As Time Ticks Away

Chapter Thirteen

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The moment her eyes closed she was transported to somewhere different. She was, however, surrounded by familiar faces. She was staring at Death Eaters whom had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. The most memorable face came from none other than Bellatrix Lestrange with her evil grin. She did notice one face missing from the bunch of followers around her; the one who had caused the most pain in her life: Lucius Malfoy.

As this thought reached her head she heard a loud crack from the center of the room. All eyes turned toward the mysterious figure whose cloak covered their face. It was obvious who it was once everyone bowed in the room, including Hermione. She was perplexed as to why she did this.

"Lucius?" Voldemort said with a deep voice, though not overbearing. He looked directly at Hermione. "What is the status of the curse on the mudblood."

"You'll be happier to hear my lord that the curse is in full effect and working wonders." Hermione realized that this voice, Lucius' voice, was coming from her. It was at this moment that she understood that somehow she was observing the situation from Lucius' point of view. She wasn't sure how this was working, but she figured she could question it later. Right now was all about observation and answers.

The cloaked man in the middle of the room lowered his hood, which was a sign for all the Death Eaters to stand upright again. "Excellent. Everything we have been working towards is getting closer. Our time is almost here. We will reign supreme once more, especially with this blessed curse."

All Hermione could do was contemplate the irony of this statement. To her, it was in no way "blessed." It plagued her more than she could bear. But then again, that is what Voldemort wanted.

"Do you think she will tell the blood traitors?" asked a voice from behind Voldemort. Hermione was not able to get a look at who said this.

Immediately, the Dark Lord whipped his head around. "What does it matter?" he answered. "The more she suffers, the more she pulls away from the boy. Without his 'friends' who is Harry Potter? He will be so distracted whether he knows or not, and that is when we will make our move." He had turned back around and Hermione was met with the most menacing smile she had ever seen, even worse than Bellatrix's after a fresh kill.

"What if we hit the Weasley boy with the same curse my Lord?" spoke the body which Hermione was currently inhabiting.

The smile on Voldemort's face grew even more, which Hermione didn't even think was possible. "That is the reason I have called you all here." Hermione's heart dropped as she continued to listen in on the conversation. "The mudblood was just step one. Step two is making every member of the Weasley family feel the same. They deserve nothing less then what we are going to give them. We will make all the blood traitors suffer. Lucius, since you are the only one who has mastered the curse I am trusting you to finish off the traitors." This caused a murmur to erupt from the crowd.

"When are we attacking?" a voice from the mass called.

"Now."

Hermione's eyes shot open as she threw herself off of the couch; ignoring all the pain she felt coursing through her body. She raced into the kitchen where she knew she was bound to find someone. Luckily she found everyone sitting around the dinner table.

"Hermione, dear," Mrs. Weasley began, "we were going to wake you, but we knew you needed some rest. Sit down and have something to eat."

She was practically panting, fear and anxiety consuming her body. "We have to get out of here NOW!" she shouted.

Ron stood up and walked over to his girlfriend. "What's going on Hermione?" He asked as he took a hold of her hand.

Before Hermione had a moment to respond loud cracks were heard outside of the Burrow. Through the windows the hooded figures that surrounded her unknowingly were visible. Leading the charge was none other than Lucius Malfoy, whose wand was pointing directly at the window the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione were all looking through. With one swift motion the entire wall disappeared, leaving everyone exposed to the Death Eaters.

"Fancy meeting you here," the eldest Malfoy said. This caused Ron's grip on Hermione's hand tightened. Molly and Arthur jumped in front of the kids.

"Haven't you caused enough trouble Malfoy," Mr. Weasley shot back.

"Whatever could you mean?" Lucius smiled. "I assume you told them then mudblood. Pity, I was hoping you were going to live a long, happy life."

Ron's hand pulled away from Hermione and grabbed at his wand. He ran in front of his parents, a curse ready on his lips. But before anything escaped his mouth Hermione ran in front of him. Her eyes looked into his, desperately trying to get him to not doing anything she found stupid.

"You'll pay for what you did you stupid git," Ron responded, giving into Hermione's demands of not doing anything dumb.

Bellatrix Lestrange stepped out from the crowd and lowered her hood. "You have no right to even speak to us you ungrateful fool," she said in with a cruel tone. "But don't you worry, you're going to get yours, all of you are." The smile on her face finally made an appearance. "Don't worry mudblood, you won't be the only one feeling the pain after we're through here."

They were vastly outnumbered, but still everyone in the Weasley's Burrow pulled out their wands. Hermione followed in suit trying to figure out a way to not let this happen. She turned away from Ron and looked at the mob of Death Eaters that stood in front of her. As she turned she realized that her breathing was growing heavier. The pain she had been ignoring was finally making its presence known violently as she started to shake.

A smile crept to the face of Lucius Malfoy as he noticed the scene in front of him. "What do we have here?" he asked keeping his eyes sharply tuned onto Hermione.

She began sinking to the ground, trying desperately to keep her composure. However, the pain was just too much for her and she fell to the ground. Ron immediately dropped his stare from the Death Eaters and followed his girlfriend to the ground.

"Hermione, what do you need?" he asked with a worried voice. He knew what the answer was going to be but he wanted to ask anyway.

"Don't worry Weasley," Malfoy said stepping forward and raising his wand. "You're next." With a flick of his wrist, lights sputtered out heading straight for the youngest male of the Weasley household. Luckily, someone else had fired a spell right back to defend Ron. Soon enough, spells were flying everywhere. Chaos erupted.

"Ron, get Hermione out of here," Arthur Weasley instructed his son.

Without hesitation, Ron lifted the small girl into his arms and ran behind his family. He needed to find a safe spot to hide until his family was safe or at least hide Hermione so he could go back and help.

"What are you doing?" Hermione practically shouted from Ron's arms. "We have to get everyone out of there."

"Your safety comes first Hermione."

She jumped out of his arms, barely landing on her feet, and started running in the direction they had come from. "Ron you don't understand! They're trying to do the same thing to your family that they did to me!" She was sprinting now. The pain was insignificant. What was important was the safety of her second family, of her best friends.

The Death Eaters had outnumbered the Weasley's and Harry, but there were now a lot less, probably because there were so many of them that they were easy targets. Spells were flying everywhere. She needed to find Malfoy and not let him cast the curse on anyone. Thanks to her dream, or whatever it was, she knew what the catch was. She was the only one who could prevent it from happening.

Luckily, Hermione spotted Malfoy on the other side of the field. She did notice that he wasn't alone. Ginny was there, dueling with him. Behind her crept a Death Eater, ready to ambush her. Once more Hermione sprinted, avoiding curses and spells that were soaring through the air.

The Death Eater behind Ginny shot a spell at her back causing her to fall to the ground. After his job was done he went back to the battlefield which was now on the other side of the field. Malfoy inched his way closer to the sole daughter of the red-headed family.

"I don't think I could have planned this any better than it has turned out," he said as he pointed his wand at the witch. "Eternus Nex!" he shouted. Yet to his surprise the curse was stopped by an invisible shield. The smile on his face disappeared.

Hermione lowered her wand and ran to Ginny's side. "Are you okay?" she asked the young girl whom she considered her sister. Ginny simply nodded, still reeling from the surprise attack.

"You stupid mudblood! I should have finished you when I had the chance!"

Hermione stood back up and stepped in front of Ginny. "Then what are you waiting for?" she asked bravely. Lucius raised his wand once more and Hermione did the same, both of them eager for the other to make the first move.

"Well this is a familiar scene," Lucius stated, referring to their earlier encounter when Hermione was searching for answers. "And if I recall correctly I know exactly how it ends."

Just then Hermione was met with an overwhelming sensation that encompassed her whole body. She fell to the ground almost instantly. This attack was worse than anything she had felt before.

Malfoy walked over to Hermione and circled her convulsing body. "Why kill you when I can make you suffer this much? I have total control over you mudblood. I own you," he paused and a smile crept back onto his face. "And believe me when I say this isn't going to be the worst pain you will ever feel. It's not even close."

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