The Doll House

Chapter 12: Rescue









It felt as if the house were alive, a breathing, feeling, trembling, massive living being. As Draco stepped into the hall, the chaos continued but the power of the winds hand lessened. Doll was weakening; his power was draining with the release of the children. Draco could think of nothing but getting to Hermione as quickly as possible. He tried to disapparate but managed only to feel an electrical shock run through him on the attempt.





“Fucking wards!” he snarled. He had hoped that by weakening Doll the wards would have faltered. He ran, his momentum causing him to slide around corners as he raced down the stairs. He was forced to take a running leap over the gaping hole in the floor of the dining room on his way out. He skidded once more on the grass, clawing his way back up as he nearly fell down the stairs into the cellar. He leapt over the debris littering the floor of the storage room and workshop, his shoes ruined by whatever it was that bled through the walls to pool into noxious puddles on the ground.





The door to the ‘death room’ had closed and sealed tightly. He used all of his strength to try and open it but it wouldn’t budge an inch. So he pulled his wand. He knew that using his magic would feed the entity but he didn’t care, he needed to get through the barrier that kept him from his witch as quickly as possible. He called on his magic, pulling from deep within as he cast the spell forcing a stream of concentrated red light at the door until it literally fell into a pile of ash on the floor.





His heart leapt into his throat when he saw her, suspended above the circle, ghostly hands wrapped around her throat. Doll was fading, using the last of his strength to choke the life out of the witch who dared to destroy him. Draco didn’t know where the rage inside him came from. He knew only that he suddenly felt out of control, as if he were about to lose everything that mattered to him. He had felt that way only once before, back when he was a kid and The Dark Lord had ordered him to kill Dumbledore.





“Drop her!”





“The cunt is mine!” Doll snarled, his image wavering.





“I said DROP HER!” For the first time in his life he was glad to have the father he had. Glad for all of the hatred and anger, the darkness that Lucius had nurtured inside him for so many years. He was glad to have been privy to lessons in the dark arts. He braced himself, grit his teeth and called on the darkness inside him, on the strong, powerful magic of a wizard with generations of undiluted wizardry running through his veins—and he released it. He uttered no spell, used no incantation, he simply aimed his wand and let the energy go to do as it would.





He prayed that it wouldn’t feed Doll. As soon as the blast of energy breached the circle Doll dropped her, startled by the attack. Hermione fell to the ground, crumpled into a heap like a rag doll. She wasn’t moving and Draco feared he had been too late. He lunged for her, grabbing her arm and dragging her out of the circle. The house began to groan and creak ominously; the sounds of boards snapping and glass shattering were coming from above.





“Too late…this house will be your grave as it has for so many others,” Doll laughed hysterically. Draco knelt and pulled Hermione into his arms, tossing her over his shoulder.





“Fuck you, Doll,” Draco spat on the floor and didn’t look back as he carried Hermione quickly from the room, the ceiling crashing in behind him as he ran towards the stairs, barely clearing them before everything came raining down into a giant, yawning pit. The earth shook beneath his feet as he marched forward with his burden, the sound of an anguished roar echoing behind them. He heard and felt the rumble beneath his feet and then a wave of energy slammed into him from behind, knocking him down and causing him to drop Hermione on the ground.



He rolled onto his back and stared at the blazing inferno that had, for a short time, been his home. He should have been angry, livid in fact but all he could manage to feel was relief. He turned to the woman lying limp on the grass and immediately went into panicked mode.





“Hermione!” he crawled to her and shook her, calling her name again and again as he slapped her cheeks lightly. He could see the skin on her neck already bruising and prayed that Doll hadn’t crushed her windpipe. “Hermione, please!”





He heard the sounds of apparation and looked up to see aurors appearing all around them but he could have cared less. He got to his knees and pulled her into his arms; shaking her less than gently as he continued to scream at her.





“Damn you, Granger, wake the hell up!” Her eyelids fluttered and then slowly lifted to reveal eyes that were streaked with red.





“Hermione you jerk,” she rasped her voice scratchy and painful sounding.





“Bloody hell woman,” he sighed in relief as he clutched her to his chest, rocking back and forth as he held her close. “You scared the life out of me!”





“Did we win?” she asked hoarsely.





“Yeah, we won, Love,” he said, brushing a light kiss against her brow. “You were bloody brilliant.”





“You were very brave, Draco,” she said softly. “I told you that you weren’t a coward.”





“I hate to interrupt, but we got a report that dark magic was being used, lots of it,” an auror interrupted. “What is going on here?”





“My house burned down, what does it look like?” Draco asked.





“Malfoy? What in the hell….Hermione?” Harry Potter stepped between the two aurors hovering over them.





“Hey, Harry,” she said weakly.





“Merlin, Mione, are you alright? We need to get you some help,” he said gesturing behind him to some of the others.





“No…I’ll be fine,” she protested. She looked up at Draco and smiled softly. “I’m tired.”





“Alright, Love, I’ll take you to the most posh hotel in England for a long weekend,” Draco said as he lifted her into his arms and stood.





“Now wait a minute, I need someone to tell me what in the hell is going on here…and just what are you planning to do with her, Malfoy?” Harry watched as Hermione twined her arms around Draco’s neck and cuddled against him and he was rendered speechless.





“Not now, Potter,” Draco said as he shifted her in his arms. “She’s exhausted. I promise you that no harm will come to her, I’ll take care of her, I promise. Just let her rest and I will bring her to your office on Monday. It’s my house after all, my property.”





“Why should I believe you? You hate her,” Harry said. Didn’t he? He was holding her close, cradling in her arms as if she were something precious. Had he missed something?





“People change, Potter, feelings change,” he said.





“I expect you to be there by 10am, Malfoy,” Harry said tightly. He held out his card then when he recalled that Draco’s hands were full he tucked it into Hermione’s pocket. “Contact me if you need anything.”





“We’ll be just fine, Potter,” he said. With a nod from Harry he vanished with his burden, away from the aftermath, away from the evil, away from the Doll House.







*********



“My eyes hurt,” Hermione whined. “And my throat hurts.”





“The potions will work soon,” Draco said as he carried a tray of food to the large, plush bed in the luxury suite of a posh hotel. He climbed up beside her and passed her a cup of tea. He had brought her to the room and bathed her gently in a tub filled with healing tinctures and soothing bath salts. He washed her hair, rinsing away the dirt and soot. He bundled her into a plush terry robe and put her into the bed while he called for a healer. Once he was assured of her health and armed with healing potions he set about feeding her and convincing her to rest.





“It feels so good to have it over, to know that the children are safe,” she said over her cup.





“It did NOT feel good to walk in and see you being choked out by an evil spirit,” Draco said.





“I’m sorry, something began oozing from the ceiling and broke a section of my circle…he was able to grab me,” she said, her voice still a bit hoarse and scratchy but less painful. “I didn’t mean for you to worry or to be frightened…I didn’t expect you to care.”





“I didn’t expect to care myself,” he said with a confused smile. “We find ourselves in an odd situation here, Hermione. Our business is concluded but I find myself reluctant to just walk away.” She placed her cup back on the tray and leaned against him, curling up against his side as he reclined back against the pillows.





“So don’t,” she said softly. She didn’t know if they stood a chance at a future, if their passion was just a result of the situation, but she owed it to herself to give it a chance.





After all, you never know what adventures might lay ahead………















AN: There is an epilogue....and possibly, in the future...another adventure for our pair....