A/N: I still don't own :( Apparently, I'd need a few hundred billion dollars before I can afford to purchase the rights to HP. Draco comes only as part of the package, unfortunately.

Special thanks to SilverRiv, for being an amazing beta! Thanks to everyone who's stayed with me on this journey! You guys are the best!

And with no further ado, I give you: chapter 7...

Chapter 7:

The next two days passed way too slowly for Hermione's liking.

It was as though time was intentionally slowing down, with Halloween Night hanging over her head like a guillotine, and memories of Malfoy smothering her dreams.

She knew it was foolish to dwell on it – they'd both done what needed to be done. She had no regrets. But somehow, she couldn't help but wish that the circumstances had been different. While she could keep him out of her conscious thoughts, he still haunted her dreams.

He was a skillful and thoughtful lover – there was no denying that. He had ensured she felt minimal pain from the whole exercise, and worked to bring her pleasure. She couldn't help but wonder why he'd bothered.

But more pressing than the intrigue that was Draco Malfoy, was the fact that her days were, literally, numbered. She wasn't foolish enough to expect she'd survive past Halloween night, when the Death Eaters realized that their Potion had failed.

However, accepting that her death was inevitable didn't mean she was necessarily happy about it.

She moped around her Cell, trying her best to ignore her own thoughts which were often along the lines of 'How many hours do I have left now?' or 'I wonder how many more breaths I can take before I have to die?'

She realized how Harry must have felt after watching Snape's memories, and learning the role he was expected to play in ending the war.

Harry survived in the end, a hopeful voice said in a corner of her brain.

The situation was completely different, her inner pessimist retorted.

They argued in circles in her head until she was certain she was going mad.

Finally, it was Halloween.

Icarus Zabini had arrived at her cell at two hours to midnight, wearing what she assumed were his finest robes, and his nastiest smirk.

After zigzagging through corridors until she lost all sense of direction, she was escorted into what appeared to be a luxurious bathroom and left there with a cold command to 'Bathe.'

After scrubbing every inch of her skin as thoroughly as possible, she rose from the bathtub twenty minutes later, only to find that her clothes were missing. Hermione glanced around the bathroom once more, but there was no sign of them.

Resigned, she stepped out of the room in just a bathrobe, finding herself in what appeared to be an enormous dressing room.

Narcissa Malfoy was waiting for her next to a large mirror at the opposite end of the room.

The Malfoy matriarch said very little, and seemed unusually jumpy. But in ten minutes, the witch was done with her hair and make-up.

As the older woman slipped a lovely set of green dress robes over her head carefully, Hermione felt something inside the sleeve of her robe. It felt thin, long and cylindrical, like a stick or a – a wand?

Hermione's eyes shot to the older Witch's face, her gaze questioning. 'Aim for the Dark Mark,' Narcissa whispered, leaning close under the pretext of adjusting the sleeve of her robe. 'The incantation is 'Morsmordre Finite Totalum.''

Well, things just got a little more interesting, Hermione thought, bracing herself as she was led out of the Manor and into the starry night.

There were exactly thirty minutes left to midnight, and Hermione Granger was witnessing the most unusual sight.

A neon-blue Potion bubbled in the Cauldron as Icarus Zabini, assisted by Quincey Nott, worked over it in silence. So far, Hermione had watched as they threw in carefully measured quantities of what appeared to be Armadillo Bile, Pickled Toad Brains, Flobberworm Sap, Powdered Unicorn Horn, and a Quartered Bezoar.

They were still on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. The Manor itself loomed eerily in the background. It was the perfect setting for Halloween. Despite the crowd, the only sounds to be heard were the bubbling contents of the cauldron, and the howling of the wind.

Other than the ones in Azkaban, all the surviving Death Eaters seemed to be present, in their Black Hooded Robes and Silver Masks, standing in a rough semicircle around the cauldron.

A live Unicorn and a Swedish Shortsnout were tethered with strong ropes and chains a few feet away from her.

Hermione's eyes widened in horror. She'd been so concerned about her own predicament that she'd completely forgotten about the other 'ingredients.' While the Unicorn was merely picketed to a post, the Dragon was muzzled and appeared to have been drugged into submission. It snorted loudly, as if sensing her perturbed gaze, but its eyes remained closed.

The activist in Hermione was alarmed at the plight of the poor beasts, but she knew there was nothing she could do for them. She herself was unrestrained only because the Death Eaters knew that she was outnumbered and Wandless. The Anti-Disapparation Wards would prevent her from escaping easily enough. In addition, Alecto Carrow stood beside her, glaring down at her with a menacing scowl. Obviously my babysitter for the evening, she thought glumly.

The wand hidden in her sleeve was the only comfort she had, but she knew she'd have to wait for the right moment to use-one wrong move and she was dead, with a twenty-five wands against hers.

A full moon shone overhead giving enough light for Hermione to see the hooded Death Eaters around her. Hermione let her gaze travel over their heads, trying to identify them. The hoods, however, severely impeded her efforts, although she was certain she recognized Rabastan Lestrange – he was leering at her from beneath his hood.

She was distracted from her scrutiny when gasps exploded among the Death Eaters. The liquid in the Cauldron began to bubble, glowing brightly and painting the clearing in blinding red light.

Nott hurried to the Unicorn, pulling it towards the cauldron, ignoring all its rearing and kicking. When it was less than a foot away, Zabini raised his wand, magically forcing the beautiful creature to raise its foreleg to hover above the mouth of the cauldron, ignoring its neighed protests.

Hermione watched in horrified fascination as Zabini made a shallow slice across the flesh of the extended limb with an ornate silver dagger, letting its shiny blood pour directly into the bubbling liquid below. As the Potion took on a silvery sheen, the spell holding it in place was released and the terrified Unicorn instantly bolted for the thick treeline at the edge of the clearing. The Death Eaters barely spared it a glance, their eyes glued to Zabini.

The Dragon was next, but it barely put up a fight as its forelimb, too, was stretched out over the cauldron. Its deep purple blood joined the mix, adding a pinkish tinge to the silvery red of the Potion.

Drugged out of its mind, the Dragon promptly collapsed in an undignified heap beside the cauldron, large black eyes drooping shut as blood continued to pour from its wounded limb.

Hermione, however, had no time to sympathize as she was up next – Carrow grabbed her roughly, pulling her over to the cauldron. She struggled against her vice-like hold futilely, and was roughly shoved towards Zabini for her efforts.

Before she could steady herself, Nott had grabbed her arm in an iron grasp, holding it over the bubbling liquid. She felt the heat from the Potion against her arm, sweat beading on her brow as she fought to escape the brawny wizard, even as Zabini raised his dagger over the palm of her hand.

'The final ingredient,' he announced to the gathered Death Eaters, his lips twisting triumphantly.

Stings of pain shot up her arm as her cut the skin of her palm in a single, neat stroke. Her blood flowed down her arm and she cried out in frustration as the first drop of it met the liquid below.

A blinding white light exploded from the Potion, painting the night in liquid silver. Zabini's shocked eyes met hers, before his surprise made way for comprehension.

'No!' He turned on Hermione with furious eyes, backhanding her hard across the face. 'What have you done, you filthy Mudblood WHORE?' He roared.

She flew back under the force of his blow, landing on the grass as he advanced, radiating murderous rage. She could taste blood in her mouth from where her lip had split from the force of his blow.

Still, Hermione glared up at him, refusing to flinch. 'What had to be done,' she replied, twisting her lips into a defiant smirk, while simultaneously pulling out the wand hidden in her sleeve in one neat move.

It was smooth and familiar in her hand, and her Magic surged through it and back, as if in greeting. It was her first wand, the one she'd lost when she'd been captured by Snatchers before the Battle of Hogwarts. Not Bella's, which she'd been using as a substitute ever since. It was her wand. Unfortunately, she didn't have the luxury of time to properly celebrate.

She aimed at the advancing wizard's arm, ignoring the furious glare he was levelling at her. 'Morsmordre Finite Totalum!' she yelled, praying it worked.

Her wand emitted a jet of yellow light that hit the Dark Mark right in the middle, making it glow an acidic poison green. Zabini dropped to his knees, his own wand forgotten as he screamed in pain. He clutched at his left forearm, where his Mark was now bubbling and hissing with greenish-black fluid.

Hermione didn't stand around to watch. She may be going down, but she'd certainly take as many of them with her as possible. Scrambling to her feet, she spun around to face the rest of the Death Eaters, wand at the ready.

The sight that greeted her, however, was not what she'd expected. Nearly every Death Eater in the clearing was writhing, much like Zabini. Groans and screams of pain filled the clearing.

She couldn't stand by and watch this anymore. Sighing, she reigned in her nerves and reached deep into her magical core before muttering under her breath, 'Stupefy!'

Battle Magic coursed through her, before leaving the tip of her wand in one huge ripple of energy. The grass under her feet was charred black, and all the hooded figures were Stunned instantly.

Hermione collapsed with them, drained by the sheer amount of Power she had just depleted on a single spell. She'd effectively incapacitated them to prevent escape, and numbed their pain from the burning Mark. Despite the fatigue, however, she felt a sense of contentment. She may die of exhaustion, but she would be taking every single Death Eater down in the process.

'Granger!' Warm arms wrapped around her, lifting her gently, bridal style. Hermione struggled to see his face through the dark spots in her eyes. The voice was familiar, and something stirred within her at the pain she could sense in it. Malfoy, her brain supplied, but she was too far gone to comprehend what a Malfoy was.

'Granger, look at me, dammit! Open your eyes!' the voice insisted, sounding more desperate now. She struggled to do as it said, but her muscles refused, her body too exhausted to so much as twitch an eyelid. It was a miracle she was still conscious.

'Hermione? Oh, Merlin. Tribuo Potestatem!' She felt a jolt to her chest as trickles of Power flowed into her body, reviving the fading sparks of her magical core, even as she felt it flickered feebly, threatening to die.

'Expecto Patronum!' The voice shouted. There was a flare of silvery light so bright that it filtered through her closed eyelids, before dissolving back to black nothingness.

Pops of Apparition sounded in the clearing all around her, and she heard several familiar but angry voices before she let herself drift into unconsciousness. Her wand slipping from her fingers was the last thing she remembered.

A/N: Hello peeps! So? What do you think? Any guesses on what "Tribuo Potestatem" does? Let me know :P And no cheating with Google Translate, either!

As always thanks to everyone who came on this journey with me so far! Yes, I'm talking about you, SilverRiv, garbleturkey, kmuscutt23, chemical flashes, marianna79, KittyKatSilvana, Montara, imadoodlenoodle, ADragons-LionHeart, JusMeMarissa, anja quickert 9, theunstable1, frogtastic, sweets1111, Beth, PraiseGod, Sadler26, Lilhipkaligurl, lynnchan111, midnight-rxse, sln1987, BooBooKittyluv, AngeloftheAurora, Dramionelover26, keith alexe, rinmagic2, snlemonpie, LumosLight06, Mika Dain, mumma yoda, MorteDiem, voldys eighth horcrux, mallori johnson 7, mangoscabs,KeiraJ13, MissMaryLiz, asscheeks26, nikkigerald, vampirequeengoddess, Karmidee, Lupine Princess, Schizo Zombie Kitten, enchanted16, kvance, poiuytrewqasdfghjklmnbvcxz, Carinalove67, Tsuki916,gingernightowl, Esthela89, Madelun, agj-girl, HPotter25, Montyyx, PADfootBalck, SweetSage, alulateu, annie26100, hockey1, madgordon18, xomagooxo, Ms Waldo, DarkWitch121, c flor s 75, Kyrie Twilight, Sakura022496, Seraphina25, ahoyitsalyson, cw1718, latinadecorazon, 1998Ruby1998, JaleDM, keishasalder, mystuffff, HRB91, Instantstargirl, Rahena, Tommi1, bellatrixlestrangest, chinkie,greyc, jeevanbala23, lazylyz, BunnyLover66, GingersnapOO26, palephoenix, CrazyGal 7, J 44, Karkontrolyn, Sasha2121, NiceButNaughtyAngel, Tempestati, doddle, FgHatton, Padfoot's-Veela,alexagranger, merajaileena, ndavis77, smallwren, sparkyparky2, and MusicalCatharsis.

That makes 100 people! Thank you all so much for your love and support!

~craaazyaboutMalfoy