You Raise Me Up

golden_skyblue22 - I am now convinced you are the evil ghost of my english teacher. Mrs. Moore...you need to let it go. Attacking my writing in class was one thing...but following me to a Harry Potter fanfiction sight? Sad...just sad....wait....put the whip away...NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! (J/K, by the way...but really...are there that many errors?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days were relatively easy. Lucius had a room set up that they could use as a ‘classroom,’ and Hermione had Harry go to Muggle London and buy Muggle school supplies, since it would be appropriate. She was surprised that Narcissa and Draco had sat in on her ‘teachings’ as well, and even more surprised that Draco actually seemed interested in what she was saying.

After class on her fourth day, Lucius and Narcissa disappeared somewhere on the grounds. Hermione suspected it was to shag like bunnies. They were like randy teenagers, and not at all like she had thought they would be.

Lucius, however distant he appeared, was a quick learner. She supposed it was that Slytherin self-preservation that was kicking in, but he was a very dedicated student. Narcissa was very good as well. She was smart, much to Hermione’s surprise, and would often ask questions to better complete her notes. Draco was an enigma. He was like he had been in classes. He would sit quietly and listen to her as she spoke, and when she was through he would go through the same work as his parents, and turn it in. When she would return his work, he would flash her a handsome smile if he got good marks, but frown when he did badly.

Things seemed to be going quite well. She was at present sitting in the foyer of Malfoy Manor, sketching the large door. It seemed so mundane to some, but Hermione found the door amazing. There were runes carved into it for protection, and other sorts of spells engraved that would protect the entrance of the large and ancient Manor house. She hummed to herself while she worked, and enjoyed herself thoroughly copying and translating the runes.

After she had done the work, she set aside the sketch pad, and just sat in the floor, thinking about how her stay was. She was fairly positive Narcissa Malfoy had had a conniption when she had walked into ‘class’ wearing Harry’s red Gryffindor sweatpants and a large white t-shirt. The Lady of the Manor had murmured something along the lines of ‘un-lady-like apparel’ and had frowned. But Lucius had leaned over and whispered something in her ear, and she had giggled like a school-girl, blushing feverishly. Draco had shuddered, and tried his best to ignore them.

Hermione laughed softly to herself. This was a strange family, but she could tell they were close. Hermione was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed the soft tapping at the door. Her head spun towards the large door, and she waited for a moment, expecting a house-elf to open the door. The tapping came again. It was faint, but she had clearly heard it. She stood nervously, and approached the door. She took hold of the large handle, and pulled. The sight before her nearly made her scream.

Even through the mess Hermione recognized Bellatrix Lestrange. Those deep black eyes…that thick black hair. But it was actually her appearance that was the most shocking. Her face was covered in blood both dry and fresh. One of her eyes was swollen nearly completely shut, and terribly blackened. Her nose had obviously been pouring blood at some time, as there was a thick layer of dried blood on her upper lip. Her bottom lip was swollen, and there was a strange curved wound that looked remarkably like teeth marks.

She looked mildly surprised to see Hermione, but then she opened her mouth to speak. Blood and saliva dripped down her chin. “He…lp. P-plea….se…” she murmured. Hermione was rooted to her spot in fear. Bellatrix Lestrange was standing in front of her. She knew the woman knew her name, as she had been face-to-face with her several times. She had seen the tall, proud Pureblood several times, and she looked nothing like the bloody mess in front of her. Bellatrix swayed on her feet, and started to fall forward. Hermione drew her wand quickly.

“Mobilicorpus!” Hermione cried, and Bellatrix’s body froze in its place, floating gently from the spell. She gasped loudly as Bellatrix’s tilted form allowed Hermione to see her back. Her robes were ripped and tattered, and stained with blood, and what appeared to be whip lashes covered her back in a terrible criss-cross pattern. Without a word Hermione levitated the battered witch to the closest room, which happened to be the library. She transfigured the sofa into a small cot, and placed Bellatrix on it. Hermione looked at Bellatrix’s face, and saw that the woman was out cold.

Her heart got in the way of her brain, and she used her wand to gently open up the back of Bellatrix’s tattered robes. She had to put her hand over her mouth and turn away for a moment to keep from losing her lunch. Some of the wounds had begun to heal, but the cloth pulled away the scabs, and tore them open again. There were places that were clearly beginning to become infected, and smelled terrible.

Hermione cast a basic numbing spell on Bellatrix’s back. “Scourgify!” she murmured, and watched as the bubbles wiped away the blood and dirt, leaving the wounds clean, and the untouched flesh slightly pink. She lowered her wand directly onto the injured flesh. “Episky!” Very few of the lashes were minor enough to heal, but some did, leaving only the deepest and most painful gashes behind. She pointed her wand at Bellatrix’s face. “Turgeo.” She said, and the blood siphoned off, leaving only bruises. When she was satisfied she had done what she could for the woman, she called on a house-elf.

One of the small creatures appeared immediately, and squeaked in terror when it saw the wounded Bellatrix. “Miss needs Grippa?” the elf asked, trembling in fear.

“I need you to go get Master Lucius and Lady Narcissa.” She said, and the elf disappeared with a nod. Hermione took off her outer robes, and gently covered Bellatrix’s bared, filthy legs.

A few minutes later, Narcissa and Lucius appeared in the doorway. Narcissa howled, and then was at her sister’s side immediately, and Lucius took Hermione firmly by the arm and led her off to the side.

“How did she get here?” he asked, clearly straining to keep calm.

“She came to the front door, sir.” Hermione said, beginning to get a little nervous.

“And you let her in? Are you daft?” he asked.

“She asked for help…” Hermione replied. He couldn’t hide the look of surprise on his face.

Hearing Narcissa’s cry, Draco came running. He stopped at the door. “Oh…my…” he said, looking at the horrible stripes on his aunt’s back. He looked at his mother, and then his eyes found his father, talking to Hermione.

“Lucius!” Narcissa called. “Lucius, she’s awake! She wants to talk to you!” Narcissa called. Lucius let go of Hermione’s arm, and went to Bellatrix’s side. Draco approached his mother and father. After a few minutes, Lucius left the room, and Draco turned to Hermione. We walked over to her, a look of disbelief on his face.

“You helped her…” he said. Hermione shrugged.

“She asked for help…” she said, as if it explained it all. Draco smiled, and shook his head.

“You’re unbelievable, Granger…” he said. She smiled back.

“That’s me…unbelievable.” She said gently. Hermione looked over and watched Narcissa stroke her sister’s face. “Where did your father go?” Hermione asked.

“To contact the Minister.” Draco said. Hermione’s eyes widened. “She asked him to. She wants to make a deal. She knows where all of the escaped Death Eaters are. They did that to her, and she is willing to turn them in…for…er..” but he paused, and looked at Hermione.

“For what?” she asked.

“For the same chance my father got…” he said. Hermione’s eyes widened.

“She wants to learn about Muggles?” she asked. He nodded. “Oh gods…am I starting up the fucking Death Eater Academy?” she asked. Draco snorted.

“Not likely…” he said.

Hermione sighed. This was starting to turn out worse than she expected. She slumped into a nearby chair. Draco went behind her chair, and rested his hands on her shoulders. He felt her stiffen under his hands. “Relax…” he whispered gently, and began to message her shoulders. Her mouth formed a soft ‘oh,’ and she melted beneath his fingers. “Better?” he asked gently. She could do nothing but nod. Better? It felt like bloody heaven!

This continued for a few minutes, until there was a commotion outside the door.

“Malfoy, I don’t know why you called me here, but if this is some sort of pointless proposal for more time, it won’t work! If you can’t handle the studies, you’ll face the Kiss…” said Percy, clearly angry.

“Minister…I assure you this has nothing to do with my sentencing…you will want to see this…” said another voice, presumably Lucius.

Percy walked into the library, clearly ready to say something else. He paused in his place when he saw Bellatrix. “Sweet Merlin!” Percy cried, and took a step back.

“Please, Minister…I think you’ll want to hear her out…” Narcissa said softly.

“How long has she been here? This doesn’t look good for you, Malfoy…” Percy was absolutely livid.

“She just got here, Minister…” Hermione said. Percy turned to her.

“Miss Granger…you are becoming a nuisance…” he said.

“Min…Minister…” Percy turned his head to where Bellatrix was resting. He then looked up, as if asking for divine strength.

“You all better have one bloody good explanation!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Death Eater Academy....priceless...

Keep those reviews coming...I think I might have a good teaser on the way in the next chapter...yay...nekkie time...