Draco was on full alert scanning their surroundings, but time was short. "Hermione. Hermione, remember what we talked about. We have to go."
She stood back from Neville wiping her eyes. "Sorry Draco, I remember. Neville, do you trust me? I need you to side along with me to a safe place. I have so much to tell you."
Neville looked at her with a shy smile brushing away her tears. "Of course Hermione. Wherever you want."
Hermione managed to smile and took his hand. Joining their arms she looked once at Draco, and he nodded. They all turned on the spot and arrived at Grimmauld Place. She let them in, and they got comfortable in the parlor.
Hermione asked Draco to go make tea for them. He grinned and left her alone with him. "I want you to know that what I'm about to tell you will be hard for you to believe. I'm not going to sugar coat it and when I'm finished, well, what you do about it is up to you. If you have any questions I think I can answer them for you. If not I'm sure Draco can."
She went on to tell Longbottom all about the mission Dumbledor had sent them on. How he hadn't told any of them any details about how to find or destroy them. How they had wasted months on the run trying to guess at the answers. Almost as if he expected or wanted them to fail. That Snape was a double agent on their side. Then she spoke of the prophecy and how two boys born that year qualified as the chosen one. How she now believed that Dumbledor had used Harry as a decoy so that when he died Riddle would be relaxed and open to attack. "Harry wasn't the chosen one Neville. Riddle got it wrong. You are."
Neville sat there stunned. It was the first time he'd heard all of it, but it somehow felt true. Many of the things that Dumbledor had said to him and asked of him behind the scenes made sense now. He thought perhaps he was being groomed as an alternate for Harry. A secondhand spare in case the worst happened. When all the time Dumbledor knew Harry would be sacrificed in the end and he would need to step up and take over. "I thought he loved Harry like a son. Instead, he was just keeping him going as a smoke screen. And Harry never knew, did he. He thought he was the chosen one like everyone did. All the guilt he carried around because of all those who died to protect him." Neville stood before the cold fireplace and stared into space trying to absorb it all. "Hermione. Can you give me a little space. I need to think about this, alone."
Hermione went to him and kissed his cheek. "I'll be in the kitchen with Draco."
oopOqoo
"So how'd it go? Did he believe you?"
Hermione nodded her head and sat next to Draco. She picked up his hand for comfort and sighed. "I gave him everything we know. It was a lot for him to absorb, but I think he believed me. He almost seemed relieved. Like he'd had a pile of questions that no one would ever explain, until now."
"What about you Hermione? How are you dealing with this? Your whole life in the wizarding world has been about helping Harry survive and succeed. You will have to let someone else take over now. Can you do it?" Draco was looking at her with such worry on his face.
She smiled and kissed him gently. "It's not about me. I will still fight and help where I can. If Neville needs me I will be there."
Draco didn't want to tell her that he had no intention of letting her fight. They would cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, it was sufficient that she trusted him enough to hold his hand.
When Draco had returned to the manor to tell Hermione about the deal he had made with Longbottom "It seems destiny has lent a hand at last." Hermione was delighted and agreed at once. He wanted to be honest with her, so he told her the stipulation he had. She could only go through with this if she agreed to come back to the manor with him. Hermione put up a fight, but when she saw that he was still holding all the cards, she relented.
With Hermione's help they obliviated an unconscious Goyle, giving him a false memory of being grabbed and beaten by unknown assailants, then Draco took him away. He dumped the idiot in a particularly bad part of Hogsmeade and gave him a few more bruises for his own satisfaction. He would be found the next day without his valuables.
On Draco's return she threw herself at him and cried for a while. Seeing Goyle's memories had returned her to the terror of being pinned under him. Draco kissed her tears away and healed her injuries quickly. It invariably became a much more heated meeting.
He held her close as she began to remove his clothes, kissing him frantically. She desperately needed to have Draco's touch remove the memory of Goyle on her skin. He had lost his trousers and shirt quickly as buttons skipped about the room. Then he was backed up to and pushed down on the bed. Hermione jumped on him pulling her dress up, straddling his hips. She began to rock and rub her naked quim on his hardening erection. Placing hot kisses and nips on his throat, her fingers causing red marks on his chest.
Not realizing where this aggression was coming from, Draco liked this new
Hermione, grabbing her sides to pull her closer, squeezing and fondling her bum. He tilted his head back upon the pillow. Closing his eyes in bliss as she grasped his shoulders for deeper penetration. He was startled by a sudden slap on his face and looked at her puzzled. "What the Hell?"
Hermione grinned evilly at him, her subconscious anger finding an outlet. "A taste of your own medicine Malfoy." She grabbed his jaw. "Look at me, now raise your arms above your head. You will watch me when I take you. I must be sure you're not hiding anything." Her dress then flew off and landed on the floor.
Draco was astonished and delighted, as he followed her commands. He was planning on gently bringing her back to their intimacy, but it seemed she wanted, or needed more. Hermione had such a beautiful body, and he was glad to see it in original condition. His mouth watered anticipating the taste of her skin. Hermione groaned and lifted herself over him, grasping his cock and sliding down on it in a single movement. His grunt and her sigh expressing and reaffirming their need. She rode him like a demon, even growling and using obscenities. She screamed her pleasure. Her pussy contracting tightly around him, causing his climax as it sucked him dry.
Hermione hit the mattress next to him but turned her back. When Draco could speak again he became concerned at her silence, the binding spell broken. "That was incredible love. I'd never guess you had it in you." He rolled over and pulled her back to see her face. He expected tears but found instead a face hard with anger.
It was not her intention that he should enjoy it so much. She wanted him to understand what it was like to be left so vulnerable. To have no control over what someone else does to your body. She had not forgotten the way he had treated her in the beginning. Goyle brought it all back. The fear, the humiliation. She wanted him to feel it like she had.
She would not look at him. She was angry with him leaving her vulnerable, and her fury came forward. "How could you Draco! How could you leave me here knowing my restrictions. Knowing I don't have a wand to defend myself. You left the door open as if to invite him back here. Obviously something you've done before? Had a witch conveniently locked away up here so you could both rape her at your leisure? Like Pansy? Is that what you meant when you said I had to please you, and your friends? What's next? A revel to be gang raped? All that bullshit about loving me from fourth year. I was a fool to believe it. I seem to still be your prisoner. I've done what you wanted, now leave me alone."
Draco was stunned into silence. She didn't believe he loved her, still thinking of herself as his prisoner, a sex toy. He felt sick inside. Draco got up from the bed, put his black satin robe on and sat in the chair, his head in his hands trying to think of the best way to start. His guilt leading the way.
"You have every right to be angry with me. I was careless with the door because I desperately wanted to get him out of the room and away from you. I was terrified of you being discovered." Draco walked over and stood next to her so he could see her face. His fists clenched at his sides. "MY BEING IN LOVE WITH YOU IS NOT BULLSHIT! DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN." That statement stung the most and he was beginning to get angry himself.