Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Bound	By : goldhorse Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 126122 -:- Recommendations : 15 -:- Currently Reading : 31
Disclaimer: JK owns HP. Not me. I also don't own any quotes you might recognize. I make no money doing this, I just get the plot bunnies to quit interrupting my sleep.

Chapter List
- 45
- 46
- 47
Hermione was about two seconds away from blasting half the school to kingdom come. Her day had gone from bad to worse and now she was teetering on the edge, her nails digging into her palms to keep her grounded. Not only had she not slept with Draco at night in a week, she had hardly seen him any other time. He’d been working on mapping out Gringotts with a captured goblin in the ROR for nearly two days. Before that, he finished the last parts of the vanishing cabinet and put a sealing charm on it for when the time came.

She was happy that he was finished with the blasted thing, but she couldn’t believe how irritable not being with him on a daily basis was. Her skin was practically crawling, today being especially bad. She’d tipped her pumpkin juice in her lap at breakfast, been the object of a rather vicious rumor about her being in the family way, and had been tripped in potions class. She’d ended up spilling her perfect potion all over the floor before she could turn it in and got a troll for her assignment. The day wasn’t even half over yet.

Now she was stomping off to her next class, transfiguration. She’d be extra early since she skipped lunch, preferring to avoid all conflict. There was no telling how many people she’d send to the hospital wing if she got started hexing them. Harry and Ron hadn’t been helpful at all, snickering while she tried to wipe the gooey potion mess off her robes.

Suddenly, she was yanked inside one of the abandon classrooms and pressed against the door. She tensed, ready to throw her captor through the wall when she felt the calming influence of Draco’s magic. It didn’t make her want to hex him any less though.

“Did you miss me?” Draco purred in her ear.

She refused the seductive tone of his voice to get to her. “No,” she snapped and crossed her arms to put some distance in between them.

“You are lying,” he said softly and tapped her temple, letting her know he could hear her thoughts loud and clear.

“Stay out of my head,” Hermione huffed, now on the verge of tears. She just wanted the day to be over with already.

Draco felt her distress and pulled her into his chest. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much love. I’ve missed you terribly.”

“Doesn’t seem that way.” Her teary words were muffled in his cloak.

“I didn’t want you to hear me pining for you. I figured it would drive you barmy.”

“I went barmy without it.”

“I didn’t hear you missing me,” Draco pouted.

“I didn’t want you to hear me.”

“Well then, let’s make up for lost time,” he purred and started kissing his way down her neck.

“I have class.” She gasped as he licked the shell of her ear.

“Skip it,” Draco said lightly as he bit down on her ear lobe.

“Mmm. They’ll notice me gone.”

“Surely the princess of the golden trio can have a sick day,” he hummed and bit down sharply on her collar bone, soothing the ache with his tongue.

“Maybe just one.” Hermione moaned as Draco unbuttoned the first few buttons of her blouse and ran his fangs over her shoulder.

“There’s my lioness,” he cooed and suckled on the skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

“ROR?” Hermione groaned as his hands came up to caresses her breasts.

“Right here,” Draco growled, backing her further into the room and setting her on a desk.

“We’ll get caught,” she protested, trying to come back to her senses but his ministrations were intoxicating.

“You wound me,” Draco said, pulling back and placing his hands over his heart. “I warded it tight the second the door closed.” He pounced on her then, yanking her blouse and skirt off. It had been too long.

Hermione was equally eager. She got frustrated trying to open his shirt and ripped it off, buttons flying everywhere. He gave an amused huff as he set to work on her bra. In that time, she’d snatched his trousers open and jerked them and his pants to the floor. She kissed and licked her way down his chest and stroked his dripping member, eager to feel his skin under her fingers.

Draco couldn’t take it anymore. He ripped her knickers off and embedded himself deep inside her in one thrust. It felt like coming home. The overwhelming pleasure combined with the immediate calming sensation was almost enough to make him come. He held still, savoring the closeness. He’d missed her so much but now that his mapping was done, he could make up for lost time. He thrust slowly, struggling to stay under control.

Hermione didn’t want the controlled Draco. She wanted the wild, uninhibited man she married to pound her into the floor. She wrapped her legs around him and dug her fingers into his arse, urging him to go faster. He denied her, going so slowly she wanted to scream in frustration. “Fuck me harder or I’m going to bite you!”

Draco groaned at her husky tone. Unable to resist temptation, he plowed into her like a mad man. The desk scooted across the floor with each violent thrust and he followed it, not even thinking about putting a sticking charm on it. It hit the wall with a thud and the sudden stop let him sink even deeper, causing Hermione to scream in pain and pleasure. Much too soon, he felt her walls fluttering around him. He reached around and flicked her clit, causing her stiffen and keen. He followed her with a groan, euphoria flooding his body. He collapsed, unable to keep his weight off of her.

Hermione was in heaven. The weight of Draco’s body was welcomed. She’d missed the feel of his skin against hers. She was floating in a sea of calm but she couldn’t help but want more. It had been much too long and she was craving him. She scraped her fang across the sensitive flesh along his shoulder.

Draco growled, feeling himself harden again and pulled out of her. She clutched at him, begging him not to leave. He smirked and pulled her off the desk. If she wanted round two, he’d give it to her. He picked her up and walked over to dusty professor’s desk at the head of the room. He cleaned it and raised it to the perfect height with a lazy flick of his fingers. Then he sat her down and bent her over it, conjuring ropes to tie her arms and legs to the four corners of the desk.

He slid his finger down her spine, delighting in the goose bumps that sprung up on her overheated flesh. His finger went lower, tracing the cleft of her bum and down to her blazing hot center. Their combined juices were starting to run down her thighs. “Is this what you wanted?” His voice was hoarse with lust.

“Oh yes,” Hermione breathed, trying to wiggle her way closer to him.

“You’ve been rather naughty though,” he mused. “Keeping your thoughts from me, refusing to admit that you missed me, trying to bite me.”

“I did not try to bite you,” Hermione protested which earned her a sharp smack on the bum. She squealed from the sting but the jolt quickly made its way to her center. She bit back a moan.

“Liked that, did you?” He asked smugly and slapped her bum again. She wiggled and let out a small moan. He rained down blows until her arse was a lurid shade of pink and then lovingly caressed the heated skin. He thought it was beautiful and judging by the juice that was liberally flowing down her legs, she enjoyed it too. “Mmmm. So pretty,” he whispered and blew across the abused flesh.

Hermione moaned. The spanking had hurt but each one had gone straight to her core. She was practically aching for him to fill her. She couldn’t take it anymore. “Please?”

“Please what?”

“Please fuck me?”

Her breathy voice when straight to his groin and he plunged in, taking her hard and fast. Nothing but the sounds of skin slapping skin and harsh breaths filled the room. His lungs were aching with exertion but he ignored it. The feeling of her tight sleeve swallowing his cock over and over again was too exquisite to slow down.

Hermione was lost to the feeling of his body possessing hers. Her wrists and ankles were going numb. The desk bit into her hips with each thrust and her arse stung with every slap of his pelvis but it only heightened the pleasure. He’d never been this rough with her before and she loved it. She arched her back, feeling her orgasm building. Just as she hit the edge, he reached under her and pinched her clit. The small tweak caused her to go over.

Draco was unable to hold back. He thrust once, twice and came with a roar. Light flooded the room and they felt the tranquil pulses sink through as it died. It was what they’d been missing all week, ultimate balance. Going without it even a week was almost too much to bear.

“How are we going to do this?” Hermione whispered into the darkness. She was starting to ache from the constraints.

Draco grunted and pushed himself off of her, groaning as he slipped from her hot channel. “We’re just going to have to figure out how to meet more than once a week.” He untied her, picked her up, sat down on the desk, and cradled her in his arms. “I can’t go that long again without you.”

She sighed. “Did you at least get what you needed?”

“I did. We’ll need to have everyone here tonight to make plans. For now, I say we take a nap,” Draco sighed and lay back on the desk with her.

“It’s a bit cold in here for a nap.”

“ROR then. Either way, I’m not letting you go.”

Hermione giggled. “Up then. Let’s go to bed.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself love.” Draco hopped off the desk to whisk his wife off to bed.

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“So you got it?” Melody asked as they walked into the DADA classroom.

Draco smiled. “Yes ma’am. It’s all mapped out and the goblin is none the wiser. He came down with dragon pox.”

“Can goblins get dragon pox?” Harry asked.

“They can actually,” Alex cut in. “It’s very rare and they heal much faster. A few days wouldn’t be unheard of.”

“There we go then,” Melody said, pointing to Alex. “Now, where is that damned weasel?”

“Making googly eyes at a certain Ravenclaw,” Ginny guffawed. “I swear, ever since he saw her in that angel costume, he hasn’t been able to remove his tongue from the floor.”

“I knew they’d make a good pair,” Harmony sighed. “Should we send a search party for him?”

“No need. He’s coming up the hall now,” Melody chirped and then her face fell. “He’s being followed.”

“By?” Severus asked, a bit concerned.

“A merry band of Slytherins, who else?” Melody sighed. “I wonder what they want.”

“They’ll get a bite in the ass if they try anything,” Celeste growled. She’d been a bit jumpy since they’d come back and no one knew why.

“As much as I’d love to see that, I’m not sure it’s such a grand idea,” Severus drawled and then removed her from his lap. He stalked over to the door and waited for a signal from Melody. When she gave it, he opened the door with force. “Weasley! You’re late! Do you not think I have better things to do with my time than to wait for you?”

“No sir,” Ron squeaked.

“Get in here!” Snape spat and then stepped out of the way to let Ron pass. “What are you four doing out here?”

“Just passing through Professor,” Zabini drawled.

Snape gave a curt nod and then slammed the door, locking and silencing it with a flick of his wand. He stalked back across the room and sat down behind his desk. “Let’s make this quick.”

“Right,” Draco said, pulling out his hand drawn map. “This is going to be about as easy as taking an egg from a dragon.” He smirked at Potter. Harry rolled his eyes and looked at the map. “We’ll need to get down to the underground vaults. Bellatrix’s vault is on the very bottom level. The first step is through the goblins. We’ll also need one to go with us. The LeStrange vault can only be opened by one of them. It’s a security measure of the most protected vaults.”

“Like the one the Sorcerer’s stone was in,” Harry added. “The goblin opened it when Hagrid took me down there my first year.”

“Right Potter. Therefore, someone is going to have to imperious the goblin that goes with us if he sees through the ruse. However, we’ve got to fool them into thinking Hermione is the real Bellatrix.”

“Why Hermione?” Ron growled.

“Can you speak like a woman then Weasley?” Draco asked smartly.

“Well...no.”

“Exactly. A slight voice charm and Hermione can sound just like her.” Draco continued. He hated that part but he saw no way around it. “So, she’ll play Bellatrix. Potter, you’ll need to be under that cloak. I think it’ll be the only one they can’t detect.”

“He’s right,” Melody said softly. “It’s got something embedded in it. It can’t be summoned which is what they’ll try if they get suspicious.”

“She’s right,” Draco said, pointing to a spot on the map. “Each of the counters has a summoning charm in them built to target invisibility cloaks and other cloaking devices.”

“So your watch stays here?” Melody asked, giving his neck a pointed look.

“It does,” Draco said, nodding to let her know he understood. “They do not have a charm to ward against Unforgivables though so if we can’t get them to agree, we’ll make them.”

“So what about you and Ron then?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, I’m going as Lucius.” Draco paused. “And since Weasley actually managed to turn into a weasel yesterday, he’s going in your pocket. Red will just have to squeeze in with you.”

“They don’t have wards against animagi?” Harry asked curiously.

“They do but not until after you get to the vaults. Getting in is the easy part Potter, getting out is going to be hard.”

“What are we looking at when we get inside then?” Ron asked.

“Dragons, mazes, a waterfall of truth that will wash away all potions and enchantments, curses, and most recently, aurors. Not just any aurors though, dirty ones. They’re all in the service of the Dark Lord.”

“Sounds like a piece of cake,” Ron sighed. “When do we go on this little adventure?”

“Demitri confirmed that Bellatrix and Lucius were finally released last night,” Melody supplied. “They were about a hair’s breadth away from death but it wouldn’t be unheard of if they were to appear at the bank this weekend.”

“So two days,” Hermione said, her eyes shifting back and forth. “Will he be holding Lucius as well?”

“He will,” Melody nodded. “They won’t put up much of a fight.”

“Two days.” Ron nodded. “We can do this. Give me the map.”

The rest of the night was spent going over strategy and tactics to get in and out of Gringotts with the cup, preferably alive.

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“Stop sniveling Weasley and turn into the damned weasel,” Draco snapped.

“Why do I have to be the one to transform?” Ron protested.

“Because you are the only one small enough to fit under the fucking cloak with Potter.”

“You’re a bleeding hummingbird. What’s smaller than that?”

“So you’ll be playing Lucius then?” Draco asked incredulously.

“No,” Ron snapped.

“Then turn into a bloody weasel or I’ll tie you to a fucking tree and leave your arse in the forest until we’re finished,” Draco hissed.

“Stop it!” Hermione shrieked. “Ron, we don’t have time for this. We’ve already had to switch the plan because Ginny can't come. You’re the least detectable!”

“Whatever,” Ron growled and turned into a little red weasel. He scampered up Harry’s leg and curled into an inner pocket of his cloak. Harry swung the cloak over him and they disappeared into the night.

“Bottoms up love,” Draco said softly as he handed her a bottle of polyjuice potion and took one for himself. They added the hairs and drank down. He choked. “Ack. He tastes like vomit and tar.”

Hermione was too busy coughing to reply. Bellatrix had tasted like rotten meat. She watched her skin bubble and her legs elongate. Draco was doing the same thing and in minutes, the spitting image of Lucius was in front of her. She was hard pressed to keep her heart rate normal.

“Well then Bella,” Draco drawled in a dead on Lucius voice. “Let’s be off.”

Hermione flicked her wand at her throat and took a deep breath. “Yes Lucius. Time to play.” She cackled and shuddered at the deranged quality of her voice.

Draco couldn’t help but visibly shudder. “That’s just fucking creepy.”

“Agreed. We’ve only got an hour,” Hermione said and held the silver wrist watch out. She felt Harry’s hand beside hers and nodded. Draco grabbed on and the port key whisked them away. They landed in a little known corner of Knockturn Alley.

“Alright, Bella,” Draco drawled in a bored tone. “But be quick about it. I have better things to do than to flit around all day with you.”

Hermione snorted. “Sure. Let’s go then.”

They held their heads high and strutted to the bank. It was quite dangerous to try their plan out at twilight but it was the earliest Demitri could detain Lucius and Bellatrix. He’d sent word only a quarter of an hour ago and included a boon of two wands, courtesy of his two detainees. Luckily, they were ready and bolted out the castle doors. Now all they had to do was convince the goblins.

Hermione strutted up to the nearest open goblin and cleared her throat imperiously. “I need to visit my vault.”

“And your name?” The goblin sighed.

“Bellatrix LeStrange, of course,” she sniffed.

“We’ll need your wand for identification.” The goblin held out his hand. He looked bored out of his mind and yet there was a calculating gleam in his eyes. She was about to grab her wand when Draco stopped her with a mere thought transfer.

‘That’s not policy. Throw a fit.’

“You don’t need my wand,” Hermione growled. “You know very well who I am!”

“It’s a new procedure,” The goblin said tersely.

Hermione paused for a moment while Draco relayed that the goblin was bluffing.

“This is ridiculous!” Hermione huffed and let her voice rise. “Do you have any idea who you are insulting?”

‘He’s going to alert the others. Signal Potter now. We need that imperius,’ Draco thought frantically.

Hermione promptly dropped the little black bag she was carrying and screeched, demanding that Lucius pick it up immediately. Draco turned and gave a lazy flick of his wand to return her bag to her. However, it gave Harry enough of a distraction to curse the goblin. It was now waiting compliantly to fulfill their wishes.

“Now!” Hermione sneered. “Take me to my vault!”

“Right this way Mrs. LeStrange.” The goblin bowed and walked around the table. He led them to the doors to the underground vaults and bade them to get in a cart. Harry made the goblin pause a few beats so he could get through and into the cart. Then they all settled in for the ride. Harry threw the cloak off and stuffed it in his pocket while Ron transformed back.

“Well that didn’t quite go as planned,” Hermione sighed.

“They must have received word of the condition Bellatrix and Lucius were in,” Draco said thoughtfully. “They’ll be even more suspicious now.”

“Well, let’s get the cup first before we go making mountains out of mole hills,” Hermione griped.

“What?” Draco asked in confusion.

Hermione giggled. “It’s another muggle expression. It means let’s not make a big deal out of a minor issue.”

“Then why can’t they just say that,” Draco sniffed which caused Hermione to giggle again. She was brought up short by the sounds of running water.

“Shite,” Draco growled. “It’s the falls. Until he’s dry, we can’t curse him again.”

“Tie him up and then use a drying spell on him,” Ron piped in.

“Do it Weasley. We’re going in,” Draco said, holding his breath as a torrent of water flooded them. When it was over, a very angry goblin stared them down.

“What is the meaning of this?” The goblin cried.

“Sorry mate. Incarcerous!” Ron cried and nodded in satisfaction when ropes shot out of his wand and tied up the goblin. Then he muttered a drying charm as the goblin started screeching to alert someone.

“Hurry Harry,” Hermione cried and clutched onto Draco as a pearlescent dragon came snapping out of a nearby cave. Harry immediately put the goblin back under the curse. Ron lifted the incarcerous and they stood tensed as the goblin jumped out of the cart and grabbed what looked like a large rattle. He shook it and the dragon moaned and backed off.

“What on earth?” Hermione breathed.

“The dragons are trained by shaking the sound stick and then inflicting pain,” Draco explained as they walked closely behind the goblin. “Eventually, they associate the sound with pain and back off.”

“That’s barbaric!” Hermione cried.

“I didn’t say it was preferred treatment, love.” Draco looked left and right for any signs of something off.

Soon, they were at the entrance of the LeStrange vault. The goblin waved his finger down the door and a series of clicks sounded. The door swung open to reveal a mountain of galleons, gold trinkets, paintings, old furniture, enchanted mirrors, and family heirlooms. Items were stacked almost all the way to the ceiling and all the way to the back.

“Remember not to touch anything we don’t need. It’s got a replicating charm on it to stop thievery should one get this far. It also becomes unbearably hot,” Draco reminded them.

“How in the bloody hell are we going to find it in all this junk?” Ron grimaced and looked around.

“Well, I say we stand in one spot and do a once over. Remember, it’s a large chalice made of solid gold. It might not be a bad idea to cast a revealing spell for humans,” Harry stated, looking up and down.

Hermione took out her wand. “Homonium Revelio!” She watched as her wand spun in a circle before pointing to the far corner of the vault. “It’s that way.”

“We can’t get back there without touching anything.” Harry frowned.

“You two can’t, but we can,” Draco said and motioned for Hermione to turn into a bird. He transformed beside her and they flew over to that corner of the vault. There, in the very back corner, was a large chalice with the Hufflepuff crest on it. It was much larger than they thought it would be. Draco grabbed on to one handle with his feet and Hermione did the same on the opposite side. They tried with all their might but couldn’t lift it. It had to have some sort of charm on it. They flew back down to deliver the bad news.

“Well, it’s there but we can’t get it to budge,” Hermione panted. “It’s got some sort of enchantment on it.”

“Well, we need to do something,” Ron grimaced.

“I’ll get it,” Harry said and took a deep breath.

“Because you’re so much smarter than us Potter?” Draco growled.

“No, because Voldemort and I have a connection. I think I can pick it up,” Harry explained and then set off at a dead run toward the back of the vault. As soon as his feet hit the first couple of coins, they started replicating rapidly.

“Run Potter!” Draco screamed, urging the raven haired boy up the mound of stuff to collect the chalice. Trinkets had started closing in on them at a rapid rate. Suddenly, the door closed behind them. “You lost the imperious Potter!” Draco yelled frantically and grabbed onto Hermione. They might have to blast their way out and they weren’t looking forward to that.

“We’ll deal with that when I get the cup!” Harry called just as he reached the top of the mound. He tugged on the chalice and to his surprise, it came to him easily. He ran back down the mound and looked at the door, lost as to how they were going to get out.

“Now what?” Ron asked, grimacing at the pain of being burnt by a rather large armoire.

“We get out,” Draco said gravely and handed Hermione a necklace. They had known that there was a chance their cover could get blown so they’d begged Melody to give them a few glamour charmed necklaces. These two changed the entire appearance to look like muggle clowns. They’d frowned at the idea but at least they wouldn’t be recognized.

They placed the charms around their neck and rolled their eyes as Harry and Ron snickered. “Shut it you two,” Hermione growled. “Ron, transform and get with Harry under the cloak.”

Knowing not to push the couple, the boys did as they were told. Just as Hermione and Draco were about to blow the vault up, the doors slid open revealing half a dozen aurors and ten very angry goblins. “Shite,” Draco breathed and started hexing.

Hermione held the shield and ran forward, knocking several of them off the tracks and down to the pits below. Harry tapped her on the shoulder and they started edging their way into one of the mazes. This one was spiral and designed to keep leading them upwards to a dead end at the ceiling. It had lots of little alcoves to hide in. Blasting the few remaining aurors off their feet, Hermione pulled everyone into one small little circular space within the center of the maze. “Now what?” She panted. Her heart was racing.

“Now,” Draco gasped, trying to calm down, “we go for plan B. Potter, keep that cloak on and hold on tight.”

Hermione nodded in understanding. She and Draco had spent hours the previous night going over several aspects of their escape. The one thing that bothered them both was the lack of a second plan for escaping. It seemed the only out was back through the main lobby of the bank. However, they needed a plan to make their own exit. It was decided that she’d pretend to transfigure Draco into his dragon form and have him fly them out. He could burn walls down or straight fly through glass. It was a risk, but now it seemed necessary.

Hermione gave a meaningless flick of her wand and Draco transformed at the same time. “I’m going to transform into a bird and get under the cloak with you Harry. I want you to hop on Draco’s back.”

“Do it.” Harry’s disembodied head popped out from under the cloak to acknowledge her plan. Hermione transformed and Harry held the cloak out for her. She embedded herself in his other pocket and braced herself for the jump onto Draco’s back.

Draco shifted to balance Potter’s weight and took off just as a few goblins rounded the corner with sound sticks. They screamed and rattled their tools, giving warning to the others that one of the dragons had been set loose. Draco smirked inwardly and blew fire at them, singeing their clothes before launching into the air. He headed straight up, noticing that there was some light above. With any luck, it would just be a bit of glass that wasn’t magically reinforced.

He howled as a stinging jinx hit his tail and twitched it in an aggravated fashion. His scales protected him from the blunt of the blast but it had smarted. Luckily, he was at the ceiling now. He blew as hard as he could and his heart skipped a beat with joy when the panes melted out. The goblins hadn’t thought to put impervious charms on something this high up. He smashed through the iron framework and flew off into the night. They needed to get back to Hogwarts quickly and destroy the cup before anyone was the wiser. He landed on a nearby riverbank and waited patiently for his cargo to get off.

Hermione flew out from under Harry’s cloak and turned back into herself, ripping the charmed necklace off. She flicked her wand and Draco transformed back into himself. Then she turned to make sure Harry and Ron were alright. Harry had whipped the cloak off and shown that he did still have the chalice in his hands.

“That was bloody brilliant!” Ron cried. “When did you learn how to transfigure people into dragons?”

“I’ve been working on it for a while,” Hermione said weakly.

“You’ve got to teach me,” Ron said eagerly.

“Maybe some other time Ron. We’ve got to be going back,” she said tersely.

“She’s right Ron,” Harry said gravely. “We still need to destroy this thing.”

“Right then,” Draco said, taking off his necklace. He held the silver watch in his hands. “Everyone grab on.”

Within seconds, they were back in the forbidden forest. “Everyone meet up in Dumbledore’s office,” Harry hissed and draped the cloak over himself and Ron.

When they heard them tromp out of sight, Draco twirled Hermione around and kissed her passionately. “I don’t think I ever want to do that again.”

Hermione sighed. “Well, we won’t be doing that again… exactly anyway. Come on, let’s get up there and destroy that thing.”

“Then I’m taking you to bed and you aren’t coming out until Monday,” Draco growled.

Hermione smirked. “You have to catch me first.” She jumped into the air and turned into a hummingbird. She soared through the air as fast as she could, knowing that the headmaster had left his window open. Draco smirked and followed her.

“Gotcha!” He cried as he tumbled through the window. He had caught her just as she transformed back.

“So you have,” she said happily and gave him a little peck on the lips.

“Spare me,” Ron grimaced. He might have kept a tight lip but he didn’t want to be privy to their little antics.

“Oh save it Ron. We all watched you suck the face off of Lavender the first half of the school year,” Ginny growled. She was in a foul mood. Trakens, a fifth year Slytherin that worshiped the ground Pansy Parkinson walked on, had charmed Ginny’s paper to test positive for cheating. She was originally going to go with them but had been held back due to an entire week’s worth of academic inquiries. Trakens was now expelled but Ginny had missed all the fun.

“I take it the trial didn’t go well?” Draco asked softly.

“Oh, I came out just fine...about fifteen minutes ago. I swear, I think I’d prefer Fudge to Scrimgour at this point.”

“Well, at least it’s all worked out,” Hermione offered.

“Yeah but I missed all the fun.”

“Trust me Red, it was absolutely no fun.” Draco sighed and stretched out his shoulder muscles. Crashing through that frame had beaten him up a bit.

“Well, tell me all about it,” Ginny urged.

“Yes, do tell,” Snape drawled as he walked in, followed by Celeste and Melody. Dumbledore came in through another door in the back.

Melody walked over to the desk where Harry had set the horcrux and immediately turned grey. “That’s it. If you don’t mind, I’ll hear the tale from Sev later.”

Celeste sighed exasperatedly but her eyes held nothing but concern. “Come on sweetie. I’ll get you home.”

“Thanks,” Melody said feebly. “Sorry.”

“Nonsense,” Severus snapped. “Feel better soon.”

Melody gave a weak smile and a nod to everyone before Celeste walked her down the spiral stairs.

“Well, that answers that question,” Dumbledore said cheerfully. “Harry, why don’t you tell us what happened and then we will take this item down to the ROR to be destroyed.”

Harry told them everything that happened in great detail. To Draco’s surprise, he gave him most of the credit. Of course, he spun the story to say that Hermione had transfigured him into a dragon for Ron’s benefit but everyone else knew what he meant.

When he was done, Snape shook his head. “No doubt the Dark Lord will get word of it.”

“Well, at least we got it,” Harry said grumpily.

“Well done, my boy!” Dumbledore said happily. “Now, let’s get this one destroyed. You might need this.” He took out the Sword of Gryffindor and handed it Harry who took it with a nod.

They made their way to the room quickly. Harry walked past the room three times, trying to think of a place that had absolutely nothing in it so he’d have room to destroy the horcrux. When the doors opened, a vast empty room stood before him.

“Well done!” Dumbledore said joyfully. “Now, take the cup and the sword and walk to the middle of the room to destroy it. Remember, do not listen to a word it says. It’s all lies.”

Harry nodded and entered, the door slamming closed behind him. Ginny immediately ran after him but it was too late. The door closed up leaving only a wall. “No.”

Snape grabbed her left hand and led her over to the wall. “Keep watch on the knot,” he whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened and she slid down the watch she’d been wearing. Melody had gifted her and Harry with a set similar to Hermione and Draco’s except their mirrors were links to each other. After all, they didn’t have the connection Hermione and Draco did.

Ron sat down on the far end to keep a look out and grumble about how Harry had all the fun. Draco snorted, thinking Weasley wouldn’t be so confident if he knew what evil waited for Potter to destroy it. He settled for taking a spot on the wall next to Red and sliding his hand around Hermione’s shoulders. Snape and Dumbledore stood watch, pacing back and forth, waiting for Harry to emerge.

About half an hour later, Harry appeared. His face was blackened and his clothes were singed but he was wearing a large smile and carrying a mangled cup. He held it up in triumph and then threw it at Dumbledore. “Merlin’s beard that was bloody awful. I’m glad there is only one more of those.”

“Yes, well it has been quite the long day for all of you. I suggest you return to your dormitories and get some rest,” Dumbledore said pleasantly. “Oh, and Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, could you stay behind for a little while?”

“Of course Headmaster,” they answered in unison. Hermione waved goodbye to her friends and watched them walk out of sight.

Dumbledore hit the cup with his wand and banished it to the cabinet where he had the other horcruxes hidden. Then he summoned the ROR door and led them inside. It was a nice sitting room complete with a cozy sofa and two comfortable looking arm chairs. A tea service had been laid out for them, complete with finger sandwiches and biscuits.

Once tea had been served, Dumbledore cut straight to the chase. “Your heroics tonight were remarkable.”

Draco snorted. “More like survival instincts. My dragon form is the only one large enough to break through the walls.”

“Nevertheless, it was still brave of you my boy.”

Draco shrugged. “I did what was needed. Surely you didn’t ask us here to praise us.”

“I am afraid not. I wanted to let you know that I believe I have located the last material horcrux.”

“Where?” Hermione breathed.

“In a cave far from here. Tom Riddle first used it as a boy. I’m almost certain it is there.”

“When will you go Albus?” Severus asked warily.

“I believe that I will go close to the end of the school year. That will give the Malfoys the most time together. You may tell Tom of my plans for a trip during that time. He’ll probably send orders for Draco to start the raid then.” Dumbledore looked so sad in that moment.

“Well, we’ll need to step up the training then,” Severus said, a scowl on his face. “Thank you for telling us Albus.”

“It was nothing,” Dumbledore dismissed. “I’m glad to see that everything is working out so well. However, I am curious. Do you have a plan for killing Nagini?”

“I believe we do,” Draco said softly. “It will need to be after Voldemort kills Potter but before he comes back.”

“That’s a very short window,” Dumbledore said, his brows furrowed in thought.

“We know but if we kill the snake before, the Dark Lord will kill whoever decides to take on the task and we can’t risk another life that way,” Draco reasoned. “If we wait to kill her until after Harry comes back, then we run the risk of him taking off with her and living to fight another day.”

“Who’s to say that he won’t anyway?” Dumbledore questioned.

Hermione smiled lazily. “If your pet, your last horcrux and hope to live forever died right before the boy you killed came to life, wouldn’t you be mad enough to stick around and fight?”

“You really are the brightest witch of your age Mrs. Malfoy,” Dumbledore said with a bright smile.

Hermione blushed and leaned her head on Draco. She stifled a yawn and her eyelids slipped to half-mast.

“I’ll take that as our sign to leave,” Dumbledore said softly. “Sleep well.”

Severus stood and held himself rigidly but his soft tone betrayed him. “Well done children. Good night.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Again!” Melody snapped and threw a stunner at the couple.

Hermione held the first shield and Draco held the second one, the curse bouncing off of it at a rapid rate before it dissipated.

“Still too far apart,” Melody grimaced.

“We’ve been at this for hours,” Draco moaned and plopped down in a chair. He was completely knackered. They’d gotten up before dawn to start this little training excursion and it was now almost midnight. They’d only stopped to eat and use the loo. His head was pounding and he knew Hermione was in the same boat.

“We’ve only got three weeks!” Melody shouted.

“And we’re still not improving,” Hermione said sadly. “I just don’t think it’s possible.”

“It’s possible. I just know it.” Melody sighed and sat down on one of the desks.

“I don’t see how though,” Hermione said, her eyes flitting back and forth. “We both need to shield at the same time to rebound the killing curse. How are two separate shields going to keep it out and that’s before the bouncing back and forth between them.”

“Maybe we’re going at this all wrong,” Melody murmured and rubbed her eyes. “Draco, cast the killing curse at a worm and let me take a good look at it. I’ll see if I can’t break it down even further.”

Draco got up unsteadily and aimed his wand at the worm that Melody had levitated across the room. He once again summoned his hate, his anger, and his frustration. “Avada Kedavra!” He shouted and watched in morbid fascination as the curse hit the little flobberworm. It immediately fell flat, lifeless just like all the other ones before it.

“I wonder,” Melody said softly.

“Wonder what?” Hermione asked tiredly.

“I wonder if it’s different because of the polarity. Why didn’t I think of this before?” Melody exclaimed, walking quickly across the room and grabbing Merlin’s old journal. “My stunners seem to vibrate violently before they dissipate. Let’s try and flip the shields. Draco, you take the shield closest to the object.”

They all took their places and Melody threw the stunner again. This time, it sparked violently and then fizzed out rather than vibrating. Melody nodded her head and left without a word. Stunned, Draco sat down behind Snape’s desk. Hermione plopped down in his lap.

“What do you think all that was about?” He asked.

“I don’t know but it certainly changed the reaction didn’t it?”

“It was strange. I mean, before it just bounced back and forth but that time it sparked like it blew up or something,” Draco said, running his hand through his hair. “Wouldn’t it have exploded in reverse the first time?”

“It should have. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Unless it picked up the energy from the first shield,” Melody said as she burst through the door again. “You’re right Hermione. When my spell bounced against your shield first, it picked up energy and took a few turns for it to fizzle out. The opposite way, Draco’s shield balanced it and it exploded. So, what we need to do is reverse it.”

“What?” Draco asked, confused as to what she was getting at.

“I’ll cast the spell,” Severus drawled as he marched through the door. “Ready? Hermione cast first. STUPIFY!” He yelled and they watched in awe as the red jet of light burst into a million tiny pieces on impact.

“Wow,” Hermione breathed.

“Indeed,” Severus agreed.

“So now all we have to do is figure out how to get the shield close enough to the object to make it look like it hit without actually risking it,” Melody said, biting her lip in contemplation. “We’ll need a niffler.”

“Why?” Hermione asked.

“To measure how close we can get,” Melody said. “Even a residual spark can hurt a living being.”

“There is still one thing we have to figure out,” Hermione growled.

“What?” Melody asked.

“We need a dual shield to stop the curse.”

“Maybe,” Melody said. “But I’ve been thinking. You two are just as powerful separately as two of us. What if you didn’t need a double shield?”

“What do you mean?” Hermione breathed.

“If Severus is the one to cast the killing curse and you cast the shielding spell, the polarity of the spells should spark and shatter. Then Draco’s shield can take over and absorb it. I imagine that you’d both need to shield if it was cast by a balanced individual simply because there is no reaction. Remember, spells always try to find balance.”

“So if Dumbledore were to cast the curse…” Draco led.

“Then you’d both need to shield because it wouldn’t react,” Melody answered. “Therefore, we have an advantage if Severus casts it.”

“Why is it still effective then?” Hermione asked curiously.

“You can still stupefy things can’t you?” Melody asked and Hermione nodded. “Well, the spell still works the same. It’s when you add magic from the other polarity that you have problems. I imagine that is why the fates gave us each a partner, for balance. They like balance, makes their lives easier.”

“And ours harder,” Draco growled.

“Life is never fair,” Melody said grimly. “But we take advantage of what we have. Therefore, let’s try it with the killing curse. I say we use a half wall, just in case.”

Hermione and Draco carefully erected a sturdy wall that went to Hermione’s armpits. It would be easy to duck behind should the curse rebound but they could still cast over it. Then Melody took out a flobber worm and put it on the desk across the way, clearing out all the other dead worms. Then she walked behind the wall with the rest of them and counted off.

Snape threw the curse as hard as he could. Hermione blocked first with the most powerful shield she could form. Draco threw his shield, trying to get as close to hers as possible while still trapping the killing curse. The curse sparked a brilliant green and looked like it enveloped the worm. Then it disappeared into a cloud of shimmers.

“You did it!” Melody squealed and ran over to the worm as soon as their shields dropped. She cast a quick charm to make sure everything was safe before she ran diagnostics on the flobberworm. “It’s in perfect shape. We’re ready.”

“I’m not.” Hermione said weakly.

“About that,” Melody sighed and walked back across the rooms. “I’ve created a charm to integrate into your watches. It works like a tracking charm. Should one of you be unconscious, you can still find the other. When Severus becomes Headmaster, as he is set to do when Albus ‘dies’, he will grant Draco rights to apparate within the school walls, much like Severus has right now. Use the watches, find each other at night, and then come back in the morning. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can do.”

“And Potter and Weasley? They’ll be hard pressed to kill me,” Draco sighed.

“I thought you two were masters at going undetected?” Melody asked with an amused smirk.

Draco huffed a laugh. “When do we tell Potter?”

“When you destroy the next horcrux,” Snape drawled. “That will leave Nagini and Potter and you’ll need to come up with a plan then. However, the Dark Lord must not know before then so Potter will need to be kept unawares.”

“What if they blame Hermione?” Draco asked worriedly.

“She can hardly be responsible for your choices, can she?” Severus shrugged.

“But she would have known about them,” Draco sighed.

“Only Potter and Ginny know that and she will be quite easy to convince that it was a ruse. However, if it were to come up, Hermione can simply tell them that she was trying to convince you to trust us. Then their indamnable sense of fairness will take over and maybe a sliver of guilt will creep in because they didn’t make you more welcome.” Severus scowled.

“You think that will work?” Hermione squeaked.

Severus nodded. “Yes child. I’m almost certain of it. I suggest you two use the time before then to get as close to each other as you can. In two weeks’ time, we will retest your ability to be separated. Hopefully, you can last the distance from Scotland to London and then we will not have to worry about your separation.”

“It will break down,” Hermione said softly. “A week without each other even in the same castle was almost unbearable.”

“It will,” Melody said sadly. “But if you reaffirm every day, you should be able to survive. It isn’t pretty, but war never is.”

“So what will we do for information?” Hermione asked.

“I’m working on that with Remus. He knows that some major changes are coming up and has agreed to at least hear us out despite what he will undoubtedly believe,” Melody explained. “We’ll relay all our information back and forth through Draco and Severus and spin it to Remus so he can organize rescue missions and avoid having it look like Moldy Shorts has a leak.”

“Do we have everything covered then?” Draco asked tiredly. He wanted nothing more than to go to bed.

“I believe so,” Melody said with a tired smile. “Go rest. You two deserve it. We’ll pick back up with the niffler in the morning so we can get this down pat. It seems like the days are getting shorter, doesn’t it?”

“Definitely.” Draco stood and took Hermione into his arms. He would spend every waking moment he could in her arms. Merlin knew what would happen after that.

AN: Hello again everyone. My goodness. I know this one took a while. I had to slam my head in the door a few hundred times to get this chapter to come out.. We're nearing the end and I think my muse is rebelling. It doesn't want to let go! So, enjoy this installment. We're down to three horcruxes. YAY! As always, thank you everyone so much for your reviews. I reread them as I was slamming my head against the wall and they kept me going. I'm not dropping this story! Keep them coming and let me know how I'm doing and if you find any errors. Until next time... Love you guys!!!
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