A series of coughs racked Hermione's weak frame as she attempted to sit up on the cold, stone floor she had just been lying on moments ago. Where am I... she wondered, looking around at her unfamiliar surroundings.
The room she was in was small and circular. The air was cold, and the two torches that had been placed on the walls gave no off warmth nor light. She reached down to grab her wand, only to find that it had been taken away. With a gasp, everything that had happened before she fainted came rushing back at her.
As if the memory were painful to recall, she winced and rubbed the back of her neck. So that's what real pain feels like, she thought grimly. Now that she had struggled into a sitting position, she tried to clear her mind of the remnants of her experience with one of the unforgiveable curses and focus on finding a way out.
There were no windows and no doors. But there must be, she thought with confusion. How did I get in here? Taking a deep breath, she got to her feet and began to shakily walk around the room, running her hands along the walls. There must be some kind of trigger...a protruding rock or root or something...
Ten minutes later, she gave up. Having not found anything, she decided that the room must be locked by a charm. Without her wand, she could do nothing.
Hermione sighed and slumped back down against the wall. How could I have been so stupid? I should have listened to Professor Haymen; I should have realized that Voldemort could have sent me a false scene somehow. But why would he? What does he want with me? Questions plagued her mind as she let her head drop onto her arms in despair and frustration.
Just then, she heard a rumbling noise above her. Looking up in surprise, she saw a rock shift over a few feet above her head, and soon after, it was followed by a head of pale blonde hair. As Hermione watched, completely dumbfounded, Draco eased his head and shoulders out of the opening.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered. "You have to leave, they're going to find you."
"I'm saving you," he replied, disregarding her last sentence. "Come on, grab my hand, and hurry."
As Hermione stood on her tiptoes and extended her arm as far as she could, the sound of approaching voices drifted by her ears. "They're coming!" she gasped.
"Take...my hand..." Draco muttered, his teeth gritted. Edging himself out as far as he could without losing his balance, he was finally able to grasp her hand tightly. Using all his strength, he pulled her up to the point where she could scramble through after him. "Quick, close it," he said tensely.
Obeying his words, Hermione lugged the large block of stone back into place just as a door slowly crept open on the other side. As the two students began to creep through the narrow, earthen tunnel that lay behind the rock, Lucius's yell of rage came from behind them.
Without a word to each other, Hermione and Draco pressed on. After what seemed like hours crawling through the damp passageway, light began to creep into their vision. Not long afterwards, they reached an exit which led directly to a spot just outside of the gates.
Luckily, it wasn't far from the ground. Draco easily jumped out and straightened himself, then reached up to help Hermione out. When both of them were safely on the ground, Hermione let out a huge sigh of relief.
"How did you know I was there?" she asked him as he pulled her under the cover of a tall maple tree.
"You dropped something in my room," he replied simply. He pulled out the allievrae and handed it to her. "I think the better question is what were YOU doing here?"
"I...I'll tell you when we get back."
"Back?"
"Back to Hogwarts."
"And how do you propose we do that? We can't exactly fly," Draco replied, still as sarcastic as ever.
"We can't," agreed Hermione, "but they can." Pointing over to the two thestrals that were tied to a fence post not far away, she grinned slyly at him. "You're not the only clever one here."
"Wow," he said, looking impressed. "I never thought I would say it, but you're brilliant."
The two students hurried over to the horse-like creatures that were currently chewing leaves off the bushes that had been planted around Malfoy Manor.
"Draco," said Hermione as she swung herself onto her thestral and untied the ropes that bound it to the ground. "When did you start seeing them?"
He stopped unknotting the rope that held back his thestral, and looked up at Hermione. His gaze seemed to drift off to a point in space as he said, "Sixth year after my mother died."
"Your mother died?" repeated Hermione, her voice filled with sympathy.
"My father killed her. Like me, she was tired of living with him, and she tried to run away. He caught her and assumed that she was betraying him. He...he tortured her to death, and I came in just in time to see her die. I'll never forget the look on her face before she died, Hermione. Unlike Lucius, she loved me. It was her that sparked my hatred for him."
Tears filled Hermione's eyes as she listened to him relay the memory in a distant voice. She hadn't known that Narcissa was murdered the previous year; she'd always just assumed that Draco's mother was just like his father.
"He wanted to keep it a secret, and he had no idea that I saw," Draco added in a hard voice as if he could read Hermione's thoughts. Then he shook his head, as if he were clearing his thoughts. "Sorry. Lets just go."
Hermione nodded without a word, and slapped her thestral's rump. It took off into the air, and behind her, she heard Draco's follow.
The ride to back Hogwarts was even more brief than the first. Within seconds, it seemed, they arrived at the grounds. The thestrals deposited the two of them at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, then silently galloped off. "Thank you!" Hermione called as she watched them disappear.
Turning around, she faced Draco. "What do we do now?"
He shrugged. "Oh wait, I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long, thin object. "Your wand," he added with a grin.
"Merlin, I forgot they took that! How did you find it?" Hermione asked in awe after she had thanked him and taken her wand from him.
"They dropped it on their way down to the dungeon. Anyway, now that I've done you the favour of picking it up, you can do me a favour - tell me why you were at my house."
She looked away. "I was trying to save you..."
"Save me?" he retorted. "Well, that sure turned out well."
"The allievrae showed me an image of your father about to kill you. I...I didn't think. All I knew was that I had to get to you before he did."
His tone softened as he said, "Then how did they find you?"
"Voldemort sent that scene. It wasn't real. I was so stupid to think it was."
"The Dark Lord?"
Hermione paused and knitted her eyebrows together. "Why do you refer to him as that? I've only heard death eaters call him 'The Dark Lord'."
"I'm bound by the mark to always speak of him so. I have no choice."
"Oh..."
"Do you have any idea why he'd want to lure you in?"
"I think it's because of you," she whispered. "They're using me as bait to get to you."
"But why would they..." Draco started to say, frowning. His eyes widened suddenly, and he nodded slowly, momentarily oblivious to the fact that Hermione still stood before him. "So he does know..."
"What?" asked Hermione frantically. "What does he know?"
"Lucius knows that I saw him kill my mother. He knows that if I were to extract the memory and place it in a pensieve, then show the Ministry, he would be sentenced to Azkaban. The Dark Lord...he can't have his best death eater locked away. So that's why they've been attacking me all along," Draco speculated, more to himself than to Hermione. "They want to kill me before I can tell anyone."
"Draco," Hermione suddenly said. "Won't he be notified of everything you just said?"
"Yes," he answered quietly. "I don't care anymore. Now that I know that they're not after me because of you, I have no need to hide. Hermione...when I saw the scene in the allievrae and realized you were in danger, I felt..."
She looked at him inquisitively, not sure what he was going to say next.
He closed his eyes, as if it pained him to say the next words. "For the first time in my life, I actually felt scared."
Hermione smiled and took a step toward him, taking both of his hands in hers. "So there's human in you after all," she said softly.
"Not for me," he continued, opening his eyes and looking down into hers. "For you. I was so scared that I was going to lose you."
She felt her heart begin to race wildly in her chest. "You won't ever lose me. I'll be with you until the end, Draco. I promise."
In response, he leaned down and kissed her sweetly on the lips. As he pulled away, Hermione felt a drop of water hit her cheek. Seconds later, the clouds above them opened up and it began to pour. Draco and Hermione made no move to get to shelter. Instead, she leaned into him and kissed him again, this time with more intensity. His arms encircled her waist as he returned the kiss passionately.
And though the clouds above continued to weep, not even the sheets of rain that drenched the two of them could contain the flames that burned within.