"Bloody hell…she loves him!" Ron exclaimed as he and Harry took seats in the Common Room, still feeling too restless to go upstairs to sleep. Ron had been muttering about Hermione and Malfoy all the way to Gryffindor Tower and Harry and tried to keep quiet and just let him rant but now he figured it was time to interject.
"She didn't say that" he pointed out, looking over at the dying fire and suddenly feeling too exhausted to even attempt to light it again. The two of them slipped into chairs across from each other and Ron rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but come on Harry…she wanted to go and save him for You Know Who! He tried to kill her but she still didn't want him to die!"
"She would do the same for you" Harry pointed out, shrugging. "You know she would"
"But that's different isn't it? That's friend love; she would do that for anybody. And besides, I don't care about her like that!" Harry rolled his eyes but refrained from saying anything. Instead his eyes turned back to the fire and he watched it go down, down until it was dead.
"Do you think we should…?" he let the unfinished question hang in the air, knowing that Ron would know what he meant. The two of them were probably thinking the same thing. They had deserted Hermione over her choice of friends and relationship. And now if they didn't help her maybe she would desert them. They couldn't loose her again. They just had to let her be happy.
"Maybe" Ron sighed, knowing he would regret his words later. "But not tonight, I can't handle anything more tonight and neither can Hermione."
"I know" Harry nodded and finally they hauled themselves up to bed, falling into sleep immediately. Harry found that his sleep was dreamless, much to his relief.
"Good morning, Miss. Granger!" Madam Pomfrey's voice boomed into Hermione's dreams. She had been dreaming of her and Draco. It hadn't really been a solid dream, more flashes than anything else. But it had been happy and she was in no hurry to wake up from it. She groaned, rolling over and hoping the woman would just go away.
"Miss. Granger…you have visitors" Madam Pomfrey tried again and Hermione's eyes flashed open and she sat up.
"I'm awake" she said and at the doorway she saw Harry and Ron. They were looking pained and she wondered what she had missed. They entered the room and Madam Pomfrey told them they had half an hour. They simply nodded and waited silently for her to leave.
When she was gone and they were all alone they turned to Hermione. "We've decided we're going to help you. We'll go and we'll help Malfoy if that's really what you want"
Face breaking into a big smile, Hermione jumped out of bed and ran to hug the two of them. It felt like this is how it should have been when she and Draco first got together. It was so great to know that her friends would help and be supportive. Except…
"But he's probably dead!" she realized, trying to keep her voice down so Madam Pomfrey couldn't hear her. "We'll be too late. It's been hours!"
"We thought about that" Ron told her, smiling at her panic stricken face. "But it really hasn't been all that long and we figure well, You Know Who might have a whole lecture prepared and then maybe he'll like…play with Malfoy a bit"
Hermione gave him a confused look.
"No, not like…well, I mean…he might go for the torture for a little while. He did that to Harry last year, didn't he? We don't really know how You Know Who thinks. We might have a chance"
"We also thought that he might be waiting to see if you turn up…" Harry said quietly. "You know, because he'll realize that you're going to want to help Malfoy. Maybe he wants to kill you himself"
"Don't tell her that!" Ron punched Harry on the arm and turned to Hermione. "That's not going to happen. We're just saying that there might be a possibility. If you're happy with a jerk like Malfoy and you want to help him then we're going to be optimistic for you"
Hermione flung her arms around him once again and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He blushed scarlet and looked down at the floor.
Then before either of the boys could stop her Hermione had run for the door and she was through it long before Madam Pomfrey noticed that the room was empty. Harry and Ron followed her and they all began running out towards the Entrance Courtyard.
"Okay, now…" Harry began.
"Harry? Ron? Hermione?" Ginny Weasley was walking towards them. Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom were trailing behind. As curious as he was to know how this particular group had ended up together, Harry didn't have time.
"I thought you weren't talking to Hermione, Harry…" Luna said, vague curiosity evident in her tone.
"What are you doing?" Neville asked, looking at the three of them. They had been huddled together in a corner of the Entrance Courtyard and must have been looking suspicious.
"No time, Neville" Harry told him. "We've got something to do'
"What is it?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms. "Maybe we can help. Does it involve bringing down Umbridge?"
"No, nothing like that" Harry rolled his eyes, they were never going to take them seriously if he told them what they were actually about to do. "We're just…Malfoy's in trouble"
"Draco Malfoy you mean?" Luna asked, everybody ignored her.
"Hermione wants to help him and we decided that it's about time we showed some support so…here we are."
"But there's not enough time to explain the rest" Hermione said, frantically. "We have to go. We don't even know where he is or how we're going to get there"
"Malfoy Manor!" another figure was running towards them. They all turned to look and saw Cordelia Gold, Scarlett and Amber-Rose's friend who had been Cedric Diggory's girlfriend once upon a time. "I just got a letter from my mother. Apparently Draco's father contacted her and they're at Malfoy Manor. I don't know when the letter was written but…I assume you want to help him Hermione"
"You're timing is rather perfect you know" Luna piped up.
"Thank you!" Hermione gave Cordelia a hug which rather surprised everybody. Then she turned back to the group which Cordelia joined without asking if she was welcome. "But we still don't know how to get there"
"We fly of course!" Luna said as if it was the obvious solution. Everybody looked at her at last but they were looks of irritation.
"We can't fly!" Harry snapped. "We only have one broom and besides, we don't need everybody to come. This is just Ron, Hermione and I…you're not coming"
"Well, that's rather rude" Luna commented, still smiling serenely. "And I didn't mean on broomsticks. What about the Thestrals?"
And with a bit of arguing and confusion it became clear the Thestrals were the best option. The group travelled down to the Forbidden Forest trying their best not to get seen and stopped. They managed to find the Thestrals and Harry began helping Ron and Hermione to mount them. More problems broke out when the other four began mounting.
"Excuse me? I thought we'd decided it was just Hermione, Ron and me" Harry told them snappishly. Cordelia turned and gave him a withering look.
"Draco's my friend; I care about him ten times more than you do which isn't hard. Besides, this isn't your rescue mission. You have no say on who goes and who stays. Everybody wants to help, you need all the help you can get so just shut up and stop wasting time"
Harry was stunned into silence but Hermione agreed.
"I really don't mind Harry…actually I want them coming. It'll mean we have a better chance." Cordelia nodded along with Hermione and turned away. "Fine" Harry muttered and they set off.
"I know a window we can get in by" Cordelia said as they stood in front of the Malfoy's Manor. It was huge, Harry and never seen anything quite like it. Luna was simply staring at the Thestral she had set loose. It was still standing beside her.
Hermione however was listening intently to any advice Cordelia had and as she moved around to the back of the mansion Hermione followed close behind. Everybody stared as Cordelia began climbing expertly up the drainage towards the second floor window until she snapped at them to follow her. Hermione did so immediately and the rest slowly followed.
When they reached the ground inside the house they found themselves in a bedroom. It was grand with hangs over the bed and Slytherin colours. Every corner was expertly cleaned, undoubtedly by a House Elf and there was no doubt in anybody's mind that it was Draco's bedroom. Cordelia took the lead once again as she actually knew the house and led them out onto the landing.
"We might want to move quietly…especially if Voldermort's here" she hissed and everybody nodded in agreement.
They climbed down the staircase and were surprised to find that everything was silent. They continued to move cautiously but no sound greeted them. Then they reached the door to the Living Room and suddenly…
"CORDELIA? HERMIONE?" Scarlett's astonished squeals told them that two people at least were in the house. Scarlett jumped up and rushed towards them, blocking their view on the room. She didn't even act surprised to see the Gryffindors. Although nobody really got a chance to see how she was acting for she was moving fast and her face was hidden behind several cuts and bruises. "You can't go in there, just don't go in there." Her voice cracked and she pushed them out of the room.
"Why not?" Hermione asked, suddenly getting a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. Scarlett didn't respond, but the look she sent towards Cordelia was enough to confirm Hermione's fears.
"No!" Hermione exclaimed and her voice was loud enough to bring Amber-Rose walking slowly into the room. She looked like a ghost, completely white and drifting as if she was unsure of where she was going. Now it felt as if Harry, Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny had completely disappeared from the room. The grief was shared between the four Slytherin girls.
Biting her lip, Scarlett nodded her head and jumped to stop Hermione from running right into the room. She was too slow and the rest of the group slowly followed Hermione's progress towards the middle of the Living Room.
There it was…there he was. The room was completely empty otherwise. Now that Hermione thought about it, there were cuts and bruises on Scarlett and Amber-Rose's faces also. But it was nothing like this. Apart from being obviously hurt Draco was laying absolutely still, no sign of life in his body at all.
It was at that moment that everything came crashing down. Hermione had been hanging on by a thread. First she had discovered the prophecy, then Draco had attempted to kill her and now here he was, completely still. The tears came too fast for her to blink them back and she sank to the ground beside him.
Amber-Rose and Scarlett knelt beside her and Cordelia just stood there, frozen with shock. The Gryffindors and Luna all suddenly felt very out of place, like they shouldn't be intruding on this. Ron and Harry shared a 'should we feel bad that we don't care that much?' kind of look.
It was a few minutes before Hermione could speak again. The minute she felt the tears subside she jumped to her feet and looked around, her eyes falling on Amber-Rose and Scarlett first. She had some issues to discuss with them.
"You two were helping him!" she screamed, fists clenched and face livid. "Why would you-"
"Because we didn't want this to happen!" Amber-Rose screamed back, shaking her head in disbelief. "Honestly, are you really that stupid? This happened because he didn't kill you, because your stupid friends jumped in to save you. You could have died and that would have saved his life…now how do you feel?"
"I…" Hermione was silenced and she truly couldn't figure out what to say. She searched her mind for something else to yell about, it was better than hurt. "But…" however, she couldn't seem to find anything. So instead she asked. "Where are his parents?"
"They're…not here" Scarlett muttered. "He took them. I think he had some issues to…erm…discuss with them. I'm sure they'll be…okay"
"Hermione…" Harry finally spoke, taking her arm and guiding her out of the room. It probably wasn't helping anyone sharing a room with a dead body. "Maybe we should go, get back to school" he suggested quietly.
"Scarlett! Amber-Rose!" a woman appeared a little way away from them. She was rushing forwards towards the two battered girls standing in the doorway of the Living Room. She was short, only a little taller than Scarlett with shoulder length blonde, wavy hair. It was instantly obvious that she was Scarlett's mother. "And…everybody else?" she looked around, confused by the company.
Nobody responded to her. Instead Scarlett just rushed forwards and threw her arms around her.
"Hermione?" Harry prompted once again. "Back to school?"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Scarlett's mother shook her head, Scarlett still in her arms. "I'm taking Amber-Rose and Scarlett back to our house. You're all welcome to come, I can contact Professor Dumbledore…and Professor Umbridge for good measure"
Scarlett's turned her face so it wasn't hidden in her mother's chest and nodded. "Yes, come!" she said, sounding as enthusiastic as she could. "All of you…" she added.
"Right then, it's settled" Scarlett's mother seemed to be trying not to mention the devastation that had just occurred. Draco had been like a son to her, one her husband had actually been proud of unlike their previously deceased son.
Too emotionally exhausted to argue, the Gryffindors, Luna and Cordelia all nodded in agreement and followed Scarlett and her mother back towards the door. The entire group was silent, the emotional strain from what had just happening had affected them all in one way or another and nobody knew quite what to say.