Since Halloween is upon us once again I'm going to do a bit of self-promotion and tell you all to go read 'D is for Draco' just for a light, slightly funny (if I do say so myself) story that gets everyone in a Halloween-y mood…if you haven't already. It's on my author's page. I'm quite proud of it and it was written last year for GE's Samhain challenge. Ready, set, read! LOL. Oh and here's another update! This is my longest chapter yet so at least I've given you more, right? After this there's only one chapter left – that, or I will split it in two. We will see. A warning that this section contains character death. Hope you all enjoy!
L Cailan
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Western London
Hermione awoke.
She struggled to sit up and found that she was able to move her hands and feet quite easily. At first she was unaware of what had happened; she was floating on a sea of nothingness. The sweet relief only lasted another moment before Hermione's pained memories crashed against the edges of her mind.
Pansy's words…Fenrir's laugh…the way she had attacked him…
And then, finally, Blaise's triumphant smile as her defensive curse had failed…
Where am I? Why didn't he kill me?
She jumped from the sofa and dashed across the room to the small wooden door on the opposite side. Her heart beat wildly in anticipation but of course she knew it would be locked and her hand clamped down on the brass knob in frustration.
Giving up Hermione turned, pressing her back against the door to survey her surroundings. The room was most definitely a prison but very much unlike the ones she had experienced in years past. It was small and had no windows and only a sofa and chair opposite a tiny fireplace that glowed with the last faint embers of a previous fire. A mirror hung above the marbled mantle and a vase decorated a small table that sat in front of the sofa.
It reminded Hermione of an austere, sparsely decorated hotel room.
There was no room to hide and no place where one could put their belongings. There were no other doors leading out of the small space. She was a prisoner.
As she stared down at the worn wooden floor and the glorious Turkish rug that lay centered between the sofa and fireplace, frustration began to resonate within Hermione. She wrapped her arms around her thin shoulders and began to pace.
Her steps were slow at first and then they increased as fury took over. Within minutes she was raging from corner to corner, angry and determined to somehow escape – no matter what the odds were. Now was not the time to think of Neville or Draco; now the only thing that mattered was Leo.
Pansy got me this far! Now I'm on my own!
She rushed towards the door once more, yanking on the doorknob as hard as she could, as if her sheer strength would open it. Of course, she was still locked.
Wand less magic! I must know something…
Closing her eyes, Hermione searched the memory banks of her mind hoping to come up with something useful. But either the despair had clouded her thinking or there simply was nothing because in the end she came up empty.
With a cry of frustration, Hermione kicked the door and then began to jiggle the knob back and forth in her rage.
"Hush, Hermione."
It was a muffled, soft female voice and it stopped Hermione in her tracks.
"W-what?" she rasped in shock.
"You must hush."
Heart hammering, Hermione pressed herself against the door.
"W-who are you? Open this door! Please, open this door!"
"He'll hear you."
There was no movement on the other side even as Hermione strained to hear something. The voice held a faint familiarity though she could not quite place where she had heard it before. Tears of sheer relief flooded her vision.
"Please," she whispered this time, struggling for a calm she didn't feel. "Please, let me out. I must get to my son!"
She grabbed for the doorknob once more and her sweat-slippery hand couldn't quite grip it. As she held onto the brass tightly Hermione felt the knob shift and the scraping sound of a key within it. She let go with a whimper and then watched as the door creaked open slowly.
Padma Patil stood framed in the doorway, standing in an empty, heavily carpeted hallway.
"Oh, my God! Padma!"
The words fell from Hermione's lips as she threw herself into the arms for her former schoolmate. She was so relieved to seen a familiar face that she was trembling. Even though Padma was gently trying to extricate herself from Hermione's tight embrace, the other woman refused to let go. They stood in the hallway, illuminated only by the flickering of candles in the sconces on the walls. When Hermione pulled away she noted the deep lines along Padma's coffee-colored skin.
"What's he done to you?" she whispered with sympathy.
Padma only stared, an unreadable expression in her inky black eyes.
"Nothing," she whispered.
"What's he got you prisoner for? You have to help me! We can escape together; I have to find my son and then we can escape! He's got Neville and D-draco-"
Padma shook her head.
"He won't hurt them."
Hermione's heart stopped in shock at Padma's matter-of-fact admission. Her mind whirled violently.
"Padma, he's insane," she whispered.
"No, he's not the way you think he is."
When Hermione tried to step back, shaking her head in disbelief, Padma pulled out her wand.
"Don't move."
Blaise was pacing.
The sound of his booted feet against the smooth cement floor was soothing.
His eyes were half-closed and he moved as if he were in a trace. The reality was that Blaise wished to forget the innocent, gray eyes of Draco Malfoy's son. Even a thought of the little boy imprisoned in the room below the one Blaise was in now was enough to drown him in guilt – an emotion that was alien to him for he had forgotten his conscience long ago.
He wondered why it was that particular boy – Draco's offspring with a whore – that made him feel guilt.
Could it have been the thought of his daughter, Daisy? Was it the loss of his marriage and a wife he had willingly thrown away?
Or was it the fact that no matter how Blaise had tried, he hadn't been able to break the little boy.
What sort of boy could possess such strength?
The boy had asked for food; Blaise had withheld it.
The boy had asked for his parents, asking both for the bitch and the Minister; Blaise had refused to answer his questions.
I hafta pee. You gotta let me pee, don't you?
The question hadn't even been one of pleading – it had been almost a demand.
He should have been terrified and there he was, demanding me! Me, the man who ought to be more powerful than-
Blaise had tried to humiliate the child, making him go in his trousers, and forcing him to wallow in his own filth. The small cell had reeked of urine and still the boy had not faltered. There had been no tears, no screaming nor crying.
An hour's time had passed and Blaise found himself moving back to the narrow stone stairway that led down to the boy's cell. He was still standing in the same place, clutching the metal rungs of his tiny prison.
"Look at you, boy. You're filthy and disgusting."
Nothing flickered in the boy's large, grey eyes.
"I want my Mama."
There it was again – not a request but almost a demand – and from a boy merely six years old!
Blaise studied the child with contempt.
"Your Mama is filthy, just like you are, boy. Did you know that?"
The boy said nothing, his eyes growing wider.
"She's a filthy whore. Do you know what a whore is?"
The boy blinked.
"Where is Daddy Neville?"
Blaise offered a nasty smile.
"Do you know that your Mama doesn't even love your Daddy Neville?" he mocked.
There it was; there was a tremble to the boy's lip – a crack in his seemingly strong will. Blaise continued.
"When it comes down to it she would rather save a no good Death Eater bastard. She wasn't as worried about you and your Daddy as she was about saving the life of the man she's cheating with. Did you know that?"
The boy watched Blaise, his lower lip sticking out slightly and his eyes suddenly swimming with uncertainty.
"You were going to find out eventually, boy. I'm going to tell you now. Neville's not your real father. Your father is a Death Eater."
The boy gripped the metal bars of his prison.
"No!" he stated emphatically. It was the first word he had spoken since Blaise had begun to torment him.
"Alas, it is true."
"You're a liar and I don't hafta listen to you!" the little boy yelled.
Hermione was frozen in the middle of the candlelit hallway, completely at Padma's mercy. The dark-skinned woman pointed her wand forward.
"Lumos," she whispered.
Hermione opened her mouth but nothing came out and then Padma gave her a soft push.
"That way," she urged, pointing her illuminated wand down the east side of the hallway. Hermione felt herself being steered forward and walked in front of Padma in a robotic fashion.
"This is insane," she found herself whispering, wishing her voice didn't sound so…loud. She feared that somehow Blaise was in control of Padma.
She must be Imperioused!
A sliver of doubt pierced Hermione's heart.
But what if she's not? What if this is her choice and she's willingly following that…that-
The hallway ended and they moved through a small door into another hallway. This one sloped downwards and there were no carpets there. It was cooler as if they were moving underground.
"Padma, please…"
"He wouldn't hurt you."
"You don't know him! He's evil…he's…he's…"
Suddenly Hermione felt Padma pull on her long, dark robe.
"Stop."
Hermione complied, lowering her head and waiting. She felt Padma's footsteps moving around her, stopping just in front of her. Cautiously, she looked up to see a deeply saddened look on the other woman's face.
Padma looked ancient.
"Hermione, I know you probably hate me."
"No, I could never hate you! It was you and all the other members of the Alliance that helped people like me…Muggle-borns, I mean."
There was a long silence and Hermione could feel Padma's tension.
"That's right, the Alliance."
"Padma…I-"
Padma interrupted Hermione's faltering words by grabbing her hand and squeezing tightly.
"Everyone looked at me like I was betraying them, like I was betraying Neville, but…I couldn't just abandon Blaise! He's the reason the Alliance won the war! Without him surely we would have failed!"
Hermione lifted her head and her eyes flickered over Padma's expression. There was nothing there to indicate that she was under any curse or other spell. Could it be?
She's simply showing loyalty to a man she believes helped protect her all those years. And he did. That's just the problem; people change and Blaise is no longer that man! But how to convince her?
Taking a deep breath, the curly-haired woman shook her head.
"I know how you feel; I know what it feels like to stand alone, Padma."
Padma offered a sigh.
"Do you? I abandoned my friends. They all…"
She shuddered and her grip loosed a touch.
"All those years in Paddington were the worst of my life. But having Lavender and Parvati with me…it made things better. Blaise loved Lavender; he loved his daughter. He protected us while we were living in that flat. I know it; he's not awful…he's not the way they say he is!"
In spite of her choked whispers, Padma managed to sound passionate.
Hermione's eyes flooded with burning tears.
"He tried…he tried to murder my husband," she choked out. "He's destroyed his own wife and abandoned his daughter. And just…just now, just…b-before he brought me here he tried to…"
Hermione's soft sobbing filled the room.
Hermione was gone.
Draco had fallen to his knees, his whole body aching, his eyes burning with the bright green light of the Killing Curse he had nearly succumbed to.
And what did it matter? What did it matter that Hermione had saved him yet again? Did he want to live and breathe if she was not at his side?
So close…they had been so close to confronting Blaise and yet…he had been one step ahead. Tears of anger and shame burned behind his closed eyelids. Once more he could see the horrific scene before him.
Blaise had attacked first; Hermione had pushed Draco out of the way, casting a defensive spell around them. There had been a burst of brilliant color as both spells collided in the middle of the abandoned street. Blaise had attacked again and Hermione had grabbed Draco's hand, telling him to go…go…
She had saved him yet again and he had run.
Why?
Why had he run? Why had he been so weak?
Draco shook with anger as he worked to gather breath into the tightness of his lungs. His head swam from exhaustion and pain. He could still see Hermione's pale, white face and the determination in the depths of her eyes – eyes that had gone dark and hard.
Go…go…he should only have one of us. If he has us both it's over. Go...
She had been right; she was always right, Draco knew.
Standing up straight he was able to push through the swell of pain and dizziness for a moment so that he could see clearly. Now he was more alone than he had been in a long time. On the run from the Alliance, Draco had clung to the hope that he might find Hermione again. Having found her he had also found his heart and his family.
And now it had all been taken from him.
She's been trying to save me this whole, bloody time! The least thing I can do is return that favor.
He looked towards the alleyway leading away from Knockturn Alley. Then he turned towards the Tabernacle.
Nothing stirred.
He knew he didn't have a wand and surely didn't have much time – but he would do anything to save Hermione. And if he didn't he would die trying.
They ran out of the abandoned, brick building, holding their wands aloft.
"Nothing!" Terry Boot called out and Dean's face fell a fraction. "I reckon it's been abandoned for a long time."
As Terry moved away, towards the rest of the Alliance remnant, Dean turned from the group, hiding his growing concern.
"Bloody balls!"
Seamus had been standing too close and he heard Dean's soft curse.
"Mate, listen-"
Dean stopped him with a vicious swipe of his hand.
"Don't. If Lee were still alive, he'd know where Blaise has gone! Crikey but I'm a fool to think that I could-"
Dean glanced at Seamus with a pained expression.
"Somehow I've been sodding stuck being the leader of this group and I'm sending them on a wild chase! And every moment we waste means that Neville might die and I can't fucking do this anymore!"
Seamus knew that if he grew agitated with his friend things would only get worse. He willed himself to be calm.
"Look, all of us are in this together, and we'll find him."
Dean stared at Seamus with reproach.
"Lor love a duck! Are you mental? Did you see how many of our former Alliance walked out of that orphanage this morning when I merely suggested we go after Blaise? He's not stupid, Seamus and at one time…he was the only hope we had and people won't forget that."
He hung his head, hands clenched together.
"And the rest of us still can't understand why one of our own…why Hermione-"
He stopped, shaking his head.
"There's too much division and too many people looking in different directions. I told you, a house divided will fall. We will fail."
Seamus glared at Dean.
"Stop this! We can't fail! I sodding put my life and future on the line here and I won't let you give up on us!"
The tension was thick and the others that were in the group, those who could hear only snippets of the argument, grew uncertain and frightened.
"Oi, Dean, where to now?" questioned Ernie, his pale face quizzical.
"Give me a moment," Dean replied firmly.
But he didn't feel firm; he felt like he was drowning and no one could save him. Seamus shoved a wrinkled map into his hand and lifted his wand over it to offer light in the fading afternoon.
"He's one man in a whole city!" Dean bemoaned. "And we've got no time."
There was a crack from behind them. For a moment the air shifted and then Ginny stood between the two men, her eyes shining and her voice breathlessly.
"I know where he is."
The air churned around them signaling a storm to come.
"Merlin's beard, Gin," Dean whispered, his mouth going dry.
"But you have to trust me."
Her face was flushed from exertion but there was no mistaking the look of determination that lingered there.
Dean stepped back.
"Look, if this is dangerous we've got more than enough people to help."
"No, it's not that…"
She motioned behind her to the woman that neither man had noticed.
"It's her."
Dean stared, his face frozen in surprise.
"I thought we agreed there would be no Death Eaters-"
Ginny shook her head.
"Stop this, Dean. We have to work together if we're going to find Neville and Hermione and you know it. Take the help!"
The dark-haired woman looked up, her violet eyes flickering with dark emotions she would never be able to speak of. He hadn't know her in school; he didn't know her now.
"So?" he said tersely and as he spoke, Seamus backed away with mistrust.
"I know where he is," Pansy Parkinson said. "Hermione needs our help and I promised. She needs all of us."
Padma's eyes were unreadable in the heavy shadows of the hallway and Hermione felt the relief she had felt only minutes before fading away, being swallowed by the oppressive gloom around them.
"Hermione, I'm not the only one."
"What?"
"I'm not the only one that believed in Blaise. We all did; even you did."
The truth could not be disputed. Hermione knew that at one time she had trusted Blaise Zabini.
"People change," she pointed out in a whisper, hoping to make Padma see.
The other woman remained firm in her loyalties.
"You know how it is to be ridiculed! You went through hell and back all those years under the old Ministry. I know it; I saw it happen all the time but we suffered too! All of us pureblooded and willing to help…"
She shook her head, a faraway look in her eyes.
"My sister died for the cause and I won't forget Blaise and how kind he was. I can't do that, Hermione. Please, don't ask me to."
Hermione knew that there would be others like Padma; Blaise would not be alone, not even at the end.
"He's after my son," she choked out. "He's after N-Neville and each moment we stand here…"
But she faded away knowing that there would be no help here. Blaise would have made sure of that, wouldn't he?
Padma gently steered Hermione onwards and they went through another, smaller door. Here the path grew narrower and the walls and floors became stone and cement as if they had passed from a home into a tunnel leading downwards. Here the only light came from infrequent, flickering candles against the walls and Padma's wand light.
"Where are you taking me?"
Hermione hadn't wanted to ask the question and her voice echoed uncertainly in the small, stone space. But it didn't matter; Padma did not offer a reply.
Eventually Hermione felt Padma's hand and she ground to a halt trying to see beyond the weak light.
"He'll be here any moment."
Hermione walked into a room that was bigger than the one she had been imprisoned in earlier. She couldn't see much but she could feel the space around her. Padma waved her wand and the room was lit up. For a moment, Hermione felt disoriented but then she heard the most beautiful voice in the whole world.
"Mama!"
Everyone looked towards the newcomer and somehow Ginny felt the need to stand between the Alliance and Pansy, just in case. After all, if there was one thing she had learned from life it was that hatred made people do horrid things.
Dean was scowling.
"I thought we had made it clear that the Death Eaters stayed behind! Isn't it enough that somehow we all got roped into helping them?" he accused, his black eyes flashing towards Ginny and Pansy.
Ginny refused to be deterred.
"Have you found Blaise yet, Dean?" she questioned. "Isn't each second that slips by harder than the last, knowing that Neville still hasn't been found?"
Dean's face hardened and Seamus shook his head, blue eyes widening.
"Ginny, you shouldn't-"
"No," Dean interrupted coldly, from between clenched teeth. "No, I-we haven't found him."
Without wanting to, he glanced warily towards Pansy.
"Now you're gonna blither on about how you knew where he is, are you?"
There was a heavy silence as the others nearby had stopped murmuring to themselves and were now watching Dean with rapt attention. Pansy's shoulders slumped.
"I know you don't have a reason to trust me."
There was a long hesitation before the woman looked up to grace Dean with a violet-hued, glittery stare. There was uncertainty in her manner as she continued.
"But I know Blaise Zabini. For a long time we worked together as Commanders of the alienages. I know how he thinks and I know…"
She stopped, taking a breath.
"He is a brilliant man and for as long as I can remember, while we rose in the Ministry ranks, I had always found myself threatened by him. Some people are thrust into power and others…"
There was no sound and Seamus cleared his throat.
"It's Neville you talk of, to be sure," he muttered.
"I think he's a great man," Pansy assured. "I wouldn't have risked coming here otherwise. He is the rightful Minister and if you don't hurry then the British Ministry will once again be lead by a tyrant. No one wants that – least of all myself."
The looks worn by the weary remnants of the former Alliance were ones of disdain and Pansy had to look away.
"I know you've been through hell and back. But I know how that feels! Don't you see, he's done to us what we did to you."
She trembled.
"I've known hunger, pain, fear – I've felt it all. I felt it long before the old Ministry fell and I know it even more now. They've taken my dignity…my wand…my power. I am nothing and if I could go back and change what-"
Dean stopped Pansy abruptly.
"Save your breath; no one wants to hear this."
His voice was rough but beneath that there were fissures caused by his growing sympathy. In spite of himself, Dean could not see a reason why this woman – this heartless creature – would lie. Not now, not when she risked her very life.
She had looked away from him but when she glanced up at him again she had not lost the steady determination that had possessed her earlier.
"Let me help. Let me at least begin to make up for all the pain I've caused."
"You know where he is? You say Hermione was with you?"
She nodded.
"She was and I do."
A silence fell upon the small group gathered in the empty field where the alienage had once stood. When no one spoke, Pansy dared to.
"What you forget," she managed to whisper, "is that Blaise was a master of disillusionment. It is how he managed to thwart Bellatrix and some of the other Ministry Officials. He was able to make people see only what he wanted them to see."
She then raised her wand, her hand trembling slightly.
"There," she whispered.
They turned to look. On the gray horizon stood a tiny, brick building and beyond that a path through a clearing that led towards a line of trees.
Dean began to move quickly, his heart hammering wildly.
Why? Why didn't I think-?
Panic rose up from within him as the clearing revealed what normally would have been another unimpressive brick structure. He motioned towards the others.
"Come on!"
They ran towards the building and then Dean raised his wand.
"Revelio.."
He began to mutter an incantation under his breath but those around him caught on quickly and as the spell was cast the air around them seem to shift, moving and swirling until all traces of the disillusionment charms that Blaise cast had been cleared away.
The house stood where it had always stood; it was a grand brick structure and had been sold to Voldemort's Ministry a year before they had built the alienage. Now that the old Ministry had fallen and the alienages with it the house had fallen into disuse.
It had been Blaise's perfect hideaway. And now it was revealed to all.
Hermione had only a few moments within which to reach out towards her son, who was caged like an animal in the corner of the dimly-lit stone-walled room.
"Leo," she choked out, running forward and falling to her knees before her child.
"Mama! I wanted to see you! Da bad man said no! Da bad man-"
"Hush, my little one," Hermione murmured hoping to instill peace in Leo even if it was only for a few moments. His little hands were cold when she reached to wrap her own around them and he would not let go of the bars.
"Mama, I wanna be free!"
"I know, love, I know…"
But how?
She scrambled to her feet frantically turning around to face Padma and standing between the onyx-haired woman and her son protectively.
"Please," she choked out, her eyes wide. "Let us go; I promise I won't ever say-"
There might have been a flicker of uncertainty on Padma's face but before anything else could be said the room was filled with a loud popping sound and Hermione gasped as Blaise appeared before her, clutching Neville by his side tightly.
Neville was bound and gagged, his head lolling to the side. Hermione couldn't recall having ever seen him so…worn. Behind her Leo began to cry out and she felt her already stricken heart breaking further.
"So you've come."
Blaise's voice was the epitome of warmth though Hermione knew better.
"Perhaps now he will understand that I am serious."
With a shove, Neville stumbled forward, bleary eyes opening. There were sounds coming from behind his gag but Hermione could not make them out.
"Neville," she moaned, rushing to his side, forgetting that there was so much more at stake. Blaise watched with interest.
"Shall I take off the gag?"
With a wave of his wand the gag was gone and with it the bindings that had Neville imprisoned. He stumbled in surprise and fell into Hermione, knocking them both to the ground and causing Leo to let out another shriek. Hermione managed to sit up, helping Neville do the same for she could see his sheer exhaustion.
"Neville, thank God you're alive!" she sighed with relief, glad to be holding on to him, glad that he was warm and awake and so very much-
"Now," Blaise said standing before them with a look of interesting about him. "I won't make this difficult for either of you."
Hermione and Neville stared up at Blaise wordlessly.
"I want the Ministry."
He crouched before them.
"Resign now and name me your successor and I will let you, your whore of a wife and bastard son live."
Hermione gasped, feeling tears of shame burning behind her eyes. She had long-ago forgiven herself but she knew her past would never be forgotten.
Neville's mouth opened but nothing came out. Blaise leaned closer.
"If you don't, I will kill the child first and then you. I will make it look as if the whore did and no one will be the wiser. After that, I will take the Ministry by force. So you see, you have no choice."
Hermione paled and she glanced at Neville who looked defeated. Blaise waited for a few anguished seconds.
"Did all these people have to die, Minister? Will you let your family die too?"
There were tears shining in Neville's eyes as he finally gave in.
"Fine…fine. The Ministry is yours," he croaked and it was met with Blaise's smile of triumph.
Pansy stood at the door, motioning to the others.
"Not all of us should go in," she instructed tersely. "He will be waiting for an ambush; he always plans one step ahead. Dean and Seamus hesitated, turning to the others in their group.
"What of them?"
Pansy thought quickly.
"We will need wards. Something to ensure that Blaise cannot Apparate if he panics. We must make this his prison if we are to stop him."
The others surrounded the building and soon there were swirls of magic in the air as incantations fell from cracked and trembling lips. The four that remained stood at the door. Just as Dean pushed at the door they heard a cry from behind them.
"Be careful! He's got Hermione! He's got Hermione and my son!"
There was a shocked silence as Ginny, Dean, Seamus and Pansy turned to find Draco standing behind them, bloodied and wand less.
"Let me help, please."
Blaise knew that although triumph was so close he could taste it, he had little time to savor the spoils of victory. He had to move; he had to move quickly. He knew they would come because he had always known that Thomas and the rest of the Alliance that remained were formidable opponents. He had seen too many times their determination and fortitude in battle and now the battle would be against him.
He quickly waved his wand and a magical contract floated towards Neville.
He would have Longbottom sign and then he would have Padma go to the Ministry. She would have to hurry; he would not allow her to Apparate for he feared that there were wards surrounding his hideaway. Surely by now the members of the Alliance had found him and were simply lying in wait.
They would not find him. By the time they did it would be too late and he would take his rightful place as Minister for Magic.
"Sign it," he ordered as Neville gripped a quill in his shaking hand. The ink glowed on the parchment and with another flick of his wand, Blaise held the binding contract in his fist.
The Ministry was his.
Quickly he turned to his accomplice.
"Go quickly; I have little time to spare. Give this to the Ministry and ensure that they are aware that the Minister has resigned. Go the back way and kill anyone who gets in your way."
Hermione gasped.
"Padma, no!"
Blaise laughed as the dark-haired woman disappeared at his orders.
"You think that just because my goodness is tarnished that there still won't be those who will never forget the good I have done? You gormless bint! I have more supporters than I have foes! The Ministry is mine and I will lead with the same power that I led the Alliance."
Hermione willed herself not to cry as Neville pointed towards a crying Leo.
"We held up our end of your agreement; let the boy go."
Blaise sneered.
"After all that she's done you still remain loyal," he said shaking his head. "She's nothing but a whore and you stand by her side? Do you know that her lover is still alive? This whole time your marriage has been a farce! Wouldn't you rather die now than know that she will leave you as soon as she gets the chance?"
Hermione wanted to curse Blaise; she wanted to destroy him so that he could never hurt anyone ever again. But a deeper part of her knew that some of what he was saying was true; she was at fault. She had allowed herself to love two men even though her heart belonged to only one. She reached up, her icy-cold hands running along the sides of his face. She willed him to look at her and took the burden of the pain she saw in his eyes.
"It isn't the way he says," Hermione whispered, leaning close to place a chaste kiss to the side of Neville's mouth. "I have loved you; I have loved you a long time and in the best way I know how. If you believe anything, I want you to believe that."
When she pulled away tears of emotion glittered in her eyes.
"Please, you have to believe me, Neville. I would never have intentionally hurt you. Not after everything you've done for me."
Neville watched her quizzically and for a few moments it was like the rest of the world – all the horrors – melted away.
"My Hermione," he whispered.
She nodded, smiling for a second through her tears.
"Yes, yes, I will always be yours in some way! I'm so sorry! I'm sorry this happened to us but especially to you! You deserve so much more than I could ever give you and I promise when this is over I'm going to do everything I can to make this right."
Neville sat, dumbfounded for a few seconds, gently running his fingers through her thick, messy curls. How he had loved this woman! How she had changed his mind and his heart – and made him forget all the disappointments in life. And how cruel it was that she was watching him and he simply knew that everything they had ever shared had changed.
"I wanted to tell you the whole truth," Hermione emphasized, reaching up to clasp his hand in hers tightly, hoping to make him believe how she felt. "I wanted to but then the teacup…"
She shook her head.
"There just wasn't time and I was so afraid," she finished lamely.
"Is it Draco?" Neville guessed. "Is Zabini right?"
Hermione hung her head in shame and she did not have to speak for Neville to know the truth. In spite of this he did not let go of her hand.
"I am sorry too. I am sorry for trying to make you a woman you weren't. I am sorry for not understanding your pain and for pushing you."
He leaned press his clammy cheek against her heated one.
"Thank you for making me someone I didn't think I could be. You've given me strength, Hermione."
His eyes watered.
"And I will always love you."
Pulling away he straightened himself and with Hermione's assistance, he stood.
"Give Hermione her son. You've gotten what you wanted; I will leave England and go back to Cardiff. You won't see me again."
Blaise who had watched the duo with a nearly sadistic interest, cocked his head.
"Never let it be said that Blaise Zabini was not a man of his word," he stated finally, and as he waved his wand the magical cage melted away, freeing Leo to run towards his mother.
But before any of them could move again there was a loud explosion from the door on the other of the room and as it flew open Hermione saw Ginny, Dean, Seamus, Draco and Pansy rush into the room, wands held high. They surrounded him and Blaise cursed himself for his timing. If he had just hurried the bitch up, if he had just taken the contract and fled the building…
Now he saw them – those who had fought on his side once and even those who had fought against him, fought with him and now had changed sides yet again! He would have to focus on the intruders for he knew the bitch had no wand and the former Minister was to weak to fight. It was these new ones that would be the problem. Without another thought, Blaise dodged the sudden red flashes of light and ran towards the opposite side of the room, deflecting the curses that were cast at him.
He would reach the door and Apparate.
Somehow the room was ablaze all of a sudden. Red and orange flames licked up along the stone walls and caused the heavy drapes that lined them to catch fire, the smoke black and oily. The room was too small to contain such a burning blaze and soon there was only the sound of coughing and the little boy's wails of fear.
"Stupefy!"
One of them yelled this across the room and Blaise threw himself to the floor and crawled towards the steps that he knew would be there. The smoke hadn't reached them; he might be safe. Let them all die down there for all he cared!
"Sectumsempra!"
This time it was Dean and he was much, much to close. The spell hit its target and Blaise screamed for a split second as the pain ripped along his body.
I cannot stop now! All my life I have had those who would stop me; I will not let them succeed!
Anger fueled him and it filled him with a white-hot determination that burned hotter than the fire around them. He rolled aside, away from his escape, clutching his wand tightly. Then, leaping to his feet, Blaise looked in Dean's direction.
The smoke cleared and Blaise targeted his foe.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The green light filled the room almost erasing the golden glow of the fire and Blaise watched triumphantly as Dean Thomas fell dead.
Within one minute of the battle one of them had already fallen.
Draco fell to the ground after Dean, working quickly to claim the fallen man's wand. There was no time for pain now, no time to cry and wail. He had seen death too much to be shocked; nothing would ever shock him again. The wand was hot and solid in his fingers and Draco relished having such power again, jumping back to his feet and nearly choking on the acrid smoke. It was hard to see and between the orange flames and the billowing, black smoke no one knew their right from left.
He could only hear one thing – the cries of his son. And that was what pushed him onwards.
Blaise was trying to escape, stumbling once again in the direction of the stone stairway leading up. Dean had tried to stop his progress and Draco knew that by now the other man must have been weak from blood loss. He would be slower; this would be the time if there ever had been.
Draco didn't hesitate again.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Everything moved in slow motion as he watched Blaise drop to the ground like a dead weight and the curse hit the wall and bounced back.
"GET DOWN!"
Two minutes had passed and Draco did not know if the others had heeded his warning.
"YOU DARE LIFT YOUR WAND AGAINST ME?"
Blaise had managed to get back to his feet and Draco saw him charging across the room, coming in and out of focus through the thick smoke.
"AFTER EVERYTHING I DID FOR YOU?"
His voice echoed the rage that flowed through his body but Draco stood his ground hoping that if there was an altercation that he would be the one to face it.
"I'LL SHOW YOU!"
There was scuffling from behind and Draco turned to see Ginny moving to shield Hermione and Leo as Seamus reached down to help Neville get to his feet. They were the ones without wands and to get them out of the room – at least through the door that they had blown open – was imperative.
Draco could deal with everything else so long as he knew Hermione was safe.
"Relashio!"
Blaise deflected Pansy's curse and she went flying against one of the far walls as he deflected it back towards her with a cry of shock. Seamus leapt forward a white light jetting out from the tip of his wand but this, too, Blaise was able to deflect.
"Malfoy, you're a fool for ever thinking you could get away from me!"
With a violent shove he managed to grab the blond man by his hair. He yanked hard causing Draco to wince in pain, tears of pain flooding his vision. Blaise pulled him tight.
"I would outright kill her but I think I'd like you to watch her die," he whispered as he quickly deflected a curse from Ginny causing the right sight of the room to explode in a flash of bright light.
Draco fought against Blaise's grip but it seemed as if the taller man was invincible. The smoke cleared and he caught a glimpse of Hermione as she clutched Leo to her side turning him away from the fire and carnage. Though she could do little without a wand she was fighting valiantly to ensure that her son saw nothing – even if these would be their last few moments on Earth.
Blaise gave no one time to pause.
"Sectumsempra!" he cried out his wand shaking in his grip.
Draco could see that the man was weakening now from his own severe loss of blood. But still he fought as if moved by some unholy force.
Time stopped. Hermione attempted to crawl away, still protecting Leo. Draco held his breath as he finally broke free of Blaise's grip and flung him off viciously, pushing away so that he could better grip Dean's wand. Then from the smoke came an unearthly cry.
"NOOOOOOO!"
Draco knew that voice; it was Neville's.
Neville sprung into action and threw himself forward from where he had fallen, becoming a shield for his wife and the boy he had called his own son for years. The curse hit him squarely in the chest, ripping him apart. He lay still and Blaise prepared to finish Hermione and the boy.
"Leave my family alone, you bastard!"
Surprised and shocked that Draco would even dare defy him once again, the dark-skinned man turned just in time to stare into the eyes of the man that would finish him off for good.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Blaise blinked in the face of the blinding, green light and the last thing Draco saw as those words fell from his lips was his look of despair and shock. Then Blaise fell dead and with his death came a terrible silence. Not even Leo cried.
Was it over now? Only six minutes had passed but those minutes had seemed like six lifetimes. Rendered immobile, the four still standing stared at each other through the burning smoke and orange flames. In the corner, Hermione and Leo rocked Neville who clung to life, gasping for air. He had saved the lives of Draco's family sacrificing everything – possibly including his life.