Here's the next chapter. Very short. Thanks for the great reviews! You guys rock! ;D
Disclaimer: Only the plot and the character Apollo belongs to me.
It was a beautiful, pale moonlight. A woman with strikingly brown eyes admired the glow of the enormous emerald ring in her hand. A cool breeze blew through her, and she felt a pair of strong arms take her and hold her softly. She smiled; she knew it was he. He kissed the side of her head, and she shut her eyes to relish the perfect moment only the stars bore witness to.
She turned to him, and held him closer. She could feel him swaying slowly, as if dancing to the silent music of the night. "There's no music." She whispered softly, amused.
He could only gaze at her and smile. She, on the other hand, could only fall deeper as she stared into his silver eyes, conveying every emotion she was feeling. Soon she could feel his warm lips upon hers, and remembered the time that she worked hard for perfection; that time now seemed like a hazy memory. She learned that with him, everything was perfection. It was in his touch, in his kiss. In his gaze and in his words.
He was perfection. And somehow, when she was with him, she was too.
"Granger!"
Hermione felt a pair of strong arms shaking her vigorously out of her sleep. Suddenly the vision on the silver-eyed man vanished into view, and was replaced by an eerie dimness and the feeling of confusion. The arms were shaking her again.
"What?" She asked, getting up. It was already nighttime. She could see a wand on the floor, emitting jets of light. The door was shut, and the windows were closed. Something was wrong. "What happened?"
"You sure you know enough spells, Granger?" Draco said. She immediately got up and dashed out of the room. Draco picked up his wand and followed after her. The house was pitch black as she ran through the almost familiar corridors, with the faint light from Draco's wand guiding her. She heard a loud rustle outside. They turned towards the grand staircase and slowly went down, their hands unknowingly finding each other for support.
"Are you sure the boy is here?" A man with an oddly recognizable voice said, as Draco and Hermione stopped dead at the foot of the stairs. Draco waved off the Lumos spell from his wand to avoid detection.
"The Dark Lord's sources are to be trusted." Another man growled. Hermione immediately recognized the voice; it was the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. And with him was some other Death Eater out to find, and possibly kill, the boy beside her.
"There is no one in this house, Fenrir! We are wasting our time, when the boy could be hiding with Remus and the others." The other man again said, this time with a distinctly noticeable accent that they've definitely heard before.
A growl was the response to this statement. "You know the price of mistrust, Severus." Another growl was heard.
"Snape!" Hermione said quite loudly, which alerted the people outside and caused Draco to put his hand over her mouth. They heard another set of footsteps drawing nearer to the door.
"There is someone here." Greyback said darkly, and started sniffing around. "I smell young blood." A loud pop was again heard, and this time they heard a third voice speak.
"The Dark Lord wants to know if the job is done." The man said with authority. "Is it?" He asked.
"A pure blood, and a—"
"Fenrir senses people inside. Tell him to put off Narcissa's execution for a little while." Snape said, numb. He knew that Narcissa wasn't really in their custody, but she knew that this lie was enough to send Draco storming out. He didn't plan on killing him; he knew that the boy would find some clever way to escape. This is a test for the Dark Lord's trust, and that precisely is what he needed to survive in this war.
"She isn—"
"Hush, Apollo!" Snape said urgently. The man immediately understood Snape's meaning, and only turned to stare at the werewolf looking around, his hungry eyes reflecting the moonlight.
"It's bait." Hermione said, as she felt Draco weaken and fall unto the floor. She could hear his fingers rustling through his clothes. Finally, she heard something solid hit the marble floor.
"He's going to pay." Draco whispered, enraged.
"Don't listen to them! Your mother's not with Vol—" She flinched, but figured that if Harry could do it, so can she. "—demort. They're using her name to lure us out."
"Run upstairs, Granger." Draco said in a grave tone. He was indebted to her for hiding him, considering that he was the most wanted enemy of her side. She was, at least, a bit kind to him and didn't torture him like he did with her. Gratitude was an unfamiliar feeling in his heart, and he realized that even though his father showered him with the most wonderful things and gave him the glorious prestige of being a Malfoy, his mother, had somehow instilled in him that maybe there was more to life than power and money. And that was why he wanted her safe.
"You could die out there." She said, quite sadly and more pleadingly than she'd expected to.
"Don't you want me dead?" He asked, blatantly trying his arrogant prat act again to lighten the mood. But somehow she did not laugh, or call him a stupid git.
"I guess I don't." She whispered. How is it that her worst enemy turned out to be the most honest friend she had? Harry has a great deal of issues, most he preferred to keep to himself. Ron, was just, well, Ron. And that's what's so bad. "I didn't have those D.A. meetings for nothing."
"Come on, Granger. Be serious. Outside are two of the Dark Lord's most powerful Death Eaters. The other one is the most vicious werewolf to ever exist. You seriously think you can take them?" He asked, partly mocking her and partly and surprisingly fearing for her safety.
"And you can? Stop being a pompous jerk for minute and realize that you can't do this alone." He couldn't see her face in the dark, but her voice sounded resilient and strong.
"—Mudblood." Greyback finally said, which caused Snape's eyes to widen in shock. Only one person came to mind. Pointing his wand at the door, he said a very strong spell that shattered the only protection they had. He stormed inside, flicking his wand for lights. Almost immediately, every light in the house was turned on.
"Severus, what are you doing?" The third death eater, Apollo, said as he followed the man inside, stepping on fragments of wood along the way. Greyback roared again; he knew this was not part of the plan. He saw Draco and Hermione together at the bottom of the stairs, clutching their wands and pointing it in their direction.
"This is what you get for disobeying orders!" He said, turning to Draco. He shifts his wand at him, and bellowed out coldly, "Agreppo!" He didn't have time to react; he just fell on the floor, unconscious. Greyback leaped in front of him.
"This is not an attack, Severus! You will alert the others!" He growled angrily, scratching Snape at the side of his face with his sharp claws. A gash appeared on his left cheek, blood dripping out. Hermione stood up, glanced at Draco, eyes dilating slowly, and mustered up the courage to fight.
"Expelliarmus!" She said, causing Greyback to be thrown aside, along with Snape. Hermione looked again at Draco; he wasn't moving. Suddenly Apollo raised his wand at her and before she knew it, she felt something warm trickle down her hand. He had wounded her.
Draco could only see darkness. He could only feel pain. Yet as consciousness was slipping away from him, a groggy voice recited the killing spell.
Who died? Review to find out!