Driven

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter, but Blessings to JKR for creating it

A/N: This chapter gets dark. Warning: Violence and brief description of Non Con.

Chapter 12: Revels and False Alliances

Hermione spent two days with Narcissa and Antonia. They took her shopping and out for meals. She raided the library and spent hours on the beach trying to distract herself. She barely slept and spent most of the two nights she was there pacing in Blaise’s room and chain smoking on the balcony.

After dinner on the second evening, the three women were sitting on the balcony watching the sunset. “I’m going back to London. I can’t stay here and lie about, I need to go back to work and do something productive.” Hermione said stubbing out her cigarette and downing the last of her wine before lighting another one.

They didn’t argue with her, in the short time that she had been there she had made it clear to them that once her mind was made up that was the end of it.

Hermione left a couple of new outfits in Blaise’s closet on the assumption that she would visit again, the rest she had packed in a backpack which was waiting beside the fireplace in the living room. She finished her cigarette and hugged her boyfriends’ mothers before walking to the fireplace and taking a pinch of floo powder. She slung her pack over her shoulder and tossed the powder in to the fire saying clearly, “the Leaky Cauldron,” before stepping into the flames.

She had a drink at the bar and headed down Diagon Alley to the flat. She hated how empty it felt and after her shower, she curled up in their bed. She buried her face in their pillows, inhaling deeply and trying to settle into sleep. She woke up barely two hours later drenched in sweat trembling as the details of a vivid nightmare lingered.

She pretty much gave up at that point and got out of bed. She couldn’t go jogging at this time of night so she showered and put on jeans and a jumper. She made coffee, sat next to the open window, and smoked her first cigarette of the morning while it brewed. She threw work cloths and sweats, into a bag, then filled her travel mug. It was about two in the morning when she arrived at the ministry, figuring she would bury herself under a pile of paperwork. She passed through security and headed for the Auror office unsurprised to find it empty. Putting her bag under her desk, she stuck her headphones into her ears and blasted Seether.

She went through her messages as she drank her coffee, setting aside the ones that she needed to forward to Kingsley. There was one from Ginny checking on her; it contained explicit instructions for her to send an owl as soon as she was back from Italy. Hermione started a list of things that she needed to accomplish that day, adding to it as she went through the piles on her desk.

She got restless around five am and decided that a run on the treadmill in the gym was just what she needed. She headed for the locker room and changed into her sweats. She hadn’t used the ministry gym before and was surprised to find several other employees doing early morning workouts. She tuned them all out with music and slowly worked her way up to a brisk jog.

After her workout, she took a quick shower, changed into her work clothes and headed for the cafeteria. She wasn’t particularly hungry but she ate anyway and took a cup of coffee back to her desk. It was still early but the office usually had a couple of people in it by this time. She shrugged her shoulders and went about doing things on her list.

Hermione got absorbed in her tasks, and the next time she looked at the clock, it was 10am and the office remained empty. She went out into the reception area and asked the secretary where everyone was. She felt like someone injected ice water into her veins as the witch answered. There had been a revel in the middle of the night; all available Aurors and qualified ministry employees had been summoned.

With her stomach in her throat, she rushed back into her office grabbing only her keys and her purse before running through the halls toward the fireplaces in the lobby. She flooed to Grimauld Place in search of Molly, who she found sitting in the parlor alone. She walked over and sat next to her, “Mrs. Weasley, what happened?”

“Hermione dear,” she said appearing startled that the girl was sitting beside her, “I don’t have the details yet. They left several hours ago.”

“Where’s Ginny then?” Hermione asked.

“I don’t know.” She replied, “she went to visit a friend after Harry left yesterday. She said they were going to a concert in London. I think she said the girls name was Luna.”

“So Harry went back to training then?” she asked, pausing before adding, “and Ron?”

“Hagrid pulled Ron out of a shifty pub in Hogsmede and delivered him to Professor McGonagall. They sent Moody an owl, and he left with Harry shortly there after so I assume they went to collect him before they resumed training. Hopefully they are knocking some sense into him.” Molly said sincerely.
*********************************

Hermione didn’t think she could work, so she headed back to the apartment. She placed silencing wards on the flat and blasted music. She opened all the windows and sat down on the couch. Drawing her knees to her chest she took a long drag on her cigarette, exhaled, and then dropped her head forward.

She was filled with dread. It couldn’t be a coincidence, a revel two days after Blaise and Draco left to go before Voldemort. She had read about what happened at Death Eater revels. The incident at the World Cup two years before had been tame in comparison.

She fell asleep, the cigarette still smoldering in the ashtray, and immediately was plunged back into her nightmare.

**There was chaos, smoke was thick in the air and there were screams coming from every direction. She could hear curses, jinxes and counter curses being thrown all around her, accompanied by flashes of light that briefly illuminated her surroundings. She could see bodies on the ground and people locked in battles both physical and magical. She saw a Death Eater crouched over a girl near her own age pounding into her from behind as she screamed with a voice that was nearly gone. Hermione raised her wand to blast him, tried to take a step forward and tripped over something on the ground before her. She looked down and gasped. Ginny was lying on the ground bleeding, covered in cuts and bruises; she was sobbing and she reached towards Hermione, “Help me Mione!”**

She awoke with a start, drenched in sweat and trembling. She had heard Harry describe his prophetic dreams before so she had no doubt that what she had just experienced was real. Something terrible had happened at the revel.

Memories are just where you left them
Drag the waters till the depths give up their dead
What did you expect to find
Was it something you left behind?
Don’t you remember?
Everything I said when I said…

She located Draco’s fire whiskey stash and downed some before lighting another fag. She was still pacing the flat when the door opened. Draco walked into the room looking exhausted. Hermione rushed to him, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a brief, fierce kiss before looking over his shoulder expectantly. “Where’s Blaise?” She asked, stepping back, realizing he had not returned her embrace.

Don’t fall away
And leave me to myself
Don’t fall away and
Leave love bleeding in my hands
In my hands again
Leave love bleeding in my hands
In my hands love lies bleeding.

Draco looked at his shoes, “St. Mungo’s,” he whispered.

Hermione forced him to look at her, “tell me what happened,” she ordered.

He walked to the couch and sat, rubbing his hands over his face. “We all went before Voldemort as planned. The evil bastard accepted Blaise’s pledge of loyalty. He fucking laughed at the irony of the situation. He was so perversely excited by this new development that he decided a celebration was in order,” he paused long enough to light a cigarette and took a drag before continuing.

Oh hold me now I feel contagious
Am I the only place that you’ve left to go
She cried that life is like
Some movie black and white
Dead actors faking lines
Over and over and over again
She cries…

“He gathered his followers and asked if there were any large gatherings of young people going on that day. Someone told him about a music festival, at the London Quidditch Stadium. He was delighted, clapped his clammy hands like a kid on Christmas, and ordered the revel. The sodding stadium was full of Hogwarts Students, Mione. The four of us were trying to minimize the damage while maintaining our cover but we couldn’t be everywhere at once and things got out of hand. Several students were either raped, murdered or both before the Aurors arrived. They didn’t know we were spies so they aimed for us as much as anyone else.”

Don’t fall away
And leave me to myself
Don’t fall away and
Leave love bleeding in my hands
In my hands again
Leave love bleeding in my hands
In my hands love lies bleeding…

He stopped again as if he didn’t want to relive what he had seen. “Blaise?” Hermione prompted.

Draco exhaled, “he was caught in the cross fire. He’s alive, barely, but he’s in a coma. They’re not sure he’s going to come out of it. If Lupin hadn’t arrived when he did they would have left him lying in that field to die. I couldn’t get to him Mione, I saw him hit the ground and I couldn’t fucking get to him.” He was shaking at this point as reality sunk in.

“Who else was hurt?” Hermione asked a tear already running down her face, she was shaking because she feared her dream was about to become reality.

“Love, I’m so sorry I couldn’t save them all,” he said taking her hands.

She snatched her hands out of his grasp and stood, backing away from the couch, “who,” she sobbed.

And I watched as you turned away
You don’t remember
But I do
You never even tried.


“Longbottom, Patil, and the Creevy brothers are dead. Ginny Weasley, Lavender Brown, Luna Lovegood, and several others were raped and tortured. All of the survivors have been taken to St. Mungo’s. Harry was there with Moody and when he saw what they did to Ginny, he started cutting people down left and right. Harry Potter ended it.” He said quietly, his eyes never leaving her face. He stood and started towards her and she put her hands up to stop him.

Hermione turned and walked into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. Draco could hear the sounds of her retching through the door, and used his wand to try and get to her it wouldn’t budge. He pounded on the door, demanding she let him in. Finally, he sank to the floor with his back to the door and though he kept the tears at bay, he curled in on himself and rocked gently.

Don’t fall away
And leave me to myself
Don’t fall away and
Leave love bleeding in my hands
In my hands again
Leave love bleeding in my hands
In my hands again
Oh….
********************

Once Draco collected himself enough to move he headed straight for his bed. He was dead on his feet and had taken several hits in the stadium. He stripped to his boxer briefs and crawled under the covers. He could still hear Hermione sobbing in the bathroom, he felt helpless but she had made it practically impossible for him to get to her with out blowing something up.

He drifted in and out of sleep, keeping part of his brain alert incase she need him. Sometime later he heard the bathroom door open and turned to his side as Hermione walked into the room and crawled into bed with him. She curled up beside him and whispered in his ear, “I know you are trying to find a way to blame yourself for this, and I want you to stop right now. This is not your fault. Blaise will come home to us have faith. I love you Draco.”

The tears he had been holding back for hours broke free with her soft words and he clung to her as he sobbed, burying his face in her hair. She held on tight knowing that he had been through hell.
***********************

The next few weeks went by in a blur. They finished their internship at the Ministry; both were told that they would have positions waiting for them when they graduated. They visited Blaise regularly though there was no change in his condition. Ginny was recovering physically but was withdrawing emotionally. Her condition was not helped by the fact that Harry had gone back into training after the revel. She would not be going back to school on September 1st.

Hermione and Draco were bickering as much as they were making love. It seemed that Blaise had been the balance in their relationship. Draco pitched a fit when Hermione announced that she was going home to visit her parents for a few days, “Hermione, I don’t think that your parents are going to be giddy at the prospect of meeting the boy who tormented you for years, not to mention the fact that you are now dating him. And then there’s the matter of my not letting you out of my sight. Let’s just stay in London.”

“Draco, I am going with or without you. You are more than welcome to come, in fact I would prefer it if you did. I want them to see that you are not the same git that I’ve spent so much time complaining about. However, your attitude today leaves something to be desired.” Hermione said standing on her toes so she could get up in his face.

When it appeared that he, for once, was without a comeback, she turned on her heel and walked into the bathroom to take a shower. She turned the water on as hot as she could stand it and dropped her robe to the floor. She stepped under the spray and let it wash over her, covering her face with her hands.

Draco followed her into the bathroom and when he saw her standing there in the shower looking so defeated his heart contracted in his chest. He stepped out of his boxers and opened the shower door and getting in behind her. She started as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck, “I’m sorry love. I shouldn’t be taking my frustrations out on you. I’m just nervous about meeting your parents. And with Blaise in hospital and my being worried about you getting hurt it just got the best of me,” he murmured in her ear.

Hermione turned to face him, “I’m sorry too. Of course you’re nervous and stressed out and I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. I just need to see them again before anything else happens, and I don’t want to leave you. I really don’t need their approval I don’t much care what they think of our relationship. I have something to soften the blow though; it should make them happy at least.”

“What?” He asked.

Her smile was melancholy; “I got my head girl letter today.” Her eyes filled with tears and she turned back to face the wall, he had seen enough of her tears lately.

“Why are you crying, you’ve been working for this since you were eleven years old?” He said pulling her back against him.

“Blaise was named head boy,” she sobbed, “they’re going to leave the position empty until he comes back to school.”

“Shh, it’s okay. Look at it this way; you are going to have your own rooms this year. And I, being every bit the Slytherin am going to sneak in every night. Unless, of course, you think we can talk them into letting me move in.” he said facetiously.

She choked out a half sob half laugh and turned back to him pulling his head down so she could cover his lips with hers. She traced his lips with her tongue and he groaned as he granted her entry. He backed her up against the wall and gripped her butt sliding her up /the wall as her legs circled his waist. Hermione changed the angle of the kiss, her arms around his shoulders as he tilted her hips and slid home.

Once they had finally washed up and dried off, they slipped into bed and got the first decent nights sleep they’d had in weeks.

They finished packing in the morning and headed out to make one last trip to the hospital before they left for Hermione’s parents’ house. They went to see Ginny first; she was sitting in a chair by the window and barely acknowledged them when they greeted her. Hermione set the stack of magazines she had brought down on the bed and slipped her arms around her.

Ginny shuddered she was still having trouble letting anyone touch her and had to be sedated for examinations. Hermione could tell she was loosing weight and encouraged her to try and eat more; she kissed her red head as Ginny mumbled something incoherent. Hermione’s eyes filled with tears, she hugged her friend one last time and walked back to Draco who was still in the doorway.

“Hermione, if you see Harry, tell him I miss him,” Ginny said flatly without turning from the window.

Hermione was sobbing and Draco took her to the family lounge so she could calm down before they went to see Blaise. He held her in his lap and rocked her, knowing full well they would both be crying by the time they left the hospital.

They took the lift up one floor and the mediwitch let them into Blaise’s room as per his mother’s standing instructions. He looked the same, his tan was fading and his eyes were closed. The only indication that he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest. They gripped each other’s hands tightly and walked over to the bed. They separated and Draco walked around to the far side, both of them crawled onto the bed and laid their heads on Blaise’s shoulders, wanting contact even though they knew he wouldn’t respond. They gripped his hands and whispered into his ears as tears rolled down their cheeks.
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A/N: **Ducks** Please don’t shoot me. Pretty Please!

The lyrics in this chapter are from “Hemorrhage (In my hands)” by Fuel.