"No. You are doing the wand movement all wrong. You have to move in circles. Like a lasso." Hermione instructed Goyle.
"What is a lasso?" Goyle muttered, failing to produce a patronus for the third time.
Goyle accompanied them to the quidditch pitch so that Hermione could practice wandless magic. After she successfully blocked three consecutive stinging jinx, she insisted Malfoy work on his patronus. Once she found out Goyle had not succeeded in producing one at all, it became her mission to get him up to speed.
"Expecto Patronum!" Goyle yelled, waving his arm around him like he was trying to swat away a bee. Malfoy broke out laughing and Hermione chuckled beside herself.
"This is stupid. Malfoy just points and shoots!" He complained.
"Malfoy cannot perform a fully corporal patronus either, so I wouldn't use him as a prime example," she explained. Malfoy gave her a dark look that had a different effect on her than what he intended.
"Alright then Professor Granger, if you're so clever show us how it's done," Malfoy said, handing his wand to Hermione. The only other time he offered her his wand was when he tried to get her to obliviate his friends.
She grabbed it after another moment, the magic still as powerful as last time. It did not affect her as physically as it did before. It was as if her body recognized the magic this time and simply welcomed it back.
She cleared her throat and tried to focus her mind on her chosen memories: the day she got her Hogwarts letter, Gryffindor winning the house cup during her first year.
"Expecto Patronum." The white vapor came out of the wand, instantly taking form as the otter ran and swam around them. Goyle laughed in disbelief and Draco looked filled with pride as Hermione let the otter show off for a few more moments.
"I wasn't sure it was going to work. I've never used this wand before," she admitted, ending the cast.
"Liar. You told me you and Potter sullied my wand practicing this charm specifically." Draco teased her. She had forgotten how she tried to antagonize him when they were brewing.
"Harry was the only one who actually used it. I only said that to annoy you." She revealed as she handed it back.
"It worked." He deadpanned. There was that dark look again. Making her heart flutter and not intimidating her at all.
"Gods. Thought we'd never hear the end of it when you lost your wand. I mean, no one likes sharing but you lot take it to a whole new level." Goyle rambled on as he practiced the movements more seriously this time. "Remember when the Dark Lord required your father's? I nearly thought he was going to refuse him."
"He should have. He ended up splitting the core a few days later." Malfoy said.
"No one refuses the Dark Lord and lives, Malfoy." Goyle shrugged, as if stating a simple fact.
They tried to cast several more times before giving up. Goyle neglects to conjure even the slightest wisps of light. Hermione reminded him that it was one of the most complex charms, and that it would likely take multiple sessions before he would be able to cast it successfully. The young wizard shrugged her off, and she suspected he was quite opposed to pursuing anything that would take too much effort.
"Fancy a game? Haven't had a chance to fly in weeks." Goyle asked, tucking away his wand.
"How do you play quidditch with two people?" Hermione speculated.
"Quidditch at its core is a game of catch the snitch. First one to find it wins. Care to join?" He asked her as he summoned the brooms.
Hermione didn't want to admit in front of Goyle that she was still physically tired from their training. Luckily, Malfoy could see her reservations simply nodded. He looked around thoughtfully for a moment, before turning around his wand and handing it back to her.
"I assume you know how to put up protective enchantments?"
Hermione snatched the wand back excitedly. "Obviously."
Malfoy looked up to see Goyle was nearly out of eyesight and grabbed the front of Hermione's jumper, tugging her to him and bringing their lips together.
"No one outside of us and my father should be able to come out here. If anything trips the wards, you stun them before they get a chance to see you." He instructed the moment their lips parted.
"No one will be able to see past my enchantments." She said confidently.
"Of course they won't." He kissed her soundly one more time before releasing his snitch and joining Goyle in the air. Hermione flew through the enchantments in a manner of minutes. She spent the rest of the time laying in the grass, enjoying how easy it was to transfigure and levitate the items around her.
Malfoy's wand answered to her almost as well as her own. She had to use Bellatrix's once hers was confiscated by snatchers during the battle at Hogwarts. The wand would resist her, and she would have to fight it to do the simplest of spells. Draco's ten inch hawthorn wood however was very agreeable; she would go as far to say that it was trying to impress her. The wand much like its owner in that way.
"Pumpkin soup?" Hermione was surprised to see such a simple appetizer once they finally sat down for dinner.
"It's October." Draco looked uncomfortable for a moment before reaching for his own spoon.
"I'm not complaining. I'm just surprised you would choose it." Hermione said gently, kicking him under the table.
"I live to surprise you." He said with a wink.
"You are doing very well." She laughed as she took a sip of wine and noticed he winced again.
"What is it?" She looked towards the door. If it was the wards, she should have felt it too.
"What? Nothing. No one is coming. Everyone knows I'm to leave in the morning." He dismissed and focused his attention back on her.
"I don't think that would stop your friends." She said relaxing back into her seat.
"No it wouldn't," he agreed, "Though they are nearly our friends now, so I don't get the full blame for their behavior."
Ours. She let herself pretend it was a possibility.
"Fine by me. I happen to have several male friends." She said sweetly.
"Hm." He replied flatly. His hands froze where they were on the table as he fixed his gaze on her.
"They are hardly even my first pureblood boy friends." Satisfaction filled her when swiped his tongue over his teeth.
"Who?" He scrutinized. No wonder he liked teasing her so much, this was much more fun from this side of the equation.
"Who was your first muggle-born friend?" She took a big sip of her wine.
Draco licked his lips and leaned back in his seat. Hermione wasn't sure that he would be bothered by her suggesting she had relationships with pureblood men before him, but it seemed her façade was up. Deceiving people into giving up information was much more a strength of his house than hers.
"Mm. How long has that one been driving you mental?" He said with a devilish grin.
"Just tell me." Hermione whined, setting down her glass. "She doesn't exist. I knew it."
She hadn't forgotten Draco's comment since the day he made it. Even though the sensible part of her knew it was a lie, him willing to befriend a muggle-born while he tormented her for being one was unacceptable.
"She very much did exist." Draco countered, meeting her glare. "At some point in time."
No way.
His discomfort when she brought up brewing in the Slytherin bathroom. Draco, and Harry's duel in sixth year...
"Myrtle." Hermione must have been frowning because Draco leaned over the table and pinched her cheek. "Your first muggle-born friend was Moaning Myrtle?" She continued slapping his hand away.
"Is that so hard to believe?" He imitated offense.
"Uh, yes!"
"Just as well. She wasn't very fond of you either." Hermione's jaw dropped. The apparition did have it in for her since second year. She knew she wasn't the most amenable student in their year, but she was certainly more tolerable than Moaning Myrtle.
"Now you go." He demanded, shaking his left arm a little before pulling it back to his side of the table.
"Ron obviously."
"Oh please, Weasleys don't count." He said waving her off.
"And ghosts do?" She laughed out.
Draco hissed loudly before clamping his hand around his forearm. "Fuck!" Not a moment later there is a banging at the door.
"Get to the room now." All guises of calm were gone from his face as he vanished the food from the table.
"What's going on?" Hermione said standing up and he pulled her to him, kissing her briefly before pushing her towards the bedroom door.
"It's nothing. I'll wake you when I get back."
She hesitated but then slowly backed into the room. Draco's voice was neutral, but the concern in his eyes gave him away.
Hermione had just closed the door when Draco exited the study into the hallway, quickly followed by a crack of apparation. Whatever this 'nothing' was, it could not wait long enough for him to walk downstairs.
There was hardly enough room for Hermione to navigate between all the death eaters on the first floor. Everyone she has ever seen throughout the months seemed to be in attendance, along with several faces she had never seen before. For the first time since the day she arrived, Greyback stood in the corner of the room with his pack.
Anthony was doing his best to mask his nerves where he stood next to the rest of his unit, but Hermione could see the panic in his expression as he stared at the figure levitated over the table.
Katie Bell.
Hermione nearly voiced her protest aloud but stopped herself before the sound escaped her lips. She had not seen anyone in that compromising position since the attack on St. Mungo's failed. However, that time, the death eaters being punished were graced with unconsciousness.
Katie was wide awake. Crying and trembling.
The usual crowd took their assigned seats at the table. Draco beside his father. Nott and Zabini on the opposite end, sitting across from each other. None of the people were looking at the girl, helpless in front of them. None of them dared to look at their master, who was radiating rage and black magic, and spoke with venom.
"Begging will be of no help to you." Voldemort spat as Katie's tears dripped onto the table. "How long has this rat been living amongst your division, Rabastan?"
"She was recruited at the end of July, my Lord."
Rabastan's screams echoed through the drawing room as Voldemort hit him with the curse. Snarling and hissing as he watched the man contort his body where he fell on the floor. Once it ended, the room was silent except for the sound of Lestrange's hoarse panting.
"Over two month's it has been feeding our details to the Order. How could you be so incompetent!" Voldemort stared down at Rabastan, who was merely trying to maintain consciousness. The dark wizard stood and started pacing the table. Draco and his father were one of the few that successfully kept their calm demeanor.
"What did she know, Lucius?!" He wailed without looking his way.
"The young girl was able to discover several details of initiatives outside of her division, my Lord. She had a direct link with a member of the order through a floo in the Lestrange household where she was residing." Lucius spoke as if he was giving an ordinary daily report.
Voldemort veered and came at him anyway. "And how many of my secrets have been told through your floo Lucius?!"
"None, my Lord. All the floos at the manor have been closed and locked. No one enters or leaves the Manor without my knowledge." Voldemort sniffed at Lucius' comment but returned to his seat.
"You will debrief me on everything she knows once we are finished here," He growled, eyes locked back on Katie. "You little cunt. I should keep you there until the moon and then let the wolves tear you apart." A series of chuckles came from the pack in the corner, and Hermione feared she may become sick.
"SILENCE YOU WRETCHED BEASTS!" Voldemort was rabid. "You dare make a noise in my presence." Deadly silence weighed down the room again, and Voldemort attempted a face of indifference before speaking again. "Does anyone have any suggestions?"
The voice that came up next was from someone Hermione never expected.
"If I may, my Lord. I would like to offer my services in training her in our ways. The Bells are a pureblood family, after all. I am sure once we do away with the Order's brainwashing, she would be a lovely wife to one of our young serving men." Astoria's voice was steady and calm. Hermione didn't know how she managed it.
"You wish to spend your time with this traitor?" Voldemort addressed her directly.
"I wish to spend all of my efforts showing the wizarding world the greatness you have to offer them, my Lord." She responded soundly.
Voldemort dismissed Astoria with a flick of his wrist. She simply nodded and sat back in her chair, her father now fuming beside her.
"Did you get all of the information we need from her, Lucius?" He hissed again; eyes locked on the young witch levitated about the table. Her head had fallen back, and her eyes were darting from Voldemort to Lucius.
"Yes, my Lord."
"Then I think the time she has left is limited to minutes, if not seconds," Voldemort decrees. "The only question is, what death do we find suitable for such a crime?"
"We could imperius her, my Lord." No, no, no. The voice that spoke was Anthony's. "If the Order already trusts her, we could use her as a double agent. They would have no idea that her allegiance has changed." Anthony did a much poorer job of keeping his voice calm than Astoria had. She can hear the way he is shaking from across the room. He looked at Draco with knowing eyes, begging eyes. Draco simply lifted a brow and looked back in front of him. Bored.
Dolohov spoke up instead. "The boy has a clever idea, my Lord. And it is true, the Bell family has always been a prestigious presence in the wizarding community. We have been able to convert blood traitors in the past, especially those who come from successful pure-blood fami-"
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT HER PURE-BLOOD FAMILY!" Voldemort wailed, eyes red and bulging "SHE BETRAYED ME! SHE DIES!" He pointed his wand at Katie who locked eyes with him.
Hermione watched the realization dawn on Katie the moment she knew she wasn't going to live. She didn't try to cower away or deny it. Her body was still, no longer trembling, and tears ceased their descent from her eyes. As weak as Voldemort tried to make her appear, she was the stronger one in that room.
"Burn in Hell, Riddle." They were her last words. Voldemort casted a slicing hex, and Katie's blood began to rain down on the table.
This was the Voldemort she knew. The one Harry felt dipping into his mind as they destroyed the last of the horcrux. A maniac who had become even more unhinged with fear and hate. How could they have failed in killing him? She walked next to Anthony and risked grabbing his hand from within the cloak. He stopped shaking instantly. She wished she could see him privately and speak to him. To tell him he did everything he could. But tonight was not the night to take any more risks.
Hermione's legs took her back up to the suite while her mind stayed in the drawing room with her friend. She couldn't endure what was going to happen next, her sight narrowing until it felt like she was looking through a black tunnel. Katie was always so brave. She prayed that she knew Anthony was on their side. That she knew there were friends in the room when she took her last breath. That she wasn't alone when she died.
After an hour, her crying finally ceased. She would have to be either asleep or in somewhat of a presentable condition when Draco returned. A calming draught would likely help her, but Hermione didn't want to numb the pain this time. Katie deserved to be mourned.
She heard Draco close the door behind him as he walked in from her place on the couch, and she did her best to steal herself.
"You're still up. Did you want me to get Neddy to bring us a cup?" Draco asked nonchalantly.
How?
She broke all over again.
Hermione was heaving, arms wrapped around her stomach as the grief possessed her. Draco was kneeling in front of her the next moment. Once he was within reach, she circled his neck with her arms. She pulled him close to sob in his shoulder, taking deep breaths of him in an effort to calm herself. He held her, running on hand over her hair as he tried to get her to talk to him. Finally he pushed her away, one hand trying to lift her face up so he could see her.
"Granger?! Hermione, what's wrong? Hey, look at me, love." He used both hands to cup her face and he was examining her over for injury before meeting her eyes.
"Katie," she whispered, and squeezed her eyes shut again as the image of her friend being torn apart was brought to the forefront of her mind, and she felt herself starting to hyperventilate.
Draco was motionless in front of her, hands still holding her face. All she could do was wrap her arms around her body tighter. She wished it was his arms.
"Hermione."
The worry was gone from voice, and he sounded nothing if not empty and cold. He sounded like he looked when he took his seat at his leaders table. It sent chills down her spin. He wasn't supposed to say her name like that. She caught her breath and braved herself enough to open her eyes.
His eyes were not cold and empty as she anticipated. They also weren't fuming like she has seen in the past.
They were terrified.
"Tell me you did not leave this room." He removed one hand from her face to grab onto her shoulder. "Tell me you didn't go downstairs."
How many horrible things had he seen and then came back to her as if nothing had happened? How much did she let herself ignore?
He shot up from his spot on the floor and started pacing the room. Whether it was occlumency or sheer willpower, whatever walls Draco had built around his mind to separate the outside world from theirs had crumbled. But the outside world belongs to her too, she didn't want it hidden away from her any longer.
"Granger, tell me you didn't fucking go downstairs!" He yelled standing over her.
"No Malfoy!" Hermione stood up. "You tell me. You fucking TELL ME what is going on!" Her voice cracked with the volume she yelled at him.
"What were you thinking? How could you do that?" He shook his head in disbelief at her.
"How could you sit there and do nothing!" she cried.
"Fucking hell… Do you have any idea what would happen if someone saw you?!" He roared back, grabbing her shoulders.
"No one sees me. No one ever sees me," she sobbed.
Draco looked so conflicted. He wiped the tears off her cheek and then ran his hand down his face. He would start to pull her in only to push her away the next moment. Between them too much panic and grief to stand still or calm each other down. He seemed just as distraught as she was.
"You've done this before," he concluded.
It didn't feel like a question, and it would be just like them to neglect to ask. To ignore all the secrets and lies kept buried down until it was forced to the surface. Hermione felt the moment she gave up. There were too many secrets. Too many lies between them. How much more harm could come from giving up one of her own.
Hermione reached under her jumper into her beaded handbag and pulled out the cloak. She held it in her hands between them. Draco made no move that insinuated that he saw it.
"This is-"
"I know what the fuck that is." He spat the words out, taking several steps back from her. "You used to be a smart girl, Granger."
"And you used to be a prejudiced bastard." She hissed back, in no condition for his criticism.
He turned away from her and walked towards the window, resting his hands on the window seal and hanging his head. "Why would you do something so fucking stupid?" He spat.
"You really thought I was just going to sit around as there is a war going on right outside these doors? Have you ever known me to do nothing?" She met his gaze in the reflection of the glass.
"There is no way that you can genuinely justify traipsing around the manor. Not when you know what kind of guests frequent here!" He said spinning around. Hermione was officially over tiptoeing around him. Let him be angry.
"That's right. Your guests. If you hate them so much, why don't you kick them out? Why don't you do something when people are being murdered right in front of you?!" She demanded.
He kept taking steps towards and away from her, unsure which was worse. "Right. Let me just get myself killed and then do you know what happens to you? The wards in this room reset and you will be forced out. Now tell me, how long do you think you'll survive in the house without me protecting you?!"
"Don't you dare!" she pointed at him, her heart throbbing. "Don't you dare put your actions on me now that you can't hide them!"
They were both spiraling. Hardly listening to each other and just shouting out the side of the conversation they could not get past themselves.
"Why would you do this?! Risk your life and for what, to have more to worry about while you sit up here all day?!" He questioned now charging toward her.
"I won't be trapped here forever, Malfoy. And I asked you to do the right thing first. I asked you time and time again if you would just give me something that that would help the Order. To help end all of this and you are the one who refused." He affirmed to her that night at dinner that they were in fact not on the same side, but she couldn't bring herself to confront him with that statement. "I do this because someone has to. Someone has to try and kill him and all I have to do is get close enough and all of this will be over."
The thought had been occupying Hermione's mind for a long time. If she could get close enough to Voldemort to kill him, the death eaters would likely retaliate and take her life in return. After today, she could not think of a better cause to die for.
"So, I'm meant to just be fine with you trying to get yourself killed? So that it can be you bleeding out over my family table? Not a chance. Not a fucking chance. Your exploring days are over!" He said, trying to yank the cloak from her hands.
"Let go, it's Harry's! Don't touch it!"
All rational was gone. Draco saw how things were spiraling and chose to let go. She went flying back a few steps and barely caught herself before falling over.
"You will not leave this room. Do you hear me?" He scolded her in a low voice.
"I don't take orders from you!" Hermione barked back.
"Hermione you will stay in this FUCKING ROOM!" He shouted pointing down at the floor.
"You can't command me Draco I'm not a death eater or your elf. You don't own me." She defied him again.
He shook his head, "Anything I could do, or provide you, to make you happy- I have given you anything you could ever want-"
"You have everything. You can do anything!" She saw his eyes twitch with her words. "Everything is yours!"
Hermione hadn't let herself address the resentment she had towards him, but the fire was burning so wild it was taking everything within her to feed itself. He got to keep his home, his father, his friends. He got to continue being a death eater, a ruthless one, and she would smile and greet him as if she didn't know what he was doing. Her place in the wizarding world was small, but it took years for muggle-borns to get the smallest sliver of presence in the magical community. And now it was all gone. Anyone other than people like Malfoy were getting forced out more each day. Katie was gone. She was gone. He was heading to Italy tomorrow. She couldn't walk out the front door.
Draco quickly closed the distance between them. He grabbed her, hands trembling as he brought their foreheads together.
"No." He confessed to her. "You are all I have."
The relief was instant. Draco held her so tightly at any other time it may have been painful, but she was spinning and his hands on her were the only thing keeping her from being lost completely.
Hermione crashed her lips to his, desperate to chase this feeling and let the others go back to where they came from. He groaned against her and returned her kiss. Hungry and frantic.
She pulled him in the direction of the bedroom, and he scooped her up to get them there faster. Her throat was raw from crying and screaming, and she could hear her breath rasp as she sucked in air from around his mouth.
He pressed her against the door of the bedroom, slowing down while he fumbled to get to the handle. Hermione hiccupped slightly from her sobbing, and Draco caressed her face with his hand, so gently.
"You have me," he professed to her. "I'm yours."
She wanted him to be.
"You are mine," He whispered as he pushed himself firmer against her.
Hermione coiled around him tighter, gasping into their kiss and pulling at his robes, desperate to remove any obstacles between them. She wanted that too. Maybe she could forget the outside world for just a little longer.
"And you're staying in this room where I can take care of you."
Hermione shoved him away, taking a few moments to gather herself again.
"I'm not staying up here while you sit by and watch my friends die." She asserted.
"I've done a lot fucking worse than watch your friends die to keep you, Granger." He shot back.
She was speechless. Silence filled the space between them.
"To keep me?" She could hardly form the words.
"Safe. To keep you safe. Don't twist my words." He said defensively, yet less confident than he had been in all his declarations before. He winced and grabbed his forearm, and Hermione knew that he was being summoned again.
"Please," He begged. Now knowing she could follow him right out of the room.
"No."
"Things are getting worse, Granger. If you have really been observing then you know tonight was different from the others. I- He-" Draco took a deep breath before he could continue. "I can't keep my mind sound if I know that you are down there. You don't belong down there." There was so much admiration in his voice, and she wished Draco would believe that he didn't belong in a group of death eaters either.
"I'm sorry, Malfoy. I can't promise you that." It was the truth. She could claim she would never leave again but she knew that would be a lie. Later, she would wonder if it would have been better if she had.
Malfoy steeled his face and nodded. Turning instantly to exit the room. After he closed the door, Hermione heard the sound of the lock clicking.
Hermione tested the doorknob and confirmed that Malfoy had betrayed her. He promised her she wasn't his prisoner. But as she yanked and banged on the door, she couldn't help but to feel like anything else.
"Alohamora!" She said gripping the doorknob. Panic filled her chest. "Alohamora! Alohamora! Alohamora!" CLICK.
She exhaled and pulled the door again, only to find that it had been spelled shut beyond the physical lock.
Hermione would be stuck in there until Malfoy got back. He was going to make her sit there and wait for him to come back.
"Neddy!"
The elf popped in the room a moment later.
"Evening, mistress," Neddy greeted her.
"Neddy, is there anyone in the barn?"
The elf promptly disappeared and was back a few seconds later.
"The barn is clear mistress. Only the horses." Neddy was starting to look more worried. Hermione shoved the cloak back into her beaded handbag.
"Neddy, I want you to take me to the barn," As hard as she tried, her voice still shook a little.
Now Neddy looked terrified. "Err… master said mistress is not to leave the rooms, says-"
"Neddy," Hermione cut her off, gathering what was left of her strength. "I am ordering you. Take me to the barn. Now."
The small elf flinched, and she closed the gap between them and reached out her hand. Hermione grabbed it, and the familiar pull of disapparition took her.
Hermione had never put the saddle on Nymphadora herself, but between her training as a child and watching Draco she had it on her within a few minutes. There was at least a square mile of grounds she could get to without having to cross the wards. She was already communicating with Dory the area she had in mind.
Not knowing how long she had, she wasted no time mounting the saddle and instructing her to take off. They were flying for a few minutes, and Hermione was starting to test the distance the wards allowed them to go. The estate went so far into the forest, Malfoy was not certain himself where the boundaries lie. It made her more confident in her plan as she instructed Dory to land in a small clearing. The less familiar anyone was with the grounds, the less likely they would stumble upon her.
They walked into the thick of the woods. Hermione could hardly see a few feet in front of her. No one would be able to discover where she was.
She felt free.
She dismounted, taking the harness off to not raise suspicions. Dory took off back to the clearing the next moment at Hermione's instruction to head back to the barn. The dagger Draco gifted her tucked in the waist of her trousers as a precaution, she pulled out the tent she had gotten so used to living in those many months ago and quickly set it up. The tent was laced with all her protective enchantments and disillusions, keeping her undetectable so long as she stayed within it.
Hermione walked around the tent. Looking at the books and clothes Harry and Ron had carelessly left out. A game of chess sitting off to the side unfinished. She went to her side of the tent and pulled out the large tackle box that held a variety of potion ingredients. Between what she had on hand, and what she could sneak from the lab at the manor, she would have everything that she needed to execute her new plan.
Hermione was done waiting for the Order. She was going to fulfill Katie's dying proclamation herself.