Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Breaking the Chain	By : RynStar15 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 42452 -:- Recommendations : 5 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, that belongs to the glorious J.K Rowling. I don't make any money off of this writing, I simply twist her world for my own pleasure.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Draco stood in the weak November morning light staring at his childhood home. The place where he had learned to walk and talk, where he had made his first magical discovery by causing a house elf to fly across the room without even touching him. The place where the Dark Lord currently resided deep in the bowels of their magical fortress.
The Dark Lord had thought the Manor was impenetrable, but he had been proven wrong when the Order and a slew of Aurors had burst their way into the entrance hall. He remembered seeing Hermione at the fore, guarding Potter with her wand drawn, ready to fight to the death. He remembered his father leaning down into his ear and whispering, "Kill her," before magicking on his mask and joining the fray.
Draco had lingered towards the sidelines, being every bit the coward he was, as he watched Hermione battle fiercely, taking down Death Eaters left and right, her dark eyes flashing. He remembered thinking that would be her downfall and he wouldn't have to do anything, someone else would kill her for him and then that weight would be off his shoulders.
It wasn't long before she had stopped suddenly and looked at their ex-Professor Moody. The two had locked eyes and hers had glazed over for a moment. He knew that look well and was curious as to why the crazy ex-Auror had seen fit to cast an Imperius Curse on the girl in the middle of battle. She'd just stood there; spells flying around her, causing her hair to flutter as they skimmed passed her head.
Then she was running, casting spells over her shoulder much like she had when they had been racing across the field to the forest on that damnable horse. When she had pulled open the doors for the dungeons, he knew his time had come. His father had found him from across the room and given him a curt nod, a sign to go and do as he was supposed to do.
Too bad the damn witch made it impossible. If only he'd known then what would happen after he pounded down those steps behind her. Would he have gone, knowing how terribly hard he would fall for her, knowing that she would capture his heart, save his soul, and become the cause of his death?
It was a question he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to. What was done was done, and now his short life was scrambling towards its bitter end with no way to stop it.
So now he stood looking up at the Malfoy Manor, even the name making him sick. He would find his father and lie, lie until they grew tired of it, lie to save Hermione, lie himself into his grave. For he knew they would never believe him, never believe that he had beat her in battle, just as they knew he'd never defeat Dumbledore. But he had to try; for once in his sorry life he would have courage, because if he didn't, it was Hermione who would suffer, and that was a price he was not willing to pay.
Throwing open the doors of the place he had once deemed "home" he strode to his father's lounge, knowing at this time of day he would be there, reading the Prophet and thinking up gruesome ways to torture innocent people. Draco slipped into the room and saw the back of his father's pale, shiny hair as he was bent over the paper, a tumbler of Firewhiskey floating in the air next to him.
"I thought I made it quite clear that I was not to be disturbed, so if you wish to keep your grisly features I suggest you remove yourself, very, very quickly," his father drawled without turning around.
"It's me, father," he announced.
Lucius turned the page of the Prophet, glancing over the articles there leisurely before he turned and stared at his son for a moment, his schooled features revealing not an ounce of what went on behind those steely grey eyes, so like his own.
"So I see. Come here, Draco." Lucius turned back around and put down the paper on the table beside him, hefting the glass floating before him instead. Draco closed his mind so his father would not be able to see his thoughts. He was a skilled Legilimens but Draco was strong in the art of Occlumency, taught by the man before him.
Draco walked over and knelt in front of his father as was custom, one knee on the ground, the other propped at a precise right angle, his forearm leaning on it, his head bent.
"Stand."
Draco stood and stared at him. The next thing he knew he was on the floor writhing and screaming in pain. His father's Cruciatus Curse could rival the Dark Lord's, for he'd felt the wrath of both. When the curse was lifted he immediately hefted himself to his feet, knowing how he'd pay if he remained on the floor, and faced his father as if nothing had happened.
"Where have you been?" Lucius asked conversationally sipping from the decanter in his hand.
Knowing his father would never fall for it, Draco weaved a tale of battling Hermione and how she had Apparated them away to some unknown location in the mountains. He carefully explained exactly how he had killed her, how much he had reveled in her blood, how she had begged at the end. As he brought his story to a close his father smiled, a terrifying image on his cold face.
"I see you have taken a few tips from your dear Aunt Bella. However, my son, you never could quite get the knack of it like she. You see, you are a poor liar and for that, you shall suffer. Now, as thrilling of a tale you have just spun, I require the truth. Tell me what you were really up to."
Draco was silent for a moment. He would not reveal his beautiful adventure with Hermione. He had to find a way to save her, to remove her from their hit list. It had been nearly a fortnight since he had left, what could he say that his father would believe?
"I ran father." That at least was believable. "Forgive your coward of a son. I killed the Mudblood and Potter came after me. After their breach of our walls I did not feel safe returning and feared for my life. I have returned only because I have grown weary of running and am looking for sanctuary."
Lucius nodded, showing he accepted this version more readily. "You killed Miss Granger, you say?"
"Yes."
He nodded again, his jaw tight, and Draco knew he was still doubtful of his story. "The Dark Lord will be most pleased that you succeeded in something useful for once, but understand, Draco, he has been most infuriated by your cowardice."
Draco bowed his head in submission. "I understand, father, and I am willing to accept the punishment he deems necessary."
"Accept it or not, it will be dealt most swiftly. Tell me, did our infamous Mudblood have any last words?"
Draco chewed over the question. He didn't want to sell Hermione out, but he could finally find out what Nagini and Wormtail had to do with all this. Maybe if he knew, he could do something about it, one good deed before he died to help Hermione win this war. "She said something about killing Nagini. Why would she want to kill the snake?"
Lucius froze, his fingers tightening around his glass, his eyes flashing with fury and…fear?
"What did she say about Nagini?" he demanded.
"Not much," Draco confessed, instantly regretting his curiosity and backtracking. "Just something about the snake and killing it."
Before he could even register that his father had moved he was on his feet and grabbing Draco roughly by the upper arms, the forgotten decanter shattering across the hardwood.
"What else?" he snapped dangerously. It was then that Draco realized he definitely shouldn't have said anything. What had he done? How deep did these waters he had just dived into run? It was just a snake, for Merlin's sake!
"Nothing, sir," Draco said, refusing to be bullied by the older man.
Draco felt the sensation of his head being trapped in a vise and he threw up a white wall in his mind, shoving it forward, refusing to allow his father passage into the depths of his mind. He'd never been able to hold the man off for long, but knowing that Hermione would be viciously slaughtered if Lucius saw his love for her kept him strong, his entire body quaking with the effort it took to hold the older man off.
Draco was thrown to the side, smashing into a side table and knocking it over, snapping off a leg which dug into his ribs. He grunted but did not cry out as he wanted so badly to at the stinging pain, not wanting to give his father the satisfaction. Lucius rarely resorted to Muggle punishments and the knowledge that he was so incised he would succomb to such showed how truly enraged he was.
"Get up!"
Draco complied, staring at his father who was more nervous than Draco had ever seen him. He paced the parlor with the back of his hand pressed to his lips.
"Did she say anything about the Horcux?"
Horcrux? What did a Horcrux have to do with anything?
Then Draco felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. During all of her nonsense babbling Hermione hadn't said "Whore-crooks," she'd been trying to say Horcrux.
"Wait, are you saying Nagini is a Horcrux?" Draco asked, disgusted down to his soul at the thought. He remembered what his father had told him about Horcruxes years ago and it made him sick to think about the possibility of the Dark Lord obtaining one. Lucius glared at him.
"What makes you think you are worthy of such knowledge, you insolent boy? I asked you a question! Did-she-mention-the-Horcrux?"
Merlin, what had he done? If Nagini was indeed a Horcrux then the only way to kill the Dark Lord was to kill the snake first…and he'd just given away the Order's advantage. His heart sank to somewhere in the region of his kneecaps. He'd just sentenced them all to death.
"No," he lied. It didn't matter; his father knew the truth anyway. Draco found himself on the ground writhing in pain from another torturous curse. He refused to cry out, but the sound was ripped from his lips anyway, unable to stop it.
When the pain ceased his father's face was inches from his own. "You will tell me the truth or I will kill you now and spare our Master the trouble! What does she know about the snake?"
"I don't know, sir. She only mentioned the snake before I killed her."
Lucius stood and motioned for Draco to do the same as well. He did so stiffly and watched his father pace again.
"You killed her, you say?"
"Yes, sir."
"And what did you do with her body?"
Oh, shit… "I burned it."
Lucius raised his pale eyebrows. "Did you, now? And what did you do with the ashes?"
"I buried them. In multiple places. I wanted to cover my tracks." Draco kept a straight face, bringing to mind an image of his burning Hermione's body and burying the ashes. He kept hidden the part of him that felt sick at the thought. His father would see what he wanted to see.
Lucius did not attempt to enter his mind again, however. He stopped pacing and grabbed his snake-head cane. He struck a pose with the staff in front of him, both hands resting on the snake's head. His silver eyes met Draco's and he sneered.
"You truly believe you can outsmart me, don't you boy? You've always thought yourself so clever, so entitled. But you are weak, you are nothing. You will learn to obey if I have to kill you to achieve it. You will wait in the dungeons until our Master decides what is to become of you and your dear mother."
Draco thought fleetingly of running, of taking up Hermione's offer to be on their side. But it was too late.
Lucius snapped his fingers and two large Death Eaters appeared on either side of him. Draco was bound in ropes and toppled to the floor where the two men hefted him up and carted him to the dungeons bucking and screaming.
When they threw him in the cell he fought. His ability to use magic without a wand gave him the upper hand for a moment but he was soon pinned to the floor by yet another Cruciatus. Before Draco could clear his head he was in chains, shackled to the cold, hard wall. It was no use now. The manacles prevented him from doing any magic and he would receive a shock every time he tried.
He continued to fight, however, until an invisible hand closed around his throat. His eyes watered as he looked at his father once again, the man who had raised him, the man who must surely have loved him at some point, as he stared at him through the bars of the cell.
"You will obey. When you are ready to tell me the truth we will reassess your future. It is very bleak, Draco. For the sake of your mother I would start to talk if I were you."
"Never!" Draco spat against the iron vise around his neck. Lucius's lips curled into an evil snarl.
"You will."
Draco was beginning to lose consciousness. He kept the walls up in his mind to defend his thoughts of Hermione's beautiful face burning in the back of his mind. Just before he blacked out the hold was released and he could hear the evil laughter of his father echo against the stone walls of the dungeon. His last thought was if Hermione had found the apple yet.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Hermione closed her eyes in utter bliss as a cooling balm was rubbed on her burning leg. The sun hanging in the sky outside was disappearing behind a pair of clouds making their way across the grey. It would rain soon and she was glad for it. The sun made her angry.
The living room was quiet. Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley had been permitted to stay as Madame Pomfrey clucked over her while the rest of the Order members were forced to wait in the kitchen. Potions were shoved down her throat and she didn't complain. Anything to get this over with so she could go to bed, though she knew she wouldn't be allowed to until she had explained what had happened.
By her insistence Harry had explained what had been happening since she'd left while they had waited for Madame Pomfrey to arrive back with Tonks. Apparently, Moody had seen her and Draco disappear and ran for the dungeons and Harry, knowing she had gone down there, followed him. When they couldn't find her Harry insisted they retreat to search. When he had told Ron what had happened he had backed his friend and they forced everyone to leave, telling them the plan had failed. They had spent the following two weeks trying to find her.
Hermione looked up at her friends. Harry looked as though he'd aged ten years, Ron's eyes were red and swollen, and Ginny had dark circles under hers. Guilt assailed her knowing she was the cause of all their suffering. She smiled reassuringly at them as they stared at her with concern.
"I'm alright. Really. Just a couple cuts and bruises, no permanent damage." Not on the outside anyway.
Harry looked grief stricken as he buried his hands in his pockets, his chin trembling.
"I thought you were dead," he said in a lifeless tone.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry I worried you all."
"Hermione, don't apologize!" Ginny scolded. "It's us who should be apologizing to you, making you go and do missions you shouldn't have done in the first place, let alone doing it by yourself-"
"You know I was the one who had to use the Time-Turner, I am by far the most experienced. As for Nagini, I asked for that task. I wanted to kill her. It was my choice, mine, none of you forced me to do it. What happened that day in the dungeons was an accident; no one could have planned for it to happen."
"What did happen?" Harry asked again, sounding frustrated. She knew he must be, they all must be, not knowing what had happened to prevent her from returning to them for nearly two weeks.
Hermione closed her eyes in utter exhaustion at the thought of regaling them with her long and complicated journey. "I'll tell you when I have to tell everyone else. I'm too tired to go over it more than once."
Harry sighed, a hand going to his messy hair. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"It's okay, Harry. I understand how confused you must be. It's just…" She was shocked to feel tears stinging behind her eyes. "It's been a very, very long couple of weeks."
They fell silent again until Madame Pomfrey arrived and tutted over her for nearly an hour. She finally finished and declared her able to answer their questions after she ate but then she was to go straight to bed with a Sleeping Draught. Mrs. Weasley assured the nurse she would follow through with the orders and the plump woman took her departure, stating that if she wanted to know what had happened to every person who had ever passed by her care she would have gone mad.
Hermione took the hand Ron offered to help her up and was somewhat stunned when he didn't let go. She felt ashamed of herself, but the feel of his slightly sweaty palm resting against hers made her nauseous. She allowed him to lead her down to the basement kitchen, however, and took a seat at the head of the table while Mrs. Weasley brought her a plate of food that had been kept warm.
She ate it slowly, her stomach churning. Everyone watched until she complained about them staring and they all got themselves breakfast, even Harry. She felt better eating when everyone else was.
The small room was packed, people from the Order filled the tiny kitchen and the table had been stretched to accommodate them and the few Aurors who also made themselves present. When she couldn't eat anymore the plate was taken from her and a mug of hot tea replaced it. Apparently, she needed tea to talk, though she didn't complain when she took a soothing sip and realized that it had been laced with a Calming Draught.
A hush fell over everyone and all eyes were on her. She felt like she had when all the students had gathered at the Hogs Head and they had all looked to her to take lead. Weariness settled upon her heart, but she fought through it and began her story.
She told them everything, even the part about her molestation. She couldn't stop her mouth as soon as it started. The only parts she had left out were the ones about her and Draco. Those she keep hidden away in a place only she and Draco could touch them.
By the time she had finally finished Molly was crying, Ron was rubbing his ruddy face, and Harry hadn't taken his eyes off the ground in quite some time. Many people around the room looked as though she'd hit them over the head with a broom, even the twins were silent. Remus cleared his throat and looked at her.
"Thank you for telling us, I can see how hard it must have been for you to relive all of that." His words were gentle, his knuckles white where they clenched Tonks'. "You should rest now. You've been through tremendous amount these last couple of weeks, and I believe I can speak for everyone here that we all wish for you to discontinue with your mission. It will be assigned to someone else. You don't have to do anything now but rest."
"No."
They all stared at her.
"Hermione-" Remus started again.
"No, there is no point in trying to talk me out of it. I'm doing it. I promised I would, and I will. All I ask is a couple of days to recuperate and think up a new plan. I've wasted enough time as it is."
"That wasn't your fault!" Ron roared.
"Ron-"
"No, mum! Hermione, listen. We all thought you were dead, DEAD! And now you want to go and risk your life again? I won't allow it!"
"You won't allow it? I will thank you to know that I will do as I please, Ronald! I'm a grown witch, I know what I am doing!"
"You're addled, after everything you've been through-"
"Addled? Addled? I am not addled, Ron! What is wrong with you?"
"Wrong with me?" Ron shot to his feet sending his chair to the floor with a loud crash. "You're the one with the problem here! You seem to think nothing of other people when you go risking your neck on stupid missions! Do you realize the hell we've all been through?"
"Ron, I'm sorry, I told you I was sorry-"
"Just shut up for a minute, will you?" he roared, his freckled cheeks flaming. "You don't get it! I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I know Harry couldn't either. He hasn't even been in his bed for days! Why don't you think of him? Or Ginny? Do you know how she felt about all this? She's been crying every single day since you left!"
"Ron, stop it!" Ginny shouted across the table. "You're not helping anything!"
"Ron, son, calm down," Arthur said putting a hand on his youngest boy's shoulder. "Losing Hermione was hard on us all, but she's back now. She's safe."
"And all she wants to do is go back out there and kill herself!" he screamed, his arms flailing.
"Ron, it's her choice. Her decision. If she wants to do it, then I trust her," Harry said, his voice dead, but determined.
Ron turned to his best friend, sputtering. "You're siding with her? Did you so easily forget how you felt just yesterday?"
"No. I will never forget it. But I trust Hermione more than anyone," Harry said, looking to Hermione, his face serious. "She's the smartest witch I know. She can do it, I know she can. It's her decision. If that's what she needs to do, then I get it. I know what it is to need to see something through, knowing that if you don't you'll lose a piece of your soul forever. So I will support her and do everything in my power to make sure she is safe." Harry caught her hand and she silently thanked him for his loyalty.
"This is bullocks!" Ron thundered, pounding the table with his fists. Hermione jumped, her nerves fraught, and Ginny hurried over to stand by her.
"Ron, come on, let's go-" Bill told his younger brother, starting forward.
"No! Why are you guys encouraging this? This is bloody madness! We just got her back and now you want to send her out to die again?"
Hermione took a stand, literally, and turned to her friend. "Ron, I am fully capable of dealing with this. I understand that you're worried and your concern for my welfare touches my heart more than I can say. But this is my mission, my choice. No one else's. I will accept the consequences."
Ron looked at her with tears in his eyes. "And what happens to me? I can't do it again, Hermione, I can't go through that again." Fat tears rolled down his cheeks and Hermione's heart broke. She knew she would feel exactly the same way if it had been he who had gone missing. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Ron who held her close, sobbing into her hair.
When he had calmed down enough, Arthur and Harry ushered him from the room and Ginny, Fleur, and Mrs. Weasley came forth to urge her to bed. She went willingly, pleading to take a bath first.
While she soaked in the soothing suds Mrs. Weasley had prepared (she had a slight feeling they were heavily dosed with a Pain Reliving Potion), she closed her eyes and Draco's face floated across her vision. She wondered if he was alright, what his parents had thought of his absence, what he had told them. She wondered if she would ever see him again and, if she did, how she would ever be able to look at him without remembering his warm hands upon her skin, his pillow lips on her neck, the moment when he'd made her his for all eternity.
A knock sounded on the door and Hermione jumped as Ginny popped her head in.
"Sorry," the red head mumbled. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"No, no, it's alright," Hermione said breathlessly, wondering where this sudden edginess had come from.
Ginny's face was full of concern as she looked down at her friend who was still clutching her heart in fear. "Are you doing okay, Hermione?" she asked, quietly.
"Yes, I'm fine, it's just a little strange to be back here, I suppose. Why?"
"Well, it's only that you've been in here for over an hour now and mum's starting to worry that you've drowned."
"An hour?" she said, shocked. "Are you serious? I had no idea it had been that long! Sorry, I'll get out. Tell your mum I'm fine, I just-"
"It's no problem, stay as long as you want!" Ginny said hurriedly, obviously scared of upsetting her further. Hermione hated what her disappearance and consequent strange mood had done to those around her.
"Just… I'm here, you know, if you need me. And…don't forget to take your Sleeping Draught tonight."
Her heart clenched. "I won't. Thanks, Gin."
She left and Hermione decided it was probably time to get out before more women came bursting in to check on her. She couldn't believe how long she'd been there. The one thing she loved about magical baths was that they never got cold.
She washed her hair three times before she was satisfied and scrubbed her body raw to get all the dirt and filth from the last couple of weeks off. She shaved and felt her gloriously smooth skin for the first time in a fortnight. When she got out she had to refill her toothbrush with toothpaste twice until she felt her teeth were finally clean. She magicked a brush to work through her tangles while she slathered cream on her body and face, enjoying the feeling of being properly clean again.
When she finally stumbled into her and Ginny's bedroom she grabbed the satchel that one of the women had placed next to it and dug in it for the fruit. She knew Draco had put it in there, for she certainly hadn't, and they had gone through the bag multiple times before leaving.
The pain in her heart increased when she found the apple. How could she have been so blind? How could she ever have thought he would want her? But he had to have felt something, otherwise why would he have left this unmistakable reminder of their brief affair? It had seemed so real at the time; he had shown her emotions that were seemingly impossible to fake.
Hermione could feel the tears welling once more and fought them back. He wasn't worth it. He wasn't worth her pain and heartache. Whatever he had felt in the last ten days no longer mattered. He had made his choice, and she wasn't it.
Chugging the Sleeping Draught she fell into the wonderfully comforting bliss of sleep, clutching the apple to her chest.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Draco awoke to the pain. Someone had hit him with a Stinging Hex to get his attention. He didn't have to think about where he was, he didn't have to remember why he was here. It was the first thing he had thought of every time he had woken up for Merlin knew how long. He didn't know how many days had passed or even if it was just hours. The pain had become so familiar now that he didn't even bother to acknowledge it.
Another Stinging Hex.
"Hey! I'm talkin' to you, boy!"
Draco looked up into the beady eyes of Antonin Dolohov. The maniac grinned and Draco felt sick. The man was twisted and he knew to stay as far from him as possible.
"What the fuck do you want?" Draco croaked. His throat was raw from the yelling and screaming that had been ripped from him unwillingly through the torture the Dark Lord had seen fit to place upon him. He was angry that Draco had run, that he had hidden the remains of the Mudblood in cowardice when he was supposed to have used the body to taunt Potter.
Draco felt the bitter irony that for the first time in his life, he hadn't run, and yet he was still being punished. It didn't matter now, not anymore. If this was the price he had to pay to keep Hermione safe, he would take it gladly. He would do anything…
"-you hear me? I said look at me when I'm talkin' to you! Crucio!"
Draco didn't even scream. He couldn't, his voice had broken long ago. The pain was excruciating, there was no doubt about that. Next to his father and the Dark Lord, Dolohov's curses were the worst. Well, that might not be true. His sweet Auntie Bella was pretty fucking mean. She'd been down a few times to "play" and that was where he'd received the broken ribs and most of the cuts on his body. She liked blood.
When the pain ended Draco looked up. The lanky man sneered, leering at him as if he were a piece of meat cooked just right and ready to be eaten.
"Our Master is ready to see you now."
Draco wanted to spit that the Dark Lord would never be his Master but he knew better. This was his chance, his one chance to escape, to find Hermione and warn her…
The cell door creaked as Dolohov flung it open with a wave of his wand. He motioned for the others to step forward. These men Draco didn't know. It wasn't uncommon, new recruits crept into their folds every day and were sent on menial tasks such as fetching a boy from the dungeons so he could see his Master.
When the men lifted him, Draco did not resist. He gingerly put weight on his legs for the first time in he didn't know how long, using the men's firm grasps as support. His head spun and he teetered to the left, the men having to readjust to catch him. Dolohov slapped him for his "impertinence" and the four of them ambled up the stairs.
Draco knew where they were going. The Lair was located at the top of the manor in a secret room that one could only find if you knew where to look. Draco hadn't even known that room existed until the Dark Lord had come to stay with them.
He stumbled up the stairways and down the halls. The only place to Apparate was outside; much like Hogwarts, one cannot Apparate within the Malfoy Manor. This made things more difficult.
Draco had decided to make his escape after his "meeting" with the Dark Lord. If he survived it, that was. If he left before speaking with his "Master," however, Draco knew he would be asking for the Dark Lord himself to hunt him down, and that he would succeed.
Before he knew it he was being thrust into a room, the door shut tightly behind him. Draco fell instantly to his knees, the pain almost more than he could bear. Not a word had been uttered, not a move had been made, and yet the pain was excruciating. Draco wished for death over and over until the high pitched laugh made it all stop. He panted, lying prone on the floor, unable to move, unable to think beyond the pain.
"Well, well, well. We meet again, young Master Malfoy."
Draco said nothing but coughed blood onto the gleaming floor beneath him. He could hear the steps coming closer and then he was lifted off his feet and shoved against the wall. His head smacked the hard surface and stars danced before his eyes. The Dark Lord walked slowly towards him, his snake-like expression leering. Draco had to force himself not to cringe away when his terrifying face stopped right next to his, almost cheek to cheek. He could feel the Dark Lord's breath on his ear.
"Do you wish for death, Draco Malfoy?" he whispered. Draco did not answer and received a chilling blow to his stomach that made him retch onto the floor that the Dark Lord had just vacated. The sick laugh made him shiver. Draco was not afraid to die, he had seen his death so many times in his sleep he no longer feared it. In fact he used to welcome it, hope that each and every day that passed would finally be his last, but now things had changed. He couldn't die, not yet. He had to warn Hermione, tell her that he had screwed up. That he hadn't meant to, he hadn't understood the consequences until it was too late.
Draco was thrown back up against the wall to face the Dark Lord.
"I asked you a question. Do you wish…for death?" The creature's voice was too high, too breathy, too terrifying to be human, and now Draco knew he was only half human, his snake carried the other half. This man was pure, fucking, evil.
"No."
"No? Is that what you said?"
"Yes."
The evil bastard drew the tip of his wand down the side of Draco's face.
"I believe you know something that you wish to share with your master. Is this true?"
"No."
Oh, gods, the torment. He yelled and yelled, he swore his body was being ripped apart, there was no way a man could survive this. But he had to, for Hermione.
The Dark Lord knelt by Draco's head. He couldn't see him for the red swimming across his vision.
"Do not lie to your master, Draco. It is impolite. I know everything. Do you understand that? You cannot deceive me, Draco."
"Then why are you even fucking asking me?" Draco yelled. He knew he shouldn't have but he couldn't stop himself. He waited for the torture to come and every agonizing moment when it didn't scared him more than he would ever reveal to anyone. He was terrified of this thing, this creature who called himself a man.
"Hermione Granger. Do you know this girl?"
"Yes."
"Let us not forget our manners, Draco."
"Yes, my lord."
"Yes, yes. And is she…dead?"
"Yes."
The pain came and yet the only thing he could feel was the anguish that they knew he was lying, they knew she was alive and he knew they would go after her. They would hunt her down and torture her in unimaginable ways until they got what they wanted from her. And then they would kill her and she would accept it gladly after the things they would do to her.
He wouldn't let it happen; he had to get to her first, so he had to survive this.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he wailed, hating himself for having to do this. For Hermione.
The pain ceased and the Dark Lord spoke. "What are you sorry for?"
"For lying. I was scared. She beat me, I couldn't kill her. I tried! We fought in the dungeons and she left me for dead. I couldn't face you or my father that way. I was humiliated. I was beaten by a Mudblood, a filthy disgusting Mudblood! But I swear to you, my Lord that if you give me a second chance I will not fail you. She will meet her death. Please, give me another chance," Draco plead, locking eyes with the evil man so show his utmost sincerity. "She will die for what she did. I will not rest until her dirty blood is running between my fingers. Let me hunt her, please, I will not fail you again."
Astonishingly, the Dark Lord appeared to be considering Draco's words and he paced, worrying his wand between his hands absentmindedly. "And why should I trust this task to you again after your failure?"
Draco grasped at his final chance. "My father has reared me. He is a good servant; he has raised me to be such. I know I have failed you before in the past but I was merely a boy. These last two weeks have shown me that. But I will be better for you, my lord. I know I am not deserving, but you will see, you will see what a good servant I will make. I will do anything, my lord. Anything for you. I have been insolent, weak. I will not be so again, this I swear to you. You deserve more from me and I will give it to you."
Draco stayed on the floor where he had fallen, his head bowing to the Dark Lord. He could feel the power radiating from him. Draco knew his fate was being decided. The Dark Lord was not forgiving. If he was forgiven a second time it would probably be the first ever heard of.
"You will kill the girl."
Draco could hardly believe his ears. "Yes, my Lord. I will kill her."
"You will bring her here to kill her. We could all use a little….party. You have two days to retrieve her."
"Yes, my lord, thank you, my lord."
The Dark Lord motioned for him to stand and it took all of his will to raise his tortured body from the floor. He moved towards the door.
"Oh and, Draco?"
He turned back to the serpentine man. "Yes, my lord?"
The sneer that crept across his features terrified Draco down to his very soul.
"You will not fail me again."
Before he could respond, Draco was thrust from the room with such force he broke boards in the wall of the hall behind him. Before the men flanking the doors could grab him, he was running. He knew the passages, knew every secret this house had to hold. The men had no chance. Draco tore through the mansion and to the front doors. As soon as his foot hit the outside ground he Apparated to the only place he knew, the only place he had left that was safe. There was only person who could help him now.
Severus Snape.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
XOXO
RynStar15
- 18
- 19
- 20
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Breaking the Chain