Burn it to the Ground
The Truth About Midnight
Chapter 3: The Truth About Midnight
Hermione choked a sob and desperately tried to wipe the blood out of her eyes that was clouding her vision. She barely registered her feet tripping under her as she desperately tried to regain her footing in order to avoid the onslaught of curses being fired her way. Her eyes frantically searched around and in the corner of her vision she caught sight of Zachary Smith falling to a bundle on the ground after a streak of green light exploded over his body.
Shit.
Where in the hell was Harry and Ron.
She had told Harry that they hadn't planned this correctly, that they needed more time. Harry had insisted that they were ready to try and retrieve the sword from Gringotts, but the entire operation was blown and had turned into a full blown massacre. The DA members and the few adults that had accompanied them had not been prepared for the cloaked figures to appear on such short notice, almost as if they had known their plan was being put into motion at this very second.
Hermione took a sharp right and almost collided with another witch trying desperately to claw her way through the chaos. A masked figure appeared in front of the both of them and Hermione had her wand at the ready before the other witch in front of her could blink.
“Sectumempra!” she shouted. The masked figure fell to the ground and withered in pain. She didn't even glance back at the other woman and sprinted towards the main opening to the Ministry. Her thoughts were only on Harry and Ron and the other DA members, where in the hell were they? How did she manage to lose every god damn one of them?
She caught sight of Harry near the Ministry steps, Remus Lupin was fighting two masked figures at the bottom of the stone slabs. She could see Harry hovering over a body, his arm movements near hysterical. Cho Chang and Neville Longbottom stood off to the far right, shouting out defensive spells as fast as their lips would form them.
“Stupefy!” one of the death eaters in front of Remus fell as Hermione shot her spell at his opponents back. He turned to the remaining death eater and shot out a well aimed defensive spell. Hermione pushed her way past the Remus and rushed up the stairs. She spotted Harry now hugging the fallen figure to his chest, She could barely make out a mop of red hair.
No, no, no
Luna was rushing from the top of the ministry steps trying to make her way to Harry as well. Her usually passive dream like state had switched to one of horror Lucius Malfoy appeared from her right, grabbed her, and apparated away as if he was never there in the first place.
This entire situation could not be happening, it had to be dream. The reality of watching her friends one by one fall before her was almost too much. Almost.
Wake up Hermione
She reached Harry and fell to her knees next to him. Tears were streaming down his dirty face as he shook Ron violently. “Fuck! Ron, Wake up!” he screamed. The red head remained as lifeless as a ragdoll, unresponsive to Harry's pain.
Hermione felt a cold chill run down to the tips of her toes as the severity of the situation fell on her soul. She tried to reach for Ron to grab him from Harry's arms, but her remaining best friend was in a violent frenzy. “No, he's not dead Hermione! He just needs to wake up! God damn it!” he shrieked.
She grabbed Harry's face and slapped him as hard as she could. He blinked slowly and let out a retching sob. There was no more time. She glanced around and saw the hooded figures slowly appearing in larger numbers. They had to get out of here if they wanted to make it out of this one alive. She reached her hands out to steady herself on both of their bodies and concentrated on the pulling from her belly as darkness took over her vision.
Think, concentrate, 12 Grimmwald Place...
When she opened her eyes she was greeted by the sound of Molly Weasley's chilling scream. “Ron, RON!”
She felt her body sink slowly to the floor and barely had time to register Harry's arms gathering her close trying to pad her fall. She felt nothing as she watched the horrifying scene before her. Why could she only feel the numb tingle of loss. She looked up with empty eyes as she watched Molly and Arthur
sob over the broken body of their youngest son. Cho and Lavender cried silently from the kitchen doorway, dirt still covering their bodies from the previous fight near the Ministry. Neville held Ginny as she sobbed into the older boys shoulder, inconsolable at the sight of her fallen older brother.
My best friend is gone, he's gone forever, why can't you feel it...
She looked into Harry's face with a blank startled expression, but his eyes were focused on the figure at the far corner of the room. Malfoy stood silently with arms crossed watching the scene before him with mild interest. The shock of the chaos seemed to effect him little, as if seeing such an uproar was a daily ritual for him.
She could hear Remus trying to console Molly over the ringing in her ears. “We can bury him tomorrow before dawn Molly, the death eaters are blood thirsty right now, they have at Luna and at least two of the other Order members. We need to let the dust settle for the night.” Her voice was incoherent, but the adults slowly made their way to one of the side rooms with his body, heavy locking charms could be heard from the other side of the door.
Harry stood up from his spot of the floor and rushed the door, pounding and aiming charms at the door handle, but failing. “Let me in! Let me see him!” Harry screamed.
His behavior only seemed to rile the younger Order members even more. This made the war more material to them, more real. There was no more “on the run” adventures, only fighting and death. Blood was being spilled, and for those who survived the death eater captures, who knew at this point. Their savior was nothing more than a jumbled mess before them at the sight of his fallen comrade.
The air around them seemed to suffocate all hope, this was happening, this was real.
Then why didn't it feel real to Hermione Granger.
The group that had gathered after the fight slowly started to disperse about the house. Most of them making their way to their rooms to clean up or mourn alone. Harry disappeared down the hall to his room. The locking charms he placed could be heard all the way from downstairs where Hermione still sat puddled at the front hallway. She glanced at her blood covered fingers and gripped the fabric of her jeans until her knuckles turned a soft white. By the time she looked up from the stains on her hands everyone around her was gone besides one person.
Draco Malfoy stood in the exact spot she had seen him earlier when she had followed Harry's gaze. His expression was unchanged but his eyes watched her with mild interest. She locked her brown gaze to his own and she felt a boiling anger inside of her at his entire manner. How much had he really seen while with < i>them.
He broke the silence with a nervous sigh. He couldn't stand looking at her like this. She looked like some kind of broken doll. He craved her anger, her insanity, her nagging, her pain, anything but Hermione Granger's silence. He needed it, he craved his own normalcy. The mudblood could provide something that no one else could give him. A real mental battle, thus, contact with the outside world and reality, away from his own deprived thoughts. What had happened to her?
“You look like shite Granger, clean yourself up, no need to appear dirtier than you already are.” He was shocked when she rose to her feet on shaky feet and turned on her heel to make her way up the stairs.
“Nothing to say for yourself?” he sputtered.
Hermione stopped on the third step and seemed to falter. She pushed her way up and continued until she heard Malfoy's voice again. “Meet me in the kitchen when you've cleaned up.” Hermione turned slightly to look at him with a cold gaze and started to make her way to her room, leaving him to stare up the stairs in her wake.
She padded down the hall as if she were in a daze. Everything felt soft and fuzzy around her. She turned the handle to her room and closed it as quietly as possible. She crossed the soft carpet and slipped into the bathroom that resided in the far right corner of her bedroom. After casting a quick Silencio she tossed her wand to the floor. She slipped off her trainers and socks, they stuck to her skin with a thin layer of blood and sweat.
Hermione continued stripping until she stood in only her bra and knickers. With the turn of her head upwards her eyes came in contact with her near nude body. She could only stare for a few seconds before she slowly closed her eyes and visions played behind her eyes
Finger tips and hands bruised her inner thighs. Her body snapped backwards as a hand slapped the side of her cheek bringing the tang of blood to her mouth. Her back arched as the slashing curse sliced through her right breast. Rough hands ripped at her delicate flesh. Blood. Blood. Blood
Hermione's eyes snapped back open and she gazed back at her form in the mirrors reflection. Her eyes moved down as she studied the small slashes that covered her pale thighs. She stepped forward and opened the mirror cabinet and grabbed a small plastic case from behind her toothpaste. She slowly opened the corner of the container to reveal a small blade.
Hot wet breath in her ear and on the side of her neck. Crawling on the bloody dirty floor naked, retching bile with no substance. Multiple hands gripping her hips and legs. Cold blood running down her thighs.
She felt the sharp edge kiss the skin of her inner thigh and the sight of the blossoming red bubble caused her to sob in relief and anguish. The entire battle and Ron's death hit her at full force and she collapsed to the ground gasping for air. The blade dropped from her fingers with the lightest clink on the hard tiled floor. Hermione's hands began to shake as she clenched her fists and let out an anguished scream that was muffled by the tears and snot running down her reddened face. She didn't know how long she lay there on the ground and cried before she dragged herself into the shower.
Draco glanced at the clock as it chimed midnight. He hadn't left the downstairs area since the entire house had erupted into chaos. He felt uncomfortable being left to fend for himself by Snape, But he knew the man had other responsibilities tonight. Like explaining Draco's mysterious disappearance. He had a feeling that it wasn't going so great, judging by how long he had been gone Draco could only guess that The Dark Lord was not pleased. He only hoped that Snape would make it back to The Order before Voldermort sniffed him out.
Draco set his feet up on the table top and eyed out the drawer he had seen Granger grab the smokes out of the night before. He moved his left hand to open the small handle and grabbed the package out of it's dark hiding place. Just as he was about to pull one out a noise from the archway to the kitchen caused him to glance over.
“It's rude to take without asking Malfoy.” she whispered. Hermione stood with her arms crossed in the doorway wearing the same tights and tee-shirt he had seen her in the night before. Her hair was still wet from her shower, it dangled lifelessly over her narrow shoulders.
He couldn't help but try to lighten the mood and smirked. “Don't get your knickers in a bunch Granger, I'll get your fix started up to.” He pulled two cigarettes out of the pack and lit them both with the tip of his wand. Draco leaned back into his chair and loosely held one of the fags out to her.
She slowly padded forward and reached for it, taking it to her mouth and inhaling a long drag. She stood there for a moment, observing the boy she had grown up with. His features were shadowed by the dimly lit kitchen, making him appear somewhat older and more deadly than she recalled.
She padded her way around his chair without a second glance and filled the kettle up with water that was resting on the counter. Once it was on the stove she took a seat in the chair Draco had used the night before and stared openly at him through the cloud of smoke.
“So tell me Granger, was that how most of The Orders missions are carried out? I can't really say that was a sterling example of organization.” His voice had a bite to it, but he couldn't help relaxing slightly when he realized she had completely ignored his question and wasn't going to respond.
He couldn't help the words that slipped out of his mouth “Sorry about Weasley.”
Where the hell did that come from...
Hermione glanced up at him and her eyes turned cold as and took another drag of her cigarette. “What happened to you with them Malfoy, why are you even here?.” Her blunt question caused Malfoy to scowl and and his jaw to tighten.
The loud whistle of the kettle broke his stare and he moved to make two cups of tea. He set his cup lightly down at his seat and slowly leaned over Hermione, slamming the cup of tea in front her, causing the hot brown liquid to slosh out. She felt her body go rigid, but tried to not let it show in her facial expression. She could feel his hot breath on the side of her ear, tickling the small hairs near the nape of her neck. His lips barely brushed the side of her ear and she could barely make out his cold whisper.
“I don't know Granger, maybe I'll tell you if you tell me what really happened when my father and Bella captured you. Word was that you didn't escape for weeks.
Before her could say anything else Hermione had turned her chair and slapped him across the face as hard as her palm would allow, causing his head to rear to the right. Draco swiveled his head back towards her with anger filling his eyes ready to scream obscenities, but she was already out of the chair and running down the hall and up the stairs as fast as her legs would take her.
Authors Notes: Thanks for all the reviews guys, love reading them! Chapter four will be out soon enough.