Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling
1997 – March 21
"Professor?" Hermione asked.
Anger rose within her. How dare he show up at the cabin alone! After what he put Draco through? Why was he the one Dumbledore sent? After all this time of not hearing anything why did he appear unannounced? Sure the headmaster trusted him, but Harry had been right that something was off with him. Draco had neither confirmed, nor denied the fact, but Hermione had her suspicions that Professor Snape was a Death Eater. And she hated that she had so much evidence to back up those fears. Hermione had always believed her professors to be good, people to look up to and learn from, people to be respected. But now, she didn't know what to believe.
But Draco had brought him to the cabin. Maybe things weren't as black and white as they seemed. Was there more to this than she had been shown?
Still, Hermione felt uneasy about the man. She knew he was excellent at occlumency, so he truly could be hiding anything, he could have hidden his intentions.
She looked at Draco.
Why was he trusting him?
Was Professor Snape not the one who made Draco go with the Death Eaters on that revel? Was he not the one who gave him the choice to kill her?
She swallowed.
Did Draco know what he was doing with this? Surely he wouldn't lead him back unless he knew Professor Snape was telling the truth in saying he wanted to help them.
Draco would not lead someone looking to kill them, back to the cabin unless . . .
He wasn't Draco.
Hermione's eyes went wide a she looked between the two men.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Draco (if he really was Draco) asked.
She couldn't stay there. She couldn't just fall into this trap! But what could she do? She had her wand, she could fight her way out of this. But doubt kept creeping up inside, saying, maybe he was right that she wasn't able to fight competently in her current state.
She needed to get out! Hermione thought about running outside, just apparating away. But, if it was true that this was not Draco and it was indeed a trap, they would have the entire cabin surrounded.
Her bedroom.
She could put a quick ward up and figure it out from there.
On three, she would run. On three she would sprint for cover.
1 . . . 2. . . 3!
Without any more thinking, she bolted towards her room, slamming the door shut and pulled out her wand, wracking her panicked and exhausted mind for the spell. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She needed to think and fast.
Her eyes popped open as the spell finally made its way to the front of her mind. She hated how slow her thoughts had become. Even in her adrenaline filled state, she was somewhat lethargic. She placed the spell and stepped back from the door.
"Hermione! What's going on!?" Draco sounded concerned, and very close. He was right outside the door.
Was she just being overly paranoid or was Draco in serious danger? Had he already been killed?
No, she couldn't think like that now.
"Hermione, listen to me." He sighed. "I know you're scared, and overly exhausted, but we don't have much time."
What was he talking about? Why didn't they have much time?
Hermione needed to remind herself that it may not be him, maybe they were simply trying to lure her out? It sounded like Draco, but she couldn't be absolutely certain.
What could she ask him that nobody else would know? What could she ask him that would reveal if he was truly Draco Malfoy?
They had been at the cabin, completely alone for a while. She just needed to ask about something that happened there.
"What happened on our second date?" she asked timidly through the door.
"Oh . . ." he whispered, realizing what was happening. "It was after your first nightmare. I had a picnic planned, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea because that was where you were in the dream, but you wanted to do it anyway. It was sunny, and bright, and we used a warming spell. We talked for hours."
It was him.
Trembling, she took down the wards and opened the door.
"Are you alright?" Draco asked.
Hermione nodded slightly, still watching the professor who stood at the end of the hall.
Draco pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her until the shaking stopped.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"No, I'm sorry. You were smart. I should have thought about that. It was good that you made sure," he told her.
She nodded against his shoulder and took a deep breath when his arms slipped away.
"Snape really is here to help us. Let him explain." Draco took her hand and lead her back to the sitting room and stiffly settling onto the sofa.
The professor was just as dark and threatening looking as always, though now he seemed slightly more concerned. Slightly. The man was difficult to read.
"We do not have much time," he said.
Hermione swallowed, unsure of where this was going.
"The Order was set up and attacked before anyone could be sent to you," Snape began.
"Is everyone alright?" Hermione questioned anxiously.
"No one was killed but there were some severe injuries. They are being looked after and should recover, but for now, we have bigger problems."
"How do we know we can trust you?" Hermione asked.
"Miss Granger, now is not the time. They are coming," the professor warned.
"No, you made Draco do some terrible things. And you gave him the choice of killing me! How can we be sure you can be trusted?" she responded.
"Draco always had the choice to run. I simply informed him that he had to go on the revel if he intended to stay in the Dark Lord's good graces, nothing more. There was no way he could have stood in the Dark Lord's presence having not gone on the revel and with you still alive. He would have been gravely punished, and very possibly killed. He had. to make. the choice. And it had to be his," Snape said. "Now, if we are finished with the chit chat, we need to move."
"Professor, how do you know they are coming?" Hermione questioned. She needed to know what they were dealing with. Was he a Death Eater? All the evidence seemed to point towards that being the case, but she wanted to be positive. She had known the professor for years, and even though he had never been pleasant to her, she had respected him.
The man lifted his sleeve to reveal the dark mark on his left forearm.
Hermione gasped. It was true. She knew it was, but now, she could no longer deny it. She glanced over at Draco who was staring at his lap.
"I was, a long time ago, but then I became a spy for the Order. Now, because of Draco's heroism my cover will be blown," he told them.
Hermione's eyes grew large. She was not expecting that turn of events. He was spying for the Order? How long? Why did he change? When did he change? Hermione had so many questions
"Why? Why did you change sides? Why do you want to help us?"
"You ask too many questions Miss Granger." He sighed, looking urgently out the window to make sure they still had enough time. "If you must know, someone was killed who should not have been in that danger, because of me. Now, let's go."
Someone had been killed because of him. It must have been someone close to him if he was willing to switch sides because of it.
"What's happening?" Hermione asked becoming more frightened by the second. The professor's urgency could not be a good sign.
"You must leave now." Snape ordered. "The Dark Lord knows where you are. They are coming tonight. They will be here any minute, and as soon as they breach the wards, they will prohibit any disapparation and you will be trapped. Now, we must leave!" he said urgently.
Her heart thudded wildly in her chest, she could feel its quick pace pulsing through her veins. This was really happening. They had been found. Draco gave her hand a tight squeeze.
A bright light filled the room and a loud crash was heard, making the ground shake. It was too late.
She saw Draco and Professor Snape lock eyes. Did they have a plan? Hermione was terrified and confused. Why wouldn't Draco tell her? Why did they constantly keep her in the dark?
"Your room," he whispered.
She looked at him. "What is happening? What are you going to do?"
"Just listen to me!" he said quickly. "You are going to go to your room and hide. Wait for me to come back."
"Wait! What? Where are you going? Why won't you be with me? Why aren't we fighting? If we have nowhere to go –"
"Just do it Hermione. It will be alright," Draco insisted getting up from the sofa.
"I will fight to get their wards down so you can apparate out of here," the professor declared, moving into position closer to the door.
This was all wrong! Why weren't they telling her everything?!
"Go! Now!" Snape yelled.
Still shocked, Hermione ran back to her room, shutting the door.
She couldn't understand why Draco would be out there when he told her to hide. He wasn't planning on fighting was he? He would get himself killed!
She took a deep breath. The professor knew what he was doing. Draco knew what he was doing. Didn't they? She wondered if Professor Snape could really fight them. What if there were too many? What if he couldn't hold out?
Hermione felt panic rising again. She looked around frantically. Where could she hide? Behind the bed would be the only place really. Quickly, she jumped across the bed and sat in the corner between it and the wall. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing and settle her nerves. She would need to be mentally prepared for this fight. Whatever happened, she knew it would be a difficult night.
She wondered what would happen to Professor Snape. Would they kill him? Would they just stun him? No, these were Death Eaters and they were just finding out that one of their own was helping the enemy. They would have no mercy. Hermione felt horrible that they were leaving him to fend for himself.
Hermione couldn't believe this was happening. How long had Draco been gone? Was he alright? She could hear shouting and the zapping sounds of spells hitting furniture in other areas of the cabin. Snape was yelling and a woman was yelling back. Hermione couldn't quite make out what they were yelling about, but it didn't sound pleasant. Where was Draco? Why wasn't he back yet?
She jumped when the door opened. Was it a Death Eater?
Her wand gripped tightly in her hand, she mentally prepared herself for what could be coming.
"It's me," Draco whispered. Hermione poked her head up above the edge of the bed to find him putting wards up around the room.
"It won't do much, but it will give us a few extra minutes to prepare if it comes to what I think it might," He said, coming towards where she was. With a relieved breath, she slumped back against the wall, grateful to have him siting beside her.
"This is bad," he declared. "My aunt Bellatrix is here."
"What does that mean?" Hermione asked.
"She's ruthless, and quite insane. And, she is probably very angry that her one nephew, whom she was so very proud of, defected and is helping a muggle-born. That mix does not bode well for either one of us."
"What were you doing? How did you get past them?" Hermione questioned.
"I sent an owl for help. And they were very focused on Snape at the moment, so I disillusioned myself and snuck past," he explained.
"Reckless," she scolded him. "But perhaps the best hope for our survival," she added.
Hermione winced, hearing more spells being cast from outside in the main area. Draco held her close. "How is he doing out there? Is he alright?" she asked.
Draco sighed, obviously not hopeful. "He's alright for now, but there are more of them, and even though he's good fighter, they'll get past soon."
Hermione's stomach clenched as the gravity of the situation hit her full on. "We don't have much hope of getting out of here now, do we."
"Not particularly," he replied.
"I'm scared," Hermione whispered.
Draco just held her tighter against him and she could tell that he was afraid too.
"He loved a muggle-born you know," he said.
"Who? Professor Snape?"
Draco nodded. "Told me a while ago. That's why he's helping us."
"The person who was killed because of him, the death that made him switch sides in the war. It was her wasn't it."
He just looked at her, eyes conveying such emotion, trying to tell her something his words just couldn't. Was he afraid the same thing was going on here?
"This is not your fault," she told him.
Her mind kept flashing back to Snape and the pain he must have felt. Poor Professor Snape! Now he was out there all alone fighting for them.
"We have to help him," she said.
"We can't," he said.
"We have to! We're basically sitting ducks here anyway! We are just waiting for them to break through that door! Wouldn't it be better to go down with a fight Draco?"
"We have to wait. If he gets down the wards holding us in, we can apparate out!" he insisted.
"Draco, what if he can't? None of us –" before she could finish, the wards crackled viciously. A spell hit one of the people at the door and they went down with a thump. Someone fired an killing curse but Hermione couldn't tell if it hit its mark. Snape was doing exceedingly well and Hermione wondered why he hadn't gotten the Defense against the Dark Arts position sooner at Hogwarts. Surely he was an extraordinarily talented dueller to stand up against multiple Death Eaters.
Another spell hit the wards and they crackled loudly again. It wouldn't be long now before the wards around the room fell. Even together, they weren't powerful enough to hold up against the Death Eaters.
The dual continued on the other side of the door, the light from various spells and curses flashing beneath it.
With one more powerful hit to the wards, a bright light filled the room and Hermione felt the tingling almost like a light electric current run through her body as they shattered. With a crash the door burst open and the smell of smoke permeated the air. Something was burning. It wouldn't be long before the entire cabin was up in flames. They had maybe a couple of minutes.
"Bella, he is your own nephew, your own blood." Snape said. He sounded tired, weak, as though he had been injured.
Hermione's fear trapped her in place, petrified her, she couldn't move, couldn't even breath. It seemed as though Snape was the only thing standing in the way of the Death Eaters and them now.
"Yes, but he so disappointed me. Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix shouted and a bright green light filled the room.
Hermione heard the Professor grunt as the curse hit. "No!" she screamed without thinking. Draco's hand came up to cover her mouth but it was too late.
In a second, the bed was sliding across the floor, leaving them open and vulnerable. With adrenaline rushing through her blood stream, Hermione leaped to her feet, wand in hand.
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, but the witch easily deflected the spell and cackled with laughter.
Hermione's eyes darted down to the professor's body on the floor. Professor Snape was dead. He had died for them, died trying to protect them, trying to get them out of this alive. But it was for nothing. They would be killed anyway. She felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes.
She didn't have time be sad, she didn't have time acknowledge the professor's sacrifice, because they were now facing the same evil that had ended his life.
"Protego!" Draco cast the protection curse against the spell of a Death Eater behind his evil aunt.
"Crucio!" Bellatrix screamed with glee.
All she could feel was pain. Hermione fell to the floor, trying to avoid the burning of her flesh, but all around her, every inch of her body was on fire. She heard a strangled howl from someone in the room and it took a second before she realised it was coming from her. It was like a thousand hot knives were being stabbed into her. She squeezed her eyes shut and felt hot tears seeming to burn her cheeks as the curse ripped through. There were more Death Eaters entering the room, but everything was a blurry distant compared to the pain in her limbs. Vaguely she heard Draco yell something, a curse or spell perhaps, and the pain stopped. Her muscles still twitched uncontrollably and her body ached dreadfully, but it was nothing compared with what she had just experienced.
Hermione saw the bright orangish red as the flames began to engulf the room.
"Ugh, we can't finish this here. Take them!" Bellatrix ordered.
Before Hermione could react, she was trapped in a body bind curse. She could still see Draco fighting, but he was soon surrounded between the Death Eaters and the flames of the fire that had spread across the ceiling and down to the curtains behind him. With one last spell, he was bound as well and the feeling of disapparation overtook them.
Author's note:
Hey everyone! Finally got this chapter done! It's a bit shorter than recent ones but a lot happened. I hope it didn't feel too rushed. I tried to do it justice for you guys, but I am still absolutely exhausted. Finals were brutal, didn't sleep much, but they are all over now and it is summer.
Wow, you guys made me feel so loved. Definitely made me smile and made me want to get this chapter finished.
Thanks to Musicangel913, fenix negro, The uber, bennettfan84, Firebolt.1.4.3, SereniteRose, saroura92, Drea2244, and other guests!
Firebolt.1.4.3 – I am so glad my story has been able to help you. Thank-you for sharing and reviewing. You gave me a new perspective on the impact writing and posting can have.
I'm not as confident at writing action scenes like this so I hope it was alright! Please review and let me know what you thought.
Thanks everyone who read, reviewed, followed, or favourited!