Chapter 13
"Well, well Draco, I see you haven't failed me yet. You have managed to track down Potter, as well as his Blood-traitor and mudblood pets," he said in a hissing, snakelike tone. "I do believe there is hope for you yet."
Draco had placed his mask on the moment the Death Eaters appeared. The last thing he wanted was for Voldemort to know that Draco had been compromised. In Voldemort's eyes, if Draco had been found out, then it would risk his chances of being able to perform his task. And if that were to happen, then he would be proved to be worthless and both him and his mother would be killed on the spot.
Draco bowed, and in his smoothest voice he replied, "Of course my Lord, I would never dream of letting you down."
He had his wand drawn out as he fell in line with his father, while Voldemort stood in front of his group of Death Eaters.
"Look around you, my fellow worthy ones. Look at the filth that has polluted our precious world. We deserve to live as Kings, ruling this world with our powers. However those of lesser value have begun to climb their way up our ancient roots. They have begun to dirty our world with their speeches of equality," Voldemort said, spitting out the last word, while glaring at Potter. "My friends, once a branch of an ancient tree has become diseased, we must cut it off, no? If not the rest of the tree will soon after die. We hide away from the muggle scum in fear, but might I ask you why? Why do we need to hide away from trash? If we wanted to, we could put them in their place."
Throughout the speech, Draco kept his eye on the Order. He knew there was no way they would simply stand their idly while Voldemort was trashing them and what they stood for. He watched them whisper amongst themselves, while a couple sent off a few patronouses wordlessly.
'Good,' he thought. At least they were getting a couple more reinforcements in the meantime. He watched as before him, several more Aurors and members of the Order of Phoenix apparated right before him, much to the chagrin of Voldemort.
"Too afraid to face me on your own, Potter? Do you really need all these people to die for you? What would your mudblood mother say, if she knew how cowardly you are being. She died to protect you, as countless others surely will. Is your life worth so much that you would risk the lives of the people you deem to be your friends?" Voldemort spat out at the Boy Who Lived.
"Oh I don't need them to protect me," Harry said coolly as he stepped up in front of the Light side, while ignoring their warnings for him to stay put. "They are here to stand by me, and help me defeat you. Because that's what friends do," Harry said, putting an extra emphasis on the 'friends' part. "But it is not as if you would know that now is it Tom? You have never loved anyone in your life, nor had the wondrous pleasure of having someone to confide in.
Tonks fired off the first spell, which signaled the beginning of the fight. The Light faced the Dark, while Draco stood by. He wasn't quite sure what to do. He couldn't attack any Aurors/Order members, but if he didn't then he would blow his cover.
"Draco, come join me," Voldemort said, beckoning to the boy. Draco stood beside the snake like man, if you could call him that much. In his best attempt, he glared at the Golden Trio in front of him.
"You say the word as it is something desirable Potter. But you mistake its meaning. Love is nothing more than a weakness. It hinders your emotions and your capability. Once you put it aside, you will be so much more powerful. I give you one last chance Potter. I have offered this to you before, and I hardly ever re-offer such chances. Join me Potter, and we can rule this world together," Voldemort said to the boy.
Draco almost choked. Voldemort would rather murder the boy in his sleep than offer such a chance. Thankfully he knew Harry would never in a million years accept such a deal.
Harry laughed in spite. "I should join you, Tom? And why would I do that? You murdered my mother and father, and are the reason that my godfather died. You are the last person I would ever wish to join up with Riddle."
Voldemort was enraged. "You dare call me by my filthy muggle father's name, Potter?"
For the first time since Voldemort had arrived, Hermione spoke out. "Oh grow up Tom. You are like every other kid who grew up without a father. He abandoned you, and you are set on hating him for that. I bet if he were a pureblood, you would still find a reason to hate him. So get over your stupid abandonment issues and stop murdering all of these poor souls who have done nothing to you," She said glaring at the man.
Weasel had turned to gawk at her, as Potter looked at her wonderstruck. Not that he blamed them. He wanted to start a round of applause, however that would give him away, so he ceased the idea from his mind.
"You dare not only to address me, but to speak out against me you filthy mudblood? I should show you your place!" he glowered at Hermione.
"You won't lay a single finger on her Riddle," A voice called out from behind them all. Turning, Draco saw his Headmaster. His hair was flying behind him, and his eyes were full of rage at the thought of one of his students being harmed. "
"Ah, Dumbledore I was wondering where you were. It's nice of you to finally join us," Voldemort said, embracing his foe with his words, as if he were an old friend.
"I do wish it were under nicer pretences, I will not lie," Dumbledore said humourlessly. "Leave now Tom," he said as he looked around at the destroyed market place. "You have caused more than enough damage for one day."
"You dare tell me to leave?" Voldemort looked furious. He began sending hexes at the Wizard. Dumbledore blocked them easily as he sent of protections spells. Draco ducked out of the way, as Dumbledore pushed the trio away from him. He shot a few measly curses at no one in particular as he watched the three Gryffindors fight some of the Death Eaters that he had known his entire life.
"Be useful boy!" Bellatrix hissed at him, as she forced another Auror on his knees. He winced. He knew that the Auror would probably need to be rushed to St. Mungos, for his aunt was often ruthless on the battlefield.
Draco blended in to an area where the fighting was blurry. There he could hex the Death Eaters, without anyone suspecting that it was he who cast the curses. He knocked over Yaxley, Avery and Mulciber with a single wave of his wand.
The fighting was intensifying. He had no idea which side would walk away with more limbs intact. He desperately hoped it would be the Order, despite the fact that his family was fighting on the other side. It was odd, to not be wishing for his family's safety. Maybe it was due to the fact that he never had that picture perfect childhood filled with lots of love, hugs, and happy memories. However that didn't bother him. If it weren't for the fact that Voldemort had his mother's life in his grasp, Draco would have long left them behind.
Draco continued to fight. If not for his own childhood, then for the one of those children ahead of him, who still had their entire lives to live.
Hermione watched in horror at the scene in front of her. She never dreamed that this would turn into a confrontation between Voldemort and Dumbledore. She knew that this fight was also between Harry, but the horcruxes were nowhere near all destroyed.
Yes, that's right. Harry had told her about the horcruxes. She had never doubted that the boy would keep such a secret from her and Ron. Once she heard about them, she did everything in her power to research them. However, much to her dismay, she could not find a single thing in the library at Hogwarts about them. Hogwarts currently had the largest library in all of Britain, so for them not to have a book on a particular subject was extremely rare. She supposed it was to prevent any future students to create such monstrous objects after Voldemort had done so.
She looked around the alley. She remembered that when she was eleven years old, she had made her way down the streets with her parents. Her childhood had been rough; she was always so different from all the other kids at her school, and they never ceased to stop mocking her for it. So one day, she turned to books. Her parents had always read to her as a young child; it was a natural escape from the world she lived in. But once she had learned that she was a witch, her life had been forever changed. Now, she looked down the same alley six years later, and felt sadness.
Stores that she had loved to explore had been burnt down, while others, which she supposed were owned by purebloods, were flourishing before her, like a lone tree in a completely destroyed forest. How could anyone destroy somewhere that had so much magic just for the sake of it? It baffled her to now that someone could be capable of such a thing. The street had now turned into one huge dueling arena, with the Order and the Death Eaters firing spells back and forth. She and Ron had been pushed away from Dumbledore's fight with Voldemort, so they had taken to cursing other Death Eaters. Throughout the entire thing, she kept a mental eye on which hooded figure she knew to be Draco. She felt the urge to protect him. She supposed it was because in his mask, the Order would not know which one he was, and could accidently curse him beyond repair.
She was currently fighting a Death Eater that she wasn't able to identify. Back in Dumbledore's office when they were going over the details of how to proceed, Dumbledore had told her to send any Death Eaters they had knocked unconscious to a secret room in the Order's. There they would question the Death Eater for any further details that they could provide them with. She couldn't say that she was fond of the idea; however she knew that it was necessary. They were in the middle of a war, and she could be certain that anything they did would be no here near as what would happen if someone on her side were to be captured.
As she knocked him unconscious, she placed a binding spell on him, before sending him off to the specified location. Turning around, she tried to make out what was happening, however she could not make out heads or tails of the situation. All she saw was utter chaos that ensued. She had no idea if a side was wining, if not any. She saw Ron struggling with a Death Eater, so she cursed him. Ron looked up and smiled at her.
"Thanks 'Mione," he screamed out to her. A few months ago, that would have melted her heart. Now however, it did nothing for her. She supposed it was because she had gotten over him; seeing Ron with Lavender probably would hurt her, but now she just felt happy for him.
As she was about to respond with a 'no problem' she saw Ron's face whiten. She turned around, only to drop quickly to the ground as he body began to waver in pain. She felt like she was on fire. She needed to pain to end. Oh Merlin, just let her die; the pain was so bad it felt like it could kill her. She clenched her eyes together begging for the pain to end, as she heard a haunting laugh above her body. The last thing she remembered was a voice shouting out in anguish, asking her to hold on. She lost track of her surroundings as she cried out once more in pain before she was engulfed by darkness.
Before Hermione opened her eyes, she heard three male, adolescence voices talking. She tried to open her eyes, however they stayed shut. Where ever she was, she was still in a half unconscious state of mind.
"She took quite a large dose of the spell," one voice said worriedly. "What if she turns out like Neville's parents? That would be awful. I don't think we could manage a day without Hermione."
"The Cruciatus curse does happen to be one of my Aunt's specialities," a second voice said bitterly. Was that Draco? She was pretty sure it was, but not completely sure. Where was she? She thought back to her last conscious memory. She was fighting in Diagon Alley. She had just tackled a Death Eater, once she began to feel pain. She supposed that was an effect of the curse that had been placed upon her.
The battle! What had happened? Had everyone gotten out alright? Was anyone injured? With these thoughts flowing through her mind, she shot straight up, fully conscious, before wincing. Okay, so maybe attempting to sit up after being under Cruciatus was not the brightest idea.
"Easy there," Ron said softy. The boys, Harry, Ron, and Draco, looked immensely relieved to see her awake.
"Thank Merlin's baggy robes, you're awake," Draco said. He had a relieved, yet a pained expression on his face. He must have been internally blaming himself for her attack. She reached out and took his hand in his.
"Hey, I'm fine," she said softly. She faced the other two before repeating, "I'm fine." They did not look completely convinced at her statement. She sighed, knowing how hard it could be to convince them.
"I told you that you shouldn't go," Draco said angrily. "What if she killed you, Hermione? Then what would I have done? It would have all been my fault if you died!"
She squeezed his hand tightly. Ron and Harry looked slightly startled at his outburst. She couldn't say she blamed them. She had no idea when he had begun to care for her. She knew that he didn't hate her, and that recently the two of them had their moments, but it was never anything like this.
"Draco, I'm fine. She didn't kill me. She could have tried, but you mustn't blame yourself. If you remember, you threw quite a fit once you found out I wanted to go. All that needs to happen is that I need to recover. After that, I'll be as good as new," she said soothingly.
Her words seemed to settle him down a bit. He slumped down in his chair, but did not pull his hand away from hers. Instead, he covered his other palm over her hand, as if to protect it.
"What happened after I blacked out?" Hermione asked. She wanted to know, and the boys didn't look as if they were about to mention it any time soon.
"None of that matters at the moment 'Mione. We can talk about all of that later," Harry said in a soothing voice that she knew all too well.
Her eyes narrowed. There was something they didn't want her to know. By now, she knew Ron and Harry probably better than anyone in the world. And when the two of them wanted to keep her out of the loop about something, they would attempt to change the subject. It rarely worked on her anymore, and it was definitely not about to work now.
Hermione spoke in her calmest voice, "Harry, what happened after I blacked out? I'm in perfect, okay almost perfect, condition. If someone died, then I want to know Harry!" she said, her voice rising slightly at the last part.
But who could blame her? When Ron and Harry were being cryptic, Hermione always began to think of the worst possible scenario of what could have happened that they didn't want her to know.
"Who died?" Hermione asked repeating her question in a more blunt manner.
Ron was the first to reply this time, "No one died Hermione. I can practically see all the possibly racing in your mind. Just relax; there were a few near fatal injuries, but nothing Madam Pomfery cannot take care of."
She relaxed slightly at this, but not completely. There was still something that the boys weren't tellingher, and she was getting impatient.
"Okay, spit it out. What happened?" she asked after it became clear that they weren't going to tell her out of their own free will.
Harry sighed deeply, "I'm sorry Hermione. I never should have gotten you involved in any of this. It's not your place, nor Ron's have to deal with potential consequences of being friends with me. Hermione, as we were leaving with you, Voldemort screamed out that he was going to destroy everyone and everything I care about. I didn't know what that meant at the time; none of us did," he started softly.
Hermione began to panic. She didn't like where this was heading. "Harry, what happened?" she asked, her voice wavering.
"He went after your parents, 'Mione," Harry said softly.
She felt the tears drip down her face. She asked the question that would either relieve her of pain or send her into a realm of misery.
"Are they dead?" she asked softly.
Harry had a pained expression on his face as he replied. "No, he was enjoying torturing them, so he didn't kill them right away. As soon as I realized they were at risk, we apparated immediately. Luckily we got there just in time. They have some severe wounds, but they are being treated as we speak."
Hermione shut her eyes and let a couple of tears escape as she tilted her head backward. Her parents were safe, at least for now anyways.