Broomsticks and Bedfellows

Broomsticks and Bedfellows

Chapter Two

“Your mother just put Scorpius down,Draco. Come into the kitchen and let me make us some tea and we will talk,” Hermione said. She could see the worry and intensity on Draco’s face. Draco sat down, his face in his hands hunched over on his knees,deep in thought. Hermione kept a watchful eye on her husband while she poured the hot brew from the kettle into their cups.

“Draco…” He didn’t answer.

“Draco?”

“Yeah? I’m sorry Hermione. But we…”

“Can’t go?” Hermione said setting the saucer and cup in front of him. It never ceased to amaze her how nice everything was at Malfoy Manor. The cups were exquisite, everything appearing to be of fine china caliber. She usually didn’t bother to cook for Draco for fear of breaking some valuable piece of a priceless collection, that may or may not contain hex’s or curses, put on the object by Lucius or Narcissa or any number of unknown Malfoy descendants. Tonight though, her worry was only on her husband. He was the youngest Minister of Magic to hold the office, and with that came the constant need to prove himself. Lately the Ministry had been up in arms over the attempted relocation of the famed vampiress Elizabeta Bathist to Britain. Draco had been steamrolled into signing the parchment, rejecting her application to immigrate when a very prominent member of the Ministry council claimed that Elizabeta had bitten her niece while on holiday in Istanbul. Without any proof, the legislation Draco signed was highly irregular and potentially illegal, but Draco had reluctantly gone ahead with the ban on Miss Bathist’s application to move her family to Britain when it was made known to him that this council woman’s vote would be a swing vote in his high profile War Veterans Act, releasing all war Veterans under the age of twenty-one from their requirement to attend to Dumbledore Potter University. He was new to office when Elizabeta’s application came across his desk at the Ministry and his advisors had told him that it wasn’t of high priority. In the end, Draco gave the council woman what she wanted and his decree freeing the War Veterans was passed unanimously. Now, a year later Elizabeta was back in sights of Ministry officials, this time threatening to expose Mr. Malfoy as a dishonest Minister of Magic and threatening to have Britain’s membership with the Worrldwide Wizarding Alliance or WWA revoked. If that happened the entire economy could collapse in Britain as nobody within the alliance would be allowed to conduct business with any British Wizarding companies. It was a royal mess in other words. If the Wizard Exchange caught wind of this even in the remotest of circumstances, it would cause a market crash, which would set off a mass panic. Draco had agonized over this problem for weeks, and in the end he had decided that Elizabeta was bluffing him. Now the bottom line was that he was fucked, and royally fucked at that. She had sent word to Draco’s assistant at the Ministry that she fully intended to go to the Press if her application to enter Britain was not accepted.

“So, do you think the council woman is lying?” Hermione asked as Draco sipped his tea in silence.

“That’s the thing. I think this Elizabeta woman really is a vampire and that she probably did attack Bess’s niece. I saw the pictures, it was grisly. The girl is still residing at St. Mungo’s after the attack. There is no cure for a vampire bite and this one ran deep. The girl was only twelve. I still believe I did the right thing by rejecting her application. The last thing this country needs is vampires lurking the shadows,” Draco quipped.

“I totally agree Draco. So then, what you need is someone to go to Elizabeta and convince her to back off from her threats and give up the idea of living here.”

“Well yes, that, or give us real evidence to corroborate Bess’s story about her niece.”

“How very Slytherin of you darling,” Hermione said jokingly, hoping to make Draco laugh or smile.

“There is nothing funny about his Hermione, though I appreciate the attempt.”

“Have anybody in mind for the job?”

“Yes I do. Me.”

“You?”

“I don’t think that’s very smart Draco. They could take you as a hostage. What better way for Elizabeta to achieve her goals, then by holding the Minister of Magic himself for ransom. No.”

“Hermione, I have no choice. I caused this mess and now I have to clean it up,” Draco said and Hermione could of sworn she saw the first worry line appear on his forehead. She felt frustrated that she couldn’t help her husband. She had helped Harry time and time again yet the first time her husband really needed her in a capacity other then in their personal relationship, she had come up short. There had to be something she could do.

“Let’s go to bed. Come on. I will figure something out. I just want to hold you and forget about this mess I made,” Draco stood and held his hand to her. Hermione took his strong and gentle hand as they made their way upstairs to the bed chamber. She watched him, his posture so somber as he blew out the candle and climbed into bed with Hermione.

Hermione held him tightly until he fell asleep in her arms. She then retired to her library where she read up on Elizabeta Bathist and her family. It seemed Draco was right in his assessment. There were many grisly murders throughout history and always at the center of the mystery was the Bathist family. They were never quite convicted of their crimes though. A witness would conveniently come up missing or dead of natural causes before they were successfully prosecuted and/or killed, as the laws were back then. While Hermione did not believe in capital punishment, in this family’s case she was beginning to believe that there may be a case for reintroducing the law putting known murders to death. The sunlight was now shining through the stained glass window in her library and she still had not come up with a solution to Draco’s problem. Then it suddenly dawned on her. Like a light bulb going off in her head she had the answer. She ran to the bedchamber and roused the sleeping Draco Malfoy.

“Baby wake up! I know what to do. I know the perfect man for the job!” Draco opened his eyes and yawned, looking around and then realized that his wife had been up all night. He smiled at Hermione and pulled her down on top of him.

“Tell me you didn’t stay up all night reading.”

“I didn’t stay up all night reading,” Hermione said with a smirk of her own.

“But you did…didn’t you?” Draco kissed his wife and rolled on top of her. He just wanted to feel his beautiful Hermione under him.

“Well…yes. BUT…I may be able to offer you a solution to your problem.” Draco perked up when his wife said this.

“By all means…I am all ears.”

“I go to meet Elizabeta. Before you say no, just hear me out…”

“No. Absolutely not. If you stayed u all night to come to that conclusion then you may as well have stayed in bed with me, besides I like feeling you next to me in bed.”

“I do too, you know that. I can’t sleep without you. If I didn’t have your warm feet to snuggle up to every night I’d die of insomnia, but just listen Draco. I wouldn’t go alone. I’d take Harry with me. Harry is respected worldwide for killing Voldemort. If he went to meet with Elizabeta and found evidence that she is a vampire along with the rest of her twisted family, and believe me, I read up on them, they are twisted sweetheart, then the WWA would have to believe him. It’s Harry Potter for goodness sakes. I would go to represent the Malfoy name. As your wife and a Ministry employee I could represent you and the Ministry in one go. It makes sense Draco if you just listen to reason. I’d be perfectly safe with Harry. Ron might even want to go.”

“Hermione do you think it’s in the best interest for any of this to be broadcast via the Daily Prophet or the press? The second the three of you went anywhere it would be front-page news. The Golden Trio on another caper. No. Drop it, now let’s make love. I have to be at the Ministry early this morning to deal with this crisis. I love you. Thank you for trying, but I regretfully decline.” Draco began laying kisses down Hermione’s neck at this, ignoring her protests.

“Just listen! What I’m saying makes sense and you know it. We can set up some kind of a charm so you can watch me the entire time and Harry has Auror training. They aren’t going to risk exposing themselves to take out someone as high profile as Harry Potter. This is a family that has survived centuries of murder wraps by hiding under the radar. They won’t risk an anything happening to Harry Potter, and what are they going to do? If they want into this country so badly then they wouldn’t risk hurting the Minister of Magic’s brilliant and sexy wife. Draco this has merit and you know it, now admit it.”

“Alright! Give me a blowjob and I’ll think about it.”

“Is that a yes or are you sexually harassing me?” Hermione smiled as she ducked under the sheets.

“It’s sexual harassment at its finest .” Hermione peeked her head above the covers once again at that and Draco smirked at her and shoved her head back down under the covers. “Flip your pretty legs around. I need something to do with my mouth.”

“No. This one is on me,” Hermione said taking his shaft in her hand and plunging her head down over his erection. He moaned at the feel of her warm tongue and lips caressing his penis so tenderly and succulently. His hands were in her hair as she sucked and licked at him so lovingly and expertly, until he came into her waiting mouth. When she popped her head back up above the covers, she looked like a kid in the candy shop.

“So can I go?”

“I have to talk to Harry Potter first… and… I’d want to set up a few safeguards. I would want to see and be in communication with you the entire time and of course I am going to.”

“Draco you can’t go, we already went over this…”

“Hermione…we do this my way or no way at all.” Hermione had her mouth open ready to argue her point once again but she knew and respected Draco enough to know when his mind was made up. They would do it his way. After all, he loved her and was looking out for both of their best interests, something a Slytherin excelled at.

Three days later in Instanbul,Turkey

“You don’t let anything happen to her. If she opens her mouth, like I know my wife is capable of doing and your sense tells you it isn’t the right thing to do, then I want you to get her out, immediately. I will be outside with the Aurors should anything go wrong. And Potter, I don’t have to tell you how much Hermione is my world. Scorpius worships his Mummy and I…”

“I know mate, alright? ‘Mione means the world to me too. I understand the plans and what I have to do. I’ll protect her with every bit of my magic, if it comes to it. You can trust me.”

“Hermione, stick to the plan. Get in and let Harry do his work and get out. Stay with Harry at all times. You are just there for show, remember? You don’t have to save the day. The Golden Trio is over. Are we clear?”

“Yes Dragon. I got it. I know. Please stop worrying, this is as piece of cake. I’ve gone over and over it and I just can’t see where anything can go wrong. Stop worrying. You and I and Scorpius will be taking the Malfoy Learjet to America tomorrow! Yankee Doodle and all that jazz. I love you Draco. I’ll see you shortly.”

“I love you. Watch your back and remember that I am here if you need anything at all. Are you afraid? “ Draco couldn’t let go of his wife. He wanted to call the whole thing off but he knew if he didn’t let Hermione do this she would never forgive him. He wanted to trust her. He wanted to let her prove that she could help him, but it just felt so wrong. He should be going in there not his wife. Not Hermione.

“’Mione we have to go now,” Harry extended his arm and Hermione took it with a smile plastered to her face. She was back in the thick of things again and it felt good. It felt damn good.

Draco felt uneasy as he stood hidden behind a hedge outside the residence of Elizabeta Bathist. Draco had always loved his visits to Istanbul with his mother as a child. He had spent enough time here to know his way around somewhat and had absorbed much of the local culture. In fact, since he had become Minister he had found that many of the shopping trips and holidays his mother and sometimes his father too had taken him on as a child, had proven to be useful in his dealings with foreign Ministers. He could relate to their plights because he had spent at least some time in their country and had picked up on many of the different problems facing each unique Wizard nation he visited. Draco Malfoy as Minister of Magic was riding the height of popularity. Never, in recent history anyways, had there been such a well-liked Minister. His reforms had been sweeping and with lightning speed and besides this little snag in his robes, he had performed with skill and masterful cunning in getting all of his ideas and those of others who he considered trusted in his inner circle, passed into law. Now, as he stood outside the compound of thick crumbling stone and ancient gargoyles from histories past, looking into the window where his wife would be at the mercy of a possible vampiress, he suddenly had second thoughts.

“So are they in yet? I can’t see her. Is something wrong with this fucking thing?” Draco shook the antique pendant that had been charmed so that Draco could see and hear all that went on inside the old castle. He touched the wrought iron fence and a piece of it crumbled in his hand like ash from a burntt log in a fireplace that went out during the cold of night.

“Sir, they are just now being greeted at the door. You should be able to see now.” Draco looked into the matching pendant that Hermione had on her scarlet colored blouse and he could see the figure of Elizabeta Bathist in his sights. She was a frail and fragile woman, gaunt and decrepit looking. How could such a worn and tired out old lady, cause him so much hassle. Furthermore, why would a woman of her age want to pick up and move from her home? She obviously was comfortable here in her dingy little castle tucked away from prying eyes on a lonely dirt road.

“And the husband and cousin? They took the bait and left Elizabeta here alone? You are sure nobody else is in there with her, right?”

“The other aurors verified that Elizabeta’s family are at the Wizard bank, making sure that their money is still there after the mix up that we created. Just relax. Nothing can go wrong.” Draco monitored the meeting. Harry and Hermione were sitting on a dusty old sofa that appeared to be nearly as old as Elizabeta herself. The vampiress, who some believed to be five hundred years old, was sitting across from them, hunched over in her chair. Harry was doing the talking while Hermione smiled. So far so good. Everything was going like clockwork. Draco was caught up in every minor detail of the plan right down to the most miniscule of detaia,l when suddenly something blocked the charm from working.

“What happened? What is that?” Draco said to the Auror from the Ministry. This was his best and most valued Auror. He wouldn’t trust anybody to the job but Fritz. He had years of training and had fought Voldemort, both as a good guy and also on the inside. Draco remembered him from when Draco was a boy. He was shocked to learn some years later that he was actually an Auror, as even Voldemort was fooled by him for a time. Once his cover was blown though, he joined the Order near the end and then after the war he resumed his duties as Ministy Auror, once Draco Malfoy was made Minister of Magic. He clamied that he always liked Draco, and could see the good in him, though his father Lucius was not on his list of friends.

“It’s just the coat rack. See, its a woolen coat is all. The coat rack must have moved. See, all better now.” Draco was holding the pendant so tightly in his hand that the gold and black paint on the pendant was smudging and the color sweating into his hand. He tried to relax but he just couldn’t not with Hermione in mortal danger. The sooner Hermione came out the better he would feel.

“Uhh ohh,” Fritz said.

“What oh?” Draco snapped back.

“Harry just went into another room with the woman.”

“That wasn’t part of the plan!” Draco was frantic now. “Why did Harry do that? I told him to stick to the plan and to not leave Hermione alone for even a minute. This was a terribly bad idea, I just knew it. This is all my fucking fault.”

“Draco get a grip already! Look, your wife is fine she is sitting on the coach just as she was.” Draco looked and sure enough, Hermione was sitting alone on the couch fidgeting with her fingers. A muggle car drove by and Draco and Fritz ducked out of view, but when it sped by, they both returned their attention to Hermione.

“Where is she? Do you see her? This bloody pendant sucks! Why didn’t I use something from a better jeweler. I’ll rescind Jeffers license when I get back if this fucking thing breaks right now! Right, so let’s go in.”

“What? Merlin you are a nervous wreck.”

“You just noticed that? I don’t see her, this isn’t part of the plan, lets go in and pull them out.”

“Stop alright. She may have joined Harry. We have to give them the time we allotted them to complete the mission. If they don’t come out then we will go in. “

Draco wanted to break something extremely valuable at this. He couldn’t just sit there and wonder and worry and watch. He had to be in there. Another car streamed down the narrow road, this one speeding towards them. Draco and Fritz ducked behind the bush outside the wrought iron fence leading to the entrance of the decrepit castle where Elizebta lived, but this car stopped. Out of a taxi hopped Blaise Zabini.

“Oh thank Merlin I’m not too late! You have to stop them! Draco you have to stop them now. I apparrated here after your mother told me where you were at, only I didn’t know exactly where here was at, so I had to take one of these things they call cabs and now the guy wants money. Get him out of here Draco. I have to tell you something and I don’t think we need anyone hearing,” Blaise said motioning to the muggle cabby who was waiting with his hand out for his fare. Draco slapped some muggle bills in his hand and the cabby sped off.

“Get them out now Draco! Id did some checking and Elizabeta had an illegitimate son. There are no records of his birth because he was a bastard child and in this Wizarding community bastards are not recognized in the registry and are forced to live in wizard orphanages. She hid him mate! Nobody knows of him. In Australia he is registered as a Mage. In China, as a Warlock, Draco! He’s highly skilled and trained at merlin knows what ! He’s more powerful then you or I. We have to get them out!”

With that Draco panicked but for only a second.

“Accio Firebolt!” he mounted his broom and took off over the iron gate with Fritz in tow. Blaise flicked his wand at the fence.

“Alohomora!” The gate swung open. He shook his head like his friend and the best Auror in the Ministry must be complete idiots. Blaise ran up the crumbling steps. He fell more then once on the loose stones and chalky mortar, making his way to the front door. He tried his wand again on the door but it was of no use. He wracked his brain to remember the spell to rid security enchantments. Finally, he was able to conjure the memory from his mind, and the door swung open. Blaise entered the house to find it pitch black.

“Lumos!” His wand lit and then he found himself face to face with an exotic looking man. The man was tall and lean with a sheet of jet-black hair. His skin was dull and pale and his clothes were dirty. He smelled a distinct pungency, almost an earthy smell, but he couldn’t place it, and then he forgot all about everything when he saw Hermione standing at his side, her neck trapped between the young man’s arm, wedged tightly into his armpit.

“Drop your wand or I shall be forced to snap your pretty wife’s neck like a twig,” the man said and Blaise suddenly realized that this Mage or Warlock, Elisabeta’s illegitimate son, believed him to be Draco. He played along, knowing that Draco and the Auror must be somewhere close, waiting to wage their attack.

“Darling, he hasn’t hurt you has he?” Blaise said.

“No my love, but I’m not altogether certain about Harry. I’m quite sure Harry isn’t in the kitchen though. Not in the kitchen, perhaps the lavatory.” Hermione said loudly in hopes that Draco would hear her.

“Sit and be my guests. You don’t have anyone else with you do you? “

“No, no sir. We thought having Harry Potter here would be enough,” Blaise said.

“Liar! Do I strike you as someone who is daft? You are very rude to insult me as such in my mother’s home nonetheless. Of course she won’t be needing it anymore, best leave it to the birds, it’s all it was ever fit for.” The man had an upper crust chilly tone to his voice, yet he spoke with a British accent. He didn’t look to be much older then either Draco or Hermione was, maybe only a year or two older, making him Twenty-one or Twenty-two at most..

“Draco, just be honest with him. There are several Aurors in the bushes outside, so best you just let us go now, before you get hurt.” The man spun Hermione around, pulling her neck as he did so. He slammed her onto the tattered old sofa and then shoved Blaise down next to her.

“Do either of you collect things? Things you covet, things you wanted but could never have?” Both Hermione and Blaise looked at one another in confusion.

“Do you!” He screamed out now.

“Yes! I collect books.” Hermione finally said, not wanting to provoke the lunatic or agitate him more so then he already was. Her neck was throbbing now and she couldn’t hold her head straight.

“Me too. I collect brooms,” Blaise said nervously.

“Do you want to know what I collect?” Hermione and Blaise again looked at each other and then Hermione nodded, figuring the best thing to do was to give Draco and the Auror more time for whatever plan they had cooked up to get them all out safely and away from the frightening figure she saw before her.

“I collect minds. Though I prefer the female mind. Males are too aggressive.”

“That’s interesting….yes…I would agree with you. I find your hobby fascinating. Just how does one collect a mind?” Herminie said and almost immediately wished she could withdraw that statement.

“I don’t want your mind affecting me Draco Malfoy. Can you turn your mind off?” The sinister man said to Blaise, still believing him to be Draco.

“I…No..to turn ones mind off is not possible Nathaniel. That is your name isn’t it? Nathaniel?”

“But it is possible!” Hermione saw his black eyes turn to slits when Blaise called him by his name, and with that the man snapped his fingers and Hermione watched the life force flow out of Blaise. He collapsed onto her lap, his chest still breathing but his eyes vacant as if his mind had been sucked right out of him.

“Put it back! What have you done! What kid of a sick monster are you! You put it back right now! Do you hear me?” A wandless Hermione stood and thrashed at the man but he laughed at her and slammed her back down on the couch.

“I might put it back if you play nice little disgusting pet of mine.” He produced a chain with a great amber colored stone on the end of it. He put the necklace on and then began chanting an incantation. When he was done he lifted his face to reveal the most frightening expression she had ever seen in her life. His mouth was curled in a snarl, his eyes were full of rage and murder and lust and hate and then he was in her mind. She felt a dull ache at first, signifying her to his presence, but then it grew stronger into a stabbing pain at her tempes. She clutched her head,holding it for dear life as she attempted to force him out.

“Stop fighting it, you only make it hurt worse. I can modify the magic so it doesn’t hurt so much but you will always feel…welll…I shan’t tell you. Let’s let it it be a surprise shall we? Now stop fighting me!”

The pain let up at this and Hermione was overcome with another feeling to replace the pain.He sifted through her mind to find that which he wanted, the birth of her baby, her life with Draco, her wedding night, and there is where he stayed. She was now being thrown on a bed and pinned by this monster as he forced her legs apart. She kicked and screamed as she watched herself outside of her own body fighting with Nathaniel. His finger entered her and then two and then his long fingers were probing her insides. She twisted and pulled, tears rolling from her eyes now, and then as if the monster sensed someone coming he ran and hid, in the recesses of her mind. Hermione was back in the present now and she could see the Auror Fritz creeping silently up behind the man. Fritz lifted his wand as he rounded the hallway leading to the upstairs of the decrepit old mansion and then it was if the sinister man read her thoughts. He spun around and clapped his hands together and Fritz fell to the ground, silence taking him as he lay motionless. Hermione tried to run but Nathaniel caught her by her brown bushy hair and pulled her back into his evil clutches. With his arm wrapped snugly around her throat and her body baced aginst his, she could barely move. He stood behind her, inhaling her skin, laying his lips upon her neck and Hermione wished for death. Anything was better then being touched by this thing.

“You can’t escape me. I’m where I want to be and it’s where I will stay. Such a smart and interesting witch. I look forward to our time together Hermione. If you play nice, I’ll play nice. Remember the rules and Ill let you keep your child and husband, but he won’t own you, because I already do.” With that her wedding ring loosened as she watched, the ring falling to the floor and rolling across the hardwood floor,finally landing under the corner of an old Persian rug.

“Get away from me! Please just let me go. I don’t know you and I don’t want to know you! Please, please,” Hermione burst into tears.

“Who’s here?” Nataniel cried out now and Hermione turned to see nobody in the room. She knew Draco was somewhere and that he wouldn’t allow this to go on, yet she couldn’t see him. And Harry, what had he done to Harry?”

“Boo!” Draco’s voice shouted out and then his head appeared first followed by his shoulders, Harry’s Invisibility Cloak sliding off of his sports jacket and white button up. The man’s eyes grew wide and then once again they turned into slits as Hermione watched the man prepare to take Draco in the same way he did Blaise.

“NOOOOOOOOO! Run Draco, get away!” Everything happened in a fraction of a second, but for Hermione it seemed to last an eternity. The man’s hand ran over the necklace and then he raised his hands to Draco as Hermione fell into a heap on the floor between the two men. In a moment Hermione would have to watch as this monster took her beautiful Dragon away from her. The Invisibility cloak came all the way off now and Hermione looked up from her vantage point on the floor to see Draco’s wand pointed at Nathaniel’s face and that familiar Malfoy malevolent smile cross his lips.

“Release my wife you sickfuck…LEGILLIMENS! Hermione watched as Draco hit the monster with the spell. He probed the monsters mind, flashes of darkness swallowing him up as Draco stood, wand pointed at Nathaniel probing his mind. Nathaniel shuddered and shrieked trying to block the powerful spell with his long wiry fingers and the necklace around his neck. Hermione didn’t even know that Draco knew how to perform the spell but he looked completely in control as he held his wand steadfast at his wife’s attacker. Draco strained to keep his eyes focused and opened but Hermione could tell that what he was seeing was painful and morbid and she had questioned whether she should do something to stop it so Draco himself wasn’t damaged, but then Hermione felt him invade her mind once again. She fell face first from her knees onto the floor, her nose cracking as she hit the ground.

“HERMIONE!!” Draco ran to his wife and Nathaniel ran headfirst through the paned glass window in the sitting room. When he burst through the glass, Draco saw him turn himself into a buzzard and he flew away into the night cackling. Something about hat cackling was familiar, yet he couldn’t place it. He cradled Hermione in his arms and she slowly roused.

“Is he gone now?” A flood of tears cascaded down her face as Draco rocked Hermione in his arms.

“Shhh, Sweet pea it’s going to be alright. He’s gone now. I’m so sorry I let his happen to you,” Draco soothed his beloved wife.

“He was in my mind. Draco he forced himself on me. Draco, Draco, don’t leave me Draco! I’m scared Draco,” Hermione was in a fit of tears that would not quit.

“HERMIONE!” Harry Potter shouted as he burst through the front door. Draco glared at Harry as he continued stroking Hermione’s hair and soothing her.“I’m here ‘Mione, Draco! What happened? I was standing here and then all of a sudden I found myself inside a well without my wand. I had to claw with my fingers to get out. Oh merlin, what happened here? I’m so sorry Draco, I swore to protect her, is she okay? Hermione are you alright. I don’t know how he did it. He didn’t have a wand. Suddenly there he was and then I was in the muck and the water and there were rats and where did he go? I can catch him! Blaise…Fritz!” Harry was slowly realizing what had happened, but Draco couldn’t deal with catching him or any of Harry’s questions. Hermione was crying and all Draco could do was pick her up and cradle her in his arms.

“We are going home. Please assemble the Aurors to comb this place. Blaise and Fritz are still alive, but he did something to their minds. St. Mungo’s should be called too. Please do this for me. My place is with my wife,” Draco said lifting the trembling and sobbing Hermione into his arms.

“Yes, I will. Anything. I’ll do anything I can to help. Take care of Hermione. I love you Hermione it’s going to be alright,” Harry was crying too, now more out of anger and frustration for what he had allowed to happen to his best friend Hermione Granger Malfoy. Draco gave him a questioning look when he proclaimed his love for Hermione but then spun on his feet again and again until he finally reached Malfoy Manor,home.

“Draco! What happened to you? Hermione…is she alright?” Narcissa Malfoy hovered over Draco in the foyer. Lucius sauntered into the room as well and with wide eyed shock sprang into action.

“Take her to the bathroom Draco. You must hurry! Put her into the tub, it will cloud the images she is receiving. Hurry Draco or your wife will be lost!”

At his words Draco felt his heart thudding in his chest. How could Father know this information. He never shared Ministry information with his father. Then Draco’s eyes fell on his mother, so worried and trembling herself. There was no time to figure this out now. He scaled the staircase and burst into the first bathroom he came to.

He put Hermione into a warm bubble bath, hoping to bring her around. She wasn’t crying anymore, which would normally be good except for the fact that now she was staring off into space, as if in a world of her own. Draco tore his own clothes off when he couldn’t rouse her from her catatonic state and got into the tub behind her.

“I love you my beautiful Hermione. Come on Sweet pea talk to me. It’s Draco, your husband. Come on baby. Fight it. Baby it’s going to be alright,” Draco repeated over and over again kissing her face and holding her tight. She sunk into his chest at long last and squeezed him tightly, her stare fixated on the wall though. He would stay with her until she was better, assuring her, holding her and loving her and he knew he would find Nathaniel and make him pay. He would pay with his life for what he had done today. It scared Draco at just how much he wanted to kill the man who did this to Hermione, and Blaise and Fritz. In between his soft and gentle words to Hermione he saw himself using the killing curse against Nathaniel. He wanted revenge.

Review!?

Okay so I wrote this chapter last night and was up until 4am writing it lol I KNEW though I had to finish it. I was afraid I’d have bad dreams if I left it midway through. So for purposes of creating intrigue for next chapter I probably should have stopped this chapter sooner….but its a disturbing chapter , I realize that and I didn’t want to leave anyone scared. I hope nobody reads this chapter before bed. It’s the darkest of this nature in the story (probably, though obviously there will be more scenes with Nathaniel) but it isn’t the end of the darkness for Draco and Hermione, unfortunately. Hope to touch on emotions and feelings after one spouse suffers an attack. It should be good if you like fics that have some darkness to them. To each his own. Thanks for reading and reviewing me. It’s why I write! Love feedback. I will also probably update Merlin's Coven today too.