Hermione could vaguely read the time on her watch in the dim lighting of the armoire.
12:07 am
She grew tired of waiting around in the armoire. The sleeves of her dress felt restrictive, and her feet ached from the day's festivities. She would've never thought she'd be playing hide and seek on her wedding night, and yet here she was.
It had taken four more minutes for her to hear the first sign of life outside the room.
Heavy steps and grunting grew louder each second. She realized it wasn't one person, but two people coming closer to her door. She couldn't make out the words of their argument. She shrank back further into the scratchy coats. There was fighting like someone was thrashing around.
They paused in front of the door. She heard pleading whispers from a man a repeated phrase she couldn't decipher from her position. Something struck the wall and then the arguing stopped.
She heard the footsteps resume and fade out—a lump formed in her throat. Hermoine stared out into the darkness of the armoire for a little bit longer. She wanted to make sure she was alone. Alone, she chuckled at the thought. When was the last time she was alone on a mission? Well, it wasn't a mission, it was a game.
Right?
With a slow creak from the door, she crept out of the large Victorian piece of furniture. The witch shuffled around the bed looking for anything useful. In the bottom drawer of the dresser, she found a small sewing kit and fabric scissors. She tossed them into her bag.
With light steps, the bride moved to the door. Her hand shook as she reached out for the handle.
She had to find Draco. He would explain everything. They would just find somewhere else to hide until this ridiculous game was over. There should be nothing to worry about.
.
Hermione loved this game as a child. She loved climbing trees or crouching behind bins until her friends found her. Something in the pit of her stomach told her this game might be a bit more complicated than that.
She grew more uneasy with every step further down the hallway. The muscles on her upper back tensed. Her ears were ready for any noise, any indicator that a seeker was lurking. She hadn't heard a thing since the voices outside the first room. How large was this manor? Surely she couldn't have missed all these rooms on her tour before her wedding day.
Once she reached another staircase, the tension in her shoulders eased. She recognized the area. The room they had been staying in was nearby. She hoisted the bottom of her dress to run up the stairs.
She saw the room light up from her position on the other side of the hallway. Warily, she crept along the wall. Draco had told her his bedroom, not theirs. So who was in their room? Once she reached the doorway she peeked around the door to inspect the occupants.
A witch was on the other side of the bedroom rifling through the nightstand. The area was more like a suit; large enough that the black-haired woman still hadn't noticed her.
She inched further into the room, staying in blind spots along protruding corners. The light shone from a lamppost near the far wall. It was dim but she could still discern the woman's features.
Her breath hitched when she heard Pansy growl in frustration. "Of course, the fucking mudblood has nothing of value in here. Probably only brought the dress and her shoes, disgusting."
Hermione didn't know why she stayed in the room to watch her. She was curious by nature and you know what they say about satisfying curiosity.
Eventually, the pug-nosed woman slammed the drawers shut and sauntered toward the closet adjacent to the bed. Her long black hair flowed behind her like a veil. Hermione made a break for it and dashed across the entrée way toward the bathroom.
She shut the door nearly all the way. It was dark. The only light streamed in from the window blinds on the wall to her right. She watched the prissy woman with intrigue. She and Draco had packed all their belongings as soon as it was over. What could she be searching for? She continued to watch Pansy through the gap in the door wondering when she would leave. She wondered what she had even been searching for.
Her eyes flicked over to where the 'pop' sound of an apparition came. Pansy raced out of the closet into the open area. She yanked something up from the floor. Without hesitation, she hurled the item forward toward the sound's source.
Hermione held in the whimper that threatened to escape her lips. Her heart pounded erratically in her chest.
Pip was dead.
The axe pierced halfway through her tiny head. Dark red blood dripped from the steel metal. Hermione's breath came out in short erratic huffs. Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. She reached for the door handle when someone yanked her arm back and a hand clamped over her mouth.
"Fuck! I KILLED THE HOUSE ELF," Pansy announced from the bedroom.
Tears streamed down Hermione's face as she was pulled back from the door. She thrashed around trying to escape. She clawed at the hand tearing the palm away to scream.
"NO," she screeched.
They both stopped realizing her mistake.
The man bolted toward the door slamming it shut before locking it.
"Granger!" Pansy pounded on the door. "Open the door you filthy mudblood. You're next!" She continued to pound with both fists.
Hermione turned to meet her cellmate. She gasped. Draco ran toward the far wall and fiddled with the window. She wiped her tears and opened her mouth to speak. He glared at her and shook his head before thrusting the window open.
She heard multiple footsteps running through the main room.
"Aww great job Pansy, you murdered the small house elf. Now you'll never get that scrunchie for your long-ass hair."
Pansy's knocking stopped. "Shit you're right I did ask for that, damn."
Draco yanked Hermione back toward the shower. Adjacent to the shower was a long mirror. The groom tapped the upper right corner of it twice before it swung open. He tightened his grip on her wrist and pulled her through the passageway. He grabbed the handle on the other side to shut it.
.
They both stood still as a stone. They tried to listen to the other side of the mirror. There was a lot of muttering. Then she heard the wood crunch. It kept crunching over and over again. She heard the door splinter off as the bathroom was broken into.
"Well, where is she Pansy," Blaise asked.
"Blaise, she was in here, I know it. I heard her scream."
Goyle's heavy steps entered the room. "If she was in here…Why did you kill the house elf?"
Pansy groaned in frustration. "I didn't know it was the house elf!"
"How do you mistake a girl in a big white dress for a tiny house elf?"
"For the last time, I didn't—"
"Everyone shut up look." Blaise had interrupted. "The window's open. She probably jumped. Come on, let's go tell Lucius."
Draco cradled Hermione in his arms after they left. She sobbed into his suit while he pet the back of her head. "It's gonna be alright," he whispered. "I'm going to protect you, you're going to make it out of here alive."
But she couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear the soothing whispers of her husband, not over the blood pounding in her head. Not over the sound of the ax slicing through the elf.
The room swayed. Suddenly she wasn't at the manor anymore; she was on the beach.
The beach with Harry, Ron, and Dobby. Harry, screaming at her to do something, to help him. She couldn't do anything, couldn't help anyone. Blood seeped down the elf's body from the knife wound. It dripped, it dripped from the silver metal.
She was gasping for air in the small hallway, clinging to Draco. She couldn't do this, she wouldn't go through this again.
"Hermione please, come back to me."
She was pulled back to reality. Hermione stared back at her husband that gripped her face worriedly. His eyes searched for a small semblance of sanity.
"I don't think I want to do this Draco," she mumbled.
"Hmm?"
She stepped out of his arms to look into his eyes. "I don't want this. Why–why are we even here Draco?"
He sighed and stared down at his feet. "I couldn't tell you anything before midnight. I still can't tell you a lot before sunrise. Everything my father said before is true. Only this isn't a child's game, it's a death sentence."
The color drained from her face. She knew it. She knew deep down something was wrong. She just needed to hear him say it.
"Hermione, you're not running for some sake of tradition. You're running for your life. Everyone at that dinner has a reason to kill you."
She stared blankly at the floor even as Draco began guiding her down the small passageway. The hall was lit by slim enchanted candles that continuously burned, but never melted.
"They all are tied to the Black Family, once you're in you're never out. My parents are Blaise's godparents. After his mother died he became family. Goyle bound himself to my father after he lost all his money gambling. Rodolphus married Bellatrix and tied himself to her magic."
"What about Pansy," she asked.
Draco chuckled lowly guiding her down the stairs. "Sorry Granger, but Pansy just hates you. She's the only one who technically doesn't need to be here."
Hermione stopped on the last stair to sneer. "God I hate that woman. I hope she falls onto her own axe."
"She's also after me. I'm sorry Granger but when we were younger, our parents had an arrangement. We actually would've had our wedding six months ago."
"When you proposed to me," she supplied.
His grip on her hand softened.
"After I proposed the contract was nulled. My parents didn't care for the Parkinsons too much and wanted an easy way out. I would marry the first witch I proposed to, you are a witch after all."
They stopped in a corner of the passage. Looking around, they seemed to be in the walls of the manor. The stones lining the wall seemed to be the same.
"What is this anyways? Are we still inside the manor?"
"This is called the lover's quarters. Like muggle servant passageways. House elves don't need to travel in secret when they can apparate. However, it's no secret that purebloods have always had lovers in their homes. I doubt I'd look this good if my family had continuously consummated with the sacred twenty-eight for the last few centuries."
She smirked and swatted his shoulder. When he winced she darted her eyes back to him.
She noticed a bruise on his left temple and a cut over his right cheek. "How did this happen?"
He shook his head. "Goyle is horrible at kidnapping, can't even tie a knot correctly. I'll be fine."
She looked unconvinced but they kept moving.
Draco caught her when almost tripped over a crooked stone on the floor. He fished something out of his jacket pocket and kneeled at Hermione's feet. He pulled at the fabric of her dress and began sawing it with a knife.
"What are you doing?"
"This dress is going to continue tripping you unless I cut it. I'm sorry but it's better to make it out of here alive with a mangled dress than dead and your dress intact."
She nodded.
"I promise Hermione after tonight I will explain everything. My family will be dead to me and we will never come to Wiltshire again. I'm so sorry Hermione." He stumbled over his words as he struggled with the lace in her dress. "We can move wherever you'd like and and…We can do double dates with the Potters if you— if you want. I I'm—"
Hermione placed her hand over his to still the knife. She dropped down to his level and pulled his chin up.
She shushed him softly, bringing her other hand to the side of his face. She caressed his cheek and smiled. "It's going to be okay Draco. We've survived far worse. We will make it. We just have to trust each other and work together."
He nodded along and let her cut the last piece he was struggling with. She realized that the knife had been the steak knife given during dinner earlier. After she handed it back he helped her to her feet. The dress now fell a little lower than her knee. She looked down at her shoes and remembered Draco's haste to switch out her heels for runners.
She gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek.
He grinned and wrapped his arms around her pulling her swiftly into him. He brought his lips to hers and held her close. Her lips followed the gentle but firm motions of his. His kiss seemed to say everything he couldn't.
Thank you.
I love you.
Please above everything stay alive.
Her heart felt like it was being torn apart when he stepped back. His eyes were glassy and uncertain.
"We're reaching the end. We have to split up."
"Draco no. We can't—"
"I promised I'd keep you safe. I need to go get our wands. Hermione, please. I'll meet you right outside the iron gate. No one should be in the drawing room right now. I'll be quick alright?"
He pressed a kiss to the side of her head when they stopped at a door.
"Listen, you're going to keep going. There should be one door on the left. That door leads out to the greenhouse where you will walk through to the grounds. Do you remember the wedding ceremony? Hermione, please stop shaking your head."
He took her face into both his heads and wiped the tears falling.
"Okay," she choked.
"The ceremony, the fountain that Weasley almost fell into, I'll meet you right there. There are trees just behind it. We'll go through it together and get to the gate. We just have to make it past there to apparate."
"Alright," she conceded. "Okay, I'll meet you by the fountain."
"Do you trust me, Granger?"
She nodded her head. "I trust you."
He glanced down at her watch. "Hermione, if I'm not there by 2am you have to go out without me".
"No! No, I won't I'm not leaving you here. We're in this together. You said you'll be right out."
He smoothed his hands over her arms, trying to calm her. "And I will, I promise. Just, it's just in case. If you make it to the fountain safely and I'm not there just go. It's you they're after not me. Get to the gate and just run. I'll find you afterward."
The tears streamed rapidly down her cheeks as she shook her head. She felt like a child, the emotions were simply too much. It was all too much, it was bound to break her. She wouldn't leave him. She couldn't.
"Hermione, please."
She looked up into his grey eyes. He looked tired. He looked like he might break too.
"Okay"
He dropped his hands from her arms and placed the knife onto her hand. "The door on the left, out the greenhouse, to the fountain. Repeat."
"The door on the left, out the greenhouse to the fountain."
"Again"
She repeated it again and watched him slide through the door into the other room. "The door on the left, out the greenhouse to the fountain," she chanted softly.
She continued to mutter her chant as she walked down the long eerie passageway alone.
The door on the left, out the greenhouse to the fountain.
She stood at the fork in the passage and realized Draco had made a grave mistake.
There were two doors to her left.
A/N: Hi! I'm back with another update finally whoops. This fic genre is a bit different than my other ones, so it takes a bit more time. Also Kam yes this fic is based on that movie with my own twists and interpretations here and there. I really liked the movie and thought it would be cool to put these characters in it :) Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that the New Year is going well for y'all. I'll be back with the next update soon. ~UnconsciouslyReading