Haunted

Hermione’s knees hit the hardwood with a dull thud. A vise tightened around her chest and her senses reeled. She couldn’t believe it. She wouldn’t.

They had them. Those bastards had her parents.

“Granger!”

Hermione realized Malfoy had been calling to her and her arms came around to hug herself against the chill.

“Remus, get Remus…” was all she said.

“Granger-,”

“Go, damn it! We don’t have time to waste!”

She heard his movements toward the fire, never thought about the struggle it was for him to Floo. The only thing she could think was the hell her parents were going through. They must be terrified. That was, if they weren’t dead already.

Don’t think like that…

She used the table to pull herself to her feet and she stumbled up the stairs, her limbs not wanting to work properly. Making her way to her room she grabbed her wand and held it to her chest. She knew they would never let her go, but blind or not, she couldn’t just sit around and watch others try to rescue her parents. She knew who had them, she knew why.

She would pay the consequences of her actions.

***************************************************

Draco grunted as he hit the tiled floor of the Burrow, the only place he could Floo to thanks to Lupin’s block. Honestly, if he wanted to leave he would have done so by now.

There was no one in the tiny, cramped kitchen so he yelled, trying to get someone’s attention. This place was usually swarming, there was no reason someone wouldn’t be about.

Finally, footsteps sounded someone’s arrival. It was the youngest Weasley.

“Draco! What are you- what’s wrong? Are you alright?” She could talk alarmingly fast.

“I’m fine, I need to find Remus,” he said as she knelt next to him.

“Remus? What for?”

“Just tell me where I can find him!” he snapped. She looked affronted but he didn’t have time for her bruised feelings. She grasped him under the armpits and hefted him up while he cursed the air blue. She ignored him and dragged him to the nearest chair, pushing him onto it.

“Stay here,” she panted. “I’m going to go track him down. Bill!” she screamed. A grunted reply came from above.

“Get down here!”

Well, no wonder he hadn’t gotten their attention the first time. If one had to yell that loud for anyone in this house to hear them, he would go hoarse.

Bill entered and looked between the two.

“What’s going on? Is it Hermione again?”

Ginny looked at him. “I’ll explain when you get Remus!” he said, reminding her of her quest, as it was. She started with an “oh!” and turned to the fireplace, throwing in a pinch of green power and screaming “Ministry!”

Bill rounded the table and stood before him. “Is Hermione alright?”

“At the moment. Here,” he handed Bill the letter, not wanting to have to explain it a hundred times. Bill sat, his fang earring swaying at the movement, and read the letter. His face slowly paled beneath the freckles, his hand came to his long hair.

“Merlin,” he muttered, setting down the white parchment. What had Granger said it was called?

“How could this have happened?” Bill said louder. “They were being watched, we knew they might be a potential target, not high on the list but certainly warranting a small guard. She’s got to be devastated. Is she back at Headquarters?”

Draco nodded, his knuckles tapping on the scrubbed table. It was too quiet, his thoughts were allowed to wander.

Bill cursed under his breath, rubbed his palms on faded jeans and stood. “I’m going to go make sure she’s alright. Will you be fine here until Ginny and Remus come back?”

“I think I can manage,” he stated dryly. He hated that his only means of transportation was back at headquarters but it shouldn’t be much longer before Remus arrived and the real chaos began. That being said, as soon as Bill disappeared into the flames, the older man popped out.

“Draco, what’s going on?” he asked, taking up the seat Bill had just vacated. Ginny flew out of the hearth and stood behind Remus. Draco gestured to the note and Ginny leaned over Remus’ shoulder to read. Their reactions were basically the same. Draco knew by their expressions what they were reading. Every word had been branded into his mind.

Hermione,

Your father wished to send you a greeting on his way out. Rest assured, they shall not be harmed if you comply with my wishes. Should you wish to retain your parents, you know where to find us. Do not keep us waiting.

Sincerely,

L.M

Below the short greeting was an intelligible scribble and smeared blood. It had been folded neatly and sealed inside the Muggle envelope but Draco knew that writing anywhere. His father had taken Hermione’s parents, for what reasons he didn’t know. Sure, he could use it as bait for her, but why go through all the trouble? What purpose could the Dark Lord possibly have with Hermione? The fact that he would sully his most precious man with Muggles meant he was up to something serious. Just what, they’d have to find out.

“He has her parents?” Ginny said. “Why in the world-,”

“When did she receive this?” Remus asked, interrupting Ginny’s question.

“I’m not sure,” he said. He thought back to the day he had seen her in her room with an envelope just like this one. Was this the same letter? Or a different one. “It could have been-,”

The fireplace roared with flames and Bill shot out of it, his face wild.

“She’s gone,” he gasped.

“What?” they all called out.

“She’s not at Headquarters. I searched everywhere. Her wand is gone as well.”

“Shit!” Draco yelled, pounding the table with his fist making Ginny jump and all three of them leer at him questioningly. “I never should have left her alone. I should have known…We have to get people out there, now, she can’t fight anyone blind let alone the entire Headquarters of the League of the Dark Lord.”

“Bill,” Remus said, still looking at Draco wearily. “Alert the Aurors. We’ll start a search-,”

“There’s no need,” Draco injected. “I know where she’ll be. We need to get anyone you can to the Manor immediately. We’ll go in from the front, they’ll be expecting us anyways, there’s no need for secrecy.”

“We?” Remus asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“You’ll need me to get in,” Draco told him.

“Why?” Ginny asked.

“Look, do you really want to sit around discussing this while a blind girl stumbles around Death Eater headquarters?” he asked hotly. “Because frankly, you’re wasting a lot of time asking nonsense questions. You need me to get in, trust me.”

They looked reluctant but he could tell Ginny was anxious to get to her friend. Her wand was clenched tightly in her fist and she nodded.

“Let’s do it, Remus,” Ginny said resolutely. She looked at the two older men. “You guys go alert the Aurors and anyone you can find. I’ll take Draco back to headquarters.”

“You two stay there until we come for you. Do you understand?” Remus stated.

“We’ll be there,” Ginny said. “Hurry!”

The men left without another word and Ginny contemplated the best way to get him back into the fireplace. She looked sideways at him, shrugged, and levitated him into the fireplace where she crowded in with him. She shouted for headquarters and they landed hard, falling out of the fireplace in a heap, Ginny on top of him.

“Oh!” she said as her chest collided with his. “Sorry!”

“Well, now, Weasley. If you’d wanted to get me under you all you had to do was ask.”

She slapped his chest. “You’re disgusting. Better not let Hermione hear you saying that.”

“What?” he asked, confused. “Why would Granger care?”

“Oh, come off it!” she said, sitting up and giving him a hand to pull him into a seated position. “You two need to get over yourselves and realize what is so blatantly obvious to the rest of us. Well, me anyways.”

“And what is that, Miss Observant?” he asked, pulling his chair towards him and hefting himself onto it.

“I see the way you look at her.”

Draco’s stomach dropped. He looked at her as if he’d never seen anything quite so…horrifying.

“What are you trying to say?” he asked dangerously.

“Don’t go giving me that attitude,” she said, unaffected by his angry display. “Just because you two are too daft to notice it doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t have eyes.”

“Either tell me what you’re on about or drop it.” He didn’t know what she was talking about and really wished she would stop. He needed to focus on getting Granger out of that hell hole.

“Ever wonder why she was so upset when you came back?”

“Not really.”

“Well, maybe you should.”

“Why would I care?”

“Why did I catch you watching her after you dragged her out of the lake?”

His head snapped up. Something was twisting inside of him…

“Draco, the reason she’s been acting like this was because you broke her heart when you left last time. Don’t you remember how close you got?”

Well, he wouldn’t say they got “close” but he did remember watching her day after day, lusting after her in the night. He remembered her kind words when he’d first come. He remembered the small smiles and the way she defended him when the others were slow to warm up to his presence. He remembered the tours and offers of help. He remembered how she’d tried to get him to talk to her about “why he looked so sad”. Had they sat in the library reading together in silence? Sure. Had she sat next to him during every meal when no one else would? Maybe. But he’d never really thought about it…

“Doesn’t it make sense? Why else would she have acted like this when you came back? She took it harder than anyone else when you disappeared. She wouldn’t talk to anyone about it, she wouldn’t even allow your name mentioned around her. And I think that’s partially the reason she’s been so…well, not Hermione.”

He sat in stony silence. The redhead had no idea what she was talking about. Granger hated him and the feeling was mutual.

“Do you think she’s alright?” Ginny asked in a small voice. Draco look at her, her freckled face drawn with worry.

“I don’t know, Red, but she better be.”

He didn’t know where the nickname had come from, but she didn’t say anything about it. They fell silent and Draco thought about what Ginny had said and what he felt about knowing Granger was out there having Merlin-knew-what done to her. What did they want in exchange for her parents? Potter? Would she give him up? Surely not…

The fire whooshed to life and Ginny stood, Draco tried before remembering his legs didn’t work. Remus, Bill and Arthur popped out one by one and stood before him. Arthur looked him down.

“Now, you’re certain you can get us in?” he asked.

“Of course. I only lived there for twenty years,” Draco drawled.

“Alright. But once you get us in you are to leave immediately, you understand? Do not tarry.”

Draco nodded. He knew they didn’t trust him yet.

“Well,” he said. “Anyone got a portkey?”

They patted themselves down before Remus grabbed a shoe from the corner and pointed his wand at it. “Portus,” he muttered. The shoe shimmered blue then returned to its dirty state. They all surrounded Draco and each of them put a finger on the footwear and felt a tug around their navel. Draco hoped the chair would come with him. They all landed on the grass, Draco having to flick his wand to keep himself aloft. He looked up at the mansion before them and knew it was just a ruse. Their real house looked similar but was much larger and black, not opulent and white as the one before them.

“That’s it?” Ginny asked. “We’re here?”

“Not quite yet,” he said and glided to the fence where the guards were. He asked for a knife and Remus conjured one silently and handed it to him. Draco figured he probably knew what it was for. Draco sliced his hand and Ginny gasped but said nothing. After dripping some on the ground he mumbled the password. “Sanctimonia quod vox mos sceptrum sub unus.”

The guard shimmered and came down and he looked up at the grisly display above him. If one was scared of the Shrieking Shack, they’d shite their pants at the house before them. Stories upon stories of black marble that wreaked of evil. The grounds were grim and bare, dead trees reached their charred fingers toward the sky which had turned grey upon stepping through the gate.

“How do you think Hermione got in here?” Ginny asked softly. It was the first time he’d realized she was there and her father had not insisted on her staying behind.

“They would have been watching for her. All she had to do was Apparate here and they would have collected her,” he said knowingly. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“Draco, you should head back before they see you,” Arthur said.

“You’re not in yet, are you?” was his reply. Suddenly, a dozen Aurors cropped up behind them, all with their wands drawn.

“I’d put those away unless you want a full on war,” Draco warned. “They fire first, ask questions later.”

A wave of hands tucked their wands away, but not out of reach. Upon reaching the doorway Draco lifted his left arm and pressed down on the Dark Mark laying there. It burned and the doors opened, leading them into a large entrance hall.

“Draco…” Arthur started but pops everywhere sounded the arrival of the Death Eaters to greet their new guests.

“So nice of you to come,” the forward Death Eater drawled. “Is this who you’re looking for?”

With a snap of long, pale fingers a figure fell from thin air and crumpled to the floor. Hermione, bound and gagged coughed and curled into a ball. Draco fought the urge to go to her, his jaw clenching in restraint.

“Where are the Muggles?” Draco asked his father. He knew that mask, that voice, that aura of evil anywhere.

“Well, now, we have them just as we said we would. Now, you may take them and go quietly,” he said. Another snap and the two Muggles fell to the floor at their feet. The woman was completely hysterical, screaming for Hermione, the man, battered and bruised started for her. They were both immobilized by Lucius and the room fell silent once more. Four Aurors hurried forward to collect them and headed for the exit, protected by the others. Remus and Bill crept forward to flank Draco and Lucius lifted his mask, his lip curled.

“Well, well, Draco. Look what you’ve become. A cripple running to the aid of a Muggle,” Lucius drawled, nodding to Granger who was still trying to escape her bonds.

“She’s a witch,” he said darkly. A hand came to his shoulder and squeezed, pulling him back ever so slightly.

“Now, isn’t that cute. Is the old man as sweet in bed as he is out of it?”

The growl came from a hunched figure who crept up behind Lucius. Mask still in place, Draco couldn’t mistake the voice and the prowling walk. Greyback made a slurping noise and Draco suddenly feared for the proximity he had to Granger. However, Lucius held out an arm to stop him from coming nearer.

“You want the Mudblood, I daresay?” he said, a smile furling onto his cold lips.

“Hand her over, Malfoy,” Arthur said from behind his right ear. That’s whose hand was on his shoulder.

“I don’t think I will. See, you walked into my home without invitation. Quite rude, I should say. What do you suppose I do about it?”

“Give her over to us, Lucius,” Draco said. He could see in his cold eyes that this had all been planned and he feared for the people he had dragged into the trap.

“Now, my son, you don’t really expect me to just hand her over like that, now, do you?” he sneered, glancing down at the girl.

“What do you want, Lucius?” Remus asked from behind Draco’s right shoulder.

“You know what I want. Give me the boy and you may take the Mudblood.”

“We’ll never give you Harry!” Ginny yelled until she was muffled, presumably by her older brother.

“Who said anything about Harry?” Lucius said darkly. “Give me my son.”

Remus and Arthur stepped in front of him, the rest of the Aurors moving forward as a shield. Draco placed his hand on Remus’ shoulder who refused to look at him.

“Don’t do this,” he said quietly. “Don’t start a fight you know we can’t win over me. There are too many of them. I am a skilled Legilimens, I won’t be giving out any of your secrets.”

“That’s not the point, Draco. We are not going to be sacrificing you or anyone else.”

“She’ll die if you don’t,” he said harshly. “Do you really want that? Who do you think is more beneficial, me or Granger? Make your choice and make it fast.”

He could see the other man’s jaw harden against the impossible situation. He knew his former professor wouldn’t want him put in danger, but they both knew the Order was better off with Granger.

“No deal, Lucius,” Remus said stiffly. Draco started forward before stopping. Wait, what?

“What do you mean no deal?” he hissed.

“We need you, Draco. Go back to headquarters. Now.”

He was stunned. Had the werewolf just chosen him over Granger? What was going on?

“No,” he said. He wasn’t going to let this happen. He knew what Granger would suffer under the hands of his father and he wasn’t going to stand by and let it happen when he could do something about it. “Hand her over, Lucius and I’ll come to you willingly.”

“Draco-,”

“Meet me halfway.”

Draco shoved Lupin aside and urged his chair forward slowly, staring into his father’s cold eyes. Granger was levitated off the floor and the man Draco knew he would resemble to an uncanny degree in a few years walked forward.

“Tell me, boy,” he said quietly when he was close enough to hear. “What’s it like being a cripple?”

Granger was being utterly quiet. It was unlike her, even with a gag in her mouth. The silence terrified him. She hadn’t been gone long, what did they do to her in that amount of time?

“Get up, Granger,” he said, his eyes still on his father. “Come on. I’m the one with the broken legs, not you. Get up, get out of here.”

He watched from the corner of his eye as she struggled to a standing position with her hands still tied behind her back. He sensed movement behind him and his father’s wand trained once more on Granger.

“One move and she dies.”

“Granger, get up!” he hissed. He knew his father was at the end of his line. He wouldn’t wait much longer. She teetered on her feet and just as he was about to tell her where to go she looked at him, looked right into his eyes and set off for Remus.

She was quite obviously not blind.

He turned so fast ne nearly flew from his chair.

“It’s not her! It’s not Granger! Get out of here!” he screamed, diving off his chair when his father gripped it and tried to pull him back. He rolled onto his back and shot a Stunner at Lucius which he ducked and Draco lifted himself on his elbow, trying to shove himself away from the vile creature whose face had contorted into a mask of hate. Draco knew the spell to let down the Anti-Aparition barriers but he needed a minute to do it. He dueled his father from the ground, the room exploding into absolute warfare, spells shooting in every directions, yells and screams reverberating off the dark tile. Finally his father fell from a spell not his own and Draco closed his eyes, muttering the incantation. He felt a change in the wind and knew the spell was lifted.

“Sonorus!” he pointed to his throat. “Aparate out!” he yelled, his magnified voice booming off the walls. Pops! were heard from every direction and the room began to empty. Someone grabbed his wrist and he looked into the face of Ginny Weasley who turned on the spot, Aparating them to the basement kitchen of Grimmauld Place. People were spilling in from every direction, everyone speaking at once, a few people crying out in pain. Ginny said nothing but hooked her arms beneath his armpits and lifted him onto the nearest chair, Bill hurrying forward to help. Arthur knelt next to the chair and did some spell and it lifted off the ground, the legs disappearing.

“It wasn’t her,” Draco gasped. “She looked at me. The eyes were red. We were going to bring You-Know-Who right into headquarters.”

Ginny nodded, her face paler than he’d ever seen. A loud crack filled the air and Lupin jumped onto a chair to look over the growing crowd.

“Everyone, calm down please,” he said, glancing around. “Anyone who is injured needs to be escorted to St. Mungo’s. Is everyone here?”

A few seconds of muttering found that a man named Kenneth had fallen at the Manor and had been left. They all knew they would never see his body again.

“Mr. and Mrs. Granger?” he asked. “Did they make it out?”

A consensus went around that they did indeed make it out alive and were resting in St. Mungo’s. The injured were Aparated out and the rest of them stayed where they were, winded from battle. Lupin turned to Draco and spoke to him.

“Are you sure that wasn’t Hermione?”

“Unless she has red eyes and can suddenly see again, I’m pretty sure,” Draco answered. His mind raced. Where would she be? “Apparentely they aren’t aware that she’s gone blind. It was the Dark Lord. We were going to bring him right into headquarters.”

“We have to find her,” Ginny interjected, her voice wavering. “They’ll kill, her they’ll rape-,”

She broke off and Arthur shot forward to hug her while she sobbed softly and clung to her father. Draco felt for the girl but he knew she was right. If Granger made it out, she wouldn’t be unscarred.

“We need a new plan,” Lupin said gravely. We can’t just go rushing in there again. They’ll have changed the guards-,”

“No, they won’t.”

Remus turned to him. “Why wouldn’t they? They know you can get in.”

“That’s why they want me. You can’t change those guards; they were put in place generations before us. If you are a Malfoy, you can get in.”

Lupin nodded. “Alright. But still, the same goes. We can’t go barging in there every time someone is captured. It’s too dangerous. We lost Kenneth today when we shouldn’t have. I’ll not do it again.”

“What?” Ginny yelled. “What are you saying?”

“Ginny, I’m sorry, I know you’re upset, we’re all upset-,”

“You can’t just leave her there!” The room was quiet. Draco couldn’t believe these people.

“Dad?” Ginny implored. “We can’t just leave her…”

“I’m sorry, Gin, but Remus is right,” Arthur said gruffly, looking down at his daughter. “It’s too much of a risk these days. Especially now. They’ll be ready, they’ll be waiting.”

“So we’re just going to sit here and do nothing?” she cried, looking around the room at the saddened faces that looked down or turned away when she glanced their way. “You can’t be serious! If it was Harry you would be in there in a second!”

“Harry is different,” Remus said lightly, as if he were walking across a sheet of thin ice.

“So you’re saying Harry is more important than Hermione?” she choked out, tears streaming down her face. Draco was about three seconds away from decking his former professor in the face. Remus was quiet for a moment but then he met Ginny’s gaze.

“Yes, he is.”

She took off, launching herself at the man until Bill caught her around the waist. She screeched and yelled, clawing at her brother in an attempt to get at him.

“And I suppose if that was me down there you would leave me too? You’d let me get raped and molested and tortured and killed because you’re too scared to go in after me? This is bullshit!” she screamed. Bill started dragging her from the room but Draco stuck out an arm, grabbing hers.

“What is wrong with you people?” he asked, disgusted. “The reason I came to this side was because I thought you guys cared about life and doing what was right. I expected this from the Death Eater’s, but not from you.” He looked around the room, repulsion written on his face. Then he dragged Ginny from the room where she followed him up the stairs to the drawing room.

“Alright Red, stay with me here, I need you to pull yourself together,” he said, digging into his pocket and extracting a handkerchief. He handed it to her and she hiccupped into it a few times before blowing her nose.

“Listen to me, we don’t have much time. We need to figure something out. If they’re not going to help us, we’re on our own.”

“She wouldn’t have gone there, Draco, she would have known better. She can be rash but she would only do something if she really thought she could help.”

“Alright, then where would she have gone?” he asked.

“I don’t know!” she sniffed, grabbing at her orange hair. She took several deep breaths. When she spoke her voice was calmer.

“Her parents. She would be thinking of them. She could have gone to their house, but she would have know the Death Eaters would have guards up there-,”

“That’s exactly it! She knew we would go after them at the Manor. If she triggered the guards at her parent’s they would have sent people there. Brilliant! That’s why we weren’t bombarded! Half the Death Eaters were with her at her parents!”

She looked at him horrified and Draco though about what he’d just said. “Oh, shit.”

There was no way she would last against all those Death Eaters, not blind. The two of them sprang into action, running down the staircase (or in Draco’s case, gliding) and making their way out the front door. Ginny gripped his arm and spun on the spot, Aparating them to Granger’s parents.

When they landed, Draco felt ill. The place was a smoldering coffin, the walls blackened, Muggles packed all around on the streets. They screamed at his and Ginny’s arrival but the two ignored them and hurried towards the house. The front door was hanging off its hinges and the front room was a disaster.

“Hermione!” Ginny screeched. Draco placed a hand on her shoulder to quiet her. He didn’t want to alert anyone they might not want to find. He’d barely crossed the threshold into the destroyed house before the front door banged shut behind him and his world went white.

***********************************************

XOXO

RynStar15

yourcookiedoughbaby@yahoo.com