Understanding

You know the drill, Harry Potter belongs to Evanescence, blah, blah, blah...


Understanding
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Surrender

****Is this real enough for you?
You were so confused
You can't abandon me
You belong to me
Breathe in and take my life in you
No longer myself, only you
There's no escaping me, my love
Surrender
Darling, there's no sense in running
You know I will find you
Everything is perfect n We We can live forever
You can't abandon me
You belong to me
Breathe in and take my life in you
No longer myself, only you
There's no escaping me, my love
Surrender****

Racing toward the Headmaster's office, I did not even notice the way that the students openly gaped at and commented on me. I knew my cloak and robes were billowing out behind me, and that I should have been a very imposing, threatening figure. The students should have been running or ducking or something, but instead they all stood transfixed, pointing.

Severus Snape, meanest SOB on the planet was crying.

Not big emotional sobs or even anything particularly noticeable, but tears indeed ran down my face unknown to me.

Knocking on Albus' door, I did not even wait for an answer before letting myself in.

"Aah, Severus," he began cordially, but upon seeing my face he immediately sobered. "What is it?"

Unable to speak, I merely handed him the letter. The Headmaster read it over thoroughly- at least twice, adjusting the half-moon spectacles as he went. Finally, he gazed at me again, over the edge of the parchment.

"I will get my cloak."

Those were the last words spoken between us until we stepped foot on Hermione's property. We had flooed directly as it was much faster than walking to Hogsmeade and then apparating. Stepping out of the fireplace, I realized we were notne ane and pulled Albus back just as a police officer crossed our path. Albus, regrettably, knew little of Muggle culture, but I, as a double agent and Death Eater, had been exposed to the Muggle law enforcement before. I muttered a quick incantation causing a decorative plate to fall off a shelf on the opposite wall to distract the officer. He moved just as I had expected, and Albus and I took the opportunity to step out of the fireplace.

I cannot express the horror the crime scene invoked in me. All around me Hermione's things were strewn haphazardly, and I gaped openly at the sight of the smashed window. I'm still not sure how we cleared the police, but we made fairly short work of them with several well-placed "Obliviates." As the police left, we began our own investigation, searching the house for any clues of where the two could be and what, if anything, Draco had done to Hermione. With a flick of his wand, the Headmaster had repaired the very, very destroyed window, and I began to hunt high and low.

If Draco Malfoy wanted to play, we were going to play. And I was going to castrate the little fucker just to watch him suffer before he died.

I planned on killing him shortly thereafter. Or maybe I'd let Hermione do it.

For an hour we searched but came up empty handed. There was nothing we found that could link Draco to any particular place in the world. How was I supposed to come after him if he didn't tell me where to go? I became increasingly agitated at the little bits of evidence that made me believe he'd hurt Hermione. Little splatters of blood along the wall outside the bathroom, the fact that her wand was still lying untouched on her bedside table. I didn't want to give up hope, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as I searched and re-searched rooms, coming up empty handed in each one.

It was at exaclty midnight that a tiny owl flew into an open window and landed in front of me at the kitchen table. Eyes darting toward Dumbledore, I eagerly grabbed the scroll off the bird's leg. My eyes danced over the parchment, though I couldn't believe what I was reading.

That little fuck!

"What is it, Severus? Where is he?"

My dead, disbelieving eyes met his as I muttered an answer that felt like a lie even as it escaped my lips.

"Snape Manor."

"But- there's nothing there. You never rebuilt, did you?"

Disgustedly, I shook my head. Of all the places in the world, Draco Malfoy had to pick the one I wanted to go to least to pick a fight with me. I would rather have gone to Siberia, Alcatraz, for God's sake even Cleveland to visit Hermione's insane family before I went to Snape Manor. There was nothing there except the burned out remains of the family home, but the grounds were massive and expansive. Not to mention not taken care of for almost twenty-five years. It would have been easier to locate Hermione in the Forbidden Forest.

As if reading my mind, Dumbledore reached across the table and gently rubbed my hand.

"It will be difficult, but we will find her. Draco Malfoy will be dealt with once and for all, Severus. You must not give up hope. Hermione is counting on you, and once again, the fate of the wizarding world is depending on you. Draco may not be as powerful as Voldemort yet, but if he can manage to defeat us tonight, he will be well on his way to becoming the next Dark Lord."

The old man was right. He was always right in matters of warfare. Matters of the heart, he was an absolute fuck-up, but he was quite infallible when it came to battle stategy and the innerworkings of sociopaths. I looked into his eyes, once again determined, and simply replied.

"Well, then. Off to Snape Manor."

Arriving at the gate to the property that technically was still mine, I was immediately chilled. The cold night and bright moonlight cast an eerie glow over the already skeletal remain of my childhood home. It would have been so easy in that time to simply regress into memories of that childhood, to rehash the guilt I felt over my family's deaths, but I knew I could not concentrate on that right now. That was my past, as painful as it was to admit and put behind me. Snape Manor and its residents were my past and there was nothing I could do to save any of them. Hermione was my future, and she was the only thing keeping me from running the other way as fast as I could.

I gazed at Dumbledore as he popped into being next to me. He was the light and Draco the darkness. Once again, he and I were setting out to save the world, if on a greatly smaller scale than the last time. It felt good to be fighting openly next to him. I had only been able to do that for a matter of hours before. Now that my true colors had been shown, it felt like a validation to stand proudly beside him and fight evil. It felt like a redemption.

Nodding at me, the old man moved onto the property and we began to make our way into the forest that had grown out of control in the absence of any human inhabitants.

"Point me Hermione Granger," Dumbledore ordered, but his wand only spun in circles wildly. Obviously not as dumb as we thought you were, eh Draco? I shrugged my shoulders and continued on my trek, relying on nothing but instinct. I guessed we'd have to track her the hard way. Dumbledore was inspecting sticks and undergrowth, looking for anything turned down or cut away that would indicate anyone had been there recently. But as it turned out, we would need none of his very limited tracking skills. As we entered a particularly dark part of the forest, a blood-curdling scream cut through the silence.

We had located Hermione.

****************
"Oh, Mudblood, what on earth am I going to do with you?"

I had no idea where Draco had taken us as he had kept up a steady regimen of Crucios the whole time we'd been here and it was pretty much making my eyes useless. I had blacked out for several seconds, but currently I was sitting tied to a straight-backed chair. My arms were shackled behind me and my legs were spread-eagled and tied to the front legs of the chair. He had not gagged me, but in the few seconds I'd been conscious and coherent I had not had the energy to speak. Groggily, I licked my dry, bleeding lips and surveyed my surroundings. We were in a dirty, dusty, obviously long-unused shack. From the view out the grimy windows, I could see nothing but trees, leading me to believe we were in a forest somewhere.

That's great, Granger.

A forest.

We could be anywhere in the whole fucking world, and the best description you can come up with is "a forest?"

"Oh, Mudblood, Mudblood, Mudblood," Malfoy crooned in a creepy kind of singsong voice. He moved close to me and brushed a stray lock of hair out of my eyes. I flinched and whimpered, but he simply moved closer.

"Don't be afraid, Mudblood. I'm not going to kill you. What use to me are you if you're dead?" I closed my eyes briefly, almost relieved. Seeing this, Malfoy chuckled. "Oh, I won't kill you. There are so many more interesting ways to make you pay." At this, my eyes flew wide open and I was sure I knew exaclty what Malfoy had in mind to make me pay. He was a tall boy, and with me in a sitting position, his erection was at exactly the right height, tenting his pants and pointing ominously at me.

I immediately understood why I had not been gagged.

He smirked at me, knowing that I had caught his intentions. Slowly unbuttoning his pants, he glared at me as though I was the most despicable creature in the world. I licked my lips because they were dry, but Draco obviously thought I had other intentions.

"Can't wait for it, can you Granger? Well, if you insist..." Smiling darkly, he grabbed the back of my head with one hand and shoved it toward his cock. Unwillingly, I took in his length and began to choke. "Suck it, bitch!" I could not do anything at that point, even if I wanted to. He had shoved himself so far into my mouth that tears streamed down my face aga my my will and I kept gagging.

In my life, I have always prided myself on being a quick thinker. My whole life, Hermione Granger had been the smart one, the intuitive one, the one who saved everyone else's asses. In the few seconds I sat there gagging on Malfoy's dick, my mind quickly formulated a plot, and though I did not like it, it was the only thing I could think of that may save me. Slowly, I fought against my every instinct and began sucking his dick in earnest.

Soon the little bastard (okay, so he wasn't that little) was grunting and groaning and moving himself in and out y moy mouth in a steady rythm. As he pulled out of my mouth one time, I quickly closed my mouth and refused him reentry.

"Draco," I began as sweetly and as innocently as I could, batting my eyelashes and licking my lips. "I... I want to do... more for you, but I can't really get a good... erm... grip with my hands tied behind my back."

"Nice try, Mudblood, but do you really think I'm that stupid?" Suppressing every urge to vomit, I slowly leaned as far forward as I could and gently licked the tip of his oozing erection. Malfoy shivered and moaned, but I pulled away from him.

"I only want to make you happy, Draco. I meas los long as you'll be keeping me captive, we may as well enjoy each other's company." I smiled evilly as I gazed into his reluctant eyes. I knew he did not want to untie me, but at the same time I knew his ego and his sex drive would overpower all of his logic. Slowly and hesitantly he bent to unfasten the ties around my wrists, and I put on quite a show for hioanioaning and sighing every time his fingers grazed my skin.

"Well, well, Mudblood. It seems there is much I never knew about you."

"Oh, Draco, you have no idea," I muttered as I once again began to suck his dick. It was disgusting and gross, but he was so enthralled by it that he never even noticed my hands were nowhere near him. He was so entranced by the feel of my mouth on him that he never even noticed that my hands had fallen to my sides and were working desperately to untie the bonds at my feet. In fact, I think that Draco Malfoy had completely bought into my little act until the exact moment I freed my ankles and bit down hard on that wretched erection.

I tasted blood in my mouth as Draco sprang back away from me. His face had gone completely white and his mouth gaped as though he wanted to scream but could not formulate a sound. I really didn't care what the fuck Draco wanted; I just wanted to get the fuck away from him. Running toward him, he tried lamely to grab at me but missed, and I took the opportunity to kick him square in the chest. Panting and gasping for air, Draco fell backward and stumbled out of my way. As I reached the door I looked back (don't ask me why- maybe I could get cast in a slasher flick someday) only to see him bleeding now not only from his now-flacid member but also from the mouth.

I ran as fast and as far as I could from him, but it wasn't long before I heard him coming up behind me, thrashing through the undergrowth and screaming "Mudblood" at the top of his lungs. To complicate matters, I had forgotten all about the ankle I had turned when I crashed through my window when conjuring my escape plan, and I was limping heavily. The forest was very dark, and I could barely see my hands in front of my face, but I continued on, knowing that Draco must be having the same visual difficulties as I was. It felt like I had run miles around the forest, but I kept finding myself in familiar places, whether because I was really running in circles or just because it was a forest everything looked, well, forest-y I would never know.

It had been at least a half hour when I thought I had finally lost him. Slumping down on a fallen tree, I began to weep openly. I didn't want to die- honestly I didn't! But I could not think of there being any other way that this would end. Perhaps if I could avoid him until dawn I could find my way out of the forest in the light, but even if I did, what if I had no idea where I was? I couldn't apparate. What if I happened to come out of the forest into some city with no discernable trace of magic anywhere near it? I couldn't simply walk up to a house and ask to use their fireplace like I would ask to use a telephone! All at once, every emotion I had shoved away since this whole ordeal began surged forward, and I sat with my head in my hands, weeping openly and loudly. I felt rather like Alice in the forest of the Cheshire Cat. Nowhere to go and no one to go to.

But Draco had mentioned something about Severus, that Severus would be coming to save me. If that were the case, then I should have stayed at the little shack. Surely, Draco would tell Severus where to come. Suddenly everything seemed completely lost to me. I was lost, I was hurt, and I was scared. And if Severus did come to find me, I would not be at the shack where Draco had hidden me. Even if Severus came to save me, I would be damned. He wouldn't find me. I was lost.

But just as I gave up hope completely, I heard the footsteps behind me once again. Standing and turning to meet my aggressor, I met the cold gray eyes of Draco Malfoy, now clothed and quite, quite angry at me. Malfoy charged at me, and before I could react, he had pinned me against a tree, pressing tight against me (though I realized with some pleasure that he was... uh... at half-staff, shall we say?). Holding my head against the tree with one still surprisingly strong hand, Malfoy crushed his lips to mine, sticking his tongue in my mouth and savagely spreading my legs with his other hand.

"You think you're funny, don't you, Granger? You think you're cute! I am going to make you pay every last second of your pathetically short life! I'm going to make you scream like your filthy Muggle mother did!" He was snarling and spitting, and as he once again moved against me, his bit clear through my lower lip, causing immense pain and much gushing of blood. In that instant, I let out the only scream I'd made the entire time, letting my voice echo through the woods and hearing the birds I'd frightened take flight. Almost instantly, Draco shoved his hand to my mouth to silence me, but I was answered by the sweetest sound I'd ever heard in my life.

"Hermione!"

My black knight had arrived.

**********************A/N***************************
THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!! My vacation is almost over, so updates of this and "Goodnight, Demon Slayer" will both slow down, but keep the faith- there is light at the end of this tunnel, and it is rapidly approaching!

Zephyr: Thanks!

GrrArrg: Why, yes, yes I am feeling pretty pleased right now! Why do you ask? And, yeah, I will hit you, baby, one more time, but only if you make me zig-a-zig-ah! Glad you liked the Listerine, JT, and Officer Garcia (MY DEPUTY GARCIA! Had another nasty dream about him... must get professional help, I think). PLEASE don't move! You may miss the climax of the story while you're unplugged! And I don't think I could live without reviews from you, even if you DID ask Zephyr to babysit me! Y she she told me... Think I'm a bit codependent, do you? Well, you're right!

Deb: Thank you! Actually Hermione's habits are pretty much mine- can't do it for myself- downright infuriating in fact! Oh, and we got 6-8 inches depending on which dumb-ass, I mean, weatherman you ask! Now it's thundering!

JennD: Thanks! Just FYI, Draco owled Severus while Hermione was showering. Cocky bastard.

spaz141: Thank you! But Hermione is just a bit flabby. One does get a bit pudgy when mourning and that you want to eat is crap. Especially since she's never left the house, so she must be ordering in a lot. Hermione's weight gain is best characterized by a line I heard in a promo for "Eight Simple Rules" after John Ritter died: "Can't anyone say 'we're there for you' with a salad?"

Jamie: Thanks!

slytheringriffendor21: Oh, don't worry, the fight's coming!

Sarahe: Thanks!

ArienAstera: Oh, Doughnuts of Justice for you! Glad to know another lover of the force! And thank you, I love you, too!

Droxy: Thanks! I love evil Malfoys too! I hate reformed ones. Some people are just born to be bad! Glad you like it!