A/N: Okay, so I have a couple of things to say. First, I would like to remind everyone that this story is labeled as 'Tragedy', and I meant it when I chose that genre. I gave a warning in the very beginning that things were going to get dark.
A friend of mine said it best … 'This is a tragedy. There is darkness. If you wish to read stories about fluffy rainbow walking unicorns, please look elsewhere.'
Bad things are going to happen to good people, but you can find solace in knowing that worse things are going to happen to bad people ;-) Eventually …
As for the pace … I agree, the last few chapters were really slow. What I planned on being only one chapter ended up as three and I'm really mad at myself for doing that. I'm going to try and move things along, but hopefully not by taking away from the story.
I think the problem is I've setup too many side stories, and there are a lot of holes I need to fill.
That being said, I hope you all keep reading, though I'm pretty sure I'm going to lose some of you who wanted all happiness. I apologize if I led you wrong. That was not my intention.
Alright then … please enjoy :-)
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pansy asked Goyle between parts of their lips.
"I'm here, aren't I?" he said, pressing her into the closest wall.
"Yes, but …" His lips trailed down her chin, "I just …" and onto her neck, "don't know how into this you are."
Goyle paused as Pansy began rubbing her hand along the outside of his trousers. While nothing had been happening down there before, the contact changed everything.
Pansy smirked. "My mistake. Looks like you just need a little motivation."
She dropped to her knees and started to undo his trousers, but he pushed her hands away.
"Not here, Pansy! Someone might see!"
"I thought getting caught was the whole bloody point?" she said, reluctantly standing. "Look, Goyle, if you don't want to do this then you need to tell me now."
"I … I do," he said unconvincingly.
Pansy cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes, of course! I'm fucking pissed at Daphne. You know that. Because of her I have to raise my best mate's child that he doesn't even bloody know about, after my family kills his wife. Did you know her father came and told the whole damn Ministry that Daphne was pregnant? And it just happened to be while Draco was there, visiting Potter or something. He fucking congratulated me! Her whole family is fucking sick!"
"And she's cheated on you."
"And she's cheated on me!"
"A lot."
"Once, I could forgive!"
"I'm pretty sure she's had more sex with him than she has with you in the past year."
Pansy could literally see the steam shoot out of Goyle's ears. In one rough movement, he had her back in his arms and slammed hard against the wall, knocking over a table with something breakable on it, which was there for whatever reason. He tore her shirt and had her bare breasts in his hands while hers went back to unbuttoning his trousers.
Grabbing her legs and lifting them so they were wrapped around his waist, Goyle carried Pansy into the spare bedroom across the hall that she was staying in. Once they were inside, he used his wand to lock the door, but did not put up a Silencing Charm.
Pansy climbed off of him and pushed him back so he landed on the bed. She got down on her knees and pulled off his trousers, taking his now bare, and very perky, length into her hands, giving it a few strokes before saying, "Happy anniversary, Goyle," and engulfing her mouth onto it.
Well, if he hadn't cheated before, he definitely had now. It felt surprisingly more gratifying than he thought it would. But, then again, anything would feel gratifying with Pansy's well-trained mouth on his member. Draco hadn't been lying in school when he said she was bloody good at this.
XXX
Goyle left Pansy's room an hour later, feeling far less gratified than he had before. What the hell had he just done? He had actually sunk to Daphne's level. He seemed to be doing a lot of things that made him hate himself lately.
Unable to bring himself to go to his and Daphne's room, Goyle decided to distract himself with a drink. Or twenty. He went into the kitchen and poured himself a firewhiskey before heading into the parlor, hoping that getting drunk by the fire would help him clear his mind a bit.
But, when he got in there, he was surprised to find Daphne sitting on the sofa, waiting for him. She stood up as he entered and tried to smile, even though tears were clearly visible in her eyes.
"Happy anniversary," she said.
"What are you doing awake?" Goyle asked, taking a sip of his drink but not moving closer.
"I … I wanted to surprise you with something but you were … occupied."
Goyle cocked an eyebrow. He suddenly felt gratified again. "Were you spying on me?"
"I didn't need to spy on you, Gregory. You know as well as I do that Pansy's screams are hard to miss. And she seemed to make a point to say your name. Over and over …"
Daphne's head was spinning. She fell back onto the sofa to balance herself and rubbed at her temples. She definitely didn't think she would be having this conversation tonight.
"Can you please come here?" she asked without looking at him.
Goyle reluctantly walked over, standing beside her for a moment before letting her pull him down so he was sitting next to her.
"Gregory, why …" She gulped. "Why did you do that?"
"Do I need a reason?"
"Yes."
"I don't know. Why the hell do you?" he asked, standing back up and walking towards the blazing fire.
Daphne didn't answer. But she stood up and moved so she was standing behind him. "Gregory … we have to fix this."
"What's broken?" Goyle asked, taking another sip of his drink. "Our marriage was arranged, Daphne. It's not like there was ever any real love here."
Daphne tried to control it, but Goyle did not miss the sound of her stifled sobs. "That's not true," she whispered.
He sighed. "What is it you want me to say?"
"That we're even," she cried. "That you'll never touch Pansy again and we can finally work on being a married couple."
"We are so not even, Daphne," he spat. "You cheated on me. On our wedding day. And then you didn't stop. Do you have any idea how that felt?"
"I imagine you felt a lot like I do right now," she said. "But I'm willing to let this go."
"Let it go?" Goyle turned around and sneered at her. "Go fuck your boyfriend."
He tried to walk away but she pulled him back. "But that's over, Gregory! It's been over! Please, just … just let me fix this!"
Daphne flung her arms around his neck, but his remained firmly at his sides, one hand still clutching the glass he needed to refill.
"Gregory …" Daphne stood on her tiptoes and whispered into his ear, "I love you." She kissed his cheek before moving over to his lips.
"What are you doing?" he asked while she continued to kiss him, trying to get some sort of reaction out of him. "I've just been kissing Pansy. I should repulse you right now."
Daphne shook her head and said, "You could never repulse me," before kissing him again.
Goyle grabbed her arms and yanked them off of him. He pushed her back. "Well, you repulse me."
Daphne stared at him, both hurt and confusion reflected in the eyes he had once loved so much. Now he couldn't even look in them.
"Because of you I'm a kidnapper, I'm an adulterer, I'm lying to the one real friend I think I've ever had, and I'm doing all of these stupid things I never would have seen myself doing in a million years. I don't want to be here. I want out."
"But … Gregory -"
"If I'm ever given the chance to get Hermione out of here, you better damn well believe I'm going to take it. I'm done, Daphne. Done. With everything."
And with that, Goyle pivoted on his foot and headed back the way he came.
"Where are you going?" she called after him.
"Where the hell do you think?"
He could hear Daphne whimpering behind him. "But … but it's our anniversary. You cannot got back and fuck her on our anniversary!"
"It's better than fucking someone on our wedding day."
Daphne didn't try to call after him again, but her sobs were far from silent.
Goyle dropped his glass off in the kitchen and chugged half the bottle of firewhiskey before walking through the halls, making sure to turn left when he should have gone up the stairs to get to his bedroom, not stopping until he was standing in front of Pansy's door. He knocked, just as determined as he was the moment he left Daphne in the parlor.
The door opened and Pansy appeared on the other side. She leaned against it and smirked. "Already back for more?"
He stared at her for a moment, his lips slightly parted as he tried to come up with something to say. Anything. But no words came out. Then, in the spirit of Daphne, he burst into tears.
Pansy's smile faded and her eyes widened. "Goyle, what's wrong?"
He couldn't answer. He tried, but nothing came out. Just more sobs.
"Well, get the bloody hell in here, will you?" she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him inside. She sat him on the bed and poured him a glass of water from the pitcher on the nightstand. Once he had taken a few sips, she sat down beside him. "Better?"
He nodded.
Pansy smiled. "Good. Now, tell me what happened."
XXX
Back in the parlor, Daphne was crying uncontrollably into a pillow on the sofa. Her sobs were so loud, she did not even hear someone enter the room and approach her.
"Oh dear. Did it not go well?"
She shot up and immediately met the arrogant eyes and irritating smirk of Blaise. "What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave!"
"Oh relax," he said, sinking into the seat beside her. "I just wanted to stick around and see your face when your whole 'let's fix this' bullshit crashed and burned. Told you it wouldn't work."
"Get out!" Daphne screamed, jumping up and pointing at the fireplace.
"Calm down, Daph," Blaise said, grabbing her waist and pulling her onto his lap. "It isn't just yours and Goyle's anniversary, you know? We should celebrate."
He tried to kiss her, but Daphne quickly pushed him off of her and took several steps away from him.
"I told you, I'm not doing that anymore."
Blaise narrowed his eyes at her. "But he's cheating on you now. With your best friend. Why the hell would you still want to be faithful?"
Daphne crossed her arms and said, "I made a commitment to Gregory, and I plan to stick to it. He'll come back to me. Once he feels we're even."
"That's fucking sick," said Blaise, climbing to his feet.
Daphne took another several steps back. "Just because you happened to inform me about this little infidelity, doesn't mean I've changed my mind about you. I said I'm done and I meant it! Besides, Gregory and I will have a baby soon and I am sure that will fix -"
"Malfoy's baby?" said Blaise, raising his eyebrows. "You actually want Malfoy's baby?"
Daphne shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know I want a family, and that's a start."
"You want a family with Goyle?" he asked with a slight snicker.
"Of course I do! Gregory will make a great father. He's a nurturer by nature. That's why I chose him."
Now Blaise had to laugh. "You mean your father chose him!"
"No, I did!" she said sternly. "My father gave me four options. Gregory, Theo, Draco, or you. I chose Gregory without hesitation. He was the only one of the lot of you I could see any future with, and I know I chose correctly. It was fun while it lasted, Blaise, but it's over. Now, get out of my house!"
Daphne turned to walk back to her bedroom, but Blaise grabbed her arm. "Daphne, wait!"
She pulled it away and kept walking.
"You'll regret this!" he called after her. "We both know the reason you stuck around for so long is because he can't make you feel the bloody way I can!"
Daphne flipped him off before disappearing into the hall.
Blaise's nostrils flared as he paced around the room. He was pissed. Fucking pissed! How could she be finished with him? No one was ever finished with him first. Especially not for bloody Gregory Goyle. He hated him. He hated him so fucking much! And he hated her. Oh, he hated her most of all.
Blaise fell back on the sofa and grabbed his head before speedily rocking back and forth. It wasn't even him that started this whole fucking mess in the first place. It was her. It was all her.
At the time of hers and Goyle's wedding, he had been dating Pansy. It was new and neither of them was especially into it, but she was pissed over Malfoy's summer with Granger and he was pissed over Astoria rejecting him, so they found solace in each other's beds. And anywhere else they could find. He wasn't going to lie; she was a bloody great shag.
Sometime after he and Pansy had seen Malfoy take off with Astoria, they went upstairs to the girls' loo no one was using and shagged in one of the stalls. She headed out first, since they still had to keep up appearances in front of their parents, and he stayed behind for a couple of minutes.
It was then that Daphne came barreling in. Drunk off her arse and sobbing hysterically in a wedding dress. Before he knew what was happening, she was crying in his arms. Then she was kissing him. He actually did push her off at first, but she was persistent and pushed him back onto the plush sofa that they always seemed to have in girls' loos. Before his mind could even register what was happening, his trousers were undone, her wedding dress was hiked up and she was riding him. Right there. In the girls' loo. On her fucking wedding day. It was the hottest thing he had ever done.
After that, Blaise couldn't get enough of her. Daphne claimed she was drunk and never wanted to do it again, but after pushing the right buttons he was able to quickly change her mind. And it never stopped.
Until now. A year fucking later and she all of a sudden got a bloody conscience. But Blaise wasn't done yet. He wasn't ready to give up the rush. He would make her pay for this. He would make her suffer. So that she would know what she was missing. But what could he …?
And then it hit him. Blaise knew exactly who he had to shag to get her attention. Who it was that would bloody piss her off the most. And he would piss off a few other people he hated while he was at it.
Blaise stood up and marched into the hallway to the left of the parlor. He was going to do it. No interruptions this time. He was going to shag Draco Malfoy's wife. Whether she wanted to or not.
XXX
Hermione rolled over in her bed for the millionth time that night, still unable to fall asleep, despite her best efforts. Of course, it hadn't helped that Pansy and Goyle were shagging louder than necessary across the hall only twenty minutes earlier. She was pretty sure it was all for show. There was no reason for any girl to ever scream like that unless they wanted someone to hear. Hermione secretly hoped they were successful. While she did not condone cheating in any way, she absolutely loathed Daphne and felt she deserved everything she got.
Hermione rolled the other way so she was now facing the window. She looked out it and sighed. This was getting ridiculous. Now that she was upstairs, she really needed to come up with a plan to get out of here. If not that, she could at least find a way to get Draco a message. Let him know she was all right. But she didn't want to tell him about the baby. Not until she was safe in his arms. There was no need to worry him more than he undoubtedly already was.
It also didn't help her sleeping situation that she was alone tonight. She had come to rely on Ethan's presence, but Arron Greengrass had a lot of chores for him to do that he had apparently been putting off to watch her. She didn't dare ask what sort of 'chores' they could possibly have for a vampire, since she got the feeling she wouldn't like the answer.
For some reason, they seemed to think Hermione locked in a bedroom was less threatening than Hermione locked in a cage. Who knew why? She felt less trapped now, and that was only going to help her come up with a plan to escape all the sooner.
The lock clicked on her door. Hermione turned back around and stared at it, hopeful that Ethan had finished early and come to see her.
A thin shaft of light fell across the room. A dark silhouette entered it. Hermione blinked several times to let her eyes adjust. She sucked in her breath and froze. No. Not Ethan.
The door shut behind Blaise, causing all light to omit the room. She tried to jump off the bed and scream, but he was on her so fast, his hand over her mouth, that she didn't even have time to react.
"Why so fast, Mudblood? We haven't even started yet."
Blaise waved his wand and all of the lights turned on. He smirked.
"Much better. Don't want you pretending I'm Malfoy now, do we?"
Hermione struggled beneath him, but the more she moved the wider his smile became.
"Tonight I'm going to find out just what it is about you that has Malfoy so hypnotized. The wizard could have anyone he wants. He's had anyone he wants. Sometimes three anyones at a time. But he chose you. Just you. Show me why, Mudblood."
Blaise removed his hand, but his lips were crashing onto hers before she could get any sound out. She swung her arms and was able to smack one into his face. He grabbed and pinned them. She took this moment to bite his lip, and she bit hard.
The taste of blood entered her mouth. Blaise pulled back and screamed. "Fucking, Mudblood!" He backhanded her and took out his wand.
Hermione was so furious. She wasn't thinking correctly and instinctually screamed, "Expelliarmus!"
You can imagine her surprise when both Blaise and his wand went flying into the wall behind them.
Blaise fell to a heap on the floor. He looked up at her and said, "What the fu -"
"Crucio!"
Blaise's body began to jerk erratically as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
Normally, Hermione was against using the Unforgiveable Curses but, where Blaise Zabini was concerned, she didn't care in the least. He deserved everything he got, and worse.
After the curse ran its course, Blaise shot up faster than a gnome in the Weasleys' Garden and darted for his wand.
Hermione wasn't sure what it was she had just done, since she had only ever learned the basics of wandless magic, but she couldn't let him get that wand. She had to try again. So she held out her hand and shouted, "Crucio!"
Blaise fell back again. His nose began to bleed while his body convulsed over and over. He cried out in agony. Hermione heard a door fly open across the hall. She could already feel the surge of power within her fading. She needed Blaise's wand.
Unfortunately, he was able to move again, so she held out her hand again and shouted, "Crucio!" one last time. It was much weaker this time, but still effective.
The door flew open and Pansy and Goyle barged in. Their eyes darted between Hermione's outstretched hand and Blaise's writhing body on the floor.
"What the -"
Hermione lunged for Blaise's wand and shot Pansy with a stunning spell before she could even finish that sentence. Goyle merely dropped his wand and stepped aside, motioning with his hand for her to continue out the door.
While his sudden boldness had her curious, she wasn't about to stop and question it. Hermione kept her wand pointed at him as she walked by a struggling Blaise, making sure to kick him as she passed. After stepping over Pansy, she headed out the door, breaking into a sprint the moment she was in the clear.
Outside of the room, Hermione tried to Apparate, but it didn't work. Luckily, she had made sure to memorize the way out of here the first time Goyle had brought her to that room, so she knew exactly where she was going. She turned a few corners, but when she hit the stairs, she was not expecting to see Daphne running down them. She hit Hermione's hands and feet with a binding curse before she even had a chance to raise her wand.
Hermione struggled with her binds on the floor while Daphne walked over to her. She looked down into her burning eyes and said, "Maybe my husband is ready to give up on our family, but I sure as hell am not."
Moving off of her back and into a seated position, Hermione leaned upwards and spat at her.
Daphne smirked before pressing her foot against Hermione's chest and pushing her flat on the ground. "Careful, Mudblood. I wouldn't hesitate to curse you if you weren't carrying my baby."
"It's not your baby you fucking -"
"Stupefy!"
Hermione's body slackened as everything went black.
XXX
Hermione sat on her bed, bored and alone on what she believed to be a Saturday evening. Her hand was on her bloated stomach and she was currently feeling the baby kicking. It had just started happening last week and, even in her current situation, she could not help but smile every time she felt it.
It had been two weeks since her almost escape and they were taking extra precautions to make sure it didn't happen again. The only plus side of this was that Blaise never watched her anymore. From what she understood, he was under punishment for letting her get the better of him.
Even though Blaise had told everyone that Hermione had used wandless magic on him, no one believed him. They were all fairly positive that if she knew wandless magic then she would have escaped a long time ago. Of course, Pansy and Goyle had, more or less, seen her. They had at least seen Blaise convulsing and her without a wand in her hand, but they hadn't ratted her out yet. She hadn't seen either of them since that night either. Only Ethan … and Daphne. Way too much of Daphne.
Hermione still did not understand what had happened. She had, of course, dabbled with wandless magic before but, other than the most basic of spells, she didn't know much. And she had successfully performed one of the Unforgiveable Curses without a wand. Multiple times. That was advanced magic, even for her.
Suddenly, the door opened. Hermione looked up, expecting to see Ethan, but was surprised to find Pansy instead. She was carrying a tray of food.
"You're back," Hermione said, unsure if the other witch was mad at her for using a Stunning Spell on her or not.
"Just for the evening," Pansy said, putting the tray in front of Hermione on the bed. "They don't want me watching you anymore since I'm a failure and all, but they're having a meeting about you tonight, and since both of my parents are attending, they figure I can just be updated later." She sat down in the armchair near the door.
"So you're not allowed to watch me anymore?"
"That's right."
"And what about Goyle?"
Pansy smiled. "Well, he was never allowed. Daphne tried to cover for him, but he admitted to letting you walk right on out. It was pretty fucking hilarious, if you ask me. Only, now they don't trust him even more than before and make sure to never leave him alone. Not even at work. He got a 'promotion'," Pansy rolled her eyes, "and now works directly under that prick, Rosier."
Hermione's lips parted slightly. So that meant Goyle now worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Right near Harry. She tried not to get too hopeful, but if Goyle really was being defiant, then maybe there was a way to have this work in her favor.
"So if they have Goyle on such a tight leash, does that mean your little affair is over?"
Pansy blushed for a split second before she remembered who she was talking to. Then she just smiled. "You heard that?"
Hermione nodded.
"That was always just going to be a onetime deal," she explained. "We only wanted to prove a point to Daphne. Besides, I wouldn't want to have him repeat something that made him feel so horrible."
"So, what exactly was the point you were trying to prove?" Hermione asked.
Pansy smirked mischievously and shrugged. "That cheaters get cheated on. I don't bloody know. Does it matter?"
"I guess not." Hermione smiled.
There was a pause.
"I'm just curious, Pansy," Hermione said. "When was it that you and Daphne stopped being friends? Last I checked, you were still really close."
Pansy sighed. "Actually, we haven't been close in a while. But I would say that when she slept with my pseudo-boyfriend on her wedding day was definitely a turning point."
"Yes, I suppose that would do it," said Hermione, frowning.
Pansy looked from Hermione to the tray she had placed in front of her. "Aren't you going to eat that?" she asked.
Hermione glanced down at it. "Yes, I suppose I should."
Both witches were silent while Hermione ate. At one point, Pansy stood up and went over to the window. She gazed out at the forest. Hermione thought she seemed nervous about something, but she wasn't quite sure what.
When Hermione was just about finished, Pansy asked, "Did you feel when they put up shields around the house just after you almost escaped?"
"Yes," Hermione said.
"Yeah, they did that so no one can Apparate in or out anymore. The Greengrasses have always had it so you couldn't Apparate inside of the house, but now they've extended it outside too. It goes all the way to the lake out there." She pointed to the south. "If Potter ever decides to come back here, I can only imagine that he'll be suspicious."
Hermione put down the fork she was holding and looked at Pansy curiously. What was she getting at?
"They've also made it so you can't Floo in or out either. The only way to really get here is by broom. You know that shed out there?"
Pansy turned her head and looked over her shoulder at Hermione, who nodded.
"That's where we all keep our brooms. Did you know I'm a great flyer?"
Hermione shook her head.
Pansy looked back out the window. "Yeah. I always wanted to play Quidditch in school, but my father wouldn't let me go out for the team. He said Quidditch was a wizards sport and the pitch was no place for a witch." She sighed. "For my birthday last year, my parents got me a Thunderbolt. It's the best broom money can buy. I hide it in the back, behind their old brooms, so Quinn doesn't take it. He always tries."
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Hermione, climbing off of the bed and moving the tray over to the table near the door. She used the pitcher there to pour herself a glass of water and started drinking it.
"Oh, no reason," said Pansy, clasping her hands behind her back and walking across the room, looking innocent. "You know, these past two weeks I've been reading up a lot on wandless magic."
Hermione froze mid-sip. She removed the glass from her lips and gulped. "Have you?"
Pansy smiled. "I have. And I learned the most interesting thing. Did you know that there are a few reported cases where pregnant witches who never knew wandless magic before, suddenly became experts at it?"
Hermione gulped again and shook her head.
"Oh, yes. It's quite rare, of course. Only extremely powerful witches carrying even more powerful children are capable of doing it. It's like their powers become combined or something." Pansy glanced down at Hermione's stomach. "Guess you don't have a Squib in there."
Putting the glass down, Hermione asked, "How come you haven't told on me? I'm sure Blaise would be very grateful."
"Like I care what that bastard thinks! I hold no sympathy for attempted rapists."
Hermione was relieved to hear that. But … "That doesn't answer my question."
Pansy shrugged and turned back around so she was facing the window. "What would be the point? It's not like you know how to use it or anything, or else you'd already be out of here."
"Know how to use it …" Hermione repeated. "Does that mean there's a trick?" She took a step forward.
"Of course there is," said Pansy. "In every single one of those cases, there was a trigger to set this power off. A certain emotion had to be felt in order for it to be used. Do you have any idea what that emotion could be?"
Hermione took a deep breath. "Rage," she answered without a doubt.
"Yes, rage is part of it," said Pansy, "but you can't just be mad. There is more to it than that."
"And what is that?" asked Hermione, her throat suddenly feeling dry.
Pansy turned around and slowly smiled at her. "You have to feel like your baby is being threatened."
And with that, Pansy lifted her arm and backhanded Hermione clear across the face. The force was so strong, Hermione fell to her knees. She looked up confused. "What are you -"
Pansy hit her again. Hermione fell back and hit her head on the table leg.
"Not going to fight back, Granger?" Pansy grabbed Hermione by the shirt and pulled her to her feet. "Where's that fire in you I used to loathe so much in school? Has this place really made you lose all of your drive?"
Pansy shoved her back so she slammed hard against the wall.
"Come on! Fight me, Mudblood!" She smacked her again.
Hermione clutched her face and turned her eyes to the ferocious witch.
"FIGHT ME!" Pansy repeated, smacking her again. "Or maybe I should just use the Cruciatus Curse on you right now!" She took out her wand and pointed it at Hermione's bloated stomach. "I could care less about that damn baby. One less Mudblood in the world. Then maybe, once it's gone, we can dispose of you as well, and Draco will be free to be with me! He deserves better than you, you filthy-stupid-Mud -"
"Expelliarmus!"
Pansy shot back and crashed into the window. If Goyle had not put shields on it, it would have definitely shattered. Hermione ran after Pansy's wand that had flown out of her hands and pointed it at the other witch.
Pansy slowly stood up from the ground and rubbed at her head. When her eyes focused again, she noticed Hermione standing there with her wand raised. She looked into the other witch's eyes and smirked. "Well, you better bloody make it count."
Hermione's eyes filled with tears, but she quickly sucked them back. It had taken her a moment, but somewhere during all of the slaps, she had caught on to what Pansy was doing. She was helping her escape.
Hermione nodded at her and shouted, "Stupefy!"
Pansy fell back unconscious.
Hermione lowered her wand and whispered, "Thank you, Pansy," before going over to the window and removing all of the shields.
Pansy had given Hermione everything she needed to get out of here. She knew that Apparition and Flooing were out, and that the fastest broom was in the shed, hidden behind the old ones.
With the shields removed, Hermione was finally able to push the window open, making sure to take a good, long whiff of the fresh air. It was magnificent.
Hermione was quickly pulled out of her reverie when the door handle began to rattle. Her heart stopped. Someone was unlocking it. Without a second thought, she jumped out of the window and ran around the side of the house, so she was hidden from view.
She heard someone that sounded like Daphne yell, "Shit!" and then start running.
'Shit' was right. She didn't have much time. Her heart already racing, Hermione took off in a sprint towards the shed. She was going to make it. She was going to get out of here. And she was going to be with Draco. All she had to do was get past the lake Pansy was talking about and then she could Apparate home.
Home.
It was so close, she could taste it. No matter what, tonight Hermione was getting home.
XXX
Draco sat in his office late on a Saturday night, trying to finish the work he was behind on. He had been spending so much time lately with Luna and Rolf, trying to find a way into the Love Chamber without Hermione, that he had been neglecting his other responsibilities.
The three of them had had a breakthrough that day though, so he wouldn't say it wasn't worth it. They had been at the Quartz Library, researching all things Gappelish when Atticus Quartz approached them. He had been watching them for a couple of weeks now and, while he did not know what they were doing, he assumed it had something to do with Hermione.
Noticing their fascination with Gappelish, he showed Draco into one of the back chambers of the library, where a ton of old books and art that were too priceless to be left out in the open were kept for safekeeping. He ended up showing Draco a painting in this chamber. The only known painting of Charidon Gappelish. Draco nearly fainted when he saw it.
After that, Atticus left Draco alone, giving him time to have a chat with the mysterious wizard he seemed so fascinated with.
Gappelish's painting was more than happy to help. He truly was a romantic and, as it turned out, the story, The Love Chamber, wasn't actually about him at all. But it was about someone he knew. A 'friend', as he said.
"Why is it that you made it so only married couples can enter the chamber?" asked Draco after some time with Gappelish.
"I did?" said the painting of the wizard curiously. "That's funny. I could have sworn I made it so their loved ones could enter as well."
Draco nearly had a heart attack after hearing this. So they could have had people helping them the entire time? But when Kingsley had entered once, he was spit right back out, and Draco was pretty sure Hermione loved him. In a teacher, apprentice sort of way, at least. He asked Gappelish about this.
"Well, if it is not someone you both love then, clearly, they are not worthy," he answered.
After explaining everything that had happened to Hermione to the painting, Draco asked, "Is there any way for me to enter without her there? I need to get inside to help her."
"I am afraid, the only way is if you follow another couple inside, and only someone who has been there before. Finding someone new to enter will not work."
Draco sighed. They had actually already thought of that and had had Potter and Potterette try to open the door. They were, apparently, deemed unworthy. While he should have been upset, Draco had actually found great satisfaction in that.
"Is there any way of knowing who might have entered?"
"I believe I have a spell for that somewhere," said Gappelish, heading over to a desk in the background of the painting and searching through it until he came across a scroll. "Ahah!" He walked back to the front of the painting and held it up for Draco to see. "Every person who enters the Love Chamber leaves an imprint on it. Just recite this spell on the door and all will reveal itself."
"Infig -?"
"Not here!" shouted Gappelish, throwing down the scroll. "Do not cast this spell anywhere but on the door. If you do, bad things will happen. You understand?"
Draco nodded. After that, he thanked Gappelish and left.
He had wanted to go straight to the Ministry, but after what had happened with Hermione, Kingsley had taken extra precautions and put up shields so no one could enter or exit it on the weekends, not even him.
The main reason Draco had come to work was to take his mind off of this. He had this new piece of information in the palm of his hand, but couldn't do anything about it until Monday. Every minute Hermione spent away from him was a minute too long.
He took out his pocket watch and looked at it. 'MORTAL PERIL'.
These stupid shields were a waste of time.
Not being able to concentrate, Draco began rummaging through his desk for a bottle of firewhiskey. Unfortunately, he was out. But, luckily, Phillip always had a spare bottle hidden in his office. He got up and headed into the hallway.
In Thinx's new building, Phillip's office was much farther than it used to be. Draco and Caroline had offices right next to each other, and several cubicles were stationed just outside of them for other employees they had hired. Once you passed all of these, you had to walk by the lab where Seth worked, and then through a long corridor on the other side, leading to two large doors. When you opened those up, you were greeted by a desk where Chastity sat, with offices for Phillip and Sophie on either side of it.
There was a door connecting both of their offices on the inside but, unfortunately, it seemed to never get used. Phillip and Sophie just hadn't been the same since they lost the baby, especially Phillip. And, after he found out Sophie had been lying to him for all of those months about seeing one of her attackers, he moved into their guestroom. As far as Draco knew, he had not moved back into their bedroom yet.
As Draco headed down the corridor, very determined to get that firewhiskey, he could not help but stop and stare at the faint light coming out of Seth's lab. Seth wasn't exactly the most social of wizards, but he wasn't so pathetic that he should be here working on a Saturday.
Draco took out his wand and cautiously walked towards the door, putting his ear up against it. He could hear some rustling going on inside. Were they being robbed?
Without a second thought, he threw open the door and pointed his wand at the culprits.
"Don't move!" he shouted.
Two people turned and screamed. Draco's eyes squinted and then bulged when he saw it was Seth and Chastity. On top of a lab table. With half of their clothes off.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Uhh … Draco, I can explain this," said Seth, moving off of the table and searching for his shirt. Chastity followed after him, crouching low so Draco couldn't see her in her bra.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Draco repeated. "That is your best mate's ex-wife!"
"Yes, yes, I know, but -"
"There are no buts!"
"Maybe I should go," said Chastity, now fully-clothed and standing straight.
"You think?" spat Draco.
Chastity walked out of the lab at a hurried pace, making sure to look hard at the ground when she passed him. He slammed the door behind her.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted as soon as she was gone.
"I … I honestly don't know," said Seth. "I'm not even really sure how it first happened but -"
"How long?"
Seth looked at him blankly. "What?"
"How fucking long has this been going on, Seth?"
"Umm … I guess, maybe a little over a month now."
Draco's eyes bulged wider. "How …? Why …? Oh, I don't know. Give me bloody something to explain this!"
He took out his pocket watch and looked it. 'MORTAL PERIL'.
"Well, it's just that … uhh, Chastity and I were good friends in school and I always sort of had a crush on her. But then … well, she used to make fun of me for not having any guy friends, so when I met Phillip I introduced them and I … I guess, for some reason they thought I was trying to fix them up, but I wasn't, and my feelings never really faded. Then that whole Zandicus thing happened and -"
"If you had a crush on her all those years ago then you should have just bloody told Phil before anything happened between him and her! He would have backed off if you had asked him to."
"Yes, I know, but I was nervous and -"
"Well, too fucking bad! You missed your opportunity! Now, end it immediately before I have to call in bloody reinforcements."
Seth turned white. "You're … you're not going to tell Phil -"
"Fuck no! That would crush him!" shouted Draco. "I was talking about Caroline!"
"Merlin, that's worse! She would actually bloody kill me!"
"And you'd deserve it! This is not all right, Seth! End it now," he demanded.
"Yes, yes, I will. I … I've been meaning to. I just … can't quite shake her."
Draco pulled out his pocket watch again and flipped it open.
"Well, you better fucking work on it, because …"
Draco's voice drifted off as he stared down at the golden watch in his hands. His throat went dry as his heart literally stopped beating. He couldn't believe it.
"Draco, what is it?" asked Seth, stepping forward. "Did …" He gulped … "Did Hermione's name disappear?"
Draco shook his head. He squinted his eyes just to make sure he was seeing correctly. There was no mistaking it. Suddenly, his still heart started beating again at a rapid pace.
"Travelling …" he whispered.
"What?" asked Seth, moving closer.
"Travelling …" he repeated. "She's travelling! She's travelling!"
Draco shoved the pocket watch in Seth's face to show him what he was talking about. Seth gasped. He couldn't believe it himself. For the first time, in almost two months, Hermione's name had moved from 'MORTAL PERIL' to 'TRAVELLING'. She was on the move. And they would have to act fast.