Deception, Drama and Draco Malfoy.....

Chapter 5

As Draco and Harry watched in stunned silence, the figure on the ground started to change. It grew smaller and smaller and the ash blonde hair darkened and grew longer and curlier. Once the transformation was complete, the figure straightened up, dusting off its oversized robes. Draco’s confusion mutated into murderous rage.

 

“WHAT?” Harry’s utter disbelief was evident in his voice. In place of the trained Auror assigned to him was a girl he knew very well. Hermione Granger stood before his disbelieving eyes, looking determined yet slightly apprehensive.

 

“Harry, Draco, I can’t believe you would drug me!! It’s your fault Peter is lying in my office, tied up and unconscious. I saw him put something into a drink and then give it to me, and I thought he was working for the Death Eaters. I immediately stunned him and since I thought that if everyone realized that our mission is compromised because Death Eaters have infiltrated the Auror ranks, the Ministry will abort it immediately. To protect the operation I polyjuiced into Peter.” Hermione voice was rising and soon she was shrieking. “And someone explain to me WHY the potion stopped working?”

 

“Thieves downfall.” Draco snapped “They are part of the protective charms around the Manor.” Hermione blanched. She had encountered this before, in Gringotts. Thieves downfall exposes any deceit or treachery – it would render invisibility cloaks ineffective, disillusionment charms would stop working, nullify the effects of polyjuice potion, etc.

 

Draco mind was in turmoil. The girl he had worked so hard to protect was practically forcing herself into harms way. Her presence once again complicated his plans, and he did not know if he would have the courage to go through with them. However, when he looked into her chocolate colored eyes, his confusion disappeared. His path lay clear before him; his course of action was set.

 

While Draco had been thinking, Harry had been trying to make Hermione leave. However, his argument was cut short when a loud clang assaulted their ears. They turned around quickly, and saw the gates had shut themselves. No, the gates had been shut by someone.

 

Draco Malfoy stood in front of the gates, pointing his wand at them, a cold sneer on his lips.

 

 

Hermione’s mind flew into overdrive. What was happening to Draco?

 

“Draco, what are you doing?” Hermione’s voice betrayed the fear she was feeling.

 

Draco’s cold laugh cut through air. Hermione whipped her hair around, trying to find a way to escape. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two cloaked figures heading towards them. As they neared, one of them lowered her hood, revealing heavy lidded eyes, haughty features and a strong jaw line. Hermione sucked in breath. Bellatrix Lestrange was back from the dead.

 

Before she could process the repercussions of this, she heard a familiar voice behind her whisper “Stupefy”, and then everything turned black.

 

 

Her head was pounding her mouth was painfully dry. She could feel various parts of her body throbbing and then realized she couldn’t move. She felt disoriented and could not remember how she was here. Suddenly, the events of the past day rushed into her mind and threatened to overwhelm her. Draco had betrayed her. Draco had betrayed all of them. The words seemed strange to her. This was all her fault. She should have expected this, after all a leopard can never change his spots. It was because her that Harry had trusted Draco, and now they would all die because of that. Draco’s betrayal cut her heart deep, and then she started worrying about Harry, Ginny and James.

 

She opened her eyes, and was met by a wall of pitch black. The air was musty and cold, and the floor she was on felt damp. When she tried to move her hands and legs, she realized that she had been tied to a post, with her hands behind her. Oww… this would account for her cramped muscles.

 

Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she looked around, trying to pinpoint her location. As she turned her head towards the around, she saw a faint shape slumped next to her.

 

“HARRY!!”

 

She felt hope flare inside her; hope she had no right to feel. She was captured by Death Eaters, betrayed by her friend and saw no way of escape, but her spirits lifted with the realization that she was not alone. She struggled, trying to free her arms of the ropes binding her, but to no avail. She said Harry's name again, hoping he would wake up, hoping he was not hurt, hoping he was alive.

 

A slight movement caught her eye. She whipped her head around, trying to peer through the darkness. The hair on the back of her neck prickled, and she knew someone was watching them. In a voice that masked the stark terror she was feeling, she called out loudly.

 

“Who’s there?”

 

There was no response. She continued to peer into the darkness, trying to see what lay further, but could not. After a while, her tense posture relaxed and she leaned onto the post she was tied to, thinking. She couldn’t believe that Bellatrix was back. She had been there during the final battle, when Molly Weasley had fired the killing curse at her, and had seen her fall, her haughty face frozen in her last laugh. There was no way she could be alive. A chilling thought suddenly made her freeze. There was a way Bellatrix could have survived. Bellatrix had made a Horcrux.

 

It made sense after all, that Voldemort’s favorite Death Eater had been privy to the same dark magic knowledge that he knew. Looking back, it was obvious that she would have made a Horcrux. Bellatrix was mad, deranged and power hungry, but nevertheless, she was smart. If Bellatrix was behind the whole kidnapping, things would be a lot more difficult, and their chances of escaping unharmed were dropping from slim to practically none. She was an enemy they would not underestimate again.

 

Suddenly, she heard footsteps echoing towards them. Adrenaline rushed through her body as she prepared herself for a fight, even though she was tied. Suddenly, a sharp light flooded her eyes and she cringed, trying to block it out. After hours of darkness, the light felt like a painful physical blow. A loud mocking laugh filled the room as she squinted and tried to see past the horrific light that was aimed at her face.

 

“Look at the mudblood, writhing on the floor with the rats where she belongs. Missed me? And wee Potter is still sleeping. Draco darling, wake the poor boy gently. We wouldn’t want him missing the fun do we?”

 

A bucket of ice cold water rained down on Hermione and Harry, drenching them. The cool air in the dungeons suddenly turned frigid and Hermione felt herself chilled to the bone. She started shivering violently as Harry woke up with a start. However, another bucket of water was poured on them and Hermione's sopping robes got even wetter. Determined not to show weakness, she controlled her chattering teeth and spoke.

 

“Where’s Ginny?”

 

The light stopped shining in her face. She could look around now, and saw Bellatrix standing in front of her. A deranged expression twisted her face. She was pale and her features were snake like, confirming Hermione’s suspicions. When she saw Draco standing next to her with a sneer on his face, she felt new pain shoot through her. It was like a fresh shock to her, seeing a man she once trusted siding with the enemy. And to think she had been starting to like him, maybe even love him just a little.

 

“What? No pleasantries? Must we get down straight to business? Your parents have done a shoddy job with you mudblood. Draco, teach this filth some manners.”

 

She saw Draco's expression flicker for a second, before resuming its earlier expression. The change had been so swift it was almost as if she had imagined it.

 

“Bellatrix, you know I don’t like to play with filth.”

 

Bellatrix’s expression instantly changed.

 

“Crucio!” she screamed, and Hermione immediately prepared herself. However, the curse never hit her. Draco crashed to the ground, writhing in agony, but not a sound escaped his lips. Hermione felt a fleeting moment of sympathy, but immediately chased it away.

 

He’s the enemy, Hermione. He is responsible for all this. Bellatrix is just doing what I would have done to him.

 

“DRACO!!” a loud shriek rent the air as a large girl came barreling into the room. “Bellatrix stop that at once!” Hermione started as she recognized Pug faced Pansy.

 

“YOU.... Crucio… WILL... Crucio... DO… Crucio… WHAT…. Crucio… I… Crucio.. SAY!!”

 

It seemed like death had made Bellatrix even more unstable. Draco was on the floor, his limbs jerking uncontrollably. However, she stopped and turned her attention towards Hermione and Harry.

 

“Look at that, wee Potter is awake. You want meet your bloodtraitor and ickle Jamsie?”

 

Next to Hermione, Harry bellowed like an enraged bull. He strained against the ropes, while shouting profanities.

 

Looking at him, Bellatrix started laughing again. She stretched out her hand, and placed it gently on Harry’s cheek, her long nails pressing into it. Without warning, she clawed his face and when she removed her hand, Hermione could see four long scratches on his face, dribbling blood over his cheek. Fury blazed in Harry’s eyes. It was evident that by kidnapping his family, Bellatrix had signed her own death warrant. Again.

 

Bellatrix pointed her wand at Harry, and the ropes tying him to the pole vanished. However, new ropes bound his hands and feet together. With another flick of her wand, Harry was bobbing in the air upside down behind her, and she started walking away, taking care to smash Harry into every surface. Over her shoulder, she called out to Draco.

 

“Bring the mudblood to the room.”

 

As soon as Bellatrix disappeared, Pansy instantly hurled herself at Draco.

 

“Drakie poo, are you alright? Are you hurt darling? I can make you feel all better.”

 

Hermione felt bile rise to her throat looking at this. Pansy had wrapped herself around Draco like an octopus, and was batting her eyelashes at him, while trying to attach her lips to his. It was gratifying to see him squirm so much while trying to disentangle her limbs from his. With a mighty heave Draco pushed Pansy off him and pointed his wand at Hermione. The ropes tying her to the pole disappeared, along with the bindings around her ankles.

 

“Walk!” he barked at her.

 

Hermione initially considered rebelling, but she needed to know what was going on.  Reluctantly she got up and followed Draco out of the dungeons.

 

 

 

It seemed like she had been walking for hours. They followed endless corridors, took endless flights of stairs, walked through hundreds of doors, and still hadn’t reached their destination. The convoluted route had made her lose all sense of time and bearing, and she no longer tried to memorize the route, but trudged behind Draco, legs burning. The size of the Manor seemed to rival Hogwarts castle. Without warning, Draco halted at a large set of doors. At this point, Hermione's only focus was on moving each foot, so she didn’t realize that he had stopped. She crashed into him, and sprung away – feeling like she had touched a snake. A treacherous, lying, betraying snake. She glared at him, and he looked back, his face a shuttered and closed off mask. However, his grey eyes looked stormy, filled with turbulence and conflict. Pansy shot her a look filled with loathing. Suddenly, a smirk plastered itself on her pug like face.

 

“Mudblood, you are going to love this.” She spat out, her voice gloating.

 

She stepped forward, and opened the wide double doors. As Hermione peered in, her eyes adjusting to the dim light, a gasp of shock escaped her lips. Her legs froze and her heart seized up in terror. In front of her, lay the scene of her worst nightmare.

 

How was it? This was very difficult to write, and I hope you are in sufficient shock =P Please please please vote and comment :D ... A cookie if you do :D tell me what you liked and hated :) this chappie ended with a pretty simple cliffie, so if anyone knows whats gonna happen, let me know!!

 

Love

 

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