Since no one seems to be interested in voting, I have decided to publish the first chapters of the two stories and see which one is more popular for the next update of this story (Traffic, Reviews, Favourite, Follow are the determinants).
HG's POV
Hermione woke up from a deep sleep and saw a television in front of her, live broadcasting a grand meeting room. She could not recognise where this room was located but she could make a fair guess.
"You are awake at the right time, Mrs. Malfoy," said Tania from behind.
Hermione had long given up struggling. Each time she wiggled, the rope tightened, as though warning her not to make further movement.
"It's so nice to have you with us, witnessing the best news of the year," continued Tania.
"News?" asked Hermione, hoping that she would slip the details and she could use them to escape.
"You know what I mean," replied Tania. "At half past nine, we will witness his fall and we shall rise."
As she finished her words, her hand patted her abdomen and she hummed a sweet short lullaby. It confused Hermione much, while Tania kidnapped and tortured her, her gentle side was contradicting to her previous behaviours.
"Once I click the button, and he'll be history," murmured Tania to herself, amused by her own plan.
She wished she could tell Draco all these. Phelps took Tali out of the room and did not return. Tali's situation was unknown and she wished it would not be the worst she could imagine. Morgan and Turner were also taken away, and Hermione wished they were not going to be involved in the bomb.
Her wand was lying there by the windowsill, not far from her. If she could wiggle and shift the chair to the window, she could escape in no time, though she was perfectly sure Tania had spell-blocked the area and one must go through triathlon to get out of this place.
She waited, and waited, finally it was nine o'clock, people soon filled up the seats in the parliament and the camera panned to Nikoloz, witnessing him ascended to the stage, standing below the chairman's seat. He tidied his papers and was prepared to deliver his speech. There was Russian simultaneous interpretation but Tania did not tune to it, as though she did not want Hermione to understand the situation. But then she picked up a few Georgian words, she could make a fair guess that Nikoloz is talking about education.
Tania then took out a small bottle from her pocket. Hermione could immediately recognise on the swirling golden liquid-Felix Felicis. Felix Felicis had always been hard to brew, thrice the effort and skills to brew it, and also, luck was required during the brew. Only one success out of fifty brews. Usually those unsuccessful Felix Felicis could grant five minutes of fortune, yet again the fortune was not guaranteed, the effect could be extremely unstable and this was why Aurors never used the potion while they were catching dark wizards.
Without hesitation, Tania gobbled down the liquid, then she said,
"Ten more minutes until the show be-"
Suddenly, Tania's phone rang. She uttered a groan of disgust and answered the call.
"დიახ (Yes)?"
After a while, her face turned more and more serious, with a slight hint of anger. Then she shouted a large speech in Georgian, then stormed out of the room, slamming the door as hard as she could.
Hearing her steps fading, Hermione could finally stop holding her breath. She glanced at the television, two minutes had passed, time was running out. She took a glance at the windowsill, the wand was lying there, waiting for, yearning for her grasp. Quickly, she shifted her chair and managed to have the chair right beside the window. Squeezing her arms through the tight ropes, her finger grabbed the wand and she whispered,
"Incendio."
A jet of flame shot out from the tip of her wand and she could feel her hand getting warmer and warmer. The rope snapped and crackled, finally it broke and her arms were free. Immediately, she cast the spell on the rope that tied her legs. The sensation of stretching her limbs was amazing and she could not help letting a moan of relief. Soon, the door knob rattled, and Hermione immediately sat down the moment she moved her chair back to its original place, pretending that she was still tied. Tania obviously did not notice that, she walked past Hermione and took out a remote control from her pocket, then laughed.
"Goodbye, husband. Let the show begin."
She clicked the button before Hermione could get up from her chair. An awkward moment of silence followed, nothing happened. Nikoloz was still delivering his speech in front of parliament members, unharmed. Tania was shocked and she repeatedly clicked the button, still nothing happened.
"What-"
Before she could say anything, Hermione got up and with her wand, she aimed at her and yelled,
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Tania froze and dazed at Hermione with horror, the remote control dropped onto the floor and broke into pieces. Ignoring her, Hermione quickly opened the door and left the room.
But then the problem came, three corridors stood in front of her, she had no idea which one could lead her to the exit, trials and error would take up too much time and either she ended up in traps or the spell on Tania wore off. She tried apparation, but without avail. Then she tried another few spells, still without success. The place was magic-blocked and she did not know what to do.
"Draco, where are you?" she whispered, hoping that Draco could appear from the corner and save her from anxiety.
Then, a small voice in her heart instructed her to take the corridor on the left. Believing in her intuition, she ran to the corridor and stopped in front of a large door. Alphabets were written on the door, as if this was the key to opening the door. A quill was levitating beside her.
MXRR CYK RKGKV DKYQHW CYK LCOCXK
Hermione was sure this was no English, nor French or Russian. It did not seem to be Georgian either. After a short while, she finally discovered that this was a cryptogram puzzle. Normally she enjoyed challenges like these but this was not the time to do such things. She needed to find Draco.
Better start early and finish early, she told herself.
The trial and error seemed forever, she first substituted "THE" to "CYK", then she read,
"Something the something-e-something-e-something-eh-something the something-t-something-t-something-e."
She come up with two possible words in her mind for the third word, "level" and "lever". Since the last letter was not the same as the first one. She fitted in "lever".
_ _ LL THE LEVER _EH_ _ _ THE _T_T_ E
It did not help much, but then it gave her enough spark. The first word had to be a verb and the action must be able to be completed with the lever. So her mind search again for the four-lettered word with "ll" as the end. Then, she put down "pull".
PULL THE LEVER _EH_ _ _ THE _T_TUE.
The answer was clearer and clearer. The only word that could fit in the last word was "statue".
PULL THE LEVER _EH_ _ _ THE STATUE.
The answer was almost straight forward, then she wrote on the door.
PULL THE LEVER BEHIND THE STATUE.
The phrase gleamed and Hermione heard noises rang from behind. Behind her was a large statue, she walked to its back and discovered the lever. She pulled the lever as hard as she could. The door rattled and it swung open. Hermione quickly went out and she realised she was in a corridor of the castle. A few servants passed by and eyed on her with curiosity. Soon as they disappeared, Hermione flicked her wand and apparated to the parliament.
The moment she walked pass the entrance of the parliament, a loud pang exploded and people screamed, passing by her and scurrying towards the exit. Nikoloz followed the crowd and Hermione grabbed him, asking,
"Where's Draco?"
"I don't know, I didn't see him," he replied.
"Nikoloz!" yelled a familiar voice.
Tali dashed to Nikoloz's chest and they kissed. Hermione bit her lips and she went further, checking each and every room.
"Draco! Are you here?" she screamed, getting more and more desperate as she cleared the floors. She felt her world falling apart when she went up the stairs and searched each and every corner.
"Hermione!"
Draco was standing at the far end of the corridor, smiling at her. As he sprinted towards her, the corridor exploded and in front of her was haze.
"Draco!" she screamed and she went into the haze, only discovering a hole on the floor. Draco was nowhere to be seen.
It couldn't be!
She bent down and shouted Draco's name, hoping that he was fine, but nobody answered. Tears dripped on the floor and she covered her face, weeping. Then, she could feel a tap on the shoulder. She dried her tears and looked up.
Draco.
She stood up and touched his cheek and stroke- Manage Storiesd them. Confirming that it was reality and not illusion, she threw herself to him, pressing her lips onto his, sucking upon his lips. Soon, Draco responded, his arms wrapped around her waist and his kiss was passionate. As they broke their kiss, Draco whispered to her ear,
"Let's go."
I know I did not do well enough on this chapter...
