"You need to get out of here. Now." Draco growled, flipping her around to face him and grabbing her arm. Draco turned on the spot and Hermione fearfully expected the feeling of apparation. Instead, she just felt Draco's grip on her arm tighten in frustration. He tried turning three more times.
"No." He said frantically. "No, no, no. This is bad. They've blocked disapparation from inside the house."
Hermione's eyes were wide open staring into the darkness of the closet. She was still in shock at being dragged into a closet with Draco Malfoy. Not just any closet, his closet. She took rapid breathes through her nose trying to calm herself into a rational thinking position. The clothes in the closet lingered with Draco's scent and somehow that helped snap her out of her panic.
"Damnit!" Draco nearly shouted, throwing one of his fists into the closet wall. The material cracked, but did not break.
Hermione took a risk and pushed Malfoy away from her as his grip loosened on her arm and she reached over, pulling open the closet door. She made it a few steps before he caught up with her and tossed her back inside, her shoulder landing hand on the wall. Hermione wasn't sure if it hurt, she was in too much emotional pain to notice. She could hear Harry screaming downstairs and Bellatrix's laughter echoing the halls. Her entire body trembled with adrenaline.
She managed to keep her balance but when she moved her arms to push way from the wall Draco grabbed her wrists and held them down at her sides.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Draco growled, his voice felt menacing. Even in the darkness of the closet Hermione could look in his eyes because they were glowing a crisp, clear silver. They seemed to be shinning with what she almost thought was worry. It was the same way his eyes looked just before he apparated away from her this summer. Hermione was trying to place her finger on the connection but her mind would not let her stay on one thing.
"I'm trying to prevent my friends from being killed. Let me go, Malfoy! Now!" She whispered angrily, trying to kick away from him. He held his grip tighter.
"Do you want to make it out of here alive?" He asked her quickly.
"What? Yes of course, and that would start with stunning you for getting in my way!"
"Is that so, Granger? Tell me then, where is your wand?"
Hermione looked frantically around and saw her wand on the ground a few feet in front of the closet on the other side of the room. She could try to nonverbal accio it to her, but even she didn't think her magic was that strong yet. Only a very skilled witch or wizard could pull that off.
"Were you just going to run down there and save Potter without it?" He asked.
"I need to go! I need to save him Malfoy, you're stopping me. You're making it so I can't save anyone I care about. First my parents, and now Harry. Just stop helping me and get the hell away from me!" Hermione almost shouted at him, but held back for fear of being heard.
Malfoy loosened his grip on her for just a moment, seeming unsure as to how to handle her words. Hermione struggled against him more and that seemed to cause him to gain some composure.
"I asked you if you want to live." Draco said again, going back to his confident posture.
"AND I SAID GET THE HELL AWAY FRO-" Hermione began to say her last sentence again, but was interrupted by his hand covering her mouth in full. The act was so shocking that Hermione stopped struggling for a few moments.
Draco pressed his lips against his hand, making his face parallel hers. Hermione was keenly aware of the fact that his hand was the only thing keeping their lips from touching. She knew it was the wrong time to think of it, but she couldn't help but notice the feeling of their noses rubbing lightly against each other, both struggling to breathe in enough air to comply with their hearts pumping. It shocked her so much, she became almost limp against the wall, but it focused her mind. She was no longer frantically trying to run into battle with no wand in hand.
Draco kept his hand on her mouth, but lifted his mouth away from his hand.
"I'm going to ask you one last time. Do you want to live?" He said quietly.
Hermione nodded her head once in affirmation.
"Good. Then we don't have a lot of time. Now there is no way in hell I'm getting you out of here with your cooperation if I don't save Potter as well, correct?"
Hermione shook her head yes more urgently this time. She would not leave Harry behind, no matter what he had told her before they entered the house.
His head dropped in defeat, he let go of one of her wrists and ran a hand through his blond hair, which stood out in several directions, making him look more frantic.
"Why do you do this to me?" He asked so quietly that she hardly heard him. "You're making my life extremely difficult, and you don't even know it."
Hermione was shocked at his words, unsure of their context. He was a death eater. This shouldn't be complicated at all. He found the mudblood, and now he just needed to turn her in. But it seemed clear to Hermione at that moment that Draco Malfoy was not going to turn her in. He was going to try to save her life: twice.
So Hermione didn't run. She did however, slowly reach her arm down and remove his hand from her wrist. She held his hand in hers, and squeezed it just lightly enough for him to lift his head up and lock eyes with her.
"I'm so sorry," She whispered, repeating the same words he said to her just before he apparated into the night on the eve of her parent's murders.
"Do you trust me?" He asked suddenly, a pain in his voice.
"Absolutely not," Hermione said, as the corner of her mouth twitched upward. The environment they were in held no place for smiles, but Hermione could not help but feeling the tiniest bit amused at his question. Some odd expression flashed on Draco's face, and Hermione was sure that he was thinking the same thing she was.
"Go grab your wand," he said, his face becoming composed once more, as he moved his hand out from under hers. "Quietly."
Hermione did what she was told and quickly ran to the other side of the room, lifting her wand off the floor, then turning back to Draco who was pacing in a small area in front of the door.
"Now hide it," Draco said quickly.
"What? Are you mad?" She said fiercely.
"Please, Hermione. Please, trust me," he said, using her name to address her for the first time ever.
"Fine. But if I think anything weird is going on, I won't hesitate to turn this wand on you."
"I'll probably deserve it anyway."
He resumed his pacing the length of the small closet.
Hermione put the wand securely in her cloak. She was just about to ask him what the next step was, when he was suddenly on the floor, grasping his arm in pain.
"Malfoy? Malfoy? What is it?" She said kneeling down and trying to examine his arm.
"He's coming. We don't have much time," Draco choked out painfully from the floor.
Hermione didn't need him to say a name, she knew exactly what he meant and it chilled her to the bone. She pulled every last ounce of Gryffindor courage she had buried down inside of her and put on a brave face. Draco Malfoy was her and Harry's only hope.
"Tell me what to do."
…
….
…
Harry Potter's insides were burning, his head spinning. Bellatrix had been 'playing' with him for the last five minutes. Five minutes of torture with the cruciatus from Bellatrix Lestrange always felt like an eternity.
It was very sudden when the demonic laughter coming from her stopped, and the ringing in Harry's ears halted for a moment.
"He's coming. Soon. Very soon," she murmured quietly, grasping her arm in pain.
Harry already knew this information. His scar felt as if it was going to split his head open in two, while his stomach was giving leaps of happiness, which made Harry feel sick. He could sense Voldemort's glee at the death eaters having found him.
At least Harry could take comfort in the fact that Hemione and Ron were safe. He was glad he made them promise to disapparate if anything happened to him. Ron almost got caught, but quickly ran out the door and onto the outside property, disapparating just outside the manor itself where it was possible. Harry was a bit surprised that Ron hardly took a look back to double check if it was the right thing to do. Harry would have still hoped he'd disapparate away, but the sheer selfishness in the act shocked him a bit. Still, Ron was his best friend and as long as he was okay, Harry was okay.
Then there was Hermione. She was upstairs when the Death Eaters came in and captured them. Harry was sure she was smart enough to get out of there as soon as possible. Hermione was safe, Ron was safe. Harry could be okay with death knowing this. He may not be able to kill Voldemort, but his best friends knew about the horcruxes and they would finish the job. Who knew? Maybe if Voldemort brought his snake with him, Harry could try to finish that horcrux off for good. It might help in the end.
The death eaters were murmuring quietly to each other, leaving Harry broken on the floor in the entry way. He knew, that they knew, he was too weak to move. Everyone was aware that Harry Potter would die tonight.
Harry was content with all of this. He would see Sirius again, Dumbledore, and his parents. The thought comforted him.
"I've found the mudblood!" A voice shook Harry from his peaceful thoughts and plunged him back into a nightmare.
Draco Malfoy was practically dragging a defenseless Hermione down the stairs by one of her ankles. Hermione had her arms out in front of her trying to stop the stairs from injuring her, but to no avail. When Hermione painfully reached the bottom of the stairs, Draco kicked her in her side, causing her body to slide a few feet away on the marble floor.
"What did I miss?" Draco said smugly, walking over to the other death eaters.
"Where have you been?" a man asked sneeringly from under his mask.
"Upstairs, teaching the mudblood a few lessons about trying to hide from me in my own manor," he smirked. Draco walked over to Hermione and pulled her head up by her hair to expose to them what he had done.
Hermione's face was cut up in several places, one of her eyes was swollen and bruises were starting to form on her arms. Harry was sure he saw some blood seeping through her tank top, but it was mostly covered by her cloak. Harry felt sick knowing that Draco had touched her only an hour prior, even danced with her, and now this. Harry could have sworn they were even having a civil conversation. The idea that this was the same Draco Malfoy made another wave of nausea hit Harry.
"Teaching her of her place in the world, Draco. Well done," Bellatrix said evilly.
"I've got her stupid wand too. Not that she needs it anymore. Everyone knows mudblood's can't do any good magic," Draco said. He grabbed her wand out of his pocket and handed it over to Bellatrix.
"Useless, indeed," She remarked before breaking the wand in half.
'Their last hope at survival, snapped like a twig,' Harry thought.
He wanted to crawl over to Hermione, hold her hand, and tell her it would be okay. But he was injured so badly he could hardly keep consciousness. Hermione looked over at him, and Harry tried to smile. Just to say thanks, thanks for being a good friend. For sticking around and trying to save him, and for always being there. She smiled back weakly, but her eyes looked strong. Stronger than Harry had ever seen them. Hermione Granger looked like she had a plan.
It was then that Harry's scar stung and his eyes watered. He felt excited, which was the wrong emotion to feel in his current physical state. Harry was feeling Voldemort's emotions. Voldemort was here, and he was excited that Harry was too.
The death eaters seemed to feel it too as all their talking died down, and a sense of sick anticipation hung in the air. Everyone was quiet, waiting, looking expectantly at the Manor doors.
It was in this silence that Hermione Granger quietly crawled over to Harry and placed her hand on his. Harry looked over and felt her warmth, happy she was here with him for the end. Hermione's facial expressions did not match her physical state. She didn't seem to be in any pain at all as she smirked over at him, as if knowing something he did not.
"Reducto!" She shouted suddenly, pulling her wand out from her cloak and pointing it up at the chandelier. The movements caused the glass to fall from the ceiling and crash onto the floor.
In the milliseconds of shock that followed Hermione acted quickly, pulling Harry to his feet and throwing him into the fireplace only a few feet away. The death eaters just noticed they were moving and began to make moves with their wands toward them, but Hermione was too quick.
She already had the powder in her hand as she shouted "Granger household!" throwing the powder to the ground, before disappearing with Harry into the night.
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