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Never Mine	By : RynStar15 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 21248 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters therein and do not make any money or intend any copyright infringement by placing them here.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
The three of us battled our way through the crowd, fighting for the stairs. With every passing moment I feared the worst, knowing how persuasive Draco was, knowing that Harry would do what he thought was right.
Just as we reached the bottom step a screech like a wounded animal pierced the air and we turned towards the sound. A masked Death Eater was sprinting towards us and with a flick of their wand, Neville was flying backwards, crashing into the banister, and Ginny was crying out, thrown mercilessly to the floor.
Before I could even think of a spell or move to help my friends, a streak of blue light tore apart the night and I doubled over with a gasp of pain, grabbing at my right side which was suddenly in agony.
I heard Ginny cry for me and moved to help her only to look down and see the dark red blood coating my outstretched hand, seeping down the front of my robes, spilling like a death sentence onto the witch below me.
...
One week, six days earlier…
I heard Harry call my name as I watched the note flutter from my numb fingers to the floor but I couldn't respond, my eyes fixed on the gold parchment sitting so serenely against the cold stone. I could see the words etched on the bottom, tearing at my soul, screaming at me what he'd been trying to tell me all this time and because I hadn't wanted to see it, hadn't wanted to know the truth, I'd killed him myself.
My fist came to my mouth to hold in my silent cries, my body shuddering. Harry scooped up the note and read it out monotonously to McGonagall and Lupin while I stared at the floor where the parchment had lain, unable to look into their shocked faces. The last sentence Harry read out felt like a gunshot to my chest and I must have jerked because Harry was pulling me into his arms, his low voice at my ear.
"We're going to find him. Hermione, listen to me. We're going to find him, we'll stop him-"
"But how can we?" I breathed. It felt like I couldn't drag in enough air. "We have to destroy the Horcrux before…and if Draco is-"
"How can we be sure Draco really is a Horcrux?" Lupin muttered as he began to pace.
"Is it even possible?" McGonagall asked, her face wan.
"Yes," I whispered wretchedly. Everyone turned to me and I looked up, turning away from Harry's chest his supportive arm still around me. "It's ill-advised as they can still use their own mind, but it can also become a very powerful weapon."
"What do you mean, 'weapon?'" Harry snapped, looking horrified.
I swallowed, recalling everything I had read. "Voldemort…can use him. Make him into a-a clone almost, like a puppet. But I'm guessing he had no idea Draco knew Occlumency…he must, it's the only way he could have fought him off. And Snape…Snape must have known, he must have been trying to help him, that's why…"
That's why Voldemort had killed him. Draco had tried to tell me…but it didn't account for the pain, I had never read anything about it being painful to be a Horcrux, just that most people started to forget who they were, started to turn into the person who had put a part of their soul into them…
I suddenly remembered his hands on my arms turning to steel, his eyes like slits…an arm coming to my stomach, knocking me to the floor, the horror in his eyes at what he'd done…the Legilimency, the wandless magic…he'd gained those powers from Voldemort. His bi-polar attitude, the questioning about Horcruxes…it all made sense. He must have found another way to destroy a Horcrux, for I'd only told him about the sword and Harry had the sword-
"Harry, where's the sword?" I snapped suddenly.
"What?"
"The sword, Gryffindor's sword!" I screamed, rounding on him, ripping at the front of his jumper, my heart in my throat. "Where is it?"
"In-in my trunk, why?" he asked taken aback at my sudden hysteria.
"Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure?"
"I don't know, I mean, I haven't looked lately, we haven't needed it," he admitted.
"Did you take it to Grimmauld Place with you?"
"I-no," he said, looking at me curiously. "No, I left it here with most of my stuff. I only took some clothes and things for the break. You don't think he-"
"I don't know, I don't know!" I cried turning to McGonagall. "He could get back in here, couldn't he? Through the Vanishing Cabinet?"
"Yes, I suppose so," she said, looking worried. "The sister cabinet is still at headquarters. He had access to it."
"Harry-"
"Let's just look, alright?" he said calmly, his hands on my shoulders, looking into my eyes. "Let's just look and see."
Without further ado, he dragged me out of the office and up to Gryffindor tower, neither of us talking, his only comfort to me that of his hand in mine, gently squeezing. We said nothing to the others who were in the common room but ran straight up the stairs to his dormitory and tore open his trunk, ripping things out until we got to the bottom where the sword glistened amongst broken quills and empty ink wells.
I sank to the floor in relief as Ron and Ginny burst into the room. Harry told them everything we had learned and Ginny gasped, but Ron brought up a good point.
"Who would pick that slimy git to put a piece of their soul into?" he said disgustedly and while I didn't quite agree with the "slimy git" part, I had to admit he was right. When I told him so, his eyes popped.
"He's barely of age, his father had lost a lot of rank after what happened at the Ministry," I pointed out. "And besides that, he didn't do his duty in killing Dumbledore, did he? Snape did. So why would Voldemort use Draco?"
"Maybe it was punishment for not killing Dumbledore?" Harry suggested.
"Maybe…" But was it enough? He had to have had a really good reason for using Draco…could it simply be anger?
"Harry, have you ever had any dreams about Draco? Of Voldemort thinking about Draco?" I asked.
"No," he said, thinking back. "No, the only one with Malfoy was when Voldemort killed Snape. I told you Malfoy was standing there."
So, he had tortured Draco by making him watch the death of his mentor…but to use him as his Horcrux?
"It just doesn't make sense," Ginny agreed, sinking onto Neville's bed. "He used objects for all his other ones and his snake, yeah, but a person? Isn't that sort of…risky?"
"That's what all the books say," I told her. "It's always a risk to put control spells and such on a person in case they're strong enough to fight it off. A Horcrux is much stronger since a part of your soul is actually in the person…but still, the person is independent. And in this case, it obviously went horribly wrong as Draco switched sides…"
"Probably should have picked someone with a bit more pluck, eh?" Ron grunted.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley, are you seriously going to complain that Malfoy is trying to destroy a Horcrux?" Ginny rounded on him. "Are you completely mental? If he hadn't told us we might have never found out!"
As Ron opened his mouth to start again Harry cut him off. "So, do you think he knew what Voldemort had done?"
"I don't know, it's hard to say…" I chewed my lip. "I mean, he obviously knew about the Horcruxes, but maybe he just didn't realize…and from the way he made it sound, he didn't know the others had been destroyed. But he came to our side for a reason. He must have known something was going on."
"And how are we supposed to know if he does end up, well…" Ginny started but then looked nervously to me.
"I don't know how he can without the sword," Harry said as I shivered. "I mean, what else is there that can destroy one?"
"It's not the sword that destroys it, it's the basilisk venom," I reminded him.
"Great, well, it's a good thing there's one of them on every corner," Ron snorted.
"It's not the only thing," I said impatiently, my heart unable to handle Ron's negativity. Right at the moment I had enough for all of us. "If he read any of the Horcrux books at headquarters he would know you can also use Fiendfyre, but it's extremely dangerous. Although I'm guessing at this point he doesn't really care, does he?"
My voice caught, tears welling up. It felt like a ball of heat was lodged in my throat and I tried to work it back but it was grabbing hold with both hands, threatening to strangle me. I couldn't get the thought out of my head of Draco out there, in pain, alone, scared, trying to find a way to kill himself to destroy a Horcrux. And then I saw the sword sticking out of him while he choked and bled or a wave of flame engulfing him while he screamed, terrified.
Before I knew what was happening, Ron was grabbing me, pulling me against his chest, scooping me until I was in his lap and my arms were wrapped around his neck. I choked on a sob and Ron spoke to me quietly.
"I'm sorry for being such a prat, Hermione," he whispered. "I didn't realize…"
"I understand," I sighed, digging my face into his familiar neck, remembering late nights we'd stayed up worrying over Harry, turning to each other when it became too much to bear alone. "I know how it looked-"
"I should have trusted you," Ron said. "I'm sorry I didn't. But trust me on this, Hermione. We'll find him, we'll figure it out."
"We can't give up yet, Hermione," Harry seconded and Ginny nodded.
"You're right, I'm sorry," I sniffed, embarrassed at my ridiculous behavior. If we were going to save Draco I had to pull myself together. "We should tell Lupin and McGonagall about the sword."
And so, preparations began. The sword was locked in McGonagall's office, the safest place deemed, and the Order was informed to keep an eye out for Draco or any sign that he had…done the deed.
All we could do for now was talk and wait, and fret on my part. I left for bed early, my head spinning. I sat on my window sill for hours, staring into the driving snow, pleading Draco not to be rash, to stay safe.
The silence was mocking.
...
The next day brought more bad news: Tonks' parents had been found dead in a cave not far from their home which meant that no one would be able to find the Quintons or Verity until one of them showed themselves. Dementors were flooding the country in droves as if they knew Draco was out there alone; the Muggle suicide rate jumping spectacularly to the entire Muggle community's bewilderment
The week dragged and my attention slackened once more but McGonagall said nothing. I took as many patrols as possible hoping Draco would show himself. I found it impossible to sleep and instead spent my time trying to reach Draco, begging him to read my mind as he had before, to stop him somehow. We kept our ears out for any news at all, forcing Mrs. Weasley to write at least twice a day with updates.
Finally, on Friday night when I was so exhausted I couldn't keep the train of the conversation, Harry forced me to drink a Sleeping Draught and I dropped into bed and fell asleep at last. Dreams invaded as the potion wore off and my own exhaustion took over. I could see Draco huddled in a cave, barely moving, his face wan, scratches running down his cheek to his neck, not deep enough to penetrate muscle, but still painful looking. The mountains surrounding him looked oddly familiar…
I woke suddenly and gasped when someone touched my shoulder.
"Sorry!" Ginny squealed and I rolled onto my back, clutching my pounding heart. "I didn't mean to scare you!"
"It's alright," I panted, sitting up.
"I just came to check on you, it's after noon," she explained.
"Noon?" I cried. "What in the world did Harry give me?"
"Just a regular Sleeping Draught, that's why they had me check on you," she said, taking a seat at the foot of my bed. "Hermione, you were mumbling something…"
"Was I?" I asked, surprised. I never talked in my sleep.
"You kept saying 'Hogwarts,'" she admitted sheepishly. "What were you dreaming about?"
I tried to think back. I saw snow and mountains…and-
"Draco!" I gasped as everything spun into place. "Draco, he's in the mountains, he's on his way here!"
"What? Wait, Hermione, are you sure this wasn't just a dream?" Ginny asked as I leapt out of bed and began pulling on my clothes.
"I'm sure!" I said hurriedly, tugging out my scarf and a pair of boots from my trunk, clothes and papers flying about in my haste. "Draco's been using Legilimency on me since he got to headquarters; I know he was using it just now."
"He can do Legilimency?" Ginny gawked incredulously.
"No, but Voldemort can," I explained, shoving my foot into the wrong boot.
"But…Legilimency lets you see into other people's minds," Ginny said slowly, as if trying to reason with a dim child. "How could you see what he's doing if he's using Legilimency?"
"I think he wanted me to," I reasoned, barely aware of the conversation as I yanked my jumper over my head. "Or maybe he didn't really know what he was doing. The Horcrux gets more powerful the longer it's inside an object, Voldemort could be starting to take Draco over, especially since he probably knows Draco is trying to destroy it. Draco must have tried to speak to me while Voldemort was trying to see where Draco was and I intercepted."
"Maybe," Ginny conceded half-heartedly, but I could tell she was only trying to humor me. I grabbed my knit hat and tore out the door. "Hermione, where are you going? You can't be thinking of going out there to look for him!"
"What am I supposed to do, sit around here warm and cozy while he's freezing and alone and hurt?"
"He's hurt?" She looked as if she were torn between concern and trying to stall me as we pounded down the stairs.
"He's bleeding," I replied, reaching the common room and lowering my voice as it was crowded with students. "And I'm not going to wait around to see if he can make it here on his own."
Ron and Harry looked up as we neared and I nodded toward the portrait hole and they quickly followed us through. The corridor was deserted but I kept my voice down in case someone overheard and told the boys what I'd seen.
"Great, so I now have two friends who see things!" Ron cried exasperatedly.
"Hermione, what if it was just a dream?" Harry ventured nervously. I stopped walking so suddenly that they all took a few steps before they realized I wasn't with them and turned.
"Harry James Potter," I growled, my voice menacing. He had the decency to flinch at my tone. "After six years of Ron and me standing by every one of your dreams and visions, you're actually going to doubt me now?"
Ginny quirked an eyebrow, Ron gave Harry a "well, you deserved it," look, and Harry gaped a few times before speaking.
"No, no of course not," he finally sighed. "I-you're right. But what are we supposed to do? We can't all go marching out into the mountains looking for him-"
"No, we can't all go," I conceded, pulling on my mittens. "I need you three to tell McGonagall what I saw and get the Aurors out scouting the area; we'll need Order members on all of the entrances-"
"Hermione, you're not seriously thinking of going out there?" Ron grabbed my elbow and whipped me around, pointing out the nearest window to the driving snow.
"Draco is out there!" I reminded him. "He's hurt and alone and fighting off a piece of Voldemort's soul! He needs help and I'm not going to just sit around while he freezes to death!"
"Hermione, wait," Ginny called as I strode past them down the marble steps into the entrance hall. "Let's all talk to McGonagall together, we'll make a plan, we can't just go running out there, we won't even know where to look!"
I strode to the front doors and ripped them open, pointing straight past Hogsmead. "There. There is exactly where we need to look. Now go find McGonagall, have the Aurors search all the caves, he looked to be facing these mountains to the east."
"Hermione, this is insane!" Harry thundered over the wind as I hurried down the frozen front steps. "How do you expect to find Malfoy in this?"
"Certainly not by sitting around!" I called back, plunging into the almost waist deep snow. He caught my arm and swung me around to face him.
"Listen to me, for Merlin's sake! I know how you feel," he said, speaking over my protests. "If that was Ginny out there I would be doing the same thing as you and you would be doing the same thing as me. Love makes you irrational, I know that first hand. Look what happened to Sirius because I just went running off without a plan. You yourself tried to stop me because you knew better than just striking out without backup, without a plan. You can't do this on your own; we've got to think this through. There is no point giving yourself hypothermia while trying to find someone who doesn't want to be found in this. He's smart, he'll be alright. But we can't help him if we're all buried under ten feet of snow."
I looked up at him beseechingly. "I can't just sit around and wait."
"You also can't go tearing out into a blizzard without a cloak."
I looked down at myself and laughed, despite the circumstance, realizing that my scarf was nestled atop my jumper and nothing else. Harry smiled at me and pulled me back toward the school. "Come on, let's go get ready."
We tracked down McGonagall in her office and told her the newest information and she agreed a search needed to be sent out. As Draco was our final step to defeating Voldemort he was now our top priority. Since Ginny was not of age and Harry, well, he was Harry Potter, they were forbidden to leave the grounds, so Ron and I suited up (I remembered my cloak this time) and met a group of Aurors and Order members in front of The Three Broomsticks which was temporarily set up as a search base. Everyone was organized into pairs and we struck out having all practiced a Tracking Spell, the Four-Point Spell, and red sparks for danger, green for finding Malfoy.
Ron was surprisingly silent by my side as we Apparated to a large ledge and began hunting for caves, peering into any we came across, searching for tracks or any sign a human had been there. I kept glancing around my surroundings, trying to find the view I had seen through Draco's eyes. I didn't figure he'd still be there, but I thought it would be easier to find traces heading in the direction of Hogwarts if we started where he had been. Ron trudged along behind me, his hands buried in his pockets, his head bowed against the wind.
It wasn't long before my hands and feet were numb with cold and the snow had soaked through my pants and robes up past my thighs. We slipped and slid over rocks and boulders, Apparating to the next ledge and the next, calling into the howling wind.
"Maybe we should go back, warm up, you know?" Ron yelled hours later, his face pressed against my ear. I shook my head.
"Not yet, we still have another hour of daylight at least!"
"But we're freezing and we're hardly getting anywhere. What do you plan to find, anyway? If he sees any of us he's just going to think we're Death Eaters and hide!"
"We can't just give up," I said desperately, looking around at the snow shrouded scene. "It's around here, somewhere close, if we could keep going for another hour-"
"Another hour and my fingers are going to fall off!"
"Then you go!" I snapped, turning to him. "Go on, I'll meet you back at The Three Broomsticks."
"Hermione, come on, this is mad!" he argued. "We're not going to find him out here; we can hardly see a meter in front of us!"
I had to admit he had a point. Visibility this high up was almost nil; the only parts of us showing were our narrowed eyes, but still I was so cold all of my muscles were spasming and my movements had become jerky. Only the thought that Draco was out here kept me moving.
"One more hour, please." I begged. "What if it was Luna?"
His face fell and I could see the understanding in his eyes. "Alright. One more, but then we're turning back, I don't want to be responsible for you falling off a cliff or anything."
I smiled at him which of course he couldn't see. I took his gloved hand and we continued on to the edge of the mountain face and I peered through the veil of white. Ron stomped his feet next to me, rubbing his frozen hands to get feeling in them. This looked familiar; I had definitely seen that mountain but maybe from a different angle…
The cold turned penetrating, seeping into my bones, the last bit of light leaked from the twilight until I could see nothing but the black, feel nothing but cloying fear...
Dementors.
"Ron!" I cried. He had only been a meter to my right so I shuffled that way, swinging my arm out, trying to find him, the swirling despair grabbing hold. I panicked; I had never been good at the Patronus Charm, never able to find a memory happy enough to conjure one. I could hear Ron screaming, begging me...he was counting on me, but I couldn't do it, I was going to let him down, let everyone down, and Draco would be lost forever in this frozen wasteland-
Draco, tall, charming, that smile that could take my breath away, the way he held me, so close and tight, the adoration that shone in his eyes as he made love to me-
"Expecto Patronum!"
I gasped as a dragon burst out of my wand and my knees hit the snow in shock. I sunk lower and lower, belatedly realizing I was falling. I cried out as the world fell out from under me. I could hear Ron yelling, and I reached out in the dark for him as I was pelted on every side, my stomach leaping to my throat as the white took over and I cascaded down, finally crashing to a stop where the black took hold.
…
I couldn't breathe; I was being pressed in from all sides. I opened my eyes and a searing cold stung them, all I could see was darkness. The cold was consuming, stabbing into my skin like knives.
I tried to move my arms but they met resistance. I opened my mouth to call out but snow tumbled in, muffling my cries.
I was buried.
Fighting back the panic, I clenched my right hand and found by some miracle that I still had my wand. "Deprimo!" I thought and a hole began to dig out and I pushed toward it, tugging myself out from the snow, gasping in the small pocket of air the spell cast. When I broke the surface of my icy prison I looked around, the flurry having turned into a downright blizzard. The Dementors were gone and Ron nowhere in sight, nothing but mounds and mounds of white surrounding me.
"Ron!" I screamed, my voice drowned by the howling wind as terror gripped me. "RON!"
I dragged myself through the snow, sinking into the drifts, the sky darkening every second, making it hard to see. All was white and black, snow everywhere, my body so cold it refused to respond to the simplest of tasks.
"Hom-monem R-Revelio!" I chattered, my hand shaking in the wind. A ball of light flew out of my wand and hovered two meters to my right above a mound of snow. I scrambled my way towards it; panic seeping through me, adrenaline at the thought of Ron smothered beneath it the only thing keeping me moving. I sank into the drifts and had to pull myself out again and belly for the floating light. Scared to try digging him out with magic in case the spell hit him and hurt him, I began burrowing into the snow, pushing and pulling at it, tears freezing on my face in frustration while I screamed his name over and over, hoping he would hear me and know I was there.
Nearly a meter and a half down I saw a swatch of midnight blue, his knit cap! I pushed the snow away from him, melting it away with my wand, careful not to hit him. Once I got his face clear I slapped his pale cheek, hoping for some kind of reaction, but I got none.
"Ron? Ron! Ron, wake up, please!" His lips were blue, his skin deathly white. I cried even harder, my tired arms barely able to move the snow I was so cold.
Please, please help! Someone, please! I begged silently, too tired to say anything out loud. Danger-red sparks! I shot them into the air with my right arm, sinking into a pile of snow at the action and having to struggle out again to dig for Ron. Panting, I dug and dug, freeing an arm and pulling, but he was too wedged. I sobbed as I kicked and shoved the snow away from him while he lay there, pale and unmoving.
"Ron, please!" I croaked. I melted more snow around him but was too scared to do it too close to him or too far down in case he fell even further. "Please wake up!"
My arms screamed at me, my whole body in so much pain I could scarcely stand it, but I didn't stop, couldn't stop, even when piles of snow began to fall back onto me.
Hermione, get out of there!
My head snapped up as I looked around, hoping to see him, but I knew his voice was just in my head.
Draco, where are you?
Get out of there NOW! He's coming!
But Ron-
ARE YOU A BLOODY WITCH OR NOT? APPARATE!
I could remember Ron saying something quite similar when I had panicked about the Devil's Snare. Feeling stupid, I grabbed Ron's arm and Apparated.
We hit the cobblestone in front of The Three Broomsticks and I leaned over Ron, pushing his wet hair out of his face. A crash sounded behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see a drove of Death Eaters marching down the street towards me. I barely had time to shriek when someone yanked me up and dragged me and Ron back into The Three Broomsticks.
"What happened?" Bill demanded as Mad-Eye threw up protective spells over the establishment just as Zonko's exploded, wood and stone flying out into the road. We all ducked, but the protective barrier held.
"D-Dementors came and w-when I cast m-my Patron-nus it caused an-n avalanche," I stuttered as Madam Rosmerta bustled over with a steaming mug of Butterbeer which she shoved into my hands and a potion which she handed to Bill. I dropped my Butterbeer on the floor and took the potion from Bill, pulling Ron's head up myself, pouring it into his mouth, getting just as much down his front with my trembling hands. He coughed and spluttered as the potion hit his system, color pouring back into his features and he opened his bright blue eyes. I sobbed in relief.
"What happened?" he croaked, mimicking his brother, coughing harshly, but I was hugging him and shaking so hard Ron cursed.
"You're alr-right, you're alright! I'm s-sorry, I'm s-so sorry!" I cried through my chattering teeth as his arms came around me comfortingly.
"We need to get you two back up to the school," Mad-Eye muttered as screams rent the air from the street outside. "Can you stand, son?"
"Wha-yeah, I think so," Ron answered hoarsely and Bill and I pulled him up, his brother keeping hold when he swayed. I began brushing snow off him as I turned to the crowd.
"D-Did anyone find D-Draco?"
"Not yet, but I have a feeling there's a reason these guys showed up," Bill replied, nodding out the window to where Scrivinshaft's was ablaze as Death Eaters ripped an old man and his wife out of the door, throwing them to the ground and killing them instantly. My stomach curdled and Ron turned me away from the window.
Moody turned to us, yanking something from his satchel. "Now take this and when I say so, Apparate right outside the gates. Someone will be there to let you in."
I snatched the invisibility cloak from him and threw it over us, taking Ron's hand. He still looked very pale so I grabbed his arm with my other hand to steady him as we moved forward with the crowd.
Moody gazed out the window before opening the door and conjuring a Patronus which made a mad dash up to the school and every Death Eater's eyes were on us.
"Go," he growled, shouting out spells into the group now running towards the bar. Clutching Ron tightly, I turned on the spot and we appeared at the gates, the fight raging below. Ron swayed and I tried to steady him but he was much heavier than I had anticipated and we fell sideways, the cloak slipping off me as we hit the ground.
"UP HERE!" screeched a terrifying voice which sent a thrill of fear shooting down my spine. I was fully exposed now but the cloak still covered all of Ron minus his shoe and chances were that she would never have seen it from that distance. I cast a silent Full-Body Bind on him in memory of Dumbledore and twitched the cloak over Ron's rogue shoe with my foot in the process of standing.
Bellatrix Lestrange grinned maliciously as she stalked towards me, her dark hair snapping in the wind, her evil eyes glinting with glee.
"And look who we have here," she trilled, gazing at me up and down. "We meet again, my sweet. Did you miss me?"
"Only my lost opportunity to finish you off," I snarled, hatred flooding my veins more powerfully than I'd ever felt. My heart hammered against my ribs, every fiber of my being screaming at me to kill the woman before me. I took a threatening step forward, lifting my wand in a dueling pose.
Hermione, what are you doing? Get out of there!
Not a chance.
"Oooh, still have a little bite left in you, don't you, pretty?" she smirked, her once lovely face twisting in mad delight. "Are you looking for a little taste of revenge?"
Hermione, no, run, get out!
Before either of us realized I had even moved my wand was slashing in front of me, slicing her cheek as her head whipped to the side. Her hand came up to the gash and she looked down at her blood covered fingers. I could hear Draco screaming in my head to retreat but the blood-lust ringing in my ears overrode it. Bellatrix glared up at me, hatred in every line of her malevolent face.
"Bitch!"
We dueled, spells colliding in midair and exploding or else missing and bouncing off the school barrier so that we both had to duck. Two more Death Eaters had broken from the skirmish below and were headed up towards us but Bellatrix screamed "No, she's mine!" and they stood back.
I didn't have time to think as I whipped out spell after spell as they came to mind, trying to fight her off, knowing that even if I did manage to fell Voldemort's greatest follower there were two more to take over at least. But determination thrummed through me, pulling at a strength I never knew I had, my every thought to cause her as much pain as she had caused me.
I dove to miss a spell and rolled, shooting another at her which caught her hair on fire that she was forced to drown and I hit her with a Stinging Hex so powerful it knocked her back. Enraged, she slashed me down as I tried to rise and hit me with the Cruciatus Curse.
Agony tore me apart, ripping through muscle and bone, melting flesh and searing soul. It ate at me, clawing my insides and twisting through every cell until I couldn't remember who I was.
But this torment was familiar, I knew it, I knew how to fight it off. Through the pain I concentrated, looking inward, finding my magical core and pushing the curse off me and onto her. Unfortunately, she saw it coming and she halted the curse and halted its progress, conjuring knives which flew at me. I transfigured them into my signature canaries which turned on her and attacked while I brought her to the ground screaming.
As I swung to attack again she threw a powerful curse at me that I was forced to block with a shield which shattered, knocking me onto my back with a cry. I immediately put up another shield with a groan and pushed it out towards her so that when she cast her next curse it rebounded and she hit the ground screaming where I was finally able to tie her up and Levitated her, yanking her towards me.
With a flick of my wand she was floating before me, malice gleaming in her eyes, a sick smile on her face as she licked a drop of blood from her lip.
"Well, well, well," she crooned almost admirably. "Mudblood does know how to play."
"I learn from the best, Bella," I panted, my rage welling inside me as I remembered the week I spent in the dungeon of the Malfoy manor. "And watch as the student becomes the teacher. Crucio!"
Every ounce of fear, rage, humiliation, and pain she'd brought me poured into the spell as Bellatrix writhed in thin air, screaming, screaming, screaming...
The other two Death Eaters darted forward but I held them off with a shield I conjured with my left hand so powerful that they flew back ten meters. The rest of my focus drove every moment I had spent in Bella's care back into her and I watched as she twisted and shrieked, my hand burning upon my wand, a fury such as I had never felt before radiating through me so that my every instinct was screaming at me to make her suffer as I had, to watch her endure the same fate as the Longbottoms, to make her regret every choice she'd ever made, to make her wish she'd never been born…
"That's enough, Hermione!"
But it wasn't enough. She needed to hurt, to realize the pain she had caused. I needed to force her to repent, to damage her beyond repair so that she could never hurt anyone again…
"Hermione, stop, stop!"
Hermione, you don't want to do this. You don't want to be a murderer. I know you. I know you're angry, I know you're hurt, but this isn't what you want. This isn't who you are.
I started at the voice, reality crashing around me.
What the hell was I doing?
With a cry of rage, I flung my arms out and sent Bella flying backward as all my strength drained out of me at once and I hit my knees, gasping. Cords flew up around the three Death Eaters, Bellatrix quite still, as I fell forward into the snow, my hands extending to catch me. On all fours I gagged, sickened at what I'd done.
I had become one of them.
"Hermione, we've got to move," Lupin spoke above me, but I couldn't get myself to budge. Why should I be protected, why should I live when I was nothing better than a Death Eater? Didn't I deserve the same as them?
"Hurry, before any more come," my professor bade, pulling me up, dragging me toward the gate as my legs wouldn't hold me.
"No, Ron-"
"Where-?"
"Accio cloak!" The invisibility cloak flew into my hands and Ron appeared on the frozen ground. I stumbled to his side. "Ennervate!"
"What the bloody hell do you-"
"Ron, hurry!" Lupin urged, both of them grabbing me and dragging my unresponsive body to the gate which opened for us and we stumbled through, spells colliding into the barrier as I collapsed once more into the snow, drained.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Ron growled, grabbing my arm as if to get me to look at him but I couldn't. My brain didn't seem to want to work; I couldn't believe what I'd just done.
"Ron, we should get up to the castle," Lupin said softly. Ron seemed to understand and he reached down, pulling me to my feet. His arm stayed around me as I stumbled mechanically up to the steps where Harry and Ginny rushed down to meet us, hugging up both, questions spilling from them which Lupin halted until we were inside and warm. I had almost forgotten my frozen body.
"Hermione, you're limping," Ginny worried as we made our way into the entrance hall, the heat flooding over me almost painful. "What happened out there?"
Ron shook his head to quell their interrogations and we headed for the hospital wing, so far above us. I had to force myself to climb another stair, walk another hallway, my body close to collapse. Harry noticed and put a bracing arm around me but I shook it off.
"Hermione, you're exhausted, let me help you," he pled.
"If anyone needs help it's Ron," I told him, looking up at Ron's exhausted face. He shook his head and I knew he was holding his pain back, both of us clinging to the other to stay upright.
"I'm fine. Although I think I am still going to get in trouble for that whole letting you fall off a cliff thing," he smirked. I couldn't get myself to return the gesture and closed my eyes as Ginny and Harry rounded on us, Lupin once more having to tell them off, and we climbed the rest of the way in silence.
McGonagall was waiting for us in the hospital wing and rushed up to our group the second we walked in the door. "Bed, now," she demanded and Madam Pomfrey strode out with pajamas which she shoved into our arms and Ginny and I disappeared behind one screen while Harry and Ron took the other. My fingers were so numb and painful I couldn't do any of the buttons and Ginny had to undress me and pull on my clothes as if I were a life-sized doll.
"You're freezing, Hermione," she stated, rubbing my arms. "Get in to bed, I'll grab another blanket. Madam Pomfrey!"
Soon, Ron and I were covered in blankets, both of our ears steaming from Pepper-Up potion, and hot water bottles were shoved by our feet. I held back groans of discomfort as feeling came back into my body, burning and tingling from the rapid temperature change. Next to me, Ron was complaining noisily.
We were given full checkups and judged in fair condition. Although in the early stages of hypothermia and suffering from severe whiplash, Ron was pronounced healthy and given a steaming bowl of soup which he drained in one go. I had twisted my knee in the fall and my entire body throbbed in pain from my battle but other than cold and exhausted, I was told all I needed was food and rest. A bowl of soup was shoved under my face as well and I sipped at the laced broth obligingly even though all I really wanted to do was sleep.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran in several minutes later with Bill, surrounding Ron's bedside with Ginny while Harry joined me to give the family time. Apparently, Percy was stuck at the Ministry with Kingsley and Charlie was still on the hunt for Fred and George otherwise they would have joined them. The broken family took the comfort they could from each other and Harry turned to me.
"Ready to talk?" he asked quietly. I shook my head and pushed my tray away. Harry picked it up and set it aside, watching me carefully.
"I'm tired," I replied quietly, not meeting his eyes. "I just want to sleep."
He looked as if he were barely holding back what he wanted to say, but I was thankful for his restraint when he stood and asked Madam Pomfrey for my Sleeping Draught. He handed it to me and I forced a smile. When I finished, he placed the goblet on my bedside table took my hand, settling himself on the bed next to me. I thought of how many times the positions had been reversed, how many hours I had spent worrying about him, scared out of my mind as he lay there, beaten and broken. I thought of all he still had to go through, how much he had already been through, and the small burden I had failed to take from his shoulder and had instead magnified it, hurting him and countless others.
I thought about the monster I had become.
I'm sorry, I whispered silently, but no comforting voice answered back.
A tear slid down my cheek as sleep overcame me.
…

A/N: Sorry for the belated update, I have been ill. But we are getting close to the end, so hang on my sweet Dramione friends!
SickPuppy: Dobby is the light of any dark day :) And happy ending? Hmm...
BlackBird_90: Wow, what an honor! Thank you so much for taking the time to sign up just to write me a review! That is incredibly kind of you and my little writer heart is just all a-twitter!! I hope you enjoy the rest!!
XOXO
RynStar15
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