Chapter 34
Hermione groaned as she rubbed her temples. She was currently sitting in the expansive library at the Malfoy cottage and reading through several dark books. When she had first made her way into the ancient looking room, she had been shocked. While it would have made sense for there to be a lot of books in the library in the Malfoy Manor, she had not expected a summer home to be so well equipped.
Once they had learned of the Deathly Hallows from Draco, and the story behind them, Hermione had added it to her research list. Thankfully, it was a lot easier to find out about the early history of the artifacts from books. However, as the years progressed, it had become harder to track them, and they had been almost erased from existence. She had no idea what Dumbledore was trying to do by pointing them out to her, but she was nearly certain that there had to be some major significance or he wouldn't have done so.
Unfortunately, the lack of resources in the current whereabouts of the artefacts made the Hallows a minor priority, and she did not spend too much time looking into them.
It had been a few weeks since they had arrived at the home, now somewhere into November, and so far they were no further along in destroying the locket than they were in finding any other potential Horcruxes. Sure, they had ideas of what Voldemort could have chosen, but they were just that, ideas.
"Hermione, love, you should take a break," a voice called out from behind her. She turned quickly around. It was seven in the morning, and the boys were never up just yet. It was nice because it gave her the quiet time she needed to do some serious reading.
"Draco? What are you doing up?" She asked as he swooped down beside her to place a chaste kiss upon her lips.
His hair was wet, and she could tell from his aftershave that he had showered recently. She took in a deep breath to intake his sweet yet musky scent. She liked seeing him this way, he seemed more relaxed, despite the ongoing war, and even happier than she had seen him in school.
"I thought you would be more excited to see me," he teased. "Merlin, Granger, I swear it's almost as if you care more for these books than for me."
"What? That's not true! I love books, but they could never replace the people in my life," she argued back.
Draco smirked as he sat down across from her and placed his feet upon the table. "Relax Hermione, I was just joking around with you," he said, as his face softened slightly.
"Not very funny," she muttered as she shook her head at him. "And get your feet off the table! It's disrespectful," she said, as she attempted to push them off.
"My house, my rules; I can do whatever I want here," He said, with that haughty look reappearing on his face. It was similar to the one that he used to wear around her presence before he had joined their side, and she hadn't seen it in so long. But the version he was wearing now was far more toned down.
She huffed, "I know, you keep reminding me," she said softly. And it was true. It wasn't intentional, but she felt someone or the other reminding her that this was Malfoy property, and despite Draco saying that no one would ever come here, she couldn't help but worry.
"It doesn't have to be," he said suddenly after pausing for a moment. "Just my home I mean."
She blinked, "Sorry?" she asked him, confusedly.
He took a deep breath, "If we were together, then it could be yours too. Not just as boyfriend and girlfriend, but as a family. Before you freak out, just know that what I'm suggesting is for long after the war is over. I just want you to know that if you'll have me, I'd like to have a future with you," he said hurriedly.
She felt her heart swell at these words, "Do you mean it?" she asked him with a smile.
Hermione could have sworn that his eyes widened at her words. "Yes, Hermione; I want to marry you one day, and spend every moment of the rest of my life with you. I want us to have many, many children together, and grandchildren. I want us to be with each other, and I never want to let you go."
She grabbed his robes and pulled him into a kiss. He was resistant due to surprise at first, but once he got over his initial shock, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back.
Hermione pulled away from him a moment later. "Draco, I'd love to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you more than anything in the world," she said softly.
He smiled, "Do you need any help with your research? I can't imagine it being easy to go through all of these books alone," he asked her.
Her eyes lit up. Harry and Ron had always tried to help her out in the past, but they were never able to get too far into each book before giving up. She blamed their ability on their previous lack of studious skills through the years. Draco, on the other hand, was just as studious as her, and she guessed it was due to the pressure that his father had placed on him during his younger years. Hermione often used to see Draco in a corner of the library studying whatever material they had covered that day. It annoyed her slightly at the time, because it felt as if he were almost imposing on her sanctuary, but he never acknowledged her, so she never had to deal with a confrontation.
Hermione would never admit it to anyone else, but she used to watch him at times. She used to get curious about him and how he acted when he wasn't in her, or Ron and Harry's presence, but all she ever saw was a quiet boy. She would have expected him to bring his entourage to the library where they would create some sort of ruckus to bother the other occupants; however there was never anything of the sort. It frustrated her beyond reason to see him act so different in the library than he did in the rest of the school. How could he act like two different people when in different locations?
Looking back on it now, she saw that the Draco Malfoy she had seen around the school was a mask; one that he had created when he was in the presence of anyone else, sculpted by his upbringing. But in the library there was no one who would report back to his father, so he dropped the act. He was more relaxed in his behaviour and would rarely insult a soul, unless they had done something which could threaten his charade.
She smiled, "Yes that would be wonderful. If it's two of us, then we should be able to clear through most of these books, as I doubt most of them even have what we're looking for.
Several hours passed and Hermione and Draco were no further along in finding any information about the Horcruxes. Ron and Harry had come into the room various times, for one thing or another, but Hermione ended up yelling at the pair to leave the room out of frustration. Thankfully, the two had seen her around exam time and knew not to be offended by her crass behaviour.
"This is useless," Hermione said annoyed, as she pushed her chair away from the desk. "We're getting absolutely nowhere near finding anything!"
Draco looked up tiredly from the book he had been reading, "Hermione, take in a deep breath; it's okay. We will find something eventually, you just need to take a break. How about we go to the kitchen and grab something to eat?"
She sighed, "Yes, I think that will be a good idea. I don't know how much longer I can look at these books."
So the two of them made their way down to the kitchen, where Ron and Harry were playing a game of wizarding chess, which they must have found around the house.
"Giving up?" Ron asked them sympathetically. "Can't say I blame you. Those books are so massive, that it's nearly impossible to find anything in them. It's a shame there's no short cut that you could just use to find what you need…why are you looking at me that way?" He asked them, when he realised they had both turned their attention to him full on.
"Ron, you are brilliant, I don't think I tell you that enough!" Hermione said, as she wrapped her arms around him.
"I can't believe I hadn't thought of it until now," Draco murmured under his breath.
Ron, and now Harry, both looked perplexed at what had just happened. "Er, someone mind explaining whatever just happened to me?" Ron asked them.
Harry simply shrugged, "Like I would know. You know, I think I miss when it was just Hermione; it used to just be her who got excited when she made a revelation, but now it's the two of them. Makes it harder to keep up."
"Accio books," Hermione said with a wave of her wand. Before long, several old books made their way to the kitchen table where they were seated at.
"Invenio Horcruxes," Draco said, and suddenly the books rose about a foot into the air and had begun flipping through themselves.
Hermione saw that the books both still appeared to be heavily confused, "It's searching for Horcruxes; the books will find any information that they have on the matter and turn to the according page. However, if there are no mentions of the material the book is searching for, the book will simply close, like that one," she said, as she pointed out a book that closed and dropped back to the table.
"Oh…that makes sense. So why didn't you just do that from the start?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, knowing instantly that Ron would happily take the credit for giving her the idea. Granted, he hadn't even known that such a spell had existed, and she had simply forgotten it, but it would not stop him.
"Because we forgot; and before you go there, yes you helped us, good job," she said, as she continued to watch the books flip. Several of them had been shut close and she was beginning to lose hope that there was any information even available in the books.
Ron still grinned to himself like an idiot, and she saw Harry crack a smile at their friend's reaction.
There was only one book left in the air, and she could see the disappointment written all over her companions' faces. She hadn't expected mountains of information, but with every passing second she was losing hope of ever finding anything in the Malfoy house. That is, she was until the last book fell to the table, open to a page.
She gasped, so their search had not been in vain. The page was titled 'Horcruxes and their properties', and appeared to be handwritten. She could tell the book was easily several centuries old, which caused her to wonder how many other witches or wizards had attempted, or succeeded to create a Horcrux in the past, aside from Voldemort.
Horcruxes are arguably one of the darkest forms of magic known to mankind. The original creator of the Horcrux was Herpo to Foul, known to have also created the first Basilisk hatching a chicken egg under a toad to create the King of Serpents.
Hermione decided to skim read over the next section, which talked more about Herpo. She also skipped over the creation methods, as they were dark and horrid, and made her rather ill to think about. It shocked her that anyone could do such a thing once, yet alone several times, as Voldemort clearly had. Draco was reading rapidly over her shoulder, while Ron and Harry were waiting intently for any news about the dark artifacts.
A Horcrux can be destroyed in one of several ways. If the creator feels remorse for their actions, the creation can be reversed, and the soul restored to the body. This method is highly dangerous and can be fatal in some cases. The venom from a basilisk fang is also capable of destroying a Horcrux, as phoenix tears are the only known antidote against the poison, and the spell Fiendfire may be used as well.
Her eyes widened as she finished reading the passage. She exchanged a look with Draco, who looked sick from reading about the creation of the Horcruxes, however she was unable to dwell upon the fact, as she had just found what she needed.
She filled in the boys about her readings, and as she finished doing so, she remembered something she had heard long ago, about the Sword of Gryffindor.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted out. "Dumbledore left you the sword for a reason! In your second year, you stabbed the basilisk and due to the highly absorbent property of the sword, it was able to absorb the venom from the serpent. Because of this, the sword can be used to destroy the Horcruxes."
He looked shocked at her revelation, "That's brilliant 'Mione! We're one step closer to taking him down."
Draco smiled and wrapped his arms around her before whispering into her ear, "And then we can start our life together; just you and me, and no one else."
"What was that?" Ron asked, as he sat up a little straighter in his chair.
"Did you just say what I thought you did?" Harry demanded.
Hermione's cheeks coloured a light pink, but Draco's arms stayed around her, and his expression had not changed once.
"Yes. When this is all over, I want to marry Hermione. I already told her my intentions of spending the rest of my life with her, and thankfully for me, she has agreed.
"That's wonderful," Harry said with a smile. "I'm happy for the both of you."
"I just wish we could take Voldemort down soon, before anyone else has to die," Hermione said softly.
"I agree," Draco said, as he kissed her head softly.
She was about to say something, when she heard an alarm go off. "It's one of the wards, they've been breached!" Hermione exclaimed, as she quickly stood up.
Draco immediately understood, and hastily made his way over to the window. "Death Eaters; there are at least four of them. We need to leave now!" Draco shouted.
Hermione got her wand out again, and began to summon all their belongings into the bag. Ron and Harry raided the fridge for any food they had to take with them, and Draco added as many wards under the existing ones to buy them a bit more time.
"Do you have everything?" Draco asked her, as he struggled to hold up the wards. The Death Eaters would be in the cottage, and Hermione knew that they had no choice but to leave.
"YES!" she shouted out. The boys immediately grabbed onto her, and she apparated to the first place she could think of; the Forest of Dean.
Narcissa watched as the Dark Lord took turns cursing a group of Snatchers. They had returned to her home a few hours back and informed him that they had seen Harry Potter and had made an attempt to procure him, however they had failed. Unfortunately for them, Voldemort did not take to well to this news.
Voldemort released the Cruciatus curse from one of the Snatchers. "You mean to tell me that you had Harry Potter in your vision, and you did not succeed to obtain him? Your job isn't just to find the worthless mudbloods and dispose them. It isn't simply to track down the idiots who believe they have the right to say my name. It's to gather as much intelligence on the Order and bring me those who disobey my rule. And Harry Potter definitely counts under that category. So why did you fail to get him?"
"P-P-Pardon me my Lord. The house was so well warded that by time we managed to break through the different protection spells, they were long gone," one of the Snatchers said, and Narcissa could hear his voice plead for mercy.
She felt sorry for them, and wished she could do something to help but she knew better than to act on her desires. So instead, Narcissa held her head up high, trying to show off the dignity she had spent years mastering as a child.
"Where?" Voldemort hissed. "Where was this house that they were hiding at?!"
"It was a Malfoy property, my Lord."
Narcissa had to try very hard not to react to that statement. There was no way Potter and his companions could have been on a Malfoy property. They wouldn't have had any idea where it was located, and the wards would not let them in without consent from a Malfoy themselves. Unless. Unless it was Draco who had let them in the house.
She took a deep breath. If it was, then it would make sense why they were there. But it also raised a series of questions. She knew that Draco was alive, and this basically confirmed it. But she did not know what he was doing with the Potter trio. Why was he placing himself in a place of danger? Surely, for a person on the run, there must have been a safer place?
"Oh?" Voldemort's cold voice said. "Narcissa, how is this possible?"
Narcissa shook her head. "I do not know my Lord. No one has visited that property in years, so the wards were probably out of date. It is possible that the Potter child managed to get in with the help of his mudblood. However, due to this new progress, I believe it is important that I visit the cottage and strengthen the barriers around the house."
Voldemort nodded. "You may leave; take your husband and return as soon as you are done."
Narcissa looked around the cottage, as Lucius helped put up the wards once more. There was not a thing out of place, and if Narcissa didn't know any better she would not have known that anyone had been there at all.
She closed her eyes as Lucius came to her. He saw a look of distress on her face, and immediately he wrapped his arms around her.
"Where ever he is, he's alright Narcissa. If he's with Potter, then it is as a companion, not a prisoner. Potter and his friends are too compassionate to drag Draco with them unwillingly. He's safe, I promise you."
Narcissa cried into her husband's chest, as she tried to let Lucius' words sooth her. After a while she pulled away and wiped her face. She cast a quick cleaning charm upon her face, before pulling out her wand.
"It's getting late, we should return back," she said quietly. Lucius took her hand and the two returned to their imprisoned home.