Chapter Twenty-Four
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"What has she told you?" Harry demanded of Draco for the hundredth time. A week had passed and nothing had happened. Draco was sitting, waiting, looking bored on the sofa in Hermione's chamber.
"She hasn't told me anything new!" he answered.
"Why is it taking so long? Are you doing what you should?" Harry insisted.
Hermione could see the irritation flaring up in Draco and stood up.
"Look, I'm sure Draco is doing everything he can!" she defended and Draco turned and looked at her. Harry looked annoyed.
"She never tells me in advance what she wants, she just suddenly says: Bring me Weasley… or something like that."
"Well, you need to find out!" Harry had raised his voice. Draco shot off from his seat.
"Look!" He pointed at Harry. "I'm the one running around out there, my ass on the line while you are screwing in here!" he turned and glared at Hermione who looked shamefully at her hands.
"What concern is that of yours? Jealous, much?" Harry snarled and Draco ran for him. They started pushing each other and Hermione immediately jumped in the middle.
"Stop!" she ordered but they both ignored her.
"The only reason you are here is because of me!" Draco spat.
"The only reason she is here is because you brought her!" Harry screamed back.
Hermione suddenly lost her footing and tumbled backwards. They both stopped and turned to her.
"Hermione!" Harry ran to her side and helped her up. Draco gave her a worried look. "You hit her!"
Harry yelled at Draco and ran for him again.
"No, you did," Draco shouted back.
"I slipped, damn it, it's that stupid rug!" Hermione screamed back at them. They both stopped and looked
a bit ashamed. Draco turned and stormed out of the room and Harry walked over to her again.
"Are you sure that you're okay?" he asked and reached for her elbow, but she yanked it back.
"What are you doing, Harry? Why are you going off on Draco like that? It's not like you at all!" she walked over and sat down on the bed. "Well, it is like the old you, the fifth year mad and angry you…." Harry looked out the window. "Tell me!" she ordered.
"He just bugs me, that's all."
"Why?"
Harry sat down on the bed next to her and grabbed her hand. Hermione tilted her head and looked up at him.
"Why is Draco acting like a jealous boyfriend?" Harry finally said. Hermione smiled friendly at him.
"You shouldn't be so protective," she said and kissed his cheek.
"No?" he quickly answered. "I just want to know why he seems to think he has the right to be jealous. He drives me insane, you're my girlfriend." Hermione smiled. "Is he in love with you?" Harry asked.
"Maybe," she answered truthfully. Harry bit his lip and Hermione knew there was something he wanted to say. "Is there something you want to ask me, Harry?"
"Malfoy keeps saying…things. Hinting at…stuff. And what about the stuff Pansy said in the dungeon?" Harry looked accusingly at Hermione.
"I don't know what Draco is telling you, but you have to know that he loves to get you going. There might have been a small flirt or whatever between us, but that was before anything happened between you and me. When you were still engaged!" Harry looked slightly embarrassed.
"And what exactly happened between you?"
"Well I didn't sleep with him, if that's what you need to know," her voice had gone up a pitch.
"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled and leaned against her shoulder.
"Yeah, you should be!"
Harry started kissing her neck and she giggled. "Forgive me?" he asked between kissing her neck and nibbling her earlobe. She didn't answer, just leaned back on the bed and pulled him with her.
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Draco was headed towards the dungeon when Pansy grabbed his arm and pulled him into a corridor.
"What do you want?" he felt disgusted as he saw her. She grabbed both his hands in hers.
"Oh, please, don't be mad at me!" she pleaded and looked puppy-eyed at him.
"You used my daughter as leverage to get me to do what you wanted."
"Our daughter!"
"You don't seem too care much, Pansy. She's been in this castle for more than two months and you have never asked to see her!" Draco realized as he said it that it had bothered him more than he thought. What kind of mother doesn't even care about her own child?
"Draco, my love, bring her to me now. We can all live in the same room!" she caressed his cheek.
"Pansy," he hit her hand away, "you really don't care about her, do you?"
"Of course I do, but this plan of Bellatrix is perfect. I will soon get Mallory back, and then we can be a family." Draco eyed her suspiciously, not understanding what she meant about them soon being a family. She put her head against his chest. "I knew you could never have feelings for that mudblood. You have hated her since school, and you hated her with such passion. Your parents raised you right, Draco, taught you who was worthy and who wasn't. I remember all those things you said about her in school, I think you wanted her dead more than Potter at times." Draco flinched slightly at the thought about all the things he had said about Hermione back in school.
"And what did you think about Bellatrix's idea of me sharing her bed?" he asked, just to hear her thoughts. Pansy pulled back and looked at him.
"Well, of course I'd rather have you to myself, but we must make sacrifices."
"Like Mallory?" he snarled.
"Like…different things. Besides, I don't think she meant it. Soon we'll be married and this will all be behind us. As soon as Harry Potter comes to find that mudblood they will both be taken care of. We always wanted them dead, and when they are we will be the richest, most powerful…."
Draco grabbed her hard and shoved her up against the wall. Pansy looked frightened for a moment before Draco's lips
collided against hers. She ran her hands wildly through his hair.
"When, when Pansy?" he mumbled against her hair. "When will we be married?"
"Soon, I promise!" she said and kissed him again.
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"I need something from the mudblood!" Bellatrix said to Draco.
"What do you mean?"
"A finger, a hand, something like that. I need to send something to Potter. I need to tell him where he can find the rest of her. Something that will draw him out. He has been hiding somewhere in London for a while now."
Draco swallowed hard, a finger…or a hand? "When?"
"Well, it is to be sent to him tomorrow, so bring her to me tonight. I will decide what to cut off." She sneered contently. Draco bowed and backed away. "Oh, and Draco," Bellatrix added. He stood motionless, still slightly bowed. "I want you to stay here with me until tonight."
"Why?"
"I'd just prefer if you didn't spend anymore time with her, this will soon all be over."
"My daughter…." Draco started.
"I have ordered the guards to bring her to Pansy."
Draco nodded again. He sat down in his designated corner as panic started to rise within him. He had no way of warning Harry and Hermione. She would be brought out here tonight and Bellatrix would harm, possibly kill her. There would be no time to alert the Order. He looked over at the large mirror hanging on the opposite wall and noticed he was as pale as death. He needed to plan what he should do. How could he tell Harry and Hermione? How could he reach Mallory and Pansy?
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"Draco isn't in his room," Hermione stated a few hours later.
"He is probably with Bellatrix, she might even have sent him to London to look for me again," Harry said. He had taken the polyjuce potion again, something he usually did when Draco wasn't around to warn them about someone coming. Hermione picked up the whimpering Mallory. "It's good practice," Harry said and nodded towards Mallory.
"She is such an angel, hard to believe she's Pansy's daughter," Hermione said feeling guilty even saying the words.
"Or Malfoy's," Harry mumbled but Hermione pretended she hadn't heard him. They heard someone fumbling with the lock and Harry hurried over to his guard post in the corner. Hermione threw a frightened glace towards the door and then back to Harry. She held Mallory tighter; she could hear that it wasn't Draco. The door swung open and an ugly, fat guard, very similar to Goyle, stood there.
"What do you want?" Hermione spat at the guard.
"I believe you have something that belongs to me!" Pansy said as she appeared from behind the guard.
"She is supposed to stay in these chambers with Draco and me," Hermione quickly answered and the fury was palpable on Pansy's face.
"Give her to me!" Pansy shrieked at the guard, who hurried forward and took the child from Hermione. He walked back and gave the baby to Pansy. Hermione bit her lip; she wanted to get Mallory back.
"Now her," Pansy nodded to the guard who walked again towards Hermione. She started backing away from him.
"W-Why?" she asked. "I gave you Mallory!"
"Don't speak her name, I gave her that name, and I won't have you besmirching it!"
"But why do I have to come?"
"You know why," Pansy sneered and turned and left. Hermione turned to Harry, he looked panicked.
"She's a fighter this one, isn't she?" the guard laughed at Harry who could only nod.
He followed the guard now, dragging Hermione behind him. Harry felt the sword dangling down his back and realized that this might be the time to use it.
They arrived in the dungeon and Harry took his stand in one corner, as was expected of him.
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Pansy stood in the corner holding Mallory the way a little girl might hold a doll - very deliberately and unnatural. Draco sat next to Bellatrix and looked from Mallory to Hermione, trying to decide what to do next.
"Ah, the mudblood is here!" Bellatrix announced and waved her forward. "Tell me, if you bleed, what color would it be?" she asked but didn't receive a reply. Hermione's eyes darted to Draco but quickly away again. Not knowing what was about to happen to her scared her. Draco looked at Harry in the corner and noticed how tense he looked. Bellatrix eyed Hermione carefully.
"What should I cut off?" she asked and a few of the guards laughed. Hermione started fighting against the guard again but he held her tight. The guard grabbed both her shoulders and held her in front of him so that she was turned to Bellatrix like an object to scrutinize.
"Oh, you like her," Bellatrix teased the guard. "Well, we do like to share in this castle; you don't
mind do you Draco? You've grown tired of that nasty girl, haven't you?" Bellatrix turned to Draco.
"I don't care," he answered and shrugged.
"Good!" Bellatrix turned towards Harry.
"You!" she ordered and he stepped forward.
"Take off her hand! Not her wand hand, I need it for my collection!" Hermione started fighting the guard again but he stopped her and held her hand out to Harry.
"No, wait, that ring she is wearing, cut off that finger!" she changed her mind, laughing eccentrically. "I want the ring still on the finger! The fucking Order, the traitors, and Potter will know that ugly finger, and if they don't, they can't have missed such an ugly ring!" Harry walked towards her, casting an eye at Draco.
"Please, please don't!" Hermione pleaded at Bellatrix.
"Don't speak to me, you sordid whore! The only use you will have in this world is getting Potter to me! Now do it!" she ordered Harry. Harry reached one hand under his cloak, and made to reach for a pocket knife. He walked up to Hermione, locking eyes with her.
I love you Hermione, no matter what happens here tonight, he tried to send to her. As if she could hear his thoughts, she gave him a determined look. He reached out for the hand the guard held out, grabbing it lightly. The moment sent thrills through Bellatrix and she squirmed in her seat. Harry grasped the sword instead of the pocketknife and swiftly ran it through the guard holding Hermione. Draco dove from his corner and had grabbed Pansy's wand in a heartbeat. Bellatrix shrieked insanely and stood up. Harry reached for Hermione and pushed her out of the way, she crawled behind the large oak chair at the table.
A guard ran towards Harry with his wand drawn, but Harry cut off the arm. He heard a scream behind him and spun around, a guard had been charging him but Draco had hit him with a spell in the back.
"No!" Bellatrix screamed and reached for her wand. "I will kill you Draco, I will kill you all!"
"Bring it!" he spat back. Pansy took Mallory and started running out of the dungeon; Hermione saw it and hurried off after her. Pansy was without a wand, meaning Hermione could take her, even with a wounded hand.
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Harry had transformed back to himself and had taken the wand from one of the dead guards and was dueling Bellatrix.
"You are going to die, Harry Potter!"
"You're not the first to say so," he said smuglyand cast a spell at Bellatrix. Bellatrix ducked behind a large stone pillar. "And many have failed in killing me, as will you!" Harry turned and looked at Draco, who was dueling two guards at once.
Draco shot an Unforgivable at one guard, and he went down immediately. But as he had cast it the other had charged and was on top of Draco. They were rolling around on the floor. The guard hit Draco hard in the face, but he kicked him in the groin. Draco scrambled to his feet and grabbed the collar of the guard, he dragged him to the window and, with a large yank, he flung him out of the gap. He turned back to Harry.
"Find her!" he yelled and Draco set off. He ran erratically through the empty corridors as quickly as he
could. Each was empty, everyone who had been in the castle had run to the dungeon and was now dead. He started running
towards Pansy's chamber and heard someone far ahead of him.
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Pansy was looking fervently for her portkey, she knew Bellatrix had put one in her room, but she had never told her where it was. All she knew was that is was a golden goblet. Hermione appeared in the door.
"Give me the baby!" Hermione ordered. Pansy snorted.
"It's my baby!" she shrieked.
"You don't even care about her, you're just using her!" Hermione said and hurried forward. Pansy ran behind a table, using it to separate them.
"This baby won't make Draco want you!" Pansy said.
"No, and she won't make him want you, either!" Hermione retorted.
"I love him!" Pansy screamed.
"I know you do, so don't take his child from him!" Hermione tried.
"I hate you!" Pansy screamed so loud that her voice broke.
Draco ran through the door and eyed the women, each on one side of the table. "Pansy!" he said and they both turned and looked at him.
"Why did you do this?" she pleaded. "Everything was going so well."
"No, it wasn't! Now give me Mallory!"
"Please tell me that you hate that worthless trash!" Pansy sobbed and Draco just looked back at her. "She is filthy!"
"Pansy, let's just talk ab -."
"I love you so much, Draco," she cried, tears streaming down her face. Pansy ran over to the window, both Hermione and Draco ran after her, but she was much closer. She stood on the frame.
"I'll jump!" she said.
She held the baby out over the open window, Hermione covered her mouth and Draco pleaded: "Please, I beg you, Pansy…."
"Why Draco? We could have had everything!" she sounded irrational and she had started crying harder.
"We can!" he answered.
"Then kill her now, prove it!" Pansy screamed. Draco looked at Hermione.
"No, I won't, Pansy. But just forget about her, she means nothing to me. Just step down, let's go.
Let's just leave right now!"
"You're lying!" Pansy screamed. "All you do is lie! I always knew there was something about that whore, since I saw her at the ball with you!" She turned to Hermione. "It's all your fault!" With a fast movement she jumped off of the window frame and made a run for Hermione. "I'm going to kill you!" she screamed. Draco jumped between them and started wrestling with Pansy. Mallory, who was still in Pansy's arms, was screaming loudly.
"Let her go!" Draco screamed. They were wrestling from side to side, Draco trying to be careful not to hurt Mallory. Hermione only had a short moment to think about if she should run and join the fight - just as she took two steps forwards, Draco finally got Mallory out of Pansy's grip who sobbed loudly. Draco turned from her and walked to Hermione.
"Take her!" he whispered. Hermione eyed him doubtfully.
"I'm sorry…." Pansy sobbed and sank to her knees. Hermione looked over at her and saw a truly defeated and mournful woman. "Draco, I didn't mean to…."
Draco quickly put his hand on his side and groaned; Hermione cried out and ran to his side. Blood was pouring from his side and Hermione pulled the cloak back to reveal a knife.
Pansy peeked between her fingers, her hands over her face. "I'm sorry my love!" Pansy cried into her hands. Draco lost his footing and fell to his knees. Hermione tried to hold him up, but with Mallory on one arm she couldn't hold his weight.
"Pansy, hurry. Get me something to put on this, to stop the bleeding. Try and find me a wand!" Hermione ordered. Pansy stared down at Draco.
"You have no idea how much this hurts," Draco hissed. Hermione threw a nearby ornament at Pansy, trying desperately to snap her out of her trance.
"Get me a cloth, towel, anything. Quickly!" Pansy stared into Draco's quickly paling face. "Pansy!" Hermione yelled angrily. "You just press down on the wound, I will find something -."
"I've killed him!" Pansy shrieked and ran for the window.
"Pansy, no!" Hermione yelled, running towards the window, but she wasn't fast enough. She arrived just in
time to see Pansy's dress billowing behind her as she hurled herself from window. She walked back over to Draco and
kneeled beside him. He lay his head in her lap and closed his eyes.
"What a way to die," he smiled. "Killed by a girl!"
"Stop it!" Hermione sobbed, her big, hot tears falling on his face. Mallory had gone quiet and Hermione had
placed her on the floor next to them. Hermione pressed hard on his wound to stop the bleeding and he hissed in
pain.
"Easy, woman," he scolded. Hermione's long curls were tickling his face and he closed his eyes.
"Oh, Draco," she sobbed.
"Let's just hope Potter kills Bellatrix, so it wasn't all for nothing!" he said.
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Harry chased Bellatrix out of the dungeon and through the hallway. It was obvious to him that she had lost her mind, because she left her back completely open and he easily hit her in the back with his spell. She tumbled to the floor, hitting her face on the stones. She grabbed for her face, and looked at her bloody hand. Harry flicked his wand, sending her wand flying down the hallway.
"Are you going to kill me?" she laughed.
"Yeah, I am," he answered, walking slowly towards her.
"No, you're not!" she said confidently." You're an Auror, one of those law-abiding trash." She grinned at him and he looked down at her. "So is it Azkaban for me again?" she asked and smirked.
"Not this time," he answered simply. Bellatrix opened her mouth to retaliate when Harry's grip on the sword tightened and Bellatrix's head fell to floor. "Not this time," he said again. Harry kicked her body as if to check that she was actually dead. He thrust the sword through her heart and turned to go find Hermione.
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AN: Dramatic, yeah I know! Someone sent me a message about me "having Hermione sleep with Draco, and that the baby would be his"... Just to make it clear - Hermione did not sleep with Draco!
Okay, hope you liked the chapter!
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