Welcome back to The Hostage Situation, readers! Thank you for being patient with this update so without further ado, enjoy xx

Previously...

"Do it." She repeated, her voice cracking.

"Two."

"I'm sorry." Draco choked out. Hermione nodded, giving him a small smile.

"One."

A pause and then- "Sectumsempra!"

Ron's mouth fell open and he felt Pansy hold his arm tightly with both her hands. They had been watching the entire time.

"He didn't do it." Ron breathed. Pansy's eyes flew open.

"What?" She said, looking closely at the scene. Hermione's eyes were wide and her hands were covering her mouth as she watched in shock as Draco fell sideways and then on to his back once he hit the floor. His body began shaking and blood began leaking out onto his pale blue shirt and formed a puddle around him.

"Oh, Draco..." Pansy choked out, tears in her eyes. Both her best friend and her- She stopped. What was Harry to her? Till today morning, he had been her fellow Auror. Perhaps her friend. But- no, she wasn't going to think about anything right now. Her best friend and Harry had both been hit by the same spell. Both had high chances of dying. They didn't have much time at all...

Ron watched as Hermione collapsed to her knees beside Draco and pushed his hair out of his eyes and pulled his head onto her lap.

"They'll kill her too if we don't act fast," Pansy said. And this time, Ron agreed with her.

"We're going in. I don't care what the Minister said- we're going in there now. E.J, keep watching." He left the van, Pansy close at his heels.

"Listen up!" Ron called out, placing a silencing charm around them and magnifying the amplitude of his voice with a quick spell. "We're going in and attacking."

The Minister shook his head. "You can't do that-"

Ron's head snapped towards the old man. "With all due respect, Sir", He spat the words, "I think we've listened to you enough. All the hostages are out and this case just got more personal. We have our head Auror somewhere inside there and our two best friends. Im second in command in the Auror department and I'm in charge now. So when I say we're going in, we're going in." He said it with a finality in his voice that even the older man didn't challenge.

"Okay, let's go." Ron pulled his wand out and held it in front of him. "Wands at the ready!" Pansy stood beside Ron, her wand raised and ready. The Aurors took up their positions and they began moving in silently.

Meanwhile, E.J did his job and stared at the screen of one computer while searching through FBI and Interpol records on the other.

He had narrowed down the possible people that would fit the identity of the lady and as he searched through the records, he realized that three out of four of them had one thing in common- the three being Jaqueline Dorez, Desmanda Raw and Cornelia James. He was then hit with a thought and he grabbed the third laptop and opened up a plan of the bank lobby. He zoomed in on the room that Bonavier had entered. He went to Matthew Bonavier's profile in his records and swore. The room had gas pipes carrying Hydrogen and other gases that were flammable.

The three women and Bonavier had one thing in common- the usage of bombs. E.J narrowed down on Desmanda Raw- she was a bomb maker while Bonavier was a bomber.

His eyes moved to the security cameras and he was just in time to see who he guessed was Desmanda put a bullet through Jasper's heart. The boy didn't even see it coming. Hermione gasped and her eyes flew between Desmanda and Bonavier as they strode past Draco and her and entered the room behind the desks.

E.J jumped to his feet and sprinted outside. He cast a sonorous charm on himself and just as the Aurors got very close to the building, he yelled, "MISSION ABORT!" Ron and Pansy and everyone else spun around and then everything happened as if in slow motion. The windows of the lobby burst open as a fire ignited inside and the flames licked the outside of the building through the windows. The force of the blast threw the Aurors in the air and sent them crashing to the floor as the entire lobby blew up in flames.

Hermione's eyes flew between Bonavier and Des as Jasper fell to the floor, a hole in his heart. Clearly Jasper wasn't a part of their plans and she realized they were right. It wasn't just a bank robbery. It was much, much bigger.

"It was nice knowing you," Bonavier said, an expression on his face that conveyed the exact opposite of what he said. He and Des left the lobby through the door behind the desks. It was nice knowing her? Where could they leave from that room? There was no escape route unless they blew a hole through the wall. And why would they leave her and Draco there without killing them?

Her eyes widened. Unless they would die anyway... The pieces began falling together in her head. Not just a robbery. Much bigger. Blowing a hole through the wall. They would die anyway.

She grabbed the wand out of Draco's sleeve just as she heard someone outside yell "Mission abort!"

"Protego totalum!" She yelled and a protective bubble surrounded her and Draco just as the entire floor blew up. She leaned over Draco's body and shielded him the little that she could as desks and telephones and chairs blew up and it's remains flew in all directions. And just because they were protected doesn't mean they didn't get hit- an invisible wall of energy from the bomb crashed on top of them, crushing the wind out of them and tearing at her skin. The lobby was set ablaze and flames surrounded her in all directions, it's fingers poking and proding dangerously at the protective bubble.

"Hermione." Draco choked out. She lifted her head and gasping for breath, she took his face in her hands.

"You're going to be fine, you hear me?" She said, her voice hoarse. She cleared it and took a deep breath. "You'll be fine. The Aurors will come in and they'll get you out to St. Mungo's."

"And you?" He rasped. He moved his hand to his stomach and lifted it to see it soaked in blood. Hermione pushed the ungodly sight out of his line of vision.

"I'm going after them." Hermione said. "There's a security magic proof cell in the other room- I think they stayed in there as protection from the blast."

"Im going to die." He said, attempting to lift his head but dropping it back on to the floor when he realized he had no energy. She shook her head and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Don't you dare say that again, Draco Malfoy. You're going to be just fine." Hermione said, her voice strong and filled with emotion. The protective spell faded away as she lost energy little by little and the wand slipped from her hand. "And once we get out of this mess, Im going to kill you for taking that spell for me." Draco lifted his arm slowly, wincing as he did and raised it to her face.

"Come here," He croaked. Hermione leaned forward, her eyes locked with his. He put his hand at the back of her head and brought her head to his until his forehead was against her's. His breathing was growing erratic and strained and she felt the tears fall from her eyes and drip off her cheeks and on to his face.

"Tell Pansy and Blaise and my parents that I l-love them." He said, his voice barely audible. The smoke had reached them and the flames, though subsiding, were still around them. She didn't even have the energy to lift another shield around them. "Tell P-Potter and Weasley thank you and th-that they better take c-care of you."

She shook her head against his. "No, I won't. Because you're going to tell them yourself." She said, her voice breaking. She felt him stroke her cheek and it took everything she had to not sob. His eyes fluttered close she gripped the hand on her cheek as it grew limp.

"Stay with me, Draco, stay with me."

E.J ran up to Ron and Pansy's bodies, crouching down in between them. "Ron, Pansy!" The two pushed themselves off the ground and sat up, holding their heads and rubbing their backs. They both looked at the building and for a second, neither of them dared breathe.

Pansy was the first to snap out of it, getting to her feet shakily.

E.J stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're unstable, we'll send the other Aurors in." She shook her head.

"There are people I love in there. Im going myself." She lifted her wand from the ground as Ron stood up, picking his wand up too. She looked at him. "Are you coming?"

"You should know the answer to that." He responded. He looked to E.J. "Get the Aurors to come in after us and inform St. Mungo's that the people we apparate to them are of top priority." With that, he set of at a run towards the building, Pansy following after him. They stepped over the rubble and the remains of the fallen pillars and doors and shattered glass. They squinted to keep the dust out of their eyes and entered the lobby.

"Hermione?!" Ron called.

"Draco? Harry?" Pansy yelled.

They heard someone coughing from their left and after a sob, they heard Hermione call back, "Over here!" Her voice was strangled. They ran up to them and Pansy bent down beside Draco.

"Is he..." She couldn't complete the sentence.

"He'll make it!" Hermione said, coughing because of the smoke in her lungs. "He has to! Get him to 's now!"

"Im going to look for Harry-" Pansy said but Hermione cut her off.

"What do you mean?" She asked. "Didn't he escape with the hostages?"

Pansy shook her head. "He didn't. He's still inside here somewhere. Im going to get him."

"Chances are that they've got him." Ron said. "Pansy, you're taking Malfoy to St Mungo's."

"No! Im coming to get Harry!"

"You're not in control of your emotions!" Ron said, looking Pansy straight in the eye. "You won't be in control if you see anything's happened to him and you know it. This has become too personal."

"And you?" Pansy asked. "He's closer to you than to me!"

"But at a different level. He's like out brother. I can't say the same for you." He said, telling her indirectly what he actually meant. Harry meant much to her than a brother. She didn't even argue.

"Take him, Pansy!" Hermione said, interrupting them. "The more time you waste in arguing, the lesser time Draco has and the lesser time Harry has. Now go!" Pansy nodded.

"Be careful." She put her hand on Draco's arm and said- "And please- bring him back alive." Since the bank was destroyed and all it's charms and spells were taken off, she apparated out with her best friend.

"Ready?" Ron asked, holding his hand out to Hermione. She put her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet.

"Let's do this." Ron was about to move to the side room when he stopped, turned and pulled Hermione into a hug. She hugged him back tightly. They split apart, smiled at each other and then sprinted around the remaining flames, heading straight for the room, Aurors following close behind.

"Drive." Des said, her gun digging into Harry's temple. They had taken him as soon as the floor had filled up with smoke.

"Where?" He asked, his hands on the steering wheel of the stolen vehicle they were in.

"Your house."

Harry looked at her, his eyes wide. "Why?"

"Listen here, Potter, you drive there now or I swear we'll put a bullet through your brain before you can blink. And after that we'll go after your friends and your family- and we WILL kill them one by one."

Gritting his teeth together, he began driving towards his house. Upon reaching, he got out of the car, Des and Bonavier following behind him. They had cleaned their outfits before getting off the car.

"Tell your baby sitter that Im going to be taking care of your son. Try any tricks and Ill kill the boy in an instant. So long as you do exactly what we say, no one will get hurt. You know thats how we work."

His fingers slightly shaking, Harry rang the bell of the white and green house sitting alone on the side of the street, a garden and a driveway on either side.

"Why can't you just go in?" Des asked.

"Molly's inside. She puts up wards."

The door opened an a few seconds and Molly Weasley stood there, a five year old Teddy in her arms.

"Oh hello, Harry!" She smiled but then her smile disappeared when she saw who he was with. "Who are they?"

"This", He nodded his head to Bonavier, "is a fellow Auror. And this is his wife. We have a mission and Des wanted to meet Teddy and take care of him for a bit. Is that okay?"

"Are you sure, Harry?" Molly asked, eyeing Des.

"Absolutely, Molly." He said, feeling the nozzle of the gun digging into his lower back. "You can go home. Could you tell Ron that he needs to take care of Ted tomorrow?" Something in his eyes made Molly hesitate before nodding and leaving.

"Now what do you want?" Harry asked, turning to Des, anger burning in his eyes.

"Im staying here with the kid and you're going with Bonavier. One wrong step and you can consider your son dead." Just then, Teddy came running up to Harry, his hair a lemon yellow.

"Daddy!" He squealed. Harry hugged the boy extra tightly.

"This nice lady here is going to take care of you for a while, is that okay?" Harry asked, pulling back and looking into the little boy's eyes while he nodded. "Be a good boy. I love you."

"I love you too." Teddy smiled. Harry stood up, swallowing hard.

"Dont hurt him." Harry hissed at Des. She smirked at him.

"You know the conditions."

Harry was lead back to the car with Bonavier and was asked to drive to King's Cross station. Only when he reached did he realize what the date was- September 1st, the first day of the new Hogwarts' year.

He was pushed out of the black vehicle and a wand was pushed into his back. He was lead to a dark alleyway on the side of the street and Bonavier pulled out a cell phone attached to a belt. He strapped it around Harry's waist and lead Harry back into the station. Bonavier then took Harry to a staircase there that was mostly hidden by shadows. He was pushed against the banister and a silencing spell was cast on him as well as an immobilizing charm.

Matthew Bonavier stepped forward, hit the disconnect button on the phone followed by the simple number code of 12345 and then left. Harry, whose eyes were stuck on the screen of the phone, watched as the numbers "00:01:59" appeared on the screen. They had been right. It had been much, much bigger than just a bank robbery. They had planned to wipe out thousands of people- muggle and mainly Wizarding.

And that closes chapter 4! I didn't mean to leave you hanging there- well actually I did. thats the point of cliffhangers haha :P And this is an intense story- it just works like that! I was debating whether to end it further up where the place blows up but then I realized that it would be too small a chapter so I extended it a bit.

Please please do review! Thank you for reading and again, do review!

Love always,

FeltonLewis xx