Split Chapter 6, a harry potter fanfic

Her first instinct was to march up to Smith, throw him against the wall, take out the knife hidden in her boot and slit his throat.

She struggled to school her expression as she literally saw nothing but red and felt her blood boiling. Every inch of her was tense, and she squeezed her hands so hard she wouldn't be surprised if her nails punctured her palms and left blood running all over her fingers.

"What's the matter, Granger?" Smith asked with a frown, noticing Hermione's change in demeanour. "You look … constipated."

Hermione shook her head and counted to three desperately. The urge to protect overcame her, as was the urge to kill – for the first time ever. Never before she felt the need to off someone, she had urges to hurt but that was just for play. It was nothing serious and nothing truly dangerous, but this … this was something else.

If they touched even a single blond strand on her precious Draco's head …

"I'm fine. Where are they planning to assassinate him?" she asked, voice shaking with restraint.

"Well, initially, at his home," Smith answered, as he looked over some blueprints – of Draco's house, no doubt. "Now, word is that I am to Stun him and transport him to another location, for the person who hired us to kill personally."

Hermione's head throbbed something fierce. Her wand hand was twitching and she had half a mind to just Avada Kedavra them both. Still, that didn't mean Draco was safe from whoever that wanted to kill him in the first place.

Wit, strategy. Yes.

"And, might I join you in this quest?" Hermione flipped her straight ponytail off her shoulder glibly, and made sure that her body language was the epitome of superciliousness.

"Back off, Granger, this is my mission," Smith retorted, eyes narrowing as he rolled up the blueprint, supposedly to keep it away from her sight.

"Oh, please, Smith. All three of us know that I know the Malfoy residence best, having been there before," Hermione shrugged.

Pearson said nothing; he simply watched them both argue.

"No. This is my mission, my money. Don't think I'll let you in on this and have you take half of my pay," Smith shook his head resolutely.

"It's not the money I'm after, Smith. And I'm absolutely confident that your pay for this mission is laughable," she looked pointedly at Smith, and held up her hand before he could snap back; "You can have the entire pay. You see, there is something in the Malfoy residence that I truly desire."

Draco, obviously.

"And I am," she added, pausing to choose the right words, "Merely taking what I want. You can do your job without any distractions. I will only follow you to the mansion. No more, no less."

"Granger, I must insist -"

"It's fine, you may go with him," Pearson interjected, clearly frustrated with Smith's obstinacy. "She will help you break in, Smith. But Granger, just like you promised, you will abandon him upon arrival at the mansion."

"Yes, yes, yes," Hermione rolled her eyes and waved her hands dismissively, as if cutting off and overbearing father. "Now Smith, what time do you leave tomorrow?"

She knew how to handle this. She'd follow Smith to the mansion and having been there too many times, she'd be able to get in quickly and find Draco, take him away and come back moments before Smith even gets to his bedroom. And then she'd easily tell him that Draco was nowhere to be seen and that the house was empty. They could always worry about that person who wanted Draco dead later. For now, Draco was most important. She can't be fucked about anything else.

"Around one a.m. Break in, find him, Stun him and Apparate him to the location. Easy really."

"Where to?" Hermione asked, a bit too quickly.

"That's none of your concern."

"I was simply asking, just in case you run into a bit of a trouble and require assistance," Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"I won't," Smith glared at her, grabbed the blueprints and Disapparated while still maintaining eye contact.

And then there was silence before Pearson spoke up.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing," Hermione said casually, as she turned around to grab her things.

"You're acting rather unusual today. Is everything alright?"

"I hope," Hermione muttered and as the confident, arrogant one with the laissez-faire attitude, she gulped in fear.

She Disapparated home and for the first time ever, she was unsure of herself. With shaky hands, she wrote a message for Draco and sent it off with an owl.

And then, she walked heavily to the bed as a million thoughts and images of the massacred body and lifeless grey eyes of Draco flashed before her eyes. She was too tired, and her mind was much too cluttered to think.

Hopefully, the owl could locate Draco and … and …

And then she was about to fall asleep. Just as she was at the precipice of slumber, her eyes shot open.

No.

She cannot afford to fall asleep.

If she fell asleep, that means the real Hermione will take over – clueless, heavy-handed and then she'd take credit for saving Draco even though the other Hermione desired Draco more than, well, anything.

No. This was her Draco, and she was going to save him. And then, she was going to completely take over this body and have him all to herself. She can and she will. And so, she got up, walked to the kitchen, opened the fridge and drank a bunch of Muggle things that were called "Red Bull".

The more alert she got, the more she could concentrate on containing the real Hermione …

In another dimension, a dimension that was filled with nothing but darkness, the real Hermione awoke.

She'd never been here before, that was she first thing she knew.

When the other her took over, she was always asleep, even in her mind. Never before had she woken up mid-slumber while the other one went about her shift.

It was far too dark and far too quiet, too quiet until she could hear herself breathe. Getting up on her feet, she spread her arms in front of her and walked – hopefully for a wall or something – something that would clue her in on where she was.

Nothing.

Something was off.

"Hello?" she called out.

It echoed, for miles and miles, she surmised because it never seemed to stop. This wasn't even that familiar mind-corridor with doors. This was nothing.

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she cried out again, her breath quickening out of fear, frustration and worry. Where the fuck was she? "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Again, and again, it echoed. Reaching nowhere.

She ran and ran, screaming for someone, anyone.

"HELLO? PLEASE! ANYBODY?!" she shouted and then stopped running, pulling at her hair. "SOMEBODY!"

"Yeowch, hush now, will you? You're going to make me deaf."

That voice was unmistakable – her own. But it was done in another tone – a dark, playful one.

"YOU! Where am I? Why am I here?" Hermione shouted.

"Right here," the voice whispered right next to her and Hermione jumped a mile out of fright.

Taking a couple of steps backwards, she glared at the other Hermione that abruptly and mysterious materialized right in front of her.

It was like Hermione was looking at the mirror – only to see that it wasn't her true reflection, for the reflection had pin-straight hair and a devious look on her face. The real Hermione also had a casual outfit on – jeans, a jumper and was barefoot, while the other one was dressed in all black leather with boots.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Hermione hissed.

The other Hermione was examining her black nails, and she was looking dispassionately at Hermione when she decided to meet her gaze.

"I'm taking over," she simply said.

"Wha -? You can't do that," Hermione growled. "This is my body, my life!"

"Well, not anymore. As you can see, I already did. I am in charge," the other Hermione waved her right hand and the blackness immediately shifted into a scenery. Countryside, during sunset with dogs running around them. In the distance was a mountain, and Hermione could see the sun slowly disappearing into the mountains, painting the sky an orange-red colour.

Before Hermione could even wrap her mind around the whole thing, the other Hermione waved her hand, the scenery altered once more, contorting and breaking – before turning into the view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. And then, Mount Everest, and then finally, an island with clear blue skies and an equally clear blue ocean. Hermione could feel the wetness of the sand and water beneath her feet.

The other Hermione smiled cheekily at her and flipped her straight hair.

"Well, there you have it. I have successfully overthrown you," she grinned maliciously.

"But …" Hermione was speechless.

"How? Well, Draco Malfoy, for one. My need to have him and protect him was my drive and, safe to say, it was powerful enough to make me want take full control."

Hermione stared and stared. How was she supposed to react to this? She was powerless.

"And don't worry, I won't get rid of you immediately," the other Hermione shrugged. "I'll make it slow."

"YOU!" Hermione roared and reached out to throw her onto the floor and strangled her, but an invisible wall suddenly appeared right before her, knocking her back.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the other Hermione shook her head, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have something to do. I need to rescue my beloved. Ta ta. Shan't miss you."

The other Hermione then proceeded to blow her a kiss and with a coy smile, she disappeared without a sound.

And Hermione was stuck in this island, with loud, booming sounds coming from every direction.

She didn't have to look far or think hard about what was happening, because she could see it right before her. It started from the ocean.

Parts and pieces off it started crumbling into pieces, crashing into one another, and creating havoc as the entire island shook.

Hermione didn't wait. She knew what was going to happen, so she bolted. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her feet as she stepped on sharp shells and stones as she raced to the highest point of the island. If she got up there, she'd have the chance to at least try to get her mind back before these giant tsunami waves ate her whole.

She swallowed the bitter possibility that she might die here, disappear just like that when the waves get to her. She glanced back as she ran, and she saw mighty, mighty waves forming.

In reality, the other Hermione washed her face and glanced in the mirror, examining her straight hair that she was about to pull back into a ponytail once more.

There were dark, purple circles underneath her eyes but she brushed them off. She needed to save her Draco. And by the time she did that, she was certain that the real Hermione would have disappeared and she, would be the real Hermione from then on. And then, she'd have Draco.

Draco, who happened to not reply to her owl. The owl came back with the same letter, unopened – which meant that he was nowhere to be found. He was either currently out with his mother or on the way home. Either way, undetectable.

That also meant that she had no way of reaching him before he arrived, that she needed to be quick about going into his house, taking him away and fooling Smith. That was her only chance, and she wasn't going to mess it up.

Shoving her wand into the holster, she glanced at the clock. Midnight.

She Apparated.

The real Hermione was positively roaring her way through the island.

Her legs were exhausted, carrying her as fast as possible. She was almost at the top, and each time she glanced back, the rogue tidal waves were larger. There was more sand than water at this rate, as the water receded to create that massive wave that was going to destroy her, and that also made it seem as if the sand was infinite, and that she was going nowhere near her destination.

She fell, and her legs ached, but she pushed on.

Almost. There.

"Granger, you're finally here," Pearson greeted, not looking up from his papers, "Afraid you're a bit late."

"Late? Smith said one, and it's only two minutes past midnight," the other Hermione shook her head.

"That's what he said, but he left an hour ago. Probably got the job done already," Pearson shrugged.

The other Hermione's eyes widened and her jaw clenched.

"What?" she said irately, feeling anger beyond measure. Murderous. Fucking Smith.

Tears of exhaustion were running down Hermione's face, and she was positive that her legs would never work again, but she had reached the top.

She collapsed onto her bum, and gazed down as the waves gathered more and more water for a colossal wave that was going to eradicate her.

But she wasn't going to sit here in tears and accept her fate. She was going to fight.

This was her mind, her body.

She curled up into herself and shut her eyes, trying not to let the sound of the waves get to her. She shut off everything – except her thoughts, and willed.

"Draco? Draco!" her voice echoed throughout the familiar mansion.

She'd scanned the residence about five times already, to find nobody around. Draco's bedroom was empty.

Fear was starting to take over. Worse still, she didn't know where Smith had taken him to.

Her head was throbbing, in sync with her heart.

The real Hermione was rocking back and forth, arms cradling her head.

She was gathering energy – both magic and mind.

She didn't know if it was enough, but she was going to try. She recollected every single memory from the earliest days she could remember, piecing them in chronological order to remind herself that she was truly Hermione Granger and that this was her, this was all her. This was her mind, this was her body, and nobody was going to take that away from her.

"I need you to fucking tell me where Smith is, Pearson," the other Hermione said as she returned to the warehouse. "Now."

"I'm afraid I -"

Hermione leapt at him, eyes a feral red and wand pressed against Pearson's throat.

"The only thing you should be afraid of is me," Hermione hissed, eyes flashing dangerously, "When I slice your body from head to toe, deliver them to your family – package by package. And then when it's all done, I might kill your entire family, too, just because I feel like it."

"G-Granger … what's – what's happened to you?" Pearson stammered, face pale and eyes filled with fear.

"I'll give you three fucking seconds to tell me where he is, or I will Avada Kedavra you right here, right now."

Parents - dentists. Kindergarten, elementary school, first crush, Hogwarts. Harry. Ron. Ginny. Troll, Buckbeak, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Snape, Draco … Draco … Draco …

Voldemort. The War. Weakness … Pain … Anguish … Torment … Torture …

Escape …

Hiding behind another side …

No more … no more …

The other Hermione appeared smack dab in the middle of an abandoned prison, dark, dank and filthy.

She was surrounded by a group of people innocent-looking enough to look like people bent on revenge, but the only thing she saw was someone bound to a chair, half-alive.

Draco.

His pristine, blond hair was marred by dirt and blood, and his right eye was bloodied and so were his nose and mouth. He had multiple lashings on his chest, painting his otherwise white shirt deep crimson.

He was breathing – shallowly, and it was as if he was hanging on to dear life. His wind lay broken, next to his foot.

"Draco!" she roared.

Somewhere in the corner of her eye, someone gasped and Disapparated. Smith.

But she can't be fucked about Smith right now. She'll chase him down some other day.

For now, she needed to take care of things here.

She gazed at the group of people in black robes – an elderly man and woman and two men and one woman, all standing with their wands raised.

Nobody knew who started attacking first, but the entire prison was filled with furious flashes of green, red and haphazard spells.

The waves were impossible to escape from the looks of it, but Hermione was still rocking and chanting frantically.

Go away … impostor … leave … never come back … get the hell out of my mind … leave … don't need you … be gone … go away … impostor … leave … never come back … get the hell out of my mind … leave … don't need you … be gone …

Be gone!

The other Hermione stopped mid-spell as she heard the words echo in her mind so loudly that she thought that the real Hermione was in the room with her. She looked around for a moment to make sure that she was the only Hermione around.

That had caught her off guard, and left her no time to deflect the slicing curse that came her way. She ran to the side, but the spell had caught her on her left arm, and sliced it open.

She cried out painfully as she felt a warm wetness and an indescribable stinging pain invade her entire being. She fell to the floor and groaned, but before the enemy could send another spell, she stunned him.

The robed figure fell to the floor, and Hermione wheezed in pain, letting go of her wand to clutch at her left arm. She needed to heal this … to … so much pain …

Pain, however, was immediately forgotten as she caught sight of Draco's lolling head. He was in and out of consciousness, having been tortured so badly.

"Draco …"

This is mine. Mine. Mine. This is Hermione Granger's mind, body and soul, and I am Hermione Granger.

Leave. Leave. Leave. Disappear.

Leave. Leave. Leave. Disappear. Go.

"What … whassat," the other Hermione whispered through her blurred vision. She looked around once more, only to find the unconscious group of people, herself and Draco the only ones there.

"Shut up!" she growled and got to her knees before making her way to the chair where Draco was bound.

Leave. Leave. Leave. Disappear. Go.

"Stoppit," she hissed and brought her hand up to Draco's face and stroked, "Draco? Draco … Draco!"

Grey eyes opened, filled with pain, confusion and weariness and they blinked multiple times to focus.

"Hermione?" he croaked.

"Hey, baby," she grinned toothily, "Hey … I came to get you. You'll be fine."

"Agh! Shut up!" she yelled at the ceiling, as she fought for control over her own hands, which didn't want to listen at the moment. She tried her best and she finally got the ropes off Draco and the chair, effectively freeing his arms and legs.

"I'm going to get you out of here, we need to get you to a hospital," she whispered, combing Draco's hair back from his face.

Leave. Leave. Leave. Disappear. Go.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione tossed her head back and shouted as loud as she can, and the whole place echoed with her voice. "NO NO NO NO! Leave me be! I am in control!"

Leave. Leave. Leave. Disappear. Go.

Hermione faced the waves determinedly.

Shutting her eyes, concentrating hard, she held her head high.

The waves were coming down towards her now, and she was ready.

She wasn't scared. This was hers. Her mind. Her body.

She was in charge.

This is mine.

"NO! Fuck off, will you?!" she roared once more and went back to Draco, who was looking at her with a perplexed expression. "Let's go, Draco. Come on."

She bent down to pick Draco up, but that too, she had difficulty with as she had trouble commanding her limbs to move.

This is mine.

She bent down to pick Draco up, but that too, she had difficulty with as she had trouble commanding her limbs to move.

This is mine.

"No," she hissed through gritted teeth as she helped Draco up. His arms were around her now for support and Hermione struggled to move forward. They took baby steps towards her wand, slowly but surely …

This is mine.

"Hermione …" Draco called out, suddenly alert.

"Yes, baby?"

This is mine.

At the corner of her eyes, she saw a figure move behind Draco and there was a shout and a flash of green light.

"Draco! Behind you!"

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

She immediately threw Draco to the side and met the curse dead on.

And then, all was green.

The waves crashed on her and she felt the sheer magnitude of force.

Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.

And then, nothing.