her, but it shouldn't hurt her. It wouldn't have the amazing power it had when he took it, but it should help, and it would be enough to calm her. The worst thing for apparating was to be convinced that it wouldn't work. This should be enough so that Nappy could take her.

"St. Mungo's," he reminded the elf. He quickly cleaned his robes, then did the spell to remove her scent. He felt the pull and remembered at the last minute "Accio, goblin." Hermione wouldn't like it if the goblin were killed, but without bringing one he'd be punished again. This time the Dark Lord would want to make sure he didn't heal so quickly. He decided to leave the other one, and disappeared.

The cave was already loud with the strange squealing screams of another goblin. The one Draco held was bound securely, but he woke and began to thrash. Draco petrified him, not wanting him to draw attention. He felt such a rush of relief that Hermione was going to be okay. Maybe he could do this. Maybe he could think of some way to save this random goblin. He'd never liked goblins, but hearing one scream was doing strange things to his gut.

He looked down at the wide-eyed horror frozen on the face of his goblin. If he needed to do legilimency it would be easy, but what would be gained? Everyone knew that goblins took extraordinary precautions to make sure that they couldn't give up their secrets – not through torture, not through legilimency, not even Veritaserum worked on them. Too bad. They ran Gringott's; they'd probably have all sorts of useful information.

Suddenly, he had an idea. This could work. All he needed to do was a bit of "imperio" and he knew that could work on goblins.

It was more than two hours later when Draco got back to the Cottage, his mind was swirling. He'd gambled with the goblin, but it had worked, at least for now. And later . . . Hermione could help him. They could use this. Hermione – how was she?

"Nappy?" Nappy stood there, smiling. That had to mean . . . .

"Miss is better, Master." He felt a surge of relief, and decided he'd better sit before he collapsed. He couldn't remember having a longer day or ever being so tired.

"She's at St. Mungo's?"

"Yes, cuts is gone. Face is pink. Toes is glowing blue. " Good. Wait – what?

"Her toes are glowing?"

"Yes," Nappy seemed to think this was a wonderful development. "Fingers is too. Healers is looking at them a lot."

Blue? The counter spell had been gold. Why would she be glowing blue? The Amorita was blue. What had he done?

"But she's okay?"

"Yes. Miss is okay. Master need sleep."

Draco lay back on the sofa. Nappy was right. He closed his eyes.

Draco apparated into the hospital room. He looked to the figure on the bed to see if the noise had startled her, but she was still, too still. Her body glowed faintly blue, giving the entire dark room an eerie blue sheen. He stood back, watching. Was she breathing? He stared intently, but saw no movement, no sign that she was alive. He had to check. He approached her cautiously, afraid to know, but he had to find out. He reached out to her, reaching, reaching, until, finally, the fingers of his right hand brushed her arm. It was cold as ice, but at his touched she jerked upright. She let out a piercing scream. There was a great blue flash, then she fell back, her head falling limply to the side, her eyes empty. She was dead.

Draco leaped to his feet, then staggered back and sat heavily on the sofa. It was a dream. It was only a dream. He reached up to loosen the neck of his shirt and felt the cold sweat on his skin. It was just a dream. Hermione was fine. Unless . . . why was she glowing blue? Had he made a terrible mistake? When she'd said her head hurt, his mind had flashed to the Amorita. It always soothed his headaches. It made him feel so much better, but it was made specifically for him with his mother's tears. What if it were dangerous for anyone else? Would he even know? What if it wasn't intended for a muggleborn?

"Nappy!" This was going to make him insane. He had to see her.Nappy appeared, maybe slightly slower than usual, her eyes not as bright as they usually were. Of course, he'd woken her. "I'm sorry, Nappy, but I need you to take me to St. Mungo's." Apparating wasn't usually allowed beyond the waiting room, but Nappy had been to her room earlier and the usual restrictions on apparating seemed to have no effect on house elves.

Nappy gave him a small smile. "Of course, Master," and she held her hand out to him. He took a moment to straighten his robes, then Nappy waved her hand and he felt some sort of charm wash over him.

"Master not mussed," she said. He smiled and thanked her with a nod. He waved his own wand, disillusioning both of them, then reached out into the air and found the warmth of her small hand. He felt the distinctive pull of house elf apparition, then they were in a dark hall of St. Mungo's. A soft candlelight lit the passage.

Draco felt a slight pull on the hand that Nappy still held, although she was still disillusioned. The elf came close and whispered "Miss is gone. Miss's room not here now." Sure enough the room just in front of them was empty.

"Do you think she . . . ." He couldn't say it. Was she already gone? Had his dream come true?

"Master be seeing if they moved Miss." Yes. Nappy was right. Draco pulled on her hand, put a quick silencing charm on their feet, and they hurried down the hall to the desk where a grey-haired night nurse was making notes on a long roll of parchment. Draco tapped with his wand on the front of her desk. She looked up, puzzled, and he whispered "imperio." Without a word the witch stood and walked to a file cabinet behind her, where she pulled out a short parchment. She cast some sort of spell on it, and he could see the name "Hermione Granger" appear on the paper. The imperioused witch turned to him and said, in a stiff voice, "Hermione Granger is now in room 415." He had her put the paper back, close the drawer and sit again. "Obliviate. Finite Incantatem." She went back to work and he felt Nappy pull on his hand. Apparently, the elf knew where Room 415 was.

The elevator buttons noted that the 4th floor was for "Experimental and Inexplicable Magic." Was that why she'd been moved here? As they stepped off of the elevator on the 4th floor, they immediately heard voices, although, luckily, no one was close enough to wonder why the elevator doors opened without anyone visible exiting. Draco paused. He knew those voices. At least they knew they were in the right place. He drew closer and confirmed that it was indeed Harry Potter and Ron Weasley whispering intently. He cast a quick magnifying spell on his own hearing to see if he could make out their words, even while he was getting closer and closer to them.

" . . . too trusting for her own good. Whose damn idea was it for her to work with Death Eaters anyway?"

"Ron, she said she felt fantastic. Maybe they weren't trying to . . . . "

"You forget I know what a love potion feels like. I felt fine, but I was completely screwed up." Draco smirked. Someone'd given Weasley a love potion? Who'd be daft enough to do that?

"I was there. You weren't fine. You were desperate and obsessed. She wasn't acting like that at all." Wait. This was Hermione they were talking about.

"But I was the last one to know my head'd been messed with. I couldn't even remember that I wasn't interested in . . . ."

"The healers didn't all agree that it was a love potion. In fact, all we heard was the one saying he'd seen a love potion overdose cause glowing fingers, but that was glowing pink. We can't jump to . . . ."

"They're trying to trick her. Trying to make her think they're not monsters, trying to take away her judgment. We need to find out what sort of things they've been trying to get her to . . . ."

Draco realized with a jolt what had happened. Somehow they thought Hermione'd been given a love potion, but Amorita wasn't a love potion, at least not the usual kind. He stopped walking and pulled Nappy into a side hall.

"Nappy, I need you to go back to the Cottage. Check Professor Snape's books. See if any of them have a chapter on Amorita. If they do, bring them to me. If not, let me know as soon as you can."

Nappy nodded. "Master, wait here?"

"Yes, although if I can find a way to get into her room, I'll be in there." It wasn't until after Nappy was gone, that Draco realized it probably would've made more sense for him to go back and check the books himself. Oh well, Nappy could probably handle that. Meanwhile, he needed to see Hermione. At least Potter and Weasley seemed to think she was in good health, fantastic even. He'd feel better if he could see her for himself though.

The door to her room was slightly ajar, but not wide enough for him to fit through. He should've had Nappy apparate him inside before she left. Now, . . . what to do? He was fairly sure that Hermione would forgive him for the imperio since that had been an emergency. However, she would be less forgiving if he kept using it, particularly if he used it on either of her best friends.

He was still standing in the hall pondering what to do, when part of the solution presented itself.

"Oy, Harry, all of this stress is making me hungry. I'm going down to the kitchens. Do you want anything?"

"No, I'm fine." Potter slumped into a chair near the door to Hermione's room. Apparently these two were acting as bodyguards or something.

Once Weasley was gone, Draco decided to try something he'd seen on the Knight Bus. He cast an elongation charm on himself and felt his body stretch until he had to duck to avoid hitting his head on the rather high ceiling. It was difficult since he was still disillusioned and therefore, he couldn't see his own body. He sucked his breath in and pressed his back against the door frame. Sure enough, he was now tall and thin enough to slip through the 3 inch crack in the doorway. He moved inch by inch. Potter was sitting just inches away. Finally, he was all the way through. He slumped against the wall of her room while he felt his body returning to normal.

She was beautiful in the darkness, her curls flattened against her pillow. Her cheeks looked slightly pink even in the dim light. Thank God she wasn't glowing all over, although he could see her blue fingers and blue light shining through her blanket from her toes. Amazing.

He walked over to her. Now that he was here he was afraid to touch her. It was ridiculous. In his dream touching her had made her condition worse and since he knew nothing about this strange blue glow he didn't want to risk it. He leaned closer so that he could smell her, could feel her warmth. Without thinking his lips brushed her temple. He kissed her as though she was a tea cup of the most delicate porcelain china. He jumped back. Why had he done that? And just after he'd decided not to touch her At least he'd felt her skin and it wasn't cold. In fact, it was wonderfully soft and warm.

Still he didn't feel he could risk any more than that. Here he was, a wanted Death Eater, here in her room, which was guarded by her two best friends. Better not to push things.

He frowned. Why were these Order types always so careless with their security? With her security? He should never have been able to get into her room. Why weren't there any wards? Was it because they were used to relying on Hermione to set the wards?

Greyback was still looking for her. He'd smelled her blood when she was hurt at the Ministry. While they'd been gathered back at the cave Draco'd figured out that she must've been polyjuiced when she was injured. Dolohov had no idea that was Hermione, but after she'd vanished Greyback had figured out that she'd been there. The werewolf rarely thought things through enough to calculate that she could be at St. Mungo's, but Dolohov might.

Draco'd been thinking that he'd leave as soon as Nappy got back, but no. He was going to stay here. "Protego totalum, salvo hexia." He started with the basic protective spells, then paused for a moment before setting up a ward. He made sure that Potter, Weasley, and all of the other Order members he knew of would be admitted, then added all of the healers, Nappy and himself. Finally, he added a protection against anyone under the imperius. Once all of that was done, he conjured a comfortable chair for himself and disillusioned it.

It was going to be a long night.

AN – Thanks so much to my beta Hesaluti and to all my wonderful reviewers. A special thanks to "Sophie (Guest)" for not only reading and reviewing this story, but for also taking a look at one of my Hunger Games fics. There are surprisingly few people who review both genres (although Ellenka is always awesome). Anyway, if you are a Hunger Games fan and would love to make my day take a peek at my other fics. Shameless promotion over now.