Chapter Eighteen: Can Easily Be Taken Away
Hermione rocked with the swaying motions of the carriage, watching the sun begin to set through the trees of the woods. She was nearly home, she could see the town in the distance. She could hear the clatter of hooves and the rattle of an oncoming carriage. Suddenly, the carriage jolted violently and Hermione was nearly thrown from her seat.
"What do you think you're doing?" she heard her driver say.
Hermione scrambled to the window and looked out to see hooded figures approach the carriage.
Death Eaters.
She hastily opened up the trap. "Just drive!" she ordered him.
He complied and started the horses, throwing Hermione to the floor. The carriage mowed through the group of Death Eaters and she heard their shouts of protests. They followed on their horses. The carriage raced down the road and a dangerous speed but the horses were gaining on them. Hermione tried to think of a way to climb out of the carriage and toward the front. But a loud thump startled her.
They had jumped from their horses onto the carriage.
"Avada Kedavra!"
They had killed her driver and the horses now ran blindly without a driver. They hit a large bump and Hermione slammed against the side, her cheek bruising. She heard someone scrambling from the roof of the carriage to the door. She kicked it open, surprising the Death Eater on the other side who let go and fell. But another Death Eater quickly flew in the door.
"Hello Hermione," he said and her eyes widened with recognition.
"NO!" she cried out when he lunged for her.
She fought bravely against him, scratching and clawing until he had her pinned to the carriage floor. She now realized that the carriage had finally stopped.
"I've always wanted you in this position," he whispered in her ear. "Shame it has to be like this."
"You disgust me," she spat.
He smirked and raised his fist, bringing it down violently.
"Dra--!" was all she got out before all went black.
He dragged her limp body out of the carriage and held her in his arms. The other carriage caught up with them. Another Death Eater opened the door and helped Draco carry her body into the carriage. He climbed in after and the carriage set off, leaving some of the others behind to clean up the mess.
~*~
Harry had walked into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place to find it already occupied.
"Harry we've been trying to reach the others!" Remus greeted him.
"You got my call already?" he asked.
"What are you talking about? We called you."
"You did?" he asked, confused.
"Dumbledore's on his way," Remus said.
Harry took a look around the room at those who had come and spotted his godfather sitting in the corner, pale but his expression carefully guarded. Harry carefully approached him.
"Sirius?" he asked.
"We're wasting our time," he muttered angrily.
Harry looked back at Remus.
"This was sent to him this evening," Remus said, handing Harry a letter.
Black,
We have taken your precious Miss Granger. Do not contact the Order, do not contact Dumbledore and do not contact Mr. Potter. If you do not comply with this, we will not hesitate in ending her life. We will contact you shortly when we see you have complied.
With the letter came a piece of fabric, pale blue that Harry recognized immediately as coming from the dress that Hermione had worn today. His favorite dress. Wrapped inside the fabric was a lock of her beautiful cinnamon brown hair.
Harry cried out in rage and lunged for his godfather, shoving him up against the wall.
"YOU?!" he raged. "They stole her because of YOU?"
"Harry! Harry, stop this!" Remus tried to come between the two of them but Sirius shoved Harry away from him.
"I don't have time for your petty crushes on Hermione," Sirius spat. Kingsley joined in the fray holding Sirius back. Remus had one hand on Harry.
"Petty?" Harry laughed softly then went at his godfather again, this time managing to land a blow across his jaw with his fist.
"Harry!" Ron and Neville scrambled into the room and helped Remus restrain their friend.
"You did everything they asked you NOT to do!" he shouted.
Sirius got to his feet with the help of Kingsley. He brushed some blood off of his lip with the back of his hand and looked at his godson. "Are you trying to procure an appointment at dawn?" he asked.
"I don't need an appointment, I can take care of this now," Harry said between gritted teeth as he reached into his robes and drew out his wand.
"Whoa!"
"Hey, hey, take it easy, Harry."
Remus grabbed a hold of Harry's wrist, yanking it so his wand no longer pointed at Sirius.
"Let him go, Remus. He's been itching to have a go at me for quite some time now," Sirius said dryly.
"You would've done the exact same thing he did," Remus said to a seething Harry. "Now, calm down. The Death Eaters have no way of knowing that we contacted the rest of the Order. If they want Sirius, they won't kill Hermione."
"I swear…if they hurt her in any way…" Harry was blind with anger.
"Oh like I should fear you," Sirius said sarcastically. "The woman I care most about in the world is being held by Death Eaters and her father will murder me when he finds out about this. So pardon me if I'm not concerned with idle threats from an admirer."
"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore had entered the kitchen and order was immediately restored in the room. Harry, Ron and Neville settled to one side of the room, while Remus and Sirius took the other side. "Sirius, have you contacted Mr. Granger?" he asked.
"I have, he is on his way home as we speak," Sirius answered.
"Good, I shall ask for volunteers to see that he is escorted home in safety."
"We'll do it," Ron and Neville spoke up.
"Kingsley, Dedalus and Arthur are searching the roads," Remus added.
Dumbledore took the letter Sirius received from Harry and in silence he read it. He sighed wearily as he closed the note and glanced over at Harry.
"Have you told anyone, yet?" he asked the young man.
"No sir," Harry answered quietly and Dumbledore nodded.
"So…the Death Eaters have taken this young woman and are holding her captive. They must desperately want something that you have Sirius," Dumbledore thought aloud. "They are specific in their request that you do not contact the Order or Mr. Potter," he glanced up at Harry. "Whatever they're hiding, they really don't want you involved which can only mean…"
"Voldemort," Harry finished for him, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth.
"Harry, I'm fairly positive this has nothing to do with you. They didn't take her to get to you," Dumbledore said in a low reassuring voice, but Sirius picked up on it.
"Of course they didn't. They took her to get to me, this has nothing to do with him," Sirius said impatiently. He felt that they were wasting time in this meeting when he could rush out now and hunt down those who had taken his beloved Hermione.
"This very much has something to do with Harry," Dumbledore said softly, staring intently at the young man who fidgeted nervously under his gaze.
"Hermione and I…" Harry began, "Hermione and I were married two days ago."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"You did what?" Sirius asked in a low and even voice.
"But…how?…What?" Ron was at a loss for words.
"We've kept our engagement a secret for some time," Harry continued. "We returned today. She was just going to go home to gather some personal items then return to Godric's Hollow this evening. She didn't show and her doorman said that she hadn't been home since the ball. I summoned the Order immediately and came here," Harry braved a look to Sirius and Remus. "That's when I found you already here."
Sirius wasn't looking at Harry, he couldn't. Harry was the one who had impersonated him at the Malfoy Ball, the one who was in her room that morning when he questioned her. He had been trying to set Hermione and his godson up thinking it wouldn't bother him at all. But now that he had learned that they had eloped, he felt a pang in his heart that he was surprised was still there. A pang of loss, longing and jealousy. Hermione had stolen his heart long ago but had always refused his offers of marriage. It almost became a game between the two of them. He thought he would be fine arranging something between his godson and her, he just wasn't prepared for how much it would actually hurt inside when she had finally chosen a husband, how much it would hurt losing her to his own godson.
"Sirius, where are you going?" Remus said when he got up from his seat and walked across the room.
"Sirius, we cannot afford to do anything foolish," Dumbledore said.
Sirius stopped in front of Harry. "Six o'clock tomorrow, on the lawns of the Granger home."
"Harry refuse it!" Neville said to his friend.
"Sirius, stop this foolishness," Remus tried to talk some sense into his friend.
Dumbledore looked at the two men. "Sirius, Harry, we cannot afford to let the Death Eaters know that we know about Hermione's kidnapping. Things must go on as normal until Sirius received another message."
Harry's gaze didn't leave Sirius'. "Then it wouldn't be news that I'm at odds with my godfather. Everyone knows about that and it seems that the Death Eaters have been banking on that as well."
"Someone has to stand up and defend her honor," Sirius replied. "Tell me Harry, what did you do to
trap her into this farce?"
"Sirius!" Remus hissed.
Harry smirked. "Does it hurt being the jilted lover?"
Sirius scoffed and left the kitchen, Remus calling after him. Harry looked at Dumbledore.
"Don't ask me to just sit here and wait," he said.
"That's exactly what I'm asking you to do. Go about your business like nothing has happened."
"I can't do that. I can just sit here and wait while they hold the woman I love. I can't do that and I
hate that you're asking this of me."
"But you know I'm right, Harry."
~*~
Hermione panicked for a moment when she came to, she couldn't see but she quickly realized that it was because she was blindfolded. She took a moment to take in her situation. She was no longer rocking in a carriage but there was a gentle ever so slight rocking motion. She was laying on something soft, a bed possibly? Her hands were still bound but thankfully they were in front of her, not behind.
She reached up and pulled at her blindfold, yanking it down to her neck. She squinted her eyes at the rays of the evening sun that poured into the room. How long had she been out? The wood was paneled in wood, the walls lined with bookcases and there was a large mahogany desk in the middle.
Draco Malfoy sat at this desk.
He was writing away and hadn't noticed that Hermione was awake. She looked around the room trying to find something heavy to knock him out with while she made her escape.
"I hope you aren't thinking of using something heavy to knock me out with while you make your escape," Draco said, not looking up from his writing.
"The thought is tempting," she answered.
There was a faint smile on Draco's lips and he looked up at her. "It would be a fruitless effort."
Hermione sat up in the bed. Her cheek was sore and she reached up and touched it, wincing at its tenderness. Draco stood up and picked up a sharp knife before walking towards her.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, eyeing the knife.
He knelt in front of her. "No…not yet," he answered. He used the knife to cut her binds and the blindfold.
"Are you going to…" she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
"Violate you?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. "I think you know the answer to that, Hermione." He reached down and lifted her left hand, his thumb brushing over the gold band. "Did you marry the foul Mr. Black?"
Hermione yanked her hand from his and didn't answer him. "Where am I?" she demanded.
"Have a look," he said lazily.
Hermione got up from the bed and looked out the window. Blue was all she could see. The blue of the sea, and her heart sank, she was in the middle of the ocean. How far was she from Harry? Did he have any idea where to find her? She wouldn't dare let hope slide away from her.
Hermione heard him move behind her, felt his hands on her. She pushed him away but he caught her and roughly turned her around to face him.
"Draco," was all she managed to get out before his lips were on hers. She struggled against his tight hold on her wrists. He mercilessly shoved her to the ground, stars appearing in her eyes as her head hit the wooden floor hard.
"No, stop it! Please!" she pleaded as he struggled with her skirts.
The door of the cabin swung open and another Death Eater strolled into the room. He didn't wear a mask and Hermione could see the dark goatee on his face. He spoke with a slight accent.
"Malfoy, let's go," he said.
Draco looked up at him, "I'll be there in a moment," he said roughly.
"Your father said now, Draco."
Hermione saw Draco's jaw tighten as he let out a frustrated sigh. She took this moment to shove Draco off of her and scramble away from him. Draco got to his feet and straightened his clothes. He walked over to Hermione and tilted her chin up to him.
"Don't wait up for me love," he said before he kissed her again.
Hermione shoved him away and gave him a hard slap across the face. If it phased him, he didn't show it. He only smiled and her and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.
She walked over to the door and looked at the lock. She wasn't going to stay here and wait for him to return to finish what he started. She went over to the desk and opened all the drawers. They were empty. She went to the bookshelves and rummaged through them, knocking them to the ground as she frantically searched for something, anything. She hurled a heavy book at the glass window but it bounced back. The window had been charmed so she was unable to break it. She went to the desk and took the quill from the inkpot. She sat by the door and carefully began to work on the lock. She carefully maneuvered the quill to lift the pins but the point was too delicate and the quill snapped in half. She cursed and threw the quill away from her, tears of frustration fell down her face.
"Help me," she whispered softly, hugging her knees to her chest. "Please find me."
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