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Blinded	By : ssdawn Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 26888 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter, it's characters, nor make money from writing this.

Chapter List
- 34
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- 36
Trigger Warning: mention of rape, torture and mutilation-nothing explicit.
Blinded Chapter 35
The portkeys took all of them to an abandoned building in the middle of Muggle London. The smell of mildew scented the air in the decaying building. Dark stains were splattered on the floor. The old, gray paint was peeling from the walls. Draco stood in wonder staring at the cold, dark building that was the meeting place with the MacAteers. Why had this location been chosen? Only Hermione and Harry knew all of the logistics of the plan and weren't allowed to share all the details. This was to discourage any possible spies within the ministry leaking the plans to the MacAteers.
The "real" Hermione by his side whispered in his ear, "They'd only consent to meet with us in Muggle territory, though they don't realize how many traps and wards have been put into place ahead of time."
Draco shook his head in amazement, though he really shouldn't have been when it came to Hermione because she was usually ten steps ahead of everyone else. He was still feeling very uneasy about this whole plan. "I don't think you should even be near me when they get here. It will be a dead giveaway at who the real Hermione is."
"Already taken care of…look." Hermione's hands came up pointing out in front of her. Draco couldn't believe his eyes. Standing next to every Polyjuiced Hermione was a Polyjuiced Draco.
"When were you going to inform me that there were going to be as many Dracos' running around as there are Hermiones'?" Draco asked feeling a mix of amusement with a small tinge of annoyance.
"We knew from our last showdown with the MacAteers that you'd also have a target on your back after saving me." Hermione said quietly, "The more that we unbalance them from the start, the easier it'll be to take them down quickly."
"How do we know that they're not already here watching us?" Draco didn't want to be a continual pessimist, but the way their luck had been going lately it was hard not to think of every bad thing that could happen.
Hermione shook her head in the negative, "It can't happen. Their portkeys won't work unless ours was triggered first."
Draco smirked at her, "You always have been the best and the brightest for a reason." She winked at him as she walked away to the center of the huge, open warehouse. All eyes watched as she garnered everyone's attention by shooting off red sparks into the air.
"Our enemies will be here in approximately seven minutes. Their portkeys are keyed to trigger ten minutes after ours. We are hoping for dialogue, but have shields up and ready if they come in with wands blazing." Only the Half-bloods and Muggleborns laughed at her words in reference to the Muggle saying of 'running in with all guns blazing'.
Draco knew that the most important thing was to get the counter curse to what was killing the children. If they started attacking and killing off the MacAteers, especially Connall, there would be no hope or chance to save Scorp or any of the children. His head hurt thinking of all of the possibilities of what could happen tonight. The best-case scenario was they'd get the counter curse, go back and save all of the children, and then they'd all go home, alive to start their new life together as a family. Sadly, there were too many worst-case scenarios, such as ending up with no counter curse at all with Scorp dead along with all of the other cursed children. Also, along this line of thinking would see Hermione being killed along with their unborn child or her losing the baby. He couldn't shake the fear of it being him killed and leaving Hermione to carry on and raise the children on her own. He was no Gryffindor, and was totally self-serving and took care of himself first like any good Slytherin was trained to do. He did not want to die tonight. He had to make sure that Hermione remained safe. Draco wondered if it was possible for a human mind to implode from overthinking? If it could happen, then he was next in line from all of the extra work his brain was engaging in at the moment.
Looking around at all of the Hermiones' and Dracos', they all seemed as nervous as the real ones. Any minutes the portkeys would be bringing in their enemies without anyone knowing if they were coming to negotiate or fight. With one last look to his Hermione, he walked off to the right side of the group of decoys to get ready for whatever would happen soon. His stomach ached as he thought of how everything was coming down to the next few minutes. The building was cold, but it didn't stop the trickle of sweat that was slowly sliding down the side of his face. As he gripped his wand in his hand, he held it out in anticipation of the arrival of the MacAteers. It would take everything within him not to hex Connall MacAteer the second he portkeyed in. He'd almost succeeded in killing Hermione at their last meeting. There was no way in hell he'd be giving him another chance.
The room seemed to spark as portkeys dropped the MacAteer clan into the building. There were forty-five people surrounding Connall and all had their wands out ready for action. At the same time, all of the Aurors had their wands pointed straight at the MacAteers. Their shields had been in place minutes before they'd gotten to the building. Soon it was apparent that the mistrust between the two groups was winning out over the negotiations.
"Everyone hold your fire," one of the Aurors disguised as Hermione cried out. "We must talk about terms of our meeting and find out how to help the children."
Connall MacAteer looked around the room, a huge sneer gracing his face. "Clever, very clever. Which one is the real Hermione Granger? She is the one I came to talk to, not a room full of decoys."
One of the Dracos' answered the man, "The last time we all met, you had one thing on your agenda and that was to kill Hermione. We felt it was best to protect her this time."
"What if I told you I didn't come to kill her?" Connall spoke as he looked at each Hermione as if trying to decipher which one was the real one. His tired, deep-set eyes were hard to read.
The Hermione farthest from the real one spoke next, "What if I said I didn't believe you? Why did you come then?"
Connall hesitated as he continued to eye all of the women who looked like Hermione Granger. Draco was trying not to show how much he was sweating and worried that Connall would figure out which one was the real Hermione. He'd proven to be a smart man and he seemed to be carefully studying each and every woman in the room. Draco was also watching every MacAteer lackey that had come with Connall. He was waiting to see if they were setting themselves up to make a move while Connall distracted them. It took all of Draco's power not to stare at his Hermione because he knew his eyes would give away her true identity.
The Draco two feet in front of him shouted out, "Tell us how to save the children. Then we will negotiate with you. They are innocent and have nothing to do with the adults gathered here."
Connall seemed to laugh at what the man said. "Ha! The children are paying the price for their parent's sins. You Purebloods couldn't leave well enough alone could you?" The hatred starting pouring out of the man as he spat out his angry words, "Your Pureblood Supremacy instigated the Dark Lord Voldemort to start a war against everyyone not of pure...fucking... blood! He created a divide in all wizards that could never be fixed. This evil crossed the borders of countries and landed in our homeland of Ireland."
The dots started to connect as Connall shouted out his accusations. Draco knew that all of the children that had been kidnapped had parents that were Pureblood wizards and witches. Something had happened during the war involving this man and his family and he now was taking out his hatred and anger against him and every other Pureblood.
"Your evil Lord sent men into our towns and villages seeking out the Muggleborns and Half-Bloods. They never stood a chance. Once they figured out the lineage of a family they were either spared or wiped out. The MacAteers were targeted as we were well known for having a Pureblood father who had married a Muggleborn."
Draco felt sick inside when he heard Connall's words. He'd heard of how whole families had been decimated whom Voldemort had considered not "Pure" enough. He'd just not realized the full extent The Death Eaters had gone to eradicate families like the one he was coincidentally starting with Hermione.
"Out of our family of eight boys and five girls, only three of us were able to get away, but not before we saw Death Eaters rape and kill our mum and sisters. Then they tortured and mutilated our father and brothers. With our cousins, we have been able to rise again as a force in Ireland." Connall's face was red with rage as he told his gut-wrenching story of yet another family whose lives Voldemort had ruined. Those who were listening tried hard not to feel sorry for the MacAteers, after all, they'd been the ones killing and kidnapping others. The good hearts of the Aurors ached as they learned of the deaths of innocent children by the Death Eaters. The madness wrought by the MacAteers could almost be explained because of what happened…almost.
"Children are innocent. They shouldn't be paying for the sins of the fathers, Purebloods or not. This doesn't give you the right to be judge and jury for what happened to your family." Draco cringed when the real Hermione spoke up. He was afraid her words would blow her cover. She was known for her fire and always standing up for those in need of a protector.
"Your government did nothing to punish this dark lord and his followers, so we have decided to do something about it." Connall started pacing around the room amongst his followers.
Draco's eyes never left Connall or his wand waving wildly about in the air. How long was this man going to keep on his wild rampage against Purebloods? Yes, the Polyjuice potion should last, but it had never been tested with this large of a group. This could be the time when it didn't last as long and then he and Hermione would both be sitting ducks amongst the crowd. It was almost like Connall knew and was being a huge windbag on purpose to help pass the time. Draco wanted to get in and out of this operation. Time was not their friend. Time was working against them and the dying children.
"What will you give me and my family in return for a cure for your children?" Connall finally stopped, addressing the closest Hermione, who coincidentally wasn't the real one. "How do I know if we hand over the counter-curse that you're not going to haul us away to your Azkaban or worse Avada all of us where we stand?"
No one spoke, because no one knew what to say, except Hermione and Harry. Draco hoped she wouldn't say anything and he had a feeling that maybe Connall was asking the question to draw out where the real Harry and Hermione were. He decided to shout out something, but before he could, another Draco answered first.
"What do you expect for kidnapping and cursing children? This really isn't a question that a criminal asks in your position? It looks to me that you are the one that should be willing to do what we say and not demanding your wants." Draco could tell that the fiery answer had come from Harry. There were times, even now, when the head Auror lost control and let his temper control his mouth.
Connall stood glaring, his jaw clenched and his fist holding his wand tight. He looked from one person to the other with hate showing in his eyes. "I'll not share anything about the curse unless I know my family will be protected."
Draco could feel his own temper start pushing to the surface. This was nonsense. If it had been the Death Eaters dealing with the MacAteers, they'd all be dead or seriously injured by now. They didn't play games and they would have dealt with them one way or another. The Dark Lord was all about finding the troublemakers and immediately taking care of said problem. Draco hated to admit that he wished the ministry had done the same thing here.
Without the MacAteers noticing, the Aurors had slowly started circling around the criminal family. They now were totally surrounded by Aurors. He knew the next few minutes would determine whether or not they found out about the curse and how to counter it. Always at the back of his mind was his young son's pale face as he lay silently in his hospital bed. He was ready to fight for him.
If only he could read Connall's mind and figure out what the barmy man was thinking. Draco almost slapped himself on the head. Oh, gods! What was wrong with him? One thing that Severus Snape had taught him, along with his dear crazy Aunt Bella, was Legilimency and Occlumency. With the intense stress and pressure they'd been under, he'd forgotten the training he'd used often during the war, especially during his sixth year. He hadn't had the need to use it much the past years, but now it would make all the difference in the world between defeat or victory.
Draco moved a few feet to the left where he was almost standing directly in front of Connall. He first needed to see if the man was occluding his mind or if he could tell someone was even trying to use Legilimency on him. He remembered the basic steps he'd learned when first testing out the waters, so to say. As Connall was still raging on about the unfairness of what happened to his people and how he wouldn't budge with the counter curse, Draco started to gently enter his mind and have a look around. At first, it seemed like such a jumbled mess in there as Connall was ranting about one thing and then another. Finally Draco was able to delve in further to search for things that Connall wasn't blabbing about at the moment. Draco came to the conclusion that the man wasn't blocking or hiding anything from any possible intruders. Severus had taught him many ways that you could "see" if someone was blocking or shielding their memories.
Connall's mind was so easy to read he felt like he was being given a gift. Draco quickly found out that Connall had no plans to share the counter curse and he was waiting for the Polyjuice potion to wear out in order to attack Hermione again. He tried not growling out loud when he read that memory. He saw the plans that Connall had to attack and kill as many of the Aurors as possible, but especially Hermione, Harry and of course including Draco in the body count. He searched deeper to find something about the curse. He knew he needed to bring up that matter again, which would bring the counter curse directly up front in Connall's mind.
"Nothing is going to happen until you give us the counter curse. Enough with your talking, unless you are ready to share what we came for." Draco stood up tall and straight, chest out, and looking directly into the man's eyes.
"I'm not that reckless to give away the only trump card in my pocket. Do I look like a fool? I know what the counter curse is, but you'll not be receiving it until I get what I want." Connall almost stamped his foot as he ended, similar to a cheeky toddler not getting a treat at the end of a shopping trip.
Draco almost jumped out of his skin as he easily read what was running through the man's mind. His emotions were so volatile that everything was right out front. He effortlessly found the name of the curse, and yes, the counter curse. He saw the potion and the ingredients needed to make it. It wouldn't take more than twelve hours to brew and then it could be administered to all of the children. He wanted to leave at that moment and start brewing the counter curse. This needed to end. He needed to let Hermione know. His eyes moved rapidly from Connall to Harry and then to Hermione. He needed to make a decision now and knew that all Hell would break loose regardless of what he decided to do.
"Now!" Draco screamed as he fired at Connall. That had been the key word when the attack would happen if someone had found a way for them to win the battle with the MacAteers. The Auror's team altogether shot out spells, surprising the MacAteers who had become lax during their leader's long-winded speech. Draco ran across the room as he shot another spell at one of Connall's men. Rushing up next to Hermione he shouted into her ear amongst the chaos happening in the room, "I know the curse and the counter curse."
Hermione turned around her mouth dropped open with surprise, "What?" she screamed back as she shot off another hex towards the middle of the room.
"I'm a Legilimens. I read his mind. I know how to stop the curse and heal the children. I can save Scorp and the others with a potion." He couldn't help the tears that started forming in his eyes. A spell shot over his head as he ducked and shook his head to wake himself up from his thoughts.
Draco fought alongside Hermione as she rolled on the floor and shot out another spell, which brought down another MacAteer. "Go Draco. You need to leave and start working on the potion."
"I can't leave you here. I'm not going until this is finished." Draco jumped up; his wand arm came out and shot off a hex, while his other arm jutted behind him to smash into the face of a man sneaking behind them.
"No, go. You're the only one that knows the counter curse. You have to leave." She gave him a half smile and ran off in the direction of a struggle going on between two Aurors and five of the enemy.
His heart and mind struggled as he continued to fight, keeping his eyes constantly on Connall's position in the room. If he were injured or killed during this battle then no one else would know how to help the children. But, if he left and Hermione was hurt or killed would he ever be able to forgive himself? Draco watched the fighting that was going on around him and he looked one more time at Hermione as she cut down another man next to Connall. Then he spotted the door in the corner that was the only available exit. He rushed towards the door as he fired off one more spell at an unknown MacAteer. Seeing him fall, he prayed to any god that might be listening asking for protection for Hermione and the baby. His other child needed him now. This time he was the only one who could save the lives of the innocent, and it felt good to be on the side saving families, instead of breaking them apart.
I'm so sorry that the battle and everything else didn't end in this chapter. Things just kept happening and I finally realized this chapter needed to end. I've been battling myself while writing this chapter, so I apologize for it being so long in-between chapters. I hope you let me know what you think. There will be more info about the curse and how to counter it and hopefully cute little Scorp will be more in the next chapter too. Thanks for your support!
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Blinded