Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you will all continue reading and reviewing in the future! It's very much appreciated as any author knows.
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As the guards dragged him towards the ward, Draco tried to inconspicuously reach into his pocket, pull out his wand, and drop it on the ground for Hermione to pick up and hide. Unfortunately, just as he began to pull the wand out, one of the soldiers happened to glance at him, saw him pull something out of his pocket, and the next thing Draco knew, he was pinned to the ground with his cheek on the grass and a knee in his back. His arms were twisted painfully behind him and held in a death grip. He was forced to drop the wand.
Another SS man picked up the wand while the first held Draco to the ground. He got down on one knee and held the wand at Draco's eye level.
"What is this?" the man asked. Draco didn't know how to respond. It was too short for a cane, too long for a pen or pencil; it obviously wasn't a knife and even if it was that would only get him in trouble.
"I suggest you answer, herr, because the Führer doesn't like secrets. What is this?" The man was practically hissing at Draco.
He swallowed his urge to spit in the man's eye and told the truth. "It's my wand."
Immediately the SS man's eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together. "Guards, take him to the courtroom."
Draco was pulled to his feet and forcefully shoved out of the compound while the soldier followed, wand in hand.
Hermione and Elsa watched this whole display, clinging to each other in fear.
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Draco was forced into a large room full of benches. At one end stood a judge's pulpit, so this place was apparently a courtroom. He was made to sit in a chair next to the pulpit, facing the gathering crowd of gawkers. Finally, after the room had filled to capacity, the judge walked in, glared at him, and sat down.
"What are the charges against this man?" he asked, gesturing to Draco. He was definitely cutting to the chase.
"He stands accused of witch craft, your honor," answered the man who had taken Draco's wand.
"What evidence do you have?" The judge narrowed his eyes at the man.
"We confiscated his wand, your honor." He stepped forward and placed the wand in front of the judge.
"Is this true?" The judge turned to Draco.
"No, your honor, I found it on the ground right before I was brought here. I picked it up not knowing what it was," Draco fibbed.
"Lies! If that were true, why did you admit that it was 'your wand' when we took it from you?" the SS man spat.
"Because technically it is mine, since we don't know who the real owner is. It's probably not even real, and even if it were, I don't know how to use it."
"Well then. Your honor, I charge that this boy is a thief. He stole that wand." The man smiled in triumph. He knew that he could get away with flimsy charges and Draco had played right into his hand.
"Upon hearing the evidence, I hereby sentence Hans Schmidt to be hanged until he is dead," the judge proclaimed, banging his gavel on the pulpit.
"What? No! You can't-" Draco began to protest, but his guards grabbed him and started dragging him off, once again. He struggled and was really giving them a run for their money, but another soldier came up behind him and hit him on the back of his head with the butt of his rifle, knocking Draco unconscious.
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"What are they doing in there? Oh, this is bad. This is really bad! What if he dies? What am I supposed to do? I can't make it by myself!" Hermione was pacing back and forth across the compound. She didn't notice the middle aged man watching her from a few yards away. Elsa, on the other hand, was trying to get Hermione's attention.
"Hermione, please stop. You're drawing attention to us. If they see that you're nervous about what happened to him, they'll suspect something. Please stop," she pleaded.
"Hm? But I...well...I guess you're right," Hermione nodded, seeing the logic in the younger girl's statement.
Just as she was managing to calm herself down, though, Draco came back out. He was propped up between two guards, clearly unconscious. There was a patch of red on the back of his head as blood oozed into his hair. Hermione's eyes got large and she began to whimper at the site of him.
"They're gonna hang him!" Elsa said as she clutched at Hermione's skirt. She buried her head in the material and began to sob.
"Pst!" Hermione looked up at the sound.
"Pst!"
"Elsa, is that you?" she asked, glancing down at the girl. Elsa just shook her head.
"Over here!" a voice whispered. Hermione turned around and saw someone standing in the shadows of the wall behind her. Glancing around cautiously, she limped over to him.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Excuse me, fräulein, but are you, by any chance, a witch?" the gentleman asked. Hermione stared at him as the blood drained from her face. How did he know? "I'm sorry if I seem abrupt, but if you want to save your friend over there, I must know."
"And if I am?" she said warily.
"I am a squib. I'll tell you more in a minute, but for now, I need you to dig your wand back up and stupefy those guards." He gestured to the men supporting Draco. He appeared to be coming around, at least. Too bad it was just in time to find himself on the wrong end of a rope.
Hermione rushed over to the recently disturbed earth, broken ankle forgotten, where she had buried her wand and muttered 'accio wand'. It flew into her hand, causing a small hole in the dirt, and she ran back over to the man in the shadows. Turning, she pointed her wand at the guards.
"Stupefy!" she yelled. Immediately, a bolt of red lightning burst from her wand, and all the guards fell to the ground in a stupor. Draco stumbled, but fortunately was awake enough to catch himself. Immediately she turned to the guards around the compound and performed the same hex before they even knew what was happening. Hermione ran over to Draco and began dragging him back to the shadows as fast as she could. The strange man came out and met them halfway.
"Now listen. My name is Jon Schultz and I'm with the Magical British Underground. Our job is to help witches and wizards such as yourselves to get back to England. I have a contact in Antwerp, her name is Faye Molyneux. She's a good witch, and she can apparate you to England. First, you have to get out of here, though. I would suggest blowing up the gate." He nodded towards the main gate and Hermione nodded. Draco sat by the wall and tenderly felt the back of his head.
"Evanesco," Hermione muttered, and the large gate that had been keeping everyone in was suddenly gone. She jogged back, dragging her injured limb, to the three in the middle of the yard. "Okay, let's go," she said. They walked back through the space where the doors had so recently stood and was now receiving curious stares from the other prisoners. When they passed through, a rush of humanity crowded the entrance.
"Antwerp is about twelve miles from here, so if we walk fast, we should get there late tonight," Jon said, glancing up at the position of the sun. The group of four began to jog, just to make sure they'd be far from Breendonk when the soldiers recovered, with Jon carrying Hermione on his back.
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Okay, not the best chapter ever written, but I didn't know how I wanted that to play out. It was weak, I know and I'm sorry. Please review! Oh, and everything in italics is German, if you didn't figure that out.