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Verto Vitae	By : RynStar15 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 40710 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter nor do I make any money or intend any copyright infringement by using the characters therein.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
- 20
Hermione woke to the sound of the sea, gulls calling to one another and waves breaking upon the shore. Nestled in warm covers, she thought she could live like this; right next to the water with no one to bother her but the sea birds. She could hide herself away in a cozy cottage just like this one where no one would find her, build up magical walls that she couldn't escape, no matter how strong the pull...
With a jolt of fear she suddenly realized that she was waking, which meant that she had been asleep, which meant she had been vulnerable...and she was still in the bed she'd been pressed into. Whatever Fleur had drugged her with must have worked. Evidently she'd slept so hard that even her master couldn't rouse her.
She shuddered at the unconscious thought. Master. She hadn't even realized she'd been thinking it until a row with Mrs. Weasley had the older woman paling. Hermione had instantly grown concerned that the woman had fallen ill until she'd shaken her head.
"Dear, you - you c-called him 'master,'" she'd explained in a terrified whisper.
"What?" Hermione had asked confusedly.
"You called You-Know-Who your master," Mrs. Weasley had said softly. "You said you didn't want to take the potion because your master could get to you easier if you were sedated."
Hermione had nearly collapsed at the realization. Indeed, now that she thought on it, she couldn't call him anything else in her mind. She could call him by name aloud, but he'd taken hold of her thoughts, and she knew that she would suffer every moment she wasn't by his side. It was like a painful longing, one she'd felt when Draco had distanced himself. Her arm burned steadily, even when he wasn't calling her. She could feel him working to break into her thoughts, fingers ripping at the seams of her tenuous Occlumency. Whatever he had started was clamoring to be finished and she knew he wouldn't stop until she was his.
Voices down the hall stirred her from her morbid thoughts. She knew she should join them and put on a strong front. She'd so longed to just sink into the comfort Draco had offered last night but knew that if she did she might never let him go. All she had to do was remind herself of his dismissal and she was able to refuse his offer. He didn't want her. And she didn't need him. Not anymore. Not ever again. This mission was her burden to bear and after tonight he would have no role whatsoever and he could go back to ignoring her and she could start trying to get over him.
Reluctantly rising, Hermione turned to the clothes Fleur had set out for her. Clenching her teeth against the pain, she gently pulled her right arm out of the sleeve of her borrowed gown and moved to the mirror to assess the damage she'd pointedly made certain the others wouldn't see.
Four long, deep scratches ran from her shoulder to her middle back. The wound on her neck from where she'd sliced off the tracking device was still sore, but the Severing Charm she'd used to remove it had sealed the wound cleanly. She could see the bruises riding her ribs, the hand-prints on her neck, on her arms. She shuddered, remembering Fenrir's hot breath against her cheek, the fear that had coursed through her as he pinned her to the ground, his weight crushing her lungs.
Stop it, you're fine, she scolded herself, shaking the memories away. There was no use in dwelling. She would take these wounds as punishment for letting her vigilance slip. She'd let herself fall asleep, allowed herself to become vulnerable, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had paid the price. She wouldn't let that happen again.
Ignoring the stinging pain, Hermione dressed herself and left the room only to run immediately into Draco who was standing just outside her door.
They stared at each other awkwardly for a moment as his eyes roved her, assessing.
"I came to wake you," he finally stated lamely.
"I'm awake."
He nodded, for once his confidence slipping and the briefest glimmer of uncertainty was evident in his hesitant posture. He cleared his voice before he spoke. "Tonks just brought the potion. After breakfast we should get to work…"
There were so many things she wanted to say but her teeth seemed to be glued together. Instead, she nodded tersely and slipped past him without a word, greeting a group of Order members who were gathered in the kitchen for breakfast. She didn't care if she was being petty. All she wanted was to get through this day relatively unscathed and get back to her real family and forget this whole thing had ever happened. She never wanted anything to do with Draco again and would only work with him to see this whole damn thing through. Then they would go their separate ways and she would be happy.
At least she would pretend to be.
After swallowing down the breakfast Fleur provided, Hermione took the potion to her room, purposely slamming the door on Draco when he made to follow. She hadn't needed his help this past week and she damn well didn't need it now.
Re-reading the directions although she knew them by heart, Hermione checked every aspect of the potion, noting its color and consistency, the mercurial sheen she remembered comparing to Draco's eyes, the watery swirl which would thicken to a blood-like consistency in the next eight hours before their departure.
With the last ingredient added there was nothing to do until an hour before they were to leave, but worry seeped in as the clock ticked them nearer to their departure, thoughts of everything that could go wrong invading once more. When lunch approached she was summoned from her retreat and picked at her food, her stomach churning with nerves and the feel of Draco's hawk-like gaze. Draco himself looked tense, speaking to no one, taking to an armchair after finishing his meal and hardly moving. Hermione buried herself in plans set forth for when they arrived back home, pacing, and finally heading down to the portion of the beach within the barrier to escape the searing of his eyes on her back.
Dark grey skies entwined with the washed-out blue of the sea far in the distance. As a little girl she had always wondered what was out there, just beyond her vision. What would happen if she ran really fast, right over the water, and met that edge before it disappeared again? What would she see? There had to be something hidden there in that unreachable crevice. Some secret, something no one had ever found before. She would be the first to see it. Maybe it was another world, where dragons and unicorns existed and she could fly over fields of flowers and talk to the animals.
She smiled then, digging her toes into the wet sand, her shoes lying forgotten on a rock. Maybe she didn't speak to animals, but she had touched a unicorn, had watched Harry battle a dragon, had flown through the air on an animal unseen by herself. How was she to know that she needn't seek that horizon to find all of those things and more? Nothing could have prepared her for a life like this. It was so much more than she'd ever dreamed; far better and worse, far more exciting and dangerous than she had ever planned for her future. Glancing down at the Mark on her arm, she wondered how she would have reacted as that child, knowing this was to be her destiny.
And yet a part of her still longed to reach that place where the sky and sea converged, to see what awaited her there. If the dragons and unicorns were here, on the other side of that mystic line, then what else could be waiting out there? Could there possibly be more?
She stayed out there for hours, watching the tide rise. The sky grew ever darker, the stars winking between black clouds. When the water lapped at her bare toes, she stood and walked further into it, wading to her ankles. The time was over for wishing and waiting. Now, it was time for action.
When Hermione looked up at the small cottage on the cliff above her she started at the sight of Draco framed in the light of the doorway, looking down at her. Her heart clenched painfully. What she wouldn't give to run into his arms, to force him to admit he loved her, to hide in his embrace and never leave. To keep him.
She had thought she would be excited to go home, to see everyone, to finally finish this hellish ordeal. Instead, a part of her wished more than anything that she could stay here, in a world where she and Draco lived, where they had found something so much more than a way to end Voldemort's rein. For the first time in her short life, Hermione didn't feel like an outcast, a pariah. She felt loved, or had until Draco had run terrified at the thought of being with her.
Tears of disappointment stung at the back of her eyes. His rejection of their love hurt worse than any number of Crucios. She'd actually been naive enough to think that he might be able to see past her blood, past her annoying bookish nature and love her for who she really was.
Stupid, she chided herself. Hadn't she told him she didn't expect anything to come of this? That she understood their love affair would end as soon as they returned? It wasn't real, it was nothing more than a means to an end and a stress relief. Once they were home there would be no time to engage in that sort of thing and Draco would go on and find himself a respectable Pureblood when Voldemort was gone. She could never compare to what he deserved.
She had to stop fantasizing. Had to forget what could never be and focus on what was. These last weeks had been the best and worst of her life. She would leave them here where no one could touch them, no one could taint them.
Draco's gaze never wavered, his hands tucked into the pockets of his trousers, his robes billowing slightly in the breeze. Hermione shivered as the water broke over her calves. So lost in her musings, she'd forgotten the rising tide. Turning to the dark ocean once more, she sucked in a breath of salty sea air, steadying herself.
She turned to leave and squealed, falling backwards in surprise at the dark shape practically on top of her. Draco's Quidditch reflexes snatched her up before she hit the water, drawing her into his warm chest. Memories of being held like this, that feeling of safety, of comfort, of finally feeling as though she belonged, assailed her. She could feel his every muscle, his hot breath on her cheek. Remembered him taking her into his arms for a long kiss, a gentle caress, felt her nether regions clench at the thought of him pressing her up against a cold stone wall in a deserted hallway, of being laid against a soft bed.
As much as she wanted to sink into his embrace, she pulled away, blinking up at him before eyeing the distance between them and the cottage where he'd been standing only moments before.
"How did you-?"
He shrugged but didn't answer her. She bit down her retort at his infuriating nonchalance while her own heart was stampeding against her chest, even more so when his gaze softened, the backs of his fingers coming to her cheek.
No, she couldn't be sucked into his games anymore. She had to be strong; she couldn't let her guard down even for a moment around him. Clearing her throat she took another step back from him, his hand falling to his side. She felt a wave press against her legs as if even nature was trying to push them together. If only things were that simple...
"We should...get back…" Hermione said weakly, shuffling her numb feet. He said nothing to this either, simply stared at her. She could feel the heat emanating from his body and took another step back, her heart skipping a beat when he closed the distance until she could smell him. His eyes burned with intensity as he continued to look down at her.
"Stop looking at me like that," she breathed, backing up further, not caring at this point if she was soaking her borrowed robes, so long as she didn't have to be so near him.
"Why?"
"It's not fair."
"Life isn't fair," he muttered, stepping forward again. "You told me that, remember?"
She nodded, taking another step back, hissing when the ground dropped sharply and the freezing water hit her hips. A twinkle of amusement glistened in his eyes as she stumbled for stability, flushing though the cold water had her arm hair standing on end.
"We really should be going, the potion-"
"Doesn't have to be dealt with for another half-hour," he stated, his voice barely audible above the crashing of the waves. A cold breeze whipped against them, chilling her so that she shivered harshly. Uncaring as to his own clothes, Draco closed the distance between them, their robes swirling around them as he brought his hands up to rub her arms. The warmth of his touch stirred her to her core so that she rocked against him in cadence with the waves. His hands cupped her shoulders, stroked up her neck so that her eyes closed at the sensual touch.
Icy water splashed against her lower back and she jerked, realizing that she was falling under his spell as easy as a snake to its melody. Ripping out of his grasp, she stumbled back, sloshing through the water.
"Don't do this," she begged, now submerged to her chest, gasping at the cold.
"Do what?" he purred, his face twisted with desire as he waded towards her. Damn him and his extra height on her.
"Y-you kn-know what," she stuttered, shaking, digging her toes into the sand to prevent the rough waves from knocking her forward.
"Hermione…"
"Just STOP!" she screamed, pulling her body up as far as she could without losing her footing as the waves licked her neck.
"Hermione, come here, you're going to get pneumonia," he chided as if she were a small child, reaching out to her. Yanking her hand from his grasp she scooted further back, having to use her arms to propel her as her toes lost their grip.
"I d-don't care, just g-get away from m-me!" she yelled, cursing the freezing water as it pushed her to and fro, her words losing their power in her ridiculous dance to keep from being swept into his arms or sucked out to sea.
"Look, I'm sorry, alright? Now will you just come back to shore?" he pled, pressing forward, reaching out to her. She knew she was being ridiculous, that she would never get anywhere anyway. Just treading water was almost more than her frozen body could handle, but her rampant emotions and bruised pride didn't seem to notice.
"D-Don't pretend to c-care about me!"
"Don't be stupid-"
"Don't call me stupid!"
"Hermione would you just-"
But the rest of his words were drowned out as she was toppled into the water by a wave, the current ripping her under. Pushing for the surface she emerged coughing and sputtering to a wild looking Draco. He cursed soundly and strode the couple meters that separated them, grabbing her arm and yanking her into his chest.
"ARE YOU FUCKING MENTAL?" he screamed, his eyes like fire in the dark night. Without further ado, he dragged her towards the shore. Anger and humiliation reared its ugly head and she fought him, punching and clawing at him as best she could with her frozen limbs.
"Let me GO!"
He whipped her around so that the next wave slammed her into his chest and she was forced to grab him so as not to be pulled under again. His fingers dug painfully into her skin, his face spelled murder.
"I'm not going to let you go!" he roared. "I haven't come this far just to watch you leave!"
"You were the o-one who l-left!" she cried, gripping him as the water threatened to rip her away.
"I know and I'm fucking sorry, alright? I was scared, I was wrong-"
"No, Draco," she shook her head, her wet hair plastered to the side of her face as the wind chilled her to the bone, the weight of the words she knew she must say like an anchor on her heart. "You were r-right. O-once we leave here…there's nothing-"
"That's a lie," he snarled. "That's a fucking lie and you know it."
"Maybe it is!" she screamed, her heart painfully tight in her chest. "But we'll n-never know! Nothing can come of this, Draco! Nothing-"
His lips were incredibly warm, salty, and bruising against her own. His arms dragged her up, enveloped her, protecting her from the surf. The water ripped at them as if a litany of the gulf that separated them. Her resolve faltered against his words, the feel of him against her. It felt real, so real, but the memory of his dismissal, the knowledge of the impossibility of their situation, weighed heavy against her and she knew what she had to do.
She took this moment, diving into the kiss with all the passion and fervor which had drove them all these weeks. She took all the strength she would need to give him up from the intensity of his kiss, soaking it in, holding it close. With a strangled sob she twisted in his arms, releasing his grip, stumbling for shore, sloshing through the waves, dragging her soaking, icy form from the grip of the ocean and Draco. She didn't look back as hot tears flooded down her frozen face, didn't stop until she had reached the cottage where she dug her wand from her dripping pocket and dried herself in a trice.
She was completely composed when she entered the house and said nothing to anyone on her way to the back room where the potion bubbled noisily, the heat from the fire bringing a pins-and-needles sensation back to her body. She jerked when she heard the front door slam but refused to look up from the powdered bicorn horn she was measuring. She waited for him to come in, to yell, to fight, to carry on what she had left in the sea, but he didn't.
She worked in silence, adding the last ingredient and stirring as per the instructions. Glancing at the clock her stomach leapt. They only had ten minutes before the potion was ready and the others would be expecting them at Hogwarts, unaware that she and Draco couldn't enter the grounds now and appear at their designated arrival location.
The door opened suddenly and Draco strode in, not even meeting her gaze. Slipping past him, she said her hasty goodbyes to Fleur and Bill and finally joined Draco by the potion where he was shoving the last of the supplies into his bag.
Drawing her wand, Hermione sliced her palm over one of the vials she'd set out, watching silently as Draco did the same. Sealing the wound with her wand, she carefully ladled the potion into them, handing the one with her blood to Draco, remembering when they'd done this a month ago and how much had changed since then. Now they did not banter, they did not hold hands. The air was tense with so much more than anxiety about the potion's effects.
"We'll have to go outside," she murmured hesitantly, not wanting to break the silence. Draco merely nodded, hefted his bag on his shoulder and strode out of the room. Packing her own things quickly, Hermione grabbed her vial and followed him to where he stood just outside of the perimeter, knowing that the barriers in their world would still be up and prevent her from entering.
Counting down the seconds on her watch, she nodded to Draco as the hands stroke nine.
Throwing back the potion, her world went black.
.
.
.
Hermione blinked rapidly. She could hear the wind and sea, smell the brine. As her vision slowly cleared she realized she had once again fallen. Draco was watching her, but made no move to help her up as before.
"You'll have to go and alert the others, they'll have been expecting us at Hogwarts," she explained without looking at him, standing and brushing herself off. "I'll wait here."
Draco eyed the area intensely, his body hard. When he said nothing she began to repeat herself but he put his finger to his lips and drew out his wand. Doing the same, Hermione strained through the dark to see what had Draco worried. Before she could ask what he heard she was thrown to the ground, her wand flying from her hand. Spitting out sand, she rolled to see Draco was likewise on the ground and wandless. She screamed as someone grabbed her hair, dragging her ruthlessly to her feet, pulling her against a tall, hard body.
"Let her go!" Draco roared, tearing away from his captor who had likewise lifted him and crying out in pain as the masked Death Eater hit him with a spell that sent him sprawling once more.
"Draco!" she cried in terror as he writhed and twitched. Fighting her abductor, she strained to get to him but was only awarded a dirty hand over her mouth and nose, cutting off her air supply, the other arm vise-like around her waist.
The second the spell was lifted Draco was on his feet, flying for her. Another Death Eater sent cords wrapping around him and he slammed onto the ground with a yell.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here," the one who had hit him with the Cruciatus Curse sneered, grabbing the back of his hair and lifting his head up. "Been looking all over for you, boy!"
"Then take me," he spat, his lip bloody from where he'd bit it as he'd been tortured. "Leave her out of this!"
"When she walks so willingly onto our land?" the third man sneered, sauntering over to her where she struggled and gasped for air. "I think not."
When he reached out to touch her she kicked out at him, catching him where it hurt most, taking small pleasure as he doubled over in pain. The other two laughed but the watery-eyed Death Eater did not find her actions so amusing.
"Bitch! Crucio!"
She knew she screamed but she couldn't hear anything above the roar of the scalding blood in her veins. Having felt it before did not lessen the agony as it overtook her senses and she knew nothing but pain. It went on and on, ripping her apart until she was left sucking cold air into her lungs, her body spent and useless, sprawled once more on the sand. A boot caught her ribs and she shrieked as the force flipped her until she was looking up into Dolohov's twisted face. She could hear Draco screaming and fighting in the background, but it was lost in the fury that radiated from the Death Eater.
"You!" he sputtered before looking up at the other two. "It's the Mudblood!"
"Are you sure?"
"It's that same bitch that was in the Ministry!"
"And what is Master Malfoy doing with Potter's Mudblood?" his captor asked, glee in his voice.
"None of your goddamn business, Macnair!" he replied angrily. "If you don't let her go right this second I'm going to-"
"Ohoho!" the third Death Eater who had dropped Hermione drawled. "We seem to have caught my traitor nephew in an affair with this dirty rat. Well, she must be good at something to have caught his attention, don't you think, Dolohov?"
"Won't know 'til we try, will we?" he leered sickeningly, his eyes undressing her. Fear clenched her with its icy fingers and she scrambled backward out of pure instinct. They laughed at her feeble attempt to escape and she was tugged to her feet by invisible strings, colliding with Rudolphus Lestrange's chest. He chuckled perversely and drew her near until she had to turn her head to prevent their lips from smashing together. His ghastly breath coasted her cheek and he bit her jaw harshly. Hermione yelped and tried to draw away from him as much as possible but his grip was tight.
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER-!" Roars of pain overtook Draco and Hermione whipped towards him frantically, desperate to get to him, to protect him. Her arms were yanked behind her back painfully until her eyes watered and she was lifted off her feet. She screamed when she felt a sickening POP! from her left shoulder and knew it had dislocated. She kicked at Lestrange but couldn't see whether she'd hit him or not as she was flying towards the ground, agony overtaking her until her world was red.
She coughed harshly when the curse was lifted once more and tried to sit up, realizing that she, too, was now bound. She whimpered as white hot fire struck through her shoulder and she had to bite her lip to stem it.
"-behave or I will kill her here and now," MacNair was saying. "Lestrange, grab the chit. Let's get this lot back to the Manor and wait for instructions there."
Hermione cried out in agony as she was yanked to her feet. She caught Draco's eyes as he was pulled up by his hair. She could see the fear behind his carefully guarded face.
He looked as though he wanted to say something to her. There was so much she wanted to say to him. But their silent moment was over and they were Apparated away.
.
.
.

XOXO
RynStar15
- 18
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- 20
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