Chapter Thirty-nine: Escape

Hermione awakened abruptly in the middle of the night. She had been dreaming of Tom—her dreams were one place that Albus Dumbledore could not censure, and she was taking her solace in them more and more. She didn't know how many days had passed since she'd come to this place. She only knew that there were no windows, no doors, and she had no wand. He had seen to every detail to keep her here.

She glanced around then, trying to determine what it was that had awakened her. It had been a pop, as if someone had Apparated inside. In the darkness it was difficult to see, but as she squinted she could just make out a small, grayish form. It was Hilly.

"What are you doing here, Hilly?" she asked. "Dumbledore told me you would no longer be allowed to serve me."

"Not serve you, Mistress, free you," she explained. "But we must go right now. There is no other time than now, while the Master is too distracted to think of you."

"Distracted?" Hermione repeated as she scrambled out of bed and took the house elf's hand. The two of them popped into the kitchen. "What do you mean, distracted?"

"They've called him to Durnstrang," she explained. "It seems that his expertise in Transfiguration is required to undo all the spells Grindlewald cast in the last few months. They feel that only Dumbledore himself will be able to change everyone back to normal. They consider him somewhat of an expert on spells that Grindlewald has cast."

"That makes sense," Hermione pointed out. "After all, he's got Gellert's horcrux inside him, doesn't he?"

"Yes, of course he does," she agreed. "But we cannot stand here gabbing away. The others mustn't see you with me, they must think that you've found your own way out."

"Why don't you come with me?" Hermione said. "I could sure use a house elf's help in this."

"I cannot," she explained. "I am bound to this place. You must know that."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'm sorry."

"Your safety will be of much greater importance than anything that happens to me," she said with a little smile. "Here is your wand. Get yourself far from here."

"But Tom—"

"There is nothing I can do for him right now," she said.

"Can you not show me how to find him myself?" Hermione pleaded.

"You'd never make it there alive," she hesitated.

"Hilly, I've got to try," she insisted. "There's got to be a way."

"Give me your hand, child," Hilly insisted. "What I know, you will know. But I am afraid you will have to know everything. All my memories and thoughts. There is no time to filter out only what you need."

Hermione's head swam as a flood of images and ideas were suddenly inside her head. But when the shock cleared away, she knew exactly where to go, and not to go. She smiled and squeezed Hilly's hand.

"Thank you, Hilly," she said. And then she popped away, coming back into being somewhere in the woods outside of the house, knowing it was in the south of France, and knowing where she needed to go from there.

#

Hilly's memories were a great comfort to Hermione as she made camp deep in the heart of the cold forest she'd Apparated to. She wanted with all of her heart to go straight to the cave where she knew she could climb down and look for Tom, but she knew better than to attempt such a trek without some careful planning.

Just because Hilly could walk down into that cave and carry food down to Tom, that did not mean that Hermione would have free passage as well. If only she could transform herself into a house elf long enough to reach him, that at least would be something. But of course she could not, and in this time she did not even know who she could obtain Polyjuice from, let alone what elf would allow her to use any of their parts.

There had to be another way.

Obviously the only people she knew well enough to ask were the same people Dumbledore would be keeping an eye on once he knew she'd escaped. If she intended to contact anyone, she had to do it now. But who could she trust?

As crazy as it sounded, it seemed like the only person other than Tom she'd had any real connection with was Abraxas Malfoy. Also, he was quite a powerful wizard in his own right, and she didn't doubt he knew precisely which of the other young men would willingly join him in saving Tom Riddle from danger. After all, did they not think of him as their Lord? Were they not pledged to him as his knights?

Malfoy would know what to do about all of this. But she knew better than to trust him completely. And best of all, she knew precisely where Malfoy Manor was located, even though thankfully she'd never entered the place herself.

"That's it, then," she muttered as she hugged herself for warmth. "I suppose I'll go looking for him in the morning."

And with that, Hermione lay down on her makeshift bed of grass and leaves and drifted off to sleep. Throughout the night, her dreams were filled with Tom, and the life they would be able to share together.

As daylight began to shine through the trees, Hermione groggily rubbed at her eyes, steeled her resolve, and Apparated to Malfoy Manor straight away. She only hoped that Abraxas would still be there.