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Breaking the Chain	By : RynStar15 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 42453 -:- 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
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Eight minutes earlier…

Severus looked down at the still form which had crumpled at his feet only moments before. He'd taken up battle with the rest of the Order as Draco searched the Manor for Miss Granger and any sign that the Dark Lord knew of their plans, though with most of the Death Eaters obviously absent he let himself breathe a sigh of relief. If the Dark Lord had any inkling that his last precious Horcrux was in danger he would surely be here with the rest, defending it in any way possible. As it was, the fifty-strong guard he'd left behind attested to his fears. It seemed, for now, that he remained unawares.

A loud crack! and cry for help shook him of his reverie and he strode out of the body-strewn hall and into the front entrance where his former student, Dean Thomas, was rushing out of the drawing room, screaming that Hermione Granger was beyond those walls...
Severus rushed quickly to his favorite pupil's side, heart hammering.

“What the- Miss Granger!” he rushed to her side and kneeled on the floor before her. He had never seen such a gruesome display in all his years. The sight of her distorted body made him ill. Blood caked every surface and oozed out of wounds as bone jutted from her skin. She was hanging on by the merest thread...

“D-Draco…” she croaked pitifully.

“Yes, in a minute, we have to get you to-"

“No! No time! Minutes-Draco…I have to find Draco!”

His heart hammered. He knew the girl wouldn't be in such a state if there weren't a good reason. “Alright, calm down Miss Granger. Mr. Thomas-" he bade to his former student who nodded.

"I'm on it," he said and ran to the front hall.

Severus looked down at the battered woman before him, his heart wrenching at the sight. Closing his eyes, he placed his hands over her, murmuring every spell he could think of to spare the poor woman of the agony she endured.

She was fading away before his eyes, she didn’t have much time, and all she wanted was his godson? It didn't make sense, but he trusted her, knew she would do what she had to do. She'd given almost everything for the Order until this point, and he was horribly certain she would give the rest before this was all over.

Draco whipped suddenly into the room, his shoes skidding on the slick surface. Severus stepped out of the boy’s way and watched him rush forward, watched as his entire body snapped back in repulsion at the sight of his mangled beloved.

“Hermione?” he seemed to ask, falling to his knees beside her, his hands raised as if wishing to touch her but scared to bring her more pain.

“Merlin, oh…fuck...”
Severus watched their exchange in dismay, dread siezing him at Granger's admission. As soon as he learned of the Dark Lord's intentions he was striding from the room, intent on working his way into the Dark Lord's mind, finding a way to him, any way...

“Severus!” Arthur exclaimed, racing up behind him, face drenched in sweat from battle. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with Hermione!”

“She is here, in the drawing room. Draco is with her.”

“My gods! She's here? Is she alright?” The nervous man strode forward as if to enter the room but Severus stopped him.

“No, she is not. She doesn’t have long.”

“Then why are you not taking her back to Hogwarts? She needs Madame Pomfrey, we must hurry-”

“No,” Severus stopped him, his hand gripping the man tightly, preventing him from interrupting the two. “She asked for Draco, I believe the Dark Lord has a plan. I trust her judgment; if she could wait, she would. Something is going on, I was just about to search for the Dark Lord-"

"I'll not see her harmed any further for your sick games!" Arthur snapped lividly, yanking his arm from Severus' grasp and brushing passed him. He ripped open the door to the drawing room and stopped suddenly, staring around.

“Where are they?” he asked looking back at Severus. His heart sank.

“What?”

Fearing the worst Severus ran into the room and, seeing that the pair were gone, swore loudly.

“Why did you leave them alone? What is wrong with you?” Arthur screamed, rounding on him.

“Calm yourself! I can track them. It’s an old magic, passed through my bloodline. It’s how they used to track witches many years ago.”

Arthur looked at him in disbelief. “You can find where they are? Then why didn’t you do it with You-Know-Who?”

“He uses a block, I cannot follow him," Severus admitted, striding into the room.

He stepped up to where the forces of magic were strongest, just in front of the sofa. It was Voldemort’s magic again, but he hadn’t been here. He couldn’t use the block. Severus found the portal of magic still detectable.

“Tell the others to prepare for the Dark Lord,” he said and Apparated away.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Ginny threw up a shield to block a blue flame headed her way. Sweat poured down her face. The Death Eaters had stormed the castle and chaos had ensued. She looked up and spotted her mother fending off a tall Death Eater. Ginny threw a Stunner at the bastard and watched her mother move on to the next without missing a step.
Ginny felt a spell hit her in the back, paralyzing her. She fell to the ground, smashing her face onto the hard stone floor of the Great Hall. She tried to move but she couldn’t, she’d been hit with a Full-Body Bind. Someone tripped over her and her heart clenched with fear.

“Ginny! Finite Incatatum!”

Ginny sat up and looked into the eyes of Neville and sighed in relief. “Thank you!” she cried, throwing her arms around him. Neville threw her back to the floor and covered her body with his own as another spell blew over them. Keeping her down he threw a Shield Charm over them and turned to her.

“Do you know where Harry is?” he asked, gaspsing. She wondered why he would want to know, but there was no time for a discussion.

“He’s at the Manor! The snake-they have to kill the snake!” she shouted over the din, scrambling to get her feet under her.

“Thanks! Be safe, Gin!”

Neville stood and ran, throwing spells over his shoulder and blocking curses that flew at him. Ginny marveled for a split second at how vastly he had improved since school before she was on her feet and battling once more.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Hermione looked at her own crumpled, bloody body which encased Draco. His wand quaked in her hand as she lifted it to him. She knew she had to torture him; it was the only way to stall until she could think of a plan. Free from the pain, her mind was able to work at a normal pace and she glanced around her. She knew they were in some kind of cottage with forest all around them. The light was dim, the sparse furnishings were covered in dust. The one window in the room cast a grey tinge into the room, the closest means of escape if Voldemort had placed an anti-Apparition charm over the abode for anyone except himself.

She watched Draco nod, urging her on. She hesitated momentarily, hating that she had to cause him pain, but if she didn't act now, Voldemort would.

Hermione took a deep breath. I’m sorry…
“Cru-”

“Avada Kedavra!”

Hermione watched in sheer terror as the green stream flew at Draco, hitting him square in the chest where he slumped, his beautiful grey eyes extinguishing, her heart shattering.

“No!” she wailed. Hermione didn't remember moving, but she was throwing herself onto the body that looked exactly like her own, the horrible, horrible, image that betrayed her worst fears...

Her own glassy eyes stared up at her, as she smoothed back her bloody brown curls. The body was lifeless, un-responding. Draco's body shook as she dragged the limp form into her arms and she screamed endlessly, not caring about the evil man behind her chortling in elation.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know, Draco? Did you really think I wouldn't find out? You loved a Mudblood, and now you will pay for it,” Voldemort said. Hermione clutched the still form to her chest, rocking, willing life back into it.

“You bastard!” she choked out, crumpling as Draco's voice echoed around her.

She knew her own end was coming and embraced it gladly but a loud scuffle sounded behind her and she looked up to see Snape send Voldemort to the floor and hold him there with a spell.

“Go, Draco, get back to the Manor!" he grunted, trembling with the power it took to hold the demented man down. "Take her and go!”

He didn’t know. He didn’t know that Draco was dead and she was stuck in his body.

Hermione hesitated, knowing she should help, but maybe if she could get him back, maybe she could somehow undo...

She Apparated to the Manor and fell, crushed beneath her own body she knew to be the man she loved to the floor of the entrance hall, the weight of the horror more than she could bear. Sounds of war raged somewhere above but she couldn't move, paralyzed by fear.

“Draco! Oh gods, no, is she...? Oh, Merlin!” Hermione looked up into the horrified blue eyes of Mr. Weasley. The older man fell to his knees and reached his hands out to the crippled form in her arms.

“No!" he cried, his hands trembling as they grabbed at the mangled figure. "Oh, no!"

“Mr. Weasley-” She tried to tell him, to explain that it wasn't her, but the words stuck in her throat. She didn’t want it to be real. She wanted to be the lifeless body that everyone would see. Instead she was stuck in the form of the man that she loved, a man who had given his life for her…

She felt numb, the tears had stopped. She couldn’t think. This wasn’t real. She thought it ironic that she had watched herself die as that was exactly how she felt.

Arthur took several shuddering breaths and looked up at her. “Draco, we have to go, it’s not safe here-”

“Harry?” she croaked suddenly. “Where’s Harry?”

“He's upstairs, he went to find the snake-”

Hermione flew to her feet without thought, dropping the perjurious body, ignoring the protests ringing behind her. She tore up the staircase, she had no idea where she was going but she ran toward the sound of combat. They had to be up there and she now had a fool-proof way to get to that snake…

Whipping around a corner, Hermione collided with a hard frame and nearly went to the ground but a hand steadied her.

“Malfoy? What are you doing here?” Bill asked, looking at him questioningly

“Where are the others? Are they after the snake?” Hermione heard Draco’s voice ask. Her heart tugged harshly at the sound. She felt it odd that she could basically stare Bill Weasley in the face, having always had to look up to the tall man.

“Yeah, we got bombarded a few minutes ago, it's been an absolute uproar, I was just going to get help. I thought you were supposed to be with Her-?”

“No time to explain! Which way did they go?”

Bill hooked his thumb behind himself, his dragon claw piercing swinging with the movement. She knew he was watching as she flew around the corner and followed yet another staircase.

She heard noises, dead ahead. She came upon a fierce battle, Death Eaters flooding the hall, bodies scattered on the floor before a splintered set of doors, inside which more fighting rang. Hermione clutched the wand still miraculously in her hand and threw a lasso around the closest standing Death Eater, dragging the body to hers.

“What the-”

“Stop, you fool! Where is the snake?” Hermione asked, making her voice raspy and commanding.

“Master Malfoy! The snake is inside! They were trying to get to it; we were guarding it, just as we were told!”

Hermione killed the bastard almost without thought, tossing him to the ground as she strode forward.

“Potter!” she shouted into the fray, seeing his shaggy black head fighting fiercely before her. Harry turned and looked at her suspiciously.

“What are you doing here, Malfoy?” he demanded, dodging a wayward spell.

“That’s none of your concern. Give me the sword.” The words tumbled from her mouth as if she were always meant to say these things, barely registering her own actions.

Harry looked at her incredulously. She had to get them to move, if she could just get into that room…there was no other way. Silently she raised her arms in fury and flung her magic at the men before her and they hit the floor, one by one. It was easier than it should have been and Hermione didn’t question, dead inside to anything but to kill that snake, to end this, to get back to Draco, to undo what had been done...

Harry watched her in horror as she stepped over the dead bodies towards him.

"The sword, Potter," she repeated, holding out her hand.

"Are you mad?!" he snapped, raising his wand. Rolling her eyes, Hermione Summonded the shrunken sword of Gryffindor from Harry's pocket while he bellowed in rage. She cuaght it and flung him aside, aiming for the fight in the room beyond, tucking the sword into her pocket as she went.

Hermione strode into the room in a way she had seen Draco do many times. She allowed the darkness to claim her as she looked at the few people left battling, the bodies strewn about. Throwing spells at the Death Eaters who fought the men beyond, they dropped as the others had, the fire burning within her destroying everything in its wake. Remus, Charlie, and Mad-Eye turned to her with the same startled look Harry had given her. With a wave of her hand the three were flying from the room, crashing into Harry and Bill in the hallway beyond and she quickly rebuilt the door, placing locking charms on it before turing to the gilded cage before the fireplace.

“Just you and me,” she said darkly. Sensing danger, the snake hissed as Hermione strode forward. She could feel the magic permeating from the crate and she lifted her hands, focusing on drawing the magic away.

The room trembled with the power it took to bring down the wards, Hermione grunting in exertion as she fought against a magic beyond anything she'd ever encountered. She struggled but finally, with one last yell, she felt it break, snap beneath her fury, and the cage shattered into pieces, leaving the snake vulnerable before her.

Raising Draco's wand she was about to strike when the serpent lunged at her and sunk its razor sharp fangs into her arm. She bellowed and swung her, casting a Burning Hex on Nagini with her other hand. She released Draco’s arm in pain and fell to the floor where she writhed. Hermione advanced and the evil creature attacked, knocking her to the ground. She cried out in pain as Draco’s blonde head smashed into the floorboards. Teeth sank into her side and she grabbed the thick snake with both hands, the wand clattering to the floor uselessly.

With strength she’d never before experienced she pounded the snake into the floor and held it prostrate with her pale left hand and ripped out the sword which was now the size of a dagger, raising it above her with a war cry.

She brought it down into the serpent's throat and the explosion knocked her off her feet, the heat surrounding her. Light filled the room and the force pressed her to the ground and stole her breath. She felt her skin burning as it had in Alvida’s cottage. For a moment, everything went black.

When she awoke, she rolled to see the limp body of the snake before her. Agony ripped through her as she realized that it was this creature's fault Draco was dead. Their mission to destroy her had killed him, had taken away her heart, her soul. Fury such as she'd never felt welled inside her and she rose to her knees, looking at the last vesicle of Voldemort's soul.

She tortured it ruthlessly. Tears streamed from her eyes as she screamed and tormented the dead snake, watching it jerk and writhe. On and on it went, the lifeless body flopping beneath her power. She felt no pleasure, only burning pain and the agonizing fear of living without Draco. She had killed him, it was all her fault, and now he was gone...

“Malfoy, stop! Stop!” Harry’s voice cried from behind her. A hand on her shoulder. Clenching. Holding. Easing her back. “It’s over. That’s enough.”

With a sob Hermione drew back her hands and looked at them. There was blood on the long fingers which were not her own.

What had she done? What had she become?

She looked at the lifeless snake, its skin burnt, innards twisted on the floor. She had done that.

“Come on.” The pressure on her shoulder increased and another hand was on her upper arm, tugging her towards the hall. Her feet didn’t want to move but Harry pushed her forward.

In the hall Tonks was helping Moody to his feet and handing him his cane while Bill healed a severe gash on Charlie's side. From the corner of her eye she saw Ron launching himself at her.

“Ron, no!” Harry jumped in front of her, protecting Draco.

“He’s a fucking traitor! He’s-”

“He just killed Nagini!”

The silence was deafening. She looked into the sea of faces she knew so well as they gazed at her incredulously.

“You're supposed to be with Hermione! Where is Hermione? Where is she?” Ron demanded wildly.

“She’s dead,” came a voice from behind her. Hermione turned. It was Mr. Weasley, his eyes red, face blotchy and tear streaked.

“Wha-what? No…no!” Ron screamed, collapsing to the floor as Harry grew deathly white.

“No!” Hermione yelled, not able to stand the pain on her friend's faces. “No, it’s not like it seems!”

“You...you killed her!” Ron yelled, lunging at her again. Arthur intercepted Ron while Harry fell to the floor and looked as if he was going to be sick.

“No, she’s not dead!" Hermione cried. "I’m not dead!”

“Of course you're not, you bloody imbicile," Ron croaked, slumped in his father's arms.

“No, listen!" she said, staring into his eyes, begging for him to understand. "Ron, it’s me, it’s Hermione!”

Silence rang through the hall as the Order members stared at her blankly, interspersed between the dead bodies at their feet.

“What are you on about?” Harry rasped looking up at her, his gaze pleading.

The words stuck in her throat, knowing if she said them it would make it true. But she couldn't stand the agony in the faces of her friends any longer, it was too much. “Dr-Draco…he, he…he’s in my body, I’m in his…Polyjuice Potion…he died…because of me…He knew, He knew and He-”

Hermione collapsed beneath the weight of the confession, hitting the ground and sobbing harshly. She dipped her shaking hand into her pocket and lifted out the vial there. Mad-Eye limped forwad and took it from her, uncorking it and taking a whiff.

“She’s telling the truth,” Moody’s gravelly voice admitted.

“But how-?” Harry grated out.

Hermione tried to explain but she couldn’t, the words wouldn't form. She sucked in heaving breaths, struggling for composure. She couldn’t fall apart, not now. They weren’t done, not yet. It wasn't over, not until that sick bastard was gone for good. Draco didn’t die for her to lay here and do nothing.

“Snape," she croaked, her fingers grasping at the tile beneath her, her eyes to the floor. "He's fighting Voldemort. We have to find them-”

“You won’t have far to go."

Hermione whipped around to look into the cruel face above her and instantly felt herself being pulled back by arms, away from Voldemort who stood at the entrance of the hall, his black robes billowing about him, his snake-like face drawn in a snarl.

“Want to know what became of your precious spy?”

With a twitch of his wrist Snape fell from thin air, his mangled body slapping sickeningly on the floor, sightless eyes staring at them.

The arms dragged her to her feet, pulling her back as everyone else surged forward, surrounding her, making a wall against their opponent.

“Come now," Voldemort sneered. "Don’t hide my worthless traitor. Come here, Draco. Face me.”

Hermione shook off the hands, Harry's, and pushed Charlie softly to the side to stand before Voldemort. Harry ripped her back again before she could stop him, placing himself before her.

“It’s over, Tom. Now it’s down to you and me. Leave the others out of this and deal with it like a real man.”

Voldemort dropped his head back and laughed coldly. “But I am not a man, Harry Potter. I am more, much more.”

“You’re only a seventh of a man, Tom. We killed the rest. Now it’s your turn.”

Voldemort stiffened, fury burning from his eyes. Flicking his wrist again, Nagini’s demolished form appeared before them and his head whipped up and locked on Hermione.

“You!”

Hermione grabbed at her throat as it caved in on itself. She was lifted from the ground and heard yells around her, spells fired. Pain whipped through her and her eyes were stuck on his blood red ones. Evil was filling her, seeping through her. His hate coursed through her system, her veins boiling with it. The world muted and she could dimly see what was happening around her. Ron was tugging on her, Harry and the others throwing spell after spell at Voldemort as they bounced off him harmlessly.

Voldemort walked slowly towards her, his eyes growing, growing, swallowing her, consuming her. She felt her eyes rolling in her head but his gaze bore into hers still. She couldn’t escape the pain, the anguish. Then another sensation racked through her body.

Her skin crawled, her insides twisted. She tried to cry out but she couldn’t, her throat crushed beneath his spell. Voldemort stopped suddenly, watched as she transformed back into herself. She shortened, her bloody hair curtained past her shoulders, her body twisted back into its near-death state he had induced upon her. The pain multiplied. She couldn’t survive it, she couldn’t...

“No…”

She fell to the ground, her body crumpling.

“You…I killed you!”

Hermione opened her aching eyes enough to see Harry launch himself at Voldemort and in a whirl of wind, they were gone.

“Harry!” she cried, her swollen throat barely emitting a sound. Kingsley and Bill threw themselves at where the two had disappeared and others were surrounding her.

“Hermione, oh gods…” Ron moaned. People, sounds, colors, they surrounded her, enfolded her, wrapping her in a blanket of agony. She knew she was dying, could feel the life leaving her limbs. It didn’t matter anymore. The only part of her worth anything had already died. She’d done what she came to do; now she was going to see Draco again.

She’d be with Draco…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

XOXO
RynStar15
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Breaking the Chain