Chapter 5:
At a quarter to twelve, she rose and slipped out of bed. The resistance had been bombing for the past half hour. She could hear booted feet running back and forth but dared not call out for fear of it being one of Malfoy's staff. Her door was locked and she'd lost her wand so how was she going to get out? She could hear yells and screams of pain, and almost cried in frustration. Pacing back and forth, she stopped to look out her window at the grounds. They were silent and still. There was a ledge just below her window she could probably jump onto. She was about to pick something up to throw through it when she heard a light knocking on her door.
"Hermoine?"
Oliver.
She raced to the door. "It's locked Oliver. I lost my wand and I can't get out…" She was on the verge of tears.
"Alright. Stand back."
She backed up behind the bed as the door flew apart and Oliver Wood stepped into view. She threw herself at him. "Thank goodness you're okay! I was afraid when the bombing started."
He squeezed her briefly with one arm then let go. "Well, I'm fine now. Let's go. We can get out the front doors…"
"I thought I was supposed to meet you in the owlery and we were going to get away that way…" she said, looking up at him suspiciously.
"Change of plans… I was afraid that Malfoy was going to get to you before I did… I'm lucky I did… we should leave now though…" He took her hand and they started off in the direction of the owlery. They dodged a few troops running through the castle and once Oliver pushed her up against the wall as a group of six dementors came by. His arm tightened around her as she buried her head in his chest and his other hand came down to tilt her head up towards his. His lips came down on hers. His kisses became hard and insistent and she pushed him away.
"Oliver, what are you doing?"
"Sorry." He glanced up and down the empty corridor. "Let's go." He took her hand and they continued to the owlery.
He pushed the door shut and locked it. "There. Now he can't get to you…"
She was peering out the window but turned around at the tone of his voice. "What?"
He went to the window. "Malfoy. He can't get you if you're in here with me… we're going to escape and get as far away from here as possible…"
She nodded.
Suddenly, she heard Oliver's voice from behind her, behind the door. "Hermoine! Don't listen to him! He's a fake!"
She looked up. Oliver's face was half hidden in shadow and he looked slightly eerie. "What's going on, Oliver?" she asked slowly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Hermoine!" he yelled again as the door shuddered as something hit it.
She looked over at Oliver who hadn't moved from the window. "Did you just…"
"Hermoine! It's Malfoy! You're in danger!"
Her eyes windened and she backed up until her back hit the door. Her hand reached for the latch.
Oliver started towards her. "Hermoine, don't open the door…it's Malfoy. He's lying to you so you'll open the door. He's probably got a score of dementors out there… they'll take me away and kill me…"
The door shuddered against her back again. Oliver was moving towards her. She didn't know what to do…
"Hermoine… don't you trust me?" he asked, stretching out a hand towards her.She put her hand on the doorknob and turned. It was locked. She closed her eyes in dispair, remembering seeing him locking the door. When she opened them, Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her.
"Guess I couldn't have kept up the façade for much longer," he said, pulling her away from the door and throwing her into a nest. The owl squawked and she sprang away. "Almost lost you in that hallway," he continued. "I thought you were going to bolt on me. I just couldn't keep his chivalrous crap up for much longer." He started towards her.
She dodged around a few nests. "You can't win, Draco… the resistance is destroying your house around you."
He levitated the nests out of the way. "The way I see it, I'm in here with you and Wood is outside… All I have to do is get you and disparate to take you away. He'll never have you and I'll win…" He lunged towards her and she lunged out of the way. His hand was about to close on her arm when a big snowy owl flew up into his face, squawking and snapping at him.
"Hedwig!" Hermoine exclaimed, happiness flooding into her face as a tear trickled from the corner of her eye. Harry… Shaking herself mentally, she got herself to the door and flung off the lock. "Oliver!"
"Stupefy!" She fell into a nest and hit her head before finally coming to rest on the floor. She looked up dizzily as Malfoy stood over her.
"You lose, Hermoine…"
He reached down towards her.
The door split open and Oliver Wood appeared. "Get away from her, Malfoy," he said dangerously.
She wanted to cheer but it was a fight just to stay conscious.
Malfoy straightened. "We'll fight for her. Man to man."
As she faded into darkness, she saw Malfoy drop his wand and move towards Oliver confidently.