Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoy! Sorry about all the cliffhangers...

The Missing Piece Chapter Thirty

Day: 75 2:24AM

For Hermione, time did not go by in seconds, but by the mad, pounding, heartbeat inside her chest.

"Draco?!" The words toppled from her mouth with desperation, as if with her voice, she could make him better. Surely he was alive. Very beaten, but alive. Hermione still had hope, but that hope was falling away fast as her legs automatically ran to him now, completely disconnected from her mind. Her body operated on one account, and her mind on another. She was next to him now, her chest heaving, her eyes wide. Her hands shook in the air in front of him, wanting to touch him, but being afraid of what would happen if she did. Would she feel his cold skin? Would she feel the stillness in his veins, the silence of his heart?

"Draco. Draco? Draco. Draco talk to me. Draco breathe. Draco SAY SOMETHING!" Her voice echoed throughout the dungeon, repeating the last two words that she had screamed out, almost mocking the fear and raw desperation in her voice. There was no one else in this dungeon but Hermione and Draco at that very moment. She did not hear Harry tell her that time was running out, or that people were coming. For Hermione, none of that mattered. Time had already run out for her. "No. No no nonono. Draco Malfoy don't you do this to me, don't you dare leave me you come back to me right now you—you SAY SOMETHING DRACO PLEASE!" Hermione let out a painful scream, but it did nothing to release what she was feeling at that moment. She could not see because tears had now clouded her eyes, she could not breathe because the name Draco was stuck in her throat, she could not move because fear had inhibited her veins, and she could not think because she refused to accept what was happening. The moment felt surreal in the worst way possible. She was in a dazed nightmare, in which she could not control her body, her mind. But with every pounding of her heart came realization, and with every struggling breath came hope, creating an ambivalent mind and a troubled spirit.

"Give me your wa-wand H-Harry give me your wand." She called a new idea taking place in her head. She would heal him. Right then and there. She would heal him, because he was not lost yet, because Draco was stronger than anyone ever gave him credit for.

"Hermione I don't think—"

"Harry James Potter you give me your wand this instant—" But she did not need to complete the sentence because his wand was already in her hands. She began muttering spells, enchantments, anything she would risk doing to him. Some cuts and broken bones were mended, but Draco neither stirred nor showed any signs of life. Still Hermione refused to touch him. To touch him would mean the truth, and she did not want to know it. Suddenly her body seemed to back away from Draco a few inches, regarding his peaceful body with teary eyes and a quivering chin. She was beside herself.

Somewhere in her mind she felt hands, warm hands, grasping her waist. At first she did not struggle, until those hands pulled her away from her love, her one true love. And at that moment, she seemed to take control over herself in order to keep Harry from moving her away from Draco. Suddenly Harry was the enemy, the one who wished to separate her from Draco, the one who wanted to leave him.

"NO. NOO!" Hermione screamed, kicking and yelling, as if she were being murdered in cold blood. "I CAN'T LEAVE HIM."

"Hermione, please. There's nothing we can do… Time's running out, people are coming, the way out will collapse—" Harry cut himself off. In her struggle to break free from Harry she caught a glimpse of his eyes and saw they were wet. She stopped dead in her movements. There was silence in the dungeon, except for Hermione's heavy breathing and sporadic sniffs.

"O-Okay-y" Hermione whispered inaudibly. Harry reluctantly released her and turned her toward the massive pile of rocks that led to the exit with his hand lightly on her shoulder. Hermione took ten steps toward the exit and tightened her grip on Harry's wand, which was still in her possession from trying to heal Draco. Twenty steps, and she was running back to Draco, having escaped Harry's light grip, and before he could catch up she apparated.

3:10AM

Perhaps apparating was not the best idea considering Draco's condition, but what else could a recklessly in love girl do?

With a crack she appeared in the empty lobby, surprising two Healers at the front desk.

"HE'S DYING" She yelled, and for the first time, the full impact of her situation hit her. And hard. Draco Malfoy was dying, right in front of her, in her shaking arms, right as she spoke. She refused to even think she might be holding a lifeless man. The healers rushed forward, one conjuring a stretcher and the other putting him on it magically. Hermione didn't think of how this situation must look to them: The Head of Magical Law Enforcement apparating in the middle of their lobby looking underfed and shabby while holding another worker from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who looked barely human. She did not think about the fact that perhaps this would be in the papers because both she and Draco were well known figures in the Magical Community. Four more healers came down, three of them checking Draco as the first two healers directed the stretcher with their wands to the depths of the hospital. Renewed sobs were emitted from Hermione as she sat on the floor like a five year old child, wailing in pain and loss. The strings keeping Hermione Granger sane were broken, complete hope and despair engulfed her, as well as guilt.

"Miss Granger, everything will be okay." The last remaining Healer said. "We will do everything possible to restore him back to health." These words were of no condolence to Hermione; to her they were just empty words. Things one said to keep the affected quiet, from breaking down with sobs in the lobby. "In order to treat Mr. Malfoy we will need you to give us information. We need to know what circumstances he was in. I understand this is probably Ministry business, but please inform us as much as you can where his health is concerned." The Healer added. Hermione did not even consider the question. There was no room for other thoughts, to register the fact that being there reminded her of Healer Greene, a disguise by Lucy Caddimer, who turned out to be a brave woman despite her choices in handling situations. There was no time to think about the fact that Ron was there too, recovering from the memory charm Lucy had fired, aiming to hit Hermione. There was no time to think about the battle going on back at the Death Eater base.

There was just Draco.

"Miss Granger?" The same healer repeated. This time Hermione attempted to stop her sobbing; Draco was as safe as he could be. "Miss Granger, did you hear my question?"

"He was tortured, and hurt… I mended a few broken bones, fixed some cuts… He was held cap-captive. Will he… how severe is it?"

"I haven't been to evaluate him yet, I personally do not know, but I will call on the Healers with him to inform you. From… From the glimpse I caught, Miss Granger… it's not very likely, although there is a slim chance."

Hermione heard the words as if spoken from far away, through a tunnel. Her eyes stared unblinkingly at a ring on her finger, one Draco had given to her during those visits to the pensieve. Of course she now remembered he had given it to her in a different situation, when he had first asked her out… Hermione felt her body stand up and walk to the left, inhabiting a chair, but she did not pay attention or care. She was thinking about the ring, which had managed to stay on her finger through everything. Her mind then began to play memories in a movie-like fashion. She revisited the time where she had painted her walls a baby blue, and Draco had come up behind her, placing his hand upon the wall leaving an imprint; Walking through London Public Park, sitting under her favorite willow tree by the lake with him; Draco's proud face as she is promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Moving into the manor, and spending time in its gardens. Then what she had seen Draco do in the pensieve: She had witnessed him growing every day more in love with her; never leaving her side during a mission, apparating her to the hospital when he thought she was surely lost, and then returning to the scene of the crime in anger to fight those who had harmed her…

And suddenly Hermione was standing up, with her mind clear for the first time since she had laid eyes on him. Draco Malfoy had been in her same situation, and he was strong enough to keep fighting. She would do the same. She had done all that she could do. She owed it to Harry and the other Aurors, to Ron, to Lucy, to capture those Death Eaters. It was her job. And she had never left a job undone. She would especially love to get her hands on Crowley… Her mind focused on her Destination, and with some Deliberation, she grasped the Determination and apparated away.

She was back in the dungeon after an uncomfortable constricting sensation, which was not unlike what she was feeling emotionally. The people who were coming when she and Harry were alone in there with Draco seemed to have arrived, so there was fighting all around her as she landed. There were Aurors and Order Members alike, as well as a fair amount of Death Eaters. It was hard to tell who was winning. Spells fired from all sides; several toward her. She deflected them quickly thanks to her uncanny reflexes. She was not interested in fighting here: She had to find Harry first, and then she would find Crowley. Those were the only goals she had in mind. The exit to the dungeons had been blasted away, rubble lying along the wall and in all directions, leaving a huge hole which both sides could enter and exit easily. Hermione climbed over a particularly large rock, and went through the hole and into the hallway, where she had to doge several more spells and stun a Death Eater who shot a killing curse at her. She looked at the person she had stunned long enough to see an Auror press a coin to his chest and watch the man vanish into the air. Apparently they were still bringing prisoners to the Ministry.

She had no idea where she was going to look for Harry, and had no idea where Crowley would be, but Hermione's legs took her along the hallway back to her pretend kitchen, hoping that perhaps the familiar place would somehow yield answers to where both were.

When she got there she spotted several dark spots along the wall where spells had hit, as well as new cracks in the wall and the table in the center had collapsed. It was evident there was no one there but she called out Harry's name anyways, just to be sure.

"Harry Potter is not here." A voice replied from across the room. Hermione looked toward the sound, and found Morgan, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She must have not seen her the first time.

"You're here." Hermione stated. She hadn't thought about what had happened to Morgan since she left to alert Harry and the Aurors to her location. To be honest with herself, she thought Morgan was not going to come back, that she was going to alert Harry and part ways, never to return.

"I have nowhere to go." The vampire stated in reply. "Besides, I need to make sure our deal is still on. That you live through to make sure it still goes on." Hermione was slightly surprised at Morgan's bluntness, but suppressed her feelings in order to proceed with her goals.

"I am a witch of my word. Do you have any idea where Harry or Crowley might be?"

"No." Morgan simply replied.

There was silence, in which the firing of spells could be heard as well as falling debris and screaming.

Hermione murmured a slightly sarcastic thank you before running out of the room into the thick of battle. She would fight until she found either one. Blocking spells and shooting a couple, she made her way down the hallway and to the right, into a big chamber that appeared to be a conference room. She caught sight of an Auror dueling with two Death Eaters at once.

"Stupefy!" She shouted at one of Death Eaters. The spell hit him square in the chest and he fell back toward the floor. The Auror performed a full body bind to the second Death Eater and in ten seconds, both Death Eaters had disappeared from battle and headed for the Ministry. The Auror gave Hermione a quick word of thanks before turning to block a spell from another Death Eater, but he was too late. The killing curse hit the Auror in the back, and he toppled to the ground lifeless. Hermione watched, and everything seemed to slow down. At the very moment the life flowed out of the Auror's eyes, she had pictured Draco Malfoy, alone, in the hospital bed with that very same thing happening to him. Her eyes swam with tears once more but she shook her head in resolve; she would find Crowley. She would do what she came here for. For Draco.

"Stupefy!" Shouted Hermione at another attacker. The Death Eater blocked it and Hermione shot another stunner at him, only to be blocked again.

"Crucio!" The caped attacker pointed his wand and directed it at Hermione. Unable to block in time, the effects of the cruciatus curse took immediate effect, sending raw, searing pain through Hermione's veins. She screamed. The pain was bad, but somehow it wasn't as bad as it had been with Crowley, possibly because she had already suffered enough. Hermione's knees buckled and she dropped to the floor, grabbing her head in agony, having nothing to do but wait for the spell to be lifted.

"Expelliarmus!" Shouted a voice, and not one second later, the cruciatus curse had been lifted off Hermione. She looked up just in time to see Harry catch the Death Eater's wand in his other hand, and immediately stun Hermione's attacker. Harry then pressed a coin to the person's chest and the stunned body vanished and headed for the Ministry.

"You came back. Are you okay?" Harry yelled over the fighting. Hermione could see the hesitance in this question. She nodded and with Harry's help stood up, wand once again in the defensive position, ready to fire off a spell should the need arise. She started heading one way, farther down the hallway toward two Aurors who were dueling five Death Eaters at a time, but Harry grabbed her arm and steered her in the opposite direction. "Come on. I need your help to track down Crowley. He's escaped to Albania."

"What?!" Hermione asked surprised, simultaneously ducking a killing curse and a stray stunning spell. Harry broke into a run and Hermione did the same just to keep up, dodging spells and sending stunners in the process.

"Morgan. I'll explain everything once we're there. Come on!"

The pair of them ran down the hallway, made a right and turned onto another hallway which ended in a set of what had been double doors, but had been blasted apart by what appeared to be a bomb. Without stopping, Harry went through the damaged double doors and held them for Hermione, who followed after him. Clean and fresh air attacked her lungs the second she set foot outside. Having been used to damp, humid conditions, Hermione had forgotten what clean air even felt like. She took a couple huge breaths. She vaguely wondered if Draco Malfoy would ever breathe in such fresh air again.

"Take my hand." Harry instructed. Not fully registering that she was about to partake in side-along apparition, Hermione took Harry's hand without a second thought, and it was a shock to her when everything went black and was compressing her on every inch.

Suddenly her feet touched the soft ground and Hermione landed quite brusquely on all fours, gasping and taking huge gulps of air which immediately made her feel dizzy. The fight was far away from them now, but she could still hear spells being shouted out in her head. Harry waited a minute or so before beginning to talk to ensure Hermione was giving him her full attention.

"I saved Morgan from a couple Aurors. They thought she was on board with Crowley since she wasn't part of the Ministry. They were about to stun her but I blocked the spell and explained. Well, I just said 'she's with us' but yeah. She's strange, you know. Anyways, she then told me you had been looking for me and I couldn't believe—well, I could but I thought you'd be with—" Harry stopped short upon catching sight of Hermione's pained face. They both knew what name he was going to say. Guilt ate away at Hermione for not being with Draco right then, but what else could she do? She needed to catch Crowley for him. That was her reason for being there. A sharp stab of sadness came over her as she thought, he could be dead, right now. "Anyways she then told me she saw Crowley apparate with some of his men, and they were saying something about Albania. She told me to tell you this, told me where you were and she also said to meet her here so she could help us." Harry continued, doing his best to ignore his friend's face.

Hermione pushed the thought of Draco to the back of her mind temporarily, because that would not help her in the current situation, as much as she hated herself for thinking so. Instead, she tried to focus on what Harry said. It wasn't surprising to her that Morgan had known where Hermione was, or that she even knew where Crowley was. Vampires were known to have a strong sense of smell, and could follow scents as far away as 30 miles or more, if the scent was very familiar, as in Hermione's case. What did surprise her however, was the fact that they were to meet her, and that she would help. What had made her see it was convenient?

"When is she supposed to show?" Hermione asked.

"This very second." Said a voice.

Hermione stood, and looked past Harry, who had turned around, to look at the speaker. Morgan walked forward, her face stern and serious, her paper skin so white it seemed to emit its own glow.

"You're going to help us find Crowley?" Hermione asked the vampire as she walked toward Hermione and Harry.

"You have helped me, and you have offered me a better life. Your friend Harry Potter has gotten me out of a tight spot today. I owe it to the both of you. But after this we're even." Morgan replied simply in her Scottish-Russian accent, visibly making an effort to feed Hermione's thirst for answers. When neither Hermione or Harry said anything, she added, "He's just about a half mile north of here. We can follow him. Shall we begin?"

Hermione and Harry nodded, and began following Morgan the way she had come. Hermione subconsciously gripped her wand in anticipation: Once she met him, that was her moment. Revenge had never been her thing, but this wasn't revenge. She just simply wanted to be the one to turn him in after what he had done to her and Draco. She needed to do at least that much.

The newly formed trio began heading north, Morgan in the lead. Every so often she would take a huge inhale to make sure she was still following the correct scent. According to Morgan, Crowley went a separate way than his fellow Death Eater followers in order to try to confuse the scent. Apparently Crowley had anticipated Morgan's switching to the other side, but his attempts to thwart her were not very successful.

After about seven minutes Morgan stopped abruptly and raised her index finger to her lips to signal Harry and Hermione to be quiet. Hermione's heart began to pound; they must be close to Crowley. Hermione's adrenaline seemed to make her senses very acute because she could hear distant talking, even though she couldn't make out what was being said. Discretely, Hermione crept over to a tree and hid behind it. Morgan and Harry did the same with a tree across from Hermione's. Her eyes met with Harry and they seemed to reach the same silent agreement: There was no going back. This was it.

"Non-verbal anti-apparition" Harry mouthed to Hermione from his position behind the tree. He then made a circle in the air with his index finger. Hermione understood and nodded, grabbing her wand at the same time and concentrating on the spell with all her might. She then moved to another tree and did the same thing, circling around the area where Crowley was so they could trap him. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw Harry do the same. Once the charm was placed, the two of them met up with Morgan back where they were.

"I think we should use the element of surprise." Hermione said in a soft whisper. She saw the other two nod. Harry gripped his wand tightly, and Morgan's teeth seemed to elongate and shape themselves into fangs, poised and ready for a fight.

"Stupefy!" Hermione and Harry shouted simultaneously, stepping into clear view and aiming their wands at Crowley. Crowley was a very experienced dueler and ducked immediately, both spells missing him by merely less than half an inch.

"Don't tell me you thought I didn't hear you?" He spoke to the three in a casual tone. He hadn't even bothered to take out his wand; both of his hands were in his pockets.

"As the Head of the Department of Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, you are under arrest, Crowley, for conspiring against the Ministry and the recent unlawful torture of a witch and wizard, not to mention the other people you've tortured before then. Either you come peacefully or we will have to take you in by force." Harry declared in an authoritative tone. "It's your choice."

"And here I thought we were going to have a nice little chat." Crowley said nonchalantly. Hermione saw his wand hand twitch in his pockets.

"If you attempt to escape it will just add to the charges." Hermione added to Harry's previous statement, training her eyes on the shape of the wand in Crowley's pocket.

"How'dya find me here, huh?" Crowley asked, ignoring everything that had been previously said. He took a step forward and Harry and Hermione both tightened the grip on their wands, pointing it at their target. "How did you manage to get my vampire to work for you lot?"

"That's none of your business. Hermione," Harry now spoke to her without facing Hermione. "He's all yours."

Hermione nodded, grateful that Harry gave her the opportunity of arresting Crowley when they had never spoken of who it would be. But before she could take one step toward the Death Eater, a killing curse was sent swiftly her way and missed her by a mere inch.

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry and Hermione were not taken at all by surprise. All three duelers began shouting spells with equal rage. Each fighter was superb in their skills, and so it was hard for any of them to send a spell that hit their intended target. Hermione's heart was hammering in her chest, and her body ached from the present fight. She felt her defenses getting slower and slower but she mentally urged herself to stay alert, to keep it up, and not slow down. She felt glad it was two on one, because while Crowley was busy blocking Harry's spells, she had a clear shot at Crowley, but Crowley was alert, and could block off her spells easily.

"Stupefy!" Hermione and Harry shouted simultaneously. Crowley blocked it and sent the stunner shooting back at them. Hermione had to throw herself to the ground to dodge her own spell, but just as she was getting up she heard the words "Avada Kedavra" and the green light seemed to head straight for her in slow motion…

She wondered why the spell suddenly seemed to disappear inches from her face, and that's when she realized Harry had thrown a protective charm on her, effectively deflecting the spell.

"Are you okay?" Harry said desperately to his best friend, turning to her. Hermione only nodded and pointed directly in front of them.

"Crowley!" She shouted.

Immediately Harry began sprinting after Crowley, who at that moment had attempted to run past the apparition boundaries. Hermione got up quickly and sprinted after him too, with renewed adrenaline. He could not get away from them this time. Hermione and Harry continued the chase for several more seconds. Crowley was a foot away from the end of the anti-apparition charm, Harry several feet behind him, and Hermione more still. They were going to lose him. He was going to get away.

Out of nowhere, Hermione caught a blur of black and white tackling Crowley to the ground, making him fall just barely out of reach from the apparition point. Hermione realized it was Morgan upon running closer. She was almost caught up…

Crowley threw the vampire off him and made for his wand, sending a jet of green light that hit Morgan straight in the chest. The vampire collapsed on the ground, all life gone from her eyes.

"No!" Hermione shouted. She had stopped running. The wind had been knocked out of her. Only Harry kept going, but too late: Crowley was already outside the charm's boundaries. He spun on his heel and out of sight. The last thing Hermione saw was his snickering face as he apparated out of her reach.

A/N: Please don't forget to let me know what you think so far! What do you think is going to happen? Maybe if I get a lot of reviews I will decide to make a happy ending... it's all still up in the air (;