A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is really late! I knew what I wanted to write but could never put it into words. It's a lame excuse, I know, but it's the truth. Emily says that she's sorry that she couldn't push me hard enough =/ But I totally pushed myself to finish this chapter today! I re-played the still in-progress score that I'm working on for a good hour to get me to go faster. I also didn't proofread this chapter because I just want to post it so you all won't kill me. So beware! If there are any grammar mistakes, I'm sorry.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine! No matter how much I wish for it, it'll never come true.
Enjoy!
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The Final Blow
It was sad that Hermione found darkness commonplace. From the time she was a child until now, she had always been surrounded by it. But, ironically, when she finally realized that she was on the wrong side and moved towards the light, the darkness only intensified. Now wasn't an exception. She felt a faint pounding in her head; the beginnings of a migraine. She was cold. Her body was shaking and she could feel Goosebumps up her bare forearms. She tried to move but found her body ached with every small movement. The floor beneath her was hard and uncomfortable and she found it hard to believe she was unconscious for more than a few minutes. She wasn't the type of person who could remain relaxed on a hard surface. Gingerly, she tried to move again and flinched as her back gave a small spasm. She finally propped herself against a nearby wall, clutching her side. She reached in her pocket for her wand so that she could see could illuminate the room to get a better grasp of where she was but couldn't feel anything save for the fabric of her jeans. Groping around her, she tried to feel around for the familiar wooden rod but came back empty handed.
She tried to remain calm as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness. It wasn't pitch black so it didn't take much time before she could make out a few outlines of the room she was in. The room was no bigger than the girls dormitory cut in half but lacked the warmth she always felt when she was in there. It was unfurnished and paved in hard stone that would scratch her if it wasn't for her-or rather Harry's-t-shirt. Harry!
She looked around the room for any trace of Harry but found none. She was all alone. The worry she felt before when she couldn't fine her wand came flooding back and she felt her body begin to shake more heavily. But it wasn't just from the cold. She rubbed her arms to try and calm herself and began to rock back in forth. It didn't help. There was a small part of her that knew that she should try harder and to not give up. She couldn't be alone. They had come here together in that beam of light!
"Harry?" She whispered huskily.
Nothing.
"Harry?" She asked more firmly.
Nothing.
She began to give up hope as she let herself call out his name a final time. "Harry…"
The silence brought tears to her eyes. They might have already killed him. If he wasn't here who knew where he could be? Being tortured… dead. She didn't want to think he was dead but it was inevitable if they were in a portal conjured by the Dark Lord. She didn't even know where she was, let alone if Harry had ended up in another location away from her. He could have been with her at a time but she was unconscious and didn't even notice. She didn't even get to say goodbye.
She sniffed and wiped at her eyes when she realized that she had been crying. It was weird how easily she could cry now when she seldom did it before. There must have been a dam or something in her eyes that broke whenever Harry was concerned. When she was happy with him, she cried. When she thought he was dead, she cried. Anything having to do with him she cried! What kind of person was she? A person in love, her mind answered. Love sucked. Well, that was a lie. It only sucked when you were alone. If Harry was here, she wouldn't feel like this. But he wasn't…
"You can drop the act."
Hermione's head shot up at the familiar voice. "Harry?"
"No, it's Buckbeak."
"Who?"
"Never mind." There was a short pause. "Anyway, you can stop trying to make me feel sorry for you. It's not going to work."
Hermione suddenly wished he had never spoken up. "I'm not trying anything, Harry."
She heard him scoff. "Please. It's obvious that it was your plan all along to get me to fall for you just so Tom could give me the final blow. Pathetic, really. He had to resort to getting one of his cronies to do his dirty work for him."
"I'm not one of his cronies." She ignored how ironic it was that he was using the same term she had while describing his friends when her mission first began. "At least not anymore."
"Don't try to get me to sympathize with you. It won't work."
"I wasn't trying too." She said quietly. "I don't want your sympathy."
"Could've fooled me."
She flinched despite herself. "Trying to tell you the truth isn't a sympathy trip." He remained silent and she pressed the issue more, knowing that if she didn't give up she might have a chance of finally getting Harry to see her side. "You have to listen to my side of the story sooner or later, Harry."
"Go ahead and disappoint me, then."
She was surprised that he gave in so easily after claiming that he didn't want to hear her excuses. She didn't want to ask nor ponder why he changed his mind-just take advantage of it. She thought carefully about how she should word it. Should she go directly into it or start from the beginning? He deserved the whole story, so she opened her mouth and let the history of her childhood pour from her throat. She told him about her stay at Malfoy Manor, Draco, and her relationship with Dobby. She told him how much she hated him and wanted to kill him from the moment she met him. She told him about her training and how she went on raids. Basically, she gave him her life story before she met him. It was only when she was voicing it that she realized how truly twisted her life was.
She paused for the first time in her story, taking a small breather. She had left off at the part when the Dark Lord had assigned her the mission. It seemed like a good place to leave off because that was when her life changed forever, though she wouldn't say that yet. Part of her wanted Harry to speak up, but another part wanted to finish the story before he had time to think about it. So, deciding that the second one was more appealing than getting bitched out, she continued before Harry could even think about speaking. All in all, she had only paused about five seconds. Some Gryffindor she was.
"When I got to Hogwarts I felt so… at home. I felt as if it was where I was meant to be. When I got sorted, all I was set on doing was going to sit next to Draco and continuing the mission to my full capacity. But then it put me in Gryffindor and I sat down in a sort of blur, not really believing that I had been put there and wanting a chance to prove myself worthy of Slytherin. But then when Ginny started talking to me… she was so nice to me that I didn't know what to do so I just nodded. And then I saw you…" She trailed off, deciding to be completely honest, "I wanted to kill you right then and there. But I knew that it would probably ruin my chances at a real school experience so decided against it. I think the first time you talked to me you pretty much single-handedly threw my pretences out of the window even though I never realized it. The more time we spent together, the more you wore me down. I don't know how you did it, but somehow you got rid of the old me and created a whole new person. I had never conjured a Patronus before and you made it happen. And then… and then you kissed me and sent me into a whirlwind. There was never a time in my life where I truly felt complete and in that moment with you I finally experienced what I had read about for all these years. But with that came a bag of emotions that I was too afraid to open. I was supposed to help kill you and ended up…" She sniffed, the weight of her emotions coming down on her, "falling for you."
There was a long pause. Hermione knew that she had said everything that she could to give him her side. There was no intention to make him feel sorry for her. She felt bad enough as it was. So all there was left to do was wait for his reaction, if he chose to give her any. But she felt a little better knowing that he now knew what she had gone through. In all reality, she would be content if he gave her the silent treatment. He knew her story and that was all that mattered.
"You lied."
"I had to."
She could have sworn that she heard him nod. "You have any clue as to where we are?"
She was taken aback at the change of topic. But, truthfully, she was thankful that he was even talking to her in the first place. She didn't really expect him too. She decided to think about it for a moment before answering. There was something familiar about this place, but it was too dark to tell anything specific. "There's something I can't place about it…"
"Does your cell have a window?" he asked carefully.
She rotated her head to look around the room and as she was looking directly upward she saw a tiny hole just above her head. Deciding to investigate it further, she forced her body upward. The pain wasn't as bad as it had been, so she heaved herself up more forcefully. Her feet scraped against the floor loudly as she balanced herself with one hand against the wall. As she allowed the head rush to ebb away, she observed the small opening in the wall more closely. It was definitely a window. But it looked like it was more of a hole with bars on it. Maybe someone had tried to escape and they closed it off? She decided to put all questions of that aside for the time being as she inched her head out of it a bit to see what laid on the other side. The most important thing was to figure out why she had the feeling of familiarity.
Directly parallel to the window was a long patch of land. It was dark out so the whole property looked spooky. The trees were all either bent in an odd direction or dead, sometimes both. But what really caught her attention was a tree towards the middle. It was bent sharply to the right and had a rope hung from one of the thicker branches. At the end of the rope was what looked to be a lop-sided plank of wood swinging back and forth in the light breeze. And that was when it hit her.
"We're in Malfoy Manor." She said softly. "In the dungeons."
She had sometimes come down here to help assist in the torture and interrogation of the inhabitants. They weren't people of much significance. From what she remembered, they were mostly in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that never prevented her from torturing those who wouldn't comply with their orders. Even though it was in her past, she still felt eerie. She had killed people in this dungeon. Maybe even in this cell. She shivered involuntarily and sat back down.
"Figures they would bring us here." He said icily.
She let her head drift to the side, pretending the wall was him. "Why do you say that?"
"Well no one really knows where it is."
She nodded. Earlier in her youth she had overheard a conversation between Lucius and Narcissa about putting protective wards on the house. She had never understood why but now she knew. It was so the people who were brought here had no chance of being rescued. Her hand inched to the wall beside her and rested on it. She didn't know why, but knowing that Harry was so close to her brought her comfort. Maybe they weren't doomed. But even if they were, at least she was with him. She tried to imagine that his hand was on the other side of the wall much like hers. If only she could see through walls.
Time passed slowly and before Hermione knew it, she was beginning to grow tired. She knew that she couldn't fall asleep unless she could cast a cushioning charm on the floor. And even if she could, she was almost positive that there was some sort of security system in place that would go off at the slightest hint of magic. Of course she didn't know if that was true, but in her experience as a Death Eater she had seen similar precautions used to ensure that the captives stayed put. Harry must have had the same idea because he didn't try anything either. She was fully aware that he could do wandless magic as well as she could so he must have considered the option.
They were stuck here.
Was it weird to think that it's somewhat comforting to know that you were going to die in the same place that you were raised? Well, she thought so. She felt a sick comfort in the situation while at the same time panicking. Now that the Dark Lord knew she was alive, there was no telling what was in store for her. Would he just kill her? Would he force her to watch Harry's imminent death? Whatever he chose to do with her would end in both of them dying. There was little to no hope of surviving the next few days. She only wished that she could at least touch Harry one more time. But that had small chance of happening as well.
Her back stiffened as she heard footsteps echoing nearby. She remained silent as she heard them increase in volume. Any tiredness she had felt was stripped away as her body remained paralyzed against the far wall of the cell. As the footsteps came closer, she could make out at least two or three pairs. They were coming to take her and Harry; she could feel it. She wished that she would have heard them earlier so that she could at least say goodbye. She doubted they would let her speak. No, she knew that they wouldn't let her speak.
Suddenly, it was silent and she held her breath so she could check for any sign of movement. She soon heard the sound of keys being placed in a hole and unlocking the iron barred door. It wasn't hers, but the one directly next to her.
"Alright Potter, time to meet your fate." She recognized the cold voice of Bellatrix LeStrange.
"I'd rather meet your dead body on the floor."
"Crucio!"
She heard him let out a large amount of breath as he was hit with the curse. She could hear him trying to contain his screams. In their place he emitted deep moans that broke her heart. Why did he insist on holding it back? It was more painful that way. She wanted to scream out to him but knew that her time would come and she would at least see him. During her visits down here, they would never take one person out at a time. They would take out the whole bunch. It was so that they could watch what their fate was going to be like. And if they looked relived about it, they would make each death more and more painful.
Harry's sounds of resistance came to an end and she could hear them drag him out of his cell. She braced herself as she heard them approach her cell and unlock the door. She could make out the outline of three tall figures. One of whom was holding the slouching form of Harry. Bellatrix was clearly in the front and Hermione could see her sauntering over to her. The bitch was going to enjoy this. But she wouldn't talk. She wouldn't give her an excuse to make her suffer. The light footsteps stopped and Hermione could make out Bellatrix's thin frame. Since she was sitting down, the elder witch bowed down slightly and spoke with a haughtiness that Hermione just wanted to hex off of her.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to come back from the dead."
She remained silent.
"Just couldn't stay away, could you? You wanted to die the old fashioned way. Like all the other traitors. I have to say that I'm impressed. It seems as though your loyalties still lie with us."
Hermione had to bite her lip to keep her muteness.
Bellatrix smirked, "You're smart keeping your mouth shut. You know what we do to those who resist their fate. Who knows? You might even get off easy. The Dark Lord always had a soft spot for you. He was going to make you second in command, remember? But now that you're out of the picture I hope you'll understand that the position had to be filled. Hope there's no hard feelings."
She was fairly sure that her lip was bleeding because she began to taste copper in the buds of her mouth.
"You think you're strong? Well I'm sure we can fix that." She pulled away slowly and put her hands on her hips. "Crabbe, take her."
She saw a large shadow come quickly in front of her and hoist her onto her feet. She felt her hands being locked together by a binding charm and was shoved out of the cell. She stopped herself from colliding with the wall just before she was pushed forward. Crabbe and the other Death Eater that she couldn't make out (probably Goyle) were behind her and Harry while Bellatrix was practically floating in front of them. Hermione knew that this was her only chance to communicate with Harry before they were to face the Dark Lord and chose to take advantage of it. She scooted as closely to Harry as she was able to and nudged his shoulder with her own. He looked over at her weakly and she motioned downward. He furrowed his brow in confusion and she rolled her eyes, inching a finger over to his pant leg to gently poke it. He caught on quickly and reached for her bound fingers with his own. Because of the curse, only a few of their fingers could be interlocked without it look suspicious, but Hermione didn't care. His warm skin against her own, even if it was just a few fingers, made all the difference as they continued their walk down the long corridor. She had forgotten how large this place was after not being here for a few years.
As they ascended the narrow set of stairs, the pressure in Hermione's stomach increased to the point where every time she took a step it felt as though a brick replaced where her digestive organ was supposed to be. Was this what it felt like knowing you were soon going to die? Did the other people who were led through this corridor feel this way as well? There were so many questions that she would never know the answer to. The only thing keeping her sane was Harry's fingers interlocked with her own. Oh how she wished she could talk to him. But the risk was too dangerous to even think about. She was in a fragile state as it was. One more Cruciatus and she was as good as gone. She would rather savor these last moments.
There was a plethora of voices increasing in volume as they slowly approached the ballroom. Although it didn't look like the ballroom she was familiar with. Instead of being brightly lit with candles and strong lighting charms, it was dim and reflected an eerie green light that reminded her of an underground cavern. She had never ventured into the ballroom when she was younger unless there was a party. Was this what it looked like normally? If that was the case, she was glad that she never spent too much time in here. She was sure even the old Hermione would be a little uneasy out by this.
The voices dimmed as they arrived in the middle of the room. She let go of Harry's hand and immediately felt a cool breeze brush past it. There were robed figures all around the room in a large circle, each looking like an exact replica of the person next to them. It was impossible to tell who was here and who wasn't, not that it mattered much. Every person here was probably elated to get rid of her. She could imagine the looks hidden beneath their masks-smug smiles, wide grins, ghostly smirks. All of them chorusing the same thought: Finally we get rid of the brat! She knew that they all talked about her behind her back while she still considered herself one of them so why should their opinions of her change as she changed sides? If anything, their egos would go past the Milky Way knowing that she was ultimately not cut out for this.
"Ahh Harry…" a familiar snake-like voice sounded from the middle of the room. "And Hermione, what a pleasure it is to see you again."
He was perched on a large thrown-like chair in the middle of his followers. He was dressed head to toe in is usual all black attire, making his blood red eyes stand out even more against his pale white skin. It was sickening, really. He was smirking as he lazily draped one hand over the head of the "throne" and looked her directly in the eyes. "I have to say that I'm impressed. Not many people can be victim to my curses and live to tell the tale. Too bad you'll have to return to hell."
"You're the one who's going to hell."
She twisted her neck to look at Harry pleadingly. She didn't want him to get hurt. But a curse didn't follow his comment like it had before. Bellatrix and the others had joined the large circle and were out of shooting range of either her or Harry. Their fate was now up to the Dark Lord.
"I think we're past all of these petty insults, don't you?" He said this very casually-a little too casually. He made a weird motion with his neck as if calling one of the Death Eaters over. Right before Hermione could think to stop him, he aimed his wand lazily at Harry and shouted "Crucio!"
Hermione immediately collapsed on the ground to try and help him but a pair of strong arms pulled her back. She began kicking and screaming for them to let her go so she could be by Harry. But whoever was holding her was far stronger than she was and had no intention of letting her go. They pulled her back about ten feet from where Harry was writing on the marble floor. "HARRY! NO!" she screamed. There was no use holding back like she had before. She wanted to let Harry know how much his pain was affecting her. But most of all she wanted him to be rid of all of this pain once and for all and she didn't know how to do it. A few minutes ago she was already contemplating her and Harry's death but now that they planned to make her watch his instead of killing her off first, she had to do something to make it go away. The only thing that she was capable of doing now was struggling with her captor and screaming at the top of her lungs. But that wasn't really getting her anywhere.
Harry continued to be tortured on the floor and it was then that she realized that he didn't have his wand. Well she already knew that, but she didn't grasp what it actually meant until he was at the hand of her former master. This wasn't a fair fight! Why would anyone sink so low as to fighting someone when they had no means of defending themselves? It then came to her: He was a coward. The Dark Lord just wanted to kill him and he didn't care how he did it. She struggled harder to break free. She knew that she had the strength to perform wandless magic to help him. That was most likely why she was dragged away, so that he had an even better chance at killing him.
"Would you stop struggling?" A voice whispered in her ear. It took her a second to register that it was the voice of the person who was holding her. It wasn't harsh, but urgent. She craned her neck to the side to get a better look at him after she stopped struggling for a moment. It was no use; she couldn't tell who the person behind the mask was. If only he would speak again, maybe she could tell. He granted her silent request a few second later, his voice masked by the struggling Harry trying his hardest not to scream again. "If you stay still, I can get the both of you outta here."
It suddenly clicked, "Draco?"
"Yeah," he answered quickly, "Keep your face focused on them and keep resisting, though. I don't want it to look like we're talking."
"Right." She said as she turned around and focused on the ground beside Harry as she pretended to still put up a struggle. She didn't have to scream anymore. They would just assume that Draco had put a gag on her. "How did you know they brought us here?"
"It was kind of obvious once I saw the huge beam of light in the sky. I overheard my father talking about it. Apparently, if the Hogwarts approach didn't work, they were going to bring you here." Hermione nodded against him. "I know that you want to help him, so I convinced my aunt to let me carry your wands. She thinks that I already broke them."
"How did you convince her of that? You were fighting on our side during the battle."
"Well she wasn't there, for one. And it helps that I'm wearing a mask."
Hermione bit back a smile. "So what do you plan on doing?"
"Handing you your wand and letting you take over." She figured as much. Draco was never one for elaborate plans. "I made a Portkey while you were in the dungeon. Just find me when you're done and I'll activate it."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Alright I'm handing the wands to you now." She felt the light pressure of two wands press into her back and she gently reached behind her to grab them. When she had a good hold of them she felt the familiar handle of hers and put Harry's in the back pocket of her jeans. "Be safe."
She smirked, "I can't guarantee anything."
Before he could respond, she pushed herself off of him and made a beeline for the Dark Lord. When she was within five feet of him she shouted "Expelliarmus!" and watched as his wand flew out of his hand. She didn't waste time looking for his reaction and instead bent down to Harry and slipped him his wand. He was very weak and she knew that he barely had any time left before he passed out. "Harry we have to get out of here, follow me, I have a way out!" She whispered harshly.
"No. I've… got to kill him." It pained him to speak.
She shook her head. "You're too weak, you can't fight."
She vaguely heard the Dark Lord yelling at his followers to stay back.
Harry shook his head. "I have to."
Tears began to fill her eyes. "If we stay too long we'll both be killed. We have to go now."
"Not until… he's dead."
"Stop being so stubborn!" she said harshly. "I don't want you to die because of it."
He placed his hand on the one of hers that was resting on the ground. The Dark Lord was right behind her, she could feel his presence. If they didn't move now, they were going to die. She tugged on his hand and he resisted, pulling her back. He gave her a small smile, "I have to do it, Hermione. You may not understand it, but it's my destiny. Just know that I… I do love you."
A single tear went down her cheek. Did he not understand that he was going to die? Or maybe he did and this was his way of saying goodbye. Either way, she had given up hope. If she was going to die, she'd rather be with him than alone. This was her goodbye. "I love you, too."
"How sweet." The venom voice of the Dark Lord hissed. "Sorry to break up such a lovely couple. But it's time you both met your fate. AVADA KEDAVARA!"
Hermione braced herself against Harry, clutching onto him for dear life, waiting for the final blow that would send them away forever. But the blow never came. She slowly lifted her head. Was this what it felt like to be destroyed by the killing curse? If it was, then she knew that she must have gotten off lucky. But as she looked around her, she discovered that she was still in the ballroom. But it was no longer green. It was a light shade of blue, almost like the whole room and its occupants were being seen through glasses with blue lenses. It reminded her oddly of Luna Lovegood. But what was happening in the ballroom was nothing short of phenomenal. Instead of the smug face of the Dark Lord that she prepared herself to see, there was only a limp body against the cushion of his throne. He stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity and Hermione just stared at him.
Flashes of light began to fly towards her and it was then that she realized that he was dead. She didn't have time to think about how or why because she was too enamored with the flood of spells being directed at her but not even touching her. They were all seemingly being absorbed by something, something right in front of her-seemingly invisible. She caught sight of one of them hitting a spot right in front of her peripheral vision and saw it make a sort of small rippling effect on the blue color of the room. And with that spell she realized that the room had not just turned blue-she was inside a shield! Not just any shield, but a powerful one. It was either absorbing or reflecting any spells thrown at it. That must have been how he died… his spell reflected off of the shield back at him. She mused to herself. But how did this shield get here? I don't remember anyone casting anything other than the Dark Lord.
She didn't have time to think more on the subject because she saw a figure running towards her. At first, she didn't really worry about it. If spells were bouncing off of it, then surely a person would as well? But to her horror, the Death Eater ran straight into the shield and she screamed, groping for her wand so that she could hex them out.
"Hey hold on!" They said, putting up their hands in a sort of surrender-like pose. They then pulled down the mask and hood that covered their face and she relaxed. "It's me."
"How did you…?"
"I don't know. I just… ran into it and it didn't throw me halfway across the room." He said jokingly. "By the way, kudos on the kickass shield! How'd you do it?"
"Umm… no idea. Listen, can we just get out of here?" She said in a rush. The less time the spent here, the better.
He rummaged through the pockets in his robes and pulled out a familiar tiny notebook. It was the journal they used as kids to make up weird spells that only five-year-olds could think of. Hermione grabbed onto it and waited for Harry to do the same. When he didn't place his hand on the book she looked over at him to see him lying limp against her. She only allowed herself to think that he was unconscious. She grabbed a hold of him firmly and nodded at Draco. He pulled out his wand and tapped the book. "Portus."
The familiar sensation of her navel being tugged uncomfortably was the last thing she registered before she, Harry, and Draco disappeared out of Malfoy Manor.
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