In response, it tossed its head back and picked up speed. Hermione's eyes watered as she watched the ground beneath her flash by. The many lights of the cities below were a blur to her as she thought, The British countryside is so beautiful at night.
Suddenly, her thestral began flying towards the ground. Hermione let out a gasp of surprise and fell forward, barely managing to maintain a hold on her ride. Her heart pounded fiercely as she tugged the rope she held to signal the other thestral to also begin descending. She heard it let out a shrill neigh behind her, but felt it follow her downwards in response.
Too soon, it seemed, was Hermione jolted half out of her seat as her thestral landed on the ground somewhat clumsily. When it had slowed down to a walk, she slid off its back, wincing and rubbing her back.
"Thanks," she said awkwardly, patting the thestral on the shoulder. It nudged her, and she smiled. She was about to walk away when she remembered something.
"Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to tie you up," Hermione murmured as she created another rope which she looped over her thestral's neck and tied around a fence post. She tied the other one up as well, then turned around to look at the house she had been dropped off at.
Malfoy Manor spread out before her in all its glory. It was certainly one of the largest residences Hermione had ever seen. The carved, stone walls loomed above her, surrounded by tall trees. The windows curved into graceful arches, and a magnificent fountain stood proudly in the center of the neatly-kept front yard. Giant iron gates stood before her, preventing any unwanted visitors from entering. The place had a cold, forboding air around it, and Hermione shivered with unease as she looked around for a way to get past the tall fence that stood between her and the mansion.
A few metres off, she saw the fence end and rows of bushes start. I might be able to squeeze between two of those, she thought as she scrutinized the distance between two of the large plants. Might as well give it a try.
Hermione dropped down on her knees and crawled over to the bushes. Peering through a small gap, she let out a tiny sigh of relief when she saw no one around. Cautiously, she began to creep through the narrow space.
At last, she squeezed out from between the bushes. Brushing leaves and dry twigs off her robes, she hid in the shadows until she was absolutely certain that no one was around. When this had been confirmed, Hermione quickly dashed across the neatly-kept lawn and behind the house.
Not far from the back of the mansion spread a forest of tall, evergreen trees. Hermione walked along the edge of it, feeling slightly nervous, as she tried to pick out which of the many arched windows could be Draco's. As she did so, she spotted vines of ivy sneaking their way up the wall. A daring idea came to her.
If I could just climb up those, I could look into the windows... Without stopping to think (which was something so uncharacteristic of Hermione that it even startled herself), she ran over to the wall and latched her hand onto a vine above her. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed another one and began making her way up the cold slabs of stone.
Her entire body trembled as she slowly climbed; however, it was not from fear, but from adrenaline. I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought as she looked over her shoulder at the ground. The ground certainly seems a lot further away from up here...
As the thoughts ran through her head, Hermione's hand hit a marble ledge. Grasping it firmly, she pulled herself up a few inches and looked into the window above her.
The walls, ceiling, and floor of the room she saw were all completely covered in finely woven tapestries. They each seemed to depict an important wizarding battle or war from the past, and Hermione recognized a few of them. Tempted to go examine spectacular room at a closer distance, she started to squirm through the window.
Just then, a strong gust of wind slammed into her. Hermione's feet slipped off of the vine they had been precariously resting on, and for a few heart-stopping seconds, she swung from the window ledge in mid-air.
Resisting the urge to scream in fright, she took a deep breath and forced herself to step back onto the vine. After a few clumsy attempts to regain her footing, she finally managed to maintain a steadier stance - for the moment. I can't let myself get distracted, she scolded herself as she tried to catch her breath. Come on, Hermione, it's not like you to get sidetracked by pretty things.
With this thought implanted in her mind, she once again began making her way along the wall, this time to her right. Once she reached the nearest window, she looked in again, this time making sure she was firmly secured against the wall before doing so. Immediately, she recognized the room - it was Draco's room, the one the allievrae had shown her. But...where was he?
Frowning, Hermione carefully climbed through the window. When she had landed on her feet lightly on the carpeted floor of his bedroom, she looked around. "Draco?" she whispered tentatively.
Suddenly, she felt the floor beneath her move as if someone had stepped on it behind her. Whirling around, she came face-to-face with three men, one of which she was familiar with - Lucius Malfoy.
Before she could utter a sound, one of them grabbed her and muttered, "Silencio!"
"Well, well, well," sneered Lucius as he stepped back. "If it isn't the mudblood herself. Now what in the world could you be doing here, mudblood?"
Because she couldn't speak at the moment, Hermione settled for glaring at him furiously. She made sure not to let her fear show; he couldn't be given the advantage of knowing her weakness.
"Ah...how would your kind say it; 'cat got your tongue?'" When Lucius was awarded the satisfaction of watching her anger intensify, he continued on. "I suppose you're here looking for my son. I'm afraid Draco is not...available at the present time."
Cold, hard realization hit Hermione. Her eyes widened and all of the fury coursing through her seemed to halt momentarily.
"No, he is not dead," said Lucius softly as he surveyed Hermione with some level of curiousity. "You foolish girl, did you really believe what the allievrae showed you was true? If Arthur were here, I'm sure he would give you his 'Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain' speech." He spat on the ground in disgust after mentioning Mr Weasley. "Obviously you're not as brilliant as they all say."
Lucius began to casually pace back and forth before her. "The Dark Lord is very powerful. He has ways of intercepting nearly...everything. The night you ran out to save my son, you were insolent enough to leave the allievrae behind unguarded. I'm surprised you didn't even suspect anything."
Dismay came over Hermione. How could I not have known, she thought numbly. Voldemort did that fifth year to Harry...how could I not have even thought for a moment that he can send me false messages through the allievrae too?
"Gothalhugh," Lucius suddenly barked. "Unsilence her."
Nodding, the man who had placed the silencing charm on Hermione said the counter-curse. Immediately, she said in as calm of a voice as she could manage, "Where is Draco?"
Instead of answering her question, he said, "He is unaware of your arrival here, and that is all you need to know."
"You foul, evil, dir-"
"Kinely," Lucius interrupted sharply. "Show her what happens when a mudblood opens her mouth in my household."
"Of course!" exclaimed the other man holding Hermione.
"It was unwise of you to come here in the first place, my dear child," he whispered into her ear. His breath tickled her neck, and she recoiled in disgust. Drawing away, he bellowed, "Crucio!"
Hermione screamed out loud as pain beyond anything she had ever known, ever heard of, drilled itself deep down into her very core. She felt as though knives were being twisted into every inch of her body; she felt as though her body were splitting in two. There was not a single part of her that didn't burn with pain so intense that tears couldn't even make their way to her eyes. The only thought that ran through her throbbing mind as she collapsed onto the floor was that she had to escape herself somehow, escape the agony and torture...
Draco ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Malfoy Manor. He had just spent the past four hours strolling through the forest behind his home, and did not particularly want to re-enter the house. Being away from its confinement had helped clear his mind, something he had not been able to do since he returned.
A light breeze blew by, and he sighed. Stepping inside, he closed the heavy, iron door behind him. Time to go face him, he thought with a grimace. Draco walked slowly up the stairs, dreading seeing his father more with each passing step. He gritted his teeth and restrained the urge to turn back as he arrived at his bedroom door.
In one rapid, sweeping motion, he flung open the door. To his surprise, his father was not inside. Draco frowned as he looked around, as if expecting Lucius to jump out from behind the desk. Although his father didn't appear, he did notice one oddity - the window was open. That definitely wasn't open when I left... He crossed the room, making to shut it. As he did, he noticed something on the ground.
He knelt down and picked it up. When he recognized it, he nearly dropped it in surprise. "Who brought the allievrae here," he murmured to himself out loud.
Pulling his wand out from his pocket, he read the spell off of the back of the wrapper, then tapped it. Immediately, it melted into a pool of liquid and slid out of his hand. The moment it landed on the ground, an image appeared on its surface.
The room was small, circular, and poorly kept. Sharp slabs of rock jutted out from the earthen walls, and water dripped listlessly from the ceiling to form tiny puddles on the stone floor. Two single torches lit up only the immediate vicinity, leaving the rest of the room in darkness.
Four figures stood in the center of the dungeon-like area. One of the three men roughly restrained a slender girl from escaping. The flickering light of one of the torches briefly illuminated her face - it was Hermione. Anger filled her eyes, and she was desperately struggling against the man who held her.
One of the other men removed his hood and took a step closer to Hermione. Lucius's ice-blue eyes glinted dangerously as he said, "Give up, child. Even if he were to release his hold on you, you'd have nowhere to run. Not a soul knows the location of this dungeon, much less the fact that you're here."
"What are you going to do to me?" Hermione asked, her voice shaking.
"Nothing, of course."
"Then why are you keeping me here?" she demanded.
"Because," Lucius drawled, "we need you for reasons that will remain undisclosed."
"If this has anything to do with Draco, he won't come. He'll know it's a trap; he's clever enough."
Lucius smiled calmly, and replied, "We'll see."
"You're despicable," Hermione spat out.
"Watch your dirty little mouth, mudblood," he said, his voice dangerously low. "I'm sure you are aware that I would not hesitate to kill you if I felt the need to."
"You wouldn't dare. As you said, you need me; therefore, you wouldn't kill me. So stop with the empty threats, Malfoy," she retorted. A slight smirk settled on her face, and her struggles ceased.
Lucius advanced towards her with his wand pointed directly at her throat. "Enough. Your insolence is getting tiresome. I suppose -" he pressed the tip of his wand against her collarbone lightly "- I will just have to silence you myself."
The final image of Hermione's face, eyes wide with terror now, faded away. Without pausing to think, Draco furiously grabbed the now-wrapper allievrae and stuffed it into his pocket. His father had been wrong in the scene; he knew exactly where Hermione was. Storming out of his room, he began to head down to the secret dungeon in Malfoy Manor. His own safety never crossed his mind.
I have to save her...
[A/N: Don't worry, Draco didn't fall for the allievrae trick...what it showed him was real :P]