Finders Keepers

Watching in horror – Hermione couldn’t look away as Herbert grasped the relic in his hands – eyes watering in some emotion. She didn’t know if it was happiness at getting what he wanted or if he was just plain crazy. The frustration at not being able to stop him was starting to make her furious. Sure, the world wasn’t perfect, never was and never would be – but what gave him the right to change everything? Who was he to decide the past was his to meddle in. In the last fifteen years she had gone through more heartbreak, fear and horror to last three lifetimes and not once had she considered changing it. It was what made her Hermione Granger. Taking away that part of her would be like cheating herself, making her an emotionless drone who had experienced nothing more than the frustration and heartache of not scoring perfectly on her OWLS.

“Finally, Brother – we can make you whole.” Herbert grasped Raul’s forearm and squeezed it in brotherly love. Hermione wondered what he meant.

She tried moving, but the hired goon was holding her tightly, he felt her testing her restraints and leant down whispering in her ear. “I’m going to have fun teaching you a lesson.”

Hermione stiffened at the voice – it was the German she’d knocked
out in the forest – could this get any more perfect? She slammed her head back and connected with his nose. Immediately his grip loosened, but before she could make a move – he lashed out smacking the side of her head. The blow made her stagger – he could sure pack a punch, she thought as she fell to one knee. He grasped the scruff of her jumper and held her in that position.
Hermione felt a little more than degraded and it made her livid.
She saw Draco watching her – something running over his face, it dawned a second later – he was also furious, furious at the German holding her. Her chest gave an unintentional squeeze and she gave him a small half-smile to let him know she was fine – so far. Maybe he wasn’t as indifferent to her as she thought.

Suddenly Raul was right in front of Hermione watching her with assessing eyes. Her stomach lurched; he sneered and reached out to touch her face, Hermione couldn’t help it and doubled over dry-retching, grateful the German let her have this much dignity and let her go. Thankfully she had nothing to bring up except water – but it still embarrassed her. Her body thrummed with the wrongness of this wizard.

“It seems Ms Granger is more attuned to me than most others of her kind,” Raul called to Herbert; who made a non-committal grunt in reply as he inspected the Key in his hands. She wondered what Raul meant…her kind? Did he mean her as a woman?

“We knew the spell wouldn’t be perfect, we were lucky to get so many years out of it. Don’t worry, Raul; it’s only a matter of hours before you become a true wizard. I’ve perfected the solution – once injected into your embryo it should be more dominant than your Squib lineage.”

“What the fuck?” Hermione’s voice was extremely loud in the lab; she hadn’t meant to say it quite so violently. Draco visibly startled when she yelled out and he looked at her with pleading eyes – he wanted her to be quiet. She could see him working on the rope Darren had lashed around his wrists, but it would take too long for whatever plan he had in mind. Plus she was just starting to come to the horrible realisation of what Raul was.

Almost every person in the lab turned towards her, but she only had eyes for Raul. “That’s why you feel wrong – that’s why I want to vomit every time you come close, it’s The Kin-Slayer curse – you’re an abomination to the wizarding world.”

Hermione’s head slammed back as Herbert suddenly came from nowhere to slap her face. She endured the pain and met his eyes. His own slid to the left after a while – he wasn’t proud of what he’d done, but none-the-less, he had done it.

“You wouldn’t understand…”

“What’s to understand – you made your brother who’s a Squib into a wizard using magic not sanctioned for use since the dark ages.
Who did you kill, Herbert? Who was the poor schmuck that died so your brother could wield a stolen wand?” She looked around and realised there was more than one wizard who made her stomach turn, and she felt the blood rush out of her face – her whole body began to shiver from a cold she could never warm up from.

“My god, you couldn’t find anyone to back you up - so you killed dozens of wizards just to fuel your small Squib army.”

Herbert now ignored her and walked to the Chest sitting on the bench. Hermione couldn’t form a coherent thought which could explain what he had done, the rules he had broken and the deaths that lay at his feet. She had heard of this Kin-Slayer curse – read about it years ago, but never in a million years could she have thought somebody would put it into practise. It was dark magic, really dark – even beyond Voldemort dark. Hermione still couldn’t believe Herbert had found a working spell for it, although he obviously had. In a nut-shell it involved the sacrifice of a powerful wizard to reanimate the dormant magic within a Squib. It was not an easy process and had short lasting effects. If Raul had been like this for years then Hermione felt queasy at the amounts of wizards who had died just so he could unlock doors with magic. It wasn’t fair.

Draco looked just as shocked and sickened as her and she was glad to see somebody else who understood the horror of what had been going on here. It was the essence of the magic forcibly stolen from a wizard which reacted with Hermione and Draco’s equilibrium making them want to vomit. Things fell into place even more – the training wands, men who used guns over magic, the fact William didn’t really know how to navigate her wand – Merlin, it took almost seven years in Hogwarts to perfect the art of wand-wielding. Then these men…these abnormal magical Squibs had stolen wands from dead wizards and were trying to use them without any knowledge at all. It was also why these men were from all over the world, it would have taken Herbert a while to pull together enough Squibs who were upset at their unfortunate non-magical genes to attempt an undertaking like this. Hermione’s stomach roiled at the sheer thought of what these men had done.

Hermione’s haunted eyes met Draco’s again; his own grey gaze softened for a second and she felt a kindred spirit in him at the atrocities which had befallen wizards in this very laboratory. It was a defining moment for her – life really was too short, but she had other things to do first before she let her mind wander too far down that path. Suddenly Draco gave her a small nod, did he want her to keep talking? She didn’t even find it odd that she could decipher some of Draco’s looks now, they really were becoming partners. But, what plan was he forming? Well she wouldn’t have to pretend to ask questions – she was brimming with them, but she wasn’t sure whether she could stomach some of the answers.

“Even if you manage to get The Grindle Chest to work – how in hell are you going to inject just one embryo? Plus, there is no such ‘solution’ which can cure being a Squib, no matter the research and development you’ve done – it’s genetic. Raul will always be one, no matter the amount of wizards you kill or laws you break.”

“That’s a lie!” Herbert yelled at her, face slowly turning red.
She knew immediately that he was worried; he had no idea whether it would work or not – it seemed Raul was oblivious to this.
Before Hermione could figure out a way to use this to her advantage and play them off the other, a crack sounded in the room, followed quickly by a stream of swear words – in a voice she’d know anywhere.

William Apparated into the room, Christopher next to him, still bound and looking like he’d lost four hundred rounds to an elite boxer, but he was alive. Hermione couldn’t help the small cry of delight she let out. She never noticed Draco’s small pained expression.

“Are you ok, Christopher?” The German at her back pushed her sharply to be quiet, like hell she would. “Are you?”

The blow wasn’t as hard as earlier, but Hermione decided she’d best be a little careful with her smart mouth – she couldn’t afford a slight concussion by being smacked around the head too much.

“I’m fine; this look will give me more street cred with the boys at the pub.” Christopher managed a small smile, but she saw the worry behind it. If he was joking, he wasn’t injured in any way she couldn’t see, but they were still in a sticky situation.

Hermione looked around the lab as Herbert, William and Raul studied the Key and the Chest. It was a huge room, full of equipment and tables – a large space in the middle about the size of a basketball court was clear of any obstructions – it was where they were now. Shivering in revulsion Hermione saw the nasty looking instruments on a nearby table – this lab and its scientists were not ones that believed in keeping their tools or work benches disinfected and clean. If the magic and experiments they had been doing were any indications then this lab had been used more than just for Raul’s Squib ‘problem’. Large naked lights shone from above and Hermione was a little surprised that this facility ran on Muggle electrics and not powered by magic. A plan started to formulate.

Catching Draco’s eye was harder than she thought at first; he seemed to be very interested in watching the three men try and figure out how to get The Grindle Chest open, plus he still had no jumper on – it was damn distracting. When his grey eyes finally found hers she frowned in annoyance at his lack of communication – he smirked. It made her stomach jump – regret filled her at the thought she could have had him once, now there seemed little to no chance of having that. If they got out alive, Draco would have no idea what hit him – if he was still interested in her.

She mouthed the words ‘Longbottom’ and ‘library fifth year’ to Draco. He looked puzzled for a second before she gestured slightly with a tilt of her head to the lights above them. Suddenly he grinned then hid it immediately – he knew what she was on about, she was glad he had a good memory.

The German tightened his hold on her and Hermione felt a small amount of dismay run through her – she wasn’t sure if her idiotic plan could work when she was being held tightly. She tugged a little away from him and felt his grip reattach itself more firmly. Hermione almost laughed – he only had her jumper in hand – her body wasn’t being restrained. Excellent.

Hermione watched the wizards trying to find somewhere to insert the disc looking key, her heart hammering – if they managed to get it to fit – they were toast. She chanced one glance at Christopher who was watching her in obvious fear for her safety.
She could almost hear him telling her not to do it – it was too risky. But, when had Hermione Granger ever left a friend in danger?

Shouting out at the top of her lungs in Latin – the wand-less spell took hold and the room fell into blackness. She immediately let herself go boneless and slid out of the jumper to the ground.
The German swiped for her, but she scrambled away from him. She heard a yell as Draco obviously fought with the men holding him captive. Hermione still couldn’t believe one of the simplest spells in the history of spells worked. It was something Neville accidently discovered in Muggle Studies, in the electric section of the library. Pandemonium broke out as the one wizard who seemed to have no aptitude for any magic suddenly turned the entire electric circuit off with a spell he had no idea about. It was pure chance, and ended up frying Crabbe’s eyebrows off somehow (a fact he never let Neville forget for another two years).

She headed for the table where she thought the Chest would be; then slammed into the ground at such a pace when she was tripped, she swore she almost knocked out two of her teeth. The lights came back on and a furious Herbert stood there – his wand drawn and shoved up into the soft fleshy part of Draco’s jugular. Her own plans thwarted as William’s boot landed squarely on her back – painfully between her shoulder blades. So much for their daring plan to stop a mad-man from going back in time to inject his mother with a solution to cure his Squib twin brother, Hermione let out a bubble of crazed laugher. It was all just too freaking stupid to be real – surely.

The boot pressed even harder and Hermione found it hard to get a decent breath, this was not good. She wondered whether William had her wand right now – was he holding it above her – ready to use it if need be. She felt pure and unadulterated hate flow through her. She couldn’t help it – her wand was her life.
Without it – who was she?

“Are you done?” Herbert sneered into Draco’s face; Hermione craned her neck to watch.

Before Draco could answer, Raul shouted in triumph, Hermione’s heart sank. Motioning to Darren and another wizard, they grasped Draco tightly as Herbert moved to the Chest. Watching from her vantage point on the floor Hermione felt her insides seize up at what she could see.

Raul stood there, the Grindle Chest before him – the silver plate size piece of relic inserted into a small gap between the panels on the base of the artefact stolen from Gringotts. As everyone held their collective breaths, Hermione wriggled – William kicked her side. She wheezed in a tight small amount of air and doubled over as much as his boot would let her. Her own weakness made her angry, but the pain of being kicked in the stomach was excruciating.

Then she heard a laugh of absolute glee, Herbert was embracing Raul, who had just slid the key into place. Hermione shut her eyes against the entire sight – they had failed.

~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

Draco held his breath for what seemed like an hour – and waited. He looked down at Granger pinned to the floor under William’s boot and felt a rage he’d never experienced before rise up in his chest. It took his brain a few seconds to catch up with his gut feeling. Hermione Granger had somehow become very important to him; he swallowed hard and glanced down at her huddled form. Her eyes opened for a moment and she caught his gaze, Draco was lost. This witch who he’d never had a kind word to say about, was one of the bravest and most resourceful woman he’d met, she never baulked at the hard decisions and fought earnestly for the good in people. A small voice asked him if he was good enough for someone like her – he blinked once slowly, at what point did he start wanting something more from Granger than sex? A while, a voice whispered.

His gaze rested on Christopher who was watching him steadily, and suddenly the strange new feeling he had for Granger seemed lessened. Draco remembered her telling him in no uncertain terms she was using him for sex – nothing more. For some reason he didn’t actually believe her at the time, not really. He couldn’t fathom Granger actually having sex for the fun of it – but the taste he had gotten made him crave more. He once had a fleeting thought he’d like to screw her one time to get this odd attraction out of his system – he’d changed his mind. He wanted her – in his bed, for as long as it took. Green eyes held his steadily, and Draco knew he would fight Christopher for a chance to do just that.

Then Christopher flicked his gaze to the side, and Draco saw what he was motioning to. William was distracted by Herbert and Raul, as were Darren and his comrade who held Draco in place. He watched as Christopher slowly brought a hand down to his side, and he realised he wasn’t tethered anymore, Draco also had managed to loosen the ropes on his hands – they were both free. The men who were currently holding him had relaxed their grips even further, if he and Christopher were going to make a move – it would have to be now.

Draco glanced over to the two wizards who held the Chest between them; they didn’t look as triumphant as a moment before. He watched as Raul took out the small piece of metal and re-inserted it – nothing happened.

Knowing he only had a few seconds to do anything of any use while Raul and Herbert were distracted; Draco caught Granger’s gaze again and tried telling her they would be making a move for it with his eyes. He saw her look around at their situation and nod once. She was ready to fight with them – that’s his girl. He let that particular wayward thought go – deciding he didn’t want to analyse why he felt possessive over Granger – especially when her boy-toy was a metre away.

“Did you bloody insert it properly? Give it here you idiot.”
Herbert’s voice was full of annoyance as he grabbed the relic
from Raul.

Raul tried to snatch back the Chest and that was the moment mayhem took hold. Draco threw both his arms backwards in a windmill motion, smacking the two men holding him in the faces.
As they let go in shock, he spun and punched one in the gut and the other in the jaw. His own stomach clenched as the sick feeling welled up inside of him – but he wasn’t too badly affected by it – it was Granger who seemed to be the most sensitive.

One of the men fell down, dazed, and the other, Darren began to fight in earnest. Shit. Draco could hear a ruckus behind him and chanced a glance over – only to see Granger wrestling with William – trying to disarm her own wand from his hand. Flashes left the wand as William tried any counter-curse he could think of. Draco knew somebody would get hurt if caught by an errant spell. A hit to his solar-plexus made his knees weak – he’d spent too long watching out for Granger and copped a decent blow.
Staggering to the side he fell and lifted up his arm to fend off another blow, Darren wasn’t giving him any room for a comeback.

Suddenly Darren was sprawled out on the floor, blood seeping from a cut on his temple - Draco looked up in surprise and caught Christopher’s gaze. The tall brunette seemed oddly shocked at what he’d just done – a large pole shook slightly in his hands.

“Nice hit,” Draco said and took Christopher’s outstretched hand pulling himself to his feet. He wheezed slightly as he tried to get some breath back into his lungs. He didn’t have long enough. Another three men barrelled towards them, one held a large machete and another, a wand. Draco knew things were bizarre when he saw the knife wielding goon the biggest threat.

Without thinking he pushed Christopher behind him and took up position; just as quickly he felt a presence by his side. Hermione’s idiot boyfriend was making a stand – with Draco. He hated the fact he was starting to like this wizard.

Draco took on the knife wielding man, jumping back at the last moment as he thrust; the blade almost coming in contact with his bare chest. Draco roared and flew at him – more pissed off than he originally thought. His startling attack made the wizard’s knife fly off and slide across the floor as Draco got in one good hit to his cheek. He noticed Christopher keeping his own with the other man – disarming him in an instant. Maybe he wasn’t a complete idiot after all.

When the man he was fighting began to get in a few good punches, Draco dropped to one knee and swung his other leg in a wide sweeping arc, making his attacker fall with a thump to the ground – the man’s head smacking loudly on the floor. He grabbed the pole Christopher had dropped in the melee and took out the third man just as he drew his weapon.

He had to get the Chest or the relic – either one. By some grace of the god’s the key they found wasn’t working. Whether it had nothing to do with The Grindle Chest or not he didn’t know – but they needed a small reprieve and he’d take anything he could get at the moment.

Draco still had one ace up his sleeve but he didn’t want to unleash it unless absolutely necessary, it was untested and he wasn’t sure of the consequences. Lloyd didn’t want him to take it, and if Draco was perfectly honest, he knew Lloyd was right to be concerned. He couldn’t reach it before with his arms being held, but he could now. As he flew towards the two wizards he reached into his pocket and felt the small stud against the
lining, it was still there. He would only use it as a last resort.

He slammed into the two wizards just as a spell flew past his eyes. William’s spell casting was getting out of hand and for a split second he thought about getting to Hermione – but he saw Christopher heading her way. He tried not to feel annoyed, but found it was almost impossible. He had much more important things to do – like stop Herbert from changing the course of history – Granger would be fine with her knight in shining armour. It still made him feel cheated somehow.

As Herbert found his feet and Raul lay sprawled on the floor, Chest in hand, Draco spun to a loud calamity at one end of the laboratory. Another group of men had stormed the room – most held wands, more disgusting Squib atrocities Draco realised. He couldn’t allow Herbert to make any more monsters. It ended here.

~~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

Hermione’s head flew back as William got one lucky shot in. He was a terrible fighter – but she was flagging, exhausted and running completely on adrenaline. She awkwardly grasped his wand hand and squeezed with all her might – he muttered spells and strange non-magical commands under his breath. If he had half an inkling how to use her wand properly, she would be in danger – as it was she was just getting frustrated that he’d managed to hold her off for so long.

The Chest didn’t work – or if it did, nothing had triggered it yet. Hermione was eternally grateful there wasn’t a huge flash of light with Raul and Herbert disappearing to wreak havoc on the wizarding world. So far all the brothers seemed to be doing is ignoring their attempts at fighting back and were more intent on bickering at the other. Hopefully it was enough for either Draco or her to grab the relic and get the hell out of there.

Her nose burned and she felt a sticky wetness escape a nostril – the punch William laid on her had probably broken it – but a crooked nose was the least of her worries as she saw Draco tackle the brothers to the ground – Merlin he was fearless. Regardless of his shady dealings and less than stellar reputation, Hermione knew he was completely against what these men were trying to do.
The strange feeling in her chest when she thought about Malfoy only got stronger as she saw him fighting to save their world.
She shouldn’t allow this like to grow into anything more – it would be her undoing. Hermione wasn’t sure if she had a choice in
the matter anymore.

Suddenly everything seemed to go in slow motion – the wrist she was currently squeezing as tight as possible came around when William gained a burst of strength. A spell flung itself from the end of her wand and Hermione ducked her head at the last second – narrowly missing getting spelled in the face. As she gained her footing, she heard a shocked gasp and grunt of pain from behind her – she spun and saw Christopher grasping his chest as he fell to his knees.

“No!” The word was ripped from her throat, as she watched her best friend fall to the side – green eyes slowly closing.

Anger, bitter and all-encompassing stomped through Hermione’s body – she was quivering in rage so thick and polluted in her mind she knew if her wand was in her hand she would use an Unforgivable Curse. This thought should have scared her witless – it no longer did. She immediately let go of William’s wrist at the same time as she hooked her leg around his knee and yanked.
He flailed for a moment and Hermione pushed herself against him at the same time. They fell hard and heavy and Hermione knocked every ounce of air from his body. Her wand flew from his grip and landed about ten feet away. Hermione didn’t care – she had him exactly where she wanted. Her small hand wrapped around his neck as she pushed. William’s eyes bugged – she didn’t care at all.
There was somebody else riding Hermione at the moment and her sane and reasonable mind was not in control.

Hermione began punching him in the face, stomach – anywhere she could reach while still pushing on his windpipe. After a few frenzied moments, she felt William go limp under her. Bile rose, what had she done? She saw a slight movement of breath – he’d just passed out. She couldn’t help but feel relief, although it was tinged in a small amount of regret – he needed to be punished
for what he’d done.

Jumping up, Hermione ran to Christopher and pulled him onto his back, his skin was a pale grey and she couldn’t feel his heartbeat. Tears streamed down her face mixing in with the blood from her nose, she didn’t know the spell William used and even if he was awake he’d have no idea either. Helplessness warred with her absolute need to make these men pay.

Knowing it was probably helpless, Hermione leant over and gave Christopher mouth to mouth, pushing her tight fists on his chest for 3 compressions before breathing into him again. Before she could check if it was working or not she was knocked onto her back by another man – Hermione’s entire vision blurred and all she saw was a wave of red which engulfed everything. Couldn’t she even have two minutes to try and save her best friends life – no matter how hopeless it was?

Bellowing like a mad-woman she rolled straight over and jumped to her feet, swinging her leg around in a kick – the blow smacking straight into her attackers face as he knelt over her. Hermione
didn’t even feel the shock of it run up her leg, even though she struck him with an inordinate amount of strength. She got up grabbing the knife from the now unconscious man’s grip. Waving it around she ran for the next group of men that were heading towards Draco, Herbert and Raul – who were also exchanging blows.
Herbert couldn’t use his wand as they were all so close together, he must be worried about hitting his brother Hermione realised.
Hopefully Draco would use it to his advantage – if she could help him get rid of some of these other men.

Hermione knew deep inside they were outnumbered and most likely out-classed but she didn’t care. She and Draco worked well together – they had gotten this far and she intended them to go all the way, even if it killed them. She felt a great shudder rip through her body as she thought of Christopher lying on the cold ground of a bunker in a country she knew he never wanted to visit. It wasn’t fair – none of this was. Herbert and Raul had messed with the very nature of magic, the very rules and laws which governed them as wizards. Death would be too good for them.
Hermione knew her thought pattern was not like her – but she was beyond care. They had messed with her chosen family – she would mess with them.

Two men broke off from the group and came at her while the rest headed straight for Draco and the Chest. Hermione ran for them and using all her strength she thrust her fisted right hand into an uppercut so hard the man’s eyes flew straight back into his head and he dropped. She caught her breath and blinked as the other man stopped in his tracks and watched her warily. Not only was he slightly scared - Hermione had scared herself silly. Where had this adrenaline fuelled strength and ability come from? She had heard of mothers lifting cars off their children in times of great peril – was her absolute fury at Christopher’s treatment giving her extra power? It didn’t matter, she would use it.

Grasping the handle of the dagger in her fist, Hermione lined the flat of the blade up against her forearm. She feinted to the left and the man flinched slightly and dodged. He raised his arms up ready to fight her, Hermione obliged. She had no intention of stabbing him, it was one thing to feel murderous and another to act upon it. He came forward first and Hermione blocked him with her left elbow, quick as anything she slammed her other elbow into the side of his head as she spun. Having no idea where the manoeuvre came from, she went with it and kept spinning until she was behind him. Then quick as lightening she slammed the butt of the knife into his temple – he fell. This was too easy Hermione thought to herself.

Hermione watched as about four men crowded around Malfoy who was fighting like a cornered bull. She had to do something. Tucking the knife in the back of her jeans, she looked around for another weapon. Hearing a yell she quickly looked up to see three people fleeing the area – it was Herbert, Raul and another man, and they had the Chest. Hermione couldn’t believe it. After everything they had done to stop them, the bad guys were getting away – she couldn’t let this happen. Draco still had to contend with three more armed men and these didn’t look like the novices Hermione had the luck to get.

She saw a wand lying near William’s still form and felt a wash of relief flow through her body at such a rate it made her feel light-headed. Her wand – the one she’d been a part of since she was eleven was waiting for her. Hermione saw a man break off and sprint for her; she flew towards the fallen wand. At the last minute Hermione slid on her knees towards it, grasping it just as the man caught her braid and yanked. He was too late, her fingers had seized her wand and she flung a stunning spell at him – he sailed from her body and landed in a heap. Getting to her feet, Hermione stalked towards Draco and the men who decided to rush him at once.

Feeling like an avenging angel, Hermione strode forward, picking the men off one at a time – until only a battered and bruised Draco remained watching her. Before she could utter thanks that he was still standing and in one piece, he took two big strides towards her and engulfed her in the tightest embrace she’d ever been on the receiving end of. Draco buried his face in her neck while lifting her slightly off the ground. Her stomach came alive and burst into nervous energy at Draco’s uncharacteristic show of emotion, and the fact he was half naked came into the fray as well. She slowly slid down to the ground again and looked up, eyes wide. She got caught in Draco’s intense grey gaze; he truly did have hypnotically gorgeous eyes. He went to speak, but stopped himself and gave her upper arm a squeeze instead.
Hermione would have given anything at that moment to know what he’d been about to utter.

A noise from behind them made Hermione jerk around, the moment broken. Great, she thought - all she needed now was to have one of the men curse her with a stolen wand. But what greeted her eyes made all the air in her lungs whoosh out in one amazing breath. She lunged forward falling to her knees, not caring about the pain which shot up her leg at landing heavily on the concrete.

“Holy hell, Christopher – never ever and I mean ever – do that again. I’m serious, I don’t care if you’re three hundred years old, can hardly see and yell because you’re deaf as a post – you can never die on me, I love you too much to let you go – you hear me?”

A strained chuckle came from Christopher who was slowly trying to sit up. Hermione didn’t let him get too far, she threw herself at him in a tight hug before letting go then pushed on his chest so he stayed lying on the floor. He didn’t look like he should be moving at all, he still had a sickly pallor but he was breathing - and watching something behind her shoulder. Hermione grinned in relief and spun her head looking around at Draco; he was pointedly not looking at them his mouth in a thin line. He picked his jumper off the floor and jerked it on.

Her smile dropped as Draco spoke in a low clipped professional voice. “You have to get him out of here – use your wand and Apparate to the Ministry’s Development Department and ask for Randy – you can trust him – he’ll get help.”

Draco started to walk off, Hermione looked down at Christopher and he whispered ‘go’ to her. She jumped up and caught Draco’s arm before he got too far, he wrenched it free. She frowned at his almost violent action.

“What the hell do you think you’re going to do then?” She was fuming, not even sure why. “And you said trust no one in the Ministry – case point, Herbert.”

“I’m going to do what I can to stop these wizards from destroying the world I love, and I said you can’t trust anyone. You may be smart but you’re a terrible judge of character.” With one last long look at her face which made her catch her breath he turned and started to jog down a long hallway, the lights above him flickered as he made his way along it. For some reason his words struck her deep inside. His sarcasm wasn’t lost on her; she had trusted the wrong people. The sight of his retreating back, alone
and on a mission made Hermione feel bereft, she should be by his side. Hell, she was losing her mind; she collected relics – not hunted down bad guys in a life and death situation. But the longing stuck in her.

“Go, I’ll be fine.” Christopher’s weak voice pleaded with her.
“He needs you more than I do.”

Hermione looked down at her best friend and then at the small figure of Draco heading off to almost certain danger and maybe death. She made a decision.

Thrusting her wand into Christopher’s clammy fingers she tightened his grip on it. Ignoring his eyes which were as big as saucers she leant down and kissed him lightly on the forehead.
“Apparate to the Ministry, ask for Randy – get help if you can.”

Christopher went to protest but could see in the set of her eyes she wouldn’t change her mind. Instead he grabbed her arm, “I approve.”

Frowning Hermione looked at her friend blankly, “approve of what?”

“Draco – he’s crazy about you.” Hermione shook her head in denial, but before she could tell him he was completely wrong he kept speaking. “Now go and help him while I get the back-up which will save your arse – which in fact will mean I have saved the day…not you.” Christopher gave her an exhausted cheeky grin which she couldn’t help but return.

As she ran off after Draco she heard the crack of Christopher’s departure and felt relief her friend was out of danger. Whether he could get help in time remained to be seen. It looked like once more the weight of the wizarding world was on Draco and her shoulders and nobody even knew it.

Christopher’s words kept running through her head, could Draco like her in return? It was too preposterous to think on. Sure he wanted to sleep with her – but she also returned that need. It had to be the years of repressed anger at each other manifesting itself into a lust, one she had every intention of slaking if she got the chance. The hardest part to her small and not so well-planned out idea – hiding the fact she actually liked the Prat, if he found out he would surely hold it against her for the rest of her life. Putting it out of her head for the moment, she decided she could worry about the state of their affairs when they managed to get out of this alive. First they had two crazy brothers to thwart and a magical artefact to steal back – it sounded a lot easier when she put it like that. Hermione knew it would be anything but.

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