(A/N: Hello again! I thank you so much for your very good reviews, and I especially thank my wonderful BETA readers Cheerydance, Nonya, and Ariana Roookwood for editing the chapter for me. Well, 3 more chapters until the end, including this one! Enjoy!)
Chapter 14. THE BETRAYAL
Harry turned abruptly to face Hermione, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Harry! I finally found you!" the girl shouted, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She couldn't believe her eyes; it was like a dream. Harry was right there in her arms, healthy and safe.
"H-Hermione? W-what are you doing here?" Harry stuttered, shocked.
"What are you talking about? I've come to rescue you! Aren't you happy about that?" Hermione asked without releasing him from her tight embrace. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Suddenly, Harry moved away and frowned at her.
"Do you realize the danger you're putting yourself in? You've been completely irresponsible to come here for me. You shouldn't have done it!" The man scolded her sternly, and Hermione stared at him, astonished, for a few seconds.
Harry had deep rings under his eyes, an untidy beard, and several wounds and bruises on his forehead. Hermione's smile disappeared abruptly, and she lowered her gaze, feeling mortified.
"Hey, you shouldn't treat her like that! You don't even know what she has gone through in order to find you. You're really ungrateful!" protested Marco.
"Who are you?" asked Harry suspiciously, looking at the muggle boy.
"He's Marco, a dear friend of mine. He helped us get here. Listen, Harry, you're right to be angry with me, but when I received your message for Dumbledore, I couldn't just sit there and let it all happen."
"You received my message? But why? I mean, how is it possible?" Harry asked, astonished.
"I'm going to explain it to you!"
Harry, Hermione and Marco turned to face the person who had just spoken. With great surprise, they realized it was Angy. Her wand was lit up and pointed at them.
"Angy! How did you manage to find us? Are you all right?" Hermione asked uncertainly.
"I'm fine, thanks, you impertinent little Mudblood!" Angy replied with a malefic sneer on her face.
Hermione stared at her, puzzled, then the truth suddenly hit her like a bolt of lightning. Angy had been lying to her the whole time they had been together.
"I see your half-muggle brain has finally figured it out!" Angy started to pace the room, her gaze never leaving them.
"You're one of Voldemort's servants," said Hermione.
Angy laughed. "You got it at last! I wrongly believed that you were a brilliant witch! On the contrary, you never suspected a thing the whole time."
Hermione felt betrayed, but she tried her best to remain calm, to not show any sign of weakness.
"Everything you've told me was a lie, including your relationship with Harry, right?" Hermione asked, but she already knew the answer.
"I've never seen that witch in my life!" said Harry with scorn.
"Exactly! I'm sorry, I've never been lucky enough to meet you personally, Harry Potter, even if my Master has often spoken to me about you," Angy replied, still pacing around the three of them, brandishing her wand like a sword.
"You've been acting all this time, haven't you? You started the show in Paris, when I found you in the Cathedral," Hermione said, never breaking Angy's gaze.
"The plan was that Dumbledore would come to the meeting at Mont Martyr, and when you came instead, I was forced to change my plans, but everything would have come out smoothly, anyway. The important thing was for you to inform Dumbledore about the secret meeting in Venice."
"But Dumbledore was unreachable!" Hermione protested, trying to stall for time.
"Correct! Urgent business was keeping him far from Hogwarts. It seemed as if I'd never be able to draw him into my trap! Nevertheless, I got together with the other Death Eaters, and we planned something really smart. We just had to grab any stupid Muggle off the street and force him to drink the Polyjuice Potion to change into Harry, and you would fall like a poor idiot," Angy explained.
"I'm just a stupid Muggle then?" Marco spoke for the first time.
Angy didn't answer him and went on with her story, glaring at Hermione with rising hate.
"Unfortunately, you didn't lose yourself and managed to raise a panic among all the Death Eaters present at the meeting. Nevertheless, you rescued the fake Harry," said Angy.
"And Rufus? Was he with you as well?" asked Hermione, disgusted, but Angy gave a chilling laugh.
"Poor, simple, Rufus Magnus. I feel sorry for him, but he was starting to become too suspicious," Angy looked really pleased.
"You're a damned murderer!" Hermione had completely lost her temper. She tried to rush Angy, but Marco held her back by the arms.
"How could you kill your own friend?"
"My dear Hermione, you should understand that when you choose to serve the Dark Side, getting rid of useless wizards becomes normal routine!" she replied simply.
"I've been so foolish! I trusted you, and you were planning the best way to kill me," said Hermione, feeling a knot rising in her throat.
"While we were in Venice, the Muggle put you on the right track; after letting you send another urgent owl to Dumbledore, the Dark Lord decided that you were no longer useful to him and ordered his faithful servants to eliminate you on the train to Rome. But still you managed to escape our trap, and I was again forced to play the game with you."
"However, your fellow cronies didn't have any problem casting spells on you, too, while they were running after us at the Florence station. You nearly fell under a train! Marco saved your life; doesn't that mean anything to you?" asked Hermione, exasperated.
"The other Death Eaters were only trying to catch you two, and they caught me by mistake. They've never dared to."
"But they did!" Marco cut her off abruptly.
"Angy, what is happening to you? You aren't truly like that; I know that you're still able to feel love and compassion. All this horror isn't you, Angy! Please!" said Marco, desperately.
"Shut up! Don't say another word, or I'll kill you right here!" Angy shouted, and Marco fell silent, but he didn't take his eyes off her.
"Now you're going to be escorted to a safer place. Since tomorrow will be a special day for all of us, I suggest you prepare yourselves mentally, and spiritually. After all, a solar eclipse is always something unique!" she said enigmatically, and with a slight move of her wand, magical ropes appeared that tightened themselves around Marco's, Harry's, and Hermione's arms.
A group of Death Eaters apparated before them and dragged them bodily to a small cell, magically sealing the door behind their backs.
The three unlucky mates collapsed heavily on the dusty ground. The cell was dark and narrow, emanating a strong rotten odor.
"What is going to happen to us?" asked Marco, worried.
Hermione turned to Harry, who was sitting by her side, and noticed that he was staring at the cell door. "I found ancient runes inscriptions on the walls, that described a prophecy. Do you know anything about that?" she asked Harry.
Harry looked at her. "I just know that they're organizing a ceremony for tomorrow, something concerning the solar eclipse, that Angy was talking about. I'm probably going to be the main attraction. Otherwise, they wouldn't have kept me alive for so long," he explained.
"The prophecy is about the power to defeat death. Maybe if we knew something more about it, we could manage to stop them," said Hermione.
"Do you know when the total eclipse is going to be?" asked Harry.
"At noon! I read it in the newspaper this morning," Marco hurriedly replied.
Harry leaned against the wall and sighed deeply.
"We should wait until tomorrow morning, then. I'm not going to let them kill us without a fight." His voice was firm.
Hermione realized that his best friend had changed. Probably the austere Auror life and the difficulties he had always had to face had turned him into a tougher and stricter person, both toward himself and others.
The girl looked into his deep green eyes, wondered, if she'd be able to find the old Harry ever again, the sweet, nice friend she remembered, always ready to help and forgive others.
But above all, she wondered if there was still room for love in Harry's heart.
(A/N: Here we are! Now we're sure that Angy is a Death Eater, but how are they going to escape from that hell? And will Hermione be able to open her heart to Harry? Please leave your review, and you'll find out soon!)
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